The Zimbabwe Situation

March 9 - By Cris Chinaka
HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - The mystery over 64 foreigners being held
in Zimbabwe as suspected mercenaries deepened on Tuesday when Equatorial
Guinea said it had arrested a 15-strong "advance party" from the same group.

      Zimbabwe put its army on full alert following Sunday's seizure of a
U.S.-registered 727-100 cargo plane that government officials said was
carrying the suspected mercenaries and a cargo of military material.

      The operator of the plane said Tuesday the men had been bound for the
Democratic Republic of Congo to work as security guards on mines, and the
aircraft had only stopped in Zimbabwe to pick up mining equipment.

      Charles Burrows, a senior executive of Logo Logistics Ltd, said most
of the people on board were South African and had military experience, but
were on contract to four mining companies in Congo.

      Zimbabwean officials said the plane -- which left South Africa legally
Sunday with a flight plan for Harare -- "made a false declaration of cargo
and crew" and its passengers had been detained pending investigations.

      Officials in the tiny West African nation of Equatorial Guinea said
they had arrested 15 suspected mercenaries believed to be linked to the same
operation.

      "Some 15 mercenaries have been arrested here in Equatorial Guinea and
it was connected with that plane in Zimbabwe. They were the advance party of
that group," Information Minister Agustin Nse Nfumu told Reuters.

      COUP SPECULATION

      The arrests come amid speculation among exiled opposition politicians
that a coup was in the offing.

      Burrows, whose company is registered in Britain's Channel Islands,
denied any connection between the group detained in Harare and those
arrested in Equatorial Guinea.

      "I haven't the foggiest idea of what they're talking about," he said
by telephone from London.

      In Zimbabwe, officials said the detained plane was carrying "military
material." State television footage of the plane's cargo showed sleeping
bags, satellite phones, knives, bolt cutters and green camouflage uniforms,
but no firearms.

      "We have mobilized all our security organs to get to the bottom of
this case," said a government official who declined to be identified, adding
that the army had been put on high alert.

      South African air traffic control said the plane had left Johannesburg
Sunday and made a stop at Wonderboom airport near Pretoria. From there it
flew to the northern South African town of Polokwane, where it took on some
63 passengers and completed departure formalities.

      Craig Partridge, a spokesman for South Africa's Air Traffic and
Navigation Services, said the plane had filed full flight plans showing it
would travel to Harare and from there to Bujumbura in Burundi on Congo's
eastern border.

      Zimbabwe officials said no formal charges had yet been laid against
the passengers. Zimbabwe's cabinet was expected to be briefed on the
situation at its weekly meeting Tuesday.

      SOUTH AFRICA CONCERNED

      South Africa's government, which is trying to stop South Africans from
fighting overseas as soldiers of fortune, said it had unconfirmed reports
some of the alleged mercenaries seized in Zimbabwe were South African
nationals.

      "Should the allegations that those South Africans on board are
involved in mercenary activities prove true, this would amount to a serious
breach of the Foreign Military Assistance Act," Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz
Pahad said in a statement.

      Zimbabwe authorities have not said where they are holding the
suspected mercenaries and have not disclosed any nationalities of those
involved. They said the men would be paraded for the media when the
situation allowed.

      In Washington, the State Department said it had no indication that the
plane was connected to the U.S. government, which this month renewed
economic sanctions against Mugabe and other top Zimbabwe officials.

      U.S. Federal Aviation Administration records show the plane registered
to Dodson Aviation Inc. based in Ottawa, Kansas. Dodson said it had sold the
plane about a week ago to an African firm called Logo Ltd.

By Mduduzi Mathuthu
09/03/04
THE South African government alerted Zimbabwean authorities to the plane
carrying alleged mercenaries now detained in Zimbabwe, New Zimbabwe.com can
reveal.

When the plane landed at the Harare International Aiport it was immediately
surrounded and it's occupants detained.

Sensational details about the 64 alleged mercenaries now held emerged today
when New Zmbabwe.com was told that their training was monitored by the South
African Defence Forces (Sadf) under joint comms with the Zimbabwean Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO).

It was unclear if the South African government or the Zimbabwean government
was aware of the training. But what has been established is that
intelligence and army officials within the two countries knew about the
operation.

"Authorities in Zimbabwe knew all about it, or at least knew of a mercenary
training camp in SA and the flight," an intelligence source said.

Highly placed sources told New Zimbabwe.com that the plane was due to
pick-up an assortment of military weaponry after a deal was clinched between
the Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI) and an unnamed third party.

Sources say all the equipment found on the aircraft was bought from Denel, a
South African arms supplier.

It is unclear if this was a "sting" or of ZDI doing, but the group were told
to fly into Zimbabwe and collect weapons on their way to Equatorial Guinea.

South African authorities then monitored and informed Zimbabwean
intelligence services that there were in fact 64 personnel already armed
consisting of former Zimbabwe, Angolan, Namibian, and DRC soldiers.

The plane was immediately surrounded on touch-down.

Sources say ZDI boss Col Tshinga Dube was furious after overzealous
intelligence officials blocked the smooth transfer of the equipment to the
aircraft and informed President Mugabe who ordered that it should be
grounded.

"When Mugabe learnt that the plane was registered to an American company he
saw it as an opportunity for a propaganda coup....It was the perfect chance
to hit back at the United States," a senior government official privy to the
matter said.

Sources at the South African embassy in Harare said President Thabo Mbeki
was furious at the developments and believed "Zimbabwean authorities could
have handled the whole thing better".

Mbeki has been trying to establish closer relations with President Obiang
and promote stability in Equatorial Guinea but now believes his reputation
is in tatters after South Africa was placed firmly at the centre of the
storm, the sources said.

The operator of the plane said Tuesday it was bound for the Democratic
Republic of Congo for mine security work.

"They were going to the eastern DRC. They stopped in Zimbabwe to pick up
mining equipment, Zimbabwe being a vastly cheaper place for such," said
Charles Burrow, a senior executive of Logo Logistics Ltd which chartered the
plane. He admitted almost all those on board had military experience.

In Zimbabwe, 'mining equipment' is a euphemism for military hardware as it
is the same tactic used by President Mugabe's government to cloak its heavy
involvement in the DRC since war broke out.

His account appeared consistent with intelligence information indicating the
plane was on its way to West Africa, perhaps headed for a threatening coup
in Equatorial Guinea, a small former-Spanish colony wedged between Cameroon
and Gabon.

Its capital, Malabo, is on an island off Cameroon's coast. Oil was recently
discovered in its waters.

Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has declared a
state of emergency and put the army on alert. At least 15 suspected
mercenaries have been arrested after a widespread clampdown on foreign
nationals, the government said Tuesday.

"Some 15 mercenaries have been arrested here in Equatorial Guinea and it was
connected with that plane in Zimbabwe. They were the advance party of that
group," Information Minister Agustin Nse Nfumu told Reuters.

SABC radio reported the plane was registered to a South African company;
Zimbabwe claimed it was US-registered. This was denied by the US State
Department, but a South African aviation expert said the aircraft's
registration number, N4610, was definitely American.

An initial check of US Federal Aviation Administration records showed N4610
to be registered to Kansas-based Dodson Aviation Inc., but a Dodson official
said it sold the plane about a week ago to an African company called Logo
Ltd.

ZImbabwe's Home Affairs (Interior) Minister Kembo Mohadi said on Monday:
"The plane was actually carrying 64 suspected mercenaries of various
nationalities."

Mohadi said fuller investigations were under way to establish the identity
of the men and the nature of their mission. There was no word on where the
airplane arrived from, or whether Zimbabwe was its destination.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has been engaged in a bitter war of words
with both the United States and Britain, which have accused him of a
political crackdown following his victory in the 2002 presidential
elections, which the opposition and Western observers said were flawed.

Mugabe in turn accuses Western powers of attempting to undermine his
government in retaliation for his controversial seizure of white-owned farms
for distribution to landless blacks.

Once one of the most prosperous countries in southern Africa, Zimbabwe now
faces regular shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange as well as
soaring rates of inflation and high unemployment.

By Mduduzi Mathuthu
09/03/04
OFFICIALS within Zimbabwe's intelligence services and the army knew about
the plane that has been seized in Harare after the government claimed it was
carrying mercenaries, New Zimbabwe.com has learnt.

Highly placed sources told New Zimbabwe.com that the plane was due to
pick-up an assortment of military weaponry after a deal was clinched between
the Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI) and an unnamed third party.

Sources say all the equipment found on the aircraft was bought from Denel, a
South African arms supplier.

The operator of the plane said Tuesday it was bound for the Democratic
Republic of Congo for mine security work.

"They were going to the eastern DRC. They stopped in Zimbabwe to pick up
mining equipment, Zimbabwe being a vastly cheaper place for such," said
Charles Burrow, a senior executive of Logo Logistics Ltd which chartered the
plane. He admitted almost all those on board had military experience.

In Zimbabwe, 'mining equipment' is a euphemism for military hardware as it
is the same tactic used by President Mugabe's government to cloak its heavy
involvement in the DRC since war broke out.

His account appeared consistent with intelligence information indicating the
plane was on its way to West Africa, perhaps headed for a threatening coup
in Equatorial Guinea, a small former-Spanish colony wedged between Cameroon
and Gabon.

Its capital, Malabo, is on an island off Cameroon's coast. Oil was recently
discovered in its waters.

Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has declared a
state of emergency and put the army on alert. At least 15 suspected
mercenaries have been arrested after a widespread clampdown on foreign
nationals, the government said Tuesday.

"Some 15 mercenaries have been arrested here in Equatorial Guinea and it was
connected with that plane in Zimbabwe. They were the advance party of that
group," Information Minister Agustin Nse Nfumu told Reuters.

Sources say ZDI boss Col Tshinga Dube was furious after overzealous
intelligence officials blocked the smooth transfer of the equipment to the
aircraft and informed President Mugabe who ordered that it should be
grounded.

"When Mugabe learnt that the plane was registered to an American company he
saw it as an opportunity for a propaganda coup....It was the perfect chance
to hit back at the United States," a senior government official privy to the
matter said.

Sources at the South African embassy in Harare said President Thabo Mbeki
was furious at the developments and believed "President Mugabe could have
handled the whole thing better".

Mbeki has been trying to establish closer relations with President Obiang
and promote stability in Equatorial Guinea but now believes his reputation
is in tatters after South Africa was placed firmly at the centre of the
storm, the sources said.

SABC radio reported the plane was registered to a South African company;
Zimbabwe claimed it was US-registered. This was denied by the US State
Department, but a South African aviation expert said the aircraft's
registration number, N4610, was definitely American.

An initial check of US Federal Aviation Administration records showed N4610
to be registered to Kansas-based Dodson Aviation Inc., but a Dodson official
said it sold the plane about a week ago to an African company called Logo
Ltd.

ZImbabwe's Home Affairs (Interior) Minister Kembo Mohadi said on Monday:
"The plane was actually carrying 64 suspected mercenaries of various
nationalities."

Mohadi said fuller investigations were under way to establish the identity
of the men and the nature of their mission. There was no word on where the
airplane arrived from, or whether Zimbabwe was its destination.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has been engaged in a bitter war of words
with both the United States and Britain, which have accused him of a
political crackdown following his victory in the 2002 presidential
elections, which the opposition and Western observers said were flawed.

Mugabe in turn accuses Western powers of attempting to undermine his
government in retaliation for his controversial seizure of white-owned farms
for distribution to landless blacks.

Once one of the most prosperous countries in southern Africa, Zimbabwe now
faces regular shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange as well as
soaring rates of inflation and high unemployment.

      Company which owns the plane, does not exist

      According to the US Civil Aviation Administration, the plane belongs
to D?dson Aviation company located in Ottawa (Kansas). Company Director
Robert Dodson said that a week before the Boeing had been sold to Logo
company in South Africa.

      However, South African Press Association reported that no expert in
South Africa had heard of existence of the company called "Logo".

      Zimbabwe Army is on alert. The plane was transported to Manyame
military aerodrome. The passengers are inside the plane.

      US plans series of anti-terrorist operations in Africa

      After terrorist networks such as Al-Qaeda and Taliban, are swept from
their bases throughout the world, they will move in Africa. This is the
opinion of General Charles Wald, former commander of the US Forces in
Europe, ABC News reported.

      According to the general, African deserts and jungles are ideal places
for locating terrorist training camps, and Islamic population of some
African countries is ready to support terrorists.

      In addition, the governments of most African countries are unable to
fight Al-Qaeda - their armies are too weak.

      General Wald believes that the USA should start preparations for
fighting Al-Qaeda in Africa. For this purpose, several US special force
units (200 servicemen in each unit) must be deployed in Africa. These
special forces will prepare military units in some African countries for
searching and killing terrorists.

      According to the general, the US has information that Al-Qaeda
recruited militants in Northern Africa where this terrorist network already
has bases. There are terrorist networks in Mauritania and Nigeria.

By Cris Chinaka

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe has put its army on full alert after seizing a
U.S.-registered cargo plane which the government says was carrying 64
suspected mercenaries and a cargo of military gear.

South Africa said on Tuesday it had unconfirmed reports that some of the
passengers aboard may be its nationals.

President Robert Mugabe's government said on Monday it had impounded a
Boeing 727-100 aircraft on Sunday evening at Harare International Airport
"after its owners had made a false declaration of its cargo and crew".

Officials said the plane was carrying "military material" and its passengers
were suspected mercenaries. State television footage of the plane's cargo
showed sleeping bags, satellite phones, knives, bolt cutters and green
camouflage uniforms, but no firearms.

"We have mobilised all our security organs to get to the bottom of this
case," said a government official who declined to be identified.

The official and other sources said the army was put on alert on Sunday
immediately after the seizure of the plane.

The plane's origin and destination were a mystery on Tuesday, with Zimbabwe
government officials saying they would make details available once
investigators cleared them.

No formal charges have been laid, and officials have not said if they
believe Zimbabwe was the plane's final destination or a target for the
suspected mercenaries.

Zimbabwe's cabinet was expected to be briefed on the situation at its
regular weekly meeting on Tuesday.

CAPTURED MEN TO BE SHOWN TO MEDIA

The South African government said it had unconfirmed reports that some of
the alleged mercenaries were South African nationals.

"Should the allegations that those South Africans on board are involved in
mercenary activities prove true, this would amount to a serious breach of
the Foreign Military Assistance Act," Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad
said in a statement.

The Zimbabwean official said the men would be paraded before the media when
the situation allowed.

"We are going to parade these men...but I cannot say when exactly. That will
depend with how investigations are going on," he said.

Zimbabwe authorities have not disclosed where they are holding the suspected
mercenaries and have not disclosed any nationalities of those involved. A
state television reporter who saw the men described them as mostly white.

In Washington, the State Department said it had no indication that the plane
was connected to the U.S. government, which this month renewed economic
sanctions against Mugabe and other top Zimbabwe officials.

U.S. Federal Aviation Administration records show the plane registered to
Dodson Aviation Inc. based in Ottawa, Kansas. Dodson said it sold the plane
about a week ago to an African firm called Logo Ltd.

South Africa's Department of Trade and Industry said on Tuesday it had no
record of the company.

Mugabe has seen relations sour with the United States and former colonial
power Britain, which accuse him of a crackdown following his victory in 2002
presidential elections which the opposition and Western observers said were
flawed.

Mugabe accuses Western powers of attempting to undermine his government in
retaliation for his controversial seizure of white-owned farms for
distribution to landless blacks.

MDC PRESIDENT MORGAN TSVANGIRAI’S MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE

As the crisis in Zimbabwe deepens and chances for early political settlement remain elusive, we are concerned with the rising scale of violence and brutality as the regime intensifies the closure of our democratic space.

For the past five years, the Mugabe regime has lost its campaign against the work and growth of the MDC. Having failed to destroy the party, the regime has now intensified its traditional use of violence as a means of survival.

The politics of violence is, once again, causing untold suffering and anxiety among the people. Despite the people’s disapproval of the training of youth militias and their use as a brutal tool against a desperate and hungry population, the regime has ignored these calls for sanity and patriotism.

Reports of increased acts of lawlessness abound. Cases of state-sponsored violence are rising daily – worsened by prospects for a general election next year. This dictatorial style of governance blossomed about five years ago through the deployment of rogue war veterans in areas where Zanu PF has lost support. It was subsequently perfected through a systematic abuse of hungry youths through the so-called national service programme.

Today thousands of our children are trapped in government and Zanu PF camps, receiving training in terror.

The idea is to turn them into a totally wicked generation, a generation without hope, a generation without morals, and a generation devoid of a conscience.

What is particularly frightening is the high level of HIV infection in these camps. The regime is effectively sentencing these youths to death.

Those who graduated earlier roam the countryside, armed with terror weapons, in search of their parents and brothers and sisters whose simple cry is for good governance in their land of birth.

The regime spent the last five years testing the advancement and effectiveness of violence which it perceives to be a winning formula.

Whenever there is an election, whether local or national, members of the youth militia are deployed to set bases and terrorise the population.

Just about two weeks ago, my family and I were attacked as we passed through Chivhu on our way to Buhera. Our attempt to launch our campaign in Zengeza, Chitungwiza on Sunday, 7 March 2004, was disrupted by a group of about 300 Zanu PF militia, who have set up bases in Zengeza ahead of the March 27 and 28 by-election.

The Zanu PF youths invaded the venue, attacked MDC supporters and took away part of the equipment that was to be used at the rally. They damaged two MDC vehicles.

We will defeat and drive out Zanu PF in the Zengeza constituency. We maintain, however, that our bleeding nation needs to change the manner in which elections are conducted in Zimbabwe. We cannot understand why the Mugabe regime believes that any election must always assume the form of a war on the people.

Internationally, the depth of the tyranny and the abuse of young boys and girls in line with Mugabe’s desire to hang on to power are now clear following recent foreign media reports.

For the avoidance of doubt, the reports were beamed on television and widely published and circulated in international newspapers, complete with photographs and recorded testimonies from some of the perpetrators of violence.

The heightened use of violence as a coercive tool to deny the legitimate registration of the people’s voice in any plebiscite is anathema to the basic principles of democracy.

Zimbabwe can never be accepted in the family of nations as long as the sovereign will of the people is distorted through such backward forms of political corruption.

Against this background, the MDC through the national executive has resolved to reserve the party’s right to take part in the 2005 Parliamentary election unless there is genuine commitment from the Mugabe regime to run the polls in accordance with universally accepted norms and standards.

We are on the final stage of our struggle. We are aware of the dangers and tactics of dying dictatorships. We remain vigilant.

A broad-based alliance of democratic forces is putting the final touches to a comprehensive programme of rolling mass action designed to push the regime to the long awaited negotiated settlement.

Details of the intensive programme of democratic activity will be made public in due course. Such a plan will succeed in bring back Zimbabwe to a conducive climate for a legitimately free and fair election.

In the meantime, we stand ready for the day when a genuine election takes place to enable the majority to shape their destiny in a totally violence-free society. The party has revised and fine-tuned its governance agenda and programme. We are ready to govern.

Morgan Tsvangirai

President

Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)

March 9, 2004
Posted to the web March 9, 2004

Beira

Mozambican Transport Minister Tomas Salomao has told AIM in Beira that there
is no lack of will on the part of the Mozambican government to press ahead
with the project for the Beira Development Corridor, along the line of rail
from Beira to Zimbabwe.

He said that the government remains committed in its efforts to implement
the Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) along the corridor as quickly as
possible.

Salomao said that negotiations begun with international partners interested
in the project, and particularly with Zimbabwe, are continuing at a good
pace.

But it is the situation in Zimbabwe that is precisely the problem. Salomao
admitted that, for as long as political and economic crisis continues in
Zimbabwe, the country regarded as Mozambique's main counterpart in the
project, it will be difficult to implement the Beira Development Corridor.

He added that there is good will among foreign investors and donors towards
the project - but they will only release funds for the corridor once
political and economic stability is guaranteed in Zimbabwe.

"They've already told us - if you want to advance with the project with the
current situation in Zimbabwe, we will not make the necessary money
available", he said.

The problem is that Beira port and the railway to Zimbabwe were built in
order to serve what was then the British colony of Southern Rhodesia.
Without Zimbabwean trade, there is a severe slump in activities along the
Beira Corridor, and the harsh reality is that the Zimbabwean economic crisis
has severely hit the country's ability to trade with the rest of the world.
The idea of transforming transport corridors into development corridors was
launched about ten years ago.

Significant steps have been made in two of the corridors, the Maputo
Development Corridor in the south, and the Nacala Development Corridor in
the north.

That leaves Beira - but because of the Zimbabwean crisis it has so far
proved impossible to hold the planned international conference to launch the
Beira Development Corridor. A series of dates have been proposed, but the
Mozambican government has always felt obliged to postpone the event.

Apart from Zimbabwe and Mozambique itself the Beira Development Corridor SDI
could be of benefit to three other landlocked SADC (Southern African
Development Community) countries - Malawi, Zambia and Botswana. Its economic
impact could even extend to Lumumbashi, in the south of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo.

      Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Tuesday his
Movement for Democratic Change might not run in the 2005 parliamentary
elections unless the current electoral law is overhauled.
      Mr. Tsvangirai said the MDC's leadership has decided the party may
stay away from the 2005 parliamentary elections unless there is
internationally accepted reform of the electoral process. He said the level
of violence against his party was increasing, and would get worse as the
elections drew closer.

      A new study by the Johannesburg-based Zimbabwe Institute, confirms Mr.
Tsvangirai's concern, saying 60 percent of opposition legislators elected in
2000 have been arrested, although fewer than a handful have ever been tried.

      The report was compiled by Zimbabwe and Canadian lawyers from
interviews, human rights reports and legal documents. It says a majority of
opposition legislators and their families have been attacked and most are no
longer able to live with their families. Half the MP's have had their
property, homes, vehicles and businesses vandalized or destroyed.

      Most of the parliamentarians say the perpetrators were members of the
Zimbabwe security forces.

      Professor John Stremlau, head of International Relations at the
University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, says the opposition members
of parliament may be the most persecuted legislators in the world among
countries considering themselves as democracies.

      In his words, this is a new and diabolical phenomenon, a virulent type
of political control which is more insidious than the militarization, or
coup d'etat we have seen in the past. Zimbabwe's justice minister Patrick
Chinamasa could not be reached for comment.

The Archbishop of Bulawayo says President Mugabe's government is "a criminal
regime" because it's making life miserable for the country's poor majority
Pius Ncube says political change will come when more serious measures are
imposed on Zimbabwe, suggesting that South African authorities threaten to
impose sanctions against Harare.

Dozens of people crowded into a Johannesburg, South Africa church on Sunday
evening to hear the Archibishop conduct a service for Zimbabwean refugees.

In an interview after the ceremony the outspoken cleric described Mr.
Mugabe's government as one of "murderers and rapists" desperate to cling to
power.

The Archbishop added that the only way to deal with "dictators" is to "turn
up the heat."

"As far as I am concerned," he said, "Mugabe is not going to get down unless
there is pressure, and he is not going to talk to the opposition. He will
rig the elections and he will cheat. My suggestion will be that they should
threaten them and say unless you talk to the opposition, we switch off the
lights then he will be forced to talk to the opposition."

Asked whether authorities tried to buy his silence the Archbishop said
they'd offered him a farm near Turk mine, which he rejected. The property
previously belonged to Ibbo Mandasa.

Mr Ncube says other church leaders have accepted gifts and that this has
resulted in their hiding behind quiet diplomacy. The Archbishop adds that he
believes the only way to deal with evil is to speak out against it.

Several refugees did exactly that. As part of the service, some testified
about why they fled their homeland. Prominent human rights lawyer, Gabriel
Shumba, said he was arrested and brutally tortured for representing
opposition MPs.

A 15-year-old girl said officers arrived at her family's rural home looking
for her brothers, who were wanted because they were MDC youth. She said,
"three soldiers raped me because I told them I don't know where my brothers
are. They wanted my brothers, so they raped me because they didn't see my
brothers."

Archibishop Ncube accused the Zimbabwean government of lying when it claims
it is empowering people through the land reform exercise. In stead, he said
Zimbabwe's citizens have been impoverished by land reform.

Harare - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Tuesday
announced that ultimate efforts to force President Robert Mugabe's
government to political dialogue have reached the final stages.

"A broad-based alliance of democratic forces is putting the final touches to
a comprehensive programme of rolling mass action designed to push the regime
to the long awaited negotiated settlement," said the leader of the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC).

Mugabe last month said although he was willing to hold talks with the MDC,
he was not prepared to do so until the party cuts its links with the West.

He accuses Britain of bankrolling the MDC in a bid to oust him from power
and return imperialist interests to the former British colony.

Tsvangirai said details of the planned "intensive programme of democratic
activity" would be made public in due course.

"Such a plan will succeed in bringing back Zimbabwe to a conducive climate
for a legitimately free and fair election," Tsvangirai said in a statement.

The MDC which has accused Mugabe, 80, of using violence and other
undemocratic means to stay in power, said it will not go to the polls in
next year's parliamentary elections under current political circumstances.

It said it reserves the "right to take part in the 2005 parliamentary
elections unless there is genuine commitment from the Mugabe regime to run
polls in accordance with universally accepted norms and standards".

Parliamentary elections are due in March next year.

Talks brokered by South Africa and Nigeria between the MDC and the Zimbabwe
African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) broke down in May 2002
after the participants agreed on nothing but the agenda.

In January, President Thabo Mbeki announced that the two parties had agreed
to renew formal dialogue soon to resolve Zimbabwe's socio-economic and
political woes. But the MDC denied this was the case.

OUR cautious hope for positive development in agriculture is hinged on
certain happenings within the polity in recent times.

Displaced white farmers in Zimbabwe showed interest in investing in our
agriculture. They followed the interest up with visits and feelers from
places they visited were positive.

To demonstrate seriousness, the Federal Government set up a presidential
committee on the proposed investment of the South African farmers.

Another important development was the raising up of a panel on cassava
export by the President of the Republic. Dubbed Cassava Export Promotion
Committee, its mandate is to "immediately put in place measures to export
the product as a way of diversifying the revenue base of the country".

To show that he meant business, the President charged the committee to do it
whatever it takes.

Specifically, the Committee is charged

* to put Nigerian Cassava production on the global agenda

* to organise domestic production

* to establish domestic and international prices and to put in place a
time-table for the take-off of cassava export.

Shell Petroleum Development Company, the United States Agency for the
International Development (USAID) and the International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have also joined. They have signed to boost the
production of cassava in 11 states of the South-East and South-South of the
Federation.

To signify their seriousness, they had put their money - N1.518 billion of
it - where their mouths are. Over five years, the Cassava Development
Project (CEDP) will target 300,000 farm households. It will provide farmers
with access to disease-resistant varieties; develop marketing outlets for
cassava products and establish cassava processing enterprises at the
community level.

Ebonyi Governor, Sam Egwu articulated what we all know as the immutable
truth the other day: he said investment in agriculture is like investment in
other sectors of the economy. Therefore, the anxieties of those apprehensive
about Zimbabwean farmers cannot be justified. South Africa is all over the
place in our economy already. It is the highest investor in our
telecommunications today; it is now in our aviation industry. Both of these
sectors are sensitive to our security, just as large-scale investment in
agriculture can be. We must design the strategy to ensure our well-being. We
cannot be secure if we cannot feed our population; if we cannot strengthen
our national currency.

The truth is that we are suffering food shortages and, as a result, paying
inordinately high prices for it. Economy of scale will attenuate that.

      As we gear up to celebrate our 10 years of democracy, it becomes
increasingly difficult to revel in a freedom that those so close to our
country are utterly deprived of.

      Come April 27 and we enter a decade of equality. Can we really embrace
that time when the fundamental human rights of the women of Zimbabwe are
under constant violation?

      It seems clear that the only way for us to enjoy the emblematic
significance of our decade of freedom, is to acknowledge those being
deprived of theirs.
      The women of Zimbabwe have asked for our help, how are we, as a nation
going to respond?