The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
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COMMERCIAL FARMERS' UNION
Farm Invasions And Security Report
Friday 3 May 2002

This report does not purport to cover all the incidents that are taking place in the commercial farming areas.  Communication problems and the fear of reprisals prevent farmers from reporting all that happens.  Farmers names, and in some cases farm names, are omitted to minimise the risk of reprisals.

NATIONAL REPORT IN BRIEF
REGIONAL NEWS

MANICALAND
No report received.
 
MASHONALAND CENTRAL
Horseshoe - nothing to report.
No other reports received.
 
MASHONALAND EAST
01.05.02
Beatrice - The owner of one farm returned home to find a "war vet’s" son sleeping on his veranda and drinking coffee in the dining room.  This same person went to another farm where he told the owner he was going to move into the Granny flat.  Labour on other farms are demanding exorbitant severance packages.  Some farm owners have been not been allowed to take large household furniture when they have been forced to vacate and no one is allowed to move cattle.
Macheke/Virginia - Various farms still have equipment removed by settlers and taken to the local security base.  The settlers have wired shut some farm owner’s gates.
Marondera North   - Various farmers received Section 8 orders.
Marondera South - More farmers were forced to hand over keys and vacate their properties.  The owner of a UD 7 tonne lorry had the lorry illegally removed by settlers from premises in Marondera.
Wedza - Various farmers were told they have got to learn to co-exist with the settlers.
03.05.02
Beatrice – NEC came to one farm to negotiate packages for labour.   It was resolved the labour would be paid one month's notice and $5000.00 relocation money.  The balance outstanding would be paid when government pays the owner for their farm.  Farmers still being evicted and Section 8's issued.  Stock theft is ongoing, two dogs were poisoned and a house broken into.
Macheke/Virginia - Ongoing work stoppages.  Farmers still have equipment removed without their permission. Settlers are demanding inventories of equipment are undertaken on some farms.  Section 8's are issued and stock theft is ongoing.  There are some reports of lost cattle found but some still missing.
Marondera South - Farmers that have not left their farms are continually harassed and told to hand over their keys and vacate.  Inventories of farm equipment are carried out by settlers. 
Wedza – reports are settlers demand compensation for maize and make threats if the money is not paid.
 
MASHONALAND WEST (NORTH)
No report received.
 
MASHONALAND WEST (SOUTH)
Norton - On River Gardens the owner is currently unable to get back to his farm due to roadblocks being put up.  The farm is not listed.
Selous - Farms that have not been pegged are now being pegged.  The owner of one property was evicted but is able to continue farming at this stage.
Chegutu - On Just Right snaring continues and cattle regularly come in with snares on them.  Hunger is beginning to take root.
Chakari - On various farms police have come around telling farmers they are not allowed to move any of their moveable assets.  Nobody in Chakari is allowed to grow Wheat.
Kadoma - No farmers are allowed to grow Wheat in this association.
Battlefields - Only two farmers are allowed to grow Wheat at this stage. One of these farmers will not be able to grow due to having no water. 
 
MASVINGO
Masvingo East and Central – Bon Domi reports on 30.03.02, the owner received death threats from settlers. 
Chiredzi – a big meeting scheduled to take place never occurred.  A man with dreadlocks arrived at the venue stating it was cancelled as the owners of Wasarara, Eaglemont and Oscro had brought the DA and officials from the Lands Committee.  The Wasarara Ranch settlers were moved out of the owner’s scrap heap, which they had been using to make snares.  The main base camp was moved to the main access gate where the settlers have started building a huge shelter.  They were previously told they were not allowed to build at all.  Support Unit came on the night of 01.05.02.  30 youths have settled in the elephant paddock and begun chopping down trees.  One kudu bull was snared 800m from the homestead.  54 snares were collected from the game paddock.  Another kudu and impala were found snared here, and one baby giraffe was released from a snare.  Samba Ranch reports two eland, one porcupine and one warthog were found dead in snares. Youths took over the owner’s safari camp at Dombedeema Ranch and demanded the game guards stand down and leave the ranch.  This was finally agreed.  Buffalo Range game scouts caught poachers on 01.05.02, transporting beef between Dombedeema and Crown Ranch Denarri Ranch received a Section 7.  In general there is plenty of people movement, poaching has escalated due to hunger, and tree felling and building of makeshift homes continues.
Mwenezi – Battlefields Ranch reports the owner did a sweep in one paddock and collected 224 snares.  Three dead impala and one dead kudu were found.  He is still sweeping the remainder of the paddock. 
Save Conservancy – poaching continues unabated and people still enter the conservancy on its eastern boundary. 
Gutu/Chatsworth – Limbergia Ranch found two cattle killed on the railway line.
 
MIDLANDS
No report received.
 
MATABELELAND
No report received.
 
aisd1@cfu.co.zw                                 Visit the CFU Website www.mweb.co.zw/cfu 


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Friday, 3 May, 2002, 13:38 GMT 14:38 UK
Starvation strikes Zimbabwe
Maize crops have failed across Zimbabwe

      By the BBC's Thabo Kunene
      Matabeleland, western Zimbabwe

People are dying as a direct result of the food shortage in Zimbabwe,
villagers in rural areas say.

Residents of Matabeleland, one of the worst affected provinces, say that
elderly people are starving to death, while children have died of poisoning
after eating the wrong leaves as a substitute for food.
In rural areas, people begged me for money to buy bread which was twice as
expensive as in urban areas.

One old man, Mandla Masuku, said two elderly people in his area collapsed
and died last week after going for more than a week without food.

"We are suffering here my son," said Mr Masuku. "It's as if God has
abandoned us."

His four children have left him to look for work in Botswana.

 Click here to read about the situation in the neighbouring province of
Masvingo

In the northern district of Gwayi, I gave a lift to a 67-year-old man who no
longer had the strength to walk due to hunger.

He said that people in his area had not harvested anything this year.

Students skip school

In nearby Nkayi, three hungry children from one family died after eating
poisonous leaves from a tree.

Neighbours told me their mother had gone to Bulawayo in search of food.
      Many children have been weakened by hunger
The government this week declared a state of disaster to deal with the food
shortage which it blames on drought.

But World Food Programme (WFP) officials say disruption to agriculture
because of the government's land seizure programme has worsened the problem.

Schools opened for a new term this week, but many students did not turn up
for classes, apparently because they were too weak to walk the often long
distances.

One head teacher, who asked not to be named, said he would suspend sporting
activities until the food shortage ended.

Zim Independent

Farm Trust to expand feeding programme in Matabeleland
Loughty Dube
THE Farm Community Trust of Zimbabwe (FCTZ) will spread its supplementary
feeding programmes to the two drought- ravaged provinces of Matabeleland
once funds for the exercise have been made available.

The Trust currently provides supplementary feeding Programmes to over 15 000
children of besieged farm workers in the four provinces of Mashonaland East,
West, Central and Manicaland.
FCTZ director Godfrey Magaramombe this week said his organisation was aware
of the plight of families of farm workers in Matabeleland North and South
and was in the process of sourcing funds to extend the programme in the
country.
"We are looking at the possibility of moving into Matabeleland at a later
stage but first we have to do an assessment of the whole project before
making our intended move, but that can only take place after we have set up
infrastructure on the ground," Magaramombe said.
Tens of thousands of farm workers have been displaced since government
embarked on its controversial land reforms before the parliamentary election
in 2000.
An estimated 300 000 farm workers will lose their jobs after the government
concludes the acquisition of over 3 000 commercial farms for resettlement.
World Food Programme food handouts have not benefited farm workers as most
of the food doled out by the international organisation is targeted at rural
communities in communal areas.
The expansion of the feeding programme by FCTZ would provide relief to
starving farm workers in the prime farming areas of Nyamandlovu and Nkayi,
areas worst affected by farm invasions since 2000.
War veterans in Matabeleland have dislodged farm owners and taken over farm
operations amid cases of looting of produce and harassment of workers.
The Farm Workers Action Group at the beginning of the year reported that
over 20 000 farm workers had become jobless and could not feed their
families.
The farm workers situation had been compounded by the worst drought to hit
the country since 1992
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Independent (UK)

Zimbabwe has slipped off our agenda, but its problems are getting much worse
People are being abducted and murdered. The secret police are smashing any
open dissent. The free press is under siege
Fergal Keane
04 May 2002
The man from the Zimbabwe High Commission couldn't have been nicer. I had
expected a barrage of criticism or, at the very least, a cold shoulder. But
there he was telling me I would be welcome to visit Zimbabwe. And this only
weeks after Zimbabwe's Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo, had declared
that people like me who had sneaked into the country could expect to take up
long-term residence in jail if we were caught.

"So you are actually saying I can come back?" I said. "Anytime, anytime,"
the diplomat replied. Then I asked what seemed the obvious question. "I may
be able to get in, but will you let me out?" At this the Zimbabwean burst
out laughing. He laughed so much he never got around to answering my
question. I doubt I will be taking up his invitation any time soon.

The exchange took place in the House of Commons, where I'd gone to give
evidence before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. I was there with
another journalist, and I doubt that anything we said could have given much
comfort the Zimbabwean High Commission. The MPs were knowledgeable and
concerned. Disconcertingly, they were able to quote back to me the words
written about Africa in this column over the years. It was a testing
experience, but I came away reinforced in the view that the committee system
is the last vestige of genuine parliamentary democracy in Britain.

But as far as Zimbabwe is concerned, I left the building in a state of
depression. I hadn't quite understood how much things had deteriorated since
the presidential elections, or should I say that, like most other people, I
had taken my eye off the ball. People are being abducted and murdered by
Mugabe's militia. The secret police are smashing any open dissent. The free
press is under siege. This week the excellent Andrew Meldrum of The Guardian
joined the ranks of journalists jailed and harassed by the regime. A few
weeks before that it was Peta Thorneycroft of The Telegraph. Last week the
self-styled "war veterans" warned Asian businesspeople that they could lose
their shops and factories. Echoes of Idi Amin and Mobutu Sese Seko.

The elections provided a momentary illumination - for a few weeks the world
noticed Zimbabwe, and then it slipped from our consciousness. The slide to
disaster continued. Part of the problem is that the international media are
event fixated. There is an election and Zimbabwe gets on the news agenda.
Give us an election and we go and cover it, or a general strike or a war.
Give us dramatic pictures of starving children and we will pile in quickly.
But rarely, if ever, in the history of modern Africa have we been present
"before" the disaster or acted to warn the world that it might be coming.

Think of Ethiopia and Rwanda. There was some great reporting once the dying
had started, but where were we when the nightmare was being created? I
exclude from this criticism the few permanent western correspondents based
in African capitals. They tell the stories. It is the editors in London who
decide the priorities and Africa is far down the list.

This week Robert Mugabe declared a national disaster because of food
shortages. It may be the first time he has told a public truth in years. The
aid agencies and most resident diplomats accept that something terrible is
in the offing. But if you follow the international media, there is no sign
that we are heeding the warning. Zimbabwe is facing famine. Much of it is
the consequence of Robert Mugabe's appalling economic mismanagement: he has
strangled the commercial farming sector. Few farmers are going to plant the
annual crop when they know the land is in danger of imminent seizure. The
farm invasions have also helped to bring planting to a standstill.

But Zimbabwe is also suffering from the drought that is choking the life out
of southern Africa. In Zambia and Mozambique and Malawi there are widespread
deaths from hunger. The iconography of Africa is yet again the baby with the
swollen belly. In Zimbabwe alone more than two thirds of the population of
13 million are in urgent need of food aid. The country consumes about two
million tonnes of food every year, but this year harvests are forecast at
750,000 tonnes. As if that wasn't bad enough, the rate of inflation is
running at a staggering 113 per cent. When I travelled around Matabeleland
in the run-up to the election, everybody I met complained of food shortages.
The hunger was not confined to the peasant farming community; middle class
families are also in desperate straits. There is simply no maize meal to be
found.

While all of this is going on, Mugabe and his grotesque collection of
cronies and thugs are eating well. They are still ripping off the natural
resources of the Congo (along with all the other armies in that forgotten
war) and act in a manner that would bring blushes to the face of the worst
colonial robber baron. The opposition is cowed and the people are ever more
frightened.

So what may happen in Zimbabwe? None of the possibilities look good. For all
the wishful wittering from South Africa there isn't a chance in hell that
Mugabe will agree to share power with the Movement for Democratic Change.
Nor is the MDC willing to sit down with Mugabe. There is no international
pressure on either side to become engaged.

The danger - and it is acute and imminent - is that Zimbabwe will slide into
starvation and ultimately bloody chaos. We face the risk of huge numbers of
people starving to death, of violent confrontation on the streets and the
movement of huge numbers of refugees into neighbouring countries. There is
no easy route for the international community. In a country that is falling
apart you can forget about economic sanctions. Our first priority now is to
get food to the hungry.

There is a way of doing this without giving the food to Mugabe. Use the
countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to distribute
the aid. Only South Africa's impressive military machine has the logistical
capability to move the maize and other supplies into remote parts of
Zimbabwe (and Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique). If it is done as a regional
effort, Mugabe can have no excuse for demanding control of food
distribution.

The Americans successfully called his bluff in 1983 when he tried to starve
the Ndebele into submission - independent distribution or no aid. The
European Union and the United States, in partnership with SADC, should take
the same route now. But if Mugabe refuses and the country eventually slides
towards civil war or mass political killing, the UN Security Council must
order the deployment of an African force to restore order.

If Mugabe is willing to destroy his country to save his power, then
intervention may ultimately be unavoidable. We have allowed Zimbabwe to
vanish from our consciousness, but all the time the problem is growing. If
we don't act now we will all be complicit when disaster strikes.

The writer is a BBC Special Correspondent

PRESS RELEASE/UPDATE: 11 IFEX members sign appeal urging Zimbabwe to drop
charges against journalists
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 1 May 2002 joint statement by 11 IFEX
members urging the Zimbabwean government to drop the charges against three
journalists arrested under the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act:

PRESS RELEASE: Eleven IFEX members sign appeal urging Zimbabwe to drop
charges against journalists

We, the participants at the UNESCO-sponsored conference on Terrorism and
Media meeting in Manila, the Philippines from 1-2 May 2002 express concern
over reports that Lloyd Mudiwa and Collin Chiwanza, reporters for The Daily
News, an independent Zimbabwean daily, and Andrew Meldrum, a correspondent
for the London-based Guardian newspaper, have been arrested and charged with
disseminating false information contrary to the recently adopted Zimbabwean
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

This law has been widely criticised by freedom of expression and media
organisations and the offence of disseminating false information was just
two years ago struck down by the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe as being contrary
to the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression.

We the undersigned call on the Zimbabwean authorities to drop the charges
against these journalists and to refrain from harassing journalists under
the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

ARTICLE 19
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
Free Media Movement
Human Rights Watch
International Federation of Journalists
Pacific Islands News Association
Pakistan Press Foundation
Thai Journalists Association
World Association of Newspapers
World Press Freedom Committee
More Information
For further information, contact ARTICLE 19, 33 Islington High St., London
N19LH, U.K., tel: +44 207 278 9292, fax: +44 207 713 1356, e-mail:
info@article19.org, Internet: http://www.article19.org
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Daily News

      Joseph Made is a national disaster

      5/3/02 12:04:56 PM (GMT +2)

      DR Joseph Made is, in theory, our Minister of Lands, Agriculture and
Rural Resettlement. In any sane society he would be responsible for
representing the interests of the farming industry to his colleagues in the
Cabinet and defending the industry to the general public.

      Instead, he has presided over the wholesale destruction of the
industry which now lies in shambles. Zimbabwe has gone from being a net food
exporter to the situation where President Mugabe has been forced to declare
a national disaster in an effort to stave off mass starvation.

      In the 2000/2001 season, Made declared he had flown over the
countryside and that in his view there would be a record maize crop. He went
with the President to Malaysia, where they duly signed a contract to supply
2,5 million tonnes of maize over the next three years.

      Mugabe trumpeted when they got home that they had sold Malaysia US$800
million (Z$44 billion) worth of new exports. The actual crop was 1,4 million
tonnes ­ 500 000 tonnes less than domestic consumption requirements. Stocks
carried us through and the scene was set for the next season.

      In the 2001/2002 season, Made again declared that the new settlers
would grow a record crop after the State pumped $15 billion into inputs and
new tractors to plough land for settlers. He declared there would be no
shortages of key foodstuffs.

      Experts estimated the crop at just over one million tonnes and when
the rains stopped in December, the maize crop collapsed and is now estimated
at about 400 000 tonnes or 20 percent of demand.

      The problem this time was that when we ran out of maize, on the farms
there were no stocks available to cover any shortfall. Because of Made's
statements, no action was taken to cover the shortfall. The Grain Marketing
Board (GMB) ran out of stock in mid-January 2002.

      Eventually Made was forced to announce that a small import would be
permitted to cover the country's needs until the new crop was harvested. He
estimated 200 000 tonnes were required and the GMB was "instructed"to import
the product. They could not even do that properly. Corruption got in the way
and decisions were delayed, the price doubled and when they finally awarded
the tenders there was no foreign exchange.

      When they partly overcame that problem maize trickled into the country
at a rate that would only meet 20 percent of demand. Zanu PF loudly blamed
the resulting shortages on farmers and businessmen who were "hoarding"maize.

      The State-controlled Press played great attention to "discoveries"of
small quantities of maize on farms and in factories.

      Even maize tonnes purchased from the GMB for normal operations were
"seized"and held up to demonstrate the dastardly acts of economic saboteurs.
The MDC said a year ago that this disaster was coming and urged everyone to
start working on the problem. We pointed out that stocks were dangerously
low and that crop levels were inadequate.

      We also focused on the logistics problem if we left it too late and
were forced to try and import massive quantities of food over a run-down
railway system and an inadequate road system.

      We also warned that, as we would not have the foreign exchange to meet
our needs, that we would have to turn to the international community and
this would take time.

      The government ignored our advice. Foreign donors met and decided that
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) would co-ordinate their
response, but they warned that they needed government to start saying they
needed help. Furthermore, there was little support for a programme that
would be used to entrench Zanu PF in power by meeting basic needs through
Zanu PF-dominated supply channels.

      The government refused to play ball and, in fact, went in the opposite
direction. They banned the non-governmental organisations from undertaking
humanitarian activities and imposed a monopoly on the market for wheat and
maize and all their derivatives.

      From there on, all sales of wheat and maize and in theory, the
derivatives, had to go through the State-controlled GMB. The objective was
obvious ­ to use food as a political weapon to punish those who were
democratically opposed to Zanu PF and to reward those who supported the
party.

      It would also be a means of providing for patronage to key players and
there might even be a chance to make a bob or two on the side.

      Now today Mugabe, not Made, has to make a humiliating announcement we
are out of food and must declare a food emergency. He also said that up to
seven million people urgently needed food aid and five million children
needed supplementary feeding.

      The early warning system has either been silent or has consistently
downplayed the extent of the problem. So has the UNDP and the World Food
Programme. The worst thing about this is that it is too late to prevent a
disaster with no clearly defined limits.

      It comes at a moment when South Africa has only an adequate crop for
its own needs and some normal exports. But more seriously, it comes at a
time when we have to feed a high proportion of the populations of southern
Africa on donor-funded food imports.

      This could not have been predicted, but the Zimbabwe situation was
totally predictable, not its full extent, but certainly its timing and the
scope of the problem. It gives us no satisfaction that we were the first to
start warning of this crisis. Now we must work on solutions. What concerns
us is that in doing so, the danger is that everyone will go off in a
different direction.

      We need to ensure that donors work together and set out straightaway
the ground rules that the government has to do to qualify for the truly
massive resources now required ­ US$500 million (Z$27,5 billion) ­ in the
next 15 months). We need to pull in the combined resources of the private
sector and to use all our combined capacities to overcome constraints.

      Let's face facts, this crisis is man-Made by a crazy administration
which, if it is left to its devices, is going to totally destabilise the
whole of southern Africa if it has not already done so. If South Africa
cannot get food to its neighbours, the people here will go to South Africa.
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Forwarded by Jenni Williams Mobile (Code +263) 91 300 456 or 11 213 885
Email jennipr@mweb.co.zw
Office landlines: (+2639) 72546 Fax 63978
Email prnews@mweb.co.zw

Please come and support the Bayley family as they say their farewell to Tom
Bayley.
The funeral will be held at the Smithfield Arena, Farmer and City Stand, at
the
Exhibition Park on Tuesday 7 May at 10.30am.  Donations to ZNSPCA in lieu of
flowers please.

Continuation of Report on Danbury Park Farm 2 May 2002 by Trish Bayley
Early yesterday morning Tom Bayley passed away in his sleep.  It was a happy
release for a tortured and tormented soul.  He endured, with great courage
and
determination, two years of threats,  intimidation and the destruction of
his
life's work. This culminated in five weeks of being barricaded in his home,
with
all night pungwes and daily threats of having petrol poured into the house
and
setting it alight.  Finally a fall resulting in a broken leg and the need to
be
evacuated from his home of 66 years.  The physical pain of the broken leg
and
the operation to pin it was insignificant compared to the mental pain of
being
forced off his farm and his home.

Thomas Eric Bayley was born on 25 May 1913 on Bounds Green  Farm, North
London,
although, when he was very young, his family moved to a village called
Danbury,
which is near Chelmsford, Essex.  He grew bored of school, so left when he
was
14 and did an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner with Marconi's Wireless
and
Telegraph Company.  When he had completed his apprenticeship, he worked on
an
apple farm until he was offered a position as a "boss boy" on a farm in
Southern
Rhodesia.

Being an adventurous spirit, and heeding the call which was taught at school
at
that time to "go out and develop the British Empire", he left his family and
friends and sailed off to Africa.  He arrived at his new job on the farm,
which
he later named Danbury Park, on 13 April 1936.  He took with him his only
possessions: a suitcase of clothes and five pounds.

At that time, all haulage and ploughing was done with oxen and he would work
from sunrise to sunset, much of the time guiding the plough himself.  It was
a
very lonely life and he spent what little free time he had making himself
furniture out of wooden packing cases.

During the Second World War, his employer, Campbell Dunlop, went to fight in
the war, leaving Tom to manage the farm and continue food production.
During
this time he met Edith (Bobs) Garde, from Shamva, who he married in 1944 in
the
registry office in Bulawayo.

Campbell Dunlop was killed in an aircraft accident during the war, but Tom
continued to work for the Dunlop family.  After a few years they decided to
lease the farm to him, and then, in 1949, they decided to sell it and
offered it
to him.  Tom could not afford to purchase the whole farm, so they agreed to
sub
divide it, selling the first piece at that time.  They sold him the
remainder in
1958.

During Tom's 66 years on the farm, he rebuilt the main homestead, built the
workshop and sheds, a cottage for his brother and he was one of the first
farmers in the country to construct brick housing for his labour.   He built
dams, stumped all the fields, cleared them of thousands of tonnes of rocks,
constructed contours to prevent soil erosion, built weirs across gullies to
rehabilitate them and excavated and lined a network of water furrows.  He
planted Cypress, Eucalyptus and Jacaranda plantations, built a network of
farm
roads and erected many kilometres of fencing, all of which he constantly
maintained.  He was proud of the 99 proper farm gates on the farm.

Tom was passionate about conservation and trees and spent many years working
with the Intensive Conservation Area organisation.  In the early 1990's he
was
presented with an award in recognition for his achievements in this field.

Tom had a great love of nature and wildlife and took pride in everything he
did, traits he passed on to his four children, Jenny, Win , Val and Tommy.
Tommy carried on Tom's work on the farm with the same passion, dedication
and
success, and presumably the beauty of what they nurtured and created
attracted
the interest and jealousy of someone or some people who have the power to
over
ride the law and basic human rights.

When the farm was invaded by "war veterans on 6 March 2000, the threats,
destruction and theft started.  Initially it was the felling of hundreds of
trees, both plantation and indigenous to build huts. It went on to growing
crops
without fertiliser, thereby draining the soil of nutrients,  meanwhile
preventing us from growing seed maize, commercial maize and soya beans.  The
cutting of fences and opening of gates resulted in cattle being continually
mixed and eating the crops.  This then resulted in extortionary claims for
compensation by the new "farmers". Finally it was the invasion of the
homestead
areas and workers' village, the beating of workers, one of whom died of his
injuries and another hung himself, probably as a result of the stress he was
feeling.

Tom, Bobs and their Cook / Assistant were evacuated from the farm on 20
April
2002, after being barricaded in their house for five weeks and having been
denied visitors much of that time.  On two occasions the only way the family
was
able to get food in to them was to give the food to an NGO to take in.  The
police denied escorts to a number of people seeking to visit them, including
the
ambulance used to evacuate them.

At this time the family has been unable to retrieve any household goods or
equipment from the farm and unconfirmed reports have been made that the
entire
workshop and maize silo contents have been looted by the "war veterans" on
the
farm.

The ZNSPCA did manage to gain access a second time and collected the
tortoises,
but they were unable to retrieve the three remaining cats.  The work they
are
doing is outstanding.

Tom's death is the third on Danbury Park in two months that can be directly
linked to the illegal invasion of the Farm.  He recovered well from his
operation and was allowed out of hospital on Saturday 27 April.  That
evening he
was cheerful and lucid and was discussing old times with his family, he
seemed
well on his way to recovery.  On Sunday night he had terrible nightmares and
was
thrashing around, trying to rip off his blankets and bandages. The words he
was
shouting indicated that in his nightmare the "settlers" had broken into his
house
and were about to set it on fire.  He went downhill from there and passed on
in
his sleep in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

His wish was to be buried on the farm next to the grave of Patterson, the
first
owner of the farm, who died in 1891.  He wanted to be buried in a coffin
made of
the wood grown on the farm.  We will not be able to carry out his wishes;
even
if we are allowed back onto the farm to bury him, we have every reason to
believe that the service would be disrupted by the gloating of the
"settlers",
the same people that bludgeoned the brother of one of our workers to death
and
then crowed about it.  It is also possible that these people would then
desecrate the grave in the future.

Tom was a very sociable and hospitable person and made many friends during
his
life.  The support of these people and the encouragement of numerous
complete
strangers helped Tom and Bobs through their ordeal.  The family would like
to
sincerely thank all those that helped to comfort him in the last few tragic
weeks of his life.

A devastating end to a man who, throughout his life, endeavored to leave his
farm and community in a better state than he found them, primarily for the
benefit of future generations.  Sadly, after he had achieved  his dream, it
was
shattered in the last two years of his life.

A further tragedy is that thousands of other families in Zimbabwe are
suffering
the same and worse.


Daily News

      Farmer held hostage dies

      5/3/02 10:48:20 AM (GMT +2)
      Staff Reporter

      THOMAS Bailey, 89, held hostage by war veterans for 37 days since 13
March at his Danbury Park Farm in Mount Hampden, died in his sleep at his
daughter's house in Harare last Wednesday. He is survived by his terminally
ill wife, Edith, 79. Bailey fell ill while taking a bath and broke his
thighbone just above the knee. He was taken to the Trauma Centre before
being referred to the West End Clinic where he underwent a successful
operation.

      Relatives were initially denied access to the farm and had to wait for
some time before they were allowed entry. While the evacuation was taking
place, war veterans subjected the Baileys and the ambulance driver to verbal
abuse.

      As they left, the war veterans allegedly told the ailing couple that
their houses would be looted and destroyed. A statement from the family said
of the deceased: "He was very tormented about the loss of his home. He had
not been sleeping well as he had nightmares about his experiences while
under siege.

      "He passed away in his sleep this morning at his daughter's house
where he had been staying since being discharged from hospital last week."
Two weeks ago war veterans who invaded Danbury Park Farm evicted Bailey's
son, Tom (Jnr), his wife Patricia, and their two-year-old daughter Diana.

      The late Bailey walked with the aid of a frame after hip replacement
surgery two years ago, and needed regular assistance. Jennie Williams, the
Commercial Farmers' Union spokesman, said members from the Border Gezi youth
training centre were on constant guard around the Baileys' house and
intimidated them whenever they opened the curtains or doors.

      Williams said they had been held hostage for 37 days. The couple came
to Mount Hampden in 1936 from Britain and built up the farm from scratch.
The Baileys were being held hostage in two separate homesteads on the farm.

      The entrance to the farm remains barricaded, according to the family
spokesman. The 350-hectare seed maize, soya bean and beef cattle farm is
situated about 30km from Harare.
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Zim Independent

Editor's Memo

Repression will fail

They were shocked, it appears, by the extent to which Zimbabwe's newspapers
acted as cheerleaders for the two main political parties in contention.
Their recommendations include guidelines for editors on how to avoid
polarisation of the sort witnessed during the election.

Their criticism is familiar: mysterious or partisan sourcing; insubstantial
evidence; and lack of balance in terms of responses. These are points
newspapers have been struggling with over a number of years and as the
Zimbabwe Independent wasn't targeted for particular blame I am not going to
start offering excuses here. The team obviously focused on the main dailies
because they were at loggerheads nearly every day.
Media Monitoring Project head Andy Moyse explained to the shell-shocked
visitors that independent papers had been led to their current unilateral
style of reporting as a reaction to, and to counter-balance, abuses in the
state-owned papers. The team commented that "someone somewhere" must begin
the process of reporting in a more balanced way.
I would only add the following: It is a given in journalism training that a
newspaper must reflect the two sides of an argument so that readers might
discern the answer as lying in the centre. American papers lean over
backwards with this style of journalism ("on the one hand this, on the other
hand that") and produce what is often bland and misleading copy as a result.
While I agree it is important that all sides of an argument be examined, I
am not entirely sure the answer does lie in the middle. Where should the
truth lie between a party that attempts to beat voters into submission and
bribes them with stolen property and another that hopes to persuade them by
the force of its argument? Certainly not in the middle!
The team identified the Herald, Chronicle, and Sunday Mail as pro-Zanu PF;
the Zimbabwe Mirror as pro-Zanu PF "with nuance"; and the Zimbabwe
Independent, Daily News, Financial Gazette, and Standard as pro-MDC.
I suppose that is broadly true. But it didn't occur to them that we might
share values in common with the MDC such as democracy, human rights, and
freedom of expression. Those values are arguably shared by a majority of
Zimbabweans who were prevented by force or obstruction from reflecting them
in electoral terms. That at least is the conclusion of the Commonwealth and
other teams that were honest.
I'm sure the independent papers cited would make no apology about standing
for those values. And they would be inclined to favour any party that makes
them part of its plat-

form.
The team, comprising members who were most definitely not part of the
Anglo-Saxon Commonwealth, were clear that the issue of race was abused by
the state media for electoral advantage. Reference to race should be avoided
in the media, they pointed out in line with common practice in many
countries, except in exceptional circum- stances.

They cited reports in the Sunday Mail and Herald that singled out whites as
guilty of supporting the opposition and said some of these reports suggested
whites did not have the right to exercise their choice as freely as other
Zimbabwean citizens.
The team also cautioned newspapers against carrying mind- less abuse of the
sort President Mugabe dished out in his remarks about Morgan Tsvangirai
being ugly within.
"Sub-editors and editors should be on the lookout to avoid such language,"
the team said, describing such remarks as "degrading much more for the
utterer than for the victim."
World Press Freedom Day this year sees the Zimbabwean private media under
siege. Two journalists from the Daily News and a foreign correspondent were
arrested this week and charged under the dubious Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act.
Two weeks ago our chief reporter and myself were charged under the same
provisions which refer to the "abuse of journalistic privilege". So was the
editor of the Daily News. Forget shrill claims about "fabrication" of
stories. The government press fabricates the most outrageous stories every
week and they go unmolested.
The intention is to shut down independent papers and thus silence an
inconvenient voice.
Never have independent voices - both in the independent media and civil
society - been more urgently needed. As the Zanu PF government's policies on
land and the economy fail and tens of thousands more are thrown into
unemployment and destitution, so the state will feel compelled to exercise
its authority through coercion. It long ago lost the battle for hearts and
minds.
It has fashioned laws to curb dissent. But it cannot indefinitely keep a lid
on escalating popular dissatisfaction with its misrule. Newspapers provide a
safety valve by which people can express their anger or frustration with
government and other agencies they hold responsible for their misfortune.
By trying to close off those valves the government is doing the same it
attempted to do by procuring President Mugabe's return to office in the face
of evident national alienation. It is holding the lid down on a boiling pot.
But we all know what such expedients inevitably lead to.
For our part, the Independent will commemorate World Press Freedom Day in
the certain knowledge that repression and intimidation will fail, just as
they have everywhere else they have been attempted. When we first appeared
in 1996 we promised to "tell it like it is". We will go on doing exactly
that.
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Zim Independent

Muckraker

Moyo loses his head over classical allusions

WHAT is the difference between "hooliganism" and "classical hooliganism"?

One must assume the former is practised in the present while the latter was
the preserve of the Ancients. Aristotle and Plato were classical hooligans,
it must be supposed.

Our learned Information minister, Prof Jonathan Moyo, raised the point in a
statement carried by the Herald, a paper not usually known for its appeal to
students of Greece and Rome.

Moyo was holding forth on whether Zanu PF should return to the negotiating
table on May 13

after what he regarded as an exhibition of "classical hooliganism" by MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

The mayors of Harare and Bulawayo got his seal of approval. They were not
hooligans, he declared. But Tsvangirai was a different kettle of fish. He
had been scheduled to attend the funeral of a party supporter who, it
transpired, proved to be less than headless.

"It takes a hooligan to attend a funeral of an alleged beheaded person who
never existed in the first place," Moyo raved with his customary lack of
restraint. "That is indeed classical hooliganism."

Is it? We thought a hooligan was a "young ruffian", "one of a gang of young
street roughs". More homeboy than Homer.

How exactly does Tsvangirai fit this definition by seeking to attend a
funeral of somebody who in good faith he believed to be a party supporter?
Or are we being fed more classic misinformation?

Needless to say, the government media has made hay with the Daily News'
severed head story. Which is easy for newspapers that are no more than
public relations agencies for the regime and have never investigated
anything except non-existent coup plots. But the Daily News has to its
credit been quick to publicise any doubts that have arisen around the
veracity of the story and has apologised to its readers and to all those
referred to in the Karoi case.

Contrast this with the Chronicle's refusal to apologise for a patently false
story about the MDC planning a bombing campaign as part of an uprising. Or
indeed, the refusal of the government media to explain why nobody was
prosecuted over its "revelations" of MDC cadres being sent for training,
anthrax being sent through the mail, or claims that foreign correspondents
were associated with terrorism.

The public media sees its duty as covering up for crimes by the state and
the ruling party including the crime of murder by President Mugabe's
supporters. It is in denial about the fate of dozens of people who have been
abducted and killed. That figure now stands at over 54 for the year to March
11, according to Amani Trust.

But when it appears an independent newspaper was misled - perhaps
deliberately - over an incident involving one person, there is a huge sigh
of relief from the apologists of murder and misrule.

"Zanu PF did not kill anybody this week" would have made a good headline for
them! Or "Daily News got it wrong one time in fifty".

What have we come to when the government obtains solace from such
reprieves - and then uses the episode as a pretext to instruct its
crony-infested companies not to advertise in the private press? The official
reason Moyo gave was that taxpayers' money was at stake and that this could
not be used to "subsidise attacks on the country".

For 22 years taxpayers' money has been used to subsidise corrupt and
mismanaged parastatals like Noczim so that adherents of the ruling party can
leach on the nation. Moyo never complained about them "destroying the
country" even when those subsidies became a significant drain on the fiscus
and a stimulus to inflation.

What has Arda ever accomplished or the NRZ? When did Air Zimbabwe or Zupco
last provide a useful service to the public? The parastatals are emblematic
of Zanu PF's parasitic rule. But the state refuses to let go because they
provide a fertile field for abuse and plunder.

And it is instructive that Moyo should attack businessmen like Strive
Masiyiwa and Nigel Chanakira, who he says own the Daily News. (Hasn't he
been telling us everyday that it is British-owned?)

Here are a new breed of entrepreneur who, unlike Zanu PF-sponsored
indigenisation beneficiaries, have pulled themselves up without high-level
patronage. They are Zimbabwe's success stories - but they now have to
operate outside the country because the business climate at home is so
toxic.

Moyo has threatened to amend the already badly panel-beaten Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act to "deal with this rot", meaning,
we suppose, not the rot in the public sector but the rotten luck of nobody
wanting to read government newspapers any more!

Forcing parastatals to make market-unrelated decisions about where to
advertise could see them experiencing further losses. Are we to assume that
all Air Zimbabwe's customers are Herald readers?

It could also further imperil the image of companies that the public already
sees as fields of sheltered employment for ruling-party supporters who would
not survive a day in the real world of business.

Somebody else imperilling the image of the organisation they represent is
Chief Inspector Tarwireyi Tirivavi. Last week he made a fool of himself on
SABC giving South African viewers the benefit of his expertise on whether
the NCA had a legitimate right to protest or not. Now he has expressed
himself on the Daily News story.

"We have always maintained that writers at the so-called independent
newspapers have fertile imaginations," he declared in the Herald referring
to the Karoi case. "We have been vindicated and they have been exposed."

In fact he has exposed himself as a partisan and unprofessional spokesman.
His remarks are grossly generalised, abusive and defa- matory of all
journalists working in the private sector. He should remember that next time
he wants to be taken seriously.

The West cannot teach African countries democracy, President Levy Mwanawasa
said in imitation of President Mugabe last weekend.

"We have nothing to learn from them," he insisted. "We taught them
democracy."

He was speaking at a press conference after opening the Zimbabwe
International Trade Flop in Bulawayo.

British historians will be intrigued to note that Zambian leaders were
present and gave instruction at the signing of Magna Carta in 1215, the
revolution of 1688, which harnessed the Crown to parliamentary authority,
and the Great Reform Bill of 1832 which opened up the franchise.

African historians will be keen to know exactly what lessons 20 years of
one-party dictatorship in Zambia hold for the continent.

Mwanawasa is known at home as The Cabbage because he appears to be
intellectually impaired after a car accident. It is a cruel jibe. He could
have disabused us of this impression by alluding to what reforms Zambia
considered necessary to rebuild its economy after the devastation wrought by
collectivisation of agriculture, pervasive corruption by two successive
regimes, and steady erosion of the nationalised mining sector.

Zambia is a "shining" example of how a once self-sufficient economy with a
population of diverse talents was run into the ground by muddled thinking,
failed policies and deficient leadership.

Zambians are still climbing out of that particular hole. But instead of
enlightening us as to what policies provide answers to Africa's multiplicity
of self-inflicted problems, Mwanawasa simply engaged in the tired and
sterile exercise of political solidarity - exactly what Senegal's President
Abdoulaye Wade recently referred to as the trade unionism of presidents.

His message was for Zimbabwe's leadership to ignore complaints about
electoral irregularities just as Zambia's leadership did. By giving this
advice and making himself complicit in Mugabe's misrule, Mwanawasa becomes
part of the problem.

What journalists should have asked him at his Bulawayo press conference was
what steps he has taken to recover the US$2,5 billion that Vera Chiluba
claims her estranged husband Frederick salted away from state coffers during
his 10 years in office. Vera Chiluba's revelations were published in the
Zambian Post. She is claiming a share of the loot.

"I know he can afford it and I can prove it," she was reported as telling a
court in Ndola.

Zambia has a GDP of US$3 billion!

It is a pity the original invitee to open the trade flop, Nigeria's Olusegun
Obasanjo, couldn't attend. He could have told us what he thought of the
theft of farms by Mugabe's cronies in blatant violation of the Abuja terms
and Zimbabwe's own laws.

We were interested to note that distinguished academic Prof Walter Kamba has
been awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of
Pretoria. This was in recognition of his institutional leadership,
transformation of higher education in many countries, and his "courageous
stand on human rights", according to a report in the Zimbabwe Mirror.

Unfortunately the report did not elaborate. We recall Prof Kamba's
leadership role on the constitutional commission where he said nothing to
our knowledge about President Mugabe's ministers arbitrarily inserting a
number of clauses of their own, including some on compensation for acquired
land that were highly dubious in law. Nor do we recall him speaking out on
human rights abuses during or after the subsequent referendum.

He is currently the chairperson of the Unesco sub-regional steering
committee on education for human rights and democracy in southern Africa, we
are told.

Does anybody recall Unesco saying anything about systematic human rights
abuses in Zimbabwe or anywhere else for that matter? Perhaps Kamba could
enlighten us as to what exactly his "courageous stand on human rights"
entailed. Let's put it on the record.

When St George's College headmaster, Brendan Tiernan wrote to parents
telling them that anybody who thought the recent presidential poll was free
and fair was "an ignorant and naïve caveman", he struck a chord with the
rest of the country which had arrived at much the same conclusion. Only the
deluded and the ignorant accepted the March poll result. Whatever the case,
Tiernan was at liberty to express his opinion despite indignation in the
state media.

Now we hear chairman of St George's board of governors, Father Fidelis
Mukonori, has ordered an investigation as board members were "concerned
about the damaging effect the letter had on the reputation of the college".

Mukonori has been mentioned in past press reports as a close confidant of
President Mugabe. Has he at any point raised the damaging effect a stolen
election has on public confidence in the democratic process? Has he raised
the issue of electoral violence, hate-speech, and wilful disregard for the
rule of law in his discussions with the president?

What advice has he given regarding prominent Catholics impoverishing their
people by pursuing policies they know to be wrong and evil?

Instead of instituting a witch-hunt against those legitimately questioning
the conduct of a flawed poll, Mukonori should be exercising his mission by
offering sound advice to the apostles of violence in our midst. And those
board members who authorised his "investigation" should have their names
published so St George's parents know exactly who these people are.

South Africa's Freedom Day was celebrated on Monday, April 29 this year to
allow officials to attend the Zimbabwe International Flea-market in
Bulawayo. Friday would have been a better day of course because South
Africa's many friends in Harare could have exploited High Commissioner
Jeremiah Ndou's hospitality with greater abandon than the beginning of the
week allows. This didn't however prevent some prominent foreign
correspondents and local journalists making the most of the occasion!

Ndou made an incisive speech on the importance of Nepad for African recovery
which must have irritated one or two old diehard lefties present. Zimbabwe
has set its official mind against any policy that might involve working with
the international community.

A rather sad moment occurred towards the end of the proceedings, we are
told. Dame Kiki Divaris, chief organiser of the presidentially-patronised
Child Survival Foundation, took a tumble on leaving the celebrations. From
out of her vast plastic bag poured forth numerous half-eaten chicken bones,
sandwiches, canapés and other such items which had obviously been
squirrelled away for her extended family.

Whether this included kiddies or doggies we are not entirely sure. But kind
High Commission staff assisted Dame Kiki in recovering her bounty and
carrying it safely off.

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Zim Independent

Govt in illegal licence deal
Vincent Kahiya
A STORM is brewing between government and applicants for broadcasting
licences who have charged that the delay in the issuing of licences has cost
them millions of dollars and that irregularities have surfaced in the
process.

The applicants, who say they will sue the state to recover the funds lost
due to procrastination, have also questioned the legality of the licensing
of Transmedia - a wholly government-owned company - as a subscription
satellite broadcaster, which they say infringes the Broadcasting Services
Act.
The recent deal between Transmedia, a licensed signal carrier, and Skynet,
an agent of South African satellite broadcaster Multichoice, has raised
eyebrows. The deal will enable ZBC to be carried by the DStv network. A
recent press statement from Skynet suggested that the deal amounted to
regularising the operations of Multichoice Zimbabwe. Transmedia is the
former technical arm of ZBC which is now a separate company owned by the
state.
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) chief executive Thomas Mandigora,
in written responses to the Zimbabwe Independent, yesterday denied that
Multichoice had been licensed but confirmed that Transmedia held a
subscription satellite broadcasting licence.
"Multichoice has not been licensed by the authority," said Mandigora.

"At present only Transmedia (formerly ZBC) is licensed to provide a
subscription broadcasting service," said Mandigora.
Legal experts said it was illegal for Transmedia to have a broadcasting
licence as well as one for a signal carrier.
"That is clearly illegal," said Tendai Biti, a partner with Honey &
Blanckenberg and opposition MDC MP for Harare East.
He said Section 19 (2) of the Broadcasting Services Act proscribed this.

Mandigora said the Department of Information and Publicity had not made up
its mind as to who else would be licensed.
He said the authority had finished processing the applications and had
forwarded recommendations to the Department.
"The Department of Information in terms of the Act," said Mandigora, "have
to decide whether to accept or reject the Broadcasting Authority of
Zimbabwe's recommendations based of course on its own findings."
Applicants have threatened to sue the government to recover costs incurred
as a result of the delay in announcing the licensees. Applicants who spoke
to the Independent said one requirement for a satellite broadcasting licence
was the existence of satellite space, which cost US$1,8 million a month.
"We had also borrowed huge amounts which are bearing interest," said one
applicant.

"We are not just going to sit and wait until the minister sings," he said.
The applicant said the secrecy that shrouded the BAZ recommendations and
announcement of the licensees was a major source of worry.
"The invitations for applications were all public and our names were
published in the press. There were public hearings on the applications but
the recommendations of the BAZ have suddenly become secret. These will
obviously be used by the minister to determine who gets a licence," he said.
Munhumutape African Broadcasting Corporation boss Oscar Kubara said the BAZ
had not communicated with the applicants on when the licences were likely to
be issued.
"There has not been any official communication with us as applicants," said
Kubara.

Daily News

      War vets ordered to stop meddling in Chivi council affairs

      5/3/02 10:52:07 AM (GMT +2)
      From Our Correspondent

      MASVINGO magistrate, Musaiona Shortgame has ordered war veterans and
Zanu PF not to interfere with the running of the Chivi Rural District
Council and to immediately return a Nissan vehicle to Elisha Chagonda, the
council's chief executive officer, which they forcibly took away recently.

      Chagonda was chased away by war veterans and Zanu PF for allegedly
supporting the MDC. The magistrate ruled the war veterans and Zanu PF had no
right to drive Chagonda out of his office and the car should be returned to
him.

      In his application Chagonda cited war veterans' leader Chari Gumbu as
the first respondent, the district administrator as the second respondent,
Zanu PF and war veterans as the third and fourth respondents respectively.

      Shortgame granted the interim order and gave the respondents until 28
May to show cause why it should not be granted. In his affidavit, Chagonda
said last year a team of auditors was brought to his office. They discovered
that certain issues should be referred to the police.

      Chagonda said: "I am currently dealing with the police. To my surprise
the respondents came to my office and took away my vehicle. They have no
right to confiscate a council vehicle. "I also aver that the respondents
have no right to interfere with council affairs. They are just taking the
law into their hands". Chagonda was represented by Douglas Mwonzora of
Mwonzora and Associates.


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Zimbabwe's opposition resolute, but still looks for help

This week, police arrested 3 journalists, and drought has led to massive
food shortages.

By Jacqui Goddard | Special to The Christian Science Monitor

HARARE, ZIMBABWE - It has been nearly eight weeks since Zimbabwe's
presidential election. Siyakwazi Moyo had hoped by now to be helping to lead
his country toward a more positive future, away from the cycle of violence
that has blighted Zimbabwe over the past two years.
Instead, many here say that things are worse than ever.

Mr. Moyo and his fellow Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) activists have
been beaten and teargassed, and have had their houses burned by war veterans
and youth militias sponsored by the ruling ZANU-PF party.
Additionally, Zimbabwe declared a state of disaster this week as a drought
affecting much of Southern Africa has exacerbated food shortages throughout
the country.
Since President Robert Mugabe claimed victory in the March election, which
the opposition says was rigged, the terror campaign against MDC supporters
has been stepped up, according to the MDC and human rights groups.
"People out there are in fear," says Moyo, who is MDC youth chairman of a
ward in the town of Matabeleland. "But we have just resolved that we are
going to stick to our political beliefs. Every time they hit us we hurt, but
in our minds we feel stronger."
In an interview with the Monitor, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai agrees. "This
is all an act of retribution but, surprisingly, instead of being
discouraged, we see a very strong determination and defiance among our
supporters," says Mr. Tsvangirai. "It is having the opposite effect to what
Mugabe intended."
Mugabe says he is rescuing his country from the "imperialist" intentions of
the West. He and the ZANU-PF have shunned opposition calls for a rerun of
the poll, and talks between the two sides in April failed to reach any
accord on the country's political future.
The MDC is pinning its hopes on the president ultimately being frozen out
diplomatically and economically by those he once counted as friends on the
international scene - in particular South Africa - thereby convincing him to
bow out.
"[South Africa's President Thabo] Mbeki is under pressure from South
Africans to be forthright in condemning Mr. Mugabe's actions," says
Masiphula Sithole, professor of political science at the University of
Zimbabwe. "He is influential. If he spoke out, many others would."
Praising international sanctions, but adding that Mr. Mbeki "could do more"
to isolate Mugabe politically and economically, Tsvangirai stresses: "The
international community can support us [only] so far.... The burden really
lies with Zimbabweans to fight for their own freedom. We in the MDC realize
that's going to be a long, protracted struggle."
Tsvangirai still faces charges for treason over an alleged plot to
assassinate Mugabe, a charge he denies. On Tuesday, a court set a trial date
of May 31.
Since the election, thousands of MDC supporters have been singled out for
retribution. More than 200 white commercial-farmers have been forced off
their land, according to the Commercial Farmers' Union, crippling the
commercial farming sector. Nongovernmental organizations estimate that some
20,000 rural folk have been displaced. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum says
there have been 54 political murders since the election, a figure police
spokesman Tarwireyi Tirivavi disputes.
"They are lying," he says. "They are including in that figure people killed
in nonpolitical violence. The number of politically related deaths has gone
down a lot since the elections." He declined to give figures.
Earlier this week, a report that the wife of an MDC activist was beheaded by
Mugabe supporters was brought into question after police were unable to
locate the woman's grave. Two local journalists, as well as an American
journalist working for a British newspaper, were arrested after their papers
published a story on the alleged murder. An act passed shortly after the
March election put a tight rein on independent media working in Zimbabwe.
The MDC has also launched a legal challenge to have the election result
declared illegitimate.
With no further talks between the two sides expected until mid-May, Mugabe's
tactics appear to be to sit tight.
Observers here, however, say that other Zanu-PF heavyweights are jostling
for position within the party, saying that its name is being dragged down
under President Mugabe and that it must reform.
And last weekend, in an interview with New African Magazine, Mugabe even
hinted that he might not serve out his full six-year term, though he said he
has no immediate plans to resign.
Tsvangirai urges reformist elements within Zanu-PF to bring change at the
top. "Mugabe is so isolated internally," he says. "They know the
consequences of going against him, hence the reluctance of individuals. They
speak out, but they never take a step.... It's no good just speaking about
Mugabe having destroyed the country. Bold steps must be taken."
Certain elements within Zanu-PF, however, remain firmly by the president's
side. They hail him as a hero who has stood firm against neo-colonialism,
claiming that the MDC is sponsored by Britain, whose agenda is to restore
the country to white rule 22 years after it won independence. The British
government says such a claim is nonsense.
Professor Sithole forecasts that time is running short for the president as
social, economic, and political factors come together to swell support for
the opposition. "Change is coming," he predicts. "The country and the people
cannot go on like this."

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Zimbabwe's opposition MDC visits IFP

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

A delegation of the Zimbawean opposition party, Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) paid a courtesy visit to Inkatha Freedom Party's Durban office
on Friday.
The MDC delegation led by their deputy president Gibson Sibanda met with the
IFP delegation led by the party's MP Albert Mncwango at IFP headquarters.

Mcwango said the two parties discussed matters of common interest.

He said: "We were sharing ideas on African development and how to strengthen
and enhance democracy and development in Africa."

Sapa


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Zim Independent

US ambassador criticises Zim election

A US ambassador on a UN Security Council tour of Africa has criticised
Zimbabwe's disputed election at a meeting with President Robert Mugabe,
triggering an angry reaction from the veteran leader, diplomats said on
Tuesday.

Ambassador Richard William-son, US representative for special political
affairs to the United Nations, told Mugabe on Monday the March 9/11 election
was not free and fair and that Harare's intimidation of the media was
unacceptable.
The 15-member Council mission is touring the region in a bid to end the
nearly four-year-old war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
During their meeting, William- son told Mugabe that his comments were a
message from the US government, the diplomats said. Mugabe reacted angrily
in an exchange that lasted for several minutes, and pointed out that he did
not accept President George W Bush's controversial poll win in the US
presidential election.
Suddenly snapping out of a rather convivial mood, Mugabe rose to his feet,
barely able to control his rage.
"Well I don't think George Bush won the US election!" he thundered. "But I
accepted the victory after the Supreme Court ruling."
He continued in this excited vein for a good 10 minutes, the diplomats said.
Williamson, who told the meeting he was speaking in his capacity as a US
official and not as a Security Council representative, also said Washington
had grave concerns about alleged violence against Zimbabwean commercial
farmers. - Sapa/AFP/M&G
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Zim Independent

Poachers lay siege to largest game sanctuary
Tony Weaver
THE world's largest privately-owned game sanctuary, the Save Valley
Conservancy in the Lowveld, is under siege by land invaders and has lost
game valued at over $25 million since August last year.

Internationally-renowned conservationist, Clive Stockil, chairman of the
3400km2 Save, said this week that "it has reach-ed the point where we have
to reconsider the viability and future of the whole project".
Rob Styles, vice-chairman of the 110 000ha Chiredzi Conservancy, echoed
this, saying from Harare, where he was in "crisis talks" with government
officials, that "we are having major, major problems. The poaching is worse
than at Save, this is highly organised poaching.
"The only ray of light we have is that the local police have started doing a
very good job and without the police support, we would already be finished.
They are now sending armed police on anti-poaching patrols with us," Styles
said.
"Last week we hit a poachers' base camp and caught five guys with 34 dead
warthog and a whole bunch of sable antelope, kudu, bush pigs, even dassies.
The warthogs alone have a trophy value of around US$100 each."
But at the Save Conservancy, entire sections have become "no-go areas" for
game rangers.
"We have no statistics on poaching from the ranches at Mkwasine, Mukwazi,
Mukazi, Angus and Chigwete due to their no-go status," Stockil said.
"In addition, Senuko, Levanga, Humane and Masala are continually being
further occupied and no-go areas consequently increase in size. This means
that the freedom of movement of anti-poaching personnel is continually being
reduced."
Save, originally created in 1984 and formally proclaim- ed in June 1991,
comprises 26 ranches owned by 21 farmers, who have removed all internal
fences and turned marginal cattle farming land into a vast wildlife
sanctuary with one perimeter fence.
But since August, the tempo of poaching has picked up, with a total of 718
animals killed, including six wild dogs (from a total of about 120), one
black rhino, five elephant, 68 eland, 312 impala, 175 kudu, a cheetah, a
leopard, 27 zebra and 52 warthog, among other animals, poach-ed. The trophy
value of the game killed since August equals $25,7 million.
"We are dreading this dry season," Styles said, "because last year we lost
more than half our bush cover through burning by squatters, and the drought
is far worse this year. The bush is bone dry.
"We are in very serious trouble." - Cape Times
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Press Statement
(On behalf of the Legal Counsel for Chinhoyi farmers - The State v A G
Barkley and Others.)

Having heard the evidence of thirteen prosecution witnesses, the trial has
been remanded to 28 May 2002 when the prosecution intend to call further
witnesses.

Abbreviated Background
On Tuesday 23 April 2002, the trial against the Chinhoyi Farmers & Ors on a
charge of public violence opened at the Magistrate's Court, Harare before
the Provincial Magistrate, Mr C Mushipe.

At the commencement of the trial, the Public Prosecutor, Mr C Chimbari,
withdrew the charge before plea against six of the accused - Ben de Jager,
William Steele, Norman Dolphin, Louis Fick, Konrad van der Merwe and Ivor
Taute.  The remaining 18 accused pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The State alleges that "on the 6th day of August 2001, the complainants who
are settled at Accused No 1's farm (Anthony Barkley) proceeded to the
farmhouse of Listonshiels farm.  They were about 30 in number and they
wanted to speak to Accused No 1 Anthony George Barkley in regard to the
problems they were facing on the farm.

On their arrival at Accused 1's farm, they found him present and they wanted
audience with him.  Instead of talking to the complainants Accused 1
instructed them to wait outside the house while he went inside the house.
He then promised them that he was contacting the District Administrator for
him to come and solve the matter they had come for.

While the complainants were waiting outside the farmhouse, they were
unexpectedly confronted by the 23 accused persons who were joined by Accused
1 who came out of his house immediately.  All the other accused persons
started assaulting the settlers using sticks, knobkerries, a piece of chain,
rubber baton stick, fists, booted feet, open hands and stones.

All the other accused persons were phoned by Accused No 1 to come to his
house where the complainants were gathered.

The assault resulted in the injuries of Onias Mukondorongwe, who broke his
arm, Ranina Phiri sustained bruises, Jona Jainda who was torn off his ear,
Darlington Chasara sustained bruises, Fainos Tumbugwe sustained a cut on the
head, Biggie Mateesanwa sustained bruises and Moses Mpofu sustained bruises.

A report was made at Chinhoyi Rural police and the police attended to the
scene.  At the scene eighteen sticks, one rubber baton stick were recovered.
An iron chain and a stone were also recovered from one of the vehicles
Toyota Hilux number 681-994X and can be produced before the court as
exhibits.

All the complainants who sustained injuries were sent to Chinhoyi Provincial
Hospital for examination and the medical reports can be produced before the
court as exhibits.

All the accused persons had no right to act in the manner they did."
In the Defence Outline submitted to the court by Mr J C Andersen SC,
assisted by Mr E T Matinenga, instructed by Stumbles & Rowe, it is
submitted:

1. "The Accused deny the charge against them arising from the incident at
the farmhouse located on a hill at Listonshiels Farm on 6th August, 2001.
2.1 In brief, Accused 1 was confronted by settlers (and others all of whom
are referred to as settlers) with an assortment of weapons who demanded his
eviction and forced to take refuge in his house where he feared for his
life.

2.2 Radio and telephone calls were made for help from other farmers and the
police.  The police were contacted but refused to provide help until much
later in consequence of which farmers and others proceeded to the farm to
assist Accused 1.

2.3 The settlers assaulted and refused entry to those who first arrived who
happened to be nearby and intended to act as negotiators to defuse the
situation.

2.4 When support arrived they forced their way to the house against
barricades raised by the settlers and assaults and, in particular, a barrage
of stones.  The settlers withdrew and Accused 1 was relieved whereafter
further sporadic incidents of assault and attack by stones took place which
were repelled.  The police eventually arrived.

2.5 The Accused involved did no more than was reasonably required for the
safety of Accused 1 and for their own self defence.

2.6 During the course of the confrontation injuries were suffered by both
sides few of which were serious.

2.7 In short, it was the settlers who acted unlawfully and were guilty of
public violence and not the Accused.

3.1 Accused 2 (Steele Snr) did not go to the scene at all.  He was at his
farm Laighmains until about 10:30 a.m. when he left with his wife in two
vehicles to collect fuel in Chinhoyi.  On the way to Chinhoyi he gave a lift
to a policeman known to him as Manyamba.  He sought to purchase fuel at D &
R Motors in Chinhoyi without success but managed to obtain it at the Mobil
Depot at about 11:50 a.m. after which he proceeded to Taute Engineering, the
Post Office, Home Industries and Dr Stilgoe's rooms as by then he had heard
that farmers had been injured at Listonshiels Farm and wished to check
whether his son had been involved.  He departed from Dr Stilgoe's rooms at
about 12:45 p.m. and returned to his farm.

3.2 Evidence in support of Accused 2's movements may be given by his wife
and various persons at the places he went to in Chinhoyi.

3.3 At about 6.00 p.m. Accused 2 was advised that his son had been arrested
and


proceeded to the police station to take blankets and warm clothes to him.
He also collected clothes and medicine for some of the other Accused.

3.4 At the police station he was falsely accused of assaulting the settlers
and arrested by the police who refused to have regard to his protestations
that he was not present.

4.1 Accused 3 (Barkley Jnr) was at Ardingly Farm, Karoi where he farmed on
the day of the incident.

4.2 Evidence to support Accused 3 may be given by his wife and others at the
farm.

4.3 The next day, 7th August, 2001 Accused 3 went to Chinhoyi Police Station
early in the morning to see his father, Accused 1.  It became apparent that
he would not be permitted to do so and he decided to leave the police
station to attend to business in Chinhoyi. He was stopped by persons who
alleged that he had been involved and should be locked up.  He was forced to
reverse his vehicle into the police station.  Despite protest from him and
others that he was not present the police would not have regard to his
protestations and he was arrested.

4.4 He witnessed three persons, Peter and Robert Flanagan and Lindsay Moyes
(wife of Accused 11) being abused and assaulted by persons in the presence
of the police who did nothing, but simply watch.

5.1 Accused 11 (Duncan Moyes) also attended the farmers meeting and remained
at it until it was over.  He went to Listonshiels Farm with Jan Botes.  When
they arrived police were present.  They left the scene and proceeded to the
police station at approximately 1600 hours at the request of the police to
make statements.  He was abused and wrongly arrested.

5.2 Evidence may be given in support of Accused 11 by Jan Botes and others.

6.1 Accused 14 (Wallis) farms at Biri Farm and is also the manager of Biri
Combined Irrigation Scheme.

6.2 On the day of the incident Accused 14 went to the farmers meeting and
left at about 11:45 a.m. to go to Biri Dam where he had a meeting with
Graham Mullett of Redfern Mullett.  After the meeting, he went home for
lunch and then proceeded to Chinhoyi to obtain information of the incident
which he had heard of and assist if required.  He drove past the Chinhoyi
Police Station and saw that no farmers had arrived there.  He then proceeded
to Listonshiels Farm and gave a policeman a lift from Alaska Smelter to the
Y junction at Alaska Mine.  He does not know the name of the policeman
except that he was medic.  He met up with Jan Botes and accused 11 and
thereafter proceeded to the Chinhoyi Police Station where he was wrongly
arrested.

6.3 Graham Mullett may give evidence together with other witnesses already
referred to, to support Accused 14's case.

7.1 Accused 1 (Barkley Snr) had previously been subjected to unlawful
conduct on the part of illegal settlers and told he would be forced off his
farm with threats against his life.

7.2 Prior to the day in question, Monday, 6th August 2001, Accused 1 had
received information to the effect that his farm might be targeted by
settlers on that day.

7.3 In the morning when Accused 1 was working in his workshop he was told
that settlers wished to speak to him.  He proceeded to where they had
congregated.  There were about 25 settlers carrying an assortment of weapons
who had come from a number of farms, including Listonshiels.  They told him
that he was to vacate the farm by 1500 hours failing which he would be
forcibly removed.

7.4 Accused 1 advised that the matter was one to be dealt with by the DA and
the police and that he would contact other persons to contact them.

7.5 He went to the farm house and put out a call asking for assistance and
for the DA and the police to be contacted.  He returned and told the
settlers that he had done so.  They became extremely aggressive and said
that the matter had nothing to do with the DA and the police and threatened
his life if he did not vacate the farm.  They began to surround him and he
retreated to the farm house followed by them.

7.6 Fearing for his safety he made further calls on his radio and cellphone
and said that he now needed help urgently.  Settlers who had moved to the
farm house in increasing numbers were threatening to gain access and Accused
1 left the radio and cellphone to secure the verandah door by holding it
shut as it was not secure.

7.7 Accused 1 was further threatened and sticks were poked through the wire
netting on the door at him.  The roof was struck with sticks and a hammer
and flower pots and a dog's kennel were broken.  There was a great deal of
noise and waving of weapons with threatening gestures and Chimurenga songs
were sung.  The number of settlers had increased to approximately 60.  Some
of the settlers had settled illegally on Accused 1's farm but most came from
elsewhere.

7.8 The police were contacted by Mark Shaw as set out below, but refused to
give assistance.

7.9 The noise of a vehicle coming was heard and a number of the settlers
proceeded to meet it.  It was apparent from the noise that the arrival was
met with hostility and access denied.

7.10 Thereafter the noise of further vehicles was heard and help arrived at
the house despite the actions of the settlers to prevent it.

7.11 The settlers fell back and Accused 1 was able to open his door and
leave the house.  In the course of doing so a settler attempted to assault
him with a stick but Accused 1 hit him and he ran away.

7.12 Further incidents occurred and in due course the police arrived.

8. Accused 22 (Whitaker) was the first person to arrive at the farm.  He
found the road to the house barricaded and was confronted and assaulted by
hostile settlers who denied him access.

9. Accused 24 (Hennie Nel) arrived shortly thereafter and despite trying to
negotiate was also subjected to hostility and assault.

10. Accused 6 (Scott Marillier) then arrived but was warned to drive off
before he too was subjected to such treatment, which he did.

11. Accused 22 and 24 were able to retreat after Accused 24 had agreed to
participate in singing Chimurenga songs.

12. Accused 6, 22 and 24 waited for help some distance away on the road near
a dip.  They had radioed the need for urgent help having regard to the
treatment they had received and the fact that nothing had been heard from
Accused 1 for a long time for whom they feared the worst.  They also feared
for his wife who unbeknown to them was not there.

13. After sufficient support arrived 12 to 15 persons proceeded on foot
towards the homestead followed shortly by some vehicles which arrived after
they had set off.  They removed barricades which had been set up at a
culvert and a grid and proceeded to relieve Accused 1, and move the settlers
away from the house.  Various incidents occurred when they did so and
settlers attacked them at close quarters during which some persons were
injured and, in particular, Badenhorst who is not one of the Accused,
Accused 22 and two settlers.  Despite being moved away some settlers
returned to the surrounds and attacked the Accused mainly by throwing and
catapulting stones at them.  A further barricade was erected by the settlers
which in due course the police told them to remove.

14. In so far as is relevant each Accused will describe in detail the extent
of his involvement, if any.

15. Some of the persons who came to Accused 1's help had batons and sticks
and one had a short length of chain (which was not used).  Others picked up
sticks and fence posts.  There were large quantities of stones around which
had been gathered by the settlers and used in attacking the Accused.

16. The incident and concern of Accused 1 and the Accused who came to his
assistance  arose from the background of similar incidents in the area and
other parts of the country and the violence and intimidation resorted to, to
drive farmers from their land rather than by order of a competent Court.
Evidence may be given of such incidents and the contempt with which Court
orders, some granted by consent, based on the governments own laws, were
treated.  In the result, settlers obviously came to believe that they were
above the law and would be protected by the selective application of
it against farmers.  Farmers came to believe that generally they would not
be protected by the police who had instructions not to do so in such matters
as they were of a 'political' nature.

17. Evidence will be given of the security arrangements made by farmers  in
the area amongst themselves and the police for the assistance of any farmer
who required it.  A strategy was adopted to the effect that when an incident
occurred others not involved would proceed to the area and seek to defuse it
on behalf of the farmer involved.

18.1 Mark Shaw who operates a security business in Chinhoyi, was the
security co-ordinator and will say that he was at the farmers meeting when
he was advised of the distress call and left the meeting with others.

18.2 He immediately telephoned the Officer-in-Charge of Chinhoyi Rural
Police Station who dealt with such matters, Inspector Mudziwapasi, and
briefed him on the situation.

18.3 He asked for police attendance as a matter of urgency but the Inspector
seemed disinterested and eventually said that he had no transport.

18.4 Mr Shaw pointed out that transport could be obtained from another
police station or by the use of his, Mr Shaw's vehicles, but was advised
that a message would be sent to the Shackelton Police Post for a policeman
to proceed by bicycle to the scene.  Mr Shaw pointed out that Shackelton was
20 kms away, but the Inspector said that that was his decision and rang off.

18.5 Further attempts were made to obtain police assistance from more senior
police persons who were not available.  Superintendent Chipato who was
available was told of the Inspector's refusal to assist and that
neighbouring farmers were responding to assist Accused 1.  She promised to
get the Support Unit to attend, which it should have been able to do without
delay.  In the result it did not do so until the incident was over.

19. Despite the obvious knowledge of the police that he was not involved,
Mark Shaw was also arrested.

20.1 It is believed that the attack against Accused 1 was preconceived by
activists who took advantage of a cultural ceremony over the weekend in the
area to incite others to join them to unlawfully and forcibly evict Accused
1 from his own home and farm.

20.2 It is believed that the police must have been aware of what was planned
and must have been instructed not to intervene for the same reasons that
they have declined to do so in other cases which were deemed to be of a
'political' nature.  This would be consistent with he unbelievable refusal
of the Inspector to act and the late arrival of the Support Unit.  In
addition, several members of the police force had claimed to be entitled to
stands on Accused 1's farm.

21. Farmers have repeatedly been warned by their leaders against reaction to
provocation from settlers and it is grossly improbable that a group of
farmers and others would
have risked acting without justification as alleged by the State.

23. After their arrest the accused were treated in a disgraceful and
humiliating manner in contravention of their legal rights.  Political
activists unlawfully took over control from the police and politicised the
issue with blatantly false reports of the incident which led to wanton
assaults on whites and destruction and looting of property".

Having heard the evidence of thirteen prosecution witnesses, the trial has
been remanded to 28 May 2002 when the prosecution intend to call further
witnesses.

Ends

3rd May 2002
For more information, please contact Jenni Williams
Mobile +263 11 213 885 or +263 91 300 456
Email jennipr@mweb.co.zw or prnews@telconet.co.zw



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Zim Independent

Fuel supplies hostage to Libya
Barnabas Thondhlana
ZIMBABWE'S reliance on Libya as its single source of fuel is a major risk as
any cut in supplies could see the country returning to the chronic shortages
experienced a year ago.

To date, the Libyan company Tamoil has turned the taps off twice following

government's failure to meet its conditions for fuel pumping. The latest
cut-off was mid last month, which coincided with the closure of the fuel
pipeline from Beira to facilitate commissioning of a new pump.
For 21 days no fuel was pumped into the country, and overland supplies from
Kuwait firm Independent Petroleum Group had to be substituted. The Libyans,
who are supplying fuel to Zimbabwe from a subsidiary company in Italy, have
set as conditions: cash payment, investment in properties and businesses or
bilateral trade in exchange for fuel.
To date they have taken a 25% stake in the Jewel Bank and a 15% stake in the
Rainbow Tourism Group. They are still to receive the promised prime land
holdings. One bilateral trade deal for the export of beef has been
commissioned, but sceptics say the deal is weak on implementation.
Industry sources this week said while the Zanu PF top brass was keen to see
Zimbabwe solely sourcing its fuel requirements from Libya, "this was similar
to signing one's own death certificate". In addition to last month's
cut-off, supplies were interrupted last year.
"Twice the Libyans have cut off supplies to the country, only to resume
after intercessions at the highest level," said a source. "This is not safe
for it is not guaranteed that the interventions will always succeed."
Libya supplies 70% of the country's fuel needs, with the other 30% being met
from IPG of Kuwait and overland from South Africa. Libya grants Zimbabwe a
120-day moratorium after every delivery before calling in its dues. On
expiry of the period, if none of the three conditions are met, supplies are
cut.
The source said unlike other suppliers like IPG or Sasol of South Africa who
were prepared to extend the moratorium, the Libyans refuse to budge.
"This should be ample warning that we should not discard our traditional
suppliers but should maintain some business with them for a rainy day," the
source said.
IPG was still delivering fuel to the country - though in small quantities -
which was stored at Noczim's Mabvuku depot. Any drawdowns are paid for in
cash.
It is understood the country has in reserve two months supply of fuel, with
Noczim still to build up a 14-day reservoir to cover for shortages.
Plans to see the Libyans invest billions in service station development
around the country have hit a brickwall. It is understood the Libyans are
asking for waivers to legal requirements before they set up in the country.
The Ministry of Finance is understood to be against such concessions.
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Zimbabwe attacks foreign media on World Press Freedom Day

ASSOCIATED PRESS

HARARE, Zimbabwe, May 3 - A top Zimbabwean official slammed the
international media as imperialist Friday as Zimbabwe was named one of the
worst places to be a journalist on World Press Freedom Day.
       Also Friday, a Zimbabwe court postponed a case against three
reporters accused of breaching harsh new media laws after defense lawyers
asked that the charges be dropped.
       Since the media laws took effect March 22, seven journalists have
been arrested. Dozens of other independent journalists have been arrested by
police or assaulted by ruling party militants over the past two years.
       The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday named
Zimbabwe one of the 10 worst places to be a journalist, alongside
Afghanistan, Colombia and Iran.
       In a statement marking World Press Freedom Day, Information Minister
Jonathan Moyo said the nation had in recent months come under an
''unprecedented media-led assault'' at a time when the press should be
''deployed in the service and defense of the national agenda.''
       ''Our experience ... has clearly shown the so-called borderless
global media, in fact, carries an imperial flag and is an integral part of
Western imperial expansionism and assault on Third World sovereignties,'' he
said.
       However, the government was committed to ''constitutionally
guaranteed freedom of expression, of which press freedom was only a small
and subsidiary part,'' he said.
       Meanwhile, Harare Magistrate Lilian Kudya adjourned the case against
Andrew Meldrum, 50, a U.S. citizen who is the Harare correspondent of the
British newspaper The Guardian, and Lloyd Mudiwa and Collin Chiwanza, two
Zimbabwean reporters with the independent Daily News.
       The three face charges of ''abuse of journalistic privilege by
publishing falsehoods,'' a crime punishable by up to two years in jail.
       The charges stem from a story in the Daily News last week about the
killing - allegedly by ruling party supporters - of a woman near the town of
Karoi, 120 miles northwest of Harare. Several international media outlets,
including The Guardian, also reported on the story.
       Police said the killing never happened, and the Daily News retracted
the story.
       Chiwanza said he did not even write ''a single word'' of the report,
though he did travel to Karoi to try to help verify it, his lawyer Lawrence
Chibwe said.
       The case represents the first legal challenge to Zimbabwe's new media
laws that critics say are aimed at stifling criticism of President Robert
Mugabe's government.
       Four other journalists, including a correspondent of the British
Daily Telegraph, have been arrested since the laws went into effect. They
have been released but may be summoned to court later.

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MSNBC

Zimbabwe editor both newsman and newsmaker

HARARE, May 3 - Zimbabwe newspaper editor Geoffrey Nyarota, the winner of
this year's UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize, has not just reported news, he
has made it too.

       The editor-in-chief of the Daily News, Zimbabwe's only
privately-owned daily newspaper, has been a tireless critic of President
Robert Mugabe's government despite his own detention, death threats and two
bomb attacks on his paper.
       To his admirers, Nyarota is a symbol of courageous journalism in the
face of a state crackdown on the independent media, highlighted this week by
the arrest of three journalists.
       But to those in Mugabe's circle, Nyarota's ''Daily Lies'' is a pawn
of Western and local interests seeking to overthrow the veteran 78-year-old
leader, whose re-election in March has been slated both at home and abroad.
       Nyarota, 51, says he is simply a messenger driven neither by malice
nor money but journalistic ideals to tell the story truthfully, without fear
or favour.
       ''Before the arrival of the Daily News, the government enjoyed total
control over the media. The output of different media was predictable, they
were solidly behind the government,'' Nyarota said in Washington at a press
freedom event last year.
       ''There was a genuine attempt by the government to control public
thinking,'' said Nyarota, who the Paris-based U.N. Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) said on Friday had won its World Press
Freedom Prize.
       Analysts say the government has become increasingly hostile to the
independent media in the face of rising opposition at home, fuelled by a
worsening economic crisis, severe food shortages and growing international
isolation.
       The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) says Nyarota has borne
the brunt of the government's crackdown.

THORN IN GOVERNMENT'S SIDE
       Nyarota, who began his journalism career in the late 1970s, first
made headlines in the 1980s when as editor of the state-owned Chronicle
newspaper he broke an auto-trading scandal that forced several cabinet
ministers to resign.
       Nyarota subsequently lost his job after the newspaper said it was
removing him for ''his own safety.'' In 1991, he was named editor of the
weekly Financial Gazette, but was fired in a dispute over editorial control.
       After teaching journalism in the region, Nyarota returned to Zimbabwe
to help found the Daily News in 1999. The fledgling paper quickly made a
name for itself a year later when war veterans invaded hundreds of
white-owned farms in support of Mugabe's plan to redistribute farms to
landless blacks.
       Nyarota was arrested for a story on the use of police vehicles in the
often violent land invasions.
       In the runup to parliamentary elections in June 2000, narrowly won by
Mugabe's ZANU-PF against the labour-backed Movement for Democratic Change,
the Daily News offices were bombed by unknown attackers and Nyarota received
death threats.
       In January 2001, the newspaper's printing plant was wrecked by a
bomb, but the Daily News continued to publish.
       Last month Nyarota, who has been detained several times in the last
two years, was arrested and charged with publishing false information over a
Daily News story alleging Mugabe fraudulently won March presidential
elections.

REPUTATION TAKES A KNOCK
       In an interview with the World Association of Newspapers, Nyarota
said media harassment on the continent reflected an intolerance among Africa
leaders towards criticism.
       ''The adverse conditions and hostile atmosphere in which the private
press operates in Zimbabwe is comparable to the situation of the press in
other countries ruled over the past three decades or so by oppressive and/or
corrupt regimes.''
       In the past two weeks, five journalists, including the American
correspondent for London's Guardian newspaper, were arrested under a new law
that imposes tight media controls.
       Information Minister Jonathan Moyo says the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act is aimed at ''criminals not professional
journalists.''
       Under the Act, a journalist found to have published ''falsehoods''
faces a fine of up to Z$100,000 ($1,818) or up to two years in jail.
       The latest crackdown was ironically driven by a story first carried
in the Daily News last week. Nyarota has admitted that his newspaper could
have been misled into publishing a false story alleging that Mugabe's
supporters had beheaded a woman while her daughters watched.
       Zimbabwe's private Media Monitoring Project (MMP) said the Daily News
had damaged its own reputation and the country's journalism by not
double-checking its facts on the story.

Zimbabwean Journalist Wins UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize

Xinhuanet 2002-05-03 16:26:30

   MANILA, May 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Zimbabwean journalist Geoffrey
Nyarota received the 2002 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press
Freedom Prize here on Friday, the World Press Freedom Day.
   Nyarota, 50, editor-in-chief of Zimbabwea's Daily News,
received the 25,000-U.S. dollar prize presented by Koichiro
Matsuura, Director-General of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
   The presentation ceremony was held in the presidential palace
in the presence of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
   Arroyo and Matsuura also presented a plaque honoring the late
Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Daniel Pearl, who was killed in
Pakistan in February, to U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission in Manila
Robert Fitts and WSJ Manila bureau chief James Hookway, who
received it on behalf of Marianne Pearl, the journalist's widow.
   Before the observance of this year's World Press Freedom Day,
whose theme is terrorism and media, UNESCO sponsored a two-day
international conference here on the impact of terrorism on the
media around the world.
   The conference, discussed the events of last September 11 and
their effects on the practice of journalism, problems in reporting
on terrorism and safety of journalists working in conflict
situations.
   A total of 176 out of 243 journalists killed in conflict zones
between 1992 and 2001 were murdered, data show from French non-
governmental organization Reporters sans Frontieres (Reporters
Without Frontiers).
   However, 95 percent of attacks against journalists worldwide go
unpunished, said Abdul Waheed Khan, UNESCO Assistant Director-
General for Communication and Information.  Enditem
 

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Zim Independent

C'wealth slams Herald

THE Commonwealth yesterday dismissed stories published in the
government-controlled press claiming the leader of the its observer mission
during the recent presidential election, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, had
distanced himself from the group's report.

Joel Kibazo, Commonwealth director of communications and public affairs,
said the stories were simply false.
"General Abubakar presented the interim report of the Commonwealth and
stands by what he said then and what was contained in the final report of
the group," Kibazo said in response to Zimbabwe Independent enquiries.
"It is a matter of great concern to the Commonwealth that the Herald has
published these unsubstantiated reports. The article in the Herald by
Lovemore Mataire on 29 April which states that the Commonwealth is 'about to
institute a commission of enquiry into the conduct of its observers' is yet
another entirely false allegation." - Staff Writer.
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Zim Independent

MDC US lawyers target Zanu PF assets
Blessing Zulu
ZANU PF regional and overseas assets are being targeted by lawyers
representing four Movement for Democratic Change activists in a high-profile
case in which the ruling party is being sued for a staggering US$400 million
($22 billion).

Elliot Pfebve, one of the plaintiffs who has just returned from the United
States, said lawyers representing them had already made significant strides
in tracking down assets belonging to the ruling party.
The case, heard in New York, relates to human rights abuses in Zimbabwe
during the 2000 election in which the applicants lost close family members.
"The lawyers now have voluminous notes on the companies owned by Zanu PF and
even those farms in which they are shareholders," Pfebve said.
Pfebve said some assets have already been located in the Channel Islands and
in London. There are also plans to target the Democratic Republic of Congo
where the ruling party is known to have business interests.
"The investigations are still continuing and we are confident that we will
succeed," Pfebve said.
US judge Victor Marrero ruled in favour of the MDC activists last year and
at a hearing last week Judge Martin Francis began proceedings to determine
the quantum of damages due to the applicants.
Their lawyers will only get their fees from the US$400 million the party is
being sued for in a contingency-fee arrangement.
"The lawyers looked at the merits of our case and agreed to take 30% from
the total amount we are set to realise," Pfebve said.
"This will give them an incentive to work hard since their dues will only be
paid after a successful completion of the case."
The lawyers decided to concentrate on the ruling party's assets outside
Zimbabwe because they understood the problems they would encounter in trying
to seize local assets. The judgement will only be enforceable in this
country if there is a change of government.
Three MDC members, Pvebve, Sanderson Makombe, and Adel-la Chiminya,
testified in the US court before Francis last week. Judgement is expected at
the end of the month.
Nathan Shamuyarira, Zanu PF chief spokesperson, said he was not yet prepared
to comment on the development.
"The case is still before the courts and it will
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High Death Rate in Game Sanctuaries

The Herald (Harare) - state newspaper
May 2, 2002
Posted to the web May 2, 2002
AT LEAST 255 different species of game have died in some of Zimbabwe's game
sanctuaries because of lack of training for staff involved in capture and
translocation operations.
Although the minimum accepted mortality rate could not be established the
figures showed the high death rate of animals during capture and
translocation operations was due to lack of knowledge in the National Parks
and Wildlife Authority.
The high death rate was also attributed to the authority's lack of research
before the exercise, lack of training and lack of co-ordination within the
directorate.
In one incident 86 wildebeest, which were translocated from Lake Mutirikwi
(Kyle) to Gonarezhou were attacked by lions and four killed shortly after
their release at Fishans. The disaster was attributed to the poor holding
facilities that were said to be inadequate and not strong.
In an audit report made available to The Herald, Comptroller and
AuditorGeneral Mr Eric Harid said the holding facilities were made out of
plastic and netting, which could not prevent predators from breaking in and
attacking animals.
Mr Harid said the type of training given to the scouts was in most cases
irrelevant to the duties that they performed and top management was not
involved in the training of field staff.
He noted that personnel involved in the capture and translocation exercises
were general hands, and of concern was that of the hundreds of scouts across
the country only a handful could read and write.
"This situation to me inhibited the introduction of new and scientific
methods of capturing animals. The deaths of animals could have been avoided
had the (authority) planned and executed its work properly".
The animals translocated included rhinos, waterbuck, warthogs, buffalo,
impala, giraffe and elephant while ostriches, crocodiles, antelope, eland
and pangolin were poached.
The criticism comes at a time, the authority has reportedly failed to carry
out research before allocating and utilising wildlife quotas resulting in
unsustainable utilisation of game.
The audit report said the policy stipulated that the authority should carry
out a detailed research before allocating quotas so as to have a insight
into factors that might determine the setting of quotas in the requisite
areas.
Mr Harid said the audit discovered that ecologists in the field did not have
a structured work plan to follow during the year which resulted into some of
their core tasks being left unattended to.
"Their work was mostly ad hoc and supervision of their work was inadequate.
I also gathered that the (authority) was setting quotas based on past
allocations. This suggested that the quotas were being set judgmentally.
This misnomer compromised on sustainable utilisation because other effects
on wildlife populations like poaching and problem animal control were not
taken into account," Mr Harid said.
The authority also reportedly neglected the need to monitor the utilisation
of the allocated quotas on both private land and parks estate.
This action, the auditor general said breached the provisions of the Policy
for Wildlife, which stipulated that parks would monitor wildlife
populations, that were hunted and enforce regulations designed to maintain
high standards in the sport hunting industry.
However, Mr Harid said officials claimed that they were denied access to
private land by land owners.
The lack of monitoring hunts has resulted in a high potential for the state
to lose both revenue and wildlife to overhunting.
"For example an over hunt of 35 sables committed by four farmers in
Matabeleland North resulted in the Government losing $2,87 million which the
State would have realised through a proper hunt. The State only received $2
000 as fines."
The auditorgeneral said in his opinion, the authority is failing to ensure
sustainable and equitable utilisation of the wildlife heritage as evidenced
by the lack of existence of vast conservancies, which were owned by a 'very
small proportion of the total population and whose activities were barely
monitored'.
The lack of a proper monitoring and control mechanism in the utilisation of
wildlife left the process prone to abuse by both private landowners and
staff.
"If this is left unattended it will deprive the (authority) and the State of
potential revenue, which would benefit the indigenous people and encourage
them to conserve wildlife in their areas."
Mr Harid recommended that the top management should come up with a training
policy and programme, which should be controlled and monitored by a
specialised section and be followed by all stations.
The allocation of quotas should be based on scientific information and
should formulate and implement strategies that ensured sustainable
utilisation of quotas by ensuring that a hunting permit was obtained for
every hunt.

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British Medical Journal
 

Torture continues in post-election Zimbabwe

Political violence, torture, and denial of basic healthcare services continue unabated in post-election Zimbabwe despite President Robert Mugabe's disputed victory in the polls, human rights organisations have warned.

Widespread abuses of human rights against supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were documented in the run-up to the March election by the Amani Trust (a Zimbabwean rights organisation) and Physicians for Human Rights, Denmark (9 February, p317).

Now both groups claim that the violence goes on, undeterred by President Mugabe's re-election.

"Within hours of Mugabe's inaugural address, retribution on opposition supporters began," the charities report.

In a report sent to the BMJ, Ms Shari Eppel of the Matabeleland based Amani Trust and Dr Hans Draminsky Petersen of Physicians for Human Rights claim that pro-government militias are meting out systematic beatings on communities deemed to support the Movement for Democratic Change.

"Injuries offer forensic evidence of a wide and inventive range of torture instruments being used at the community level against defenceless men and women," they report.

"Victims approaching local NGOs [non-governmental organisations] for treatment are showing injuries indicative of new instruments of torture, including beatings with chains and with leather whips with metal nuts and bolts attached to the ends. These histories and findings are very similar to what has been documented pre-election."

One 28 year old victim claimed to have been pulled from his homestead at midnight by 15 members of the pro-government youth militia. Accused of being a member of the Movement for Democratic Change, he was beaten with leather whips, a chain, and an iron bar. A photograph taken two weeks after the attack shows the "candy stripe" lesions indicative of a chain beating. This "highly corroborates" the victim's report of torture, claim Ms Eppel and Dr Petersen.

The two charities also claim that basic healthcare services are being deliberately denied to communities in areas that support the Movement for Democratic Change.

"Discrimination against those, particularly in remote rural areas, who are believed not to support the ruling party, means that both adults and children are being denied access to healthcare and to education, with children as young as six being thrown out of government schools because their parents are MDC officials.

"Children aged between one and five are being barred from donor feeding schemes in a few districts, although not all. In some districts, infants have been denied access even to immunisation, because they are from `MDC families.' " 



This victim "candy stripe" lesions are "indicative of a chain beating"


Mark Hunter, Leeds

Footnotes

More information is available on the Amani Trust's website at www.oneworld.org/amani/zimtort.htm

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Zim Independent

Zimbabwe faces suspension from IMF
Godfrey Marawanyika
ZIMBABWE'S debt to the International Monetary Fund has gone up to US$118
million and the country risks being suspended from the Bretton Woods
institution.

The IMF board meets next month and a decision is expected to be taken then.
The country first incurred arrears to the IMF in mid-February last year and
by the end of August 2001 its overdue obligations totalled Special Drawing
Rights (SDR) 41,3 million (US$53 million), including 18,9 SDR (US$24
million) to the IMF's General Department, and SDR 22,3million (US$29
million) to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility.
Washington sources this week said despite being urged to settle their
arrears, the Zimbabwean authorities had failed to do so.
"The executive board acknowledged Zimbabwe's intention to initiate quarterly
payments as a first step of cooperation with the IMF, but regretted that
those payments fell far short of the amount required to stabilise the level
of arrears to the IMF."
As part of measures for prevention or deterrence of overdue financial
obligations to the Fund, the IMF has got a strict timetable of repayment
schedules, the sources said.
"As part of the standing rules, if a member country fails within 15 months
to settle arrears, this could lead to the board deciding on non cooperation
with the country," the source said.
"After three months a decision on suspension of voting and representation
rights can be considered."
Six months after the decision on suspension with the arrears still
outstanding would see the IMF board invoking compulsory withdrawal
procedures.

Financial Times
      Mugabe hopes donors will dig him out of 'disaster'
      By Tony Hawkins
      Published: May 2 2002 17:57 | Last Updated: May 2 2002 18:02

      Opinion in Zimbabwe is hardening against the political compromise
desperately needed to reverse an accelerating economic and humanitarian
crisis. Talks between the ruling Zanu-PF party and the opposition Movement
for

      Grassroots pressure against any form of government of national unity
has been exerted on MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, forcing the party last
week to publish full-page advertisements saying that such a deal was "out of
the question". The MDC sees the talks only as a vehicle for ending political
violence and paving the way for fresh elections.

      But President Robert Mugabe's government, with the apparent backing of
a majority of African governments, has repeatedly ruled out new elections.
His strategy is two-pronged. The stuttering inter-party talks are necessary
to reassure South Africa and Nigeria, whose presidents fear that Zimbabwe
will be a disruptive topic at next month's G8 summit in Canada, due to
consider funding for the New Partnership for African Development (Nepad).

      Zanu-PF's participation in the talks may help persuade at least some
donors to contribute towards a food aid programme for Zimbabwe later this
year.

      The second prong of his strategy is striking a tough pose. The
government is pushing ahead with the prosecution of Mr Tsvangirai and two of
his senior party colleagues on charges of treason; a number of journalists
have been detained under the country's draconian new press laws; human
rights organisations report ongoing violence against known opposition
supporters; and the pace of fast-track land resettlement has accelerated.

      The Commercial Farmers Union says some 85 per cent of the 6,000
white-owned commercial farms have now been listed for compulsory
acquisition, meaning that some 10m hectares out of a total commercial area
of 11m will be taken over by the state.

      On Thursday the CFU revealed that 250 white farmers have been evicted
illegally from their farms. An unknown number of others have left of their
own accord. Colin Cloete, CFU president, said many farmers were being forced
off their lands "with little more than the clothes they are wearing". The
evictions, he stresses, are illegal, since the Land Acquisition Act requires
the issuing of an order by the courts. Many farmers are losing moveable
assets - vehicles, tractors, implements - which under the law remain the
property of the farmer. "Farmers have had their trucks with equipment seized
at police roadblocks," said Cloete.

      At a time when Mr Mugabe has formally declared a "state of disaster"
in agriculture after one of the worst droughts in the country's history, the
seizures highlight the widening chasm between political expediency and
rational economic necessity. Officials estimate that some 7.8m people out of
a population of 13m will need emergency food assistance this year as food
crops such as maize and soybean are forecast to fall off dramatically.

      While most of the decline in farm production in 2002 can be blamed on
the drought, economists warn of a double-whammy effect to come in 2003.
Then, they say, the full impact of land resettlement will be felt on
production of high value-added products, such as tobacco, wheat,
horticulture and livestock, combined with the aftermath of the 2002 drought.
Because stockfeed is in such short supply, beef, poultry, dairy and pork
production will also fall sharply.

      The government has announced plans to spend Z$95bn (US$1.7bn) on
drought relief, though there is no provision for this in the budget, nor is
there provision for the mooted allocation of a further Z$105bn for
resettlement.

      These two items would increase public spending more than 50 per cent
this year - pushing the budget deficit to between 25 and 30 per cent of GDP.
No wonder Mr Mugabe's advisers hope his declaration of a national disaster
will win donor sympathy and support.

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