Zim Online
Tsvangirai acquitted
Fri 15 October
2004
HARARE - Judge President Paddington Garwe has
acquitted opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai of high treason, in a surprise
ending to a trial
his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party had said
was orchestrated by
the government to sideline him from
politics.
Tsvangirai was accused of seeking help from a
Canadian-based political
consultant Ari Ben-Menashe to murder President
Robert Mugabe ahead of March
2002 presidential election controversially won
by Mugabe.
The opposition leader, who faced the death penalty had
he been
convicted, had always maintained he was innocent saying he was
framed by
state security agents working together with the shadowy
Ben-Menashe.
Quashing the charges against Tsvangirai, Garwe said:
"The state has
not been able to prove high treason beyond reasonable
doubt."
However, Tsvangirai is due to appear in court again next
month for a
second treason charge in which the opposition leader is accused
of having
attempted to unconstitutionally remove the government from power
when he
called for mass demonstrations by his supporters last year. The MDC
has
described the second treason charges against its leader as less
serious.
Garwe's ruling was a surprise to many observers who had
expected
Mugabe to lean on the courts to at least jail Tsvangirai for a
lengthy
period and paralyse the MDC which has emerged as the most potent
threat to
the Zimbabwean leader's 24-year stranglehold on
power.
Mugabe has in the last three years tightened his iron grip
on power,
enacting tough Press and security laws severely restricting
freedom of
speech and association.
The Zimbabwean leader also
packed the bench with judges loyal to his
ZANU PF party of whom Garwe is
considered to be one.
The highly-charged case centred on a grainy
videotape secretly
recorded by Ben-Menashe of a meeting in December 2001
between the Canadian
consultant and Tsvangirai during which the opposition
leader allegedly
sought help to murder Mugabe.
The defence said
the barely audible tape was doctored as part of a
well-orchestrated plot to
entrap Tsvangirai.
South African advocate George Bizos, who led
Tsvangirai's defence team
called Ben-Menashe a "notorious and demonstrable
liar" who was on the
payroll of the government and aimed to discredit the
opposition leader ahead
of the March presidential poll.
During
the trial, state prosecutors withdrew allegations Tsvangirai
asked
Ben-Menashe's help to "murder" or "assassinate" Mugabe.
The
opposition leader told the court he had only mentioned Mugabe's
elimination
during his meeting with Ben-Menashe while referring to the
President's
possible defeat in the election.
Tsvangirai said he had met
Ben-Menashe wanting help to raise support
and funds for the MDC in the
United States and Canada.
The MDC will hold a Press conference on
the acquittal of its leader at
4 pm today.
Zim Online
TSVANGIRAI SAYS STILL A LONG WAY TO TRUE FREEDOM
Sat 16
October 2004
HARARE - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday
said more
pressure was needed to end repression in Zimbabwe, saying his
acquittal on
treason yesterday did not signal an improvement in the
country's judicial or
political system.
Speaking hours after
High Court Judge President Paddington Garwe
cleared him of charges of
plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe in
2002, Tsvangirai said
Mugabe was still using "terror" to hold on to power.
"We cannot
celebrate because the political situation will not improve
because of this
ruling. We cannot use this case as the basis that there is
now rule of law
in Zimbabwe," the opposition leader said. "The real issues
still beckon and
the political situation needs
to be changed through stopping violence
and repression."
Tsvangirai, who faced the death sentence had he
been convicted, also
played down talk that political pressure by the
Southern African Development
Community (SADC) might have helped force the
government not to convict him.
He said: "It would have been absurd
or even ridiculous for any judge
to arrive at any other conclusion. If there
was any political pressure from
the region, it had not been reflected in the
judgment. It was facts rather
than political pressure, which were
the
determining factors."
Paying tribute to his legal
defence team that was led by famed South
African advocate, George Bizos, the
opposition leader, said: "It was a great
relief (the acquittal). I owe much
of this to an exceptional legal team led
by George Bizos."
Tsvangirai, who must return to court next month to face second treason
charges, said the MDC was now going to step up pressure on the government to
fully adopt electoral norms and standards set by SADC last
August.
The MDC leader's second treason charges stem from mass
protests he
called against the government last year, which the state
prosecutors say
were an attempt to overthrow the government.
The MDC, which has emerged as the biggest threat to Mugabe's 24-year
hold on
power, has said it will boycott a parliamentary election scheduled
for next
year unless the government changed electoral laws to meet standards
set by
SADC.
Regional leaders, including Mugabe, agreed that only
independent
commissions should run elections in the region to ensure
transparency and
fairness. Electoral processes and laws must also be fair
and just while
human rights must be upheld during elections, the leaders
agreed. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Army, police crush Tsvangirai celebrations
Sat 16 October
2004
HARARE - Heavily armed soldiers and police yesterday quelled
jubilant
celebrations by supporters of opposition Movement for Democratic
Change
(MDC) party leader Morgan Tsvangirai following his acquittal on
treason
Charges in the High Court.
Earlier yesterday police
arrested about 60 MDC supporters for refusing
to leave the High Court
premises where they had gathered with others to show
solidarity with their
leader. The MDC members were still in custody by late
last
night.
Soon after High Court Judge President Paddington Garwe
quashed charges
that Tsvangirai had plotted to assassinate President Robert
Mugabe ahead of
the 2002 presidential election, thousands of the MDC
supporters poured into
Harare's streets, chanting slogans and
hailing their party's leader.
Business ground to a virtual
standstill in the capital's central
business district as the opposition
supporters celebrated and marched
through the streets. Several hundreds more
waved the MDC's open palm symbol
from office windows, while motorists blew
their car
horns.
But about thirty minutes later soldiers
and police descended on the
city centre indiscriminately beating up every
one and ordering people off
the streets.
The security forces,
who the government had earlier in the week warned
would be at hand to crush
any public demonstrations after Tsvangirai's
verdict, then moved to the
MDC's Harvest House headquarters in the capital
and threw teargas canisters
into a crowd that had gathered there to
celebrate.
Elsewhere
across Zimbabwe, Tsvangirai's acquittal was also received
with much
jubilation but the heavy presence of the police and the army
prevented any
wild scenes in much of the smaller towns.
Commenting on the freeing
of Tsvangirai, constitutional law expert and
chairman of the National
Constitutional Assembly Lovemore Madhuku said
Garwe's judgment was not a
sign that the bench was independent.
Madhuku, whose assembly
campaigns for a new and democratic
constitution for Zimbabwe said: "There
were two scenarios for the
government: Either Tsvangirai is convicted and he
gets sympathy from the
whole world and then Zimbabwe is seen as being very
dictatorial.
"Or he was to be acquitted and then (the government
would) later
disable his political ambitions. The latter is what has
happened. But
Zimbabwe's needs are broader than Tsvangirai's acquittal.
There is no
freedom of speech, freedom of the Press and freedom of
association. That is
what is important, not the liberation of one
person."
Acting Attorney-General, Bharat Patel, said it was too
early to say
whether the government would appeal against the judgment. "We
are going to
look at the judgment in its totality and see if there is a
potential to make
an appeal at the Supreme Court."
Tsvangirai's
lawyer, Advocate George Bizos, who last week won an
international award for
his legal work, said he was happy with his defence
team. He said: "I am
obviously excited by the ruling and I am happy with the
whole defence team
and my innocent clients."
In the run up to Garwe's judgment
yesterday, tension had remained high
in Harare with armed police stepping up
patrols in the capital. The police
also set up roadblocks on all roads
leading to the city centre where
motorists and pedestrians were thoroughly
searched for any weapons that they
could use in the event riots broke out
after the delivery of the judgment.
Earlier on Wednesday, Home
Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi called a
Press conference to declare the army
and police had been mobilised and were
ready to crush any possible public
disturbances.
In a show of force air force fighter jets flew past
the High Court on
several occasions forcing Garwe to briefly adjourn
proceedings because of
noise from the planes.
Meanwhile, police
early yesterday morning dispersed a group of MDC
women, who included all the
party's female legislators, who had converged
just outside Harare city for
an all-night prayer for divine intervention
ahead of Garwe's ruling. -
ZimOnline
Daily News online edition
Tsvangirai*s acquittal calls for justice
probe
Date:16-Oct, 2004
MORGAN Tsvangirai's
acquittal on a charge of treason must be viewed as
a challenge for the
Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
A
thorough investigation must be instituted into why a decision was
taken,
apparently at the highest level, to proceed with the prosecution when
all
the evidence pointed to a non-existent case.
Most analysts
called this a political trial, part of Zanu PF's
sinister plot to enfeeble
the most formidable opposition political party
since
independence.
In the 2000 parliamentary election, this
nine-month-old party had
snatched 57 seats from Zanu PF in an election
marked by much violence. It
must have been decided that the treason trial
would be a great opportunity
for Zanu PF to so mortally wound the MDC, it
would not pose a challenge to
Zanu PF ever again.
Right
from the beginning, there were grave doubts about the charge:
that
Tsvangirai plotted the assassination of President Robert Mugabe. The
most
bizarre aspect was that, to achieve this allegedly dastardly end, he
sought
the assistance of a Canadian political consultancy firm run by Ari
Ben-Menashe, which had previously worked for Zanu PF.
There
was a comic opera element in the trial, with Ben-Menashe, a
consummate
showman, trying to run rings around defence witnesses.
The
judgment to acquit Tsvangirai suggests strongly that justice is
still alive
and well in Zimbabwe, that in spite of attempts by Zanu PF to
pack the Bench
with blue-eyed party supporters, there are still men and
women of conscience
who will act in accordance with the law, and not out of
warped party
loyalty.
The expectation of many citizens is that this trend
will continue,
that the judiciary can regain its respectable stature in our
lives, as a
bulwark against any and all attempts to deny the people their
inalienable
right to justice.
There must also be hope that
political activity, particularly that of
the MDC, will be allowed to
continue as freely as it ought to, in a
democracy.
Tsvangirai and the MDC have won a great victory, but this is only one
small
step. There are still many hurdles ahead. - LEADER
Daily News online edition
Jubilation in Harare as Tsvangirai is
acquitted
Date:16-Oct, 2004
News of the acquittal
of the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai on high
treason charges today was met
with rollocking jubilation in Harare.
At Harvest House, the
headquarters of the opposition party in Harare,
hundreds of youths ululated,
danced and chanted revolutionary songs to
register their joy at the court
ruling which they were waiting for.
Riot police with baton
sticks, who had been on stand by since the
early hours of the day went into
action and converged at the MDC offices to
disperse the youth members who
could not hide their delight.
One Harare taxi driver said the
ruling was a big relief to most people
and would benefit not only MDC and
its millions of supporters but even Zanu
PF itself.
"The
ruling is good for peace and harmony," said the young taxi
driver.
A salesman in a bookshop said he was surprised that
the judge made the
ruling. "Honestly I didn't expect such a favourable
ruling, going by what
has happened in the past. But this is good news for
all of us," he said.
There had been fears that a negative
ruling might result in chaos and
the MDC had urged its members to be on
stand by to register their
displeasure should he ruling be
otherwise.
The Air Force of Zimbabwe added a new twist to the
whole incident
when, an hour before the ruling, it sent its two jet fighter
planes on a
flight cross the city, as if to scare people.
SABC
Commonwealth welcomes Tsvangirai's acquittal
October 15,
2004, 18:15
The Commonwealth welcomed the acquittal today of Morgan
Tsvangirai,
Zimbabwe's opposition leader, and said it hoped the nation might
in future
rejoin the group of mostly former British colonies. Zimbabwe's
High Court
acquitted Tsvangirai on charges of plotting to assassinate Robert
Mugabe,
the president, and seize power, a verdict that gives a boost to the
opposition.
"We very much hope that this outcome will improve the
political atmosphere
in Zimbabwe and open the way for genuine dialogue in
the lead-up to next
year's parliamentary elections," Joel Kibazo, the
Commonwealth spokesperson,
said. "Although Zimbabwe is no longer a member of
the Commonwealth, we
continue to take an interest in developments there and
hope that it will be
possible sooner rather than later for her to rejoin the
association," he
said in a statement.
Last year Zimbabwe withdrew
from the 54-nation Commonwealth after the group
extended its suspension,
citing a violation of its democratic values. The
association had suspended
the southern African nation on the grounds that
Mugabe had rigged his
re-election in 2002 and persecuted opponents. Kibazo
said the Commonwealth
had taken no concrete steps so far and that Zimbabwe
would have to approach
the group first for any progress on readmission to be
made. -
Reuters
BBC
Mugabe rival urges reconciliation
Zimbabwe
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he hopes his
acquittal of
treason charges can pave the way for "national reconciliation".
He was
speaking after a court cleared him of plotting to kill
President Robert
Mugabe ahead of the 2002 poll.
Mr Tsvangirai, who could have faced
the death penalty, told the BBC
the verdict was a morale boost for the
opposition.
But the government condemned the acquittal, saying "a
guilty man had
been allowed to walk free".
Mr Tsvangirai
faces another separate treason charge which is due to go
to trial next
month.
'Good basis'
"I feel really relieved. I feel
vindicated," Mr Tsvangirai said in a
BBC interview after the verdict was
announced. He had always maintained that
he was framed by state security
agents.
Mr Tsvangirai said he believed the judgement may have set a
good basis
for national reconciliation in the country, where political
tensions are
rising ahead of the March 2005 elections.
Correspondents say Mr Tsvangirai's comments refer to a possible
revival of
talks between his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the
governing
Zanu-PF party.
But the chance of the two sides negotiating before
the elections are
seen as slim, given Mr Mugabe's contemptuous dismissal of
Morgan Tsvangirai
as a "pathetic puppet" of his Western
opponents.
And in its first reaction, the Zimbabwean justice
minister indicated
the government might appeal.
"After perusing
the judgment, the government of Zimbabwe is of the
strong view that the
accused, Morgan Tsvangirai, has been wrongly
acquitted," Patrick Chinamasa
said in a statement.
Poll caution
The outcome was a
surprise given that sections of Zimbabwe's judiciary
have been linked to the
ruling party and Mr Mugabe, the BBC's Alastair
Leithead reports from
neighbouring South Africa.
His trial began 20 months ago and the
verdict had already been delayed
for two months.
The case
centred on the testimony of Ari Ben-Menashe, a Canada-based
consultant.
He testified that in a secretly-filmed meeting in
December 2001, Mr
Tsvangirai asked him to arrange the assassination of
President Mugabe.
The defence team said the grainy tape was
doctored as part of a plot
to entrap Mr Tsvangirai, who lost the 2002
presidential election, accusing
Mr Mugabe of stealing it.
Sanctions, including a travel ban, were imposed on Mr Mugabe and other
Zimbabwe leaders, by the United States and the European Union, which also
accused him of stealing the ballot.
The MDC has threatened to
boycott next year's poll, but Mr Tsvangirai
said he believed the vote was
going to be "an opportunity and a challenge"
for them.
But he
also sounded a note of caution.
"I'm sure that as long as
[President Mugabe] is vindictive ...and not
tolerant towards the opposition
he will always think of unorthodox means to
deal with the MDC."
Mr Tsvangirai's second treason trial next month relates to his call
last
year for street protests to oust Mr Mugabe.
But he said he was "not
so worried" about that case, calling the
charges "less serious".
VOA
Activists, Analysts Examine Acquittal of Zimbabwe Opposition
Leader
Challiss McDonough
Johannesburg
15 Oct 2004, 15:28
UTC
Human rights activists and political analysts in South Africa are
welcoming
the acquittal of Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai,
who was
found not guilty of treason by the Harare High Court on Friday. But
they are
cautious about taking too much satisfaction from the
verdict.
While analysts and human rights campaigners are welcoming the
acquittal of
Morgan Tsvangirai, they are also aware that the Zimbabwean
opposition leader
still faces another treason trial on unrelated charges. So
they have been
circumspect in their praise for the court decision, despite
the joyful
celebrations by Mr. Tsvangirai's supporters in Harare.
The
head of the South Africa chapter of the human rights advocacy group
Amnesty
International is Samkelo Mokhine.
"Amnesty International welcomes the
acquittal of Morgan Tsvangirai," he
said. "We were of the opinion that the
case was based on a very weak basis.
The trial seemed to be a politically
motivated one that formed part of the
bigger attack on civil society and the
opposition that has been happening in
Zimbabwe."
Mr. Mokhine says
Amnesty International has long had serious concerns about
the impartiality
and independence of the Zimbabwean judiciary, which he says
has been
systematically undermined by the government. He says this verdict
indicates
that there are still, in his words, "people of integrity on the
bench in
Zimbabwe."
But some analysts believe this high-profile case does not
represent the
overall condition of the Zimbabwean judicial system. And some
say the
verdict will help the Zimbabwean government more than it will help
Mr.
Tsvangirai.
Regional analyst Noria Mashumba at the Pretoria-based
Institute for Security
Studies is a former Zimbabwean prosecutor and
human-rights worker. She
believes the Harare government will use Mr.
Tsvangirai's acquittal to
counter the criticisms of the international
community.
"It's a plus for the government, in terms of the general
allegations that
the judiciary is no longer impartial, that it is an
instrument used by the
government," she said. "The not guilty verdict for me
looks like it's a very
strategic move on the part of the government because
it will give a
reflection that the judiciary is impartial after
all."
Even so, Ms. Mashumba believes the verdict is what she calls a
"landmark"
for Mr. Tsvangirai's party, the Movement for Democratic Change.
She thinks
it will enable the party and its embattled leader to devote more
attention
to other matters, most notably the general election scheduled for
early next
year.
news.com.au
Three journalists arrested in Zimb
From correspondents in
Harare
October 15, 2004
THREE journalists were arrested shortly after
a High Court cleared
Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of
treason charges today,
witnesses said.
Police could not immediately
confirm the arrests of a correspondent for the
US Associated Press (AP) news
agency and two photographers, one of whom
works for the country's only
independent daily, the Daily Mirror. The other
photographer was not
identified.
Angus Shaw of AP "was arrested by an unidentified person and
taken away in
an unmarked Land Rover," said a witness who asked to remain
nameless.
Desmond Kwande, the Daily Mirror photographer, was followed by
a heavily
armed policeman as he walked to his office on the same road as the
High
Court, where a judge acquitted Tsvangirai on high treason charges, a
colleague said.
Meanwhile, police issued a fresh warning against
lawlessness in the
aftermath of the acquittal, which saw opposition
supporters break into song
and dance on the streets of the
capital.
IOL
Zim cops fire teargas at MDC supporters
October 15 2004
at 02:31PM
Zimbabwe police on Friday fired teargas and used batons
to disperse a
crowd of 200 opposition supporters who were celebrating the
acquittal of
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai
in a treason
case.
The jubilant group was celebrating outside
their offices minutes after
Judge Paddington Garwe pronounced Tsvangirai not
guilty of plotting to kill
President Robert Mugabe.
Police
moved in within minutes to disperse them, sending supporters
and passers-by
scurrying for cover in nearby shops and food courts. One
teargas canister
landed on the roof of a bank opposite a food court.
Opposition
supporters had tried to stage a sit-in outside the High
Court in Harare city
centre before the session started but were chased away
by
police.
There was tight security across Harare earlier on Friday as
police and
paramilitary forces patrolled areas around the High Court - which
is
opposite key government buildings, and mounted roadblocks on streets
leading
to the court complex.
Tension had mounted ahead of the
ruling with both the MDC and
government accusing each other of trying to
unleash violence. - Sapa-AFP
From The Cape Argus (SA), 14 October
Activists set their sights on
Mugabe
By Bheko Madlala
A group of former anti-apartheid
activists from across the globe, who
gathered in Durban this week, has made
an impassioned plea to the South
African government to take decisive action
against President Robert Mugabe's
regime to ensure that the next year's
elections in Zimbabwe will be free and
fair. The plea was made yesterday at
the end of the International
Anti-Apartheid Movement Conference which
reflected on the role played by the
global community to drum up support for
the country's struggle against
apartheid. The conference, the first since
1994, was attended by delegates
from countries such as the UK, US and
Sweden. The delegates urged the South
African government to put pressure on
Mugabe's regime to ensure that the
people of Zimbabwe are able to vote for
the party of their choice during the
parliamentary elections. Said Mai
Palmberg, who was one of the delegates
from Sweden: "I have a feeling that
the South African government is afraid
to deal with Mugabe because he is
seen as a symbol of defiance against White
interests." One of the proposals
which were made at the conference by the
delegates, is to hold an
international conference which will specifically
deal with the political
crisis in Zimbabwe.
The conference was addressed by Foreign Affairs
Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad
who came down hard on the critics of the
government's quiet diplomacy
approach to the political meltdown in Zimbabwe.
Answering a question on what
is the South African policy on Zimbabwe at the
end of the conference, Pahad
said South Africa was intensifying its efforts
to ensure that the elections
in Zimbabwe would be free and fair. "I believe
that there are problem in
Zimbabwe ... there is an assumption that we accept
everything that the other
side says, there is also an assumption that being
diplomatic is not being
critical. "The word quiet diplomacy is a fake, you
either take the process
of diplomacy or go to war. What ever we do we must
help the Zimbabweans to
find a solution to their crisis and the process must
be led by the
Zimbabweans as it happened in South Africa," he said, adding
that Zimbabwe
was not "an academic exercise for South Africa".
MDC
PRESS
15
October 2004
TSVANGIRAI
VERDICT REPRESENTS A VICTORY FOR THE PEOPLE OF
ZIMBABWE
The High Court today acquitted
MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai
of charges of treason. Tsvangirai had been accused,
along with MDC Secretary General Professor Welshman Ncube and MDC Shadow Agriculture Minister Renson Gasela of plotting to
assassinate Robert Mugabe. Ncube and Gasela were acquitted at
the close of the state case.
His acquittal is a victory for the people
of Zimbabwe and a huge blow to the forces of tyranny.
The ruling sends out a message of hope to
all those struggling for freedom and democracy both inside and outside
Zimbabwe.
The MDC salutes the resoluteness and strength of
character that Morgan Tsvangirai has demonstrated
throughout the 18 month period of his trial and would like to thank the people
of Zimbabwe for the support and solidarity that they
have shown.
The MDC and the people of
Zimbabwe have never had any doubt about the
innocence of Morgan Tsvangirai and have always
remained confident that justice would eventually prevail; people were not fooled
by the state’s desperate attempt to smear the image of the
MDC and its leadership.
The treason charge, and the unrelenting campaign of violence and
intimidation against the MDC exposes clearly the level of panic that the emergence
and growth of the MDC, as the leaders of
Zimbabwe’s social liberation movement, has caused
within Zanu PF.
Zanu PF’s distorted view of democracy tolerates no threat to
its power base and the attempt to decapitate the opposition by laying an
elaborate trap in order to level charges of treason against the
MDC leadership, illustrates the lengths to which this
regime is prepared to go in order to preserve its coercive grip on the country.
The verdict represents a serious indictment
of the actions of Mugabe and his Zanu PF government.
This is the third time that Mugabe has attempted to destroy one of his rivals by putting
them on trial to face trumped up charges of treason.
First Dr Joshua Nkomo had
to flee in 1983, then Lookout Masuku and Dumiso Dabengwa, then Reverend
Ndabaningi Sithole in 1992
and now Morgan Tsvangirai.
Since the trial began on
3 February 2003 it has not only been Morgan Tsvangirai that has been on trial but also
Zimbabwe itself and the values and principles that
we stand for as a country; values which guided the agenda of the liberation
struggle.
Today’s ruling therefore is a victory for the democratic
values cherished and espoused by the majority of Zimbabweans and it is a ruling
that will galvanise the democratic struggle in
Zimbabwe.
Our collective resolve for change has been
strengthened by today’s events; we are now firmly set on the road to victory.
Gibson
Sibanda
MDC
Vice-President.
The underground weather
report
Harare has been gray and
overcast for the last five days but the sun broke through the clouds as Morgan
Tsvangirai (MT) was acquitted in the High Court. Supporters who came to witness
the appearance of MT were barred from being close to the courthouse, or they
were aggressively "moved on" by the black booted riot police who were out in
full force.
The mugabe regime went all
out today to intimidate and harass ordinary Zimbabweans who have a right to
assemble and participate in national events. Fighter planes buzzed the city
centre several times.
After the acquittal jubilant
Zimbabweans clapped, whistled and gave the MDC open hand salute. However the
Malaysian backed zanu pf denied Zimbabweans the chance to celebrate in the
streets. They are so scared even of some peaceful and happy expressions. As we
are writing this two MDC councilors are detained in Harare Central Police
station for refusing to disperse. Since when has celebrating been against the
law?
The force of the zpf storm
started to gather outside Harvest House, the MDC's headquarters where the regime
deployed two water canons and several Santana's filled with riot police. Land
rovers containing gun toting riot police were seen to be driving down Angwa
Street threatening to fire tiger on casual passers-by.
It is important that we are
not lulled into any sense that the judiciary is impartial and accountable. The
acquittal was orchestrated by the regime to make our country seem law abiding
and democratic. The regime is desperate to be seen to be upstanding and to win
favour with SADC, the AU and the international community ahead of next year's
elections.
The center of Harare as well
as all high-density areas were covered over in a sea of MDC posters that
advertised the trial today. All of Zvakwana hopes that the MDC will find some
new energy and go all out to help us get a better life in Zimbabwe. We do not
want fighter planes circling the skies or hundreds of black boots on the street;
we want jobs, food, good education and health care.
The country will come alive
in celebrations of all shapes and sizes tonight. The regime can only stomp out a
few fires, but they cannot dampen the spirit of change that Zimbabweans are
seeking. Celebrate MT's acquittal tonight in whichever way you can and make a
commitment with your friends and family that you will participate in the fight
for democracy.
And now the sky grows dark
again and thunder is rumbling around reminding us that we are not yet free. Join
hands in chasing this regime out.
One time.
Email: news@zvakwana.org
SADC Trio to Hunt Black Rhino
The Herald (Harare)
October
15, 2004
Posted to the web October 15, 2004
Wisdom
Mdzungairi
Bangkok
THE parties to the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species
(Cites) have granted Namibia, Swaziland and
South Africa permission to hunt
five of the once highly endangered black
rhino population annually for
sustainable utilisation of the wildlife
resource.
Representatives of over 166 countries here agreed by consensus
to allow the
export of five black rhinoceros hunting trophies each from
Swaziland,
Namibia and South Africa, marking the first time in many decades
that
hunting of this species has been approved by the UN body.
Cites
also agreed to almost triple Namibia*s leopard hunting export quota
from 100
to 250 animals a year and double South Africa*s leopard quota from
75 to 150
animals a year, again acknowledging that conservation efforts have
been so
successful in the region that hunting could sustainably increase.
Even a
suggestion by Kenya and its allies in the donor fraternity that if
the three
Sadc countries would raise US$1 million from hunts - Western donor
countries
and non-governmental organisations were prepared to raise that
amount and
buy the rhinos to stop hunting - could not sustain the argument
to ban
hunting of the flourishing species.
This would boost tourism receipts,
not only in the respective countries, but
in the whole region as this means
that it is only in the Sadc region where
hunting enthusiasts can now hunt
the big five - lion, elephant, buffalo,
leopard/cheetah and
rhino.
Safari Club International and other wildlife conservation bodies
were
instrumental in helping make hunting an important part of the
management of
two important African wildlife species - the elephant and the
black rhino -
resulting in permits for black rhinos and added permits for
leopards being
granted.
Although the black rhino was on Cites
Appendix I (which bans trade), Cites
parties noted that the black rhino
populations were increasing in Southern
Africa, hence, the permission to
manage the growing population through one
of the most scientifically
favoured conservation methods - sport hunting.
Environment and Tourism
Minister Francis Nhema said the region was rewarded
for good wildlife
management practices through sustainable utilisation of
the
resource.
"If the wildlife resource can look after itself, the better. We
will commit
limited resources to them and still let the few hunted animals
benefit both
the communities and the people living alongside them," Cde
Nhema said
Although the decisions have disappointed some animal
protectionist groups,
Cde Nhema insisted the money raised from the sales
would pay for improved
conservation efforts as Zimbabwe has always
done.
He added that the belief was based on the understanding that the
Sadc
countries were working together to establish wildlife conservation
programmes.
Zimbabwe was working with Mozambique and South Africa on
the Great Limpopo
Transfrontier Park, the Four Corners programme which
includes Botswana,
Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia, Luangwa Conservation
Programme
(Zambia-Zimbabwe-Mozambique) and Okavango Transfrontier
Conservation Park
(Angola-Namibia-Zimbabwe-Botswana-Zambia).
The
black rhino had been on the decline since the 1970s due to hunting, war
and
increasing demand for land. It suffered a near-catastrophic decline from
about 65 000 animals in the 1970s to only 2 400 in the
mid-1990s.
Poachers sought rhino horn because of the high prices it
fetched in the
traditional medicine markets of the Far East. In the Middle
East, the horn
has also traditionally been carved and polished to make
dagger handles.
But according to a major study released earlier this
year, numbers of the
species in Southern Africa have risen by around 40
percent over the last
decade. As a result, the Sadc region believes the time
is right to introduce
very limited hunting.
Each country would be
allowed to export products from five animals only each
year, and they would
all be elderly males. The application was supported by
the scientists and
technocrats of the Cites Secretariat, who believe that
taking elderly males
could actually help herds to expand.
There are an estimated 3 600 black
rhinos in Africa with 80 percent of the
endangered species found in the
Southern African region.
Zimbabwe, which has four black rhino intensive
protection zones in Matopo,
Sinamatela, Chipinge and Matusadona, has seen
its population increase to
between 500 and 1 000 animals. Some of the
wildlife species was also found
in the country*s 11 major animal
sanctuaries.
"It*s important to realise that black rhinos are on Appendix
I and they are
staying on Appendix I; their status has not changed," said Mr
Michael
Williams, spokesman for United Nations Environment
Programme.
In an interview, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management
Authority
director-general Dr Morris Mtsambiwa said the Zimbabwe delegation
were most
interested in the parties to grant the permits as that meant that
once there
was a precedent, Zimbabwe would put a proposal for the black
rhino at the
next Cites meeting.
Apart from the black rhino, Dr
Mtsambiwa said, Zimbabwe almost had no
endangered species and once "we are
granted permission to hunt the rhino
that will boost our hunting industry
revenue base as well as the enthusiasm
to hunt in Zimbabwe".
Sport
hunting was a cash cow for Zimbabwe and its neighbours, contributing
80
percent of the total revenue for the respective countries* tourism
sectors.
Swaziland proposed that its population of the southern white
rhinoceros be
transferred from Appendix I to Appendix II to permit the
export of live
animals and trophies while Namibia and South Africa requested
approval for
the export of five black rhinos as hunting trophies. The white
rhino was
re-established in Swaziland in 1965 after earlier becoming extinct
there and
now numbers some 61 animals.
Pro-sustainable use delegates
here viewed this historic decision as yet
another clear indication this
century that Cites had succeeded in making
science triumph over the esoteric
interests of powerful Western NGOs who
fight against sustainable use.
Revenue from rhino hunting would be used for
rhino
conservation.
Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous
Resources (Campfire)
director Mr Charles Jonga said anti-use NGOs could
fight the spirit of
sustainable use, but they could not stop it hence "our
win is their loss".
Zim Online
Inflation rate drops to 251.5 percent
Sat 16 October
2004
HARARE - Zimbabwe's inflation rate dropped by 62.9 percentage
points
to 251.5 percent in September down from 314.4 the previous
month.
The drop is the eighth time in a row that the consumer price
index has
retreated since hitting an all-time record high of 622.8 percent
in January.
The government's Central Statistical Office attributed
the slowdown in
the year-on-year inflation to a lower rate of increase in
the average price
of commodities.
But the Consumer Council of
Zimbabwe played down the decrease in
inflation saying families now required
to spend more to survive now than
before because of ever-increasing prices
of basic commodities.
In a statement yesterday the council said:
"During the month of
August, a family of six (mother, farther and children)
required about $1 407
800 to purchase basic commodities and essential
services.
"However, in September the same family required about $1
494 700,
indicating a 6.6 percentage increase. The increase in the overall
monthly
budget is largely as a result of an increase in food items, such as
sugar,
meat, cooking oil and milk."
The consumer rights
watchdog said recent increases in the prices of
fuel and phone tariffs had
triggered a fresh wave of price hikes across the
economy, placing survival
commodities beyond the reach of many Zimbabweans.
The decline in
inflation registered in September is in line with
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
governor Gideon Gono's goal of whittling down the
annual figure to or below
200 percent by December.
Analysts however pointed out there were
still far too many
inflationary pressures in the economy that could still
push up the rate.
An economist with one Harare bank said the upward
pressure on prices
of goods could still reverse efforts by Gono to bring
down inflation.
The analyst also noted that the decline could be
short-lived once
Zimbabwe's central bank allowed the local dollar to freely
float against the
United States dollar.
The bank has
unofficially pegged the Zimbabwe dollar at $5 600 to the
greenback while on
the illegal but thriving black market the US unit fetches
at least Z$7600. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
International Cricket Council boss raps rebel players
Sat
16 October 2004
HARARE - International Cricket Council (ICC) chief
executive Malcolm
Speed has blasted white Zimbabwe rebel cricketers for
attempting to
undermine an inquiry into racism allegations before a report
on the probe is
presented this weekend.
The rebels, whose
walk-out on the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) six
months ago led to their
dismissal, this week filed an official letter of
complaint to the ICC over
the conduct of the racism hearing in Harare a
fortnight ago.
The ICC-instigated probe into the racism allegations in Zimbabwe
cricket,
heard before India's solicitor-general Goolam Vahanvati and South
African
High Court judge Steven Majiedt, was prematurely called off when the
ZCU and
the white players reached a stalemate.
The ICC panel had to rely on
written submissions from both parties,
findings of which will be presented
to the ICC executive board in Lahore,
Pakistan, tomorrow.
The
rebels' letter of appeal, addressed directly to Speed, outlines
grievances
about the way in which the short-lived inquiry was conducted,
when less than
half a day of the scheduled three-day hearing took place.
"We had
12 witnesses waiting, some who had travelled great distances.
The inquiry
could still have proceeded with certain witnesses giving
evidence in front
of all the directors. They were never given the chance,"
the letter, quoted
in The Guardian, states.
The rebels argue that much of the written
evidence presented by their
witnesses would be dismissed as "irrelevant and
speculative" without oral
testimony to provide background and
context.
But responding to the letter, Speed said that the inquiry
had provided
the rebels' lawyer Chris Venturas with every opportunity to
submit any
evidence he had to substantiate the allegations and that any
failure to do
so was Venturas's responsibility.
"These
allegations (of racism) are amongst the gravest claims that can
be made
against an individual or an institution," Speed said in a statement
yesterday. "The process that the ICC put in place has provided you and your
clients with repeated opportunities, beyond a single hearing in Zimbabwe, to
provide this essential evidence to support your claims.
"Your
letter is premature and pre-empts the finding of the panel. The
decision to
provide it to the media is another schoolboy attempt to
manipulate public
opinion in your favour to the detriment of finding a
solution.
"In reading your letter I am dismayed that much of your concern now
seems to
be about allegations, witnesses or evidence that you have failed to
disclose. Clearly, this material should have been in your written submission
to allow both the panel and the ZCU to understand the nature of the
allegations and what evidence there was to support them."
"If
you have failed in your obligation to provide this material, it is
not the
fault of the panel or the responsibility of the ICC. The ICC and the
panel
provided the opportunity; it is up to you to take it.
"In your
letter, you also now claim that there were several witnesses
who were
prepared to testify in front of the ZCU directors.
"With the
greatest of respect, what is the use of telling me that now?
This
information should have been provided to the Panel when you were
standing in
front of it in Zimbabwe only two weeks ago."
Speed added that at
the time of responding to the rebel's letter he
had not read the panel's
report but that he would do so with an open mind in
advance of the ICC board
meeting in Lahore.
"It is unfortunate that I have had to make the
contents of this letter
public but given the circumstances I feel I have
been left with little
choice," said Speed. - ZimOnline.
GMB Impounds 108 Tonnes of Maize
The Herald
(Harare)
October 15, 2004
Posted to the web October 15,
2004
Harare
The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) has since April
impounded 108 tonnes of
maize at roadblocks manned by police on major roads
leading into Harare.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cde
Joseph Made told
Parliament on Wednesday that the impounded maize had been
forfeited to the
State in terms of the GMB Act.
He was responding to
a question from Gweru Rural Member of Parliament Mr
Renson Gasela (MDC), who
wanted to know whether some major roads leading
into Harare had permanent
police roadblocks where GMB personnel, with police
assistance, routinely
impound maize coming into the capital city.
"The law is clear; when you
want to move maize, you can apply for a permit.
There is a minimum amount
you can move into urban areas," said Dr Made.
"He said of the total maize
impounded, 46 tonnes were confiscated along
Harare-Shamva road, 24 tonnes
along the Harare-Masvingo road and 38 tonnes
along the Bindura-Mazowe
road.
According to the GMB Act, one is required to acquire a permit to
move maize
or wheat exceeding 250kg.
Answering another question from
Kambuzuma MP Mr Willias Madzimure (MDC) who
wanted to know whether enough
maize will be delivered to the GMB's Strategic
Grain Reserves, Dr Made said
the board was still receiving maize and the
parastatal was concentrating on
making sure that there was enough grain to
take the nation through to the
next harvest.
Projections were that the GMB would receive between 500 000
and 750 000
tonnes before the end of the staple grain's marketing season at
the end of
March next year.
The country was expected to have produced
more than 2 million tonnes of
maize, enough to last until the next
harvesting season, but not all would be
delivered to the GMB as farmers kept
some for their own consumption.