The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.

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ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS PROTEST - ENGLAND
 

 
 
Date: Saturday 17 November 2001
Time: 12.00hrs - 14.00hrs
Venue: Zimbabwe High Commission
429 Strand Street
London
(Nearest tube Charing Cross).
 

With months to go before the critical presidential elections in Zimbabwe it is essential that the international community uses all its resources to ensure that the election not only takes place but will also be free and fair. The presidential election in March is not just about choosing a new government, it is also about choosing a new society for the people of Zimbabwe, a society based on core democratic principles.

The cessation of all acts of violence against farm workers, farmers, the media, the judiciary, opposition parties, church organisations and gay activists.

 
Sincerely,
Albert Weidemann
1 Ambrose Road
Ripon
North Yorkshire
HG4 1SH
England
Tel: 01765 607 900

Contact: Washington Ali - Mobile 079671 82532 (UK)

Contact: Durani Rapozo - Mobile 07740 437 667 (UK) 

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Editor arrested in Zimbabwe on fraud charges
By Basildon Peta in Harare
09 November 2001

Police stepped up their intimidation of the free press in Zimbabwe yesterday
and arrested the editor-in-chief and a founder journalist of Zimbabwe's only
independent daily, the Daily News.

Geoff Nyrota and Wilf Mbang were charged last night with fraud and violating
investment laws, crimes that carry lengthy jail sentences and heavy fines.
They were held in cells overnight and are expected to appear in court today.

A police spokesman said the pair had been arrested as part of investigations
into the shareholding structure of the Daily News. The Zimbabwe government
has repeatedly accused the paper of being bankrolled by the British
Government. The Daily News denies this charge.

Mr Nyarota said on his mobile phone from prison: "The police have not
uttered a single word to us ... we don't know what's going on."

The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists said the arrests were part of a relentless
campaign by the Zimbabwe government to intimidate and silence journalists.
It said in a statement: "Journalism has become a very dangerous profession
in Zimbabwe and journalists must be prepared to put up with all this
harassment ..."

The Zimbabwe government has accused Mr Nyarota and Mr Mbanga of misleading
the Zimbabwe Investment Centre (ZIC) about the shareholding structure of the
Daily News when the newspaper was started in 1998. It has also accused them
of flouting investment laws and exchange control regulations. The
journalists have denied the allegations.

ZIC, an arm of the Ministry of Finance, has since cancelled the investment
certificate of the Daily News, which means it should discontinue publishing.

Mr Nyarota said the government had not yet closed down his newspaper though
he could not rule out that possibility.

The paper's printing press was bombed early this year but no one has been
arrested over the attack. Seven journalists from the Daily News have been
arrested and charged with criminal defamation in the past two months.

Meanwhile, a white farmer, Billy Swan, was also arrested at his farm in
Mhangura early yesterday. Police accused him of burning down a hut built by
an illegal settler on his property. But Mr Swan's wife said the hut was
burnt in a bush fire.

He will spend the night in cells and is expected to appear in court to be
charged today.

On Wednesday, 50 armed policemen raided the offices of the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest
city. The police said they were investigating the alleged abduction of a
ruling party supporter by the MDC. It denies ever having been involved in
any abduction.

* The UN World Food Programme said yesterday it was planning a relief food
operation for more than 500,000 Zimbabweans at risk of starvation, in
response to a request from the Zimbabwean government.

Members of the programme who were recently in the country had recommended
emergency intervention to feed 558,000 rural people who face acute food
shortages.


Thursday, 8 November, 2001, 15:48 GMT
Zimbabwe editor charged
Destroyed Daily News printing press
The Daily News printing press was destroyed by a bomb
The editor of Zimbabwe's only privately-owned daily newspaper, the Daily News, has been arrested and charged with giving false investment information in Harare.

This comes a day after the government said that it would only allow civil servants to monitor presidential elections, due early next year.


At the moment, we are just sitting at CID [Criminal Investigation Department]. We don't really understand what is going on

Geoff Nyarota
Daily News editor
An opinion poll published on Thursday says that a majority of voters will vote against President Robert Mugabe in the poll, although 20% were undecided.

The Daily News is fiercely critical of the government and in January, its printing press was destroyed by a bomb.

Shut down

Geoff Nyarota and Wilf Mbanga, a former director of the company which publishes the paper, were picked up from their homes early on Thursday morning by plain clothes police.

A BBC reporter in Harare says that the two men have been charged with violating section 40 of the Zimbabwe Investment Centre Act and will spend Thursday night in police cells.

Geoff Nyarota
Nyarota's editorials are scathing about Mugabe's rule

Police say they gave false information when registering their company, the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe in 1999.

Earlier this week, a government newspaper, The Herald, said that The Daily News might be shut down because its publishers had broken investment and foreign exchange control regulations.

The ANZ has dismissed the allegations as "malicious falsehoods".

Mr Nyarota and three colleagues were arrested in August after publishing a story which alleged that some police officers were involved in the looting of white-owned farms.

Sanctions

On Wednesday, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa was quoted in the Herald as saying that only civil servants would be accredited as election monitors.

In last year's parliamentary elections, foreigners were banned but local civic organisation trained thousands of Zimbabweans.

Zimbabwean voters
There are fears that next year's poll may not be free and fair

Mr Chinamasa said that some of these organisations were funded by foreigners and therefore did not have Zimbabwe's interests at heart.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change immediately cried foul, saying this was preparing the ground to rig the elections.

The European Union has threatened to impose sanctions if it is not allowed to monitor the poll.

Mr Mugabe will face his toughest ever challenge in the poll from the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai.

Economic meltdown

An opinion poll published in the Financial Gazette on Thursday said that 52.9% of decided voters backed Mr Tsvangirai, against 47.1% for Mr Mugabe.

The poll was conducted by Target research agency in August and September in a nationally representative sample of more than 3,000 voters.

However, 20% said that they had not yet made up their minds and would do so on the basis of the economy.

Inflation is currently more than 80% and unemployment of over 60% but Mr Mugabe is hoping that his redistributing of land from whites to poor blacks will swing the vote in his favour.

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ABC Australia

Zimbabwe Govt appeals for international help

The Government in Zimbabwe is calling for urgent international assistance to
avert potential starvation across the country.

Finance and Economic Development Minister, Simba Makoni, is warning of
potential starvation if food aid is not delivered.

Mr Makoni says emergency rations are needed before any life is threatened.

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has announced it will begin a
relief operation within the next month.

The WFP says many Zimbabweans are eating only one meal a day and others are
enduring several days with nothing at all.

The nation which normally produces a surplus of food is facing severe
shortages.

Drought, political and economic chaos have prompted a short fall of more
than 440,000 tonnes of grain and maize.

News24

08/11/2001 10:37  - (SA)   


Zim running low on wheat

Harare - More than 705 000 of Zimbabwe's 12.5 million people need food aid
as the nation's grain reserves are running low, according to a World Food
Programme (WFP) assessment received on Wednesday.

The WFP food needs assessment, conducted in October, estimated that 705 785
people in districts around Zimbabwe could require 57 526 tonnes of food aid
for six months.

The assessment, contained in the October monthly report from the US-funded
Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET), said that food aid programs
must be in place before February 2002 if they are to benefit the affected
regions.

Local non-government organisations have already started food programmes for
children in some districts. Care International plans to feed 140 000
children in Midlands province. World Vision has plans to feed 130 000 other
people.

The Fewsnet report said that Zimbabwe should have enough wheat to meet its
needs until the next harvest, in part because Zimbabweans are consuming less
wheat as bread prices have risen.

But it said that Zimbabwe would need to import more than 100 000 tonnes of
maize, in addition to the 100 000 tonnes the government already plans to
import, to meet its food requirements.

Maize meal is a staple of the Zimbabwean diet, but the nation's maize
reserves are expected to be depleted by January, the report said.

Aid agencies and government reports have blamed the food crisis in southern
Zimbabwe on several factors, including a devastating cyclone in early 2000,
a January drought which destroyed this year's maize crops, and ongoing
disruptions to agricultural activity due to land invasions by liberation war
veterans.

Zimbabwe is normally self-sufficient in food production except in times of
drought. - Sapa-AFP
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From The Daily News

Policemen descend on MDC offices

11/8/01 4:14:11 AM (GMT +2)


From Chris Gande in Bulawayo

MORE than 75 heavily armed policemen yesterday descended on the MDC offices
in the city in search of Cain Nkala, the Bulawayo war veteran chairman who
was abducted on Monday night.


MDC officials said the police raided the building along Herbert Chitepo
Street at around 2pm. They combed the rooms, and thoroughly searched for
Nkala.

The police barred this reporter from entering the building. "We have been
ordered not to get out," said an administrator speaking by phone. "We don't
know how long they are going to take. They say they are looking for Nkala."
Nkala was abducted on Monday night from his Magwegwe home where he was
watching television with his family. His captors were 10 men who were
wielding guns and travelling in a pick-up truck. They dragged him from his
house and sped off.

Road blocks were mounted along all roads leading out of the city as the
search for the abducted war veteran leader intensified.
Welshman Ncube, the MDC's secretary-general said the party had contacted a
lawyer for the search to be conducted during his presence.
"This is part of the lawlessness that has gripped the country," said Ncube.
"We call upon the police to arrest the real culprit." Nkala's abduction
occurred in full view of Nkala's wife, Sikhumbuzo and their four-year-old
child.

The men struck Nkala's wife on the head with the butt of a rifle. She
received five stitches on the head at Mpilo Central Hospital. Yesterday she
refused to discuss the matter with the Press.
Nkala faces a pending case after he allegedly kidnapped an MDC poll agent,
Patrick Nabanyama, on 19 June last year.

He appeared in the magistrates' court on Thursday last week and was remanded
to 28 February.
Nabanyama, who was an election agent of Bulawayo South MP, David Coltart, in
last year's parliamentary election, has not been found. Nkala is charged
jointly with nine other war veterans. The human rights watchdog, ZimRights,
has named a Bulawayo-based former Cabinet minister and a national hero now
deceased as being some of the last people to have seen
Nabanyama alive, a day after his abduction.

Sources say Nkala was in an agitated state last week. The Zimbabwe National
War Veterans' Association secretary-general, Andy Mhlanga, yesterday charged
that Nkala was kidnapped by MDC men, but failed to substantiate his
allegation when pressed to to so.
"Whatever the reasons, we are positive this is the work of the MDC.

"They have declared war on the war veterans but we wish to point out that we
are good at that. They should not blame us for what happens next," Mhlanga
said.
Ncube, said yesterday that his party had absolutely nothing to do with the
abduction.
"We don't have any guns," he said. "We are not in the business of abducting
people because we have placed all our faith in the law, although the law has
continuously failed the people of Zimbabwe. The party that has a history of
kidnapping people is Zanu PF, as they did with Nabanyama."

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From The Daily News

Guard flees home as war vets threaten death

11/8/01 3:13:02 AM (GMT +2)


Staff Reporter

Simeon Masuku is a bitter man.


From the comfort of a seven-roomed house on a farm in the Norton area west
of Harare, he is now living in squalid conditions in a rented one-roomed
shack in Ngoni township, Norton.
Masuku, 35, a security guard with Guard Alert Pvt Limited, said he fled his
home after death threats by war veterans who accused him of "looking after
whites".

Showing a scar in his chest and hospital cards, Masuku said his problems
started on 30 March.
He said: "I was victimised by the war veterans. On 30 March, at about 3am, I
was stabbed in the chest by a war veteran who accused me of looking after
the white farmers. I stayed in Norton Hospital until 2 April. I reported the
matter to the police but nothing happened. They did
not even attend to the matter.
Nobody cared."

Masuku said he had been in charge of the Somerby Farm and surrounding areas
from 1997 until 22 October when he fled to Norton in fear for his life after
being confronted by two war veterans who were terrorising people in the
area.

He said: "They ordered me to leave. "They told me bluntly that I was a
sell-out and I was going to be killed before the residential election next
year."
Waving his arms at the depressing state of his shack, Masuku, who is a
card-carrying member of Zanu PF, said bitterly: "I was reduced to this state
because I was just doing my job. I am now a squatter, working in this town.
What lesson will I teach other people about the party?" He said his wife and
five children were now at his rural home in Zvishavane.

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From The Daily News

Mugabe joins enemies of Press freedom

11/8/01 3:14:28 AM (GMT +2)


By Luke Tamborinyoka

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontiers), a world grouping of
journalists, on Monday named President Mugabe among the 39 predators of
Press freedom in the world.


The list was released just a day before reports in the Tuesday issue of The
Herald that the Zimbabwe Investment Centre had cancelled the licence for The
Daily News in the latest attempt by the government-controlled mouthpiece to
vilify the only independent daily newspaper in the country.

Mugabe joins other dictators and enemies of the Press such as Eduardo dos
Santos of Angola, Jiang Zemin of China, Fidel Castro of Cuba, Joseph Kabila
of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Saddam Hussein of Iraq. The list
also includes Mugabe's close friends Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Mahathir
Mohammad of Malaysia and Vietnam's Nong Duc Manh.

The Africa Bureau of Reporters Sans Frontiers said Mugabe had entered the
list because of his government's violation of Press freedom and how it has
targeted for elimination individual journalists including Geoffrey Nyarota,
the Editor-in-Chief of The Daily News.
"Two United Nations officials asked Mugabe to stop his intimidations, but
police continued threatening journalists. In just the month of August, eight
of them were arrested and detained for several hours," the organization
said.

Mugabe has always accused the independent Press of reporting lies and
attempting to destabilise the country.
"Under pressure from the international community, he announced the
liberalisation of the audio-visual sector. In reality, the new law allows
the creation of only one television channel and only one private radio
station," the organisation said.

The clampdown on Zimbabwe's independent Press comes four months before a
crucial presidential election in which Mugabe faces the stiffest challenge
in his 21-year rule from Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC.
On 3 May, the International Press Freedom Day, the Committee to Protect
Journalists named Mugabe as a strong contender for the world's worst enemy
of Press freedom.
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From The Daily News

War veterans gratuities pushed nation into economic bind

11/8/01 3:27:45 AM (GMT +2)


Ray Matikinye

FIVE years after President Mugabe capitulated to former independence war
fighters' demands for gratuities, Zimbabwe's political and economic
landscape has been agonisingly changing for the worse.



Ask any hard-pressed Zimbabwean why times have become so hard or why they
face a host of financial woes and the most obvious answer would be: "Dhora
rakadonha" (the dollar has lost value). Ask again how so? And the probable
answer would be: "Because Mugabe has failed to reduce the endemic
corruption."

Corruption within the ruling elite and some senior government officials has
bred a legion of disgruntled Zimbabweans who seem to see no immediate
respite.
First it was the Willowgate Scandal, which climaxed with the third most
powerful man in the ruling Zanu PF party and government hierarchy committing
suicide, a governor temporarily falling out of grace and two ministers
resigning.

Then followed the abuse of the War Victims Compensation Fund, the VIP
Housing Scandal and recently the alleged Grain Marketing Board and Tender
Board and the Noczim scams.
Debating a report in August this year, on a parliamentary delegation that
attended a seminar on corruption in the Netherlands, lawyer and opposition
MDC shadow foreign minister, Tendai Biti said government was non-committal
on the issue of stamping out corruption.

Biti said for every dollar collected by the government, 40 cents has not
reached the intended target because of corruption.
He cited Mugabe's wife, Grace, as a beneficiary of corruption in the VIP
Housing Scandal.

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From The Daily News

Industrialists have suffered as well.

11/8/01 3:30:43 AM (GMT +2)



The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) said its members had lost $50
million in export orders as war veterans invaded firms demanding higher pay
for workers or immediate payment in terminal benefits for workers dismissed
years back.


As an offshoot of the firm invasions, a party-sponsored workers'
representative body, the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU) led by
self-styled commander-in-chief of farm invasions, Joseph Chinotimba emerged.

Besides, company and farm invasions contributed to the flight of capital
from Zimbabwe at rates never seen before.
Mugabe has on several occasions commended the war veterans' action, saying
they had every right to be his party's vanguard and lead the revival of its
flagging support.
Soon after the electorate rejected a skewed government-sponsored draft
constitution, the war veterans spearheaded a wave of violent farm invasions.
They were scared of an imminent demise of their mentors and benefactors in
the face of stiff challenges posed by the opposition.
But the most poignant conversion into a political constituency was when war
veterans unleashed a reign of terror on the electorate after Zanu PF
narrowly won to the opposition MDC in the June parliamentary election.

Subsequent by-elections in Bikita-West, Marondera West and Bindura
constituencies witnessed a further escalation of violence as war veterans,
acting as Zanu PF's prime coercion agents, forced opposition supporters to
flee their homes for fear of being assaulted.

The Bikita-West constituency had been initially won by the MDC in the June
general election.
Since then, the former fighters have become the ruling party's vigilantes
and hatchet men.
That the war veterans have become an appendage of Zanu PF is in not doubted,
but the belated recognition and prominence given by an aging kleptocracy
also begs the question:
"Is it not that the tail is now wagging the dog?" War veterans were
reportedly awarded almost $1 billion in unbudgeted funds last July as an
increment to their untaxed monthly gratuities
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From FinGaz

November: a month for hard thinking

Dr Reginald Matchaba-Hove
11/8/01 6:08:40 PM (GMT +2)

CENTURIES ago, the Roman senate offered to name the month of November after
Tiberius Caesar, since July and August had been named after Julius and
Augustus Caesar respectively.


The modest Tiberius declined, saying: "What will you do if you have 13
emperors?"

Wise words from a humble leader.

More recently, Union Avenue was renamed Kwame Nkrumah Avenue. "What's in a
name?" you might ask, quoting William Shake-speare.

Nkrumah of Ghana, like Cecil John Rhodes before him, wanted to see a union
of all of Africa. It is perhaps no coincidence that our own first prime
minister and first executive president married a Ghanaian and spent crucial
formative years in Ghana before fully entering the political scene back
home.

So perhaps it's no ordinary name change; maybe it's a magical political
talisman ahead of elusive presidential elections!

Are we seeing visions of a new pan-Africanist giant who will finally
complete the pan-Africanist dream of "Uhuru na Umoja" (freedom and unity)
with the added new testament of "gutsa ruzhinji" (economic prosperity for
all) propelled by "land to the African people!"?

Meanwhile, Brother Muammar Gaddafi shouldn't be envious. He should be
advised that oil or no oil, his brother is still studying his reference from
ruling party stalwart and businesswoman Nyasha Chikwinya before any street
is named after him!

Although Nkrumah was unquestionably a great a pan-Africanist, we should not
forget his more sinister side. Obsessed with power, he amended the
constitution so as to become executive president after three years as prime
minister.

His Convention People's Party (CPP) spawned the Young Pioneers, the Workers'
Brigade, the Trades Union Congress, the United Ghana Farmers' Cooperative
Council, the National African Socialist Students' Organisation and the Kwame
Nkrumah Ideological Institute.

He distrusted the British-trained military and so created a separate
President's Own Guards Regiment. The government-controlled Evening News
spearheaded a personality cult around Nkrumah.

Corruption was rife and the CPP extorted donations from businesses.
Following protests against corruption and economic hardships in 1961,
Nkrumah forced the resignation and exile of finance minister Gbedemah.

Other internal potential rivals such as CPP secretary- general Tawiah
Adamafio, CPP executive secretary Coffie Crabbe and foreign minister Ako
Adjei were arrested following a bomb attempt on Nkrumah in August 1962.

When the court acquitted them, a major clash between the judiciary and the
executive ensued and Nkrumah sacked Chief Justice Sir Arku Korsah in
December 1963. The colonial Preventive Detention Act was used to detain
political opponents.

Having cowed his opponents, a sham referendum for a de jure one-party state
was then held in February 1964. Hmmn . . . does all this sound familiar?

He was eventually overthrown by the military on February 24 1966 while on a
trip to China to pursue an elusive peace in Vietnam. Such a great nation
reduced to rubble!

Thereafter, Ghana went through a vigorous de-Nkrumahisation process. So
Union Avenue's new name may not be a good omen after all!

Nevertheless, there is a lot we can learn from Ghana's sad past. One of the
lessons is not that Nkrumah was overthrown because he did not have a strong
women's league like Kamuzu Banda of Malawi and other clones further south!
There is much more to learn! (By the way, where is Joshua Nkomo Street?)

Also, when are King George VI (KG 6) and other army barracks going to change
their names? Imagine one being re-named "Cde Chinotimba Barracks"!

That's not as preposterous as it sounds. The man was on television last
Sunday bragging: "Jesus said if you see me you see the Father who sent me,
and vice versa. Similarly, if you see Chinos, you see Mugabe; if you see
Mugabe, you see Chinos!"

So opposition MP Paul Themba Nyathi can stop harassing the hapless Minister
of Foreign Affairs as to who authorised "Cde Chinos" to welcome and hug
visiting Southern Africa Development Community leaders at Harare airport.
Also, Solomon Mujuru and other ZANU PF chefs need not wonder anymore why
"Cde Chinos" has been offered a Cherokee and other privileges.

November is also a month of rebellion. This is the month Ian Smith and his
rebels declared their disastrous Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
Also, the October Bolshevik Revolution that saw the overthrow of Czar
Nicholas II of Russia was actually in November 1917 (October in the old
Russian calendar).

So, will there be thunder and lightning that will fast-track some into
office in November before the presidential elections? Or are we likely to
see more fireworks in the opposition following the cowardly assault of
female MP Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga and the cheeky attacks on
security chief Job Sikhala and his family? What happened to tolerance?

And socialist MP Munyaradzi Gwisayi is calling for more land designation
with no compensation for farmers while finance guru Eddie Cross calls for
the opposite!

Similarly, will there be more "dhisinyongoro" (discord) in the ruling party?
What with Eddison Zvobgo and Dzikamai Mavhaire holding their own "victory"
rally on the same day their top party leaders were at a VIP birthday
bash-cum-presidential campaign rally in the same province?

Will the new (umafikezolo) appointed party propagandist step into Father
Zimbabwe's big shoes without causing tremors in Matabeleland? Only time will
tell.

However, both parties make the biblical Tower of Babel pale into
insignificance in the face of such modern-day confusion!

Machikichori! On a brighter note, thumbs up to the youth leaders of both
parties for calling upon the youth to avoid being used in violence by
unscrupulous politicians.

Finally, on his last international visit, the President visited Vietnam, the
same country Nkrumah had hoped to visit before he was deposed. The President
visited the famous 11th century Temple of Literature and Learning in Hanoi.

I have also been fortunate to visit this ancient university during one of my
public health visits. In the courtyard stand two arched doors at either end,
one representing the path to intelligence and the other the path to wisdom.

In the old days, initiates would be asked to choose which door to enter.
Only the truly learned few who had fully imbibed in Confucius (Kung Fu-tse)
thought would ask for the middle door, so that they could inherit both
intelligence and wisdom.

It is all to do with balance. Intellect without wisdom is dangerous. Those
who think they are clever by murdering with impunity fellow Zimbabweans in
the opposition and black and white farmers, extorting money from business
and generally harassing the media and others in civil society lack wisdom.

Similarly, while some may appear cleverer than those who write "Wo vetsi
ahedi!", care needs to be exercised when appealing to our foreign partners
to help, avoiding measures that would further damage our nation. So to the
radicals on both sides, it will be futile to shout "I've won! I've won!"
like the gent in one of the adverts for a popular local opaque brew dubbed
"scud" when the country ends in tatters. Winning at what cost? You will have
won nothing!

We would all have lost immensely for generations to come. We do not need
more clever ways to destroy each other. What is required is a little
humility the size of a mustard seed and love for our country which
transcends petty hatred.

We must walk together through the middle path, with the support of our
external friends, if we are to be successful masters of our own destiny in
the new global village.
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From FinGaz

The dark horse of death, terror gallops across Zim

TIM NEILL
11/8/01 6:05:38 PM (GMT +2)

WE left Harare early in the morning to go out into the country to meet
victims of political violence and to assess for ourselves what was really
happening in Zimbabwe.


We had listened too long to the smokescreen of the government's propaganda
machine telling us that the land invasions were simply redressing the
imbalances in land ownership - a legacy left by the colonialists.

Deserted villages

We met with deserted village compounds, informal refugee camps and children
living in situations of terrifying vulnerability.

These heart-rending scenes and the approaching famine speaks not of wrongs
being corrected but of injustice being added to injustice. There is no doubt
that the programme called land reform is a cover for a clever and systematic
process of disenfranchising large sections of the community while sowing
seeds of poverty, desperation and hopelessness on a massive scale.

Consider:

Every commercial farm has a farm compound comprising on average 54 workers.
These communities have been stable for as long as four generations.

The communities cater for AIDS orphans in that the neighbours help each
other, the farms provide steady employment and many have now got their roots
in the world of the farms rather than the villages from whence they or their
fathers came.

With the action of the War veterans, the police and the army these workers
and their families are being driven off the farms. The General Agricultural
Plantation Workers' Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ), the Agricultural Labour
Bureau and the Farm Community Trust all estimate that the number of
displaced workers will be above 50 000 and that all in all (with dependents)
between 250 000 and 300 000 people will be affected.

In very recent weeks the war veterans have begun a policy of stopping
farmers from planting this year's tobacco crop. That will directly affect
one million people, both on the farms and in the downstream industries.

Where these poor people will end up is anyone's guess.
Men of Zimbabwean origin could try and get a piece of land on one of the
resettled farms but only ZANU PF members are being allocated farms. The
women, either unmarried or widows, are not eligible for resettlement unless
they find a man. Either way prostitution will rise.

Where the children, orphaned through AIDS will go as these stable
communities are broken, is too frightening to contemplate.

Street children

My work with street children tells me that these are a very vulnerable group
especially since the men see the young girls as having less chance of being
infected with the AIDS virus. There will be many young persons who will be
laid in their graves before their time - robbed of whatever possibilities of
a little happiness by an evil and spiteful government-backed action.

Total chaos

The National Social Security Authority (NSSA) is in total chaos and many of
the farm workers who have tried to get their pensions, now that they cannot
work on their farms, have been turned away empty-handed.

That means the old and recently unemployed who have contributed to a pension
scheme will get nothing, not from this regime anyway.

Hundreds will return to their villages empty-handed and staring starvation.

The dark horse of death and terror has been ridden with wild cruelty spurred
on by the present leadership.

Houses and granaries have been destroyed, victims left to put back their
lives after the humiliations and severe trauma of rape, abuse, violence and
torture (even of old people in the rural areas). It is chilling that the
Zimbabwe Republic Police is part of the problem.

Let us be very clear. The dark horse of death and terror is abroad and is
intended to drive the poor, the hungry and the desperate to act and take the
law into their own hands.

These very vulnerable people with only crude shelters (if any) are being
pushed to the limits. And over in the government camps the dogs of war are
catching the intoxicating scents of opportunity, of fear and of blood.

Gross cruelty

But let those who have ridden the horse and spurred it on to gross cruelty
and who speak of releasing the dogs of war against the democratic will of
the people get this clearly: This is God's world.

And God is a God who loves justice. He is on the side of the oppressed and
in history this great, loving God has heard and still hears the cries of the
poor. He feels it when their hearts stop and sink at the hopelessness they
face. And everyone will give an account of their lives to the living one who
sees.

Let all those involved in supporting this monstrous regime be clear: Jesus
said that we will be called to account even for every word we utter. There
is no middle safe ground. You are either for good government and justice or
against it. Even our Supreme Court judges will one day have to appear before
the great white throne of judgment.

It would be wise to bear in mind that we will have to answer to the one who
knows the secret things, the hidden schemes and the end from the very
beginning.

Terrible words

Imagine hearing those terrible words being spoken by the Lord Jesus "Depart
from you workers of iniquity. Depart. Go. Go to the flames of fire prepared
for the devil and all his angels."

Therefore let us be careful to both do good and to be good.

Careful that the reputation we have before the Almighty is excellent. You
will not give account to your ancestors. Nor to your peers. Nor to ZANU PF.
But to the one who died and who rose again.

The present Zimbabwean headlong pursuit of evil, violence and of greed is a
headlong rush for an eternity in the fires of hell. Be warned. Be very wise.
And be very careful about your soul. The terrors of a Christless eternity in
the fire of hell is simply not worth what ever short term gains this world
may have.

•The Reverend Tim Neill is a former vicar-general of the Anglican Church's
diocese of Harare

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From FinGaz

Marondera farmers sue Chihuri


11/8/01 6:03:25 PM (GMT +2)

POLICE Commissioner Augustine Chihuri is being sued by a group of Marondera
farmers for failing to stop disruptions to farming activities on commercial
farms that are illegally occupied by government supporters.


High Court judge Justice Benjamin Paradza yesterday reserved judgments in
the two cases in which owners of Nyagambe Estates, Uitkyk Farm, Eirene Farm
and Golden Cap Estate are suing Chihuri for failing to arrest illegal farm
occupiers who have been wantonly disrupting farming activities at the
properties.

In the first case, Chihuri - who was jointly sued with Mashonaland East
governor David Karimanzira - was accused of abetting the actions of landless
peasants who have illegally settled on Nyagambe Estates. The owners of the
farm are seeking an order directing the police to arrest anyone disrupting
activity on the property.

In the other case, the owners of the Uitkyk Farm, Eirene Farm, Longbow
(Private) Limited and Golden Cap are seeking an order instructing Chihuri
and Karimanzira to take action against the land occupiers.

Several workers at the farms whose owners are suing Chihuri have been
assaulted by the land invaders and ruling ZANU PF supporters over the past
few months in a new wave of violence against white commercial farmers.

Paradza said he wanted more time to look at whether the applications did not
contravene the Rural Land Occupiers (Protection from Eviction) Act.

- Staff Reporter

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From FinGaz

Tsvangirai beefs up security following assassination bids

Staff Reporter
11/8/01 6:00:10 PM (GMT +2)

MORGAN Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) who is widely seen routing President Robert Mugabe in next
year's presidential election, says he is aware that there might be attempts
on his life before the poll and has taken extra security precautions.


Tsvangirai told the Financial Gazette this week that two recent attempts to
assassinate him included a failed ambush by ZANU PF youths at Patchway Mine
in Kadoma last month and another attack in Bindura during a by-election for
the seat left vacant by the death of ZANU PF strategist Border Gezi.

He said a group of about 50 youths had ambushed his convoy at Patchway Mine
while he was on his way to Sanyati and smashed the vehicles but no arrests
were made despite the arrival of police within minutes of the attack.

His motorcade was also attacked in July by ZANU PF youths in Bindura while
he was campaigning for the losing MDC candidate Elliot Pfebve.

"The whole idea is that they (ZANU PF) would like to set up these hit squads
who will cause a commotion and in the melee someone will shoot me,"
Tsvangirai said.

"What these people do not want to understand is that this crisis has some
divine intervention and I will not allow these kind of threats and
intimidation to deter me from doing what I am supposed to do," he said.

The MDC leader says he has already beefed up his and his family's security
and does not intend "to be a martyr".

While it was not clear whether ZANU PF had sanctioned the assassination
attempts or it was some rogue elements working on their own, said
Tsvangirai, the political position of the governing party was that his
elimination would be considered rather than have Mugabe lose power next
year.

"I can tell you we have the information and we are well informed on what is
taking place within the government," he said.

On allegations that the MDC continued to receive foreign money despite
legislation banning the funding of political parties by foreigners,
Tsvangirai said his party had stopped getting money from outside Zimbabwe
when the law was enacted.

"This is another attempt to strangle the MDC financially but Zimbabweans are
very conscious that the MDC is their last hope," he said.

"ZANU PF might have all the resources but they just do not have the one
resource that is important: the people."

Tsvangirai said the MDC needed at least between $100 million and $200
million to launch a successful campaign for the presidential election, which
must be held by the end of March next year.

"But we are a party which is conscious of our limitations so we have to
conserve our resources," the former veteran trade unionist said.
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From FinGaz

Maize stocks to last only till January

Staff Reporter
11/8/01 5:58:32 PM (GMT +2)

ZIMBABWE'S maize reserves, measured at 200 355 tonnes last month and 63
percent lower than in the same period in 2000, will only last until January
if the government does not urgently import more stocks, according to the
National Early Warning Unit (NEWU).


In its October bulletin, NEWU says stocks of the staple are dwindling as
sales from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) escalate.

The GMB is selling more than 55 000 tonnes of maize every month, the
bulletin says.

"At the current rate, the official (maize) stocks would be exhausted by the
end of January 2002. The official stocks are at their lowest level in two
years and are 63 percent lower than the same time last year," it said.

The report said that even if Zimbabwe imported the 100 000 tonnes of maize -
as stated by the Ministry of Agriculture - the country would still have a
deficit of more than 100 000 tonnes before the next harvest in May.

NEWU said Zimbabwe's wheat stocks, which stood at 85 000 tonnes in August,
were also being depleted rapidly. These will however be boosted by the 275
000 tonnes of the crop that has been produced by farmers this year and is
being sold to the GMB.

Zimbabwe is facing serious food shortages, which have been partly caused by
unpredictable rain patterns and by the government's seizure of commercial
farms and the occupation of others by its supporters.

More than half of Zimbabwe's commercial farmers have been forced off their
land because of the government's controversial land reforms, reducing
agricultural output by more than 40 percent.

Last month the World Food Progra-mme conducted preliminary studies into
Zimbabwe's food needs, estimating that 705 785 people will require more than
73 000 tonnes of food aid in the next six months.

The report said the government should quickly launch a strong appeal for
food assistance to the international community. It is understood that the
government has now done so, despite its previous denials that the country
faced food shortages.

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From FinGaz

Ex-presidents' spouses not to pay tax

Staff Reporter
11/8/01 5:58:07 PM (GMT +2)

ALLOWANCES of spouses of former Zimbabwean presidents could be exempt from
income tax with effect from this month, according to measures being proposed
by Finance Minister Simba Makoni.


The exemption is part of new measures contained in the draft Finance Bill
released last week by Makoni when he presented the 2002 national budget to
Parliament.

According to the Bill, the Third Schedule to the Income Tax Act (Chapter
23:06) will be amended to state that allowances payable to the spouses of
former presidents are exempt from income tax with effect from November 1
2001.

Paragraph four of the Third Schedule relates to salaries and other payments
to the President, his spouse, ministers, provincial governors, members of
Parliament and senior officers of the defence forces.

Current legislation only exempts serving heads of state or previous ones
from paying income tax and the latest move is seen as an attempt by
President Robert Mugabe to prepare for his exit from power.

"I think this is evidence that the President is realising that his term is
coming to an end and we are delighted that he is preparing for his
retirement," said Eddie Cross, secretary for economic affairs of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

The move to exempt the allowances of former first ladies and their husbands
from taxation comes as Zimbabwe prepares for a crucial presidential ballot
due early next year, which pits Mugabe against Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC.

It also comes at a time when Makoni has admitted that the government is
facing serious financial problems and is having difficulties in raising
adequate revenue.

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From FinGaz

Judge backs Press freedom in landmark ruling

Staff Reporter
11/8/01 5:54:56 PM (GMT +2)

A ZIMBABWEAN High Court judge has defended the right of the Press to expose
corruption, dishonesty and graft wherever they occur and to name the
perpetrators of the malpractices.


Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza also defended the rights and functions of the
media to make available to the community information and criticism about
every aspect of public, political, social and economic activity which helps
in the formulation of public opinions.

She defended the role of the Press in her ruling recently in a case in which
Deputy Energy Minister Christopher Mushowe sued Modus Publications over a
story which alleged that he had been admitted into a postgraduate programme
at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) despite the fact that he lacked the
prerequisite qualifications.

Modus publications published the Sunday Gazette, which carried the story
before the newspaper closed in 1995.

Mushowe, a former director of state residences, also sued the author of the
report, Basildon Peta, and UZ lecturer John Makumbe, who was quoted in the
story, for more than $100 000.

The story, headlined "Scandal Rocks UZ", said Mushowe had at the time been
admitted into a post-graduate Masters in Public Administration (MPA) degree,
although he did not have the mandatory first degree required for acceptance
into the programme.

The story, among other things, also said Mushowe had failed one of his
subjects twice with a 48 percent mark but UZ vice chancellor Graham Hill had
changed this mark to reflect a 50 percent pass mark, enabling Mushowe to
proceed with his studies.

This was despite the fact that Mushowe's paper had been failed by
professional examiners and therefore he should have repeated the course.

Justice Gwaunza, on the basis of the evidence before her, ruled in favour of
Modus, Peta and Makumbe and dismissed Mushowe's lawsuit with costs.

She ruled that Hill and Solomon Nkiwane, the then chairman of the Department
of Political Science and Administrative Studies which ran the MPA programme,
had all flouted UZ regulations in admitting Mushowe.

The judge proved the Sunday Gazette's assertion that Mushowe was admitted to
the MPA although he was under-qualified and did not have a first degree.

The judge noted that Mushowe was the only candidate on the programme who did
not have a first degree and he was in fact admitted ahead of other students
who were better qualified but were rejected.

Justice Gwaunza said that not only did Mushowe lack the requisite
qualifications but he was also exempted from certain courses, although he
was not entitled to these exemptions as reported by the Sunday Gazette. In
fact, another better qualified and experienced student had been denied the
same exemptions accorded to Mushowe.

Mushowe was also admitted after the agreed quota for the masters degree
course had been filled by more deserving candidates. The judge found fault
in assertions by Nkiwane at the time of Mushowe's admission that the latter
had impressive academic achievements which warranted him a place in the MPA.

Justice Gwaunza said none of Mushowe's achievements listed by Nkiwane at the
time qualified as impressive academic achievements. In fact, the major
achievements listed were Mushowe's high positions in the government. The
judge said all evidence proved that Mushowe was not qualified and should not
have been admitted into the MPA.

The judge said not only was Mushowe irregularly admitted into the UZ, but
Hill went out of his way to make Mushowe pass a course which he had failed.

Hill in fact had the course marked by six examiners. When none of the six
examiners would pass Mushowe, Hill manipulated the figures of all the
examiners and came up with a formula to pass Mushowe, the judge said.

After Hill passed Mushowe, he instructed the UZ's registrar's office to put
Mushowe on the pass list and Hill in fact telephoned Mushowe to tell him
that he had passed.

When Hill got wind of the fact that a reporter was probing the matter, he
reversed Mushowe's pass mark and deferred his results, the judge ruled.

After publication of the story by the Sunday Gazette, Mushowe was given the
fail mark which he rightly deserved but was permitted to write a
supplementary examination the following year which he failed again.

Because of this second failure, Mushowe should have repeated the course but
he did not do so until Hill instead arranged for Mushowe's failing
supplementary exam paper to be re-marked by two further examiners. Mushowe
still failed the supplementary exam and Hill then upgraded the failing mark
to a pass mark, contrary to UZ regulations.

Had it not been for Hill's irregular actions, Mushowe would not have been
permitted to proceed to dissertation and completion of the degree, the judge
said.

Justice Gwaunza did not find any fault with the headline of the story. She
said a newspaper headline, "by its nature, is designed to attract the
attention of the readers not only to the article appearing under it, but to
the whole newspaper. It is meant to tempt people to buy the newspaper.
Indeed to that end, headlines tend to be sensational and, in some cases, to
exaggerate . . ."

A prominent lawyer who studied the judgment said it was a landmark ruling
for Press freedom . The lawyer, who did not want to be named, said the only
alternative for Hill in light of the judgment is to resign from the UZ and
withdraw Mushowe's degree.


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From FinGaz

Moyo tells 'MDC journalists' to go

Staff Reporter
11/8/01 5:54:18 PM (GMT +2)

INFORMATION Minister Jonathan Moyo has given state media journalists
"sympathetic" to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) until
tomorrow to submit their names to their managers to be retrenched, failing
which they will be fired without benefits.


Moyo has also vowed to punish editors who fail to see and report on "cracks
in the MDC" on a daily basis. By yesterday no journalist had taken up Moyo's
offer.

State media journalists said Moyo's ultimatum was issued at a meeting he
held last week with journalists from the national news agency ZIANA, the
Community Newspapers Group, the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust and other
officials ahead of the planned launch of a new media that will tighten the
government's grip on the state media.

"Moyo made clear that there is no room for what he described as MDC
journalists in all state-owned media," one journalist who attended the
meeting said.

"He said he was being generous by offering voluntary severance packages to
those who are sympathetic to the MDC. He said after the launch of the new
company, he will simply fire those who are sympathetic to the MDC. He did
not, however, disclose the criteria he will use to determine who is an MDC
supporter and who is not."
Moyo could not be reached for comment this week.

The journalists said the new media group, to be called new ZIANA or
TRANSMEDIA, will be launched shortly. One journalist who attended the
meeting said Moyo said he did not want to launch the group with any "MDC
misfits in the middle".

They said journalism lecturer Tafataona Mahoso is tipped to become chief
executive of the group while Happison Muchechetere and Elliot Mahende would
take over as heads of the divisions of radio and television and newspapers
and printing respectively.

Author Alexander Kanengoni is also tipped for a top post in the new
organisation. Reuters correspondent in Harare Cris Chinaka has turned down a
job offer with the new group but is advising and exchanging notes with Moyo
on the new project, the journalists said. They said Chinaka was also present
at last week's meeting.

Moyo told the journalists that they did not have to worry about the
profitability of the new organisation as that was not its main objective.

"We were told that our main brief is to support the government. He said
issues of profitability were not important as the government would bankroll
the new media group. Some of us had voiced concern that the project would
not be sustainable if it was seen as being partisan in the eyes of the
public," said a source at the meeting.

The journalists said Moyo instructed the editors present that they should be
as prolific as the Herald in reporting negatively about the MDC. Some of the
editors have since instructed their reporters to follow suit, they said.

"He said any editor who failed to pass that test will be jobless. He said he
would not hesitate to hire and fire anyone who failed to realise that his
job in the state media is to support the government of the day," another
journalist said.
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From FinGaz

War vet's abduction an 'inside job'

Staff Reporter
11/8/01 5:53:06 PM (GMT +2)

BULAWAYO - Insiders in the ruling ZANU PF party this week said speculation
is rife that kidnapped Bulawayo war veterans' leader Cain Nkala could have
been a victim of internal party squab-bles in Matabeleland.


According to the police, Nkala was on Monday dragged from his home in
Magwegwe West suburb by a gang of about 10 men driving a Madza twin-cab
vehicle.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, ZANU PF officials said Nkala, known for
not mincing his words, could have ruffled the feathers of the old guard by
advocating the integration into the ZANU PF leadership of so-called young
turks.

"This is most likely an inside job," one official told the Financial
Gazette. "Nkala and other progressive war veterans and politicians want
drastic changes in the entire regional leadership of the party. This could
be one of the many reasons why he had night visitors."

It is understood that Nkala once told a regional party leadership meeting
that the old guard should go and pave the way for young blood, which angered
some party officials.

Another insider said Nkala could have been removed "from the scene" because
of fears that he would spill the beans on the disappearance last year of
Patrick Nabanyama, the election agent of Bulawayo South opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) MP David Coltart.

Nkala is one of 10 war veterans facing charges of allegedly kidnapping
Nabanyama on 19 June last year. The war veterans appeared in the
magistrates' courts here last Thursday and were jointly remanded out of
custody to February 28 next year.

The ZANU PF officials alleged that Nkala was in an agitated state the whole
of last week, which they said could have unsettled certain people.

"This would explain the need to silence him," one official said.
However, ZANU PF officials in Bulawayo denied that Nkala could have been
kidnapped by party members.

ZANU PF Bulawayo chairman Jabulani Sibanda said enemies of the ruling party
and of the government were solely to blame for the disappearance of Nkala.

"It's not immediately clear as yet but these allegations are absurd. He
(Nkala) is a victim of terrorism, which is manifesting itself to our
people," he said.

Stanley Ncube, the war veterans' deputy chairman in Bulawayo, added: "This
is the work of terrorists. This is a declaration of war."
Welsman Ncube, the MDC secretary-general, described as balderdash claims
that his party was behind Nkala's kidnap.

"We have absolutely nothing to do with the abduction," he insisted. "We are
not in the business of abducting people because we have faith in the law,
although the law has sometimes continuously failed the people of Zimbabwe."
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From FinGaz

MDC support increases

Staff Reporter
11/8/01 5:52:08 PM (GMT +2)

THE Financial Gazette-Target Research opinion poll reveals that Zimbabwe's
main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has
increased its support in most provinces since the June 2000 parliamentary
election.


The opinion poll found that the MDC had made gains in nine of the country's
provinces and lost marginally in Bulawayo.

The poll found that the MDC, which won 57 of the 120 contested parliamentary
seats in June last year, made gains in traditionally ZANU PF areas such as
Mashonaland and Masvingo.

The poll's findings were based on data weighted to account for a ZANU PF
bias resulting from the number of possible MDC supporters who refused to
participate in the survey.

The data was weighted based on the proportions of respondents in each
province who said they had voted for a particular party last year and the
actual proportions based on these election results.

According to the weighted data, in Mashonaland Central where the MDC won 20
percent of the vote last year, 28.8 percent of potential voters could vote
for Tsvangirai in the presidential election in 2002.

In Mashonaland West, 30.6 percent could vote for the MDC compared to 25
percent last year and in Masvingo 43.4 percent could back the MDC chief
compared to 35 percent.

In Bulawayo, where 83 percent voted for the MDC last year, 81.3 percent
could cast their vote for Tsvangirai in 2002.

The ruling ZANU PF has made marginal gains in Bulawayo since last year,
where 18.7 percent will cast their vote for Mugabe next year compared to 13
percent who voted for the party last year.

But about six percent of the Bulawayo vote last year went to independent
candidates or candidates representing parties other than ZANU PF or the MDC,
and this accounts largely for the increase in the proportion who intend to
vote for Mugabe in the presidential elections, Target Research said.

The ruling party made losses in all other provinces since the 2000 general
poll. In predominantly ZANU PF areas, 71.2 percent of respondents said they
would vote for Mugabe in 2002 in Mashonaland Central compared to 78 percent
last year.

In Mashonaland West, 51.2 percent compared to 59 percent will vote for
Mugabe while his vote in Mashonaland East will be 69.4 percent compared to
72 percent for ZANU PF last year and in Masvingo he will get 56.6 percent
compared to 58 percent.

The poll said: "Comparing these two sets of figures, it is clear that
political parties and their presidential candidates have loyal support bases
in certain areas, but have lost or gained support in some areas in the
interim between parliamentary and presidential elections."
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COMMERCIAL FARMERS' UNION
Farm Invasions and Security Report
Monday 5 November 2001
____________________________________________________________________________



This report does not purport to cover all the incidents that are taking place in the commercial farming areas. Communication problems and the fear of reprisals prevent farmers from reporting all that happens. Farmers names, and in some cases farm names, are omitted to minimise the risk of reprisals.

NATIONAL REPORT IN BRIEF:

Two Horseshoe farmers barricaded in their homes
Horseshoe - Illegal occupiers incite labourers
Glendale farmer barricaded out of his house
Odzi farmer beaten up
Foreman's son badly assaulted and hospitalised

REGIONAL REPORTS

MASHONALAND CENTRAL

Bindura - On Friday on Chinenga Farm  the Police arrived with a search warrant looking for arms and ammunition. Nothing was found. On the same day five men arrived on Piedmont Farm in a ZRP vehicle. Two men were in military uniform, two were support unit men and the fifth man was a civilian. They were intimidating the manager and demanding to be shown the game park. They then went on to enquire about the rates and wanted to know whether they would be allowed to hunt there. They told the farmer that they were there to protect him and that it was a good idea to plant maize. At Duiker Flats Farm a DDF tractor started to disk the farmer's already prepared land. On Friday night thieves attempted to break down the fence in order to steal goods from the store. More DDF tractors have arrived this morning and started to disk.
Glendale - One farmer was barricaded out of his house on Friday night but he managed to get access.  On Saturday he was refused permission to leave his house. The Police were not very helpful but managed to get the road cleared so that the farmer could move freely once more. Another farmer had people arrive at his homestead gates. They verbally abused him and ordered him to have all the cotton stalks removed so that they could begin ploughing the lands to grow their maize. He told them that he had done everything necessary and as he was not allowed to do any farming he didn't see why they should. One of the farmers in the area had a labour dispute which was externally inspired but the situation was resolved by lunchtime on Saturday.
Mvurwi - At a pre-arranged meeting on Muirend Farm between the leading war
veteran Maguti and the illegal settlers concerning the way ahead for the coming season, the illegal settlers said there was no room for the farmer to continue and ordered that all the cattle be removed from the property. In the negotiations which followed the farmer offered to prepare 10 acres of land at the going DDF rate and the majority of the settlers were not happy with his proposal. Those who were said they would make the money available. The farmer then said that the condition was that he be allowed to plant his tobacco in the lands that have been prepared. The matter was reported to the DA in Concession.  The owner of Visa Farm had a visit from a man by the name of Comrade China who wanted to "see the farm" He was driving a maroon sedan with registration number 396-663X. The farmer took a photo of him, which he
did not like and the owner is expecting repercussions.
Horseshoe - On Camsasa Farm which is unlisted, but settled, war vet instructed the farmer and labourers to cease all work on the farm, including critical watering requirements for the citrus orchard, and told the labourers and farmer to evacuate.  The same war vet incited labour into an angry disturbance at the homestead gate that finally waned three days later. The labour staged an angry disturbance on Blue Grass Farm and made extortion demands regarding their retrenchment package. The farmer was barricaded into his home for two days.  The ZRP eventually resolved situation pending consultation with a labour officer.   At Amajuba Farm a war vet/settler
incited the labour into an angry disturbance at homestead gate, first barricading the farmer and his family into his home for several hours, then after their escape, out of his home for two days.  The ZRP finally resolved the issue three days later. At Makombe Farm a labour disturbance at homestead gate was resolved independently after a few hours. A visiting war vet demanded a work stoppage on Siyalima Farm and held a meeting with the farmer and the labour force.  They beat up one labourer right at the beginning of the meeting, and incited the labour to make various
unsubstantiated complaints. After a further meeting called and held after CIO, ZANU(PF) representatives and two police details arrived, the farmer was instructed to keep 60 labourers and attend to the livestock, and that rest of labour force to be retrenched despite the farmer having no immediate intention of laying off any of the permanent labour force.
Mazowe / Concession - A group of people have arrived on Warmingham Farm and
they have divided it into 34 plots The owner has been told that if he wishes to farm he will have to negotiate with the settlers, which he is unwilling to do. His farm was invaded after the 6th of September. On Iron Mask Farm the owner was told that by last Thursday all work had to cease but the farming operations are continuing. This farm was never listed for acquisition.

MASHONALAND EAST

There is a correction with reference to the removal of illegal settlers in the Sitrep of 1st November 2001 under Matabeleland - "Wedza Block"  - no such action took place.

Wedza - The owner of Rapako was told that his greenhouse would be closed down on Friday but this did not happen. The boilerman was prevented from going to work this morning. There is continued hunting and snaring of game and more cattle are being moved on to the farm.  On Shaka illegal occupiers burnt the last remaining pasture and the fire jumped the fence into the farm village and destroyed 10 vacated kitchens and 5 vacated houses. Police were notified.  On Dudley illegal settlers on Dudley Sub Division A were removed by a DDF lorry and pick-upNo-one knows were they have been moved to.
Macheke/Virginia - On Fairview Farm there is a work stoppage and both entrances to the farm are barricaded. The owner could not get off the farm due to 5 illegal settlers sitting outside his gate. A report was made to the Macheke Police.  During the afternoon illegal settlers burnt 30 ha gum plantation. It was reported to the Member-in-charge at Macheke. He was not very cooperative and there was no reaction.   Type 2A pegging by Agritex is being carried out on Twist Farm Ten new people arrived to resettle on Castledene FarmLowlands reported 6 head of cattle removed in lieu of grazing, and the owner was prevented from pumping water for his dairy. Fairview Farm labour were chased away and a gum plantation burnt.  The farmer was prevented from leaving the premises. Illegal settlers are cutting down the gum trees outside farmer's house fence. Farmer feels that all this trouble comes from his court case over farm acquisition coming up next week. All the labour are back at work, and all barricades have been removed. Hazeldene Farm owner was stopped disking and reported the matter to the police. A new green Peugeot 771-961T arrived on the farm with people who claimed to be from the Veterinary Department, on further investigation the farmer learned that they were Libyans and were just looking around.  A settler has demanded seedlings from the owner of Royal Visit the owner explained that they were not on lawfully acquired land so he could not give them seedlings. The settlers informed the owner that they would return to take the seedlings. A report was made to the Macheke Police who informed the owner that the matter would be treated as theft.  Illegal ploughing has taken place on Exeter as well as Athlone and Bogota by a Murewa District Council tractor. This was reported to the Macheke Police to a Cnst. Masuku. On Exeter  Athlone  and Bogota all grazing and gum plantations have been extensively burnt.  On Sunday afternoon on Exeter Farm an army pickup with a person and luggage in the back was seen driving on to the farm.  On Mafuti there is burning of gum plantations that has been reported to the Police.
Featherstone - 15 Sable and 5 Eland in the game fence on Tradou have been shot or snared and the meat sold. Illegal occupiers have complained that their cattle have also been snared and deaths have occurred.  On Bathurst / New Years Fountain a government vehicle, grey Mazda GLLS 2168, arrived with about 10 people who started pegging the property.  R/E Kuruman   reports that workers have been chased out of the village and war vet Wezhira has told workers they will not work on the property because it is State Land. Wezhira refuses to talk to local party representatives. 100 head of cattle were forced off Philipsdale and alternate grazing was found. On Lot 2 Kuruman two irrigation pumps (70HP) were stolen. Tracks indicate that the pumps were taken away by scotch cart.  On Wemel   26 illegal occupiers were planting maize in land prepared by farmer. When approached they stated that they will plant in their "plots" if the owner ploughs for them. A report was
made to the Police at Featherstone.  On Oasis  workers and illegal occupiers
were told at meeting by Dehwa (Chairman Mtegeza ZANU PF) that they must not
poach, steal fencing, cut trees etc. They can build houses but must not plough or plant.
Harare South - Mr Combera arrived on Edinburgh  in a blue pick-up B1600 GLLS1371 belonging to the Ministry of Health to peg. A Massey Ferguson tractor and ridger started ridging on land prepared by the settlers on Rusimbiro  A letter was received from Mutatariiki requesting the owner to move the guard out of the house so that he can take over and store his chemicals and fertilizer. His family is unable to construct their own house as his plot is in the middle of the farm village and he has no space.  On Kinfauns  illegal settler David Mugombe I.D.08 270229D started fires in the
grazing paddock. The farmer went to put the fires out and was told by the drunken settler that he was not allowed to do so. The police arrived and took the settler to jail over night. There is hut building, tree cutting and fires throughout the district
Marondera North - Hydrants were stolen from Glenisla
Beatrice - On Brakveld  resident illegal settlers stopped the farmer from planting maize. The police came and told the settlers not to get involved with farm operations. If they did the army would come & remove them.  Houses are being built on Enslinsdeel Two police arrived with Ex ZIPRA woman war vet, Tonga, who told the settlers to move off as an indigenous farmer had bought the farm. When the three left the farm a paddock where the settlers were living was burnt.  On Kufara a DDF tractor is ploughing. A war vet named Mombe claimed compensation for ungerminated maize as he said the maize had been  trampled by cattle on Maasplein
Marondera South  - On Ponderosa  a person drunk or high on drugs came into the farm complex. The police were called and they instructed the farmer to handcuff the man. The gate was locked but the drunk broke the lock with a piece of metal. Later 50 invaders arrived and the electric fence was cut, the gate lock was broken and the security light was put out.  The farmer and his wife locked themselves in the house. They had been preparing to go camping for a few days and all their camping equipment and food was stolen. The leader of the mob called the farmer to the gate and when the farmer went to the gate he was struck on the head.  A fire was started on the lawn with chairs placed around it, a window was broken and water poured into a room in the house via a hosepipe.  Police arrived and the situation was defused by
an inspector.  A tractor-drawn maize planter arrived on Arcadia  and proceeded to plant maize for illegal settlers in a land ripped and disked by the farmer. The same land was rendered unusable from the farmer's point of view when illegal settlers built a line of huts along the crest. The farm is not listed, but in spite of this and the fact that the hut building took place after Abuja, no progress has been made through the DA to remove the settlers.   At Home Park  a resident war veteran arrived at the homestead on his tractor, waving a beer bottle and shouting "Abuja is dead!" and saying the farm belonged to the illegal settlers. He demanded access to a cottage
on the farm. On Monday the road to the homestead was blocked with rocks. The
farmer was told that any visitors would be searched, and he was not permitted to leave. He managed, however, to get out by driving across the bush, and is currently off the farm. Illegal settlers are getting increasingly militant recently.

MASHONALAND WEST (SOUTH)

Norton - The situation regarding farmers not being allowed to plant remains virtually unchanged, with no action being taken by the police or government. The level of hunger is such that there have been upwards of 1000 people gleaning wheat on Kintyre and Merton Park  farms.
Selous - On Claremont Farm  $710 000 worth of fertilizer has been stolen. Police have resisted investigating as they say the owner has to prove that the fertilizer has been stolen.  On Hopewell  the owner is having to abandon about 200 hectares of land prep because the Chairman of the Rural District Council and others want more land preparation done for them on the property.
Chegutu/Suri-Suri - On Riversdale  two batteries have been stolen and the owner is still not allowed on to the farm.  Mubayira police have obviously got a plot on the property as a police vehicle arrives about three times a week . On Bougainvilliea DDF tractors have been illegally ploughing.  An army lorry has been seen poaching with a spotlight on Just Right Estates and shots have been heard most nights.  Tree cutting continues on a dramatic scale and lorry loads of wood continue to be carted away.
Kadoma/Battlefields/Chakari - There are a few farmers now that have been allowed to carry out some land preparation for this season, but it is very late and they will only be able to put in a small percentage of what they normally grow.  On Sable Home  Rural District Council personnel came to shoot wildlife for a celebration as "the District Administrator said they could".  On Umsweswe River Block 10A  illegal occupiers have moved into two of the sheds and have knocked holes in the walls.  They have also connected up ZESA and the police continue to do nothing.  On Normandy North  another beef cow has been killed and the foreman's son was taken to Alabama Farm
and severely assaulted.  He has been hospitalised and the foreman and his family have had to remove themselves from their home.  Normandy North is a single owned farm and over the previous two and a half months has had 378 bags of maize stolen through extortion in the full sight of Chief Inspector Makaza from Kadoma Rural.  They have also had 50 sheep, 23 head of beef cattle, including a pedigree Limousin bull, 7 dairy heifers and 9 dairy cows stolen.  Also stolen was a compressor, a welding plant, a 12 volt battery, 6 knapsacks and 200 litres of milk. On Inniskilling Farm  Chief Inspector Makaza has not allowed the owner to remove his pump.

MANICALAND

Chipinge - On Wolfscrag Police Sgt Beri and Constable Magari arrived in a ZRP Landrover 1388D, they had organised a DDF tractor to plough their plots. The settlers threatened the owner with violence when he objected to the ploughing.
Odzi - On Chikongas Farm there were nine separate fires lit on his farm on Sunday evening. On Sunday, while International visitors were visiting the Estate, War Vet
Chamboko (ex-employee) proceeded in full view of all to enter the Estate and walk to the lower end of the farm, the same area where he has been illegally cutting trees for the past few weeks.  Shortly after huge clouds of smoke became visible.  The owner and visitors went to investigate and found Chamboko had lit a fire that quickly went out of control.  Chamboko then left the scene, while the owner and visitors battled the blaze for approximately 2 hours, to prevent the vineyard being burnt.  There was
damage caused in two blocks due to the searing heat singeing the vines from nearby bush areas.  This is the second fire that has caused damage on the Estate set by members of the same group of people.  As a result of the disturbance the tourists were not charged for their day's outing and this incident does not reflect well for the tourism industry.  In July the owner of Beeskraal Farm had to evacuate his farm that was subsequently ransacked. He returned to his farm towards the end of September and has reaped the wheat and was busy bailing it.  The settlers on the farm kept coming to glean the wheat and so he instructed everybody, including his workers, that
they could only glean wheat after 5:00pm so that everybody had an equal opportunity.  On Saturday he saw settlers gleaning the wheat so he drove into the wheat in a lorry and stopped 10-15m from a large female settler who in her surprise stepped backwards and fell over and the settlers said he was trying to kill her.  All the workers were then summoned to glean the wheat. On Sunday about 35 settlers from Green Valley arrived and set fire to the wheat land.  There were approximately 3,500 bails already bailed and enough wheat straw for another 1,500 bails.  On Sunday evening the farmer was on the phone to his son when he heard the dogs barking and he saw men come around the corner of the house to get him.  He told his son that he was in trouble and to call the police.  Seven men forced their way into the house
and started to beat him up, he called to his wife to bring him a knife and he fought back managing to get them out of the house.  He has sustained stitches in his head, his arm and has suspected cracked ribs.  He has had wheat and onions stolen and the Mazda's back window was broken.  The police arrived and are returning this morning.
Chimanimani - On Charleswood there was a visit from a Lieutenant Colonel from the ZRP who arrived in a helicopter to investigate two suspicious helicopters that were apparently sighted on the 29/10/01.  There had been two unknown helicopters flying over Charleswood on the said day.  On Friday there was a work stoppage and the manager was told he should now take instructions from the DA and not the farmer.

MASVINGO

Masvingo East and Central Area - A tractor was found ploughing on Chidza Farm  and the tractor is not the property of the DDF.  ZRP Officials are ploughing over the owner's land, that has already been ploughed.  One steer each have been killed on Townlands and Beauly Farm
Mwenezi Area - The usual criminal activities - cutting, burning, building, snaring (wildlife and cattle), poaching with dogs, breaking pipes, stealing pumped water, destroying and stealing fence wire, leaving gates open and movement of cattle without permits onto increasingly scarce grazing - continue unabated throughout the FA area. Fires have been widespread (Turf, Kayansee, Bea, Marungudzi, Merrivale, Kyalami, Quagga Pan 'B' and La Pache, amongst others) and enormous areas of increasingly scarce grazing have been destroyed. On Saturday the FA Chairman was appalled to hear that the army and police had requested farm/s in Mwenezi onto which to dump cattle, and, presumably, people being evicted from the Bubiana Conservancy. The claim is that there are too many cattle for the area offered by the conservancy. These squatters originate from Mberengwa, however the argument given was that as they are now in Mwenezi it is a Mwenezi problem. Despite severe
restrictions on cattle movement, to try to curb FMD spread, permits were demanded. The Vet Dept pointed out that movement is not allowed and declined to issue. The DA was not available (being the weekend) to "allocate" farm/s.
Chiredzi Area - Lots of fires reported everywhere. Commencing of pegging out plots on Sugar Cane Plots is occurring. When taken up with the PA, the PA indicated that owners would be left with 65ha plots.
Save Conservancy Area - Humani Ranch  owner reported that there are a lot of
people moving onto this property from the Chipinge area. These are fresh invasions.  Poaching continues on a daily basis in this area.  6 head of cattle were seen passing through the Save Conservancy yesterday from Bikita to Chisumbanje Area. The people moving the cattle were in possession of a movement permit from the Veterinary Department Mashoko.
Gutu / Chatsworth Area - Agritex arrived on Northdale Farm last week Friday to peg plots. Cattle continue to be chased around farms by illegal occupiers. Last Friday
300 head of cattle were chased into a farmers homestead   and on the weekend
cattle were chased in and out of paddocks on another farm after DA and officials had visited farm day before.



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ABC NEWS

Zimbabwe Poll Shows Mugabe Losing Support


By Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - President Robert Mugabe is trailing his main rival in the
public approval stakes ahead of elections due by next April, according to an
opinion poll released on Thursday.

The poll was published just days after the country's former Chief Justice
Anthony Gubbay accused Mugabe of human rights abuses and disregarding the
rule of law.

Gubbay, who was forced to quit earlier this year by Mugabe's government,
said during a lecture in London earlier this week that Mugabe's regime had
shown a "blatant and contemptuous disrespect" for the judiciary.

On Thursday, Zimbabwe police arrested the editor-in-chief of the southern
African country's only private daily newspaper as part of an inquiry into
its shareholding structure.

State media reported on Tuesday that the publishing company had lost its
investment permit and might be forced to shut down, but the newspaper denied
the report, saying it was part of a campaign to discredit it.

The poll, conducted by Target Research for Zimbabwe's independent Financial
Gazette newspaper, found that 52.9 percent of Zimbabweans backed Morgan
Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
while 47.1 percent supported Mugabe.

The MDC, which won 57 of 120 contested seats in last year's parliamentary
elections, has gained support countrywide, including in traditional rural
powerbases of Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party.

The agency said its researchers had braved physical and verbal intimidation
by ZANU-PF supporters to poll 3,013 potential voters between August 17 and
September 28.

The agency said 11 percent of respondents indicated they had been
intimidated ahead of the 2000 parliamentary elections. While 65 percent of
these said this had not affected their voting, 11 percent switched their
support and 14 percent chose not to vote.

"POLL IS RUBBISH"

Mugabe's ruling party dismissed the new poll as rubbish. "It reflects
nothing but the wishes of its desperate sponsors in the MDC and in the
West," said Didymus Mutasa, ZANU-PF secretary for external affairs.

Daily News editor-in-chief Geoff Nyarota told Reuters that his arrest was
part of a government drive against the private media ahead of the elections
in which Mugabe is facing the biggest challenge of his career.

"This is all part of the harassment we are being subjected," he said by
telephone.

The newspaper was launched in 1999 and has been highly critical of ZANU-PF.

The government alleges that Zimbabwe's privately owned media is funded by
his opponents and wants to topple Mugabe over his controversial and often
violent drive to seize white-owned farmland for redistribution to landless
blacks.






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Thursday, 8 November, 2001, 20:09 GMT
UN plans Zimbabwe food aid
Wheatfield
The land dispute has reduced grain production
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has said it is planning a large emergency food aid operation for Zimbabwe - a country that traditionally produces a food surplus.

The organisation said one of its teams had just visited the country and found that more than half a million people were facing acute hunger.


WFP plans to start operations in November, with food aid arriving in December

WFP statement
Many Zimbabweans already survive on just one meal a day, and their plight is worsening, the organisation said.

The World Food Programme made it clear it was responding to a request from the authorities in Harare, and said it would begin distributing food relief next month.

Farm workers left homeless after attack
Drought, floods and farm invasions are blamed for the crisis

Emergency

"What we're seeing right now is a developing complex emergency, a variety of serious problems which when added up, gravely threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of people," said Judith Lewis, WFP regional director for eastern and southern Africa.

The WFP said poor rains - preceded by flooding - have contributed to Zimbabwe's severe economic problems.

But it also highlighted the disruption caused to commercial agriculture by the violent occupations of white-owned farms, a development encouraged by President Robert Mugabe's government.

No surpluses

The WFP says rural people in the south, west and extreme north of Zimbabwe have been hardest hit - and that normally they are given surpluses from other parts of the country.

But now the surpluses have dried up, and Zimbabwe lacks the foreign exchange to buy food from outside.

Industry officials said Zimbabwe needed to import at least 600,000 tonnes of maize to meet domestic demand. The government has acknowledged a need to import 100,000 tonnes.

In October, Zimbabwe already faced serious food shortages due to price controls imposed by the government in a bid to control runaway inflation.

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