Matabeleland has been through a
torrid time in the last 24 hours. The number of farmers who have been warned
to leave their farms immediately or within the next 24 hours has increased to
45, and the police have been taking action throughout the area to evict
farmers, regardless of their legal position. The Member in Charge of
Nyamandhlovu police station went round last night checking that people had
left their farms, and informing them that anything left behind was now
property of the state and would be auctioned off as such. 13 farmers have so
far been evicted, and although the three who were arrested last night
were released either with no charges or on bail with no conditions, they
have not been allowed back on their farms. Leefie Cahill has sever
bruising from being carried in the back of an open truck, and is badly
sunburnt (Errata: The other two arrestees reported yesterday as J. and
E. Rosenthal are actually J. and E. Rosenfels. Apologies.)
Jimmy &
Ruth Chatham (a 76 year old couple) were manhandled and handcuffed by the
police, who had broken into the yard, and then into the house. The police
(only four of whom were in uniform) removed three rifles from the house, and
discharged one of them. The Chathams were driven away in the back of a
vehicle, then returned and told to pack suitcases, before being escorted off
the farm. Both have bruised and bleeding arms as a consequence. They were
allowed back on to the farm today to pack up their house.
Many of the
labour on the farms have been beaten or abused when they attempted to assist
the owners. In one case, several of the labour were barricaded into a fenced
enclosure until the farm owners handed over the keys for the house. Another
man, Elias Mlilo (65) was beaten up by war veterans who demanded he hand over
a hand held radio, whilst a pump attendant on the same farm was beaten up for
the radio he held. In most cases, the workers have been told that they must
collect their packages and leave within the next few
days.
Furthermore, a number of foreign nationals have been caught up in
the violence. On Thys de Vries' property in Lion's Den, two German
hunting clients were warned to vacate the premises yesterday. They did not
wish to do so, but in the face of verbal abuse and threats by armed
police support unit, left for Victoria Falls today. Two Australian
nationals holidaying on the same property are now in Bulawayo, and stated
that they were sincerely afraid for their lives. The de Vries have since
been forced to leave the property. This morning, the ZRP broke into
the homestead of Pier van Wyk, and threatened him and his Australian
hunting client, John Hahn. Pier advised John to take his vehicle and drive
to Victoria Falls. The police then demanded that van Wyk produce the
keys to his gun cabinet, but he informed them that the keys had gone
his client.
Current information indicates that this campaign is being
directed from as high up as the Governor (Obert Mpofu)'s office, and certain
police were informed to use force to get rid of the farmers "court papers
mean nothing".
OPEN
LETTER FORUM: if you have any views or opinions that you would like to air,
please send them to justice@telco.co.zw headed JAG Open
Letter Forum. We hope to have this facility available for anyone to voice
their opinions.
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Hotlines: (091) 317 264 If you
are in trouble or need advice,
(011) 205 374 please don't hesitate to contact us
- (011) 863 354 we're here to
help
PORT
ELIZABETH - Janet Nienaber of Jeffrey's Bay in the Eastern Cape was
on Thursday still in the dark about her elderly parents' fate after they
were forcibly removed from their farm in Zimbabwe on
Wednesday.
Nienaber told Radio Algoa News that her parents, both 76, were
arrested on Wednesday on their farm between Bulawayo and Victoria
Falls.
She said the Zimbabwean police planned to jail her parents but
allowed them, after prolonged arguments, to stay in a local
hotel.
Nienaber still does not know where her parents are and if they are
safe.
"The last I heard was from a cousin who was on her way to Bulawayo
to pick up my mother," Nienaber said.
She said her parents were served
with an eviction order in December, but the order was reversed recently. Her
parents' farm borders a nature reserve and is part of a
conservancy.
"They have hunting rights and bring in a lot of
forex.
The police arrived on the farm on Wednesday to arrest the
couple.
Nienaber's mother, Ruth Chatam, was dragged from the house and
shackled to a police vehicle. She broke a hand in the process.
"She is
76 years old. Why did they have to shackle her?"
The police then returned
to the house for Nienaber's father, Jim Chatam.
"My dad has a heart
condition and my mum fought desperately to keep them from harming
him."
She said her mother begged the police not to put them in jail,
because her father regularly has to take medication after meals.
"They
don't get food in jail. My brother was in jail and he didn't get
a scrap."
The police told Mrs Chatam that she could buy her own food
in prison.
"She asked them what she would use; washers? He told her she
could use her watch to get money."
Nienaber said the police eventually
relented and escorted her parents to a hotel.
She said it is not only
her parents she is worried about. Farmworkers are suffering as a result of
the evictions.
"I find it disgusting that so many farmworkers become
homeless and unemployed due to the evictions. The human rights violations are
absolutely gross.
She said chances are slim that her parents will come
to South Africa.
"They're old, they want to stay in Zimbabwe."
She
said they should be safe in a town.
"But for how long we don't know. At
the moment it is the white farmers, when will they turn on the white
businessmen? We just don't know."
For
President Thabo Mbeki to encounter a Rubicon, let alone to cross it, is as
unlikely as a split occurring in the ANC. Speculation about the formation of
a new left wing party is, therefore, difficult to credit.
This week's
headlines about Mbeki taking a hard line towards the ANC's alliance partners,
Cosatu and the SACP, and the suggestion by Independent Newspapers' group
editor John Battersby that the whole political spotlight is "swinging to the
left", is fanciful. It should have long been apparent that the main plank of
Mbeki's policy platform is that of drift and vacillation. As the head of
Africa's most powerful economy, he enjoys prominence and his statements are
seen as authoritative. His excessive overseas travels have added to his
profile. Actions, however, speak louder than words and credibility derives
from actions.
In November 1998 Mbeki stated that he was firmly committed
to stamping out corruption and the abuse of public trust. He repeated that
line a year later in October 1999 at the International Anti-Corruption
Conference in Durban. Yet from bankrupt municipalities and provincial
governments that fail to deliver welfare grants to the arms deal, corruption
and the redeployment of those involved has virtually become the norm. The way
in which Judge Willem Heath's war on corruption was marginalised and
eventually hobbled speaks volumes for Mbeki's commitment on this issue. The
role and efficacy of the Public Protector in the deterrence of corruption, as
the arms scandal showed, leaves much to be desired. So for all his "get
tough" hype, Mbeki's track record on good governance, one of Nepad's key
requirements, is little better than that of a rudderless ship.
Denial,
confusion and constitutional court cases about the administering
of anti-retroviral drugs characterise Mbeki's HIV/Aids odyssey. In what
Tony Leon has described as "inspired madness", Mbeki has stubbornly refused
to acknowledge the scientific diagnosis of the link between HIV and Aids.
The price Aids victims have paid for his dithering is incalculable and
still mounting.
As regards Zimbabwe, Mbeki's policy has mutated from
quiet diplomacy to quiet complicity. Since February 2000 when Robert Mugabe
lost a referendum on constitutional change and began unleashing
state-sponsored terrorism on Zimbabwean citizens, Mbeki has failed
comprehensively to bring the tyrant to heel. Even as millions of Zimbabweans
starve and jackboot tyranny reigns, Mbeki has refused to support the
Australian government's view that sanctions be applied to the Mugabe
regime.
Although "Africa's Chamberlain", as this column once described
Mbeki because of his appeasement of Mugabe, talks loftily about democracy and
good governance as the vital components of Nepad and the African Renaissance,
he shies away from applying them to Zimbabwe. In failing to do so,
Mbeki himself has sabotaged Nepad. What credibility can it have overseas when
its primary author condones Stalinist tyranny on his borders
?
Admittedly Mbeki's posturing on Zimbabwe is little different from that
of so many other so-called leaders. Nonetheless, their hypocrisy is
highlighted when compared with the way the world once clamped sanctions on
Rhodesia. Although food was cheap and plentiful, education and medical
facilities often better than those in South Africa, tourism flourished and
property was secure, Rhodesia's crime was that it refused to agree to
immediate majority rule. Yet while Mugabe has systematically destroyed
Zimbabwe, the world remains indifferent.
The issue of privatisation of
state assets over which Cosatu has been striking, and which press reports
suggest could split the tripartite alliance, is not new. Since 1996 when the
Gear policy was adopted by the ANC government, the latterday Luddites of the
SACP/Cosatu wing have opposed it. Mbeki himself confidently predicted that by
2000 economic growth under Gear would have reached 6,1% per annum. It should
have and it would have if the policy had been properly implemented. But each
year since 1996 the projections of growth failed to materialise as Cosatu and
the SACP were allowed to apply the handbrake while rigid and restrictive
labour legislation did the rest. Instead of unemployment being reduced, it
has now reached 42% while the economy has shed two million jobs since
1994.
In a milestone statement in the Sunday Independent on January 9,
2000, finance minister Trevor Manuel boldly rejected socialist economics as
having the potential to grow the economy. Yet Mbeki failed to run that ball
and its logical line. Once again the policy of drift was preferred. So now,
when the Luddites claim Gear has failed, ostensibly they have a point. But,
in fact, it is Mbeki who has failed to see that Gear was given a chance to
get to work; in fact he has presided over the undermining of Gear. Yet he
should know, given his extensive travels, that neither socialism nor
crony capitalism attracts foreign investment.
So as Cosatu and the
SACP flex their muscles with impunity, South Africa under Mbeki's flaccid
leadership can expect more of the same. And since the ANC and its tripartite
partners are all comfortably ensconced at the same feeding trough, a
political split is unlikely. Besides, with distinctions between the party and
the state having become so blurred, forming a new political grouping would
serve no purpose. Instead, among the great dangers endemic to weak leadership
is the flourishing of political fiefdoms and the cronyism and corruption
associated therewith.
a.. Duncan Du Bois is a DA Durban Metro ward
councillor. He writes in his personal
capacity.
Southern African
leaders shut Mugabe out of senior regional role By Basildon
Peta 04 October 2002 Southern African leaders have barred the Zimbabwean
President, Robert Mugabe, from assuming a senior role in their 13-nation
regional alliance. Diplomatic sources said yesterday that they had feared his
leadership would destroy the organisation's reputation.
Mr Mugabe was
scheduled to assume the rotating deputy chairmanship of the Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC), a post that would automatically lead to him
becoming its chairman a year later. Harare would also have become the
scheduled venue for next year's meeting. Instead, the Tanzanian President,
Benjamin Mkapa, was appointed to the post. Next year's heads of state meeting
will now be held in Tanzania.
Although regional leaders have refrained
from directly attacking Mr Mugabe over his drive to confiscate white-owned
farms, diplomats said that in behind-the-scenes discussions the leaders have
persistently tried to rein in the Zimbabwean leader.
The new SADC
chairman, the Angolan President, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, his predecessor,
the Malawian President, Bakili Muluzi, and the body's executive secretary,
Prega Ramsamy, all emphasised the need for regional stability during the
summit's opening ceremony this week.
An official privy to the SADC's
deliberations said: "The SADC leaders have been criticised by Europe for
turning a blind eye to Mugabe's excesses. By keeping him away from the
leadership of SADC, they hope they can diplomatically make the world
understand that they disagree with his policies."
Zimbabwe's state
media had this week celebrated the country's impending assumption of the
deputy chairmanship. TheHerald newspaper quoted officials saying they were
excited about the appointment. However, the state media said yesterday that
Mr Mugabe had chosen not to take the post owing to other "pressing
commitments" at home. The Herald said Zimbabwe was happy to pass on the post
so it could concentrate on its land seizures.
An unnamed diplomat said:
"The whole reorganisation of the SADC bureau was unscheduled and is meant to
send a message to Zimbabwe that the region values peace, security, stability
and respect for greater democratisation."
Another diplomat said: "The
heads of state and government did not have to discuss Zimbabwe's land reform
directly. Their actions sent the right signal."
Mr Mugabe is widely
seen as a liability in the region, which is faced with a devastating famine
and is desperate to attract Western
investment.
Friday, October 04,
2002 By Zoe Eisenstein, Reuters
LUANDA, Namibia - Namibia may
expropriate white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks if white
farmers continue to resist land reform, a senior minister said on
Thursday. Against the backdrop of Zimbabwe's controversial land drive,
Foreign Minister Hidipo Hamutenya said his government was frustrated at the
slow pace of land transfers under Namibia's official
willing-seller, willing-buyer policy. He blamed the delays on reluctant white
farmers.
"There is a (provision) in our constitution that private assets
can be expropriated in the public interest," he said. "Fair and just
compensation must be provided to those who had laid claim to that property
before."
He said no decision had been taken yet on expropriation, but
farmers would be compensated for their land, and he did not foresee
Zimbabwe-style land seizures in his country. Zimbabwe's often violent land
seizures have helped to plunge the region's second largest economy into
crisis.
"So the government might go for expropriation. We may not have to
see it if people can be reasonable," said Hamutenya, who was speaking on the
sidelines of a regional summit in Angola.
Indigenous Namibian tribal
groups lost almost all their property during the 1904-07 colonial war with
Germany. Namibia, formerly South West Africa, became a South African
protectorate when Germany lost World War I, and it won independence in 1990.
White farmers currently own about 30 million hectares (75 million acres) of
the land in Namibia, while blacks hold 2.2 million hectares (5.4 million
acres).
Hamutenya said 192 farms owned by absentee landlords would be
first on the list if expropriation became government policy.
ALARM
BELLS
Namibian President Sam Nujoma raised alarm bells last month when he
backed Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's program to acquire without
compensation 2,900 of the country's 4,500 white-owned commercial farms for
black resettlement.
Nujoma said last month the willing-buyer,
willing-seller policy was "too slow, cumbersome, and very costly" and his
government may look at other legal means to acquire land.
Foreign
investors want to see orderly land reform in the region but are worried that
illegal land grabs could spread. Those concerns have helped undermine the
value of the South African rand, to which the Namibian dollar is
pegged.
Hamutenya said his government had appealed to the European Union
to help fund land reform in Namibia. The government sets aside 20 million
Namibian dollars (US$1.9 million) annually for land purchases, but white
farmers say its not enough. Last year, they offered the government 171 farms,
but only 20 farms were bought.
"We want the E.U. to make a
contribution, to give us money for those reforms. Once they've agreed to the
principle that they will contribute, then we'll talk about the figures," he
said.
Namibia was not among the six southern African countries listed by
the United Nations as facing the threat of famine this year. But some
300,000 Namibians will need food aid this year. Hamutenya said his government
had set aside 100 million Namibian dollars to handle emergencies such as
the drought this year, and he did not foresee the need for foreign
aid.
Southern African leaders urged foreign donors on Wednesday to speed
up food and debt relief for the region, where more than 14 million people
in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, and Mozambique
face starvation.
Luanda - Leaders from the 14 nations of the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) again rallied behind Zimbabwean leader
Robert Mugabe on Thursday, after a two-day summit that ended with few
concrete decisions.
Zimbabwe's neighbours have largely remained mute on
the ongoing crisis in a once vibrant nation that now needs international aid
to feed its population.
A final declaration said "the summit pledged
continued support" for Mugabe, who briefed the delegates on his controversial
land reform programmes. The reforms, and Mugabe's controversial re-election
in March, have been slammed by some Western governments, which have slapped
sanctions on his regime.
"We are convinced that the ongoing land reform
in that country is aimed at the rational, fair and equitable distribution of
land to be used for the benefit of the people of Zimbabwe," Tanzanian
President Benjamin Mkapa said at the summit's closing ceremony.
"We in
SADC remain united in appreciating the need for, and supporting, land reform
in Zimbabwe," he said.
Zimbabwe denies charges that the scheme to
expropriate white-owned farms and turn them over to the black majority has
contributed to the food crisis by slashing production.
Harvests of
maize, the staple grain, have fallen by more than 70% since Mugabe's land
reforms began two years ago.
Starvation
Almost half of the nearly
13 million people currently at risk of starvation in drought-stricken
southern Africa live in Zimbabwe, according to UN statistics.
The
country, once an exporter of grains, suffered a 1.8 million ton shortfall
during the last harvest, which has contributed to the shortages
in neighbouring countries.
The effects of Zimbabwe's isolation by
Western countries burst into the discussions in the Angolan capital
Luanda.
Diplomats said bitter debates took place among SADC leaders over
a US decision not to take part in an annual meeting with SADC if a
Zimbabwean delegation attends.
The SADC-US Forum is an annual meeting
to review US development projects and other affairs in the region.
The
United States did not recognise Mugabe's re-election in March,
citing widespread political violence and claims of vote fraud, and considers
his government illegitimate.
Delegates at the summit debated how to
continue the meetings, possibly at a less formal level with a SADC team from
a few nations representing the interests the region. SADC officials had
wanted the meeting to take place in Malawi before the year
ends.
Angola praised
While the summit did not agree to take any
specific action on the regional famine, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos
Santos urged the region to "lead a true crusade against famine" and "to
reduce the suffering" of people affected by the food shortages.
"We
should give a collective response to the great challenges of
poverty, education, health, food security and combatting terrorism," he
said.
The statement also thanked the UN World Food Programme and South
Africa for their efforts to combat the famine and severe drought affecting
six SADC nations.
The two-day meeting was the first among SADC heads
of state and government to take place in Angola, which ended a 27-year civil
war with a ceasefire on April 4.
The summit repeatedly praised Angola
for making its ceasefire stick and declared support for recent peace efforts
in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
A final
declaration voiced support for Angola's "ongoing efforts aimed at providing
assistance to demobilised soldiers, orphans, internally displaced people and
the population affected" by the civil war.
The SADC nations are Angola,
Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius,
Mozambique, Namibia, the Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania,
Zambia and Zimbabwe. - Sapa-AFP
Fourth generation Zimbabwean told to
go back to Britain after he released damaging
video
By COLIN
FREEZE
Friday, October 4, 2002
- Page A11
The only place in Zimbabwe
for Roy Bennett is jail, according to President Robert Mugabe, but the
farmer-turned-parliamentarian is unbowed after spending last weekend in that
very place.
Mr. Bennett, who visited
Canada in August in an effort to drum up opposition to the Mugabe
government's controversial land-distribution policies, was arrested during
last weekend's local council elections after the ruling ZANU-PF party tried
to buy voters off with corn.
Mr. Mugabe
maintains that the land program, meant to put white Zimbabweans' farmland in
the hands of poor blacks, will reverse a decades-old legacy of British
colonialism.
Critics say the policy mainly
benefits his cronies and makes the land less productive, wreaking havoc in a
region already hit hard by drought
and sickness.
"Food is being used as a
political weapon," Mr. Bennett said. The government "is in full control of
the food distribution."
He vowed to keep
fighting against what he called "a total police state, where there is no rule
of law."
Now free on bail, Mr. Bennett
described how his jailers made racist taunts as three uniformed police
officers stomped on his legs and feet for half an
hour.
"They said things like, 'You're a
white pig; get out of Zimbabwe,' and 'We don't want any whites in Zimbabwe,'
" said Mr. Bennett, whose family has been in the country for four
generations.
Mr. Bennett clearly has a
powerful enemy in Mr. Mugabe, who was quoted in the British press last month
saying that Mr. Bennett and his family members "are not part of our society.
They belong to Britain, and let them go there. If they want to stay here, we
will say, 'Stay here, but your place is in jail.'
"
The jailing of one white MP -- a member
of Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change --
was only one aspect of the elections that the U.S. State Department and other
foreign observers say was neither fair nor
credible.
Citing Mr. Mugabe's election
tactics and land policy, Canadian Alliance MP Keith Martin held a press
conference in Ottawa yesterday, urging the government to expel Zimbabwe's
high commissioner and lead an international movement to have the Zimbabwean
leader tried for crimes against
humanity.
"Thirteen million people are
going to die, and it's not on anybody's radar screen," Mr. Martin said
earlier this week.
Mr. Bennett, meanwhile,
said widespread intimidation prevented his party from fielding candidates in
about half the ridings on the weekend. Reports of police violence against MDC
members continue to emerge, including a story of five teenaged MDC activists
who were allegedly beaten by police, then charged with inciting
violence.
Making matters worse, Mr.
Bennett said, ZANU-PF threatened to withhold food aid from people planning to
vote against Mr. Mugabe's party.
He
recounted how during Saturday's trip to a rural polling station, he saw "a
whole crowd of people congregated around a bag of maize" dropped off by a
ZANU-PF truck.
At midday Sunday, after
releasing his videotape to the local news media, Mr. Bennett and two
supporters were stopped by police and intelligence officers who blocked their
path with a Land Rover and a Toyota pickup, he
said.
Threatened with a gun, they were
tossed in a cell holding several other men who complained of not having eaten
for four days. Despite stifling heat of 42 degrees Celsius, they had no
access to water.
After being beaten, they
were released on bail the next evening, Mr. Bennett
said.
He said he was initially arrested
for contravening the Land Acquisition Act. Then the charges switched to
violating the country's access to information act because he filmed the
elections.
Chief police spokesman Wayne
Bvudzijena told the Reuters News Agency that Mr. Bennett was arrested for
"practising as a journalist
without accreditation."
Investigation by Daily Dispatch Business Editor Eddie
Botha
EAST LONDON -- Police here have been asked to investigate an
investment scheme which claims that it aims to relocate white Zimbabwe
farmers to Mozambique with British government funds.
But when
contacted by the Daily Dispatch the British High Commission in Pretoria
denied that its government is involved in an R800million agricultural
development project to relocate white Zimbabwean farmers, as claimed by the
scheme organisers.
In a sworn statement to the Gonubie police,
businessman Steve Audie said that on June 24 he had met an agent for the
scheme, Ian Inch, who told him he was involved with a project to relocate the
Zimbabwe farmers.
Audie said Inch told him the British government had
made R800m (£50m) available for the project, but that the farmers had to go
to Britain to sign contracts and needed money for that purpose.
At the
centre of the scheme is Edward George Christopher Ryan, whose address was
given as Edgeview Road, Beacon Bay.
According to the contract, which
Audie signed with Ryan, Audie would receive 10 times his investment amount
after six to seven weeks. Audie said this week he had not received any of the
promised funds.
On the same day that he signed the contract, Inch also
signed a sworn statement in which he acknowledged to personally be indebted
to Audie for the investment amount payable in monthly installments of R1000
should Audie not receive his original investment and returns within two
months.
Meanwhile the owner of a cash loan business, Andre Linde,
confirmed that both Ryan and another of his agents, Paul Zietsman, who is
supposed to handle Ryan's affairs in South Africa, had been renting office
space at his East London business premises.
According to the contract
which investors concluded with Ryan, investments will be paid "at the
completion of the first phase for the Zimbabwe Farmers Relocation
project".
Ryan, who is now in London, told the Dispatch that he was
finalising the project. "This is not the smallest of projects that I have
handled in my life. It is a major achievement," said Ryan.
"We worked
with the British government. I had meetings with British Members of
Parliament and different major banks to put the transaction
together."
Ryan said he had already spoken to major institutions which
had agreed to sign surety for the project.
British High Commission
spokesman Nick Sheppard said the Foreign Office's Zimbabwe desk was not aware
of such a project. "It certainly does not have the British government's
backing. We are still concerned with land reform in Zimbabwe but not with the
intent to relocate farmers to Mozambique."
Sheppard said even if private
funds were being used for such a project, the British government would not
endorse it.
Ryan said his project, which was aimed at the development of
agriculture in Mozambique, was being supported by farmers all over the world.
Despite the wording of the contract, which specifically referred to the
relocation of Zimbabwean farmers, Ryan said: "Don't even mention Zimbabwean
farmers."
Ryan said he had forwarded documents to local attorney Hannes
Schoeman which were "for his eyes only".
He warned that any negative
publicity about the project would "jeopardise the opportunities for 500000
starving people in Mozambique, the creation of jobs and the new agricultural
development in Mozambique".
When asked why, in the case of one investor,
no returns had been paid despite a seven-week guarantee period, he said:
"Well let's be honest, when you start a big business, things sometimes do not
happen on time."
Schoeman said he knew about the project and had received
a call from Ryan on Tuesday to say that someone would come and see him about
it.
He said other than that he had no involvement and he had made it
clear to Ryan that he needed written proof about the project from
him.
Media Monitoring Project
Zimbabwe September 23 - September 29 2002 Media Update #
2002-35
CONTENTS * General
comment * Local government elections coverage *
International relations- Troika attacked
1. GENERAL
COMMENT
The recent local government and Hurungwe West elections pitting
mainly ZANU PF candidates against those of the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change further exposed the public media's unwavering
support for the ruling party. Admittedly, the Commonwealth Troika's
meeting on Zimbabwe was an important story but should not have eclipsed the
media's educational role in providing basic voter education. Instead, the
media provided scant information on the voters' roll, how people were to vote
and where they were to cast their ballots. While the private media focused
on the violence and anomalies that characterized the electoral process, the
public media carried stories that qualified as public relations for Zanu PF
masquerading as news. For example, ZTV had about 12 stories related to the
elections in the monitored main bulletins. These included donations and
"official" launches of rural development programmes such as an irrigation
scheme in Tsholotsho. Of the 12 stories, 10 (83%) portrayed ZANU PF
positively with the remainder (17%) denigrating the MDC. A total of 31
minutes and 25 seconds were allocated to stories related to the elections. Of
these, 22 minutes and 45 seconds (72%) was used for positive coverage of ZANU
PF, while eight minutes and 45 seconds (28%) were spent on discrediting the
MDC. Radio 3FM had 13 reports related to the elections. ZANU PF was
positively portrayed in eight (62%) of the stories, while five stories (38%)
were used to malign the MDC. Radio Zimbabwe's four reports on the
elections denounced the MDC as well as favouring ZANU PF and its
policies. Part VIII of the Broadcasting Services Act (2001), which relates to
the public service obligations of licencees, states: "Every licensee
shall, when providing an information service, provide a fair,
balanced, accurate and complete service." The Fourth Schedule
(Standard Conditions of Licences) of the same Act 2(1) states: "If, during an
election period, a broadcaster broadcasts election matter, the
broadcaster shall give reasonable and equal opportunities for the
broadcasting of election matter to all parties contesting the
election." ZBC remains the country's sole licensed national free to air
broadcaster in Zimbabwe. However, more than a year after the enactment of
the Broadcasting Services Act, the broadcaster has shown no signs of
moving towards compliance with the law. It is this failure to abide by
these regulations that reveals an urgent need for alternative broadcasters in
the country. Sadly, the licensing of the only other national broadcasting
service, as required by law, remains a pipe dream.
2. LOCAL
GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS COVERAGE
In its coverage of the elections, ZBC
failed to inform the electorate on how to vote and most importantly where
to vote. The broadcaster merely quoted the Electoral Supervisory Commission
(ESC) commending the progress on preparations for the elections and the
voting process itself. For example, ZTV (27/09, 8pm) quoted ESC spokesman
Thomas Bvuma expressing satisfaction with "the general electoral process"
adding that "there may be some problems here and there but they are not to
the extent that the ESC would want to make a big deal out of it". There
was no attempt to investigate the problems referred to. Bvuma made similar
remarks earlier in the week in The Herald (24/9) article "All areas peaceful
ahead of polls". Similarly, 3FM (27/09, 8pm) vaguely reported that the ESC
had conducted voter education before the elections with no further
information.
Furthermore, ZTV (27/09, 8pm) merely quoted the Registrar
General Tobaiwa Mudede stating that a "national voters' roll.based on the
wards" would be used adding that "people have to go and vote in the wards in
which they stay, in which they live and in the wards in which they
registered". Just like ZBC, the public Press carried piecemeal information on
the electoral process as illustrated by The Herald (24/9), (26/9) and
(27/9), The Sunday Mail and The Sunday News (29/9). While Bvuma insisted,
in the public media, that the ESC had not received reports of violence, The
Standard (29/9) quoted him saying: "The ESC received reports from monitors of
incidents of politically motivated violence. Most of the cases involved
mutual accusations by political parties. They included skirmishes between MDC
and ZANU PF. Some cases were corroborated by the police, others were
not." ZBC (ZTV, Radio Zimbabwe, 29/09, 8pm) quoted Bvuma alleging the
paper had mutilated the statement to suit its editorial
slant.
However, The Standard reported the axing to death of MDC activist
Nikoniari Chabvamudeve by suspected ZANU PF supporters in Hurungwe West
and quoted a police spokesperson (Bothwell Mugariri) confirming the
incident. The paper also reported that a teacher in the same province who
was forced into hiding by ZANU PF youths after they found him with MDC
cards. Meanwhile, The Daily News (23/9) reported that more than 300 ZANU
PF supporters had attacked residents of Trojan Nickel Mine Village,
Bindura, after the residents failed to attend a ZANU PF rally held at the
mine's stadium. The village is regarded as an MDC stronghold. Although
the paper allegedly failed to access comments from the police or ZANU PF, it
quoted MDC officials and one victim of the violence, five-month pregnant
Eunice Levi saying she had been "prodded in the stomach by some of the (ZANU
PF) youths who accused her of faking her pregnancy". Similar stories were
carried in The Daily News (27/9), The Daily Mirror (27/9), The Financial
Gazette (26/9) and SW Radio Africa. SW Radio Africa carried over 12 incidents
of political violence allegedly perpetrated by ZANU PF supporters. The
station also reported in its bulletins that ZANU PF was allegedly bribing the
electorate with food. Conversely, the only stories on politically motivated
violence carried in the public media were those allegedly committed
against ZANU PF supporters by the MDC. Even then, such stories as
illustrated by, Police deployed as MDC youths go on the rampage in
Chitungwiza, The Herald (27/9) were vague and lacked detailed
information. Nowhere in the story were readers told specifically in which
part of the town the violence took place. Neither were the victims of the
violence named. A police spokesperson was quoted vaguely saying after the
attack in "the area" the MDC youths "proceeded with their violent nature in
Unit D, Seke". Likewise, ZBC suffocated reports on violence prior to the
elections and restricted itself to official comments denying allegations.
However, police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena's (ZBC, 29/09, 8pm) let the cat
out of the bag: "Yes, there have been some murders but it is not as reported
in the Standard. If there is anyone who has substantive information that
can assist us in any way we appeal to such individuals to come forward
so that they can assist us in our investigations". His admission that
there was violence was allowed to pass without being asked to give further
details on the "murders". Only readers of the private Press, for instance,
learnt about calls by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) on the
international community to reject the outcome of the council elections
because of, among other accusations, government's "too profound" and "too
pervasive. repressive campaign against the opposition parties", The
Zimbabwe Independent (27/9). However, both the public and private media
reported on the MDC's High Court petition seeking the postponement of the
elections, citing widespread violence and intimidation resulting in the
opposition failing to field 700 candidates in the 1,397 contested
wards. Nonetheless, on the day the judgment was due, the public media led by
The Herald (27/9) gave prominence to government propaganda, "deriding
the MDC for again going to the courts to postpone its
certain embarrassment at the polls". ZBC (all stations, 27/09, 8pm) picked
up the story and reported that the High Court judge, Justice Benjamin
Paradza had thrown out an MDC court application saying the matter was "not
urgent". The public broadcaster did not even bother to give a critical
analysis of the ruling. Instead, Radio Zimbabwe (28/09, 6am) trivialised the
MDC's case saying the party was "well known for going to courts over election
issues". Similarly, the Chronicle (28/9) conveniently used the High Court
ruling to campaign for ZANU PF and malign the MDC. The paper tried to present
the MDC as a party that had no support. It referred to two court cases in
which MDC aspiring candidates were allegedly arrested for forging signatures
after they failed to get enough people to nominate them. While ZBC
ridiculed the MDC for going to court, SW Radio Africa (26/09 & 27/09)
highlighted flaws within the electoral process, which forced the
MDC to seek legal recourse. The short wave station quoted (26/09) MDC's
David Coltart stating that the electoral playing field was completely
subverted adding that the MDC had not received the voters' roll, among
other issues. After the ruling, The Daily News (28/09) quoted MDC
secretary-general Welshman Ncube echoing Coltart's earlier sentiments on SW
Radio Africa (27/09). Ncube stated that the judgment confirmed their "worst
fears about the judiciary". Responding to Justice Paradza's assertion that
the MDC's case was not urgent as the party knew about the dates of the
elections well in advance, Ncube observed: "The nomination courts took
place two to three weeks ago.to get all the facts in respect of the 700 wards
spread across the country, you need more than a few days or a week. You
need all the 700 candidates to give evidence on what happened in
their wards."
3. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: TROIKA
ATTACKED
The public media took a racial stance in celebrating the
decision by the Commonwealth Troika not to expel Zimbabwe from the
Commonwealth and described the outcome as "another diplomatic victory" for
the country. The Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who chairs the
troika, was accused (ZTV and 3FM, 23/09, 8pm) of "peddling Britain's interest
on the land issue in Zimbabwe". Dividing the troika on racial lines, ZTV
(23/09, 8pm) news reader stated: "Analysts say the Commonwealth troika
meeting on Zimbabwe in Abuja Nigeria smacks of racism and hypocrisy as
evidenced by attempts to shift the problem from land to other areas such as
the rule of law and good governance". In addition, the reporter stated:
"Analysts are questioning the sincerity of the Commonwealth troika. Many are
asking whether this is not an extension of the British plan to recover from
its humiliation (sic) defeat at the just ended Earth summit in Johannesburg
and the 57th UN general assembly when the land question was explicitly
explained by President Mugabe." No analysts were quoted. However, more
startling was ZTV's attempt, in the same bulletin, to link the Zimbabwean
crisis with the Middle East conflict, saying the two were "indeed similar and
bring to the fore the double standards of the western imperialist forces of
paying a blind eye to any conflict in which no white man falls
victim". The Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge, who was quoted inviting
the troika to Zimbabwe to "get the correct picture", attacked the
Commonwealth secretary general Don McKinnon whom he accused of
misrepresenting facts on Zimbabwe describing him as the "hatchet man of
British imperialism and machinations". One of ZTV's favourite
commentators, the Southern African Institute for Democracy and Good
Governance Executive Director, William Nhara repeatedly described Howard as
"the coward" saying the troika decision "illustrates that the issue of the
so-called crisis in Zimbabwe is nothing more than a racist attempt to
manipulate the on-going land reform in Zimbabwe". The stance was not
different in the public Press. The papers (24/09) preoccupied themselves with
defending Mugabe for not attending the Abuja meeting and allocated space to
Minister Mudenge to spew his vitriolic attack on Howard and McKinnon. In
its follow-up, The Herald (25/9) parroted government's attempts
to present its feud with the Commonwealth as that between African and
white members of the Club. In fact, its front-page headline Africans make a
stand eloquently captured the paper's thrust. To reinforce the notion
that Zimbabwe has cordial relations with African countries, The Sunday Mail
(29/09) published a letter Mugabe wrote to Mbeki congratulating him for
successfully hosting the recent Earth Summit. However, The Zimbabwe
Independent belied such observations when it quoted Botswana's ruling party,
the Botswana Democratic Party (BDH), saying the Zimbabwean crisis has had
negative effects on their country's economy. BDP official Ponatshego
Kedikilwe was quoted castigating Zimbabwe's land reform programme saying: "It
is important for the State to be in control. But an impression has been
created that the government in Zimbabwe has lost control of the situation,
which is just as dangerous as the situation of a driver who has lost control
of his vehicle". Nonetheless, the public Press - echoing government
sentiments - still maintained that the "white Commonwealth," as personified
by Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, is the author of Zimbabwe's
problems. Howard particularly came under government fire for insisting that
the situation in Zimbabwe had worsened. Information Minister Jonathan
Moyo, in a Reuter's report carried in The Daily News (24/9), cynically
observed: "Howard comes from a country where there are plenty of Kangaroos,
but it is disgraceful of him to try to turn the Commonwealth into a Kangaroo
court". The Sunday Mail (29/9) was similarly uncharitable in its racist and
foul- mouthed feature: Who is this timid Howard? In fact, the paper's
quest to blame the West for the Zimbabwean crisis was demonstrated by its
sensational front-page story Danes strike again. Besides the use of a
dramatised headline, the story subjectively accused the Danish government of
"pouring in" millions of dollars in support of an anti-land reform programme
organisation, the Zimbabwe Farmers' Union Development Trust (ZFUDT). The
private media interpreted these developments differently. For example, SW
Radio Africa (23/09 & 25/09) quoted MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai
expressing his disappointment with Obasanjo and Mbeki whom he accused of
"giving Mugabe sufficient time to destroy the opposition and the farming
community". The Financial Gazette (26/09) dismissed the notion that the
outcome of the Abuja meeting was a victory. Instead, it predicted that more
countries were likely to isolate Zimbabwe while the political and economic
crisis deteriorated. Political analyst Masipula Sithole stated: "Those in
the government who are euphoric about Mbeki and Obasanjo's stance in Abuja
are better advised to watch the events of the next six months." The paper
also carried a report in which former US president Bill Clinton described the
Zimbabwe crisis as a "burden" to Africa. The same story was also carried by
The Daily News of the same day. In addition, The Financial Gazette ran an
unconfirmed report that Mbeki and Obasanjo were pushing for the resumption of
reconciliation talks between the MDC and ZANU PF in a bid to resolve the
Zimbabwean crisis. Similarly, The Daily News (27/9) also reported on mounting
international pressure against Zimbabwe. Notwithstanding these factors,
the public Press maintained there was no crisis in Zimbabwe. The Herald
(24/9) used the visiting Belgian Davis Cup team to underscore the fact. The
paper stated, while in the country, the team was "charmed by the hospitality
of the people" despite "unsubstantiated allegations" by the European Union
and the Western media about "an unstable economic and political climate" in
Zimbabwe. Ends
The MEDIA UPDATE was produced by the Media Monitoring
Project Zimbabwe, 15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4
703702, E-mail: monitors@mweb.co.zw Feel free to
write to MMPZ. We may not be able to respond to everything but we will look
at each letter. For previous reports and more information about MMPZ, please
visit our website at http://www.mmpz.org.zw
MDC MPs stormed out of Parliament
on Wednesday, demanding an immediate stop to the intimidation, violence and
arrest of ordinary citizens and elected
MPs.
The MPs demanded the restoration
of the rule of law and the setting up of a commission of inquiry into
allegations of torture against the police, the army and the CIO. The MPs
immediately walked out after their chief whip, Innocent Gonese, was ejected
from the House after he tried to read
the petition.
The Speaker, Emmerson
Mnangagwa, would not allow Gonese to read the petition. The MPs headed for
the Police General Headquarters (PGHQ) to hand the petition to Chihuri. They
streamed out to the jeers and shouts of "Shame!" from the government benches.
The MDC spokesman, Paul Themba-Nyathi, said later: "The business of the House
cannot continue as usual when elected MPs and their supporters are everyday
being subjected to violence
and torture."
Gonese said several
opposition MPs had been arrested on "spurious allegations" in the last few
weeks. He cited Roy Bennet, the MP for Chimanimani, arrested and allegedly
beaten up by the police in the rural district elections held at the
weekend.
He said Tichaona Munyanyi, the MP
for Mbare East, was in police custody after being picked up at his home on
Tuesday night. He said the MP was being accused of involvement in the murder
of Ali Khan Manjengwa, a Zanu PF activist killed last
month.
At the PGHQ, the MPs could not see
Chihuri. Welshman Ncube and Gonese, said a senior police official told them
to take their petition to Kembo Mohadi, the Minister of Home
Affairs.
Part of their petition reads:
"The Zanu PF government has promoted lawlessness, the abuse and misuse of the
rule of law, the systematic politically motivated arrests of members of the
opposition, the severe torture of those placed in police custody by both the
police and the CIO and the increasing incidents of indiscriminate beatings
and assaults on members of the public and particularly members of the
opposition by the army or persons dressed in army
uniform."
THE war veterans' movement
yesterday said the government's land resettlement programme is riddled with
corruption and nepotism.
They alleged
district administrators (DAs) and provincial administrators (PAs) were
accepting bribes to allocate land.
They
warned of serious problems if the exercise was not carried
out transparently.
Patrick Nyaruwata,
the chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association
(ZNLWVA), told journalists in Harare his association supported President
Mugabe's land initiative.
"But we are
unhappy with the allocation," he said. "The government should value those
brave war veterans who led the farm invasions and assist them. We will ask
why we fought for the land if it is not
transparent.
"Those people who were given
the job to administer the land exercise at district and provincial levels
have not done so." Nyaruwata said there had been an increase in complaints
from war veterans across the country.
Endy
Mhlanga, the Znlwva secretary-general, said the DAs and PAs were promoting
corruption by accepting bribes. He said the association would carry out a
national land audit to expose the corruption of the
land committees.
Mhlanga said the audit
would be completed by the end of this month or early
November. A national executive meeting of the
ZNLWVA would be held on 12 October in Harare to assess progress of the land
reform.
Agrippa Gava, the association's
national director, said the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural
Resettlement had done its best to fulfil the land agenda, but the war
veterans were unhappy with the land
committees.
Gava alleged that several war
veterans had been evicted from the farms, including 10 in Selous, near
Chegutu, evicted from a farm formerly owned by Colin Cloete, the Commercial
Farmers' Union president. Gava said war veterans and other settlers living at
some farms since 2000 were being removed by the district and provincial land
committees under unclear circumstances.
"If there is no bribery, how have whites become so special? Cloete
was ordered to leave, but he remains on the farm. The DAs and PAs
are frustrating the land reform
programme."
Nyaruwata said the government
should ensure that tractors, irrigation equipment and combine harvesters were
not sold.
He said the government should
buy the equipment so that it remained on the farms to be used by the new
farmers.
Harare magistrate Wilbert
Mandinde yesterday remanded Tichaona Jefter Munyanyi, the Mbare East MP, in
custody on a charge of murdering Zanu PF activist Ali Khan Manjengwa in Mbare
on 22 August.
Mandinde remanded him to
25 October and advised him to apply to the High Court for
bail.
Munyanyi is the fourth member of the
MDC to be remanded in connection with the murder of Manjengwa in Nenyere
flats in Mbare.
Solomon Chikowero, 38, and
Linos Mushonga, 36, are out on bail of $15 000 each granted by the High Court
on 13 September, while Joshua Rusere, 36, was remanded in custody to 16
October.
Ralph Maganga, Munyanyi's lawyer,
said he expected the application for bail to be heard in the High Court by
Tuesday next week.
OVERCROWDING at Rusape
Prison is reported to have led to the death of two inmates on Tuesday and the
admission of two others to Rusape
General Hospital.
Joseph Musakwa,
the Director of Public Prosecutions, confirmed yesterday he had received
reports of the incident but said he was waiting for specific details of the
tragedy. He said: "I have heard about it, but I have yet to receive details
on the matter."
Other sources at the
prison said the holding capacity of the jail was 100 people yet over 325
prisoners were detained there.
While the
deceased were yet to be identified, those hospitalised were named only as
Blessed and Muchemeyi.
As a result of the
tragedy, the source said at least 30 inmates had been transferred from Rusape
to Mutare Prison in an effort to reduce the overcrowding. A Rusape magistrate
immediately remanded out of custody at least 20 others held for petty
crimes.
But Rusape's chief prison officer
who identified himself only as Muzariwetu, emphatically denied any knowledge
of the incident and referred all questions to the prison headquarters in
Harare. He said: "I am unaware of what you are talking
about."
Frankie Meki, the Zimbabwe Prison
Services' spokesman, could not be reached for comment
yesterday.
Meanwhile, Police in Manicaland
last week said crime in the province had increased owing to economic
hardship.
An officer at the police stand
at the Mutare Agricultural Show which ended last Sunday said crimes such as
rape, indecent assault, sexual harassment, incest and trafficking in
contraband were on the increase.
The
officer said: "The general increase in crime is caused by the prevalent
economic hardships."
MOST service stations in Harare
and Bulawayo have not received
fuel supplies during the past four days,
causing severe shortages which have left most workers stranded as hundreds of
commuter omnibuses remain grounded.
Several filling stations in Harare said they had very little supplies of
petrol and no diesel at all. There were long queues at the few stations with
fuel.
A service station attendant in
Bulawayo who declined to be named said the station last received supplies on
Friday and it ran out by Saturday afternoon as motorists rushed to buy
it.
He said the supplies were arriving by
road and not by rail as is the usual.
"We have been receiving fuel from trucks and this is obviously a slower
process than if it comes by rail. It takes longer to unload it from trucks
than from rail wagons," said the
attendant.
The Government claims the fuel
shortage is being caused only
by panic-buying.
Another attendant at a
filling station along Bulawayo's Jason Moyo Avenue said they have been
receiving lesser supplier than what they normally require because the fuel is
coming by road.
Most of the affected
service stations are those within the city centre while those that are
outside the city had limited supplies.
The
latest shortages are contrary to government assurance that there is enough
fuel in the country.
The newly appointed
Minister of Energy and Power Development Amos Midzi said recently that the
country had enough fuel supplies.
THE government has
still not paid the salaries and allowances of
more than 4 500 agricultural extension
workers hurriedly recruited six months ago for the fast-track resettlement
programme.
Officials at the provincial
offices of the Department of Agricultural Technical and Extension Services in
Gweru confirmed on Wednesday that all the hastily recruited extension workers
throughout the country had not been paid since May because the government had
no money.
Some of the workers, who spoke
on condition of anonymity, claimed Dr Joseph Made, the Minister of Lands,
Agriculture, and Rural Resettlement, had declined to address them over the
issue of their unpaid salaries.
The
department falls under Made's ministry. "We have resolved to petition the
minister and probably get a written undertaking from him indicating when we
will get paid all the outstanding salaries and allowances for the last six
months," said a spokesman for the workers.
The workers were promised salaries and allowances ranging between $25 000 and
$30 000 a month. To complicate their plight, the workers have not been
formally registered with the Public Service Commission and are still
to receive their confirmation letters from the
ministry.
Hudson Mabika, the chief
agricultural extension officer for the Midlands province, declined to
comment, pleading for the issue not to
be published.
"Are you publishing that
information? Please don't," Mabika said. Made could not be reached for
comment on Wednesday.
In April, the
government recruited thousands of agricultural extension officers to help the
newly-resettled farmers in all the
provinces.
An advertisement published in
the State-owned newspapers invited agricultural graduates and retired trained
agricultural practitioners under 70 years of age to apply and attend
interviews at district offices.
SCORES of villagers who invaded a
former Zanu PF MP's farm near Mashava in Masvingo have defied a High Court
order to vacate the property.
The
invaders had until Tuesday to move off Albert Chamwadoro's property following
a High Court order issued by Justice Charles Hungwe. By Wednesday afternoon,
the 23 families were still on the property, arguing they were given the land
by the Masvingo provincial governor, Josaya
Hungwe.
Justice Hungwe last week ordered
Augustine Chihuri, the Police Commissioner, to remove all the invaders from
Chimwadoro's farm. The chairman of the farm invaders, Stephen Zibako said on
Wednesday: "We suspect the High Court order was not authentic. After all, we
were given this land by the land committee and not the High
Court."
Officials from the Messenger of
Court in Masvingo said on Wednesday they were mobilising manpower to evict
the settlers.
An official said: "We have
been instructed to remove them but they are violent. We will only be able to
evict them once we have sought
enough manpower."
On Wednesday, Kenneth
Kondo, the officer-in-charge of Mashava police station said: "We will act
once the messenger of court has approached us to effect the
evictions."
In an act of vandalism, the
illegal farm occupiers on Saturday destroyed fencing and drove out all the
livestock off the property and threatened to beat up the former MP, after
they had received the High Court order.
The farm, Lot 1 of Allanvale farm, was bought by Chamwadoro from
the Shabanie-Mashava Mines in 1999.
In
a surprise move, the Masvingo provincial land committee chaired by Governor
Hungwe acquired the property for resettlement, despite government policy that
all black-owned farms would not be
acquired.
Police accused of not arresting wanted senior Zanu PF
official
10/4/02 9:36:14 AM (GMT
+2)
From our Correspondent in
Bulawayo
LUPANE police are allegedly
delayed the arrest of a senior Zanu PF official on a charge of raping a minor
so he could run the party's campaign in last weekend's rural district council
elections.
The rape allegations
against Cliford Sibanda, the provincial secretary for Lupane, came to light
on Tuesday last week.
The police, acting
on orders from "above", allegedly refused to arrest Sibanda until Monday this
week after the elections, won easily by Zanu PF. Lupane police yesterday
refused to comment on the matter.
Sibanda,
41, on Tuesday appeared for initial remand before Lupane magistrate, Felix
Ndlovu, facing one count of rape. He was not asked
to plead.
Allegations against Sibanda
were that on 29 September at a house at the Lupane district administrator's
compound, he grabbed the girl, aged 14, and dragged her to a room in the
house. The girl was described as a maid at the compound and was sweeping a
room when the alleged offence took place.
Sibanda was then alleged to have raped her once and then tried to buy her
silence with $310. The offence only came to light when the young girl was
asked about the money.
She spilled the
beans and the matter was reported to the police who reportedly reacted only a
week later.
NELSON Chamisa has attacked the
youth league of South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) for
supporting President Mugabe's government under the pretext of offering
solidarity to liberation movements.
Chamisa, the national youth chairman of the MDC, was addressing youths from
the Namibian Democratic Alliance, a coalition of opposition
political parties, in Windhoek last Sunday. He said the ANC youths were
ignorant of Mugabe's abuse of power.
He
said: "Some comrades, for example the ANC youth league, continue to offer
solidarity with dictatorship and fascism under the guise of solidarity with
the liberation war comrades.
"Mugabe, once
a comrade, is creating a de facto one-party state and legislating
dictatorship, thus selling out the very many gains of Zimbabwe's liberation
struggle."
Chamisa said Zimbabwe faced an
economic meltdown because of Mugabe's hypocritical
policies.
He said youths in the region
must protect the gains of the liberation struggle by speaking out loudly
against corruption, bad governance and lack of transparency in the
administration of national affairs.
"'We
must refuse to be abused to prop up collapsing, degenerate regimes
such as Kamuzu Banda's Young Pioneers, Milton
Obote's militias and Mugabe's military-trained youth
brigades."
ABOUT $96 million of taxpayers'
money was embezzled from the Aids Levy Fund,
a report by Eric Harid, the Comptroller and
Auditor-General, says.
The money had
been disbursed to the Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with Aids
(ZNNP+).
The report, released on Tuesday,
was produced following the Comptroller and Auditor-General's investigations
into the use of funds set aside by the National Aids Council for use by
ZNNP+.
Harid said: "I observed that there
were no internal control mechanisms put in place by the National Aids Council
to ensure that the funds reached the intended
beneficiaries."
He said the disbursement
of funds was shrouded in procedural impropriety. There was no proof that
those receiving help were either infected or relatives of those suffering
from Aids.
Some people received assistance
through payment of school fees, but for reasons unrelated to the scourge.
Wide-ranging reasons, such as "parents cannot afford because of poverty",
were given.
Managers of the fund responded
to the anomaly and said: "Above 50 percent of our members were not given
their results because that is seen as a violation of human rights and
protection for people living with HIV/Aids, hence the reason of lack of
evidence."
Harid said administrators of
the fund failed to account for huge sums of money, such as the $5 million
spent on the ZNNP+ Millennium Congress, held at Gokomere High School in
Masvingo from 9 to 12 April last year.
Two
individuals collected $74 397,42 and $9 975 for use at the congress, but did
not account for the money. Funds were used for the purchase of luxury goods
and properties and for the enrichment of officers. "I noted that cheques . .
. were used to purchase a refrigerator for $41 480, and a computer for $183
500," said Harid.
In Harare, two houses
bought by ZNNP+, purportedly for business purposes in Milton
Park.
One Mr Guni bought the two houses
with funds from UN-AIDS, and the ZNNP+ respectively. However, there were no
supporting documents to confirm the purchase prices and ownership of the
properties.
Co-ordinators A Juake, T
Shonhiwa, J Mxotswa, D Nkomo and S Mahlangu shared $200 000 between
themselves in allowances for the month of October 2001
alone. Most employed Zimbabweans contribute
three percent of their monthly income to the Aids Levy
Fund.
Allegations have been levelled
against the government for allowing, and in certain cases, participating in
the abuse of Aids levy funds.
The latest
row involved the Department of Information and Publicity in the President's
office's request for $65 million from the Aids levy fund, to sponsor the Miss
Malaika beauty pageant.
But David
Parirenyatwa, then the deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare refused to
part with the money.
Once elected, does
government cease to be
accountable?
10/4/02 8:57:29 AM
(GMT +2)
THE West African country
of Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) has been gripped, yet again, by political
crises since 19 September. Despite high-level mediation efforts by the
sub-regional organisation Economic Community for West African States (Ecowas)
there are no indications that the current crisis will be over
soon.
On Tuesday the Ecowas executive
secretary, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, led a mediation team to Abidjan to speak
to both the rebels and the government. There is no other hope beyond a
promise that talks will continue. In diplomatic terms that in itself is some
success because the initial posture of President Laurent Gbagbo was that his
government was facing a coup and, as an elected government it needed help to
put down an unconstitutional attempt to overthrow
it.
Under the new African Union his
government had a right to expect protection, including, military
intervention, to put down the coup attempt. But the issue is not that
clear-cut.
In the last two weeks it has
become clear that the rebellion is an unusual one and the usual suspicions
may not apply. The first suspect was General Robert Guei, former head of
Ivory Coast's first and only military junta but he was dead (allegedly killed
by pro-government security agents) along with his former Minister for the
Interior, within 48 hours of the rebellion
starting.
With Guei's death the government
must have hoped that the rebellion thus orphaned, would die out. But it did
not. Rather, it spread beyond Guei' s ethnic and regional base to the
constituency of President Gbagbo's main Democratic opponent, former Prime
Minister, Alassane Ouattara, in the north of the
country.
He had to escape from his
unprotected house in Abidjan to the
French embassy. Soon the rebels took
control of key northern areas of the
country.
Then the government shifted its
blame to neighbouring countries, principally Burkina Faso and Liberia.
Burkina Faso has about 3 million migrants in Ivory Coast and northern Ivory
Coast has both ethnic and religious affinity with Burkina Faso. Indeed the
main opposition leader, Ouattara, has been excluded from standing as
presidential candidate on the grounds of being
Burkinabe.
On the other hand Liberia is a
failing state from which "soldiers of fortune" can easily be recruited for
any purpose as long as the price is right. The Prime Minister of Ivory Coast
on 26 September alleged the leaders of the rebellion were foreign mercenaries
who spoke both English and French. Sierra Leone is also a source of
mercenaries.
Up to now it is not clear who
the leader of the rebels is. It is possible that they do not really have one
leader but are a manifestation of deep frustration in the army and wider
populace.
Only one Corporal Kwasi has
emerged as a spokesperson for the rebels. He has denied plans for a coup and
pointed out that they did not attack radio or television stations, which
would have given them easy access to lay out their political demands. Instead
they went for military targets.
He claims
they were rebelling against "dictatorship" (nothing new about that - every
coup plotter says that). President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal seemed to agree
with this when he declared at the Accra emergency meeting of the Ecowas
leaders that: "it was not a coup . . . It was not a mutiny of the military or
former military. It is a group, including officers, who have taken up arms to
make a number of demands".
And what are
these demands? According to Corporal Kwasi, in a BBC interview he claimed,
his colleagues and himself felt "used like slaves" for the past three years
and now dumped by Gbagbo's government.
Soldiers engaged in the rebellion were part of those recruited into the army
by General Guei in 1999-2000. Gbagbo has now made them redundant. This point
is very relevant for countries engaged in the DRC conflict who are now
withdrawing. These soldiers have made an alliance with
northerners, predominantly Muslims, other West African migrants resident in
Ivory Coast who have been the victims of xenophobia in the country. On the
logic of "my enemy's enemy is my friend" the soldiers have unwittingly
democratised the instruments of violence by giving weapons to these
disadvantaged groups who now feel newly empowered to protect their rights as
Ivorians.
This is what is making the
situation more dangerous for the country and the region. They will consider
an intervention on the side of the government as an attack on their rights as
citizens.
The root of the rebellion has to
be located in the xenophobic policies of successive Ivorian governments since
the death of its founder-President, Houphoet Boigny, from Henri Conan Bedie
through Guei to Gbagbo. It is not acceptable that a government can
disenfranchise and continue to victimise the majority of its citizens and
residents. It has no right or hope for political stability. The policy of
"Ivorite" ("pure" Ivorians) has to be reversed if the country is to return to
normalcy. The Ivorian crisis also raises questions about the democratisation
process in Africa.
Firstly, is it just
that a government should do whatever it likes, simply because it has been
elected?
Secondly, are elections (no
matter how many citizens participated or are disenfranchised) the only basis
of legitimacy? President Gbagbo became president by default in 2000 because
the popular opposition candidate, Ouattara, was prevented from standing. He
was a candidate who benefited from the lack of
democracy.
Thirdly, what are the
appropriate means of redressing injustices and naked iniquities when an
elected government is behaving autocratically? These questions are by no
means limited to Ivory Coast even if they are playing out there more
tragically now.
They are issues about
citizenship and the right of Africans to live, settle and enjoy full
democratic rights anywhere, from Cape to
Cairo.
Mutasa wants $36m limo as Zimpapers makes $48m
loss
10/4/02 8:40:13 AM (GMT
+2)
Business
Reporter
Justin Mutasa, the newly
appointed Zimbabwe Newspapers (Zimpapers) chief executive officer, is
allegedly demanding a $36 million Mercedes Benz vehicle despite the fact the
company recorded a staggering $48 million loss in the first half of the
year.
The move has left workers at the
troubled company angry.
Contacted for
comment, Mutasa, who responded through his secretary, said: "I don't discuss
Zimpapers' issues with strangers from The
Daily News."
Staff at Herald
House who spoke to The Daily News on condition of anonymity, said Mutasa's
demands were outrageous considering the company's financial
position.
Employees said if Zimpapers were
a private company it could have long been
liquidated.
Since year 2000, when
Professor Jonathan Moyo was appointed Minister of State for Information and
Publicity, a chairman, a chief executive officer and six editors have left
Zimpapers unceremoniously.
Out went Herald
editor Bornwell Chakaodza and his successor Ray Mungoshi, and editors of The
Sunday Mail, Pascal Mukondiwa and Funny Mushava, respectively, Chronicle
editor Steve Mpofu and his replacement, Edna Machirori. All left after Moyo's
appointment.
Tommy Sithole, the
longest-serving editor of The Herald, who bounced back as chairman in
September 1999, also left in March 2000.
Barely two years down the line, another chief executive officer, Bramwell
Kamudyariwa, resigned from the organisation well after short-lived editors
Chakaodza, Mungoshi, Mukondiwa and Mushava had
left.
Each editor and chief executive
departed Zimpapers with a company car and millions in cash as part of their
terminal benefits, which only served to push the cash-strapped company deeper
into the financial abyss..
Commenting on
Zimpapers' poor performance, board chairman, Enock Kamushinda, attributed the
loss to the escalating cost of newsprint. He, however, made no direct
reference to the flagging fortunes of most of its newspaper
titles.
Zimpapers publishes The Herald,
The Sunday Mail and the vernacular Kwayedza in Harare, The Chronicle and The
Sunday News in Bulawayo, and The Manica Post in
Mutare.
The Zimbabwe All Media and
Products Survey report released a fortnight ago by the Zimbabwe Advertising
Research Foundation showed that The Herald's readership fell from 2 387 000
last year to 1 948 000, while The Sunday Mail recorded a 336 000 drop in
readership. The Sunday News lost marginally, recording a 3 000 drop in
readership from 569 000 to 566 000, while on a rather positive note, The
Chronicle's readership rose by 63 000, but Kwayedza shed half of its
readership.
HARARE: At least 45 white farmers in Zimbabwe have been
ordered off their land in the last few days, as police step up evictions of
land owners in the west of the country, a farmers' group said on
Friday.
Farming crisis group Justice for Agriculture (JAG) said in a
statement that 45 farmers "have been warned to leave their farms immediately
or within the next 24 hours".
The police in some cases were armed,
the statement said. Contacted for comment, police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena
said he was not aware of the police action but said he would look into
it.
Some 2,900 white farmers were ordered off their land on August 8
under a contentious land reform programme aimed at handing over white-owned
land to new black farmers.
Around 350 farmers who defied the
deadline were arrested. Scores of farmers have successfully challenged their
evictions in the courts, but police did not seem to be taking any notice of
that, JAG said.
From
The Danish Presidency of the European Union, 3 October
Brussels,
3 October 2002
12630/02 (Presse 301)
P
139/02
Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union,
the Central and Eastern European countries associated with the European
Union, the associated countries Cyprus and Malta, and the EFTA country
Liechtenstein, member of the European Economic Area, concerning restrictive
measures against Zimbabwe.
The Central and Eastern European countries
associated with the European Union, the associated countries Cyprus and
Malta, and the EFTA country Liechtenstein, member of the European Economic
Area, declare that they share the objectives of the Council decision of 13
September 2002 implementing Council Common Position 2002/145/CFSP concerning
restrictive measures against Zimbabwe. They will ensure that their national
policies conform to that Council decision.
The European Union takes
note of this commitment and welcomes it.