The ZIMBABWE Situation
An extensive and up-to-date website containing news, views and links related to ZIMBABWE - a country in crisis
Return to INDEX page
Please note: You need to have 'Active content' enabled in your IE browser in order to see the index of articles on this webpage

MDC wants police chief jailed for contempt of court

Zim Online

Wednesday 28 February 2007

      By Batsirai Muranje

      HARARE - Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party on Tuesday appealed to the High Court to order imprisonment of the
country's Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri for 30 days for contempt of
court.

      In an urgent court application, the MDC said Chihuri and four other
senior officers were in contempt of court after ordering the police to
disrupt a rally of the opposition party in Harare's low-income suburb of
Highfield.

      The rally had been sanctioned by the High Court but could not take
place after armed police sealed off the venue and later fought running
battles with MDC supporters who had turned up for the meeting.

      "We hereby seek that the respondents be found in contempt of court and
that they be imprisoned for a period of 30 days," the MDC said in the
application that had not been set down for hearing by late Tuesday.

      Chihuri, Chief Superintendent Thomsen Jangara and other senior police
officers identified only as Inspector Manyere, Assistant Inspector
Chingururu and Assistant Inspector Moyo are cited as respondents in the
application, the first to seek imprisonment of the country's police chief.

      Failure to punish the police chief and his subordinates would
undermine the esteem of the High Court itself in the eyes of the public, the
opposition party said.

      "The esteem of the administration of justice in the eyes of the public
will be shaken and therefore suffer irreparable harm if the honourable court
does not react swiftly and decisively to the naked contempt of court," the
MDC said.

      It was not clear whether the Attorney General's office that represents
government departments including the police had filed opposing papers by
close of business on Tuesday.

      The MDC had wanted to use the Highfield rally to launch its campaign
for a presidential election that should take place next year but remains in
great doubt after President Robert Mugabe said he wanted it pushed to 2010
so it could coincide with elections for Parliament.

      The opposition party also urged the court to bar the police from
banning future rallies of the party to launch its presidential election
campaign, which it said it planned to launch any day before March 17, 2007.

      Last week, police imposed a ban on political rallies and protests in
Harare, Chitungwiza and Bulawayo ostensibly to allow tension to calm down in
the three main cities.

      But former Harare mayor and MDC organising secretary Elias Mudzuri
said in an affidavit to court that the ban on rallies would derail the
opposition party's political programmes.

      "Rallies are virtually the only direct mass media at the applicant's
disposal of communicating its political messages and advancing its
programmes," Mudzuri said.

      Mugabe's government has in recent weeks stepped up a crackdown against
the opposition, arresting some of its leaders and banning political activity
in volatile city suburbs as a harsh economic crisis continues driving
political tensions to dangerous levels.

      The proposals by Mugabe to extend his term by another two years
without going through an election have helped stoke up tensions in the
country with the political opposition and civic society groups threatening
to roll out mass protests to block the plan.

      A large section within Mugabe's own ruling ZANU PF party is also
opposed to extending his tenure. - ZimOnline


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Zimbabwe losing US$50m a week to mineral smugglers

Zim Online

Wednesday 28 February 2007

By Thulani Munda

HARARE - Zimbabwe is losing between US$40million and US$50 million a week
through the smuggling of diamonds, gold and other precious minerals, Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono said on Tuesday.

Gono told Parliament's special committee on defence and home affairs that
Zimbabwe - struggling to raise hard cash to import food, fuel, electricity
and other key requirements - should laugh at itself for the lost revenue
that he said could have been used to help kick-start the revival of the
country's collapsed economy.

The central bank chief appeared before the parliamentary committee to
respond to appeals by the police, army and Registrar-General's office for
more foreign currency to import vehicles, vital equipment and materials.

"No other country is blessed like Zimbabwe to a point where precious
minerals anongonyuka ega (just sprout from nowhere). We are losing between
US$40 million and US$50 million per week through the smuggling of gold,
diamond and all precious minerals," said Gono.

Gono did not say who was behind the rampant smuggling of precious minerals.

But it is strongly suspected that senior ruling ZANU PF party and government
politicians are behind the upsurge in illegal mining of precious minerals
and smuggling them out of the country.

Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri last week told state media that the
police were aware that some senior government officials were involved in
illegal mining and smuggling of precious minerals but said the law
enforcement agency could not arrest them because of lack of evidence.

The huge amounts of revenue lost due to smuggling of minerals have
compounded a foreign currency crisis gripping Zimbabwe since the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) withdrew financial assistance in 1999
because of differences with Harare over fiscal policy and other governance
issues.

The hard cash crunch that worsened after controversial government land
reforms destabilised the main export earning farming sector has seen the
once prosperous southern African nation unable to pay for key imports or
repay foreign debt including to the IMF.

For example, the police say they require millions of dollars in foreign
currency to increases the vehicle fleet from the current 1 500 to about 15
000 vehicles that the law enforcement agency says it needs to effectively
combat crime.

The army says it needs US$2 million to import a machine it says it needs to
manufacture various spares it requires, while the Registrar-General's
department says it requires millions of dollars in hard cash to pay foreign
suppliers of special ink and paper used to print passports and
identification cards.

But Gono told the committee that he was going to attend to the police, army
and Registrar-General's pleas for more hard cash at a later date because the
central bank did not have enough foreign currency. - ZimOnline


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Analysts See Harare's Political Lockdown As A Sign Of Desperation

VOA

      By Ndimyake Mwakalyelye
      Washington
      27 February 2007

The Zimbabwean government's move to quell its political opposition by
imposing a three-month ban on political rallies amounts to an acknowledgment
by the state that it is losing its appeal to the electorate, some analysts
have concluded.

Since the turn of the year there have been waves of labor actions teachers,
doctors and students, though strikes by teachers and doctors have recently
been settled. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions has threatened mass
action in the months ahead if the government fails to address deteriorating
economic conditions.

The Movement for Democratic Change faction headed by Morgan Tsvangirai says
it will seek relief in court from the ban on rallies, and the National
Constitutional Assembly says it will send its members back into the streets
to protest.

Though the Harare government seems to have pulled itself back from the abyss
by averting a strike by civil servants while getting doctors and teachers
back to work with a combination of pressure and inducements, the question
remains: what now?

For some idea of what may be expected, reporter Ndimyake Mwakalyelye of
VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe spoke with astute observers of Zimbabwean
politics: Peter Kagwanja, director of democracy and governance programs at
the Human Sciences Research Council in Pretoria, South Africa, and Dr.
Reginald Matchaba-Hove, founder and chairman of the Zimbabwe Election
Support Network, a monitoring group.

Dr. Matchaba-Hove said the ban on rallies is simply unconstitutional.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Zimbabwe Public Hospital Resident Doctors End Strike After 10 Weeks

VOA

      By Carole Gombakomba
      Washington
      27 February 2007

Resident doctors at Zimbabwe state hospitals in Harare and Bulawayo who have
been on strike since late December have agreed to return to work as of
Thursday, said sources close to the 10-week action that crippled the public
health care system.

But the Health Services Board, officials of which met with representatives
of doctors on Monday, did not disclose the terms of the settlement. Sources
familiar with the discussions said this indicates that an official review of
the deal continues.

However, the board said increases in compensation for doctors would be in
line with those granted to all civil servants in negotiations last week
between the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare and the Public Service
Association.

The board disclosed that doctors would receive car loans of Z$30 million
apiece while residents living outside hospitals would get a Z$100,000
monthly housing allowance.

Some residents at Harare's Parirenyatwa Hospital said they agreed to go back
to work because they are in financial distress, but said they are not happy
with the settlement. The doctors said they are expecting to receive upgraded
salaries ranging from Z$1.9 million (US$275) to Z$2.2 million dollars
(Z$315) a month, short of their demands.

Ministry of Health officials could not be reached for comment on the
settlement.

But parliamentarian Blessing Chebundo, chairman of the house committee on
health, told reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that
discussions among top health officials will continue next week because the
problems faced by doctors and other health care personnel still require
urgent attention.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

More Jailed As Operation Chikorokoza Continues



The Herald (Harare)

February 27, 2007
Posted to the web February 27, 2007

Harare

AT least 142 more people have been jailed countrywide for between two and
five years for dealing in precious minerals or stones without permits, as
Operation Chikorokoza Chapera/Isitsheketsha Sesiphelile continues.

This brings to 255 the total number of people who have been jailed for
breaching the Finance Act since early this month.

Police spokesperson Inspector Jessie Banda last week said Midlands Province
had the highest number of people jailed with 135, followed by Mashonaland
West with 54, Mashonaland Central (15) and Bulawayo with 12.

Mashonaland East and Masvingo provinces had nine each while Manicaland had
five.

Insp Banda said several people have been arrested while travelling on buses,
especially on the country's major roads, carrying large quantities of
precious minerals.

"Members of the public are being warned that it is an offence to be found in
possession or dealing in precious stones without a licence/permit," she
said.

"On the same note, it is also a crime to be found panning, searching or
prospecting for minerals without a licence."

The Precious Stones Trade Act and the Gold Trade Act prohibit any
unsanctioned dealings in precious stones and gold respectively.

Section 368 of the Mines and Minerals Act 21:05, which was amended, sets a
period of imprisonment of not less than two years for anyone found illegally
panning, searching or prospecting for minerals without a licence.

Violation of the Gold Trade Act attracts a prison term of not less than five
years.

Insp Banda warned members of the public to desist from engaging in illegal
activities as they risked being incarcerated for long periods.

She said those wishing to venture into mining activities should consult the
relevant regulatory authorities so as to obtain the necessary documentation.

Three people were convicted and jailed for five years each with hard labour
for prospecting for gold without a licence in Matabeleland North.

The three -- Owen Dube (29), Desire Moyo (49) and Claudius Kanyuwira (35) -- 
appeared at Tredgold Court on February 19.

Dube was arrested on February 17 at around 10am for prospecting for gold
without a licence at Dawn Mine and police recovered 5 kilogrammes of gold
ore and mining implements from him.

On February 18, police arrested Moyo and Kanyuwira for prospecting for gold.
Recovered from the pair were mining implements and 20kg gold ore.

Early this month, at least 113 illegal gold dealers and panners were jailed
two years each with hard labour without the option of a fine, under
Operation Chikorokoza Chapera/Isitsheketsha Sesiphelile.

The Finance Act provides stiffer penalties for those found prospecting for
gold or panning without a licence and anyone found guilty faces a two-year
jail term with hard labour without the option of a fine.

The amended legislation has enabled police to effectively deal with illegal
gold panners.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Womens' Lives Cut Short

Institute for War and Peace Reporting

AIDS epidemic and failed government policies are blamed for women's
plummeting life expectancy.

By Roselyn Godobori in Harare (AR No. 97, 27-Feb-07)

At 18, Abigail Murewa is already a mother. She has no income and dropped out
of school before completing the basic eleven years of schooling. Her pretty
face and her direct stare haunt anyone who looks at her and the malnourished
baby strapped on her back.

One thing is certain: she is likely to be dead by the time her son is aged
just 16. According to the United Nations' World Health Organisation, WHO,
the life expectancy of Zimbabwean women by early 2006 was only 34 years,
down from 36 in 2004 and 62 in 1990.

Thirty-four: an age where women in stable democracies are thinking about
careers, starting families, or buying homes. While they look towards their
bright futures, Zimbabwean women face only a painful cruel death.

Thirty-four is by far the lowest life expectancy in the world. Even in
war-torn Iraq, said WHO in its report, women can expect to live to the age
of 51, and 42 in Afghanistan. In poor countries like Cuba and North Korea,
women's life expectancy is 75 and 65 respectively.

Inscriptions on the headstones of hundreds of graves at the fast-filling
Granville cemetery in Harare tell a harrowing tale about life expectancy in
Zimbabwe, where an alarming 3,500 citizens a week die from HIV/AIDS, higher
than the overall death rate in Darfur where Sudanese government forces are
accused of genocide.

The black metal plates with white-painted birth dates are symbolic of the
mounting nationwide death toll. In one row, the plates read Sibongile
Sibanda born 5 March 1981; Mary Muzanenhamo born 16 June 1983; Gloria Masawi
born 1 November 1979 and Agnes Marimo born 5 October 1977. They all died in
December last year.

A report headlined "Most Harare cemeteries almost full" in the state-run
daily Herald newspaper said a critical shortage of burial space was looming
in the capital city, as most cemeteries were almost full owing to high
mortality. It quoted a town planning department report, which noted that the
tree main burial places in Harare, Mabvuku, Warren Hills and Granville
cemeteries, were filling up at such a fast rate that there will be no burial
plots available before the end of 2007.

David Coltart, a member of parliament for the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change, said this was just the tip of an iceberg. "Cemeteries are
filling up throughout the country. But no blood is being spilt - people are
just fading away, dying quietly and being buried quietly with no fanfare -
and so there is little international media attention," he said.

Zimbabwe, together with South Africa, used to have one of the highest life
expectancy rates in Africa. At independence in 1980, life expectancy for
women was 60 years, peaking at 62 in 1990, when Zimbabwe had one of the
finest public health systems in Africa.

Since 1990, the decline has happened at a frightening rate. By the end of
2000, the year Mugabe launched his violent invasions of commercial farms
that were the engine of the economy, women's life expectancy was down to 44.
The most recent data was collected two years ago, and WHO officials admit
off the record to their fear that women's life expectancy may dip below
thirty years of age by the end of 2007.

Zimbabwe and its people are suffering multiple crises, so there are numerous
reasons for the plunge in women's life expectancy.

Critics say the low life expectancy cannot be solely blamed on the AIDS
epidemic. Failed government policies in all areas are also responsible.

Shari Appel, of the Solidarity Peace Trust, a non-governmental humanitarian
organisation, said, "The health system has totally collapsed. Now access to
education is going the same way and girls are the first to miss out. In the
overcrowding, domestic violence and sexual abuse are rife."

The government's reaction to what amounts to a vast cull of its people has
been deeply callous. Didymus Mutasa, the minister of state security, said
when asked about the accelerating death rate, "We would be better off with
only six million people (less than half the population level in 2000), with
our own people who support the liberation struggle (meaning supporters of
the ruling party). We don't want all these extra people."

Coltart said the economic meltdown - Zimbabwe has the fastest declining
economy in the world, with unemployment running at more than 80 per cent -
and the food crisis were central to women's low life expectancy. WHO put its
estimate of Zimbabwean men's life expectancy rate in early 2006 at 37 years,
and declining.

In some countries with proper health care and access to anti-retrovirals,
ARVs, HIV sufferers can now live with the disease for decades. But Zimbabwe's
health system has all but collapsed.

Pledges of free ARVs from the government contrast with the reality of
corrupt, incompetent and threadbare health care even for those with money -
for those without it is completely out of reach. State clinic dispensaries
are empty and the brain drain has seen thousands of qualified nurses and
hundreds of doctors quit the country. Even dying comes at a cost. Families
wanting to collect a relative's body from hospitals must provide a coffin to
claim them. Many can no longer afford this.

Coltart, a white Zimbabwean who was one of the most prominent critics of
Zimbabwe's former white minority Rhodesian government, said, "The pathetic
amounts spent on ARV medication by a government that is more concerned about
importing military aircraft from China than it is in protecting the lives of
its people have a telling effect on how long the people can expect to live."
Among other factors, he said, were the forcible displacement of some 700,000
of the urban poor in Mugabe's notorious Operation Murambatsvina (Operation
Drive Out the Trsh) and malnutrition among millions of people as a result of
the collapse of the agricultural system in a country was known as the
breadbasket of Africa.

At the centre of the catastrophe is the destruction of the country's entire
social fabric. The institution of marriage has been wrecked as family
spouses go different ways in search of livelihoods. More than 3.5 million
Zimbabweans live outside the country. While one spouse, usually but not
always the woman, stays back home to look after the children, the other goes
into the diaspora to supplement the family income. Living separately means
the two often have other sexual partners, exposing both to HIV infection.

Stories of young women taking on boyfriends in the absence of their men are
harrowing.

Tafadzwa Muswe, who lived in Harare's densely populated working class suburb
of Mbare, died two weeks before her thirtieth birthday. To supplement her
meagre income, she had joined friends who date older and more prosperous
"sugar daddies". Her various sugar daddies helped to keep her eight-year-old
child clothed, fed and educated. They also paid her rent, which was four
times her income. They showered her with gifts and jewelry, but
unfortunately also infected her with HIV.

With no access to ARVs, her friends and relatives watched Tafadzwa Muswe
fade away and die.

Although Memory Nyoni, another young woman, also died young from AIDS, her
story is different from that of Tafadzwa. She was married to a man who was
forced to migrate to neighbouring South Africa to try to earn an income that
would enable him to send his kids to good schools, feed and clothe them and
do other things that a good father likes to do. But because of the long
absences, both had strings of sexual relationships that brought HIV into
their home.

Both Memory and Tafadzwa were victims of Zimbabwe's economic situation, with
widespread, deep and deepening poverty. When women have to scrounge for food
they have little or no control on their sexuality. They cannot demand safe
sex from the legions of exploitative men. The Women and Aids Support
Network, WASN, says women are dying prematurely because ARVs are
inaccessible to the majority of people, especially women who have always
been disadvantaged economically and culturally.

WASN programme coordinator Gladys Chiwome said, "Because of the women's
economic position and our culture, women cannot negotiate for safer sex and
because of marriage, they even suffer more - AIDS is brought into their
homes and there is nothing they can say or do to protect themselves.

"These women feel that they cannot survive outside marriage because they are
totally dependent on their husbands and they have no say on sexual matters."

The foremost critic of Mugabe and his ZANU PF elite, Pius Ncube, the Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, said, "Zimbabwe is not a nation at war. It
used to be able to feed itself and its neighbours. It had one of the highest
life expectancy rates, up with South Africa.

"These deaths are largely preventable, yet without significant intervention,
the situation threatens to develop into a humanitarian crisis of biblical
proportions."

For the likes of Abigail Murewa the choices are stark: be a good girl and
starve now; or be a bad girl, sleep around, get a little food and but still
die before the end of her 34th year.

Roselyn Godobori is the pseudonym of an IWPR contributor in Zimbabwe.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

MDC Faces Election Dilemma

Institute for War and Peace Reporting

If the Zimbabwean opposition wants a presidential election next year, it
must forego a new constitution.

By Takesure Moyo in Harare (AR No. 97, 27-Feb-07)

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change, MDC, faces a huge
dilemma in the months ahead - whether to argue for a presidential election
in 2010, thus allowing time for the possible introduction of new and more
democratic constitution, or press for a presidential election next year, as
scheduled, under the present less liberal constitution.

This month, the deeply divided MDC launched a campaign of resistance to
Robert Mugabe's plan to extend his presidential term beyond 2010 under the
slogan "Say No to the 2010 presidential extension. Say No to elections under
the current constitution. Say No to Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF".

But the MDC has clearly stretched its luck and demonstrated once more its
apparent talent for incompetence and an ability to confuse and confound
voters who are looking desperately for an alternative to Mugabe's ruling
ZANU PF party.

"If the MDC wants a presidential election next year it must forego a new
constitution," said a political scientist at the University of Zimbabwe. "On
the other hand, if they want a new constitution they must be prepared to
forego a presidential election next year. They can't have it both ways. It's
Catch-22. There is no way a constitutional consultation process can begin
now and be completed in time for a presidential election in March 2008, as
currently scheduled."

When a proposal was made last December at the annual conference of ZANU PF
to extend President Mugabe's term of office by two years to 2010, it had the
support of eight of the party's ten provinces. The party, divided between
bitter rivals over the right to succeed the 83-year-old leader, shelved the
issue and referred it back to the provinces for further debate.

The advantage of delaying the 2008 presidential election to 2010 is that it
could be synchronised with parliamentary elections, argued Mugabe
supporters. At present, presidential and parliamentary elections are out of
sync, requiring Zimbabweans to go to the polls every two years. Such
harmonisation would also reduce costs, suggested the pro-Mugabe lobbyists.

Moving the presidential vote to 2010 would require a constitutional
amendment or a national referendum.

Both ventures would be risky for the president, given the parlous state of
the economy and a growing consensus that Mugabe is responsible for its
collapse. Despite ZANU PF's majority in parliament, there are fears that
some ZANU PF parliamentary deputies would vote against an extension of
Mugabe's term. A referendum would be costly and a favourable outcome for
Mugabe could not be guaranteed.

The MDC is hoping that it can influence a sizeable number of ZANU PF
deputies to resist Mugabe's plan. They may find allies of convenience inside
the ZANU PF faction led by vice-president Joice Mujuru's husband, General
Solomon Mujuru, former head of the Zimbabwe army and chief of Mugabe's
exiled guerrilla forces under the warname Rex Nhongo during the 1970s war of
liberation.

The Mujurus and their supporters, suspicious that Mugabe is seeking to
extend his powers indefinitely, are asking why choose 2010 to hold the
elections simultaneously and not 2008?

If the MDC campaign succeeds, and the Mujuru faction inside ZANU PF gives
its support, then Mugabe will have to face a presidential challenge in March
next year when, according to the International Monetary Fund, Zimbabwe's
inflation rate will have soared to more than 4,000 per cent, by far the
highest in the world.

"But what are the MDC leaders going to do if Mugabe calls their bluff and
says 'OK, let's have the presidential election next year before a new
constitution is in place?'" asked the political scientist.

The MDC and its partners in civil society and the National Constitutional
Assembly, a non-party organisation that has been arguing for constitutional
reform for the past ten years, have together been campaigning for a new
constitution since February 2000. The political scientist said they could
not compromise on that demand now without losing credibility.

He asked whether, if Mugabe conceded that the presidential election should
proceed in early 2008, the MDC would then tell its supports to boycott the
poll because there had been no constitutional reform.

The MDC had created an absurd dilemma for itself, he said. The party split
last year over whether to contest elections to new largely ceremonial upper
house Senate. History could repeat itself next year over a 2008 presidential
election.

The MDC has rejected the outcome of all presidential and parliamentary
elections since 2000, alleging widespread fraud and ballot rigging. The
party and the National Constitutional Assembly argue that the current
constitution gives the president too much power to manipulate the electoral
process. The president chooses the chairman of the electoral commission that
supervises elections and vets international observers.

The current electoral commission chairman is Tobaiwa Mudede, a hardline
Mugabe loyalist and fellow Zezuru clansman, who has been accused of rigging
all presidential and parliamentary elections since 2000. The MDC complained
about Mudede's voters' roll which the party said had deliberately been made
"shambolic" to accommodate "ghost voters".

However, a senior party official recently warned the MDC leadership that the
party was in danger of losing future elections less because of electoral
fraud than the fact that its grassroots support was withering away and it
had never properly contested rural areas.

MDC chairman Isaac Matongo told a party rally in a working class suburb of
Harare that members should stop complaining about ballot rigging and get
into the rural areas where ZANU PF retains support through tradition, fear
and patronage, which includes control of the distribution of desperately
needed food aid.

"We should teach our relatives in rural areas to go and vote without fear,"
said Matongo. " That is the only way we can win." He added that all ZANU
PF's rigging manoeuvres would fail if the MDC could persuade each rural
person who would like to support it to overcome their fear of Mugabe's party
and its militias and go out to vote.

Takesure Moyo is the pseudonym of an IWPR contributor in Zimbabwe.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Protesters await Mugabe ahead of Namibia trip

Reuters

Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:30 PM GMT

By Desiwaar Heita

WINDHOEK (Reuters) - Rights activists in Namibia promised on Tuesday to
stage street protests against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on his
first foreign trip since his government imposed a temporary ban on
opposition rallies.

Mugabe, facing growing unrest at home over policies that critics say have
ruined Zimbabwe's economy, is due to arrive in the Namibian capital Windhoek
on Tuesday afternoon for a four-day state visit.

The veteran Zimbabwean leader, who turned 83 last week, will hold talks with
Namibian President Hfikepunye Pohamba, visit a diamond company and speak to
business leaders during the trip.

The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), a Namibian group, said it
planned to protest outside Zimbabwe's embassy in Windhoek on Wednesday to
express "outrage about the political, human rights and humanitarian
situation in Zimbabwe."

Zimbabweans living in Namibia are expected to join the protest.

Last week Zimbabwe announced a three-month ban on political rallies and
protests in a number of volatile townships in Harare after clashes there
between police and opposition supporters.

Anti-Mugabe groups have described the move as effectively a "state of
emergency" designed to stifle the opposition.

Zimbabwe's new ambassador to Namibia urged Namibians not to believe reports
that his southern African nation was sinking into a deeper economic crisis.

"People should not listen to such propaganda that the country is going down,
and that the economy is sinking. It is all propaganda. Zimbabwe is doing
well," Ambassador Chipo Zindoga told Namibian state television.

Zimbabwe is struggling with soaring inflation, which at 1,600 percent is the
highest in the world, chronic shortages of foreign currency, food and fuel
and unemployment of 80 percent.

The International Monetary Fund last week maintained its suspension of
financial and technical aid to Zimbabwe, saying the government had failed to
clear its arrears and address the worsening economic and social crisis.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Zim plunged into darkness

IOL

February 27 2007 at 11:57AM

      Harare - Six districts of Zimbabwe's eastern Manicaland province were
plunged into darkness after strong winds induced by Cyclone Favio damaged
power lines, an official said on Tuesday.

      "The cyclone has been causing havoc on our electricity distribution
system since the weekend," James Maridadi, spokesperson for the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority, told AFP.

      "Manicaland province is the worst affected so far, with at least 400
poles brought down but we expect more damage because the cyclone is still
on."

      "The poles are giving in because the ground has been weakened by the
incessant rains."

      At least 19 power lines supplying the tea and fruit processing
districts of Vumba, Penhalonga, Stapleford, Odzi, Marange and Chimanimani
were also damaged by the strong winds, Maridadi said.

      The value of the damaged property stood at ZIM$300-million (about
R8,6-million) late on Monday, he said.

      Favio classified as a category four cyclone - generating winds of
around 200km an hour - swept through neighbouring Mozambique last week
uprooting trees, sweeping off roofs and damaging power lines.

      The cyclone was downgraded to a tropical depression when it reached
the eastern districts of Zimbabwe.

      The damage dealt another blow to Zimbabwe's power utility which often
resorts to scheduled power cuts because of a power deficit resulting from a
serious financial crunch.

      Zimbabwe has yet to repair bridges and other structures destroyed by
Cyclone Eline which hit southern Africa early 2000.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

IMF gives Zimbabwe 6 months to pay its debt

SABC

February 27, 2007, 08:45

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given the government of Zimbabwe
six months to pay its debt and to undertake policies recommended by the
institution or face expulsion. Zimbabwe's outstanding debt amounts to $129
million.

The pressure's on Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, and his
government. He has until September to pay off Zimbabwe's debt, and to
implement structural reforms which include privatising publicly-owned
enterprises. The IMF also wants Zimbabwe to ensure respect for property
rights, and to implement fundamental improvements in governance.

However experts says it would be impossible for Zimbabwe to meet most of
these requirements. Mhizha Chifamba, of the Jubilee 2000, said: "If the
country itself is unable to sustain its wills and develop and assist its own
people, there is no way that it can raise that amount of money in the time
frame that is suggested."

Jubilee accuses IMF of double-standards
Jubilee 2000, which is fighting for the total cancellation of the debts of
poor countries, also accuses the IMF of applying a double-standard.

Last year Zimbabwe surprised the financial world by paying a chunk of its
debt. Observers says chances for such surprises today are nil. They say one
reason is that Zimbabwe has totally run out of foreign currency.

Now the country is facing the strong possibility of being expelled from the
IMF.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

'Informal Curfew' in Place in Harare, Claim NGOs



UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

February 27, 2007
Posted to the web February 27, 2007

Harare

An "informal curfew" has been imposed on the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.
According to human rights groups and analysts it is designed to check any
public unrest against the government.

"The situation is very tense. If you are not in your home by 9 or 10 in the
evening you can be beaten up," alleged John Makumbe, a political analyst
based in Harare. "Even during the day, civilians spotted walking near the
government buildings in groups of three or more are asked to disperse by the
police."

Tension has been mounting in Zimbabwe over the past few weeks:
nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), church groups, workers, and students
have all staged sporadic demonstrations around the country, prompted by
annual inflation running at nearly 1,600 percent, shortages of foreign
currency and food, and pay that has consistently lagged well behind soaring
prices.

Doctors and nurses have been on a strike for more than a month, demanding
better salaries and working conditions. "There is a lot of anger and it is
definitely linked to the economic crisis," said Makumbe. "The doctors and
nurses are still on strike; the teachers are back at work, but are unhappy."

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, claimed that several teachers had been
attacked by anti-riot police in the city centre and suburbs of Harare.

Mike Davies, chairman of the Combined Harare Residents Association,
condemned the "informal curfew". "We have not seen an official announcement
about the so-called curfew, but we have heard about people being kicked out
of pubs and ordered to go home. We want to know under what law they are
doing that, and for how long this is going to go on, because we believe in
the rights of association and freedom of movement."

Last week, police announced a three-month ban on all public demonstrations
and rallies to stem "possible political violence", said Wayne Bvudzijena,
police spokesman.

The ban followed skirmishes between police and supporters of the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) attending the party's presidential
campaign launch in the Highfields township of Harare last week. The police
had refused to sanction the rally, claiming they did not have enough
officers to ensure security.

In terms of the country's strict Public Order and Security Act (POSA),
police have to be informed of any public meeting. NGOs and IRIN
correspondents reported that police could be seen patrolling the capital's
suburbs this week.

Bvudzijena denied that an "informal curfew" was in place in Harare.
"Everybody is free to go where they like at any time. We have only put a ban
on demonstrations and rallies to check violence. If we put a curfew in place
we will make a public announcement."

Robert Dabengwa, who owns a nightclub in one of the townships, alleged that
members of the police and military had been ordering his clients out of the
club, and "[anyone] seen ... outside are beaten up or ordered to go home ...
in such a highly inflationary environment I can not afford to lose so many
customers."

Highfields, the scene of the street battles between the police and MDC
supporters, has been hardest hit. Musa Size, a resident, claimed he was
beaten up by police last Friday when he got home from town after 8 p.m.

"We were six ... when we started walking into Highfields, we were ordered to
stop by soldiers and members of the police. They accused us of planning to
topple the government by secretly organising MDC meetings. We denied the
charges but they beat us up and ordered us to roll on the ground before
telling us to crawl away on all fours." Size sustained injuries to his knees
and arms.

In Kuwadzana, another Harare township, a fruit and vegetable vendor told
IRIN she was lucky to have escaped a beating when armed police on patrol
last week told vendors to keep off the streets after 7 p.m. She claimed the
police had confiscated their goods before beating up her fellow vendors for
unknowingly breaking the "curfew".

"Selling fruit and vegetables was my only way of making a living," said
Sarudzai. "A lot of people without refrigerators in the townships were my
regular customers. The evenings were the best times for business."

Other Kuwadzana residents also claimed to have had an evening brush with the
law. "Last week I went into a pub for a beer to while away the time because
it was raining heavily, but police on patrol told us to walk home in the
heavy deluge," said Tobias Chindengu. "Now most of us are aware of the
curfew, and we make a point of rushing home after work and remain indoors
for fear of being punished by the police."

The US government and the Human Rights Institute of the UK-based
International Bar Association (IBA) have condemned the three-month ban on
political rallies and protests. They called on the Zimbabwean government to
respect the "rule of law" and allow the people to exercise their political
rights.

"The government of Zimbabwe has again undermined the guarantees of human
rights and the rule of law by preventing the citizens of Zimbabwe from
exercising their fundamental right to free assembly," said Mark Ellis, IBA's
executive director.

Washington also lashed out at the "suppression" of MDC rallies saying,
"Zimbabwe's political and economic crises can only be resolved through
dialogue with the political opposition, with Zimbabwe's civil society and
with the people of Zimbabwe, who have made clear their desire for democratic
change."

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

A Herculean Effort is Needed



Inter Press Service (Johannesburg)

February 27, 2007
Posted to the web February 27, 2007

Davison Mudzingwa
Harare

"You cannot talk of halving poverty when our country is going in the
opposite direction. We are totally lost," says Maxwell Tambarare, a teacher
in Chiredzi, a region to the south east of Zimbabwe.

He is referring to the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The first goal is to halve poverty by 2015. IPS conducted random interviews
with Zimbabweans in Harare and Chiredzi to find out how much people knew
about the MDGs.

For most of those interviewed, the MDGs and the target date of 2015 seemed
far-fetched. The interviews show that nothing less than a Herculean effort
will turn Zimbabwe's fortunes around.

Zimbabwe's crisis has taken on a rhetorical quality in the news around the
globe. With an annual inflation rate perched at 1,593 percent-probably the
highest in the world-life has become a battle of survival for ordinary
people.

Unemployment is at an all-time high of 80 percent. Most of the unemployed
still eke out a living through informal trading. This is despite the
government's violent squashing of the informal sector in its infamous
Operation Murambatsvina.

The promised follow-up programme to build market stalls and houses to
replace the destroyed stalls and dwellings is still a pipe dream almost two
years down the line.

"If the government is really serious in attaining the MDGs, then they have
to expedite measures to correct the effects of Operation Murambatsvina,"
says Amos Muzamani, an unemployed college graduate.

Looking at health, tremendous challenges remain. The government is faced
with reducing mortality among children under five from 129 to 42 deaths per
1,000 live births by 2015. The rate of maternal mortality has risen sharply
during the last 10 years due to the lack of access to antenatal, delivery
and post-natal care for women, according to the United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF).

"It difficult for us because hospital fees are too high, even at government
hospitals," says a pregnant Alice Makanga who lives in the capital city of
Harare.

The minister of health and child welfare Dr David Parirenyatwa has
maintained that pregnant women and children under five are entitled to free
health services. But hospitals, citing high operational costs, continue to
charge patients.

Due to HIV/AIDS an appalling 3,000 lives are lost every week, translating
into 168,000 deaths every year. Life prolonging anti-retroviral (ARV)
treatment is out of reach for the vast majority of those who need it, which
is estimated at 300,000 people.

"I have been tested but I am not getting ARVs. They always say on the radio
that we will get them," says Paul Mandi who lives in Tshovani, Chiredzi. The
government has promised to make the treatment available by the end of 2007.

The economic situation has had a detrimental effect on access to education.
Economic hardship has led to a massive dropping out of children at primary
school level, which is the opposite of what the MDGs demand. Parents in
Zimbabwe can no longer afford the ever-rising school fees.

In the process the old problem of boy children getting preference has become
worse. "It is a matter of priorities," says Simbarashe Moyo of Zaka district
in south east Zimbabwe. "I buy food with my meagre income but I sacrifice
other things to educate my sons. That tops the list."

Thus his daughter, eight-year-old Mercy Moyo, tells IPS, "I am no longer
going to school. My parents said it is too expensive. I will go back if they
get money."

The government has rolled out a basic education assistance module (BEAM) to
help underprivileged children but the programme is limited to those with
parents infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

The increase in school dropouts, which is contrary to the trend in the rest
of the region, means that the poor of today will remain disadvantaged in the
future.

Environmental preservation, which is addressed in MDG number seven, has also
been adversely affected. Vast areas of Zimbabwe have become dongas as
informal gold and diamond miners illegally dig with the hope of sustaining
some form of livelihood.

The government recently embarked on a clampdown operation to curb the
mining. Eastern parts of the country have been hardest hit.

Illegal miners defend their actions as the result of the harsh economic
conditions. "We have no choice in this dog-eat-dog situation. We have to
feed our families," emphasises Marko Phiri, a gold digger in the Midlands
province town of Kwekwe.

Harare-based humanitarian worker Wenceslous Ndlovu believes time is fast
running out for a government facing an economic meltdown. The government has
blamed the crisis on western nations for, among others, imposing smart
sanctions against the ruling ZANU-PF leadership.

Fambai Ngirande of the National Association of Non-Governmental
Organisations (NANGO), an umbrella body of NGOs, blames the International
Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF should cancel Zimbabwe's debt, he argues. Debt
has been an albatross around the country's neck for many years now and has
affected money supply.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

MDC activist tortured for 3 days by police in Epworth



By Tererai Karimakwenda
26 February, 2007

An opposition supporter who was taken from his home by police last week is
reported to be recovering from injuries sustained during 3 days of torture
at Epworth police station. After first denying they had him in custody,
police finally produced Norbert Gudorinorima on Saturday and released him to
be attended to by a doctor six days after his original arrest. The story of
exactly what happened to Gudorinorima is still unfolding as he talks to his
lawyers. Alex Muchadehama from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said
the charges against Gudorinorima have been vague and convoluted.

He was first accused of theft, then this was changed to assault and later to
defeating the course of justice. And in the absence of a clear case, the
police assaulted him without any charges. Muchadehama said the man is not
able to walk, sit or lie down without feeling pain. He is being attended to
by a private doctor at Dandaro and is reported to be in a serious condition.

Muchadehama said Gudorinorima was first grabbed by police at a demonstration
by the Tsvangirai MDC that had started spontaneously in the Harare South
area on Sunday, February 18th. He was taken to Epworth police station where
an unnamed complainant said he had been attacked by Gudorinorima and other
MDC supporters. Due to a lack of evidence he was released the same day. But
as Sunday turned into early Monday morning, the police came for him at his
home and brought him back to Epworth police station. According to
Muchadehama, the police assaulted Gudorinorima brutally for 3 days and 3
nights. No-one was allowed access to him during that period.

Meanwhile his wife, family and lawyers, including Muchadehama, were working
frantically to secure his release. Youth from the Tsvangirai MDC who live
nearby are also reported to have gone to the police station looking for him.
Under enormous pressure, the police finally produced Gudorinorima this past
Saturday, exactly 6 days after they took him from his house, and have still
not charged him. They told Muchadehama they would proceed after he recovers
from his injuries.

Muchadehama said police are doing what they want in this case. He explained
that the normal procedures ie: arresting someone when you have probable
cause, bringing them to court within the prescribed time and allowing them
to appeal - were not even remotely followed here.

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Unions vow to defy Mugabe over planned strike

Reuters

Tue Feb 27, 2007 5:44 PM GMT

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main labour body on Tuesday vowed to go ahead
with a national job boycott planned for April despite a threatened crackdown
by President Robert Mugabe's government.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) said it had decided last
weekend to mobilise workers to stay away from work on April 3 and 4 to
protest the government's "failure to address the economic meltdown" in the
southern African nation.

State security minister Didymus Mutasa has said the unions could expect
harsh government action if they went ahead with protests. ZCTU leaders were
arrested and they say assaulted in police custody after an abortive street
protest last September.

Analysts say the ZCTU's calls for strikes over labour and social issues in
recent years have largely failed due to government intimidation and workers'
fears of losing their jobs in a country that has an 80 percent unemployment
rate.

In a statement ZCTU Secretary General Wellington Chibebe said the unions
would press on with the planned strike.

"Mobilization of workers nationwide will go on unless government addresses
workers' concerns," Chibebe said. "The Zimbabwean workers will no longer be
browbeaten and will continue to demand what is rightfully theirs."

Political analysts have warned that the rising cost of living, marked by the
world's highest inflation rate at almost 1,600 percent, could trigger street
protests against Mugabe's government.

Last week police imposed a three-month ban on protests and rallies across
much of Harare after officers clashed with opposition supporters. The main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Tuesday said it had filed
papers challenging the ban in court.

The government increased wages for increasingly restive civil servants last
week, the second time it had done so in as many months. The move came after
teachers in public schools went on strike, joining some doctors and nurses
who began a job boycott in December.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Publisher Trevor Ncube short-listed for press freedom award



By Lance Guma
27 February 2007

The publisher of the Zimbabwe Independent, Standard and Mail & Guardian
newspapers, Trevor Ncube has been short listed for the Index on Censorship,
Hugo Young award for Journalism 2007. The 7th annual Freedom of Expression
awards will held in London on the 14th March. Ncube is cited for his
'tireless work in continuing to run the only independent newspapers in
Zimbabwe while under constant attack from the government.' He was described
as 'incredibly inspiring.' Index on Censorship say 'despite a number of
personal attacks, the government has been unable to shut down Trevor's
newspapers or otherwise silence him.'

Ncube is part of a line up which according to Index on Censorship includes,
'a barefoot lawyer from China, an American whistleblower who used 'You Tube'
to expose a cover up, an Italian filmmaker who took on the government
through satire and a Pakistani woman who took her rapists to court rather
than kill herself. The awards are broken down into several categories to
include films, books, journalists, whistleblowers and those involved in
campaigning against unjust laws. The award Ncube has been short listed for
is named in memory of Hugo Young, a UK Guardian columnist, and recognises
someone 'who has shown an outstanding commitment to journalistic integrity
in defence of freedom of expression.'

Others nominated in the same category are Jayyab Abu Safia, a presenter on
Gaza FM who defied death threats from Islamic fundamentalists and continues
to discuss controversial subjects. Egyptian Kareem Amer, a 22-year-old
blogger recently sentenced to four years for criticising Islam and Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak. Carlos Lozana, the editor of the only opposition
newspaper in Colombia who has survived several attempts on his life,
completes the list. The Association of Zimbabwean Journalists in the UK has
meanwhile thanked Index on Censorship for keeping an eye on Zimbabwe saying
this would help expose the suppression of the media in the country.
Coordinator Sandra Nyaira told Newsreel Ncube deserved to be nominated for
his steadfast contribution to the media in spite of threats from the
government.

The panel of judges who will decide the winners are professor Conor Gearty
from the London school of Economics, Mark Kermode a BBC broadcaster, Kenan
Malik a lecturer and broadcaster, Ursula Owen the co-founder of Virago
Press, Richard Sambrook the Director of the BBC's Global News division and
Dreda Say Mitchell a novelist and educationist. According to their website
Index on Censorship 'was founded in 1972 by the poet Stephen Spender in
response to a plea for help from Soviet dissidents facing show trials in
Moscow and was founded on the principle that 'freedom of expression is a
fundamental human right.' Their annual awards have since become a milestone
in the human rights calendar and honour people who have made outstanding
contributions, often-heroic ones, in the defence of freedom of expression.

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

MDC makes official request for asylum seekers to work in UK


By Tichaona Sibanda
27 February 2007

The Movement for Democratic Change in the UK has made an official request to
the British government to allow thousands of failed asylum seekers from
Zimbabwe to work.

Out of 20 000 Zimbabweans who applied for asylum in the UK since 2000 only
7000 have been granted refugee status and at least 13 000 still have their
cases pending with the Home Office.

Hebson Makuvise, the MDC chief representative in the UK, met Home Office
officials in London on Tuesday and explained the predicament faced by
thousands of Zimbabweans, some of whom are living near destitute lives.

'We have people who fled Zimbabwe five years ago and whose applications for
asylum were rejected and are still out there not working.
We stressed today (Tuesday) to the government that there is a growing
problem of destitution among Zimbabwean asylum seekers and we asked if it is
possible to allow these people to work,' Makuvise said.

Failed asylum seekers from Zimbabwe have been left in limbo since the high
profile case of AA, which forced the British government to suspend forced
deportations to Zimbabwe. After the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal ruled in
October 2005 that it was not safe to return asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe,
most asylum seekers have been unable to access support from the government
and are not allowed to work.

British MPs from all parties have been campaigning in the House of Commons,
calling on the government to allow those who can work to do so. Most of the
legislators have come out in support of the asylum seekers saying since they
can't send them back to Mugabe's tyranny it is common sense they should be
allowed to work for their living.

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Succession debate a means of control for Mugabe

New Zimbabwe

By Dr Alex T. Magaisa
Last updated: 02/27/2007 12:12:51
THOSE that often watch closely each step and speech of President Mugabe must
have had their hands full in the last two weeks, what with two interviews in
the state media on the occasion of his 83rd birthday, an essentially private
affair that over the years, has been magnified and represented as a national
event, a tried but tired routine that has been used in the past elsewhere in
Africa. Often characterised by pomp and feasting, it is out of sync with and
insensitive to the conspicuous poverty of the nation.

The reported statements and the behaviour of those around President Mugabe
have sparked a flurry of speculation in relation to the succession issue in
Zanu PF and the consequences for Zimbabwe. What, therefore, if any, can be
gleaned from the President's recent statements?

Whilst, there has been a rush to give all manner of interpretations, I think
it is important to understand the context in which the statements have been
made, because the purpose and strategy may not be as appearances suggest. I
do not think that events in Zanu PF are as simple and straightforward as
they have been interpreted and importantly, it is quite possible that the
continuing uncertainty and speculation over the succession question may well
be part of an orchestrated scenario designed to purchase time both for the
leadership and the party.

The first significant aspect, assuming that the report is correct, is that
the ZBC interview was heavily edited, in such a manner that key statements
that would have yielded revelations about the President's supposedly raw
thoughts and feelings regarding the succession issue and the central
characters involved. Now, it is normal journalistic practice to edit
material but the suggestion in the reports appears to be that the editing
was so extensive that it resulted in the removal of key material that would
have been of major public interest, revealing as it is said to have done,
the President's views on the major characters involved in the succession
drama. Instead of shedding light into the issues, the interviews have
therefore enhanced the mystery, uncertainty and speculation. The analysis
therefore has to start from the unfortunate position where everything
remains shrouded in mystery.

This presents a critical question as to whether in fact, it was always the
object of the whole exercise, that is, to enhance the uncertainty and
speculation about the succession issue, leaving the aspiring princes and
princesses with little clues as to what the reigning king really thinks
about the future. The cynical might suggest that there is, in fact, a method
in the madness that appears to be obtaining in Zanu PF. The view is that, by
speaking in tongues that are difficult to grasp with any measure of
certainty, the vultures circling over the presidency are kept sufficiently
unaware and unsure and therefore at an adequately safe distance. This is
because the more they are certain about the preferred choice, the more the
pressure for the President's departure increases. The result of the
uncertainty and speculation is that the battle remains, at least for now,
between the factional leaders and their constituents, leaving for the
moment, sufficient breathing space for President Mugabe.

If the President feels strongly that the interviews did not accurately
represent his views, he, of course, has amble platforms to state the very
same things that are reported to have been edited from of the interview. If
he named and shamed individuals whose tactics he disapproves, he can always
do so publicly without the aid of television cameras. That this has not
happened has simply heightened speculation, some of which may be attractive
to those within and outside Zanu PF who see opportunities but may well be
wide off the mark.

In this respect, I respectfully suggest that some of the literal
interpretations of his statements appear to have missed the point. For
example, in trying to justify the proposed harmonisation of the 2008
Presidential and 2010 Parliamentary elections, President Mugabe reacted to
the resistance by arguing that it was not because he wants to extend his
term as has been suggested but more significantly, he suggested that he
could always stand again for the Presidency in 2008, and win another
six-year term. He did mention the MDC but with respect, it must be recalled
that it is not only the opposition that is against the election
harmonisation scheme. This scheme has faced criticism and rejection from
some powerful groups in his party, as evidenced by the Goromonzi Congress,
where for example, Mashonaland East province reportedly refused to endorse
it.

In making the suggestion that he could stand again next year, President
Mugabe may, in fact, be speaking not to the MDC but to his own ambitious
comrades in Zanu PF, who are singing a different tune on that point - he may
be saying to them that even if they reject the harmonisation plan, there is
nothing to stop him from running again on the Zanu PF ticket, which would
effectively derail their immediate plans. It is interesting in this regard,
that Mugabe refers in glowing terms to the Zanu PF Youth and Women's
Leagues, powerful constituencies in his party and is disparaging about what
he calls the "main wing" - presumably, the leadership. He is probably saying
to his comrades, "you can stand against me in the party and I will win" and
therefore "I remain the kingmaker".

The thesis that the confusion and uncertainty is carefully orchestrated is
evident from the vacillation between the so-called preferred candidates of
Mugabe in the past few years. There was a time, not so long ago, when it was
said that the most favoured heir was Emmerson Mnangagwa. But when it came to
the replacement of the late Vice President Muzenda in 2004, the President
appeared to openly support Mai Mujuru, which derailed Mnangagwa's
ascendancy. Indeed, barely three months ago, interpretations of President
Mugabe's speech at the Goromonzi Congress suggested that he was unhappy with
Mnangagwa when Mugabe verbally chastised those in the leadership, who were
fighting battles in courts of law. Mnangagwa had reportedly commenced legal
action for defamation against John Nkomo, the Zanu PF chairman, also a
Presidential aspirant.

Incidentally, Mnangagwa had taken umbrage at statements allegedly made by
Nkomo, to the effect that Mnangagwa had been involved in the infamous
Tsholotsho Declaration in 2004, a euphemism for the event at which it was
suggested that some party leaders were plotting in favour of Mnangagwa, to
block the rise of Mai Mujuru to become Vice President. Taking into account
the reports that the President was least pleased with Mnangagwa and the
circumstances surrounding the catapulting of Mai Mujuru to the VP at his
expense, it must therefore be an amazing turnaround in the preferences of
the President and indeed Mnangagwa's fortunes to now suggest that he is once
again the preferred choice. I may be off the mark, but I find it too
simplistic to be true.

In any event, when she ascended to the presidium, President Mugabe appeared
to champion Mai Mujuru's presidential aspirations by suggesting that if
someone is fit to become VP, there was not limit to higher ambitions. If he
was so confident to suggest it hardly three years ago, what has changed that
has suddenly caused him to shun that possibility as has been reported? There
could be another way to look at it: Was it a game, cleverly played to put
Mai Mujuru in a position of power to gauge her capacity and the extent of
her ambition or the ambition of those around her? Was it a move, cunningly
orchestrated in order to hoodwink those around her into the false belief of
comfort and security that she was the favoured one? These are difficult
questions, which cannot be answered with certainty but nonetheless crop up
as we try to comprehend what appears to be a change in the relationship in
the presidium of both Zanu PF and Zimbabwe.

President Mugabe spoke, almost resignedly, about the calibre of his
lieutenants for engaging in corrupt activities and personal aggrandisement.
Yet he appeared to be powerless in relation to them. He is the President and
ministers serve at his pleasure, so if he knows they are doing the wrong
thing, why has he not dismissed them? What kind of power do they hold over
him that even when he knows their misdeeds and poor performance he does not
seem to have the power to get rid of them? The statements conjured up images
of a father trying desperately to make his family understand him,
desperately trying to retain a measure of control over family members who
have gone out of control, but is quite unsure how and whether they still
respect his decisions.

Overall, the only thing that is clear is that the succession drama continues
to be shrouded in secrecy and open to speculation. That this may be a
carefully calculated move designed to purchase more time cannot be easily
dismissed. The uncertainty, speculation and confusion does not make it easy
for the Zanu PF Presidential aspirants. The President has left it open to
speculation, and the battle in his party, for now at least, remains between
the factions and not directly against him. At the same time, the opposition,
is made to believe that Zanu PF is tearing itself apart, raising hope that
opportunities may arise but that too remains uncertain, for beyond all the
disputes, there is a bond that appears to hold those men and women in Zanu
PF, that has allowed it to survive man a storm. Yet opportunities remain.
The only point I would reiterate is that, this whole drama is detrimental to
Zimbabwe and wherever it comes from, it is necessary to create at least,
even a veneer of change. Time, the magician, will tell.

Dr Magaisa can be contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Zimbabweans defy crocodiles to come South

SABC
 
Illegal immigrants crossing into SA

Police are arresting and deporting 20 000 Zimbabweans at a cost of around R6 million a year

February 27, 2007, 17:45

With the continuing economic crisis in Zimbabwe, illegal immigrants are still heading south for a new beginning. A group of border jumpers make their way across the Limpopo, despite the dangers of armed gangs, a crocodile infested river and possible arrest. Godknows Nare, a Zimbabwean filmmaker who now lives in Johannesburg, managed to film a rare footage following the route of many illegal immigrants crossing into South Africa. Nare says there are lots of stories and he just told himself to go to Zimbabwe and experience it himself and border jump. With him came a group of about 20 full of hope.

Beauty Ndlovu, an illegal immigrant, says he is coming to South Africa to search for a job. Another immigrant known as Irene say: "It is not easy, you are risking your life, but there is nothing you can do because you are trying to earn a living." Helping illegal immigrants is also a lucrative business for locals.

Sifelani Moyo, a local, says he normally charge R100 per head per person, just to take one across the river. He says his job is to assist them and to load them along N1. While all this was going on, elsewhere police were arresting and deporting 20 000 of Zimbabweans at a cost of around R6 million a year.

Not everybody makes it into the "promised land"
Vishnu Naidoo, the police spokesperson, says the strategies are effective in a sense that so many are arrested a day but farmers in the area are not convinced.

Brian Warren, a game farmer, says it is getting to a serious situation where they firmly believe that they have had enough. Not everybody makes it into the "promised land". Some end up elsewhere only to try again another day. For the complete story watch Special Assignment on SABC 3 tonight at 21:30.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

JAG Open Letter Forum No 470

Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the subject line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Letter 1

Walk Gono through politics

FROM what I remember of Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono's latest monetary
policy statement, he focused on distortions in the economy, attempted to
give a history lesson, and suggested that all will be well if Zimbabweans
"buy in" to his policies.

Given his awareness of the various distortions in the economy and their
negative and corrupting influence, is it not surprising that he did nothing
to correct the two most obvious distortions: the official price of fuel and
prices of foreign currency?

However, given that both of these government-created price distortions
provide daily opportunities for the chefs to further enrich themselves,
Gono's
lack of action is hardly surprising. Wrong - yes, but not surprising. A
couple of other distortions that Gono might care to reflect on: chefs buying
expensive Mercedes Benz vehicles and building absurdly ostentatious mansions
at a time when the vast majority of their fellow Zimbabweans are living well
below the official poverty line; weekend farmers living the good life and
paying their farm workers what can only be described as slave wages.

George Orwell's book, Animal Farm, would need substantial updating and
amending if it were to adequately reflect on how badly the Zimbabwean
revolution has gone wrong. Liberation, socialist? I think not. Gono's
attempted history lesson fell rather flat given that he referred to far away
countries in far away times.

One wonders why he did not rather focus on the experience of Rhodesia from
1965 to 1980. After all, Gono continues to parrot the politically-correct
(in Zanu PF circles) fiction that our economic troubles have much to do with
imposition of "illegal" sanctions.  It would have been of interest for Gono
to examine how and why the Rhodesian economy did more than merely survive
under genuine international sanctions.

Had Gono dared to compare the Rhodesian economy under sanctions with the
Zimbabwean experience, he might have been forced to the conclusion that the
present government - of which he is an integral part - is far more to blame
for the destruction of the economy than any so-called sanctions. Gono
emphasised that countries were most successful in overcoming hyper-inflation
and other economic problems when people gave their full support to
government policies.

Perhaps he needs a lesson in politics as he is obviously unaware that most
Zimbabweans are unlikely to buy in to his policy prescriptions because they
are of a government that has imposed itself on the people for the past seven
years.

When people buy in to a government's policies, it will be because they
accept that the government represents their expressed wishes. That can only
happen in a functioning democracy, something which Zimbabwe has ceased to
be.

RES Cook,
Harare.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions of
the submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice for
Agriculture.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Rally for Dignity

wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo - you strike a woman, you strike a rock!

ACTSA is organising a major Rally for Dignity on Saturday 10th March 2007.
The event will take place in Trafalgar Square from 1pm - 4pm.

Download Rally for Dignity flyer here.

Two days after International Women's Day, the day will  be a celebration
of the role of women in the global struggle for justice - with particular
focus on the struggle for freedom in Zimbabwe and the role of women in
this struggle.

Speakers invited include:

Lovemore Matombo, President, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
Lucia Matibenga, Vice President, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
Baroness Amos, Leader House of Lords
Frances O'Grady, Deputy General Secretary, TUC
Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London
Joan Armatrading, Singer
Gillian Anderson, Actress
Glenys Kinnock, MEP
Kat Stark, NUS Women's Officer
Ruqayyah Collector,  NUS Black Students Officer
Kate Hoey, MP, Chair APPG Zimbabwe
Anna Chancellor, Actress
Henry Olonga, Cricketer and Musician

Let us know if you plan to come along, and please try and get as many
people as you can to join you campaigns@actsa.org

Best regards

Floyd Farayi Mutambiranwa
T-Mobile  07949 231 253
3 Network 07888 767 149
Landline  01491 571 608


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Harare Seeks Economic Solution In Government-Business-Labor Talks

VOA

      By Blessing Zulu
      Washington
      27 February 2007

A technical committee of Zimbabwe's Tripartite Negotiating Forum met in
Harare on Tuesday to lay the groundwork for a social contract involving
government, business and labor to help the country can navigate a deepening
economic crisis.

Chairing the session was Ray Ndhlukula, deputy secretary to President Robert
Mugabe and the cabinet, sources said. Both the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions and the pro-government Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions were
represented. Business was represented by the Employers Confederation of
Zimbabwe.

Tripartite talks were halted in January 2006 amid accusations from labor
that Harare was not committed to reaching an agreement. Despite this
initiative, economists warn that the effort cannot succeed without support
from the International Monetary Fund and other international financial
institutions as well as bilateral partners.

Economist James Jowa noted that Harare has still not settled its differences
with the IMF, whose executive board late last week maintained its suspension
of the country's voting rights in the institution and other sanctions for
another six months.

The IMF wants Harare to settle debt arrears of some US$129 million and to
implement sweeping economic reforms, in particular slashing public spending.

Chief Economist Prosper Chitambara of the Labor and Economic Development
Research Institute, a unit of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, told
reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that employers are not
ready to peg salaries to poverty line set by the Consumer Council until
prices stabilize.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Magistrate Nabbed in Anti-Gold Panning Operation

The Herald

The Herald (Harare)

February 27, 2007
Posted to the web February 27, 2007

Harare

A HARARE magistrate, who had borrowed a friend's car to go on an illegal
gold panning mission in Mhangura, was arrested on Saturday at Silverside
Hills.

The magistrate is reported to have run away from the police who pursued him
for about eight kilometres and caught him before he could drive off.

He was ordered out of the vehicle and arrested together with seven other
suspects.

A team of police officers in plainclothes was in the area on Saturday
morning to assess the situation prior to a raid.

Four officers approached the magistrate and started chatting with him
pretending to be also gold dealers, it is alleged.

While discussing strategies to evade police -- who are currently conducting
Operation Chikorokoza Chapera/Isitsheketsha Sesiphelile to clamp down on
illegal mining activities -- a group of uniformed officers suddenly
appeared.

"The magistrate, who was holding a panning rod, a pick and had folded his
trousers knee-high, dropped the equipment at the sight of the police
officers and took to his heels," police spokesperson Chief Superintendent
Oliver Mandipaka said.

"The magistrate and seven others are all being charged under Section 392 (A)
as read with Section 392 of the Mines and Minerals Act Chapter 21:05. This
means they were prospecting for gold without a permit," he said.

Chief Supt Mandipaka said the suspects are expected to appear in court this
week.

He said since the commencement of Operation Chikorokoza Chapera last
November, police had so far arrested 31 509 people found panning for gold
without permits.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Inside the mind of a dictator

Mail and Guardian

      Chenjerai Hove: COMMENT

      27 February 2007 11:59

            The man shuns the beautiful landscapes, the winding rivers that
pour down magical gorges and the glossy inland lakes of his own country and
goes to Malaysia on holiday. He addresses villagers in complicated English
and keeps himself away from any personal contact with his people. Though an
avowed "democrat", he hates elections, and loves the British monarchy. Among
his close friends he has counted East Germany's Honecker, Romania's
Ceausescu, Malawi's Banda, Pakistan's Al-Haq, Yugoslavia's Tito, India's
(Indira) Gandhi and, secretly, Chile's Pinochet.

            Mugabe's most cherished friend was North Korean's Kim Il Sung,
who would train the army's Fifth Brigade that later massacred over 20 000
villagers in the western provinces of the country. Mengistu Haile Mariam,
the former Ethiopian dictator, still hides under Mugabe's wings in Harare,
after being sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity in his
homeland.

            Such is the man called Robert Mugabe (83), Zimbabwe's
self-anointed life president, wielding absolute power for the past 27 years.
A man Zimbabweans nicknamed Marco Polo, then Vasco da Gama, and then "the
visiting president" (for visiting his country every now and then). He loves
to travel, with a large retinue entourage of advisers and hangers-on.

            In my travels in Africa and beyond, I have met diaspora Africans
who hold Mugabe in high esteem. They are prepared to verbally die for him as
the African hero of a new, reinvigorated pan-Africanism. If ever you dare
ask them: "What pan-Africanism?" their response is: Mugabe has the courage
to single-handedly tackle "imperialists" George Bush and Tony Blair. Little
do they realise the man loves London as much as he fears to walk the streets
of his own country. "The city in which I can walk freely is London," he once
said.

            For most Africans, African heroism is simple: take over
white-owned land and companies, and you are a true African. Mugabe prides
himself on that, even though he knows the farms grabbed from both white and
black farmers have become bushland. The citizens now depend on donations of
food, medicines and other basic necessities, including sanitary pads for
women.

            More than three million Zim­babweans have left the country in
political and economic protest. "They can go," one of Mugabe's senior
ministers once roared. "We are prepared to remain only with those who
support us." Mugabe rewarded the man with not one, but two ministries
(security and land distribution).

            Many of Mugabe's old acquaintances have described him as "a
loner" and sadistic recluse, a leader who never mingles or chats amicably
with his ministers. One former minister confessed that he had a personal
discussion with Mugabe only once in the five years he was in the president's
inner Cabinet.

            "Who are your personal friends in the country?" a journalist
once ventured to ask Mugabe on the occasion of his birthday years ago. He
answered promptly: "I have no friends in this country." And on being asked
what mistakes he might have made in running the country, Mugabe was clear:
"None at all."

            He does not care if citizens emigrate, bleeding away the skills
so essential for economic and social development. There is hardly a South
African organisation without several Zim­babwean doctors and nurses
employees. The Botswana education system is virtually run by teachers forced
out of Zimbabwe by Mugabe's policies. Namibia, too, has a new flood of
Zimbabwean professionals.

            For sport, Mugabe enjoys the game of cricket, not football,
which is loved by millions of Zimbabweans. Whenever he demeans himself by
going to watch a football match, one knows there is some kind of election
around the corner. But if he comes to the match wearing a T-shirt and a cap,
then there is definitely some kind of presidential "election" about to
happen.

            During elections, one never hears Mugabe utter a word of
persuasion to the electorate. His election message is clear: if you don't
vote for me, there will be war! Mugabe's favourite expression is: "We will
crush them." He never speaks of "critics" or "the opposition". They are all
"enemies", "British and American puppets", "traitors" and "imperialist
agents".

            Throughout his 27 years of ruthless rule, he has thrived on
violence in the face of serious opposition. Mugabe believes he has the
"right", not the "privilege", to rule.

            I liberated you, so I have the right to rule you in whatever
manner I want, seems to be his logic.

            One of Mugabe's obsessions is "sovereignty". Any international
organisations that criticise his human rights record are threatening
Zimbabwe's "sovereignty" and "independence." In this age of global networks,
Mugabe thinks he should be left alone to do whatever he wants with the
citizens of his country, including torturing, starving and killing them,
without anyone raising a finger.

            While the country decays under the yoke of economic
mismanagement and stinks of corruption, the Zimbabwean ruler dares to tell
the nation that if they lack the staple food, maize, they should eat rice
and potatoes instead.

            "They have bad eating habits," he said recently. In a country
which does not produce a single grain of rice, the people are supposed to
eat rice. As for potatoes, one has to traverse the entire country to find a
single potato farm big enough to feed even one township for a year, let
alone the entire nation.

            Burdened with a massive inflation rate of 1 600%, the highest in
the world, the Zimbabwean president dares to say the economy is healthy.
Unemployment is higher than 80%, food is scarce and fuel never seems to flow
Zimbabwe's way. Still, the flowery annual State of the Nation address is a
description of dreamland.

            Mugabe is some kind of pan-Africanist, a strange one. He takes
away land from whites and gives it to his friends, both black and white. His
white friends have special privileges. They can own vast tracts of land
without anyone being permitted to raise an eyebrow.

            The slogan for farm grabbing was: "Land is the economy, the
economy is the land." "Text book" economists try to ask him: "Since when has
an idle piece of land been the economy?" But the ruler is deaf with
arrogance. In the name of "practical economics", whenever his army and
police demand salary increases, he orders the central bank to print more
money on cheap paper.

            During the time of Africa's political struggles for
independence, Kwame Nkrumah, the Ghanaian politician, used to say: "Seek ye
the political kingdom first, and the rest will follow." And he had
followers. Mugabe says: "Get ye the land kingdom first, and the rest will
follow." Thus the blind nationalism and slogans have led to the destruction
of commercial agriculture in a country that used to feed itself and its
neighbours. So far, Zimbabwe's political kingdom seems to rubbish everything
it touches.

            Zimbabwe is run through a series of military-style "operations".
In order to demolish poor people's houses and informal residences, Operation
Murambatsvina (Reject Filth) was launched by police and the army in 2005.
Close to a million citizens were rendered homeless in weeks.

            Then came Operation Maguta (Eat Well), in which soldiers took
over farms and tried to farm without any farming skills or experience. The
small amount of wheat that was farmed rotted in the fields for lack of
machinery to harvest it.

            There are so many operations in the country that it is necessary
to check the news to see which one is being enforced on any given day.

            The latest one might as well be called Operation Nyararai
(Silence the Critics). Critics of the president are having their passports,
and possibly citizenship, withdrawn without notice. According to this new
"pan-Africanism", any Zimbabwean with a parent of foreign origin does not
qualify to be a citizen.

            In a wounded country like Zim­babwe, the ordinary people are
made to feed on illusions of freedom and a better tomorrow, while today is a
vast prison. The destruction has taken seven years, but the rebuilding will
take decades. How does one reconstruct all those broken souls and hearts,
all those visible and hidden scars of political victims scattered in mass
graves all over the land?

            Africa seems doomed to have a group of leaders whose vision does
not extend beyond their own lifespan. The life of the country becomes the
life of the octogenarian leader, and so he is prepared to sink with it as he
ages.

            Mugabe's loss of his grasp on reality is based on decades of
seclusion from Zimbabwean life. From the enclosure of voluntary exile in
Ghana, he returned and went into the enclosure of prison for 10 years. On
his release, he escaped to the seclusion of Mozambique before returning to
another prison -- a vast motorcade from which he sees only the citizens and
the streets through tinted glass.

            Mugabe, the only pan-Africanist who hates Africans, continues to
ruin the country as the continent looks on in silence under the ominous
illusion of a new "African brotherhood".

            Chenjerai Hove is a Zimbabwean writer living in Norway


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Harare, NGOs to Resume Talks on Proposed Human Rights Panel

VOA

      By Jonga Kandemiiri
      Washington
      27 February 2007

Zimbabwe's National Association of Nongovernmental Organizations has accused
the United Nations Development Program of pursuing a divisive strategy in
bypassing the umbrella group in lobbying NGOs to support creation of a human
rights commission.

NANGO has expressed opposition to creating such a commission until the
government repeals legislation it considers oppressive, such as the Public
Order and Security Act or POSA and the Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy Act, or AIPPA.

NANGO officials said the UNDP has been taking up the proposal for a human
rights commission with individual civil society groups ahead of the
scheduled resumption of discussions late in March on the controversial
proposed rights panel.

UNDP Communications Officer Jabulani Sithole in Harare declined to comment
without receiving questions in writing, which is contrary to VOA editorial
policy.

NANGO Communications and Advocacy Manager Fambai Ngirande told reporter
Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that NANGO's position has
not changed since talks on the proposed commission faltered last year.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

ZCTU will not be intimidated by the state

The Zimbabwean

(27-02-07)
PRESS STATEMENT
 The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions will not be cowed by the uninformed
State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa's statements that government will
quash ZCTU led protests in April.

It boggles the mind how the planned stay away can start a "war" as alleged
by Mutasa to ZimOnline. The only war that the ZCTU is waging is a war to
ensure that Zimbabwean workers get a Poverty Datum Line linked minimum wage.
The ZCTU will continue to take government and business to task as long as
workers continue to earn slavery wages.

Mutasa advises the ZCTU to learn from past experiences when labour leaders
and activists were brutally assaulted while in police custody. Such past
experiences will not deter us from fighting for what we believe in, our
resolve has never been stronger. Mutasa should know that the physical pain
we went through after the September 13 mass protests did not break our
spirits, if anything labour came out stronger and wiser.

The ZCTU gave government a grace period of nearly a month to come up with
tangible solutions to the economic rot that has had a devastating effect on
the general workforce but government turned a deaf ear to labour's demands.
It is with this development in mind, that the ZCTU, through its affiliate
unions, has already started mobilizing workers for a stay away on 3 and 4
April 2007.

Mobilization of workers nationwide will go on unless government addresses
workers' concerns. There is talk of the resumption of the Tripartite
Negotiation Forum but mere "talk" does not bring bread to the table. The
ZCTU will participate in all TNF processes but will also continue with
protests as long as the Kadoma Declaration and the Prices and Incomes
Stabilization Protocol are not signed.

The Zimbabwean workers will no longer be browbeaten and will continue to
demand what is rightfully theirs.


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

`You will never walk alone`- ZINASU tells ZCTU

Zimbabwejournalists.com

By Promise Mkwananzi

ZIMBABWE National Students Union ( ZINASU) is  shocked by the reckless
utterances from the Minister of State Security, Mr. D. Mutasa saying that he
will crush any protests by workers to get poverty datum line linked minimum
wages.

The demands by the workers are just and legitimate and we would like to
counter-warn Mutasa that any attempt  to force the uniformed security forces
and ZANU PF youth militia to impose barrack gangsterism on the protesting
workers will not go unchallenged. In fact such as myopic decision  will
result in a prolonged but decisive struggle.

The students will not sit idly and cowardly watch as our parents, brothers
and sisters being brutalised by an illegitimate force. That is impossible
Nyati! ( Mutasa`s totem). Struggle is our birthright!

Our future is being threatened by a cabal of crocodile liberators,
intellectual hyenas, crooks and fraudsters. We still remember the Kondozi
Farm scandal. The ruling vampire elites looted all farming equipment at
Kondozi farm with brutal efficiency and all dissenting voices where silenced
with a military discipline.

The illegal invasion and subsequent looting at the commercial farm  left
more than 4 000 workers unempolyed, deprived the nation of earning foreign
currency through exports of farm produce, resulted in a serious negative
balance of payment and contributed to the current   economic demise in
Zimbabwe. History will judge all the looters harshly.

Our vision for a free and democratic  Zimbabwe has transmogrified into a
melodrammatic nightmare. Inflation is now soaring over 1600% per year,
unemployment rate is over 85%. Of those 85%  70% are youth. Life expectancy
rate is at frightening levels: 35 years for males and 33 years for females.
90% of the population is living in abject and chronic poverty.

The fees in colleges, universities, high schools and primary schools
increased by a range from 1200% to 2000% over the last 13 months. One in
every four tested pregnant women is HIV positive, over 60% of higher
learning institution students are living with the deadly virus and college
drop out rate is 31.5 % [1].

There is rampant violation of basic human rights in Zimbabwe. The right to
freedom of   assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of associtaion are
being criminalised. Dear Minister, is this the Zimbabwe we `fought` for?.

Mindful of the foregoing, we the students in Zimbabwe would like to
unequivocally   reassure the Minister and Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU) that ZINASU supports and will actively participate in  the 3 to 4
April 2007 national stay away. The students will be on a class boycott from
5 March 2007 until their demands are met.

Time is on the side of the truth and victory belongs to the fearless.
Change is coming.

For and on behalf of students in Zimbabwe

I remain,

Promise Mkwananzi

President


Click here or ALT-T to return to TOP

Matonga's Trial Resumes



The Herald (Harare)

February 27, 2007
Posted to the web February 27, 2007

Harare

THE trial of Information and Publicity Deputy Minister Bright Matonga
accused of soliciting US$20 000 from local bus supplier Mr Jayesh Shah
resumed yesterday with the court making inquiries into the admissibility of
the recorded evidence.

There was a "trial within a trial" convened to establish circumstances
surrounding the recording of the conversation between Shah and Matonga,
which defence lawyer Mr Wilson Manase of Manase and Manase objected to as
inadmissible.

Mr Manase challenged the admissibility of the Siemens L45 cellphone
allegedly used in the recording of the conversation arguing that there was
no link between the recorded CDs and the phone.

"The mobile phone and the microchip have nothing recorded on them as we
speak, they are empty.

"There is no link between the phone and the conversation that is on the disc
and it can be any other phone. The State must produce a manual for the phone
and we need to see what it does and what it does not.

"Police, throughout their investigations, did not have the phone and the
State only sought the phone from outside the police investigations. Apart
from Mr Shah reading serial numbers that I did not bother to record, there
is no one who knows about it.

"Recordings can be edited and the model of the phone in question, has
advanced facilities to edit one's voice and name," said Mr Manase during
cross-examination.

However, Mr Shah argued that experts are able to retrieve the conversation
that he erased on the multimedia card and maintained that he used his phone
to record the conversation.

He further averred that he deleted the evidence after Matonga had agreed to
testify the "truth" in the trial of former Zupco board chairman Charles
Nherera who was jailed for two years.

"In February last year, we agreed that Matonga would testify the truth in
Nherera's trial and I deleted the conversation. I wanted to forgive him and
I no longer wanted to cause his arrest resulting in I deleting the
conversation," said Mr Shah.

Mr Shah also submitted that he refused to hand over the said phone to the
police during investigations saying that was his only handset and he had no
replacement. It was also Mr Shah's submission that he only deleted the
recording from the microchip to create space for more recordings.

Superintendent Phillip Ncube told the court that there was no original
evidence and that he was relying on secondary evidence.

He also said he failed to link the phone and the recorded evidence, hence
leaving it out for use as an exhibit.

"It is difficult for me to confirm that the phone was the actual one used
for the recording of the evidence and the evidence is all secondary. I
failed to marry the phone and the microchip and according to my own
understanding, it looks like any other phone," said Supt Ncube.

Mrs Fortune Chimbaru from the Attorney General's Office testified that the
defence only requested for a microchip and never requested for the phone in
question as an exhibit.

She further said the microchip was with the court in Nherera's record, but
Matonga's alleged conversation was deleted.

Prosecutor Ms Vernandah Munyoro said she would call an information
technology expert to clarify issues on Thursday.

She requested for more time to allow the expert to source all the necessary
equipment for use during the testimony saying a great deal of demonstration
was involved.

Harare regional magistrate Mr Morgen Nemadire deferred the proceedings to
Thursday for continuation with the expert testifying.

Charges against Matonga arose when he was still the Zupco accounting officer
while Nherera was the board chairman.

The State alleges that the two solicited and received a bribe of US$10 000
each so that they would not evict Mr Shah's bus supplying company, Gift
Investments, from Zupco premises where they were renting.

Back to the Top
Back to Index