http://www.voanews.com
Peta Thornycroft | Southern Africa 08 October
2010
Zimbabwe's power-sharing government is in crisis as Movement for
Democratic
Change leader, and prime minister in the government of national
unity, or
GNU, Morgan Tsvangirai says President Robert Mugabe has broken
the
constitution by unilaterally appointing senior public servants. And
experts
warn that the military and security establishment in Zimbabwe has
too much
control over the political process.
Mr. Tsvangirai said
Thursday that he learned at a meeting with Mr. Mugabe
earlier this week that
ZANU-PF members had been appointed as provincial
governors. He said these
appointments were both illegal and
unconstitutional. In terms of the two
year old global political agreements
any public service appointments must be
made in consultation with Mr.
Tsvangirai.
"My party's national
executive has today resolved that we must make a stand
to protect the
constitution of Zimbabwe and to return it to custodianship of
the citizens
of this country," said Prime Minister Tsvangirai. "As the first
step we will
refuse to recognize any of the appointments which President
Robert Mugabe
has illegally and unconstitutionally made over the past 18
months."
The political agreement was guaranteed by South Africa and
the regional
group, the Southern African Development Community, or
SADC.
"I now call upon President Mugabe to return this country to
constitutional
rule by correcting the unlawful appointments. I invite SADC
to work urgently
for a return to constitutional government," said Mr.
Tsvangirai.
So, far, there has been no reaction from Mr. Mugabe regarding
Mr.
Tsvangirai's comments.
Mr. Tsvangirai said he had taken
considerable political risk by signing the
political agreement and entering
into a government of national unity with
unreliable partners, Mr. Mugabe and
ZANU-PF.
Political analyst Brian Raftopoulos says that progress in
fulfilment of the
global political agreement, which is the foundation for
the inclusive
government, was controlled by the Zimbabwe
military.
"For the moment there is a sense of exhaustion about how you
come up against
a regime like this which has the monopoly of force and is
not shy to use it
when necessary," said Raftopoulos.
He said military
control of Zimbabwe was a major concern and there was no
easy way out of the
impasse.
"We are up against a regime, a military, and in a region which
is not
prepared to take any steps," he said. "Outside intervention is out of
the
question. It would not resolve the issue."
The global political
agreement was signed nearly six months after Mr.
Mugabe, and his ZANU-PF
party, lost elections on in March, 2008. About 200
of Mr. Tsvangirai's
supporters were killed after he easily beat Mr. Mugabe
in the first round of
the presidential poll. He withdrew from the second
round saying it was the
only way to prevent further deaths.
Ibbo Mandaza, a Zimbabwe political
commentator says the major disappointment
for Zimbabweans was that neither
South Africa nor SADC had been able to
persuade Mr. Mugabe to respect the
outcome of those elections.
"The expectation was that SADC and South
Africa would ensure the ballot was
respected, on the contrary it was not
respected," said Mandaza. "Many
Zimbabweans feel that the whole GPA [Global
Polititcal Agreement] process
was to batter the MDC into a GNU [government
of national unity] even though
they had won."
He also said that the
military and security establishment in Zimbabwe would
not allow the
inclusive government to make any progress if that diluted
ZANU-PF's state
power.
"The securocrats are saying we are the core of the state, we are
the
custodians," he said.
Both Mandaza and Raftopoulos said as the
military remained effectively in
control in Zimbabwe new elections were not
possible in the short term.
http://www.bbc.co.uk
8 October 2010
Last updated at 10:12 GMT
A top official in President Robert Mugabe's party has
rejected criticism
from Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as
"desperate".
The prime minister had accused the president of violating
the constitution
and their 2009 power-sharing deal.
But Jonathan Moyo
told the BBC that Mr Tsvangirai was just "making noise".
The BBC's Karen
Allen says the row is a clear attempt to ratchet up tensions
ahead of polls
due next year.
She says Mr Tsvangirai's attack on the Zimbabwean
president was one of his
strongest ever rebukes of Mr Mugabe.
At
a news conference in Harare on Thursday Mr Tsvangirai said: "I have
defended
President Robert Mugabe at my own cost politically.
"But neither I nor
the MDC can stand back any longer and just allow
President Mugabe and the
Zanu-PF to defy the law, to flaunt the
constitution, and to act as if they
own this country."
'Bread and butter issues'
Mr Tsvangirai said his
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would not
recognise any key
appointments made by Mr Mugabe in the past 18 months,
including governors,
judges and envoys, saying they had been appointed
unilaterally.
But
Mr Moyo insisted that it remains the president's prerogative to choose
provincial governors, saying they represent the president - not the prime
minister - at local events.
Continue reading the main story
"Start
Quote
The matter of Roy Bennett has now become a personal vendetta
and part of
a racist agenda"
End Quote Morgan Tsvangirai
He
told the BBC's Network Africa programme that Mr Tsvangirai was "making
noise" after a meeting with the leadership of his party, who gave him a hard
time because they "wanted government jobs".
Mr Moyo, a former
information minister who is on Zanu-PF's central
committee, also dismissed
suggestions that the deal was not working and said
the unity government had
delivered on "bread and butter" issues since it had
been set
up.
"This is a working arrangement that can last its full term," he
said.
Renewed violence
Mr Tsvangirai also recently complained about
renewed violence at meetings to
raise awareness about a new
constitution.
Human Rights Watch has accused Zanu-PF supporters of being
behind the
attacks.
On Thursday, Mr Tsvangirai also accused the
president of refusing to swear
in white farmer Roy Bennett, the prime
minister's choice for the post of
deputy agriculture minister.
Mr
Bennett was tried earlier this year on charges of plotting to oust Mr
Mugabe
and found not guilty.
"The matter of Roy Bennett has now become a
personal vendetta and part of a
racist agenda," Mr Tsvangirai
said.
Long-time rivals Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai agreed to share power
after
violence marred the 2008 elections.
Under their coalition deal,
the two politicians agreed to draw up a new
constitution followed by a
referendum, and then fresh elections.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
sibanda
8 October 2010
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s strong
rebuke of Robert Mugabe on
Thursday has struck a chord with his party
supporters, who were increasingly
getting worried about his defence of the
ZANU PF President.
A number of political analysts have said the outburst
by Tsvangirai may have
signaled the ‘reinvention’ of the man who caused
Mugabe a lot of discomfort
before he agreed to join the unity
government.
The Prime Minister’s verbal salvo was apparently prompted by
Mugabe’s
unilateral appointment on Sunday of provincial governors from ZANU
PF to
serve another term, in violation of the GPA.
‘In the last
couple of months people were seeing a different Tsvangirai who
was warming
up to Mugabe, which was unfortunate. He was over-praising his
opponent which
shouldn’t have been his role,’ Clifford Mashiri, a political
analyst
said.
For over a year the MDC leader has diplomatically avoided attacking
Mugabe
in the hope that the two rival leaders could govern together. Lately
Tsvangirai even voiced some praise for Mugabe, a move that shocked many of
his faithful. But at a news conference in Harare on Thursday Tsvangirai
admitted that he had defended Mugabe at his own cost,
politically.
‘What Tsvangirai did yesterday (Thursday) will help him
revive his flagging
fortunes after months of trying to defend an inclusive
government that is
hamstrung and not working. He should stick to his guns
and not leave it as a
statement. The MDC should follow up on the threats and
not recognize all the
unilateral appointments made by Mugabe,’ Mashiri
added.
The tough-on-Mugabe stance that Tsvangirai built his reputation on
during
his time as opposition leader appears to be resonating again,
following his
news conference. Political commentator Luke Zunga said
Tsvangirai had, to
his detriment, given the impression to SADC and the rest
of the world that
there was stability in Zimbabwe, when it was not the
case.
‘Yes the stability is there because he’s not been making enough
noise. He’s
allowed Mugabe to do what he wants because he rarely challenges
him like
what he did yesterday (Thursday). He has to stand up and say this
is not
working,’ Zunga said.
‘I’m glad that he’s getting angry. He
must be angry more often than he’s
been doing. His supporters want to see
that kind of defiance, the kind of
fight that is going to adjust the
powerbase in the inclusive government. If
he does this more often ZANU PF
will soon recognize there is another bull
standing in their way, just like
what he was before joining Mugabe in this
government,’
Zunga said
Tsvangirai, as head of government, had powers to instruct the
treasury to
stop paying the salaries of those whose appointments are in
dispute,
including the recently reappointed governors.
‘This is when a real fight
with Mugabe begins. It is the only way to show
SADC and the world that there
is a problem with a partner in the government
who is defying the law and
flaunting the constitution,’ Zunga said.
The SADC leaders pressed
Tsvangirai to share power with Mugabe 18 months
ago, after a disputed
election in which Tsvangirai won more votes than
Mugabe in the first round.
Now Tsvangirai is asking them to put pressure on
Mugabe to abide by the
agreement that formed the coalition government.
Associated Press
Oct 8, 7:00 AM EDT
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Zimbabwe's health minister
says the southern
African country needs $700 million to restore health
services shattered by a
decade of political and economic turmoil.
At
the launch Friday of the nation's biggest health investment and funding
appeal, Dr. Henry Madzorera said the "systematic decrease" in basic health
care destroyed services once seen as among the best in the
region.
The poorest and most vulnerable, particularly in rural
communities, were
hardest hit by rising child and maternal mortality and
acute shortages of
medication, including AIDS drugs.
The appeal,
backed by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the World
Bank, seeks
donor, private and government funds to raise annual spending on
health per
person to $34, up from the present $9.
http://news.radiovop.com/
08/10/2010 12:29:00
Harare,
October 8, 2010 - The European Union (EU) will meet in January to
discuss
the current sanctions slapped on Zimbabwe, the German Ambassador to
Zimbabwe, Albrecht Conze, has confirmed.
Sanctions were slapped on
President Robert Mugabe's government especially
his inner circle by the EU,
the United States of America (USA) as well as
several Western nations for
Zimbabwe's alleged abuse of the rule of law and
political meddling against
the opposition.
The meeting would be after the EU receives
recommendations from ambassadors
in Zimbabwe.
Germany has already
warned that it would not recommend the lifting of the EU
sanctions unless
Zimbabwe's rule of law and human rights situation improved.
"Nobody would
like to see the sanctions stay for another seven years," Conze
said. "That
would be a reflection of a deepening political crisis in this
country, which
all Zimbabweans would like to overcome. There has been some
progress,
however."
Last year, Berlin sent a protest note the the Government of
National Unity
(GNU) after a German national lost US$1.5 million worth of
investment in
Karoi at a farm in Headlands that was invaded by a senior army
brigadier.
Earlier this year, the Chancellaor Angela Merkel-led
government said
continued violations of the bilateral trade agreement
between the two
nations would jeopardise chances of the soutern African
nation receiving
financial support from Germany through a Multi Donor Trust
(MDT) Fund.
The MDTF is a basket fund coordinated by the international
community to
support the GNU.
"The EU is meeting in January to review
sanctions," Conze confirmed in
Harare.
The three principles to the
GNU, President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister,
Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy
Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara have aready
said sanctions are killing the
economy and resulting in millions suffering
in the cash-strapped nation,
once the bread basket of southern Africa.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
08 October 2010
A group of representatives from
Zimbabwean organizations in South Africa met
with officials from that
country's Department of Home Affairs to try and
resolve the problem of long
queues at application offices. The ultimate goal
was to ensure that
Zimbabweans who need to legalize their residency status
in South Africa meet
the December 31st deadline set by the government.
Nqabutho Dube, the
MDC-M secretary in Johannesburg, told SW Radio Africa on
Friday that the
meeting was productive in resolving the procedural matters
that will allow
faster processing of the applications. But he was concerned
that some of the
important legal issues that affect applications were not
concluded.
Dube
said the South African delegation was led by the Home Affairs Director
General, Methuni Aplein, who has been under pressure to meet the deadline.
Zimbabweans were represented by the Stakeholders Forum, consisting of NGOs,
human rights groups and political parties.
Dube said the most
important change agreed on was that application forms
would be available
online, starting next week. Zimbabweans had been queuing
for long hours and
sometimes sleeping at the offices just to get an
application form.
It
was also agreed that the number of officers processing finger prints at
each
office would be increased from 4 to 20. This would also help to speed
up the
process.
Dube said applicants can now go to either of the two regional
offices,
situated in Johannesburg and Pretoria. It is hope this would
distribute the
number of applications being processed at one place and
shorten the queues
in Johannesburg.
It was discovered early on during
the meeting that there was no proper
communication between the Home Affairs
head office and the regional offices.
Dube said he was shocked to find that
some regional managers did not even
know the requirements for applicants.
Director General Methuni Aplein took
time to explain to them that their job
was not to access the applications,
but to simply make sure that the
submitted documents were valid.
The new procedures will be in place next
week and a progress review will be
undertaken by the Stakeholders Forum a
week later. Dube said if all goes
well the process will run much more
smoothly and that the application
deadline would not need to be
extended.
It is estimated that around three million Zimbabwean immigrants
now live in
South Africa. Many are illegal because the process of
regularizing their
stay has been extremely difficult. But they now have to
go through the legal
process or face deportation after a cabinet decision in
August ended a
special dispensation policy which allowed Zimbabweans to stay
in South
Africa without a legal resident's permit.
http://www.mg.co.za/
KARABO KEEPILE | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Oct 08 2010
12:08
The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, has
tried to bring some
clarity to the chaos and confusion surrounding the
documentation process for
Zimbabweans living in South Africa. But even with
his assurances that all
permits will be processed on time for the December
31 deadline, the numbers
just don't add up.
According to the
Department of Home Affairs, of the 10 287 applications that
have been
submitted since September 202 126 have been approved and 174 have
been
rejected.
The department has just 350 000 Zimbabwean nationals on record
who have
legally entered South Africa through its sea, land and airports,
but the
International Organisation for Migration estimates that there are
between
1,5-million and two million Zimbabwean nationals living in the
country.
According to Leon Isaacson, the managing director of specialist
migration
company Global Migration South Africa, Home Affairs has about 60
working
days, excluding public holidays and weekends, to process at least 5
000
applications a day if it is going to meet its end-of-year
deadline.
Experts believe it is impossible for the department to process
all
Zimbabwean applications in just three months, especially considering a
200
000-strong aslyum-seeker backlog.
But Home Affairs spokesperson
Mzwandile Radebe told the Mail & Guardian on
Thursday that only three
kinds of permits were being issued during this
relaxed period: work, study
and business permits. Refugee and asylum-seeker
permits would have to be
applied for through the normal processes.
In addition to the Zimbabwean
documentation process, the department also
came under fire this week from
immigration practitioners who said there was
a massive backlog in the issue
of skilled-work permits.
Betsi Pendry, an American national working in
South Africa since 1998, has
first-hand experience. Pendry was fired from
her job as programme manager at
Constitution Hill last week after failing to
get her work permit through
Home Affairs. She was on a special-skills visa
and had filed her application
for a renewal in July. By the end of
September, the application had still
not been approved.
Although
stories like Pendry's aren't uncommon, Home Affairs maintains that
it can
and will process the Zimbabwean applications and will not back off
from its
December 31 deadline.
Radebe said a national staff contingent of 354
people had been put together,
dedicated solely to the documentation
project.
Although Home Affairs is not sure how many people will come
forward to get
regularised, the department said one Home Affairs official
should adjudicate
46 applications each day.
Radebe said applicants
must first submit all the necessary documents for
their permit. After this,
applicants are checked against the Immigrations
Act for sound and good
character, probed for possible possession of a
criminal record and their
skills are considered. Radebe said there is no
quota for the number of
people who will be issued permits.
Isaacson said that this lack of
clarity on who would qualify for work, study
or business permits is part of
the problem. As is the requirement for those
Zimbabweans seeking work
permits to get a letter from their employer as part
of the application
process. Employers fear they will be prosecuted for
employing illegal
immigrants.
On Wednesday Gigaba urged employers to help their Zimbabwean
employees
obtain the necessary documents, assuring them that they were also
protected
by the amnesty period ending December 31.
A spokesperson
for home affairs told the M&G last week that although
low-skilled
workers -- including domestic and restaurant workers -- would
not normally
qualify for a work permit, under the new rules they are
eligible.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Nobukhosi Sibanda
Friday, 08 October 2010
16:05
BULAWAYO - The late former Matabeleland North provincial
governor, Welshman
Mabhena will be laid to rest at the Lady Stanley Cemetery
in Bulawayo on
Saturday morning despite a request put in by President Robert
Mugabe and
Zanu PF to have him laid to rest at the national heroes acre in
Harare.
Mugabe dispatched his deputy, John Landa Nkomo to plead with
the Mabhena
family to have the body flown to Harare for burial
tomorrow.
Nkomo reportedly arrived at the Mabhena home at 1300 hours but
had to wait
forlornly until around 1430 hours when the Mabhena family
members converged.
He briefly had a chat with the widow of the late
governor, Rebecca before
sitting it out in the verandah of the house for
nearly two hours.
Speaking to The Daily News after the meeting with
Nkomo, Mabhena family
spokesperson, Norman Mabhena said the family had
accepted the national hero
status conferred on their relative.
But,
he added, this would not change anything as Mabhena would be laid to
rest in
Bulawayo as had been arranged.
"We have met with vice president, John
Nkomo. He told us that the late
Welshman Mabhena had been declared a
national hero. However, we have advised
him that the family had already made
arrangements for his burial at the Lady
Stanley Cemetery in Bulawayo on
Saturday. That is the position and nothing
will change," said
Mabhena.
Family sources told The Daily News that Nkomo had pleaded with
the Mabhena
family to release the body for burial but the pleas fell on deaf
ears.
Added Mabhena: "Welshman had misgivings about the National Heroes
Acre. He
was always chiding those that sleep there saying they do not
deserve to be
there. He has always said that upon his death, he did not want
to be placed
among such undeserving characters. "We decided as a family we
had to respect
his wishes and lay him to rest at a place where we believe is
fit for him
and in line with his wishes."
Three of Mabhena's
daughters who are outside the country were expected to
arrive in Bulawayo
Friday ahead of the final preparations for his burial.
http://news.radiovop.com
08/10/2010 14:24:00
Karoi, October 08,
2010 - There were running battles between Zanu (PF) rival
camps at a night
vigil of their late member on Wednesday in Karoi's
Chikangwe high density
surburb.
The official, Briden Zimba who died in a car accident near here
on Tuesday
has since been declared a district hero and will be buried in
Magunje on
Friday amid criticism from some disgruntled war
veterans.
Zimba was travelling in a car belonging to Deputy Minister of
Regional
Intergration and International Cooperation, Reuben Marumahoko, when
the
accident occured.
Some drunk youth forced senior party supporters
and mourners to scurry for
cover as they barred those from the rival camp to
attend the night vigil on
Wednesday.
"Ndimi mauraya DCC vedu ibvai
pano"(You are the one who killed our DCC
(district co-ordinating committee)
so go away, shouted the youth.
Zimba, was due to participate in an
election that had been postponed on four
occasions because of clashes among
war veterans.
Ironically the election was set for Wednesday when clashes
broke. He
belonged to a camp led by Marumahoko while the other camp has two
Hurungwe
members of Parliament who are suspended provincial
members.
Zimba died on the spot about nine kilometres out of Karoi when
the
ministerial car rolled three times. The driver tried to avoid a "a man
in
white robs in the middle of the road" according to Josiah Million, the
deputy minister's farm worker, who survived the accident.
Him and
three others including the deputy minister's bodyguard, driver,
constituency
secretary escaped with minor injuries.
Zimba was a surviving member of
terror gang fingered in the death of MDC
supporter Luckson Kanyurira in the
resort town of Kariba in 2001. Although
the 20 member gang that terrorised
Mashonaland West province were arrested,
they allegedly received three star
meals in prison supplied by a local
hotel. The bills were paid by then
provincial chairman who is now a Zanu
(PF) minister. The murder case is
still pending although the majority of
suspects died
mysteriously.
Zimba is being buried in Magunje against the wishes of his
family who wanted
him to be laid to rest in his home area of Karoi where
they had already dug
a grave for him.
Some party members decried the
hero status of 36year old.
"It raises questions on how such a young man
can be declared a hero. Heroism
in the party is selective and a joke," said
a war veteran who refused to be
named.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
08/10/2010 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
SIX employees of President Robert Mugabe have been arrested
over a spate of
armed robberies targeting small-scale miners and
farmers.
Police say the six - who all work at State House and Zimbabwe
House - drove
around in a government vehicle and masterminded a string of
robberies which
left a trail of terrified victims.
They are accusing of
stealing cash and gold worth over US$110,000.
Collen Muchapondwa Muchena,
38, Takemore Mupembe, 32, Tapiwa Muzvidza (age
not given), Elvis Dengu, 30,
Ian Aruneyo, 25, and Gibson Tapiwa Savanhu, 23,
appeared at the Chinhoyi
Magistrates' Court this week to face seven counts
of armed
robbery.
Prosecuting, Herald Matura told magistrate Alex Shumba that the
men, who
work for the State Residences section of the President's Office,
began their
reign of terror in early July when they intercepted a cotton
buyer who was
headed for Makonde on a motorbike.
One of the men
allegedly produced a pistol and seized US$45,030 in cash.
They bundled the
cotton buyer into their car before dumping him 500m from
the crime scene. A
witness took down the Isuzu truck's registration.
On July 26, the men are
accused of raiding the Botha 29 Chikuti Mine in
Mashonaland West Province
where they posed as detectives and accused miners
of illegal
activities.
One of the men produced an AK47 which he used to threaten the
workers - but
they left empty-handed when body searches yielded nothing of
value.
Mupembe was later positively identified during a parade as one of the
robbers.
On May 10, just after 1AM, the men allegedly drove to
D-Troop Mine, also in
Chikuti, and threatened a security guard before
breaking the lock for a
carbon tank. They seized carbon concentrate worth
US$35,000 and fled in the
Isuzu which the prosecutor said had been lent to
the President's Residences
by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe between February
and September.
An hour-and-half later, the men arrived at the Varipasi
Gold Mine where they
tied a security guard with a shoe lace after
threatening him with a pistol
and rifle.
They broke a lock securing the
mill and stole 545 grammes of alluvial gold
valued at about
US$19,000.
A month later, on June 14, the six men allegedly went to an
industrial site
in Chinhoyi at around 3AM and pretended to be gold dealers
who wanted to
sell gold.
The men allegedly produced a pistol,
handcuffed two men who were providing
security before seizing US$600 cash
and 107 grammes of gold. They bundled
the terrified pair in their truck
before dumping them along the Chinhoyi
Chegutu Road.
The prosecutor
said on August 18, the men targeted a house in Kuwadzana
Township in Banket
where they posed as detectives looking for firearms. One
of the men is said
to have produced a pistol which he used to intimidate a
family into handing
over US$1,450 in cash and a Nokia N95 phone.
Carrying on the police
deception, they ordered a husband and wife pair to
accompany them to Banket
Police Station, but dumped them on the Trelawney
exit.
In September,
they allegedly stopped a man on a motorbike between Banket and
Raffingora.
At gun-point, the man was forced to hand over US$626 and a
Motorolla V360
phone.
Police finally ended the gang's reign of terror in Chinhoyi last week.
http://www.mg.co.za/
RAY NDLOVU AND YOLANDI GROENEWALD - Oct 08 2010
06:33
Dawie Groenewald, the alleged rhino-poaching kingpin, has
been linked to
powerful Zanu-PF members in Zimbabwe, including Kembo Mohadi,
the joint home
affairs minister, and Jocelyn Chiwenga, the wife of army
chief Constantine
Chiwenga.
Groenewald, of Out of Africa Adventurous
Safaris, was arrested with his
wife, Sariette Groenewald, and a contracted
hunter, Tielman Erasmus, in
Limpopo last month in connection with poaching.
Groenewald was released on
R1-million bail and his wife on bail of R100
000.
Also among those held in police raids were two vets from the
Modimolle area,
Karel Toet and Manie du Plessis, and Toet's wife,
Mariza.
Groenewald, a former police officer, is well known among
Zimbabwe's
ranchers. According to Johnny Rodrigues, the chairman of the
Zimbabwe
Conservation Task Force (ZCTF), Groenewald's association with
Zanu-PF's top
brass in running illegal hunting activities in Zimbabwe could
open a can of
worms.
"Groenewald's arrest is likely to expose a lot
of high-powered people in
Zanu-PF who are involved in poaching activities.
The case is a time bomb
waiting to explode," he said.
"These
Zimbabweans are exporting resources for huge profits when they
haven't put a
cent into the safari business. It shows the dearth of law and
order in the
country."
In 2003 Groenewald operated Out of Africa Adventurous Safaris
in Zimbabwe
before it was banned in September 2005 by the Zimbabwe Parks and
Wildlife
Management Authority.
Safari industry watchdogs raised
concerns that Out of Africa was involved in
poaching and hunted on the farms
of evicted white farmers in cahoots with
war vets and Zanu-PF officials. Out
of Africa denied the charges levelled
against it.
Groenewald did not
want to comment citing sub judice.
Rodrigues highlighted the
allegedly illegal hunting operations of the
unlicensed Zhove conservancy
unit near Beitbridge. Farm owners in the area
said that the unit, comprising
state security personnel, war veterans and
Zanu-PF activists, was a prime
target of operators such as Groenewald. The
farmers said that the unit
"regularly receives hunting quotas from the
department of national parks and
wildlife".
According to the ZCTF, Zhove invaded five farms in Beitbridge
this year.
Zanu-PF's control of wildlife-rich areas had enabled it to use
poached
animals to feed soldiers and crowds at political rallies. Wildlife
sources
said that three elephants and three buffaloes were killed this week
to
provide meat for supporters at a Zanu-PF rally in Gokwe to open the
Women's
Development Bank.
Rodrigues said Zhove also sold animal skins
to South African poachers,
allegedly including Johannes Roos, who has been
linked to a shady alliance,
dubbed the "Musina Mafia" by
locals.
Well-placed sources in Musina confirmed that Roos and Groenewald
were "close
associates".
In July Beeld newspaper exposed Roos as part
of the "Musina Mafia" and
implicated him in arms smuggling across the
Zimbabwean border.
Roos's whereabouts are currently unknown, he is said
by sources close to the
poaching investigation to be in hiding.
An
exiled Zimbabwe radio station, SW Radio Africa, has reported that Mohadi
is
associated with South African-based poachers and facilitated Groenewald's
release in Zimbabwe after he was arrested for rhino poaching in the Bubi
area.
It is also suspected that Groenewald was released after
spending two nights
in a Beitbridge prison in August last year as a result
of Mohadi's
intervention.
Attempts to contact Mohadi for comment were
unsuccessful.
Zimbabwean wildlife sources said that, since 2000, when
farm invasions
began, Zanu-PF loyalists have extended their control over the
country's
lucrative safari business, grabbing all the best reserves. Jocelyn
Chiwenga
reportedly controls all concessions in the Victoria Falls area and
deals
with wealthy Americans.
The farmers said that Groenewald was
still very active in Zimbabwe.
"Although they [Out of Africa] were banned
from operating in the country, it
is known within safari industry circles
that they have been using an
operation called Africa Dream Safaris to hunt
in Zimbabwe," Rodrigues said.
Attempts to get a comment from Africa Dream
Safaris were unsuccessful.
http://www.voanews.com/
Peter Clottey 07 October
2010
The deputy chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly
in South Africa’s
capital, Pretoria said Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) is in
an unenviable position in the unity government after
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai expressed disappointment in President
Robert Mugabe.
George Mkwananzi said the MDC party is behaving like a
trapped animal unable
to untangle itself from its predicament.
“They
(MDC) still see some relevance for them to continue inside but, they
still
continue to be humiliated and embarrassed by Mr. Robert Mugabe within
the
unity government. So, they don’t know what to do. They would want to
walk
out, but they see all the ghastly probabilities of the kind of horror
that
was experienced before the unity government.”
Mkwananzi also said that
despite the condemnation, the MDC is still
operating as a partner in the
unity government.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai Thursday accused Mr.
Mugabe of unilaterally
appointing officials into the unity government which
he said flouts the
Global Political Agreement that led to the formation of
the current
administration.
Recently, President Mugabe single
handedly appointed the reserve bank
governor, the attorney general, five
judges, six ambassadors and the police
service commission without any input
from the MDC.
Mr. Tsvangirai vowed that his party will not recognize what
he described as
Mr. Mugabe’s autocratic appointments.
Mkwananzi said
embattled President Mugabe keeps having his way in the unity
government
despite protests from the MDC.
“It’s an important decision or protest on
the part of MDC but it will not
mean anything to ZANU-PF, once they have
deployed their cadres to take up
positions in those areas. They will
continue to do the job according to the
instructions of their employer, in
this case Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF. So,
MDC can only complain and complain,
but that won’t create any difference.”
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
08 October
2010
The editor of the previously banned Daily News newspaper has told SW
Radio
Africa that the paper will publish its first edition within the next
few
weeks. The paper was given a licence at the end of May this year but
John
Gambanga said the delay in launching the paper was due to various
issues,
that included the refurbishment of their printing press and the need
to
recruit top quality journalists.
"When the licence was issued we
discovered that our printing press needed a
lot of refurbishment. So we have
contracted technicians from Sweden, where
we bought the printing press, and
they are still working on the machine now.
But I can say emphatically that
the refurbishment has gone on about 95
percent and we are almost there,"
Gambanga told us.
The Daily News was bombed twice, first in 2000 and then
2001. A powerful
bomb exploded at an art gallery on the ground floor of the
newspaper's
offices in the city centre before a second bomb caused extensive
damage to
the Z$100 million printing press, in a building on the outskirts
of Harare.
Eventually the Mugabe regime banned the paper in 2003 using
repressive media
legislation.
But at the end of May the Zimbabwe
Media Commission announced that the Daily
News, along with three other daily
newspapers and one weekly, would be
licenced within a week. Other papers
included The Mail (ZANU PF's youth
organisation, Footlink Ventures), Newsday
(Alpha Media), the Daily Gazette
(Modus Media) and The Worker, a weekly
publication of the Zimbabwe Congress
of Trade Unions.
Gambanga told
us another reason for their delay in publishing was to allow
them to recruit
the right people. "We are very cautious on whom we hire,
once beaten twice
shy, so we learnt a lot from the past. So we are not
hiring anybody, we are
being careful whom we hire so that we are not
infiltrated by moles, as has
happened in the past." This policy he said
applied to all departments of the
paper.
Asked if there would be too many papers for such a small the
market Gambanga
agreed, saying the Zimbabwean economy was not doing well;
"So in terms of
advertising the situation is going to be stiff, but I think
we will emerge
victorious. We are a brand name and once we hit the streets
we intend to
pick up from where we left."
Given the repressive media
landscape is he not worried about journalists
being too careful what they
write? 'We don't want reporters who engage in
self-censorship. We are not
hiring that kind of team. We are putting
together a team that will abide by
our motto of 'telling it like it is.'
Meanwhile the Media Institute of
Southern Africa has announced that
Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin'ono
has been nominated for a prestigious
Rory Peck award, honouring freelance
camerawork in news or current affairs.
'Chin'ono's film, A Violent
Response, which depicts Zimbabwe's violent land
reform programme, was
selected as a finalist together with three other films
on 29 September 2010
by a panel of news professionals, both executive and
freelance. The nominees
will be travelling to London in November for the
awards ceremony,' MISA
said.
The Rory Peck Trust supports freelance news gatherers and their
families
worldwide in times of need and promotes their welfare and safety.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
08 October, 2010
About 50 officials and union members
from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) took part in a protest
march in Bulawayo on Friday, to
commemorate the World Day for Decent Work.
The actual internationally
recognized day is October 7th, which was
Thursday.
Our correspondent Lionel Saungweme who followed the march spoke
to ZCTU
officials who said it was a 'belated' event but needed to be done,
given the
bad treatment of workers in Zimbabwe.
The protest march
began on Jason Moyo and proceeded down 9th Avenue, making
a brief stop at
the offices of the Chronicle newspaper. Several
representatives from ZCTU
affiliates addressed the protesters.
Saungweme said they were demanding
decent wages, in line with the poverty
datum line and improvements in safety
at the work place.
The protest march ended at the ZCTU offices on Silundika
Avenue.
Harare, October
8th, 2010- Today, the U.S.
Government announced that the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences
will receive an award from the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI).
MEPI will support the goals of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
(PEPFAR) by investing $130 million to improve African medical education and by
training 140,000 African health care workers over five years.
Under this award, the
University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences (UZCHS) is partnering with the
University of Colorado-Denver, Stanford University, the University of Cape Town,
University College London and King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry to
train new health care workers and to improve the capacity of Zimbabwean health
care institutions to deliver care.
The $15 million award
to UZCHS will cover the Novel Education Clinical Trainees and Researchers
(NECTAR) program and two linked awards program areas: Cerebrovascular, Heart
Failure and Rheumatic Heart Disease Interventions (CHRIS) Strategy and Improving
Mental Health Education and Research Capacity in Zimbabwe (IMHERZ) over five
years.
“The UZCHS feels
privileged to be awarded this prestigious grant from the US National Institutes
of Health/ Fogarty International Center (NIH/FIC) and PEPFAR. The award has
come at a very opportune time when the UZCHS is revamping academic and research
activities,” says Professor James Hakim, Principal Investigator NECTAR, CHRIS
and IMHERZ. He said the grant will enable the premier medical training
institution in Zimbabwe to “implement programs to improve undergraduate,
postgraduate and faculty training in the areas of clinical management and
research capacity, and in general to create a scholarly and inquisitive
environment at the institution.”
Ambassador Eric
Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and the head of PEPFAR, described the
partnership as an important step to “transition PEPFAR-supported HIV efforts
from an emergency response to a more sustainable effort…and to develop the
expertise necessary for evidence-based decision-making on the local level.”
Funded through a
joint partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and
PEPFAR, MEPI grants are awarded directly to African institutions in a dozen
countries, working in partnership with U.S. medical schools and universities.
The initiative will form a network of 30 regional partners, country health and
education ministries, and more than 20 U.S. collaborators. A complete list of
awards and collaborating partners is available at: www.fic.nih.gov/programs/training_grants/mepi/awards.htm
PEPFAR, through the
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Zimbabwe, currently collaborates with the
University of Zimbabwe on a number of initiatives including a well-respected
two-year Masters Degree program in Public Health and the HIV/AIDS Quality of
Care Initiative.
The United States is
fully committed and engaged with Zimbabwe in the fight against HIV/AIDS through
PEPFAR, including the Government of Zimbabwe’s scale up of antiretroviral
treatment. In 2010, the number of people receiving ARVs with direct PEPFAR
funding increased to 59,000, up from 40,000 in 2009. PEPFAR’s 2011 budget for
Zimbabwe is increasing by more than 20% (US$10 million) over this current year
to a total of US$57.5 million. This follows a doubling of the Zimbabwe PEPFAR
budget from 2009 to 2010 (from approximately US$26 million in 2009 to US$47.5
million in 2010). Much of that increase came as part of President Obama’s pledge
of assistance to Zimbabwe. PEPFAR programs are implemented in Zimbabwe by the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USAID, and the Embassy's
Public Affairs Section (PAS), under the leadership of the Embassy.
The U.S. President's
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the U.S. Government initiative to
support partner nations around the world in responding to HIV/AIDS. It was
launched in 2003, and is the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single
disease internationally in history. PEPFAR is the cornerstone of the President’s
Global Health Initiative, which supports partner countries in improving health
outcomes through strengthened health systems. For more information, please visit
www.PEPFAR.gov, http://twitter.com/uspepfar, or www.facebook.com/PEPFAR.
# #
#
Comments and queries
should be addressed to Sharon Hudson-Dean, Public Affairs Officer. E-mail: hararepas@state.gov Tel. +263 4 758800-1,
Fax: 758802.
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#
Harare, October 8,
2010: Charge’ d’ Affaires
at the American Embassy, Mr. David Abell, says Washington is realigning its
support to the humanitarian sector in Zimbabwe to build stronger institutions
and systems which allow for long term food security.
“We
are very optimistic about this shift to support long term recovery and we are
happy to be partnering with the Government of Zimbabwe to help vulnerable
families in Zimbabwe to get back on their feet,” said Abell during the launch of
the $44 million Promoting Recovery in Zimbabwe (PRIZE) Program in Harare on
Wednesday.
PRIZE is funded by
the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Food for Peace
program. Under the program, USAID’s partners will provide approximately 24,400
metric tons of food to vulnerable households in Zimbabwe over the next two
years. The program will also assist an estimated 90,000 vulnerable homes in
eight districts through community-based programs to improve long term food
security. The
eight districts are Mudzi, Rushinga, Bulilima, Mangwe, Gwanda and Mberengwa.
They were selected due to their high degree of food insecurity.
The
project will support the installation/maintenance of small and large-scale
irrigation systems; rehabilitation of livestock assets such as cattle dip tanks;
conservation agriculture; extension services to improve livestock husbandry; and
training for village savings and lending groups on managing income generation
activities.
Deputy
Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Tracy Mutinhiri commended the PRIZE
program, saying it complemented government efforts in ensuring food security.
She further urged the partners to put more emphasis on community works programs,
such as the rehabilitation of small scale irrigation schemes.
“I
see this as a permanent solution to food aid that will leave space for other
national developmental programs. Government instruments of development, such as
our medium-term plan, recognize the need to now move from a relief to a recovery
program since the nation is now on a recovery path,” said the Deputy Minister
who is also member of House of Assembly representing Mashonaland East
constituency.
The United States
government is the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance in Zimbabwe.
Since 2002, the United States has contributed more than $1 billion to
humanitarian operations in Zimbabwe. This support reached a peak of 7 million
people in 2009.
“The trend is now
reversing,” said Abell. “We must look beyond feeding people today and tomorrow,
and build stronger institutions and systems which will allow for long-term food
security.”
The
launch of the PRIZE program, which was witnessed by senior government officials
and representatives of local and humanitarian NGOs, succeeds an earlier program
implemented by C-SAFE partners that ended in August 2008, after eight years of
humanitarian response.
Speaking
at the same occasion, Karen Freeman, USAID Mission Director said her
organisation is committed to “a more comprehensive approach to humanitarian
response, meeting the urgent needs of vulnerable populations, while addressing
some of the underlying causes of food insecurity.”
“USAID’s
effort to improve livelihoods and build capacity is part of an overall effort to
transition to long term economic development, instead of only giving strict
emergency assistance. This effort is reflected in all our programs,” said the
USAID director.
PRIZE consortium
local partners also include ACDI/VOCA and CARE. They will work closely with the
Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT), the Organization of Rural
Associations for Progress (ORAP), and the Southern Alliance for Indigenous
Resources (SAFIRE).
According
to the May 2010 Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) report, an
estimated 1.3 million Zimbabweans would be food insecure at the peak of the
2010/11 lean season early next year. About 904,463 rural people are estimated to
require food aid between this month and the end of the year. The highest
prevalence of food insecurity is projected to be in Matabeleland North,
Matabeleland South and Masvingo provinces, as well as the northern parts of the
country which experienced dry spells in the second half of the 2009/10
agricultural season– HrePas
08/10/10
Images are available
upon request.
# #
#
This is a product of
the U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section. Queries and comments should be
addressed to Sharon Hudson-Dean, US Embassy Public Affairs Officer: hararepas@state.gov Tel. +263 4 758800-1
Become a Fan on Facebook!
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http://www.nation.co.ke/
By KHOLWANI
NYATHI
Posted Friday, October 8 2010 at
15:44
HARARE
The transformation of the Kenyan society has
drawn keen interest from as far
as Zimbabwe.
The Southern African
country has closely tracked the progress from the
bloody elections to a
coalition government and now to a new constitution.
Kenya’s recent
successful adoption of a new supreme law has suddenly
awakened optimism that
Zimbabwe can rise again despite President Robert
Mugabe’s unshakeable grip
on power.
All hopes are now pinned on a new constitution to replace the
one adopted at
Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, which has been amended 19
times.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) says Zimbabweans have
to learn
from the Kenyan experience or their dreams would be
shattered.
Kenya shares a number of similarities with Zimbabwe, namely
that both were
British colonies, both had a Lancaster House constitution and
both currently
have power sharing governments that emanated from contested
election
results.
The constitution-making process in Zimbabwe is
already behind schedule amid
grumblings about lack of funding, inadequate
consultations and lack of
political will. ZESN says there are many lessons
Zimbabwe can draw from the
Kenyan process to rescue its own
initiative.
“ZESN observed that the constitution review process in Kenya
was grounded on
a solid legal framework with benchmarks that provided the
timelines and
specifications for the conduct of the process,” the lobby
added. “Processes
were not left to chance.”
“In addition,
institutions responsible for the review and the conduct of the
referendum
that is the committee of experts and the Interim Independent
Electoral
Commission respectively were independent in the carrying out of
their
mandate and were open to the scrutiny of civil society and all
stakeholders.”
The Zimbabwe constitution making process is led by a
select parliamentary
committee and critics say it only represents the
interests of the three
governing parties to the exclusion of civil society
and other stakeholders.
Trevor Maisiri of the Africa Reform Institute, a
local think tank, believes
lessons from Kenya are not anything technical but
just the commitment of
people to peace and concerted efforts to achieve
their goals.
“The greatest lesson for Zimbabwe is just the creation of a
peaceful
atmosphere and to protect citizens in expressing their personal
political
preferences without intimidation,” he added.
“Political
parties are so polarised (here) and there is no common platform
for peace
building and for ensuring a credible and peaceful constitutional
process.”
Maisiri said with the sporadic incidents of violence so far
reported during
the constitutional outreach meetings, the referendum can be
bloody if there
is no common commitment to peace like the Kenyans expressed
through the
Uwiano Platform for Peace.
However, Takura Zhangazha, a
Harare-based commentator says the Kenyan
process should have given
Zimbabweans enough reasons not to trust a process
led by
politicians.
“The lessons that Zimbabwe can draw from the Kenyan
referendum experience
are that if politicians are the sole drivers of a
constitutional reform
process, it will be delayed,” he said.
“As you
are aware it has taken two referendums for Kenya to finally come up
with a
new constitution.“ Chances of the new Zimbabwean constitution passing
the
test at the first referendum scheduled for early next year are
50-50.
President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party and that of his arch enemy
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
hardly
agree on anything despite their marriage having subsisted for more
than a
year.
Reason Ngwenya, another Harare-based analyst says like
in Kenya, the
Zimbabwean parties would have to put their country
first.
“The Kenyan experience is that coalition partners should iron out
ideological differences before going out to a referendum, because Zanu PF
will fortunately not have its way.
“The disturbing signals are that
MDC is contemplating discrediting the
process while Zanu PF is content with
a NO!”
Email: jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM - No..zw with "For
Open Letter
Forum" in the subject line.
To subscribe/unsubscribe to
the JAG mailing list, please email:
jag@mango.zw with subject line "subscribe" or
"unsubscribe".
=================================================
1.
Cathy Buckle - Ancient Treasures
2. A Battle Weary Farmer -
CFU
3. J.L. Robinson - Zanu: Planned People's Poverty
4.
Zimbabwe Tobacco Seed Association
5. Zimbabwe
Project
=================================================
1.
Cathy Buckle - Ancient Treasures
Dear Jag
When a Zimbabwean living
in the Diaspora asked for a photograph of
Bushman paintings recently, the
request provided the perfect excuse for
an outing into our beautiful bush and
kopjes. The brief excursion also
allowed me to see what a tourist might see.
What an eye opener it was.
On a clear summer morning a friend and I
travelled 30 kilometres to a
cave painting Id not seen before. I imagined
myself as a tourist in a
bus, looking out of the window and the first thing I
saw on the journey
was all the litter. Everywhere I looked there was litter:
on the streets,
along the pavements, piled up in heaps outside flats and
shopping centres
and dumped in ugly, festering piles on the outskirts of
towns. Litter
removal: such a small thing; the responsibility of local
municipal
councils, paid for by ratepayers, but not being
done.
Heading onto the open road the first thing you see is that none of
the
main highways have lane or shoulder markings and there are no
warning
signs, chevrons or cats eyes. Almost every bridge you cross has
broken
railings and none of the rivers have names anymore, the signs ripped
out
of the concrete or removed from posts. Isn't road maintenance
being
paid for by all the money collected at tollgates, I wondered.
As
we got out into the country the only view was of black. Mile after
mile of
burnt landscape, black ground in every direction; hills and
valleys carpeted
in ash, trees scorched, bushes burnt. On both sides of
the road farm land
lies mostly deserted and derelict and there is no sign
of ploughed lands or
preparation for the coming rainy season.
Boundary fences along the roads
have almost all gone and cattle and goats
graze right alongside the highway
providing a deadly hazard to traffic.
These boundary fences were always the
responsibility of farmers whose
land adjoins highways but now farms have been
taken over and regulations
about fences are ignored.
Arriving at our
destination situated just a few metres off the road and
behind the railway
station of a small town; we walked towards the small
outcrop of rock.
Negotiating our way over burnt ground and around a maze
of scorched brambles,
I could hardly believe that an ancient national
treasure could possibly be
situated here. Plastic bags were snagged on
bushes and empty beer tins lay on
the ground. I had to take a deep breath
and try not to look at the piles of
human faeces that sat in numerous fly
covered heaps around the base of the
kopje. I stepped over them and knew
without a doubt that if I was a tourist
by now I would have turned back
in disgust and not continued on this quest to
see an ancient painting.
A little further around the kopje, up a few
boulders and suddenly there
it was, under an overhang of sheared rock. The
colours of the ancient
paintings beckoned immediately: orange, brown, ochre,
yellow, purple.
Large, dark brown oval designs in the centre with crowds of
animals
painted above. A magnificent sable, its long horns sweeping backwards
in
perfect curves. An unmistakable image, as recognisable to me now as
it
must have been to the artist thousands of years ago.
Leaving the
Bushman paintings behind and taking a short drive back to the
main road, we
passed a plinth and memorial to fallen soldiers of World
War Two - the plaque
and inscription vandalized and removed in the last
decade by men calling
themselves Zimbabwe's war veterans.
Tourism accounted for almost 17% of
Zimbabwe's GDP in 2000 but now
contributes less than 5% to our economy. The
endless seminars and
workshops being held say that billions will be needed to
revive the
tourist industry. We can all see, however, that a political
solution and
a few dustbin bags will do very well thank you. Until next time,
thanks
for reading, love
Cathy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.
A Battle Weary Farmer - CFU
Dear JAG,
CFU....ANOTHER
EXPERT....
I am absolutely horrified to see that the CFU, after claiming
to
represent the majority of commercial farmers, after spending six
months
rushing around the country with their "maps", after promising,
cajoling
and all else, the weary battle scarred farmers, are now calling in
an
expert.....to do the work again for them.
Exactly what do all those
people at CFU do all day? Brainstorming by
definition requires a brain and
thought process to begin with, and there
certainly has been a dire lack of
cranial horsepower at the CFU over the
past ten years.
Other CFU
initiaties have been launched, and failed, why should this one
be any
different? And at what cost to the farmers? CFU seems to fall
short on
the democratic side, the honesty and transparency - the recent
discovery of
substantial missing amounts of funds from the CFU coffers,
swept under the
carpet and supposedly dealt with "in house" - why are the
farmers not
informed of this, especially in view of the doubling of
licence fees and the
shiny new begging bowl...
It is more than a little disconcerting that,
ten years of farmer funding
coupled with serious donor support, and the CFU
openly admits that they
at a loss as to what farmers want...
Thank
heavens we still have JAG, battle scarred as it is, never a lie or
innuendo,
even if the truth hurts.
Thank you,
A battle weary
farmer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.
J.L. Robinson - Zanu: Planned People's Poverty
Dear Jag
George
Mikes has explained how and why Zanu has created a nation of poor
people in
Zimbabwe. His book is titled "How to be Poor."
"The poor have always
outnumbered the rich and the problem has
always been how to subjugate them
and how to persuade them
to accept law and order
to serve and
revere the rich
The poor - to save themselves have tried three main
devices.
Occasionally they have revolted against the rich. All their
revolts were
defeated (from Spartacus to the Swiss) and it is difficult to
decide who
was responsible for the worst atrocities and cruelty - the
educated
and noble victors or the uneducated and angry rebels.
Then
the poor put forward the idea that all men were equal. This ideal
failed
because all men are not equal. It is far from true that it is the
better man
that wins. Often it is the meaner, baser, more ruthless, cruel
and cunning
who does so. People are not equally mean, base, ruthless,
cruel and cunning
any more than they equally enterprising, brave,
imaginative and intelligent.
Briefly, they are not equal.
The came the most brilliant idea: Marxism.
Marxists declared that one
layer of the population - the proletariat - was
much better
than the rest. As it happened, the proletariat - was
indeed
downtrodden, uneducated, bitter, and revengeful - so the
idea
boiled down to being that the worst layer of population was the best.
The
Marxists then added `Let the rich be poor and poor be rich.'
Basically
this was a good and fair idea, and as there were many more poor
in the world
than rich, the idea appealed to the masses. (We need land
- and the Meikles
Hotel, by the way?)
But the poor did not know how to be rich - they were
mere
beginners. (Getting diesel out of a rock to be given a farm by
the
proletariat - only to then be put in prison?)
They were cheated
again.
A new layer of rich and spoilt rulers emerged - and the fate of
the
masses was exactly the same as before - except it was worse.(5
million
chose to leave the proletariat behind with their country?)
Capitalism,
they say, is the exploitation of one man by the other.
Communism is the
other way round."
The leader of the proletariat send the Fifth Brigade
out into
Matabeleland and murders 25 000 civilians - to show who is
boss.
The leader of the proletariat steals the best dairy farm in the
country
for himself and his wife - and proceeds to close down 75% of
the
rest of the industry to assist his acquiring of market share.
Then
the leader of the proletariat tells his central banker to print
money at pace
for his loyal followers.
Then the leader of the proletariat appoints his
military to supervise
diamond mining for export to China.
Then the
leader of the proletariat appoints a figure head opposition
prime minister
that his thugs did not manage to kill previously.
Then the leader of the
proletariat demands that the prime minister
cleanse him and his regime in the
international arena before his
government can stop killing more civilians -
poor ones mind you.
Is this Communism, or is this Capitalism?
J.L.
Robinson
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.
Zimbabwe Tobacco Seed Association
Dear Jag
The Zimbabwe Tobacco
Seed Association is trying to contact the following
Gentlemen.
Ross
Milne
Stuart Pattison
Andrew Hart
Mathew Hart
G.A.
Johnston
I.A. McDonald
We can be contacted at ztsa@zol.co.zw.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.
Zimbabwe Project
Dear Jag
I have been asked by a well known Young
French Artist, ALEXANDRA KAWIAK
who is doing a project about Zimbabwe, and
would love to have as many
people as possible to get involved.
Alex
spent some time with me in Zimbabwe on our farm, has wonderful
memories of
both the people and country
This is a great project and I ask you to
please pass this through the
network to get some drawings for
her:
thanks
Lisa Nislev
Please pass on following:
ALEXANDRA
KAWIAK: ZIMBABWE PROJECT
In my project there is a drawing section, and
for this I would need to
collect drawings made by Zimbabweans (whites and
blacks).
The rule is simple, I need 2 drawings from each person (no
drawing skills
are required!!!)
-Ask Zimbabweans that live abroad to
draw from memory, on a white sheet
and with a pencil, the house of their
childhood in Zimbabwe or the house
they lived in, in Zimbabwe.
The
drawing must be a view of the house from the outside.
-The other drawing,
on another white sheet with a pencil, would be
objects that were in the
house. It could be a lamp, a sculpture,
furniture, anything !
For each
participant I would need the name (just first name is fine),
age, profession
and country of residence.
Do you think you could pass this on to some of
your contacts ?
I can receive the drawings by email at alexandrakawiak@gmail.com or
by
post.
ALEXANDRA KAWIAK
+ 33 (0) 6 61 99 20 14
skype:
alexkawiak
www.alexandrakawiak.com
www.galeriefredericlacroix.com
http://imsocontemporary.blogspot.com
=================================================
All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the
submitters,
and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice for
Agriculture.
=================================================
Friday October 8th 2010
Natural
disasters claimed millions of lives in 2010. The earthquake in Haiti
and the
floods in Pakistan are just two examples that have dominated the
world's TV
screens this year. Every time the images are shown of cities
reduced to
rubble and thousands of people homeless or flooded acres of
farmland with
villagers on rooftops waiting to be rescued, the reaction is
the same: How
does a country ever recover from such cataclysmic natural
disasters?
The disaster that has overtaken Zimbabwe is not natural,
it is man-made and
political but the result equally cataclysmic. It is the
destruction of the
nation's moral fibre, the erosion of African culture with
its inherent
belief in human values, of respect for others and care for the
community's
least privileged members. Looking in from the outside,
Zimbabweans in the
diaspora see their country becoming daily more corrupted
by the politics of
power where even the most sacred cultural practices are
being misused by the
former ruling party to intimidate the people into
submission.
Funerals are a feature of traditional cultural practice, a
sacred occasion
where people gather to bid farewell to the deceased in a
mixture of
Christian and traditional beliefs which co-exist quite happily.
Add Zanu PF
politics and thuggery to that mix and you have a recipe for
violence and
intolerance such as we saw most shockingly illustrated this
last week when
MDC villagers were assaulted for attending the funeral of one
of their
colleagues killed by Zanu PF supporters.
Traditional chiefs
too, have become embroiled in the political tug of war
that is going on.
Chiefs are the spiritual guardians of the nation's
cultural heritage but,
not for the first time, they have allowed themselves
to be used to further
the ends of power-hungry politicians. Mugabe is
following in the footsteps
of the former colonial masters in corrupting the
chiefs countrywide with
hefty financial incentives to ensure that their
subjects support him and his
party. In Gutu district the local chief has
banned opposition rallies in his
area and in Zaka it is the local chief who
protects the so-called war
veteran Sibanda as he continues on his rampage,
ordering the villagers to
pay a $10 fine for non-attendance at his rallies
while headman are ordered
to 'donate' a beast for the same reason.
Traditional beliefs and
practices which are the bedrock of Zimbabwean
culture have been so
infiltrated with Zanu PF politics that it must be hard
sometimes to
distinguish between the two. But despite my initial pessimism
there have
been signs this week that resistance to the apparent omnipotence
of Zanu PF
is still alive and kicking. Morgan Tsvangirai's blunt
condemnation of
Mugabe's deceit and lies is a timely reminder to his
followers that, despite
appearances to the contrary, the MDC leader has not
been taken in by
Mugabe's claim that only those who fought in the Liberation
struggle are
entitled to rule Zimbabwe. "The MDC utterly rejects any
suggestion that
power is an entitlement through historical legacy" he told a
press
conference in a strongly worded statement.
On the ground, too, there are
welcome signs that ordinary people are
beginning to see the truth behind the
Zanu PF lies. The Chiadzwa villagers
are refusing to move from their
traditional homes in the diamond fields
until they are paid the promised
compensation; MDC MPs have found a way of
silencing the outbursts of the
'war vet' Sibanda by the simple expedient of
following him round from
meeting to meeting and villagers in Bikita have
openly voiced their
objections at having to contribute $20 each towards the
next Zanu PF
conference. But for me it was the honesty and humility of
'Comrade Tariro'
who had the courage to speak openly of his disillusionment
with Mugabe's
'land reform' that finally convinced me that Zimbabweans at
home are finding
their voice and learning the strategies of resistance.
Perhaps there is hope
after all that Zimbabwe can recover from the disaster
of thirty years of
Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH. aka
Pauline Henson.