AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Public Statement
AI Index: AFR 46/030/2005
(Public)
News Service No: 306
16 November 2005
Through the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's
Development
(NEPAD) African Heads of State and Government have made a
commitment to
human rights and accountability in Africa. We are calling on
African leaders
to honour these commitments and end their long silence on
human rights
violations in Zimbabwe.
Today in Zimbabwe, hundreds of
thousands of people are internally displaced
and destitute, not because of a
war, an earthquake or a tsunami, but because
their own government has
forcibly evicted them, demolished their homes, and
destroyed their property
and their livelihoods. These acts, totally
unjustifiable under international
law, have been widely condemned. However,
African States have remained
conspicuously silent and have not demonstrated
the political will to respond
to the human rights crisis in Zimbabwe.
The Secretary-General of the
United Nations (UN), Kofi Annan, has described
Zimbabwe's mass evictions as
"a catastrophic injustice...carried out with
disquieting indifference to
human suffering".
UN Special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues, Anna
Tibaijuka, has reported
that the government's Operation Murambatsvina
directly affected 700,000
people, indirectly affected at least a further 2
million people and "has
precipitated a humanitarian crisis of immense
proportions".
Human rights are being further violated in the context of
the humanitarian
crisis. There is considerable evidence that the Government
of Zimbabwe is
unable or unwilling to ensure that those affected have
access, at the very
least, to minimum essential levels of food, water,
shelter and medical care.
It is denying victims the humanitarian help they
so desperately need:
a.. Thousands of people, including children, the ill
and the elderly, are
facing the rainy season with little or no shelter. The
government is not
providing basic shelter for those in need, and it is
blocking the UN and
churches from doing so; police have forced destitute
people from churches at
night.
b.. More than four million people need
food aid, but the government is
limiting food aid distribution, having also
blocked a UN appeal for
humanitarian aid and forced tens of thousands to
return to rural areas where
food security is already low.
c.. Tens of
thousands need clean water and sanitation, but the government
is restricting
the work of aid agencies that are trying to assist.
d.. Despite the already
grave humanitarian and internal displacement
crisis the government has
continued to evict people; some families have been
forcibly evicted and
moved several times in the past few months.
Zimbabwe's consistent failure
to respect human rights has been well
documented, including in reports
published in 2005 by the African Commission
on Human and Peoples' Rights
(ACHPR) and the UN Special Envoy on Human
Settlement Issues. In the face of
such clear, well-documented and
large-scale violations, member States of the
AU and UN have a duty to ensure
that the recommendations of such regional
and international problem-solving
mechanisms are implemented in order to
address the present deprivation of
African citizens and deter such harmful
practices in the future.
The silence of African States in the face of the
grave suffering caused by
forced evictions, in Zimbabwe and elsewhere on the
continent, has created
the regrettable impression of tacit approval of
forced evictions as a policy
option.
Today, we call on African
States, individually and in their capacity as
members of the AU, to:
a.. Publicly express concern about the deteriorating human rights
situation
in Zimbabwe, including the human rights violations that have been
a direct
consequence of Operation Murambatsvina;
b.. Publicly encourage and offer
support to the Government of Zimbabwe to
implement the recommendations
contained in the reports of the ACHPR and the
UN Special Envoy on Human
Settlement Issues, as a matter of urgency;
c.. Place the human rights and
humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe on the
agenda of the AU January 2006
Assembly of Heads of State and Government;
d.. Condemn the refusal of the
Government of Zimbabwe to cooperate with
the Special Envoy of the African
Union Commission when he visited Zimbabwe
in July 2005 and insist that he be
allowed to return to Zimbabwe, fulfil his
mandate and report to the AU on
the situation of internally displaced people
in Zimbabwe;
e.. Call for
the immediate lifting of all unnecessary restrictions on the
provision of
humanitarian assistance, including restrictions on the
provision of
temporary shelter.
f.. Call for the provision of effective remedies for the
victims of the
mass evictions and demolitions and all other human rights
violations,
including access to justice, reparations, guarantees of
non-repetition,
compensation and restitution where possible;
g.. Call
for an end to impunity for perpetrators of human rights
violations in
Zimbabwe and for those responsible to be brought to justice;
h.. Pledge to
seek alternatives to forced eviction in their own
jurisdiction.
We
also call on African States as members of the UN to:
a.. Give full support
to the UN initiatives aimed at addressing the human
rights and humanitarian
situation in Zimbabwe and to put pressure on the
government to allow
independent human rights monitoring in Zimbabwe,
including UN Special
Rapporteurs.
b.. In particular, we call on African members of the UN
Security Council
(Algeria, Benin and Tanzania) and those States that will
become members in
January 2006 (Ghana and Republic of the Congo) to allow
the Security Council
to be regularly informed on the situation in Zimbabwe,
including the
situation in respect of the UN's humanitarian access to
displaced and
vulnerable people.
Supporting
organizations:
ANGOLA
Associacao Justica, Paze Democracia
(AJPD)
BOTSWANA
Amnesty International - Botswana
Ditshwanelo (The
Botswana Centre for Human Rights)
Women in Law in Southern Africa -
Botswana
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)
Association Africaine de
défense des Droits de l'Homme (ASADHO)
Collectif des Jeunes du Sud-Kivu
(COJESKI)
Comité Droits de l'Homme Maintenant
Fondation Bill Clinton
La
Voix des Sans Voix
Ligue des Electeurs
Mouvement des jeunes et Etudiants
pour la Patrie
Observatoire Congolais des Droits de l'Homme (OCDH)
Réseau
Provincial de Défense des Droits Humains-Kin (REPRODHOC)
SADC-Youth
Movement
Toges Noires
EGYPT
Afro- Asian Peoples' Solidarity
Organisation (AAPSO)
The Egyptian Organisation for Human
Rights
ETHIOPIA
Initiative Africa (IA)
ERITREA
Human Rights
Concern
GHANA
African Women Lawyers Association
Commonwealth Human
Rights Initiative (Africa)
Media Foundation for West Africa
People's
Dialogue for Human Settlements
The Arc Foundation
KENYA
Amnesty
International - Kenya
Association of Media Women in Kenya
Basic
Rights
Citizens Coalition for Constitutional Change
Hakijimii
Trust
Independent Medical Legal Unit
FIDA Kenya
Kenya Medical
Association Human Rights Committee
Kisumu Urban Apostolate Programmes -
Pandipieri
Men to Men
Men for Gender Equality
OIKEDOME
People
Against Torture
Release Political Prisoners Group
Social Reform
Centre
Umande Trust
Young Women Leadership
Institute
LESOTHO
Federation of Women Lawyers
Gender and Media
Southern Africa (GEMSA)
Lesotho Closthing and Allied Workers Union
Lesotho
Council of Non-Governmental Organisations
Lesotho Durham Link
Lesotho
Society for mentally Handicapped Persons
Lesotho Youth Federation
Media
Institute of Southern Africa - Lesotho
NGO Coalition on the Rights of the
Children
Women in Law in Southern Africa - Lesotho
Young Women Christian
Association
LIBERIA
Amnesty International -
Liberia
MALAWI
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation
(CHRR)
Civil Liberties Committee
Institute of Policy Interaction
(IPI)
National Media Institute of Southern Africa (NAMISA)
Women in Law in
Southern Africa - Malawi
MOZAMBIQUE
Women in Law in Southern Africa -
Mozambique
NAMIBIA
Association for Children with Language, Speech
& Hearing Impairments (ClaSH)
of Namibia
Big Issue Namibia
Clement
Daniels Legal Practitioners
Katutura Community Radio 106.2 FM
Legal
Assistance Centre of Namibia
Namibia Development Trust
Namibia NGO
Forum
!Nara Training Centre
National Society for Human Rights
(NSHR)
People's Education, Assistance and Counselling for Empowerment (PEACE)
Centre
Sister Namibia
The Rainbow Project
Women Leadership Centre
of Namibia
NIGERIA
Civil Resources Development & Documentation
Centre (CIRRDOC)
Concerned Professionals (CP)
Gender Development Action
(GADA)
Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP)
Prisoners
Rehabilitation & Welfare Action (PRAWA)
Projekthope
Women Advocates
Research & Documentation Centre (WARDC)
SENEGAL
Amnesty
International - Senegal
Convergence Africaine pour la Democratie et les
Droits Humanins (CADDU)
SOMALIA
Justice Watch Association
(JUWA)
National Union of Somali Journalists
SADO
Somali Human Rights
Defenders Network
SOMALILAND
Samotalis Coalition for Human
Rights
Somaliland National Human Rights Network
SOUTH AFRICA
Action
Support Centre
Action Support Centre and Coalition for Peace in Africa
(COPA)
Amnesty International - South Africa (AISA)
Anti-Corruption Trust
of Southern Africa (ACT-Southern Africa)
Association for Community and Rural
Advancement (AnCRA)
Association of Rural Advancement (AFRA)
Centre for the
Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
Centre for Rural Legal Studies
(CRLS)
Coalition for Peace in Africa
Community Law Centre
Crisis
Coalition Zimbabwe
Eastern Cape Agricultural Research Programme
(ECARP)
Free State Rural Development Association
Heal Zimbabwe
Trust
Karoo Centre for Human Rights
Land Access Movement of South
Africa
Land for Peace
Lawyers for Human Rights - Stellenbosch
Office
Legal Assistance Centre
National Land Committee (NLC)
Nkunzi
Development Association
Peace and Democracy Project
Programme for Land and
Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) - University of Western Cape
Rural Legal Trust
(RLT)
South Africa National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO)
Support Centre -
ACTION for Conflict Transformation
Southern Cape Land Committee
Solidarity
Peace Trust (SPT)
Southern African Women's Institute of Migration
Affairs
Southern Africa Litigation Centre
TRAC Mupumalanga
Transkei
Land Services Organisation
Treatment Action Campaign
Women on Farm
Project
Zimbabwe Action Support Group
Zimbabwe Advocacy Campaign
(ZAC)
Zimbabwe Exiles Forum
Zimbabwe Human Rights Lobby Group
Zimbabwe
Political Victims Association (ZIPOVA)
Zimbabwe Torture Victims Project
(ZTVP)
SUDAN
SIHA Network
SWAZILAND
Coordinating
Assembly of NGOs (CANGO)
Women in Law in Southen Africa -
Swaziland
TANZANIA
BEB Rural Development Option
Grassroot
Initiative Support Trust
Media Institute of Southern Africa -
Tanzania
Same Network of NGO/CBOs
Tabora Development Foundation
Trust
Tabora Development Society
Tanzania Christian Farm Development
Trust
ZAMBIA
Anti Voters Apathy (AVAP)
Catholic Centre for Justice
Development and Peace (CCJDP)
Catholic Commission for Justice and
Peace
Children in Need (CHIN)
Foundation for Democratic Progress
(FODEP)
Justice for Widow and Orphans
Legal Resources Foundation
(LRF)
Southern African Centre for Conflict Resolution and Disputes
Women
in Law in Southern Africa - Zambia
Women for Change
Zambia Association for
Research and Development (ZARD)
Zambia Civic Education
Association
ZIMBABWE
Counselling Services Unit
Gays and Lesbians of
Zimbabwe (GALZ)
Human Rights Trust of Southern Africa (SAHRIT)
Legal
Resources Foundation (LRF)
Media Institute of Southern Africa
Media
Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe
Nonviolent Action and Strategies for Social
Change
Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ)
University of Zimbabwe
Legal Aid and Advice Scheme
Women in Law in Southern Africa -
Zimbabwe
Women of Zimbabwe Arize (WOZA)
Zimbabwe Association for Crime
Prevention and Rehabilitation (ZACRO)
Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for
Human Rights
Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust (ZIMCET)
Zimbabwe Human Rights
Association (ZimRights)
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Zimbabwe Peace
Project
INTERNATIONAL
Amnesty International
Centre on Housing
Rights and Evictions (COHRE)
Catholic Institute for International Relations
(CIIR)
CIVICUS - World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Cordaid
FIAN
International
Habitat International Coalition - Housing and Land Rights
Network
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
International Bar Association's Human
Rights Institute
Network for Social Justice
(FAHAMU)
Trocaire
Endorsed by NGOs in Asia, Europe and
Americas
Amnesty International - India
A'idun Group
Applied Research
Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ)
Arcilla Research
Asociación Agenda Mujeres,
Lima-Perú
Asociación de la Vivienda Económica (AVE)
Asia Pacific
Socio-Economic Research Institute
Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law &
Development (APWLD)
Associação De Moradores Do Jardim Nova Esperança I E Ii -
Sumaré/Sp - Brasil
Associação Grão - Diversidade e Cidadania
Association
for Youth and Cultural Organisation
Barka Foundation for Mutual
Help
C.D.D.H - Centro de Defesa dos Direitos Humanos, Brazil
Centre for
Trade Union & Workers Services (CTWC)
Centro de Direitos Humanos de
T.Otoni
Centro de Direitos Humanos, Brazil
Centro de Estudios Legales y
Sociales/Center for Legal and Social Studies
(CELS), Argentina
Centro de
Estudos e Ação da Mulher Urbana e Rural - Brasil
Centro de Estudos e Defesa
do Negro no Pará - CEDENPA
Charter on Poverty Issues (Canada)
Comité de
Campaña por una vivienda Digna
Concordamos e assinamos esta Declaração
Conjunta, Brazil
Condepe Conselho Estadual de Defesa dos Direitos da Pessoa
Humana, Brazil
Corporación Humanas de Chile
Curitiba - Brasil
D.D.H -
Centro de Defesa dos Direitos Humanos, Brazil
Educational Assistance Organs
Federation
Ensan Center for Democracy and Human Rights
(Palestine)
Entidade APJ - Aprender Produzir Juntos
European Roma Rights
Centre , Hungary
Faorlist e da Comissão de Direitos Humanos da
Alepa
FDDCA_ Frente de Defesa dos Direitos da Criança e do Adolescente do
Vale do
Mucuri;
Federação de Órgãos para Assistência Social e Educacional
(FASE) (Social and
FOCO - Argentina
Foro de Mujeres del Mercosur,
Paraguay
Grupo Tortura Nunca Mais da Bahia- Brasil
Grupo Tortura Nunca
Mais/Paraná, Brazil
Grupo Tortura Nunca Mais/São Paulo, Brazil
Habitat
International Coalition - Latin America
Human Rights Council
Igreja
Evangélica Projeto Vida em Volta Redonda
Instituição: Missionárias de Jesus
Crucificado, Brasil
Instituto de Desenvolvimento e Direitos Humanos
(IDDH)
Instituto de Estudos Sócio Ambientais - IESA
Instituto
Palmas
International Development Exchange
l'Organisation Mondiale Contre
la Torture (OMCT)
LANUD - Instituto Latino Americano das Nações Unidas para a
Prevenção do
Delito e
Macapá - Brasil
MAM FUNDACIONAL, Peru
Mines,
Minerals & People (mm&P) - India
Movimento Nacional de Direitos
Humanos (National Human Rights Movement),
Brazil
Movimentos Sociais de
Teófilo Otoni
NASA - Núcleo de Ação Solidáira à Aids, Brazil
National
Alliance of HUD Tenants
National Economic and Social Rights Initiative,
USA
Núcleo de Atendimento as Vítimas de crimes Violentos NAVCV
Ordem dos
Advogados do Brasil, Brasil
Organização Ser Mulher - Centro de Estudos e Ação
da Mulher Urbana e Rural -
Brasil
Pastoral do Menor-Diocese de
T.Otoni;
People's Movement for Human Rights Learning (PDHRE)
Peruvian
Women Center Flora Tristan, Diverse Women Diary
Public Against Torture in
Israel
SCANOVI - Associação de Catadores de Materiais Recicláveis Teófilo
Otoni,
MG-BRASIL
Social Rights Advocacy Centre, Canada
Tratamento do
Delinqüente, Brazil
União Geral Dos Moradores Dos Bairros Vilas E Jardins De
Curitiba E Região
Metropolitana -
Vânia de Melo vValadão
Cardoso
Zimbabwe Watch
IOL
November
16 2005 at 02:10AM
Windhoek - Namibia has said it cannot
accommodate starving elephants
from Zimbabwe, as proposed by some officials
in that country, as it was
already grappling to take care of its own jumbo
population.
Zimbabwean wildlife authorities said they were
considering moving
elephants from the country's overburdened national parks
to Namibia after at
least 50 starved to death.
Some 50
elephants died in the famous Hwange National Park, where the
population had
soared to more than 75 000, nearly double the park's
estimated capacity of
45 000.
Zimbabwe has a total elephant population of 100 000, one of
the
biggest in Africa. Hwange is on Zimbabwe's western border with Botswana,
which also has a large elephant population.
However, Namibia's
director of parks and wildlife management, Ben
Beytell, said there was no
way the country could accommodate more jumbos.
"We already have
enough elephants of our own," he said.
Namibia has an elephant
population of about 16 000 and grazing is
scarce. Namibia's problem was
compounded by the fact that elephants from the
Chobe National Park, in
neighbouring Botswana, were fleeing to the Caprivi
Strip due to dry
conditions in the park.
This week Caprivi residents urged the
Namibian government to relocate
some of the elephants as they were
exhausting the limited water resources
and were destroying
crops.
Zimbabwe's deputy minister for the environment and tourism,
Andrew
Langa, said: "The situation is bad in the Hwange park.
Some of the solutions we are looking at in order to reduce the deaths
are to
cull and take some of the elephants to Namibia".
Zimbabwe national
parks chief Morris Mutsambiwa warned that if the
trend continued "we are
going to have a major disaster in Zimbabwe".
"Vegetation will be
destroyed and water will run out in parks. If we
have a major drought we are
going to have massive deaths of elephants and
other animals as they run out
of food and water," he said, adding that
farmers had been urged to buy
elephants.
This article was originally published on
page 7 of Cape Times on
November 16, 2005
Mail and Guardian
Sarudzayi Zindoga | Tunis, Tunisia
16 November 2005
05:41
The President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, on Wednesday
attacked
the United States at the opening of the World Summit on Information
Society
(WSIS) in Tunis, Tunisia, for monopolising the governance of the
internet.
Addressing delegates at the second phase of the
WSIS, Mugabe
said the summit is supposed to empower all countries in their
development
endeavours and engender confidence in internet users outside
Europe and
North America.
He said this can be done by
allowing for a more transparent and
multilateral approach to internet
governance.
"We challenge the still undemocratic issue of
internet
governance, where one or two countries insist on being world
policemen on
the management and administration of the internet," said
Mugabe.
He added: "Indeed, why should our diversified world
be beholden
to an American company for such a sensitive
undertaking?"
He also said that developed nations continue to
frustrate
measures such as technology transfer and preferential trade terms
that would
advance the information society.
"These
negative subterfuges have the capacity of weakening the
WSIS process and
stripping it of the action-oriented approach it had taken."
At present, the internet is controversially managed and
administered by a US
company called the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers
(Icann).
Icann is responsible for coordinating the management
of the
technical elements of the domain name system to ensure that all users
of the
internet can find all valid addresses. This is done by overseeing the
distribution of unique technical identifiers used in the internet's
operations and the delegation of top-level domain names such as ".com" and
".info".
A heated debate concerning internet governance
has been going on
between negotiators since Sunday ahead of the WSIS opening
on Wednesday.
However, negotiators from 100 countries have
agreed to leave the
US company in charge of the internet system, averting a
possible showdown at
this year's summit.
World heads of
states are expected to ratify a declaration
incorporating the deal during
the WSIS, but a group of countries, including
China, Cuba and Iran, has
proposed replacing Icann with a multicountry group
under United Nations
auspices.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the
UN will not
police or take over the internet in his official opening speech
at the
summit.
He said: "The UN doesn't want to control
the internet and the US
deserves a thank-you for creating the internet and
managing it honorably."
He went on to say that countries need
to acknowledge the need
for more international involvement in governance
discussion.
"Let these discussions continue; the UN will
support this
process in every way it can," he said.
In
other news reports, businesses at the summit were in support
of the stance
taken by the UN.
The Coordinating Committee of Business
Interlocutors (CCBI) said
proposed models of internet governance would only
serve to tarnish the
efficiency of the internet.
Speaking
on behalf of the CCBI in an official preparatory
process leading up to the
summit on Wednesday, Ayesha Hassan said: "We do
not support an
intergovernmental oversight mechanism. It is not responsive
to the
day-to-day needs of the internet and its users."
She added
that this would slow decision making and create
uncertainty, which can only
hinder innovation and investment.
By
Lance Guma
16 November 2005
Zimbabwe's opposition edged
closer to a final split when the Secretary
General Welshman Ncube issued a
directive for all party vehicles and
stationery to be brought to the
Bulawayo regional offices. Sources in the
party say the directive was issued
last week Thursday but only officials
loyal to Ncube complied. Information
Officer Maxwell Zimuto, Sylvester Qoma
Majekuza in the organizing department
and other officials sent their cars to
Bulawayo even though they are based
in Harare.
Most of the vehicles have been parked at the regional
offices at 15th
Avenue and Herbert Street while the remainder taken to the
provincial
offices at 2nd Avenue and Jason Moyo streets. Zimuto however
quickly moved
in to deny the handover saying the car was never his in the
first place. The
Mazda 323 in question was always part of Ncube's security
entourage and had
been handed over at the Secretary General's Harare home.
The same car
initially was being used by Nkanyiso Maqeda in the information
department
before he left for the United Kingdom.
The MDC
headquarters at Harvest house meanwhile has become a no-go
area for all
those considered pro-senate sympathizers. Officials like
Zimuto, Majekuza
and a lady in the information department known as Christine
have stopped
entering the offices. While they commute to work everyday they
are not
getting inside Harvest House and seem to carry out their duties via
mobile
phones. Meanwhile at the Bulawayo offices, all pro-Tsvangirai
officials are
being hounded out of their positions and replaced with those
considered
loyal.
At the party's Gweru's provincial offices all Ncube
sympathizers were
chased away and the vehicles the officials had intended to
take to Bulawayo
seized. An employee with the party says operations have
ground to a halt.
People employed in particular positions have been uprooted
depending on whom
they support and a lot of re-organization is taking
place.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe
news
ABC Australia
Thursday, November 17, 2005. 0:06am (AEDT)
Miners Anglo American and BHP Billiton
have helped set up a $US500 million
fund to improve Africa's investment
climate and promote good governance.
Economist Dikgang Rapudi says the
Investment Climate Facility is designed to
attract more money to countries
that submit themselves for assessment under
the continent's home-grown plan
to improve political and economic
management.
"Anglo, BHP Billiton
and others came forward to say, 'how can we help
improve the investment
climate of countries that show good governance', and
that is how the fund
was founded," Mr Rapudi said.
"It is a $US500 million facility, founded
by big business but driven by
Africans."
Mr Rapudi works for the New
Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD),
Africa's economic recovery
strategy.
Peer review, under which countries voluntarily submit
themselves for
evaluation by a panel of eminent Africans, is considered one
of its main
showcases for improving governance.
Some 23 countries
have asked to be evaluated under the program.
The first reports - from
Ghana and Rwanda - are expected to be adopted by
African heads of state at a
meeting in the first quarter of next year.
Leaked reports on the two
countries suggested improved political and
economic management, but add that
much more could be done to guarantee
faster economic growth.
But peer
review's voluntary nature has been criticised by donor groups and
opposition
politicians.
They say countries with political or economic management
problems, like
Zimbabwe and Swaziland, do not put their names forward for
evaluation.
"Countries that are being peer reviewed would be primary
beneficiaries
although it is not projects in those countries alone that
would qualify for
funding, it is something to improve the business
environment on the whole
continent," Mr Rapudi said.
The fund would
target improving areas of regulation administration,
streamlining tax
structures and promoting partnerships between governments
and private
business.
"It would also be used for projects that fight corruption and
made business
more effective and efficient and fuelled faster wealth
creation on the
continent," Mr Rapudi said.
"Mozambique's Government,
for instance, could draw from the fund to tackle
its cumbersome tax
reporting structure to bring them in conformity with
international
standards."
A board to manage the fund, which will be based in
Johannesburg, was being
tapped and could be in office as early as
December.
- Reuters
The buzzword of many in the world today is the issue
of climate change. This
has been enhanced by the storms that have ravaged
different parts of the
world this past summer in the northern hemisphere. In
the southern
hemisphere we wait to see what is in store for us and I fear it
will not be
either pleasant or easy to deal with.
The general
consensus is that climate change is going to make areas of high
rainfall,
wetter and areas of low rainfall drier. So here in Matabeleland we
can expect
(if the predictions are true) that our average precipitation will
decline in
the next decade. This will make agriculture here an even less
attractive
business activity than it has already become because of the
impact of the
illegal occupation of commercial farms and the consequential
destruction of
the support infrastructure that maintained agriculture here
during the past
100 years.
What made this country a success in agriculture was a whole
range of
factors - all of which are now in disarray. We had a unique
population of
highly trained and skilled commercial farmers, a network of
world-class
research centers and an excellent extension programme. The
commercial
banking system and a substantial grid of industrial firms
completed the
picture, enabling farmers to produce and compete in global
markets despite
sanctions and all the other impediments that third world
farmers have to
contend with - including the Common Agricultural Policies of
the EU. This
was also facilitated by large, well run marketing
organisations.
The large-scale commercial farmers were able, in a dry
season, to bring
irrigation to bear on an astonishing 80 per cent of all
commercial arable
land. Some 280 000 hectares of arable land could be
irrigated - most of it
not for long because of stored water shortages, but
for long enough in a dry
season to make the difference between a crop and a
failure. Because of this
capacity, despite a 40 per cent mean variation in
rainfall from one year to
another, Zimbabwe became one of the largest
producers of white maize in the
world, a leading breeder of crop varieties
and self sufficient in all other
grains. We also became the third largest
producer and exporter of flue cured
tobacco and a large producer of a wide
variety of other agricultural
products.
What is not generally
understood is that the small scale or peasant sector -
which in itself was a
major component of the agricultural industry,
producing in a reasonable
season up to 70 per cent of maize grains and over
80 per cent of all seed
cotton; has been equally affected by the collapse of
commercial agriculture
and its support infrastructure. Peasant sector
production has in fact
declined in line with the decline in overall output -
not by quite the same
extent, but still very significantly.
Climate change will further damage
the prospects of the subsistence sector.
These farmers, some 800 000 of them
- mostly women, do not produce
significant surpluses and with the growth in
urban populations the
dependence on commercial large scale farming is likely
to grow significantly
in the years ahead. This deteriorating outlook for the
capacity of the
small-scale sector to meet even subsistence needs is being
compounded by the
HIV/Aids situation. Many families on the land simply do not
have the human
capacity to do the hard physical work that is required for
subsistence
farming. This is a factor that is being reinforced by the flight
to other
countries of millions of young adults who would otherwise be
available to
help with the work in rural areas.
This is a nightmare
situation and one which, if not addressed by all those
responsible, could
simply result in Zimbabwe becoming a perennial target for
food aid on a
massive scale. We have not fed ourselves for the past 5 years
and this years
cropping season is likely to be the worst for many decades.
This condemns us
to being food aid recipients in 2006 right through to May
2007. This "hunger
season" will require food imports from all sources to
feed the majority of
our population and half will require assistance, as
they cannot afford the
food.
It needs to be understood that a recovery in agriculture will not
be easy
and will take many years, if not decades. It will not even begin if
we do
not recognise that the so-called "land reform" exercise has been
an
unmitigated disaster - for everyone. It is absolutely necessary
to
acknowledge that only large-scale commercial agriculture - perhaps
conducted
by companies with the required resources and expertise, can
actually cope
with the new climatic conditions that are emerging in this part
of the
world. However, they simply cannot even start operations without
real,
concrete, long-term security over assets, including land. Unless
Africa
comes to grips with this reality it is difficult to see much more than
a
continuing crisis in the food and agricultural sector, not just in
Zimbabwe
but anywhere where similar conditions exist.
But while we
recognise that climate change is affecting our farming
activities, we must
also recognise that there are massive changes taking
place in other spheres
that might also be described as "climate change". The
changes in the
political climate for example. No longer can tyrants like
Mugabe get away
with what he is doing unscathed. The new era of instant
communications and
the emergence of a coherent international consensus on
basic, universal,
human and political rights has changed all that. The
growth of democratic
States and the demise of autocratic, Marxist power
blocks has reinforced
these trends so that we now have a much more
principled and robust
international environment that is intolerant of those
who violate the
perceived norms that constitute good governance.
Mugabe has not got away
with his antics - he has and is being punished for
them and will one day be
held accountable. That is what these modern 21st
century dictators fear most.
The specter of Saddam in the dock before judges
is a constant nightmare for
those who violate the new rules.
Closer to home it has been encouraging
this past three weeks to see how
ordinary people in Zimbabwe reject the old
tyrants of tribal politics and
ethnic divides. I well remember the 60's when
the two dominant nationalist
Parties battled it out for turf in the
Townships. Killings and riots,
directed not at the white minority government
of the day, but at each other.
Setting back the agenda for black rights and
political freedom by 20 years.
Local leaders trying the same story today are
being simply brushed aside by
the people and I see great hope in that for the
country as a whole.
Eddie Cross
16th November 2005
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Mirror
Reporters
issue date :2005-Nov-17
ZIMBABWE's overstretched urban
councils are crumbling as the local
authorities fail to provide residents
essential services due to the economic
hardships prevailing in the country,
several mayors have said.
The plight of towns and cities has resulted in poor
service delivery that
includes persistent water shortages, sewer blockages
and non-collection of
refuse, among a host of other ills.
A number of
mayors interviewed by The Daily Mirror yesterday said the harsh
economic
climate had resulted in the councils failing to provide basic
infrastructure
to match increasing populations as attempts to provide
necessary
infrastructure in the country's towns are being overstretched by
rapid
population growth.
The local authorities are failing to maintain existing
infrastructure while
most council clinics are running without essential
drugs and personnel, with
ambulances grounded either due to fuel and spare
parts shortages.
Kadoma mayor and president of the Urban Councils Association
of Zimbabwe
(UCAZ) Fani Phiri said the city had not been spared by the
current economic
challenges, adding that some parts of the city had gone
without water for
the past two days.
"We are facing similar problems like
any other urban council and as we speak
now, some areas including the
Central Business District (CBD), Munhumutapa
and parts of Rimuka have gone
for two days without water due to electricity
cuts. Our dams are 40 percent
full and this is causing pumping problems to
our reservoirs," he
said.
Phiri said the municipality's ambulance fleet was almost grounded due
to
fuel shortages forcing the town to buy fuel on the parallel
market.
The UCAZ president complained that the government was not doing
enough to
address the plight of urban councils, stressing that some of the
problems
bedevilling councils emanated from the Urban Councils Act.
"We
also feel that as urban councils, some of the provisions of our parent
Act
are restricting us to operate efficiently. We cannot procure the fuel
from
abroad on our own and we are not allowed to purchase some goods costing
a
certain price without going to tender," Phiri said.
"This has increased
bureaucracy, especially if you note that most of the
prices stipulated by
the Act do not reflect the current inflationary
environment," he
added.
Chegutu Mayor Francis Dhlakama yesterday confessed that the town "was
as
good as dead".
"Chegutu is as good as dead. We have water problems.
While we need 30
000-mega litres a day, we are able to purify only 12 000 .
From that we get
less as some is lost through leakages."
He also noted
that the town was failing to provide street lighting
endangering the lives
of residents. The mayor said that had resulted in
cases of muggings going
up, adding his council welcomed the idea of Zesa
Holdings taking over the
maintenance of street lighting in the town.
Dhlakama also complained about
refuse collection being a nightmare with
residents paying for services not
being provided for.
From Page 1
Gwanda mayor
Thandiko Zinti Mnkandhla revealed that council was failing to
retain and
attract qualified staff due to poor remuneration.
"As I speak we do not have
a substantive town engineer or internal auditor.
Because of fuel shortages
we are almost grounded," Mnkandhla said, before
reminding The Daily Mirror
that the Matabeleland South capital was also
experiencing problems with
illegal gold panners.
John Hourton, the Kariba mayor, expressed the same
sentiments, but quickly
pointed out that the major problem facing the resort
town was provision of
adequate housing.
Although he could not
immediately give statistics regarding the housing
backlog, the mayor said
thousands of people there lived in the open.
"During the clean-up operation
we destroyed 2 000 homes and we have not been
able to provide a single house
as we have run out of materials. The families
are still sleeping outside,"
Hourton said.
In a recent interview, Harare spokesperson Leslie Gwindi said
the city was
currently making do with a fleet of at least 24 refuse
collection trucks,
well below a third of the 80 normally required to provide
an effective
service.
The capital's ambulance fleet of 25 was this week
grounded due to fuel and
spare parts shortages.
Bulawayo has also been
facing acute water shortages due to successive
droughts and last week the
government refused to declare it a water shortage
area, a development that
would have resulted in resources being mobilised to
seek alternative
solutions to the problem.
Problems seem to have overwhelmed Chitungwiza, the
third largest urban
centre in Zimbabwe, where a visit revealed raw sewage
flowing in streets and
in front of houses, while roadsides are littered with
rubbish and rubble.
Last week, the town's mayor, Misheck Shoko attributed the
problems to lack
of fuel and foreign currency, saying they were beyond
council control.
Shoko said he had then proposed that council hire pushcarts
for refuse
collection after their vehicles got stuck due to fuel
shortages.
"As the mayor I made a proposal to council that we use pushcarts
to collect
refuse. It is still a proposal and it is yet to be approved,"
said Shoko.
The dormitory town has been facing a myriad of social amenities
problems,
including erratic water supplies, electricity cuts and blocked
sewers.
Deputy minister of Local Government, Public Works and Urban
Development
Morris Sakabuya acknowledged the current problems, and said that
was the
reason why the government had asked urban councils to come up with
turnaround programmes.
"We are aware of the problems. That's why councils
have been asked to put in
place turnaround strategies. We want them to
charter a way forward on how
they intend to go about their issues," the
deputy minister said.
"The problem with most councils is that they are just
operating without set
targets and always want to put the blame on government
when something goes
wrong."
On allegations that the government was
excessively interfering in the
affairs of urban councils, especially those
run by the opposition MDC,
Sakabuya said: "That is the problem with
opposition politics in Zimbabwe.
The government cannot just sit while
services go down. We react to
situations on the ground. If things go wrong
people always ask: Where was
the government? If we intervene, they start
calling it interference."
On the issue of fuel, the deputy minister said it
was difficult for all
sectors to get preferential treatment and satisfy
everybody given the
foreign currency squeeze in the country.
According to
the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa), the water
problems gripping
Harare and Chitungwiza are due to the dilapidated
infrastructure at its
water treatment plants and reservoirs resulting in low
pumping
capacity.
These have forced Zinwa to ration water supplies to the capital and
its
environs to boost water levels in the reservoirs.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Givemore
Nyanhi
issue date :2005-Nov-17
FINANCE Minister Herbert Murerwa has
said government is going to remove
price controls as they had contributed to
the overall hyperinflationary
environment.
He hinted that market forces
were destined to play a bigger role in the 2006
national budget that will be
presented on 1 December.
"The Ministry of Finance has been conducting
national budget consultations.
The country is facing a hyperinflationary
environment compounded by pricing
distortions that are constraining and
affecting the budget.
Government is going to remove all price controls,"
Murerwa said yesterday.
He was speaking at a pre-budget consultative meeting
held in Harare.
The Minister of Economic Development Rugare Gumbo, Deputy
Minister of
Finance David Chapfika, former Finance Minister Simba Makoni,
among others
attended the consultative meeting.
Key sectors of the
business community such as the Zimbabwe National Chamber
of Commerce (ZNCC),
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), and Chamber
of Mines made their
recommendations though the broad financial services
sector chose to stay
away from the event.
This becomes the second time in recent months that
Murerwa has moved away
from government's previous policy on price controls,
which it introduced in
2003 to stem unscrupulous pricing policies in a
hyperinflationary
environment.
Currently the government has placed basic
commodities such as bread, mealie
meal and sugar under price control, but
most retail shops have tended to
ignore the gazetted prices and set their
own.
In some cases, such as with sugar, the setting of a controlled price has
seen the commodity disappearing from shelves only to be found on the black
market at an exorbitant price.
The price controls, that have remained as
one of the productive sector's
major sore points with government, has
resulted in shortages of most basic
commodities as companies are not being
adequately compensated for high
production costs.
Giving a further hint
that next month's 2006 national budget presentation
will give market forces
a bigger role to play in economic activity, Murerwa
lauded recent measures
by the central bank that resulted in a more market
driven foreign exchange
regime.
After adjusting the exchange rate in line with the monthly inflation
rate in
July, August and September - that saw the exchange rate devalued in
line
with inflation - the central bank took its boldest move last month,
when it
removed the poorly performing auction system.
Under the new
modified system companies are now allowed to retain up to 70
percent of
their foreign currency in the foreign currency accounts that they
can
liquidate at the market driven inter-bank foreign exchange system.
The
remaining 30 percent will be liquidated at the official government
determined rate.
The modified system has been described as a major
concession to the export
sectors of the economy aimed at generating
increased foreign currency
reserves.
"We need to implement measures to
complement export viability. The central
bank has taken a big step and
market forces will now play a bigger role in
the determination of the
exchange rate."
The new inter-bank rate auction system saw the local currency
devalued from
$26 000 to about $60 000, a development that will make export
companies more
competitive and lead to more foreign currency
inflows.
"What the central bank has done on moving the exchange rate will go
a long
way in making foreign exchange available on the official market,"
Murerwa
added in response to observations from the floor.
He gave
assurances that the national budget he was going to announce next
month
would take into consideration the monetary policy, input of
stakeholders
involved and emphasised that it would not tamper with the
exchange
rate.
"If we start tampering with it we might not get the results that we
need,"
he said, giving more hope for a market driven budget that will
strictly
monitor government expenditure and give more incentives to a
struggling
private sector.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The
Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Nov-17
AS the MDC intra-party
clashes intensify over participation in the November
26 Senate polls, the
police in the past three weeks have arrested 30
activists of the opposition
on charges of violence.
Addressing journalists in the capital yesterday, the
police senatorial
elections commander, Senior Assistant Commissioner Nonkosi
Ncube said 19 MDC
members were arrested in Bulawayo, 10 in Midlands and one
in Matabeleland
North provinces.
The country's main opposition party is
torn into two camps, one led by
president Morgan Tsvangirai and the other
headed by secretary general
Welshman Ncube.
The Tsvangirai faction is
against participation while the other group
fielded 26 candidates for the
elections.
The top cop said of the MDC violence: "So far the police have
arrested 30
people in connection with politically motivated crimes. All of
the arrested
were MDC supporters who were engaged in intra-party violence.
It is
disturbing to note that some misguided youths have chosen to engage in
intra
party violence. There was intra-party violence which degenerated in to
a
fight where catapults and stones were used at White City Stadium in
Bulawayo
where MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai was addressing a rally last
Sunday."
She added: "It is encouraging to note that there have been no
reports of
political violence or clashes in some provinces such as
Mashonaland East,
Masvingo, Manicaland, Harare, Mashonaland West and
Matabeleland South.
Generally, the situation in the country is
calm."
Moving away from the issue of violence, she said the police have put
in
place an operational strategy before, during and after the polls.
"Our
task as law enforcement agents is primarily that of maintaining law and
order and as a committee we are convinced that our state of preparedness
ahead of the Senate elections is up to expectations," Ncube said.
She
urged the contesting candidates to notify the regulating authorities
whenever they want to campaign or hold political meetings in compliance with
the Public Order and Security Act.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
From Netsai Kembo in Mutare
issue date :2005-Nov-17
STILL
smarting from the ripple effects of an illegal hefty fare hike last
month,
commuters in Mutare are yet again bracing for another fare rise with
operators arguing the move was necessitated by soaring fuel prices on the
parallel market.
Public transporters in the eastern border city had this
week warned of a
massive fare review any day this week to cope with the
escalation of fuel
prices on the black market last weekend.
"Transporters
feel that the reviews are necessary.
"This is largely prompted by the recent
black market fuel price hikes
compounded by the fact that most of us depend
on the parallel market for
supplies," said an operator.
The Zimbabwe
Stage Carriages Association (ZSCA) spokesman, Richard Masonga
confirmed news
about the imminent fare hikes which he also attributed to
escalating fuel
prices.
"The reviews are certain. All what we are waiting for are
deliberations on
the percentage rate of adjustment," he said.
"The
adjustments are essential to keep us in business since the price of the
commodity on the parallel market has nearly doubled."
Masonga explained
that the increments, though over-burdening commuters, were
essential since
transporters now relied mostly on fuel from the black
market.
Prices of
petrol and diesel on the parallel market over the weekend was
hiked
massively from $600 000 to $900 000 and $500 000 to $800 000 per five
litres.
The pump price of both petrol and diesel is $20 000 per
litre.
City transporters last month again illegally hiked fares by between 30
and
50 percent, citing viability problems.
New Zimbabwe
By Lebo
Nkatazo
Last updated: 11/17/2005 01:47:38
ZIMBABWEAN prosecutors have
withdrawn corruption charges against President
Robert Mugabe's nephew, Leo
Mugabe.
Leo Mugabe and his wife, Veronica, walked free Wednesday before
they had
entered their pleas.
Mugabe and his wife were facing charges
of contravening the Grain
Marketing Board Act and the Customs and Excise Duty
Act.
They were arrested three weeks ago after police acted on claims that
in
2003, the two diverted 30 tonnes of flour worth $147 million to
Mozambique
without having been cleared in terms of the law.
State
Prosecutor, Gerald Butaumocho said there was no evidence linking the
two to
the charge.
"There has been no evidence linking all the accused to the
crime," he told a
magistrate's court in Harare.
Amidst the silence of
a stunned audience, the prosecutor added that
investigations in the matter
were leading nowhere.
Last month, and two days after they were arrested,
the two were granted bail
on stringent conditions.
Each of them was
asked to deposit $50 million bail with the Clerk of Court,
to jointly
surrender surety in the form of title deeds valued at $700
million, not to
interfere with GMB employees and to surrender passports and
other travelling
documents.
A chain smoker, Mugabe was recently booted out of his
Journey's End Farm in
Mashonaland West for failing to utilise it. Currently
he is farming in the
same province after invading another property,
Nhangadza from a white
commercial farmer.
The former Zimbabwe
Football Association boss is the son of Sabina Mugabe,
President Mugabe's
sister.
"Chombo may deny it, but he has been a busy and enthusiastic hatchet man in spearheading his party's bullying campaign against MDC mayors in Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, Kariba and now Chitungwiza."