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

Zimbabwe's undersized tobacco crop goes up for grabs
Godfrey Mutizwa
May 13 2002 at 06:22AM
Harare - Zimbabwe's smallest tobacco crop in more than a decade goes on sale
tomorrow as government-sponsored land seizures threaten the country's
position as the world's second-biggest exporter.

Farm invasions by supporters of President Robert Mugabe stopped about 300
farmers from planting, slashing this year's crop by 18 percent to an
estimated 165 million kilograms, said Chris Mowlam, the chief executive of
the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA), which represents about 1 400
growers.

Philip Morris and RJ Tobacco Holdings buy about 20 percent of Zimbabwe's
top-quality flue-cured tobacco to enhance the taste of their cigarettes.

The decline of the crop by a third since the land occupations began two
years ago threatens to push Standard Commercial Corporation and other buyers
to rivals such as Brazil.

"I won't grow anything next season if the situation hasn't been reversed,"
said Mike Murray, who farms 128km east of Harare. "Everyone is terrified the
crop will be taken from them."

Tobacco provides one-third of Zimbabwe's
export income and 150 000 jobs in the nation of 12 million people, where
three out of five people are unemployed.

More than 2 000 mainly white-owned commercial farms have been occupied since
Mugabe lost a constitutional referendum two years ago that would have
increased his powers.

Zimbabwe is in its fourth year of a recession, with inflation running at 113
percent in the year to March.

"Unless we return to the rule of law, there won't be any crop to talk about
next year," said Patrick Ashton, who farms 96km north of Harare.

Zimbabwe, which sells 98 percent of its crop, produced 202 million kilograms
last year, down from a record 237 million in 2000. It last produced less
than 165 million kilograms in 1990, when 133 million kilograms were sold,
according to the ZTA.

"It's premature to say it's a major problem because it is still an important
source of tobacco for the international trade," said Keith Merrick,
treasurer of North Carolina's Standard Commercial, one of three wholesalers
buying most of Zimbabwe's tobacco. "It is a smaller crop than in prior
years, but it is still a viable crop."

Finance minister Simba Makoni last week blamed the collapse of Zimbabwe's
agricultural production on the "chaotic land reform" and urged the
government to allow growers "to farm without disruption".

Farmers are also being hindered by foreign exchange shortages that have left
the Zimbabwe dollar worth as little as one-sixth of its official rate of 55
per dollar on the parallel market. The central bank told tobacco buyers last
month to pay foreign currency while it gives the farmers Zimbabwe dollars at
the official rate.

The discrepancy between the parallel and official rates "distinctly puts us
out of business", said Mowlam.

Zimbabwe tobacco last year sold for an average of $1.75 a kilogram, less
than the $4.01 fetched by similar leaf grown in the US. and more than
Brazil's average of $1.17, the ZTA says. The selling season runs until
September.

"We are being paid the same amount of money that we received in November
2000," said Mowlam. "It renders us completely unviable." - Bloomberg



Looting Threatens Tobacco Industry
Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
OPINION
May 13, 2002
Posted to the web May 13, 2002
Kumbirai Mafunda

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's so-called "fast-track resettlement programme"
could deal a death blow to Zimbabwe's once prosperous tobacco industry when
the auction floors open this week, Business Standard can reveal.
Tobacco growers who sell their crop on the world's largest auction floor in
Harare have told this paper that thousands of kilograms of the precious leaf
have been stolen by self-styled war veterans and militants loyal to
Zimbabwe's 78-year-old leader.
That means the buyers, who come from the US and Europe, could buy stolen
tobacco, making them criminals liable to prosecution both in Zimbabwe and
their home countries for buying stolen property..
It is a crime to buy stolen property and farmers fear the problem will
spread with the opening of the floors.
Iain Kay, a prominent Ruzawi River farmer, told Standard Business that
resettled farmers and self-styled war veterans have looted over 80 000
kilograms of his tobacco.
Kay and his family were driven from their Chipesa farm by roving gangs of
youths and so-called war veterans.
The illegal eviction, which happened shortly after the contested 9-11 March
presidential poll, was one of a series of invasions and threats the Kay
family has endured over the last two years.
Kay was savagely beaten and left for dead soon after the February 2000
referendum because of his open support of democracy in Zimbabwe.
"I was driven off my farm in March by neighbouring settlers and youths who
were led by a war veteran called Wilfred Marimo. They claimed ownership of
everything at the farm and took my dried tobacco that had already been cured
in the shed and harvested the one that was still in the fields," said Kay.
On another occasion, the Kay family found a booby-trapped hand grenade on
the access road to their home.
He said the resettled farmers had facilities for curing tobacco which were
set up by government when they were resettled in the 80s.
The farmer said although he had made a report to Marondera police nothing
had been recovered and no action had been taken to hold back the farmers
from selling.
"So far nothing has been done to stop them from selling my tobacco. They
will grade it themselves and then sell it under the small scale producers
scheme," said Kay.
Efforts to get police comment in Marondera were fruitless as the member in
charge, Inspector Mafu, was said to have gone out and a Constable Makore who
is in charge of records said he didn't know anything. "I am the one in
charge of records, but I came recently and my colleagues aren't in office,"
said Makore.
Meanwhile, Kay said he had also lost 18 tonnes of paprika, stolen by the
looters, while 250 head of cattle driven from the farm have not been
recovered.
Zimbabwe Tobacco Association chief executive officer, Chris Molan, confirmed
that there were problems in the tobacco industry, but referred this
newspaper to the police.
"It is a fact that a lot of tobacco is under threat, but you are asking me
to speculate. There is criminal activity on the farms, while a lot of
tobacco hasn't been graded. Can you ring Police Commissioner Augustine
Chihuri?" said Molan.
Chihuri could not be reached for comment as he was said to be out of the
country.
Tobacco industry insiders claim that the ZTA, which represents most
large-scale growers in the country, has been downplaying the threat to
farmers, fearing foreign buyers will boycott the floors. The claim has led
to farmers accusing the ZTA of collaborating with the ruling party.
The general manager of the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB),
Stanley Mutepfa, would not shed any light on the issue. "It's a subject that
needs us to sit down and find the context in which you are asking the
question," said Mutepfa.
Meanwhile an official with Tobacco Sales Floor said 4 112 bales are expected
to pass through the country's three tobacco sales floors on the first day of
trading.

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Daily News

      Zimbabwe's high rate of inflation affecting trade

      5/13/02 9:14:31 AM (GMT +2)
Business Editor

Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate when compared to its major trading
partners.

Figures released by the Central Statistical Office and the Ministry of
Finance and Economic Development show that at 112,1 percent as at 31
December, 2001, Zimbabwe beat its major trading partners including those in
Africa.

South Africa is the country's largest trading partner and its inflation rate
stood at 4,6 percent as at 31 December, last year. Another significant
trading partner is the United Kingdom whose inflation rate stood at 0,7
percent. However, because the UK is in the European Union, trade with
Zimbabwe continues to dwindle due to the diplomatic impasse with the region.

The United States of America had an inflation rate of 1,6 percent during the
same period compared to Zimbabwe.

In the neighbourhood, Botswana had a rate of 7,6 percent, Mozambique (21,9
percent) and Zambia (14 percent).
The Euro area had a rate of 2,5 percent, while Japan has a negative
inflation rate of minus 1,2 percent.

Dr Simba Makoni, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, said
exports were estimated to have declined by 4,3 percent last year.
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Daily News

      Masvingo police descend on illegal farm occupiers

      5/13/02 8:54:59 AM (GMT +2)
From Energy Bara in Masvingo

The police in Masvingo on Friday forcibly evicted scores of illegal farm
occupiers throughout the province in an exercise that is expected to affect
about 12 000 people.

Illegal farm occupiers at Mara Farm owned by the late former Speaker of
Parliament, Nolan Makombe, and those at Lothiam Farm owned by Masvingo
business tycoon, Tanda Tavaruva, were the first victims. The operation
kicked off in Masvingo East commercial farming area, where among others
General Vitalis Zvinavashe, the Defence Forces Commander, and Emmerson
Mnangagwa, the Speaker of Parliament, own properties. The exercise follows
eviction notices issued against the illegal settlers by the provincial land
task force on Thursday.

The task force gave the invaders 24-hour notices to vacate properties or
risk being forcibly removed from the farms they illegally occupied at the
height of the farm invasions.

The police in riot gear raided several farms in the province and threw out
the invaders.

However, it could not be established how many people were removed from the
properties following the exercise.

Masvingo provincial administrator, Alphonse Chikurira, said the affected
people were those who had occupied black-owned properties, delisted farms
and conservancies.

Chikurira said: "The invaders had been given notices by their district land
committees after we resolved that they should be removed.

"I am not sure of the exact number of people who will be affected, but that
information is with the district administrator." The police in Masvingo
confirmed the evictions on Friday, but refused to give details.

Learn Ncube, the police spokesperson, promised to give the Press details of
the exercise by 3pm on Friday, but had not done so by close of business. The
invaders defied several government notices prompting the national task force
to enlist the help of the police in carrying out the evictions.

Some of the delisted properties which had been illegally occupied since the
beginning of the farm invasions in Masvingo include Nuanetsi, Ruware,
Eaglemont ranches and Wasara-Wasara Farm.
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Christian Science Monitor
 
from the May 14, 2002 edition


WRITERS BLOCKED: Zimbabwean journalist Lloyd Mudiwa (left) and Collin Chiwanza (center) from the The Daily News, and Andrew Meldrum, a correspondent for The Guardian, were charged under harsh new media laws. Charges against Mr. Chiwanza have been dropped.
HOWARD BURDITT/REUTERS

Death threats roil Zimbabwe
Within the past two weeks, President Mugabe's party allegedly ordered the killing of opposition leaders.
By Jacqui Goddard | Special to The Christian Science Monitor
HARARE, ZIMBABWE – Within the past two weeks, an order to assassinate four members of Zimbabwe's opposition leadership has allegedly come from within President Robert Mugabe's government.

The four have been warned by a source within the Army's Military Intelligence Corps that a hit-squad has been formed and given specific instructions to eliminate them.

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The order, the source claims, was sanctioned by at least three members of the president's cabinet, a 26-strong grouping of stalwarts from Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.

The targets, according to the source, are shadow justice and legal affairs secretary David Coltart; Chimanimani Minister of Parliament, Roy Bennett; Harare Central Minister of Parliament, Mike Auret; and the shadow secretary for economic affairs, Eddie Cross.

"The information has come through a trusted and well-placed source," Mr. Bennett told the Monitor. "This person claims that a team has been put in place, but the members of that team are not happy with their orders."

A spokesman for the ZANU-PF denies the claim. "The allegations are false. We have no intention of killing MDC [Movement for Democratic Change] people," he says. "We have had an election and we have been voted into power again. The MDC are just manifesting these allegations because they lost the election."

Reminded that the allegations originate from within the military intelligence corps, not the MDC, the spokesman added, "The MDC just plant these stories."

Not the first death threat

All four targets are prominent whites within the MDC whose leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has accused Mugabe of vote- rigging in the March election.

This isn't the first time some of these people's lives have been threatened. But since the election, 54 political murders have taken place, according to a human rights group here. For this reason, they take this threat seriously.

A respected lawyer and human rights advocate, Mr. Coltart is responsible for overseeing the MDC's legal challenges to both the results of the June 2000 parliamentary election and the March presidential election, along with a number of cases challenging the constitutionality of legislation strengthening government and presidential powers.

Coltart and Mr. Auret played important roles in exposing the so-called Gukurahundi of the 1980s, an operation in which President Mugabe's Fifth Brigade is accused of having massacred up to 30,000 civilians in Matabeleland to crush opposition.

"I am by no means paranoid and I have certainly had death threats more direct than this before," says Coltart. "But what's alarming about this case is the identity of the source, who is well placed and well trusted.

"It doesn't worry me in the sense that I would consider changing what I do, but it obviously means that I have to up my security. Given what's going on in the country, with brutality being perpetrated against our supporters every day, we have to take this as a serious warning."

He adds: "If you took the four of us out of the equation, the belief that the MDC would crumble without us is nonsense."

Three months ago, Coltart received another death threat. On Feb. 5, he received a faxed warning of a Military Intelligence Corps death plot against various named MDC members and white farmers. Marked with the official stamp of the corps, the list was leaked by a colonel within the Army, who wrote a cover letter warning: "It's up to you to take measure [sic] to vacant [sic] those people immediately ... the action is so barbaric."

The MDC believes that there is protection in publicizing such information, but is wary of falling victim to setups. Last month, the party appears to have been deliberately tricked by the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO), Mugabe's notorious secret police, with a false story about a woman having been beheaded by ZANU-PF activists.

Four journalists from the independent media were arrested after the claims of George Nyadzayo – a man purporting to be the woman's husband – turned out to be false. It has subsequently been established by Zimbabwe's independent newspaper, the Daily News, that Mr. Nyadzayo had links to the CIO officer-in-charge at the Makoni post in the town of Chitungwiza.

Although the MDC reported that Nyadzayo had swinded them out of approximately $410 – money it handed over to support him and his family – police have refused to arrest him. The four journalists, however, face potential jail sentences for the "publication of falsehoods."

Being followed

Coltart says he does not believe the assassination alert to be anything less than genuine. Since last Wednesday, he has encountered four incidents of being followed – in one case, being trailed by what appeared to be a CIO vehicle.

Bennett, a farmer and businessman, has endured trouble since he was voted into office two years ago. Chimanimani was formerly one of ZANU-PF's strongest constituencies. "It embarrassed them, so they have turned their big guns on us ever since," he says. "Now the violence against our supporters is 10 times worse than before the presidential election in March.

"Straight after the election, the CIO came and trashed our office, broke the windows and ripped the phone out," continues Bennett. "The Army came and made the staff lie on the ground, making them do push-ups and beating them on the buttocks. They told them: 'If you stay, you will be killed.' "

Two weeks ago, 19 of the MDC's constituency workers in Chimanimani were arrested after a local CIO official claimed his home had been attacked with a petrol bomb. They were held in police cells, where they say buckets of urine were thrown over them and a cold hose turned on them at intervals throughout the night.

"When our lawyers went to see them, they were chased away at gunpoint," says Bennett. "The Army were at the police station. They said: 'This is a military situation and we'll shoot if you don't go away.' "

He adds: "On my farm now, I am looking after refugees whose homes have been totally trashed because they are MDC supporters. Their homes have been burned, their property has been destroyed ... right down to every last pot and pan.

"What can you do against a government like this? Now I get a warning saying the government wants me dead. I think if they could do it, they would do it...."


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IOL

US sanctions against Mugabe 'don't cover UN'

May 13 2002 at 06:07PM
Washington - The United States said on Monday that a travel ban on Zimbabwe
leaders does not cover UN meetings as the country's foreign minister noted
that President Robert Mugabe had attended a special UN children's summit
last week.

"As host to the United Nations headquarters, the United States permits
official travel for participation in UN meetings," said Nancy Beck, a State
Department spokesperson.

She noted that Washington had not publicly identified those covered by
President George W Bush's imposition of the sanctions, but stressed it did
not apply to officials travelling to the United Nations on official
business.

"The president's February 22 proclamation on travel restrictions does not
list specific individuals. It describes categories of people," Beck said.
"The proclamation does not extend to travel permitted by US obligations
under certain international agreements such as the UN headquarters
agreement," she added.

Though Mugabe has not been publicly named, US officials have said privately
that the president and 25 of his top associates, at least four of whom have
children studying in the United States, are covered by the sanctions.

The travel bans were imposed just ahead of and just after Zimbabwe's March
8-11 elections that the United States and others decried as fundamentally
flawed.

Earlier on Monday, Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge was quoted in
the state-run Herald newspaper as saying Mugabe and his entourage had no
trouble travelling to the United States for a UN meeting.

Mugabe had "25 green lights ahead of him to travel anywhere he wishes in the
United States", Mudenge said.

"Everything was properly planned. Nobody wanted any incident and things went
on smoothly," he said. "The Americans were up to scratch with their
commitment to the host country agreement."

"We wanted to demonstrate that the sanctions will not stop us from carrying
out our diplomatic functions," Mudenge said. - Sapa-AFP


Chihuri in France Despite Sanctions
Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
May 13, 2002
Posted to the web May 13, 2002
Chengetai Zvauya

POLICE Commissioner Augustine Chihuri flew off to Lyon, France, on Friday,
casting doubt on the effectiveness of travel restrictions imposed on senior
government and Zanu PF officials by the European Union and the United
States.
Reliable sources within the force confirmed to The Standard on Friday that
Chihuri went to Paris, via Johannesburg, on Interpol business.
When this paper phoned Chihuri's office, an officer who answered the phone
said: "The Compol is out of the country. He left for France this afternoon.
As I speak to you he is flying, so you can only reach him after 10 days."
Checks with Air Zimbabwe reservations revealed that the only flight of the
afternoon was a South African Airways jet bound for Jo'burg.
Efforts to get comment from the French embassy were fruitless as a woman who
said she was the ambassador's secretary told The Standard she was not at
liberty to release such details.
"The embassy does not divulge details of people who we have granted visas to
travel to France, so I can't help you much on that issue," said the
secretary who identified herself as Jean.
Chihuri joins the growing list of government and Zanu PF officials who have
managed to elude travel bans imposed on them by flying to countries which
have blacklisted them.
The US and the 14-member EU imposed targeted sanctions against Mugabe, his
cabinet ministers, service chiefs, businessmen, church leaders and their
immediate family members for their role in facilitating crimes against
humanity in Zimbabwe. The sanctions are also supposed to see the freezing of
any assets held by the officials in the EU or US.
In March, environment and tourism minister, Francis Nhema, was granted a
visa to attend a wildlife conference in Las Vegas, USA.
Justice, legal and parliamentary affairs minister, Patrick Chinamasa, also
visited Switzerland while his foreign affairs counterpart, Stan Mudenge,
visited Geneva after the European country, which is not a member of the EU,
had slapped travel restrictions on Zimbabwean officials.

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MSNBC

Nigeria,South Africa try to revive Zimbabwe talks

HARARE, May 13 - South African and Nigerian mediators were trying to entice
Zimbabwe's ruling party on Monday to resume stalled talks with the
opposition on easing post-election tensions, diplomats said.
       Nigeria's Adebayo Adedeji and South Africa's Kgalema Motlanthe were
working to restart the talks their governments initiated between President
Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF and the main opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC), they said.
       ZANU-PF announced on Friday it had asked for a postponement of the
talks, which were to have resumed on Monday, because of the MDC's legal
challenge to Mugabe's controversial March election victory.
       The MDC called it ''a clear and complete ZANU-PF pull out.''
       ''ZANU-PF has pulled out of the talks and has repudiated its promise
to Presidents (Thabo) Mbeki of South Africa and (Olusegun) Obasanjo of
Nigeria by closing all doors for a negotiated solution to the political
crisis of legitimacy facing Zimbabwe,'' MDC Secretary-General Welshman Ngube
said on Monday.
       The talks were due to resume on Monday after the two parties agreed
on an agenda last month. It included political violence and the disputed
March 9-11 presidential polls, which the MDC and several Western countries
described as deeply flawed.
       Adedeji, Motlanthe and ZANU-PF officials were unavailable for
immediate comment on Monday.
       Analysts say Mugabe's government looks increasingly besieged by the
bitter dispute over his re-election, a severe food shortage and a deepening
economic crisis.
       Mugabe's party insists the veteran leader won fairly and has rejected
opposition calls for a re-run.
       Mugabe accuses the MDC of being a puppet of Zimbabwe's former
colonial master Britain, which he charges has led an international campaign
to isolate him in retaliation for his seizure of white-owned farms for
redistribution to landless blacks.
       Ncube repeated on Monday the MDC's insistence that the only way out
of Zimbabwe's political impasse was for ZANU-PF to agree to a new election.
       ''It is up to the people of Zimbabwe to reclaim their freedoms and
liberties and their right to freely elect their government,'' he said in a
statement.
       The MDC filed a petition last month with the High Court in Harare
challenging Mugabe's victory in March.

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MSNBC

S.African minister says no change on Zimbabwe

CAPE TOWN, May 13 - Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota on Monday quashed
speculation about a government policy shift on Zimbabwe, saying his view
that South Africa's strategy had failed was personal and not official.

       Lekota, who is also chairman of the ruling African National Congress,
called a news conference to explain his remarks to a church group in Durban
on Friday.
       ''The views I expressed were my own views and not those of the
government,'' he said.
       ''I am not saying that I was incorrectly quoted. I continue to hold
the view that we did not achieve the result that we wanted to achieve in
Zimbabwe,'' he added.
       Lekota, sometimes cited as a possible heir to South African President
Thabo Mbeki, said he fully supported the government's strategy to lead
Zimbabwe to peace and economic revival.
       Mbeki was widely criticised in South Africa and abroad in the run-up
to presidential elections in Zimbabwe in March for failing publicly to use
his country's immense economic and political clout to influence the Harare
government.
       South Africa met privately with Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and
tried to persuade him to rein in pro-government militants who beat and
killed opponents and seized white-owned commercial farms.
       But he refused to join an international chorus of public
condemnation, saying that would not persuade Mugabe to moderate his
behaviour.
       Mbeki said on Monday during a visit to Norway that he saw only a
limited role for South Africa in defusing Zimbabwe's political crisis.
       ''We are very concerned that the Zimbabweans must solve their own
problems and that we should act as a region in support of this process,'' he
said. ''The problems of Zimbabwe cannot be resolved in Pretoria,'' he said
after talks with Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik

NOT GOVERNMENT STANCE
       Mugabe won the election comfortably, but many Western governments and
other critics accused him of stealing victory from the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC).
       Mbeki acknowledged once that Mugabe had not listened to South African
advice, but Lekota was the first government minister to acknowledge that the
strategy had failed.
       ''The government of Zimbabwe would not listen to us. We asked them to
stop the looting of farms and not to follow the route of lawlessness but we
failed,'' he said on Friday.
       Lekota's remarks, which ran counter to the government's strong
defence of Mbeki's so-called quiet diplomacy, were widely reported over the
weekend.
       Lekota said he was concerned that his acknowledgement of failure
could undermine South African and Nigerian efforts to revive negotiations
between Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF and the MDC.
       Nigeria's Adebayo Adedeji and South Africa's Kgalema Motlanthe were
working to restart the talks their governments initiated between ZANU-PF and
the MDC, officials said.
       ZANU-PF announced on Friday it had asked for a postponement of the
talks because of the MDC's legal challenge to Mugabe's controversial March
election victory.
       The opposition labelled the ZANU-PF move ''a clear and complete
ZANU-PF pull out from the talks.''

Business Day

SA and Zimbabwe may clash over unity talks

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Political Correspondent

PRETORIA and Harare seemed to be on a collision course last night after the
Zimbabwean government unilaterally postponed unity talks between the ruling
Zanu (PF) party and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

The talks, brokered by SA and Nigeria to douse rising political tension in
the country following President Robert Mugabe's contested victory in the
recent presidential election, were scheduled to resume today after a
threeweek break.

While African National Congress (ANC) general secretary, Kgalema Motlanthe
who is acting as President Thabo Mbeki's emissary insisted last night that
the talks would continue as scheduled, Zimbabwe's Information Minister
Jonathan Moyo said there would not be any talks.

Moyo said that while the Nigerian and SA facilitators were welcome in the
country "any time", their presence in Zimbabwe did not mean that the talks
would resume.

He justified Harare's decision to postpone the talks on the grounds that
there was a pending court case that the MDC had brought before the courts
that sought to nullify the result of the March presidential election.

"Zanu (PF) and the MDC are busy talking through arguments in the court,"
Moyo said, launching a broadside at the UK and the MDC for the opposition
party's insistence that it would go to the venue of the talks today as
previously agreed.

"When we adjourned, it was agreed that before the talks resume we should
find a venue out of Harare, and we wonder where the MDC delegation will go.
It sounds as if they will go to the British high commission.

"It's a blessing in disguise that the matter will first be resolved in the
courts because, frankly speaking as Zanu (PF), it is traumatic to talk to
people who do not accept the will of the majority of Zimbabweans who
democratically and constitutionally elected their president," he said.

However, Motlanthe insisted last night that he would fly to Zimbabwe today
to mediate in the talks. When asked about Moyo's utterances, he said: "There
is no substance to that."

Motlanthe said if there were any changes at all, the developments would have
been communicated to him and President Olusegun Obasanjo's emissary, Prof
Adebayo Adedeji.

"As far as we are concerned, everything is still on course for (today)," he
said.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has praised SA Defence Minister
Mosiuoa Lekota for admitting that government's policy of quiet diplomacy on
Zimbabwe had failed.

"This is long overdue, and we cannot continue with the folly of that failed
policy any longer. But it is not enough simply to admit failure. SA needs a
new plan to assist the people of Zimbabwe to resolve the crisis largely
created by one man, Robert Mugabe," said DA leader Tony Leon.
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Daily News

      Zimbabwe's high rate of inflation affecting trade

      5/13/02 9:14:31 AM (GMT +2)
Business Editor

Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate when compared to its major trading
partners.

Figures released by the Central Statistical Office and the Ministry of
Finance and Economic Development show that at 112,1 percent as at 31
December, 2001, Zimbabwe beat its major trading partners including those in
Africa.

South Africa is the country's largest trading partner and its inflation rate
stood at 4,6 percent as at 31 December, last year. Another significant
trading partner is the United Kingdom whose inflation rate stood at 0,7
percent. However, because the UK is in the European Union, trade with
Zimbabwe continues to dwindle due to the diplomatic impasse with the region.

The United States of America had an inflation rate of 1,6 percent during the
same period compared to Zimbabwe.

In the neighbourhood, Botswana had a rate of 7,6 percent, Mozambique (21,9
percent) and Zambia (14 percent).
The Euro area had a rate of 2,5 percent, while Japan has a negative
inflation rate of minus 1,2 percent.

Dr Simba Makoni, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, said
exports were estimated to have declined by 4,3 percent last year.
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Daily News
 Leader Page

      NEPAD should be qualitative and truly home-grown

      5/13/02 9:46:38 AM (GMT +2)

I HAVE just returned from a two-day conference hosted by the Canadian
International Development Agency in the cold city of Montreal. It is part of
a region that proclaims its Frenchness, but finds it difficult to hide the
Anglophilia (or worse, Americanisation) of Canada as a whole.

The conference theme, "Canada and Africa: A New Partnership", was really
about the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). The main aim of
the conference was to share information on NEPAD between the Canadian
government, Canadian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in or on
Africa and their African partners (sometimes this word partnership may be an
exaggerated description of the relationship because many of them are just
too dependent on their foreign donors).

Canada is hosting the annual G-8 Summit in June and it is seeking to put
Africa top on the agenda. It is anxious that the state of the global economy
and the "'war against terrorism" may crowd out Africa. The Prime Minister,
Jean Chetrien, recently made a high profile trip across Africa to
demonstrate his interest and assure Africa's leaders that the continent
described by another recent executive tourist in Africa, Prime Minister Tony
Blair of Britain, as "a scar on the conscience of the world", is high on his
agenda too.

Canada's ambiguous moral reflexes as a country is best summed up in the
observation of a comedian who described it "as too far from everywhere else
and too close to America".

However, unlike its superpower neighbour, Canada has historically been
closer to the "good guys of Europe" ­ the Dutch and Scandinavian countries ­
on general international development issues. Their aid and development funds
are closer to the Nordic targets than to their richer but ideological driven
neighbours or their stingy grandma in Britain.

The commitment of Canada could be seen from the way in which the conference
was organised and the broad spectrum of the African participants. The new
Minister for International Co-operation, Ms Susan Whelan, spoke with
believable passion about the potentials for NEPAD to reverse the negative
trend in Africa's development. She was present throughout and fully
participated in the proceedings ­ a point that was not lost on the
participants who are used to African ministers being ushered in (almost
always late) and disrupting proceedings as they are whisked away to other
"important duties" soon after they have given their keynote addresses. There
is no doubt that the Canadian government and, in particular, its development
lobbyists take NEPAD seriously.

To be honest I have not heard any African minister or even some of the key
people in the NEPAD Secretariat or Steering Council speak with the kind of
conviction that the Canadian minister did.

The failure of Africa's pushers of the NEPAD scheme to animate and excite
Africans is one of the biggest challenges facing NEPAD. There have been a
number of consultative meetings held in Africa on NEPAD. The recent ones
include ADF III in Addis, ADB in Abidjan, CODESRIA and TWN in Accra, African
Academy of Sciences in Nairobi and ALF, also in Accra. These are in addition
to other meetings by key NEPAD countries in Abuja, Dakar and Pretoria. There
is one ringing concern from all of these meetings:
lack of information and lack of consultation.

The most critical point is the lack of consultation. The civil society,
trade unions, other professional associations, NGOs, etc are very vocal on
this. But if they can be dismissed as whiners, what about parliamentarians,
business lobbies, senior government officials, etc, making the same
complaint? If this is a partnership between Africans and Africa and the
world, how come they do not know about it?

Professor Wiseman, the head of NEPAD Secretariat, has two main responses to
these charges. One, they are working under great pressure from the leaders
and their G-8 bosses (sorry, partners)! Two, the process has not reached
implementation stage yet, therefore there is room for further consultation.
A supplementary response is to say NEPAD is a process that may take many
years.

These responses are excuses that do not give any convincing explanation and
they only serve to make people more suspicious. Why is it the case that
NEPAD is more discussed outside of Africa than in Africa? Why do the framers
think that the process is not as important as the implementation itself? Is
this another case of the end justifying the means? All these questions and
many more were raised in Montreal.

My embarrassment is that these are not really questions for the Canadians,
but for African leaders and Africa's different stakeholders to engage each
other on. It was a point brought out most poignantly by a Sudanese diplomat
during the final session when he thanked Whelan "for giving us information
and explaining our programme to us"!

So far there are three broad responses to NEPAD. One, the rejectionists, who
argue that Africa has seen so many initiatives before which have gathered
dust not because they are not good, but because there was no commitment to
them.

Two, there are NEPAD enthusiasts of different persuasions. Some of them say
NEPAD is the "best news" from Africa and it is "owned" by Africans. Others
claim our leaders have agreed on it, therefore, our obligation is to obey.
The third category are those who are very critical of the process, but are
willing to engage the programme with a view to impacting positively on it
and changing some of the undesirable course that it is taking. I am happy to
put myself in the third category of those who are willing to engage the
process in order to make it more qualitative and truly owned by Africans.

Without this engagement, NEPAD will be nothing but KNEEPAD, a programme of
African leaders on bent knees with G-8 providing some pads for them to kneel
on.
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      Commuters turn to ' Freedom Trains'

      5/13/02 8:59:54 AM (GMT +2)
By Sam Munyavi

BY any account, the so-called "Freedom Trains" introduced in August last
year, ahead of the presidential election in March this year, are popular
with thousands of hard-pressed and long-suffering urban commuters.

Save for the fact that the State is inflicting further financial damage on
the cash-strapped parastatals, the trains have done much to alleviate the
transport blues of commuters on the routes plied.

And for some they are literally "free trains". "Artful dodgers" have taken
the liberty to avoid paying by hanging precariously from the coaches doorway
railings, even when there is room enough to swing a cat inside the coaches.
People like a young man who said his name was Chipo dice with death in the
crispy morning air hanging on the railing. "Just call me Chipo, full stop,"
the young man said menacingly. On Wednesday and Thursday last week I boarded
the Dzivaresekwa train in the evening and morning, respectively, to
experience the ride for the first time since the commuter trains were
introduced about nine months ago. They are a real convenience unlike a
suggestion years ago by a former Local Government and Housing minister, Enos
Chikowore for Harare to consider digging up Julius Nyerere Way to make way
for a Venetian canal system as an alternative mode of providing commuter
transport.

When the train stopped to pick up passengers at the Checkline stop in
Workington, I asked Chipo why he was risking his life to save the $15 fare.

He said: "There is no risk. I am quite comfortable where I am."

No one has been putting tags on how much the Freedom Train has drained State
coffers or the losses it makes when commuters make such routine free rides.
Another passenger said: "Why pay if you can avoid it?"

At $15 a trip, which includes a bus ride home, the fare is certainly a
bargain.

Because the commuter bus owners increased their fares from $25 to $35 each
trip, and ignored warnings from the government not to do so the commuter
train has come in handy.

Many commuters can ill-afford the $70 a day in bus fares, and more if they
have to change buses to and from work.

They have resorted to boarding the commuter trains. It appears the
opportunity cost of low fares is waking up earlier than usual to be in time
for the buses that relay with the commuter trains. Battered economically and
generally abused by the commuter buses' touts, drivers and their
assistants ­ and packed like sardines in the commuter trains ­ the passenger
's lot is certainly not a happy one.

The trains are a boon for many who would otherwise be forced to walk to work
in the wind and in the rain.
Commuter trains were introduced last year in what was largely viewed as an
election gimmick to buy votes for Zanu PF in the March presidential
election.
The line network, though, serves a limited number of high density suburbs.
Apart from Dzivaresekwa, there are trains to Ruwa, Mufakose and Mabvuku in
Harare, Luveve and Mpopoma in Bulawayo.

The trains are a joint project, on the orders of the government, between two
parastatals, the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) and the National
Railways of Zimbabwe.

On the evening train on Wednesday, I sat by a window without a pane. The man
sitting opposite said: "There are youngsters at Kambuzuma siding and Warren
Park who throw stones at the train when it passes. "They are probably
responsible for the broken glass." There were no lights in all the dozen or
so coaches. Two ticket sellers and an inspector work diligently and quietly
by torchlight. The lights have not worked for a long time, someone said.

As we approach Kambuzuma, the man opposite protects his face with an empty
two-litre milk container. His companion does the same with a newspaper and
without something as robust as a plastic container on my maiden trip, I do
my best to cover my face with a newspaper as well.

At Warren Park, we do the same again. The stone-throwing boys were
apparently not in the mood that evening. The trip to Dzivaresekwa takes 45
minutes, with stops to pick up and drop passengers opposite Lever Brothers
complex and Checkline, both in the Workington industrial area which are
barely two kilometres apart, Lochinvar, Kambuzuma and Warren Park.

At the end of the journey the train empties rapidly as the hundreds of
commuter race for the Zupco buses some 100 or so metres away. On Thursday
morning the train fills quickly as commuters pour on board at Dzivaresekwa
to go to work.

Talk on the train is mostly about how tough the times are, reflecting a deep
sense of despair. Commuters express the hope that the train service is here
to stay, with the fare remaining the same.
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      Zanu PF-MDC talks hang in the balance

      5/13/02 8:59:05 AM (GMT +2)
By Collin Chiwanza

IT IS unclear whether the Zanu PF-MDC talks will go ahead today, after Zanu
PF announced on Friday that the dialogue had temporarily been shelved. The
announcement came in a story carried by the government-controlled Herald
newspaper.

Professor Welshman Ncube, the MDC leader in the talks, accused Professor
Jonathan Moyo, the Minister of State for Information and Publicity, of being
highly unprofessional by rushing to the Press with confidential letters
whose contents had not been officially communicated to the facilitators. The
inter-party talks are being co-facilitated by Professor Adebayo Adedeji of
Nigeria, and Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa, on behalf of their
respective heads of State. Ncube said: "We have communicated with the
facilitators and they both said they had not received any official
communication from Zanu PF. "As far as they are concerned, they are
continuing with preparations for talks.

The Herald has published information leaked to them by Moyo. That is very
unethical and unprofessional." Ncube said if it turns out Zanu PF no longer
wanted to continue with the talks then it would have exposed the party's
hypocrisy. He said until the MDC received official communication from the
facilitators, its view was that the talks would resume today as scheduled.
"There is a very high risk of responding to The Herald because the paper
lies every day. "If Zanu PF believed the MDC was desperate for the
interparty talks, then they are living in a fool's paradise," Ncube said. He
described as hypocritical Zanu PF's reasons for shelving the talks. Ncube
said the MDC entered the talks because it sincerely believed they would help
resolve a national problem of misgovernance. Ncube, the MDC's secretary-
general, said it was hypocritical for Zanu PF to announce it would shelve
the talks because of one incident of an alleged death in which an identified
person gave a false story to the party and to the Press.

He said: "We now have reason to believe this false story was instigated by
Zanu PF. Why is it the police have not arrested the people who killed
Tichaona Chiminya, Talent Mabika, Trymore Midzi and many other MDC
supporters?" He was apparently referring to the story published by this
paper alleging that Zanu PF youths had chopped off the head of the wife of
an MDC supporter in Magunje.

It later turned out to be untrue. The Zanu PF-MDC talks were adjourned on 10
April after the two parties agreed on the agenda. Patrick Chinamasa, Zanu PF
's leader to the talks, was quoted in The Herald as saying his party had
decided to shelve the talks pending the outcome of the High Court petition
filed by the MDC.

In addition, Zanu PF alleged it was temporarily halting the talks because of
what it said were falsehoods published by the "opposition". Lovemore
Madhuku, a constitutional law lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, said
it was clear Zanu PF had cheated the MDC to enter into the interparty
negotiations.

Madhuku said: "This shows what Zanu PF has been plotting all along. It has
not been negotiating in good faith. "The serious lesson to be learnt is that
the MDC must make up its mind on how it wants to proceed in the
post-election scenario." Madhuku said the MDC had to admit it had been
outsmarted by Zanu PF. "It was clear from the beginning that the MDC was not
going to get anything from the talks," he said.

Meanwhile, the National Alliance for Good Governance, on Friday said it was
regrettable the talks had flopped at a time when Zimbabweans expected they
would help pave way for nation-building and economic recovery.
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      Zanu PF official defies order to surrender plots

      5/13/02 8:58:06 AM (GMT +2)
From our correspondent in Masvingo

ISAAC Rukatya, the Zanu PF Masvingo provincial secretary for transport, has
defied a government directive to surrender nine sugar cane plots to their
respective owners since he allegedly acquired them under controversial
circumstances.

Rukatya, who is also a prominent Chiredzi businessman purchased the nine
plots at Chipiwa resettlement scheme near Mkwasine in 1999 at a cost of $32
million.
The businessman has been at loggerheads with the owners who claimed that he
used his political influence to take the properties from them.

Zanu PF, including Vice-President Joseph Msika and war veterans have also
condemned Rukatya's move, saying that it was against the ruling party's
policy for an individual to have so many plots.

Following an impasse between Rukatya and the plot owners, the Ministry of
Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement intervened and ordered the
businessman to surrender the plots.

In a letter dated 11 April 2002 the Permanent Secretary in the ministry,
Ngoni Masoka, said the government does not recognise Rukatya as the new
owner of the plots.

The letter also copied to Masvingo Provincial Governor, Josaya Hungwe, reads
in part: "This letter serves to convey the ministry's position that the
State does not recognise at law or any other for the purported claim to
Oright title and interests' by one Rukatya to nine plots at Chipiwa
resettlement scheme. "The state has not at any one time instructed its
agent, Mkwasine Estate, to authorise or accede to the surrender of Oright of
title and interests'. "Accordingly, the ministry continues to regard all the
affected nine plots as State property under the administration of Mkwasine
and declares that those tenants authorised by the State to be in occupation
shall remain in occupation . . . and any other illegal occupier must
immediately vacate the properties and surrender them to the tenants." But in
an apparent sudden turn of events, Rukatya on Thursday said he would defy
the government directive.

Rukatya's lawyer, Douglas Mwonzora, described the ministry's directive as
unlawful.
Mwonzora said: "The ministry is not the law. The letter is irrelevant and
was written in ignorance of the correct legal position. "The ministry cannot
interfere with the contract. Rukatya will not recognise the directive." He
said they were challenging the directive because, "it is a product of
corruption in Zanu PF". "We know of senior Zanu PF officials who want to
remove Rukatya and take his cane valued at $37 million," Mwonzora said.

"He will challenge that to the last stain of his blood. Rukatya bought the
nine plots because he has money and there is nothing wrong with that."
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      Mugabe must quit to make way for new poll: Tsvangirai

      5/13/02 8:57:09 AM (GMT +2)
From Chris Gande in Hwange

MORGAN Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, yesterday said all his post-election
rallies had proved President Mugabe should be "confronted" to ensure he
relinquishes power and paves the way for internationally-observed elections
that are held on a level playing field.

Tsvangirai, who addressed a 25 000-strong crowd in Hwange, said the way
forward emanating from the rallies, was that Mugabe had no solutions to
problems bedevilling Zimbabwe hence an urgent need to change the leadership.
Commenting on the inter-party talks which Zanu PF says have been shelved,
Tsvangirai said the ruling party had more to lose than the MDC if they
failed to turn up at the resumption of the talks today at Parliament
building.

Tsvangirai was confident that despite the threats by Zanu PF to shelve the
talks, the ruling party's delegation was going to attend the talks. "If Zanu
PF goes ahead and shelves the talks then the ball is inPresidents Olusegun
Obasanjo and Thabo Mbeki's courts," he said. The inter-party talks between
Zanu PF party and the MDC, which are scheduled to resume today, may collapse
after a dispute erupted between the two parties over the postponement of the
negotiations

Zanu PF announced on Thursday that it wanted the talks put on hold until
Mugabe's disputed re-election had been settled by the courts. Patrick
Chinamasa, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, who
heads the ruling party delegation, said they were no longer able to continue
with the talks because of Tsvangirai's legal challenge to Mugabe's 9-11
March controversial re-election. Nigeria and South Africa, the facilitators
of the talks, had been informed, he said. But the MDC's Professor Welshman
Ncube said if Zanu PF did not report for the talks today, the opposition
would withdraw from the negotiating table.

He said: "Zanu PF cannot unilaterally postpone the negotiations without
consulting us."

Tsvangirai said despite the necessity for confrontation with Zanu PF by his
supporters, the MDC would adhere to a non-violent approach to resolve the
political crisis facing Zimbabwe.

His security personnel closed the gates of Wankie stadium when more than 25
000 people turned up to attend the rally in this small coal mining town. The
MDC leader has been addressing post-election rallies throughout the country
to get views on "the way forward", after last month's disputed presidential
election.

Tsvangirai said: "Everywhere we have gone, the people are even more
determined. They don't believe that Mugabe has the solutions to the country'
s problems. The people are saying that he has to be confronted." The country
is currently in the throes of an economic malaise which has been worsened by
a drought and the isolation of the country by the international community
because of the flawed election.

Zanu PF last week said its delegation to the talks was seeking a suspension
of the dialogue because of "MDC activities which undermined the spirit of
the talks".
Apart from the inter-party dialogue between the MDC and Zanu PF, the
opposition party has also approached the law courts for redress. "There is a
co-ordinated international campaign to isolate Mugabe so that he sees that
without international support he cannot rule this country," Tsvangirai said.
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      Lawyers blast Patel over Sunday Mail story

      5/13/02 8:55:55 AM (GMT +2)
Staff Reporter

TWO Harare lawyers yesterday dismissed a story in the State-controlled
Sunday Mail, which suggested they had acted improperly. They said the source
of the story in the government mouthpiece obviously had no clue as to how
the courts work.

Beatrice Mtetwa, a lawyer with Kantor and Immerman firm, dismissed the story
in The Sunday Mail in which the acting Attorney-General, Barat Patel,
reportedly lodged a complaint with the Law Society of Zimbabwe over Mtetwa's
alleged "professional misconduct".

Mtetwa is representing Andrew Meldrum, a correspondent for the British
Guardian newspaper, in the High Court.

Patel alleged Mtetwa intruded into his residence to serve him with summons
for an urgent hearing.

Yesterday Mtetwa said Patel's complaints were "baseless".

She said on the day in question she went to Patel's residence to serve him
with papers and she was told that he had gone to play golf.

"It appears he does not understand the functions of his office and how it
should facilitate the hearings of urgent applications on an urgent basis,"
Mtetwa said.

"It is Mr Patel's duty to ensure that a duty roster is prepared advising the
details of officers on duty at any given time to deal with urgent matters.

". . . Mr Patel's conduct on the night in question would, in a normal
system, constitute gross dereliction of duty and an obstruction to the
course of justice. Mr Patel's conduct in ensuring that an urgent matter was
not heard urgently is most unprofessional and is worse than the police
fleeing their offices to evade service of court papers."

Mtetwa's client, Meldrum, is being charged along with Lloyd Mudiwa of The
Daily News under the Access to Information and Protection to Privacy Act,
for allegedly reproducing a false story about a Karoi woman said to have
been beheaded by Zanu PF activists. Mtetwa said of Patel: "As a lawyer, his
duty should first and foremost be to the law and the courts, and when he is
off to play golf, he must ensure that sufficient information is left on who
should deal with urgent matters." Mtetwa said Patel had an axe to grind with
her law firm.

"You will recall that my firm was involved in a matter in which Mr Patel
sought to have one of our clients arrested in an incident where he was
drinking in public and insisted on taking his whisky bottle to a place where
he was not allowed to," she said. "His latest complaint must, therefore, be
understood in the context of someone who has an axe to grind with Kantor and
Immerman."

Contacted for comment last night, Patel said: "That is her problem. No one
should come to my home and that's all. I was not there on the day in
question and
I could not be contacted.

"I am not interested in what I should have done, but all that I can say is
that I was not happy about her behaviour." Sternford Moyo, the Law Society
of Zimbabwe president, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Commenting on the same issue, Advocate Charles Selemani said it was sad that
the source of the Sunday Mail story had chosen to resort to the Press to
resolve professional matters "as this is inconsistent with the hallowed
traditions of our learned, noble and most honourable profession". He also
wrote a letter of complaint to The Sunday Mail saying the legal sources
quoted in the story were "of the obviously ill-considered view that only the
Messenger of Court is entitled by law to serve court process. In the first
instance, the Messenger of Court does not serve High Court processes as his
jurisdiction is restricted to the Magistrates' Court".

Concurring with Mtetwa, Selemani said lawyers were "sworn to serve, defend
and uphold the basic tenets of human rights and that we shall continue to do
so without fear, favour or ill will, regardless of personal inconvenience
and risk to our physical well-being and professional integrity".

He said if Patel did not want personal service, it was incumbent upon him to
design a sufficient, efficient and predictable system with a duty roster
related specifically to urgent matters.
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      Chitungwiza writes off $25 million debt

      5/13/02 9:59:25 AM (GMT +2)
By Sam Munyavi

THE Chitungwiza Municipality, one of the poorest local authorities in the
country, last year wrote off a $25 million debt owed to it by Modzone
Enterprises, an Iranian textiles company in the town's industrial area.
Joseph Macheka, the then mayor, and 22 of the 24 councillors agreed to
cancel the debt following a request from the company.

The two councillors who did not agree were aldermen Stephen K Chidzere and E
K Chingoka. According to minutes of an 11 October 2001 full council meeting,
the council agreed to Modzone's request to write off the $25 million after
two previous submissions had failed. From the minutes it appears Macheka
pushed the deal down the throats of most of the councillors.

The decision was made despite some councillors' dissension against council
writing off such a huge amount, which they said could have gone a long way
in improving the living conditions in Chitungwiza.

Chitungwiza, home to hundreds of thousands of people, has very bad roads and
a poor reticulation and sewage system.

Goodway Mvududu, the town treasurer, told the meeting that its finance and
development committee had "at one time indicated that it would only consider
anything from Modzone Enterprises regarding the outstanding debt in respect
of water charges on condition Modzone Enterprises show commitment to pay
something towards the liquidation of the debt by making some payments".
Modzone paid some $2 744 702,33 in October last year towards the debt.
Mvududu said the company had further requested that council charge it $37,65
a cubic metre for water, which was a reduction from the $45,86 a cubic metre
charged to all industrialists in the town in October last year. But,
according to the minutes, some councillors had reservations saying this
might put the charges for Modzone Enterprises at the same level as domestic
consumers.

David Govera, the deputy director of housing and community services, advised
the council that a comprehensive report should have been undertaken and the
councillors given enough time to study it before a decision was made. But he
was told that "the issue should be treated as a matter of urgency from the
Modzone Enterprises point of view".

According to the minutes of the council meeting, Modzone Enterprises "had
indicated that they wanted to send financial statements to their country
without outstanding debts due to council, hence the request to have the
outstanding debt written off".

Some councillors, however, felt that From Page 1 the council could not
afford to lose the $25 million and wanted the matter referred back to the
finance committee "for thorough investigation".

But Macheka, the executive mayor at the time, told the councillors that
Modzone Enterprises was disputing the council's water charges and had
appealed to the council and several government ministries. Macheka was
recently embroiled in a controversy over his exit package. Mvududu then told
the council that it "would not lose anything by writing off the $25 million
debt".

He said a new policy document on water consumption charges for Modzone
should be worked out.

The council minutes show that the meeting resolved that Modzone "be exempted
from paying normal water charges rates and instead pay $8,55 over and above
the cost of water per cubic metre to council as charged by Harare City
Council".

Apparently, Modzone dangled in front of the council, plans to expand its
business operations in Chitungwiza and "accordingly new machines and
equipment destined for Zimbabwe would be received by the company in due
course".


Township Woes to Haunt Mudzuri
Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
OPINION
May 13, 2002
Posted to the web May 13, 2002
Itai Dzamara

THE controversy surrounding Harare mayor Elias Mudzuri's first days in
office could be a harbinger of the huge task the former Harare City Council
engineer faces.
While his controversial move to the $70 million mansion, and his acceptance
of a $22 million Mercedes Benz, have given the mayor a baptism of fire,
things could get worse for Mudzuri as he leads a restless population dogged
by years of corrupt administrations.
Now with the MDC in control of the country's capital, people expect Mudzuri
and his team to deliver, and deliver fast.Corruption, nepotism and the
flouting of tenders in the allocation of residential and business stands
proved to be Tawengwa's undoing.
Many situations still exist in Harare to remind ratepayers of how they still
pay dearly for this corruption.
One such facility is the multi-million dollar bus terminus built by the
Tawengwa council in Highfield behind Gwanzura Stadium, which has become a
white elephant. The project was a joint venture between the council and
Delta Corporation, who were allocated a strategic piece of land at Machipisa
shopping centre where they put up an OK supermarket. Delta also constructed
a foot bridge from the supermarket across the main street, which, despite
being used in the first days, has also become redundant.
Part of the fiasco was the allocation of land meant for a car park next to
Gwanzura to Solta Trading, a company owned by Tawengwa, which constructed a
filling station. There were two other filling stations already at Machipisa
shopping centre.
The allocation of this piece of land to Tawengwa was among more than 20
cases which were recommended for investigation by the Thompson audit team,
set up by the then local government minister, John Nkomo. All the cases
involved councillors who had acquired municipal land fraudulently. The
Thompson report also cited top politicians, business people and judges who
were allocated land by Tawengwa ahead of 10 000 home seekers. They included
Eddison Zvobgo, Ignatius Chombo, Oppah Muchinguri, judges Ishmael Chatikobo,
Moses Chinhengo and Godfrey Chidyausiku, as well as business woman Jane
Mutasa.
Whilst Tawengwa and his council were allocating themselves land and
constructing white elephants like the Machipisa terminus and foot bridge,
nothing was done to improve the shocking state of the commuter omnibus
terminus at Mbare Musika. The Chanakira Commission also did nothing about
the terminus.
The terminus at Mbare does not have tarmac or shade. Mudzuri acknowledged
that the issue of probing past corruption was high on his agenda, and said
he had already started probing the Highfield issue.
He said that he received a complaint from OK Zimbabwe who are claiming that
they have not benefited fully from the deal they agreed with Tawengwa.
"OK brought to my attention the deal they went into with the past council.
They say they were promised land in suburbs like Mufakose, in return for
constructing the service station and foot bridge in Highfield," said
Mudzuri.
He added that all cases involving fraudulent allocation of land were wrong
and vowed to swiftly and effectively deal with every case accordingly. "I am
here to address things through channels of the law. I can be pushed lef,t
right and centre, but I will do my best despite the presence of obstacles,
especially in the form of the ministry of local government."
He also acknowledged the dilapidated state of the local commuter omnibus
terminus at Mbare. "Mbare is obviously demanding attention, but we are
looking at methods as well as the budget. We want to start with priorities
because of the little money we have and then take off from there," he said.
Jacob Kende, a tout at the Mbare terminus lamented its current state: " The
terminus is a disaster, especially when it is raining. I think this
represents failure by past councils and we wait to see how Mudzuri will
tackle it."
The terminus for farm produce trucks behind the main market is in the same
predicament and is a potential health hazard. The wholesale market into
which farmers off load their goods is also in an open space, leaving the
farmers and their goods at the mercy of the weather.
Mbare as a whole is a potential health disaster.
Government has over the past two years been talking about a planned facelift
of Matapi flats. But the Matapi residents are losing hope. Virginia Dube, a
resident said: "It has been a long time of promises about our situation here
but it appears nothing will come out of them. We are living like animals
without anyone to look after them."
In Highfield, the terminus lies idle, chaos and pandemonium reign on the
main street as commuter omnibuses scramble for passengers without a control
system.
Tendai Zuma, an omnibus conductor, said: "It was only in the first days that
police tried to force us to use the terminus, but we were not interested
because we are used to the old system. We gradually overcame the police
through bribes and eventually the terminus was forgotten about."

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Nyanga Hosts Hospitality Congress

Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
May 13, 2002
Posted to the web May 13, 2002
Our Own Staff

HOSPITALITY operators from throughout Zimbabwe gather at Nyanga this week to
give a platform to the problems facing the industry, and to recommend
solutions and implementation strategies.
The meting will be at the 2002 Hospitality Congress, the annual meeting
point of members of the Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ), where
more than 150 delegates are expected to air their views on the extent of the
downturn in business in the industry, and urge government and other parties
to work on turnaround strategies as a matter of urgency.
Hosted by Troutbeck Inn, the event will be officially opened by the minister
of environment and tourism, Francis Nhema, and the line-up of speakers will
include Rainbow Tourism Group chief executive Herbert Nkala, who will give
the keynote address. Zimbabwe Council for Tourism president, Pedia Moyo,
will outline an initiative being developed to help revitalise tourism and
hospitality in Zimbabwe, through a programme of dialogue and action
involving targets as widespread as the Zimbabwean Government and the
diplomatic community in Harare and Pretoria.
HAZ vice president, Shingi Munyeza, who chairs the congress organising
committee, believes the event will not be a talk shop but, in keeping with
this year's congress theme, 'A Call To Action', a starting point for genuine
and ultimately successful turnaround strategies for tourism and hospitality
as an economic sector.
"We are hoping that congress will be valuable and worthwhile, not only for
delegates but for all stakeholders in the industry," he said.
More than a dozen leading commercial organisations will be exhibiting at the
annual Hospitality Fair that accompanies the congress, and the annual HAZ
Awards will be presented at the closing dinner. The awards recognise effort
and achievement within the hospitality industry and the principal accolade,
the HAZ Hospitality Award, will be given to an individual who has worked
tirelessly over a period of time to develop the industry and ensure its
survival and success.
"We have a full two-and-a-half day-programme that will mix business with
social interaction and networking and will help boost industry morale, as
well as pave the way for action in resolving the stagnation and depressed
levels of business experienced over the past two years," said Munyeza.
"Of course the action will need to emanate from sources other than HAZ, but
HAZ and its partners in the Zimbabwe Council for Tourism will play a crucial
role in offering advice and guidance to people and organisation facilitating
the action, and the starting point is giving the whole situation a healthy
dose of exposure."
Hospitality operators who would like to make a last-minute registration can
do so at the congress venue on Tuesday.

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Poor State, NGO Relations Hinder Debt Swaps
Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
May 13, 2002
Posted to the web May 13, 2002
Our Own Staff

MISTRUST between forex-starved Zimbabwe and international donors has stalled
prospects of foreign debt assistance, currently estimated at a massive
US$762,6 million.
A recent survey entitled The Debt for Development Initiative for Zimbabwe:
The Feasibility and Viability of Implementing Debt Swaps in Zimbabwe,
carried out by Phinias Kadenge, an economics lecturer at the University of
Zimbabwe, says political differences are likely to affect negotiations for
debt swaps
Under such an arrangement, loan repayments are paid partly in foreign
currency, which is converted into loan repayments in local currency. The
money paid by government to NGOs is then used for social projects in the
country.
"Zimbabwe currently has a shaky relationship with its creditors and is
treating any foreign donor with suspicion, so the feasibility of
implementing debt swaps is doubtful," said Kadenge.
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank withdrew balance of
payments support to Zimbabwe in October 1999 following the country's failure
to curb runaway expenditure.
"Relations between Zimbabwe and some Paris Club members are strained by Some
Paris Club partners, such as the IMF, withdrew their BOP support to Zimbabwe
and this puts Zimbabwe in a difficult position to negotiate for debt swaps
from the club's members, as well as its partners," said Kadenge.
Zimbabwe's domestic debt stands at $244 billion, whilst external debt stands
at US$762,6 million.
The UZ economics lecturer also said debt swaps were unlikely to be viable in
the current economic and political environment characterised by a poorly
performing economy, a highly inflationary environment, and a persistent
budget deficit.
He said since the local currency is exchanged for foreign loans, there were
fears of growth in money supply which is already in excess and fuelling
inflation.
"The domestic money supply may expand and given the high inflation in
Zimbabwe, the overall impact may be unsustainable."
Kadenge said if government reached an agreement on the
implementation of swaps, this would lead to a reduction of poverty in the
country. "The debt swaps, if properly implemented, would improve the
Zimbabwean education system and the health sector, thus improving the lives
of the Zimbabwean people," he said.

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BBC
 
Monday, 13 May, 2002, 13:49 GMT 14:49 UK
Tourists desert luxury Zimbabwe hotels
Cape Grace Hotel
The Cape Grace was the best performing hotel
The company which owns the most luxurious hotel in Harare, Zimbabwe has reported a massive rise in its profits.

But the figure reflects the rampant inflation in the troubled nation, rather than an increase in business.

The group reported an operating profit of 2.3bn Zimbabwe dollars (£28.1m; $41.1m) for the financial year that ended in March, more than double the sum recorded for the previous 12 months.

The Meikles Africa Group owns the flagship Victoria Falls and Meikles hotels in Zimbabwe, and the Cape Grace hotel in South Africa.

But the adverse political situation meant that both Meikles and Victoria Falls operations only managed to fill a third of room vacancies.

And inflation-adjusted figures revealed an operating loss of 267m Zimbabwe dollars (Zim$) for the year compared with profits of Zim$475m the previous 12 months.

Black market

Official inflation for the year was 91.6%, although the real figure was likely to have been considerably higher.

Analysts believe that, because of government price controls and the effects of a booming black market, official data does not accurately reflect Zimbabwe's true economic situation.

The government re-introduced price controls on basic consumer items last October to rein-in soaring inflation.

The controls created artificial shortages of commodities, about 80% of which are now estimated to be sold on the black market at exorbitant prices.

Retail ambitions

Meikles, which is listed in Johannesburg and London, also owns a number of supermarkets in Zimbabwe.

The group said it managed to ensure the consistent availability of a range of products through imported items, and managed to increase operating profits by 33% before taking inflation into account.

In May, it plans to open a new supermarket in Chadcombe - a district of Harare, and is aiming to become the major supermarket and retail business in Zimbabwe.

The board has declared a final dividend of Zim$4.4 for the year, an increase of 100% over the previous year.

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Zanu-PF Youths Strip Woman Naked
Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
May 13, 2002
Posted to the web May 13, 2002
Our Own Staff

A GROUP of Zanu PF youths recently stripped naked a 53-year-old woman at
Order Farm in Waterfalls and stuffed her underwear in her mouth before
severely assaulting her for refusing to sleep in the same room as one of the
youths.
Two ruling party youths, Jani Mudyanavana and Lloyd Kwari, are now being
charged with indecent assault and theft resulting from the act.
According to a police report, after stripping the woman naked, Kwari
provided lighting while the youths who numbered about 100, took turns to
view the naked body.
Kwari resides at Order Farm and Mudyanavana at the old Tobacco Training
Institute.
According to the report made at Waterfalls Police Station, Mudyanavana led a
gang of ruling party youths to Order Farm at midnight on 25 April where they
then allegedly indecently assaulted Winnie Tembo, a resident of the farm.
Tembo earned the wrath of the youths after refusing to sleep with one of the
youths identified only as Cloud.
"The group then ordered the complainant, a 53-year-old woman, to first
remove her pants before the group of male youths for having ordered one of
the youths named Cloud out of her room. When Lloyd Kwari and his group had
ordered the complainant to remove her pants they stuffed the pants into
complainant's mouth and ordered her to remove all her remaining clothes
while Lloyd provided some lighting so that the other youths had a clear view
of the naked woman. "The accused were mocking her saying her buttocks were
wrinkled. They struck her several times with sticks and poured cold water
all over her body scooping sand on her," says the report.
Waterfalls police confirmed the incident and said Kwari and Mudyanavana
would appear in court soon.
The police also want the two to be remanded in custody for fear that they
might force Tembo off the farm as well as interfere with investigations.

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Deadly Anti-Riot Gear Arrives

Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
May 13, 2002
Posted to the web May 13, 2002
Farai Mutsaka

IN its on-going efforts to silence its opponents, the government has
acquired state-of-the-art military equipment and anti-riot gear to help
crush anti-government demonstrations.
Investigations by The Standard last week revealed that heavy riot control
equipment has been purchased from Israel, a country traditionally denigrated
by the Zanu PF government as a repressive Zionist regime and 'puppet' of the
United States.
The equipment has already arrived in Zimbabwe and includes customised
anti-riot tankers, gas masks and microscopic 'laser guns', similar to those
used by Israeli forces against the Palestinian protesters.
The tankers, called Riot Control Vehicle model RCU 4500 I, were supplied by
the Beit Alfa Trailer Company and have been undergoing tests at the Police
Support Unit Headquarters in the capital.
The anti-riot vehicles include the latest in water cannon technology based
on an advanced computer-controlled jet pulse system. Highly accurate pulse
firing can be done in three different modes-short pulse, long pulse and
continuous stream. The water is shot up to 500 metres.
The command control panel allows the operator to mix additives like
scorching tear gas, pepper spray or dye to the water "according to
operational needs."
They are also equipped with surveillance cameras.
When The Standard visited Harare's Support Unit base last week, police
officers were being trained in the use of the lethal cannons, under the
watchful eye of an Israeli expert.
Police sources said two of the tankers would be stationed in Bulawayo and
the other three in Harare.
President Mugabe was to have commissioned the anti-riot equipment on
Wednesday but had to postpone the event when he flew to the United States
for the United Nations Children's Summit.
Meanwhile, home affairs minister, John Nkomo, who was to have been present
at the commissioning, refused to comment on the purchase of the cannons
yesterday.
"I am sorry I can't help you. I am at a funeral service," Nkomo told The
Standard.
Commenting on the potentially deadly machines, a police source said:
"Ideally, the equipment should have come before the election because it was
supposed to be used during the campaign period. The equipment is heavy and
can crush any demonstration."
According to sources, a crack unit code-named Romeo Troop, tasked with
mercilessly suppressing mass actions against government, has been
established within the police.
The troop, consisting of about 80 men, underwent intensive training at a
police base in Shamva and at the Zimbabwe National Army Commando
headquarters in Harare.
Meanwhile, the MDC's shadow defence minister, Giles Mutsekwa, said the move
to buy arms of war was meant to intimidate the public and prevent them from
revolting.
"The intention of government is to keep the people in perpetual fear and
they can only do this by demonstrating that they have amassed arms of war.
They have committed many sins and they know they deserve the revolt of the
people. The arms of war are an intimidatory tactic. They have the cheek to
buy expensive gear to terrorise their own people when the whole country is
on the brink of starvation.
"That shows you we have an abnormal and illegitimate government and the day
will come when people will say enough is enough. All dictators have tried
it, but there is no might that can oppress the strength of the people," said
Mutsekwa.
The deal to buy the anti-riot equipment was mooted last year when police
sought authority from treasury to make a $105 million down payment to
Israel's Beit Alfa Trailer Company (BAT) for the purchase of the arms to the
tune of $1 billion. BAT is one of the world's leading manufacturers of riot
control vehicles.
However, the deal almost collapsed when the police experienced difficulty
securing foreign currency to pay for the equipment. Frantic efforts by the
police, including a trip to Israel by police deputy commissioner, Godwin
Matanga, just before the presidential election, resulted in the deal being
resuscitated.
The arrival of the riot gear coincided with information that senior police
officials had suggested the banning of the MDC rallies currently being held
countrywide.
Highly placed sources within the force told The Standard that police
authorities were uncomfortable with the rallies saying they were meant to
incite people into violently overthrowing the government.
Government officials have made the same claim. "There has been talk of
stopping Tsvangirai from addressing further rallies. I am not sure whether
the suggestion would be followed through, but the concern was that
Tsvangirai was spreading hate messages against the government," said the
source.
Since the disputed March 9-11 presidential election, Tsvangirai has been on
a whirlwind tour addressing rallies throughout the country.

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News24

Govt threatens to clamp down on NGOs

Harare - The Zimbabwean government has warned it will crack down on
non-governmental organisations, churches and opposition officials involved
in "subversive" activities, the Sunday News reported.

Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo told the state-run newspaper that the
government was aware of "churches, NGOs and human rights groups that are
actively involved in undermining the nation's internal security".

Foreigners "masterminding such acts" will be deported, Nkomo told the paper,
which is based in the second city of Bulawayo.

Several rights groups in Zimbabwe have angered the government with
allegations of abuses in the run-up to bitterly-fought presidential polls in
March. Some church leaders have also criticised the government.

Also in the Sunday News, Nkomo warned that opposition members "who make
statements agitating for war" would be arrested, in an apparent reference to
recent statements by Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) officials.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has refused to accept President Robert
Mugabe's re-election, last weekend told a rally in Masvingo city that his
party would organise a national strike if Mugabe did not agree to a
re-run. - Sapa-AFP

Sunday Times (SA)

Mugabe to crack down on 'subversives'

HARARE - The Zimbabwe government has warned it will crack down on
non-governmental organisations, churches and opposition officials involved
in "subversive" activities, the Sunday News reported.

Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo told the state-run newspaper that the
government was aware of "churches, NGOs and human rights groups that are
actively involved in undermining the nation's internal security."

Foreigners "masterminding such acts" will be deported, Nkomo told the paper,
which is based in the second city of Bulawayo. Several rights groups in
Zimbabwe have angered the government with allegations of abuses in the
run-up to bitterly-fought presidential polls in March. Some church leaders
have also criticised the government.

Also in the Sunday News, Nkomo warned that opposition members "who make
statements agitating for war" would be arrested, in an apparent reference to
recent statements by Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) officials.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has refused to accept President Robert
Mugabe's re-election, last weekend told a rally in Masvingo city that his
party would organise a national strike if Mugabe did not agree to a re-run.
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I have copied two articles here from the website of the International Fund for Animal Welfare....
 
http://www.ifaw.com/page.asp?id=1125
 
campaigns
Rushing Aid to Animals in Distress
Zimbabwe Farm Animals: Victims of Violence
IFAW has pledged US $10,000 to the Zimbabwe National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ZNSPCA) to help them rescue dogs, cats, horses and livestock that are being mutilated, abandoned or killed as a result of escalating violence.

Merlin -- one of the innocent animal victims of this conflict -- is now safe.

Merlin was born just after his owners were chased off their farm. His mother, along with other horses, was restricted to a small grazing area as most of the farm's pasture had been burned. Because his mother didn't have adequate food, she had no milk for her foal.

The farmer was able to return to the farm, under cover of darkness, on a March weekend and managed to remove four of his six horses, including Merlin. He found Merlin with a snare deeply embedded around his neck. He called the ZNSPCA to assist with veterinary care. The snare was removed with bolt cutters and the wound treated with antibiotics.

Merlin is now being bottle-fed and is expected to fully recover.

ZNSPCA personnel are going from farm to farm to rescue those animals that are still alive and, when necessary, to euthanize those beyond help.

But their funds have run out. Anesthetics and antibiotics are scarce. The country has no foreign currency and these items have to be imported. The ZNSPCA has become dependent on donations of these and other supplies to continue with their vital work.

To meet our financial commitment -- and to save innocent animals like Merlin in Zimbabwe and around the world -- we need your immediate support. Please click here to make a donation.
Rushing Aid to Animals in Distress
On the Scene: Zimbabwe NSPCA Report
Bernice Robertson-Dyer, Chairperson of ZNSPCA reports:

"The situation in Zimbabwe is dire. More reports are coming in daily. As farmers are forced to flee, dogs and cats are often left behind in farmhouses without food, until we can rescue them.

"In one case, a dog and cat were left for 28 days, until Chief Inspector Meryl Harrison was able to get to them. Miraculously, they both survived by drinking water from a toilet bowl and by eating a bag of dry dog meal which the dog managed to tear open.

"In another tragic case, a young tortoiseshell cat named, "Pizza" was put inside a looted Deepfreeze by one of the invaders, where she was left to slowly suffocate.

"This week, "Paddy," a six-year old fox terrier, was beaten to death by farm invaders because he bravely tried to defend his owner. Livestock, including dairy cows and prize breeding animals are slaughtered indiscriminately.

"The work of the ZNSPCA Rescue team, headed by Chief Inspector Meryl Harrison, who has been coordinating the rescues, has been seriously hampered due to the violence. But Meryl remains undaunted and continues to exercise the utmost patience and resolve in extracting animals from farms.

"The need for a vehicle remains one of the priorities, although there is also an urgent need for funding to employ an additional inspector. With often more than one farm being targeted at a time, there are delays in rescuing the animals.

"The ZNSPCA is entirely apolitical and serves to protect all animals, regardless of who they may belong to.”


Farmers often have only a few hours to leave their properties. They may leave their domestic animals behind in the hope that they can be rescued later. Unfortunately this is seldom the case.

Livestock are left without water and food. Cows remain unmilked, causing dreadful suffering. When fields are burned, horses, cows, sheep and other animals may be left inside paddocks where they die in the flames, or suffer terrible burns.

The ZNSPCA has issued reports of some cases of appalling cruelty and abuse to animals on farms, including mutilation and death. Pet ponies have had one hoof chopped off as a warning to farmers not to return.

These dogs and cats, horses, cows, sheep and other creatures – suffering, starving and dying – are helpless pawns in a violent struggle. You can help ease their pain.

IFAW's $10,000 emergency grant will be given directly to the ZNSPCA primarily to purchase a vehicle that will enable them to reach more animals in a shorter amount of time.

Click here to help IFAW rescue innocent animals like Pizza, Paddy and Merlin.
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Telegraph

Zimbabwe relents on activist's passport
By Peta Thornycroft in Harare
(Filed: 13/05/2002)
JUDITH TODD, a veteran human rights activist, has won the right to
Zimbabwean citizenship and to renew her passport.

Although born in Zimbabwe, she was refused a passport when President Robert
Mugabe's government changed citizenship laws before presidential elections
in March.

Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabwean-born people lost their right to vote in
the election because one or both of their parents were born outside the
country.

Miss Todd's parents were both born in New Zealand. Her father, Sir Garfield
Todd, 93, a former liberal prime minister of Southern Rhodesia, was refused
permission to vote in March because he was born in New Zealand, although he
has been a citizen for decades.

Zimbabwe's high court in Harare has conceded that Judith Todd had been
illegally stripped of her citizenship by the registrar-general, Tobias
Mudede, who was accused by Judge Sandra Mungwira of usurping parliament.

Miss Todd said: "I am delighted by this constructive result which should
help so many Zimbabweans who were wrongly deprived of their citizenship as
part of the rigging of the re-election of Robert Mugabe in March.

"So many of us have been deprived of our passports and it is wonderful to
have the possibility of travelling again."

The Todd family were active supporters of majority rule for Rhodesia and
were jailed, exiled and restricted by the government of the former prime
minister, Ian Smith.

Judith remains a human rights activist and both she and her father are
outspoken critics of the Mugabe regime.

In March, Mr Smith, the last white prime minister of Southern Rhodesia, was
told he had been stripped of his citizenship and that his Zimbabwean
passport would not be renewed.

a.. Zimbabwe's riot police yesterday rounded up hundreds of former farm
workers from their refugee camp and took them to an unknown destination.
They had been forced from their homes by Mugabe supporters.

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From ZWNEWS, 13 May

Exams – Cambridge response

Britain’s Cambridge examining board says that it will only reverse a decision to stop pupils in Zimbabwe writing its internationally recognised examinations if it gets permission from President Robert Mugabe’s regime. In a statement issued to ZWNEWS, Cambridge International Examinations ignored written questions about why it has decided now to heed a ban on foreign examinations that was announced by the Zimbabwe government two years ago. The ban is part of what Mugabe and his lieutenants describe as an "anti-colonial" and "anti-Western" crusade. No one from Cambridge examinations was prepared to be interviewed, and asked for questions in writing. "If the position of the (Zimbabwe) Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture should change then Cambridge International Examinations would be very happy to reverse their decision," the statement said. "We understand that individual parents have approached the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture to try to find a solution and we await the outcome with interest.’’ The statement added that the board has withdrawn its examinations "with much regret."

Despite the ban, Cambridge continued to supply independent schools in Zimbabwe with examinations. Pupils wrote the Cambridge IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education), AS and A level examinations last year. This year’s students are in the last phase of the two-year syllabus for examinations due to be written in November. Cambridge examinations bowed to the Zimbabwe decree two months after Mugabe held on to power in a violent election widely regarded as rigged. Britain and the United States are among hundreds of countries which rejected the poll result. The move means a nightmare situation for independent schools and some 9,000 pupils of all races. Pupils are faced with having to find money and resources to write their November examinations in neighbouring African countries, or hastily convert to a local examination of dubious value. For the schools, battling to maintain standards in difficult and worsening conditions, the Cambridge decision is a body blow. It is also likely to accelerate the exodus of black and white professionals from Zimbabwe.

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