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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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
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."
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
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
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
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.
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."
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
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
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
JOB OPPORTUNITIES: Updated February 17, 2006
Please send
any job opportunities for publication in this newsletter to:
JAG Job
Opportunities; jag@mango.zw
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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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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)