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Tsvangirai says Zimbabwe broke, cannot raise wages

http://af.reuters.com

Fri May 1, 2009 1:52pm GMT

HARARE, May 1 (Reuters) - Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said
on Friday the country's new unity government was broke and unable to meet
union demands for higher wages.

Addressing a May Day rally, Tsvangirai said the government he formed with
President Robert Mugabe in February to try to end a political and economic
crisis that has brought Zimbabwe to ruin would maintain the current monthly
salary of $100 that it is paying its workers.

"This government is broke, and we are only able to pay the $100 allowance,
but when things improve, we want this allowance to graduate into a proper
salary," he said. "For now, everyone, all of us, including President Mugabe,
is getting $100".

(Reporting by Cris Chinaka)


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Showdown looms between govt, workers over salaries

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Charles Tembo Saturday 02 May 2009

HARARE - A showdown looms between Zimbabwe's new unity government and
workers over salaries as Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Friday the
government is broke and cannot meet union demands for higher wages of at
least US$454.

"This government is broke, and we are only able to pay the US$100 allowance,
but when things improve, we want this allowance to graduate into a proper
salary," Tsvangirai told a Workers Day rally in Harare, adding: "For now,
everyone, all of us, including President Mugabe, is getting US$100."

Addressing the same gathering president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) Lovemore Matombo said the powerful labour union is demanding a
minimum wage of US$454 from employers.

"If we don't get this money we will go into the streets," said Matombo.
"Eighty-five percent of Zimbabwean workers are under forced labour because
they are being paid wages which are way below the poverty datum line and
because of that we will demonstrate."

Once a model African economy Zimbabwe has suffered a severe economic and
humanitarian crisis that is marked by record unemployment, deepening poverty
and disease, while the country has avoided mass starvation only because
relief agencies were quick to chip in with food aid.

President Robert Mugabe and Tsvangirai formed a power sharing government
last February to begin work to rescue the country from total economic
collapse following years of decline and political bickering.

The inclusive government has unveiled an economic recovery blueprint - Short
Term Emergency Recovery Programme (STERP) - which highlights priorities in
terms of improving food security, tackling disease and strengthening health
systems, reviving industry, addressing water and sanitation problems and
improving capacity to provide basic services to the people of Zimbabwe.

The southern African country is desperately seeking US$2 billion in
emergency funding and US$8 billion in the long term to help stabilise an
economy ravaged by a decade of hyper-inflation, unemployment above 90
percent and political violence.

But key Western donors have not been forthcoming, demanding that the
government carry out far reaching political and media reforms and bring an
end to a fresh wave of farm invasions before they consider releasing any
money.

Tsvangirai told the 15 000-strong crowd that thronged Gwanzura Stadium in
the capital that government would in the mean time maintain the current
US$100 it is paying its workers a month.

"We are not collecting taxes and 65 percent of government income comes from
Pay as You Earn (PAYE). So if the government cannot collect taxes where will
it get money to pay salaries?" he said.

"We know that workers are subsidising government through your salaries which
are well below what you are suppose to get but give us time so that we can
rectify that."

The Prime Minister and former leader of the ZCTU before formation of the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party in 1999 said there was nothing
wrong with workers making demands from their employer as long as those
demands are realistic.

"Workers must have a culture of making demands from the employers but your
demands must be realistic. Your demands must be within the capacity of the
government, which is the major employer and the private sector which is not
there," said Tsvangirai.

Tsvangirai told the gathering, also attended by Deputy Labour Minister
Tracey Mutinhiri, Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn movement leader Simba Makoni, National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) head Lovemore Madhuku and other labour union
leaders that the unity government has a democratisation agenda for Zimbabwe.

"This inclusive government brings a democratic agenda and that includes the
constitution making process. It must be people-driven," he said.

Both the ZCTU and the NCA have said they would not trust politicians with
the writing of the new constitution and vowed to mobilise people to reject
any proposed new constitution drafted by Parliament in a referendum
scheduled for next year.

The ZCTU and the NCA worked with then opposition leader Tsvangirai and his
MDC to defeat the government draft constitution in 2000 but the MDC that
later split into two formations is now part of the unity government with
Mugabe's ZANU PF and backs the government-led constitutional reform process.

Once a new constitution is in place, the power-sharing government is
expected to then call fresh parliamentary, presidential and local government
elections.

Zimbabwe is currently governed under the 1979 Constitution agreed at the
Lancaster House talks in London.

The constitution has been amended 19 times since the country's independence
in 1980 and critics say the changes have only helped to entrench Mugabe and
ZANU PF's stranglehold on power. - ZimOnline


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IMF Says Zimbabwe Reconstruction Could Cost US$45BN Over Five Years

http://www.voanews.com

By Blessing Zulu
Washington
01 May 2009

The International Monetary Fund has estimated that returning Zimbabwe to the
economic level where it stood in the mid-1990s could take as much as US$45
billion over the next five years, according to Zimbabwean Finance Minister
Tendai Biti.

The national unity government installed in February has been struggling to
raise funds for reconstruction, but so far has only brought in commitments
for US$400 million from members of the Southern African Development
Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, better
known as Comesa.

Western donors and multilateral institutions like the IMF and World Bank
have been standing back waiting for more far-reaching reforms in Harare,
especially on respect for human rights, restoration of the rule of law and
governance in general.

Though the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change has a majority
in parliament and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, founder of the MDC,
heads the government, President Robert Mugabe has refused to replace
controversial figures such as Attorney General Johannes Tomana and Reserve
Bank Governor Gideon Gono.

Potential donors are waiting in particular for the removal of Gono, whose
misappropriation of funds from private and non-governmental accounts at the
central bank to fund the last government led by Mr. Mugabe discredited him
in the eyes of many observers - in particular the diversion of US$7.3
million from the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS.

Gono is also accused of stoking hyperinflation by printing massive amounts
of Zimbabwean dollars, ultimately destroying the currency's value to such an
extent that the government officially abandoned the Zimbabwe dollar,
adopting multiple hard currencies.

Finance Minister Biti told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that the IMF, the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the
United Nations Development Program have set up a trust fund that will serve
to receive donor monies in such a way that they cannot be diverted as
occurred in the past at the central bank.


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Government and teachers to meet Monday to avert strike

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
01 May 2009

Government officials and teachers' unions have agreed to meet again on
Monday, in an effort to avert a possible strike by teachers at the start of
the new school semester next week.

Schools are set to reopen on Tuesday and Monday's meeting will see Education
and Finance ministry officials trying to sway teachers away from the
threatened mass action. Teachers are demanding, among other things, a
significant salary increase of more than US$1000, saying they will not
return to work until the demands are met. Leaders from the Zimbabwe Teachers
Association (ZIMTA) and the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ)
met with Education Minister David Coltart on Thursday, after the deadline
for the government to produce a better salary structure for teachers passed
this week.

Coltart has already indicated that the government does not have the funds to
increase teachers' wages, and called on acting Finance Minister Elton
Mangoma to help explain the situation to teachers' at Thursday's meeting.
The meeting was deferred to Monday, apparently to allow the donor community
to participate in the talks and to explore ways in which they can assist the
government in paying teachers. PTUZ President Takavafira Zhou explained on
Friday that teachers understand the financial situation facing the Education
Ministry, and said he was pleased there would be a chance to appeal to
donors to assist in salary payments.

The government has called on the country's civil service, who each receive a
US$100 monthly allowance, to be patient over their meagre salaries until the
country's economy begins to stabilise. But with the economy completely
dollarised and the local dollar being abandoned in favour of foreign
currency, the US$100 payout has not been able to keep teachers and their
families financially afloat. Zhou described the reality facing teachers,
saying many have been forced into 'moonlighting' as menial workers for any
extra money.

"It is so degrading for teachers to do this but they have been left no
choice," Zhou explained. "How else can they look after their families?"

The salary increase of more than US$1000 that is being demanded is highly
unrealistic even compared to the rest of Africa, where teachers earn much
less than this. Zhou argued that his union is aware that the demand is too
high, and instead is pushing for a proposed 'salary roadmap' that will pave
the way for significant increases in the future. He explained that teachers
would be happy with a US$500 increase in the short term, but also said that
a strike has not yet been ruled out.

It is being argued that ZIMTA, which is leading the strike threat and list
of demands, is involved in trying to force the MDC out of the unity
government. The ZANU PF friendly teachers' association has never before
taken such a strong stance against the government, despite earning a
pittance for years under ZANU PF rule. The argument stands that by forcing
such an unrealistic salary demand and by threatening the stability of the
unity government with a teachers' strike, ZIMTA is working with ZANU PF to
force the MDC out of the coalition.

Meanwhile, salary concerns aside, Zimbabwe's teachers continue to be victims
of ongoing harassment and intimidation across the country. According to
international rights group, Amnesty International, teachers have expressed
serious concerns about their safety, as ZANU PF supporters are still
threatening them with violence. Many teachers were targets of politically
motivated attack during the 2008 presidential election period, and there are
fears among the teaching community that they will still be vulnerable in
future elections.


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ZEC and ZANU PF boycott conference on electoral reforms

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
1 May 2009
.

Despite confirming that they would be there, no one from the Zimbabwe
Election Commission or ZANU PF attended a two day regional conference on
electoral reforms in Victoria Falls this week.

The workshop was organized by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, in
conjunction with the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa. It was attended
by senior government officials, MPs and members of civil society.

Though Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa pitched up briefly, delegates
pointed out that he was there in his capacity as a government minister and
not a ZANU PF representative. He also left the conference almost immediately
after addressing the delegates.

The boycott by ZEC and ZANU PF representatives is seen by many as an
indicator that they are not interested in reforms. This is buttressed by the
fact that analysts believe Robert Mugabe would not win an election if it is
conducted in a free and fair environment.

A delegate who spoke to us from Victoria Falls on Thursday said the
assumption among those present at the conference was that ZEC officials were
worried they would be asked awkward questions over the conduct of the 2008
elections, which were largely discredited by regional, continental and
international bodies.

The widely-documented harassment and physical abuse of MDC supporters and
rights activists in the months preceding and following the polls, by
government supporters and state forces, were some of the issues raised by
delegates on the sidelines of the conference.

'Most delegates were left frustrated because they wanted to hear from ZEC
the reasons for excluding election observers from countries which have
criticized the Mugabe regime and journalists from foreign media
organizations who have done the same,' one delegate said.

Justice and Legal Affairs Deputy Minister Jessie Majome told delegates when
she officiated at the opening of the conference, that difficulties
encountered in the previous polls could be overcome through revisiting the
electoral laws and processes.
Solomon Chikohwero, chairman of the MDC Veterans Activists Association, said
a lot has to be done to overcome difficulties encountered during the
previous elections. Despite promises to ease restrictions on political
parties' activities and freeing the news media, Chikohwero says these do not
go far enough.
'Zimbabwean voters in the past decade have been constricted by limits on
political assembly, by one-sided information from state-owned news media and
by a lack of information on electoral procedures,' he said.
'Intimidation must end by ZANU PF supporters, including members of the
security forces, war veterans and, in particular, the youth militia. These
green bombers have wreaked so much havoc and caused mayhem in rural areas.
It is one institution that is used for violence and it is also used for
intimidating ordinary voters. They must disband all these if we are to have
free and fair elections, Chikohwero added.


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Tsvangirai: MDC seeking to improve lives

http://www.upi.com

Published: May 1, 2009 at 2:54 PM

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, May 1 (UPI) --

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says his Movement for Democratic
Change party wants to improve the lives of the country's citizens.
Speaking with party officials in the city of Bulawayo, Tsvangirai said
improving people's lives should be the main objective of the country's
current coalition government, SW Radio Africa said Friday.

Tsvangirai recognized how coalition governments throughout the world's
history have been problematic, just as Zimbabwe's new political system has
been.

The MDC leader has failed to find common ground with Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara and President Robert Mugabe during five recent coalition
government meetings.

Such disagreement among the country's top officials has delayed the
appointment of other top posts including governors and ambassadors, SW Radio
Africa said.

Tsvangirai also commented on the strike threat issued by Zimbabwean teachers
unions, saying although teachers deserve higher pay, Zimbabwe is currently
financially unable to meet such demands.


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Account for missing activists, Mugabe told

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Friday, 01 May 2009

HARARE - An international human rights watchdog has called on
President Robert Mugabe to account for the whereabouts of seven Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) activists missing for the past six months since
their abduction last year.
New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) listed the release of the
seven as one of the conditions the international community should demand
before resumption of economic aid to Zimbabwe's coalition government.
The seven - Gwenzi Kahiya, Ephraim Mabeka, Lovemore Machokoto, Charles
Muzza, Edmore Vangirayi, Graham Matehwa and Peter Munyanyi - were part of
more than 30 MDC activists and human rights defenders abducted by the secret
police between October and December 2008.
More than 20 of the abductees have been accounted for and produced in
court where they have been charged with plotting to topple Mugabe or
engaging in acts of banditry.
The whereabouts of the seven are unknown, raising fears they may have
died at the hands of their captors who have been accused of severely,
torturing their victims.
HRW urged international donors to withhold development aid to Zimbabwe
until the Zanu (PF) element in the power-sharing government stopped ongoing
rights abuses and backed serious reforms.
Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Tendai Biti was in the United Kingdom and
the United States last week to ask the British and American governments for
direct financial support.
"Humanitarian aid that focuses on the needs of Zimbabwe's most
vulnerable should continue," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human
Rights Watch.
She said donor governments should not release development aid until
there are irreversible changes on human rights, the rule of law and
accountability.
"In the short term, Human Rights Watch called on the power-sharing
government to disclose the whereabouts of the seven "disappeared" persons,
end harassment of civil society activists, student leaders and MDC
activists, and free those who have been illegally abducted," the watchdog
said.
It called for an independent probe into allegations of torture and the
prosecution of those implicated in the abuses regardless of their positions.
It also urged donor governments to demand an immediate cession of farm
invasions and the removal of the illegal land occupiers.
Gangs of marauding Zanu (PF) supporters have raided more than 100
white-owned farms since the formation of the unity government in February in
violation of a power-sharing agreement between Mugabe and former opposition
leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara.
   The continued farm invasions have worsened Zimbabwe's prospects of
receiving much-needed balance-of-payments support which is crucial to revive
the comatose economy.


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Exams - Millions Needed

http://www.fingaz.co.zw/

30 April 2009

Harare - GOVERNMENT urgently needs about US$3,1 million to complete the
marking of last year's public examinations, Education Sports and Culture
Minister David Coltart, revealed this week.

Coltart described government's failure to produce last year's Grade Seven,
Ordinary and Advanced Levels examination results as a national tragedy.

"I am concerned about these school children as they are being prejudiced of
their right. It's a national tragedy and personal tragedy. I am working as
hard as I can so that I can have this exercise completed," he told The
Financial Gazette yesterday.

The delays in releasing the results led to the enrolling of Form Four and
Lower Sixth students using last year's mid year exams.


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Lawyers turn heat on Mutsekwa, Mohadi

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=16064

May 1, 2009

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - Human rights lawyers this week turned on the heat on the country's
co-Ministers of Home Affairs, imploring them to explain their alleged
complicity in the continued incarceration of senior Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) officials and a photo-journalist.

In a letter addressed to the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) rights lawyers
Alec Muchadehama, Andrew Makoni and Charles Kwaramba, who have been
representing the trio with the support of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
(ZLHR) protested the serious violation of their clients' freedoms and
demanded some explanations from Giles Mutsekwa and Kembo Mohadi, the
co-Ministers of Home Affairs and Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, the
Attorney General Johannes Tomana and the AG's senior law officers, who have
blocked the release of the political prisoners.

"The Ministries of Justice and Home affairs and their officers have taken it
upon themselves to kidnap our clients for the second time within six months.
The implications of what has been done to our clients, to the rule of law
and administration of justice are grave.  For the umpteenth time, Ministers
and State security agents have acted in contempt of court orders and
resorted to the law of the jungle.  Our work as lawyers is being seriously
hamstrung by persons who deliberately, and with impunity choose to violate
citizens' rights," reads part of the letter seen by this reporter.

MDC members Gandhi Mudzingwa and Kisimusi Dhlamini who are facing what
lawyers have described as trumped-up charges and are accused of insurgency,
banditry, sabotage and terrorism are currently detained under police guard
at the Avenues Clinic in Harare, where they are receiving medical treatment
for injuries sustained during their torture by state security agents and the
police who abducted them last year.

The police have also mounted a manhunt for freelance photojournalist
Andrison Manyere.

Manyere, Dhlamini and Mudzingwa were granted bail by the High Court early
April but the State invoked the provisions of Section 121 (3) of the
Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA) to deny them their freedom.

Rights lawyers argue that the State failed to comply with the provisions of
Section 121 (1) of the (CPEA) in that they failed to obtain leave to appeal
and note their appeal within seven days hence their clients should be free.

Mudzingwa this week slammed Mutsekwa, the secretary for defence in Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party for failing to do anything to secure
his freedom from unwarranted detention.

Tsvangirai formed a coalition government with Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe
in February after months of dispute over a power-sharing agreement. The two
agreed to share the contentious portfolio of Home Affairs, which has been
abused for years by President Mugabe's administration to arrest dozens of
human rights and opposition activists.

Meanwhile, there is still no word on the fate or circumstances of the MDC
activists and members who are still missing after they were abducted by
state security agents last year.

The seven missing persons are:

Gwenzi Kahiya - abducted October 29, 2008 in Zvimba,
Ephraim Mabeka - abducted December 10 in Gokwe,
Lovemore Machokoto - abducted December 10 in Gokwe,
Charles Muza - abducted December 10 in Gokwe,
Edmore Vangirayi - abducted December 10 in Gokwe,
Graham Matewa - abducted December 17 in Makoni South
Peter Munyanyi - abducted December 15 in Gutu South.


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Zimbabwean Workers Celebrate First May Day Under New Government

http://www.voanews.com



By Ish Mafundikwa
Harare
01 May 2009

Zimbabweans join workers around the world in celebrating worker's day.
Despite there being an government of national unity in Zimbabwe, times are
still very tough for the country's workers.

Zimbabwe has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. Lovemore
Matombo, the president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) says
only six percent of the workforce is formally employed.

The ZCTU boss notes that his organization's struggle for a better deal for
those still working has put it on a collision course with the government in
the past.

Tensions in Zimbabwe usually rise on May Day. But Matombo says with the new
government of national unity this year could be different.

"This year's celebrations are a bit different because the political
environment appears to be giving us a bit of space to organize our people
without being intimidated by the police or the Central Intelligence
Organization. So to that extent, this year's May Day would be more peaceful
than we have had before. But of course in as far as the plight of the
workers is concerned, the situation remains the same," said Matombo.

Matombo added that while the plight of the workers is still a priority, his
organization supports the new government and is involved in negotiations
with the government and employers to get the workers a better deal. He says,
however, that should these efforts fail, industrial action is always an
option.

"We cannot rule out any form of industrial action but what we are doing is
to say let's give government opportunity and we have put across our need to
increase salaries for the Zimbabwean workers through the Tripartite
Negotiating Forum," he said.

But while Matombo is cautiously optimistic about the new government and the
apparent cease-fire, he is urging Zimbabwean workers to remain vigilant.

"We are saying they need to be vigilant because our theme this year for May
Day is 'it may be dawn; workers intensify the struggle,'" he said.

Matombo says 2008 was the most difficult year for Zimbabweans, whether they
had a job or not.

In July 2008 inflation reached a staggering 231 million percent. By the end
of the year the Zimbabwe dollar was virtually worthless and the government
authorized transactions in hard currency.

Though Zimbabweans are now paid in US dollars, the union chief says they are
still some of the lowest paid in the world.


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Zimbabwean migration camouflages human traffickers


Photo: Guy Oliver/IRIN
Sebelo Sibanda, of Lawyers for Human Rights in Musina, with two children suspected of being trafficked
MUSINA, 1 May 2009 (IRIN) - To the untrained eye, the human tide surging through the South African border town of Musina is just that: a mass of people leaving behind Zimbabwe's collapsed economy to seek job opportunities and a better life, or refuge in a neighbouring country.

Sebelo Sibanda, of Lawyers for Human Rights in Musina, is a more acute observer; he sees changes taking place in a migration that is believed to number between one million and more than three million people.

"A trend started in the last two or three months, where you see more and more women coming in with groups of children - the children are too numerous and often too similar in age to be from one mother," he said.

The Zimbabwean migration, comprising asylum seekers fleeing political persecution, economic migrants from a shattered economy, traders, shoppers and unaccompanied minors, provides ample camouflage for human traffickers.

The border between South Africa and Zimbabwe is a fertile ground for criminal gangs. The "magumagumas" prey on migrants, robbing and raping them as they make their way to South Africa, while the "malaicha" arrange safe passage for migrants, but do not always keep to the contract.

Nde Ndifonka, the southern African spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, told IRIN: "The conditions are there. We believe there is a high incidence of human trafficking happening there [the South Africa-Zimbabwe border]".

Parents living in South Africa often pay a malaicha to bring children across the border, Sibanda said, and it was a "small step" to becoming a human trafficker.

Ndifonka said the malaicha were part of trafficking rings and targeted "specifically, vulnerable young children, as there is a demand for labour and sexual exploitation in South Africa".

In mid-April 2009, during a spot check, police found two unaccompanied minors - boys aged about four and five - in a car en route to Johannesburg. "The woman at first said they were her children, but when I interviewed the children separately they said they did not know who she was," Sibanda said. 

The unseen crime  

"The woman then maintained that she was their mother's sister, but the children did not know who she was, but were told by her to call her 'aunty'. The woman then said she was taking them to meet their mother in Johannesburg, but the children said their mother was living in Cape Town."

The woman is expected to be charged with kidnapping or a lesser charge of smuggling, as South Africa has yet to adopt human trafficking legislation.

An international children's agency, which declined to be identified, fearing it might attract human traffickers to its offices, told IRIN it had begun trying to trace the children's relatives. The aid worker said people claiming to be the relatives or friends of parents had tried to lure children away from the shelter.

''Human trafficking is difficult to detect, as people are generally not aware they are being trafficked. We know it [human trafficking] is happening but cannot detect it''
"Human trafficking is difficult to detect, as people are generally not aware they are being trafficked. We know it [human trafficking] is happening but cannot detect it," Jacob Matakanye, CEO of the Musina Legal Advice Centre, told IRIN.

"The only way to prevent trafficking is to educate people about it in the country of origin ... Zimbabwe is an ideal opportunity for traffickers, as it is next to South Africa [the continent's richest country]," he said.

The UN defines human trafficking as "The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability, or of the giving of or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of exploitation."



[ENDS]

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]


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Information wars in Zimbabwe

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Press freedom: Life can be easy for journalists who toe Mugabe's line. For
those who do not, it is difficult and painful

Wilf Mbanga
guardian.co.uk, Friday 1 May 2009 19.30 BST

Zimbabwean journalist Anderson Manyere will be spending World Press Freedom
Day 2009 on the run. He has spent the past four months in a hell-hole of a
jail. His crime? Practising journalism.

He was locked up, most of the time in solitary confinement, after being
kidnapped by the police on 13 December last year. A South African
Broadcasting Corporation documentary released last month revealed the full
horror of Robert Mugabe's jails - with skeletal prisoners receiving a bowl
of gruel per day and dead bodies piled haphazardly in a storeroom.

Last week, Manyere was eventually released on bail. But the two Movement for
Democratic Change officials arrested and released with him were arrested
again 48 hours later, with no warrant. And the police are hunting Manyere.

His experience is not unique. Many journalists operating in Mugabe's
Zimbabwe have suffered in the past decade. Kidnapping, arbitrary arrest,
torture, constant harassment ; terror tactics - and even murder - are all
tactics used by the regime to retain a strangle-hold on the press. Edward
Chikomba was kidnapped by state agents last year and his tortured body was
found dumped in the bush a few days later.

Freedom of the press has always been elusive in Zimbabwe. At independence in
1980 the new government inherited a well-oiled state broadcasting network
and bought the country's largest newspaper company within months of taking
power.

Increasingly over the next two decades, as corruption and human rights
abuses increased, the state tightened its grip on information control.

Mugabe's battle against the media hit a new low in 2003 with the passing of
the draconian and misnamed Access to Information and Protection of Privacy
Act (AIPPA). This made it mandatory for all journalists and media
organisations operating inside the country to be registered (that is,
policed) by the Media and Information Commission. Headed by an unashamed
Mugabe apologist, Tafataona Mahoso, the MIC holds the dubious honour of
having closed down five independent newspapers including The Daily News and
its sister Sunday paper, in its first two years of existence.

The message to journalists is very clear - life can be easy for you if you
are prepared to toe the Zanu (PF) line. If you insist on remaining true to
the ethics of your profession, life will be difficult and painful.

As a result, many Zimbabwean journalists have fled into exile, and resorted
to publishing on websites - to which the majority of those inside the
country, where the toll in human suffering is now way beyond that of a war
zone, have no access.

In an effort to keep Zimbabweans on the ground informed, an independent
weekly, The Zimbabwean, and its sister Sunday are published in South Africa
and trucked into the country. The Mugabe regime has tried to silence this
through the imposition in July last year of 70% "luxury" import tax. Three
months after the formation of the government of national unity, the tax has
been reduced to 50% but remains firmly in place and has severely curtailed
the print run.

Under such conditions it is virtually impossible to operate as a
professional news organisation. We do our best to get the story out and
break the silence by exposing the appalling human rights abuses and
government corruption. The finer points of journalism have, regrettably, had
to be compromised in the desperate battle for access to information. This is
guerrilla journalism.

Journalists in exile, whose hopes were raised with the formation of the new
government in February, wait in increasing despair for some sign of
meaningful change - such as the removal of draconian anti-press legislation.
So far, there are no such glimmers of hope.


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Staying the course or walking the talk, the GNU has to deliver



No matter how inconceivable or unimaginable it could have ever been, the
Government of National Unity (GNU) that is now shakily running the country
is probably our best bate out of the sorry state that we find our country in
today. It is a toxic experiment that can potentially and explosively go off
any minute should it be mishandled in any way But however, if handled with
requisite care and caution it can cool down to a much more pleasant mixture
with very pleasing results.

It can be very difficult especially given the history of the parties to the
agreement (the MDC and ZANU PF) who have been political protagonists for
years, but there was no other solution on the horizon to carry us through
the most difficult phase in our country's history. The Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai finds himself in the same situation that Joshua Nkomo was more
than twenty years ago when he put country before self and roped his ZAPU
party into a similar arrangement with ZANU PF. The problem is that once you
are in government, no matter who you are with in it, you have to talk and
act like someone in government and that is exactly what Tsvangirai is doing.

Just like Nkomo back then, Tsvangirai has to ensure that should the whole
thing fail to deliver the desired results, the finger should be pointed
where it should be pointed at. A lot of people criticised Nkomo for
capitulating to ZANU PF and accused him of giving in to pressure from Mugabe
but Nkomo knew what he was doing because the country had reached a
stalemate. There was more to be lost by the country than by Nkomo personally
had he not signed up to the Unity Accord. The same situation is today
because there was more to be lost especially in terms of lives if the
squaring-up of ZANU PF and the MDC had been allowed to carry on unabated.
Somebody had to give up something, whether it was political high ground or
ego

Everybody in the MDC, the PM, his two deputies, the MP's and ministers, they
all know where exactly the country needs to go because this has been the
founding philosophy of the party. Of course there is always the advent of
human error stalking them wherever they try to go but they are all fully
aware of what the country needs urgently and if they had a free hand to
deliver that it could have come sooner rather than at the painstaking pace
we are witnessing. It should be even harder for those in the GNU because
when you are in and you feel the impediment from inside, it is much more
difficult than watching from a distance. What I am actually seeing is that
Tsvangirai has actually learned a thing or two as well especially as echoed
by his statement to MDC provincials in Matabeleland that the MDC would never
go down the megaphone route again. This is the route that the party has
largely walked over the years and with much loss to its acquired ground.

Most people seem to be overlooking the fact that no matter how flawed the
GNU may look outwardly, this is still all we have in a government and no
matter how uncomfortable the arrangement, those in it are still as bound as
they would be in any better formation. Everybody can see and we do not need
anyone in the GNU to tell us that there is still a long way to go as far as
ZANU PF sincerity is concerned because there are a lot of issues that are
still outstanding due to ZANU PF rather than MDC grandstanding. It may easy
to say that Tsvangirai is becoming malleable or to put it as Geoff Nyarota
said in his writing on his Zimbabwe Times, speaking on behalf of Robert
Mugabe, but the truth is Tsvangirai is only saying what he or anyone in his
position would say. This is like Barack Obama painting a picture of hope on
an economic outlook that is nothing short of a deep recession. There has to
be a message of hope from the top no matter how hopeless things may actually
appear inside because that is what builds confidence that may in the end
translate into fruitful results

There have been cases in the past when the MDC has missed an opportunity or
two to nail down ZANU PF but with the GNU the old guard is definitely
knuckled under, and this is why there is a lot of uneasy in ZANU PF circles.
Mugabe knows fully that the game is up and this is why he still desperately
goes around telling people that he is still in charged. No one in charge
needs to tell anybody that they are in charged because authority has a
tendency to be felt. What ZANU PF still definitely commands is the treachery
and this is why they continue to use every rule in that book to manipulate
the system because they no longer have the blank cheque they have always
had. The abuse of the justice (or maybe injustice) system through the
overzealous performances of people the questionable Attorney General
Johannes Tomana is a clear sign that ZANU PF will try to cling on right to
the end.

Even their (ZANU PF) use of the police force and the army has now been
hugely diluted and whittled down to a few diehards who have nothing to do in
a transformed Zimbabwe. These are people whose lives are so engrossed in the
savagery of the past that they do not see themselves crossing the bridge
into the future in which Zimbabweans from all walks of life can live in
harmony side by side without any trumped up hatred or fear. These are the
people who are still being used to detain and torture people like Ghandi
Mudzingwa and Chris Dhlamini while keeping freelance journalists like
Shadreck Manyere on the run for no apparent reason. The fact that these guys
have been in remand for more than five months shows that they have no case
to answer but are victims of a system that is has been enshrined in gross
injustice and violation.

There have been some false starts to the GNU and some elements of getting
carrying away by the parties to it especially in view of the overly
ambitious and somewhat costly Victorious Falls retreat but the reality has
to dawn on them. There is an urgent need to deliver because unity or
coalition governments have a shelf life after which those in it will expire
whether they like it or not. There is great impatience sweeping across the
country especially because people still can not access medicines and clean
water well into the new dispensation that had been touted to have an instant
impact.

Also, politicians especially those in the MDC must never get carried away by
the desperateness of the prevailing circumstances and forget the founding
principles upon which the party is rooted. They must stick to their values
and refuse the temptations of corrupting sweeteners that will be lining up
the otherwise barren route to a real Zimbabwe. There are still some huge
mounts to climb before the country actually gets there, but the possibility
of totally transformation could never be more realistic

Silence Chihuri can be contacted on silencechihuri@googlemail.com


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A letter from the diaspora

http://www.cathybuckle.com

1st May 2009

Dear Friends.
Over the years, Zimbabweans have become accustomed to hearing Robert
Mugabe's mastery of language. We know how skilful he is at adapting what he
says and how he says it to suit his audience. Linguists refer to this
concept as 'register': the ability to use the appropriate language in
different contexts. Mugabe is a master of 'register'. In the days when he
strutted the world stage, we would hear him addressing world leaders in
perfectly enunciated English, his clothes and body language epitomising
their understanding of what a world leader should be. We at home heard a
very different Robert Mugabe when he returned to his native land. Gone was
the suave, urbane statesman, instead we saw the clenched fist and heard the
language of hate and vengeance as he addressed his supporters at Zanu PF
rallies up and down the country. He took to wearing the Zanu PF regalia, a
baseball cap and shirt with his own image embossed on the front - a worrying
symptom of ego-mania, I'd say- but since the faithful were also wearing
party T shirts, perhaps he was merely identifying with 'his' people. It was
all part of Mugabe's assessment of the appropriate 'register' for the
occasion. For the listener, or the reader, the important point was to know
the audience he was addressing. That way one could test the validity of the
message and the intention of the speaker. In Mugabe's case the rallies were
clearly intended to whip up his followers into a frenzy of hatred against
his so-called enemies: the British, the Americans and, of course, the
opposition.

Without in any way suggesting that these two men are cut from the same
cloth, I was reminded of how important 'register' is this week when Morgan
Tsvangirai, addressing two very different audiences, made what seemed like
widely differing remarks. Speaking in front of thousands of his supporters,
the Prime Minister said of Mugabe, "We respect each other although we may
disagree. There's nothing Robert Mugabe does without me approving and
there's nothing I do without him approving."
Bearing in mind that Tsvangirai was speaking to his own supporters, it's
hard to understand what his intention was and if it was really necessary to
go to such lengths to identify with a man whose functionaries continue to
torture and imprison MDC party officials. I was not there at the rally so I
cannot assess how this remark was received by the crowd but I can guess that
if I or any member of my family had been imprisoned and tortured by Mugabe's
regime, I would find it pretty difficult to 'respect' the political ideology
that sanctioned such behaviour. Was Tsvangirai telling his followers that he
'approved' the patently illegal treatment of Ghandi Mudzingwa and Chris
Dhlamini even though he didn't agree with it? Was he 'approving' the
government sanctioned farm invasions and all the other lawlessness going on
in the country, often at the instigation of the police themselves? Reading
Tsvangirai's words thousands of miles away, it is impossible to escape the
conclusion that the Prime Minister had seriously misjudged the mood of the
country. The people may be desperate for the GNU to succeed but not, I
believe, at the cost of justice for the hundreds of victims of Zanu PF
brutality. To align himself with Robert Mugabe in such an abject way as
Tsvangirai did, was, I believe a grave error of judgement on his part.
Despite his condemnation of Thabo Mbeki's earlier 'quiet diplomacy,
Tsvangirai appears to be adopting the same approach now. He says he will not
use 'megaphone' diplomacy to condemn wrong doings by his partners in
government but there is a difference between shouting from the roof-tops and
the almost servile utterances we hear from him now.

Talking to the business community was no doubt an easier task for Morgan
Tsvangirai; the businessmen and women's primary aim is to make money after
all. That aim fits in very neatly with the GNU's repeated pleas to the west
to lift sanctions and make cash immediately available for the bankrupt
country. What was interesting was that, in marked contrast with his remarks
to his own followers, Tsvangirai chose this occasion to stress time and
again how important it is to restore the rule of law in Zimbabwe if there is
to be a favourable economic climate.

"If business is the engine of growth," he said, "then the rule of law is the
fuel that drives that engine.The rule of law is a moral imperative and a
business necessity." Later on in the same speech, Tsvangirai said "The
responsibility to save and protect the quality of life for all must
preoccupy us, the political leadership, regardless of race, colour, tribe,
religion or political affiliation.a value system (that) can only rest on the
pillars of civil liberties, the right of association and the right of civil
society to challenge those entrusted with government." Does Robert Mugabe
'approve' of these fine words - and they are just words since Tsvangirai
gave no evidence of what steps he and his fellow ministers in the GNU can
take to make them a reality - does he 'respect' the man who spoke them? We
have no evidence that Mugabe respects or listens to anyone, least of all his
partner in this so-called Unity Government. Robert Mugabe gained power
through the barrel of a gun; he has boasted of his 'degrees in violence' but
it seems that Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC ministers are prepared to
overlook past and present crimes for the sake of national reconciliation -
but without the necessary truth and justice prevailing. Where is the 'moral
imperative' here? A police report states this week that there have been 2000
fresh reports of violence since the GNU was installed but still Morgan
Tsvangirai tells his followers that he 'respects and approves' Mugabe's
words and actions. The thousands of Zimbabweans who have suffered and
continue to suffer under Mugabe's ruthless brutality deserve nothing less
justice.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle, PH

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