Four arrested as offensive against Chiredzi farmers intensifies

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
23 March 2009

Two farmers and two farm supervisors in Chiredzi have become the latest
victims of the fresh wave of farm attacks sweeping the country, and there
are  fears that the offensive against the Chiredzi farming community is
intensifying.

The group were arrested over the weekend and spent Sunday night behind bars.
The farmers, Benoit Fayd'herbe and Tony Sarpo, were released later on Monday
after appearing in court and being formally charged with 'illegal occupation
of state property'. They were released on free bail and are expected back in
court next month. Meanwhile the two farm supervisors, who have not yet been
formally charged, are expected to remain behind bars before being brought to
court on Tuesday.

One of the supervisor's employers, who spoke to SW Radio Africa on Monday,
explained that arresting his employee and the supervisor of another farm is
merely an "attempt to flush us farmers out and arrest us." He explained that
the attacks against the Chiredzi farmers are nothing more than a 'witch hunt'
that is set to intensify in the coming days. Justice for Agriculture's (JAG)
John Worsley-Worswick also explained on Monday that the arrests and the
threat of arrest "is being used as an intimidation tactic to get farmers off
their land," as part of the larger land-grab drive across the country.

The renewed campaign against the country's remaining commercial farmers has
already seen more than 100 farmers facing prosecution for 'being on state
land illegally'. At the same time, invasions have been widespread, with top
ZANU PF officials leading the attacks, forcing many farmers off their land
and into hiding. The attacks have also taken place despite numerous court
orders and even a SADC Tribunal ruling, protecting most farms from invaders,
who have resumed the attacks in the name of state entitlement. The
Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) has confirmed that orders from the Attorney
Generals office to ignore court rulings protecting the land were passed down
last month, leading to the fresh arrests, evictions and invasions. Robert
Mugabe last month also condoned and encouraged the fresh attacks, saying the
white commercial farmers were 'not welcome' and should vacate their land.

The Prime Minister's office meanwhile has reportedly been 'inundated' with
both local and international calls about the fresh wave of violence on the
country's farms. The unity deal which saw Morgan Tsvangirai sworn in as
Prime Minister, agreed to end farm attacks and encourage food production.
But the government that was formed on the basis of this unity deal has done
nothing to stop the ongoing farm attacks - which not only threaten the
fragile coalition government itself, but also the government's quest to
secure financial investment in the country. It also stops the production of
vital food, in a country where over half the population is facing starvation
and is being fed by international aid organizations.

The Prime Minister's office has now called a meeting of security and
agricultural ministries about the farm invasions. The meeting, which is only
expected to be convened next week by the Minister of State, Gordon Moyo, is
set to be attended bythe co-Ministers of Home Affairs, Kembo Mohadi and
Giles Mutsekwa, plus Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, National Security
Minister, Sydney Sekeramayi, Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri
and CIO chief Happyton Bonyongwe, among other security chiefs.
Representatives from the CFU are also expected to attend, although, with
such a heavy ZANU PF contingent attending the meeting, it seems unlikely
that the farmers will get a fair hearing.

Meanwhile, many hundreds of farm workers have been left jobless and
desperate as a result of the farm attacks, adding to the country's already
staggering unemployment rate of 94%. More than 80 farms have been seized
since the offensive against the farmers began in earnest last month, and
according to the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union, more
than 700 families have been displaced as a result. JAG's Worsley-Worswick
also explained that many workers, who have been allowed to remain on the
invaded farms, are now being exploited by the invaders themselves.

Prime Minister Tsvangirai to return to Zimbabwe Tuesday

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Violet Gonda
23 March 2009

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is expected to fly back to Harare on
Tuesday, from South Africa where he went to recover following the tragic
accident that killed his wife Susan.

James Maridadi, the Prime Minister's spokesperson, confirmed Tsvangirai
would be arriving on Tuesday and is expected to start work the following
day.
The Prime Minister took time off and traveled to South Africa with his
children, soon after burying his wife in Buhera and attending the burial of
the late former Defence Forces chief, General Vitalis Zvinavashe, at Heroes
acre over a week ago.
Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe has been acting premier in his
absence.
It has not been an easy time for the premier who has had to deal with his
own personal grief and juggle this with the enormous task of trying to
rebuild a bankrupt and crisis ridden country.
It's reported that he is well rested and will this week officially open a
two-day national tourism stakeholders' conference that begins on Wednesday.
He will also chair the Council of Ministers meeting on Thursday among other
engagements.

SADC leaders to discuss aid to Zimbabwe

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=13786

March 23, 2009

CAPE TOWN, (Reuters) - Southern African leaders are expected to finalise a
regional economic aid package for Zimbabwe and discuss possible sanctions
against Madagascar in South Africa next week, a government official said on
Monday.

Heads of state from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will
meet on March 30 to discuss a regional economic deal that would help spur
Zimbabwe's recovery from a massive economic and humanitarian crisis,
Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said.

"We expect a final decision to be taken on the $2 billion Zimbabwe economic
aid package . proposed by the SADC finance ministers last month," he said.

Finance ministers from the 15-nation SADC agreed on February 27 to push for
donor help to rebuild Zimbabwe's ruined economy and put the initial need at
$2 billion.

The unity government of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai has said at least $5 billion was required for a broader economic
recovery.

Mamoepa said the SADC summit, which will be preceded by a council of
ministers meeting, would also mull over adopting a tougher stance on
Madagascar.

If SADC agreed to sanctions, it could spell growing isolation for new
president Andry Rajoelina, who ousted elected leader Marc Ravalomanana in an
army-backed takeover, condemned as a coup by foreign powers.

The African Union suspended Madagascar last week and the United Nations have
criticised Rajoelina's power grab.

No country has officially recognised the new leadership so far, which has
said it would revise any contracts with foreign investors not in the public
interest.

"The meeting will also discuss proposals by the SADC organ troika on
politics, defence and security. to develop an approach following the
unconstitutional transfer of power. Among others the troika recommended
tougher sanctions and non-recognition of the administration," Mamoepa said.

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe is the current SADC chairman.

'15000 Zimbabwean nationals are deported'

http://www.iol.co.za

 

    March 23 2009 at 07:04PM

Lawyers for Human Rights will approach the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday
for an urgent order to declare as unlawful an immigration detention centre
located in Musina.

"Every month, around 15 000 Zimbabwean nationals are deported from a
detention centre located on a military base outside the town of Musina close
to the Zimbabwean border," Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) said in a
statement on Monday.

It said detainees were rounded up along the border and in town by police,
immigration officials and soldiers, taken to the detention centre and
deported.

"This is done without any recourse to due process and the procedures under
immigration and refugee legislation. This detention facility is operated by
the SA Police Service and not by the Department of Home Affairs, whose
responsibility it is to manage immigration.

"People in need of asylum protection risk being returned to face persecution
in violation of South African and international law," the organisation said.

In addition, the conditions at this facility were appalling and violated
even the minimum standards of detention set by the Department of Home
Affairs under the Immigration Act.

LHR will be asking the court for an order

* declaring the operation of the facility unlawful in terms of the
Immigration Act,

* declaring the conditions of detention as unlawful and unconstitutional,

* declaring the detention and deportation of unaccompanied children as
unlawful,

 * directing the director-general of home affairs to either designate the
facility an immigration detention facility and drastically improve
conditions in compliance with the law or to close the facility down within
30 days. - Sapa

Zimbabwe Banks Run Out Of Foreign Currency

http://www.radiovop.com


Harare - MYSTERY surrounds the failure by some Zimbabwean banks,
particularly the State owned People's Own Saving Bank (POSB), to avail this
month's salaries for public servants, soldiers and employees of State
utilities which saw thousands of desperate workers stranded over the weekend
with most forced to sleep outside the financial institutions.

This is despite earlier assurance by the new Finance Minister, Tendai
Biti, who assured the nation that the new inclusive government had obtained
funding from donors and other external sources to meet the salaries.
VOP has it on authority that the Finance Minister had on Friday last
week ordered some banks to disburse the funds or face prosecution.
He is said to have issued the ultimate to banks such as the State
owned Agri-Bank raising suspicion that some corrupt bankers may be delaying
disbursing the money in order to enable them to spin the funds for personal
profit.
Such racketeering has been common in Zimbabwe in the past particularly
when the parallel black market was thriving.
Some corrupt bankers made fortunes by abusing depositor's funds to
finance the lucrative money changing business.
There are also increasing concern that bankers and public servants may
in fact be against the inclusive government formed when Zimbabwe's the three
main political parties, Zanu (PF), and the two Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) formations led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Professor Arthur
Mutambara signed the Global Political Agreement signed on the 15th of
September last year.
These consist of those who largely benefited from the rot and
corruption that had entrenched itself in Zimbabwe and were not keen to see
transparency being the order of the day as they stand to lose the spoils of
graft.
The top government officials, particularly those in the defense forces
were determined to derail the success of the inclusive government because
they argued that if it succeeded it would boost the electoral fortunes of
Tsvangirai's MDC formation at the polls to be held within two years as
agreed.
Zimbabwe's military junta's top brass such as the defence commander
Constantine Chiwenga, Air force chief Perence Shiri, Police Commissioner
General Augustine Chihuri, Director General of the spy agency, the Central
Intelligence Organisation, Happyson Bonyongwe and Director of Prisons,
Paradzai Zimondi, have publicly vowed they will not salute Prime Minister
Tsvangirai, claiming that he has no war credentials, is a puppet of the West
and therefore unfit to rule Zimbabwe.
However Zimondi is said to have retracted his statements over the
weekend.
The utterances had not gone down well with the majority of
Zimbabweans, most of who now regard Tsvangirai and his team to be
responsible for their fast changing fortunes in the country as basic
commodities, services are not only now abundant but are becoming more
affordable.
Some financial institutions are reportedly limiting cash withdrawals
or demanding that clients retain part of their deposits in their accounts,
money which the banks are suing to fund their other investments such as the
lucrative equities market, real estate and other portfolios.
But Zimbabwe's bankers deny any wrong doing and instead put the blame
squarely on the government.
A top official with a leading commercial bank who requested anonymity
said:
"The problem is that of the government which wants to shift the blame
to commercial banks whilst it is itself responsible for the present woes and
we have evidence of a deliberate death for finance houses by some people.
"The present state of affairs has reduced us to being mere conduits of
funds where our role is to just act as paymasters for the public. How do
they then expect us to survive? Instead the government should hand over to
finance houses all foreign exchange so that they use it to lend to exporters
and the productive sector".
Financial institutions traditionally generated much of their profits
from lending money to merchants and manufacturers who in turn generate more
foreign exchange from exports.

Mutsekwa says Mwale's days numbered

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=13804

March 23, 2009

By Our Correspondent

MUTARE - Giles Mutsekwa, the co-Minister of Home Affairs, says he will
ensure that Joseph Mwale, the elusive Central Intelligence Organisation
(CIO) operative accused of masterminding the gruesome murder of MDC
activists in Buhera nine years ago, is prosecuted.

Mutsekwa told The Zimbabwe Times at the weekend he was confident the police
would track Mwale down so that he is prosecuted.

"It's an issue that has to be dealt with," Mutsekwa said in an interview in
Dangamvura, where he had just addressed a rally.

"We must make sure that he faces justice."

Mwale has eluded justice despite a High Court order to have him arrested and
charged with the gruesome murder in broad daylight of MDC activists,
Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika at Murambinda Growth Point in 2000.

Chiminya, then an aide to Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader and Mabika, a
youth activist, were petrol-bombed in their vehicle while campaigning for
the party ahead of the 2000 parliamentary elections.

Mwale and three Zanu-PF activists, including one Kainos Kitsiyatota Zimunya,
were immediately identified as the perpetrators of the brutal attack that
shocked Zimbabwe. They have, however, remained out of custody on bail and
the case has never proceeded.

Mwale, a CIO operative who is the alleged mastermind of the murders, has
remained virtually untouched and appears to enjoy immunity from arrest and
prosecution.

Mwale's whereabouts have also remained a closely guarded secret. But
Mutsekwa, the MP for Dangamvura and Chikanga, said Mwale's "honeymoon should
now come to an end".

Mutsekwa shares the powerful home affairs ministry with Zanu-PF's Kembo
Mohadi. The police force falls under the ministry.

Mutsekwa said although he was not aware of Mwale's exact whereabouts he was
confident the police would catch up with him.

"People say he is in Nyanga but others say he frequents Buhera," Mutsekwa
said. "Our own sources have, however, said Mwale lives in Chipinge."

Earlier, Mutsekwa had told cheering supporters at Dangamvura Grounds that
the MDC was working flat out to alleviate the suffering of Zimbabweans which
was brought about by skewed Zanu-PF policies.

He said he was sure the MDC would take over the country, come election time.

Mutsekwa said the MDC had for the past years been frustrated from getting to
power, despite winning elections, because the security institutions were
heavily politicized.

Harare diary: Bread winners and losers

 

Monday, 23 March 2009

Even bread can no longer be bought with Zimbabwe dollars Esther (not her real name), 29, is a professional living and working in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare. She says bread is cheaper now under the power sharing government - but only for those with US dollars. Life in Harare is great - a lot better than in the past - for me at least. If I want to buy sugar, soap or bread, I no longer have to travel to South Africa. I can go to the local supermarket. The trip to to South Africa was 20 hours by bus - and another 20 hours back. I am able to start saving money. That was not possible a few months ago That 40-hour trip was killing me. Now for day-to-day products we can go to the supermarket - the prices have come down. At first, the bread was three, four times more expensive than in South Africa. Now it is better - anything from 80 US cents to $1. That's 8-10 rand - not much more than in South Africa. Craving I can even choose between white bread, brown, wholemeal, French loaf. For breakfast this morning I had cereal and fresh milk - which was unheard of in these parts last year. However, some goods are still more expensive because they are classed as luxuries. Cheese for example is US$6 for 200g. I buy it only when I have a serious craving. It's true that for many here there has been an improvement in day-to-day life. The journey for food is getting shorter For the first time I can look forward. I am able to start saving money. That was not possible for me a few months ago. I am aiming to buy a set of couches. The price here is US$1,000. I have nothing particular in mind - I am just looking forward to sitting down. After all that we have been through, yes, I will definitely be making some time to sit down. Sweet nothing The problem is that for other people - they are starting to struggle more and more. The Zimbabwe dollar is growing more and more useless every day. Basically you can buy nothing. You get paid a trillion dollars and you can't buy anything with it. Nobody wants Zim dollars. Nobody. Not even the people selling sweets by the road. But Harare's poorest are still struggling to survive If you don't get your salary paid in foreign currency you are in serious trouble. Now everything - water, electricity - have to be paid for in US dollars. Some people are sinking into serious poverty. Life is unbearable for people without US dollars. I've got relatives - cousins of 15 years old - who have nothing. If they sell bread rolls they might make $5 a day. That is not enough for school fees. The teachers are back at school now, but I am not sure for how long. The pay - $100 - does not go a long way, so they may be back on strike soon. I'm not sure if the schools will be practically closed again, or if the unity government will some find some money from donors. How long can you go on with someone else supporting your wage bill? The unity government will need to find some way of generating funds for Zimbabwe or this will be a recurring problem. No accident Of course, everyone here is still talking about "the accident". I mean the car crash which killed Susan Tsvangirai, the wife of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Nobody here is convinced by the official story. I read somewhere: "The only thing that was an accident is that Susan died and not Morgan." That is pretty much the view around here. Read Esther's previous diary

IMF winds up Zimbabwe mission

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Nokuthula Sibanda  Monday 23 March 2009

HARARE - The International Monetary Fund will today finalise its meetings in
Zimbabwe ahead of its departure Tuesday having met government leaders and
representatives of civic groups, labour and the business community.

The team was in the country on a routine Article IV consultations two years
after the last visit.

The delegation which started its mission in Zimbabwe on March 9 will depart
for Washington were they are only expected to release their findings either
during the second week of April or last week of April, officials said.

The team's visit that was led by Vitaliy Kramarenko, was overshadowed by the
death of Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's wife resulting in the
team failing to meet Tsvangirai whose is out of Zimbabwe, in neighbouring
South Africa recovering from the loss of his wife.

A fresh wave of invasion of white-owned commercial farms by supporters of
President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF party also dominated the news during the
time the IMF team was in the country.

"The issue of farm invasions which are a violation of property rights was
raised by the IMF team and they are most likely to refer to it in their
report," said a government official who did not want to be named.

The IMF's director for Africa, Antoinette Sayeh, two weeks ago said the Fund
would not provide financial support to Zimbabwe until the country first
clears its arrears and shows it was ready to pursue responsible economic
policies.

The IMF cut balance-of-payments support to Zimbabwe in 1999 following
differences with Mugabe over fiscal policy and other governance issues.

Zimbabwe's new power-sharing government has promised to restore relations
with the IMF and other international institutions.

Winning IMF backing is critical for Harare's new government to convince
skeptical Western governments to provide much needed financial assistance
and other support. - ZimOnline

Journalist Violet Gonda interviews Roy Bennett

Zimbabwe prisoners starve to death as service collapses

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Violet Gonda
23 March 2008
A major humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Zimbabwe's prisons, due to lack
of food and a total break down of the prison service. It's reported that
inmates ravaged by disease and hunger are 'dying like flies' with no
solution in sight. This is happening while the 'chefs' continue to splash
out millions of dollars on fancy cars for themselves.
Although access to the prisons is restricted, reports from relatives and
friends of inmates have exposed the dire situation. This past week an
estimated 1,300 people at Harare Central Prison were left to starve, as the
prison ran out of food completely.
While some relatives and friends are providing a vital lifeline for their
loved ones by taking in much needed food regularly, the prison service is
now relying heavily on donations of soya beans and mealie meal to feed the
general prison population.
A rights activist, speaking on condition of anonymity on Monday, said the
inmates at Harare Central are fed just once a day, at around 3pm, and on
Sunday they had a few soya beans, with nothing else.
We were not able to get prison authorities to confirm the situation, but our
source said about 10 inmates are dying everyday at Harare Central Prison
alone.
"It's pretty shocking when we've got between 1,300 and 1,500 prisoners in a
prison and there is no food to feed them. If you are in the bush you can
forage, but in a prison there is not much you can do if you are not getting
food," the activist said. Many prisoners have suppressed immune systems, due
to HIV infection, a situation that is worsened by lack of proper food.
It's also reported there is no coal for the boilers at Harare Central and so
inmates are cutting down trees on the side of the road for firewood. Our
source said: "I don't know how the prisoners are able to cut down the trees
because if you look at some of them on the side of the road, their legs are
about the size of a woman's wrist."
MDC official Roy Bennett, who spent a month in Mutare Remand Prison, said it's
a major humanitarian disaster. "There is absolutely nothing in the prisons.
Prisoners get one meal a day - a piece of sadza the size of your hand and
water with salt in it. Those prisoners who do not have relatives or people
outside supporting them are in worse conditions - or look like those
emaciated, skeletal bodies we saw during the holocaust. Basically it is a
human rights tragedy and a serious abuse of human rights."
He said that five people died while he was there, in the most terrible
circumstances, 'unconscious and defecating in their blankets.'
An additional horror is the fact that because of the general break down of
the prison system, dead bodies are not removed immediately. Bennett said,
"They sit in the laundry, there is no mortuary. Most of them sit there for
four days - one sat for five days. They had to put them in plastic bags."
Many detainees are in prison without ever having been convicted in a court
of law, which has exacerbated the overcrowding conditions in remand prisons.
On numerous occasions prison authorities have failed to take the detainees
to court because of the fuel shortages.
Meanwhile, the pressure group Sokwanele is appealing to well wishers to
donate food to Harare Central Prison.  The group said donations can be sent
to Chaplain Kurida on +263 4 793891 extension 163. Sokwanele said: "Please
give what you can: especially beans, vegetables, mealie meal, salt and soap.
The soap is to help clean the cells and prevent the spread of infections and
diseases - the prisoners have weakened immune systems from nutrition-poor
diets and are exposed to horrific conditions."

Cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe easing - WHO

http://af.reuters.com

Mon Mar 23, 2009 3:27pm GMT

GENEVA, March 23 (Reuters) - The cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe seems to have
passed its worst, with both the number of new infections and the rate of
fatalities falling, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday.

The number of new cases in the week ended March 14 was 2,076 -- still high,
but down from 3,812 the week before and over 8,000 infections a week at the
start of February, the WHO, a United Nations agency based in Geneva, said in
a statement.

The weekly fatality rate fell to 2.3 percent in the week ended March 14 from
a peak near 6 percent in January, it said.

"While data collection and verification remain a challenge throughout the
country with the effect that weekly statistics are not always accurate or
complete, the overall trend over the last 2 months is of a decreasing number
of cases and deaths," the WHO said.

As of March 17, a total of 91,164 cases with 4,037 deaths had been reported
since the start of the current outbreak in August 2008, it said.

Earlier this month new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said that official
figures probably dramatically underestimated the real number of infections
and deaths.

Cholera is a water-borne diarrhoeal disease that spreads through
contaminated food and water. It is easily preventable and treatable but can
cause severe dehydration and death.

Zimbabwe's health system has all but collapsed in the country's economic
crisis, with hospitals battling shortages of drugs, high cases of HIV/AIDS
and nurses and doctors frequently on strike for higher pay.

The deadliest outbreak of cholera in Africa in 15 years has spread to
neighbouring countries including South Africa.

Daily cholera update and alerts, 20 Mar 2009

 Full_Report (pdf* format - 190.6 Kbytes)

* Please note that daily information collection is a challenge due to communication and staff constraints. On-going data cleaning may result in an increase or decrease in the numbers.

Any change will then be explained.

** Daily information on new deaths should not imply that these deaths occurred in cases reported that day. Therefore daily CFRs >100% may occasionally result

A. Highlights of the day:

- 196 cases and 16 deaths added today (in comparison 349 cases and 16 deaths yesterday)

- 67.8 % of the districts affected have reported today 40 out of 59 affected districts)

- 90.3 % of districts reported to be affected (56 districts out of 62)

- Cumulative Institutional Case Fatality Rate 1.8%

- Daily Institutional CFR = 5.6%

N.B. Data Cleaning done on previously reported cases and deaths
Chikomba reduced 4 cases

Harare Residents Resist 'Unaffordable' Rates, Bills

http://www.herald.co.zw/
Published by the government of Zimbabwe

23 March 2009

Harare - HARARE ratepayers are resisting paying rates and other bills,
saying they simply cannot afford the amounts.

The ratepayers paid only US$1,7 million in rates and other bills last month
against a projected US$14 million.

"We are facing strong resistance from the ratepayers. They are failing to
pay the bills we are sending to them. They are proposing that we charge them
50 percent of the bills," said a council source.

Last month the city billed consumers a total of US$14 million, but
ratepayers paid only US$1,7 million, all of which went towards workers'
salaries.

Council requires US$4,2 million monthly to pay its 7 000-strong workforce.

The US$4,2 million caters for grades 16 to five while senior management's
salary bill has not been made public.

The lowest paid council worker took home US$354 last month while those in
grade five were paid US$1 100.

Reliable sources said council was also failing to meet the deadline for
March salaries after the US$1,5 million collected so far went towards
meeting the February salaries.

Council payday is this Friday.

The sources said payment of February salaries would be completed today after
which council would start looking for money to pay the March salaries.

In the face of the ratepayers' resistance, Government has ordered council to
revise its budget by reducing rates and other charges as well as workers'
salaries, which have been described as "unrealistic".

The source added that senior officials in the finance department had
proposed that parking fees be slashed by 50 percent to allow full occupancy
of parking lots, parkades and street bays.

However, water and sewer charges might be excluded in the revised budget
because of serious differences at management level.

The source disclosed council had not yet started budgeting for water and
sewer charges despite commitments by management that the city would be able
to pay the salaries of the workers transferred from Zinwa.

"The finance people were told to keep their hands off the water issue after
they had shown interest to bill for water and sewer charges for March," said
the source.

Council recently presented its 2009 budget proposal under which it expected
to raise US$185 million, 55 percent of it from rates.

Residents in high-density suburbs were expected to pay US$24 as rates while
their low-density counterparts were to fork out up to US$57 with those in
upmarket suburbs paying about US$97 plus US$10 for refuse collection.

However, Harare City Council spokesperson Mr Leslie Gwindi said the entire
budget was under review after central Government ordered the local authority
to revisit its rates and salaries bill.

"In line with the Government's recommendation, we are in consultations with
residents, stakeholders and councillors to review the budget," said Mr
Gwindi.

Khupe calls for an end to domestic violence

http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com

22nd Mar 2009 22:51 GMT

By a Correspondent

THE MDC Women's Assembly members today joined over 12 000 other women of
Zimbabwe to commemorate the International Women's Day at the City Sports
Stadium in Harare .

For the first time in Zimbabwe 's history, women from all political parties,
from the church, academia, armed forces and school children joined hands and
converged at the stadium to celebrate women's rights.

The International Women's Day is commemorated worldwide every year on 8
March but was postponed in Zimbabwe due to other pressing commitments since
the formation of an inclusive government.

The commemorations were also held at a time when the MDC and the nation at
large is mourning the untimely death of Amai Susan Nyaradzo Tsvangirai, the
wife of MDC President and Zimbabwe's Prime Minister the Right Hon. Morgan
Tsvangirai who died in a fatal car accident early this month.

Key note addresses were presented by MDC Vice President and Acting Prime
Minister, Hon. Thokozani Khupe and the Vice President Joyce Mujuru.

Hon. Khupe called for an end to domestic violence against women and the girl
child.
She also urged women from different political affiliations to begin to
co-exist.

"As women we should learn to tolerate each other for the development of the
nation as the formation of an inclusive government is a new beginning for
the country," Hon. Khupe said.

She said by showing unity and love as women, men and children were bound to
follow, a move that would help in rebuilding the nation.

MDC Women's Assembly Chairperson and Minister of Public Works Hon. Theresa
Makone said this years celebrations were the first since the formation of
the MDC that women from all political parties have come together an shown an
overwhelming atmosphere of peace and togetherness which if maintained will
move Zimbabwe in a different
direction.

Makone said that according to the Global Political Agreement substantial
positions in government should have been given to women but that had not
been the case.

"A few women have been given the crumbs in government. As being caregivers
by nature, women have been allocated insignificant ministries," Hon Makone
said.

She also said that it was disappointing to note that there were a few women
in senior positions in the army and the police and appealed to the Inclusive
Government that there
be more drastic changes so that more women could be seen in senior
positions.

Hon Makone said that as MDC women they will make sure that any politician
who promotes violence against women and the girl child is destined to lose
his position.

"As women we are saying enough is enough, whoever will promote violence
against women and the girl child is destined to lose that position," Hon
Makone said .

The commemorations are going to be spread across all the 10 provinces in the
country in an effort to spread the gospel of unity across the country.

MDC security guard may never walk again

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=13774

March 22, 2009

By Mxolisi Ncube

JOHANNESBURG - A former member of the mainstream Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) security outfit will probably never walk on his own again.

He was tortured, allegedly by state security agents, Zanu-PF youth militia
and other supporters of President Robert Mugabe's party about nine months
ago. He claims this happened at the instigation of Christopher Mushohwe, a
former cabinet Minister.

Mushohwe is a former Minister of Transport and Communications in President
Robert Mugabe's last cabinet.

Gift Nhidza (32), a former soldier who served the MDC as one of its security
officers between 1999 and 2008, told The Zimbabwe Times in Johannesburg
Friday, that he sustained horrific fractures on both his legs and arms while
being beaten with iron bars at a Zanu-PF torture base in Zimbabwe's eastern
Manicaland province at the height of Zanu-PF's Operation Mavhotera Papi last
year.

The operation, a campaign of retribution against MDC supporters, was
masterminded by state security agents after Zanu-PF lost parliamentary polls
to the Tsvangirai-led MDC party, while Mugabe himself had lost the first
round of the presidential ballot to the MDC leader, in elections held on
March 29.

Nhidza says that he was abducted, together with his then 27-year-old wife -
Dorica Mudarikwa, by two truckloads of uniformed soldiers and Zanu-PF
militia from his homestead in the Odzi constituency on June 26. He and
Mudarikwa, who was then pregnant, were taken to Spiro Farm, where a Zanu-PF
torture base had been set up on a commercial farm that was taken over by
government.

He identified some of his abductors as members of the Zimbabwe National
Army, brothers Cleopas and Shadreck Mutichakwa and Onias Mukahira.

"They took me in broad daylight and transported me in an army truck to Spiro
Farm," said Nhidza.

"The group comprised members of the CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation),
soldiers, war veterans and Green Bombers (youth militia), most of whom were
armed. They said I had a gun."

Nhidza says that on arrival at the torture base, his captors began to
interrogate him on where he had hidden his gun, where and how he had
obtained it and how much he had been promised if he had managed to "topple
Mugabe from power".

"When I told them that I did not know anything about all those allegations,
they began to torture me," he said.

Nhidza now lives as a political refugee at the Central Methodist Mission in
Johannesburg. He walks with the aid of crutches.

"At first they took me to a swimming pool, where they ordered me to swallow
10 mouthfuls of sewage water they had poured in there.

"It was very painful for me. When I began to vomit the contaminated water,
from which raw sewage was clearly visible, they would not count, but order
me to start afresh.

"This continued for about two hours. They beat me each time I vomited the
water."

He said that at the same time, his helpless wife was also going through her
own ordeal, as she was being beaten up by their captors.

"They assaulted her with clenched fists and baton sticks, saying that they
wanted to remove the MDC offspring and terrorist that was inside her womb
and replace it with a Zanu-PF one, which would not sell the country to the
British," said Nhidza, breaking into tears.

He revealed that his wife eventually miscarried as a result of the torture
that she endured.

"As I continued to deny the allegations against me, part of which were that
I had been deployed to South Africa to train bandits that would later be
used to topple Mugabe, the torturers began to beat me all over my body with
iron bars.

"As a result I sustained broken legs and arms," Nhidza said. "The worst
affected was my left leg which sustained seven fractures. Mushohwe
occasionally visited the base and, when he saw me, he asked the torturers
why they had not killed me, and one of them told him that they wanted me to
feel the pain before I died. I lay in a heap on the ground that had turned
red with blood, which was oozing from my fractures and ruptured skin."

Nhidza said that when he woke after his many passing out sessions, he had
been dumped on the side of the road, about 500 metres from the torture base,
as his captors apparently wanted him to be crushed by a truck, so that his
death would then be presented as a fatal road accident.

"I however, miraculously managed to roll to the side of the road and my
wife, who was freed at the same time that I was dumped, sent my younger
brother, who took me home in a wheelbarrow before any vehicle could drive
by," said Nhidza.

Nhidza said that his spinal cord was damaged in three different parts as a
result of the beating. He said he was admitted to a private hospital in
Mutare for seven months. He said the CIO made attempts to visit him in
hospital.

"The party (MDC) was alerted and they assisted me to flee to South Africa in
January," said Nhidza.

Nhidza says he doubts he will ever walk again without crutches.

"Metal supports have been inserted in both my legs," said Nhidza. "After
sitting for long I find it difficult to walk, even with the aid of crutches.

"I will not forgive these people for what they did to me and if I had my
way, they would all be sent to jail for attempted murder."

Buying a driver's licence

http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/

March 23rd, 2009

To get your learner's license in Zimbabwe costs US$20 and ditto for driving
test.

I got a call from a friend who I tested for his learners before he sat the
test and I can vouch that he really knew it well.

But he failed 3 times. He was distraught. His neighbour said, 'Don't be
stupid - clearly they want a bribe'.

So my friend went back to the VID, and asked how much it will REALLY cost.

'Ooohhhh', they said, '80 for learners, 100 for driving license - and don't
worry, if you come with the money you don't have to re-sit the exam'.

My friend was convinced he'd already passed three times anyway so he paid
and passed. This means that instead of costing US$40 bucks it now costs
US$220 to go through the whole process of getting your licence: the official
US$40 plus  US$180 for what it REALLY costs.

Corruption runs so deep in Zimbabwe it seems impossible that it will ever
end: from doctors hi-jacking medical equipment donated for use in hospitals,
to nurses selling their donated stocks to patients.

I give blood regularly, FOR FREE, and I am reliably told by a colleague that
he had to BUY blood at the government-run hospital at R300 for a pint.

Posted by Still Here

How Zimbabwe slew the dragon of hyperinflation

http://www.theglobeandmail.com

GEOFFREY YORK

March 23, 2009

HARARE -- Zimbabwe's wily street hawkers have finally found a use for the
worthless 100-trillion-dollar banknotes that were issued here in January.
They sell the bizarre banknotes as souvenirs to foreign tourists for $2
each.

The currency with the never-ending string of zeroes is quickly fading into
history, just two months after the latest notes were printed by the
inexhaustible central bank. Also disappearing is Zimbabwe's phenomenal level
of hyperinflation, which last year reached a stunning 89.7 sextillion per
cent (a number expressed with 21 zeroes), making it the most extreme
hyperinflation crisis of any country in modern times.

Zimbabwe's new coalition government has cracked both problems with an
absurdly simple solution: It has abruptly switched to foreign currencies,
allowing customers to pay for products with U.S. dollars or South African
rand or Botswana pula.

The entire economy, almost overnight, has switched to a unique system of
multiple foreign currencies.

Equally swiftly, hundreds of Zimbabwe's long-closed shops and groceries have
reopened, retail licence fees have been slashed, and the new competition has
reduced prices to stable levels.
The dollarization (and rand-ization and pula-ization) of the Zimbabwean
economy has finally slain the dragon of hyperinflation, providing the first
fragile signs of hope for a devastated country. While the junking of the
Zimbabwean dollar was a blow to the ego and power of Zimbabwe's bloated
central bank, the radical move to adopt foreign currencies is still one of
the fastest ways to kick-start any economy that is ruined by inflation and
money-printing excesses.

Empty shelves have been filled. Prices of staples such as milk and eggs are
still twice as expensive as in neighbouring South Africa, but they are half
as expensive as they were in January. People are shopping again, and
merchants are stocking their inventories again.

Those goods are still unaffordable for many people, of course. The
unemployment rate is estimated at 94 per cent, wages are often unpaid, and
the vast majority of people are dependent on donated food rations.

Not surprisingly, there is a severe shortage of the foreign money. Shops
don't have enough foreign cash to provide change to customers, so they issue
"credit notes" on little bits of paper - or persuade their customers to
accept change in candies.

Investors, including Canadians, are watching closely. Toronto-based
Caledonia Mining Corp., which suspended production at its Blanket gold mine
in Zimbabwe last October, is considering a reopening of the mine within the
next few weeks because the new government is promising that producers can
export a much higher percentage of their production. The mine could produce
up to 40,000 ounces per year.

"We welcome the new government policies, and we're working to get the
necessary approvals," said a spokesman for the Canadian company. "We remain
cautious and skeptical. But it would be a shame to miss this opportunity."

The first twitches of economic recovery can already be seen on Harare's
streets. In the industrial district, dozens of men and women are waiting at
the gates of the factories, having heard that a few people are actually
being hired on occasion.

"Before, there wasn't any hope at all," says Coffee Musiya, 37, an
unemployed man who has joined a crowd of about 50 job-seekers outside the
gates of the National Foods factory in Harare. The crowd has been waiting
for weeks, and a few have gotten temporary jobs at the factory. "It's a
little bit improved now," he says. "Maybe four or five people might get a
day job."

Many factories are still operating at less than 10 per cent of capacity,
despite the political agreement that led to the coalition government between
President Robert Mugabe and his foes last month. The total market
capitalization of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange has dropped by more than 50
per cent in the past month, to less than $1.3-billion (U.S.), and volumes
are so low that the exchange is open for only an hour per day.

But at least the stock exchange is open now. Until Feb. 19, it had been
closed for three months.

As recently as the early 1990s, Zimbabwe was one of Africa's leading
economies. Its decaying infrastructure could be still be revived, especially
if the government is able to halt the invasions of the dwindling white-owned
commercial farms that have plagued the agricultural sector for the past nine
years.

One study has predicted that the country could be self-sufficient in
agriculture within a year if the invasions were reversed.

The new government is seeking $5-billion (U.S.) in financing from foreign
lenders to forestall another collapse in the economy. The International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank are in the midst of a mission to Zimbabwe -
their first since 2006 - to decide whether they might offer financing.

Western lenders have been insisting that Zimbabwe must fire the central bank
governor, Gideon Gono - the man who printed all those $100-trillion
(Zimbabwe) banknotes, and reputedly the personal paymaster to Mr. Mugabe
himself.

So far Mr. Gono has managed to keep his job. But the new government has
eliminated or reduced a host of taxes and retail licence fees that were
previously funnelled to the central bank - including heavy taxes on retail
turnover and export revenue.

Government elites had profited from preferential rates on foreign exchange,
allowing them to obtain U.S. dollars at rates far below the street value.
The dollarization of the economy has wiped out those perks as well. And the
new government is working hard to separate Mr. Gono and Mr. Mugabe from
their traditional control of the money flow.

"The process of change is irreversible," said John Robertson, an independent
economist in Harare. "The wedge will be driven harder and harder."

Cash budget basis!

http://www.moneyweb.co.za/

A budget which halves spending plans? Promises to uphold the rule of law?

Cathy Buckle*
23 March 2009 05:50

A stop to any further farm invasions? A government that will operate on a
cash budget basis?

Zimbabwe's government operating on a cash budget basis - this is like some
weird, wild, psychedelic dream!

It's hard to believe that these statements can be referring to Zimbabwe but
they were made this week by the much respected MDC Finance Minister, Tendai
Biti. After nine years of chaos and mayhem, Mr Biti has taken up the task of
clearing up Zanu PF's mess and trying to turn the country around. The irony
of Mr Biti's words being
spoken whilst sitting alongside Mr Mugabe - whose government oversaw the
collapse of our economy and imprisoned and accused this very Minister of
treason, was not lost on us.

Mr Biti has taken on a seemingly impossible task which will challenge every
sector of the government and country. This isn't just about dollars and
cents, its about law and order, justice and working within the rules - not
things Zimbabwe's leaders are used to.

Will the Police enforce laws impartially and stop claiming that they cannot
do anything because an act is deemed "political"? Will farm invaders,
including army, police, security personnel and members of the government and
Senate stop evicting farmers from their homes and land? Will government
Ministers and departments really stay within their budgets and not announce
that they've run out of money in two
or three month time?

While such monumental tasks face us on a national level, down on the streets
life is getting harder and harder for ordinary people. Rents, rates, service
charges and utility bills are already amounting to more than what most
people are earning in a month. Once the bills are paid nothing is left for
food, medicines, school fees or any of the other necessities of life.

A civil servant earning 100 US dollars a month is paying 40 dollars rent, 20
dollars for water, 20 for telephone, 20 for municipal charges and 20 for
electricity. This leaves a balance of minus 20 before the month has even
started or a mouthful of food bought. It is an unsustainable situation. This
week a notice appeared on the doors
of ZESA - the electricity suppliers. All residents who have not paid their
accounts, are to be disconnected in two days time This is despite the fact
that bills have not been presented or meters read for over a year.

Despite all the hardships of everyday life, a feeling of hope continues to
persist in Zimbabwe. Some people are still packing up and leaving but more
are trying to hold on and give this a chance to work. I will be taking a
short break for a few weeks and wish all Zimbabweans, wherever you are in
the world, a Happy Easter.

©Copyright cathy buckle 21st March 2009

www.cathybuckle.com

Know Your Government Ministers

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=13781

March 22, 2009

With Conrad Nyamutata

BEGINNING today, Monday, March 23, 2009 The Zimbabwe Times will publish
profiles of Zimbabwe's newly appointed government ministers in this section.

Appearing in alphabetical order of their surnames, two ministers, one MDC
and the other Zanu-PF, will be profiled each day.

We kick off today with Tendai Biti of the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) and Flora Buka, one of the two females out of Zanu-PF's line-up of 16
ministers. The two MDC parties have a total of 15 ministers.

Biti, Tendai - Minister of Finance

Tendai Biti was born on August 6, 1966. He is single but has one child.

Biti attended Gombo Primary School in Harare's poor suburb of Dzivaresekwa.
He then attended Goromonzi High School for his secondary education.

He graduated from the University of Zimbabwe in 1988 with a Bachelor of Laws
(LLB) Honours Degree. While at university he was elected secretary-general
of the Students Representative Council (SRC). He also held the position of
vice president of the Zimbabwe National Association Students Unions
(ZINASU).

Biti joined Honey and Blanckenberg a law firm in Harare in 1989, becoming
the youngest partner at age 26. He has remained with the same firm since
then.

Biti has been a member of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) since its
formation in 1999. He was elected Member of Parliament for Harare East
Constituency in 2000. He became the secretary general of the MDC after its
split in 2005.

During the Fifth Parliament he served as a member of the Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water Development, Rural
Resources and Resettlement and that on Defence and Home Affairs.

In the March 2005 elections he retained the constituency. He serves in the
Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Economic Development.

Biti was re-elected to the House of Assembly in the March 2008 parliamentary
election, again representing Harare East Constituency.

In the period following the election he stayed in exile, mainly in South
Africa, along with the MDC President, Morgan Tsvangirai.

Biti returned to Zimbabwe on June 12, 2008 and was immediately arrested as
he disembarked from his flight at the airport in Harare.

He was arrested on allegations that he was the author of a document entitled
"The Transition Strategy" that was said to include details of a purported
plan to rig the election in favor of the MDC.

The charges against him were subsequently dropped.

Biti became Finance Minister in the government of national unity in
February. He has no known history in financial or economic matters. Soon
after his appointment he described his job as the most difficult in the
world.

Tomorrow: Nelson Chamisa (MDC)

Buka, Flora - Minister of State in the Office of Vice-President Joseph Msika

Flora Buka was born on February 25, 1968. A single mother, Buka has two
children.

She attended secondary school at Loreto High School (1982-1985) and
proceeded to St Anthony's High School in Zaka for her "A" levels in 1986
and1987). She graduated from the University of Zimbabwe with a BA General
degree in 1990.

Buka became a school teacher at Nembudziya Secondary School in Gokwe between
1991 and 1995. She was then appointed head of Svibe Secondary School in
1995, a post she held until 2000.

In 1988 she was co-opted into the Nyanje Youth District of Zanu-PF as
secretary for administration. She was identified after her active
participation with the Gokwe University Students Association which she says
sourced donations for schools and carried out research on socio-economic
issues in Gokwe.

Buka was elected deputy provincial secretary for transport and welfare in
the Zanu-PF Youth League in 1993. In 1998 she was elected provincial
secretary for the commissariat in the party's Women's League.

Buka was appointed a commissioner during the constitutional reform process
in 1999. She was appointed to the Zanu-PF Central Committee in 2001. She
became national secretary for gender and culture in the Women's League in
2004.

She was elected Member of Parliament for Gokwe East in 2000 and was
subsequently appointed Minister of State in the Office of the Vice
President, responsible for the Land Reform Programme.

In 2001, Buka became the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Women's Caucus, an
executive member of SADC Regional Women's Caucus in 2002 and an executive
member of the SADC Parliamentary Forum in 2004.

In March 2005 she retained her constituency seat and was subsequently
appointed Minister of State for Special Affairs responsible for the Land and
Resettlement Programme.

She was Zanu-PF's candidate for Gokwe-Nembudziya constituency in the March
2008 parliamentary election. She won the seat and was appointed Minister of
State in the Office of Vice-President Joseph Msika in the government of
national unity.

Tomorrow: Patrick Chinamasa (Zanu-PF)

Hope, anger, despair and murder in Musina for Zimbabweans

http://www.hararetribune.com/

Monday, 23 March 2009 17:22

Musina, here in South Africa's Limpopo Province, exemplifies a frontier town
under siege from a population boom. Old timers here say Musina, is a now a
mirror image of its sister town, Beitbridge, on the other side of the
border.
It is a place chock-a-block with opportunists of all streaks, where people
still persistently engage in death-dealing skirmishes over business deals
gone astray, get wealthy overnight inscrutably, and middlemen hauling
briefcases stuffed to the seems with bank notes are frequently robbed.

"The town is Bietbridge, without the pot holes and the former food and fuel
shortages," Om Paul, a long time resident of the town, told the Harare
Tribune.

It has one main street, one traffic light and one central bus rank that is
grimy with rotting banana and orange peels, discarded spinach leaves and
gapping potholes on its roads. Barefoot women and sickly, small girls swarm
the bus terminus, selling oily lemon flavoured cup cakes and boiled eggs and
roasted peanuts and fruits and thick sugar cane stalks and roasted maize
cobs.

Like all frontier towns, more than half Musina's population is migratory, in
town either on way to distant Johannesburg in the south, or to Harare, out
north beyond the nearby Limpopo River where the town draws its water.

The majority of people in town are Zimbabweans, especially cross border
traders whose business boomed during the past ten years.

In recent months, the South African and Zimbabwean government entered into
an agreement whereby the same cross border traders would be granted five
year rading visas.

We rule the night

By day, the town is alive with people running around its dusty streets
conducting business, but by night, prostitutes and truckers and other shady
characters rule the city.
"We have to make a living," a lady says as we sit watching trucks move past
us on the N1 highway.

"The money is not bad, its better than what i used to earn back home," she
adds, retouching her lip with lip gloss.  She had said her name is Georgina,
and by "home" she meant Zimbabwe.
Her being Zimbabwean gives credence to South Africans, mostly Venda, in the
town, who accuse Zimbabweans of bringing chaos to the city.

In some ways, Musina appears to be walking in stride with Beitbridge. Until
recently, there was no prostitution this side of the border.

But the poverty that many Zimbabwean refugees encounter once they reach the
town has driven them to take desperate measures.

"Aren't you afraid, i mean, of HIV/AIDS?" I ask Georgina. She laughs off the
question, in a way a person who has been asked the question before does.

"There are people counting on me sending them money back in Zimbabwe," she
says, suddenly serious. "Since i can't find a job, this is what i have to do
for now. There is money to be made from all these," she adds, her hand
sweeping across and over where trucks waiting to cross the border into
Zimbabwe are lined up.

The United Nations has said that one of the ways HIV/AIDS is spreading in
South Africa is through prostitution, especially among truckers.

"I know of the dangers, what else would you have me do?" Georgina said that
sometimes, like all the other women in her line of business, she has sex
with her clients without condoms, if they are willing to pay more for the
service.

As the South Africa law does not recognize young people, young girls are
also in Georgina's like of work.

The South Africans don't give asylum to unaccompained minors, and some of
the minors, after years on the streets as beggars in the border area, have
graduated to either prostituion or crimes like robbery and theft.

Economy

Surrounded by Boer citrus farms, defunct copper, nickel and iron mines,
business in town has been good in town in recent years as Zimbabwe
collapsed.

Frustrated with Mbeki's handling of the Zimbabwean crisis, Zimbabweans
accused him of wanting to see Zimbabwe fail so South Africa could benefit.
It appears there was some truth in that claim.

Figures shown to the Harare Tribune by a manager at Spar Stores, one of the
supermarkets in town, shows that the store has increased orders a thousands
percent between 2000 and 2008, the latest figures on record.

"Business has been good, but now, with the situation in Zimbabwe, things are
starting to cool down," the Spar Manager, Gugulethu Sibanda, said.

But, there is also another form of economy, one that farmers in the province
have practiced since the days of Rhodes and Jameson.

"After working for the this white man, a day before our first wages, there
was a police raid on our compound," Kenneth  Shoko explained to the Harare
Tribune. A former orange plantation worker, he appeared disillusioned as he
loitered in the town.

"At that time, i thought it was a coincedence, but i found out later that in
order to avoid paying us our wages, the white man had called in the police
to deport us," added a digusted Shoko.

Since the South African government treats all Zimbabwean refugees in the
country as criminals, some white farmers will likely continue this
unscruplous enterprise.

Unlike other trades, the illegal black market foreign currency trade, which
turned some individuals into multimillionaires over the last ten years, is
on the brink of collapse, thanks largely tot the fact that the Zimbabwean
economy is now dollarized.

"I made profits of upwards of a hundred thousand percent," reminisced
Zandile, a "retired" money changer who is now involved in a more legitimate
form of trade as a cross border trader.

"I mean, nobody knew what the exchange rate was on each given day, so i and
others just used any rate. In so doing, we made lots of money buying and
selling the South African Rands, US dollars, Euros, and the Pula."

Zandile said that the coming into being of the inclusive government, and the
prior dollarization of the Zimbabwean economy by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
boss Gono, has meant that there has been a freeze in the trade of Zimbabwean
dollars, the main driving force behind the foreign currency trade.

Other former foreign currency dealers told the Harare Tribune that though
they were not against the GNU deal, they would have liked it if the
inclusive government had come into office, say a year or two. At least that
would have given them time to build our "nest eggs".

Murder & Death.

The face of an illegal border crossing Zimbabwean, over the decades, has
been that of young, virile men, hoping to make a fortune working on three
year contracts in the diamond and gold mines of South Africa.

But thanks to Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF's economic ruin of Zimbabwe over
the last decade, the demographics of people crossing into South Africa
illegally has changed.

Women, young, old, and pregnant, men, young, old; children, professionals
from doctors to teachers, all have been crossing the border into South
Africa.

"We are waiting to find some money so that we can cross the border," a
mother, a blind mother leading a group of young children told me in
Beitbridge. Like all poor blind people, whom Zimbabwe's social services have
failed for decades, the mother used her group of your children as beggars.

"I hear it's better to beg in South Africa," the mother told the Harare
Tribune, revealing that it was not only those looking for work who were
crossing into South Africa, but those planning on extending their begginig
carreir.

It is this pricise change in the demographics of those crossing the border
illegally, from the hardy men travelling in groups, to the weaker members of
society that has seen the number of muggings, rape and murders increase in
and around the border towns of Musina and Beitbridge.
The issue of rape and murder was an item of focus by the United States' New
York Times newspaper.

As the Harare Tribune found out, a typical raping or murder followed simple
easy steps: A Zimbabwean arrived in Beitbridge from other parts of Zimbabwe,
fleeing poverty and/or political violence. The Zimbabwean pays the pervasive
"amaGumaguma", who offer themselves to the unsuspecting Zimbabweans as
guides promising safe passage to South Africa to the Zimbabwean. However, at
some point right after crossing the crocodile infested Limpopo River,
something goes terribly wrong.

"I was wraped by three men," Chido Chiremba told the Harare Tribune in
Musina. "The guides took all our money, and even our clothes," she said of
the amaGumaguma.

Many other women and men, have fallen victim to the amaGumaguma, common
thievies and robbers. The number of people who have been fed to the
crocodiles by the amaGumaguma, or those of people who have been raped, is
anybody's guess.

A rape by three or five or six men, in a land where the HIV infection rate
hovers around one in four people, is a death sentence to the women.

In a surreal twist of fate, from the stories the Harare Tribune heard, a
large contigent of the amaGumaguma, are Zimbabweans. Former teachers and
engineers and hedge fund analysts who are now using the skills from their
former trades to make a living on the border as amaGumaguma.

It is here in the border town of Bietbridge, that hope and dispair meet and
join hands to produce both joy and death.

When measuring the damage that ZANU-PF and Mugabe have done to Zimbabwe,
focusing on the economic indicators like GDP, Unemployment the rest is not
enough.

Mugabe's ruin of Zimbabwe, should be measured in the number of lives that
have been lost and dreams that have been crushed. And the families tha have
been broken.

JAG open letter forum - No. 612 - Dated 22 March 2009

Email: jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw

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

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

1.  Gary Hensman - Scam

2.  John Elliot

3.  Barbara Thomas - The so called accident

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

1.  Gary Hensman - Scam

Dear Jag

PLEASE READ THIS AND BE ADVISED ACCORDINGLY.

On Thursday last week, I went to Harare, and one of my calls was to pick
up some combine spares from Lazarus, whom I have dealt with for years.

We organised to meet outside the Jameson Hotel, which we did, and I duly
collected my spares.

I had Hylton's lorry driver with me who needed to go back to Mutare by
bus, so I asked Lazarus to show me where to go.

So off we went, into Mbare Msika, quite an education for me as I had
never been there before.

I duly deposited Langton at the bus stop, and came back out again,
stopping to give 2 policemen a lift in to town. I got to ZB bank on
Rotten Row, 3 passengers got out, and I carried on for the rest of the
day doing my shopping.

On Friday morning, after spending the night with Jan, I went to finish my
shopping, and one port of call was at Coopers, bottom end of Craster
Road. When I came out, there were three African gentlemen waiting for me,
who flashed their "police cards" at me and said they wanted to talk to me
about Lazarus.

I had a "sort of" look at their card, could see the ZRP logo, a picture
and a name, but really only gave it a cursory look.

Anyhow, they wanted to know why I was dealing with Lazarus, what I had
got from him, where did he live, where was his business address, why had
I paid only just above the SA rate (they didn't know what it was), the
goods were stolen from his boss (he works for himself), I was receiving
stolen goods, why had I gone to Mbare with him, (that was scary, they
must have followed me), who was the other person in the car, why had he
got out, and then came the BLINDER!

Lazarus was involved in a drug ring, and they were investigating him and
anyone associated with him.

As I had spoken to him, I must be involved with him, and so was a drug
dealer! I laughed at them which didn't help, and after 30 minutes of
conversation they said they wanted to take me to Central Police station.
I said I was going to ring my wife and my lawyer, got my cell phone out,
and was told to turn it off. I refused, and he told me again to turn it
off, and again I refused, so he turned to his mate and said "Arrest him
and put the handcuffs on him". Number 2 took out a pair of cuffs and
started towards me, at which stage, discretion being the better part of
valour, I turned my cell off! We got in to the car, one in the front
seat, one in the back seat, and one on the back. Off we went.

The one next to me reached down and turned off my other cell. They then
started to read my papers in the car, which I took away from them. They
told me if I didn't cooperate with them, I would spend the week-end in
the cells, which didn't enthral me! They asked me if I understood Shona,
and stupidly I said "a bit".

They pulled me over on 2nd street, and said they were talking to their
boss, and then changed from going to Central, to go to Makombe building
on Herbert Chitepo. I stopped on the side of the road, and number 4
joined us, but no ID.

He started the whole rigmarole again, but this time they wanted to search
the car for "drugs". I had to take everything out my pockets, they looked
in my suitcase, the cubbyhole, everywhere, and then in my wallet. No 1
said to No 4, in Shona, "ya shoma, ano 40 dollar chete" (there is only
$40 in here, not enough). Then No 4 said they were going to let me off,
they all got out the car and walked off. As I drove off, I wondered why
they were not keeping "the stolen goods" but didn't go back to ask them!

A nasty experience, lasting about 2 hours.

I have since found out that there is a gang of about 18-20 operating this
scam in Harare, and they are taking hard cash from the people they
"investigate. I obviously didn't have enough money to warrant their taking
it. Thinking about it afterwards, these bastards have us at a real
disadvantage, as we are all scared of the police, CIO, CID that we
automatically do what they say.

What could I have done differently?

1    I could have walked back into Coopers, where there was a salesman to
hear the conversation.

2    I could, and should have, taken more note of their "ID", and should
have written it down, on the pretext of remembering their names to be
able to speak to them.

3    I could have said I wanted to ring their office to check their
credentials, they might not have let me.

4    I should definitely have not got in to the car with them, but
insisted they got their vehicle to take me to Central. They might well
have stolen my car.

5    If that didn't work, I should have driven to Central, or nearest
Police Station, regardless of what they said, and got out and walked in
to the station.

The biggest problem is that one gets very flustered, and don't think too
clearly, and fast enough, (or at least I didn't), and you can think of a
thousand things to say or do later, but these bastards play on your fear
and get away with it.

At least if you have read this far, if it ever happens to you, you might
be able to think quicker than I did, and make a plan!

Gary

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

2.  John Elliot

Dear Sir

I am an ordinary Christian taxpayer in England and have great sympathy
for the suffering of the Zimbabwean people and make donations towards
humanitarian aid to your country in the hope that I can help feed the
poor and help the ill.

I am very happy for the British government to send more money to develop
the economy as well once we know that it will be wisely used by a
democratic and fair government.

At the moment you are reported as paying "civil servants" at 100 US$ but
I have only just realised that "civil servants" include the army and, no
doubt, the air force personnel.

You have a big army which you do not need unless someone is likely to
invade you (which they are not) and its only use seems to be as an agent
of oppression. I am not in the least happy that some of my taxes might
end up being paid to your soldiers and so I will oppose any attempt by my
government to send any funds to Zimbabwe other than humanitarian aid. In
the meantime, why not give them each a spade and send them out to create
some well tilled farming land?

Sincerely,

John Elliott

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

3.  Barbara Thomas - The so called accident

Dear Sirs,

With respect to Susan's 'accident' - has anybody given any thought as to
how David Spain was also killed in an 'accident' when he was first
"Minister of Agriculture" -  saying we should all stay and work with the
new government and then when he had reservations as to how things were
panning out - died - in a car accident - on his way to SA ?????

Barbara Thomas

Australia

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

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

Bill Watch 11 of 22nd March 2009 [2009 National BudgetReview Statement and STERP]