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Zim Online
Thursday 04 January 2007
HARARE -
Long-suffering Zimbabweans face bleak prospects in 2007 as a spate
of price
increases and an industrial action by medical personnel appeared to
reinforce a seven-year-old economic crisis.
With just a few days into
the New Year, prices of most goods and services
have gone up in sympathy
with last week's increase in the cost of fuel.
Commuter omnibus operators
hiked transport fares by up to 60 percent, citing
the escalating cost of
fuel.
A trip to Harare's working class suburbs of Budiriro, Glen View and
Kuwadzana, which used to cost $500, now costs $800. Commuters to the
capital's
dormitory town of Chitungwiza now pay $1 000 for a single trip, up
from $700
last week.
A litre of diesel or petrol is now retailing at
$3 000, up from $2 200 in
mid-December. The price is even higher on the
black market where desperate
motorists fork out anything up to $4 000 a
litre, depending on the
availability of the commodity on the official
market.
The price of fuel tracks exchange rate movements, with the United
States
greenback yesterday exchanging hands at between 2 900 and 3 000
Zimbabwe
dollars on the unofficial but thriving parallel market. The US unit
was last
week fetching 2 700 Zimbabwe dollars on the parallel market where
the bulk
of foreign currency is traded.
The official inter-bank
exchange rate remains fixed at one greenback to 250
Zimbabwe
dollars.
The increase in the cost of fuel triggered hikes in the prices
of maize
meal, cooking oil, flour and salt.
Most shops in Harare have
also run out of the staple maize-meal while a
10-kilogramme bag of unrefined
mealie-meal was yesterday selling at $4 000
on the black market. The same
bag used to cost $1 200 two weeks ago.
Millers blamed the shortage of
maize meal on the state-run Grain Marketing
Board (GMB), which has the
monopoly on the marketing and distribution of
grain.
"We have not
received any supplies from the GMB in recent weeks. We gather
that their
stocks have run dry," said an official with the Millers
Association of
Zimbabwe, who asked not to be named.
No comment could be obtained from
the GMB yesterday.
Zimbabwe's annual maize consumption is conservatively
estimated at between
1.8 and two million tones against last season's total
production, which
independent agricultural experts say was below one million
tonnes.
Adding to the woes of Zimbabwean consumers is the decision by
vegetable oil
processors to switch production to bulk oil packaging instead
of
smaller-size containers.
This means that, besides the escalating
cost of cooking oil, consumers would
now have to contend with the fact that
smaller, cheaper bottles would soon
disappear from shop shelves as
manufacturers supply bigger containers whose
prices are not controlled by
the government.
The switch is meant to evade a government cracking down
on several
manufacturers whom it accuses of flouting price controls on most
basic
commodities in pursuit of super profits.
"We can't afford to
produce at a loss so we have to produce for big
customers such as Cairns (an
industrial food manufacturer)," said one
executive with a top oil
manufacturing company who spoke on condition he and
his company were not
named for fear of victimization by the government.
The government
gazetted price of a 750 millilitre bottle of cooking oil is
$775 but the
commodity is selling at $3 000 in the few shops with the
product.
Oil
expressers contend that a 750ml bottle should retail at $2 500 to recoup
costs in the current trading environment marked by acute foreign currency
shortages and out-of-control inflation which at 1 098.8 percent is the
highest in the world.
Besides struggling to access food, most parents
would have to contend with
the escalating cost of school fees, uniforms and
stationery.
As Zimbabwean schools open on 9 January, it will be a real
battle for
parents to balance the needs of running a home and ensuring their
children
remain in school.
Tuition fees per term for most government
day schools are likely to go up to
between $45 000 and $50 000, from around
$15 000 during the final term last
year.
Most parents would only get
to know the new fees at the start of the first
term next week after the
Ministry of Education delayed in approving
increases.
The ministry
last month gazetted fees for both private and government
schools but the
private schools won a reprieve after a protracted court
battle.
Day
government school fees were pegged by the ministry at a maximum of $96
021
and a minimum of $40 542 but schools still have to seek government
approval
for the new charges before telling parents.
Economic analysts this week
said Zimbabwe is likely to sink deeper into
crisis in 2007 warning that
Zimbabweans should brace up for further price
shocks in the first half of
the year as inflation wreaks havoc in the
southern African
country.
"It is inevitable that inflation is going to accelerate because
all the
economic fundamentals are horrendous," said Peter Robinson, an
economic
consultant at Zimconsult.
The analysts said living
conditions of poor Zimbabweans are likely to
tighten during the first
quarter of the year on the back of the free-fall of
the Zimbabwe dollar
against major currencies.
"We expect the situation to get tighter as
pressure mounts on the (Zimbabwe)
dollar until around April when the tobacco
auctions will hopefully improve
the situation on the foreign exchange
market," said an investment analyst
with a commercial bank who refused to be
named for professional reasons.
The marketing season of the
once-boisterous tobacco industry opens towards
the end of April or in early
May and usually eases pressure on the foreign
exchange market - of course
dependent on how much of the golden leaf would
be available.
The
analysts noted that Zimbabweans must also prepare to face another hike
in
healthcare costs following this week's strike by state doctors who were
pressing for a review of their allowances and working
conditions.
President Robert Mugabe's cash-strapped government will have
to hike charges
at public hospitals that service most Zimbabweans in order
to raise cash to
pay striking doctors.
Meanwhile, some critics
project that inflation will climb past the 4 000
percent mark in 2007, which
was forecasted by the International Monetary
Fund late last year and inflict
more hardships for poor Zimbabweans.
Zimbabwe has since 1999 been
grappling with an agonising economic meltdown,
critics blame on repression
and mismanagement by Mugabe, a charge the
veteran leader denies.
As a
result of a poor grain harvest, up to two million Zimbabweans are
living on
the benevolence of international food aid agencies who however
warn that
adequate future supplies are not guaranteed due to funding
shortfalls. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thursday 04 January
2007
HARARE - The government-appointed Media and Information
Commission (MIC) has
threatened to cancel accreditation for a freelance
Zimbabwean journalist
accusing him of securing the licence through
fraudulent means.
In a letter dated 14 December 2006, which was shown to
ZimOnline yesterday,
the MIC said Nunurai Jena's accreditation was issued in
error and should be
revoked.
"In terms of Section 85 (2) (a) and
Section 52 B (d) of the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act
. . . you are hereby informed of
the Media and Information Commission's
intention to delete your name from
the roll of journalists on account of the
fact that the accreditation card
you hold was issued in error or through
fraud," said the MIC.
Under the government's tough Access to Information
and Protection of Privacy
Act (AIPPA), journalists must first be registered
with the state-appointed
MIC before they can be allowed to practice their
profession.
The law also requires journalists to renew their registration
on a yearly
basis.
The MIC said Jena had failed to furnish his
photograph to the Commission
when he submitted his application forms for
registration last month.
The Commission also ordered Jena to document his
journalistic activities as
well as all "local and foreign buyers" of his
stories when he was accredited
under a provincial newspaper, Makonde Star in
2002.
"The documentation should include print-outs of the accounts into
which you
deposited your earnings from journalistic activities for the years
2005 and
2006," said the MIC.
Contacted for comment yesterday,
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ)
secretary general Foster Dongozi
condemned the MIC saying the threat to
cancel Jena's accreditation amounted
to harassment of journalists in
Zimbabwe.
"We are shocked by some of
the things that are being done by the commission
in the name of upholding
the rule of law. Instead of assisting journalists
in carrying out their
professional duties, the commission is busy
threatening journalists and
closing down newspapers," said Dongozi.
Mahoso could not be reached for
comment.
Last year, police said they were investigating Jena on
allegations of
stringing for Studio 7, a Voice of America weekly radio news
programme
broadcast targeting audiences in Zimbabwe.
President Robert
Mugabe's government, which has ruthlessly cracked down on
the media,
shutting down four independent newspapers over the past four
years, regards
Studio 7 as a hostile propaganda channel.
Journalists and human rights
activists say the Harare government, which this
week stripped newspaper
publisher Trevor Ncube of his citizenship, is
pushing to silence the few
remaining voices of dissension in the face of a
worsening economic
crisis.
The withdrawal of Ncube's citizenship is seen as the first move
to close
down his newspapers that are critical of the Harare administration
as only
citizens should own majority stake in local papers under the
government's
tough media laws. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thursday 04 January 2007
HARARE -
The British government is expected to make its position known on
whether to
continue targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe's ruling elite when
the United
Kingdom parliament resumes sitting on 8 January.
According to information
posted on the UK parliament website, the targeted
financial and travel
sanctions against Zimbabwe will be one of the main
issues on the menu in the
House of Lords.
Lord Blaker is expected to ask the British government
whether "they expect
the European Union (EU) targeted measures against
Zimbabwe to be continued
when they expire in February 2007."
The EU,
United States and other Western countries have since February 2002
maintained sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and his top officials
as punishment for allegedly stealing elections, violating human rights and
failure to uphold the rule of law.
The list of affected targeted
individuals has been progressively expanded
over the years and now covers
126 people.
Under the sanctions, affected individuals cannot travel to EU
countries,
Switzerland, the US, Australia and New Zealand unless on United
Nations
business. The Zimbabwean officials are also barred from holding bank
accounts in the Western countries and conducting personal or official
business there.
Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence
from Britain in 1980, has
however blamed the sanctions which he claims are
illegal under international
law for the deterioration in living standards of
Zimbabweans.
Lord Blaker has during the past six years led debate in the
House of Lords
over the deteriorating Zimbabwe situation.
In July
2004, he asked the British government to institute measures against
Zimbabwe
under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement between the European
Union and the
African, Caribbean and Pacific countries in connection with
corruption, the
rule of law and human rights. - ZimOnline
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
03 January
2007
Spokesmen for two rival factions of Zimbabwe's
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change said they are looking to establish
an arrangement under
which the groupings can equitably share Z$260 million
in public financing
due the party as a whole.
Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa, as leader of the house, is soon to
disburse a total of
Z$650 million to the country's political parties, some
60% of which will go
to the ruling ZANU-PF party and 40% or about Z$260
million to the
opposition.
Controversy flared last year at this time when Chinamasa
disbursed the
opposition's allocation to Welshman Ncube, formerly secretary
general of the
united MDC and then as now secretary general of the so-called
pro-senate
faction. This left the faction led by MDC founding president
Morgan
Tsvangirai empty-handed and fuming.
Chinamasa's one-sided
distribution to the pro-senate faction - whose
decision to field candidates
in the November 2005 senate election which
Tsvangirai wanted the party to
boycott - was perceived by many as a tactic
to exacerbate MDC
divisions.
But Deputy Information Secretary Abednico Bhebhe of the
pro-senate faction,
which is now identified with its president, Arthur
Mutambara, told Patience
Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the
factions could reach a deal
on fund sharing.
The secretary general of
the Tsvangirai opposition faction, Tendai Biti,
said that the two formations
are in the process of working out their
financial issues.
VOA
By Ndimyake Mwakalyelye
Washington, DC
03
January 2007
Zimbabwean journalists and media advocates have
voiced outrage at steep
increases in the fees the country's Media and
Information Commission charges
for registration, expressing concern that
the cost will further stifle
local independent media.
Under the new
fee structure, local journalists attached to a news
organization will pay
Z$25,000 or US$100 at the official exchange rate (or
closer to US$10 at the
parallel rate) to register for a year. Freelance
journalists face a Z$35,000
fee, while foreign journalists will be obliged
to pay the MIC US$1,500 for a
temporary permit.
Journalists who failed to register before expiration of
a December 31
deadline face a late fee of Z$10,000 for each day they remain
unlicensed.
The accreditation fees are imposed under the country's Access
to Information
and Protection of Privacy Act, widely seen as a tool for
curtailing press
freedoms.
Advocacy officer Abel Chikomo of the Media
Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe
called the charges ridiculous, telling
reporter Ndimyake Mwakalyelye of
VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe the fees are
simply another means to curtail the
flow of information.
Zimbabwe
Union of Journalists President Matthew Takaona said the high fees
could mean
the difference between journalists continuing to practice their
profession,
working under cover, or abandoning their calling altogether.
Reuters
Wed Jan 3, 2007 12:01 PM GMT
By MacDonald
Dzirutwe
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe enjoyed rains this week after a
two-week dry
spell but farmers said on Wednesday that hopes of a bumper
harvest could
fade after floods washed away crops in southern
areas.
Food shortages are part of a wider economic crisis in the southern
African
nation which critics largely blame on President Robert Mugabe's
policies,
including the seizure of white-owned commercial farmers to
resettle blacks.
The U.N. World Food Programme has urged the government
to ensure food
security to help ease a deep recession while the
International Monetary Fund
says Harare should prioritise food imports in
its national budget.
"First it was the dry spell in the southern and
western parts of the country
and when the rains started around the new year
this was accompanied by
flooding," Abdul Paul Nyathi, vice president of the
Zimbabwe Farmers' Union,
told Reuters.
"Farmers in these areas are
very worried, they don't know what to do next."
Farmers in southern and
western Zimbabwe had been forced to re-plant their
crops following the
two-week dry spell in most parts of the country.
Agriculture is the
backbone of the country's economy and was once the top
foreign-currency
earner. It accounts for 18.5 percent of gross domestic
product and anchors
the cattle, timber, grain and horticulture sectors.
But critics say
blacks who benefited from the land reform programme have
been largely
ill-equipped and lack enough capital to fully utilise the land,
leaving
Zimbabwe -- once southern Africa's bread-basket -- struggling to
feed
itself.
The government says it has contracted suppliers to import 565,000
tonnes of
maize next year from South Africa and Zambia to boost
stocks.
Industry officials said while the availability of seed for the
staple maize
crop had improved, farmers were worried by shortages of
fertiliser, fuel,
chemicals and equipment.
But Lands and Agriculture
Minister Joseph Made has remained optimistic,
telling state television that
farmers still had up to January 15 to plant
the staple maize crop. Critics
disagreed, saying the country would face food
shortages.
"Obviously
because of poor weather and government's own failure to properly
plan, we
will see the country failing to achieve the bumper harvest," said
Renson
Gasela, the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change secretary
for
agriculture.
"What the government should be doing right now is to be
planning to import
more maize to avert shortages," he added.
Zimbabwe
is battling a deep recession marked by world record inflation of
1,070.2
percent, unemployment of 80 percent and shortages of foreign
currency, fuel
and food.
Mugabe argues that land seizures were necessary to redress
colonial
imbalances, which left 70 percent of Zimbabwe's best land in the
hands of a
small number of white commercial farmers.
Christopher Thompson,
Harare
Wednesday January 3, 2007
Guardian
Unlimited
President Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe, which
has mounted a six-year
campaign to seize white-owned farms, is poised to
allow hundreds of white
farmers to return to their land as the country faces
starvation and economic
collapse.
"There could be some 300 whites back on
farms by the end of next year," Sam
Moyo, a government land adviser, told
the Guardian. "Most of them will be
running commercial farms."
Since
November, 19 white farmers who lost ownership of their land have been
granted 99-year, government-backed leases on resettled farms in a
spectacular U-turn by Mr Mugabe.
On a commercial farm lying
off a clay-dirt road just outside the town of
Kadoma, 74 miles from the
capital, Harare, Jim Boethe described how he had
been invited back to his
land.
"When land-reform started we had nearly 1,000 hectares growing maize,"
he
said. "It was divided up [by the government] and now we only have 100.
But
we are happy to be back - we applied for the lease and are waiting for
it to
be signed."
In July 2005 Mr Mugabe declared that his land
reform policy would be
complete only when there was "not a single white on
the farms". But a
contracting economy, hyperinflation touching 1,100% and
food shortages have
forced the authorities to allow some interested whites
to return.
"We had to demonstrate to the government that we were going to
be productive
... growing food for local markets and not just for export. We
grow maize,
sweet potatoes and tomatoes and export our paprika," Mr Boethe
explained.
The land minister, Flora Buka, said the government had
received more than
200 applications so far from whites to take up farming
again. There are only
about 600 white farmers left in Zimbabwe, down from
4,500 six years ago.
After Mr Mugabe was defeated in a referendum on
Zimbabwe's constitution in
1999, the government decided to "fast-track" land
reform in order to win
over a hostile electorate. The process resulted in
farm seizures by
supporters of the ruling Zanu-PF party, spearheaded by
landless veterans of
the country's war for independence.
The
UN-funded World Food Programme has said that 2 million Zimbabweans will
need
food aid in the next six months despite improved agricultural output
last
season.
But the welcoming back of white farmers may be too little too
late.
"We know other farmers that have gone elsewhere - Australia, South
Africa,
even Nigeria. We looked at a farm in neighbouring Zambia too, just
to keep
our options open," said Mr Boethe. "People have very little foreign
exchange
to buy inputs now - so a lot of the land is just
idle."
Critics say the new 99-year leases won't do much to boost
productivity and,
given recent farm appropriations by government, farmers
will be reluctant to
invest.
The government is more bullish, arguing
that now land reform has been
consolidated - with some 150,000 people
resettled on to farms, according to
official figures - yields will begin to
increase.
But the move comes amid deepening crisis in the country, with
Mr Mugabe
having announced plans to "harmonise" presidential elections -
scheduled for
2008 - with the parliamentary poll in 2010.
The
government says the plan will save money, but critics say it is the
first
move towards prolonging Mr Mugabe's rule indefinitely. These fears
were
fuelled when the land minister, Didymus Mutasa, recently suggested Mr
Mugabe
should be made president for life.
The proposal has infuriated Zanu
moderates, who were hoping Mr Mugabe would
retire and give a new government
a chance to rebuild bridges with western
donors who have suspended
aid.
The proposal has also inflamed a succession struggle after Mr
Mugabe's
decision in 2004 to appoint Joyce Mujuru, a relative political
lightweight,
as his deputy - a post seen as a stepping stone for the top
job. Ms Mujuru,
who owns several farms, is competing with the rural housing
minister,
Emmerson Mnangagwa, for Mr Mugabe's blessing.
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Click HERE for first
Hot Seat interview with Jonathan Moyo on the media
Violet: On the programme Hot Seat we bring you a
teleconference with foreign correspondent Peta Thornycroft (pictured on the
right) and Independent MP and former Information Minister Professor Jonathan
Moyo (on the left). Today, we are discussing the issue of the media situation in
Zimbabwe , we will also take a look at how the draconian legislation, largely
attributed to Professor Jonathan Moyo has had a negative impact on the media
situation in Zimbabwe . I first asked Peta Thornycroft why the Zimbabwe story
has gone flat in the international media.
Peta: Because people are expecting change. Journalists write about change OK, and Zimbabwe has great opposition in that story. Just think; if you actually go back and you think of it that in September, 9/11 2001, that happened sort of a year or just two years after the MDC was formed, it had to contend with that. But, because people thought change was coming, because there was violence, because there was visual on the television screens, it became a big story - it was a world story. There are virtually no visuals now. There are no television crews covering this story. And, while I understand this from the international news point of view; I understand why they are not covering it and I don’t argue with it because there is no hard news.
I am very critical of SABC TV because it’s on their background, they had crooked coverage, sorry, unbalanced coverage, I thought in the 20002 Presidential Elections and since then they are hardly ever there. They have a local stringer. They will send a whole team, a whole crew to Equador, to Venezuala, they will spend a great deal of money, and television costs a great deal of money, to all sorts of places in the world, but in their next door, they won’t go and I accept it is hard for journalists to cover Zimbabwe thanks to Jonathan’s legislation. We find it very difficult.
Those of us who have survived; without accreditation we’ve got canny, we’re careful, but we don’t take our cameras and the moving camera’s when they come in, they do occasionally come in from very brave people, they have to skirt around, and of course, we don’t get access to Zanu PF. So, to be balanced in a story is extremely difficult. So it’s too difficult for journalists to go into Zimbabwe because of the fear of getting arrested.
And the second point is change is not happening so there’s no hard news and it’s very hard to do the humanitarian stories there without them being extremely repetitive.
Violet : But you know some will still ask why it’s hard to get the visuals, you know out there when there are still a few foreign correspondents in Zimbabwe. Thousands are starving, there is political unrest. How come Zimbabwe is no longer what they would describe or others would say, a ‘sexy’ story when the statistics on the ground demand that it should be covered?
Peta: I think that the Western Foreign press has done those stories. I can think of my colleagues who have repeatedly; once every six weeks or so, or say the New York Times have sneaked into the country and done those stories, I do think the Western press – you can’t continue writing the same story even if the characters change because people, the readers, who you have to think about, get bored, they’ve read that before.
What I am absolutely shocked about is that SABC, who can get accreditation and will not therefore be arrested when they take out their camera, SABC TV I’m saying, do not go in there.
I think that despite everything, the Western press has really tried on the humanitarian stories, but, Violet, you can’t take out a camera in Harare unless you are behind closed doors. You can’t do it! You will have somebody from the CIO or an informer who wants to make a bit of money that afternoon who is going to phone his superior and the next thing is you are done and so it is extremely hard to cover it. And, the visuals are important, the words are fine but, you know, how do people read story? They look at the headline first and then they look at the picture. The picture is the second most important thing and the words, I’m afraid, come last.
So television is absolutely vital. It’s the same with Radio. Radio can do so much but without the visuals the story doesn’t happen. And, I’m afraid to say until there is news, i.e. change, whatever that change may be, but change that can challenge what’s happening in Baghdad, yesterday what’s happening with Hamas, what’s happening with the spy, the dead spy in London, what’s happening in Afghanistan, what’s happening in Somalia or Darfur, Zimbabwe is going to come short. But, you know, the ones who really should be doing it are the Region, and they don’t.
Violet: And Professor Moyo, Peta said this is thanks to your legislation. Now as the former Information Minister do you agree that you were responsible for the creation of media controls that have made work for journalists very difficult?
Jonathan: I don’t think its media control that determines the story. What we have here is a story that was over ‘sexed- up’, it has lost sex appeal and other things are happening elsewhere and there’s no interest. But, if you look at what is happening today, including this discussion, as the succession of Mugabe becomes an everyday issue in serious ways, and as that generates interest, activity and even opposition from within ZANU PF, you will see the story coming back to international screens and front pages. Just today, the Annual Conference is one of the headline items on BBC International Television. I think it’s because the actors on the ground, the situation, you know, killed the story. You do not get a story because of rules; whether you can or cannot carry a camera and so forth. I don’t think it is true even though I know that the law in question does not prevent anyone from doing that. But, I also know that the implementation of these laws has taken on a life of its own and people; the Mahoso’s of this world; are making rules under the cover of the legislation on a daily basis.
But, the bottom line is it’s the politics of the country that determines whether there is a story or not. How can there be a story when the opposition is dead and is doing nothing? I mean is that story in itself an exciting story? If the politics of the country change for the better, and I think this is what Peta was also saying, and, on that, I agree with her, unless there is a new dramatic development there is no reason to expect a story because people lose interest.
Not only the international media. I think what is actually much more instructive about your question, if you look at it much more critically, is that you will find it’s not just about the media losing interest in the Zimbabwean story. Many activists have lost interest in their own participation. Many people who used to even fund the Opposition are no longer doing that and they think this is a hopeless cause, they are looking for something else to happen. And yes, we have seen elsewhere in history around the world that something does eventually happen and the story comes up again.
Violet: But still do you agree that you did an effective job because if we were to look at the domestic coverage of the story there is no interest because journalists are not able to film or to report freely even to ensure that the general public would get informed?
Jonathan: No, but I think if you are going to make that kind of an argument, you should let me, or draw my attention to a particular regulation which says they must not do that. I don’t know of anything in the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy which says people must not carry cameras and they should not carry note books or pens -
Peta : Can I interrupt?
Jonathan: or report freely.
Peta : Can I interrupt?
Violet: Sure Peta.
Peta: I have applied for accreditation, I can’t remember if it’s for four or five years. I apply, I pay my fifty dollars, I fill in my forms at Mahoso’s office. He writes me a funny letter once a year but I never get accreditation. And we are in the majority of those left. The Wire Services, two of the Wire Services have accreditation. But, the hard news daily sloggers amongst us don’t have accreditation. Every time I go out of town, and I go out of town a lot, I am terrified that someone out there from the CIO, as I said, I agree, this isn’t your law, but that is the climate that has been created. I can’t get accreditation and I’ve never been able to get accreditation.
I walked into Mozambique in October and went into the Frelimo Congress, they didn’t even ask me for a letter from my employer. They just took my picture, put a card around my neck and I was accredited. It is incredible you know when we have somebody like Nicholas Van Hoogstraten, a convicted criminal with an appalling reputation who has to arrange for accreditation for Channel Four to come to Zimbabwe.
Why were Channel Four coming under cover to do a story that they hadn’t declared? They are coming because it’s impossible to work legally in Zimbabwe without attracting attention. And, the law was changed, and I’ve heard your arguments Jonathan and we’ve had many discussions on this. But, a climate was created where it became virtually impossible unless you’re ingenious and you’ve got nerves of steel and a determination to carry on. I would have left Zimbabwe years ago. I felt an obligation as a Zimbabwe citizen to go and cover the story because I felt it was my duty to do so.
And, that’s not how journalism works. When you work like that you make mistakes, you certainly don’t get balance from Zanu PF. You phone up Zanu PF; in fact I have never yet done a story, in the five and a half years I have covered this time round, without phoning somebody from Zanu PF looking for a comment. We’ve all made mistakes because of that situation; no question we’ve made mistakes. And I’m not sure it was a ‘sexed-up’ story in the beginning. I think in 2000, I wasn’t here in 2000, but a man with Mugabe’s reputation and longevity in power and up comes this pip-squeak Opposition and does so incredibly well, it’s that news, news, it’s about change. I think it was a real story.
Violet: Are you still in Zimbabwe Peta?
Peta: I’m in Johannesburg Violet. I’ve been more and more out of Harare over the last year and I’ve been travelling in the Region and I will be more and more out of Zimbabwe unless there is change because actually I can’t make a living in Zimbabwe.
Violet: And
how many Foreign Correspondents are left in Zimbabwe ?
Peta: You know I’m
not going to say. You know what, I don’t want to name anyone or count anything;
you know who the accredited guys are. There are two, there are certainly two
wire services that are accredited and SABC TV is accredited and Al Jazeera are
accredited, the Chinese are accredited and there’s a couple of others who are
quite surprised they are accredited but they don’t, they are not very much in
the front line.
There’s others who like me, carry on, but it’s really hard to do and I know perfectly well because I’ve been with enough foreign journalists who’ve sneaked across the border and I’ve seen them operating. They are terrified of being in Zimbabwe , terrified!
Violet: Now Professor Moyo, as Peta says, this is the climate that was created when you were Information Minister. Now, how would you suggest a way out of this mess?
Jonathan: I unfortunately I couldn’t hear much of what Peta was saying. The line is not good at all. What I would say is that I know there have been controversial applications of the law and I know that even if the law was not there, the particular one, the situation would still be like this, probably even worse.
Peta: I agree.
Jonathan: But I also know that there’s something that has happened about the story itself which has created problems. I have some friends or colleagues, people I know, who work for various international news organisations who tell me that when they file stories on Zimbabwe these days they cannot be certain that they will be published or used by the broadcasters. And, when I ask them why, it is because generally Zimbabwe is not an important story any more. I am not too sure what really the actual reason for that is but I am aware that it doesn’t have as much appeal or interest as it did a few years ago. But you ask about the way forward. I think really the way forward will be found out of these developments that are the subject of our discussion today. We are finally beginning to see the sort of things we should have seen long time ago. Namely, some positive reaction by Zanu PF people.
In a country like ours it is impossible to move forward when leaders in the majority party or ruling party , when members of that party act like there is no wrong that is going on around them. But, when they begin to ask fundamental questions about the state of the economy, the state of the country, and, more importantly, the state of their party, whether their party follows it’s own rules, its own constitution, whether their own party is well led. When they begin to ask those questions you see movement and you begin to see new alliances, new progressive linkages in society and the story becomes a substantive story as well.
And, I believe that after taking Zanu PF support for granted for some 26 years, finally, Mugabe has his back against the wall from his own party. And, I believe 2007 is going to be a watershed year. And I am almost certain that if Mugabe insists on his plan to merely use an amendment of the Constitution or a vote of Parliament to extend his rule, he is going to be opposed in the first instance by his own party, and he will not get away with it. And, that will open new doors including for media space in Zimbabwe.
Peta: Good.
Violet: And Professor Moyo, before I go to Peta, is it not certain though that the Central Committee will adopt this proposal and that also once it gets to Parliament because ZANU PF is in the majority in Parliament, they will amend the Constitution. Is that not a given?
Jonathan: No, it’s not a given, not at all. It used to be. It is not going to be. Remember that this particular proposal went through the Politburo on the 12 th of December and on the 13 th of December it went to the Central Committee, and on the 14 th of December it went to the National Conference and without any success. And, to now expect it to succeed after going through Provinces then back to the Central Committee is an expensive proposition. And, I think that it’s important for Zimbabweans to understand the dynamics and structures of Zanu PF that is part of the story.
And, in this case, we can see clearly something new developing. Mugabe and his securocrats would have wanted this proposal to be passed as a resolution yesterday. They wanted to pass it just as a resolution and then that resolution would now be sent to the appropriate government organs for implementation. They did not get that. There is a story. But, I tell you, watch how this story is going to be told by the media. Many will ignore it, perhaps because they don’t understand what’s going on or because they are no longer interested in Zimbabwean stories, and others are going to distort it. And yet, you have something really, really important. How else do you expect those Zanu PF people who succeeded in resisting this yesterday to be encouraged if the media is not going to play it’s role?
So, I do expect the Central Committee to be fortified and resist it as long as the content remains the same. But, more significantly, I am almost certain that for the first time this kind of proposal which would be intended to extend Mugabe’s Executive Presidency by another two years outside the popular will of the people, will not see the light of day in Parliament and that might be the graveyard of this proposal. It simply cannot pass in Parliament as long as it is understood for what it is namely, a proposal to extend his rule outside the democratic process as opposed to a proposal to harmonise Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government elections. I am sure that both the Zanu PF Central Committee and the Parliament of Zimbabwe would not entertain this, especially because it is clear to everyone now that there will not be any kind of economic recovery. And, on the economic front, people are suffering and that is why the economy has emerged as the largest opposition to this Government.
People are suffering and that is not a matter of mere politicking, it’s a reality. Many Zimbabweans today go to bed without having a single decent meal and there is no sign that anyone who is in charge of the affairs of this country is worried about that. When they met in Goromonzi they did not show any concern, they just indulged in their own celebrations; over eighty beasts slaughtered and so forth.
But, there was no systematic discussion of the state of this economy and any indication that people understand what needs to be done. And, one of the things that clearly needs to be done, and this is without prejudice to Mugabe or anyone who supports him, but clearly, the turnaround of this country is impossible as long as Mugabe remains in Office and we would expect a responsible Ruling Party to recognise that.
And, I am convinced that
there are growing numbers of people in Zanu PF who are finally coming home to
this realisation and that’s why I am sure, this, for the first time, is exactly
the kind of proposal that cannot pass the Central Committee or certainly not
Parliament. Certainly not Parliament. Mugabe is going to have in his hands a
royal battle like he has never seen before if he persists. This is absolutely
and utterly self destructive, I can assure you about that.
Violet: And Peta
your final thoughts about this? Is this going to be self-destructive as
Professor Moyo believes?
Peta: Oh I hope he’s right. (Laughs) I just hope Jonathan’s right. He knows far more about Zanu PF then I will ever know because he was part of it and I listen to him and I think it sounds so logical. I hope he’s right but Zanu PF doesn’t always act in its own best interest. If it hadn’t done Murambatsvina last year they would probably all be going on holiday to Spain and Portugal right now because they would have had travel sanctions lifted.
So, I sometimes wonder about the movers and shakers in Zanu PF if they are ever able to make wise decisions. We wouldn’t be having to renew Sanctions, it would be a - the European Union wouldn’t have a problem in February, it would just drop them if it wasn’t for Murambatsvina. So I just hope Jonathan’s right, that’s all, so that the suffering can end.
Violet: But I’m sure for many it’s difficult to comprehend what’s happening in Zanu PF because you keep hearing that eight out of ten Provinces support Mugabe’s plans?
Peta : That’s because it’s not properly reported and I have to say this. This is a domestic story of massive importance. This is a domestic story. In fact I’ve written the story three times already for the foreign press and I’m quite sure …
Jonathan: I just have to point out that while I hear the questions and the doubt and I respect that, but, in this particular instance, please note that despite the eight provinces having moved the recommendation and brought it to the National Conference, the more significant point is that the Conference did not formally endorse that resolution. And, that is the first time we see this development within Zanu PF. Let us not downplay or underestimate the significance of that.
Peta: No, no, no. No, Jonathan I also think that the domestic press did not properly report …
Jonathan: It’s true
Peta: The eight provinces decision which was about harmonisation rather than about extending his term of office.
Jonathan : It’s true, Ya
Peta: So what I am saying to you is that from inside Zimbabwe, you know, you’ve got one newspaper, you’ve got the Independent - you’ve got two newspapers, and the Standard and then you’ve got a political pamphlet called The Zimbabwean.
And, clearly the Independent has really tried terribly hard and done extremely well over the exposé but there’s other stories, and you had a story published this week; a piece of analysis. But, you know what, that’s read by a few people in Harare mostly. 99% of people cannot afford to read the Independent, never see it. They are dependent, if they’ve got money for batteries for their radios to listen to ZBC.
Jonathan: Ya.
Peta: Violet should be airing this programme on ZBC, we should all be talking on ZBC not talking to London.
Jonathan: Oh no that cannot be denied, indeed that is the tragedy of our country and I know that’s what then causes Violet to say but we hold you responsible for it. Well, I wish really I had created a situation where what Peta is talking about now was possible because in the absence of vibrant discussion fora of the public nature, radio, television, newspapers, then the story will be buried and there will be mis-representation, distortions and outright omissions and that’s one thing which is really, really odd about Zimbabwe.
And that’s one thing about which it is immensely difficult to do anything and I suppose until we have some fundamental change of the political system we will remain with these constraints where here we are talking to Violet who is far away and the product is broadcast on Short Wave Radio, which the State is also jamming, and many people don’t get access to.
Violet: The discussion with Professor Jonathan Moyo and Peta Thornycroft will conclude next Tuesday.
Audio interview can be heard on SW Radio Africa’s Hot Seat programme. Comments and feedback can be emailed to violet@swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
3 January 2007
It has now emerged that elections held last
week that retained Peter
Chingoka as board chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket were
held without the
knowledge of most cricket stakeholders in the
country.
Highfields based Takashinga cricket club chairman Elvis
Sembezeya disclosed
on Wednesday that they were kept in the dark over the
date and venue of the
elections. A special general meeting was held in
Harare last week Friday
where a 13-member board was elected.
A press
statement released by the Zimbabwe Cricket said the provincial
associations
on the basis of their specialist skills and experience elected
six of the
directors. These are Peter Chingoka, Wilson Manase, Sylvester
Matshaka,
Charles Maunze and Tavengwa Mukuhlani and Maureen Kuchocha.
The other
provincial chairpersons from among themselves elected seven board
members.
They are Cyprian Mandenge, Arthur Maphosa, Baureni Matemai, Philip
Matiza,
Josphat Mbanda, Brian Mugota and Lavert
Zungunde. Afterwards, the new board
in turn elected Chingoka as Chairman and
Mukuhlani as his deputy.
But
most cricket stakeholders are now questioning the legality of those
elections after being left out of the voting process. Sembezeya said
information he has gathered so far, indicates that the majority of club
representatives were not made aware of the date, time and venue of the
elections.
'To make matters worse, those elected to the new board are
not even known in
the fraternity. It just goes to show how powerful people
in cricket are
manipulating the system to hang on to power,' Sembezeya
said.
Meanwhile ZimOnline reported Wednesday that some stakeholders of
the game
might resort to the courts to have last week's elections
overturned.
The stakeholders said the electoral process was deeply flawed and
want them
held again. The Chingoka led board is expected to be in office for
the next
four years.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe
news
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
03 January 2007
The consensus from those on the ground in
Zimbabwe is that patients have
become more desperate as the strike by junior
doctors continues without a
solution in sight. The industrial action by
doctors who are responsible for
most of the work at state hospitals has been
on for about 2 weeks now as
they protest against poor wages and working
conditions. There are reports
that senior doctors joined their junior
colleagues last week in solidarity,
but since communication networks have
been extremely overloaded and
difficult in Zimbabwe, we were unable to reach
the proper authorities to
confirm this.
We did manage to reach Dr.
Douglas Gwatidzo, chairperson of the Zimbabwe
Association of Doctors for
Human Rights (ZADHR), and he confirmed that
communication between the junior
doctors themselves and the government has
been difficult. Regarding the
strike he said there was a marked increase in
the number of patients
visiting private clinics and they are all complaining
that no doctors were
working at the state run facilities. Gwatidzo said:
"From where I work which
is the private sector we have seen patients that
are coming in from that
side confirming that there is nothing going on and
that there are no doctors
working."
Meanwhile reports of desperate suffering patients continue to
surface in
Zimbabwe's media outlets. The Zim Online news site reported
Wednesday that a
pregnant mother and the unborn baby died after her placenta
burst. The story
also revealed another desperate scenario in which a woman
unable to
withstand labour pains due to lack of medical attention from
nurses on duty,
bolted out naked from a maternity ward at Lady Rodwell
Maternity in
Bulawayo.
The lack of adequate facilities and medication
have played a major role in
the striking doctors' demands. The doctors are
asking for a basic salary of
Z$5 million. Currently they earn Z$56 800 a
month plus $57 000 in housing,
transport and general allowances. And there
is also the issue of broken
promises made in July by the Ministry of Health.
The doctors were promised
better working conditions and a review of their
salaries. This never
happened. Dr. Gwatidzo said there has been no official
communication to them
from the government.
According to a VOA Studio
7 news report, a representative of the striking
doctors said the health
minister Dr David Parirenyatwa called off a meeting
scheduled for Tuesday
"telling the doctors he would only negotiate with them
once they had
returned to work." He also allegedly warned them his ministry
would take
"drastic " measures against them if they did not end the strike.
We will
continue to seek information from both sides in this critical
situation.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
By Violet Gonda
3 January
2007
The price of baker's flour is reported to have gone up by more than
four
times Wednesday, adding more misery to desperate Zimbabweans who were
bombarded with price hikes over the festive holidays. A 50kg bag for bakers
went up from Z$7 500 to Z$30 517. And it is feared the price of bread will
go up to more than $1200 a loaf, up from Z$850 - the official price granted
to the bakers by the government.
Bulawayo retailer Eddie Cross said;
"The new bread price announced on the 22
December by government was based on
the old price. This completely negates
the price increase and puts bakers
back to where they were before the
increase - in a loss position if they
manufacture and sell bread at the
controlled prices."
There has been
a spate of huge increases that have seen sugar prices doubled
although the
commodity is said to be out of supply. Again this will have a
ripple effect
that will see the costs of products that use sugar as a basic
ingredient,
like jam and cool drinks, skyrocket.
There has also been a serious
shortage of mealie meal. Cross said there were
near riots in Bulawayo on
Wednesday as major wholesalers, including the
Grain Marketing Board, failed
to supply the commodity.
The businessman said yeast prices, the price of
fats and oils have also
risen dramatically as has the cost of packaging and
energy. Fuel is now
selling for over Z$3 000 a litre, automatically doubling
bus fares.
Many companies are being forced to raise prices due to lack of
foreign
currency, the money needed to buy spare parts and raw materials. The
controlled price, which the retailers are allowed to charge customers, is
below the cost of production.
The private sector sees this as a
crisis created by the government, which is
forcing them to reduce retail
prices but failing to address the
manufacturing costs and the price of raw
materials.
The cost of living is constantly rising but the average wage
of the ordinary
worker does not seem to rise with it. The minimum wage for
industry workers
is said to be Z$65 000, with some sectors as low as Z$45
000. And in rural
areas the minimum wage in agriculture is reported to be
around Z$10 000
(about US$2.50).
Analysts say the only way Zimbabwe
can progress is if there is general
political reform and if the government
seeks some form of democratic
legitimacy.
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
New Zimbabwe
By
Admore Tshuma
Last updated: 01/03/2007 23:42:46
WIDESPREAD abuses of human
rights especially those involving systematic
killings, torture and
disappearances leave behind a powerful legacy which
cannot be addressed by
the passage of time as insinuated this week by
Zimbabwe's state weekly
newspaper, the Sunday Mail (read report).
The only way forward for a country
such as Zimbabwe with a history full of
victims, perpetrators, secretly
buried bodies, pervasive fear and official
denial of massacres even by
national newspapers such as the Mail, is to set
up a truth commission as
soon as the dictator goes in order to unite a
hugely divided
society.
My question to the Sunday Mail and those behind this sad but
shallow story
is: can a society build a democratic future on a foundation of
blind,
denied, or forgotten history? What the Sunday Mail must know is that
from
1948, virtually every country emerging from a dark past has directly
confronted such issues in the form of truth commissions.
The damage
caused by Mugabe's government on civilians goes far beyond the
immediate
pain of loss. Where there was torture, there are walking, wounded
victims
who can never identify themselves as part of the nation as they feel
victims
of the same nation they want to belong to.
Where there were systematic
killings, or wholesale massacres such as those
of the 5 Brigade in
Matabeleland, there are orphans and witnesses to the
carnage, and other
family members too terrified to fully grieve. Where there
are persons who
disappeared, kidnapped by the 5 Brigade or CIOs without a
trace, there are
loved ones desperate for information.
Where there are years of unspoken
pain and enforced silence (as what the
Sunday Mail would want), there is
often a pervasive, debilitating fear. I
can predict that as soon as Robert
Mugabe finally goes there will be a need
for a Truth Commission for people
to be able to once again trust the
government, the police, and the army,
including the secret service. That
need is inevitable, and I am sure whoever
takes over from Mugabe whether
Zanu PF, MDC, NDA or NGA will make Mugabe and
his gang legally accountable
for their sins just as what happened to Saddam
Hussein in Iraq. That way, a
new Zimbabwe will emerge.
Whoever takes
the presidential position, whether Zanu PF or MDC will need to
recreate a
habitable space of national peace, build some form of
reconciliation between
former enemies, and secure these events in the past.
I must say I was
particularly horrified by the Sunday Mail story which seeks
to deny the
horrors suffered by people of Matabeland in the hands of the
Mugabe's
notorious 5 Brigade.
People who think the 5 brigade issue should be
consigned to history are
probably those who know that they were accomplices
to the massacres in many
ways.
Evidence in countries that have
experienced similar gross violations of
human rights show that the best way
to close the wounds is to open them up
again, clean them out in order to
close them permanently.
The trouble with the 5 Brigade massacres is that
they were carried out with
a flagrant disregard of the Geneva Conventions of
1948 and 1949. It is no
exaggeration to say the conventions were intended to
establish, even in war,
a firebreak between civilisation and barbarism. The
Genocide Convention of
1948 gave legal meaning and force to the worst crime
in the lexicon. The
1949 Geneva Conventions codified and advanced the rules
governing the
deployment of an army within a state or outside the state
differentiating
legal conduct from illegal and criminal acts in
war.
The same Additional Protocols of 1977 clearly state that if a
government
deploys an army to a troubled area. and that army happens to
target
non-combatants, the head of state and those who assisted in the
deployment
of the army have committed a crime against humanity.
The
Geneva Conventions, in my view, are among the great achievements of
civilisations which separated the modern human race from pre-modern
society.
In reference to Zimbabwe, I am sure that the victims of the 5
Brigade
massacres are prepared to forgive and move forward only if the
perpetrators
admitted the full truth on what happened in
Matabeleland.
On this note, I propose the establishment of a Truth and
Reconciliation
Commission which should be led by religious leaders. The
Sunday Mail story
smacks of those many stories penned by Mugabe's Secretary
George Charamba
and then, as usual, bulldozed into Mail's pages.
As a
scholar of transitional justice, I have travelled to South Africa, El
Salvador, Rwanda, Chile and Argentina to try and understand how a country
and its people might recover from a period of widespread atrocities such as
those of the Gukurahundi in Matabeleland.
I found that in Argentina
they tried to prosecute only military leaders
equivalent to Perence Shiri,
in Chile they tried to cover up, it was the
same thing with El Salvador -
but South Africa got it right because the
massacres were revisited,
perpetrators and victims faced each other in
public hearings.
Up to
21 000 victims of human rights violations in South Africa testified
before
the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Because of that, there is
scientific evidence to prove that South Africa is less divided today that it
was before independence in 1994. The first ever scientific research carried
out by Prof James L Gibson of Harvard University concluded recently that 42
percent of South Africans, black, white, Indian, coloured etc have
reconciled as a result of the TRC's activities.
Admore Tshuma is a
former Chronicle Chief reporter and is now reading for a
PhD degree at the
University of Bristol, UK, specialising in Poverty, Social
Justice and Human
Rights Law. He can be contacted on atshuma@hotmail.com
New Zimbabwe
By
Lebo Nkatazo
Last updated: 01/04/2007 04:31:24
ZIMBABWE'S ruling Zanu PF
has said the split in the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
has not benefited it in terms of membership as it
has seen its members
defecting to the opposition under the period, an
internal party report
reveals.
The revelations are contained in a confidential report by the
party's
central committee shown to senior party leaders, including President
Robert
Mugabe, at the party's conference in Goromonzi last month.
"It
is noteworthy that the split in the MDC did not benefit the ruling party
in
terms of membership inflows but only diluted the threat that a united MDC
had hitherto caused. The split has resulted in a situation where the two
factions spend a considerable time fighting each other," the central
committee said in the report seen by New Zimbabwe.com Wednesday.
The
report said Zanu PF had lost members to the MDC and United People's
Party
particularly in Masvingo province.
The MDC split into two factions in
October 2005 following policy differences
among senior party leaders.
Attempts at reconciliation have failed.
The opposition party, once seen
as the biggest challenge to Robert Mugabe's
27-year-rule is now seen as
weak, with Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur
Mutambara both pushing for
recognition as the legitimate leaders of the
party.
The Zanu PF
report added that disciplinary action would be taken against
officials who
had allegedly campaigned for the opposition, especially in
Masvingo.
The report said: "The province advised that several Zanu PF
members were
crossing over to the UPP as the election campaign for Rural
District
Councils escalated and they promised to update their list..as it
was
increasing each time."
Singled for disciplinary action in the
report is former Masvingo governor
Josiah Hungwe and Isaiah Shumba, both
accused of campaigning for the
opposition. Hungwe was accused of being the
leader of the "Bhora Mudondo
campaign."
The report concludes: "The
split in the opposition threw the regime change
agenda into disarray but it
did not destroy it altogether. The split
nonetheless, affords Zanu PF the
opportunity restructure, rebrand and recast
itself as the party of choice in
Zimbabwe."
President Robert Mugabe is seen staying on in power for two
more years
beyond 2008 when his term expires after his party published
proposals to
synchronise the Presidential and Parliamentary elections due in
2010.
However, that plan is set to face stiff resistance from opposition
MPs and
other Zanu PF officials who are said to be running a 'Stop Mugabe
Campaign'.
The plan is to recruit at least nine rebel MPs from the
government benches
to block a constitutional amendment that will allow
Mugabe to extend his
term.
New York Times
Letter
Published:
January 3, 2007
To the Editor:
I commend your Dec. 9 editorial "The
Agonies of Zimbabwe," which cited
Robert Mugabe's misrule as responsible for
the suffering of the Zimbabwe
people. The regime has impoverished
Zimbabweans and suppressed their
democratic aspirations.
I wish to
clarify the nature of United States sanctions. They are not aimed
at the
general economy, but are targeted at the members of the Mugabe
government
and others who have undermined the democratic processes.
American
companies are free to do business with Zimbabwe companies not
connected with
government officials and others who have crippled the country's
democracy.
United States policy helps shield the Zimbabwe people by offering
humanitarian aid. Over the last four years, we have provided nearly $350
million in food assistance and help combating H.I.V./AIDS.
Zimbabwe's
plight is desperate, and the United States is committed to
helping this
country regain what it has lost. We look forward to helping a
post-Mugabe
government take up the reforms that are needed to put it back on
the path to
a free-market democracy.
Jendayi E. Frazer
Washington, Dec. 20,
2006
The writer is the assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau
of
African Affairs.
3 January 2007
Fellow
Zimbabweans, I wish to recognise the difficulties before you in the
last few
days of 2006 and into the New Year. I note that 2007 began on an
even
harsher scale as we face rising prices of basic commodities, escalating
transport costs and huge bills for school fees. My heart goes to those
families still in grief over the loss of loved ones because of the collapse
of our health delivery system and the shortage of food and live-saving HIV
drugs.
Special mention must go to our embattled business community,
harassed and
arrested almost daily for trying to save their beleaguered
investments and
entrepreneurial operations. The year ahead of us presents
even greater
challenges to pensioners, small scale miners and cross-border
traders as
they grapple with the rising cost of living in a
hyper-inflationary
environment.
Our transition to a New Zimbabwe has
been long and hard. We have come a long
way. We are encouraged by your
determination and unwavering stance against
this dictatorship. Robert Mugabe
and Zanu PF are on the verge of collapse.
Recent developments in that party
show a growing disenchantment with the
ruling elite. Within Zanu PF, a
significant body of opinion today is in
favour of a solution to the national
crisis. I thank you for weakening the
nerve centre of the dictatorship
through your refusal to legitimize the
plunder of our national resources and
rapacious acts of misrule. Things have
begun to fall apart.
We are
ready to co-operate and work with committed patriots who see sense in
what
we seek to achieve. We need to realign our positions and embrace those
willing to join hands with us and Save Zimbabwe from further damage. Mugabe
and Zanu PF must be stopped from continuously abusing well-meaning
Zimbabweans, regardless of their political persuasion, whose patriotic
desire is to chart an all inclusive way forward.
The shameful attack
on the home and family of constitutional expert and
activist, Dr Lovemore
Madhuku is a symptom of the general panic within the
establishment over a
definite shift towards a national consensus on Zimbabwe's
future. Robert
Mugabe and some elements in Zanu PF are terrified about
tomorrow. They are
trying to find an escape route out of a house already on
fire. They shall
target progressive groups and individuals to divert
attention and to
frustrate and intimidate them away from making a
contribution to the
realization of a New Zimbabwe and a new society. The
regime shall employ
desperate tactics to silence those from within its ranks
who are against
Mugabe's extension of his rule to 2010. The regime shall
confront all of us
in the forlorn hope of imposing its will onto the people.
At our second
Congress in March 2006, we charted a roadmap out of the
national crisis. We
agreed on a path to re-assert our political future and
Save Zimbabwe. We set
out to confront what is before us and I made a public
call reflecting the
same.
Despite the initial hitches and process impediments, our plan to be
heard is
clear to all. Today, I repeat that call and advise the nation to
maintain
open options and to keep its ear on the ground. The year 2007 has
abundant
opportunities. We must exploit them to help ourselves. We have
solutions to
the national crisis. With the fast-shifting opinion in Zanu PF
and the
resolute feeling in civil society, let us build a national consensus
and
work together to complete the transition.
Morgan
Tsvangirai
President.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
New Zimbabwe
By Phillan
Zamchiya
Last updated: 01/03/2007 23:43:28
PRIMINENT Zimbabwean activists
and a number of unsung heroines who have
outrightly defied and continue to
disregard POSA, AIPPA and other Zanu PF
laws are not only morally upright
and justified but are heroes and heroines
who deserve an honourable mention
in a new Zimbabwe.
To push the regime without disregarding such laws is
no more possible than
having a non-three sided triangle.
If the
Government is evil as in our Zimbabwean case, and has abdicated its
duty to
promote justice, plundering and abusing human rights, then our duty
as
Zimbabweans to comply with its demands should be diminished or outrightly
dissolved.
To always obey the law is not morally valid, for instance
Thoreau points out
this view in regard to the fugitive slave law, a law that
required citizens
to turn over runaway slaves to authorities. Isn't this law
one that
progressive people would feel morally justified in
disobeying?
In spite of the fact that we are inescapably enmeshed in the
political
realm, we can still make choices. We must not think that being
good citizens
requires us to obey the law, even when the law is wrong and
even when
obeying the law requires sacrifice of our constitutional freedoms
and
inherent rights in the universal declaration of human rights. We should
reject the idea that a rogue Zanu PF government can coerce us into doing
what we know is wrong.
Fear of jail cells will often lead us to obey
such unjust laws that seek to
perpetuate Mugabe's dictatorship with no end
in sight. People must know that
they are entitled to engage in various forms
of civil disobedience and
should exercise their duty to defy any legal
proposals that seek to take
Mugabe beyond 2008 or whoever without the
mandate of the ballot. If Mugabe
is to ask us to choose between peaceful
life in chains of his bad laws and
death, we should be ready to answer in
the words of Patrick Henry ".give me
liberty, or give me death." Choosing to
give up liberty is not only foolish
but immoral.
Disobeying draconian
laws does not create anarchists but critical citizens.
The kind of state in
operation should determine whether it deserves loyalty.
I agree with Martin
Luther King Jnr in his letter from Birmingham City Jail,
written in April
1963, where he states that if a law is imposed by a
tyrannical government
and requires actions that are unjust then we have
moral responsibility to
disobey it.
Zimbabweans must be able to feel that laws are not burdensome
to some and
beneficial to others and that state law is just in its
application. Imagine
how easy it is for state reporters to be registered
under AIPPA as compared
to critical citizens. Ask Pedzisai Ruhanya. Imagine
how Zanu PF circumvents
POSA when holding its rallies and how the MDC toils
and hustles. Just note
how the ruling party thugs are accorded the right to
march in defence of the
gravy train and how it is a mirage for critical
citizens to do the same. Ask
Dr Lovemore Madhuku.
If citizens are not
accorded an equal opportunity to participate in the
process that generates
the laws, then such law should be defined as unjust
and should be defied. To
let a group of controversially elected Zanu PF MPs
and non-constituency
based members, operating on the whims and caprices of
patronage, amend the
law for continuity of evil, sweeps away all the
remnants of morality
attached to our law and such horrendous machinations
should be defied in
totality.
At this juncture of the struggle with the burden of POSA, AIPPA
and oncoming
legal proposals to amend the constitution so as to suite
Mugabe's wish to be
life President, signalled in October 1980 when he signed
a secret deal with
Kim 11 Sung, it is important to embrace the words of
Martin Luther King Jnr
cited below:
"There are just laws and there
are unjust laws. I would be the first to
advocate obeying just laws. One has
not only a legal but moral
responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely one
has a moral responsibility
to disobey unjust laws."
Phillan Zamchiya
is a political activist and writes from Cape Town. He can
be contacted on:
pres1zamchiya@yahoo.com
VOA
By Carole Gombakomba
Washington
03
January 2007
Zimbabwean human rights lawyers are
investigating the displacement of more
than 4,000 people from farms in
Masvingo province that are owned by
government officials, and from the
village of Chitsa inside the Gonarezhou
National Park.
Sources with
the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said the group has been
trying to
establish contact with some 1,500 people already evicted from
three farms in
Masvingo so it can get their consent to initiate legal
appeals in their
behalf.
Zimbabwe's six-year-old land reform program was purportedly
undertaken to
provide peasants with land, but many farms have ended up in
the hands of
ministers and other senior government and ruling party
officials. Sources
said that in recent months, top officials including
Higher Education
Minister Stan Mudenge, Masvingo Provincial Governor Willard
Chiwewe and
traditional chief Fortune Charumbira have been pressing ahead
with mass
evictions of rural squatters from their farms.
Elsewhere,
the government said last week that it was relocating about 700
families from
Chitsa village under an agreement with South Africa and
Mozambique to
include the Gonarezhou National Park in the Great Limpopo
Transfrontier
Park.
The government said it had an agreement with villagers for their
relocation,
but rights lawyers express concern that the rights of the
displaced families
were not protected.
Attorney Otto Saki of the
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights told reporter
Carole Gombakomba of VOA's
Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the latest
displacements are of particular
concern as it is unclear where the displaced
families are being
sent.
VOA
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
03 January
2007
Zimbabwe has again been hit by a severe shortage of
maize while the
government struggles to raise the foreign exchange it needs
to import the
national staple.
Finance Ministry and Reserve Bank
officials are blaming Agriculture Minister
Joseph Made for allegedly
providing inaccurate figures on the 2006 maize
harvest. Made had announced a
harvest of around 1.3 million tonnes - but
Grain Marketing Board Acting
Executive Director Samuel Muvhuti said only
500,000 tonnes had come
in.
Harare has announced entering contracts for the import of 565,000
tonnes of
maize in 2007 from South Africa and Zambia. But official sources
said
dealers are demanding cash up front from Zimbabwe, which does not have
a
record of timely payment.
An informal survey showed that mealie
meal deliveries have been erratic with
Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, and
Masvingo feeling the worst pinch. The food
crisis has been worsened by
ongoing shortages of bread, sugar and cooking
oil.
Humanitarian
agencies said the government refused to let them conduct a
survey of urban
food supplies which might have provided an early warning of
a crisis. The
World Food Program has urged Harare to look to the food
security of its
population, and the International Monetary Fund recently
urged Harare to
prioritize food imports.
Economist James Jowa said, however, that Harare
has limited capacity to
import food, noting that the holidays have made
foreign exchange flows even
tighter than usual in the country. The end of
the tobacco auction season
also weighed on FX flows.
Economist Eric
Bloch told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that the
food supply crisis is only likely to worsen as the lean
season stretches
out.
The Herald (Harare)
January 3,
2007
Posted to the web January 3, 2007
Harare
AT LEAST seven
people were marooned on an island on the flooded Tugwi River
in Chivi
district for two days following heavy rains that pounded the area
over the
New Year period.
The seven -- four women and three children -- were
rescued yesterday by some
youths after being marooned on Monday. ZBC News
reported last night that
some youths in the area took the risk to rescue the
seven. Details of how
the youths managed to save them were not available.
Police spokesman Chief
Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka earlier said an Air
Force of Zimbabwe
helicopter was sent to rescue the villagers. But ZBC News
quoting police in
Chivi said the AFZ helicopter from Gweru failed to get to
the villagers due
to bad weather. The Civil Protection Unit also confirmed
the Chivi incident
but said the situation was generally under control across
the country. The
Meteorological Services Department said heavy rains fell in
most parts of
Zimbabwe between Sunday and Monday in line with its forecasts
last week.
"Very heavy falls of rain were recorded right across the country
with most
areas recording more than 40mm of rainfall in 24 hours," the
department said
in a statement.
Beitbridge -- normally a dry area
-- recorded a rare 93mm on New Year's Eve
breaking a 46-year record. The
highest falls recorded in the area were in
December 1960 when it received
85mm. "It is also significant to note that
the heavy rains came to the
southern districts (i.e. Masvingo and south of
Manicaland) after an extended
dry spell," the Met Department said. Chivi
falls under Masvingo. Our
Bulawayo Bureau reports that scores of would-be
border jumpers planning to
cross into South Africa were stranded in
Beitbridge after heavy rains
flooded Limpopo River. Dozens of would-be
desperate border jumpers were seen
milling about several pick-up points in
Beitbridge. The border jumpers are
ferried to various crossing points in
Dite, Panda Mine and Nottingham areas
where they are then connected to
syndicates who assist them to illegally
cross the Limpopo River. The
syndicates, mainly local villagers familiar
with the river, assist border
jumpers to cross the river for fees ranging
from R400 to R800.
Transport operators who cash in on the border jumpers
parked their vehicles
at Dulibadzimu Bus terminus in the border town citing
low business. One of
the transport operators, Mr Nathan Singo, said:
"Business is very low today
largely because the Limpopo River is flooded,
making it difficult for us to
ferry border jumpers to the crossing point."
Last week South African police
rescued two Zimbabwean suspected border
jumpers after they were marooned in
the flooded Limpopo River, while trying
to cross into that country. The Met
Department said the advent of cooler
weather into Zimbabwe should push the
Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)
into southern Zambia. Principal
meteorologist Mr Hector Chikoore said while
much of northern Zimbabwe should
remain wet with significant rains, the rest
of the country should experience
a decrease in rainfall activity. "Latest
satellite images and weather charts
also show a Tropical Depression east of
Manicaland giving good rains to
Mozambique.
The depression is
expected to remain in Mozambique with the western side of
it affecting the
eastern parts of Zimbabwe (i.e. Manicaland and Mashonaland
East) for the
most part of this week." Mr Chikoore said there were probably
no floods
recorded in the southern districts of Masvingo and south of
Manicaland
because the rains had come after a prolonged dry spell. He said
Kezi
received the highest amount of 112mm, Binga 89mm, Gokwe 78mm, Kwekwe
68mm,
Masvingo 61mm, Gweru 51mm, Zvishavane 43mm. Nyanga and Chivhu received
43mm
and 40mm respectively on December 31. On New Year's Day Mvurwi recorded
62mm, Victoria Falls 58mm, Wedza 49mm with Rusape getting 44mm and Chinhoyi
36mm. Mutare, Mt Darwin, Guruve and Chipinge received 36mm, 29mm, 26mm and
23mm respectively. Civil Protection Unit acting director Ms Sibusisiwe
Ndlovu said her unit was still attending to areas affected by heavy winds
before Christmas. "We are sending relief supplies to Mvundlana area in
Tsholotsho, Dotito in Mt Darwin and Masvingo areas which were destroyed by
heavy winds and hailstorm," she said. One person, Mr Thembani Ncube (19),
died in Mvundlana after a hut he was sleeping collapsed. At least 120
families in Dotito were left stranded after a thunderstorm swept through 12
villages in the area. Heavy rains also destroyed schools in Zaka and
Chiredzi, both in Masvingo province.
The Herald
(Harare)
January 3, 2007
Posted to the web January 3,
2007
Harare
SOME illegal gold miners are turning to chrome mining
as they can no longer
withstand the pressure from law enforcement agents
fighting illegal
activity.
Informal chrome mines have mushroomed in
parts of Shurugwi and Zvishavane
where the miners are leaving a trail of
environmental damage in their wake.
The most affected area runs parallel to
the Shurugwi-Zvishavane Road,
starting from the Chachacha turn-off to Chief
Mapanzure's area in
Zvishavane. The Great Dyke, which is rich in chrome ore
deposits, starts in
this area up to Mutorashanga. "Gold is now difficult to
pan because
amakorokoza (panners) have grown tremendously in numbers.
Moreover, police
are always at the back of those guys and I felt chrome
offered better
opportunities.
"Since I started mining here about
six months ago, I have not had any
trouble with the law and I find it
comparatively easier to sell my stuff
than when I dealt with gold," said one
miner who declined to identify
himself. His colleague, who has pitched camp
a few metres from the road,
said they were not worried about the police.
"Despite the fact that all
panning activities are illegal in the country, we
do not have trouble with
the law. Anyway, our claims are on open ground and
that makes it easier for
us to elude the law enforcement agents if ever they
come," he said. He added
that the location made it easy for them to make
transactions with their
clients. "They just park their vehicles on the road,
especially during the
night, and we load our stuff, get our money and the
deal is done," he said.
