Harare - Zimbabwe's main opposition party said on Tuesday that
militia members loyal to President Robert Mugabe's party attacked a group of
its members in a rural town near the eastern border city of Mutare.
A
candidate in next month's election and another official from the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) were beaten up in the attack on the group who
were returning on Sunday evening from the launch of the MDC election
campaign in Masvingo.
"The MDC believes that these attacks are being
carried out by members of the Zanu-PF militia who have been drafted into the
army in recent months," a spokesperson said.
"Only brainwashed young
people would carry out these barbaric acts with such passion," he
said.
He claimed least 20 soldiers assaulted MDC officials accusing them
of "selling the country to the British".
Two other election
candidates and several party members escaped, according to a party
official.
A police spokesperson would not confirm the attack and an army
spokesperson could not be reached for comment.
Voters in Zimbabwe are
to go to the polls on March 31 to elect representatives to 120 contested
parliament seats in a vote that will be closely watched to gauge Mugabe's
commitment to hold free and fair elections.
Elections in Zimbabwe in
2000 and 2002 were marred by violence and allegations of fraud.
MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Sunday launched his party's election campaign,
promising to repeal Zimbabwe's tough media and security laws.
Thirty
pro-government youths were jailed last week for beating up opposition
supporters and stabbing a police officer.
Government forks out Z$9bn to ex-political detainees Wed 23
February 2005
HARARE - The government has gazetted fresh benefits
and pensions worth Z$9 billion per month to former independence struggle
political prisoners in what observers say is an attempt to buy their support
ahead of next month's election.
According to the government
gazette published last Friday, the payments to all Zimbabweans jailed or
detained for supporting the liberation struggle will be effective beginning
this month.
There are about 6 000 registered former political
prisoners and the number could swell once the payments begin. The payments
to the detainees are enough to feed at least 30 000 starving Zimbabweans per
month.
"An ex-political prisoner, detainee or restrictee shall with
effect from 1 February be entitled to a monthly pension at a rate of $1 326
680 payable until death," the gazette reads in part.
The
unbudgeted payments fly in the face of advice by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
governor Gideon Gono on the government to limit expenditure in order to help
bring down inflation.
In the last three months alone, the
government has hiked the salaries of teachers, chiefs and other traditional
leaders.
Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party
shadow economics minister Tendai Biti said the payments were a cynical
attempt by President Robert Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF party to buy
support at whatever cost to the economy.
'For ZANU PF it does
not matter when it comes to buy votes. Mugabe wants to retain power at
whatever costs to the economy,' the MDC official said. - ZimOnline
Army recalls retired soldiers Wed 23 February
2005
HARARE - The Zimbabwe army has recalled retired soldiers to
ensure enough troops to crush any possible outbreak of violence before or
after next month's general election, sources told ZimOnline.
Army retirees, who did not want to be named, said orders were sent out last
week to all former soldiers who left the army in the last 10 years to report
at the Zimbabwe National Army's KG6 headquarters in Harare.
"The
response has been slow because of communication problems. We (serving
members) are the ones going out to tell retired members to report for work.
Only those who have been in retirement for not more than 10 years are
wanted," said one army captain.
Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi
said it was not illegal for army commanders to recall retired troops but
however denied soldiers had been called back to beef up numbers ahead of the
March 31 elections.
He said: "Read the law that governs the army
and see if there are any anomalies in recalling retired soldiers, that is if
any soldiers are being recalled. To the best of my knowledge, that is not
happening."
According to sources, the army was short-staffed after
failing to recruit more soldiers in the last 12 months. Desertions by
soldiers and other military personnel to join millions of other Zimbabweans
living abroad after fleeing home because of hunger and economic hardship
were also beginning to put pressure on the army's number levels, they
said.
"The army is short-staffed and we don't have enough manpower
to deal with any potential violence. Our training schools in Nyanga and
Bulawayo were supposed to recruit massively last year but only managed three
recruitments, two in Nyanga and one in Bulawayo, due to logistical
problems," said another senior army officer.
Senior opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) officials yesterday criticised the move
to recall retired soldiers saying the extra troops would be used to
intimidate the electorate.
MDC shadow defence minister Giles
Mutsekwa, said: "Retired soldiers are being called back to the barracks. Of
course retired members can be recalled but that is if there is a
war.
"Now tell me, are elections a war? ZANU PF wants to use the
army and the police to brutalise our supporters ahead of the election, as
they have always done in previous elections."
Churches and
human rights groups have in the past accused soldiers and the police of
perpetrating human rights violations against opposition supporters. The
government denies its security forces victimise opposition supporters. -
ZimOnline.
Judge issues warrant of arrest for MDC activists Wed 23
February 2005
BULAWAYO - A High Court Judge here yesterday issued a
warrant of arrest for two opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party activists accused of murdering Limukani Luphahla, a ruling party
supporter in the run-up to the 2002 presidential election after they failed
to appear in court for their trial.
The accused, Remember Moyo
and Khethani Sibanda's whereabouts remain shrouded in mystery as party
officials say they also do not know where they are. But impeccable party
sources told ZimOnline that the two have since fled the country following
constant police raids at their homes and general harassment by the law
enforcement agents.
Sibanda and Moyo were last year absolved of
murdering war veterans leader Cain Nkala alongside other party activists
after languishing in remand prison for almost three years.
The
duo's failure to attend the trial sparked a harsh exchange of words between
the police and their attorney Nicholas Mathonsi who refused to take the
blame for reneging on his undertaking to bring his clients to court.
Mathonsi maintained that it was the duty of the police to bring the accused
to court, not his.
Justice Nicholas Ndou intervened and cooled down
tempers when he set with both parties in his chambers and resolved that the
police and the defence help each other in finding the two and bring them to
court as a matter of urgency. - ZimOnline
JOHANNESBURG - South
African president, Thabo Mbeki has conceded that Zimbabwe's voters roll, to
be used in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, is defective and needs
to be looked at.
In an interview with Financial Times, a
British based newspaper, Mbeki expressed concern that the roll, which will
be used during March 31 parliamentary election, was not up to
standard.
"The one complaint I have had has to do with the
register of voters that it is defective." He told the British newspaper, in
an interview which was widely covered by the South African
media.
This is the first time that Mbeki has admitted that the
March 31 poll may not be transparent.
His concern comes in
the wake of complaints and revelations of ghost voters on the voters' roll
by Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change,
MDC.
MDC has argued that the voters' roll, in its current
state, can not be used in any election as it needed to be cleaned of ghost
voters and multiple registrations.
As part of its efforts
to prove that the voters roll is in shambles, the MDC, last week filed an
urgent High Court application, restraining the police from interfering with
it in its investigations into alleged tempering of the
roll.
Justice Misheck Cheda, in chambers, ruled that the police
had no legal basis for stopping the opposition party from verifying the
names of potential voters whose names are feared to have been deliberately
tempered with.
Cheda also ordered that the Minister of Home
Affairs, Kembo Mohadi should pay the cost of the suit. The other respondents
cited in the petition were police commissioner, Augustine Chihuri and the
officer commanding Bulawayo province, Superintendent Jonah
Muzambi.
In his judgement Cheda said the police should not stop
the MDC from carrying out their investigation of the alleged anomalies in
the voters' roll because there were no provisions in the Public Order and
Security Act (POSA) that empowered police to stop MDC from carrying out its
verification of the voters' roll from door-to-door.
Mbeki
also said the American government, through utterances by its secretary of
state, Condoleezza Rice, that Zimbabwe was among the list of six 'outposts
of tyranny', had discredited the Washington administration's proclaimed
policy to promote freedom, as viewed by other African states.
"I think it's an exaggeration, and I think whatever the US government wants
to do with that list of six countries, or however many, I think it's really
somewhat discredited," Mbeki said.
He also described his
relations with Mugabe as very good, and said he hoped that an observer
delegation from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) would
visit Zimbabwe in the coming days to help it stage a 'free and fair'
parliamentary poll which would be endorsed by the wider international
community.
However, international observers, including the
South African government, have already expressed reservations over the
holding of a free and fair poll in Zimbabwe, considering that Mugabe has
already flouted a number of SADC protocols and principles of holding free
and fair polls as enshrined in the Mauritius Protocol, to which Mugabe is a
signatory.
Full text of Moyo*s response to his
dismissal by President Mugabe
Date: 22-Feb, 2005
I
HAVE today received a faxed letter from President Robert Mugabe informing me
that he had with immediate effect relieved me of my duties as Cabinet
Minister and as an appointed Member of Parliament.
I understand
very well that he who appoints can also disappoint, unless one has been
directly chosen or elected by the people themselves. I therefore accept the
President's decision with humility and respect.
Given the
manner in which my election by the people of Tsholotsho to the Ruling
Party's Central Committee was arbitrarily blocked at the ZANU PF Congress;
how my selection by the same people of Tsholotsho to represent them in
Parliament was blocked, how a few now powerful individuals in ZANU PF and
Government across the country were made to suffer and many are still
suffering for allegedly being connected with the so-called Tsholotsho
Declaration that I stand falsely accused of having authored, how efforts by
Chiefs from Tsholotsho to intervene on the issue of my candidacy were also
blocked and how most of my administrative responsibilities and benefits as
Cabinet Minister had been curtailed or withdrawn since November 18, 2004,
how some Ruling Party politburo members were calling for my removal from
both ZANU PF and the Government, I had come to accept that it was sunset and
the letter the President faxed me today was most definitely on the
way.
For the very same reasons, I had also come to understand
and appreciate that it is far better to be with the people and to work for
them than to be hostage to the whims and caprices of the politics of
patronage. That is why I am standing as an Independent Candidate in
Tsholotsho on March 31, 2005.
But when all is said and
done, I remain most grateful to President Mugabe for having appointed me to
serve him, the Ruling Party, the Government and the Nation since
2000.
I believe I served loyally, professionally and with total
dedication and commitment to national duty and I did so often at great risk
to my person and my family which never had any time with or from me since I
accepted President Mugabe's appointment to ZANU PF and
Government.
It is notable and I am sure history and posterity
will record the fact that my service to the President started at a time when
the Presidency, the Ruling Party and our Nation were individually and
collectively facing an unprecedented onslaught from a number of hostile
foreign interests and powers.
I am very pleased that I had
the honor and privilege to be one of the very few in the Ruling Party and
the Government that played pivotal roles in the fight to preserve, defend
and protect Zimbabwe's sovereignty and democracy while also being able to
promote development in Tsholotsho, Matabeleland region and our
country.
Now that I have more time in my hands, I want to do
more and better for the people in Tsholotsho, Matabeleland region and our
beautiful country because I believe there is a rock somewhere upon which we
can all develop a better Zimbabwe.
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe
turned 81 on Monday in a country whose life expectancy now hovers around the
mid-40s. HIV/Aids has taken its toll on young people and the prospect of a
halt to the decline seems distinctly remote.
Every country
in the world has been affected by the pandemic but Africa, the poorest
continent, is the worst hit. In Africa, South of the Sahara, Zimbabwe is one
of those with a disturbingly high incidence of people living with the
disease. It may not be entirely accurate to blame it all on the government's
sluggish response to the initial outbreak of the disease.
But because this is a health problem and the government is responsible,
through the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare for the health of the
nation, it is illogical to exclude it from culpability. Every time the
President celebrates his birthday the focus is bound to shift to the number
of young people who may never see 50 in their lives because of the
HIV/Aids pandemic.
Nonetheless, it is right for people to wish
the President many more returns. In his customary birthday interview on
television, Mugabe launched an astonishing attack on one of the icons of the
struggle, James Dambaza Chikerema. He blamed him for influencing Joshua
Nkomo to opt for the setting up of a government-in-exile. He was clearly
treading on very delicate ground here.
To suggest that
Nkomo himself was influenced by Chikerema may not be the sort of remark to
endear Mugabe to Nkomo's supporters. He should leave posterity to be the
judge of who played what role i n the struggle. He himself came on the scene
long after the likes of Chikerema and his long-time colleagues in the
struggle, George Nyandoro and Joshua Nkomo, had been in the
trenches.
To suggest, as he did in the TV interview, that
Chikerema was "afraid" of returning to prison, is unworthy of Mugabe. It is
the sort of petty grouse that juveniles indulge in. The struggle was long
and arduous. Different people have tried to put a certain self-serving spin
on how the struggle progressed. It is politically profitless to start
apportioning blame today.
There are many critics, it must
be remembered, who would not hesitate to cast doubt on Mugabe's motives for
being in the struggle - a lot of dirty linen could be washed in public.
Chikerema was a pioneer of the struggle against colonialism. Nobody, not
even his relative Robert Mugabe, could ever take that away from him.
Zim journalists vow to make politicians
accountable
Date: 22-Feb, 2005
BULAWAYO
-Journalists covering electoral issues before, during and after the March 31
parliamentary election have resolved to make politicians campaigning for
office to account for their actions and promises.
The
journalists were speaking at the end of a two-day electoral reporting
seminar organised by the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN) at a
Bulawayo hotel on Saturday.
They said within the shortest
reasonable time after an election, journalists should pursue the promises
made during this period before the election to check for themselves how the
politicians are working towards achieving what they promised the
electorate.
An SFM producer Anna Miti said: "We should not
hesitate to find out what the politicians have done with their electoral
promises."
Gift Phiri of the Zimbabwe Independent said it would
be a disservice to the people of Zimbabwe if journalists just relaxed after
an election and do not follow up on what the contesting political parties
and their candidates have promised the electorate.
Reginald
Matchaba-Hove, the ZESN chairman urged journalists to adequately prepare
themselves for covering the post-election period.
"The period
after an election is most crucial," he said. "There is always a chance of
violent retribution against some people. The media should come up with real
issues that have to be tackled. These include the crucial war against
HIV/AIDS, poverty, food security, electoral regulations and the issue of
constitutional amendments before the 2008 presidential
election."
He said journalists should exert pressure on the
government, the political parties and all electoral bodies to start
preparing for the 2008 presidential election to avoid the problems that have
dogged the period up to the March parliamentary polls.
The
ZESN chairman said it was unfortunate that the 31 March parliamentary
election was being held without adequate logistical
preparations.
However, his organisation was prepared to go
along with what was available to help create a conducive environment for the
conduct of a democratic election.
"It is now the
responsibility of everyone, particularly the media to highlight the
situation onthe ground in a positive manner, calling things by their names,"
Matchaba-Hove said.
"Journalists should not hide the truth. You
have the capacity to build Zimbabwe with your reports. It would help heal
the polarisation if you as journalists act responsibly by avoiding the
politicians' language of hate and incitement. The name-callings should
end."
It was resolved that all journalists should avoid being
used by politicians. There was concern from various journalists that
publishers interfered with the editorial content of their newspapers to the
extent of being biased against some politicians.
The ruling
Zanu PF faces the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and other
small political parties in this year's parliamentary poll.
Zimbabwe does not Comply with
Regional Electoral Protocols
Date: 21-Feb,
2005
The date is set for 31 March and Zimbabwe's race for
power is on, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change having agreed -
'with a heavy heart' - on 3 February to participate in parliamentary
elections against the ruling Zanu PF party, led by President Robert
Mugabe.
The country is nowhere near complying with
regional guidelines for free and fair polls, signed by Southern African
Development Community countries (including Zimbabwe) in Mauritius last
August. With an electoral environment so skewed and oppressive that victory
is assured for the ruling party, already in power for 25 years, the SADC
protocols appear pointless.
They are not, for several
reasons - but the coming weeks and months will be crucial if SADC is to make
a positive contribution to the conduct and legitimacy of the poll, or to the
crisis in Zimbabwe. In the words of Joseph James, president of the Law
Society of Zimbabwe: 'If a government decides not to adhere to a
international agreements it has signed - whether they are regional, African
or United Nations protocols - there is very little that can be done, except
to bring peer pressure to bear on the reneging
state.'
Despite an apparent, slight change in attitude
towards the Zimbabwean Government on the part of South Africa, there is
little sign that SADC will make a concerted effort to persuade Mugabe's
Government to conform to electoral protocols. 'Ultimately, responsibility
rests with the Zimbabwean Government to comply - it can do as it pleases,'
James added.
Importantly, though, the SADC 'Protocol on
Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections' is a regional
initiative.
When elections in 2000 and 2002 were
condemned by international bodies as un-free, unfair, violent, and rigged,
Mugabe counter-argued that Western democratic rules should not be
imperialistically imposed on Africa, which should develop its own democratic
systems, and that Zimbabwe's polls were adequate relative to others in
Africa.
By signing the SADC protocols, Zimbabwe has
acknowledged (at least in principle) that the will of southern African
governments is to set universally accepted rules for democratic polls,
rather than some form of less rigorous standards for
Africa.
Second, SADC now has comprehensive guidelines
against which to measure elections in the region. Lack of agreed principles
for free and fair polls was a glaring weakness when the body legitimized
Zimbabwe's 2002 election.
Third, setting benchmarks
for democratic elections is a crucial part of regional and African efforts
to promote stability and good governance across the continent, as
pre-conditions for increased international aid and investment. It is widely
agreed that Zimbabwe has become an impediment to African development
efforts, though it is not alone in this.
Fourth, the
SADC protocols recognize that conditions in the run-up to polls are as
important to fulfilling free and fair criteria as conduct of elections on
the day. It is no longer enough for voting to take place reasonably
peacefully if, for example, the opposition has been denied access to the
state media, citizens have been disenfranchised or judicial independence
compromised, as has happened in Zimbabwe.
Finally, with
electoral protocols in place and signed by all 14 member countries, SADC
will be able legitimately to act against members who do not comply, without
accusations of undermining national sovereignty or cow-towing to imperialist
interests - even if its actions are limited, in the way that international
organisations inevitably are by their members.
Much,
therefore, depends on the announced visit of SADC lawyers to Zimbabwe to
look at electoral laws and reforms, and on SADC election observers -
especially as observers from other international bodies, such as the
European Union and Commonwealth, will be barred.
It will
be very difficult, many would argue impossible, for SADC lawyers from South
Africa, Lesotho and Namibia - the countries that constitute the organ that
monitors elections - to reach favourable conclusions about Zimbabwe's
compliance with pre-electoral protocols. That is, if they are allowed to do
their job: the Cape Times reported on 4 February that the team, expected in
Harare in late January, had yet to receive permission to visit
Zimbabwe.
The SADC protocol covers key conditions for
free and fair polls, including: full participation of citizens in the
political process; an independent judiciary; political tolerance; human and
civil liberties for all citizens, including freedom of movement, assembly,
association, expression and campaigning; equal access of all parties to the
state media; a conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections;
non-discriminatory voter registration; an updated, accessible voters' roll;
impartial and accountable electoral bodies; adequate security for all
parties; vote-counting at polling stations that are in neutral places; voter
education; regular elections; and measures to prevent fraud, rigging or
other illegal practices.
Very few of these criteria
are met on the ground in Zimbabwe where, Human Rights Watch predicted last
month, elections will likely 'unfold in a climate of repression and
intimidation' under draconian laws used 'to suppress criticism of government
and public debate'.
While the SADC guidelines encourage
free association and political tolerance, scores of MDC supporters and two
of its MPs have been arrested in the past month, simply for holding
meetings. In its latest political violence report, published last month, the
umbrella civil society group the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO forum said that
last November it recorded 399 assaults, 62 abductions and 406 unlawful
arrests, almost all of them opposition supporters.
Writing in South Africa's Mail & Guardian recently, human rights lawyer
Daniel Molokele argued that while claiming compliance with the SADC protocol
through reforms including the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act, Mugabe's
government had set out to hoodwink SADC leaders with moves that are no more
than 'democratic window dressing'. Comparing SADC guidelines to reality on
the ground in some areas, Molokele found the concept of a credible election
in March to be a 'political mirage':
Under Article 2.2.7
of the protocol, all SADC states must ensure an independent judiciary and
impartial electoral institutions. But in Zimbabwe, Molokele wrote, some half
of all judges have left the Bench 'as a result of the erosion of the rule of
law, harassment and the government's contemptuous disregard of court
orders'. The current Chief Justice is a former deputy minister, and the
judiciary has yet to finalise disputes from the 2000 election.
Also:
'An attempt was made to set up an independent
electoral commission. However, it is neither constitutionally independent
nor impartial since commissioners are hired and fired by the president. The
role of the new commission is further compromised by the supplementary roles
of such bodies as the Electoral Supervisory Commission, Electoral
Delimitation Commission and the Registrar General's office - all stacked
with Zanu PF yes men.'
In terms of Article 2.2.5,
SADC states are obliged to ensure equal access to the state media by all
political parties. However, there have been 'no attempts' to open up the
public media to opposition parties, three independent papers have been shut
down, repressive media laws bar journalists from working without a
state-issued licence, and journalists disobeying new rules enacted last
month face up to two years in jail.
Under Article 2.1.1, SADC
states must ensure that all citizens are allowed to participate fully in the
political process. But, Molokele pointed out, millions of Zimbabweans will
be unable to vote because of selective new registration processes,
opposition supporters have reported problems obtaining identity cards or
accessing the voters' roll, and there is a 'shambolic' voters roll, which
reportedly contains 800,000 dead people and which 5.7 million voters out of
a population of 11.4 million - an 'improbably high ratio', says to the
National Constitutional Assembly, an NGO advocating constitutional reform,
and one ripe for fraud. Many voters might not participate because of
political violence, Molokele wrote, a situation aggravated by Zanu PF's use
of 50,000 youth militias and liberation war veterans who 'have declared
areas off limits to the opposition'. New laws crack down on NGOs working in
voter education. Public servants, rather than independent observers, will
monitor the election. South Africa's weighty Financial Mail, expresses
concern that SADC might 'manage to feed off such crumbs as the promise to
use translucent ballot boxes, the restriction of polling to a single day,
and official claims that the electoral commission is independent'. Also, it
warns, on past experience there is little chance that the region will
confront Mugabe: 'Yet, if the past is any guide there is little chance than
the troika will take Mugabe on. SADC has always backed down. It is hard to
see why it should be any different this time.'
This
column is provided by the International Bar Association. An organisation
that represents the Law Societies and Bar Associations around the world, and
works to uphold the rule of law. For further information, visit the
website www.ibanet.org
Kenya threatens to arrest British envoy for 'theft and
corruption' By Adrian Blomfield in Nairobi (Filed:
23/02/2005)
Relations between Britain and Kenya plunged to their lowest
point in decades yesterday after a senior minister in President Mwai
Kibaki's government threatened to arrest the British high commissioner on
charges of theft and corruption.
In an outburst reminiscent of an
angry tirade by Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, Kenya's lands minister,
Amos Kimunya, claimed that Sir Edward Clay had used stolen government files
to prepare a controversial dossier alleging corruption in the
cabinet.
Sir Edward has become the bane of Mr Kibaki's administration
since he began a crusade against top-level corruption last year. This month
he accused ministers of "massive looting" and said he had handed over
details of 20 major scandals to the president.
The government was
quick to brand Sir Edward "an incorrigible liar" and "an enemy of the state"
but was alarmed by the overwhelming support he received among
Kenyans.
In what amounted to the first tacit admission that Sir Edward's
allegations were true, Mr Kimunya said senior civil servants leaked the
details that formed the basis of the dossier. "The information was corruptly
obtained," Mr Kimunya said. "He should be taken in."
Mr Kimunya is
seen as one of President Kibaki's closest allies. Both men are members of
the Kikuyu, Kenya's largest tribe. A cabal of Kikuyu ministers is accused of
cashing in on a series of procurement tenders, costing Kenya up to £500
million half the government's annual budget since Mr Kibaki came to power
two years ago.
It is unlikely that the government would be rash enough to
fulfil its threat and breach diplomatic immunity by arresting Sir Edward.
But there are signs that Nairobi is prepared to ignore international
condemnation and assume a policy of defiance similar to that practised by Mr
Mugabe.
In a worrying sign of a return to the repression that
characterised Kenyan politics in former years, Mr Kimunya announced that all
civil servants who leak information on corruption to foreign diplomats or
the press would be charged with treason, a hanging offence.
The move
is seen as particularly targeting the former head of the anti-corruption
unit, John Githongo, who resigned this month and fled the country. His
departure prompted the United States, Britain and Germany to suspend
aid.
The British High Commission has ignored Mr Kimunya's threat but
there is growing concern among the 30,000 British residents in Kenya that
they could become victims.
Kenyan ministers claim that the British
Government is behind all corrupt deals in the country and there have been
veiled threats against British business interests.
There are fears
that Mr Kibaki could seek to deflect anger among Kenyans by demanding the
redistribution of white-owned farms, as has happened in Zimbabwe.
Further to Friday's Urgent Legal Communique, herewith
the Section 5 notices listed in Friday's Herald (Friday 18th February 2005)
Lot 162 with
209 properties.
LISTING
LOT 162 SECTION 5 listing in Herald 18th February 2005:
Preliminary
Notice to Compulsorily Acquire Land
NOTICE is hereby given, in terms of
subsection (1) of section 5 of the Land Acquisition Act (Chapter 20:10), that
the President intends to acquire compulsorily the land described in the
Schedule for resettlement purposes.
A plan on the land is available for
inspection at the following offices of the Ministry of Special Affairs in the
Office of the President and Cabinet in Charge of Lands, Land Reform and
resettlement between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday other than on a
public holiday on or before 21st of March, 2005.
(a) Block 2, Makombe
Complex Cnr Harare Street and Herbert Chitepo Avenue, Harare; (b) Ministry
of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement, CF 119, Government Composite Block,
Robert Mugabe Way, Mutare; (c) Ministry of Lands, Land Reform and
Resettlement, 4th Floor, Block H Office, 146, Mhlahlandlela Government
Complex, Bulawayo; (d) Ministry of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement, M
& W Building, Corner Park/Link Street, Chinoyi; (e) Ministry of Lands,
Land Reform and Resettlement, 1st Floor, Founders House, The Green,
Marondera; (f) Ministry of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement, 19 Hellet
Street, Masvingo; (g) Ministry of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement,
Exchange Building, Main Street, Gweru; (h) Ministry of Lands, Land Reform
and Resettlement, Mtshabezi Building, First Floor, Office No. F20,
Gwanda; (i) Ministry of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement, Ndodahondo
Building, Bindura.
Any owner or occupier or any other person who has
an interest and right in the said land, and who wishes to object to the
proposed compulsory acquisition, may lodge the same, in writing, with the
Minister of Special Affairs in the Office of the President and Cabinet in
Charge of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement, Private Bag 7779, Causeway,
Harare, on or before 21st March 2005.
J L NKOMO Minister of Special
Affairs in the Office of the President and Cabinet in Charge of
Lands, Land Reform and
Resettlement.
LISTING
LOT 162 SECTION 5 listing in Herald 18th February
2005:
SCHEDULE
Bikita 1., 120/95, Sabi River Ranch P/L, Bikita,
Lot 9 of Devuli Ranch, 18 790.0000ha. 2., 5782/95, Mukazi River Ranch P/L,
Bikita, Lot 1 of Angus Ranch, 11 452.2507 ha. 3., 5855/74, Humani Estate
P/L, Bikita, Lot 2 of Humani Ranch, 174.7010 ha. 4., 5563/94, Mokore Ranch
P/L, Bikita, Ouse, 747.4244 ha. 5., 5251/92, H J Vorster P/L, Bikita, Lot 4
of Devuli Ranch, 23 143.0000 ha. 6., 6336/94, Dunmow Enterprises P/L,
Bikita, Bedford Block, 12 209.6648 ha. 7., 11181/97, M'Shlabata P/L, Bikita,
Lot 1 of Chigwete, 442.3045 ha. 8., 119/95, Chanurwe Ranch Properties P/L,
Bikita, Lot 7 of Devuli Ranch, 12 877.9110 ha. 9., 10511/02, Lowveld
Marketing Services P/L, Bikita, Lot 8 of Devuli Ranch, 12 970.0000
ha. 10., 11049/89, Midwest Ranches P/L, Bikita, Senuko 1, 12 621.9977
ha. 11., 2282/83, FeedsAnd Pharmaceuticals P/L, Bikita, Senuko 3, 12
10.9889 ha. 12., 762/87, BateleursPeak Farm Holdings P/L, Biita, Masapas
Ranch, 15 430.1726 ha. 13., 1884/93, Pioneer Capital Partners P/L, Bikit,
Lot 2 of Devuli Ranch, 13 117.2437 ha. 14., 5911/91, Vundu Ranching
Company P/L, Bikita, Lot 3 of Devuli Ranch, 11 369.2477 ha. 15., 3318/96,
Rovambira P/l, Bikita, Lot 6 of Devuli Ranch, 9 972.4108 ha. 16., 5865/74,
Feeds And Pharmaceuticals P/l, Bikita, Senuko 2, 11 949.1177 ha. 17.,
5706/92, Wenhope P/L, Bikita, Lot 2 of Angus Ranch, 16 590.5000 ha. 18.,
7753/98, Jinda Ramambo enterprises P/L, Bikita, Lot 5 of Devuli Ranch, 9
711.4294 ha.
Charter 19., 1814/61, thomas Mattheus Lambert, Charter,
Mooi Leegte, 4072.5353 acres. 20., 1098/65, Ernest RonaldSaul, Charter,
Ngesi, 6372.1717 acres. 21., 5174/81, Christiaan Jacobus Albertus Kirstein,
Charter, Wilderness, 404.2675 ha. 22., 5174/81, Christiaan Jacobus
Albertus Kirstein, Charter, Wilderness Extension of Honey Spruit, 388.5634
ha. 23., 5376/85, Colron Farming P/L, Charter, Wittendale, 1 584.9567
ha. 24., 1198/87, Natalian Viviers & Jane Mary Viviers, Charter, the
Remainder of wonderklip, 642.4028 ha. 25., 5072/98, Versailles P/L,
Charter, Versailles of Nyamazaan, 723.7577 ha. 26., 469/85, Peter Johannes
Cornelius De Klerk, Charter, Remainder of Hazeldene, 1 379.4908 ha. 27.,
1461/98, Planwace Investments Private, Charter, Jackalsdraai, 1 284.8156
ha. 28., 3209/75, Jacobus Johannes Erasmus, Charter, Klipheuval, 771.4373
ha. 29., 273/98, Grasscroft Enterprises P/L, Charter, Long Hope
of Wildebeestelaagte, 1 713.0361 ha. 30., 5376/85, Colron Farming P/L,
Charter, Southfield, 1 284.7899 ha. 31., 4268/82, Campbells Holdings P/L,
Charter, Tevrede of Rockydale, 160.2547 ha.
Chipinga 32., 701/61,
Izak J Roux, Chipinga, Torwood ofGeluk, 644.5413 ha. 33., 2645/90, H De
Foiard Brown P/L, Chipinga, Strepie of Hofstede, 164.6548 ha. 34.,
1483/73, LA Lucie P/L, Chipinga, Lot 7 of Newcastle, 192.9829 ha. 35.,
4672/88, Thomas Webster Herselman, Chipinga, Oribi Ridge ofGrass Flats,
163.3981 ha. 36., 3699/59, Coffee Estates P/L, Chipinga, Subdivision C of
Chipinga, 250.0860 morgen.
Gatooma 37., 1620/77, Joseph Charles
Baxter, Gatooma, Remainder of Subdivision A of Kanyemba Estate, 421.2105
ha. 38., 1620/77, Joseph Charles Baxter, Gatooma, Subdivision B of
Subdivision A of Kanyemba Estate, 200.5115 ha.
Goromonzi 39.,
8807/99, Amreco Properties P/L, Goromonzi, Remaining Extent of Koppies of the
Twentydales Estate, 1 002.4605 ha. 40., 281/61, Friern Estates P/L,
Goromonzi, Mandalay of Nil Desperandum of the Twentydales Estate, 2 150.2306
acres. 41., 4005/78, Delport Brothers P/L, Goromonzi, S/D J and M of
the Twentydales Estate, 133.2485 ha. 42., 4645/79, Christoffel Johannes
Greyling, Goromonzi, S/D F of Sellair, 104.6832 ha. 43., 5262/59, Patrick
Noel Wingfield, Goromonzi, Lot 1 of Belvedore, 919.6135 ha. 44., 6567/56,
Trustees of the Estate of the Late harold Basil Christian, Goromonzi,
Subdivision A of Mount Shannon of the Meadows, 334.3620 morgen. 45., 2046/80,
Michael Seton Major Cullinan, Goromonzi, Xanadu Estate, 1 734.1987
ha. 46., 8093/94, Williamson Properties P/L, Goromonzi, Inversnaid of
Melfort Estate, 1 113.3152 ha. 47., 3333/85, Dodman Brothers P/L,
Goromonzi, Liwonde Estate, 1 916.9877 ha. 48., 4856/99, Hunterscraig
Investments P/l, Goromonzi, S/D A of Sellair, 104.4370 ha. 49., 4966/68,
Meadows Farm P/L, Goromonzi, Lot 1 of Mashonganyika, 699.9904 acres. 50.,
6032/70, Chipunza Farm P/L, Goromonzi, Remaining Extent of Lot 2 of Bally
Vaughan, 291.1405 ha. 51., 4440/93, Paddock Farm P/L, Goromonzi, The Padock
of Melfort Estate, 404.8476 ha. 52., 7441/00, Fonrel Investment P/L,
Goromonzi, Remainder of Mamanora of Mashonganyika, 123.1014
ha.
Hartley 53., 3661/59, George Weyman Taylor, Hartley, Subdivision B
Portion of Croc-na-ragh, 475.7152 ha. 54., 5409/56, Roelof Jacobus Geyser,
Hartley, Remaining Extent ofBedford, 375.2861 ha. 55., 2062/59, Wilfred
James Rundle Dean, Hartley, Lot 2 of Orchidvale, 259.1053 morgen. 56.,
10087/01, Bounchcap Investments, Hartley, Lot 1 of Wantage,
42.8259 ha. 57., 3929/92, T Caine P/L, Hartley, Edinburgh of Nyatsime
Ranch, 1 470.6415 ha.
Inyanga 58., 5097/59, Metalfields P/L,
Inyanga, Brondersbury Park of Rodel, 907.7805 ha.
Mangwendi 59.,
918/92, Monte Cristo Farm P/L, Mangwendi, Monte Cristo of Ballinard,
2 704.0275 ha.
Marandellas 60., 123/65, Hercules Salomon Nel,
Marandellas, Nyeri, 3 059.9260 acres. 61., 1986/97, Carnol Farming P/L,
Marandellas, Kanzargwe of Soft, 664.0771 ha. 62., 7656/99, Varus
Investments P/L, Marandellas, The Remaining Extent of Soft, 593.2800
ha. 63., 4548/94, J H Erasmus Investments P/L, Marandellas, S/D A of
Welcome Home, 856.5180 ha. 64., 2323/86, Cradock Enterprises P/L,
Marandellas, The Remainder of Alexandrea, 932.6362 ha. 65., 6639/72,
Carswell Farm P/L, Marandellas, Remainder of Carswell of Killiemore, 1
311..3748 ha. 66., 2111/84, Claire Kit Wiggle, Marandellas, The Remainder of
Coquetdale of Rudmans, 119.4115 ha. 67., 3769/82, Raymond Dank Ponter,
Marandellas, Mbima of Igudu, 428.0473 ha. 68., 872/98, S & B Cloete
P/L, Marandellas, Bow, 1 240.2810 ha. 69., 90/93, Daskop Farm P/L,
Marandellas, Lot 1 of Lot KD Carruthersville, 607.3791 ha. 70., 8368/71,
Devon Estate P/L, Marandellas, Devon Estate, 1 750.3929 ha. 71., 489/96, Ian
Burgoyne, Marandellas, Dudley Estate A, 298.2722 ha. 72., 2/95, PTA Farming
Number Twenty Eight P/L, Marandellas, Lot 21 of Wenimbi Estate, 1 724.0731
ha. 73., 2783/93, Malibar Farm P/L, Marandellas, Malabar Estate, 284.6738
ha. 74., 116/96, G H Westhoff & Sons P/L, Marandellas, Meandu of
Longlands, 509.5034 ha. 75., 7755/89, chipesa Farm P/L, Marandellas,
Rusinga of Gresham, 589.1822 ha. 76., 158/83, Nurenzi Farm P/L,
Marandellas, S/D M of Carruthersville, 1 027.6764 ha. 77., 1154/58, Iamba
Farms P/L, Marandellas, Remainder of Iamba, 1 035.2713 morgen. 78.,
6012/84, Somerset Farm P/L, Marandellas, Somerset Estate, 973.6153 ha. 79.,
11527/2000, Steven Raymond Pratt, Marandellas, Remaining Extent of S/D A of
Wenimbi, 171.2566 ha. 80., 9116/97, Scorror Estate P/L, Marandellas,
Remaining Extent of S/D C of Eirene, 777.7016 ha. 81., 870/62, Rigidita
Estates P/L, Marandellas, Lot 1 of S/D C of Carruthersville, 1 520.0022
acres. 82., 6659/72, Showers P/L, Marandellas, Remainder of Showers, 581.3602
ha. 83., 240/84, Kenneth Mckelvey, Marandellas, Theydon Estate, 327.9939
ha. 84., 2145/66, Welton Enterprises P/L, Marandellas, Welton, 2
974.8000 acres. 85., 2323/86, Cradock Enterprises P/L, Marandellas, The
Remainder of Alexandrea, 932.6362 ha. 86., 227/40, Johannes Paulos Smit,
Marandellas, Lendy Estate, 1 377.07 ha. 87., 9434/90, Makarara Farm P/L,
Marandellas, Makarara of Lot HG of Carruthersville, 520.2468 ha. 88.,
99/87, Claydon Farm P/L, Marandellas, R/E of Mtemwa, 1 218.1236 ha. 89.,
8155/88, Paul Peach Bekker, Marandellas, S/D A of Showers,
776.8290 ha. 90., 6665/83, Cradock Enterprises P/L, Marandellas, S/D C of
Solitude of Alexandra, 45.7621 ha. 91., 9115/97, Gorejena Farm P/L,
Marandellas, Tambala of Subdivision A of Carruthersville, 54.8174 ha. 92.,
3619/47, Glenisla tobacco Estate P/L, Marandellas, Twyford, 1
898.319 morgen. 93., 7331/99, Kegworth Enterprises P/L, Marandellas, The
Remaining extent of Anwa, 917.2168 ha. 94., 4489/95, G T N Farm Holdings
P/L, Marandellas, Lot 18 of Wenimbi Estate, 527.3470 ha. 95., 2784/93,
Waverley Farms P/L, Marandellas, Farm 4 of Wenimbi Estate, 398.8907
ha. 96., 1404/93, Wecome Home Farm P/L, Marandellas, Remaining Extent
of Welcome Home, 1 011.6164 ha. 97., 5362/82, Pembry Farm P/l,
Marandellas, Rocklands, 1 387.3023 ha. 98., 5452/91, Casta Farms P/l,
Marandellas, Remainder of S/D B of Alexandrea, 404.5923 ha. 99., 5595/92,
Peter Joseph Moor, Goromonzi/Marandellas, Mimosa Estate, 302.8713
ha. 100., 924/99, Nine Jacaranda P/L, Marandellas, Remainder of
Mukute, 488.2342 ha. 101., 2092/99, Tambaguta P/L, Marandellas,Waltondale,
1 636 ha. 102., 2710/50, Denzil Ernest Rhodes Stockil, Marandellas, Norfolk,
1 469.239 morgen. 103., 9380/99, Cudjoe Properties P/L, Marandellas, The
Remaining Extent of Rastenburg, 856.1972 ha., 104., 1950/73, B & D
Dairy Farm P/L, Marandellas, R/E of Logan Lee, 814.8313 ha. 105., 1492/77,
Gresham Farms P/L, Marandellas, Tawoomba of Eirene, 597.6383 ha. 106.,
7827/71, Ponderosa Estate P/L, Marandellas, The R/E of Vrede, 401.3760
ha. 107., '84/87, Petrus Gerhardus Botha, Marandellas, S/D D of
Welgetroos, 214.1295 ha. 108., 1950/73, B & D Dairy Farm P/L,
Marandellas, R/E ofLogan Lee, 814.8313 ha.
Makoni 109., 6737/81,
Michael John Langle, Makoni, Widsorton, 566.9093 ha. 110., 3495/88, Freezing
Point Estates P/L, Makoni, Sunrise, 1 112.2906 ha. 111., 7070/98, Polnat
Investments, Makoni, Moodiesville, 1 328.00 ha.
Melsetter 112.,
2692/95, Bennet Brothers Farming Enterprises P/L, Melsetter, Vooruitzicht, 2
784.5859 ha. 113., 4618/90, John Barlow, Melsetter, Redstar of Mutazarara of
Albany, 53.5749 ha. 114., 5517/84, Saurel Holdings P/L, Melsetter,
Remainder of Umzila, 859.8619 ha.
Mrewa 115., 6499/85, Philip
Lawrence Mackie, Mrewa, Eureka, 837.8130 ha. 116., 8150/94, Landsley Farm
P/L, Mrewa, Remainder of Leylands, 235.8480 ha. 117., 8156/96, Huncote
Enterprises P/L, Mrewa, Timorim of Macsoso, 601.6098 ha. 118., 6536/80,
Howard Philip Arnold, Mrewa, Remainder of Lot 1 of Whispering Hope, 1
181.8687 ha. 119., 1535/93, Mayendoro Farm P/L, Mrewa, Mayendero, 872.8509
ha. 120., 6954/94, Landsley Farm P/l, Mrewa, Lot 1 of Leylands, 809.3726
ha. 121., 8347/89, Springlea P/l, Mrewa, Springs, 1 206.8339 ha. 122.,
6968/87, Waterloo Farms P/L, Mrewa, Waterloo Estate, 982.1419 ha. 123.,
3024/82, Mount Belingwe Farm P/L, Mrewa, Muckleneuk Estate,
146.2084 ha. 124., 6964/99, Denik P/l, Mrewa, Airlie, 1 051.8824
ha. 125., 6617/96, Gilsland Enterprises P/L, Mrewa, Chikowatsine, 1
057.8782 ha. 126., 924/84, Frederick Kendall Nicholson, Mrewa, Hazeldene,
896.7744 ha. 127., 884/90, Pigeonswood Farm P/L, Mrewa, The Remainder of
Devauden, 996.7071 ha. 128., 884/90, Pigeonswood Farm P/l, Mrewa,
Chabwino, 774.8084 ha.
Ndanga 129., 4406/67, Mleme Estates P/L,
Ndanga, Hippo Valley Settlement Holding 5, 539.8793 acres. 130., 341/66,
Kwa Ingwe Farm P/L, Ndanga, Hippo Valley Settlement Holding 6, 516.6012
acres. 131., 5931/00, Ngwane Ranch Properties P/L, Ndanga, The Remainder of
Ruware Ranch, 16 242.1289 ha. 132., 2642/94, The Trustees of the
Malilangwe Conservation Trust, Ndanga, The Remainder of Lone Star Ranch, 26
114.4301 ha. 133., 2642/94, The Trustees of The Malilangwe Conservation
Trust, Ndanga, The Remainder of Lone Star Ranch Watershed Extension, 638.5551
ha. 134., 4398/76, Jatala Estate P/L, Nddanga, Lot 1 o Faversham, 3
673.6398 ha. 135., 5029/93, N & B Holdings P/L, Ndanga, Glendevon A of
Glendevon Estate, 1 830.5447 ha.
Nuanetsi 136., 1673/72, De La Rey
Beyers Fourie Geldenhuys, Nuanetsi, Lot 9 of Lot 1 of Lot 12 of Nuanetsi
Ranche A, 6 074.1161 ha. 137., 1673/72, De La Rey Beyers Fourie Geldenhuys,
Nuanetsi, Lot 7 of Lot 1 of Lot 12 of Nuanetsi Ranche A, 7 543.2179
ha. 138., 10971/98, Quartack Investments P/L, Nuanetsi Lot 2 of Lot 1 of Lot
12 of Nuanetsi Ranche A, 6 070.5136 ha. 139., 6797/73, B J B Ranch P/L,
Nuanetsi, B J B Estate, 9 139.4981 ha.,
Salisbury 140, 1144/76, Ardno
Farm P/L, Salisbury, Ardno A, 1 326.7425 ha. 141., 509/78, Auks Nest Farm
P/L, Salisbury, Auk's Nest, 637.2494 ha. 142., 8351/96, Hussite Investments
P/L, Salisbury, Remainder ofBrakveld, 558.6078 ha. 143., 2882/73, Peter
Douglas Dorward and Alistair Ian Dorward, Salisbury, Bolton, 835.1051
ha. 144., 1012/56, Valerie Pape Laing, Salisbury, Caledonia, 2 309.2179
ha. 145., 6451/89, Irvines Day Old Chicks P/l, Salisbury, the Remaining
Extent of Carnock, 904.3399 ha. 146., 356/02, Maranbay Ventures P/l,
Salisbury, Remainder of Charleston, 400.0976 ha. 147., 1462/77, John
Peacey Danckwerts, Salisbury, Remainder of Chedgelow of Arlington Estate,
572.9724 ha. 148., 9626/90, Inyondo P/l, Salisbury, Remainder of Inyondo,
921.1993 ha. 149., 5675/83, D Corson & Son P/L, Salisbury, Silgo, 1
357.5811 ha. 150., 7791/88, Eyam P/L, Salisbury, S/D A of Eyam, 881.0570
ha. 151., 11259/99, Fullite Investments P/L, Salisbury, Stilton, 704.0578
ha. 152., 7589/90, Tchinungu Farm P/L, Salisbury, S/D A of Tchinungu,
610.0077 ha. 153., 5296/81, Red Dane Dairy P/L, Salisbury, Aldington,
799.6781 ha. 154., 2012/96, J F Du Rand P/L, Salisbury, Vrede of Tweespruit
of Mtsike, 321.8833 ha. 155., 4321/86, J H Butler Farms P/L, Salisbury,
The Remainder of Draycott of Arlington Estate, 1 165.3978 ha., 156.,
3667/95, Farland Investments P/L, Salisbury, Gabaza, 665.5145 ha. 157.,
5234/83, Archibald Peter Mcmaster, Salisbury, Geluk of Elim,
404.7816 ha. 158., 6592/88, John Milton Fick, Salisbury, Glorviana
Extension, 442.8198 ha., 159., 2867/83, Johannes Frederick Fick,
Salisbury, Glorvina, 474.9021 ha. 160., 767/80, York Farms P/L, Salisbury,
Guildford, 620.9927 ha., 161., 597/93, Gwalia Properties P/L, Salisbury,
Gwalia, 1 322.4639 ha. 162., 5290/01, Brickend Trading P/L, Salisbury,
Kellet, 1 320.7508 ha. 163., 5511/94, Wouter Theron, Salisbury, Lot 1 of
Fresnaye, 310.0135 ha. 164., 909/00, Mvunda Investments P/L, Salisbury, Lot 1
of Groot Schuur, 303.9138 ha. 165., 1519/84, Gideon Stephanus Theron,
Salisbury, Lot 1 of Zanka, 472.3933 ha. 166., 4973/85, Daniel Johannes
Ferreira, Salisbury, Lot 1A Portugal, 654.8118 ha. 167., 5600/69, John
Milton Fick, Salisbury, Manderley of Vrede, 1 137.5547 acres. 168.,
1818/93, Mashonda Farm P/L, Salisbury, Mashonda, 799.1313 ha. 169., 4308/73,
Mayfield Farm P/l, Salisbury, Mayfield, 741.9859 ha. 170., 2882/73, Peter D
Dorward and A Ian Dorward, Salisbury, Bolton, 835.1051 ha. 171., 5505/79,
Scottsbank Farm P/L, Salisbury, Moreless, 746.0272 ha. 172., 342/57, 342/57,
Brechin Estates P/L, Salisbury, Brechin A, 2 981.0617 morgen. 173.,
1570/81, Peter Samuel Warren Kileff and Hazel Ellen Lileff, Salisbury, Farm
Chesham, 1 339.5642 ha. 174., 7874/94, R G P Johnson P/L, Salisbury, Chester,
614.9799 ha. 175., 1190/86, George Kileff & Sons P/L, Salisbury,
Remaining Extent of Eyerston of Arlington Estate, 1 086.9361 ha. 176.,
5505/79, Scottsbank Farm P/L, Salisbury, Moreloess, 746.0272 ha. 177., 12/83,
Elizabeth Seanan, Salisbury, Ndibiriri A of Lisheen Estate, 102.7838
ha. 178., 614/97, Nhuku Farm P/L, Salisbury, The Remaining Extent of
farm Nhuku, 424.3976 ha. 179., 5965/94, F J Nel P/l, Salisbury, Orangia, 1
755.8620 ha. 180., 4577/76, Kenneth Michael Mumford, Salisbury, remainder of
Plumstead Estate, 336.2802 ha. 181., 1856/64, Johanna Maria Van Der Merwe,
Salisbury, the Remaining Extent of Portugal, 1 0000.0799. acres. 182.,
1811/78, Erens Hendrik Nieuwoudt, Salisbury, Quarries, 811.4838 ha. 183.,
5511/94, Wouter Theron, Hartley/Salisbury, Remaining Extent of Fresnaye,
469.4179 ha. 184., 5675/83, D Corson & Son P/L, Salisbury, Silgo, 1
357.5811 ha. 185., 7791/88, Eyam Private Limited, Salisbury, S/D A of Eyam,
881.0570 ha. 186., 140/86, Coenrad Johannes victor Fick andJohannes Frederick
Fick, Salisbury, Victory, 1 085.9542 ha. 187,2529/96, Atlanta Farm P/L,
Salisbury, Atlanta of The Meadows, 546.5099 ha. 188., 8092/94, J
Williamson Properties P/L, Salisbury, Remainder of Banana Grove, 1 233.2532
ha. 189., 5481/99, Shepherd Hall Farm P/L, Salisbury, Chakoma estate,
1 275.9283 ha. 190., 76/68, Susman and Newfield P/L, Salisbury, Marden of
Swiswa, 1 526.2891 acres. 191., 2831/81, P J E Williams P/L, Salisbury,
Matsirirano of Hillside, 494.5350 ha. 192., 3534/59, Steve Delport P/L,
Salisbury, Remaining Extent of S/D A portion of Twentydales Estate, 990.0608
acres. 193., 9170/99, Beeflos Enterprises P/L, Salisbury, the Remaining
Extent of Welgetroos, 459.0601 ha. 194., 4602/70, Wernel Farm P/L,
Salisbury, Wernel, 2 860.8912 acres. 195., 4312/93, Dorisdale Farming P/L,
Salisbury, thursfield, 41.1338 ha. 196., 5438/74, Goromonzi Estate P/L,
Salisbury, R/E of Goromonzi Estate of Liwonde, 1 073.0769
ha.
Umtali 197., 5290/2000, Kerry Hope Heyns, Umtali, Tregenna,
42.5159 ha. 198., 12891, Border Timbers Limited, Umtali, Sheba, 1 280.4833
ha. 199., 2435/77, David Charles Walker, Umtali Imbeza Valley Lot 2,
73.6605 ha. 200., 4940/71, Nyamheni P/L, Umtali, Remaining Extent of
Cloudlands Estate, 407.2163 ha. 201., 5126/86, Border Timber Limited,
Umtali, Nyaronga Manor, 222.8975 ha. 202., 809/77, Bezuidenout Brothers P/L,
Umtali, Remainder of Lot 1 of Warnham of Cairndhu, 220.13343 ha. 203.,
4151/58, Border Timbers Limited, Umtali, Epson, 874.06 ha. 204., 2987/84,
Cidimu P/L, Umtali, Cidimu Estate, 79.7518 ha.
Wedza 205., 545/89,
Hester Helena botha, Weza, Cloutsham, 1 308.5982 ha. 206., 6159/80, David
Charles Hamilton, Weza, emma, 434.6900 ha. 207., 6489/81, Jan Andries Smith,
Weza, Espy, 1 468.9613 ha. 208., 4346/88, Hursley Park P/L, Wedza, Bally
David Estate, 1 108.4086 ha. 209., 6191/93, N C Tapson Properties P/l, Weza,
Lower Dean, 1 882.9958 ha.
End LOT 162 Section 5
SCHEDULE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE
JAG TEAM
JAG Hotlines: +263 (011) 205 374 If you are in trouble or
need advice, please don't hesitate to
contact us - we're here to help! +263
(04) 799 410 Office Lines
"I'm reminded too that it wasn't the runner who made it first
over the line that won, but the one who made it over the line with the torch
in his hand still
burning."
LETTER
1: AGCO STOCK EXCHANGE MESSAGE, received 20.2.2005
by Keith
Clubb
Dear Jag
Please ask your members who are interested in the
Massey Ferguson debacle to visit the Yahoo! website; click 'finance' and
enter AG on search on the finance page. This will open the Agco stock
exchange page. Click on 'message board'and you will find "Why does Agco
support terrorists ?" which deals with Mr Wright's Massey Ferguson
statement.
Perhaps your members might like to add their views.
In
the meantime, please keep your e-mails flowing to Mr Wright to tell him what
you think (nickwright@uk.agcocorp.com). I've
been told that you are certainly making your voices heard.
After having been abducted in 2000, beaten regularly,
run from the police and jailed by the current governent, had my farms and my
livelihood taken away, I was understandably anxious about going out to the
rural area where I was registered to vote to check if I was on the voters
role. I eventually found an organisation which had purchased a copy of the
Voters role and checked to see if I was able to vote on 31 March. I found I
was registered twice, with different ID numbers! But one of the numbers
co-incidede with the ID I carry as a citizen of Zimbabwe. I will carefully
travel to my rural home and I will vote, if I am allowed to, in the March
2005 National Elections.
Do you know that 6 Zimbabweans outside the
country are currently challenging the government in our local courts to allow
them to vote in the elections, despite the fact that they currently live
outside of Zimbabwe?
That means that so many of you who still believe
that you are Zimbabweans, despite being forced by economic or political
events, to leave Zimbabwe, may find yourselves able to vote on 31 March 2005.
It also means that you may well find that you have very little time to
prepare for this event and will possibly just give up if the process is too
complicated.
Please dont give up.
Please check to see if you can
vote. Please vote if you can. We need your vote, even if you are in Brisbane,
Waiki, Vancouver, London or where ever. It is the indominable spirit of our
people that has made us survive so far. Help us to make the changes we so
badly need to make Zimbabwe a country we all want to live in and bring our
children up in.
It does not matter what colour, race or tribal
affiliation we have. We are Zimbabweans. Vote so that we can move
forward.
Its just Simply, simply, simply .......so important to us
all.
S&S.
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Many people who watch Africa cannot
understand how poor countries can sustain leaders who rapidly become some of
the richest people on earth. How do they do it?
Take Mobutu in the
Congo, he was estimated to have accumulated a personal fortune of over US$4
000 000 000.00. This huge sum could have almost paid off the international
debts of the country at the time. Then one of the last Military leaders in
Nigeria accumulated a fortune at the astonishing rate of over a billion US
dollars a year during his tenure. That is US$2,7 million dollars a
day!
The new leader of Mozambique, one of the poorest countries on earth,
is not only a long time Marxist but is now the richest man in the country.
Even in chaotic and impoverished Angola, the leadership lives in a lavish
manner and has enormous sums of money stashed in secret overseas accounts.
Just how is this sudden wealth achieved?
First of all they do it very
secretly - using their power at home to withhold the information from the
watching eyes of the media. Secondly they do it with the connivance of
overseas banks and financial agencies that specialize in looking after such
wealth and in keeping it out of sight.
It helps if you have oil. It is
now a known fact that a third of Angola's oil revenues (about US$3,5 billion
a year) finds it way into the personal accounts of the powerful elite that
runs the country. But what is less well known is that these same people take
a cut on just about everything that the country buys. These funds are paid
with the full knowledge of the authorities in the paying countries and go
into a network of accounts with foreign banks so complicated that they would
make Bill Gates proud.
But the main mechanism used is that wonderful
invention of the Breton Woods agreements and the West - the Reserve Bank and
the Ministry of Finance. No tribal Chief ever invented such a simple
mechanism for milking the people and enriching the powerful.
In
Zimbabwe, the Zanu PF regime has been using these institutions for years to
line their pockets and entrench their power. Just take a few
examples. Foreign exchange inflows from official sources run at about US$33,5
million a week. The real value of this flow of resources is about Z$340
billion. In fact the State only pays out via the Reserve Bank Z$200 billion
leaving a hidden surplus value of Z$140 billion a week or Z$7,3 trillion a
year. That is Z$650 000 a year for every Zimbabwean in the form of a hidden
tax.
Then take another favorite collecting point - gold sales. Zimbabwe
is about the 6th largest gold producer in the world. Not much after South
Africa and Russia or Australia, but still significant at about 35 tonnes a
year. The law in Zimbabwe, as in all African States, says that producers must
sell this to the Reserve Bank at a price fixed in local currency. So about
1 million Zimbabweans slave away digging gold out of the harsh soil and
then sell this (about two thirds are sold to the Reserve Bank - the rest
is smuggled out) for a set sum in Zimbabwe dollars printed by the Reserve
Bank. This payment in recent years has been well below its real value
as determined by the market for gold and the local market for the
Zimbabwe dollar.
Cheap gold not only implies another tax - valued last
year at about Z$1,7 trillion but also an internationally convertible source
of hard currency. It can be sold in international markets or hidden in
overseas bank vaults. Whatever the Reserve Bank does with its gold purchases
the effect is to convert real value into paper money with a rapidly declining
value.
These two simple mechanisms are used to steal money from ordinary
people. They are part of the reason why inflation is so high and the value of
our currency falls by the day. In one sense they constitute a hidden tax,
in another they are a major source of corruption and patronage. This
explains how people closely connected to the ruling Party are able to
accumulate wealth very rapidly. It also explains the need for secrecy in
Reserve Bank dealings and in foreign exchange matters.
In Zimbabwe it
also explains why the new Reserve Bank Governor has used his very
considerable influence and power to criminalize the parallel market
for foreign exchange. For this reason many business persons, whose
business could not have survived in recent years without certain open
market activities, have found themselves under investigation and many have
paid huge bribes to escape further punishment. Others have been imprisoned
and many of Zimbabwe's brightest and best have fled the country, leaving
behind considerable corporate holdings and assets. There is much evidence
that the Governor himself - in his capacity as the State Presidents personal
banker and the CEO of a major commercial Bank has undertaken open
market activities, which are today regarded as criminal acts. The selective
use of investigation and punishment is again typical of such regimes in
Africa.
But the ripple effects of activities of this nature spread very
wide. In South Africa there is clearly a deliberate policy to over value the
Rand. This then enables the newly powerful to use the Rand - which can be
printed for a fraction of its face value, to buy assets cheaply. This is
the underlying mechanism being used to transfer assets to the new elite. At
the same time a strong Rand counters the inflationary pressures created by
the rather loose monetary policies that this requires. But the impact of
the strong Rand on all exporters and on manufacturing is serious and
damaging. It is hindering job growth and undermining the traditional pillars
of the South African economy.
In Zimbabwe the same policies - pursued
with reckless abandon by this regime, has called the death knell for major
exporters such as the mining industry and agriculture. It cost over Z$60
million to grow a hectare of tobacco this year - the farmers will be paid
about US$2 per kilogram and this will translate at present exchange rates
into Z$36 million dollars. A quick way to go bust, even if you got your land
and all the assets on it for nothing from a criminal regime.
Business
Reporter THE tourism industry is aiming to increase its earnings this year to
US$250 million from US$152 million generated last year.
The Zimbabwe
Tourism Authority (ZTA) expects the improving image of the country
internationally coupled with the Miss Tourism World pageant to buoy this
year's earnings.
The sector has been enjoying a new lease of life since
last year with a notable increase in tourist arrivals from Asia.
"The
industry is slowly on the path to recovery and the Miss Tourism World
pageant will have a positive effect. It has improved the perception of the
country's business and tourism sectors, bringing awareness in both sectors
as more business people are now willing to do business in Zimbabwe," said
ZTA chairman Mr Emmanuel Fundira.
Miss Tourism World will target
foreign visitors from the traditional markets and that is likely to
contribute positively to the sector.
Mr Patison Sithole, president of the
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), also spoke highly of the Miss
Tourism World pageant saying, as businesspeople, the CZI welcomed this
development as it is likely to be a boon for both tourism and business in
general.
Zimbabwe stood to gain as the pageant was likely to attract new
business opportunities and foreign currency to the country, he pointed
out.
Zimbabwe was recently given a rare opportunity to parade its tourism
capacity and launch a strong advertising campaign during the Miss Tourism
World pageant, which other countries such as China and Thailand were also
biding to host.
The pageant will also be expected to boost Zimbabwe's
tourism after five years of hostile publicity. The tourism industry has been
in a slump during the past four years, and the biggest decline was
experienced in the year 2003 when earnings dropped to a mere US$61
million.
EDITORIAL February 22, 2005 Posted to the web February 22,
2005
Munodii Kunzwa
APATHY has doomed many elections in
Africa. One reason could be that most elections don't make a difference to
the status quo.
Ruling parties have rigged elections so thoroughly they
can only lose if the chief riggers decide to switch sides in midstream.
Another reason is that people are frightened of being caught in the
crossfire of the violence between the competing parties.
So, most
stay at home and watch everything on television - assuming they have a set.
This is not as far-fetched as it may sound. Political thuggery is
commonplace in elections all over the world bu t in Africa it has become as
inevitable as vote-buying.
One reason is that the people in power want to
hang on, unless the electorate decides life is not worth living under the
incumbents: they'd rather die than let the same crowd return to power. These
people may be so corrupt the thought of giving up all their ill-gotten loot
and not being able to add to it, is too ghastly to contemplate.
Being
in power in Africa must give some people the sensation of being absolutely
untouchable, even if you are caught red-handed with stolen US dollars under
their pillow or with their best friend's wife in their bed. People begin to
believe they possess God-like omnipotence. With a snap of their finger, they
could change the laws - the son of a dead president can succeed his
father.
Or a city council dominated by the opposition party can be kicked
out with the stroke of a pen. When you voted in 2000 and 2002, can you
identify what overwhelmed you to make such a decision? Were you fed up with
the incumbents? Did you believe your vote in favour of the opposition could
make a difference? Or did you feel so strongly against the incumbents you
voted against them because it made you so happy?
If you voted for the
ruling party and its candidate, did you do this because you felt they had
done a good job? Or were you scared someone would squeal on you for voting
for the Other Side and that someone would be sent "to fix" you for
it?
Are you scared of being "fixed" for acting according to your
conscience? Are you a mouse in these matters? If you voted out of a deep
sense of loyalty to the ruling party, then was it because they brought
independence, or because they gave you a piece of land, or because when you
couldn't find a job, they offered you one in exchange for joining the
party?
Is your loyalty for sale? Do you hold sacred and sacrosanct your
right to vote for the candidate of your choice? Or was it your father who
persuaded you to vote for the ruling party, because he had lost your brother
in the liberation struggle and felt it would be a heinous betrayal not to
vote for the party which sent him into battle and to his death?
Did
you, at any time before going to vote, consider your material status? Were
you employed, half-employed, unemployed, or unemployable? Did you consider
you and your family well-off at the time? Did your decision to vote or not
to vote depend on the answer to that question?
Finally, after learning
the results of the elections in 2000 and 2002, were you satisfied that "the
will of the people" had been done? Or did you suspect that something had
gone awry between the voting and the counting of the votes? Were you
satisfied that the outcome was what you expected? Were you content or
disillusioned?
Having answered some of these questions - you would be a
genius if you answered them all - have you considered why in some African
countries the ruling parties have been beaten fair and square at the polls?
Examples include Senegal, Ghana, Malawi, Zambia and Kenya.
In which
of these countries would you say the people voted against the ruling party
because (a) the president looked so old the chances were that he had lost
his marbles; (b) the ruling party was so corrupt people shouted "Thief!" as
the president walked along Main Street in the capital; (c) the rest of the
world, especially those who had always been wiling to help the country
economically, had given up because there was no visible development to
justify all their aid, except the palatial residences of the ruling
elite?
or (d) the president answered the question "When are you going
to retire?" with: "Does God retire?"
Having read the manifestoes of
the two par ties, were you inclined to react with "So what?" or "What a load
of rubbish!" or "Give us a break!" or "Hey, this sounds
interesting!"
If you are not going to vote, where is your sense of
patriotism? Have you read what Socrates, Aristotle, Plato and all those
other ancient pioneers of good governance have said about
democracy?
Or do you think it's irrelevant because they were all
Europeans, whose descendants would later launch The Scramble for Africa? Or
do you believe your vote won't make a hell of a difference to the outcome?
If so, have you any idea why this has come about - why your vote cannot make
any difference?
Doesn't this make you feel utterly impotent, politically?
Also, doesn't it raise in you the suspicion that, perhaps deep down, you
don't give a hoot who runs your country, that you are not too worried about
what other people do to your country, even if, in the end, you may be the
major victim of their actions?
If you believe nothing you do now
can conceivably alter the course of your country's destiny, doesn't that
suggest you suffer from an acute lack of self-esteem, that you believe
yourself to be utterly useless, spineless, worthless, because you would
rather go to the tavern for a scud or a pint at the corner pub, than go to
the polling station?
Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Is your
understanding of democracy so shallow it has not occurred to you that, in a
way, voting for your own MP is an integral part of your right to
self-determination? Of course, if your answer to this last question is No,
then it is time, perhaps, for you to examine your Conscience, if you are
still able to identify it. Or to find out from your family tree if there are
any ancestors who sold out to the enemy, either for a pint of beer, or
because they didn't have the courage to confront their fear head-on. It all
comes down, in the end, to fear. Your cowardice could determine your destiny
and that of your country.
Much is
at stake as election looms in Zimbabwe February 23, 2005
By Allister Sparks
The Zimbabwe elections are fast becoming a test
not so much of President Robert Mugabe's credibility, which is blown anyway,
but of the Southern African Development Community's.
The
14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) expended a great
deal of energy six months ago drafting its guidelines for free and fair
elections at a summit in Mauritius, an excellent document that won worldwide
acclaim.
Yet now the SADC is showing a painful lack of political
will to apply it to Zimbabwe's election.
The organisation has
all the teeth it needs to enforce compliance. The guidelines are embedded in
the 1992 SADC Treaty and are binding on member countries. Sanctions can be
applied against a member country which violates the guidelines or
"implements policies which undermine the principles and objectives of
SADC".
Zimbabwe has done both, yet SADC remains silent and Mugabe
continues to treat the guidelines with contempt.
One can
appreciate that the regional organisation doesn't want to rush in to a
member country with a heavy hand, but a little real pressure - such as a
stern warning that unless the guidelines are complied with the SADC observer
team will have to declare the elections illegitimate - would surely have
brought Mugabe to heel.
He may not give a damn about condemnation
from Tony Blair, George Bush or the European Union, but he certainly
wouldn't want to be censured by his fellow Africans.
Of course
any such warning would have to carry a credible threat of implementation,
which is where the SADC falls down. Mugabe counts on his regional partners
not having the stomach to act against him and so he leads them a merry
dance.
In the end it is the SADC more than Mugabe that will pay the
price in terms of lost credibility in the developed world, where it has an
important role to play in negotiating a better deal for the struggling
nations of Africa.
The Mbeki doctrine of delivering good
governance in Africa in exchange for better trading opportunities in the
developed world will be the prime victim.
Incredibly, Foreign
Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma told a media briefing in Cape Town last week
that she believed enough was being done to ensure that the March 31
elections would be free and fair.
By contrast, that much more
down-to-earth individual, Cosatu's Zwelinzima Vavi, told a private briefing
he thought it was already too late to save the election process, that the
political dice were so irretrievably loaded against the opposition that with
only five weeks to go the election could not possibly be free and
fair.
This week the SA Communist Party's Blade Nzimande said much
the same.
Dlamini-Zuma said her optimism was based on the fact that
Mugabe had called for a violence-free election, while the leader of the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, had said the level
of political violence in Zimbabwe had declined.
In similar
vein, President Thabo Mbeki spoke positively during a radio interview on
February 14 about the appointment of an independent electoral commission in
Zimbabwe, and expressed confidence that a SADC observer team would soon be
invited to Zimbabwe, as required by the SADC guidelines.
There are
gaping holes in all these assertions. Mugabe's call for a peaceful election
is meaningless, since it is his government that instigated the violent
repression of the opposition that has been ongoing for years. And while
Tsvangirai did indeed say the level of violence had declined somewhat, it is
still continuing at an unacceptable level.
According to independent
sources inside the country, the Zanu-PF youth militia is still active
everywhere, intimidating opposition supporters, while the government is
blatantly using food distribution in the starving rural areas to secure
support for the ruling party.
Free electioneering is
impossible. Under the notorious Public Order and Security Act, the MDC must
apply to the police for permission to hold meetings, and these are
frequently turned down.
Last week the police arrested the MDC's
election director, Ian Makone, for organising a meeting of party candidates
to prepare for last Friday's nomination court procedures, while in Bulawayo
a team of door-to-door canvassers were arrested while trying to check out
the chaotic voters roll.
Nor does the opposition have fair access
to the state-owned media, as the SADC guidelines require. Last Sunday state
television gave the MDC airtime for the first time, with a four-minute
report on its campaign launch - promptly followed by a two-hour interview
with Mugabe.
Meanwhile, the state-owned newspapers are routinely
refusing to accept paid MDC election advertisements while publishing reams
of free Zanu-PF propaganda.
The country's most important
independent newspaper, the Daily News, remains banned. The Zimbabwe Supreme
Court was supposed to deliver judgment on an appeal against the banning
order on February 7, and rumour has it the judgment is in the paper's favour
- but nothing has yet appeared.
Even the foreign media has been
effectively disabled. Last week the three most important foreign journalists
operating in Zimbabwe, Jan Raath, Angus Shaw and Brian Latham, all fled the
country after being subjected to heavy-handed police raids and the seizure
of their computers and other essential equipment.
As for the
so-called independent electoral commission, it is nothing of the
sort.
The opposition was presented with a shortlist of candidates,
none of whom were acceptable to them. As one MDC leader put it: "All we
could do was choose the least bad." To cap that, Mugabe appointed as
chairman a judge who was one of his most controversial appointees to the
bench.
Moreover, this new electoral commission is itself not the
supreme body in charge of the election. It is subordinate to another body,
the Electoral Supervisory Commission, made up entirely of staunch Zanu-PF
loyalists.
Most critical of all, however, is the absence of any
observer teams to take note of these delinquencies and to pressurise the
Mugabe government into complying with the SADC guidelines.
In
terms of those guidelines the Zimbabwe government should have invited the
SADC to send an observer team 90 days, or three months, before polling day.
In fact the invitation only went out last Saturday, with polling day only
five weeks away.
Worse still, the Zimbabwe government refused entry
to a team of lawyers from the SADC organ on politics, defence and security
(chaired by South Africa), whose task was to inspect the electoral
legislation and assess conditions in the country ahead of the
election.
The reason for all this obfuscation is obvious. The
critical rigging is being done in advance and the regime wants no observers
around to see what is happening. No doubt it will allow some selected
observer teams in once the nefarious work is done.
Will these
observers then ignore what occurred before their arrival and blandly
proclaim the election to have been free and fair? That is obviously what the
Mugabe regime is counting on them doing. It will be a travesty if they play
ball.
As for the SADC, any such connivance would be a monumental
blunder. Its reputation is far more important to this region than any futile
attempt to save face for Mugabe. It must speak up and show that it has the
courage of its own principles.
.. Sparks is a
veteran journalist and political commentator.
DA feels insulted after being denied entry into
Zimbabwe JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance trio prohibited from entering
Zimbabwe yesterday said this action undermined the protocol of the Southern
African Development Community (SADC).
On their return to
Johannesburg International Airport chairman Joe Seremane said Zimbabwe's
heavy- handedness came at a time when the SADC was easing passport
requirements to promote the free movement of people between
states.
Seremane, DA Chief Whip Douglas Gibson and researcher Paul
Boughey flew to Harare yesterday morning for a pre-election fact-finding
visit, but were put back on the same aeroplane for home. The trio said they
would appeal to the Zimbabwean authorities over their ejection from the
country.
Speaking to journalists at the airport, Gibson said the DA's
visit was different from that of the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu),
which was also recently prevented entry to Zimbabwe on a similar
mission.
"Cosatu is a trade union. We are the official opposition," said
Gibson.
The DA said they were insulted by their experience in Zimbabwe,
but that the authorities had treated them well.
Gibson added that
their experience also called President Thabo Mbeki's policy on Zimbabwe into
question.
He said the matter would be reported to the SADC parliamentary
forum, on which Seremane is a representative, and to the Commonwealth
Parliamentary Association, of which Gibson is a member.
Seremane
called the matter petty and said he had "walked that road with
apartheid".
Reacting to African National Congress Youth League
(ANCYL) criticism of the visit, deriding Seremane as a "coconut" (black
outside, white inside) and accusing the DA of favouring "mercenaries",
Seremane said this was racism.
"But I have no hard feelings," he said,
adding that they were still growing up.
Gibson said his own son had
more sense than the ANCYL spokesman Zizi Kodwa, who was probably wearing a
Gucci outfit and would be a millionaire before the age of
25.
Meanwhile the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), while
"dissociating itself from the policies and orientation of the DA", condemned
their ejection from the country.
In a statement, spokesman Mlamleli
Sibanda said no citizen of the SADC with a valid passport should be
prohibited from visiting Zimbabwe.
The ZCTU recently invited Cosatu to
Zimbabwe.
This delegation was also refused entry and the ZCTU had to
travel to South Africa for the meeting. - Sapa
Mbeki's mistake Published:
February 23 2005 02:00 | Last updated: February 23 2005 02:00
Thabo
Mbeki's attack on the US for labelling Zimbabwe an "outpost of tyranny"
reveals a worryingly wide gulf between Africa's most prominent leader and
the west over how to improve the lot of his long-suffering continent. Both
agree that Africa needs better governance as well as more aid. But the South
African president appears to believe it is possible to champion good
governance without denouncing the worst forms of misgovernment. This is not
a viable position, and it undermines those in the developed world who argue
that Africa deserves greater support because it is doing all it can to help
itself.
Zimbabwe is not North Korea or Burma. A number of other
African countries are in a worse state than Zimbabwe is today; more lives
are threatened in the Congo or in Darfur. Yet Zimbabwe stands out as the
most ruinous example of self-destruction in many years. Before Robert
Mugabe, the president, brought it to its knees Zimbabwe had a decent
economy, functioning institutions and a thriving, well-educated society.
Such misrule must not be tolerated.
Mr Mbeki leads a rainbow nation
founded on principles of human rights. It has worked to end conflicts and
promote governance standards through the African Union and the Southern
Africa Development Community. Yet Zimbabwe mocks this progress, and casts a
cloud over the whole region, including South Africa itself. Mr Mbeki is not
alone: many other African leaders feel the same way. But not all do. South
Africa is the dominant state: its leadership matters.
Mr Mbeki is
understandably reluctant to break with custom and criticise a fellow African
leader, still less a hero of the liberation movement. Yet South Africa's own
union movement is now agitating for change in Zimbabwe. Granted, past
hectoring from Britain and the US achieved nothing. But years have passed
since Mr Mbeki promised George W. Bush, the US president, that he would
handle Zimbabwe. Since then the US and UK have tried to bite their tongues.
But Mr Mbeki has little to show for constructive engagement. This reveals
the inadequacy of the New Partnership for African Development, and its
voluntary peer review. If African leaders cannot take responsibility for
African problems, who can blame the US for intruding?
Zimbabwe is not
all Africa: governance is improving in a number of states. African leaders
are right to demand the rich world differentiate between them and come up
with a single agreed plan to increase aid at the Gleneagles Summit in July.
Yet Zimbabwe is a test of commitment to good governance. Mr Mbeki need not
engineer regime change. But he should stand up and say that what is
happening there is unacceptable, and that South Africa will push for a
peaceful, democratic resolution. That would show that Africa is serious
about living up to its side of the bargain - and put the onus on others to
live up to theirs.
By Staff
Reporter Last updated: 02/23/2005 12:13:39 ZIMBABWE'S independent radio
station -- SW Radio Africa -- has boosted its radio coverage in Southern
Africa by going on the Medium Wave (MW).
Station bosses believe
broadcasting on the Medium Wave will solve transmission problems for its
Short Wave Zimbabwean listeners.
Starting Wednesday, Zimbabweans can tune
into 1197Khz on the Medium Wave band between 5am and 7am every morning for
news updates and interviews, the London-based station announced.
The
station which has been broadcasting on Short Wave since its establishment in
December 2001 said the same morning broadcasts would also air simultaneously
on Short Wave on 3230Khz in the 75 metre band.
"Our evening broadcasts
remain unchanged on Short Wave 6145Khz in the 49 metre band," a short
statement released Tuesday said.
SW Radio Africa has its headquarters in
London and its journalists are banned from returning to Zimbabwe where the
government has refused to open up the airwaves, maintaining a monopoly by
the state broadcaster in both radio and television.
On its staff are
top Zimbabwean journalists, some of them former employees of the Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation. The journalists include Violet Gonda, Tererai
Karimakwenda, John Matinde, Lance Guma, Tichaona Sibanda and station founder
Jerry Jackson.
The station says it transmits to Zimbabwe through a
"global communications provider". TO LISTEN TO AFRO-SOUNDS FM: http://www.swradioafrica.com
Of dreams,
traitors and weeping chiefs Last updated: 02/23/2005 08:14:07
I HAD a bizarre dream. I think my mind had been pre-occupied by two stories
that emerged from Zimbabwe during the past few weeks.
One of the
stories that made me wonder sub-consciously was the story of the chief who
wept for clemency in front of Mugabe. We are told that the chief was being
investigated for some misappropriate representation he had done in claiming
from the war-benefit fund which targets some selected people for financial
inducement in order to bolster ZANU-PF's waning support base. In the wailing
chief's case, we gather that Mugabe's stone heart was melted by the intense
sobs of the chief to the point that he asked his investigators to stop
hounding the paramount chief.
The other issue that seemed to
trouble me during my sleep was the list of dishonour which has been compiled
by the ZANU-PF publications directorate in an effort to name and shame those
who believe in the individual's right to practise alternative political
persuasions.
These two issues seem to have influenced the behaviour
of my sub-conscience.
Without digressing further, I will tell
the horrible nightmare I had. I dreamt that I was standing at the tail-end
of a very long queue. The queue seemed to lead to the state-house in Harare.
As if admonishing the rest of the people on the queue, I found myself at the
end of the queue. I tried to figure out what was happening and no-one was
willing to help me.
I looked a few for someone who could tell me
what was going on. A man who was about ten to twelve paces ahead of me
turned around. The face was familiar. I spent more than five minutes trying
to put a name and a place to the face. Eureka! It was Sekai Holland, the MDC
parliamentary candidate for Mberengwa in the 2000 election. I decided to
approach her and ask her why we were queueing and why the head of the queue
was leading into state house.
I had hoped that she would tell me
that the opposition had finally made it to state-house and we were on our
way to congratulate the victors. Sekai Holland took me to the side and
whispered to me in a subdued tone. She told me that all the people in the
queue were those whose names had been published as sell-outs of the struggle
as defined by ZANU-PF.
She assured me no-one was going to meet an
abrupt end of their live, making sure I understood that it was not final
judgement day yet. On prodding further, Sekai Holland told me that the
queueing people, including her and I, had decided to seek forgiveness from
Mugabe for discrediting his party and him through our association with the
imperialists. I was told that the people from the list of dishonour had
taken the cue from the weeping chief that after-all, Mugabe had a heart that
could be softened by his humble people.
It was then clear to me
that all the people in the queue were waiting their turn to personally
apologise to Mugabe for being cited in the black book as sell-outs of his
self-proclaimed revolution. Before I made an informed decision on whether I
would apologise for standing firm on my political beliefs, I decided to
check out who was there and who was not there.They were all there; Pius
Ncube, Welshman Ncube, Trevor Ncube, Fletcher Dulini-Ncube and a hoard of
other Ncubes who are accused by ZANU-PF of shaming the Ncube
name.
Apart from the Ncubes, there were a lot more other people. On
the queue were most of the people whose names have been put down in the book
of dishonour as deemed by ZANU-PF.Some of those people who were known to
have died decades ago, yet there were others who still live on this day. It
was going to be a big apology!
As if Mugabe had become a god,
the dead had arisen to apologise; so had the sick, the weak, the old and the
young. The brave, the fearful, the ugly and the beautiful wanted to
apologise. I could see the tears trickling down people's cheeks. The weeping
chief's trick had come to play. I wondered if it was worth the trouble. I
could feel a lump choking me for being an apologetic coward.
My
conscience told me that it was not the right thing to do. I felt very much
unease at the prospect of weeping, wailing, crying, mourning and sobbing in
front of Mugabe just to earn a reprieve from the book of dishonour. I found
it hard to betray my beliefs. I would not be able to live with that horrible
act of cowardice. It was the voices crying from the shallow graves that made
me no even contemplate coming eye-to-eye with Mugabe.
I could
not desecrate the mass graves of the people by succumbing to his wishes and
his murderous whims. Before I could shout obscenities to the apologetic
people on the queue, I had a nasty surprise when I made an unplanned glance
at the tail of the queue where I had been standing. There he was, lanky,
head balding and bespectacled. Professor Jonathan Moyo just stood there like
a messenger of sickness waiting to spread some contagion to someone. He had
also come to apologise.
I wondered what crime he had committed
against Mugabe to deserve such humiliation. Here was a guy who had almost
single-handedly plotted for Mugabe queueing with quislings! I wondered what
had changed his fortunes. I could only conclude that political prostitution
and political misfortunes had turned his fortunes around.
I
started weeping. I know that I did not weep in order for Mugabe to exercise
his devilish clemency on me. I wept for the country and for the children. I
did not weep because I wanted my name struck off the black book of dishonour
but I wept because I could not face what I was seeing. It was not me. It was
not us. Sekai Holland could not possibly want to apologise for being listed
in Mugabe's black book. Pius Ncube, Welshman Ncube, Fletcher Dulini-Ncube,
Trevor Ncube and others Ncubes so made inglorious by Mugabe could not want
to apologise for being in his bad book. Most of the people around could not
wilfully apologise to Mugabe, not after the tirades, the haranguing, the
diatribe and the bizarre insults from him. Something was terribly wrong
here. May be I was dreaming!
Then I woke up. I was sweeting and
filled with anger and frustration. I gasped for breath as I emerged from the
confusion that was my dream. I am sure I was passing a few unprintable
expletives to the authors of the book of infamy when I woke up. So much
about the dream!
The ungodly regime in Harare should be working up
the nerves of many people. What political party goes on to vilify citizens
of a country just because they belong to another political party or because
they have beliefs that are not agreeable to theirs? If the people have
committed crimes against the state, why are the courts not taking action?
What madness is this? To which god or Deity does Mugabe say amen to when he
finishes his prayers. CONTACT MASOLA: hopemasola@hotmail.com