This text extracted from an email sent to us .............
"When Mr Rodriques first e-published his report, we had
considerable correspondence and phone discussions with him. We learned, as did
Mr Rodrigues, that at no time had he even visited our property, mentioned in his
report. When Mr Rodrigues was made aware of the fact that he had been mistaken
he retracted his allegations. (I have copied his retraction at the end of this
message)."
Founder Holistic
Management International
Chairman and
Founder
-----Original
Message-----
From: Johnny
Rodrigues
Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2004 11:38
AM
To: Undisclosed
recipient
Subject: ZCTF Report
correction
With regard to the last report I
sent out about my trip up to the Matetsi area to investigate the slaughter of
wildlife by illegal South African hunters, it has been brought to my attention
that parts of the report were factually incorrect and misleading. If any of you
forwarded this report to other people on your mailing lists, please ensure that
you also forward this correction to the same
people.
In the third paragraph of the
report, I stated that
It was due to my mistaken belief
that
In paragraph 6 of my report,
again due to the confusion with the farm names, I stated that I saw 2 National
Parks deep freezers on Waterford Farm when in fact, the place I saw the deep
freezers was Woodlands Estates. I did not visit
I sincerely regret any
inconvenience the errors in my report may have caused but I would like to point
out that in view of the close proximity of the 4 properties in question and the
fact that I don't intimately know the area, it was not difficult to make a
mistake.
Johnny
Rodrigues
Chairman for
Phone 263 4 336710
Fax 263 4 336710
www.zctf.mweb.co.zw
Mail & guardian
Johannesburg,
South Africa
25 May 2006 08:44
Zimbabwe has poured cold water on
the idea of the United Nations helping to
solve its economic and political
problems, Harare's Herald newspaper
reported on Thursday.
"I am
unaware of any UN intervention on Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is not a UN
issue," the
paper's website quoted Secretary for Information and Publicity
George
Charamba as saying.
"What I am aware of is a stale invitation, which was
extended to the UN
Secretary General [Kofi Annan] by President Robert Mugabe
at the time of the
clean-up operation."
This operation entailed a
demolition blitz last year to clear squatter camps
and other informal
settlements around Harare. It left an estimated 700 000
people
homeless.
Charamba, who is also Mugabe's spokesperson, said the situation
has now
changed,
"That clean-up operation long gave way to Operation
Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle
for the construction of houses for the displaced and
homeless, thereby
removing the original purpose of the
invitation."
South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki told a British
newspaper this week the
UN is central to help turn around the
situation.
"We are all awaiting the outcome of his intervention. What Mr
Annan is
interested in is that the circumstances must be created for
Zimbabweans to
face their real problems: the falling standard of living and
so on," Mbeki
said.
"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 sorts of outcomes."
Charamba
said his country's expectation had all along been that the UN
should have
challenged sanctions imposed against Zimbabwe by the European
Union and the
United States.
"Of course, we know the British and Americans have been
trying to use the UN
system to further their narrow foreign-policy goals. I
doubt whether
President Mbeki would want to be part of that intention." --
Sapa
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the
United Nations]
MAPUTO, 25 May (IRIN) - Save the Children-UK (SCF-UK)
in Mozambique has
raised the alarm over increasing numbers of Zimbabwean
children illegally
entering Mozambique to escape poverty at
home.
Many are AIDS orphans or unaccompanied, hoping to find a better
life in
better-off neighbouring Mozambique. Instead they can fall prey to
exploitation and abuse, including prostitution and child
labour.
While the evil of child trafficking is well recognised, SCF-UK
calls the
voluntary migration of children a "hidden phenomenon" that can
only be
effectively tackled if the children themselves are consulted and
involved in
the response.
"If these children, some of them as young
as 12 years, are able to cross a
border illegally and survive on their own,
then it doesn't make sense to
exclude their opinions in programming on how
best to serve their interests,"
said Chris McIvor, director of SCF-UK in
Mozambique. "But they have not yet
been given an adequate
voice."
Although the exact numbers of Zimbabwean children crossing the
Mozambican
border each day is unknown, a study by SCF released on Wednesday
pointed out
that "large numbers of these children are alone and extremely
vulnerable".
Zimbabwe is in its eighth year of economic decline, which
has cut GDP by 40
percent. McIvor, however, noted that child migration was
not a problem
peculiar to Zimbabwe, but a growing issue in the southern
African region.
"Mozambican children are entering South Africa illegally,
Angolans are
entering Namibia, and so on. When we have talked to these
children, they say
that they were not fully aware of what was going to face
them in the
countries. The children interviewed often thought they would
earn money
quickly," noted McIvor. The reality is that they often become
trapped in a
cycle of abuse and dependency.
The SCF study of
Zimbabwean children found that many young girls - some aged
as young as 12 -
ended up in the sex trade along the transport corridor
linking Zimbabwe to
the Mozambican port of Beira in Sofala province. Sofala
has the highest HIV
infection rate in Mozambique, at around 26 percent of
the adult
population.
In a previous study, SCF found that young Zimbabwean sex
workers living
illegally in settlements along the Zambezi River in central
Mozambique were
popular with men because they were exploitable.
"Many
Mozambican men tend to be sexually involved with Zimbabweans because
they
are cheaper," the report quoted a government official in the central
Mozambican town of Machipanda as saying. "With 30 to 40 thousand Meticais
[just over one US dollar], it is possible to have one afternoon or a night
of pleasure."
Zimbabwean girls are also employed in barracas -
informal, often rowdy
bars - and in restaurants. The owners see
English-speaking staff as a status
symbol, said the report.
Children
often find employment illegally on farms. Although the SCF study
could not
find a farmer ready to admit it, the provincial government in the
central
province of Manica confirmed that child labour occurred, with boys
paid up
to 900,000 Meticais (about 33 US dollars) a month for long, arduous
work
herding livestock or as farm hands.
SCF is looking to develop a range of
school magazines and radio programmes
targeting children, clearly spelling
out what it means to travel to another
country "without papers, family or
friends to support them, and for them to
know that the kind of problems they
will face will be massive and grave",
said McIvor.
SCF is also
calling for police and border officials to be provided with
additional
training on children's rights and abuse laws.
View report at:
http://1.1.1.1/483576500/37053368T060525202908.txt.binXMysM0dapplication/pdfXsysM0dhttp://www.reliefweb.int/library/documents/2006/sc-zim-24may.pdf
RA/OA/HE
[ENDS]
This
is non-reply e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact us at
Mail@IRINnews.org.
IRIN-SA
Tel:
+27 11 895-1900
Fax: +27 11 784-6759
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za
Principal
donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada,
Denmark, ECHO,
Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United
Kingdom and the
United States of America. For more information, go to:
http://www.IRINnews.org/donors
SW Radio Africa, 24 May
University of Zimbabwe student president tortured by police
By Violet Gonda
The President of the University of Zimbabwe Students Council, Tinei Mukweva, is reported to have been tortured by CID Law and Order officers. He was picked up on campus last Monday as part of the government’s crack down on student protests. Students have been protesting the huge fee increases for tuition and during one protest a computer lab had been burned down in Bindura. Trevor Murai the Secretary General of the Students Council said Mukweva was clearly not involved in this as he was on the UZ campus in Harare at the time. Murai visited Mukweva at Harare Central Tuesday and said he was extremely concerned about him. He said the student president was "coughing blood,’ when he saw him in detention. The Secretary General also reported that Mukweva has now been moved to Bindura Central police station and is being denied food. Mr Murai is currently soliciting support from students and former student leaders as he fears that the President of the Students Council could be fatally injured as he also suffers from a heart problem. Meanwhile the President of Zinasu, Promise Mkhwananzi, is on the run on the same allegations.
May 25,
2006,
By Andnetwork .com
THE Deputy Minister of Health and Child
Welfare, Edwin Muguti, allegedly
attempted to unprocedurally discipline a
parliamentary portfolio committee
following publications in the media of
reports he deemed negative on the
state of the health delivery system in the
country.
The media reports emanated from the parliamentary portfolio
committee on
Health and Child Welfare’s tour of State medical institutions
in Harare and
the Midlands province to assess service delivery last
year.
The committee toured Harare Central, Beatrice Infectious Disease,
Gweru
Provincial and Shurugwi District hospitals last
November.
Presenting the tour report to the House of Assembly yesterday,
committee
chairperson Blessing Chebundo said: “We want this to be noted by
the House
that the committee was not happy with the behaviour of the deputy
minister
of health following publications in the media of reports on the
trip that I
believe also reflected the situation on the ground.”
He
added: “The deputy minister was not happy with the coverage of the visits
and he tried to discipline the committee by summoning it. We believe he was
not well-versed with the processes of Parliament. Parliament should hold
inductions for those that are new on its procedures.”
Muguti represents
Chirumhanzu constituency in the House of Assembly and was
elected during the
March 31 general elections last year. Chebundo, however,
said the
committee’s working relationship with Minister, David Parirenyatwa
was
cordial.
At Harare Central some staffers told the committee that they
sometimes
watched patients die due to shortages of drugs while at Beatrice
they were
told that only two doctors were attending to
patients.
Parliamentary committees are protected by Parliamentary Immunities
and
Privileges Act and can summon officials from the government or
departments
that are under their supervision.
Turning to his report,
Chebundo said poor remuneration was forcing medical
personnel to leave the
country with some specialist areas having a vacancy
rate of 70
percent.
“Shortages of human resources are contributing to the sub-standard
services
being delivered today. There is (a) 70 percent vacancy rate in some
categories and this sent shivers down the spines of the committee
members.
“The general working conditions are not attractive and we
believe government
should give much more to the sector,” he said. Chebundo
said the ideal
situation was for the health sector to be allocated funds not
less than 15
percent of the total budget.
On the drug supply situation,
he said, it remained critical especially with
reference to Anti-Retrovirals
(ARVs), adding that those on the waiting list
were going for between 6
months to a year before accessing the
life-prolonging drugs.
“In December
(2005) those who were on the waiting list then were promised to
get onto the
programme in June this year. We believe that we would be
condemning people
to death if they had to wait for that long,” Chebundo
added.
There are
over 400 000 people in need of ARVs although only 30 000 are
accessing the
drugs in both public and private sectors.
Source : Daily Mirror
VOA news
' | |
Washington 25 May 2006 |
U.N. officials say
Secretary-General Kofi Annan is exploring ways of resolving Zimbabwe's economic
and political crisis. Those officials described talk of President Robert
Mugabe's imminent retirement as "premature".
Robert Mugabe
Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari says U.N. officials are in constant contact with Zimbabwe's government on ways to rescue the country's struggling economy. His comment came a day after South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki said the key to halting Zimbabwe's slide toward economic and political crisis lies in the world body's hands.
South African media reports have suggested that a deal under consideration by Secretary-General Annan would include a package of international aid in return for an agreement by Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to retire.
But speaking to reporters Wednesday, Undersecretary General Gambari called talk of such a deal "premature" "Zimbabwe faces enormous economic and social challenges. Their inflation rate has hit over one-thousand percent, and a country that used to be breadbasket of region is facing a lot of challenges. So whatever the United Nations can do, including the good offices role of the secretary-general will continue. It's premature to talk about any package, and even more premature to talk about that package including possible departure of President Mugabe," he said.
Mr. Annan's spokesman Stephane Dujarric Wednesday confirmed that the secretary-general is paying close attention to the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe, and has left open the possibility of a visit to Harare at some future date.
"He has been exploring through emissaries and others whether there is a possibility of movement on the political and economic front in Zimbabwe, ahead of a possible visit, but it would be premature to characterize it at this stage as an initiative or even a package," he said.
President Mugabe invited the Secretary-General to visit last year after a U.N. report condemned his government's slum destruction campaign, calling it a "disastrous venture". Government officials justified the campaign as a much-needed effort to drive out illegal squatters and criminals.
The 77-year old Mugabe has been in power since the country formerly known as Rhodesia gained independence from Britain in 1980. He has often accused opponents of conspiring with international critics, and suggested that his government may be a target for "regime change" by foreign powers.
The Zimbabwean
BY MAGAISA
IBENZI
WARD 12, PARIRENYATWA HOSPITAL, HARARE - Am I the only one who
believes that
the war veterans, whom we have always regarded as our
liberators, have now
been turned into a destructive force?
When I look
back over the years, back to 1997/98, I remember very well
hordes of war
veterans blocking roads and processing along Samora Machel
Avenue, smashing
cars and shop windows, and storming Mugabe's office -
leaving a trail of
destruction in their wake - with Chenjerai Hunzvi
frothing at the mouth and
demanding that they be paid for their role in
liberating this country 17
years before.
By doing this I felt they cheapened their noble and heroic role
as
liberators of their country. We all paid a price for our country -
naturally some paid more than others - but it was never counted in hard
cash. Our reward was our independence.
What happened as a result? The
payout immediately led to a crash of the
Zimbabwe dollar, which had managed
to hold steady for a very long time prior
to that fateful day.
The
economy has never recovered from that day.
Three years later they were at it
again. This time invading farms, murdering
people, and generally destroying
or looting everything that moved.
During the 2000 general elections, they
allowed themselves to be used once
again by Zanu (PF) to do the dirty work
- intimidate, thrash, rape, torture
and terrorise the general populace just
in case anyone had any intention of
supporting and or voting for the
opposition MDC.
This resulted in the world refusing to recognise the results
of that
election. Even our own High Court nullified several of the results
because
there was ample proof of wholesale intimidation.
Then the
government forgot them again, as it had done for 17 years prior to
1997.
But now with the winter of discontent looming, they find their
services
required once again by Zanu (PF).
By the way, isn't it remarkable that the
number of war veterans (established
officially in 1980 as being around
50,000) has remained more or less static
all these years? - despite the
national HIV/AIDS pandemic that has claimed
the lives of millions of
Zimbabweans over the past two decades. The other
remarkable thing is that
these very war vets seem to get younger and younger
by the year. They must
be taking something really powerful zhing-zhong
elixir of youth that is
denied to the rest of the population.
Once again the call has gone out from
Shake-shake house that the 50 000
gallant war vets will now be incorporated
into the regular army. What about
paying them? Well, of course, we all know
about Mugabe's voodoo economics
and that wonderful machine at Fidelity
Printers that can churn out bearer's
cheques faster than you can say Bob's
your uncle!
I must say I'm surprised that these aged veterans can even
contemplate
starting a new career in the army at this stage of the game.
They must have
been at least 20 years old in 1980. Which means the very
youngest of them
are now 46. Life expectancy in Zimbabwe these days is 37
for men - so that
means all are well past their "Sell by" date. And I'm sure
they are tired as
well. And don't forget, just about every one of them is
disabled. Remember
when they were all examined by Doctor (or was that
nurse?) Hunzvi for
payouts from the Compensation Fund? (The trouble was,
most of the chefs
beat them to it.)
Anyway, I would be the first to admit
that these comrades have had a raw
deal. But to be recruited into the dad's
army at this stage must surely be
the toughest blow of all.
Africa needs to wage a second liberation struggle against
neo-colonialism
and racism to transforming itself into a fully liberated
zone, Zimbabwean
Minister for Public and Interactive Affairs Chen
Chimutengwende said on
Wednesday.
He was speaking at the Africa Day
Symposium organized by the Association of
African Heads of Missions to
commemorate Africa Day at the University of
Zimbabwe.
"If the second
liberation struggle is not waged, it means neo- colonialism,
subtle racism,
exploitation and oppression will remain intact and will
continue to be
consolidated in the world," he said.
The struggle would pave way for a
continental government with the capacity
and the commitment to lead to
Africa's recovery from poverty, HIV/AIDS,
corruption, wars and many other
problems of under development.
"Africa is one of the richest regions of the
world and yet most of its
people are some of the poorest on earth," said
Chimutengwende.
More than 50 percent of Africans live on less than one U.S.
dollar a day
while it also has the largest mortality rate of 108 per 1,000
and a life
expectancy of 40, he said.
The figures accurately described
the African condition which was fast
deteriorating as a result of the
continent's exploitation by the west, he
said.
This year the symposium,
which marks 43 years of existence of the African
Union (formerly the
Organization of African Unity), was held under the
theme, Working together
for Integration and Development.
Source: Xinhua
| |
|