State Set to Take Over Failed Private Schools
The Herald
(Harare)
August 6, 2004
Posted to the web August 6,
2004
Harare
GOVERNMENT will take over any private school that
fails to survive with the
present fees and will run it itself.
The
warning came in a long meeting on Monday between the Minister of
Education,
Sport and Culture, Cde Aeneas Chigwedere, top ministry officials
and heads,
trustees and parents of the schools loosely grouped under the
Association of
Trust Schools.
One of the trust schools, Eaglesvale, has already called
in a liquidator and
has applied for voluntary provisional liquidation so that
it can continue to
operate until it runs out of money.
The minister
and his officials, who included the permanent secretary to the
ministry, Dr
Stephen Mahere, stressed that the Government was not seeking to
take over the
schools, but would not allow any to close.
Cde Chigwedere said by
intervening and mediating in private school business,
Government was not
intending to take them over, but to restore sanity.
In fact, Government,
he said, had always accepted education as a partnership
with the
parents.
The meeting is the latest and largest in the debate between the
private
schools and the ministry.
At the beginning of the second term,
the ministry slashed the legal fees
that the schools were allowed to charge,
in most cases to well below half
what the schools had calculated they needed
to maintain the standards and
services that they traditionally
offer.
On Monday, the minister and his officials said the trust schools
could
continue to hire their own teachers and would not have teachers from
the
Public Service imposed on them.
Nevertheless, they made it clear
that these teachers had to be paid from
sources other than compulsory fees
and levies.
The issue of staffing is at the centre of the debate on
fees.
The private schools all have low ratios of teachers to pupils,
usually
considerably lower than the ratios applied in Government
schools.
They also hire their own staff, rather than have personnel from
the Public
Service who would be assigned and paid by the ministry and could
be
transferred on 24 hours' notice.
Most parents regard the small
classes and the right of schools to select
their own staff to be the biggest
single advantage of the private schools.
The private schools not only
have small classes but also employ several
specialised teachers and a large
group of other staff to provide the extra
facilities and services that
parents want.
The ministry disagrees and believes that class sizes have
no bearing on the
quality of education offered by the schools. The minister
and his officials
believe that costing for small classes is exploiting
parents.
The ministry also believes that 40 percent of school income must
be spent
directly on the pupils, otherwise parents are being exploited. The
schools
and the vast majority of parents believe that money spent on staff is
being
spent directly on their children.
Cde Chigwedere said the
parents should determine the expenditure of their
income.
"Teachers,
office, kitchen and grounds staff are the parents' employees so
their
salaries should not be a secret to them.
"If you spend less than 40
percent of your school income directly on
children, you are exploiting the
parents," he said.
The ministry also wants schools run by boards to have
half these boards
elected by parents and to have a ministry representative
included. Some
schools have already initiated this change.
The
ministry sees all schools belonging to the parents regardless of
the
responsible authority, hence the need for parents to have a strong say
in
school affairs.
"We accept that schools cannot all belong to one
category, but we cannot
allow free rein to the boards. Do not forget where we
came from, the era of
racism.
"You have to convince Government that
you are not continuing to promote the
racism of yore," he told the board
members and trustees.
Fee and levy increases for next year should be
submitted to Dr Mahere by the
end of October.
The minister promised
that his permanent secretary would respond by the end
of
November.
Several schools complained that Government took long to respond
last term,
forcing some of them to proceed to implement the new fees without
approval.
Because of this, many hiccups took place during the second
term, with 45
private schools opening a week later.
Government delayed
the opening of some schools for a week after the schools
directed parents to
pay proposed fees and levies before the ministry had
authorised them to do
so.
The Government then set fees that it considered suitable for the
schools.
Some parents have in the past complained that the salaries
teachers at
private schools earned were too high
However, the schools
have pointed out that the salaries they pay staff are
not much higher than
the Public Service rates and, in fact, some schools
were paying their staff
less than Public Service teachers in the first term.
The high ratio of
experienced staff on most private school payrolls does add
to the salaries
bill as all teachers' pay scales, in both private and public
sectors, have a
significant seniority factor.
On the donations to schools, Cde Chigwedere
said there was nothing like a
compulsory "voluntary donation".
"That
is illegal. Children of those that do not contribute to these
donations are
not to be penalised in any way," he warned.
The ministry team was also
concerned about nomenclature. Although the
schools are commonly called
private or independent, they are, in fact,
legally non-government schools in
terms of the Education Act, which divides
Zimbabwean schools into government
and non-government.
All schools not run by the Government itself, such as
local authority,
mission and what are loosely called the private or trust
schools, fall into
the non-government category.
Reuters
Britain will always be an enemy, says Mugabe
August
06 2004 at 04:37PM
By Stella Mapenzauswa
Harare -
Zimbabwe will always regard former colonial ruler Britain as
an enemy,
President Robert Mugabe said on Friday in a speech that also took
a swipe at
a leading clergyman who has been an outspoken critic of
his
government.
Mugabe has clashed with the government of
British Prime Minister Tony
Blair mainly over his seizure of white-owned
farms for redistribution to
blacks he says were dispossessed of their land
during white colonial rule.
Speaking at the state funeral of war
veteran Mark Dube on Friday,
Mugabe singled out outspoken Catholic Archbishop
Pius Ncube of Bulawayo as
being among opponents he said were aligned with
Britain in working to topple
his administration.
'It is
very easy to throw a nation into strife'
Dube was a former provincial
governor who served as a senior military
trainer for Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF
party during Zimbabwe's long liberation
war.
"Dube would never
have gone to Britain to invite Blair to please come
and invade his
motherland, in the same satanic way Archbishop Pius Ncube and
his opposition
colleagues are doing repeatedly today," Mugabe said.
"He would
never speak the language of tribalism, that destructive
dialect we again hear
from the pulpit."
Ncube has called for tough regional and
international action against
Mugabe, who he says has subjected Zimbabweans to
political repression and
economic hardship since coming to power at
independence in 1980.
Ncube has also been vocal against a 1980s
government crackdown on
dissidents from Zimbabwe's minority Ndebele ethnic
group, which rights
groups say killed more than 20 000
civilians.
'They remain colonial enemies'
"It is
very easy to throw a nation into strife, to trigger an unhappy
fate through
unmeasured language meant to inflame, incite and instigate. Is
that the fate
we wish for our country?" Mugabe said in apparent reference
to
Ncube.
"Let's take care forever that we do not place this
country in the
hands of those who are ready to sup and dine with the enemy,
those who are
ready to rush to the enemy and call him a friend, forgetting
that yesterday
he was the cause of the bloodshed of this
country.
"That enemy was Britain and Britain and its allies. They
can never,
ever be our friends indeed and whatever they do, however they
think, they
remain colonial enemies."
Mugabe denies mismanaging
Zimbabwe over the last 25 years, leading to
record unemployment, inflation
and erratic supplies of food and foreign
currency. He charges the economy has
been undermined by his local and
foreign opponents as punishment for his
controversial land reforms.
Catholic World News
Mugabe escalates charges against
archbishop
Harare, Aug. 06 (CWNews.com) - Zimbabwe's President Robert
Mugabe has
charged a Catholic prelate with conspiring against his
regime.
Mugabe told an audience in Harare that Archbishop Pius Ncube of
Bulawayo, a
frequent critic of his government, is working with the British
government to
regain control of Zimbabwe, which was once a British colony.
Mugabe said
that Archbishop Ncube has engaged in "satanic" efforts to oust
him from
power.
Archbishop Ncube has charged Mugabe with
mismanagement, corruption, and
anti-democratic efforts to stifle opposition
political leaders. The
archbishop also has charged the Mugabe has bribed
critics to win their
silence-- even suggesting that some members of the
Catholic hierarchy have
accepted such bribes.
Zim Online
Zimbabwe's information chief Moyo under attack
Fri 6 Aug
2004
HARARE - Senior ruling ZANU PF party politicians are
understood to
have told party and state President Robert Mugabe to reign in
his
information minister, Jonathan Moyo.
The ZANU PF leaders are
said to be angry that Moyo is using the vast
state media empire to undermine
their influence. ZimOnline was told they
confronted Mugabe during a meeting
of the party's politburo last Wednesday
on why he had allowed Moyo 'so much
power'.
ZANU PF Secretary for Information and member of the
politburo, Nathan
Shamuyarira, refused to comment: 'We don't discuss
politburo issues in
public. They are confidential to the party.'
Sources privy to proceedings at the Wednesday meeting said former
Zimbabwe
army commander Solomon Mujuru had led the attack, questioning
Mugabe why he
had not taken action against Moyo for using state media to
vilify ZANU
PF
chairman John Nkomo as well as Shamuyarira.
Mujuru, who
commanded the Zimbabwe National Liberation Army that
fought under Mugabe
during Zimbabwe's 1970s war of liberation, is a close
associate of the
Zimbabwean leader and one of the powerbrokers in ZANU PF.
ZANU PF
women's leader Tenjiwe Lesabe, Shamuyarira and Nkomo are said
to have also
questioned Moyo's increasing powers and influence in ZANU PF
and
government.
Nkomo, who is also Land Reform and Resettlement
Minister, has been
the target of criticism in the state media. He is trying
to enforce a 'one
household one farm' policy and has urged ministers and
other officials who
have obtained more than one farm under the controversial
land reform to
comply with it. Moyo has been named together with other
ministers as a
multiple farm owner.
According to the
sources, Mugabe did not say whether he will act
against Moyo or not. "Mugabe
told the meeting that he will first meet Moyo
and Shamuyarira before calling
a meeting with the aggrieved leaders to
resolve the sharp differences," said
one source, who spoke on condition he
was not named.
As deputy
information secretary of ZANU PF, Moyo reports to
Shamuyarira but the two
have publicly clashed on several occasions in the
past.
Moyo was
appointed a non-constituent Member of Parliament by Mugabe in
2000.. He has
no power base of his own within ZANU PF, but has been using
the government's
information machine to position himself as an influential
player in
Zimbabwe's politics. ZimOnline
Zim Online
80 percent of all young HIV infected persons are female
Fri
6 Aug 2004
HARARE - Gender inequality is fuelling HIV/AIDS in
Zimbabwe, with
women making up 80 percent of all young people infected by the
disease, the
United Nations (UN) said in a report on the epidemic released in
Harare on
Thursday.
According to the report, women and girls in
Zimbabwe are more at risk
of contracting HIV/AIDS because of poverty, lower
self esteem and a tendency
of young girls to have sexual relationships with
older men. Sexual violence
against women also puts them more at risk of
catching the deadly disease
that is presently killing more than 2 000
Zimbabweans every week.
The report entitled 'Facing the Future
Together' was compiled by a
27-member UN Taskforce on Women, Girls and
HIV/AIDS that visited Zimbabwe
and nine other Southern African countries in
September 2003.
To reduce infection rates among women, the UN says
girls should be
kept in school for much longer and that more be done to curb
domestic
violence. The organisation also said that treatment should be made
available
to all citizens suffering from HIV/AIDS.
Commenting on
the UN report, Harare-based HIV/AIDS activist Sophie
Dilmitis said most
young women had very little information about
reproductive health or how and
where to access health facilities.
Dilmitis, who teaches young boys
and girls about HIV/AIDS, said: "It's
very important that when talking to
young people about HIV and AIDS, we send
out balanced messages (on prevention
and treatment facilities)." ZimOnline
Sunday Times (SA)
MDC leader barred from public
speaking
Friday August 06, 2004 07:20 - (SA)
HARARE -
Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been barred
by police
from speaking at a series of meetings of his Movement for
Democratic Change
party over the past ten days, his spokesman said.
Tsvangirai "is very
concerned about this new development which casts serious
doubt as to whether
Zimbabwe can have a free and fair election in 2005,"
said his spokesman
William Bango.
"In the past 10 days, the Zimbabwe Republic Police have
barred President
Morgan Tsvangirai from addressing 11 meetings convened for
grassroots
officials," said Bango.
Although national security laws
make it obligatory for anyone wishing to
hold a public meeting to seek
permission from police at least four days
before the event, the spokesman
stressed that political parties had to
merely inform them, "not ask for their
approval."
"Tsvangirai believes the police are abusing their powers in
denying a
political leader of his stature, with millions of supporters and
followers,
from performing his national duties," Bango said.
He
stressed that the meetings were not public rallies but
intra-party
discussions. Tsvangirai is mulling legal action.
Police
reportedly refused to clear the meetings citing such reasons as lack
of
manpower to police the meetings, or because the ruling Zanu-PF had
already
booked the same venue.
Tsvangirai, whose four-year old party holds more
than a third of the
parliamentary seats, has vowed that the MDC will fight
for electoral reforms
ahead of the elections in March.
An array of
laws exists which may drastically limit the MDC's hopes of being
on a par
with the ruling party in the run-up to the elections.
The MDC does not
have access to any broadcasting media and the government
has closed down
three independent newspapers in the past year.
In 2002, Tsvangirai lost
the presidential polls which were slammed by
international rights groups as
unfair and is challenging the outcome in
court.
AFP
From BBC News, 5 August
Theatre - Zimbabwe's last free
speech?
By Gordon Glyn-Jones
In world terms, the
theatrical scene in Zimbabwe is so small as to be almost
insignificant - but
it reflects a society that has, for all the wrong
reasons, grabbed the news
headlines internationally. Since the Zimbabwean
government introduced tough
media laws in 2002, theatre has taken on a new
and edgy role. It is a place
where entertainment can express, yet mask,
deep-rooted anger; where in the
face of a dying culture, humour and humanity
can be tended like glowing
coals, ready for igniting in the future. And
since the media crackdown,
audiences have started to grow exponentially.
"Ever since the Daily News
closed down, we have had audiences of 150 per
day," Daves Guzha, producer of
Rooftop Promotions, who perform at Theatre in
the Park in central Harare,
told BBC World Service's Focus On Africa
magazine. "Mugabe is using Gono
[Gideon Gono, the governor of the central
bank] to sweep out all the
corruption. Suddenly he's scared of how he
[Mugabe] will be remembered,
therefore I am very confident for the future."
Guzha's play Super Patriots
and Morons has been seen as a watershed piece of
theatre, as it criticising
the ruling elite. And raising a moral voice
amongst those who might be most
corrupt appears to be the main goal of the
Harare-based theatre crews. He has
also just finished filming the third
series of Waiters, which takes a
satirical look at the hardships of life in
Harare. The television show is
based on the stage plays written by Stephen
Chifunyise, who for many years
was secretary for education, sport and
culture. The sitcom continues to be
shown on local television despite strict
censorship laws, although Super
Patriots and Morons has now been banned.
Guzha points out that Zimbabwe is
frustrating, corrupt and nepotistic. He
argues that for him, theatre is a
business and he has to face the daily
struggle for survival. He lives in a
world that will have to take a long
hard look at itself once Mugabe fades
away - his removal will not be a
panacea of all of the country's
problems.
Generally speaking, Zimbabwe's black community is split
between the Shona
from Mashonaland in the north and the Ndebele from
Matebeleland in the
south. Whilst united as one country, this divide is
seldom forgotten. For
Zimbabwe to reach peace, the animosity between the
Shona and the Ndebele
also has to be addressed. In Matabeleland, most
power-wielding civil
servants are Shona-speaking, which is highly resented,
and the legacy of the
Gukurahundi massacres of the 1980s still hurts. More
recently, Ndebeles have
been subjected to worse food shortages than their
northern counterparts. But
within this atmosphere there thrives a true hero
of resistance theatre -
Cont Mhlanga, who runs Amakhosi Theatre Company - a
man of vision and
seemingly inexhaustible dedication to his cause. "After the
1980s, we needed
to move on from protest theatre," he told Focus On Africa.
"We needed to
give the people tools and skills to make action for change. No
longer was
it: whose fault is it? Now it was: it is your fault for electing
this man
and here's how you can get rid of him." Mhlanga has pioneered a
system where
he takes theatre workshops out to the rural areas, separates
young talent,
teaches them theatrical methods and content. Then he gives them
specific
guidelines about how to take a show into their areas. This way,
within three
weeks, the message is vibrating further and further, which is
far more
effective than if they had just gone and done one show in the
region. "We
have been banned," he said. "We have been beaten. We are under
surveillance
24 hours a day. But things must be said. We don't say it because
we are
foolish or because we don't like our government or our country. We say
it
because our future hangs in the balance."
Zim online
HEALTH DISASTER LOOMS IN ZIMBABWE
Sat 7 August
2004
HARARE - The Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ)
warned of
a major health disaster in Zimbabwe's towns and cities and asked
central
government to take over health delivery services in cities and towns
because
the country's financially paralysed municipalities can no longer
cope.
Japhet Ndabeni Ncube, who is also the Executive Mayor of
Zimbabwe's
second largest city of Bulawayo, said, 'We are having a problem
paying
salaries, buying drugs and maintaining the buildings. We have come to
a
situation where we cannot just cope. So the government should take
over.'
UCAZ has already sent an SOS to the government about the
potentially
disastrous health situation in urban areas. But Ndabeni Ncube
said the
government was still to respond. 'They just note it down and sit on
it. So
we are just left hanging but we hope it is a proposal they would
take
seriously because issues concerning health are serious
issues."
Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo, who is
responsible for
urban areas, said his ministry was still considering UCAZ's
proposals. 'We
will see whether they are workable,' he said.
Health, sewer and water reticulation facilities in Zimbabwe's towns
have
rapidly deteriorated since January this year when the government
barred
municipalities from hiking rates and water tariffs.
UCAZ
has accused the government of imposing the ban on rate hikes in
order to
financially cripple and sabotage urban councils most of which are
run by the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change. The government
dismisses
the
charge saying the freeze on rates and tariffs is intended to
cushion
hard pressed residents.
Municipal authorities say since
the ban was imposed they have been
unable to raise cash to run the facilities
which had already been in bad
shape even before the freeze on rates and
tariffs.
Executive Mayor of the eastern border city of Mutare,
Misheck
Kagurabadza, said: 'There is a health disaster waiting to happen.
Our
clinics and hospitals are in a state of shame because we don't have
funds.
We can't even pay our workforce on time, let alone find money for
drugs.
Where are we supposed to get the money if we can't increase the
rates?'
A doctor working for Harare city council told ZimOnline
that health
institutions in the capital city were virtually unable to provide
service.
'We have no antibiotics. No paracetemol, bandages and just
anything we
need. We are struggling to feed the patients and we can't even
afford to
replace light bulbs,' said the doctor, who spoke on condition he
was not
named.
Executive Mayor of Chegutu city (about 80
kilometres west of Harare)
Francis Dhlakama said 'Councils should no longer
be burdened with a national
responsibility especially at a time of
diminishing revenue.'
The cash-strapped government is struggling to
keep its barely equipped
state hospitals functioning. Taking over the running
urban health
institutions could hasten the total collapse of Zimbabwe's
health delivery
system. ZimOnline
Zim online
Trade unions call for tax reform
Sat 7 August
2004
BULAWAYO - The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) is
calling for
a taxation reform to reduce poverty.
Zimbabwe has
one of the highest tax rates in the world with most
workers ceding at least
two fifths of their earnings to the government.
Workers say what remains of
their wages is hardly enough to feed their
families in an economic
environment where inflation is above 400 percent.
ZCTU secretary
general, Wellington Chibhebhe, who spoke to ZimOnline
before being arrested
by police on Thursday, said the government had an
'historical obligation to
correct existing tax anomalies'.
'We must not forget that black
Zimbabweans went to war to fight for
the right to vote, land and scrapping of
taxes. Workers are asking: why
should (they) be taxed to death in an
independent Zimbabwe?'
According to Ministry of Finance figures,
during the 2003 fiscal year
workers contributed Zimbabwe $1.15 trillion to
the fiscus through Pay-As-You
earn taxes. Companies, on the other hand,
contributed Z$362 million during
the same period.
Chibebhe
accused the government of 'milking workers of their cash':
'We are talking of
poverty alleviation programmes in Zimbabwe but we are
perpetuating poverty
through taxation. The issue of taxation has to be
addressed once and for
all.'
Acting Finance and Economic Development Minister Herbert
Murerwa could
not be reached for comment.
A 'Zimbabwe Human
Development Report', compiled by the University of
Zimbabwe's Institute of
Development Studies together with the Poverty
Reduction Forum, says about 80
percent of Zimbabweans live below the Total
Poverty Consumption Line and
poverty in both rural and urban areas is on the
increase.
Workers interviewed by ZimOnline said the revised tax bands announced
by
Murerwa on 27 July and meant to cushion workers had already been eroded
by
inflation before implementation. The new tax schedules will be in effect
from
next month and raise the non taxable income threshold from Z$200 000 a
month
to Z$750 000. The ZCTU slammed this figure as being much too low, and
called
for the non taxable threshold to be increased to at least Z$4
million
because of the high cost of living in Zimbabwe. ZimOnline
Zim online
Zimbabwe police disallows opposition meetings
Sat 7 August
2004
JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) says over the past week police have disallowed 11
meetings the
party had scheduled to map out strategy for next year's general
election.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was contemplating applying
to the courts
to force the police to allow his party to meet with supporters,
said the
opposition leader's spokesman, William Bango.
'The
police are abusing their powers by denying a political leader
of his stature
(Tsvangirai), with millions of supporters and followers, from
performing his
national duties,' Bango said.
'He has no option other than to put
up a test case in the courts to
get clarity on the police interpretation of
the Public Order and Security
Act.' According to the act any meeting of three
or more people talking
politics must have a police permit.
Bango
said the meetings, which were to take place in mostly rural
constituencies
controlled by the ruling ZANU PF party, were meant to allow
Tsvangirai to
meet with the grassroots leadership of his party.
Zimbabwe Republic
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena, refused to speak
on the matter, simply
saying: 'I have nothing to say'.
Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi
also refused to comment when
ZimOnline contacted him from Johannesburg by
phone: 'I have said before that
I do not give interviews over the telephone.
I have no comment, thank you.'
The MDC faces ZANU PF in a general
election scheduled for next March.
President Robert Mugabe has promised to
reform Zimbabwe's electoral laws and
to appoint an independent electoral
commission to allow for a free and fair
poll. But many analysts doubt the
independence of the proposed commission
and say that repressive media and
security laws will have to be repealed if
the vote is to be free and
fair.
A fact finding mission sent to Zimbabwe in June by the Media
Institute
of Southern Africa reported earlier this week the election was
highly
unlikely to be free and fair because of political violence and
severe
restrictions on the media. ZimOnline
Zim online
Trade unionists still under arrest
Sat 7 August
2004
GWERU - Lawyers representing four top trade union officials
who were
arrested on Thursday at a labour workshop here say they will apply
to the
High Court today to have their clients brought to trial or
released.
The four are Southern African Trade Union Coordinating
Council
(SATUCC) president Lucia Matibenga, the secretary general of the
Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), Wellington Chibhebhe,
advocacy
officer,Timothy Kondo and ZCTU midlands regional committee member
Samuel
Machinda.
They were arrested arrest at a workshop to
discuss labour issues
including collective bargaining, taxation and
resolutions of the
International Labour Organisation 2004 conference held in
June in Geneva.
The four, who are being held at Gweru Central
police station, have
been charged with contravening Section 1(b) of the
Public Order and Security
Act.
The four's lawyer, Reginald
Chidawanyika, said, "It is alleged that at
the Gweru theatre, they uttered
obscene, insulting words with a view of
provoking breach of peace."
ZimOnline
Zim online
Raising a family alone on nothing
Sat 7 August
2004
HARARE - In her late 70s, Petronella Kandeya should be
spending most
of her time by the fireside telling stories to her
grandchildren. But
Kandeya, a widow, has to toil all day long, collecting
used plastic paper
for sale to Harare's re-cycling factories, or she and her
two orphaned
grandchildren will starve.
"The money my husband
left in the bank (when he died five years ago)
ran out. I did not know what
to do,' Kandeya told ZimOnline at her house in
the capital's poverty-stricken
Kambuzuma township.
For a while her eldest daughter helped her to
make ends meet. But as
fate would have it she suffered a severe stroke two
years ago leaving
Kandeya alone to fend for the family on her own. 'My
daughter suffered the
stroke probably from worries of her own. There was no
food in the house so I
went door to door, begging. This was the only option
left for me," the widow
says.
Her three other daughters
are married housewives who live with their
families and cannot assist her.
She has two sons but they also live far
away, one in Bulawayo, 450 kilometres
west of Harare, the other in the
mining town of Zvishavane, more than 500
kilometers away. Both are
unemployed.
Kandeya's dilapidated
house, standing at the corner of a potholed
street, gives an insight into the
testing times she and her family have
endured as food shortages persist in
Zimbabwe. Fringed by a collapsing
fence on one side and green cypress trees
on the other the house stands
incomplete. One half of the structure does not
have a roof. Inside, the
walls are not painted.
A set of old
maroon sofas, a small table and an even older
black-and-white television set
in one corner complete the list of Kandeya's
household property.
At this hour - it is six o'clock in the evening - one expects the
sweet aroma
of supper cooking. But not so in this home. The only scent here
is that of
cheap floor polish applied by Kandeya ten hours earlier in
the
morning.
The urge is to ask whether or not the family will
have dinner tonight.
But then Kandeya, probably anticipating the question,
explains that spending
the night without food would be nothing new for the
family. They have done
it before.
"There are kids to send to
school, so we'd go without food some days.
Once in a while neighbours would
have pity on us and donate a plate of
mealie-meal,' she says, battling to put
on a brave face.
Kandeya is not alone. She is one of thousands of
women across Zimbabwe
fending for families single-handedly at a time when
economic hardships have
worsened in the country.
According to a
United Nations report, 'Community and Household
Surveillance', undertaken in
March this year, many of these women-headed
families are the worst affected
by poverty and food shortages plaguing the
country. The report concludes
that only 15 percent of the more than 800
such households examined nationally
had any food at all.
.
Zimbabwe, which at independence 24
years ago was a beacon of hope for
Africa, has suffered a painful economic
decline over the last five years.
Unemployment stands at more than
70 percent. Inflation is above 400
percent. A burgeoning HIV/AIDS epidemic is
killing about 2 000 Zimbabweans a
week while the public health sector has
virtually collapsed mainly because
of a lack of funds. And in the last three
years half of the 12 million
Zimbabweans have been able to survive only
because international donors
chipped in with food
handouts.
Analysts blame President Robert Mugabe's controversial
land reforms,
as well as other economic and political policies for derailing
the progress
he and his ruling ZANU PF party had achieved during the early
years of
independence. Mugabe, for his part, accuses Western and local
opponents of
his land redistribution programme of sabotaging the economy in a
bid to
incite the populace against his rule.
For Kandeya
it does not matter much who is right. The overriding
concern for her and many
others in her situation is where to find money to
buy the next meal or to pay
for school fees for the children.
"In the past we could buy
something with 25 cents but now even
mealie-meal (ground maize) is very
expensive. We have stopped eating bread.
On the odd day we have sweet potato
we celebrate."
Kandeya says the years of suffering have toughened
her. But she also
confides that it is a difficult test for her to witness
what her
grandchildren are having to go through. "Right now they have only
one
blanket each,' she says. With tears welling up in her eyes, she adds,
'as
for me, I use wrappers to keep me warm." ZimOnline
icperthshire
Happy ending to Zimbabwe dog tale Aug 6
2004
GENTLE giant Pumbaa - a nine-stone
Boerbull dog - is settling into his
new Perthshire home after escaping
torture in Zimbabwe.
Pumbaa was left to die alone in agony after
raiders strung him up by a
hind leg from a tree on his owner's farm and beat
him to a pulp.
But now Stanley couple Roy and Yvonne Dunbar have
given the
four-year-old show dog a home after discovering his plight from
PADS
(Perthshire Abandoned Dogs Society).
"He has taken over the
spare room where he sleeps on his own single
bed and has the run of the whole
house," said Roy. "You would think he had
been here all his days. He's a real
big sap."
Pumbaa was discovered close to death by his owner, along
with the
butchered remains of her stable of horses.
She nursed
him back to health before seeking a refuge in her native
Scotland where he
could live out his life in safety.
The woman, who asked not to be
named because she has to return to
Zimbabwe, said: "He had endured the most
terrible suffering, but he proved
he has a strong heart and great
courage."
The abuse left Pumbaa with broken ribs and pelvis, a
dislocated hip
and dozens of stick and blade injuries.
Pumbaa
will be opening PADS charity shop in South Street, Perth, on
Wednesday,
August 11, at 9.30am. The shop will be open six days a week for
one
month.
Daily News, Botswana
Zim reports a concern
06 August,
2004
GABORONE - Botswana is concerned about a report carried in a
Zimbabwe
state owned Chronicle newspaper on July 29, titled "Zimbabwe, Bots
meet over
volatile issues".
The Minister of Communications,
Science and Technology, Boyce
Sebetela, has reacted to the article saying the
government of Botswana is
concerned about the persistence of such reports. He
said however, that,
since he met Zimbabwean Minister of Information in June
"there had been
tremendous improvement".
The article alleges
that "a number of Zimbabweans have been subjected
to dehumanising treatment
such as being flogged in public by Botswana
traditional leaders for allegedly
committing crimes. Some of them have also
died at the hands of security
agents who have become notorious for beating
Zimbabweans and throwing them
out of moving vehicles." "Reports are not as
regular as they used to be. It
is a long time since they wrote stories like
this," Sebetela
said.
Minister Sebetela was however confident that his efforts to
bring an
end to negative publicity of Botswana in Zimbabwe would be a
success.
Professor of History at the University of Botswana,
Gilbert Sekgoma
said, such reports were irresponsible because they ignored
the fact that
Botswana as a sovereign state, has laws through which she
tackles her own
problems.
"It is law in Botswana to administer
corporal punishment to those who
commit certain levels of crime. This is not
discrimination, neither were
they designed only for Zimbabweans," he
said.
Prof. Sekgoma said it did not matter whether Zimbabweans
complained or
not because it was the duty of the government of Botswana to
enforce the
laws that govern the state.
"Anyone who will violate
laws in this country within the purview of
this Act will have to expect the
full wrath of the law," he added.
Sekgoma contended that, it was
unfortunate that, the Zimbabwean
authorities complained about the acts of
another country geared towards
enforcing its own laws.
He said
it was incumbent upon the Zimbabweans to stay home and avoid
committing
crimes in foreign lands, which were punishable by flogging.
Equally
important, it was the duty of the Zimbabwean leadership to
come up with
appropriate policies and programmes that would keep their
citizens at home
because Botswana could not just change laws to suit
Zimbabweans.
"Really, the ball is in their court because, only Batswana can,
through
established channels, change their own laws." He said it was
regrettable that
the situation "brings about a little bit of tension between
the two
neighbours". Media lecturer at the University of Botswana Paul
Rantao said
reports like those carried in Zimbabwe government media were
dangerous to the
relations of the two countries because they encouraged
xenophobia. He said it
was a volatile issue, which both Jonathan Moyo,
Information Minister of
Zimbabwe and Boyce Sebetela must seriously address.
'The influx of
illegal Zimbabwean immigrants must be fully addressed
with the urgency it
deserves," he said. Rantao said complaints raised by
Zimbabwe that Botswana
government had established an electric fence "to
electrocute Zimbabweans" and
that they were flogged by traditional leaders
did not demonstrate responsible
leadership.
Rantao said Moyo and Sebetela should work towards
enhancing the free
flow of information so "citizens of the two countries get
the right picture
of issues affecting them". BOPA
MDC
PRESS
6
August 2004
CAIN
NKALA VERDICT VINDICATES THE MDC
Yesterday’s
acquittal of the 6 MDC members accused of killing war
veteran Cain Nkala in November 2001 is a landmark
judgment in the context of Zimbabwe’s struggle for
freedom and democracy; it is also a reminder that despite very valid
concerns about the independence of the judiciary as an institution, there
remains a brave, but increasingly small, number of judges determined to uphold
the rule of law and adjudicate only in accordance to laws of the land.
The arrest
of the accused, and the subsequent trial that began in February 2003, was a
deliberate and desperate attempt by Mugabe and Zanu PF to substantiate their claims that the
MDC is a party that uses political
violence as a means to achieve its objectives. This was illustrated at the
funeral of Cain Nkala when, in his speech, Mugabe claimed that the murder of Nkala was indicative of the MDC’s violent agenda to seize power. Nothing could be
further from the truth and yesterday’s ruling vindicates the MDC’s position as an opponent of violence and a champion
of peace and democracy.
The verdict,
handed down by High court Judge Sandra Mungwira,
represents an indictment of the tactics used by the regime to smear and
undermine its opponents in the eyes of the people; it also serves to confirm
suspicions that the regime increasingly defines the pursuit of justice as simply
the purging and emasculation of all political opponents. This strategy suffered
another severe setback yesterday and the people of
Zimbabwe can celebrate yet another symbolic
victory of democracy over tyranny and a further injection of confidence into the
social liberation struggle.
As a party
we would like to salute the courage and conviction that the accused have
demonstrated since their arrest in November 2001. All six, which included the
MDC Treasurer Fletcher Dulini, were
subjected to gross mistreatment by the authorities whilst being held in
detention. In March this year Judge Mungwira upheld
claims by three of the accused that their original ‘confessions’ had been
obtained under torture. Despite this ruling, the police authorities have yet to
launch an investigation against the officers accused of committing these crimes;
a factor which illustrates the extent to which this state institution has become
harnessed to the violent political agenda of the ruling party.
In light of
yesterday’s judgement, we urge the Attorney General’s office to launch a fresh
investigation into the murder of Cain Nkala to find
the real culprits and bring them to justice. In addition, given the unequivocal
evidence relating to police brutality that arose during the trial we also urge
the Attorney General’s office to investigate the officers who stand accused of
torture and subverting the course of justice.
Paul Themba Nyathi
Secretary
for Information and Publicity
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE URGENT LEGAL COMMUNIQUÉ - 6th August 2004
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLEASE
NOTE THAT THERE IS A LIST OF SECTION 8'S, LOT 13 CONSISTING OF
399
PROPERTIES. THESE WILL BE SENT OUT AS SOON AS
POSSIBLE
______________________________________________
LAND
ACQUISITION ACT (CHAPTER 20:10)
Vesting of land, taking of materials
and
exercise of rights over land
NOTICE is hereby given, in terms of
paragraph (iii) of subsection (1) of
section 8 of the Land Acquisition Act
(Chapter 20:10), that the President
has acquired compulsorily the land
described in the Schedule for
resettlement purposes.
J L
NKOMO,
Minister of Special Affairs in the President's Office in Charge of
Lands,
Land Reform and
Resettlement.
_______________________________________________
Collection
of Section 8 Orders for lodgement of Section 5 Notice objection
letters can
be effected at the following address which is not given in
the
Herald:
Block 2
Makombe Complex
cnr. Herbert Chitepo
Street/Harare Street
Harare
See Mr.
Pazavakombewa
______________________________________________
LOT 150
SECTION 5 6TH AUGUST 2004
Bindura
1. 3989/92. Simon Farms P/L:
Bindura: M'chena of Chomkuti:
543,7159 ha
2. 5372/81. Edward Guthrie
& Son (Private) Limited: Bindura:
Rietbok Vlei of Rocky Spruit: 441,5292
ha
Gwelo
3. 991/94. J J Cullinan, K J Botes, C S Scullion, R Lily
Hartley, and
Ruth Hardman: Gwelo: Farm 23A of West Gwelo Block: 479,7676
ha
4. 991/94. J J Cullinan, K J Botes, C S Scullion, R Lily Hartley,
and
Ruth Hardman: Gwelo: Farm 23 of West Gwelo Block: 959,3487 ha
5.
951/72. Dixie Ranches (Private) Limited: Gwelo: Subdivision 11
of West Gwelo
Block: 1 402,4155 ha
6. 3080/99. Machinate enterprises (Private) Limtied:
Gwelo:
Goodhope of Subdivision 10 of West Gwelo Block: 526,2361 ha
7.
1236/72. Lionel Arthur Carlisle: Gwelo: Subdivision B of
Bonnyvale: 40,8995
ha
Hartley
8. 14019/53. Petrus Stephanus Martin: Hartley:
Clearmount:
941,0584 morgen
9. 9160/90. Johannes Lodewyk, Lorna
Delporta, and Anne Delporta:
Hartley: Ardlui Extension Portion of Oldham:
327,9800 ha
10. 11505/89. Oldham Estates (Private) Limited: Hartley: Alpha
of
Mopani: 1 933,5100 ha
11. 4249/64. J H Erasmus (Private) Limited:
Hartley: Alpha West:
370,5900 ha
12. 743/89. Blandale Estates (Private)
Limited: Hartley: Cecil:
1307,2921 ha
Marandellas
13. 6042/72.
Snowsprite Farm (Private) Limited: Marandellas:
Remainder of Subdivision "C"
of Southampton: 255,0415 ha
Mazoe
14. 3800/86. T G Berwick
(Private) Limited: Mazoe: Farm 8 of
Howick Estate: 834,7482 ha
15.
6140/72. R A Beattie and Sons (Private) Limited: Mazoe: The
Remaining Extent
of Lazy 7 Ranch of Barwick Estate: 861,3281 ha
16. 2058/70. Anglo American
Rhodesian Development Corporation Limited:
Mazoe: Remainder of Cornucopia: 1
375,7206 acres
Mrewa
17. 5712/79. Stephanus Gerhardus Borman:
Mrewa: Wheatlands:
972,4100 ha
Shamva
18. 9805/89. New Riverbend
(Private) Limited: Shamva: 1 281,9369
ha
Salisbury
19. 8289/00.
Niedzana Investments P/L: Salisbury: Greenlands: 1
292,4900 ha
20.
5207/55. Hill Brothers: Salisbury: Down End Portion of
Charfield A: 725,9987
morgen
______________________________________________
THE JAG
TEAM
JAG Hotlines:
(011) 261 862 If you are in trouble or need
advice,
(011) 205 374
(011) 863 354 please don't hesitate to contact us
-
(011) 431 068
we're here to help!
263
4 799 410 Office Lines
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE URGENT LEGAL COMMUNIQUÉ - 6th August 2004
e-mail:
jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
______________________________________________
PLEASE
NOTE that Lot 1 of the 30th July has been repeated in the Herald on
the 6th
August 2004.
_______________________________________________
NOTICE OF
APPLICATION FOR CONFIRMATION OF SECTION 8 ORDER IN TERMS OF
SECTION 7 (3) OF
THE LAND ACQUISITION ACT CHAPTER 20:10
TAKE NOTICE that an application
for the confirmation of the acquisition
order issued in respect of the
following farms has been filed in the
Administraive Court at Harare and that
the Respondent and any holder of
real rights over the said farm are required
to lodge their objections
within 5 days after the publication of this notice
failure to which the
matter shall be set down unopposed without any further
notice.
A copy of the application is available for collection at
Applicant's
undersigned legal practitioner of record's address between Monday
to Friday
from 8am to 4pm.
J L NKOMO
Minister of Special Affairs in
the Office
of the President and Cabinet in Charge of Lands,
Land Reform
and Resettlement.
c/o CIVIL DIVISION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S
OFFICE
Applicant's Legal Practitioners
2nd Floor, Block "A"
New Govt.
Complex
Cnr Samora Machel AVe/Fourth
St.
HARARE
_______________________________________________
LOT 03
SECTION 7 6TH AUGUST 2004
Chipinga
1. 5290/80. Watershed Estates
(Private) Limited: Chipinga:
Kroomklof of Kenilworth: 259,8125 ha:
LA3923/04
2. 2955/92. Danadon (Private) Limited: Chipinga: Lot 2
of
Newcastle: 158,1572 ha: LA 3892/04
3. 8600/71. Cecilia J Hunwick:
Chipinga: Hilderstroom of Dhleni of
Hartbeastnek: 429,2900 ha:
LA3890/04
4. 9359/90. The Chipinge Coffee Company (Private) Limited:
Chipinga:
Lot 1 of Rietvlei of Kenilworth: 371,4513 ha:
LA3888/04
Darwin
5. 4782/92. Benflora P/L: Darwin: Lot 1 of
Birdwood: 614,0204
ha: LA3847/04
6. 1735/95. Johnstone (Private)
Limited: Darwin: Lot 1 of
Chipirii: 1 354,7124 ha: LA3850/04
7.
0018/98. D J Bezuidenhout & Company (Private) Limited: Darwin:
Eureka:
714,2578 ha: LA3851/04
8. 0018/98. D J Bezuidenhout & Company
(Private) Limited: Darwin:
Eureka: 714,2578 ha: LA3826/04
9. 4783/92.
Benflora (Private) Limited: Darwin: Silverstroom
Estate: 1 365,2103 ha:
LA3849/04
Goromonzi
10. 10593/97. Crakehall Investments (Private)
Limited: Goromonzi:
Kilmuir Annexe of the Meadows: 61,4009 ha:
LA3786/04
Lomagundi
11. 5629/84. Orlando Franz Meyer: Lomagundi:
Lot 1 of Noitgedag:
503,2444 ha: LA3959/04
Makoni
12. 7377/87.
Nirmalalini (Private) Limited: Makoni: Subdivision D
of Wick: 284,1342 ha: LA
3887/04
13. 539/85. Magadalena Catharina Malan: Makoni: The Remainder
of
Mount Tikwiri: 1097,4252 ha: LA3893/04
14. 5222/91. Pambeli Farms
(Privte) Limited: Makoni: Lot 9 of York
of Yorkshire Estate: 888,28 ha:
LA3886/04
15. 7980/02. Baracco Farming (Private) Limited: Makoni:
Merion:
1 536,38 ha: LA3885/04
16. 2175/88. Masori Investment P/L:
Makoni: York of Yorkshire
Estate: 2 055,6581 ha: LA3881/04
17. 152/98.
Chimbi River Farm (Private) Limited: Makoni: 24A
Lawrencedale Estate: 1
286,2684 ha:
LA3883/04
Marandellas
18. 1948/81. Martin Gore
Stewart: Marandellas: Membge of
Carruthersville 'E: 303,7255 ha:
LA3828/04
19. 140/85. Brondesbury Farm P/L: Marandellas: R/E of Hopeful
of
Alexander: 404,8016 ha: LA3842/04
20. 76/87. Milanark P/L:
Marandellas: Borrowdale: 976,7872 ha:
LA3829/04
Mazoe
21.
6282/69. Kachere (Private) Limited: Mazoe: Rhambahoobe of
Fochabers of
Moores Grant: 1 129,0979 acres: LA3848/04
22. 5183/84. Kathleen Joy
Harris: Mazoe: 38 of Glendale (Limbeck):
359,3400 ha: LA3969/04
23.
3934/2001. Simon Dennis Marshall Sherwood: Mazoe: Remainder of
Rosetta Rust:
822,5557ha: LA3845/04
24. 200519/96. Rietpan (Private) Ltd: Mazoe:
Rietpan: 837.6746
ha: LA3897/04
25. 1960/94. Holmfield Enterprises
(Private) Limited: Mazoe: Lot 1
of Kaba Estate A: 957,9583 ha:
LA3826/04
Umtali
26. 5967/80. B & C Bus Company (Private)
Limited: Umtali:
Remaining Extent of Fernicarry Extgension: 279,0843 ha:
LA3907/04
27. 3030/97. H J Vorster (Private) Limited: Umtali:
Valhalla
Estate A: 561,2487 ha: LA3846/04
28. 288/81. Eastlands
(Private) Limited: Umtali: Remaining extent
of Subdivision B of Eastlands:
148,1388 ha: LA3889/04
29. 1215/64. Vumba Coffee Estates (Private)
Limited: Umtali:
"Eggardon Hill": 499,9917 acres: LA3843/04
30.
7391/71. Mutare Board and Paper Mills Limited: Umtali:
Nyagari: 588,3894 ha:
LA3940/04
31. 7023/80. Gary Terrence Goss: Umtali: Inodzi
Extension:
135,3300 acres: LA3891/04
32. 5371/72. Malcom William Shaw:
Umtali: Remaining Extent of
Felsted of Laurance Ville: 194,9938
ha:
LA3884/04
33. 2849/88. H J Vorster P/L: Umtali: Gwindingwi:
419,1474 ha:
LA3901/04
34. 3479/93. Ferndale Investments (Private)
Limited: Umtali:
Nahoon Estate: 444,2658 ha: LA3938/04
35. 9876/90.
Gibsons Investments (Private) Limited: Umtali:
Falling Waters of Laurance
Ville: 173,5301 ha: LA3882/04
36. 6181/94. Manyera Farm (Private) Limited:
Umtali: Manyera:
809,3688 ha:
LA3942/04
_______________________________________________
THE JAG
TEAM
JAG Hotlines:
(091) 261 862 If you are in trouble or need
advice,
(011) 205 374
(011) 863 354 please don't hesitate to contact us
-
(011) 431 068
we're here to help!
263
4 799 410 Office Lines
Misa Issues Sombre Report On Zimbabwe
Agencia de Informacao de
Mocambique (Maputo)
August 6, 2004
Posted to the web August 6,
2004
Paul Fauvet
Maputo
High levels of political violence,
repressive legislation, and the ruling
party's abuse of the publicly-owned
media are some of the factors that call
into question the possibility of free
and fair parliamentary elections in
Zimbabwe next year.
These are
among the sobering conclusions of a fact finding mission from the
Media
Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) which visited Zimbabwe in
June
2004.
Led by a senior Mozambican journalist, Fernando Goncalves,
the mission
published its report this week, warning of the "extremely
volatile and
polarised" political environment in Zimbabwe.
Goncalves
currently edits the independent weekly "Savana".
He has also been chief
news editor at AIM, and worked for many years in
Zimbabwe. His detailed
knowledge of Zimbabwean politics and the Zimbabwean
media made him an ideal
candidate to head the mission.
Goncalves told AIM that the mission
consulted as widely as it could while in
Zimbabwe, meeting with journalists
of the independent media, representatives
of the Zimbabwe Union of
Journalists and other NGOs, various academics and
lawyers, and the main
opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC). Meetings were
requested well in advance with representatives of the
ruling ZANU-PF, and
with journalists from the public media. But there was no
response to these
requests, and the MISA mission was not told why.
"Our assessment is that
there are very serious problems as far as management
of the elections is
concerned", Goncalves told AIM.
The report notes that "The legal
framework is too restrictive to allow
people to participate freely in the
conduct of the affairs of their country.
New, more restrictive legislation
that is being proposed will just make
things even worse".
The press
has been shackled through the misnamed Access to Information and
Protection
of Privacy Act. The same treatment is now likely to be extended
to NGOs,
under a new bill that will demand the registration of all NGOs.
The
report points out that "a plethora of security and media legislation"
already
impose stringent restrictions on civic bodies and other NGOs, and
the
proposed new legislation is likely to create further difficulties for
their
work.
The report describes political violence and intimidation as
"pervasive", and
it seems that such phenomena "if not promoted by the
government are at the
very least tolerated when the victims are members or
supporters of the
opposition".
The MISA mission, it continues, "was
informed that veterans of the
liberation struggle, members of the Youth
National Service, and members and
supporters of the ruling party appeared to
act with impunity when their
actions were directed against opposition
supporters, who are often described
as traitors, working hand-in-glove with
the British and other imperialist
forces to derail the land redistribution
programme".
The report also noted "the campaign of vilification, ridicule
and
psychological pressure" against the Catholic Bishop of Bulawayo, Pius
Ncube,
"because of the views he has expressed against politically
motivated
violence".
The mission was told that "the space for dissent
in Zimbabwe, however small,
was being closed down". Nowhere is this more
obvious than in the media, with
the closure of a paper that had once been
selling 80,000 copies a day, the
"Daily News", and the more recent suspension
of "The Tribune".
In general, the number of attacks on journalists and
the media in southern
Africa has declined substantially over the past year.
But Zimbabwe has
bucked this trend: the latest annual MISA report registers
102 attacks on
the Zimbabwean media (including assault, imprisonment and
legal threats).
"This has created a feeling of uncertainty among
practicing journalists and
the media houses", the mission remarks. "Because
of fear, trust is lost.
Journalists no longer trust each other.
The
public has lost trust and faith in the media, and vice versa.
Journalists
feel restricted, and find it more and more difficult to hold the
government
accountable".
The most powerful medium in Zimbabwe is undoubtedly radio -
the state,
however, holds a monopoly on broadcasting. You will not find in
Zimbabwe the
multitude of private, religious or community radios that now
exist in
Mozambique.
The mission found that Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Holdings (ZBH) is accused of
"blatant abuse of power". The radio is now used
to air "inciting and hateful
messages" against opponents - not simply against
the MDC, but also "opposing
views within the ruling party, NGOs, trade unions
not associated with the
ruling party, media groups such as MISA, advocacy
groups and civil rights
activists etc." The Information Minister himself,
Jonathan Moyo, the report
adds "was accused not only of interfering in the
programming and editorial
independence of ZBH, but was said to be in the
habit of using the public
broadcaster as personal property".
But there
are some encouraging signs. Goncalves notes that President Robert
Mugabe
himself has referred to the problem of violence. He has sought to use
his
authority as Commander-in- Chief to dissuade violence and encourage
members
of the security forces to act against those promoting violence. The
report
regards this as "a positive step towards the normalisation of the
situation
in Zimbabwe".
But other critical issues must be resolved before the basic
conditions for
free and fair elections are in place. The MISA report lists
these as: return
to the rule of law; establishment of an independent
electoral commission;
voting on one day "subject to sufficient number of
polling stations being
established and changes being made to the voting
procedure to enable all to
vote"; and maintaining the integrity of the vote
"by refraining from telling
people that their vote is not after all secret"
(this refers to incidents of
intimidation reported in a recent
by-election).
A further key demand raised in the report is the repeal of
those aspects of
security and media legislation that restrict the ability of
political
parties to campaign freely, and curtail media freedoms.
New Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe traditional healer burnt by goblins
By
Patrick Chitumba
Last updated: 08/07/2004 03:43:46
A SELF-STYLED
traditional healer popularly known as tsikamutanda, was on
Monday seriously
burnt by a suspected goblin, which he was allegedly trying
to get rid of
during a cleansing ceremony at one of his client's homestead
in
Lalapanzi.
Tsikamutandas are dubious inyanga who are roaming most parts
of the country
claiming that they can get rid of witches and
tikoloshis.
The police spokesman for the Midlands Province, Assistant
Inspector Raphel
Mukwiza, confirmed the incident and said the police assisted
the alleged
tsikamutanda to get to Gweru Provincial Hospital.
He said
the alleged tsikamutanda, whom he identified as Alicias Musiiwa
Denhere (34)
of Jerusalem township in Lalapanzi, was invited by a Mr Mangisi
Chikorobho to
cleanse his homestead. "Mr Musiiwa Denhere and his crew
proceeded to Mr
Mangisi's homestead to perform the rituals," said Asst
Insp
Mukwiza.
He said Mr Mangisi's family and other villagers were
called and gathered in
Mangisi's kitchen and the tsikamutanda started beating
drums and singing.
"In the process, Musiiwa stood up and ran out of the
kitchen, shouting that
he had been injured by a goblin," Asst Insp Mukwiza
said.
Mr Musiiwa Denhere is said to have come back and stood at the
kitchen door
and said that he had managed to get hold of the goblin and
wanted to burn
it.
"Musiiwa looked like he was struggling with
something and then said he had
thrown it into the fire. He then said he had
been burnt himself," said Asst
Insp Mukwiza.
On checking the injuries
on Mr Musiiwa, it was observed that he had been
burnt on the right thigh,
private parts and stomach and the police were
called in and they ferried him
to the hospital where his condition was said
to be stable.
Asst Insp
Mukwiza said the Mangisi family had called him because they
suspected that
there was a goblin at the homestead as they were losing a
member of the
family every year.
"Every year a child would die, and this has been like
this for the past six
years, prompting Mr Mangisi to consult a tsikamutanda,"
said Asst Insp
Mukwiza.
Chronicle
Agribank Freezes 186 Loan Abusers' Accounts
The Herald
(Harare)
August 6, 2004
Posted to the web August 6,
2004
Tabitha Mutenga
Harare
THE Agricultural Development Bank
of Zimbabwe (Agribank) has frozen the
accounts of 186 clients who abused
funds from its $60 billion loan facility,
as part of measures to recover the
money, the bank's chief executive Mr Sam
Malaba has said.
Mr Malaba
said the bank had also attached assets of some of the farmers, and
where
possible, others have been handed over to the police.
"The bank has set
up provincial management teams dedicated to credit
administration, which
involves monitoring of financed projects. Vehicles
have been purchased to
motorise these officers and bring to book errant
customers," the Agribank
boss said.
Agribank has already confirmed that new tobacco farmers had
taken the lead
in repaying loans while those who produced food crops were
expected to start
repaying their loans this season once they finished
harvesting and
delivering their crop to the market.
"Farmers are
marketing and making efforts to repay their loans before
accessing new
facilities for the summer crop. All our branches are
monitoring loan
repayments and encouraging farmers to service their debts
and the bank will
not refinance wilful defaulters," Mr Malaba said.
The bank is in the
process of restructuring itself into a development
institution in order to
play a pivotal role in the agrarian reforms.
Reserve Bank governor Dr
Gideon Gono last week said 200 farmers had abused
the $60 billion Agribank
loan facility made available to them for
agricultural production during the
2003/2004 season. It has also come to
light that some unscrupulous
individuals masquerading as new farmers
prejudiced the agricultural bank of
large sums of money running into
billions of dollars, which they are now
failing to repay.
Dr Gono indicated that of the 10 000 farmers who
accessed the Agribank loan
facility, at least 200 borrowers reportedly abused
$1,2 billion of the funds
by purchasing luxury vehicles and houses in major
cities instead of
agricultural machinery.
Other beneficiaries invested
the funds on the money market seeking higher
returns before they started
repaying the loans.
Bid to Smuggle Equipment Proves Costly
The Herald
(Harare)
August 6, 2004
Posted to the web August 6,
2004
Bulawayo
FIVE people from Bulawayo - including two officials
from the Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority - were arrested on Monday for allegedly
trying to smuggle
into Zambia farming equipment worth billions of dollars on
behalf of a
commercial farmer.
They were trying to smuggle the
equipment on behalf of Derrick Carle of
Greendale in Harare, who is still at
large and is believed to have fled to
Zambia.
Chief police spokesman
Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said Robert
Pepe (33) of Manica
Container Depot, Farai Chitsanzira (37) and Benjamin
Chanetsa, both of Allan
Wack and Shepherd, and Emmanuel Katiyo and Zephania
Hobane (57), both of
Zimra, were arrested for attempting to smuggle the
equipment using forged
documents.
Asst Comm Bvudzijena said sometime last week, police received
information
that a consignment of farming equipment had been loaded into
containers in
Harare and was to be smuggled to Zambia via
Bulawayo.
After receiving the information, police officers in Harare
relayed the
information to their counterparts in Bulawayo, who intercepted
the
containers at the railway station on Friday last week as it was being
loaded
onto a goods train.
The containers were placed under 24-hour
police guard after efforts to open
them failed.
"They (containers)
were sent to Manica Container Depot under police guard on
Saturday because it
was the only shipping company with equipment which could
open the containers.
They were opened on Monday and it was discovered that
they contained an
assortment of farming equipment, leading to the arrest of
the five," said
Asst Comm Bvudzijena.
The five were arrested at their
workplaces.
"Investigations done so far have revealed that all the
arrested suspects, in
collusion, forged export papers on the instructions of
Derrick Carle of
Greendale, Harare, who is still at large."
Asst Comm
Bvudzijena said police were still compiling a list of the
equipment whose
total value is yet to be ascertained, but is estimated to
run into "billions"
of dollars.
A source close to the case said the equipment was taken from
farms in
Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West and was destined for
Zambia, where
a number of commercial farmers who lost land during the
fast-track land
reform programme are now based.
"According to
documents which were in the suspects' possession, the farming
equipment was
coming from Botswana into Zimbabwe via the Plumtree border
post en route to
Zambia. The suspects had a fake Botswana bill of entry and
other documents,
which stated that they were carrying ordinary piping
material.
"The
bill of entry also stated that they would go to Zambia via Victoria
Falls and
their documents had all the necessary Zimra stamps. The Zimra
officials are
believed to have supplied the fake documents," said the
source. When a news
crew visited the loading yard at the railway station,
the equipment,
including six tractors, four water tanks, harrows, tobacco
hangers, bale
compressors, hay balers, water pumps, electric motors, cables,
pipes and
sprinklers and various other farming implements, was being guarded
by armed
police officers.
The equipment looked rusty, an indication that it had
not been used for a
long time. Senior detectives from the Criminal
Investigation Department's
Fraud Squad were also at the scene.
The
officers are investigating how and where the suspects got the
fraudulent
documents from.
People at the loading yard said this case
could be a tip of the iceberg as
it was likely that a lot of farming
equipment was being smuggled out of the
country using the same
method.
Many farmers who lost their land during the fast-track land
reform programme
are now farming in such neighbouring countries as Zambia and
Mozambique.
Most of the farmers removed farm equipment from their farms
and hid it in
warehouses or smuggled it out of the country to their new
bases.