VOA
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
27 December
2006
Senior officials of some Southern African Development
Community member
nations are privately expressing concern at a proposal
mooted by Zimbabwe's
ruling ZANU-PF party to extend the term of president
Robert Mugabe by two
years years with a constitutional amendment postponing
the 2008 presidential
election.
Eight of ZANU-PF 10 provincial
organizations backed the proposal to
harmonize the presidential and
parliamentary election schedule by holding
both ballots in 2010. The
resolution was referred to ZANU-PF central
committee for further
consideration.
Sources in SADC capitals said the countries most concerned
at the
term-extension proposal are South Africa, Botswana and Lesotho. All
three
have been working behind the scenes to dispatch a fact-finding mission
to
Zimbabwe to prepare a report on the crisis to be presented to SADC's
committee on politics and defense.
Zimbabwean Deputy Information
Minister Bright Matonga was quoted in the
Sunday Mirror paper saying Harare
has heard nothing about the delegation.
Foreign Ministry sources said,
however, that Harare has told SADC
administrators the proposed fact-finding
group will not be welcome as it was
not constituted by a SADC
summit.
At the ruling party's annual conference earlier this month,
President Mugabe
said he would not tolerate interference from other
countries in the region.
South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad
is the only official so far
to have issued any public comment on the need
for a mission by SADC
ministers.
Researcher Chris Maroleng of the
Institute for Security Studies in South
Africa told reporter Blessing Zulu
of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that
SADC's move is welcome because the
regional spillover effect of the Zimbabwe
crisis is growing.
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
27 December
2006
President Robert Mugabe has promoted 24 army officers to
the ranks of
colonel and lieutenant colonel. Speaking in the president's
name at a
ceremony Wednesday in the capital, Zimbabwe National Army
Major-General
Engel Bert Rugenje commended the officers for their hard work,
saying the ''sky
is the limit'' for those who do so.
But political
analysts said the unusually large number of promotions
suggested that the
president is trying to secure the loyalty of senior
officers given the
possibility that sporadic protests over deteriorating
living standards could
multiply in 2007.
But the main beneficiaries of Mugabe's benevolence have
been senior army
officials, who earn much more than junior officers and are
given luxury
vehicles and farms.
Former air force officer Solomon
Chikovera told reporter Patience Rusere of
VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that
the number of officer promoted is unusually
large - and that the new
colonels are likely to be more subject to political
pressures.
VOA
By Carole Gombakomba
Washington
27 December
2006
More than 1,500 people face eviction in Zimbabwe's
Masvingo province from
farms they occupied by force in the country's chaotic
land reform starting
in 2000.
Most of those facing eviction are said
to be war veterans who took part in
Zimbabwe's independence struggle in the
1970s and subsequently served as
shock troops for the government-led land
invasions that displaced thousands
of white farmers.
Occupancy of
such farms in Masvingo is being challenged by senior officials,
sources
said. Land reform has left many farms in the hands of top government
officials.
Sources close to the situation said officials pressing
ahead with the
evictions include Higher Education Minister Stan Mudenge,
Masvingo
Provincial Governor Willard Chiwewe and traditional chief Fortune
Charumbira.
Zimbabwe Liberators Peace Initiative President Max
Mkandla told reporter
Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that
his group's members,
as veterans of the liberation war, feel betrayed and
are in sympathy with
those evicted.
The Herald
(Harare)
December 27, 2006
Posted to the web December 27,
2006
Bulawayo Bureau
Harare
THERE was a near riot at Bambazonke
Total Service Station in Mpopoma suburb
in Bulawayo yesterday when members
of the Taskforce on Fuel refused to sell
the commodity to public
transporters accusing them of overcharging
commuters.
The service
station is one of the garages selling fuel supplied by the
National Oil
Company of Zimbabwe at $325 per litre.
Angry commuter transport
drivers mobbed the members of the taskforce until
they agreed to sell the
fuel after a commotion that lasted about an hour.
The fuel was delivered
on Sunday but only 60 vehicles were fuelled on that
day and others were told
to come back yesterday.
"We spent three days in the queue after the
taskforce told us that we would
have to come back on Tuesday (today)," said
one of the drivers.
"When they (taskforce members) came this morning we
were surprised to hear
them saying commuter transporters will not get any
fuel because they were
overcharging.
"But some of us have not been on
the road since these new fares being
charged by people who get their fuel
from the black market were effected."
Commuter operators in Bulawayo
started unilaterally charging $1 000 per trip
at the weekend. Last week the
Government set commuter fares at $800 a trip.
All along commuter
operators had been charging $500 a trip.
"If the taskforce wants to
punish overcharging commuter operators they
should follow up those 60
vehicles that were allocated fuel and see what
they are doing with the
fuel.
"We suspect that there is a lot of corruption going on here and
this fuel
might end up being channelled to the black market.
"Some of
us want to refuel our vehicles so that we can be able to work and
carry
people using the old fares," said another driver.
Sanity only prevailed
after negotiations between the members of the
taskforce and transport
operators led by Bulawayo Passenger Transporters
Association chairman, Mr
Strike Ndlovu.
![[PHOTOGRAPH] Porta Farm, Zimbabwe, in 2002, showing a settled area with lots of housing and roads. [Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc.]](http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2006/images/0530porta_before.jpg "[PHOTOGRAPH] Porta Farm, Zimbabwe, in 2002, showing a settled area with lots of housing and roads. [Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc.]")
![[PHOTOGRAPH] Porta Farm, Zimbabwe, in April 2006, showing as mostly green, with an absense of buildings. [Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc.]](http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2006/images/0530porta_after.jpg "[PHOTOGRAPH] Porta Farm, Zimbabwe, in April 2006, showing as mostly green, with an absense of buildings. [Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc.]")
Porta Farm, Zimbabwe, was a settlement of more than 850 buildings and as many
as 10,000 people when the satellite photo (top) was taken in 2002. But the
second image (below), taken 6 April 2006, shows the settlement has been
levelled.
© Copyright 2006 DigitalGlobe Inc. All rights reserved
Cutting-edge satellite imagery is becoming an increasingly important tool for human rights groups documenting violations around the world, a panel of human rights experts said at an AAAS program on December 6th held in honor of Human Rights Day 2006.
Most recently, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Amnesty International, the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum have worked with AAAS to combine high resolution satellite imagery with geographic information systems (GIS) and human intelligence to raise public awareness and alert important actors about human right violations.
"NGOs can often respond more quickly and in some cases with wider reach than governments," said Lars Bromley, senior program associate in the Office of International Initiatives. "If we (AAAS) can help provide the NGOs with a similar information infrastructure to what governments have, they can assume much greater responsibility in preventing and responding to human rights violations."
Co-sponsored by the AAAS Science and Human Rights program, the Amnesty International USA Crisis Prevention & Response Unit, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Academy for Genocide Prevention, the event featured five panel members: Matthew Levinger, director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Academy for Genocide Prevention; Paul D. Williams, senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham, U.K.; Ariela Blätter, director of the Crisis Prevention and Response Center at Amnesty International; Debra Liang-Fenton, executive director of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea; and Bromley.
The use of satellite imagery is not new. Since the 1990s, the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency have relied on satellite surveillance to monitor for violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Imagery has also been used to conduct damage assessments, draw ceasefire lines, establish demobilization lines, and to help decide where to place peacekeeping observation posts.
Although the United Nations has relied upon satellite intelligence to conduct peacekeeping missions, it does not have a centralized location in the Secretariat nor the mandate, according to some, to conduct surveillance of member nations in an effort to prevent human rights violations.
"Even if they were given the capacity to acquire satellite images, a number of member states, particularly in the Non-Aligned Movement, have expressed skepticism and concern about giving the U.N. a centralized intelligence service to interpret the information," said Williams, currently a visiting associate professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
NGOs have recently begun to combine satellite imagery with other political data including locations of roads, national borders, towns, photographs, and personal accounts of violence plotted to the town where it occurred.
"When satellite imagery and other data are combined, they greatly assist in monitoring human rights violations and aid advocacy and legal efforts to stop those violations," Bromley said.
He explained that satellite technology has many other uses beyond human rights monitoring, including the prevention of illegal fishing and poaching, improvement of reconstruction efforts after natural disasters, and fire detection and monitoring.
In October 2004, AAAS began to investigate how satellite technology and other resources can be used to monitor and prevent human rights violations, later receiving a $110,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation in December 2005.
Soon after, the AAAS Science and Human Rights program teamed with Amnesty International, the U.N. Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to develop feasible ways to involve the scientific community in human rights monitoring.
"Technology like satellites and other scientific resources can provide unimpeachable evidence, unlike testimony which is easily refuted," Blätter said. "In addition, satellite images can attract and sustain media and political interest."
In late May 2006, AAAS released its first human rights report to rely on satellite imagery, presenting evidence that the government of Zimbabwe had destroyed entire settlements including the town of Porta Farm, forcing thousands of residents to flee their homes.
Bromley believes that the field of satellite technology is rapidly evolving, with an increase in the number of high-resolution satellites put into orbit leading to more images at lower prices for both archived and new imagery.
Human rights experts hope that newer technologies will allow experts to devote more time to surveillance of "danger zones," or areas where crises are likely to develop.
When asked for specifics, Williams suggested that efforts could focus on areas around unstable regimes, nations conducting elections, countries suspected of building arms stockpiles, and regions with ethnic or religious minorities.
The expert panel believes that the biggest challenge for the human rights community may not be improving the quality of the imagery, but rather convincing the public of its reliability and its utility for demonstrating human rights abuses.
"How can we build trust within the public about the imagery?" Levinger asked. Bromley replied: "Transparency—allowing everyone access to the data."
Human Rights Day, observed internationally on 10 December, was established by the United Nations in 1950 to commemorate the 1948 United Nations General Assembly adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, a former Supreme Court of Canada Justice, declared the 2006 Human Rights Day theme to be the elimination of poverty worldwide.
Benjamin Somers
27 December 2006
Business Day
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HARARE
- The Zimbabwean government has been ordered to pay ?40m to a German
bank
after Zimbabwe Iron & Steel Company (Ziscosteel) failed to service a
loan granted to the company eight years ago.
Ziscosteel is already
the focus of an internal government investigation
following allegations of
massive fraud at the company, of which the state
owns a majority. Top
politicians have been implicated.
Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW)
took its case to the International
Court of Arbitration in 2004 after the
cash-strapped Harare government
defaulted on repayments. In terms of the
loan agreement signed in 1998, KfW
granted three loans to Ziscosteel of
nearly ?6m. The Zimbabwean government
was guarantor. KfW is 80% owned by the
German government, and its funding
activities are aimed mainly at promoting
Germany's export activities.
Documents show that Ziscosteel paid the
first instalment of ?861558 on March
31 2000. It made further payments of
?275000 and ?9673 in August 2002 and
December 2002 respectively. But
attempts by KfW to get Ziscosteel to honour
the full debt failed, forcing it
to seek help from the Paris-based court to
recover its
money.
According to the documents, KfW failed in its attempt to get an
"explicit
acknowledgement of indebtedness" from Ziscosteel on September 9
2004. The
bank obtained no response from the steel company.
In
December 2004, KfW appointed a debt- recovery agency, Commercial
Intelligence Southeast Asia of Singapore, to collect the money. But the debt
collector failed to make headway, forcing the bank to appeal to the
court.
In a ruling delivered late last week, court arbitrator Wolfgang
Peter
awarded "claimant (KfW) as amortisation of the three loans the amount
of
?40312717,49 altogether with the interest arising under the loan
agreements".
The arbitrator also ruled that Zimbabwe pay the legal fees and
related
expenses incurred by KfW.
Although it is unlikely the
Zimbabwean government, which is strapped for
hard cash, can pay KfW any time
soon, the bank could use the arbitration
order to attach Zimbabwean property
outside the country.
Zimbabwean Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa could
not be reached for comment
on the matter.
Zimbabwe is grappling with
its worst economic crisis, the world's highest
inflation rate of 1098% and
severe shortages of foreign currency.
The country last year narrowly
escaped expulsion from the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) after
scrambling to repay part of its overdue debt to
the fund at the 11th hour.
Harare stills owes money to the IMF, among other
international
lenders.
The official Herald newspaper reported on Friday that
Zimbabwe would soon
start talks with China for a $2bn loan in its efforts to
stabilise its
imploding economy.
The paper quoted Chris Mutsvangwa,
Zimbabwe's ambassador to China, as saying
China's government was ready to
negotiate with the government for a $2bn
facility to fight inflation and
help with other aspects of the economy.
This would be the largest foreign
loan for President Robert Mugabe's
government.
Mutsvangwa said the
Chinese government had appointed a projects officer to
handle the issue and
to start talks with Zimbabwe's finance minister and
central bank
governor.
Last month, Mutsvangwa said a Chinese company had offered $3bn
for a 60%
stake in Ziscosteel. This disclosure was met with
scepticism.
The China Metallurgical Group Corporation, the company in
question, denied
making such a bid, although it said it had been approached
by Harare.
The newspaper has also alleged several major deals with
Russian companies,
none of which could be substantiated in Russia by
Business Day.
Meanwhile, one of Air Zimbabwe's Chinese MA60 jets,
which the airline bought
just a year ago, failed to take off from Joshua
Mqabuko Nkomo Airport in
Bulawayo yesterday after developing a technical
fault.
David Mwenga, the airline's public relations manager,
confirmed the MA60 had
failed to take off after spewing smoke from an
engine. There have been many
technical problems with the planes acquired
under the government's "look
east" policy. Recent reports suggested Air
Zimbabwe could not afford spare
parts, and was stripping grounded planes of
parts to fix the MA60s.
ZimOnline, Reuters, Business Day Reporter
zimbabwejournalists.com
By a Correspondent
HARARE - police in
Zimbabwe have arrested 16 290 gold panners and
confiscated at least 3,2 kg
of gold worth over $51,7 million and 4 876
pieces of diamond.
The state-controlled Herald newspaper reports that police have also
recovered 524 000 kg of gold ore and 20 emeralds since launching Operation
Chikorokoza Chapera/Isitsheketsha Sesiphelile in November to arrest those
illegally dealing in the precious minerals.
The police have not
yet given the value of the emeralds and the
diamonds. Most of the arrests
and recoveries were said to have been done
near border posts where the
suspects were allegedly trying to smuggle the
minerals to neighbouring
countries.
Illegal panning and smuggling of minerals has been on
the increase in
Zimbabwe, especially following the discovery of diamonds in
Marange communal
lands resulting in the international body regulating the
sector to express
concern over the uncontrolled trade of diamonds in
Zimbabwe.
The World Diamond Council (WDC) this week expressed its
concerns
regarding the current situation in Zimbabwe amid reports that rough
diamonds
from Zimbabwe's kimberlite River Ranch mine and alluvial diamonds
from
Marange, Zimbabwe, were possibly being smuggled illegally into South
Africa
for official export with the validation of a Kimberley Process
Certificate.
The council said the situation in Zimbabwe needed to be
carefully
monitored with further action being taken to ensure that the
Kimberley
Process was not negatively affected.
Said police
spokesperson Chief Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka
yesterday: "Information
filtering to us is that some of the suspects are
putting or hiding minerals
in their dreadlocks and braids."
"We are going to be much more
thorough than we have been doing at the
border posts," he
said.
"We have also put in place mechanisms to curtail
smuggling of gold
from where it is processed," he said.
Mandipaka said police had an obligation not only to maintain law and
order,
but also to protect the environment.
He said it was for this reason
that the police was concerned about the
reckless use of mercury and other
chemicals by gold panners.
"We are also worried about the level of
siltation in our dams and land
degradation," he said.
SW Radio Africa Hotseat Transcript
Broadcast date 29 December
2006
Transcript of interview with Jonathan Moyo
Violet
Gonda : Our guest on the programme this week is Professor
Jonathan Moyo the
former Information Minister who is now an independent MP
for Tsholotsho.
Let's start with the general question on the crisis in the
country. You have
written an article talking about the devastating economic
meltdown and you
said if nothing is done to intervene as a matter of
national urgency more
people will perish as some already have. And you also
say the economy is the
real opposition to ZANU-PF. First of all can you
explain the state of the
economy and how bad things are?
Moyo: Well I thank it is now an
undeniable truth that there is no
single living Zimbabwean who can ever
recall such a situation happening in
the country, as we have today, in their
lifetime. Some people have indicated
of course that the economy has fallen
to the standards of 1953 but the truth
of the matter is people are finding
it difficult to make ends meet. We have
high unemployment levels,
unprecedented at over 85%, we have poverty, people
living below the poverty
line - over 90% of our population, and now
inflation is hovering around
1000%.
Basic goods necessary for everyday living are either
unavailable or
unaffordable. What is particularly disquieting about this is
that those in
authority, the ruling Zanu-PF Government, while it claims to
enjoy popular
support, while it claims to be for Zimbabweans, for the
sovereignty of the
people, it is now clear to all that they are totally
clueless.they don't
know what to do. Over the last 6 months everything has
gotten worse and the
hope that the government had was that the IMF was going
to come to their
rescue and that is why some 21 trillion dollars were
printed to pay back the
arrears and this was done to the detriment of the
country.
As we all know the IMF has not restored voting rights, it
has not
opened new credit lines. There was also hope that with excellent
rains, and
indeed there were very good rains this year, but again to
demonstrate that
the government is no longer able to come up with any
solution even when it
comes to matters that traditionally we would expect it
to be leading, this
is going to be a disastrous season, the harvest will be
probably half the
requirements of the country when it comes to maize, but
even the other crops
like tobacco, and horticulture, the story on the ground
is disastrous. We
were not prepared.
Violet: Now Professor Moyo
you say the government is totally clueless
on the way forward. Now what do
you think needs to be done?
Moyo: The problem of course is a
political matter. Right now there is
no national or local confidence in the
economy, no international confidence
in the economy because of the
unresolved political situation that obtains in
the country. It really is an
obvious thing now that as long as we have
President Mugabe in power and more
particularly as long as we have Zanu-PF
in power, we are not going to
address the basic fundamental problems that
are affecting our economy. So it
is political first and there is no sign
that Zanu-PF sees this within
itself; indication of a willingness to reform
within Zanu-PF let alone
reform within the country. And so what needs to be
done when the economy
begins to affect everyone, businesses consumers,
ordinary people in such
ways, it means the time for everyone to work
together has come; it means the
time to put aside petty political squabbles,
to forge a united front against
Zanu-PF (has come). It's so clear now that
the problem is Zanu-PF. Nobody
has confidence in Zanu-PF. And Zanu-PF has
lost confidence in itself that is
why it is unable to deal with the
situation.
Violet: But
Professor Moyo not long ago you were the spokesperson for
this same
government. First of all what policy discussions took place while
you were
in cabinet and wasn't there a recognition that things were going
bad, that
things were deteriorating?
Moyo: Well it's over a year ago when I
was in government discussing
these things. You know that since 2000 a
fundamental issue in our country
has been how to deal with the land question
and this issue which I believe
many Zimbabweans agree that it is fundamental
has not been handled properly.
There have been mistakes, very serious
mistakes that were made. There were
discussions when I was in government
about these mistakes and at some point
we thought that there was a
willingness to correct the mistakes. But if you
look at what happened in
October last year through constitutional amendment
number 17 it's obvious
that there is no willingness in Zanu-PF to deal with
these mistakes. Instead
they have wadded more complications to the original
mistakes.
Now as long as this fundamental question of not just land but general
property relations in Zimbabwe as long as this question is not handled
properly then we are furthering economic doom. But it is not just a question
of what Zanu-pf does alone or what discussion may be going on or not going
on in government, it is a question of what Zimbabweans are going to do about
it. Many people have seen Zimbabweans as a docile population; Zimbabweans as
people who are not capable of rising up against a government who are
violating their fundamental rights, not just political rights but also
economic rights.
Violet: Can I just interject there Professor
Moyo, you know you sound
very sensible right now and someone would say what
great intellect, but some
say coming from someone who's played a part - you
were part of the system
when institutions were breaking down - how do you
feel they you were part
and parcel of that system that has destroyed the
country?
Moyo: Well, I don't agree that I was part of a system that
destroyed
the country. I was among those who were trying to reform that
system. It is
too simplistic to assume that there are some people who know
how we should
resolve the Zimbabwean conflict ant that they are the only
ones that have
that answer and that those people are outside Zanu PF. That
is a fallacy
which is costing us a lot. There are many people and as someone
who was in
government what you hear people say and do in terms of their
public
posturing and what they actually work tirelessly to achieve within
the
structures of ZANU PF is entirely a different matter. I certainly
consider
myself one of those who tried to reform Zanu PF from within and
failed and
the failure became quite public in November of 2004. I believe
that in a
country such as ours where the ruling party is linked with the
liberation of
the country you cannot reform a country like that without
reforming the
ruling party.
Violet: but you were the ruthless
Information Minister who crafted
much of the legislation that destroyed the
independent media in the country
or at least a representative of the
government that was doing so. Now you
never spoke out against it during your
reign as Information Minister. Do you
now believe that this was wrong and
that government should reverse its
stance on the media?
Moyo:
No, I am quite clear that there's a great deal of
misunderstanding about my
role and there's also a great deal of
misunderstanding about the legislation
itself. I believed that it was
necessary to have legislation and to have it
applied to everyone else But
the application of legislation especially when
it comes to the arrest and
prosecution of people has nothing to do with
people outside the police and
the Attorney General's office; those are the
people who arrest and prosecute
and the fact that there is a selective
application of the law in Zimbabwe is
well known. I fought with Nathan
Shamuyarira over Sky News and he did not
want Sky News subjected under the
laws of the country which applied to the
media and my fight with him is very
public because I did not accept that if
certain foreign media come through
Zanu PF for guru's like him then they
should not be subjected to the
law.
Violet: At the time you never spoke out against these
oppressive laws
against the media. You ruled the media with an iron fist, do
you not agree
with that?
Moyo: No, I don't agree with that but
I'm aware that there are many
people who feel so and some of those people
because they take on a certain
position and I also know that there are some
people who think that if you
produce a robust argument against them you are
ruthless. They just want you
to fall down and say roll over me. Yes, we
argued bitterly. There are a
number of issues that you can be very specific
about where I did not agree
with certain elements of the media - I did not
agree with them, I don't
agree with them to day on those matters. It does
not matter whether I'm in
government or I'm not in government.
As an opposition person today I represent Tsholotsho as an Independent
Member of Parliament and I do not wish to be assisted by a media that
manufactures false stories; claims that people have been beheaded by others
when that is not the case. I do not consider such a media to be part of a
democratic process, in fact I consider a media like that to be quite
retrogressive in terms of the democratic exercise. Unfortunately, in
Zimbabwe , we have some people who think that if you present an argument
against them which they lose and its a robust argument then they say you are
vicious against the media - no I don't agree with that kind of
thing.
Violet: You seem to have an easy answer for everything. I
remember
calling you several times while you were minister of information
and you
used to refuse to talk to SW Radio Africa. What has changed now? You
are
talking to me right now?
Moyo: Yes I'm talking to you I
think you have several time s and I'm
in contact with some of my colleagues
and I have colleagues talking to you
and I hope you think it would a good
think to talk to you. And I hope you
don't think we are proving anything or
we have made an achievement. I just
think its a fact that many Zimbabweans
have been taking different positions
over the past five years for one reason
or another. We've got to respect
that. Either we are going to be setting up
kangaroo courts against each
other or we are going to wake up to the
realisation that our country is
bigger, that there is a bigger picture
there, but, not withstanding the
differences which we have had - genuine or
otherwise. History calls on us to
now work together.
Violet: We
understand that but you must also understand that there is
a lot of public
anger against you because of all the corruption and greed
and lack of viable
policies that existed when you were part of that system.
Moyo: I
reject that.
Violet: Can I finish the question? Many people would
say why did you
continue to defend the government as a spokesperson, why
didn't you speak
for the Zimbabwean people as you see to be doing right now.
Why didn't you
do that when you were in Zanu PF; in government?
Moyo: You ask the artists in this city. I spoke to them and fought for
them
and brought legislation in their favour. They are Zimbabweans. You ask
the
people in Tsholotsho, I spoke for them, fought for them as Minister. For
20
years before I came into government there was not even a single High
School
in the whole of Tsholotsho district. As a result of my direct
intervention
there are now ten High schools - I consider that a contribution
to the
people of Zimbabwe and there are many other things that I did. What I
would
say to those people raising the issue genuinely as I believe you are
is that
you must remember that when you are fighting that system from
outside there
are tools and methods are different from when you say, Oh Moyo
you are
defending this and that I'm sure as a journalist you also recall
rather well
that throughout my tenure in Zanu PF I was constantly at
loggerheads with
the so called Zanu PF gurus and so forth. Why was it so?
Why is it that they
were having all those endless meetings against Moyo?
And finally
remember I decided myself to leave Zanu-PF. You did not -
meaning generally
people with the view such as you are expressing, get me to
leave Zanu-PF.
They did not even get me to leave themselves. They wanted to
discipline me,
they wanted to say no you cannot pursue these things. None in
the media as
far as I am aware has ever gone really deep to unravel the so
called
Tsholotsho saga. Many of you in the media celebrated because you
believed it
led to Moyo's departure from government.
Violet: So tell us what
was it, you are here right now.
Moyo: I think it's a very long
story and I think it would be quite
useful for you to start digging to
understand exactly what happened.
Because, look at how your colleagues in
the media including the state media
in Zimbabwe have dug into the divisions
that have been witnessed in the
opposition MDC to the extent of calling one
faction pro senate and another
anti senate. The same people doing that have
not been willing to look at the
divisions that lead to the so called
Tsholotsho saga. They have not. And yet
those divisions are there today, and
they present also opportunities to the
opposition as written
large.
Violet: Maybe this is another topic that we can call you on
at a later
stage.
Moyo: Sure, some other time.
Violet: There is another issue I would like to ask you about. You seem
to
say you used to speak out about several issues that were happening in the
country and you used to voice this while you were Minister of Information.
But there were other things that you did, Professor Moyo that were obvious
to the rest of the world specially people in the country that these things
were not true for example in September 2004 at the height of the food crisis
when people were starving in Bulawayo do you remember saying that there is
no food crisis in Zimbabwe?
Moyo: Yes I remember and that was
true. This is the thing about us
Zimbabweans either we get so frivolous to
the point of irrelevance. You
can't mix up a situation of malnutrition and
the availability of food in a
particular place at a particular
time.
Violet: But it was worsened by the fact that there was no
food.
Moyo: Give me an opportunity to answer, you asked the
question. It is
not right to assume that if there was maize in the silos of
Bulawayo in
September 2004 than that maize should be there forever, that it
should be
there even in January 2006. It would be complete folly, and I just
wonder
where this thinking comes from.
Violet: Do you remember
there was partisan distribution of food
especially in Bulawayo at that time
also.
Moyo: Listen, I know there was a problem of partisan
distribution of
food in the whole of Zimbabwe including my constituency
Tsholotsho, and that
was a major feature of my campaign platform, I know
about that.
Violet: That other statement that you made in 2001 you
said that "It's
clear to anyone who can read the writing is on the wall that
Zanu-PF is the
future". Now your recent analysis contradicts this. Do you
see any future
for Zanu PF?
Moyo: You know, again, this is an
example, listen are you quoting the
Bible or you are quoting Jonathan Moyo
in 2001 or you are quoting Jonathan
Moyo in 2006. Surely you have got to say
things they was they are at the
time. And frankly that was at the height of
very serious efforts by myself
and others who are still in Zanu-PF to reform
that party and to send a
positive message in that party that if you want to
be a party of the future
going ahead in 2002 and 2004 for the congress, here
is the agenda for that,
and we were seriously involved in reforming that
party. Yesterday it was a
party of the future, today it is not. And the
reason it is not is because of
some old men believe that the party is theirs
and they believe they are the
shareholders of that party, that no one else
can contribute to that party,
that therefore it does not belong to all
Zimbabweans.
Violet: Surely Professor Moyo how then can people take
you seriously
when you have changed sides twice in the last 2 decades? You
went from being
a major critic of Zanu-PF, then became its spokesman and
defender and now, a
critic again. Can you see why this leads to problems of
credibility?
Moyo: The choice is all yours. I did not pick up the
phone and call
you to say you take me seriously. The choice is all yours and
I would like
to believe that the fact that you called me indicates that you
take me
seriously and the fact that I am entertaining you reflects that I am
taking
you seriously. And it would be a good thing for Zimbabweans to take
each
other seriously regardless of the various positions we have taken.
Raila
Odinga over the last 3 years has been in NDP, in LDP, in KANU to the
point
of seeking the presidency of KANU, out of KANU into NAK, out of NAK,
back
working with KANU in the Orange Democratic Movement. That's why the
process
in that country is more dynamic and much more
promising.
You Look at people who are in Zanu-PF, do you think they
have always
been in Zanu-PF? Why are people taking Nathan Shamuyarira
seriously when he
was once Frolizi. Mugabe was NDP he was Zapu he became
Zanu, why do people
take him seriously? We have to deal with the situation
as it emerges and
what I can tell you is that none of us will ever succeed
to transform our
country by avoiding Zanu-PF. We have got to deal with it in
one way or the
other. Some might have to join it to try and beat them from
within, others
might have to work from outside but at the end of the day the
struggle will
only succeed when we have brought on board a significant
number of the rank
and file of Zanu-PF because of our history.
Violet: I'm afraid Professor Moyo we have to end here. Thank you very
much.
Moyo: You are most welcome.
New Zimbabwe
By
Staff Reporter
Last updated: 12/28/2006 10:25:35
ZIMBABWE is at an
"advanced stage" in finalising a controversial law
designed to give locals
shares in foreign-owned mines, and has sealed joint
mining deals with China,
President Robert Mugabe said on Wednesday.
Mugabe's government unsettled
the mining industry in March when it announced
plans to amend the mining
laws and "indigenise" 51 percent of all
foreign-owned mining companies, with
25 percent going to the state for free.
The government withdrew the
document for further consultations but Mugabe
has repeatedly stressed that
locals should be in control of their rich
natural
resources.
"Indigenisation and economic empowerment of our people remains
the
cornerstone of our socio-economic development," Mugabe said in an annual
state of the nation speech to parliament.
"The amendment of the Mines
and Minerals Act to facilitate participation by
locals in the mining sector
is at an advanced stage," said Mugabe.
The government empowerment has
worried investors in one of the few sectors
of Zimbabwe's economy that has
continued to attract foreign capital
following the collapse of the key
agriculture sector, which critics blame on
Mugabe's seizure of white-owned
farms for blacks.
Major international firms with interests in Zimbabwe
include the world's
number one platinum miner Anglo Platinum, Rio Tinto and
Implats.
Last Friday Mugabe said his government would not allow land-grab
style
seizures of mines by top officials, a statement analysts said was
designed
to calm jittery foreign mining firms.
On Wednesday Mugabe
said his "Look East" policy, which seeks to bolster ties
with Asian and
Muslim nations to make up for Zimbabwe's increasing isolation
from the West,
was bearing fruit after Zimbabwe signed joint venture mining
agreements with
firms from China.
"Joint venture mining projects have been agreed with
several Chinese
companies while there are advanced plans to open a minerals
marketing office
in the city of Shanghai in China," Mugabe said without
giving details of the
companies involved.
Analysts and industry
officials say growth in the mining sector is being
stunted by delays in
finalising mine ownership laws and a skewed exchange
rate
policy.
Mining ouput declined by 14.4 percent in 2006, but official
forecasts point
to a 4.9 percent growth in 2007. The industry has overtaken
agriculture as
the top foreign currency earner in the crisis-hit southern
African
country. - Reuters
The Argus, UK
Controversial property tycoon Nicholas Hoogstraten had a British film
crew
put under house arrest on a recent trip to Zimbabwe.
He had
arranged Press accreditation for the Channel 4 crew in return for
assurances
they would only report on positive developments in the capital,
Harare. He
says he later found a film script and diary which showed they
would be
criticising the country's dictator, Robert Mugabe.
The journalists were
confined to a hotel room and threatened with jail but
finally managed to fly
out of the country last week.
Mr Hoogstraten, who built up a property
empire in Brighton and Hove, tried
to force the team to sign a statement
admitting they had gone back on their
agreement Mr Hoogstraten is a long
time ally of Zimbabwe's dictator Robert
Mugabe and owns a vast estate and
businesses in the southern African
country.
He told the Zimbabwe
Independent: "If I had had my way, we would have made a
case out of it and
put them in prison, because they were here with evil in
their
hearts."
In 1999, Mr Hoogstraten was implicated in the murder of
businessman Mohammed
Raja, 62. His conviction for manslaughter was quashed
by the Court of Appeal
in July 2003. In a civil court action brought by Mr
Raja's family, a judge
ruled that on the balance of probability, Mr
Hoogstraten was involved in the
murder.
VOA
By Chris Gande
Washington
27 December
2006
Junior doctors in the seventh day of a strike that has
severely affected
state hospitals in Harare, the capital, and Bulawayo, the
second city, said
they will meet Thursday with government officials to
listen to their
proposals for increased salaries.
The country's four
main referral hospitals are only accepting emergency
cases. The doctors are
demanding an increase in salary to $5 million a month
from $56,000 a month
now, which puts them under the official poverty line.
Zimbabwe Medical
Doctors Association President Kudakwashe Nyamutukwa told
reporter Chris
Gande of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that if the junior
doctors are not
happy with what Harare offers them, they will continue their
strike.
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
27
December 2006
The top municipal official of the Harare
satellite town of Chitungwiza has
attacked the leadership of the Chitungwiza
Residents and Ratepayers
Association for what he says is there incitement of
residents to reject the
city's Z$2.2 billion 2007 budget.
More than
200 residents filed objection papers ahead of a December 15
deadline to
force Chitungwiza's city council to reconsider or overhaul the
budget.
Chitungwiza Acting Mayor Darlington Nota was quoted in the
state-controlled
Herald newspaper this week as saying the leaders of the
association lack the
authority to act on behalf of residents. He pointed to
a recent high court
decision not to rule on the association's urgent
application, saying it
would take it up in due course.
But the
association's chairman, Arthur Taderera, told reporter Jonga
Kandemiiri of
VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that his group has rejected the
2007 budget
because a big rise in rates from $2 000 a month to $23 000 is
beyond the
reach of most.