The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
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Joseph Mutsotso
JOSEPH Mutsotso, 33, of Highfield, shows injuries he sustained after he was assaulted by suspected State security agents on Tuesday night.
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      Stayaways not illegal

      6/5/2003 1:54:49 AM (GMT +2)


      Court Reporter

      THE State yesterday conceded that there was no law in Zimbabwe that
makes mass stayaways illegal.

      The concession was made in the High Court by Joseph Musakwa, the
Director of Public Prosecutions.

      He said Home Affairs Minister, Kembo Mohadi, should therefore not have
referred to "illegal stayaways" in an application in which the State is
seeking to prevent Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan
Tsvangirai from making statements that would "incite the public to engage in
unlawful activities and illegal demonstrations".

      "There is no law that prohibits stayaways. It was an error on the part
of Mohadi to refer to illegal stayaways," Musakwa said.

      His statement was in response to defence advocate Chris Andersen's
observation that mass action could not be regularised.

      "There is nothing in law that deals with mass stayaways," Andersen had
said.

      Musakwa also concurred with Andersen that the definition of "public
demonstrations" as it related to spontaneous demonstrations was wide.

      Andersen said it was impossible to notify the police of a spontaneous
demonstration, arguing that the court must disregard the aspect of
spontaneity. Under the Public Order and Security Act, the police must be
informed of proposed public gatherings.

      The State is asking the High Court to tighten bail conditions for
Tsvangirai, who is charged with plotting to assassinate President Robert
Mugabe before last year's presidential poll.

      The MDC has called for a five-day mass action that began on Monday,
and which is aimed at pressing Mugabe to agree to negotiate to resolve
Zimbabwe's economic and political crises.

      High Court judge Paddington Garwe will tomorrow rule on the State's
application.

      He said he wanted time to consider the arguments presented by the
State and the defence counsel.

      "Having heard the various submissions from both sides, I have to stand
down this matter and the court will adjourn until Friday at 10am to consider
them. I would want to benefit from the relevant information cited by the
State and the defence counsel," he said.

      Garwe said the lawyers cited several cases that he wanted to consider.

      Tsvangirai is charged with treason along with MDC secretary-general
Welshman Ncube and the party's shadow minister of agriculture, Renson
Gasela. The three have denied plotting to assassinate Mugabe and overthrow
his government.

      Musakwa told the court: "We seek from this court an order for the
accused persons to refrain from unlawful conduct and we are not at all
seeking to erode their rights to freedom of expression."

      But Anderson said the court must consider the consequences of
permitting such an order.

      "The provisions are so wide and imprecise that they cannot survive the
conditions of bail in general," Anderson said. "Enforcing such a provision
encourages arbitrary arrests and prosecution."

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            LEADER PAGE  Thursday   5  , June

            Unreliable sources from ancient circles of wizardry

            6/5/2003 1:45:56 AM (GMT +2)


            By Diana Mitchell

            AS day follows night, so will these terrible days of misery,
cruelty and fear pass into history.

            It was nearly thirty years ago and it seems like yesterday that
Zimbabweans, the majority then described as black Rhodesians, the whites as
"Rhodies" were going into the "end game" of a struggle for possession of a
stunningly beautiful country.

            Within a short three years that earlier 'final push' yielded
possession to the former underdog and the power, wrested from a minority
settler group, to mastermind the distribution or the disposal of natural and
human resources.

            It was at the cost of many lives but the people rejoiced in the
belief that a bright new day had dawned and that limitless opportunity was
theirs, for full participation in exploiting (in the best sense of that
word), the wealth of a great little nation.

            Little was known back then of the names of the real martyrs and
heroes, except among the rank and file of fighters who saw their comrades
fall, or the families whose sons and daughters vanished into oblivion.

            They were presumed lost in neighbouring Mozambique, Zambia or on
the soils of the motherland away and beyond the walls of the cities, towns
and villages.

            People caught in the crossfire knew the full meaning of what it
was to be "the man (or woman) in the middle", helplessly trapped by
circumstances of war. If they did not fully understand their role, the
all-night pungwes put that right.

            Cruelty began back then: terrible retribution was meted out for
people even suspected to be on the wrong side of the battle, leaving lipless
men and women, their ears and noses or private parts cut off, corpses
disembowelled, children battered and burnt. Atrocity and counter-atrocity
introduced the country's first experiences of "normalising the abnormal".

            The leaders of that final push, the political and military
supremos, took weaponry and whatever support they could get from
anti-imperialists, communists, and a host of fellow African independent
rulers as well as sympathisers working covertly in apartheid-ruled South
Africa.

            Understanding good public relations, Zimbabwe's aspiring
political leaders made themselves available for interviews everywhere,
including in the capitals of the West.

            Their megaphones proclaimed the justness of their cause and
numbers of them had their pockets filled with the gold so essential to
keeping the troops, guerrilla forces in this case, engaged in the struggle.

            Inside the country, in the mid-70s, rather remarkably there were
many eminent nationalist politicians dozens of them are still alive and in
office today some older people already in their late middle age, and a few
younger men like the brilliant lawyer, the vanished Dr Edison Sithole.

            They were giving their testimony to history in the making. They
had been released from their places of detention, or returned from political
exile during the brief period of detente that time when "settlement" talks
between the British and the illegal regime of the Rhodesian Front showed
signs of possible success.

            Herbert Chitepo, one of the earliest casualties among the
talented and dedicated nationalist politicians, died before he could
reliably inform posterity of the circumstances which led soon after to his
premature death.

            His sudden removal from the scene was another first in the
annals of heroism, where brave leaders do not survive to enjoy the fruits of
their sacrifices for the freeing of their fellows.

            Those who died, soon after Independence was won or well before
the inevitable decline in popularity of the politicians (and a handful of
the military) can rest easily in their graves.

            Unfortunately they have taken what might have been their
reliable testimony and a true record of the struggle, with them.

            They wanted all that was best for their country, for their
comrades in the struggle, for their children and for succeeding generations.

            They included men like Robson Manyika who, as a field commander,
gave way to the politicians and put away the gun. Dr Simon Mazorodze, the
undercover doctor, had obeyed his Hippocratic oath and ministered to the
sick while his vision of a free Zimbabwe sustained him through night sorties
into the bush to help wounded guerrilla fighters.

            There was the example of that great peacemaker, Josiah
Chinamano, one half of the anti-colonial argument, a wise and steady leader
and former headmaster, second in command, to Joshua Nkomo.

            His heart was visibly broken over the collapse of the Patriotic
Front's high ideals of unity.

            The obscenity of Gukurahundi buried thousands of men and women
who had put their faith in his assurances of harmony between former regional
adversaries and in a peace which was wrecked. Whole villages fell to the
sword of former "comrades" in the struggle.

            Those in power who are left are the unreliable sources. Their
names are now well-known. They are the would-be heroes, the men and women
who vowed they would take over the country, but failed to explain to their
supporters that they had no intention of delivering a real and enduring
freedom.

            There were a few early warning signals. Edgar Tekere sounded the
first alarm. He could see no future democracy in a one-party-state, but
achieved another first, becoming a prototype of "free" Zimbabwe's opposition
politicians: driven relentlessly into the political wilderness.

            Didymus Mutasa, the man who stood before the cameras on the
evening of the first day of the latest mass stayaway was declaring how
"normally" the city was functioning, even as the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation news reader with his regulation dead-pan expression told viewers
of the deserted business centres.

            Dr Samuel Mumbegegwi, the Minister of Industry and International
Trade, uttered some sinister threats through that same State broadcasting
medium. This was resource that he and Mutasa had striven to make free for
all the former oppressed masses.

            Dr Nathan Shamuyarira, shedding his accustomed scholarly
demeanour in an imitation of that mafikizolo the most recent successor to
his Information portfolio burst into intemperate threats to "teach a lesson"
to opposition protesters. His own protest as a former journalist, entirely
reliable and made known to friends and colleagues through his writing, was
conveniently long forgotten.

            Now that the "final push" is under way, there are unreliable
sources emerging from within the ancient, dark and frightening circles of
wizardry, indicating that a fight for the succession within the ruling party
is on.

            Even more unreliable is the source that dropped the name of Dr
Simba Makoni, into the magic brew. He is the youngest, brightest, least
frightening and least threatening among top loyalists in the ruling party.

            At this stage of the "end game" Zimbabweans might well wonder
how a man who knows precisely how fatally the economy has been afflicted
after 23 years of his colleagues' maladministration could bear the very
thought of administering the kiss of life to a cadaver.

            We shall have to wait for sources more reliable than rumour and
speculation, in a newly liberated country that longs to enjoy that most
basic of freedoms the free flow of reliable information.

            Diana Mitchell is an author and political commentator.
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      Mudenge defends use of strong-arm tactics

      6/5/2003 1:56:04 AM (GMT +2)


      By Sydney Masamvu Assistant Editor

      THE Zimbabwean government, reeling under international condemnation of
its handling of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)'s mass
action, yesterday told diplomats that it had to use strong-arm tactics
against anti-government protesters to prevent anarchy.

      Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge summoned all diplomats based in
a Harare to a two-hour briefing on the government's position on the
MDC-organised mass action.

      The meeting was held yesterday morning at the government's Munhumutapa
Building offices.

      Mudenge told the diplomats that the (MDC) had wilfully disobeyed a
High Court order declaring its mass action illegal. The mass action, which
began on Monday and ends tomorrow, was declared illegal on Saturday.

      Diplomats who attended the meeting said the Zimbabwean Foreign
Minister had told them that the government had no choice but to deploy State
security forces to put down demonstrations and avoid anarchy in the country.
Marches into city centres around the country were prevented by the army and
the police force, which have been deployed to urban areas.

      The diplomats said Mudenge told them that the government would not
tolerate the action embarked on the by the MDC and had to deploy security
forces to quell the demonstrations.

      "The MDC has wilfully decided to ignore a judgment issued by the High
Court of this country. This is dangerous. If allowed to succeed, it will
lead to anarchy and chaos in this country," Mudenge said in a statement
shown to The Daily News yesterday.

      "No government worth its name can ever tolerate such a situation to
exist,'' he added.

      He told the diplomats that the forces of law and order in Zimbabwe
would not tolerate the removal of a legally elected government by force.

      "Let no one suffer from any illusions that the people of Zimbabwe, as
well as the forces of law and order, will ever tolerate the removal of a
legally elected government by force," Mudenge warned.

      However, the MDC yesterday vowed to press ahead with the mass action,
saying street marches would proceed tomorrow. The opposition party says the
mass action is aimed at pressurising President Robert Mugabe to agree to
talks that could lead to the resolution of the country's crisis.

      Mudenge told diplomats yesterday that the government would have failed
in its duty of upholding the rule of law if it allowed the MDC to defy court
orders. "No government deriving its mandate from the people would allow
lawlessness to prevail. The government of Zimbabwe would be failing in its
duty of upholding the rule of law if it was to stand by and watch the MDC
defy court orders," Mudenge said. He castigated unnamed Western governments
for criticising Harare's handling of the protests.

      The United States of America, Britain and the European Union have
urged the Zimbabwe government to allow the MDC to conduct peaceful protests,
warning against suppressing the protests.

      The Group of Eight, which comprises the world's major industrialised
countries, on Tuesday also voiced its concern at the government's reaction
to the MDC mass action.
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      Mass action paralyses funeral parlours

      6/5/2003 1:52:53 AM (GMT +2)


      Staff Reporter

      ZIMBABWE'S funeral parlours have been hit hard by this week's mass
action, which has combined with the shortages of fuel and bank notes to make
it impossible for most funeral firms to provide services, it was learnt on
Tuesday.

      Officials with the funeral parlours said they had been forced to deny
vehicles to bereaved families because of fears of violence and destruction
of property during the week-long mass action.

      The mass action was called by the MDC and was supposed to involve
street protests against President Robert Mugabe and work stayaways.

      Demonstrations planned for Monday were derailed by the army and
police, which have been deployed to urban areas around the country.

      In separate interviews with The Daily News on Tuesday, funeral parlour
managers said since the mass action began on Monday, they had not been able
to attend to their clients.

      The uncertainty caused by the tense atmosphere around the country has
combined with cash and fuel shortages to adversely affect the provision of
      funeral services, the managers said.

      Most of the funeral parlours require clients to pay in cash for
services, which most customers are unable to provide because of the shortage
of bank notes and because most financial institutions were closed this week.

      The managers said this had forced many bereaved families to postpone
burials.

      Charity Mungofa, claims manager for the Moonlight Funeral Services
group, said: "We can't get fuel from service stations and our clients can't
access their money from banks, which are closed at the moment."

      Mungofa, whose company is the holding firm for Mashfords Funeral
Services, added: "As you know, deaths occur on a daily basis and we are
supposed to be delivering services. Bereaved families, who are our clients,
are failing to make payments for services due to the closure of banks."

      She said major cemeteries in Harare had failed to carry out burials
because most undertakers and grave-diggers had not been able to report for
duty.
      Many workers have not shown up for work in support for the mass action
or because of serious public transport shortages worsened by the
anti-government protests.

      Mungofa said: "Most undertakers did not report for work and we could
not get enough graves.

      "We got clients who wanted to bury their relatives and there was very
little we could do.

      "On Monday, a few bereaved families opted to take the bodies of their
relatives to their rural areas. We need cash upfront for most of our
services but the problem is that most clients do not have cash to pay for
the funeral services."

      Although the funeral service providers could not give figures of how
many bereaved families had been affected by the lack of service this week,
most said they handled between five and 10 funerals a day.

      Funeral parlour managers said because they were not releasing their
vehicles to clients, many families faced difficulties in moving the deceased
from their homes to funeral parlours.

      Mungofa said some families had also not been able to take their
deceased to mortuaries at hospitals such as Harare General Hospital, which
were running out of space.

      Chris Tapfumaneyi, the medical superintendent for Harare General
Hospital, declined to comment on the matter.
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Leader Page

      What next after mass action?

      6/5/2003 1:45:11 AM (GMT +2)



      ZIMBABWEANS, who stayed away from work this week to demonstrate their
anger at the government's mismanagement of the country, will wake up next
Monday to find themselves facing exactly the same problems which have killed
their nation.

      The acute fuel and electricity shortages threatening the viability of
industry and commerce will still be with us.

      In fact, more workers could find themselves jobless as many firms that
were already struggling to survive in Zimbabwe's hostile environment fail to
absorb the huge financial losses incurred this week because of the mass
stayaway.

      The Zimbabwe dollar will still be in short supply because the central
bank has no hard cash to pay foreign suppliers of the special ink and paper
it needs to print money.

      Whoever you are this includes members of the security forces, the
Church, the government and ordinary citizens you will still have to go to
the illegal black market to get hard cash and most essentials.

      Pro-ruling ZANU PF party and government militias will still continue
to wreak lawlessness and violence across the country.

      In fact, if the militias live up to their past record, then supporters
of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), plus other
peace-loving Zimbabweans, can expect a severe backlash of violence as the
murderous thugs punish them for heeding the MDC's call to mass action.

      But most significantly, President Robert Mugabe will not have resigned
or conceded that he has failed to run Zimbabwe and agreed to negotiations
with the MDC, the stated objectives of the opposition party's mass action.

      If anything, Zimbabweans can expect Mugabe terrified into action by
the huge success of this week's stayaway to come out fighting to shore up
his tottering regime.

      Having called upon Zimbabweans to make the sacrifices that they made
this week, with many arrested or beaten up in public by State security
agents, we ask MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai: what next now?

      Does the opposition party, seen by many as Zimbabwe's only real hope
for democratic change, have any alternative and viable plan beyond mere mass
stayaways to free Zimbabweans from this dictatorship?

      Tsvangirai and his officials were at pains this week to convince
Zimbabweans and the rest of the world that the mass action was only an event
in a long struggle, a long process that is meant to galvanise and strengthen
Zimbabweans for more direct and potentially dangerous but necessary action
to reclaim their power. They could very well be correct. Only that previous
mass stayaways and the latest one and we are beginning to lose count of
these stayaways have not yielded much positive change.

      Indeed, many MDC supporters in vulnerable rural areas and high-density
suburbs in cities can testify that they have only reaped bitter retribution
from government supporters after each stayaway called by the MDC, or its
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions ally.

      In as much as the mass action this week is a sign that the government
has run out of options beyond brute military force, it is also a wake-up
call to Tsvangirai and the MDC to strategise beyond stayaways and to always
have an alternative plan should the first one be thwarted by the besieged
government.

      For example, does the MDC leadership have to wait until Saturday to
review the results of the latest action, or could the party have come up
with new alternatives while its rolling action was in progress?

      Indeed, could the MDC not have anticipated that the government would
crush the protests? After all, the government had repeatedly warned it would
do just this in the same manner it made clear it would not tolerate the MDC
winning the 2002 presidential election.

      The opposition party must rapidly get its act together and come up
with an imaginative and focused plan that can save Zimbabwe now and not to
prolong the crisis.

      Clearly Tsvangirai and his advisers in the MDC must know that time is
not on their side.
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      Fuel imports fail to lift Wankie Colliery

      6/5/2003 1:42:51 AM (GMT +2)


      Business Reporter

      WANKIE Colliery Company (WCC) is now importing its own fuel using
scarce foreign currency but the imports are still insufficient to increase
its production, which has dropped to less than 50 percent, according to a
company spokesman.

      Wankie is allowed by the government to retain 50 percent of its export
earnings, which are then used to import critical spare parts and fuel for
mining operations.

      WCC spokesman Simukai Chihanga said this week that the imported fuel
was being used to run generators and heavy mining gear.

      "We are importing our own fuel using foreign currency generated
through exports," Chihanga told The Business Daily.

      "The imports are however far insufficient to salvage the crisis, hence
we are still failing to meet demand for coal."

      The crisis at the colliery has had a knock-on effect on the operations
of Zimbabwe's industry, also crippled by frequent power cuts.

      Chihanga said the forex crisis in Zimbabwe caused by the flight of
international investors and funding agencies and a slump in the country's
exports because of skewed government policies was far from over and it was
taking a heavy toll on WCC's operations.
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      ZSE faces $250m loss to mass action

      6/5/2003 1:42:25 AM (GMT +2)


      By MacDonald Dzirutwe Business Editor

      THE Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) could lose revenue worth $250
million because of mass action that brought the country's financial markets
to a halt this week.

      There has been no trade on the local share bourse this week because of
the mass action, called by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
The mass action, supposed to comprise street protests and work stayaways,
began on Monday and is expected to end on Friday.

      Institutional investors, who drove activity on the ZSE last week, did
not participate in trading on the stock market from Monday to Wednesday,
leaving stockbrokers without any orders, market watchers told The Business
Daily.

      This had made it impossible for brokers to trade this week, leading to
loss of revenue, the market analysts added.

      ZSE chief executive Emmanuel Munyukwi said although there was no
trading on the bourse for the third consecutive day yesterday, some brokers
had reported for duty. However, they could not conduct any business without
orders from their clients.

      "I think that investors, especially institutional investors, probably
took positions last week that they would be doing nothing this week," he
told The Business Daily.

      "It is not a good situation at all, but then you can't force brokers
to trade when they do not have orders," he said.

      Stockbrokers said the equities market had a daily turnover of about
$50 million in normal weeks. They said if the Zimbabwean stock exchange did
not trade for this entire week, it would lose at least $250 million in
revenue.

      There were no indications yesterday whether trading on the ZSE would
resume today.

      Analysts said the impact of losses on the stock market would severely
affect the government, which earns revenue from stamp duty paid on shares
bought and sold on the ZSE.

      Stamp duty is presently pegged at one percent of shares bought and
sold.

      Munyukwi said: "Stamp duty is at one percent, so for every side (of
trading) there is payment of duty. This means that buyers and sellers both
pay duty."

      An analyst with a stockbroking firm added: "There is quite a lot of
revenue being lost because on average, there is a turnover of $50 million.

      "It is quite frustrating because people buy and sell for a number of
reasons but they have not been able to do so this week."

      The stock market, which received a boost a fortnight ago from positive
March 2003 financial results, was in retreat last week as it sought
direction in the face of this week's proposed mass action.

      The March reporting period is drawing to a close, with very few
companies still to release their financial statements.

      Analysts said they expected trade to resume next Monday at a slow
pace.

      "The fundamentals that have been driving the equities market still
remain the same and we feel that the equities outlook remains positive,"
Kingdom Stockbrokers said in its weekly report.

      Meanwhile on the money market, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) did
not float any Treasury bill tenders this week, indicating, analysts said,
the extent to which the mass action had affected financial markets.

      Money market interest rates remained unchanged, although some banks
hiked their lending rates to 80 percent this week, up from 75 percent. This
is the second increase in lending rates in the space of a month.

      Money market dealers said there was no activity on the money market
except for interbank trading, in which banks were settling their positions
at the RBZ.

      Foreign currency dealers said hard cash inflows remained critically
low this week. The forex situation was worsened by the closure this week of
most companies, which were not able to fulfil orders.
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Letters

      ZANU PF tightening noose around its neck

      6/5/2003 1:49:18 AM (GMT +2)



      The crushing of recent demonstrations using the army and police only
signifies the beginning of a new intifada (uprising).

      President Mugabe must learn that using the army and police to suppress
mass revolt is a very temporary solution.

      If anything, it buys him only a few more days before the people's
anger manifests itself again, this time with increased resilience and
improved strategies.

      People are getting used to tear-gas and bullets and will become
hardened and more determined to fight the State apparatus. Fine, Mugabe
managed to stop them grouping and marching into the city centre. What if
next time they spread out and wreak havoc everywhere?

      The problem is the root cause of the demonstration, which is rising
poverty and discontent with his oppressive leadership.

      ZANU PF must realise the status quo will not endure.

      Pitted against the people of Zimbabwe and the world at large, ZANU PF
will lose.

      The world is watching closely and this means ZANU PF is tightening the
noose around its own neck. It cannot resolve the socio-economic problems
which are the fundamental cause of the people's anger.

      When this week of mass protests ends, a new week of facing up to the
harsh realities of the situation begins.

      There is no rest if any zanu pf leader thinks peace and tranquillity
will return once the demonstrations have subsided.

      This is a problem that will not go away. The society has lost respect
for any official who belongs to zanu PF because they are part and parcel of
the problems. Mugabe is only President for his people in zanu pf, not for
the masses of Zimbabwe.

      The road map to peace calls for ZANU PF to start respecting the wishes
of the people of Zimbabwe to live in peace and prosperity, not to be abused
by an outdated dictatorship.

      ZANU PF just has to lose Mugabe or face extinction.

      Rine Manyanga
      London
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Feature

      Zimbabwe should plan for post-Mugabe era

      6/5/2003 1:41:51 AM (GMT +2)



      ZIMBABWEAN political developments have assumed a new dimension since
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) launched stayaways in protest
against the ZANU PF government's tragic mismanagement of the country.

      The current stayaway is a resounding success by any standards, in
spite of the government's watertight security measures involving the
Zimbabwe Republic Police, the Zimbabwe National Army and the Central
Intelligence Organisation.

      The government has repeatedly said stayaways are illegal and
unpatriotic. In an obviously desperate attempt to cut the ground from
underneath the MDC's feet last week, the Commissioner of Police, Augustine
Chihuri, applied to the High Court for an interdict.

      The court said the stayaway should be cancelled because it was
illegal. However, the MDC described the matter as a non-event and that it
would proceed with the protest as planned. The MDC's secretary-general,
Professor Welshman Ncube, said the court's order was a legal nullity,
implying that it was in law null and void and should be ignored.

      The MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, said, among other things, whatever
the merits and demerits of the court's decision, the stayaway had not been
called by the MDC alone, but by other civic bodies such as student
organisations and the National Constitutional Assembly. He was referring to
Chihuri's court papers, which referred to only Tsvangirai and the MDC as the
respondents.

      The MDC president said people should proceed with the stayaway and
marches with or without him.

      He said the people of Zimbabwe should not just sit and watch President
Robert Mugabe destroy the country. That, to me, is the crux of the matter.
      The Zanu PF government has dismally failed the nation in the last 10
years when its socio-economic policies became so cock-eyed that its external
debt ballooned, necessitating the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund to create economic recovery programmes, some of which were not suitable
for Third World agro-based economies such as Zimbabwe's.

      The debt had been created by successive regional droughts, but was
worsened by the ZANU PF government's lack of budgetary discipline, which
repeatedly created budgetary deficits.

      That, followed by Mugabe's revengeful land-grabbing policy against
white commercial farmers as punishment for what he perceived to be their
financial support for Tsvangirai's MDC, which spearheaded the massive
rejection of the 2000 Zanu PF constitutional proposals, fuelled an
inflationary spiral that has led to where Zimbabwe's economy is today in the
doldrums.

      Unemployment is well above 70 percent, inflation is at 269 percent,
tourism is virtually dead, fuels are so scarce that whenever they are
available in the black market, their prices are so uneconomically high that
prices of basic commodities and services have become inaccessible to the
ordinary Zimbabwean.

      Sugar, bread, edible fats and ordinary everyday items such as candles
are in serious short supply in the country today.

      The cost of living has risen to such a level that the only people who
can budget sensibly are Mugabe, his Cabinet ministers, senior members of the
Zanu PF plutocracy, a few privileged parastatal executive officers, some
lucky fuel black marketers and private medical practitioners.

      Most of the people of Zimbabwe now live literally by the grace of God.
This statement may not make any sense to those living in opulence and in the
lap of luxury, but its truthfulness is reflected by the massive response to
the stayaway call by the MDC.

      I do not think that everyone who positively responded to the call is
an MDC member, but I believe that what has united the vast majority of the
people behind that organisation is the common suffering of the nation of
Zimbabwe.

      The people of this land are presenting a united front against a
government that has, through its own failures, lost all moral justification
to remain in office.

      It is not only sad very, very sad indeed but actually tragic that the
country's security forces are being used NOT to protect and defend the
suffering masses, but to protect the privileged few members of the ZANU PF
hierarchy.

      It would be most interesting to hear what a soldier's response would
be to the question: What nationally good aspect or aspects of the ZANU PF
government are you defending or protecting?

      The plain truth in Zimbabwe today is that the country's current regime
is a liability to the nation, and that it is certainly on its way out.

      That is a fact every honest person can see and that it will be very,
very good riddance indeed.

      When that happy event will occur is a matter of conjecture, but all
symptoms indicate that the ZANU PF regime is certainly moving towards its
exit.

      That means that the people of Zimbabwe should start preparing for the
future socio-economic rehabilitation of the nation. While lessons will be
learnt from the past blunders and successes of ZANU PF, it is vital for
those aspiring to replace ZANU PF to have a realistic vision for a future
Zimbabwe.

      They should realise that meaningful socio-economic development starts
at the smallest national administrative unit. In Zimbabwe, that is called a
district council or municipal ward. The next is a district, comprising a
number of wards. After the districts, we come to provinces.

      Socio-economic development planning should have its foundations in
wards to improve the standard of living and quality of life of people.

      It is also clear that something will have to be done to create a new
currency to get away from the ZANU PF disastrous situation in which
financial institutions ran short of money.

      Shortage of foreign currency will have to be dealt with as a matter of
national urgency, first by immediately and ruthlessly eliminating the
present lawless practice where some speculators buy and sell foreign
currency along pavements.

      How any government can tolerate that kind of situation it is
impossible for me to accept, nor can I understand how a government can
destroy the country's foreign currency-earning economic sector and still
expect to import the nation's vital needs such as fuels.

      Foreign currency, fuels, arms, medical drugs, gold, diamonds, silver,
emeralds and other precious minerals are strategic commodities whose
production and distribution should be closely monitored by the state.

      But in ZANU PF's Zimbabwe, foreign currency is bought and sold at
street corners, and when law enforcement agents apprehend some of the
vendors, the punishment stipulated by the law is lighter than that given to
consumers of illicit brews.

      Those planning for the future must consider the experiences of
neighbouring countries, especially that of Botswana whose socio-economic
success story should be emulated by every Third World government aspiring to
improve its people's lives.

      The planners must also put in place measures to do away with the
culture of thievery by public servants, one of the threats to the country
posed by the ZANU PF administration.

      It is most important to replace the culture whereby Zimbabweans are
ashamed of poverty more than they are of, say, thievery.
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Zim Financial Gazette


      'Final push' turns into routine job stayaway

      Cyril Zenda Staff Reporter
      6/5/03 2:13:16 AM (GMT +2)

      THE mass protest to force President Mugabe out of power turned out to
be one of the routine job stayaways by the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), analysts said this week.

      Although the planned march, gagged by a heavy-handed response by the
military and police forces, unnerved the ruling ZANU PF party's political
heavyweights, it fell flat on clarity and strategy.

      The question that emerged, analysts said, was how final was the final
push to oust President Mugabe from power?

      Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly
(NCA), a confederation of civic society groups and opposition political
parties that threw their weight behind "the final push" conceded yesterday
that the plot was unsuccessful.

      "Firstly, the mistake we made is that we called it a final push when
it is very clear that the struggle is very long.

      "Secondly, we were not agreed on the objectives to be achieved by the
so-called final push and this is the reason why it ended up being a stayaway
not a march," said Madhuku.

      The NCA has organised several mass actions in the past to force the
government to agree on their demands for a constitutional review.

      Analysts agreed that the mass protest, dubbed the "final push", did
not fail because it lacked support; rather, the people were lost as to the
ultimate intention and result of the protest.

      They said it was clear the government had anticipated a mass revolt
that could have made the country ungovernable and plunged it into an untold
crisis.

      But the protest turned out to be by far less than what they had
anticipated.

      Heavily armed police and military personnel mounted roadblocks across
the country, sealing off major roads into all major centres throughout the
country.

      MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was also briefly picked up by the police
and this could have confused his supporters who were expecting him to lead
the march to State House.

      "People boycotted the march because there was a bit of confusion
because the initial statement of the opposition leaders was not clear,"
Heneri Dzinotyiwei, a University of Zimbabwe lecturer, said.

      "Even if the march had been prevented from taking place pre-maturely,
opposition leaders should have announced the way forward because they had an
obligation to clarify their position.

      "Opposition party leaders must sit down and seriously set out what
they want to do and whether it is possible to do that. They should try to be
consistent and avoid contradictions," Dzinotyiwei said.

      An Anglican Church bishop agreed with Dzinotyiwei, saying a workable
strategy would have been key to the resolution of the political and economic
crises.

      "We have reached a point where no one disputes that things have gone
wrong in this country, but I don't think people are prepared for this type
of thing yet," Anglican Bishop Patrick Mutume told the Financial Gazette
yesterday.

      "People are still hopeful that a peaceful solution will be found to
this crisis, but if they continue to get more and more promises but no
solution in sight, they might be pushed to pick up their courage and do
something," Mutume said.

      Madhuku, also a law lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, said while
the NCA encouraged its members to take part in the planned march, the
organisation was not comfortable with the idea of just putting the MDC in
power without putting in place proper democratic structures.

      "The next phase of the struggle must be on broad fundamental
principles which do not require openly overthrowing a government but based
on wanting to establish a society that is just and democratic," said
Madhuku.

      It was however, clear from the behaviour of the people that the
Zimbabwean struggle has not reached a point where people would engage in
violent resistance and the opposition leader should have take note of that
glaring fact.

      "When such a thing happens, it affects the credibility of the party
and the supporters of the party would hope to get some form of invigorating
clarification on the way forward," Dzinotyiwei said.
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Zim Financial Gazette

      Strike cripples economy for third day


      6/5/03 2:18:26 AM (GMT +2)

      A strike called by Zimbabwe's main opposition against President Robert
Mugabe kept most banks, businesses and factories shut for a third day
yesterday despite official threats to punish companies that fail to open.

      Police maintained tight security in Harare two days after they used
tear gas, clubs and warning shots to disperse thousands of opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) protesters trying to hold marches
around the country.

      State radio reported that the government was auditing which businesses
were closed yesterday, and would begin procedures to strip them of their
licenses.

      Nevertheless, most shops and factories in Harare kept their doors
shut, while only a handful of banks were open. Some commuter transport
operators put their vehicles back on the roads, albeit in small numbers.

      The situation was similar in Bulawayo, where witnesses said officials
forced some banks to open - despite the fact they had little cash to
dispense.

      "But most shops are closed. I would say only 10 percent of the city is
working," one Bulawayo resident said by telephone.

      Harare's High Court was expected to continue hearing a bid by state
lawyers to muzzle MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai as his supporters vowed to
push ahead with protests that the government describes as an illegal attempt
to topple Mugabe.

      Prosecutors want the High Court to tighten bail conditions on
Tsvangirai and two other senior MDC leaders - all currently on trial for
allegedly plotting to kill Mugabe - by barring them from "inciting the
public to engage in unlawful activities and illegal demonstrations".

      Defence lawyers argued on Tuesday that the government is effectively
seeking a gag order which would give it an unfair political advantage over
the opposition.

      Tsvangirai is legally challenging Mugabe's victory in 2002
presidential elections, which both the opposition and several Western
countries say were fraught with poll irregularities.

      The MDC launched the protests and work boycotts on Monday as a "final
push" to oust the 79-year-old leader, in power since independence from
Britain in 1980. - Reuter.
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      Black market rates tumble

      From Our Bulawayo Bureau
      6/5/03 2:20:28 AM (GMT +2)

      BULAWAYO - Parallel market rates have plunged on the back of
uncertainty arising from the five-day MDC-organised mass action and the cash
squeeze affecting banks.

      The United States dollar, which traded at $2 000 last week, nose-dived
to $1 800 on Sunday and $1 200 on Monday before dropping to $800 on Tuesday
in Bulawayo's Fort Street, popularly known as "the World Bank."

      The street was named "the World Bank" because traders operating in the
area never get short of foreign currency.

      The official exchange rate of the Zimbabwe dollar to the greenback is
$824.

      Moneychangers and dealers who spoke to The Financial Gazette said all
major currencies have taken a severe battering.

      The British pound sterling was trading at around $2 000 against $2 500
last week, while the South Africa rand dropped from $250 to $180.

      Botswana's pula also reacted to the stayaway and the shortage of cash
by declining to $250 from $300.

      "We are not sure what's going to happen and hence the parallel market
is reacting. Every time there is turmoil or optimism, the rates move
accordingly.

      "We expect an up-ward trend only after the mass action and hopefully
financial institutions will come to our market," said Siphiwe Moyo, a
popular illegal foreign currency dealer.

      Eric Bloch, an economic commentator, described the drop in parallel
market as temporary.

      "The drop has a lot to do with the shortage of the notes than the
stay-away. Many of the traders out there have no money to exchange for the
foreign currency. They can't trade as a result and obviously the rates take
a knock.

      "The stayaway has an indirect effect in that those who trade have not
been able to do so due to low patronage. But you must be quick to notice
that this is temporary. The trend is not going to last forever," said Bloch.
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Zim Financial Gazette

Letters

      A great betrayal to the African struggle


      6/5/03 2:06:44 AM (GMT +2)

      EDITOR - I wish to congratulate your paper as a focal point where
Africans can express their views and concerns with much freedom. As a
Zimbabwean I feel betrayed by Robert Mugabe who has demonised the western
world as the major creator of Zimbabwean problems.

      No-one in Zimbabwe who disputes land reform and even the opposition
parties acknowledges this. The people of Zimbabwe are not against the land
reform, but are against the methods being used in the implementation.

      Mugabe started to invade the farms after the Movement for Democratic
Change had been formed and posed as the greatest threat to his rule. Mugabe
has been in control of more than 20 budgets and no significant amount of
money had been allocated for land redistribution but had forked out millions
of pounds in building mansions for his youthful wife. He has spent millions
in buying expensive bullet proof Mercedes limousines for himself and his
cronies.

      The people of Zimbabwe have been denied press freedom. Mugabe is the
only last and senile liberation leader who is still in office in Africa. All
other leaders have resigned of have lost elections and accepted. What makes
Mugabe cling to power?

      What makes the West reluctant to release money for land reform? The
present regime has a history of corruption. In 1981 shortly after Zimbabwe
attained Independence, the West donated millions which were meant to assist
the demobilised guerilla freedom fighters. This was looted.

      That's why the West is fearing that the same money could be looted and
that is why it wants the United Nations to administer the funds.

      Why is Mugabe still feeling safe? South Africa, Nigeria and
neighbouring countries have been propping the Mugabe regime not because they
like him but because they want to safeguard their leadership.

      They feel the emergence of MDC in Zimbabwe might lead to the ANC in
South Africa losing power to that country's biggest trade union(COSATU). Its
an issue of survival that the African leaders have not been lending support
to innocent people of Zimbabwe who have been victims of Mugabe thuggery. Not
even a single African country has donated food to starving people of
Zimbabwe, but help has come from the countries the regime demonises as
imperialist.

      Let's call a spade a spade, let's not mix land reform, racism in
Britain, colonialism and the fight for democracy for the people of Zimbabwe.
Mugabe should go because he is a burden to the people of Zimbabwe.


      Duran Rapozo,

      Manchester, United Kingdom.
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Zim Financial Gazette

      AND NOW TO THE NOTEBOOK


      6/5/03 1:57:30 AM (GMT +2)

      Ratcheting of threat

      It was interesting to see Industry and International Trade Minister
Samuel Mumbengegwi ratcheting threats to companies that did not open during
this week's "failed" mass action.

      Wearing a serious face as if he was talking sense, he said he was
personally conducting a "surveillance and monitoring exercise" to see which
companies were supporting the illegal action with a decided view of
peremptorily withdrawing their licences and revoking their registration.

      The whole threat sounded as silly as that of a boarding master
threatening the entire school with expulsion when he fully knows that if he
sacks them, he would be jobless the following morning.

      With the Zimbabwean economy, decrepit as it is, Mumbengegwi should be
the last person to live under an illusion - an illusion that they are doing
every business that is operating in this country a big favour by keeping
them licensed. If anything, it is these businesses that are doing this
country a big favour by continuing to operate here when all economic
fundamentals are in favour of relocating. Businesses are suffering from
swingeing shortages on all fronts - fuel, power, forex, cash, raw materials
you name it.

      As if these shortages were not enough, after struggling to produce,
Mumbengegwi's ministry comes up with crippling price controls and those that
think they are lucky to circumvent the price controls by selling their
products outside the country have their foreign earnings expropriated.

      Frankly speaking, there is no incentive for any serious businessperson
to continue operating in Zimbabwe. Anyone would only be too pleased to lose
that permit or licence.

      Instead Mumbengegwi should be conducting "surveillance and monitoring
exercises" with the view to finding and removing the obstacles that make our
business environment as insalubrious as it is now. With the economy in
extremis, the last thing we want is to be forced to go on a legal stay-away
when all companies have closed.

      After the big debate about the legality of the court order barring the
MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai from going ahead and organising their "final
push", CZ truly hopes the court order was invalid or a legal nullity as
Welshman Ncube called it. If it was valid, then CZ feels that Zimbabwe has
reached the lowest ebb as a lawless country.

      Ignoring a court order morally debases us all. The act vitiates the
very principles of democracy, good governance and accountability that we are
trying to bring about through these mass actions and other forms of protest.
Under whatever the circumstances, the MDC should never ignore the rule of
law, no matter how bad the laws are. This is what makes it a study in
contrast to ZANU PF and it should thrive to keep its credentials untainted.

      Tsvangirai and the MDC would have set a very wrong precedent if they
indeed went ahead to ignore a valid court order, because this would not help
much to separate them from our present rulers who respect the rule of law
only when it is convenient for them to do so.

      Zimbabweans, no matter how they are suffering, cannot afford replacing
one set of goons with another. This type of change is worse than no change
at all. We want visible and palpable change not the "change" we got in 1980
which has since proved in all aspects that it is no change at all. It was a
monumental deception and Zimbabweans now want the real thing, not bottled
smoke.

      We know that our democracy cannot take root easily as democracy in the
West because there is deep-seated indigence, illiteracy and rank
superstition among our people, but this cannot be an excuse for any serious
party on whom the ordinary person is pinning his only hope, to ignore basic
democratic institutions like the courts. This does not augur well for
nascent democracies like ours. CZ hopes the court order was genuinely
invalid.

      ZESA's Sydney Gata is in the news these days just like President
Robert Mugabe.

      CZ wonders whether the chaos being presided over by Gata at Megawatt
House is in any way a microcosm of the chaos being presided over by Robert
Mugabe at his Munhumutapa office.

      For the uninitiated, Gata is Mugabe's brother-in-law. He is married to
Mugabe's younger sister, so one can rightfully infer where the former's
powers come from.

      Remember how Gata - behaving like he had a direct line to God -
foisted himself on ZESA three years ago, and using unknown powers sent Simba
Mangwengwende, who still claims to be the rightful head of ZESA, on forced
leave.

      Mangwengwende is still getting his salary and all the benefits while
sitting at home. That's what power can do for you in Zimbabwe.

      But one wonders if ever the problems of ZESA and Zimbabwe can go away
simply because they have been discussed at a family braai party in Zvimba.

      Whoever does not grab this God-given opportunity to bilk donor funds
by suing the MDC, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and the
Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) for their alleged role in the March
job stay-away will only have themselves to blame when one day they meet some
of us smiling ear-to-ear all the way to the bank.

      It seems like this is now the in-thing, so CZ is busy consulting his
lawyers on how much compensation he can claim for the loss and inconvenience
he suffered as a result of the "illegal" action.

      The first claim could be for damages resulting from "serious threat to
sanity" which CZ suffered when he found all watering holes shut for three
days in a row, forcing him to forego his favourite drink prescribed by a
herbalist monitoring his sanity.

      The second claim could be for financial losses suffered as a result of
his failure to conduct a few "deals" in the city, because Harare was a
virtual graveyard despite the fact that the stay-away was a yawning failure.
If the just courts would generously consider these two claims, by the end of
this year, CZ could be Kompressing around.

      There would be no need to join others in the UK.

      Nota Bene: It is becoming more and more obvious that it is not
starvation, not microbes, not cancer, but man himself who is mankind's
greatest danger because he has no adequate protection against psychic
epidemics which are infinitely more devastating in their effect than the
greatest natural catastrophes

      -C.G. Jung-Foreword-Modern Man in Search of a Soul

      cznotebook@yahoo.co.uk
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      Anti-tobacco drive may increase paprika output

      Zhean Gwaze Staff Reporter
      6/5/03 1:56:48 AM (GMT +2)

      THE annual production of paprika could rise to about 21 2000 tonnes
and earn the country $7.1 billion annually due to an anticipated decline in
international demand for tobacco.

      Analysts predict that the anti-smoking campaigns currently being
spearheaded by lobbyists and health experts to reduce smoking-induced
illnesses will curtail demand for tobacco.

      Tobacco, the largest foreign currency earner in the country, can be
grown in rotation with paprika.

      If the demand for tobacco declines internationally, it means the
country is set to lose billions of dollars from the regular exports of the
crop.

      Zimbabwe exports 97 percent of paprika to Spain, India, United States
and Germany and currently has an annual production of about 14 800 tonnes
grown on about 15 000 hectares of land.

      The crop is currently selling at $350 a kg.

      Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe chief executive, Mike
Ndudzo, said local paprika farmers should take advantage of the campaign and
increase production of the crop.

      "Since paprika can be grown well with tobacco, but is less capital
intensive, farmers can grow more of it and also take advantage of the
anti-smoking campaigns that might reduce the demand for tobacco
internationally," he said.

      Farming organisations like the Farmers Development Trust (FDT) have an
input supply scheme and contract growing for paprika farmers.

      FDT executive director, Lovegot Tendengu, said the increase in the
prices of fertiliser for tobacco could also boost paprika production.

      The price of Calcium Nitrate fertiliser used in tobacco production
costs about $8 million a tonne and this is unaffordable to small-scale
communal farmers, who in most instances have a low capital base. Small-scale
producers account for over 90 percent of the total paprika output in the
country.

      Tendengu said most farmers would opt for paprika because the returns
were paid directly in foreign currency.

      Paprika processing companies add value to the crop, enabling it to
fetch higher prices on the market.

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FinGaz

      Who will invoke King Solomon's wisdom?

      Taungana Ndoro
      6/5/03 1:59:30 AM (GMT +2)

      "And the king said, 'Divide the living child in two, and give half to
the one, and half to the other.'

      Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart
yearned for her son, 'Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no
means slay it.' But the other said, 'It shall be neither mine nor yours;
divide it.'

      Then the king answered and said, 'Give the living child to the first
woman, and by no means slay it; she is its mother.'" (RSV 1 Kings 4:25-27)

      There comes a time when one has to open the Bible in search of a
divine solution to a political crisis such as the one that has gripped
Zimbabwe of late.

      Events in recent years have probed answers to the question, "To whom
does Zimbabwe belong or rather to whose people - Robert Mugabe's or Morgan
Tsvangirai's?"

      Do the two leaders realise that regardless of whose baby Zimbabwe is,
the country is hanging in mid-air about to be chopped in half in a
detrimental move that will render either half futile, useless and
irredeemable?

      The biblical allegory above provokes an interesting investigation into
whose head the cap fits.

      *****************

      Suppose Mugabe is the first woman whose son (Zimbabwe) Tsvangirai
would rather have chopped in half so that it is neither his nor Mugabe's.

      The events on the ground seem to show that Tsvangirai wants what
Mugabe gave birth to when he 'won' the 2002 presidential elections.

      However, because a dispute has risen in which Tsvangirai is claiming
the same child through the courts, which unfortunately have delayed the
proceedings, Tsvangirai has taken it upon himself to get his child by hook
or crook, that is mass action.

      Mugabe on the other hand does not feel that his child must be taken
away from him without putting up a fight so he draws his daggers - the army,
the police, the 'green bombers', you name it.

      The slaughtering of the beloved child (Zimbabwe) will take five days
or more depending on the determination of either of them to possess the
child.

      Meanwhile, the child bleeds as the sword has already entered its
flesh.

      Perhaps, the only way the child can be saved is when the real mother
surrenders in order to save the traumatised child.

      This is where the wisdom of King Solomon comes to use. Who will invoke
it, Tsvangirai or Mugabe? Who would rather save the child than have it
destroyed - Tsvangirai or Mugabe?

      ****************

      Let's suppose this time that Tsvangirai is the first woman who gave
birth to a healthy baby in the 2002 presidential elections, but before he
could claim the baby Mugabe had already stolen the child and declared it
his.

      The case has been brought before the courts but Mugabe is reluctant to
go through the hearing.

      When three wise men from Africa, Thabo Mbeki, Olusegun Obasanjo and
Bakili Muluzi suggested that the two should solve their dispute amicably
through negotiations, Mugabe foiled the good overtures by demanding
recognition as the mother of the child and also that Tsvangirai withdraws
the case before the courts.

      Since Tsvangirai considers himself the biological mother of the child,
he refused to bestow his motherhood to Mugabe.

      We have now come to a point where both Tsvangirai and Mugabe have been
put in the shoes of the first woman, but neither's heart yearns for the
child enough to say "Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means
slay it."

      We have instead, a pitiable situation in which both seem to suggest,
"It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it."

      ****************

      Or shall we suppose that Tsvangirai is the real mother given that he
allowed Mugabe to take care of the child after the controversial poll
outcome, instead of dividing the nation through mass action then?

      By refusing to take mass action soon after the announcement of the
results last year, could Tsvangirai have been saying, "Oh, my lord, give
Mugabe the living child, and by no means slay it"?

      It can also be suggested that Tsvangirai gave over his child to
Mugabe, but unfortunately the latter has been ill-treating it and depriving
it of basic livelihood ever since March 2002.

      Typical of most mothers, Tsvangirai's heart bleeds seeing his child
neglected and increasingly marginalised hence the natural urge to intervene
through mass action.

      However, unless some good sense comes to either Tsvangirai or Mugabe,
Zimbabwe will continue to be a divided nation that will suffer severely from
operations administered without anaesthesia.

      This attitude of the Shakespearean King Lear of being "a man more
sinned against than sinning" that both leaders seem to have steadfastly
adopted will not only be their ruin but the ultimate slaying of a once
thriving nation.

      The cliché, "when two elephants fight, the grass suffers" is
applicable to Zimbabwe's plight in which the majority, 10 million citizens
are wallowing in misery because of about three million political cadres
(Tsvangirai's 1.2 million and Mugabe's 1.6 million) who will not cease their
harmful squabbles.

      The real mother of the nation must show compassion and give herself up
for the good of everyone.

      If both Tsvangirai and Mugabe really have the best interests of the
disputed child at heart they must work towards lessening the child's burden
by providing the basic necessities.

      It is ironic that when there are two mothers fighting over the custody
of Zimbabwe, the child runs out of fuel, foreign currency, cash, basic
commodities and reliable transport.

      Unlike King Solomon, I beg the real mother to show her turgid breast.


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JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE P.R.COMMUNIQUÉ - June 4, 2003

Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet: www.justiceforagriculture.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Farmers,

Justice for Agriculture (JAG) is now a year old. We seek Justice for
Zimbabwe through Justice for Agriculture. We have always been driven by our
membership and believe that the members - farmers mainly - will be the ones
to collectively achieve that justice when they are allowed to go back to
doing what they know and do best - farming. It has been suggested that we
run a regular open questions forum to ask the farmers what they think,
because by nature they are independent, individualistic, self-motivated,
freethinkers and problem solvers. This is Justice for Agriculture's
greatest asset the ability to arrive at a consensus for the way forward,
and we would like to call upon it more and more often. The use of the
"e-mail" lends itself to open debate, and we hope that the questions
stimulate some problem solving ideas from our own problem solvers.

Sometimes the questions will be controversial by nature to draw a reaction,
hopefully.

Do you believe that dialogue with government is the only way to resolve the
land problem?

Should any form of dialogue with the present Government be continued? If
the answer is yes how can the government be forced to honour its
commitments?

Do you believe that the only future for ZTA is small-scale production, and
that large scale production is a thing of the past?

Is small scale tobacco production the only viable option and does the
quality and style of the crop guarantee any form of recognition in the
international market?

Do you believe that only the farmers in production right now are eligible
to be part of the plans and negotiations for the rebuilding of Commercial
Agriculture?

What is the role of commercial agriculture in the future of Zimbabwe and
how do you see the present status quo resolved?)

Would you accept a policy whereby a farmer needs to be well connected
politically to have some form of security of tenure?

Should security of tenure be enshrined in the constitution or based on
political favour?

Do you agree, or disagree with the statement:

"The entire process is not about land reform and therefore it is futile to
look for a solution to the "land problem." The Government does not want
this resolved, because it could have followed the guidelines of the 1998
Donors' Conference. The entire exercise is an attack on the property
ownership system of Zimbabwe.

Do you feel the need for Justice for Agriculture to have the equivalent of
an Annual General Meeting, probably in Harare and Bulawayo, to facilitate
information and ideas to be passed from the grass roots up?

Your participation and replies are one of the ways we can generate more
ideas and strategy for the way forward.

The JAG Team.
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JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE LEGAL COMMUNIQUE - June 4, 2003

Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet: www.justiceforagriculture.com

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In light of the requests made for information pertaining to the recent
preliminary notices for compulsory acquisition appearing in the press,
herewith the Lot 92 and 93 listings.  These farmers listed requiring advice
as to how to proceed should contact JAG as a matter of urgency.

LOT 92

1. Deed of Transfer 5158/85, registered in the name of A and A Farms
)Private Limited, in respect of certain piece of land situate in the
district of Lomagundi, being Abercorn, measuring one thousand eight hundred
and eighty comma four nine five zero (1 880,4950) hectares.

2. Deed of Transfer 166/71, registered in the name of John Hector Duffield,
in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Lomagundi,
being Tennesse Ranch measuring one thousand six hundred (1 600) hectares.

3. Deed of Transfer 768/98, registered in the name of T.J. Venables P/L, in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Marandellas,
being Remaining Extent of Subdivision A of Milford of Springvale, measuring
one hundred and one comma eight six six four (101,8664) hectares.

4. Deed of Transfer 23/88, registered in the name of W.G.B. Kinsey &
Company (Private) Limited, in respect of certain piece of land situate in
the district of Que Que, being Mahamara Ranch, measuring five thousand four
hundred and thirty one comma three eight two seven (5 431,3827) hectares.

5. Deed of Transfer 916/96, registered in the name of Chehamba P/L, in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Salisbury,
being Lot 1 of Lyne, measuring four hundred and eighty five comma six two
one one (485,6211) hectares.

6. Deed of Transfer 48/2001, registered in the name of Twigrow Trading P/L,
in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Urungwe,
being Lot 1 of Mani Mlichi, measuring six hundred and forty two comma nine
three four four (642,9344) hectares.

7. Deed of Transfer 5224/86, registered in the name of Algehide Holdings
P/L, in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of
Urungwe, being Lot 1 of Woodlands, measuring three hundred and sixty four
comma zero seven seven three (364,0773) hectares.

8. Deed of Transfer 1742/92, registered in the name of P.D. Gifford P/L, in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Urungwe, being
Lot 1 of Derepat, measuring two hundred and sixty nine comma four seven
nine two (269,4792) hectares.

LOT 93

1. Deed of Transfer 4276/67, registered in the name of Iris Mary O'Neill,
in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Charter
being Remainder of Perseverence of Nyamazaan, measuring one thousand five
hundred and thirty five comma one six five one (1 535,1651) acres.

2. Deed of Transfer 5515/87, registered in the name of L.C.M. Farming P/L,
in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Charter,
being the Remainder Extent of Kuruman measuring one thousand three hundred
and fifty-five comma four nine nine eight (1 355,4998) hectares.

3. Deed of Transfer 1413/89, registered in the name of Hoffmanrus Estate
P/L, in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of
Charter, being Opal, measuring six hundred and eighty-four comma six seven
zero zero (684,6700) hectares.

4. Deed of Transfer 5718/82, registered in the name of Campbell's Holdings
(Private) Limited, in respect of certain piece of land situate in the
district of Charter, being Nyatzitzi, measuring one thousand two hundred
and eighty-five comma zero zero (1285,00) hectares.

5. Deed of Transfer 4378/74, registered in the name of Anthony Nicholas
Brakspear, in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of
Charter being Phillipsdale Ranch measuring two thousand three hundred and
thirty one comma four two three one (2331,4231) hectares.

6. Deed of Transfer 2040/80 registered in the name of Protea Valley P/L, in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Goromonzi,
being Lot 1 of Buena Vista, measuring four hundred and four comma six seven
eight five (404,6785) hectares.

7. Deed of Transfer 3032/87 registered in the name of Cecil Michael Reimer
in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Goromonzi
being R/E of Stuhm measuring one thousand and seventy-four comma seven four
one zero (1074,7410) hectares.

8. Deed of Transfer 4921/70, registered in the name of Nasilla Park P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Goromonzi,
being Lot 7B of Craig measuring three hundred and seventy six comma three
eight eight seven (376,3887) acres.

9. Deed of Transfer 6828/87, registered in the name of Ross Kenneth Anthony
Kitter in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of
Lomagundi being Nyamayoko A measuring one thousand and seventy one comma
six four one seven (1 071,6417) hectares.

10. Deed of Transfer 1241/77 registered in the name of Dulwich Estate P/L
in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Lomagundi
being Dulwich of Trelawney Estate measuring one hundred and seventy-six
comma four four two seven (176,4427) hectares.

11. Deed of Transfer 1241/77, registered in the name of Dulwich Estates P/L
in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Lomagundi
being Shipton measuring six hundred and forty-two comma three eight eight
five (642,3885) hectares.

12. Deed of Transfer 1241/77 registered in the name of Dulwich Estate in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Lomagundi being
Dulwich Extension of Trelawney Estate measuring one thousand one hundred
and thirty one comma eight nine one one (1 131,8911) hectares.

13. Deed of Transfer 6045/56, registered in the name of Cango Farm P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Lomagundi being
Cango of Nidd Valley of Nidderdale measuring four hundred and seventy-two
comma four six nine three (472,4693) morgen.

14. Deed of Transfer 5727/92 registered in the name of Nchefu Farm P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Lomagundi being
Nkwali Estate A measuring one thousand four hundred and fifty two comma six
five four six (1452,6546) hectares.

15. Deed of Transfer 5897/58 registered in the name of Zalonyika Estate P/L
in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Lomagundi
being Morkoromokwa portion of Donington measuring one thousand and eighty
comma zero two zero four (1080,0204) morgen.

16. Deed of Transfer 6634/94 registered in the name of Cluny Farm P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Lomagundi being
Remainder of Eclipse Block measuring one thousand and seven comma zero
three five five (1007,0355) hectares.

17. Deed of Transfer 263/73 registered in the name of Mandara Farm P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Lomagundi being
Pambili measuring five hundred and four comma seven six three two
(504,7632) hectares.

18. Deed of Transfer 8140/72 registered in the name of E.D.L. Estate P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Lomagundi being
Lot E of Donington measuring five hundred and sixty seven comma eight seven
one five (567,8715) hectares.

19. Deed of Transfer 1495/87 registered in the name of Solomon Theunis
Ferreira in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of
Makoni being Remaining Extent of Everton measuring seven hundred and twenty
three comma five three seven nine (723,5379) hectares.

20. Deed of Transfer 6737/81 registered in the name of Michael John Langley
in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Makoni being
Clifton measuring five hundred and sixty one comma eight seven five eight
(561,8758) hectares.

21. Deed of Transfer 746/80 registered in the name of Newlands Farm P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Makoni being
Remainder of Middlepos of Excelsior measuring seven hundred and eighty-nine
comma nine eight four three (789,9843) hectares.

22. Deed of Transfer 1495/87 registered in the name of Solomon Theunis
Ferreira in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of
Makoni being Barfaestone of Everton measuring two hundred and one comma two
eight one seven (201,2817) hectares.

23. Deed of Transfer 1495/87 registered in the name of Solomon Theunis
Ferreira in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of
Makoni being Paine's Plot of Everton measuring one hundred and two comma
eight zero five zero (102,8050) hectares.

24. Deed of Transfer 1495/87 registered in the name of Solomon Theunis
Ferreira in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of
Makoni being Subdivision B of Constantia of Everton measuring one hundred
and twenty five comma nine one eight one (125,9181) hectares.

25. Deed of Transfer 2988/80 registered in the name of Gombola P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district f Marandellas
being Remaining Extent of Machiki measuring nine hundred and three comma
seven two seven one (903,7271) hectares.

26. Deed of Transfer 3290/85 registered in the name of K. Sera P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Marandellas
being Lot 1 of Eirene measuring one thousand and eighty comma nine one six
four (1080,9164) hectares.

27. Deed of Transfer 6065/80 registered in the name of Derek Richard Hinde
in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Marandellas
being Killerton Estate A measuring one thousand two hundred and forty-six
comma zero two six seven (1246,0267) hectares.

28. Deed of Transfer 7457/95 registered in the name of Ozana Ranch P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Marandellas
being York measuring six hundred and thirty five comma one four two four
(635,1424) hectares.

29. Deed of Transfer 7294/74 registered in the name of Gerrit Cor Zee in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Mrewa being
Hilton measuring eight hundred and twenty-five comma six eight three four
(825,6834) hectares.

30. Deed of Transfer 980/87 registered in the name of Rolf Jan Phillip
Walraven in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of
Mrewa being Springdale measuring one thousand four hundred and thirty-two
comma two nine three eight (1432,2938) hectares.

31. Deed of Transfer 2847/93 registered in the name of Leask Farms P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Mrewa being
Long Ridge measuring seven hundred and seventy-four comma seven six eight
five (774,7685) hectares.

32. Deed of Transfer 9988/98 registered in the name of J.P. Melrose P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Mrewa being
Glen Somerset measuring one thousand two hundred and ninety-six comma one
eight one six (296,1816) hectares.

33. Deed of Transfer 189/83 registered in the name of Bernlyn Farm P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Mrewa being
Lamjung Estate measuring nine hundred and ninety-seven comma nine seven
four five (997,9745) hectares.

34. Deed of Transfer 8909/99 registered in the name of Sechoard Investments
P/L in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of
Salisbury being Lot 1 of Monderwa measuring three hundred and forty-three
comma nine seven seven nine (343,9779) hectares.

35. Deed of Transfer 4981/91 registered in the name of Lakas Dairy
Equipment P/L in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district
of Salisbury being Remaining Extent of Danga Lima of Hillside measuring one
hundred and eighty one comma zero three five zero (181,0350) hectares.

36. Deed of Transfer 636/95 registered in the name of Roiston Investments
P/L in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of
Salisbury being Silver Oaks measuring one thousand one hundred and
seventy-three comma four two nine seven (1173,4297) hectares.

37. Deed of Transfer 7671/95 registered in the name of Goodcrop Enterprises
P/L in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of
Salisbury being Remainder of Enondo measuring three hundred and six comma
three one nine two (306,3192) hectares.

38. Deed of Transfer 342/57 registered in the name of Brechin Estates P/L
in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Salisbury
being Brechin A measuring two thousand nine hundred and eighty one comma
zero six one seven (2981,0617) morgen.

39. Deed of Transfer 8170/2000 registered in the name of Sigaro Farm P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Salisbury being
Sigaro Farm measuring eight hundred and seventy-three comma six eight six
(873,3686) hectares.

40. Deed of Transfer 5103/56 registered in the name of Dunolly Farm P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Salisbury being
Dunolly measuring seven hundred and fifty-six (756) morgen.

41. Deed of Transfer 2955/89 registered in the name of Robin Brown P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Urungwe being
Furzen measuring nine hundred and twelve comma six three seven one
(912,6371) hectares.

42. Deed of Transfer 8845/91 registered in the name of Trustees of The
Roper Trust in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of
Urungwe being Rocklands Estate measuring five hundred and twelve comma one
eight four six (512,1846) hectares.

43. Deed of Transfer 893/86 registered in the name of J.R. Aston P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Urungwe being
Remaining Extent of Gainlands measuring six hundred and eleven comma two
six three five (611,2635) hectares.

44. Deed of Transfer 2863/87 registered in the name of Fiddlers Green in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Urungwe being
Fiddlers Green measuring six hundred and ninety-six comma five three eight
two (696,5382) hectares.

45. Deed of Transfer 4477/76 registered in the name of Tolleen Smith in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Urungwe being
Nyarenda measuring one thousand five hundred and twenty nine comma three
eight seven six (1529,3876) hectares.

46. Deed of Transfer 2912/85 registered in the name of Rockwood Estate P/L
in respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Urungwe
being Remaining Extent of Ansdell measuring six hundred and ninety six
comma seven nine nine eight (696,7998) hectares.

47. Deed of Transfer 184/93 registered in the name of Good Hope Farm P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Urungwe being
Good Hope Estate measuring one thousand two hundred and fifty three comma
six six four five (1253,6645) hectares.

48. Deed of Transfer 1527/98 registered in the name of Botha Andrew Paul
Rosslyn Stidolph in respect of certain piece of land situate in the
district of Urungwe being Grand Parade Estate A measuring two thousand two
hundred and seventy comma four five zero seven (2270,4507) hectares.

49. Deed of Transfer 6354/81 registered in the name of J.M. Du Preez P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Urungwe being
Shambatungwe measuring seven hundred and thirty-one comma seven six two
eight (731,7628) hectares.

50. Certificate of Consolidated Title 2244/71 registered in the name of
James Melvill Barker in respect of certain piece of land situate in the
district of Urungwe being Nyahoa Estate measuring one thousand three
hundred and twenty-eight comma two nine eight (1328,2998) hectares.

51. Deed of Transfer 6620/99 registered in the name of Maora Farm P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Urungwe being
The Remaining Extent of Maora measuring three hundred and eighty-one comma
eight four three three (381,8433) hectares.

52. Deed of Transfer 1143/90 registered in the name of Buffalo Downs P/L in
respect of certain piece of land situate in the district of Urungwe being
The Remainder of Karoi measuring nine hundred and fourteen comma eight four
three six (914,8436) hectares.
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Crisis Information Centre
Report Tuesday/ Wednesday 3/4 June 2003 please respond to: zimcomm@yahoo.com
with your reports, comments, corrections etc.

CIC received numerous reports during the day, indicating substantial support
for the stayaway and most businesses were closed.

The following reports were received Tuesday 6 pm to lunchtime today:

ARRESTS
We believe that at least 90 people are being held in various stations around
Bulawayo with at least 30 of these being actively 'hidden' from legal
representatives. Extensive searches are being made of the prisons and it is
believed that Police equipped with vast amount of fuel are keeping POSA
suspects at outlying Police Stations.

Late Tuesday, a woman discharged from hospital 4 days ago after having a
stroke was arrested in place of her brother an MDC official. Lawyers have
still been unable to locate her.

Two relatives feeding activists at Western Commonage Police Station were
this morning arrested and are also still missing. Two lawyers trying to
locate these people were threatened with arrest at the same station. It is
believed that at least 11 people are being held under POSA charges here but
lack of access prevents assistance being rendered.

BUSINESS COMMUNITY
Reports received from the City Centre is that the manager of Trust Bank,
Tegere Muzenda was arrested earlier on charges of not opening the Bank.

Tuesday, three Lobels Biscuits employed were arrested for not beginning
production, they were taken to Donnington Police Station where they were
intimidated, it remains unclear as to whether they were held overnight. The
factory opened today and just before lunchtime today, CIO, Police and Army
units arrived, cordoned off the factory and proceeded to film the staff now
at work. So expect some more propaganda on the news bulletin tonight.

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Meanwhile in Tredgold Provincial Court, Abraham Mdlongwa, Provincial
chairman, Hon. Milton Gwetu, and National Executive Member and veteran Trade
Unionist, Getrude Mtombeni appeared in Court charge with masterminding the
Mass Action and Stay Away. Magistrate John Masimba heard arguments opposing
bail from the prosecutor and investigating officer George Ngwenya gave
evidence. The MDC trio who had spent the night at Khami Maximum Security
Prison also took the stand to defend their right to liberty

ASSAULTS
Over 10 cases of assaults by Police officers with one youth Jackson Lunga
reporting that he was assaulted in Bulawayo Central Police Station by war
veterans called in by police officers. The leaders of the war veteran group
is Matshelela, notoriously know in the Cowdray Park area. Lunga was beaten
with batons on the soles of his feet.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS
A PRAYER SERVICE WILL BE CONDUCTED AT ST MARYS CATHEDRAL IN LOBENGULA
STREET, BULAWAYO. THE SERVICE WILL BE FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE IN ZIMBABWE.

IT WILL BEGIN AT 2 PM ON FRIDAY 6TH JUNE 2003 - PLEASE MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO
ATTEND.

Information Department: You can also reach us on these numbers 091 408 026 /
091 274 664 / 091 294 951 or 023 514 895

CRISIS INFORMATION CENTRE - HUMANITARIAN HELP LINES
From Monday 9am 24 hours a day. For advice/help/support/information on
medical, legal, feeding, shelter, sanctuary and other issues, phone

BULAWAYO
091 408 026
091 274 664
091 294 951
023 514 895

HARARE
091 924 151
091 918 937
091 319 297
091 925 008

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JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM

Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet: www.justiceforagriculture.com

Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
justice@telco.co.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the subject line.

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Letter 1: Should I Support This Stayaway?

Zimbabwe is one day into this week's mass action. What does this all mean
as a businessman, should we participate and, if so, how?

Mass action means just what it is. It is the nation lawfully protesting
against a government and authority that, in itself, is acting unlawfully in
imposing its will on its people. Mass action means that ALL Zimbabweans
should participate in whichever way they can. We all have a responsibility
and that responsibility equates, in part, to making sacrifices. Something
that we all have to do when planning our business. There are times when we
have to expend more than we receive. Investments have to be made that are
costly in the short term but beneficial in the medium and long term. This
is all calculated planning based on predictions and forecasts. These are
moves made to ensure the long term future and viability of our operation in
order that we secure our businesses in a healthy state for a return to
normality when businesses can expand and vindicate past decisions.

This is a portrayal of a business perspective.

What of the moral responsibility?  Is the business of business just
business?

When Hitler invaded the rest of Europe, many businesses in the USA turned a
blind eye and continued to make profits and benefited from the upturn, due
purchases from Nazi Germany. This continued until the writing was clearly
on the wall. Those that waited this long had to then live with their
decisions. How did they feel when the horror of the Holocaust became known?
They had to cope with this guilt for the rest of their lives. Even today
legal action continues against those businesses that supported Nazi Germany
claiming that it was just business !!  Lets look a little closer to Saddam
and Iraq. Look at the fallout and the present status of "collaborators".
The people of Iraq will never forget those businesses that collaborated
with this regime. Do you want to be on the pack of cards?

How is the wind blowing in Zimbabwe right now ?  What is right and what is
wrong? What is done is done and history cannot be changed by rewriting it.
When you sit at home and ponder over the future, now, more than ever, is a
time when we must study the present. Decisions made now will impact heavily
on your business and your moral conscience. God willing, you will have to
live with yourself more in the future than you do in the present. Business
expediency now can cost us our reputation, our respectability and even our
future.

This stay away is not a five day matter. It is part of an unstoppable
process and the shorter the process the better for business. It is a case
of investing in a short closure and making sacrifices now or risk being
closed forever. Any businessman must now know that change is inevitable and
that actively participating will be the best investment you will have ever
made. Look around you. There are many of your colleagues who are making a
brave stand. Join them! Share the experience and benefit from the security
in numbers. You will not be alone. Although you may not be fully aware of
the position on the ground, be assured that there were tens of thousands
who followed the call and sporadic instances occurred right across the
country but were brutally suppressed. Many MP's were arrested on the first
day including the President in waiting. Some remain in detention. Job
Sikhala is one of them. Previously tortured and detained, he leads from the
front. Are you?

Show courage and leadership to your workers. Now is the time to cement a
relationship that will secure their trust forever! Solidarity is a feature
of your association with your workforce that they will never forget. This
nation is creating history that will fill the school curriculum in the not
too distant future. Be part of it. Act with pride. Be able to say to your
children that you were involved in the most important transition that your
country has ever made. Secure their future and be able to look them in the
eye and say I did everything that I could to rid our country of what will
become known as one of the most evil regimes of the 21st century.

Fellow Businessman

"Cowardice asks, is it safe? Expediency asks, is it politic? Vanity asks,
is it popular? But conscience asks, IS IT RIGHT? There comes a time when
one must take the position that it is neither safe, nor politic, nor
popular**but one must do it because conscience says it is RIGHT!"

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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All letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for Agriculture.

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