• Currency rates
• ANZ team in London to explain plight
• Tourism shrinks 10-fold/Munyeza
• Tourism figures disputed
• Cabs hikes mortgage bond rates
• Mugabe's nationalism leaves empty stomachs
• Zimbabweans turned into regional scavengers
• Zim rejects Zanu PF's racial propaganda
• WOZA call to all night prayer 15 Nov
• JAG Open Letters Forum No. 179 dated 05 November 2003
• NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER
• MDC bewildered by Mbeki's view on talks
• Mugabe Launches Promised Changes to Zimbabwe Government
• Diplomatic spat with Zimbabwe based on misunderstanding - Mfat
• Deal ends Namibian land invasions
• Statement By Zimbabwean Civil Society And Media Organisations
• Excuses, excuses
• Food Security Remains Critical in Urban Areas

"We are here at the invitation of one of our directors," Nkomo said. "A
number of interviews have been lined up for us and we will meet various
groups," he said.

Media interviews have been planned with the national press, television and
radio.

The highlight of the visit was due to be a meeting chaired yesterday by Kate
Hoey, a British MP who visited Zimbabwe in July and has become an advocate
for democracy in Zimbabwe.

Representatives of organisations that have been at the forefront of
supporting the ANZ will attend the meeting. The orgnisations include the
Commonwealth Press Union, the International Bar Association, Commonwealth
Magistrates and Judges Association, the Newspaper Society, Amnesty
International, Commonwealth Trade Unions, and a number of Zimbabwean exiles.

Meanwhile, police have moved from the Daily News offices in Harare and are
now camped at the factory where the printing press is housed.

"The tourism industry generated about US$250 million but if we take into
account the downstream activities it amounted to US$700 million. Last year
the sector only produced US$70 million," said Munyeza.

"The government should be addressing the impact of the land reform programme
on the tourism industry," Munyeza said.

He said it was high time the acquisition process of land was completed.

"There is still listing and delisting continuing and this is causing
unnecessary problems and complications," he said.

"No one at the moment can confirm that land reform is complete. Let us get
on with the programme and complete it."

The tourism sector has not been performing well since the fast-track land
reform programme began.

The sector has been harmed by negative publicity emanating from government's
handling of the controversial issue, abuse of the judiciary as well as the
interference with press freedom.

Munyeza called on government and tourism players to adopt a realistic
marketing campaign for the sector.

He referred to the recent launch in Johannesburg of a promotional video on
the Victoria Falls and a CD-Rom on Zimbabwe.

"It is amazing to watch the CD-Rom showing trains moving when in fact those
things are not working. The CD-Rom is unrealistic. The only realistic part
is the Victoria Falls," said Munyeza.

He emphasised the need for a truthful assessment of the economy to come up
with a proper framework.

"Let's start telling the truth. By not telling the truth we are digging our
own grave. If there is no foreign currency then there is none," said
Munyeza.

Commenting on the National Economic Revival Plan (Nerp) he said the bulk of
what was achieved in February had not been implemented.

Nerp is the rehashed version of the short-lived National Economic Recovery
Programme.

The quarterly devaluation which government promised has not been achieved.
Government has also failed to reduce inflation to its target of 96% before
the end of the year.

Munyeza said there was need for Zimbabwe to re-engage the international
community.

"The international community remains vital to our recovery," he said. "But
before we approach them we should build confidence."

Zimbabwe has been shunned by the international community because of its poor
economic and political climate. This has resulted in escalating problems
such as high unemployment of 70% and poverty.

To try and salvage the collapsing tourism sector the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) gave a dispensation to hotels and tourist specialist services
to receive payment in foreign currency.

The central bank said this measure had become necessary to improve
convenience for the country's visitors, while at the same time encouraging
dwindling foreign exchange inflows.

Government last week appointed a nine-member taskforce, mandated to solve
the crippling foreign currency situation.

However, tourism has been singled out as being one of the sectors where
officials are not declaring their foreign currency to the RBZ.

The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), whose role is to supply information on
earnings and arrivals and departures, refused to make the information
available to businessdigest.

Tichaona Jokonya, Zimbabwe's longest-serving ambassador since Independence,
is ZTA's chief executive officer.

When contacted about questions sent two weeks ago to ZTA, a secretary said
Jokonya would not respond because "the independent media is not in the
business of promoting the country but of highlighting negative issues only -
especially when writing about tourism".

She said while the questions had arrived on Jokonya's desk, she doubted
whether there would be any responses.

"You only concentrate on negative issues which tarnish the image of the
country," she said.

The same set of questions were however sent to the Zimbabwe Council for
Tourism (ZCT) which immediately responded.

Prominent hotelier and Zimsun Leisure Group chief executive officer Shingi
Munyeza is ZCT president.

A senior ZCT official, also an hotelier, Paul Matamisa, said the statistics
given should not conflict because they came from the same source.

"There should be no conflicts considering the source of the data is one and
the same - the Central Statistical Office (CSO)," Matamisa said. "However,
the information indicates that between last year and this year, tourism has
grown by 40% judging by the arrival statistics given by the CSO."

The CSO has been severely criticised for its inflation figures dished out
monthly. Analysts question what methods are used to quantify the basket of
goods used in its survey, most of which have disappeared from supermarket
shelves and are only available on the parallel market.

Matamisa, using CSO statistics, said arrivals from Africa grew by 47%,
Europe 67%, the Americas 19%, Asia 80% and Oceania 63%.

He said this related to the first six months of this year (January/June) in
comparison to last year. No actual figures were however given.

Analyst Eric Bloch has pointed out that government is using figures for
cross-boarder shoppers as part of its "arrivals" statistics.

ZTA chairman and NMB Holdings Ltd deputy managing director James Mushore
said last year Zimbabwe earned US$75 million from tourism, which was
expected to contribute 2,5% to the gross domestic product.

Matamisa said for Zimbabwe to revive its once lucrative tourism sector it
should start off with extensive marketing.

He said this included image-building and aggressive marketing through the
tourism and trade attaches in all countries where the country is
represented.

"This of course calls for huge financial resources," he said. "Concerted
consistent government support for tourism all round should also see fuel
supplies and transport systems sorted out. Air Zimbabwe requires a huge
capital injection to revive it. It is suffering from both lack of human
resources as well as shortage of equipment to service local, regional and
international routes to the satisfaction of the markets and stakeholders."

Asked what was being done about the Victoria Falls which is now being
marketed by neighbours South Africa and Zambia, Matamisa said if Zimbabwe
fails to plug the hole, others were bound to jump in and take advantage of
the situation.

"As it is, it is not only South Africa but others around are seeing the
opportunities of marketing their destinations and using Victoria Falls as
the draw-card," he said.

"In any case Zimbabwe stands to gain whichever way the tourist has come. Our
challenge is to let tourism spread countrywide."

Matamisa said the ZCT would like to see a situation where there was one
realistic exchange rate in Zimbabwe, which is managed through the banks and
the permanent eradication of the parallel market.

While the Zimbabwe dollar is officially pegged at $824 against the United
States greenback, it is going for as much as $6 000 on the parallel market.

Asked what else was being done to market the country other than the video
and song launched at a lavish ceremony in South Africa by Information
minister Jonathan Moyo, Matamisa said various organisations used various
tools.

"Others, and that is in the main today, use the electronic media, brochures
and the Zimbabwe CD rom not forgetting the trade shows round the world
including our own Travel Expo," he said. "We know that ZTA have recently
dispatched four new attachés to Johannesburg, China, France and Malaysia.

"Tourism is definitely on the mend, we only need to influence the visitors
to visit the rest of the country besides Victoria Falls and then the effects
can be felt everywhere."

Insiders however say tourism has slipped from being a major foreign currency
earner as tourist arrivals have shrunk drastically on the back of adverse
publicity associated with the perceived breakdown in the rule of law.

"Competition in this sector is extremely keen making it an arduous task to
reclaim lost business," a banker said. "This sector's recovery depends on
the stabilisation of the political and economic climate."

A wave of increases in the MLR seems to be the order of day with several
banks increasing theirs this week. Trust Bank Ltd published their increase
which now sits at 163%, while First Bank has theirs at 169%.

Cabs managing director David Stephenson, said with effect from December 1,
mortgage lending interest rates would be hiked.

He said all loans worth $100 million would shoot up by 20% from 65% to 85%.

The managing director said working capital for individual, industrial and
commercial property loans would increase from 53% to 65%.

Schools, on the other hand, would have their interest rates increased by 6%,
from 47% to 53%, while vacant land would attract an interest of 65%, up from
the current 53%.

Stephensen said non-owner occupied residential properties and sole
properties as well as non-trading companies and trust residential properties
would attract an interest rate of 53% up from 45%.

He said owner-occupied low and high-density properties worth $20 million
would now pay an interest rate of 50%, up from the 43% currently charged.

The managing director said owner occupied low and high density properties
worth $20 million as well as owner occupied high density properties worth
more than $100 000 but less than $20 million would attract an interest of
45%.

They were paying interest rates of 40%.

Analysts said other building societies would immediately follow suit due to
Zimbabwe's hyperinflationary environment.

They said it was however unfortunate because potential house owners would be
forced to fork out more money at a time when everything else has begun to
skyrocket.

Inflation has steadily risen from about 100% in January this year to 455,6%
in September.

Meanwhile Cabs says it advanced by way of new mortgage loans a total of $9,7
billion, an increase of 117,3% over the previous financial year.

The building society said this is a new record in mortgage lending.

Cabs chairman Enos Chiura said applications from 1 083 borrowers were
processed of which 234 were in respect of loans on properties in high
density areas and 849 for purchase and building both low density residential
and commercial properties.

"The acute shortage of affordable housing continues to be a problem and the
increased costs together with the shortage of building materials further
reduced the delivery of new housing units, particularly in high to medium
density areas where serviced stands with individual title are a scarcity,"

Chiura said in his annual report for the period ended June 30.

Cabs increased mortgage rates on two occasions during the year in an attempt
to offset the escalating costs of operation that it had experienced.

"However, these rates are still extremely negative to inflation and very
attractive to borrowers in the market in general," Chiura said. "Funds
generated from investing activities continued to be utilised to subsidise
mortgage lending rates in an attempt to keep these at affordable levels."

The chairman said 957 loans were advanced for the acquisition of existing
residential properties while 66 loans were advanced for the erection of or
improvement to existing dwellings.

"A further 60 loans were advanced for commercial and industrial purchases
and development," Chiura said.

Overall, the Society's mortgage advances grew at $14,7 billion or 45,9% of
the industry total of $32 billion as at June 30.

Chiura said inflation continued to drive the value of properties upwards
resulting in a significant decline in the loan to value ratio of properties
mortgaged.

This, in turn, had a positive effect on loan servicing by borrowers with
only 5,3% of loans being in arrears at year-end.

"The Society still has only six repossessed properties in possession with a
total capital balance of $7,5 million," Chiura said.

He said the lack of serviced stands with freehold title continued to
restrict the delivery of new housing units and this, together with an
unrealistically low income ceiling for those qualifying to borrow funds
through the United States Agency for International Development
Public/Private Sector Housing Programme, limited the number of loans
granted.

Slowly, hope in any of the above seems to be fizzling out. An atmosphere of
dejection and despair seems to have engulfed most of us. Questions are
ringing in everyone's mind: how should we tell Mugabe that we are really
suffering? How should we remind him that lying to the whole nation that
everything is rosy in this country does not fill our empty stomachs?

Those very pessimistic and vulnerable to the vice of fear have already
resigned themselves to fate. To them there is no one who will be able to
convince the old man that people, in as much as they revered Mugabe so much
during the liberation struggle, have come to a stage where they now hate him
in equal proportions. Tsvangirai has demystified Mugabe's aura of
omnipotence, but has not done enough practically to be crowned messiah of
the troubled souls of our country.

Zimbabwe is now a country with no hope. Although Mahatma Gandhi once
proclaimed that even tyrants who at one time appear invincible will one day
face an ignominious fate, the people of our country are stuck.

We have unofficially renounced our ability to determine the destiny of our
country. Can we say we have all been cowed into a corner and no one can
manoeuvre, unless you parrot the ruling party's gibberish?

Mugabe is an accomplished author of people's problems and sadness. He did it
as early as the 1980s during the infamous Gukurahundi massacres to protect
his throne and he is repeating the same tactics. People are subject to their
history and right now everyone remembers vividly how deadly Mugabe can be,
especially if it involves challenging his leadership.

We have enclosed ourselves in a protective shell of cowardice. The dear
leader looks at us and, behold, he feels contented as a leader of a mass of
cowards.

Mugabe has grown so arrogant knowing that no one can challenge him. He has
mismanaged the country's economy with no one raising a finger.

We now live in a country of shortages, from fuel to bank notes, and
incompetent leaders.

The old man remains resolute in riding a dead horse. He has enjoyed it, but
fails to realise that a dead horse takes you nowhere. He has taken refuge in
listening to lies that are ingeniously manufactured by the maverick
Information minister Jonathan Moyo.

I would like to believe that after composing "Go Warriors Go", Moyo shall
soon come up with a song called "Go Dictators Go" which Mugabe should take
heed of, followed by Olusegun Obasanjo and later by the rather confused
Thabo Mbeki.

Mugabe may want to portray George Bush as an agent of the evil one, but I
doubt our people agree with that warped logic. As long as Mugabe presides
over the sinking ship called Zimbabwe no one in his right senses will
hearken to calls that Bush's agenda in Africa is to entrench the ugly hand
of imperialism. Mugabe should know that the people of this country are so
enlightened as to know what is good or bad. Perhaps Bush commands more
respect in Zimbabwe than Mugabe is enjoying.

The reasons are there for everyone who is not having a decent meal each day
to see. It is unanimously agreed that Mugabe is the undesirable element in
our midst.

Life in Zimbabwe has become a nightmare for many of us. The aspect of
nationalism that is preached by Mugabe is moribund in our epoch. What
nationalism, what patriotism if my tummy is only full of water? To hell with
it.

Jack Zaba,

Mt Pleasant.

It seems we have been converted from an industrialising nation into a nation
of street vendors. Some politicians in Harare seem to think that is
empowerment. I am not sure whether Sithembiso Nyoni is still a full time
"minister of street vendors". What she needs to do is occasionally drive
through the streets of South Africa in a vehicle with Zimbabwean registered
plates.

Nearly every off-ramp and intersection has a Zimbabwean selling there and
for the last two years I have had an opportunity to interface with them.
Their stories are not beautiful. They are in Pretoria, Midrand, Randburg,
Rosebank, Sandton, Edenvale, Eastgate, Southgate, Benoni, Vereeniging,
Springs, Roodepoort and I used to think that it was just a Gauteng issue.

Then I bumped into more Zimbabwean vendors along the coast in Durban, Port
Elizabeth and even Cape Town. At one time I was surprised when I met
Zimbabwean vendors on the streets of Windhoek.

Their story is the same: "Mudhara ndimwi munopinda kumaoffice titsvagirewo
basa, kumusha zvakapressor hapana zvekuita (Man you are the one with access
to offices, help us find some formal employment, things are tough back home
and we have no option)". One man I had a long chat with in a traffic jam in
Sandton nearly drove me to tears. He had his certificates, including a
four-year post high school training and he cannot find a job. Earlier this
year a prominent Zimbabwean banker was on television cooing importantly that
it was very good that our people were scattered all over the world as this
would bring the much needed foreign currency.

As one of the smart alecs of our nation who probably has arranged siphoning
mechanisms at source for this foreign currency into overseas accounts, which
is then sold to the productive sector at exorbitant rates, I could
appreciate his excitement. Yet here was this young man on whom the taxpayer
has spent scarce resources educating and should ideally be earning more than
R10 000 a month. He barely garners R500. Personally I would be grieved if
our young people at the prime of their lives are earning less than 5% of
their potential.

One vendor once explained that their greatest loss could be attributed to
the police who occasionally pitch up threatening them with deportation just
for the sake of collecting bribes from them. Some times they give them all
they have to avoid detention centres.

It is that time of the year again when we have that annual circus that
others prefer to dignify with the title national budget. Do our members of
parliament remember our Finance minister promising that inflation would be
96% by this time? Have they queried his calculations and extrapolations or
perhaps they have been too busy to notice?

What is unique about the Zimbabwean dollar that its rate can only be
determined by a geriatric politburo as opposed to the market? In Mozambique
and even Zambia the currency has been left to the market to stabilise and
anyone can walk into a bank and buy foreign currency across the counter.

The kwacha has been in the 4 000 to 5 000 range to the US dollar for the
last two years yet the parallel rate of the zimdollar is leaping past that.
Apart from the few rich dealers and the politically-connected class with
access to foreign currency at the official rate, I am not convinced that the
country as a whole has benefited from the current exchange regime. It would
be interesting to know which Zanu politician is not hypocritical and has a
paper trail showing them changing their foreign currency at the official
rate.

The result of political controls is that someone from South Africa can walk
in and pick our prime gold mines worth US$80 million for only US$15 million
while we sing "land is the economy, the economy is land". Our own smart
alecs have to fight for the 30% crumbs and still pay a premium of $9 million
instead of the proportional $5 million that the foreigner paid?

Talking of the platinum province, the Bafokeng people who sit on most of the
platinum deposits in South Africa this year received $598 million in
royalties from Impala and their king has been talking about getting a 20%
stake in the company for his people. For the incessant excitement our own
Minister of Mines has been generating with regard to the increasing platinum
extraction, how much has been accruing to the people of Mhondoro or Ngezi or
Shurugwi who sit on the deposits?

One pastor was trying to draw an analogy between the Zimbabwean situation
and what happened in the early church in the book of Acts in the Bible. He
said the church spread rapidly to other places after persecution in
Jerusalem and his point was that Zimbabweans have spread to other places
because of the difficulties at home.

There is no doubt that many Zimbabweans who have left the country have been
very successful in their various pursuits. I have met many highly mobile
lawyers, engineers, scientists and accountants but in applauding people like
Peter Moyo, deputy MD of Old Mutual South Africa or Isaac Takawira, we often
forget the majority languishing at the other end of the spectrum.

Tafirenyika Wekwa Makunike is a business consultant based in Johannesburg.

Damned be the narrow-minded argument: "People would've voted a cat to shame
Zanu PF, anywhere." Zimbabweans rejected Mugabe's racial propaganda at its
most vicious. Mugabe is determined to leave Zimbabwe in as chaotic and
ungovernable a state as present-day Iraq. For a self-styled hero whose
"disciples" have irrevocably ganged up and secured him an estate in eternal
damnation, it makes sense, doesn't it?

Forget the reconciliation posturing; Mugabe's rule has always thrived on a
subservient black population and an intimidated white population, chained
together by racial friction.

Since the current struggle began, Zanu PF's campaign message has
relentlessly opened the old wound of land iniquity, with reminders of
colonialism's evils. For a nation at a crossroads, and just two decades from
that unfortunate past, we could easily have succumbed to this destructive
prescription.

But we dodged the snare. Our memo to Mugabe is clear: Zimbabwe's future
hinges on racial harmony. Racial tolerance is the cornerstone for Zimbabwe's
emergence from current obscurity. We wedded the current struggle for
political change with the search for racial harmony and made them both
urgent priorities.

Even Canadians should envy us. Ontario, Canada's most racially diverse
province, recently concluded elections. Of the victorious Liberal Party's
22-member cabinet, only two are visible minorities. Toronto, one of the most
racially diverse cities in the world, is holding mayoral elections on
November 10. All the five front-runners are white.

Elsewhere in established democracies, minority candidates usually win only
in minority dominated areas. In the United States, deficiencies in political
representation are compensated for by the appointment of minorities to
influential positions.

Is Colin Powell's position as US Secretary of State indicative of the
American public's readiness to elect an African American president? My
gossiping circle doubts it. This sceptical bunch alleges the existence of a
"system" in every country that elevates one ethnic group while suppressing
the rest.

In Zimbabwe, until recently, the system operated this way: areas dominated
by minorities were discretely married to adjacent majority-dominated
neighbourhoods, effectively neutralising the minority vote. Aren't
Borrowdale and Epworth such an odd couple? Minorities acquired political
office out of Zanu PF's charity and owed their soul to that party.

Meanwhile, the white community shuddered every time Mugabe mentioned
colonial atrocities, as if they were guilty on the grounds of skin
pigmentation. The official voice consistently labelled whites unrepentant
racists. A white man who strayed too close to the engine room of the
struggle for common good was a pseudo-liberal and pretender. His sole
intention was to safeguard his economic interests.

We sealed this explicit divisive tactic and nationalisation of racial hatred
with silence. Once, a friend challenged me to look into his eyes and confirm
that he was an irretrievable born-racist. I merely shrugged. For fear of
being labelled white apologists, we rarely lauded Mike Auret for his
sterling work with the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in the 90s.

It didn't occur to us then that politics is all about the interests of the
represented. In the democratic Zimbabwe just ahead, it'd be suicidal for
David Coltart to substitute his constituency's interests with his own. The
moment a politician seeks political office, he automatically puts his life
and that of his family on the line. Whites representing blacks have to
deliver; their failure would automatically justify Zanu PF's misplaced
assertions.

Wait a minute! If I'm pampering anyone, it's purely by coincidence.

Zimbabwean minorities were committing the ultimate crime of let-down to
their communities and to Zimbabwe. They weren't participating. Their apathy
then seemed an index of contentment.

Had they continued to live in the periphery of politics, we'd in future have
been forced to introduce some form of affirmative action to bring them on
board. No country can attain real progress when one or more of its visible
minorities are alienated. Whites finally claimed their rightful slot in
politics An ailing nation made the last call to all its citizens; minorities
are offering their political candidacy and the majority is embracing them.

Yet the acquisition of power by a fraction of the minority isn't really the
equivalent of true political power for that group. In my concept of a
peaceful, stable Zimbabwe, the calling to minorities to participate has yet
to begin. In a country struggling to stamp its democratic foot on the
ground, political action is the ultimate calling, a compulsory religion.

We're a people re-inventing itself, insisting on thinking and acting for
itself at last. We're designing our political traditions, values and mass
democratic institutions. Once established, they'd be hard to alter. The
United States is a good example. I'd be naive to suggest that we've already
attained that level of racial tolerance that's the hallmark of a civilised
society.

Those trapped in multi-racial relationships still have to contend with the
cold comfort of only their homes, their most trusted friends and the
secluded restaurants of the northern suburbs. A white man venturing into
Mbare, if he summons the courage to do so in the first place, is a tourist
first and foremost.

We can be forgiven for the slow progress. The world is too busy to censor
hate-peddlers and tighten the nuts and bolts of racial tolerance.

Obert Ronald Madondo is a Zimbabwean living in Toronto, Canada. This is an
expanded version of a letter he wrote to the paper last week.

MDC bewildered by Mbeki's view on talks

By Basildon Peta

Zimbabwe's main opposition is "pleasantly surprised" by President Thabo
Mbeki's latest allegation that talks to produce a coalition government are
under way. Reports from Canada quoted Mbeki as saying, at a joint news
conference with Prime Minister Jean Chretien, that President Robert Mugabe's
Zanu PF and the Movement for Democratic Change were talking and could reach
agreement soon. But MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube said: "We know
nothing about these talks. We can only assume that maybe Mr Mbeki is talking
to Zanu PF and Zanu PF is talking to him. If Mr Mbeki and Zanu PF decide to
approach us, we will gladly wait to hear from them." Ncube said unofficial
talks had taken place between the MDC and Zanu PF more than three months
ago, but had not yielded anything. "We never got to a stage of resuming
dialogue and we have not heard anything from Zanu PF in three months. We are
therefore surprised by the news from Canada," Ncube said. Mbeki said in
Canada that both sides realised they needed to resolve Zimbabwe's political
problems before tackling a crippling economic crisis. "They're talking to
each other now," Mbeki was quoted as saying. "My sense is that it won't take
that long. "I think the ruling party and the opposition understand ... the
depth of the economic crisis and the impact on the lives of the people,"
Mbeki said. "Nobody is dragging their feet. They will move with some speed."
Chretien confirmed he had been informed of progress in the alleged Zimbabwe
talks by Mbeki and that a deal would be struck soon. Meanwhile Mugabe's
government has asked for a $20-million (R140-million) line of credit from
Iran for the importation of badly needed seeds and other agricultural needs
to assist black farmers who were allocated land seized from white farmers.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has begun instituting a series of changes
he promised a week ago, aimed at resolving the country's economic and
political problems. Some of the most significant changes may still be ahead.
President Mugabe promised the changes at a meeting of his ruling ZANU-PF
party central committee meeting last Friday. He said the changes would start
with a restructuring of the central bank to enable the country to deal with
issues, such as the chronic shortage of foreign currency, high inflation and
high interest rates. He said changes to other key national institutions and
the Cabinet would follow.

Mr. Mugabe made good on his first promise by appointing banker Gideon Gono
to the governorship of the central bank on Tuesday. Mr. Gono is the
successful head of a commercial bank, and is viewed as a ruling party
sympathizer.

The president also appointed four new provincial governors. One of the new
appointees went straight from the army to his new post.

More significant, however, was the announcement that the commander of the
Zimbabwe Defense Forces, General Vitalis Zvinavashe, will retire next month.
General Zvinavashe, a veteran of Zimbabwe's liberation war, made news ahead
of last year's presidential election, when he announced that the armed
forces were not prepared to salute a president who did not have liberation
war credentials. Mr. Mugabe was a key leader of that effort. His main
opponent, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, was not involved.

Analysts see the general's retirement as a prelude to his appointment as the
country's second vice president, a position left vacant by the death of Vice
President Simon Muzenda in September. Mr. Muzenda's replacement has been the
subject of intense speculation. If President Mugabe dies or retires, his
party must choose one of the vice presidents to succeed him and prepare for
elections.

Political analyst John Makumbe of the citizens' group, Crisis in Zimbabwe,
thinks General Zvinavashe is likely to get the nod, because his loyalty to
the president is not in question, while other front-runners are more
independent-minded.

"They have not been pushovers for Mugabe, they have not jumped when he says
jump, they have sometimes questioned his decision making, and if you like
his wisdom and so they are not really trusted," he said. "Some of these
people have not been loyal, or they have been loyal in a way, which makes
Mugabe very nervous."

The changes come ahead of the ruling party's national conference early next
month. Many observers expect Mr. Mugabe, who is 79 years old and has been in
power for 23 years, to announce a timeframe for his retirement at the
conference.

Despite threats to reject his appointment, High Commissioner Warren Searell
was allowed to present his credentials to President Robert Mugabe on
Thursday.

Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge had earlier complained Mr Searell breached
protocol by making appointments to meet opposition and civic leaders before
Thursday's ceremony.

Western diplomats privately expressed alarm at what they saw as evidence of
spying on their activities, the Associated Press reported.

However, Mfat spokesman Brad Tattersfield said the incident arose from a
misunderstanding.

The New Zealanders had submitted a draft programme for Mr Searell's visit to
the Zimbabwean government for their comment ahead of time.

The Zimbabwean regime – which has been heavily criticised for human rights
abuses by the New Zealand Government and other Commonwealth nations – took
exception to what they chose to interpret as "a serious breach of diplomatic
protocol".

Foreign ambassadors to New Zealand routinely visit others before formally
presenting their credentials to the governor-general.

Zimbabwe was suspended from all decision-making councils of the 54-nation
Commonwealth group of Britain and its former colonies after Mugabe's
government was accused of intimidation and vote-rigging in March 2002
presidential elections.

      A group of black farmers in Namibia has reached an agreement with a
white farmers' group and has called off its plans to invade 15 farms next
week.
      A BBC reporter in Windhoek says the black farmers came under intense
pressure from the government.

      The farmers wanted the government to speed up its policy of resettling
blacks on white-owned land.

      About 4,000, mostly white, commercial farmers own almost half of
Namibia's arable land.

      A government spokesman had said it would not tolerate any land
invasions and urged landless people to be patient.

      At talks on Friday, Namibia Farmworkers Union secretary general Alfred
Angula and Namibia Agriculture Union President Jan de Wet agreed on new
working conditions for farmworkers.

      Agriculture, mostly beef exports, is Namibia's second-highest export
earner after mining.

      First refusal

      Namibia's President Sam Nujoma is a close ally of Zimbabwe's Robert
Mugabe and last year Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab said he would increase
the pressure on white farmers to sell their land.

      Namibia's Government is committed to the principle of "willing buyer-
willing seller" - which means no-one is forced to sell up, but if they do
the state gets first refusal.

      Zimbabwe also followed this principle for 17 years after independence
in 1980.

      A senior official in the ministry of lands, resettlement and
rehabilitation, Frans Tsheehama, said the government would not allow any
illegal land occupations.

      "Let us be patient and follow the adopted policy of land reform. I do
not see us, as a country, winning via any other route," he said.

      Some 6% of the Namibian population are white, with about one-third of
them descended from German settlers.

Media Institute of Southern Africa (Windhoek)

November 7, 2003
Posted to the web November 7, 2003

'Let the People Speak'

Effective Civil Society Lobbying for Zimbabwe Workshop

Harare October 30-31, 2003

At a landmark solidarity meeting in Harare on 30-31 October, Zimbabwean,
African and international human rights organizations pledged to alert Africa
and the SADC region to the full extent of the Zimbabwe Government's
continued gross human rights abuses and its relentless persecution of the
media.

The group agreed to launch a vigorous and coordinated campaign to petition
fellow Africans and the international community about the oppression of the
Zimbabwean people.

The meeting agreed the time had come for African governments to recognise
the reality of tyranny in Zimbabwe and to move away from the diplomatic
paralysis over the worsening human rights crisis in the country.

The immediate focus of this campaign will be the upcoming meeting of the
African Commission in The Gambia and the Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria.

Among those joining the Zimbabwean media and human rights groups were
representatives from organizations such as Journalistes en Danger (JED),
Media Rights Agenda, West African Media Foundation, COSATU, Amnesty
International, Article XIX, the International Bar Association, Zimbabwe
Watch and the International Media Support group.

Issued by:

Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe

15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare,

Tel: 00 (263 4) 703702

E-mail: monitors@mmpz.org.zw

Website: http://www.mmpz.org.zw/

Excuses, excuses

Harare - Zimbabwe's information minister on Thursday accused some western
powers of sabotaging the southern African country's economy in a bid to
unseat President Robert Mugabe's government. Jonathan Moyo told a high level
meeting on the country's economic crisis that the countries wanted Mugabe to
leave power over his controversial land reforms, during which a minority
group of whites lost land to thousands of landless blacks. "Britain,
America, Australia... and New Zealand are truly and seriously committed to
regime change, they seek a regime change in Zimbabwe," he said. "They are
pursuing it through acts of economic sabotage and they use weapons of mass
deception, (under the cover of) instruments of democracy, human rights rule
of law, good governance, to sound reasonable," Moyo said. "They steal our
foreign currency earnings, they attack even our own currency to the point of
saying it's scarce, to blame the government, to seek regime change, and they
drive the parallel market," he told top government, economic and civic
officials seeking solutions to the economic malaise.

Zimbabwe is grappling with a record economic problems characterised by
hyperinflation at 455% and shortages of most basics, among them grains and
fuel. The economic problems have been widely blamed on Mugabe's government.
Said Moyo: "This country is under de facto economic sanctions." Mugabe and
his closest associates have been placed under targetted sanctions which
include travel bans to the European Union and the United States on
allegations of right abuses. Zimbabwe has repeatedly accused Britain, the
former colonial power of bankrolling the leading opposition, the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC). Moyo accused government workers of failing to
implement government policies because of bureaucracy and ideological
differences. "Right now there is in our country a frenzy against government
authority, against policy. The state machinery has been weakened," he said.
"That is why we have a flourishing parallel (black) market, that is why we
have hyperinflation .. the instruments for intervention are not there," he
admitted. The two day conference convened by government and business heard
on Wednesday that Zimbabwe's economy was being undermined by contradictory
and ineffectual government policies, corruption, greed and the country's
negative image abroad.

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

November 7, 2003
Posted to the web November 7, 2003

Johannesburg

Food security remains critical in Zimbabwe's urban areas and most households
are unable to afford basic food commodities because of escalating prices,
the latest Zimbabwe Humanitarian Situation Report has warned.

The value of the low-income urban household basket for September was more
than six times the government-stipulated minimum wage for industrial
workers, the report said. Teachers and other public service professionals
were now taking home significantly less than the total monthly value of the
basket, the report said.

The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe said the value of the low-income urban
household monthly expenditure basket for September 2003 stood at Zim
$321,950 (US $390 at the official rate, US $53 at the parallel market rate),
which is 18 percentage points higher than the August value. The non-food
component of the basket had the highest increase, about 35 percent, while
the food component went up by 11 percent.

Inflation is currently 470 percent, and food items including cooking oil,
salt, sugar and maize are mostly only regularly available on the parallel
market, which is far more expensive.

The government has fixed the price of basic commodities since October 2001.

Droughts and the economic crisis have left household budgets and food
supplies depleted. NGOs and the World Food Programme (WFP) have had to step
in, and in October WFP distributed food to 1.8 million vulnerable people.

Although WFP and the United Kingdom have signed an agreement for a further
US $8.2 million contribution, a weak food aid pipeline is expected from
January.

Figures from Bulawayo's Mpilo Hospital over the last few months show a
steady increase in the numbers of severely malnourished children being
admitted, the report noted. In September 110 children were admitted,
compared with 59 children in August and 72 in July. The average mortality
rate was a shocking 30 percent.

"Although hospitals have traditionally treated malnutrition, the high levels
of malnutrition mean they are in urgent need of support," the report stated.

Health spending in hospitals had already declined dramatically. This was
coupled with a shortage of foreign exchange to buy drugs, and an ongoing
brain drain of doctors and nurses leaving for better-paid positions in other
countries.

This week Zimbabwe's Labour Court ruled that a strike by doctors seeking
better pay was illegal and ordered them to return to work. It was unclear
whether the doctors agreed to abide by the decision.

Funding for the WFP pipeline is secure only until December. The UN
Children's Fund, which is coordinating the Nutrition Working Group, is
concerned about how it will continue to fund programmes that provide
enriched therapeutic milk, medications and other support to the
malnourished.

The report noted that although deliveries by the Grain Marketing Board (GMB)
improved slightly in September, monitoring sites in 33 districts (62
percent) reported no GMB deliveries in the period, attributing this to the
absence of maize stocks and fuel problems.

The GMB has also introduced a new system charging different prices in
different areas, in the hope of ensuring access to grain by poor
communities.