Zim Online
Thursday 01 March 2007
HARARE -
Zimbabwe experienced a shocking surge in human rights violations in
2006 and
an unprecedented increase in the use of torture by state security
agents,
the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum (ZHRF) said on Wednesday.
The ZHRF, also
known as the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, is a coalition
of the
country's 16 biggest human rights groups that provide legal,
psychological
and other assistance to victims of organised or political
violence. The
forum also publishes regular reports on human rights
violations in the
southern African nation.
In its latest report released yesterday, the
ZHRF said last year was "the
worst yet for the number of (human rights)
violations reported", a
development that the forum said was surprising given
that there were no
major elections held in the year.
"2006 saw a rise
in the number of violations recorded even though 2006 was
not an election
year. Of note in 2006 is the rise of incidents of torture,"
the ZHRF report
reads in part.
Politically motivated violence and human rights abuses
have become routine
in Zimbabwe since the emergence of the main opposition
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party in 1999 as the most dangerous
threat yet to
President Robert Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF party's
decades-long hold on
power.
But violence and human rights abuses
usually pick during major elections.
Apart from insignificant local
government elections, there were no other
major polls conducted in
2006.
A total of 5 792 varied cases of human rights violations were
recorded in
2006 compared to 4 200 recorded in 2005, a year in which the
country held
two major elections for the House of Assembly in March and for
the House of
Senate in November.
The number of human rights abuses
recorded in 2006 alone makes up 27 percent
of all violations recorded since
the ZHRF began giving statistical reports
in July 2001.
The ZHRF said
the past year saw a marked increase in the number of unlawful
arrests and
detention as well as violations of basic rights such as the
right to freedom
of expression, association and movement. There were 2 917
cases of unlawful
arrest and detention recorded in 2006 compared to 1 286
recorded the
pervious year.
There were 368 cases of torture recorded in 2006, which is
more than double
the 136 cases reported in 2005.
But more worryingly,
the ZHRF said torture had become widespread in
Zimbabwe, with the police no
longer using torture only against perceived
government opponents but also
against common criminals.
"It is also the case that torture is not merely
confined to political cases,
and more cases are being reported of torture
being used in ordinary criminal
cases," the ZHRF said in the
report.
The ZHRF cited the torture of students from Bindura State
University in May
and Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions in September for
organising
anti-government protests as some of the worst cases of human
rights
violations seen in 2006.
It called for a "serious reform of
the Zimbabwe Republic Police" to wean its
officers off a growing dependence
on the use of torture to extract
information from citizens suspected of
committing crime.
Torture and other de-humanising forms of treatment or
punishment are
outlawed in Zimbabwe.
It was not possible to get an
immediate reaction from the government on the
damning report by the
ZHRF.
But the Zimbabwe government has traditionally rejected criticism of
its
human rights record, accusing groups such as the ZHRF and international
human rights groups of working in cahoots with Western governments bent on
tarnishing the southern African nation's name.
The African Commission
on Human and People's Rights has in the past also
condemned Mugabe's
government for committing human rights violations
although the commission
that is an arm of the African Union has as yet been
unable to get the
continental body to act against Harare.
The European Union, United
States, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland
have all imposed targeted
visa and financial sanctions against Mugabe and
his top officials as
punishment for failing to uphold human rights,
democracy and the rule of
law. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thursday 01 March
2007
By Sebastian
Nyamhangambiri
HARARE - Zimbabwean police on Wednesday arrested
more than 50 people
who were part of crowds that tried to march in major
cities in defiance of a
ban on public protests.
The arrested
people, who were still in police custody by late
afternoon, are members of
the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) civic
alliance group that
campaigns for a new and democratic constitution for
Zimbabwe.
NCA spokesman Madock Chivasa told ZimOnline that members of the group
marched in cities of Bulawayo, Mutare, Masvingo, Gweru and Harare before the
police broke up the protests.
"We managed to catch the police
napping and demonstrated against their
undemocratic and unjustified ban on
rallies," said Chivasa.
It was not clear what charges, if any, the
police would prefer against
the NCA members. Under the government's
draconian security laws, it is
illegal to hold public political marches or
meetings without prior approval
from the police.
Police
spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena confirmed the arrests. "We have
managed to arrest
many people in Mutare, Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru and
Masvingo for holding
illegal demonstrations," said Bvudzijena.
The police imposed the
ban on public protests and meetings following
last week's running battles in
Harare's Highfield working class suburb with
supporters of the main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party.
The MDC
say the ban on political activity is tantamount to imposing a
state of
emergency but the police say it is necessary to allow tensions to
calm down
in volatile urban centres.
Zimbabwe is on a political knife-edge as
a steep economic crisis takes
its toll on a population grappling with
inflation of nearly 1600 percent,
the highest in the world and surging
unemployment and poverty.
The tensions have worsened following
proposals by Mugabe's ZANU PF
party to extend his rule under an election
harmonisation plan, which will
see presidential elections scheduled next
year coinciding with parliamentary
polls in 2010.
The
opposition and civil groups have condemned the move, saying
Zimbabwe cannot
afford to have Mugabe in charge for an additional two years.
They have
threatened to roll out mass protests to block the plan, while a
large
section within Mugabe's own ruling ZANU PF party is opposed to
extending his
tenure. - ZimOnline
Reuters
Wed Feb 28, 2007 1:50 PM GMT
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's
controversial reforms that took land away from
white farmers to redistribute
it to blacks have contributed to the onetime
food exporter's chronic
shortages, the head of the Central Bank said.
"For us to import food in a
country that has had a land reform programme is
a shame," Zimbabwe Reserve
Bank governor Gideon Gono was quoted as saying by
the state-run Herald
newspaper on Wednesday.
"Everyone who got land must produce. There are
some people who have become
professional land occupiers, vandalising
equipment and moving from one farm
to another," Gono said.
Gono
previously has called people who occupy farms economic "saboteurs," but
this
is the first time he has singled out the land reforms for the food
shortages, which have forced the country to rely on imports to plug the
deficit.
The southern African nation, once one of the continent's
leading
agricultural producers, has suffered food shortages since 2001 in
step with
President Robert Mugabe's seizure and redistribution of white
commercial
farms to landless blacks.
The drop in production of maize
and other key crops has worsened a deepening
economic crisis, highlighted by
inflation of about 1,600 percent -- the
world's highest -- soaring
unemployment and chronic shortages of food and
fuel.
Agriculture is
the backbone of the country's economy.
The U.N. World Food Programme has
said 1.4 million Zimbabweans, or about 15
percent of the population, will
need food aid until the next harvest in
April. Some aid agencies said that
number could grow after unusually light
rainfall during the current growing
season.
Formerly a regional breadbasket, Zimbabwe now relies on imports
to plug its
food deficit. Last year the government said it had contracted
suppliers to
import 565,000 tonnes of maize in 2007 from South Africa and
Zambia.
Critics say the government's land seizures have been a major
contributor to
the food crisis. They noted that many blacks who were handed
confiscated
land lacked farming skills and could not cope with shortages of
fertilizer,
seed and pesticides.
Food shortages in the country also
have fueled inflation, according to Gono.
Food accounts for one-third of the
consumer price index basket that is used
to calculate inflation in
Zimbabwe.
International Herald Tribune
The Associated PressPublished: February
28, 2007
WINDHOEK, Namibia: Hundreds of people took to the
streets Wednesday to
protest a three-day state visit to Namibia by
Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe.
Police cordoned off the
Zimbabwean Embassy where demonstrators held up signs
that read "Go Mugabe
Go" and "Go Home Dictator."
The National Society for Human Rights, a
Namibian rights group, said it
organized the demonstration because it
believes a visit by Mugabe, who
arrived Tuesday evening, is an insult to
Namibia.
"President Mugabe is a dictator who is guilty of several human
rights abuses
and to a certain extent war crimes," said Phil Ya Nangoloh,
the executive
director of the human rights society. "He is an international
pariah. He is
not welcome in Namibia."
Speaking to the demonstrators,
he called for solidarity with the people of
Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is
gripped by political repression, unemployment and inflation that
has reached
an annual rate of nearly 1,600 percent.
Mugabe is a close ally of former
Namibian President Sam Nujoma, who still
wields considerable power behind
the scenes. The visit may be an effort by
Mugabe to try to establish ties
with Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba.
Mugabe, who turned 83 on
Sunday, is Africa's oldest ruler. His autocratic
style has promoted mounting
opposition within the country and international
criticism.
International Herald Tribune
The Associated PressPublished: February 28,
2007
HARARE, Zimbabwe: Dozens of people were arrested Wednesday as
pro-democracy
activists defied a police ban on demonstrations and took to
the streets to
protest growing economic hardship and repression in
Zimbabwe.
The National Constitutional Assembly said many of those
arrested were
assaulted. It vowed to continue with the
demonstrations.
"We believe that demonstrating for a new constitution is
a genuine cause
that cannot be blocked by a corrupt police force whose
mandate is merely
that of protecting a failed regime," the movement said in
a statement.
The demonstration coincided with a bleak new warning by the
head of the
Zimbabwe state central bank that the nation is broke and using
foreign
currency needed for fuel and spare parts on food.
Reserve
Bank governor Gideon Gono told a panel of lawmakers that many black
farmers,
including politicians, who resettled on former white-owned farms,
were
failing to produce food. Zimbabwe was once the region's
breadbasket.
"There are some people who have become professional land
occupiers,
vandalizing equipment and moving from one farm to another," Gono
told a
parliamentary committee on Home Affairs, according to the daily
Herald, a
government mouthpiece.
He said his priority was to allocate
hard currency for imports of corn, the
staple, to avert a looming food
crisis. Currency was diverted from almost
every government department to buy
food, he conceded.
Under President Robert Mugabe's land reform program,
at least 5,000
white-owned farms have been seized with virtually no
compensation since
2000. Many are derelict.
Mugabe was on state visit
to longtime ally Namibia, where hundreds of people
took to the streets with
signs that read "Go Mugabe Go" and "Go Home
Dictator."
"President
Mugabe is a dictator who is guilty of several human rights abuses
and to a
certain extent war crimes," said Phil Ya Nangoloh, the executive
director of
the National Society for Human Rights. "He is an international
pariah. He is
not welcome in Namibia."
Mugabe also faces growing unrest and strikes at
home. Last week police
slapped a three-month ban on demonstrations following
skirmishes with the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
The
National Constitutional Assembly said it had defied the ban and marched
in
Harare and the cities of Bulawayo, Mutare, Masvingo and Gweru. So far
police
had arrested 50 demonstrators in Harare and 25 in Mutare, it said.
Many were
assaulted.
"Police brutality against demonstrators is a clear sign that
we are living
in a military state where freedom of expression and
association is not
respected."
As the growing chaos at home drove
Zimbabweans to emigrate, they face
discrimination across the border, Human
Rights Watch said in a report
released Wednesday. The rights watchdog said
South African officials
involved in the arrest and deportation of
undocumented migrant workers often
assault and extort money from them, and
that Zimbabweans and Mozambicans
were most at risk of deportation - and
abuse.
As many as 3 million Zimbabweans are in South Africa seeking work
and
asylum. A reported 80,000 Zimbabweans were deported in the last seven
months
of 2006.
Human Rights Watch also said commercial farmers
ignored basic employment
laws, paying illegal migrants lower wages than
their South African
counterparts. South African authorities have said they
were trying to clamp
down on corrupt officials who extort bribes and the
agriculture minister has
launched a campaign against abuse of farm workers
by their employers.
Tobacco exports, tourism and mining were the nation's
main hard currency
earners before the land seizures. Tobacco production this
year is forecast
at one-fifth of the 1999 level and food output is at
one-third.
Official inflation is nearly 1,600 percent, the highest in the
world.
Zimbabwe is facing acute shortages of food, gasoline, medicine and
other
essential imports. Power and water outages occur most days.
In
the past month alone, prices of many household supplies have doubled and
the
International Monetary Fund has forecast official inflation at 4,000
percent
this year.
Earlier this month, Mugabe fired Finance Minister Herbert
Murerwa who had
spoken out against flooding the crumbling economy with
freshly printed money
that pushed up inflation.
Zimbabwean central
bank official Gono told lawmakers hard currency earnings
were a tiny
fraction of the US$2.5 billion (?1.9 billion) to US$3.5 billion
(?2.6
billion) needed "for the economy to function well."
"If we were talking
about local currency, I would say: Don't worry, in the
next 30 minutes we
will print money," the official media quoted Gono as
telling the
lawmakers.
VOA
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
28
February 2007
A senior Zimbabwe Information Ministry
officials confirmed in parliamentary
testimony Wednesday that the government
is jamming Voice of America
broadcasts.
Deputy Information Minister
Bright Matonga, responding to a question from
opposition legislator Willas
Madzimure, confirmed that Harare is jamming
VOA's Studio 7. He said
authorities were generating electronic interference
to prevent reception of
Studio 7 broadcasts because the programs contained
propaganda.
Reached later Wednesday by a Studio 7 reporter, Matonga
declined to comment.
Madzimure told reporter Blessing Zulu of Studio 7
that he is perplexed that
Harare is jamming the Voice of America program
when broadcasts by Zimbabwe's
national broadcast system are failing to reach
citizens in some parts of the
country.
Jamming of Studio 7 broadcasts
began in June 2006 and continues. Broadcasts
of the London-based private
broadcaster SW Radio Africa are also being
jammed.
Studio 7 has been
providing radio news reports to Zimbabwe since 2003.
Zim Online
Thursday 01 March
2007
By Menzi Sibanda
BULAWAYO
- Close to 5 000 teachers quit their jobs in Zimbabwe last
year unhappy over
poor pay and working conditions, the Progressive Teachers
Union of Zimbabwe
(PTUZ) said on Wednesday.
The PTUZ, one of two unions representing
teachers in the country, said
a survey it carried out showed that the
majority of teachers who quit their
jobs had been absorbed in neighbouring
countries such as Botswana, South
Africa, Namibia and
Swaziland.
"According to the survey, 4 800 teachers quit because
they were not
content with their wages," said PTUZ secretary general Raymond
Majongwe.
Another 560 teachers had died mainly because of HIV/AIDS-related
illnesses
over the period under review, he added.
Zimbabwe is
grappling a shortage of teachers most of who have left the
country fleeing a
grinding economic crisis that has also driven thousands of
other
professionals such as doctors, engineers, lawyers and accountants to
foreign
lands in one of the worst cases of brain drain ever witnessed in
history.
Zimbabwe employs about 126 000 teachers but
educationists say the
country requires about 200 000 fully qualified
teachers to ensure effective
learning in schools.
All in all
about three million Zimbabweans or a quarter of the country's
12 million
people are living abroad after fleeing their country because of
political
violence, worsening hunger and economic hardships.
Majongwe said
schools in remote rural areas were the worst affected by
the brain drain
with a single teacher having to cater for more than five
classes in some of
the worst cases of staff shortage.
"The situation can only be
addressed if government can give priority
to teachers and increase their
salaries substantially, forget the so-called
increment which was announced
last week," he added.
Until last week, the PTUZ had been
spearheading a three-week
industrial action by teachers to press for better
salaries and working
conditions.
The union called off the
strike after the government gave in to their
salary demands and awarded
teachers a 600 percent salary increment. The
lowest paid teacher now earns
about Z$528 000, up from about $84 000 that
they earned before.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Education Minister Aeneas Chigwedere
scoffed at the PTUZ's assertions saying the country had adequate
teachers.
"Who says there is a shortage? The Zimbabwe I know with
an education
ministry I head has enough and well paid teachers," said
Chigwedere, a
former schoolmaster.
Zimbabwe's public education
sector was, together with the public
health sector, one of the biggest
achievements of President Robert Mugabe's
government and the envy of many
developing nations. Today, the two sectors
have virtually collapsed after
years of under-funding and mismanagement. -
ZimOnline
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
28 February
2007
A senior official of the Progressive Teachers Union of
Zimbabwe on Wednesday
made public an open letter to President Robert Mugabe
written in response to
an attack on the union by Mr. Mugabe during a
birthday-celebration speech
Saturday in Gweru.
President Mugabe, 83,
singled out PTUZ General Secretary Raymond Majongwe
for a warning that his
government "cannot be knocked down by (union)
punches."
Mr. Mugabe
accused Majongwe and his union of mounting a rebellion. The union
took its
members out on a strike that it ended this week after winning
salary
increases.
Majongwe told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that
his union would not be intimidated by threats from the
president.
IOL
February 28
2007 at 04:44PM
Harare - Lecturers at Zimbabwe's three main state
universities have
begun an indefinite strike to press for better pay and
working conditions,
their union said on Wednesday.
"We began
the strike yesterday (Tuesday) and, as we speak, no lectures
are taking
place at the three main universities," James Mahlaule, president
of the
Association of University Teachers (AUT) told AFP.
Mahlaule said
scores of lecturers at the University of Zimbabwe in the
capital Harare, the
National University of Science and Technology in the
second city of Bulawayo
and the Midlands State University embarked on the
strike following a long
unresolved pay grievance.
"We have been saying for some time now
our salaries are unacceptably
low," Mahlaule
said.
"At one point we went for arbitration and got
a ruling in our favour
but nothing has been done to address our
concerns."
The academics want a minimum monthly salary of
ZIM$1,7-million (about
R50 000) for a junior lecturer, up from the current
ZIM$431 000, and
ZIM$3-million for professors.
In addition they
want 50 percent of the proposed salaries in housing
and transport
allowances.
He said the lecturers are staging sit-ins in their
offices.
The strike began as the universities opened for their
first semester
of the year and students could be seen milling about the main
university
campus in Harare while others boarded buses back
home.
Zimbabwe is in the throes of a severe recession characterised
by
four-digit inflation, massive unemployment and chronic shortages of basic
foodstuffs such as cooking oil and sugar.
Junior doctors began
a strike mid-December demanding a salary raise
from $224 to about $1 000
dollars a month and refused to return to work
after government tried to woo
them back with an undisclosed pay rise the
health minister described as
"handsome."
Thousands of schoolteachers staged a two-week strike
early February
but called it off last week after reaching a pay deal with
government.
Violet Gonda: Welcome to the final segment of the tele-conference with Arnold Tsunga, Director of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Raymond Majongwe, Secretary General of the radical Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe and David Coltart, a legal expert and Member of Parliament for the Mutambara MDC.
We continue to discuss the growing discontent in Zimbabwe that has seen students, university lecturers, teachers, nurses and doctors go on strike. The situation on the ground is still very tense because of the hyper-inflationary environment and the ban on political meetings by the regime. In this segment I started by asking Arnold Tsunga how the striking groups can keep the momentum.
Arnold Tsunga: I think there are a number of factors that have resulted in Zimbabweans behaving in the way they are now and it goes back to what David Coltart said earlier on that the current state of collective expression is merely a manifestation of what has been brewing over the years. If you look at the intersection between the socio economic conditions and the political processes that are taking place right now, you are actually beginning to see that we have reached a stage, I think, where the economic and social conditions are going to drive and determine the political processes. Before, maybe last year or the year before you had a situation where because the economy seemed to have been performing, you know, when the rule of law situation was thrown out of the window - you had a situation where politicians were driving the economic processes, the social processes.
But, now there has been a reversal where now that the work force has been largely liquidated and people thrust into chronic poverty and you now have the middle class virtually extinguished and reduced into an environment also of chronic poverty; the highest inflation. You are beginning to see a situation where it’s now a question of survival. It’s no longer a question, people are not exactly conscious that they are involved in a political process; some of them are simply striking or getting engaged because they don’t have food at home. And, I think, that’s a very good intersection you know, between civil and political rights as well as economic – social rights in our country.
Violet: And Mr Majongwe, still on the same issue. You know teachers are demanding wages in line with the Poverty Datum Line and generally most sectors are asking for salary increments, but my question to you is would it be enough for the government to give you more money considering the inflationary environment?
Raymond Majongwe: Ya, I think the most important thing here is, are we, as citizens, supposed to have a decent life? If we agree and say ‘yes’, then we shouldn’t question whether it’s going to be inflationary, whether it’s going to exacerbate the situation, because the question that many of the teachers then ask me and ask those in leadership is ‘are we responsible for what is happening now.’ Can we therefore forgo a better living because we want to fight an army that we didn’t create? I think the short answer that I would give you is that we cannot be subjected to poverty in a country that we know has milk and honey as we have obviously had and we have seen. We cannot allow just a selected number of people to enjoy on our behalf.
We are simply making a very clear statement that if the government is going to make a position that say the Poverty Datum Line stands at Z$566 000 then why should somebody who went to Teachers College and spent three years there, has been teaching for 17 years, be paid a salary that will allow that person fail to sustain and make sure that their families live normally. How can somebody really go to work and earn a salary that will enable them to buy four bananas a day? That’s unacceptable. So we are basically asking for the bare minimum, the PDL of $566 000 and in consulting the University of Zimbabwe Lecturers we were told that it has even left Z$566 000, it’s now around Z$642 000 which means we are even going to be changing the figures very soon.
Violet: But, do you agree that unless you know the concerned groups realise the need for a new constitution and fundamental reforms there won’t be any long lasting change because Mugabe can just print more money?
Raymond Majongwe: Ya, ultimately nobody doubts that. We are one of the few organisations in the country that even went to the MDC and said you cannot go into an election as long as the constitution still stands. I personally went into a public meeting with Morgan Tsvangirai and said in very clear and certain terms that you cannot engage ZANU PF in an election which you are going to lose anyway. I’m really surprised that the MDC; both MDCs; went and participated in the Chiredzi South by-election. And you then say to yourself ‘do these people really know what they are trying to fight, what were they going to benefit from this particular by-election when all these people are suffering? What exactly is going to be happening if people are going to be engaging in the Senate elections when the people are suffering because ultimately as far as the constitution remains the one that was smuggled into this country then the poverty and its perpetuation will remain the stark reality; people will continue suffering.
Violet: Mr Coltart, you have argued in the past that the Opposition must continue to participate in elections and Parliament also, but we have seen how ZANU PF took the Chiredzi South by-election because it controls the electoral process and how it controls Parliament. Do you ever sit down as the Opposition to analyse, to see if you have made any meaningful contribution to your overall goal?
David Coltart: Well, I still believe, surprisingly enough, that we have to participate in elections. I agree with Ray completely that there’s absolutely no prospect of the Opposition ever winning power through the electoral process because ZANU, as demonstrated this past weekend, are simply not going to allow that to happen. But, it comes back to the point of using every possible means to challenge and expose the regime. Had we not participated in the election in 2000 and exposed the violent side of ZANU PF, the pressure that has been brought to bear on ZANU PF by the international community would never have happened. The same applies even to this recent by-election in Chiredzi. Had we not participated ZANU would have just won that by-election, we would never have been able to show how food has been used as a political weapon down in Chiredzi South as it was.
And, all of these things are building blocks, and it’s taken a long, long time, far too long for us to expose the real ZANU PF. But bear in mind that ZANU PF was viewed primarily by African states primarily as a liberating Party, as a democratic Party, as a Party that offered hope not just for the people of Zimbabwe, but for the whole of Africa. Now those of us down in Matabeleland who saw the real nature of ZANU PF between 1982 and 1987 knew that this was a Party that offered no hope for Zimbabwe but it’s taken a long, long time, through elections, through civic actions, through strikes, to expose the true nature of this Regime. And, that battle isn’t over, but, I still believe that we’ve got to use every single means at our disposal that includes participating in Parliament, it includes challenging the Courts.
Violet: But Mr Coltart, you know you have been challenging the elections for the past seven years and its there on the record that the electoral process is flawed in Zimbabwe. What else can you gain from participating in elections or Parliament right now when Mugabe will never allow free and fair elections?
David Coltart: Well, let me stress one thing at the outset in answer to this. I have not argued, and none of my colleagues have argued that the electoral process is the only way or even the main way to challenge this Regime. All that we’ve said is that it’s one of several means and that we’ve got to use every single means. We’ve got to use civic action, we’ve got to use strikes, we’ve got to use international pressure, we’ve got to challenge through the courts, we’ve got to be in Parliament, we’ve got to participate in elections. So, it’s wrong to say that any of us have said this is the be all and end all of the struggle, it certainly isn’t, it is one small part.
But, let me answer your question. We have to continue to challenge ZANU PF because ZANU PF puts out that it is the Ruling Party; that it is the Party that continues to enjoy the majority support from the people. And we also need to bear in mind that we are dealing with a very jaded International Community. An International Community that’s been sucked into Iraq and Afghanistan and a whole range of other international crisis and it’s losing patience and many countries, we’ve seen with France and Portugal and other countries, are looking for any excuse to reintegrate ZANU PF into the International Community. And one of the ways of making sure that ZANU PF remains a pariah is by showing that it lacks legitimacy, that it does not enjoy the support of the majority of people, and we do that through the electoral process
Violet: And Mr Tsunga, your thoughts on this? Should the MDC continue to participate in a flawed electoral process and also participate in Parliament?
Arnold Tsunga: Ya, I think participating in Parliament, there shouldn’t be a big problem because, at the time of participating in elections, there was absolutely no questioning about the correctness of the MDC participating in elections. But I think post those elections there has been a credible concern on the part of a significant number of Zimbabweans whether continued participation is a correct thing to do or not on the part of the MDC in the absence of the opening up of the democratic space that is necessary for effective civic participation in the affairs of the nation.
So, I think the concerns on whether continued participation in fact does not give greater legitimacy to processes that we view as fatally flawed. I think it’s a genuine concern and any action on the part of the political players to continue giving an impression that they are giving Zimbabweans an opportunity to choose when quite clearly the playing field is such that the Zimbabwean’s right to effective civic participation in the national affairs is a mirage in the present circumstances. I think it introduces a little bit of scrutiny on the political players in terms of their genuineness to continue participating. So, speaking as a citizen, I really think there is a need to really explore whether we are increasing the course of oppression this way or we are actually giving ZANU PF the moral high ground to say the Opposition have got sour grapes because they have lost elections and therefore they now want to go on to the streets because simply because they cannot get into power through legitimate means. So I really think it’s an area that the Political Parties need to look at again.
Raymond Majongwe: I just wanted to say that many Zimbabweans, and I’m talking of the people who are on the street, they now don’t understand why the MDC has been going to Parliament. For instance, all these other laws were passed when the MDC was there. And, the question that they now ask is ‘would it have made any difference, wouldn’t we have made more gains if ZANU PF was alone in Parliament and the momentum would have increased on the streets and the people outside Parliament’. Because, now many people see the Parliamentarians on television, because I’m taking about the layman.
The person who sees MDC Parliamentarians participating in flawed processes, also going out of the country on state sanctioned visits, visiting the ZBC, we see them on television, visiting the GMB, we see them on television. Now it appears as if the MDC is now part of the gravy train and these are the people who matter; these are the people who vote. Hence the apathy that you are going to find, the people are going to say ‘after all the MDC and ZANU PF are enjoying there in Parliament’. So, ultimately, I am convinced if the MDC really wants to salvage anything then they must pack their bags out of that Parliament, go back to the people and say ‘the mandate that you gave us, we have benefited nothing from it’. Then obviously people are going to say ‘yes, let’s do this together’.
Plus the other thing that I would obviously have wanted maybe Mr Coltart to respond to is the people are saying ‘is it true that the split that exists now within the two MDCs is a ZANU PF sponsored project?’ Because, how obviously are you going to have the MDC fielding the candidates where the other MDC has also fielded the other? And then they continue using the name of the MDC; what is the ultimate agenda and attention of having two MDCs? And many of the people ask ‘do you really think ZANU PF under Robert Mugabe will allow another ZANU PF to be formed under any other leader?’
Violet: Mr Coltart are you able to respond to that, the issue of splitting the vote and the ZANU PF connection?
David Coltart: Oh absolutely Violet, let me respond to the splitting of the vote. I think everyone in their right mind would acknowledge that the current situation prevailing in Zimbabwe where you have all this confusion created by two MDCs is to put it mildly, unsatisfactory, and, the sooner both factions agree on either re-unification or some form of alliance or to agree to disagree and have different names, the sooner that happens the better. Because, there’s no doubt the split plays into the hands of ZANU PF and I don’t think that the rationally minded people in either side of this divide; in either faction; are happy about the situation. The sooner that we can resolve that the better and, as you know, there are talks taking place, there’ve been very positive talks taking place in the course of the last few months and I hope that shortly with goodwill shown by both sides we can resolve this and as I say, either re-unite these two factions or agree to a functional coalition so that we remove that confusion.
Let me also
say, in response to Ray, I have no doubt that ZANU PF and the CIO have been
involved in this division and that they have fuelled it, that they have
infiltrated both factions and that there are people in both factions who are
working as hard as they can against any form of re-unification or coalition.
That would be a natural thing for a fascist organisation like ZANU PF to do and
we need to be vigilant and constantly identify those people who are working
against this common goal and working to divide.
But let me conclude
briefly by coming back to his first point; that is Ray’s first point; about
participation in Parliament. I agree with him that Parliament has not achieved
what we hoped it would achieve in 2000, that a range of oppressive legislation
has been passed despite the fact that many of us have argued valiantly in
Parliament until 4.00am in the morning to oppose it. But, I still believe, and I
come back to the point I made just now, that if you don’t use every means; that
is every peaceful non-violent means at your disposal, you create a much greater
possibility of this country degenerating into violence, degenerating into a coup
or something like that. And, that cannot be in this country’s best
interest.
And so, whilst yes, I agree with Ray when he questions the effectiveness of being in Parliament, I think one has to say that our presence in Parliament has in many respects furthered the struggle, has exposed the true nature of this regime. If you just look, for example, at what is happening with the Parliamentary Committees in Parliament at present with the revelations coming out about ZISCO and ZUPCO and other things; this Contempt Committee which has now been set up regarding Obert Mpofu. They don’t change things overnight but they undermine the Regime and our participation in there assists in that undermining.
Violet: But, let me just go back to the issue of the talks, how long will these talks last or take because doesn’t the MDC risk being overtaken by events? We’ve seen how the workers have been on strike for the last few weeks, Doctors have been on strike since December, the Teachers for the last three weeks and the MDC are still debating about talking. How long will this take?
David Coltart: Violet I think that your criticism is entirely valid, these talks have been going on for far too long. They’ve gone on in fits and starts and quite frankly we need to progress them. I don’t personally understand, at this juncture, why there has been a delay, the last talks took place in late November and there’s now been a delay of some two months and it’s up to the leadership in both factions to move these talks along. But, just to come to your other point, of course there is a danger that the politicians are going to be overtaken by events but as a patriot, rather than a politician, I say ‘so be it’.
If there are other groups that are more active such as WOZA or the NCA or the Trade Union Movement, who get the job done, well good luck to them. Because ultimately, if we are patriots; if we are interested in the future of Zimbabwe and a democratic Zimbabwe then our future doesn’t necessarily reside in the MDC, either faction of it, coming to power. Our future resides in us pressurising this Regime into agreeing to a new constitution, a new democratic constitution, democratic institutions, fresh elections that are genuinely free and fair, and ultimately that will usher in a new democratic era. And, that democratic era may see a country ruled by one faction of the MDC or a united MDC or a coalition of the MDC or perhaps new Political Parties. But, that isn’t what should concern us. What should concern us is the ultimate goal of bringing democracy to Zimbabwe
Violet: And before we go and before I get your final thoughts, I just wanted to go back to the issue of the Rule of Law, and this is a question for Arnold Tsunga. We talked about how the Police continue to defy Court Orders. What recourse to assistance can victims get if they can’t get it from the Courts and also if they can’t get protection from the Police who have become their tormentors?
Arnold Tsunga: Ya, you see, it comes back to the issue that the Rule of Law, the justice delivery process takes place within a system of governance, and that’s where there’s been a problem. We’ve had a systemic collapse in this system of government that we are running as a country and you would not expect the justice delivery system, as a sub-system within this main system, to function properly in the absence of political will, in the absence of separation of powers. And, once you talk about separation of powers you are going back to democracy. So, there’s a direct link between absence of democracy and this flagrant disregard of Court Orders by the police. And, in fact, not just disregard of Court Orders, but a situation where the Police force has now been viewed by an African Union organ as an extension of a Political Party, which means they are not carrying out their policing duties, they are merely exercising a political function to prop up ZANU PF at the expense of other parties. So this goes to democracy; this goes to a situation where you cannot dissociate or extricate the Rule of Law situation from the greater democratisation project.
Violet: So what can people do? This is a question I had asked Raymond Majongwe at the beginning of this teleconference that is this why there are civil wars because people are then forced to take matters into their own hands.
Arnold
Tsunga: Ya, when I say that you cannot distinguish the Rule of Law from
the greater democratisation process, what I’m simply saying is that which means
the only way in which Zimbabweans will be able to get a return to the Rule of
Law, in the absence of political will on the part of ZANU PF, is to then go
through processes where they begin to demand their democratic space back. And,
this is what has been manifesting itself in terms of the strikes that have been
taking place from the beginning of the year up to now where you are beginning to
see people engaging collectively in processes where they are claiming back their
democracy, claiming back their rights from what they perceive to be a
dictatorship environment.
Violet: And Raymond Majongwe,
a final word before we go?
Raymond Majongwe: Ya, I think ultimately whether people are going to have Court Orders in their favour, people are going to have a lot of these High Court positions which say ‘proceed and do that’ and there’s no will to walk the talk, there’s no will to stand and face the violence and brutality. Because, this is Africa. I think this is the lesson that many of our comrades need to understand. This is Africa, and democracy comes to Africans in a very hard way! It’s unfortunate, that’s not what I wish to achieve or wish to experience, but, if people are going to say ‘ya, we have now achieved our goals’; people have to be prepared to have both the blood and the iron concept into play.
I am convinced that while we are going to stand up and say ‘we had an Order that allowed people to proceed with this particular meeting, there is this Order to proceed with this particular process’, and the Police are the going to be given the political force to say ‘make sure this doesn’t happen’, and they proceed to do it and the people say ‘ah, what else can we do’, then I think we are obviously going to be losing. We need a process, a group of people in institutions that will stand and say ‘if it means that we are really not going to be listened to, then we are going to take this other defiance route’. And, I will tell you, no other means will bring results besides confronting processes and institutions of injustice.
Violet: Mr Coltart?
David Coltart: Well I beg to differ in a certain respect with Ray and let me stress that I respect you Ray as a great human rights campaigner, but I think the trouble about using the language of confrontation unqualified is dangerous. I differ when you say that ‘this is Africa’, that somehow Africans are different and that one can achieve a Velvet Revolution in Ukraine but that’s impossible in Africa. I don’t think that even our recent history bears that out. I think that in the late 1980’s in South Africa people thought that bloodshed would be the only way of bringing an end to Apartheid. But, that’s not what happened. As we know, there was a miraculous transfer, transition to democracy and the same happened in Ghana under Jerry Rawlings, there was a relatively peaceful transition. And I believe that’s what we still have to strive for.
I agree that there needs to be confrontation but I believe very strongly that it needs to be non-violent confrontation and that even if the Police are going to defy Court Orders, we must still go to the Courts and that we must still use every single non-violent means at our disposable. But, we’ve got to be brave. Ray spoke earlier about unjust laws, well, I believe that unjust laws are there to be defied. That was the principle enunciated by Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi and I don’t think we should be any different. But that takes leadership, it takes bold courageous leadership and we now need people like Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara, Ray Majongwe, Pius Ncube, Ray Motsi - the Christian Alliance leaders; all of our leaders throughout the country, Jenni Williams and her brave women, to lead us but to be committed to using non-violent means of confrontation. Only that way will we guarantee a reasonable transition and a secure future for our children and our grandchildren.
Violet: And Arnold Tsunga?
Arnold Tsunga: Ya, you know what I was thinking as a way of ending is that it might be an idea to quote what the President (Mugabe) said when the was confronted with the situation where he had to either comply or defy in terms of the State complying or defying with a Court Order.
Violet: Where was he saying this? Just a reminder?
Arnold Tsunga: It’s cited if you look at some of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum reports, I think when we were looking at the Abuja agreement and the Commonwealth Principles, whether Zimbabwe had complied or disregarded the Abuja agreement, there is an analysis which was done by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum, and they cited the President in that document.
He said: “the Government will respect judgements where the judgements are true judgements, and, we do not expect Judges will use subjectivity in interpreting the Law. We expect Judges to be objective, we may not understand them in some cases, but when a Judge sits alone in his house or with his wife and says this one is guilty of contempt, that judgement should never be obeyed. I’m not saying this because we would want to defy Judges, in fact, we have increased their salaries recently. We want them to be happy, but, if they are not objective don’t blame us when we defy them”.
So, you can see the direction where the Police get their attitude to Court Orders is coming from. It’s coming from the Chief Executive Officer of this country. And, I think this type of culture is not a culture that supports democracy, that supports the Rule of Law, and, we need to deal with it very decisively. And, maybe just to end, you know the Judge President, when she was opening the High Court this year - Justice Makarau - she said that the Judiciary is under appreciated in our country and she was referring to things like this.
Violet: Thank you very much Arnold Tsunga, Raymond Majongwe and David Coltart.
All: Thank you Violet. Goodnight.
Violet Gonda: Since we recorded this debate the teachers’ unions struck a deal with the government and accepted a salary adjusted in line with the Poverty Datum Line. Observers say they had come under massive intimidation.
Audio interview can be heard on SW Radio Africa’s Hot Seat programme. Comments and feedback can be emailed to violet@swradioafrica.com
Jamaica Observer
Editorial
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
President Robert Mugabe, it seems,
is intent on ensuring that Zimbabwe will
be logged in history books as the
biggest stain on Africa.
Indeed, Mr Mugabe never ceases to amaze us with
his tyrannical behaviour and
his total disregard for the welfare of his
fellow Zimbabweans.
Last Saturday, Mr Mugabe threw a party to celebrate
his 83rd birthday. The
fact that he hosted the party would normally not have
raised any eyebrows,
except for the fact that the celebration cost his
country a whopping US$1.2
million and that it was held in the face of deadly
poverty and
hyperinflation in a country where hundreds of thousands of
people are
struggling to survive on bread and water.
We have watched
with disappointment Mr Mugabe's methodical destruction of
this once vibrant
country to the point where food, fuel and medication are
in short
supply.
According to a wire service report published in this week's Sunday
Observer,
"hyperinflation - running at near 1,600 per cent - that economists
say soon
will be represented by an upright line on a graph has the country
in revolt.
The number of Zimbabwe dollars that bought a three-bedroom house
with a
swimming pool and tennis court in 1990, today will buy one sole
brick".
A lifetime public worker's monthly pension, we are told, can't
buy a loaf of
bread; charities have reported depression, suicide and
malnutrition among
retirees, including a type of vitamin deficiency
affecting gums, bones and
hair loss.
Doctors and nurses have been on
strike since December and the rest of the
civil service is threatening to
join them, the report said, and the list of
deserters on the walls of army
barracks grows ever longer despite a 300 per
cent pay raise in
January.
Already, an estimated 70,000 Zimbabweans have died this year
because of the
shortage of drugs and the fact that medical equipment, like
dialysis
machines, are no longer functional.
We were therefore not
surprised to learn that anger towards Mr Mugabe and
his Government is
mounting in the streets. In fact, our only surprise is
that it took this
long. For Mr Mugabe has been oppressing his people for
many years now,
cracking down on dissent and press freedom, jailing
opponents, bulldozing
people out of their homes, rigging elections, and
confiscating the passports
of critics of his Government.
Just last December three key arms of his
ruling Zimbabwe African National
Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party
passed a resolution at the party's
annual conference to have his term
extended to 2010 by postponing
presidential elections scheduled for
2008.
At the time, this newspaper strongly condemned that betrayal of the
freedoms
that Mr Mugabe, many of his countrymen and others across the world,
including Jamaica, fought to secure from the racist government that once
ruled that country when it was known as Rhodesia.
We had hoped that
President Thabo MBeki of South Africa, who has been trying
to effect change
in Zimbabwe through diplomacy, would rethink that strategy.
We obviously
expected too much.
Now, however, it appears that the walls are closing in
on Mr Mugabe as some
of his own forces, we are told, are on the verge of
revolt.
But given that armed rebellion usually results in innocent lives
being
taken, we do not wish for this to happen in Zimbabwe.
The
African Union, we believe, should use its influence to ensure that Mr
Mugabe
demits office without bloodshed.
News24
28/02/2007 07:30 -
(SA)
Windhoek - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe issued a stout
defence on
Tuesday of his controversial land reform programme, claiming it
had been a
success even if it had made more enemies than friends.
The
83-year-old Mugabe's decision to expropriate land from white farmers at
the
turn of the decade in what was once the bread basket of southern Africa
has
been widely seen as the origin of the economic crisis in Zimbabwe which
now
labours under inflation at around 1 600%.
But during a state banquet in
Namibia, which has also expropriated
white-owned farms but has paid
compensation for the land, Mugabe had few
regrets and blamed his country's
economic woes on western sanctions imposed
over accusations that elections
in 2002 were rigged.
"I can safely declare that the land and resettlement
plan of our government
was completed successfully," he said at the dinner
hosted by his Namibian
counterpart Hifikepunye Pohamba.
Mugabe added
the "land and resettlement programme created more enemies than
friends for
Zimbabwe" but said the United States and former colonial power
Britain had
wanted to punish his country "for daring to take our destiny
into our own
hands".
Mugabe has long defended the farm seizures as a move to redress
the
injustices of colonial times. However much of the land, which was meant
to
go to landless blacks, has ended up in the hands of his
associates.
Namibia expropriating land
Namibia has also
expropriated a handful of white-owned farms but has shelled
out money for
both the land and farm buildings in stark contrast to
Zimbabwe, and is wary
of being tarred with the same brush.
While Mugabe told Pohamaba that "we
are fully behind you as you tackle the
mammoth task of land reform in your
own way", the Namibian leader avoided
any mention of the land
issue.
Pohamba did use his speech to emphasise Namibia and Zimbabwe
enjoyed
"excellent relations", outlining co-operation in fields such as
health,
education and agriculture.
He also said that Namibia was
ready to offer landlocked Zimbabwe use of
dry-dock storage facilities at the
port of Walvis Bay.
But he also took an apparent swipe at Mugabe who has
been widely accused of
not only fixing elections but overseeing widescale
human rights abuses.
"We must re-energise efforts to strengthen
democratic governance and the
rule of law for a more peaceful continent," he
said.
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
28 February, 2007
In the twenty-seven years that Robert
Mugabe has managed to stay at the helm
of Zimbabwe's political machinery,
there have never been more signs that his
continued tenure is in jeopardy
than there have been in the last few months.
A catalogue of disastrous
events have damaged his image and caused him to
lose the support of many who
once held him in high esteem. Press reports
about him and events on the
ground show a man who is being ignored,
embarrassed, criticised and
ridiculed at every turn.
Other African heads of state still don't like
speaking ill of Mugabe
publicly, but it is largely believed they are no
longer willing to
jeopardise the development of their own countries and the
continent for his
sake. His exclusion from the Franco-Africa summit earlier
this month was one
such sign. Add to this the EU renewal of targeted
sanctions, the Chinese
premier visiting all his neighbours but skipping
Harare and recent
anti-Mugabe demonstrations at Zimbabwe embassies in
London, Washington,
Johannesburg and Namibia.
At home, the situation
is grim. Hyper inflation, strike action in key
sectors, continued shortages
of basic goods and a mass exodus from the
police and military forces have
all combined to weaken Mugabe's position.
And there is more. Vice president
Joyce Mujuru is reported to have missed
his birthday bash last weekend, an
event which ruling party cadres are
obligated to attend. Then the
traditionally pro-government teachers union,
ZIMTA, joined in the ongoing
strike actions for the first time ever. And top
members of his cabinet have
been implicated in corrupt mining activities,
which prompted an
investigation by the parliamentary portfolio committee and
the global
watchdog Global Witness. It is fair to say Robert Mugabe's plate
is
full.
Dr. Shana, chairman of the corruption watchdog Transparency
International
Zimbabwe Chapter, said there is only so much that Zimbabwe's
so-called
friends can take. He added that Mugabe's "heroism and bravado"
were one
thing, but they will not accept him as a liability to the progress
of their
own countries and development. Explaining further, Dr. Shana said:
"In
politics there are no permanent friends, just interests. And where
friends
and interests conflict, interest will always prevail."
SW
Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
New Zimbabwe
By Staff
Reporter
Last updated: 02/28/2007 20:49:48
ZIMBABWE's main opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) failed to
lodge a court application
against the disruption of its weekend rally, as
there was no judge available
at the Bulawayo High Court, the party's lawyer
said Tuesday.
Josphat
Tshuma, a lawyer for MDC said they sought through the court
application an
order barring the police, who have been breaking up rallies
in Harare and
Bulawayo, from interferring with their rally in the country's
second largest
city.
"First the (court) registrar did not have a stamp and second there
was no
judge to hear the matter," said Tshuma, a lawyer for the opposition
party's
faction led by Arthur Mutambara.
As a result, he added, the
party was forced to abandon the court challenge
but the MDC is considering
mounting a petition against the powers vested in
the Minister of Home
Affairs, Kembo Mohadi, under the Public Order and
Security Act
(POSA).
The Act says in the event of police issuing prohibition orders
against the
holding of rallies -- as they have done in Harare and
Chitungwiza --
aggrieved parties should appeal to the minister against the
actions of the
police.
Section 27 (4) of the Act, which gives Mohadi
those powers says: "Any person
who is aggrieved by an order given under
subsection (1) may appeal against
it to the minister, and the minister may
confirm, vary or set aside the
order."
Tshuma said the law could be
challenged on the grounds that Mohadi, as a
government minister, has a
vested interest in the issues and as such he
cannot adjudicate impartially
or independently.
The police have imposed a three-month countrywide ban
on rallies following
clashes with opposition supporters in Harare. According
to human rights
groups and analysts, the "informal curfew" is designed to
check any public
unrest against the government.
"The situation is
very tense. If you are not in your home by 9 or 10 in the
evening you can be
beaten up," alleged John Makumbe, a political analyst
based in
Harare.
"Even during the day, civilians spotted walking near the
government
buildings in groups of three or more are asked to disperse by the
police."
The Herald (Harare)
February 27,
2007
Posted to the web February 27, 2007
Harare
THE trial of
Information and Publicity Deputy Minister Bright Matonga
accused of
soliciting US$20 000 from local bus supplier Mr Jayesh Shah
resumed
yesterday with the court making inquiries into the admissibility of
the
recorded evidence.
There was a "trial within a trial" convened to
establish circumstances
surrounding the recording of the conversation
between Shah and Matonga,
which defence lawyer Mr Wilson Manase of Manase
and Manase objected to as
inadmissible.
Mr Manase challenged the
admissibility of the Siemens L45 cellphone
allegedly used in the recording
of the conversation arguing that there was
no link between the recorded CDs
and the phone.
"The mobile phone and the microchip have nothing recorded
on them as we
speak, they are empty.
"There is no link between the
phone and the conversation that is on the disc
and it can be any other
phone. The State must produce a manual for the phone
and we need to see what
it does and what it does not.
"Police, throughout their investigations,
did not have the phone and the
State only sought the phone from outside the
police investigations. Apart
from Mr Shah reading serial numbers that I did
not bother to record, there
is no one who knows about it.
"Recordings
can be edited and the model of the phone in question, has
advanced
facilities to edit one's voice and name," said Mr Manase during
cross-examination.
However, Mr Shah argued that experts are able to
retrieve the conversation
that he erased on the multimedia card and
maintained that he used his phone
to record the conversation.
He
further averred that he deleted the evidence after Matonga had agreed to
testify the "truth" in the trial of former Zupco board chairman Charles
Nherera who was jailed for two years.
"In February last year, we
agreed that Matonga would testify the truth in
Nherera's trial and I deleted
the conversation. I wanted to forgive him and
I no longer wanted to cause
his arrest resulting in I deleting the
conversation," said Mr
Shah.
Mr Shah also submitted that he refused to hand over the said phone
to the
police during investigations saying that was his only handset and he
had no
replacement. It was also Mr Shah's submission that he only deleted
the
recording from the microchip to create space for more
recordings.
Superintendent Phillip Ncube told the court that there was no
original
evidence and that he was relying on secondary evidence.
He
also said he failed to link the phone and the recorded evidence, hence
leaving it out for use as an exhibit.
"It is difficult for me to
confirm that the phone was the actual one used
for the recording of the
evidence and the evidence is all secondary. I
failed to marry the phone and
the microchip and according to my own
understanding, it looks like any other
phone," said Supt Ncube.
Mrs Fortune Chimbaru from the Attorney General's
Office testified that the
defence only requested for a microchip and never
requested for the phone in
question as an exhibit.
She further said
the microchip was with the court in Nherera's record, but
Matonga's alleged
conversation was deleted.
Prosecutor Ms Vernandah Munyoro said she would
call an information
technology expert to clarify issues on
Thursday.
She requested for more time to allow the expert to source all
the necessary
equipment for use during the testimony saying a great deal of
demonstration
was involved.
Harare regional magistrate Mr Morgen
Nemadire deferred the proceedings to
Thursday for continuation with the
expert testifying.
Charges against Matonga arose when he was still the
Zupco accounting officer
while Nherera was the board chairman.
The
State alleges that the two solicited and received a bribe of US$10 000
each
so that they would not evict Mr Shah's bus supplying company, Gift
Investments, from Zupco premises where they were
renting.
zimbabwejournalists.com
By Ntando Ncube and Magugu Nyathi.
JOHANNESBURG -
Pro-democracy leaders from Zimbabwe will on Thursday address
their
compatriots in South Africa, the media and others on the need to take
the
struggle against the Zanu PF government to another level after the
police
imposed an unofficial curfew in some high-density suburbs of Harare
and
banned rallies and political meetings for three months.
National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) chairperson Lovemore Madhuku and
other leaders
from the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) factions,
the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the Progressive Teachers Union
of Zimbabwe
(PTUZ), Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), the Church Alliance and
the Zimbabwe
National Students Union (Zinasu) will be in South Africa to
speak on the
deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe, the crackdown on the
opposition and
related things.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition South Africa office, which
will host the civic
leaders coming under the banner of the Save Zimbabwe
campaign, said a press
conference would also be held at Devonshire Hotel in
Braamfontein to allow
the leaders to assert the way forward on the
prevailing Zimbabwean crisis.
Save Zimbabwe Campaign is an alliance of
various civic groups, political
parties, churches, women's movements, labour
and students unions who are
advocating for democracy in Zimbabwe. Crisis in
Zimbabwe is a member of the
campaign.
"The conference will address,
among other things the Save Zimbabwe's
position on the government's ban of
the civic and political meetings and its
response to various peaceful
pro-democracy actions by the people of Zimbabwe
and to parade their road map
in the face of the government of Zimbabwe's
plan to unilaterally postpone
presidential elections from March 2008," said
Immanuel Hlabangana, the
Crisis media and advocacy manager.
The government of Zimbabwe recently
announced a three-month ban of all
political meetings and rallies in some
high-density areas in Harare. Crisis
has already said this is against the
country's obnoxious Public Order and
Security Act (POSA), which allows only
a one-month ban.
Under POSA, political groups should inform the police
ahead of their planned
meetings and gatherings, a requirement that has seen
many opposition rallies
being thwarted as was the case with the recent
Morgan Tsvangirai rally in
Highfield and Arthur Mutambara's in
Bulawayo.
The government insists section 25 of the Act gives the Home
Affairs Minister
authority to determine whether or not to allow political
meetings.
Political and civic groups also say the section being sited by
the police to
justify the ban is in violation of the Constitution, that
states clearly in
Section 21 (1) that "no person shall be hindered in their
freedom of
assembly and association".
The situation in Zimbabwe has
been worsening over the past few months with
the police recently using
excessive force to stop Morgan Tsvangirai's
supporters from converging at
the Highfield grounds for a major rally to
launch his 2008 presidential
campaign.
The Zanu PF government plans to postpone the elections to 2010,
giving
President Mugabe an extra two years in office resulting in sporadic
protests
that led to the arrest of opposition leaders, including Tendai
Biti, the
Tsvangirai MDC's secretary general.
The country has since
the beginning of the year been hit by a wave of
strikes from doctors,
teachers, nurses, lecturers - all demanding better pay
and working
conditions. Students have also threatened to boycott classes
though most of
them have not been attending classes due to the absence of
their striking
lecturers.
The country's civil servants are also threatening to go on
strike while the
ZCTU has given April dates for a two-day workers' strike.
Tensions are
rising by the day as a result.
UN Integrated
Regional Information Networks
February 28, 2007
Posted to the web
February 28, 2007
Harare
Zimbabwean parents not only have to
contend with fees they cannot afford,
but also with expensive essentials
like uniforms, which now cost 600 times
more than they did in 2006.
Inflation is now running at around 1,600
percent, nearly 80 percent of the
workforce are unemployed, and the minimum
wage is nowhere near the cost of a
basket of basic household items, forcing
many parents to withdraw their
children from school.
Standards of learning and teaching in Zimbabwe, at
one time the envy of the
African continent, have plummeted in recent years.
"When the country
received an economic knock in 1997 after offering war
veterans hefty
gratuities ... the education sector became one of the major
victims," said
Raymond Majongwe, president of the Progressive Teachers Union
of Zimbabwe
(PTUZ).
The situation was exacerbated by the
government's fast-track land reform
programme, launched in 2000 with the aim
of removing white commercial
farmers from their land and redistributing it
to landless blacks, which has
resulted in a steady economic decline marked
by severe shortages of foreign
currency, fuel and energy, basic commodities,
foodstuffs and medicines.
All schools, including those run by the
government, have had to enforce the
increases. Educationists and parents
have been warning that the rocketing
fees would force larger numbers of
children to drop out and exclude others
from education.
Widowed
Goronga Kaliati, 60, looks after three school-going grandchildren,
two of
whom are AIDS orphans, in the capital, Harare. This year none of the
three
children resumed school because she could not afford the fees.
A former
civil servant, Kaliati gets a monthly pension of about Z$3,000
(less than
one US dollar at the parallel market exchange rate, on which most
prices are
based) - not enough to buy two bars of laundry soap. She has
moved into a
shack in her yard to accommodate tenants who pay her about
US$30 a month,
which helps her family eat.
"My son and his wife in Mozambique used to
give me money now and then, but
for the past 10 months they have been quiet
and life is just too difficult
for me and the children," Kaliati told IRIN.
The three children can now only
watch others on their way to school while
they sell vegetables and
cigarettes to support their grandmother's income in
the populous suburb of
Mbare.
Many parents have taken their children
out of boarding schools with good
pass rates to enrol them at less expensive
government schools.
"I could not afford the full uniform, which is now
costing around Z$1.8
million (about US $243), in addition to the Z$1.5
million (about US $202)
for school fees at the boarding school, and I was
left with no choice but to
recall my two sons back to Harare," John Maruta,
an accountant with a small
company, told IRIN.
Maruta will need to
brace himself for the high transport costs, because the
children have to
make two trips to reach their new school, for which he has
to cough up about
US$1 a day, and another US$1 for food. Transport
operators, like retailers
and wholesalers, raised their fares by more than
40 percent at the beginning
of the year.
"What it means is less food at home. Children can only
perform well on a
full stomach and, having taken a tiresome trip to school,
their performance
is bound to be affected," said Maruta in the
medium-density suburb of
Hatfield, where the rent for their four-roomed
cottage has doubled to $40 a
month. Average salaries in Zimbabwe are less
than US$100 a month.
Innocent Makwiramiti, an economist and former chief
executive officer of the
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), told
IRIN he blamed the steep
rise in costs on the poorly performing
economy.
"One cannot help but sympathise with the parents, but the fact
is that there
is hardly anything that can be done to improve their situation
if the
economy is not mended." He suggested that school authorities allow
parents
to stagger payments.
"Employers [could also] raise the
salaries of workers ... but since
companies are operating under strenuous
conditions, that might not be
possible. In any case, it's a 'Catch 22'
situation because, once salaries
are raised, inflation goes up as well,"
Makwiramiti commented.
While those lucky enough to be employed might be
able to raise the money for
their children's education, schooling is moving
beyond the reach of those
who are unemployed or do not have a steady source
of income.
"Students have been hit hard by the economic crisis. Girls in
colleges and
high school are engaging in prostitution in order to get an
education, while
child labour is on the increase, and many of those supposed
to be in school
are turning to the streets as beggars and common criminals,"
PTUZ's Majongwe
told IRIN.
A report released in late 2006 by the
National Association of Societies for
the Care of the Handicapped indicated
that 67 percent of disabled children
were out of school, mainly because
their parents or guardians could not
afford the costs of
education.
Schools have defended the new fees. Jameson Timba, chairman of
the
Association of Trust Schools (ATS), which represents private schools,
said
they had set the new fees according to the Education Act.
"The
Act says we can increase fees after taking into consideration the rate
of
inflation, and that is what we have done. We considered the inflation
figures for the months of September to December 2006, and we calculated the
fees on that basis.
"In fact, the schools could find themselves
operating at a loss, considering
that the term covers close to four months
and the fees might be stagnant
during that time, while inflation is going
up," Timba told IRIN, adding that
parents had been consulted on the fee
hike.
Majongwe said schools found it difficult to import laboratory
equipment, so
most teachers were confined to lecturing. "The poorly
performing economy has
severely undermined the quality of students that are
being produced, and the
infrastructure, such as schools and examining
bodies, that supports the
sector."
The lack of foreign currency has
also forced the government to localise
examinations, which used to be
handled by British boards, but local
examination boards had failed to
attract competent markers because they
offered paltry payments. The Zimbabwe
Schools Examination Council failed to
meet its December 2006 deadline
because teachers hired to mark the papers
opted out due to poor
payment.
"The teachers would rather go to South Africa and Botswana as
informal
traders than waste their time in an unrewarding process of marking
the
papers, and risk disciplinary action if the higher authorities feel they
have erred," Majongwe said.
He estimated that around 18,000 teachers
had left the country in the past
five years to seek better-paid jobs,
especially in southern Africa, leaving
schools with disgruntled
staff.
Although the new school year is well underway, many schools are
still
advertising for teachers, particularly those who teach science
subjects,
mathematics and accounting.
[This article is part of a
special IRIN series that looks at how conflict,
poverty and social
alienation are affecting the lives of children and
teenagers. Read more from
'Youth in crisis: coming of age in the 21st
century' at
http://newsite.irinnews.org/InDepthMain.aspx?InDepthId=28&ReportId=70140]
[
This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
Business In Africa
Published: 28-FEB-07
Windhoek - Namibia and Zimbabwe power
utilities, Nampower and ZESA, have
sealed a $40mn loan facility and
electricity purchasing agreement under
which Nampower would avail funds to
refurbish Hwange power station in
Zimbabwe and be guaranteed power
supply.
Nampower is going to advance up to $40mn towards the
refurbishment of four
generators at coal-fired Hwange power
station.
Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba and his visiting
Zimbabwean
counterpart Robert Mugabe witnessed the signing of the
deal.
Embattled Mugabe arrived in Namibia on Tuesday on a state
visit.
Under the deal, Nampower would help refurbish Hwange power station
to boost
its output to 480 MW.
On completion of the refurbishment,
Nampower would be guaranteed 150 MW of
electricity for the next five
years.
Nampower managing director Paulinus Shilamba, who signed the
agreement with
ZESA's Ben Rafemoyo, said rehabilitation of Hwange would take
up to 12
months.
Shilamba said Nampower would start importing 40 MW
in January 2008 and that
the electricity would be routed through Zambia to
its Caprivi Link
Interconnector, which is currently being
constructed.
"Its going to take between 10 to 12 months to rehabilitate
the generators
and the first machine will start generating power by January
2008 during
which time we would be getting 40 MW from Hwange power station,"
Shilamba
said.
He added that Nampower, which like its Zimbabwe
counterpart is scrambling to
avoid looming electricity blackouts, is
sufficiently capitalised to
partially finance the Hwange
refurbishment.
Apart from the power deal, Namibia and Zimbabwe also
signed a double tax
exemption agreement under which companies from the two
countries that invest
in the other would only be taxed in one
country.
Both governments re-affirmed their commitment to increasing
bilateral
co-operation.
Speaking at a state banquet on Tuesday night,
Pohamba said Zimbabwe was
welcome to use Namibia's deep water port of Walvis
Bay and its dry dock
facilities to export and import its products.
A
defiant Mugabe defended his chaotic and often violent land redistribution
programmes and pointed fingers at Britain and the United States for
'sabotaging' the ailing Zimbabwean economy.
"Our programme has
addressed and reversed the land ownership pattern, which
favoured the
minority at the expense of the majority of our people," Mugabe
said.
Meanwhile, about 200 rights activists in Windhoek shouted
'tyrant', 'retire
tyrant', 'Mugabe repent', 'Zim is not yours Gabriel', 'ICC
for Mugabe'
outside the Zimbabwean embassy for two hours.
More than a
dozen police officers kept a watchful eye on the crowd of
picketers, who
waved placards depicting the 83-year old Zimbabwean leader.
"Robert
Mugabe should be in prison for his human rights violations," said
human
rights activist Phil ya Nangoloh. -panapress
Sokwanele
Sokwanele Report : 28 February 2007
Now that the small town of
Goromonzi (site of the recent annual conference
of the Zanu PF party) has
returned to its normal poverty-stricken
existence - albeit enriched by one
kilometre of tarred road from the main
road to the conference site, provided
for the occasion - it is instructive
to take another look at the state of
the party responsible for the
unprecedented suffering of the people of
Zimbabwe.
The conference had as its theme "Consolidating Independence
through Land,
Mining Reforms and Empowerment". A grand title indeed though,
from reports
in both the government and independent press, it is evident
that the
delegates barely touched on these issues. Rather, most of the time
was taken
up with the succession issue - who will eventually succeed the
aging
dictator, and when. The related infighting between the contending
factions
was as vicious as it was carefully camouflaged by those who cannot
afford to
be seen to be openly bidding for power - or even to question the
official
party line that the beloved leader will rule for ever. In short it
was
another dazzling display of the "smoke and mirrors" politics of
double-speak
and subterfuge for which Zanu PF surely stands in a class by
itself.
Unintended revelations
As ever, the press coverage of the
conference was revealing - though often
unintentionally so! True to form,
the regime's mouthpieces - The Herald and
The Chronicle - reported that "the
conference itself was a huge success",
but there was the odd telling remark,
such as the editorial in The Chronicle
saying that though "Zanu PF emerged
stronger and united from the conference,
a big task lies ahead to make sure
that the resolutions passed at the annual
indaba are implemented". And if
that is not a reference to broken promises
and ignored resolutions of the
past we ask, what is?
The independent press concentrated more on the
excesses of the conference,
which were many - like the Mercedes-Benz
limousines lined up in the car
park, and the bottled water, turkey, lamb,
pork, venison, and other
delicacies laid on for delegates. Such conspicuous
consumption contrasted
painfully with the surrounding abject poverty and
starvation. To their
credit the independent press also picked up on the
inconsistencies in the
supposed universal acclamation of 'Bob as
President'.
The big issue
Whatever was on the official agenda, the one
theme that dominated the
conference from start to finish was the succession
issue. In an almost
unprecedented sequence of events, it became clear that
the party was not
uniformly behind Mugabe's stated intention to continue in
the top job, and
to extend his presidential mandate from 2008 to 2010 by way
of a proposed
constitutional amendment.
First, just before the
conference, the politburo met but was unable to agree
on whether to support
his bid. Then the central committee of the party
turned him down. And
finally the 4000-odd delegates at the conference were
unable to come
together around any consensus on either Mugabe's own
political future or the
future of the party. There was some political
face-saving in evidence when
the delegates were informed at the end of the
conference that the question
would be further debated at a provincial level,
prior to final
decision-making by the central committee. Nor did it help his
cause when
Mugabe himself told journalists at the end of the conference that
there was
consensus over the harmonization of the elections. Patently this
was a total
distortion of the facts on the ground.
In reality, for Zanu PF and for
Robert Mugabe in particular, this was a
political defeat of the same
magnitude as the result of the referendum on
the new constitution in the
year 2000, when the electorate served notice
that the days of an effective
one party state were over and henceforth the
MDC was a force to be reckoned
with in the land.
Mugabe himself knows that he is at the helm of a
seriously fractured party;
he also knows - and it must provide precious
little consolation - that he is
in some ways the only glue that holds it
together. Indeed he could well say
with the famed Madame de Pompadour
(favourite of Louis XV of France) "apres
nous le deluge" ("after us the
deluge"). From the country's perspective, the
aging dictator is at the
centre of the ultimate Catch 22: He himself is the
main obstacle in the way
of resolving the severe economic crisis, but
because of the lack of
consensus on who will succeed him, he is still needed
by his
party.
Infighting within the ranks
The political infighting that has
riven his party was certainly uppermost in
Mugabe's mind before and during
the conference. He implored members of Zanu
PF to work together to ensure
that they bequeathed a better future for the
coming generations. He said
there was need for unity of purpose within the
ruling party. He admitted
that "something has gone wrong", and asked "what
are we demonstrating to the
people? That we are still one or divided? Still
together or
apart?"
"What are we doing there at the top?" asked the man at the
top.
This public rebuke would have smarted in certain quarters. There are
in fact
three main contenders for the top job, aside from Mugabe himself -
Gideon
Gono, Joice Mujuru, and Emmerson Mnangagwa - and of course it is they
and
their surrogates who are stoking up the fires of division. But there are
numerous other quarrels and splits, at both national and regional levels.
Recently for instance we have been treated to the spectacle of various Zanu
PF chefs in court, one suing the other, a spectacle that formerly would have
been unthinkable.
In the succession issue, the tension between the
competing camps is
heightened by the rapidly degenerating economy - all the
more so because the
economy is controlled personally by one of the
contenders, Gono - and by the
impact of Gono's policies on the personal
fortunes of each.
Gono has been widely (and no doubt rightly) castigated
for his irrational
economic policies which have left the markets in
bewilderment and chaos.
Certainly both Mujuru and Mnangagwa are personally
suffering from the
effects of Gono's own brand of policy-making. However the
man at the top
clearly supports him against the Finance Minister, Murerwa,
and that is all
that matters in the short term. Mugabe publicly signaled his
own preference
when he criticized the "bookish" economics of the Finance
Ministry: "They
have this word they like using; 'quasi, quasi, quasi'", he
said, "but I tell
them that this is expenditure that we need. We are under
sanctions and there
is no room for the type of bookish economics we have at
the Ministry of
Finance", (the "quasi" referring to the criticism of Gono's
'quasi economic
policies' in Murerwa's recent budget
speech).
Changing the Constitution?
As far as forcing a change to the
constitution to allow presidential and
parliamentary elections to take place
together in 2010, thus prolonging
Mugabe's political life for a further two
years, Zanu PF is not in a strong
position.
To amend the
constitution, the party requires the votes of two-thirds of the
150 members
of Parliament - a minimum of one hundred actual votes cast.
Currently the
MDC holds 41 seats and with Jonathan Moyo, that gives 42
against Zanu's 108.
So the regime will find it tough to get the full 100
votes that it needs. It
only requires 9 disenchanted Zanu MPs to absent
themselves from the vote
(with a convenient "sickness" or "family
bereavement", so they can avoid the
embarrassment of publicly voting against
the old man) and the motion would
be defeated.
Mugabe relies heavily upon the uneducated for what little
real support he
still enjoys. They provide useful votes from those who are
not themselves
involved in business and have little understanding of what is
going on in
the country and the economy. However it is very questionable
whether he
truly has many other party members behind him, whatever they
might say in
public. A successful constitutional amendment is not therefore
a forgone
conclusion.
Between an ailing and failing economy on the
one hand and on the other a
leader who has become a huge public liability
but is still needed to save
the party from disintegration, Zanu PF finds
itself caught between a rock
and a hard place. Moreover Mugabe's personal
interest is now directly at
variance with those within the party scrambling
to replace him. The
incumbent must secure a further two years in office
beyond 2008; equally
those contending for the throne must have him out of
the way by 2008.
Hence it comes as no surprise to learn that, in an
unprecedented move, Zanu
PF MPs have secretly launched a "Stop Mugabe
Campaign" to prevent him from
extending his term of office beyond
2008.
The Role of the Military?
Even the military and police are now
baulking at the ruination of the
economy. Those police constables who were
getting only $20 000 at the end of
last year (and even if their salaries
doubled, would still be getting a mere
pittance), are unlikely to be
on-sides for the regime which is so obviously
responsible for their misery.
The military chiefs met Mugabe towards the end
of last year, warning him of
the effects of poverty on the previously
unquestioned loyalty of the defence
forces. Chihuri, the Police
Commissioner, strove to diffuse matters from the
other end of the lighted
taper, by addressing senior police officers and
urging them to remain loyal
to Mugabe. But the mere fact that he considered
it necessary to exhort them
is an indication of how tarnished is the great
leader's once polished image,
and how necessary it has become to shore up
his support by all possible
means.
Prognosis and cure
So what have
we learnt about Zanu PF through the circus at Goromonzi ? It
has indeed been
a most revealing exercise, especially for those looking in
from the outside
on the inner machinations of a party without any single
coherent objective
or strategy and totally dominated by the crude politics
of seizing and
holding power. In a way it is like observing a patient in the
painful,
terminal stages of emphysema who refuses to give up the smoking
addiction
responsible for his condition.
Observing the sorry spectacle of Goromonzi
2006, we see a fractured and
fractious party, not only at war with their
fellow citizens but now on the
point of open warfare within the ranks. We
see a party which has undoubtedly
lost confidence in its own leader, but
which still cannot decide who should
replace him. Ironically the old man who
has become the party's (and the
country's) major liability is still required
by the party to hold it
together for the time being.
Yet time is not
on Zimbabwe's side. While Zanu PF continues to prevaricate
in public and to
pursue its own vicious succession struggle in private the
economy moves ever
closer to the point at which uncontrolled forces take
over. Already we see
an economy in tatters. We see a legal system which can
only pay its
witnesses a paltry $5 (a fraction of 1 US cent!), teachers
whose salaries do
not even cover the transport to and from their schools;
doctors who earn
less than USD 20 per month (and who are fired for going on
strike). And all
this in a nation in which an estimated 3,500 citizens are
dying each week of
hunger, malnutrition and AIDS. Without being melodramatic
in any sense we
can say that our beloved Zimbabwe is now close to the end -
not as a
country, for countries endure whatever tragedies are played out
across their
rugged landscapes - but as a civilized society in which the
basic amenities
of health-care, education and housing are provided, the
security of its
citizens is assured and the fundamental human rights of all
are respected
within a legal and ordered framework. In that sense Zimbabwe
is close to the
end.
Therefore if ever there was a moment for a strong, coherent and
principled
opposition to emerge to show that there is a saner alternative,
this is it.
Which means that the onus is on a divided MDC to reunite within
a
wide-ranging coalition of opposition forces - and yes, for those few
remaining reasonable members of Zanu-PF to desert their disintegrating party
and join all those Zimbabweans who genuinely seek an end to this destructive
tyranny and the dawn of a new era of freedom, justice and peace. To say this
is now an urgent necessity is a considerable understatement.
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 28th February
2007
The situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated sharply in the
past few days. The
government has imposed a ban on public meetings, the
strikes are continuing
with the State run hospitals now completely
paralysed, Doctors and Nurses
refuse to go back to work. The Universities
are due to open on Monday but
staff is on strike and there are no signs of
compromise. Students plan to
join the strike on Monday in support of their
lecturers and demanding
attention to the stark conditions under which they
are living. The ZCTU has
announced a national strike in a month's time and
the State Security
Minister has threatened them with dire action.
Now
a form of curfew is being imposed on the high-density townships across
the
country in an effort to bring the situation under control. These are
clearly
signs of panic in the realms of government.
Tomorrow should be the start
of a 4-month freeze on prices and wages -
however I understand the proposal
has been abandoned as being simply
unworkable. No statements are forthcoming
from the authorities and to say
the least, there is considerable confusion
in business and Union circles.
The Governor of the Reserve Bank speaks of a
"Social Contract" but none
exists.
However the most serious indicator
of collapse is in the open market price
of foreign exchange. Driven by the
frantic efforts of people to buy foreign
exchange in any form for a variety
of needs from education fees to water
chemicals for the Cities and those who
want to externalize or even protect
their assets. No one wants to hold local
money - and the options are the
stock market, foreign exchange and assets
such as property or simply
business stocks.
Today was no exception -
the USD went to 7 500 to 1, the pound to 14 200 to
1 and the Rand was at 1100
or 1200 to 1. These are dramatic devaluations in
a matter of a few days and
importers simply do not know what to sell their
imported products for when
it comes to replacing their stock. Fuel
distributors closed their outlets
today while the adjusted to the new
situation. We bought fuel at Z$6 600 and
watched as the company ratcheted up
its price to Z$7 500 while we were
present. That seems to be the price at
the moment. Bakeries are all over the
place - most are charging double the
"controlled" price.
This means a
new surge in inflation and it is now clearer than ever that the
government
has lost all semblance of control in the economy. Gold sales are
declining
even more rapidly as mines close down in the face of unrealistic
prices and
exchange rates. Food is now being imported to meet all our basic
food needs
- local stocks are exhausted.
I watched a special programme last night on
SABC about the plight of the
border jumpers. Anyone watching that could not
help but be moved by the
plight of the people affected by this crisis in
Zimbabwe. To see them risk
crocodiles, armed gangs, the SA Police and Army
and thirst and exposure to
get away from Zimbabwe and try to make a living,
any sort of a living, in
South Africa was heart wrenching. To hear a white
farmer describe finding a
dead women next to a game fence with a baby that
had lived for 3 or 4 days
after the mother had died of exposure, just made
me mad with anger at those
who created and continue to tolerate the actions
that have brought this
about.
If someone with power does not do
something to get this situation back under
control, they better prepare for
a real flood of refugees into South
Africa - because the situation in
Zimbabwe is simply no longer tenable.
070218 Sunday
It has been a wet few weeks here
with rain almost every day, come afternoon
or evening. In the garden is a
great battle between Taurayi and his helpers
with weeds growing rampant in
the damp heat. But under Tau's general-ship we
seem to be winning through
and this week completed the cycle from the top of
the garden in the shade
houses to the bottom by the rushing stream that
divides us from our
neighbours. And so we start at the top again tomorrow!
In everything
there is the mundane and the necessary: boring perhaps or
comforting in its
routines, depending on one's mood! Thus is it with
gardens! But the rewards
are great. Right now the garden is a riot of lush
greens and vibrant
colours. The day lilies are at their best; the mombretias
are showing off
their delicate orange florets on coy hanging stems; a few
violets are
peeping their little flowers out between their thick, dark green
leaves, and
the aloe vera are displaying their modest green-yellow heads.
The
bougainvillea and frangipani continue to add their dramatic colours to
the
display and our fuchsias are flowering fit to burst! In the pastures are
delicate small vlei plants the names of which are beyond my meagre botany
and the long vlei grasses are beginning to tassel (which means I must soon
get in and start slashing so we have bedding for the cows and bio-mass for
the compost).
In the midst of this riot move the small birds and
animals that make this
place their home. I noticed a black-collared barbet
this afternoon, the
first I have seen for some time. Later, walking to the
lower terraces with
Herself, we were witness to a rare sight. A
purple-crested lourie flew up
from one of the newly planted beds of squash
and with a few lazy, red
flashed wing-beats settled in an avocado tree near
by. I have never seen a
lourie on the ground before!
Our resident
francolins have had babies and move busily about near the
cattle kraal
picking up scraps of crushed maize left over from the cows'
morning and
evening meals. They have a bustling, important air about them
that tells you
they know a thing or two about this and that and are not
ashamed to let you
know. Then suddenly they take fright at some real or
imagined threat and
shoot off like bullets for the forest, giving off their
familiar and raucous
"you can't catch me, you can't catch me". They vie with
the ubiquitous
monkeys for this small bounty and are inclined to swear
rudely at each other
not a little. The monkeys are indeed a confounded
nuisance and get more
numerous and more destructive by the day. I am
severely tempted to poison
them but She is most forbidding, so if I do it
must be a secret kept from
her and held in a Darkness by Taurayi and I!
I wish I had a shotgun. At
least that would knock over the odd bold one and
keep the others respectful,
if even for a day or two.
On the broader front a chaotic and paradoxical
scenario confronts us. On the
one hand is a strong rhetoric emanating from
Didymus Mutasa the minister
currently responsible land tenure issues, which
resonates to the tune of the
old guard. All farms still in the hands of
Whites will be taken, for
agriculture must be Black. On the other is a quiet
and discreet move to
offer leases to young, qualified white farmers. In one
case I know of the
offer is for part of the very farm from which the father
was violently
evicted some years ago! Those engaged in this exercise are
technocrats but
they seem to be working with the support of the provincial
hierarchies most
of whom are strongly antagonistic to the minister, who is
not, one gathers,
very popular except with his boss, whom he adores, nay
worships, with a
sycophantic extravagance bordering on the ludicrous. But if
I know my
people, is this not the way they circumvent the problem of an
aging chief
and his equally geriatric council of elders? Also, it seems to
me, that in
any country where the central government's dictates are either
inappropriate
or impractical, and often unenforceable then are they ignored.
People get on
with the daily governance of their affairs as best they can.
Such has it
been in Italy since the end of World War II. Thus it would
appear to this
observer to be the trend in this country, as it is no doubt
in may another
African country to our north. Currency regulations become
meaningless and
while the government sticks stubbornly to the illusion that
the exchange
rate is Zim$250 to US$1 the man in the street, businesses, and
indeed the
Reserve Bank and Government agencies when the need demands, will
trade at
the going rate in the market place (and that is in excess of $4000
to $1!).
But all is not totally desperate. We have been down to Shashe
for a week.
Progress is impressive. We have forty hectares planted now that
water is
flowing from two pumps and giving us about 2 cusecs of water with
which we
flood irrigate the growing crop. The local irrigation committee has
been
empowered by an enlightened and sensible DA and the irrigation engineer
to
run the day-to-day affairs of the scheme. They have negotiated with a
neighbouring commercial irrigation farmer to maintain the pumps. What
remains is to get the other pumps up and running and to repair most of the
canals, which are in a deplorable state of disrepair due to the depredations
of sharp hoofed goats, of which there are a myriad. The committee has this
in hand as well. All plot holders with live stock were summonsed to a
meeting where the local councillor instructed them that any goats or other
livestock on the scheme will require the owners to report to the local
headman for trial in his traditional court. Heavy fines and some rough
treatment for the offenders are promised! Again, it is local solutions to
local problems that are the tactics of choice.
I watched a
fascinating little cameo unfold before the meeting. It was in
the shade of a
huge, spreading nyala-berry tree under which were placed logs
on which the
men may sit. One particular log is smooth and warn and
comfortable. It is in
the deepest shade. On this the councillor sat himself
whilst,
Africa-fashion, the people trickled slowly to the gathering. Shortly
after
he had made himself comfortable a tall, elderly man with white
whiskers,
addressed him in peremptorily. He hastily rose from his place and
came and
joined me on a far less comfortable fallen branch! He told me
rather
sheepishly that the senior village headman had pointed out to him
that he
had usurped his seat!
The women, who again Africa-fashion, sit separately
arrive and gravely greet
those already there. The each have a small home
made embroidered shoulder
bag from which they extract a length of material,
unfold it and spread it
carefully on the ground. This they then sit on, legs
straight out in front,
or perhaps one tucked under their buttocks. (Did you
know that it is
considered highly offensive to touch a woman on the heel of
her foot, for is
this not the part of her body that is so often in close
proximity to what
our court interpreters, so long ago now, used to coyly
refer to as "their
private parts"?
The lowveld continues to be hot
and dry. This while thousands are being
faced with disaster on the lower
reaches of the Limpopo where massive floods
devastate coastal
Mozambique.
The day before we were due to set out for home came a phone
call to inform
us that an armed intruder had attempted to break in to our
house. Armed with
a small pistol he held our old retainer, Gutsa, at
gunpoint and demanded to
be escorted around the premises. Fortunately all
doors to rooms containing
valuables are bolted and locked but he decided to
try and force open the
door to the office, that being likely to contain
computers and other
valuables easy to carry off. While trying to jemmy the
lock he put the
pistol in his pocket. Gutsa seized the opportunity to make a
break and fled
into the dark (it was only just after seven) and was pursued
by the
intruder. Gutsa is an old man and not too quick on his pins. The
young thug
got in a shot and wounded the old man in the left arm. He managed
to regain
his footing ("I fell to the ground being dead, but fear set my
feet in the
direction of our neighbours") and continue his flight. He got to
the gate of
the Ms', next door but despite loud lamentations ("Ndakafirwa
nepfuti. Maiwe
maiwe! - I have been killed by a gun, oh Mother, oh Mother!"
- a universal
cry of lament or disaster) the Ms remained silent in their
house.
He ran on to the Chengu's, another hundred yards away and set up a
pitiable
cry outside Mrs. Chengu's bedroom window. Having heard the shot
this good
lady (who was alone apart from her mentally challenged son) was
very
reluctant to open up her house to him until she recognised his voice.
He
tumbled into the kitchen leaking blood all over the floor as he stood in
wide-eyed shock and lamented his appalling ordeal. She knew he would die if
she did not get him first aid. Very fearfully she got out her big
flashlight, which is equipped with a siren! Thus armed, she hurried down the
road back to the Ms', expecting at any moment to be shot herself. "I put on
the syreen (local pronunciation) and sounded like a police car!" Arrived at
the Ms' gate she set up a cry to wake the dead.
In due course the Ms'
servant emerged from behind the house and with his
help she finally roused
them. Gutsa was then half carried to their house
where Kathy, a highly
skilled and experienced nurse staunched the flow of
blood and put on wound
dressings. The bullet had gone right through the
muscle on his upper arm. He
was then taken to the local clinic where he
spent the night. By this time D
M had roused the police who once the matter
was in the hands of the member
in charge, proceeded with some speed to the
scene of the crime! Here things
returned to the level of competence we have
come to expect of these
stalwarts of law and order. Too frightened to
approach the house the armed
constables wanted Taurayi, who had now appeared
on the scene, to lead them
in. He flatly refused, pointing out that they
were armed while he was not!
So they proceeded for a few yards before
deciding that they would announce
that they were armed by letting off a
couple of rounds into the night sky.
Any chance they now had of capturing
the robber were dissipated as surely he
would either hide in the forest or
make off into the night at the high
port.
But in this tactic they were in one instance spectacularly
successful. Mrs
Chengu, safely at home in her house with ever door and
window locked was
just congratulating herself on her safe return when the
shots rang out, not
more than a hundred metres away. They were very loud! No
one, least of all
the police, had had the decency to tell her they were
there. She instantly
conceived the notion that there was now an attack being
launched on her
premises. (She related the event to me as follows: "Saka
ndakatora kava,
ndichipinda mumasaga enzungu akanga-akagara mukona,
ndokuwanda imomo
ndichichemawo maiwe, maiwe! So I took cover by burrowing
into the sacks of
groundnuts stacked in the dining room and hid there,
crying Maiwe Maiwe"
The whole tale of her involvement in the drama was
told to me this morning
when I called on her to thank her for her help and
to pronounce on her
bravery. The story she told while tinged with
indignation at the Ms' not
responding to her clamour, to her righteous anger
with the police for their
thoughtless discharging of FN rifles into the
heavens above her house, was
none the less told with a degree of humour and
characteristic Shona
histrionics. I contained myself in sober propriety
until she graphically
described her dive for cover amongst her sacks of
peanuts (she is a woman of
traditional build and not in the first flush of
her youth) where upon I
collapsed in helpless laughter until the tears were
pouring down my cheeks.
She joined me, and the two of us howled with mirth
for a good few minutes
before sanity was restored and we began to make plans
for the clean up of
our neighbourhood, which is undoubtedly harbouring
criminals. The Chengus'
have a constant battle with intruders making off
with their maize and nuts
(hence the sacks of groundnuts in the
house).
In any event the police mounted a guard on our house for the rest
of the
night, CID arrived in the morning and so the matter rests. When we
got back
the whole place was agog with the event. Never have we had such an
experience in our quiet little back water - even during the farm invasions -
and even as someone declared, during the war. I have been gathering
information from my countless friends and contacts. This led to the arrest
of a startled young man who matched in ever way the description of the
villain. Alas, Gutsa reluctantly admitted that while the resemblance was
close, "He Was Not Thee One!"
So the search continues, though I
suspect that the culprit is long gone. He
faces, after all, a charge of
attempted murder and house breaking with
intent to do bodily harm, which
even in our troubled times, will see him
getting a stretch of five to ten
years in the caboose.
The upshot of all this is that the general opinion
of our household that
Gutsa, who faces dismissal and abuse on a daily basis,
has now ensured his
position in our employ for life - no matter what the
state of drunkenness,
drug induced stupor or general idleness he can
contrive to bring to the
workplace! So I am faced with the horror of having
his company until one or
the other of us dies. Poor old chap. He showed
enormous courage and presence
of mind. And at his age (Brian calculates he
is 67) and despite coming from
Dotito, in Mt. Darwin, where for nearly seven
years guns and bullets were a
part of our daily fare, it is no mean shock to
be slotted in the arm, albeit
from a small calibre weapon. Of course the
awful truth is that this should
not have happened. We have a security fence,
the gates of which are locked
after five in the evening. Gutsa left them
open because he felt that it
would facilitate his escape if he had to try
and run away - which is what
he did. But the intruder slipped inside the
gates and hid near the chicken
run until it was dark. He then called the old
man who again with a singular
lack of for thought, went to see what he
wanted. The pistol was thrust at
his head. If he had been sensible and kept
to his pots by the kitchen door,
the intruder could have got no nearer to
him that thirty paces and the old
man could have raised an alarm. At least
in theory! As it is nothing will
convince him to the contrary that leaving
the gates open saved his life!
We for our part are strengthening our
defences. All strategic doors are to
have steel barred gates or
"treli-doors" as they are called in these parts.
We are putting in noisy
alarms and panic buttons and more outside security
lighting. The member in
charge of police has asked me to tell him when I am
to be away so he can put
the premises under surveillance. And J will not
stay here alone from now
on.
What a world we live in. The horror is that this sort of thing is
commonplace the world over these days and one must get used to the idea of
living in a fortress. That we would ever have to do so here, in our idyllic
little valley, is a depressing fact of life in the 21st century.
This
must go! Our best wishes to all and may your Gods be with you.
Zimbabwejournalists.com
By Alois Phiri Mbawara
IN the course of our
revolutionary struggle to restore majority rule in
Zimbabwe, we happen to be
caught-up in a mix to foster and highlight the
ideological deficit in our
struggles against the Zanu PF chefs.
After Zanu PF's brilliant
outmanoeuvring of the opposition on the Left,
especially on the agrarian
land reform, Mugabe gained continental support
because his ideas endorsed
the ideological perception of the revolutionary
struggle.
There is no
doubt agrarian reform has always been the driving force for the
emancipation
of Africans from colonial regimes. We continued after
independence to have
respect for all our fallen revolutionary comrades
Josiah Tongogara, Joshua
Nkomo and others who all had ideological
aspirations to see a colonial free
Zimba-rema-mbwe.
Robert Mugabe, having taken that Afrocentric doctrine
and dismissing
opposition parties as agents for regime change by the West,
has brushed
under the carpet all the oppression, atrocities and betrayed the
revolution
while on one hand he remained popular in Africa for embarking on
controversial land reforms that unfortunately most on the continent do not
know have benefited only a few.
The opposition parties in the country
have failed to realise that their
ideological sentiments or rather political
doctrines, do not work in Africa.
There is no doubt comrades, that a
continued neo-liberal right wing approach
by us progressive forces will
empower Mugabe to have a revolutionary and
socialist image in Africa, hence
the land reforms in Namibia and South
Africa.
This of-coarse
articulates why organisations like the African Union,
Non-Aligned Movement
and SADC have thrown their weight on their Zanu PF
comrades.
Zimbabwe, in the context of world politics, should be
carefully examined by
us as Zimbabweans to know who is the international
community so as to
protect our ideological perception. This will ensure we
do not fall victim
to Zanu PF's ideological propaganda
tactics.
Nevertheless, that should not take away the truth of the real
matter on the
ground that Zanu PF has betrayed the revolutionary aspirations
of a free
Zimbabwe where there was social justice and economic
prosperity.
To avoid repetition of articulating the economic decline and
its impact on
the working people and peasants, there is no doubt that regime
change is
what every "Mwana Wevhu" wants in Zimbabwe.
But the basic
fundamental principle is how one views or perceives the crisis
that will
determine how comrades architecture their art of war to bring back
a
democratic environment in the country.
Having ideological clarity that
it's now a class struggle and clearly
defining that the source of poverty,
oppression and dictatorship is a system
is very crucial. Coming to a
realisation that Mugabe's quasi-left shift that
uses the land and
nationalisation of natural resources cannot be politically
upper-cut by
liberal strategies which still recognise the electoral system,
reformist
strategies and the wastage of resources by filing court cases
against a
regime which has declare itself evil.
Given the facts on the ground that
Robert Mugabe will never allow an
embarrassment to his legacy of being
kicked out of office through an
election that is why he made sure he closed
and blocked all democratic space
that would allow dissenting voices to
flourish, journalists and others to
write and speak openly and most
importantly bring back the rule of law. So
that should expose and question
one's commitment towards the majority, all
those Comrades fighting for who
is the real who.
There is no doubt all this leaves pro-democracy groups
with no option but to
plan ideologically, strategically and systematically
jambaja (mass
confrontation) as the only way to bring down Zanu PF. Remember
we are
talking about an organisation which has 44 years of grassroots and
ideological experience and connections. And let us not under-estimate
high-level Zanu PF elite figures General Zvinavashe, Perence Shiri, Solomon
Mujuru, General Chivenga and other who all feel Zimbabwe should remain in
the hands of a Zanu PF government.
Let us be reminded comrades that
this is now a strategic and Afrocentric
sensitive question that now needs a
shift in our political doctrine so we
can expose Zanu PF's weak and fake
Left wing approach (land was given not
the masses of Africans but to elite
Zanu PF bosses). We need to clearly
define the crisis in Zimbabwe as an
African problem that needs an African
solution. We should be very sceptical
about some of the help or assistance
we get from sympathisers and what
impact it will have on the ideology we
want to impart to the people.
Remember we are fighting a Nationalist party!!
The key elements to
consider for a mass resistance programme:
- The nationalisation of the
struggle - a reform in the progressive and
opposition forces to kick out
bureaucracy is seriously needed. Privatisation
of the struggle and ownership
by power hungry opportunists should come to an
end. We should all say No to
so-called shadow ministerial positions - it's
too pre-mature for that. Yes
we should have some post-Mugabe programmes in
place but mind you this will
create opportunists (e.g Cdes who are going
hunting with salt and vinegar in
their pockets)
- No-more exclusion of the masses in the decision-making
process.
- Stop legitimising the regime - recognising an undemocratic
institution by
taking part in Parliament and taking part in rigged elections
sends wrong
messages to organisation like SADC and AU that there is
legitimacy in
Zimbabwe.
- We should not let Zanu PF destroy
independent trade and student unions by
creating rival unions like Joseph
Chinotimba's ZFTU.
- We should be very clear on the ideology that we are
Africans before we are
Zimbabweans therefore land reform is very crucial and
we support black
empowerment. The issue of how it's supposed to be
distributed against
economic prosperity is a secondary issue in the African
context Comrades.
But Black empowerment and the imbalance of trade has
always been the bondage
for Africans and Non-Western countries.
- The
issue of investor confidence cannot be used as a political strategy in
Africa. One should not look at Zanu PF mines and land grab from a business
perspective but from a political one.
- We do not need to be
politically selfish but to build bridges with more
progressive African,
Socialist Movements, trade union movements so as to
influence their nations
for solidarity. We do not need to do this for
academic reasons only but to
have African credentials to understand what the
continent as a whole is
facing.
- We have to destroy Zanu PF from within (the disintegration
method) not to
draw battle lines with the police and the army remember they
are also so
suffering!!
It's all based on principal and commitment
towards ending the suffering of
the peasants, working class and the ordinary
people. Remember in 1963 Zanu,
under the nationalist Rev Ndabaningi Sithole,
declared not to take part in
any election or Parliament under the then
skewed Constitution sighting it
will weaken their role as a committed
revolutionary party for the people.
May I close by saying the issue of us
thinking the United Nations will pass
a resolution on Zimbabwe is too
ambitious given the imbalance on the UN.
Developing nations, Arab nations,
Islamic, Latino and communist nations
accuse the West, mainly the US and
Britain for using the human rights card
to justify invasion into other
country's affairs.
Given the chaos in Baghdad, the failure by the Bush
administration to find
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq, the
execution of Saddam Hussein
and many other issues have bolstered Robert
Mugabe in his anti-West support.
Many did not believe in the Iraq war and
still point fingers at the US for
the chaos in that country today. Hence the
financial assistance for Harare
by Tehran, Havana, Beijing and
Caracas.
Comrades, we need to change the way we do things if we are to
get rid of
Robert Mugabe. That reminds me of a group that went to present
the White
House with a petition, calling on Bush and the Republicans to help
deal with
the situation in Zimbabwe. This happened recently during the
African Union
summit. This sort of behavious plays right into Robert
Mugabe's hands, the
AU and even SADC. It gives them mileage to dismiss us as
puppets.
This issue of us thinking an African Government policy can be
changed by a
reality show like Big Brother, where Britain had to strengthen
its relations
with India by making Shilpa Shetty, an Indian, win the show to
justify there
is no racism on ethnic minorities in Britain, must change. One
would also
say the reason why Obama the US black Presidential candidate is
not going to
win is the same reason why the UN will not push for a
resolution on
Zimbabwe. Ha ha ha they make me politically laugh!!
Yes
R.G is now desperate, really desperate for salvation now re-calling his
cappuccino meetings with the Conservative Margaret Thatcher. Is this the
Thatcher that once called Nelson Mandela a terrorist? Clearly showing how
much R.G loves and misses the West. We all know how much he misses buying
Valentino and Moschinno suits with State money in London.
Let it be
known Comrades, all scapegoats, fake and weak-ideologically
African leaders
shall be victims of "Africa Liberate Zimbabwe Campaign"
which was ideology
built to expose and question one's African credentials.
The same applies to
the former Minister of Mis-Information and Wuffycity
Jonathan Moyo (Josef
Goebbels) who now wants to use the Gukurahundi Memorial
Bill to divide Cdes
as a political gimmick to lure himself back into the
limelight.
Young
Comrades would ask why he did not advocate for that truth and
reconciliation
that he is now calling for during his time in office. We all
know he never
had love and sympathy for the victims. His actions during his
time in
officer actually led to the silencing of the Associated Newspapers
of
Zimbabwe (ANZ), publishers of the independent Daily News and its sister
paper the Daily News on Sunday who wanted to "open up the old wounds" by
exposing the atrocities in Matebeleland. Moyo was in the forefront of even
opposing the serialisation of Joshua Nkomo's book, the Story of My Life.
This is well documented. We don't think reparations, the need for truth and
reconciliation for Gukurahundi victims should be advocated by people with a
dirty past.
Comrades this is all food for thought. Let's all have a
balance of factors
and propose a way forward and let's all defect from doing
reactionary
advocacy or politics - waiting for Zanu PF to do something so we
can
comment. There is too much talking. Let's build an approach which is in
the
same spirit that made our fore-fathers go and join the liberation
struggle
in the bush. Let us start from the grassroots. Our biggest enemy is
Zanu PF's
propaganda tactics that they claim to be champions of socialism
and
Pan-Africanism. We really need to expose this fake political perception
which is being perpetuated by Zanu PF. If the truth is told the Youth will
grow.
As we are heading towards independence day, a 21 gun salute
will be fired
for all our Chimurenga heroes who fought to free Zimbabwe. But
now their
aspirations have been betrayed by their colleagues in Zanu
PF.
Let's go back to the drawing board and re-define the
struggle!!
This crisis is a responsibility for every Zimbabwean. I
Comradely thank
you!!
Power To People!!
Free-ZimYouth
Comrades
Daily Mail
by MIKE DICKSON - 28th February
2007
A small oil painting of Richie Benaud is about the only clue
that you might
be in the flat where one of the real heroes of cricket's last
World Cup now
lives.
Henry Olonga painted it himself, and this adornment
of his modest London
digs is a solitary reminder of the sport in which the
former Zimbabwe bowler
made his name.
His connections with
cricket have become increasingly loose since he
effectively ended his career
four years ago by staging, alongside skipper
Andy Flower, a protest against
the regime of Robert Mugabe that involved
wearing black armbands and making
a statement bemoaning the 'death of
democracy' in their
country.
Their courageous stand made headlines beyond cricket's narrow
confines -
even the New York Times took notice - and brought more acclaim
for Olonga
than his fast-medium bowling could have.
He played 30
Tests, taking 68 wickets, and 50 one-day internationals with
career-best
figures of six for 19, but the 30-year-old doctor's son has been
in exile
ever since and this World Cup will pass him by almost entirely.
Olonga is
a gifted musician and singer and will instead be producing a
second album -
though he is still searching for a recording contract - and
selling his
artwork to make ends meet.
His sole contact with cricket these days is
playing for the all-star
Lashings team based in Kent, his whole life and
career in Zimbabwe having
finished so abruptly.
Flower, a batsman of
the highest calibre, returned home after the joint
protest for a month
before leaving Zimbabwe for good. He continues to play
for Essex and spent
some of this winter coaching with England, who leave for
the Caribbean on
Friday.
Olonga said: "After the group stage four years ago, which was
held in
Zimbabwe, we went to South Africa for the 'Super Six' phase and I
have never
been back home since.
"There were threats made by
ministers and maybe it was a bit different for
me because, as a black man,
they considered me to be some kind of traitor.
"Friends have brought over
some of my stuff over the years but most of my
belongings are still
there."
Olonga's personal effects and the clothes and shoes gathering
dust are a
monument to the shame the International Cricket Council should
feel over
their handling of the Zimbabwe issue.
The game there is a
corrupt shambles and the national team is now an empty
husk. They are
complete no-hopers in the World Cup and a reflection of how
the country
itself is disintegrating, with life expectancy now lower than
anywhere else
in the world.
One trusts that the heads of the world's cricket boards who
run the ICC,
including England's David Morgan, are proud of
themselves.
Olonga is an outcast and would have every reason to feel
bitter, but he is
not. He does not ask for sympathy either, because he
joined the protest with
full knowledge of the consequences.
"The
protest was Andy's idea, but I was quick to come on board when he
approached
me. I was very unhappy with what was happening in the country,"
he
recalled.
"About two weeks before it happened, we met someone who knew
about security
matters and he spelled out what might happen afterwards and
that it could
well mean us going into exile.
"We also had a meeting
with a lawyer to work out exactly how we would word
the protest statement to
make sure there was nothing that would incriminate
us.
"My biggest
fear was that I would get framed for something and be put in
prison, where
the conditions are horrendous. The government had tried to
frame Morgan
Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, before that and I was
worried they might
try to do the same to us.
"We wore black armbands in the match against
Namibia and got hauled in
before the board. After that, we restricted
ourselves to wearing black
sweatbands, but that seemed to upset them as
well. I knew I couldn't go back
after we got to South
Africa."
Flower, whose cricketing knowledge and strength of character
mark him out as
a possible future England coach, considered it important
that the protest
was representative of the team's ethnicity.
"I think
the world of Andy now, but up until that point we had never been
especially
close," said Olonga. "The black and the white players in the
Zimbabwe team
got along fine professionally, but the truth was that we did
not socialise a
huge amount away from cricket."
Olonga points out that he is only one
among many thousands of Zimbabweans
living in Britain after fleeing his
homeland and wants to look forward in
his life. He can only watch from afar
as his country continues its spiral of
decline in all areas of life,
including cricket.
"I feel a whole mixture of anger, disappointment and
sadness. The thing is
that it never needed to happen this way and could have
been sorted out so
much better.
"The cricket is like the general
situation in that we are always waiting for
Thabo Mbeki (President of South
Africa) to take some strong action about
Zimbabwe and it never
comes.
"Likewise, the ICC always have this 'softly, softly' approach with
Zimbabwe
and it doesn't make things better.
"The ICC is an old boys'
club where everyone is scratching each other's
back. Zimbabwe desperately
needs the support of the Asian countries and they
don't want to get rid of
Zimbabwe because it is another vote for them
guaranteed.
"I don't get
any pleasure from seeing the team where it is now but the
administrators
have brought it on themselves. I see their latest thing is
getting the
players to cut their dreadlocks off."
For now, Olonga is trying to
succeed in the music industry and make the
follow-up to his first album
'Aurelia', available to download from
www.henryolonga.net.
And his
thoughts on next month's tournament? "I haven't got Sky so I won't
see much
of the World Cup," he said. "The internet is about as close as I
will
get."
As a JAG member or JAG Associate member, please send any classified
adverts
for publication in this newsletter to:
JAG Classifieds: jagma@mango.zw
JAG Job Opportunities: jag@mango.zw
Rules for
Advertising:
Send all adverts in word document as short as possible (no
tables, spread
sheets, pictures, etc.) and quote your subscription receipt
number or
membership number.
Notify the JAG Office when Advert is no
longer needed, either by phone or
email.
Adverts are published for 2 weeks
only, for a longer period please notify
the JAG office, by resending via
email the entire advert asking for the
advert to be
re-inserted.
Please send your adverts by Tuesdays 11.00am (Adverts will
not appear until
payment is received.). Cheques to be made out to
JAGMA.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
For Sale Items
2. Wanted Items
3. Accommodation
4. Recreation
5.
Specialist Services
6. Pets
Corner
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
OFFERED FOR
SALE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1
Generators & Inverters for Sale
The JAG office is now an official
agent for GSC Generator Service (Pvt) Ltd
and receives a generous commission
on sales of all Kipor generators and
equipment. Generators are on view at
the JAG office.
The one stop shop for ALL your Generator Requirements
SALES:
We are the official suppliers, repairs and maintenance team of
KIPOR
Equipment here in Zimbabwe. We have in stock KIPOR Generators from 1
KVA to
55 KVA. If we don't have what you want we will get it for you. We
also
sell Inverters (1500w), complete with batteries and rechargeable lamps.
Our
prices are very competitive, if not the lowest in town.
SERVICING
& REPAIRS: We have a qualified team with many years of experience
in the
Generator field. We have been to Kipor, China for training. We
carry out
services and minor repairs on your premises. We service and
repair most
makes and models of Generators - both petrol and diesel.
INSTALLATIONS:
We have qualified electricians that carry out installations
in a professional
way.
SPARES: As we are the official suppliers and maintainers of KIPOR
Equipment,
we carry a full range of KIPOR spares.
Don't forget, advice
is free, so give us a call and see us at: Bay 3,
Borgward Road,
Msasa.
Sales: 884022, 480272 or admin@adas.co.zw
Service: 480272, 480154
or gsc@adas.co.zw
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2
For Sale
So Far and No further! Rhodesia's Bid for Independence during
the Retreat
from Empire 1959-1965 by J.R.T. Wood
533 pages; quality
trade paperback; pub. Trafford ISBN 1-4120-4952-0
Southern African edition,
pub. 30 Degrees South : ISBN 0-9584890-2-5
This definitive account traces
Rhodesia's attempt to secure independence
during the retreat from Empire
after 1959. Based on unique research, it
reveals why Rhodesia defied the
world from 1965.
Representing Volume One of three volumes, Two and Three
are in preparation
and will take us to Tiger and thence to 1980;
To
purchase:
Zimbabwean buyers contact Trish Broderick: pbroderick@mango.zw
RSA buyers:
WWW. 30 degreessouth.co.za or Exclusives Books
Overseas buyers see: http://www.jrtwood.com
and a link to
Trafford Publishing http://www.trafford.com/04-2760
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.3
Pet Food for Sale
Still supplying pets food which consists of 500g of
precooked pork offal and
veg costing $700 and 250g of pigs liver or heart
costing $700 for 250g.
Collection points: Benbar in Msasa at
10.30
Jag offices in Philips Rd, Belgravia at 11.30
Peacehaven which is 75
Oxford St at 13.00
This is on Fridays only. Contact details: phone 011
221 088 and E mail at
claassen@zol.co.zw
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.4
For Sale (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
SIX ANTIQUE CAST IRON BATHS FOR SALE WITH
BRASS FEET.
CHESSA FISHERMAN FOR SALE: 60HP YAMAHA OUTBOARD/NEW RIDE
GUIDE INSTALLED.
IF INTERESTED PLEASE PHONE: 091777062. (07:00AM TO
08:00PM)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.5
For Sale (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
Brand new swimming pool net, never been
used. Includes safety net with
tensioner, float, plates, hooks, anchors,
rope, DIY manual. Net size 6m x
12m. Manufactured by Honeydew Nets in South
Africa (can view net on their
website). Paid R2200 so looking for
equivalent. Please e-mail
carol@powerspeed.co.zw or sms 091
264160 if
interested.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6
For Sale (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
Totota KZTE 3l diesel doublecab,
4 x2,
70 000km, with canopy
Immaculate condition.
Nissan 2.7 diesel
doublecab,
4 x 2, 1999 model, 300 000km,
good condition.
Phone 04
443017 or 091
337640.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.7
For Sale (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
HARDWOOD FURNTURE- Sleepers and Teak
Custom made Dining Tables, Coffee
Tables, Bars ,Even Wrought iron and Pine
Phone Simon Silcock persistently
668843 or sms 091 233 103 and I will reply
quickly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.8
For Sale (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
2001 DID Pajero (new Shape) - RSA import,
Silver with Black Leather, 3,2
Turbo Diesel, Tiptronic Auto Gearbox,
immaculate vehicle Company Maintained
and driven by owner. Offers
Please.
1995 Nissan Sentra 160GX - Ideal for young boy/girl; re-sprayed
with custom
Graphics (white with Carbon Black Stripes); Newly Reconded Mags;
New Tyres;
Big Sound System...........Needs a new home, driver now at
Varsity!!
For Viewing or More Details, on both the above, call Grant
Evans Cell- 011
402 122, or,
664224/666235/666169.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.9
For Sale (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
GENERATORS AND INVERTERS
Following
units ex stock: Generators -
5 Kva Silenced, 15 Kva Silenced, 30 Kva open
frame, 40 Kva Silenced, 60 Kva
Silenced
Inverters - 1500 Watt complete
with 1 x 100 Amp Hr battery and charger
5000 Watt complete with 4 x 100 Amp
Hr Batteries and charger
Large Range of Generators available from 5 -
2200 Kva ex import (some in
Bond South Africa)
Please phone:- Radium
Africa Tel + 263 4 335848, Sean Bell: + 263 11 600389,
Keith Lowe + 263 11
800859
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.10
HARROW DISCS For Sale (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
We will have imported Harrow
discs (24", 26" and 28") available end March,
2007 book now to avoid
disappointment.
Please phone:- Radium Africa Tel + 263 4 335848, Sean
Bell: + 263 11 600389,
Keith Lowe + 263 11
800859
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.11
FORAGE HARVESTERS For Sale (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
Single Row forage
harvesters available ex stock
Please phone:- Radium Africa Tel + 263 4
335848, Sean Bell: + 263 11 600389,
Keith Lowe + 263 11
800859
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.12
AGRICULTURAL SPRAYERS For Sale (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
Tractor Mounted 12
Metre / 600 Litre tank Boom sprayers and Canon sprayers
in
stock.
Please phone:- Radium Africa Tel + 263 4 335848, Sean Bell: + 263
11 600389,
Keith Lowe + 263 11
800859
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.13
Items for Sale (Ad inserted 27/02/07)
Fridge
Double bed & base,
headboard & dressing table with stool
Bar & four chairs
Generator
1.5kva - brand new - including fuel!
1 x green & brown couch with 1 x
chair
WRS stereo - 3 way bass reflex system - twin tape deck (cd player
not
working)
Grass/cane table & three chairs
1 x small 3-drawer
desk
1 x white wrought iron garden lounger
1 x large beige coloured carpet
(quite worn)
1 x large striped brown carpet
1 x round dining room table
& four chairs
1 x massage bed - wooden with hole for face
Dstv
multichoice decoder d5d 990 with remote & dish (including cable)
Phillips
az1003 portable cd player & radio
Phone - 091605909 or
233362
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.14
FOR SALE (Ad inserted 27/02/07)
TOYOTA HILUX TWIN CAB
(2002) STARLING
BLUE.
4X2, KZTE 3.0L
45000 KM (GOOD CONDITION)
GENERATOR 55 KVA
/ PTO DRIVEN
(IDEAL FOR A 75HP AND ABOVE TRACTOR)
GX 160 HONDA
5.5
1993 MODEL
PETROL
PULL START, (Has recently been
serviced)
TWO LANDROVER DEFENDERS (OPEN) GAME VIEWING TYPE.
1 PETROL
& 1 DIESEL.
MAZDA B 1600 @ CANOPY
250 000 KM`S, (ONE OWNER) GOOD
CONDITION.
PLEASE PHONE: 091 777 062 (7AM TO
8PM)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.15
For Sale (Ad inserted 27/02/07)
1 Kelvernator Tumble dryer - $
700,000.00
1 Double Bed Headboard, Dressing table & Chest of draws - $
700,000.00.
1 Capri washing machine - $ 2,200,00.00
1 Nina Overlocker
(sewing machine) - $ 1,200,000.00
1 Empiral Pacesetter 10 (sewing machine) -
$ 1,000,000.00
1 Zedaburg Dining Room Suit. (Wagon Wheels) Table, 6 Chairs
& Sideboard, - $
6,000,000.00
All the above in good
condition.
For Sale - Brake, Clutch & Radiator Business in Kwekwe,
Premises is rented.
The Lease can continue with the new owners of the
company.
Theo Serfontein, 15 Industria Rd, Kwekwe
Tel:- 055 -
24063 or 24230 (w), Tel:- 055 - 22984 (h), Cell:- 011 210343
(Theo)
Cell:-
011 410830
(Ingrid)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.
WANTED
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1
Wanted (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
Second-hand Toyota Surf or Twin Cab.
Please call
091241258
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.2
Wanted (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
I am looking for a Toyota Prado body.
Phone Johnny 011 603213, email
galorand@mweb.co.zw
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.3
Wanted (Ad inserted 27/02/07)
Old wood burning stove wanted for cash, the
power cuts are hitting us hard!
If you have one lying around please call
Gordon on 496829 or 023
894597
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.4
WANTED (Ad inserted 27/02/07)
GROUND LEVEL TRAMPOLINE
PHONE -
091605909 OR
233362
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.
ACCOMMODATION WANTED AND
OFFERED
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.1
Accommodation Offered (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
Bromley 55km from Harare.
Attractive thatched cottage. Self contained two
bed roomed, with garden and
own entrance. Rent $150000
Also available
Self contained flat, two
bedrooms. Rent $70000.
Please contact 011423614 or 04
572513.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.2
Accommodation Wanted (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
Young lady desperately
looking for a 2 bed roomed flat in the Avondale/Mount
Pleasant area please
call Denise Fussel 091815956 or
336753
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.3
Accommodation Offered (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
We have a two bedroom garden
flat in Greystone Park for rental available 1st
march 2007.
The flat
consists of:-
Fitted kitchen
Combined lounge / dining room
Two
bedrooms with b i c
Bathroom
Wrought ironed front verandah
Front and
back gardens (dura walled and fenced)
Lock up garage
Single store
room
Single staff quarters
We are looking for reliable tenants who are
house proud and honest. The
asking price is us$250.00 plus the levy. (No
chancers please!)
If you are interested please phone.
Rob and sue
309051 / 011 601 885 or 023 824
896
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.
RECREATION
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1
Savuli Safari (Ad inserted 27/02/07)
Self catering chalets in the heart
of the Save Valley Conservancy. Game
watching, fishing, horse riding,
canoeing, walking trails and 4x4 hire. Camp
fully kitted including cook and
fridges. Just bring your food, drinks and
relax. Best value for money. U12
are 1/2 price
Contact John : savuli@mweb.co.zw or Phone 091 631
556
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.
SPECIALIST
SERVICES
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.1
MESSE SERVICE CENTRE (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
We continue with the
preparation, repair & service of tractors for re-sale
on a commission
basis, which has worked very successfully for those selling
and buying
tractors as the demand for tractors is constant and convenient
for those who
are selling units through ourselves on a commission basis.
At present we
have the following for sale:-
1 x Ford 6610 - 1 x MF390 - Both in working
condition
1 x Mushandi 500 - 1 x Zambezi - Both requiring some attention.
Would be
suitable for small farm/plot operators
1 x Flatbed 4 wheel
trailer - Excellent condition
Contact us during business hours only -
Monday to Friday - 068-22463 /
011212454 / tracspray@zol.co.zw
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.2
Vehicle Repairs (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
Vehicle repairs carried out
personally by qualified mechanic with 30 years
experience. Very reasonable
rates.
Phone Johnny Rodrigues: 011 603213 or 011 404797, email:
galorand@mweb.co.zw
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.3
Personalized Novelty Cakes (Ad inserted 20/02/07)
Stunning personalized
novelty cakes for children's or adults' birthdays.
Email galorand@mweb.co.zw for prices and photos
from our catalogue or we can
design something new - anything
goes.
Phone Cheryl 011
404797
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.4
Valuations on Hardback Books (Ad inserted 27/02/07)
Harrington Rare
Books. We undertake valuations on all hardback books and
will gladly sell
your books on commission if you wish. Please contact Mr
Wallis on HRE 496829
evenings.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.5
PROPERTY MAINTENANCE (Ad inserted 27/02/07)
We regularly come across
property owners who are disappointed at the failure
of tenants and / or
appointed agents to properly care for and maintain the
house and property
they rent. Standard maintenance and repairs are generally
neglected until
deterioration necessitates major refurbishment work - even
where the owner
reduces rental rates with the proviso that the tenant agrees
to maintain the
property. The house-owner tends to lose at every turn. We
can help.
We
are a small privately-owned company that specialises in property
maintenance
and refurbishment and who provide a service that will give you
peace of mind
that your home is being maintained and properly cared for. We
can act on your
behalf to do regular checks on your property to ensure they
are being
maintained to an acceptable standard, as generally stipulated in a
lease
agreement. We keep you informed through regular status reports.
Some of
our projects have recently been terminated as the houses have been
placed on
the market. Openings for new maintenance projects have therefore
recently
come available.
If you believe we can assist in caring for your property
or would like
further information please contact us on:
011-620-745
landline 498723 or e-mail to shelvan@earth.co.zw - to
discuss
"Property Maintenance
Management".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.6
(Ad inserted 27/02/07)
Magna plumbing and electrical Pvt ltd
Magna
multi contracting
We offer professional and prompt service for the
following :-
A. Electrical repairs and installations
B. Plumbing
repairs and installations
C. Home and office renovations
D.
Extensions and buildings
E. Patios and driveways
F. Painting,
carpentry and glazing
G. Roofing, gutters and flashing
All our work
is carried out professionally and promptly to the
customer`s
requirement.
We thank you in advance and look forward to doing
business with you.
Please contact
Rob and sue
(04) 309051
/ 011 601 885 / 023 824 896
Email macgyver@zol.co.zw or havill@zol.co.zw
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.7
PARA LEGAL ADVISORY SERVICES (Ad inserted 27/02/07)
....14yrs
on.......
and still providing the following much needed valuable
Advisory
Services......
1. Obtaining
- Full (Long)
Birth Certificates (FBC) for Zimbabwe (replacement of
old style)
- Registration of new births
- Adoption Orders - Certified Extract
of originals with FBC
(identifying biological
parent/s)
- Marriage Certificates - Certified Extract of
originals
- Death Certificates (only possible in some
instances)
- Zimbabwe Drivers Licenses - new, replacement of lost,
& Letter of
Confirmation (required when needing to obtain a
Drivers Licence
in
another
country)
- Divorce
Orders - certified extract of originals
- Certificate of
Non-Marriage
2. Facilitating
- Immigration formalities
into Zimbabwe,
ie Residence & Employment Permits
- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) - New Investor formalities
3.
Company Registration Procedures
- New Companies
- Statutory
Returns
- completion & submission of changes in Company/'s
details
4. Para-Legal Services
- Wills (preparation of and
amendments)
- Establishment of Discretionary Trusts
-
enquire further as to what you are needing
Contact us for further
information and/or to arrange a no obligation
consultation.
Financial
Arrangements - We will always assist 'bona fide' financially
challenged
persons.
Contact: Thomas Vallance ACIArb, Commissioner of
Oaths
PARADiGM TRUST (Pvt) Ltd, Para-Legal Advisory Services
Trust
Executives & Administrators, Tels: (B) 302 207 (M) 011-617
161
Emls:[paradigm@zol.co.zw],
[paradigm@mango.zw]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.
PETS
CORNER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.1
PUPPY (Ad inserted 27/02/07)
MEDIUM SIZE / LGE TYPE DOG --- REASONABLE
CROSSES OK.
SHORT HAIRED.
Phone Tayler 091631556 or e mail savuli@mweb.co.zw
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.2
Lost African Grey (Ad inserted 27/02/07)
Please, I need some help. I
lost my African Grey who answers to the name of
Cocco'. He flew away a week
ago and we haven't been able to find him. I
live in the Umwinsidale area and
I am really getting desperate.
If anyone finds him please contact: olivieros@yahoo.it or 011-608880
or
497373/497200 (b).
I would really appreciate your
assistance!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
JAG
Hotlines: +263 (011) 610 073, +263 (04) 799 410. If you are in trouble
or
need advice, please don't hesitate to contact us - we're here to help!
To
advertise (JAG Members): Please email classifieds to: jagma@mango.zw
with subject
"Classifieds".