Zim Online
Wed 17
May 2006
HARARE - A bumper maize harvest of 1.8 million tonnes
announced by the
Zimbabwe government in the just ended agriculture season is
unlikely, food
monitoring groups and farmers said, forecasting output at a
maximum 900 000
tonnes.
Zimbabwe has experienced food shortages
since 2001, with analysts
blaming President Robert Mugabe's land grab policy
for disrupting
agriculture production, while critical shortages of farming
inputs among new
black farmers have also hit output.
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made, who in the past has falsified
harvest
figures - in one case stunning the nation with details that he was
able to
see a bumper harvest aboard an airplane - on Monday told
Parliament's
portfolio committee on agriculture that crop forecasts
indicated that the
grain harvest would significantly improve compared to the
past three
years.
"We expect 1.8 million metric tonnes total
harvest and we expect to
purchase 900 000 tonnes, which suggests that the
other 900 000 tonnes will
be retained by the farmers," Made said. But aid
agencies and farmers
immediately cast doubt over the glossy
figures.
The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA)
Foreign
Agricultural Service sees a harvest of 900 000 tonnes of the staple
maize
crop, up from 550 000 tonnes last year.
Zimbabwe requires
about 1.8 million tonnes of maize per year for human
consumption, stockfeeds
and industrial use. The Zimbabwe Grain Producers'
Association (ZGPA), a
commodities body of the Commercial Farmers' Union said
this year's harvest
will be higher than that of 2005 but less than half the
government's
projections.
"We are expecting a harvest of around 700,000 tonnes,"
George
Hutchison, the ZGPA head said. "There are a number of factors really
including the untimely availability of inputs to farmers."
The
US-based Famine Early Warning System Network, which releases
regular reports
on Zimbabwe's food balance, said in its recent report that
the country will
see an improved harvest from last year but food shortages
will
persist.
A member of the Zimbabwe Farmers Union, which represents
rural peasant
farmers and usually sides with the government on most issues,
told
ZimOnline: "There is no doubt output is better than last year, but to
say we
will harvest 1.8 million tonnes, is a bit overly
optimistic."
The official, who declined to be named, would not give
the
organisation's maize forecast.
Analysts said the fact that
Made indicated that the government would
continue importing maize "to build
up strategic grain reserves that would
have a two-year cover," was an
admission that the country's harvest was not
enough to meet national
needs.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono has said the
country
spent US$140 million in food imports last year while government
politicians
have cranked up the rhetoric saying a bumper harvest in 2006
would see much
of the little foreign currency trickling into the country
being diverted
from funding food imports to pay for infrastructure
development.
Zimbabwe, the former basket of southern Africa is now
surviving on
food aid after plunging into a crisis blamed on controversial
policies,
fanning inflation which raced beyond 1 000 percent in
April.
"Incredible. There is no evidence on the ground to back
those
figures," said John Robertson, a Harare-based economic analyst. "It is
absolutely essential that we import food, if we don't import then we don't
eat," he added.
Mugabe charges that food shortages are a result
of drought and
sanctions imposed by the West which has seen Zimbabwe unable
to get foreign
currency inflows to plug the food deficit. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 17 May 2006
BULAWAYO - Nearly half of the National
Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ)'s
more than 9 000 wagons lie broken down and
derelict because there is no hard
cash to import spares, the state rail
operator said on Tuesday.
In a rare admission that vividly
illustrates how key infrastructure is
falling apart after years of economic
crisis, NRZ public relations manager
Fanuel Masikati told journalists in the
second largest city of Bulawayo that
the firm was also saddled with huge
debts, with arrears owing to the
workers' pension fund as well as to the
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA).
"The NRZ has a total of 9 385
wagons and of these, 5 366 are available
(for use) while 4 019 are awaiting
repairs. It is pertinent to mention that
the spares for the wagons including
wagon wheels are imported and require
foreign currency," said
Masikati.
The NRZ official added that the rail firm owed Z$9
billion to the
pension fund and $40 billion to ZIMRA.
An acute
foreign currency shortage has been one of the major
highlights of Zimbabwe's
economic crisis that has also seen the troubled
southern African country
short of food, fuel, electricity, essential medical
drugs and just about
every basic survival commodity.
Rampant inflation, which shot
beyond 1 000 percent last week, has also
been a key feature of Zimbabwe's
economic crisis, making it difficult for
businesses to survive.
Masikati said a government-backed programme to turn around the
fortunes of
the cash-strapped rail company has seen only 42 locomotives and
1 248 being
refurbished since it was launched three years ago.
Zimbabwe, which
was earlier this month ranked among the top five
failed states in the world
out of 148 countries polled by the Foreign Policy
magazine and the Fund for
Peace, is in its seventh year of an economic
recession critics blame on
wrong policies by President Robert Mugabe.
But Mugabe, who has
ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain 26
years ago, denies
mismanaging the country saying the country's problems are
because of
sabotage by Western countries out to punish his government for
seizing land
from whites and giving it over to landless blacks. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 17 May 2006
BULAWAYO - Ruling ZANU PF party
national chairman John Nkomo allegedly
told a party meeting in Tsholotsho
district that a 1987 Unity Accord that
ended hostilities between the old
ZANU PF party and the opposition PF-ZAPU
party would collapse if he and
Vice-President Joseph Msika were pushed out
of the government, the High
Court heard yesterday.
Nkomo and ZANU PF politburo member Dumiso
Dabengwa are being sued by
former information minister Jonathan Moyo for
defaming him when they
allegedly told Mugabe that he (Moyo) had funded and
led the hatching of a
"coup plot" against the veteran President last
year.
Moyo says Nkomo and Dabengwa - who deny defaming the former
minister -
made the defamatory claims against him to Mugabe and during a
ZANU PF
district co-ordinating meeting in Tsholotsho at the end of
2004.
Under cross-examination by the defence, Jerome Ndlovu, a ZANU
PF
official who attended the Tsholotsho meeting, said Nkomo told the meeting
that there would be no unity in Zimbabwe if he and Msika were removed from
the government as was being advocated for by Moyo.
"There were
a lot of issues said at the meeting about the Tsholotsho
Declaration by
Nkomo and after attacking Professor Moyo, he said there would
be no unity to
talk about in the country if he (Nkomo) and Vice-President
Joseph Msika were
removed from ZANU PF and government," Ndlovu told the
court.
Both Nkomo, who is House of Assembly Speaker and Msika are from the
old
PF-ZAPU party that was led by the late vice-president Joshua Nkomo and
was
mainly supported by Zimbabwe's minority Ndebele tribe. ZANU PF, led by
Mugabe, was mainly backed by the majority Shona tribe.
Unity
between the country's then two biggest political parties led the
government
to call off an army crackdown in Zimbabwe's southern and western
provinces,
home of the Ndebeles, where the army had been deployed
purportedly to quell
an armed insurrection against Mugabe's rule. But the
army ended up killing
more than 20 000 innocent civilians.
Mugabe and his government
usually portray the Unity Accord as the
basis of peace and unity in Zimbabwe
and accuse their political opponents of
wanting to wreck the unity pact and
plunge the country into political
turmoil.
Moyo alleges that
claims by Nkomo that he wanted to wreck the Unity
Accord were defamatory.
The former information minister, who was fired from
the government after he
stood as an independent in Tsholotsho constituency
during last year's
parliamentary election, is claiming Z$2 billion in
damages from Nkomo and
Dabengwa.
At least three witnesses so far called up by Moyo's
lawyers told the
court that Nkomo and Dabengwa uttered the defamatory
statements. The case
continues today with more witnesses expected to testify
on behalf of Moyo.
Last week, the court was told that senior ZANU
PF leaders loyal to
former parliamentary speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa had
plotted a parliamentary
coup that would have seen Parliament order Mugabe to
resign.
Moyo and several other party leaders had backed Mnangagwa
to take the
then vacant position of second ZANU PF vice-president, a
development which
would have seen the former speaker subsequently appointed
state second
vice-president, placing him at an advantage to succeed Mugabe
when and if he
steps down in 2008.
Once Mnangagwa was firmly
ensconced in the vice-president's post his
camp would then have pushed for
the ouster of Nkomo and Msika to be replaced
by allies of the former
speaker. The coup plot would reach the climax with
Parliament being
mobilised to ask the isolated Mugabe to resign, the court
has heard since
the defamation case began.
The plot to push Mnangagwa to the
vice-president's position fell
through after it was discovered by Mugabe and
other ZANU PF old guard
leaders, who threw their weight behind Joice Mujuru,
who was subsequently
appointed ZANU PF and Zimbabwe's second
Vice-President.
The defamation suit has afforded analysts and
observers a rare
insight into the bitter power struggle within ZANU PF over
Mugabe's
successor. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 17 May 2006
HARARE - The High Court will today
deliver judgment on an application
for bail by Peter Michael Hitschmann who
is facing charges of plotting to
assassinate President Robert
Mugabe.
Hitschmann, a former soldier in the white Rhodesia settler
army before
Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, was arrested last March
together with
several opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party
activists
after he was found in possession of weapons of war.
The state says Hitchmann, together with the MDC activists planned to
assassinate Mugabe and commit acts of banditry around the country. The MDC
activists have since had charges against them dropped for lack of
evidence.
An official at the High Court told ZimOnline yesterday
that Justice
Chinembiri Bhunu will deliver judgment on Hitschmann's bail
application.
"The state and the defendant have been notified and
the judge will
deliver the judgment tomorrow," said the
official.
Hitschmann has been languishing in remand prison since
his arrest last
March with the state arguing that the former soldier had a
case to answer. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 17 May 2006
HARARE - Veteran sports administrator, Paul
Chingoka is set to bounce
back as president of the Zimbabwe Olympic
Committee (ZOC) after an audit
committee tasked to probe his financial
dealings while he was president of
Tennis Zimbabwe (TZ) cleared
him.
Chingoka was at the helm of TZ for over 10 years when he quit
to join
ZOC but his tenure at the Olympic body was short-lived following
allegations
that he could have abused funds while still running
tennis.
The Sports and Recreation committee set up an audit
committee to probe
Chingoka's financial dealings. As a result, the ZOC board
last year forced
Chingoka to step aside from his powerful position until
investigations were
completed.
But the audit report, which was
released last week cleared Chingoka.
A source close to proceedings
at ZOC said Chingoka was ready to resume
his responsibilities.
"Chingoka wants to come back into mainstream sports administration. He
is
happy to be back and become the country's most powerful sports
administrator.
"He has already started making moves for a
comeback. He is a man who
has been involved in administration for a long
time and would be happy to
come back soon.
"ZOC has to meet as
a board and discuss his fate. But it will be one
way because Chingoka was
just asked to step aside while a probe was
underway. Now that he has been
cleared he should automatically revert to
being president. The board will
just sit to formalise the issue," said a
senior ZOC official.
Chingoka was not available for comment. - ZimOnline
Business Day (Johannesburg)
May
16, 2006
Posted to the web May 16, 2006
Dumisani
Muleya
Johannesburg
ZIMBABWE's embattled white commercial farmers are
in fresh talks with
government to stop a new wave of land seizures that has
hit the farming
community.
Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) deputy
president Trevor Gifford said
yesterday negotiations were under way to stop
the latest rash of land grabs,
which come shortly after reports that the
government was seeking former
farmers to take 99-year leases and return to
their land.
"There have been people coming with offer letters for land
telling farmers
that they have to get off the land because they had taken
over," Gifford
said. "We are talks with the government to resolve the
current situation,
and I would not really want to comment further on this
issue."
Farmers said last week eviction orders, some with just 48 hours'
notice,
were served on 20 white landowners in a move seen widely as a
renewed threat
to clear out the 200 farmers who remain on the
land.
Most of the farmers are in the Karoi region in the northern part of
the
country.
The new evictions fly in the face of Land Reform
Minister Flora Bhuka's
recent statement that white farmers would be allowed
to return to their
farmland on 99-year leases.
Government ministers
have continued to contradict each other on the land
issue, exposing
uncertainty in government on how to take farming and the
agriculture sector
forward.
When the state-sponsored land seizures began in 2000, the CFU
had 4500
members, but the number has shrunk to about 200 due to
confiscation.
Although the government has claimed the land-reform
programme is over, state
officials continue to grab farms.
Deputy
Information Minister Bright Matonga is being taken to court for
allegedly
harvesting billions of dollars worth of the soya beans at Chigwell
Estate.
The minister claims the crop belongs to him because he had obtained
an offer
letter for the farm.
He has laid claim to 793ha of Chigwell Estate, which
had about 105ha under
citrus. Chigwell Estate owner Thomas Beattie said last
week Matonga reaped
his soya beans and also threatened to harvest seed
maize.
"Matonga has already cut soya beans valued at not less than
Z$20bn," Beattie
said. "He is also threatening to harvest a seed maize
valued at Z$150bn
which we grew under contract with SeedCo. The threats have
forced us to seek
an interdict."
Beattie's lawyer, Ozias
Musamirapamwe, has confirmed Matonga is being sued
for "unlawful harvests"
at the farm.
President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu (PF) MP for Mudzi
West, Joseph
Christopher Musa, recently invaded the Danish-operated Zengea
Farm, which
houses Red Dane Dairy on Harare's outskirts, in defiance of
government's
pledge to uphold bilateral investment agreements.
The
MP's gangsters are still camped at the farm and have taken over the
butchery
manager's house, the butchery and store.
The Kirk family, which owns the
farm, has said Musa stormed Zengea Farm two
weeks ago armed with an offer
letter dated February 13.
The letter was allegedly signed by Land Reform
and Resettlement Minister
Didymus Mutasa.
Mass Kirk said the MP four
of his invaders squatting outside Zengea
butchery.
Mutasa, who
supervises Bhuka's ministry, recently said farmers would not be
allowed
back.
"No white farmer is being invited back. And why should we offer
them such
long leases?"
Mail and Guardian
Harare, Zimbabwe
16 May 2006
12:23
Police have found the decomposing bodies of 13 people
who
drowned in the Limpopo River while apparently trying to cross from
Zimbabwe
into neighbouring South Africa earlier this year, state media
reported on
Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear if
those found were part of a
larger group of up to 60 people who were reported
to have drowned in the
flood waters of the Limpopo in
January.
"We are working hand-in-hand with our South African
counterparts
to recover the bodies of those who drowned during the rainy
season," a
police officer in Zimbabwe's southern Beitbridge district told
the
state-controlled The Herald.
He said eight of the
bodies -- found when water levels dropped
last week -- had been identified
as Zimbabweans. The five others could be
Zimbabweans or Mozambicans or other
nationals trying to reach South Africa
via Zimbabwe, according to the
report.
The bodies have been taken to a mortuary in South
Africa's
border town of Musina.
South Africa, with its
booming economy and strong currency is
the destination of choice for many
people in the region. It is particularly
appealing to Zimbabweans trying to
escape the country's worst economic
crisis, marked by high unemployment and
inflation of more than 1 000%.
In January this year, local
reports said as many as 60
Zimbabweans could have drowned while trying to
cross the crocodile-infested
Limpopo near Dite, 60km east of the Beitbridge
border post, when the river
was still in flood.
Officials
in South Africa said at the time they knew nothing of
the
incident.
Reports say more than 97 000 illegal Zimbabwean
immigrants were
deported from South Africa last year. -- Sapa-dpa
By
Violet Gonda
16 May 2006
The students who were
arrested for taking part in anti-fee hikes at
Bindura University last week
allege they were assaulted and treated to
inhuman and degrading treatment by
the police. Part of this degrading
treatment involved performing simulated
sex acts.
One of those seriously injured was Zimbabwe National
Students Union
Secretary General Beloved Chiweshe. He said, "The treatment
was quite bad.
We were beaten thoroughly with clenched fists, baton sticks,
wooden sticks.
We were asked to roll on the ground and imitate intimate
acts. Even our
female comrades were asked to lie on the ground and they were
assaulted on
their backs with baton sticks and I am touched and I am
saddened by the
treatment we received from the police at Bindura Police
Station. But I know
the good Lord will judge them harshly."
Asked what he meant by being made to imitate intimate acts Chiweshe
said,
"We were asked to lie on the ground naked. We were stripped stark
naked and
pretend as if you had the companion of a woman and pretend you
were being
intimate with her while the rest of the officers watched and
laughed and
mocked you as you were in such an act."
The student leader said
they were put into three cells. One for the
males and the other for the
females but he was placed in solitary
confinement in leg irons. He said this
was because the police had labeled
him a terrorist and separated him from
the others so he wouldn't influence
them. "I was said to have embarked on an
terror-tourism campaigning around
the country. But I insist I am fighting
for the serious cause of students
that education is a basic right." He said
that he was put in a cold cell
without a blanket and the students were
denied access to their lawyers or
medical treatment.
Their
lawyers are also reported to have been harassed and threatened.
Harare based
lawyer Andrew Makoni confirmed to us recently that he had
missed a bail
hearing in Bindura after he had been notified that there would
be
trouble.
The demonstrations at Bindura University started last week
Monday
after students protested against the new fee structures which
culminated in
the astronomical increases in tuition and accommodation fees
in all state
tertiary institutions. 15 were arrested at that time and their
lawyer Makoni
confirmed that all of them were tortured. They appeared in
court but were
denied bail.
A few days later disgruntled
students ran amok at the university and
in retaliation torched a building at
the institution. More students were
arrested. By Wednesday it was reported
that there were at least 50 students
in police custody.
The
students were divided up and sent to various police stations. Some
were sent
to Harare's Chikurubi and Harare Remand Prison while others
remained in
Bindura holding cells.
The 10 in Bindura appeared in court Monday
and were granted bail.
ZINASU coordinator Washington Katema said the bail
covered all students who
were put on remand. He said all students have now
been released except for
one who is at Chikurubi.
Several of
the released students, including Beloved Chiweshe, were
treated at the
Avenues Clinic in Harare. Two are said to have been
hospitalised.
When asked if he will demonstrate again after
this treatment Chiweshe
said, "The ill-treatment gives me the determination
and courage to fight
even more. we are going to continue demonstrating until
the majority of the
students are able to have access to tertiary
education."
All the arrested students are expected to appear in
court on the 26th
May. The police in Bindura and Harare refused to
comment.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
By Tichaona
Sibanda
16 May 2006
The MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai has
launched its second phase of
intense mobilisation by venturing into rural
Zimbabwe before finally
embarking on a season of democratic
resistance.
The planned mass protests, dubbed 'the cold season of
democratic
resistance' by Tsvangirai are already gathering momentum in the
country and
are expected soon after the intense mobilisation of the party in
rural
areas. Analysts believe this exercise could take a whole
month.
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told us from Harare, Tuesday
that the
intense mobilisation of the rural constituency kicks off this
Saturday with
a star rally in Gokwe in the Midlands province. Other rallies
lined-up this
weekend are in Bikita and Gutu, all Zanu (PF)
strongholds.
Chamisa was quick to discount long held views that the
ruling party
enjoys most of its support from the rural populace. And this
will also be
the first time that the top MDC leadership will have set foot
in rural
Zimbabwe since the March congress, although they have addressed
over 30
rallies in urban areas in this time.
'It is fallacy for
anyone to suggest that rural areas are
predominantly Zanu (PF). In fact it
is the other way round. They entice
people in rural areas to vote for them
using intimidatory tactics and
withholding food from them, otherwise they
are weak in rural areas,' Chamisa
said.
According to Chamisa,
party President Morgan Tsvangirai and his top
lieutenants will criss-cross
the vast rural landscape reaching out to 'get
the correct gospel and
mobilise the people to deal with fear and neutralise
the element of
traditional leaders who have been abused by Zanu (PF).'
He said, "In
other words our message to them is that democratic
resistance is not only
the preserve of those in urban areas. We expect them
to play a role in
dismantling the dictatorship and to that end we are going
to be quite
visible in rural areas in the coming weeks."
SW
Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
May 16, 2006
By
Andnetwork .com
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is
expected to visit
Harare later this year, is working on a plan to resolve
the Zimbabwe crisis
and provide a possible exit strategy for President
Robert Mugabe, diplomatic
sources said this week.
The sources
said Annan was hoping to make a major breakthrough on the
Zimbabwe issue
before he retires soon.
He is said to be working with the
international community on the
issue, including South African President
Thabo Mbeki who has been the world's
point-man on Zimbabwe for the past six
years.
Sources said Annan's plan includes offering Mugabe an
internationally-backed plan for Zimbabwe's rehabilitation and economic
recovery, which implies economic aid in the form of balance-of-payments
support, investment and trade finance, on condition that he give a firm
timetable for his departure. If Mugabe agrees to the plan, he will also be
offered amnesty over accusations of human rights abuses.
It is
understood the international community also wants a programme of
political
and economic reforms to ensure quick recovery. The other issues
include
transitional arrangements, constitutional reform, free and fair
elections,
culminating in a legitimate regime in Harare.
Sources said the plan
includes the need for a comprehensive package of
reforms that Zimbabwe has
been working on of late with the International
Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF
in March refused to lift sanctions on Zimbabwe
insisting on full payment of
arrears and structural reforms.
Mugabe recently offered to "build
bridges" with Britain and other
countries to end Zimbabwe's isolation.
However, the international community,
including the United States and the
European Union, have indicated no talks
are possible unless a major policy
shift and reform agenda are adopted in
Harare.
Last month
Finance minister Herbert Murerwa was given the same message
when he met
former Belgian deputy prime minister and foreign minister Louis
Michel in
Brussels.
Mbeki tried to work through the IMF to resolve the
Zimbabwe issue by
offering a conditional US$1 billion loan which Mugabe
rejected. Mugabe in
February in effect told Mbeki to "keep away" from
Zimbabwe.
Annan last month dispatched Professor Ibrahim Gambari,
the UN
Under-Secretary-General for political affairs, to South Africa where
he held
talks with Mbeki on several issues, including Zimbabwe.
Sources said Gambari also met Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi on April 23 in Pretoria. The sources said talks between the two
were frosty, putting Annan's visit in doubt.
A UN official last
night confirmed Gambari visited South Africa
recently and met
Mbeki.
Mugabe and Annan last year clashed over the Anna Tibaijuka
report on
Operation Murambatsvina.
Mugabe's press secretary
George Charamba said in March Annan had
indicated to Mugabe he would visit
Zimbabwe when he gets time. He said UNDP
administrator Mark Malloch-Brown
had written to Mugabe on Annan's proposed
visit.
Charamba also
said Mumbengegwi would be working with Gambari on the
programme for Annan's
trip.
Annan held talks with Mbeki on Zimbabwe on March 14. He
endorsed Mbeki's
quiet diplomacy on Zimbabwe, saying: "The situation in
Zimbabwe is extremely
difficult. It's difficult for the Zimbabweans, it's
difficult for the region
and it's difficult for the world."
Source: The Independent
SW Radio Africa
Opposition Leader Arthur Mutambara speaks on Hot
Seat programme with SW RADIO AFRICA journalist Violet
Gonda.
Broadcast on 16 May 2006
Violet: We welcome
Professor Arthur Mutambara on the programme 'Hotseat'.
Professor Mutambara
was recently appointed President of the split group that
was called 'the
pro-senate faction' as a result of the divisions that split
the MDC in
October last year. Welcome Professor Mutambara.
Arthur:
Thank-you very much. Correction, I wasn't appointed, I was elected
at a
Congress in Bulawayo on the 26th of February. So we need to make sure
that
listeners are very clear that I'm a product of a democratic process in
the
form of a Congress. But, thank you very much for having me
here.
Violet: Right. But first, you know, people have said 'who
is this new kid
on the block'? We know you were a student leader back in
the 1980's, we
know you are a respected scientist; engineer. Apart from
that we know very
little about the man Arthur Mutambara; who is Arthur
Mutambara?
Arthur: There's nothing very unique about me Violet.
I am just one of the
many Zimbabweans who has stepped up to the plate to be
part of the solution
in Zimbabwe. We are representing a generational
intervention in Zimbabwe.
We are saying that it is the duty and obligation
of every Zimbabwean to be
part of the process of constructing economic and
political solutions in our
country. History will never absolve our
generation if we don't become part
of the solution to our national crisis.
Mutambara is just one of many
Zimbabweans and there's nothing that qualifies
me more than other
Zimbabweans. As to why I'm here, I think that's a
question you have to ask
the people who elected me at the Congress in
Bulawayo. But, there's nothing
unique about Mutambara. Mutambara is just
another soldier who has stepped
up to the plate to be part of the democratic
process in Zimbabwe.
Violet: Now many have said where were you
during the period you were out of
the country. You left Zimbabwe in the
late 80's and you came back into
active politics just this year in 2006.
Were you active in Diaspora
politics in the States for
example?
Arthur: Specifically I left in 1991 to go to school at
Oxford and then
worked in the US; worked in South Africa. The bottom line
is, I thought it
was important for me to get exposure and to get experience;
to get an
education and become a better Zimbabwean in terms of my
contribution. My
hope and trust is that my exposure and experience in the
UK, my exposure and
experience in the US, my exposure and experience in
South Africa will make
me a better contributor in the public discourse in
Zimbabwe. So here is a
Zimbabwean who is saying I want to be part of the
nation of Zimbabwe, I want
to part of those in Zimbabwe who has stepped up
to the plate to be part of
the democratic processes. So I'm here. The
question is to judge me by my
contributions, to judge me by what I am
proposing for the country, to judge
us as a party by our vision, our mission
and our strategy. We are here
today because Zimbabwe is in a national
crisis. 85% unemployment, 90% of our
people living below the poverty datum
line, 913 % inflation, serious
diversion, unemployment. We are saying that
Zimbabwe needs a vision - where
do we want Zimbabwe to be in 30 years time?
Our country needs a vision.
This party, MDC, that I represent, has a vision
for Zimbabwe. A vision of
opportunities, business opportunities, employment
opportunities,
entrepreneurship, a vision of healthcare and education of
high quality and
accessible and affordable healthcare. A vision of Zimbabwe
being the
leading democracy in Southern Africa, ahead of South Africa,
Zimbabwe with a
per capita and GDP that's in the top 5 in Africa. A
Zimbabwe that is
globally competitive. Our party, the MDC that I represent,
has a vision for
Zimbabwe. Not only does it have a vision, it has a
strategy, the game plan
to take Zimbabwe from the national crisis that we
are in to the promised
land. The promised land of opportunities. The
strategy hinges on two
things, one area is governance and the second is the
economy. So we have
ideas and principles around governance - things we are
going to do around
governance, and issues and programmes around the
economy. And also let me
emphasise that our enemy in Zimbabwe is ZANU PF
and Robert Mugabe. We are
here to fight and defeat the regime of Robert
Mugabe. Mugabe is our target;
ZANU PF is our target. We are stepping up as
a new generation to make a
difference in our
country.
Violet: But still, Professor Mutambara I want to come
back to my earlier
question, which is why were you silent all this time the
time you left in
1991 to 2006. We'll come back to your proposal and I know
it may seem a bit
trivial to you but you have been criticised for coming
from nowhere and
straight up to the top position and your opponents want to
know what you
were doing during this period whilst others were
organising.
Arthur: I was not silent, I was active, but at a
lower level. I was active
in corporate Zimbabwe as a consultant. I was
active in civil society at a
lower level. I was active in public discourse
in the US and in South
Africa. I was active in the global struggles of poor
people. So, I was
active in a different area. But, in any case, what has
that got to do with
the rising price of rice in China? What has that got to
do with anything.
Right now Zimbabwe is burning. Does Mutambara, - does the
MDC that I
represent - have a vision? Do they have a strategy from the
crisis to the
promised land. We should concentrate on the substance of the
change that we
want to bring about in our country. Sometimes we get caught
up in the form
of change. We want change, Mugabe must go, ZANU PF must go -
but what are
you going to do when you get into power? What's your capacity
as a party?
What's your vision for the country? What's your strategy? What
is it that
makes you relevant to Zimbabwe, also, what are your principles
and values?
Do you believe in non violence, are you tolerant, do you believe
in
democracy, do you believe in collective decision making processes. Are
you
a democrat? Not only do you believe in these things, but do you walk
the
talk? Are you a principled opposition party, are you a principled
opposition
leader. We are saying we are sick and tired of being sick and
tired in
Africa of change that has no content. We have seen it in Zambia
when
Chiluba took over after Kaunda and Chiluba turned out to be worse than
Kaunda. We don't want that travesty in Zimbabwe. We have seen it in Malawi
where Maluzi took over after Banda and was not necessarily any better than
Banda. In Zimbabwe we are fighting for change that has both form and
substance.
Violet: You said earlier on when I introduced you
that you were not
appointed; but you were actually elected at a
congress?
Arthur: Yes, in Bulawayo on the 1st of February,
yes.
Violet: Now did you come voluntarily or were you invited?
Because there are
people who say the leaders in the pro-senate faction
namely Professor
Welshman Ncube, Gibson Sibanda, actually went shopping
around for a leader.
Arthur: I think that's a dumb question to
be very polite. The people of
Zimbabwe reserve the right to engage and elect
any Zimbabwean that they want
to be part of the democratic process. I was
nominated, I was elected at a
Congress in Bulawayo. If you want to find
out why they thought Mutambara
could be a useful soldier for democracy and
social justice in Zimbabwe, you
ask that electorate. You ask those five
thousand people who were in
Bulawayo at the Congress why they thought it
wise and useful to have
Mutambara as one of them. I'm just another
Zimbabwean who's saying I'm sick
and tired of being sick and tired of being
an analyst, and an observer, a
spectator of my country. I want to be a
player in the definition of the
destiny of my country. What I'm saying
today, it's not enough to leave the
destination of Zimbabwe to Chinotimba,
Mai Mujuru na Tsvangirai.
Chinotimba, Mai Mujuru and Tsvangirai need help.
They have a role to play
but other Zimbabweans must step up to the plate and
assist in the
construction of political and economic solutions in our
country, and I am
one of those Zimbabweans who is stepping up to help others
who are in the
trenches. The people who are in the trenches felt it
necessary to involve
me in their processes and I am here to serve Zimbabwe.
. I am simply a
vehicle, a servant, I am not a messiah; I am a servant of
the people of
Zimbabwe and I am here because we as Zimbabweans we will never
be respected,
wherever we are, in England, in South Africa and in America,
unless and
until we are successful as a society. It doesn't matter how much
money you
make; it doesn't matter how much education you have. As long as
Zimbabwe,
as a country has not succeeded you will never be respected. As
long as
Africans in Africa, are unsuccessful, Africans globally will never
be
respected. I am here to be part of the construction of solutions.
Political ones and economic ones in SADC and in Africa in general, so that
we as Africans globally are respected and are equal players under
globalisation.
Violet: What about this ethnic and elitist
tag that is surrounding your
group? How are you going to go around
this?
Arthur: I think this is where people were very cheap after
the split on
October 12th. People thought they could destroy some of the
people I'm
working with by taking them with the name of ethnic Ndebele or
they're ZANU
PF or they're CIO's. Let's get over that crap. As Zimbabweans
we must
respect each other. When we disagree don't call each other names.
Don't
call ' oh this group has disagreed with me, oh they are doing it
because
they are Ndebeles'. Or 'this group has disagreed with me, oh, they
are CIO
and they are ZANU PF'. Let's stick to principles and values. I am
here
working with Zimbabweans; I am here not working with a faction, we are
building a new political party by the way - I am not member of a faction, I
am a member of a political party, which political party is re-focusing its
agenda and values. Number one, we are saying to the people of Zimbabwe 'we
are embracing the liberation war legacy'. We are saying to the people of
Zimbabwe 'we are embracing the land revolution agenda'. Not Mugabe's
chaotic land reform programme but land revolution that says the liberation
war was fought on the basis of a number of factors. One of those factors
was land. We are pushing for productivity, self sufficiency, food security
and more importantly the colatoral value of land - security of tenure on
that land. We are saying we can't go back to the pre 2000 February status
quo. Land in Zimbabwe, the land revolution in Zimbabwe must be driven by
Zimbabwean interests - black and white Zimbabweans. Not one group of
people. The land belongs to all Zimbabweans, but on that land we want to
make sure there is productivity. On that land we want to make sure there is
secondary agriculture, where we are saying to the world 'don't sell cotton,
sell cloth and suits. Don't sell timber, sell furniture. Beneficiation in
agriculture. Value addition in agriculture beyond productivity in
agriculture. We have a vision for this country, we have a strategy to take
this country from where we are; the national crisis, to the promised land of
opportunities, living wages and high quality education and healthcare which
is affordable and accessible.
Violet: Just going back on the
issue of the tag that surrounds your party.
Let's not simplify this
problem. It is a huge problem. Many people we
speak to believe that the
Tsvangirai camp has more supporters than your
camp, and some of the reasons
that we have heard from people has to do with
this belief that the Mutambara
camp has people that may have something to do
with ZANU PF. Now, how can
you reassure these people, because there are
those who say that they want
to be sure that this is not just another CIO
plot to further destabilise the
opposition.
Arthur: I will speak to those two things. One the
ZANU PF tag and the issue
of numbers. On the ZANU PF my credibility as a
soldier against Mugabe and
against ZANU PF is unquestionable. I fought ZANU
PF '88, '89, when some of
the people who are actively opposing Mugabe now
were ZANU PF members and
ZANU PF Commissars. So my credibility and history
of confrontation with
Mugabe in Zimbabwe is unquestionable, that, you can
put aside. Secondly,
the people I'm working with some of them were
tortured, some of them went
to prison, some were detained. These people
were victims of the regime of
Robert Mugabe. For six years they worked
together with others fighting
Mugabe. So how can you turn around after six
years and condemn your own
colleagues, your own comrades with whom you
built a party over six years
and say they are ZANU PF, they are CIO. I
think, like I said before, lets
be woman enough, lets be man enough to agree
that sometimes we can disagree
on values and principles, we can disagree on
strategies, we can disagree on
directions; without necessarily mud slinging.
The problem of Zimbabwe, we
have this culture of ZANU PF. For twenty six
years we have not known any
other leader in Zimbabwe, for twenty six years
we have not known any other
political party , so ZANU PF has become a way of
life. It has become a
culture. It has become a culture of intolerance. A
culture that says that
dissent is not good. The culture that says if you
disagree with me you are
an enemy. We need to accommodate dissent, we need
to accommodate
disagreement and say ' hey, we are all Zimbabweans. Don't
question my
patriotism because I disagree with you . don't question my
opposition to
Mugabe because I disagree with you. Let's be grown ups
politically and
accommodate disagreements and cherish diversity of
opinion. And so we have
no problem, I am more opposed to Robert Mugabe than
our opponents! My
history is very clear. Ask Mugabe, ask ZANU who is
more opposed to them
historically and currently. So you can not with any
equivocation, you know,
any other grid, you cannot question, you can not
question our commitment.
Let's talk about the numbers. This is another myth
OK? For a start, we are
in a marathon. The Zimbabwean problem requires
long term thinking, long
term strategic planning. Now Morgan does not have
more numbers than us,
lets take the Congress? How can you have 15 000
people at a Congress? The
ANC which is the biggest opposition party in
Southern Africa has a congress,
they have their congress or conference with
5 000 people. So does it mean
that the ANC in South Africa has less support
than Tsvangirai?
Violet: So are you saying there were not 15 000
people at the Tsvangirai
Congress?
Arthur: A congress is for
delegates, its not a political rally. So that
was a political rally not a
congress. A congress has numbers that are
finite, 5000 or 4000 people, very
specific numbers. So we are not
interested in cheap propaganda. So that
was not a congress it was a rally
meant to trump up numbers around
propaganda. Secondly, the rallies. People
are being bussed into those
rallies. Secondly, numbers are being inflated.
But, we don't care about
cheap propaganda. We are here to pursue
substance, we are here to pursue
the vision for Zimbabwe. We are here to
pursue strategy to get Mugabe out
of power and take over the country and run
the country for the benefit of
all Zimbabweans. We are here not to fight
Morgan Tsvangirai. Morgan
Tsvangirai is our brother, we are here to work
with him to bring about
change in Zimbabwe. We do not take Morgan
Tsvangirai as an enemy, he is a
brother; he is a soldier. But what we are
saying is we must have principles
and values in the fight against Mugabe.
Our submission is: you won't succeed
against Mugabe if you use cheap
propaganda to try and fight the struggle
against the dictator. You wont win
in the struggle against the dictator if
you use the same methods; violence,
lack of democracy, corruption to fight
against a corrupt regime. Let's be
very clear that there are basic
principles and values that are essential in
any struggle to liberate
Zimbabwe, essential to liberate Zimbabwe and create
a new society.
Democratic resistance for example. We support mass action,
we support
democratic resistance. We support jambanja. We know more about
jambanja
than many of these people who go around talking about democratic
resistance. We are the foundation of jambanja. There is a caveat, we do
not believe in making cheap promises, we do not believe in phrases like
'final push', we don not believe in phrases like 'short and sharp action'.
How can you set yourself up for failure? What happens if it doesn't happen?
The journalists will be asking you 'Mr President, how short, Mr President,
the winter is almost over, where is the winter of discontent?' If you are
capable of carrying out short and sharp action you don't talk about it, you
just do it. When you talk about it, number one you are letting your enemy
to prepare for you and crush you. Secondly, you are setting up people for
failure and consequently as a result of that behaviour you are going to
demoralise people and take them five years behind. So, we are going to
support democratic resistance, we are going to support mass action when its
called by others or we are going to call it ourselves. But, the difference
is, democratic resistance is just one of many strategies we are going to use
to bring about change in Zimbabwe. So we take democratic resistance as a
weapon, as a tool. Secondly, we need a new people driven democratic
constitution. So we are going to work with the NCA, we are going to work
with civil society to drive and work towards a new people driven democratic
constitution.
Violet: But do you have support from civic
society, from the students? And
also still on the issue of support, you did
talk about numbers and you said
that numbers are not important because you
seem to imply that some of the
people who went to these rallies, the
Tsvangirai rallies, some were bussed
in. Now, what about the defections?
Several opposition leaders from your
camp have actually defected to
Tsvangirai.
Arthur: Again, let's be specific. There are three
people who have defected
from our side. Chebundo, Sipepa Nkomo and
Chimanikire.
Violet: And how many people have defected from the
Tsvangirai side?
Arthur: That's fine. We'll talk about that.
Remember we are building a new
political party, and its a new political
party based on a re-commitment to
the original values of the foundation of
the MDC and also committed to a
vision, strategy and mission for Zimbabwe.
Now, those three people, yes
symbolically it's damaging, propaganda wise
it's damaging. Why are people
leaving our party. But remember we have said
very clearly no longer
comfortable with what our platform is. Those who are
going for cheap
victories, those who are not prepared for a long fight to
democratise
Zimbabwe and reach Zimbabwe's promised land in 20, 30 years,
must leave the
party now. So we are encouraging people to defect. Those who
do not want to
fight, those who are swayed by the propaganda about numbers
can leave now.
But, for your information, Chimanikire left and his body
guard stayed with
us, his PA stayed with us. So in terms of substance in
the programme, there
is no impact to us in terms of the defection of
Chimanikire. In terms of
impact and substance, Chebundo and Sipepa Nkomo
are not consequential in our
dimension of the fight. So yes, symbolically
people could say are we are on
the rocks, but remember, we are in a
marathon. Who cares what happens in
the first five seconds of a marathon?
Who cares what happens in the first
500 metres of a marathon. And in any
case, you judge us, you compare
Mutambara and Tsvangirai, I've been in this
game of five months, Tsvangirai
has been in this game for seven months.
What kind of comparison is that?
What happens after six months. What happens
after two years? What happens
after five years. So the comparison between
Mutambara and Tsvangirai is
misplaced, and in any case Mutambara and
Tsvangirai are not competing.
Mutambara and Tsvangirai are fighting against
Mugabe. Mutambara and
Tsvangirai have a common agenda to democratise
Zimbabwe. We have more that
brings us together than divides us but the
bottom line is we don't want
people in the struggle who use violence as a
tool of oppositional politics
organisation. We don't want people who are
intolerant to dissent. We don't
want people who defy and violate their own
party constitution. So as a
party our focus is ZANU and Robert Mugabe, our
focus is fighting to defeat
Mugabe and ZANU. And civil society, yes, there
are some people in civil
society who are destroying civil society as we
speak, they have become
partisan and we are encouraging them to say as
labour, as NCA, as Zimrights,
as ZINASU, stick to your core business. Your
core business is the
constitution, your core business are the workers. So
do not be partisan in
factional party politics and be able to drive the
agenda of the new
constitution. We are going to work with civil society to
fight for a new
constitution in Zimbabwe. We are going to work with civil
society to repeal
the repressive legislation - AIPPA and POSA - so we can
level the political
playing field so we can contest and defeat Mugabe in
elections. Yes, we
know, the elections were rigged in the past, they were
rigged in 2000, they
were rigged in 2002, they were rigged in 2005. The
challenge that we are
presenting today is to say that its not enough for the
opposition to say
that the elections were rigged. What do you do about it?
So, our task
going forward is to understand how elections are rigged in
Zimbabwe, and put
mechanisms in place to make it harder for the ZANU regime
to rig elections.
That's our first strategy, the second part says in the
event that they go
ahead and rig those elections, you must have a credible
and implementable
plan B which will be implemented without equivocation nor
ambiguity to make
sure ZANU and Mugabe will not get away with a fraudulent
election again.
So we do not have any illusion about election in the past.
They were rigged
the three times. The challenge is the leadership in the
past was not very
robust and clear in countering rigging and secondly they
never had an
executable implementable plan B which we are working on and
that's the
strategy. But the first thing is we need a new people driven
democratic
constitution. And the third one which is important and people
don't actually
talk about. It's not enough to have a new constitution. You
need
democratic opposition parties that believe in non-violence, in
tolerance to
be developed in Zimbabwe. They don't exist that is the charge
we are
making. We do not have robust democratic opposition parties in
Zimbabwe. We
are building one right now.
Violet: That was
Arthur Mutambara. President of the breakaway faction of the
MDC speaking to
us when he visited London last week. Be sure to listen to
the final part of
this discussion next Tuesday when we ask Mutambara if a
government of
national unity with ZANU PF is part of the road-map that his
MDC faction is
selling. Among other issues we ask how does he hope to bring
about change
in a system where the ruling party controls the democratic
process at every
stage. The MDC split has caused great difficulty for voters
and for all
Zimbabweans who placed their hopes in this opposition party. As
part of
these discussions on the way forward we hope to soon bring you an
interview
with MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai.
ENDS
[ This report does
not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
HARARE, 16
May 2006 (IRIN) - Each Sunday morning in the Zimbabwean capital,
Harare,
churches across the city are full of swaying, clapping
congregations:
US-style evangelism is booming, complete with charismatic
preachers, live
bands, and the faithful falling to the floor and speaking in
tongues.
With the economy in its sixth year of recession and
inflation climbing
beyond 1,000 percent, religion has become a refuge for
many Zimbabweans,
bewildered by their ever-deepening impoverishment in what
was once a
thriving country.
Even top-ranking politicians in the
ruling ZANU-PF, veterans of Zimbabwe's
liberation war and former Socialists,
have turned to God, perhaps gaining
new respect as men and women of the
cloth.
Vice-President Joseph Msika was recently ordained as a lay pastor
in the
Anglican church; second Vice-President Joyce Mujuru was promoted to
captain
in the Salvation Army; two cabinet ministers have applied to train
as
priests.
Even Emmerson Mnangagwa, the powerful former intelligence
chief backed by
many to succeed President Robert Mugabe despite his repeated
poor showing at
the ballot box, has announced he was 'born again'.
"I
think their consciences are troubling them. They have a lot of tension
and
stress because they have no idea which way the country should be
driven,"
suggested Prof Gordon Chavunduka, a sociologist and labour
consultant.
It is difficult to escape Zimbabwe's new religious
revival. The two songs
topping the current music chart are gospel tunes;
evangelical preachers are
on TV daily; political rallies, and even military
parades, are now enlivened
with songs of praise.
Sometimes more
down-to-earth material needs - and the hope of divine help to
ease the
difficulties of living in present-day Zimbabwe - seem to be at the
heart of
this spiritual awakening.
"The number of new church members that we are
getting is amazing. The
majority of our members are women and the youth;
their reasons for joining
are varied, but they all have expectations, like
being healed of illnesses,
finding jobs, and other personal expectations
like finding a potential life
partner," said Paul Mnyaka, an elder at New
Ministries, a Pentecostal church
in Harare.
Churches have not been
slow to recognise the needs of their congregations.
"Attend the crusade and
learn how to survive in a high inflationary
environment," read one flyer
advertising a revival meeting in the Midlands
city of Gweru.
Another
Pentecostal church places weekly newspaper adverts to attract new
members.
"I was a prostitute but I have now repented. I have now been
blessed with a
husband, children and a good job," is the supposed testimony
of one young
woman.
With the extended family system buckling under the pressure of the
economic
crisis, churches have become sanctuaries, said
Chavunduka.
But the Rev Aspher Madziyire, president of the Apostolic
Faith Mission in
Zimbabwe, one of the fastest growing churches, denies a
link between
material needs and new-found faith.
"In addition to the
more than 2.5 million members that we have in Zimbabwe,
we have opened so
many branches in countries like the United Kingdom, the
USA, Australia and
New Zealand. If it is a question of economic hardship,
why would people in
countries with such powerful currencies flock to church?
They go to church
because they realise that there is a vacuum in their
lives, which they need
to fill with God," he told IRIN.
"It is written in the Bible that towards
the end of the world, God would
pour his Holy Spirit on his people, and even
those people that you would not
expect to repent have done so," Madziyire
said.
[ This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 16
May 2006 (IRIN) - Affordability and not availability will
determine food
security in Zimbabwe in the coming months, analysts said
after the
government announced it was expecting a much-improved maize crop
this
year.
"With inflation at 1,042.9 percent, most food items are beyond
ordinary
Zimbabweans' reach," commented John Makumbe, a senior political
science
lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe.
Minister of
Agriculture Joseph Made told parliament on Monday that the
country was
expected to produce 1.8 million mt of maize, the official Herald
newspaper
reported. Most food security analysts believe that Zimbabwe's
annual
requirement is 1.4 million mt.
The Zimbabwean government had banned
independent crop surveys, including a
joint assessment with the UN Food and
Agriculture Organisation. An earlier
forecast by the United States
Department of Agriculture estimated production
at 900,000 mt, an improvement
on last year's disasterous crop as a result of
good
rainfall.
Zimbabwe is recovering from four years of food shortages caused
by erratic
weather conditions, the impact of the chaotic fast-track land
reform
programme on the agricultural sector and a critical lack of foreign
currency
to import inputs, such as fuel and fertiliser.
In recent
years the government has battled to provide maizemeal at
subsidised prices
to help contain the crisis, and shortages have been a
recurrent
problem.
"Affordability will be the key test: while maizemeal is
affordable, as its
price is controlled by government, ordinary Zimbabweans
cannot buy other
equally important sources of vitamins, such as vegetables,
or protein, such
as dairy or meat," said an analyst who did not want to be
named. A kilo of
meat can cost up to US$9 and a loaf of bread almost 80 US
cents, but most
households earn less than $100 a month.
The
government's attempts to control prices has helped fuel inflation,
according
to Makumbe. The government has been buying maize from farmers at
$306 per
tonne and then selling it at a subisdised rate of about $20 per
tonne to
millers. "So how is government covering the loss in the
transaction? By
printing more money."
Makumbe said the government was "desperate to show
that their land reform
exercise, which they have been implementing since
2000, has worked, and that
they have been able to produce more than the
white commercial farmers".
The evidence, however, is that agricultural
output - which underpinned the
economy - suffered a severe setback,
affecting export earnings, due in part
to the government's difficulty in
supporting the new farmers.
worldpress.org
Julius Dawu
Harare, Zimbabwe
May 16, 2006
The epochal
ascendancy of Oxford scholar and robotics scientist, Professor
Arthur
Mutambara, to the political throne of Zimbabwe's beleaguered
opposition
party, the Movement for Democratic Change (M.D.C.) has a ring of
fame and
legend like that of his English namesake. The difference ends
there.
Unlike the fabled King Arthur, Prof. Mutambara's quest for
Zimbabwe's
political rebirth will not come simply by the dislodging of the
royal sword
from the stone. In Zimbabwe, the stakes are higher and the risks
greater.
But, the entry of Prof. Mutambara - a dark horse - into the
country's
political arena has not gone unnoticed or unfelt.
The media
has gone agog, and so has the political hype on whether Prof.
Mutambara -
one of the foremost scientists in Africa - is the cure for
Zimbabwe's
political ills. Both the ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition are
deeply
divided and without real leaders at a time when Zimbabwe's economic
and
political ship has run aground. Inflation is rising. There is a shortage
of
almost every commodity needed for everyday living - fuel, bread, maize
corn,
sugar, milk, and even blood.
However, the normal sources for goods and
services have been replaced by the
illegal or 'black' market, which has
particularly thrived by providing
much-needed foreign currency and fuel. The
political climate has gone from
bad to worse as evidenced by Zanu-PF's clean
sweep of the parliamentary
elections, entrenching its two-thirds majority in
Parliament and also its
dominance in the recently reactivated House of
Senate. The irreparable split
of the M.D.C., formed six years ago as the
first formidable opposition party
in Zimbabwe, has thrown opposition
politics into disarray.
Prof. Mutambara is leader of the faction that
supported contesting for the
Senate elections, while the other faction led
by trade unionist, Morgan
Tsvangirai, opposed participation in the
Senatorial elections which it said
was akin to endorsing President Robert
Mugabe's illegitimate regime.
President Mugabe won the disputed 2004
presidential election, which the
international community branded as unfair.
Mr. Mugabe denies this.
In an interview with the South African Mail and
Guardian (March 10), Prof.
Mutambara said he has come as a unifier, a
peacemaker and a nation builder.
"I came to Zimbabwe to become a unifier,
to provide a framework of
reunification of all democratic forces fighting
for change in the country. I
felt that there was confusion and a lack of
direction in the political
party. I do not have time to condemn and fight
other soldiers. We will focus
our eyes on the prize that is defeating the
Zanu-PF culture, not [Robert]
Mugabe. If Mugabe drops dead tomorrow there
still will be a Zanu-PF culture.
The Zanu-PF culture is pervasive in our
society," he said.
Zimbabwe has written its own piece of history by
suffering the highest rate
of inflation in the world. The year on year
inflation surged 168 percentage
points to 782 percent in Feb. 2006 and it is
still rising. Economic analysts
predict it will hit the 1000 percent mark
before Christmas. Unemployment is
over 75 percent with thousands of
millionaires carrying hordes of currency
that buys little.
Given the
sorry state of affairs of Zimbabwe's politics, a fragmented
opposition, a
clueless ruling party and a struggling, frustrated electorate,
can the
'Johnny-come-lately' Prof. Mutambara succeed in a field that has
claimed
many political scalps?
A comment by the privately owned The Independent
(March 3) suggests that he
is in for a long slog: ".a painful fact that
Mutambara must live with is
that like Tsvangirai, he remains the leader of
an M.D.C. faction. It is
important for him to create his own image and use
that to market his ideas.
This could be an insuperable task as long as the
party remains divided and
open to manipulation by Zanu-PF government
functionaries. Put simply, the
opposition in Zimbabwe is no stronger because
of the entry of Mutambara into
the political fray as long as there is no
unity in the M.D.C."
The Zimbabwean (March 6), published in London, said
that the division within
the opposition ranks was a "crying shame" which
Prof. Mutambara et al should
"come to their senses and do whatever it takes
to focus on the real enemy,
resolutely choosing to relegate these side
issues to the sidelines, where
they belong."
The pro-government,
Zimbabwe Mirror (Feb. 28) has given Prof. Mutambara the
benefit of doubt,
remarking that: "He seems to have come up with a position
that is lacking
across the African continent, the attitude of self-belief.We
hope that
Mutambara and his colleagues are not hiding a sinister ace in the
sleeve. We
have seen the type of destruction that comes with misplaced
confrontation
and the readiness to dance to alien tunes."
In its editorial entitled,
'Wanted: unit to winch us out of this quagmire,'
The Independent (March 3)
observed that Prof. Mutambara has entered a
political minefield in which he
has to be nimble-footed to survive the tide
of criticism.
What is new
that Prof. Mutambara can offer which Zimbabweans have not heard
from a
politician before? Well, in an interview carried on the Zimdaily.com
Web
site, he vowed to bring down President Robert Mugabe and end the misrule
that has left millions on the edge of starvation, stating: "We can't expect
the outside world to bring about change... As a Zimbabwean, I've had enough
of seeing my fellow citizens suffering. The game's up. I'm going to remove
Robert Mugabe, I promise you, with every tool at my disposal."
In an
analysis, Britain's Sunday Times said although Zimbabweans are
desperate for
change, it is not surprising that this fresh-faced figure
promising to
'rebrand' the opposition has aroused suspicion. One of his
professors at
Zimbabwe University was Jonathan Moyo, who became Mugabe's
spin-doctor
before being elected as an independent Member of Parliament.
While Prof.
Mutambara's academic credentials read like a who's who list,
there is no
mention of his political experience apart from what is publicly
known - that
he was a rabid student leader during his heydays at the
University of
Zimbabwe.
Prof. Mutambara has a PhD from Oxford University in Robotics
and
Mechatronics, and has worked as a research scientist and professor of
Robotics and Mechatronics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(M.I.T.), Carnegie Mellon University, California Institute of Technology,
F.A.M.U.-F.S.U., and NASA.. He has published three books on engineering. In
addition, he has done well for himself in business as in science, including
a post as professor of business strategy, and as a consultant with McKinsey
and Company.
The missing political credentials have raised eyebrows
and heated debate as
to who Prof. Arthur Mutambara is and what catapulted
him to the top seat
within the M.D.C. The tags have not been long in
coming.
Zimbabwe's minister of national security, Didymus Mutasa, has
branded Prof.
Mutambara as a C.I.A. undercover agent because of his NASA
credentials."Do
not be intimidated by the composition of the M.D.C. faction
which has two
professors (Welshman, Ncube and Mutambara)," Mr. Mutasa was
quoted by the
Web magazine Zimonline (March 7) as saying at a Zanu-PF party.
He added,
'Tine mutungamiriri wedu anoshamisa asiri professor' (You don't
have to be a
professor to lead a political party). We have our own astute
leader [Robert
Mugabe] but he is not a professor." Mr. Mutasa questioned why
Prof.
Mutambara worked for the U.S. space division, NASA, while several
highly
qualified Americans had not.
The British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC) Online commented that Prof.
Mutambara has stepped into the
furnace of Zimbabwean opposition politics
essentially as an outsider, which
is both an advantage and a disadvantage.
The Web site quoted a political
scientist, Eldred Masunungure, who noted
that Prof. Mutambara is an outsider
"untainted by the struggles within the
struggle of opposition politics."
Another political scientist, Brian
Raftpoulos, said Prof. Mutambara had a
good history as a student leader but
will "need time to grow into the
position of national leader."
"Both Ncube and [deputy chairman Gibson]
Sibanda must have realised... that
in Zimbabwe politics, and given the grip
of ethnic consciousness, a Ndebele
would have a very faint chance of making
it to State House," Mr. Masunungure
stated on the ZimOnline Web
site.
The pro-government Sunday Mail (March 5) warned: "Politics is about
popularity - popularity not only among a section of society but across the
whole society. Prof. Mutambara has to know that the intellectuals won't win
him the MDC ticket just as the trade unionists won't win Mr. [Morgan]
Tsvangirai the same. The game is set!"
If Prof. Mutambara is honest
in that he was driven to come home by the
gravity of the economic crisis,
Zimbabweans are waiting for the new day when
the country's future will be
sealed once and for all.
Reuters
s
Tue 16 May
2006 1:34 PM ET
By Stella Mapenzauswa
HARARE, May 16 (Reuters) -
Zimbabwe rights groups criticised neighbouring
countries on Tuesday for
downplaying government slum clearances which have
left thousands of people
homeless.
The United Nations says some 700,000 people lost their homes or
their
livelihoods when police bulldozed slums and what it called illegal
structures in Harare and other towns last May.
Zimbabwe rights groups
said victims still lived in abject destitution with
limited international
aid because Zimbabwe's neighbours in the Southern
African Development
Community (SADC) had minimised the impact of the
crackdown.
"SADC
maintains a position that there is no crisis in Zimbabwe (and hence)
the
humanitarian assistance response from the United Nations perspective has
been low," said Itai Zimunya of rights group Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition.
"During these 8 weeks of commemoration we seek to highlight
the
socioeconomic crisis that the people of Zimbabwe are facing. Once SADC
reforms its position at least it will open avenues for the international
community to come and mitigate the suffering," Zimunya told Reuters after a
tour of affected sites in Harare.
Critics say the slum demolitions
worsened the plight of urban residents
already facing rampant inflation,
chronic food and fuel shortages and rising
unemployment.
Mugabe
denies responsibility for the rot, and in turn points to sabotage by
local
and foreign opponents of his controversial drive to forcibly
redistribute
white-owned farms among blacks.
HOMES NOT
REPLACED
Activists say President Robert Mugabe's government has largely
failed to
deliver on its promise to build 20,000 new houses to replace those
demolished last year.
"The government has constructed 6,000 housing
units across the country but
these are not complete," Zimunya
said.
"Even the few houses that the government has constructed are all
going into
the hands of the kith and kin of those that are in the top
echelons of
power."
Government officials could not be reached for
comment.
The government says the slum clearances were necessary to tackle
crime.
Earlier this week, state media said police had rounded up some 10,000
squatters in Harare accused of committing robberies, theft and
rape.
During Tuesday's tour, organised by the National Association of
Non-Government Organisations, victims said they were still stranded on the
ruins of their old houses awaiting relocation.
Zimunya said efforts
to assist victims were being largely thwarted by the
government, which
accuses NGO's of working to further the political agenda
of the main
opposition party.
"The entire thing has been politicised. In recent weeks
there has been a
massive interrogation of various civil society leaders (on
charges of)
trying to mobilise victims of (the slum clearances) to do a
regime change,"
Zimunya said.
Mail and Guardian
Harare, Zimbabwe
16 May 2006
11:22
Zimbabwe's agriculture minister has predicted that the
country
will harvest its total annual requirement of 1,8-million tonnes of
maize,
contradicting aid agencies who believe that well below that amount
will be
reaped, reports said on Tuesday.
Joseph Made told
a Parliamentary portfolio committee that this
year's harvest would
"significantly improve" because Zimbabwe has had a good
rainy season,
reported the state-controlled The Herald newspaper.
The
authorities say repeated drought has led to crop failures
ever since a
controversial programme of white land seizures was launched six
years
ago.
The maize harvest will not all be delivered to the
state, Made
said.
"We expect 1,8-million tonnes total
harvest and we expect to
purchase 900 000 tonnes, which suggests that the
other 900 000 tonnes will
be retained by the farmers," he was quoted as
saying.
Zimbabwe needs exactly 1,8-million tonnes of maize to
feed its
population of 11,6-million.
The minister said
the harvest could have been even bigger "had
there been adequate inputs" of
fuel, fertiliser and other chemicals, said
The Herald.
He
said Zimbabwe would continue importing grain to build up its
strategic grain
reserves.
Made has provoked criticism in previous years for
predicting a
"bumper harvest" when only poor crops materialised, but this
time he appears
confident.
In a report in March the
United States-funded Famine Early
Warning Systems Network predicted there
would be "improved maize production
compared to last year's estimate of 550
000 tonnes, but well below the 1990s
average, and well below national
consumption requirements."
The government went on to ban aid
agencies from conducting crop
assessments in rural areas.
Agencies say around three million Zimbabweans are currently in
need of food
aid. -- Sapa-dpa
IOL
Basildon Peta
May 16 2006 at 08:58AM
Unperturbed by record high inflation which
crossed the 1 000 percent
threshold on Friday, President Robert Mugabe is
due to make new, hefty
payments to war veterans who helped him win the
liberation war which led to
Zimbabwe's independence 26 years
ago.
Economists fear that the planned payments might plunge
Zimbabwe into
irretrievable disaster and see escalation of the inflation
rate to above 3
000 percent or more.
It was the initial payment
of billions of unbudgeted gratuities to the
war veterans in December 1997
that started the events that led to the
virtual collapse of Zimbabwe's
economy.
But as Mugabe's grip on power becomes shaky amid mounting
economic
problems that he fears might spur Zimbabweans into observing
opposition
calls for mass protests, it seems he is prepared to risk more to
please the
war veterans who constitute his core support base.
Over the past few months, war veterans have been appointed to fill
vacancies
in the army and police left vacant by mass desertions by
frustrated juniors.
War veterans who served in the army and police but who
had retired are being
recalled to boost the security forces with loyalists.
War veterans
who attended report-back meetings with former Home
Affairs minister Dumiso
Dabengwa, who led a committee appointed by Mugabe to
look into issues
affecting the ex-fighters, confirmed yesterday that they
had been told they
would start getting monthly salaries to cushion them from
the present
economic problems.
In 1997, the war veterans were paid once-off
gratuities of Z$50 000
each (then about R10 000) and allocated monthly
allowances.
Under the proposed new payments, the 50 000 or more
mostly unemployed
war veterans would no longer get allowances but salaries
equivalent to those
paid to serving members of the army.
Mugabe
has declared that his government will no longer follow
"orthodox economic
policies" and will keep on printing money to meet its
obligations.
.. This article was originally
published on page 2 of The Mercury
on May 16, 2006
By Lance
Guma
16 May 2006
The tragedy of the economic and political
crisis rocking Zimbabwe came
to the fore again as the bodies of 13 border
jumpers were retrieved from the
Limpopo River that forms the border with
South Africa. State media reports
say 8 of the bodies have so far been
positively identified as Zimbabwean.
The other 5 bodies are yet to have
their identities established. Newsreel
managed to interview a border jumper
who entered South Africa via the same
river a few months back and he
narrated just how the syndicates running the
operations are doing it.
Particularly disturbing from his narration is how
female border jumpers have
to contend with rape and sexual abuse from those
'helping' them cross the
border.
Zimbabweans who entered South Africa in the 80's are mainly
behind the
operations as they draw from their immense experience in the
country. Known
as 'Malaitshas' they house their clients in houses situated
in places like
Gwabalanda and Sizinda in Bulawayo. Over 2 week periods the
numbers are
built up to make a full load before they are transferred to a
Caltex and BP
garage 3km from the border in Beitbridge. Syndicates on both
sides of the
border at Musina and Beitbridge then liaise the crossing dates
and points of
entry through the river. The Zimbabwean syndicate gets 300
rand per person
while their South African counterparts get 500 rand per
person.
Patrols by the South African and Zimbabwean defence forces
by
helicopter on the border are placed in a logbook and the Malaitshas know
exactly when the patrols are due. According to our contact this is where the
abuse of women border jumpers takes place. Many are raped or sexually
assaulted and have no recourse to the law because of their 'illegal status.'
Last year in November a young girl from the mining town of Kadoma was raped
by one of the 'Malaitshas' during a 7 day period in which they slept in the
bush waiting for the tide of the river to go down. Although she managed to
cross into South Africa she died four months later after trying to abort a
pregnancy conceived from the rape.
The actual crossing of the
river is done through the use of chains. As
many as 30 people at a time hold
onto a chain while they are pulled to the
other side of the river. Not only
do they have to negotiate a heavy
infestation of crocodiles but also a
serious tide can rise after heavy rains
in Mozambique sweeping many to their
death. Our contact says people would
rather risk their lives in the
crocodile infested river than stay behind in
the country to suffer the
consequences of an economic meltdown caused by
disastrous political
decisions.
A few months back there were reports that over 60 people
had drowned
in the Limpopo River while trying to cross into South Africa. It
was even
reported that joint operations by the South African and Zimbabwean
police
had failed to retrieve any bodies. The story was dismissed as a hoax
with
the South Africans denying any knowledge of joint operations. As the
water
levels of that same river began to fall last week bodies were
discovered in
an advanced state of decomposition. No one knows yet if the
bodies
discovered are related to reports of the 60 who allegedly drowned in
January. What is worrying however are suggestions that more bodies might be
discovered as search operations continue.
According to official
estimates 200 Zimbabweans are deported from
South Africa everyday. As the
world obsesses itself with the figures of
those who have drowned or been
deported, Zimbabwean women trying to cross
the border have the added burden
of being silent victims of their own male
counterparts.
SW Radio
Africa Zimbabwe news
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Date: 16 May 2006
HARARE, May 16, 2006 (Xinhua via COMTEX) - The Zimbabwe
Institution of
Engineers (ZIE) plans to set up a pilot irrigation project to
benefit the
marginalized people, said ZIE president Caleb Makwiranzou on
Tuesday.
Makwiranzou said that the institution is in the process of
selecting a site
and finalizing with the responsible ministries and hope to
begin the
groundwork by end of June.
The pilot project would also be
implemented in other Southern African
Development Community (SADC)
countries, Makwiranzou said at a conference
which was co-hosted by Zimbabwe
and Zambia in the resort town of Victoria
Falls.
Makwiranzou said the
need to practice responsible engineering to avoid
damaging the environment
also came under the spotlight at the conference.
The conference also
tackled issues that were linked to the attainment of
Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) like creation of employment through
coming up with affordable
projects such as construction of water and
electricity systems and roads to
alleviate poverty.
Reuters
Tue 16 May
2006 2:39 PM ET
HARARE, May 16 (Reuters) - A bus ramped into a heavy trunk in
southwestern
Zimbabwe on Tuesday, killing 11 people barely a day after
another accident
left nine dead in the same area, state television
said.
The accidents brought to 35 the number of lives lost on Zimbabwe's
roads
within the last three days, which have been largely blamed on reckless
driving and unroadworthy vehicles.
As the country grapples with a
deepening economic crisis, analysts say
soaring prices are forcing Zimbabwe
motorists to use worn-out tyres on their
vehicles, while also omitting
crucial maintenance work.
Road safety officials also say that public
transport operators struggling to
stay in business often speed on the
country's highways while vying for
customers.