AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
News Flash
AI
Index: AFR 46/017/2004 (Public)
News Service No: 135
28 May
2004
Zimbabwe: Mrs Kidd's life and safety threatened
Amnesty International is gravely concerned for the safety and life of
Mrs.
Birgit Kidd, a Finnish citizen living in Zimbabwe.
According to
reports received by Amnesty International, Mrs Kidd was
alleged to have been
assaulted and taken from her home in Chimanimani,
eastern Zimbabwe today, 28
May 2004. A group of people, which may have been
several hundred strong,
reportedly stoned her home, then dragged her through
Chimanimani and forced
her to clean up local offices of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC).
The MDC offices were earlier allegedly destroyed by
members of the same group
who are responsible for the assault, detention and
humiliation of Mrs.
Kidd.
Amnesty International telephoned the local police at 12.30pm
(UK time)
but they were unable to provide any information.
The
organization is gravely concerned that the local police may not be
taking
appropriate action to safeguard Mrs. Kidd.
"The Zimbabwe Republic
Police should act immediately to ensure the
safety of Mrs. Kidd," Amnesty
International urged.
The organization previously took action, in
May 2002, on behalf of
Mrs. Kidd's husband, Michael Shane Kidd, who was
allegedly assaulted while
in police detention in Chimanimani.
VOA
Political Unrest Forces Closing of Zimbabwe Town
Peta
Thornycroft
Harare
28 May 2004, 17:38 UTC
A town in eastern
Zimbabwe was closed down Friday as ruling ZANU - PF party
supporters staged a
violent demonstration against an opposition member of
parliament. The
legislator, Roy Bennett, had recently scuffled with two
government ministers
on the floor of the parliament, after one of them
taunted him with insults.
Witnesses say the office of the opposition party,
the Movement for Democratic
Change, in the town of Chimanimani was largely
destroyed.
Shopkeepers said
Friday they were forced to close their businesses by the
ruling ZANU PF so
that their workers could take part in the demonstration
against Mr.
Bennett.
There has been a sporadic violence in Mr. Bennett's home
province of
Manicaland since he knocked down two cabinet ministers on the
floor of the
parliament earlier this month. Many workers in Chimanimani took
to the dusty
streets to demonstrate against Mr. Bennett, who has been warned
by the
government not to return to his constituency in the province. The
legislator
was not in Chimanimani at the time the MDC offices were attacked
on Friday.
An eyewitness from the town, who asked not to be named, said
the offices
were extensively damaged in the attack.
Police in
Chimanimani refused to comment on the unrest, but one local
businessman said
there was no police presence in the streets during the
demonstration.
The
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
Monday
May 17th – Sunday May 23rd 2004
Weekly
Media Update 2004-20
CONTENTS
General
comment
The
rule of law
Economic
issues
1.
GENERAL COMMENT
The
week witnessed yet another assault on Press freedom with the arrest of The Standard Editor Bornwell Chakaodza and
reporter Valentine Maponga on Wednesday May 19th. They were arrested
over a story the paper published in which relatives of the slain Bindura Nickel
mine chief executive officer, Leonard Chimimba, were quoted blaming government
officials for his death (The
Herald, the Zimbabwe
Independent 21/5).
The two were later released on the same day
after signing warned and cautioned statements.
However,
barely two days after their release, the police rearrested the journalists early
on Friday (May 21) morning and charged them under the Public Order and Security
Act (POSA) for allegedly endangering public safety by publishing a story that
allegedly implied the country was being run by “a government of
murderers”, according to The
Standard (23/5).
They
were later released on $50,000 bail each.
The
Mail and Guardian (21/5) pointed out that it was
the seventh time in two years that Chakaodza has been arrested.
But
his persecution is not an isolated case. Many journalists from the private media
have suffered a similar fate since POSA and the equally repressive Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) were promulgated more than two
years ago.
None
of the journalists working for the government media have been charged under the
two laws despite a blatant disregard for the basic tenets of journalism on a
regular basis by these media.
For
example, this week The Herald
(19/5) reported that a senior coordinator and researcher from the Institute of
Security Studies, Ben Coetzee, had been arrested after he allegedly sodomised a
21-year-old Zimbabwean. In an attempt to give the impression that Coetzee was in
the country on a clandestine mission, the paper tried to link his organization
with civic organizations perceived to be anti-government, such as Transparency
International and Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition. It also noted that he
specialized “in
strategic operational profiling and intelligence operations
management”, adding that the police “were now investigating what
business Coetzee intended to conduct in the country”.
However,
it emerged through a letter from the Head of Interpol Sub-Regional Bureau for
Southern Africa, Kenny Kapinga, published in The Herald (20/5) that the paper’s story was
laden with falsehoods. For example, Kapinga pointed out that Coetzee was in the
country on official Interpol business and the police knew of his visit. While
the paper gave the impression that Coetzee was still in police custody, Kapinga
revealed that he had been released and allowed to return to South Africa
“unconditionally”.
The letter also revealed that the Zimbabwean youth, who escaped from the police
during investigations, had tried to rob Coetzee. The paper made no effort to
correct its original story in its news pages.
In
another case, Lands Minister John Nkomo accused The Herald of publishing falsehoods when
it claimed on Monday that problems had emerged in the land reform programme
since Nkomo’s appointment to the portfolio (The Herald, 20/5 and The Tribune, 21/5). The minister was
quoted as saying the report was “false” as
demonstrated by its reliance on unnamed sources. Despite Nkomo’s clarification
the paper maintained that it “stands by its
story”.
The
government appointed Media and Information Commission has been conspicuous by
its deafening silence on such matters.
2.
THE RULE OF LAW
The
government-controlled media’s collusion with the authorities in undermining the
rule of law and presenting ZANU PF’s philosophy as representative of public
opinion was evident in their unbalanced, inflammatory and racist coverage of the
assault in Parliament on Cabinet ministers Patrick Chinamasa and Didymus Mutasa
by opposition MDC MP for Chimanimani Roy Bennett.
They
allowed ZANU PF officials and ruling party activists to use racist and blatantly
threatening language to attack Bennett without identifying this as being
inflammatory and constituting dangerous incitement to violence.
Chinamasa’s
crudely racial and offensive provocation of the MDC legislator was also
conveniently omitted.
With
their news angle based on this perspective of the fracas, the government media
used the incident as a springboard to launch a vitriolic attack on the MDC,
perpetuating ZANU PF’s claims that the opposition was inherently violent.
This
uncritical and biased coverage of the issue simply magnified the incitement and
hatred expressed by ruling party officials and its supporters, and coupled with
the state security agencies’ selective application of the law tended to
corroborate widely held concerns by local and international observers about the
breakdown of the rule of law in the country.
ZTV
(18/5, 8pm) was at the forefront of the government media’s unprofessional and
xenophobic coverage. It claimed that Bennett’s attack on the two ministers
demonstrated the violent nature of the MDC, without clearly explaining the
circumstances leading to the incident.
The
Herald and Chronicle (19/5) followed suit.
The
Herald story, Bennett’s behaviour riles Zimbabweans,
appeared calculated to give the impression that his behaviour had so incensed
all Zimbabweans they wanted revenge.
The
paper quoted “scores
of Zimbabweans” threatening retribution against Bennett. However,
only four people were quoted and half of them were unnamed.
One
of these unnamed sources accused Bennett of suffering from a “colonial mentality and
hangover” while the other one, a Harare woman, claimed that if
the ministers did not retaliate “we, as women, will organise
ourselves and descend on Parliament to deal with
Bennett.”
Similar
views from unnamed selected members of the public appeared on ZTV (19/5, 8pm)
that evening. One of them was quoted
saying, “If we were
there (in Parliament) we would have crushed him. In fact, I don’t think things
will be fine for him if we meet him”.
Instead
of subjecting such incitement to scrutiny, the newsreader stated: “…The MDC has always resorted to
violence whenever democratic means such as the ballot box have failed to achieve
their goals”.
As
proof, the reporter then chronicled incidents, which he claimed were a testimony
of the MDC’s violent nature. Several MDC MPs were named as facing charges of
violence.
However,
the reporter omitted to say that none of the implicated opposition legislators
have been convicted on such charges.
Rather,
the station featured government’s Media and Information Commission chairman,
Tafataona Mahoso, and ZANU PF activist William Nhara, masquerading as
“political analysts
and social commentators”, invoking an unwarranted racist
perspective and smearing the opposition.
Nhara
was quoted as saying Bennett’s actions “reflects the remnants of a legacy
which believed that the only way to talk to an African is through beating
them”.
Mahoso
called for the “severest
punishment”, saying Bennett was “representing a party that
contains racists” which “for the last three years has been
fomenting violence among our people”.
However,
the private media presented sober and balanced coverage of the issue. While
condemning Bennett’s actions, they also challenged Chinamasa’s spiteful and
gratuitous attack on the MP.
For
example, they revealed that Chinamasa had abused parliamentary privilege by
digressing from his response to a parliamentary legal committee’s adverse report
on the Stock Theft Amendment Bill to focus on alleged “cattle thefts” by
Bennett’s British ancestors (The Daily
Mirror, 19/5; Studio 7, 19/5; and The Standard, 23/5).
The
Daily Mirror
quoted Chinamasa referring to Bennett as an “inheritor of looted wealth…land
and cattle…and (one) who owns the whole of Chimanimani”, language
criticized by The Standard as “intemperate, uncouth,
vituperative” and “unbecoming of a government
minister and one (who is) supposed to preside over the country’s justice
system”.
It
was only the private media that accessed the MDC’s perspective of the
parliamentary scuffle. SW Radio Africa (19/5) and the Zimbabwe Independent (21/5) quoted MDC
spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi echoing The Standard’s viewpoint. He told the Independent that while the MDC did not
condone Bennett’s actions, neither did it condone “the demeaning, hurtful, wicked,
barbaric and provocative racial and personal slurs and insults hurled at
Bennett” by Chinamasa.
Studio
7 (19/5) and The Standard quoted
Bennett himself attributing his flare-up to the failure by parliamentary
authorities to protect him from Chinamasa’s personal insults.
Studio
7 (20/5) also revealed that Mutasa had kicked Bennett during the melee. Mutasa
was quoted confirming this: “You don’t just wait there when a
mad man is charging at you. It’s true. I kicked him very hard.
What’s wrong with that?”
But
the government media ignored this, preferring to push ZANU PF’s neurotic racist
rhetoric as a mirror of national opinion.
As
a result, the government media presented the ZANU PF-organised demonstrations to
protest Bennett’s behaviour as a spontaneous response by angry Zimbabweans
against the dehumanizing treatment of blacks by unrepentant whites as
personified by “former
Rhodesian police officer” Bennett.
It
was in this light that ZBC (20/5, 8pm) and The Herald (21/5) reported ZANU PF’s
information secretary for Harare, Winston Dzawo, misinforming the nation when he
claimed that Bennett’s action was not only an “assault” on the
two cabinet ministers “but also on the people of
Zimbabwe who elected the ministers and the President who appointed them to their
posts”. But neither The
Herald nor ZBC pointed out that Chinamasa had been
elected.
The
government media passively reported on the inflammatory language used by ZANU PF
officials and demonstrators in clear breach of the Public Order and Security Act
(POSA).
For
example, Harare governor Witness Mangwende was reported in The Herald as banning Bennett from the
province, warning, “…If we see him walking in the
streets of Harare we will revenge.” A similarly violent threat
was issued by ZANU PF’s Manicaland provincial chairman Mark Madiro, quoted by SW
Radio Africa (20/5) “banning” Bennett from entering Manicaland, where his
constituency is located, adding that he would be killed if he did
so.
The
private station also reported that Mangwende had called for “Bennett’s head”
and told protestors
“to do a thorough job
if they find him.”
Mines
Minister Amos Midzi was reported as having threatened that, “all MDC MPs will not walk the
streets of Harare”.
In
fact, the dangerous effects of this appalling incitement by ZANU PF officials
were fully exposed by the private media. SW Radio Africa & Studio 7 (20/5),
The Daily Mirror, The Tribune and
the Zimbabwe Independent (21/5)
reported that following the officials’ address to the demonstrators, a mob
marched to the MDC’s headquaters, Harvest House, under police escort and
inflicted extensive damage to its offices.
However,
instead of arresting those responsible for the violence, the private media noted
that the police arrested four MDC officials inside the
building.
While
these media condemned the inaction of the police in preventing the violence and
the cynically selective application of law, the government media ignored these
incidents and presented the demonstration as having been
peaceful.
At
the same time it became clear from a report on Studio 7 (20/5) that ZANU PF
would allow unruly individuals to take the law into their own hands. The station
quoted Mutasa as saying he would not guarantee Bennett’s safety because he was
the “most undesirable
element in Zimbabwe” adding that the authorities would let
“the events unfold in
the country, and if the people go violent against Bennett, and if he gets hurt
in the process, it is his own lookout. That is what he has been inviting and he
is going to have it.”
3.
ECONOMIC ISSUES
As
Zimbabweans were witnessing a fresh bout of price rises, the government media
used news of a decline in inflation by 78 percent (to 505%) to drown out the
need to address the inflationary effects of the price increases. While they
credited the rein on inflation to the monetary policies of Reserve Bank Governor
Gideon Gono, the government media refused to temper this success with any
analysis of the real economic situation indicated by the new spiral in
prices.
For
example, The Herald (17/5),
unquestioningly echoed a faceless analyst who ambitiously projected that
“year-on-year
inflation rate would decline to 475% this month…and 175% in
November”. No credible explanation was provided to justify this
projection except suggestions that “improved inflows of the US dollar
and other hard currencies”
would continue to have a positive bearing on
inflation.
Radio
Zimbabwe (17/5, 8pm) quoted economic analyst Jonathan Kadzura echoing similar
views, saying inflation would continue to fall because “there is less money on the
market… We no longer have that disease because of fiscal discipline that has
been implemented by the RBZ. This is causing a decrease in prices. Inflation
will further decline in the next few days because there would be more food on
the market and more products from factories…”
This
contrasted sharply with private media reports, which predicted an upward trend
in the inflation rate (Studio 7, 17/5; The
Daily Mirror, 18/5; Financial
Gazette, 20/5; and The
Tribune, 21/5).
For
example, The Daily Mirror quoted
named economic analysts attributing an imminent rise in inflation to the new
exchange rate, which has since pushed up the prices of goods and
services.
Gordon
Moyo was quoted on Studio 7 noting that a recent 50 percent salary hike for
civil servants and the central bank’s directive to commercial banks to allow
clients to withdraw any amount of cash would also contribute to a rise in
inflation.
In
addition, while the government media claimed that the manufacturing sector was
expected to reduce prices, The
Tribune quoted named economic analysts from the Open Learning Centre
as saying the sector was likely to nosedive due to consumers’ shrinking
disposable incomes and high electricity bills.
Meanwhile,
the Zimbabwe Independent reported (21/5) that President
Mugabe appeared to be undermining Gono’s efforts to re-engage international
monetary agencies to help bail Zimbabwe out of its foreign currency squeeze. The
paper reported Mugabe telling a Kenyan newspaper that Zimbabwe did not need the
intervention of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The
Independent questioned this
apparent contradiction in policy between Gono and Mugabe and asked whether the
President’s utterances, which “continue to throw spanners in the
works”, were personal or represented government
policy.
The
government media did not address the matter.
Rather,
their public relations crusade to protect Governor Gono took on a personal
perspective as demonstrated by the way The
Herald (20/5) seemed to set the agenda on who should and should not
be investigated by the police.
Responding
to a report in The Sunday Times
of South Africa alleging that Gono may have played a part in the unlawful
withdrawal of foreign currency by the incarcerated Finance Minister Chris
Kuruneri from the Jewel Bank when Gono was still the chief executive there,
The Herald used unnamed
“highly placed sources
involved in the case” to exonerate him from any
wrongdoing.
The
faceless sources claimed that a “thorough”
investigation was done before Kuruneri’s arrest and “it was found beyond reasonable
doubt that the statement made by Dr Gono during the investigations was credible
and useful”. Why was there no official comment from the police on
such an important issue? The paper could only offer unnamed commentators
speculating about red herrings…
Ends.
The
MEDIA UPDATE was produced and circulated by the Media Monitoring Project
Zimbabwe, 15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4 703702,
E-mail: monitors@mmpz.org.zw
Feel
free to write to MMPZ. We may not able to respond to everything but we will look
at each message. For previous MMPZ
reports, and more information about the Project, please visit our website at http://www.mmpz.org.zw
FinGaz
UN snubs Zim DRC role
Hama Saburi
5/28/2004 8:14:50 AM (GMT +2)
ZIMBABWE, previously seen as key to
the resolution of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC) crisis, risks
being written out of the script
ahead of the reconstruction of the
diamond-rich country after being excluded
from a crucial visit to the
sub-region by the United Nations (UN)
peacekeeping chief.
Diplomatic sources were unanimous that Zimbabwe's exclusion from
the
week-long visit to the region by the UN under-secretary general
for
peacekeeping operations, Jean-Marie Guehenno, amounted to a snub by
the
world body. They said the move belittled the country's role in the DRC
war
that lasted over three years.
During those years Zimbabwe,
which sent its troops to the war-torn
country in 1998, had always been under
pressure to withdraw its soldiers.
It however stuck to its guns on
the pretext that it had been invited
by the legitimate and sovereign
government of the late Laurent Kabila, which
had just taken over from the
eccentric Mobutu Sese Seko. Zimbabwe only
pulled its troops out some three
years ago.
It had been hoped that Zimbabwe would benefit from
reconstruction of
the war-ravaged vast central African country. This is now
increasingly
remote given the new twist. So far intermittent forays by
Zimbabwean
companies into the DRC have at best produced mixed
results.
The UN mission in the Congo has defended its decision to
exclude
Zimbabwe, a key ally of the DRC government, from Guehenno's
itinerary.
Confirming that Zimbabwe was not part of the tour, a
spokesperson for
the UN mission in the DRC, Hamadoun Toure, told The
Financial Gazette this
week: "No doubt Zimbabwe played a major role in the
DRC conflict, but its
absence from Mr Guehenno's itinerary should not be
interpreted in a
suspicious manner."
Hamadoun claimed the focus
was being put on the two neighbours of the
DRC, Rwanda and Uganda, in order
to give a new impetus to the current
process of normalising relations between
them and the DRC.
"As you might know, last September a high-level
meeting was held in
New York between the DRC and some of its neighbours,
including Uganda and
Rwanda. A declaration of principles of good neighbourly
relations was
accepted. The Kigali and Kampala legs would also be a new
opportunity to
review the disarmament, demobilisation and repatriation of
Ugandan and
Rwandan armed groups still present here," he said.
Guehenno arrived in Kinshasa, the capital city of the DRC, on
Wednesday last
week for a working visit that took him to Rwanda and Uganda,
which were
assisting rebel forces in fighting the DRC government backed by
allied
soldiers from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola. South Africa, which was
reluctant
to take the military plunge in the DRC, makes up the last leg of
Guehenno's
itinerary.
"As for South Africa, this country played a key role in
the successful
organisation and conclusion of the inter-Congolese dialogue,
which led to
the ongoing transition. When President (Thabo) Mbeki was
chairing the
African Union, his country hosted the signing of the agreement
between
Rwandan and DRC governments and President Mbeki, along with
UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, was a member of the Third Party Mechanism
put
in place to oversee the agreement," added the mission's
spokesperson.
Guehenno was due to hold talks with Congolese
authorities and members
of the International Committee to Support the
Transition. The
under-secretary general was also expected to travel to the
DRC troublespots
of Bunia, Bukavu and Uvira. He was also scheduled to check
on progress on
the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in Ituri and
Kivu.
Sources said Zimbabwe, which sent troops to defend the DRC
without the
ratification of Parliament (which followed some nine months later
only as a
fait accompli), and its regional allies should be consulted on
the
deployment of UN troops in the Congo and the world body's progress
in
bringing lasting peace to the mineral-rich country.
It is
believed that hundreds of Zimbabwean troops perished in the DRC
war, whose
funding also hurt the country's fragile economy. There are no
official
estimates on the Zimbabwean casualties or how much the war cost
the
country.
Analysts said the UN had not been too happy with
Zimbabwe's
involvement in the DRC following a 2002 report which accused an
elite
network of Congolese and Zimbabwean individuals and companies of
having
transferred ownership of at least US$5 billion worth of assets from
the
state mining sector to private companies under its control in the
previous
three years with no compensation or benefit for the state treasury
of the
DRC.
A UN Security Council resolution of March 12 2004
repeated its
condemnation of the illegal activities taking place mainly in
the DRC's
mining areas despite an arms embargo imposed in July 2003 and
repeated calls
for the Congolese government to help end illegal trade in the
country's
resources.
A panel of UN experts reported to the
Security Council last October
that it had drawn the attention of companies to
the disastrous situation in
the DRC and the human tragedy occurring in
conflict areas.
An earlier report made public in October 2002
recommended that
financial restrictions be placed on 29 companies based in
Belgium, Rwanda,
Uganda, the DRC, Zimbabwe and South Africa and that travel
bans and
financial restrictions be imposed on 54 individuals.
FinGaz
Chimimba murder probe exposes massive graft
Staff Reporter
5/28/2004 8:15:51 AM (GMT +2)
INVESTIGATIONS into the gruesome murder of Bindura Nickel Corporation
(BNC)
boss Leonard Chimimba have taken a new twist amid indications
that
multinational companies suspected of concealing exports of platinum
group
metals (PGMs) over the past two decades could be drawn into the
imbroglio.
Highly placed sources told The Financial Gazette this
week that
Chimimba, who was gunned down outside his Harare home recently, may
have
become a great source of unease in ongoing investigations to plug
illegal
exports of minerals and a spate of natural resource thefts that have
hit
Zimbabwe of late.
Intelligence sources said the BNC chief
executive was one of the key
officials who had been interviewed by state
agencies in connection with
allegations that the nickel producer and Rio
Tinto Zimbabwe could have
concealed PGMs.
The sources said the
concealment, which was immediately denied by the
companies interviewed by The
Financial Gazette this week, was being done by
way of false export
documentation where the PGMs - namely platinum,
palladium, iridium, gold and
silver, which are by-products in the production
of nickel - were exported as
copper cement.
Zimbabwe, the sources said, would only be paid for
copper exports and
not for the PGMs. The so-called copper cement was
transported to Switzerland
and Germany, where companies (names supplied)
would separate the metals.
The nickel refinery process is said to
yield significant quantities of
PGMs and gold as by-products and these are
suspected not to have been
declared by local mining concerns.
Didymus Mutasa, the Minister responsible for Anti-Corruption,
confirmed the
investigations were ongoing and would not give a time frame as
to when they
would be wrapped up.
Mutasa said: "They (investigations) are
ongoing as you know, they
involve going to other countries and the actual
knowledge of metallurgy to
check the values. The investigations will take
sometime and as soon as they
are concluded, we will let you
know."
A spokesperson for Rio Tinto dismissed the claims, saying
the Empress
Nickel Refinery refines metals for a fee and is never the owner
of the
metals, and cannot buy or sell them.
The refinery,
situated in Eiffel Flats in Kadoma, was built in 1968 to
refine metal from
Empress Nickel Mine and was closed when Empress Nickel
Mine closed shop in
1982.
However, in 1985 Rio Tinto was able to negotiate
toll-refining
contracts involving matte from BCL Ltd in Botswana. The
refining contracts
have operated successfully since 1985, resulting in the
refinery being
expanded in 1995 to increase its refining capacity to
accommodate additional
matte from Botswana.
The spokesperson
said Empress, which produces refined nickel and has
earned around US$400
million since 1985, has contracts to refine the metals
contained in matte
that originates from mines in Botswana.
The matte contains nickel
and copper and small quantities of cobalt
and platinum group metals. Copper
is also produced as a refined metal, but
the precious metals and cobalt are
recovered as residue or other
intermediate products.
"All of the
recovered products are returned to the owners of the
matte...The various
contracts were set up with the approval of the Reserve
Bank, customs (and
latterly the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority). The involvement
of these
authorities is important as the matte is imported and resulting
metals are
exported at no value.
"The only value to Zimbabwe in the business
is the refining fee
charged and this is small in comparison to the gross
value of the contained
metals. The fees are charged per tonne of nickel and
copper produced, the
cost of separating cobalt and precious metals into
residues or intermediates
is recovered in the nickel and copper fees," said
the Rio Tinto
spokesperson.
Contacted this week for comment, the
company secretary for BNC,
Fraternity Ndhlela referred all questions to the
corporate affairs manager,
who could not respond to questions e-mailed to his
office at the time of
going to press.
Assay reports done to
analyse the content for minerals in refined
metals at some of the mines and
independent confirmations have vindicated
the findings, said government
sources.
They say the Zimbabwean authorities are now cracking their
heads on
how they could recover the lost revenue, which they could achieve
either by
seeking the co-operation of the companies concerned or recourse
through the
courts.
"This means that billions of dollars have
been lost over the past two
decades. It's a systematic looting of resources
from the developing
countries," said a source.
FinGaz
Supreme Court keeps Makamba sweating
Staff
Reporter
5/28/2004 8:17:59 AM (GMT +2)
THE Supreme Court
is still to set a hearing date to decide whether or
not to uphold a High
Court decision granting bail to Harare business tycoon
and former ZANU PF
chairman for Mashonaland West, James Makamba.
An official at the
superior court said the State filed a notice of
appeal against the lower
court's ruling within the requisite seven days, but
the hearing date was yet
to be agreed upon.
Effectively, this means Makamba, who has been in
custody for more than
three months with 11 bail attempts to secure his
freedom, will be at the
Harare Central Remand Prison for a little longer
until the matter has been
finalised by the Supreme Court.
Makamba's lawyer George Chikumbirike confirmed the development saying:
"I
understand a notice of appeal has been noted in the Supreme Court, but
check
with them for more information."
Last week, High Court Judge
Justice Chinembiri Bhunu granted bail of
$50 million coupled with other
stringent conditions to Makamba, after the
entrepreneur repatriated about £9
000. But the state immediately appealed
and invoked Section 121, subsection 3
of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Act, hence his continued stay in
custody.
FinGaz
Traditional leaders abused in Lupane poll, says
watchdog
Staff Reporter
5/28/2004 8:21:09 AM (GMT
+2)
BULAWAYO - The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN),
which
monitored the Lupane by-election won by ZANU PF this month, said this
week
it strongly deplored the abuse of traditional leaders by the ruling
party in
the two-day poll.
ZESN chairperson Reginald
Matchaba-Hove, in a statement to The
Financial Gazette said his organisation,
which fielded 68 accredited
observers in Lupane, had noted the abuse of
traditional leaders by ZANU PF
to garner votes in the election.
"The ZESN noted with concern a major disturbing occurrence, which
happened at
most polling stations, that voters were passing through their
village or
kraal head to register or have their names ticked before
proceeding to cast
their ballot," he said.
"ZESN strongly deplores this development,
which has become a feature
in rural elections, because it is intimidatory in
nature and designed to
influence voters to cast their ballots for a
particular party."
The ZESN boss said he election watchdog strong
condemned the prevalent
use of state resources for ZANU PF business, adding
that observers
identified several government vehicles ferrying ruling party
supporters
during the two-day by-election.
Martin Khumalo of the
ruling party defeated Njabuliso Mguni of the MDC
by polling 10 069 votes
against Mguni's 9 186 votes.
ZESN however commended the electorate
in Lupane for voting peacefully.
FinGaz
Dictators abusing Africa Day, say analysts
Njabulo Ncube
5/28/2004 8:21:37 AM (GMT +2)
BULAWAYO -
That Africa Day celebrated throughout the continent on
Tuesday this week is
an important occasion in Africa's chequered history is
beyond
argument.
Questions abound, however, on whether the vast continent,
endowed with
a rich natural resource base which stands in stark contrast to
the
stagnation and misery afflicting its long-suffering people, has realised
the
ideals for which this significant day was set aside.
The big
question is on whether Africa, where a significant number of
countries had to
achieve self-rule through the barrel of the gun, has had a
decisive rupture
with the past.
In other words, has all that the continent's
citizens sacrificed life
and limb against, been swept away with the rubble of
the toppled colonial
regimes?
The general consensus, though, is
that millions of Africans have lived
in the grey twilight that knows only
disillusionment, frustration, social
deprivation, general strife, political
under-development and failed states.
There is also a terrible aura
about the continent arising from
intolerance for political pluralism, hatred
for compromise, economic
mismanagement, debt crisis, natural disasters and
the AIDS pandemic, among
others.
This rings true for Zimbabwe
which attainted independence in 1980
after a bloody war against the Ian Smith
regime.
"We are merely observing the day because of its
historical
significance," said Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), which President Robert Mugabe's
government has
since dismissed as a Western front set up to effect regime
change in
Zimbabwe, said.
"We have nothing to show for the 41
years during which the continent
progressively experienced a rapid phase of
decolonisation and the
accompanying enjoyment of the people's
sovereignty.
"In Zimbabwe, 24 years of independence have yielded a
well-documented
account of repression, loss of basic freedoms and economic
collapse," said
the opposition leader who is challenging the validity of
President Mugabe's
re-election in 2002 which the opposition party claims was
tainted with
violence, systematic bullying and voter
intimidation.
"I might sound unpatriotic but the cruel truth is
that there is
nothing to celebrate really as Zimbabweans when the opposition
politicians
are not being heard on radio, television and public
newspapers.
"We now have the land, blacks control significant
stakes in the
economy, this I do not dispute, but us ordinary citizens are
still to
realise the ultimate freedom of our emancipation," said Agrippa
Masotsha, a
Bulawayo-based veteran of the war of liberation.
When the OAU set aside Africa Day it was specifically to celebrate
the
dignity, freedom and equality of African people as the struggle for
black
emancipation gained momentum.
Analysts who seemed to be
singing from the same hymn book with
Tsvangirai were unanimous that
Zimbabweans, whose major liberation movements
ZANU PF and the defunct PF
ZAPU, both benefited immensely from the OAU to
deliver Zimbabwe to
independence in 1980, did not have much to celebrate
during the Africa
Day.
They flatly disputed government assertions that Zimbabweans
have for
the past 24 years had dignity, freedom and enjoyed equality as
espoused by
the OAU 40 years ago.
The analysts accused President
Mugabe's government of dictatorial
tendencies, citing the passing of
repressive laws such as the Public Order
and Security Act (POSA), the Access
to Information and Protection of Privacy
Act (AIPPA), among other pieces of
legislations.
However, the government vehemently denies charges
that dictatorship
and repression exist under President Mugabe's government
with officials
falling over each other defending the laws, saying they are
meant to
safeguard Zimbabwe's sovereignty.
They also said the
land reform programme, which should have officially
ended in August last year
but is still being implemented "carelessly", had
reduced Zimbabwe from a
major food producer to a basket case.
The government, however,
maintains the chaotic land reform would help
to re-invigorate the
economy.
John Makumbe, a fierce critic of the government who
teaches Political
Science at the University of Zimbabwe, categorically said
POSA had prevented
civic organisations and the opposition from organising any
events to mark
Africa Day.
"As for us Zimbabweans, it is a good
day to stay at home, otherwise it
has no political significance with POSA,
AIPPA and other pieces of
legislation hanging over our heads," said
Makumbe.
"It is impossible for non-governmental organisations in
Zimbabwe and
the opposition to publicly celebrate African dignity, freedom
and equality
of Africans with what is happening.
"The entire
continent has not fully grown up with leaders that still
craft pieces of
legislation such as those we have in Zimbabwe," said
Makumbe.
Makumbe added: "Africa Day is just a blot on the calendar for
Zimbabwe, there
is just nothing to celebrate apart from enjoying a holiday
at home with
friends.
"Nevertheless, if it is a day to check if Africa still has
dictators,
it is a good day. Yes, Africa still has many
dictators.
"So if it is there for the purpose of having checks and
balances, let
us have it everyday," he added.
Lovemore Madhuku,
the chairperson of the National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA) added his voice
on the significance of celebrating Africa Day
during the present body politic
in Zimbabwe.
"It is an important milestone in the history of Africa
but its
objectives and goals have been abused in Zimbabwe," said
Madhuku.
"Have the ideals that we set out to fight colonialism been
realised?
We need to use this day to ask ourselves this and many other
questions.
"No, they have not been realised in Zimbabwe. White
oppressors have
been replaced by black oppressors. I do not think we went to
fight
colonialism to replace white faces with black ones," said Madhuku,
a
constitutional lawyer whose NCA is agitating for constitutional reform
in
Zimbabwe before any elections could be held.
"African
dictators have and continue to abuse this day but we should
not stop
celebrating the day because it was a struggle against white
colonialism," he
added.
FinGaz
Ousted managers finger Mujuru in Bubye saga
Brian Mangwende
5/28/2004 8:17:29 AM (GMT +2)
RETIRED army
general Solomon Mujuru, who is part of a team probing
ZANU PF's octopus-like
business interests, could be hauled before the Anti
Corruption Ministry to
explain his involvement in the recent possession of
River Ranch Limited
(RRL), a diamond concern in Beitbridge, by a consortium
of local and
international businessmen.
Mujuru, seen as a king maker in the
tricky ZANU PF succession debate
and former legislator Tirivanhu Mudariki,
have been fingered by the ousted
mine managers as having used unorthodox and
illegal means to take-over the
business venture.
The retired
general and Mudariki were appointed directors of RRL on
April 27 following an
annual general meeting held by the owners of that
company, Rani International
Limited (RIL) on the previous day.
Other new RRL board members
include Adel Abdulrahman Aujan as chairman
and former Harare-based Advocate
Adrian de Bourbon. Ernst and Young were
appointed company
secretaries.
The reconstituted board replaced the one comprising
Australian
nationals Peter Rowe and Belben, a Briton Anthony Hamilton, a
Canadian
Jeremy Kendell and three Zimbabweans William Nyemba, the former
Trust Bank
boss, John Collins and Barclay Cowper.
After the RRL
board was reconstituted, Mudariki and the chairman's
personal assistant were
tasked to repossess RRL which had not been operating
for four years with a
view to recommence activities at the mine.
It is this action by RRL
board of directors to physically repossess
the mine from the previous
managers that has courted controversy. The
directors of Bubye Minerals, which
used to manage RRL until they were shown
the exit last month, accused the new
board of illegally taking over the
management of the open cast
mine.
They argued that Mudariki and Mujuru had used their political
clout to
push Bubye Minerals out of the project and deprive their vehicle of
profits
that would have been generated had they been running the
show.
Bubye's associates include Michael Farquhar and his wife,
Adele,
Sibonokuhle Getrude Moyo, the wife of Zimbabwe's Ambassador to South
Africa
Simon Khaya Moyo, Nelson Chadamoyo, George Matenda and Elliot
Muswita.
Farquhar has since lodged a formal complaint to the
Anti-Corruption
Ministry alleging the pair had solicited the help of Home
Affairs Minister
Kembo Mohadi to use the uniformed police to "seize" the
mine.
The directors of Bubye have since written to the Anti
Corruption and
Anti Monopolies Minister Didymus Mutasa seeking his assistance
to reverse
the recent actions by the consortium, which has taken over
management
control of the mine.
Mutasa this week confirmed
receipt of Bubye Minerals' complaints
saying his ministry needed to
investigate the matter before going public. He
said: "I received documents
from both sides and I need to study them first.
We need to find out from
Mujuru what his side of the story is before we rush
to make public comments
on the issue."
Bubye was originally given the right by the
liquidator Peter Bailey of
KPMG to resume operations at the open cast mine
after mining had abruptly
ceased in 1997 following a decision by the then
owners, Auridium Zimbabwe
(Private) Limited, to close shop and place RRL
under voluntary liquidation.
Auridium cited the fall in the price
of the precious stone, diamonds,
as the key factor for their decision. Bubye
then solicited the financial
support of RIL a company with strong ties in the
Middle East, to invest in
the mine and prevent RRL from final
liquidation.
Operations at the mine re-commenced during the last
quarter of 1997
after RIL threw a lifeline to RRL, but in March 2000 Cyclone
Eline struck
and the open pit at the mine was heavily flooded bringing all
activities to
a standstill.
Currently, the ownership of RRL is
vested with RIL and an indigenous
partner, Kupukile Resources (Pvt)
Ltd.
Before the recent moves, two foreign controlled companies
Sedna and
Cornerstone, both owned by RIL had a 50 percent stake each in RRL.
In a
letter to Mutasa, Farquhar alleged that RIL had deprived Bubye of
its
shareholding for which legal action would be sought.
Farquhar alleged that shares had been offered to Mujuru, Minister
Mohadi and
Mudariki to motivate them into supporting RIL's actions.
"Retired
general Mujuru and Minister Mohadi have instructed members of
Zimbabwe's
professional security forces to act unjustifiably in seizing
assets without
legal right to do so . . . Bubye Minerals have been advised
that both general
Mujuru and Minister Mohadi have been promised a
substantive shareholding in
RRL for their efforts," read part of the letter
to Mutasa.
Mohadi this week dismissed the accusations saying he was not involved
in the
alleged illegal take over neither was he a shareholder.
"What I was
told was that there was a caretaker company looking after
the assets of the
mine," Mohadi said.
"Mudariki approached me saying that they wanted
to reopen the mine and
that since the mine was in my constituency I should
assist in providing
labour from the locals. I agreed to assist in recruitment
and that was that.
"I'm not a director in that company. I don't
know why people would
want to drag my name into this." Mudariki confirmed
approaching Mohadi to
help mobilise workforce adding that the physical
possession of the mine was
done legitimately.
The RRL board said
it has been extremely patient with Bubye, but the
impasse could not have been
allowed to continue.
"The asset had been non-performing for four
years and this impasse
could not be allowed to continue
indefinitely.
"In April 2004 RIL assisted Bubye again by advancing
an unsecured loan
of $100 million so it could meet ZESA (Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply
Authority) bills and some staff salaries . . . the directors of Bubye
have
ignored RIL's repeated and urgent requests for an amicable resolution
of
differences.
"RIL's rights and fair entitlement have
persistently been rejected.
"This attitude could no longer be
tolerated. As a responsible and
accountable foreign investor in Zimbabwe, RIL
realised that the time had
come for it to exercise its prerogative and to end
this counter productive
stalemate.
"It has therefore made
significant changes to the structure,
shareholding, capitalisation and
management of RRL with immediate effect,"
the board said.
Efforts to get comment from Mujuru proved fruitless yesterday.
FinGaz
Chombo springs new surprise
Brian
Mangwende
5/28/2004 8:20:40 AM (GMT +2)
THE ruling ZANU
PF, known for its intolerance towards opposition
parties and hatred for
compromise, went extremely overboard last week when
it further clipped the
wings of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Harare
councillors in what is
widely seen as a reckless bid to reclaim urban votes.
In a rare
move that effectively rendered the MDC-run council
dysfunctional, the
government suspended the holding of elections for council
posts until 2006 -
nine months after the holding of parliamentary elections
slated for March
2005.
Effectively, the government, which has systematically
frustrated the
city fathers who came on the opposition MDC ticket since the
day they set
foot on Town House in 2000, has usurped the local authority's
powers and
transferred them to Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo and
Witness
Mangwende, the governor of the newly created Harare
Province.
Observers said they had seen the new development coming
as the ruling
ZANU PF continued to implement every trick in the book to
loosen the
opposition's grip in urban areas ahead of the 2005
plebiscite.
In the last parliamentary, presidential and local
authorities
elections, ZANU PF, which has ruled the country since
independence in 1980,
has been emphatically rejected by urban voters, who
have borne the brunt of
the country's economic slowdown.
As a
precursor to the latest move, Chombo suspended Harare's first
executive
mayor, Elias Mudzuri, from office in September last year on what
observers
say were trumped-up charges and subsequently showed the embattled
MDC mayor
the exit last month.
Mudzuri was fired on allegations of misconduct
and corruption.
Sekesai Makwavarara, who defected from the MDC
recently after clashing
with the party's leadership, has been acting as
executive mayor.
The suspension of elections in the capital city,
said analysts,
contravened provisions of the Urban Councils Act. They said it
also showed
ZANU PF's desperation to recapture the crucial urban votes by
hook or crook.
Despite popular resistance, President Robert
Mugabe's government has
even pressed ahead with plans to appoint resident
ministers and governors
for Harare and the second city of Bulawayo to dilute
the MDC's influence.
Eliphas Mukono-weshuro, MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai's confidante,
said: "They (ZANU PF) want to concentrate on one
election at a time, unlike
what happened in the 2000 and 2002 elections. They
don't want simultaneous
elections next year, fearing they may lose dismally.
Hence their efforts to
stop other elections taking place.
"This
just goes to show how ZANU PF doesn't value the significance of
democracy.
The government should hold elections as and when they are due and
not as a
matter of political expedience by a political party. It goes to
show the
arrogance of the autocratic regime . . . to decree rules that are
illegal and
at complete variance with Acts of Parliament."
Mangwende and
Chombo, some analysts said, would continue to bark
instructions through the
acting Harare executive mayor until ZANU PF
reclaimed lost urban
constituencies.
Chombo defended the latest development, saying it
was meant to enable
the Harare City Council and the new governor for Harare
Province to address
pertinent issues affecting the capital.
"I
would want to state it clearly that there won't be any other
elections at the
City of Harare until the year 2006. This is aimed at
enabling the council,
together with the new governor . . . to iron out all
problems that are
affecting the city," the minister was quoted in a
government-run daily as
saying.
He added: "We hope that the new governor and his council
are going to
work hand in hand and develop this city so as to restore its tag
as the
Sunshine City of Africa."
This is not the first time
Chombo has stopped the holding of elections
at Town House. In September, he
barred councillors from electing a new
deputy mayor after the term for the
post expired.
But for Chombo's plans to succeed, analysts said, the
Urban Councils
Act would have to be amended through Parliament or President
Mugabe could
intervene using the temporary presidential measures and powers
to tamper
with the Act for it to dovetail with the ruling party's
objectives.
"Chombo should be taken to court and kept there until
2006. The duty
to suspend elections has never been that of the minister, but
the President
through temporary Acts and so forth.
"They (ZANU
PF) tried the system of running elections concurrently,
but it never worked
in ZANU PF's favour. Obviously, those who voted for
Mudzuri in 2002 voted for
Morgan Tsvangirai.
"However, ZANU PF was so desperate to rig Mugabe
in and forgot to rig
Mudzuri out," said one political
commentator.
"The move is meant to overtake the role of executive
mayor and place
it under the new governor as well as render MDC councillors
useless to the
city," he added.
"Chombo is trying to make sure
that the acting executive mayor stays
in that position. I am surprised that
the MDC councillors are still vying
for the position of executive mayor. That
position is now unattainable. The
powers have been given to the
governor.
"ZANU PF has never been comfortable with anyone other
than themselves
running the affairs of Harare and they are so paranoid about
that," the
commentator said.
Constitutional law expert and
chairman of the National Constitutional
Assembly, which is currently pushing
for a new constitution, Lovemore
Madhuku said: "There is no illusion that
Chombo is defying the very same
laws that they promulgate and acting
illegally. This is a perennial problem
that we have with ZANU PF. They do not
want to be bound by the law. It is
just simply additional evidence of the
overthrow of the law.
"Chombo is saying he'll not stick to the law
because he is better
served with Makwavarara in that seat than Mudzuri. There
should be no
illusions about Chombo's intentions."
Currently, a
team handpicked by the minister is running Harare.
FinGaz
Comment
Stop politics of the stomach
5/28/2004 9:10:27 AM (GMT +2)
ZIMBABWEANS, who have borne the brunt
of acute food shortages, are
puzzling over the statistical haze that has
ignited such an enormous furore
over the country's supposed food security
situation between government on
the one hand and some international aid
agencies and humanitarian
organisations on the other.
The two
camps, which have always had an uneasy relationship, have been
haggling over
preliminary crop assessments for the 2003/04 season. It is not
difficult to
see why. The food situation is one of the more contentious and
crucial issues
in Zimbabwe, a regional bread-basket-turned-basket-case.
Little wonder the
unfortunate incident over the past fortnight has made
something of a public
mess of the politics of the stomach.
There has always been this
unfortunate ill feeling between government
and Western-backed aid agencies.
Government has been increasingly paranoid.
It feels that Western governments
which have persistently accused it of
using food aid as a coercive weapon to
force people to vote for it are
working towards a regime change in Zimbabwe.
Rightly or wrongly, the
government thinks that food relief from aid agencies
provides the Western
governments with a heaven-sent opportunity to whip up
emotions against it.
In the minds of the country's leadership, Western
governments will use aid
agencies and the food aid to buy influence against
the government from a
population gripped by disenchantment and fear of
starvation.
Be that as it may, we feel that it was an error of
judgment on the
part of the government to play a very dangerous game by
presenting what
might just be unreliable preliminary crop assessments as
fact, particularly
when its previous crop assessments have always been way
off the mark. This
is why there are heightened fears that the figures being
bandied about by
government "were just plucked from the air". We sincerely
hope that this is
not so and that reports of a bumper harvest are not just
one of those
short-sighted, narrow and parochial self-serving public
posturings by a
government increasingly accustomed to doing everything for
political
expediency.
If so, then it can be said with 100
percent certainty that Zimbabwe,
where the food import bills have in the past
created black holes in the
fiscus, will find itself stuck in awkward scrapes.
This is because the
donors will find it extremely difficult to mount a swift
response if it
turns out later that in actual fact the country needs food -
which in fact
might just be the case.
Lest we are misunderstood,
we have to categorically state that, if it
is true that Zimbabwe has produced
enough to feed itself, then there was
indeed nothing wrong with the
government trying to reassure the populace not
only about the country's food
security situation but broadly about the
clarity and sustainability of its
agricultural vision and strategy.
Except that the form and style of
its approach to the whole issue were
wrong. The way the message was put
across smacked of arrogance, insults and
the worst of all vices - ingratitude
- when government could have done with
a little diplomatic etiquette. It came
through as a calculated humiliating
slap on the wrist for the donors. Sadly
though, the arrogance could prove to
be an expensive strategy, not least
because the agencies in whose face the
government is now throwing mud have in
the past played an inestimable role
in averting human crises of catastrophic
proportions. Other than being
bizarre, the obvious question raised by
government's behaviour over the
issue is: what signal was it trying to send
to the compassionate and helpful
world?
Indeed what the
government did was tantamount to what the Shona call:
kukanganwa chazuro
nehope (Having eaten the seeds of pomegranates across the
River Styx, as the
Greeks would say). This is moreso given that agricultural
production is not
only subject to the vagaries of the weather but human
error too. And the
government has blundered more-often-that-not in its
management of the
controversial land reform.
True, the sometimes-erratic and
increasingly unpredictable rainfall
pattern and intermittent droughts have
played their part in compromising the
food security situation but government
mistakes have also aggravated the
situation. We have here in mind shoddy
planning on the part of government,
which should equally be to blame. It is
well documented that the quality of
most crops has been impaired due to a
critical shortage of vital
agricultural inputs which has been with us for the
past couple of years
without any contingency plans being put in
place.
Given these imponderables, how can we be so sure that we
will not be
passing the begging bowl within a year or two? For how long,
given our
experiences in the past few years, will we be able to feed
ourselves without
recourse to these same aid agencies? And most importantly,
how reliable are
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made's estimates considering
that he has misled
the nation before? Indeed, the mind boggles.
FinGaz
Exposing charlatans: the letter The Herald would not
publish
5/28/2004 9:02:14 AM (GMT +2)
EDITOR - I
wrote the following self-explanatory letter to Herald
columnist Nathaniel
Manheru after he crafted and caused to be published an
artice that made some
scurrilous reference to me in the paper.
My letter has not been
published or otherwise attended to. I was
wondering if I could rely on your
usually good offices to ensure, in the
public interest, that justice is done
while charlatans are exposed.
The letter is as
follows:
Dear Mr Nathaniel Manheru
I have
learnt to ignore the spurious references to me that
occasionally appear in
your column. On this occasion I would be most
grateful, however, if you could
please, explain to me and, no doubt, to your
readers the circumstances
surrounding the cropping up of my name in your
column of Saturday, May 15
2004.
I am not in any way, apart possibly from a shared
nationality,
connected with any Zimbabwean currently staying in the
Mozambican capital. I
do not believe I know anyone who is currently based in
Maputo.
I am too far away from Zimbabwe and Mozambique to concern
myself with
the activities of Zimbabweans unknown to me who currently live in
Maputo.
To describe any such Zimbabweans as "Nyarota's leftovers in
Maputo",
assuming human beings can ever be reduced to the status of
leftovers, is
clearly mischievous and slanderous.
I was never
informed, until I read about it in your column, of any
planned plot to harm
Zimbabwe's Minister of Information during his recent
sojourn in Maputo. I was
not aware Professor Jonathan Moyo was visiting that
country until I read
about his ordeal in the Mozambican capital in your own
column.
I
do not regard Mr Fernando Goncalves, a Mozambican national who
worked with Dr
Ibbo Mandaza at Sapes Trust in Harare at a time when I was
based in Maputo,
as an associate of mine. In fact, I was not aware of his
current whereabouts
until your attempt to link him with me in the said
column. I have not seen or
heard of him for many years.
I am surprised you omit to mention,
for whatever reason, the names of
those who, in your own words, kept, fed and
dressed Fernando for many, many
years in Harare, while seeking to draw false
linkages between him and me.
I should feel flattered that there are
Zimbabweans like you who
genuinely believe that I wield so much power and
influence among my
compatriots across the oceans as to cause them to rise
against a powerful
government minister visiting a foreign country. Instead, I
am ashamed that
Zimbabwe's journalism has been reduced to such depths of
depravity.
Geoffrey Nyarota,
Harvard
University,
Cambridge,
Massachusetts,
United States of America.
FinGaz
...and now to the Notebook
5/28/2004
9:13:08 AM (GMT +2)
Well-deserved!
After all the brouhaha
about MP Roy Bennett "beating up" two ministers
in Parliament last week, CZ
thought he should add his voice to the noise .
. . but at the risk
of exposing himself to brickbats from those who,
in their mob psychology,
have concluded that after reacting to unjustified
insults from the ZANU PF
leader of the House, the white MP is racist and has
therefore forfeited his
right to be a Zimbabwean.
After the scuffle - you never saw such
madness in all your life! -
Mbare Musika was closed and vendors loaded into
dozens of trucks so that
"thousands of party supporters" would be seen
demonstrating in the city
centre against the "Rhodie".
White-owned shops were closed down in Mutare and "Zimbabweans"
roundly
excoriated the ex-Rhodesian security detail as a die-hard racist with
a
dangerous colonial hangover . . . this and that.
In fact,
everything was said and this was directly linked to the
opposition MDC, which
we are now officially made to believe is a violent
party. A lot of background
information was generously dished out to this
effect!
But
curiously, none of the "Zimbabweans" in question ever bothered to
tell the
minister that he should learn to sieve his words because some words
simply
get you into big trouble.
This particular minister actually feels
more powerful than power
itself. He - and his other colleague in the
hand-picked league - knows how
to talk so contemptuously about the opposition
that one would think it is
all made up of filth.
Remember the
way ZANU PF "owners" - the likes of Herbert Ushewokunze,
Enos Nkala, Edgar
Tekere, Morris Nyagumbo and others - used to talk about
Joshua Nkomo and his
PF ZAPU in the mid-80s?
Exactly that way. Because they are in
power, one can throw around so
many insults without necessarily bothering how
the victim feels. And it was
only natural that Bennett reacted the way he
did.
You don't talk like that on this earth - and even in hell -
and get
away with it, unless you are a spirit!
It is not the
best pastime to go about challenging other people's
manhood simply because,
as a professional bootlicker, you have managed to
catch the eye of the Great
Uncle and therefore been appointed minister even
if you have no power of your
own.
You can try it but at your own peril because even CZ's
geriatric
grandfather, old as he is, would not hesitate to draw his own spear
if some
fool with a hare-brain and a frog's mouth threatens to strip him
naked in
public!
And CZ does not agree with all the talk about
the MDC being a violent
party. If anything, the MDC is one party that has
been violated left, right
and centre.
Do we need to be told that
tens of thousands of innocent villagers
were violently killed in the 1980s in
some parts of this country simply
because they disagreed with ZANU
PF?
We don't need to be told that more than 100 opposition
supporters -
including about half-a-dozen whites - were killed in the run-up
to the 2000
and 2002 elections.
In addition, several High Court
judges overturned the election of a
number of ZANU PF legislators on the
basis that they had used untold
violence to be elected.
What
more does one want to believe that the party that is crying
violence is the
one that is actually committing violence?
To ZANU PF, the word
violence is like the word terrorism to
Americans - America has become the
world's most exemplary terrorist country
under the guise of fighting
terrorism, just like ZANU PF has become a past
master in violence while
crying violence!
Musimboti Nyama
CZ would like
to commiserate with those of his not-so-healthy
countrymen, including some
hypochondriac Zimbos who, not out of a fault of
their own, found themselves
addicted to Musimboti, that soft drink that some
conmen were selling to
unsuspecting members of the public as a cure-all
traditional medicine traced
from eons ago!
It is not in doubt that we have quite a lot of
relatives and friends
who are not so sure about their health. The drink had
become an instant hit
with this lot, and the demand was so high that
Musimboti could not be found
in shops because people kept large potations of
the drink under their beds.
Unbeknown to them, what they were stockpiling was
nothing more than bottled
smoke, if not mere snake oil!
And when
the authorities - most of whose health status is equally in
doubt - tried to
establish the exact efficacy of the herbal drink, they were
disappointed and
angry when they realised that it had no medicinal
substances whatsoever
despite media adverts to that effect. They were so
angry that they banned it!
And it is good that it has been banned!
We now wonder if anything
will happen to the conmen, including those
quack medical experts who
relentlessly appeared in adverts advising people
to try the
drink!
Now that the muti has been banned, we can't help but wonder
what will
become of those of our friends who had begun to believe that their
lives
hinged on it.
First it was Benjamin Burombo, then a
certain Dr Sibanda, then the
African potato and lately Musimboti Nyama. And
what will be next?
Let's hope the Great Uncle will be magnanimous
again and please
fast-track the free anti-retros programme. So many people
still want
something to give them that much-needed sangfroidic willpower to
live for
another day.
Press conferences?
Why is it that we are not getting more about press conferences as the
Prof
continues with his regional junkets? Could this have anything to do
with the
embarrassment the wise man suffered recently in Maputo? We wonder!
That aside, on behalf of himself and the whole suffering nation, CZ
would
like to profusely thank the Prof for finally pulling off the
nauseating
Sendekera jingles from our one and only electronic medium. Thank
you very
much. God bless you!
cznotebook@yahoo.co.uk
FinGaz
Tobacco industry players in bid to restore
viability
Zhean Gwaze
5/28/2004 9:16:08 AM (GMT
+2)
PLAYERS in the tobacco industry will next month hold an
exposition at
the Harare International Conference Centre as part of efforts
to restore
viability to he sector, which has been in decline.
The Tobacco Expo, which will be held from June 9 to 11, is an
initiative of a
local company, Sirmad (Private) Limited, based at the
Tobacco Sales Floors in
Willowvale.
Sirmad director Plaxedes Gutsa said the main objective
of the expo is
to create a symbiotic relationship among the growers,
contractors,
suppliers, financial service providers, technical and research
services
companies, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) and
associations
that are involved in the production of the golden
leaf.
"There are many changes that have taken place in the industry
which
dictate the need for such a get-together. Growers need to fully
understand
the tobacco contracting system recently introduced by the
government. A
sizeable number of the new growers would greatly benefit from
interacting
with all stakeholders in the industry under one roof," she
said.
Tobacco output is expected to go down by 22 million
kilogrammes this
year from 82 million kilogrammes last year because of
viability problems
faced by the new farmers such as the lack of inputs,
financial constraints
and improper management skills.
This is
despite a two-fold increase in the number of tobacco growers
to 30 000 over
the past two years.
The contract-growing scheme, where tobacco
merchants fund farmers and
the crop is sold to the merchants, has not been
successful due to the
shortage of foreign currency and the late entrance of
the merchants into the
scheme.
Gutsa said the stakeholders would
receive a catalogue with the
products and services and details of all aspects
of the industry during the
expo.
The country has managed to
maintain a good quality crop because of
favourable growing conditions
following good rains for the 2003/04 season.
Zimbabwe has been a
major exporter of the golden leaf to the European
Union, Far East and the
region although the crop has faced a remarkable
decline in the past four
years due to the government's sometimes chaotic
land reform
programme.
FinGaz
Cotton replaces tobacco as top foreign currency
earner
5/28/2004 9:16:31 AM (GMT +2)
JOHANNESBURG
- Cotton has replaced tobacco as Zimbabwe's top foreign
exchange earner, with
exports expected to bring in between US$120 million
and US$150 million this
year, according to the Zimbabwe Commercial Cotton
Growers'
Association.
But cotton farmers are unlikely to benefit because
buyers, hit by the
sliding value of the Zimbabwean currency against the US
dollar, "are
offering a price lower than the cost of production", Michele
Bragge, a
spokeswoman for the association, told IRIN.
About 80
percent of Zimbabwe's cotton is grown on small-scale farms,
which were
largely unaffected by the government's land reform programme. The
country is
set to produce 300 000 tonnes of seed cotton this year, up from
250 000
tonnes last year. Annual domestic cotton consumption is 30
000
tonnes.
Cotton buyers have offered farmers $1 800 (US33
cents) per kg, "while
the cost of production is at least $2 000 (US37 cents)
per kg", said Bragge.
If the farmers did not get that price,
production was expected to
slump next year, she noted.
Bragge
said cotton producers were "hoping to get financial support for
the
difference from the government," and the local press reported this week
that
the government "is adamant that it may be forced to buy all the cotton
from
farmers if merchants fail to come up with a lucrative producer price
for this
marketing season".
Historically, Zimbabwe has been the world's
second-largest tobacco
exporter, earning as much as US$400 million in good
seasons. But production
began to fall three years ago after the government's
controversial land
reforms.
Rodney Ambrose, a director of the
Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA),
told IRIN: "Our production of
unmanufactured tobacco has dropped
tremendously in the past three years, from
237 000 metric tonnes in 2000 to
82 000 metric tonnes last year." According
to the ZTA, production was
expected to slump to 60 000 tonnes this
year.
Ambrose linked the drop in production to the loss of
commercial
tobacco-growing farms as a result of the land reform programme.
"We lost
about 45 000 hectares of land under tobacco cultivation, which
resulted in a
loss of 150 000 metric tonnes of tobacco," he explained.
"Cotton is easier
to grow, while tobacco is more capital intensive," Bragge
said. - IRIN
FinGaz
Free Chinamasa comedy turns into theatre of the
absurd
5/28/2004 9:13:58 AM (GMT +2)
A few years
ago, while reading the Afrikaans news bulletin on the
South African
Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)'s Channel 2, the newscaster,
Rian Cloete,
collapsed in a heap of uncontrollable laughter as he tried to
introduce a
particular news clip.
The video clip that reduced Cloete, a
seasoned newscaster, into fits
of mirth before the cameras was about an
incident that had occurred in the
legislative assembly of an Asian
country.
Apparently things got so heated in that august house that
two members
of parliament came to blows. In the ensuing pandemonium, more MPs
joined in.
Looking at that mass of humanity, it seemed that
everyone was
manhandling someone else without really caring who they were. No
wonder
Cloete lost control completely. It was one of those hilarious moments
on
television when laughter must have echoed in every household in
southern
Africa where people were tuned to this SABC station.
Like yawning, Cloete's laughter was infectious and I and my family
also found
ourselves howling in rib-cracking laughter. We were not sure
which was
funnier, the news anchor's reaction to the story or the sight of
grown men
supposed to be deliberating on important national matters shoving
and
shouting in the melee.
Clearly though, it was hardly a
life-and-death situation with dire
consequences.
But I worried
about Cloete's future. I wondered whether his job was
not on the line for
completely losing control on prime time television.
Fortunately,
the bosses at the SABC seemed to have an even greater
sense of humour. A
montage showing Magnus Malan laughing uncontrollably at
the news clip of the
parliamentary punch-up was put together. For a while
afterwards, this montage
was used to promote the Afrikaans news slot on SABC
2.
Although
I do not understand Afrikaans, seeing that montage would set
me laughing
uncontrollably all over again.
Newspapers all over the world
normally regard such amusing "human
interest" stories as an opportunity for
their sub-editors to come up with
their cleverest tongue-in-cheek or
satirical headlines. Cartoonists have a
field day as well and regard such
incidents as manna from heaven.
Compare this light-hearted "live
and let live" reaction with the "woe
unto you" dimension that has been given
to a similar altercation that
occurred in our own Parliament last week. All
hell has broken loose after
Chimanimani Member of Parliament Roy Bennett
confronted Justice and
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa in
that august house.
Bennett rose to his feet to have an
eyeball-to-eyeball exchange after
apparently enduring provocative taunting
from Chinamasa about the colour of
his skin and other personal slurs. It
would seem that even by the standards
permissible under parliamentary
privilege, Chinamasa overdid things.
Despite getting assistance
from Anti-Corruption and Anti-Monopoly
Minister Didymus Mutasa, who allegedly
weighed in to kick the incensed
Bennett, both Chinamasa and Mutasa ended
lying prostrate on the floor!
However, they quickly picked themselves up and
the incident was over within
a minute at most.
But oh, what a
hornet's nest that brief incident has stirred! I have
lost count of the
number of statements made by ruling party officials
warning of dire
consequences in store for Bennett. The incident provoked an
orgy of violence,
which resulted in extensive damage to the headquarters of
Bennett's party,
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Hardly 24 hours after the
incident, there they were, those
"spontaneous" demonstrators shown on
television crying blue murder and
waving commercially printed placards
bearing all sorts of threats against
the Chimanimani MP. It was announced an
official had declared Bennett
"persona non grata" in Manicaland. Who ever
thought such powers were vested
in individuals?
A report on
state television about anti-Bennett demonstrations in
Mutare showed puzzled
men and women staring blankly into the camera. Their
bemused and
uncomprehending demeanour spoke volumes about the spontaneity of
the demos
and the enthusiasm of the protesters.
My question is: who are these
demonstrators who are only outraged by a
brawl in Parliament (where it should
have the best chance to be resolved in
accordance with parliamentary
regulations) but are unfazed by torture,
murder and wanton destruction of
property? Where were these protesters about
a month ago when a young person
with his whole life ahead of him was
cold-bloodedly shot to death during the
Zengeza by-election?
The truth is that this very poorly and
coercively orchestrated display
of righteous indignation cannot fool even the
most gullible observer. For a
start, the staged indignation was not
convincing. And even if it were, it
was out of proportion to the incident
that is supposed to have triggered it.
Bennett confronted another
full-bodied man in Parliament who, we
presume, was capable of facing a man he
had so mercilessly belittled. Why
did he need hordes of violent thugs to show
the bravura he should have
displayed himself? And where is the rule of law
when an incident that takes
place in Parliament is not left to the
legislative assembly to deal with in
line with its rules and
regulations?
Bennett is being reviled by officials and supporters
of a party that
is supposed to be more principled and law-abiding than his
MDC. But how does
ZANU PF expect the masses to believe this charade when it
"demonstrates"
these virtues by mobilising violent mobs to wreak more havoc
and cause more
despondency than that 60-second incident in Parliament
did?
The Chimanimani MP lost his cool after being mercilessly
taunted by
Chinamasa for being able, among other things, to make his speech
in
Parliament in the indigenous Shona. And yet on other occasions whites
have
been attacked for being stand-offish and not being willing to
fraternise
with their black counterparts. But here is a man who has done more
than
that.
Judging by the reputation he enjoys and the high
regard in which he is
held in his constituency, Bennett has demonstrated how
to be a decent, fair
and generous human being. How we ordinary people wish
there were more men
and women of the same calibre in our Parliament!
FinGaz
Baking industry owed $20 bln in VAT claims
Staff Reporter
5/28/2004 8:39:39 AM (GMT +2)
AN acute
working capital crunch could affect the viability of the
baking industry,
which this week claimed to be owed in excess of $20 billion
by
the
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), The Financial Gazette
can
reveal.
Industry players said the money owed relates to
Value Added Tax (VAT)
claims, which accumulated to the sector since January
this year, when the
new tax system replaced the outdated sale tax
regime.
Under VAT rules, bread is zero-rated, which means bakers
cannot apply
the tax on pricing bread while all the inputs such as flour,
packaging and
all other ingredients are carrying VAT at 15 percent to the
baker.
This means that bakers have to claim the tax from Zimra. The
VAT
system generally implies that goods are taxed at every stage of
production
from the manufacturer to the end user. This is in contrast to the
sales tax
where the government recovers tax at the end of the production
chain.
David Govere, the vice president of the Zimbabwe National
Chamber of
Commerce and managing director of Harambe Holdings, which
incorporates
Superbake Bakeries, said industry players were in a costly
dilemma.
"Since January, the industry is now owed close to $20
billion by Zimra
who will pay, at the least, 60 days from assessment date and
not claim
submission date. The whole industry has now been asking for the
productive
sector facility to relieve them of working capital pressure
created by the
money being held at Zimra.
"Unfortunately, most
players do not have the collateral to access this
passed on to the consumer,
which will mean that bread will now wholesale at
$3 000 per loaf and retail
at $3 500 per loaf," he said.
The baking industry is currently
agreed on the wholesale price of $2
500 per loaf, giving a retail price of
between $2 800 and $3 000 per loaf.
Further to this, the millers,
who are now using imported wheat because
of last year's low harvest, are
increasing the flour price on a weekly basis
citing the exchange rate as the
driver of costs.
The international price of wheat is around US$326
per tonne while
locally produced wheat costs around US$140 per tonne. The
only way the price
of bread can be maintained at the current level, according
to industry
players, would be for the central bank to provide the Grain
Marketing Board
(GMB) with foreign exchange to import 150 000 tonnes of wheat
to cover the
deficit from June to October.
Zimbabwe uses 30 000
tonnes of wheat per month. If this wheat is
secured through the GMB, the
parastatal could sell the same wheat to the
millers at a maximum price of
$1.5 million per tonne, which will enable the
millers to sell the flour at
$140 000 per bag so that the bread price could
be maintained until the
harvest is available at the end of October.
This will only be one
way of controlling inflation since bread is a
good price movement indicator
and since foods now constitute a significant
35
percent of the
Consumer Price Index.
Govere said: "If such management measures are
not taken, the price of
bread is likely to be $6 000 per loaf by the next
harvest in October this
year."
The Australian
Ploy to get hired guns out of Harare
By Gavin du
Venage, Johannesburg
May 29, 2004
LAWYERS for 70 accused mercenaries held
in Zimbabwe are seeking to build a
criminal case against their own clients in
the hope of forcing the South
African Government to apply for extradition and
avoid having the men face
execution in Equatorial Guinea.
The accused,
all South African nationals, were arrested two months ago after
they landed
in Harare on a chartered flight, allegedly to buy weapons they
were going to
use to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea.
The Zimbabwean
authorities have held the mercenaries in prison but are keen
to extradite
them to Equatorial Guinea, where they could be executed for
plotting a
coup.
Zimbabwean newspapers reported last week that President Robert
Mugabe's
cash-strapped Government had concluded a deal with Equatorial Guinea
to
extradite the men for $US1.2 billion ($1.68billion) worth of crude
oil.
Lawyers for the men went to court in South Africa on Wednesday to
present
evidence they say is enough to put them on trial at home for breaking
laws
that ban mercenary activities by South African
citizens.
"They will be shot on sight if
they go to Equatorial Guinea," said Alwyn
Griebenow, the lawyer representing
the accused men.
Mr Griebenow said if the mercenaries were extradited to
Equatorial Guinea,
they would be highly unlikely to get a fair trial - if
they went to court at
all.
Another 15 men, allegedly a mercenary
scouting party, have been held in
Equatorial Guinea with no access to lawyers
or medical attention since they
were arrested two months ago.
"The
only way to get them back to South Africa is by extradition, and the
only way
to do this is if South Africa is convinced it has a strong case
against
them," Mr Griebenow said.
Under South African law, its citizens are
banned from acting as soldiers
outside its borders, and this measure could be
used to bring charges against
the men.
An application for the men's
extradition will be launched in South Africa
next week.
Mr Griebenow
said time was running out. "I am very worried they will be put
on a plane and
sent to Equatorial Guinea without proper legal procedures
being
followed."
The group consists of 10 whites and 60 blacks. Mr Griebenow
says the black
men's situation is dire, because they were all former special
forces
soldiers for South Africa's apartheid regime. When the liberation
forces
were victorious, they were thrown out of the army and many became
soldiers
for hire.
"They have lost everything now," said Mr Griebenow.
"Their houses, cars and
furniture have been taken from them for
non-payment."
The court action continues this week.
News24
Zim deaths in DRC revealed
28/05/2004 19:17 -
(SA)
Harare - Shocking revelations of mutilation of prisoners by
rebel militias
emerged Friday with the first detailed disclosure of deaths
among Zimbabwe's
forces deployed to fight in the civil war in the Democratic
Republic of the
Congo that ended in 2002.
An inquiry at the Harare
magistrate's court into the deaths of 47 Zimbabwean
soldiers heard that three
of them were caught by rebels and dismembered with
machetes or explosives,
according to a record of the hearing obtained on
Friday.
Army officers
at the hearing also spoke of suicides among demoralised
soldiers fighting
heavily armed guerrillas in the dense forests of
the
Congo.
Journalists present said the proceedings had to be stopped
four times when
relatives burst out sobbing as they heard of the grisly
deaths.
The Zimbabwe government has kept its casualty figures in the
four-year war
secret, apart from admitting to about 50 in the early weeks of
the war.
In August 1998, President Robert Mugabe despatched 12 000 troops
to rescue
the regime of the late DRC president Laurent Kabila from an
offensive led by
Rwandan and Ugandan soldiers and militia groups allied to
them.
The details of the deaths of the 47 have became public only because
they had
been classified as "missing in action". The dead men's relatives
applied to
and won from the court the right to declare them "presumed dead"
to enable
their affairs - relating to their property, estates and their
widows' and
children's future - to be legally finalised.
The dead
soldiers were mostly from specialised commando, parachute, armoured
and
artillery regiments, and all were lost between March and May 1999,
mostly
around the southern towns of Mbuji Mayi and Kabinda, centre of the
DRC's
lucrative diamond industry and where a controversial Zimbabwe
military-run
company ran a large diamond mine.
Thirty-two of the men were said by
their officers in court to have been
"killed in combat" or "missing in
action". When relatives asked why their
bodies had not been retrieved,
officers said the surviving soldiers had been
retreating under heavy fire,
and had been forced to leave their dead.
They also said rebels adopted a
deliberate strategy of setting ambushes
around dead or wounded troops.
Several men were killed when they attempted
to return to collect
bodies.
Five of the 47 troops were killed while trying to board rescue
helicopters
while retreating under heavy fire, the officers said. At its
height, the war
drew in six African countries, with Zimbabwe deploying the
biggest and most
sophisticated contingent of tanks, armoured cars, artillery
and jet
fighters.
A comprehensive United Nations report accused top
Zimbabwean generals and
ruling party politicians of involvement in a multi-
million dollar racket
smuggling "blood diamonds" from the DRC during and
after the war. - Sapa-dpa
Mawere Granted R50 000 Bail
The Herald (Harare)
May 28,
2004
Posted to the web May 28, 2004
Harare
ZIMBABWEAN mogul
Mutumwa Mawere, arrested in South Africa on Tuesday on
allegations of fraud
involving more than US$18 million allegedly committed
in Zimbabwe, was
yesterday granted a R50 000 bail.
Mawere was wanted for questioning in
Zimbabwe after police from the special
investigations unit suspected that he
was involved in fraudulent activities
when he exported asbestos to both South
African and oversees markets.
Early this month, police waited for Mawere
at the Harare International
Airport when they suspected that he would fly
into the country but he did
not turn up.
One of the two senior
Zimbabwean police officers in South Africa is said to
have tried in vain to
oppose bail for Mawere who was represented by
Advocates M.F Welz and Quentin
Ceech, lawyer Mr John Oosthuizen and another
unnamed lawyer.
The
Randburg magistrate, however, postponed the matter to June 29 when
Mawere's
extradition to Zimbabwe will be heard.
The businessmen was ordered to
surrender his travel documents and to reside
at his Bryanstan home in
Johannesburg.
Mawere was further ordered not to leave Johannesburg
without permission from
Interpol.
However, Mawere last night denied
externalising any money from Zimbabwe
saying he has not been resident in the
country for the past 15 years and
that he held a South African
passport.
He said he been living in South Africa since 1995 and that he
needed to
enjoy the benefits there because that is where he works.
"If
you are not resident, how can you externalise money? I am an African and
can
hold 53 citizenships of Africa. Should I keep on holding my clothes
until
something happens in Zimbabwe?"
However, Zimbabwe and South Africa do not
allow dual citizenship.
Mawere said he felt he was being persecuted yet
he had invested in Zimbabwe
and had created jobs in the country.
Home
Affairs Minister Cde Kembo Mohadi yesterday said Mawere was picked up
at his
Johannesburg offices by the South Africa Police Services on charges
of
violating exchange control regulations.
South African officers arrested
Mawere on a warrant of arrest after he was
declared wanted by Zimbabwean
police.
Cde Mohadi said Mawere's arrest by South African police was made
possible by
numerous regional and international agreements such as the South
African
Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation and
Interpol.
"Through these organisations we exchange criminal intelligence
which is used
to arrest wanted criminals in member countries," he
said.
"I can confirm that he was arrested in South Africa for
externalisation of
foreign currency.
"He has appeared in court and I
have just received a call that he has been
granted bail of R50
000."
Cde Mohadi said Mawere was arrested in connection with the
operations of
several companies in which he has a stake.
He said
extradition proceedings would be discussed at Mawere's next court
appearance
in South Africa.
Mawere told the Daily Mirror on Wednesday that his
arrest had no basis in
law as the Exchange Control Act only applied to people
resident in Zimbabwe
and he denies he is a resident of the
country.
"How can a person who has been non-resident for 15 years be
accused of
externalisation," he said adding that he had been living outside
the country
since 1989.
Reports said there were allegations that
Mawere, who was chairman of the
Africa Resources Limited, had allegedly
undervalued the exported asbestos in
Zimbabwean documentation while receiving
the full price.
ARL is the holding company for the Shabanie and Mashaba
Mines, which
reportedly earn the country close to US$40 million a
year.
Mawere said yesterday he was not directly involved in the
operations of the
local companies in which he has interests.
"I don't
sit on any boards of Zimbabwean companies. The exporters are the
companies,
which have legal personas ands have their own rights before the
law. They are
represented by their directors and officials. To therefore
accuse me of
externalization when I am external, is a contradiction in
terms," he
said.
Police in Zimbabwe said Mawere's violation of the Exchange Control
Act was
just an optional charge but that the businessman was wanted for
allegedly
falsifying documents and abusing a special dispensation he had been
granted
by the Government to sell asbestos directly to the
market.
Mawere had a seven-year privilege to market the lucrative
asbestos fibre
without going through the Minerals Marketing Corporation of
Zimbabwe.
The Government in March this year cancelled African Associated
Mines
seven-year benefit and asked MMCZ to take over the marketing of
the
country's asbestos.
Although Mawere says he stays in South Africa,
he is a Zimbabwean who has
benefited from Government's black empowerment
policies, which are meant to
promote indigenous business people.
A
World Bank-trained businessman Mawere's vast empire spans virtually
all
sectors of the country's economy.
He chairs the diversified Africa
Resources Ltd which has interests in the
banking, mining public relations,
manufacturing, fuel, insurance,
telecommunications and human resources
sectors.
He is also a shareholder of a South African-based company,
Macsteel and FSI
Agricom. Mawere has been linked to SMM Holdings, Zimre,
First Bank, Fidelity
Life, Nicoz Diamond, Firstel, Turnall, General Beltings,
Tube and Pipe
Industries, Hastt Zimbabwe, FSI Agricom and CFI
Holdings.
He is the former publisher of the Business Tribune and Weekend
Tribune
newspapers.
Mawere's arrest comes in the wake of Government's
clampdown on economic
crimes. The blitz, which is ongoing, has seen the
arrest of prominent
Zanu-PF and Government officials.
The Minister of
Finance, Cde Chris Kuruneri and Zanu-PF Central Committee
member Cde James
Makamba have been arrested in various corruption and
economic related
charges.
New Zimbabwe
Deported Mugabe ally calls Moyo a 'gay rant'
By Staff
Reporter
Last updated: 05/29/2004 04:29:05
DAVID Nyekorach-Matsanga a
prominent Zanu PF supporter who has been fighting
an international public
relations war on behalf of President Mugabe's
isolated regime has launched a
blistering attack on Information Minister
Jonathan Moyo, calling him the
Minister of "Information Sabotage" and a "gay
rant".
Matsanga's
outburst came after he was manhandled, robbed and beaten up at
the Harare
International Airport last week while trying to enter Zimbabwe,
allegedly on
the orders of Moyo.
At the centre of this vicious row is the British
cable news network Sky
News, which went into Zimbabwe at the invitation of
Zanu PF to present a
positive spin on the land reform programme. Matsanga was
behind the PR
exercise designed to make government voices heard in the
international
community after Moyo introduced draconian legislation banning
all foreign
journalists from the country.
Moyo tried unsuccessfully to
prevent the Sky News crew from filming and
interviewing President Mugabe,
calling their visit to Zimbabwe "illegal".
This caused a serious rift within
Zanu PF as the Sky News crew had come at
the invitation of the ruling
party.
"For the last one month several articles defaming and
assassinating my
character have appeared in the government controlled Herald
newspaper on the
instructions of the owner of the paper called gay rant
Jonathan Moyo,"
Matsanga said from London on Friday. "I have widely consulted
with many real
men of higher offices in that country and I have been advised
not to react
impulsively to the statements of gay rants.
"I want to
reiterate that it is clear the turncoat and quisling junior
Minister of State
for Information and Publicity whose department is bigger
than President
Mugabe's shoes has distorted all facts and framed me
regarding Sky News. He
has used me as a scapegoat to fight imaginary
succession crusade with
Emmerson Mnangagwa (Speaker of Parliament) and
Nathan Shamuyarira (Zanu PF
spokesman)," railed Matsanga.
Talking exclusively to New Zimbabwe.com,
Matsanga told how he was wrestled
to the floor and locked up at the Harare
international airport by NINE men
whom he was told were from Moyo's
Information Ministry.
"When I got to the airport, normal immigration
officials informed me their
duties had been taken over by Moyo's people," he
said. "One of the men said
I would not be entering Zimbabwe and I must
prepare to return to Britain.
"I said at all international airports
around the world individuals are at
least allowed to make a call before they
are deported. Their response was to
take my mobile phone, a golden watch
worth £700 and £1700 in cash. I was
kept incommunicado by those vigilantes
and they roughed me up, tore my suit
and I sustained injuries on my left
hand.
"A Kenyan Airways manager I have known for a long time offered me
to fly to
Kenya for free because all my money had been stolen, and when I got
to Kenya
I called the Kenyan President's office and a ticket was organised
for me.
"I have been campaigning for a long time for Zimbabwe, countering
the lies
that the country is a pariah State, now I have been pariahred
(sic).
"As long as Moyo exists and occupies the Ministry of Information
Sabotage, I
will not be part of such a system," thundered Matsanga, a Ugandan
national
married to a Zimbabwean.
He said he will be stopping work on
a house he has been constructing in
Ruwa, just outside Harare. He insisted
that he will continue volunteering
his services to project a good image of
President Mugabe.
"Because I respect the President of Zimbabwe I will not
react or do
anything, which will harm the country at this hour. I still have
many
friends in Zimbabwe who have valued my work. I will not let them
down
because of a gay rant. But because of this provocation, I have
despatched my
personal assistant Dr. Patricia Gwen-Ofwon to Nairobi to
research on the
social behaviour and investigate Moyo's fraud case with the
Ford Foundation
in 1990s. As a first precaution, from next week we shall
replay all speeches
and tirades of Moyo against Mugabe from 1996 to enable
the world to judge.
The world will see how the opportunist has sapped the
moral authority of a
good African President."
Moyo, a former
university lecturer has made many enemies within Mugabe's
ruling Zanu PF
power, using the official Herald newspaper to target his
enemies. Before
joining Mugabe's government, Moyo used to be an arch critic
of his
administration and his anti-Mugabe articles were printed in respected
news
journals.
New Zimbabwe
MASOLA WA DABUDABU HOPEWELL
The Duke of
Lupane, my relative
Last updated: 05/29/2004 00:40:46
I
VISITED my uncle in the impoverished district of Lupane in
Matabeleland. He
is popularly known as the Duke of Lupane because of his
political exploits in
the area. This was just before the infamous
parliamentary by-election which
was notoriously won by the Zanu PF
candidate. I had to leave early as the
Zanu PF campaign machine was
operating at full throttle in the area. Being
related to the Duke of Lupane,
a high-ranking Zanu PF official did not
guarantee me any safety from the
marauding gangsters.
So, the
memorable visit to this intriguing relative of mine had to
come to an end. If
I had over-stayed my welcome, I would certainly have
become some statistic on
poll violence! As the volatile situation demanded,
I found myself bidding
farewell to my uncle, the self- appointed Duke of
Lupane.
In our
culture, parting time is the best time for advising one another
on life's
demands and dictates. Do I sense raised eye-brows questioning the
legitimacy
of my claims to a culture? Having heard some uncomplimentary
sentiments about
totem-less people, I would like to dispel any fears and
suspicions that I may
be totem-less. I am a Moyo of the sub-totem
Bvumabalanda (in Khalanga) and I
have to honestly maintain that I hail from
culture-loving
Plumtree.
I would ask for forgiveness for digressing. The issue is
about the
Duke of Lupane and me parting amid a hail of friendly advice. The
Duke told
me without threatening my limbs about his displeasure on my
anti-government
articles in the opposition press. He was particularly angered
by my
insistence to write on his armed expedition against the government
during
the early eighties. Needless to say, the Duke of Lupane used to
terrorize
the Lupane area during his days as an armed dissident. The Duke
advised me
that next time if I have to write about some events in Zimbabwe, I
should
deliberately ignore the dissident disturbances and the
Gukurahundi
massacres.
I promised to heed his advice as a way of
cutting his long story
short!
The Duke went on to give me a
lesson in impressive writing. He
demanded that if I should have the urge to
write anything about him, my
introduction of him in my article should be
superfluous. He advised me that
if I have to amuse those who do not mind
reading about him and his exploits
in life, minus whatever he did from 1982
to 1987, I had to enlighten the
readership on how he prefers his title
pronounced. He says he is not the
Duke of Lupane as in the Ndebele
pronunciation of the word Lupane. He says
he prefers to be called the Duke of
Lupane with the Lupane accentuated in an
English fashion, something like the
Duke of Loo-pain.
The Duke also advised me to stop boasting about
my ability to dodge
border patrols. He said what I do is not a feat that is
remarkable. He
reminded me that during the war, he and his comrades in arms
used to jump
national borders that were stringently guarded by detachments of
Selous'
Scouts and Platoons of Horsemen from the cavalry that was called the
Gray's
Scouts. He ridiculed my exploits as child's play. He remained silent
on his
cross-border exploits during the contentious period of his war against
the
people.
The Duke asked me to work hard once I was out of the
country and send
him some money since things were not in order, just as I had
seen them. He
was talking about the shortages of food. I reminded the Duke
that he was
deriding the very state of affairs he had earlier on portrayed as
being
excellent. I told him that if he was as patriotic as he claimed to be,
he
had no reason to talk about the pinch. In response, the Duke told me that
he
had nothing to do with the drought. He said it was a natural cause that
he
could not avoid.
If the Duke's knowledge of geography was not
as scanty as it is, I
would have told him of some countries that were
permanent deserts. I would
have told him of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya,
Botswana, Egypt, Bahrain,
Mongolia and many other countries that are deserts.
I would then have asked
the eminent Duke to explain why those countries never
face food shortages.
Without making my uncle look like a moron, I would
safely say that his
geography stinks!
When it was my time to
advise the Duke, I asked him to consider
reading about Murmur Gaddafi's Green
Revolution. The Duke did not know much
about Gaddafi, except that he provided
some arms that were used to liberate
his country and that he now makes sure
that our wheels keep on turning by
supplying this rich country with oil. I
explained that Gaddafi had managed
to green the desert. In a lapse of memory,
I nearly mentioned that Gadaffi
was not like the Duke who had managed to turn
the green veldt into a desert
by excessive grazing and
tree-felling.
I advised the Duke to rally his people into bringing
the Zambezi River
to their door steps. The Duke laughed all the way to the
bus stop as he
thought that I was being futuristic in my advice. I told him
though that in
terms of living on borrowed time, we were already in the
future. I reminded
him that his unborn great grand children were somehow
already mortgaged to
some foreigners due to our borrowing of funds. The Duke
would have killed
someone here. Luckily it was I speaking, his most favorite
nephew.
When the bus came, I felt the sadness of parting with my
uncle. We
hugged in an English fashion and I boarded the bus with the
coercive
encouragement from the bus conductor. As the bus made its way
towards
Bulawayo, I was amazed to see structures that looked like temporary
homes
mushrooming all over along the great road. A traveler sitting next to
me
explained that those were homes of resettled farmers.
I was
humbled by the squalor. Some of the structures were fit for
rearing the
lovely animals that give us pork. I concluded that a lot needed
to be done to
alleviate poverty. Electrifying those hovels would certainly
not improve the
standard of living of those people. The people did not need
electricity for
now, they needed decent homes. I think rural electrification
could come later
on after rural homes rehabilitation. I promised myself that
as soon as I got
to my external destination, I would call the Duke at the
party offices and
ask him to look into the people's living conditions.
I threw away
the idea of calling the Duke. His party had managed to
wrestle the
parliamentary seat from the opposition. I did not want to hear
the bragging
voice of the Duke!
For the benefit of all of us, I have made a
summary of the Duke of
Lupane. The Duke is my uncle. He is an ex-combatant.
He is an ex-dissident.
He owns a large tract of land in an arid region. He is
a tribalist. He
conveniently supports Mugabe his former foe! He does not know
about the
Green Revolution of Libya. His geography is deficient. He is a
farmer who
was thrust into farming by events. He does a lot of firing than
hiring of
workers. He is a politician in a sense. He demands
respect!
Long live the Duke.