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THE World Food Programme (WFP) is believed to have urged
the
Zimbabwean government to release 240 000 tonnes of maize stocked at
the
Grain Marketing Board (GMB) in order to help feed more than five
million
people affected by severe food shortages.
WFP offficials
in Zimbabwe had by yesterday not responded to questions
sent to them by The
Daily News. But foreign news reports indicate that the
United Nations’ food
agency’s Zimbabwe representative, Kevin Farrell, told
journalists in
Johannesburg last week that the WFP had written to the
government to ask it
to release the food into the market to alleviate
shortages.
Attempts since Sunday to secure comment from the Social Welfare
Ministry,
which is tasked with overseeing Zimbabwe’s humanitarian crisis,
have been
unsuccessful.
Social Welfare Minister July Moyo is said to be on
leave, while
Francis Nhema – who is acting in Moyo’s place – was not
reachable at his
office or on his mobile phone.
However, the
food stocks being held in storage by the GMB are believed
to have been
brought to the WFP’s attention by a December 30 2003 report in
the
state-controlled Herald newspaper, which indicated that the grain
procurer
had collected 240 000 tonnes of the staple maize grain
from
farmers.
The GMB is legally the sole trader in maize and
wheat.
The United Nations’ agency is said to have asked the
government to
release the grain because of worsening food insecurity, which
has left about
5.5 million Zimbabweans in need of emergency food
aid.
Zimbabwe’s government has approached humanitarian agencies and
donors
for help to avert starvation.
The WFP, which is feeding
millions of people around the country, is
reported to have secured
commitments from donors for 85 percent of the 450
000 tonnes of food it asked
for in April.
However, the agency fears that more than one million
people could
still go hungry this year.
Commentators said the
stockpiling of food by a government agency at a
time of famine was
inexplicable and could send the wrong signals to
humanitarian agencies and
donors.
Bishop Trevor Manhanga, the president of the Evangelical
Fellowship of
Zimbabwe, said if the stocks were not released, churches might
lose the
assistance of international agencies and other partners helping them
to
secure food.
“The food should be realeased to all the people
in need. We should be
able to help ourselves first before we seek help from
anyone,” he said.
“It is going to be very difficult to get help
from anyone considering
that the WFP has already written to the government to
release its stocks. It
would be difficult to persuade donors when we have
food stocked elsewhere.”
Officials with local civic groups said
reports that the government was
stock-piling food would again raise fears of
food being used to buy votes,
which foreign humanitarian agencies are opposed
to.
The government has in the past denied reports that food is
being
distributed only to ruling ZANU PF supporters and that people in
food
insecure areas who are perceived to be supporters of the opposition
are
being denied maize.
ZimRights executive member Amos Phiri
said the use of food to buy
votes in next year’s general election would be
“immoral”.
He told The Daily News:“It is
inhuman and immoral from a human rights
point of view to use food for such
purposes.”
Movement for Democratic Change spokesman Paul Themba
Nyathi added:
“This is an act of acute desperation on the part of ZANU PF
because I have
no doubt in my mind that the government will distribute it
(maize) towards
the elections.
“Here is a government that is
prepared to go to great lengths to use
food aid to retain power. It is
shameful on their part that while
Zimbabweans are starving, they have grain
stocked at the GMB.”
Zimbabwe is facing its worst economic crisis
since indepence from
Britain in 1980, which has been worsened by severe food
shortages blamed on
drought and a controversial government land reform
programme.
Reports from Matabeleland province indicate that several
people died
from malnutrition last year, while others are facing starvation
because of
meagre harvests.
Staff Reporter
Daily News
Leader
Ruling elite arrogant and
contemptous
Date:27-Jan, 2004
NOTHING illustrates
more the arrogance of the government and the
contempt with which it treats
ordinary Zimbabweans than its handling of the
food crisis facing the country,
itself chiefly the result of the government’
s ill-thought-out land
reforms.
First, it was the government taking its sweet time last
year to admit
that its chaotic and often violent land reforms had, as every
right-thinking
person had predicted, failed to produce enough food for
Zimbabwe and that
half of the country’s population could starve to death
unless international
donors chipped in with food aid.
Even as
donor agencies such as the United Nations’ World Food
Programme (WFP) warned
that a delay in making the appeal for assistance
would also mean a delay in
the food aid eventually getting to Zimbabweans,
meaning more but otherwise
avoidable suffering for hungry Zimbabweans, still
the government appeared
unmoved.
But more mind-boggling are the revelations reported
elsewhere in this
issue that the government, for reasons best known to
itself, is holding onto
240 000 tonnes of maize harvested last
year!
Given that the government, through its inept and
corruption-riddled
Grain Marketing Board, has a monopoly on buying maize from
farmers, the
maize it has in its custody could be all that the country
harvested, apart
from the stocks farmers may have retained for their own
use.
WFP director for Zimbabwe Kevin Farrel told journalists
in
Johannesburg last week that his organisation had written to the
government
urging it to release the stockpiled maize to augment supplies
brought in by
donor organisations.
The WFP has assurance from
international donors that they will provide
85 percent of the 450 000 tonnes
of food aid the agency had appealed for
last April.
But
according to relief organisation officials, this would still leave
more than
one million hungry Zimbabweans without help.
That it should take
foreign aid agency bureaucrats to remind President
Robert Mugabe and his
ruling ZANU PF party of such a basic thing that they
cannot hoard maize while
people are starving is a testimony of who and how
they are.
Whatever the reason for the government delaying to release the maize,
it is
simply indefensible that innocent children, widows and HIV/AIDS
patients
continue to go hungry while government fat cats sit on so
much
maize.
Others have suggested a much more sinister motive
for the government
wanting to hold onto the maize – that the government wants
to release the
maize at a more politically opportune time, such as during
campaigning for
the 2005 parliamentary election, which is expected to start
in the last half
of this year.
Even with ZANU PF’s well-known
readiness to sell even their own mother
to secure a few more days in power,
we would want to believe they cannot
stoop so low as to play on people’s
hunger in such a callous manner in order
to buy cheap support.
But that a government whose chaotic land policies are chiefly to blame
for
causing food shortages could be dilly-dallying with food while the
electorate
is starving probably says more against Zimbabweans themselves
than it does
against their government.
Daily News
Africa needs a new generation of leaders
Date:27-Jan, 2004
HE presides over a government that has no
respect for human rights. He
harasses opposition leaders and will not
tolerate any divergent views or
opinions.
He sneers at and does
not accept court decisions passed by a judiciary
that he hand-picked himself.
Corruption surrounds him.
Haiti’s President, Jean Bertrand
Aristide, is not nicknamed “the
Robert Mugabe of the Caribbean” for nothing.
He was booted out of office
once, but when he came back into power, he knew
what to do. For inspiration,
he had looked to Africa, a continent that is
overflowing with hardcore,
merciless brutalisers.
Conversely,
here in Zimbabwe we have “a Jean Bertrand Aristide of
Africa.” Two sides of
the same coin. While I am not a connoisseur of irony,
it is ironic that
Mugabe is a Catholic and Aristide is a former Catholic
priest.
And yet no churchgoer, Catholic or otherwise, can stomach the heinous
and
malevolent activities taking place in either country presided over by
these
men.
Aristide was christened “the Robert Mugabe of the Caribbean”
at a time
when Africa’s notorious supporter of ruthless dictators, South
African
President Thabo Mbeki, was visiting Haiti in a sad, imprudent attempt
to
promote and legitimise dictators from far afield.
Mbeki is
still being ridiculed and criticised for his farcical,
cowardly and impotent
hands-off attitude towards the aged tyrant of
Zimbabwe. Once again, he is
getting the same negative reviews over his
ill-advised overtures towards the
violent Caribbean dictator. Mbeki was the
only head of state to accept an
invitation to Aristide’s meaningless,
self-congratulatory
ceremony.
Just how does Mbeki choose his friends? Some outraged
Haitians even
shot at one of Mbeki’s planes. Violence is standard routine
in
dictatorships, so Mbeki must have been glad that his despots know
their
industry.
I am now quite convinced that Mbeki has no idea
of how much influence
South Africa as a country has on both the continental
and world stages.
Like Mugabe, he seems to have come into power at
a very wrong time
indeed. The era of despots such as Kamuzu Banda, Milton
Obote, Mobutu Sese
Seko and others is passé. The era of personalising a
presidency is gone.
Africans no longer have any use for dictators.
People challenge
authority now. And Mbeki appears to be living out his
stillborn dictatorial
fantasies by supporting autocrats in Zimbabwe and
Haiti.
Southern Africa has historically looked to South Africa for
regional
leadership, but to outsiders like us, South Africa’s current
political
leadership is a total disgrace and betrayal when viewed against the
backdrop
of events in the region, especially in Zimbabwe.
Economically, this is a very vibrant region with a large population
and South
Africa, with its well-entrenched industrial base, should have
appreciated and
taken a keen, positive interest.
But Mbeki’s failure to see his and
South Africa’s potential in the
region is a sad indicator of failure, a
fluent testimony to inability.
It is political docility, which is
what Mbeki has displayed in his
dealings with Mugabe.
But then,
did Mbeki have a constituency that brought him into office?
Here in Zimbabwe,
we have a number of noisy, absolute morons in Parliament
and in government,
who have no constituency other than the President and the
party. (And when we
say “the party”, it is a euphemism for Mugabe.)
So, did Mbeki
attain his presidency by using someone else’s
constituency? Apart from
African National Congress structures, which will
always vote for the party’s
candidate, does Mbeki have a constituency of his
own, a base from which he
derives political power?
To us Zimbabweans, Mbeki’s careless
blundering on AIDS, on Zimbabwe
and other issues is quite familiar because it
reminds us of our own
situation, in which political incompetents have been
assembled and, knowing
that they are not answerable to any constituency, are
wreaking havoc on
Zimbabwe.
They, and their leader who put them
there, are just cynical profiteers
in a conspiracy to destroy the nation. And
they are doing it with such
cheerful sadism.
We have no property
rights and where there are no property rights,
there are no human rights. Our
economy has all but collapsed. I would
consider our health delivery network
to be a big joke if people were not
dying every day because of this
government’s negligence and failure.
Zimbabweans have become so
disarmed and disenfranchised that the world
now marvels at our unfathomable
docility.
And all this rot goes on while Mbeki is watching, as if
the economic
upheaval in Zimbabwe does not affect South Africa. Actually,
Mbeki’s support
for Mugabe has made it impossible for Zimbabweans to
straighten the mess in
their country.
Will historians one day
write accolades to Mbeki, praising not only
his presidency but also
illuminating and appreciating his outstanding
leadership in the
region?
Maybe Zimbabwe is geographically too far for Mbeki to worry
about.
Then, what about Swaziland, which South Africa just about encircles?
Is
Mbeki aware that problems in “neighbouring” countries like Swaziland
and
Lesotho will always affect South Africa?
Zimbabwe’s
unemployment stands at 70 percent. Swaziland’s is put at 40
percent, while
its economy is in steady decline. Swaziland, like Zimbabwe,
Botswana and
South Africa itself, is battling rising HIV/AIDS infection
rates, with 38
percent of the Swazi population suffering from the disease.
There
is obviously a lot of cross-border spreading of AIDS. We are
neighbours after
all. And yet Mbeki watches as an insatiable Casanova called
King Mswati raids
schools and grabs schoolgirls every year, turning them
into unblossomed
wives.
Number of wives at last count? Twelve! Mswati claims
tradition. He is
British-educated.
And Mbeki watches as this
king with such terrible bedroom manners
nicks US$14.5 million to build
palaces across the country for his harem.
He does this at a time
when AIDS is spreading in the region, the
citizens are starving, the economy
is in decline and severe draught is
reigning.
Does Mbeki stop to
think where the unemployed citizens from Swaziland,
Lesotho, Botswana,
Zimbabwe and Mozambique will go to seek employment? They
will, of course,
trek to the country whose economy is relatively stronger
than their
own.
Maybe like our own Mugabe, Mbeki just wants to be called Mr
President
in a country, again like Zimbabwe, where he presides over a
government that
has a curious amalgam of political sterility, incompetence,
corruption and
violence.
The heart of the matter is that Africa
now deserves a new generation
of leaders. These old men must go. They have
failed Africa and Africa
deserves better than the Mbekis, Mugabes and
Obasanjos. Go now, old men of
Africa!
By Tanonoka Joseph Whande.
Whande is a Zvishavane-based writer
The Star
Making it work across the border
January 27,
2004
By Beauregard Tromp
Zimbabwean farmers, who are
moving into neighbouring Mozambique in
bigger numbers, are being greeted with
a mixture of gratitude for the jobs
they bring and wariness that they will
try to form a second Rhodesia.
The town of Chimoio, 80km east of
the Mozambique-Zimbabwe border, in
the Manica province, has never been of any
overwhelming significance.
The biggest thing here is the Coca-Cola
bottling plant which sticks
out like a sore thumb against the rural backdrop
of a town which, like the
rest of Mozambique, is still trying to rebuild
itself after the ravages of
the civil war.
The potholes have
been filled and the town is expanding. The most
apparent reason for these
developments is the arrival of the white farmers.
Brendon Evans,
his wife Jenny and their two children, 11-year-old
Chelsea and 7-year-old
Gareth, were among the first Zimbabwean farmers to
arrive in Chimoio almost
four years ago.
In their final days in Zimbabwe the Evans family
endured harrowing
experiences. Their house was petrol bombed. Their cattle
were slaughtered.
They were shot at and eventually forced off their
land.
But the final straw was the controversial victory of
President Robert
Mugabe when he retained the presidency.
Foreign
investment in Manica started less than four years ago; South
African farmers
were the first to show interest.
The wave of Zimbabwean farmers
only started two years ago.
“Some of the guys were expelled. I don’t
know how many but some are
too old to have moved to just try something new,”
said deputy-chief of the
department of agriculture for Manica, Cremildo
Rungo.
There are 60 white farmers in Manica but only a few have a
licence to
use and exploit the land. Farmers waiting for licences are, in the
interim,
using land belonging to state-owned companies.
“We look
at them all as investors,” said Rungo.
One of the ways the government
ensures harmony between the community
and the farmers is by consulting
extensively with the affected communities
before a farmer is allowed to farm
the land.
No person is allowed to own land in Mozambique and the
farmers lease
land for 50 or 100 years from the government. They have to
present a
detailed plan of their proposed activities. Before the lease can be
granted,
they are put on a two-year probation.
“In the beginning
they wanted to get land close to each other but the
government strongly
refused, so as to avoid the creation of small colonial
communities and also
to allow development in other areas,” said Rungo.
Some farmers
tried to bring their workers with them but the Mozambican
government expelled
those workers, and some farmers were now under threat of
expulsion
themselves, said Rungo.
Farmers are only allowed to bring foreign
labour into the country if
they can prove there is no qualified local person
able to fulfil the same
task.
For the last six months there have
been no incidents of illegal
aliens. Spot checks by the labour and
agricultural ministry ensures
compliance.
Evans speaks highly of
Chimoio’s governor and since the influx of
farmers the town has grown
substantially and the road network improved.
“The guys are not
going to develop as much are they did in Zimbabwe,”
Evans
observed.
“There’ll be no big houses and double sheds but things
are pretty
stable and it gives you some confidence when you see big companies
like
Sasol investing here.”
On average, each farm employs about
150 workers. But tobacco and
paprika farms are more labour-intensive and
require double the number of
workers.
Fernando, who did not want
to give his surname, had not held a job for
nine years and provided for his
family of six by subsistence farming. Now he
has a job with
Evans.
“At least I have a job but it only pays 650 000 meticais
(about R190)
a month and it costs a lot to make that money last until the end
of the
month.” The price of 50kg of rice, eg, enough to feed a family of six
for a
month, is 375 000 meticais (about R110).
“They shout at us
and treat us worse than dogs. But we have to take it
because we need the
job,” said Fernando.
Evans admited to shouting at his workers
often but explained that this
was necessary as many were lazy because they
had not worked for more than 20
years.
The most common farming
activities are maize farming, tobacco, soya,
potatoes (once imported from
Zimbabwe), sunflowers for oil, flowers and
livestock.
Dairy
farming in the area has meant that for the first time many
Mozambicans are
able to enjoy fresh milk which is sold on the local markets.
In
turn, the Mozambican government’s interests, other than investment,
are job
creation and capacity building of local farmers.
“There is no
obligation under the law but the government strongly
recommends that farmers
help with job creation and empowering local
farmers,” said
Rungo.
“That is why they are sent to the rural places and isolated
areas,
close to local communities so they can help those
communities
develop.”
Among the achievements he lists is the production of
tobacco by small
farmers who in turn sell it to the big farmers for
export.
At present there are about 10 Mozambican farmers producing
tobacco in
Manica.
“The provision of capacity to local farmers
is very important but the
next challenge is to teach them to save and invest
their dollars,” said
Rungo.
Their biggest export market is China
where most of the tobacco is
sent. Roses, a second major export, are
transported by train to Harare or
Johannesburg from where they are sent to
Europe, with the Netherlands the
biggest buyer.
There are plans
to start using Chimoio airport to export production
directly but for now this
is not financially viable.
Evans said he found it hard to believe
people could still put up with
what was happening in Zimbabwe.
“Unfortunately it’s all gone. Mugabe, really! He’s probably pissed off
that
people are coming across here,” Evans said with a chuckle.
“When we
came here there was no one. My wife and I would sit alone.
But now we had a
Christmas party of more than 200 people.
“And we’re already talking
about building tennis courts and other
things.”
The Evans are
now the only fresh milk producers in Mozambique and
since last month
effectively control a monopoly.
“There is no dairy board. We are
our own dairy board, our own
marketers.”
There were sacrifices
though. The Evans had to leave 1 000 head of
cattle behind and valuable
farming equipment.
Most farmers cannot get their money or equipment out
of Zimbabwe but
three large tobacco companies bankroll most of the farmers
for their
start-up costs.
Evans said that a buyer from Zimbabwe
came to classify the tobacco. It
was then sent to Zimbabwe for processing.
Lately, however, farmers were also
shipping their produce to Malawi.
He said small-scale farmers and Aid organisations had destroyed the
market
for maize as their activities ensured it was cheaply and even
freely
available to most people.
“This year we’ll be sending
seed to Zimbabwe, which is certainly a
first,” said Evans.
The
farmers cite the difference in language, corruption and malaria as
their
biggest problems in their adoptive home with access to land also not
always
that easy. Many farmers opt for Zambia or Malawi because most people
in those
countries understand English.
“You can overcome language as a
barrier in two to three years, but
Zambia will always be landlocked,” said
Evans.
He speaks to his workers in Shona, a language common to
Zimbabweans
and some Mozambicans close to their western
neighbour.
“The opportunities are here. Everything is new. The guys
are putting
in abattoirs and you have the port (Beira) nearby.
And
the Mozambican authorities have put in lots of fiscal benefits
for
investors,” he said.
For the local Mozambicans the influx of
ZImbabwean farmers was a shock
initially.
“At first the local
communities were a bit afraid but the provincial
directorate of agriculture
met with them.
“The people were happy about the farming activities
but were scared
they were coming to colonise,” said Rungo.
Cape Times
Mugabes 'inspect plush properties in Pretoria'
January 27, 2004
By Basildon Peta
Johannesburg:
President Robert Mugabe and his young wife, Grace, are
said to be looking at
buying real estate in South Africa.
Sources close to the Mugabes
say such investments are one of the main
reasons the couple visited South
Africa on Saturday. The other was for a
medical check-up for
Mugabe.
The sources claimed that although Mugabe's health was
fragile, reports
that he was seriously ill - leading to his being airlifted
to South Africa -
had been "exaggerated".
Mugabe had come for a
check-up, but was not necessarily "seriously
ill" , the sources said,
disputing a statement by Mugabe's spokesman that
his visit to South Africa
was purely "private" and had nothing to do with a
medical.
Mugabe's wife, Grace, arrived in South Africa on Thursday and her
husband
joined her on Saturday.
It is believed Mrs Mugabe looked at
properties in Pretoria, including
a block of plush townhouses that her
husband inspected later. They were also
said to have toured a house that they
wanted for residential purposes should
the need arise.
Efforts
to identify the properties the Mugabes were considering buying
and the estate
agents they used have been fruitless.
Sources close to the Mugabes
say it would be almost impossible to
identify them as front company names are
used.
It has also been alleged that Mrs Mugabe is looking at
investing in a
retail business in South Africa.
She owns several
retail outlets in Zimbabwe and these are run by her
sisters.
The Guardian
Zimbabwe in tour appeal to counties
Paul
Weaver
Tuesday January 27, 2004
The Zimbawe Cricket Union has
dramatically upped the stakes in the row over
England's threatened tour of
the country in October by writing directly to
the 18 counties outlining why
the tour should go ahead.
Peter Chingoka, the chairman of the ZCU, accuses
the England and Wales
Cricket Board of deceit and outlines the potential
damages and compensation
English cricket might have to pay if the tour is
cancelled.
Chingoka's dramatic and outspoken letter is a dramatic
response by Zimbabwe
to what seems an almost certain cancellation of the tour
because of the
human rights record of the Robert Mugabe
regime.
Chingoka argues that the ECB chairman David Morgan gave an
undertaking last
March during a trip to Harare that political and moral
judgments of the
Mugabe regime would not be used to decide whether the tour
should take
place. Security and the safety of the tour party were to be the
only
deciding factors.
"Having given a guarantee to tour, the ZCU
finds it deeply offensive that
the ECB is now considering reneging on this
agreement, without the courtesy
of being given notice or consulted in any way
whatsoever," Chingoka said.
The commitment by the ECB was made, the
letter said, "as part of the
reciprocal arrangements for Zimbabwe to tour
England in the summer of 2003".
The visit by Zimbawe took place last summer
"enabling the ECB to maximise
its TV rights and other commercial
contracts".
"It appears," Chingoka says, "that the ECB is not prepared to
allow the ZCU
the same important commercial privilege. "Our faith, respect
and trust in
David Morgan as chairman and Tim Lamb as chief executive of the
ECB has been
severely undermined by this situation."
Chingoka then
warns that the counties could have to pay dearly if the tour
is cancelled by
the governing body.
"As beneficiaries of substatial ECB grants you and
your colleagues must
judge whether the risk of further major financial
penalties is an acceptable
consequence."
Whatever the impact of
Chingoka's letter on the counties it is abound to
rasise the stakes in an
already damaging and divisive dispute in world
cricket.
The England
players meanwhile, have called upon the ECB to make an early
decision on the
tour., before they set off on their visit to the West
Indies, which starts
next month.
The Surrey batsman Mark Butcher said yesterday: "When
Zimbabwe were over
here last year I remember thinking that we were going
there in 2004 and
would things have changed by then or would this issue be
coming up again.
"With a bit of luck we can go off and concentrate on
playing a series in the
West Indies and it will be taken care of back
here."
New Zimbabwe
Zim editor condemns attack on journalist
By Staff
Reporter
26/01/04
THE editor of the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper, Iden
Wetherell has
condemned Friday's attack on the paper's chief reporter
Dumisani Muleya who
had to receive stitches after suffering a deep gush above
his right eye as a
result of the attack.
"We have yet to establish the
motives for the attack. But I regard any
attack on any of our journalists as
a very serious matter," Wetherell told
newzimbabwe.com. "The Zimbabwe
Independent is currently under siege by
forces hostile to a free press. We
are therefore particularly concerned
about the personal safety of our
journalists."
Muleya was attacked by three unidebtified men outside a
Harare hotel. The
attackers also made off with his mobile phone and cash
amounting to $100
000.
The attack came just under a week after Muleya
was released on bail from
police custody where he was detained for two days
on charges of criminal
defamation arising from a story which said President
Robert Mugabe had
commandeered a plane for his private visit to the Far
East.
Narrating his ordeal, Muleya said: "I was coming from the Quill
Club at the
New Ambassador Hotel towards Cresta Oasis along Kwame Nkrumah
Avenue when,
as I passed Fourth Street, a red 405 Peugeot parked just in
front of me.
Three guys alighted from the vehicle and started attacking
me."
Muleya and Wetherell, both denounced as “terrorists” by Mugabe’s
garrulous
chief spokesman Jonathan Moyo were arrested last week over a story
that
stated that President Mugabe had commandeered a plane to come and pick
him
up while on a foreign trip in the Far East.
Minister Moyo
dismissed the report as “blasphemy”, prompting the police to
arrest Muleya,
Wetherell and two other colleagues.
"Those behind this deliberate
falsehood calculated to bring the Office of
the President into disrepute must
be held accountable," Moyo ranted. "This
means the editor and the two writers
will be held to account for their
lawless and fictitious
claims."
Writing in the Sunday Times following his incarceration, a
defiant Muleya
said: “Amid all this hot air and political steam, Moyo failed
to deny the
essence of the story, which was that Mugabe had taken an Air
Zimbabwe
aircraft to the Far East.
”In a bid to build a case, the
police claimed that the word "commandeer" -
used in our story - meant "to
hijack". This was laughable and ridiculous. We
were arrested for semantics -
the meaning and interpretation of the slight
nuances of a single
word.”
Muleya, Wetherell and the paper’s news editor Vincent Kahiya were
granted
bail of Z$20 000 after appearing at the Harare Magistrates' Court on
charges
of "criminal defamation" against President Mugabe. They will appear
in court
again on January 29.
Attacks on journalists from the
independent media have escalated since the
passing of what media watchers say
is a repugnant piece of legislation, the
Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy Act last year.
Reacting to the journalists’ arrest and threats
by Moyo, the
secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders Robert Menard
last week said
the year had started on a bad note.
"The year 2004
opened in the worst possible way for press freedom in
Zimbabwe," Menard
said.
"Three journalists have already been arrested and authorities are
still
trying to prevent the Daily News from publishing despite High Court
rulings
in its favour," he said.
"We are extremely concerned about the
working conditions for Zimbabwe
journalists and call on the authorities to
pull back. The people have the
right to diverse and independent news and
information," he added.
The Herald
Accreditation of election observers on tomorrow
Herald
Reporter
THE Electoral Supervisory Commi-ssion (ESC) yesterday said the
accreditation
of local observers for the Gutu parliamentary by-election
wo-uld start
tomorrow.
In a statement, the ESC said the accreditation
would end on Thurs-day.
The Gutu parliamentary by-election is scheduled
to take place on February 2
to 3.
Zanu-PF’s retired Air Marshal Cde
Josiah Tungamirai is expected to fight it
out with MDC’s Crispa
Musoni.
The ESC said the accreditation will take place at the
commission’s offices
at Hardwicke House along Samora Machel
Avenue.
"Applicants are required to bring their invitation letters from
the Ministry
of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, their national
registration
identity card or valid Zimbabwean passport and an accreditation
fee of $10
000 (ten thousand Zimbabwe dollars)," read the ESC
statement.
Foreign diplomats accredited to Zimbabwe are allowed to use
their diplomatic
identity cards to enter and observe voting inside polling
stations.
However, diplomats with no diplomatic cards would be barred
from observing
the elections.
The accreditation exercise will start at
10.00 am tomorrow and closes at
4.00 pm while on Thursday it starts at 9.00
am and closes at 4.00 pm.
"Observers are reminded that a maximum of three
persons per observer group
are allowed into a polling station or within the
100-metre radius of a
polling station. One person per observer group will be
allowed during the
verification of the statements of the presiding officers,
while one person
per observer group will be allowed at a counting centre,"
said the ESC.
Meanwhile, ESC said it has deployed monitors to conduct
civic and voter
education and to supervise the inspection of voters’ rolls in
Zengeza
constituency and other three urban and 11 rural wards.
The Herald
Daily News case: Hearing on today
Herald
Reporter
The case in which the Media and Information Commission is seeking an
order
barring the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe from publishing pending
the
finalisation of appeals before the Supreme Court has been set for hearing
in
the Superior Court this afternoon.
According to a notice of hearing
from the Supreme Court yesterday, the
matter will be heard in chambers before
Chief Justice Chidyausiku.
The MIC last week filed an urgent chamber
application at the Supreme Court
seeking an order barring the ANZ from
publishing pending the finalisation of
appeals before the superior
court.
This was after the ANZ published The Daily News despite the fact
that the
publishing group and its journalists are operating illegally as they
have
not yet been registered by the MIC as is required by law.
In his
urgent application, MIC lawyer Mr Johannes Tomana of Muzangaza,
Mandaza and
Tomana said a crisis in the administration of the Access to
Information and
Protection of Privacy Act had been created by a number of
judgments from the
Administrative Court and High Court. The matters had been
referred to the
Supreme Court.
He said an apparent delay in finalising matters between
the ANZ and the MIC
had led to an unacceptable confusion in the
administration of the Act and in
the operations of the applicant as a media
commission.
"In fact, even the law-enforcement agents do not know the
best way of
enforcing the media law in question.
"There is therefore
an urgent need for the Supreme Court to make a
definitive ruling which will
re-usher order and clarity of the true legal
position by ordering a speedy
preparation of the records by the registrar of
the Administrative Court as
well as order a set down of the matters as one,"
he said.
The Herald
Zim to get agric equipment from Malaysia
Herald
Reporter
THE Government expects to receive tractors, seed drills and
combine
harvesters worth at least US$3,5 million from Malaysia within the
next few
weeks.
The equipment — which includes 25 high-powered
tractors, 50 seed drills and
15 combine harvesters — is part of a US$10
million facility extended to the
country by the Asian nation.
Malaysia
is also expected to deliver at least 500 tonnes of fertiliser and
other
agricultural chemicals at the same time.
The equipment would come in two
batches, with the first consignment expected
to be delivered from Malaysian
companies in South Africa.
The Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural
Resettlement, Dr Joseph Made,
said everything was ready for the equipment to
arrive.
He was speaking after meeting the Malaysian ambassador to
Zimbabwe Mr
Shaharuddin Som at his offices to discuss the latest regarding
the equipment
and other issues.
Dr Made also met five other
ambassadors from Indonesia, Egypt, Namibia,
Tanzania and South Africa to
discuss issues related to agriculture.
"I am happy to announce that in
the review we have made all paperwork is
ready for the first batch of the
equipment and machinery to arrive," he
said.
"We are importing the
machinery and equipment as the leaders of the two
countries have undertaken
to do in several meetings."
Mr Som said his country would always support
the land reform programme in
Zimbabwe.
"We are prepared to render any
assistance for our brothers in Zimbabwe in
the spirit of South-South
co-operation," he said.
Zimbabwe is also expected to receive 400 tractors
from Iran under a US$15
million credit facility.
The fully assembled
tractors are ready for shipment.
Dr Made said they discussed the
production of cotton, tobacco and ostrich
with the Indonesian ambassador, Mr
Dadang Sukunda.
A delegation from Indonesia would soon visit to look at
ways of increasing
exports of agricultural products from Zimbabwe to the
country.
His meeting with the Egyptian ambassador, Mr Ebrahim Mohammid,
centred on
projects relating to irrigation.
Dr Made said they also
discussed possible areas to exchange expertise,
especially in seed
production.
"We look forward to a team that will be going to Egypt to
concretise our
areas of co-operation, particularly on grain and livestock
development," he
said.
Dr Made said Zimbabwe would be sending another
delegation to Namibia
specialising in land surveying.
He said after
meeting the country’s ambassador, Mr Ndali Kamiti, they agreed
to expand
areas of co-operation to beyond land issues.
Dr Made said Tanzania was
interested in looking at Zimbabwe’s tobacco and
livestock production
system.
He said in his meeting with the country’s ambassador, Mr Hashim
Mbita, it
emerged the two countries could co-operate in different areas in
the
agricultural sector.
"On our side we are aware that their
livestock is 90 percent indigenous and
this is very important in terms of the
local environment," said Dr Made.
Dr Made also met South African
ambassador Mr Jeremiah Ndou and discussed the
crop forecast in the
region.
He said figures would be released soon for the crop
forecasts.
"We thanked them for the support they have given us in land
reform and
seed," said Dr Made.
He said the meetings with the
ambassadors were meant to update them on
progress made in the land
reform.
Dr Made said it was now time for the country to look and develop
markets for
agricultural products.
Zimbabwean Troops Accused of Attacking Mozambicans
Agencia de
Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
January 26, 2004
Posted to the web
January 26, 2004
Maputo
The Mozambican authorities in the western
province of Tete have accused
Zimbabwean troops of crossing the border and
committing "criminal" acts
against local people.
The administrator of
Changara district, Inacio Muchanga, told AIM that
Zimbabwean troops enter
Mozambican territory where "they kill and mistreat
people, and steal their
property".
He claimed that a Mozambican citizen from the neighbouring
province of
Manica was killed by Zimbabwean troops in December, in the
locality of
Dzunga, in Changara district.
"In recent months the
situation has been deplorable, mainly in the Ntemangau
and Dzunga
localities", said Muchanga. He said that near the Mazoe river, on
the
Mozambican side of the border, a group of Zimbabwean soldiers appeared
and
beat up a group of Mozambicans panning for gold. "The Zimbabwean troops
stole
all their goods, and then went back into Zimbabwe", said
the
administrator.
This incident, which took place on 20 November last
year, was reported to
the Zimbabwean authorities during the regular monthly
meetings between the
Mozambican and Zimbabwean police.
"The Zimbabwean
side promised to work to identify the soldiers responsible,
but unfortunately
the result of this work has not been satisfactory", said
Muchanga.
On
17 December, he added, a Mozambican citizen, whom he did not name, was
shot
dead on Mozambican soil by Zimbabwean soldiers, in the border region
of
Cuchamano. "This situation is extremely bad for relations between
Mozambique
and Zimbabwe", he pointed out.
The victim's family, in the
town of Guro, in Manica province, were notified.
They asked that the body be
returned to them "in minimally acceptable
conditions", said Muchanga. "But on
25 December, the Zimbabwean police
brought the body in an open plastic box,
and it was already in a state of
decomposition." On this occasion the
Zimbabwean soldier was detained, and a
series of meetings took place between
the relevant Mozambican and Zimbabwean
authorities. At the latest meeting,
held at Cuchamano, the Zimbabweans
guaranteed that the matter was in the
hands of the courts. "But we decided
to channel the matter up to Foreign
Ministry level, to ensure that this is
verified", said Muchanga.
The
administrator feared that, unless the behaviour of the Zimbabwean
troops
stationed along the border improves, angry Mozambicans will take
reprisals
against the many Zimbabwean civilians who regularly cross the
border.
USA Today
S. Africa's role in Zimbabwe bodes well for region,
U.S.
DeWayne Wickham
When The Daily News, Zimbabwe's only independent
and largest-circulation
daily newspaper, resumed publication last week, its
resurrection was seen as
a hopeful sign in that troubled country.
The
paper, which often had been at odds with President Robert Mugabe, was
shut
down in September. A court ruled that it was operating illegally
because it
had failed to register with a government-controlled,
media-monitoring
commission.
Mugabe's government ignored multiple subsequent court orders
to permit the
paper to reopen, but it finally withdrew police from the
newspaper's office
in Harare after yet another decree.
South African
President Thabo Mbeki is being credited for breaking the
impasse. Mbeki has
been working for months to end the political strife that
threatens to plunge
Zimbabwe into a civil war.
"I think (Mbeki) has convinced Mugabe that he
needs some periodic show of
progress," said Salih Booker, executive director
of Africa Action, a
Washington-based lobby group. "Mbeki wants to show that
South Africa has
emerged not just as a regional power, but as a dominant
diplomatic force in
Africa."
Diplomatic prowess
He has a lot of
evidence. Last year, Mbeki brokered a peace agreement that
ended a civil war
in the Democratic Republic of Congo that threatened to
become a regional
conflict.
When the 53-member African Union was formed in 2002, Mbeki was
named
chairman, which was a nod to the major role South Africa is playing in
the
political and economic life of the continent.
"There is no
question in Africa that South Africa is the linchpin for the
continent's
development," said Charles Stith, a former U.S. ambassador
to
Tanzania.
More than good news for many of the countries in
sub-Saharan Africa, which
can benefit greatly from South Africa's economic
strength, it also is a
geopolitical boon for the U.S., which badly needs a
reliable friend in
Africa.
Not only is South Africa "committed to
democracy and a market economy,"
Stith said, "it helps us significantly in
the fight against terrorism" by
working to bring economic and political
stability to African countries that
long have been plagued by financial
problems and political unrest.
Nations that are poor and politically
shaky are the breeding grounds for
terrorists, something that Stith knows
well. He took over in Tanzania
shortly after terrorist attacks on U.S.
embassies there and in Kenya killed
224 people in 1998. South Africa's
ability to extend its influence
throughout the region "is directly related to
our national security," Stith
said.
Difficult
challenge
Zimbabwe may prove to be South Africa's most difficult
diplomatic test.
Mugabe is a former freedom fighter who has led Zimbabwe
since the country
emerged from white-minority rule in 1980.
In recent
years, he has clung to power as the country's economy spiraled
downward and
political opposition to his government has grown.
Mugabe won re-election
in 2002 amid widespread charges of election fraud.
Since then, his government
has become increasingly oppressive — enacting a
law that brought about the
creation of the media-monitoring commission at
the center of the legal fight
over The Daily News' right to publish.
The power struggle in Zimbabwe
also has a nasty racial component. Mugabe
forced many white farmers, who
controlled a disproportionately large share
of the country's most productive
farmland, to give up property. He is
redistributing that land to poor blacks,
many of whom are his staunchest
backers.
Convincing Mugabe to find a
solution that doesn't plunge the country into a
deeper financial hole won't
be easy. But if Mbeki is successful, he'll
rescue Zimbabwe from an economic
crisis that otherwise could send thousands
of its people scurrying into
neighboring countries in search for work, which
could destabilize those
nations.
In April, South Africa will celebrate the 10th anniversary of
its transition
from an apartheid state to a multiracial democracy. If
successful, Mbeki's
efforts to end the political turmoil in Zimbabwe will
give the people of
South Africa — and many other African nations — even more
reason to
celebrate.
DeWayne Wickham writes weekly for USA TODAY.
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE ANNOUNCEMENT - January 26, 2004
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
JAG
Trustees and members deeply regret the untimely death of ANTHONY BROOKS
of
Honey and Blanckenberg who passed away suddenly this last weekend.
Anthony
was a staunch supporter and friend of the farming community and
deeply
involved in our legal battle for justice. Our sincere condolences
to his
wife and family.
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE P R COMMUNIQUE - January 26, 2004
1. LAND
ACQUISITION AMENDMENT BILL
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
JAG
trustees made a two-part presentation in Parliament to the
Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee.
John Worsley Worswick spoke of the fundamental
criteria in any successful
production system being land, labour (and skills)
and capital. He stated
that the bill would completely destroy the capital
base (being title) which
would lead to further migration of labour (and
skills) leaving the land in
the hands of the state (which is fast becoming
defunct). He said that
there had been a steady erosion of titled land from
approximately 37% of
Zimbabwe in 1980. By the start of the 3rd Chimurenga
less that 18.5% was
held as white owned land. Most of the rest was in the
hands of the state
as untitled resettlement land being mostly idle. He said
title should be
expanded if the country was to progress and the effects of
the land
programme being starvation, unemployment, homelessness and a
dramatic
increase in poverty levels was to be addressed.
Ben Freeth
read out from Deuteronomy 27 and 28 quoting one of the 12 curses
the Levites
were told to pronounce in a loud voice after the large stones
had been
inscribed with the Law. "Cursed is the man who moves his
neighbours boundary
stone". "..you will be cursed in the city and cursed
in the country. Your
basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The
fruit of your womb will
be cursed and the crops of your land, and the
calves of your herds and the
lambs of your flocks. You will be cursed when
you come in and cursed when
you go out."
He said that title was a fundamental Biblical principle and
that this bill
would be the final act of the destruction if it went through
as it would in
effect move all boundary stones on titled agricultural land in
Zimbabwe.
More specifically it:
a. attempted to legitimise the
illegitimate by retrospectively backdating a
relaxed notice procedure to the
land owner to 23rd May 2000 (see b.)
b. attempted to reduce the states
responsibility to inform its citizens
living on titled land as to what was
happening to them (simple notices in
the government gazette for Section 5's
and Section 8's are apparently
sufficient in the new Bill).
c. Gave the
state the right to increase penalties for non-compliance with a
situation
that the property owner may have no knowledge of regarding an
intended
acquisition.
d. Gave the state carte blanche to further attack title on any
piece of
land irrespective of whether it was a plantation, agro-industrial,
EPZ, a
conservancy or the owners only piece of land (this making a lie of
the
Presidents oft quoted one man, one farm policy.
e. Constituted an
attack on Zimbabwe citizens security of investment with
every piece of titled
commercially agricultural land being categorically
targeted by the clause
stating that "the state intends to acquire not less
than 11 million
hectares". This bill in essence was an attack on citizens
rights to own
private property at all and would lead to an exacerbation of
starvation and
poverty with a regressive feudal system of fear and
patronage being the
resultant order of the day.
There was a strong call by the public for an
impact assessment to be
carried out regarding the effects that the act would
have on agriculture,
industry and the nation as a whole.
Since the
Public hearing an adverse report was produced by the
parliamentary legal
affairs committee declaring it to be in conflict with
the constitution.
Unfortunately it does not appear that the ZANU PF
parliamentarians are
interested in listening to the public or the legal
affairs committee or are
interested in what the impact is going to be on
Zimbabwe's teetering economy,
food supply, employment rates, homelessness
and poverty. The ZANU PF
Parliamentarians rejected the adverse legal
report yesterday and are pursuing
the second reading of the bill as though
Zimbabwe's constitution is
irrelevant and Deuteronomy 27 and 28 are also
irrelevant. Let it be on their
heads if they push it through. Each MP has
his own choice to make and he
will be accountable for that choice.
2. Wednesday January 21st
Today in
Parliament was one of the most lively ever. After Question Time,
which is
always lively, we moved straight to the Land Acquisition Amendment
Bill,
which seeks to amend the last Amendment Bill which is what gave the
"fast
track war vets" their right to invade the farms, squat in farmers'
houses,
take their property, etc, etc...
The Parliamentary Legal Committee (whose
role is to check whether any Bill
contravenes the Constitution, and to report
to the House accordingly) had
produced an Adverse Report - ie the Bill
contravenes the Constitution - so
before the Bill was debated we had to
debate the Adverse Report and decide
whether we accepted or rejected
it.
First Prof Welshman Ncube presented the Adverse Report, then
Chinamasa
stood up to counter it. Immediately Dave Coltart stood up on a
point of
order - According to Clause ..of the Parliamentary Privileges and
Powers
Act, any Member having any pecuniary interest in a particular Bill
must
recuse him/herself and not even take part in the debate. DC tabled a
list
of MPs and the farms they own, and pointed out that Chinamasa is listed
as
owning 3 farms.Chinamasa fumed and shouted, Jorum Gumbo grabbed the
list
and started remonstrating with it among other members on his
side,
Chinamasa then calls Coltart "a racist liar" - Tendai Biti and
Gabriel
Chaibva both thrown out for arguing with the Chairman...Everyone our
side
shouting that Chinamasa must withdraw...and calling for ruling on issue
of
his recusal. Chairman (Dokora) tries to play the tough chair, but
is
constantly shouted down and his voice drowned...Chinamasa finally gets
the
floor and declares he will not withdraw his statement - chaos breaks
out
again! Eventually Chairman insists he withdraw, and he does...
He
then however proceeds to debate the PLC report as though he should not
be
recusing himself...much heckling and shouting, again. Then Dave
Coltart
argues against the Bill, presenting all the logical "obvious"
arguments:
that reasonable notice must be given to any landowner who must
have
recourse to the courts, that you cannot backdate a law nearly 4 years,
that
contracts entered into are still legally binding, etc, ending with
"you
will regret making this decision and destroying what remains of
the
economy"...Paul Mangwana argues inanely for the other side in favour of
the
Bill, trying to make it a personal issue and attacking Welsh for
"not
reading the relevant clauses" etc...
Eventually we vote - " All
those in favour of the report say Aye" ZanuPF
then all shout "Aye" - and we
are somewhat confused because in fact it is
MDC that is in favour of the
report - the Adverse Report! Confusion again,
Dokora calling for a second
vote, us shouting that it was too late, they
had already voted in favour of
the report and there was no provision to
reverse that vote..Dokora insists on
second vote, this time ZPF votes
against the report..then back to House
debate where Chinamasa brings a
resolution to ignore the adverse report,
which is adopted after division of
the House : vote is 58 to ZanuPF to ignore
the adverse report against 32
MDC in favour of the report.
Immediately
Chinamasa proceeds to present the Bill at Second Reading stage
- all the time
sounding so reasonable and presenting seemingly logical
facts and
arguments...at this point I had to leave the House as a friend
had been
arrested filming at the banned Residents Association meeting -
found at
Harare Central waiting for receipt for his two expensive cameras
taken by the
police. Lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa was on her way down, the last
I heard..back
to Parliament which had meanwhile adjourned...
3. 22 January
2004
MDC MPs walk out of parliament in protest of partiality.
This
afternoon in parliament MDC MPs walked out of the chamber en masse in
protest
against the patently partisan manner in which parliamentary
business is being
conducted. Parliament is increasingly being run in an
openly oppressive
manner, which is in by all definitions inimical to
democratic
principles.
This afternoon, for example when the leader of opposition
Gibson Sibanda
stood up on a point of order in relation to a decision that
the Speaker had
taken, the speaker angrily dismissed his point of
order.
Then the leader of House Patrick Chinamasa crudely referred to
those MPs
who had spoken against the Land Acquisition Bill as 'enemies'. A
point of
order was raised in objection to this unparliamentary language. The
speaker
ruled that he had not interpreted that remark as implying that those
who
had spoken against the land Bill were enemies.
It must be realised
that all those who spoke against the Land Bill were MDC
MPs. In an
environment where members of the opposition have been beaten up,
tortured and
harassed by Zanu PF supporters, Chinamasa's remarks may be
read as an
invitation to meet out violent retribution against MDC MPs.
While MDC
supports the principle of Land Acquisition it spoke strongly
against the
subversion of the constitution that some sections sought
to
achieve.
In protest at the repeated partiality in the way
parliamentary business is
conducted MDC MPS walked out.
Paul Themba
Nyathi
Secretary for Information and Publicity
4. Who voted to ignore
the Constitution in the Land Acquisition
Amendment Debate.
On
Wednesday 21 January 2004, the following Members of Parliament voted
in
favour of Minister Chinamasa's motion to reject the Parliamentary
Legal
Committee report highlighting clauses which, if enacted, would
contravene
the Constitution of Zimbabwe:
Ayes - 58
Chief Bidi,
Buka, Bushu, Chapfika, Charumbira, Chikiyi, Chimutengwende,
Chinamasa,
Chindanya, Chimombe, Chipanga, Chief Chirau, Chitongo, Chombo,
Dokora,
Dzinzi, Gumbo R, Gumbo J, Paradza, Chief Hama, Hungwe,
Karimanzira,
Kasukuwere, Kaukonde, Kuruneri, Mackenzie, Made, Madzongwe,
Mahofa,
Majange, Makokove, Mangwana, Mangwende J, Manwende W, Matiza,
Mazikana,
Mbalekwa, Midzi, Mkandla, Msipa, Muchena, Mudenge, Mugaba S, Chief
Mukota,
Mupukuta, Murerwa, Mushohwe, Mutasa D, Mutema, Langa, Mutiwekuziva,
Ncube
D, Nhema, Nyauchi, Rusere, Shumba, Chief Sikalenge, Masawi
The
following voted against the motion to reject the PLC report:
Noes -
32
Bhebhe, Chamisa, Chebundo, Coltart, Gabbuza, Gasela, Gwetu, Khumalo
B,
Madzore, Makuvaza, Makwembere, Malinga, Mdlongwa,
Mungofa,
Misihairabwi-Mushonga, Moyo L, Mpariwa, Mukwecheni, Munyanyi,
Mushoriwa,
Mutsekwa, Ncube W, Nyathi, Nyoni, Sansole, Shoko, Sibanda GM,
Sibanda M,
Stevenson, Gonese, Khupe, Zwizwayi
JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
justice@telco.co.zw with "For Open Letter
Forum" in the subject
line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prelude
text
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1:
It is one thing to hear stories from Zimbabwe farmers who have
been
dispossesed, it is another to go through their personal agony as they
leave
homes that have been loved and built up - often from pole and dagger
huts
in which their parents or grand parents started up. They also leave
behind
workers who, in most cases have worked for the families for all
their
lives. The relationship with these workers - although paternalistic in
most
cases, is often very deep. Then there is the wrentch of leaving behind
all
they have worked for all their lives except what they can carry.
Farmers
are unusual - they have in most cases plowed their earnings straight
back
into the farms. The average return on agriculture as a percentage on
the
value of the assets used is about 6 per cent - well below what they
could
get in industry. I saw Econets results yesterday - profit levels of
nearly
50 per cent on turnover. Farmers could never hope to get this sort
of
return over time.
This is the story of one family - fought to stay
on their land for the past
four years of intimidation, threats, theft, no
legal or police protection,
vilified in the press, trying to hang on - now
given up and leaving for the
UK where they will try to make a living. Please
note that their son who has
already gone to school there - did not have the
bus fare to his school. For
those of you who do not know the local language -
a Mombe is a adult bovine
(steer or cow) worth today about Z$1,5 million.
Last week I drove past a
farm in the Kadoma district - an irrigation farm
which has produced top
class crops for many years. It lay idle and empty. A
few grass huts on the
irrigation fields, the irrigation equipment still in
place but vandalized.
The homestead on the nearby hillside, burnt to the
ground. On Monday a 70
year old farmer was beaten to death on his farm
outside Kwe Kwe.
Now I do not know what this does to you - but it fills
me with dispair,
that intelligent, well educated men and women, can do this
deliberately
just to hold onto power for their own narrow needs and greed. We
have 6
million people trying to live on 12 ounces of food a day right now -
worse
to come this winter. This is the 4th year of food shortages and
growing
poverty. We are going to stop this nonsense and turn things around.
There
is no future for any African if we do not. You can be sure of one thing
-
we are staying to fight this thing through to the end. We will be here
to
welcome home those who have been forced into exile by this regime and
who
want to come home and help us rebuild this fine country.
14th Jan
'04
Dear Friends, - Sorry this has been delayed in the Drafts folder, but
you
will get an up-date at the end!
We are in the middle of moving
off, selling everything, and heading for
England. Three lorries should be
here by 7:30 in the morning. We will try
and get as much off as we can before
the Babylonians start their nonsense
and put up road blocks or something? We
should be allowed to get our
possessions off the farm before the 28th. but
you cannot trust 'them'.
When a tiny brass tap was stolen down at the
cattle dip on Wednesday night,
and they left the pipe open so that all the
stored water was emptied out of
the farm reservoir, it was the straw that
broke the camel's back. What is
the point of trying to hold on if something
as basic as a tap is stolen for
the value of the brass? Three of the A2
settlers have cattle dipped for
free in my dip. Now I am going and attempting
to take everything with me,
so that "Our Land will not be our Prosperity; but
our Poverty!" We will
head off as soon as we have closed the books, paid our
taxes and bought
tickets,
Within days of making the decision, we have
been offered a cottage in
Dorset. Our family came here in the late '20s and
encouraged others to come
and build this colony. They never took anything out
of the land and
ploughed their whole lives into the community. Creating jobs,
building up
and not pulling down. We trust that God has still got
"MacIlwaine"
stencilled across this bit of land and will restore it to the
family one
day. He's done it to Israel several times. I really believe that
until
enough people 'humble themselves, pray and seek God's face, and turn
from
their wicked ways,' there is no hope for this land. It will happen
sooner
or later I'm sure.
In haste, because I've got to sort out all
the stuff in my farm office.
With love from Roy and Louise.
P.S. It is
now the evening of the 23rd, and we are off the farm for the
first night. We
got most of the stuff off, but had some aggro from the
settlers and war vets
who were complaining that we were taking irrigation
equipment, which
according to the war vets is supposed to remain on farm?
Well to keep the
peace we left a suction pipe from the dam and a couple of
pipes with huge
gate valves out on the lawn in full view while we quietly
moved other more
useful items, when 'they' weren't around!
You wont believe it, but these guys
actually accused 'me' of stealing the
brass tap!!! And listening to them
argue with Henry this morning about
what we could or could not take of our
own belongings, amazed me!
a) They claimed that they were only doing their
duty.
b) They were under the firm impression that we had been paid
compensation?
The propaganda machine has really worked well for them.... but
the proof
will be in the pudding a couple of years down the line when the
soils will
fail to yield, simply because they wont have fed it any
nutrients!
It has been a nightmare. I suppose we have had 10 lorry loads
of goods
removed, plus numerous trips in the twin-cab and light trailer. The
farm
staff were wonderfully helpful, putting in long hours, and having to put
up
with frequent mind-changes as the days went by. They were threatened with
a
beating, by 20+ settlers / party officials, for helping us to move
our
furniture and farm equipment, and most will move off as soon as they
can.
Their future must be more bleak than ours, but they remained cheerful
to
the end. I gave them each a mombe, and hired transport to move
their
belongings, but I've still got to pay them so it is not yet over. We
are so
grateful to so many sympathetic friends, for kind words and
deeds,
throughout the last 10 days or so.
There was no emotion as we
drove away for the last time, thankful that it
was nearly over. The dogs are
still there,(sadly Zippo, Gotcha who is a
wonderful 'ratter', & Bizzkit
will have to be put down, but young Miss
Pumba will be going to Henry's good
friend Andre) and the staff are still
on duty. I still have to get 33 lovely
beef heifers off, hopefully on
Monday ?
And that will be
it!
Doors are flinging open in the UK, and Richard is already in a
college in
Dudley, Birmingham. It was lovely to get a text msg from him to
say that a
friend bought him breakfast at Gatwick and he found a coach to
Dudley which
the friend paid for and the weather wasn't too cold.
Lou
and Henry will probably be in England before Feb. I have no idea when I
will
be able to leave? Maybe a couple of months? Friends have offered us a
cottage
near Sherborne which sounds fantastic.
I am too shattered to write any
more.
With love, Roy.
Letter
2
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Dear
Sophia,
Who are you and what is your background?
1) I have the Vuku
since publication in the 1940`s to the Rhodesian Farmer
up to the 1980`s on
the high sea`s because I considered that it would be
useful for the next
generation to read before making the same
blunders.Where do you suggest we
leave it RAC Cirencester or the Empire
Museum in Bristol?
2) The seed
maize is very easy to replace for Mexico of Peru. Also the
genetic stuff is
way ahead and can be suited to the rainfall and soil
types.
3) The so
called expert, with years of hard won experience will be over
looked and the
wheel will have to be reinvented. The example is the palm
oil industry which
has gone to the East by default of the gross bad
management of Africa- Like
wise Rubber with Liberia having the best and
largest rubber Estate in the
world at one time which is now in ruin.
4) Keep you head up and let me know
the next as I live in an odd world of
bunny lovers who are now sending
missionaries back to India!
Yours,
Nigel
Letter
3
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Below
is the result of the feedback form. It was submitted on Saturday,
January
24, 2004 at
03:08:34
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
message:
We are terribly concerned that private property has been seized
without
compensation destroying agriculture.
You are to be encouraged in your
valuable work.There will be no solution
until all private property is
returned to its legal and rightful
owners.This is what a democracy believes
in.Until this is done Zimbabwe
will not go forward.
Thomas
Wardle(Barrister-at-law)
Nassau Bahamas
Letter
4
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Ref
OPEN LETTER FORUM NUMBER 1 - January 20th 2004
Sophia has done it again
!! You go, girl !!! Here is a woman who
can see it all so clearly. Can
someone out there please see that she's put
somewhere where her
insight/intuition will at last serve some purpose.
Whew, it makes me proud to
be of 'the weaker sex' !! With women like this
around around, who needs
anyone else!!!
Letter
5
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Letter
to JAG
With reference to the letter from " Possessor or Title
holder?"
(19/010/04)
wherein he posed the question "what is more
important? Possession or
title?", the simple answer in Zimbabwe right now
is:
1. 'Possession' if one is a squatter (fat cat or peasant)
2.
'Title' if you need a loan from a (stable) commercial bank, but;
3. If you
are 'fat cat' then 'possession' this entitles you to a
"Concessionary
Government loan" at a nominal 15% interest, payable
'whenever'. These loans
have proved an extremely useful tool for increasing
one's personal wealth, by
round tripping forex and similar schemes. Even if
one does actually decide to
pay back this 'flexible' loan, then, as the
currency depreciates rapidly,
repayments simply come out of one's pocket
money.
Very affirmative
enrichment, and very selective.
Lets be clear: the 'Fast Buck and reform
program' is fast track
wholesale nationalization of land. Title deeds become
irrelevant. Under the
current laws (several hurriedly passed retroactively to
cover some rather
large posteriors), private farmland simply disappeared and
reverted to
State
Land, which now represents about 98% of the land area of
our country.
In 'control-freak' politics and ideology, control of land is
essential.
As the State giveth, so the State taketh away. In our case:
where the
ownership of the 'State' (lock, stock and barrel) has been. For
'State'
read: 'Bob' or ('Big Chief Talking Bull', whichever you prefer) and
for
'nationalized read: 'personalized by an individual'.
Simply put:
its all woefully feudal. The place we all have been dragged
down into in the
first few years of the Brave New Millennium - by some
backward people with
similarly crude feudal instincts.
So, as title deeds (on farmland only -
for the time being) are apparently
irrelevant, so 'long leases' (25 years, 99
years etc) become all-important.
It would be extremely interesting to read
and publicize the terms and
conditions of any leases currently being issued
by the Government. If
issued in an individual's name, what happens if the
person dies, for
example. (Does his family then get kicked off the land, or
what?)
Perhaps our President's buddy 'international businessman' Mr.
Nicholas Van
Hoogstraten may be able to lend us a copy. If you don't know who
he is, I
suggest you do some research - it makes interesting reading
indeed.
ZAMBEZI
BLONDE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE SECURITY UPDATE - January 26, 2004
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
REPORT
- 23 JANUARY 2004
Last night at approximately 11.00pm the security fence
at the farm house on
Groenfontein Farm at Beatrice, the home of Paul and
Hettie Theron was cut,
burglar bars to the pantry were then cut and entry
gained to the house.
Interleading doors which were locked were broken down
and the bedroom door
was also broken down where the owners were asleep.
Beating then took place
while owners still in bed. Both are in their
seventies. Four people were
seen who then demanded money. As their lives
were obviously at risk they
parted with approximately 4 million Z$ and ten
thousand Rand (they were
going on holiday to South Africa in the next couple
of days). They were
then locked into another bedroom and the house was
ransacked. They then
came back and demanded keys for a vehicle. They were
handed keys for a
pick-up Nissan 3.0l 1997 Mirage Blue colour, registration
672-324 L.
Household property was loaded, decoder, video, cell-phone etc.
The
injuries to the couple are not too bad. Mars came out and collected
Mr
Theron who suffers from emphysema and was taken to the Avenues Clinic.
Two shots were fired from the vehicle at workers that were coming to
help,
they had been alerted by the guard. Police reaction from Beatrice was
quite
good. Head of CID and 2IC of Station attended.