http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by
Cuthbert Nzou Tuesday 21 October 2008
HARARE - Refusal to
grant travel documents to opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai to attend a
regional summit on Zimbabwe's power-sharing deal was
the clearest sign yet
that hardliners in President Robert Mugabe's
government were determined to
wreck the pact, analysts said on Monday.
Tsvangirai's MDC party said he
stayed at home because the government did not
give him documents to travel
to the summit that was to be held in Swaziland
to try to break a deadlock
between Zimbabwe's rival political leaders over
sharing of key ministries in
a unity government outlined under the
power-sharing pact.
The MDC
leader later refused an offer from Swaziland's King Mswati to fly
him to the
meeting which had to be postponed because it would have been
futile without
the opposition leader's participation. The summit of the
Southern African
Development Community (SADC)'s security Troika will now
take place in Harare
on October 27.
University of Zimbabwe (UZ) political analyst John Makumbe
said the refusal
to issue a new passport to Tsvangirai - designated prime
minister in the
unity government - was the clearest sign yet that either
Mugabe himself or
hardliners in his administration did not want the fragile
power-sharing pact
to work.
"Mugabe is using dirty tricks against the
opposition . . . the talks are in
real danger (of collapsing) because of
Mugabe," said Makumbe, an arch-critic
of the 84-year leader's
government.
Refusing to give Tsvangirai a new passport and then delaying
granting him
emergency travel documents could even have been a ploy to block
the
opposition leader from attending the SADC summit and in the process
derail
efforts by the regional body to save the power-sharing deal, added
Makumbe.
Tsvangirai has not been granted a normal passport for months,
and requires
emergency travel documents every time he leaves the country, in
what the
opposition leader says is an attempt to curtail his efforts to
mobilise
international pressure against the government.
But
government deputy spokesman Bright Matonga rejected the charges that the
administration was denying Tsvangirai a passport or that it had delayed
issuing him with travel documents.
"As far as the government is
concerned Tsvangirai was given an emergency
travelling document to go to
Swaziland," said Matonga, who is deputy
information
minister.
Matonga, among the hawks in Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF party,
accused
Tsvangirai of refusing to travel to Swaziland in a bid to earn
"cheap
publicity" as well as mislead the world into thinking that the ruling
party
did not want the power-sharing deal to work.
He said: "His
decision not to travel has nothing to do with the government
or ZANU PF.
Tsvangirai wants to earn cheap publicity. He wants SADC and the
rest of the
world to think that ZANU PF and government do not want the deal
to
work."
According to Matonga, Tsvangirai has in the past used emergency
travel
documents and there was no reason for him not to go to
Swaziland.
However, political scientist Eldred Masnungure said the mere
fact that
Tsvangirai was battling to get a passport months after applying
for a new
one cast doubt on ZANU PF's sincerity and commitment to the
September 15
power-sharing agreement.
Masunungure, a senior political
science lecturer at the UZ, said: "Looking
at how things have been going
since September 15, one won't be wrong to say
there are people fighting for
the collapse of the deal. ZANU PF is not being
sincere. They should have
issued Tsvangirai with the passport."
Makumbe and Masunungure said the
logjam over ministerial posts could still
be unlocked and the power-sharing
deal made to work - provided SADC and
African Union pressured Mugabe to rein
in hardliners in his party while also
pushing him to agree to share the most
powerful ministries with the
opposition.
The power-sharing deal,
brokered by former South African President Thabo
Mbeki on behalf of SADC,
retains Mugabe as president while Tsvangirai will
become prime minister and
Arthur Mutambara, who heads a breakaway faction of
the MDC, deputy prime
minister.
The pact allots 15 Cabinet posts to ZANU PF, 13 to the
Tsvangirai's MDC and
three to a smaller faction of the opposition. However
it is silent about who
gets which specific posts and the rival parties have
since the signing of
the agreement wrangled over who should control the most
powerful ministries
such as defence, finance and home affairs.
Mugabe
two weeks ago unilaterally allocated all powerful ministries to ZANU
PF and
Tsvangirai - who insists the MDC will not accept a junior role in the
unity
government - has said he will quit the deal if the veteran President
does
not reverse his decision on ministries.
A new government in Zimbabwe will
have to move with speed to end an
unprecedented economic crisis that is
highlighted by the world's highest
inflation of 231 million percent, acute
shortages of food, fuel,
electricity, hard cash and every basic survival
commodity. - ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by
Basildon Peta Tuesday 21 October 2008
JOHANNESBURG - Arthur
Mutambara says he fully supports Zimbabwe opposition
leader Morgan
Tsvangirai's quest to control the finance and home affairs
portfolios and
has vowed never to join any government in which his rival is
excluded.
The robotics professor, who heads a formation of the
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party, which, with its 10
seats, holds the balance
of power in Zimbabwe's hung Parliament, furiously
rejected accusations that
he had often sided with Mugabe in power-sharing
negotiations to the
detriment of the opposition's cause.
Mutambara
said in an interview yesterday that he was driven by nothing else
but the
national interest only.
He dispelled ever-swelling rumours that if the
negotiations to give effect
to a unity government pact signed on September
15 failed, he would join
Mugabe in a government without
Tsvangirai.
Mutambara was designated one of two deputy prime ministers in
the September
15 deal. He vowed never to be part of any deal in which
Tsvangirai was
excluded even though he has differed with him on
issues.
"If Mugabe has any illusion that he can set up a government
unilaterally,
then we have news for him. We won't be part of that government
and we will
call for its total condemnation and complete isolation of any
such criminal
government," charged the firebrand opposition
leader.
Mutambara said he would only participate in a tripartite "three
way
understanding" that also included Tsvangirai.
Mutambara said he
had been fighting with Tsvangirai in the negotiations,
contrary to
perceptions that he wasn't.
"I am fighting in Morgan's corner. I am
asking for finance and home affairs
to go to Morgan," said Mutambara,
refuting claims that he was in fact
supporting Mugabe's claims to those
ministries.
But he also warned that he would not allow Tsvangirai to hold
Zimbabwe to
ransom and would attack him if he became
unreasonable.
"Tsvangirai must put national interests before partisan
interests. I am not
his poodle. If he makes un-strategic decisions, I will
attack him but I have
been in his corner in these negotiations," said
Mutambara.
Mutambara said he had indeed proposed a compromise in which
home affairs
would rotate with Tsvangirai's nominee taking the position for
the first six
months after disputes over that ministry had stalled
negotiations last week.
At first Tsvangirai was happy to take that route
as long as he was given the
option of taking the first six months. But
Mutambara said Tsvangirai had
later changed his position.
Mutambara
said he had gone ballistic against Mugabe when the latter sought
exclusive
control of the same home affairs ministry, adding that he fully
supported
Tsvangirai's claims to those two critical ministries but thought
it would
help if Tsvangirai remained consistent with his positions in the
talks as
flip flopping does not help anyone's cause.
He also came out in strong
defence of Tsvangirai after he was refused a
passport to travel to Swaziland
yesterday.
Mutambara said he had appeared before the leaders of
Swaziland, Angola,
Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
South Africa and
declared that any meeting on Zimbabwe was null and void
without Tsvangirai.
Mugabe was also in the meeting.
He dismissed as
"childish" and "trivial" the decision to withhold Tsvangirai's
passport.
"I have told Mugabe not to allow trivial matters to come in
the way of this
dialogue . . . You cannot deny the Prime Minister of a
country a passport
and restrict him to ETDs. That is a huge insult," said
Mutambara, adding
that SADC should rise to the occasion and stand up to
Mugabe.
"Morgan must travel on a full passport, and not an ETD (emergency
travel
document)."
After declaring that there would be no troika
without Tsvangirai, Mutambara
said he had been told by King Mswati of
Swaziland that a jet had been sent
to collect Tsvangirai from Zimbabwe and
that plans were underway to issue
him with a passport.
He said he
would wait in Swaziland for Tsvangirai's arrival to begin any
meetings. The
SADC troika was nevertheless postponed to a later date last
night after
Tsvangirai declined to attend.
Mutambara's remarks effectively close any
speculation that he might end up
going into bed with Mugabe if the talks
collapse. - ZimOnline
VOA
By Carole Gombakomba
Washington
20
October 2008
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, widely
criticized for its handling of the
country's March general election and June
presidential run-off ballot, has
come under fire after announcing plans to
organize by-elections to fill six
empty parliamentary seats.
Critics
argue that this is contrary to the spirit of the Sept. 15
power-sharing pact
between the long-ruling ZANU-PF party of President Robert
Mugabe and the
Movement for Democratic Change of prime minister-designate
Morgan
Tsvangirai.
One provision of that agreement stipulated that if any
parliamentary seat
were to become vacant, only the party holding it at that
time would field a
candidate.
Three of the six empty seats fit the
circumstances spelled out in the
so-called "Global Agreement...on Resolving
the Challenges Facing Zimbabwe."
In one case a parliamentarian died after
being elected, and in two other
cases the individuals holding house and
senate seats were elevated to
speaker of the house and president of the
senate, opening up the seats.
Three house seats were never filled because
a candidate died before the
election, thus do not strictly speaking fall
into the case spelled out in
the agreement, which cited "the need to allow
this agreement to take root
amongst the parties and the people of Zimbabwe"
and "the need to give our
people some breathing space and a healing
period."
Electoral Commission officials say they are merely following
the law. But
observers express concern that holding by-elections at this
stage in the
tenuous power-sharing process could lead to violence in the six
constituencies where seats would be filled.
The commission said house
by-elections will be held in Guruve North, Gokwe
North, Gokwe South, Matobo
North and Chegutu, and a senate election in
Chegutu.
Electoral
Commission Chairman George Chiweshe told reporter Carole
Gombakomba that
although his panel has not yet set dates for the proposed
by-elections, it
is moving ahead to organize them as specified by the
country's electoral
law.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network says by-elections should not be
held
because the nation is still in shock from the widespread and often
deadly
violence which marred the period between the March elections and the
June
presidential run-off ballot.
ZESN National Director Rindai
Chipfunde-Vava said it is bad timing to call
the by-elections when
power-sharing has not even been implemented.
http://www.thetimes.co.za
The Editor, The Times Newspaper
Published:Oct 21, 2008
Mbeki no longer has the political clout to deal
with the cantankerous Mugabe
EDITORIAL: FORMER president Thabo Mbeki is
back through the looking glass
after trying to get the Mad Hatter from north
of the Limpopo, Robert Mugabe,
to stick to his side of their
deal.
Yesterday's meeting of the Southern African Development
Community, in
Swaziland, was meant to be a watershed in efforts to get
Mugabe to honour
his power-sharing agreement with his rivals, Morgan
Tsvangirai and Arthur
Mutambara.
Alas, Tsvangirai was unable to
attend because he still does not have a
passport and Mugabe's minions would
not give the prime minister designate
emergency travel documents until late
on Sunday.
Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba, said: "Zimbabwe is
running out of paper
for passports . because of
sanctions."
Tsvangirai's spokesman said yesterday that the Movement for
Democratic
Change leader has had enough - he's been without a passport for a
year and
won't attend SADC meetings until he has one.
So desperate
were the SADC's leaders to get Tsvangirai to Swaziland that his
Absolute
Highness King Mswati III sent his private jet to fetch the
opposition
leader. But no dice, Tsvangirai would not be moved.
Mbeki's failure to
get Mugabe to let go of the key ministries he
unilaterally handed to his
cronies, and Mbeki's failure to kick-start the
stalled talks, are among the
clearest signs yet that Mbeki's axing as
president of South Africa has
undermined his authority as mediator in
Zimbabwe.
As president of
South Africa, Mbeki had some leverage over Mugabe . But now
lacking any real
political power, it is clear that he is not strong enough
to deal with
cantankerous Bob.
It is probably time that the SADC replaced Mbeki as
mediator. Suggestions?
To quote Bob: "Botswana, Botswana, Botswana!
Ooooooh!"
President Ian Khama is a good bet.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Monday, 20 October 2008
11:06
WE the leadership of the Zimbabwe Liberation Veterans Forum
(ZLVF) --
senior war veterans, former senior commanders of the national
liberation war
and members of Zipa High Command (Zimbabwe Peoples Army) --
wish to
applaud and support the political settlement of September 15 2008
as a
welcome relief to the long suffering people of Zimbabwe.
We
call on all the signatories to the agreement and their respective
political
formations to abide by the letter and spirit of the provisions of
the
accord.
To this end, we wish to acknowledge and compliment the
intervention of
the African Union in particular for providing the necessary
leadership that
made the settlement possible.
We also wish to
extend our gratitude to the Sadc heads of state in
particular, the late
president of Zambia Levy Mwanawasa and the President of
Botswana Ian Khama
for their principled and uncompromising stand in defence
of the values,
norms and ideals that Sadc stands for.
By so doing, the two leaders
stood by the people of Zimbabwe in their
darkest hour. They filled the
vacuum of moral and principled leadership in
the region that can only earn
international respect for the region.
We would also like to commend the
people of Zimbabwe for remaining
calm and steadfast during these most trying
moments.
Zimbabwe's sovereignty ultimately resides with them and not
the
leaders of political parties or government. They sacrificed for freedom
and
democracy that ended white minority rule and cannot now allow any room
for
black tyranny that deprives them of their hard won freedom and
democracy.
We would like to take this opportunity to call on all the
service
chiefs to swallow their pride and respect the provisions of the
political
settlement and refrain from pandering to narrow selfish and
partisan
interests. It was not only they who took up arms to liberate our
country
from racist white minority rule. They should therefore not
monopolise the
legacy of the struggle.
We make a call to all
genuine and self respecting war veterans to
seize the moment and ensure that
the ideals we together took up arms for
come to fruition. Freedom, democracy
and respect for the people and human
dignity were central in our
struggle.
It is our fervent hope that this transitional accord will
usher in a
new era of freedom and prosperity anchored in the respect for the
rule of
law and founded on a new people driven democratic
constitution.
It should, above all, put Zimbabwe on a solid and
sustainable
democratic foundation that respects the sovereign will of the
people as
expressed through free, transparent and fair elections. Never
again should
Zimbabwe experience violent and bloody election campaigns and
be mired in
electoral controversy.
Zimbabwe Liberation Veterans
Forum
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Tendai
Hungwe Tuesday 21 October 2008
JOHANNESBURG - The World Food
Programme (WFP) has opened a warehouse in the
South African border town of
Musina to boost its food aid distribution
efforts in disaster-struck
Zimbabwe, an official of the international food
relief agency told ZimOnline
on Monday.
The warehouse has a capacity to store 50 000 tonnes of food
over the next
six months.
"To boost its already-substantial logistics
operation, WFP has opened a new
trans-shipment point in the central town of
Gweru (Zimbabwe) and a new
warehouse in the South African border town of
Musina, which has the capacity
to bag 50 000 tonnes of food over the next
six months," said Mustapha
Darboe, WFP regional director for East, Central
and Southern Africa.
Darboe however cautioned that plans to boost food
aid to crisis-ridden
Zimbabwe were subject to sufficient donations arriving
in time.
The WFP, which has played a leading role in fighting hunger in
Zimbabwe,
said it was facing a shortfall of over 145 000 metric tonnes of
food,
including 110 000 tonnes of cereals, adding that without extra
donations
supplies could run out by January - just when needs traditionally
peak.
"Our donors have been extraordinarily generous over the past six
years, but
the food crisis is far from over. We are urging them to dig deep
once
again," said Darboe, adding that cash donations would allow the relief
agency to purchase crucial commodities regionally.
Critics say
President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since
independence in 1980
and was re-elected in a one-man race in June after a
terror campaign against
the opposition, has run down the former breadbasket
of Africa with ruinous
policies such as his expulsion of experienced white
farmers and replacing
them with either incompetent or inadequately funded
black
farmers.
Food production has plunged since Mugabe's controversial land
reforms that
began in 2000 and Zimbabwe has avoided starvation only because
international
relief agencies have been quick to chip in with food
handouts.
Mugabe denies ruining Zimbabwe and blames hunger in the country
on erratic
rains and Western sanctions he says have hampered importation of
fertilizers, seed, and other farming inputs.
According to the Food
and Agricultural Organisation/WFP Crop and Food Supply
Assessment Mission,
more than two million Zimbabweans are already in need of
food
assistance.
This figure will rise to 5.1 million, 45 percent of the
population, in early
2009. WFP is planning to assist around 4 million of
those affected by food
shortages.
WFP early this month appealed for
US$140 million to provide vital relief
rations to the southern African
nation over the next six months.
In addition to food shortages, Zimbabwe
is also grappling with its worst
ever economic crisis that is shown in the
world's highest inflation of more
than 231 million percent, deepening
poverty and shortages of every basic
survival commodity. - ZimOnline
http://www.nytimes.com
By CELIA W.
DUGGER
Published: October 20, 2008
JOHANNESBURG - A foundation dedicated
to celebrating and encouraging good
government in Africa awarded its annual
prize to Botswana's former
president, Festus G. Mogae, on Monday. He was
honored for consolidating his
nation's democracy, ensuring its diamond
wealth enriched its people and
providing bold leadership amid the AIDS
pandemic.
Mr. Mogae, 69, a man with a modest style, will receive $5
million over the
next ten years and $200,000 a year thereafter for the rest
of his life. Over
the coming decade, the foundation may also grant another
$200,000 a year to
causes of Mr. Mogae's choice.
The award, the Mo
Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, is
bestowed by the Mo
Ibrahim Foundation, named after its founder, the Sudanese
billionaire. Mr.
Mogae was selected by a six-person panel led by Kofi Annan,
the former
secretary-general of the United Nations. The panel also included
this year's
winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Martti Ahtisaari.
Mr. Ibrahim said in a
telephone interview that he hopes the prize will stir
debate about the
importance of leadership in Africa and turn the spotlight
on men and women
who contribute most but get far less attention than
problematic leaders like
Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, who is still
hanging onto power after
28 years in office.
"Botswana has a wonderful story," Mr. Ibrahim said.
"Every man, woman and
child knows about Mugabe, but people say, 'Mogae, who
is that?' It's great
we honor people who honestly and cleanly served, and
served well, and left
when their time was up."
Mr. Mogae studied
economics in Britain, first at the University of Sussex
and then at Oxford.
He was twice elected president of Botswana, one of
Africa's most reliable
democracies, stepping down in April. He took over
what the prize committee
described as a country that was "already one of the
continent's success
stories."
"President Mogae's outstanding leadership has ensured
Botswana's continued
stability and prosperity in the face of an HIV/AIDS
pandemic which
threatened the future of his country and his people," the
committee said.
In years when Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa,
the region's most
powerful country, was in a kind of denial about AIDS and
its causes and
resisted large-scale drug treatment of his people, Botswana
under Mr. Mogae's
leadership started an ambitious effort to provide
universal treatment.
He publicly got tested himself for the virus. And
when he realized that the
stigma was so great that people were avoiding
testing, he changed the
national policy so that testing became a routine
part of medical care.
"That was a gutsy policy move," said Richard
Marlink, a professor at the
Harvard School of Public Health, who worked with
Botswana to help build its
AIDS treatment program.
Since he stepped
down in April after the two terms allowed under Botswana's
constitution, Mr.
Mogae has continued his work the prevent the spread of
HIV/AIDS through
Champions for an HIV-Free Generation, a group of former
African presidents
and others sharing the same goal.
20 October
2008
Emily Wellman
From the middle of the 1980's
Zimbabwe had one of the best education systems
that has been built with
generous support from donors, churches and the
Nordic countries. The target
set out by government was to have 100% literacy
by the year 2000 which
resulted in the building of schools and recreation
centres nationwide. The
Cambridge model of examinations was practiced which
gave Zimbabwean students
easy access to local and international learning
institutions. With A level
pass rates of 1992 at 72%, how is it possible
that 14 years later, less than
11% are expected to pass this year?
The political and economic
crisis in Zimbabwe has been eroding the quality
of education for the past 8
years, as a result current students having
learnt nothing this year. Raymond
Majongwe from the Progressive Teachers
Union of Zimbabwe has called for the
2008 academic year to be cancelled.
Prior to a child stepping
into a classroom, there are some basic
requirements that need to be
fulfilled, either by the state or the primary
caregivers.
Firstly, a calorie sufficient diet is required,
especially for children
under the age of 5. Without this, infants may have
permanent physical and
mental abnormalities. These range from poor immune
systems, stunted growth
and lower IQ's to lessened social and behavioral
skills. Certainly,
concentration during a lesson will be difficult, as will
the ability to
recall information. In Zimbabwe today, it is estimated that
up to 28% of
children under the age of 5 are malnourished and 37% of all
children have
stunted growth due to the food
shortages.
Secondly, a teacher is required. Zimbabwe has lost
vast numbers of teachers
who have been forced to flee to neighbouring
countries in search of work
that pays enough to support their families. The
critical shortage of
teachers is nationwide. There are some graduates from
training colleges but
the quality of their training is questionable. All
students from the past
few years have had to participate in the Border Gezi
youth training camp, a
militia compound run by Zanu PF. Added to that,
Zimbabwe now follows a
Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council curriculum as
the Cambridge system was
abandoned when discourse around the impact of
British colonialism and its
interference in independent Zimbabwe started to
be used by the government as
a political rallying tool.
Also,
with the devaluation of the economy, teacher's salaries make it
virtually
impossible to get to work unless it is within walking distance.
The latest
figures pegged high school teachers' salaries at US$0.60 per
month, if paid
in cash. If the salary is paid into a bank account, it is
worthless.
Teachers who still endeavor to fulfill their work duties in the
current
circumstances deserve to be credited with a sense of honor and
belief in
their vocation.
Thirdly, where teachers are available a school or
crèche is needed. More
often than not in Zimbabwe due to the impressive
education drive of the 80's
and 90's the buildings exist. However, in the
last eight years the assets of
the schools (equipment, textbooks, supplies
and teaching aids) have either
been broken, are out of date or have not been
replaced. This leaves the
teachers with limited resources to effectively
pass on concepts, lessons and
information. The schools can no longer offer
any form of food to the
learners, they have at best erratic water supplies
and unacceptable
sanitation. Learning at home in the evenings has also
become a difficult
activity with the frequent and ever longer electricity
cuts.
Lastly, a stable home life with parents that actively
engage with their
child's education is best. In Zimbabwe, this is not
generally possible for
various reasons. The political situation has left
many families divided as a
key members move to countries like South Africa
for work and security or
fall prey to disease or death. Further Operation
Murambatsvina (when
thousands of homes were destroyed) and displacement due
to political
pressure or threat means that many children endure an abnormal
living
environment. The upset that this creates can greatly hamper a child's
ability to learn.
Even if all of these requirements were met,
there is still one astonishing
fact: Zimbabwe has more orphans per capita
than any other nation. This is
due mainly to parents dying as a result of
HIV / AIDS. These children have
to fend for themselves and their siblings in
the most difficult of
circumstances. The nurturing of children that would
normally come from a
parent in terms of learning behavioral norms,
understanding emotions like
anger and loss and appropriate interaction with
others is absent.
The economic situation of most Zimbabwean
families makes them unable to
provide the ideal tools for learning like
stationary, text books and
uniforms when they cannot afford food. The cost
of education which was once
free to all primary school learners is now out
of reach. Couple all of this
together and it is safe to assume that current
learners will not be as
knowledgeable as once was possible. Students who are
due to write their A
level examinations at the end of 2008 are part of a
lost generation. They
would have entered Grade 5 in 2000 and their education
has been marred by
political upheaval and a collapsing
economy.
If a young adult wanted to obtain tertiary education
within Zimbabwe, this
is the reality - The University of Zimbabwe in Harare
remains closed for
several reasons. There has been an exodus of staff as
salaries were
insufficient to cover transport and basic living expenses, the
residences
are not fit for human habitation, there is no residential
accommodation and
out of Harare accommodation is not possible as there is no
transport or
fuel. The facilities are non existent says a former
lecturer.
The eventual political settlement will, one hopes,
begin to rebuild what
once was. But we will only know in years to come what
the devastating effect
of malnutrition, stress and lack of resources will
have had on current
learners - our future.
20 October
2008
Emily Wellman
The media in South Africa has
had extensive coverage of the unfolding
political and humanitarian crisis in
Zimbabwe. One story that is not being
given enough exposure is the impact of
the crisis on people living with HIV
/ AIDS. As one of the first southern
African countries to openly grapple
with this virus, and to have one of the
worlds only declining infection
rates, it is difficult to understand how and
why it is estimated that
nearly 2500 people currently die each week from
AIDS related illnesses.
One HIV positive woman living in Harare
explained the difficulties she faces
living with the illness. She described
the hardship of trying to access
regular food, clean water, medication and
medical assistance when she became
ill. The collapse of basic service
delivery makes her struggle almost
unbearable. With a CD4 count of 27 and
with the assistance of a friend who
earns in foreign currency she now has
access to the appropriate medication.
This has resulted in a dramatic
improvement of her CD4 count now at 600.
Most Zimbabweans are not so
fortunate.
The humanitarian crisis which is inextricably linked
to the political
situation has after eight years finally been labelled a
"crisis" by several
regional and international bodies working in this field.
The World Health
Organisation statistics show that life expectancy in
Zimbabwe, which was 62
in 1990, had by 2004 plummeted to 37 for men and 34
for women. These numbers
are not helped by the now critical shortage of
food.
People living with HIV need a regular diet that contains
fresh fruits,
proteins and vegetables to maximize the body's ability to
delay the onset of
full blown AIDS. This is virtually impossible in most of
the country. Maize,
the staple starch is unavailable due to a poor
agricultural season and where
it is available; it requires payment in
foreign currency. Increased food
insecurity, coupled with a soaring
inflation rate, estimated at 231 million
per cent, renders food unaffordable
for the majority of the nation.
Food has for several years been used as a
political stick for the ruling
party. Card carrying members of Zanu PF were
given priority for food
distribution in the worsening food crisis that has
plagued Zimbabwe, in part
because of the collapsing agrarian sector.
Opposition supporters have been
deliberately excluded from receiving food
aid, and certain known opposition
areas have not received stock.
This
practice came to a head with the cessation of food distribution. The
government stated that this was to prevent NGO's from using food as a
political tool to assist the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC). Zanu PF had for the first time since 1980 lost its majority in
parliament to the MDC in the March 29 election and they needed to ensure a
victory in the June 27 run-off election by 'buying' support.
The
government of Zimbabwe has made the work of non-governmental
organisations
(NGO's) distributing food to millions of food insecure
Zimbabweans difficult
for years. Never more so was this the case than when
the NGO Act was passed
through parliament on the 9th of December 2004,
making NGO's illegal. Only
the missing signature of the President stopped it
from becoming an actual
law, but the desired effect was seen in the
dismantling of the majority of
NGO's in Zimbabwe regardless. That Act has
since been lifted but ahead of
the June 27 2008 run-off election the banning
again of aid organizations
were again banned from distributing food. On the
4th of August the ban was
partially lifted to accommodate those affected
with the HIV virus as the
steep decline of infected patients was alarming.
The nationwide lifting of
the ban only happened on the 29th of August, but
the damage had already been
done.
A lack of access to fresh clean water and adequate sanitation are
two major
contributing factors to the early demise of patients in most of
Zimbabwe. In
urban areas especially, the collapse of sewer and drainage
systems has left
many high density areas with excrement freely flowing in
streets and drains.
Several municipalities have declared themselves
insolvent and stopped
maintaining these vital services. Not only does this
pose a health risk in
terms of infection and diseases like cholera, but the
psychological impact
this has on people already vulnerable to infection is
cause for concern.
There is no steady supply of clean and safe water and the
current economic
crisis has made it impossible to purchase water
purification chemicals.
Provision of clean and safe drinking water is a
basic human right. Without
clean water, sanitation, treatment and a properly
balanced diet, an infected
person can deteriorate very
swiftly.
The collapsing economy has also had a devastating effect
on the health care
sector. With budget cuts and the migration of doctors and
nurses to
neighbouring countries, treatment for HIV/AIDS patients is
minimal. It is
important to mention the devastating effect that the
interruption of ARV's
can have on the patient. The HIV virus may respond
well to the medication
initially but the cessation or irregular
administering of ARV's gives the
virus time to mutate into a more resistant
strain. This can render the
treatment ineffective and thereby quicken the
onset of full blown AIDS.
If an individual suspects that he or
she has contracted HIV, the journey
from acknowledgement that one has the
illness to seeking appropriate
treatment or psychological support is a
painful one. Further down the line
when a person's CD4 count drops to below
150 and full blown AIDS is now a
real likelihood, the administration of
anti-retroviral drugs (ARV's) is
critical to sustain life. However, the
specialized testing of CD4 counts is
not widely available in Zimbabwe, and
the accessibility of ARV's is
exceedingly limited. If somehow treatment is
sought successfully ARV's must
be administered with food. It is unlikely
that more than a few well
connected individuals will have both - a choice
will have to be made.
In a failing economy, one industry is
making a profit out of this crisis:
dealing with the deceased in Zimbabwe.
Apart from paying for the coffin,
payment in foreign currency is paid to the
mortuary to release the body and
in addition a fee is required by the
cemetery to bury the body (sometimes as
high as US$100). In most instances,
families are unable to make all these
payments, so the body remains in the
morgue for weeks or months until the
funds can be attained. Several cases of
bodies being buried in wardrobes or
cupboards have been reported as
relatives cannot meet the costs.
The World Food Programme (WFP)
aims to feed 2.5 million people by January
2009. People living with HIV are
given, where possible, a full relief ration
including maize, peas, beans and
vegetable oil. Where possible a corn/soya
blend is also administered which
is infused with vitamins and minerals. This
monthly handout provides for
1200kcal per day only, but without it, death
would be
imminent.
Once the power-sharing agreement between the 2 MDC's
and Zanu PF is
implemented and the Department of Health is allocated to a
political party,
hopefully the struggle faced by people living with HIV/AIDS
will be a high
priority. If the interim government focuses on meeting the
needs of those
affected, lives that are being needlessly lost, could be
saved.
http://www.thenews.com.pk
Tuesday, October 21,
2008
MOHALI, India: The International Cricket Council (ICC) will turn a
blind eye
to the political and human rights situation in Zimbabwe when its
task force
visits the African nation to review the situation of the game
there.
According to agency reports, the ICC's task force - comprising of
ICC chief
executive Haroon Lorgat, Arjuna Ranatunga and headed by Dr Julian
Hunte of
the West Indies Cricket Board, will visit the African nation to
examine the
state of cricket there.
However, going by a statement
made by Lorgat on Sunday, when he said, "It's
the ICC's policy not to
interfere with the political situation in the
country, we want to focus on
the game of cricket, and at this stage we have
no evidence of what you
suggest, none of that's been reported, and we have
to deal with the game of
cricket."
It becomes amply clear that the ICC is all set to turn a blind
eye to the
ground realities. "Task force's only focus during the tour of
Zimbabwe would
be the status of cricket," Lorgat further added.
"The
task team will go down to Zimbabwe to look at exactly what's on the
playing
field. I would like my focus to be not on the boardroom, but on
exactly
what's going on the playing field of cricket," he said.
http://www.nation.co.ke
By KITSEPILE NYATHI NATION
Correspondent Posted Monday, October 20 2008 at
20:57
South Africa is
turning away Zimbabwe political refugees despite signs that
the fragile
power sharing agreement between the country's rival political
parties is in
danger of failing.
A Southern African Development Community (SADC) troika
is meeting on Monday
to try and resolve a political stalemate that has
shattered the dreams of
ordinary Zimbabweans who were beginning to believe
that a solution had
finally been found for the country's decade old
political problems.
The likely failure of the SADC mediation spells
disaster for millions of
Zimbabweans scattered all over the region as their
hosts are also
increasingly becoming impatient.
The Zimbabwe Exiles
Forum (ZEF), in a report released ahead of the meeting
in Swaziland, warned
the leaders that conditions for Zimbabwean exiles,
especially in South
Africa, had worsened since the signing of the September
15
agreement.
They are now demanding a more robust approach from regional
leaders to
address the crisis in Zimbabwe.
"The conditions for asylum
seekers on the ground have deteriorated from
horrendous to nightmarish,"
said Mr Gabriel Shumba, ZEF director.
"The home affairs department (South
Africa) is turning away all those from
Zimbabwe on the spurious grounds that
a deal has been signed back home and
that therefore this indicates that the
situation has improved."
Mr Shumba claimed that some had their travel
documents torn and thrown into
prison pending deportation back to
Zimbabwe.
"This is very scary because the behaviour may fuel xenophobia
against
Zimbabweans," he said.
There no reliable statistics on
Zimbabweans exiled in South Africa, but
various estimates have put them at
more than three million.
Close to 500,000 are deported every year but the
majority find their way
back through ungazetted entry points.
Only
Botswana started according Zimbabweans refugee status in the run-up to
the
bloody presidential run-off election where President Robert Mugabe ran
alone.
The major contender and MDC leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai was
forced to
withdraw due to political violence.
The signing of the
agreement that will see Mr Mugabe remaining president
with Mr Tsvangirai
becoming prime minister in a coalition government had
raised a lot of hope
of a quick turnaround in the economic and political
situation in the
country.
The ZEF said some Zimbabweans had even started trooping back
home but most
of them were now making their way back to regional
counties.
"Those who were not careful went home the following day, and
some of them
have since returned to South African having realised that they
had done that
prematurely when violence is still rife in the ground," Mr
Shumba said.
The parties have failed to agree on the allocation of the
key ministries of
Finance and Home Affairs.
Once one of Africa's most
prosperous nations, Zimbabwe's dramatic economic
collapse has caused
critical food shortages, with nearly half its people
needing UN aid and 80
per cent of the population living in poverty.
Two million people
currently need food assistance and the number could rise
to 5 million - more
than half of Zimbabwe's population - by January 2009.
At home,
Zimbabweans are angry that the negotiations have dragged on for too
long.