The Times
March 30, 2007
Rob Crilly in Dar es Salaam and Jan Raath in Harare
Zimbabwe's
neighbours fell in behind the brutal regime of Robert Mugabe
yesterday and
demanded that the West lift all sanctions on his country.
With opposition
growing at home and a crumbling economy, pressure was
mounting on the heads
of surrounding states to urge their friend and comrade
to reconsider his
position. But in a communiqué issued at the end of what
was billed as a
make-or-break summit of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC),
14 leaders reaffirmed their solidarity with the veteran
President of
Zimbabwe.
Their words will come as a crushing blow to campaigners who
believed the
tide to be turning against his increasingly autocratic 27-year
rule.
Mr Mugabe smiled as he pushed past rorters in the Tanzanian
capital, Dar es
Salaam, and declared himself satisfied. "Excellent meeting,"
he cried,
clapping his hands gleefully, before climbing into a waiting
limousine.
Related Links
a.. Rebels drag soldiers' bodies through
streets
The one concrete result of the meeting was the appointment of
President
Mbeki of South Africa - criticised by many for choosing the path
of "quiet
diplomacy" on Zimbabwe - to help to encourage dialogue between Mr
Mugabe and
his Opposition.
As that decision was being announced, nine
activists of the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change were brought to
court in Harare in connection
with a series of petrol bombings, lawyers
said. One, Alec Muchadehama,
confirmed that seven were being held on
allegations of attempted murder.
Ian Makone, an MDC national executive
member, was accused of having an
unlicensed pistol. Another official faces
charges of illegal possession of
explosives. Mr Makone has had to be treated
in hospital for injuries
allegedly caused by police assault since October.
It is not clear if he was
assaulted in his latest spell in police
cells.
The magistrate ordered all nine to be held in custody overnight
after
lawyers said that they had been denied access and had been unable to
take
instructions. An application to the Harare High Court demanding the
release
of opposition activists was filed yesterday, but lawyers were still
waiting
for a hearing as night fell.
Police said that nine bombings
had been carried out since March 12, which
had injured two people, both
police officers, with severe facial burns. They
reported that four police
stations had been hit, as well as township homes
or shops of members of Mr
Mugabe's ruling Zanu (PF) party.
A passenger train, a railway line and,
in the latest attack on Wednesday
night, a fuel tanker had been targeted.
Only minor damage had been reported.
All but one of the attacks - in the
western city of Bulawayo - have been in
Harare.
The MDC has denied
government charges that it is mounting a "terror bombing
campaign". Police
swooped in Harare on Wednesday, raiding about 20 homes
before dawn and MDC
headquarters at lunchtime, arresting about another 60
people.
Mr
Mugabe's Government has faced mounting criticism from Western countries,
which have already imposed a broad array of sanctions on his regime,
especially since the arrest and beating of Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC
leader, this month. Mr Tsvangirai was said to have been among those arrested
at the headquarters, but was released for medical treatment, still suffering
from dizziness from his original beating.
At the end of the two-day
SADC meeting, its chairman, President Kikwete of
Tanzania, said that
Zimbabwe was characterised by confrontation.
"We have the Opposition
complaining that their democratic rights have been
infringed and we have a
Government also complaining," he said. "And we have
an Opposition engaging
in violence." He added that dialogue was the only way
forward.
Mr
Mugabe had outlined Zimbabwe's economic state to the 13 other
representatives of Southern African nations, blaming "illegal" sanctions
imposed by the West for spiralling inflation - of 1,700 per cent - and a
lack of basic commodities.
He also detailed plans to bring forward
parliamentary elections slated for
2010 so that they would coincide with
next year's presidential vote.
The MDC's leading faction reacted angrily
last night to the outcome of the
summit. Tendai Biti, the MDC
secretary-general, demanded to know why the
summit leaders had failed to
condemn the recent wave of violent repression
against the
Opposition.
"I don't hear them condemning the violence, the state of
emergency, the
banning of public meetings," Mr Biti said. "I'm very
sceptical."
The neighbours
- Southern African Development
Community formed as Southern African
Development Co-ordination Conference in
1980, with nine members
- Adopted its present name in 1992
- The
headquarters are in Gaborone, Botswana
- Total membership is 14
countries, numbering more than 200 million people
- It approved military
intervention in Lesotho in 1998 to restore order
after an army
mutiny
- It approved a new security pact in 2003
Source: Reuters,
SADC
Financial Times
By Tony
Hawkins and Alec Russell in Johannesburg
Published: 29/3/2007 | Last Updated:
29/3/2007 20:15 London Time
Southern African leaders shied away on
Thursday from taking President Robert
Mugabe to task over Zimbabwe's
escalating crisis, instead calling for the
easing of western sanctions and
for renewed dialogue between Mr Mugabe and
his opponents.
An an
emergency summit SADC leaders mandated South Africa's President Thabo
Mbeki
to facilitate mediation efforts. The move marked South Africa's formal
re-engagement in the search for a political settlement in Zimbabwe - after a
hiatus of several years - due to Pretoria's frustration at the lack of
progress.
In an apparent gesture to Mr Mugabe however, they also
called for Britain to
honour historic commitments to fund Zimbabwe's land
reforms.
Mr Mugabe reportedly left the summit without making any comment
but his
spokesman earlier said that the Zimbabwean leader would "continue to
tell
the west to go hang as long as those [western] concerns undermine the
sovereignty of the country."
Expectations for the meeting were low,
given the Zimbabwean leader's track
record for holding sway over southern
African peers who still regard him as
the doyen of the region's
liberation-era leaders.
However, the summit took place amid growing alarm
within the region at the
potential repercussions of Zimbabwe's spiralling
economic collapse on
neighbouring countries, and with officials from South
Africa and some other
countries issuing rare criticism of recent repression
of Zimbabwe's
opposition.
In the run-up to the meeting there were
repeated calls in the west for
southern Africa leader's to break with their
policy of "quiet diplomacy" by
publicly condemning Mr Mugabe's repressive
rule and persuading him to step
down.
However, officials in South
Africa and elsewhere in the region cautioned
during the meeting that any
condemnation risked only strengthening Mr Mugabe
who has long capitalised on
his record of defiance of western pressure.
In an interview with the
Financial Times Trevor Manuel, South Africa's
finance minister, defended
South Africa's record saying: "What would it
achieve bugling from the
rooftops?"
Perhaps more important for Mr Mugabe is Friday's meeting of
the central
committee of his ruling Zanu-PF party to discuss the timetable
for
presidential elections and effectively his own future as leader of the
party.
At the party's politburo meeting on Wednesday Mr Mugabe's
supporters said
agreement had been reached on the timing of elections and on
who would be
the party's candidate in the election scheduled for March next
year.
One scenario being floated on Thursday was for the party to hold a
presidential primary to choose its candidate.
Independent, UK
By Basildon Peta in Dar es Salaam
Published: 30 March
2007
Southern African leaders, gathered in Tanzania to discuss the crisis
in
Zimbabwe, have told Robert Mugabe not to stand in next year's elections
and
to engage his opponents in writing a new constitution.
He was
given this "polite" advice at an extraordinary summit yesterday of
the
Southern African Development Community (SADC). South Africa's President
Thabo Mbeki was put in charge of mediating between President Mugabe and his
opponents.
The news came as nine Zimbabwean opposition activists were
charged for
allegedly being "operatives" involved in fire bombings. The main
opposition
party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has denied it is
involved in
an armed terror campaign.
Tanzanian President Jakaya
Kikwete, who is the current SADC chairman, said
yesterday that the issue of
Mugabe's retirement had not arisen. But sources
have told The Independent
that the SADC leaders had "politely" urged him not
to seek re-election next
year.
President Mugabe responded by saying the final decision rested with
his
party. But a senior official of one of the SADC states said they were
confident he would not seek re-election.
Another official said it
would have been foolhardy to expect SADC leaders to
deride Mugabe by
publicly announcing that they had urged him to retire.
Today, the Central
Committee of President Mugabe's ruling ZanuPF party is
due to meet in Harare
to decide on his future.
On his previous insistence that he wouldn't talk
to opposition or allow the
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai to rule the country,
President Kikwetesaid
President Mugabe was willing to be bound by the
decisions the summit had
taken.
Zim Online
Friday 30 March
2007
By Chenai Maramba
KAROI -
Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU PF party political commissar Elliot
Manyika has
called on party youths and war veterans to prepare for a
campaign of
violence against the opposition, which he said had to be
"silenced at all
costs".
Zimbabwe holds a presidential election as scheduled next
year as well
as early elections for Parliament after President Robert Mugabe
abandoned
plans to postpone the presidential poll to 2010.
The
83-year old Mugabe expects ZANU PF's central committee meeting
today to
endorse him as candidate for the party in the presidential poll
although
some senior officials in the party are pushing for him to quit at
the expiry
of his term in March 2008.
Manyika, who spoke on Wednesday night at
a hotel in the farming town
of Karoi about 180km north-west of Harare, said
the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) had to be taught that
Zimbabwe's independence "was
won through blood".
The youths and
veterans of the country's 1970s independence war would
spearhead ZANU PF's
campaign for next year's election while the army and
police would back the
ruling party, according to Manyika.
He said: "We have to gear up
for violence against the opposition and
we have to silence them at all costs
especially here in the home province of
our President (Karoi is in Mugabe's
home province of Mashonaland West). We
have the army, police on our side and
let's teach them lessons that this
country was won through
blood."
War veterans and the youth militias have been the
centrepiece of
Mugabe and ZANU PF's electioneering machine since 2000,
unleashing violence,
terror and murder against MDC supporters to ensure
victory for the ruling
party.
On the other hand, the army and
police have been accused of either
aiding ZANU PF youth militias or war
veterans in committing violence against
government opponents or simply
turning a blind eye.
At least a hundred MDC activists have been
killed during political
violence since 2000.
The European
Union, United States, New Zealand, Switzerland and
Australia have imposed
targeted sanctions against Mugabe and his top
officials in part to punish
them for allowing war veterans and youths
militia to commit political
violence and human rights abuses.
Mugabe and ZANU PF deny condoning
political violence and human rights
abuses and say the Western sanctions are
a punishment for their seizure of
land from white farmers for redistribution
to landless blacks.
Manyika's call for violence against the
opposition comes as Southern
African Development Community leaders this week
met in Tanzania to try and
push Mugabe to agree to dialogue with the MDC to
find a solution to Zimbabwe's
political and economic crisis. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 30 March 2007
By
Tsungai Murandu
HARARE - Analysts have warned that southern Africa could
ultimately pay a
high price for "soft peddling" on Zimbabwe's deteriorating
political crisis
as the Harare economy continues to blight the region's
growth.
The analysts charged that the longer Southern African Development
Community
(SADC) leaders took to solve Zimbabwe's crisis, the greater the
likelihood
of their own political landscape and economies catching the
"Harare breeze".
"There is a false sense of security amongst most SADC
leaders who don't
realise that the best way to safeguard your own house from
a fire in the
neighbour's house is to ensure that you help that neighbour to
quickly put
out a fire at his house," said political scientist Eldred
Masunungure.
The analysts spoke as SADC leaders met in Tanzania for a
special regional
summit to discuss the deteriorating political situation in
Zimbabwe and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
President Robert
Mugabe's government, accused of intolerance of political
opposition, has
come under fire since the arrest and subsequent torture of
its opponents
early this month.
The government on 11 March arrested main opposition
Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai and about 50
other government
opponents.
Tsvangirai was subsequently assaulted by
suspected army commandos in police
custody, triggering an international
outcry calling for Mugabe to respect
the rule of law and to tolerate
dissension.
However, most observers in Harare were yesterday of the view
that
notwithstanding public pronouncements that might come out of the
Tanzanian
summit, SADC leaders would fail to pin the 83-year-old Zimbabwean
leader who
has escaped previous censure from his regional
colleagues.
"The best we can expect from the summit is an acknowledgement
that a
settlement has to be found to the Zimbabwe crisis but none among the
leaders
can stand up to Mugabe to tell him his actions are hurting the rest
of the
region," said an economist with one of Zimbabwe's biggest commercial
banks
who spoke on condition he was not named.
The economist said the
central position of Zimbabwe should be a good reason
for the SADC leaders to
want to seek a lasting settlement to the country's
crisis.
Zimbabwe
is in the middle of the 14-member regional bloc that stretches from
South
Africa to Tanzania and is targeting the setting up of a free trade
zone by
2008.
The success of the free trade area - part of a raft of economic
milestones
set up between 2008 and 2016 - is premised on the condition that
there is
peace in southern Africa and that all the economies are
stable.
A moribund Zimbabwean economy could put spanners in the works to
the
regional plans.
A politically volatile Zimbabwe could
significantly curtail the free
movement of goods and people across the
region. The country offers the
shortest and cheapest route for imports by
countries in the north of the
Zambezi river.
"Delays in finding a
settlement to the Zimbabwe crisis has, therefore,
far-reaching implications
for the region than just political solidarity the
leaders have always cited
whenever the country comes up for discussion,"
said the bank
economist.
The analysts warned that there is also the likelihood that
Western countries
such as the United States and Britain could start
squeezing regional
economic powerhouse South Africa to take stronger action
on Harare.
These countries could easily initiate the collapse of the
South African
economy in retaliation to President Thabo Mbeki's "quiet
diplomacy" stance
on Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwean economy - adjudged by
the World Bank to be the world's
fastest shrinking economy outside a war
zone - has forced many people to
leave for other countries, with more than
two million now settled in South
Africa and several more in Botswana,
Mozambique and Zambia.
At about 1 730 percent, the country's inflation is
the highest in the
world. - ZimOnline
The Telegraph
By Con
Coughlin
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 30/03/2007
Inside
abroad
Johannesburg
Imagine a world without Robert
Mugabe. Imagine Zimbabwe, once the
economic jewel of the African continent,
restored to its former glory.
When officials at South Africa's
foreign ministry start whispering to
visiting American businessmen - as they
did earlier this week - that a coup
in Harare is on the cards for some time
in mid-April, there is every reason
to believe that the wind of change is
about to blow the cantankerous old
devil out of his presidential
palace.
The sudden change in Pretoria's attitude to Mugabe is just one
of the
many factors that have raised expectations throughout Africa that the
dictator's 27-year rule of fear is finally drawing to a close.
But if Mugabe goes, will Zimbabwe's salvation inevitably follow?
Getting rid of the dictator would certainly be a step in the right
direction, a move that finally seems to have found acceptance within South
Africa's ruling African National Congress party (ANC), which previously had
been unwilling to criticise openly a fellow comrade from the long struggle
against white oppression.
If Mugabe wanted to crack the heads
of a few white farmers and drive
them from their farms, that was his
affair.
And if he wanted to terrorise Zimbabwe's only effective
opposition
party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the South
African
government would turn a blind eye, especially as most senior ANC
officials -
including the current president, Thabo Mbeki - regard the MDC as
little more
than a front for disfranchised white colonialists.
That the ANC cadres are finally losing patience with their northern
neighbour is bad news for Mugabe.
One sign of the subtle change
taking place in the Mbeki government's
outlook was the not-so-secret visit
Joice Mujuru, Zimbabwe's vice-president
and long-time Mugabe crony, made to
South Africa last week for private talks
with ANC officials.
Mujuru is just one leading figure within Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF
party who
is opposed to the 83-year-old Mugabe's proposition that he extend
his
presidency until 2015.
Nor are the South Africans confining their
diplomatic overtures to
ZANU-PF.
Despite the ANC's visceral
dislike of the MDC, several senior
officials from the opposition group were
invited this month to talks in
Pretoria which the South Africans described
as "very positive".
And there are many other factors that suggest
events are spiralling
beyond Mugabe's control, such as the widespread
devastation caused by the
drought Zimbabwe has experienced this
summer.
Past chronic food shortages in Zimbabwe have been caused by
the
government's gross mismanagement of the country's agriculture, and the
regime has been bailed out with grain shipments from its African
neighbours.
This time Mugabe needs to look elsewhere for
assistance, namely Europe
and America, and neither Brussels nor Washington
are inclined to lend
assistance without first securing a commitment from
Mugabe to cease his
wilful violation of the constitution.
Add
to this the groundswell of public discontent within Zimbabwe at
the
country's appalling economic plight and it is obvious to all but the
most
obdurate of politicians that radical change is not only necessary but
inevitable.
Mugabe is not just obdurate; he is violent and
capricious, as his
decision to order the arrest of MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangerai earlier this
week amply demonstrated.
Tsvangerai was
arrested hours before Mugabe was due to fly out to
Tanzania to attend a
summit of southern African leaders where he faced sharp
criticism. It was
Mugabe's way of telling his fellow Africans, "I'm still in
charge."
This claim, though, has an increasingly hollow ring,
especially as key
figures within ZANU-PF, such as Mujuru, are no longer
making any attempt to
conceal either their disaffection or their
ambition.
One of the more depressing features of the current crisis
is that,
even if Mugabe were to go, his successor will most likely emerge
from among
the Marxist cohorts that control ZANU-PF.
The West,
of course, still clings to the hope that a more moderate,
less ideological
figure might surface, which is why it has been unequivocal
in its support
for the MDC.
But even before Mugabe launched his latest clampdown,
the MDC was weak
and divided.
Joice Mujuru, generally regarded
as holding pole position in the
succession stakes, is hardly a figure to
inspire confidence.
A veteran of the guerrilla war that eventually
brought ZANU-PF to
power, she owes her political prominence to her husband
Solomon, who for
many years commanded Zimbabwe's armed forces, and therefore
bears
responsibility for many of the atrocities committed against the
country's
civilian population.
Solomon Mujuru, who acquired
vast personal wealth while the rest of
Zimbabwe starved, is credited with
being instrumental in Mugabe's
appointment following independence in 1980;
but the country's dire economic
situation has prompted even him to ditch his
loyalty to his erstwhile
protégé, and he has been wooing support from
British, American and French
diplomats.
When South African
officials talk of a potential coup in Zimbabwe,
Solomon Mujuru's name is
never far from their lips.
For those desperate to see the back of
Mugabe, the replacement of a
political dictator with a military one might
have its attractions, but this
would completely fail to serve Zimbabwe's
long-term interests.
What Zimbabwe needs is not more of the
autocratic Marxist dogma that
has brought the country to its knees; it needs
to start again, just as it
did after the 1980 Lancaster House agreement
ended years of bloody civil
war.
The wounds Mugabe has
inflicted on the country's constitutional and
democratic fabric will need
outside help if they are to heal properly.
But given the world's
past temerity in confronting Zimbabwe's plight,
it is unlikely that Mugabe's
removal will lead to any tangible or immediate
improvement in the country's
fortunes.
Zim Online
Friday 30 March 2007
By Regerai Marwezu
MASVINGO -
President Robert Mugabe's cash-strapped government has awarded
hefty salary
increments to feared Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO)
agents who are
credited with keeping the veteran leader in power.
In a confidential
memorandum dated 1 March 2007, which was leaked to
ZimOnline this week, the
government promised to constantly review the
salaries of the secret state
agents in line with country's rampant
inflation.
"Your salaries have
been increased with immediate effect to cushion you from
the economic
hardships in view of the good work you have been doing for the
government
and country.
"Details of your salary structures will be communicated to
individuals. We
appreciate the good work in view of attempts by the West to
divide the
country," read part of the memorandum.
Although the memo
did not mention any figures, sources within the CIO said
the lowest paid
member of the spy agency now takes home about Z$5 million a
month, up from
the about Z$600 000 that they used to earn before.
The new salaries are
way above the Z$90 000 that ordinary workers earn in
Zimbabwe.
The
new salaries are also way above what professionals like doctors and
nurses,
who downed tools for over two months last December to demand better
pay, are
taking home in Zimbabwe.
Provincial Intelligence Officers (PIO), who are
normally in charge of
provinces, had their salaries increased to about Z$10
million a month, up
from the Z$1 million that they used to earn before the
increment.
Apart from salaries, CIO agents also get generous
entertainment allowances.
State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa who is
in charge of the spy agency
confirmed the salary hike but refused to
disclose any figures.
"Everyone has been getting salary increments and so
did members of the CIO.
I cannot say how much they received because one's
salary is confidential,"
said Mutasa.
The secret state agents
together with the military are credited with keeping
Mugabe in power over
the past 27 years. Human rights groups accuse the spy
agency of brutally
suppressing the opposition to keep Mugabe in power.
Mugabe is currently
facing renewed pressure from the main opposition
Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) party and Western governments after he
indicated that he would
seek re-election at the expiry of his term next
year. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 30 March 2007
By
Patricia Mpofu
HARARE - The Zimbabwean government last night rejected as
"false and
malicious" media reports that Vice-President Joice Mujuru had
resigned.
In its lead story yesterday, the United Kingdom-based The
Zimbabwean
newspaper said Mujuru tendered her resignation letter to
President Robert
Mugabe about two weeks ago.
The newspaper said
Mugabe had however turned down Mujur's resignation.
Mujuru, who was until
last month considered among the front-runners to
succeed Mugabe, is said to
have fallen out with the veteran President
following Mugabe's statement that
he would seek re-election next year.
At a hastily arranged Press
conference last night, Zimbabwe's Information
Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu
categorically denied that Mujuru had resigned
saying the newspaper reports
were a complete fabrication.
"It is not only malicious and hurtful to the
honourable Vice-President
Mujuru but is a complete falsehood which is the
work of our political
enemies who dream for such a development to happen,"
said Ndlovu.
Relations between Mugabe and Mujuru are said to be strained
after the
President publicly attacked his vice-president in a television
interview on
the succession issue on the eve of his birthday last
February.
A faction of the ruling ZANU PF party led by former army
commander Solomon
Mujuru, Joice's husband, is also said to be at the
forefront in efforts to
scuttle plans by Mugabe to stand in next year's
election. - ZimOnline
Cape Argus (Cape Town)
March 29,
2007
Posted to the web March 29, 2007
Basildon Peta And Joe
Lauria
President Thabo Mbeki and other Southern African regional
leaders decided
last night to tell President Robert Mugabe it is time to go,
well-placed
regional intelligence sources said.
They would tell him
they could no longer support him and that he should
retire when his current
term expires, the sources said.
Their recommendations were to be
tabled today at the summit of the
14-country SADC in Dar es
Salaam.
The move was apparently agreed by the group of six countries -
known as the
double troika - that make up the executive committees of the
SADC.
Mbeki was invited to join them last night because of South Africa's
influence in the region.
The sources said the executive committees
had agreed that Mugabe should be
told that his violent crackdown on his
political opponents and the meltdown
of the Zimbabwean economy had made it
impossible for SADC to continue
supporting him.
They had recommended
that he also be told that the spiralling political and
economic crisis in
Zimbabwe was affecting the region badly.
As a result, it was recommended
that the SADC leaders advise Mugabe not to
stand again - as he has vowed to
do - when his term expires next year, nor
extend his term until 2010 by
changing the constitution.
The double-troika meeting also recommended
that an Eminent Persons Group of
former African presidents, headed by former
Mozambican leader Joaquim
Chissano, should be appointed to facilitate
political dialogue between the
ruling Zanu-PF and the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) political
opposition as well as civil
society.
This would address constitutional issues and the rule of
law.
In the UN's Human Rights Council today, the European Union and
others
attacked the Mugabe government over its violent suppression of
demonstrators
and political activists opposing Mugabe's rule, AP
reports.
But Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said Zimbabwe would
be much
better off if the UK stayed out of its affairs.
"I think
Zimbabwe would be better managed if there wasn't so much obsession
about
Zimbabwe," she said in New York last night amid mounting criticism
about the
government's approach to the crisis.
"Britain should actually let the
Zimbabweans find a solution for themselves,
not impose one," she said in an
interview with the Foreign Service.
"Any sustainable solution would put
Zimbabweans in conflict with the people
outside."
She said criticism
of the government's response was "unjustified".
"We hope at the end we
can manage it out of the crisis rather than pushing
it to a further
crisis."
Asked whether South Africa's standing would be damaged if Mugabe
could not
be persuaded to step down next year, she said: "Why should we
speculate
about something that has not happened?"
Dlamini-Zuma was in
New York to chair a Security Council meeting on
strengthening ties between
the African Union and the UN.
The Security Council, at Britain's
insistence, is to hear a briefing today
from a UN official on the
humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe.
South Africa decided not to use its
position as current council president to
try to block the
briefing.
But it made it clear it does not believe the council should act
on Zimbabwe
or even include it on its agenda.
The East
African Standard (Nairobi)
OPINION
March 30, 2007
Posted to the web
March 29, 2007
John Mwazemba
Nairobi
Nigerian writer Chinua
Achebe once wrote a frightening indictment about
African leadership:
'Ordinary citizens in Africa are like sane people who
find themselves
trapped in a dangerous and rowdy madhouse. The lunatics may
be outnumbered,
but they own the place.'
The latest lunatic to break from the asylum is
Zimbabwe's President Robert
Mugabe. In African villages, mad people stone or
beat others with sticks.
In a bout of madness of equal or more
degree, Mugabe took a big stick and
cracked opposition leader Mr Morgan
Tsvangirai's skull. It is not the first
time Mugabe has lost it. Indeed,
there was a time the demons struck so hard
that his bishop was fed up and
prayed for his death.
Writing in Hello Africa, Tell Me How Are You Doing,
veteran Ghanaian
journalist Kofi Osei captures the moment when the Bishop
gave up: 'Desperate
times required desperate measures. Who ever thought that
a day would come
when a disciple of Christ would pray for the speedy death
of a member of his
Church Ñ and a Head of State at that?
'It happened
in Zimbabwe on the eve of another fraudulent election (in
2005). The Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Monsignor Pius Ncube, told
the world he had
prayed for the President to die to end Zimbabweans'
suffering.
Hero
and villain
This astounding revelation was akin to Catholic theologian
Dietrich
Bonhoeffer who, believing the death of Hitler would be for the
greater good,
joined a plot to assassinate the Fuehrer in the 1940s. It
backfired and the
unfortunate Bonhoeffer was hanged at a Nazi concentration
camp'.
What has been surprising is the kind of respect and even
admiration that
Mugabe has received. He has got standing ovations from many
African forums
and has been praised by Internet bloggers as a
hero!
As a continent, we must be in real want of heroes if Mugabe is one.
Osei
writes about a survey by the punchy, London-based New African in
August,
2004, that asked readers to nominate Ôthe greatest 100 Africans of
all time'
(continental and diasporan).
'Mugabe came a thunderous
third after former South African President Nelson
Mandela and founding
Ghanian President and Pan-Africanist Kwame Nkrumah.
Mugabe was considered
greater than South African President Thabo Mbeki, then
UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan, former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere
and former Mozambican
President Samora Machel.
He was also rated higher than former South
African Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
Achebe, Shaka the Zulu, Hannibal, the Queen
of Sheba and Diaspora greats
such as Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jnr
and Muhammad Ali,' the
magazine wrote.
Mugabe's terror constitute
genocide
Kofi wonders: 'Why are so many Africans ready to applaud a
patent despot who
has run to the ground a gem of a country and visited so
much hell on his
people? Does it all boil down to the emotional kick we get
from his ability
to kick in the teeth of the whites in Zimbabwe?
What
lies behind this mystifying inability, or refusal, by most leaders of
the
African Union to be Ôjudgmental' on the disastrous, some say criminal,
behaviour of President Mugabe?'
Do African leaders have to wait for
US Secretary of State Ms Condolezza Rice
and British Prime Minister Tony
Blair to speak before they can gather
courage to condemn Mugabe's actions?
The silence has encouraged Mugabe and
of late he has taken his dictatorship
a notch higher.
Joshua Kurlantzick aptly put it: 'Mugabe's terror may
even constitute
genocide since he has deliberately organised mass murder
against his
opponents. All the while, Africa's new democrats say virtually
nothing.'
It is a surprise that African dictators have been allowed by
other leaders
in the continent to muzzle democracy, kill dissidents and shut
down media
houses without a voice of condemnation.
He has thrown the
jewel to dogs
Sudan's President Omar el Bashir is roasting civilians with
aerial
bombardment in Darfur and Mugabe is clobbering the leader of official
opposition. But our leaders turn a blind eye.
There should have been
a chorus of condemnation by African leaders from the
African Union, Igad or
Nepad and threats of sanctions to sober up Mugabe's
hubris.
Instead,
he receives standing ovations and praises for daring whites and
their agents
Ñ the opposition in his country. He should be ashamed of
running down a
country that was once a breadbasket to a point where its
citizens are
begging for food.
It is reported that at independence in 1980, Nyerere
told Mugabe: 'Robert,
you have inherited a beautiful jewel Ñ make good use
of it.' He did not.
Instead, he has thrown it to dogs and it has become a
country of famished
people. African leaders concerned about the continent
should condemn
Mugabe's actions from the rooftops.
In African
Democracy: A Lost Promise, Tutu is quoted saying: 'We Africans
should hang
our heads in shame. How can what is happening in Zimbabwe elicit
hardly a
word of concern, let alone condemnation, from us leaders of Africa?
Do we
really care about human rights?
Do we care that people of flesh and
blood, fellow Africans, are being
treated like rubbish, almost worse than
they were ever treated by rabid
racists?'
The writer is the
publishing manager of Macmillan Kenya Publishers
VOA
By Irwin Chifera, Blessing Zulu, Howard Lesser
Washington
29 March 2007
Officials of Zimbabwe's
opposition Movement for Democratic Change gave
reporters a tour Thursday of
their Harare offices that police raided the day
before, arresting more than
60 officials and staff, most of whom who
remained jailed 24 hours
later.
Officials of the MDC faction led by party founder Morgan
Tsvangirai said
police seized computers and documents and caused damage
estimated at
US$200,000 in the raid, staged Wednesday morning just before
Tsvangirai was
to speak to reporters.
Authorities arrested more than
60 MDC officials, staff and supporters as
well as some journalists who had
shown up for the news conference, faction
officials said.
Faction
Secretary General Tendai Biti deplored what he said was escalating
official
violence against the opposition. He rejected police accusations
that the
opposition had been stockpiling ammunition and was behind a recent
string of
firebombings.
Correspondent Irwin Chifera of VOA's Studio 7 For Zimbabwe
reported from
Harare.
Meanwhile, a lawyer representing MDC officials,
staff and activists arrested
in the crackdown said some of them had been
tortured while being held by
police.
Of the more than 60 activists
held by police, only nine appeared in
magistrate court, Thursday. The nine
were charged with attempted murder,
firebombing police stations and other
facilities, and the illegal possession
of explosives.
MDC lawyers
filed an urgent high court application seeking relief for their
clients and
a hearing was set for Friday. The lawyers said police have
denied them
access to their clients, whom they say have also been deprived
of food and
medical care.
Intelligence sources said the crackdown was ordered by
President Robert
Mugabe. Security sources said the president's office had
ordered the Central
Intelligence Organization to punish opposition members
under "Operation Bash
Them."
Lawyer Alec Muchadehama said all of the
nine who appeared in court today
were remanded back into police custody
despite their serious injuries.
The human rights group Amnesty
International expressed outrage about
Wednesday's arrest of Tsvangirai and
other MDC officials and staff.
Amnesty Zimbabwe country specialist Rowley
Brucken told VOA reporter Howard
Lesser that Harare police must end what his
group called "the brutal
harassment, torture, and intimidation of opposition
activists."
Zenit, Rome
Date: 2007-03-29
Issue Appeal to End the
Violence
ACCRA, Ghana, MARCH 29, 2007 (Zenit.org).- A fact-finding group
sent by
bishops to evaluate Zimbabwe's situation came to a stark conclusion:
Largely
self-inflicted violence, chaos and anarchy are leading to despair in
the
southern African nation.
The Symposium of Episcopal Conferences
of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM)
sponsored a fact-finding mission to the
embroiled country.
Members of its standing committee are meeting this
week to reflect on the
findings and have issued a report. They echo the
observations made by the
Zimbabwean bishops' conference in a recent pastoral
letter.
The SECAM message said Zimbabwe is characterized by the collapse
of
political, social, educational and economic structures.
It found
that in the chaos, political opponents and "ordinary citizens
(have) become
victims of violent acts, meted out for no legitimate reason"
while basic
needs are hardly met with food unaffordable.
"Drugs and medical services
are far beyond the reach" of most of the
population, the bishops
said.
"The situation in Zimbabwe is not the result of a natural
catastrophe or
only of adverse international conditions," their message
said. "It is
largely self-inflicted. It is a crisis of moral leadership and
of bad
governance."
The bishops' report called it a "situation of
despair" and explained that
some 4 million Zimbabweans have left the country
in exile. Neighboring
countries are thus also affected by Zimbabwe's
situation, they explained.
Today, meanwhile, African leaders put South
Africa's President Thabo Mbeki
in charge of defusing Zimbabwe's deepening
political crisis, leaving him to
mediate between President Robert Mugabe and
his opponents, according to
Reuters.
A special summit of the Southern
African Development Community also urged
the West to drop sanctions against
Mugabe's government and appealed to
Britain to "honor its commitments" to
fund land reforms in its former
colony, the agency said.
In Jesus'
name
The SECAM bishops, in their message, asked "the government of
Zimbabwe, in
the name of Jesus, to immediately stop the violence. And we
urge all the
political leaders of Zimbabwe to be fair, just and
compassionate in
governing their people."
The bishops also appealed
to many African leaders, including President John
Agyekum Kufuor, chairman
of the African Union, to "prevail upon the
government of Zimbabwe to
immediately take measures to stop the violence and
carnage that is engulfing
the country."
"The major motivation of the Church's involvement in the
development of
people has been the promotion of the dignity of the human
person, made in
the image and the likeness of God," the bishops
said.
"As a Church we are aware of the challenges that lie ahead of us
and will do
all within our means to play our prophetic role and carry out
the divine
mission entrusted to us. That is why we shall continue to speak
out for the
voiceless, the marginalized and the oppressed in
society."
Finally, the bishops requested prayer: "We also urge all
churches and people
of faith and good will in Africa to join the people of
Zimbabwe in their
national day of prayer scheduled for April
14."
The Save Zimbabwe Campaign
On Sunday the 11th of March a Day of Prayer
was to be held in Harare. It was
organised by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, a
broad alliance made up of
Churches, Women's Organisations, Trade Unions,
Opposition Political Parties,
Student Bodies and other organisations. There
were many reasons why they
felt their country needed prayer.
When
reduced to statistics Zimbabwe is a place of staggering sadness.
1 in 4
children in Zimbabwe are orphans - many orphaned as a result of
Murambastvina- Mugabe's urban cleansing pogrom where 700,000 homes
destroyed. An unbelievable 1 in 3 Zimbabweans have fled their country.
Zimbabwe has a total population of 12 million. Of this 3 million Zimbabweans
are believed to be in South Africa with another million in the UK and other
countries. They have fled the world's highest inflation rate of over 1700%
and rising, an unemployment rate of over 85%, and the world's lowest age
expectancy - just 34 years for women and 37 for men. And things are set to
worsen. Zimbabwe - a net exporter of maize just a few short years ago - will
need to import 1.2 million tonnes of maize in the year ahead to prevent mass
starvation. The Broad Alliance had so many reasons to pray for their
country.
But the Prayer Meeting never happened. The Zimbabwe
Government unleashed an
orgy of violence to make sure that it didn't happen.
The World watched and
listened in horror as a young MDC activist, Gift
Tandare, was shot and
killed by Police in scenes reminiscent of Sharpeville.
The world watched
Morgan Tsvangirai and 50 other Alliance leaders hobble out
of the Court
building, nursing cracked skulls and broken arms and legs,
injuries
sustained at the hands and feet of the Zimbabwean Police Force. The
world
listened as the husband of 64 year old Sekai Holland described his
wife's
savage beating - "She's been beaten all over her body. She's got
lacerations
and very extensive bruising. In her case there were 15 thugs
taking turns
and a woman jumping on her with her boots. When they finished,
they
deliberately broke her arm and foot and then forced her to walk on
it."
Mugabe knew the World was watching. He told the Western Leaders they
could
'go hang' and said he would continue to 'bash' the opposition. And he
has.
Nelson Chamisa, MDC spokesman, was pulled out of car at the Harare
International Airport by 8 Government agents and beaten with iron bars.
Chamisa was on his way to an EU parliamentary meeting in Brussels. He is now
fighting for his life in hospital with a fractured skull and other injuries.
Since Sunday the 11th literally hundreds of opposition leaders have been
beaten and tortured in an orgy of state sponsored violence, six have been
shot. And in act of crass brutality Mugabe's CIO agents stole Gift Tandare's
bloodied corpse and gave it a pauper's burial- so as to prevent his funeral
from becoming a rallying point.
And still the World has done nothing.
The poor, bleeding and beaten people
of Zimbabwe, who have had war waged
upon them by their own government for
the last seven years, have been
waiting for the World to help them - in vain
We know Mugabe will do nothing
to help his people. In a recent speech he
said "We e will never collapse,
never ever. We may have
our droughts, our poverty, but as a people we shall
never collapse,
never ever. We pride ourselves as being top, really, on the
African
ladder. We feel that we have actually been advancing rather
than
going backwards." And just this week he ordered his Reserve Bank to
raise
Three Million rand to build a shrine to commemorate his
life.
Clearly the Prayer Meeting must happen. Equally clearly it cannot
take place
in Zimbabwe. We, the members of The Save Zimbabwe Campaign, ask
the people
and the Churches of South Africa to come together on the 15th of
April to
pray for our beloved country. Please do not turn your backs upon
us. Please
show us that whilst the government of South Africa, might have
turned their
backs upon their neighbour, her people haven't. We ask you to
Pray for
Zimbabwe.
Should you wish to participate and should you
require further information
please do not hesitate to contact
me.
Eric de Jong snelhond@inx.co.za
Please send any job opportunities for publication in this newsletter to:
JAG
Job Opportunities; jag@mango.zw or justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 9 March 2007)
VACANCY / BUSINESS PARTNER (NAMIBIA)
We
have a vacancy or business partnership available for a sober,
capable,
dedicated, reliable and experienced Vegetable Farmer. Specific
experience in
the growing of tomatoes, cabbages, potatoes, tobacco, onions
and carrots
would be advantageous.
The successful candidate must be
able to work independently, identify and
rectify problems on his own, be an
improviser and maintain good labor
relations. He must have knowledge of soil
preparation, pests, and disease
and the control thereof, fertilization,
sprinkler, center pivot and drip
irrigation, harvesting, handling and packing
process, machinery and
equipment.
Remuneration package will depend on
experience and abilities.
Interested individuals can e-mail their CV to
katimafa@iway.na Please
mention if
you are interested in employment and if you would consider a
business
partnership.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 9 March 2007)
Wanted Manager for Dodhill Garden Centre
Restuarant.
It is a position that would suit a semi retired person, male
or female, and
entails supervising the kitchen staff who are well trained,
and supervising
the garden centre nursery, which also has trained staff, so
all in all it is
more of a supervisory position.
The position requires
a working knowledge of computers, mainly spread sheets
for stock
control.
Our contact details are as follows:
Mrs A MacCallum,
DODHILL GARDEN CENTRE
P O Box 102, Chegutu, 091 273056, 053 -
3555
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 9 March 2007)
JOB OPPORTUNITY, STELLENBOSCH, SOUTH
AFRICA
Help needed by elderly lady owner of a national monument garden
and home
situated 5 km from stellenbosch.
prefer retired or
semi-retired couple or single lady. Farming or similar
practical background
would be a great asset. South african residency would
be
necessary.
Private accommodation in a 2-bedroom cottage in a group of
cottages adjacent
to the main homestead in a peaceful and magnificent country
setting only 10
minutes drive from shops.
duties would be part time,
assisting owner with activities such as local
driving, shopping, paying
garden and domestic staff, incidental faxing and
phoning, preparing
occasional meals, handyman repairs and light maintenance
around the buildings
and gardens, arranging for servicing and repairs of
motor vehicles,
lawnmowers and similar activities.
This is very much a flexitime position
with minimal routine. You would be
able to pursue other interests and
activities in the area.
Remuneration comprises the cottage accommodation
and a salary commensurate
with duties and individual requirements, by
negotiation.
we are hoping to fill this position by late
april.
Please reply, providing relevant information about yourself and
with contact
phone numbers, to the lady's son in harare, email miner@mweb.co.zw or fax
263 (0)4 70 70
35. Confidentiality and prompt response
assured.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 9 March 2007)
Position Required: GARDENER AND MAID
Ex
farm gardener and wife who is a house maid require positions in Harare.
Very
honest and reliable couple.
Please Contact Jo on 0912-247001 for
info.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 9 March 2007)
Employment Offered
1. Position for
bookkeeper up to trial balance (pastel), to assist with
administration,
salary by negotiation.
2. Workshop managers to supervise caterpillar and
earthmoving undercarriage
repairs. Mechanical knowledge essential. Salary by
negotiation.
For both positions please contact Mr J.Meintjes on cell:
011411117,
0912434293 or
263 4
447180-3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 15 March 2007)
Employment Offered
Family living on a
smallholding in Umwinsidale (+- 12 ha) looking for
"estate manager" to
supervise labour, security guards and construction of
various projects on the
property. (Boreholes/ irrigation systems/ fencing/
buildings)
The
successful candidate will have a commercial farming background, be good
with
labour and procurement, have farm construction skills and should
be
knowledgeable on irrigation systems etc.
Competitive package
offered which would include allowance for accommodation.
Kindly email
CV's to: Email: ted@hfa.co.zw
Mailing
Address: Private Bag 604E, Harare,
Zimbabwe
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 15 March 2007)
Employment Offered
Financial manager
(accountant or senior bookkeeper)
Experience essential with sound
knowledge of computerized accounting
practices to balance sheet.
Incumbent
to head a department of 3 subordinates in a long established
family business
in Graniteside Harare
Telephone - Glynis 751904/6 or 751343 or cell
011630164. Email:
auctions@yoafrica.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 15 March 2007)
ADMINISTRATION MANAGER
Experience essential,
must be able to manage the following departments :
Transport and fuel
control
Security, guard force, in-house & yard
Purchasing & stock
control
Telephone - Glynis 751904/6 or 751343 or cell 011630164.
Email:
auctions@yoafrica.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 15 March 2007)
ASSISTANT MANAGEMENT COUPLE
REQUIRED
Description:
Zanzibar -Small 16 bedroomed beach resort on the
island of zanzibar ,couple
needed to help in the daily running of the resort
, dealing in all aspects
of the hotel, communication skills and good
understanding of general
maintenance and must enjoy meeting people and have
fun while doing it . must
be flexible . Please look at web site www.pongwe.com
Skills/Requirements:
Areas
of responsibility include guest relations, room's check and guest
service.
One member of the couple to be in control of housekeeping and
laundry
departments and be involved in training. One member to be strong of
food and
beverage management and kitchen control
ALL E-MAILS TO valprest@aol.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 15 March 2007)
Employment Offered
Two ladies
needed.
Bookkeeping, using Pastel. Computer literacy
required.
Receptionist, required to do banking and pettycash.
Please
contact Ann on 485514 (B) or 496261
(H).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 15 March 2007)
Assistant Management Couple
Required
Description:
Zanzibar - Small 16 bed-roomed beach resort on
the island of Zanzibar,
couple needed to help in the daily running of the
resort, dealing in all
aspects of the hotel, communication skills and good
understanding of general
maintenance and must enjoy meeting people and have
fun while doing it. Must
be flexible. Please look at website www.pongwe.com
Skills/Requirements:
Areas
of responsibility include guest relations, room's check and guest
service.
One member of the couple to be in control of housekeeping and
laundry
departments and be involved in training. One member to be strong in
food and
beverage management and kitchen control.
All emails to: valprest@aol.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 15 March 2007)
Contracts in the DRC (Ad inserted
13/03/07)
Wanted: for six month renewable contracts in the DRC, three
Zimbabwean farm
managers. One with experience in orchard and plantation
crops especially
citrus and bananas, the second with experience in row
cropping: potatoes,
maize/soya, wheat and barley and the third with
experience in dairy
production. Formal agricultural qualifications an
advantage but not a
necessity.
Fluency in Swahili preferable but not
essential.
Contact:
011610073.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 23 March 2007)
PIGGERY MANAGER
Looking for a manager for
a highly productive pig unit on a Marondera Farm.
Few hundred sows. Will be
up to slaughter level. Person must be self
motivated, dedicated, have good
labour relations and have record and
administration skills. Phone early
mornings
0912295736
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 23 March 2007)
Catering
Lady to run catering organisation
in Livingstone, preferably single.
Experience in outdoor catering an
advantage Contact with CV to
tlane@mweb.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 23 March 2007)
Book Keeper/Accountant - Mornings
Only
Lahama Trading (Pvt) Ltd in Southerton, Harare requires a Temp,
mornings
only Book Keeper/Accountant who must know Pastel Version 8 and will
be
required to do Banking and some Admin work also.
Experience in
Marketing will be an advantage. Must be available immediately.
This position
may become permanent.
We are a PVC Glove Manufacturer.
Phone: 780609
or 0912300995 or email: lahama@zol.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 23 March 2007)
IT Technician
Wanted - IT Technician with
standard hardware and network experience.
Papers not necessary but need
somebody with reasonable common sense and
motivation. Contact Donald on 091
2 258159 or
771101/771097-9.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 23 March 2007)
Farm Manager - Tanzania
Farm manger wanted
in Tanzania to manage the Past Governor of the Central
Bank of Tanzania's
Farm.
Please contact: Anna Msutze - 252163/6/7, 722954,
011867328.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 29 March 2007)
Employment Offered
We are looking for a
mature reliable house worker with basic cooking/or
someone who is willing to
learn to cook. The person must be clean, with
recent contactable
references. We are prepared to wait for the right
person. Excellent
accommodation is offered along with a good salary. Phone
011-614-233 or
04-301467
And a:
A mature, experienced gardener, able to work with
minimum supervision,
knowledge of pool and maintaining the garden in tip top
condition is
required. Good salary along with excellent accommodation is
offered. Phone
011-614-233 or
04-301467
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 29 March 2007)
JOB OPPURTUNITY
We have a vacancy for a
mature/semi retired man to join our team. The
position would be as workshop
manager to be in charge of maintenance and
repairs of all farm equipment.
Accomodation and competitive package offered
for the right person. Situated
30km from Beit Bridge (Zim)
Please send CV/References to fergs@netconnect.co.zw or
benfer@netconnect.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
EMPLOYMENT
REQUIRED
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad inserted 15 March 2007)
Employment Sought
Single
male aged 45 mechanic by trade, keen knowledge of nature. Looking
for a job
within the wildlife environment within the SADC Region.
Contact Nick
MyBurgh: lee@qouimetgirls.co.zw
References
- available on
request.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 15 March 2007)
Employment Sought
25 year old female
recently returned from London looking for PA/Secretarial
work.
* 6
1/2 yrs work experience (all in London)
* Advanced knowledge of all
Microsoft Office Programs and other
* Shorthand 110 wpm
* Typing 70
wpm
* Eager to learn and take on new challenges
Please email Louise
for cv or further details at dapayne@zol.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 15 March 2007)
FULL OR PART TIME EMPLOYMENT SOUGHT
Active
retired man with a variety of skills in the Agricultural, Veterinary
and
Wildlife fields, including marketing management and research, seeks a
new,
full or part time, challenge. Has the propensity to engage
unfamiliar
opportunities, learn new skills and has a flair for innovation.
Subject is
computer literate being familiar with most business related
Microsoft
programmes. He has good communications skills being multi-lingual.
Subject
has clean classes 2, 4 and 5 driver's licences. Any opportunity will
be
considered. Phone: Harare 885236 or cell 0912 535737 or e mail at
carmiked@zol.co.zw.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ad
inserted 29 March 2007)
BUILDING CONSULTANT
Available to oversee
construction operations and
alterations/modifications, assess and monitor
quality control; submission of
appraisals for repairs and maintenance
undertakings, and other associated
tasks.
For further information
please reply to the following contact.
mhowarth@zol.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
For
the latest listings of accommodation available for farmers, contact
justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
(updated 29 March 2007)
zimbabwejournalists.com
By a Correspondent
There was drama at Angola House
yesterday when the militant Free-Zim Youth
stormed into the embassy and
confronted the Angolan Ambassador over press
reports that President Jose
Eduardo Dos Santos would be sending 2 500 of his
feared paramilitary police
to help prop up the Zanu PF government.
As part of their Africa Liberate
Zimbabwe campaign, which the youths say is
ideologically built to expose the
hypocrisy and question African leader's
credentials, the radical
organisation said reports that Angola would be
sending troops to Zimbabwe
raised concern that there would be an escalation
of violence against
President Robert Mugabe's opponents.
Twelve African youths from Zimbabwe
and Ghana teamed up and stormed Angola
House "demanding a clear formal
confirmation on the denial that there will
be no Angolan mercenaries to be
deployed to Zimbabwe on the 1st of April".
This follows the security
agreement signed by Zimbabwe's Kembo Mohadi with
General Roberto Monteiro,
the Interior Minister of Angola, recently.
Once inside the embassy, the
youths chanted against the idea of sending the
ninjas to Zimbabwe with the
Ambassador at first refusing to accept the
protesters' petition titled
"Angola don't send Mercenaries to Zimbabwe". In
the petition, the youths
urge the Angolan government to stand by its word
that it would not send the
ninja to cause mayhem in Zimbabwe.
The Free-Zim Youth say Angola, like
all the other SADC countries should
stand in solidarity with the people of
Zimbabwe and not the Zanu PF
government that they blame for causing so much
pain and suffering in the
country.
The Ambassador eventually
reluctantly agreed to meet the youths and take
their petition. The youths
were assured Angola had no plans to send any
troops to augment Harare's
security plans as the resurgent opposition
continues to pose serious threats
to the ruling government.
'We are not sending troops to Zimbabwe,' the
ambassador said.
The youths demanded the ambassador and the Government of
Angola issue a
formal response and statement on the issue. They were given
an assurance
that this would be done when they threatened to continue
besieging Angola
House on the same issue. The youths later presented a
letter to officials at
the South African Embassy telling them that they were
watching them and the
other regional leaders closely.