The first occurred in 1896, when blacks revolted against British colonial rule. The second was the guerrilla war fought by Mugabe against the white Rhodesian regime that preceded independence in 1980.

The third is a concerted, and unabashedly racist, assault on everything white -- not only Zimbabwe's 60,000 white citizens, but foreign-owned businesses, charities, hospitals, dentists, orphanages and embassies -- all of whom Mugabe blames for creating political opposition.

The president is convinced that without whites there would be no Movement for Democratic Change, which nearly beat his ruling ZANU-PF party in parliamentary elections last year and now threatens his bid for another six-year term in presidential elections early next year.

Mugabe's shock troops are self-styled "war veterans," many too young to have fought in Zimbabwe's independence war led by Chenjerai "Hitler" Hunzvi. They began running amok in the run-up to last year's parliamentary elections, invading white-owned farms, intimidating black MDC candidates and killing 31 people in the process.

Although Zimbabwe's Supreme Court ruled the farm invasions illegal, the government has ignored six court orders to evict the squatters. They now occupy 1,700 farms, buoyed by Mugabe's promise to seize 3,400 of the country's 4,500 white-owned farms for landless blacks.

Besides farms, the government is expropriating game parks and tourist resorts, further denting an industry hard hit by cancellations. Scenic wonders such as the Victoria Falls and premier national parks such as Wankie and Gonarezhou drew 2 1/2 million visitors last year, but hotels are 70 percent vacant because the pervasive climate of violence is scaring tourists away.

Only tobacco and mining are more important to Zimbabwe's economy than tourism, and both are in tatters. Mine invasions have shut down many of Zimbabwe's top foreign exchange earners. Tobacco exports are down. Food is short because grain planting was disrupted by the farm seizures and 700,000 black farm workers have lost their jobs.

Now "Hitler" and his "veterans" are invading urban businesses, raiding 200 in recent weeks. They have destroyed equipment, threatened employees, extorted money from the owners and forced many firms to shut down, adding to Zimbabwe's high unemployment rate, which reached 60 percent last year.

Britain, South Africa, Germany and Denmark have protested the harassment of their business people. Canada has slapped sanctions on Zimbabwe. And Mugabe's minister of industry and international trade has resigned in disgust.

A respected technocrat and businessman, Nkosana Moyo was brought into the Cabinet last July to help the country out of a three-year recession marked by rampant unemployment and fuel shortages. But he quit last week, saying the raids are "having a negative impact on how we are perceived as a nation beyond our borders."

Zimbabwe's nine Roman Catholic bishops have also condemned Mugabe, himself a Catholic, saying he lost the moral right to govern by permitting violence and lawlessness for political gain. "There is no other sanction we can give him except the sanction of Hell," said Bishop Patrick Mutume, head of the Commission for Justice and Peace.

But Mugabe is unfazed. Not content with scaring off business and foreign investment, he has turned on the country's last lifeline: foreign aid groups and charities. CARE, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the British Council and SOS Kinderdorf, a German children's charity, have all shut down because of threats.

David Coltart, an opposition member of Parliament who recently visited Washington to appeal for help, says Western governments are making a serious mistake if they think it can't get any worse.

"It can and it will," he warns, because Mugabe's ruling party has vowed to get him re-elected "at any cost" -- including, perhaps, the expulsion of all whites and destruction of the entire economy.

The recent media revelations of child deaths at Harare Hospital and the hiring of a United States-based public relations firm to spruce up the image of the Zanu PF government are all mind-boggling.
How many lives could have been saved if the millions that were paid to the US company had been channelled towards the purchasing of the much-needed drugs and equipment? In fact, if the media reports are anything to go by, then a monumental disaster is facing this country.
Nearly all once leading hospitals have no essential drugs. Patients with no money receive no food or drugs. Birds feast on piles of rubbish in central courtyards. The stench from unemptied bedpans pours from dim, cheerless wards where the country's poor wait forlornly for attention they may never get.
There is a simple explanation for the breakdown of the health delivery system in this country - bad political management. This diagnosis crops up time and again in conversations today serving as an explanation for the ills besetting what should be a rich country.
Today, signs of desperation are everywhere. In fact, the middle class, if ever it is still existing, is a generation long sacrificed by the ruling regime.
In the military when a mission becomes impossible there is a heartful plea to military honour. The duty of a commander and his lieutenants is to protect the soldiers serving under him and not get them killed. Isn't it time people of this country appealed to the present rulers to do the right thing, to appeal to their sense of honour by resigning?
Few people believe anymore in the government's ability to keep peace in the country, let alone find a solution to the widening economic malaise.
In the euphoria following independence all were filled with hope for the future and an expectation that an equitable society would be built. But today the underprivileged majority views the ruling party and its government with increasing dismay and anger, leading to increased cynicism about the nature of the present political leadership.
People see and view the government as a regime that has lost contact with the ordinary people as it increasingly becomes remote, arrogant and aloof.
Today, the Judiciary struggles to establish and maintain legitimacy in the midst of recent confrontations with the Executive and ruling party apologists. In its dismantling of constitutional arrangements and disregard of court decisions, the government labours to impair the very forum capable of reconciling the promise of justice with demands of national stability.
The struggle for justice is a democratic search for a political culture and a social and economic environment respectful of the needs and aspirations of the people. But the necessary democratic institutions cannot take root overnight. They result from a long and painstaking process shaped by conflict and compromise in a given society. Today the people are suffering from systematic political humiliation and dispossession that have contradicted every human rights standard.
The late Chief Justice Enoch Dumbutshena once said: "When the Executive ignores the orders and judgments of the courts there is an inevitable breakdown of law and order resulting in uncivil chaos because the courts cannot enforce their orders . . . "
In its repeated repudiation of the legal processes, the government has demonstrated a dangerous disregard of the fundamental principles underlying the rule of law. The rule of law depends upon the principle of equality before the law. Every person, whatever their rank or condition, is subject to the law.
Although analysts view the tension between the Executive and Judiciary as merely governmental frustration with judicial obstruction of its political will, others believe the government has embarked upon a deliberate policy of political protectionism that seeks to undermine the Judiciary.
In what is widely recognised as a move to regain lost political support, the government has allowed party supporters to invade and settle on white-owned farms. The controversy over farm and company invasions also underlines the vulnerability of the poor to become a tool in the political machinations of the powerful as the invasions have been self-serving to the ruling party. The government's disregard of the legal processes undermines public confidence in the judicial system.
Because the discretionary power of prosecution rests upon an assumption of good faith on the part of the Attorney-General, it may be difficult to argue that a failure to prosecute constitutes governmental interference with the legal system. Since independence, judges were appointed from the bar, but recent appointments have been made from the ranks of the civil service. To what extent ambition and opportunism influence the verdicts of the judges is a matter of speculation, although a couple of recent appointments have fuelled allegations of political manoeuvring.
The government has a responsibility to develop the Judiciary as a forum for the just resolution of disputes and not to aggravate the public's distrust of the courts that developed during the colonial era. That task becomes harder if the powerful are pardoned or never charged and only the poor and those perceived as political dissidents are punished.
In stark contrast to the social climate in the early 1980s when social outreach programmes were in the interests of the disadvantaged people, the dominant ethos of our society at present makes self-interest our god. The politically powerful and those with political connections are prepared to resort to all sorts of unscrupulous and corrupt tactics to acquire wealth.
Our society is so much polarised that the political fault of an individual becomes the fault of a group. A whole family if held responsible for a perceived politically prejudicial act committed by an individual member and can be eliminated in its entirety.
In fact, today there is an undeclared "apartheid" across the country imposed by blacks upon blacks - Zanu PF supporters on one side, MDC on the other.
The modern party building model is the uncouth neighbourhood gang roaming the streets and terrorising everyone who does not "belong". It is the party militias that rule the roost.
Zimbabwe, our once great country, serves as a modern laboratory for anyone trying to figure out which factors will matter and which will not in the pursuit of peace and security.
Nearly everyone today agrees that our country urgently needs leaders who fear God.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -- Zimbabwe hopes a solar eclipse this week will help revive an ailing tourism industry hit in the past year by the country's political crisis.

Travel agents said hundreds of tourists, mostly from Europe, had flocked to the country in the past week ahead of the eclipse on June 21, the first of this millennium.

Northeast Zimbabwe, home to the spectacular Mana Pools resort, will experience a total eclipse of the sun on June 21 while in most other parts of the country at least 85 percent of the sun will be in shadow.

Leslie Gwindi, who heads a committee promoting the eclipse to tourists, said most of Zimbabwe's hotels, especially in the northeast, were already fully booked at the weekend.

This is good news for a tourism industry struggling to survive a decline in arrivals after the political violence that marked parliamentary elections last year and the government-sanctioned invasion of white farms by war veterans.

Industry officials estimate that Zimbabwe's tourism receipts fell by one-third to U.S.$100 million last year from $150 million in 1999.

"The eclipse gives us an opportunity to re-market Zimbabwe as a safe international tourism destination and everyone that comes here is going to be an ambassador for the country afterwards," Gwindi told Reuters.

Tourism Minister Francis Nhema said police would be deployed in northeastern Zimbabwe to ensure visitors' safety.

"We have worked tirelessly to ensure that Zimbabweans and all our guests will enjoy this wonderful experience here," he said.

On Sunday the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) promised there would be enough fuel in cities and along highways to eclipse zones.

"There will be extra supplies of fuel commencing Monday in all major urban centres around the country and all routes leading to the areas of the total solar eclipse," ZTA said in a statement.

The southern African country, in its third year of economic recession, has suffered an acute shortage of fuel since late 1999 after state oil procurer NOCZIM's credit lines were severed over a debt that has ballooned to Z$18 billion ($327 million).

Zimbabwe also hopes the influx of tourists will inject much needed foreign currency, which has been in critically short supply for the past two years and is partly responsible for the fuel squeeze.

The eclipse will also be seen in Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia, Angola and Madagascar.

Johannesburg - HIV and Aids are set to cut life expectancy in Zimbabwe from 44 to 27 years and will dramatically reduce the country's population within the next ten years, The Sunday Times reported.

According to a join United Nations Children's Fund and UN Development Programme progress report on Zimbabwe, released this week, HIV-related illnesses will knock 15 to 20 years off life expectancy of the country's 12 million population and leave over a million children orphaned in four years.

The report says Zimbabwe has one of the highest rates of HIV and Aids infections in the world with at least 25% of the adult population infected with HIV. It also warned of rising infection rates if no concrete measures were taken.

An estimated 600 000 children have lost at least one parent to Aids, while it is projected that a third of those under 15 will succumb to the disease within 10 years.

"The numbers show a worsening of the HIV/Aids epidemic in terms of increased illness, deaths and population loss and we're not even at the peak of the deaths," reads part of the report prepared for the UN General Assembly's special session on HIV/Aids that will run form June 25 to 27.

"We've had wars before, and a great number of people have died in those wars, but it hasn't had the impact on average life expectancy that we observe in some of the countries hardest-hit by HIV/Aids."

But Deputy Health Minister David Parirenyatwa disputed the UN projection, saying the figures were an exaggeration based on ignorance of what Zimbabwe was doing, The Sunday Times said.

He said his ministry was intensifying efforts to reduce the rate of infection in the country, particularly mother-to-child transmission.

Zimbabwe's health ministry estimates that 2000 people die from HIV-related illnesses every week, leaving the country with a nil population growth rate.

HARARE: Media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have protested against new restrictions introduced by the Zimbabwe government this week for accrediting foreign journalists and asked it to reverse them.

On Wednesday, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government enacted new controls on foreign reporters, requiring them to apply for accreditation a month in advance of travelling to the country.

Previously, foreign journalists were allowed to apply for credentials on their arrival. "In keeping with international practice, the department of information ... reminds foreign media personnel who intend to visit Zimbabwe on media assignments that they are expected, and indeed required to apply for accreditation from their countries of permanent station," a statement from the information ministry said.

RSF said the new measures were aimed at controlling information inside and outside Zimbabwe's borders.

"RSF asked the minister (of information) to cancel these measures and allow foreign correspondents to work freely throughout the country," the media watchdog said in a statement released here.

"The authorities try to control information inside and outside the country by any means," said RSF secretary general Robert Menard.

Menard said the restrictions follow allegations by the media of government corruption and lawlessness.

The government also said it would not accept applications by foreign correspondents already in the country. The journalists would have to leave Zimbabwe and reapply for accreditation from their own countries.

"We find this new development particularly troubling in view of the presidential election slated to occur in the first quarter of next year," said US State Department spokesman Philip Reeker.

"It appears that the government of Zimbabwe wants very much to limit media reporting on what goes on inside Zimbabwe," Reeker said. (AFP)

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) resolved to close down every pillar of the economy if its demand is not met within a fortnight. Its 400,000 members intend that factories will fall silent, shops will close and public transport will be halted. It will be a crucial challenge to Mr Mugabe's authority. Observers predict a draconian response.

An overnight rise of 74 per cent in the price of petrol, from £2.61 a gallon to £4.67, has led to the action. This has caused a 50 per cent rise in bus fares at a time when Harare and Bulawayo, which have suffered most from Zimbabwe's economic collapse, are already simmering with anger.

Collin Gwiyo, the acting secretary-general of the ZCTU, said: "People are dejected. They are very angry because the increases have come when they are already coping with numerous hardships. That is why a national protest will be necessary if the government fails to listen."

A 20 per cent rise in petrol prices led to three days of rioting in Harare last October, during which troops were deployed, police made hundreds of arrests and a child was killed by tear gas. Mr Gwiyo has warned the government privately about the danger of a popular backlash. In a letter to Simba Makoni, the Finance Minister, written on June 14 and seen by The Telegraph, Mr Gwiyo described the fuel price rise as a "shock announcement".

He wrote: "Trade unions on behalf of struggling workers cannot accept this insensitive decision, given the explosive and tense atmosphere in light of the already eroded purchasing power and the ripple effects of fuel increases and the looming reality of spontaneous demonstrations."

Bus transport has become unaffordable even for the fortunate minority with jobs. A manual worker living in the dormitory town of Chitungwiza, 15 miles south of the capital, will typically earn £40 per month from a factory job in Harare. The cost of commuting by bus now consumes more than half of his wages. So thousands are rising at 4am each day and walking the 30-mile round trip.

A leading trade unionist said: "If there is no action by us, rest assured that people will take action themselves. The level of anger cannot be overemphasised. It is explosive . . . One way or the other, there's going to be unrest."

Mr Mugabe will blame the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for any strike and a fierce crackdown will follow rapidly. Troops are likely to be deployed in the townships and striking workers will be forced back to their jobs. The so-called "war veterans", shock troops of the regime, could be used for the same purpose.

The central question is whether this will provoke yet more public anger that might become uncontrollable. John Makumbe, a political scientist at the University of Zimbabwe, said: "People will want to put the war vets in their place. In the townships, the war vets are heavily outnumbered. We could see a total collapse more quickly than we thought. There is seething anger in all circles in Harare."

Mr Mugabe faces this crisis gravely weakened by the sudden loss of three leading supporters. During the past seven weeks, car crashes have claimed the lives of Border Gezi, 37, the Employment Minister, and Moven Mahachi, 52, the Defence Minister. Chenjerai "Hitler" Hunzvi, 51, the leader of the War Veterans Association, died in a Harare hospital a fortnight ago.

At a stroke, the President has lost his Praetorian Guard. The hammer blows came from the losses of Mr Gezi and Mr Hunzvi, two of the most feared men in Zimbabwe. Both organised the invasion of 1,700 white-owned farms last year and masterminded the violent onslaught against the MDC before the parliamentary elections last June.

Dr Makumbe doubts that Zanu (PF), the ruling party, can suppress popular unrest. "You are looking at a shattered party. It watches itself breaking up. It is a destitute party. They are all asking, 'What has hit us?' They don't know which way to turn."