Game hunters 'help to save rare species'

Times Online January 04, 2007

Lewis Smith Game hunters' money actually helps to preserve the habitats of Africa's endangered species

The slaughter of thousands of animals in Africa by big game hunters is supported by conservationists who maintain that the sport protects wildlife. Lions, leopards, elephants and crocodiles are among the trophy species being shot by hunters from Europe and the US. Even the critically endangered black rhino finds itself in the crosshairs. However, a study concludes, the overall toll on big game is more than matched by the benefits. Hunters are prepared to pay thousands of pounds for the chance to shoot trophy species. The money they bring in to the 23 African nations that permit trophy hunting provides jobs and encourages people to preserve the landscape rather than turn it into farmland. According to a report in New Scientist, a proportion of the money reaches conservation organisations, who use it to promote wildlife and protect the natural habitat. The study, published in the journal Biological Conservation, concludes that where game areas are well managed, the death toll from hunters is outweighed by increases in animal populations made possible by conservation initiatives. Hunting money was directly responsible for the recovery of at least three rare species in South Africa — the bontebok, Damaliscus dorcas, black wildebeest, Connochaetes gnu, and Cape mountain zebra, Equus zebra — and assisted the recovery of southern white rhino numbers. “Trophy hunting can also play an important role in the rehabilitation of wildlife areas by permitting income generation from wildlife without jeopardising population growth of trophy species,” the study adds. “Financial incentives from trophy hunting effectively more than double the land area that is used for wildlife conservation.” The money generated by trophy hunting is seen as particularly important in areas that are unable to attract tourists. Simultaneously, the presence of trophy hunters encourages local people to put in place anti-poaching measures. The study, by a team of scientists from Orleans University, France, and the University of Zimbabwe, Harare, estimates that at least 540,000 square miles of land in Africa are protected because of hunting, more than double the area of national parks in sub-Saharan Africa. They calculate that trophy hunting is worth more than £100 million to Africa. There are, however, a range of problems to overcome, the researchers say: in some parts of Africa the hunting is inadequately managed, while in Asia its overall effect remains detrimental to conservation. Mark Wright, of WWF, said that while the wildlife organisation regarded hunting as “an 0option of last resort”, it could have a positive effect on wildlife. In particular, he said, in many areas where there was no eco-tourism, it provided a source of income far less damaging than the alternative of illegal and uncontrolled poaching. Rather than take the “high moral ground”, he said, conservationists needed to be practical and accept that hunting could be the lesser of two evils.

Zimbabwe - Letter to a Compatriot

Dear Compatriot,

I have listened to the moaning and groaning as well as the criticism for a
long time.  There has been little or no encouragement.

A generation is to follow and we must take responsibility for our actions or
inactions when confronting issues that affect us.  That next generation will
judge us as custodians of their history and by the nation we leave behind
for them.

This is a battle and in battle there are winners and losers.  We must chose
what we are to be as individuals. Yes, there is security in numbers and
there is leadership as there are organisations in the forefront but,
individuals must draw their own battle lines and fight!  In the struggle of
Zimbabwe today, a hostile and illegitimate Government, funded by you, the
taxpayer, is throwing everything at you, every  resource of the state is
pitted against you, to convince you to concede just as Hitler’s Germany
attempted to subdue the British in 1941.  ZPF know that they cannot win a
fight where you and the people believe in winning.  Already they behave and
act like losers and fear is their one and only remaining weapon.

We have to ask ourselves again, are we going to be the losers or the winners
? Are you going to make their task easier by handing them victory on a
plate?

This is not about bullets and guns but about who believes in victory the
most.  Who is the stronger and not the weaker.  There can only be that one
winner and we must ensure, at any cost, that that will be us. To lose, would
dishonour those that have suffered so much.

This struggle is going to be in the history books one day, not too far from
now, and is certainly the most notable of the 21st century thus far. Will
our generation be able to look our children in the eye one day in the future
and be able to say “we did our best”?

This battle is not about forex, inflation, the cost of living, but about a
whole Nation besieged by an unlawful authority.  All Zimbabweans are
victims, bar the ruling elite, and it is up to us to draw the line in the
sand together, for everyone’s sake and fight and not give up!

To finish, one of the best antidotes for depression and despondency, is to
place that wasted energy at the front line, in which ever way you can, to
confront the enemy.  Join now, the brigade of unpaid volunteers who believe
in that victory and WILL win!

How quickly that victory comes, depends on how many compatriots, like you,
who find the courage to stand shoulder to shoulder with them.

Simon Spooner

 

Mugabe Said To Chafe As Ministers Fail To Reopen Slaughterhouse

VOA

      By Blessing Zulu
      Washington
      04 January 2007

President Robert Mugabe is said to be fuming over the failure of two senior
ministers to carry out his order to reopen a slaughterhouse in Mashonaland
East province by the last day of 2006, less than a month after Mr. Mugabe
issued the directive.

The president's order that Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa and Agriculture
Minister Joseph Made reopen the Cold Storage Company slaughterhouse after
seven years of disuse has increased tension with Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF
party.

The project is opposed by ZANU-PF officials in Chinhoyi and Bulawayo who
benefited from the closure of the Marondera, Mashonaland East, plant.

Political analysts and economists describe the initiative as an attempt to
mollify ruling party brass in Mashonaland East who failed to line up behind
the majority of ZANU-PF provincial organizations last month in backing an
extension of Mr. Mugabe's term.

The ruling party proposal to "harmonize" the 2008 presidential election with
a general election in 2010 by postponing it for two years received the
backing of eight out of 10 ZANU-PF provinces. The ZANU-PF central committee
will now weigh the plan, which domestic and foreign critics say is a further
subversion of the democratic process.

Finance chief Murerwa has raised just Z$10 million of the Z$5 billion
experts say will be required to get the slaughterhouse-refrigeration plant
back on line. Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono has not been receptive to
appeals for a disbursement; he and Murerwa have been in a feud over fiscal
and monetary policy since late 2006.

Cold Storage Company Chief Executive Ngoni Chinogaramombe disclosed this
week that the state enterprise needs recapitalization to the tune of Z$82
billion, but only $10 billion has been allocated to this purpose under
Murerwa's 2007 budget.

Chinogaramombe said CSC had operated under 15% of capacity in 2006.
Zimbabwe's export cattle herd has dwindled from 1.6 million head in 2000 to
some 500,000 today.

Economist John Robertson told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 that
the president's order to reopen the CSC facility does not make economic
sense.

World Press Groups Protest Harare's Move Against Newspaper Publisher

VOA

      By Ndimyake Mwakalyelye
      Washington, DC
      04 January 2007

International media bodies have condemned attempts by Zimbabwe authorities
to strip a prominent newspaper publisher of his Zimbabwean citizenship,
which some have interpreted as a move toward forcing the closure of his
Harare publications.

The International Press Institute, the World Association of Newspapers and
the World Editor's Forum put out a statement Thursday accusing Harare of
trying to silence dissenting voices through an attempt to strip Trevor Ncube
of his citizenship.

Harare has accused Ncube, publisher of the South African-based Mail and
Guardian, and of the Standard and Zimbabwe Independent papers in Harare, of
breaching the country's citizenship laws by not renouncing his Zambian
nationality. But Ncube, now challenging the state's position in Harare high
court, said the claims are false as he was born in Zimbabwe and therefore
entitled to his citizenship.

The International Press Institute's statement accused Harare of breaching
"customary international law under article 15 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights," and said the move against Ncube was clearly another way of
attacking the country's few remaining "forums for open and critical debate."

The World Association of Newspapers and the World Editor's Forum sent a
joint letter to President Robert Mugabe and Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa calling for end to Ncube's "indefensible persecution."  The
organizations added that attempts to revoke Ncube's citizenship by not
renewing his passport, thus barring him from the country, amounted to "a
blatant and transparent attempt to close his newspapers."

The Media and Information Commission responded to reports in the regional
press - including in Ncube's own Mail and Guardian - that it was moving to
close his papers in Zimbabwe, saying it was "outraged by the campaign of
disinformation."

The MIC, which forced the outspoken Daily News to cease publishing three
years ago, issued a written statement saying it had no intention of closing
the two papers.

The commission offered the assurance that the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act provides that owners and stakeholders of papers
that began publishing as of December 31, 2002, could continue doing so even
if they are foreigners.

Reporter Ndimyake Mwakalyelye of VOA's Studio 7 For Zimbabwe spoke with
Ncube, who said that as the chief executive officer of the Mail and Guardian
he is only responsible for its management, and does not oversee its news
content.

Constitutional law lecturer Greg Linnington of the University of Zimbabwe
said the government has scant legal basis to revoke Ncube's citizenship.

Higher Bread Prices Loom for Zimbabweans As Baker's Flour Surges

VOA

      By Jonga Kandemiiri
      Washington
      04 January 2007

Consumers in Zimbabwe are bracing for for another big increase in the price
of bread following a fourfold surge in the price of baker's flour, this just
two weeks after the government authorized bakers to nearly triple the price
of a loaf of bread.

Flour went from Z$7,500 to more than Z$30,000 for a 50 kilogram bag. This is
likely to have a knock-on effect on the price of bread, currently Z$850 a
loaf compared with an official price of Z$295 a few weeks ago. Some fear it
may soar to Z$1,200 a loaf.

Starch-substitute rice is also out of reach for many as its price has
recently surged to Z$4,000 for a two kilo bag when purchased from the state
Grain Marketing Board, up from Z$2,500 previously. But private sellers are
asking up to Z$10,000.

Matebeleland representative Comfort Muchekeza of the Consumer Council of
Zimbabwe told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that
consumers are already reeling from previous price hikes.

Madhuku accuses police of downplaying petrol bomb

By Violet Gonda
4 January 2007

NCA chairperson Dr Lovemore Madhuku has criticised the police for
downplaying the arson attack on his house last week. The civic leader who
said his house was petrol bombed in a politically motivated attack early
Sunday accused the police of taking their time to investigate the attack. He
also accused them of deliberately misleading the public in reports published
by the state controlled Herald newspaper.

He said the way the authorities have been behaving is part of the evidence
that shows the attack is state sanctioned. Dr Madhuku said even though he
reported the matter to Waterfalls police and actually collected an officer
to go to the scene within 20 minutes of the incident, the officer took no
action. According to the NCA chairperson it then took another 22 hours to
get the Member in Charge at the police station to go to his house. Officials
from the Law and Order Section went there the following day.

"What we then saw is they rushed to the Herald, as police, to put a story
that they were investigating the attack which was by an unknown person. In
fact they gave a false story that we had seen someone putting a chemical on
some fire outside my bedroom and then we panicked and broke the windows.
That kind of a deliberate lie by those who know better is a reflection of
people who want to limit the political damage that this kind of thing does,"
said Madhuku.

Madhuku said the attackers sprinkled petrol around his house and outside his
garage hoping his car would catch fire and explode. But he managed to escape
together with his three young children and some relatives who were in the
house. He said ordinary criminals did not do it, adding; "It is clear to us.
We don't doubt the fact that these are people who are coming from the
central intelligence organ who work for our ruling party."

The outspoken government critic dismissed suggestions that it could have
been his detractors within the National Constitutional Assembly who attacked
his house. He said the kind of people who had differences with him over
recent amendments made to the NCA constitution to extend his term would not
stoop this low. Madhuku believes no-one in the NCA would go as far as
harming or killing him. He said; "That is unheard of in the struggle that we
are waging."

Waterfalls police refused to comment referring us to police Spokesperson
Wayne Bvudzijena. We were not able to get a comment from him.

The state has a history of using bomb attacks on opponents. In its short
span the Daily News was bombed a number of times, whilst two opposition
activists Talent Mabika and Tichaona Chiminya were killed in a petrol bomb
attack towards the run up to the presidential elections in 2002.

The NCA chairperson said despite the harassment he is not going to run away.
He said; "Because if we were to leave that house then we would have achieved
the objectives of our attackers who want us to feel intimidated either to
leave the house or to leave the country. We will continue to fight for what
we believe in."

Meanwhile opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has condemned the attack on
the civic leader. In his 2007 message on Wednesday, Tsvangirai said; "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."

Tsvangirai added; "Robert Mugabe and some elements in Zanu PF are terrified
about tomorrow...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."

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

The Outlook for 2007

Zimbabwe Hit by Power Cuts

OhMyNews

      Industrial action set to continue

      Nelson G. Katsande (NELKA)

     Published 2007-01-05 13:08 (KST)

Most parts of Zimbabwe were in darkness yesterday owing to electricity
blackouts. Harare, the capital was in total darkness as the sole power
supplier, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), failed to restore
electricity to households, industries and businesses.

As the country experienced severe power cuts, the government-owned media
reported Thursday that the power cuts were caused by thieves who had stolen
electrical cables and generators. Even ZESA defended the power cuts by
giving theft as an alibi.

But Ohmynews learned that the power cuts were a result of an industrial
action by workers calling for salary increases and improved working
conditions. Most parts of Zimbabwe have been without electricity for three
weeks. Business operations have been severely affected. Most businesses have
estimated their losses in the billions of dollars.

Accidents were reported in Harare as traffic lights were affected by the
power blackouts. Manheru, a vendor in Harare's Central Business District
witnessed two accidents close to the Parliament House.

The disgruntled workers have vowed to continue with the industrial action
until their grievances are met. But with no immediate solution in sight,
businesses and industrial activities are set to be disrupted further. Some
government offices were also affected by the industrial action. An engineer
based at the ZESA head office said workers were still deciding on whether to
disconnect power supplies at the ruling party's headquarters. Workers in
Kadoma, Chegutu and Kwekwe have also threatened to down their tools.

The government has remained mute on the industrial action despite some of
its offices having been affected.

The second capital, Bulawayo, was also affected by the blackout. Most hotels
in the city were in the dark and were turning away prospective clients as
computer systems were down. Industries and businesses were also severely
affected.

While business owners suffered due to ZESA's failure to restore supplies,
prostitutes in Harare reported a brisk business. Tsitsi, a prostitute
operating in the avenues close to Mugabe's residence said that many
well-known figures were touting for business in the cover of darkness. She
boasted, "Business is good. I have had business with some government
officials who fear being noticed in the company of prostitutes."

She expressed hope that the problem persists.

Patients and visitors at Parirenyatwa hospital raised concern over pungent
smells coming from the hospital's mortuary.

ZESA announced that the strike was illegal. But the workers instead issued a
statement saying it was the government which was illegal and not the strike.

Tekere says Mugabe 'insecure' in new book

New Zimbabwe

By Staff Reporter
Last updated: 01/05/2007 10:36:44
A LIFETIME of Struggle, a new book by veteran Zimbabwean politician Edgar
Tekere is published next week.

Tekere, 70, served briefly in government before his popularity as a
potential rival to Robert Mugabe caused their estrangement.

He founded the Zimbabwe Unity Movement (Zum) and stood against Mugabe in the
1990 election and was heavily defeated, but remained involved in politics
and has recently rejoined Zanu PF.

Ibbo Mandaza, a veteran journalist and academic who wrote Tekere's biography
said Tekere shows Mugabe as a "weak character" in the 200-page book, the
second by a leading figure in Zimbabwe's war of independence after Joshua
Nkomo's The Story of My Life.

"Tekere focuses on the liberation struggle itself, the military aspect of
it," Mandaza told New Zimbabwe.com Thursday. "It reveals how that militarism
of the liberation war has overflown into the current situation where we have
violence of the state."

Mandaza said Tekere also shows in great detail how the late Josiah Tongogara
was "completely in charge" on the liberation war effort while Mugabe's role
was "very marginal".

While acknowledging that the book reveals a lot of "bitterness" by Tekere at
his treatment by Mugabe, Mandaza insists that the book provides an
authoritative history of the liberation war and the character of Robert
Mugabe.

He said: "Tekere shows Mugabe as a weak character. He also comes across as
an unreliable and calculating individual keen on long term strategies where
people are used variously like Enos Nkala, Maurice Nyagumbo and Tekere
himself to achieve set ends.

"Tekere also portrays Mugabe as manipulative and therefore, insecure which
explains his desire to stay in power. Tekere also says Mugabe has an
inability to see beyond himself.

"This book is an eye-opener and in a way, it explains the nature of the
state today."

When Zanu won the 1980 elections, Tekere was appointed Manpower Planning
Minister in Mugabe's Cabinet. He followed his appointment by making a series
of outspoken speeches which went far beyond government policy.

Tekere's consistent criticism of corruption resulted in his expulsion from
Zanu PF in 1988. When Mugabe voiced his belief that Zimbabwe would be better
governed as a one party state, Tekere strongly disagreed, saying "a
one-party state was never one of the founding principles of Zanu PF and
experience in Africa has shown that it brought the evils of nepotism,
corruption and inefficiency".

He ran against Robert Mugabe in the 1990 Presidential race as the candidate
of the Zimbabwe Unity Movement, offering a broadly free market platform
against Mugabe's communist-style economic planning.

won the election on April 1, 1990 receiving 2,026,976 votes while Tekere
only got 413,840 (16% of the vote). At the simultaneous Parliamentary
elections the ZUM won 20% of the vote but only two seats in the House of
Assembly.

He recently rejoined Zanu PF but is barred from holding a position.

A LIFETIME of Struggle is published by Sapes Books and will be distributed
by African Book Collectors in London

Mugabe orders halt to smash and grab

The Zimbabwean
By Gift Phiri
HARARE – In a dramatic climbdown, President Robert Mugabe’s cabinet quietly issued orders in December ordering a halt to the smash and grab tactics that has characterized the Zanu (PF) government’s violent and repressive 27-year rule.
The advisory, entitled “Jambanja is over,” was signed by the chief secretary to Cabinet Misheck Sibanda and dovetailed Mugabe’s speech at the Zanu (PF) conference where he warned senior ruling party officials that their rush to claim resources had “shamed us.”
The cabinet advisory reads:  “Jambanja is over. It is time for return to the rule of law. We wanted something. Now we have got it so jambanja is finished.”
Official sources said this seemed to be in harmony with noises coming from the South African government that “even if mistakes were made” in the seizure of 5,000 white-owned farms and violent suppression of the opposition, President Mugabe deserves a fresh start.
Squatters building houses on unzoned land are being ordered to move off; district administrators have been told that although all whites served with seizure and eviction notices would have to quit, no more indiscriminate seizures of farms would be permitted.
Police have also launched a blitz aimed at cracking down on an unprecedented gold and diamond rush that is being headed by top Zanu (PF) officials.
Official sources told The Zimbabwean that the inspiration behind this is Gideon Gono, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, who, with undoubted South African backing, is urging reconciliation with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to regain access to budgetary support, end the foreign currency crisis, and curb 1,090 percent inflation which the IMF believes will soar to 4,500 percent this year.
Political analysts said “Jambanja is over” is easier to say than to accomplish, even with the good offices of the South African government.
They said in reality, relations with Western nations, and thus the international monetary institutions, go from bad to worse; the economy is crashing; ordinary people are desperate; UN bodies warn of mass deaths from starvation within months; and the political manipulation of food aid is increasingly blatant.
Mugabe himself spelled out how he views the “end of jambanja” at the just ended Zanu (PF) conference.
He said: “We have seen that people at the top rush to claim the resources. This time we cannot do that. It happened on land and it shamed us. But because there was enough land we managed to get some for others.
“We want to plan. There shall be no greediness allowed in opening up the area of mining to the people. You have always been the first, why can’t you be the last?” Mugabe said.  

Farmers still not paid by GMB

The Zimbabwean

HARARE - Agricultural experts this week said the failure of the state-run Grain Marketing Board (GMB) to pay communal farmers, who normally produce 60 percent of Zimbabwe’s maize, has been a major contributing factor to the looming food crisis. Observers agree that preventing starvation this year in Zimbabwe will require external help. But with a deepening economic crisis, the Zanu (PF) government has been reluctant to acknowledge the extent of the problem. Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa told parliament recently that 100,000 mts of maize and 60,000 mts of wheat would have to be imported immediately to make up for shortfalls in domestic production.
According to a United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimate in November, Zimbabwe will need to import a total of about 800,0000 mts of maize and wheat to avert starvation and replenish its reserves.
The Zimbabwe Grain Producers’ Association (ZPGA), bringing together mainly white large-scale commercial grain producers, said according to its research the country last season produced 600,000 mts against a total annual requirement of 1.8 million mts of maize. The country needed to import a minimum of 850,000 mts of maize, ZPGA said. “Without these additional imports Zimbabwe will run dry of maize from 1 April, 2007 until the new crop is harvested,” a ZPGA spokesperson said.
Political scientist Rangarirai Ndoro told The Zimbabwean that the government was deliberately downplaying the food shortages for fear that Zimbabweans would hold it’s fast-track land policy responsible.
“For the government to accept figures scientifically produced by local and international food experts that put the food deficit much higher would be accepting a liability,” Ndoro said.
Although the government continues to publicly downplay the possibility of a major food crisis, action on the ground suggests that Mugabe’s administration is taking the threat seriously. The government has banned all exports of basic foods, including the staple maize meal. In another move to increase control over maize and wheat, Mugabe made it illegal to buy or sell the two crops - except through the GMB. The government has also  hiked producer prices for maize and wheat in an attempt to stimulate production this year. Meanwhile, in regions with low rainfall, like the Masvingo and Matabeleland provinces, there are already visible signs of food shortages with most families requiring food supplements because they did not harvest enough to feed themselves. But with little external aid forthcoming and dwindling amounts of foreign currency to import food, their plight seems set to worsen.

Queues getting longer for all commodities

The Zimbabwean

HARARE - The queues in Zimbabwe are getting longer, stretched by a deepening shortage of the most basic of commodities, ranging from Coca Cola, cooking oil, bread, sugar, to paraffin.
At the TM Supermarket in Harare’s Chadcombe shopping centre, a long line of people snakes out the door. Three other equally formidable queues stretch across the adjacent road, almost blocking traffic.
The situation is the same throughout urban Zimbabwe.
People wake up early to queue for hours for bread, fuel, paraffin and maize meal. The fuel shortage has become particularly acute. Shortages of fuel have been occurring since 1999, sparked by lack of foreign currency to import or, the country’s inability to pay suppliers. Now even Coca Cola is no longer available with coolers now carrying mainly fake mineral water.
Bread shortages have gripped Zimbabwe for the past six months. The lack of wheat stems from the collapse of agriculture as a result of government’s land reforms, as well as drought conditions.
Price controls, imposed on many basic commodities by the government in a bid to put a lid on skyrocketing inflation also played a role in the shortages.
Earlier this month, the government was forced to review the price of bread from the regulated $295 to almost $1,000 after disappearing from the shelves. The bakers stopped baking bread arguing that the price freeze was inflicting harm on their operations that used inputs whose prices were not controlled.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries estimates that at least 1,500 companies have closed in the past two years.
Interconnected with shortages is Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation nightmare.
Official estimates put inflation at a record 1,090 percent while independent economists peg the figure at a minimum of 4,000 percent.
During his national budget presentation earlier last month, Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa admitted that spiralling costs are now generating their own momentum, and that inflation is a national disaster.
While other queues are getting longer as basic commodities’ shortages become critical, queues for maize meal, Zimbabwe’s staple food, may soon vanish as the commodity becomes increasingly scarce.
With the country’ meteorological offices predicting another drought this year, the queues will almost certainly disappear.
But, in the meantime, Zimbabwe remains a country of queues - something that was difficult to imagine just eight ago.

Rentals out of reach for ordinary people

The Zimbabwean

HARARE – Zimbabwe ’s residential rentals went up more than ten times last year alone, driven up by cash-rich individuals and foreigners unable to buy their own properties because of serious shortages in the residential property sales market, it was learnt this week.
A snap survey by The Zimbabwean this week found that since the beginning of last year, rentals had increased by more than 1,000 percent in most of Harare ’s residential areas as desperate tenants competed for the few houses and flats on the market.
Though some of the rental hikes were a result of efforts by property owners to keep pace with hyperinflation, which rose to a record high of 1,090 percent in November, real estate agents said some of the increases were caused by potential tenants offering more money to secure accommodation.
Sharon Muza, a consultant with a Harare real estate firm, said demand for properties was so high that her firm received more than 10 serious applications and several telephone inquiries for every house advertised.
She said some applicants offered to pay more than the asking rental.
“The demand is so serious that, in some cases, when we get a house to rent out for say $100,000 per month, someone will not only offer to pay $120,000 but also to pay rentals for the whole year in advance,” Muza said.
Partly because of this, rentals in high-density areas such as Sunningdale, Mufakose, Budiriro and Glen Norah for one room have increased from around $300,000 (old currency) in January to between $20,000 and $30,000 or $20 million and $30 million (old currency).
Properties in middle-density areas such as Msasa Park, Mabelreign and Hillside, as well as flats near the city centre, which used to cost between $150,000 (old currency) and $200,000 per month (old currency), are now around $90,000 or $90 million (old currency) .
In low-density areas such as Mandara, Greendale and Borrowdale Brooke,
properties that were over $400,000 (old currency) in January now cost up to $400,000 or $400 million old currency, per month. Some up-market properties in these areas are being rented out for $1million per month.
Muza said the margins of rental increases varied depending on the location of the properties, their condition and whether the owners closely monitored and followed trends on the market.
Another property consultant said Zimbabweans who had prospered despite the country’s economic crisis were moving to secure, up-market locations, while those whose incomes had been eroded by hyperinflation were moving out of the city centre and from middle-density suburbs to cheaper locations without reliable transport.
High-density areas, which are located some distance from city centres, have been hard hit by transport shortages, the result of Zimbabwe’s fuel crisis and a foreign currency squeeze that has hampered imports of spare parts and new vehicles.
“The highest rental offers are made for properties in locations that have good security and where it is easy to get transport, that is why you see people moving from areas like Chitungwiza and Glen Norah to areas like Warren Park and Arcadia ,” the property consultant said.
He said those with money to spend and concerned with security were moving to rent properties in residential complexes like Borrowdale Brooke, which has round-the-clock security.

UNICEF reports education decline in Zim

 
The Zimbabwean
HARARE – Zimbabwe ’s education system was once considered among the best in Africa . But according to a report that will soon be released by UNICEF, the U.N.
children’s agency, fewer children are able to enroll in school and many of
those who do enroll are forced to drop out.
The UNICEF report is going to be released early next year. According to a draft of the study, almost 40 percent of children of primary school age who dropped out of school reported rising fees as the main reason for quitting.
Zimbabwe introduced state school fees in the early 1990s, but as the economy has declined in recent years, schools have had to raise their fees and parents have been unable to keep up with rising costs. Government is currently locked in a legal battle with 61 private schools over fee capping legislation. And President Mugabe threatened to take “sterner action” against the schools warning during his ruling party’s annual conference that “enough is enough.” He did not elaborate.
The draft report states that many children, especially girls, are dropping out of school to care for parents afflicted by HIV or to look after their siblings when their parents die.
The report says poverty and HIV/AIDS caused completion rates in primary education to fall to 70 per cent in 2006.
Another reason for the decline in school attendance is Zimbabwe ’s land reform program, under which more than 320,000 of Zimbabwe ’s 350,000 commercial farm workers have lost their jobs. As a result, these unemployed workers cannot afford to send their children to school. UNICEF says this means more than 120,000 children in primary and secondary school no longer have access to education. Funds for the government’s Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) that was helping disadvantaged students with fees has dried up.
What makes Zimbabwe ’s educational decline so alarming is that the country’s education system was once a source of great pride. The Zimbabwean government engaged in a massive school-building exercise after independence in 1980.
This resulted in the attainment of gender parity and universal literacy for the population under 25, an achievement which ensured that Zimbabweans enjoyed a literacy rate of nearly 90 percent, the highest in Africa .
But educational experts warn that these achievements are now under severe threat, even though the government still ranks education highly and apportions education one of the  largest slice in the national budget.
A substantial amount of the budget allocation goes toward payment of fees for those who cannot afford to do so. But because so many students need assistance the government cannot afford to pay fees for most of those in need.

Binga people punished by Mugabe

The Zimbabwean

BINGA – A famished thirteen-month old Lovemore Mwinge can hardly be accused of plotting to unseat President Robert Mugabe’s regime.
It is equally absurd to level the same charge against Lovemore’s mother, Regina, 37, a bone-thin mother of seven, who voted for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and is now being punished by President Mugabe. She is being denied the maize meal that she and her seven children need to survive. Mrs Mwinde, with an overwhelming majority of the impoverished Tonga people in Zimbabwe’s northwestern district of Binga, voted for Joel Gabbuza in the March 2005 legislative elections. The Tonga did the same again in the rural district council elections in October, providing the MDC with some of its few rural constituencies in the country.
But the price of such persistent defiance has been high. For two months the ruling Zanu PF party has blocked food shipments into the district, in what has become the most blatant and ruthless use of food as a political weapon in the poverty-torn district.
Cradling Lovemore in her arms, Mrs Mwinde said that she and her children, who stood next to her holding their bloated bellies, had not eaten for two days. They had survived for months on leaves, roots and seeds from the bush.
The food situation is the same in scores of villages throughout the district. Standing in the doorway of his one-room hut, Samson Munkuli, 48, said that he had not eaten for days. The muscle and flesh on his arms and legs had wasted away. He was a living skeleton, and he will not live long.
In the town of Binga the manager of the state-controlled Grain Marketing Board, which has a monopoly on maize sales, admits that food is sold only to Zanu PF supporters.
“We only sell to Shona-speakers,” he said. Members of the Central Intelligence Organisation or the President’s Office stand near by, ensuring that he complies with Harare’s directives on food distribution.
Reports that maize is sold only to card-carrying members of Zanu (PF) are widespread. There are roadblocks around big cities to ensure that maize is not smuggled into the urban areas, most of which are hotbeds of opposition support.
But the Government’s stranglehold on food distribution is far more sophisticated than that. Under a recent deal with the UN World Food Programme (WFP), Harare agreed to import 800,000 tonnes of maize; the WFP would import another 800,000 tonnes for distribution among the young, pregnant women and the elderly; while the private sector would import a further 800,000 tonnes for sale to adults.
But the government is importing only 500,000 tonnes. International donors have failed to raise enough money for the WFP to fulfil its commitments, and the government has refused to grant licences to the private sector to import food: a flagrant breach of the agreement it entered with the WFP.
The shortfall in imports has enabled Zimbabwe’s National Food Committee, run by Didymus Mutasa, the head of state security, to ensure that only Zanu (PF) supporters get food. The Grain Marketing Board has depots around the country controlling the distribution of maize stocks.
Mutasa, who is the Zanu PF Administrative Secretary, and also the party’s senior bureaucrat, recently denied reports that his government was politicizing food aid saying government had a sustainable food security programme in rural areas in the form of Operation Maguta, which is more or less a military-led forced labour programme. 

Sacked Harare Town Clerk fights Guvamombe committee report

The Zimbabwean

HARARE – Sacked Harare Town Clerk Nomutsa Chideya has filed an application in the High Court seeking the nullification of the Mishrod Guvamombe committee report, which recommended his dismissal on allegations of incompetency.
His application also seeks to make null and void all the evidence brought before the committee saying it had a predisposition of bias and malice in the conduct of its enquiry.
The Guvamombe committee, set up by Chombo was investigating Chideya on allegations that he abused his authority by arbitrarily suspending or dismissing council employees, that undeserving people, who did not meet set criteria, were unprocedurally allocated housing stands and that he wrongfully supplied water to private residence in a fire fighting truck.
Allegations against Chideya are that he unprocedurally allocated housing stands to his personal assistant Mazhawidza in Eastlea, and also made similar allocations to his close colleagues such as Michael Padera, J.Dzomba Padera, R. Chirinda among others.
Chideya was also said to have provided water in a fire truck on several occasions to deputy commissioner Tendai Savanhu’s residence whose address was given as No. 88 Folyjon Crescent, Borrowdale.
“The quantity of water delivered on each occasion and the frequency of deliveries was shockingly high given that this was a private individual requiring water for domestic use,” said the report
Chideya however argued that he was under instructions from Chombo to deliver the water to Savanhu’s house. Savanhu has since been dropped by Chombo from the new-look Harare Commission he announced last week, that will still be headed by Makwavarara.
 Chideya, in his defence, alleged interference by Chombo and the chairperson of the commission running the affairs of Harare Sekesai Makwavarara.
 Chideya maintains in his court papers that his suspension was politically motivated, an assertion dismissed by the inquiry report.
“The committee finds that the issue of malice, spite or ill-will on the part of Makwavarara could not be decided on given that it had nothing to do with the specificity of charges preferred against the Town Clerk.
“Chideya has serious grievances against the chairperson of the commission running the affairs of the City of Harare, but these are independent of charges preferred against him which are before this committee.”

US government sponsored Zimbabwe army

New Zimbabwe

By Lebo Nkatazo
Last updated: 01/05/2007 09:14:50
THE United States of America donated computers to the Airforce of Zimbabwe
despite slapping sanctions on the African country that included a military
embargo, it emerged Thursday.

The revelations are contained in a report by the Zimbabwe army submitted to
the Auditor General.

The report seen by New Zimbabwe.com on Thursday, and signed on October 26,
2005, by major general R Ruwondo (rtd), who was the acting secretary of
defence at the time, reveals that the US government made donations to the
Zimbabwe Defence Forces despite sanctions and accusations of human rights
violations.

"Gifts and donations with a total value of $88 332 609 in 2003 being
computer equipment and accessories were received by the Air Force of
Zimbabwe from the government of the United States of America," major general
Ruwondo said in the report.

The timing of the donation will cause embarrassment for US authorities as it
came just months after President Robert Mugabe was accused by international
observers of winning a flawed re-election in March 2002.

Government supporters were accused of attacking opposition activists and 12
white farmers were killed leading to the elections as Mugabe's foot soldiers
marched on white-owned farmland.

Days before the election, Zimbabwe's top army generals, including Airforce
Commander Air Vice Marshal Perence Shiri, appeared on national television
saying they would reject an opposition victory.

The United States unveiled the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act
2001 imposing sanctions on President Mugabe and his closest lieutenants.

The Act bars US companies from doing business with senior officials in
Mugabe's regime.

The European Union has also slapped Zimbabwe with sanctions including an
embargo on the " supply or sale of arms and related material of all types
including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment,
paramilitary equipment, and spare parts" to the country.

No comment was immediately available from United States embassy officials
last night.

Corruption dominated debate in 2006

Transparency International

Zimbabwe

The Herald (Harare), 03 January 2007
Corruption dominated debate in Zimbabwe during 2006, the year which also witnessed a number of high-profile individuals being hauled before the courts.

The Government established the Ministry of State for State Enterprises, Anti-Monopolies and Anti-Corruption two years ago and the long arm of the law has not spared a number of prominent people in Government and business. It had become common in the country for people to expect to pay a bribe for them to acquire such documents as birth and death certificates and driver's licence as well as to secure places at schools and colleges and to get a job. President Mugabe said the scourge of corruption continues to rear its ugly head, manifested through the abuse of power and unfair business practices, and the amassing of ill-gotten wealth by those in positions of authority in the public, private and civic sectors. The President said this in Parliament when he addressed Members of the House of Assembly and Senate during his 19th State of the Nation Address. "Government will not relent in its efforts to weed out such bad apples in our midst no matter how highly placed or well connected they may happen to be," the President said. To give teeth to the anti-corruption drive, Cde Mugabe appointed an Anti-Corruption Commission. Minister of State for State Enterprises, Anti-Monopolies and Anti-Corruption Cde Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana said the Government was working on reforms to strengthen anti-corruption laws to ensure that perpetrators got deterrent sentences. He said corruption caused disequilibrium in the economy, resulting in only a few people benefiting at the expense of the majority. "Loopholes in the legal framework and a fragmented anti-corruption policy allows the exacerbation of corruption," he said. Cde Mangwana said corruption was one of the greatest threats to socio-economic development and Zimbabweans needed to play their part to reject it in all its forms. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono on several occasions pointed out that corruption was a threat to national development. Former Zimbabwe United Passenger Company board chairman Charles Nherera was in August sentenced to three years in prison for sociliting for a US$85 000 bribe from businessman Mr Jayesh Shah.

Mr Shah is the owner of Gift Investments which supplied buses to the transport utility. In the same month, Zimbabwe was appointed chair of the Task Force of Senior Officials and Secretary to the Treasury of the Eastern and Southern Africa Money Laundering Group for the next year. The appointment came at a time when the central bank had launched Project Sunrise, one of whose objectives was to combat corruption and money laundering.

Zim 'not closing' M&G owner's papers

Mail & Guardian (SA), 4 January

Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's government-appointed Media and Information
Commission will not close down two popular private newspapers even if owner
Trevor Ncube - also the publisher of the Mail & Guardian in South Africa -
loses his Zimbabwean citizenship, state television reported late on
Wednesday. Ncube, a prominent Zimbabwean businessman based in South Africa,
publishes the Standard and the Zimbabwe Independent. He was stripped of his
Zimbabwean citizenship in late December because he is a Zambian citizen by
descent, according to authorities. Ncube has been trying to renew his
Zimbabwean passport. But Zimbabwe's Registrar General, Tobaiwa Mudede, said
Ncube had forfeited his citizenship because he did not renounce his right to
a Zambian passport in 2001, according to the state-run Herald newspaper.
Zimbabwe's laws forbid dual citizenship. "His failure to comply with the
requirement to renounce Zambian citizenship by descent within the prescribed
period automatically meant loss of Zimbabwean citizenship," Mudede said in
court papers, according to the Herald.
Ncube is challenging the decision to strip him of his citizenship in the
High Court. He says he has never held a Zambian passport, adding that both
his parents were Zimbabwean citizens at the time of his birth. The action
against the publisher comes as Robert Mugabe (82), president for 26 years,
pushes for an extension to his term of office by a further two years.
Frustrated by unprecedented resistance from within his Zanu PF party, he
appears to be trying to silence all of his critics. It is feared that the
authorities in Zimbabwe might use Ncube's loss of citizenship to close down
the Standard and the Zimbabwe Independent, because Zimbabwe's tight press
laws prohibit foreigners from having majority control of local media houses.
But in a brief statement, the Media and Information Commission said the two
papers will be allowed to continue publishing. "The [commission] is outraged
by a campaign of disinformation originating from publisher Trevor Ncube's
papers suggesting that the commission is somehow behind the case between Mr
Ncube and the registrar general's office and is about to close Mr Ncube's
two weekly newspapers," the statement read. "The [Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act] in fact allows any newspaper already publishing
at December 31 2002 to maintain their ownership and shareholding structure
even when shareholders are foreigners," said the statement, which was read
out on state television.
In December 2005, Zimbabwean authorities seized Ncube's passport under a new
measure to punish government critics. Zimbabwe's Parliament earlier that
year approved changes to the Constitution that allow the state to seize the
passports of people perceived to be anti-government. Authorities handed back
the passport after six days, after Ncube's lawyers went to the High Court.
Zimbabwe's attempt to strip Ncube of his nationality is a "flagrant breach
of customary international law" under article 15 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, which states that no one shall be arbitrarily
deprived of his nationality, said Johann P Fritz, director of the
International Press Institute, on Wednesday. "By acting this way, the
government is clearly seeking to build the foundations for an assault on
Ncube's newspapers that remain some of the last remaining forums for open
and critical debate inside Zimbabwe," he said in a statement issued to the
M&G.
"This government appears determined to ensure that the only voice heard in
Zimbabwe is its own. However, such a determination not only undermines all
pretence at democracy in the country it also displays a misunderstanding of
the important role played by dissent and criticism. By closing media
organisations and preventing journalists from practising their profession,
the Zimbabwean government is isolating itself from debates and discussions
that need to take place in a modern society," he said. "I sincerely hope
that the Zimbabwean courts , which in the past have shown a willingness to
resist the actions of this present government, reject this latest cynical
and presumptuous attempt to manipulate the rule of law in order to silence
dissenters," Fritz said. Despite numerous arrests and threats of violence,
the Zimbabwe Independent and the Standard have continued to expose
corruption and human rights abuses. Most recently Ncube's newspapers were
the only publications to reveal that Mugabe's efforts to extend his rule
until 2010 were rejected at the Zanu PF party conference in mid-December.

Power rationing hurts Zimbabwe gold producer

Business in Africa (SA), 4 January

Harare - Falcon Gold Zimbabwe Wednesday reported a sharp fall in output of
the precious mineral in 2006, blaming the drop on intermittent power
rationing in the country. The company, one of the biggest gold miners in
Zimbabwe, said production last year dropped by 4,181 ounces compared to
2005. Falcon Gold Zimbabwe, which is listed locally and in Luxembourg,
produced a total of 16,433 ounces of gold in 2006. It said operations were
hit by power cuts by the state-owned Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
(ZESA), which has been forced to ration electricity due to reduced local
generation. The country only meets 65 percent of national demand for
electricity, and imports the balance from neighbouring countries. But a lack
of foreign currency has forced Zimbabwe to reduce power imports. "Operations
have been disrupted by the prevailing ZESA power outages and in many cases
exacerbated by underground mine workings being flooded, resulting in lower
tonnage, which was 25 percent below budget," Falcon Gold Zimbabwe said.
However, the company said higher gold prices last year shielded it
financially, posting a pre-tax profit of Z$223mn in the period. Gold is
Zimbabwe's main export mineral.