Zim Independent
Muckraker
At what stage did Ndlovu turn
into a rogue?
WELCOME home, Temba!
Muckraker learnt
that Temba Mliswa was inconsolable this week when
immigration officials at
Gatwick Airport booted him out of Britain.
The deportation is
rather puzzling for a man who brags to having
successfully recruited students
from over 60 countries from the Caribbean,
Africa, the Far East, United
States, Middle East and Europe to study in the
UK.
When some
students recruited by his agency, Education UK Ltd, were
deported recently,
Mliswa said they had failed to answer questions put to
them by British
immigration officers.
"I could not have given them my brains. It's
not my fault that they
failed," he said at the time.
Strangely,
when given 63 questions to tackle by the same officials, he
managed to answer
only five. What did he have to hide?
The Herald managed to make the
whole episode look as if Mliswa was the
victim of British
brutality.
"Mr Mliswa voluntarily refused to enter Britain after
being subjected
to what he described as inhuman political interrogation by
the British
Immigration officials for his pro-Zanu PF sentiments," it
helpfully said.
We sincerely hope that Mliswa was not deported
under a Section 8
notice, requiring him to leave all his possessions behind
in the UK to be
looted by Labour Party officials. And we wish him well in
having to live -
like the rest of us - under a government that has made all
prospects of a
better life very remote indeed.
Having met only
limited success in his campaign to "decolonise" school
names Aeneas
Chigwedere thinks he can engage in further populist demagoguery
by
instructing the Harare city council on what names they should adopt for
their
suburbs. Fortunately, the council has firmly rejected his
pretensions,
pointing out that the current names are part of Harare's
history. This was
revealed last week when the Herald carried a report of city
council
proceedings.
Chigwedere's efforts to get Highfield
changed are particularly
objectionable. The township is indelibly associated
with the nationalist
struggle, and whatever its origins, will be remembered
by its current name.
As the council properly pointed out, it is up to Harare
residents to change
the names of streets and suburbs if they want to, not
ministers whose party
was decisively rejected by the voters of the
capital.
One reason residents excluded the Libyan-backed Zanu PF
from any role
in municipal governance was because its leaders have a tendency
towards
diverting public attention from real issues of civic management to
spurious
nationalist grandstanding. Chigwedere may get away with this sort of
facile
attention-grabbing among his peasant constituents in Hwedza but it
won't
succeed in Harare.
We recall his attempt to get the plaque
on the statue of David
Livingstone at the Victoria Falls changed. What
happened to that initiative?
We heard the National Monuments Commission
rejected it. And what of the
schools? Which ones have actually changed their
names? The Herald this week
carried a front-page picture of Prince Edward
pupils attending a Russian
educational exhibition. The Prince of Wales'
emblem was prominently
displayed on their blazer pockets and is likely to
stay there, we gather.
As things stand, Chigwedere's end-of-term
report should read: "Easily
distracted. Could do better. Should concentrate
more on his core subjects!"
We were intrigued by an editorial
comment in the Herald on Saturday
saying the arrest of war veterans leader
Andrew Ndlovu was "long overdue".
"His utterances and ultimata,
par-ticularly against the Asian
community, could have been misinterpreted as
government policy had action
not been taken," the paper said.
While genuine war veterans are highly respected, it said, "among them
are
rogues who abuse their standing in society to pursue selfish
personal
interests. These are the ones who think they are above the law and
can threa
ten and harass people, particularly minorities, at
will."
Ndlovu's "careless" utterances could have unnerved Asians
had he not
been arrested, the Herald said. "Threatening Asians and whites
will not help
develop Zimbabwe."
This is now the official line
as police move against squatters on
unlisted farms and conservancies. The
government has been told that no food
aid will be forthcoming until the rule
of law is restored and production
resumed on farms. So there is a concerted
official effort to portray those
continuing to threaten farmers and
businessmen as "rogue elements". Farmers
are being invited to plant a winter
crop. Much-publicised evictions are
taking place.
But the
obvious question: If the Herald feels the arrest of Ndlovu was
"long
overdue", why didn't it say something earlier? We don't recall any
editorials
headed "Ndlovu must be arrested". Why didn't it condemn Ndlovu's
remarks
about Asians at the time he made them? After all, war veterans
chairman
Patrick Nyaruwata had the courage to speak out.
The answer is
equally obvious. Because farm invasions, harassment and
racism were official
policy. Because this policy was directed by the highest
in the land and
nobody was allowed to oppose it. As we all know, the war
veterans were
instrumental in that policy. Those favouring a restoration of
the rule of law
- and there were some in Zanu PF and the cabinet - were
rendered
helpless.
"Rogues abusing their standing in society to pursue
selfish personal
ambitions" have been a prominent feature in the recent wave
of land grabs.
Some of the rogues are senior officials of the regime. They
are the ones who
not only "think they are above the law", but have every
reason to feel
secure in that assumption. They have been "threatening
minorities" with
impunity, making "ultimata" to all and sundry. The world can
be forgiven for
"misinterpreting" their incontinent pronouncements as
government policy.
Then, on or about May 10, there was a change. As
the seriousness of th
e impending crisis began to make itself felt and the
international community
made it clear there would be no assistance so long as
the ruling party
persisted in sabotaging the means of production, the
government relented and
took a number of steps that could be interpreted as
restoring the rule of
law and productivity. The official press was quickly
whipped into line.
The Herald suddenly decided evictions were a
good thing. The next day
it congratulated the government for arresting
Ndlovu.
But the question remains: If the Herald believed Andrew
Ndlovu's
arrest was long overdue, why didn't it say so earlier? Here we see
in one
easy lesson how a captive press is next to useless as a public
watchdog, but
very good at getting into line when told to do so.
By the way, why does the government constantly have to reassure
settlers it
will not violently evict them? Who asked the government to do
that? All the
government was asked to do was uphold the law, something it
proved incapable
of doing. Violence is something Zanu PF has never eschewed.
And what about
the manpower the police said they would have difficulty
mustering for
evictions? Has that problem suddenly been solved?
The Herald on
Tuesday carried an editorial headed "Tourism's raw
materials inexhaustible".
It was about the "sights and sounds" of Zimbabwe's
plentiful
wildlife.
The same day the Scotsman carried a story confirming reports
published
in this paper that up to 60% of game on private conservancies had
been
poached. The article was headed "Voiceless victims facing extinction"
(See
Page 15). It included details of the fate of the black rhino. Hopefully,
the
party of gullible American tour operators that are currently in the
country
will read it.
And the story about the commercial farmer
spraying poison on his
maize? It turned out to be infected with Diplodia
which is extremely
dangerous for both human and animal consumption. Let's
hope the new owner,
Mrs Loice Mugadzaweta who made the complaint, discovers
what is edible and
what is not before she sells the rest of the
harvest.
We liked the picture in the Sunday Mail last weekend of
President
Mugabe greeting some of the Zanu PF Youth League national assembly.
Not a
single one can have been under 30. Some looked older than
that.
Just how youthful are members of Zanu PF's Youth League? And
what
exactly do they do, apart of course from allowing themselves to be
misled by
a septuagenarian despot?
Mugabe told the "youths" that he
would not tolerate any more "nonsense
and rubbish" from the MDC over the
issue of talks. He then proceeded to
provide some nonsense and rubbish of his
own. He affected to believe that a
campaign of mass action would involve the
use of "nazi power", a remark the
South African people might have taken
exception to in the 1980s when mass
action worked for them. And he said he
was happy that service chiefs
"announced out of their own judgement that they
would not salute anyone who
wanted to reverse the gains brought by
independence".
So how come they are still saluting him? He has
presided over a
wholesale reversal of the gains of independence. The fall in
per capita GDP,
the collapse of employment opportunities and living
standards, the erosion
of the health service, and looming mass starvation.
What "gains" are those?
Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans are
migrating abroad because there
are no job prospects under his malignant rule.
Zimbabwe is holding out the
begging bowl to its former rulers because it is
no longer able to feed
itself. And the service chiefs are still saluting
him!
We were reassured to hear that they made their statement "out
of their
own judgement". But we would still like to know the details. As for
the
comparison with the election of George W Bush, we were interested to
hear
that Bush, a Republican, "got into power through a judgement by the
Supreme
Court that is dominated by Republicans".
"So who was
actually elected between Mugabe and Bush?" the president
asked.
Let's ask him this. How many Americans were refused the right to
register as
voters or turned away at polling stations? How many Democrats
were told they
couldn't campaign in certain parts of the US because they
were no-go areas
for the opposition? How many were killed by Republican
thugs?
As
for the Supreme Court being dominated by Republicans, what
conclusions are we
supposed to draw? That Bush had a packed Supreme Court on
his side and that
this was unfair?
We entirely agree. We are opposed to packed
Supreme Courts whenever
and wherever they appear. They enable unsuitable and
unpopular rulers to
extend their purchase on power by judicial collaboration.
That is manifestly
not in the public interest and Mugabe was quite right to
say so.
Muckraker has over the years been keeping readers alerted
to a number
of scams, emanating mostly from Nigerians, which seek to
ascertain
somebody's bank account details as a means to clearing out the
contents.
They invariably offer a share in a large sum which they claim to be
holding
on behalf of a deceased account holder or a parastatal corporation.
The
latest effort however appears to be a variation on this theme.
It reads as follows: "Dear Sir. I am Justice Mugato, minister of
solid
minerals under the government of President Robert Mugabe of
Zimbabwe.
"Your cooperation and advice is of great importance for I
would like
to invest my money in any lucrative or money-yielding venture in
your
country of which you will be part of this investment proposal as an
active
partner following your professional advice toward the pursuit. I
would
personally like you to look into real estate and property
management,
purchase of firm or industry.
"Please sir, I need to
be educated professionally due to my low
knowledge for any investment outside
my country, Zimbabwe. Kindly furnish
and equip me with details about one.
Best regards. Justice Mugato."
However low our opinion of cabinet
ministers may be and while it is
true they need to be educated about how
investment can be encouraged, we can
safely assume this letter doesn't
emanate from anybody here - unless he has
been keeping a very low profile. In
fact it has all the hallmarks of the
Nigerian money mafia. "Solid minerals"
is the give away. We don't have any
liquid ones here so we don't make the
distinction Nigerians do between
liquid and solid minerals. And the choice of
Mug. as the first three letters
of the minister's name is an obvious
artifice.
So if you hear from Mr Mugato at teamwork-comm@lycos.com,
beware!
Congratulations to the Herald for its scoop on Wednesday
revealing the
news that Britain had lifted its travel warning on Zimbabwe. It
was the
paper's lead story. But what they didn't tell us was the date on
which the
travel warning was actually lifted: March 27, nearly two months
ago!
Zim Independent
Editor's Memo
The noose tightens
I HAVE
received a number of highly indignant letters complaining about the
behaviour
of France and the United States in allowing President Mugabe and
his
delegation access to the recent United Nations special session on
children.
While I sympathise with the writers, the governments in question
were not
really to blame.
Both France and the United States, like other countries,
are bound by the
Geneva Convention and UN headquarters agreement which permit
leaders
unhindered access to the world body in New York. The international
community
in the late 1940s, when these agreements were entered into, would
never have
granted New York the privilege of hosting the new organisation set
up to
replace the Geneva-based League of Nations if open access had not
been
guaranteed.
Film footage of the youthful Fidel Castro
arriving there to advertise his
1959 revolution and Soviet leader Nikita
Khrushchev banging his shoe on his
desk while British premier Harold
Macmillan was speaking testify to the
universality of the UN 40 years ago.
The same is true now. The US doesn't
have to like its visitors. But it is
obliged to host them.
The French ambassador to Harare, Didier
Ferrand, was careful to point out
that Mugabe's delegation did not stray from
the international departure area
of Charles de Gaulle airport during their
stopover in Paris. In other words
they did not officially enter France.
France adhered to the EU resolutions
on Zimbabwe, the ambassador politely
told us.
The same would have been the case if the delegation had
passed through
Gatwick, as was originally intended. Claims by Stan Mudenge
and spokesman
for Zimbabwe's permanent mission to the UN Emmanuel Gumbo that
Mugabe and
his party could go wherever they liked in Paris or the US were
clearly
misleading. In New York, their 10-day visas limited them to a 25-mile
radius
of the UN headquarters on the East Side. This meant they had
the
less-than-endless vistas of Long Island, upstate New York and New
Jersey
open to them!
Just as the state media was being ordered to
celebrate an effective end to
the sanctions regime, the EU parliament debated
tightening measures against
Zimbabwe. With one eye on the forthcoming G8
summit in Canada next month
where Africa's much-touted Nepad project will be
discussed, a motion called
on President Thabo Mbeki, the project's main
architect, to show
"wholehearted and consistent support for the principles of
democracy, human
rights and the rule of law, and accordingly to demonstrate
the quality of
leadership that befits the powerful and crucial regional
position of South
Africa".
As this related to the Zimbabwe
situation, it sounded rather like a rebuke!
In calling for intensification of
sanctions against Mugabe's government,
MEPs asked member states to extend the
EU's list of banned Mugabe associates
to encompass all key figures. These
include vice-presidents, all ministers,
senior military, police and
intelligence officers, and leading businessmen
who have helped to bankroll
Zanu PF. They also want sanctions extended to
their respective spouses and
children.
The parliament called for the publication of details
pertaining to assets
already identified and frozen as a result of the policy
of targeted
sanctions and the examination of Zimbabwe's debt situation and
drawing
rights in international financial institutions.
This was
hardly the "end of sanctions". In fact, the state media's
premature
celebrations may yet induce a more determined response by the EU
and US. The
debate in the House of Lords on Tuesday evening, details of which
we carry
on Page 4, reflects the strength of feeling on this issue. I don't
know for
how much longer Baroness Amos can go on claiming Zimbabwe is not a
test case
for Nepad when it manifestly is!
However, a word of
clarification here. While new EU sanctions may target the
children of Zanu PF
leaders and may therefore affect their education, the US
measures do not. The
proclamation signed by President Bush in February
applies only to named
individuals and their spouses. The State Department is
not at liberty to vary
it so kids already there are unlikely to be affected.
There have been some
misleading reports in this regard.
I meet diplomats on a regular
basis and I can assure you they are in no
doubt as to the strength of public
sentiment in Zimbabwe, reflected in your
letters and phone calls, on the
sanctions issue - particularly the boasts
being made of sanctions-dodging by
ministers and their flunkies. But don't
expect any immediate breakthroughs
here. As South Africans came to
appreciate in the 1980s, sanctions are rarely
swift or dramatic in their
impact. They make themselves felt slowly and
steadily in all sectors of the
economy.
The government is right in
saying they will impact on all of us. We must
face that fact. But the worst
aspect of all this is that, instead of taking
steps to remove the threat by
improving their standard of governance
including permitting the liberties
guaranteed in the constitution, our
rulers are by their everyday actions
ensuring that the noose around the
country's neck is tightened. That is their
decision, not anybody else's.
Zim Independent
Farm evictions a sham
Dumisani
Muleya
CLAIMS that President Robert Mugabe's government is evicting
farm
occupiers and tackling war veterans is a smokescreen to convince
the
international community that there has been a return to the rule of
law,
diplomats and farmers said this week.
The government was
appearing to clean up its act to obtain
urgently-needed food supplies they
said. But nothing was happening on the
ground.
Diplomats
said the move was calculated to remove charges of
lawlessness from
international deliberations on Zimbabwe. Commercial Farmers
Union executives
reported the only movement they could see was of people
settled on farms
belonging to prominent persons.
The government has been
orchestrating a blaze of publicity around
evictions it claims to be making of
settlers on delisted farms and
conservancies, particularly in Masvingo. This
comes ahead of a key regional
summit on the food crisis to be held in South
Africa next month. Zimbabwe is
anxious to whitewash its battered reputation
to get aid flowing.
"There is no evidence that the so-called
evictions are really taking
place," said a senior Western diplomat. "I think
government is just trying
to hoodwink the international
community."
The CFU said yesterday there had been no visible
movement of settlers
from its members' farms. CFU Masvingo regional chairman
Mike Clark said
"information to hand is that there is no relocation of
settlers from
members' farms. We are aware that police and army officers have
visited
selected farms in the area owned by prominent persons," he said.
"Some of
the settlers on those farms have begun to drift onto adjoining
farms."
Settlers on Nuanetsi and Eaglemont ranches in Mwenezi
had refused to
move, he said.
CFU president Colin Cloete
said while instructions had been given at
government level, there was no
evidence of this translating into action at
the district
level.
"There was talk but no one really walked the talk," he
said.
Cloete said the situation on the farms and conservancies
continued to
deteriorate with officials handing out Section 8
notices.
It is understood the land committee chaired by
Vice-President Joseph
Msika is keen to see farmers planting wheat to avert
shortages next year and
give the impression that normalcy is being restored
in agriculture.
A turnaround in government's public position
was detected at the time
of President Mugabe's meeting with United Nations
secretary-general Kofi
Annan in New York on May 9. This was followed by
strong statements a week
later by Home Affairs minister John Nkomo
threatening to crack down on
illegal land occupiers and "rogue" war veterans.
The state media immediately
welcomed the evictions and the arrest of militant
war veterans' leader
Andrew Ndlovu. The role of minorities in developing the
country was
emphasised after two years of attacks on whites.
Nkomo said police would act against any farm invaders, be they
senior
government officials or ordinary people.
Sources said
the government was using the evictions to give a false
impression to the
world that it was working to address state-instigated
lawlessness that has
gone largely unchecked since 2000. The United Nations
(UN) Standing Committee
on Humanitarian Affairs and Southern African
Development Community (Sadc)
leaders gather for the crisis meeting on hunger
in Johannesburg on June
6/7.
The meeting is important to Harare because Zimbabwe is on
the verge of
a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions due in part to
famine
caused by state-sponsored farm invasions which have undermined
the
once-thriving agricultural sector and sabotaged food production. At the
same
time the country is facing a severe drought.
It is
estimated over seven million people - about 54% of the
population - would by
the end of the year be surviving on food relief.
Western aid
organisations are currently battling to tackle widespread
hunger. Britain has
since last year provided £10 million while the United
States and other donors
have provided substan-tial sums in humanitarian
assistance.
The issue of regional famine, which is also afflicting Zambia,
Malawi,
Swaziland, Lesotho and Mozambique has of late assumed greater
urgency.
Last week UN resident coordinators in Southern Africa
as well as
representatives from other UN bodies and Sadc gathered in Victoria
Falls to
discuss the issue.
UN resident representative in
Zimbabwe Victor Angelo, who convened the
meeting, said there was need for
urgent action to prevent disaster.
"Countries should react now
in order to save money, save lives and to
limit human suffering," he
said.
Zim Independent
War vets challenge govt
Abeauty Mangezi
WAR
veterans have vowed to oppose government's moves to evict resettled
farmers
saying they will defend the land occupiers.
"As war veterans we are not
happy with the way people are being evicted from
the farms and we will defend
them," said Agrippa Gava, an official of the
War Veterans
Association.
"We strongly believe that these people are protected by
the law and for them
to be evicted is disturbing."
He said if
government wanted to relocate people to other farms, this could
be done while
they were still on the acquired farms.
"Since government wants to
transfer people to alternative farms, they should
do so while the people are
on the presently occupied farms instead of
sending them back to their
original home areas," he said.
"No one should go back to his original
home and we stand in full support of
the newly-resettled farmers. Our
position is that people should not be
evicted."
Gava said he had
not come across a single farm where the programme had been
properly
implemented.
"Throughout the country, people are not properly settled
and their eviction
will worsen the situation. We now want the programme to be
done in a
professional manner," he said.
War veterans interviewed
expressed hostility to the eviction exercise
claiming they had been used by
government.
War veterans' secretary-general Endy Mhlanga said the
land redistribution
programme started as a chaotic exercise but was later
enacted into law.
"No one should be evicted from the farms that they
are currently occupying,"
said Mhlanga. "Their stay on the farms is legal.
Evicting them means the
redistribution of land will be taken as a political
gimmick by many people."
Responding to a statement in the state media
that war veterans did not have
any role to play in the land redistribution
programme, Mhlanga said there
were some individuals who did not understand
the role of war veterans in the
exercise.
"Whoever wrote that
article is grossly ill-informed about the functions of
war veterans in the
land redistribution programme. War veterans are part of
government and they
are on the land committees," he said.
News24
23/05/2002 21:20 -
(SA)
Zim denies land grab by elite
Harare -
Allegations that top politicians and ruling party elite took
confiscated
white-owned land intended for the landless and impoverished were
"patently
stupid and indecent", a government spokesperson said on Thursday.
However, ruling party officials were not excluded from a programme
to
allocate seized land to some 54 000 new black commercial
farmers,
Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said in a statement.
A report compiled by farmers that was distributed on Thursday said
hundreds
of senior officials, ruling party supporters, military, police
and
intelligence officers, and even journalists in the state media
were
allocated plots ranging in size from a few hectares to farms of
thousands of
hectares.
No prominent opposition party leaders or
outspoken government critics
appear on the list.
The farmers who
compiled the list said they did not want to be
identified for fear of
reprisals. The information was drawn from government
notices on land
allocations and was backed by testimony from white
landowners forced from
their properties who had contact with new occupants.
Moyo described
the report as propaganda aimed at tarnishing the
country's land reform
programme.
'Colonialists last one to grab land'
"There
is no land grab in Zimbabwe by anyone. The last time land was
grabbed it was
done by murderous and thieving British colonialists," he
said.
Though government and ruling party officials had been allocated land,
they
were not given special preference, nor could they be denied land
because of
their affiliations to the state or ruling party, Moyo said.
Other
seized land was being given to 210 000 black families, he said.
Mugabe has repeatedly insisted the programme to confiscate 95% of land
owned
by the nation's 4 000 white farmers, mostly the descendants of British
and
South African settlers, was intended to settle unfair land
ownership
lingering from the colonial era, which ended in 1980.
Previous efforts at land reforms have been plagued by mismanagement
and
corruption.
The new land seizures, coupled with ruling party
militants' occupation
of white-owned farms has driven hundreds of white
farmers and tens of
thousands of their black workers off the
land.
Disruptions on the farms, along with erratic weather, have
led to
severe food shortages.
The opposition Movement for
Democratic Change accused Mugabe of
stepping up land seizures around
parliamentary elections in June 2000 to
shore up his waning support. -
Sapa-AP
Poisoning Kills 7 in Zimbabwe Sect
The Associated Press, Thu 23
May 2002
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Seven members of a religious sect
in
Zimbabwe - including a 4-year-old boy - died after drinking tea suspected
to
have been poisoned, police said Thursday.
Forty-seven other
people were taken ill after drinking the brew on
Sunday.
Police
spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said foul play was suspected. He
said traces of
pesticide were found in containers used to make tea for a
gathering of the
Johanne Marange Apostolic Church near the town of Nyazura,
120 miles east of
Harare.
The sect, which has followers across Zimbabwe, bases its
teachings on
Christianity and on traditional African beliefs in ancestral
spirits and the
powers of tribal healers.
Forensic tests were
being carried out, Bvudzijena said. No arrests had
been
made.
Zim Independent
Zimbabwe's dairy herd drops by 30%
Stanley
James
ZIMBABWE'S dairy herd has dropped by 30% because of the high costs
of
stockfeed and effects of government's land redistribution programme
which
will result in milk supply shortages, an official in the sector said
this
week.
The chief executive of the National Association of Dairy
Farmers (NADF), Rob
van Vuuren, told the Zimbabwe Independent that the
national dairy herd
continued to decline.
"There has been a sudden
drop in the number of dairy farmers in the past two
years," he
said.
Van Vuuren said there were still prospects for the industry
despite the
on-going problems in agriculture.
"We as farmers have
not been spared the ongoing effects. However, it is
important to note that
there has been a drop from 314 dairy farmers to 310,"
said Van
Vuuren.
Commenting on the state of the dairy industry, the country's
largest raw
milk processing firm Dairibord Zimbabwe Ltd chief executive
Anthony
Mandiwanza said there was concern about the diminishing milk supply
base.
"We are concerned about the erosion of producer viability and
the continual
diminishing milk supply base," said
Mandiwanza.
These developments have far-reaching adverse consequences
for the industry,
both in the short and long term."
He said the
industry was working on a plan to hold the current supply base
from further
erosion and to ensure annual growth of 10% per annum in the
coming three
years.
Mandiwanza said that the initiative would resuscitate the
dairy herd by over
30% by 2003, create a strategic plan for procurement of
stockfeed and
capital equipment as well as broaden the milk supply
base.
Zim Independent
65% drop in tourism receipts
Stanley
James
ZIMBABWE'S once-vibrant tourism industry has been hit by a 65% drop
in
earnings, falling from US$240 million in 1996 to US$80 million by
December
2001, official figures have revealed.
Statistics on tourism
trends compiled by the Central Statistical Office and
presented to delegates
who attended the Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe
(HAZ) annual congress in
Nyanga last week showed the industry was thrown
into severe crisis because of
the inappropriate macro-economic policies of
President Robert Mugabe's
government.
The figures showed that from 1996 to 2002, tourism
arrivals plummeted from
2,4 million to 1,7 million per
annum.
"Factors which have contributed to the decline in the industry
include
inconsistent fuel supplies for most of the past few years leading to
loss of
confidence to the domestic and regional self-drive markets," said
Rainbow
Tourism Group chief executive Herbert Nkala.
"Controversy
surrounding the land redistribution exercise, the spate of
violence, unstable
macro-economic environment, fuel shortages and the
drought have culminated in
the industry incurring huge losses in terms of
business
operations."
Nkala said due to the downturn in the tourism sector,
the hospitality
industry was severely affected as most of the players were
downsizing
operations.
According to the figures, the hospitality
industry has continued to
experience a decline marked by persistent downward
trend of productivity by
an average of 10% on an annual
basis.
Inflows from holiday and business travel declined from
US$239,2 million in
1996 to US$81,4 million in 2001.
"The solution
concerning prospects of the recovery for the industry require
a holistic
approach. The solutions will not come from government alone, in
as much as
the problems did not come from government alone," said
Nkala.
"Conversely, the solutions will not come from the private
sector alone in as
much as the private sector cannot completely absolve
itself from having
contributed to the problems."
Analysts have
predicted that the tourism industry, which had emerged as one
of the leading
foreign currency earners contributing about 40% to Gross
Domestic Product,
would shrink by over 45% by year end if the prevailing
hostile economic
climate continued.
"We are of the view that the current economic
constraints will pose a
challenge in as far as the prosperity of the sector
is concerned," said
economic consultant, John Robertson.
"In fact
we anticipate the industry to register a drop of about 45% by the
end of the
year."
He said that the current political instability would threaten
the resurgence
of the entire industry.
Zim Independent
Mozambique eclipses Zimbabwe
Godfrey
Marawanyika
ZIMBABWE has been overtaken by Mozambique as South Africa's
biggest trading
partner in the region.
Mozambique is one of Africa's
fastest growing economies and this has seen
South Africa turning east from
her northern neighbour which has occupied the
prime trading position since
independence in 1980.
Investments worth more than R25 billion have
been channelled into Mozambique
by South African companies. Zimbabwean
companies have also been leaving in
droves to set up in Mozambique where
opportunities abound.
Addressing a special National Assembly session
in Maputo recently, South
African President Thabo Mbeki said that Mozambique
had become South Africa's
largest trading partner.
"With R25
billion investment by South African parastatals and private
companies, South
Africa has become Mozambique's largest foreign investor,"
said
Mbeki.
Trade statistics for 2001 from South Africa show that in 2001
South African
exports to Mozambique were valued at R5,72 billion, Zimbabwe
R5,38 billion
and Zambia R4,89 billion.
South Africa has taken
over all the breweries in Mozambique. Mozambique's
largest brewer, Cervejas
de Mocambique (CDM), in which South African
Breweries has a 78% stake, has
bought the country's only other brewery,
Laurentina.
BHP Billiton,
the world's largest resources company, has as aluminium
smelter - Mozal - in
Mozambique.
The tourism sector is another area where the South
Africans are big players
and recently the ABSA group took over Banco Austral,
formerly BPD (Popular
Development Bank). South Africa's biggest sugar
producer Illovo, has vast
operations at Maragra sugar project in Mozambique.
Cellular services
provider Vodacom has also targeted Mozambique as a new area
of investment.
Zimbabwe's decliningpolitical and economic environment
has been largely to
blame for this shift.
Zimbabwe's high-risk
status has seen a decline in cross-border credit
guarantees, affecting
Harare's export performance. Offshore financiers were
reluctant to offer
locals any corresponding lines of credit, resulting in
trade partners
preferring cash upfront.
This has been further worsened by lack of
donor funding and the imposition
of economic sanctions.
Over the
past three years, Harare has continued to experience a net flight
of
portfolio investment.
In 1997 portfolio investment stood at around
US$32 million. The pattern has
however changed with the country registering
net outflows in the US$10-$15
million range over the past two
years.
Investment analysts say the country has experienced a
shrinkage in offshore
trade finance.
"Total trade finance
facilities, which averaged US$289 million during the
first four months of
2000, had shrunk by 28% to an average US$209,5 million
over the same period
last year," said one analyst
"This reflects a general unwillingness
of global financial markets to extend
credit to
Zimbabwe."
Zimbabwe is currently experiencing a crisis characterised
by runaway
inflation, foreign currency shortages, rising poverty levels and
general
decline in virtually all key sectors, thus pushing up
unemployment.
Currently Zimbabwe's unemployment levels are believed
to be above 65%.
Zim Independent
Comment
With aid must come straight
talking
WITH the failure of all Zimbabwe's rain-fed crops and the
decimation of
commercial farming the crisis that food security experts have
been warning
of since early last year is now well and truly upon
us.
Now only at the outset of the dry season the country looks parched.
Zimbabwe
has only a quarter of the food it will need for the next 12 months,
UN
agencies have said. They are busy scurrying around in a bid to
alert
traditional donors to the severity of the problem.
In addition
to Zimbabwe, other countries in the region such as Zambia,
Malawi and Lesotho
are likely to be severely affected. So is Swaziland while
Botswana and
Namibia are more able to cope despite shortages.
In addition to the
impact of drought, Zimbabweans are having to cope with
the effects of a
man-made crisis stemming from an ill-conceived land
redistribution programme
which has driven skilled producers off the land. At
the same time customary
forex earners such as tourism have been badly
affected by the reputation for
violence and instability the ruling party's
lawless land campaign has
bestowed upon the country.
The United Nations Development Programme's
resident representative Victor
Angelo, who is leading efforts to get food aid
flowing, complains that "the
key players don't seem to be paying attention".
They are preoccupied with
Afghanistan, Angola and the Middle East he
says.
He is missing the point. The developed world knows only too well
that a
massive humanitarian crisis is looming in Southern Africa. Comparisons
are
being made with Ethiopia in 1984. As it is, Britain, the EU and the
United
States, demonised by the state propaganda machine as "the enemy", have
been
leading food relief efforts.
But there is resistance in
traditional donor states such as Britain, the US,
Canada, the Netherlands,
Scandinavia, France and Germany to helping
President Mugabe out of a crisis
entirely of his own making. For while
Mugabe has declared the current food
shortages a national disaster there is
little doubt that in much of the world
he is seen as the disaster.
There is a pattern to the drought currently
afflicting the region that is
far from climatological. Countries with poorly
developed infrastructures
such as Lesotho and Mozambique have suffered
most.
Those with endemic corruption and poorly managed economies such as
Malawi
and Zambia are also badly affected. But those with well-managed
economies
and governments that work in harness with well-organised
agricultural
sectors such as Namibia, Botswana and South Africa are suffering
least. They
have surpluses they can call upon.
Zimbabwe is among those
that should have withstood the crisis because it has
a record of food
self-sufficiency thanks to a well-developed agricultural
sector. That has now
been effectively sabotaged just when we needed it most.
The Stalinist
campaign to declare commercial farmers a class enemy and to
literally steal
their land and implements has created Southern Africa's only
state-created
disaster. It has not only destroyed commercial agriculture and
induced famine
but also rendered tens of thousands of farm labourers jobless
thus laying the
ground for social dislocation on a massive scale.
The West is being asked
to give generously in its response to the unfolding
disaster.
The only
safety valve is emigration. That at least should bring home the
crisis to
complacent neighbours such as South Africa that have countenanced
misrule
north of the Limpopo.
President Thabo Mbeki's spokesman said this week
South Africa cannot turn
its back on Zimbabwe - something it was never asked
to do! A principled
stance would have been sufficient.
The Rev Jesse
Jackson says the international community should not punish
innocent
Zimbabweans because of policy differences with their government.
This
woolly thinking needs firm rebuttal. Just because President Mugabe is
holding
the country to ransom doesn't mean UN agencies should remain silent
on why a
potential catastrophe is stalking the land. The last thing Zimbabwe
or
southern Africa need is more blind aid.
What they need is the kind of
governance that prevents disasters of this
sort from occurring. Malawi is one
of the biggest recipients of British aid.
What has it got to show for it? How
much aid has Zimbabwe received since
Independence and what is its per capita
GDP now compared to 1980?
Of course, in a humanitarian crisis of this
kind ordinary people - even if
they did swallow Zanu PF's deceitful
propaganda on land - should not be
punished by starvation. But those such as
Mr Angelo, twisting the arms of
Western donors and reminding them of their
moral responsibility, have a duty
to point out the connection between bad
governance and food shortages. That
might catch everybody's
attention.
Until they do that they should not expect an enthusiastic response
to their
appeals.
Zim Independent
News Analysis
Zimbabwe proves a difficult test
case for Nepad
Dumisani Muleya
AS African and G8 leaders prepare to meet
over the New Partnership for
Africa's Development (Nepad) in Canada next
month, analysts say the Zimbabwe
crisis provides a test case for the
project's peer review mechanism.
The movers of the African renaissance
plan - modelled along the lines of the
Marshall Plan for Europe after World
War II - in March set up the peer
monitoring system under Nepad's "Democracy
and Political Governance
Initiative" (DPGI) to enforce compliance with agreed
democratic and
governance standards.
The DPGI lists a series of
obligations and actions, which conform to Nepad
principles. Some of these
include the need to fix terms of office for
elected leaders, upholding human
rights, separation of powers, the rule of
law, political and civil rights,
freedom of expression and press freedom.
Analysts say Zimbabwe, which
falls far short in most if not all of these
requirements, provides an
efficacy test for the peer review mechanism.
"It won't be easy," says
associate editor of African Business magazine, Tom
Nevin. "Zimbabwe hovers
over Nepad's chances in Canada like Damocles'
sword."
Nepad, seen as
an African initiative for African problems, seeks to woo
US$64 billion in
annual investment and trade for the continent from
industrialised countries
on conditions of democracy and good governance.
Essentially, Nepad is an
amalgamation of South Africa's Millennium
Partnership for African Recovery
Programme (MAP) and Senegal's Omega Plan.
Out of the merger, the New African
Initiative was formed. It was later
approved by the OAU in July last year in
Lusaka and endorsed by the G8 in
Genoa, Italy. Its blueprint was finalised in
October last year.
South Africa, Algeria, Senegal, Nigeria and Egypt
initiated Nepad. The
project's secretariat is currently based in Midrand,
South Africa.
Countries join Nepad by signing up to the laid-down
principles. They also
have to agree to external peer review - which is key to
the project's
success - every three years. There are four categories of
signatories to the
deal: Nepad-compliant, aspiring to Nepad compliance but in
need of
assistance, wilfully non-compliant, and post-conflict societies
requiring
special reconciliation and reconstruction.
Many meetings
have been held on the project so far. African leaders are
expected to attend
the African Development Bank's symposium on Nepad on
Monday on the eve of the
bank's annual meeting in Addis Ababa.
Although Zimbabwe is not yet a
member of Nepad, its highly contagious
crisis - which is destabilising the
entire region - could sabotage the
project.
South African President
Thabo Mbeki, the principal Nepad architect, has
repeatedly stressed the
significance of establishing a credible and
effective peer checking system to
ensure African leaders break with past
records of dictatorship and corruption
to adopt democracy and good
governance.
Mbeki, who has admitted
failure on Zimbabwe, last week emerged from talks on
Nepad with Nordic
leaders in Oslo bubbling with satisfaction over their
endorsement of his
plan.
The following day, he also left Downing Street rubbing his hands
with glee
after British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Canadian premier Jean
Chretien
pledged support for Nepad at the forthcoming G8 summit in
Kananaskis,
Alberta, on June 27/29.
Observers say having failed to
restrain President Robert Mugabe in the past
two years, Mbeki's strategy now
is to quarantine the Harare regime to
prevent the Zimbabwe contagion spilling
over.
UK under-secretary of State Baroness Amos last week provided an
insight on
this approach.
"Nepad officials have expressed concern that
Zimbabwe is being used as a
test case for the process," Amos said. "African
leaders have argued that the
continent should not be judged on the actions of
just one country."
However, critics say although Zimbabwe is not a
make-or-break try-out for
Nepad, it is certainly a hurdle, which cannot be
removed by quarantining or
"quiet diplomacy".
While Mbeki and other
Nepad promoters wax enthusiastic about the upcoming
Canada meeting, analysts
maintain Zimbabwe - undergoing a man-made crisis -
remains a steeplechase for
them.
Professor John Stremlau, head of international relations and
co-director of
the Centre of Africa's International Relations at the
University of the
Witwatersrand, says Zimbabwe provides a litmus test for
Nepad ideals.
"Nepad will face some early tests of the peer review,"
Stremlau said. "These
will indicate whether the experiment in building
international cooperation
from below can succeed. How Zimbabwe's crisis is
resolved is the most
obvious test."
Although G8 leaders rejected
Mugabe's recent disputed re-election and
actually warned Nepad was at risk
due to his purported victory, they now
seem to have bought wholesale Mbeki
and Nigerian President Olusegun
Obasanjo's claims the intransigent Zimbabwean
leader has been reined-in.
Statements by Blair and Chretien in London
last week as well as the remarks
by Canadian High Commissioner to South
Africa, Lucie Edwards, indicate a
dramatic shift in Western leaders' views on
the issue.
Blair was hopeful about Nepad's prospects after meeting Mbeki.
He said:
"It's very, very important that we focus on this as a key theme for
the
upcoming G8 summit. I am reasonably optimistic at this stage that we
will
manage to get a good deal out of the summit."
But after the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Coolum, Australia,
in March Blair
noted: "If there is any sense in which African countries
appear ambivalent
towards good governance, this is one thing that will
undermine the confidence
of the Western world in helping them."
Edwards - in line with Blair,
Chretien and Mbeki's new bid to whitewash the
Zimbabwe situation - last week
tried to air-brush Zimbabwe from the G8
picture, saying African leaders could
not act on Mugabe before the recent
presidential election because the Nepad
peer review system was not then in
place. She said the mechanism was
beginning to work as indicated by Mbeki
and Obasanjo's support of the
decision to suspend Zimbabwe from the
Commonwealth.
That move,
prompted by the rigging of the recent poll, saw Nepad's
supervision system
"passing its first test", Edwards said.
However, in an editorial last
week, the Mail & Guardian joined the Zimbabwe
Independent in rejecting
this.
The Johannesburg paper said claims that Mugabe has been contained
were
deceitful.
"Mbeki's message (to Nordic leaders) was that he and
Obasanjo have brought
Mugabe to heel, and that Nepad's pledge to African
democracy for Western
economic assistance remains on course," it said.
"Presumably because they
are anxious for an African success story, European
leaders, including Blair,
are colluding in this lie."
The paper went
further: "The most grotesque case of wilful blindness was a
statement by
Edwards, that the 'dangerous corner' of Zimbabwe has been
passed 'relatively
smoothly', that 'the first test had been overcome' and
that Mbeki and
Obasanjo's acceptance of Zimbabwe's suspension from the
Commonwealth had
saved the day."
The M&G said despite this pretence, facts on the
ground showed the situation
has not changed from what it was before the
election and, if anything, was
getting worse. Human rights groups say
violence is still continuing and the
arrests of journalists have reached new
levels.
"With corrupt and brutally repressive governments in place,
passively
endorsed by South Africa and the West, no amount of aid will make
a
difference. It is little short of ominous that Nepad is being laid on
a
foundation of lies and the international betrayal of the rights of
ordinary
Africans," the paper concluded.
Director of the Public
Service Accountability Monitor at Rhodes University
in South Africa, Colm
Allan, said Nepad's peer review would fail as long as
it was left in the
hands of African leaders who regard each other as
revolutionary comrades and
not democratic peers.
"This mechanism will fail in its task if reviews
happen only periodically
and rigorous criteria - and the consequences for
deviant governments - are
not spelled out," Allan said. "It seems that
African heads of state will be
left to judge their own performance. The
proposed peer review shows that
Nepad leaders do not yet recognise
accountable governance as a relationship
between governments and
citizens."
Instead of solidarity reviews, he said, independent monitors
from civil
society were needed to supervise the leaders.
Research
director at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden, Henning
Melber,
recently pointed out what the problem was.
"They (African leaders) try to
sell this commitment (to democracy and good
governance) in return for massive
material support from donors," Melber
said. "But while they open their hands
for aid, they are closing their eyes
when the need for peer review
arises."
Henning said double standards such as those shown by Mbeki and
Obasanjo when
they endorsed Mugabe's re-election as "legitimate" in their own
countries
and then upheld the Commonwealth observer team report - which said
the poll
was rigged - were terribly damaging. "They are disloyal to the
political
values they claim to cultivate and protect," he said. "By backing a
despotic
leader they betray the temporary hope they fuelled in this
initiative
(Nepad)."
Critics say whether Nepad backers like it or not,
Zimbabwe remains a
roadblock for them and far from passing any test, they
have yet to prove
their mettle.
"Investors will put money into viable
nations but those nations must in turn
make sure they deal with the conflicts
on their doorstep," said Comfort Ero,
of the International Crisis
Group.
Zim Independent
Chakaodza blasts Moyo
STANDARD editor Bornwell
Chakaodza yesterday slammed Information minister
Jonathan Moyo for his
unrelenting crusade against independent press
journalists.
Chakaodza -
who was pushed out from the government-controlled Herald after
Moyo was
appointed minister in July 2000 - blasted the minister after police
pressed a
fourth charge against him in connection with stories which
appeared in his
newspaper last week.
"My own assessment is that this is sheer
harassment," Chakaodza said. "I
think the police are being used by Moyo to
settle personal scores. He is a
loose cannon but he must not be allowed to
get away with it."
Police last week arrested Chakaodza together with
two reporters for stories
about government's purchase of anti-riot gear and
prostitution. They were
detained overnight and appeared in court facing
charges under the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy
Act.
On Tuesday, Chakaodza and his entertainment editor Fungayi
Kanyuchi were
charged again for the article on prostitution under the
Censorship and
Entertainment Control Act.
Yesterday, the police
charged Chakaodza and his reporter Farai Mutsaka for
the fourth time over a
story, which appeared in the May 12 edition
concerning staff changes at
Zimpapers and ZBC.
Their lawyer Linda Cook said yesterday's charges
were weak. "We believe the
charges raised today are frivolous," she said. -
Staff Writer.
"We believe the charges raised today are frivolous,"
she said. "The article
in question contained speculation (about staff
changes) rather than
statements of fact in respect of two public
entities."
So far 11 journalists have been arrested under the
vexatious media
legislation which was signed into law in March after heavy
criticism in
parliament that it infringed fundamental liberties.
Zim Independent
Zanu PF militia confront Msika over
allowances
Loughty Dube
ANGRY Zanu PF youth militia last Friday confronted
Vice-President Joseph
Msika in Nyamandlovu and demanded payment for their
role in campaigning for
the party in the presidential election.
The
angry youths, who numbered about 30, cornered Msika as he was about to
join
other dignitaries for refreshments after a donation ceremony hosted
by
Shearwater Adventures at Nyamandlovu Secondary school.
The
youths, led by one with a bandaged arm, charged at Msika as he was
chatting
to journalists after the presentation - despite Matabeleland North
governor
Orbert Mpofu's attempts to block the youths from meeting
the
vice-president.
The youths, who forced their way past the
security cordon, told Msika that
they had been ignored several times by Mpofu
and senior party officials when
they went to demand money they were promised
for campaigning for Zanu PF.
"We want the $18 000 each we were
promised for campaigning for Zanu PF and
some of us were injured campaigning
for the party," said the youth leader
showing off his bandaged arm to
Msika.
"We do not want to hear the nonsense Zanu PF officials are
constantly
telling us."
Msika reacted angrily and rebuked Mpofu
and other Zanu PF officials present
for neglecting the
militia.
"You failed to give this young man even $1 000 for going to
hospital to have
his arm treated despite working hard for the party during
the election,"
said Msika.
"We were used," said the injured
youth.
"We worked for you and you should pay us because we sacrificed
our lives
campaigning for the party in dangerous conditions but some of the
people who
were supposed to pay us put the money to their own use," the youth
said.
The aggressive youths were cooled down by Msika who pulled them
aside and
engaged them in a private conversation.
The militia in
Bulawayo has refused to disband until the youths are paid in
full the money
they were promised for campaigning for the ruling party.
Zanu PF used
the militia before the hotly disputed election to unleash a
reign of terror
against opposition Movement for Democratic Change supporters
in both urban
and rural areas.
In Nkayi 13 youth militia members and their leader,
former dissident
Rainfall Msimanga, are standing trial for allegedly
murdering headman James
Sibanda amidst claims from human rights organisations
that there could be
details of other human rights abuses uncovered in the
district. Msika, after
a 30-minute discussion with the youths, said he was
going to look into their
problems before coming back to
them.
However, he refused to accept a petition written by the youths
containing
their grievances.
Zim Independent
Tutu forms welfare trust to assist Zimbabwean
farmers
Dumisani Muleya
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu
and donors have formed a
welfare organisation to assist Zimbabwe's embattled
commercial farmers and
their workers.
The Zimbabwe Agricultural
Welfare Trust (ZAWT) was established recently in
Britain to provide a focal
point for international support for the
beleaguered farming community. It was
registered with the UK Charities
Commission and is accountable to the
Charities Commission of England and
Wales.
The organisation has
two Zimbabwean and seven British trustees.
Tutu - who of late has
expressed concern at the Zimbabwe situation including
President Robert
Mugabe's disputed re-election - is the patron of the trust,
while
humanitarian activist James Maberly is the chair.
The veteran
anti-apartheid campaigner and 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner
recently said
Mugabe had "gone bonkers in a big way" and criticised the
South African
government for endorsing the Zimbabwean leader's controversial
election
victory.
Maberly was born in Kenya and was brought up in Zimbabwe. He
now works from
his studio in Suffolk holding regular exhibitions across the
UK and travels
periodically to Zimbabwe.
"Our mission is to
undertake the task of alleviating the hardship and
suffering amongst members
of the farming community of Zimbabwe, namely
farmers, farm workers, others
connected with agriculture and the families of
all such persons who have been
directly affected by civil unrest," said ZAWT
administrator, Laoe
Watson-Smith.
"We undertake to provide assistance with and promotion
of physical and
mental health, education, financial needs and general welfare
of the
agricultural community," he said.
Watson-Smith said
Zimbabweans and the international community could
ill-afford to ignore the
plight of local farmers and their workers.
"Agriculture is the
bedrock of the ailing Zimbabwean economy, yet the
agricultural community at
all levels has borne the brunt of these events,"
he said "Gangs of
self-styled 'war veterans' have invaded farms, intimidated
and assaulted
farmers and their workforce, appropriated or destroyed
livestock and
property."
He said Zimbabwe's violent and haphazard land reforms have
created a
humanitarian crisis of horrific proportions.
"Apart from
the documented cases of torture and killings on Zimbabwean
farms, numerous
labourers have been rendered homeless, jobless and without
access to
education and healthcare as farms have had to be abandoned and
businesses
closed," Watson-Smith pointed out.
However, the ZAWT said it
recognised the need for fundamental land reform in
Zimbabwe and the right of
all Zimbabweans to democratically determine their
futures.
"ZAWT
has no political allegiance or agenda," said Watson-Smith. "Its aims
are
purely humanitarian in that by supporting the individual people,
families and
communities who make up the human side of Zimbabwean
agriculture, we may
contribute to keeping a key part of Zimbabwean society,
as well as its
economy, alive."
Zim Independent
Tories call on EU to extend sanctions
Vincent
Kahiya
BRITAIN'S opposition Conservative Party this week called on the
European
Union to extend travel sanctions to cover Zimbabwe's First Lady
Grace Mugabe
and spouses of targeted politicians.
During question time
in the House of Lords on Tuesday the Tories complained
that Grace Mugabe
could still come to London for shopping under existing
rules.
Tory
ex-minister Lord Blaker asked at question time: "Am I right in
believing that
the sanctions that were imposed by the European Union on Mr
Mugabe and his
cronies in respect of foreign travel and foreign assets do
not apply to the
spouses and families of those people?
"If so, should not those
sanctions be extended, or are we content that Mrs
Mugabe could still come
here and shop at Harrods?"
Junior Foreign Office minister Baroness
Amos in reply confirmed that current
EU sanctions did not apply to spouses
and children but said European foreign
ministers will next month consider
extending the measures.
"The General Affairs Council will clearly
wish to return to that. It will
discuss Zimbabwe at its next meeting in
June," she said.
Lord Howell of Guildford deplored President Mugabe's
visit to New York to
attend a United Nations conference on children and
Police Commissioner
Augustine Chihuri's visit to France to attend an Interpol
conference.
"My Lords, while the children in Harare are starving and
apparently hunting
in dustbins for food, is it correct that Mr Mugabe has
been attending a UN
conference on child poverty in New York?" he
asked.
"Is it also correct that the blood-stained chief of police, Mr
Chihuri, has
been attending a police conference in Lille?"
"Who
permitted these sanctioned individuals to travel? Why were they
not
apprehended and sent back to their own country at the very least, and
what
do the sanctions mean if they allow people who have committed or
sanctioned
atrocities to wander around the world at will?" he
asked.
Baroness Amos replied that international treaty obligations
had allowed
Mugabe to attend the recent UN conference in New York and his
police chief
to attend the Interpol meeting in Lille.
The EU
imposed targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe in February at a meeting in
Brussels
following the expulsion from Zimbabwe of Pierre Schori, head of the
EU
observer team. The sanctions include a ban on Zimbabwe's ruling
elite
travelling to the EU, the freezing of financial assets held by
politicians
in the EU and an arms embargo.
The United States has
also imposed travel restrictions on named associates
of Mugabe and their
spouses but these do not cover children
Zim Independent
Bennett complains of CIO threats
Blessing
Zulu
MOVEMENT for Democratic Change (MDC) member of parliament for
Chimanimani
Roy Bennett says he has been threatened by Central Intelligence
Organisation
operative Joseph Mwale in the presence of the
police.
Mwale is said to have openly threatened Bennett after he had been
summoned
to Chimanimani police station last week by a Chief Superintendent
Mabvunda
to discuss disturbances on his farm and in the area. Zanu PF
supporters have
invaded the farm and are disrupting farming
operations.
"As we were talking, Mwale openly told me that he was a
man of action and
not words," said Bennett.
"He said he could make
things happen and that I was going to hang." Bennett
claims at the same
meeting on May 16 Mwale told him he was going to ensure
that his farm was
designated.
"On Saturday (May 18) I was served with a Section 8
notice but the letter
had no official stamp on it," said
Bennett.
The situation is still very tense on Bennett's farm where
the majority of
the settlers are members of the army's 3 Brigade based in
Mutare.
Mwale and war veteran Kainos Tom "Kitsiyatota" Zimunya are
alleged to have
killed two MDC activists, Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika
in the run-up
to the 2000 parliamentary election. The two activists were
petrol-bombed in
their car near Murambinda while campaigning for MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai
in Buhera.
Justice James Devitte asked the
Attorney- General to investigate the matter.
The AG's office this
week said they had asked police to investigate the
matter but nothing had
been done.
Bennett claimed members of the police, the CIO and the
army have been
harassing MDC officials at their offices and they were now
seeking a peace
order.
"As the democratically elected MP, I would
also like to raise the issue of
army and police PISI details who have been
entering the MDC offices
threatening those present with death and abusing
them with racial threats
against me," Bennett said in a letter written
earlier this month to the
Member in Charge of ZRP Chimanimani, Chief
Inspector Chogugudza.
"I would like to reiterate that I would like
nothing more than a cordial
relationship between myself as the MP, the
membership of the MDC and
government de-tails who should be maintaining an
unpartisan stance in the
interest of the nation," the letter says
Zim Independent
EU parly refuses to endorse Mugabe
re-election
Godfrey Marawanyika
THE European Union is likely to widen its
sanctions net following the
European Parliament's resolution not to recognise
President Mugabe's
re-election.
European parliamentarians (MEPs) who
met in Strasbourg last week to debate
the situation in Zimbabwe unanimously
supported calls for tougher sanctions
against Harare.
The MEPs
18-point resolution will be delivered to European Union ministers
and the
United Nations Security Council. In the resolution the MEPs said
there was a
need to re-run the election.
They confirmed the EU's earlier verdict
that the presidential election of
March 9/11 was deeply flawed and was not
free and fair.
"The European Parliament reiterates its view that the
presidential election
of March 9/11 2002 was deeply flawed and that the
circumstances in which it
was held were certainly not free and fair and,
accordingly, does not
recognise the legitimacy of the Mugabe regime," the
resolution said.
"The EU Parliament insists that the situation in
Zimbabwe remains a high
priority for the EU and wider international community
and that all efforts
should be made to bring about a benign change in the
situation, including
the raising of the Zimbabwe issue by EU member states in
the UN Security
Council."
The MEPs also expressed their concern at
the breakdown of law and order
whilst applauding the suspension of Zimbabwe
from the Commonwealth.
They demanded that treason charges levelled
against Movement for Democratic
Change leaders be
dropped.
"Parliament demands that charges of treason brought against
Morgan
Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube be dropped, that all draconian
legislation
adopted by the government in recent months to restrict freedom of
speech,
freedom of the media and democracy in Zimbabwe be rescinded and that
those
involved in acts of murder and intimidation be brought to
justice.
"The EP calls for a fresh presidential election to be held
within 12 months,
according to internationally-accepted norms under the
auspices of
independent international observers," the resolution
said.
South African President Thabo Mbeki was asked to show
consistent support for
the principles of democracy, human rights and rule of
law and regional
leaders were asked to sever ties with Harare.
The
MEPs called for the extension of the EU's list of banned Mugabe
associates to
include key figures such as vice-presidents, all ministers,
senior military,
police and secret service commanders and leading
businessmen who have helped
to bankroll Zanu PF or benefited from its
corrupt activities.
"The
list of banned Mugabe associates should also include their respective
spouses
and children, as they also spend illegally-acquired money abroad,"
the MEPs
said.
They also called for publication of details pertaining to
assets already
identified and frozen as a result of targeted sanctions and
drawing rights
in international financial institutions.
From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 24
May
Mugabe sees ruin of the
farms
Mike Mackenzie could not believe his eyes when a motorcade of
gleaming Mercedes escorted by motorcycle outriders roared up the drive of his
Zimbabwean farm carrying President Robert Mugabe. Mr Mackenzie, one of 4,000
white farmers whom Mr Mugabe's government is intent on dispossessing, found
himself playing host to an impeccably courteous president who feigned surprise
at the news that the farm had all but been brought to a halt. "He was very, very
pleasant, relaxed, warm to us, the whole family. We took pictures of him with
us, he signed a map of the farm in my office and I showed him around," said Mr
Mackenzie, 68. The impromptu visit to Clydesdale farm near Banket, 55 miles
north west of Harare, was unprecedented in the two years since Mr Mugabe
launched the invasions of white-owned land.
The farmer's first warning of the presidential visit came when
he walked into his office and found Joseph Made, the agriculture minister,
sitting behind his desk. Mr Made said Mr Mugabe was on his way. The motorcade
arrived, carrying Mr Mugabe, his wife, Grace, Peter Chanetsa, the provincial
governor, and a posse of armed security men en route to a nearby lake. "He
greeted us warmly," said Mr Mackenzie. "I was surprised, but pleased to see him.
I took it as a sign from God. I took him around the farm . . . I didn't tell him
of our troubles because I wasn't asked." Along with 2,000 other farms,
Clydesdale was invaded by Mr Mugabe's supporters last year and about 40 are
occupying its 3,000 acres. Last week, Mr Mackenzie was served with an eviction
notice giving him three months to leave.
Throughout the crisis Mr Mugabe has consistently used white
farmers as a convenient scapegoat and urged his supporters to seize their
properties. Yet as he toured the farm he appeared oblivious to the destruction
wrought in his name. He wanted to know why a 140-acre field had not been planted
with wheat, desperately needed to avert Zimbabwe's disastrous food shortage.
Grace Mugabe, described as "charming" by Mr Mackenzie, intervened before he
could answer. "She pointed to this small field of cotton and said, 'That's why'.
" The occupiers now decide what crops can be planted when, and the cotton, which
they had sown, had prevented Mr Mackenzie from growing his usual 175 acres of
wheat. Mr Mugabe cast an approving eye over Clydesdale's 160-acre citrus orchard
and then saw that no fields had been cleared for a tobacco crop. He asked why.
Mr Mackenzie tactfully replied that, as the government had given him three
months to leave, "we didn't know whether we would still be here to grow another
crop". Mr Mugabe was introduced to Mr Mackenzie's wife, Liz, and their white
farm manager. "He was interested in everything," said Mr Mackenzie. "He wanted
to know our family history and I told him my father arrived from Scotland in
1925, went broke and went back there, then went broke in Scotland and came back
here in 1938. We have been here ever since."
From The Mail & Guardian (SA),
24 May
Press Still Enemy No 1 in
Zim
Harare - Journalism was never the safest line of work in
Zimbabwe, but since President Robert Mugabe enacted a new media law just days
after his messy re-election, the job hazards are growing. Eleven journalists
from the private and foreign press have been arrested in the 10 weeks since the
law took effect - more if you count those who were just questioned by police and
those who have been arrested more than once. Nine are being prosecuted under the
euphemistically titled Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and
the parade of journalists through police stations shows no sign of ending. A
further worrying development is a crackdown by the Zimbabwean authorities on
local journalists providing critical reportage for foreign publications.
Minister of Information Jonathan Moyo is known to be intent on identifying such
journalists and shutting them down. A Zimbabwean journalist has been suspended
after writing for the Mail & Guardian. It is suspected that the Zimbabwean
High Commission in South Africa relayed the journalist's name to the Zimbabwean
authorities.
On Wednesday Andrew Meldrum, a correspondent for Britain's The
Guardian, among others, and Zimbabwean journalist Lloyd Mudiwa of the Daily
News, were remanded out of custody until May 30. They face charges of publishing
falsehoods under a provision of the act called "abuse of journalistic
privilege". Their case stemmed from a front-page story in the Daily News,
alleging that a woman had been beheaded by Zanu PF supporters. The story was
later proved false and both the Daily News and The Guardian published
corrections. Another Daily News reporter, Collin Chiwanza, was arrested over the
beheading story, but a judge tossed out the charges against him. Daily News
editor Geoff Nyarota was detained for four hours on Monday and charged for the
same story. He was charged on April 15 with fabricating information, for a story
alleging the registrar general had manipulated election results. Another editor,
Bornwell Chakaodza of the weekly The Standard, and his reporter, Farayi
Kanyuchi, were arrested for the second time in less than a week on Tuesday over
a story claiming that police were having sex with prostitutes instead of
arresting them. Their first arrest was related to the story, the second related
to the accompanying rear shot of a prostitute wearing a thong.
The Foreign Correspondents' Association has filed a lawsuit
asking the supreme court to declare the most restrictive parts of the law
unconstitutional violations of free speech. But the court, which was expanded
last year to include four new judges considered loyal to Mugabe, ruled last week
that the matter was not urgent, meaning the case could languish for months in
the court docket. Lawyers for local media are coordinating with the foreign
correspondents to challenge the law from different angles, but in the meantime
they expect to continue their weekly trips to the magistrate's court. The new
law gives Moyo sweeping powers to decide who can work as a journalist and to
discipline journalists through a new commission. It also limits foreign
ownership of media in Zimbabwe and bars foreigners from working as
correspondents based permanently here. Moyo, already known for his venomous and
personal attacks on journalists, cleared any doubts about his view of press
rights when in the state-run Herald he called press freedom "only a small and
subsidiary part" of constitutional guarantees of free expression. The
government's crackdown has drawn condemnation from regional and international
press rights groups. The Paris-based Reporters without Borders earlier this
month declared Zimbabwe one of the 10 worst countries in the world in which to
work as journalists - ranking it alongside war zones like the West Bank and
Afghanistan.
Telegraph
President hands land seized from whites to cronies
By David
Blair, Foreign Staff
(Filed: 24/05/2002)
Almost 300,000 acres of prime land seized
from white farmers in Zimbabwe has been handed out to President Mugabe's closest
allies, including 10 cabinet ministers, seven MPs and his brother-in-law. Land
has also gone to key officials who supervised the widely condemned presidential
polls in March, when Mr Mugabe won re-election after a violent campaign.
Zimbabwe's army commander, its police chief and the civil servants placed in
charge of the land seizures have rewarded themselves with farms. Mr Mugabe's
land campaign, which targets 95 per cent of the 4,000 white farmers for
dispossession, is supposedly aimed at helping the rural poor.
Yet the launch of the Model A2 resettlement
scheme last November, designed to create a new class of black commercial farmer,
has sparked a scramble for land by Zimbabwe's elite. The winners names have been
listed in successive editions of the weekly Sunday Mail. Most have staked their
gains in the two months since the election. An analysis of these official lists
shows that almost half of Mr Mugabe's cabinet has been given land. Herbert
Murerwa, the industry and trade minister, has been awarded Rise Holm farm near
Arcturus, east of Harare. David Parirenyatwa, the acting health minister, has
been allocated Rudolphia farm in the same area. Swithun Mombeshora, the
transport minister, has won Ormeston farm near Lion's Den, north-west of Harare.
Vice-President Joseph Msika has been given a farm in the Umguza block in
Matabeleland North province, while Reward Marufu, Mr Mugabe's brother-in-law,
received Leopard's Vlei farm near Glendale, north of Harare.
Squatters invaded many of these properties
when they were owned by white farmers. Mr Mugabe refused to evict the occupiers,
but attitudes have changed since the farms were handed out to the black elite
and many of the squatters have been moved on, clearing the way for the new
owners. A member of the farming community said this sudden willingness to apply
the law was evidence of "cherry-picking" by the president's allies in his Zanu
PF party. "We wondered why the occupiers were being moved off and then we saw
who the new owners were. This is an effort to supplant a white face with a black
fat-cat face," he said.