Reuters
Mon 17 Dec
2007, 9:01 GMT
By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE, Dec 17 (Reuters) -
President Robert Mugabe's government, responding
to opposition demands, has
published amendments to tough security and media
laws that critics say have
helped him entrench his rule.
The amendments were agreed at talks between
Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party
and two factions of the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC),
brokered by South African President Thabo
Mbeki.
According to a government gazette seen by Reuters on Monday, the
government
is proposing changes to the country's security, broadcasting and
media laws.
Political parties seeking to hold public gatherings can now
appeal to a
magistrate if police turn down their application. Currently they
appeal to
the Minister of Home Affairs, who the opposition says was an
interested
party as he belonged to the governing party.
Instead of
randomly barring public meetings, police would now be required to
"enter
into dialogue" with the concerned party to explain the reasons for
prohibiting the meeting.
Critics say Mugabe has used the Public Order
and Security Act to prevent
opponents from organising rallies and
demonstrations and that security
forces have tended to use excessive force
to quell protests.
In March, main MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and
several other opposition and
civic society activists were assaulted in
police custody after attempting to
attend a banned prayer rally, which
renewed calls for Mugabe to reform or
step down.
The government is
seeking to amend the Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy Act
(AIPPA) by reconstituting a state-appointed commission that
regulates the
country's media.
Members of the media commission, which is appointed by
the Minister of
Information, would now be appointed by the President from a
list submitted
by a bi-partisan parliamentary committee and should have
media experience.
The media will be opened to foreign owners but foreign
journalists remain
barred from working permanently in Zimbabwe.
The
government in 2003 used the act to shut Zimbabwe's then largest
circulating
daily paper, the Daily News and its sister Sunday paper after
the Supreme
Court ruled that the publication was acting outside the law by
publishing
without a licence.
The paper is still battling to get a
licence.
Changes made to the Broadcasting Services Act include a demand
for public
broadcasters to run news and programmes not biased in favour of
the
government while foreigners can now have majority shares in a
broadcasting
service. (Editing by Muchena Zigomo and Keith Weir)
Reuters
Mon 17 Dec 2007,
9:04 GMT
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe has struck a deal to import crude
oil from
Equatorial Guinea and is planning to reopen a refinery to process
fuel and
ease acute shortages, state media reported on Monday.
Crunch
shortages of fuel, foreign currency and food are a sign of the
southern
African nation's deep economic crisis, blamed on President Robert
Mugabe's
policies, and also marked by the highest inflation rate in the
world at
nearly 8,000 percent.
The official Herald newspaper reported on Monday
that Zimbabwe had signed a
deal to buy crude oil from Equatorial Guinea,
with which it has forged close
ties after it helped foil an alleged coup in
the oil-rich west African
country in 2005.
"Following our engagement
with Equatorial Guinea ... Zimbabwe can now even
get crude oil and arrange
for its refinement through third parties," the
Herald quoted Industry and
International Trade Minister Obert Mpofu saying.
The report did not give
further details and Mpofu was not immediately
available for
comment.
Zimbabwe agreed in 2005 with Iran to revive an oil refinery
built using
Iranian technology in the 1960s. Work at the refinery has not
started to
date.
Mpofu said Zimbabwe was also looking at possible
crude oil imports from
Angola, one of the continent's leading
producers.
Last month, Mugabe officially launched a $6-million bio-fuel
plant with a
capacity to produce 100 million litres of diesel per year,
saying the
country was moving to resolve shortages that continue to grip the
economy.
Critics blame Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain
in 1980, for
ruining one of Africa's brightest economic prospects through
policies such
as the seizure of farms from whites to resettle landless
blacks.
The veteran leader denies the charge and accuses western nations
of
sabotaging the economy as punishment for his land reforms.
Monsters and Critics
Dec 17,
2007, 8:37 GMT
Harare/Johannesburg - The death toll from floods in
northern Zimbabwe has
risen to three, with another person missing, reports
said Monday.
At least 1,000 people have been displaced by rising flood
waters in northern
Muzarabani district, where livestock and cattle have also
been swept away,
reports the state-controlled Herald newspaper.
The
three deaths, and the one disappearance took place in the Chadereka area
of
Muzarabani where around 1,000 people have been affected by the floods
while
several homes were destroyed, said Sibusisiwe Ndlovu, the deputy
director of
the Civil Protection Unit (CPU).
The authorities are distributing food
and water purification tablets to the
affected. Those who have lost their
homes are being temporarily housed in
two primary schools.
'We are
going to do more comprehensive preliminary assessments during the
week
depending on accessibility,' said Ndlovu.
Heavy rains began pounding the
district on December 3, washing away a key
bridge last Friday. More rains
are expected on Tuesday.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
The Zimbabwean
Monday, 17 December 2007 05:53
BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe will on
Monday introduce a new currency, in its latest
desperate bid to try and
address a critical shortage of bank notes which hit
the Southern African
country last month and has worsened as the Christmas
fever gathers
momentum.
Zimbabweans wishing to make cash withdrawals have, since the
middle of
November, been forced to queue at banking halls for several odd
hours, some
of these in vain, as both commercial banks and building
societies had been
hard hit by the cash shortages, which Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ)
governor, Gideon Gono, on Friday blamed on hoarding of bank
notes by illegal
foreign currency dealers linked to government ministers and
other "known"
influential members of President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU
(PF) party.
Banks have also reduced their daily maximum withdrawal limits
from the usual
Z$20 million to Z$5 million a day for both individuals and
companies.
This is only enough for one meal in Zimbabwe nowadays.
This
becomes the second time in two years that Zimbabwe changes its
currency. The
RBZ was forced to "re-value" the country's currency in August
last year,
after the dollar had taken a battering from regional and
international
currencies due to hyper-inflation.
The currency "re-valuing" exercise, dubbed
"Operation Sunrise", saw three
zeroes being slashed from the old generation
of bearer cheques when new ones
were introduced.
Zimbabwe, which is in
its seventh year of an economic crisis that has
largely been blamed on
Mugabe's skewed governance policies, has not had a
substantive currency
since 2003, when the central bank introduced
alternative promisory notes
known as "bearer cheques", ironically to
address another critical cash
shortage which had gripped the country.
The cheques's lifespan, which was
initially meant to be six months, has been
extended for the past four years,
as the country's economic crisis continues
to worsen.
Gono, who had
initially ruled out introducing new currency until early next
year, was last
month forced to change that stance, when the cash shortages
worsened, and
threatened to give his countrymen a short period of transition
to the new
currency.
Sources within the central bank, on Saturday afternoon revealed
that the
bank had already hired vehicles from security companies, which will
transport the new bank notes to banking institutions outside the capital
Harare to smaller towns, while security forces have also been deployed to
escort these vehicles and man roadblocks on major roads, in a bid to arrest
people carrying large sums of money.
"The introduction of the new money
will be announced on national television
on Sunday evening and people will
be given seven days in which to deposit
the bank notes they have at their
respective banks. An individual will be
allowed to deposit Z$20 million a
day for seven days," said a senior
official at the central bank.
Police
and army officers in the country's second biggest city of Bulawayo
also
confirmed that they had been deployed at various strategic points to
perform
various duties in "Operation Sunrise Two".
"Yes, our officers have been
deployed to take part in the government
operation to introduce new currency,
which begins on Monday. That is all I
can tell you at the moment," confirmed
police deputy national spokesman,
Chief Superintendent Oliver
Mandipaka.
Gono would neither confirm nor deny the reports.
However,
economic commentators still argue that the currency change will
only usher
in convenience in the use of bank notes in the country, but will
not address
inflation.
"This will only make people easily do their transactions in a more
organised
and easy manner and will also address the current cash shortages.
Machines
have also been failing to cope with the the several zeroes and this
will
help in this aspect, but this will not cure inflation, which is our
main
problem," said Bulawayo-based economic commentator, Eric Bloch, who is
also
in the RBZ advisory board.
Some analysts said that the country would
have to change its currency again
next year, if no stringent measures are
made to address runaway inflation,
which currently stands at 15 000 per
cent, according to official figures,
while some say it could be far more
than this, at about 30 000 per cent.
The Zimbabwean
Monday, 17 December 2007 05:41
POLOKWANE:
ZANU (PF)
delegation to the African National Congress (ANC) conference says
their
government is ready to have bilateral talks with Britain on condition
the
former colonial master does not come to the negotiating table with
"bullish
colonial behaviour".
In an exclusive interview with CAJ News on Sunday,
Zimbabwe Ambassador to
South Africa, Simon Khaya-Moyo, said bilateral
relations between Harare and
London were possible, but argued that the move
would need commitment and
respect from both parties.
"The problem with
the British government is that they still think Zimbabwe
is their colony. We
are no longer a colony, but a sovereinty state.
"Challenges for Zimbabwe
today are bilateral matters between Harare and
London. Whoever talks about
the land issue again is lost because we are not
going back. We have given
our people the land and a few whites have
benefitted. We did not seggregate
when we distributed the land, that is why
the whites benefitted too," said
Khaya-Moyo.
He said Britain should move out of its colonial bullish and
cease the
opportunity of bilateral talks aimed at benefitting both
nations.
The Zimbabwean delegation to the ANC 52nd congress is being headed
by
Speaker of Parliament and ruling party Chairman, John Nkomo.
Among
other ZANU (PF) politburo members at the Polokwane ANC conference
comprise
Oppah Muchinguri, the secretary for Wommen's League and several
others.
There were no immediate comment from the British High
Commissioner to South
Africa, Paul Baoteng to respond on ambassador Moyo's
remarks-CAJ News.
The Zimbabwean
Monday, 17 December 2007 05:46
POLOKWANE, (South Africa)
ZIMBABWE
Ambassador to South Africa, Simon Khaya-Moyo believes the on-going
talks
between ZANU (PF) and opposition MDC would pay fruitful results before
next
year's crucial elections.
Speaking to CAJ News on the sidelines of the
African National Congress
(ANC)'s 52nd Conference at Limpopo University,
Polokwane, South Africa on
Sunday, Khaya-Moyo, said both the ruling party
and the opposition were eager
to see meaningful changes in everything the
two parties would have agreed
upon.
"Well, I can not comment much on
this subject because President Thabo Mbeki
is taking care of everything, but
the botton line is that the talks are
going on smoothly.
"As the
governing political party, we would like to wish Cde Mbeki a
successful
mediation as expected by the Southern African Development
Community (SADC)
heads of state," said Khaya-Moyo.
When asked to comment about President
Mugabe's commitment to the talks,
Khaya-Moyo said ,the president was heavily
involved in the implementation of
the talks hence the progress in the Mbeki
led talks.
He said respecting, supporting and appreciating President Mbeki's
effort to
see the political stalemate being broken was very important to
every
Zimbabwean both in the Diaspora and those that are back at
home.
Zanu (PF) Chairman, John Nkomo refused to talk as he was the main man
participating in the ANC Congress. Nkomo later referred all questions to
Khaya-Moyo.
Recent reports indicate that the country's main opposition
political party
was concerned about the slow pace in which the talks were
going.
As that was not enough, the two MDC factions were concerned about the
ruling party's resistance in drafting new people driven constitution well
ahead of the elections next year.
The stand-off between ZANU (PF) and
MDC is threatening the voting process
next year with the opposition arguing
that any failure to implement both
constitutional and electoral reforms
would result in election boycott as
they would not be free and fair-CAJ
News.
The Zimbabwean
Monday, 17 December 2007 05:58
POLOKWANE:
THERE is a general feeling
among the guests that the presence of Zanu (PF)
Chairman, John Nkomo to the
African National Congress (ANC) conference would
help Zimbabwe reform its
democratic processes as they witnessed how sweet
peace and democractic
principles tasted in South Africa.
The ANC conference ends this
afternoon (Thursday), but the world belives
the ruling Zanu PF would desist
from its intimidation, beatings, killings
and death threat tactics against
people with different views to the
government leadership.
South Africans
here sang songs of liberation and ullulated for Zuma as
their candidate for
presidency without being victimised, harassed or
arrested as would have been
the case in Harare.
The estimated 5 000 delegates sang in protest to ANC's
highest decision
making body of the National Executive Council (NEC) for
merely suggesting
that the vote counting would be done electronically
instead of their
preferred manual process.
The delegates responded to
the ANC Chairman Mosiuoa Lekota's proposals with
Zulu dances and chanting of
Jacob Zuma popular song "UmShini Wami".
As that was not enough, delegates
went a step further by defying the ANC
conference rules and regulations when
they sang songs that tipped the rest
electorate about the people's chosen
leader-Zuma even before the voting
process took place.
The delegates
also told CAJ News after their singing that they wanted to
send a clear
message to President Mbeki that they did not want any leader
who overstayed
in power just like the President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe.
Delegates
claimed if the incident had occured in Zimbabwe, defying the head
of state
for overstaying in power, the temperamental President Mugabe could
have
locked those activists or paty cadres in prison.
The democracy that has been
witnessed here is grossly lacking in Zimbabwe
hence the belief that the
presence of Nkomo would help Harare transform its
democratic
principles.
The delegates openly told the ANC party chairman Lekota in the
presence of
president Mbeki, Winnie Mandela, Jacob Zuma and several
international
dignitaries that vote counting should be by manual instead of
the party
leadership's proposed electronic vote counting.
"If you were
in Zimbabwe one could have been arrested for defying the
politburo's
undemocratic manuvres.
"Here we speak our minds without any threats coming
from our leaders. Of
course, the chairman wanted to find out why we chose
manual vote counting
instead of electronic counting, but the majority's call
ruled the day.
"This is what we call democracy, not to threaten people when
they say we
want a people-driven constitution, free and fair election," said
Walaza
Lidod of Limpopo.
MDC are calling for a total constitution and
electoral reforms in Zimbabwe,
but the ruling party is refusing, instead,
opting for amending pieces of
legislations.
As that was not enough,
Mugabe can suspend or fire anyone who dares
challenge him in any
election.
This was evidenced when Mugabe suspended Jabulani Sibanda, the
then
chairman of the Zimbabwe Liberation of War Veterans Association (ZLWVA)
for
allegedly working in cahoots with the then minister of information and
publicity Jonathan Moyo, whom he accused of planning to overthrow him at a
rally in Denyani, Matabeleland north province in 2004.
Among other
victims of democracy in Zimbabwe, who spoke their minds about
the dangers of
one's overstaying in power included maverick Masvingo
politician Dzikamai
Mavhaire, former Masvingo Provincial Zanu (PF) Chairman
Daniel Shumba, and
five other provincial party chairpersons from Manicaland,
Midlands,
Matabeleland south and Matabeleland North respectively.
The Zimbabwean
Monday, 17 December 2007 06:00
Resolutions of the MDC National Council Meeting
16
December 2007 , Harvest House, Harare
Resolution 1: Commitment to put
the people first
i. Noting the unprecedented levels of
suffering of our
people, underpinned by gross levels of hyperinflation,
shortages of food,
cash, collapse of public health, transport and
education,
ii. Concerned with the extreme manifestations of
State
violence, intolerance, lack of care, violent rhetoric, patronage,
clientelism and corruption,
iii. Aware that the entire
Zimbabwean population and all
other democratic forces look to the MDC as the
central engine of change in
Zimbabwe,
The National Council resolves
to;
1. Continue pursuing the goals of attaining democratic change in
Zimbabwe based on the values of tolerance, openness, democracy, solidarity,
nonviolence, commitment to the rule of law, equality and justice.
2.
Continue the democratic struggle against the dictatorship through
all
democratic means, including dialogue and democratic resistance.
3. Place
the Constitution and the struggle for that new Constitution at
the centre of
our struggle for democratization.
Resolution 2:
Unity
i. Taking note of the importance of the 2008 general
election,
ii. Aware of the suffering of the Zimbabwean
people and
desirous of placing the interests of the suffering Zimbabweans
and all
democratic forces at the front,
iii. Aware of the
need to ensure that every vote counts
against the dictatorship and
tyranny,
iv. Pained by the unhappy events of the 12th of
October 2005
which resulted in the emergence of two formations using and
sharing the same
MDC name, and
v. Cognizant of the need
to accept the principal concept of
one candidate for the opposition in
respect of every contested seat,
The National Council resolves
that;
1. The Party should endeavor to work for the creation of a united
front
of all democratic forces against the dictatorship.
2. The
Party work for the specific united front and understanding with
the other
MDC formation emerging after the 12 th of October 2005.
3. The President
and the National Standing Committee be obliged and
empowered to do all such
things as necessary to achieve the above and to
report to this
council.
Resolution 3: The SADC Dialogue
i. Taking note
of the report by the Secretary General on
the SADC dialogue,
The National
Council resolves that;
1. The Party remains committed to the process of
dialogue despite the
challenges.
2. Await the conclusion on the
sticking issues as soon as possible.
Resolution 4: The National Assembly of
Women (NAW)
i. Taking note of the National Standing
Committee's
decision on behalf of the National Council done on the 2 nd of
October 2007,
ii. Acknowledging the Extra-Ordinary Congress
of the NAW
held in Bulawayo on the 28 th of October 2007,
and
iii. Noting the constraints, contestations and challenges
associated with the Extra-Ordinary congress held on the 28 th of October
2007,
The National Council resolves that;
1. Council takes note
of the dissolution of the NAW.
2. Council notes the result and outcome
of the Extra-Ordinary Congress
of the NAW held on the 28 th of October 2007,
until such time as an
extraordinary congress is held three months after the
2008 general election.
3. The previous Chairperson of the NAW Mrs. Lucia
Gladys Matibenga be
invited to become a member of the National Executive
Committee.
4. Every member of the Party moves ahead and accepts the need
to move
forward as a united entity.
Resolution 5: The United Kingdom and
Ireland (UK&I) External Branch
i. Having received a
report from the National Chairman in
connection with the UK&I external
assembly,
The National Council hereby
1. Accepts and ratifies
the decision to dissolve the Executive of that
external assembly as was done
by the National Chairman on the 13 th of
October 2007.
2. Accepts
the decision to appoint an interim executive
3. For the avoidance of
doubt, acknowledges, condones and ratifies all
actions and decisions taken
by the National Chairman.
4. Directs that the Extra-Ordinary meeting of
the UK&I external
assembly be held to elect a new executive before the
28 th of February 2008.
Nelson Chamisa MP
Secretary for Information and
Publicity
The Zimbabwean
Monday, 17 December 2007 08:07
BULAWAYO---Police in Bulawayo on Friday launched a crackdown on
supermarkets
and bakeries selling bread above the gazzetted price, days
after President
Robert Mugabe threatened to launch a new blitz targeting
producers and
businesses which he accused of hiking prices of basic
commodities without
government approval.
Police are forcing the
supermarkets and bakeries to sell slash the price of
a loaf of bread from
$1,5million to $200 000, a price which has been
dismissed as ridiculous and
could not sustain their businesses against high
operational costs.
The
National Bakers Association (NBA) is pressing for morethan 85 percent
increase in the price of bread, from the current retail price of $200 000
per loaf to 1,5million citing increasing fuel costs.
Most bakery and
supermarket managers in Bulawayo told The Zimbabwean on
Saturday that they
would seize baking and selling bread to avoid incurring
huge costs during
the latest police crackdown.
“I incurred huge losses on Saturday when police
descended at my shop,
forcing me to reduce the price of bread to a
ridiculous $200 000. The money
is far too less compared to the money I lose
when ordering this bread from
bakeries. I would rather not sell bread than
incur such losses<’ said a
manager speaking to The
Zimbabwean.
Bulawayo police spokesperson, Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo
confirmed the
latest police crackdown.
“Supermarkets and bakeries were
selling the bread at above the stipulated
price and as the police we would
not watch while businesses cheat consumers
through flouting government price
controls,” Inspector Moyo said on
Saturday.
Speaking at the Zanu PF
Extraordinary Congress, Mugabe said he was worried
by the recent spate of
price increases. He said appropriate action would be
taken on errant
businesses.
Mugabe’s threat seemed to support National Incomes and Pricing
Commission
(NIPC) chairman Godwills Masimirembwa who was forced to eat
humble pie by
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono three
weeks ago.
Masimirembwa was diplomatically whipped into line by Gono after
he
threatened to unleash the second phase of the blitz.
Most businesses
are yet to recover from the devastating effects of the
controversial price
blitz launched in July
Washington Times
By Geoff Hill
December
17, 2007
JOHANNESBURG — A large and increasingly vocal
Zimbabwean-exile community in
South Africa is making its presence felt with
posters and billboards across
the capital demanding free elections in
Zimbabwe next year.
The giant signs have been set up at established
sites, including Thembisa, a
high-density suburb between Johannesburg and
Pretoria that is home to
thousands of exiles, and the bustling road and rail
hub of Park Station in
downtown Johannesburg.
According to
government estimates, as many as 3 million Zimbabweans have
come to South
Africa seeking refuge from dire poverty and political
repression in their
homeland.
One of the billboards, on a wall above the busy Louis
Botha Avenue — a major
highway into Johannesburg — asks why there are so
many Zimbabweans living in
South Africa and answers the question with the
single word "freedom."
While South Africans may be flattered to
be labeled a bastion of freedom,
the campaign is unlikely to be entirely
welcomed by the governing African
National Congress, which has endured
widespread criticism of its Zimbabwe
policy.
While former
President Nelson Mandela and Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop
Desmond Tutu
have called for a tougher line toward the nation's northern
neighbor,
President Thabo Mbeki has persisted with a policy of "quiet
diplomacy,"
refusing to openly condemn even the worst cases of torture and
abuse.
In September, workers with the local council in the
border town of Musina
were accused of tearing down one of the posters,
erected by a coalition of
private organizations and church groups working
under the name of Zimbabwe
Democracy Now, or ZDN.
When the
sign was replaced, the council again tried to remove it, but a
legal order
has since barred such interference as a violation of freedom of
speech.
ZDN spokesman the Rev. Peter Nkululeko said in Pretoria that
it is
imperative that Zimbabwe's planned March election be "open and
transparent."
"A majority of people in Zimbabwe are aged
under 25, and for all [their
lives] one party and one leader has dominated
the country by nationalizing
the press, rigging elections and intimidating
or jailing anyone who dared to
speak out," he
said.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, 83, has been in
power since 1980. He and
his party were returned to office in a 2005
election that many observers
claimed was marred by state-sponsored violence
and interference with the
vote-counting process. A majority of Western
countries, including the United
States, refused to recognize the
result.
Last week, the ruling Zimbabwe African National
Union-Patriotic Front party
again nominated Mr. Mugabe as its candidate for
president in voting next
year.
Mr. Mbeki "has been
talking to all stakeholders about the need to have a
real vote in Zimbabwe —
the first for many years — and our campaign supports
that," Mr. Nkululeko
said.
"The posters are merely our way of keeping the issue in
public view," he
said.
Since 2000, a violent land-reform
program has seen the collapse of
commercial agriculture in Zimbabwe, and
critics say many of the formerly
white-owned farms have been taken over by
government ministers and Mr.
Mugabe's allies in the armed
forces.
With farm output at an 80-year low, Zimbabwe has the
world's
fastest-shrinking economy and highest inflation, now officially at
15,000
percent, although the International Monetary Fund predicts it will
soon rise
to 100,000 percent.
One-third of the country's
population of 14 million is thought to have fled,
mostly to neighboring
countries, and aid organizations say that
three-quarters of those who remain
are malnourished.
Landlocked Zimbabwe is largely dependent on
South Africa, and Mr. Mbeki has
ruled out any sanctions against Harare.
Jamaica Gleaner
EDITORIALS:
published: Monday |
December 17, 2007
HE CAN'T be accused of poking a "pink nose", as was
Tony Blair, in other
people's business. For, as Jamaicans would be aware
from the recent visit to
the island of Dr. John Sentamu, he is visibly
black.
Moreover, the Archbishop of York, the second-highest position in
the Church
of England, was born in Uganda, where he practised law and
tussled with
former dictator Idi Amin before emigrating to Britain and
becoming a priest
in the Anglican Church.
A week ago, during an
interview on a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
domestic television
channel, Dr. Sentamu dramatically cut his clerical
collar to pieces, saying
he will not wear one again until Robert Mugabe
leaves office as President of
Zimbabwe. Last week too, days after Archbishop
Sentamu's symbolic act,
Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party endorsed Mr. Mugabe,
83, as its candidate
for next year's presidential election.
Should Mr. Mugabe win - an
extremely strong likelihood given the ruling
party's more recent history of
intimidating opponents and rigging
elections - he will be nearly 90 when his
term is up. But worse, the people
of Zimbabwe will be forced to endure
several more years of a beggarly
existence, economically and
politically.
The shame of Zimbabwe and Mr. Mugabe is that they represent
a betrayal of
hope and potential, especially for people in the African
Diaspora who
invested heavily, emotionally and otherwise, in the country's
liberation
from racist, white minority rule in what was then called
Rhodesia.
While Mr. Mugabe was perhaps a good and strong guerrilla
fighter, he has
been dismal as a democratic leader, forging ruinous economic
policies and
emasculating institutions to glue his hold on office. His
cynicism is deep.
Two decades after he came to power, with his hold on
power threatened by an
organised opposition, he sanctioned the push of white
farmers from land in
favour of supposed veterans of the civil war. A
legitimate issue of land
distribution, which Mr. Mugabe had allowed to lie
fallow for more than 20
years, became a blunt political instrument. It was
also the start of the
deep downward spiral of the Zimbabwe economy, which,
this year, has seen
inflation of well over 1,000 per cent. Zimbabwe is an
now an economic basket
case.
Mr. Mugabe's only response is to vilify
his critics and to throw about
racist slurs. It is time that Jamaica and its
partners in the Caribbean
Community, who have a stake in a good future for
Zimbabwe, clearly tell Mr.
Mugabe that his people deserve
better.
Hopefully, Archbishop Sentamu, who knows the ways of dictators
and the
mysteries of divine intervention, will resume wearing his clerical
collar in
short order.
Nehanda Radio
By Zwelithini
Viki
16 December 2007
When Robert Mugabe came into power in 1980 he
voluntarily proclaimed that
Zimbabwe was a jewel loaned to him and his
government by the future
generations who were suposed to get it back from
them in an improved
state.In his exact words while addressing a rally in
1980 Mugabe said
"Zimbabwe is a jewel being loaned to us (government) by the
future
generations who should hold us accountable if we fail to pass it over
to
them in an improved state".
Far from the word improved is where
Zimbabwe finds itself today under the
continued misgovernance by the regime
of the day characterised by
dictatorship,looting and killing. The academic
genocide which the government
unleashed on 8 February 2006 continues to
haunt the students at all tertiary
institutions in Zimbabwe.The 8th of
February is the day when the government
of the day reneged on its promise
for 'education for all by the yuear
2000'.This was a clear denial of
education to those of a peasant family
background and the poor in
general.
The particular day remains a BLACK DAY in the history of higher
and tertiary
education.This is the day when the government of Robert Mugabe
decided to
comodify education thereby making it a preserve for the
elite.Several
students have dropped out of school since then whilist those
who soldiered
on fimd themselves between a hard rock and a hard surface
because of the
socio-economic and political meltdown currently obtaining in
Zimbabwe.
The government, through vice chancellors and principals, has
always reacted
ruthlessly against student leaders and activists who advocate
for the
restoration of normalcy in the education system in
Zimbabwe.Suspensions and
expulsions have become the order of the day as the
regime try in vain to
stop the students' revolution in Zimbabwe.The recent
victimisation of
student activists at Great Zimbabwe University,NUST and the
UZ goes a long
way to show how the regime is prepared to sacrifice the voice
of the
voceless for its selfish and corrupt interests.
One thing they
seem not to know is that they can kill the revolutionaries
but they will
never kill the revolution.Students now find themselves
concentrating more on
means of survival than their core business.They now
find themselves thinking
of where they will get their next meal and busfare
to and from college,where
they will put up for the next night and how they
will fund raise for typing
of projects and assignments.
More painful is the state of lecturers the
students throughout the country
have been receiving due to the massive
exodus of qualified lecturers and yet
the regime hybernating along Samora
Macheal avenue has done nothing to
address this anormally.Half baked
graduates,unfit for for the industry,have
been produced and they are
expected to help in improving the economic,social
and political crisis of
this country.
My word to the government of Robert Mugabe is that they
should be aware that
they will not go unjudged and unpunished for the crimes
they have committed
against the people of Zimbabwe.We will definately hold
them accountable for
failing to preserve the jewel they took over in
1980!!!!!!!!!
ALLUTA CONTINUA
Zwelitini Viki is former Information
and Publicity Secretary at the
University of Zimbabwe SRC.
The Sun, UK
By MICHAEL LEA
Political
Correspondent
Published: Monday, December 17, 2007
FAILED
asylum seekers have been paid £36million in “bribes” to leave
Britain, it
was revealed yesterday.
More than 23,000 have won windfalls of up to
£4,000, with costs, to set up
firms in their homeland.
But many
are feared to be milking the repatriation scheme.
About 300 have been
caught trying to RETURN to Britain after launching their
firms. Other
foreigners here illegally apply for asylum simply to cash in.
A £4,000
handout — ten years’ wages in Afghanistan — can buy thousands
luxury back
home. Tories last night blamed the problem on Labour’s failure
to secure
Britain’s borders.
Shadow home secretary David Davis said: “Given
their inability to deport
illegal immigrants they have had to resort to
bribing them to leave
taxpayers picking up the bill.”
Firms set up
with the bungs include a beauty salon in Zimbabwe.
The Government
pays two-thirds of the bill and the EU pays the rest.
The scheme is
open to all failed asylum seekers, refugees with leave to
remain and those
with claims pending.
The Home Office insists the Voluntary Assisted
Return and Reintegration
Programme — set up in 1999 — is cost effective.
Forcibly returning a failed
asylum seeker costs £11,000.
An
undercover reporter, posing as an asylum seeker, was promised a package
worth £4,000 to return to India.
He admitted he dealt drugs and
worked illegally here but he was offered an
air ticket, £1,000 business
start-up grant and other inducements. His “plan”
was a travel agency to help
others come to Britain.
a.. MINISTERS will this week announce tougher
UK entry rules for non-EU
visitors. Families who sponsor visas for overseas
relatives may have to put
up a £1,000 cash bond, which would be forfeited if
the visitor overstays.
The Zimbabwean
Monday, 17 December 2007 08:11
BULAWAYO---The Zimbabwe's second capital city,Bulawayo has been
hit by
serious shortages of painkillers .
With this current economic
situation, most Zimbabweans are victims of
headaches caused by stress as
the people are thinking of ways to survive
therefore their situation has
been now worsened especially in Bulawayo as
pharmacies and supermarkets
in the city have no pain killers on sale
as its shortages have hit the
country.
A visit by The Zimbabwean to several pharmacies and
supermarkets who
usual sell painkillers proved that ordinary painkillers
like
pain -ezze,caffenol and anadin haven’t been available for the past
three weeks.
Pharmacists who spoke to The Zimbabwean said the reason
why there is
shortage of painkillers in the city is because their main
drug suppliers
like Datlabs and Caps Holdings are no longer able to
import products
needed in manufacturing of these pills due to foreign
currency shortages
in the country “The reason why there are shortages of
painkillers is that
our main drug suppliers like Datlabs and Caps
Holdings are no longer
able to import products needed in manufacturing
of these pills due to
foreign currency shortages in the country” said the
one pharmacist who
preffered not to be named for professional
reasons.
No comment could be obtained from either Caps Holdings or
Datlabs as
most senior officials are said to be alread on the company's
annual
shutdown leave.
The Zimbabwean
JOHANNESBURG:
INDUSTRY has collapsed, power black-out is the
order of the day, and worse
still, food and cash shortages are the common
phenomenal in Zimbabwe.
But what boggles the mind, is the disappearance
of the Mazoe Orange Crush,
the famous Zimbabwean pride drink, that is now
readily available in the
South African market.
Today the drink does not
exist in Zimbabwe anymore. Thousands of
cross-border traders, who do
business in South Africa, are now importing the
drink back to their native
country, instead of exporting it to South Africa.
Investigations by CAJ News
revealed that there are no other South African
companies that produce the
Mazoe Orange Crush drink, except the Zimbabwean
company based in
Harare.
"The very funniest part of business is that we are now buying our
Mazoe
drink from South Africa, and resale it back in Zimbabwe at a very
competitive price.
"Most Zimbabweans do not know what is really
happening with the Mazowe
orange crush drink.Nearly everybody, the rich and
the poor loves the
drink."The drink is no longer available back home simply
because of the
price controls," said Merjury Machingauta of Highfield,
Harare.
Machingauta had in fact bought 24 two litre Mazoe Organge Crush
drink for
resale back in Zimbabwe.
She added: "With Christmas just by
the corner, I have to make a killing
from this imported Zimbabwean drink.
Even ministers like it, but they must
be ready to buy it under my new
price."
In Zimbabwe, the Mazoe Orange Crush was selling at Z$5 million
before it
disapeared from the shelves, whilst in South Africa the drink
costs a mere
R15.
The Zimbabwe's economy has been experiencing some
serious challenges over
the past seven years as a result of the ruling Zanu
(PF)'s misplaced
economic policies.
Worsening the situation was the
central bank, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) that always comes up with
controversial monetary policies.
To date, Zimbabwe is the only country in
the world without an authentic
currency. Zimbabwe is the only country in the
world with the worst rate of
inflation hovering around 14 000 percent-CAJ
News.
The Herald (Harare)
Published by the government of Zimbabwe
17 December 2007
Posted to the
web 17 December 2007
Harare
FIXED telecommunications service
provider TelOne has warned subscribers of
service interruptions in Harare
over the next two weeks.
This is the result of upgrading the Code
Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
network in a development that will improve
service delivery.
The interruption will not affect cable and fibre optic
based telephone
lines.
"TelOne wishes to advise its valued customers
that due to an upgrading
exercise on the CDMA network, they may experience
interruptions in
telecommunication services from Wednesday 12 December to
Monday 31 December
2007.
"This is part of our ongoing programme to
improve and expand
telecommunication services," said TelOne.
The
service provider highlighted that there would not be a complete black
out,
but that access would be more challenging on the CDMA network.
TelOne
launched the CDMA technology in June this year as the
telecommunications
service provider continues to keep abreast of new
technological
innovations.
It allows multiple users to occupy the same time and
frequency allocations
in a given band or space.
It also enables the
service provider to detect any fraudulent use of its
lines and doing away
with the current mediation system that involves
downloading data before
calculating units for billing.
CDMA is a wireless loop system that
removes the need for copper cables in
the access network and, instead,
connects customers from the base stations
in the same manner as the GSM
cellular system.
TelOne and other public utilities such as Zesa Holdings
and the National
Railways of Zimbabwe are losing billions of dollars worth
of equipment to
theft and vandalism.
Theft of copper cables has been
rampant in Zimbabwe in recent years,
prompting the utilities to demand
stiffer penalties for offender.
The CDMA technology will ease worries
over vandalism of infrastructure and
cable theft, which usually disrupts
services.