RESERVE BANK GOVERNOR PLEADS TO DONORS Wed 17 November
2004
HARARE - Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono
yesterday appealed to international donors to help save Zimbabwe's crumbling
economy.
Addressing a workshop in Harare that included local
representatives of international development agencies and multilateral
financial institutions, Gono pleaded to donors to let bygones be bygones and
help revive Zimbabwe's economy in its fourth year of a painful
recession.
Gono said: "I appeal to new and existing investors, as
well as the donor communities to put our differences of yesteryear aside and
constructively work together.
"I hope that all of you gathered
here will take the message and invitation to your countries and move forward
to a successful rebound of the Zimbabwean economy in 2005."
The
International Monetary Fund cut financial support to Zimbabwe in 1999 after
disagreeing with Harare over fiscal policy, land reform, human rights and
other governance issues.
Other international development agencies
and donor groups, taking a cue from the IMF, also suspended non-humanitarian
assistance to Zimbabwe.
And the European Union, United States,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand also imposed targeted sanctions against
President Robert Mugabe and his top officials for failure to uphold human
rights and democracy.
Gono's plea is out of sync with the views of
Mugabe and many of his other lieutenants who defiantly insist they will not
take aid "with strings attached." - ZimOnline
Tsvangirai to meet top EU officials Wed 17 November
2004
HARARE - Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will
this week meet top European Union (EU) officials in a bid to draw world
attention back on Zimbabwe's deepening crisis.
Tsvangirai, who
has met key African leaders urging them to pressure President Robert Mugabe
to hold a free and fair general election next year, is also expected to meet
EU leaders on the sidelines of the EU-African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)
countries meeting in the Netherlands next Monday.
The
Zimbabwean politician meets top EU secretariat executives tomorrow, a top
official of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party
said.
"After meeting the EU secretariat, he will fly back to
London to address several gatherings of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora. He will
then visit Norway, Sweden and Denmark," MDC deputy secretary-general Gift
Chimanikire said.
Chimanikire, who said the whirlwind
diplomatic offensive was meant to update the international community on
Zimbabwe's crisis, said Tsvangirai was scheduled to later meet EU leaders at
the EU-ACP conference.
Tsvangirai and his MDC party say a
democratic election next year could provide a solution to Zimbabwe's
political crisis but have so far insisted that they will not take part in
the crucial general election because conditions in Zimbabwe were not
conducive to a free and fair contest.
Tsvangirai has met the
leaders of South Africa, Mauritius, Botswana, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso
and Senegal in his bid to mobilise African support for democratic elections
in Zimbabwe next year.
He will meet the leaders of Madagascar,
Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya and Malawi on his return from Europe. -
ZimOnline
Police muzzle own Press officers Wed 17 November
2004
BULAWAYO - The Zimbabwe Republic Police has ordered its Press
officers not to answer queries from journalists from non-government
controlled newspapers, a move described by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists
(ZUJ) as an attempt to shield the force from scrutiny by independent
journalists.
In an internal communication signal leaked to
ZimOnline, deputy national police spokesman, Oliver Mandipaka, accused
journalists working for the country's privately-owned Press of distorting
information supplied to them by police spokesmen.
He did not
cite examples of such distortions but said all communication between the
police and the journalists now had to be done through national
headquarters.
Mandipaka's signal, numbered CRC82/2004 and dated
8/11/04, read in part: "This radio serves to advise all provincial community
relations officers not to communicate with the so-called independent media
as it has a tendency of distorting facts by reporting lies against
the force.
"With immediate effect, Police Community Relations
Liaison Officers are advised to refer all inquiries from such journalists to
the staff officer press and liaison at this loc. All officers to
comply."
ZUJ chairman for Bulawayo, Loughty Dube, said: "This
amounts to concealment of information by the police. The public needs to
know what is happening in the police because it is an organisation that
serves the public."
The new directive comes barely two months
after the police cut communication with the privately-owned Zimbabwe
Independent newspaper accusing the weekly of being unethical and publishing
lies against the force.
The country's small but vibrant
independent Press has routinely accused the police of selectively applying
the law, targeting government opponents while ignoring political violence by
ruling ZANU PF party militias, a charge the force says is untrue. -
ZimOnline
State pledges to resume pension payments to foreign-based
ex-workers Wed 17 November 2004
JOHANNESBURG - Harare says it
will resume "in a few weeks" pension remittances to more than 15 000
Zimbabweans based outside the country which it cut last year because it had
no foreign currency.
Labour and Social Welfare Minister Paul
Mangwana yesterday told ZimOnline that arrangements had been made with the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to ensure forex was available for the
payments.
He said: "We have made a lot of progress in resolving
that issue. We have had meetings with the Ministry of Finance and the
Reserve Bank and we will start the payments in a few weeks
time."
A spokesman of the Johannesburg-based Zimbabwe Pensioners
Association (ZPA), John Redfern, who said the government had in the past
made similar promises to pay, said he hoped the state would this time live
to its word and honour its debt to its former workers.
He said:
"I hope they will keep to their intentions and plans. If they don't, it's
their credibility that is at stake."
The government which is
battling its worst economic crisis since independence 24 years ago, last
March cut pension remittances to foreign-based retirees saying it did not
have hard cash to make the payments. - ZimOnline
Zimbabwean refugees to be forcibly removed as ban
is lifted By Stewart Tendler and Jemma
Chapman
ZIMBABWEAN asylum-seekers face forcible
repatriation after the Government ended a two-year ban on enforced removals
yesterday. The decision was greeted with anger by refugee
organisations but Des Browne, the Immigration Minister, told MPs that the
ban was ending because it was being abused by Zimbabweans who were not
genuine refugees.
Maeve Sherlock, the chief executive
of the Refugee Council, said that it was "concerned about the prospect of
anyone being forcibly returned to (President) Mugabe's Zimbabwe", and called
on the Government to monitor who was sent back.
She said:
"No one should be sent back before monitoring procedures are put in
place."
A spokeswoman for the Zimbabwe Community Association
in London said that sending back Zimbabweans would be exposing them to death
or torture. "The moment you have a connection with this country you are an
enemy of Mugabe and he will do whatever it takes to make (you) suffer.
Mugabe has openly said that anyone who opposes him faces
death."
The announcement comes as the England cricket team
face a controversial winter tour in Zimbabwe.
Last week
Chris Mullins, the Foreign Office Minister responsible for Africa, conceded
that despite the UK doing all it could, the situation was deteriorating and
there was no sign of an end to abuses. The regime has been accused of using
repressive laws to criminalise peaceful gatherings, as well as shutting down
independent media outlets and nongovernmental
organisations.
There have been systematic attacks on the
independence of judges and lawyers and allegations of torture and
ill-treatment, including rape by security forces and "youth"
militia.
After more than 5,000 white farmers were forced off
their farms, Zimbabwe announced this summer that it would nationalise all
farms.
Amnesty International, in its latest report, issued a
warning that millions of people in Zimbabwe are going hungry because the
Government refused aid, claiming that the country had had a "bumper harvest"
in 2004. The claims have been widely discredited.
The UN
estimates that at least 2.3 million rural people will need food assistance
before next April's harvest.
Mr Browne said that the ban on
removals had been introduced in January 2002 in response to concerns about
the serious deterioration in the situation in Zimbabwe before the
presidential election held in March that year.
The latest
statistics, published yesterday, showed that in the first nine months of
this year, asylum was granted to 195 Zimbabweans, and some other form of
protection to more than 25 others. This was out of a total of 2,025
decisions.
a.. The number of overall asylum seekers
coming to Britain increased by 13 per cent in the third quarter of this
year, Government figures showed yesterday. Provisional figures from the Home
Office indicated that, including dependants, there were 10,385 new asylum
seekers, compared with 9,210 in the second quarter of the
year. The number of failed applicants being deported from the UK
fell by 2 per cent to 3,085, excluding dependants. This was the fourth
quarter in a row to see numbers decrease. The number of removals was also 15
per cent lower than in the same period last year.
Zimbabwean dollar sinks to another low
November 17, 2004
Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's dollar fell to its
lowest this year against the US currency after the central bank accepted
higher-priced bids for the US currency at its bi-weekly currency
auction.
The local dollar declined 0.1 percent to Z$5 638.40 per US
dollar at yesterday's auction as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe sold $11
million (R66.55 million), the same amount it sold on November 11, the bank
said in a statement.
Bids were accepted in a range of Z$5 638
per US dollar to Z$5 639.99, compared with a range of Z$5 631.88 to Z$5
634.19 at the auction on November 11.
Bidders requested $50
million at the auction, down from $65.3 million on November 11, the
statement said. The bank rejected 1 747 out of 1 984 bids, compared with 2
336 rejections out of 2 583 at the previous auction.
It did not
give reasons for the rejections. President Robert Mugabe's seizure of
white-owned commercial farms, among them growers of tobacco, traditionally
the country's biggest foreign currency earner, has been blamed by economists
for a shortage of foreign exchange in Zimbabwe for the past six
years.
The Zimbabwean dollar traded at Z$4 196.58 to the US dollar
on January 12 at the first foreign currency auction the central bank held.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's national carrier planned to launch bi-weekly flights
between Beijing and Harare later this month, the first air links between the
two countries, state media said yesterday.
Rural Zimbabwean farmers stock up on goats 16 Nov 2004 23:01:00
GMT
Source: NGO latest World Vision
International
Website: http://www.wvi.org The livelihood security of
1,600 vulnerable farming households in Matabeleland has improved since the
introduction of World Vision's Goat Restocking Project (funded by FAO)
earlier this year.
As well as suffering from intermittent drought over
the past two years, rural communities in Matabeleland have also experienced
extensive losses of livestock, which greatly affected the livelihood
security of the majority of communities living in this
region.
Thousands of livestock have died due to the combined factors of
starvation and drought induced diseases (UN Assessment Report, 2003). In
addition, there has been a marked increase in the number of livestock sold
to enable farmers to purchase grain.
According to Zwelo Ndebele, WV
Agricultural Co-ordinator, assets such as goats enable households to
increase their production or income. Asset ownership is also related to a
household's ability to recover from a shock, as assets can be used as
security when a household needs an income.
"The project aims to improve
livelihood assets and make opportunities available to the most vulnerable
segment of the population to increase their food security prospects,"
explains Ndebele.
"In Bubi District, 300 households each received two
female goats, and one male for every 20 goats, which means that 10 families
will share a male goat," says Robert Ndou, WV Agriculture Officer for Bubi.
"The idea is that secondary beneficiaries will each receive two goats from
the initial beneficiaries after their herd has reproduced for the second
time."
Ndou explains that before distribution took place, all the farmers
were required to construct a shelter for the goats that will protect them
from predators and harsh weather, and commit to provide the necessary care
and management of the goats. Any problems have to be reported to the Goat
Management Committee that consists of local representatives.
He says
goats are suitable for vulnerable households such as female- or child-headed
households and families infected/affected by HIV/AIDS because of their low
labour requirements and manageability.
"The goats look after themselves,
I don't have to look after them and feed them all the time. I have time to
work in my field," says Esther Sibanda (80) from Bubi. "The goats provide me
with milk, manure, meat and an income when I sell them."
59-year old
Lameck Masuku is very excited about the prospect of buying a cow in a year
or two. "I have four goats now, but in two years time I should have more,
and if I sell five, I can buy a cow to plough my fields."
The community
is very eager to be part of the project and a second phase funded by WV UK,
which will also include poultry restocking, is already being
implemented.
Namibia yesterday completed
elections that will usher out its first president, Sam Nujoma. Mozambique
will hold elections next month which will do the same for that country's
second president, Joaquim Chissano.
Botswana, probably Africa's
most stable country, held peaceful and orderly elections a few weeks ago, as
did Malawi and South Africa earlier this year.
Namibian
democracy is not perfect. Nujoma seems to have used undue influence to
ensure that his favourite, Hifikepunye Pohamba, was appointed by the ruling
Swapo party as its presidential candidate. Nevertheless, Namibian democracy
is evolving away from the old syndrome of presidents-for-life. So is the
region, even if pockets of de facto one party-rule remain.
But
the general current - including new Southern African Development Community
(SADC) electoral guidelines - is putting pressure on recalcitrant
governments. Swaziland's absolute monarch, King Mswati III, has produced a
draft new constitution which supposedly expands democracy but really leaves
ultimate power with him.
And Zimbabwe, while on paper a
democracy, is in practice something more akin to an oligarchy, comprising
President Robert Mugabe and a few of his cronies. Mugabe has signed the SADC
electoral guidelines and promised that legislative elections due in about
March will be conducted according to the guidelines.
But the
electoral reform legislation he is introducing this week does not match this
promise. If anything, it suggests that Mugabe's men will exert even greater
control of the elections than they have in the past. While it is encouraging
that the region is moving in the right direction, there is no room for
complacency. The instability that inevitably accompanies undemocratic
practices has already cost the region dearly in lost investment. SADC
countries must now line up solidly behind the new electoral guidelines and
put real pressure on recalcitrant governments to ensure they all follow
them.
This is not interference: we are all affected by what happens
to our neighbours.
Mugabe forces in harsh new legislation By Peta
Thornycroft in Harare (Filed: 17/11/2004)
President Robert Mugabe's
ruling party yesterday suspended Zimbabwe's constitution to drive a batch of
repressive new laws through parliament.
Zanu PF has said it will sit
through the night all week to bring in the changes, including a ban all
foreign-funded human rights organisations. Mr Mugabe wants the slew of bills
passed into law before Dec 1, when Zanu PF holds its annual
conference.
Parliament's legal committee, in which the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has the majority, has said all the
bills are unconstitutional.
With its overwhelming parliamentary
majority, Zanu PF yesterday suspended parliament's standing orders, which
would have required a three-week delay to redraft the laws to bring them in
line with the constitution.
Among the bills is the creation of a Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission to run elections. It will have five commissioners, all
appointed by Mr Mugabe, who has said elections will be held in
March.
This legislation went through its second reading yesterday. When
it is signed into law by Mr Mugabe, it will be an offence for any
foreign-funded organisation to provide voter education.
"Why is voter
education a threat to national security?" demanded Tendai Biti, an
opposition MP, during a rowdy parliamentary session yesterday.
The new
electoral laws for the first time will allow members of the Zimbabwe
National Army, the police and prison services to be election
officials.
.. Two Zimbabweans have been charged with the murder of
Britons Kenny James Froud, 39, and Simon Buckley, 40, found stuffed down a
Harare well a fortnight ago. The accused are Alpha Muzvidzwa, 48, a traffic
officer with the Harare council, and David Masora, unemployed.
England will have to return to
Zimbabwe to play two Test matches as part of their commitment to the ICC's
future tours programme, the England and Wales Cricket Board chairman David
Morgan confirmed yesterday. England were due to play two Tests and five
one-day internationals in the troubled African state, but in May, following
the sacking of 15 white players by the Zimbabwe cricket board, the country
was stripped of Test status.
Test matches against Australia, Sri
Lanka and England were deferred but, following an ICC inquiry that cleared
Zimbabwe Cricket of racism, Test status will be restored in the new
year.
Morgan confirmed that as a result England will "have to return to
play two Tests at some stage as will Australia". He continued: "We will be
in discussions with Zimbabwe Cricket about when that will happen during the
course of this tour."
Morgan will travel with the team throughout the
tour. "Having pushed for this tour to go ahead I could not in good
conscience have not been with the team through this tour," he
said.
England arrived in Namibia yesterday for a brief warm-up that
includes two games, before they move on to Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, the national
team players in dispute with Zimbabwe Cricket have withdrawn from the
alternative dispute resolution process set up to resolve the outstanding
issues between the two parties