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Zimbabwe governor's penchant for finer things in life sees her grab lucrative farm

Zim Online

Sat 18 February 2006

      BULAWAYO - The governor of Matabeleland North province, Thoko
Mathuthu, who a few months ago blew more than Z$2 billion of taxpayers'
money living it up at a local hotel, has seized a former white farm in the
province's wildlife rich Gwayi district, ZimOnline has established.

      Mathuthu, who was appointed governor by President Robert Mugabe last
year, spent six months living in a Bulawayo hotel at the government's
expense saying she did not have alternative accommodation in the city. The
controversial governor, who is the highest-ranking official in Matabeleland
North, left the hotel reportedly only after Mugabe had personally told her
to do so.

      The governor three weeks ago forcibly moved onto Dete Valley farm
displacing dozens of villagers who had occupied the farm.

      "A storm is brewing with villagers who allege they were brought onto
the farm by local politicians .. they are saying they will not rest until
Mathuthu moves out," said a source, who witnessed Mathuthu moving her
belongings to the farm three weeks ago.

      Mathuthu, who ironically as governor oversees land redistribution in
Matabeleland North, refused to take questions on the matter when contacted
by ZimOnline. "I have no comment to make," was all she would say before
switching off her mobile phone.

      Powerful government and ruling ZANU PF party officials have in recent
months expelled villagers from former white-owned farms they occupied during
the height of the government's farm seizure programme. Many of the
politicians now seizing land from villagers already own more than one farm
each against the government's publicly stated one-man-one-farm policy.

      State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa, who is also in charge of land
redistribution, was this week quoted in the state media as having said that
several top government officials were hoarding some farms through private
companies either formed or bought from the shelve just for the purposes of
providing a front to acquire farms. - ZimOnline.


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Government minister convicted of culpable homicide

Zim Online

Sat 18 February 2006

      BULAWAYO - A Zimbabwe government minister was on Thursday convicted of
culpable homicide after he fatally  knocked down a pedestrian in the
country's second biggest city of Bulawayo more than two years ago.

      Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, who is the Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary
Education, was convicted of negligent and careless driving which claimed the
life of one Handina Pekhams.

      But Ndlovu's attorney's immediately appealed against the conviction
and sentence at the High Court arguing that the magistrate had failed to
consider several issues in handling the case.

      The magistrate, Sibongile Msipa, postponed passing sentence
indefinitely.

      The state charged that in October 2003, the deputy minister lost
control of his vehicle and knocked down a pedestrian  in Bulawayo. Ndlovu
sped off from the scene only to return an hour later. The pedestrian died on
the spot after sustaining serious injuries.

      In his defence, Ndlovu said he did not realise he had run over a
person only returning after noticing a dent on his vehicle. But state
witnesses told the court that the deputy minister had been negligent in
handling the case.

      The High Court is still to set dates to hear the appeal. If the appeal
fails, Ndlovu could be jailed and his driver's licence revoked. - ZimOnline


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Mugabe wants new British envoy to help build bridges with Harare

Zim Online

Fri 17 February 2006

      HARARE - President Robert Mugabe on Thursday told incoming British
ambassador to Zimbabwe Dr Andrew Pocock to help build bridges between his
country and the Harare authorities.

      Mugabe spoke after the new British ambassador presented his
credentials at State House in Harare.

      "If you report as your government wants, why send you here? We want
you here to help construct formidable bridges.

      "We need a bridge with the British. We politicians come and go, but
the people are there at all times," Mugabe said.

      Zimbabwe has had a frosty relationship with Britain since 2000 after
Mugabe seized commercial farms from whites for redistribution to landless
blacks.

      Mugabe has used international gatherings to launch virulent attacks at
British Prime Minister Tony Blair whom he accuses of reneging on his word to
fund land reforms in Zimbabwe.

      Mugabe also accuses Blair of sponsoring Zimbabwe's main opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party to initiate regime change in the
country. Both Britain and the MDC deny the charge.

      Mugabe told the British ambassador: "You don't go about changing
governments. You leave it to the people unless there is chaos and a country
needs assistance; even then, there are regional organisations.

      "You cannot just say from 10 Downing Street (the official residence of
the British Prime Minister): 'I don't like that man.'

      "I did not say (British Premier Mr Tony) Blair must like or love me. I
am a man; I am offended by gay values. My people love me," Mugabe said.

      Britain, the United States and other major Western powers imposed
targeted sanctions on Mugabe and his top lieutenants four years ago after
they accused Mugabe of failing to uphold democracy and committing serious
human rights violations. Mugabe denies the charge. - ZimOnline


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Bodies of fetuses, newborns clog Harare's sewers

CNN

Zimbabwe's shortages, inflation blamed for rise in illegal abortions

Friday, February 17, 2006; Posted: 11:35 a.m. EST (16:35 GMT)

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- The corpses of at least 20 newborn babies and
fetuses are found each week in the sewers of Zimbabwe's capital, some having
been flushed down toilets, Harare city authorities said, according to state
media Friday.
Town Clerk Nomutsa Chideya said the babies' remains were found among a wide
variety of waste and garbage cleared by city council workers unblocking
sewers and drains in Harare.

"Apart from upsetting the normal flow of waste, it is not right from a moral
standpoint. Some of the things that are happening now are shocking," the
state Herald, a government mouthpiece, reported Chideya as saying.

Acute shortages of revenue and gasoline in the nation's worst economic
crisis since independence in 1980 have crippled public utilities and garbage
collection services across Zimbabwe.

Hospital fees and charges for scarce medicines have soared. Church and
charity groups blame economic hardships for an increase in illegal
back-street abortions.

Chideya said workers removed at least 20 tons of sand from sewers every day.
Inflation is running at 613 percent and many impoverished Zimbabweans,
unable to afford cleaning materials or detergents, use sand to scour cooking
pots and household dishes.

Salt is also used as a substitute for toothpaste.


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Mugabe's Men Severely Assault Journalist

Zim Daily

            Friday, February 17 2006 @ 03:45 AM GMT
            Contributed by: ZimdailyReporter

            An unemployed Zimbabwean journalist is bedridden following a
severe beating during a Harare blackout by men who accused him of being a
correspondent for broadcasters who are hostile to the Zimbabwean government.
Gift Phiri was unemployed following the closure of his newspaper the Tribune
by Zimbabwean authorities under draconian legislation meant to clamp down
the independent Press.

            And the assault came only three weeks after the Minister in
charge of the Central Intelligence Agency, President Robert Mugabe's
goon-squad, Didymus Mutasa warned that the net was closing in on journalists
he claimed are threatening national security. The threat was reported in the
government-controlled Press and widely condemned by Press Freedom watchdogs.
Under the draconian legislation now controlling Zimbabwe's Press journalists
are not allowed to write anything for publication without being licensed by
the government Media Information Commission (MIC) which recently refused to
accredit journalists from the one of the two remaining independent
newspapers, the Zimbabwe Independent, unless its editor retracted a story.

            The Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists,
Foster Dongozi, said yesterday Phiri, a former political editor at the
Independent, had reported to the union and to the Police that he was
assaulted by three unidentified men who accused him of writing for
anti-government agencies and being anti-Zanu PF. Speaking from Harare he
said there was a black-out, as has become common in Harare, and Phiri was
arriving home from watching a football game when he was pounced on in the
dark in the suburb of Sunningdale, headbutted and tripped to the ground.

            The assailants claimed that he was working for the Voice Of
America News, Zimonline and Zimdaily and they demanded to know who the other
journalists who were working for Studio 7 and the rest of the news wires
were. Dongozi said his union was following up the reports with State
Security Minister and Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi who controls the
Police, because Phiri had identified one of the assailants as a man who
frequents the Harare Press Club where Zimbabwean journalists play cat and
mouse with the security agents.

            "We hope that this is not a total assault on the Press, because
our government already has a poor human rights record. And this comes at a
time when we were, together with the government, trying to normalise the
situation through media self-regulation. "We have rejected the idea of being
regulated by the government through MIC, which as you see can abuse its
powers by demanding that a newspaper retracts a story before its journalists
can be accredited," said Dongozi. Many journalists in Zimbabwe are now
unemployed following the closure the Daily News and the Tribune and the
refusal of MIC to register other independent newspapers.

            While Zimbabwean journalists who are outside the country and
some international journalists have been gallant in their efforts to expose
the excesses of the Zimbabwean government, hoping for an international
response, the international community seems to be content to watch and
condemn the goings on while claiming to be hamstrung by lack of a security
council resolution on Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has slid from being the Jewel of
Africa to being a basket case without medicines in the hospitals, with
intermittent electricity even in the city center and the industrial areas so
dependent on continuous electricity supply and no food even after a good
rainy season in a country that used to export to the rest of the region. As
dissent increases, so does the repression, which has caused the government
to become very suspicious of journalists who they blame for exposing the
conditions in the country.


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White Farmers, Mutasa Meet Over Farm Disputes

Zim Daily

            Friday, February 17 2006 @ 03:42 AM GMT
            Contributed by: correspondent
            Special Affairs minister Didymus Mutasa mediated a two-hour
meeting Wednesday between leaders representing thousands of squatters
occupying white-owned farms in Zimbabwe and leaders of the Commercial
Farmers Union, which represents most of the country's remaining 500 white
farmers. "What we have agreed is that hostilities should cease and we should
work towards a solution," said CFU president Doug Taylor Freeme said. The
meeting followed an impassioned plea made by white farmers last week to
government to stop land invasions, which first started more than five years
ago with the launch of the land reform programme.

            In a statement - later dismissed as "hogwash" by Agriculture
Minister Joseph Made - the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) called for all
stakeholders to work together to rebuild Zimbabwe's struggling agricultural
sector. But following the meeting, Doug Taylor Freeme of the Commercial
Farmers Union, said, "We've seen each others' side and discussed each
others' problems, and I believe that in the interests of national unity we
will be able to get to a result that is satisfactory."

            The key question in coming days is whether the commitment to a
peaceful resolution by the leaders is followed through by their followers.
The thousands of squatters who have occupied white owned farms in recent
weeks do not appear likely to withdraw immediately. The first step, Mutasa
said, is that land has to be made available by the farmers. "What are the
farmers prepared to do?" he said. "What land are they prepared to yield at
the moment?"

            Mutasa backs the squatters, who began renewed invasions recently
despite impassioned pleas by central bank governor Gideon Gono to halt any
further farm disturbances. After the meeting, Mutasa said white farmers
should be able to return as long as they had offer letters. "If the war vets
can pledge not to interfere with them, I don't see any reason why they
should not go back," he said. Mutasa said that with the squatters' promise
to refrain from violence he saw no reason to deploy extra police.

            The farmers, meanwhile, feel abandoned and defenseless, without
support from their president, the police unwilling to help them and the
courts essentially ineffective. "We're scared. We've got nobody to look
after us," a farmer told Zimdaily. "We are totally alone ... we just have to
trust in what happens." Many are thinking of turning their backs on Zimbabwe
and emigrating. There is little confidence in those who say they're
committed to a peaceful resolution.


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Chamber Of Mines, RBZ In Crisis Talks

Zim Daily

            Friday, February 17 2006 @ 03:41 AM GMT
            Contributed by: correspondent
            The Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe (Chamber) yesterday held a
meeting with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to discuss problems
bedevilling the mining sector particularly smuggling of gold. The Chamber of
Mines delegation was led by its chief executive officer, David Murangari.
This meeting comes after the central bank governor, Gideon Gono, had raised
concern over the increase in consumption of imported raw materials without a
reciprocal increase in output and decline in gold production which he
attributed to smuggling.

            While announcing his monetary policy for the fourth quarter
2005, Gono said gold production during 2005 had plummeted by 37% from 21 342
kgs in 2004 to 13 453 kgs and attributed the decline to smuggling. Gono said
that the consumption of imported raw materials like electricity, explosives,
chemicals, spare parts and machinery was increasing without a reciprocal
increase in mineral output.

            He also said that the mining industry should take advantage of
firming international minerals prices by increasing production and exports
in 2006.
            In a document dated January 30, 2006 written to the Mines
Minister Amos Midzi, in response to the issues raised by the governor, the
Chamber said while there was a significant drop in production by small
producers, the large producers still maintained their production levels.

            "An examination of the gold production statistics between 2004
and 2005 suggest that the small producers delivered 10 447 kgs and 2 980 kgs
respectively to Fidelity while the large producers delivered 10 883 kgs and
10 006 kgs respectively," the Chamber said. The Chamber further said the
increased in usage of raw materials should be taken positively as an
indication of increased activity in the mining sector which was crumbling.


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2006 Economic Blueprint Out



The Herald (Harare)

February 17, 2006
Posted to the web February 17, 2006

Harare

GOVERNMENT has released the 2006 economic outlook.

Economic Development Minister Mr Rugare Gumbo says Government would this
year concentrate on an effective and systematic coordination of its policies
and programmes for sustainable economic growth.

Haphazard implementation of economic policies has slowed the pace of
economic recovery in the past, hence the need for a roadmap.

"My ministry will play an important role in coordinating the implementation
of Government policies and development programmes to ensure that our growth
prospects are attained," he said in a report titled: "Zimbabwe's Economic
Outlook for 2006 and Key Economic Policy Measures to Address Challenges
Facing the Economy", released yesterday.

"Already, the ministry has finalised the National Development Priority Plan
for 2006. The NDPP lays down the national policy thrust and identifies key
national programmes and projects across all sectors of the economy for
implementation this year."

Previously, Government has been hamstrung by the lack of adequate monitoring
and accountability systems, which created a huge gap between policy
decisions and their implementation.

This year, the economy is forecast to grow by 2 percent spurred by improved
performance in agriculture, mining and manufacturing.

And to guard against last year's failure (GDP fell by 7 percent), it is
critical for Government to exercise extreme fiscal discipline, and ensure
policy initiatives are instituted as reflected on paper, Mr Gumbo said.

Boosting investor confidence, elimination of price and foreign currency
distortions and forging stronger partnerships with the private sector would
also be key in fighting the obtaining economic challenges.

He said: "Government recognises the role of the private sector as the engine
of economic growth. In this regard, Government is committed to close
cooperation with the private sector.

"The challenges facing the economy require that we develop a culture of
working together with a common shared vision in the interest of the nation."

Last year, the economy was projected to grow by between 3,5 percent and 5
percent but shrunk by similar margin due to the combined effects of
sanctions and drought.

Minister Gumbo said productivity in the agricultural industry was expected
grow by 9 percent this year spurred by improved maize and cotton production,
up from the 12 percent decline registered last year.

Between 350 000 and 400 000 tonnes of "white gold" are expected to be
produced while improved maize availability will effectively reduce the food
import bill.

The mining sector, which accounts for 4 percent of Zimbabwe's GDP and a
third of foreign currency earnings, is also projected to register a 15,2
percent growth while capacity utilisation is expected to go up on the back
normal agricultural season and rigorous promotion of value addition and
import substitution.

Minister Gumbo attributes this projected growth to robust performance in the
gold and platinum sectors.


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'Economic collapse in Zimbabwe a reality'

Business Report

February 17, 2006

Johannesburg - The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) says that
the economic and social collapse that it had predicted in Zimbabwe is now a
reality.

Speaking at the conclusion of a three-day meeting of its central executive
committee, the trade federation said: "Recent events in Zimbabwe have
confirmed Cosatu's analysis of the situation.

"The economic and social collapse which we predicted is now a reality.
Unemployment, hunger, mass emigration and now the electricity crisis all
point to a catastrophe."

It added that trade unions were facing new, more serious attacks from the
government.

"Numerous police raids, bogus allegations of corruption and currency
offences, and the infiltration of stooges into the unions are all being used
to try to destroy the labour movement. There is grave danger that police
will plant incriminating material on unionists in order to frame them."

"The CEC agreed that Cosatu must play an active part in the Zimbabwe
Solidarity Campaign," the trade federation said. - I-Net Bridge


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Food Insecurity Emergency Appeal

Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC)

Date: 17 Feb 2006

 Extract from:
Southern Africa: Food Insecurity Emergency Appeal no. 05EA023 Operations
Update No. 5
The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by
mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world's largest humanitarian
organization and its millions of volunteers are active in over 183
countries.

Operational Summary: The peak of the hunger season took hold in Southern
Africa at the beginning of 2006, with over12 million people in urgent need
of food support. Despite the desperate food shortages, the Federation's
emergency appeal remained dramatically under-funded, with many national
society plans to help the most vulnerable at their time of need being
dashed.

Against this difficult funding climate, excellent progress was made by the
Red Cross and Red Crescent actors in the region over the first six weeks of
2006. The Malawi Red Cross Society's first double food distribution for
17,000 households (over 100,000 people)-f unded by the appeal-w as
successfully completed and distributions of the much needed agricultural
seed starter packs took place in four of the affected countries (Malawi,
Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho), bringing a glimmer of hope to over 28,000
households. Distributions in Mozambique, Lesotho and Zambia will also be
forthcoming in February/March.

In January 2006, the Federation held a two-day food security workshop in
Johannesburg, South Africa, which brought together 50 key national society
staff from the region and several partner national societies (PNS) to ensure
coordination was achieved, to discuss implementation progress and to
prioritize on the way forward. Almost all delegate posts at the regional
delegation/national societies were secured. This, combined with deployment
of national society food security officers and the mobilization of countless
volunteers, increased the operational capacity and momentum of this crucial
programme.

Background

Food security across the region is deteriorating and an estimated 12 million
people face acute food shortages if relief efforts are not rapidly scaled
up. As highlighted in the appeal for this operation, the current food
insecurity is not only a result of the erratic rainfall patterns in 2004/5,
but also the chronic burden of HIV/AIDS and weakened government capacities.
This 'triple threat' is destroying already weakened and vulnerable families,
with even the most basic coping mechanisms now being eroded.

The period from December through to March/April in Southern Africa is always
a challenge for poorer households, as food stocks from the previous season's
harvest have been consumed and the next season's crops are not reaped,
creating a gap in food availability at the household level. Food prices
always increase at the market. Whilst an annually occurring food shortage
among poorer households is to be expected, reports are emerging that this
year's period- prior to the harvest- is one of the worst in recent decades.
Insufficient commercial grain imports and slow national and international
response efforts have resulted in a massive increase in the price of basic
food items, multiplying the number ofh ouses unable to afford food in the
marketplace.

The situation has become so acute in some pockets of Malawi and Zimbabwe,
that cereals are totally unavailable with the cereal gap in Zimbabwe noted
as 1.2 metric tonnes (MT) of maize alone. According to Famine Early Warning
System Network (FEWS NET), the government of Zimbabwe imported more than
762,000 MT of maize last year but chronic fuel shortages continue to
constrain maize distribution from government depots. In Malawi, th e
preliminary results of the National Nutrition Survey conducted in December
2005 revealed worrying increases in the malnutrition levels, with districts
in the central and southern regions being the most affected- with global
malnutrition rates exceeding 10% in three districts. The World Food
Programme (WFP) estimates that 5 million people need food aid, 2.8 million
of whom are children. Mozambique and Zambia and also facing critical food
access problems, whilst localized shortages are being experienced in Lesotho
and Swaziland.

People are trying to look forward to the next harvest in April/May, with
yields partially dependent on weather patterns. Following delays in the
start of the rainy season in some parts of the region, normal to above
normal rains that started in December 2005 stimulated cautious optimism.
Even with ideal weather patterns though, the most vulnerable households in
the region had little or no access to the necessary agricultural inputs such
as seeds, fertilizers and draught power. Additionally, areas of the Zambezi
River Basin have been flooded, affecting parts of Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe
and Mozambique, with Malawi and central Mozambique suffering the worst
floods, which caused loss of life, displacement and destroyed thousands of
hectares of cropland. Furthermore, army worm invasions have been reported in
Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe with Malawi's Minister of
Agriculture reporting that some 27,500 hectares have been affected and 2,600
hectares of maize destroyed.

Operational developments

Zimbabwe

The crop gap in Zimbabwe is estimated at 1.2 million MT of maize. This is
attributed to a poor growing season last year with the drought, shortages of
key farm inputs such as seeds, fertilizer and draught power, resulting in
poor yields. Input shortages are widespread again in the current planting
season. Pesticides to control the army worm situation are reportedly in
short supply. The weather patterns from mid-December onwards have been
favourable but due to shortages of inputs, it is unlikely that Zimbabwe will
have a very successful harvest in 2006. A survey conducted by WFP showed
that communities were experiencing difficulties in accessing maize through
local markets because of unavailability. In January 2006, WFP provided food
to 4.4 million people in 37 districts while at the same time reaching
900,000 children in 16 districts through school feeding and home based care
activities. WFP is also distributing food to 48,000 people affected by the
"operation restore order". New cases of cholera continue to be reported in
and around Harare, with the problem worsened by the unavailability of water
in city. Discussions are taking place within the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society
regarding an appropriate response.

According to FEWS NET, maize prices continued to escalate as the peak of the
lean season took hold, with household and market suppliers dwindling and
demand increasing. During the period 29 December 2005 to 4 February 2006,
Bulawayo experienced a 117% increase in the price of maize. In some areas
where maize had previously been available, new suppliers increased prices by
900% in comparison to those of mid-July 2005.

For further information specifically related to this operation please
contact:

In Zimbabwe: Françoise Le Goff, Head of Southern Africa Regional Delegation,
Harare; Email: francoise.legoff@ifrc.org; Phone: +263.4.70.61.55,
+263.4.70.61.56; Fax: +263.4.70.87.84

In Geneva: Terry Carney, Federation Regional Officer for Southern Africa,
Africa Dept., Geneva; Email: terry.carney@ifrc.org; Phone: +41.22.730.42.98,
Fax: +41.22.733.03.97

All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of
Conduct and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards
in Disaster Response in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable. For
support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or
operations in this or other countries, or for a full description of the
national society profile, please access the Federation's website at
http://www.ifrc.org


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Cholera Deaths Rising in Harare

VOA

      By Peta Thornycroft
      Harare
      17 February 2006

In Zimbabwe's capital Harare, for the first time in most people's memory
people are dying of cholera.  There have been about 30 deaths from cholera
this summer season, five of them in the last week.

If there was a competition for the worst sewage problem in Harare, a suburb
called Dvaraskewa, about 12 kilometers west of the city, would be a
contender.

Even after several days of hot sunshine and no rain there are sewage puddles
all over the township. Storm drains are blocked and sewage is seeping into
every road and path.

The smell in Dvaraskewa is unbearable in some parts. In others the smell is
less pungent, but nowhere throughout the suburb of about 3,000 houses and a
population of about 200,000 does the air smell clean, or even neutral.

The situation grew worse following the governments campaign of urban renewal
that it called "Clean out the Trash," or Operation Murambatsvina in the
majority Shona language. The United Nations said more than 700,000 urban
residents were left homeless when bulldozers crushed small homes in May and
June last year.

In Dvarasekwa, the remains of Operation Murambatsvina are everywhere. There
are broken sewer pipes everywhere, along with piles of smashed bricks and
broken pieces of concrete, the remains of tiny make shift shelters.

The overcrowding in existing semi detached dwellings is now more intense
because people whose homes were torn down are now living with others,
sharing everything, including the disintegrating sewage system.

Edmore Mutenje, is an activist for a local residents association who lives
iin Dvaraskewa.

"The sewage is all over the area, everywhere we have got the sewage. Every
road has got a sewer burst," he said.

He added that garbage had not been collected from the suburb for more than
six months.

Precious Shumba, from the Combined Harare Residents Association blames the
Harare local government. He says city officials who were elected on the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change ticket in 2002 have all been
sacked by the government and have been replaced with people loyal to the
ruling Zanu PF. He said there is now an illegal administration running the
city, which does not care about public health.

"These people were originally affected by Operation Murambatsvina," he
noted.  "After that operation sewer pipes also collapsed and as we speak
right now, these people near the poly clinic are living facing flowing
sewage in their homes, and two children are sick with cholera. The children
are sick with cholera and they can't afford to take them to the clinic. The
situation is desperate, and the City of Harare must act to ensure there is a
clean environment for residents. The real situation is the City of Harare is
arrogant and negligent."

At least two sick children in one home where sewage runs past the back door
were unable to walk or talk Friday, lying in a clean but stinking home.
Their mother said she did not have money to take them to the government
clinic for treatment.

Health officials at the local government office in central Harare were not
available for comment.

Private doctors say that previous cases of cholera in the city came from
neighboring states, or from outlying rural areas. They say cholera in Harare
is now homegrown.


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Danger to Greater Harare residents

Press Statement
Danger to Greater Harare residents - Minister of Local Government should
resign

The announcement of  5 deaths from cholera in Epworth during the past week
is further shocking testament to the total failure of the Minister of Local
Government and Urban Development to provide the infrastructure and services
required for citizens to enjoy their basic right to life and a clean
environment.

It is tragic that the Epworth community was one of the hardest hit by
Operation Murambatsvina, whose purported justification to prevent disease
from overcrowded living conditions.  It is patently clear that, if anything,
the evil operation has resulted in even greater danger to health.  This
disastrous situation has been compounded by the ineptitude of the unelected
Makwavarara Commission and its parent Ministry, which between them have
created a state of total chaos in the Harare conurbation.

Residents would be within their rights to reconsider their obligation to pay
rates and charges to a commission which is both unelected and so clearly
failing to run their city to the point of positively endangering their
health.

Meanwhile, the Minister should be honourable enough to resign and allow
order to return to the City of Harare and its environs.

T Stevenson - Shadow Minister of Local Government and Housing
17 February 2006


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IMF squared, economy still haunts Zimbabwe c.banker

Reuters

      Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:44 PM GMT

By Stella Mapenzauswa

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's central bank governor Gideon Gono has managed
to clear his country's debt arrears with the IMF, but is still seen as far
from achieving his goal of halting a crippling economic recession which has
lasted 6 years.

The southern African country averted possible expulsion from the
International Monetary Fund after the Reserve Bank made a final $9 million
payment ahead of a March deadline to square up its affairs with the
institution.

But Gono himself conceded late on Thursday that the ailing economy -- 
saddled with triple digit inflation and a jobless rate of around 70
percent -- was far from out of the woods.

"Settling the ... arrears, while important, is not an end in itself ... We
should guard against excessive exuberance, as there are still many thousand
mile journeys we have to traverse," he warned in a statement late on
Thursday.

The 46-year-old banker declared upon his appointment as governor late in
2003 that "failure is not an option" in his quest to tame the world's
highest rate of inflation, and stem the ailing Zimbabwe dollar's free fall
as exporters flounder.

But two years later, the optimism that greeted his arrival at the central
bank has worn off and the local dollar has plunged by 99 percent against the
greenback.

In his statement on Thursday, Gono said the bank had to print Z$21 trillion
to buy foreign currency to pay the IMF, fuelling inflation which surged to
613.2 percent in January and is expected to climb to between 700-800 percent
this year.

Analysts say Gono has not enjoyed the whole hearted government backing that
President Robert Mugabe promised him when he took up his post, and that some
of the policies he has implemented bear the mark of political interference.

"Gono has tried his best under the circumstances, but the fiscal side has
not been complementary to what he has been trying to do. Politics has had
the upper hand to the detriment of the macroeconomic front," said economist
James Jowa.

"For instance the concessional lending he has granted to the agricultural
sector, some of which has been abused, has been directed by politicians who
declared themselves farmers."

Analysts say the government has not heeded Gono's calls to remove subsidies
to underperforming state firms, or his plea to halt farm invasions still
taking place in support of its controversial land reforms.

Gono has repeatedly urged the government to arrest supporters who still
invade commercial farms, branding them saboteurs of the agriculture-powered
economy who were scaring off investors.

But Tony Hawkins, a business studies professsor at the University of
Zimbabwe, said Gono should also take part of the blame for lack of coherence
in some of his policies.

Hawkins cited Gono's introduction of measures to curb the Zimbabwe dollar's
fall against the U.S. unit barely three months after allowing the return of
a managed float.

"And then you have Gono telling us on the one hand that inflation is the
country's number one enemy, and then going on to print Z$21 trillion to pay
the IMF," Hawkins told Reuters.

"He has been unable to follow a coherent and consistent policy."


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Women protesters to appear in Zim court

IOL

          February 17 2006 at 06:21PM

      Harare - Around 120 women arrested for staging a protest on
Valentine's Day in Zimbabwe were set to appear in court on Friday after a
third night in police cells, their colleague said.

      "We're expecting 120 people to be brought to court this afternoon,"
said Jenni Williams, the co-ordinator of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza)- the
women's rights group behind Tuesday's march.

      On Thursday, lawyers for the women made an urgent application for them
to be brought to court because they had been held for more than 48 hours.

      "The high court application was successful," Williams said. More than
200 women protestors, some of them carrying babies, were arrested in Harare
city centre on Tuesday as they staged a "bread and roses" march to demand
affordable food and dignity.

      Around one hundred of them, including women with babies, have already
been released.

      A lawyer from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights claimed late on
Thursday that police were threatening to detain the women until next week
unless they paid nominal admission of guilt fines under the country's
Miscellaneous Offences Act.

      Woza is a vocal anti-government group that frequently stages street
marches in protest against human rights violations and deteriorating living
standards. Supporters who are arrested are usually released without charge
or after paying small fines.

      A similar peaceful march by Woza supporters was held in Bulawayo on
Monday. Police arrested 181 protestors there, but state lawyers refused to
prosecute and they were released the next day without charge. - Sapa-dpa


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To be liberated from the liberators

New Zimbabwe

      LETTER FROM KUTAMA: MTHULISI MATHUTHU

     

--------------------------------------------------------------------
            . Just what is the meaning of change?

      THE most distressing reality facing Zimbabwe today is not the demise
of the leading opposition and President Mugabe's disappointing rule per se.
      What is most disappointing is the narrow definition or understanding
of the whole noble concept of liberation.

      For those seeking the root cause to the chasm that the MDC has slipped
into the answer lies in the running definitions of liberation in Zimbabwe,
most of which are instinctively myopic and parsimonious.

      Since 2000 we have seen how the ruling party has resorted to total
blackmail with some in the Civil Society and the opposition being trapped
into defining their cause within the premise prescribed by the oppressors
who want to be known as liberators.

      The tendency has been for those who are opposed to the march of evil
in Zimbabwe to want to define the way forward within the mode of denying the
accusations coming from the riders.

      For instance all those who have purchased wholesale into Mugabe's
thinking believe that some of us who don't want to recognise him as a hero
but see him as a politician whom we hear fought the war but know for sure to
have contributed towards our misery today are sell-outs.

      It will be folly for us then to want to define our existence and
worldview in a manner that denies the false accusation that we are
"sell-outs" because it helps the propagandist's cause.

      We should see ourselves as people seeking liberation from an albatross
of other people's malevolent cause they want us to believe is liberation.

      Often times many Civil Society leaders, opposition leaders,
journalists and business people have spelled out their idea of a better
future by wanting to announce that they shared the same views with war
heroes and that they were Zimbabweans.

      This is done as means to shackle off the pathetic tag of "selling out"
first before saying what one really wants to say.

      The trouble with that thinking is that it sounds as if anybody (even
the accusers don't really mean it) ever doubted that one was a Zimbabwean.
Being a Zimbabwean does not mean we should not write to share with our
      friends that Zimbabwe is boiling and is burning its people. Such
thinking is of the earlier era when people lived in caves and did not have
computers,
      newspapers and telephones.

      Being dangerous to Zimbabwe to me means betraying the trust bestowed
upon oneself to lead wisely, uplift one's people and provide them with
opportunities to access the basic needs by plonking oneself in their
      memory and every facet of life without allowing them to see the other
way.

      It certainly entails the abuse of the collective spirit of the
collective liberation sought years gone by into personal property and
certainly not writing in
      a newspaper or in a computer the fact that basic rights are being
broken with impunity in Zimbabwe.

      I am an independent journalist with a personal opinion, which I should
be free to share with others who share with me their own problems across the
world.
      Therefore the sort of patriotism being fostered here will not deter me
from writing.

      I feel obliged to turn away this sort of patriotism because it is
boring and dictatorial standing directly on the way of the spirit of the
concept of freedom.
      For example it has destroyed the sense and urge for choice and that
for unfettered reasoning. People have to define their tastes, desires and
wishes within the premise of the "Third Chimurenga". The whole concept
      of 'principle", 'birth right" and "Zimbabwean" or "African Patriotism"
is now understood from that fundamentally flawed and laughable premise.

      Criticism of one's own country and leaders (Who don't want dialogue or
to listen to anybody for that matter) is taken to mean selling one's birth
right. We are told that the Americans are so blindly patriotic as not to
criticise their leaders yet what we are not told is that America allows its
radicals and
      newspapers to lampoon their leaders.

      The evidence is there at the US Public Affairs department library,
which displays books by the likes of Aldridge Cleaver, Richard Wright and
company.

      Rather than become a source of pride for some of us the heroes of the
past wars' shadows haunt the young people. They instil a sense of fear. They
don't allow the young folk to choose their own heroes without being cajoled
like they were left alone to choose their Nehandas.

      For example I am not proud of Mugabe. Instead I am afraid of him. His
passionate language, his insults, the evident hate trapped in every of his
word and other threats he has issued since 1980 send shivers down my spine.

      I don't want to have such a hero or to be associated with his story. I
don't want to be associated with Nehanda because I can't see how she can
rise and help me out of my own problems. Whenever I want to have anything to
do with dead people, I just think about my grandmother.

      I find it abominable that there should be a form of straight-line
patriotism embodied in the memory of Mugabe, Takawira and Nehanda. That sort
of liberation which, resents democratic pressure.

      Instead it is comfortable to refuse to be heaped together with the
people whom one doesn't want to be associated with, detest efforts to be
blackmailed and to expose a tissue of lies placed on young people's minds
like a concrete block.

      People seek liberation in different spaces, scopes, and definitions
and for different ends. If Mugabe's definition of liberation and the
improvement of people's lives entail fighting against Smith and the taking
away of land from Whites mine is a different one.

      I want to live in a society where those who waged their liberations
should not be allowed to cajole and pester or blackmail others into
accepting their own interpretations of the world.

      In this definition of liberation heroes are those who allow others to
dissent, those who allow others to question them and those who don't get
angry when asked to account. Heroism is about the enhancement of a people's
existence, expansion of freedoms, the provision of space for choice,
diversity and free
      competition. It is about decreasing injustice.

      I define my liberation in terms of total detachment or unwilling
minimal attachment to undemocratic systems of control and in terms of my
ability to access the world and other thoughts without fearing reprisal from
the reified gods of the "liberation".

      "To respect the sacred," writes Salman Rushdie, " is to be paralysed
by it. The idea of the sacred is quite simply one of the most conservative
notions in any culture, because it seeks to turn other ideas -- Uncertainty,
Progress, Change -- into crimes."

      There it is in a nutshell.

      When my freedom is swept away or is threatened I make noise through my
computer because I am not a negotiator and neither am I a diplomat. I am a
writer and writing is one of the means of protecting freedom.

      Unfortunately the written word sparks emotional reaction but I am not
responsible.

      If anybody is offended by my writing, sorry but I will not willingly
stop.

      It is soothing to live among a people who want to hear your word
always and yet still have the courage to tell you plainly why they cant buy
it than to live among those who will bludgeon your word and go on to
forcibly feed you with their own brazen falsehoods, a cluster of prejudices
perpetrated in the name of principle, democracy and national pride.

      As Saul Bellow wrote: "There is no fineness or accuracy of
suppression. If you hold down one thing, you hold down the adjoining".

      Now, just a question: Isn't this PRECISE and UNQUESTIONABLE?

      Answer: It is.

      So, writers of the world, lets spill the ink.
      Mthulisi Mathuthu is a Zimbabwean journalist and New Zimbabwe.com
columnist. He is currently on leave writing a book. Views expressed here are
his own. He can be contacted at: thuthuma@yahoo.com


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Government accuses VOA of funding student protests



      Friday, 17 February 2006,

      By Oscar Nkala www.andnetwork.com

      In what could herald a renewed assault on independent media
broadcasting into Zimbabwe, State-owned media this morning fired the first
salvo by accusing the Voice of America (VOA) of funding two days of student
protests in Bulawayo, the country's second largest city.

      In what was presented as a headline article, the State-owned Chronicle
qouted un-named sources as saying state security agencies had information
that the VOA's Studio 7 employees in the city had on Wednesday met the
student leaders to give them money to start the protests.

      Studio 7 is a special VOA Zimbabwe broadcast that was set up to fill
the gap left by the closure and subsequent banning of independent newspapers
and radio stations in 2003.

      According to the un-named sources purported to have spoken to the
Chronicle, Studio 7 funded the protests "in order for the anti-Government
pirate radio station to discredit the State in its bulletins."

      The paper went on to claim that the fact that some student leaders
were quoted in Studio 7's Wednesday night broadcasts was "disturbing." In a
confusing twist within the same article, the paper also quoted unnamed
"investigators" as saying they had information that an opposition party was
behind the student protests.

      "According to our information, the students were paid to destroy
property at the institution. They were used by anti-government elements bent
on tarnishing the image of the country.
      We believe a certain opposition party played a big part in mobilising
the students to be rowdy," read part of the article.

      Opposition leaders in the city said the allegations were a desperate
attempts to find scapegoats for the unrest when infact the real issue was
that students were starving. They said the 1 500% fee increase was enough
cause for protests since the students were being paid a pittance in termly
grants.

      "It is most ridiculous of any self-respecting paper to publish such
fallacious allegations. How could Studio 7 pay the students just so that it
can cover the protests? The fact that they mention beer as part of the
paymnet also shows how lowly they rate the university students.

      " This is clearly an excuse for a wider crackdown on the so-called
pirate media correspondents in the country. Don't be suprised if the same
paper reports the arrests of alleged VOA employees in the city tommorrow.
The message has been sent loud and clear," said opposition ZAPU (Federal
Party) president Paul Siwela.

      He added that his party was not involved in the protests and wondered
why the paper had quoted nameless 'university sources' and 'investigators'
if the story was credible.

      This is not the first time The Chronicle has been used to discredit
people and institutions just before a general security crackdown. In what
was rated as an "exclusive scoop" in 2003, the paper alleged that the
opposition was planning to bomb all tall buildings in the city before
marching on President Robert Mugabe's residence in the city.

      A. N. D Africa


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Zimbabwean White Farmers vow to boost food security in Sierra leone


      By John Mansaray
      Feb 16, 2006, 13:26

Exiled Zimbabwean white farmers, now resident in Kwara state, north of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, have expressed interest in coming over to
Sierra Leone to contribute, in their own way, to the realization of the food
security drive.

 The Zimbabwean farmers made their intentions known when they came in
contact with the Ombudsman of Sierra Leone Mr. Francis A. Gabbidon while on
a recent official trip to Nigeria. During their discussions, the white
farmers assured the Ombudsman of their skills in mechanized farming which
they noted will benefit the country immensely in the acquisition of food
sufficiency within a short period if only the Government of Sierra Leone
allows them to have settlements in the country and engage in farming
activities in the rural areas.

The Ombudsman in an interview with Awareness Times at his Dundas Street
office in Freetown,  stated among other things, that the Government of
Sierra Leone can emulate the Government of Nigeria by allowing the
Zimbabwean farmers into the country so that they will help in the
agricultural drive by the use of their skills in farming.

The Zimbabwean white farmers Mr. Gabbidon stated, are those that were throw
out of Zimbabwe by the Zimbabwean government after striping them of the farm
lands they were known to have occupied since time in memorial.

Mr. Gabbidon noted that the white farmers in question have a wealth of
experience in agriculture, adding that they did their best in making
Zimbabwe self sufficient in the production of food items throughout the
years relevant to their operation in the country. "If Nigeria, a country
that is well known for being populated with over one hundred and ten million
people can accept these white Zimbabwean farmers to settle in Kwara state,
where they are currently carrying out farming activities, why not Sierra
Leone with a small population and a vast territory of uncultivated land",
Mr. Gabbidon said.

 He maintained that the Government can easily allow them settlement in the
rural areas where vast lands are available for them to exhibit their skills
and expertise in the cultivation of a variety of agricultural produce
including rice, maize, tobacco etc.

 Mr. Gabbidon stated that once allowed in the country, the white farmers
will have nothing to do with policies, and that their coming into the
country will not cost the Government anything. Mr. Gabbidon concluded by
making a passionate plea to Government to seize the advantage by simply
allowing them into the country.

© Copyright by Awareness Times Newspaper in Freetown, Sierra Leone.


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Tsvangirai fights for control of Parliament

New Zimbabwe

By Staff Reporter
Last updated: 02/17/2006 13:03:20
A FACTION of Zimbabwe's divided opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) loyal to party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has petitioned Zimbabwe's
Speaker of Parliament to ignore parliamentary appointments made by an
opposition faction last week.

Innocent Gonese, was the MDC's parliamentary chief whip until a faction
loyal to Tsvangirai's deputy, Gibson Sibanda, replaced him with Kwekwe MP
Blessing Chebundo soon after gaining control of the parliamentary party last
week.

Sibanda also unveiled a new shadow cabinet. The group claims the support of
23 MPs from the 41 MDC MPs in Zimbabwe's parliament.

Parliamentary sources told New Zimbabwe.com Thursday that Gonese had written
to John Nkomo, the Speaker of Parliament, urging him to ignore the
appointments and "maintain the status quo".

"Gonese basically urged the Speaker to maintain the status quo until advised
otherwise," said one parliamentary source.

He added: "The sum total of this development is that it places the Speaker
in a quandary as to which side to listen to, having received two conflicting
claims from two groups from the same party."

Nkomo and his deputy Kumbirai Kangai were not in Parliament this week and it
remains unclear if Gonese's intervention will be taken seriously.

New Zimbabwe.com understands that Bulawayo South MP, David Coltart, who has
declined to align himself with any of the factions is approaching both
groups with a five-point plan to secure an "amicable divorce".

The areas that the two groups need to agree on include:

. The addition of a suffix or prefix by both groups to the party name so
that one group does not have an unfair advantage through the use of the
party name.

. Agreeing on how to share the party properties

. Agreeing that neither faction will approach the Speaker seeking the
removal of any MPs and precipitating by-elections

. Agreeing that neither group will use the MDC's open hand symbol as that
may give the other group unfair advantage

. Reaching an agreement on the use of party slogans (although this is
considered of lesser significance)

A ruling Zanu PF MP watching the developments in the MDC warned that short
of an amicable solution to the party's internal wrangling, Zimbabweans could
soon be marching to vote in by elections across the country.

"If they don't handle this situation carefully, by elections seem certain,"
the MP who declined to be named said. "One group might target the other and
ask the Speaker to declare certain seats vacant. Instead of having by
elections in a few seats, we could end up with by elections right across the
country and Zanu PF will emerge the biggest winner."


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Zimbabwean police arrest international drug trafficker

People's Daily

      Zimbabwean police have arrested a notorious international drug
trafficker in Harare and recovered 6. 8 kg of commercially packaged mbanje,
local newspaper The Herald reported on Friday.

      Mathias Matonisa Hungwe (58), who has served four jail terms since
1976 for drug dealing and trafficking, was arrested at a bar in Mbare on
Saturday after he was allegedly found in possession of prepared mbanje.

      Hungwe was arrested together with his suspected accomplice, Charlton
Venn, a few months after he completed serving a 10-year jail term for
dealing in dangerous drugs.

      Harare magistrate William Bhila on Thursday remanded Hungwe and Venn
in custody to next week.

      In 1976, Hungwe was convicted by a Salisbury magistrate's court, under
the Dangerous Drugs Act and sentenced to 18 months in prison with hard
labor.

      In 1985 he was sentenced to 27 months in prison for a similar offence.

      Records show that Hungwe was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 1988
after he was found in possession of mbanje.

      In 1994, Hungwe who claimed he was a messenger of "Mambo", the great
spirit of Zimbabwe, with extraordinary powers to bless people and give them
good fortunes, was jailed for 10 years for dealing in dangerous drugs.

      Source: Xinhua


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Zim said to be importing GMO maize

IOL

          February 17 2006 at 08:02PM

      By Ed Stoddard

      Johannesburg - Zimbabwe is importing unmilled, genetically-modified
(GMO) yellow maize from Argentina, despite an official ban on such products,
trading sources and other monitors said on Friday.

      But a senior Zimbabwean minister said his government remained opposed
to unmilled maize and said he was unaware of such shipments.

      "Zimbabwe is importing yellow maize from Argentina which is known to
be GMO - one vessel is coming into port now to offload 7 000 tonnes in
Maputo, Mozambique, and 7 400 tonnes in Beira," said one trader.

      The trader said another ship was being loaded in Argentina with a
similar cargo also destined for Zimbabwe.

      Another source who monitors food shipments in the region confirmed the
same details.

      Like many African countries, Zimbabwe is suspicious of GMO foods on
the grounds that they have not been adequately tested. In the past it has
said it would accept only milled GMO foodstuffs to avoid cross-breeding with
local crops.

      "This is definitely unmilled, bulk maize," said the trader.

      But Security Minister Didymus Mutasa, in charge of land reform,
resettlement and food security, said that he was not aware of the shipment.

      "To be honest I have never heard of that. They would have to consult
with me but no one has done so. Maybe they might be ordering it for
livestock but I don't think so either," he said.

      "That policy (against unmilled GMO maize) is steadfast, we continue to
maintain it. It has not been reviewed and my (cabinet) colleagues have not
changed their position," he said.

      What no one denies is Zimbabwe's pressing food needs.

      Aid agencies have said about 4,3 million Zimbabweans require food aid
until at least the April harvest because of a scorching drought last year.

      But critics say Zimbabwe's controversial seizures of white-owned farms
for redistribution to landless blacks have also hampered food production.

      Maize from Argentina seems to be the flavour of the month.

      Even regional breadbasket South Africa has imported some yellow maize
from Argentina because it is cheaper than the locally grown product.

      The World Food Programme has said higher South African maize prices
have forced a rethink in its plans and it is looking elsewhere to buy
supplies.

      South Africa's March contract for yellow maize closed R3 higher on
Friday at R950 a tonne.

      a.. Additional reporting by MacDondald Dzirutwe in Harare


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MDC National Youth Council meets

MDC Press
17 December 2006

 Eighty members of the MDC National Youth Council from the party's 12
provinces met at Harvest House in Harare today ahead of the national
Congress to be held in March. The agenda was to deliberate on issues of
Congress preparedness, constitutional and institutional renewal, policy
updates as well as discussing other issues affecting the youth.
The council:
·        Rejected the recent fee structure introduced by the regime at
tertiary colleges and resolved to mobilise the millions of students and
youths to resist the move;

·        Deplored the constant harassment and arrests of innocent students
for claiming their rights to demonstrate and express revulsion at the
deteriorating quality of academic life at colleges and tertiary
institutions;

·        Called for urgent release of arrested student leaders and a total
revamp of the conditions at their colleges, pursuant to the universal and
generic right to academic freedom;

·        Registered concern with the high level of unemployment; a run-away
HIV/Aids pandemic and food insecurity;

·        Noted the regime's attack on the sanctity of the family as a
cohesive unit and the consequent contagion to the community and the nation.

·        Called on the party, the MDC, as their only source of hope, to
revamp and regenerate the party leadership and programmes to achieve a new
Zimbabwe.

·        resolved to guard against the abuse of the party, its symbols and
property by anonymous persons, aligned to Zanu PF, masquerading as the  MDC.

·        Vowed to accept that the MDC, as a people-driven party, shall have
one national Congress in March. Any other meeting convened by persons shall
be seen by the youth assembly, representing a registered membership of five
million Zimbabweans, as a social gathering;

·        Recommended to the national leadership an immediate position
regarding the MDC's continued participation in elections given our
experience with flawed and corrupt election management systems;

·        Resolved to discourage any piecemeal actions that could sabotage
the MDC's national goal to resist, in a sustained way, the current tyranny.

·        resolved to call on Congress to adopt a solid road map to
Zimbabwe's legitimacy through a people-driven constitution and an
all-inclusive political process leading to a new Zimbabwe.

 Thamsanqa Mahlangu
Deputy Chairman, National Youth Assembly


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JAG Job Opportunities 16 Feb 06

JOB OPPORTUNITIES: Updated February 17, 2006

Please send any job opportunities for publication in this newsletter to:
JAG Job Opportunities; jag@mango.zw

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

Ad inserted 18 January 2006

Looking for a manager, between the ages of 18 - 24 years. Preferably just
left school.  To grow flowers, potatoes and a cattle herd.  Situated in
Ruwa.

Please contact me by e-mail at hopitt@zol.co.zw

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

Ad inserted 18 January 2006

CANE FARMER IN TRIANGLE AREA LOOKING FOR A RETIRED FARMER TO OVERSEE CANE
PRODUCTION.  POSITION WOULD SUIT SOMEONE LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL INCOME
TO SUPPLEMENT EXISTING PENSION, AS THE AREA OF CANE DOES NOT SUSTAIN A
PRESENT DAY FARM MANAGERS SALARY.

HOUSE, ELECTRICITY, WATER & SERVANTS PROVIDED.

PLEASE CONTACT: - ANN BRADFIELD acasiasafaris@zol.co.zw

CELL: 011211336 OR 091273639 OR BULAWAYO 230615

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

Ad inserted 12 January 2006

Wanted - Lady with accounting background, computer literate with Excel
and Word.

Pleasant office environment in Willowvale

Negotiable package and fuel allowance.

Please reply to 091-208566 or 011-207084 or email hyena@zol.co.zw.

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

Ad inserted 11 January 2006

  CHILDMINDER WANTED

Looking for a brilliant child minder to help with our 2-year-old
daughter.  If anyone is leaving and needs to place their child minder
please get hold of us.  Accommodation offered.

Brenda Pattenden

091326755

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

Ad inserted 11 January 2006

Position - OFFICE ASSISTANT

Duties Include - assisting with computer input, keeping CD1's up-to-date,
assisting with banking, general office duties - a varied job.

Type Of Person - friendly, out-going, able to work with the minimum of
supervision, loyal, confidential.

Please could CVs be emailed to the Export Manager at rene@zimflower.co.zw

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

Ad inserted 11 January 2006

Wanted Senior Bookkeeper

The Company: Well-established, small and dynamic, growing, multi-faceted
organisation based in the Northern Suburbs of Harare.

The Role: All accounting data capture.  Production of monthly trial
balance sheets and management accounts.  Cash management, statutory
returns, VAT administration and other day-to-day office duties.

The Person: Experienced bookkeeper who is self motivated, responsible and
reliable.  Willing to grow with the Company they must be ready to tackle
new and varied tasks as they arise delivering work accurately, on time
and in full.  Own transport essential.  Knowledge of Pastel an advantage.

The Rewards: Negotiable salary for the right person.

Part of a small but busy and motivated team.

Please contact Tanera Bouchet on 04 494540 or
Tanera.bouchet@rutland.co.zw

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

Ad inserted 11 January 2006

  WANTED - Office Assistant

The Company - well-established, small, dynamic, fresh flower marketing
agent based at the Harare International Airport.

The Role - To assist in a very busy office with computer data capture,
day-to-day office duties - a varied job.

The Person - loyal, honest, reliable, must be able to work with a minimum
of supervision.  Own transport essential - company will assist with
fuel.  To start asap.

The Rewards - right salary offered to the right person.

Please send CVs to: rene@zimflower.co.zw

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

Ad inserted 11 January 2006

Bookkeeper required for small but busy business based in the Avenues.
Applicant should be qualified up to trial balance, debt collecting, petty
cash, etc some admin work and also have hands-on involvement.  Varied
position in relaxed office with good salary offered to the right person.
To start immediately.  Phone Lorraine Thomas on 733113/5, 792365 or
707245 or cell 091 263172.

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

Ad inserted 11 January 2006

Full Day Bookkeeper required to work in Msasa.

Competitive package on offer.

Please contact Marina or Dale on 446520, 091 261 629, 011 206 794.

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

SUDAN:

Ad inserted 18 January 2006

  Position Title: Permaculture Program Manager

Field Site: Upper Nile, S Sudan

Essential Job duties/Scope of Work (provide at least 6-7 bullet points):

§ Plan, coordinate and implement the permaculture / livestock
programme in Upper Nile

§ Provide specialist input and oversight for best practice in
appropriate agricultural activities within food security/livelihood
related projects

§ aa communities with sound technical basis, education, and
promotion sustainable crop cultivation

§ Introduce and mobilise community permaculture gardens in
targeted communities

§ Coordinate and monitor project implementation and ensure
timely reporting of activities

§ Provide and facilitate technical direction, education and
training to staff, community health workers and community members

§ Monitor and manage Community Animal Health Workers and
agricultural outreach officers

§ Survey and study the existing situation of livestock food
(fodder) and propose practical methods of adjusting the food regiment

§ Coordinate veterinary activities with VSF B and partners

§ In collaboration with VFS B, study and appraise the existing
condition of animal husbandry and identify its constraints and potentials
for development.

§ Develop demonstrable program linkages between animal and
human health and nutrition levels

§ Identify and monitor disease outbreaks among livestock and
ensure effective strategies for disease control are in place

§ Document lessons learned across the various project
activities and recommend future strategies and interventions

§ Maintain and develop relationships with project partners and
key stakeholders in project implementation

§ Represent IMC at official forums when necessary, including
attending workshops, meetings, seminars, conferences, etc.

§ Evaluate the working capacity of the local counterparts from
a technical, planning and management point of view and propose practical
methods for enhancing this capacity.

§ Write and compile reports - both narrative and technical

Personal Qualifications (special training/experience required, provide
6-8 requirements):

· Bachelors degree or equivalent

· Minimum 5-7 years experience in designing and implementing
agriculture programmes

· Experience in community mobilization and participatory
methodologies strongly preferred

· Knowledge of and experience in permaculture design and
cultivation

· Experience with livestock / veterinary programmes

· Experience in livestock management / animal husbandry including
teaching and research.  Abilities in survey, study and analysis of the
livestock situation.

· Previous NGO experience

· Ability to undertake physical work in a challenging and harsh
climate

· Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing in
English

· Able to work effectively independently and as a team member

· Experience facilitating agricultural workshops / trainings

· Experience in the region - ideally in Sudan itself

Other comments:

Able to function effectively in remote, harsh environments with very
limited communications

Contact: Candice von Memerty, candice@fauvelife

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AUSTRALIA

Ad inserted 18 January 2006

Manager - Hazeldean Pty Ltd

A position is available for a hands-on manager, with a strong interest in
animal breeding using measured performance, to take on a close working
relationship with the managing director in the running of Hazeldean & its
sheep & cattle seed stock enterprises. The position is at company
headquarters, Hazeldean, located 15 minutes south of Cooma in
southeastern
NSW.

The successful applicant will be required to contribute ideas and form
strategies for the future growth of the property & business. Planning &
budgeting are essential skills however a desire for hands on involvement
is equally important.

The position would suit a team player and one capable and willing to take
on more responsibility in the future.  We are happy to consider
employment of a suitably qualified or experienced Zimbabwean.

Applications to:
Jim Litchfield
Hazeldean
Cooma NSW 2630
Email: Litchfield@hazeldean.com.au
www.hazeldean.com.au

THE ZIMBABWE CONNECTION
 MOBILE: +61 414 363 006 (international)

                     0414 363 006 (within Australia)
EMAIL: jill@zimbabweconnection.com
WEBSITE: www.zimbabweconnection.com

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

Ad inserted 9 February 2006

Wanted

Retired, energetic, fun loving Book Keeper, living in Greendale,
Borrowdale, Chisipite areas in March, for a small Nursery School : basic
administration, reception, books and general helping out.

Please call Debi or Shelley between 8am and 12pm

482067

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

Ad inserted 9 February 2006

      HORSES / MANAGER

A mature, responsible person who is experienced with and passionate about
horses required by one of Zimbabwe's leading safari operators.  This
challenging position offers an extremely exciting lifestyle, full board
and lodging and a very competitive salary.  The right person should also
be able to get on as well with people as with horses.  Please send CV to
awc@africanencounter.org

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

Tanzania

Ad inserted 9 February 2006

Tanzania
A vacancy exists for a farm manager on a mixed farm in Tanzania.

Our core business is vegetables for export however various other crops
and livestock operations are undertaken.

The right candidate should have at least 5 years farming experience in
East/Southern Africa, preferably with horticultural experience.

Responsibilities would include daily farm management, record keeping to
Eurepgap specifications, farm security and community liaison.

The candidate should be either single or accompanied without children.

To start immediately.

Package: $1500 per month, medical aid and usual benefits of farm
management positions. Work permit to be provided by the employer.

Company details to be found at www.gel.co.tz
Please send CV to: lizzie@gel.co.tz
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nursery School or Infant Teacher

Ad inserted 9 February 2006

Experienced Nursery School or infant teacher wanted for 2nd Term,
Avondale area. English must be first language. Very good working
environment, mornings only, school terms only. Good package for right
person - mail gandami@mweb.co.zw

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

Ad inserted 16 February 2006

Vacancy

Girl Friday with Bookkeeping experience

Ex-farmer now consulting from home office in Northern Suburbs needs help
with general office work and some bookkeeping (not complex but to trial
balance). Mornings only/flexitime. Very pleasant working surroundings but
boss can be grumpy (but he travels a lot)! Good computer literacy,
numeric and fastidious attention to spelling, grammar, and punctuation
essential. Dictaphone, typing experience useful but not essential.

                 drmoore@ecoweb.co.zw

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

Ad inserted 16 February 2006

        Looking for a position, family left Zimbabwe

Looking for a position for our maid who has worked for us for 22 years.
She is honest, friendly, very caring and excellent with young children.
She does do basic cooking, housework, baby sitting. She come highly
recommended by us and has been part of the family for many years.

Anyone interested please contact me by email, pennydobson@mweb.co.za or
phone

Angela Stephens 776451 mornings only, for an interview with the maid,
Maize.

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

      Australia

Ad inserted 16 February 2006

WANTED; Millwrights, Electricians, Diesel Mechanics, Refrigeration
Specialists, Town Planners and Quantity Surveyors

Recruit Global will assist in looking for a job and sponsorship
opportunities for the
right candidates wanting to move to Australia.
Australia is experiencing a major skills shortage in all states, we will
provide
services to assist in, visas, trade recognition
tests, sponsorship, relocation, financial advice.

Contact us today at Aussiemigrant
www.aussiemigrant.com

Brendon@aussiemigrant.com
Rebecca@aussiemigrant.com

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

Ad inserted 16 February 2006

      Vacancy for Live-In Housekeeper Companion

      JOB SPECIFICATION

The applicant should be a single female, unmarried, widow, or divorced,
and must have a caring nature, and be interested in cooking and the
welfare of an elderly lady.

Free accommodation will be provided in a beautiful period house, circa
1700, own bed-sitting room with television, fridge and microwave and
washbasin, tastefully furnished with bookcases and easy chair, and
adjoining bathroom.  Use one of the sitting rooms in the house.

Food will be provided for main meals, as part of the contract.

The Housekeeper will be responsible for the general running of the house,
and its cleaning.  She will prepare and cook meals, and do some
shopping.  Use of car will be available for this purpose.  She will act
as a companion to Mrs H L Franklin who is aged 88 years, a refined lady,
who is a widow.

Mrs Franklin has a Private Nurse who attends to her personal care in the
mornings.

There will be some laundry work of personal items for Mrs Franklin, at
present all bedding goes to the laundry.

This job would be suitable for someone who requires a comfortable home in
a small village in rural Shopshire.  Nearest shops in the village
including a Post-Office, General Stores, Butcher, Pubs, Doctors, and
Anglican Church.  Nearest Market Town, Church Stretton, 6 miles South.
Nearest large town, Shrewsbury, 6 miles north.  Nearest Railway Station,
either Church Stretton or Shrewsbury.

Shropshire is an Agricultural Country and there is no Industry, the
surrounding countryside is an area of outstanding beauty and cultural
importance.

The Housekeeper/Companion will have an average of two half days a week
off and at least two hours per day in either morning or afternoon at
leisure, by mutual arrangement.

Mrs Franklin's son, Mr Howard Franklin lives next door at Dorrington
Court, and is normally around most days and often takes meals with Mrs
Franklin.  Mr Franklin is retired, but still travels as a Lecturer in
Cruise Ships several times a year, and does after Luncheon speaking
engagements in Great Britain.

Salary of Five Hundred Pounds Sterling per calendar month and totally
free board and lodging.

Person travelling from Overseas will be helped with their airfare.

The contract as Companion/Housekeeper will be for a minimum period of
eight months, to be extended.

Please apply with details of yourself and any relevant information to:

HOWARD FRANKLIN Esq.

Dorrington Court

Dorrington

Shropshire, SY57JD

Telephone 01743 718143

Email: howard@howardfranklin.freeserve.co.uk

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

EMPLOYMENT SOUGHT

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

Ad inserted 11 January 2006

I am a man aged 26 years and I wish to apply for any suitable vacancy.  I
am a holder of BSC Honours Degree Economics with an upper second class.
Please contact me on the following email address for curriculum vitae:
stefanzombe@yahoo.com

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

Ad inserted 18 January 2006

We are a couple from Edinburgh (Scotland) though I was actually born in
Zimbabwe. We are on an advanced stage of relocating to Southern Africa
(Zambia and Zimbabwe, but preferably Zambia around the Victoria Falls
area).

We are both mid career professionals with extensive
professional experience in management research and
project management (I am an Ecologist with an MSc in
human ecology, my wife is also an MSc in social policy
with a very broad range of professional experience in
senior level). We are thinking of investing in a business (Eco-tourism
etc) in the long term. We are currently looking for a placement
(work/voluntary) for us to do while we are deciding our future plan. We
will be in Victoria Falls on 30-01-06. An body with information or
something for us should email us on graccag@yahoo.co.uk or phone
00441316616925.  We are happy to forward our CVs if required.

"Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste they often hurry
past it"

Soren C Kiekegaard

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

Ad inserted 18 January 2006

I am a woman aged thirty-five years with sixteen years experience in
bookkeeping, accounts and administration. I am a holder of ZAAT diploma
in accountancy and doing my final year in Bachelor of Commerce, majoring
in banking and finance, as well as various other courses in accounts and
administration and very conversant with computer and payroll packages.

I can be contacted on 091 405 281/091 400 031 or Julia@soszim.co.zw

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

Ad inserted 16 February 2006

"Fitter and turner seeking position as handyman, technical sales rep,
stores man etc.

Phone Fred Harmse 091-319272, 882866."

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

Ad inserted 16 February 2006

EMPLOYMENT SOUGHT

I am a hard working, loyal and honest man aged 34 with many years of
valuable work experience looking for employment in a Managerial Role with
the right company. I have been primarily involved in the Plastic &
Chemical Industry with past experience in the Freight Sector (Import /
Export) working my way from the bottom to a top position of Managing
Director for a
successful company in previous employment. I am currently employed and
can be contacted on the following E-Mail Address for further details and
a copy
of my Curriculum Vitae: abutler@siltrade.co.zw

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

For the latest listings of accommodation available for farmers, contact
justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw (updated 17 February 2006)

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