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ROBERT MUGABE: Well if there is business to negotiate about we will welcome
negotiations but if there is no business I don't see why we should talk about
negotiations. What I mean is if you have a democratic system running and if your
ruling party, naturally it has its policies and is trying to effect its policies
on the one hand and the opposition on the other, well the real functions,
respective functions of the two are clear. The government is there to govern,
the opposition naturally to keep watch, try to criticise government as much as
possible in the normal way. They are in parliament, they get their voices heard
in parliament, their criticisms are made there and that's the normal way of
running a democratic system. STUART RAMSAY: There are those who say that the election wasn't fair and that
they actually... ROBERT MUGABE: That's what they say. We say the election was fair. We say all
the African groups pronounced the election fair. There might have been one odd
one which went the way Europe wanted things to go and of course they are a voice
not of themselves, not of our people, that is them to see, the voice of Europe,
the voice of Mr Blair, Mr Bush. STUART RAMSAY: International observers were critical of the election. ROBERT MUGABE: Which international observers? STUART RAMSAY: A variety of countries. ROBERT MUGABE: Which ones? STUART RAMSAY: Britain obviously was one of them, Australia... ROBERT MUGABE: Great Britain, you know the attitude of Britain, they will
never accept anything as right when it is done by us. STUART RAMSAY: Do you not disagree that the polling stations were closed down
in Harare, a million people it's said weren't able to vote. ROBERT MUGABE: No, that is not true. We opened stations in Harare and the
people were able to vote, were then on the third day which the MDC demanded, the
stations were opened. What noticed is that those who had voted before were
trying to vote again in large numbers and so the stations got closed. STUART RAMSAY: But before the election took place, I remember it clearly, the
voter rolls were confused, people weren't sure where they would vote, which part
of the country they had to vote in. ROBERT MUGABE: No, there might have been some confusion here and there but by
and large things were quite correct. I mean we were not running the election for
the first time, we had run elections before and we are very faithful to our
democratic system and the demands of that system. We have held elections
timelessly, every five years and there was very little to learn you know for
this last election. Sure, there might have been hitches here and there and there
are always hitches, not just here but even in democratic countries, let alone in
developing countries and we were prepared to look at the hitches and to try and
correct things as effectively as we could but generally the elections went quite
smoothly. STUART RAMSAY: One of the concerns of the international community, and
concerns from inside the country as well, has been the level of political
violence that appears to accompany Zimbabwean elections. Now there were claims
yesterday that ZANU supporters attacked MDC headquarters, there are concerns
voiced by Amnesty International that human rights abuses take place, that ZANU
PF thugs carry out intimidation and attacks on the opposition. How do you, do
you accept that there is political...? ROBERT MUGABE: You are just looking at violence, alleged violence affecting
ZANU PF, what about the other side, have you looked at it also? STUART RAMSAY: I think it is conceded that is... ROBERT MUGABE: This recent election, by-election in Lupane, they went there
armed, axes, spears, [inaudible] and all, and you saw what the member of
Chimanimani did even in parliament, there is more violence from the MDC than
there is from ZANU PF. STUART RAMSAY: One of the allegations is that the ZANU PF youth supporters
come from youth training scheme camps, I've been to one of the camps. Why do
youths need to learn survival skills and marching on parade grounds, what is the
reason for that? ROBERT MUGABE: Why does a country ever have to run a programme of National
Service, that's what you're asking. STUART RAMSAY: I'm not asking about National Service, this is a youth
training scheme, it's basically... ROBERT MUGABE: It is National Service in a sense, it is a training scheme
yes, why not? Why shouldn't we train them? STUART RAMSAY: Because the outcome is that they take their patriotism too
far, take to the streets and believe they are following the party line. ROBERT MUGABE: No, no, no. Where have they done so? I want examples, they
haven't done so, these are the allegations being made by people who do not want
us to train the youth, who fear perhaps we are training the youth to be
nationalistic, to respect their own culture and respect the African personality,
that that might be a danger, you see, to them because then when the situation is
amorphous and people do not have that sense of nationalism, then of course you
can be undermined very easily and undermined by external forces, that's why,
what countries like Britain want us to be so they can be using their
neo-colonialist methods, you see, to try and affect our countries by way of
sabotage, by way of trying to rule us indirectly. STUART RAMSAY: But these youths are still, the question is why do they need
to have any type of military training? I can't see the point in it. Why aren't
they being taught the history in school rather than...? ROBERT MUGABE: We want National Service, we want to prepare them for any
eventuality which might demand, for the country to defend itself. STUART RAMSAY: Are they brutalised in these camps? There are allegations of
raping taking place. ROBERT MUGABE: No, no, no, no, no, no. Those are allegations, you are just
looking at the negative. Why don't you look at the aspects that are promoted
that are positive? The youth must be developed and developed in respect of all
skills. They must think Zimbabwean, feel Zimbabwean and be nationally conscious.
That is what they what they are to be. STUART RAMSAY: But is that not just following the ZANU PF party line, that
they are not seeing another side of the argument, that there is... ROBERT MUGABE: ZANU PF is the party in government and the policies of ZANU is
what we are there to implement in effect, we do not stand for the MDC. STUART RAMSAY: Your position in the country for 24 years is obviously
paramount in the politics, do you think now it is time for you to stand down?
You have talked about succession... ROBERT MUGABE: Why do you want me to stand down? STUART RAMSAY: I am asking if you think it is right to stand down. Jonathan
Moyo was saying that the discussion about whether the succession issue has
caused problems in even elections because those in ZANU PF were considering who
would be next... ROBERT MUGABE: Who said that? STUART RAMSAY: Jonathan Moyo. ROBERT MUGABE: The discussion, yes, sure, of course people even without the
discussion would still have had to discuss succession, those of them who feel it
is an important subject and just a few in the leadership who want naturally to
look ahead and I have said there is nothing wrong in people discussing the issue
but what is wrong is really they are trying now to put themselves in positions,
you see, which might be regarded by the generality of the people as
unacceptable. STUART RAMSAY: Do you have a successor? ROBERT MUGABE: No. STUART RAMSAY: No one in mind? ROBERT MUGABE: No. STUART RAMSAY: And how long do you think you are going to stay on as
President? ROBERT MUGABE: For as long as the people want me to stay but not for eternity
of course. STUART RAMSAY: Would you stand in the next election? ROBERT MUGABE: I don't think so, I also want to rest and do a bit of writing.
STUART RAMSAY: Can I ask you about another issue, this is the view of the
international community toward you and towards them. Recently at the National
Chief's Convention you described Tony Blair as a colonist who still thinks he
owns Zimbabwe. Surely that isn't really the case. ROBERT MUGABE: That's the case. That man, I don't know how Britain came by
him. You can see some of the mad things he has done and the world now is in
turmoil. STUART RAMSAY: You don't think that Tony Blair or Britain for that matter
considers Zimbabwe a colony, surely not? ROBERT MUGABE: Yes, he does, he does. He doesn't say so but his actions do
say so. What has he not done to try and control how things should go here? He
has opposed us in my election, he has called upon nations to in fact regard
Zimbabwe as a lawless country, a country where democracy is not respected, where
there is no rule of law, where human rights do not exist and all that is a lie.
STUART RAMSAY: But he is by no means the only international leader' ROBERT MUGABE: No, no, no, no, it is him and... STUART RAMSAY: The Commonwealth wanted you to remain suspended, you've
removed yourself from the Commonwealth. Now why would they do that? They are
doing that because they also have concerns about the rule of law and democracy?
ROBERT MUGABE: Who is the Commonwealth? Who is the dominant character there?
It's Britain and Britain supported by the other white countries, Australia, New
Zealand, Canada and they call the tune, you see. The Africans try to oppose but
they were not heard, they were ignored. There it is, fine, what is the
Commonwealth just now? STUART RAMSAY: It obviously concerns you though. It is said that, you were
obviously angry by the fact that you weren't able to have your suspension lifted
and you have removed your country from the Commonwealth but it must still have
some relevance to you. ROBERT MUGABE: Well the relevance is that it is a kind of club where there is
a comradeship and you discuss issues of all kinds, political issues, issues that
have to do with the international situation. You discuss economic issues as well
but at the end of the day you do nothing about them, you see, except maybe gang
together, have a cup of tea and actually, practically do nothing. STUART RAMSAY: It is not just Britain of course, it is not just Commonwealth,
Botswana has been critical in the past, South Africa and the Sadak nations,
another club that you are a member of. ROBERT MUGABE: Critical of what? STUART RAMSAY: Critical of the fact that for example 1.3% of its economic
growth in South Africa didn't happen almost as a direct result of... ROBERT MUGABE: No, no. STUART RAMSAY:...20 to 30,000 jobs didn't happen. ROBERT MUGABE: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. STUART RAMSAY: Trade declined by 15 billion rand. ROBERT MUGABE: No, we were not the cause of that, we are not the South
African economy. STUART RAMSAY: But you were vitally linked to it at one point but now' ROBERT MUGABE: Our trade with them has always been good, and they admit it,
that in spite of the sanctions the trade has been rising, rising, rising in
terms of volumes and all of the... STUART RAMSAY: What trade is that? It's declining, not increasing. ROBERT MUGABE: The what? STUART RAMSAY: The trade is declining it's not increasing. ROBERT MUGABE: No, no, no, you go and ask Irwin, he will tell you that in
spite of all that has, you know, been done to Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe's trade with
South Africa has always been rising, not declining. STUART RAMSAY: Countries like Britain and the United States having given,
what, Britain £51 million in the last 18 months to assist Zimbabwe and yet you
only have critical words for Britain and the United States. ROBERT MUGABE: What is this? STUART RAMSAY: They give financial assistance to aid agencies directly to
bring in food and whatever general assistance is needed here. ROBERT MUGABE: We have expressed our gratitude to WFP for its assistance.
STUART RAMSAY: The major donors are Britain and the United States. ROBERT MUGABE: Well yes, sure, so when we say thank you to WFP we were saying
thank you to the donors of WFP aren't we? STUART RAMSAY: Are you saying thank you to Great Britain? ROBERT MUGABE: We are saying thank you to WFP. STUART RAMSAY: Why do you...what are your links with Britain? Why are you
unhappy with Britain to such an degree? You were friends for a very long time.
ROBERT MUGABE: To tell you the truth we are not unhappy with Britain as
Britain, with Blair's Britain yes, we are unhappy, that is the rulership of
Blair, very unhappy and unhappy, first of all he is a man, I don't know he
considers himself as a super human, he doesn't want dialogue, he doesn't want to
talk. I haven't had any discussion with him except in Scotland during the
Commonwealth summit there. We have asked for discussions, for dialogue...he
won't have it. STUART RAMSAY: Why do you think he won't have it? ROBERT MUGABE: He won't have it because he doesn't want to talk to us. We are
inferior, he is a super human, no, and he won't be drawn into any discussions
with us, he has got that stance. STUART RAMSAY: One of the reasons why... ROBERT MUGABE: And we have been asking, we are open. We talk to everyone who
wants to talk to us. STUART RAMSAY: Would you like to talk to Britain again, would you make
efforts now to negotiate and to discuss? ROBERT MUGABE: We've made enough efforts. If Britain wants to talk we are
ready, we have said so again and again and even the people he has asked to
intervene, Obasanjo, Mbeki, have asked to try and have dialogue with us. There
is a Zimbabwe which some countries would want to regard as a pariah state and
never say any good about it, everything that it does is bad but we are not bad.
Stay here and you will see that our people are free, you will see that they are
able to say things that they would want to say about government, criticise us as
much as possible, there is an opposition, not just the MDC, we also have small
other groups which have not succeeded naturally in raising members of parliament
but they are vocal, they say things against us and they are not arrested. Also
things have been said, bad things, personal criticisms even. STUART RAMSAY: But I have met people who have been beaten and they say they
are beaten for putting out leaflets calling for industrial action. He was beaten
and taken into a field and left. ROBERT MUGABE: But you will get those actions happening even in Britain. Are
you saying you don't have... STUART RAMSAY: Trade Union leaders do not get taken out and beaten and left
for dead by the police in Britain. ROBERT MUGABE: I saw Mr Prescott box one person, whether he had been... STUART RAMSAY: That was a totally different incident. Mr Prescott did not
then go and get the police to take that man outside and... ROBERT MUGABE: Goodness me, you mean the whole prime minister and deputy
prime minister beats a person, boxes a person and that person falls down, that
is more acceptable than the violence of a small group that might just be
mistaken in its own belief that violence will work. STUART RAMSAY: That is not a small group though, the allegation is that it is
a large group and that... ROBERT MUGABE: What group is that? STUART RAMSAY: ZANU PF supporters as we've gone through this before are
involved in regular attacks. ROBERT MUGABE: What supporters, we have millions of supporters in the country
but you also get small groups naturally that act in order to demonstrate that
they are strong in particular areas especially when they are provoked and in the
majority of cases because of the provocation of MDC, they will react and we have
called upon our party to be as peaceful and as non violent as possible. So have
we also called upon the MDC to campaign, if it is a campaign they have embarked
upon, to campaign as peacefully as possible but of course they also have youths
and leaders who believe in violence. STUART RAMSAY: You alluded to personal attacks and Archbishop Desmond Tutu
described you as a cartoon figure of the archetypal African dictator. Now why
would a well respected man of the church say that? ROBERT MUGABE: He is an angry, evil and embittered little bishop, you see,
who thinks that his own view should hold. STUART RAMSAY: He's talking generally, he's not talking about a specific
incident, I understand the context by which you think he disagrees' ROBERT MUGABE: What he has to say is in the background. STUART RAMSAY: It might be in the background but the point is he is talking
about events, modern history, today. ROBERT MUGABE: What history is that? STUART RAMSAY: He is talking about issues that we will come on to shortly
about land reform, he is talking about the rule of law not being adhered to in
Zimbabwe and democracy and not being looked at which is why he uses the term
archetypal African dictator. ROBERT MUGABE: So one little bishop becomes the proponent of our political
system here? STUART RAMSAY: No, but he is widely respected throughout the world. ROBERT MUGABE: Respected for his religion perhaps. STUART RAMSAY: No, respected for the Reconciliation Committee, for being a
man who was able to go through the whole of the apartheid era and still speak
out against a repressive regime. He has identified a repressive regime. ROBERT MUGABE: He was a frightened man during the apartheid era and the
little he did was perhaps just to criticise and criticise even in an innocent
way. Apartheid, when called upon to do something, something that would
distinguish him as supporter of the ANC, he didn't. He didn't, he wouldn't go
that way. STUART RAMSAY: The World Food Programme says that urban food shortages are
approaching critical. A United Nations memo to say that you could reach the
level of tonnage that is being estimated is complete nonsense and quite
impossible. The farms, outsiders say, simply aren't producing enough food.
You've got bread prices that the state media says could go up by 50%. ROBERT MUGABE: So what is WFP wanting us to do? STUART RAMSAY: What they are saying is you need food aid and therefore... ROBERT MUGABE: We need food aid and not the land to produce, we don't need to
produce? STUART RAMSAY: No, they are saying you need produce more and you need food
aid. You're saying you don't need food aid. In fact last week you were saying
you would produce 2.3 million tons which far exceeds anything ever produced
before. You are saying you do need food aid? ROBERT MUGABE: We have produced that before. STUART RAMSAY: You are not going to produce it this year though. ROBERT MUGABE: We are producing it this year, definitely. Our estimates are
there and they are showing us we will have enough food for the country and with
a surplus. STUART RAMSAY: 800,000 tons the shortfall is estimated. ROBERT MUGABE: Why is WFP wanting to feed us when we are saying that... STUART RAMSAY: Because they don't want people to starve. ROBERT MUGABE: We are not hungry. It should go to hungrier people, hungrier
countries than ourselves. They need the food and we urge it to go and do good
work there. STUART RAMSAY: The Archbishop of Bulawayo.... ROBERT MUGABE: Why foist this food upon us? We don't want to be choked, we
have enough. STUART RAMSAY: He says that as many as 10,000 people died as a direct result
of starvation, lack of food, perhaps illnesses. ROBERT MUGABE: No, no. That's another Tutu, the bishop, an unholy man, he
thinks he is holy and telling lies all the day, every day. Oh come on, 10,000
people, where did they die? Even show me a single person who died of hunger that
is. STUART RAMSAY: When we first arrived here a couple of weeks ago, government
ministers estimated crop production at 1.5 million, many thought that that was a
little high. In two weeks it went up to 2.3, now how did that happen? You didn't
suddenly have a bumper harvest and they'd got their figures wrong. The fact is,
and the view from the outside is that you will get 2.3 million tons but you will
do it by buying it from outside, probably from Zambia. ROBERT MUGABE: Do you want to wait here until the harvest is over and then
you will see.... STUART RAMSAY: I'd like to come back and see it and I'd like to see'. ROBERT MUGABE: Well come back, you'll be free, you are invited to come back.
STUART RAMSAY: Are you going to be buying food from outside? ROBERT MUGABE: No. Definitely no, never. Not this year. STUART RAMSAY: So why are all these estimates wrong Mr President? ROBERT MUGABE: From agriculture. We have an agricultural system which is
second to none in Africa. STUART RAMSAY: Had is the argument, not has. It is no longer producing
the... ROBERT MUGABE: Have, we have. STUART RAMSAY: So why are these estimates so wrong? ROBERT MUGABE: The whites who were here were mere actor farmers, ill educated
and we brought in a system which is much more enlightened than the system they
had, you see. Go everywhere and you will see agronomists, you will see our
agritects, exchanging officers who are well educated and they give us these
estimates across the country. STUART RAMSAY: Are you perhaps just believing these estimates because they
are telling you want to hear? ROBERT MUGABE: I travel. I travel, I travel quite a lot across the country,
there is no corner of the country I don't know. STUART RAMSAY: Why does a headmaster at the Portafarm Camp tell me that if he
doesn't have food aid, drink supplements, his children will starve? ROBERT MUGABE: Portafarm here? STUART RAMSAY: Why would he say that? ROBERT MUGABE: Of course if he has no food his children will starve if they
don't have food, but there is food. STUART RAMSAY: And that food is coming from the international donors, that is
exactly what he said. ROBERT MUGABE: He had food next to him, there are farms with lots of maize
next to him, he is talking nonsense, absolute nonsense. STUART RAMSAY: Why would he do that? He said the food comes from the World
Food Programme. ROBERT MUGABE: Because he wants to please you, he knows your mentality. STUART RAMSAY: He doesn't want to please me, he doesn't want to please me, he
said... ROBERT MUGABE: He knows your mentality, the mentality of the whites, it is
always negatives so it is the negative they must be fed on when they are here.
You have some of the people with that kind of thinking. STUART RAMSAY: Why is it always a race issue, why is this? ROBERT MUGABE: Well this is what we wonder. Why is it that white men always
think white. There are also black men on this continent you know and they also
matter, that's what you must tell Blair. STUART RAMSAY: At the 24th Independence Day rally - the whites are continuing
to show contempt, they must have their resistance broken once and for all. This
is antagonistic wording. If you have won the war and you have won the
revolution, why are you still having to point out differences between blacks and
whites? ROBERT MUGABE: Because the whites are still contemptuous, they are still
racist and we don't want that in our society. STUART RAMSAY: Do you want them out of your society? ROBERT MUGABE: That kind, yes. Out they must go. The good ones can stay and
we have quite a good many good ones who are just and the Britons for one reason
or another have that difficulty, psychological difficulty to adjust to rule by
blacks. The Afrikaaners in South Africa, no. Yes, you may get a few extremists
but they are adjusting and they say they have nowhere to go but perhaps the
problem we have about Britons here is they still think Britain is their home,
you see. They have two homes, their Zimbabwean home and the British one. In some
cases they are three-legged and they have Britain, Zimbabwe, Britain, South
Africa. STUART RAMSAY: And you would like these people to leave your country? ROBERT MUGABE: Yes, the three legged or two legged ones, sure. We want just
those who will have their legs here. STUART RAMSAY: Or will not raise their heads above the parapet, will keep
quiet, not complain about their farms being taken off them. ROBERT MUGABE: No, of course they must complain and we are saying these
complaints are legitimate. Britain should listen to them and pay their
compensation. STUART RAMSAY: Britain of course says they paid £500 million worth of
compensation. ROBERT MUGABE: 500 million? When did they pay that? STUART RAMSAY: That's since the Lancaster House... ROBERT MUGABE: Come on, that is forty, about forty million, what's that? It's
peanuts. STUART RAMSAY: But you didn't follow your part of the bargain either did you?
ROBERT MUGABE: We did. STUART RAMSAY: You just decided to take the farms rather than pay
compensation. ROBERT MUGABE: No. STUART RAMSAY: Well the law did change. ROBERT MUGABE: Do you know, you should follow the history, the history from
Lancaster House. That was paid by the Conservatives, forty, and do you know what
they demanded, they wanted a pound for a pound. We place our pound on the table,
the desk and then they come with their own and that's how it went and it was
only towards the end we say no, this was not what we agreed upon at Lancaster
House and then Mrs Thatcher changed it, the rest, I think it was the last ten
million came then without that requirement or counterpart and then she said it
was all over, they had done enough. But we had only settled about 57,000. STUART RAMSAY: And then it went into limbo and only really came up as a major
issue again at the turn of the century. ROBERT MUGABE: No, no we didn't go into limbo, we continued on our own but
always asking Britain, always asking Britain to play its part and when Major
took over we approached him on this and he agreed to send a team here, a six man
team came here and that was about 1995/96 and it concluded its mission, it
talked to us, talked to the commercial farmers, to chiefs and so on and wrote
out a report. You better go and read that report, Mr Blair will have it in his
office. That report recommended that government continue to, you know, fund the
land reform programme here and that... STUART RAMSAY: But you change the rules so that you could actually
appropriate farms. ROBERT MUGABE: No, no, no. Why do you want to want avoid this part? Major was
putting a package together naturally in response to our request that they
continue to recognise their colonial responsibly. But then he was defeated, the
Conservatives were defeated, Blair then took over and it is Blair and his
government who really deviated from the course that Major had taken and started
now showing arrogance. Their philosophy was we are the Labour party, we only
recognise poverty alleviation as the policy that should be applied to Zimbabwe
and other developing countries and this colonial responsibility, it was a
decision by the Conservatives. We ran our government or our Labour government on
the basis of Labour polices and we cannot therefore succeed to policies of the
Conservative party and don't talk to us about colonial responsibilities, said
Clare Short. Ireland was once a colony and it is all over and so on and so
forth. STUART RAMSAY: It seems manifestly unfair though to read in a gazette that
your farm has been taken off you. That is the situation now with farms that are
going to be redistributed. ROBERT MUGABE: How do you mean, read in the gazette what? STUART RAMSAY: That the farm is next on the list. At least it used to go
through the court, it doesn't even bother going through the courts now. ROBERT MUGABE: No, but people are served with notices, they are told. STUART RAMSAY: The notice doesn't need to be even served any more, it can be
published in the paper. That was how the law changed. ROBERT MUGABE: No, but we will still serve people with notices, it will be
ridiculous of course just to go to court and publish in the gazette that this
farm has been taken by government without informing the person who still owns
it. No, why should we do that? I don't think we have that kind of practice. We
deliver the notice to the individual who owns the farm and warn him that
government wants to take it over and give him time to prepare for it. STUART RAMSAY: You have been applauded by the opposition even for your moves
to fight corruption. Is it not the case that the party has become corrupt under
your stewardship which is why in 2004 it has been adjudged that you are going to
have to move. ROBERT MUGABE: Why the party? What are you talking about? STUART RAMSAY: The Finance Minister has been saying... ROBERT MUGABE: These are corrupt individuals. I suppose you get corrupt
individuals across the board. You are now telling me that your government is
absolutely pure, without.... STUART RAMSAY: I am not representing our government, I am simply asking
questions. ROBERT MUGABE: But I am putting it back to you, you have a government in your
country and you get individuals who are corrupt naturally. If you get them it
doesn't mean that everybody else is corrupt. STUART RAMSAY: The chief communications of ZANU PF said to me that that is
wasn't just....? ROBERT MUGABE: Of where? STUART RAMSAY: Of ZANU P F, said it wasn't just a disease it was actually an
epidemic of corruption and it was high time it was addressed. You are addressing
it, but the question still remains, how has corruption been able to develop.
ROBERT MUGABE: The same way as it developed in other countries, surely you
shouldn't ask that question. Corruption develops, the human being is greedy, in
some cases he wants to enrich himself by adopting irregular methods of attaining
the wealth he desire and this is what happens. There are thieves who think the
shortest way to enriching themselves is by way of possessing that which doesn't
belong to them. STUART RAMSAY: A regular allegation from the outside world is that Mr
President, you are corrupt as well. ROBERT MUGABE: Oh come on, come on, come on. STUART RAMSAY: It is an allegation that's made. Critics point to the building
of your new home, how could you afford that house? $25 million. ROBERT MUGABE: Who said it was $25 million? I was given that by the party
very early on, 1984/85 and the party gave me that and we started building, the
party was going to assist me, it was not able to do so and we have been
ourselves trying to build it from our own resources starting in 1986 and it has
been buying bricks and we have got a company, an enable company which is
Yugoslav and we agreed that we would be providing materials little by little and
we pay just for their labour. They agreed and we have had assistance of course,
some countries have donated, they have got some timber from Malaysia thanks to
my good friend, former Prime Minister Mayatia, the Chinese also have donated
some materials, tiles and so on. STUART RAMSAY: So you are not using foreign currency to pay for these things?
ROBERT MUGABE: No, no. For foreign currency, if we have to get things from
South Africa we go to the bank and we negotiate so if we are getting a few
things from South Africa we don't have panes here, we go to get them from South
Africa, we go through the bank and that's what everybody else should do. STUART RAMSAY: How much do you think it is going to cost in the end? ROBERT MUGABE: I don't know, will estimate the cost and.... STUART RAMSAY: Not $25 million? ROBERT MUGABE: Of course not. STUART RAMSAY: It sounds fairly lavish from everything I've read, obviously
it is difficult to go and see it. ROBERT MUGABE: Because it is attractive, it has Chinese roofing materials
which makes it beautiful but they have been donated to us, the Chinese are our
good friends you see. STUART RAMSAY: Can I move quickly on to the economy, I know we are running
short of time here. I interviewed the Reserve Bank governor who does seem to be
a man determined to turn things round but he has huge problems. Inflation, 600%,
maybe more, maybe over 1000%. 40% contraction in the economy between 1999 and
2003. You owe the IMF $273 million and the World Bank and the IMF will no longer
lend you any money. The economy is in a right mess isn't it, Mr President? ROBERT MUGABE: It was, yes. It is now improving, it is getting out of that
mess, sure, yes, with sanctions imposed on us. STUART RAMSAY: The sanctions are mainly imposed upon individual members
of.... ROBERT MUGABE: No, no, no, no. This is a game where you don't understand your
Prime Minister. What did he do? He said personal sanctions because that was the
more acceptable form of sanctions to some of his allies but behind us he says no
to countries, stop your aid and so on and don't invest and so we have had real
sanctions, economic sanctions. STUART RAMSAY: But you don't think your country's own economic mismanagement
has been perhaps compounded by the Land Reform Programme which took away a lot
of potential exporters. ROBERT MUGABE: No, if anything the Land Reform Programme is going to
reinvigorate the economy, get it to revive. Just now the revival that is taking
place is due to that, to the fact that now this season is a good season and
agriculture is going to yield quite a good percentage of our GDP and so that we
will assist the process. Of course in the financial sector, the measure we are
taking, the monetary policy that has been enunciated and we are getting now
countries that belong to the other world than the Western one, you know,
interested in us and... STUART RAMSAY: Yet the estimates are that there are real concerns about
direct foreign investment isn't there, because of the instability. ROBERT MUGABE: We would rather not have Western investment any more and we
are going East with China, we have the Tigers, they are interested, India is
interested and I think we will get the necessary investment coming from those
countries. STUART RAMSAY: One of your good friends is the Libyan leader, were you
surprised when Tony Blair turned up in his tent shaking his hand? ROBERT MUGABE: Yes, yes I was, I was actually surprised and I knew that the
idea was not just to get Libyan oil but also to get Libya to desist from
assisting us. STUART RAMSAY: You think that's his specific attempt to try and stop him.
ROBERT MUGABE: An attempt, yes. STUART RAMSAY: But it does seem to have worked, the various deals that were
put in place for fuel and...those have been put on the back burner. ROBERT MUGABE: No, we are still working together with Libya, he is still a
good friend of ours in spite of that. STUART RAMSAY: What did you say to him about Tony Blair? ROBERT MUGABE: About Tony Blair? I said I was surprised that he was meeting
with Tony Blair but of course they are entitled to have relations with Britain.
We do have relations with Britain you know, British Airways, I'm sure you flew
by them to here and they make lots of money flying to Zimbabwe, enabling people
to go to the Victoria Falls. We have nothing against the Britons as such, it is
just this one man who we think is really an anachronism and should never have
been Prime Minister in Britain. STUART RAMSAY: Two questions for you, Mr President, to finish. Firstly, this
is somewhat off where we have been going but there has been a lot of controversy
about the cricket, what do you think about that? ROBERT MUGABE: Why do you think we should affect ordinary people who want to
play? And this is Blair again wanting to use cricket, the cricket bat as a
weapon against Mugabe who should never be President of Zimbabwe. STUART RAMSAY: Are you disappointed though that there are even discussions
taking place that this current test series might be downgraded which would mean
Australia leaving? It must disappoint you that the country finds itself with
sport and politics entwined. ROBERT MUGABE: Well it is unfortunate that that happens but it is a phase
obviously, it will go. Why affect the cricket world, the football world, and so
on and so forth, it is very unfortunate. That if things go that route which is
as I say unfortunate, then what do we do? We just leave things as they are until
people rethink and review the situation and being to interact again. It is a
pity, a real pity that politics has come into cricket. I admire cricket, I love
it and have followed cricket for a long, long time. I was patron of the Cricket
Association. STUART RAMSAY: Do you see yourself going to Lords to watch another test match
some time? ROBERT MUGABE: I am persona non grata! STUART RAMSAY: Would you like to see that change? STUART RAMSAY: Of course I want to be a free man but Blair says no. Yes, you
can travel to any part of the world but not here, the gates are closed, the
doors are closed and he has got his European allies also to close doors to me.
But I say fine, close your doors. Our doors are open, we haven't closed them to
anyone and that's the difference. STUART RAMSAY: President Bush was asked this question recently, has he made
any mistakes? He didn't give a very convincing answer, have you made any
mistakes Mr President? ROBERT MUGABE: Yes, I have and that is how I have developed. You develop by
making mistakes that naturally you correct. If you make mistake and don't
correct them then you won't develop at all. But the mistakes must not be in the
majority, form the majority of your thinking, of your actions, of your deeds,
they must be just the exception to the positive, affirmative and correct actions
you take. Otherwise you are a mistaken personal the whole way through and you
become devil then. But I don't think I have become that devil. You judge
yourself by firstly your ability to achieve the goals you set yourself, secondly
by ensuring that in your performance you have the actions, the thinking and the
co-operation of others and then you judge your performance that others also are
able to judge you and if your own judgement of yourself is the same judgement as
others make of you, then you are a happy man. But if you are gong to say I'm
right when others say you are wrong, you will get self opinionated and that is
what the likes of Bush and Blair are, you see. They knew they were wrong by
deciding to attack Iraq, they deceived the world with lies, lies of mass
deception, by telling them that there were weapons of mass destruction, and they
thought the world was gong to be cheated for all time. You can only cheat the
world, the majority of people, for a short time, you can't cheat them for all
time. And there you are now, the chickens have come back to roost. They attacked
Iraq thinking that it is a small country, we are a powerful nation, we drop the
bombs and capture Saddam Hussein and it will be all over. Naïve thinking. What
has happened? STUART RAMSAY: Do you think you will outlast them all? ROBERT MUGABE: Pardon? STUART RAMSAY: Do you think you will outlast Bush and Blair? ROBERT MUGABE: No, I don't compare myself to them, I just do things in
accordance with the wishes of my people, sit down, we talk and that's it. I am a
man of the people actually, I am born peasant family, I have a peasant
background and I know what it is to work with people, to hear them talk, to
allow them to play a part in your life and this is I think what has carried me
to this day. Although I sit here as president, I know that that post I owe to
the people. STUART RAMSAY: President Mugabe, thank you very much for joining Sky News.
ROBERT MUGABE: Thank you.
JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM 24TH MAY 2004
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
justice@telco.co.zw with "For Open Letter
Forum" in the subject
line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
JAG
OLF
270
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
THOUGHT
FOR THE DAY
"I know of no country in which there is so little independence
of mind
and real freedom
of discussion as in America."
- Alexis De
Tocqueville
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
OPEN
LETTERS FORUM
Letter 1. Subject: Grain to Zimbabwe
My friend Myke
Ashley Cooper, of Capetown, isn't taking this dirty business
lying down of a
USA Co., (SENTRY FINANCIAL INTERNATIONAL, in Salt Lake
City, Utah) trading
with mug's thugs in Zim. & doing a lucrative tobacco
for maize swap. He
is going at them like an enraged terrier. Will send
subsequent emails on
this too. Let's follow his attack with letters of our
own, to let these
people without any sense of integrity or propriety know
how we feel about
their greed & lack of principle!!
Col
___________________________________________
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
2. Subject: Immoral Little Boys
Sir,
Vice President Msika has
recently made an outstanding comment about some of
the members of his own
Zanu PF.
He has referred to them as "IMMORAL LITTLE BOYS."
*Is it just
possible that Mr. Msika is now starting to feel guilty about
the people of
Zimbabwe suffering over the last five years?
*Does Mr. Msika perhaps
think that the enormous suffering precipitated as a
result of the unlawful
behaviour of some his "Immoral Little Boys" could be
blamed on
himself?
*If the above assumption was correct, it could well be that some
of the Old
Men, like Mr. Msika, have come to realise that time is no longer
on their
side, and also that in due course the historians will write about of
this
period in Zimbabwe - the Third Chimurenga.Mr. Msika will be recorded
as
describing certain elements of Zanu PF as Immoral Little Boys and
not
supporting what they have done.
*The question we need to ask Mr.
Msika is - how many is he referring to?
There seem to be many thousands of
them - behaving like this for over four
years now.
And lastly:
-
who will listen to Mr. Msika?
- how can we prove the sincerity of Mr. Msika
or anybody else?
- did Mr. Msika really object to Mr. Freeth's prayer or
not?
Biographer
Abroad.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
WOZA MOYA / HUYA MWEYA
(Meaning: Come Holy Spirit/ Cleansing Wind)
A WOMEN
OF ZIMBABWE ARISE (WOZA) INFORMATION SHEET MAY 2004 Edition
Write: Box FM701,
Famona, Bulawayo Ph: 011-213-885 / 09-63978
Email: woza@mango.zw <mailto:woza@mango.zw> (plain text emails
only)
WOZA means 'Come forward'. By women for women and with women, across
race,
colour, creed, class or political persuasion. Empowering women to
be
courageous, caring, committed and in communication with their
communities.
March with us on Saturday 29th May to DEMAND our Right to
Education!
MINYWANA PHEZULU - HANDS UP - ZVIGUNO MUDENGA
HANDS UP FOR
GIRLS' EDUCATION - HANDS UP FOR WOMENS' LIBERATION
EDUCATION FOR ALL! It is
Global Campaign for Education Week.
In 1980, our government promised us
the RIGHT to EDUCATION. This right is
also in The African Charter on Human
and Peoples Rights, in the African
Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the
Child, and in our Education Act.
The international community also undertook
to provide EDUCATION FOR ALL by
2015 and an equal number of boys and girls in
school by year 2005!
SHOULD WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THIS RIGHT?
NO!
Government must provide education for our children for all children.
Sixty
percent of those out-of-schools are GIRLS! Worldwide numbers reveal
shocking
levels of inequality in education between boys and girls: 860
million adults
cannot read or write, two thirds of these are women says the
Global Campaign
for Education.
MORE MONEY MUST BE ALLOCATED FOR EDUCATION!
Government
money spent on schools almost all goes to teachers' salaries.
There is
nothing left for books, stationery, buildings, maintenance,
sports,
equipment, cleaning etc. So parents are told to pay for everything
else, and
school fees go up and up and up!
The information was taken
from a report by the Zimbabwe Women's Resource
Centre and Network. "Hands Up
for Girls' Education," Challenges In 2004.
Table (Vi and Vii): Primary
Education and Secondary Education Allocation
2004 Source: Blue
books
Allocation to Primary Education 60%:
Salaries 99% School Service
0.45% Furniture & Equipment 0.011%
Allocation to Secondary Education
35%:
Salaries 98.5% School Services 0.74% Furniture & Equipment
0.066%
WHY IS GOVERNMENT NOT ALLOCATING ENOUGH MONEY FOR OUR EDUCATION?
They are
spending money on the wrong things, and do not consult us when
making
decisions:
Examples are: National service, teaching our children
violence and lies;
Buying more equipment for the armed forces and employing
more Police and CIO
to stop us speaking out and Cars for chiefs.
We want
free EDUCATION - SKYROCKETING SCHOOL FEES is draining our pockets.
HANDS UP
FOR GIRLS EDUCATION if you want to build a nation!
Kofi Annan, Secretary
General- United Nations said, "To educate girls is to
reduce poverty. That is
the lesson that unites us today. No other police is
a likely to raise
economic productivity, improve nutrition and promote
health."
HANDS UP
FOR WOMENS' LIBERATION
It was Africa Liberation Day! Did women enjoy the
freedom they fought for!
According to a United Nations Survey, Women do 90%
of the work but only earn
10% of the income and own 1% of the wealth of
nations. If this was a cake,
we would only receive the small slices, and the
rest of the cake would be
eaten by men.
Is this WHAT we WANT? Is this WHAT
we WANT for our DAUGHTERS?
WOZA says ZVAKWANA - SOKWANELE ENOUGH IS
ENOUGH
IN ZIMBABWE women are 52% of the population. Women also make up the
majority
of voters in Zimbabwe despite this they are in the minority in terms
of
running for political office. In next years parliamentary election we
only
see 4 women make it to parliament, the lowest number of women
since
Independence? Come on Sisters; let us join hands to change this. Surely
with
40 women in parliament there could be an end to this suffering? We
remember
the words of Yvonne Mahlunge, legal practitioner and a politician
"The
biggest tragedy for the future of every woman and unborn girl child
in
Zimbabwe is if we as the women are caught unprepared and miss the
political
bus once again."
Women have strengths that amaze men! These
are the skills that we must use
to make Zimbabwe great. WOMEN CAN:
CARRY
hardships, they carry burdens but they hold happiness, love and joy.
SMILE
when they want to scream and sing when they want to cry.
CRY when they are
happy and laugh when they are nervous.
FIGHT for what they believe in and
stand up for injustice.
DON'T TAKE "NO" for an answer when they believe there
is a better solution.
GO WITHOUT so their family can have.
MOURN the loss
of a relative, yet they can be strong when they think there
is no strength
left.
GIVE a hug and a kiss to heal a broken heart.
The heart of a woman
is what makes the world spin! Women have a lot to say
and a lot to give,
they can SPEAK OUT!
In the next issue: World Refugee Day March Sat 19
June. Do we want to become
a REFUGEE/ ISIPHEPHELI/ MUPOTERI?
Ask your
WOZA community leader for a copy of the Sisterhood Bond / Sungano
Yemadzimai
/ Isibopho Sabomama.
The Herald
Police hunt down British national
From Masvingo
Bureau
POLICE in Masvingo have launched a manhunt for a British national
Simon
Wadhams (40) who is wanted in connection with the externalisation of
large
sums of foreign currency estimated to be the equivalent of Z$3,5
billion.
Wadhams is the managing director of Steam Team Engineering in
Masvingo and
is suspected to have fled to South Africa after learning that
the police
were looking for him.
Investigations have so far revealed
that between 1997 and 2001, Wadhams
externalised over Z$3,5 billion into his
account with Yorkshire Bank in the
United Kingdom.
About two weeks
ago, police impounded over R75 000 and other small amounts
of foreign
currency equivalent to Z$88 million from Wadhams which he was
hiding in a
safe in a toilet at his Rhodene home in Masvingo.
He was also found with
badges of the Rhodesian forces, ammunition and
bayonets hidden in the house
and was fined $400 000 for contravening the
Defence and Firearms
Acts.
Masvingo police spokesman Assistant Inspector Elvis Nekapi
yesterday
confirmed that they were looking for Wadhams.
"We are
looking for Wadhams in connection with the externalisation of
foreign
currency since 1997.
"We have so far managed to find receipts of
externalised forex up to 2001
but we believe he could have externalised more
than that.
"At the moment, we are carrying on with investigations and we
suspect he
might be in South Africa where he is hiding," he
said.
Wadhams is alleged to have externalised US$ 635 204, R164 629 and
295 000
British pounds.
The Herald
Councils identify 5 farms for expansion
From Bulawayo
Bureau
THE Victoria Falls and Hwange councils have identified five farms for
the
expansion of their respective towns, said an official in the Ministry
of
Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.
This was said
by the provincial officer for operations in the Public Works
Department, Mr
Herbert Karuma, during the Provincial Development Committee
meeting held in
Bulawayo last week.
Mr Karuma said the farms identified for the expansion
of Hwange are an area
known as Stateland C area and Chikombe Farm while those
identified by the
Victoria Falls authorities are Okavango One, Okavango Two
and Ursula Farm.
The hectarage for Stateland C is 10 500ha while that of
Chikombe is 500ha
and the hectarage for the farms intended to be acquired by
the Victoria
Falls authorities was unavailable at the time.
Victoria
Falls, which has a population of slightly above 60 000, has a
housing waiting
list of about 10 000. Most residents in the town have
resorted to building
illegal shacks known as imikhukhu or baghdads.
The shacks started
sprouting up in the early 1990's and have since been
growing as many house
owners have been taking advantage of the acute housing
shortage in the town
to establish as many baghdads as their yards can hold
to maximise on the
money they get for rentals.
In February this year, each baghdad was
attracting rentals of about $20 000.
In a section of Chinotimba high density
area, known as emaRailway or
KumaRailway, most yards hold more than 10
baghdads and in some cases one
cannot even see the main houses because the
shacks obscure them.
The Herald
Missing vehicles sold at illegal auction - Shoko
Herald
Reporter
CHITUNGWIZA mayor Mr Misheck Shoko yesterday said the council's
missing
vehicles were sold at an illegal auction in 2000 but said the
vehicle
licences and insurances were being regularly updated to avoid
detection.
Three pick-up trucks, nine tractors and 11 lorry trailers,
worth an
estimated $1,5 billion are missing from Chitungwiza Town
Council.
"We were shocked to learn of the insurances for vehicles
believed to have
gone under the hammer some five or so years back with
registration books
being stamped 2004," Mr Shoko said.
He said town
clerk Mr Simbarashe Mudunge had confirmed that most of the
missing vehicles
were sold at the auction.
"He (Mr Mudunge) told me that the vehicle
auction was done way before he
came into office in 2000, although he was part
of the council," Mr Shoko
said.
Efforts to get a comment from Mr
Mudunge were futile yesterday.
However, Mr Shoko said they had discovered
that one of the missing vehicles
had been registered twice.
"Another
revelation was that one of the missing vehicles was actually
registered
twice," he said.
He said council was making concerted efforts to
ascertain how many vehicles
were missing and how the auction was
conducted.
"As much as we would want to investigate, I think we have to
leave the
matter to the police who are professionals in handling such cases,"
he said.
Mr Shoko said he had instructed council officials not to conduct
any
investigations saying that might interfere with police
investigations.
"We do not want to be seen interfering with police
investigations as we do
not have anything to hide," he said.
He said
he was prepared to see the matter to its logical conclusion saying
the scam
could have occurred before he came to office in 2002.
Investigations have
so far indicated that senior officials, working in
cahoots with junior
workers, allegedly sold the three trucks and shared the
spoils.
The
Herald also revealed that one of the trucks, a Mazda B2200, is now
registered
in the name of a company in Mahombekombe suburb in Kariba, while
another one,
a Datsun pick-up, is registered with a Harare carbreaker.
Also missing
are nine tractors - three Buffalos, five Massey Fergusons and
one Ford - and
their whereabouts are still a mystery, yet their registration
books are at
the municipality offices.
The Herald
Paradza to appear before disciplinary committee
Herald
Reporter
ZANU-PF MP for Makonde Cde Kindness Paradza will this Thursday
appear before
a five-member disciplinary committee in Mashonaland West
province to answer
to charges of alleged misconduct.
Cde Paradza was
suspended last month from carrying out party work in his
constituency pending
a disciplinary hearing.
He is being accused of undermining party and
Government programmes and
policies by serving foreign and enemy
interests.
The committee comprises the Zanu-PF Mashonaland West
provincial vice
chairman Cde John Mafa, provincial commissar Cde Philip
Muguti, secretary
for legal affairs Cde Pheneous Mariyapera, the deputy
chairperson of women's
affairs Cde Plaxedes Zezai and deputy youth chairman
Cde Ndambakuwa.
In a letter to Cde Paradza yesterday, Cde Mafa said the
MP could be given
minutes of the meeting at which it was resolved to suspend
him saying there
was no constitutional basis.
"There is no
constitutional basis or provision that stipulates that a member
facing
disciplinary action can or should be furnished with minutes of the
party's
meeting(s) concerning such member," Cde Mafa said.
This was in response
to Cde Paradza's letter dated May 20 in which he
requested the
minutes.
Cde Paradza also wanted to know the composition of the
disciplinary
committee, the time and the venue of the hearing.
"To
enable me to prepare for the hearing, could you please furnish me with a
copy
of the minutes of a provincial executive meeting held on April 26, 2004
which
resolved to issue me with a prohibition order.
"Be advised also that I
will exercise my right as prescribed under Article
10, Section 69 of our
Constitution," Cde Paradza wrote.
Investigations into Cde Paradza's
conduct arose following reports in the
Press that he was trying to buy a
controlling stake in Africa Tribune
Newspapers (Pvt) Limited - the publishers
of the weekly Tribune - and was
seeking the help of Associated Newspapers of
Zimbabwe officials to secure
financial support from Britain.
Cde
Paradza has dismissed the reports.
Daily News, Sri Lanka
'Toothless tiger' still holds good
By Elmo
Rodrigopulle
Richie Benaud, the former illustrious Australian skipper
tagged the
International Cricket Council as a toothless tiger, and went on to
say that
other than for meeting to decide when to meet again, does simply
nothing for
the game. How true!
What Benaud said then, still rings
true. If this is not so how can one
explain the Zimbabwe cricket fiasco and
the negative approach by the ICC.
The lords at Lord's recognised the Test
series between Sri Lanka and
Zimbabwe as official, and then turned around and
said that the Tests between
Australia and Zimbabwe would be
unofficial.
The Aussies gave the ICC a thundering slap and said that
there was no way
that they would play the two Tests, if they were going to be
tagged
unofficial. It was good thinking by the Aussies.
The ICC
realised that if the Aussies were to play the Zimbabweans, the
kangaroos
would make a mockery of the game by slaughtering the Zim lambs.
What is
interesting would be to see whether the lords would have the guts to
rule the
Sri Lanka-Zimbabwe Tests unofficial. They would dare not do that.
But to
allow the Three one-day games to proceed as internationals, is to
make a
mockery of those games. The Aussies are the best in the world in all
forms of
the game and are sure to break some of the existing records in the
one-day
game.
A batting record that is likely to be broken is the one held by
Pakistani
opener Saeed Anwar who holds the record with a blistering 194.
Batsmen of
the calibre of Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and
Andrew
Symonds are sure to have a go at this record.
Ban
Zimbabwe
What the ICC must do is to strip Zimbabwe of Test status, until
they get
their house in order. As the impasse stands now, there is not likely
to be a
settlement between the white players and the Zimbabwe Cricket
Union.
Those at war want to give it continuity. While it goes on the game
and
players are left to suffer. The Aussies are threatening to press for
the
exclusion of the Zimbabweans from the big league.
The Aussies must
not only threaten, but must go through with it, so that it
will serve as a
deterrent.
According to Eshan Mani, the lord of the Rings, there is no
way that the
Zims would be stripped of Test status. Then the question to Mani
is: For how
long would he allow the ugly situation prevailing in Mugabe land
to
continue?
As for us we are still at a loss to understand how
Zimbabwe were hugged into
the Test playing league, considering that they
sadly lack in infrastructure
and have only two Test playing venues.
If
the ICC gave Zimbabwe Test status to broadbase the game, the Zims have
sadly
not lived up to those expectations. So it would not be wrong to strip
them of
that exalted status.
New Zimbabwe
MDC, Zanu PF competent enough to pull Zim out of
mess
By Msekiwa Makwanya
Last updated: 05/25/2004 08:39:32
THE
idea of "Peace Talks" in Zimbabwe expected largely between the Movement
for
Democratic Change (MDC) and Zanu PF is predicated on the premise
that
diologue will result in a positive outcome of a political settlement
in
terms of what is perceived to be good for Zimbabwe.
To the ordinary
person in Zimbabwe "talks" should result in the
affordability, availability,
and accessibility of basic needs such as health
services, education, food,
clothing and shelter.It is however very difficult
for someone to understand
that, if all that Zanu PF and the MDC need to do
is to talk each other and
people's lives return to normalcy why has it taken
so long, if we have right
thinking politicians?
There is an assumption by some hawks in the ruling
party, that their party
will not engage in talks with the MDC because it is a
British sponsored
party. Jonathan Moyo and George Charamba seem to feel that
under the current
constitution, elections can only be held after a specified
period. Clearly
the situation in the country is grave, and what constitution
on earth would
stand in the way of people's attempt to resolve their problems
through
dialogue?
The Patriotic Front led by the late Joshua Nkomo and
Robert Mugabe were able
to go all the way to Britain and engage in talks with
Ian Douglas Smith (the
then racist Rhodesian Prime Minister) and Bishop
Muzorewa which resulted in
political independence after the Lancaster House
Agreement in 1979. Why then
is it difficult for Zanu PF to engage with the
MDC a recognised party that
literally and statistically represents almost all
the urban consituencies in
Zimbabwe?
The issue is about the cost of
telling the truth once one decides to engage
in talks and face the
consequences. The cost of awareness is reponsibility.
For many of us
responsibility equals struggle, effort, pain, and suffering.
The analysis of
the conditions in Zimbabwe at the moment shows that there is
a crisis of
expectations among Zimbabweans, with some people expecting some
people
(especially political leaders) to pay for what has happened in the
country,
while other people are giving too much authority to the MDC.
The
international community has not been very helpful, as it has not been
helpful
in the Midle East. People have had very high expectations of the
neighbouring
countries without realising that the world order is changing
and hypocrisy is
taking over under the leadership of George Bush and Tony
Blair on both sides
of the Atlantic.
The truth of the matter however is that, if our leaders
in Zanu PF and the
MDC do not stop their nonsense, not only will the povo
continue to suffer
but the children of the ruling elite will not continue to
enjoy luxury in a
sea of poverty. Poverty can tempt people to sell everything
they have in
order to survive, including their sovereignty although this is
not
acceptible, but desperate measures in desperate times make
people
unpredictable and dangerous.
The panacea of the crisis in
Zimbabwe is social justice, and any talks that
do not address social justice
will miss the point. Social justice will
require the MDC to address the undue
influence of the wealthy sections in
their party, and for Zanu PF accepting
responsibility for state of the
economy for the time they have run the
country is a serious moral
obligation.It is important for both parties to
realise that problems in
Zimbabwe cannot only be blamed away on other
people.
Zimbabwe has been so fortunate that it has people who are so
patient but we
should not allow ourselves to miss opportunities to solve our
problems
through negotiating because very few countries have used this
peaceful
route, especially in Africa. The cost of not talking to one another
is too
much and not worthy to pay by anyone. Every day that passes with
Zimbabwe in
crisis is disaster accumulating.
It takes courage to admit
our limitations, and allow others to carry on from
where we fail. It also
takes love on the part of the leaders to see
objectively and know the effect
of their actions on ordinary people. Our
leaders have a choice to make and
they know the truth.
This is not an issue for Thabo Mbeki, George Bush or
Tony Blair. We do not
need to give South Africa or Britain so much power as
to ask us to talk to
each other. Zanu PF and the MDC should not doubt their
competence to solve
the problems in Zimbabwe without outside help if they are
the parties worthy
leading the country.
I strongly agree with Brian
Kagoro that a compromise is possible. The MDC
can drop the election petition
and Zanu PF withdraws their charges against
Tsvangirai, and elections should
be agreed to be held under free and fair
conditions monitored by at least by
the UN, and SADC as well as the
Commonwealth.
Makwanya is a Social
Psychologist based in London
New Zimbabwe
Grace Mugabe's brother faces prosecution
By
Agencies
Last updated: 05/25/2004 07:52:51
ALMOST eight years after being
awarded the highest single claim of more than
Z$800 000 for wounds sustained
during the liberation war, Reward Marufu will
now finally be prosecuted for
allegedly defrauding the War Victims'
Compensation Fund in 1996.
As
the government embarks on a clean-up exercise to rid itself of those
deemed
corrupt, the net has finally closed on Marufu with the
Attorney-General's
Office recalling his docket, which the police have been
sitting on for more
than three years after its completion.
Marufu is brother to First Lady,
Grace Mugabe.
Should the prosecution take off, it is bound to open a can
of worms
considering that Marufu was not alone. Some Cabinet ministers,
senior
government, army, police and Central Intelligence officials were
also
accused of siphoning off more than Z$23 million of the Z$1,5 billion
which
is alleged to have been looted from the fund.
"It's (Marufu's
docket) outstanding. It is with the police and we are
waiting for one of the
officers, we tasked to bring the docket. We want to
recall the docket so that
we finalise the matter. I know that it has been in
the pipeline and it has
been a long pipeline," said an officer with the
Atttorney-General's Officer
this week.
Despite a recommendation seven years ago by the Geoffrey
Chidyausiku
Commission that Marufu be charged with defrauding the War
Victim's
Compensation, he still has not been brought before the courts to
face the
charges.
In 1997, Marufu was hauled before the Geoffrey
Chidyausiku judicial
commission to answer charges that he had defrauded the
War Victims'
Compensation Fund.
In his recommendations, Chidyausiku said
Marufu used false documents in his
application for
compensations.
Marufu, who received Z$822 668 for a 95 percent disability
claim, obtained
documents stating that he had failed to join the army in 1980
because of
injuries sustained during the war when he had actually joined the
army and
resigned on his own in 1989. Because of the documents, Marufu
was
compensated at a higher rate, which is meant for those who failed to
join
the army because of injuries suffered during the war.
Justice
Chidyausiku in his recommendations said: "The main issue with your
claim is
that you used a false statement in order to get a higher rate. It
is a
criminal offence, it is up to the Attorney-General to prosecute
or
not."
In 1997, the AG's Office said Marufu would not escape
prosecution if he was
found to have a case to answer and since then the
Attorney-General's Office
has been waiting for the docket from the police. It
was only in 1999 after
Marufu was recalled from Zimbabwe's embassy in Canada
over charges of
assaulting his 16-year-old daughter that the police quizzed
him in
connection with the fraud allegations.
During the same year,
retired High Court Judge George Smith questioned why
Marufu had not been
prosecuted over the alleged fraud. The Judge's comments
were contained in a
ruling he gave in a case of a civil servant, Amen
Sithole, who was accused of
allowing Marufu and others to allegedly defraud
the fund.
In March
2000, the AG's Office received Marufu's docket, but it was referred
back to
the police for further investigations. More than 18 months later in
December
2001, the Acting Attorney-General Bharat Patel told a local weekly
that
Marufu had not been prosecuted because the police were looking for
him.
The matter was ready for prosecution in 2001 but three years on he
still has
not been brought before the courts. Marufu's life has been dogged
by
controversy with a recent case where he grabbed Leaopardvlei farm
near
Glendale in 2002.
Political analysts are saying if President
Robert Mugabe is serious about
dealing with corruption, Marufu should be
prosecuted. Mugabe is on record
saying he will not shed a tear if a relative
or friend is arrested for
corruption.
From the Business Tribune
New Zimbabwe
CHIDO MAKUNIKE
Food as a weapon of
control
Last updated: 05/25/2004 07:14:31
THE kind of
socio-economic decline and political upheaval taking place
in Zimbabwe is far
from new to the human experience. All peoples at some
stage in their
development seem to have gone through dark periods like
Zimbabwe is
experiencing, and that unfortunately Africa in recent times has
seemed to
have had far more than its fair share of. So that politicians will
serve
interests quite the opposite of those of the people they insist they
act on
behalf of is not at all unique to Zimbabwe.
Yet for someone like me
knowing that the many evil things going on in
Zimbabwe are a sad part of the
negative part of human nature allowed to run
rampant is not much of a
consolation for seeing one's beloved country fail
and shoot itself in the
foot on so many fronts. It is one thing to
intellectually know that this
phase in the country's development has been
undergone by many other peoples
over thousands of years on all continents.
But that does not make it that
much easier to deal with what is going on
here now. It is also one thing to
read about similar happenings in some
distant land in a different age, but
quite another to be personally in the
eye of the storm.
One
would think someone who has lived in Zimbabwe through the period
of fast
deterioration of the last few years would have a jaded "anything can
happen"
attitude towards what any day may bring. Indeed there seems no limit
to the
crazy ability of the ruling regime to think of new ways to make
itself look
bad before the world while making life ever more miserable for
the
people.
Yet the regime of Mugabe never seems to run out of shock
moves that
seem to defy logic. An astonishing recent example of this was
the
announcement by the government last week that because a "bumper harvest"
was
expected this year, international food aid was no longer required. Food
self
sufficiency should be a matter of great pride for any country, so
after
several years of being dependent for handouts, this should be welcome
news.
Like much of Africa, the problems of donor fatigue and the
dependency
syndrome are real causes of concern. Why then has there been so
much
consternation about what would seem to be a positive pronouncement by
the
Mugabe regime?
One reason is that it's credibility with
regards to issues of food
security and other life or death matters is very
low. The last time the
minister of agriculture Joseph Made predicted a bumper
harvest after a
cursory helicopter trip around the country a few years ago,
there was great
hunger and many Zimbabweans depended on the goodwill of donor
agencies for
their sustenance. So a lot of the reaction is because many who
have forecast
this year's harvest positively in relation to previous years,
but much less
rosily than the government, simply believe that the governments
statistics
are either too hopeful or are outright lies.
But
surely no matter what the Mugabe regime has been accused of over
the years it
wouldn't be so heartless as to endanger the welfare of many of
its poorest
citizens by denying them access to food aid they might really
need, would it?
Many believe the government is quite capable of just that.
But what
could be the reasons for refusing aid if the government knew
it was needed,
or even if they were merely not certain that the harvest
would be enough for
the country's needs? Even if there were a bumper
harvest, isn't it strange
that a country coming out of years of a shortage
would refuse help that would
help it store its surplus for another drought
year likely to come sooner
rather than later?
It has been very awkward for the Mugabe regime
these past few years to
reconcile being dependent on food handouts while
claiming to be organising
an agricultural revolution. This has been a great
source of embarrassment,
and particularly a few months before a general
election, what the government
would be willing to do to try to convince the
world that this anomaly had
been corrected by increased production must not
be underestimated.
But the pronouncement of claimed food sufficiency
was not just in the
spirit of "thank you for keeping so many of our citizens
afloat all these
years, we think we are okay now." It was instead a rude,
hostile "to hell
with you donors." Why is this? Again, electoral
considerations influenced
the decision to push the donors out greatly. They
have long been accused of
using food aid to influence opinion against the
government and of being
sympathetic to the opposition.
You
certainly don't want such dangerous subversives wandering around
the
countryside influencing the people against the government, which in
spite of
its bravado and bluster and recent election wins seems less sure of
its real
hold on the people's minds than ever before. I suppose part of that
is
because having bribed large sections of the rural electorate to vote for
it
previously, they know only too well what a powerful weapon of control
food
is. Believing as they do in a grand world conspiracy against it, one
can sort
of understand how they would be terrified of that weapon being used
against
them, the same way they themselves have so effectively used it to
achieve
their ends!
There are reports of grain being surreptitiously bought
from Zambia
for strategic storage and/or electioneering, and being claimed to
be
evidence of Zimbabwe's "bumper harvest." For the eventual recipient of
the
grain it doesn't much matter where it came from, but the government
would
rather buy the grain with hard currency it could use for many other
pressing
needs for which there are no donors, than take the risk of losing
political
leverage by having food supplied by international
donors!
Even if there were a bumper harvest, the shortsightedness
of slighting
even a "neutral" donor like the United Nations in telling them
to
effectively buzz of is breathtaking. If the aid organisations leave in
a
huff as seems likely to happen with at least some of them, what would
happen
if there were a drought or something else a few years down the line
that
threatened famine?
Surely we should not be surprised if the
world reacted with very
little concern after the way these donors, never
really on the best of terms
with the regime in recent years because of the
widespread disagreement with
the regime's policies and methods, have been
told to go to hell pretty much.
Zimbabwe will be in a precarious economic
situation causing much hardship
for the poorest citizens for some time to
come. It simply doesn't need to
lose any more friends than it has done over
the years, but it seems the
paranoia levels are so high it is thought quite
acceptable to gamble with
the well being of millions of people this year and
possibly in the future by
attracting the maximum international ill
will.
I don't want to be like the minister who made an economic
forecast on
the basis of a helicopter ride. Yet it is striking how in
virtually any
direction you travel on the country's highways, the lush fields
of previous
years are simply not in evidence. One did not need to see figures
showing
Zimbabwe's agricultural prowess-it was so abundantly self-evident. If
the
land reform exercise has indeed produced the bumper harvest claimed
by
government, it is very strange that all the activity now takes place
far
away from sight.
One does hear of some new farmers,
particularly amongst the few who
got allocated land replete with all kinds of
infrastructure pretty much as a
going concern, making valiant efforts to farm
seriously on a large scale.
But the stories of their efforts are still mostly
anecdotal rather so
numerous and obvious that they are readily apparent. It
is very strange that
one can drive through hundreds of kilometers of
previously lush farmland in
a year of a bumper harvest and see so little
evidence of it. I have
previously joked that perhaps our biggest, most
successful new farmers are
too modest to want to show their skill by growing
their bumper crops where
we can see them!
As the old cliché
goes, we are all for land reform and want Zimbabwe
to work again. But we are
not helping ourselves by deluding ourselves as we
do about so many things,
from how easily and quickly we can recover from the
farming upheavals and
train a new commercial farming corps, to the prospects
of realistic economic
recovery any time soon.
I am afraid all the signs continue to point
to a long steep slide
ahead of us. I would dearly love to be proved wrong in
my prediction for my
own sake and that of the country.
Xinhua
Zimbabwe lashes out at Israel for offensives against
Palestinians
www.chinaview.cn
2004-05-25 04:28:26
HARARE, May 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Zimbabwe
lashed out at Israel on
Monday for its latest military offensives against
Palestinians, which had
resulted in the death of scores of women and
children.
In a statement, the Zimbabwean Ministry of Foreign
Affairs urged
the international community, particularly the United Nations,to
intervene
and restrain Israel.
In the latest clashes between
the two sides, at least 32
peoplewere killed and several homes destroyed,
particularly in the refugee
camps of Rafah and Jenaina.
The
ministry said Israeli actions ignored all "norms of
international
humanitarian law and sanctity of the value of human life" and
had worsened
the plight of Palestinians in the conflict.
"Zimbabwe expressed
grave concern at the tragic and violent acts
being perpetrated daily against
the Palestinians, a people who have an
inalienable and sovereign right to
live in peace within secure borders," it
said.
"Whilst we
welcome the UN Security Council resolutions condemning
Israel's actions, we
call for an immediate cessation ofall Israel military
operations which have
resulted in the loss of human life and destruction of
homes and properties,"
it added. Enditem