Zim Standard
Moyo's dream in tatters 12/8/02
Story by
newsfocus By Farai Mutsaka
Ever since he assumed office, the junior
minister, who was handpicked
by President Mugabe after the June 2000
parliamentary elections, has not
made a secret of his desire to have a
Zimbabwean media that neither sees nor
hears Zanu PF's evil.
However, after a dramatic start which saw him pushing through
parliament the
draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act
(Aippa) despite
protests from MPs, Moyo has suffered one setback after
another and seems
incapable of doing anything about it.
Even though over a dozen
journalists have been arrested under the
discredited Aippa, the state has
failed to secure a single conviction,
dealing a serious blow to Moyo's quest
to muzzle the press.
Only last week, his determination to rein in
independent journalists
suffered greatly when Harare magistrate, Garikai
Churu, ordered that charges
against The Standard editor, Bornwell Chakaodza,
Entertainment Editor,
Fungayi Kanyuchi and Senior Reporter, Farai Mutsaka, be
dropped.
The three journalists were facing charges under section 80
of Aippa
which makes it criminal for journalists to publish falsehoods. The
trio were
arrested in May after the publication of two stories, one
revealing
sex-for-freedom deals involving prostitutes and police officers and
another
which exposed the heavy anti-riot gear equipment purchased by
government
from Israeli arms manufacturer, Beit Alfa Trailer (BAT). The
latter story
was confirmed by the then Israeli foreign minister Shimon
Peres.
However, as the media fraternity waits patiently for a
Supreme Court
ruling on a constitutional challenge by the Independent
Journalists
Association of Zimbabwe (Ijaz) against some sections of Aippa,
the unelected
minister has been forced to become a spectator as magistrates
free
journalists charged under trumped up charges.
Commentators
say Aippa, largely viewed as Moyo's personal legal weapon
against independent
journalists, is simply running out of steam.
Earnest Mudzengi, a
media analyst attached to the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA), said
Aippa was from the start a retrogressive
law that would never stand any
serious legal scrutiny.
"By cobbling up Aippa, the current regime
showed the world it thrives
on insanity because that law is insane. The press
is the lifeblood of any
democratic society. Ideally, the press should provide
a public platform
through which people from various social segments can air
their views, be it
for the status quo or against it. These victories show
that government's
plan to continue to hang on to power through undemocratic
pieces of
legislation will fail," said Mudzengi.
He added that
the media in Zimbabwe had set a precedent that civic
societies fighting for
democracy should follow.
"The press in Zimbabwe has proved itself
to be resilient in the face
of immense odds. It has shown a level of
determination that should be
emulated by other progressive arms of civic
society," he said.
While other cases are still before the courts,
the majority of arrests
made under the law have rarely been followed by
prosecution, confirming
fears that the legislation was put in place primarily
to intimidate
independent journalists into silence, as well as extend Moyo's
control of
the private media.
"The fact that you have very few
cases that have been prosecuted under
this law shows it was never a credible
piece of legislation in the first
place," said a media lecturer at a
state-owned institution who preferred
anonymity.
Reyhana
Masters-Smith, the chairperson of the Media Institute of
Southern Africa
(Misa), noted that government was sabotaging newspapers by
bringing up
trumped up charges against their journalists.
"What is unacceptable
is that the state is wasting time, money and
resources on arresting
journalists and then dropping charges. It is a
deliberate attempt to sabotage
media organisations. Media organisations are
also forced to spend large
amounts of money fighting unnecessary legal
battles. We are also appalled at
the selective application of Aippa against
the independent
media.
"That goes to show that there is a deliberate attempt to
curb
alternative voices from being heard. The law is targeted at those who
choose
to do their job professionally by holding accountable people who are
in
leadership positions. I feel it is difficult to sustain a law that
is
selectively applied and that criminalises the profession of
journalism,"
said Masters-Smith.
Aippa, which was bulldozed by
Moyo through the Zanu PF parliamentary
caucus and eventually parliament amid
serious resistance from the MDC and
some Zanu PF MPs, received probably the
harshest criticism from the
parliamentary legal committee when it was still a
Bill.
Said Eddison Zvobgo, chairman of the committee, when he
presented an
adverse report on the Bill to the House: "This Bill, in its
original form,
was the most calculated and determined assault on our
liberties guaranteed
by the constitution in the 20 years I served as cabinet
minister. Your
committee expresses its gratitude to the minister of justice,
legal and
parliamentary affairs, honourable Patrick Chinamasa, for his
unstinting
heroism, through amendments, to give the Bill a human face. It is
a matter
for regret that some unconstitutional provisions still
remain."
Zim Standard
Thirsty Xmas anticipated
By Kumbirai
Mafunda
ZIMBABWEANS are set to experience one of their worst ever
festive
seasons following revelations of a soft drinks shortage.
The Standard understands that United Bottlers, the company solely
responsible
for the bottling of carbonated soft drinks, lacks the sugar
supplies needed
to manufacture large quantities of drinks required for a
holiday
period.
Peter Karimatenga, the general manager in charge of the
manufacture of
soft drinks at United Bottlers, confirmed in an interview with
The Standard
that they had indeed been receiving insufficient deliveries of
sugar and
that the problem had been exacerbated by the collapse of the
Zimglass
furnace in Gweru, which normally supplied his company with glass
containers.
Said Karimatenga: "It is a combination of two factors.
Firstly, we
have been experiencing problems in getting sufficient sugar
because the ZSR
has been having difficulties getting coal for their blast
furnaces in
Harare. The other thing is that Zimglass has not been able to
supply us with
glass bottles."
He said they had made proposals
to the ministry of industry and
international trade for the importation of
sugar but no response had as yet
been received from that quarter.
Zim Standard
Zim outlook bleak
sundayopinion By Charles
Fritzell
AS the situation continues to deteriorate in Zimbabwe one
needs to
consider the possible outcomes. It is difficult to predict the
future,
especially so in unstable regions of the world. In order to come up
with any
guesses as to the course of the future one has to clearly understand
the
aims and strategies of those holding power.
It is clear that
the fundamental aim of Mugabe and Zanu PF is to
retain power at any cost to
the nation, for a number of reasons.
Firstly, there is the need to
avoid retribution. Because of the
heinous crimes committed, which include
genocide and corruption at a
staggering level the fear of retribution should
a democratically elected
government come to power is all
encompassing.
The perpetrators live in daily terror of their crimes
against the
people becoming known. Because of the culture of fear and secrecy
these
crimes are very likely to be far worse than so far guessed. Many
crimes
however are a matter of public record, murders where the perpetrators
are
known, arson where the perpetrators are known and massive corruption
where
the perpetrators are known.
As an aside, I believe that
analysts could be correct when they
surmise that the regime are trying to
gain a two thirds majority in
parliament so that they can alter the
constitution to suit their own ends.
When or if this happens, one should
expect the death penalty to be removed
and some sort of legislation passed
granting immunity from prosecution to
those presently in power. However, I
would expect these amendments to be
repealed by any democratically elected
government.
The second major motivation is pure greed. Those in the
elite have
used the opportunities offered to become obscenely wealthy without
any
productive effort at all. Insider deals, blackmail and
straightforward
confiscation have all added to this wealth. Even the armed
force
intervention in the DRC, paid for by the taxpayer, has become a source
of
huge wealth to some. Contracts are handed out to cronies and all manner
of
crooked deals are taking place daily.
If those are the aims,
what are the strategies? Firstly, the armed
forces and police now operate
merely as enforcers for a criminal regime. The
judiciary too has been
subverted. There is thus a fertile climate for
gangsterism, where there is no
law other than that dictated by the regime,
who are not subject to any laws
themselves. Members of the regime have
become untouchable and immune to
prosecution, whatever the crimes they
commit, including murder.
Second, the Robin Hood strategy has been very successfully
implemented. Goods
and property belonging to the 'haves' are seized and
distributed to the
'have-nots'. Because human nature is such that almost all
will jump at the
chance of acquiring something of value without having to
work for it, this
has worked extremely well.
It also resonates well with the
fundamental tenets of socialist and
communist ideology. The goods of others
are parcelled out as rewards to one'
s followers. This implicates them in
your own crimes and makes them
dedicated supporters, because to protest later
would label them as the
thieves they are.
An adjunct to this has
been the playing of 'the race card'. By and
large, the white and Asian
population are better off than the black masses
(though not nearly as wealthy
as the new elite.)
Racism lurks in every society and can be fanned
into flame by any
morally bankrupt regime. The examples are endless. It is
also a very emotive
issue in most of Africa. There has also been a cynical
play on the
post-colonial guilt felt by many countries in Europe, where the
negative
aspects are endlessly repeated and the positive aspects are totally
ignored.
This has been very effective in paralysing British reaction to the
outright
thuggery and racism of the regime.
Third, common thugs
are used to terrorise the general population. In
the case of Zimbabwe these
are the so-called 'war veterans' both young and
old, and now the infamous
Border Gezi youths. These dregs of humanity are
given free licence to beat,
rape and steal as they want, with no fear of
retribution other than from
their masters should they fail to please them,
or should they step out of
line.
This is a tried and trusted tactic used by all repressive
regimes
since time began. These tactics were extensively used, tried and
tested in
the liberation war, where far more black peasants were killed by
the
liberation forces than by the Rhodesian army. There was also at that time
a
deliberate policy of mutilation, rape and other atrocities to terrorise
the
people. These tactics are now being recycled.
Fourth, in
order to preserve the status quo as much as possible, great
efforts are made
to disguise a dictatorship as democracy. To this end,
elections are blatantly
rigged, opposition members killed and the electorate
are terrorised because
there will always be a number of like-minded leaders
who will endorse these
mock elections as being valid. We have seen South
Africa, Namibia and others
do just that in the recent past.
Perhaps last but by no means
least, is the control of all news and
information coming into and going out
of the country. The vast mass of the
people does not have any access to
unbiased news; they are incessantly
bombarded by government propaganda. The
print media are not all government
controlled, and so strenuous efforts are
constantly made to harass and
discredit the free press. Evidence of the fear
of information can be seen in
the use of government thugs to prevent the
distribution of independent
newspapers in certain areas of the
country.
All internal FM radio stations of the ZBC serve as
propaganda outlets
for the regime. There are two external radio stations, but
they broadcast on
short wave and not many people possess short-wave
receivers.
In summary, the strategy is to ensure the total
breakdown of law and
order and replace it with a system of patronage and
regional warlords.
What then are the possible
outcomes?
In my opinion, violent and systematic opposition is
unlikely. This is
because the general population are very docile and at
present have no
focussed outside support, whereas the present regime relied
heavily on the
eastern bloc for logistical and tactical support in their
day.
Without this support I doubt they would have achieved anything
at all.
There may be sporadic riots as starvation grips the nation, but the
well-fed
and relatively affluent police and military will put these down
ruthlessly
because they know they have been compromised and will be called to
account
for their actions should democracy prevail.
It must also
be realised that the generality of people are unarmed and
powerless in the
face of the government. It is relatively easy for quite a
small proportion of
the population to thoroughly terrorise the majority,
most especially when
there is no recourse to law of any kind. Those armchair
strategists calling
for rebellion conveniently forget this vital point.
However, if
foreign-based insurgency should break out, then it would
probably be based in
Botswana, Mozambique and possibly Zambia as well.
Zimbabwe has vulnerable
borders. South Africa and Namibia would not allow
operations from their soil.
Nujoma openly supports Mugabe and Mbeki tacitly
supports him. This would
become yet another long and bloody African civil
war as in Angola,
Mozambique, Congo and Uganda, totally destroying the
country in the
process.
Outside intervention is highly unlikely at present. The
USA is
currently preoccupied with Iraq, and has drawn the EU and UK into
this
preoccupation. Though the US may indeed engage in food drops to
alleviate
starvation, they are unlikely to use military force unless attacked
by
Zimbabwean armed forces.
Africa has already set the scene for
the most likely outcome. What
little remains of the rule of law will very
soon disappear entirely. There
is no way that Mugabe and his associates will
relinquish power voluntarily.
This must be fully understood by all those
desiring regime change in
Zimbabwe.
Mugabe and his henchmen have
made certain that it cannot occur
democratically or peacefully. At present,
the opportunities are limited and
the outlook is bleak.
Zim Standard
Using fear as a tool
By Chido
Makunike
HOW is it that a government so unpopular and so unable to
deal with so
many of the fundamental issues affecting the lives of
Zimbabweans-as the
Mugabe regime is-seems to be so entrenched in
power?
The list of shortages grows by the day; prices keep
skyrocketing;
there is no Aids strategy to speak of while the death toll
mounts;
underfunded hospitals are merely places to go and die in; hunger
stalks the
land in the midst of the political decimation of agriculture
accompanied by
drought; companies that have not yet gone under stumble from
day to day;
government officials work overtime to enact ever more repressive
laws and
Zimbabwe continues to be a pariah state. How does Mugabe hang on in
the face
of this amazing catalogue of failure?
Part of the
answer lies in the highly developed apparatus of fear that
has countless
manifestations, some subtle and others not so subtle. One of
the factors that
make it so sophisticated is that it is not necessarily
apparent. If you are a
Zimbabwean who generally keeps his or her head down
politically, or a
foreigner visiting parts of the urban areas or tourist
resorts for a few
days, you are unlikely to come face to face with the
apparatus of fear that I
talk about.
Apart from the hired visiting foreign guns who
dutifully parrot the
regime's sanitised version of life in Zimbabwe, we have
also observed
visitors who come on their own and are genuinely puzzled about
what all the
fuss is about, when Zimbabwe superficially seems to be so
peaceful and
orderly. The riot police they expect to see at every street
corner are not
in evidence, there is no blood flowing in the streets and
Zimbabweans go
about their business in their usual easy-going style. Where is
the evidence
then, of the repression of the Mugabe government they have heard
so much
about?
The very subtlety of it is what makes it
difficult to detect, and yet
it so devastatingly and oppressively effective.
Ruling with a ruthless iron
fist, while simultaneously giving the impression
of normality, calm and
benevolence on the surface, is a tactic the Mugabe
government has mastered
far better than the Smith regime.
The
sophistication of the oppression, helped greatly by the
easy -going,
obedient, respectful nature of the Zimbabwean character I
alluded to earlier,
makes for a deadly mix, and answers the question
increasingly asked by many
Zimbabweans, as well as many others in the world,
as to why we seem so
helpless in the face of a government that cannot point
to anything that it
can claim to be doing right for the country.
Crooked ministers with
shady backgrounds are the same people given the
power to draft, ram through
and enthusiastically push for the enforcement of
all kinds of petty laws that
seem to criminalise what would ordinarily pass
for public and individual
sentiment in a genuinely free country.
Top civilian politicians and
uniformed men better known for their
ruthless suppression of their fellow
citizens are openly, admiringly touted
as future presidents and subsequently
promoted and protected. The message
that there is a different set of rules
for these dubious characters is
internalised in the population. It is
understood by the subjects that not
only are these men immune from
prosecution for their transgressions, but may
actually hold on to their power
because of them, as it makes them interested
stake holders in the existing
system of corruption and oppression.
On the one hand, we understand
the chilling message the rulers
cleverly intend for us through their symbolic
actions (or inactions), while
on the other hand in parliament, in the
cabinet, at parades and other fora
and ceremonies,we are expected to react to
the rulers as if they were
ordinary, clean public servants, instead of some
of the key players in
preserving the dysfunctional status quo.
It is not necessary for them to come right out and tell us that we had
better
behave ourselves, or else. We are expected to read between the lines
and
through various symbolisms, just how far we can go towards expressing
our
sickness and tiredness at seeing the way our country has in every way
gone to
the dogs.
If a minister known to be a thief is appointed and
retained for years,
even when rejected by the voters, it is quite clear that
no amount of public
protestation at the thieving ways or other crimes of the
powerful who are
favoured will make any difference. The impunity with which
they can go about
their activities helps to plant the seed of fear in us, but
it is all done
in such a subliminal, genteel way that the regime can still
argue that we
are a representative democracy.
The increasingly
blatant fixing of elections is an interesting way of
trying to hold on to the
last shreds of a democratic veneer, while making it
clear that something as
petty as the will of the people is not going to be
allowed to upset the
status quo. The use of the fear of even greater
starvation than already
existed in the Insiza constituency, for example, was
used to produce the
desired result in the recent parliamentary by-election
there.
Even if the constituents knew they were being 'played' cynically, such
is the
power of the fear of hunger, and of defying an authority whose
ruthlessness
people in that part of the country are keenly, bitterly aware
of, that many
of them felt they had to go along, even if they knew the food
bait would
disappear within days of the announcement of the result,
whichever way it
went. That is the manifestation of the power of fear that
keeps people in
line.
On an even cruder level, selective beatings, torture and rape
are
used, with the perpetrators rarely brought to book. Many of the
incidences
are not even reported, because many of us no longer know if we
have any
reason to continue having faith in the police or the judiciary. As a
result,
even those of us who are not direct victims are cowed and fearful,
doing our
best not to incur the wrath of the authorities because we don't
believe we
would have recourse if abused. By making examples of a few people
outside
the glare of the limelight, the rest of us get the message of what
can
happen to us if we dare express unhappiness at our situation a little
too
vociferously.
An interesting thing about using fear as a
tool of power is it's
corrosive effect on it's perpetrator. When a man who
has openly boasted of
his capacity for violence, who often speaks in terms of
threats, and whose
party sees no shame in making official heroes out of its
leading enforcers
of violence, has to publicly confess that the increasingly
difficult effort
to keep a lid on a situation that is fast ravelling out of
control causes
him headaches and stomach aches, that is the boomerang effect
of fear at
work. You are used to inflicting fear, but now it is eating you up
as well.
Hence the astonishing, widely derided need to cook up laws
that make
it a criminal offence to make gestures thought to be disparaging of
the
presidential motorcade. That is raw fear and paranoia at work, a case
of
what you sent around, coming around.
On one level, because we
have been given ample evidence over the years
that if we do not behave as
expected in response to the subtle threats, the
authorities are not at all
averse to using more direct, cruder, bloodier
methods to keep us under
control, it is understandable that we succumb to
the fear, as intended. But
on the other hand, as invincible as the apparatus
of fear may seem, all it
takes to overcome it is for enough of us to master
our fear sufficiently to
refuse to be intimidated.
Are there enough Zimbabweans who are
tired enough of cowering on their
knees in fear of the brutal authorities to
refuse to continue to be
intimidated and silenced as this country sinks ever
lower by every measure
you can think of?
Zim Standard
Santa's fantasy economics
overthetop By
Brian Latham
True to form, a troubled central African country's
minister for
evasive answers to difficult questions about fuel supplies was
proved wrong
when he said fuel would be in plentiful supply last
week.
On a similar note, bookmakers taking bets on the issue
made
considerable amounts of money when the promised fuel did not
materialise.
Sadly they were unable to spend the money on petrol because
there was none.
Meanwhile the troubled central African nation's
innovative economists
promised a bleak Christmas. One economist went so far
as to dub the economic
policies of the troubled central African country as
"fantasy economics". He
said this was in the spirit of the Christmas season
which was largely a time
of fantasy.
"It'll have to be a time of
fantasy because it can't be a time of
giving," he said, adding that there
would be nothing to give.
Another economist said it required a leap
of the imagination for
residents of the troubled central African country to
get through the festive
season without too much depression. "We'll be putting
virtual petrol into
our motor cars in order to go virtual shopping for
virtual gifts," he said.
He explained that this was necessary because there
was no real petrol and it
was unlikely that there would be any real gifts
either.
"Only our virtual government can really expect people to
sell things
for less than they cost," he pointed out.
Still, the
troubled central African country's virtual government
entrenched its position
on the economy. Decrees from the ministry of fantasy
economics stated that
from this month every item sold would be sold at a
loss, thus depriving
hundreds of thousands of their jobs and thousands of
businessmen of their
businesses. Explaining the logic, a spokesman from the
ministry, speaking off
the record, said this was acceptable because the job
losses would occur
mainly in the urban areas, and everyone knew that these
areas were populated
exclusively by members of the More Drink Coming (You'll
be lucky) party and
other such traitors.
"When all these businesses have gone broke
because their white,
opposition, capitalist, neo-imperialist owners have
sabotaged the economy,
we will take them over and hand them to qualified and
incorruptible members
of the Zany RF party who will restore the economy in 48
hours," said the
spokesman on condition he was not quoted.
Asked
why the Zany party had renamed itself the Zany RF party, the
spokesman said
he had no idea, but it was something to do with historical
similarities
between itself and a previous government that also had
admirable views on law
and order. Still, it was noteworthy that the new Zany
RF party had managed to
bankrupt the country far more efficiently than its
predecessor and it
deserved recognition for this amazing accomplishment.
Returning to
the economic climate in the troubled central African
country, the spokesman
said it was a lie that there were shortages, adding
that just this morning
his wife had made piles of toast and he fully
expected to have sadza for his
supper.
Asked how he managed to acquire such luxuries when the rest
of the
country was starving, the spokesman emphasised that no patriotic
citizen
with a current party card (from the right party) would go hungry. It
was a
simple matter to get such a card and if one was youthful enough, one
could
also get a smart green uniform that was a passport to success and
a
hunger-free Christmas, he explained.
"By joining Dzaku Dzaku,
you are not only fulfilling your patriotic
and socialist duty, you are also
guaranteeing yourself and your family a
happy Christmas and a particularly
prosperous new year," said the spokesman.
Zim Standard
ZCC: Are you ready to face Judgement
Day?
THERE has been so much comment in the past two-and- a-
half years
about the role that various churches and church leaders are
playing, or
should be playing, in the political life of
Zimbabwe.
Last Thursday, the Ecumenical Documentation and
Information Centre in
Southern Africa (EDICISA) held a workshop in Harare for
media and church
workers on how the media can advance the cause of peace in
this country.
EDICISA should be congratulated for taking up the cudgels in a
peaceful way
to challenge both the Church and the journalists to become
forces for change
in Zimbabwe.
There is a very important reason
why the church, in partnership with
the media, should be involved in this
process. The church is and should be
concerned about the whole issue of the
struggle for peace, justice and
reconciliation in Zimbabwe. This is a task
which the church cannot in any
way be absolved of, or hand over the
responsibility to others. Indeed that
should be the central mission of the
church anywhere in the world.
In fact, EDICISA was born out of a
conference of Church leaders of
southern Africa which was held in Harare, on
14-16 July 1986. That
conference was held under the theme "The role of
Churches in the Liberation
Process of Southern Africa".
At that
time, apartheid was rearing its ugly head in both South Africa
and Namibia.
And Zimbabwe, though far from perfect, was nevertheless
respected for its
reconciliation policy, justice, good governance,
reconstruction and
development. That is why the conference was held in
Zimbabwe in the first
place.
Fourteen years later in 2000, Zimbabwe has descended into a
tunnel of
madness and the struggle for justice, peace and reconciliation is
back in
focus. The tables have been turned. We are back at the starting
point, so to
speak. This is the serious dilemma in which the church, the
media and
Zimbabweans as a whole find themselves.
Like in
apartheid South Africa, there is a growing thrust of the
momentum of justice,
peace and human rights in the hearts of millions of
Zimbabweans on one hand,
and the growing fear of the minority black ruling
elite that they will lose
everything they have looted in recent years on the
other. A classic situation
of polarisation, of conflict and possible
bloodshed.
Where does
the church stand in this regard? What role should the
church be playing in
this classic situation? For clearly, the democracy
deficit in Zimbabwe has
become a huge one.
We publish in this issue a letter to the Editor
by Rev Graham Shaw of
Bulawayo, in which he accuses the Zimbabwe Council of
Churches (ZCC) of
being a cruel betrayal to the victims of injustice and
oppression, of
appeasement and being politically correct and endorsing a
situation which is
clearly untenable.
We agree wholeheartedly
with these observations and sentiments. Save
for two or three church leaders,
notably Archbishop Pius Ncube and Retired
Rev Tim Neil, the church has failed
this country. What use is the church
when it cannot stand in critical
solidarity with the poor and the oppressed,
the hungry and the starving? The
Zimbabwe Council of Churches is clearly
supping with the devil when it cannot
condemn, consistently and regularly,
the conditions that have given rise to
the tragedy that is now consuming
Zimbabwe.
We know that the
response of ZCC will be, "Ah, but we are feeding the
hungry and starving."
Yes, you are, but that is not enough. This crafty
twist of the truth serves
the new ruling black elite well. From the ruling
class point of view, these
activities are conveniently conspicuous and
harmless. They give the
appearance that something is underway, thereby
throwing a smokescreen over
the deeper causes of poverty, the breakdown of
the rule of law, violation of
human rights and the destruction of the
economy in the name of land
redistribution exercise.
Merely calling on "that there may be pace
and prosperity" and calling
upon "the newly resettled farmers to make the
possible use of land entrusted
to them", as the Zimbabwe Council of Churches
did in their recent press
statement, is to evade the central core of the
problem in this
country-namely power and greed, as well as political
legitimacy through a
transparent, free and fair electoral process. On this
and many other deeper
issues, there is deafening silence from the Zimbabwe
Council of Churches.
Are ZCC leaders content to be merely church leaders
rather than Christian
leaders? That is the question.
We are here
challenging the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and other
Church leaders to
examine their own consciences, to look at themselves in
the mirror and be
true to their deepest nature and come forward and present
to the Zimbabwean
society the essential meaning of the message which you
proclaim as good news.
And good news is news based on truth, based on what
is actually happening in
the lives of people and communities.
The majority of Christian
leaders in Zimbabwe are so far behind in
their understanding of what is
actually happening on the ground in Zimbabwe.
They are preaching a gospel
which in many respects is far removed from the
actual sphere of the struggle
and suffering of the people. ZCC does appear
to be living on a different
planet from the rest of us ordinary folks.
What a pity that there
are so many churches and church leaders, but so
few Christians actually
participating to address the deeper causes of the
Zimbabwean tragedy. Be they
ordained or self-appointed, operating from a
cathedral or an open field,
dressed in religious finery or a white sheet,
these charlatans and false
prophets cannot hide from God the cruel betrayal
and
insincerity.
True Christians have the courage and moral conviction
of the Son of
God whom they claim to follow. True Christians openly practise
consistently
His teachings of love, truth and justice. True Christians do not
support
evil and neither do they promote racism in the Church. They do not
issue
bland and ineffective statements that amount to appeasement and support
for
a corrupt political system.
By not siding openly with the
victims of violence, injustice and
oppression, you, the Zimbabwe Council of
Churches, will one day face
Judgement Day. Are you ready for it?
Zim Standard
Letter
The worst profession
THE once noble teaching profession has become the object of derision
because
of the policies of the Mugabe regime.
I regret having chosen this
profession. What pride is there in a
profession that does not have adequate
renumeration for its members many of
whom now live below the poverty datum
line?
Us teachers are subjected to much scorn from illegal gold
panners,
omnibus touts and even vegetable street vendors who obviously make
three
times more than we do in just one week. Everyone, including our pupils,
know
that we are the least paid civil servants in MugabeÕs
Zimbabwe.
Chigwedere and the government are unaware of the fact
that many of us
rural teachers are having to sell sweets, freezits and
biscuits to try to
make ends meet. What else can we do?
Those
who fail to survive this way, are forced to borrow money for bus
fare from
the pupils who are only too eager to help. What do Chigwedere,
Leonard Nkala
of Zimta and the government make of this?
Chigwedere and his
ministry recently sent circulars to schools
commanding that teachers be in
suits when executing their duties. Where on
earth does he think we will get
the money to buy suits which now cost over
$40 000 each? Chigwedere should
move around the rural schools and see how
teachers are faring. He will see
teachers in old tattered clothing and
shoes.
The proposed 80%
salary adjustment to be effected in January is simply
an insult to teachers.
Is that what Leonard was negotiating for? Who is more
entitled to an
increment, the top government official or the teacher?
We need to
be guided by a man of conscience.
Makhehla
Filabusi
Zim Standard
War vets assault Zanu PF official
By our
own Staff
BULAWAYO-A senior Zanu PF official, Agrippa Mdlalo
Ndlukula, was on
Wednesday assaulted by war veterans inside the chambers of
the Insiza Rural
District Council after he insisted that landless youths
rather than a
government minister, should take over a rich farm in
Matabeleland South.
Ndlukula, who is the district treasurer for
Filabusi, was beaten up at
a meeting called to resolve a wrangle over a
section of the prime ranch,
Goddard Farm.
The farm, which
stretches from the Fort Rixon commercial farming area
down into the Filabusi
communal area, is suitable for cattle and animal
ranching. That part of the
ranch which is up for grabs, was surrendered to
the government a few months
ago by its owner identified only as Goddard.
The Standard
understands that this section of the farm has caused
serious squabbles within
the leadership circles of the Zanu PF Matabeleland
branch because, on the one
hand, a group of landless youths occupying the
land are insisting that they
are the rightful owners of the land while on
the other, Sithembiso Nyoni, the
minister of small and medium enterprises
development has also laid claim to
the farm.
On Wednesday, the Insiza District Coordinating committee
called a
meeting at the chambers of the Insiza Rural District Council to
decide on
the ownership of the farm.
Sources at the meeting told
The Standard that tempers flared when Zanu
PF district treasurer for
Filabusi, Ndlukula, insisted that the farm went to
its youthful
occupiers.
"Ndlukula was steadfast in his insistence that the farm
should go to
the youths of the district. But the war veterans who supported
Sithembiso
Nyoni, handcuffed him and beat him thoroughly using fists and
booted feet.
Ndlukula suffered head injuries and was treated at Filabusi
district
hospital," said the source.
"The officer in charge is
on leave and I cannot give you that
information," was all that the anonymous
officer could say after a long wait
while he consulted with other officers in
the background.
Zim Standard
Zanu PF card now a prerequisite for
traders
By Chengetai Zvauya
THE ruling Zanu PF, now
regarded by many as a rural political party,
has embarked on a violent
campaign to regain lost ground in a capital city
dominated by the opposition
MDC.
The campaign which kicked off in Mbare high density suburb two
months
ago, has already turned the populous area, the first port of call for
most
visitors to Harare, into a political hotbed.
Residents of
the suburb who talked to The Standard at the weekend said
Zanu PF militia had
set up terror bases in areas such as Magaba, Jo'burg
lines and Shawasha
hostels where several people, perceived to be MDC
supporters, were being
relentlessly beaten up.
It also emerged that only Zanu PF
supporters were being allowed to
trade at the Siyaso and Mupedzanhamo flea
markets, where over the years,
many unemployed people have derived their
livelihood.
Several informal traders told The Standard that the
only way they
could guarantee marketing space was if they attended the
frequently held
Zanu PF meetings.
"They have simply made it
clear that if you are not Zanu PF, you may
not trade in Mbare. If you shun
their meetings, you are simply inviting
trouble from the militias. The police
won't even help you," said a trader
who has spent much of her adult life
selling home grown tobacco at Mbare
Musika.
A man from Block
Number 7, Shawasha Flats who preferred to be
identified only as Constantine,
told The Standard that he had also fallen
victim to the militant Zanu PF
supporters.
"I was beaten up in Magaba by some Zanu PF youths
belonging to a
terror group called Chipangano. The group moves around the
constituency
attacking families known to be MDC supporters. The attacks
normally occur
after rallies," said Constantine.
At these
meetings, The Standard was told, Zanu PF officials take time
to remind people
of how Zimbabwe was won through a bitter armed struggle
which could easily be
evoked again if there was a danger of the country
returning to the Rhodesians
via the MDC.
At these meetings, scarce commodities such as mealie
meal are readily
available.
Tichaona Munyanyi, the MP for the
Mbare East constituency also
confirmed that Zanu PF officials, backed by
their militia, had been
campaigning day and night in the area.
In an interview with The Standard, Munyanyi said he believed that
the
campaign was aimed at wrestling the constituency from him.
The legislator was arrested a few months ago on allegations of
attempting to
murder Ali Manjengwa, a Zanu PF activist shot dead in Mbare.
Munyanyi was subsequently remanded in custody for two months and was
only
allowed out on being granted bail of $50 000 bail by the High Court.
However,
his health has greatly deteriorated due to an illness, he claims
began while
he was in the cells.
"It sounds weird that people can campaign for
your post when you haven
't yet been convicted of any offence, but it's
happening. Zanu PF youths and
militia are already flushing out members of the
opposition in the Mbare area
in anticipation of the much talked about 'by
election'. They are telling
residents that I will soon be locked up and the
seat declared vacant. I know
that Tony Gara is behind these youths who are
beating up people because he
is interested in my post," said Munyanyi, his
voice betraying deep anguish.
Contacted for comment, Gara who lost
to Munyanyi in the June 2000
parliamentary elections, dismissed the MDC
legislator's assertions.
"I cannot ask people to beat each other so
that they can vote for me.
Munyanyi must not tarnish my name for no good
reason. Ngaasiyane neni azive
zvekusungwa kwake. I have been a leader in that
constituency for 20 years so
there is no way I can incite violence in that
area," said Gara.
Zim Standard
Market records sudden high 12/8/02
Story
by By our own Staff
THE stock market gained 18% in the past week
with 55 out of 77
counters recording gains. However, analysts have predicted
that the
'resurrection' could be short-lived as the remaining weeks in the
year are
likely to be characterised by profit taking as some fund managers
take early
leave from investing.
Analysts say the sudden high in
the market was because investors had
realised that despite the carnage, the
stock market remained the only
profitable investment option available.
"Investors have nowhere to get real
value for money and are now coming back
to the market. There are no other
viable investment opportunities that are
better than the market at the
moment," said Patrick Saziwa, an analyst with
Kingdom Stock Brokers.
The market took a dive just after the budget
was unveiled resulting in
small investors and speculators panicking enough to
sell their equity.
Analysts attributed the sudden plunge to the budget, which
they said was not
investor friendly. The investors were also uncertain as to
the impact of the
new foreign currency exchange policy announced by the
governor of the RBZ,
Leonard Tsumba.
The investors, analysts
say, do not believe they have reason to be
optimistic. "Investors have also
realised that nothing much will change,
though there was lack of clarity on
the foreign exchange rate and interest
rate policies. The gains may, however,
only be recorded in the short to
medium term," said one analyst.
By close of trade on Thursday, most counters had gained significantly
but
analysts noted that the volumes were still thin.
Some investors
told Standard Business that the weak market was set to
spill over into the
first two months of next year. Saziwa said: "At the
moment, we foresee the
market maintaining but on the weak side until
companies start announcing
their results in March."
Truworths topped the week's top five
risers with a 62,5% rise amid
speculation of a share split. In spite of the
unclear exchange policy,
investors are taking the risk on counters with a
foreign perspective.
Old Mutual rose 51,9% to trade at $1 200 and
analysts say the share is
trading at a discount to parallel rate. PPC
continues to firm up putting
$200 on the week.
Good results
lifted ART up by 50% to trade at $45, while TZI traded at
$50,75 to record a
49,3% rise. Meikles and BATZ were the highest risers of
the week gaining
53,5% and 40% respectively.
Major recoveries were recorded for
ABCH, Afdis, Delta, TZI, Astra,
Gulliver, M&R, Meikles, Old Mutual and
Bicaf. There were no major losses and
analysts said this probably indicates a
'temporary" improvement in market
sentiment.
What this story
means: The ups and downs of the stock market are
making it even more
difficult for brokers to decide where to put their
money. If past records are
anything to go by, the stock market may be weaker
and volumes thinner in the
coming week due to profit taking and to some
brokers taking early breaks.
Zim Standard
National service for teachers 12/8/02
Story by By Parker Graham
MASVINGO-Some headmasters and teachers
from Masvingo's seven
administrative districts will from tomorrow begin their
stint in the widely
condemned national youth training service programme, in a
pilot project set
to be replicated across the country in a few months time,
The Standard can
reveal.
The first batch of teachers and
headmasters expected in camp tomorrow,
will be based at Mushagashe Training
Centre, some 30 kilometres outside of
Masvingo.
Their course
will last until 13 January 2003, although the
participants will be allowed a
break for the Christmas and New Year
holidays.
The programme,
which was meant to be top secret, came to light on
Friday when a disgruntled
civil servant disclosed to The Standard that
militant war veterans leader,
Joseph Chinotimba was scheduled to address
headmasters and teachers of the
recently formed Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
(TUZ) at Victoria Junior School in
Masvingo.
The TUZ, an affiliate of Chinotimba's Zimbabwe Federation
of Trade
Unions (ZFTU) which is aligned to the Zanu PF regime, has been
tasked with
destroying the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ)
which has
completely routed the traditional government ally, the Zimbabwe
Teachers
Association (Zimta).
The Standard managed to sneak into
the meeting, also attended by war
veterans and state security agents, where
Chinotimba successfully coerced
teachers and headmasters into undergoing the
discredited national service
training.
Said a highly charged
Chinotimba: "Without this orientation (national
service), the government will
always treat you with suspicion. To be honest
with you, headmasters and
teachers present here, those who fail to do this
training will not get some
of the benefits which those who will have
undergone the training will
receive.
"We discovered that most of you teachers have been
sympathising with
the opposition MDC and are still drilling MDC politics into
our children. So
for you to be in harmony with the government you must go for
the training.
You can only be patriotic if you undergo this
course."
Chinotimba also told the teachers that participants in the
first
intake would automatically replace the 700 teachers fired for embarking
on
the PTUZ organised strike in Harare.
Addressing the concerns
of headmasters who said they were too old to
undergo the training, Chinotimba
said: "You are not going to toyi-toyi like
the youths, but you will have to
be drilled in theories of national service
and then you can go
back."
After his address, some known Zanu PF supporters among the
headmasters
and teachers, urged their fellows to take up the offer and
eventually it was
agreed that the first batch, comprising 120 educationists,
would commence
their training tomorrow and continue until 13 January
2003.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Chinotimba admitted that he
had
travelled to Masvingo for a meeting with TUZ members, but denied
having
threatened teachers and headmasters into submitting to the
programme.
"National service is not forced. It is a voluntary thing
which is not
confined to the youth alone. Students and teachers and even old
people can
go there. Even you can come to either myself or Cde Elliot Manyika
and ask
to go for national service so that you can write your stories well,"
said
Chinotimba.
Raymond Majongwe, the secretary-general of the
PTUZ confirmed that his
organisation was aware of the secret programme for
teachers.
"We are aware of that plan and already know of some
teachers who have
gone through it. It is totally unacceptable because it
defeats the whole
purpose of having teachers in society if they are going to
be ideologically
aligned with a certain political party through such a
training programme.
Teachers should rise above party ideologies," he
said.
Teachers, who constitute the bulk of the civil service, have
been at
the receiving end of the wrath of the Zanu PF regime over their
alleged
reluctance to support the ruling party which views them as community
leaders
in the rural areas.
From News24 (SA), 7
December
Food centre for hungry
village
Bikita, Zimbabwe - The crop fields are lush green in Bikita.
But 1 000 hungry people in this remote southern area of Zimbabwe queue quietly
under the midday sun for food aid. They're just a fraction of the eight million
starving in this southern African country. Each person standing in this feeding
centre queue in Bikita, some 240km south-east of Harare, has come to collect aid
for at least two other people. Most of those waiting bear no visible signs of
hunger - no really emaciated bodies here, no protruding ribs. They have been
subsisting on wild fruit, one of those queuing tells reporters. The feeding
centre, reached down a dirt track of several kilometres, is manned by aid agency
Care for the UN's World Food Programme. Villagers are called up to receive their
rations - corn meal and beans - according to the villages they come from. The
orderly queue is disturbed momentarily by a pair of cavorting donkeys, who send
children shrieking and screaming. "Our major problems are hunger, a serious
drought and no rains," said Louise Nyambirai, an elderly woman from Madzvara
village, about five kilometres away. Elderly people are among those suffering
most in the current crisis, a Care field officer says. Many of them cannot read
or write and therefore fail to get registered for food aid. "The law of the
jungle is taking its toll here," said the official, George Baloyi. He explained
that the elderly illiterate have to rely on the village headman's younger scribe
taking down their details. But often the scribe makes sure his own family gets
priority on the list. "People with influence want to survive. They (the elderly)
don't have any form of influence. They can't read, they can't write." One
example is 70-year-old Seraphina Mawere. Leaning on her stick, barefoot and with
a woollen cap protecting her head from the sun, she has been forced to walk from
village to village begging for food. She has never been on a food list.
The Aids pandemic, rife in rural areas like Bikita, aggravates
the problem. "What you've got is this poisonous, ugly concoction of Aids and
famine. The immune systems are so shorn of strength because of the hunger, that
people die more quickly," the UN's special envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa, Stephen
Lewis, said on a visit to Bikita on Friday. A shortage of basic medicines to
treat HIV patients meant that people in the area were "dying under the most
grotesque of circumstances," he said, adding that the problem of Aids orphans
had become overwhelming. "Every day the numbers of orphans go up," he said.
There have been accusations that food aid is being distributed along party
political lines in Zimbabwe. "We tell people that food should not be used as a
weapon to square up scores with your enemies," Care official George Baloyi says.
He points to the white sacks of US-provided corn and beans that are being shared
among the hungry villagers. "It should be used freely, as it comes to us a free
gift." However, people waiting in the queues complained that the rations - which
are provided once a month - lasted the average family only eight days. The rest
of the time they have to go back to their diet of wild fruit. Zimbabwe is the
worst-hit of six southern African countries facing famine. And according to the
UN's Lewis, only 56% of the food required by the WFP to feed hungry Zimbabweans
has been met by donors. Meanwhile the numbers of hungry people continue to
mount. The green fields offer no promise of a food-filled tomorrow. Already the
maize which has germinated is wilting in the oppressive heat. The
desperately-needed rains have not arrived yet this season."There's no hope,"
villager Serina Murindiwa said. The maize her village planted had already died
from lack of rain, she said. Without rain the trees will soon stop bearing fruit
to see them through.