Zim Online
Wed 21 June 2006
JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwe
has suffered large-scale de-industrialisation
since 1995 that has condemned
the bulk of the population to a grinding
subsistence life as communal and
resettlement farmers, according to the
latest United Nations (UN) poverty
assessment report on the country.
The report on poverty and
economic activity in Zimbabwe between 1995
and 2003 was compiled by the
United Nations Development Programme office in
Harare. It will first be
presented to President Robert Mugabe's Cabinet this
week or next week before
it is made public.
But ZimOnline was yesterday shown an advance
copy of the report that
reveals shocking levels of poverty and human
suffering in the southern
African country, effectively debunking claims by
Mugabe and his government
that they are on top of the situation and that
Zimbabwe is on a path to
economic recovery.
"Since 1995 Zimbabwe has experienced a process of de-industrialisation
with
the large majority (of the people) becoming largely dependent on
communal
and resettlement agriculture, a sector where there is high poverty
prevalence," the report reads in part.
All facets of the
crisis-sapped country's industrial and commercial
sectors had declined
drastically over the period under review leaving only
agriculture - and most
of it at subsistence level - as the main economic
activity.
For
example, the manufacturing sector, a vital cog of the economy,
declined from
employing 10 percent of labour to employing only four percent.
The services
industry shed jobs leaving it employing nine percent of labour
from the 19
percent it employed before 1995.
Wholesale, retail, hotel and
restaurant operators slowed down
operations to employ percent of labour from
the seven percent in their
employment prior to 1995. Likewise the mining
sector declined from
accounting for five percent of employed labour to only
three percent,
according to the report.
It was not possible to
immediately get comment on the report from
Mugabe's press secretary George
Charamba or from Labour and Social Welfare
Minister Nicholas
Goche.
United Nations humanitarian co-ordinator in Harare,
Agostinho
Zacarias, was also not available for comment on the
matter.
But the report says only agriculture grew as an employer
with 60
percent of labour employed in the farming sector up from 29 before
1995. The
growth in agriculture was chiefly because of Mugabe's chaotic and
often
violent seizure of land from whites for redistribution to landless
black
peasants.
The farm seizures that triggered a flight of
foreign investors and
capital from Zimbabwe are blamed for plunging the
country into food
shortages and for quickening the demise of an economy that
was one of the
most vibrant in Africa when Mugabe took over at independence
from Britain in
1980.
The report says while Mugabe's land
reforms appear to have increased
employment in the agricultural sector, in
reality the reforms failed to
alleviate poverty with the majority of those
allocated land seized from
productive white farmers failing to utilise it
resulting in widespread
hunger and economic hardships.
Critics
of Mugabe's land reforms insist that the about 60 percent drop
in food
production that followed land redistribution was chiefly because the
82-year
old President failed to back up newly resettled black farmers with
inputs
support and skills training to maintain production on the former
white
farms.
The report says: "A higher proportion of the households in
the
resettlement areas (70 percent) did not cultivate their whole pieces of
land, followed by communal areas (69 percent)."
In perhaps the
most vivid illustration of the extent of desperation
and human suffering in
Zimbabwe, the UN report says as a coping mechanism at
least 50 percent of
families were having to skip some meals in order to save
on the little food
available.
"The most significant coping mechanism which households
were employing
to mitigate the effects of food shortages included: skipping
meals (50
percent), eating less preferred meals (18 percent), and food from
donors/NGOs (12 percent)," reads the report.
Zimbabwe is
grappling a severe economic crisis whose genesis can be
traced to 1995/96
after the collapse of economic structural reforms that the
erstwhile
socialist Mugabe had reluctantly embraced in 1991 at the behest of
the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Western governments.
The
economic crisis gathered pace after the IMF withdrew
balance-of-payments
support to Zimbabwe in 1999 over differences with Mugabe
on fiscal policy
and other governance issues.
Mugabe's farm seizures that he began a
year after the IMF withdrew
financial support cancelled whatever hopes of a
quick turn around of
Zimbabwe's declining economy. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 21 June 2006
HARARE - Twenty-nine year old Rudo
Mangenje recoils in anger whenever
President Robert Mugabe's government
presents itself as a defender of
children's rights.
Mangenje is
bitter that the Harare authorities detained her together
with her three-year
old daughter Maidei for more than 24 hours in a filthy
cell at Harare
Central police station last month for violating the country's
tough security
laws.
She says the fact that the Harare authorities could detain
young
children such as Maidei, shows that the government should not be taken
seriously when it presents itself as a defender of children's
rights.
"It is amazing how this government talks loudly about
children's
rights when it had the temerity to jail an innocent three-year
old girl.
They have no shame," says Mangenje.
Zimbabwe last
Friday joined the rest of the African continent to mark
the Day of the
African Child. The day is marked by seven days of activism
that seeks to
foster the respect for children's rights.
But critics of the
government such as Mangenje say Harare's
celebration of the Day of the
African Child is a mere propaganda stunt by a
government that easily ranks
among the worst violators of children's rights
in the world.
Social scientist and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
official, Gordon Chavhunduka, said the Zimbabwean government had a narrow
and myopic understanding of child abuse that limited it to sexual abuse of
minors.
But when this narrow understanding is removed, Mugabe's
government
would square up with some of the worst abusers of children's
rights, said
the respected former University of Zimbabwe
vice-chancellor.
Chavhunduka said: "The government is pulling back
Africa in this
regard. We have children who have resorted to prostitution
and other
criminal activities because the government has created conditions
that make
it impossible for them to go to school and earn a better
living.
"Some are now being forced to marry as early as 13 because
of
state-sponsored hunger. Children are being trained as violent militia
under
the guise of national service. The list of child rights violations by
the
government is endless."
Thousands of children have dropped
out of school with a significant
number being forced into prostitution due
to a severe six-year old economic
crisis gripping the country many blame on
Mugabe's policies.
The government is also accused of brain-washing
graduates of the
country's controversial national service programme who have
been used to
commit heinous crimes against Mugabe's political
opponents.
Mangenje insists that examples of the abuse of
children's rights need
not be drawn from the secretive national youth
service programme but from
what happened to her and her three-year old
daughter.
Mangenje was part of a group of National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA)
activists who were arrested in May for defying a police ban
on a march to
commemorate a controversial home demolition campaign that left
hundreds of
thousands homeless.
Among those arrested were eight
children aged between three and five.
"What is the difference
between South Africa's apartheid government
that shot and harassed children
in violation of children's rights and our
government that refuses to release
three-year olds from jail because their
mothers have peacefully marched to
Parliament?" said Mangenje.
Charles Kwaramba, a lawyer who
represented the NCA protesters was
equally scathing in his criticism of the
government for detaining children
in filthy cells.
"I could not
imagine this happening in Zimbabwe, a country liberated
from colonialism.
The conditions in our jails and police cells are appalling
even for hardcore
criminals, let alone children under the age of five," said
Kwaramba.
Lovemore Matombo, the President of the militant
Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions says Zimbabwe's children have never been
as vulnerable to abuse
as they are right now, all because of poor policies
by the government.
"Today's children are vulnerable to AIDS,
poverty and child labour.
Most of these problems faced by our children can
be traced back to poorly
administered government policies.
"If
a country's economy and political sphere is well managed, then you
don't
have 12-year olds engaging in prostitution or working on the farms.
They
will be going to school," said Matombo.
But Youth Development
Minister, Ambrose Mutinhiri, rejected charges
that the Zimbabwe government
is a violator of children's rights.
"Some people might want to
politicise issues here. But when one looks
at our work (in government),
there is a trace of seriousness in combating
child abuse. Laws are there and
more are coming to deal with child abuse,"
he said.
But for
Mangenje and her daughter, there is no greater abuse by the
government that
beats being forced to share a filthy cell with hardcore
criminals in a
Harare jail. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 21 June
2006
INSIZA - Zimbabwean police on Tuesday released without charge
about
100 women who were arrested earlier this week for demonstrating
against the
expulsion of children who have failed to pay school
fees.
The women from the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) protest
group, were
arrested on Monday after they stormed a rural business centre in
Filabusi in
Zimbabwe's Matabeleland South province demanding the
reinstatement of their
children.
A lawyer representing the
women, Cosam Ncube told ZimOnline yesterday
that all the protesters had been
released from police custody after state
prosecutors refused to lay any
charges against them.
"I have since secured their release and the
task was not that
difficult because even the prosecutors agreed that there
was no offence. As
I speak, the women have been released and are now free,"
said Ncube.
Under Zimbabwe's tough security laws, it is illegal to
demonstrate
without seeking approval from the police. But WOZA has often
defied the
police ban on demonstrations to protest against worsening
economic
conditions in Zimbabwe. - ZimOnline
Transcript of 'Hot Seat' programme in which SW Radio Africa's
Violet Gonda
talks with Professors Brian Raftopoulos, Jonathan Moyo and
Economist John
Robertson.
Broadcast on 20 June
2006
Violet: We continue the teleconference interview discussing
various issues
of national interest with three people who have at one time
or another
advised some of the key players in Zimbabwean politics -
political analyst
Professor Brian Raftopoulos, former Information Minister,
now independent MP
Professor Jonathan Moyo and leading economist John
Robertson. This week we
are going to be discussing how Mugabe thinks. What
is his mindset? Why is he
allowing the country to collapse so totally? A
huge part of that collapse
has been economic and so we start this week's
discussion with the economy.
With inflation nearing 1200% it's
been said the economy has become Mugabe's
real opposition. So I first asked
economist John Robertson to explain the
state of the economy and tell us how
bad things really are.
Robertson: The state of the economy is
certainly extremely serious. We have
lost about half of our gross domestic
product. The GDP per capita has come
down to less that US$1 per day for the
population as a whole and at that
level we have, I am afraid, a very
debilitated population. I think many,
many people are suffering malnutrition
and because of the treatment and the
various little security measures taken
by the government we have also a
traumatised population. Which might explain
why they have not taken mass
action to date. There was some evidence of
courage to do that back in 1997/
98, but the treatment that was meted out
to the people after that has left
them very, very cautious and very anxious
not to have that experience again.
Now these problems are mounting in
such a way that the economy can no longer
employ most of the people. We've
got some 300 000 youngsters turning 18 in
this country every year - about
maybe 10% of them can find work - the rest
of them are unemployed and unable
to find any kind of suitable employment
anywhere. So they have to leave the
country if they want work. We've got
many of them leaving for South Africa
illegally and facing very serious
problems when they do that. I think that
we face a very, very long recovery
unless we get a massive amount of
assistance from abroad. And once again I
say that South Africa's position
here is the most important. We could speak
of following the same path of
recovery as say Uganda or Ethiopia or
Mozambique and each of those cases we
are talking more than 30 years and
they still haven't come right. We could
come right very much more quickly
with a lot of assistance from South
Africa. I believe that the South African
assistance could be in the form of
the assistance given say to East Germany
by West Germany when the Berlin
Wall came down.
We need to become part of a bigger union and I think this
would be needed
for other reasons as well. As a region, Southern Africa
needs the protection
of some more cohesive structural patterns that can
allow the territory to
develop against the very, very fierce competition
from the Far-East and
elsewhere in the world. We need the protection that
will allow our own
industries to develop and I believe we can do that far
better as a
federation of all the Southern African states. But that will
allow South
Africa to bring its force to bear in Zimbabwe in form of central
bank
management even a single currency union across the borders of not only
Zimbabwe and South Africa but other regional countries. And we can look, I
believe, at these very much bigger ideas for the kind of solution we want to
our very, very big problem. We are not going to solve these problems by
looking at small ideas and sort of fiddling around the edges of the problem
and trying to hope that none of the basic political decisions need to be
changed. We do need to change the fundamentals. We need to change them very
quickly to avoid going into a very much deeper
recession.
Violet: At what point will the decline of the dollar
precipitate a real
crisis leading to the collapse of the country? Or are we
at this point now?
Robertson: We're not quite there yet but one
of the limiting factors is how
many notes we can print? Believe it or not we
have to print about four
million Z$100 000 notes every day to keep pace with
the rate at which prices
are increasing. That soon is going to become eight
million notes per day.
Our capacity to do that isn't there and I believe
soon we are going to find
there is a massive cash crisis because people are
going to have such
difficulties to get money out of the bank they will be
reluctant to put it
into the bank. And when banks stop getting the proper
circulation of money
under their control all the basic systems of the
management of money will
begin to fall apart. I think they are very close to
that and there is every
prospect that we will see prices double again in the
next three months and
double yet again in the following three months. So
that will take the prices
of today to four times what they are today by the
end of the year and at
that level you need to have four times as much money
in the country as we
have today. I think the physical ability to do that is
not - we just don't
have it, and so that could cause one of the crisis that
lie ahead of us.
Violet: Now Professor Moyo does a country ever
really collapse or does it
just limp along as more and more professionals
flee the economic crisis?
Moyo: Well in sociological terms a
country does not collapse obviously
Zimbabwe will always be around but the
question would be in what state and
what would be the kind of impact on
people's lifestyles and conditions of
living. What clearly collapses is the
government and frankly I don't think
that we should expect a government -
whether a dictatorship or a democratic
government - to survive four digit
inflation. And this is the reality check
that ZANU PF must do and this is
why many people believe that at this very
moment the ball is on ZANU PF's
court and if we say that the fundamental
problem now has to do with the
collapse of the economy then we should also
ask what the response of the
government is. We know that six weeks or so ago
they came up with something
they called; The National Economic Development
Priority Programme -
something like that and this is supposed to see a
turnaround of the economy
over the next six or eight months. And that's what
the government is putting
on offer. And if you look at the content of that
programme and assess it
against the background of what is actually happening
in the economy then you
will see that we are not dealing with a government
which has awakened to the
serious nature of the problem at hand. I don't
believe that anyone imagines
that we will have an economic turnaround in
this country if we do not look
at the structural problems that have led to
the current situation in general
so as to have a structural reform framework
that addresses the situation.
But in particular, I don't think we can expect
an economic turnaround if we
do not accept that, yes, much as the land
reform programme has been
necessary, the way it was done created a lot of
problems that must be
corrected and that there will be no international
participation in a package
unless there is a willingness to bring real
finality to this problem. Not
the kind of finality we saw the government
attempting through the last
constitutional amendment. And, I don't see yet
a willingness within ZANU
PF, from a policy point of view, to address that
or to really get to the
roots of this economic crisis. There is still
wishful thinking that if we
forward sell our minerals we will get some
US$50m here, US$1.3million
there. We are hearing reports that Vice
President Mujuru is superintending
over some agreement in China which will
bring some 1.3 billion dollars and
that this programme in particular - the
economic reform programme that is
underway - is targeting 2.5 billion
dollars. There is still some fantasy out
there that the real problem is
because we do not have enough investment and
this is possible if we attract
certain friendly countries in the east or in
Russia as the case is right
now. Until there is a recognition of the roots
of this crisis I don't see
ZANU PF rising to the challenge and coming up
with a solution and
consequently very soon the economic meltdown is going to
become a political
meltdown and the prospects of a leadership emerging to
deal with this will
disappear.
Violet: Still on that same
issue, the late Eddison Zvobgo once said Mugabe
will not listen to anyone.
Now, do you think he goes by his own whim? You
know, when you were
Information Minister, how did he operate? Did he listen
to anyone especially
when you say there is no willingness by the regime to
get to the root cause
of this economic crisis.
Moyo: Well, obviously he has his own
approach to this whole issue. I think
if we look at what has happened in our
country over the years - since
independence - and if what we want to do is
to find out whom Mugabe really
listens to disappointingly he does not really
listen to free rational advice
especially coming from outside the system.
But, even within the system, he
does not listen to people - either because
they are cabinet ministers or
they are Politburo members or Central
Committee members. He ultimately and
always consistently listens to his
security people. His economic advisors
are his security people. His
political advisors including who to appoint to
cabinet, who to appoint to
Central Committee or Politburo are his security
people. He is a security
president. And that explains why many responses of
the government to
economic challenges are predictable and they often take a
law and order
dimension. He is very much a creation and a product of the
security
apparatus.
Violet: So, Professor Raftopoulos, if Mugabe doesn't
listen to anyone except
some of his security people why do people waste
their time advising the
Mugabe government, clearly knowing that nothing will
change?
Raftopoulos: Clearly it's the de-facto government in
Zimbabwe whatever it's
nature. So by definition, any diplomatic efforts at
international level have
to be levelled against him. The problem of course,
is even for the security
people there becomes a time when the security
question is precisely the
future reproduction of that leadership. The future
problems around the
economy, the very security issues they are concerned
with that the future of
the incumbent becomes, as it were, an increasing
problem. So security issues
have there own kind of internal debates I
suppose around who then becomes
the key figure to continue a particular kind
of formation. I think the other
problem is that given what has happened in
Zimbabwe the paradox is; despite
Mugabe's so-called anti imperialists
rhetoric, Zimbabwe is now more
vulnerable than ever to any future influences
of international financial
pressure. As an economy it's much more vulnerable
to future international
influences and even already the South African
economic influence in Zimbabwe
is been growing and not necessary in a
positive direction. So there are
increasing problems that are being created
by this vulnerability which will
make a reconstruction programme very, very
difficult.
Violet: That's what I actually was going to ask. Is
Mugabe still a key
player in any process towards the democratization of the
country? In other
words, do you believe that without his agreement nothing
is going to be
democratized?
Raftopoulos: Well I think his
future is a key issue. I don't think his
presence in a future government is
at all going to stabilize the situation,
but certainly, his future is a key
political question and given - you know
what Professor Moyo said about the
securitisation of the state - the state
has become an increasing problem and
will be a problem for any transition.
But clearly, Mugabe's future is a key
issue in any discussion about the
future.
Violet: Now Mr.
Robertson I am going to come to you just now but I am just
interested again,
I want to go back to Professor Moyo about Mugabe's mind.
Professor Moyo can
you explain Mugabe's mindset, now that - you were very
close to him at the
time he was terrorizing Zimbabweans? In fact, he is
still terrorising. But
can you explain Mugabe's mindset as he continues to
ignore the fact that
Zimbabwe is in a crisis? You know, is Mugabe's mind
amenable to a
negotiated solution in Zimbabwe?
Moyo: Well, I have heard that I
have been close to him but not as close as
to understand his mindset. He
does not allow anyone to get that close. But,
you know, he is; as Professor
Raftopoulos was saying, his own future is
part of the issue on the table
right now. But I don't think ultimately it's
going to depend on whether he
wants to accept. We have heard him recently
talking about building bridges
with the EU, and in particular Britain. But,
if you look at the origins of
this talk it is coming from the security
people. I don't think this is his
own way or even wish. Mugabe operates
like an opposition politician. He
does not accept the kind of conservative
role or decision approach of a
leader who has to balance different interests
and so forth. No! He is very
single minded and now he has had to discover
only too late that the
situation in Zimbabwe is almost irretrievable and I
see that he is concerned
about his legacy. I also see that there are
influences on him; let us
remember he has a young wife and a young family
and he must be quite
concerned about the future for that family. But now
all indications are
that he is in a negotiation mood. He is negotiating
with the Churches. He
is sending Churches to reach out to western embassies.
He has confirmed
through his Minister of Information that Benjamin Mkapa is
his chosen
mediator so this man wants to strike a deal there is no question
about
that.
Violet: What sort of a deal do you think he wants to
strike?
Moyo: I think he wants to strike a deal which would
preserve his political
party, obviously. But, he also wants one that would
safeguard his own
interest. The possibility of President Mugabe facing all
kinds of legal
suits after office is something which plays heavily and
regularly on the
minds of his advisors and so we are now dealing with a
President who will
simply not leave office without trying to win certain
safeguards regarding
possibilities of prosecution; whether within Zimbabwe
or internationally.
But a deal; certainly he is looking for right
now.
Violet: And Mr. Robertson are Zimbabweans resigned to their
fate? Is this
now a matter for the intelligentsia and external forces to
deal with Mugabe?
Robertson: I do believe that some analysis of
his mindset is called for
because his approach to the problem seems to have
changed in recent years. I
believe that he personally feels that he has been
let down by the population
of Zimbabwe. I think he feels that having given
them everything that they
were asking for, he has given them back the land
and he was wanting the
population to deliver to him the success that he said
to the world would be
achieved by land reform that would put the land back
in the hands of the
indigenous population. And they have not done so. We
have not had a single
decent harvest since land reform. The country has
gone backwards and
President Mugabe feels that he has been let down very
badly by the people.
And, now that he hears from many sources that they are
suffering, I believe
that his approach is that they deserve to suffer
because he gave them
everything and they have done nothing with the massive
largess that he's
handed over by taking the land from the colonising
population and giving it
back to the indigenous population. So, it becomes
more a psychological
debate than a political or economic debate, but I think
that itself explains
why ZANU PF and President Mugabe have become very much
preoccupied with
their own survival rather than with the country's survival
and recovery. And
for that sort of reason we haven't yet got the focus on
the area that needs
to be attended to and we need some dramatic changes not
these trifling ones
that they keep speaking about.
Violet:
Although we initially advertised this teleconference discussion as a
three
part, the issues were so interesting that we have decided to continue
it for
another week. So two weeks the panelists will give us their analysis
on the
issue of international engagement, what a post-Mugabe regime must do
to
reverse the economic meltdown and a general look at what happens after
Mugabe. Don't miss this discussion with economist John Robertson, political
analyst Professor Brian Raftopoulos and former information Minister Jonathan
Moyo - next Tuesday.
VOA
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
19 June
2006
The Zimbabwean opposition faction headed by Movement for
Democratic Change
founding President Morgan Tsvangirai has come out in favor
of a role for
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in solving the
country's long
crisis.
Sources within the opposition grouping said
they expect a meeting between
Annan and Tsvangirai following the U.N.
chief's expected consultations with
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on
the margins of an African Union summit
opening July 1.
Party insiders
say the MDC National Council has decided to amend its
so-called road map to
democracy to sychronize it with Annan's agenda. Stops
on the MDC road map
included a stakeholders conference, a new constitution,
a transitional
government and new elections. But MDC sources said they'll
shift to what
many believe the Annan plan to be: first a transitional
government, then
constitutional reform and new elections.
Both Annan and South African
President Thabo Mbeki are expected to engage
with President Mugabe in
Banjul, the Gambia, as the AU summit unfolds in
early July. Annan himself
confirmed the rendezvous in a U.N. news conference
last week.
Studio
Seven reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe asked
Eliphas
Mukonoweshuro, secretary for foreign affairs for the Tsvangirai-led
MDC
faction, why the party has thrown its weight behind a possible Annan-led
initiative.
June 20,
2006,
By ANDnetwork .com
Diesel and petrol prices have
skyrocketed to between $400 000 and $600
000 a litre from $206 000 and $280
000 at a time when supplies of the
commodities have dwindled.
The latest fuel price increases come barely a month after another
round of
increases was effected.
A survey carried by The Herald yesterday
showed that most filling
stations in Harare and its surrounding areas
reviewed their fuel prices
upwards last Friday.
Despite the
increase in the price, the commodity was in short supply
at most service
stations with some fuel attendants professing ignorance on
when they will
receive their next deliveries.
There were long winding queues of
cars at the few filling stations
that had fuel, such as Ford Garage along
Chiremba Road in Chadcombe.
Secretary for Energy and Power
Development Mr Justin Mupamhanga
yesterday said he was not aware of the
latest fuel price increase.
"I am not aware that the price of fuel
has increased. At the moment, I
have no comment," he said.
Commenting on the latest fuel price increases, the Petroleum Marketers
Association of Zimbabwe spokesperson and BP Shell corporate affairs
secretary Mr Rodrick Kusano said it was difficult to tell what had triggered
the latest price increase.
"It is very difficult to tell why
the price of fuel has been increased
as people are getting free funds and
some from the Diaspora to import fuel.
"Individuals are importing
the fuel. It is not the oil companies which
are controlling fuel," he
said.
The price of fuel surged about three weeks ago from between
$175 000
and $200 000 a litre to between $206 000 and $280 000 for the same
unit.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) last month unveiled a
US$50 million
($5,1 trillion at the prevailing exchange rate) revolving fuel
import
facility.
This followed an agreement signed between the
central bank and French
bank, BNP Paribas, and co-arranger of the facility,
Loita Capital Partners
International.
Under the facility, which
will run for the next year on a revolving
basis, the National Oil Company of
Zimbabwe (Noczim) will import fuel for
both the private and public
sectors.
Zimbabwe has been facing intermittent fuel shortages over
the past six
years owing to a foreign currency crunch caused by illegal
sanctions imposed
against the country by the West.
The country
requires US$40 million for its monthly fuel requirements
and the US$50
million facility is expected to go a long way in improving
fuel availability
due to its revolving nature.
Source : The Herald
SABC
June 20,
2006, 08:00
Zimbabwe has set up roadblocks to prevent private buyers from
purchasing
maize from farmers, Harare's Herald newspaper reported today. "We
have our
personnel on the ground to get hold of culprits that were illegally
buying
maize from farmers," said Samuel Muvuti, the Grain Marketing Board
(GMB)
head. "We are expecting more maize to be delivered without any
problems."
The GMB had tightened security against private buyers by
setting up
roadblocks along the country's major roads with the help of the
police.
About 30 000 tons of maize have so far been delivered to GMB depots
and more
was expected to come in as many farmers have now completed
harvesting.
"Maize is a controlled commodity and the illegal private
buyers and the
farmers too, must know that itÆs an offence that carries a
jail term
according to the GMB Act," said Muvuti. He said most farmers were
willing to
deliver their maize to the GMB. But private maize buyers were
taking
advantage of transport problems to intercept farmers before they
deliver
their maize to GMB depots.
Zimbabwe projected to harvest 1.8
million tons of maize
The dealers were offering farmers between ZIM35 million
and ZIM37 million a
ton while GMB pays ZIM31 million per ton. Zimbabwe was
this year projected
to harvest about 1.8 million metric tons of maize of
which 900 000 were
expected to be delivered to the GMB.
Last year,
the country produced between 750 000 and one million tons against
the
national requirement of 1.8 million. The deficit saw US135 million being
directed towards grain imports last year. - Sapa
Botswana Daily News
20 June, 2006
GABORONE - Civil society in
Botswana Saturday commemorated Operation
Murambatsvina the Zimbabwean
government undertook last year to restore order
in squatter
settlements.
The event was organised under the auspices of Botswana
Civil Society
Solidarity Coalition for Zimbabwe (BOCISCOZ) in an endeavour
to raise
awareness about the crisis in Zimbabwe and to sensitise Batswana
about the
dangers of xenophobia.
Speakers at the event lamented
the brutality the Zimbabwean government
has unleashed on its people, which
is not condemned by SADC leaders who hide
under the guise of silent
diplomacy.
SADC and its leaders have adopted a totally untenable
strategy called
silent diplomacy, charged Taolo Lucas of the Botswana
Congress Party (BCP).
SADC has turned itself into a brotherhood of heartless
conspirators who do
not want to assist the Zimbabwean people against the
tyranny of Zimbabwe.
Lucas said this flawed strategy had, among
others, resulted in high
levels of uncontrollable crime, xenophobia and
illegal immigration.
He called for active engagement of Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe
so as to strike an amicable solution to the current
crisis.
He stated that commitments made by continental bodies such
as SADC and
African Union (AU) must translate into tangible
outcomes.
Transgressors must receive sanction of sorts while rogue
leaders and
delinquent states should be made to account or face isolation,
he added.
A situation obtaining in Africa where unelected despots
are graced
with membership of continental bodies like the AU is
unacceptable.
Samson Guma, the MP for Tati East, advised that
Batswana and
Zimbabweans must learn to co-exist with mutual tolerance,
acceptance and a
resolve towards mutual enrichment.
We face
problems and fortunes, albeit at different measures and
supply, he said. We
all at one point or the other disappoint one another,
thus creating
opportunities for problems for one another of different
profiles at
different frequencies.
Guma said the spirit of botho that involved
extending courtesy to
others should be the guiding principle in
Botswana/Zimbabwe relations.
Kathleen Letshabo, the vice president
of the Botswana National Front
(BNF) condemned the Zimbabwe government for
violating peoples basic human
rights.
Letshabo said it was
regrettable that the Harare government denied
people the right to good
shelter by demolishing their houses and leaving
them homeless.
However, she explained that she did not encourage illegal squatting
but
called on governments to enact policies that equitably cater for all in
land
allocation matters.
She also regretted the fact that at times
Batswana tended to ill-treat
Zimbabweans by, among others, paying them
meagre wages for their services.
Why should we apply those double
standards as fellow neighbours? I
think we should treat these people the way
we want Mugabe to treat them, she
said.
She also challenged
SADC observer missions that oversee Zimbabwe
elections, saying they never
disclose the truth.
It is clear that elections in Zimbabwe were not
free and fair but SADC
always wants to mislead us into believing that they
were, Letshabo charged.
Meanwhile, a United Nations (UN) report on
Murambatsvina last year
condemned the operation as a disastrous venture that
had left more than 500
000 people homeless and jobless while also violating
international law and
creating a humanitarian crisis.
It also
said a further 2.4 million people had been affected by the
countrywide
campaign that saw many shantytowns, ramshackle markets and
makeshift homes
demolished.
UN special envoy Anna Tibaijuka observed that while the
campaign
purported to target illegal dwellings and clamp down on alleged
illicit
activities, the operation was carried out in an indiscriminate and
unjustified manner, with indifference for human suffering.
In
its rebuttal, Mugabes government has defended the operation as an
urban
clean-up drive and has promised to help the displaced rebuild.
Zimbabwe has pledged to provide 1.2 million houses or building plots
by 2008
but the report said economists were sceptical on whether government
could
afford such a project at a time when Zimbabwe was wracked by
triple-digit
inflation and in throes of a severe food crisis.
Even if motivated
by a desire to ensure a semblance of order in the
chaotic manifestations of
rapid urbanisation and rising poverty
characteristic of African cities,
nonetheless Operation Restore Order turned
out to be a disastrous venture,
the UN report say. BOPA
[ This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 20
Jun 2006 (IRIN) - A furore has erupted over a UN
committee's recommendation
to rank Zimbabwe as a least-developed country
(LDC).
Zimbabwean
officials were furious at the UN Committee for Development
Policy's findings
that Zimbabwe, along with Papua New Guinea, was eligible
for inclusion in
the list of 50 LDCs. The committee said Zimbabwe had not
only remained a
low-income country for a protracted period, but had also
become more
economically vulnerable.
In assessing a country's economic vulnerability,
the committee among other
factors considers food security, instability of
exports of good and services
and share of agriculture in the country's
income.
Government spokesman George Charamba was quoted in the Sunday
edition of the
Daily Chronicle as dismissing the committee's findings. "They
want to create
[an impression] that the country has failed. Our position
remains the same
that we are not beggars. We are not a poor country and we
want to be rated
accordingly. We need the correct position that we
deserve".
He maintained the country's problems were a result of "illegal
sanctions"
imposed by western nations. The government's rejection of the
findings means
the country cannot be included in the official table of
LDCs.
According to some UN officials, the issue of Zimbabwe's
classification has
become "highly politicised", with the government on the
one hand alleging a
plot to denigrate the country, and humanitarian workers
arguing the
authorities should face the reality of the unfolding
crisis.
Zimbabwean economist Professor Tony Hawkins said the UN committee
had taken
"objective criteria" into consideration. He pointed out that over
the past
two decades, Zimbabwe had slipped from a middle-income country to a
low-income one as a result of government policies. "And now to be put in the
LDC category is embarrassing for the government".
According to Diana
Games, a researcher with the South African Institute for
International
Affairs (SAIIA), Zimbabwe has experienced a more than 30
percent drop in its
Gross Domestic Product in the past four years.
"It has gone from being
one of the most successful economies on the
continent to a country plagued
by food shortages, reduced industrial
capacity, declining exports and
massive unemployment ... Factory output has
fallen [by] 45.6 percent since
1998, and manufacturing levels are at their
lowest since
1971".
Besides economic vulnerability, the UN committee also assesses
health,
nutrition, poverty levels and education, while drawing up its list
of LDCs.
"Zimbabwe's inflation is at 1,200 percent - the highest for any
country not
at war - this in itself speaks volumes of the state of the
country," said
Tafadzwa Mugabe, a spokesman for the NGO, Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights.
"Rather than remain in a state of denial", he noted the
government could
benefit from reclassification, "however unpleasant" that
prospect would be
for the authorities.
Hawkins explained that as LDC,
Zimbabwe would qualify for debt-relief and
other multilateral
assistance.
Many analysts trace the beginning of Zimbabwe's economic
crisis to a
commitment of one-third of its troops to the conflict in the
Democratic
Republic of Congo in the late 1990s, and an unbudgeted payout to
veterans of
its independence struggle, which led to the suspension of aid by
the
International Monetary Fund. A chaotic land redistribution programme
begun
in 2000, and several seasons of bad rains, further hurt the agro-based
economy.
Games said in a recent SAIIA report that even the most
optimistic growth
projections "suggest that it will take 15-20 years [for
Zimbabwe] to regain
the living standards of the
mid-1990s".
ekklesia.co.uk
Controversial President Mugabe's ruling party
in Zimbabwe has cancelled the
annual National Day of Prayer, held annually
on 25 May, and replaced it with
a "more patriotic" Zimbabwe Day of Prayer to
be marked on 25 June - reports
The Standard newspaper from
Harare.
The Zimbabwean authorities say that there is nothing sinister
about the
change, and that it is purely an "administrative
development".
But critics say that Mr Mugabe is using religious
commitment and fervour to
entrench his authoritarian regime.
The new
'day of prayer' was proposed after pro-Zanu PF church leaders met
with
officials from the ruling party's commissariat and information
departments
recently, claims the newspaper.
What is seen as a move to further
constrain the churches comes amid growing
fears in the ruling party that
some sections of the Christian community have
become far too vocal against
the government's policies - which they say
abuse the poor and undermine
basic human rights.
The Rev Andrew Muchechetere is reported as saying
that on 25 June 2006 the
state-owned Zimbabwe United Passenger Company,
ZUPCO, would ferry passengers
from "the usual pick-up points" they would
have used on 25 May. He is one of
the organisers.
Outspoken Catholic
Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo has recently said that
some in the
churches have been corrupted by their associations with the
state, and are
now fatally compromised in their relations with Mr Mugabe and
his allies -
who have been roundly condemned by the international community
and the
United Nations for their slum clearance policies.
On 25 June ruling party
supporters and church leaders who back Zanu PF are
now expected to gather at
Glamis Stadium in Harare for the Zimbabwe Day of
Prayer.
The Standard
says that according to an internal memo, circulating among
pro-government
religious organisations, President Robert Mugabe will attend
the prayers and
address the gathering.
Since 1998, the National Day of Prayer has been
held under the stewardship
of the Intercessors for Zimbabwe, led by the Rev
John Chimbambo.
One cleric who is critical of the regime said that "it
looks like people
will be worshipping Mugabe and not God", and the Zimbabwe
Christian
Alliance, has attacked the outcome of the visit to State House led
by the
Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the Evangelical Fellowship of
Zimbabwe.
Recently the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams,
intervened to
support the suspension of a pro-Mugabe Anglican bishop in
Zimbabwe who has
faced unresolved criminal charges and accusations of
intimidating church
members. He has no official jurisdiction in the matter,
however.
It is alleged by some that the CIO, the Zimbabwe government
intelligence
organisation, has many infiltrators among the clergy of the
churches.
Mining Weekly
Canadian mining company Caledonia has announced the
purchase of
Blanket mine in Zimbabwe from Kinross Gold, also of Canada, for
$1-million
and the issue of 20-million Caledonia shares.
Blanket mine, which is located in the south west of Zimbabwe surpassed
total
gold production of 1-million ounces in 2005. It reportedly mills 600
t/d of
underground ore at an average grade of 4,1 g/t and currently produces
an
average of 2 100 oz/m.
A proposed $2,5-million project aimed at
completing the new number
four shaft and increasing milling throughput to 1
000 t/day and gold
production to over 40 000 oz/y, is scheduled for
completion by mid 2007.
"This acquisition is an important step in
reaching Caledonia's
objective of developing its asset base into a
significant diversified
international mining company through profitable gold
production. The
acquisition of this high-class low-cost gold-0producing
asset, the
development of our Nama cobalt property, and our successful PGE,
nickel and
copper exploration activities underline our focus on Southern
Africa and
should rapidly begin to add shareholder value," said Caledonia
CEO and
president, Stefan Hayden.
He added that the greenstone
gold deposits found in Zimbabwe were the
company's speciality, and provided
considerable opportunity for the further
expansion of gold mining and
production interests.
The company will apply for 20-million new
shares to be admitted to
trading on AIM and admission is expected to take
place on June 26
Mmegi, Botswana
RYDER GABATHUSE
Staff Writer
6/20/2006
4:22:27 PM (GMT +2)
BULAWAYO: Excitement to board a train with
dignitaries from Bulawayo
to Francistown at the official re-launch of the
route between the two cities
filled up the air. There was pushing and
shoving at the Bulawayo railway
station after the first ceremony in
Zimbabwe.
People with luggage pushed their way into the train
whose carriages
had just undergone some refurbishment particularly for the
route.Some
passengers had been waiting in the train for a long time while
dignitaries
were taking their time at the launch held just a stone's throw
from the
railway. Some had already travelled in the train in the past few
days when
it was put on trial for the benefit of both National Railways of
Zimbabwe
(NRZ) and Botswana Railways (BR). But this particular trip was
graced by
VIPs, hence the large number of people. Botswana's Works and
Transport
Minister, Lesego Motsumi boarded the train with her Zimbabwean
counterpart,
Chris Mushohwe and senior government officials and
representatives of
stakeholders from both countries. Photojournalists had a
field day as they
chased juicy pictures. They were seen darting here and
there, flashing their
cameras before and behind the dignitaries. All seemed
well at the glamorous
event that stirred a lot of excitement. But what came
next was like
unearthing a scandal of the first order. Beneath that well
built platform at
the Bulawayo railway station, there was a disgusting site
of decaying and
fresh human waste. Journalists were turned off by the stench
from the accumu
lated human dung and along the railway tracks. Stones and
slabs supporting
the track either glisten or glitter with human urine.
Curiously, workers of
NRZ seemed unperturbed by the smell or the eyesore as
they continued with
their chores without a care in the world. The human
waste was evidently in
competition with oil and diesel in their pollution of
the railway track.
Besides, the pollution, the railway line on the Zimbabwe
side seem to have
bumps. The result was a very uncomfortable trip until the
train reached the
Botswana side. Immediately after crossing the Ramokgwebana
border into
Botswana, the noise and the shaking of the train suddenly
vanished. BR
public relations manager, Jane Gulubane explained that Botswana
has one of
the best rail infrastructure in the region installed through a
soft loan
from China. "BR has a modern type of rail with concrete slippers
and 50kg
continuously welded rail track. It compares well with the First
World rail,"
said Gulubane. She stated that it is not a surprise that the
Botswana rail
is quiet and comfortable. She explained that between
Ramokgwebana and
Francistown there are no curves that are perhaps the source
of the
discomfort on the Zimbabwean side. She said BR is very keen on
pollution and
want to ensure high health standards. "Besides preaching to
the passengers,
we are currently piloting with the closed chemical toilet
system which is
geared at avoiding pollution," she said. The BR plans to
install chemical
toilets when its coaches undergo refurbishment. "We are yet
to identify a
company to do the job for us. We view this as a step in the
right direction
towards our goal of zero pollution to the environment along
the railway
property." Efforts to solicit comments from the NRZ public
relations manager
based in Bulawayo, Fanuel Masikati on their endeavours to
cut on pollution
along the track especially at the Bulawayo station, were
fruitless as he
continuously indicated that he was in a series of meetings.
"I am in a
meeting and I can't take your calls," he told Mmegi.
IOL
June 20 2006 at
03:03PM
Lusaka - Zambian veterinary and health authorities on
Tuesday
confirmed the launch of an investigation into the possible presence
of bird
flu in the country after the discovery of over 40 dead wild birds in
the
southern tourist capital Livingstone.
Zambia has had no
reported cases of the avian influenza virus in wild
or domesticated poultry
and this is the country's first incident in which
dozens of birds have been
found dead in unknown circumstances.
Livingstone district chief
veterinary officer Jack Shoko said the dead
birds were collected near the
country's border with Zimbabwe, and that
samples had been dispatched to
Lusaka to determine the cause of death.
Shoko who warned the local
community against easting the wild birds,
saying it was too early to tell if
they had died of the H5N1 virus, first
detected in Asia and since spread to
Europe and some African countries.
The virus causes death among
poultry and humans.
Livingstone is Zambia's major tourist
destination and a key export
route linking south-central and east-central
Africa.
In March this year the government banned the importation of
all
poultry and poultry products and the movement of live birds as a
preventive
measure to cut the risk of bird flu outbreak.
The
movement of poultry and frozen poultry products within the country
was
restricted to the permission of health and veterinary authorities.
United Nations agencies had advised African governments to suspend
trade in
poultry to prevent the spread of the virus following an outbreak in
the West
African nation of Nigeria. - Sapa-dpa
June 20, 2006
By ANDnetwork
.com
TEN more officials yesterday resigned from Arthur Mutambara's
MDC camp
and rejoined the rival faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai citing lack
of
seriousness and direction.
TEN more officials yesterday
resigned from Arthur Mutambara's MDC camp
and rejoined the rival faction led
by Morgan Tsvangirai citing lack of
seriousness and direction.
This
brings to 27 the members who have dumped the robotics professor's
party this
month alone following the resignation of 17 others who quit
together with
political turncoat Shakespeare Maya.
In a joint letter to the MDC
pro-senate camp secretary-general
Welshman Ncube, the officials said: "We
write this letter to notify you that
we are resigning from the MDC led by
Mutambara. We are returning to the MDC
led by (Mr) Tsvangirai since it is
more serious."
The officials are Chitungwiza province youth organising
secretary,
Owen Matonhodze, Mhondoro North district youth secretary for
political
education, Garikai Matanhike, Mhondoro South district youth
treasurer,
Felistas Tafa, Mhondoro South district youth secretary for
political
education, Munyaradzi Kawara and Mhondoro South district youth
secretary for
gender, Precious Gorejena.
The others are: Mhondoro
South district youth secretary for
organising, Victor Churu, Mhondoro South
district youth secretary for
defence and security, Proud Tafa, Ward 7's
secretary for information and
publicity, Stanley Svosva, Benson Gumbe and
Plaxedes Gorejena who all come
from the same ward.
When the MDC
disintegrated following sharp disagreements over
participation in the senate
elections last year that were won overwhelmingly
by Zanu PF, the pro-senate
camp went on to create new structures.
Early this month, 17 members of
the pro-senate camp including its then
deputy director of elections
Shakespeare Maya, resigned blaming the
faction's lack of capacity to take
the status quo head on.
The resignations followed Maya's suspension on
allegations of being
power hungry.
Although the 17 officials did
not state whether they would join
Tsvangirai's camp, Maya was quoted as
expressing his willingness to work
with the anti-senate
camp for
the betterment of the country's fortunes.
"I am still an MDC member and
I will vote for the MDC in any election.
We believe we have to fight the
struggle as MDC," Maya said.
The Mutambara faction has been hit by a
train of defections, notably
those of vocal stalwarts such as Mbare
legislator Gift Chimanikire, Binga
member of the House of Assembly Joel
Gabbuza Gabuza, Kwekwe lawmaker
Blessing Chebundo and Samuel Sipepa Nkomo
who have since jumped
ship.
While Ncube was not reachable for
a comment yesterday, his faction's
spokesperson Gabriel Chaibva said: "As a
party we have not yet seen the
letter. But when they (defectors) joined the
party, did they announce it?
"This is part of a broader propaganda
campaign being orchestrated by
the likes of (Nelson) Chamisa. We cherish
their (defectors and potential
defectors) fundamental right to join any
political party of their choice."
Source The Daily Mirror, By The
Daily Mirror Reporter
June 20,
2006
By ANDnetwork .com
The leader of the MDC, Morgan
Tsvangirai has called for a Truth and
Justice Commission to probe political
and human rights abuses and economic
corruption in Zimbabwe.
"If we have to grant Mugabe, his family and his cronies immunity from
prosecution for crimes against humanity, then a proper programme of apology
to the families of the victims of Gukurahundi must be put in place. There
must also be a national process of healing and reconciliation with the
victims of Zanu (PF)'s repressive rule over the past two decades,"
Tsvangirai advised.
Such a commission would be tasked with
officially establishing the
truth of what happened and ensuring that justice
is done. Tsvangirai
emphasised that Mugabe should go now and should not
attempt to extend his
rule from 2008 to 2010.
"The country is
struggling to survive now. How can he contemplate
extending his grip on
power to 2010 when he has no solutions to the
problems?" he
said.
Asked about president Thabo Mbeki's announcement that UN
secretary
general Kofi Annan would take a leading role in solving the
Zimbabwean
crisis, Tsvangirai said he would welcome any initiative from any
quarter
that could put an end to the end of millions of
Zimbabweans.
He was not aware of any details of Annan's
initiative, which has now
been shot down in flames by a Zimbabwean
government official, who reacted
angrily to the news and said the invitation
extended to Annan in the wake of
Operation Murambatsvina had been overtaken
by events.
Tsvangirai also welcomed what he described as the
positive role being
played by the churches in seeking a solution to
Zimbabwe's political logjam.
Last week a group of churchmen from various
denominations held a meeting
with Mugabe at which they discussed possible
solutions.
"Some clerics support the status quo. But thankfully
the majority are
dedicated to alleviating the sufferings of large portions
of the population,
sufferings that have been caused by the Mugabe regime and
its policies," he
said.
One of Tsvangirai's main concerns
is the mounting frustration among
people, which he fears could lead to
widespread violence and render the
political process
irrelevant.
"Violence begets violence, and we want to avoid
that at all costs,
particularly among the young people who have nothing
gainful to do all day
because of the economic collapse," he said. "Violence
results where there is
no hope, so I feel a huge burden to hold out
meaningful hope to the people
of Zimbabwe."
Speaking at a
Press conference at the House of Commons last Friday,
Tsvangirai said he was
disturbed by the fact that some three million
Zimbabweans had fled their
country and many were living in squalid
conditions abroad.
Tsvangirai's visit to the UK is part of an international tour which
will
take him to various countries in Europe, followed by neighbouring
African
states and finally the United States.
His aim is to brief national
leaders in at attempt to counteract the
Mugabe regime's misleading
propaganda as to the real situation on the ground
in the
country.
Source: The Zimbabwean
June 20,
2006
By ANDnetwork .com
Zimbabwe's police have
arrested 56 illegal gold miners and recovered
about 30 kilogrammes of gold
ore in Mashonaland Central province under an
operation code-named "Operation
Upfumi Hwedu".
Among the 56 arrested, two of them were illegal gold
dealers from whom
police recovered 2.3 grammes of alluvial
gold.
All the 56 suspects were arrested on Saturday and they were
on Monday
still detained at Harare Central Police Station where they were
undergoing a
thorough vetting process.
They are expected to
appear in court soon.
Police said through the vetting process, they
would be compiling the
gold panners' names, addresses and other relevant
information for future
references.
Police assistant
commissioner Munyaradzi Musarira, who is responsible
for the operation, said
police would continue carrying out the operation
until such practices were
put to an end.
"Gold panning activities have been causing problems
countrywide, such
as land degradation, haemorrhaging the economy and some of
the gold is being
smuggled out of the country. We will however continue
carrying out such
raids until such practices are put to an end," he
said.
Musarira said the suspects were arrested at Lowdale Farm,
Eskbank
Farm, Chitamba Farm and along Chinyika and Mazowe rivers in
Mashonaland
Central province.
During the raids, police also
impounded 16 containers with opaque beer
(scuds) and some mining
equipment.
The mining equipment impounded includes shovels, steel
rods, axes,
crow bars, hammers, picks, chisels, wooden panning dishes,
plastic buckets,
steel tubes and some ropes.
Although police
have been carrying out raids, rounding up gold panners
countrywide, the
panners have been going back to the rivers and continuing
with their illegal
activities.
Since last year several gold panners were arrested and
police seized
their mining equipment. All the suspects were released after
being fined.
In March this year, at least 85 gold panners were
rounded up in Mazowe
area and police impounded 40 kilogrammes of gold ore
and mining equipment.
The panners who included nine women were
arrested along Mazowe River
under an operation code-named "Operation
Environment Friendly" which was
launched by police to curb the rampant gold
panning activities.
Early this year, the chief mining commissioner
Fredson Mabhena said
the government would soon come up with legislation
banning gold panning,
which has resulted in serious environmental
degradation in some parts of the
country.
He said there was
need to find a lasting solution to the problem of
gold panning since it had
caused a lot of damage to the environment.
Gold panning has also
resulted in the death of those involved, apart
from haemorrhaging the
economy through illegal gold deals and facilitating
smuggling.
The Herald
People's Daily
Zimbabwean lawyers are seeking
cooperation with their Chinese
counterparts in legislation affairs and law
consultation in a bid to build a
harmonious society, said a senior woman
lawyer on Monday.
"Zimbabwe and China show common interests in many
ways in legislation
and law enforcement in a bid to build a harmonious
society, and we need
cooperation with our Chinese counterparts in this
regard," Emilia Muchawa,
director of Zimbabwe Women Lawyers' Association,
told Xinhua in an exclusive
interview.
Muchawa said she hopes
she has an opportunity to exchange her ideas on
the issues of gender and
domestic violence with Chinese experts in All China
Women's Federation and
Chinese lawyers who have interest in the field.
She said they had
made the first draft of the bill for domestic
violence prevention and
protection of victims six years ago, which is now
ready for presentation to
parliament following its approval by the cabinet
two weeks ago.
Domestic violence has, for a long time, been a crime not clearly
defined in
the law books and only attracted a fine under common assault, she
said.
In detailing the bill, Muchawa said that although women
constitute the
majority that suffers domestic violence from their spouses,
men too are
subjected to different forms of abuse from their
partners.
The bill also speaks about challenging power in
relationships in a
very big way, she said. All people in any form of a
relationship will
benefit from the bill and these include a current, former
wife of husband,
all children whether born in or out of wedlock, adopted or
step children,
and people living with the perpetrator of violence, for
example, domestic
workers.
Muchawa said, "We are very glad to
have noticed that China is striving
for building a harmonious socialist
society, which needs strong supports in
legislation and concerted efforts
made by people in all walks of life."
"In this regard, we are doing
the same with you by making a law to
promote domestic harmony," she
said.
According to Muchawa, the bill describes about 12 kinds of
domestic
violence, such as physical violence that includes hitting, kicking
and
punching and any other manner of physical assault, and sexual abuse
including rape, indecent assault, unwanted sexual touching or exposure or
any act that degrades another person.
Also included are
smashing or actions of destroying property jointly
owned by another person,
emotional, verbal and psychological abuses and
harassment by watching or
loitering around a person's home and telephoning
or sending messages to a
person's home or workplace.
The beauty of the bill is that while in
the past it was the victim of
violence that was required to make a police
report, there is provision for
other people to apply for a Protection Order
on behalf the victim, she said.
"In the past, women would make a
report and withdraw the matter for
fear of retribution or feeling that they
have lost their self esteem,"
Muchawa told the reporter.
But
under the law, a repeated breach of the protection order results
in an
offence and liability to imprisonment for up to five years, she
added.
According to a research by a local project in 1999, at least
one in
four women in Zimbabwe subject to some forms of domestic violence but
the
figure could be higher at the moment, she said.
She
believed that the bill, when it becomes law, will bear positive
results, as
there will be more dialogue during conflict resolution, and it
will also
create a warm and homely environment for children who also bear
the brunt of
domestic violence.
Source: Xinhua
zimbabwejournalists.com
Bill Saidi.
By Bill
Saidi
HARARE - MANY residents of Harare were shocked, if not
scandalized
last week, when the government extended the term of office of Ms
Sekesayi
Makwavarara, the de facto mayor of the capital.
They noted
with alarm the lack of apology in the announcement.
Ignatius Chombo, who
made the announcement, managed to make it sound as
routine as if Makwavarara
and the government-appointed commission she heads
were elected by the people
of Harare.
The commission has plunged the city into a new era of
sleaze and
squalor. Most of the blame is heaped on Ms Makwavarara, who was
elected in
2002 on an opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
ticket, but
switched to Zanu PF, when the going got tough for her
party.
Moreover, Ms Makwavarara's taste for the trappings of power
has not
endeared her even to neutral residents.
There was a Zanu PF
campaign to remove her from office because she was
giving her new party a
bad image. The campaign divided the party in the
middle, apparently with
Chombo leading the pro-Makwavarara group, which
triumphed in the
end.
What may have tipped the scales in her favour was a
much-publicized
appeal to Grace Mugabe, President's wife. Chombo did what he
had to do
because if he had done the right thing - call for council
elections - his
party would not win. Like most urban centres in the country
since 2000,
Harare has been dominated by the MDC.
Until Chombo
launched a virtual "jihad" against the MDC-dominated
council in 2004, the
capital would have remained an opposition-run city.
Apart from her
turncoat tendencies and her love for luxury,
Makwavarara is abrasive in her
dealings with subordinates. Her relations
with the Town Clerk, Nomutsa
Chideya, have been characterized by spats of
one kind or another.
What is worse is that Makwavarara has never distinguished herself in
the
field of women's rights.
She is thus not seen in the same light as
such women as Joice Mujuru,
the vice-president, or another deputy president,
Mrs. Phumzila
Mlambo-Ngcuka, of South Africa.
She may, strange as
it seem, see herself achieving the sort of
pinnacle political success
associated with women such as Mrs. Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf of
Liberia.
Makwavarara is single, which should not be held against
her. Moreover
that status may not be entirely due to a quip made famous by
the American
novelist, Dorothy Parker: "Men seldom make passes at women who
wear
glasses."
There are men around the world, and Zimbabwe is
not exceptions, who
are attracted to such women: ambitious and bold beyond
belief.
Makwavarara's ascent comes in the wake of consideration of a
new law
in Zimbabwe, designed specifically to halt a surge in domestic
violence
against women.
The Domestic Violence Bill has been
approved by the cabinet of
President Mugabe and is soon to be presented to
Parliament.
Many women's rights activists have commented positively on
the Bill,
which may or may have a salutary effect on male-female relations,
so steeped
in traditional culture, most sociologists doubt it can succeed
without the
assent of the chiefs.
Makwavarara's new appointment
also coincides with a fresh debate on
the plight of children in Zimbabwe.
The sexual abuse of children has reached
alarming proportions and has been
debated endlessly in Parliament as well.
Mwakwavarara's views on
these two issues have not been made public.
Yet if, as seems likely, she
intends to advance her political career, she
may have to let the voters know
her views on such ticklish subjects.
Which brings us to 16 June,
the day on which Africa remembers the
Soweto Uprising in South
Africa.
This year it was remembered even as children in many war-torn
countries were recruited into armies to kill people in civil wars.
In general, the status of the young on the continent has not been
encouraging and there are many more unemployed youths than there are adults
all over the continent.
Women on the continent have fared no
better since the dawn of
independence. There may be rare patches of progress
and success here and
there but in general, the plight of women and children
on the continent has
remained pathetic.
In Zimbabwe, as
elsewhere on the continent, much lip service has been
paid to the
amelioration of the two vulnerable groups' political, social and
economic
conditions. Tokenism has been used in appointments of women to high
political positions. Makwavarara may be an example of this tokenism
too.
Recently, there have been suggestions that Mrs. Mujuru may not
be the
automatic successor when President Robert Mugabe steps down - if he
does
step down in 2008.
The speculation now is that Mugabe has no
intention of leaving office
after 2008. Certainly, there are people who
believe that he ought to be
asked to account for his actions during a reign
of terror spanning a quarter
of a century, featuring much death and
destruction.
The suggestion is that there may be a "deal" in the offing
to forgive
him for his past misdeeds.
It has always been
assumed that, when it came to the crunch, Mugabe
would rather face the music
- confront his accusers head-on - than beg for
forgiveness, with his tail
between his legs - something might have altered
his strategy.
Perhaps he has become aware that there are people determined not to
let him
off the hook so easily. Such people, it would seem, are prepared to
risk
plunging the country into fresh turmoil, rather than let Mugabe go
scot-free.
The specter of a full-blown trial at the
International Court at The
Hague seems to have given Mugabe a new
perspective of his legacy as a
politician and the hero of the Independence
struggle.
Zanu PF, as a party, has not endeared itself to its many
female
members. Most of them, such as the feisty Margaret Dongo, have spoken
darkly
of their period in the training camps in Mozambique.
Dongo,
who became an MP first on a Zanu PF ticket, she later left the
party to
stand as an Independent. She first lost to a Zanu PF candidate, but
contested the result, winning the seat in a subsequent rerun.
Most political historians are looking forward to her autobiography,
which
some insiders say is in the works.
PF-Zapu's gender sensitivity during
the war of liberation has not been
the subject of much praise
either.
During debate on the Domestic Violence Bill, for instance,
there were
male MPs who apparently thought it might go too far, that there
were
instances in which a man had every right to chastise his wife with the
occasional beating.
On the ground, there is much evidence that
there are women, raised in
their ethnic culture, who cling to the belief
that a little violence in the
marital home is not such a bad thing: some go
so far as to say if the
husband doesn't give them a slap in the face once in
a while, he may not
love them any more.
In most cultures in
Africa, there exist patriarchal systems: the
father dictates everything and
is effectively the head of the clan.
In Zambia, the Bemba have the
most notable matriarchal system. Their
women are distinctly more assertive
than women of other ethnic groups,
notably the Tonga, the majority ethnic
group in the country. Yet, in spite
of their numerical superiority, the
Tonga have not achieved the political
ascendancy that the Shona have
achieved in Zimbabwe, for instance, or the
Kikuyu in Kenya.
The
late Zambian opposition politician, Anderson Mazoka, was a Tonga
and was the
mostly likely candidate of the combined opposition parties in
forthcoming
elections.
Another prominent Tonga politician, Vernon Mwaanga, was
beaten up by
Mazoka's supporters when he went to the house to pay his
condolences.
Mwaanga is in the government of President Levy
Mwanawasa, who belongs
to a minority group, although it is allied to the
Tonga.
Sociologists have suggested it is the matriarchal system that
has
boosted the political fortunes of the Bemba - there is bound to be
heated
debate on the subject for a long time to come.
For most
sociologists, however, it is the bride price or dowry which
effectively
inhibits the gender equality for which many African women have
campaigned.
In Zimbabwe's case, many of the women who featured
prominently in
opposition parties in the late 1990s were single. If they
became mothers at
all it was outside marriage.
It is assumed that
if they had been conventionally married they might
not have achieved such
success.
Debate on a review of the lobola or roora system has not
been
generally encouraged in Zimbabwe. "It's our tradition," said one woman
interviewed in survey we conducted for a newspaper I worked on for a few
years ago.
She agreed that the system inhibited a woman's right to
assert herself
in her home. "You are always reminded, when it comes to the
crunch, that
your husband paid for you," she admitted. "But that is who we
are, that is
our tradition."
Another woman in the same survey
argued that to abolish the roora or
even to review it would mean her father
would no longer be rewarded for
bringing her up. "My future husband must
reward my father for bringing me up
to be worthy of his affections," she
said. "To be given away for nothing is
just not right."
Previous
legislation directed at freeing women from the clutches of
their ethnic
traditions - the Matrimonial Causes Act and the Age of Majority
Act - met
stiff resistance from many men.
A member of the ruling Zanu PF
scoffed at the very idea of his sister
deciding how much would be paid for
her in roora.
"Over my dead body!" he swore.
Over the years,
the two laws have given women more confidence in
asserting their rights. Yet
in the communal areas very little has changed.
It is not just coincidence
that this is the sector in which Zanu PF is
predominant. This party has
preyed on people who find it difficult to change
their old
ways.
Perhaps the same will happen with the new proposed law on
domestic
violence. Yet in general, both the women and children of Africa may
continue
to hope for a mythical Mama Mary to "speak words of wisdom" to them
or even
to their leaders, as The Beatles sang years ago, when they find
themselves
in "times of trouble", which they certainly will be in for the
foreseeable
future.
June 20,
2006
By ANDnetwork .com
Zimbabwe's two power companies
have not been operating at full
capacity during the current year due to
insufficient coal supplies that have
hit the country.
In a
joint statement, Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), a subsidiary of
Zesa
Holdings, and Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) said they both
have not
been operating at full capacity during the current year.
"Coal
supplies have not been sufficient for maximum generation of
electricity from
installed capacity, and some generation units need to be
refurbished so that
they can perform at maximum capacity," said ZPC and
HCCL.
In a
bid to resolve the current problems, the two companies said HCCL
would be
recapitalised in the short- to medium-term with two drills having
already
been received and 10 haulage trucks awaiting shipment.
The strategy
would culminate in the opening and development of Chaba
opencast block whose
reserves are shallow and undisturbed.
On the other hand, ZPC has
put across plans to embark on overhauls at
HPS in order to increase
generation capacity to 780MW.
"Zimbabwe Power Company has put in
place a plan to carry out the long
overdue major overhauls at Hwange Power
Station in order to enable the power
station to improve reliability and
availability and increase capacity to
780MW," the statement
said.
The proposed overhauls would be completed within 18 months
due to the
long lead-time for procurement and delivery of spares from
overseas.
In addition, ZPC would devise a working plan to ensure
regular
payments of coal deliveries.
The two companies
dispelled reports that coal supplies to the power
utility were cut due to an
unpaid debt. ZPC and HCCL said there are
currently three out of six
generating units working at HPS and plans are in
place to increase the
number of generators in operation and to revive the
small thermal power
stations of Harare, Bulawayo and Munyati.
Daily Mirror
June 20, 2006
By Samuel Mungadze
Johannesburg (AND) - American rights activist
Reverend Jesse Jackson
has blasted Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe for
dragging his country to
economic ruin. He has also lamented the lack of
economic development amongst
the majority in South Africa and urged
financial institutions to be involved
more in nation building.
Delivering a series of sharp rebukes to regional progress, Jackson
said that
"South Africa has political freedom but not equality, there is the
dignity
of freedom but not quality in development".
Speaking to African
News Dimension on Tuesday in Johannesburg,
Reverend Jackson said Mugabe
chose the wrong option when he grabbed land
from white commercial
farmers.
"Land reform has long been a noble goal to achieve but it
has to be
done in a way that minimises trauma" to those whose land is
removed.
"The process has to attract investors rather than scare
them away,"
Jackson said.
Jackson is in South Africa attending
a three day global leader's
conference. The outspoken reverend said that
democratic rule is what
Zimbabwe requires.
"What is required in
Zimbabwe is democratic rule, democracy is lacking
in the country and is the
major cause of this economic melt down."
Jackson praised South
Africa as a metaphor of hope in the world.
"Because you have had
this marvellous transformation from ashes to
beauty, because your scars have
been healed, you are now qualified to lead
the world," he said.
Jackson, however, lamented the lack of economic development amongst
the
majority in South Africa and urged financial institutions to be involved
more in nation building.
"I'm challenging companies in
countries that benefited from apartheid
to reinvest with the country," said
Jackson.
The world acclaimed human rights activist said banks in
South Africa
must provide developmental loans and not conventional loans to
empower the
country.
Influential and thought leaders in the
world are meeting in
Johannesburg for the Global Leaders Africa Summit with
the aim of enabling
African leaders in their duties. The conference runs
until Thursday.
AND, Johannesburg Bureau
The Swazi Observer
By Roberta T
Muropa
IN Zimbabwe the notion of basic and quality service
delivery has become a
thing of the past.
As the country's economic crisis
deepens, primary earners try to make ends
meet while being dutiful citizens,
paying their rates, electricity and water
bills.
In return they
expect the regular and efficient delivery of services such as
the
maintenance of street lights and roads, water and sanitation, and refuse
removal.
However, the state's responsibility of ensuring service
delivery has been
shifted to women.
Already occupying the role of
provider and care giver within the household,
women now also have to protect
their families from the health and
environmental hazards posed by refuse
that is not removed. It is they who
have to find innovative ways of removing
the refuse most often burning the
waste or by burying it.
In Zimbabwe
and across the world women are the primary providers of care to
those
infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.
It stands to reason that living in
a healthy environment would be an
essential part of the package required to
ensure proper care.
However, the inability of city councils to provide
adequate service delivery
compromises this. For example, in some parts of
Zimbabwe there are times
when citizens are even unable to access
water.
If city councils are unable to provide proper services, the option
of
privatising service delivery may come to be seen as a good solution. But
this poses other problems as, has been seen in other countries in the
region, it is possible the many citizens will be simply unable to afford the
services provided. I argue that this would simply deepen the impact of the
country's economic crisis on ordinary citizens.
The concept of
privatising state enterprises is part of the agenda of global
financial
institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
World Bank and
World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The Zimbabwean media recently published a
number of articles speculating how
health services were to be
privatised.
While government issued a statement denying this, the reports
conjured up
images of thousands of Zimbabweans being unable to access proper
health
services simply because they cannot afford them.
Privatisation
is already evident in the tourism, banking, telecommunications
and media
sectors.
We have seen how in some instances the tourism industry has
progressed at
the cost of the displacement of indigenous
communities.
The examples are many. The point I want to make is that
government needs to
resume the responsibility for service delivery such as
access to basic and
quality health care, water and other services and ensure
that private
companies do not profit at the expense of the rights of
ordinary people.
(Roberta T Muropa is a member of the Gender and
Media Southern Africa
(GEMSA) Network Zimbabwe chapter. This article is part
of the Gender Links
Opinion and Commentary Service that provides fresh views
on everyday news).
BBC
A Kent MP has
again raised the case of a Zimbabwean woman who stole
more than £100,000 in
benefits using the identity of a mother-of-two.
Sungaradazzo Mudgyiwa,
from Zimbabwe, still lives in the council house
in Whitstable where she was
living before her conviction in 2004.
She was jailed for the
offence, but released after a year.
Julian Brazier said action
should be taken to deport her as she was an
"illegal entrant from
Zimbabwe".
He told the House of Commons she was still resident in
Whitstable
despite being sentenced to four-and-a-half years in
jail.
One of her teenage sons had also recently been given an Asbo
for
violence and intimidation, the Tory MP for Canterbury and Whitstable
added.
In response, the Home Office minister, Liam Byrne, said he
could not
comment on individual cases in the Commons but would speak to Mr
Brazier
privately about the matter.