Signs mount of end game for Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe

International Herald Tribune

The Associated PressPublished: February 23, 2007

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa: Signs are mounting that Zimbabwe is finally
reaching the end game, witnessing the last, desperate throes of a regime
that has destroyed one of Africa's few successful economies, forced a third
of its people into the diaspora and the rest into poverty that is killing
hundreds of thousands.

It may not happen Saturday, when President Robert Mugabe celebrates his 83rd
birthday with bubbly and cake at a US$1.2 million party while hundreds of
thousands of Zimbabweans struggle to survive on bread and water.

And it probably won't happen in the weeks leading up to April 18, the 27th
anniversary of an end to racist white rule and Mugabe's ascension to power.

But years of abuse and neglect are culminating in untenable crises.

"People's anger is mounting," said Zimbabwean political scientist John
Makumbe. "They're no longer afraid to go into the streets and I think the
government is growing very afraid of what may happen."

Hyperinflation that brings shortages of food, fuel, medication, electricity,
is spiraling out of control. Soldiers and police used to stamp out dissent
could result. Opposition from his ruling party, which is divided over the
timing of his succession and his successor, is mounting.
"Each and every individual on the upper echelons" is jockeying for his
position, Mugabe complained in an interview on his actual birthday,
Wednesday, broadcast over the country's sole and state-owned television
station.

But, he announced categorically: "There are no vacancies because I am still
there."

Mugabe blames sanctions, drought and former colonizer Britain for the
collapse of an economy based on exports of a wealth of agricultural and
mineral products.

Others blame land grabs in which Mugabe encouraged blacks to violently force
out most of the 5,000 white commercial farmers who owned 40 percent of all
agricultural land and produced 75 percent of agricultural output. White
farmers had employed the country's largest work force and their ejection led
to the displacement of 300,000 families.

Today, the farms, most given to Mugabe relatives, allies and cronies, lie
fallow and Zimbabwe does not have the foreign currency to import food.

On Mugabe's birthday, police announced a three-month ban on protests,
following weekend clashes in which they fired tear gas and turned water
cannon on opposition rallies.

The National Constitutional Assembly, a coalition of human rights, church
and grass-roots organizations, in a statement Friday said: "It's not a crime
to defend oneself from an unlawful attack, and if need be (people) should
protect themselves from a partisan, violent police force that aims at
perpetuating dictatorship and increasing the suffering of the ordinary
masses."

Mugabe is "at war" with the people, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
declared this week.

Opposition supporters wanted to protest the high cost of living and Mugabe's
plan to extend his term of office to 2010.

A rate of hyperinflation - running at near 1,600 percent - that economists
say soon will be represented by an upright line on a graph has the country
in revolt. The number of Zimbabwe dollars that bought a three-bedroom house
with a swimming pool and tennis court in 1990 today will buy one sole brick.

A lifetime public worker's monthly pension can't buy a loaf of bread.
Charities have reported depression, suicide and malnutrition among
retirees - including a type of vitamin deficiency affecting gums, bones and
hair loss.

Doctors and nurses have been on strike since December and the rest of the
civil service is threatening to join them.

The list of deserters on the walls of army barracks grows ever longer
despite a 300 percent pay raise in January. The military want a 1,000
percent increase. The police chief in the capital, Harare, has said in a
confidential memo that he fears his constables will riot.

A hairdresser paid the minimum monthly wage of $30,000 said her bus fare to
work cost more but she went anyway to get the tips from clients that keep
her and a daughter alive.

Political scientist Makumbe said a 16-year-old who broke his collar bone
falling out of a tree has lain at home in pain for days because his widowed
mother does not have the million Zimbabwe dollars needed to have the bone
set.

Makumbe said an estimated 70,000 people have died this year not because of
the doctor's strike but because there are no drugs and because medical
equipment like dialysis machines doesn't work any more.

Bread disappeared off the shelves this week after the government increased
the price of grain sold to millers by 10,000 percent but did not increase
the controlled price for bread.

Water shortages have brought a cholera epidemic that is killing people.

Children are among the first to suffer, with one in four Zimbabwean children
orphaned and more than 2 million vulnerable to starvation, the U.N.
Children's Fund says.

The government tries to control inflation by printing money and setting the
exchange rate. Last year, when half a dozen eggs cost more than a million
Zimbabwe dollars and the poorest Zimbabweans were millionaires, the
government simply knocked three zeros off the currency. The minimum monthly
salary for a house cleaner went from US$15 million to US$15,000. The
official exchange rate is set at 250 to the U.S. dollar, but the real
trading rate is 5,000 to the dollar.

Some Zimbabweans are getting rich off the misery. Party and government
officials with access to foreign currency buy it at the official rate and
sell it at the real rate.

The World Bank estimates it would take more than 20 years for Zimbabwe's
economy to return to 1980 levels.

Police close Zimbabwe opposition meeting

The Australian

  From correspondents in Harare
  February 24, 2007
POLICE in Zimbabwe cancelled an opposition meeting overnight in the
country's second largest city of Bulawayo, two days after banning political
rallies and protests in the capital Harare, a party official said.
A spokesman for main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader
Morgan Tsvangirai said scores of riot police had sealed a town hall in the
city where the MDC president was due to address a party provincial meeting.

"Police have cancelled our meeting, saying they have orders from above not
to allow us to proceed," William Bango said.

Mr Bango said the police had initially approved the meeting. Government and
police officials were not immediately available for comment.

Police on Sunday fired teargas and water cannon to stop a rally organised by
the MDC, which state media said authorities feared was an MDC launchpad for
street protests against President Robert Mugabe's government.

On Wednesday, the government imposed a 3-month ban on political rallies and
protests in Harare's volatile townships following the weekend clashes
between riot squads and opposition supporters.

The MDC has condemned the ban as an attack on civic rights and likened the
move to a "state of emergency," and says it will challenge the government in
the courts.

The ban - which does not currently include Bulawayo - covers a number of
Harare's poor working class districts, the bastion of the opposition.

Political tension has been mounting in the southern African country over an
economic crisis marked by spiralling inflation, which at 1600 per cent is
the highest in the world, shortages of foreign currency, food and fuel and
rising unemployment.

The government on Wednesday agreed to a wage rise for civil servants - the
second in as many months - to avert more job boycotts by government workers,
after teachers went on strike.

Analysts have warned the country faces a high risk of labour and political
unrest over the deteriorating economy.

Tsvangirai's disrupted speech at Bulawayo City Hall today

The Zimbabwean

( 23-02-07)
PRESIDENT TSVANGIRAI'S  DISRUPTED ADDRESS TO THE RESIDENTS OF BULAWAYO AT A
CONSULTATIVE MEETING AT THE LARGE CITY HALL

Mr. Chairman

The MDC leadership

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I present myself to the people of Bulawayo this evening with a firm
conviction that open debate and discussion about national affairs is healthy
for democracy and for our own humanity as Zimbabweans. I stand before you
guided by a humble belief in a single nation and administered by a unitary
state; a nation in which our differences and our diversity are celebrated as
a source of national identity and national strength. I submit myself to all
of you as a leader of the MDC, a symbol of a post-liberation alternative -- 
seeking an epoch and aspirations of broad social movements motivated by the
pursuit of the ideals of the liberation struggle. At a primary level, the
MDC assumed the guardianship of the hopes and aspirations of the majority.
As an inspirational platform, all of us see the MDC as a vehicle already in
motion and whose driver and passengers are destined towards a new Zimbabwe.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, the odds against us in this struggle may
be daunting. But let me assure you that as long as we remain true to the
principle that led us to search and find an alternative, we shall triumph
and realise our goal of national integration and save Zimbabwe from a
rapacious clique that has pushed us to where we are today. It is common
cause that Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF have failed, during the past 27 years,
to establish a single nation in Zimbabwe. The high levels of
marginalisation, discrimination and retribution are clear to all, especially
in this region.

 The people have been forsaken and abandoned to fate by Mugabe and Zanu PF.
Major national projects including the Zambezi Water Project and the Tokwe
Mukorsi Dam have been shelved. In rural Matabeleland, as in other parts of
Zimbabwe, basic services like cattle dipping are no longer available.  There
is even a plan to take Bulawayo's little water and hand it over to Zinwa,
when everybody knows that the city generates 40 percent of its revenue from
the sale of water.

After decades of state-sponsored punishment - all because we were born
different - the task before me, as President of the MDC, is to follow a
specific path that resonates with the desires of a people seeking a total
change of past practices of impunity and an uncaring status quo.

During the nationalistic struggle, this region was home to a national
leadership whose impact was felt throughout Zimbabwe. The late Joshua Nkomo
enjoyed the respect of all. A national consensus was built way back in the
fifties on the need for a single nation, with a leadership elected purely on
the basis of a person's capacity to harness the national sentiment and
pursue a nationalistic goal. Never at any stage during those years did the
people of Zimbabwe worry about one's ancestry in the leadership of national
projects like the liberation struggle.

The same culture prevailed in the trade union movement. Unity of purpose and
a diverse leadership are a must for Zimbabweans in order to succeed. Within
the Church and other arms of civil society, diversity is celebrated.

People are always united by their needs and ideas. It is important to note
that most Zimbabweans have always been ready to cast aside their biological,
ethnic and racial differences and be bound together by common
interests.Mugabe and Zanu PF sought to sabotage that cardinal
understanding - initially by breaking away from ZAPU and later following up
these differences with Gukurahundi.

In 1987, there was a sigh of relief when the killings stopped and the
country's leadership pronounced a certain measure of unity. Unfortunately,
Zimbabwe lost a golden opportunity at the time. Zanu PF failed to address
the fundamental needs of ordinary people; instead Mugabe marginalised the
people further through what was to become an elite pact. The people
continued with their struggle for the recognition of their humanity. Mugabe
extended his feudal system of patronage to a few and ignored the traditional
concerns and historical service backlogs of the people.

When the MDC came into the fray, we were informed by the people's
aspirations which, to this day, desire a Zimbabwe with equal opportunities,
a Zimbabwe with a human face and a Zimbabwe for all. A school in Lupane, for
example, must never be seen as a mere cluster of buildings: a school in
Lupane must be an institution cultivating precious minds and breeding
national assets ready for deployment in Rutenga, Mutoko, Kariba and indeed,
anywhere in Zimbabwe.

A clinic in Binga must be an institution that provides similar services to
those available at a clinic in Zvimba. A child born in Muzarabani must have
equal access to opportunities as her counterpart in Mutare. I remain
committed to this goal.  I remain with the MDC as a party that shall see
through the process towards a new Zimbabwe. I remain with the majority whose
focus is on the collapse of the dictatorship and the emergence of a new and
inclusive political culture whose signposts for progress include a new
Constitution, viable and non-partisan public institutions and a tolerant
political ethic. The Zimbabwe in my vision is one that defines and expresses
itself as a functional democracy and recognises our diversity. That Zimbabwe
must be guided by history and lessons from the past to a chart a destiny
respected by one people in a single nation.The new Zimbabwe in my mind is
one which is awash with opportunities for our young people: abundant food
and jobs.

My heart bleeds each time I hear of a family having lost a loved on in South
Africa or Botswana. Whole communities are receiving body bags almost every
week, simply because of a serious lack of opportunities and runaway
unemployment here in Zimbabwe. Our sons and daughters are dying in South
Africa and Botswana struggling to sustain us here at home. The family, as a
unit Zimbabweans have respected from time immemorial, is in trouble because
of state-sponsored acts of irresponsibility.Equally disheartening is the
total absence of state support for young people succumbing to HIV/Aids
throughout Zimbabwe. The little drug supplies available can only be accessed
by the elite. Corruption has become a way of life.

Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, the question upper most in your minds is
about the future. Where are we going as a party? As Zimbabweans in this
struggle? Interesting political developments have transpired over the past
few weeks and a new political terrain shows signs of an emerging consensus
on the way forward.

The coalition of disruptive forces that sustained Mugabe over the past 27
years, once cemented by force and material inducements, has virtually
crumpled. It is doubtful whether a cornered Mugabe will be able to
reconstruct an internal agreement, even if he tries to use the old carrot
and stick strategy. ZANU PF is split in the middle at a time when there is
nothing in the plate to sustain a patronage system. Instability in Zanu PF
poses a serious threat to Zimbabwe as we grapple with various strategies to
ensure a solution which achieves a soft-landing for the country from a long
crisis. Mugabe's primary concern now is simply to manage factions which no
longer share a common denominator of interests.

In turn the factions themselves have abandoned any hope of achieving a
consensus or compromise. They are now involved in a cock-fight as they seek
to destroy each other politically. In the meantime, ordinary people are
being pushed physically by the state apparatus of repression, their material
well being is daily eroded by the deteriorating economy. There is now a
clear mood of rebellion among Zimbabweans. We make no apologies for
organizing the people to express themselves out of the national crisis. We
must exercise extreme care and caution during this delicate period in our
struggle. We  must refrain from merely instigating a rebellion out of
careless, but to channel people's frustrations and hardships into a
constructive force for change. And this, we are doing in order for us to
save Zimbabwe. The events in this city two weeks ago and in Harare over the
past few days are a clear demonstration of the people's determination now,
to embark on an irreversible course to their freedom.

By arbitrarily banning peaceful political protest and rallies in Harare, the
regime has for all practical purposes declared a State of Emergency. We are
aware that more is coming. We are ready to resist. We remain undeterred by
these desperate acts to deny our people their basic right to assemble and to
express themselves. We will go ahead and launch our presidential campaign
for 2008. Our position is that presidential election must be held as
scheduled in 2008.  But this must be under a new Constitution, ushering
enabling legislation to create an electoral framework that guarantees free
and fair elections. There is ample time for that.

We are opposed to the extension of the crisis of governance by another day.
We are of the firm and unshakable opinion that there should be no more
piece-meal constitutional amendments. Constitutional reform cannot be a
technical process of voting in parliament where ZANU PF has an in-built
advantage through its contested majority. Constitutional reform must be a
broad and all-inclusive political process that incorporates a wide spectrum
of the views of the majority of Zimbabweans.

We shall relentlessly fight until this objective is achieved. I urge you to
stay the course. On my part, allow me Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, to
make a solemn pledge to devote my entire political career to address the
fragmentation of our country from loose clans and tribes into a single
nation.

I thank you.

Morgan Tsvangirai

President.

Zimbabwe issues storm flood warning as cyclone Favio nears

By Lance Guma
23 February 2007

As if taking a cue from the political storm clouds gathering around Mugabe's
regime tropical Cyclone Favio, which hit central Mozambique and caused
widespread damage, is now heading towards Zimbabwe. Experts say areas in
eastern Zimbabwe, especially the low lying regions, should expect heavy
rains and strong winds over the weekend. Mutare, Rusape, Mvuma, Chivhu,
Masvingo and Chiredzi all lie in its path according to projections by
experts. The cyclone initially generated winds of over 270 kilometres an
hour but the latest is that it has been downgraded to a tropical storm with
winds of about 100 kilometres an hour.

Cyclone Favio hit the Inhambane province of Mozambique before heading
north-west towards the tourist town of Vilanculos. There it damaged the town
court, the prison and destroyed thousands of homes. Large trees were
uprooted and the town is described as flattened. There is no water or power
and hundreds of people have been reported injured. Authorities in Mozambique
went on high alert and moved thousands of people into tented camps.
In Zimbabwe Fambai Ngirande, a spokesman for the National Association of
Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO), says they are worried because not
enough information is being given to members of the public.

Another source of worry he says is the fact that the structures to deal with
storms and floods, let alone cyclones, are non-existent. He said the Civil
Protection Unit has no clear response strategy and the way it operates did
not allow for the NGO community to fully participate in disaster responses.
Zimbabwe has strained relations with the international community over its
human rights record and this lack of goodwill could hamper aid efforts if
ever they were needed, Ngirande added.

So far though, people in the eastern part of Zimbabwe and some close to the
midlands are reporting dark clouds and strong winds in their areas. It
remains to be seen just how strong Favio's impact will be. Meanwhile
authorities in Mozambique have been praised for a much better response to
the cyclone than the floods which decimated that country seven years ago.
Over 700 people lost their lives during those floods.

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

UNICEF Situation Report Mozambique 23 Feb 2007

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Date: 23 Feb 2007

 

Major Developments

Tropical Cyclone Favio made landfall in the province of Inhambane on 22 February as a category 3 cyclone, with winds of up to 230 km per hour. The cyclone, which has diminished in intensity as it heads further inland, and is now a tropical depression, is causing strong winds and heavy rains in some areas, which will also affect Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe, further swelling tributaries that feed the already-flooded Zambezi River.

Source: Meteo France

The Cahora Bassa dam discharge rate decreased to 2,600 m3/s as of 22 February. In general, the water levels in flood affected areas are continuing to decrease. Intense showers are expected over the next 24 hours in Sofala and Manica as a result of Cyclone Favio.

As of 22 February, the National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC) estimates that approximately 139,944 people have been displaced due to the floods. An estimated 87,430 people are currently in the accommodation centres and 52,514 in the resettlement centres that were established after the 2001 floods.

Needs Assessment

Tropical Cyclone Favio

The INGC in Maputo has held two meetings to review the impact of Tropical Cyclone Favio with partners. Assessments are ongoing and information is currently limited, but initial reports from the INGC in Vilanculos indicate structural damage in the town of Vilanculo, including a large number of houses, a hospital and several schools, and in the district of Govuro.

A Central Operations Centre is being established in Vilanculos and there are currently 60 soldiers in Vilanculo, with additional troops being deployed. The Ministry of Health has sent 10 tents of 72m squared and medical supplies to Vilanculo and a generator is being sent to the area. Sites have been identified for the installation of the tents.

A multi-sectoral assessment will be undertaken in the affected areas on 23 February by representatives of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, WFP, WHO, UNICEF and the Mozambican Red Cross.

The airport in Vilanculos is currently closed. WFP is deploying a 10-seater Caravan plane to conduct assessment missions on 24/25th February.

Zambezi Floods

The UNICEF team based in Caia (Sofala province) has reported that sufficient supplies are available to address the immediate needs of locations in Sofala province, and is working with partners on assessing the supply needs for the coming few weeks both for Sofala and also for the other provinces that are receiving supplies from the base in Caia. Water and sanitation remain a priority in Sofala and Manica, although sanitation coverage has improved. The team is continuing to meet with Government and NGO partners to monitor the situation in relation to education, health and nutrition and protection.

The UNICEF team based in Mopeia (Zambezia province) is continuing to work with Government and non-governmental partners to assess the situation in relation to centres in Zambezia. On 22 February, the team visited two more centres in the Mopeia area - Bras and Noere - to assess the situation. Additional supplies have arrived from Caia and are being distributed in line with the immediate needs assessed to date.

The UNICEF team based in Mutarara (Tete province) is reporting that lack of access remains a significant barrier to ongoing assessments and response interventions in many areas, particularly in the administrative post of Inhangoma, which can only be reached by helicopter. Water, shelter and food are the priority concerns. UNICEF is working with Government and NGO partners to ensure that the needs are met in terms of supply and non-supply interventions.

Teams composed of governmental and non-governmental partners (including the Ministry of Health, SETSAN/VAC, UNICEF, WFP, FAO and USAID/FEWSNET) have completed the data collection stage of the multi-sectoral assessment to build upon initial assessments in flood affected areas. The assessment covered areas including education, food, nutrition, health, HIV/AIDS, water and sanitation, market access, shelter, protection, assistance received, status of basic infrastructure and security.

UNICEF Response

Tropical Cyclone Favio

A UNICEF team will participate in the multi-sectoral assessment of the cyclone affected areas to be conducted on 23 February.

UNICEF supplies are to be deployed to the cyclone affected areas, including 500 tarpaulin sheets and 50 rolls of plastic sheeting (50m each) to provide shelter. The need for additional supplies will be reviewed based on the outcomes of assessments over the coming days in affected areas.

The multimedia mobile units supported by UNICEF to work in flood affected areas disseminated information to raise awareness on the impending arrival of Tropical Cyclone Favio on 22 February.

The UNICEF team is also monitoring the progress of two more cyclones that have formed in the Indian Ocean: Tropical Cyclone Gamede and Tropical Cyclone 16S. Gamede is forecast to develop into a category 2 cyclone and is headed towards north-eastern Madagascar while 16S is forecast to develop into a category 1 cyclone and is moving west south-west towards Madagascar.

Zambezia Floods

WASH

In Caia, UNICEF support includes working with the Government and NGO partners on the construction of latrines. Soldiers are being deployed to the centres to support the construction, and community participation is being promoted.

In Mopeia, additional WASH supplies have been received from Caia and the UNICEF team is working with partners on the development and implementation of a distribution plan for the area. The Red Cross is scaling up its WASH interventions in the area, including the provision of 2 water purification plans.

Additional UNICEF supplies, together with supplies mobilised from the Mozambican Red Cross, have been sent to Mutarara from Caia. In coordination with UNICEF, MSF Luxembourg and Oxfam are scaling up their operations in Mutarara to ensure that all centres are covered with WASH interventions.

Health

The UNICEF Health and Nutrition Officers based in Caia, Mopeia and Mutarara are all continuing to support the local health authorities in assessing the situation in relation to health in the centres. UNICEF has been liaising with the Provincial Directorate of Health to ensure that sufficient medical supplies are sent to Mutarara, and with NGOs on the distribution of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs).

Nutrition

The UNICEF Health and Nutrition Officers based in Caia, Mopeia and Mutarara are also supporting the local health authorities in assessing the nutritional status of affected children. Supplementary feeding programmes have begun in Caia, Marromeu and Chembe and are expected to begin in the Mopeia area on 23 February. In Mutarara, the Provincial Directorate of Health conducted an active case finding assessment on 22 February on 405 children in 4 centres in the Mutarara area, which indicated 70 cases of moderate malnutrition. UNICEF is following up with the local health authorities to ensure that these children receive the appropriate treatment. Supplies of BP5 – a type of compact food – provided by UNICEF have been distributed to Mutarara and are expected to arrive on 23 February.

Education

The installation of large tents provided by UNICEF to be used as learning spaces in flood affected areas is ongoing. To date, 13 tents have been installed and are in use in Sofala province and 3 in the Mopeia area. One tent has been received in Mutarara and additional tents will be sent in the next 48 hours.

UNICEF is working with the education authorities in the affected districts to ensure that additional teachers are available to work in affected schools. Where relevant, children from centres are accessing neighbouring schools.

Protection

In light of the potential for mines and UXOs to have been dislodged by the flood waters, mine risk education materials from Angola are being sent to Caia for distribution.

Mugabe gets union pay deal but more trouble ahead

     By Macdonald Dzirutwe
      REUTERS

      3:38 a.m. February 23, 2007

      HARARE - President Robert Mugabe's government bought some relief with
a state workers' pay deal but Zimbabwe's economic woes could spur more job
boycotts and unrest, analysts said on Friday.
      A deepening economic crisis has stoked political tension in Zimbabwe,
where workers are wrestling with the world's highest inflation rate at 1,600
percent.

      Political analysts say rising worker anger, more than opposition
threats of protests, was the most immediate threat to Mugabe's 27-year rule.
      The largest teachers' union and government on Thursday agreed a new
wage package that would apply to all civil servants and teachers called off
their strike, which authorities had feared would gain momentum and spill
onto the streets.

      Teachers' union leaders also head the top federation that represents
the rest of the government workers.

      Political analysts said by bowing to the demands of the largest
workers' grouping, the government had bought itself time and prevented, for
now, confrontation with government employees.

      'This is a huge political relief for Mugabe, he has managed to remove
the sting from the bees for now,' Eldred Masunungure, a leading political
commentator said.

      But Mugabe, who has in the past outwitted opponents, faced mounting
pressure from a sliding economy seen in acute shortages of foreign currency,
food and fuel and rising unemployment and poverty.

      The International Monetary Fund sees inflation hitting 4,000 percent
by the end of the year.

      That and opposition calls for a defiance campaign against the economic
crisis and Mugabe's plans to hang on to power under a plan to merge
presidential and parliamentary elections in 2010, would ratchet up pressure
on Mugabe.

      'BIGGER STING'

      Mugabe's government on Wednesday imposed a three-month ban on
political rallies and protests in Harare's volatile townships which analysts
saw as a pre-emptive move against the opposition, whose supporters clashed
with riot squads last weekend.

      The veteran leader, who turned 83 this week, also faced growing
dissent within his ruling ZANU-PF party over the election plan and has
accused some colleagues of seeking his early exit while vowing not to bow to
pressure.

      'For now Mugabe will breathe a huge sigh of relief but the wider
economic crisis will haunt him. By mid-year the skirmishes (between state
employees and the government) will resume with a much bigger vengeance,'
said Masunungure.

      'The bees will be back with a bigger sting. There is more trouble
ahead,' he added.

      Economic commentators questioned the source of the money used by the
government to award its workers a huge pay rise, which was not budgeted in
2007.

      The teachers had sought a Z$450,000 monthly salary - $1,800 at the
official exchange rate but just $90 on the black market - double what the
government had initially offered and about five times their current
salaries.

      Officials have not released details of the final deal, but some
observers believe the government agreed to a hike considerably more generous
than the union's original request.

      'This is a very costly move by the government because the implications
for the national budget are horrendous,' private economic commentator John
Robertson said.

      'The government will not be able to manage the consequences of its
political decisions which really make nonsense of the anti-inflation
strategies it is pursuing,' he said.

Storm Clouds Gather

As I sit at my desk and write, a force 4 cyclone is on its way up the
Mozambique coast and I hear that the Eastern Highlands are being blown
around by the winds associated with it. I am told that such a cyclone is
quite a fierce animal with 200 kilometers per hour winds and heavy rain. The
UN issued a warning yesterday that it was standing by for emergency
assistance to Mozambique.

If you are watching television you will have seen the pictures of the
Zambezi River spilling over its banks and the 150 000 or so refugees now
housed in tents courtesy of the Mozambique emergency services. Kariba is
still far from full - about 7 metres to go and rising slowly, so these
floods on the lower Zambezi have nothing to do with the Congo or Angolan wet
season. Here in the south of Zimbabwe we are on severe water rationing and
do not have enough water in our dams for the rest of the year - so we are
desperate for this particular cyclone and what it might bring. So much so
that we have all been following it via satellite for two days.

There are two other storm systems developing out at sea and over Madagascar
and we might see another cyclone shortly. Some welcome such an event, others
dread it and think that it will just make life even more miserable than it
is at present.

Our politics is a bit like that - last night it was clear skies, brilliant
stars, I have seldom seen Venus in the evening sky showing such brilliance.
There was also a thin sliver of moon just appearing. For those of you who
live in wetter climes, the evening sky here is something to behold -
especially on a dark night after rain when the air is washed clean of dust
and smoke. The Milky Way just blazes across the sky. I put my three-year-old
grandson to bed the other night (the girls were at a piano concert) and he
demanded to go outside and lie on the ground looking up at the wonder of the
night sky. Kids know what is important.

Right now the edge of the cyclone system is just beginning to wash over us -
it is quite different to our normal sky and you can feel the change in the
atmosphere.

You might also have been watching Zimbabwe on the news this week. The street
activity has been slowly gathering momentum and on Friday and then Sunday
there was some serious street rioting in Harare. The crowd demonstrating or
just trying to attend a rally responded fiercely when the Police waded in
using excessive and unwarranted force. Cars were smashed and burnt, Herald
House had a few windows broken and a number of Police were injured.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to political agitation
here at present and I think everyone senses that a storm is coming. Like our
cyclone, some dread its arrival and others pray for it to come quickly and
then wash the land with its aftermath.

Zanu PF has broken into several pieces that simply can no longer be
reconciled. Mugabe wants to extend his tern by two years and then run again
for another 6 years. But his Party - long just a rubber stamp for his
slightest whim, is saying no. Both the Central Committee and the Politburo
have been unable to reach consensus and the matter is now back in the
Provinces where the debate rages. It seems to me that Mugabe may lose this
one - only his second major political defeat in 27 years.

So the debate is on whether to hold both Parliamentary and Presidential
polls next year in March or to simply go to the Presidential poll as
required by the Constitution. Either option is possible at this stage.

This particular storm is gathering strength from its environment - just like
a cyclone. On the one hand the melt down in the economy is still gathering
momentum. Inflation at 50 per cent a month (8 000 per cent per annum) and
shortages of just about everything that is essential to life. Bread, cooking
oil, flour, sugar, fuel and maize meal are all difficult to come by and only
at a price.

Then there is the diplomatic sea we operate in - France at long last said
enough is enough and sent a polite invitation to attend the annual
Franco/African summit in Paris, but on condition that Mugabe stayed at home!
So no one went and the government issued a sour note saying that it was time
that developed States stopped inviting African Heads of State to attend
meetings in their capitals as if they were all lackeys - I agree with that
sentiment. But when Mugabe was invited, with all other African leaders to
China recently - he went and dutifully stood in line to shake hands with the
Chinese President before being wined and dined in aristocratic splendor.

When the Chinese leadership toured Africa in recent weeks, the third such
tour in a year, they studiously ignored Zimbabwe and visited nearly all our
neighbors - all except those who do not have assets to plunder like Malawi.
As all who have worked in the diplomatic sphere know - this was a massive
slight to Mugabe and Zanu PF.

Today there is speculation that Namibia is about to offer Mr. Mugabe - guess
what? Refugee status after he has retired because of the understanding that
he simply will not be allowed to remain in Zimbabwe without the threat of
some sort of legal action after he retires in March 2008! Apparently his old
friend Sam has a home in a National Park, and Mugabe is invited to join him
there. Now there would be a tourist attraction if ever there was one!

Add that all together and you might even feel a bit sorry for the old man of
Zimbabwe politics. After all the adulation and respect garnered over a
lifetime of struggle, to end his days in disgrace (with Grace) and
isolation. Not even able to control the debate in his own Party. As Wilf
Mbanga said today - there is time to redeem yourself, but to do so you have
to do the unthinkable - apologize to your own people for what you have done
and then step down with as much dignity as possible.

With this particular storm on its way and building up its strength, time is
not on his side anymore. For the rest of us - batten down the hatches and
get your brollies and gumboots out. When we come out of our bunkers, the sun
will be shining, our rivers running and our country clean. I cannot wait.

Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 22 February 2007

Zimbabwe's economic crisis tabled at IMF meeting

SABC

February 23, 2007, 08:45

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board will be discussing
Zimbabwe's debt to the institution and the political progress in that
country. The Board will sit at its head office in Washington later today.

According to sources at the IMF, the board will receive a full report from
the delegation which visited Zimbabwe late last year. It will also be
briefed by the IMF's country representative to Zimbabwe on the latest
political situation.

Meanwhile the Zimbabwean embassy in Washington expressed dismay that the IMF
did not invite them to the meeting. The spokesperson says they met with the
IMF last week and were aware of today's meeting; however they had hoped that
an invitation would be extended to them.

Zimbabwe's situation worsening
Zimbabwe still owes the IMF a substantial amount of money. The sky high
inflation rate - estimated at 1 600% - worsening food shortages,
unemployment and what the IMF officials says is the country's deteriorating
political situation are all up for in-depth discussion.

It's not clear whether the IMF will take immediate action against Zimbabwe.
The fund will publicise the report's finding on April 14 and 15.

German government gives hope...and ?17.9million (US$23.5m) for Zimbabwe's most disadvantaged

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Date: 23 Feb 2007

HARARE, 23 February 2007 - The German Government today donated a massive
17.9million Euro to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Zimbabwe
as it rallied around Zimbabwe's orphaned and vulnerable children.

The investment - the largest ever from the German Government to UNICEF in
Zimbabwe - comes at a decisive moment. While Zimbabwe's children are
suffering from an orphan crisis which risks depriving them of the chance for
education and good health, the German millions promise substantial relief
and assistance across all sectors.

The US$23.5m is an enormous contribution to a Programme of Support to
Zimbabwe's National Action Plan which enables more than 150 community-based
organizations to launch, scale-up and improve the lives of the most
vulnerable children in Zimbabwe.

"Today children in Zimbabwe are hardest hit by the socio-economic
challenges," said H.E. Mrs. Karin E. Blumberger-Sauerteig, the German
Ambassador. "And yet they are the architects of a Zimbabwe where all
children live a happy and healthy life - free from hunger, disease and fear.
A life where each and every girl and boy can go to school and has access to
medical care."

One in four Zimbabwean children is orphaned and more than two million are
vulnerable. Although Zimbabwe's HIV prevalence has dropped in recent years,
the number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) continues to rise.
Furthermore, OVC are more likely to be deprived basic goods, have
psychological problems and be subjected to forced sex in adolescence.

"It's now essential to put programmes in place to ensure these children have
somewhere to live, enough to eat, healthcare, education and real
protection," said UNICEF's Representative in Zimbabwe, Dr Festo Kavishe. "We
have programmes in place and know what needs to be done. Today's funding
from the German Government greatly helps UNICEF reach a growing population
of children left on their own in Zimbabwe."

The funds from the German Government will go directly to:

- Increase school enrolment of orphans and vulnerable children

- Protect children from abuse, violence and exploitation

- Boost school nutrition programmes

- Greatly improve access to food, health services, water and sanitation

- Strengthen the capacity of families to protect and care for orphans and
vulnerable children

- Mobilise and support community-based responses;

Said Ambassador Blumberger-Sauerteig: "Anyone who has seen the hardships of
these orphans and the resolve and determination of struggling Zimbabweans to
assist them must be moved to help. In UNICEF we have a partner who is
reaching out to orphans across the country. I hope others will now join us."

The NAP for orphans and vulnerable children now calls upon the private
sector and international donors to provide resources, over US$250million is
required for the five year programme; community-based organizations and
traditional leaders to support child protection committees at the village,
district and provincial level; and parents, teachers, children and church
members to work to educate their peers, colleagues and congregations about
the NAP, and then push for its success.

The contribution from the Germans will add to funds from other key donors
such as the UK's Department for International Development, Swedish
International Development Agency (SIDA) and the New Zealand Government in
implementing Zimbabwe's National Action Plan for OVC that will reach 350,000
children this year.

For further information, please contact:

James Elder
UNICEF Zimbabwe Communication Officer
Cell: 263-91 276 120
jelder@unicef.org

Marcus Stadthaus
German Embassy
Phone: 30 86 55
v@hara.diplo.de

SA court drops coup plot charges

BBC

A South African court has dismissed charges against eight suspected
mercenaries accused of planning a coup in Equatorial Guinea in 2004.
The judge in Pretoria said the state had not proved its case against the
defendants - all South Africans.

Their lawyers had said South African officials had tacitly backed the failed
plot. The government denies this.

The eight were among a group of men arrested in 2004 in Zimbabwe, allegedly
on their way to Equatorial Guinea.

They were said to be purchasing arms in preparation ahead of a coup against
Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the president of the former Spanish colony.

Sixty-one of the group returned to South Africa in 2005 after spending more
than a year in a Zimbabwean prison.

The alleged coup leader, British former SAS officer Simon Mann, remained in
Zimbabwe, where he was convicted.

He is serving a four-year prison term for buying weapons without a licence.

Sir Mark Thatcher, son of former UK Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher, was
fined and received a suspended sentence in South Africa for his involvement
in the affair.

Twenty-three other suspected mercenaries have been convicted in Equatorial
Guinea in connection with the coup plot.

President Obiang Nguema seized power himself in a coup in 1979.

Ratooning may invite ban on cotton exports

fibre2fashion.com

February 23, 2007
Farmers of Muzarabani and Mt Darwin received warning from Agriculture
Research Extension Services that they will be fined if cotton ratooning is
continued in the district.

Recently, ratooning was witnessed on about 2800 hectares of land in both the
districts.

As per the law, cotton stems must be rooted from the fields by August 21,
every year. If this practice is continued, it would result in ban of cotton
exports to international market.

If ban is imposed on the industry, it will not be less than five years.

The cotton obtained after ratooning is of poor quality and it is not
accepted in international market.

These crops are feebler to pest and other diseases, especially to pink
boll-worm.

The unavailability of seeds is major reason for carrying out ratooning. By
doing so, large bolls will develop early as plant has deep root system.

As precautionary measure, awareness meeting is held in Muzarabani district
and literature on cotton legislation is distributed to the involved
districts.

In ratooning, cotton farmers do not cut cotton stems soon after harvesting
as prescribed in law, intentionally leaving it to grow on its own at the
arrival of the next rainy season for a second harvest.

UK visa applications to be handled in SA

New Zimbabwe

By Lebo Nkatazo
Last updated: 02/24/2007 00:20:34
THE British embassy announced Friday that all visa applications by
Zimbabweans would be handled in South Africa with effect from July this
year.

In a notice, the embassy said applications would be lodged in Harare and
sent by courier to Pretoria for processing.

The notice did not give reasons for the changes except to say "the embassy
will make a further announcement nearer the time about these world-wide
changes and how they affect the service provided to visa applicants in
Zimbabwe."

"From the end of July, the majority of visa applications lodged in Zimbabwe
will be processed by UK visa officers based in Pretoria. This will not
affect the way visa customers in Zimbabwe apply for their visas," the notice
said.

Travelers from Zimbabwe will continue to submit their visa applications as
they do now, to the embassy's visa application centre (currently FedEx) in
Harare.

"The applications would be sent by courier to Pretoria, where they will be
processed promptly and returned to the visa application centre in Harare."

The embassy said there would be no extra charges for the service.

It added that in the Southern Africa region applications from Namibia,
Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland are already being processed in South
Africa.

The embassy said there would be exemptions to the changes.

"The British Embassy in Harare will still accept visa applications which
need
to be processed quickly, such as urgent, compassionate cases, Zimbabwean
diplomatic passport holders traveling on official business, applications
from
diplomatic missions in Harare and other applications meeting with visa
express
criteria," the embassy said.

Masvingo rejects plans to take over city's water supplies

Zim Online

Saturday 24 February 2007

By Regerai Marwezu

MASVINGO - Masvingo's city council on Wednesday clashed with the Zimbabwe
National Water Authority (ZINWA) over the parastatal's move to take over
water supplies in Zimbabwe's olderst city.

At a tense public works and planning committee meeting at the council's
offices on Wednesday, ZINWA indicated that it wanted to take over the city's
water system triggering strong opposition from councilors.

Masvingo rejected the decision arguing that it would be unfair to hand over
the water system to ZINWA after residents had directly invested in the city's
water augmentation project.

Last year, residents in working class suburbs were levied about Z$2 000 per
household while those in affluent suburbs paid Z$10 000 for the water
project.

The council is currently looking for Z$5 billion to complete the second
phase of the project.

"We told them that the water system does not belong to the local authority
since residents invested in the project last year. What we want is for ZINWA
to meet residents and explain its position.

"If we do not meet the residents then it means that parastatal will never
take over the project," said Femias Chakabuda, a member of the council's
public works and planning committee.

Masvingo executive mayor Alois Chaimiti confirmed the impasse on Friday
adding the council was expected to convene a meeting yesterday to discuss
the matter.

"It is true that council is opposed to the idea and we will convene a
special council meeting to chart the way forward," said Chaimiti, a senior
official of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

A senior ZINWA official identified as Mare insisted yesterday that they will
go ahead with plans to take over the city's water system as it was a
directive from Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo.

"We are not going to change the decision because this is a ministerial
directive," said Mare when contacted for comment yesterday.

Earlier this month, hundreds of residents in Zimbabwe's second biggest city
of Bulawayo marched in the city to protest against plans by ZINWA to take
over the city's water supplies.

Bulawayo residents accused ZINWA of serious inefficiency in areas it has
been in charge such as the capital Harare where residents have gone for
months on end without any water supplies. - ZimOnline

University ordered to accommodate male students on campus

Zim Online

Saturday 24 February 2007

By Pfudzai Chibgowa

HARARE - The High Court has ordered the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) to lift
a ban on male students from getting campus accommodation.

Earlier this month the University of Zimbabwe published a notice proscribing
male students from getting accommodation preferring to accommodate female
students in formerly male hostels.

But the High Court in judgment case No. 596/07, directed that "the
University of Zimbabwe forthwith receive applications from all male students
for accommodation in the halls of residence which have been reserved
exclusively for male students.

 "The University of Zimbabwe is hereby directed to consider all applicants
for accommodation in a fair and transparent manner."

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, which represented the students said the
court order meant that male students seeking accommodation may immediately
proceed to apply for accommodation in the Halls of Residence specifically
reserved for them.

Should the UZ fail to accept applications from male students it shall be in
contempt of court, the lawyers group said.

Student Representative Council vice-president Clifford Hlatshwayo accused
authorities of wanting to bar male students from campus residence in
desperate bid to pre-empt students from protests over high fees and misrule
in the country.

"They think the university will form the core of resistance to
mis-governance and demonstrate against increased fees,' he said.

Political tensions are running high in Zimbabwe as a steep economic crisis
takes its toll on a population grappling with inflation of nearly 1 600
percent, the highest in the world and surging unemployment and poverty.

President Robert Mugabe's government, which controls the UZ, remains
suspicious that restive students could spark off riots that could easily
turn into a mass revolt to topple it from power. - ZimOnline

Zimbabweans Losing Patience with Mugabe

Institute for War and Peace Reporting

More and more people, including Presidential Guardsmen, are starting to say
"enough is enough".

By George Tsuro in Harare (AR No. 96, 23-Feb-07)

In the aftermath of a mutiny by soldiers in President Robert Mugabe's elite
Presidential Guard, Zimbabweans are asking: are the chickens finally coming
home to roost for the head of state after seven years of misrule that have
resulted in the total collapse of a once buoyant economy?

Mugabe had to delay his return home from leave in the Far East after police
confirmed reports that twenty-three young members of the Presidential Guard
had sprayed the front of State House, Mugabe's official residence, with
gunfire on the night of January 29. They were protesting against their own
poor pay and conditions while their senior officer live lavish lifestyles.
Among complaints is that their diet in barracks have been reduced to a
beans-only meals.

A senior police source told IWPR that the mutineers were arrested and are
being held at 1 Commando Battalion Barracks in Hatfield, an upmarket suburb
between State House and Harare International Airport. They are certain to be
court martialled and if tried for treason could be executed.

He said the Presidential Guard has been replaced by the crack Police Support
Unit as a precautionary measure to ensure that Mugabe does not suffer a
"Kabila style" assassination.
Laurent Kabila, a close ally of Mugabe, became president of the Congo after
the toppling of the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. Kabila was shot dead at his
desk in State House, Kinshasa, the Congo capital, by a member of his
presidential guard on January 16, 2001.

Mugabe's entire Presidential Guard, meanwhile, has been disarmed and their
duties frozen in order to nip any widespread revolt in the bud.

"We were worried about that incident [the Kabila assassination] and at the
moment we can't trust anyone," said the police source. "We don't know
whether the soldiers did it on their own accord or whether there was someone
else powerful who instigated it."

Mugabe was flying back to Zimbabwe from a holiday in the Far East when the
attack on his official residence took place. Warned to delay his arrival
home, his plane diverted to Addis Ababa where he was given reports on what
was happening and how serious and widespread the mutiny might be.

"It took the president a long time - many, many hours - after he finally
arrived in Harare before he went back to State House after the shooting,"
said the police source. "Ever since then, he has continued to feel that his
security is threatened."

The president is understood to have gone at first to his new
Chinese-designed, Serbian-built 25-bedroom palace - three times the size of
State House - in the northern suburb of Borrowdale.

Mugabe, who was 83 on February 21, knows now that 2007 is going to be his
most difficult year in power as more and more people, including Presidential
Guardsmen, are starting to say "enough is enough".

Few Zimbabweans ever thought that they would see the day when soldiers would
openly defy the iron-handed president, who has always boasted about the
patriotism and unquestioned loyalty of his armed forces. Despite the
mounting discontent and the increasing number of powerful enemies, since
Zimbabwe began its descent into economic oblivion seven years ago, Mugabe
always said he could rely on his armed forces, considered to be among the
best in Africa. He could at least sleep easy at night knowing that he was
fiercely protected and that what befell Kabila could never happen to him.

In the weeks since the mutiny, Mugabe appears to have grown more nervous.
The State House shooting was not an isolated incident. Elsewhere, on the
same day, some fifty soldiers in another Presidential Guard Unit at Inkomo
Barracks, in Harare outside State House, shot dead thirty horses and fled
with an assortment of AK-47 and FN rifles.

Their complaints were also about poor pay and conditions compared with the
profligacy of their officers.

The two mutinies heightened Mugabe's growing mistrust of close political
lieutenants who are pushing for his resignation at the end of his current
term of office in 2008. Mugabe wants to extend his presidency until 2010, by
when he will have ruled his country for its entire thirty years of
independence.

Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF party is highly divided now with two powerful men
vying to succeed him - Solomon Mujuru, the formidable former army commander
and leader of Mugabe's guerrilla liberation army under the war-name Rex
Nhongo, and former intelligence chief, now rural development minister,
Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Mujuru is pushing his wife, current Vice President Joice Mujuru, towards the
presidency with a view to becoming the power behind the throne. "The fight
for the succession is now very vicious," said one top member of the ZANU PF
politburo. Mujuru has powerful connections in the army while Mnangagwa has
an intricate web of connections in the Central Intelligence Organisation spy
agency.

As well as wanting the next presidential election postponed until 2010,
Mugabe hopes to remain in power as a largely ceremonial Life President, a
post that would protect him against trial on charges of crimes against
humanity either in an international or a domestic court.

At the same time, there have been widespread reports of mass desertions and
resignations from ordinary army units and police over poor pay and working
conditions. There have also been reports of unrest and strikes at the
Zimbabwe Military Academy in Gweru, in central Zimbabwe, over poor
conditions.

To try to deal with this new threat, unique in Zimbabwe since independence
in 1980, the government is increasing allowances for the security forces to
boost their incomes. Among the offers is an "efficiency" allowance of
between 20 per cent and 35 per cent backdated to January.

The lowest-ranked soldier, a private, currently takes home around 140,000
Zimbabwe dollars (46 US dollars at the realistic black market rate, rather
than the meaningless official exchange rate) a month, comprising a salary of
84,000 Zimbabwe dollars plus transport and housing allowances. This has to
be set against runaway inflation that reached nearly 1,600 per cent in
January and which is forecast to rise to 4,000 per cent before the end of
the year.

Analysts say the mounting discontent among workers poses a serious threat to
the government. Most workers have been reduced to paupers. Doctors, nurses
and teachers are on strike and if threats of further protests by civil
servants and students erupt into a nationwide campaign, Mugabe will face a
major challenge.

A united civil service, traditionally loyal to the government, has never
taken to the streets. But because of mounting poverty, even among those
Zimbabweans lucky enough to have jobs in an environment where more than 80
per cent of people of working age are unemployed, the country's 180,000
civil servants seem to have awakened from their slumber. They are bracing
for a bruising strike if the government fails to award the least paid a
salary above the official poverty line.

The latest monthly income required for a family of five to maintain minimal
living standards is 458,000 Zimbabwe dollars (152 US dollars) a month,
according to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, a welfare organisation among
whose objectives is the protection of consumers. The lowest paid civil
servant gets 30,000 Zimbabwe dollars a month, barely enough for his or her
transport fare to and from work, let alone to pay for food, clothes, school
fees and accommodation.

The chairperson of the Civil Service Staff Association Apex Council, Tendai
Chikowore, said civil servants are "very agitated".

The Apex Council includes the Zimbabwe Teachers' Association and the Public
Service Association. In meetings with the government, it has issued an
ultimatum to respond to their demands by a set date or face a national
strike. They want a 400 per cent pay rise, but its value will be wiped out
in just over three months at the current rate of inflation.

Zimbabwe, reeling from political and economic instability for seven years
since Mugabe began his economically destructive and socially destabilising
"land reform" programme in 2000, began the year with strikes by doctors and
nurses. With prices escalating daily, it is inevitable that the strikes will
expand and escalate as people's tolerance breaks down, reaching some kind of
tipping point.

Various opposition groups staged unexpected marches recently in Bulawayo,
the country's second city, against Mugabe's attempt to extend his term of
office to 2010.

University of Zimbabwe political science professor Eldred Masungure said the
economy has become the "invisible opposition" to Mugabe's rule. "It's
driving the current spate of strikes in the absence of real political
opposition," he said. "Although there is no coherence in the protests, they
could degenerate into political protests.

"The lack of morale in the army and police is the most difficult challenge
the state will be facing in coming months ... The hopelessness and anger of
ordinary people has created a sense of militancy."

Economic analyst Elizabeth Marunda also warned of spontaneous rioting
similar to food riots in the 1990s that were led by the then Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions chief Morgan Tsvangirai, now leader of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change. "Revolutions have come about as a
result of discontent and we have a lot of discontent in the country today,"
she said.

Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC and a breakaway MDC faction led by Arthur Mutambara
have begun holding nationwide rallies calling on people to demonstrate for a
new constitution and against postponement of elections to 2010, worsening
hardships, poor salaries and the world's highest inflation rate.

Mutambara told journalists that he and fellow MDC-Mutambara leaders are
prepared to die for freedom, although such lofty pledges made in the past by
opponents of Mugabe have come to nothing.

George Tsuro is the pseudonym of an IWPR contributor in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe's Main Trade Union Deliberates Approach To Wage Talks

VOA

      By Patience Rusere
      Washington
      23 February 2007

The general council of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the country's
largest labor organization, was set to meet Saturday to consider its
response to a move by the government to strike a deal with the
private-sector workers it represents.

The government of President Robert Mugabe has been beset by labor unrest
since the turn of the year, and reaching such an agreement considerably
relieve pressure on Harare - though possibly not for long given the
country's 1,600% inflation.

Government negotiators this week struck a deal with representatives of state
workers for big salary increases to offset the effects of inflation,
simultaneously making a deal with the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
to end a national teachers strike.

The ZCTU had given the government until Friday to come up with an acceptable
wage offer for private-sector workers and to advance a credible economic
recovery plan.

Labor and Social Welfare Minister Nicholas Goche met Thursday with ZCTU
President Lovemore Matombo, and asked him to to wait for a technical
committee to establish an agenda for a substantive meeting on wages before
deciding his next move.

But ZCTU Secretary General Wellington Chibebe told reporter Patience Rusere
of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that Saturday's meeting of his general
council would determine the union's course of action in view of
deteriorating living standards.

Namibian Human Rights Activists Gear Up To Protest Mugabe Visit

VOA

      By Ndimyake Mwakalyelye
      Washington, DC
      23 February 2007

A Namibian human rights group plans to turn up the heat on Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe when he arrives in Windhoek on Wednesday for a state
visit.

The National Society for Human Rights says it wants to show that some
Africans do not support Harare's policies. The trip is Mr. Mugabe's first to
Namibia since President Hifikephunye Pohamba succeeded former President Sam
Nujoma two years ago.

There is speculation that President Mugabe is looking to Namibia, whose
government praises his radical approach to land reform, as a potential
retirement retreat.

Reporter Ndimyake Mwakalyelye of VOA's Studio 7 For Zimbabwe spoke with
National Society for Human Rights Executive Director Phil Ya Nangoloh, who
said his members want Mr. Mugabe to know he is not welcome by some the
country.