News24
Mugabe: Zim needs the East
15/08/2004 20:48 -
(SA)
Harare - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on Sunday vowed to
defy
sanctions imposed on him and his government associates by western
countries,
saying the country can make it without support from the
West.
"We just can't mourn and bemoan because the West are imposing
sanctions
against us. We must be able to find ways of surviving," Mugabe said
in an
interview with his ruling Zanu-PF party's mouthpiece, the
Voice.
"There are countries that have had worse sanctions than ourselves,
like
Cuba. But there they continued going and the people are even more
united,"
he said in an interview published here on Sunday.
Mugabe last
year announced that he would not bother trying to deal with the
US and
countries in the EU, particularly former colonial ruler Britain, and
would
turn his attention to the East for trade, aid, investment and
even
tourism.
"The West is not the only source of assistance, nor is
it the only area of
market.
"Time has now come not just for Zimbabwe
but for the Third World to realise
that the sun rises in the East. Let's look
to the East where the sun rises.
"That's where the majority of the people
of this world are, that's where we
also get the greatest support because the
East is the Third World.
"It sees things the same way we see them, thinks
as we do, dreams as
ourselves, so they are our greatest friends," he
said.
The 80-year-old leader and 95 other officials of his party and
government
are under a travel ban to the EU and the US.
From The Sunday Times (SA), 15 August
SADC won't punish
Zimbabwe
Despite damning report, sanctions are not
on
Sthembiso Msomi
Mauritius - Southern African ministers
are to re commend that no action be
taken against Zimbabwe despite a recent
African Union report detailing human
rights abuses committed by President
Robert Mugabe's government. In a report
prepared ahead of tomorrow's Heads of
State summit, the Southern African
Development Community's foreign affairs
ministers say they are opposed to
sanctions but propose that the region
should be more active in ensuring that
Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections in
March next year are fair. "We remain
opposed to sanctions as we believe that
they impact negatively on the
poor... We are committed to work within SADC
organs to help the Zimbabweans
find a solution to their situation," the
council of ministers recommends.
Zimbabwe has faced renewed regional
attention since the release of a damning
report by the AU Human Rights
Commission detailing the government's role in
violence and inti midation. The
Zimbabwean government has refused to
recognise the report, saying it was
never given an opportunity to give its
side of the story. Despite the AU last
month giving Zimbabwe two weeks to
reply to the report, Foreign Affairs
Minister Stan Mudenge appears to be in
no hurry to do so.
The
presidents of the 13 SADC member states, who include President Thabo
Mbeki,
begin a two-day meeting in Mauritius tomorrow where the political
situation
in Zimbabwe, the recent attempted coup in the Democratic Republic
of Congo
and the creation of a regional standby force to maintain peace in
the region
are expected to top the agenda. The summit is also expected to
adopt
guidelines for future elections and decide on Madagascar's application
for
SADC membership. The election guidelines, which insist on the
establishment
of electoral bodies that are independent of the state, will
come into effect
before Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections. But despite
Zimbabwean electoral
laws being in clear contravention of some of the
guidelines, government
officials say Mugabe will vote in favour of the
guidelines on Tuesday.
Critics of the guidelines point out that they set out
no punitive measures.
The start of the summit will also mark the start of
South Africa's one-year
term as chair of the SADC organ on politics, defence
and security. Deputy
Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad says Mbeki's first
task as chairman of
this organ will be to visit the Democratic Republic of
Congo later this month
to discuss the conflict in the Great Lakes Region.
The summit will be
the last regional gathering to be attended by Mozambican
President Joaquim
Chissano and Namibian President Sam Nujoma. The two men,
who will step down
when their countries go to the polls later this year,
will bid formal
farewells at the summit. But the celebratory spirit was
spoilt on Friday when
Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
angrily told ministers of the
other member states to remain behind during a
lunch break. She was unhappy
that some had held a meeting on Thursday where
they decided to remove the
SADC's executive secretary, Prega Ramsamy, and
replace him with a Lesotho
candidate. Dlamini-Zuma argued that the Thursday
meeting, chaired by Lesotho,
should not have taken place in the absence of
South Africa and a number of
other member countries. Following South
Africa's intervention, Ramsamy's
successor will now be chosen when his term
expires next March.
Zim Online
5000 FAMILIES GO HUNGRY WITH FOOD IN STORE JUST SIXTY
KILOMETRES AWAY
Mon 16 August 2004
BULAWAYO - More than 5 000
families in Matobo district could starve as
they wait for the Zimbabwe
government to permit food agencies to provide
food relief. The food is stored
in Bulawayo, just 60 kilometers away.
Emaciated villagers told
ZimOnline during a tour of the area that two
international agencies which
used to feed the community stopped their aid in
June. World Vision and
Christian Care at the time said they were complying
with government
regulations.
Under stringent laws governing food relief operations
non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) are required to seek clearance first
before they can
provide assistance to hungry people.
World
Vision¹s spokesman Stewart Muchapera confirmed that they had
temporarily
suspended aid to Matobo while awaiting government approval to
resume
operations in the area.
Muchapera said, "We have not pulled out but
only suspended operations
in line with the government's demands. We shall be
starting any time if we
are cleared soon. Only the government knows why it is
delaying and there is
nothing we can do although we know the situation on the
ground."
The World Vision official said the group had food it was
keeping at
its offices in Bulawayo, and which it could deliver to the hungry
in Matobo
as soon as it got the green light to do so.
Christian
Care could not be reached for comment.
Angeline Masuku (ZANU PF),
the governor of Matabeleland South
Province, under which Matobo falls, said
she alerted Social Welfare
Minister Paul Mangwana about hunger in the area.
She said she was also at a
loss to understand why Mangwana, who must
authorize aid organisations to
provide food, had not done so
yet.
"My province is naturally dry and people are bound to starve
as they
already are this year. But I cannot tell you why they are not being
fed
because I presented that case to the government Minister responsible
for
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare ( Mangwana) and it is now
entirely
up to him to allow NGOs to give them aid, not me," Masuku
said.
In Matobo, 52-year old father of seven, Wilson Dube, told
ZimOnline:
"Look, I am not employed and as you can see, there is nothing that
I managed
to reap from the fields. I do not have money to buy food for my
children.
But I must find the money not only to buy food but to pay next
term's school
fees for the children."
As well as looking after
his own family Dube must also feed his late
sister's two children. Dube says
his sister, who was a single parent, died
of AIDS but he fears his nephews
might die of hunger if aid does not come
soon.
A nurse at the
local clinic said cases of malnutrition related
diseases among both children
and adults were increasing. But there had been
no deaths due to starvation
yet, she said.
"We attend to many young and old people here every
day. They will be
complaining of various ailments like headaches and
diarrhoea, but from our
experience, most of this is actually because of
hunger,² said the nurse,
who spoke on condition she was not
named.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party and
international food relief groups accuse President Robert Mugabe and
his
government of withholding food from opposition supporters as punishment
for
not backing the government. The government denies the
charge.
Mugabe and ZANU PF lost to the MDC in Matobo constituency
in the last
two elections held in 2000 and 2002. ZimOnline
Zim Online
Only war vets to stand for ZANU PF in election according to
war vets
Mon 16 August 2004
MASVINGO - Veterans of Zimbabwe's
liberation war here say they will
only allow individuals who fought in
the1970's bush campaign to represent
the ruling ZANU PF party in next years'
general election.
Non-combatants need to step down, provincial war
veterans' leader
Kudzai Mbudzi told ZimOnline: "We have in fact identified
replacements for
these political soldiers of fortune and we are not going
back."
He said,Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge would be
barred from
standing in the election because he did not participate in the
war. Mbudzi
added that he himself would replace Mudenge as the ZANU PF
candidate for the
Masvingo North constituency.
Other ministers
who could lose their seats if the war veterans carry
out their threat include
Deputy Minster of Education Isiah Shumba and Shuvai
Mahofa, Deputy Minister
of Youth Development and responsible for running the
controversial National
Youth Service Training Programme. This programme has
been accused of
producing violent militias who terrorise the government's
political
opponents.
Mbudzi said members of the Zimbabwe Association of
Political Detainees
and Restrictees and the Zimbabwe Liberation National War
Collaborators will
also be permitted to represent ZANU PF in the
poll.
If President Robert Mugabe wanted to allow Mudenge to
continue serving
as minister he would have to appoint him as a
non-constituent Member of
Parliament
Under Zimbabwe's
constitution only Members of Parliament (MP) can be
appointed ministers. The
constitution allows the president to appoint 30
individuals of his choice to
the 150-member House. Mugabe has in the past
used the provision to reward
loyal followers.
War veterans are seen as a vital component in ZANU
PFs election
campaign machinery. ZimOnline
Zim Online
Zimbabwe in no hurry to respond to damning human rights report
says AU
Mon 16 August 2004
JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwe has not yet
responded to a damning African
Commission on Human and People's Rights report
and is not likely to do so in
a hurry.
AU spokesman Desmond
Orjiako told ZimOnline in an interview, "The AU
did not give Zimbabwe an
ultimatum or deadline to respond. The country is
not under pressure to
respond within any given time frame."
Asked what would happen at
the next AU summit in October, Orjiako
said, "The matter will not even come
up for discussion at the next AU
summit. It can only be discussed if a member
state raises the issue."
The Commission's report, released at the
AU's summit in Addis Abba
last month, strongly criticised the Zimbabwe
government for turning a blind
eye on political violence, lawlessness and
human rights violations
perpetrated mostly by militants of the ruling ZANU PF
party.
The summit did not adopt or discuss the report after
Zimbabwe
government officials protested saying they had not been given a
chance to
respond to the Commission's findings. AU leaders deferred the
matter to
allow Harare time to give its side of the story.
Apparently, the Commission had sent a copy of the report to
Zimbabwe's
Justice Ministry when AU protocol requires the document to have
been sent to
Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge.
At the time Mudenge publicly
declared that the government would
respond to the document within two weeks.
Mudenge could not be reached
yesterday to find out when Harare intends to
submit its response.
In its report, the commission observed "that
Zimbabwean society is
highly polarized. It is a divided society with deeply
entrenched positions.
The land question is not in itself the cause of
division. It appears that at
heart is a society in search of the means for
change and divided about how
best to achieve change after two decades of
dominance by a political
party"..
It further stated that "the
Government cannot wash its hands from
responsibility" for human rights
violations. "It is evident that a highly
charged atmosphere has been
prevailing, many land activists undertook their
illegal actions in the
expectation that government was understanding and
that police would not act
against them - many of them, the War Veterans,
purported to act as party
veterans and activists. Some of the political
leaders denounced the
opposition activists and expressed understanding for
some of the actions of
ZANU PF loyalists. Government did not act soon enough
and firmly enough
against those guilty of gross criminal acts."
"There has been a
flurry of new legislation and the revival of the old
laws used under the
Smith Rhodesian regime to control, manipulate public
opinion and that limited
civil liberties. Among these S(are) S the Public
Order and Security Act, 2002
and the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act, 2002. These have
been used to require registration of
journalists and
for prosecution
of journalists for publishing Ofalse information'. All
of these, of course,
would have a chilling effect' on freedom of expression
and introduce a cloud
of fear in media circles."
The report noted "with appreciation the
dynamic and diverse civil
society formations in Zimbabwe. Civil society is
very engaged in the
developmental issues in society and enjoys a critical
relationship with
government". It expressed the view "that civil society is
essential for the
upholding of a responsible society and for holding
government accountable. A
healthy though critical relationship between
government and civil society is
essential for good governance and democracy."
ZimOnline
VOA
New Report Shows Millions Need Food Aid in Zimbabwe
Peta Thornycroft
Harare
15 Aug 2004, 16:11
UTC
According to a new vulnerability assessment, Zimbabweans
are again in
need of food aid, and, by November, nearly five-million will
need emergency
assistance. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network, known as
FEWS Net,
paints a grim picture of last season's harvest.
FEWS Net
estimates that Zimbabwe's total grain harvest last season may
have reached up
to 1.1 million tons. The United Nations' Food and
Agriculture Organization
provides a slightly lower estimate.
Zimbabwe's government insists
that the country grew more than double
that amount.
FEWS Net,
which is funded by U.S. Agency for International
Development, is considered a
long-standing and reliable barometer on the
issue of food security for
southern Africa.
The organization says in its latest report that
hunger began becoming
a serious problem for many communities at the end of
July, and that it would
escalate in the next four months.
It
said the feeding of vulnerable communities by international food
agencies
ended in response to the Zimbabwe government's own announcement
that the last
harvest was a good one.
FEWS Net said that, in addition to food
shortages, millions of urban
Zimbabweans have been persistently short of
water since May. It blames the
water shortages on mismanagement by the
central government.
In its assessment, FEWS Net says it is
worrisome that the government
has failed to provide any information about its
grain imports.
FEWS Net's recent vulnerability assessment was its
first since
President Robert Mugabe said two months ago that Zimbabwe had
grown a
sufficient amount of food, that it would not need to import any, and
that
relief agencies should go home.
FEWS Net also said in urban
areas, although food is available in the
shops, rising unemployment and
deepening urban poverty mean many cannot
afford to buy it. According to FEWS
Net, the cost of one staple food,
cornmeal, went up by 44 percent between May
and June of this year.
Zimbabwe's Central Statistics Office last
week announced that
inflation rates were falling, but this largely referred
to non-food items.
MDC
PRESS
15
August 2004
SADC
Leaders Have an Opportunity in
Mauritius to
Make Solid Progress on Deepening Democracy in the Region
SADC leaders, meeting in
Mauritius on 16-17 August for their annual
summit, have an opportunity to deepen democracy across the region by
establishing consensus on a broad set of guidelines and principles for
democratic elections. If this happens it would represent a significant landmark
in the broader process of the regions’ democratic transition.
The
MDC has been deeply encouraged by the
level of collective political will that appears to be driving the current
regional deliberations on electoral benchmarks.
We are, nonetheless, concerned that as not all
SADC members, in particular
Zimbabwe, share this vision for improved
democratic governance, any protocol on electoral standards that is eventually
agreed risks being negatively diluted.
We urge the progressive majority
amongst SADC leaders to firmly set out the broad
criteria for free and fair elections (based on the premise that an election is a
process, not an event) and not to allow the parameters of the debate to be
deliberately narrowed by leaders keen to manipulate the current deliberations to
consolidate their incumbency.
Within this context,
SADC leaders need to be cognisant of the
severe short-comings of the electoral reforms recently tabled by the
Zimbabwe government; reforms which President
Mugabe disingenuously claims will level the playing
field for elections.
The proposals merely tinker at the
edges of what is needed. The appointments procedure for the proposed electoral
commission is not safeguarded from manipulation by the President and the ruling
party whilst the other reforms fail to address the fundamental issue of opening
up the political space: an essential prerequisite for genuine democratic
elections.
We therefore request that
SADC leaders advise President Mugabe that his reforms are woefully inadequate and totally
out of step with regional thinking on electoral standards.
Moreover,
SADC leaders should seek to ensure that
President Mugabe departs the summit with the clear
message that unless he implements comprehensive political and electoral reforms,
that are capable of harnessing acceptable levels of transparency and fairness in
Zimbabwe’s electoral process, the
SADC will not entertain his claims that
next year’s parliamentary elections will be free and fair.
Paul
Themba Nyathi
Secretary
for Information and Publicity
Zim Standard
Mugabe a threat to regional stability: Powell
By our own
staff
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's grip on power is stifling the nation he
has done
so much for and for the people of Zimbabwe, this is tragic, Colin
Powell,
the US Secretary of State, said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the
swearing-in ceremony in Washington of Christopher Dell, the
new US ambassador
to Zimbabwe, Powell said Zimbabwe had become a drain on
the region and a
calamity-in-the-making for the international community.
Powell said:
"For southern Africa as a whole, the situation in Zimbabwe is a
threat to the
common future. At this stage, Zimbabwe's problems transcend
any one man. And
clearly, solutions to those problems must come mainly from
within, from among
the people of Zimbabwe.
"The political regime in Zimbabwe has been
degraded, but its constitutional
basis remains intact. Zimbabwe needs regime
restoration. It needs to restore
the rule of law, an unfettered Press, and
the country's former pluralistic
political life."
Powell said the US
hopes President Mugabe will adjust his course and restore
his legacy as a
great African leader, before it's too late.
"The President and his party
can turn things around, and an opportunity to
do so is now at hand:
Parliamentary elections will be held in March, just
seven months
away."
But he said in order to seize this opportunity, President
Mugabe's
government must open dialogue with legitimate opposition groups and
allow
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to function freely.
His
remarks come as Parliament prepares to debate a new Bill on NGOs. Many
in the
NGO sector fear the Bill will do to the NGOs what the Access to
Information
and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) has done to most of the
private press -
muzzle and stifle them.
Powell said: "The authorities must cease
political intimidation through
politically motivated arrests and human rights
abuses. And they must reverse
recently promulgated changes in the electoral
law to ensure that the March
election is truly free and fair."
The
United States, he said, stands ready to help the Zimbabwean people and
their
government if the government starts making the right choices.
"We are
sending Christopher Dell to Harare not to accuse or complain, not to
point
fingers or make demands. We're sending him to work with Zimbabweans to
build
a society that respects the rule of law and human rights, that cares
first
and foremost about the well-being of its citizens, and that
contributes to
regional peace and stability," he said.
Zim Standard
New NGOs' bill spells disaster for Zim hotels
By Kumbirai
Mafunda
THE proposed Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Bill crafted by
the
increasingly paranoid government of President Robert Mugabe could be
the
last nail in the coffin of the country's hospitality industry,
hoteliers
have warned.
They said that if government passes the
controversial Bill the country's
ailing tourism sector would
collapse.
The country's hotels and resort areas have, since the 2000
violent
parliamentary elections, been relying on business from NGOs, which
regularly
convene national, regional and international
conferences.
The president of the Zimbabwe Council of Tourism (ZCT),
Shingi Munyeza, said
conferences have become the tourism industry's main
source of revenue since
a dip in tourist arrivals in the
country.
Munyeza said overally: "About 60 percent of our business in
sub-Saharan
Africa is purely conference driven in volume
terms."
Another hotelier, who requested anonymity said, passing the Bill
would have
negative implications on Zimbabwe as a whole.
"The Bill
will clearly highlight the dictatorial and authoritarian nature of
this
regime and escalate the negative publicity of Zimbabwe resulting in a
decline
of the number of tourists coming into the country," he said.
Since the
government-sanctioned violent and indiscriminate seizure of
productive
white-owned farmland in 2000, international tourists are spurning
visiting
the country.
To aggravate the situation, Zimbabwe's traditional source
markets have been
issuing travel warnings prohibiting their citizens from
visiting Harare.
This has resulted in the shrinkage of earnings from
US$770 million in 1999
to US$77 million in 2002.
Commentators said the
draft NGO Bill, to be tabled in parliament ahead of
next year's general
elections, is aimed at de-registering critical and vocal
NGO's working on
governance, humanitarian and human rights concerns.
Although NGOs are
currently governed by the Private Voluntary Organisations
(PVO) Act they will
have to register afresh with an NGO Council whose
chairman is appointed by
the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare.
The Bill
empowers the Minister to register or de-register any organization.
It also
bars foreign funding to NGO's and describes foreign funding as money
coming
from international aid agencies and non-resident Zimbabweans.
NGO's say
this is meant to restrict the democratic space and starve them of
any
meaningful resources ahead of key elections the ruling party is keen
to
win.
Meanwhile, a grouping of NGOs under the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition last
Thursday resolved to lobby parliament, regional blocs such as
SADC and the
African Union and the international community to oppose the
Bill.
"This type of Bill is consistent with the practice of dictatorship.
It must
be fought by all civic organizations and progressive forces in
Zimbabwe,"
remarked John Makumbe, former Transparency International Zimbabwe
(TIZ)
chairperson.
Brian Kagoro, chairperson of the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition, said the
alliance would engage several strategies that include
mobilization of the
affected communities, legal challenge and street
protests.
'There are some people in Zanu PF who still have the illusion
of setting up
a one party State. This Bill has been constructed by people,
who don't have
a constituency. They have to construct mischief in trying to
create
legitimacy for Mugabe," Kagoro said.
Zim Standard
Makwavarara tried to lure me into Zanu PF: Dhlakama
By
Valentine Maponga
BELEAGUERED Chegutu executive mayor Francis Dhlakama
says acting Harare
mayor Sekesai Makwavarara has tried, on several occasions,
to influence him
to defect from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC).
Makwavarara, who was elected councillor on an MDC ticket, defected
to the
ruling party last week saying the opposition party had nothing to
offer.
In an interview with The Standard last week, the embattled
Chegutu mayor
said Makwavarara had approached him several times trying to
influence him to
leave the opposition party.
"One day she called me
and said Bhudhi ngatisiyane nezve MDC hakuna chimuko
(My brother, let's leave
the MDC, the party has nothing to offer). But as a
principled person I would
not be moved," he said.
Dhlakama, who was suspended by the Minister of
Local Government, Public
Works and National Housing, Ignatius Chombo, for two
months on allegations
of corruption, believes Makwavarara had been sent by
Zanu PF officials in an
effort to destabilise the opposition party ahead of
the March 2005
parliamentary elections.
Makwavarara, according to
Dhlakama, would on a number of occasions call him
and tell him that there was
no future in the MDC.
Makwavarara, whom MDC spokesperson, Paul
Themba-Nyathi described as a
traitor, is staying at a council-rented house in
the upmarket suburb of
Gunhill, Harare, and is driving top-of-the-range
vehicles, including a
Mercedes Benz that sacked Harare Mayor Elias Mudzuri
was using for official
duties.
Three months ago, Harare City Council
was paying $2 million in rentals for
the house. The Standard could not
readily establish how much the council is
now paying as rentals are reviewed
on a quarterly basis.
Dhlakama believes Zanu PF was behind Makwavarara's
enticing moves. "I think
she was being sent by somebody. Each time we met she
would continue with her
story, but I told her to back off," Dhlakama
said.
Efforts to get a comment from Makwavarara were fruitless as she
could not be
reached on her mobile phone, while her secretary said she had
gone to a
funeral.
Over the past few months, Zanu PF has reportedly
been trying to lure MDC
councillors and mayors by offering huge
incentives.
Several MDC councillors have since resigned from the
opposition party.
Dhlakama said that immediately after he was arrested
last month Chombo
appointed a "taskforce" but the Chegutu mayor says he was
never briefed
about the taskforce's role.
The Chegutu mayor was
recently arrested together with some of his
councillors on allegations of
corruption. All the other councillors were
elected on a Zanu PF
ticket.
"We (together with all the councillors) were arrested on 23 July
and
appeared in court on 26 July and to my surprise a "taskforce" was
appointed
the following day. I am prepared to work with everyone even the
devil, as
long as we have the same goals," he said.
However, he added:
"No letter was sent to me from the minister (Chombo)
concerning how I would
work with that taskforce. I don't even know their
mandate."
Analysts
believe that Chombo has been the pillar in Zanu PF's project to
destroy the
MDC dominance in the urban areas through dismissal and
suspension of
opposition party mayors and councillors ahead of next year's
parliamentary
elections.
Zim Standard
Police smash currency smuggling racket
By our own
Staff
POLICE and officials of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) have
cracked a
major foreign currency smuggling ring based in the UK which was
offering
Zimbabweans in the Diaspora higher exchange rates on the local black
market,
The Standard has established.
Sources close to the
investigations told The Standard that a number of
Zimbabweans, including
senior members of a registered money transfer
agency - Montreax Money
Transfer - have been arrested.
The joint swoop has also netted
officials of unregistered money transfer
agencies, which the police say have
been fuelling the recent fall of the
Zimbabwean dollar against major
currencies on the parallel market.
On Montreax - a money transfer agency
registered with the RBZ - official
sources said the company was caught
exchanging foreign currency employing
exchange rates that are above the
stipulated auction or "Diaspora" rates.
"The company was compiling two
reports, one for the use in their accounts
and another one for presentation
to Reserve Bank staff if the staff wanted
to make a check," said the
source.
Police spokesperson assistant commissioner, Wayne Bvudzijena,
confirmed that
so far 13 illegal foreign currency dealers had been arrested
and more could
be picked up soon."Yes, we arrested 13 dealers and this
include directors of
companies and other individual dealers," said
Bvudzijena.
One of those being investigated, according to police sources,
is David
Kamunhu, the managing director of Davecorn Motors. Also arrested was
Ivennie
Matika, who was operating in Zimbabwe as Unilink Money Transfer while
his
brother sourced money in the UK under the trade name Worldlink.
Zim Standard
I will not shut up, says Archbishop Pius Ncube
From
Savious Kwinika in Bulawayo
ARCHBISHOP Pius Ncube, the controversial head of
the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Bulawayo, says he will not keep quiet as
long as President
Mugabe's government and his ruling Zanu PF are forcing
millions of
Zimbabweans into exile, while scores of others are dying of
hunger.
In an interview with The Standard last week, Archbishop Ncube
said he would
not shut up until the nation was freed from Zanu PF's
oppression.
He said, "I can't stop talking because it is a God-given
duty to talk when
His people are being persecuted. They are suffering. I
speak in the
interests of everybody, including Christians, suffering at the
hands of the
Zanu PF government.
"I am speaking to alert our leaders
so that they know we have thousands of
people, including innocent children,
who are dying of hunger almost on a
daily basis while others are dropping out
of school as a result of the
government's misrule."
Recently, Dr
Zanele Hwalima, the Bulawayo Health Services director, said the
number of
people who had succumbed to hunger in the city had risen to 62.
The
fearless Roman Catholic clergyman said two thirds of girls in Zimbabwe
were
not going to school because of the government's actions, while
unemployment
in the country has risen beyond 70 percent.
Last year the Archbishop was
allocated a farm, but he turned down the offer
describing it as "a bribe
intended to keep me quiet". He says the move
outraged and frustrated the Zanu
PF government.
Archbishop Ncube said he was disturbed when he recently
visited South Africa
where he met thousands of Zimbabwean citizens living in
refugee camps.
Several thousand others were in prisons for border jumping
while they sought
to escape from poverty at home.
He said: "Thousands
of Zimbabwean nationals have sought refugee at Lindela,
in South Africa, as a
result of Mugabe and Zanu PF. Others are dying in
custody.
"Marriages
are breaking down because of the poor economic situation and
someone says I
must shut up! I can't stop talking when things are bad.I can'
t stop talking.
It is a God-given duty to talk when God's people are
suffering."
The
Archbishop said he would only stop speaking out when the political,
social
and economic situation in Zimbabwe returns to normal.
During the early
1980s Zimbabwe was considered "the bread basket of Southern
Africa". It was
the envy of many and played host to economic and political
refugees from the
region.
He said the roles had now been reversed and Zimbabweans had
become the
refugees, fleeing persecution, hunger and economic hardships.
Zim Standard
Zanu PF supporters attack teachers
By our own
correspondent
MUTARE - Two teachers in Chipinge North constituency were
last week
assaulted by suspected war veterans and ruling Zanu PF activists
after they
were accused of supporting the opposition Movement Democratic
Change (MDC).
The assaults come a fortnight after traditional leaders in
Domboshava were
attacked by suspected Zanu PF youths. The leaders had their
badges and
chains of office confiscated after attending a rally organised by
the
opposition party.
Nesbert Chinheya, the headmaster of Musani
Primary School in Chipinge, was
assaulted by about 10 suspected Zanu PF
youths, who took away keys to the
school offices.
He was accused of
supporting the MDC.
Another teacher at nearby Gedion Mhlanga Secondary
School, Freeman
Chikangaise, was also attacked by suspected Zanu PF
supporters and war
veterans, who accused him of sympathising with the
opposition.
Pishai Muchauraya, spokesperson of the opposition party in
Manicaland, said
the group visited the school and attacked the headmaster in
the presence of
teachers.
"They were very angry at Chinheya whom they
allege is an MDC activist.
Trouble began in Chipinge North following our
success in holding rallies
addressed by our president that were
well-attended.
"Life has never been the same for the people in the
constituencies where we
held the rallies," said Muchauraya, who added that
several other teachers
and headmen in the constituency have also been
threatened.
Chinheya has been ordered to write a report to the war
veterans in the area
explaining why he supports the MDC, while Chikangaise
has gone into hiding.
Muchauraya said since the MDC rallies addressed by
party leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai two weeks ago, people in Chipinge North were
being harassed by
Zanu PF supporters, youth militia and war
veterans.
Police in Chipinge refused to comment on the matter saying they
had not yet
received a report on the alleged assault.
"We do not have
such a record in our files, try tomorrow," said a police
officer based at
Middle Sabi Police Station. He declined identification.
Tsvangirai, who
is on a countrywide campaign, recently addressed
well-attended meetings in
Chipinge and Chimanimani districts. Traditional
leaders, including spirit
mediums (Masvikiro) and teachers are among those
who have attended the
rallies.
As a result of the success the MDC has attracted in the rural
areas, Zanu PF
is said to have panicked and is allegedly sending its
supporters to
terrorise anybody suspected of being sympathetic to the
opposition party.
The attack on opposition supporters comes at a time
Zanu PF is calling for
electoral reforms, and has brought into question the
ruling party's
sincerity and commitment to democratic reforms.
Critics
say they believe the call for electoral reforms is part of Zanu's PF
wider
project aimed at sprucing up its battered image in the eyes of
the
international community. They say it wants to appear as if it is
now
committed to the core values of democracy and respect for human rights
which
is not the case.
Zim Standard
In-fighting in Zanu PF, a boon for MDC
By Foster
Dongozi
.as battle to succeed Mugabe tears the party apart THE use of
the
State-controlled Zimpapers newspaper stable to de-campaign opponents in
the
war to succeed President Robert Mugabe could see the ruling party
losing
some constituencies to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the
2005
March general election, according to some Zanu PF loyalists.
The
media dirty war has intensified ahead of the ruling party's congress
in
December. The congress will choose Zanu PF's top leadership for the
next
five years.
Those elected to the party's helm will be able to
strategically position
themselves until Mugabe vacates the
throne.
Over the past few months, two distinct factions have emerged in
the race to
succeed Mugabe as head of the ruling party and the
State.
In one corner is the camp of veteran politicians and in another,
the
so-called Young Turks, whose ranks include powerful but un-elected
political
green-horns such as junior information minister, Jonathan Moyo,
Joseph Made,
the minister of agriculture and, justice minister, Patrick
Chinamasa.
Journalists from Zimpapers, publishers of The Herald, The
Chronicle, The
Sunday Mail and The Sunday News told The Standard that they
had been given
verbal instructions by a senior official in the Department of
Information in
the President's Office to portray activities of some veteran
politicians in
a negative light.
They were instructed to give
prominence to activities involving Moyo, Made,
Chinamasa and Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe Governor, Gideon Gono.
The Sunday Mail has established a column
called 'Constituency Watch' where,
according to insiders, it is supposed to
concentrate on constituencies in
the northern half of the country and
criticize Zanu PF legislators said to
be in the veterans' camp by writing
"negatively about then."
But a Zanu PF MP complained: "The reports in The
Sunday Mail are nothing but
an attempt by people with a sinister agenda
against the party. "We are a few
months away from a crucial election and a
certain clique of un-elected
politicians with skin-deep political credentials
are exposing Zanu PF to
defeat."
The Zanu PF senior politician said he
found it strange that the column
expected MPs to construct roads in their
constituencies.
"The role of a parliamentarian is to debate in
Parliament. Construction of
roads and hospitals is the responsibility of the
government although MPs can
still play a leading role in improving the
welfare of their people," said
the MP, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
Already, Herbert Murerwa, the acting Minister of Finance,
Minister of State
For Policy Implementation, Webster Shamu and Deputy
Minister of Finance and
Economic Development, David Chapfika have been
"slaughtered" in The Sunday
Mail column.
Other veteran politicians,
who have been lampooned in the State media by the
Department of Information,
include Vice President Joseph Msika, Zanu PF
chairman, John Nkomo and the
party's Secretary for Publicity and
Information, Nathan
Shamuyarira.
In Matabeleland, journalists at the Zimpapers stable said
they were under
instructions to give scant attention to activities of leaders
from the
region like Bulawayo Governor, Cain Mathema, politburo members,
Dumiso
Dabengwa and Joshua Malinga.
"There is an organisation called
the Matabeleland Development Foundation
which held a meeting officiated by
Msika recently. We were told to criticize
the organisation and portray it as
a laughable and useless entity," said one
journalist.
The Lupane
university project, which is linked to Moyo, is supposed to
receive a lot of
publicity and portray him as the emerging leader from
Matabeleland, the
journalists said.
Most Young Turks are believed to be multiple farm
owners while the veteran
politicians have stuck to the Zanu PF's one-man-one
farm policy.
John Nkomo, the minister of Land, Land Reform and
Resettlement, who has been
on a crusade to dispossess those found to possess
extra farms has been the
target of vicious attacks in the Zimpapers
stable.
Contacted for comment, Nkomo said the ruling party had always
managed to
flush out infiltrators.
"We can't have people who behave
like the opposition among us. Soon, Zanu PF
will have to cleanse itself of
these elements," he said.
Moyo is set to lock horns with Nkomo, a veteran
politician, in primary
elections for the Tsholotsho ticket to represent Zanu
PF in next year's
parliamentary elections.
Zanu PF deputy secretary
for the Commissariat, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said
campaigning through newspapers
could never win an election.
"I don't think many people in Tsholotsho,
Muzarabani, Binga or Mutoko read
newspapers. That is why we employ the
door-to-door system where we sell our
ideas to the people.
"If it is
true that some newspapers are going to the extent of attacking the
person of
the vice-president, naturally we notice such things because
knowledge is
power. We then get to know that we could be having some snakes
in the
grass."
Some veteran politicians are said to be afraid of crossing swords
with the
minister of informations path given Mugabe's apparent silence on
Moyo's
abrasive relations with senior politicians.
So far, Moyo has
come out unscathed from bruising duels with Msika, Nkomo
and Shamuyarira
while Mugabe's silence has convinced many in the ruling
party that Moyo's
actions may carry the presidential endorsement.
The ambitions of the
Young Turks could, however, have been dashed last week
when Mugabe told the
ruling party's mouth-piece, The Voice that he hoped to
be succeeded by a
person with strong liberation credentials, leaving Nkomo
and Speaker of
Parliament, Emmerson Mnangagwa, heavily tipped to succeed
Mugabe.
Zim Standard
After Makwavarara, MDC closes ranks
By Valentine
Maponga
FOLLOWING a spate of defections to the ruling Zanu PF party in
the past few
months by Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) members, the
opposition party
said it is tightening its selection criterion ahead of next
year's general
elections.
The latest senior defection was by acting
Harare mayor, Sekesai Makwavarara,
a former Zanu PF card-carrying member, who
appeared on Heroes' Day at the
national shrine donned in the ruling party
regalia.
She claimed she re-joined Zanu PF because the opposition
MDC, the strongest
opposition party to emerge in Zimbabwe since 1980, had "no
direction".
Jobert Mudzumwe, an MDC national executive member responsible
for the Local
Government Portfolio, said the party's selection criterion had
been "porous"
and they were tightening all the loopholes.
"Our initial
selection criteria was very loose and infiltrators like
Makwavarara got
themselves into the party. Right from the word go, she was
suspect. We never
had faith in her but we don't have any regrets. Now she
does not have any
respect from the electorate," Mudzumwe said.
Paul Themba-Nyathi, the MDC
spokesperson, described Makwavarara's move as a
"treacherous
act".
Analysts said Makwavarara's move was a blow to MDC as it represents
Zanu PF'
s total control of the capital city, a process being engineered by
the
Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing,
Ignatius
Chombo. In his endeavour to be in total control of council affairs
in
Harare, Chombo dismissed executive mayor Elias Mudzuri and 19 other
Harare
councillors.
The latest developments were a result of Zanu PF
machinations in trying to
destroy and weaken the MDC ahead of next year's
crucial general elections,
according to Brian Kagoro of the Crisis Coalition
Zimbabwe.
"Zanu PF has no respect for democratic processes. They only
believe in a
one-party State. They do not tolerate co-existence with the
opposition.
"How can a person elected by thousands of people be
answerable to one
person?" asked Kagoro, a Harare political
analyst.
He warned the MDC to guard against recruiting "political
chameleons" into
its party echelons.
"The MDC should guard against
such people like Makwavarara who come into
politics because of money and who
can easily be bought," he said.
A University of Zimbabwe political
science lecturer, who requested
anonymity, blames the MDC for the defections
and "infiltration" by Zanu PF
saying the opposition party failed to prepare
for such eventualities as
required in the game of politics.
He said
allowing former National Alliance for Good Governance (NAGG)
leader,
Shakespeare Maya, into its ranks was another serious blunder the
opposition
party would live to regret.
"The MDC is making a lot of
blunders every now and then, and Zanu PF is
capitalising on that for its
political survival," he said.
Another political analyst said Zanu PF was
prepared to "buy anyone" with
money and perks to destroy the opposition
MDC.
"As we speak right now Zanu PF is prepared to buy anyone so that
they can
strengthen their battered image. Makawavarara's case is just a storm
in a
tea cup, there are plenty of targets," he said.
Other analysts,
however, said it was very clear from the beginning that
Makwavarara had
turned to Zanu PF from the time she resigned from the party
that saw her into
the council.
"From the moment she was elected acting mayor, Makwavarara
turned her back
on the MDC, siding with Chombo in almost all the decisions,"
commented one
analyst.
Two months ago, The Standard reported that Zanu
PF was luring poverty
stricken MDC councillors with money and other perks to
resign en masse in a
clandestine plot to destabilise the opposition party
ahead of the March 2005
Parliamentary elections.
Some of the
councillors who have since resigned from the MDC include
Tapfumaneyi Jaja and
Grandmore Hakata of ward 8 (Kuwadzana) and ward 4
(Mbare)
respectively.
Sources said Chombo was also targeting other mayor outside
Harare including,
Francis Dhlakama of Chegutu, Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube and
Misheck Kagurabadza of
Mutare.
Zim Standard
Comment
Lies will not avert food
shortages
THE government is coming face to face with the reality of
looming food
shortages. A fortnight ago, the government as much as
acknowledged there
will be inadequate grain to meet domestic
consumption.
The acknowledgement came in the guise of a price incentive
for farmers after
maize delivered to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) was
assigned AB grade in
a bid to encourage farmers to increase deliveries of the
grain.
In addition, the government has been assuring farmers that
they will be paid
in cash for grain deliveries of between three and five
tonnes. It appears
there have been few takers.
But delivering smaller
quantities of grain to the GMB in order to be paid
ready cash only increases
the cost of the deliveries. The income realized
from the sale of these small
quantities of grain may not necessarily cover
the cost of ever-rising inputs,
as well as the immediate requirements of the
farmer and his
family.
For a farmer waiting to buy agricultural inputs for the next
farming season,
there is little point in delivering several tonnes of grain
to the Grain
Marketing Board (GMB) in order to get ready cash when he has
produced more.
The farmers want prompt payment so they can undertake their
planning and
budgeting knowing exactly what amounts they are dealing
with.
On the other hand, there is not much point in holding onto grain
surplus to
domestic requirements, because that is money tied up when it could
be used
to meet other immediate needs.
The truth, however, is that
Zimbabwe has not produced adequate grain for its
requirements this year,
however the government may try to deny it.
Minister Nicholas Goche, who
heads one of the government taskforces, last
week said estimated total
production of grain would be 600 000 - 700 000
tonnes. The government's own
figures say the expected harvest will be about
1.2 million tonnes. That
leaves a shortfall of about 500 000 - 600 000
tonnes.
While the
decision to pay farmers more for AB Grade is designed to encourage
more
deliveries of grain, mention of quantities of three - five tonnes
would
suggest that even the government is aware that no greater quantities
were
produced this year.
This period of the year normally sees
considerable activity as farmers
deliver their grain to the market. The
reason for the rush to deliver, is in
part, to get paid so that in turn the
farmers are able to settle school fees
for their children. It is also partly
to enable them to buy inputs before
demand peaks and inputs become difficult
to secure.
The Grain Marketing Board says at least 119 000 tonnes of
maize out of an
expected 1.2 million tonnes have been delivered to its depots
throughout the
country since the beginning of the marketing season in
April.
If it takes four months for the farmers to deliver nearly 120 000
tonnes of
maize - that is a tenth of what the government says was produced
this year-
it is anybody's guess how much grain will be delivered in the
remaining two
months before the onset of the rainy season.
The reason
why there is no rush this year is because there simply is no
surplus grain
from the just ended agricultural season. During this time of
the year, grain
depots would be a hive of activity. No such luck this year.
An inspection
of some of the rural areas shows that whereas GMB depots would
normally be
more than 50 percent full, lesser quantities have so far
been
delivered.
The government has reminded the international donor
community that it no
longer requires their assistance and that they should
therefore cease their
operations. But elsewhere in this paper we report that
Zimbabwe has imported
40 000 tonnes of maize through South
Africa.
However, the truth is that there are more people in need of food
aid. By
underplaying the figure, the government may have just planted the
seeds of
an internal humanitarian crisis.
About 4 million Zimbabweans
were benefiting from the international donor
assistance. Therefore, to move
from that position to zero assistance when
conditions clearly indicate that
the internal situation has not changed
significantly is to court
disaster.
On another level, there is also a self-serving interest to the
so-called
incentive for maize producers. Government ministers, civil servants
and
ruling party officials are themselves farmers. So those in power are,
in
fact, the major beneficiaries.
In the past the government has shown
reluctance in approving producer price
increases because of the effect on the
price consumers will pay for basic
foodstuff.
A further argument that
could have driven the government to offer grain
producers the so-called
"incentive" results from fear of the flight of
farmers from maize production
to other crops. The fourth reason is that
despite its bravado, the government
does not have the foreign currency to
buy grain on the world market.
Zim Standard
No sunshine in the city of filth
overthetop By Brian
Latham
IT ISN'T just the politics of Harare that are worryingly squalid
and dirty.
The sunshine city needs a new name. The once pristine streets of
the capital
are now knee-deep in litter; its once crisply clean open spaces
little more
than rubbish dumps.
Quite why this needs to be the case is
anyone's guess. Everyone blames
financial constraints, which seems rather
like a convenient excuse. As for
the sunshine, it disappeared behind the
thick clouds of smog that rise from
the burning rubbish - and from behind
buses that the police could well
prosecute if they weren't so very busy
standing on street corners and
guarding alleged dignitaries.
Of
course, the city council is broke, but then who isn't these days? And
it
isn't just broke, it's under siege too, with central government
bombarding
the doors of Town House and smuggling in its Trojan horse
"mayor."
But none of that is an excuse for dirt. It's one thing to be
poor, quite
another to be poor and filthy. Frankly any tourist coaxed,
cajoled or bribed
into visiting the country is likely to leave at the double
given the view.
The place looks like the Delhi city dump - and that's the
good parts.
Still, it's the people who live in Harare who are
responsible. No matter how
often you hear the battle cry of this forlorn
republic - "I am not the
one" - it's the people who throw their rubbish into
the street, out of car
windows, into the absurdly named sanitary
lanes.
No one cares, and that's a dismal thought because if no one cares
how
disgusting the place looks, then surely no one cares much about sorting
out
the bigger problems caused by the government's curious and confusing take
on
political freedom.
And it shows an alarming lack of pride, which
doesn't just reflect badly on
us, but also offers little hope for the
future.
Still, there is a solution. Perhaps the local government minister
hasn't
noticed how revolting the capital and smaller towns and cities are,
but
providing him with a small sample of the litter - say just from his
own
street - might help concentrate his obviously busy mind. Of course,
his
street won't be quite as disgusting as streets in, say, the
opposition
voting, poverty wracked townships, but it'd be a start. As for
levitating
townships with the now quaint title of High Density Suburbs; well,
about all
you'll find there in high and concentrated densities is penury,
plastic and
puddles of stinking pollution.
Meanwhile, an entirely
unscientific, if not spurious survey conducted by
Over The Top shows that
most Hararians blame the government for the filth.
They say government's
intention was to show that an opposition council was
incompetent to govern a
major city. In this they have been entirely
successful, though the people
(many of whom are voters) are increasingly
sympathetic towards the underdog
council and hostile to a bullying central
government.
Sadly that
hasn't stopped them throwing their litter into the street. OTT
suggests that
since instant justice is arbitrarily invoked for offences such
as being
politically diverse, pale skinned or even for having robust
opinions about
the sort of "democracy" we now have, the same sort of random
justice should
be applied to producers of litter.
In the meantime, it has been suggested
that if we have to have something as
absurd as Youth Brigades, a good job for
them would be to bolster the
beleaguered street cleaners by doing something
more constructive than
beating people over the head.
Zim Standard
Letter
Not all war veterans are
roguish
WHILE I fully agree with The Standard's article of August 1,
2004 on RBZ
governor Gideon Gono's cause giving the nation a ray of hope or,
as you put
it, optimism, I would like to express my reservations on the
rubbishing of
all war veterans as roguish elements in society.
I also
do agree with the governor's statement relating to so-called A5
farmers who
took over farms, looted property and destroyed green houses thus
contributing
to disinvestment, economic meltdown and forex shortages. Surely
this
senseless disregard of property rights cannot be condoned even within
the
ranks of the ruling party or by any honest citizen of Zimbabwe.
I do
agree, however, that there are some elements within war veterans who
have
turned themselves into villains but surely the independent Press,
in
particular your newspaper, should remember that some of these war vets
are
bogus. Newspapers have carried stories of these elements being
brought
before the courts.
Categories of war vets:
Genuine war
veterans who participated in the liberation struggle.
Those who
infiltrated the ranks of ZIPRA and ZANLA forces in the assembly
points and
fortunately became interested in the army or were demobilised.
Those who
never crossed any Zimbabwe border but became war veterans by
virtue of
working in the President's Office and are today MPs,
ministers
etc.
Remember when the late Border Gezi was pronounced dead
some top government
officials had the audacity to chronicle Border's history
as having been a
war veteran trained in Mozambique. Some people invaded the
farms under the
the guise of war veterans. Even the self-styled commander of
farm invasions
or 3rd Chimurenga, Joseph Chinotimba had his credentials
questioned by his
colleagues but he is now deputy chairman of ZNLWVA
(Zimbabwe National
Liberation War Veterans Association). This is Zimbabwe
showing the ugly side
of African politics.
It is not every war veteran
who condones violence or political coercion. The
former fighters, especially
those who were in ZIPRA, were taught to carry
out political persuasion when
enticing support from the masses or "povo".
Every Zimbabwean agrees that the
white community in this country had too
much land under its control, hence
the need to share this national resource
equitably. However, it was the
system of sharing that was wrong. People are
today still crowded in the rural
Gutu, Bulilimamangwe, Bikita, Chivi etc
whilst the chefs are busy multiplying
farms (that lie underutilised) instead
of multiplying
production.
Funny enough, the President or Presidency is developing cold
feet. Are we
going to use another post-Muluzi or Chiluba era wherein corrupt
chefs are
being brought to book?
The late Josiah Tongogara stated that
the war was about fighting a bad
system so that every Zimbabwean irrespective
of race, colour, tribe, could
enjoy the fruits of a free Zimbabwe. Unless the
rule of law is observed,
property rights observed (compensating for
improvements and not land as
stated) corruption checked, equitable
distribution of land, an environment
conducive to investment created and
among other concerns freedom of
association the current efforts by RBZ for an
economic turnaround will come
to naught-zero.
Ephious
Ndanga
Member of ZNLWVA
Zim Standard
Zim's pork industry tottering , experts
By David
Edemeades/Bekezela Phakathi
BULAWAYO Zimbabwe's pork industry is under
threat as it emerged that there
has been a marked decrease in pig production
over the past few years mainly
due to the government's controversial and
chaotic land reform exercise.
Production figures from the Pig Industry
Board (PIB) indicate that there has
been a significant decline in the
national pig population in the last 10
years.
The figures supplied
by the Matabeleland Provincial Chief Livestock
Specialist Adolf Dube and
adopted from the Veteran Information Management
Unit, show that the pig
population dropped from 228 553 in 1997 to 182 309
in 2002.
The period
between the year 2000 and 2002 was when the land re-distribution
was at its
height and it is also at a time when war veterans and their
supporters
indiscriminately slaughtered livestock on occupied farms.
'In 1997 the
national pig production stood at 228 533 and by 2002 the
population was down
to 182 309. The 2002 livestock census established that
81% of the pigs were
found in communal and old resettlement schemes,' Dube
said.
He said
other factors that had contributed to the decline in the pig
population
include the shortage of maize and the high costs of soya beans
which are
crucial ingredients to a pig's diet.
'Maize is the source of energy while
soyabean meal provides protein which
contains indispensable amino acids like
lysine. Soya beans can only be
produced in high rainfall areas or under
irrigation in drier parts of the
country.
'Currently the cost of
soyabean meal is unaffordable to most pig producers
and there is need to
carry out research into alternative sources of cheap
but good quality
protein,' said Dube.
The shortages of maize and soya beans comes at a
time when the government is
insisting that there is enough food in the
country and that the 2004 harvest
would be sufficient to sustain the
country.
Dube said the flooding of cheap beef into the urban market has
also
compounded the situation and worsened conditions for the pig
industry.
'Rapid price escalations and changes in the market have
resulted in a lot of
uncertainties to the pig producer and the situation is
further compounded by
the influx of cheap beef into the urban market,' Dube
said.
Zim Standard
Cash-strapped Zim workers take to moonlighting
By Caiphas
Chimhete
AFTER a hard day's work - repairing and servicing computers at a
local
information technology company- Godfrey Tinarwo walks down two streets
to a
private college where he teaches computer studies.
Despite being
tired after a day's work, the 30-year-old computer technician
puts in another
three hours at the college in order to earn extra cash.
Tinarwo says
he cannot afford a decent life on the meagre monthly salary he
gets from the
computer firm where he is formally employed.
"If I don't do extra work my
small family will starve. I have to find a way
of supplementing the little
income from my job," says the father of two.
Tinarwo's tight work
schedule is a microcosmic reflection of what most
employed Zimbabweans are
now doing to supplement their wages and salaries
from formal employment as
the economic recession continues unabated.
Financially squeezed by
inflation and the skyrocketing prices of basic
commodities, most employed
people in Zimbabwe have resorted to moonlighting
in order to cushion
themselves from the current economic hardships.
Presently, inflation is
at 395 percent, according to the Central Statistical
Office (CSO), while
prices of basic goods have shot up by more 400 percent
since the middle of
last year.
Moonlighting ranges from taking up normal formal jobs
elsewhere to informal
occupations such as selling tomatoes in the streets, to
dressmaking at home.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the
country's largest umbrella
body of labour unions, says 90 percent of the
employed and underemployed
people in Zimbabwe were involved in some form of
moonlighting to supplement
earnings.
"The issue is so prevalent these
days because of economic hardships. Unless
you are a chief executive . but it
appears everyone is doing it to make ends
meet. I know of professional people
who, on weekends, work elsewhere to earn
a few more dollars," says Wellington
Chibhebhe, ZCTU's secretary-general.
He says professions such as
teaching, accounting, building, medicine,
dressmaking, mechanics and
journalism have the most number of people
moonlighting.
"Teachers, for
example, are taking pupils for extra lessons after hours,
while accountants
do books for businesspeople after normal working hours,"
explained the ZCTU
secretary general.
Independent economic analyst, John Robertson, said
more people were
moonlighting because, "their single salaries" can not keep
pace with the
cost of living in Zimbabwe.
"You must know that the
prices of basic commodities have gone up by over 400
percent since mid-last
year and in sectors such as building the costs have
risen by about 600
percent. This has definitely not matched salary
increases," Robertson
said.
Although the Central Statistical Office (CSO) says unemployment
rate stands
at 60 percent, the ZCTU and other independent economic analysts
insist that
it is 75 - 80 percent. The few people who are employed cannot
make ends
meet.
In a country where 75 percent of Zimbabwe's 12,5
million people are living
below the poverty-datum line - incomes of less than
$1.5 million a month -
the unemployment rate is unsustainabily high, analysts
point out.
Chibhebhe believes moonlighting is being precipitated by the
fact that more
than 80 percent of Zimbabweans are under-employed and
consequently
underpaid.
"Because of underemployment, people are being
paid peanuts and as a result
the levels of poverty continue to rise," he
said.
Other professionals have not seen moonlighting as an option and
they have
fled the country in search of greener pastures, where they are
better paid
and the working conditions are better.
It is estimated
that there are 3.5 million Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, with
about 80 percent
of them being professionals, according to a recent study by
the Scientific
Industrial, Research and Development Centre (SIRDC).
The majority of the
people leave the country to work in countries such as
Botswana, Namibia,
Britain, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Commentators say Zimbabwe
is being deprived of the expertise it needs due to
the brain drain as
qualified professionals become economic refugees.
Jonathan Kadzura, a
commentator, says moonlighting is worldwide phenomenon
and has nothing to do
with the economic hardships facing Zimbabwe.
He says the practice is
rampant in the legal and accounting professions.
"It's a worldwide
phenomenon and not directly linked to this economic
crisis. For example,
private colleges do not want full-time teachers and
tutors so they hire
people they pay for hours they work only," Kadzura says.
But Chibhebhe
insists that while moonlighting is a worldwide practice, the
economic crisis
has a significant hand in the furtherance of the phenomenon
in
Zimbabwe.
"It would be naïve to want to believe that moonlighting has
nothing to do
with the current economic recession. If people were not
suffering they would
not want to work again after hours," argues
Chibhebhe.
The current economic meltdown is blamed on President Robert
Mugabe's skewed
economic policies, which have resulted in the contraction of
major sectors
of the economy, such as agriculture and
manufacturing.
This was further inflamed by President Mugabe's
controversial land reforms
launched in 2000, which virtually "killed" all
downstream industries linked
to the agriculture sector.
The outcome
was off-loading of thousands of farm workers into the
wilderness. Few of the
former farm workers have been allocated land to
become farmers in their own
right.
Zim Standard
Zanu PF grooming our youth into misfits
Sundaytalk with
Pius Wakatama
IN the past, you could always set your watch by the clock
on the tower of
Munhumutapa Building, our government's headquarters on Samora
Machel Avenue
in Harare. Not now. That clock is now so erratic that one can
only trust it
to their own misery.
It usually lies and is always
behind the actual time by an hour or more. It
is just like the people in the
building itself who, unfortunately are our
rulers and
law-makers.
They are liars and virtually live in the primitive past
of the revered
spirit medium, Mbuya Nehanda and the imperialist buccaneer,
Cecil John
Rhodes.
One would not be unduly bothered if our Zanu PF
leaders choose to stay in
the past and glory it in themselves without trying
to coerce the whole
country into doing the same.
The tragedy is that
our innocent children, with no experience of the past,
are being herded into
the Zanu PF psychological laager where they are
bombarded with hate-filled
propaganda which can only give them a myopic view
of the
world.
Instead of them opening doors to new global vistas of experience,
they are
busy closing them. In their laager, they seek to indoctrinate our
children
with tales of all manner of enemies who are out to destroy them and
their
beautiful country.
Through amazing feats of creative imagination
they conjure up and weave an
amazingly intricate web of international
conspiracies against Zimbabwe.
With all international and independent
local media effectivey banned, except
for the spirited The Standard and The
Zimbabwe Independent newspapers,
Zimbabwe has become a backward rural village
in which only the chief's voice
is heard.
We are, therefore, now
rearing a generation of narrow - minded, ethnocentric
and hate-filled beings
who will be misfits in today's and tomorrow's
multi-cultural and multi-ethnic
globalised world.
They will be just as bewildered and lost as Jim in the
early South African
film, Jim comes to Jo'burg or Matigimu and Tikana in
Bernard Chidzero's
novel, Nzvengamutsvairo. Unable to cope, they will be
anti-social and end up
as jetsam and flotsam of modern society.
As
leaders, they will lead their countries in the only way they were
taught -
the way of violence. They will lead the country to confusion,
corruption,
civil wars and poverty as is happening in many parts of
Africa
today.
I came to this sad conclusion after listening to
President Robert Mugabe
when he spoke at the National Heroes' Acre during the
funeral of the
national hero, Mark Dube. Somehow, I had hoped that for once
we would hear
from him something fresh, positive and hopeful. But no, that
was not to be.
We were subjected to the usual ranting and raving about
defending our
hard-won independence, sovereignty and integrity. Hard-won
independence -
yes. But integrity, I have yet to see that. Have
you?
It was the same hate-talk against those who oppressed us in the past
and
whom we should regard as our enemies forever. "They can never be
our
friends!" he told the nation.
As I listened to this usual diatribe
against the British, the Americans and
the Western world in general, I was
reminded of the book, Communication and
Change in Developing Countries. It
was part of the required reading for my
Master's in Communication degree at
Wheaton College in the United States.
In the book was a paper presented
by Daniel Lerner, Ford professor of
Sociology and International
Communication, at a conference held in 1964 at
the Institute of Advanced
Projects in Hawaii.
In the paper, entitled, "International Co-operation
and Communication",
Professor Lerner said about development in Afro-Asia:
"Once these leaders
really make development the major goal of political
action, professional
specialists in development planning will become
indespensable allies rather
than suspected adversaries. The anti-imperialists
posture of the charismatic
leaders in Afro-Asia may have been useful during
the early years of
transition from colonialism to nationhood. This purpose
has now been served
: the old colonies have already become new nations by the
dozens.
Anti-imperialism now is not merely an obsolete gimmick; it is often
a
smokescreen that conceals the new nation's long-term development
goals
behind the short-term political interests of leaders who wish to stay
in
power at any price.
"Much of the anti-Western propaganda in
Afro-Asia today obscures the divide
between political independence, which has
already been achieved, and
economic development, which most new nations have
barely started to seek.
Anti-Western slogans may still make it easier to
raise cheers at political
rallies, but they certainly make it harder to raise
levels of economic
development."
Dr Lerner had an uncanny foresight
because what he said in Hawaii in 1964 is
exactly what is happening today.
Our political leaders are using
anti-Western and anti-imperialist rhetoric as
a smokescreen to hide their
own dismal failures. If Western countries are so
hostile to us then why are
Zimbabweans flocking there in their
millions?
The Shona have a saying,"Kana vana vako vachikwata
usatukane
nevawakavakidzana navo". (Don't quarrel with your neighbours if
your
children are in the habit of eating in their houses).
Now that
the anti-West speechfying, sloganeering and cheering is over, as
well as the
holidays, what next? It is business as usual, of course. We go
back to
further fortify our laager so that no outside influences can
penetrate and
cause our "patriotic' people to turn against us.
Can you imagine anyone
else ruling Zimbabwe, especially if they were not in
the liberation struggle
and in the bush with us. Never.
We will continue by shutting down and
prosecuting all local and
international non-governmental organisations which
we suspect of "engaging
in political activities". We will then continue to
force private schools to
close down because they charge "exhorbitant school
fees and then take them
over. This way we can introduce our own patriotic
syllabus to ensure that
graduates are 'patriotic' and loyal citizens". We can
use the same syllabus
we are using at the National Youth Training centres. We
can't allow young
and impressionable minds to be taught from Western
influenced syllabus, can
we? They may end up being hostile to government
policies and even join the
"British-sponsored" MDC (Movement for Democratic
Change). We must seal the
laager so that no unmonitored external influences
can enter.
How about e-mails and cellphones? We must ask Jonathan Moyo to
continue to
look into that. We can't allow people to just communicate without
us knowing
what they are talking about, can we? They may be talking to George
Bush or
Tony Blair, for all we know.
Hey, I knew I had forgotten
something - don't forget the Nigerians. We must
do something about them. Who
would ever have thought our friends, who helped
us so much during the
struggle against colonialism, could turn against us
and give land to our
enemies, the former Rhodesian white farmers? They have
joined our enemy list
because they are being used by the British to fund the
opposition MDC with
the aim of destabilising our country. We must deny them
visas into our
country. They shall be our enemies forever.
How about Muammar Gaddafi of
Libya? He is a turncoat, too, isn't he? What
shall we do about him? Not much,
I am afraid. We owe him too much money.
Say, Chef, how about the African
Union? Don't you think they are being
influenced by the British and the
Americans to turn against us? Keep quiet,
damn you! Can't you see that I am
busy thinking?
Lucky indeed are those young people whose national leaders
prepared them by
exposing them to the global marketplace of ideas and
experiences. They can
boldly enter and participate in the new world with
confidence. They will
surmount all the disadvantages brought about by
colonialism, racism and
bigotry to become renowned world statesmen like
Nelson Mandela, former
president of South Africa and Kofi Annan of Ghana, the
Secretary-General of
the United Nations. They will bring peace and prosperity
not only to their
own African countries and regions but to the world as a
whole.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!