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Zimbabwe must
form unity govt "immediately", SADC insists
http://news.yahoo.com
by Aderogba Obisesan - 50 mins
ago
JOHANNESBURG, (AFP) - Zimbabwe's feuding politicians must form a
government
of national unity "immediately" if they want the support of the
SADC, a
leading official of the regional bloc warned Monday.
Tomaz
Salomao, executive secretary of the 15-nation Southern African
Development
Community (SADC), was speaking after a special summit called
Sunday by the
organisation failed to break the impasse on forming a unity
government.
"We will be there to assist them, help them and try to
bring them together
but under one condition: the government of national
unity has to be formed
immediately," Salomao told South African public radio
station SA FM.
"Now it is up to the three parties in Zimbabwe to decide
how they want to
proceed," he added.
"But what is important to note
is we cannot afford to postpone the formation
of the government of national
unity," he said.
Salomao reiterated SADC's proposal of co-sharing the
home affairs ministry
between the ruling ZANU-PF and the main opposition MDC
as a way out of the
deadlock.
"And within six months, the parties are
free to assess and evaluate the
effectiveness of the co-sharing. If they
feel that that is not the best way,
then they can decide on the best way to
push it."
After 12 hours of closed-door talks, the 15-nation Southern
African
Development Community (SADC) failed to prod President Robert Mugabe
into a
compromise with opposition MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Salomao rejected a suggestion that the SADC has reached the
end of the road
of mediation following Tsvangirai's rejection of the body's
compromise
proposal.
"We did not (reach the end of the road in
mediation)," he said.
The summit's final communique called for the
Zimbabwean rivals to form a
unity government immediately and to share
control of the disputed home
affairs ministry, which oversees the
police.
But Tsvangirai, who defeated Mugabe in the first-round of the
presidential
election in March, rejected their proposal as
unworkable.
"This issue of co-sharing does not work. We have said so
ourselves, we have
rejected it, and that's the position," Tsvangirai told
reporters.
Tsvangirai said his dispute with Mugabe was not only about the
ministry of
home affairs, but striking a fair balance of power in the unity
government.
"It is about power sharing, it is about equitable power
sharing, it is about
giving the responsibility to the party that won an
election and has
compromised its position to share a government with a party
that lost," he
said.
"SADC approached this summit without any
concrete strategy and did not have
the courage and the decency to look Mr
Mugabe in the eyes and tell him that
his position was wrong," he
said.
Under the unity accord signed on September 15 in Harare,
84-year-old Mugabe
would remain as president while Tsvangirai would become
prime minister.
Tsvangirai said he was still committed to the deal, but
said he would not
accept Mugabe's proposals for a cabinet that locks his MDC
out of critical
posts.
The formation of a government of national
unity has been deadlocked over the
distribution of key ministries,
especially the Home Affairs, which oversees
the police.
Tsvangirai
has accused the Mugabe regime of orchestrating attacks against
his
supporters following his victory in the March election, when they were
forced into a runoff after Tsvangirai fell short of an outright
majority.
The opposition leader pulled out of the second round run-off in
the
presidential election because of the violence, which Amnesty
International
says has left 180 dead and 9,000 injured.
New
proposal leaves Tsvangirai fuming
http://www.iol.co.za
November 10 2008 at
09:55AM
By Peta Thornycroft, Basildon Peta and Peter
Fabricius
Zimbabwe's neighbours on Sunday night swung behind
Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe in the struggle for control of the
country's key
home affairs ministry, which has held up putting its unity
government into
office.
A summit of the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) told
Mugabe and prime minister-designate Morgan
Tsvangirai that their parties
must share the ministry of home affairs about
which they have been
quarrelling for two months.
But
Tsvangirai, leader of the larger faction of the Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) rejected the compromise, saying it did not satisfy
the
principle of equitable powersharing.
The MDC
has insisted that it must have sole control of the ministry,
which brings
with it authority over the police, if powersharing was to be
meaningful.
It says control of the police will balance Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party's
control of all other security agencies.
But 14
hours after summit talks started at the Sandton Convention
Centre, SADC
Secretary-General Tomaz Salamao emerged to say: "The summit
decided that the
inclusive government be formed forthwith (and) the ministry
of Home Affairs
be co-managed between Zanu-PF and MDC-Tsvangirai."
Mugabe had
himself earlier proposed the joint ministers concept in the
summit, and
agreed to the proposal, but Tsvangirai's MDC rejected it.
"The
concept of co-ministering cannot work," Tsvangirai declared after
the
summit. Perversely, pressure was brought to bear on the MDC, a party
that
won an election but has shown compromise and political maturity in
these
negotiations.
"Mr Mugabe is not the President of Zimbabwe without
this agreement,"
he added, saying that the MDC "hope and pray that the
guarantors of the
agreement, in particular progressive members of SADC and
the African Union,
will now move very quickly to try and salvage this
agreement".
With two competing ministers, the MDC believes Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party
would be in a position to sideline the MDC, as the upper
levels of the
bureaucracy are its own members, and it would also threaten
the MDC's
one-vote majority in cabinet under the agreement.
A
source inside the meeting described Mugabe as "extremely
contemptuous" of
Tsvangirai, interrupting him during his presentation.
When the MDC
leader said he had won the March 29 election, in which he
came first, Mugabe
shouted "You didn't! You didn't!"
"Our situation is not a domestic
issue, it is a foreign issue," Mugabe
told the heads of state and other
officials, expounding on his anti-Western
mindset.
"Home
affairs is part of security and I as president have greater
superintendence."
The summit decision leaves the process on the
verge of collapse.
Salamao said: "SADC was asked to rule and SADC
took a decision. That's
the position of SADC. It's up to the parties to
implement."
One of Tsvangirai's key allies, Botswana's President
Ian Khama, was
not at the summit.
Despite the avowed importance
of yesterday's summit, only six of the
SADC's 15 heads of state or
government attended, the rest leaving it to
their
ministers.
This article was originally published on page 1 of
The Star on
November 10, 2008
Put Zim's
interests first, urges Motlanthe
http://www.iol.co.za
November 10 2008 at
09:06AM
By Peter Fabricius, Basildon Peta & Peta
Thornycroft
Southern African leaders were still battling in
Johannesburg on Sunday
night to get Zimbabwe's political leaders to nail
down a deal that would
allow a stillborn, two-month-old power-sharing deal
to come into effect.
Six leaders and other representatives of the
15-nation Southern
African Development Community (SADC) were determined to
take as long as
necessary to to persuade Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
and Movement for
Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai to agree,
essentially, on who
should get the contested home affairs
ministry.
The SADC's failure to get a Zimbabwean deal has evidently
becoming
embarrassing to the organisation.
The body's chairperson, President Kgalema Motlanthe, chastised the
rival
Zimbabwean leaders at the start of the summit, telling them they owed
it "to
the people of Zimbabwe and the region to show political maturity by
putting
the interests of Zimbabwe first".
He said it was "disappointing"
that two months after Mugabe,
Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, leader of a
smaller MDC faction, had signed
a power-sharing agreement, they had not been
able to conclude negotiations
on establishing an inclusive
government.
Motlanthe also noted that the rainy season had started
in Zimbabwe,
adding to the challenges of helping Zimbabweans to feed
themselves.
This apparently referred to South Africa's offer of
R300-million to
help Zimbabweans to get food crops planted this season -
provided they first
established an inclusive government.
Former
president Thabo Mbeki briefed the leaders on his efforts, as
SADC mediator,
to secure a Zimbabwe deal.
Motlanthe said the summit would address
the outbreak of serious
fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of
Congo.
DRC President Joseph Kabila briefed the SADC summit on the
outcome of
a summit of Great Lakes leaders in Nairobi on Friday to seek a
solution to
the renewed fighting between his government troops and those of
renegade
Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda.
Motlanthe echoed the
findings of the Nairobi summit when he said the
SADC was calling "for an
immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian
assistance to the
displaced".
He said it also called for the full implementation of
the November
2007 Nairobi communique, the January 2008 Goma agreement and
the Amani
processes relating to the eastern DRC conflict.
These
called for the disarming and demobilising of all the militias
and rebel
groups fighting in the area and persecuting civilians.
Despite the
avowed importance of yesterday's summit, only six of the
SADC's 15 heads of
state attended.
Apart from Motlanthe and Kabila, presidents
Hifikepunye Pohambo of
Namibia, Armando Guebuza of Mozambique and Lesotho
Prime Minister Pakalitha
Mosisili were there.
Accusation
Some sources said Mugabe was making an issue at the
summit of his
government's accusation - at a SADC defence ministers' meeting
last week -
that Botswana was training MDC youth to destabilise
Zimbabwe.
Botswana has denied the accusation and demanded
proof.
Tensions have been rising between the two governments since
Botswana's
President Ian Khama - who was not at yesterday's summit because
he was in
the US - began criticising Mugabe, refusing to recognise him or
his
government since his re-election in a June 27 poll that even the SADC
rejected as flawed.
Outside the summit venue at the Sandton
Convention Centre, two groups
of protesters hurled insults, pamphlets and
sometimes stones and half-bricks
at each other.
The larger
group comprised MDC supporters and opponents of Kabila and
of the Rwandan's
government's alleged military incursions into the eastern
DRC in support of
Nkunda's rebels.
Across the road was a much smaller group
comprising Mugabe and Kabila
supporters.
This article was
originally published on page 2 of The Mercury on
November 10, 2008
Bill Watch 44 of 8th November 08 [SADC Summit on Power Sharing Deadlock;
ZANU-PF Senator appointed]
BILL WATCH
44/2008
[8th November
2008]
The Senate has
adjourned until 16th December
The House of
Assembly will sit next Tuesday 11th November
Bills: There are no new
Bills and no draft Constitution Amendment
General Notices and
Statutory Instruments: See end of Bulletin
Elections in the
USA
Not only were there nationwide
celebrations in the US but also worldwide celebrations when the US presidential
poll ended in victory for Senator Barack Obama and his dynamic message of
change. After a hard-fought but peaceful election campaign the result was
swiftly announced, and defeat was gracefully conceded by the losing candidate.
Both Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Mugabe have sent congratulations to Mr Obama on his
victory.
Elections in
Zambia
In Zambia Mr Rupiah Banda
narrowly won the presidential poll and was promptly sworn in as President. Mr
Mugabe attended the swearing-in ceremony. Runner-up Mr Sata refused to accept
the result and has gone to court seeking a recount.
SADC Summit to discuss
Power-Sharing Agreement
On the agenda of the Extraordinary SADC
Summit meeting on Sunday 9th November in South Africa will be "a discussion of
as well as reports of the ongoing facilitation efforts in Zimbabwe". The current escalation of conflict in the Democratic
Republic of Congo is also on the agenda. It is hoped that the magnitude and
urgency of the crisis in the DRC will not derail SADC's final push to settle the
political stalemate in Zimbabwe.
The MDC-T has listed six issues to be
resolved by the Summit [see Bill Watch 43] and insists that there has be a
proper balance in the allocation of key ministries. ZANU-PF spokesmen have
continued to maintain that only the allocation of the Ministry of Home Affairs
is outstanding. MDC-T also insist that the ten provincial governorships be
shared. These Governors have already been appointed and are all ZANU-PF. As
they are ex officio members of the Senate they give an important extra 10 seats
to ZANU-PF in a Senate where the elected representatives are balanced 30 to 30.
The fact that the appointments were gazetted on November 7th [see General
Notices at end of bulletin], just ahead of the SADC Summit, may indicate that
ZANU-PF does not consider this issue still negotiable.
The Home Affairs deadlock: ZANU-PF claim
that surrendering this Ministry will threaten their party's internal unity and
MDC-T claim that as they have conceded the Ministry of Defence it should go to
them and that without it they cannot establish the stability necessary for
economic recovery. There has been a suggestion that a solution could be the
appointment of an independent and impartial Commissioner of Police from one of
the SADC countries, thereby rendering political control of the Ministry less
contentious.
Tensions within SADC: Botswana President
Khama's recent remarks on the Zimbabwe situation - that "the one viable way
forward in Zimbabwe is to have a rerun of the Presidential Election under full
international sponsorship and supervision" - drew an angry response from the
Zimbabwe Government, which described it as unwarranted interference in
Zimbabwe's internal affairs and an extreme provocation. At a meeting of SADC
Troika security ministers in Mozambique, Zimbabwe accused Botswana of training
MDC-T youths to destabilise Zimbabwe. Botswana denied the accusation, called
for documented evidence to support it, and invited the Troika, together with the
Government of Zimbabwe, to undertake a fact-finding mission to Botswana at the
earliest opportunity. The Troika accepted the invitation and requested evidence
from Zimbabwe. [Note: On the principle of
non-interference see the AU Chairperson's address to the Pan-African
Parliament, below]
Despite the tensions and divisions, there are many
leaders in SADC who feel that negotiations have dragged on long enough. A
spokesman for the South African Government has said it will be taking a very
firm position to make sure that the parties in Zimbabwe understand the urgency
of finding a settlement. ANC President Jacob Zuma has said the weekend talks
are a last opportunity to compromise on political disagreements and that he
agrees with those calling on SADC to exert more political pressure on President
Robert Mugabe and the MDC to immediately enforce the September 15 power-sharing
deal.
Parliament
Senate
Another ZANU-PF Senator
appointed: Mr Mugabe has appointed Mr Joseph Made as a non-constituency
Senator; he was sworn in as a Senator on Tuesday. Mr Mugabe has now filled four
of the five seats set aside for appointed Senators under section 34 of the
Constitution [the other three ZANU-PF appointed Senators, all named in August,
are Vice-President Msika, Mr John Nkomo and Mr Chinamasa].
The Senate's sittings this week
were very brief - 40 minutes [Tuesday] and 65 minutes
[Wednesday].
The only business conducted
was the debate on the President's Speech. Contributions touched on various
issues of national concern - the food crisis, water supply problems and the
related cholera outbreaks, corruption etc.
Zimbabwe and the DRC: None
of the Senators who spoke mentioned the press reports about Zimbabwe troops
being mobilised for deployment in the DRC [see below].
Committees: There were no
elections for Senate members of the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders.
Until this Committee is formed, neither Portfolio Committees [government
oversight committees] nor the Parlliamentary Legal Committee can be
appointed.
The adjournment until 16th
December appears to have been designed to accommodate the ZANU-PF People's
Conference [scheduled for 10th to 14th December]. [Reminder: Standing Orders
permit the President of the Senate to recall the Senate early if the public
interest so requires - but only if the State President so
requests.]
House of
Assembly
On the House of Assembly Order
Paper [Agenda] for 11th November
The following items are on the
agenda:
· Motion on
Post-Election Violence [debate not yet commenced]
· Motion on
Economic Crisis and Other Problems Facing Zimbabwe [debate not yet
commenced]
· Motion on
the Food Crisis [debate in progress]
· Debate on
President's Speech [debate in progress]
An opportunity may arise for
tackling the Government about the press reports of moves for Zimbabwe to send
troops to the DRC [see below].
Zimbabwe Defence
Forces for Eastern DRC?
Press reports outside Zimbabwe have
recorded claims by a spokesman for the CNDP rebels that Zimbabwe is mobilizing
forces to fight in the civil war in the Eastern DRC in support of the government
of President Kabila. The claims have been denied by the Zimbabwe Government.
Zimbabwe's previous military involvement in the DRC [1998-2002] was politically
and economically controversial and raised constitutional issues. [The
Constitution states that the defence forces are established "for the purpose of
defending Zimbabwe", words arguably not apt to cover fighting in the far distant
DRC civil war.] Other relevant legal aspects are that the President's decisions
on operational deployment of troops are not for him alone, but require the
concurrence of the Cabinet [which does not exist at the moment]; and that
additional funds which would inevitably be needed to pay for external troop
deployment would have to be voted by Parliament.
Pan African
Parliament [PAP] Session
On 31st October the head of the PAP
Election Observer Mission to the Presidential Run-Off Election presented the
Mission's report to PAP, confirming the adverse verdict announced in the
Mission's Interim Statement issued immediately after the election. Details of
the ensuing discussion are not yet available.
President's Kikwete, Chairman of the
AU, made an inspiring speech to PAP. In the following excerpts he deals with
the issues of African responsibilities and democracy: "The old principle of non-interference in internal affairs of
member states is no longer tenable on our continent. Africa, these days no
longer stands by and watches when democratic values are being infringed upon or
when governments brutalize their own people. Usually the AU, RECs [Regional
Economic Communities] or even countries neighbouring the troubled nation would
act. We expect this Parliament to be that added voice of reason and perhaps for
action on these cardinal tenets. You should compliment the voice of the Assembly
of Heads of States and Government and the relevant councils of the AU on these
matters. I am glad you are already being seen and felt in election monitoring in
the continent these days. We need to see more of you in governance and human
rights issues as well. Keep on reminding African leaders and peoples about their
duties and responsibilities with regard to these important issues. Let you be
heard and felt where things are not right and suggest what needs to be
done."
"The principle of leaders coming into office
through democratic processes has been underscored and duly emphasized by the
African Union. This is well defined and embedded in the AU Constitutive Act. Any
government which comes into office through undemocratic means will not be
tolerated and will be censured and suspended from AU membership. Indeed, the
principle has been invoked a few times and the countries concerned have been
sanctioned, Mauritania being the latest."
Update on General
Notices and Statutory Instruments
General Notices gazetted on
7th November give official notification of the appointment of Vice-Presidents
Msika and Mujuru on 13th October [GN 122] and the ten ZANU-PF Provincial
Governors on 25th August [GN 121].
Statutory
instruments:
SI 158/2008 - authorisation
of the issue of the new $100 000, $500 000 and $1 000 000 banknotes [gazetted
31st October]
SI 159/2008 - regulations
under the Pig Industry Act providing for the payment of a levy on all pigs
produced and slaughtered in the country [gazetted 7th November].
Veritas makes every effort to
ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for
information supplied.
SADC under siege
Zim expats ‘sick and tired of
failing leaders’
Dudu Busani and Sapa
HAD ENOUGH: MDC supporters
protest against the Zanu-PF government outside the SADC meeting in Sandton
yesterday. PHOTO: REUTERS |
|
|
10
November 2008
While African leaders opened the one-day
SADC summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg yesterday,
protesters outside sent a clear message: “We are sick and tired of being failed
by our leaders.”
Innocent Muteredziwa, 18, who has
been in South Africa for a year insists that the power-sharing deal in Zimbabwe
will be an insult to democracy.
“Why the power sharing deal?
[Robert] Mugabe lost the election. He has shown that he does not want to share,”
said Muteredziwa.
Inside, the African leaders grappled
with the long-simmering crisis in Zimbabwe and a new humanitarian catastrophe in
Congo.
They lamented that war and conflict
stand in the way of development in the world’s poorest
continent.
President Kgalema Motlanthe opened
yesterday’s extraordinary SADC summit with a call for a cease-fire so
humanitarian aid can reach those displaced by fighting in eastern Congo.
In recent weeks Congo’s east has been
engulfed in fighting involving rebels, government soldiers and pro-government
militiamen.
The world’s largest United Nations
peacekeeping contingent has struggled to protect civilians in eastern Congo.
The peace keepers’ “current mandate limits
their ability to become real peacemakers and provide for a lasting solution,”
Motlanthe said yesterday
Congolese president Joseph Kabila
attended the meeting of the regional bloc, whose 15 members include sprawling
Congo and several of its neighbours.
A year ago, the bloc appointed
Motlanthe’s predecessor Thabo Mbeki to mediate in the dispute between Zimbabwean
president Mugabe and his political opposition.
The Zimbabwean opposition is pressing
leaders at the summit to call for a fair division of cabinet posts in a proposed
unity government.
ZPP September 2008
human rights violations report
Zimbabwe Peace Project
September 2008, 2008
Download this document
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website by clicking here.
Overview
Background
Fifteen September 2008 is
poised to leave an indelible imprint in Zimbabwe’s protracted search for lasting
national peace and socioeconomic stability. The day was witness to the signing
of a historic power-sharing Agreement
between ZANU PF and the MDC factions which should form the basis for an
all-inclusive Government. Among other things, the deal saw the appointment of
the leadership of the MDC faction as Prime Minister and Deputy Prime
Minister-designates with signatories making public commitments to walk the
Agreement by forming an all-inclusive Cabinet. The fanfare, pomp, and
conciliatory language and global glare that graced the occasion carried the
promise of the dawn of a new era characterized by political tolerance, social
healing and nation building.
Despite this promising
start, the historic deal is yet to take off as all efforts at implementing the
deal ended in deadlocks with the political leadership reportedly disagreeing on
the sharing of ministries, especially the strategic ministries of defence, home
affairs, information, finance and justice.
The political deal appears
under siege with forces opposed to an all-inclusive Government reportedly
re-grouping and re-strategizing to ensure that the deal hardly sees the light of
the day. Provincial reports suggest that the deal was grudgingly received by its
key stakeholders with some high profile hardliners reportedly ridiculing it as a
sell-out Agreement. Its take off was further weakened by the fact that
signatures were put on paper before the signatories agreed on how ministries
will be shared. A cloud of mistrust also lingers among the signatories to the
deal, scenarios that have relegated all power sharing enforcement efforts to a
circus of deadlocks and reverse jiving with negotiations going one step forward
only to go five steps backwards. The political-will to sustain the power-sharing
momentum is visibly low with unilateralism and winner-take-all inclinations
taking centre stage. Unilateral allocation of ministries with all key ministries
reportedly under ZANU PF may be interpreted as flying in the spirit of
power-sharing. In fact, as the historic month came to a close, visible progress
was yet to be realized.
Observed
scenarios
Despite the signing of the
15 September power-sharing Agreement, the idea of an all-inclusive Government is
yet to be fully accepted within ZANU PF structures with some war veterans
reportedly moving around telling people not to believe ZTV and radio
explanations about the all-inclusive Government. In fact, in most provinces,
meetings by MDC councillors and MPs are reportedly denied by chiefs and village
heads or youths.
Political intolerance
remains on the low side with anti-MDC slogans still gracing most ZANU PF
rallies, print and electronic media. Since the signing of the deal there has
been an upsurge in incidents of intra party violence with members of the same
political party reportedly clashing over differences on the 15 September
Agreement. MDC members are still viewed as sell-outs with incidents of people
being harassed and assaulted for being members of the MDC, for attending MDC T
meetings, wearing opposition regalia, commenting on the economy and inter-party
Talks, for celebrating the signing of the 15 September Agreement or the
appointment of the MDC President as Prime Minister -designate, among other
things.
While physical violence has
visibly subsided, verbal and psychological violence remains cause for concern
with most political language evidently discriminatory, intimidating and abusive.
Those who returned to their villages after the signing of the 15 September
political deal are reportedly going through gruelling interrogations, assaulted,
and in some cases made to pay acceptance fines and in the event of failure
threatened with eviction.
While this feet-dragging and preoccupation with
power continues unabated, all is not well a-ground as the 220 million inflation
rate has virtually reduced the bulk of Zimbabweans to perpetual window-shoppers
ever racing behind soaring prices. For the first time since independence, public
examinations [Grade Seven, O and A-levels] have been postponed following a
full-term of no learning in schools while State Universities remain indefinitely
closed reportedly because the requisite infrastructures are not in place.
The continued political
impasse is also having its toll on the food situation in the country with all
provinces reportedly food-disaster zones. According to a recently released World
Food Programme report,
2 million Zimbabweans facing starvation while by January 2009 the number is
projected to have increased to 5 million. GSF sources are reportedly bulking
under pressure with some GMB outlets going for months without maize supplies,
scenarios that have seen some villagers surviving on wild fruits and boiled
vegetables. While thee ban on food relief agencies has been lifted, there have
been delays in NGO food distribution as a number of these relief agencies are
reportedly still facing some operational constraints. Food politics, looting and
diversion of GMB maize meant for the starving villagers as well as selling of
scarce maize in foreign currency has reportedly worsened the food crisis in
Zimbabwe.
In some provinces, it is
reportedly pay-back-time for those that fomented violence in the run up to the
27 June elections with reports that brutalised and harassed Mudzi villagers are
now demanding justice for the alleged misdeeds of ZANU PF militias by employing
unorthodox means-the use of voodoo, a development that has reportedly had a
devastating psychological impact on the ringleaders of the command
bases.
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full document
Visit the ZPP fact
sheet
World Bank, FAO fund Zimbabwe agric with US$ 21.4 million
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Monday, 10
November 2008 06:06
Zimbabwe said Friday it had received US$ 21.4
million in combined
agricultural funding from the World Bank and the Food
and Agricultural
Organisation (FAO). In a statement, the government said the
funding was
intended to cover cropping this year and finance the procurement
of farming
inputs, including fertilizers and seeds.
The World
Bank, which has suspended economic aid to the country over
policy
differences with the government, will provide US$ 10 million and FAO
US$ 11.4 million.
It said much of the funding would be
targeted at rural farmers, most
of whom had been left struggling in the
country's deep-seated economic
crisis.
Zimbabwe has been facing
food shortages for years now because of
droughts and poor farming policies
and is this year importing hundreds of
thousands of tonnes of cereals to
avert starvation.
South Africa has also announced a R300 million
farming package for
Zimbabwe in the form of agricultural inputs.