Joint Statement
23 June
2005
Amnesty
International, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) and Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights
Noting
with grave concern the deepening humanitarian and human rights crisis in
Zimbabwe, more than
200 African and international human rights and civic groups have come together
to call on the African Union and the United Nations to take action
Over the past four weeks the
Government of Zimbabwe has orchestrated the widespread forced eviction of tens
of thousands of informal traders and families living in informal settlements.
During these forced evictions homes have been burnt and property
destroyed. Many individuals have been arbitrarily arrested, detained, fined,
abducted and/or beaten. Such actions continue unabated, and with impunity.
Tens of thousands of people are
now living in the open - during winter - without access to adequate shelter,
food or clean water. No care has been shown for these people, many of whom are
vulnerable. Thousands of children,
the elderly and the ill face the prospect of disease and in some cases death
from hunger, exposure and drinking unsafe water. Some of the most vulnerable are
dying already.
The
complete and wholesale destruction of people’s homes and
livelihoods – conservatively estimated to have affected at least 300,000 people
so far – constitutes a grave violation of international human rights law, and a
disturbing affront to human dignity. There can be no
justification for the Government of Zimbabwe’s action which has been carried out
without prior notice, due process of the law or assurance of
adequate alternative accommodation. We condemn it
in the strongest terms.
The African Union
(AU) and the relevant bodies of the United Nations (UN), including the High
Commissioner for Human Rights, the Security Council and the
Secretary-General, cannot fail to act in the face of
such gross and widespread human rights violations and appalling human misery. We
urge the Chair of the AU and all member states to address the situation in
Zimbabwe as an urgent matter at the forthcoming AU Assembly in Libya from 4 to 5
July. Similarly, the UN must act on the serious concerns raised by the UN
Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing in respect of the ongoing and massive
violations of human rights in Zimbabwe.
We welcome the appointment by the UN Secretary-General of Anna Kajumulo
Tibaijuka, the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, as the Special Envoy for Human
Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe. We strongly urge the UN to ensure there is no
delay in either her visit to Zimbabwe or the publication of her findings.
Furthermore, in light of the scale of the humanitarian crisis and the fact that
forced evictions continue, the UN must call for an end to these violations and
for humanitarian assistance to be provided to all those
affected.
We urge all member states of the AU and UN to ensure that the relevant
bodies of the two organizations:
· Take immediate and
effective action – consistent with their mandates – to ensure an end to the mass
forced evictions and destruction of livelihoods in Zimbabwe, including by
publicly condemning these violations and calling for their immediate end.
· Call for the Government of
Zimbabwe to ensure that all those who are currently homeless as a result of the
mass forced evictions have immediate access to emergency
relief.
- Call for the Government of
Zimbabwe to respect the right to an effective remedy for all victims including
access to justice, and appropriate reparations which can involve restitution,
rehabilitation, compensation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition.
Joint Statement on Zimbabwe Forced
Evictions – 23 June 2005
Supporting Organizations
Angola
Development Workshop, Angola
Media Institute for Southern Africa, Angola
SOS Habitat
Botswana
Amnesty International, Botswana
Ditshwanelo (The Botswana Centre for Human Rights)
Media Institute for Southern Africa, Botswana
Burkina Faso
Fondation Aimé Nikiema pour les Droits de l'Homme
Mouvement Bukinabè des Droits de l'Homme et des
Peuples (MBDHP)
Union Interafricaine des Droits de l'Homme
Cameroon
Absolute Dispute Resolution
Human Rights Education Centre
Egypt
Egyptian Centre for Housing Rights
Gambia
African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies
Ghana
Centre for Democratic Development (CDD)
Centre for Public Interest Law
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (Africa Office)
Media Foundation for West Africa, Ghana
People's Dialogue for Human Settlements
Third World Network Africa (TWN)
Kenya
Amnesty International, Kenya
Basic Rights
Catholic Diocese of Kitale, Kenya
Chemichemi ya Ukweli
Coalition on Violence Against Women - Kenya (COVAW-K)
Hakijamii Trust
Illishie Trust
Kenya Human Rights Commission
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights
Kisumu Urban Apostolate Programes – Pandipieri, Kenya
Kituo Cha Sheria
Shelter Forum
Trocaire
Umande Trust
Lesotho
Media Institute for Southern Africa, Lesotho
Liberia
Amnesty International, Liberia
Centre for Democratic Empowerment (CEDE)
Malawi
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR)
Institute for Policy Interaction
Media Institute for Southern Africa, Malawi
Mauritius
Amnesty International, Mauritius
Mozambique
APFIVA, Mozambique
Media Institute for Southern Africa, Mozambique
Mozambican Action on Crime Combat and Social
Rehabilitation of Prisoners
National Association of Demobilised Soldiers of Mozambique
Namibia
Clement Daniels Legal Practitioners
Forum For the Future
Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation
Katutura Community Radio
Legal Assistance Centre
Media Institute for Southern Africa, Namibia
Media Institute for Southern Africa - Regional
Secretariat
Namibia Non-Governmental Forum
National Society for Human Rights
The Rainbow Project
Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern
Africa (WIMSA)
Nigeria
Action Health Incorporated (AHI)
Africa Alive
African Development Network
Ama Dialog Foundation
Baobab for Women's Rights
Borno Coalition for Democracy & Progress
(BORCODEP)
Care Organization Public Enlightenment (COPE)
Central Educational Services (CES)
Centre for Constitutional Governance (CCG)
Centre for Democracy & Development (CDD)
Centre for Development Support Inititatives (CEDHPA)
Center for Law and Social Action (CLASA)
Centre for the Advancement of Democracy and the Rule
of Law
Centre for Women Studies and Intervention (CWSI)
Child Help in Legal Defence of Rights to Education in
Nigeria (CHILDREN)
Civil Liberties Organisation
Civil Resources Development & Documentation
Center (CIRDDOC)
CLEEN Foundation (formerly Center for Law Enforcement
& Education)
Community Action for Popular Participation (CAPP)
Constitutional Rights Project (CRP)
Development Alternatives and Resource Centre
Development Concerns
Development Network
Development Options for Humanity (DOH)
Freedom House
Gender and Development Action (GADA)
Gender Rights Project
General Action Against the Violation of Human and
Childrens Rights (GAAVOHCR)
Girls Power Initiaitve (GPI)
Global Alert for Defence of Youth and the Less
Privileged
Hope Worldwide
Human Development Initiative (HDI)
Human Rights Law Services (HURI-LAWS)
Institute for Dispute Resolution (IDR)
Institute for Human Settlement and Environment
International First Aid Society (IFAS)
International Foundation for African Children (IFAC)
International Press Centre
Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS)
League for Human Rights
Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP)
Legal Resources Consortium (LRC)
Media Concern for Women & Children (MEDIACON)
Media Development Network (MDN)
Movement for Cultural Awareness (MOCA)
Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP)
Multimedia Centre for Democracy
NGO Guide 2000
Nigerian Network of Non-Governmental Organizations
Peace And Development Projects (PEDEP)
People's Rights Organization
Project Alert
ProjektHope
Save-a-Soul Foundation
Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC)
Social Economic Rights Initiative (SERI)
Society for Shelter, Education, Food and Agricultural
Development in Africa
West Africa Bar Association (WABA), Nigeria
West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP), Nigeria
Women Advocates Research & Documentation Center
(WARD C)
Women Aid Collective (WACOL)
Women's Optimum Development Foundation
Youth Development Education and Leadership for Africa
(YORDEL)
Senegal
Amnesty International, Senegal
Convergence Africaine pour la Démocratie et les
Droits Humains (CADDHU)
Organisation Nationale des Droits de l'Homme (ONDH)
Rencontre Africaine pour la Defense des droits de
L'homme (RADDHO)
Sierra Leone
Lawyers for Legal Aid Assistance
South Africa
Amnesty International, South Africa (AISA)
Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa
(ACT-Southern Africa)
Association for Rural Advancement (AFRA)
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation
(CSVR)
Community Law Centre
Concerned Zimbabweans Abroad, South Africa
Crisis Zimbabwe Coalition, South Africa
Disabled Zimbabweans Abroad, South Africa
Free State Rural Development Association (FSRDA)
Glynn Hunters International
Heal Zimbabwe Trust (HZT), South Africa
Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA)
Land Access Movement of South Africa (LAMOSA)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), South Africa
Masisukumeni Women's Crisis Centre
Media Institute for Southern Africa, South Africa
National Land Committee (NLC)
Nkuzi Development Association
Solidarity Peace Trust (SPT),
South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO)
Southern African Action Network on Small Arms
Southern African Women’s Institute of Migration
Affairs (SAWIMA)
Southern Cape Land Committee (SCLC)
Support Centre – ACTION for Conflict Transformation
Surplus People Project (SPP)
TRAC Mpumalanga
Transparency International - South Africa
Transkei Land Service Organisation (TRALSO)
Treatment Action Campaign
Zimbabwe Advocacy Campaign (ZAC), South Africa
Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF), South Africa
Zimbabwe Human Rights Lobby Group, South Africa
Zimbabwe Liaison Office (ZLO), South Africa
Zimbabwe Political Victims Association (ZIPOVA), South
Africa
Zimbabwe Torture Victims Project, South Africa
Sudan
Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT)
Swaziland
Media Institute for Southern Africa, Swaziland
Tanzania
Media Institute for Southern Africa, Tanzania
Same network of NGOs/CBOs (SANGO Network)
Zanzibar Legal Services Centre
Zambia
Civil Society Trade Network of Zambia
Legal Resources Foundation, Zambia
Media Institute for Southern Africa, Zambia
National Civil Society MDG Campaign
Transparency International, Zambia
Zambia Civic Education Association
Zimbabwe
Amani Trust
Amnesty International, Zimbabwe
Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe
Legal Resources Foundation, Zimbabwe
Media Institute for Southern Africa, Zimbabwe
Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)
Nonviolent Action and Strategies for Social Change
Southern Africa Human Rights Trust (SAHRIT)
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)
Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and the
Rehabilitation of the Offender
Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights
Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust (ZIMCET)
Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights)
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
International
Alliance for Southern African Progress (ASAP)
Amnesty International
Association of Zimbabweans Based Abroad
Catholic Centre for International Relations
Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
CIVICUS – World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Fahamu - Networks for Social Justice
FIAN International
Habitat International Coalition
Housing Land Rights Network, representing
Applied Research Insitute - Jerusalem,
Palestine
Arcilla Research, Netherlands
Asia Eviction Watch, Philippines
Asociaciòn de Vivienda Económica (AVE),
Argentina
BADIL Resource Centre for Palestinian
Residency and Refugee Rights
Centre for Environmental Tourism Culture,
Syria
Centro de Capacitación Social Ciudad de
Panamá
Centro de Investigaciones CIUDAD, Ecuador
Centro de Intercambio y Servicios Cono Sur
(CISCSA), Argentina
Centro de la Mujer Peruana Flora Tristan,
Peru
Centro Feminista de Información Acción
(CEFEMINA), Costa Rica
Coalición Internacional para el Hábitat,
Mexico
Comunidades Automas, Venezuela
Coordinación Red Mujer y Habitat de
America Latina, Argentina
Defence for Children International,
Palestine
Egyptian Centre for the Rights of the
Child
Geography Department, University of Akron,
USA
Habitat International Coalition, Chile
El Instituto para la Superación de la
Meseria Urbana de Guatamala
Land Centre for Human Rights, Egypt
Middle East/North Africa Program, Housing
and Land Rights Network
Popular Development Centre, Palestine
Red Mexicana de Agricultura Urbana, Mexico
Rooftops Canada/Arbi International, Canada
Servicio Latinamericano, Asiático y
Africano de Vivienda Popular, Chile
Shelter for the Poor, Bangladesh
South Asia Regional Program, Housing and
Land Rights Network
Human Rights First
Human Rights Watch
Inter Africa Network for Human Rights (AFRONET)
International Alliance of Inhabitants (IAI)
International Bar Association's Human Rights
Institute
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
International Crisis Group
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
Refugees International
Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE)
Safeguards International
|
Sokwanele - Enough is Enough -
Zimbabwe
PROMOTING NON-VIOLENT PRINCIPLES TO ACHIEVE
DEMOCRACY
|
|
The will to
resist
Sokwanele Report : 23 June 2005
Robert Mugabe may have created a police state in which all signs of
dissent to his autocratic rule are ruthlessly suppressed, but beneath what
appears to be a tranquil surface there is simmering discontent - and from time
to time the lid on the pot, though firmly clamped down, lifts enough for us to
see it. A spontaneous protest here, an angry outburst there, and the contours of
a new and effective form of resistance to ZANU PF tyranny are beginning to
emerge within the troubled nation of Zimbabwe.
 On
Saturday (June 18) within a couple of hours two very effective protests were
staged in the city of Bulawayo. The first was what may be called the traditional
style of widely publicized street protest which ended, predictably, with a
number of arrests. The second was of a different style altogether - a lightning
strike in which the protesters appeared unexpectedly, executed a daring stunt
and then disappeared from view before the forces of repression could respond. A
problem from the protesters' point of view however is that under the oppressive
media laws now in force it is always difficult to get the word out of any sign
of dissent. Yet the people of Zimbabwe need to know, and be encouraged by the
fact, that the groundswell of resistance is growing, for this gives the lie to
the notion that all Zimbabweans have been cowed into submission by this brutal
dictatorship. And herein lies Sokwanele's role in high-lighting these acts of
civil disobedience which remind us that, however dark the present, one day
Zimbabwe will be free.
The first protest was staged by the now battle-proved women of WOZA
(Women of Zimbabwe Arise) who already have many such brave acts of civil
disobedience to their credit. They assembled on the corner of Herbert Chitepo
Street and 13th Avenue late in the morning. However careful the group might have
been about security, word of the protest march inevitably reached the ears of
the dreaded CIO (Central Intelligence Agency) before the event, and their agents
were seen milling around the venue throughout the morning. WOZA must have been
well aware of this, which makes their decision to go ahead notwithstanding all
the more remarkable. At the time appointed the women suddenly appeared on the
street, bearing aloft their colourful banners calling for an end to ZANU PF's
hated "Murambatsvina" or clean-up campaign which over the last few weeks has
seen hundreds of thousands of Zimbabwe's poorest rendered homeless and
destitute. "Are we the trash ?" their banners read.
The courageous protesters obviously knew that they might be arrested very
quickly because they set off down Herbert Chitepo Avenue at a brisk pace,
distributing their protest leaflets along the way. An appreciative crowd of some
2,000 people watched the spectacle, some giving the opposition MDC open-palm
salute. In the event the women had not walked more than a couple of blocks
before baton-wielding members of the ZRP intercepted the group. A number of ZRP
Defenders appeared and the police started to round up the women, packing them
into the back of two of their vehicles. That was the end - an entirely
predictable end - of their brief protest. But they had made their point,
powerfully, not only to the surprised spectators along the route but to the
nation. Those arrested spent an extremely uncomfortable weekend in the filthy
police cells, appearing in court on Monday to be granted bail on charges which,
if the regime runs true to form, will not be pursued.
 The
second and rather less conventional protest took place a few hours later at the
Bradfield shopping centre. At about 2.00 pm. a group of between 20 and 30 young
men suddenly appeared in the car park. Those hundred or so unsuspecting shoppers
there at the time were treated to a most unusual spectacle as the youths
unfurled banners and paraded them across the parking lot. "25 years is enough.
We need change", the banners read, and again "We voted change", "Change is
here". From the appreciative crowd there were smiles and a few shouts of
support, as well as the MDC open-hand salute. None appeared to disapprove the
brave stunt. And then, just as quickly as the youths had appeared, they left the
scene. The police simply did not have time to respond. By the time news of the
protest reached the local police station the youths were well on their way. The
heavy curtain of state repression and sullen silence had been raised for just a
few brief moments to remind those privileged spectators - and the nation - that
no dictatorship lasts for ever, and that change is coming.
Let the nation salute the courage of these protesters and follow their
brave example.
Visit our website at
www.sokwanele.com
Visit our blog: This is Zimbabwe
(Sokwanele blog)
We have a fundamental right to freedom of expression!
Sokwanele does not endorse the editorial policy of any source or website
except its own. It retains full copyright on its own articles, which may be
reproduced or distributed but may not be materially altered in any way.
Reproduced articles must clearly show the source and owner of copyright,
together with any other notices originally contained therein, as well as the
original date of publication. Sokwanele does not accept responsibility for any
loss or damage arising in any way from receipt of this email or use thereof.
This document, or any part thereof, may not be distributed for
profit. |
Zim Online
Police bulldozer killed toddler
Fri 24 June 2005
HARARE - One of the two toddlers who died during the government's ongoing
clean-up campaign was crushed to death when his family's makeshift home was
pulled down by police bulldozers, eyewitnesses told ZimOnline.
Member of Parliament for Chitungwiza city's St Mary's constituency
yesterday
also told Parliament during debate that a high school student from
his
constituency was last Tuesday crushed to death when police used
bulldozers to pull down a house he was in.
The student's death
brings to three the number of people who have died
during the controversial
clean-up exercise that has seen thousands of
families cast onto the streets
after their homes and informal businesses
were destroyed by armed police and
soldiers.
The toddler crushed to death when police
bulldozers pulled down her
family home, Terence Munyaka, was also from St
Mary's while the second child
to die in the
police operation,
Charmaine Nyika, was from Harare's Tafara suburb. It
could not be
immediately established whether Nyika's death was because of
direct action
of
the police.
Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena
yesterday vehemently denied the
law enforcement agency, also blamed of
beating up residents who disobey
orders to demolish homes deemed illegal,
was responsible for causing any
deaths during the controversial clean-up
drive.
He instead blamed the parents of the children for being
reckless when
demolishing their "illegal homes" which resulted in the
deaths.
Bvudzijena, who issued a statement carried by state
newspapers
yesterday urging parents to be careful when demolishing
buildings, said:
"The police are not responsible, that child died when the
parents were
voluntarily demolishing their illegal house, they were just
careless."
But residents who witnessed Munyaka's unfortunate death
last Sunday
described how the child's parents were busy removing household
property from
their home
when police suddenly ordered the operator
of a waiting bulldozer to
pull down the structure.
Unbeknown to
the machine operator, there was a child sleeping in the
"illegal" house,
they said.
A senior official of children's rights group, Girl Child
Network, who
refused to be named for fear of victimisation, said: "The child
was crushed
by police bulldozers when he was fast asleep and the parents
were busy
trying to salvage some of their belongings. Apparently they
(parents) did
not think that the bulldozers were headed in the house. It is
so horrible."
Sikhala said the family of the child also reported to
him that he had
been killed when police bulldozers destroyed their home. "A
report was made
to me that the child had been crushed by police bulldozers
but the family
has gone to bury the child," Sikhala said.
The
international community has roundly condemned the evictions, which
Mugabe
says are necessary to restore the beauty of Zimbabwe's cities and
towns, as
a gross
violation of poor people's rights.
A United
Nations (UN) advance team started arriving in Harare this
week ahead of next
week's visit by UN secretary general Koffi Annan's
special envoy,
Anna
Kajumulo Tibaijuka, to assess the impact of the mass evictions on
poor
urban families.
Tibaijuka will meet Mugabe, the opposition
and non-governmental
organisations during her stay in Zimbabwe. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Harare awakens to eviction disaster
Fri 24 June 2005
HARARE - The Zimbabwe government has asked donors to help assist families
evicted under a controversial"clean-up exercise" in an embarrassing U-turn
that
also suggests Harare is finally waking up to the humanitarian
disaster
precipitated by the mass evictions.
President Robert
Mugabe and his government have since last month
conducted a clean-up
exercise that has cast close to a million people onto
the streets after
their
makeshift homes and informal businesses were destroyed by armed
police
and soldiers.
The government, which says the highly
unpopular clean-up campaign is
meant to restore law and order as well as the
beauty of cities, four weeks
ago banned non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) from feeding or sheltering
the evicted families claiming it had
enough resources to provide for the
families.
But the
government, apparently alarmed at the unfolding humanitarian
crisis caused
by large-scale dislocation of families, tasked Local
Government Minister
Ignatius Chombo and his Agriculture counterpart, Joseph
Made, to appeal for
help from NGOs and churches to rehabilitate affected
families and assist in
the reconstruction of homes.
Chombo, Made and other senior
officials from relevant government
departments met the NGOs on Wednesday
last week to discuss how the
organisations could chip in
with
help.
"Mugabe and his Cabinet as well as the politburo of the
ruling ZANU PF
party endorsed the move to recall donors after realising that
the government
had not adequately planned for the after-effects of the
clean-up operation,"
said a senior government official who did not want to
be named.
Chombo confirmed appealing for help from NGOs, telling
ZimOnline
yesterday: "All stakeholders are encouraged to chip in. The
clean-up should
not be viewed as a
ZANU PF or government project.
It is meant to help everyone and this
is why the NGOs will be welcome to
help."
Confirming the government's change of heart, National
Association of
NGOs chairman, Jonah Mudehwe said: "We held a meeting last
week on Wednesday
where the role of the NGOs in the whole clean-up exercise
was discussed.
"It seems from that meeting that the government now
wants NGOs to chip
in with help. As a result, a number of NGOs such as Red
Cross, Christian
Care and others
are already active (providing
help),"
According to Mudehwe, NGOs will provide tents, food,
medicines and
repatriation services to thousands of victims of the campaign
condemned by
the United
Nations, European Union, United States,
local churches and human
rights groups as a gross violation of poor people's
rights.
More than 200 international human rights groups led by
Amnesty
International and the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights yesterday
appealed
to the African Union
and the United Nations to intervene
and pressure Mugabe to call off
the evictions.
UN secretary
general Kofi Annan has already indicated he will send his
envoy on human
settlement to Zimbabwe next week to make a first hand
assessment of
the
humanitarian crisis created by the evictions.
Sources
said in a desperate bid to urgently redress the crisis, the
government had
set up a committee to co-ordinate rehabilitation and
restructuring exercise
meant to mitigate the effects of the mass removals of
people. Chombo heads
the committee while Zimbabwe's army engineering
division will spearhead
reconstruction of homes.
Transit camps are also planned countrywide
to temporarily house
evicted families for a maximum three days before they
are relocated to their
original rural homes or land seized from white
farmers in the last five
years. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Police blow US$3.5 million while nation starves
Fri 24 June
2005
HARARE - Zimbabwean police have ordered US$3.5 million worth of
high-tech
gear from a South African company as the country battles to raise
money for
food and
fuel imports, ZimOnline has
established.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police made the order from
Johannesburg-based
Travelo Manufacturing Company, which through its
marketing arm, Instrument
for
Traffic Law Enforcement (ITLE),
dispatched a team to Harare last month
with samples of
equipment.
Police authorities headed by deputy commissioner, Godwin
Matanga,
authorised the purchasing of the equipment after viewing the
samples,
according to
sources at police general headquarters in
Harare.
"We had a team from South Africa which showed us samples of
the
equipment that includes high-tech digital cameras, pro-laser speed traps
and
other
various equipment that we require on a day-to-day basis.
We are happy
with the equipment and we have made a purchase order," said a
source on
condition he
was not named.
Sharon Smith,
who represented ITTLE during the deal, could not be
reached for comment
yesterday. But another official of the South African
firm, Shana
van
Heerden, confirmed that "it is true" that the company was supplying
equipment to Zimbabwe police accused by human rights groups of gross human
rights violations
against President Robert Mugabe's political
opponents.
The police have since last month conducted mass
evictions of poor
families living in shanty homes in or near urban areas in
a controversial
clean-up
exercise that Mugabe says is meant to
restore order and the beauty of
Zimbabwe's cities and towns.
The United Nations, European Union, United States, Amnesty
International,
Zimbabwean church and human rights groups have condemned the
evictions as
a
violation of poor peoples' rights.
Western countries
have slapped an embargo on sales to Harare of
military hardware or any
equipment that can be used to "perpetuate
repression" against
ordinary
citizens. Police equipment is classified under the
ban.
South African firms have however continued sales of military
and
police equipment to Zimbabwe with arms manufacturer Armscor having
supplied
aircraft spares
to the Air Force of Zimbabwe while in
2002, Harare confirmed that it
had bought a number of Mercedes Benz vehicles
from its southern neighbour
for highway
patrols.
But
the latest purchases come at a time Zimbabwe is battling to raise
foreign
currency for food after a devastating drought while perennial fuel
shortages
have worsened in the past week.
Zimbabwe's foreign currency
shortages have been worsened by the
halting of donor funds since 1999 after
international lenders disagreed with
Harare's policies, mainly the seizure
of white-owned commercial farms also
partly blamed for the current food
shortages. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
South Africa expresses "irritation" at Britain's remarks on
Mugabe
Fri 24 June 2005
PRETORIA - South Africa's presidential spokesman
Bheki Khumalo yesterday
expressed irritation at Britain's remarks calling on
African leaders to step
up pressure
on Zimbabwe saying the approach
smacks of "scare tactics" by the West.
"I am really irritated by
this 'kgokgo' approach", Khumalo said, using
a Sesotho term which refers to
something used to scare children in a bid to
enforce obedience.
"South Africa refuses to accept the notion that because suddenly we're
going
to a G8 summit, we must be reminded that we must look good and appease
the
G8
leaders. We will do things because we believe they are correct and
right."
On Wednesday, British foreign secretary Jack Straw
urged African
leaders to confront President Robert Mugabe over his human
rights violations
in Zimbabwe.
"Unless, and until, Africa's
leaders as a whole recognise what is
going on, [and] take action not just to
condemn it but to deal with it, we
are likely to be
in for many
more months of this kind of tyranny until President Mugabe
moves aside,"
Straw said.
Attempts by the West to nudge South Africa's President
Mbeki to adopt
a much more robust approach towards the Zimbabwe crisis have
all failed.
South Africa has
consistently refused to openly flog
Mugabe over his human rights
violations preferring instead to pursue a
policy of "quiet diplomacy"
towards its northern
neighbour.
South Africa has remained mum on the latest crackdown in
Zimbabwe
which has seen over 30 000 people arrested and over a million
rendered
homeless after their homes
were destroyed in a clean up
exercise the government says is necessary
to restore order in cities and
towns.
But international and local human rights groups, churches
and civic
groups have all criticised the crackdown as an assault on the
rights of the
poor. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
UN advance team arrives for probe
Fri 24 June 2005
HARARE - A United Nations (UN) advance team started arriving in Zimbabwe
ahead of secretary general Kofi Annan special envoy Anna Kajumulo
Tibaijuka's visit to
investigate the government's controversial
clean-up drive next week.
Officials at the United Nations office in
Harare said two officials
had already arrived in Harare to lay the
groundwork for Tibaijuka. Two other
officials were
expected by the
weekend.
The officials were expected to work with the UN missions
in Zimbabwe
to collect all information on the "Operation Restore Order" to
give
Tibaijuka, who is
scheduled to meet President Robert Mugabe
during her visit, a full
briefing on arrival.
"The advance team
will get all the necessary information from the UN
missions here and
co-ordinate with various interest groups like NGOs to have
a better
understanding of what is happening. When the secretary general's
special
envoy arrives she will be much better informed for her meeting with
the
President," said a UN official.
Tibaijuka, who is expected in
Harare by Thursday next week, will also
meet NGOs and the opposition,
according to the official.
UNDP spokeswoman Catherine Anderson when
pressed to confirm whether
the advance team was already in the country said
"when we have anything to
inform you, we
will let you know." She
would not elaborate.
Despite international condemnation, President
Robert Mugabe's
government has pressed ahead with the controversial
programme that has left
close to a
million people without shelter
after their homes were destroyed by
armed police and soldiers.
In a debate in Parliament yesterday, the opposition legislator for St
Mary's
Job Sikhala said an "A" Level student in his constituency had been
crushed
to death
by rubble when police destroyed a house he was in. At least
two other
children have been killed since the operation started in
Harare.
Zimbabwe and international rights groups have urged the
African Union
and the UN to intervene to halt the evictions. The United
States, Britain
and the European
Union who are critical of Mugabe's
rule, have also widely condemned
the operation. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
New Zealand to ban Zimbabwe cricket tour
Thur 23 June
2005
JOHANNESBURG - New Zealand says it may ban a planned tour by the
Zimbabwe
cricket team scheduled for December to protest against President
Mugabe's
human rights abuses.
New Zealand's foreign affairs
minister Phil Goff said ealier today
that the Zimbabwe cricket team might be
barred from visiting New Zealand
which has been at the forefront in
criticising Mugabe's human rights record
against his political
opponents.
"The Zimbabwe cricket team should not anticipate that it
will be
granted entry into New Zealand," Goff said in a
statement.
"The imposition of a ban on the team would send a strong
message to
the Mugabe regime that New Zealanders and their government abhor
the actions
it is taking against its people."
The main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change party, local and
international
human rights groups accuse Mugabe of perpetrating serious
human rights
violations against his political opponents in a bid to hold on
to power.
Mugabe denies the charges.
A month ago, Mugabe began destroying
thousands of homes deemed illegal
in urban areas in a clean up cmapaign
which has been criticised by the
United Nations, Amnesty International,
church and human rights groups as an
assault on the rights of the
poor.
Mugabe insists the clean up is meant to restore the beauty
and
cleanliness of cities and towns. The government also says the clean up
is
meant to smash the illegal foreign currency parallel market blamed for
Zimbabwe's economic woes.
"However, given the current appalling
abuses of human rights and
relentless trend of the Zimbabwe government
towards a dictatorship, the New
Zealand government would not welcome a visit
from a side representing
Zimbabwe at this time," said Goff.
The
New Zealand government however said they had no power to stop
their cricket
team from undertaking a five week tour of Zimbabwe set for
August. New
Zealand will play Test matches against Zimbabwe in August. -
ZimOnline
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Ministers skip Parliament
Clemence
Manyukwe
issue date :2005-Jun-24
THE majority of Cabinet ministers,
their deputies and Attorney-General
Sobusa Gula-Ndebele (an ex-officio
legislator) skipped Parliament on
Wednesday - a day reserved for them to
answer questions on government
matters - causing the deferment of some
questions to next week.
Only five of the 30 ministers and two of the 13
deputies were present at the
session, and Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs Minister Patrick
Chinamasa had a torrid time taking questions on
behalf of his colleagues.
However, Chinamasa, who is also leader of the
House, could not give answers
to some of the questions, the majority of
which were on issues of national
importance.
The absence of the ministers
led MDC's St Mary's Member of Parliament Job
Sikhala to protest to the
Speaker, John Nkomo.
"Firstly, I would like to raise a very serious protest
that if our cabinet
ministers are being appointed, they are there to do a
service to the
nation," Sikhala said.
"Today we wanted to ask them
specific questions on what is affecting the
people of Zimbabwe. Generally,
the Minister of Transport, whom I want to
direct my question to, is not
here. We want ministers to understand that on
Wednesdays they should be in
Parliament, which is a day for government
business and we want to ask them
questions."
Sikhala wanted to ask Transport and Communications Minister
Christopher
Mushohwe about the current transport blues in urban areas and
when they
would end.
Nkomo said the legislator's protest had been
recorded.
"Let us deal with the first matter first. Your protest is
accordingly
recorded," said Nkomo, who is also the ruling party's national
chairman.
All ministers and deputies who were absent did not notify in
advance as
required by Parliament .
According to yesterday's Order
Paper, only three MDC legislators - Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga (Glen
Norah), Thokozane Khupe (Makokoba) and Paurina
Mpariwa (Mufakose) had
notified the House of their absence.
Besides Chinamasa, ministers who were in
Parliament were: Minister of
Education, Sport and Culture, Aeneas
Chigwedere, Michael Nyambuya (Energy
and power Development), Francis Nhema
(Environment and Tourism) and Chen
Chimutengwende (Interactive
Affairs).
The deputy ministers who were present were Abigail Damasane (Gender
and
Community Development) and Bright Matonga (Information and
Publicity).
Chinamasa defended Mushohwe saying he was out of the country to
mobilise
resources to address the transport problem, but could not say where
the
others were.
Chinamasa also said that the Minister of Local
Government, Public Works and
Urban Development, Ignatius Chombo, was
expected to make a ministerial
statement regarding the clean up operation,
but until the time Parliament
adjourned, he had not shown up.
Chombo's
absence also forced the deferment to next week of the only question
with
notice on the day's Order Paper, which was directed at him.
The MDC Bulawayo
South legislator, David Coltart, who wanted to ask
Gula-Ndebele on progress
regarding the prosecution of the alleged murder of
300 MDC supporters since
2000, was among those asked to put their questions
in writing as the
Attorney-General was absent.
Missing Parliament is not the habit of ministers
only, but of some MPs as
well.
During the Fifth Parliament of Zimbabwe,
several Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee meetings were cancelled at the
last minute as the committees
failed to constitute quorums due to the
absence of the majority of their
members.
In some instances, the
committees failed to question some ministers for the
whole session as they
did not turn up when summoned.
Last year, President Robert Mugabe warned
truant Zanu PF MPs that they
risked being expelled from the ruling party and
by-elections would be held
in their constituencies.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
House divided over clean-up
The Daily
Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Jun-24
MDC legislator for
Dzivaresekwa Edwin Mushoriwa yesterday moved a motion to
have the
destruction of illegal structures stopped.
Zanu PF legislators opposed the
motion, with the Deputy Minister of
Information and Publicity, Bright
Matonga (Ngezi), saying there would be no
going back on Operation
Murambatsvina/Restore Order.
Mushoriwa said the government should compensate
all those who had lost their
properties during the clean-up.
He said it
is unfortunate that the government had not heeded the call by the
Speaker of
Parliament, John Nkomo, when he was still Minister of Home
Affairs, to
demolish illegal structures when they started sprouting.
Referring to war
veterans, who have so far turned out to be the biggest
casualties, he said
until 25 years ago, they had lived in the bush. Now, 25
years after
independence, they were going back to stay in the bush.
However, Zanu PF
Makonde Member of Parliament Leo Mugabe said the clean-up
was noble, but
pointed out that even people in influential positions should
not be spared
if caught on the wrong side of the law.
Chiding the MDC, he said the
government was doing the party a favour by
sprucing up areas they enjoyed
support.
Moses Mzila Ndlovu (MDC - Bulilimamangwe North) called for a
parliamentary
investigation into the conduct of people carrying out the
operation, adding
that the government had promised people that it would
build them houses, yet
there were no budgetary provisions for such a
project.
Phineas Chihota (Zanu PF Seke) said the matter before the House
should be
whether the removal of illegal structures was within the
law.
Debate on the motion was going on by the time of going to press early
last
night.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Mutare City Council to repossess houses
The
Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Jun-24
MUTARE City Council will
repossess houses under its ambit being unlawfully
leased to desperate home
seekers by absentee tenants.
Authoritative sources told this newspaper this
week that the council made
the resolution to compliment government's ongoing
clean-up exercise meant to
rid the country of rampant
illegal
activities.
The city's director of housing, Stanford Mapurisa,
declined to comment on
the resolution and referred all questions to mayor,
Misheck Kagurabadza, who
was reportedly out of office.
"If anything of
that nature is on the cards then only the mayor can talk of
it. Please talk
to him," said Mapurisa in a telephone
interview.
However, the sources said
the council would soon repossess the houses and
reallocate them to home
seekers on the waiting list.
"What necessitated the development was the fact
that there were some long
registered tenants who had either retired to rural
homes or their families
were still claiming ownership of properties they
never bought," said the
source.
The source added that the tenants were
taking advantage of the current acute
shortage of accommodation to
unlawfully sublet the properties at exorbitant
monthly rentals, hence
reaping where they did not sow.
Some residents welcomed the council
resolution.
"That decision by council is a noble one and will go a long way
towards
restoring sanity in the housing allocation system. There is no way
council
should allow these people to financially benefit from properties
that do not
belong to them," said one Sakubva resident, Noah
Marufu.
Locations likely to be affected by the resolution are Muchena,
Chisamba
Singles, National Housing Board houses (NHB) and Old Zororo
EU extends targeted sanctions
[ This report does not necessarily reflect
the views of the United Nations]
HARARE, 23 Jun 2005 (IRIN) -
Economists have warned that the recent
extension of targeted sanctions
against Zimbabwe by the European Union (EU)
is likely to further isolate an
already weak economy.
The EU bloc renewed its travel ban on ruling
ZANU-PF party officials last
week and extended it to senior executives
appointed by President Robert
Mugabe after his party's disputed victory in
the March parliamentary polls.
Deputy information minister Bright Matonga
told IRIN that the government was
unperturbed by the EU decision, as the
country had successfully penetrated
Asian markets.
"In our view, the
sanctions are inconsequential: they have never worked. We
have established
business contacts with Asian countries through our 'Look
East' policy, and
if they [EU] think they can make us dance to their tune
they are certainly
mistaken," said Matonga.
He accused the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) of lobbying
the EU to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe
after losing in the March poll. The
MDC denied the charge, but has said it
supports targeted sanctions against
ZANU-PF officials.
MDC economic
advisor Eddie Cross said extending the travel ban could mean a
protracted
economic crisis, and expressed scepticism about the so-called
'Look East'
policy as a means of reviving the economy.
"For as long as there is no
political will by ZANU-PF to correct its
political mistakes, the sanctions
will always matter, and our economy will
plunge further," commented
Cross.
His sentiments were reiterated by a Zimbabwe National Chamber of
Commerce
(ZNCC) official, who said: "Government officials are the ones who
are
supposed to be in the forefront of the struggle to resuscitate the
economy,
and this they have to achieve through traveling and dialoguing with
their
counterparts around the globe. Now, if they can no longer travel and
strike
deals on behalf of the business community, then there is a
problem,"
Zimbabwe now conducts most of its trade with Asian countries
such as China.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank
cut their balance
of payment support to the country a few years ago,
alleging bad corporate
governance, while the EU imposed targeted sanctions
on Zimbabwe in February
2002 after Harare expelled its election observer
team.
Civil society coalition calls for end to forced evictions in Zimbabwe
[
This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 23 Jun 2005 (IRIN) - An African coalition of
civil society
groups appealed on Thursday for intervention by the African
Union (AU) and
the UN to stop the forced eviction of informal settlers and
traders in
Zimbabwe.
"We want the AU to pressurise the Zimbabwean
authorities to stop the
evictions and allow humanitarian aid agencies to
assist those who have been
left homeless," Arnold Tsunga of the Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights
(ZLHR) told IRIN.
At least 200,000 people
have been left without shelter since the operation
to 'clean up' Zimbabwe's
cities and towns began last month. Authorities
claimed the operation was
aimed at ridding urban areas of informal flea
markets and illegal
residential shacks and houses, saying they had become a
haven for criminal
activities.
Five press conferences were held across the continent on
Thursday, where the
joint appeal made by NGOs, including Amnesty
International, the Centre on
Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), and
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
urged Nigerian President Olusegun
Obasanjo, as chair of the AU, to put the
crisis in Zimbabwe on the agenda of
the upcoming AU assembly, scheduled to
take place in Libya on 4 and 5
July.
The coalition also called on relevant bodies at the UN, including
the
Secretary-General, to publicly condemn the ongoing mass human rights
violations and take effective action to stop them.
UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced the appointment this week of Anna
Kajumulo Tibaijuka, the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, as his Special
Envoy for Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe to investigate the
situation.
Tsunga claimed there had been instances where aid agencies had
been
prevented from providing assistance to affected communities; ZLHR had
sought
court interventions to stop the eviction, but failed.
"Tens of
thousands of ordinary Zimbabweans have been left sleeping on the
streets
next to the rubble of their destroyed homes - it is time that the
African
heads of state took action," said Hassen Lorgat of the South
Africa-based
Zimbabwe Solidarity and Consultation Forum.
Lorgat added that civil
societies across the region were attempting to form
a coalition to
strengthen support for their counterparts in Zimbabwe. Other
NGOs joining
the appeal are the Inter-Africa Network for Human Rights, the
International
Bar Association's Human Rights Institute, and the
International Crisis
Group.
Xinhua
Anthrax outbreak reported in Harare
www.chinaview.cn 2005-06-23
23:41:39
HARARE, June 23 (Xinhuanet) -- An anthrax outbreak has
been
reported on farms in the Harare metropolitan area, the Veterinary
Services
Department said on Thursday.
Principal Veterinary
officer, Anne Mujeyi, said that the cases
were detected when three cattle
died of the disease early this week.
"We picked up cases of
anthrax in the Harare metropolitan area
this week," she said. "The first
case was recorded at an agricultural
engineering farm next to Hatcliffe on
Monday while two others were recorded
on Tuesday at the Harare City Council
farm in Crowborough and Winsbury plot
in Mt Hampden."
Mujeyi said veterinary officers were immediately dispatched to the
affected
areas and had since vaccinated all the cattle.
She said the
affected areas recorded anthrax outbreaks last year
and had been vaccinated
in February this year.
Anthrax is a bacterial disease that
affects all warm-blooded
animals. Mujeyi said the affected farms had since
been quarantinedto avoid
spreading of the contagious
disease.
She added that anthrax in human beings had also been
detected in
Masvingo and Chihota communal area where one beast died this
month.
"We have discovered that there is no active infection
within the
livestock in these areas but that the affected people
consumedpreserved meat
of cattle that died of anthrax last year," she
said.
She advised the public not to eat meat from animals that
would
have died on their own or buy meat from dubious
sources.
Mujeyi also expressed hope that no further infections
would be
recorded in Harare within the next three weeks, the time it took
for animals
to build up antibodies to fight off the disease after
vaccination.
Zimbabwe has lost a number of cattle over the
years to
anthrax,which is fatal but curable. Enditem
New Statesman
Mugabe turns on old comrades
Mark
Olden
Monday 27th June 2005
Liberation-war
veterans are the latest targets of the burnings and
bulldozers, writes Mark
Olden
Night has fallen and a power cut has plunged half of Harare
into
darkness. We are hunting for fuel on the black market. Like bread,
sugar,
milk, salt, cooking oil, maize and Coca-Cola, it's in short supply.
We sit
outside a candlelit beer hall while our companions negotiate with
traders at
the back. After an hour they return empty-handed: the little fuel
available
is trading at almost double the price it was this
morning.
We drive off and witness a scene of des-truction. An
entire market
lies smashed and broken. A few hours previously, people had
survived here by
selling sweets, fruit, vegetables and second-hand clothes.
Now the riot
police have bulldozed their livelihoods into oblivion.
Operation
Mur-ambatsvina ("drive out the rubbish" in the Shona language) is
under way.
Suddenly, a truck appears with young men squashed in the
back. "Youth
militias," says our companion. The government is deploying its
shock troops
to pre-empt revolt. We move swiftly on.
Operation
Murambatsvina has now lasted a month. Each day Zimbabweans
have seen more of
their nation destroyed. A campaign officially meant to
clean up the country
and demolish illegal structures has left more than
200,000 people homeless.
But uncertainty hangs over the crucial political
question: is Robert Mugabe
- a supreme strategist in maintaining power -
operating many moves ahead of
his opponents, or sowing the seeds of his
regime's demise?
The
former, insists one astute observer. "The reservoir that has kept
[Mugabe's]
system of patronage going is almost exhausted," he says. "And
shifting the
urban population [who mostly support the opposition] into the
rural areas
where they're easier to control is a very wise move in
forestalling an
uprising."
Nevertheless, fury is rising among the group that has
often held the
balance of power in Zimbabwean politics - and which might do
so once more.
Many veterans of the 1970s liberation war that overthrew the
racist
Rhodesian government of Ian Smith, and who later spearheaded the
violent
land invasions of white farms from 2000 onwards, are now among the
victims
of Murambatsvina.
In mid-June Comrade Chinx, a singer
and war veteran whose jingles
exalting Mugabe are constantly played on state
television and radio at
election time, had his Harare mansion torn down.
Witnesses said Chinx pulled
a gun and fired shots in the air before police
talked him down from his
roof - and promptly beat him up. He later had to be
taken to hospital.
Jabulani Sibanda, chairman of the Zimbabwe
National Liberation War
Veterans Association (patron: R Mugabe), voices some
of the anger building
up among the recently loyal. Murambatsvina is "like a
tsunami", he says.
"People are left with nothing. They are moving to the
rural areas where they
don't have food or shelter . . . The whole nation
fought for freedom, and we
are now being threat-ened by our government. They
introduce these policies
and the people pay the price. They pretend to be
God and do away with
everything. That is what Hitler thought. He did away
with people. He didn't
want to see the crippled on the road. We have people
in the government who
have a fascist mentality."
Sibanda has
been suspended from the ruling Zanu-PF party but retains
formi-dable support
among war veterans. He is careful when asked about a
possible up-rising:
"People can't rise up when they're still in shock . . .
The people are
silent, but they have hate, that much I know. People are
hating inside their
souls."
"The war veterans had to go beyond their naive illusions of
what
Mugabe stands for," says Munyaradzi Gwisai, the dreadlocked former
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MP. Breaking with official
MDC policy, Gwisai supported the war veterans' invasions of white farms, and
he has long argued that the "key imperative" in getting rid of Mugabe "is
unifying the urban opposition with the war vets". It almost happened eight
years ago, he points out, when urban food riots and a series of rowdy
protests by war veterans demanding pensions appeared to imperil the
regime.
A two-day strike was called on 9 and 10 June by the Broad
Alliance, a
coalition of opposition groups, in protest at Murambatsvina. The
alliance's
convener, Dr Lovemore Madhuku, believes that the growing anger
among the war
veterans is "very significant". "It weakens the hold of
Zanu-PF over its
base, and opens room for those who are opposed to them to
unite - not as an
opposition party, but as Zimbabweans. It cannot be
rationalised when you've
lost your home and livelihood."
Others
are even more sanguine. "They [the war veterans] have served
their purpose
and are now just a nuisance and a threat to the big boys,"
says Trudy
Stevenson, an MDC MP. "This operation is partly to be done with
the whole
lot of them."
Additional reporting by Michelle de Mello
CNN
Army-led 'building brigades' to replace Zimbabwe
housing
Thursday, June 23, 2005; Posted: 9:12 a.m. EDT (13:12
GMT)
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- The government is mobilizing
soldiers to build
houses for the thousands of people it forced from their
homes in an urban
cleanup campaign that has drawn condemnation at home and
abroad, a spokesman
said Thursday.
The announcement comes as Zimbabwe
prepares for the visit of a special U.N.
envoy coming to see the effect of
Operation Murambatsvina, or Drive Out
Trash, which the U.N. estimates has
left up to 1.5 million people homeless.
The political opposition, which has
its base among the urban poor, says the
four-week-old campaign is meant to
punish its supporters.
After a seven-hour meeting of President Robert
Mugabe's highest
policy-making body, the Politburo, spokesman Ephraim Masawi
was quoted on
state radio Thursday as saying military personnel would lead
national and
provincial reconstruction committees being formed
immediately.
Masawi said there would be "building brigades in all 10
provinces for
reconstruction of houses, shops and flea markets," to replace
those
flattened since May 19, when police launched their blitz first on the
capital's street traders, then on "informal housing."
The opposition
Movement for Democratic Change says only supporters of
Mugabe's ruling
ZANU-PF were getting new housing sites and trading licenses.
Answering
questions Wednesday during a stormy parliamentary session Justice
Minister
Patrick Chinamasa conceded harm had been done to legitimate housing
by what
he called a "cleanup" meant to flush out black marketeers and
criminals. The
government blames them for runaway 144 percent hyperinflation
and shortage
of most staples.
"We are aware that there is damage, people are homeless
and so forth," the
minister said. "We are aware and accept that the
dislocation has affected
the immediate interests of the people, but
government has put into place the
necessary logistics to address those
immediate concerns such as health."
Since starting May 19 in Harare,
Drive Out Trash has been extended
throughout the country, causing sporadic
rioting as people tried to resist
destruction of their livelihoods and
eviction into midwinter cold. This
week, the campaign in a nation facing
severe food shortages moved on to the
vegetable gardens the poor plant in
vacant lots around Harare. Police say
the plots threaten the
environment.
'Plant flowers,' not food
Edmore Veterai, commander of
the capital's police, was quoted in the
state-owned Herald newspaper
Thursday advising city dwellers, 80 percent of
whom lack formal employment,
to "plant flowers and lawns instead."
Senior Assistant Police
Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena told the Herald 42,415
people were arrested,
fined or had their goods confiscated since the start
of Drive Out Trash,
while he estimated the number left homeless at
120,000 -- far short of the
250,000 to 1.5 million estimate other observers
have given.
While
Zimbabwe clerics have called the operation "a crime against humanity"
and "a
war against the poor," government loyalists defend it. Vincent
Takure,
chairman of the Association of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises,
was
quoted by the state broadcaster Thursday as applauding "government
efforts
to reorganize the informal sector."
Takure said it would give bankers
confidence in small-scale businessmen and
help them create
employment.
Police Wednesday closed seven office high-rise buildings in
downtown Harare,
evicting photocopying and other small businesses they said
were causing
crowding and strain on sanitation facilities.
Robert
Chamunorwa, president of the Commercial Tenants' Association, told
the state
broadcaster he welcomed police removal of firms operating
illegally from
offices and workshops in up-market neighborhoods, but he
urged rent boards
to impose strict controls.
From Reuters, 23 June
Children crushed in Zimbabwe housing
blitz
Harare - Two Zimbabwean children died this month after they
were crushed by
rubble during the demolition of illegal houses in a
government clean-up that
has made tens of thousands homeless, state media
reported on Thursday.
Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena urged residents
to be cautious when
demolishing their buildings, suggesting the deaths were
caused by
individuals following orders to pull down their own houses rather
than by
police demolition crews. The local private media had reported that
the
police were responsible for the deaths. "We would like to urge those
demolishing illegal structures to ensure the safety of everyone," Bvudzijena
told the official Herald newspaper. He was not immediately available for
comment on Thursday.The Herald said a one-and-a-half year old child was
crushed to death by rubble in Harare's Chitungwiza township on Sunday while
a one-year-old was crushed to death earlier this month in another Harare
neighbourhood. Thousands of self-employed people have seen their informal
shops demolished and goods confiscated in the six-week campaign dubbed
"Operation Restore Order" which officials say has also made 120 000 people
homeless. Aid groups and non-governmental organisations estimate that at
least 300 000 people have been evicted and have joined western governments
in demanding its immediate halt.
President Robert Mugabe's
government argues that illegal structures in
cities had become a haven for
illegal trade in foreign currency and scarce
food items. Police have said
the operation had reduced crime by a fifth in
Harare. The campaign has
sparked angry criticism from Zimbabwe's main
opposition party as well as
human rights and religious groups, who say it is
unfairly targeting the
urban poor. The United Nations said it planned to
send a special envoy to
Zimbabwe to asses the situation. Police on Wednesday
shut seven office
buildings in central Harare accusing shocked tenants of
breaching licensing
regulations and overcrowding. In one swoop hundreds of
small businesses from
dress-making to cellphone traders were left on the
street with no income.
Some colleges were also closed, leaving desperate
students writing their
exams in the lurch. Critics say the crackdown has
worsened the country's
economic crisis, which has already led to chronic
shortages of foreign
currency, high inflation and unemployment of over 70
percent. Mugabe, in
power since independence from Britain in 1980, denies
mismanaging the once
prosperous economy and says opponents of the land
redistribution - which he
says is meant to redress colonial land
imbalances - have sabotaged
Zimbabwe's economy.
Minister Explains Fuel Shortage
The Herald (Harare)
June
23, 2005
Posted to the web June 23, 2005
Herald
Reporter
Harare
The fuel shortage is a result of limited foreign
currency compounded by a
doubling in international oil prices, Parliament
was told yesterday.
The Minister of Energy and Power Development, Cde
Michael Nyambuya, told
Parliament that the price of fuel had more than
doubled from US$27 a barrel
to US$60.
The Government had put in place
contingency measures to ensure that public
transport operators get
fuel.
He was responding to a question by Makoni East Member of Parliament
Cde
Shadreck Chipanga (Zanu-PF) during question time.
Cde Chipanga
wanted to know the actual situation with regard to the fuel
crisis that has
gripped the country.
Cde Nyambuya said the increase in the price of fuel
on the international
market meant that instead of buying two barrels of fuel
with the US$60 that
amount could now buy one barrel.
He said the
National Oil Company of Zimbabwe was allocating 100 litres of
diesel to each
bus everyday to ensure that public transport operators
secured
fuel.
Commenting on the possibility of the Government reviewing the price
of fuel,
Cde Nyambuya said: "That issue is being addressed."
He said
this in response to another question by Mutare North MP Mr Giles
Mutsekwa
(MDC) who wanted to know whether the Government would review the
price of
fuel in view of the increase in the price of oil on the
international
market.
Zimbabwe has been experiencing erratic fuel supplies over the
past few
months because of foreign currency shortages and the galloping rise
in world
prices.
Mugabe vows crackdown on graft, illegal trading
23 Jun 2005 18:18:39
GMT
Source: Reuters
By Stella Mapenzauswa
HARARE,
June 23 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe vowed on
Thursday to
clamp down on corruption among business people he said had
abused his
government's drive to empower blacks economically in the former
British
colony.
In remarks broadcast on state television, the veteran leader also
called for
mandatory jail terms for those convicted of illegal trade in
minerals and
foreign currency, seen by the government as blocking efforts to
pull the
country out of economic decline.
"While the government has
demonstrated its sincerity in opening up economic
empowerment opportunities
for the historically disadvantaged black majority,
it is regrettable that
some misguided elements have seen this programme as
an invitation to engage
in illegal business malpractices," Mugabe said at
the graduation of new
police officers.
Mugabe last year launched an anti-corruption drive that
saw several
officials from his ruling ZANU-PF party arrested on charges of
participating
in a then-thriving black market for scarce U.S.
dollars.
Most of those convicted paid fines, but the highest profile
official, former
finance Minister Chris Kuruneri, is still on trial on
charges of illegally
siphoning out large amounts of money to invest in
property in South Africa.
"It is unfortunate that (while) the police have
maintained their vigilance
on the new breed of crimes in the country, their
efforts have not always
been fully complemented by our legislation," Mugabe
said on Thursday.
"There is indeed growing need for mandatory jail
sentences for persons
convicted of illegal dealings in precious stones and
in foreign currency if
we are to stem the incidence of these daredevil and
unpatriotic crimes."
State television also quoted Mugabe as reiterating
government support for a
police crackdown on illegal homes and business
structures, which authorities
say is meant to remove what had become a haven
for crime.
Critics say the programme has worsened the plight of the urban
poor as they
grapple with an economic crisis that has brought chronic
shortages of
foreign currency, fuel and food, high inflation and
unemployment of over 70
percent. Mugabe, in power since independence from
Britain in 1980, denies
responsibility for the crisis and blames it in large
part on opponents of
his forced redistribution of white-owned farms among
blacks.
SW Radio
Kuwadzana Raids
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe
news
By Tererai Karimakwenda
23 June
2005
Police with bulldozers returned to the Kuwadzana
high-density suburb
of Harare Thursday morning to make sure all structures
they had ordered to
be destroyed had been demolished. Tuck shops and
informal houses were
targeted as they moved from section to section,
starting early in the
morning.
The MP for Kuwadzana, Nelson
Chamisa, who is also the MDC National
Youth Chairperson, said he tried
reasoning with the police and with council
officials to spare some of the
shops and houses since his area is still
developing and not much has been
built there by the government. His pleas
were in vain.
SW Radio
Government destroying education
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
By Tererai Karimakwenda
23 June
2005
Recent events point to a government that is bent on destroying
education in Zimbabwe at every turn. Zimonline reports that more than 300
000 children of informal traders and squatter families have dropped out of
school, in the last four weeks alone, after their homes were destroyed by
the government. This figure increased with the destruction of Norton High
Academy this week, and another school in Harare on Wednesday.
Officials at the Ministry of Education said directors of education in
the
country's 10 provinces were last week asked to compile figures of
children
under 13 years no longer coming to school. One senior official was
quoted
saying school authorities had not been able to establish the
whereabouts of
many children, who are now just roaming urban areas with
their families and
sleeping in the open after their shanty homes were brunt
down by the police.
The lack of transportation due to fuel shortages and the
government's
crackdown on vehicles deemed not roadworthy, have also
prevented many
students from making it to school.
And as though this was not
enough Cabinet announced a new fees
structure for June and November
examinations.
Education Minister Aeneas Chigwedere said parents or
guardians with
children writing O-Level examinations would pay $35 000 per
subject while
the government pays a subsidy of $25 000, bringing the total
to
$60 000 a subject. This is a rise from $500 a subject that was paid
last year.
A-Level exams would cost $95 000 a subject, with
the government paying
a subsidy of $5 000, bringing the fees to a total of
$100 000. Last year
A-Level fees were $5 000 a subject. Grade Seven
examinations will remain
fully subsidised and there will be no examinations
for the Junior
Certificate this year.
A five-year "Education
Reform Programme" was introduced that will
start from January 2006
which will necessitate an examination for Form
Twos at the end of 2007.
Chigwedere however declined to give any details of
what this course is all
about. He said Cabinet has not yet deliberated on
it.
"Education is the most powerful weapon
which you can use to change the
world."
- Nelson Mandela -
One of the most tragic, inspiring and
life-changing things happened to me
this weekend; my gift to you is to
perhaps lift you as others lifted me. On
our way to watch St.John's College
Variety show on Friday night, we were
horrified to see a body lying in the
middle of the road with speeding cars
coming from both directions; their
headlights blinding each other to the
scene until almost too late and many
swerving to avoid hitting another
person standing in the road trying to help
the victim.
We ran from the car and to the poor soul lying crumpled and
broken on the
tarmac, his few tomatoes and relish he had just purchased and
was taking
home to eat with his family lying in bits all around. Lifting him
to the
side of the road with a policeman who had been a passer-by and
several other
helpers, we saw that his foot had been severed and smashed at
the ankle
exposing the raw bone ... his foot attached to his body by the
thinnest of
sinew.
As many gathered around him recoiled in horror,
another recounted how a
white twin cab had hit him and sped off. Without
hesitation, an African
woman offered to take him to hospital in her pick-up,
running for her
vehicle and turning it around in the main road with others
risking life and
limb to stop the traffic so she could do this. As I waited
for her, I held
this poor man's head in my hands and made a pathetic
attempt to try to
reassure him that everything would be ok and that he was
being taken to
hospital and help. His breathing laboured and semi-conscious,
I had a short
while to really look at him. A swelling the size of an orange
on the side of
his bloodied face, his torn, thin, simple clothes hardly any
use against the
bitter wind, his thread-bare trousers with broken zip, held
to his body with
a piece of dirty rope. His one leg twisted in a sickening,
bizarre way
(dislocated hip and shattered bones?) and lastly, my gaze rested
on his foot
lying there next to his exposed lower leg bone .. still in it's
humble, very
old canvas shoe. I looked at the people trying to help; the
poor (fear and
desolation in their eyes), the man' s friends telling him
they would tell
his wife and children, a businessman in his suit on the way
home from the
office, a concerned policeman trying to administer first aid.
In that moment
of darkness I remember thinking how crisis becomes community.
Life is life;
we are all the same. He deserved our combined best attempt to
help him fight
for it.
We lifted him into the back of the pick-up and
tried to make him as
comfortable as possible as his shattered body lay on
the dirty piece of
canvas on top of the cold metal floor of the back of the
buckie. Off he
went. Austin and I got back in our car and continued to the
function. I felt
the anger well up inside me as it had at a very similar
scene six months ago
outside Jaggers. What hope have our people got? How
dare I tell him that
help is on it's way when his chances of getting
emergency care, drugs and
surgery are a million to one without him paying
hundreds of thousands of
dollars or without the luxury of medical aid? What
kind of human being
inflicts such misery onto his people in their daily
lives and then strips
them of even the right to life when they lie broken
and bleeding on
Zimbabwean soil? My rage grew as I took my seat and tried to
recover my
thoughts whilst the show started.Then, suddenly, I knew the
simple lesson of
what had just happened..
How dare we stand in our
comfortable positions and bemoan the fact that the
masses are spineless,
that they should rise up and resist their
ill-treatment? How dare we. It is
us who have the resources, three sqare
meals a day, we drive our own
vehicle, we have a roof over our heads, we can
impact on the spiritual,
mental and physical growth of all those around us
in a multitude of ways! We
have all it takes to do whatever it takes to
drive our nation forward in the
right direction through whatever and however
means we can by simply using
the gifts with which we have been so richly
blessed. As long as we do what
is right, good and true and invest these same
values into our family and
those around us.
The show started and I was captivated. As skit, followed
singing, followed
comedy, followed music.... the magic unfolded before my
eyes and lifted my
grieving heart. There were our children, young men and
women of different
colours, backgrounds and cultures, our next generation.
They sang, laughed,
performed and what was truly divine was that every
offering was a gift from
their hearts, their minds, themselves. Teachers had
guided them in helping
to create and set up the vehicles for their
expression of how they see life
right here in Zim!! No long, drawn-out
embittered past history, no
predjudice, no painful burdens. Simply a
celebration of differences, of
being able to laugh at themselves and each
other, of life. They look
brightly to their future and see a place for
everyone there, side by side.
We have nothing to fear but fear itself.
Our generations to come are
sprouting the flowers and the fruit of all that
is right and good and all
that we have battled to instill in them and to
show them the lessons arising
from our circumstances. We must hold our heads
up high you and I. The going
has been tough and many times we have fallen
short of what we would consider
"ideal" conditions under which to raise our
offspring! Guilt if we go, guilt
if we stay. Well, I for one was thanking
God with all my being for giving me
the grace to have been able to weather
the storm and still be afforded the
blessing of being right here. There is
nothing I want more for my beautiful,
precious children than a foundation
built from what I have seen, the good
and the bad, al the lessons and what
culminated in that one evening's
reflection of reality. Born and bred
Zimbabwean, on Zimbabwean soil,
building themselves and each other up and
sharing experiences created for
them by those angels on this planet called
teachers.
Should you need any uplifting or confirmation of what's going
on with our
future generations and therefore the future of this country, I
suggest you
go and watch any interschool rugby match of any sporting event
and see the
sportsmanship, the discipline, the pride and the respect which
are the
fundamental tenets upon which we are growing this nation! I leave
you with
an ode to our teachers and the perfect job they do ... and a "thank
you"
from the bottom of my heart.
"No child is born hating another
child because
of the colour of his skin
or his background or his
religion.
If a person can learn to hate,
he can be taught to
love,
for love comes more naturally
to the human heart than it's
opposite."
- Nelson Mandela -
Thank you for sharing a few
minutes of your time and a few thoughts with me.
As always,
Debi
Jeans