Zim Online
Sat 24 June 2006
JOHANNESBURG - The United States (US)
and the European Union (EU) this
week said they will maintain punitive
sanctions against Zimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe and his administration
to force them to uphold the rule of
law, human rights and
democracy.
In a joint statement after a summit last Wednesday which
was attended
by US President George W Bush, European Commission President
José Manuel
Barroso, Austrian Chancellor and European Council President
Wolfgang
Schüssel, the world's most powerful economic blocs said the visa
and
financial sanctions would be uplifted immediately Harare embraced
democracy
and the rule of law.
"We call on the Government of
Zimbabwe to restore democratic freedoms
and the rule of law, and to respect
human rights. We are ready, as soon as
significant action in this direction
is taken, to reconsider the restrictive
measures (sanctions) now in place
against Zimbabwe," the statement read in
part.
The EU and the US imposed targeted sanctions on top Harare officials
after
Mugabe's controversial re-election victory in 2002, which Brussels and
Washington, as well as the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change
party, say the Zimbabwean leader won through fraud and
violence.
Under the sanctions, Mugabe, his wife Grace, and top
officials of the
government and ruling ZANU PF party cannot travel to the US
or EU countries,
who will also seize any money held by the Zimbabwean
officials in banks on
their territories.
The Zimbabwean leader
denies stealing elections or that his government
violates human rights and
that it does not uphold the rule of law and
democracy. He instead claims the
West imposed sanctions against his
government as punishment for seizing
white-owned farmland for redistribution
to landless blacks.
Mugabe, in power since Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980,
has
also blamed Western sanctions for a severe economic crisis that has seen
the
country grappling shortages of fuel, electricity, food, hard cash and
just
about every basic survival commodity.
Western governments deny
their sanctions are behind Zimbabwe's
alarming economic meltdown, which they
say is solely because of repression
and wrong policies by Mugabe such as his
farm seizure programme that
destabilised agriculture, sending food
production tumbling by about 60
percent to leave the southern African
country dependent on food aid.
The EU and the US also agreed at the
summit to maintain humanitarian
aid to the 12 million Zimbabweans, a quarter
of whom are said to require
food aid this year or they will
starve.
"We will further co-ordinate our respective efforts on
humanitarian
and democracy assistance to address the worsening plight of the
population
in Zimbabwe," they said.
The EU/US summit also
discussed among other things foreign policy
co-operation between the two,
energy, security, economy and trade, and
various other global challenges. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Sat
24 June 2006
BULAWAYO - Public transport operators in Zimbabwe's
second biggest
city of Bulawayo yesterday hiked fares by 50 percent barely
two weeks after
a similar hike in fares as the country's six-year old
economic crisis
deepens.
The latest fare increases means that
commuters now fork out between
Z$100 000 and $120 000 up from the $80 000
they used to pay for a single
trip from Bulawayo's low class suburbs into
the city centre.
Similar fare hikes were also being reported in the
capital Harare.
The chairman of the Bulawayo Transport Operators
Association, Francis
Malunga said the latest increases were inevitable after
fuel merchants on
the thriving parallel market where most operators source
their supplies
hiked the price of fuel last week.
"This is an
unfortunate situation to commuters, especially considering
that almost
everyone is struggling to make ends meet, but as operators we
find ourselves
in a difficult position because of escalating fuel prices.
"Garages
have absolutely no fuel at this moment and this means that we
are sourcing
it from the black market at high prices, hence the need for the
increases,"
said Malunga.
Most garages in Bulawayo have been virtually dry over
the past few
weeks forcing transport operators to source fuel on the
parallel market
where a litre of petrol was being sold for as much as $700
000 with diesel
going for $600 000.
Zimbabwe has grappled
severe fuel shortages over the past six years
because the country does not
have foreign currency to import the commodity.
Transport operators
say they have little choice but to hike their
fares in line with the price
of fuel on the black market where most of them
source their
supplies.
But the Zimbabwe government, which last week said it had
clinched a
fuel deal with a foreign fuel company, has threatened to crack
down on
transport operators who hike their fares without the government's
approval.
Economic analysts last week warned that the latest hike
in the price
of fuel will trigger a fresh wave of price increases of basic
commodities
worsening the situation for millions of Zimbabweans who have
been battling a
severe economic crisis over the past six years. -
ZimOnline
Open Democracy
Andrew Meldrum
23 - 6 -
2006
Zimbabwe's ruthless leader Robert Mugabe is sowing
the seeds of
his regime's demise, says Andrew
Meldrum.
The news from Zimbabwe is not
encouraging. Robert Mugabe remains
firmly entrenched in power, ruthlessly
stifling all perceived dissent. In a
police graduation parade in Harare on
22 June 2006, he inveighed in classic
style against his favoured enemies:
"The local forces of negation who claim
to be champions of democracy while,
in fact, they are willing conduits of
violence and the vilification
propagated by the west should not be allowed
to ride roughshod over our
people."
On the surface it appears that Mugabe's power is
unquestioned
and that the situation in Zimbabwe, both political and
economic, will
continue to deteriorate. The opposition is in disarray,
weakened by the
acrimonious split in 2005 of the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC).
The decline of an economy already ramshackle
after years of
corruption, mismanagement, and centralisation is relentless.
The people of
Zimbabwe are suffering more than ever. Shortages of food,
fuel, electricity
and water have made life in the cities a trial. Survival
is even more
difficult in the rural areas where the government has failed to
distribute
adequate food aid. Chronic malnutrition now stalks the land once
known as
"the breadbasket of southern Africa".
The
prospects for improvement in the livelihoods and freedoms of
Zimbabwe's
overburdened people appear bleak. But behind the facade of
unthreatened
power Mugabe is facing growing challenges, from inside as well
as outside
his party. This is a time when firm international pressure could
help to
bring positive change to Zimbabwe.
A ruined
country
Robert Mugabe, now 82, has been Zimbabwe's only
president since
the country gained its new identity (and name) in 1980, when
- following a
bitter liberation struggle and international negotiations to
prepare a new
constitution and free elections - white-ruled "Rhodesia" was
consigned to
history. Mugabe has shown no readiness to leave power after
twenty-six
years, and indeed he has stated clearly his intention to stay in
office
until his current term expires in 2008.
But even
that lengthy reign will not be sufficient to satisfy
Mugabe's ambition. The
president has taken steps to extend his current term
for a further two years
by instructing justice minister Patrick Chinamasa to
draft a constitutional
amendment to postpone the presidential elections for
two years until 2010.
The pretext is that the presidential and parliamentary
elections (due in
2010) should be held simultaneously to save money.
Despite
Zimbabwe's precipitous economic decline, which has seen
the GDP contract by
40% over the past seven years, Mugabe is stubbornly
sticking to his peculiar
brand of centrally-controlled economic management.
Most recently he has
decided to print money to pay off Zimbabwe's arrears to
the International
Monetary Fund and more to pay salary increases to the army
and civil
service. This has fuelled an inflation rate of 1,200%, the world's
highest.
Although Mugabe's single-minded drive to
maintain his
iron-fisted rule has served him well over the years, his
inflexibility and
lack of regard for the effects of his ruinous policies on
the majority of
Zimbabweans are sowing the seeds for future challenges to
his rule.
Mugabe's refusal to step down has frustrated many
cabinet
ministers and other leaders of his Zanu-PF party. Whether Mugabe
likes it or
not, the party's barons are jostling for position to succeed him
and the
party is riven with bitter rivalries and
enmities.
The current frontrunner in the shadowy succession
race is joint
vice-president Joyce Mujuru, who is backed by her powerful and
astute
husband, retired army commander Solomon Mujuru. But the imminent
retirement
of the other vice-president Joseph Msika, an ailing 82-year-old,
is expected
to set off a new round of battles within the
party.
The split of the MDC, over the issue of whether or not
to
contest the senate elections in November 2005, has left both sides weaker
than when they stood together. Even worse, the two sides - the larger
faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai, and the smaller headed by Arthur
Mutambara - appear more intent on attacking each other publicly than in
putting forward alternatives to Mugabe's rule.
Morgan
Tsvangirai retained the largest following of the party
and had vowed to lead
his side in mass resistance. But he has failed in the
past to rally public
demonstrations against Mugabe and yet again it appears
he has sidetracked
the possibility of mass protests.
Instead, Tsvangirai put
forward a "roadmap for Zimbabwe" on 9
June 2006 in which he called for
negotiations for a new constitution leading
to free and fair elections;
rather than the "violent toppling" of the
Zimbabwean government. Tsvangirai
said he wanted "people to be able to
exercise their democratic right to
express their discontent".
The fractured opposition has added
to the instability of the
political status quo by making it possible for
splinter groups or
individuals to form new coalitions, particularly with any
breakaways from
Zanu-PF. Jonathan Moyo, the former information minister and
Mugabe ally, is
one such free agent who could team up with others to cause
problems for
Mugabe.
The greatest threat to Mugabe,
however, is the accelerating
decline of the economy rather than the
political opposition. Unemployment is
estimated at more than 70% and living
standards have dropped drastically.
More than 70% of the population is
living below the poverty line, according
to the United Nations - a
considerable increase from the figure of just over
30% in
2000.
Zimbabwe's economic implosion is unprecedented for a
country not
at war. Mugabe's policies, including his lawless seizure of
white-owned
farms, have caused as much damage as wartime destruction of key
infrastructure. This is making more and more people
desperate.
In early June 2006, Mugabe was worried about the
possibility of
mass demonstrations against his government to mark the first
anniversary of
his Operation Murambatsvina ("drive out the rubbish") - the
housing
demolitions which left 700,000 people homeless or jobless. The
president was
so concerned that he put the army and police on alert to
suppress any
possible demonstration.
The Zimbabwean
leader increasingly relies upon the loyalty of
the security services and has
put generals and other top officers at the
head of major state bodies. But
the rank-and-file soldiers and police have
also felt the bite of economic
decline and are growing restive. In an
emergency, Mugabe's forces on the
ground could precipitate a crisis by
refusing to attack angry protestors who
have nothing more to lose.
A strategic
moment
Zimbabwe's situation, then, is more unsettled than it
appears.
This represents a strategic moment for United Nations
secretary-general Kofi
Annan to attempt to find a resolution to the
country's crisis. In different
ways, South African president Thabo Mbeki and
British prime minister Tony
Blair have previously tried and failed to
influence Mugabe. But Annan - who
is likely to meet Mugabe during the
African Union summit in Banjul, Gambia
(25 June-1 July) - carries with him
his stature as Africa's leading
statesman as well as the prestige of his
global organisation. Moreover,
Annan's term as head of the UN is due to
expire at the end of 2006, and he
would like to crown his tenure with a
breakthrough settlement of Zimbabwe's
crisis.
Annan's
plan centres on persuading Mugabe to agree to a date to
step down from
office in return for a large package of humanitarian aid to
Zimbabwe. It
also envisages a transition of power that leads to free and
fair elections.
In this, it is consistent with Tsvangirai's campaign as well
as offering a
route that many of Zimbabwe's hard-pressed civil-society
activists could
endorse.
It will not be easy to achieve a solution that will
restore
Zimbabwe's democracy and return the country to prosperity. But time
is not
on Robert Mugabe's side. Kofi Annan's quiet but insistent application
of
pressure, alongside the internal tensions of a society and economy near
the
end of its tether, makes it crucial that the international community -
particularly the European Union - remains firm in its own demands for
change.
Robert Mugabe still rules over his wasted
country. But he is
beset by a squabbling party, a collapsing economy, a
restive population and
international pressure. He may soon find that things
spin out of his control
and Zimbabwe will be on the path back to
democracy.
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Mugabe's plans to establish a human rights body greeted with
contempt.
By Tino Zhakata in Harare (AR No. 68, 23-Jun-06)
A
proposal by President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF government to establish a
Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission has been greeted with widespread scorn and
cynicism by rights groups who have been protesting the Mugabe
administration's extra-judicial killings and other forms of oppression for
decades.
"In Zimbabwe's body politic the history of
[government-appointed]
commissions, more so on such contested issues as
human rights, is fraught
with irregularities," said Phillip Pasirayi,
director of information of
Crisis In Zimbabwe, a coalition of more than 350
civil society organisations
advocating human rights and good
governance.
"After the massacre and torture by state security agents of
thousands of
Zimbabwean defenceless citizens in Matebeleland and Midlands
provinces
during the early Eighties, President Mugabe appointed a commission
led by
Justice Chihambakwe to investigate human rights abuses, but decades
have
passed without the report being made known to the public.
"It is
this lack of political commitment and sheer Machiavellian tendencies
that
will render the Human Rights Commission debate another monumental
failure .
It is yet another attempt by the ruling elite to hoodwink the
Southern
African Development Community, SADC, the African Union, AU, and the
entire
international community that ZANU PF is reforming and that [Zimbabwe]
should
be embraced as a democratic country."
Pasirayi's reference to the
unpublished report on Matabeleland and Midlands
concerned the massacres in
1983-84 of an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 peasants
in those two provinces by
Mugabe's notorious North Korean-trained 5th
Brigade.
The leader of
the 5th Brigade, Air Marshal Perence Shiri, a totally ruthless
man known as
"Black Jesus", christened the year-long campaign of mass
murder, beatings
and property burnings of alleged anti-Mugabe dissidents
"Gukurahundi" - a
Shona language expression that translates as "the rain
that washes away the
chaff before the spring rain". Shiri and the 5th
Brigade were answerable
only to Mugabe direct, not to the normal army
command structures.
A
report on Gukurahundi by Zimbabwe's Catholic Commission for Justice and
Peace, based on a five-year-long investigation, said, "Most of the dead were
killed in public executions involving between one and twelve people at a
time.
"Thousands of civilians were detained and transported to large
detention
centres where they were then tortured. At Bhalagwe camp in Matobo
District,
several thousand civilians were detained at any one time, and
there were
daily deaths in this camp. The dead were thrown down Antelope
Mine, and in
1992 bones were taken out of the mine shaft. People in the
region claim
there are many other mines with bones in them."
The
Catholic commission used testimony from more than a thousand witnesses,
but
Mugabe dismissed it as merely the work of "mischief makers in religious
garb".
Human rights groups have been calling unsuccessfully for two
decades for Air
Marshal Shiri, from Mugabe's home village, to be tried for
crimes against
humanity. The groups have been recalling scores of gross
abuses of
Zimbabweans' human rights by the Mugabe government that make it
impossible
for them to take the proposed Human Rights Commission
seriously.
In January 1999, The Standard, an independent weekly
newspaper, splashed on
its front page a story of an alleged coup plot to
topple Mugabe.
In what was to become one of Zimbabwe's most infamous
torture cases, the
army detained the reporter, Ray Choto, and his editor,
Mark Chavunduka,
without legal charges for ten days. They were taken to an
army barracks
where they were stripped naked by military intelligence
officers and Central
Intelligence Organisation agents, beaten with planks
and subjected to
electric shocks on their genitals. They were then taken in
leg irons to
another location where they were electrocuted and their heads
wrapped in
plastic bags and submerged in a water tank in mock
drownings.
Choto and Chavunduka were so badly injured and traumatised
that subsequently
they received several months of treatment in London at the
Medical
Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, a centre established
in
memory of people killed and tortured in Nazi Germany.
Chavunduka
has since died and Choto has settled in the United States. Seven
years
later, no official inquiry has been held into the torture of the two
journalists.
The 5th Brigade's Gukurahundi massacres and the
torturing of Choto and
Chavunduka were just two of many hundreds of reasons
why Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa's announcement in parliament in late
May of the
government's intention to create a Human Rights Commission was
greeted with
disdain.
Some responded to the announcement with fresh
calls for the United Nations
Security Council to refer Mugabe to the
International Criminal Court at The
Hague to be investigated for crimes
against humanity. "He ranks on the same
level with Slobodan Milosevic,
Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Alexander
Lukashenko and their kind," said
Zimbabwean human rights activist Lynn
Mhlanga. "Therefore he can be
indicted.
"Instead of being diplomatic about this issue, as is currently
being done,
we need to simply to say no to human rights abuses. We need to
take a stance
against an unrepentant dictator who is insensitive to the
cries of his own
people."
Justice Minister Chinamasa, who has
frequently attacked civil society groups
for their "threats to peace and
security in Zimbabwe", said the new Human
Rights Commission would be part of
the ZANU PF government's "quest to create
a culture of human
rights".
He went on, "The commission will have the responsibility to
promote and
protect human rights ... It will have the mandate to receive,
investigate
and redress any complaints relating to human
rights."
Chinamasa said the decision to create the commission had been
made following
a flurry of "manufactured" reports on human rights abuses by
non-government
organisations over the past six years. "They [the NGOs]
manufacture and
peddle false allegations," said the justice minister who
added that they
were aimed at attacking Mugabe and his government. He said
the creation of
the commission would require an amendment to the
constitution.
On June 21, Chinamasa launched another blistering attack in
Geneva on
Zimbabwe's civil society at the inauguration of the United
Nations' new
Human Human Rights Council. In a speech that portrayed ZANU PF
as the victim
of non-government organisations, Chinamasa urged the UN
council to prohibit
direct funding by developed countries of NGOs working in
the field of human
rights and governance in Zimbabwe and other African
states.
Fambai Ngirande, spokesman for Zimbabwe's umbrella National
Association of
Non-Governmental Organisations, said Chinamasa's demand was
totally cynical.
Ngirande said ordinary Zimbabweans were heavily dependent
on support from
NGOs because the government has failed to supply the basic
needs of its
citizens. He said NGOs were under no pressure from the West or
the
international community as a whole to interfere in political affairs, as
alleged by Chinamasa in Geneva.
As Chinamasa was making his speech,
the Amani Trust, a Zimbabwean NGO which
helps victims of torture, and
ActionAid, an international development
agency, released a report saying
that one in ten people over the age of
thirty in the western province of
Matabeleland had been a victim of
government torture. Rape, electrocution,
severe beatings, forced nakedness,
witnessing the torture of family members
and friends and mock executions are
just some of the state-sanctioned
methods of torture used by the CIO and
military intelligence, said the
report.
A spokesman for the Amani Trust said, "As the government
sanctions torture
as a method of keeping the population under control, and
with the health
sector having collapsed, the hope of any of them [victims of
torture]
receiving the necessary treatment is out of the
question."
The Harare-based Zimbabwe Human Rights Association, ZimRights,
an NGO
dedicated to promoting human rights, noted that civil society
organisations
working in the field of human rights would be required to
affiliate to the
commission. This, said ZimRights, would fit the
government's desire to
"reign in NGOs which the government views as
hostile".
Dismissing the commission as "a public relations gimmick to
spruce up the
battered image of the government", ZimRights said that if
Mugabe was serious
about promoting human rights he would repeal the rafts of
repressive
legislation he has introduced, limiting press freedoms and the
right to
assemble, and begin to honour international human rights
instruments to
which the government is a signatory.
The move by
Mugabe and Chinamasa comes while last year's Operation
Murambatsvina
(Operation Drive Out the Filth) is still fresh in people's
minds. Hundreds
of thousands of urban homes of people believed to be
opposition supporters
were destroyed by police, soldiers and youth militias
loyal to the head of
state.
The Mugabe government has also hounded huge numbers of people into
exile as
refugees while many opposition activists have been killed. In the
past six
years, some three million Zimbabweans are believed to have fled the
country.
Amnesty International, in a recent report, said the Mugabe
government had
used the law to violate human rights defenders' rights to
freedom of
expression, association and assembly. "Individual defenders are
arbitrarily
arrested and detained, assaulted and harassed by state agents,"
said the
report. "Some have been subjected to torture and inhuman or
degrading
treatment." Human rights lawyers, including prominent attorneys
such as
Beatrice Mtetwa, Gugulethu Moyo and Alec Muchadehama, had been
assaulted and
beaten by police.
Pius Ncube, the Roman Catholic
Archbishop of Bulawayo, the Zimbabwe
president's most outspoken critic,
dismissed Mugabe as "a fascist, a
fraudster, an incorrigible liar and a
Godless murderer".
Ruminating on what Christ might say if he was an
itinerant preacher in
Zimbabwe today, Archbishop Ncube said, "Because Christ
was God-centred and
compassionate, he would condemn the way the government
uses every
opportunity to oppress the people. Christ would condemn the
violence,
widespread rape and torture by government agencies and the youth
militia."
The Archbishop added, "I don't think Christ would have survived
in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe's government doesn't like people who speak the truth.
Plenty of
people [who criticise the government] have died mysteriously.
Christ
wouldn't have had a chance."
The National Constitutional
Assembly - a civic group campaigning for a new
democratic constitution -
issued a statement expressing outrage at the
government's proposal,
dismissing its approach as "piecemeal, tokenist and
undemocratic". The NCA
added that the Human Rights Commission would "merely
serve as an additional
bureaucratic ruling to prevent and delay Zimbabweans
from mounting human
rights complaints in the international arena which
offers their only
hope".
Crisis In Zimbabwe said the government's proposal had not been
made in good
faith. "The fact that the executive, in this case President
Mugabe, will
have the power to appoint the commission when he is one of the
accused makes
the whole proposal ridiculous," spokesman Itai Zimunya told
IWPR. "What we
call for is a new democratic constitution because we can't
talk of a Human
Rights Commission while news dissemination is limited in
Zimbabwe and right
now the government is busy with the Interception of
Communications bill."
The proposed Interception of Communications Law
2006 will empower the chief
of defence intelligence, the director-general of
the Central Intelligence
Organisation, the national police commissioner and
the commisioner-general
of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to intercept
telephone, e-mail and
cellular phone messages. It will also give state
agencies powers to open
mail passing through the postal and courier
services. It stipulates that
operators of telecommunications services will
be compelled to install
software and hardware to enable them to intercept
and store information as
directed by the state.
Tino Zhakata is the
pseudonym of an IWPR reporter in Zimbabwe.
Mail and Guardian
Harare, Zimbabwe
23 June 2006 05:20
The
Zimbabwe government has paid out Z$441-billion
($4,4-million) to 206 white
farmers whose lands were seized under the
land-reform programme, money which
the farmers criticise as being too
little, reports said on
Friday.
The total works out at an average of Z$2,1-billion
($21 000) per
farmer at the government's official rate of
exchange.
To date, Z$303-billion has been spent on
compensation for
permanent improvements and Z$138-billion has been spent on
the compensation
of equipment and material, Lands Minister Didymus Mutasa
said in the
state-controlled Herald daily.
According to
the paper, the money has been paid out in the last
six months as Zimbabwe's
local currency continued its downward slide.
More than 4 000
white farmers have lost their farms since
President Robert Mugabe launched
his controversial land reforms six years
ago. Under Zimbabwe's laws, the
government only has to pay farmers for
buildings and equipment, and not for
the land.
News of the amounts being paid will stir up bitter
feelings
among dispossessed white farmers, the privately owned Financial
Gazette
warned.
These days Z$2-billion will not buy a
house in a low-income
Harare township like Kuwadzana. Homes in the capital's
well-heeled northern
suburbs, such as Highlands and Chisipite, are going for
at least ten times
that figure.
The Financial Gazette
said only near-destitute white farmers had
accepted the government's offers
of compensation.
Sources said the rest of the white farmers
are still trying to
persuade the Land Reform Ministry to improve on the
money being offered, the
paper reported.
Foreign
landowners
Earlier this week, Mutasa said foreign landowners in
Zimbabwe
will be allowed to appeal against the seizure of their farms in
court -- an
apparent bid to calm outside investors.
He
told diplomats in Harare that recent amendments to the
Constitution that
block white farmers from such appeals do not apply to
farms protected by
government-to-government agreements, state television
reported.
Mutasa said the foreign-owned farms can still
be acquired by the
government, but the landowners will be paid compensation
"in the currency of
the owner's choice".
"Because of the
national demand for land, in those unavoidable
cases where land [protected
by bilateral agreements] has to be acquired,
compensation has to be paid in
full and in the currency of the owner's
choice for both land and
improvements [to the land]," Mutasa told the
diplomats.
A
special committee has been set up to look into the seizure of
farms covered
by country-to-country agreements.
Offer
rejected
Meanwhile, about 200 displaced white farmers from
Mashonaland
West province have turned down an offer of farms by the
government, saying
there is no guarantee the government will not in future
turn back on the
offer and evict them again, independent news service
ZimOnline reported this
week.
Authoritative sources said
Mashonaland West provincial governor
Nelson Samkange offered the farmers new
farms in the wheat-producing area of
Tengwe, which lies in his province
about 260km north-west of Harare.
Samkange, who, according to
sources, had permission from
Mugabe's office to give back land to "whites
willing to work with the
government", had wanted the farmers back in Tengwe
by May 20 in time to be
able to plant a winter wheat
crop.
The plan to bring back white farmers to Tengwe
collapsed after
ruling Zanu-PF party militants chased away a white farmer,
Justin Boddy,
from his farm near Tengwe at the same time that Samkange's
office was trying
to convince the farmers that it would be safe to return,
according to
ZimOnline. -- Sapa-dpa, ZimOnline
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
President
rallies church allies at controversial religious gathering.
By Trevor
Grundy in Canterbury, England (AR No. 68, 23-Jun-06)
President Robert
Mugabe is set to score a propaganda coup with his national
day of prayer on
June 25 that is to feature pro-Mugabe clerics as well as
some who previously
opposed the head of state and his ruling ZANU PF party.
Mugabe, whose
policies have destroyed the economy of what was once one of
the most
economically successful in Africa, has split his country's
non-Catholic
churches, pitting pastor against pastor, vicar against vicar,
priest against
priest.
John Makumbe, a political scientist at the University of
Zimbabwe, said,
"The day of prayer is a coup for Mugabe. He has split the
leadership of
Zimbabwe's churches in two, just as he busted the MDC [the
opposition
Movement for Democratic Change] and split that in two. Mugabe
will use
anything, including priests, to try to clean himself of his own
filth."
The Zimbabwe Council of Churches, affiliated to the Geneva-based
World
Council of Churches, has been lured into a new alliance with Mugabe,
the
guest of honour at the national day of prayer at the Harare showgrounds.
The
initiative for the prayer meeting began a month earlier when 82-year-old
Mugabe asked a number of church leaders, mainly from evangelical and other
protestant denominations, to meet with him. The result was a new Christian
umbrella organisation, the Ecumenical Peace Initiative, supportive of Mugabe
and the ruling party.
One of many black Anglican priests and pastors
who fled Mugabe's oppressive
rule to become refugees in Britain told IWPR,
"It is like asking Satan to
deliver the sermon on Easter Day."
The
angry Anglican priest went on, "First, Christian leaders who support
Mugabe
went to see him at State House last month and came away singing the
dictator's praises.
"Then the same Christian bishops and priests
asked Morgan Tsvangirai, leader
of the Movement for Democratic Change, to
stop calling for international
sanctions against leaders of the ZANU PF
government. Finally, there is this
Day of Prayer on which Mugabe will
'return Zimbabwe to God'."
The priest added, "I beg of you not to use my
name because the [East German]
Stasi-trained Central Intelligence
Organisation, CIO, loyal to Mugabe has
promised to arrest my family in
Masvingo and throw the lot of them into
prison." A younger Zimbabwean exiled
priest had talked openly to IWPR before
being threatened by a CIO operative
working inside the UK.
The truth is that Mugabe, despite the propaganda
coup represented by the
national day of prayer, is not yet in tune with the
majority of Christians
in a nation of people who largely adhere to the
Christian faith, either as
Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists or one of the
dozens of Pentecostal
churches that are springing up like mushrooms as
poverty and uncertainty
bite.
The aging Zimbabwean leader's main
Christian ally is a man most Anglicans in
Zimbabwe say is an embarrassment
to their religion, the 56-year old Anglican
Bishop of Harare, Nolbert
Kunonga.
After being put under pressure from his own followers and by
embarrassing
publicity, the Archbishop of Canterbury called for the
suspension of Bishop
Kunonga who in August last year appeared before an
ecclesiastical court
charged with 38 serious offences, including incitement
to murder and racism.
But the trial was abandoned on the instructions of the
Archbishop of Central
Africa, Zambia's Archbishop Bernard Malanga, a known
friend of Mugabe.
A statement from Lambeth Palace in London, the
Archbishop of Canterbury's
administrative headquarters, said, "In the
context of a prolonged religious
and political crisis, the Diocese of Harare
faces intolerable strain in the
form of the very grave and unresolved
accusations against Bishop Kunonga.
The primary way forward is by dealing
with the charges through the church
courts in the Anglican Province of
Central Africa but this process has been
aborted and the matter is
unresolved."
Several times recently Bishop Nolbert has said that he owes
his allegiance
to the Archbishop of Central Africa, not to the Archbishop of
Canterbury.
Mugabe has mocked Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan
Williams's leadership of
the Anglican community at a time when it is split
from head to toe on the
subject of full Christian rights, including the
right to be ordained as
bishops for gay men and lesbians.
At the end
of May this year, ten exiled black Zimbabwean priests met in the
northern
English town of Chester and, after several prayer sessions, agreed
to
approach the Church of England's second most important leader, Dr John
Sentamu, Archbishop of York, for help in dealing with the Christian crisis
in their country.
The priests told IWPR they prefer to deal with Dr
Sentamu than Dr Williams
because, they said, the former speaks out
courageously on social and
political matters whereas Dr Williams appears to
waver when it comes to
important principles.
"Dr Williams cuts no ice
with any Anglican of significance in Zimbabwe," one
exiled priest told IWPR.
"Until recently, I put my name to statements about
what's going on in
Zimbabwe. I no longer dare do that. Mugabe has CIO
operatives in Britain and
many of the 400,000 Zimbabweans in exile in the UK
know that's true. Our
hope is that Dr Sentamu - being an African from
Uganda - will have clout in
my country. I'm afraid hardly anyone there takes
Dr Williams very seriously
though he is a good man who has personally
listened to and helped
Zimbabweans in exile."
One of the Anglican community's most serious
complaints about Bishop Kunonga
is that he has personally chosen priests who
are pro-Mugabe and promoted
them and has even ordained two members of
Mugabe's government. Kunonga was
rewarded by Mugabe with the gift of a large
productive farm and its
seven-bedroom farmhouse, some 15 kilometres from
Harare, confiscated from
its white owner, Marcus Hale. The property is now
derelict.
Mugabe's most vocal and dangerous religious opponent is the
massively
courageous Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube. He
says Mugabe
is an"evil" man, and the Archbishop confesses he prays "that the
Good Lord
will take Mugabe away from us".
Archbishop Ncube holds
Mugabe personally responsible for the deaths of tens
of thousands of men,
women and children at the hands of the Zimbabwe Army's
North Korea-trained
Fifth Brigade during the "anti-dissident" campaign of
the mid-1980s. Ncube
also lambasted Mugabe's government for destroying
hundreds of thousands of
shanty town dwellings in last year's nationwide
Operation Murambatsvina
(Operation Drive Out the Rubbish) that has left more
than 700,000 people
homeless.
Ncube said some of the church leaders in the Ecumenical Peace
Initiative, in
addition to Bishop Kunonga, had been given farms and money by
Mugabe to
cooperate with the government. "The reason why you see some church
leaders
singing government praises is because they have already been
bought," he
said in advance of the day of prayer, which he has refused to
attend.
Urging Mugabe to resign, Ncube said the CIO had infiltrated
church
organisations to monitor sermons. He went on, "Mugabe [born into a
Catholic
family] is a lip-service Christian. He's a convenience Christian
when it
suits him. The way he has killed so many people, what kind of
Christian is
that? The government doesn't like people who speak the truth,
and Christ
wouldn't have had a chance of survival in Mugabe's
Zimbabwe.
"The church should be a refuge and a safe haven for those who
have been
tortured and abandoned. It is this government that continues to
torture and
abuse people, and to give impunity to those responsible. This
government has
no heart for the suffering of its people, and church
leadership should be
aware that to join in solidarity with those
who have
caused such great suffering leaves many victims feeling betrayed.
It is not
for President Mugabe to recommit this country to God, as is being
suggested
by some church leadership. God will judge on an individual basis
who is and
who is not committed to Him; God will judge us all by our actions
and not by
our words."
The Christian Alliance, a rival organisation to the Zimbabwe
Council of
Churches, said in a statement, "We would like God and the nation
to know
that we categorically disassociate ourselves from this apostasy. We
totally
disagree with the tenor and substance of the sentiments voiced by
these
leaders [of the Council of Churches]. In what way do they support this
government which has shed innocent blood, brutally tortured its citizens and
destroyed their homes and livelihoods and promoted racial hatred?
"As
an alliance of like-minded Christians, we count ourselves among the
faithful
followers of Christ who refuse to be bought or frightened, but to
stand for
truth, justice and righteousness. We therefore feel called by God,
who is a
just God, to speak prophetically against this government's unjust
laws as
well as engage in acts of defiant civil disobedience if need be.
"On our
part, there can be no partnership with the ZANU PF government until
and
unless there is genuine repentance and change on its part. What
relationship
can there be between the light of the Gospel and the darkness
it [the
government] stands for?"
The president of the Zimbabwe Council of
Churches, Anglican Bishop Peter
Nempare, told reporters after the May
meeting with Mugabe, "We know we have
a government that we must support,
interact with and draw attention to
concerns."
The Standard, an
independent weekly newspaper, quoted Bishop Densen
Mafinyane, the
secretary-general of the Council of Churches, as having told
Mugabe inside
the meeting, "We love Zimbabwe and support your government
efforts."
Ncube commented, "As for Nempare, I am not really surprised
by his
statements. He supports Mugabe: he is a ZANU PF loyalist. Mafinyane
always
changes his stance: today he will have a certain opinion, tomorrow
that
opinion will have changed."
Most of the funds for the day of
prayer, including the cost of buses to
ferry people from all over the
country to the event, have been provided by
the government.
Trevor
Grundy, a UK-based journalist and author, lived in Zimbawe for 20
years and
is a regular commentator on religious affairs in Africa for
newspapers and
the BBC. He is presently collaborating with the writer Susan
Paul on the
official biography of the late Sir Garfield Todd, the New
Zealand Christian
missionary who became Prime Minister of Rhodesia between
1953 and
1958.
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
23 June 2006
The convener of the Zimbabwe
Christian Alliance (ZCA) Bishop Dr. Levee
Kadenge revealed that he had been
threatened by a CIO agent as he headed
home after a meeting with other
religious leaders on Thursday. Kadenge said
6 pastors had come together to
pray and talk about the state of the nation
but the agent who phoned,
claiming he was from the president's office,
accused the pastors of meeting
to form a new political party. The incident
shows an escalation of the
division within the church over Robert Mugabe's
involvement in the National
Day of Prayer this Sunday in Harare.
Speaking to SW Radio Africa on
Friday the Bishop would not reveal the
agent's name but he said the man
ordered him to submit a written copy of the
speech he had made to his fellow
clergymen. He said he was near Kadenge's
house and would "fix him" if he
failed to do so. Asked what he meant by
"fix" the agent replied that he
knew Kadenge's house, he knew his car, he
knew his movements and would "take
him down." As a result the Bishop did not
go home and has stayed away,
acting on advice from lawyers who believed he
would be arrested and detained
over the weekend.
Kadenge and the Christian Alliance are part of
the religious group
that has criticised Bishop Trevor Manhanga for
cooperating with Robert
Mugabe. Church leaders have been split since
Manhanga of The Evangelical
Fellowship of Zimbabwe postponed the traditional
Prayer Day from May 25th
till June 25th in order to facilitate the
involvement of the government.
Mugabe is due to address the nation at the
Prayer session this Sunday and
and the Christian Alliance is opposed to
this. Manhanga told us earlier this
week Mugabe has a right to be at the
event like every other Zimbabwean. But
Useni Sibanda, coordinator for the
Alliance said the event had been
politicized and the government is even
providing ZUPCO buses to bring people
to the stadium in Harare who may not
be Christians.
What started off as an objection by a few church
leaders against
Robert Mugabe making a speech at the National Day of Prayer
has quickly
turned into a dramatic war of words and an ongoing saga complete
with
threats.
Mugabe himself also threatened church leaders and
civic groups
accusing them of being agents of violence. Speaking at a
graduation ceremony
for new police recruits in Harare Thursday Mugabe said:
"'The agents of
violence and the purveyors of falsehoods about the country,
who regrettably
have included a few churches and civil groups, should be
warned that the
long arm of the law will not allow them to disrupt business
and disturb the
rights of individuals who seek an honest living in our
society,'
Given all that has happened recently Mugabe has been
making good on
his threats. On Thursday police disrupted the funeral of
opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai's father.
There have also been
many more unwarranted arrests. As a result some
church leaders affiliated
with the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance are urging
people to boycott the prayer
day. Among them are the outspoken Archbishop of
Bulawayo Pius Ncube who has
said some church leaders have been compromised
and are now siding with
Mugabe.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
Fri Jun 23, 2006
11:52 AM GMT
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has
said his security
forces are ready to crush demonstrations by opponents
threatening protests
against his rule, the official Herald newspaper said on
Friday.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and its
allied congress
of trade unions say they are planning a wave of peaceful
street protests
over an economic crisis that has left Zimbabwe with an
inflation rate of
nearly 1,200 percent.
But they have given no
dates.
The Herald said Mugabe -- who has warned main MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai
not to "dice with death" with the protests -- told a police
passing out
parade that security forces were ready to deal with all elements
bent on
fanning unrest.
"The local forces of negation who claim to be
champions of democracy while,
in fact, they are willing conduits of violence
and the vilification
propagated by the West should not be allowed to ride
roughshod over our
people," he said.
"The agents of violence and
purveyors of falsehoods about the country, who
regrettably have included a
few churches and civil groups, should be warned
that the long arm of the law
will not allow them to disrupt business and
disturb the rights of
individuals who seek an honest living in our society,"
he
added.
Mugabe, 82, and in power since independence from Britain in 1980,
said peace
and stability was critical for the social and economic
development of the
southern African state.
Mugabe denies that his
policies -- including the seizures and redistribution
of white-owned farms
to inexperienced blacks which critics say has destroyed
the country's
agriculture sector -- have ruined one of Africa's most
promising
economies.
He says the economy -- in deep recession for eight years -- is
a victim of
sabotage by domestic and Western opponents of his land
reforms.
June 23,
2006,
By Tagu Mkwenyani
Harare (AND) Zimbabweans
seeking passports will have to wait longer
than expected. It now takes two
years for the travel document to be
processed, officials have
confirmed.
They attributed this to biting foreign currency
shortages, which made
it impossible for the Registrar general's department
to process the
passports in scheduled. Certain components used in the
production of the
passports were sourced outside the country. In the past it
used to take just
24 hours for an emergency traveler to get a passport and
six months for
those who were not in hurry to go anywhere.
Tobaiwa Mudede, the Registrar General said his department would issue
emergency travel documents (ETD) instead of passports for emergency
travelers. "To avoid closing the passport office due to this problem, we
have decided to slow down the processing and production of passports.
Consequently this affects the time of production and delivery of
passport.
The problem of delay in the issuance of passports will
only be
resolved with the supply of enough foreign currency to purchase
passport
consumables," Mudeda said. The RG said passports would now be
issued only to
people who leaving the country on national duty, students
intending to study
abroad and those who sought medical treatment outside
Zimbabwe. Thousands of
Zimbabweans are desperate to leave the country as
biting hardships continue.
Zimbabwe's inflation has crossed the 1000 percent
and is the highest in the
world.
Zimbabwe Bureau
Scoop, New Zealand
Friday, 23 June 2006, 1:12 pm
Press Release: Victoria
University of Wellington
High profile Zimbabwean judge joins
Victoria
A Zimbabwean High Court judge who fled his homeland is to join
Victoria
University of Wellington as a visiting Fellow in the Institute of
Policy
Studies.
Benjamin Paradza recently arrived in Wellington and
was yesterday
celebrating becoming the University's newest Fellow for up to
two years. The
former Zimbabwean judge is the first person to be named
Victoria University's
Sigrid Rausing Visiting Fellow in the Institute of
Policy Studies. This
Fellowship is being run in association with Victoria
University's New
Zealand Centre for Public Law.
Mr Paradza fled
Zimbabwe earlier this year after what is widely regarded by
independent
commentators as the latest of a series of controversial examples
which have
seen the Zimbabwean government accused internationally of
interference with
the independence of the judiciary.
Judge Paradza acquitted an opposition
politician and was then himself
charged with corruption and perverting the
course of justice. He fled
Zimbabwe and was convicted in a judicial process
strongly criticised by the
United Nations, Amnesty International and the
International Commission of
Jurists.
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Pat
Walsh, welcomed Mr Paradza to Victoria. "We
are proud to be assisting Mr
Paradza in rebuilding his career in an academic
setting and we sympathise
that he is unable to do this in his own country.
It will be beneficial to
our staff and students to have the opportunity to
develop their skills with
a practised jurist in their midst."
Dr Andrew Ladley, Director of the
Institute of Policy Studies, says he's
pleased to have Mr Paradza on
board.
"The experience that Benjamin has been through is a vivid
demonstration of
the breakdown of the rule of law in Zimbabwe, including now
the almost
complete erosion of the concept of an independent judiciary, free
from
government control. I am delighted that the New Zealand Government
accepted
Benjamin as a refugee and so have provided a safe haven for him and
his
family. And I am very pleased that Victoria has been able to work with
the
Sigrid Rausing Trust to create this fellowship. I am sure Benjamin will
rapidly become a valued member of our community.
"Benjamin will
be working directly with me in developing his own study, and
in researching
and commenting in the broad area of peace and conflict
resolution studies
where he is likely to focus on the importance of the
independence of the
judiciary, the rule of law and human rights issues."
Mr Paradza thanked
the University for the opportunity to undertake research
in
Wellington.
"It's a pleasure to be here and I hope I can be an asset to
this beautiful
country and the city of Wellington. I look forward to my time
at Victoria
University and I thank the people and the Government of New
Zealand. Special
gratitude also to Sigrid Rausing for this highly generous
opportunity that
has been made available to me."
London based Swedish
philanthropist, Sigrid Rausing has agreed to fund this
new fellowship for
two years. She has a particular interest in refugees and
the guardians of
human rights, like Benjamin Paradza, who are persecuted for
trying to uphold
the rule of law in Zimbabwe.
During the next two years the Institute of
Policy Studies and the Faculty of
Law hope to raise the additional funding
required to make the Fellowship
permanent.
IOL
June 23
2006 at 12:09AM
Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe called
select local
Christian groups "agents of violence" on Thursday, promising
that the law
would catch up with them as a damaging rift among churches in
Zimbabwe
deepened.
Three days ahead of a planned national day
of prayer, which critics
say has been hijacked by the ruling party, Mugabe
accused some churches and
civic groups of spreading falsehoods about the
situation in Zimbabwe.
"The agents of violence and the purveyors of
falsehoods about the
country, who regrettably have included a few churches
and civil groups
should be warned that the long arm of the law will not
allow them to disrupt
business and disturb the rights of individuals who
seek an honest living in
our society," Mugabe said at a graduation ceremony
for new police recruits
in the capital Harare.
Sunday's national day of prayer has been mired in controversy ever
since it
emerged that Mugabe was likely to attend. Some church leaders have
called
for a boycott of the event, which is being advertised on state
television.
"The local forces of negation, who claim to be
champions of democracy
while in fact they are willing conduits of violence,
and the vilification
propagated by the West should not be allowed to ride
roughshod over our
people," Mugabe said in televised comments.
The Zimbabwean leader held talks with a delegation of church leaders
last
month in what was touted as a bid to find solutions to the political
and
economic crisis in this once-prosperous southern African nation.
But the churchmen were later slammed in the independent local press
for
apparently failing to criticise government policies.
The clerics
were due to meet opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, of
the Movement for
Democratic Change, for talks on Wednesday but the meeting
was postponed due
to the death of the leader's father in Buhera, southern
Zimbabwe. -
Sapa-dpa
June 22,
2006,
By ANDnetwork .com
Business owners in Bulawayo
have expressed concern over 'invasion' by
foreign traders, who are said to
have taken up most space in the city.
Speaking at a Business
Community and Police Consultative Forum Against
Crime, the forum chairman,
Busani Ncube, said they were concerned about the
increase in the number of
foreigners who had set up shops and taken over
most of the flea markets in
the city.
"We are worried about the mushrooming of foreign traders
who are
taking over our businesses because they have more access to foreign
currency. The immigration offices and the Bulawayo Inspectorate must take
corrective measures against this," he said.
Ncube said
there was need for the country's laws to be enforced
vigorously to curb such
problems.
"The increase in the number of foreign
businesses is not bringing in
business but taking money out of the country.
This is depriving Zimbabweans
who want to establish sound
businesses.
The foreigners have to provide what is
not available in the country,
not what we have because that will not be
benefiting the citizens of the
country," he added.
The officials who attended the meeting said most of the foreigners
were
Nigerians, whose dealings were said to be hindering the growth of local
businesses.
"We are calling upon the relevant
authorities to go to shops and
investigate under whose name the businesses
are registered.
If a business is operating in
another country, it usually does not
have the same rights like local
businesses but it is not the case with us as
they are eroding local
businesses," said a local businessman who spoke on
condition of
anonymity.
"They are involved in the fabric industry,
mobile phone and motor
industry among others, and they will end up taking
over all the businesses
in the city.
"Some of these traders rent
houses where they store goods to supply to
shops. If we, locals, do this
there are harsh penalties.
It is important that
ZIMRA addresses this issue," he said.
Clemence Malaba,
the chairman of the Masakhane Informal Traders
Association, which owns Unity
Village Flea Market along Main Street, said
the Nigerians had taken over
many stalls at the flea market.
He said it was
imperative that the Government intervenes to protect
SMEs and informal
traders. "Most of the premises have been taken over by
foreign traders. Most
property owners offer their premises to them because
they have foreign
currency that we the locals do not have.
"What we want
is for these businesses to work with SMEs and informal
traders so that they
invest at a large scale. They should open wholesales so
that we buy some
products from them and enable all businesses whether large
or small to
survive.
"We are therefore asking the government to
assist and protect our
businesses as they provide employment for a lot of
citizens," he said.
The meeting was attended by
officials from the Zimbabwe Republic
Police, FBC Holdings, and the Bulawayo
City Council and some representatives
from flea markets and security
firms.
The forum meets monthly to discuss the issues that affect
business in
the city.
By Thandolwenkosi
Sibindi, The Chronicle
Cape Argus
June 23,
2006
A cargo plane used two years ago to carry suspected
mercenaries via
Zimbabwe to Equatorial Guinea has not been
claimed.
Zimbabwe's Herald newspaper quoted the lawyer of the
group, Alwyn
Griebenow, as saying he had not made representations to
Zimbabwe to contest
the forfeiture of the aircraft to the
state.
"My clients have not issued any instructions to me to
contest the
forfeiture," he said.
The Boeing 727-100 was
forfeited to the state after the group was
arrested in Harare in March
2004.
The men were convicted on weapons and immigration charges and
most of
them were released in May last year.
The aircraft is
registered in the US. - Sapa
By Violet
Gonda
23 June 2006
In a clear sign of the strain in
relations between the Zimbabwean
government and the diplomatic community
Western ambassadors are reported to
have left a meeting on Wednesday "hugely
disappointed" after clashes with
top government officials.
The
Zimbabwean Independent reported Friday that Mugabe's attempts to
build
bridges with "imperialist nations" all but collapsed when Foreign
Minister
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi attacked foreign diplomats, particularly the
Australian, for being racist.
It's widely reported that United
Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan
was hoping to meet Robert Mugabe at the
African Union summit in the Gambia
next week to discuss the deepening crisis
in Zimbabwe, But the Independent
newspaper said the behaviour of the
Zimbabwean Minister at the Wednesday
meeting could add more strain to
international efforts.
The special briefing was attended by Foreign
Affairs minister
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, his ministry's permanent secretary
Joey Bimha, State
Security and Land Reform minister Didymus Mutasa,
Agriculture minister
Joseph Made and Western ambassadors and UN
representatives.
Mumbengegwi is said to have subjected Australian
ambassador Jon
Sheppard and other diplomats to a stinging 20-minute "rant
and rave."
Problems apparently started over the issue of Zimbabwe's
controversial
land reform programme. "Sheppard asked Mutasa, who was
conducting the
briefing at the time, if he could guarantee that all those
affected by the
land reform programme would have equal rights under the
law."
Mutasa is said to have given a brief answer but Mumbengegwi
reportedly
launch a tirade against the Australians and angrily asked how
Sheppard could
dare ask such a question when he hailed from "one of the most
racist
countries in the world."
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
June 23,
2006
By ANDnetwork .com
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority Holdings will resume generation
of electricity at its three small
thermal power stations following an
advance payment by the country's reserve
bank for coal supplies to Hwange
Colliery Company.
The central
bank has also made a prepayment to the National Railways
of Zimbabwe for
transportation.
Harare, Munyati and Bulawayo thermal power stations
are the immediate
beneficiaries of the RBZ's largesse. The three stations
have a combined
generation capacity of 150 megawatts but are presently lying
idle due to
coal shortages.
Zimbabwe Power Company's managing
director, Nobert Matarutse,
confirmed on Thursday that electricity
generation would resume by the end of
next month.
"The central
bank has made an advance payment on behalf of Zesa after
realising our
financial constraints," he told delegates at the Zimbabwe
National Chamber
of Commerce workshop on the impact of power outages and
load-shedding on
industry's performance.
The workshop was attended by government
officials, business leaders,
Zesa officials, economic analysts and experts
in the energy sector.
"We are expect to see some gradual changes in
the national electricity
supplies."
However, he could not be
drawn into revealing how much the reserve
bank had paid to HCC and NRZ or
the coal tonnages, citing confidentiality.
"I cannot disclose any
figures but what I can assure you is that after
deliveries, we will be able
to operate at full throttle," he added.
No comment could be
obtained from the reserve bank or Hwange Colliery
Company by the time of
going to press.
Load shedding
Zimbabwe has a current
shortfall of about 600MW. Earlier this month,
the power utility introduced
load-shedding on the back of an upsurge in
demand associated with the winter
season.
Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution Company, managing
director Engineer
Ben Rafemoyo highlighted some challenges that Zesa
currently faces.
"Inadequate working capital is impacting heavily
on operations and
this is largely emanating from sub-economic tariffs that
we are charging,"
he said.
He added that the company was
pressing for a 2 000% increase in
tariffs to restore viability.
"We have made a proposal (on tariff adjustment) to the Zimbabwe
Electricity
Regulatory Authority and they are looking into that."
He said the
drying up of credit facilities has also been a stumbling
block to Zesa
Holdings as some companies were no longer offering credit
facilities. This
left Zesa with no option but to borrow on the market were
the interest rates
were prohibitive.
However, ZNCC pledged to work with Zesa Holdings
to ensure proper
structures that determine tariffs are put in
place.
The delegates also challenged Zesa Holdings to educate the
public on
the efficient use of energy. They expressed concern over tariffs
which the
power utility are charging saying they were not cost
reflective.
Among the conference resolutions was the need to
establish a
think-tank comprising industry, government and Zesa Holdings to
deal with
the electricity crisis facing the country.
They also
recommended the resuscitation of the Consumer Advisory
Council which is
expected to play a leading role in advising consumers on
how to save energy
and thus cut their electricity bills.
The Herald
June 23,
2006,
By Tagu Mkwenyani
Harare (AND) A veteran of
Zimbabwe's liberation struggle accused of
trying to block the ascendancy of
Robert Mugabe to leadership of the Zanu PF
in Mozambique over 30 years ago,
died last week and was buried without any
honours.
Zimbabwe
honours its luminaries by declaring them heroes of the
liberation struggle.
They are buried at the National Heroes Acre at state
funerals. But details
of Crispen Mandizvidza's death are yet to filter to
most Zimbabweans though
he was buried on Sunday in Masvingo province by his
relatives.
Politicians from the Southern part of Zimbabwe are bitter that
authorities
have chosen not to publicise his death in order to avoid
controversy over
his hero status. There are many other politicians from this
part of the
country whose roles have not been acknowledged after their
death. For ten
years, Mandizvidza was locked up at Sikombela detention camp
and Wha-Wha
prisons together with President Robert Mugabe, former Zanu PF
Secretary
General Edgar Tekere and the late Vice President Simon Muzenda,
among other
liberation fighters.
They were fighting for the liberation of the
then Rhodesian under Ian
Smith. Mandizvidza however fell out of favour with
Mugabe when he was
accused with several other comrades from Masvingo provice
of trying to
revolt against the leadership of President Mugabe. Mandizvidza
was arrested
and thrown into pits in Mozambique in 1978 where they lived
under horrendous
conditions. They alleged conspirators had all been
sentenced to death and
were only saved following the intervention of the
late Mozambican President
Samora Machel. After the independence, Mandizvidza
was sidelined from
mainstream politics and pursued private business
interests. He later
rejoined active Zanu PF politics in the 90s but was
never given any position
in President Mugabe's government. At the time of
his death, he was no longer
involved in politics.
Zimbabwe
Bureau
June
23, 2006,
By Tagu Mkwenyani
Harare (AND) Violence has
been reported in the Mashonaland province
ahead of the Rural District
Council Elections scheduled for August.
Terror gangs are reported
to be targeting opposition activists in the
area, which is traditionally a
Zanu PF stronghold. The ruling party will
again square up with opposition
parties in the election of councillors who
will govern rural
councils.
According to Freddy Matonhodze, the MDC provincial
Secretary for
Mashonaland province, Charles Mafuta a ward chairman in
Chiwenga was
brutally attacked at night during the weekend.
"He was
coming from a meeting when he dropped off the bus at night.
Youths who were
singing 'Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC president) was our tea boy'
started beating
him up. He only survived after fleeing from the attackers
without his shirt
when some people sought to rescue [him]," he said.
Matonhodze said
the case has been reported to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights. He also
recounted several other incidents which were occurring
in Bindura, another
stronghold of the ruling party. The MDC activist was at
Harvest House, the
headquarters of the opposition, where he had come to
report the cases of
violence.
Edmore Mubaiwa, the party's provincial co-ordinator
confirmed the
reports saying they feared an escalation of violence during
the run up to
the election. The MDC has announced that it will field
candidates in all the
wards across the country, raising the stakes in the
elections.
Previous elections in Zimbabwe have been marred by violence,
which has
claimed several lives. In one incident, which shocked Zimbabwe,
two MDC
activists were petrol bombed in broad daylight at a rally. They died
as a
result of the burns they sustained. The perpetrators are still walking
free.
AND, Harare Bureau
Please send any job opportunities for publication in this newsletter to:
JAG
Job Opportunities; jag@mango.zw or justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 24 May 2006
COMPANY ACCOUNTANT
An exciting, challenging
and potentially fun filled position exists for a
very positive, rapidly
growing company in the tourism industry. Ideally the
right
person
Would be based in Harare
Should be mature, totally committed
and experienced in all fields of
accountancy
Able to travel to several
safari camps around the country
Be computer literate
The position
could also suit a retired accountant.
Please write to awc@africanencounter.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 24 May 2006
Wanted
Any form of junior secretarial/
office/ managerial work. Preferably located
in the Greendale, Chisipite,
Highlands area.
Please contact Steven on 011 639
258.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 24 May 2006
WANTED - OUTDOOR INSTRUCTORS
CHALLENGING,
EXCITING POSITION OFFERED.
RAPIDLY GROWING OUTDOOR ADVENTURE COMPANY
REQUIRES THE SERVICES OF QUALIFIED
AND EXPERIENCED INSTRUCTORS IN ALL OUTDOOR
ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES.
FOR THE RIGHT PERSON THIS JOB OFFERS A VARIETY OF
OPPORTUNITIES IN BOTH
SOUTHERN & EAST AFRICA.
PLEASE PROVIDE FULL
CV AND DETAILS OF EXPERIENCE
MY CONTACT DETAILS ARE AS
FOLLOWS
EMAIL: rob@africanencounter.org
MOBILE:
011 211 457
OFFICE: 04 882721,
851901
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 24 May 2006
WANTED - FREE LANCE PROFESSIONAL HUNTERS &
GUIDES
WE ARE LOOKING FOR FREELANCE PROFESSIONAL HUNTERS & GUIDES WHO
HAVE DAYS
AVAILABLE TO GUIDE AND INSTRUCT IN A RAPIDLY GROWING AND EXCITING
OUTDOOR
ADVENTURE COMPANY.
IF NOT ALREADY COVERED, INSTRUCTION &
TRAINING WILL BE OFFERED IN ALL
OUTDOOR ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES.
PLEASE
SEND FULL CV, DETAILS AND REFERENCES.
MY CONTACT DETAILS ARE AS
FOLLOWS
EMAIL: rob@africanencounter.org
MOBILE:
011 211457
OFFICE: 04 882721,
851901
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 1 June 2006
Data capturer/Administrator
If you are
seeking a job in the above field, please contact Sarah at OXFORD
I.T. on
309274/309371-2 or alternatively email Sarah on
sarah@oxfordit.co.zw.
The above
position is working for Oxford I.T. and involves about 75% data
basing, 15%
filing, 10% assistant duties to Sarah.
The position is available
immediately and interviews are being conducted
with Sarah at the Oxford I.T.
offices.
Ideal candidates would be school leavers due to the nature of
the position,
but other candidates will be considered.
Don't hesITiate
- IniTiate!
Call Oxford I.T.
today.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 8 June 2006
Concession Manager. Mozambique - based
TCT
successfully recruited a manager from Zimbabwe in February 2006 and are
now
looking for an additional manager to join the team.
Forestry and sawmill
operation in northern Sofala Province seeks bush
manager as part of a team
managing 2 forest concessions, 2 sawmills and a
factory.
Should be
self-motivated, industrious, able to work alone and live in remote
areas.
Owing to nature of work the candidate should have good technical
sense. Suit
an ex-Farmer experienced in running low-skilled teams,
overseeing maintenance
of machinery and equipment and "doing whatever is
necessary to get the job
done"!
The candidate should be prepared to reside in Mozambique full
time, with the
majority of time spent in bush. Fully legal residence and work
permits will
be provided.
Package in US$ with vehicle &
accommodation in bush.
Portuguese not essential at the start but the
successful candidate would
have to learn to communicate in the
language.
Basic computer literacy an advantage.
CV's will be
accepted until the 26th of June 2006, short listed candidates
will be advised
by the 5 July and a candidate will be selected by the 20th
of July, candidate
expected to start as soon as possible, preferably August
2006.
Package
to be negotiated
Please send your CV to email tctdalmann@tdm.co.mz or fax +258 23 30 21
61.
Included in your CV or on the covering letter please advise what package
you
will be expecting.
Those candidates who submitted their CV's for
the first position that has
been filled and would like to apply for the
second position, please resubmit
your CV's.
For additional company
information see www.dalmann.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 8 June 2006
Tobacco Farm Manager Required
Irrigated and
Dry land Crop. Good Package for Experienced Person.
Contact northerntobacco@zol.co.zw
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
Ad
inserted 15 June 2006
VACANCY: PERSONAL ASSISTANT
A personal
assistant is required for a busy company executive. The
incumbent should be
fully computer literate, with a working knowledge of
email and will be
required to attend to general office duties, minute
taking, personal and
business correspondence, travel arrangements and
organisation and
coordination of business and personal diary. The position
is interesting and
varied and prospective incumbents will be expected to
have had previous
experience in a similar environment. Needless to say,
total confidentiality
and loyalty are a prerequisite. The office is
situated in beautiful
surroundings in the Avenues and an attractive package
will be offered to a
suitable applicant.
Please contact Cherry on
251150/2.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 15 June 2006
Secretary Wanted
.
A keen and enthusiastic
person wanted to fill a secretarial position at
Garden Genius Pvt ltd. Hours
would be 8 - 5 from Monday to Friday.
Please phone 746538 if you are
interested.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 15 June 2006
Manager Wanted - Namibia
Zimbabwean farmers,
who may be interested in exploring the possibility of
moving to other African
countries to start projects or equity in business.
Farm of 4433 hectares
situated 7 km from the mining town of Tsumeb, Namibia.
The farm has 7
boreholes but only two of them are currently used. It has a
transformer with
continuous electricity power supplied by NAMPOWER. In the
past, 30 hectares
have already been cleared for crop production and
currently we have 21
cattle, which we would like to increase to make it
economically viable. Also,
wild animals such as kudu, eland, wild boar and
many small buck animals roam
freely through the farm. The farm also has
ample supply of trees for
firewood.
We require somebody to manage, develop and run the farm
profitably because
at the moment we have our jobs in the city, Windhoek,
which is 440 km from
the farm. We will be interested in entertaining business
proposals for
profit sharing ventures or applications from individuals who
will be
interested in developing, managing and running the farm as a
business
enterprise.
For further information they might like to
contact us at our email address,
erniebar@mweb.com.na or contact Estefania
at +26461223088 (After 18h00
Namibian time) or Stephen at mobile phone
+264812988991.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 15 June 2006
General Manager Wanted
General Manager
required for locally based international seed company.
Applicants should have
a good background in administration with particular
emphasis on the ability
to operate in an economy affected by hyperinflation.
Experience in
horticulture is essential.
Position would suit a mature ex-farmer who is
computer literate.
Motor vehicle and other benefits included in
package.
Please apply to indchem@indchem.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 15 June 2006
TRANSPORT MANAGER / FUEL MANAGER
We need a
Transport Manager as soon as possible that can handle the basic
transport
management side as well as fuel procurement.
Competitive salary offered
to the right person.
Please apply to 609841@ecoweb.co.zw with CV and
references.
Phone no. (067) 28603/4 (067) 29299
011609841
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 15 June 2006
OPERATIONS MAN / CONTROLER REQUIRED
1) Small
scale tobacco project in D.R.C.
2) Tough conditions (but safe!)
3) Project
in developing stages.
4) This post is for a "Jack of all trades" person with
sound knowledge of
tobacco and admin skills.
5) Applicants to reply to
advertiser, at Box 4601, Harare. Please advise
contact phone number.
6)
Salary to be
negotiated.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 22 June 2006
Wanted
SUPERVISOR- NORTHFIELD FLATS FITH ST
/JOSHIAH TONGARA
CONTACT HENK BOTHA
091-324-976
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 22 June 2006
Manager Wanted
Position Offered: Manager
required to oversee factory in Harare and to
travel to Chalala, Kariba for
one week per month for stock takes etc. In
Harare the job will entail the
overseeing of factory, machinery and vehicles
maintenance and managing
labour, stocks and security. Position available
immediately. Interested
applicants please email headoffice@matmark.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employment
Sought
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 24 May 2006
Employment Sought
Qualified artisan
electrician/millwright, 16th Edition, with extensive
knowledge and experience
on diesel and petrol driven motors/generators,
truck and vehicle repairs and
maintenance and electrical-mechanical field
service engineering. Also sound
knowledge & experience on construction to
roof level and plumbing.
Skilled in gas welding/braising, CO2 & Arc
welding, Steel metalwork and
construction. Experience in foundries
(induction furnaces), gantry-cranes,
power stations, high-volume grain
extraction and bagging machines, electrical
construction sites, factory
maintenance, transport vehicle fleets, high-speed
packaging machinery and
construction and installation of agricultural
incubators, construction and
maintenance of holiday resort. Can do basic
steel lathe work and spray
painting.
Holds full Zimbabwe Drivers
License for Heavy, light and construction
vehicles.
I am 52 years old,
of European / Italian descent. Health status -
healthy/strong I have high
work standards, calm disposition and get on well
with people. I enjoy the
outdoors and would be happy in a safari/holiday
resort-based environment, but
am equally happy to work anywhere I am
available immediately. Contact Arthur
Barnet on Byo 241020 or 286163 or
email whiteman@mweb.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 1 June 2006
Employment Sought
Situations wanted
Tourism/Hospitality for a management couple or assistant
Management couple
with experience for a Lodge, bush camp or fishing camp in
Zambia, Botswana,
South Africa or Kenya.
Situations wanted Motor industry. Workshop
Manager, warranty officer/Parts
manager. With extensive experience in the
motor trade totalling 30 years on
Mazda, Nissan and Peugeot vehicles. We
would prefer expatriate conditions of
employment if possible. Prepared to
relocate to Zambia, Botswana or Southern
Africa.
Please contact N A
Spreeth on 091369872, 091951340 or email
zimginger@yahoo.co.uk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 22 June 2006
Position Required in Safari/Outdoor
Organization;
Single male with previous experience in Zimbabwe and
Mozambique seeks
position. Has experience in camp management, catering,
lodge/camp
construction, and administration. Please contact Ned via Duncan on
011 405
387, 309971 (work hours) or email at ddollar@genham.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 22 June 2006
"HEAVY DUTY DRIVER
We are shortly leaving
Zimbabwe and wish to find employment for our driver
Munyaradzi Maliki. He is
a non-drinker, very reliable, hard working and
honest. Munyaradzi has driven
our T35 extensively on long distances over
extremely poor dirt roads to our
Kapenta Fishing Camp (Harare to Kariba -
via Gokwe). He is meticulous in
conducting regular full vehicle checks and
has proved to be a valued employee
and a good team player, who willingly
undertakes other duties if he is not
driving. His availability would be on
an immediate basis. Please contact
Shaw: 091 945686 or 091 270 245
(landline not
working)."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 22 June 2006
Farm Manager
Looking for a farm job as a
manager, Qualified at Blackfordby Agricultural,
Institute.
Three years
farming experience in tobacco, maize and wheat.
Please contact George Heyns
home: 064 8388
Cell:091272216
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 22 June 2006
Ex Farmer
Ex Farmer/Consultant and
Agronomist for Alliance One Tobacco aged 50 years
living in Zimbabwe with 23
years experience in growing tobacco, maize, seed
maize, horticulture, beef
cattle, pigs, chickens. Excellent management,
administration and
communication skills, computer literate, full clean
drivers licence. Was
runner up'Tobacco Grower of the Year' in 1985. Spent
last 2 years consulting
for Imperial Tobacco Group in Madagascar on the
production of flue-cured
tobacco.
AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY. CONTACT: 091 439 911/011 602 583 or
heather@karina.co.zw
Can send CV
if
necessary.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
For
the latest listings of accommodation available for farmers, contact
justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
(updated 22 June 2006)