It is time to end the culture of impunity

Opposition backs Brown on Mugabe summit boycott

Reuters

Fri Dec 7, 2007 4:40pm GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Opposition parties backed on Friday Prime Minister Gordon
Brown's decision to boycott a European Union-Africa summit because
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is taking part and attacked the EU for
inviting him.
"It is a shameful episode for Europe that President Mugabe is to be feted in
Lisbon," the Conservatives' foreign affairs spokesman William Hague said -- 
a rare show of unity with Brown, who is under fire at home over a party
funding scandal.

Brown is staying away from the Lisbon summit on Saturday and Sunday because
of the presence of Mugabe, seen by many Africans as a hero of the
independence struggle but accused by Western countries of multiple human
rights violations.

Valerie Amos, a member of the upper House of Lords and a former cabinet
minister, will represent Britain at the talks.

"Whilst I support the prime minister's decision not to attend, now that
Mugabe is there, it is important that Baroness Amos ... lays his crimes bare
before all those attending," Hague said in a statement.

Critics say Mugabe has presided over the collapse of Zimbabwe's once
thriving economy, burdened by the world's highest inflation and chronic
shortages of foreign currency, food and fuel.

The Liberal Democrats, said the decision to invite Mugabe "makes a mockery
of the EU sanctions regime and will only add to his contempt for the
international community".

Portugal had to waive an EU visa ban so the Zimbabwean leader and his
delegation could attend.

The summit ought to be focusing on international preparations for a
post-Mugabe Zimbabwe, such as securing funds to repair the ravaged economy,
the Liberal Democrats said. A spokesman said the party backed Brown's
decision to stay away.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso defended inviting Mugabe
on Thursday and vowed to make human rights the first point on the agenda.

Most EU leaders argue it is better to criticise Mugabe's record on human
rights and economic governance to his face rather than boycott the summit.

Brown takes a strong interest in developing country issues. But British
officials say that, if Brown had gone to Lisbon, it would have turned the
summit into a "Zimbabwe circus".

(Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Europe urged to act on abuses in Africa

Reuters

Fri 7 Dec 2007, 17:54 GMT

By Sergio Goncalves and Ruben Bicho

LISBON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Human rights groups urged European and African
leaders gathering for their first summit in seven years on Friday to act on
Sudan's Darfur crisis and confront Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe over rights
abuses.

Activists hoped the 73 leaders from the world's largest trading bloc and its
poorest continent would put rights at the top of their agenda at the summit,
which will aim to create fresh partnerships on issues like immigration and
development.

Mugabe is seen by African leaders as an independence hero and many said they
would not attend if he was not invited. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
decided to boycott the summit because Mugabe would be there.

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose country has been criticized
for inviting Mugabe and holds the rotating EU presidency, said there was no
intention of ducking difficult issues.

"At this summit there are no taboos," Socrates told European and African
business leaders meeting ahead of the gathering. "Everything can be freely
discussed. Without this summit, Darfur, human rights or immigration would
not be discussed.

"It was a historic mistake not to have had dialogue for seven years between
the EU and Africa."

Previous attempts to hold the summit have failed over Mugabe's attendance
but this time the EU, mindful of growing Chinese influence in Africa,
decided to hold the meeting and invite Mugabe, who arrived late on Thursday.

A group of 40 African and European parliamentarians was joined by 50 human
rights groups in urging the leaders to tackle the plight of thousands of
civilians in Sudan's Darfur region, where experts estimate 200,000 people
have died due to conflict.

"MPs, campaigners and human rights activists are all asking the same
question: how can our leaders ignore one of the world's worst crises?" asked
Glenys Kinnock, a member of the European Parliament.

Outside the summit venue, rights groups erected a bed with actors depicting
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel
sleeping next to Mugabe and Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

"CONFRONT REALITY"

Decades after most African countries became independent, relations between
Europe and Africa remain clouded by the colonial era issues.

Many Africans think Europe owes a debt to former colonies and European
leaders have called for a change from paternalism that had characterised
Europe's approach to the continent.

Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi, who arrived for his first official visit to
Portugal, used a speech at Lisbon University to urge former colonial powers
to pay compensation to the countries they once ruled.

"If we don't confront reality, we must pay the price ... terrorism,
migration, revenge," said Gaddafi, who portrays himself as a champion of
Africa.

Trade tensions were also apparent before the summit at a meeting of business
leaders from the two continents.

The EU says it needs to clinch new Economic Partnership Agreements with
former European colonies in Africa, and other regions of the world, before a
World Trade Organization waiver of current preferential treatment expires on
Dec. 31.

Some African nations have complained they will face too much competition and
are being strong-armed into signing new deals.

EU countries are trying to settle their own differences over the EPAs. Free
trade supporters such as Sweden want to ensure local context rules do not
hamper textiles and other exports from poor countries. But Italy and others
are concerned about a possible rise in imports hurting their own producers.

European and African farmers protested near the summit.

"In Europe a cow gets two dollars per day and in Africa a human being
doesn't get half a dollar," said Justus Lavi, treasurer at the Kenya Small
Scale Farmers Forum.

"After signing the EPAs, products from Europe, which are highly subsidized,
will come and how can Africa compete?"

On Friday, Ivory Coast initialled an interim trade accord with the EU,
making the world's largest cocoa producer the first West African country to
sign such a bilateral deal to establish provisional trade terms until a
broader EPA is signed.

But bigger African economies such as South Africa and Nigeria have refused
to sign EPAs. (Additional reporting by Axel Bugge, Ingrid Melander, Angelika
Stricker, Henrique Almeida, Sergio Goncalves, Elisabete Tavares and Pascal
Fletcher, editing by Axel Bugge and Mary Gabriel)

Woza Founder Members in Custody for Refusing to Pay Bail

SW Radio Africa (London)

7 December 2007
Posted to the web 7 December 2007

Tichaona Sibanda

Twenty members from Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise were arrested in
Sakubva, Mutare on Thursday for attending a meeting that was scheduled to
discuss domestic violence.

The activists were charged under the Criminal Law Act and told to pay a fine
of Z$40 000 each. 18 activists paid the fines and were released, but two
leading members of Woza, Magodonga Mahlangu and Clara Manjengwa, refused to
pay and are still in detention.

Shepherd Ndlovu, a member of Men of Zimbabwe Arise, said police charged the
activists with attending an illegal meeting in an open space in Sakubva.

Ndlovu said a group of approximately 90 people had gathered for the meeting
before police officers stopped them from proceeding. The police
force-marched eight men and twelve women, three of them with babies, over a
kilometre to Sakubva Police Station.

According to a statement from Woza, during the march to the police station,
several of the members were handcuffed.

'At the police station, the group was denied access to their lawyer and also
denied food. Some members were beaten. Police informed the group that as
most were not carrying their national identification cards, they had broken
the law and should pay fines. Without access to legal counsel to advise that
this was inaccurate, most members believed they had no other option than to
pay the fines and were released at 7pm,' the statement added.

It is believed Mahlangu and Manjengwa refused to buy their way out of police
cells, insisting that they did not commit any crime. Ndlovu said they
believe the police want to punish the duo for their stance by saying they
will take them to court on Monday, forcing them to spend the weekend in
cells.

Police Violently Stop NCA Protest in Harare

SW Radio Africa (London)

7 December 2007
Posted to the web 7 December 2007

Tichaona Sibanda

The National Constitutional Assembly reported Friday that 300 of its
activists staged a demonstration in central Harare, before heavily armed
riot police officers violently stopped it.

In a statement the NCA said in an act of 'clear determination and courage,'
their activists walked from the city's Copacabana area to the Parliament
Building.

'They were however violently dispersed by riot police who were heavily
armed. The police launched a severe attack on the activists and the general
public who were in the vicinity of the area that they were marching,' the
statement said.

The activists chanted songs about the need for a new constitution braving
the wet weather to march. The demonstration was against Constitutional
Amendment Number 18, as well as the deteriorating situation in the country.

'The struggle to have a new, democratic and people driven constitution will
continue as long as the issue remains unaddressed. We say no to willy-nilly
amendments of the constitution. Rather, the people of Zimbabwe should be
consulted so that they contribute to the process of making a new
constitution,' the NCA said.

Baroness Amos at summit 'as she is black'

The Telegraph

By Duncan Hooper
Last Updated: 3:42pm GMT 07/12/2007

The only justification for sending Baroness Amos to represent Britain
at the controversial EU-Africa summit is that she is black, Clare Short
suggested, sparking a furious row.

The Prime Minister is boycotting the gathering in Lisbon, which begins
tonight, because of the presence of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, who is
condemned by Britain for wide-ranging human rights abuses.

However Ms Short, a former international development secretary,
claimed that Lady Amos's colour was the only reason she had been sent in his
stead.

"I'm afraid that there really isn't any other explanation," she told
BBC Radio 4's The World at One.

"I don't see any reason to send a kind of pseudo minister and I think
that it's not right to send her because she's black. I don't see any other
reason for sending her."

Her comments were swiftly denounced by David Miliband, the Foreign
Secretary, who said that Lady Amos knew the issues involved well and would
be an effective representative.

"I think that is a bit insulting to Baroness Amos," he told the BBC.
"She is a former secretary of state for international development, she is a
former leader of the House of Lords, she has got a lot of knowledge about
Africa as a whole, not just Zimbabwe.

"I think she will be a very good advocate for the UK and also for the
sort of relationship between the EU and Africa that we very much want to
see."

Mr Miliband also defended the Prime Minister's decision to stay away
in the face of an admonishment from European Commission President Jose
Manuel Barroso.

"If you are an international leader then you are going to have to be
prepared to meet some people your mother would not like you to meet. That is
what we have to do from time to time," Mr Barroso said last night.

But the Foreign Minister countered that "it would have been absurd for
the Prime Minister or myself to sit next to Robert Mugabe through a
discussion of good governance and human rights and pretend that there wasn't
absolute meltdown going on in Zimbabwe."

"The use that would have been put by our presence by Robert Mugabe
would have been quite counterproductive," he added

EU-Africa summit: Zimbabwe: Baroness Amos interview

Tutu urges EU to confront Mugabe

IOL

    December 07 2007 at 02:26PM

Lisbon - Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu urged EU leaders on Friday to
confront Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on his human rights record,
saying their silence would be interpreted as condoning violations.

Tutu told a Portuguese radio station that this weekend's EU-Afica
summit in Lisbon should be used as an opportunity to forge a more equal
relationship between the two continents but not at the expense of
fundamental rights.

"I would expect that they (European Union leaders) would criticise any
regime that violates human rights because if you don't, you are condoning
those violations. The violators will think you are on their side," Tutu told
Renascenca radio.

The South African, awarded the Nobel peace prize for his role in the
fight against apartheid, said Mugabe made Zimbabwe a "showpiece" country in
the first years after independence from Britain in 1980 but was now
presiding over "blatant" rights violations.

"I am deeply saddened by what has happened," said Tutu, who has
previously described the 83-year-old Mugabe as a caricature of an African
dictator.

"Since he has been invited I would hope that the European Union will
speak without any euphemism on human rights which are being violated so
blatantly in Zimbabwe."

Mugabe is usually subject to a travel ban from the European Union but
he managed to secure an invitation to the summit on Saturday and Sunday
after fellow southern African leaders threatened to stay away in solidarity.

His presence has prompted British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to
boycott the summit.

The EU imposed a series of targeted sanctions on Mugabe after
concluding that he rigged his 2002 re-election.

Assaults by Zimbabwe security forces on opposition figures earlier
this year prompted a new war of words between Europe and the regime in
Harare, with Mugabe telling his critics to "go hang". - Sapa-AFP

Hague calls for Mugabe, and those who welcome him, to be shamed in Lisbon

Gov't renews assault on Mugabe 'tyranny' after boycott

Yahoo News

Fri Dec 7, 7:39 AM ET

LISBON (AFP) - The government renewed its criticism of Robert Mugabe's
"brutal tyranny" on Friday after deciding to boycott this weekend's
EU-Africa summit over the Zimbabwean president's presence in Lisbon.

In an opinion piece for a Portuguese daily, Foreign Secretary David Miliband
and Interational Development Secretary Douglas Alexander insisted London was
committed to a new era in relations with Africa despite the absence of any
British minister from the two-day summit beginning on Saturday.
But they also took the opportunity to launch another broadside against
Mugabe, who has ruled the former British colony since independence in 1980,
for overseeing attacks on the opposition and muzzling press critics.

"A solution for the problems of Zimbabwe needs to be found urgently," said
the piece published in the Publico daily, describing the regime in Harare as
a "brutal tyranny".

The ministers pledged that Britain was "ready to help Zimbabwe rebuild its
economy and infrastructure if freedom can be re-established".

While supporting elections which are due to take place in March next year,
the ministers said the polls had to be accompanied by a series of moves to
be seen as free and fair.

"The abolition of draconian security laws, an end to violence against the
opposition, a respect for press freedom, independent observers and an
independent electoral commission" were all vital pre-requisites for the
vote, said the ministers.

Mugabe is usually subject to a travel ban from the European Union after he
allegedly rigged his 2002 re-election. The decision to invite him to the
summit in spite of the ban has prompted British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
not only to stay away but also not send any minister to the gathering.

Miliband and Alexander however said they supported the key objectives of the
summit, which they said offered an opportunity "to strengthen our rleatons
and forge a better future for the coming generations".

"The United Kingdom is ready to play its part to ensure the strength,
productivity and durability of this vital partnership."

The EU "should build a new relationship with Africa" and the two continents
should look to work closer on key areas such as the fight against poverty,
conflict resolution, climate change, human rights and trade, they wrote.

Zimbabwe opposition slams Africa, EU over Mugabe

Monster and Critics

Dec 7, 2007, 17:45 GMT

Lisbon - The African Union and European Union have seriously damaged their
credibility by allowing Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to attend an
AU-EU summit in Lisbon, Zimbabwean pro-democracy activists said as the
summit opened Friday.

'We're disappointed by the blind solidarity with Mugabe shown by African
leaders: they must realise the problems and suffering of the Zimbabwean
people,' the exiled president of the Zimbabwe National Students' Union,
Promise Mkwananzi, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

'Most African dictators and would-be dictators find it easier to stand in
solidarity with Mugabe than with their suffering peoples... This summit is
quite a disgrace, especially for the EU,' the chairman of the British branch
of opposition party the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Ephraim Tapa,
added.

Almost 80 African and European heads of government gathered in Lisbon on
Friday evening to hold only the second AU-EU summit in history. The aim of
the meeting was to create a new system of strategic cooperation between the
continents.

But the summit risked being overshadowed by the Mugabe affair. In September,
Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that he would not attend if
Mugabe were invited.

A number of African leaders retorted that they would not attend if Mugabe
were left out.

'They regard Mugabe as the leader of the anti-colonial struggle, so even
when he becomes tyrannical, they still support him,' the MDC's Elliot Pfebve
explained.

As a result, EU leaders, headed by the government of Portugal, which holds
the rotating presidency of the 27-member bloc, decided that Mugabe should be
invited in order to maximize the presence of African leaders, and lifted a
travel ban which they had imposed on him following crackdowns on
pro-democracy campaigners in Zimbabwe.

That decision was met with dismay by some Mugabe opponents.

'What shocks us is Portugal's behaviour in inviting him. If Mugabe can twist
the EU's arm into breaking its own sanctions, what can he do to his
powerless and poverty-stricken people?' Tapa asked.

But not all condemned the move.

'The EU took the correct position. Mugabe is not bigger than two continents:
he can't be allowed to stop the summit,' Mkwananzi said.

Mugabe has said that the allegations of mass human-rights abuses in his
country, and the collapse of its once-flourishing economy, are part of a
plot against him by Britain and the US.

© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Mugabe 'new era' claims dismissed

BBC

7 December 2007, 16:05 GMT

Zimbabwe's main opposition group has dismissed President Robert
Mugabe's statement that political talks were heralding the "dawn of a new
era".
Morgan Tsvangirai's faction of the Movement for Democratic Change says
Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF is using violence and denying food aid to MDC
supporters.

Talks between Zanu-PF and the Movement MDC are intended to prepare for
free and fair elections next year.

Mr Tsvangirai said Zanu-PF was not sincere or committed to dialogue.

He called the last talks on Sunday "paper discussions", saying they
had achieved nothing.

His faction of the divided MDC says violence is continuing unabated in
Zimbabwe and that state-owned media were conducting a media blackout against
the opposition.

Boycott threat

The two factions of the MDC have united for the purpose of the South
Africa-mediated talks.

Details of the talks have been kept secret.

Mr Tsvangirai has threatened to boycott presidential, parliamentary
and local elections in March 2008 if his party believes Zanu-PF will rig
them.

The MDC has criticised preparations for the elections as a shambles,
saying the national voters' registration must be overhauled to remove the
names of dead people.

But Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairman George Chiweshe said on
Thursday that work had start on drawing up constituency boundaries.

"The fact that there may be names of some dead people does not mean
that the voters' roll is not a credible register, as people die every day
but the official evidence must be provided to correct that," he said.

The party MDC constitutional changes agreed with Mr Mugabe's
government enacted and political violence against opposition supporters
curbed before next year's elections.

On Tuesday, Mr Mugabe said in his state of the nation address that the
two parties' dialogue represented constructive engagement across the
political divide and a narrowing of differences.

He said the talks represented the "dawn of a new era".

Lisbon summit - Arrest Mugabe, don't embrace him

EU-AU conference betrays the people of Zimbabwe
Portugal should honour its human rights commitments by arresting Mugabe

Mugabe does not have immunity from prosecution for crimes such as torture

London – 7 December 2007

"The Portuguese government should instruct its police to arrest President
Mugabe on charges of torture when he arrives in Lisbon this weekend for the
EU-African Union summit," urged human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.

"To allow Mugabe to attend the summit unimpeded would be a tragic betrayal
of the long suffering people of Zimbabwe. Torture is a crime under
international law and President Mugabe should be prosecuted

"Mugabe has massacred more black Africans than even the murderous apartheid
regime in South Africa. His tyrannical government is guilty of detention
without trial, torture, rape, extra-judicial killings, media censorship,
financial corruption, election fraud, mass starvation and the violent
suppression of strikes and protests.

"Portugal has a duty to enforce the UN Convention Against Torture 1984,
which it has ratified and pledged to uphold.

"The Convention Against Torture has universal jurisdiction. It allows any
signatory state to arrest and put on trial any person who authorises,
commits or acquiesces in the infliction of torture anywhere in the world.

"There is strong evidence from Amnesty International and other human rights
groups that President Mugabe has sanctioned and colluded with acts of
torture, contrary to international law.

"He should be arrested and put on trial, in the same way that President
Milosevic of Yugoslavia was tried in The Hague.

"Contrary to diplomatic convention and some controversial, disputed legal
rulings, Mugabe does not have absolute immunity from prosecution as a
serving Head of State.

"International human rights law and legal precedents have established that
Presidents can be indicted for gave crimes against humanity, such as
torture," added Mr Tatchell.

See the article and detailed documentation below.

More information: Peter Tatchell 020 7403 1790

Note: Peter Tatchell will not be going to Lisbon for the EU-AU Summit.

Why Mugabe does not have immunity from prosecution for torture

By Peter Tatchell

International law increasingly no longer accepts the right of Heads of State
to enjoy absolute immunity for grave human rights abuses, such as torture.

This legal evolution began with the Versailles Treaty of 1919. The signatory
nations accepted that Heads of State cannot plead they are above the law
when they stand accused of "offences against international morality".
Article 227 of the Treaty set the precedent in international law that Heads
of State are not immune from prosecution, when it arraigned the German
Emperor, William II.

The 1946 Nuremberg Tribunal reiterated this precedent by ruling the top Nazi
leaders, including Karl Doenitz, Hitler's successor as German leader, did
not enjoy immunity for crimes against humanity. Doenitz was found guilty and
sentenced to 10 years jail.

Principle Three of the Nuremberg Principles declared: "The fact that a
person who committed an act which constitutes a crime under international
law acted as Head of State or responsible Government official does not
relieve him from responsibility under international law".

For any country to renege on the Nuremberg Principles would be a monstrous
betrayal of the millions who perished in the Holocaust and the millions more
who sacrificed their lives to end the tyranny of the Third Reich.

The Nuremberg ruling that government leaders can be held accountable was
reconfirmed with the enactment of the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT)
1984. Article 4 requires each state party to ensure that "all acts of
torture" are criminal offences under domestic law.
This criminalisation must apply to an act by "any person" that "constitutes
complicity or participation in torture". UNCAT grants no exemptions to Heads
of State.

These precedents were given further practical effect by the International
Criminal Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia when it indicted Slobodan
Milosevic on 26 May 1999, while he was the serving Head of State of
Yugoslavia. If Milosevic can be indicted, even though he was President at
the time, why can't Mugabe?

The UN Rome Statute of 1998, ratified by the EU member states, created the
International Criminal Court. Article 27 explicitly declares that Heads of
States cannot plead immunity for crimes against humanity, such as torture:
"Official capacity as a Head of State…shall in no case exempt a person from
criminal responsibility under this Statute".

Is it acceptable for EU members to sign up the principle of universal
accountability and then refuse to honour it?

Continuing the trend to void immunity for Heads of State for grave human
rights abuses, the Liberian leader, Charles Taylor, was indicted on 4 June
2003. Despite being President, he was served an arrest warrant on charges of
"serious violations of international humanitarian law".

Why is there one law for President Taylor and another for President Mugabe?

The double standards over Head of State immunity reached their zenith during
the 2003 Iraq war, with two US attempts - on 20 March and 7 April - to
assassinate the then Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein.
Western governments asserted the lawfulness of these attempts.

How can a Head of State be lawfully assassinated, but not lawfully
prosecuted for crimes against humanity? If it is legitimate to assassinate a
President, then surely a President can be put on trial?

In Mugabe's case, the EU has already agreed that his state immunity can be
legitimately restricted. The EU travel ban on Mugabe is a punitive
abrogation of his immunity as Head of State. It is directed against him in
his official capacity as President of a regime that violates human rights on
a massive scale. This sanction is an acknowledgement that Heads of State do
not enjoy absolute immunity.
They should, and can, be held to account for grave crimes.

If Mugabe's immunity can be curtailed by a travel ban, why can't he be
called to account in a court of law for violating the internationally agreed
prohibition on the use of torture?

Ends

.................

Title: Behind the mask of remittances
Author: Firoze Manji
Category: Africa General
Date: 12/6/2007
Source: Pambazuka News 331
Source Website: www.pambazuka.org

Summary & Comment: The author looks at remittances and suggests there are
grounds to question their overall value as a vehicle for development or
social progress. DN

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Behind the mask of remittances

How often do we hear the phrase "remittances to Africa are a key source of
development funding"? The volume of funds being remitted to Africa are
certainly impressive. In 2005, we are told, "they totalled $188
billion-twice the amount of official assistance developing countries
received. Moreover, there is evidence that such flows are underreported.
Indeed, remittances through informal channels could add at least 50 percent
to global recorded flows. Most of the reported flows go to regions other
than sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), but SSA has still been part of the overall
rising global trend. Between 2000 and 2005, remittances to the region
increased by more than 55 percent, to nearly $7 billion, whereas they
increased for developing countries as a group by 81 percent." (Gupta et al
2007).

Can such remittances be equated with 'development funding'? What is the
evidence that this contributes significantly to the elimination of poverty?
And if remittances of funds from workers in the North to their families in
the South be considered as part of the infrastructure of 'development', then
should not remittances of funds from the South to the North be also be
considered as part of the equation?

The overwhelming majority of studies demonstrate that remittances are
primarily used by households and families to help them survive the
inadequate incomes that they already have. In times of crises, such
supplementary income is used to "smooth household consumption and welfare".
For the most part, these funds are used for consumption and payments for
education, healthcare needs and food for subsistence. In other words,
remittances are primarily used to supplement income because wages or income
from agricultural production, petty-commodity production or 'jua kali'
trade, or whatever activity people are engaged in to 'make a living' is
inadequate. Remittances are not primarily used to create employment or
develop new initiatives.

The reality is that the majority of rural families in Africa have long been
dependent on the ability of members of their families who have jobs in urban
centres to be able to remit a portion of their wages to help their families
cope with impoverishment. This lies at the very heart of the system of
underdevelopment that is characteristic of neo-colonial / post-apartheid
economies as it was in the colonial and apartheid economies.

There is a close association between remittances and the maintenance of
prevalence of low wages in Africa. One of the crucial determinants of low
wages is the social cost of the reproduction of labour: from the employers
point of view, the less it costs to enable the wage earner to survive and
reproduce, the lower the wage needs to be. And the more people there are
that are unemployed - the larger the 'reserve army of labour' - the harder
it is for the worker to demand better wages, especially if they are unable
to organise to put pressure on employers. If the families of workers are
eking out an existence on marginalised land, a few pennies in the form of
remittances from the employed worker makes all the difference.

When migrant workers (either transiently away from home or with more
permanent residency in countries where wages are better) are able to
supplement the cost of maintaining their families through remittances, then
what they are doing is not only helping their families survive: they are
also ensuring the maintenance of their families at no additional cost to
their employer or the state. For the recipient, of course, these remittances
are a lifeline since they have no other means of surviving - especially in
the lean times.

But is this development? Surely not. Surely it is subsistence, barely
enabling people keeping their head above the water. It is 'development' only
if we were to consider that development is not about social progress but
about providing charitable support to the poor. Remittances are essentially
an individualised social support mechanism without which there would be even
greater misery.

Now supposing the same funds were used, instead, to support people to
organise for better living wages, for better social services, for better
housing and healthcare. Such a use of remittances would certainly contribute
to social progress, to real development. So long as remittances play only
the role of providing charitable support, they perform the role of shoring
up an existing unjust system that keeps people poor. Worse still, there is a
potential for disabling Africa's people from becoming organised actors who
can determine their own future.

As Paulo Freire (1970) put it: ". charity constrains the fearful and
subdued, the 'rejects of life', to extend their trembling hands. True
generosity lies in striving so these hands - whether of individuals or
entire people - need be extended less and less in supplication, so that more
and more they become human hands which work and, working, transform the
world." Do remittances really help human hands transform the world?

But even if we were to accept that remittances may be legitimately
considered as 'development funding' or as part of the infrastructure of
development, then surely movements of funds in the opposite direction - from
South to the North - should also be taken into account. It is surprising
this aspect is systematically ignored by those obsessed with promoting the
apparent benefits of remittances. When Africans send funds from the North to
the South, this is called remittances. When multinationals remit profits to
the North, or when countries in the South are made to remit a part of their
gross domestic product to the banks in the North, somehow this is not
considered as (negative) remittances. If movements of funds in one direction
are to be taken into account in the process of development, then surely
movements in the opposite direction also need to be taken into account.
Surely, what is sauce for the goose is good for the gander?

Third World repayments of $340 billion each year flow northwards to service
a $2.2 trillion debt, more than five times the G8's development aid budget
(Dembele 2006). At more than $10 billion/year since the early 1970s,
collectively, the citizens of Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, the DRC, Angola and
Zambia have been especially vulnerable to the overseas drain of their
national wealth. As Brussels-based debt campaigner Eric Toussaint concludes,
'Since 1980, over 50 Marshall Plans worth over $4.6 trillion have been sent
by the peoples of the Periphery to their creditors in the Centre' (quoted by
Patrick Bond 2005).

Research by the Tax Justice Network estimates that a staggering $11.5
trillion has been siphoned 'offshore' by wealthy individuals, held in tax
havens where they are shielded from contributing to government revenues.
"Around 30% of sub-Saharan Africa's GDP is moved offshore", writes John
Christensen (2006) of TJN, "As several studies have suggested, this rate of
capital flight means that Africa - a continent we are continually told is
irrevocably indebted - may actually be a net creditor to the rest of the
world."

In comparison, then, to the the wealth that is sucked out of Africa - which
far exceeds the total amount of aid that comes from the North into Africa -
the net value of 'remittances' (movements in both direction) is negative.

There are grounds, therefore, for questioning the overall value of
remittances in development. That is not to say that sending money home
doesn't help our families survive. Remittances remain essential for enabling
the impoverished to cope with an unjust world that keeps them poor. But as a
vehicle for social development and progress? I have my doubts.

*Firoze Manji is co-editor of Pambazuka News and executive director of
Fahamu.

* Please send comments to:
editor@pambazuka.org or
comment online at:
http://www.pambazuka.org

References

Patrick Bond (2005): Dispossessing Africa's Wealth. Pambazuka News:
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/30074
John Christensen (2006). Tax Justice for Africa: A new development struggle:
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/31903
Demba Moussa Dembele (2005), Aid dependence and the MDGs, Pambazuka News:
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/29376
Paulo Freire (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Sanjeev Gupta, Catherine
Pattillo, and Smita Wagh (2007): Making Remittances Work for Africa. Finance
and Development 44 (2) 2007:
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2007/06/gupta.htm

Gerrymandering a slap in the face of dialogue as Zanu PF begins rigging process

The Zimbabwean

 Friday, 07 December 2007 14:04

The MDC distances itself from Zanu PF shenanigans and attempts to rig the
election next year. The party will only accept processes that are a result
of collectively agreed positions in the context of the on-going dialogue.
The announcement by the Zanu PF's Electoral Commission (ZEC) that it has
proceeded to delimit constituencies despite the on-going SADC-brokered talks
is a major scandal that has shocked all Zimbabweans who are determined to
have a free and fair poll next year. Zanu PF's latest antics come in the
wake of a national executive meeting on Wednesday which demanded that the
regime makes tangible deliverables to show their sincerity in the dialogue
process. The party resolved that as part of the deliverables, ZEC should be
reconstituted to institute a fresh voter registration process and delimit
constituencies thereafter. ZEC's composition is a scandal. It is staffed
with former military personnel, Zanu PF functionaries and individuals whose
identities are suspect. Zanu PF doled out 143 constituencies to rural areas
which are susceptible to intimidation and manipulation. The remainder are
urban and peri-urban constituencies. The MDC believes that the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission, as currently constituted, has become a weapon to
puncture people's confidence in electoral processes. Delimitation as a
process to enhance a free and fair poll has been hijacked to suit Zanu PF's
interest against the spirit of the dialogue process. Under Amendment No 18,
only a reconstituted ZEC should engage in a fresh exercise of voter
registration and delimitation. It is ironic that before the conclusion of
the talks, Zanu PF is nicodemously and nocturnally imposing its will and
antics in an attempt to evade the obvious people's harsh verdict in 2008.
The MDC calls on the region (SADC) and the African Union (AU) in particular
and the international community at large to put pressure on the regime to
stick to the spirit of dialogue and to respect the will of the people. They
want independent electoral institutions and electoral management bodies that
guarantee the safety of their vote. They are not demanding the moon. They
simply want the regime to adhere to the SADC guidelines on the conduct of
free and fair elections which demand that a truly independent body must run
and manage elections. The people are determined to have an election which
will change their lives, not just a ritual of an election which yet again
produces a predetermined outcome. A new Zimbabwe is only possible through
free and fair elections. A new Zimbabwe, a new beginning. Now is the time!!!

Nelson Chamisa, MP

Secretary for Information and Publicity

Specialists to investigate gun smuggling into SA

SABC

December 07, 2007, 16:45

Police have assembled a team of specialists to investigate gun smuggling
into the country from Zimbabwe.

Yesterday police seized 50 firearms at OR Tambo International Airport. The
arms cache was found on an international airliner that flew from Zimbabwe to
South Africa. Spokesperson Dennis Adriao says investigations are continuing.

Meanwhile, police announced yesterday that house robbery, business robbery
and truck hijackings had increased in the six months from April to
September. Murder, rape, attempted murder, assault with the intent to do
grievous bodily harm, common assault, aggravated robbery and common robbery
were down.

President Thabo Mbeki on Wednesday acknowledged that the issue of crime
needs urgent attention. He said he has taken a hard look at the entire
criminal justice system, but says communities have to come together in a
strong campaign against crime.

Zanu PF, MDC in showdown

Zim Independent

Dumisani Muleya

TALKS between the ruling Zanu PF and the main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) entered a critical stage this week with the two
parties resuming negotiations in Pretoria, South Africa, as they race
against time to meet a new deadline in a week’s time.

Sources close to the talks said the two parties are now engaged in a
make-or-break phase of the talks, with discussions revolving around the
contentious final agenda item, the political climate, which has proved to be
a difficult issue for the negotiators. An inside source described the latest
developments as tantamount to "war".

"There is war at the negotiating table now," a source close to the
talks said. "They have been meeting every day in Harare before they went to
Pretoria, but things are extremely difficult now. The jury is still out, but
this is the crunch time and anything can happen."

The parties are battling over the demilitarisation of state
institutions, the use of militias, abuse of state food aid and traditional
chiefs, sanctions, land and hostile political rhetoric. These issues have
polarised the negotiations again.

The full agenda includes the constitution, electoral laws, security
legislation, media laws and political climate.

The parties have agreed on a draft constitution, electoral laws,
security and media laws, although they would go back to put final touches on
these issues after clearing the last item.

The comprehensive package would be taken to parliament for
ratification and be implemented in terms of the agreed transitional
mechanisms and dates.

Implementation of the envisaged agreement is one of the sticking
points. For instance, Zanu PF may accept a new constitution after the
elections, but the MDC wants it before the polls.

The MDC also wants elections delayed until June next year, but Zanu PF
wants them in March at all costs.

Reforming the repressive laws has been convoluted. At least 11 drafts
were done on the Public Order and Security Act as part of attempts to amend
the law.

After intense debate, it was agreed that the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act would be amended to ensure that the
government-controlled Media and Information Commission (MIC) would no longer
have the discretion to deny journalists accreditation, sources said.

Any journalist who applies will be automatically accredited, although
those without accreditation would not have access to events like government
press conferences or official functions where MIC cards would be needed, it
was said.

Unaccredited journalists will be free to work, but the need to access
press conferences and other things would compel them to get registered. The
Broadcasting Act would now be amended to ensure prospective private
broadcasters are not blocked through technicalities, it was said. So far
even if the state broadcasting monopoly was stuck off by the courts a few
years ago, government is still refusing to issue licences to alternative
broadcasters.

Zanu PF is demanding that foreign radio stations on shortwave be
restricted out of Zimbabwe. This includes radio stations like VOA’s Studio 7
which broadcasts from Washington and SW Radio Africa from London. The MDC
has no jurisdiction over these stations, which complicates the talks.

The parties are also grappling with other addendum issues on the
agenda like transitional mechanisms and the date of elections – which will
come right at the end of the talks. This controversial issue is likely to be
the most decisive part of dialogue because while the negotiators are
generally agreed that polls may need to be postponed to June or another
date, President Mugabe is insisting on the March date, sources said.

Mugabe apparently thinks he stands a better chance of winning in March
because the MDC is divided and does not want to give it time to recover by
postponing elections.

Sources said Zanu PF negotiators have been told following reports that
they are amenable to postponement of elections that there is no compromise
on this issue.

Meanwhile, MDC representatives have taken the position that if there
is no compromise on the date of elections, they would simply walk out of the
talks, informed sources said. This is because the MDC strongly feels there
is no adequate time to prepare for free and fair elections between now and
March.

Preparations for elections have been slow largely because of lack of
enough funding and logistical problems. The MDC also wants six months from
the date of agreement to the polls to ensure enough time to implement the
accord.

Evidence that the MDC — at least the Morgan Tsvangirai faction — was
now geared for a showdown over the talks emerged on Wednesday after the
group held an extraordinary National Executive meeting and resolved to put
what amounts to benchmarks on what the talks should achieve for them to be
considered successful.

The MDC said it wants an immediate end to political violence and use
of food a political weapon, a new voters’ roll, transparent delimitation of
the constituencies, the need to reconstitute the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission and monitoring of the elections by the international community at
large.

The MDC is demanding Zimbabweans abroad should be allowed to vote, an
issue Zanu PF wants to avoid at all costs. Zanu PF has been arguing it would
not allow this because it is unable to travel overseas to Europe, the United
States, Australia and New Zealand to campaign due to travel bans. It has
been saying if the MDC wants those abroad to vote it must first get the
sanctions removed to ensure that its leaders are free to go and campaign.

The MDC also wants a new constitution before the elections after it
backed Zanu PF’s constitutional amendment to introduce political reforms
widely seen as part of Mugabe’s survival plan.

However, as the Zimbabwe Independent has always pointed out, Mugabe
and the Zanu PF politburo on September 5 took a position that they would not
accept a new constitution before elections. This is another issue which
might break the talks as well. Mugabe, evidently afraid of the use of secret
ballot in his own party, fears if he fights polls under a new constitution,
he could easily be defeated.

The strategy for Zanu PF, sources said, is to make as little
concessions as possible to ensure that the final agreement does not rock the
edifice. So far Zanu PF has stuck to its game plan, while the MDC has made
concessions, like backing Constitutional Amendment Number 18, without
reciprocation.

Mugabe does not miss an opportunity to thank the regional facilitator
of talks South African President Thabo Mbeki for how the negotiations have
thus far progressed. He repeated his gratitude to Mbeki during his state of
the nation address on Tuesday. In September Mugabe told the UN General
Assembly Mbeki had done a good job, leaving many wondering what really was
going on behind-the-scenes.

At the September 5 Zanu PF politburo, Mugabe and his deputy Joseph
Msika praised the ruling party negotiators for holding the line in the
talks.

Mbeki was recently in the country to put pressure of Mugabe and the
MDC to speed up talks which he wants finished before his party conference
which starts on December 16 to 20.

Mbeki is facing imminent eviction from the ANC leadership by Jacob
Zuma and negotiators fear this might affect talks unless they are completed
before the ANC gathering.

The new deadline for talks in December 15, the day when the Zanu PF
congress would be closing its congress, which means the agreement, if
reached, would not be endorsed by the party’s highest decision-making body
which would have approved the 18th constitutional amendment.

Tsvangirai’s camp will meet on December 16 to review progress on the
talks and the group might reject the agreement unless negotiators wring
serious concessions from Zanu PF. Tsvangirai has of late been publicly
expressing doubts about the talks. Insiders say the other danger is the
agreement might be rejected by the parties or their principals.

Sources said Zanu PF, sources said, does not mind making concessions
on electoral law reforms, Posa, Aippa, as well as the Broadcasting Act as
long as this would not affect its grip on power.

Sources said although Zanu PF and the MDC have covered a lot of ground
so far — having completed a new draft constitution and agreed on all but one
item on the agenda — there have been serious hurdles along the way which
have pushed the talks deadline from September to next week.

Zim, DRC in power for security deal

Zim Independent

Kuda Chikwanda

ZIMBABWE will receive free electricity until March next year from the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in return for increased military support
to prop up security around President Joseph Kabila, the Independent has
learnt.

Under the arrangement, Zesa Holdings will continue to receive 80
Megawatts (MW) from DRC’s power utility SNEL but will not be required to pay
for the imports under the arrangement.

Instead Zimbabwe will be required to send in more military personnel
to the DRC to assist Kabila’s security team and this will be taken as
payment. Zimbabwe has maintained its presence in the DRC, through a small
team that has helped guard Kabila since the death of his father, Laurent
Desire Kabila who was assassinated by his bodyguards in 1999.

Sources close to the developments said the deal was discussed some
weeks back when a high level delegation from the DRC visited Zimbabwe. The
delegation is expected back in the country soon. The delegation reportedly
met with Energy and Power Development minister Mike Nyambuya, Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono and the Joint Operations Command
(JOC) and held discussions on a wide range of matters, including power
supplies.

According to the sources, two defence chiefs in JOC put the matter on
the table for discussion with the DRC delegations and discussed the matter
in-depth.

"Talks are now at an advanced stage but in principle there was an
agreement. I do not see anything that should stop the deal as both sides
were of mutual consent to the proposal," said one of the sources.

According to the sources, Snel would have supplied Zimbabwe with more
power had it not been for technical constraints in the generation of power
in the DRC and its wheeling to Zimbabwe.

"As a result of the limitations, the current deal is for between 80 to
100 MW of power. But engagements are ongoing and new deals could be struck
soon," he said.

A government spokesperson, Deputy Minister of Information and
Publicity, Bright Matonga refused to shed light on the matter.

"Those are issues of national security and national interest," Matonga
said.

He poured scorn over suggestions that Zimbabwe would prop up Kabila’s
protection.

"The DRC troops are capable of protecting their own president. We have
very good relations with the DRC. Remember we gave them the freedom and
independence they enjoy today. Still the matter remains a very private
issue," Matonga said.

Zesa Holdings chief executive Ben Rafemoyo would not be drawn into
commenting on the matter.

"On those discussions — if ever they took place — I have to refer you
to government and the minister (Nyambuya) specifically," he said.

But Nyambuya denied that he had met with the DRC delegation.

"I did not meet with any DRC delegation," he said before hanging up.

Questions sent to the army had not been responded to at the time of
going to press despite assurances from one Mushakavanhu from the Zimbabwe
Defence Forces (ZDF) that a military spokesperson would do so by end of day
yesterday.

Gono was said to be out of the country with his personal assistant
saying he would only be able to respond to the questions on his return.
Rafemoyo said he was not aware if any such deal had been reached as Zesa was
not responsible for all payments for power made to suppliers such as Snel.

He said Zesa had been making partial payments for its supplies from
foreign currency paying clients and that the balance was being paid by the
central bank.

"Some of the money we pay from revenue generated by foreign currency
paying customers, the rest is paid for by RBZ," he said.

RBZ has played a central role in Zesa’s affairs, sourcing the foreign
currency to pay for importation of power from neighbouring countries.

Four months back, it was revealed that the central bank had paid over
US$100 million for Zesa and troubled state airline Air Zimbabwe to pay for
the debts.

Rafemoyo revealed that DRC would soon be increasing its output to
Zimbabwe from the current 80 MW to 100 MW in the medium term before
increasing 300 MW once work being carried out on the Inga project is
complete.

Zimbabwe requires between 1800 MW and 1850 MW of electricity daily.

Electricity generation falls far short forcing Zesa to import an
average of between 500 MW and 600 MW of power daily to meet demand.

MDC factions in talks discord

Zim Independent

Constantine Chimakure

SHARP differences have emerged between the two MDC formations over the
on-going Sadc-initiated talks between the opposition and Zanu PF, with the
Morgan Tsvangirai-led camp this week making seven demands the government
should meet before the dialogue can produce an agreement.

Sources said it was apparent that the Tsvangirai faction was edging
closer to pulling out of the talks facilitated by South Africa President
Thabo Mbeki alleging that the ruling party was negotiating in bad faith.

The sources said on the other hand, the Arthur Mutambara faction was
satisfied with the progress of the dialogue and wanted to soldier on hoping
that a concrete agreement would be reached by December 15 — the talks’
deadline.

"There are differences between the two factions on the approach to the
talks," one of the sources said. "The Tsvangirai group believes in megaphone
negotiations. You cannot have a successful dialogue that way."

Mutambara faction secretary-general Welshman Ncube and his Tsvangirai
camp counterpart Tendai Biti left Harare for Pretoria, South Africa, on
Wednesday for the continuation of the talks.

The Mutambara faction this week publicly accused Tsvangirai of trying
to negotiate through the media and rallies despite the fact that when the
dialogue commenced, the MDC and Zanu PF agreed to a confidentiality clause.

Ncube told the media that the parties to the talks should not
"negotiate through the media or at rallies". The Mutambara camp says talks
are progressing very well.

Tsvangirai’s 46-member national executive met in the capital on
Wednesday and resolved that the government should introduce a new
constitution before next year’s harmonised presidential, legislative and
council elections.

The executive demanded that the government should reconstitute the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission that would compile a new voters roll and that
delimitation of constituencies be done according to what was agreed during
the talks.

It resolved that Zanu PF must cease acts of hostility, violence and
publicly denounce violence, and sanction the resumption of operations of
closed independent newspapers and guarantee freedom of journalists.

The party also demanded that the Public Order and Security Act, the
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Broadcasting Act
and Electoral Laws should be amended to level the political playing field.

Nelson Chamisa, the party spokesperson, said the executive also
resolved that "the international community must be allowed to operate
unimpeded" in monitoring of elections and that all Zimbabweans, including
those in the diaspora, must be allowed to exercise their democratic right to
vote in the upcoming elections.

"The national executive resolved that neither an agreement nor a free
and fair election would be possible unless there is delivery on the
tangibles listed above," Chamisa said. "The executive also urged the party
leadership to remain engaged and continue consulting with civic partners in
the quest for national solution to the current crisis."

Chamisa said the executive, while acknowledging the ongoing talks in
Pretoria, said "the tangible imperatives and deliverables must be met
pending the meeting of the national council of the party on the 16th of
December
2007" to review the whole progress of the dialogue.

Tsvangirai has over the past three weeks being complaining that the
talks were progressing at a slow pace with nothing on offer for the
opposition because Zanu PF was being insincere.

He went to Kampala, Uganda, on November 21 where he addressed a
Commonwealth People’s Forum and appealed to African leaders and the
international community to pressure the Zimbabwe government to ensure free
and fair presidential, parliamentary and local government elections next
year.

Tsvangirai alleged that Zanu PF sponsored violence against opposition
forces was escalating in the country.

A day later, he met Mbeki in Harare and repeated the allegations. At
the weekend, the former firebrand trade unionist told a rally in Glen Norah
that that the Sadc initiated talks were mere "paper discussions."

Tsvangirai reportedly said: "We thought we were negotiating for free
and fair elections and a new constitution. Yet they (Zanu PF) don’t want a
new constitution. The question that confronts us today is: ‘What is in the
talks for us’?"

Sources in the party said there was pressure on Tsvangirai to abandon
the talks on allegations that Zanu PF was unleashing violence on opposition
and civic leaders and activists, and that the ruling party was unfairly
distributing food relief.

However, Biti this week said his party would not pull out of the talks
despite the MDC’s concerns.

"We are not pulling out of the talks. Why should we? He (Tsvangirai)
was just telling people certain things that we expect from the talks," Biti
was quoted saying.

Msika strips Mutasa of land offer powers

Zim Independent

Augustine Mukaro

VICE-PRESIDENT Joseph Msika has stripped Lands, Land Reform and
Resettlement minister Didymus Mutasa of powers to issue offer letters to
prospective beneficiaries as the row over continued land invasions
intensifies.

Highly placed sources said Msika, known for his stance against the
continued invasion of productive white-owned commercial farms convinced his
fellow members of the presidium to withdraw the powers on the basis of
complaints of gross irregularities lodged by a number of provinces.

Minister of State for Special Affairs Responsible for the Land and
Resettlement Programme Flora Buka is now responsible for issuing offer
letters but only to those beneficiaries with recommendations from the
district and provincial land committees.

Policy Implementation minister Webster Shamu was mandated to implement
recommendations of the Mashonaland West provincial leadership to nullify
Mutasa’s recent land offer letters and evict all the new beneficiaries
allocated farms unprocedurally.

Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East and Manicaland have been leading
the campaign to stop the continued evictions arguing that they were
counterproductive to both government objectives of mass production and Zanu
PF goals of winning next year’s joint presidential and parliamentary
elections.

Sources said Shamu on Wednesday took his first step to implement the
recommendations when he met Mutasa to agree on how to deal with the issue.

"Mutasa only acknowledged that he was stopped from issuing any further
offer letters but this did not nullify those he had already send out," the
source said.

Contacted for comment Shamu switched off his mobile phone after this
reporter introduced himself. His mobile went unanswered thereafter.

If the Mashonaland West province recommendations are implemented, more
than 70 white farmers could be spared continued harassment and invasions of
their properties. The development would imply that a number of white
farmers, facing litigation following their failure to vacate the land after
eviction notices expired at the end of September, might not be taken to
court.

Mashonaland West province last month recommended that the remaining
white farmers be allowed to continue farming on the small pieces of land
still in their possession because they worked and supported the people in
the local community.

They recommended the reversion of Rydings School to the community
including the amount of $800 million which was misappropriated when the
school was taken over by Gerald Mlotshwa. The leadership also sought the
removal of those members of the Zimbabwe National Army, the police, and
senior civil servants who illegally occupied farms in Mashonaland West
province.

They called for the nullification of the offer letters issued to Noma
Mliswa for Summerhill Farm, Rotina Mavhunga (the diesel n’anga) for Baguta
Extension, Brigadier General Dube for Grand Parade and Brigadier Mtisi for
Folliot farm and their eviction from the said farms.

2008 budget bereft

Zim Independent

By Best Doroh

THE 2008 national budget, whose thrust is "geared towards stabilising
the economy, increasing productivity and lowering inflation", was crafted
under very difficult conditions, emanating from rising inflation, shortages
of foreign currency and energy and continued economic decline.

Despite acknowledging the gravity of these challenges, the Minister of
Finance surprisingly predicted that the economy will recover from an
estimated decline of 5,7% in 2007 to register a positive growth rate of 4%
in 2008.

However, the International Monetary Fund, in its October 2007 World
Economic Outlook, predicted that the Zimbabwean economy will decline by 3,6%
in real terms in 2008. Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa (excluding
Zimbabwe) is expected to increase from 6,1% in 2007 to 6,8% in 2008
underpinned by economic stability, solid capital injections and strong
international demand for primary resources from Africa, particularly
commodities.

Global economic growth, on the other hand, is expected to decline from
5,2% in 2007 to 4,8% in 2008 as a result of ongoing financial and credit
crisis in the US and high oil prices.

The Finance minister’s economic growth projections for 2008 are
premised on an anticipated, but unspecified, growth in the SMEs sector as
well as a recovery in the agricultural sector, driven by the government’s
ongoing Farm Mechanisation Programme and continued funding support under
Aspef.

In fact, the minister seems to have based the 2008 projections on a
continued recovery in tobacco, groundnuts, soyabeans, sunflower and
horticulture sub-sectors, whose output is estimated to increase by 39%, 51%,
46%, 24% and 3%, respectively, in 2007.

However, given that activity in the other real sectors, particularly
mining, manufacturing and services is anticipated to remain depressed in the
short to medium term, and considering that the agricultural sector
contributes only 15%-20% of national output, the minister’s overall economic
growth projections are rather optimistic.

In fact, the mining sector continues to be adversely affected by
shortages of skills, undercapitalisation and smuggling of minerals, with
gold, nickel, asbestos and chrome output reported by the Chamber of Mines to
have remained depressed during the first 9 months of 2007. The minister
appears to believe that the RBZ-initiated small-scale miners
recapitalisation programme and the budget allocation of $6,3 trillion
(US$1,9 million using the Old Mutual Implied Exchange rate) to the Mining
Industry Loan Fund will resuscitate capacity utilisation in the capital
intensive sector.

The US$1.9 million seems too little to effectively cater for the
country’s many small scale miners, considering that large entities like
Murowa have earmarked funds amounting to US$250 million for expansion of
only one mine.

In addition, in spite of the negative inflationary impact of previous
production sector support facilities such as PSF and Aspef, the minister
hopes that the Basic Commodities Supply Side Intervention (Bacossi) fund
will successfully rejuvenate activity in the manufacturing sector and result
in improved production levels and economic growth for the sector.

However, although data on the manufacturing sector continues to lag
behind, with latest RBZ figures indicating that the sector declined by 7% in
2005, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries noted earlier in the year
that the sector was operating at 30% capacity. Thus, given the adverse
effects of the foregoing foreign currency shortages and price controls, the
manufacturing sector is expected to continue underperforming in the short to
medium term. In addition, distortions in the manufacturing sector are
expected to adversely affect activity in sectors such as distribution, hotel
and leisure, among others.

Despite the 26% increase in tourist arrivals from 1,5 million during
the first nine months of 2006 to two million during the corresponding period
of 2007, the number of tourists from major foreign currency generating
markets like Europe and America remains depressed. In fact, mainland Africa
accounted for 92% of total arrivals in 2007, up from 91% in 2006. The
continued decline in tourist arrivals from European and American markets is,
however, no longer entirely due to negative international publicity, but it
is also caused by the overvalued exchange rate

Portuguese MEP Ana Gomes advocates the prison of Robert Mugabe

European Union-Africa Summit

The same political socialist defended also that many of the African leaders
that are going to be present in the summit EU-AFRICA, of Saturday and
Sunday, "should be arrested" for the "mismanagement and for the repression
that they represent in their countries".

Lisbon (Mozambique Channel / TSF) - Many African leaders should be arrested,
said yesterday in Lisbon, the socialist representative to the European
parliament, Ana Gomes.  She actually cited Robert Mugabe, president of
Zimbabwe, and the leader of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi.  She mentioned Cape
Verde as an exception within the PALOP (African Countries of Portuguese
Official Language).

Ana Gomes the Portugueses ambassador in Indonesia during the perturbed
period in which that country occupied neighboring East Timor.  She was one
of the main mediators in the negotiations that resulted in the liberation of
Alexandre Kay Rala "Xanana" Gusmão one of the main activists for the
independence of his country, then in the hands of the dictatorship of
Suharto, and that it would come become the first president of the Republic
of East Timor you Read or Timor Lorosai and is at present the prime
minister.

 In statements to the respected Portuguese radio TSF, the MEP Ana Gomes
considers that many of the African leaders that are going to participate in
the Summit EU-AFRICA, being held on Saturday and Sunday, should be behind
bars.

The European MP cited the case of Cape Verde as an exception amongst the
PALOP (African Countries of Portuguese Official Language).  Everyone of the
others defended the presence of Robert Mugabe in Lisbon despite Mozambique
having opted for a discrete diplomacy although without signs of
disagreement.

"Some are good examples that try and one of them that isticks out obviously
in the lusophone world is clearly the representation of Cape Verde that is
an exemplary country", she said.

Ana Gomes explained still the importance of the conference about Human
Rights organized by the Amnesty International in which she took part
yesterday together with "defenders of human rights".

"The are persons that in their countries, in very difficult conditions, risk
their lives and prison for the defence of human rights and ti fight for open
government that is acountable", remembered.

The president of Zimbabwe arrived late last night in Portuguese capital.

Diasporans Remit Us$361 Million

The Herald (Harare)  Published by the government of Zimbabwe

7 December 2007
Posted to the web 7 December 2007

Harare

Zimbabweans in the Diaspora sent home US$361 million last year excluding
hand-in-hand transfers, representing 7,2 percent of the country's 2006 GDP,
according to data compiled by the International Fund for Agricultural
Development.

IFAD is a specialised United Nations agency whose goal is to empower poor
rural women and men in developing countries to achieve higher incomes and
improve food security. It was borne out of the 1974 World Food Conference,
and began full-scale operations three years later.

Of the 30 million sub-Saharan Africans in the Diaspora, Zimbabwe has an
estimated 3,5 million people. The fluid migration within West Africa, for
instance, is partly due to the region's status as a geopolitical and
economic unit, but also by a common history, culture and ethnicity among
many groupings. There is also significant international migration to former
European colonial powers, such as France, England, the Netherlands and
Italy, among other countries.

Remittances in Africa as a whole totalled US$40 billion with Southern Africa
making up about 11 percent or US$4,4 billion. South Africa had the highest
flow in the region with US$1,4 billion or 0,6 percent of that country's GDP,
Zambians sent around US$201 million, representing 1,8 percent of that
country's GDP, more than what the Zambian government collects from mineral
royalties. North Africa had the highest with remittances just over US$17
billion IFAD said that the importance of remittances to poverty alleviation
is obvious, but the potential multiplier effect on economic growth and
investment is also significant. The driving force behind this phenomenon is
an estimated 150 million migrants worldwide who sent more than US$300
billion to their families in developing countries during 2006, typically
US$100, US$200 or US$300 at a time, through more than 1,5 billion separate
financial transactions.

These funds are used primarily to meet immediate family needs (consumption)
but a significant portion is also available for savings, credit mobilisation
and other forms of investment. IFAD, however, said that the money transfers
face two main challenges: high rates of informality particularly within the
continent, and a regulatory environment that foments monopolies. In turn,
transfer costs are higher and remittance senders obtain less value for their
money.

These high rates of informality have led to the growth of the parallel
market where higher premiums are obtained as compared to the official
market. Remittances, the portion of migrant workers' earnings sent back home
to their families, have been a critical means of financial support for
generations. But, for the most part, these flows have historically been
"hidden in plain view", often uncounted and even ignored.

Cricket-West Indies sweep to series win over Zimbabwe

Reuters

Fri 7 Dec 2007, 15:49 GMT

HARARE, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Half-centuries by Runako Morton and Marlon Samuels
guided West Indies to a one-day series win over Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on
Friday.

West Indies won the fourth match by five wickets to take an unbeatable 3-1
lead in the five-match series.

Zimbabwe scored 232-9 after being put in to bat, and West Indies replied
with 234-5 to win with three overs to spare.

Morton scored 79 while Samuels made 62, and they shared 105 runs for the
third wicket.

Vusi Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza put on 167, Zimbabwe's biggest opening
stand in one-day matches.

The previous record of 161 was set by the Flower brothers, Grant and Andy,
against Bangladesh in 1997.

West Indies had an opportunity to end the partnership at 15 in the seventh
over when Sibanda, on eight, was dropped by Dwayne Bravo at first slip off
fast bowler Daren Powell.

Instead, Sibanda and Masakadza kept the runs flowing until the 37th over,
when leg-spinner Rawl Lewis had Masakadza stumped by wicketkeeper Denesh
Ramdin for 80.

Bravo eventually made amends in the 43rd over, when his throw from cover to
the non-striker's end ran out Sibanda for 96.

Brendan Taylor's 26 not out was the home side's only other score in double
figures as nine wickets fell for 65 runs in 13 overs.

Fast bowler Jerome Taylor profitted handsomely from Zimbabwe's inept batting
by taking 5-48.

West Indies slipped to 62-2 in the 14th over of their reply, but Morton and
Samuels steadied the innings with their century stand.

Bravo hastened the end of the match by scoring an unbeaten 41 off as many
balls.

The last match of the series will be played in Bulawayo on Sunday.

(Reporting by Telford Vice in Durban, editing by Trevor Huggins in London)