The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.

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WHO: Lab Tests Rule Out Ebola in Zimbabwe

By ANGUS SHAW
Associated Press Writer

December 30, 2003, 11:49 AM EST

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Laboratory tests have ruled out the
possibility that an Angolan trader died of the feared Ebola virus in
neighboring Zimbabwe, the U.N. health agency said Tuesday. WHO: Lab Tests
Rule Out Ebola in Zimbabwe

The South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases tested
samples sent by Zimbabwe on Tuesday, World Health Organization spokesman Dr.
Welile Shashas said.

"To the immense relief of everyone, this was not Ebola" or a similar
hemorrhagic fever, he said.

Zimbabwe health authorities announced over the weekend that an Angolan
national who died in the resort town of Victoria Falls on Christmas day had
exhibited symptoms consistent with Ebola.

The announcement touched off fears the highly contagious disease could
spread from the continent's equatorial regions to southern Africa for the
first time.

Health officials in neighboring Botswana, Namibia and Zambia have been on
alert since the weekend.

The actual cause of death remains to be determined. But confirmation that it
was not Ebola has allowed emergency health teams gathered at Victoria Falls
to lift quarantine restrictions imposed on staff who tended to the patient,
Shashas said.

Ebola, one of the world's deadliest viral diseases, causes extensive
internal bleeding and rapid death in up to 90 percent of those infected.

The virus has killed more than 1,000 people since it was first identified in
1976 in western Sudan and in a region of Congo. An outbreak in a remote part
of Republic of Congo has killed at least 29 people so far, according to WHO.
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press

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Daily News

      Time to sit down and plan post-Mugabe era

      Date:30-Dec, 2003

      OPINION: IT IS increasingly important, pertinent and relevant that
people start discussing the post-Mugabe Zimbabwe scenario.

      Whether you are MDC or ZANU PF or a mere neutral, you cannot afford to
brush aside the question of post-Mugabe Zimbabwe. One way or the other
Mugabe will be history soon.

      Nature abhors a vacuum. Let us not forget that actions of this regime
will have a profound bearing on the future of our children and generations
to come.

      It would be suicidal to pretend that Mugabe is immortal nor that he
will rule forever. As custodians of post-Mugabe Zimbabwe, it is our
irrevocable right to question and shape the scenario that arises thereof.

      The so-called war liberators, most of whom are over 60, have prepared
a future for their children and would care less about what will happen in
the post-Mugabe era.

      It is a public secret that none of Mugabe's cronies ever had children
getting education in Zimbabwe. They did what any normal parent deemed
necessary, sending their kids abroad.

      It is against this background that we must forge ahead and come up
with a blueprint for the post-Mugabe Zimbabwe. This blueprint should not be
in favour of any party.

      The blueprint must be all-inclusive. For the record, Zimbabwe has so
many highly trained personnel in fields ranging from catering to robotics
and everything in between.

      Zimbabweans in and outside the country have the capacity to turn
around the nation's fortunes in the right political climate.

      It is time to think out of the box. It is high time we stop thinking
in terms of MDC or ZANU PF only. Zimbabweans should start thinking of a
Zimbabwe minus Mugabe.

      There is a danger that should the opposition effort to usurp power
legitimately succeed, the "new" regime might end up swinging the country to
the other extreme of the pendulum.

      Zimbabwe is politically polarised into two distinct camps. Failure by
either side to agree on things that do Zimbabwe good will NOT help Zimbabwe
now or in the future.

      The onus is upon members of both camps to think and act above petty
party politics. This is easier said than done. This kind of selfless
behaviour borders on the fringe of nobility and common sense that is not so
common in the polarised state in which Zimbabwe finds itself in.

      It is high time that both MDC and ZANU PF go back to the basics of
conflict resolution. More so for ZANU PF because their history has been that
of a win or lose mentality.

      As such ZANU PF has no capacity, inherent or adopted, that can enable
them to resolve conflicts without using the "us " versus "them" approach.

      First it was ZANU PF versus PF ZAPU then ZANU PF versus the white
farmers, then ZANU PF versus MDC and ZANU PF versus The Daily News and ZANU
PF versus the US and UK and now it is ZANU PF versus the people.

      As you know, when two elephants fight it is the grass that suffers.
Now is the time for capable, willing and competent Zimbabweans to come up
with clear-cut turn-around strategies that will steer Zimbabwe from the
economic malaise brought about by ZANU PF.

      A good starting point would be to collect raw data on the specific
things that we need to do as soon as Mugabe leaves office voluntarily,
naturally or otherwise.

      From the database, competent individuals will then map out strategies
based on the actual needs of our country and not on half-baked and still
born solutions that ZANU PF is currently prescribing.

      I am still struggling to understand how Zimbabwe had to visit Zambia
in order to inherit a defunct forex auction system?

      What more evidence do we need to see that this regime has not only
failed, but that they have no capacity of solving the present economic
nightmare.

      Albert Einstein once said: "The significant problems we face cannot be
solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."

      In my next letter, I will put forward a suggestion on how we can
collectively put together a database of facts on how we will proceed after
these very forgettable 23 years of misrule.

      Ndabezinhle Ndlovu

      New York, USA

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New Zimbabwe
 
Minister says Zimbabwe does not need aid

ZIMBABWE'S children blighted by poverty are reportedly surviving on a meal per day and in worse cases they eat roots

Fees to go up over 100 percent in new term

Drop-out fears at Zim schools as fess rise

Zim pensioners hurt by high inflation


Mugabe stole Christmas

By newzimbabwe.com staff
30/12/03
A CABINET Minister in President Mugabe’s government has stunned the donor community by claiming that Zimbabwe does not need western food aid – in the same week that the United Nations warned millions face starvation if no urgent aid is delivered.

Zimbabwe’s Minister of State for Science Olivia Muchena claimed Zimbabwe could “develop and prosper without the aid of Western countries — if people are united and share a common vision”.

Only this week, the World Food Programme announced it has slashed, by half, its food aid to Zimbabwe to make rations last until the May harvest - because President Mugabe's government failed to alert donors of the scale of the disaster.
The government had not quantified its needs until it was too late to get the long food chain moving, said donors in Harare this week.
But Muchena appeared oblivious to the imminent crisis, heaping praise on Malaysia whose economy has received little aid from western countries, but is thriving largely due to a vibrant manufacturing and technology sector.

"It is totally incredible, but it is possible if people are united with a common vision," Muchena told graduates of the controversial National Youth Training programme – mostly young supporters of President Mugabe’s ruling Zanu PF party.

Aid agencies said foreign food suppliers were showing fatigue at what most regarded as a "man-made crisis".

Zimbabwe was once Southern Africa's bread basket with huge and efficient farms producing surpluses for sale abroad. But since Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms in 2000, production tumbled, leaving millions without food.

Even the UN, reluctant to criticise Mugabe's administration, admitted that the government's confiscation of 90% of productive land from white farmers had been a major cause of the crisis.

"When the government finally got its act together, and said how much it needed, we also discovered we would have to fund all food imports without any contribution from the government," said a major donor agency executive.

Kevin Farrell, country director for WFP in Zimbabwe, said: "The worst months will be January to April, before the harvest. Our food stocks are very fragile and even if more donor money arrives, it takes time to get the food here.

“I think for many people it's going to be a case of life or death. Some people could very well, at least we could see evidence, and ever increasing evidence, of people dying.

”There are all sorts of other factors that cause that – hunger is one of them, the HIV pandemic in the country is another. But I think clearly as the year progresses, as the next few months progress, we're going to have a serious situation on our hands.”

This summer, the fourth since Mugabe confiscated most white-owned farms, the harvest is predicted to be down to a third of normal production - the lowest in more than 50 years.

The US, Britain and the European Union provide more than 90% of the funding used to feed Zimbabweans.

Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo Pius Ncube told the Australia Broadcasting Corp the government must take responsibility for the suffering.

He said: “This nonsense started four months ago when Mugabe invaded the farms. It is Mugabe's fault because he invaded the farms in a senseless and unreasonable way and he has given the farms to people who don't know how to produce food and some of them are keeping these farms for speculation. So there's a lot of hunger; it's a very, very painful situation.”

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ABC Australia

Last Update: Tuesday, December 30, 2003. 11:00am (AEDT)
Zimbabwe facing famine crisis: UN
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) says urgent assistance is needed
to feed millions of Zimbabweans who are facing hunger.

The WFP says it does not have enough food for the three million people in
need.

WFP country director Kevin Farrell says some Zimbabweans are at risk of
starving to death.

"Certainly at this stage, the evidence is all around us that there is acute
hunger," he said.

"Because of our shortage of supplies, it's inevitable that that's going to
get worse."

The WFP says up to five million Zimbabweans will need food aid by April.

Drought and political instability have created food shortages in many parts
of the country.
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The Sun (UK)

Zim trip bowled out
By DAVE KIDD

ENGLAND'S cricketers will refuse to tour Zimbabwe next year and force Lord's
chiefs to scrap the trip.

Their 2003 World Cup campaign was thrown into turmoil by the rows which led
up to England forfeiting their match in Zimbabwe over security concerns.

Since then the players have made it clear they want no repeat of that stormy
saga and that they will not consider touring the rogue African state in
October while tyrant Robert Mugabe remains in power.

It will leave the 15-man ECB management board with no choice but to cancel.

ECB bigwigs had already softened their stance on the trip after Mugabe
withdrew Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth this month.

Before then they had received heavy criticism for sticking to their line
that any decision made should be centred on the England team's safety.

ECB chairman David Morgan prevented Zimbabwe axeing their own tour of
England this summer by assuring them next year's trip would be on.

But after Zimbabwe left the Commonwealth, ECB chief executive Tim Lamb
admitted 'moral and political arguments' would also be considered.

The ECB management board will make their decision on February 24, when they
will hear of the opposition of players, sponsors and the Government towards
the tour.

The PCA players' union are working closely with the ECB to stop any more
damaging public rows.

A source close to the players said: "They will insist Michael Vaughan is not
hung out to dry by Lord's in the way Nasser Hussain was during the World Cup
fiasco."

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New Zimbabwe
 

THEY SAID IT NOT US: 2003 IN QUOTES

By newzimbabwe.com staff
30/12/2003

THE year 2003 has been eventful, and full of memorable quotes. One cannot forget the day Robert Mugabe pulled Zimbabwe out of the Commonwealth, many will remember where they were when the Warriors qualified for their maiden Africa Cup of Nations finals.

The closure of The Daily News, the collapse of the economy and Zimbabwe’s international isolation all presented us with an avalanche of quotes and below we have selected an outstanding collection which we believe summarise the year many Zimbabweans would prefer to get out of their minds quite quickly.

As expected, Mugabe and his motor-mouthed information Minister Jonathan Moyo dominate the collection.


MUGABE

"If the choice was made for us... to remain with our sovereignty and lose membership of the Commonwealth, then I would say then let the Commonwealth go"

President Mugabe in December

"The Commonwealth is a mere club, but it has become like an 'Animal Farm' where some members are more equal than others"

President Mugabe, December

"That's the end. There is no return. When we say we are out, we are out"

Mugabe after pulling Zimbabwe out of the Commonwealth in December

"Whatever our detractors and critics are saying, for us this is like an escape from hell"

Didymus Mutasa December reacting to Zimbabwe’s withdrawal from the Commonwealth

"I was born in Zimbabwe and I won’t go anywhere in exile. I will remain in Zimbabwe and I will be buried on Zimbabwean soil"

Mugabe in January dismissing claims he wanted to go into exile

"I am the Hitler of the time. This Hitler has only one objective, justice for his own people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people, and their right to their resources. If that is Hitler, then let me be a Hitler tenfold. Ten times, that is what we stand for"

President Mugabe in March

"The more they (western countries) work against us, the more they express their hostility against us, the more negative we shall become to their kith and kin here"

President Mugabe in December

"There are others who are apologetic about our nationalism….those who fear to be complete Africans, hesitate to express solidarity with us"

Mugabe lashing out at the lack of African voices supporting Zimbabwe at the Commonwealth summit

"These "Mafikizolos" have nothing to lose if ZANU PF is harmed. If ZANU PF is defeated tomorrow, they will simply walk away and join whatever is the Victorious Party of the day"

Eddison Zvobgo in July responding to charges that he refused to campaign for President Mugabe

"This allegation is another example of ill-founded rumours peddled by ciphers struggling hard to become digits. How can these charges be taken seriously when they are obviously crudities and totally out of my style and range?"

Eddison Zvobgo in July after being arraigned before a Zanu PF disciplinary hearing over claims he was helping the MDC in his Masvingo stronghold

"Reading this, Robert Mugabe and his cohorts may cry, "Blackmail." We should ignore them. Their time has come and gone"

US secretary of state Collin Powell criticizing President Mugabe’s regime in an article for the New York Times in July

"We will take the US on if it tries to do anything of that sort (topple Mugabe) to Zimbabwe. However, what happened in Iraq cannot happen in Zimbabwe because we are very well prepared for any such happening. We won the liberation struggle using sticks and stones"

Didymus Mutasa in December warning America an Iraq-style assault on Zimbabwe will be repulsed

"Each time there is one of those stylish skills I will also be doing my thing and people must not sit close to me because when you score I also score...when one is close to my feet they must watch out for I also shoot hard. My wife knows and always complains that each time I watch soccer I make a lot of noise"

President Mugabe addressing members of the Zimbabwe football team in July following their qualification for their maiden Africa Cup of Nations finals


BISHOP DESMOND TUTU

"I am sad that we South Africans declared that the last elections in Zimbabwe, though not free were yet legitimate. That is distressing semantic games"

South Africa's Bishop Desmond Tutu in December

"We appealed for the world to intervene and interfere in South Africa's internal affairs. We could not have defeated apartheid on our own. What is sauce for the goose must be sauce for the gander, too"

Bishop Desmond Tutu criticising South African President Thabo Mbeki’s non-engagement policy on Zimbabwe

"In the heated atmosphere that surrounds the issue of Zimbabwe, the tendency to pose as high priests at the inquisition, hungry for the blood of the accused, has taken root"

SA President Thabo Mbeki hits back at critics in May over his Zimbabwe policy

"No amount of noisemaking or megaphone diplomacy will help resolve the Zimbabwe issue"

Thabo Mbeki’s spokesman Bheki Khumalo defending SA’s policy of ‘quiet diplomacy’ on Zimbabwe

"My heart simply bleeds for my country"

Archbishop Pius Ncube in May

"You’ve got guys getting promoted because of performance and other guys getting promoted because of their colour"

Former Zimbabwe cricketer Murray Godwin in October commenting on Zimbabwe’s cricket team selection

"You are a role model but you have failed to live up to expectations. You must stop keeping up appearances and live within your means"

Harare magistrate Wynona Kaneta in December as she fined former Miss Zimbabwe Nokuthula Mpuli for shoplifting

"My brother, comrade Mugabe, and his Zanu-PF must realise the world is changing in the direction of democracy. Laws that don't benefit the people should be scrapped"

Malawi’s Bakili Muluzi in December before the Commonwealth Summit in Nigeria

"Britain, America, Australia... and New Zealand steal our foreign currency earnings, they attack even our own currency to the point of saying it's scarce, to blame the government....and they drive the parallel market"

Information Minister Jonathan Moyo in a baffling statement in December

"I feel very sorry for the staff of the Daily News"

Jonathan Moyo in October after his hand-picked Media and Information Commission denied The Daily News a licence

"I have always had a nagging feeling that for all their propensity to liberal values and civilised norms, these people are dirty. In fact, they are filthy and recklessly uncouth and actually barbaric"

Jonathan Moyo on South Africans in January after The Sunday Times newspaper reported on his lavish spending


JONATHAN MOYO

"It is you people who have Mandela squatter camps all over the place, not us. In fact, the average black person in Zimbabwe is better off than the average black person in South Africa"

Jonathan Moyo on South Africans in January after The Sunday Times newspaper reported on his lavish spending

"The MDC has clearly proven to be lawless and deviant, but more dangerously, an embodiment of violence and terrorism"


President Mugabe hits out at the MDC on Heroes Day

"Sexual perverts need to be told once again that homosexuality is unnatural. The only people who accept homosexuality are liberals who think it is a way of getting votes"

Jonathan Moyo after wielding the axe on ZBC chief Alum Mpofu after he was outed as a gay

During a parliamentary debate in March, MDC female legislator for Glen Norah Priscilla Misihairabwi is urging the government to introduce subsidies on tampons which she argues are no longer affordable. A heated debate ensues between her and Mt Darwin MP Saviour Kasukuwere.
Hon Kasukuwere: "We want a demonstration of how you wear them here"
Hon Misihairabwi: "I am not going to demonstrate anything; you can find someone to do it for you"

"If Welshman Ncube doesn’t know that a provisional order is not a final judgement then he has managed to fool everyone that he is a lawyer for a very long time"

Jonathan Moyo on MDC secretary general Ncube after the MDC secured a provisional order for planned protests which was later appealed by the government

WE also couldn’t resist adding some quotes by America’s defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Iraq’s former information Minister Mohammed Saeed Al Sahaf.

"Reports that say something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know"

Donald Rumsfeld baffled NATO allies and journalists alike in June by saying the greatest threats to Western civilisation may lurk in "unknown unknowns"


MOHAMMED AL SAHAF: "They will all die"

And the following unforgettable quotes by Mohammed Al Sahaf as American soldiers surrounded Baghdad:

"Our initial assessment is that they will all die"

"They are superpower of villains. They are superpower of Al Capone"

"We blocked them inside the city. Their rear is blocked"

"Our estimates are that none of them will come out alive unless they surrender to us quickly. They are completely surrounded now"

"The infidels are committing suicide by the hundreds on the gates of Baghdad"

"Be assured, Baghdad is safe, protected. Iraqis are heroes"

"There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!"

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Zimbabwean prepared to tackle suspected Ebola case

      www.chinaview.cn 2003-12-30 14:48:01

          HARARE, Dec. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- The Zimbabwean government will
takeadequate measures to prevent any spread of the suspected viral
haemorrhagic fever that was first detected in the country last Thursday.

          Speaking at a joint press conference between the Ministry of
Health and Child Welfare and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Harare
on Monday, Parirenyatwa said all health personnel in the country,
particularly at Victoria Falls Hospital, were on full alert to detect the
fatal disease.

          He said the ministry, which is now working with the WHO on the
suspected case, had the capacity to effectively deal with the disease.

          "The ministry is collaborating with WHO in managing this case and
we have the capacity to manage the case effectively so that any spread is
minimized, if at all there is any spread," said Parirenyatwa.

          A 49-year-old male Zimbabwean cross border trader died last Friday
from suspected viral haemorrhagic fever at Victoria Falls Hospital after
having fallen sick in Angola.

          Parirenyatwa said the deceased had symptoms of the viral
haemorrhagic fever and results of the blood specimen were expectedin a day
or two.

          "We will keep members of the public informed on any new
development and results will be made public as soon as they are received,"
he said.

          Parirenyatwa assured visitors that Zimbabwe was safe, adding that
the disease had not yet been confirmed.

          "We are saying it's a suspected case and we have taken appropriate
measures to contain any possible spread. We are on top of the situation and
in any case, the deceased did not mix with the entire populace," he said.

          Speaking at the same press conference, WHO country representative
Everisto Njelesani said neighboring countries had been informed of the
suspected case so that they could also put their surveillance system on
alert.

          Viral haemorrhagic fever constitutes a group of severe and highly
contagious diseases that include Ebola, Marburg, Lassa and Rift Valley
Fever.

          Ebola fever is the most severe and contagious and is spread
through direct contact with patients or their body fluids and secretions.

          It can also be acquired through contact with skin animals, suchas
gorillas and chimpanzees.

          Ebola outbreaks have occurred in the Democratic Republic of
theCongo, Uganda, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo in the last 10 years.
Enditem

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Extract from l'Express, Mauritius

The teething African Union

There was more good news than bad from Africa for a change, with a fairly
honest election in Nigeria, the continent's most populous country, returning
President Olusegun Obasanjo to office for a second term and Africa's two
biggest wars going into remission: a shaky cease-fire held across most of
Congo (former Zaire), and the three-decade-old civil war in Sudan seemed
headed for a genuine peace settlement as negotiations reached a point of no
return in late December. Former dictator and genocidal monster Charles
Taylor of Liberia was persuaded to go into exile, giving that devastated
country a chance at recovery, and former president Frederick Chiluba of
Zambia, only one year out of office, is facing trial on corruption charges
over the fortune he amassed while in power, a fate hitherto unimaginable for
Africa's 'big men'.

The 52-nation African Union, created last year to replace the largely
discredited Organisation for African Unity, elected its first president,
Alpha Oumar Konare of Mali, at a summit in Mozambique in July. The AU may be
as far away from real European Union-style insistence on the defence of
human rights and democratic norms in Africa as its member states are from
European levels of prosperity, but it is definitely a step in the right
direction. And the South African cabinet at last forced President Thabo
Mbeki to end his lethal opposition to making life-saving anti-retroviral
drug treatments available to the country's 5 million or more HIV-positive
citizens and AIDS sufferers.

There remains the wilful destruction of Zimbabwe's economy, free press and
civil rights by ageing president Robert Mugabe, the alarming signs that
Namibia's president Sam Nujoma is heading in the same direction, the long
drought that has reduced parts of six countries in central Africa to
near-famine, the signs of approaching famine in Ethiopia, and the quiet
desperation in which at least half of the continent's people lead their
(increasingly foreshortened) lives. But there are at least some tangible
signs of hope.
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IOL

Zimbabwe civil servants get 250% pay rise

      December 30 2003 at 01:45PM

Harare - The Zimbabwean government has awarded civil servants a 250 percent
pay rise - far less than the galloping rate of inflation - and referred to
an arbitrator their demand for a much bigger salary boost.

The southern African country, struggling with a severe economic crisis which
President Robert Mugabe's critics blame on government mismanagement, has
seen inflation rocket to more than 650 percent, one of the highest rates in
the world.

Public Service Commission officials on Tuesday confirmed a report in the
state-owned Herald newspaper that the government had raised civil servants'
salaries by 250 percent and increased their housing allowances by 100
percent.

Civil service unions had demanded a pay hike of 600 percent, similar to that
awarded to Mugabe and members of his cabinet earlier this year.

"The government has resolved to implement a salary increment of 250 percent
across the board whilst the process of arbitration is taking place," the
Herald quoted acting Labour Minister John Nkomo as saying.

Zimbabwe has had a number of strikes this year as unions complain that the
soaring prices of everything from food to transport are making their lives
impossible.

The public health service has been paralysed by a two-month strike by junior
doctors and nurses, who are demanding salary rises of nearly 12 000 percent,
which the government has rejected as outrageous.

Doctors' and nurses' union representatives were not available on Tuesday to
comment on the latest wage rises.

Zimbabwe's economy is in its fifth year of recession and many people are
struggling to cope with severe shortages of fuel, food and foreign currency.
Prices of some foodstuffs and public transport have risen 900 percent in the
past year.

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News24

Workers reject 250% pay hike
30/12/2003 15:17  - (SA)

Harare - Zimbabwe's government is to increase the salaries of its 140 000
workers by 250% from next month, a cabinet minister has announced.

But the workers, who have been demanding a 600% pay hike to match inflation
levels which last month stood officially at 619.5%, immediately rejected the
offer announced by the government on Monday.

Independent economists believe the real inflation in the southern African
country could well exceed 1 000%.

Both the government and the workers' union said they had reached a deadlock
after months of pay negotiations and would resort to arbitration.

The government said it would meanwhile proceed to pay the 250% increases
while awaiting the outcome of the arbitration.

"Cognisant of its overall social responsibility to its employees, the
government has resolved to implement a salary increment of 250% across the
board whilst the process of arbitration is taking place," said John Nkomo,
acting labour minister, in a statement cited on Tuesday in the state-run
Herald daily.

The Public Service Association (PSA) says the figure is not sufficient.

"We cannot accept the 250%," PSA secretary general Charles Chiviru told
reporters on Tuesday.

"We feel the figure is far too inadequate in terms of cushioning workers in
2004," he said.

The workers' transport and housing allowances will also be reviewed.

The government will pay transport allowances ranging between Z$88 550 and
Z$560 000 per month, while housing allowances have been raised 100%.

The government and the workers union have been discussing the new pay
proposals for the past four months, according to labour leaders.

Workers initially demanded a 1 200% pay hike while the government was
prepared to pay 75%, according to Chiviru.

After months of negotiations the workers halved their demands to 600% while
the government settled for 250%.

Doctors and nurses at government-run hospitals have been on strike for two m
onths demanding pay hikes of up to 8 000%.

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Erratic Coal Supplies Affect Tobacco Curing

The Herald (Harare)

December 30, 2003
Posted to the web December 30, 2003

Harare

COAL supplies to tobacco farmers have remained erratic, adversely affecting
curing programmes for the harvested crop.

Farmers, coal merchants and the National Railways of Zimbabwe are believed
to have held a series of meetings before the festive season but this has not
yielded much.

"The progress of the meetings has been affected by the (Christmas) holiday
break and I hope that they will resume as soon as businesses re-open after
the festive season," said an executive member of the Indigenous Commercial
Farmers' Union.

Efforts to get comment from the Coal Merchants Association of Zimbabwe and
the Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers' Association were fruitless yesterday.

The tobacco industry has already projected a 20 percent decline in
production to 60 million kilogrammes this season.

Persistent shortages of vital inputs, particularly coal and chemicals, have
left some farmers with no choice but to turn to non-traditional crops such
as paprika and flowers.

The shortage of coal is largely attributed to operational constraints at
Wankie Colliery and the National Railways of Zimbabwe.

These public enterprises are facing severe foreign currency shortages to
repair and maintenance of its wagons and locomotives.

Similar coal shortages experienced last season resulted in erratic
deliveries of the crop to auction floors.

Coal remains the cheapest source of energy for curing tobacco and is also
the most convenient given the designs of most of the drying halls used by
farmers.

Farmers also prefer the cheaper rail transport to road, but the NRZ has
failed to meet the demand.

Curing of the irrigated tobacco crop, which accounts for about 30 percent of
the country's total production, started at the end of last month.

Tobacco remains one of the leading foreign currency earners in the country
and in a good year, it accounts for about 40 percent of the country's total
exports.

Last year, the Coal Merchants Association of Zimbabwe made plans to help NRZ
with the repairing and maintenance of their wagons under which the merchants
would be allocated a specific number of wagons dedicated to the carrying of
the commodity, but the deal was abandoned for undisclosed reasons.

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Don't Hike Fees Without Approval: State

The Herald (Harare)

December 30, 2003
Posted to the web December 30, 2003

Harare

THE Government has evoked provisions of the Education Act and invited all
schools intending to increase fees and levies next term to start applying
for permission.

The move followed a warning by the Minister of Education, Sports and
Culture, Cde Aenias Chigwedere, two weeks ago that the Government was
prepared to deal effectively with unscrupulous schools hiking fees and
levies to shocking levels.

The Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture said in a statement schools
should only advise parents of new fees and levies for next term after
receiving a response to their application.

"The ministry is concerned with the rate at which the fees and levies have
been hiked and the failure by schools to observe simple procedures they
should follow," it said.

"Schools cannot raise fees/levies when they just deem it necessary
regardless of these provisions and the feelings of the parents."

The ministry said schools that do not heed the invitation to apply for fees
and levy increases risked prosecution or de-registration.

The schools applying for adjustments in fees and levies were required to
attach a register of the parents present at a general meeting, where the
decision to increase the fees and levies was taken.

They should attach minutes of the same meeting indicating the number of
those in favour and those against the proposed increase. The schools should
also include a budget in respect of the increase applied for.

"Zimbabwe subscribes to the principle of education as a basic human right.
To that extent, it should be accessible and affordable to all. Affordability
levels of the majority of parents have to be borne in mind when such
increases are proposed."

The legal framework for charging and payment of fees and levies provides
that no change can be effected by a school without the express written
authority of the ministry.

The ministry can either accept or reject school proposal or adjust it.

A number of schools have already indicated they would increase fees for next
term by varying percentages.

St George Primary School, also known as Hartman House, increased fees from
$1 million last term to $1,8 million next term.

Falcon College in Bulawayo was trying to raise fees from $1 million to $4,2
million per term. Some Government schools such as Prince Edward and Plumtree
High School also planned to raise the fees by different percentages.

Most parents have expressed concern over the high fees in view of the
economic hardships that have resulted in many people struggling to survive.

School authorities have justified the massive fee and levy hikes, citing the
ever increasing operational costs.

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Cost of Xrays to Shoot Up

The Herald (Harare)

December 30, 2003
Posted to the web December 30, 2003

Harare

THE Association of Radiologists and Radiotherapists of Zimbabwe has proposed
to increase its co-payment fees that fall within the $2 000 and $22 000
range to between $50 000 and $750 000 with effect from January 1.

Co-payment is a fee that a patient is expected to pay upfront before any
service is rendered.

According to a letter written by the association to the National Association
of Medical Aid Societies the proposed co-payment fee for people who require
the X-Rays is expected to shoot to $50 000 up from $2 000.

X-ray services are normally carried out on people who would have been
involved in accidents to check if there are any internal injuries, people
with chest problems and in cases where a doctor suspects that the patient
might have a brain tumours.

Expectant mothers who want to use a scan to check on the sex of their unborn
babies would be expected to pay a co-payment fee of $150 000 up from $2 500.

The association has also proposed that nuclear medicine, which is normally
carried out on people with cancer be increased from $5 000 to $200 000 while
computer tomography would go up from $7 500 to $500 000.

Computer tomography is also an essential service as it is used to check the
abdomen and other internal part to detect any health complications.

Many people are turning to private practitioners for radiology and
radiotherapy services and other health services because of the on going
strike by doctors and nurses at Government hospitals, which has almost
crippled the country's health delivery system. A number of machines used in
these services are also not in working condition in public hospitals due to
the non-availability of spare parts.

The association said the 120 percent increase in tarrifs, which was awarded
by NAMAS, was far too low compared to the 300 percent which they had
calculated as the minimum that would be required in order to keep their
practice viable.

The association also said it regrets that such high co-payment has to be
charged, as ARRZ cannot see any alternative to the situation.

"It is regrettable that such high co-payment will have to be charged to your
members, but members of ARRZ can see no alternative to this course of
action," read the letter.

When asked for comment, an official from the association however, said the
consultation fees were yet to be approved by NAMAS as they were still
negotiat ing.

"We are still negotiating with NAMAS and we don't know whether we are going
to reach an agreement or not," she said.

If the proposed co-payment for these services are approved it would be a big
blow for patients as only a few are going to afford them. What would make
the situation even more complicated is that doctors will also increase their
consultation fees to $46 000 where patients would be expected to pay a
co-payment of about $24 000.

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Gmb Collects 240 000t Maize From Farmers

The Herald (Harare)

December 30, 2003
Posted to the web December 30, 2003

Harare

THE Grain Marketing Board has so far collected 240 000 tonnes of maize from
farmers out of its target of 250 000 tonnes, a senior official has said.

Acting GMB chief executive Retired Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Muvhuti said:
"Our target is within reach and we could collect more because some farmers
especially from the northern and southern regions are still holding on to
the stocks because of uncertainties in weather patterns, but at the moment
we are quite happy," he said.

Col Muvhuti said this season was better in terms of maize collection by the
GMB compared to 46 000 tonnes that were collected during the 2001 to 2002
season.

Col Muvhuti expressed hope that farmers would deliver the grain to the GMB
because the producer prices announced by the Government were competitive.

He said the improvement in grain collection was also attributed to a
crackdown by the Grain Marketing Board on those who were hoarding maize as
well as the increase in the producer price of the commodity to $300 000 per
tonne.

The country requires about 1,8 million tonnes of maize for both human and
livestock consumption per annum and the GMB had targeted to collect between
500 to one million tonnes this season.

As early as April the GMB had collected about 40 000 tonnes from farmers
throughout the country.

"The importation of grain will continue, so that at least we are not found
wanting as compared to last year.

"Drought relief efforts are also continuing in some parts of the country
that were hit by the drought especially in some parts of Muzarabani and
Matabeleland North and South provinces," said Col Muvhuti.

The Government increased the producer price of maize from $130 000 a tonne
to $300 000 for the 2003/2004 marketing season to ensure the viability of
farmers and production of crops.

The new producer price was effected on all deliveries made since the
beginning of the marketing season in April this year, until the end of the
2003/2004 season.

Col. Muvhuti said the GMB would continue selling maize to millers at $211
765 a tonne, while individuals buy maize at $9 600 a tonne.

The GMB has also put in place a scheme to help farmers transport their grain
to its depots.

Under the scheme, GMB will hire trucks on behalf of the farmers to transport
the grain.

GMB teams have also been dispatched to all irrigation schemes throughout the
country to assess logistical problems on maize deliveries and inputs needed
for the next planting season.

The GMB has also warned certain individuals to desist from buying maize
directly from farmers, as this was illegal.

Statutory Instrument 235A of 2001, of the GMB Act gives the GMB monopoly in
trading in maize and wheat.

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Forex Reserves Remain Subdued

The Herald (Harare)

December 30, 2003
Posted to the web December 30, 2003

Harare

FOREIGN currency reserves remained subdued towards the Christmas holidays
with the net position remaining in the negative margins as of 17 December
2003.

The overall market position has moved deeper into the negative ranges of an
average of US$2,3 million per day largely due to the increasing foreign
exchange-based obligations.

For the five-day period from December 11 to December 17, inflows amounted to
a paltry US$1,4 million while outflows outweighed the figure at US$1,7
million.

Inflows, mainly from exporters who are required to remit 50 percent of the
foreign exchange receipts to the central bank at a rate of $824 to the
greenback, have worsened in the past few months averaging US$300 000 per day
from previous figures of about US$1,5 million.

Exporters have been accused of being dishonest when declaring their earnings
and some of them have even confessed to holding on to their proceeds in
anticipation of the review of the exchange rate which is currently at $824
to the US dollar.

However, an improvement is expected when the current system makes way for
the auction system on January 12 next year in line with the new monetary
policy announced by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Dr Gideon Gono,
recently.

The new system, which is similar to the current Reserve Bank treasury bill
tender system, was said to be more stable than dealer markets, particularly
in times of shortages.

A revised version of the controlled auction system was first suggested by
the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) in 2002. Under this system
foreign exchange will be auctioned through an independent body that will
operate under the central bank's supervision.

The Government has previously put in place a number of measures to tap the
scarce commodity but most of its efforts have been to no avail as illegal
traders have become more and more resilient.

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Zbc to Fork Out Fortune

The Herald (Harare)

December 30, 2003
Posted to the web December 30, 2003

Robson Sharuko
Harare

THE Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) will have to fork out a
fortune - a staggering US$624 000 in hard currency - to screen the 2004
African Cup of Nations soccer extravaganza live on national television.

International marketing firm, LC2/ Hensen Trust Consortium, which holds the
exclusive broadcast right of the prestigious continental championship, is
demanding 550 000 euros from television firms wishing to broadcast matches
live.

This is the payment for a complete package and it could not be established
whether television companies wishing to broadcast particular matches live
will have to pay just as much as those taking up the entire programme.

LC2/Hensen Trust Consortium won the television rights to broadcast the
Nations Cup finals in Tunisia and in turn they are selling the footage from
the football festival to television companies and other interested parties.

The 2004 Nations Cup finals is being officially sponsored by Finnish
cellular phone manufacturing giant Nokia.

Zimbabwe's Warriors will be playing in their maiden Nations Cup finals in
Tunisia next month and this has boosted interest in the showcase in this
country.

The Warriors are in Group C and will play three group matches against
champions Cameroon, the Pharaohs of Egypt and the Desert Foxes of Algeria.

ZBC have already assured the nation that they will broadcast the three group
games featuring the Warriors live on national television.

But, as in any competition involving a group, the other matches in this
group are also important as they will determine Zimbabwe's fate.

That means the local supporters would also be keen to go through the
emotions of the events in the other matches in the group as they happen live
in Tunisia.

Therefore the live transmission of matches featuring Cameroon and Egypt,
Cameroon and Algeria and Egypt and Algeria is just as important as the live
broadcast of the Warriors' matches.

The live transmission of the opening ceremony is also just as important as
will be the live broadcast of the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final
of the Nations Cup itself.

Although the Warriors will be the focus of attention, from a local point of
view, it is also true that the Zimbabwean fans would also be interested to
watch matches in the other groups.

The skills of such individuals as Nigeria's Austin "Jay Jay" Okocha and
Senegalese forward El-Hadji Diouf have always been an attraction for the
local football fans.

Although all the matches might not necessarily be broadcast live on national
television, delayed transmission of some of the games in the other groups
would help satisfy the massive interest among the locals.

But in the current competitive environment ZBC would do its reputation a big
bonus by transmitting as many live matches as could be possible on national
television.

With competition, especially in the major cities, coming from Digital
Satellite Television where pay-per-view channel SuperSport is screening most
of the matches live, ZBC will need to be aggressive in its coverage of the
Nations Cup finals.

Sports bars offering their patrons access to DSTV have mushroomed throughout
the major cities and football fans now flock to these bars to watch their
favourite international teams in action.

Which means that a laid-back approach by ZBC, where they can screen a number
of delayed matches, will not help the national broadcaster's audience
ratings given that a lot of people would be knowing the result by the time
the matches are broadcast late in the night.

Already there has been a number of complaints from viewers who can no longer
watch the Uefa Champions League matches in the comfort of their homes on
national television.

ZBC used to screen the matches, either live or delayed, on a free feed from
French television channel CFI.

The Nations Cup finals is the biggest sporting event in Africa next year and
the Warriors will be gracing the showcase for the first time.

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