Independent (UK)
Deadline looms for Zimbabwe's white farmers
By
Basildon Peta, Southern Africa Correspondent
06 August 2002
They gathered
around Cathy Buckle's kitchen table to say goodbye. Ms Buckle
and a fellow
white farmer, Thomas Martin, his wife and Mr Martin's last two
black
workers.
"The eyes of all the people around my table were filled with
tears as they
(Mr and Mrs Martin) paid off their last two workers," Ms Buckle
said
yesterday. "They had shared so much and I could hardly bear to watch
their
last handshakes or listen to their final good-byes."
As the 8
August deadline looms for nearly 3,000 white farmers in Zimbabwe to
move off
their farms and surrender them to President Robert Mugabe's
supporters, Mr
Martin has nothing much to pack for his impending eviction,
except perhaps
his clothes.
He has lost all hope and inspiration to continue fighting
for his land. Come
Saturday and he and his wife are off to New Zealand to
start a new life.
Mr Martin's farm, near Marondera in Mashonaland East,
which he has owned for
the past 23 years, was occupied by President Mugabe's
militant supporters
last year and they looted everything they could lay their
hands on.
Mr Martin, 67, has lost everything he has worked for, his
farmhouse,
fencing, timber plantations, farm buildings, dams, cattle,
dip-tanks,
tractors, ploughs, fuel and tools. He has lost all his laying
hens, their
feed and all the equipment in the runs. Ms Buckle said: "There
has not been
the slightest indication from our government that they will
change their
minds and stop this catastrophic situation. Even the fact of six
million
starving people already needing food aid will not deter
them."
White commercial farmers were ordered to stop all farming
activities on 10
May. They were given 45 days from that date to vacate their
properties or
risk two-year jail terms. The deadline expires on 8 August, and
evictions
are expected to start on 10 August.
Unlike the Martins,
Cathy Buckle is defiantly waiting for the bailiffs. "I
am not going anywhere
until they throw me out," she said yesterday.
Neighbouring Mozambique has
offered white farmers fleeing Zimbabwe parcels
of land leased tax-free.
Around 20 have taken up the offer. Not 58-year-old
farmer Collin Shandy.
Starting again is not for him, he said. "Where must I
go to? I am Zimbabwean
and the only difference is that I am not black..
"I have farmed for 40
years. My farm is my only insurance and pension. I
don't even own another
home elsewhere except my farmhouse."
Jenni Williams, the spokes-woman for
Justice in Agriculture (JAG), a body
fighting for the rights of farmers, said
at least 60 per cent of Zimbabwe's
remaining white farmers were prepared to
defy the order to move off their
properties on Saturday.
"There has
been no indication that farmers would be allowed to remain on
their
properties," Ms Williams said. "Signals are that the full wrath of the
law
will be made to bear on all farmers who remain in their homes
after
Saturday."
It is still unclear how Mr Mugabe's government will
actually deal with
farmers who defy the deadline. A police spokes-man, Wayne
Bvudzijena, was
recently quoted as saying the police were mobilising for mass
evictions.
The Mugabe land policies, which have meant most of his
relatives, friends
and cronies getting large, prime farms seized from the
whites at the expense
of needy landless blacks, has exacerbated the food
crisis in Zimbabwe, which
worsens by the day.
Ms Buckle and Mr Shandy
agree on the need for land redistribution in
Zimbabwe, where whites
controlled more than 65 per cent of the 10 million
acres of prime farming
land.
But they want a transparent and sustainable land reform process
which does
not further impoverish Zimbabwe. If they had been offered fair
compensation
for their land, they say they would probably have surrendered it
without any
squabbles. But not in Mr Mugabe's scheme of things.
"Only
a miracle will stop this mass eviction of farmers on the 10th of
August" Ms
Buckle said "If you are religious I humbly ask that you pray for
us, for
thousands of farm workers and their families."
Daily News
Smuggling racket rocks police force
8/6/02
8:20:34 AM (GMT +2)
By Pedzisai Ruhanya Chief
Reporter
ASSISTANT Police Commissioner Steven Mutamba has been
accused of
masterminding the transfer of three officers after they unearthed
a liquor
export racket involving senior policemen.
The three
members of the Police Internal Security Intelligence (PISI)
were transferred
after they arrested a Harare man allegedly working with
senior police
officers to smuggle liquor and basic food commodities to
Zambia and
Mozambique through an unregistered company.
Assistant Inspector
Makara, Constables Josephat Purazeni and Fortune
Muvirimi, of Harare Central
Police Station, were transferred to Siakobvu in
Binga, Colleen Bawn in Gwanda
and Nyanyadzi in Manicaland in June,
respectively.
Mutamba
denied he was linked to the smuggling racket and insisted the
three were
properly transferred.
He said: "The allegations of corruption are
false. Those guys are up
to mischief. It's all malicious because the
transfers were done properly.
The story is bigger than what you have
heard."
An inquiry at Harare Central Police Station's PISI
department
yesterday confirmed that the three officers were indeed
transferred. No
reasons were given for the transfers.
It is
alleged that some time in June, information was passed to the
PISI suggesting
massive economic sabotage through the smuggling of alcohol,
sugar and salt to
Zambia and Mozambique by senior officers from the CID
headquarters in
Harare.
The police officers would procure alcoholic spirits from
African
Distillers through Bigboy Mbofana, a sales clerk. Purchases were made
under
Sparks Bottle Store.
But investigations uncovered that the
outlet was not registered with
the Registrar of Companies. Investigations by
the police revealed that
Sparks Bottle Store was defunct and was believed to
be owned by a senior
police officer unaware of the illicit
dealings.
Once the goods were obtained, they were smuggled for sale
on the
Zambian parallel market. The proceeds were used to purchase
foreign
currency.
According to a manual invoice from African
Distillers number M002496,
on 28 January 2002, Sparks Bottle Store purchased
spirits worth $224 055,
72. A further purchase of $71 032, 90 was made under
invoice number M02899.
On 10 January, the company purchased Bols
Brandy worth $131 868 under
invoice number 10 020 61672.
On 16
January, the company bought Bols Brandy worth $105 494,40 under
invoice
number 10 02061970.
After receiving the information on 13 June
2002, the three transferred
officers called Mbofana to Harare Central Police
Station for questioning.
It is alleged that Mbofana briefly went
back to his offices from where
he reportedly requested to meet the three
officers at Ximex Mall along Angwa
Street.
Once at Ximex Mall,
Mbofana allegedly offered to bribe them with $10
000. The officers declined
the money. They then arrested him and took him to
Harare Central Police
Station.
On arrival, they were allegedly confronted by
Superintendent Makodza
of the CID headquarters. Makodza allegedly demanded
the exhibit money before
they were taken to
Mutamba.
They were subsequently transferred on 18 June 2002 while the exhibit
money
was
returned to Mbofana, who was then released.
The three
officers were in turn accused of soliciting bribes from
Mbofana.
Mbofana was supposed to appear in court under reference number Harare
Central
CR: 1271/6/2002.
Mutamba insisted the police were investigating the
illegal smuggling
of liquor, but said he could not give details because he
did not know the
reporter he was speaking to.
Police sources
have alleged that numerous reports were made to the
police
implicating
senior police officers of smuggling goods to Mozambique,
using police
vehicles.
The said senior officers were accused of
smuggling into the country
bales of clothes from Mozambique for sale at
Mupedzanhamo Market in Mbare.
Mbofana is away on leave and is only
expected back at work on 27
August.
According to Purazeni's
report dated 17 June detailing what happened,
the PISI officer said Mbofana
had no right whatsoever to offer them money.
Purazeni said: "On
arrival at the police station, we advised the
police district intelligence
officer and the police security intelligence
officer of the arrest
(Mbofana's) while we were doing the necessary
documentation for the
charge.
"After four minutes of our arrival I was then called to the
police
district intelligence's office where I was then introduced to
Superintendent
Makodza and three other police officers.
"Makodza
then requested the exhibit money implying that myself and
Muvirimi were
wanted at CID headquarters by Mutamba. We then proceeded to
the CID
headquarters after handing over the $10 000 to Makodza and Mbofana
was
subsequently unhandcuffed and set free."
Daily News
DA pulls out pistol to fend off Zanu PF
attackers
8/6/02 8:29:34 AM (GMT +2)
From
Zerubabel Mudzingwa in Gweru
Christopher Tshuma, the District
Administrator (DA) for Nkayi, pulled
out his pistol to stop Zanu PF youths
from assaulting him and a senior
government official as they conducted a
training workshop for census
enumerators in the district.
The
youths beat them up as they demanded that they be employed as
national census
enumerators.
The beatings immediately stopped after Tshuma pulled
out the pistol
and threatened to shoot the marauding youths.
The
condition of the census official, identified only as Nyoni, could
not be
established yesterday but the DA was reported to have
escaped
unscathed.
Tshuma himself yesterday confirmed there had
been disturbances, but
refused to comment further saying he was "too junior"
to talk to the
newspaper. Sources yesterday said the situation remained tense
as the youths
milled around the Nkayi business centre all
afternoon.
The sources said the youths were recruited by war
veterans who claimed
they were being "honoured" for having campaigned for the
party during the
March presidential election.
More than 22 000
civil servants have been recruited throughout the
country as
enumerators.
The youths were apparently furious when they were told
that teachers
had already been recruited for the exercise, which starts on 18
August and
ends on
27 August.
The Star (Malaysia)
Mugabe slams Western reporting
KUALA LUMPUR:
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe slammed the western media for
projecting his
country as being inhumane when it was merely taking control
of its own
natural resources to ensure equitable economic development.
"Our second
liberation (from the colonial masters) is to get back our land.
You can't
just be owners of votes, and somebody else is owning your land,
your
minerals, water, forests and animals," he said.
Mugabe, who attended the
just-concluded Langkawi International Dialogue (LID
2002), said Zimbabwe had
been pictured in the media as a lawless state
seizing farms belonging to the
white man of Europe.
"This is the picture painted by our enemies, those
who do not want the
Zimbabweans to gain control of their own destiny and own
resources," he
said.
Speaking at the launch of the Zimbabwe Asia Expo
Centre, here, he said the
former colonial masters, the British, now used all
kinds of pressure and
propaganda to project them as inhumane scavengers and
violators of the rule
of law.
Mugabe's ruling party, the Zanu PF
Party, won the country's election in
March this year but the Western world
has claimed that it was rigged and
that the party supported
lawlessness.
His government also ordered white commercial farmers, who
are among the
largest producers of wheat and cornmeal, to turn over the land,
seized from
blacks during British colonial rule, back to the
government.
The 78-year old leader claimed that the British, helped by US
President
George W. Bush, had been using the international media such as BBC
and CNN
to portray Zimbabwe as a lawless nation.
He said the British
had said before the country's election that if Mugabe's
party won, the
election would not be free and fair.
"Witnesses said the election was
marvellous, free and fair and the results
legitimate. We have won the
election, so to them (British) it was not free
and fair," he
said.
Mugabe claimed that the British had gone around and tried to coax
the
members of the European Union to withdraw aid and impose sanctions
quietly.
"We have to demonstrate to our people that this struggle was not
about arms
rule to retain the government of their own choice but a liberation
struggle
for total freedom from the British imperialism...so that you can be
your own
self in your own country," he added.
"We don't need someone
from outside to come and show us how to resolve our
differences," he said. -
Bernama
Mugabe lashes out at US and Britain over human rights
The Irish
Examiner 06 Aug 2002
By Sean Yoong
ACCUSING
his foes of portraying Zimbabwe as "an enemy of mankind,"
President Robert
Mugabe yesterday told Britain and the US not to preach
human rights and
democracy to Zimbabwe. "We are projected as being inhuman,
as savages, as
violators of the rule of law," Mugabe said in Kuala Lumpur,
where he rebuked
Western powers at two separate speeches to the
business
community.
"This is the picture which our enemies those
who do not want the
Zimbabweans to be in control of their own destiny desire
to project, so we
can be seen as an enemy of mankind," Mugabe
said.
The 78-year-old president had harsh words for Britain,
its former
colonial ruler calling Prime Minister Tony Blair
"immature".
"He is not like his predecessors," Mugabe said. "Mr
Blair is oblivious
to the fact that we are resolute people."
"We refuse to be taught anything that has to do with democracy, human
rights,
transparency by the British government," Mugabe said.
Mugabe,
who has led Zimbabwe since 1980, criticised President George
Bush for not
endorsing elections in March that gave him another six years in
office and
took a dig at him for the recount in Florida that put Bush in the
White House
ahead of Al Gore.
"We want to know whether you won your
election," Mugabe said. "To this
day, I don't know whether he is legitimately
president."
Mugabe is in Malaysia, where he is a regular
visitor, to boost
business ties.
Mugabe also defended his
land redistribution programme, saying the
seizure of white-owned farms was
proceeding "very well," despite accusations
that the plan is compounding
Zimbabwe's hunger crisis.
Mugabe downplayed the EU travel ban
preventing dozens of top
Zimbabwean officials, including him and his wife,
from travelling to Europe
as punishment for human rights abuses
DAILY NEWS - SA
Zimbabwe diverts cash to food aid
HARARE - Zimbabwe's government has diverted US$18 million
meant to rescuscitate businesses struggling in the harsh economy to help feed
millions of people threatened by famine, a state-run daily said on Wednesday.
"We had to take such action because of the need to feed the nation in
the wake of the drought requirements," the Herald quoted an official in the
trade and industry ministry as saying.
The government had budgeted money
to revive hundreds of private companies that shut in the southern African
country's harsh economic climate, but the funds have had to be diverted to
emergency food relief.
This year's budget has already been revised to
meet the country's food needs, and last month the finance minister sought
parliament's approval for a supplementary budget to finance more food needs.
Zimbabwe has to import up to 1.8 million tonnes of corn, one of the
country's staple foods, to avert mass starvation. The government estimates that
7.8 million people face famine, including 5.4 million children.
In
addition to corn shortages, blamed on drought and disruptions on farms caused by
controversial government-backed land reforms, Zimbabwe also suffers shortages of
basic commodities including cooking oil, sugar and salt.
Grain shortages
have forced the government to reconsider its position and accept a consignment
of 20,000 tonnes of US grain, despite concerns that it might have been
genetically modified.
In June, Harare rejected a donation of maize from
the US because it was not certified as being free of any genetic manipulation.
In April, President Robert Mugabe declared a state of emergency, opening
the doors for international aid to a country which was, in the past, a regional
breadbasket.
Sapa-AFP
Mail & Guardian
Zimbabwe clutches at straws
Zimbabwe's government has diverted
$18-million meant to rescuscitate businesses struggling in the harsh economy to
help feed millions of people threatened by famine, a state-run daily said
Wednesday.
"We had to take such action because of the need to feed the
nation in the wake of the drought requirements," the Herald quoted an
official in the trade and industry ministry as saying.
The government had
budgeted money to revive hundreds of private companies that shut in the southern
African country's harsh economic climate, but the funds have had to be diverted
to emergency food relief.
This year's budget has already been revised to
meet the country's food needs, and last month the finance minister sought
parliament's approval for a supplementary budget to finance more food
needs.
Zimbabwe has to import up to 1,8-million tons of corn, one of the
country's staple foods, to avert mass starvation. The government estimates that
7,8-million people face famine, including 5,4-million children.
In
addition to corn shortages, blamed on drought and disruptions on farms caused by
controversial government-backed land reforms, Zimbabwe also suffers shortages of
basic commodities including cooking oil, sugar and salt.
Grain shortages
have forced the government to reconsider its position and accept a consignment
of 20 000 tons of US grain, despite concerns that it might have been genetically
modified.
In June, Harare rejected a donation of maize from the US
because it was not certified as being free of any genetic
manipulation.
In April, President Robert Mugabe declared a state of
emergency, opening the doors for international aid to a country which was, in
the past, a regional breadbasket. - Sapa-AFP