The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.

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Message for Australians:
 
The Story of the Kay family is to be broadcast on the ABC's Foreign Correspondent program next Tuesday 17th June.  Do try to watch it.

Here is some background -  something we published in the early days of the farm
invasions... oh how long ago it seems and how long it has gone on and
on..... -------------------------------------------------

The following is a poem written by Clive Kay (18), an A-level pupil at
Peterhouse School, rural area outside Harare on Tuesday this week - a day
when he was at his lowest, when the prospects for returning to his home on
the farm, after fourmonths away, seemed impossible, and where it seemed that
there was no hope.....

For those of you who don't know Clive's parents, Iain and Kerry Kay, you
should appreciate that they work relentlessly for the people of this country
both in AIDS awareness and other humanitarian good works - Kerry heads
the Commercial Farmers' Union, internationally acclaimed, AIDS awareness
programme.  We have worked together on this programme and it's consequent
Farm Orphan problems for the last decade and Kerry's input has been way
beyond the limits of the average farmer's wife.  Iain has given her his
undivided support as have her three sons - they have two adopted
children - one an adult male and the other the orphaned teenage daughter
of great friends who were killed in an aircrash two years ago.

Sadly for Kerry, Iain and their family their farm borders a politically
diverse communal area - one of the constituencies presently being contested
by the Movement for Democratic Change.    From the moment
the build up to elections commenced in Zimbabwe the Kay farm became one of
the target areas for  thugs/squatters/war veterans, culminating in Iain
being badly beaten up on his farm in March this year and got away with
his life intact by swimming across the farm dam where he was rescued by
his son, David.  Since that time Iain and Kerry have been in hiding because
of death threats - their home has been ransacked and they have generally
 had a nightmare of a life not knowing what to expect next and still waiting
to return home.  Iain is a fluent shona linguist and a very gentle,
quietly spoken and lovable character.
Iain's now deceased father, Jock Kay, was a ZANU PF member of
parliament at Independence in 1980.

Clive's poem gives us an insight into what effects the present situation is
having on our future adults.

Jane Souchon,



DESPERATE

A certain calmness has returned
Day to day chores are carried out
The mind strays little from work
Every so often a thought or two
Disturbs the tranquility of school
But stays only for a short while.

Seldom is there anything worthwhile
One just drifts through time
Hoping and being ever patient.
Coping is the hardest goal to achieve.
Never offer a glimpse of sadness
As it will only dissolve what little
happiness there is left to enjoy.

Like adrenalin injected straight into the heart
So the feeling of violence erupts
The desperate desire to punish
The ultimate goal is to annihilate
the perpetrators without remorse

If only there was reason
A pure understandable meaning to the chaos
but there isn't
Every man to his own?
UNITY is the way forward
But not everyone wants to stand together.

Solutions emerge for a situation
Then a new situation arises and clouds that solution.
Nothing is ever fixed or amended
Instead it is thrown back into the
revolving pandemonium of recurring problems.

Who is to be trusted?
Who is and who is not?
The good men or the bad
confused are the good because
even they cannot trust each other
Has unity gone forever?


The idle winds are left alone
Intellectuals and profferers of truth
are relentlessly pursued and attacked
The story of life according to God
those who stand up for what is right
will always be persecuted
Even though it is right.

The world is nothing but a revolving
wheel of madness
Why can't the wrong see they are wrong?
Why do the good commit evil when
they know it is wrong?

Perseverance, courage, forgiveness
Their abundance in every person are
only qualities of a perfect being.
I have numerous faults, cracks
in my character.

These cracks are continuously being widened
Driving me to one point
The point of no return
Soon I will commit murder
The murder of myself or my enemies
Some turn to alcohol, some to God
And some disappear into a world of fantasies
Eventually madness.

Why? because the mind cannot cope
It is confused to a point
A place where it has no solutions
You may think the solution is
waiting for things to be done lawfully
When there is no law.

Yes the country must UNITE
To bring peace, stability and law
But individual interpretations are different
The ultimate goal should be LOVE
Love is the only rational act.

How does one unite different religions
Different levels of literacy and intellectuality?
One does it by using love.
How do you love someone who
has disrupted your life, stolen your home
Beaten your loved ones to death
All in the name of land and politics.

The devil has blown through your life
Like a wild fire, consuming what
little good you had ever grown in your heart
Some may say he and the Lord do not exist
If this is so then why do you feel, touch, think,
fight, love, hate, live, die and then live again?

Your home is where your heart is
And my heart is in ZIMBABWE.
When someone threatens my home
they threaten my heart
My existence
I want to exist therefore I will fight.

Focus, don't let it disrupt your work
the less affected say
They don't and can't feel what I am feeling
Keep drumming into my head
Conciously I am alive
Subconciously I am dying.


The time has come to rid this
country of evil, to speak freely
Our thoughts on everything that
concern our lives, our future
To denounce political wrong doing
To repel evil and those who perpetrate it
There will need to be sacrifices
but be not afraid.

I feel alone and isolated from people
from those around me
They do not understand my pain
How do I make them understand?
I am cornered and slipping down the
wall and falling to my knees
I am fighting with myself
And drowning in my own thoughts
And in so doing losing my loved ones.

Being temperamental, impatient and volatile
inhibits communication
Trivial matters become monstrosities
and I turn on those who care
Slowly my courage and strengths
are being consumed and I am
retreating into darkness
Quitters are losers
I guess by giving up I am quitting
If so, I have lost.

Clive Kay.

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============================================================
PANORAMA
============================================================
------------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY 15 JUNE 22:15 - BBC ONE
------------------------------------------------------------
* Five days in May *
Zimbabwe is in crisis. The country is on the brink of collapse. There's
no food, no fuel and now, no cash to buy anything with either. Inflation
is one of the highest in the world and industry has ground to a halt.
Dissent is ruthlessly suppressed. Torture, beatings, and arbitrary
arrest have become commonplace. The rule of law has been undermined. The
elected opposition is under siege.
But for five days in May the Zimbabwe national cricket team were
scheduled to appear at Lords as the standard-bearers of this regime.
Reporter, Fergal Keane has interviewed two of Zimbabwe's Test
cricketers, Henry Olonga and Andy Flower, who were eliminated from the
national side and are now in exile because of their public protests
about the state of their country.
And Panorama also sent undercover teams into Zimbabwe to record the
lives of a handful of people who have dared to be filmed protesting the
state of their nation over five days in May. For most of them arrest,
beatings and torture are just part of the grim reality of their everyday
lives. Two of them have since been detained again.
Life in Zimbabwe today is a far cry from the "nation of gentlemen"
Robert Mugabe said he wanted to create as President of the former
British colony and Patron of the national cricket team.
As the rest of the world condemns Robert Mugabe for quashing peaceful
protest, Fergal Keane asks if the final push to remove the regime can
now only come from the street. And if so, can the beleaguered people do
anything against a ruthless government well practised in the art of
tyranny?
Tune in on Sunday to find out.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/pn/-/1/hi/programmes/panorama/default.stm
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Reuters


Mugabe foe Tsvangirai back in jail

By Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's high court has delayed a ruling on bail for
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai after government lawyers said he had
committed treason simply by "contemplating" the ousting of President Robert
Mugabe.

Tsvangirai, who heads the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
was sent back to a Harare jail cell for the weekend after Justice Susan
Mavangira said she would not rule on his bail application until next week.

The former trade union leader was arrested last Friday and charged with
treason after the MDC organised a week of protests as a "final push" against
Mugabe's government.

Tsvangirai's defence lawyers say the MDC leader did not advocate violence in
the protests and is being held on trumped up charges.

MDC supporters packing Mavangira's Harare courtroom broke out in muffled
laughter on Friday as prosecutor Morgen Nemadire said Tsvangirai could be
charged with treason simply for thinking about Mugabe's removal.

"It is not a question of personally or physically participating in a
violent, physical manner," state lawyer Nemadire said. "Merely to postulate,
and to contemplate even while sitting down, can be to commit treason, which
is why there is no such thing as attempted treason."

Tsvangirai has been ordered to be held until July 10 unless granted bail by
the high court.

MDC spokesman Paul Themba-Nyathi said the party, which has challenged
Mugabe's victory in disputed 2002 presidential polls, was disappointed
Tsvangirai had not been granted his freedom.

"We have already said, at a political level, this is a process of harassing
and intimidating the MDC. But we have put our case to the court now and must
allow the court process to take its course," he said.

TREASON CHARGE

Lead defence attorney George Bizos said the government had failed to sustain
its treason charge.

"It cannot be argued that simple unlawful activity supports a case of
treason," Bizos -- who defended South Africa's Nelson Mandela in his treason
trial four decades ago -- told the court.

Nemadire said Tsvangirai had broken laws requiring police approval for
protests, and was likely to commit similar offences if released. Tsvangirai,
51, is already on trial for treason in connection with an alleged 2002 plot
to assassinate Mugabe.

Mugabe, who on Thursday threatened to expel Britain's ambassador in Harare
for allegedly assisting the MDC, said the opposition should note his
response to the protests -- which included teargas and hundreds of arrests.

"We hope they've learned their lesson. If they haven't they will learn it
the hard way," Mugabe told supporters at a rally on Thursday near the
Mozambican border.

Zimbabwe's political troubles come as the country faces its worst economic
crisis since independence from Britain in 1980. Food and fuel are in short
supply, unemployment is soaring and inflation is running at close to 270
percent.

Mugabe, who has vowed not to back down in the face of the opposition's
challenge, says his government is the victim of foes in London and
Washington opposed to his policy of seizing white-owned farms for
distribution to landless blacks.
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The Star

High and dry Zimbabwe sells oil pipeline

      June 13 2003 at 03:03AM



By Basildon Peta and Brian Latham

Zimbabwe has mortgaged its key fuel facilities to Libya in a desperate
attempt to get fuel, which has run out completely.

Senior oil industry officials said Zimbabwe had mortgaged its key pipeline
and storage facilities to Libyan oil company Tamoil under a fresh asset
management arrangement aimed at settling its debt and securing fresh fuel
supplies from Libya.

Tamoil had stopped fuel supplies to Zimbabwe after the state-owned National
Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) accumulated a $67-million (about
R530-million) debt.

The officials said Tamoil was expected to start pumping fuel into Zimbabwe's
holding tanks at Mozambique's Beira port at the end of this month, giving a
significant reprieve to President Robert Mugabe's administration, which is
battling its worst-ever economic crisis.

A ministry of energy and power development official confirmed that an
agreement had been sealed between Noczim's financial advisers, the
Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe and Tamoil.

He would not divulge any details. However, it is understood that, to reduce
Noczim's indebtedness to Tamoil's bankers - Libya Arab Foreign Bank - the
government will give Tamoil a shareholding of between 15 percent and 25
percent in state companies owning storage facilities in the Mabvuku, Msasa
and Feruka depots, the Feruka-Masasa pipeline from Mozambique and an oil
blending plant.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is said to have wanted Zimbabwe's oil
facilities as part of his plans to supply fuel to other southern and central
Africa countries.

The oil pipeline from Beira has been his prime target. The pipeline is a
critical national asset as Zimbabwe does not have the capacity to meet all
its requirements by road or rail.

Although no official confirmation could be obtained of the value of the
assets, it is understood that Tamoil will take more than $100-million
(almost R800-million). - Independent Foreign Service

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From an anonymous source:

Dear Sir,

I am sure you are aware that Zimbabwe continues to suffer from a lack of law and order, which is systematically destroying the fabric of the lives of the majority of its citizens. This is because of the tyrannical greed and power-grabbing attitude of the political party in power.

I would like to draw your attention to something that seems to have added a new aspect to the saga. Our little town of Marondera had one source of relaxation and recreation this is the Country Club. The members of this Club are a majority of non-white citizens and have played sport, enjoyed different facilities including a successful golf club which has contributed to many local community enterprises, fund raising for schools, charities etc. They have always encouraged the youth of the area to develop their talents and be involved in healthy activities. Likewise the tennis section holds championships for local young players as well.

In today’s stressful conditions, with a constant struggle to keep day-to-day business going the club is a central point, which keeps Marondera alive. Without it the certain dissolution of the entire community will occur.

For ten days the gates of the club have been sealed by a hostile group of Youths on the orders of Zanu (PF). A lot of members have valuable personal property inside the buildings, which they have not been allowed to remove. Any attempt to negotiate, or enter these private premises has resulted in intimidation and victimization. No reason has formally been given to the committee for these actions. It is reliably reported that a higher authority who wishes to "grab" the club for his personal gain.

There is no way this can be called part of the infamous "land grab", it is just yet another example of the total lack of law and order in Zimbabwe. Do we just stand by feeling angry and helpless? The Police Force is powerless or reluctant to take any action, so who then will maintain LAW AND ORDER? What is next? Businesses and private houses? Government has said that businesses, and the club is a business as well, must remain open. Now THEIR party is closing it. Where is the logic?

Can we ask that you use the influence you might have to at least make this public and try to get some reaction, any reaction, to help save Marondera Country Club from a greedy illegal act totally against human rights and laws of any country in the world.

Thank you,

Have to sign my self,

A Marondera Citizen.

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We have puiblished this before - just a reminder... 
 
Reporters sans frontiers
 

ZimbabweRobert Mugabe
President

After being in power for more than 20 years, and re-elected in 2002 through an electoral process challenged by both the opposition and the international community, Robert Mugabe continues to target independent journalists and foreign press correspondents. In terms of press freedom, Zimbabwe is now viewed as the most repressive country in southern Africa. Each year, over 20 journalists are interrogated, and foreign press correspondents accused of "neo-colonialism" by Robert Mugabe's regime are expelled. The head of State constantly repeats that the private press tells nothing but "lies" and that the foreign media are trying to "destabilise the country."

Predators
They order violations of press freedom and have others do the deed. They might be president, cabinet minister, army chief, Guide of the Revolution or leader of an armed group. All have the power to jail, kidnap, torture and even kill journalists. Because they have faces, we should learn to recognise these predators the better to denounce them.

Armed Islamic militants
Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Kashmir, Pakistan, Philippines, etc.
Altaf Hossain Chowdhury
Bangladesh
Alexandre Lukashenka
Belarus
François Compaoré
Burkina Faso
Than Shwe
Burma
The kidnapping mafia
Chechnya
Hu Jintao
China
Carlos Castaño
Colombia
M. Marulanda, N. Rodríguez Bautista
Colombia
Fidel Castro
Cuba
Joseph Kabila
D.R. Congo
Teodoro Obiang Nguema
Equatorial Guinea
Issaias Afeworki
Eritrea
Meles Zenawi
Ethiopia
Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Haiti
Ali Khamenei
Iran
Ariel Sharon
Israel
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Kazakhstan
Khamtai Siphandon
Laos
Charles Taylor
Liberia
Moammar Gaddafi
Libya
Mahathir Mohammad
Malaysia
Gyanendra Shah Dev
Nepal
Comrade Prachanda
Nepal
Kim Jong-il
North Korea
Palestinian Security Forces
Palestinian Authority
Vladimir Putin
Russia
Paul Kagame
Rwanda
Abdallah al-Saud
Saudi Arabia
Goh Chok Tong
Singapore
Security Forces
Southern Philippines
ETA
Spain
Mswati III
Swaziland
Bashar el-Assad
Syria
Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Togo
Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali
Tunisia
Hilmi Ozkok
Turkey
Saparmurat Niyazov
Turkmenistan
Leonid Kuchma
Ukraine
Islam Karimov
Uzbekistan
Nong Duc Manh
Vietnam
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Mail and Guardian

Fear stalks Zimbabwe's streets

      Harare

      13 June 2003 15:37

The state has opposed Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's bail
application, as he readies to spend an eighth night in jail on Friday, but
his continued detention without trial on treason charges has drawn no
reaction from ordinary Zimbabweans, who live in fear of arrest and
repression by the security forces.

Tsvangirai, head of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was arrested
on June 6, the last day of week-long nationwide protests called for by the
opposition against the government of President Robert Mugabe. The state on
Thursday refused his application for bail.

The MDC blames the government for the severe economic and social hardships
gripping the country, including food, fuel and money shortages.

Last week's protests took the form of work stoppages, which brought many
Zimbabwean cities to a halt, and were supposed to include peaceful marches
"for democracy".

But the marches never go off the ground, as security forces turned out in
force, and feared pro-government youth groups roamed the streets of the
southern African country.

Hundreds of opposition supporters, activists and officials were arrested or
assaulted by state agents during the week of mass action.

Tsvangirai was on Tuesday charged with treason as well as inciting public
violence. He was accused of urging Zimbabweans to oust Mugabe and his
government at rallies held before the week of protests.

The latest treason charges, which can carry the death penalty on conviction,
are the second to be brought against Tsvangirai.

He is currently on trial with two other senior MDC officials charged with
high treason for allegedly plotting to eliminate Mugabe ahead of the 2002
presidential elections, won by Mugabe.

The court that charged Tsvangirai on Tuesday also ordered that he remain in
prison until July 10, but gave him leave to apply for bail.

He was held at Harare central police station for four days before being
moved to the capital's crowded, dilapidated jail.

Tsvangirai's lawyers filed for bail before Harare High Court on Wednesday,
but the application hearing went into its third day Friday, and the union
leader turned opposition chief looked likely to spend a second weekend
behind bars.

Meanwhile, there was no sign of protest on the part of opposition backers to
show their anger at their leader's arrest and continued detention.

But, says the MDC, opposition backers have been wise to hold back.

When Tsvangirai was arrested, the MDC accused the government of trying to
provoke a popular outcry, which would then have been fanned until it became
violent protests, giving the government the ideal excuse to "ban and crush"
the MDC.

As recently as Thursday, when Tsvangirai's bail hearing was into its second
day, the MDC urged its activists and sympathisers to "remain calm in the
face of open provocation".

Memories are still fresh in the minds of Zimbabweans of the repressive
measures taken to crush last week's planned street marches.

At least one opposition supporter died, another was shot and injured while
hundreds of others were arrested, often under violent circumstances.

Would-be protesters were dispersed by police firing teargas or charging them
and beating them with the butts of their guns or batons. Students on the
University of Harare campus were roughed up.

Adding to the misery endured last week by ordinary Zimbabweans are the
obligatory long hours of waiting in line for even the most mundane of
products.

Almost every native of this southern African country has for months had to
queue for hours for food, petrol, a bus to go to work, and money from the
bank, as Zimbabwe continues its downward spiral into unemployment – 70% are
out of work -- and inflation climbs ever higher. It is now at nearly 300%
per
annum.

A food crisis sparked by chaotic land reforms, which have seen farms seized
from whites and redistributed to landless blacks, and a serious drought has
left 5,5-million of the country's 11,6-million people in need of food aid.

But the president has continually denied holding any responsibility for
Zimbabwe's multi-pronged crisis. Instead, Mugabe, who has ruled the country
for 23 years, blames the country's woes on the MDC and its foreign backers,
notably
former colonial power Britain and the US, who have, he says, but one
objective: to oust him and set up a pro-British government.

On Thursday, Mugabe threatened to expel the British ambassador to Harare,
Brian Donnelly, accusing him of being behind last week's anti-government
protests. - Sapa-AFP
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News24

UK denies backing MDC
13/06/2003 19:33  - (SA)


Harare - The British government on Friday denied any role in organising last
week's opposition-led protests in Zimbabwe, a day after President Robert
Mugabe threatened to expel the former colonial power's representative here.

"The British High Commission had no role in funding or organising in any way
whatsoever last week's stayaway or protests," a statement issued in Harare
said.

On Thursday Mugabe accused Britain of supporting mass action called by the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in protest against his
government.

He threatened to "kick" Brian Donnelly, the British high commissioner to
Zimbabwe, out of the southern African country "if he continues doing it".

"The British government supports the fundamental rights of Zimbabweans to
freedom of expression and freedom of association," the British High
Commission statement added.

Hundreds of MDC supporters were arrested last week for allegedly backing the
stayaway and street protests. The government said the mass action was
tantamount to a coup.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested and charged with treason in
connection with the protests. He is still in police custody. - Sapa-AFP
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Stop trying to humiliate opposition leaders



Congress of South African Trade Unions (Johannesburg)

PRESS RELEASE
June 13, 2003
Posted to the web June 13, 2003

Johannesburg

The Congress of South African Trade Unions condemns the Zimbabwe Government’
s continued arrest and re-arrest of leaders of the opposition MDC. This
attempt to humiliate Morgan Tsvangirai other MDC leaders will solve nothing.

Instead we urge the government to treat the opposition as partners in
negotiations to reach a settlement of the country’s severe political and
economic crisis.


The COSATU Central Executive Committee on 29 May 2003 resolved to support
the call by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) for an interim
government and the drafting of a new constitution on the basis of which
fresh elections should be conducted. It further resolved to support the call
by the international community for free political activity, the repeal of
the draconian laws that limit freedom of speech and free political activity
and the restoration of the rule of law.

The Zimbabwe government should learn from the history of apartheid South
Africa, where the white minority government repeatedly used arrests, trials,
torture and the abuse of human rights to remain in power, but were forced in
the end to reach a negotiated settlement with the ANC and its allies.

The MDC, with their substantial electoral support, will have to play a role
in any negotiations on a settlement in Zimbabwe, and we therefore urge the
government to swallow their pride, release all political prisoners and open
up talks with all parties and civil society organisations, as proposed by
the ZCTU.

We welcome the statement by President Thabo Mbeki at the World Economic
Forum that membership of the African Union will bind governments to a code
of good governance. We urge him to bring pressure to bear on the government
of Zimbabwe to apply the principles of good governance in that country and
end the abuse of human rights.
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VOA

France Appeals for Help in Resolving African Conflicts
Lisa Bryant
Paris
13 Jun 2003, 17:34 UTC


French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin appealed Friday for the
international community to do more to resolve wars and other conflicts in
Africa. Mr. de Villepin spoke at the start of a conference in the French
capital on ways to better manage African crises.

The two-week Paris conference gathers civilian and military representatives
from 46 African countries, along with international experts. Their topic is
how to better manage and overcome crises in Africa.

A French-led multinational peacekeeping force is trying to restore order in
the Democratic Republic of Congo, where ethnic fighting has killed hundreds
of people in recent months.

In Liberia, rebels are attempting to topple the country's leader, Charles
Taylor. Further north, Mauritanian President Maawiya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya
recently escaped a coup attempt. And south in Zimbabwe, President Robert
Mugabe continues to crack down on political dissidents.

In his address at France's top military academy, Mr. de Villepin said
resolving African crises should be a priority of the international
community.

Mr. de Villepin said France's own African policy would respect three
principles: the legitimacy of power, national sovereignty, and territorial
integrity. For their part, he said, African countries are faced with a
myriad of challenges: from globalization - which risks increasing the gap
between rich and poor - to endemic poverty and lack of democracy.

Mr. de Villepin called for regional and international solutions to African
conflicts. Ivory Coast, Central Africa, Sudan and Congo are all examples, he
said, where African countries have helped mediate local crises. He outlined
new commitments toward Africa by the European Union, the United Nations and
international financial institutions, and said France would increase its
overall development aid to meet the United Nations' target of 0.7 percent of
the national budget by 2012.

But some African diplomats at the conference said they remain skeptical
about the level of French and international commitment to the continent. One
Rwandan official, Ambassador Joseph Mutaboba, said that when it came to
eastern Congo, for example, the newly arrived peacekeepers had little grasp
of the complexities of the strife.

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SABC

            Mbeki sticks his neck out on African peace prospects
            June 13, 2003, 16:00




            By Andre Jordaan
            The World Economic Forum's Africa summit has ended in Durban
with a bold prediction by President Thabo Mbeki about the continent's peace
prospects. He mentioned various regions on the continent where substantial
progress is being made.

            Mbeki said that this year a transitional government is going to
be established in the and that peace will be restored in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC). He gave assurances about other parts of the
continent saying: "This year we are going to have a conclusion, resolution,
of the negotiations about the future of the Sudan. That'll happen. We will
have an agreement in Liberia that will bring together all the various
political forces in Liberia into one government. "

            Mbeki was also optimistic about a resolution to the current
crisis in Zimbabwe, "We will have an agreement in Zimbabwe between the
ruling party and the opposition about all these various challenges that face
Zimbabwe."

            He also referred to the peace process in Burundi where South
Africa has been playing a leading role in getting the government and the
rebels to talk to each other. He said, "The peace process in Burundi will
continue leading in about just over a year from now to the holding of
democratic elections in Burundi".

            Mbeki said those who doubt the progress achieved so far will
soon see evidence of large joint African development projects, funded in
some cases by African companies themselves. He said, "Those who have been
impatient, who have thought that something that effectively started two
years ago should be producing results now will see those results.....results
that will give this message....of the Africans doing something to take
charge of their own lives with the support of the international partners".

            The issue of Africans putting their money where their mouth is,
was also raised by Sam Jonah, chief executive of Ashanti, one of Africa's
largest mining companies. He says 35% of African savings are held offshore
and that foreign direct investment should be seen as only a complement
locally generated capital: "There are things that we can do and must do to
give ourselves the confidence that we need to put our moneys here. And time
is not on our side. I don't want to come here next year ...and go through
the same palaver. Let's move on".

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The Herald

State will crush any moves to usurp power, says President

From Bulawayo Bureau
President Mugabe yesterday warned that the MDC would never again be allowed
to hold a mass action aimed at toppling the legitimately-elected Government
of Zimbabwe as the State would crush any moves to usurp power through
unconstitutional means.

Addressing thousands of people at a rally at Esidhakeni Farm in Umguza
district, Cde Mugabe warned people against supporting the MDC in its bid to
oust the Government violently.

He said MDC leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai would never achieve his dream of
marching to State House.

"They said by Friday, MDC would be in power and Tsvangirai would be at State
House. I am glad he is in State House now (prison). That’s the State House
he wanted," said Cde Mugabe.

Government would never watch while the MDC seized power through a mass
action. "We will never allow the MDC to hold another mass action. That will
never happen again. So take care, know where you belong and go where you
belong. You are Africans not British," he said.

Cde Mugabe said whites in Zimbabwe had never accepted a black government
even though the ruling party had extended a hand of reconciliation at
independence.

Government's gesture of reconciliation was meant to foster a spirit of unity
among blacks and whites. But whites "just wanted to take and refused to
give".

"They never accepted our rule. They never accepted that Zimbabwe was an
independent country . . . they continued living in Rhodesia in their
imagination. Up to now, they are still Rhodies but this is Zimbabwe. They
should go to Rhodesia.

"They owe no allegiance to us. They owe no loyalty. They despise our
Government and more than that they want to destroy it. We refuse to be
destroyed. Instead we will destroy them," said President Mugabe.

He said whites did not deserve a share of the country's land because they
continued to undermine the Government, especially after it embarked on land
reform.

"Only yesterday, they were organising mass action with the British. You saw
what they did. They closed their industries, even schools were closed for a
week. So by Friday, MDC would be in power.

"To fold our hands as they arrive at State House. Befika besithi Mugabe suka
esihlalweni. Can that ever happen? Do they know who we are? Where we came
from? They shouldn't play with fire," said Cde Mugabe.

He said MDC was agitating for change to reverse the land reform programme.

"They say we will continue to stay away to change things. Zvinonzi chinja
maitiro. Isu maitiro edu ndeye independence. Giving back land to the people.
We cannot change because change is to give back to the whites.

"We are moving on the revolutionary path of satisfying our people with all
possible needs, the first being land.

"Who comes first on the list, uKhumalo or Pilosoff. Mina owami nguKhumalo.
uPilosoff angimazi. UPilosoff ngoka Tsvangirai," Cde Mugabe said.

He said young people in Zimbabwe should safeguard and cherish their
revolutionary heritage so that they can pass it on to future generations.

The young should guard against being used by foreign-sponsored organisations
for financial benefit.

"If you embrace their ideas for the sake of money, you will get hurt and
what for?" said Cde Mugabe.

The Government would assist people in times of need. Resettled farmers would
get tillage, fertiliser and seed while dams and irrigation schemes would be
established to assist new farmers.

Salaries of civil servants had been increased while allowances for chiefs
and other traditional leaders would also be looked into.

Cde Mugabe urged teachers to desist from engaging in strikes, as they were
detrimental to the education of children.

"Teachers, mastrikes please no. When you strike really, in your mind do you
think you are doing justice to your profession? Do you ever think of the
harm you are inflicting to the little children?

"I was a teacher myself and so it’s a profession I value above my current
one (politics)," he said.

Cde Mugabe said Zimbabweans should cherish the legacy of the late
Vice-President Joshua Nkomo and remain united in the face of an onslaught on
the country by the British.

"Let us be one in the party. Remember the words of Umdala wethu esithi yena,
remain united and let the land question be resolved in the interests of our
people," the President said.

Cde Mugabe visited Umguza district as part of his national tour to assess
various developmental projects, recovery from last season's drought, the
state of Zanu-PF and explain the task of the land review committee.

Cde Mugabe, who was accompanied by Zanu-PF national commissar, Cde Elliot
Manyika, and the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Joseph Made, was met by the
Governor of Matabeleland North, Cde Obert Mpofu and other senior Government
officials.

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The Herald
 

Mnangagwa opens up

MILLIONS have kept guessing the route of his political career with speculation rife that he is the president-in-waiting. Is he really?

"I have no aspirations for presidency at all . . . I’m above average in intelligence, how do you aspire for a position where there is no vacancy? My only wish is to continue serving the country,’’ confided the Speaker of Parliament, Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa, recently.

He is viewed, in some circles, as a hard, ruthless man "very vicious when his path is crossed".

"People think that I’m a hard person but those close to me know that I’m as soft as wool. But of course I stick to my principles. Maybe that’s where the hardness comes from. I stick to principles no matter what it takes.

"I have gone through a lot of pain, suffering and torture in my life . . . I hardly wish anyone any suffering which is why I have always been against the death penalty because I myself missed it by a whisker. For instance I only use one ear because the other one was injured through torture under the Rhodesian regime.’’

But would he kill if he had to?

"I’ve seen a lot of death in my life, I don’t want to kill. War is not nice, I’ve gone through it.’’

During the Smith era, the Speaker — who was actively involved in the liberation struggle — was at some point condemned to death and brutally tortured at the then notorious "Butcher House 20A’’ a room at the Harare Central Prison where he was detained.

War, as it was, the gruesome treatment he describes to have been subjected to prisoners at the so-called Butcher House makes one’s skin crawl.

"There was an iron bar with hooks — similar to the ones used for hanging carcasses in most butcheries — Fixed across the roof in that room. So we were chained in leg irons which were then hocked to the bar so that we hung with our heads facing down. We were tortured whilst in those positions.’’

Earlier during the initial stages of the war in 1965, Cde Mnangagwa was arrested for blowing, in the previous year, a locomotive engine in the then town of Fort Victoria, now Masvingo.

He was sentenced to death but escaped with a 10-year-jail term on an age technicality.

He has ever since strongly opposed the death penalty and during his tenure as the minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs he reduced by six, the offences that called for capital punishment.

A qualified lawyer and father of 12, Cde Mnangagwa was born in Zvishavane in the royal family of the Mapanzure chieftainship. Mapanzure is therefore his last name.

His did part of his schooling in Zvishavane and then went to a school in Zambia where he was expelled for complaining about the diet. He then enrolled for industrial building and architecture at Hodgson Technical College, also in Zambia, but was again expelled this time for burning some property at the school. He had then become an activist of the Zambian United National Independence Party (Unip).

His academic life stopped briefly then and he became a full-time Unip youth league member rising to the rank of secretary. When Unip came into power in 1962 under the leadership of former President Kenneth Kaunda, Cde Mnangagwa was recruited by Zapu.

He was posted to Egypt for military training in 1963 but that same year, he led a rebellion against the Zapu leadership and was detained. He joined Zanu in Tanganyika and was among the first group of five to undergo military training in China. Upon his return to the country the following year, he began recruiting and sending young people to China and Ghana for military training.

In 1965 he was captured and jailed for blowing a locomotive engine, an offence he had committed the previous year.

Prison gave him an opportunity to carry on with his studies and he did both his ordinary and advanced levels before undertaking a law degree.

Upon completion of his jail term he was deported to Zambia where he was received by the late freedom fighter Cde Josiah Tongogara. He rejoined Zanla and was hosted in that country by the Tongogara family.

In Zambia, Cde Mnangagwa completed his law degree and was admitted to the bar as an advocate.

But immediately after being confirmed as a lawyer he went to Mozambique to rejoin the struggle.

He has ever since been an active politician and was in charge of s ecurity as a Special Assistant to President Mugabe from 1977 to 1990.

He first met President Mugabe in 1963 in Tanganyika. "In 1964 I used to guard his house in Highfield.’’

Cde Mnangagwa has worked closely with the President for the past 40 years.

But doesn’t his kind of life experience harden a person?

"My adulthood solidified me. . . I’m still a simple villager with village upbringing philosophy.’’

Cde Mnangagwa met his late wife Jayne, Cde Tongogara’s sister, during his stay with the family soon after his release from prison.

"I met her through Tongogara when I left prison. Tongogara was always very busy so most of the time it was just me and her at home . . . She was my first girlfriend and I quickly married her.’’

Jayne died of cancer on January 31 last year.

Was he a good husband? "As a husband you can’t assess yourself. I suppose if one had a normal lifestyle they would become better husbands. But in politics it’s not like that because sometimes you work until the early hours of the next day.

"My wife was very accommodating. She had come to accept my way of life.’’ Her death, he says, was a big blow to him and his family.

"My wife, she was a pillar. I miss her. We were very close and she was the solid one in the family, more solid than I was. She was always solving most of the problems in the family.’’

The Speaker has 12 children, eight girls and four boys. Some of his daughters are at universities in the US, Britain and South Africa, and his sons are still at Prince Edward School.

As a father, "I haven’t been a good father because I hardly found time to talk to my children. At times my children would say to me ‘dad when did you come back’ when I hadn’t been away. I would arrive home when they were sleeping and leave before they were up. I have more time now that I’m Speaker but my girls are grown up now.’’

His favourite food: "I still love my sour milk and mufushwa (dried vegetables).’’

Cde Mnangagwa describes his upbringing as having been fairly comfortable in a rural set-up. His father is his role-model.

"I was quite close to my father. He was anti-settlers because my family was moved from the better productive areas in Zvishavane to rocky areas. He always said that if he had been younger he would have gone to school and fought the white man. I always felt that I had to correct that (the land imbalance).’’

The Speaker is also a businessman with interests in dairy farming, horticulture and transport.

"I began dairy farming in 1983 and now I’m into horticulture. I also have a cross-boarder transport firm run by my daughter. I do a lot of farming with my brothers growing wheat and soya beans in Kwekwe. I also buy shares on the stock market.’’

He has also been linked to other business interests including the Tribune Newspaper partly-owned by businessman Mutumwa Mawere.

"I have nothing to do with that newspaper neither have I done business with Mawere.

"I only dealt with him when I was appointed head of a committee of five Government officials which was set up to help indigenous people acquire businesses. I helped Mawere acquire Shabane and Mashaba Mines, from which I understand he has grown. That has nothing to do with me.’’

He was also cited, in a United Nations report, as one of the Zimbabweans allegedly involved in the plundering of resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

However, the Security Council has since cleared Zimbabwe and the said individuals.

Commenting on the allegations, Cde Mnangagwa said "I was the co-chairman of a committee of the joint ministers of Zimbabwe and DRC set to promote trade between the two countries.

"We agreed that we should create economic arms owned by ZNA (Zimbabwe National Army) and FAC (Armed Forces of Congo). We did form that and received concessions to deal in diamonds, mining, timber and electricity. But when I left even the diamond project had not begun operating. They were still in the process of establishing a mine.

"The allegations are of course false. I’m aware that the recent sitting of the Security Council has cleared Zimbabwe and the individuals who had been listed.

"Our involvement in the DRC was above board. The looters in that country were Uganda and Rwanda.’’

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