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SA leaders discuss Zimbabwe in London

SABC

May 24, 2006, 06:45

South African leaders have called for new efforts to solve Zimbabwe's
political and economic problems. President Thabo Mbeki has told British
media everyone is awaiting the outcome of a planned intervention in Zimbabwe
by Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general.

Mbeki says Zimbabwe has agreed to a visit by Annan. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma,
the foreign minister, has told Margaret Beckett, her British counterpart,
that South Africa and Britain need to revisit Zimbabwe's problems.

The two ministers met for the first time since the appointment of Beckett as
the first British woman foreign secretary a few weeks ago. Opening the
seventh session of the bilateral forum between the two countries, Beckett
cautioned against losing focus on the African agenda, pointing to Zimbabwe
as a case that she described as "having taken a different turn".


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Mbeki supports planned UN visit to Zimbabwe

Mail & Guardian


London, United Kingdom



24 May 2006 07:21

The United Nations holds the key to solving an economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe, President Thabo Mbeki told a British newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday.

South Africa's leader threw his weight behind a planned visit to Zimbabwe by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who wants to negotiate a deal with the country's ageing President, Robert Mugabe, The Financial Times said.

Mbeki told the daily: "We are all awaiting the outcome of his intervention. What Mr Annan is interested in is that the circumstances must be created for Zimbabwe to face their real problems: the falling standard of living and so on.

"You have got to do something to turn around the economy. It is necessary to turn around the climate for that."

Zimbabwe's government has agreed to a visit by the UN chief and is making the necessary preparations, according to Mbeki.

"You need to normalise relations between Zimbabwe and the rest of the world. So [Annan's] interaction with the Zimbabwean government would be intended for those sort of outcomes, including what sort of assistance the UN would give," the South African president said.

A UN official said Annan has been exploring the possibility of movement on the political and economic front ahead of a possible visit.

However, he told The Financial Times: "At this stage it would be premature to talk about an initiative. We are exploring whether there are possibilities." -- Sapa-AFP


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Zim asylum-seekers in UK soar after ruling


    May 24 2006 at 09:40AM

London - The number of people from Zimbabwe claiming asylum in Britain rose dramatically in the first quarter of the year after a United Kingdom court ruling barring their deportation.

According to Home Office figures on Tuesday, Zimbabwean asylum-seeker numbers jumped 96 percent to 755 from January to March against the previous three months.

The rise has been widely attributed to a ruling last October from the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal which barred the deportation of two Zimbabweans, saying that as asylum-seekers they would be in danger of persecution from the government of President Robert Mugabe if sent home.


 
The ruling set a precedent for all such cases and prompted the government to halt deportations to Zimbabwe pending an appeal.

But last month the British government, a fierce critic of Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980, won that appeal, opening the way to a resumption of deportations and suggesting future asylum requests might fall in coming months as fast as they rose.

Overall those claiming asylum, excluding dependants, in Britain rose five percent in the first quarter of 2006 to 6 455 in contrast to 4 930 removals of people denied asylum.

The removal figure was up 17 percent on the previous quarter, giving some respite to the government which has been heavily criticised in recent months over its handling of asylum-seekers and illegal immigrants.

In March, an all-party parliamentary committee said the country's asylum policy was being undermined by its failure to remove thousands of applicants who have no right to stay.

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said that at current levels it would take between 10 and 18 years to remove the existing backlog of failed asylum-seekers.

In another blow, the High Court accused the government this month of "abuse of power" for refusing to allow nine Afghans who hijacked a plane to Britain to stay in the country as refugees.

According to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Britain was the third most-popular western destination for asylum-seekers last year behind the United States and the leader, France.

Germany was fourth. - Reuters




This article was originally published on page 8 of The Mercury on May 24, 2006


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Zimbabwe able to reclaim breadbasket status: World Bank official

People's Daily

       


Zimbabwe has the capacity to reclaim its position as the breadbasket of southern Africa if it revitalizes its road, railway and water infrastructure, an official with the World Bank has said.
World Bank country manager Sudhir Chitale was quoted by the state-run newspaper The Herald as saying on Wednesday that " Zimbabwe has the potential to once again reclaim its position as the breadbasket of southern Africa."
Until the 1990s, Zimbabwe had been the breadbasket, but since then it has been facing difficulties owing to infrastructure breakdown, he added.
The country's road, railway and water infrastructure needed rehabilitation since most of it had outlived its life span, Zimbabwean Minister of Transport and Communications Chris Mushowe said in response to the World Bank official.
Mushowe also urged the outside world to assist in revitalizing the country's infrastructure which was key to economic development.
Source: Xinhua


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'Namibia must take land as Mugabe did'


    May 24 2006 at 09:52AM

Harare - The speed with which Zimbabweans took back their land from white farmers is "commendable" and Namibia wants to do the same, Namibia's deputy land minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

"We feel that the speed they took the land is commendable and we would like to see how they did it," said Isak Katali, who is on a visit to Zimbabwe, according to the state-owned Herald newspaper.

Zimbabwe launched its controversial land-reform programme in 2000, and now most of the country's 4 000 formerly white-owned farms are in the hands of black farmers.

The programme has sparked Western criticism but won Zimbabwe the praise and admiration of other countries in southern Africa.


 
'We feel that the same colonisers are the same people who colonised Zimbabwe'
"Land reform is important to Namibia and we feel that the same colonisers are the same people who colonised Zimbabwe," Katali said.

"We also feel that if Zimbabwe did this we can do it in the same manner," he added. - Sapa-DPA

This article was originally published on page 9 of Cape Times on May 24, 2006


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Mbeki sees UN solution to crisis in Zimbabwe

Financial Times

By James Lamont and Quentin Peel in London and Mark Turner at,the United
Nations
Published: May 24 2006 03:00 | Last updated: May 24 2006 03:00

The key to a solution of the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe lies
in the hands of the United Nations, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa
said yesterday.


In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Mbeki threw his weight behind a
planned visit of Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, to Harare, to try to
negotiate a deal with Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's ageing and autocratic
president.

"We are all awaiting the outcome of his intervention," Mr Mbeki said. "What
Mr Annan is interested in is that the circumstances must be created for
Zimbabwe to face their real problems: the falling standard of living, and so
on.

"You have got to do something to turn around the economy. It is necessary to
turn around the climate for that."

Mr Mbeki said the Zimbabwean government had agreed to Mr Annan's visit and
was involved in the necessary preparations.

"You need to normalise relations between Zimbabwe and the rest of the world.
So [Mr Annan's] interaction with the Zimbabwean government would be intended
for those sort of outcomes, including indicating what sort of assistance the
UN would give."

A UN official said: "The secretary-general has through emissaries and others
been exploring whether there is a possibility of movement on the political
and economic front in Zimbabwe, ahead of a possible visit. At this stage it
would be premature to talk about an initiative. We are exploring whether
there are possibilities."

Local press reports in South Africa have suggested recently that a deal
might include international aid to rescue the economy, in exchange for a
deadline from Mr Mugabe for his retirement, with guarantees of immunity from
prosecution.

Mr Mbeki's comments and those of his officials represent a clear change of
tone in South Africa's approach to resolving the Zimbabwean crisis. For
three years they have insisted on a policy of "quiet diplomacy" that has
failed to bear fruit.

Privately, Mr Annan has acknowledged the difficulty for African leaders to
criticise Mr Mugabe, seen in the region as a hero of the liberation struggle
against white rule in the former Rhodesia.

Zimbabwe's economy is in precipitous decline with inflation running at 1,000
per cent in the year to April, leaving many Zimbabweans unable to buy basic
food supplies. Unemployment is estimated at up to 70 per cent.

Last week Mr Mugabe reiterated his intention to nationalise Zimbabwe's
mining sector, which produces what little foreign exchange it has.

The action follows a controversial land redistribution programme that took
land from white farmers and installed black peasants..

Mr Mbeki is in London for bilateral talks with Tony Blair, prime minister,
and his cabinet. Any aid package for Zimbabwe would rely on substantial
contributions both from the UK and US.


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Amnesty Critical of Harare; EU Diplomats to Meet NGOs

VOA


      23 May 2006



Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has slammed Harare in its 2006
annual report, charging that the Zimbabwean government has tried to
eliminate the political opposition and silence dissent through the use of
arbitrary detention, assault and torture by state security agents, ruling
party militants and youth militia.

Amnesty International also condemned legislation proposed by Harare that
would curtail activities of local human rights groups and civil society
organizations.

"The government engaged in widespread and systematic violations of the
rights to shelter, food, freedom of movement and residence, and the
protection of the law," stated Amnesty in the report, citing the May-July
2005 forced resettlement and demolition drive called Operation Murambatsvina
("Drive Out Rubbish").

"The police continued to operate in a politically biased manner and police
officers were implicated in numerous human rights violations, including
arbitrary arrest and detention, assault, ill-treatment of detainees and
excessive use of force. Freedom of expression, association and assembly
continued to be severely curtailed. Hundreds of people were arrested for
holding meetings or participating in peaceful protests."

Amnesty also took the African Union to task on the subject of Zimbabwe,
saying that the AU "showed no stomach to tackle the appalling human rights
situation" there.

But William Nhara, a public affairs official in the office of President
Robert Mugabe, told reporter Chinedu Offor of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe
that the Amnesty report was "false" and that Harare challenges its
"mischievous" allegations.

National Constitutional Assembly Chairman Lovemore Madhuku said in an
interview that Amnesty's report is a true reflection of government's human
rights record.

In response to more recent allegations of human rights violations, members
of the European Union diplomatic corps in Harare were to meet on Wednesday,
May 24, with the leaders of nongovernmental organizations to discuss the
recent arrests of those marking the first anniversary of Operation
Murambatsvina, and the round-up since April of thousands of homeless people,
street vendors and other urban groups.

Spokesman Fambai Ngirande of the National Association of Nongovernmental
Organisations said Nango member groups on Tuesday set the agenda for the
meeting with the EU representatives. He said the NGO community is concerned
about what it terms the "impunity" of the government, which critics say has
ignored findings by the United Nations and the African Commission on Human
and People's Rights and routinely violates the country's own laws on human
rights and civil liberties.

Another agenda item concerns the state's ongoing internal displacements of
people, most recently in the detention of thousands of homeless people,
street vendors and orphans by police and security forces in roundups
conducted since mid-April.

Land reform, land tenure and general property rights are also on the agenda.

Finally, said Ngirande, the NGOs want to discuss the precarious situation of
civic groups in light of the recent police crackdown on those attempting to
mark the one-year anniversary of Operation Murambatsvina. Ngirande said the
groups will ask the European Union diplomats to help them find ways to
resolve such issues.

In a related development, a spokesperson for the Crisis Coalition in
Zimbabwe said the group's Kuwadzana, Harare, offices came under police
surveillance on Tuesday. Crisis Coalition spokeswoman Elizabeth Marunda said
the police were believed to be seeking group chairman Wellington Chibhebhe
and other officials for questioning.

Marunda said some of the organization's staff stayed away from the office
due to the heavy police presence at the building. The police visited the
Crisis Coalition offices last week on the eve of the Murambatsvina
anniversary and demanded that the organization produce its NGO registration
documents.

Coalition advocacy officer Itai Zimunya said police this week questioned the
Coalition's right to office space under an arrangement with Transparency
International Zimbabwe and denied permission to hold a public meeting to
mark the Murambatsvina anniversary, calling the Crisis Coalition a "bogus"
organization.


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Vulnerable Visitors from Zimbabwe

Save The Children

           

      date published: 24/05/2006
      A new study by Save the Children highlights the vulnerability of
children from Zimbabwe crossing into Mozambique in search of food and work.
Many are orphans or simply unaccompanied and therefore are especially
vulnerable to neglect, abuse and exploitation.

      The survey found that the illegal status of these children puts them
at risk of labour exploitation. Children take jobs in agriculture,
construction and petty trades, where they are paid less than their
Mozambican peers and have no protection under labour laws. Meanwhile girls,
as young as twelve, are turning to prostitution as a means of survival.
Indeed local NGOs working in this area report that numbers of child
prostitutes is on the increase. These children have little or no access to
an education or health services.

      The survey in Manica province is thought to be the first to look into
this issue. Due to considerable sensitivity around this problem and the fact
that children and adults who cross illegally are reluctant to be interviewed
it was extremely difficult to determine just how many children were
involved. Some sources estimated 10-15 children per day were entering
Mozambique. An immigration official spoke of 2-3 thousand people per day
crossing legally, of which a "considerable number" were children. Given the
porous nature of the border between the two countries it is possible that
the number of illegal migrants is higher.

      Chris McIvor, Director of Save the Children in Mozambique is
determined to improve the situation for children crossing the border into
Mozambique, "Although we were unable to determine just how many children are
crossing the border it is clear that large numbers of these children are
alone and extremely vulnerable. More needs to be done, both in terms of
research and assistance, if we're to stop children being exploited and
abused as they take desperate measures to escape poverty and hunger at home".

      Save the Children urgently called for more research into the issue of
child migration and trafficking both from Zimbabwe and Mozambique into other
countries in the region, as well as better provision of assistance and
services, such as child reception centres, along the various borders.


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Mugabe's food production project flops

From Zim Online (SA), 24 May

Masvingo - Only 10 tonnes of maize will be harvested in Masvingo province out of the10 000 tonnes that were expected under an army-run food production programme, in a vivid illustration of how President Robert Mugabe's latest agricultural initiative has flopped. Mugabe, who is accused of wrecking Zimbabwe's mainstay agricultural sector through his farm seizure policy, last year told Parliament that his government would pursue a new Stalinist-style command agriculture programme under which military commanders and their troops would move onto mostly former white-owned farms to produce food. The 82-year old President said the programme, officially known as Operation Food Security (or Operation Maguta/Inala in the vernacular Shona and Ndebele languages) would bring an end to acute hunger stalking Zimbabwe since farm seizures began six years ago. But Vice-President Joice Mujuru was so disgusted that she would not even finish inspecting the army-cultivated fields in Masvingo after seeing that nearly all the crops were a total write-off.
Mujuru was in Masvingo to assess the food production programme which the government said would see selected farms across the country produce specific quantities of strategic crops such as maize, wheat and tobacco. A livid Mujuru, who cut short her inspection after viewing generally wilted crops at the giant Nuanetsi Ranch, castigated officials from the government's Agricultural Development Authority (ARDA) for failing to supervise the project. "This is a disaster," said a visibly angry Mujuru. "How can the whole province fail to produce half of the projected yields?" she said, asking no one in particular. A senior official with the ARDA, who refused to be named, told Zim Online that out of the 10 000 tonnes of maize the government expected to harvest in Masvingo, only 10 tonnes probably enough to feed two small-sized families would be harvested in the province. "We are going to harvest only 10 tonnes from the whole project in Masvingo which is a clear indication that it was a flop. With proper planning, this project could have helped the nation," he said.
Zimbabwe has battled severe food shortages since 2000 after Mugabe sanctioned the violent seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks, a controversial policy that saw food production tumbling by about 60 percent, chiefly because the cash-strapped government did not give inputs and back-up support to black peasants resettled on former white farms. A grinding economic crisis described by the World Bank as unseen in a country not at war, only helped worsen hunger in Zimbabwe with many families without income to buy the little food available in shops. Only the timely intervention of international food agencies has helped Zimbabwe escape mass starvation over the last six years. But Mugabe, eager to portray his land reforms as successful, rejects destroying agriculture and says food shortages are as a result of a combination of drought and Western sanctions that have crippled the economy making it difficult for farmers to access inputs.
In Masvingo, the provincial governor, Willard Chiwewe, attributed the failure of the latest state agricultural project on failure by senior government officials to effectively supervise the food production project. "We did not supervise the project on a daily basis that is why it failed," Chiwewe told Zim Online. Reports from other provinces also say not much will be harvested under Operation Food Security for a variety of reasons including theft of farm equipment from the army-operated farms committed by powerful government politicians. For example, the deputy commander of the army's 3 Brigade Ronnie Mutizhe, recently told Mujuru that not much would be harvested at Kondozi farm in the eastern Manicaland province and one of the biggest estates in the country after six officials, among them State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa and Agriculture Minister Joseph Made, looted equipment from the farm.


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No charges as Zim protesters freed

Cape Argus (SA), 24 May

Zimbabwe police have released more than 100 people arrested last week in a protest against President Robert Mugabe's government without charging them, their lawyer said yesterday. Rights groups say the government has stepped up pressure on its opponents over fears they are poised to launch a wave of strikes and demonstrations in protest at an economic crisis which has left Zimbabwe with the world's highest inflation rate. Alec Muchadehama, a lawyer for 103 members of the pressure group National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) who were detained last Thursday during a march for political reforms, said all his clients were released on Monday night. "They were all released without being taken to court to face formal charges of demonstrating without authority, but the police have reserved the right to proceed with the case through summons," he said. Earlier on Monday, NCA chairman Lovemore Madhuku said police had ignored advice from state lawyers to free the group and had tried but failed to force them to pay admission-of-guilt fines.


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Iranian, Zimbabwean win top human rights award

Mail & Guardian (SA), 23 May

Geneva - A dissident Iranian journalist, Akbar Ganji, and a lawyer and broadcaster in Zimbabwe, Arnold Tsunga, will share a leading international human rights award this year, advocacy groups announced on Tuesday. "They are symbols of the human rights movement in their respective countries, where standing up for human rights and democracy is a dangerous activity," said Hans Thoolen, chairperson of the jury for the 2006 Martin Ennals Award for human rights defenders, in a statement. The award is presented every year by 11 of the world's major human rights groups, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the World organisation against torture (OMCT), to give protection to local activists who brave acute pressure or danger. The human rights groups called on the governments of Iran and Zimbabwe "to ensure the safety of the laureates and allow them to work without intimidation and harassment".
Ganji (46) was detained at Tehran's Evin Prison in 2000 after he wrote articles implicating several regime officials in a string of murders of opposition intellectuals and writers in 1998. He was later sentenced to several years in jail for undermining national security and for propaganda against the Islamic state. Ganji was beaten up by his guards and placed in solitary confinement, the groups added. After a hunger strike last year and a spell in hospital, he was released in March. Tsunga, the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (Zimrights), suffered constant threats and harassment after he repeatedly denounced the legal system and the human rights situation there, the groups said. He was arrested in January along with five other trustees of the Voice of the People radio station for broadcasting without a licence and was released on bail. Later that month, a man "who seemed to be linked with the army" visited the Zimrights office, alleging that military intelligence officers had received orders to hunt Tsunga down and kill him, the groups said.
The organisers plan to present the Martin Ennals Award at a ceremony in Geneva on October 12. The 20 000-Swiss franc ($15 300) award is named after first head of Amnesty International, who was regarded as a driving force for the modern human rights movement and received the Nobel peace prize in 1977. Previous winners have come from Syria, Chechnya, Colombia, Chad and ex-Yugoslavia.


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British government to maintain pressure on Zimbabwe


By a Correspondent
Association of Zimbabwe Journalists in the UK


LONDON – THE British government today said it will continue to exert, mobilise and maintain international pressure for change in Zimbabwe.

Former Defence Secretary, Geoffrey Hoon, speaking in his new capacity as Minister of Europe told parliament that during the past six months, the UK government has worked with its European Union partners to maintain travel, financial and military sanctions on President Mugabe and his senior officials, ensured that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) kept Zimbabwe from getting essential support, kept Zimbabwe under scrutiny by the Security Council, worked with the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan to address Zimbabwe's governance problems and, with the US and leading allies to maintain international pressure for change.

“We will sustain that pressure,” Hoon said in response to a question by the Conservative MP for Macclesfield, Sir Nicholas Winterton. The parliamentarian wanted to know what recent action the British government has taken to influence world opinion on the situation in Zimbabwe.
''During the past six months, the Government have worked with our EU partners to maintain travel, financial and military sanctions on the Mugabe regime; ensured that the International Monetary Fund keeps Zimbabwe suspended; kept Zimbabwe under scrutiny by the Security Council; worked with the UN Secretary-General to address Zimbabwe's governance problems; and, with the US and leading allies, maintained international pressure for change,” said Hoon. 

Sir Winterton asked the Minister whether he agreed with the United Nations, which he said reflected world opinion that Zimbabwe is in meltdown with 700,000 people losing their jobs and homes as a result of Operation Murambatsvina, inflation at more than 1 000 percent, unemployment at 80 per cent and 70 percent of the population having only one meal or less per day. He also wanted to know whether the British government had a new agenda to use world opinion to remove from brutality and deprivation the good people of Zimbabwe.
"I agree with the honourable gentleman about the appalling state of affairs in Zimbabwe,” said Hoon. “That is entirely the responsibility of the Mugabe regime. I set out to the House the range of measures over which the Government have influence in informing world opinion, both through the EU and the UN, to keep the pressure on that regime. Change can come only from inside Zimbabwe, and we want to see that change in the interests of the people of that country.”
Kate Hoey (Vauxhall Labour), asked whether the British government had  protested to the European Commission when the EU Humanitarian Aid and Development Commissioner met the Zimbabwean Finance Minister, Herbert Murerwa in Brussels recently.  “He was given a visa-perhaps, technically, he was allowed to have one-but surely his meeting with the commissioner goes against the whole spirit of the European Union sanctions. It sends out the message that, if the European Union will meet Zimbabwe, why should the African Union not do so?,” asked Hoey, who has led a sustained campaign against Zanu PF rule in Zimbabwe.
Said Hoon in response: “I know that my hon. Friend has taken a long and sustained interest in the situation in Zimbabwe, and I know from her observations in the House of her personal commitment to trying to resolve the appalling situation faced by the people of Zimbabwe. That is really the issue. Clearly, we want to see sustained pressure on the regime and further international action to isolate Mugabe's leadership. At the same time, we have no quarrel whatever with the people of Zimbabwe, and we need to continue to find effective ways to allow food aid in particular to reach them. Above all, the tragedy of Zimbabwe is that it was the country that fed many other countries of southern Africa over a long period, and it is now incapable of feeding itself. We need to ensure that we do not take action that further damages the interests of the people of that country.’

Meanwhile opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, who is on a tour of Europe to meet strategic partners, politicians and Zimbabweans in the diaspora, will address a press conference at the House of Commons on Friday. He will also address two meetings in Leeds and London where he will meet Zimbabweans living in the UK. The Zanu PF government blames him and the MDC for calling on the international community to impose sanctions against the ruling leadership.


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Zimbabwe agrees to Annan brokering a peace deal

SABC

Zimbabwe agrees to Annan brokering a peace deal

Koffi Annan (L), the UN secretary-general and Robert Mugabe (R), the Zimbabwean president

Zimbabwe and the MDC have welcomed Koffi Annan as a peace broker to answer to their crises

May 24, 2006, 18:45

The Zimbabwean government and the Movement of Democratic Change (MDC), the main opposition, seem to agree on Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary-general, as a peace broker and an answer to Zimbabwe's melting economy. This is just hours after President Thabo Mbeki told a London newspaper, the Financial Times that Annan carried all the hopes of resolving Zimbabwe's problems.

These problems include a runaway inflation of over 1000%, a crippling shortage of forex and lack of economic confidence. Speculation is that part of Annan's mission will be to negotiate an exit plan for Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, was torn to pieces today by Bright Matonga, the deputy minister of information, who said Mugabe's exit plan lies in Zimbabwe's electoral process. Matonga says: "He is welcome but he has to be his own man. But we have confidence in him."

Efforts to diffuse political tensions and prevent an economic meltdown have yielded little by President Mbeki and Olusegun Obassanjo, his Nigerian counterpart. No dates have been given as yet for Annan's visit, but it's certain to take place before the end of the year.


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Zimbabwean playwright targeted as “enemy of the people”

The Satge - UK

Controversial Zimbabwean cultural activist and playwright Cont Mhlanga has claimed that he and other artists are living in round the clock fear following President Mugabe’s decision to put Zimbabwe’s Stasi-trained secret police - the Central Intelligence Organisation - on full alert.
Nervous that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change is getting ready to launch a violent campaign to end his 26 years of rule, the head of state has targeted poets, playwrights, satirists - even nightclub stand up comedians - and branded them all as “enemies of the people.”
Cont Mhlanga heads up the Amakhosi Theatre in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second city. Last week he was picked up by the police and interrogated by the CIO for several hours.
Article continues
“The police said they were interested in interviewing the actors in a play called Pregnant with Emotion written by Edgar Langeveldt. It tells the story of Marwei who is 13 months pregnant with her unborn child. The baby refuses to leave its mother’s womb until the country’s problems are solved.
“The police said it could not be staged in Bulawayo and they accused me of working with Archbishop Pius Ncube, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Beltway [Mugabe’s most outspoken critic] in mobilising people against the government.”
“As we’re talking,” Mhlanga told The Stage, “two detectives are standing outside the theatre, watching and waiting. It’s not easy here with the police checking on me every day. The aim, of course, is to intimidate actors and playwrights.”
Despite such intimidation, Mhlanga insists that Pregnant with Emotion will be shown to frightened but hungry theatregoers in Bulawayo in June.
“The CIO says that Archbishop Ncube and I have the same agenda and that we’re dangerous men in Matabeleland,” he added. “But we will not lie down. The play will be staged. We will not be destroyed by police agents who want to destroy art and culture throughout Zimbabwe.”


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Zimbabwe Fails to Provide Promised Homes for Displaced

    VOA
Zimbabwe Fails to Provide Promised Homes for Displaced


24 May 2006
Maphosa report - Download 561k audio clip
Listen to Maphosa report audio clip

In May 2005 the Zimbabwean government launched a blitz on informal businesses and unauthorized housing, making thousands homeless when their houses were razed. A year later some are still homeless, despite government promises to build them homes.

This man and his family live in  an abandoned van, after the Zimbabwean government demolished their home
This man and his family live in  an abandoned van, after the Zimbabwean government demolished their home
Towards the end of the demolition campaign called Operation Drive Out the Filth, the government announced the launch of an ambitious multi-billion-dollar construction project. The project dubbed Operation Live Well was meant to provide homes for thousands of the displaced.

Some of those are residents of The Hatcliffe Extension settlement just outside Harare.

Prior to the demolition it was home to 15,000 people. They had paid for and were allocated stands by the government in 1991. The authorities provided the wooden cabins they lived in. Those who had the means were putting up brick structures.

After their homes were razed, despite showing the police their lease documents, they were taken to a holding camp. After some weeks, and proving they were at Hatcliffe legally, they were taken back to what used to be their homes.

For shelter, the government promised every household four asbestos sheets and poles to make a 3x5 meter shed, regardless of family size. They were told that using plastic sheeting or any other material to wall off the structure was not allowed, because that would create a shantytown.

VOA recently visited the settlement to find that the government has provided only a few incomplete houses to some residents and building stopped at the end of last year. The houses have no doors, no windows and no floors.

Some without houses have benefited from a Catholic Church funded project, which is putting up plastic structures under corrugated steel sheets. The remainder are using whatever they can find to build shelter. Old plastic sheeting is the most used material.

Many of the residents who were employed or involved in the informal sector lost their jobs last year and are struggling to make ends meet. One of them who worked as a builder shares a flimsy structure with his wife and seven children. He expressed despair at the situation.

"We do not expect the government to build homes for us anymore, they have admitted they do not have any more money," he said. "We hear of donor organizations, which want to come and help, but we do not know if that is true."

Hatcliffe residents told VOA that disease is a problem in the settlement, which has no running water, electricity or toilets. Exposure to the elements worsens the situation; first it was the winter, then the hot summer and rainy season, now with a second winter looming the man's wife fears for the worst.

"A lot of the children get colds because of over exposure," she noted.

The World Food Program, through non-governmental organizations, is providing food for some of the displaced.

Leonard Karemba a spokesperson for Christian Care, one of the organizations helping the people, says they are assisting people at 12 centers in Harare.

"All in all, in Harare urban, we are assisting a total of 25,761 people," said Leonard Karemba.

Zimbabwe authorities say the blitz was meant to clean up urban areas. It also ostensibly targeted those it said were involved in criminal activities, black marketing of scarce basic commodities, and illegal dealing in foreign currency. But licensed traders and home industries were also destroyed.

A report by U.N. Special Envoy Anna Tibaijuka, who was sent to assess the impact of the exercise, condemned the government action. Jan Egeland, another U.N. envoy, agreed with the Tibaijuka report, but their findings were met with hostility and dismissed by the Zimbabwean government.

The government spurned offers of assistance, which included providing tents and basic brick and asbestos structures. It said it wanted permanent structures and did not want to give the impression that its citizens are refugees.

The local United Nations office could not confirm recent media reports that an agreement on a shelter design has been reached between the U.N. and the government.


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South Africa Refuses Asylum to Zimbabwe's Roy Bennett

    VOA
South Africa Refuses Asylum to Zimbabwe's Roy Bennett


24 May 2006
Interview With Roy Bennett audio clip
Listen to Interview With Roy Bennett audio clip

South Africa's Department of Home Affairs has refused to grant political asylum to Roy Bennett, a Zimbabwean opposition politician who was imprisoned for eight months in 2004-2005 for shoving a minister in parliament and fled the country earlier this year after authorities said he had conspired to assassinate President Robert Mugabe.

Bennett filed an application for political asylum in South Africa, and said he intended to continue while in exile to serve as the treasurer of the Movement for Democratic Change faction led by founding MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai.

But Bennett said he received a letter from the Home Affairs Department saying asylum was refused because his life would not be in danger if he returned to Zimbabwe. The letter acknowledged that Zimbabwean police had been "overzealous" at times, but that Zimbabwe's judicial system was usual "impartial," citing Tsvangirai's acquittal in late 2004 on charges of treason and plotting to assassinate President Mugabe.

Bennett told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that he saw the South African decision refusing him asylum as politically motivated.

More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...


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ZCTU threatens strike action

The Zimbabwean
 HARARE - After getting a fresh mandate from workers in the country the leadership of the main labour body, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has threatened strike action over poor working conditions. The Union's President Lovemore Matombo and Secretary General Wellington Chibhebhe were re-elected at a weekend congress in Harare.
ZCTU spokesman Mlamleli Sibanda said although they would give dialogue with government a chance, time was running out and they might have to resort to strike action very soon. He said workers, employers and unions were not making any progress in the Tripartite Negotiating Forum.
The plight of farm workers also came under the spotlight during the two-day congress. It was resolved that all the other unions wwould rally behind the General Plantation and Farm Workers Union if they plan any strikes over conditions on the farms. Sibanda said farm workers were getting Z$1 million a month in wages and that this was the equivalent of 10 loaves of bread.
Meanwhile the High Court ruled on Friday that the deportation of ZCTU delegates during the week was illegal. Several international delegates to the congress were deported last week under instruction from the Ministry of Labour. The court dealt with the case of Alice Siame from Zambia and another Norwegian delegate Nina Mjoberg, but remained silent on the deportation of COSATU Secretary General Zwelinzima Vavi.
Full list of ZCTU leadership: President: Lovemore Matombo; First Vice President: Lucia Matibenga; Second Vice President: George Nkiwane; Third Vice President: Thabitha Khumalo; Secretary General: Wellington Chibhebhe; First Deputy SG:  Japhet Moyo; Second Deputy SG: Gideon Shoko; Treasurer: Ester Khumbulani. - Lance Guma, SW Radio Africa


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Fantastic experience in Vic Falls

The Zimbabwean (letters)
BY A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Victoria Falls is the perfect place to be on a Zimbabwean winters weekend. And the 67th Annual Mining Conference held at the Elephant Hills Safari Lodge brought home to me just how special this country still is.
The Victoria Falls village has had a major facelift. There are Tourist Police to look after the tourists and they do their job diligently and efficiently. The hotels are not crowded but tourism seems to be on the increase again thank goodness.
The shops are stocked with a delightful selection of good quality curios and Zimbabwean objects d'art. There are bikes for hire, or beach buggies or trail bikes and go-carts for the rough roads.
The Elephant Hills Hotel is absolutely striking. The decor cleverly incorporates the essence and mystery of Africa and yet remains regal, cool and imposing.
Instead of massed arrangements of flowers, which would have to be imported at great cost from other centres, the hotel uses beautiful soapstone carvings of hippo ponds with tastefully arranged bamboo shoots nestling in the water - subtle and original.
The service is impeccable, the waiters are friendly and attentive to one's smallest need and yet discreet and highly trained. The food was excellent. We had a full on sit down banquet the first night for the 120 delegates to the conference, served with acceptable local wines or imported wines at a price.
The next night we had a true African experience - the Bush Dinner, served under the stars surrounded by braziers to keep away the cold, with the tables beautifully laid and an excellent array of local and traditional dishes.
Marimbas played and young ebony skinned maidens kept us entertained while we feasted from tables laden with macimbi, mazondo, braised sable, fried kapenta and sadza and relish.
Of course there was plenty of steak and chicken and salad too for the less adventurous. The logistics of serving over 100 people under the stars and the brilliant full moon, in the magical African bush must be seen to be believed.
A sundowner cruise on the might Zambesi River brought back all those memories of days gone by when life was less stressful.
Elephant, hippo, crocodile and bushbuck were apparent and the boat crew kept us entertained with gin slings and river anecdotes.
A morning jog on the golf course was however the "piece de resistance" Bushbuck, duiker, waterbuck and warthog were in abundance, watching me with their deep onyx eyes, suspicious yet unafraid. Those minute mesh spider webs were everywhere glistening with silver dew, hopeful of an early morning ant snack.
Hornbills mewed like babies, vultures soared lazily in the thermals overhead as if trying to compete with the helicopters and microlites which forged backwards and forwards ferrying tourists eager to get an aerial view of the mighty Victoria Falls.
Back in the sumptuous conference rooms, mining matters were discussed heatedly, but all this seemed very far removed from real life.


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