Zimbabwe suspends printing of passports

Zim Online

Mon 23 January 2006

      HARARE - The Zimbabwe government has temporarily stopped issuing new
passports to citizens because of a shortage of hard cash to import special
ink and paper used to print the travel documents, ZimOnline has learnt.

      Authoritative sources said Registrar General (RG) Tobaiwa Mudede's
department was only issuing emergency passports to senior government
officials who may need them or to individuals who can produce evidence that
they wish to travel abroad for emergency medical treatment.

      The rest of Zimbabweans can only get temporary emergency travel
documents (ETD) to enable them to visit specific destinations.

      "People can still make applications for new passports . . . but we
have suspended the printing of new passports until the end of next month,"
said an official in the RG's department, who declined to be named for fear
he could be victimised by his superiors for disclosing the crisis at the
passport office to the media.

      Mudede was not available for comment while his deputy, Ben Mpala,
refused to take questions on the matter.

      The shortage of material to make passports is only the latest in a
series of shortages of critical commodities because there is no hard cash to
pay foreign suppliers.

      Food, essential medicines, electricity, fuel and chemicals to treat
drinking water for cities are all in short supply because of a severe
foreign currency crisis that began in 1999 after the International Monetary
Fund cut balance-of-payments support to Zimbabwe following disagreements
with Harare over fiscal policy and other governance issues.

      The hard cash crunch worsened after President Robert Mugabe began in
2000 his controversial programme to seize land from white farmers for
redistribution to landless blacks. The farm seizures destablised the
agricultural sector, the country's biggest foreign currency earner, in
addition to also causing severe food shortages because of falling farm
production.

      The move to temporarily stop issuing new passports will hit hard
thousands of unemployed Zimbabweans, who eke out a living by importing
cheaper priced goods from neighbouring countries for resale in Zimbabwe.

      The plight of the informal cross-border traders is being made worse by
the fact that some neighbouring countries such as Mozambique insist that
Zimbabweans wishing to visit or pass through their territories have actual
passports and not temporary ETDs.

      "The problem with this ETD is that some countries like Mozambique do
not recognise them and they refuse to give us visas," said Leonard
Tangireni, a truck driver with a Harare haulage firm.

      The trucker said he was scheduled to go to Malawi via Mozambique but
was unsure whether he would be able to get a visa to enter Mozambique after
the passport office gave him an ETD while authorities in Maputo demand
passports from Zimbabweans wishing to enter that country. - ZimOnline

Harare's take over of fertilizer firms to quicken flight of investors

Zim Online

Mon 23 January 2006

      HARARE - The Zimbabwe government could have hammered the final nail
into the investment coffin by deciding to forcibly acquire stake in three
privately-owned fertilizer-making firms, with analysts saying the move would
only help quicken the flight of investors from the country.

      They said the government's decision to expropriate companies in the
key fertilizer industry was ill-timed and dangerous for a country already
battling to entice new investors and retain existing ones.

      "It certainly sends the wrong message to both local and foreign
investors as they not only fear that their companies may be forcibly taken
over, that there is the possibility that what is happening in the fertilizer
industry may one day be extended to other sectors of the economy," said an
official with Windmill, one of the fertilizer companies targeted for
takeover.

      Harare-based economic consultant John Robertson concurred, saying:
"What this means is that all foreign investors will not put a cent more in
Zimbabwe as they fear that their investment will be grabbed by the
government . . . at a time when we should be doing all we can to lure
foreign direct investment, we are driving it away. That will worsen the
position of our foreign reserves."

      Zimbabwe has grappled an acute foreign currency crisis that began
after the International Monetary Fund withdrew financial assistance six
years ago. The foreign currency crisis has spawned shortages of food, fuel
electricity and other basic survival commodities because there is no hard
cash to pay foreign suppliers.

      Bowing to pressure from President Robert Mugabe's government,
Norwegian fertilizer maker, Yara, which has a stake in Zimbabwe Fertilizer
Company (ZFC), announced last Wednesday plans to sell its minority stakes in
three factories in Zimbabwe.

      A spokesperson for the company, Arne Cartridge, summed up the
frustrations of most foreign investors with operations in Zimbabwe by saying
they were ready to dispose of their investments and move on.

      "While we were fairly active in the mid-1980s and Zimbabwe was a good
market, over the last five to 10 years things have gone the wrong way," said
Cartridge, who is Yara's chief communications officer.

      Besides Windmill and ZFC, the other player in the fertilizer sector is
Sable Chemicals.

      In a move that confirm existing fears among investors of the
unpredictability of the policy environment in Zimbabwe, the government gave
the fertilizer companies up to Thursday last week to hammer out an agreement
to sell their assets to the state for the consideration of Z$1.5 trillion.

      A new firm, to be called the National Fertilizer Company of Zimbabwe
and in which the government would have controlling shareholding would be
formed to take over from where the three companies left.

      ZimOnline was last night unable to confirm whether the deal that was
being handled by Chemplex Corporation, a subsidiary of the quasi-state-owned
Industrial Development Corporation, had been concluded as ordered by the
government.

      "The most striking part of the deal is that it is not clear on whose
valuation the value of Z$1.5 trillion for the assets of the three companies
was arrived at. Most interestingly will be the effects of such maneuvers on
investor confidence by a government that so desperately needs all the
support it can get," said an analyst with a Harare stock broking firm.

      Agricultural economist and main opposition Movement for Democratic
Change party politician Renson Gasela accused the government of sabotaging
the fertilizer firms by denying them foreign currency to import raw
materials in order to build a pretext to seize the companies.

      Gasela said: "It would appear that the government has been
deliberately sabotaging the fertilizer companies by failing or refusing to
provide them with foreign currency. If this is not so, then where are they
(government) going to get the foreign currency to increase production after
they have taken over?"

      Defending its decision to take over fertilizer firms the government
said it was doing so because the companies were failing to supply enough of
the commodity to farmers.

      "They (private firms) have not been utilising the plants so we decided
to take over so that the supply for fertilizer adequately meets demand,"
Ministry of Industry and International Trade permanent secretary Christian
Katsande told the Press last week.

      But government critics blame the shortages on the violent seizure of
land from whites by Mugabe and the ruling elite which led to shortages of
foreign currency to import raw materials.

      The analysts said the dearth of investor confidence was also not being
aided by sentiments from Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono who
recently threatened to shut down companies found to be delaying remitting
export earnings to the central bank.

      Noting that Zimbabwe would not be held to ransom by organisations,
Gono warned that the bank would not hesitate to close companies found on the
wrong side of the law. - ZimOnline

Zimbabwean journalist released as police raid homes of private radio trustees

Zim Online

Mon 23 January 2006

      HARARE - A Zimbabwean freelance journalist, Sydney Saize, who was
arrested last Wednesday for allegedly flouting the country's tough media
laws was released from police custody on Saturday without charge.

      A lawyer representing Saize, Innocent Gonese, said his client was set
free after he filed an urgent application at the Mutare Magistrates' Court
demanding his release.

      "The state was not prepared to take Saize to court on Saturday as it
had earlier indicated saying they were prepared to bring him to court on
Monday (today)," said Gonese.

      "That is when I made an urgent application for his release which was
granted. The truth is that the charge is just weak  . . .  The court said
the state can follow by way of summons," he said.

      Saize was arrested for allegedly violating the draconian Access to
Information for Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) by working as a journalist
without a licence from the government's Media and Information Commission
(MIC).

      He was also being accused of filing a "false" story to the United
States-based Studio 7 radio station alleging that ruling ZANU PF party
supporters had beaten up teachers in Mutare city.

      Under Zimbabwe's tough media laws, it is an offence punishable by a
two-year jail sentence for journalists to practice without a licence from
the MIC. Journalists also face a maximum 20-year jail term for publishing
falsehoods.

      Foster Dongozi, the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists secretary general,
yesterday condemned the arrest and subsequent detention of Saize.

      "While we welcome his release, ZUJ cannot understand why he was
detained in the first place," said Dongozi.

      Human rights groups accuse President Robert Mugabe's government of
persecuting independent journalists. At least  four newspapers, including
the country's biggest daily, The Daily News, have been shut down in Zimbabwe
in the last  three years with at least a hundred journalists arrested for
flouting the media laws.

      Last month, the director of the Voice of the People (VOP) radio
station, John Masuku was arrested for allegedly operating a radio station
without a licence from the government's Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe.

      Masuku is out on bail awaiting trial on the matter, while at the
weekend police raided the homes of two of VOP's trustees, Nhlanhla Ngwenya
and Arnold Tsunga. The two however escaped arrest because they were not at
their homes when the police came. - ZimOnline

IMF team expected in Harare tomorrow

Zim Online

Mon 23 January 2006

      HARARE - A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is
expected in Harare on Tuesday to assess Zimbabwe's economic progress five
months after the Fund spared the country from expulsion for non-payment of
debt.

      The IMF delegation, which will spend six days in the country, is
expected to meet Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa, central bank governor
Gideon Gono, business as well as labour leaders.

      Murerwa, who last year said Zimbabwe was willing to work with the IMF,
faces a daunting task in convincing the IMF delegation that the government
is succeeding in reining in inflation which last month shot to 585.8
percent, one of the highest rates in the world.

      Last September, the IMF board deferred spared the axe on Zimbabwe
after the country made a surprise US$120 million payment to the lending
authority. The Harare authorities had failed to pay off a US$295 million
debt to the IMF.

      Harare has since defied expectations when it made further payments to
the IMF to leave the debt at about US$148 million.

      The IMF wants Harare to liberalise the exchange rate and allow market
forces to determine economic activity, among other demands.

      Zimbabwe has been battling a severe economic crisis since 1999 when
the IMF withdrew balance-of-payments support to the country following
disagreements with President Robert Mugabe over fiscal policy and other
governance issues. - ZimOnline

Irony of the farm Welshman bought

From The Cape Argus (SA), 22 January

After falling out with Morgan Tsvangirai, Ncube finds himself under attack
over land grab allegations.

The farm is appropriately named Onverwag, and it indeed has an unexpected
story to tell about Zimbabwe's notorious land grab and the bitter politics
which surround it. It is a bleak sliver of land far too insignificant to
cause as much trouble and pain as it has. But land in Zimbabwe is a potent
political weapon and even a sliver is enough to destroy a life or a
political reputation. Even top members of the ruling Zanu PF party who
bought farms on the old conventional willing buyer, willing seller basis are
outraged if accused of helping themselves to white-owned land during the
ongoing agricultural plunder which began in 2000. So you can imagine how
hurtful it is to make that charge against Welshman Ncube, secretary-general
of the now largely disintegrated Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Together with colleagues on the opposition benches in parliament, he fought
the disastrous land grab with eloquence and all the energy he could muster
and became victim to its chaos, because of his political beliefs. Now he is
being accused of being the ultimate hypocrite for stealing a white man's
ranch for himself, an evidently wrongful accusation that has caused him
"agony" for months.

In the sharktank of Zimbabwe politics, his enemies are lining up to hurl
abuse. Chief among those who say he helped himself to white-owned farms is
MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai and Ncube, once allies, became
bitter political rivals last year after the party split into two hostile
factions through disagreements over whether to contest senate elections.
Other similar accusations against Ncube are flying around on exile websites,
newspapers and e-mails doing the rounds among the Zimbabwean diaspora
desperately searching for reasons why their party, the MDC split. This week
Ncube broke his silence about the farm accusations in an exclusive interview
with Independent Newspapers. He said he began developing virgin land to
establish a 3 000ha ranch in 1997, 46km south of Gweru, capital of the
Midlands province, close to where he was born, a grandson of the local
chief. In those dry parts 3 000ha is relatively small for a ranch. That was
a few years before President Robert Mugabe's ontroversial land grab which
was only to begin in February 2000. And also years before the founding of
the MDC.

Mugabe's original, orderly land resettlement programme had already largely
failed when Ncube began farming. Mugabe had launched a new land policy to
create a class of black commercial farmers by offering them leases to farm
state land, a system which had created hundreds of successful white farmers
in previous decades. Most but not all of the leases were given to Mugabe's
supporters. Ncube, then an associate professor at the University of
Zimbabwe's law department, had been admitted to the bar and was in private
practice in advocate's chambers. He was surprised and delighted when his
application for a lease led to an interview with the then Land Board which
approved a conditional lease on 3 000ha of virgin land suitable for
ranching. The conditions the board attached included heavy investment by
Ncube to develop infrastructure with an inducement that once he had done so,
the lease could be transformed into a freehold title deed. The land he was
offered constituted a quarter of Hampton Ranch.

He says he did not know then it had been bought in 1980 by guerrillas loyal
to late Zapu leader Joshua Nkomo who had pooled their demobilisation pay at
independence to buy scores of urban and rural properties. Mugabe later
confiscated all Zapu's property during his wider campaign of persecution
against Zapu, largely based among the Matabele people in southern Zimbabwe.
On Hampton Ranch weapons which Nkomo's loyalists had buried during the
uneasy early months of independence had been unearthed by Mugabe's police
and hundreds of Zapu leaders and former combatants had been arrested and
charged with treason or had fled into exile. The guerrillas' properties had
been forfeited to the state and had lain idle for more than 15 years. Ncube
said he was shocked when he later learned of the history of this land he had
grown to love. "I put up paddocks, boreholes, a dip tank, built a house for
our mother, and transformed what was bush into a farm. It was lovely there -
lots of tall, straight mopane trees, different grasses and there used to be
many wild animals."

Four years later, in early 2002, Zanu PF heavyweights, former information
minister Jonathan Moyo and speaker of parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa
addressed a Zanu PF rally in the area and told their supporters to evict
Ncube, by then number three in the newly founded MDC. His farm was duly
taken over by hordes of settlers. He complained to the provincial governor,
a more reasonable man than most Zanu PF top brass, pointing out he had been
about to be granted title deeds to the land after meeting the lease
agreement terms. "The governor offered me another piece of land, and told me
the white farmers (who had owned it) had been left with enough for the
family to continue." In effect the governor was telling him he could just
take the farm as everyone else had. But Ncube did not want to go that way.
"I did not want to be part of evicting anyone, nor be part of the chaos of
the land reform programme, and so I negotiated with the owners to buy it,"
he said. Protracted negotiations followed, a sale agreement was signed by
both parties. but the sellers, SC Shaw Pvt Ltd, failed to produce the title
deeds so transfer could be concluded.

Trevor Shaw, whose father established the company which owned a clutch of
title deeds covering 40 000ha of grazing lands, confirmed that Ncube had
offered to buy Onverwag and had entered negotiations. "Negotiations broke
down because he didn't have cash to pay for the farm," Shaw said this week.
This account has been disputed by knowledgeable sources who say Ncube did
deposit cash into a trust account with Shaw's lawyer. The Shaw's personal
lawyer, David Coltart - who is also a member of parliament and the MDC's
legal secretary - confirmed Ncube had made the sale documents available for
inspection this week and that they were valid in every respect. The sale did
not go through because the Shaws did not produce title deeds to be processed
through the deeds office. Coltart, incidentally, has refused to join either
Tsvangirai or Ncube's group since the party split three months ago.

Ncube moved some cattle on to Onverwag and built a worker's house. but with
inflation at above 600% per annum he said he doubts he will ever afford to
replace what he lost on the property he was kicked off. "This has been
agony," Ncube said. "I didn't want to respond to any of this rubbish being
said about me. "The question of conscience and this so-called land reform
programme is between and among individuals. "It really pains me at the end
of the day as all of us are victims of Mugabe's chaotic land programme.
Whatever Trevor Shaw has said to you about the sale, remember he too is a
victim." Ncube confirmed he still wanted to pay for the land but the law has
since changed to make that impossible. Onverwag, like all other seized land,
now belongs neither to him nor to Shaw but to the state. A constitutional
amendment of September 2005 legally denied farmers all recourse to the
courts and therefore finally invalidated title deeds. Morgan Tsvangirai
declined to comment about his allegations that Ncube had taken three farms.

Govt to impose Chinese on universities

From The Zimbabwe Standard, 22 January

By Godfrey Mutimba

Masvingo - University students around the country should brace themselves
for the tongue-twisting and difficult to write Mandarin (Chinese language),
as government wants to introduce it as part of its controversial "Look East"
policy, The Standard has learnt. Zimbabwe embarked on the widely derided
"Look East" policy after falling out with its former European trading
partners. Speaking at an international conference of the transformation of
Masvingo State University to Great Zimbabwe National University, Higher and
Tertiary Education minister, Stan Mudenge, said the government intends to
offer a curriculum that will see students from all universities in the
country taking Chinese in a bid to promote tourism and trade between the two
countries. Mudenge revealed that he had already held meetings aimed at
making this a reality. He said: "At a recent meeting I held in Paris with my
counterpart the Chinese minister of education, we agreed to intensify our
programmes in the field of education, cultural exchange programmes including
language training. The compelling need to bring our two peoples together
could be strengthened by introducing studies e.g. teaching of Chinese as a
foreign language as well as learning Chinese history. Our universities have
an important role in this regard."

He ordered vice chancellors from various universities that attended the
conference to make frantic efforts to introduce the subject before year-end.
Great Zimbabwe National University vice chancellor, Professor Obert
Maravanyika, heeded Mudenge's call and vowed to introduce the programme
"soon". He also revealed that his institution would lead other universities
in introducing such programmes including other minority languages such as
Venda and Shangani in August this year. Meanwhile, Mudenge admitted that
higher education standards during the colonial era were by far much better
than those being experienced during the post-independence period. He said
that the standards of education had drastically dropped leading to the
continuous churning out of poor quality products which he called "maNose
brigades or maSalads" and blamed institutions for the skewed enrolment
towards men. "Since the girl students coming out of 'A' level may be
relatively few, universities should consider experience and mature entry or
bridging courses among other schemes for women. Even in the days of Ian
Smith there was mature age entry scheme to enable more Africans to enter the
University of Rhodesia. Some Cabinet ministers and professors in Cabinet and
university today benefited from the scheme," he said.

Air Zimbabwe doubles its fleet with three Chinese planes

From The Cape Argus (SA), 22 January

Zimbabwe's beleaguered airline, Air Zimbabwe, has doubled its fleet after
buying two passenger planes from China and getting one for free as a bonus.
Eight months ago, Zimbabwe purchased two MA60 passenger planes from China
for an undisclosed amount. It is understood to be repaying monthly. China
later donated an extra MA60 plane. Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa was full
of praise for the donation from the Chinese government when he received it
in Harare this week. He praised the Chinese for proving to be Zimbabwe's
friend since the country's liberation struggle. Murerwa predicted that the
donation would boost Zimbabwe's tourism industry. Although it inherited 25
planes from its predecessor, Rhodesian Airways, at independence in 1980, Air
Zimbabwe's fleet has been whittled down to three planes. The planes are
often grounded due to fuel shortages or lack of spare parts. They are also
often commandeered by President Robert Mugabe, his wife or senior government
officials for trips abroad. At times, the planes have been impounded at
foreign airports over the airline's failure to service debts. Air Zimbabwe
has had at least six managers in the past five years. Zimbabwe has also
bought six K-8 jet fighters from China for the Air Force of Zimbabwe , whose
fleet was depleted during the four years that Zimbabwe fought alongside
government troops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Minister of
Transport and Communications Christopher Mushohwe said the Chinese donation
proved that Mugabe's Look-East policy was paying dividends. Mugabe has urged
his country to shun the West and to look at doing business with the East.
The Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe, Zhang Xianyi, told the state- owned
Herald newspaper that China and Zimbabwe had a sound friendship based on
respecting each other's sovereignty.

End of a world

Comment from The Mail & Guardian (SA), 22 January

Percy Zvomuya

In many ways, the formal split of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
is the end of a world. Here was a party that for the first time in the
history of Zimbabwe was able to unite under one roof capitalists and
socialists, the workers, the unemployed, peasants, intellectuals and
students. In a phrase: everyone. The MDC's ability to gel disparate groups
was its strength and, in many ways, its Achilles heel. Professor Brian
Raftopolous, of the Institute of Development Studies, who was roped in late
last year as a mediator in the MDC leadership fallout, told the Mail &
Guardian this week: "The mediation is over. It failed. We have not made any
new efforts. The division has gone too far." He painted three scenarios for
MDC supporters: some will join the Morgan Tsvangirai camp or the Welshman
Ncube group; some will pin their hopes on a reformed Zanu PF; while others
will train their sights on the civic movement, whose most visible
protagonist is Dr Lovemore Madhuku of the National Constitutional Assembly.
"People must regroup, reorganise and confront what may be a long struggle,"
Raftopolous advised. He saw a viable opposition in one of the MDC factions
linking up with a vibrant civic movement.

Dr Eldred Masunungure, a political analyst based at the University of
Zimbabwe, also believes the party that has offered the sternest contest yet
to the ruling party will cease to exist. "There is no chance for the party
to reconcile. The differences cannot be bridged. It will be healthier for
them to go their separate ways." He said he did not see a viable opposition
"in the near future", but predicted the emergence of one by 2010 ahead of
the next elections, just as the MDC and the Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM)
announced their arrival prior to the 2000 and 1990 polls respectively. In
that dispensation, Masunungure argued: "We are likely to see the
marginalisation of the [current] opposition leaders." Those advocating the
road of a reformed Zanu PF hope the ruling party will take heed of the
Southern African Development Community protocols on the holding of
elections, and uphold the rule of law and democratic values. In short, a
party that would erase Robert Mugabe's legacy.

But there is a catch. Zanu PF has a crisis of its own - a succession battle
that is simmering and could explode the moment Mugabe's grip weakens. Former
student leader and human rights activist Daniel Molokela speaks for many
when he says the MDC has disappointed Zimbabweans more than Zanu PF. "The
hopes we had for a new era have been dashed. The MDC has become a source of
frustration." Zanu PF at its moment of glory was never able to command as
wholesale support as the MDC did. Its quest for hegemony just after
independence was never successful. The Matabeleland provinces were always
beholden to the Joshua Nkomo-led PF Zapu. This uneasy political balance is
seen in all the serious formations after the Unity Accord of 1987. All had
variously been seen as tribal, regional or a home for intellectuals.
Although Edgar Tekere's ZUM was able to secure 20% of the vote in 1990, its
support came mainly from the eastern highlands. Former chief justice Enoch
Dumbutshena's Forum Party of Zimbabwe was dismissed as elitist. It was a
character in Salman Rushdie's The Moor's Last Sigh who said the end of a
world is not the end of the world.

Burn out

Dear Family and Friends,
A friend recently sent an email describing how activists manage to cope in
circumstances where fear, stress, insecurity and unrest continue for long
periods of time. Determination, principle and routine, seem to be about
the most important factors to consider.

As the situation in Zimbabwe continues to deteriorate, more and more
activists seem to be falling silent or just disappearing from sight. The
recent split of the MDC has left most Zimbabweans feeling alone, betrayed
and desperate about how to cope and which way to turn.  It is now very
difficult to keep depression and despair at bay and prevent "burn-out".
Our lives have been in turmoil for six years and many days it seems as if
nothing will ever be the same again. Houses for sale are now quoted in
billions of dollars, those for rent are in the multi millions, a visit to
a doctor is two million dollars and the smallest handful of basic
groceries carried in one plastic bag easily costs a million. The horror of
this reality comes quickly when you know that an ordinary teacher for
example, or a nurse, takes home only five million dollars. The men and
women entrusted with educating our children and saving our lives can not
afford to live in Zimbabwe any more.

In homes across the country municipal accounts for January have just
arrived and they have left residents absolutely staggering in disbelief.
In my home town the municipal charges have increased overnight by almost
six hundred percent. We should be saying, in disgust and outrage that we
will not pay for services not being provided - street lights that don't
work, garbage that is not collected, water that is filthy or roads that
are collapsing. But we do not; without brave and strong leadership we are
a country and a population afraid and so instead we search desperately for
ways to survive, to find the money and to pay for almost non existent
services.

In the very early mornings you see the real people of Zimbabwe going out
to do whatever they can in these wet January days. Men and women and even
children who should be in school but can't afford to attend anymore. They
go to little roadside gardens to dig and weed maize, beans and pumpkins -
crops which are hungry for fertilizer and whose meagre yields will be
dramatically reduced when the night time thieves start coming around and
helping themselves. Other people go out into the bush to pull down tree
branches for fuel wood or they go collecting mushrooms and wild fruits -
to eat and to sell. One day after the other, one foot in front of the
other we carry on, struggling, praying, hoping - we cannot afford to burn
out. Until next week, love cathy Copyright cathy buckle
21 January 2006.   http://africantears.netfirms.com

Zimbabwe Vigil Diary - 21st January 2006

No sooner had we set up shop with our banners and flags and "Mugabe wanted
for murder" poster than we were overwhelmed by supporters - our friends Leah
from Derby and Caroline from Exeter among the first.

Soon we had helicopters overhead.  We drummed and sang even louder.  It
turned out that the helicopters were tracking a whale which had swum up the
Thames in a desperate attempt to join us.

A friend from Leicester, Richard, came to the Vigil with his tag - an
electronic monitoring system offered to asylum seekers in place of
detention. We were very happy to see him but we understand that some
supporters may have difficulty getting to us because this restricts their
movements.

Good news of the week was that our faithful supporter, Patience, has won her
asylum case and can legally stay and work in this country and help other
Zimbabweans.  (By the way, a recent survey showed that Zimbabweans were
among the best educated of asylum seekers.)

With so many people coming we spread far beyond the four maples outside the
Embassy when we sang "Ishe Komberera / Nkosi Sikelele".  PS thanks to our
benefactor, Hugh for his generous pizzas.

The passion at the Vigil with the drumming, singing and toi-toiing bring
Africa to the Strand - passers-by from all over the place are fascinated -
and stop to watch, take photos and sometimes join in.

FOR THE RECORD: 57 signed the register today.

FOR YOUR DIARY: Monday, 23rd January 2006, 7.30 pm, the Zimbabwe Forum,
Upstairs at the Theodore Bullfrog pub, 28 John Adam Street, London WC2
(cross the Strand from the Zimbabwe Embassy, go down a passageway to John
Adam Street, turn right and you will see the pub - nearest stations: Charing
Cross and Embankment).

Vigil co-ordinator

The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place
every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of
human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in
October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk

'Mugabe didn't see SA doctors'

News24

21/01/2006 13:12  - (SA)

Harare, Zimbabwe - The government has dismissed reports that President
Robert Mugabe underwent medical treatment in neighbouring South Africa, the
state Herald newspaper reported on Saturday.

Mugabe visited a relative at a Johannesburg hospital and returned home on
Friday and will travel as scheduled to an African summit in Sudan on Monday,
said government spokesperson Regis Chikowore.

"The President is fit and is attended to by Zimbabwean physicians when the
need arises," Chikowore told the Herald, a government mouthpiece.

South African media reports that Mugabe himself received medical treatment
at Johannesburg's Garden City medical facility were "fiction," he said.

Speculation on the state of 81-year-old Mugabe's health is common in
Zimbabwe.

The Herald said the president visited the hospital for 20 minutes to see a
relative and was not admitted or seen by a doctor. He travelled to South
Africa with his wife, Grace.

Western visa restrictions on Zimbabwe's ruling party leaders have ended the
couple's once frequent shopping trips to Europe.

It's just not Cricket

Zimbabwe has a proud record of sporting prowess. Just after independence in
1980, we won a gold at the Olympics with our women's hockey team, we have
the Black family in tennis where the two boys and Cara have excelled for
many years - reaching the very top of the world tennis circuit. In motor
racing we had John Love, we also had a world class motor cyclist, Ray Amm
and of course our golfers - Nick Price etc.

My own son played field hockey for Zimbabwe after independence and although
they did not enjoy the same fame as our "golden girls" they were world
class - certainly in the top 10 countries. In swimming we were always up
there and right now we have Kirsty Coventry doing her thing in the States,
breaking world records and winning medals. Then came our cricket team. Our
sporting fraternity is tiny - I doubt if we have more than a few hundred men
playing cricket at any one time for local clubs. Yet somehow, we were able
to put together a team that qualified for world-class test status - the
second African State after South Africa to do so.

One of the reasons was my half brother, Bill Flower. Bill is a sports
fanatic - he went to Cape Town University, played sport for a number of
years, failed his degree programme and came home. He then spent the rest of
his life in Zimbabwe pouring his passion for sport into his boys. Two of
whom became the backbone of the Zimbabwe cricket squad - Andy and Grant.
Both still play world-class cricket but no longer at home. Bill also now
lives in Britain.

One of the problems with all these achievements has been that most of the
star players were white Africans like me. Bill put a lot of effort into the
development of cricket in Zimbabwe and players like Tabu came out of his
stable. In fact Bill tutored a number of the most promising young black
players when he lived here. The present World Junior golf champion is a
wonderful young black Zimbabwean so we are slowly making progress in this
area.

There is of course every reason why young Zimbabweans should go for sport as
a gateway to the world. If you can play at a reasonable level it provides a
good income these days and providing you do not ignore the need to get a
decent education and some other experience it can also lay the foundation
for a wonderful and fulfilling career. But for this to happen you have to
have a platform. Either a family (like the Flowers, the Prices and the
Blacks) who will believe in their children, pour themselves into that mould
and make things possible for them to achieve what they have achieved in the
world of sport. Or you need a nurturing and supportive industry that will
see to it that promising young talent gets the training and the facilities
to excel. This is what is happening in countries like Australia - their
brilliant sporting record is no accident.

This past week has seen Zimbabwe withdraw from world-class test cricket or
face expulsion. It is a tragedy and one that could have easily been avoided
and instead turned into a great morale boosting championship saga that would
have improved our status as a nation and help correct our very damaging
reputation as a country. On a trip to the UK many years ago I was a guest at
a small cocktail party in London as a commodity specialist. Talking to an
elderly businessman from the City about Zimbabwe he mentioned to me how much
he admired our record in the ICC championships - not knowing that I was
related to the two Flower boys. He then went on to say, and I have never
forgotten this comment "There is nothing wrong with a country that can play
first class cricket."

He is so right and that is why Zimbabwean cricket with its bright stars, an
excellent academy for young talent and a world class coaching system was an
anomaly in this country. In all other respects we are a failed State. The
spectacle of a world class team (India, Pakistan, England or Australia)
playing in Zimbabwe on an immaculate green cricket field on a clear bright
day was always a bit of a shock for those of us in food and fuel queues and
watching the shambles that the rest of the economy was in.

The world system for cricket meant that we received ample funding for
development, perks and pay for our professional players and a real platform
for development of the game. Now all gone. The local thugs and thieves
simply could not keep their hands off when it was apparent that there was
money to be made and spent. The fact that the majority of the key actors
were white, like commercial farming, simply made it an easy target, one
stripped of any possibility of protection from violence and intimidation by
the racist policies of Robert Mugabe and his crew. Never forgetting that he
has been "patron" of Zimbabwe cricket for many years.

As for football - our national game, we have never got anywhere. Our team
has failed and disappointed us at every turn and the main reason is not
talent - we have plenty of that - just look at the players working in Clubs
in Europe and South Africa, but simply a corrupt and incompetent national
football administration. Again just too much money and power - the lights
that attract the killer moths of Zanu PF to come in and destroy what
potential there is in the game.

Sport, like culture and music, is an important part of national life. It
plays a key role in maintaining a healthy population, creates employment and
opportunity and can be a great foreign exchange earner. In addition there is
no better way to promote a country than through its leading sports
personalities and sporting achievements.

So sport becomes another casualty of this Zanu PF regime. This corrupt,
power hungry minority who ride the Tiger and know they can never afford to
get off. Lets hope their grip on the Tigers mane slips soon and they fall
off and get eaten, Then at least we can start to put Zimbabwe back on the
map with positive stories about the achievements of our people. Perhaps one
day soon we will again be able to watch world-class sportsmen and women -
some of them our own children - out there on our playing fields and in our
swimming pools, competing to achieve the accolade that they are the best
there is in the world. Not because they are black or white, but just because
they are.

Eddie Cross
Bulawayo 21st January 2006.

Gold production down by 40% as forex crunch bites

African News Dimension

      Sunday, 22 January 2006,

      By ANDnetwork Journalist

      ZIMBABWE'S gold deliveries to the country's sole gold handlers,
Fidelity Printers and Refiners, have declined by almost 40 percent owing to
a number of operational constraints.

      Chamber of Mines chief executive officer Mr David Murangari revealed
last week that the deliveries dropped to 13 000 kg between January and
November last year from 21 300 kg in 2004.

      He said although large-scale millers had maintained their production
levels during the past two years, small-scale producers and custom milling
operators witnessed a major decline in production in 2005, significantly
contributing to the recession in gold deliveries.

      Mr Murangari said the producers, who opted to be paid in the local
currency for deliveries made to the Reserve Bank subsidiary, failed to
purchase critical mining inputs owing to the shortage of the foreign
currency required to make such purchases.

      As a result of the producers' failure to access the inputs, which
include cyanide, drill steels and compressor spares, among others,
production had to be stopped in some instances. Insufficient revenue,
however, led to viability constraints for both the large and small scale
producers, he said.

      "The reason for the decline in production is threefold: Firstly, the
shortage of foreign currency on the market, secondly, the insufficient
revenue generated from the sale of gold through the official channel and the
depletion of the rich oxidised ore mined by small miners and custom millers.

      "With the shortage of foreign currency on the market, access to
imported mining inputs was very limited. Efforts by Fidelity Printers and
Refiners to purchase cyanide came late and the initiatives were only able to
assist a few," said Mr Murangari.

      He pointed out that large-scale producers, who are the country's
traditional suppliers of the mineral, were not spared from the foreign
currency shortages either as their operations were sometimes reduced or
completely stopped.

      The producers were able to access foreign currency amounting to 40
percent of the value of the mineral lodged with the refiner, meaning that
the funds could only be "spread thinly over competing requirements".

      The decline in gold production comes as a step backwards, away from
the growth that the sector was projected to experience over the next few
years following the phenomenal increase in international gold prices in
recent weeks.

      However, last year, gold producers began experiencing critical
viability constraints owing to insufficient revenue that was generated from
deliveries and a low gold support price that became "irrelevant" in the face
of prevailing gold prices and the ruling exchange rate.

      The sector also experienced cash flow challenges as the standing gold
support price and exchange rate fell far below the prevailing market
developments, which saw inflation pushing the cost of production beyond
cost-recovery levels.

      Mr Murangari said a solution to the situation would have been to
increase foreign currency allocations to gold producers.

      "The distribution of foreign currency to competing national
requirements is always a difficult issue. Having identified that the
non-availability of foreign currency was a contributory factor to the
decline in gold production, a solution would have been to avail more foreign
currency to gold producers.

      "Large-scale producers could be put at the same retention level as
other mineral producers or other exporters. The fact that they were at 40
percent and still remain at 40 percent when other exporters have been
accommodated at higher retention levels is an issue that calls for redress.

      "There were instances where mining input suppliers had their foreign
currency applications rejected for reasons that we believe were flimsy. It
is essential for the whole gold production chain to be fully supported if an
increase in gold production is to be realised. This includes the support of
genuine suppliers of mining inputs," he said.

      Although indications are that the increasing international prices
would ultimately have positive spinoffs on the local economy, Mr Murangari
highlighted that the sector's growth would depend on various other factors,
including operational costs.

      "It also depends on the ability to take mineral products to the market
and to do so within the time agreed in contracts. Another important factor
is whether the prevailing exchange rate will be sufficient to cover the cost
of production and provide a viable margin.

      "The minerals sector, unlike many other sectors, relies on reinvesting
profits in exploration and development. It is the process of reinvesting the
margins that leads to the sustainability and growth in production," he said.

      Chamber of Mines chief executive officer Mr David Murangari revealed
last week that the deliveries dropped to 13 000 kg between January and
November last year from 21 300 kg in 2004.

      He said although large-scale millers had maintained their production
levels during the past two years, small-scale producers and custom milling
operators witnessed a major decline in production in 2005, significantly
contributing to the recession in gold deliveries.

      Mr Murangari said the producers, who opted to be paid in the local
currency for deliveries made to the Reserve Bank subsidiary, failed to
purchase critical mining inputs owing to the shortage of the foreign
currency required to make such purchases.

      As a result of the producers' failure to access the inputs, which
include cyanide, drill steels and compressor spares, among others,
production had to be stopped in some instances. Insufficient revenue,
however, led to viability constraints for both the large and small scale
producers, he said.

      "The reason for the decline in production is threefold: Firstly, the
shortage of foreign currency on the market, secondly, the insufficient
revenue generated from the sale of gold through the official channel and the
depletion of the rich oxidised ore mined by small miners and custom millers.

      "With the shortage of foreign currency on the market, access to
imported mining inputs was very limited. Efforts by Fidelity Printers and
Refiners to purchase cyanide came late and the initiatives were only able to
assist a few," said Mr Murangari.

      He pointed out that large-scale producers, who are the country's
traditional suppliers of the mineral, were not spared from the foreign
currency shortages either as their operations were sometimes reduced or
completely stopped.

      The producers were able to access foreign currency amounting to 40
percent of the value of the mineral lodged with the refiner, meaning that
the funds could only be "spread thinly over competing requirements".

      The decline in gold production comes as a step backwards, away from
the growth that the sector was projected to experience over the next few
years following the phenomenal increase in international gold prices in
recent weeks.

      However, last year, gold producers began experiencing critical
viability constraints owing to insufficient revenue that was generated from
deliveries and a low gold support price that became "irrelevant" in the face
of prevailing gold prices and the ruling exchange rate.

      The sector also experienced cash flow challenges as the standing gold
support price and exchange rate fell far below the prevailing market
developments, which saw inflation pushing the cost of production beyond
cost-recovery levels.

      Mr Murangari said a solution to the situation would have been to
increase foreign currency allocations to gold producers.

      "The distribution of foreign currency to competing national
requirements is always a difficult issue. Having identified that the
non-availability of foreign currency was a contributory factor to the
decline in gold production, a solution would have been to avail more foreign
currency to gold producers.

      "Large-scale producers could be put at the same retention level as
other mineral producers or other exporters. The fact that they were at 40
percent and still remain at 40 percent when other exporters have been
accommodated at higher retention levels is an issue that calls for redress.

      "There were instances where mining input suppliers had their foreign
currency applications rejected for reasons that we believe were flimsy. It
is essential for the whole gold production chain to be fully supported if an
increase in gold production is to be realised. This includes the support of
genuine suppliers of mining inputs," he said.

      Although indications are that the increasing international prices
would ultimately have positive spinoffs on the local economy, Mr Murangari
highlighted that the sector's growth would depend on various other factors,
including operational costs.

      "It also depends on the ability to take mineral products to the market
and to do so within the time agreed in contracts. Another important factor
is whether the prevailing exchange rate will be sufficient to cover the cost
of production and provide a viable margin.

      "The minerals sector, unlike many other sectors, relies on reinvesting
profits in exploration and development. It is the process of reinvesting the
margins that leads to the sustainability and growth in production," he said.

      Source: The Sunday Mail

NOCZIM spearheads jatropha planting programme

Sunday News (Zimbabwe)

Farming Reporter

GOVERNMENT has mandated the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe to spearhead
the Jatropha (bio-diesel) National Feedstock Generation Programme by
engaging farmers in an out-grower scheme.
The objective of the programme is to have more than 20 000 hectares of land
under the plant within the next 12 months.
"It is the intention of NOCZIM to embark on a jatropha farmers' out- grower
scheme in which the oil company enters into direct relationships with
willing farmers who have five hectares of land or more available for
immediate planting during the current season," said NOCZIM in a statement.
The move is part of a number of contracts being entered into by the oil
company to increase the country's production capacity of the curcas plant.
Last week the Forestry Commission of Zimbabwe and the NOCZIM entered into a
contract to produce seedlings for the jatropha curcas plant to be used in
producing bio-diesel.
FCZ general manager, Mr Darlington Duwa, told New Ziana during the week that
the contract would involve raising at least 150 000 seedlings with a
provision to increase the amount to five million.
"NOCZIM has placed an initial order for 150 000 plants," he said.
Jatropha is a drought-resistant succulent plant that produces seed with 37
percent oil content. The oil can be refined to produce bio-diesel while the
by-products can be used as organic fertiliser.
The plant is common in areas such as Mutoko, Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe, Murehwa
and Mudzi where it is planted as a hedge around homesteads and fields.
Mr Duwa said the 150 000 seedlings would be raised at the Commission's
Forestry Training College, which is situated near the Christmas Pass in
Mutare.
While the college had sufficient land to raise 150 000 seedlings, he said, a
larger piece of land would have to be identified to raise the other five
million seedlings.
One option would be to involve communities in different areas of the
country, he added.
The Government has identified bio-diesel as a long-term solution to the
country's fuel problems.
It has since specified the jatropha curcas plant and banned its export and
has offered to buy the seed at between $7 million and $10 million per tonne
from people who grow it.
The Government also declared Jatropha as the Tree of the Year and launched
it during the National Tree Planting Day in December last year.
The country is envisioned to save more than $100 million per day in fuel
imports by using bio-diesel from Jatropha curcas. The tree can yield at
least 350 litres of oil per hectare while 12 tonnes of seed can be obtained
from one hectare. Harvesting of the plant starts after two to three years.
Bio-diesel is a clean-burning alternative fuel produced from readily
available renewable resources such as jatropha, sunflower, groundnuts and
other oil-rich plants.

Fuel processing equipment lies idle

Sunday News (Zimbabwe)

Sunday News Reporter

A MULTI-billion dollar bio-diesel plant with the potential to process over 6
000 litres of fuel and engine oil a day, is lying idle at Claremont, near
How Mine, about 25 kilometres South East of Bulawayo, due to the failure by
the owner to mobilise raw materials, Sunday News can reveal.
The factory, which was built about a decade ago by Mr Binder Horst Waldemar
and has the capacity to process oil-rich seeds, among them jatropha seeds
into bio-diesel and engine oil has not been operating full throttle for the
past six years.
Speaking in an interview with the Sunday News at his Binga home on Tuesday
this week, Mr Waldemar said the non-functional of his plant was unfortunate.
A visit by the Sunday News crew to the factory this week established that
all the machinery were still running.
"I am actually the pioneer of this whole project you are talking about. The
idea of producing bio-diesel was mooted in the early 1970s, but did not take
up. National Foods Limited wanted to venture into this big business, but
they later dropped the idea.
"It is then that I pursued it. In 1979 I formed my company, which was later
registered in 1980 as Zimbabwe Castor Oil Products. It is in 1991 that this
equipment you see began to be installed," Mr Waldemar said.
He said at that time when the issue of jatropha and the production of
bio-diesel was being sold, everyone did not take him seriously.
"Those days everybody laughed at me. They did not see any logic in it and
there was abundance of fuel, which was being sold at cheaper prices and
nobody took me seriously," he said.
The machinery consists of three steam boilers, four crushers, four mobile
shellers, two vacuums and five storage tanks, an expeller and a section that
separates shells from seeds.
The factory, under normal circumstances, is supposed to run for 24 hours but
has in recent years been running for only eight hours with more emphasis
being on the production of castor oil.
"The machines can be operated for 24 hours non-stop, but due to inadequate
resources, we are having eight-hour shifts which have also become seasonal.
The factory is idle as we speak right now and it is a shame to leave a
factory like that doing nothing," he said.
Mr Waldemar said he bought the equipment in America from the proceeds of
castor oil.
"We used to source our raw materials from Malawi and Zambia. For instance,
as we speak right now, a businessman by the name Billy Chilila in Zambia is
sitting on a huge consignment of jatropha seeds. We cannot bring them
because of the foreign currency problems," he said.
Mr Waldemar said a number of enquiries on the factory have come from
countries such as Zambia and Mozambique, but he has turned down all of them.
He said if bio-diesel could be produced, this would go a long way in
bringing down inflation.
"If we have got to bring down inflation, we will have cheaper fuel. If we
produce this cheap diesel, transport becomes cheap and in a way, this
assists to fight inflation.
"The residue that comes from the production of bio-diesel can be used to
produce organic fertiliser. This will mean that as a country, we will be
moving towards a direction where we cut down importation of fertiliser," he
said.
The press cake which remains after oil extraction by the expellers is a very
good organic fertiliser, with mineral composition comparable to that of
chicken manure.
Mr Waldemar said with castor oil, there was a possibility of venturing into
the production of engine oil as long as the right additives were identified.
"I have got machinery for Africa and if it comes to push, I can allow
foreign investors to come into the project. But at the moment we cannot talk
about that as the determination of the company will lie on the role that
would be played by the Government in this whole project," he said.
He urged all the people to produce jatropha at small and large-scale
production.
Jatropha "living fences" not only control unwanted animal access to the
fields, but also reduce wind erosion and if planted parallel to slopes, help
curb gully erosion.
The plant's roots grow close to the ground surface, anchoring the soil like
miniature dikes or earthen bunds.
These dikes effectively slow surface runoff during intensive downpours,
which are common, thus causing more water to penetrate into the soil and
boosting harvests.
When the Sunday News crew visited Mr Waldemar's company premises on Thursday
they found all of them intact and operational with the only problem stalling
production being raw materials.
The Government has declared jatropha tree of the year and steps are being
taken to encourage the growing of the plant through the country.
The Forestry Company of Zimbabwe is working with the National Oil Company of
Zimbabwe to identify farmers who will be contracted to grow the plant.
The Government has also specified jatropha and banned its export and the
Grain Marketing Board has been given the sole responsibility of buying the
crop from farmers.
Farmers wishing to go full throttle into jatropha farming will be given
assistance by the State through the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Fuel for essential services diverted

Sunday News (Zimbabwe)

By Silethemba Mathe

SOME service stations contracted by the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe
(Noczim) in Bulawayo to sell fuel to some sectors that provide essential
services, are allegedly abusing the facility by clandestinely selling the
commodity to private motorists at black market prices, Sunday News can
reveal.

SOME service stations contracted by the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe
(Noczim) in Bulawayo to sell fuel to some sectors that provide essential
services, are allegedly abusing the facility by clandestinely selling the
commodity to private motorists at black market prices, Sunday News can
reveal.
The well-orchestrated illegal sale of Noczim fuel that allegedly involves
some petrol attendants, managers and selected motorists, is clandestinely
done to the extent that ordinary motorists cannot detect it.
At one of the garages, motorists pay money for the fuel in a supermarket,
get a coupon and then proceed to get fuel at the pump, while at another
garage money for fuel was allegedly paid at a surgery and motorists are
given a receipt written the quantity of fuel only, which they then proceed
to produce at the service station.
Sources close to a popular garage in Bulawayo (name supplied) said it was
allegedly selling fuel which it gets from Noczim at inflated black market
prices of as much as $100 000 per litre instead of between $22 800 and $23
300 after the inclusion of carbon tax.
Carbon tax is levied at $1 000 of every litre of fuel purchased by the
motorists.
Bulawayo Transport Owners Associations (BUTOA) chairman, Mr Francis Malunga
said they were not getting fuel from the garages that were designated to do
that by Noczim.
"We are not getting any fuel from the garages, in fact what has happened is
that we have been shuttled from one garage to the other, but nothing has
been coming. The fuel, they say is meant for us comes once after two months
at some of these garages," said Mr Malunga.
He said that they were surviving on the black market where five litres of
fuel was being sold at about $600 000.
Funeral parlors said they were getting fuel from some of these service
stations, but the amount they were receiving has since been reduced, making
it almost impossible for them to operate their businesses.
"We used to get 60 litres per week per vehicle, but now the amount has been
reduced to 20 litres which can not sustain a funeral, going to Luveve and
coming back," said a Farley Funeral Parlor official said.
An official from an ambulance services in the city said they were getting
their fuel from different sources at varying prices.
"Right now the fleet manager has gone out to look for fuel. We have not been
getting fuel from these service stations," said an official from a local
ambulance service company in the city who declined to be named.
The fuel that is supplied to these selected garages is supposed to be
accessed by essential services such as funeral parlors, ambulances,
bakeries, public transporters and schools.
However, most of these sectors were only supplied with less quantities of
the commodity and the rest was reportedly clandestinely sold to private
motorists at black market prices.
The public relations manager of Noczim, Miss Zvikomborero Sibanda confirmed
that the said service stations were receiving fuel meant for essential
services only and that it was not supposed to be sold to private motorists.
"We supply the garages with fuel and it is supposed to be sold to essential
services at the gazetted price of between $22 800 and $23 300," said Miss
Sibanda.
However, sources said some Noczim officials are part of the fuel scam, as
they allegedly make arrangements for their friends to buy fuel from these
designated garages.
The price for petrol is $22 800 while that of diesel is $21 800 and the
prices have since increased by $1 000 after the introduction of carbon tax.
The garages that are supplied with Noczim fuel in Bulawayo are Luveve Motors
in Luveve, Belmont Motors along Plumtree Road, Power Fuel in Saurcetown,
Riverside Service Station and Wedzera.
An official from one of the accused garages denied the allegations saying
that they were not violating any laws.
"We sell the fuel to essential services only and there is nothing like
selling to individuals," he said.
The official said they do not import fuel on their own, but get all the fuel
from Noczim.
However, motorists who phoned the Sunday News said they were accessing the
fuel at the black market price from some of these garages and that they were
not given receipts as the law demands because the deal was illegal.
Bulawayo police spokesperson, Inspector Smile Dube said they were not aware
of the situation.
He said police officers that were members of the provincial task force on
fuel were supposed to report everything through the information and liaison
office, adding that no one had done so.
"We are not aware of such a situation, but we have our fuel task force on
the ground who will look into that," said Insp Dube.
The Government has deregulated the sale of fuel and private individuals are
now allowed to sale fuel at the open market. The majority of these dealers
are selling it for over $100 000 per litre.
Private motorists are allowed to import up to 2 000 litres of fuel without
import licences, above which they are required to have import licences.
Zimbabwe has been facing serious fuel shortages owing to limited
availability of foreign currency.

Job of fixing Africa is in Africa's hands

BY LAURIE GOERING
Chicago Tribune
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - 2005 was supposed to be Africa's year. The
long-neglected continent's problems were the focus of a G-8 world leaders
summit, a rock star-studded international aid concert, a United Nations
anti-poverty conference and much of a World Trade Organization negotiating
session in Hong Kong.

All the talking and singing even produced some action. Rich countries agreed
to cancel the debt of 18 of the world's poorest nations, 14 of them in
Africa. A few countries committed to doubling their aid budgets for Africa
by 2010. And the United States and Europe agreed to end some trade subsidies
that hurt the continent, even if most of the reductions are limited and
years away.

But bold proposals to transform poverty-mired Africa with huge infusions of
international aid and freer trade mostly fizzled. Terrorist bombings in
London robbed Africa of the center stage during the G-8 meeting. Tsunamis,
earthquakes and hurricanes cut into aid promises for the continent and
distracted donors.

At best, the meetings achieved "small steps in the right direction," said
Kumi Naidoo, a South African who heads the Global Call to Action Against
Poverty, a consortium of more than 1,000 non-profit organizations seeking to
fight poverty through increased aid and debt relief. Most of the year's
efforts, however, "fell far short of expectations," he said.

The good news is that those failings leave the job of fixing Africa where it
belongs: in African hands, rather than those of rock stars and rich-nation
politicians.

Debt relief, increased aid and freer trade are important for Africa to get
ahead. But so are efforts to combat corruption, promote democracy, end wars,
expand trade within the continent and build the capacity of African
governments. To achieve those things, Africans will have to take the lead.

At a recent meeting of the advisory Pan-African Parliament, John Mahama, a
Ghanaian delegate, insisted that Africa needs to begin accepting
responsibility for its problems.

"The time for the blame game is over," he said, arguing that African
corruption is as much a barrier to trade as rich-nation subsidies. Simply
getting a truckload of pineapple from Ghana to Nigeria, he said, requires
paying "exorbitant" bribes.

"We can blame the developed world for trade imbalances, but what about trade
on our own continent?" he asked.

Abdoulaye Wade, Senegal's president, similarly calls corruption, the lack of
qualified managers and the reluctance of African leaders to criticize each
other the major obstacles to the continent's success.

We "accuse our partners but we are the ones wrong," he said in a 2005
interview. The result, he said, is "we are not moving."

Fixing Africa's problems is tough work, but at least some nations are taking
the right steps. War-torn West Africa, in particular, has led the way in
luring home expatriates with the skills to change the continent. Nigeria's
finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, brought home from a top World Bank
post, is now helping lead that country's battle against corruption. Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf, another international economist, was just voted Liberia's
new leader, which makes her the continent's first democratically elected
woman president.

But there is plenty of backsliding and intransigence as well. Ethiopia's
government, shocked at opposition gains in early democratic elections, has
shot dead dozens of pro-democracy protesters and jailed others without
charge, including two members of Naidoo's anti-poverty coalition. Zimbabwe
continues to slide toward economic and political collapse, with even the
government now acknowledging that land seizures have led to mass hunger.

Fighting and killings in Sudan's Darfur region go on unabated, and African
leaders once hailed as reformers, including Uganda's Yoweri Museveni, are
looking more and more like despots. Worse, the African Union, which had
promised to serve as the continent's democratic watchdog, has done little to
condemn any of the problems.

"I'm disappointed that when countries violate some of the nice rhetoric in
place, their peers don't step up to the plate" to criticize them, Naidoo
said. Across Africa, he said, his organization can see little reason that
governments aren't doing much more to combat corruption and improve delivery
of government services.

Building a stronger, richer and more effective Africa requires renewed
international assistance and homegrown African reforms that will help make
that aid effective, he said. But Africans, he said, need to take the primary
responsibility.

"If not one more cent in new aid money flowed (to Africa), we could with
more urgency and efficiency and creativity be doing much more to take more
people out of poverty," Naidoo insisted.

Leaner, meaner rights agency

fortwayne.com

Washington Post editorial
If no action is taken, a pitiful parody of an international human rights
commission will convene in Geneva in March under the auspices of the United
Nations. Among the 53 delegates who will judge abuses of freedom around the
world will be representatives of Zimbabwe, Sudan, China, Cuba, Egypt, Saudi
Arabia, Nepal and Russia - the very states that should be at the top of the
commission's list for examination.

As Secretary General Kofi Annan acknowledged a year ago, the world's most
conspicuous abusers of human rights have pushed their way onto the panel to
prevent it from acting effectively in their cases; in so doing, they have
turned what was once one of the more worthy U.N. institutions into its
greatest disgrace.

Annan's attempt to end this travesty while preserving a U.N. human rights
body is bogged down in a predictable impasse between democratic and
autocratic states. At the least, they should be able to agree that the
present commission will not meet in March, or ever again.

Annan proposed to replace the human rights commission with a council that
would be smaller, more effective and harder for chronic human rights abusers
to join. A draft resolution to create the new body, issued by a working
group in December, has some positive features, including a commitment to
meetings throughout the year by the new council instead of the current
system of one annual session.

But almost every important detail of the organization remains in dispute.
Western democracies and human rights groups want to reduce the number of
members to 30, require that they be elected by a two-thirds vote of the
General Assembly and hold sessions at least four times a year for 10 weeks.
The dictators' lobby wants more members, a lower threshold for getting on
the commission, fewer meetings and a requirement that any resolution about a
country be adopted by a two-thirds vote.

Who argues for the autocrats? Among their advocates are Egypt and Pakistan,
two U.S. allies that rank among the world's leading recipients of U.S.
government aid. Both regimes are headed by generals who claim they are
steering their countries toward democracy; if that's true, they should have
little to fear from a reinvigorated U.N. Human Rights Commission.

Several Caribbean countries have also resisted the proposals of the
democratic states; they, too, should have no reason to oppose a strong human
rights commission, unless it is on behalf of their new financial benefactor,
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. None of these states would be likely to
insist on thwarting the new council if they believed it would do significant
harm to their relations with the Bush administration.

The administration's support for the reform, however, has been lukewarm.
Until recently it delegated the negotiations to junior officials; when John
R. Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, finally intervened early
this year, it was to make the unhelpful demand that all permanent members of
the Security Council be granted seats automatically. This would ensure a
place for the United States but also for Russia and China. The
administration has since softened this position, but it will need to make
other concessions if the most important reforms are to be pushed through -
and it will have to put more pressure on Egypt, Pakistan and other allies.

If the new council cannot be agreed on by March, the United States should
insist that the current commission nevertheless be abolished. Better that
the United Nations have no human rights body at all than a mockery of one.

Smith's son dies at Heathrow

News24

22/01/2006 13:01  - (SA)

Harare - Alec Smith, the rebellious son of the former prime minister of
white-ruled Rhodesia, died of a heart attack at London's Heathrow Airport,
family friends said Sunday. He was 57.

Smith suffered the attack at the airport on Thursday as he headed home to
Zimbabwe. He had been visiting the family of his Norwegian-born wife in
Oslo.

Smith's turbulent relationship with his father, Ian Smith, left him
ostracized by many whites in Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was known under British
rule. He was also stigmatized by the black majority as the son of the last
white ruler who resisted calls for independence and severed ties with
Britain in 1965.

Alec Smith was Ian Smith's only child with wife Janet Smith, who died of
cancer in 1994. He grew up with his mother's two children from a previous
marriage.

After independence in 1980, he became a reserve chaplain for the new
Zimbabwe army. In his book, "Now I Call Him Brother," he reflected on the
role of Christian values in promoting reconciliation with the nation's black
majority after a bitter bush war.

Admired for his compassion and quiet resolve, Smith volunteered for
charities, administered a black soccer team and organized training for young
black players.

He reconciled with his father, often helping him manage a family farm in
western Zimbabwe and compile his memoirs. At 85, Ian Smith is increasingly
frail and has been in care in South Africa in recent months.

A cremation service is planned in Norway, followed by a memorial service in
the Zimbabwe capital, Harare. The dates have not been announced.

Alec Smith is survived by his wife Elizabeth, two daughters and a son.