Zim journalists' alliance aims to 'reclaim media'

Mail and Guardian

      Riaan Wolmarans | Johannesburg, South Africa

      03 May 2006 09:50

            Zimbabwe has failed to learn from its past history of
segregation, subjugation, and repression of dissenting and alternative
voices with regard to media freedom, the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ)
said on Wednesday, World Press Freedom Day, as it called for the creation of
an independent media council in the country.

            "It is a day when the world reflects on the importance of
freedom of expression and, in particular, media freedom as a fundamental
right, which is necessary for the protection of other human rights," the
MAZ, a coalition of Zimbabwe's major media bodies, said in a statement.

            "Sadly for Zimbabwe, the past seven years have seen freedom of
expression being downgraded from a right to a privilege that can only be
exercised at the benevolence of the authorities."

            Laws such as the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy
Act (Aippa), the Public Order and Security Act (Posa) and the Broadcasting
Services Act, among others, severely curtail the public's constitutionally
guaranteed right to freedom of expression and the related right to freedom
of assembly and association.

            "It is sad that 26 years after independence, the media in
Zimbabwe and indeed the majority of Zimbabwe's citizens are not free to
speak their mind without being accused of either selling out or compromising
the country's national interests and sovereignty," the MAZ said.

            Free speech and media freedom have been criminalised through
Aippa and Posa, resulting in the closure of the Daily News, Daily News on
Sunday, The Tribune and The Weekly Times.

            "We also note with concern the failure by the Broadcasting
Authority of Zimbabwe to license private commercial and community
broadcasters to enhance diversity and plurality of ideas," the statement
said. "While we accept the principle of regulating the media, we, however,
abhor statutory regulation by a commission handpicked by the government as
stipulated under Aippa.

            "We feel that the ethics of the journalism profession should -- 
like those governing other independently regulated professions -- be
retained to their rightful custodians: media practitioners and relevant
stakeholders represented by civic groups. This will help regulate the media
in the public interest."

            However, on World Press Freedom Day media workers in Zimbabwe
are worse off following the introduction of statutory regulation that has
adversely affected the development of the media industry, resulting in the
loss of hundreds of jobs.

            Zimbabwe lags behind the rest of the region in terms of the
number of radio and television stations, newspapers and magazines that one
can access. This has resulted in the media's failure to contribute
meaningfully to national development.

            "It is for this reason that journalists from both the public and
private media have seen it important to come up with an independent media
council. This will be the first step towards reclaiming the media from
statutory bodies such as the Media and Information Commission," the MAZ
said.

            An independent media council is an acknowledgement and
acceptance by the media industry that it has an obligation to be ethical
while maintaining good relations with its readership.

            "We therefore call on the government, members of the public and
other stakeholders to stand up for the right to freedom of expression and
support the independent media council initiative."

Botswana urges IMF to rescue Zimbabwe

Business Day

Dumisani Muleya

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

Harare Correspondent

BOTSWANA Finance Minister Baledzi Gaolethe has urged the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) to come to Zimbabwe's rescue by providing it with
foreign currency to deal with its economic problems affecting the region.

Gaolethe told journalists at a press briefing by African finance ministers
in Washington that the IMF should help Zimbabwe by advancing the balance of
payments to alleviate forex shortages.

"It is our hope that given that Zimbabwe is now up to date with its (IMF)
payments, there will be progress in that regard," he said.

"But, at the end of the day, all of our countries have got to work hard in
asking the international community to supplement or complement what we are
already doing."

According to an IMF transcript of the press conference, Gaolethe said:
"Obviously, if any member within SADC (Southern African Development
Community) has economic or whatever other problems, all of us are affected,
and therefore we have to work cooperatively to try to solve those.

"It is our hope that in the coming months, the two sides will make some
progress, because one of the hindrances to recovery for Zimbabwe is a
shortage of foreign exchange (and) balance of payments problems, where the
IMF can play a major role."

Zimbabwe recently paid $210m to the IMF to clear its arrears and still owes
the organisation money.

In March, the IMF refused to lift sanctions against Harare and to provide it
with new financial support.

Gaborone has of late been sympathetic towards Zimbabwe, despite its initial
criticism of President Robert Mugabe's government

Three years ago, President Festus Mogae said Zimbabwe was suffering from a
"drought of leadership", but now seems to have changed his tune.

Gaolethe said Zimbabwe's problems needed to be resolved because it was part
and parcel of the SADC's economic development plans.

A farmer from Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe denies outbreak of FMD

Daily News, Botswana

      03 May, 2006

      GABORONE - Authorities from Zimbabwes Ministry of Agriculture have
denied the existence of a foot and mouth disease outbreak in their country.

      A press statement from the Embassy of Zimbabwe in Gaborone says the
Harare government has rejected media reports linking the foot and mouth
outbreak in the Bobirwa area, which is one of the export zones to Zimbabwe.

      The Bobirwa area was declared a foot and mouth infected area last week
after the discovery of the disease at one of the cattle posts near the
Zimbabwean border.

      Some media houses in Botswana reported that the disease might have
originated from Zimbabwe where a few weeks ago it was reported that the
disease was discovered.

      But the Zimbabwean media release say sequencing of the virus
responsible will enable a better assessment of the possible origin of the
outbreak in Botswana.

      The Botswana government has declared the area along the
Botswana/Zimbabwe border to the north, the Limpopo River in the east and the
south east, the Sese/Zanzibar disease control cordon fence in the west and
south declared to be infected with foot and mouth disease.

      A news release from the Ministry of Agriculture in Gaborone says the
movement of cloven-hoofed animals and their products into or out of the area
defined has been prohibited except under and in accordance with a permit
issued by a veterinary officer. BOPA

David Coltart letter

Radiotherapy equipment breaks down

The Chronicle

Health Reporter

ZIMBABWE'S only two radiotherapy machines have broken down, putting all
cancer patients that require radiation treatment at risk.

Both machines, one at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo and the other at
Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare - are yet to be repaired.
Health and Child Welfare Deputy Minister, Dr Edwin Muguti, confirmed the
latest developments saying plans were already under way to have the machines
repaired as soon as possible.
The problem, Dr Muguti said, is that there were no qualified personnel in
the country to carry out the repair work.
In the past, experts would be brought in from South Africa to repair the
machines, but this has become unsustainable.
Dr Muguti said the International Atomic Energy Agency, an intergovernmental
science and technology based organisation which promotes the peaceful
application of nuclear technology, including for health purposes, had
provided requisite funding for repair and maintenance in addition to
providing training and skills to Zimbabweans for the tasks.
"They are sponsoring the repair work and maintenance of the machines as well
as training some locals so that in future any repair work that needs to be
done can be done in the country.
"We used to have locals capable of repairing these machines, but I am sure
you are aware that we lost several of our qualified health personnel due to
what the professionals termed unfavourable working conditions," Dr Muguti
said.
Most patients, who over the years relied on the machines, have appealed to
the Government and hospital authorities to ensure that the machines were
repaired as a matter of urgency.
In an interview, one Harare man who spoke on condition of anonymity said his
mother was wasting away and he did not know what to do since those were the
only machines in the country.
Accessing treatment out of the country, like in South Africa or Botswana,
was expensive for ordinary Zimbabweans with one needing at least 50 000 pula
to undergo radiotherapy in Botswana.
"The radiotherapy machine at Parirenyatwa has been down since March and
nobody seems to know when it will be fixed.
"This is the only machine and everybody relies on it. May the authorities do
something or else people will just waste away?" he said.
A cancer patient, one Mr Willis said cancer patients' lives would be doomed
if something was not done to address the situation urgently.
"Going for that treatment has been making it easier for me over the pains
but now the pain is getting worse," he said.
Almost all types of cancers, according to the Cancer Association of
Zimbabwe, could be managed by radiotherapy treatment, among them breast and
lung.
This means the breakdown of the machines will lead to an irreversible damage
in many cancer patients.

Zim starts to run out of anti-retrovirals

Mail and Guardian

      Harare, Zimbabwe

      03 May 2006 10:44

            Desperately-needed anti-retroviral drugs for HIV/Aids patients
are running out in Zimbabwe, reports said on Wednesday.

            Zimbabwe has been hard-hit by the HIV/Aids pandemic and at least
one in five members of the country's 11,6-million people is believed to be
HIV-positive.

            But only 20 000 people are on a life-saving programme of
anti-retrovirals, known as ARVs, and now there is only one month's supply of
the drugs left, the acting managing director of the National Pharmaceutical
Company (Natpharm) was quoted as saying.

            "We have less than a month's supply of the vital drugs and that
is not encouraging," Charles Mwaramba told a parliamentary portfolio
committee on health and child welfare that recently toured Natpharm, the
state-owned Herald newspaper reported.

            It is vital for people who have started on ARVs to continue
their courses uninterrupted, so that drug resistance does not develop.

            Most of Zimbabwe's ARVs are imported from overseas, said
Mwaramba. But the country's foreign currency crunch has made continued
imports more and more difficult.

            Mwaramba said that Natpharm had applied for $7,4-million from
Zimbabwe's central bank to boost ARV imports between January and March this
year. But the bank was only able to grant Natpharm $106 000, a tiny fraction
of its needs, the paper reported.

            "We understand that drugs are also competing with other items
like fuel for foreign currency but the picture is not encouraging," Mwaramba
said.

            Zimbabwe's foreign currency shortages have caused havoc to many
sectors of society. There are now serious shortages of fuel, electricity,
blood supplies, machinery and some foods.

            In a separate report, the Herald said Zimbabwe's only two
radiotherapy machines had broken down "putting all cancer patients that
require radiation treatment at risk".

            One machine, located at Harare's Parirenyatwa Hospital, has not
been working since March, the newspaper said.

            The report said that in the past experts would have been brought
in from neighbouring South Africa to mend the machines "but this has become
unsustainable". - Sapa-DPA

Zimbabweans Find Relief in Laughter

Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Witty and subversive emails maintain people's spirits amid the gathering
gloom.

By Josephat Moyo in Harare (AR No. 62, 3-May-06)

Faced with catastrophic economic crisis, Zimbabweans are finding some relief
from their general misery in witty emails and mobile phone text jokes about
President Robert Mugabe and his government.

By SMS and email, they are able to make candid comments about their
president, the collapsing economy, widespread hunger and a near-worthless
currency that is the laughing stock of the southern African region. If made
more publicly, such remarks could land them in jail.

The topics for jokes range from inflation, now standing at an annual rate of
920 per cent but expected to top 1,000 per cent by June, to the quality of
the country's leadership.

As conditions under President Mugabe's ZANU PF government grow ever harsher,
the stories, once merely humorous, become more biting and satirical. With 90
per cent of the population living below the poverty line of one US dollar a
day, jokes have become essential as therapy to lighten the daily gloom.

They also reflect people's honest views of the regime to a much greater
extent than the results of rigged elections.

One of the thousands of jokes, most of them too crass or obscene, or simply
too long, to publish, goes as follows.

"A man is caught in a traffic jam when someone taps on the car window. The
driver lowers the window and asks what he wants. The other man says,
'President Mugabe has been kidnapped and the ransom is 50 million [US]
dollars. If the ransom is not paid, the kidnappers are threatening to douse
the president with petrol and set him on fire. We are making a collection.
Do you wish to contribute?'

"The man in the car asks, 'On average, what are people donating?'

"The other replies, 'About two to three gallons.'"

A new vein of humour has come from "Breakfast With Mugabe", a play currently
being performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in London. One complaint
taken from the drama is now whizzing around cellphones and emails in
Zimbabwe - "It's hard work being a despot. There is never a break for me."

Late last year, Mugabe appeared on TV laughing off SMS jokes suggesting he
had died. Other tall stories have speculated about his health, while many
poke fun at his marriage with Grace, his former secretary, whose official
title is First Lady. Zimbabweans more often call her the "First Shopper" for
her millionaire lifestyle and extravagant trips abroad to buy designer-label
clothes and shoes, cosmetics, electronic goods and handmade chocolates.

Mugabe has demonstrated a severe sense-of-humour failure when it comes to
his citizens' taste in comedy. The government has been working desperately
behind the scenes for almost a year to find a way to stem the flow of jokes.

There are already laws making it a criminal offence to ridicule the
president or to gesticulate rudely at his armoured motorcade. Now his civil
servants are working on a law that will give the government powers to spy on
citizens' emails and bug their cellphones. The Interception of
Communications Bill, due for tabling in parliament soon, is the latest piece
of legislation designed to suppress mass discontent.

Legal experts assert that the bill, which is certain to be passed, is
completely unconstitutional and will place further curbs on the already
severely limited freedom of expression.

The law will give the chief of defence intelligence and the director of the
Central Intelligence Organisation, CIO, powers to tap mobile phones and
landlines. Government spy agencies, which fall under Mugabe's office, will
be empowered to open people's mail passing through post offices and courier
services. A special Monitoring Centre controlled by the security agencies
will be set up to sift through the mail.

Unlike other countries where such powers are granted only temporarily on the
basis of reasonable suspicion that some kind of offence has been committed,
the Zimbabwean law will give ministers sweeping powers.

Offences under the legislation will carry prison sentences of up to three
years.

Although still in draft form, the Interception of Communications law has
sent waves of fear through the professional classes in the main cities and
towns, where people clearly see it as an effort by Mugabe and the state to
end their freedom to communicate.

"It's scary. I'm genuinely scared by that law," said Nelson Murumbi of
Harare. "It's Mugabe's paranoia and it's now becoming more apparent."

Arnold Tsunga, director of the human rights advocacy organisation Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights, said the bill does not meet minimum democratic
standards. "It's a sad development," he said. "It's one more bill in an
array of repressive and draconian laws that have been cobbled [together] by
the Mugabe regime."

Tsunga and others lawyers argue that it violates Article 20 of the
constitution which guarantees freedom of expression and speech and the right
to hold opinions.

What troubles the informed public is the selective way in which such
draconian laws are applied by the government. From past experience, the new
law will be used only to target political opponents, the independent media
and anyone else critical of the way the country is governed.

The 2003 Public Order and Security Act, POSA, for example, has been used to
rein in opposition leaders and independent journalists. More than 200
arrests have been made so far under POSA. Another law, the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act passed the same year, has seen the
arrests of scores of journalists and the permanent closure of four
independent national newspapers.

The government is now working on a Suppression of International Terrorism
law, which was promulgated three weeks after the government failed to back
up allegations that opposition leaders plotted to assassinate Mugabe. And
another draft law, once enacted, will force lawyers to reveal confidential
information from their clients.

Joseph James, president of the Law Society of Zimbabwe, told IWPR that the
volume of repressive legislation indicates a government paranoid about its
own legitimacy.

"The Interception of Communications Bill is a relic of fascist and
authoritarian government which does not reflect the will of the people," he
said. "Such laws have no place in a democratic society."

James's sentiments echo a report in January from the African Union's African
Commission on Human and People's Rights, which criticised the passing of
draconian laws that hinder civil freedoms. To the fury of Mugabe, it said,
"There has been a flurry of new legislation and the revival of old laws used
under the Smith regime [Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith] to control and
manipulate public opinion."

The report was also critical of the role played by the CIO, which falls
directly under Mugabe's office, in applying the laws.

Human rights lawyer David Coltart said the communications bill is
particularly dangerous because it contains no safeguard clauses to prevent
abuses such as the silencing of opponents by Mugabe and his government.

Once the bill becomes law, it is a moot point whether the current national
sport of emailing and texting jokes about the head of state will be possible
any longer.

Josephat Moyo is the pseudonym of an IWPR journalist in Zimbabwe.