The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
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July 23, 2005 5:50 PM

Zimbabwe opposition applauds U.N. report

By Stella Mapenzauswa

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main opposition welcomed on Saturday a damning
U.N. report on government demolitions of urban slums, and urged the global
body to act against President Robert Mugabe's government.

The report released in New York on Friday told the government to halt its
indiscriminate bulldozing of shanty buildings, calling the operation a
"disastrous venture" that had cost 700,000 people their homes or jobs and
affected 2.4 million others.

"The report confirms what every Zimbabwean has always known, the vindictive,
callous sceptical disregard of human rights, dignity and good governance on
the part of the Harare regime," the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change said on Saturday.

"It now remains to be seen whether the report will be shelved (and) gather
dust or it will be the catalyst for the decisive action and reprimand that
so many Zimbabweans have been asking the United Nations to take against the
regime," an opposition statement said.

"We also wait to see the response of the regional countries such as South
Africa and others," it added.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, criticised both at home and abroad for
taking a soft stance against Mugabe as the country grapples with an economic
crisis widely blamed on his misrule, has not publicly commented on the
demolitions, saying he would wait for the U.N. report.

The report's author, Tanzanian Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, executive director
of the Nairobi-based U.N. Habitat agency, which deals with urban slums, said
the crackdown was "carried out in an indiscriminate and unjustified manner,
with indifference to human suffering".

The report said 700,000 people had lost either their homes, livelihoods or
both in demolitions that affected another 2.4 million people.

The MDC says the crackdown was a punitive move against Zimbabwe's urban
dwellers who have largely supported the opposition in elections since it was
formed in 1999.

Mugbe's government denies the charge, saying the drive was simply meant to
remove slums that had become a haven for crime.

In her report, Tibaijuka said it was not up to her to assign blame, saying
while the government was collectively responsible for the crackdown,
evidence suggested the operation was based on "improper advice" by a few
people.

Zimbabwe slammed the report on Friday, with Foreign Minister Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi calling it biased, hostile and false.

Mugabe denies charges he has mismanaged Zimbabwe since assuming power at
independence from Britain in 1980, and says the economy has fallen victim to
sabotage by opponents of his drive to forcibly hand over formerly
white-owned commercial farms to blacks.

Reuters
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News24

Mugabe arrives in China
23/07/2005 16:18  - (SA)

Beijing - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe arrived in Beijing on Saturday
evening to begin a six-day visit aimed at fulfilling the promise of his
"Look East" policy of fostering better relations with Asian nations.

During his visit Mugabe will meet with or hold talks with Chinese President
Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and top lawmaker Wu Bangguo, the official
Xinhua news agency said after reporting his arrival.

Besides Beijing, Mugabe would also visit the northeastern province of Jilin,
it said.

Following sanctions and isolation from Western countries over the political
crisis in the country, Zimbabwe has turned to Asia, seeking to buttress
political and trade relations in particular with China, Malaysia and
Singapore.

China has been a leading investor in Zimbabwe with both nations exploring
new areas of cooperation.

"We have been allies, partners and excellent friends for a long time
starting from the days of our liberation struggle," Mugabe was quoted by
Xinhua as telling a visiting delegation from China's ruling Communist Party
last month.

"The relationship was strengthened even much more after our independence in
1980. Now we are looking at several socio-economic ways and dimensions in
which we could further consolidate our relations."
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IPS

To Loan, or Not To Loan
Moyiga Nduru

JOHANNESBURG, Jul 23 (IPS) - Zimbabwe's decision to seek a loan from
neighbouring South Africa has sparked a heated debate in that country. Some
have urged South Africa to turn down the request, while others say the loan
should be granted -- with stringent conditions attached. They fear a refusal
to extend this financial lifeline to President Robert Mugabe would
exacerbate Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis.

But even if the money is granted, says David Monyae, a lecturer in the
Department of International Relations at the Johannesburg-based
Witwatersrand University, it is unlikely to go very far.

"Zimbabwe needs 15 to 20 billion dollars to resuscitate its economy. The
one-billion-dollar loan it has requested from South Africa is likely to dry
up before Christmas," he told IPS.

"You and I may think that's a huge amount, but it's not. President Robert
Mugabe can't survive on this kind of money. He needs money to improve
infrastructure, to deliver health care, to improve the education system, and
to import food."

Of the 10 million people who need food aid in Southern Africa this year, 2.9
million are in Zimbabwe, according to a joint report by United Nations
agencies and the 13-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC),
released in June.

"The number of people in need is based upon the Government's announced plan
to import 1.2 million tonnes of maize to address food shortages, caused by
drought, inadequate access to inputs and limited tillage," the report noted.

"However, if this maize is not made available through the (Zimbabwean) Grain
Marketing Board, or if it increases in price, the number of people requiring
food assistance could rise substantially. As a contingency, WFP (the U.N.
World Food Programme) plans to assist up to four million people in Zimbabwe
in the year ahead," it added. (The country's total population is put at
about 13 million.)

The food shortages and economic decline that have come to characterize life
in Zimbabwe have prompted a mass migration of its citizens.

More than two million Zimbabweans now live in South Africa, according to
Daniel Molokela, a Zimbabwean lawyer who works for the Peace and Democracy
Project, a non-governmental organisation based in South Africa's commercial
hub of Johannesburg. Molokela is involved in organising Zimbabwe's diaspora
to work for change in the country.

Political repression in Zimbabwe has also played a role in the exodus of
citizens to neighbouring states, and countries further afield.

A crackdown on the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), has been underway since 2000. During the parliamentary poll held that
year, the MDC presented the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic
Front -- in power since independence in 1980 -- with its most serious
electoral challenge ever.

Mugabe has accused the MDC of being a British stooge, a claim the party
rejects. He further alleges that Britain, which ruled Zimbabwe before
independence, wants to recolonise the country.

The year 2000 also marked the beginning of widespread farm occupations in
Zimbabwe, a campaign which saw land seized from some 4,500 white land owners
by former liberation war fighters and pro-government militants. While Harare
initially claimed the campaign was the result of a spontaneous uprising by
black Zimbabweans frustrated at the slow pace of land reform, others saw it
as a ploy by the administration to gain votes in the 2000 poll.

The farm occupations are viewed by many has having contributed to reducing
domestic food production in Zimbabwe.

"We have now become an empty basket," Jerry Mashamba, an MDC official who is
based in South Africa, told IPS Friday.

Shortages of basic commodities such as cooking oil and fuel have also become
common in Zimbabwe.

However, Gideon Gono, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, said the
country's fuel crisis should ease by early August. In his mid-year monetary
policy statement Thursday, Gono also announced a number of policies to
encourage the estimated five million Zimbabweans living abroad to send money
home to boost the country's foreign currency reserves.

In addition, he devalued the Zimbabwe dollar by 39 percent. One U.S. dollar
now fetches 17,500 Zimbabwe dollars.

In other developments related to Zimbabwe, this week saw the release of a
U.N. report condemning the country's slum clearance programme, which the
world body said violated international law.

The report called on the government of Zimbabwe to halt the initiative -- 
known as Operation Murambatsvina (a Shona term meaning "Drive Out
Rubbish") -- which it said had affected around two million people.

"This crisis has been allowed to burn itself into ashes," observed Monyae.
"I think the report will help South Africa to say something on Zimbabwe."

South African President Thabo Mbeki has been criticized for his policy of
"quiet diplomacy" towards Harare -- a strategy which critics say has been
ignored by Mugabe.

Monyae urged Mauritius, current chair of SADC, to speak up on Zimbabwe.

Added Mashamba, "The Zimbabwe problem needs a lot of solutions by
Zimbabweans themselves. It also needs international pressure."

"It's sad that heroes like Mugabe have now become despots," he added.
(END/2005)
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      FOREIGN SECRETARY RESPONDS TO UNITED NATIONS REPORT ON ZIMBABWE

            July 23 2005

            Press Release - Foreign and Commonwealth Office

            Following the publication of UN Special Envoy Anna Tibaijuka's
report on Zimbabwe, the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw commented:

            "The report of the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy has
crystallised the concerns of the international community about recent events
in Zimbabwe by describing "a disastrous venture" which has precipitated "a
humanitarian crisis of immense proportions". It is a vivid testimony to the
needless humanitarian suffering caused, especially to the poor. The report
says more than 700,000 people have been made homeless or jobless, and
another 2.4 million people have been affected.

            "We will be speaking to our international partners, in Africa,
in the European Union, and at the United Nations, to ensure that the
international community responds swiftly, appropriately and constructively.
The United Nations Security Council should take these findings very
seriously. I applaud the efforts of Kofi Annan, Anna Tibaijuka and all of
those involved in this important undertaking. Our efforts to respond to this
crisis will continue, focused both on support to the international relief
effort, and on urging an end to policies which have caused so much misery."

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Globe and Mail, Canada
'Never, ever give in to your hatred'
As an opposition member in Zimbabwe's crumbling political landscape, Roy
Bennett learned a difficult lesson
By COLIN FREEZE

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Roy Bennett spent most of the past year in a Zimbabwean prison. Often, he
looked to his Bible to transport him away.

Sometimes he thumbed through the pages of the Old Testament, reading the
Book of Job. That story, about the wealthy farmer who suffers a complete
reversal of fortune and yet retains his faith, seems a particularly apt
choice.

Mr. Bennett, a farmer turned opposition politician, said that everything he
owned has been taken away by "a Pol-Pot-type dictatorship" that exists under
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe. Yet, he somehow retains optimism that
he, and hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans who suffer far more than he,
can rebuild -- provided international pressure from Canada and other G8
nations is wielded to restore free elections and good government.

"Hatred and bitterness never built anything," an upbeat Mr. Bennett said as
he visited The Globe and Mail's editorial board this week.

Released from jail in June, he said he was visiting Canada to see family and
recuperate.
His home base is now a rented house in Harare, although he once had title to
a very great household. In all, he had nearly 30,000 hectares of coffee
fields, 820 cattle, 120 sheep, five trucks and three tractors. All were
seized a few years ago as part of Mr. Mugabe's program to reclaim the land
of white farmers for black Africans. "They took everything I own," Mr.
Bennett said.

Amid the land seizure, his wife suffered a miscarriage.

Last year, as Mr. Mugabe's Justice Minister announced in the country's
Parliament that he was stepping up measures to crack down on thieves who
were stealing cattle and chickens, Mr. Bennett stood up to accuse government
ministers of being the real criminals, saying they ought to be jailed for
confiscating the farmland, giving it to cronies and plunging Zimbabwe into a
food crisis.

Livid, the minister retorted that Mr. Bennett's privileged life was the
product of a racist colonial legacy. "He forgets that his forefathers were
the thieves and robbers, and he forgets that what he owned . . . was a
legacy of theft," Patrick Chinamasa said.

At that point, Mr. Bennett lost it. He crossed the floor and used both of
his hands to push down the Justice Minister. Mr. Chinamasa tumbled in front
of Parliament, but the man who pushed him had farther to fall.

Weeks later, a committee declared Mr. Bennett to be in contempt of
Parliament and sentenced him to jail for the shoving incident. "Why do you
hate me so much? What have I done?" Mr. Bennett said, according to Hansard,
as he was led away by the Sergeant-at-Arms.

"I pray to God you will never be subjected to the experience I have gone
through. I hope you will never experience the pain that I have experienced."

In jail, he said he was stripped, then ordered to put on feces-smeared,
lice-infested coveralls. Six hours daily he laboured at hauling 20-litre
buckets of water. At night, he slept in an overcrowded cell, jostling with
other prisoners for floor space. "If you got up to go the toilet, you
wouldn't be able to come back and find a space," he recalled.

Sores broke out on his body, but he said other prisoners' suffering was
worse. They broke out in boils. Guards beat young men on the soles of their
feet. Prisoners prostituted themselves for scarce pieces of fruit. One night
he comforted a vomiting, bleeding prisoner dying of AIDS beside him.

Because he was in jail, Mr. Bennett was unable to stand for re-election this
spring. Last month, he was released after serving eight months, leaving jail
60 pounds lighter than he went in.

A lone white face in jail, he said the experience better acquainted him with
the "heart-wrenching" lives of hundreds of black Zimbabweans who never had
anything to lose.

Their plight has only gotten worse in recent weeks. Hundreds of thousands of
destitute city dwellers are now losing their hovels to bulldozers as Mr.
Mugabe runs a program known as Operation Restore Order. Soldiers are taking
displaced refugees out of urban churches where they have sought refuge and
sending them to "transit camps."

Yesterday a team of 10 United Nations experts released a report urging an
immediate end to the government's two-month-old cleanup campaign, saying it
has been "carried out in an indiscriminate and unjustified manner, with
indifference to human suffering."

The humanitarian consequences are "enormous," the experts said, as it will
take "several years before the people and society as a whole can recover."
According to the UN, "some 700,000 people in cities across the country have
lost either their homes, their source of livelihood or both."

Mr. Bennett said that Mr. Mugabe is simply punishing people who didn't vote
for him. "If you look at the last election, he could not rig the urban
seats; because of the concentration of people, he could not intimidate them
and beat them."

So, he said, "Mugabe just realized that, to destroy the opposition, he'd do
exactly what he has done."

Corrupt elections, he said, are greatly compounding problems wrought by
triple-digit inflation, a food crisis and an HIV-infection rate that
afflicts one in every four Zimbabweans.

Because of this, Mr. Bennett said, Western countries such as Canada must
raise the crisis in Zimbabwe at G8 meetings and exert pressure on South
Africa, in particular, to condemn Mr. Mugabe's worst excesses..

All Zimbabwe needs to reverse its plummet is one free and fair election, he
argued. As for his own downfall, Mr. Bennett is philosophical.

"Everybody can get pushed to their limits. If I could undo it [the shove],
of course I'd undo it," he said. "I've more than paid the price."

But he added that jail has changed him for the better. "I've actually gained
plenty," he said. 'When you have eight months to reflect, you actually
realize that there's much more important things -- you appreciate your
freedom, your family and friends.

"You also realize that hatred and bitterness never build anything. Never,
ever give in to your hatred and bitterness.

"And I just have to look at the people who were incarcerated and the
Minister of Justice --visualize him when he was talking, and to see the
spittle and the hate in his face -- I never want to be like that.

"To build a country with reconciliation, good will, gentleness, kindness -- 
that's how you do it."
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Sokwanele - Enough is Enough - Zimbabwe
PROMOTING NON-VIOLENT PRINCIPLES TO ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY

Mugabe sweeps the 'trash' into the country
Sokwanele Report : 23 July 2005

Refugees sheltering in church groundsBarely 24 hours after the police had forcibly removed the homeless victims of Mugabe's so-called "clean-up" operation from the churches where they had taken refuge in Bulawayo to a holding camp just outside the city boundaries, the police have forcibly moved them on again - this time dumping them almost indiscriminately in rural areas. From the speed with which this latest operation was undertaken it is evident that the police were under orders to clear the holding camp at Helensvale Farm of all its occupants without delay. Little or no consideration was given to the welfare of these destitute people rendered homeless by the Mugabe regime a few weeks ago or to their chances of finding shelter, food, water or other amenities in the famine stricken areas where they were dumped.

This further, again unlawful, forced removal of some of Zimbabwe's poorest and most vulnerable people, in breach of their fundamental human rights, is believed to be linked to the extremely critical report on the whole "Operation Murambatsvina" issued by the United Nations in New York yesterday.

One of the many victims who had been given sanctuary in the Brethren in Christ Church in Mpopoma township of Bulawayo, phoned the pastor of that church this afternoon to report that he had been transported, against his will and without any consultation, from Helensvale to the rural Tsholotsho. He has no family in the area nor prospect of finding accommodation or employment there. In another bizarre incident it emerged that three former street children from Bulawayo found themselves caught up in the police sweep through the churches on Wednesday night. They were taken to the Helensvale holding camp on Thursday and a day later were transported some 20 kilometres out of Bulawayo before being dumped on the roadside. By Friday evening the three exhausted, hungry and rather bemused street children had walked back into the city.

Of those spoken to by our reporter none had eaten since they were seized from the churches on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

Our reporter also spoke to one of those women who had been involved in organising the provision of food to those previously sheltering in the churches. She expressed a particular concern about two orphaned babies, one aged 4 months and the other 7 months. While enjoying the shelter and provision of the churches these babies had been fed on baby milk formula and cared for by surrogate mothers, but what would become of them when removed from this support network? Other carers from the churches expressed grave concern about some of the frail elderly among the twice, now three times, displaced victims.

It is understood that a group of between 80 and 100 of those previously sheltering in the churches managed to escape the police sweep on Wednesday night and are still at liberty. Bulawayo pastors are meeting over the weekend to consider how they can move them safely, and with some basic provision of food, to rural areas where they will be safe from further police harassment. The church leaders concerned are also to consider how to re-establish links with their former charges, now widely dispersed across the surrounding rural areas, so as to see what further assistance they can render these hapless victims of the regime's brutal programme of forced removals.

Mugabe's "Operation Murambatsvina" (meaning "clear away the trash") was harshly condemned in the report, published yesterday, of the United Nations special envoy, Ms Anna Tibaijuka, to the UN Secretary-General. In remarkably blunt language the report describes the destruction of urban slums as a "disastrous venture" that has left 700,000 people without homes or jobs, violated international law and created a grave humanitarian crisis. By diplomatic convention a copy of the report was made available to Robert Mugabe two days ago. Which raises the question, apropos the latest human rights outrage, whether having been exposed for the criminal that he is, Mugabe actually thought he could get away with it by sweeping some of the evidence away - that is by sweeping "the trash" from the towns into country.

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IOL

Zim government suspends MDC mayor
          July 23 2005 at 02:13PM

      Harare - The Zimbabwe government has suspended the opposition mayor of
the country's third biggest city for alleged financial mismanagement, a
newspaper reported on Saturday.

      Misheck Kagurabadza, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) mayor of
Mutare and three senior officials were suspended on Friday for allegedly
using money meant for road repairs to finance a car loan scheme, the
state-controlled Herald reported.

      "The officials are being accused of prejudicing the government of
nearly Z$9,7-billion (about R6-million) meant for the refurbishment of roads
and maintenance of streetlights," the Herald report said.

      But in a telephone interview from Mutare, which is situated on
Zimbabwe's eastern border with Mozambique, Kagurabadza denied the charges
against him. He claimed he was suspended for showing a United Nations envoy
around the city in June.

      "The reason I've been suspended is because I took the UN special envoy
into Sakubva (a low-income suburb) in the evening and showed her the people
living in the open," said Kagurabadza.

      In June UN Special Envoy Anna Tibaijuka toured Zimbabwe to investigate
the impact of Operation Restore Order, a controversial government "clean-up"
campaign targeting shacks, backyard cottages and houses deemed illegal.

      In a damning report released in New York on Friday, Tibaijuka
described the campaign as a "disastrous venture" that has left at least 700
000 people here without homes and jobs, and affected a total of 2,4 million
people.

      Kagurabadza said it was "very untrue" that he had failed to run the
city's affairs and to comply with provisions on borrowing funds.

      The Mutare mayor becomes the second opposition mayor to be suspended
by the government. Two years ago the MDC mayor of Harare was suspended and
later dismissed by the government on allegations of mismanagement.

      Zimbabwe's major towns and cities are predominantly strongholds of the
MDC.

      In a statement accompanying Tibaijuka's report Friday, UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan said he found his envoy's findings "profoundly
distressing" and said a "catastrophic injustice" had been done to Zimbabwe's
poor. - Sapa-dpa

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Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

Zim motorists take search for fuel to Mozambique

From Our Correspondent in Mutare
issue date :2005-Jul-23

DESPERATE Zimbabwean motorists are flocking to neighbouring Mozambique in
droves to buy fuel taking advantage of the government's liberalisation
policy regarding the importation of fuel.
Sources this week said the Forbes Border Post in Mutare was now a regular
hive of activity as locals throng the entry point to secure fuel from
Mozambique after government liberalised petroleum procurement.
The government last week allowed individuals with the requisite foreign
currency to import petrol and diesel in a bid to relieve the country of the
prevailing fuel crisis.
Immigration officials at Forbes Border Post told The Daily Mirror that a
large influx of Zimbabwean motorists was crossing into Mozambique to buy the
scarce commodity.
"There is now an untold congestion at this entry point by Zimbabwean
motorists seeking to import fuel from Mozambique since last week," said an
official who asked for anonymity.
He added that the immigration department at times worked overtime to clear
vehicles.
"Some of the motorists cross into Mozambique more than once per day," he
said.
The officials accused some motorists of selling that fuel on the black
market.
"What seemed to threaten the nobleness of the government's initiative was
the lack of stringent control measures pertaining to quantities as well as
the number of imports one was permitted daily," another immigration official
said.
This week, the MDC said the liberalisation of fuel purchasing had opened
floodgates for the black market  trading in fuel and foreign currency.
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Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

3 m litres of petrol contaminated

The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Jul-23

THE country has for the past two weeks been sitting on at least 3 million
litres of petrol, which were contaminated at the Feruka Oil Refinery plant
near Mutare.
However, the fuel can still be used if it is blended with a clean product
when it arrives in the country.
The permanent secretary for Energy and Power Development, Justin Mupamhanga,
confirmed the incident.
He said investigations were underway to establish how the fuel got tainted
and the way forward.
"I can confirm that misfortune, but we do not know where it was
contaminated. Investigations on the incident are underway to establish what
really transpired and what action to follow," he said.
The exact place where the pollution occurred was also still to be
determined, Mupamhanga said.
He added that the fuel would be used when it was blended with a clean
product.
Sources in the fuel industry alleged that State fuel procurer National Oil
Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) officials had tried to keep the incident a
secret.
"The fuel was contaminated two weeks ago at Feruka, but Noczim wanted to
hush it up. They are holding onto it so that they can blend it with another
consignment," a source said.
On the current fuel situation, Mupamhanga said: "The situation remains
tight. My message to those who use fuel remains the same as what the
minister (Michael Nyambuya) said. I am urging them to conserve it."
Zimbabwe faces a bleak future due to the prolonged fuel crisis that has also
sparked transport woes resulting in workers reporting late for work
affecting production.
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Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

SA, Zim sign US$1bn loan draft deal

issue date :2005-Jul-23

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa has already signed a provisional memorandum of
understanding with Zimbabwe for a US$1billion (R6,54bn) credit facility to
help its troubled neighbour pay an overdue International Monetary Fund (IMF)
debt.

Normally reliable Zimbabwean sources said officials of the South African
Reserve Bank and their Zimbabwean counterparts agreed on a draft deal last
week.
Government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe confirmed on Thursday  that "other
consultations involving the national treasury and the reserve banks of both
countries" had taken place. He would not say whether a memorandum of
understanding had been signed.
"I am not aware of it, but that doesn't mean a memorandum of understanding
doesn't exist," said Netshitenzhe. But he said no decision on whether to
grant the loan had been made.
Senior officials of the Zimbabwean central bank confirmed the agreement, but
would not release details of the draft, fearing this could scupper the final
deal.
"A provisional agreement was signed, and SA commits itself to providing
Zimbabwe with the funds to settle our IMF debt," a source said.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono said he was unable to discuss
the issue. "I don't comment on our bilateral relations (and) consultations
with our counterparts in the region," he said on Thursday.
President Thabo Mbeki may make an announcement on the loan when he addresses
the media on the outcome of this week's cabinet lekgotla tomorrow.
SA has set stringent terms for the granting of the US$1 billion rescue
package requested by President Robert Mugabe's government.
The terms include demands that Mugabe restore the rule of law, restart talks
with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), lift restrictions
on the media and stop Operation Murambatsvina.
Sources say reports from Harare that there is a memorandum of understanding
on the US$1billion loan signal Mugabe's acceptance of SA's tough terms.
Gono met his South African counterpart, Tito Mboweni, last Friday for talks
on the loan.
Herbert Murerwa, Zimbabwe's finance minister, is also said to have met
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel. Sources said the ministers discussed the
loan and then tasked Mboweni and Gono with finalising an agreement.
Murerwa refused to comment on the issue.
Zimbabwean officials said although they failed to meet an IMF deadline on
Wednesday, meaning the country would be automatically expelled from the
lending agency, they still had a two-week grace period in which to pay the
US$295 million arrears.
Gono said on Thursday Zimbabwe would "escalate IMF repayments over the
outlook period" to meet its financial obligations, but did not say where the
money will come from.
"Over the past 18 months, Zimbabwe has progressively escalated its
repayments to the IMF from US$1,5million per quarter to the current level of
US$9million per quarter, giving a cumulative total repayment of US$36,6
million," he said.
The IMF board meets in two weeks' time to decide Zimbabwe's fate in the
fund. A process of formal expulsion is already in motion - the last step in
a series of escalating measures the fund applies when acting against members
that fail to meet their financial obligations under the articles of
agreement.

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Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

Pakistan to train AFZ technicians

The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Jul-23

SIX Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) technicians are expected in Pakistan by
December, joining five others who left for specialised training last week as
part of a partnership deal to reinforce bilateral relations between the two
countries.
Speaking at a dinner this week for visiting Pakistani Air Force (PAF) Chief
Air Marshal Kaleem Saadat's delegation, AFZ commander Air Marshal Perence
Shiri said the partnership was testimony to the cordial relations existing
between the two air forces dating back to the formative years of the AFZ.
 "We are reviving our original agreement with the PAF to enable flying
instructors to once again work in the AFZ. We believe we can tap into their
vast experience and their knowledge of the outside world," Shiri said.
"We still co-operate in many spheres of mutual interest. Several AFZ
officers and men have been to Pakistan for various courses. Currently, five
technicians are already in Pakistan, having left last Monday for various
courses of instruction. Six more officers and men would have left for
Pakistan by the end of the year."
Shiri explained that the original agreement collapsed in the late 1980s when
the government turned to the West and sealed deals on technical assistance
and military hardware acquisition.
In the beginning, AFZ pilots and technicians trained in Pakistan. At one
stage, the PAF had up to 120 instructors, pilots and technicians in the
country's air force. Former Pakistani Air Marshal Daud Pota commanded the
AFZ for three years.
The Pakistanis, here on a five-day official visit, visited Mgagao Farm in
Bindura on Tuesday to assess the land redistribution programme.
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NZCity

      Group says failure to stop tour a betrayal

      Global Peace and Justice angry at government's failure to stop Black
Caps tour- says a betrayal of Zimbabwe people

24 July 2005

An anti-cricket tour group is calling the Government's failure to stop the
Black Caps tour a betrayal of the people of Zimbabwe.

Global Peace and Justice Auckland says a new United Nations report
condemning the actions of Robert Mugabe's regime should have given the
Government enough ammunition to stop the tour.

The report describes the destruction of shantytowns as an ill-conceived and
inhumane campaign.

Spokesperson John Minto says it also shows the problem is far worse than
originally thought, with up to 700,000 people directly affected.

Mr Minto says he is very angry the government is still refusing to take
action.

Global Peace and Justice is making a last ditch effort to prevent the tour.

Mr Minto says the only way it will be stopped is by people power.

He says the public needs to bombard the Government with messages calling for
leadership.

John Minto says the Government has given up.

He says the Government has not even written to New Zealand Cricket formally
requesting the tour be cancelled.

He says it has been all talk and no action.

© 2005 NZCity, NewsTalkZB
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ZANU PF & MDC react to UN report

      By Violet Gonda
      23 July 2005

      Despite a United Nations report condemning the government's operation
murambatsvina that has affected 2.4 million people, Local Government and
Housing Minister Ignatius Chombo has defended the operation.
      Chombo told the news agency IRIN that the people evicted from their
homes were in illegal settlements, and said he didn't think the UN can
sanction illegality.

      The UN report said the Operation Restore Order breached both national
and international human rights law provisions guiding evictions, thereby
precipitating a humanitarian crisis. It added: "It was implemented in a
highly polarised political climate characterised by mistrust, fear and a
lack of dialogue between government and local authorities, and between the
former and civil society."

      "Many of the sick, including those with HIV and AIDS, no longer have
access to care. The vast majority of those directly and indirectly affected
are the poor and disadvantaged segments of the population. They are, today,
deeper in poverty, deprivation and destitution, and have been rendered more
vulnerable."

      Chombo sidestepped the criticism and focused on the government's new
corrective programme Operation Garikai, aimed at developing housing. "Our
people are much happier because the government is giving them land, they are
getting stands, and are getting government assistance."

      While 10,000 plots have been earmarked on one site outside the
capital, Harare, and others are being developed, critics have questioned
whether the cash-strapped government has the money to pay for the US $300
million programme, and why Operation Murambatsvina was launched before
alternative accommodation was available for those displaced.

      Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi dismissed the report
off hand, telling journalists in Harare Friday that Operation Murambatsvina
was carried in accordance with the country's laws and conformed to
international standards. He also said the figures in the report, which has
the first detailed record of the number of people affected, were not true.
      The Zimbabwe foreign affairs minister also said Tibaijuka had upheld
"a pro-opposition tone" in her report adding that while Harare welcomed
external help, it was strongly opposed to intrusions or assistance that came
with conditions.

      Meanwhile the MDC said it welcomed the report with great relief. The
main opposition party said the UN report confirms what every Zimbabwean has
always known, the vindictive, callous sceptical disregard of human rights,
dignity and good governance on the part of the Harare regime.
      MDC Spokesman Paul Temba Nyathi said in the statement, "It now remains
to be seen whether the report will be shelved in the Secretary General's
office where it will gather dust or it will be the catalyst for the decisive
action and reprimand that so many Zimbabweans have been asking the United
Nations to take against the regime."

      Nyathi also said, "Equally, we also wait to see the response of the
regional countries such as South Africa and others, many of which to the
average Zimbabweans have been seen as supporters and 'camaraderie' of the
Harare regime."

      It ends by saying, "Zimbabwe thus represents an opportunity to the
United Nations of re-legitimizing its moral leadership as a consistent
multinational body."

      SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
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