SOKWANELE
Enough
is Enough
Zimbabwe
PROMOTING NON-VIOLENT PRINCIPLES TO
ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY
We have a fundamental right
to freedom of
expression!
Sokwanele
reporter
July 10, 2004
A Legacy of Indignity and
Pain - From generation to
generation
In April of this year yet
another Zimbabwean joined the staggering statistic of Aids related deaths. But Abel Phiri (real name withheld for the
safety of his family) was not just a statistic, he was a man born with the same
hopes and desires common to all humanity.
The story of his sad end,
as told by a concerned and compassionate friend, brings home the tragedy of life
and death in this ravaged country.
In the last year of his
life, Abel Phiri’s meager savings kept his family of six barely fed in a time of
staggering inflation and dire food shortages.
The year of untold misery was made even more agonizing by the poor health
of his two youngest children.
Ndlovu (again real
identity concealed) brought to light Abel’s story and came to know Abel through
his work with a voluntary Aids organization.
Ndlovu helped feed the family throughout the year and tried, in his
financially limited way, to be of assistance wherever he
could.
Abel died and the police
instructed the family to use undertakers to remove the deceased. But Abel’s coffers were bare, with only Z$675
(approximately US$1) left in his account.
Undertakers charge Z$25000 per night for use of the mortuary, so the
family contacted their friend, Ndlovu.
They took the body in a
borrowed private car to the state hospital, Mpilo, to place Abel in the mortuary
there. Upon arrival they were barred
from entering by the policeman manning the mortuary, Assistant Inspector
Chirambaguwa, who first insisted that only undertakers could enter, then claimed
only those who die at the hospital can be held there and finally alleged the
hospital superintendent was away in Harare.
Ndlovu is well aware that
the police are keen to get their usual commission from the undertakers with whom
they have a deal to prey upon unsuspecting and ignorant mourners. Civil servants follow the lead of their
corrupt zanu role models and are also victims of spiraling inflation and low
salaries. Ndlovu held his ground and was
ultimately allowed to proceed with the body when he rightly insisted that state
facilities are open to all citizens.
At the
Mortuary
Ironically, Mpilo
Hospital’s name, literally translated, means “life”, but now has become a place
marked by death and decay. The mortuary
there receives an average of one body every two hours. The young undertaker in charge makes a fair
living washing bodies for families afraid to touch their loved ones, especially
those who have died of Aids related diseases.
Ndlovu writes of his
experience,
“The undertaker opened the big
door from the East. Although we had
masks on the smell was so heavy and powerful that people within a radius of 50 –
100 metres will catch it. Only a minute
of it was enough to make someone fall. A
peep into the main refrigerators when he opened only a portion gave me the shock
of my life, legs of dead people mixed black, coloured and white all just piled
on top of each other. It was horrific,
the bodies were just beyond the imagination -
that people should be packed like heaps of bricks. I counted about seven decomposing bodies
which were lying on the floor.”
“While we were watching the
young undertaker was just busy shoving the shelves just like a baker, baking
bread or buns. He was energetic, just
jumping over those on the floor, packing others and looking for a space. He picked up our body, stuck on the tag, took
the trolley and pushed it in the shelves and all was done. It was worse than the horrors one sees on
films. The experience was excessive to
see that people are dying like flies.”
Ndlovu goes on to say he can no
longer eat meat, especially pork, and ends his account with another verse in the
sad lament of Zimbabwe.
“Mpilo now is the place to send a beloved to
die. No drugs, no doctors, no nurses, no
food, no equipment, no attention is given to the patient as it used to be. Health delivery has virtually collapsed and
government is running away from its core mandate and promise of health for all
by 2000, it is now death for all.”
Sunday Times (SA)
Zimbabwe races to answer repression
charges
S'THEMBISO MSOMI and SUNDAY TIMES FOREIGN
DESK
ZIMBABWE was on Friday rushing to beat a self-imposed
deadline to respond by
yesterday to a damning African Union report that
condemned political
repression and human-rights abuses in the troubled
country.
Official sources said Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge was
hurrying to
meet the seven-day deadline he set for himself on July 3 in a bid
to ward
off pressure from the AU executive council during a debate on the
report.
The report, compiled by the African Commission on Human and
People's Rights,
calls for the disbanding of the Zimbabwean police's law and
order unit,
which it accuses of operating under political instruction from
the ruling
Zanu-PF.
Zimbabwe's foreign affairs spokesman, Pavelyn
Musaka, confirmed the
government was replying to the report, which dominated
the AU executive
council meeting in Ethiopia.
"I can confirm the
government of Zimbabwe is studying and working on a
response to the report in
line with the commitment made at the AU summit,"
Musaka said.
The
African Commission went on a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe in June
2002
after widespread reports of human-rights abuses.
It found "enough
evidence" that human rights were being abused.
The report is
particularly critical of the police, the country's ombudsman,
Beatrice
Chanetsa, and the Electoral Supervisory Commission.
Chanetsa,
although supposed to be independent by law, has shown signs of
being biased
in favour of the ruling party. When the commission visited her,
she claimed
to have received no reports of human-rights abuses.
"That did not
surprise the mission, seeing that in her press statements
following our
visit, and without undertaking any investigations into
allegations levelled
against them, the ombudsman was defensive of
allegations against the youth
militia," says the report.
It calls for the dismantling of the youth
militias.
"The activities of youth militia trained in the youth camps
has been brought
to our attention. Reports suggest that these youths serve as
party militia
engaged in political violence."
The report was
supposed to have been made public at the AU summit in Maputo
last year but
was not as it had not been translated into French.
This year,
Zimbabwe managed to prevent the report from being presented at
the
summit.
Much to the shock of his colleagues, who had read the report,
Mudenge
claimed he had not seen the report, which was submitted to the
government in
February.
The situation was worsened by United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's
attack on long-serving dictators, and
by implication President Robert
Mugabe.
Washington Post
Editorial
Sipping Tea in Africa
Sunday,
July 11, 2004; Page B06
TWO YEARS AGO Africa's leaders created the
African Union, a continental body
that aspires to deal with problems from war
to bad governance to economic
malaise, removing some of the burden from the
United Nations and other
outside bodies. At its recent summit in Ethiopia,
the new union faced two
tests: Responding to the genocide and famine in the
western Sudanese
province of Darfur and proving itself capable of censuring
extreme
misgovernment as exemplified by Zimbabwe. To its credit, the African
Union
did promise to send 300 troops to Darfur -- not enough to protect
refugees
from murderous militias in a region the size of France but still
more than
anybody else is sending. But on the issue of Zimbabwe, the
summiteers
performed a gross twist. The African Union's committee of foreign
ministers
endorsed a human-rights report documenting the abuses of Zimbabwe's
regime.
But then a meeting of the continent's presidents undid that
decision.
The abuses in Zimbabwe do not rise to the horror of Darfur,
where at least a
third of a million people are likely to die in the near
future. But Zimbabwe
presents an example of the tragic destruction of a
country by a single
autocrat. The country's 80-year-old strongman, President
Robert Mugabe, has
ruled without interruption since independence 24 years
ago; he has closed
every independent newspaper, jailed and exiled his
opponents, and dispatched
thugs to drive commercial farmers off their land.
In so doing, he has
transformed one of Africa's most prosperous and stable
countries into one
that depends on food aid. Over the past five years,
Zimbabwe's economy has
shrunk by a third. School enrollment has plummeted,
and infant mortality has
doubled in a decade.
It should not be
difficult for the African Union's presidents to recognize
these facts and
endorse a human rights report documenting some of them. But
the African
Union's leaders declined to endorse the report, saying that
Zimbabwe's
government must be given yet more time to respond to its charges.
Likewise,
it should not be hard for South Africa, the leading member of the
African
Union and a great advocate of "peer pressure" to improve governance,
to
recognize its own interest in forcing a change in Mr. Mugabe's
behavior:
South Africa is host to growing numbers of Zimbabwean refugees, and
it has
the power to bring Mr. Mugabe's regime to its knees by holding
up
electricity supplies at the border. But South Africa's rulers continue
to
advocate gentle persuasion as the best way to restrain Mr. Mugabe,
even
though years of this approach have yielded no advances.
At a news
conference in South Africa last week, Zimbabwean Archbishop Pius
Ncube, a
brave critic of Mr. Mugabe, voiced his understandable frustration.
Africa's
leaders talk grandly of holding each other to high standards in
order to pull
the continent out of its malaise. But "all they do is back
each other up and
drink tea,'' the bishop declared bitterly.
© 2004 The Washington Post
Company
Sunday Times (SA)
Mbeki cements ties with Zanu-PF
Zimbabwe's
ruling party asks ANC for help with election at secret meeting
BRENDAN
BOYLE and HARARE CORRESPONDENT
TOP ANC officials led by President
Thabo Mbeki recently held a top-secret
meeting with leading members of
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's ruling
Zanu-PF to forge closer political
ties.
The June meeting was confirmed yesterday by ANC secretary-general
Kgalema
Motlanthe and Zanu-PF's chairman, John Nkomo.
The meeting
took place at the ANC's headquarters in central Johannesburg on
the eve of
this week's African Union summit, where an official report
critical of
Zimbabwe's human-rights abuses was circulated for the first time
and as
Mbeki's self-imposed June deadline for resolving the Zimbabwean
crisis
loomed.
Besides Mbeki, other ANC officials who attended the meeting
include
Motlanthe, ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, treasurer-general Mendi
Msimang
and chairman Mosiuoa Lekota. The Zanu-PF delegation was led by
Nkomo.
A Zanu-PF politburo member told the Sunday Times that his
party had asked
the ANC to help it secure a convincing majority in Zimbabwe's
parliamentary
elections due early next year.
The ANC endorsed
Mugabe's hotly disputed re-election in 2002 and Zanu-PF's
controversial 2000
victory. Zanu-PF officials said the party now wanted the
ANC to go further
than "just mere endorsement" of elections and help it win
at the
polls.
They said the ANC had agreed in principle to deploy between
four and six
election strategists to Zimbabwe ahead of the election to help
Zanu-PF
prepare a winning campaign.
Senior members of the Zanu-PF
executive were briefed about the meeting by
Nkomo.
"Zanu-PF has
asked for the ANC to help to win next year's election and my
understanding is
that the ANC has in principle agreed to send between four
and six
'strategists' to assist it during the forthcoming election," a
senior
official said.
Motlanthe said yesterday that no such agreement had
been made, but added
that there was an "open invitation" to Zanu-PF to study
the South African
party's success.
He confirmed that a Zanu-PF
dele gation had visited the ANC headquarters "on
a Monday" in June, holding
discussions for about three hours until noon with
the top six ANC
office-bearers, including Mbeki.
"I was at that meeting. I am not at
liberty to say what we did talk about,
but it is true they were here to
congratulate the ANC, not to ask for help.
I am sure they will do that when
it comes closer to the election," said
Motlanthe.
Asked whether
the ANC had agreed to make strategists available, he said:
"There is no truth
to that. We did not agree to that."
Nkomo, widely regarded as a
possible successor to Mugabe, said Zanu-PF and
the ANC had "close ties and
shared vision in the region". He said the ANC
had done better than expected
by winning 70% of the vote in South Africa. He
added that Zanu-PF had also
come to congratulate the South Africans on
winning the rights to host the
2010 World Cup.
Mugabe attended Mbeki's inauguration in Pretoria on
April 27 and was wildly
cheered by the crowds at the ceremony. Already the
oldest leader in Africa,
Mugabe, 84, has said he will retire when his term
ends in 2008.
"Mugabe is desperate to win the election because if his
party loses he will
have to resign or rule for three years with an
opposition-dominated and
effectively hostile parliament," a South African
government official told
the Sunday Times.
Nkomo said: "We wanted
to congratulate them [the ANC] on their election
victory. We were not there
necessarily to borrow election strategies because
their situation is
different from ours... but, of course, it would be
expected that they would
tell us how they did it.
"The ANC is a sister party and our relations
date back many years ago when
the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo was in
South Africa [in the 1940s] and
also during our liberation struggles," he
said.
"We sent delegations before and after the election to South
Africa. The
first one was there to monitor the election and the second went
to
congratulate our sister party."
Zanu-PF failed to secure 50% of
the vote in parliamentary elections in June
2000, taking 62 seats to the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change's 57
seats. The ruling party's
majority was increased by presidential nominations
and seats for traditional
leaders, but the result shook Mugabe's confidence.
Motlanthe said
Zanu-PF delegations regularly visited the ANC to study
organisational and
strategic issues.
"The sister parties always have access to the ANC.
They send people. Some go
to the provinces, some go to headquarters,"
Motlanthe said.
The ANC hosted a conference of liberation movements
and parties outside
Johannesburg in 2000 to share experiences of a series of
multi-party
elections across the region. Among the issues discussed were ways
to prevent
former liberation movements being ousted by parties perceived to
have close
ties with Western nations.
Zimbabwe's opposition
Movement for Democratic Change, often attacked by
Mugabe as a
"British-sponsored puppet party", has accused the ANC of
colluding with
Zanu-PF in the stop-start inter-party talks intended to
resolve the country's
deep political and economic crisis.
Motlanthe said the ANC had sent a
10-member delegation to the 2000 election
in Zimbabwe and would probably send
a similar or larger delegation to next
year's election to "gather first-hand
information".
Zim Standard
Commercial farmer under siege at farm
By Walter
Marwizi
CHIREDZI - About US$1 million worth of oranges meant for the
Russian market
stand to be wasted in Mkwasine where Zanu PF militias have
camped at a
citrus farm for two weeks in a spirited effort to evict its
owner, a white
commercial farmer, in contempt of a court order.
The
militias, operating on the orders of two suspected Central
Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) operatives and a policeman based in Harare,
who have
earmarked the lucrative property for themselves, have given the
family of
Eric Harrison today (Sunday) as the deadline for them to move out
of the
farm or be physically evicted.
Over the past two weeks they
have laid siege at the farm looting oranges and
also turning away haulage
trucks coming to pick up the fruit destined for
export. They also chased away
the farm workers, making it impossible for the
citrus orchards to be
irrigated.
Apart from that, they have also rendered the farm unsafe for
the Harrison
family who say they now live in fear of being
attacked.
According to the family, the invaders who are sometimes
accompanied by
police officers during the day, every night bang at their
doors, singing and
shouting obscenities at the family.
Yesterday, at
one point, Harrison(64) and his son Russell (32) had to hide
in their locked
house with all the curtains closed as the militia surrounded
the property
threatening to "deal" with them.
Interviewed by The Standard while holed
in the house, Harrison said he
feared anything could happen to them and had
already requested friends to
come to their assistance.
"We are in a
difficult position. We have no arms. We can't defend ourselves.
They seem to
be everywhere outside," said Harrison sounding distressed.
The two only
came out when they realised that the militias had left the
house and were
busy looting large quantities of their maize and sugar.
Their ordeal
started about two weeks ago when three people who identified
themselves as
"A2 farmers" arrived at the farm in a pick up truck with two
policemen and
informed them that they were the new owners of the property.
They
(intruders) left shortly afterwards but returned armed with iron bars
and
chased all the workers from the shed where the oranges are graded and
packed,
effectively bringing work to a halt.
Clements Kwirira, Harrison's lawyer
said realising the gravity of the matter
they sought an interdict to stop the
intruders from disturbing operations at
the farm.
The lawyer said the
police had assured him that no one was going to set foot
on the farm but what
was happening was contrary to the undertaking given by
the Officer Commanding
Chiredzi.
"We went to the courts seeking prohibitory and mandatory
interdicts and
these were granted by the courts and I do not know what is
happening now,"
he said.
Police Spokesperson Andrew Phiri last night
said he could not comment on the
issue as he was yet to get in touch with
Chiredzi police to get an
appreciation of the situation on the ground.
Zim Standard
Ministry probes scandal at Tynwald school
By Bertha
Shoko
THE Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture has instituted a probe
into
allegations that three female teachers at a school in Tynwald
subjected
students to a dehumanising search to establish their menstrual
status after
a toilet was found messed up.
The Standard
understands that parents of affected children were irked by the
lack of
respect and disregard of the right to privacy of the young girls.
After a
blood stained menstrual pad was discovered by a caretaker in the
toilet bowel
on Friday, the three teachers assembled the girls for a 'search
' to find out
who the culprit was. The teachers then went on to remove each
and every
girl's underpants and inspected their private parts to ascertain
whether or
not they were on their menstrual cycle. Those found to be 'on'
were put aside
for further questioning and were ordered to remain behind to
clean up the
mess.
Last week on Monday, tempers were so high that the parents
assembled at the
school demanding to see the headmistress and baying for the
blood of the
responsible teachers.
The parents of the affected female
students at the school also reported the
matter to the Ministry of Education,
Sport and Culture, which is currently
looking into the
matter.
Provincial education director for Harare province, Tomax Doba
told The
Standard that his ministry is looking into the matter.
"We
have investigated the issue and we have made our recommendations on
the
issue. The matter was serious and a case of invasion of privacy," said
Doba.
"The problem we have is that we have no mandate to expel the
teachers
because they are not subject to the Public Service regulations that
govern
teachers employed by the ministry.
"These teachers are employed
by the school board and they have the last word
on the matter but we have
made our recommendations on the way forward
because we realise, as a
ministry, it is our duty to safeguard the rights of
children"
Doba
said among the recommendations made by the ministry are to
immediately
relieve the teachers of their duties and to provide
psychological
counselling for the affected children.
"We are sending
our counsellors to the school next week (this week) to give
the affected
children counselling sessions as we realise most of them must
have been
seriously affected," said Doba.
One parent, Anne Chikare-Nkomo, whose
daughter was among the Form one and
three girls subjected to the inhuman
treatment said she found out about the
matter after her distraught daughter
phoned her at work a few hours after
the incident.
"My daughter phoned
me at work crying and telling me what had happened and I
immediately rushed
to the school to find out what had transpired," said
Chikare.
"After
finding a toilet with a blood stained pad, the three teachers under
the
instruction of the head of the school, rounded up the female students
for a
'search' to find out who was having their monthly period. "When the
teachers
got to my daughter she refused and demanded that I, her mother, be
called but
the teachers pinned her down and used force to pull down
her
pants."
Chikare-Nkomo said she is so angry at the school
authorities for allowing
such violations of human rights and will only rest
when the teachers
responsible are fired from the institution. She has
threatened to pull out
her children if this does not happen.
The
ministry of education has, however, urged cases of abuse of children to
be
reported to their office for investigations.
Neither the school
headmistress nor the board could be reached for comment.
Zim Standard
MDC candidate charged under POSA
By our own
Staff
AN aspiring Movement for Democratic Change candidate for
Hwedza
constituency, Teresa Makoni, is being charged under the draconian
Public
Order and Security Act (POSA) for attending a National Constitution
Assembly
(NCA) meeting.
She is being charged together with Ewet
Mukova, the NCA's regional deputy
chairperson for Mashonaland East and
Francis Chikadaya, chairperson for
Hwedza.
It is alleged that the
three organized and went on to hold a public meeting
at Sanganai Business
Centre in Hwedza without notifying the police as
required under
POSA.
The state further alleges that Makoni, in her address, talked to
the
gathering of over 100 people about food shortages.
During that
process, she told the gathering that she was going to source the
food herself
and not the Zanu PF government, the State says.
Makoni is denying the
charges.
In her warned and cautioned statement, Makoni said she only
attended the
meeting after an invitation from the NCA leaders in the
region.
"I never went to the meeting for campaigning purposes and when I
was there I
never delivered any speech. There is no way I could have
organized an NCA
meeting," said Makoni.
Chris Mhike of Atherstone and
Cook, who is representing Makoni said the
charges were baseless and were
based on a bad law.
Zim Standard
AIPPA takes toll on Zim media workers
By Caiphas
Chimhete
THE government's onslaught on the independent media, which has
seen the
closure of three private newspapers since last year, has thrown
scores of
media workers including journalists, on the streets without jobs
with some
saying they now virtually live a "hand-to-mouth
existence".
A snap survey by The Standard last week revealed that most
journalists,
particularly young reporters who had just joined the profession,
were living
miserable lives. Some are surviving on loans from friends,
relatives and
media representative bodies like the Zimbabwe Union of
Journalists (ZUJ) to
pay their rent and buy food.
In what was
widely viewed as a political decision, the government in
September last year
closed The Daily News, The Daily News on Sunday citing
the draconian Access
to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA)
which makes it an
offence for a newspaper not to register with the Media and
Information
Commission (MIC).
It is generally believed the the real reason for the
government decision to
ban the papers was that they were perceived to be too
critical of President
Robert Mugabe's skewed political and economic policies,
on the one hand, and
were suspected to support the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC) on the other.
Last month, another independent
newspaper, The Tribune, owned by Zanu PF
legislator, Kindness Paradza was
shut down ostensibly because the MIC had
not been advised of ownership
changes by the publisher. But media experts
were convinced the reason was
because Paradza, a former journalist turned
politician, had criticised AIPPA
for hindering press freedom and
discouraging investment in the media sector
in his maiden speech in
Parliament.
The closure of the three
newspapers left about 6 000 media workers,
including journalists, without
jobs. "I am depending on good Samaritans, but
we are now becoming a nuisance
to them because we beg from them each day,"
said one journalist, who was
working for The Daily News.
Secretary-general of The Daily News workers'
committee, Columbus Mavhunga,
said at least seven former employees, including
line editors, were evicted
from their rented accommodation after failing to
pay rent since April this
year. "Their plight is so severe that some editors
have been evicted from
their homes for failing to pay rentals. I hope one day
we will do away with
these repressive laws and be able to work in a normal
environment again,"
said Mavhunga, adding that in some extreme cases, some
could not even pay
their medical bills.
He said the closure of The
Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday threw 47
employees out of
employment.
Management and the workers are currently embroiled in a
dispute over
terminal benefits after the employer, Associated Newspapers of
Zimbabwe
(ANZ) authorities offered them two weeks' salary for every year
served. Most
of the journalists had worked less than two years at the company
which,
itself, had been in existence for only four years.
The Zimbabwe
Union of Journalists (ZUJ) president, Mathew Takaona, said the
closure of the
three newspapers and the retrenchment of 300 media workers at
the Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) had condemned many journalists
to a life of
paupers.
He said there were hundreds if not thousands of people working
in the media
and their dependents who had been deprived of a source of
livelihood due to
the closure of newspapers. "Their situation is very
desperate, especially
their immediate families. They are failing to make ends
meet," said Takaona.
He however could not give the exact number of
journalists affected. "They
are many but we are not dealing with journalists
alone in this case because
there are other media workers including
advertising representatives,
administration, circulation and accounting
staff," said Takaona.
Media Institute for Southern Africa (Misa) research
and information officer,
Rushweat Mukundu, said the organisation had been
overwhelmed by requests
from journalists from closed newspapers for
assistance.
"Some ask for money to pay rent but what we do is that when
we hold
workshops we don't provide them lunch, say at hotels, but give them
money,
which they can then use to pay rent and buy food at home," said
Mukundu.
He said although the Zimbabwe -Journalists - Under- Fire
campaign was
designed to help journalists who had been arrested, they were
also covering
the plight of the poverty-stricken journalists. Misa also pays
lawyers
representing the journalists challenging their dismissal.
"So
far, we have held four meetings with journalists from The Daily News to
try
to find ways they can earn a living. Where feasible, we are connecting
them
to various other organisations that are able to offer them jobs,"
said
Mukundu.
He added the Zimbabwe Union for Journalists (ZUJ) Media
Monitoring Project
Zimbabwe (MMPZ) and the Independent Journalists
Association of Zimbabwe
(IJAZ) had formed the Zimbabwe Media Alliance (Zima)
with a view to
establishing a support fund for "journalists in difficult
circumstances".
While some journalists are optimistic that their
newspapers might be
reopened, others are contemplating leaving the profession
for less
politically sensitive trades such as public relations, marketing
and
accounting.
Media and Information Commission (MIC) chairman,
Tafataona Mahoso, could not
be reached for a comment. His secretary said the
former journalism lecturer
was attending a board meeting.
Ironically
Mahoso, who was the head of the journalism department of the
Harare
Polytechnic, trained most of the journalists that are now jobless
through the
actions of MIC which he chairs.
Zim Standard
Gono to devalue export blend rate
By Kumbirai
Mafunda
RESERVE Bank Governor Gideon Gono is expected to once again
devalue the
Zimdollar by more than 500 % when he presents his second
quarterly review of
the monetary policy on July 22.
Sources at No 80
Samora Machel Avenue - headquarters of the RBZ said Gono,
President Robert
Mugabe's economic tsar - will officially devalue the blend
rate of the local
currency from $824/1US$ to $5 300/1US$ a 543% devaluation.
Currently
exporters have to surrender 25% of their earnings at $824/1US$
while they
remit the other 75% at the prevailing auction rate which is
hovering around
$5 350.
Exporters have complained that the blend rate made it less
worthwhile to
sell goods outside Zimbabwe. The sources said Gono was trying
to invigorate
dwindling exports by officially devaluing the export
rate.
"The governor will most likely pay attention to exporting being
more viable.
Any moves taken to devalue will improve exporters' viability,"
said the
sources.
Although the introduction of the foreign currency
auction system has been
successful in bringing some foreign exchange earnings
back into the system,
Zimbabwe remains in short supply of hard
currency.
The shortage of foreign currency has resulted in demand
outstripping supply,
hence the steady weakening of the Zimbabwean dollar
against major currencies
at the government auctions.
Analysts said
while the Diaspora rate and the twice weekly auctions have
increased the
supply of foreign currency into the country, the long-term
solution lay in
the promotion of exports.
The low government blend rate had actually
forced many traditional exporters
to abandon long-held markets and focus on
the domestic market.
Under a new system introduced this year and meant to
encourage the creation
of foreign exchange reserves, exporters and other
companies have to apply to
the RBZ through their bankers to access foreign
currency.
Many companies say the stringent regulations over who should
get priority of
the scarce foreign currency available at the RBZ had resulted
in many of
them failing to get the required requests.
This has also
resulted in many exporters cutting down on the manufacture of
export goods
because they are not certain that they would get the necessary
foreign
currency for inputs.
Economic experts last week said if most exporters
were to be rescued before
they closed down operation, the RBZ will have to
devalue the blend rate by
more than 600%.
"If he doesn't go towards
$6000, more of our exporters are going to die,"
said a leading local money
analyst.
Others said Gono should collapse the multiple exchange rate
system in
operation and unify the exchange rate.
Presently there are
six different exchange rates for different sectors of
the economy. These
include an auction rate, an export rate, a Diaspora rate,
a gold rate, a
tobacco rate and the official rate of $824 per US unit for
government
requirements.
"The surrender is not the issue but the rate. We believe
that it should be
done at the auction rate," said Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries (CZI)
acting Chief Executive Farai Zizhou.
He said although
there had been some casualties along the way, the
restructuring in the
financial sector had increased the level of confidence
in the banking
public.
If Gono doesn't devalue to rescue exporting firms, analysts said,
his only
option would be to allow companies to borrow cheaply at 50% under
the
Productive Sector Facility (PSF) funds.
However, by allowing
companies to borrow cheaply, Gono would kill savings,
which are at an
all-time low.
Cheap money will also play havoc with the government's
plans to shoot down
inflation to double digit figures.
"Those are
forlorn hopes," said independent economic consultant John
Robertson on
inflation targets. "There is much bigger pressure on inflation
coming from
demand for wages, rising medical aid shortages and looming
food
shortages."
Zim Standard
Censored Super Patriots goes international
By Trevor
Muhonde
THE banned play, Super Patriots and Morons, has now attracted
international
attention and will next month go on tour in Europe,
StandardPlus has learnt.
Super Patriots, censored by the governmentÕs
Censorship Board over concerns
that it blasted President Robert MugabeÕs
administration, attracted state
attention when it received a standing ovation
at this yearÕs Harare
International Festival of the Arts
(Hifa).
In May StandardPlus broke the news that the Censorship Board
had taken Hifa
organisers to task for hosting the play which was performed by
Rooftop
Productions.
Shepherd Mutamba, Rooftop Promotions' spokesman,
told StandardPlus last week
that they had received several requests from
European countries to have
Super Patriots on tour.
He said local and
international human rights groups had also lent their
support, questioning
why the Mugabe government was again trying to stifle
free expression, a theme
which is also prominent in the playÕs script.
ÒThis play received a
standing ovation during Hifa and more attention
following its subsequent ban.
With our current situation which affects free
press many have developed an
intense interest in the play,Ó said Mutamba.
Mutamba accused the
Censorship Board of trying to block efforts by the
Zimbabwean society to
mirror and laugh at its own mistakes. He was however
happy that many
Zimbabweans in the Diaspora would now get a chance to watch
the
play.
ÒWe are delighted that we have many Zimbabweans living abroad to
whom we
will relay our message,Ó Mutamba said.
He added that they were
currently working on the cast and preparations are
now at an advanced
stage.
ÒWe have made some changes to the original cast that acted at Hifa
but we
cannot give details at present. We will reveal their names in due
course,Ó
Mutamba explained .
The play, directed by Daves Guzha at
Hifa, boasted of veteran actors such as
Walter Muparutsa, Eyhara Mathazia and
OÕBrien Mudyiwenyama, and mirrors what
some say are the antics of the ruling
Zanu PF party and shady aspects of
politics.
The script concentrates
on how the government in Òan imagined countryÓ is
abusing authority and what
the populace needs to do to regain their dignity
and right to be properly
governed.
Among some of its more telling aspects are the appointment of a
new chief at
the central bank, and the arrest of corrupt company directors Ñ
such as
happened to the bosses of asset management company, ENG Ñ the
problems
associated with the externalisation of foreign currency and the
arrest of a
government minister, all recent major talking points in
Zimbabwe.
Zim Standard
Private schools face collapse
By Valentine
Maponga
GOVERNMENT'S decision to impose school fees at private schools
has had a
debilitating effect on the operations of most of the prestigious
and well
run institutions which are now struggling to stay afloat against
a
background of dwindling resources, The Standard can reveal.
So bad
is the state of affairs that some of the schools have been hit by a
mass
exodus of teachers due to uncertainties created by the decision by
the
Minister of Education, Sport and Culture, Aeneas Chigwedere, who began
by
shutting the schools in order to force them to comply with his
ruling.
A headmaster at one of the private schools in Harare revealed
that this term
alone more than five senior teachers had resigned abruptly,
creating a
crisis at the school.
"The imposition of school fees has
created some uncertainties and
instabilities in the entire private education
sector. It looks like most of
the teachers are going elsewhere or are
preparing to leave the profession
because of the confusion being caused by
senior officials in the ministry of
education."
The headmaster, who
declined to be named for fear of persecution, said his
school had lost senior
and highly qualified teachers since the onset of the
chaos.
"Some of
the teachers have left for the private sector while others are now
staying
outside the country," said the headmaster.
St John's College has also
suffered a number of resignations including that
of the headmaster, Tony
Eysele, who is reported to be contemplating leaving
the institution at the
end of the year.
"We are anticipating that there will be many members of
staff who will leave
at the end of this year," said Rick Passaportis, the
chairman of the board
of governors at St John's College.
Sources in
the education sector said it was possible some schools could shut
down if the
situation does not change.
The chairman of Eaglesvale schools, Deon
Theron, told The Standard the
schools were almost running out of funds and
they were being helped by
donations from students. "We cannot operate on the
fees the government
imposed on us. We are currently negotiating with the
ministry to see whether
they can allow us to increase the fees. We are going
to face a lot of
problems very soon as we will not be able to settle any
accounts," said
Theron.
Some school heads said they were failing to
cope with the harsh economic
conditions prevailing in the country.
"We
have had a significant number of senior and junior teachers leaving
us
because of the stagnant salaries. Inflation is eating into their
salaries
and as long as it remains like this they will continue to leave,"
said
another headmaster.
In some schools parents are forming liaison
committees that are tasked to
source money from donors. Headmasters felt
there was need to find a lasting
solution to the problem, as the issue of
donations was a short-term measure.
Most of the school authorities said they
did not have other sources of
income other than school fees.
"This has
not been an easy term for us. We had to deal with all our problems
with the
little resources that we have under these hard economic conditions.
At the
same time we do not want to lower the standards that we believe are
good for
the children because of the shortages," said Jacqueline Robertson,
the
headmistress of Chisipite Senior School.
She added that they had managed
to somehow cope with the crisis by cutting
costs and with the help from
parents who had made donations in cash and kind
."The money we get from
school fees is the same money we use to pay for
food, books and maintain all
the good standards we have for the children.
That is the only source of
income we have," she said.
In the 1990s, Zimbabwe had a literacy rate of
86 per cent, one of the
highest in Africa but analysts fear these gains may
be eroded if the
government does not sort out the mess in the education
sector.
Most governmental schools have a shortage of stationery and
desks.
Analysts say he latest confusion to hit private schools which had
continued
to offer excellent education despite the odds is one of several
"bizarre
stunts" performed by Chigwedere since his appointment to
cabinet.
Professor Gordon Chavhunduka, a veteran educationist said it was
unfortunate
that the government was concentrating its resources on trivia
instead of
fighting to improve the quality of education.
Zim Standard
Online daily paper launched
By our own Staff
A
group of Zimbabwean journalists and lawyers launched what they
termed
Zimbabwe's first online daily paper on Thursday, promising to create
an
alternative media voice and to expand the democratic space, shrunk
by
repressive laws put in place by Zanu PF government.
The Zim Online,
believed to be linked to some staff members of the now
defunct Daily News and
Daily News on Sunday, hit the web on Thursday with
controversial
stories.
Among others, it carried a sensational piece that sought to
expose why
businessman James Makamba remained stuck in the remand prison five
months
after he was arrested by police.
The story alleged that Makamba
was in love with the wife of one of Zimbabwe'
s most prominent politicians
and was paying the price for that. It claimed
Makamba had been seeing the
woman long before she was married to the
powerful politician.
Writing
on its website, www.zimonline.co.za,
the group said; "We are an
independent news service not affiliated to any
political party, civic
organisation nor any other lobby group. Through our
network of experienced
correspondents deployed around all the provinces of
Zimbabwe, we will
complement the few remaining independent voices in the
media sector.
"We have put in place mechanisms to check and re-check our
stories and
provide the world with an accurate reflection of the true state
of affairs
in Zimbabwe. Through strategic partnerships with other independent
media
outlets around the world, we will afford a wide voice to those who have
been
rendered voiceless," he said.
Zim Standard
'Mbedzi's arrest linked to Mohadi bid for
Beitbridge'
By Loughty Dube
BULAWAYO - THE arrest last
week of the acting provincial administrator
for Bulawayo, Edison Mbedzi, on
allegations of corruption arising from land
allocation and looting of farm
property has more to do with politics than
the fight against corruption, The
Standard has heard.
Mbedzi was arrested on Monday this week on
allegations that he used
his position when he was the district administrator
for Beitbridge to
illegally allocate himself land without using 'proper
channels.'
Further allegations against Mbedzi are that he had a
hand in the
disappearance of 30 head of cattle worth $30 million belonging to
Stanley
Martin Grobler that were allegedly found at Bar Grobler Ranch which
is
currently under probe.
Questioned on whether Mbedzi's arrest
was a result of the
recommendations from the Presidential Land Resettlement
Committee presented
to Mugabe last month, police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena
said:
"The arrest was a result of information from a tip off and
revelations
indicate that the plot of land he allocated himself was not
acquired using
the laid down government procedures."
However
sources in Zanu PF said Mbedzi, who becomes the first
government official to
be arrested for allegedly grabbing land in Zimbabwe,
could be a victim of
political machinations arising from his desire to
contest the Zanu PF
primaries for the Beitbridge constituency.
"As primary elections
approach a lot of people are going to be
persecuted in the same manner. This
is because big guns want to impose and
protect their own blue eyed boys in
positions of power and Mbedzi is one
such person to fall by the wayside for
attempting to contest primary
elections in Beitbridge against Kembo Mohadi,"
alleged one source.
Coincidentally, Mohadi is the Minister of Home
Home Affairs under
whose jurisdiction the country's police force
falls.
Sources said Mbedzi was forced to flee Beitbridge to
Bulawayo after he
had announced that he would contest the primary
elections.
Political analysts who spoke to The Standard last week
said they
believed Mbedzi's arrest had little to do with attempts to rid
the
government of corrupt officials. They said there were many officials in
Zanu
PF government who had grabbed land and farm equipment yet they continued
to
be free.
"What we see in this case is a man who is alleged to
be involved in
corrupt practices involving land but only gets arrested when
he attempts to
challenge the Minister responsible for the police," said Max
Mnkandla, the
President of the Zimbabwe Liberators Peace Initiative
(ZLPI).
Paul Themba Nyathi, the MDC spokesperson said: "As far as
we are
concerned this is a tip of the iceberg and just a smokescreen because
we
know that Mbedzi is being persecuted for attempting to stand against
Mohadi
in Beitbridge. We now know that in Zimbabwe when a person is arrested
you
have to look at the deeper issues behind the arrest," said Themba
Nyathi.
Zim Standard
Stamps' appointment as Mugabe adviser queried
By our
Staff
THE status of former health minister Timothy Stamps came under the
spotlight
in Parliament recently when a legislator sought to know the
circumstances
surrounding his appointment as health advisor to President
Robert Mugabe.
Stamps fell ill about three years ago and was restricted
to his home for a
long time where he, according to his family, was recovering
from what seemed
to be a nagging illness.
His deputy, David
Parirenyatwa acted in his capacity and was later appointed
substantive
Minister of Health and Child Welfare.
During a question and answer
session in Parliament recently, Trudy
Stevenson, the Harare North MP asked
the Minister of Public Service, Labour
and Social Welfare when the post of
health advisor had been created, its
terms of reference and whether
recruitment procedures were followed when
Stamps was engaged. Stevenson also
wanted to know the post's position on the
Public Service Commission (PSC)
structure.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who answered the question
on behalf of
Minister July Moyo, said Stamps's position did not fall under
the PSC.
"The President has the discretion to appoint advisors. When he
does so,
those are matters entirely in his discretion and Dr Stamps was
appointed in
the exercise of that discretion," said Chinamasa.
Neither
the Presi-dent's Office nor Stamps could be reached for a comment.
Zim Standard
State squanders millions on private lawyers
By Walter
Marwizi
THE government is squandering millions of taxpayers' dollars in
hiring fees
to engage private lawyers for cases that could easily be taken up
by the
Attorney General's Office, The Standard has learnt.
So
widespread is the practice that the AG' s Office has been rendered a
mere
spectator in the numerous legal wrangles the government has been
involved in
over the past few years.
Many of these cases, The
Standard investigations have established, have
involved the land reform
exercise which has seen government departments
being dragged to the courts by
disgruntled commercial farmers who lost their
land.
According to the
Zimbabwean Constitution, the AG is the principal legal
adviser to government
charged with giving legal advice through its Legal
Drafting, Civil Division,
Legal Advice and Public Prosecution divisions.
But a Parliamentary
Portfolio committee that looked into the operations of
the AG's office found
that government was shunning these departments seeking
legal help from the
private firms, even in cases involving debt collection.
This, it noted,
was costing government a lot of money which could have been
used to equip the
departments.
"On numerous occasions, government does not seek legal
advice from the
Attorney General's office," said committee chairman Silobela
MP Abedinigo
Malinga.
He also disclosed that there was a tendency
among ministries to carry out
their functions without recourse to the AG's
office.
"For example they enter into negotiations for agreements without
the
Attorney General to advise them on the legal implications .The
department's
advice is only sought when things go wrong and expected to act
after the
damage has already been done."
Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa could
not be reached for
comment yesterday but he told Parliament recently that
the practice of
engaging private legal practitioners by government without
involving the AG's
office compromised the credibility of the office "and
must be
discouraged".
On the other hand, even if the AG's office were to be
consulted, it remained
difficult for it to cater for the needs of several
government ministries
because it was not only under-funded but lacks
experienced personnel.
For example, out of the 11 officers at the Legal
Advice department which
gives government general advice on both international
and public law, only
four lawyers have more than five years experience in the
service.
Most of the other officers have been in the division for a
couple of months
with some having joined the service at the beginning of this
year.
"This has invariably compromised the quality and quantity of work
produced
as most of the officers do not have adequate experience," noted
Malinga.
Zim Standard
Zanu PF in $10m extortion bid
By Our Own
Staff
MUTARE Ñ The ruling Zanu PF party here is forcing business people
to
contribute towards the hosting of a victory party for its sole councillor
in
the city council.
Out of the 18 wards contested last year during
the urban councilsÕ
elections, Zanu PF only secured one seat that was won by
Justin Chiwara, the
councillor for Ward 15.
The opposition MDC won
all the other wards.
Long after residents had forgotten about these
elections which took place in
August last year, war veterans and ruling party
activists last week started
going around the town demanding that business
people contribute towards a
victory celebration for Chiwara to be held on 17
July in Dangamvura high
density suburb.
A shop owner who declined to
be identified for fear of reprisals told The
Standard that war veterans
besieged his shop last week armed with the letter
and demanded that he pay at
least $100 000 failure of which he would face
unspecified
action.
ÒThey said I had to comply with their demands as I was working
and enjoying
the fruits of the independence brought about by the ruling Zanu
PF party.
A similar letter in possession of The Standard dated 16 June
2004 headlined
Victory Celebrations reads: The Zanu PF District Coordination
committee for
Mutare Urban is appealing for your support by donating towards
their victory
celebrations in cash or kind to Mutare Urban District
Coordinating Committee
Account No.01213257908010 C.B.Z, Mutare Branch.
Zim Standard
No hope for Zimbabwe's jobless as economy sinks sinks
By
Caiphas Chimhete
WHILE others were playing various games to while away
time, Daniel Mwamuka
was taking a nap under a small shrub at the offices of
the National
Employment Services Department in HarareÕs Kopje
area.
The 48-year old sickly man, who was retrenched by a milling firm
in
Southerton industrial area of Harare, was only too eager to discuss
his
predicament.
ÒI am hungry, I have not eaten anything since
morning. My family has nothing
to eat,Ó said Mwamuka, who was among hundreds
of other job seekers loitering
at the employment departmentÕs offices last
week.
The former machine operator said before he was retrenched, he could
look
after his family well but life has since changed.
ÒNow, one of my
children is not going to school anymore. The school levies
were raised from
$3 000 to about $50 000 this term, which is too much for
me,Ó said Mwamuka, a
father of eight.
MwamukaÕs dilemma is a microcosm of the broad picture of
the kind of life
thousands Zimbabweans are living as the countryÕs economy
continues to
degenerate.
An official with the department, which falls
under the Ministry of Public
Service, Labour and Social Welfare, said many
people were converging at the
offices every morning despite that firms were
not recruiting anymore.
ÒLife is hard out there. A lot of people were
retrenched over the past few
years so they come here to register for any form
of employment,Ó said the
official.
A few years back, most job seekers
who thronged the premises were domestic
workers. But as the economy cringes
with firms closing down, artisans such
as fitter & turners, plumbers and
builders also congregate behind the
dilapidated offices and will settle for
almost any vacancy that comes along.
Analysts say unemployment is
exacerbated by over 250 000 school leavers
entering the job market each year
while another ÒsignificantÓ number of
workers joining the job queues after
being retrenched as the economy
continues to shrink.
Although the
Central Statistical Office (CSO) says unemployment rate stands
at 60 percent
independent economic analysts say the figure is far too
conservative to be
realistic.
Godfrey Kanyenze, a chief economist with the Zimbabwe Congress
of Trade
Union (ZCTU) said out of the 250 000 school leavers less than 18 000
were
absorbed into formal employment annually.
ÒAs of 1997, about 18
000 people were being absorbed into the formal market,
that was before we had
a crisis. Now that we are in an economic crisis the
numbers should be much
lower,Ó he said.
Kanyenze said although it was widely agreed that the
unemployment rate
stands at around 70 percent Òthe figure could be much
higherÓ.
ÒThe problem with the CSO figures is that they consider only
those actively
looking for jobs leaving out those that are tired of hunting
for the jobs,Õ
said Kanzenye.
An independent economic analyst, John
Robertson, also shares KanyenzeÕs
sentiments. He said apart from
retrenchments, unemployment rate has risen
following the loss of 300 000 jobs
in the agriculture sector.
Notwithstanding that, several other
industries, which rely on agricultural
produce, shut down throwing workers
out of jobs. Sectors that have suffered
due to the turmoil in agriculture
include the cotton, tobacco and beef
industries.
ÒThere are no more
jobs that are being created, that is why we have so many
unemployed people,Ó
said Robertson, adding that only about one million
people were formally
employed in the country.
Presently, 75 percent of ZimbabweÕs 12,5 million
people are living below the
poverty-datum line. But innovative and
enterprising retrenchees and school
leavers are joining the growing informal
sector.
Robertson estimates that about one million people in urban
centres derive
their livelihood from the informal sector although they are
not classified
as employed.
ÒVery soon there will be more people in
the informal sector than those in
formal employment,Ó he
said.
Analysts say it is high time the informal sector was officially
recognised
because it contributes significantly to the national
economy.
A spokesperson for the National Economic Consultative Forum
(NECF), Nhlanhla
Masuku, said that the term unemployment must be redefined
because a lot of
money is being generated by the informal sector, whose
people are not
classified as employed. ÒThe amount of money in the informal
sector is too
much and it is wrong to say such people are not working. More
quantitative
research needs to be done,Ó said Masuku.
The current
economic meltdown is blamed on President Robert MugabeÕs skewed
economic
policies, which have resulted in the virtual collapse of major
sectors such
as agriculture, manufacturing and tourism.
Zim Standard
Resurgence of kwashiorkor in Harare
By Health Reporter
Bertha Shoko
¥ 621 cases treated in the capital AT least 621 cases of
kwashiorkor were
attended to in HarareÕs city council clinics last year, as
malnutrition
cases continue to be reported at various health centres in the
city and in
the country.
Kwashiorkor is a disease associated with the
inadequate consumption of
protein and calories and children under the age of
three are particularly
susceptible to the disease.
Symptoms of the
disease are Ôlistlessness, spindly arms and legs and bloated
stomachsÕ and if
not treated quickly could result in the death of the
affected
child.
In his 2003 annual report, director of Health Services in the city
council,
Dr Lovemore Mbengeranwa, said 621 cases were attended to at
municipal
clinics during the year, showing a marked increase of 11,1 percent,
over the
number seen in 2002.
Of these 97,1 percent were below the age
of five, while 2,7 percent between
5-14 years and 2 % of these were above the
age of 15.
The diagnosed cases of kwashiorkor were referred to the
central hospitals
for initial treatment and rehabilitation.
ÒSevere
cases of kwashiorkor continue to be managed at Harare Hospital
before
discharge back to municipal clinics for follow up care,Ó
said
Mbengeranwa.
ÒThe number of kwashiorkor cases was evenly
distributed throughout the
districts. These cases were mainly attended to at
Mbare, Rutsanana, Rujeko,
Hatcliffe, Mabvuku and Marlborough
clinics.
ÒDzivarasekwa extension and the peri urban farms surrounding
Marlborough, Mt
Pleasant, Waterfalls contributed to the number of cases
attended to during
the year.Ó
The report says that levels of food
vulnerability in urban areas of Zimbabwe
is increasing at an alarming rate
due to the economic instability in the
country.
ÒSupplementary feeding
interventions have in the past been targeted at rural
populations as they
were viewed to be the most food insecure and
vulnerable,Ó notes the
report.
ÒHowever, it has been found that the level of food vulnerability
in urban
areas of Zimbabwe was increasing at an alarming rate.
ÒThis
has been found to be due to the current drought situation,
growing
unemployment, the non availability of basic commodities and the
rising
inflation rate.Ó
The Aids pandemic is also cited as a
contributing factor in the high levels
of malnutrition and Òwill have long
term effects on food security and
general household welfareÓ.
Health
experts say reports of malnutrition in urban areas are worrying, as
it could
be a broader reflection of the situation in more prone areas, such
as rural
areas.
The Minister of Health and Child Welfare, David Parirenyatwa, said
it was a
major concern of government that kwashiorkor cases continue to be
reported
in the city and also in rural areas.
Parirenyatwa said towns
and cities were previously thought to be Òfood
secureÓ but after the
realisation that cases of kwashiorkor were also
affecting the urban
population, his ministry extended the Child
Supplementary Feeding Scheme
(CSFS) to city health institutions.
ÒWe officially launched the CSFS in
Rusape last year and have now included
urban areas because we realise that
malnutrition is a national problem.
ÒWe have been very aggressive with
this issue and we have moved to target
squatter camps, peri urban farms in
areas such as Marlborough and orphans
particularly those who have lost
parents due to the HIV/Aids epidemic and
are in child headed families,Ó said
Parirenyatwa.
A battle with two years of drought and the chaotic land
redistribution that
displaced many commercial farmers, are among the major
reasons for reduced
food production in the country.
UNAids estimates
that more than five million people, out of total population
of 12 million in
Zimbabwe are receiving food aid under various programmes
run by
non-governmental organisations.
Zim Standard
Zim can learn from Swedish democracy
In this, the
second and final part of a two part series, Standard Editor,
Bornwell
Chakaodza, who was among a group of Zimbabwean journalists who
recently
returned from a study tour of Sweden, delves into the intricate
workings of
the Swedish democratic systems.
IN the first instalment about my
impressions during a study tour of Sweden
by a group of Zimbabwean
journalists recently, I pointed out that some of
the most liberal and
progressive laws on freedom of expression and access to
information are to be
found in Sweden.
Even in culturally similar countries such as Norway,
Denmark and to some
extent Finland, the right of access to official documents
is not as far
reaching as that of Sweden. In the rest of Europe, as discussed
in the
earlier article, either that right is very limited or does not
exist
altogether.
Not only is the protection of freedoms and rights of
individuals in their
contacts with authorities and in their everyday living
confined to the
media. It extends to the whole of Swedish society through an
ombudsman
system designed to protect the interests of various groups in
society
including the vulnerable and the disadvantaged.
There are
several ombudsmen; one for children's rights, another for gender
equality,
for the the disabled, consumer ombudsman and parliamentary
ombudsman in
addition to the press ombudsman alluded to in the first
article.
The
main task of these various ombudsmen is to safeguard the rights and
interests
of the various groups - something that is not normally found in
most
democracies.
In this context, the Swedish ombudsman system acts as a
guarantee against
oppressive legislation and misgovernance in the judiciary
and public
administration.
Any member of the public who feels he has
been wronged by any authority may
submit a written complaint to the relevant
ombudsman for redress. The
various ombudsmen are legally empowered to provide
information on the
relevant legislation and advise complainants on how to
proceed in order to
protect their rights. This is a unique system which
constantly keeps the
authorities in check and makes them accountable every
step of the way.
For example, children are the weakest and most
defenseless category of human
beings in any society the world over. They are,
in fact, the weakest of the
weak in any given society and they need
protection and empathy.
Where else does one find a children's ombudsman
whose main task in law is to
safeguard the rights and interests of children
and young people? Where else
does one find a disability ombudsman
specifically established to deal with
issues relating to the rights and
interests of persons with disabilities?
Where else, if one may be allowed
to go on, can one find a parliamentary
ombudsman established to provide
parliament with a means of supervising
compliance with laws and ordinances by
all judges, civil servants and
military officers? It is even more unique to
see the institution of
parliamentary ombudsman being of a constitutional
nature and forming part of
parliament's control over the executive, as is the
case in Sweden.
Obviously, this typically and uniquely Swedish system has
evolved over
centuries and has had the supreme merit of making Sweden an
extremely
egalitarian society. Even to the point of wives and husbands
alternately
taking several months fully paid leave to look after newly-born
babies.
Men and women, by the way, do share childcare responsibilities in
Sweden and
it is considered normal for children to have male carers. While,
indeed,
Zimbabwe could pluck a leaf from Swedish press laws which are, by all
means,
export quality, whether the same can be said of the Swedish
childcare
policies in our decidedly patriarchal society is highly debatable.
It will
really be like printing this newspaper upside down!
Every
culture has different ways of raising children and the Swedish way is
not
necessarily the way for all.
In this part of the world, it is not always
the case that we do things on ti
me. The occasions that I took buses and
trains, I was impressed by the way
they arrived right on the dot - not one
minute late, not one minute early.
"On time" does appear to be the name of
the game in that land of Sports
enthusiasts, Abba, Saab, ball-bearings and
Nobel prizes.
Of course, this is not something special to the Swedes but
the precision and
the exactness of arrivals and departures of public
transport is something
that really struck a chord with me.
Also, there
is a world of difference between politicians in Europe and the
pomposity and
arrogance of African leaders who insist on elaborate
motorcades and heavy
security. While it is common in Zimbabwe for people
going about their daily
business to be rudely interrupted by ear-splitting
sirens and a chain of
speeding Mercedes Benz cars zooming past so that
everyone knows the President
is passing by, such demostrations of power are
uncommon in the western
world.
No such thing as motorcades in Sweden and the western world in
general.
Their prime ministers and presidents board buses and trains - no big
deal.
There is'nt the kind of paranoia about security exhibited by
President
Mugabe in this country. The resources consumed by Mugabe's
motorcade, for
example, must be enormous.
Be that as it may, the
Swedes can be proud of many things: a thriving
democracy and a welfare state
that takes care of its own. With an average
life expectancy of 77 years for
men and 82 years for women, one can talk of
a zero death rate.
It is
worth noting that there are no street kids, vagrants or destitute
people to
be found prowling the streets in Stockholm attesting to an
extremely high
standard of living.
In Zimbabwe, life expectancy is now less than 40
years, a terrible
indictment of how things have decayed in recent years. No
wonder there is so
much disappointment the world over about how Zimbabwe has
really hit rock
bottom from the dizzy heights of the 1980s.
In
Zimbabwe, GDP has fallen more than 30% in four or five years, inflation
is at
500 to 600%, the formal economy is shrinking on a daily basis, real
wages are
dropping, health and education sectors are collapsing, poverty is
rising, the
HIV/Aids pandemic is on the march despite spirited efforts to
fight it and
severe food shortages loom. How worse can we get as a country?
If the
Jews are God's chosen people, then at this time, Zimbabweans are God'
s
cursed people. How else can one explain a people in such dire
straits.
Unlike in Sweden and elsewhere and even closer home in South
Africa and
Botswana where people are left to develop their creative
potential, in
Zimbabwe people everywhere are arrested willy-nilly and being
bludgeoned
into submission and commandism and their rights and freedoms
violated.
Looking at the way different countries have dealt with
percieved excesses of
the media over the years, one can discern three things
and countries around
the world have tried them all in various
combinations.
One is by legislation - the Zimbabwean way. Another is by
collective action
among media organisations and some form of mutual
self-regulation which is
the Swedish way as well as much of Europe, North
America and generally the
developed world. The third is by the efforts of
individual news
organisations to build faith and trust with their audiences -
each in its
own way.
Again this is what the media in the developed
world tries to do as well as
the independent media in the developing
world.
The best way, of course, is not to legislate against the press.
The major
judge of a story in a newspaper, is of course, the reader. Readers
can
punish a newspaper simply by not buying it. We do not need a government
to
be both judge and jury. Self-regulation on the part of the press is the
only
way not a big brother lurking somewhere setting parameters of what
readers
should read or viewers watch or listeners listen to.
If there
are insights and lessons learnt on the study tour of Sweden, it is
that the
conditions under which Swedish journalists work are unique and
rather special
if we compare them with conditions in most other countries
let alone the
repressive environment that is Zimbabwe.
Given their long tradition of
press freedom, I have no doubt in my own mind
that the Swedes must have been
first in the queue when God was dishing out
this precious commodity called
press freedom which is very much in short
supply in Zimbabwe at the
moment.
From: "Trudy Stevenson"
Subject: Women's Workshops in Harare
North
WiPSU - Women in Politics Support Unit- which is a non-partisan
NGO
supporting women in politics and decision-making positions, is holding
a
series of workshops in Harare North this week, to look at the role of
women
MPs and other women in leadership positions, the operations of
government
institutions, etc.
Tuesday 13 July Mount Pleasant
Hall 8.30am -
4.00 pm
Wednesday 14 July Mabelreign
Catholic Church Hall 8.30am - 4.00 pm
Thursday 15 July Hatcliffe
Community Centre 8.30 am - 4.00
pm
These workshops are
FREE for women living in or near Harare North, and lunch
and teas are
provided. The MP will be present for some time at each one.
Please let me
know if you or someone else would like to attend and which
venue, if
possible. You can also just pitch up on the day, but it helps
catering etc
if we know in advance. Proceedings are a mixture of English
and
Shona.
Regards
Trudy Stevenson MP
Harare North Constituency
From The Sunday Times (UK), 11 July
Coup 'confession' may doom
Briton
Tom Walker
A confession by Simon Mann, an Old
Etonian mercenary accused of an attempted
coup in Equatorial Guinea, could
put him in jail for up to 15 years, say
lawyers acting for the west African
oil state. The buccaneering Mann, 51, is
currently languishing in Zimbabwe's
notorious Chikurubi prison, having seen
his alleged coup attempt last March
get no further than the tarmac of Harare
's international airport. His trial
on public order, arms and aviation
charges is scheduled to begin in Harare
next week. After that, lawyers
expect him to be extradited to Equatorial
Guinea where he will face trial as
a mercenary. How long Mann's transfer
between the two pariah countries takes
may depend on whatever secretive deal
is struck by their presidents,
Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Equatorial
Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
Diplomats watching the drama believe Mugabe
will want guarantees of fuel
supplies from Nguema before he hands over Mann
and his 69 co-defendants.
Mann's confession - disputed by his lawyers - gives
an account of his
involvement in the alleged plot, and is partly backed by
the confession of
his alleged accomplice, Nick du Toit. He is a former South
African special
forces soldier currently held in Black Beach prison in
Malabo, the capital
of Equatorial Guinea.
The country's government
has accused Mann and du Toit of acting on behalf of
Severo Moto, an exiled
opposition leader. Moto denies any connection to the
alleged coup. Du Toit is
said to have led an advance party identifying
targets. Mann was to pick up
weapons in Harare and then fly to Malabo with
the main group of mercenaries.
In his confession, Mann describes Moto as a
"dearly good and honest man", who
had been banished by Nguema after trying
to mount an earlier coup in 1997. "I
was also struck by just how bad Nguema
is," he continued. He claimed Moto
depicted his rival as a cannibal
determined to preserve the family dynasty
through Teodorin, his playboy son.
In a subsequent meeting, Mann said in his
confession that Moto introduced
him to an Equatorial Guinea general who
claimed he had been forced to watch
Nguema raping his wife. "They asked me if
I could help escort Severo Moto
home.when simultaneously there would be an
uprising of the military and
civilians against Nguema," he is quoted as
saying. "Given the above, this
seemed a necessity and I agreed to try and
help the cause." Why Mann, a
scion of the Watneys brewing empire who made
millions from a previous
mercenary venture, Executive Outcomes, would have
been tempted by such a
risky operation is unclear. He owns Inchmery, a former
Rothschild estate on
the banks of the Beaulieu river in Hampshire, and a
substantial home in Cape
Town, where he socialised among a select, monied
group. Amanda, his wife, is
expecting their fourth child.
Family
friends have hinted, however, that he needed one more payday to cover
his
lavish lifestyle. Those same friends also suggest that he has been
tortured
in jail and lawyers for Mann (their fees paid for by the sale of
his Aerostar
jet) insist his confession was obtained under duress. That
confession goes on
to state how last summer Mann asked du Toit to help in
recruiting
mercenaries. It also gives details of how the pair tried to get
weapons from
the Zimbabwe state arms maker, Zimbabwe Defence Industries.
"Naively I
believed that by dealing with Zimbabwe Defence Industries I was
dealing at a
very high level and would be fully covered," Mann said. Mann's
confession
finishes with details of how Spanish civil guards would be sent
to prop up
the Moto administration after it was installed. Spain has denied
any
involvement. Du Toit's confession describes how his small band of
mercenaries
would take over Malabo airport's control tower and establish
communications
with Mann's incoming aircraft from Harare. Afterwards the
force would split,
with one group picking up a government minister who would
lead them into the
presidential palace to capture Nguema. The attempt, he
said, "was planned
with minimum force to be used, but in the event of
resistance, bloodshed was
inevitable". In reality the Boeing 727 that Mann
arranged to fly into Harare
from South Africa on March 7 to pick up weapons
was impounded before it could
take off for Malabo; he and the 69 on board
were arrested. The following day
du Toit and the rest of his party suffered
the same fate.
Who
rumbled whom is unclear: some security experts claim South African
agents
infiltrated the group, while others believe intelligence officials
close to
Mugabe, when they discovered the arms deal, jumped at the chance of
betraying
white mercenaries. American embassy officials in Malabo have
reported that du
Toit and the six other members of his group are being held
in good conditions
in Black Beach. Defence lawyers, though, contest this and
oppostion sources
claim that a fellow German mercenary who perished at the
prison in March died
not because of malaria but through injuries sustained
during torture. The
Equatorial Guinea lawyers claim that any trial in Malabo
will meet
international standards. Those close to the defence teams for Mann
and du
Toit doubt this, and say there is insufficient evidence to convict
either of
a coup attempt. "Without corroborating evidence, like contracts or
bank
transfers, confessions extracted in this way are surely not worth the
paper
they are written on," one Africa expert said. Mann and du Toit are set
to
face courtroom dramas with a plot so murky it springs straight from the
pages
of a Frederick Forsyth novel. And diplomats preparing to monitor the
trials
have noted that Forsyth's Dogs of War was based on just such a coup
attempt -
in Equatorial Guinea.
SABC
ANC should clarify links with Zanu(PF): DA
July 11, 2004,
14:44
It is time the ANC clarifies the real nature of its relationship
with
Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu(PF), Douglas Gibson, the Democratic Alliance's
acting
leader, said in a statement today.
Gibson was reacting to
newspaper reports that ANC officials led by President
Thabo Mbeki had met
with leading Zanu(PF) officials at the ANC's
Johannesburg headquarters to
forge closer political ties. "The South African
public has a right to know
what is going on."
"We need to know exactly how close the ANC and
Zanu(PF) are. It seems that
the relationship between the ANC and Zanu(PF) is
closer than most people
realise."
The ANC should tell South Africans
how it was possible to have such a
relationship with a government that: had
been criticised by an AU report for
undemocratic practices and human rights
abuses; was carrying out what
Zimbabwe's opposition described as "ethnic
cleansing"; had destroyed the
rule of law in Zimbabwe; had introduced
detention without trial; and had
closed down Zimbabwe's independent media and
stopped the foreign media from
operating.
Gibson said: "The ANC likes
to proclaim itself as an honest broker in
Zimbabwe, which does not publicly
criticise Zanu-PF for fear that it might
be counterproductive. That excuse is
growing increasingly threadbare." The
ANC could not be an honest broker
between Zanu(PF) and the Zimbabwean
opposition group, the MDC, if it
maintained covert fraternal relations with
Zanu(PF).
"It is time the
ANC made a choice: peace progress and democracy in Zimbabwe
or still more
repression under (President Robert) Mugabe and Zanu(PF)." The
ANC was
undermining the New Partnership for Africa's Development and
destroying South
Africa's reputation as a bastion of human rights by
surreptitiously
supporting Mugabe and his government and applauding their
unacceptable
conduct, said Gibson.
"Mr Mbeki must break his silence and tell us the
truth about Zimbabwe. Is it
silent diplomacy or is it covert support?" -
Sapa
IOL
Zim economy on the up and up
July 11 2004 at
10:54AM
Zimbabwe's battered economy has markedly improved this year
with a
sharp decline in inflation, higher agricultural output and a slower
rate of
economic contraction, a mid-year survey by a leading bank
says.
A review by South Africa's Stanbic Bank last week said a
turnaround in
the economy was on the cards in 2006, after next year's
parliamentary
elections expected to be won by President Robert Mugabe's
ruling party.
"GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is expected to decline
by 8.5 percent in
2004 slower than 2003 where it was estimated to have
declined by 13.2
percent," the study said.
It said steps taken
by the central bank to control skyhigh inflation -
including the introduction
of a foreign exchange auction market and lower
lending rates for "projects
deemed to be economically productive" - had paid
handsome
dividends.
"The impact of these measures was a rapid decline in
inflation from
just over 600 percent (at the end of 2003) to just under 450
percent in May
2004," it said.
"The central bank has set an
inflation target of less than 200 percent
for the end of the year and the
target will probably be attained through a
combination of tighter lending for
non-qualifying activities and improved
access to farming
inputs."
Zimbabwe has in recent years been in the throes of
political, economic
and social instability.
Average annual
inflation has been on a upward trend since 2000 when it
stood at 55.9
percent, rising to 71 percent a year later. Two years later it
had surpassed
600 percent.
The country has also been plagued by severe food
shortages, caused
partly by drought as well as the controversial land
redistribution programme
dispossessing white farmers.
Harare has
this year said it has enough food to feed its people, but
in early June a
state-owned grain marketer was quoted in the media as saying
that Zimbabwe
was importing food.
The survey said the agriculture sector had
"witnessed sharp declines
due to the twin effects of droughts and the land
distribution programme.
"It would now seem that the sharp rate of
decline has been halted and
a return to positive growth, off a lower base, is
likely in 2005," it said,
adding: "Food supply has now improved as local
smallholder farmers increased
output following better rainfall and improved
access to farming outputs."
The review said the value of the
Zimbabwean dollar had become
realistic after the introduction of the foreign
exchange auction market,
recalling that at the start of the year the official
exchange rate for the
Zimbabwean dollar was 824 to the dollar while in the
black market it traded
for 6 000 against the greenback.
"In May
and June 2004, the Zimbabwe dollar has been fairly stable
which would suggest
that the Central Bank of Zimbabwe might have set an
unofficial peg at ZIM$5
300 to ZIM$5 350 to the US dollar," the study said.
But it warned
that to stimulate the economy, the central bank "will
have to allow the
Zimbabwean dollar to depreciate further."
News24
Mugabe fires up youth
11/07/2004 11:59 -
(SA)
Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has urged young
ruling party
supporters to wage a "vigorous campaign" to win next year's
general
elections, saying he will hold them answerable for any defeat, a
newspaper
reported on Sunday.
"If we lose the elections, I will expect
you in the Youth League to be
answerable," Mugabe told hundreds of young
supporters of his Zimbabwe
African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF)
on Saturday, the official
Sunday Mail reported.
The Zimbabwe president
told the 2 400 youths meeting in Harare to "mount a
vigorous campaign across
the country to push (British Prime Minister) Tony
Blair's midgets out", in a
reference to legislators from the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC).
Mugabe and his party say the five-year old MDC is a "puppet" of
former
colonial power Britain.
A national youth training scheme, set
up in 2001, has been criticised for
allegedly indoctrinating its members
against the opposition and the West, a
charge the authorities
deny.
The opposition has called for the disbanding of youth training
camps ahead
of next year's polls, claiming trainees use violence to campaign
for the
ruling party.
Speaking at the two-day conference, Mugabe also
hit out at high-profile
members of his party who have taken more than one
farm for themselves under
a controversial land reform programme.
In
unusually strong criticism of top ruling party officials, Mugabe said he
had
received many complaints about political heavyweights who had taken more
than
one farm, according to the newspaper.
"As per our tradition, a man can
have as many wives as he wants as long as
he can look after them.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about farms,"
Mugabe told the youths
at the close of a conference held at the University
of Zimbabwe.
Four
years ago, the Zimbabwe government launched a fast-track land
reform
programme that has seen thousands of new black farmers given
previously
white-owned farms.
But the scheme has been dogged by
controversy, following allegations that
top politicians had taken many of the
best properties.
"Those with more than one farm must surrender the rest
and remain with one
farm," Mugabe said.