IOL
November 11 2006
at 12:44PM
Harare - Cash-strapped national carrier Air Zimbabwe has
suspended its
flights to London fearing the seizure of its planes by a
European navigation
agency over a $2,8-million (R20,2-million) debt, an
official said on
Saturday.
Air Zimbabwe board chairperson Mike
Bimha was quoted by the
state-controlled Herald as saying the Agency for the
Safety of Air
Navigation recently won a court order to impound the national
carrier's
planes to recover its debt.
"It's a debt that accrued
well before our time," Bimha was quoted as
saying.
"As a
security measure our lawyers have advised us to suspend flights
pending
discussions with the agency's lawyers."
London is
one of Air Zimbabwe's most lucrative destinations.
The newspaper
said the national carrier resorted to arranging for its
London-bound
passengers to be accomodated on British Airways and South
African Airways
flights.
But the development inconvenienced passengers who needed
to catch
connecting flights from London.
"The good thing is
that we are into the winter season in the United
Kingdom where the numbers
of passengers are not too big so we have no
problems transferring passengers
to other airlines," The Herald quoted Bimha
as saying.
Air
Zimbabwe's fortunes have been flagging in recent years because of
shortages
of fuel and spare parts, as well as allegations of poor
management.
Dwindling tourism numbers have contributed
significantly to the
carrier's problems as visitors from traditional tourism
markets, such as the
United States and western Europe, have shunned the
southern African country.
Air Zimbabwe acting chief executive
officer Oscar Madombwe told
members of parliament earlier this year that
passenger numbers slumped from
one million in 1999 to 23 000 last
year.
Last month the national carrier announced fare increases of
up to 500
percent on both international and domestic routes.
Meanwhile, fuel shortages forced the national carrier to ground its
entire
fleet for more than a day in November last year.
Zimbabwe has been
experiencing fuel shortages for the past six years
blamed on shortages of
hard currency. - Sapa-AFP
http://africantears.netfirms.com/thisweek.shtml
Saturday 11th November 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
This
week has been an exercise in such absurdity that you wonder how
anything at
all has functioned - and how we have survived it.
Monday began with an
electricity cut at 7.30 am which lasted for 7 hours.
The power came back on
but not for long and we ended the day after 11 hours
of no power. I met a
man on Monday with agonising toothache. He went to have
it extracted but the
dentist couldn't help - his surgery had neither
electricity nor
water.
Tuesday we again spent most of the business day in silence, going
another 10
hours without electricity, and the water pressure dwindled to a
fast drip.
There were no street collections of garbage due to no fuel and a
friend
phoned and said butchers were complaining their meat was smelling and
going
off in the heat. The story resurfaced about the wrong fertilizer that
had
been imported by the government from South Africa. 70 000 tonnes had
come in
but was found to be too high in some elements and was unsuitable for
use on
most soils. Apparently high sulphur levels could reduce yields or
even
destroy crops if used on the wrong soil types. The real bone shaker was
yet
to come though as the press reported that, oops, the fertilizer had
already
been delivered to the GMB for giving out to farmers. Double oops, as
the GMB
said they'd already started distributing it across the
country.
Wednesday, could things get worse? Yes. There was no water at
all, not even
a slow drip but there was electricity so hey, we shouldn't be
too
capitalistic and ask for both services - even though we pay for
them!
Thursday the water came back on but now it smells of sewage, is the
colour
of urine, has a thick yellow sediment and oily bubbles on top.
Headline news
was of a lavish ceremony with Mr Mugabe giving out 99 year
farm leases to
120 new farmers. Some of the beneficiaries include a high
court judge and a
chief correspondent on ZBC TV. The caption below the
picture on ZBC TV was:
"99 year farm leases very constitutional." Then
followed an interview with
some expert or other who said the 99 year leases
were "very very legal." It
is not clear if the 120 leases were for farms
where compensation has been
paid to farmers for infrastructure and stolen
crops, or to farm workers for
loss of livelihood, or to any of the men,
women and children who were
subjected to all manner of human rights abuses
ranging from theft to arson,
rape, looting, torture and even murder. It's
not funny, very funny or even
very very funny, but somehow we carry on and
so we limped into Friday.
Friday word hit my home tome that 20 000 new
mobile telephone lines were
available for sale. No one knew if it was the
government owned phone company
or the private one doing the selling so there
was pandemonium. At the post
office there were riot police trying to get
people to calm down and get in a
queue - and all this for the chance to
legally buy a telephone line. How
crazy can things get!
It's been a
very difficult week for ordinary people in Zimbabwe and it gets
harder and
harder to hold things together and keep pretending to be normal.
I end on a
note of hope which I saw at Speech Day at my son's school. Even
in such
appallingly hard times our schools take such care and pride to turn
out
fine, well mannered, caring and clever young men and women. All credit
to
these schools and their dedicated staff who could have fled to easier and
greener pastures but haven't because they have hope and vision. Zimbabwe
owes them and other professionals a great debt.
Until next time, love
cathy.
Zim Standard
BY OUR
STAFF
AN enraged President Robert Mugabe last week hauled
central bank
governor Gideon Gono over the coals after learning from The
Standard the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had played a part in importing fake
fertiliser from
South Africa.
Last week, The Standard
reported alarm over the importation of
70 000 tonnes of fertiliser from
South Africa, which both the GMB acting
chief executive Samuel Muvuti and
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made,
condemned as
unsuitable.
Made has ordered farmers to stop using any
suspicious
fertiliser, promising them compensation.
Presidential spokesperson George Charamba yesterday confirmed
that Gono was
summoned by Cabinet to explain the controversial deal that is
likely to bury
this agricultural season.
Gono on Monday appeared before the
National Economic Recovery
Council (NERC), at which he sought to exonerate
himself of any wrongdoing.
The NERC was chaired by
Vice-President Joice Mujuru.
But determined to get to the
bottom of the matter, Mugabe
convened an extraordinary Cabinet meeting on
Thursday at which Gono was
asked to explain how the "sub-standard"
fertiliser had been imported.
Gono confirmed that he had been
asked to explain the
controversial fertiliser deal after both Mugabe and the
Cabinet had "taken a
keen interest in the story that was published by one of
the weekly papers
last Sunday".
But he denied being
roasted during the specially convened
Cabinet meeting on Thursday. He
claimed the poor quality fertiliser was
between 160 and 800 tonnes and worth
between US$50 000 and US$300 000.
Gono accused unnamed
ministers and government officials of
"grandstanding and deliberately
misrepresenting facts" about the imported
fertiliser.
He
said: "The recent fertiliser furore is a tip of the iceberg
in a growing
tragedy of misinformation, which is designed to 'rubbish' the
efforts of
those trying to make a positive difference to our economic
turnaround and
instead, sow seeds of disunity, panic, suspicion as well as
hatred among and
between stakeholders".
Gono said the agenda was to portray
him and the central bank as
obstacles to the success of the land reform
programme.
Gono alleged the attack on the central bank had
been timed to
coincide with "two most crucial" moments.
He identified these as the advent of the rains and a decisive
season in
terms of the land reform programme, as well as Zanu PF's national
conference
due next month, at which the issue of the land is expected to
take centre
stage.
Gono said the central bank was being blamed unfairly
for the
fertiliser fiasco when the Secretary for Agriculture, Simon
Pazvakavambwa,
and his team of experts flew to Durban, South Africa, to
inspect and certify
the fertiliser before it was cleared and subsequently
imported into the
country.
The team included Dr Sam
Muchena from the African Centre for
Fertiliser Development at Hatcliffe
Estate, Harare, and John Madzinga from
the GMB.
Muchena
and Madzinga could not be reached yesterday.
The fertiliser
at the centre of the dust-up was from Sasol and
not Intshona, as earlier
reported.
On charges that the central bank had "gone it
alone" in sealing
the fertiliser deal, Gono said the Ministries of
Agriculture, Industry and
International Trade, as well as Finance, had been
involved in the deal,
which was concluded in Harare on 28 April this year
with Nedbank and the
Rand Merchant Bank for the provision of
fertiliser.
But the controversy gets muddier because while
Muvuti condemned
the fertiliser, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture's
crop nutrition
section, Chemistry and Soil Research Institute (CSRI) L T
Mupondi, and
Pazvakavambwa, approved its use.
On 26 July,
Pazvakavambwa directed the GMB to distribute the
fertiliser, saying it could
be "provisionally" registered as 7:14:7 Compound
D for one
year.
"I note that the results obtained are within the
acceptable
range of Nitrate (N), Phosphorus (P205) and Potassium (K20).
Based on these
results, I now direct that the product be released to GMB for
distribution
to farmers."
The CSRI's head said the Sasol
fertiliser could be provisionally
registered for a year only adding: "It is
because the sulphur content of
this fertiliser is below the Zimbabwe 1.05%
is below that of registered
compound type fertiliser which has a sulphur
content of 6.5%."
But fears remain that Zimbabwe would be
headed for another poor
agricultural season because of the poor quality of
the fertiliser from South
Africa.
At a press conference
held yesterday morning to exonerate Gono
from the fertiliser mess, Made
confirmed that some of the fake fertiliser
had been distributed but said
affected farmers should return it.
"If there are farmers who
are not happy with the fertiliser,
they should hold on and we will test it.
Compensation will be made to the
affected farmers," Made
said.
He said a structure had been set up to ensure that any
fertiliser was tested before it was supplied, to make sure it was the
correct mix.
Some farmers have already returned the fake
fertiliser to the
GMB depot in Chitungwiza. This was confirmed by a senior
official at the
depot on Friday.
Zim Standard
By Bertha
Shoko
THE Global Fund to fight malaria, tuberculosis and
HIV and Aids
has rejected Zimbabwe's sixth round application for funding on
undisclosed
grounds.
The rejection effectively scuttles
any plans by the government
to put thousands of infected people on Anti
Retroviral Drugs (ARVs).
Set up in 2002, the Global Fund is
one of the biggest
international organisations providing funds to poor
countries to fight
malaria, TB and HIV and Aids.
Zimbabwe
submitted its application in July after the funding
body called for
proposals for round six in April and set 3 August as the
deadline for all
submissions.
The Standard understands Zimbabwe applied for
funding for all
three diseases but the largest chunk of the money was
intended to scale up
ARV treatment countrywide.
There are
only about 40 000 people accessing the life-prolonging
drugs from state-run
programmes and in the private sector.
This compares with the
more than 600 000 people who actually
need ARVs.
The
Global Fund's decision is final and Zimbabwe cannot appeal
because it had a
previous successful round five application.
A country can
only appeal against a decision if it has had two
unsuccessful round
applications in a row, according to Global Fund rules.
In a
response to The Standard last week, head of communications
at the Global
Fund, Jon Liden confirmed the rejection but could not disclose
the
grounds.
Liden said: "The full explanation of the Technical
Review Panel's
decision will be sent to the CCM (Country Co-ordinating
Mechanism) shortly.
It is up to the CCM to decide if it wants the
explanation to be made
public."
The CCM is made up of
representatives from the government, NGOs,
academic institutions, private
businesses and HIV and Aids activists living
with the
disease.
The Standard understands one reason was a provision
by Zimbabwe
to pay health personnel extra money to compensate for inflation
in an effort
to retain their services.
The leader of a
rebel group of people living with HIV and Aids
who are pressing government
for increased access to ARVs, Joao Zangarati,
said he was convinced the
government's bad human rights record was the
reason why the donor community
continued to snub Zimbabwe.
Zangarati said: "We are slowly
moving into isolation because of
our country's bad track
record.
"The donor community is punishing the wrong people.
This is a
good reason for us (the ARV movement) to put more pressure on the
government. We know we are going to win this battle
eventually."
Dr David Parirenyatwa, the Minister of Health
and Child Welfare,
could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Zim Standard
BY FOSTER DONGOZI
THE head of church
leaders behind the National Vision Document,
Bishop Trevor Manhanga has
dismissed speculation that the final document was
only launched after heavy
editing by Zanu PF and government officials.
The Standard is
in possession of two "national vision" documents
which, though generally the
same, are in some cases very different.
There is mounting
speculation that the bishops sent the draft
document to President Robert
Mugabe for perusal before it could be launched.
But Bishop
Manhanga poured scorn on the speculation, saying: "It
took us about five
months to come up with a draft and somebody came across
the draft which was
circulated before the launch. The official document is
the one that was
officially launched and not the draft that you are talking
about."
For example, while one document says people whose
relatives were
murdered by the government need to know the truth about what
happened to
their relatives, the official document says there are some
serious issues
about the Gukurahundi period "that the nation needs to look
into".
On the constitution, the original document referred to
it as a
source of "conflict" but the edited version refers to the
constitution as
causing some "misunderstandings".
Mugabe
has made it clear that issues such as sovereignty and the
constitution were
not negotiable.
Church leaders met the Movement for
Democratic Change founding
president, Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday to discuss
the document.
Tsvangirai said he was prepared to work with
all Zimbabweans who
wanted to see an end to the crises in the
country.
He said it was his belief that as long as Mugabe and
Zanu PF
remained in a state of denial about their contribution to the
current mess,
the process, like previous ones would lead to a blind
alley.
"To save Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF have to
address the
known roadblocks to a new society.This crisis shall remain with
us unless
Mugabe and Zanu PF shift their mindset through a patriotic desire
to save
Zimbabwe from further haemorrhage."
He called on
the churches to force Mugabe to create an enabling
environment to save the
country.
Meanwhile, an MDC faction led by Arthur Mutambara
has dismissed
as false reports that it was engaged in unity talks with the
Tsvangirai
camp.
There were reports last week of the two
warring factions
exploring ways to end their conflict.
"The MDC advises that, contrary to assertions that have been
made in the
media and also peddled by the Tsvangirai grouping about
reunification talks,
there are no such talks," Gabriel Chaibva, a
spokesperson for the Mutambara
faction said.
"The MDC has not set up any re-unification
committee and there
has not been any contact with us from the Tsvangirai
grouping, serve for the
press reports. However, we are not opposed to any
talks aimed at bringing
about the re-unification of all democratic forces,
but emphasize that such
discussions should be premised on the founding
principles and values of the
MDC."
Zim Standard
By Foster Dongozi
THE Zanu PF
leadership in Matabeleland and the Midlands has
written letters to the
ruling party's presidium for clarification on whether
party spokesman,
Nathan Shamuyarira's comments on Gukurahundi were his
personal opinion or
the position of the ruling party.
In the early 1980s, the
government unleashed the 5 Brigade on
Matabeleland and the Midlands, the
perceived political base of their foe,
Joshua Nkomo.
"We
are very worried that the party has remained silent after
Shamuyarira's
statement on the massacres. We are not sure if he was speaking
in his
individual capacity or on behalf of Zanu PF," said a Zanu PF
provincial
officer in Matabeleland South.
The Standard's Zanu PF sources
in Matabeleland and the Midlands
confirmed efforts were being made to seek
clarification.
A Midlands official said: "Several senior
party leaders in the
Midlands were very annoyed by Shamuyarira's statement
and want clarification
from the presidium."
Asked if he
regretted the actions of the 5 Brigade, Shamuyarira
said: "No, I don't
regret. They were doing a job to protect the people."
More
than 20 000 people, including unarmed civilians, were
killed in the Midlands
and Matabeleland by the soldiers.
Although he fell short of
apologising for the massacres, Robert
Mugabe described the era as a time of
madness.
The Zimbabwe Liberators' Peace Initiative says it
intends to
take Shamuyarira to the International Criminal Tribunal over his
utterances
on the massacres.
Max Mnkandla, the head of
the organisation, said they were in
consultation with the United Nations
over the issue. "We therefore want the
Unity Accord to be removed and we are
in the process of preparing to take
the issue to the highest court in the
world. We want the perpetrators to be
brought to book."
Zim Standard
BY WALTER MARWIZI
AN Army
captain accused of supplying intelligence to an
ex-Rhodesian soldier now on
trial in Mutare for allegedly plotting to
assassinate President Robert
Mugabe will be court-martialled tomorrow, the
army confirmed
yesterday.
Captain Alfred Chiukira is due to appear in court
tomorrow,
after languishing in solitary confinement at King George VI
barracks in
Harare.
Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel
Simon Tsatsi said: "Captain
Chiukira is due to appear before the General
Court Martial on Monday, 13
November 2006."
Tsatsi was
responding on Friday to questions from The Standard
on why the army
continued to hold the intelligence officer in detention.
Chiukira was arrested last March in connection with the
discredited arms
cache case after allegations that he had worked with Peter
Hitschmann, who
is on trial on allegations of plotting to kill Mugabe.
Except for
Hitschmann, all the other defendants, including MDC activists,
were
acquitted as the case crumbled in spectacular fashion.
Despite protesting his innocence, Chiukira has been held in
detention for
six months at KGVI barracks without being court-martialled.
Reports filtering from the Army Headquarters suggested Chiukira
had been
tortured in detention.
A doctor who examined him was reported
to have certified that he
had suffered 17% disability as a result of
torture.
Chiukira was reportedly not allowed to see
relatives, friends
and his lawyer.
The Standard
understands that a desperate Chiukira at one time
tried, in vain, to send a
document detailing his torture to the
Commander-In-Chief,
Mugabe.
The document was suppressed.
There
are reports that army chiefs were determined to keep him
under lock and key
until after conclusion of Hitschmann's trial.
Sources told
The Standard army intelligence chiefs feared if
Chiukira was acquitted at
the General Court Martial due to lack of evidence,
that would not only
embarrass them, but could turn out to be "live"
ammunition for lawyers
battling to free Hitschmann in Mutare.
Tsatsi refused to
comment on reports of torture and the
suppression of the document destined
for Mugabe.
"In view of the above development, most of your
questions
relating to the case cannot be entertained at this stage as the
case is
still sub-judice," said Tsatsi.
Zim Standard
BY OUR STAFF
PRODUCTION of asbestos has declined
significantly at Gaths Mine
since the government took over Shabanie-Mashava
Mines from business mogul,
Mutumwa Mawere.
A visit to one
of the mines in Mashava by The Standard last week
showed production has
dropped by about 50% since 2003 amid revelations of
poor management and a
mass exodus of qualified technical staff.
Production of
asbestos fibre has dropped from 180 000 tonnes to
around 100 000 tonnes a
year.
Workers alleged all was not well at the mine since the
government moved in. Operations had declined sharply, they
said.
They complained of poor pay and working conditions
which they
said had forced trained personnel to seek greener pastures
elsewhere,
leaving the mine with semi-skilled workers.
A
worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "We used to
enjoy good
working conditions here when Mawere owned the mine, but now it is
no longer
the same. We are no longer paid as much as we were before the
government
take-over. This is because the mine is not producing enough."
Another disgruntled worker said: "Poor production has affected
workers'
morale as most of the company's qualified technical staff has
left."
The government wrested the mine from Mawere in
2004 through a
reconstruction order after controversial allegations of
mismanagement and
externalisation of foreign currency.
Mawere was said to owe state enterprises billions of dollars,
although the
state failed to prove the existence of the debts.
The
government, through the public media, blamed Mawere for the
problems dogging
Shabanie-Mashava Mines, but the workers maintained that
poor management was
the real problem at the giant asbestos mine.
Speaking to
journalists, Gaths Mine general manager, Dominic
Sibanda, confirmed the
decline in production over the past three years. But
he attributed the low
production to ageing mining equipment that would cost
millions of dollars to
repair, for the company to operate at full capacity.
Gaths
mine needs about US$10 million to repair the equipment and
purchase new
machinery if it is to operate at full throttle, he said.
"Production levels have declined over the past years due to a
number of
factors," said Sibanda. "Under normal circumstances we are
supposed to
produce 180 000 tonnes a year to meet our demand but now we are
only able to
produce slightly over 100 000 tonnes a year."
Zim Standard
BY GODFREY
MUTIMBA
MASVINGO - Villagers in Murinye communal lands
have attacked the
government for failing to evict illegal settlers on the
banks of Lake
Mutirikwi.
They complained the settlers'
activities were responsible for
the massive environmental degradation near
Zimbabwe's largest inland lake.
The settlers who include war
veterans, ordinary villagers and
their leader, Chief Murinye, invaded an
area on the banks of the lake
reserved for wild animals. The animals have
now deserted the place as
poachers have taken over.
Villagers say the new farmers are cutting down trees
indiscriminately and
ploughing on the banks of the lake, creating conditions
for massive soil
erosion and deforestation.
Other settlers are said to have
built houses close to the dam,
putting their lives in danger in the event of
floods.
Petros Dzingirai from Murinye communal lands urged
the
government to remove the farmers as a matter of
urgency.
"They took advantage of the land invasions to settle
in a
wildlife area, disturbing the normal lives of wild animals before they
started tilling on the banks of the lake. I think it's unacceptable," he
said.
Dzingirai said the new farmers were engaged in a
brisk firewood
business in nearby Masvingo.
"The green
vegetation that used to be a marvel to the eyes of
tourists who visited
Mutirikwi is now history," Dzingirai said.
Masvingo
provincial administrator, Felix Chikovo, said he was
not aware of the
destruction on the banks of Mutirikwi.
"I will have to check
with the lands officers if the farmers are
illegal or not. I can't know all
the farms in the province, so I will have
to check," Chikovo
said.
The settlers who invaded the area had the blessing of
Zanu PF
political heavyweights in the province, who are still allocating
land to
party supporters.
The settlers are not only
ruining the environment but are
reportedly poaching fish in the lake during
the night.
Zim Standard
By our staff
MOBILE telephone
service providers, Econet and Telecel, have
launched separate court
challenges to what they consider an attempt to
reintroduce the monopoly of
TelOne through the backdoor.
The High Court last week the
heard challenges on a telecoms
statutory instrument after applications by
Econet and Telecel to fight
Statutory Instrument 70 of 2006, which the
mobile operators say is
tantamount to reinstating the monopoly of the State
fixed telephone
operator, struck down as unconstitutional nearly a decade
ago.
The court on Monday heard the applications and the
parties
agreed to the suspension of the Statutory Instrument pending the
final
determination of the applications together with an additional
constitutional
application that Econet must bring within 14 days of the
granting of the
consent order.
The statutory instrument,
which was supposed to come into effect
on the 1 November, 2006 has been
further suspended by the court until the
matter has been
determined.
At the heart of the dispute is a provision in the
statutory
instrument which sets termination rates for incoming international
traffic.
International operators sending calls to TelOne
customers will
be charged US7 cents whilst those calling Econet or Telecel
must pay US20
cents. The statutory instrument seeks to give TelOne the
exclusive right to
transit traffic coming from outside to the mobile
networks.
The mobile operators contend that the effect of
this instrument
is to divert incoming international traffic destined to
their customers to
come through TelOne at the lower price of US7 cents. The
operators want the
provision for TelOne to transit traffic destined for
mobile operators struck
down.
Econet and Telecel say that
like them, TelOne should only
terminate traffic destined to its own
customers, and should not touch
traffic destined for their customers. They
contend that an exclusivity on
transiting, which TelOne currently does not
enjoy, is tantamount to a
restoration of a monopoly that was struck down by
the Supreme Court in 1995.
In papers filed by Econet's
lawyers, Mtetwa and Nyambirai Legal
Practitioners, the operator argues that
Potraz is trying to bring into
effect a flawed Statutory
Instrument.
Two Supreme Court judgements in 1995 and 1996
authorised Econet
to operate a gateway for both incoming and outgoing
telecommunications
traffic, saying TelOne's monopoly was
unconstitutional.
In 1997 the High Court ruled that the
telecommunications sector
needed competition and the right to move traffic
within, into and from
Zimbabwe.
Econet's lawyers say in
papers before the High Court that
provisions of the Statutory Instrument are
prima facie unconstitutional,
vague and irrational in various
respects.
The lawyers say the Statutory Instrument
contradicts
recommendations of the government's Information Communication
Technology
Taskforce, which operates under the National Economic Development
Priority
Programme, which are part of efforts to revive the
economy.
They also point out that the SI is contrary to the
government's
monetary and fiscal policy in that it favours TelOne; is
against the
monetary authority's 18 December 2003 appeal to the
telecommunications
sector to maximise foreign currency gains; and has the
effect of limiting
foreign currency inflows into
Zimbabwe.
Telecel equally argues that the Statutory
Instrument is vague,
unimplementable and has been promulgated outside
provisions of the parent
Act. David Drury of Gollop & Blank argues in
the Telecel papers that the
Regulations are ultra vires provisions of
Section 99 of the Act in that the
minister has purported to fix termination
rates through the Statutory
Instrument when the Act does not give him the
power to do so.
The Statutory Instrument will remain
suspended until all the
cases are finalised. In the interim, it is not clear
whether the Task Force
will continue meeting.
Zim Standard
By
Nqobani Ndlovu
BULAWAYO - The city council is set to
decommission yet another
dam as water levels at the city's supply dams
continue to decline.
The decommissioning, which would bar the
council from drawing
water from Umzingwane dam, will plunge the city into a
crisis, barely a
month after Upper Ncema was
decommissioned.
Water levels in Umzingwane and Upper Ncema
have been seriously
depleted due to soaring temperatures in the past few
weeks.
Umzingwane, with a carrying capacity of 45 million
cubic litres,
is 5.4% full while Upper Ncema, which can contain 44 million
cubic litres at
any given time, is only 1.6% full.
The
Town Clerk, Moffat Ndlovu, confirmed the council was
planning to
decommission Umzingwane.
"We are praying and hoping that the
rains come soon to avoid
disaster," said Ndlovu. "We would decommission it
but we can't say when. The
situation is critical."
Upper
Ncema and Umzingwane were decommissioned last year after
the council failed
to draw water from them due to their low water levels.
Faced
with a similar prospect this year, the council has come up
with measures
designed to conserve water.
Daily water allocation for
high-density suburbs has been reduced
to 400 litres from 500 litres. In the
low-density suburbs the allocations
were reduced from 600 to 450
litres.
Water rationing penalties for households using more
water than
the stipulated amounts have been increased by 5
000%.
Bulawayo faced one of its worst water crises last year
when both
Lower and Upper Ncema and Umzingwane dried up. As a result, a
number of
suburbs went for five months without water. Residents were forced
to draw
water from water puddles and rooftops.
Repeated
calls by the city council to have the city declared a
water-shortage area
have been ignored by the government.
Zim Standard
By Nqobani Ndlovu
BULAWAYO - A
deputy minister has been acquitted of a charge of
threatening to shoot an
aspiring Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
candidate in the run-up to the
March 2005 parliamentary election.
Andrew Langa,(pictured)
the Deputy Minister of Environment and
Tourism, was acquitted at the close
of the State's case, together with his
co-accused, Spare Ndlovu and Donny
Mhlanga, at the Gwanda magistrates'
court.
He had been
accused of threatening to shoot MDC's Insiza
parliamentary candidate,
Siyabonga Malandu-Ncube. Gwanda magistrate Douglas
Zvenyika said the state
case was inconsistent and contradictory.
Zvenyika noted that
there was no prima-facie case against Langa
and his two
co-accused.
According to the State's case, led by Elias
Mapendere, Langa
threatened to shoot his political rival in the Insiza
election at a voters'
roll inspection centre.
The
incident allegedly took place on 22 January last year when
Malandu-Ncube was
checking his name on the voters' roll.
The State claimed that
Langa, in the company of his bodyguards,
was miffed by the presence of
Malandu-Ncube at the centre.
It was alleged Langa threatened
to shoot Malandu-Ncube after he
defied his order to stop inspecting the
voters' roll at Avoca Primary
School.
Langa was accused
of having said that "he was going to shoot
Malandu-Ncube and nothing was
going to happen to him as he was from the
ruling party".
The State claimed Langa had, before threatening to shoot his
rival, ordered
his bodyguards to fire shots at Malandu-Ncube's supporters.
This sent them
fleeing in all directions, the State had alleged.
Langa,
represented by Thompson Mabhikwa of Mabhikwa, Likhwa &
Nyathi, said
after the verdict: "All I can say is that I am happy that I
have been
vindicated as justice has finally taken its course."
But
Malandu-Ncube said he was not happy with the verdict. "It's
not what we were
hoping for, but we knew they would be acquitted."
Langa won
the Insiza seat with 12 537 votes with Malandu-Ncube
amassing 8 840 in an
election marred by violent clashes between MDC and Zanu
PF
supporters.
Zim Standard
By Nqobani Ndlovu
BULAWAYO -
Junior dotors at Bulawayo's Mpilo Central hospital
last week downed tools in
protest against what they described as "appalling
working
conditions".
They started the strike 12 days ago, saying they
were "greatly
disturbed" by the government's continued failure to provide
"even the most
basic medical supplies to treat patients".
The doctors to protested against deteriorating health services
characterised
by widespread shortages of drugs, food and equipment.
The
doctors only returned to work on Thursday after the
government started to
buy some of the materials they said they needed.
"It has
become very difficult to work with basically nothing to
use in all
departments; it is disappointing to watch patients deteriorating
in a
hospital, as no help can be given to them," medical practitioners at
the
city's two main referral centres, Mpilo Central Hospital and United
Bulawayo
Hospitals, said in a statement.
The striking doctors said
there was virtually nothing to
administer to patients at the two hospitals,
and the situation was the same
in government-owned health institutions
across the country.
Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human
Rights said recently
that the country's health facilities had "in fact
become death traps, as
patients continue to die unnecessarily due to drug
shortages".
In some instances hospitals had no running water
for days as was
recently the case with Harare Central Hospital two weeks
ago.
Officials have acknowledged shortages of key drugs in
the recent
past.
The health delivery system has virtually
collapsed in the last
seven years due to lack of foreign exchange to
purchase medical requirements
and a shortage of qualified personnel, who
have fled low pay and poor
working conditions for greener pastures in other
countries.
Doctors at Bulawayo hospitals were also concerned
about the
quality and quan tity of food being given to patients, and claimed
that
malnutrition was rampant in government health
institutions.
At least five patients at the Ingutsheni
Hospital for the
mentally-challenged in Bulawayo died last month after
allegedly being
diagnosed with malnutrition.
The deputy
health minister, Edwin Muguti, confirmed the deaths,
but said the
authorities had yet to establish the cause.
"There is
basically no food to feed the sick, yet it is only
natural that patients
need to eat for their conditions to improve. We demand
that government sets
its priorities right and start working towards
rebuilding the health
sector," the doctors said.
There was no comment from the
Zimbabwe Doctors' Association,
which officially represents the country's
medical practitioners.
Hospital sources said even after
"crisis meetings" with senior
hospital officials last week; they would not
return to work and be subjected
to "stressful" conditions where they are
"expected to treat patients with no
resources".
The
doctors say they watch helplessly as patients are discharged
"in a worse
condition than when they were admitted" because there are no
essential
drugs.
Minutes of a meeting held between Dr P Moyo, the
acting medical
superintendent, and the junior doctors read in part: "It has
become very
difficult to work with basically nothing to use in all
departments. It is
disappointing to watch patients deteriorating in
a
hospital as no help can be given to them.
"Doctors took an oath to save lives and do not want to continue
lying to
patients that they can do something for them when they know very
well there
is nothing they can do as the hospital can no longer
function."
According to the doctors, some of the missing
basic medical
supplies include intravenous fluids (largely used in
re-hydrating patients
with diarrhoea and nausea, for example), methylated
spirits, bandage straps,
swabs used to clean wounds and, syringes and
injections.
This is the junior doctors' second strike in less
than four
months. They have appealed to President Robert Mugabe to remove
the Minister
of Health and Child Welfare David Parirenyatwa, at the next
cabinet
reshuffle.
They accuse him of being "too
autocratic and overbearing" in his
approach to important
issues.
The country's health delivery sector has been in
intensive care
as a result of problems ranging from lack of medicines, drugs
and the exodus
of personnel to countries offering better salaries and
working conditions.
Contacted for comment Parirenyatwa said:
"That's not true; there
is no strike at Mpilo. I was there at Mpilo Hospital
last week and drugs and
all medicines were available. You can't tell me that
in a space of a week
they are all finished.
"Mpilo is 70%
fully stocked, though there might be one or two
necessary drugs we don't
have. It's not fair to say that Mpilo is not
operational due to lack of
drugs and medicines. Our health sector is too
delicate to be used as a punch
bag all the time."
Zim Standard
By
Foster Dongozi
ZANU PF politicians and officials in the
Commission running the
capital city are alleged to have refused to accept a
donation from a
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MP towards the
completion of a library
in Kuwadzana.
Nelson Chamisa, the
MP for Kuwadzana, told The Standard that
repeated efforts to engage Harare
officials and Zanu PF to have the library
completed had been
snubbed.
"I have spoken to senior officials in both Zanu PF
and the
Harare council on countless occasions," said Chamisa, "but I have
been told
they cannot accept the donation because I belong to the
opposition."
He said he had sourced $20 million (revalued)
which would have
gone towards the roofing, electrical fittings and sourcing
of books for the
library.
Construction of the library
started in 1994 but the municipality
ran out of funds and abandoned the
project.
The Chinese contractor who built the library did not
put in
enough pillars, resulting in the structure being condemned until more
pillars were added.
The MP said he sourced the money for
the addition of more
pillars and roofing for the library in
2003.
But the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and
Urban
Development, Ignatious Chombo, described Chamisa's claims as
"preposterous".
"He is lying, how can I refuse money for
development?
"If he brings that money today, I guarantee you
that my ministry
would do something about it. You should be careful of these
politicians
because they might want to use you to further their
agenda."
Chamisa said: "Even the late Learnmore Jongwe tried
to work
towards the completion of the library but he faced similar
frustrations.
What is even more frustrating is that in Kuwadzana there are
12 primary
schools and two high schools, which means the future of thousands
of
children is being sacrificed for political gains."
Several pupils who spoke to The Standard said because of delays
in
completing the library, they were forced to walk long distances to access
libraries in other communities.
A high school student
said the absence of a community library
would affect the standards of
educational performance of the pupils of
Kuwadzana.
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
INVESTIGATIONS
into the reported appalling working conditions at
Chinese-owned companies in
Zimbabwe are being stymied by government
protection of the owners, says the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).
The labour union's
statement came barely a week after The
Standard exposed the deplorable
working environment at S&M Bricks, in
Harare, owned by Chinese
nationals.
ZCTU deputy secretary-general, Japhet Moyo, said
they had
encountered problems investigating the Chinese firms because it
seemed to be
the government's policy not to antagonise China, the lynchpin
of its "Look
East" policy.
"For a long time now, we have
been having problems with how the
Chinese companies treat their workers," he
said. "The problem is that they
(Chinese companies) seem to be getting
protection from the government."
Since the government
launched its new policy, after the
imposition of targeted sanctions by the
West, the government has invited the
Chinese to invest in the
country.
Moyo said there were poor working conditions even in
Chinese-owned shops and clothing factories, but they were most pronounced in
brick-making firms, such as S&M.
The firms operate
mainly around the Mt Hampden area ofHarare.
Moyo said one
case involved an employee who lost his fingers
while operating a
machine.
When the ZCTU raised the matter with officials in
the Ministry
of Labour, "they tried to sweep the matter under the carpet",
Moyo said.
"The worker was paid for damages, but only after
Zanu PF
officials intervened. This is how bad it is."
Moyo said the ZCTU had raised the issue with the Ministry of the
Public
Service, Labour, and Social Welfare on several occasions, but all in
vain -
nothing had changed.
The minister, Nicholas Goche, could not
be reached for comment.
But Moyo said the ZCTU, through their
affiliate, Cement and Lime
Workers' Union (CLWU), would soon write to Goche
demanding an inquiry into
how Chinese companies were treating their
Zimbabwean workers.
Moyo said inspectors from the National
Social Security Authority
(NSSA) had encountered difficulties investigating
Chinese-owned companies.
NSSA's principal inspector, Wilson
Mamhende, referred all
questions to the chief inspector, John Mutswatiwa,
based in Bulawayo, who
could not be reached.
Zim Standard
ALLEGATIONS of corruption have surfaced at the Agricultural
Rural
Development Authority (ARDA) amid reports that its property, worth
billions,
had been attached after the misappropriation of 195 cattle
belonging to Roy
Bennett, the former Chimanimani Member of the House of
Assembly.
The parastatal seized 821 cattle in 2004 after
Bennett had been
forcibly removed from his Charleswood Estate in
Chimanimani.
But ARDA dragged its feet and did not return the
herd
immediately - until Bennett obtained a court order HC 2807/05 on 18 May
this
year.
ARDA, according to sources the company, had
initially delivered
285 cattle before a writ of delivery allowing the deputy
sheriff to attach
'movable property' at the authority's Charter Estate in
Chikomba, was
issued.
ARDA, fearing a contempt of court
charge, delivered an
additional 198 and 143 cattle on 11 and 19 October
respectively.
Sources said ARDA was now dithering on the
remaining 195 cattle,
saying if it did deliver them, it would be under
protest and would contest
the matter in court.
"The truth
is ARDA misappropriated the cattle," said the source
familiar with the
matter. "Now they are saying the remaining 195 would be
delivered under
protest. They are saying Bennett's cattle were depleted
because of natural
causes and so do not feel obliged to return all the
cattle.
"They are also afraid because they had to use
some of national
herd to replace his herd and could get into trouble with he
government."
According to sources, some of the remaining 195
cattle had been
sold, while others were slaughtered and eventually served in
the company's
staff canteen.
ARDA owe Bennett 122 sheep
and a horse, whose return sources
said he was not too keen to pursue because
of their value and the possible
futility of the attempt.
"The question is: where do they get this much livestock without
digging
deeper into the national herd?" asked the source.
The dispute
resulted in the deputy sheriff attaching farm
machinery at ARDA's Charter
Estate in Chikomba a couple of weeks ago.
ARDA's chief
executive officer, Joseph Matowanyika's mobile
phone went unanswered as
Standardbusiness made frantic efforts to obtain
comment from him.
Zim Standard
By Our Staff
IN a desperate
attempt to save face, the government has approved
six other areas for
consideration as Tourism Development Zones.
Government has
been struggling to resuscitate the industry whose
recession began at the
height of the land reform programme but hopes the
expansion of the TDZ
concept would help increase the tourism experience
through exploration of
areas that were traditionally not viewed as resorts.
The
director of research and development in the Zimbabwe Tourism
Authority,
Simba Mandinyenya, said last week government was desperate to
boost tourism
and had resolved to encompass areas that had not been
traditionally
considered as resort places as part of the strategy to
increase
arrivals.
"We are looking at undeveloped areas in terms of
tourism and the
ministry (of Environment and Tourism) has approved six other
areas which are
just awaiting gazetting," Mandinyenya
said.
A preliminary report for tourism statistics covering
the first
nine months of the year indicates a 45% increase in the number of
arrivals
to 1,5 million from 1,4 million in the corresponding period last
year.
However, the figures have failed to tally with bed and
room
occupancy, which are averaging 39% and 23% respectively. The industry's
contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has also been on a free
fall, dropping from 6% in 1999 to 2% to date.
The
industry now employs 100 000 workers down from 200 000 in
1999. In response
to the crisis, the government adopted a 'Look East' policy
to tap new
markets but industry has been worried that Asians are not big
spenders and
move in groups to cut costs.
The sector generated US$140
million during the first half of the
year but only US$56 million can be
accounted for.
TDZ's are expected to be the panacea to the
problems and
Midlands, Matopos and surroundings, Kariba and the Zambezi
Valley, Mudzi
district to include Nyamapanda Border Post, Eastern Highlands
to encompass
Forbes Border Post and Chimanimani TFCA and Lake Chivero and
Manyame have
been approved for the concept.
This brings
the total number of TDZs to nine. Beitbridge-Shashe
Limpopo and Environs,
Gonarezhou (GLTP), Chiredzi and environs and Great
Zimbabwe National
Monument, Lake Mtirikwi and environs were declared as
Tourism Development
Zones in July last year.
Zim Standard
By Our
Staff
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe last Thursday
succumbed to pressure
from bankers and scrapped the seven-year economic
stabilisation bond.
Officials said bankers who were wary that
the bond could fuel
note shortages during the festive season and a general
collapse of the
industry let up the heat on the central bank to remove the
bonds "or face
the music".
Submissions were presented to
the RBZ a week ago detailing how
the bonds could result in a repeat of the
liquidity crunch of 2004 and long
queues at the banks.
According to the officials, the central bank, seeing that it had
no option
but to oblige the bankers decided to agree by first reducing the
take up of
the bonds from 10% to 5% and then cancelling them a week
later.
"The financial sector yesterday heaved a sigh of
relief when the
RBZ scrapped the issuing of the 7-year economic
stabilisation bonds, which
were supposed to been taken up by 17 November
2006," said one official.
Zim Standard
Marketwatch By
Deborah-Fay Ndlovu
THE stock market has weakened in
performance since the
announcement of the measures to fine-tune the monetary
policy last month, a
report from a local financial institution
says.
Interfin said the industrial index had lost 49.5% since
the
announcement on 9 October while the mining index had dropped 61.5% over
the
last month.
October was a bleak month for the
equities with the demise in
performancefuelled by the announcement of an
introduction of the five-year
Financial Stabilisation and the suspended
7-year Economic Stabilisation Bond
by the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe.
Analysts do not expect the situation to get any
better ahead of
the 2007 national budget and predict that the gains enjoyed
by the equities
last week would not be sustainable.
"Much
activity should peak after the budget but then again we
would be going into
the festive season which is normally quiet," said an
analyst with a
stockbroking firm.
The stockbroker said he did not expect the
equities to wince
after the ruling made in favour of the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority.
The High Court ruled that the Zimbabwe Stock
Exchange had no
legal basis to bring the case before it for determination.
Stockbrokers were
contesting a decision by ZIMRA to charge value added tax
backdated to
January 2004.
"I think the performance of
the stock market would be mostly
affected by the budget, but not the ruling.
When the decision to charge VAT
was made early this year, stockbrokers did
not have the money to pay. What
ZIMRA wants us to pay is not much now as it
has been eroded by inflation and
we have made our money so we will not feel
the bite."
For last week, however, the local bourse basked in
the glory of
the scrapping of the 7-year ESB. While interest rates were high
hitting 250%
for 7 to 14 days, stock market investors took the chance to
return to the
bourse. The rejection of all the bids for the 91-day paper
(highest at 400%
an lowest at 80%) did not quell the optimism of equity
investors.
Most are optimistic that coupon payments for the
CPI indexed
Treasury Bills, which began last Thursday, civil servants'
salaries and cash
bonuses will be awash on the money market pushing down
interest rates.
The benchmark index closed Wednesday 5.53%
points down to close
at 355 135.29 points. Gains were in Meikles which added
$400 to $2 000. ZHL
upped $40 to $95. AFDIS and CFI rose $25 apiece to close
at $150 and $100.
Losses were in ASTRA, ABCH, Edgars, M&R
and Seedco each dropping
$10 to trade at $50, $340, $120, $100 and $240
respectively.
The mining index also gained 3.83% points to
close Wednesday at
137 645.81 points. This was due to gains in Falgold,
which jumped $45 to
$95. Hwange added $10 to $135.
Zim Standard
BY
OUR STAFF
THE Registrar-General's office has over the
past two weeks
failed to print plastic national identification cards after
most of the
imported consumables ran out, it has been
established.
Sources at the RG's office said the materials,
most of them
imported from the United States, are out of stock as the office
faces a
serious shortage of foreign currency.
The RG's
office replaced metal national identity cards with new
plastic ones two
years ago.
"Those plastics are imported from the US and right
now there is
nothing," said an official at Makombe Building in Harare. "We
are not
issuing any national IDs at the moment because of the
shortages."
The new card is made of polythene synthetic
material, which does
not break if it is bent and has numerous visible
security features.
It is also produced instantly, compared
with the metal one.
Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede could
not be reached for
comment. His secretary said he was not taking calls from
the media since he
was very busy. But she said Mudede might hold a press
conference this week
on the identity card crisis.
Zim Standard
Comment
THE China-Africa summit in Beijing
last week raised many
Africans' hopes of a hefty boost in trade between the
world's fastest
growing economy and the poorest continent on the
planet.
If Chinese firms could abide strictly by the labour
laws of the
countries in which they invest, that would enhance the "win-win"
strategy
which is being ballyhooed so recklessly.
The
Chinese have mellowed, ideologically, and now value the
close trade and
investment ties they have with the US and Europe. Thousands
of Chinese
students attend American and European universities, while there
is a strong
appetite for Western goods back home.
In a short space of
time, the former anti-capitalists have
absorbed the lessons of an economic
system they once despised.
In Beijing last week the Chinese
may have been delighted to
renew their acquaintance with a true ideological
soul mate - President
Robert Mugabe. But trade with other African states is
a good deal more
lucrative and that, in the final analysis, is what
counts.
For the Chinese, this summit, not for the first time,
must have
reminded them that, as the second most powerful communist nation
in the
world during the Cold War, not all their guests last week would have
been
welcomed into the Great Hall of the People.
Only
people committed to the dictatorship of the proletariat
were welcome
then.
How times have changed. Communism has given way, not
entirely to
capitalism, but to an economic system that has transformed the
world's most
populous country into an economic giant, rivalling those past
masters of
wealth-creation, the US and Japan.
And to
think that just a few decades ago China sought to
engineer an agricultural
revolution - the Great Leap Forward - that was an
unmitigated disaster and
led to widespread famine.
Most of the 48 African leaders at
last week's summit will know
how difficult it must have been for Communist
China, under the Great
Helmsman, to welcome the leader of Western capitalism
Richard Nixon, to
their shores in February 1972.
This
signalled the end of the Bamboo Curtain, although the final
nail was
hammered into place with the reforms initiated post-Mao in
1978.
China remains the People's Republic, once an
ideological ally of
the USSR.
China, in spite of its
economic miracle, remains nominally
socialist. There is no democracy or
pluralism in the People's Republic.
Tibet remains a colonial
possession.
For some African leaders with latent dictatorial
tendencies,
this link to socialism could prove irresistible as a spur to
create the
conditions for a one-party state - which Zanu PF tried and failed
to do in
the late 1980s.
Many Zimbabweans opposed the
one-party system and the land
reform programme which the Chinese applauded
wholeheartedly. Mugabe's
government deserved severe international censure
for conducting elections
which were neither free nor
fair.
The Chinese found absolutely nothing wrong with all
this.
Trade with China, without ideological strings attached,
could
certainly help the country out of its rampant poverty, which Zanu PF
has
failed to end in 26 years in power.
That help cannot
be in exchange for any dilution of our
commitment to
democracy.
Zimbabwe should not be turned, ideologically, into
another
people's republic - ie where the party controls the
people!
But the greatest irony in all this is that China's
success story
is based solidly on market policies that Zanu PF declines to
follow.
China is good for business, Zimbabwe isn't. That at
the end of
the day is the reality.
Zim Standard
Sunday opinion By Dumisani Mpofu
MOST ordinary Zimbabweans
have puzzled over why there are so
many contradictions between what our
leaders say and what they do.
Last weekend television viewers
were treated to one of these
mind-boggling
inconsistencies.
It is incontestable that Sekesai
Makwavarara, the chairperson of
the commission running the City of Harare,
has played a prominent role in
the unprecedented decline in service
delivery. She is often cited as one of
the authors of Operation
Murambatsvina and only last week she launched
another mini-Murambatsvina.
She represents everything that is against the
interests of residents of this
once beautiful city.
Even the Harare provinceleadership of
the ruling party is
worried by her propensity to misdirect her efforts and
attention from
working for the good of the residents of the capital to the
extent Zanu PF
has publicly denounced her. The ruling party's Harare
provincial leadership
sees her as a liability.
It was
therefore surprising to see people who should be more
enlightened - women
politicians and businesspeople - jostling to mix
socially with Makwavarara,
despite all the neglect and escalation in rates
for non-existent services
that her administration has visited on the
residents of this city. Do these
women have no shame?
Women's solidarity is one thing but
buttressing incompetence in
the name of gender support is taking things to
the highest levels of
absurdity. Big-spending Makwavarara does not deserve
the support of anyone
because of what she has done or rather what she has
consistently failed to
do for the residents of this city.
At the weekend she was shown hosting a tea party, supposedly to
raise funds
for the less fortunate, and to demonstrate that those who were
jostling to
rub shoulders with Makwavarara have very short memories, they
did not appear
to appreciate the link between what they were gathered at the
tea party for
and the cause of the misfortune that has visited so many poor
families -
that is Makwavarara herself. It is quite amazing that none of the
enlightened women who attended the tea party saw the hypocrisy in
Makwavarara's function.
Makwavarara has caused so much
misery that applying common sense
would have found it ironic that this woman
can stand before a gathering and
claim compassion for the less
fortunate.
It has always been a source of unending amusement
that people
already bursting at the seams because of excessive indulgence in
food will
gather to feast in the name of fund-raising for the less fortunate
of our
society. There is another way of achieving the same desired end -
hold a
function where no food is served! If people are genuinely concerned
about
those who have nothing they can surely forgo a meal once in a while.
Such an
act should make them feel better, give their digestive systems a
break, and
the medical profession will vouch it is
healthier.
Support for projects aimed at poverty alleviation
or reduction
is commendable, but there is an alternative. People who
genuinely want to
make a difference to the lives of the less fortunate can
still do so without
factoring Makwavarara into the
equation.
There are precedents that have come up in recent
years. At one
time all international aid flowed through government channels.
As a result
of increasing questions and concerns over transparency and
whether the
people who deserved assistance from the international community
were the
ones benefiting, there has been a shift in how international aid
flows into
needy countries - through non-governmental
organisations.
In the case of Harare, there are several
charity organisations
working with street people and vulnerable families.
Funding for the less
fortunate could be channelled through such
organisations, churches or the
various homes for the less privileged
children, the elderly and the
homeless.
The business
women who attended Makwavarara's tea party would
achieve far better results
than giving her the impression that people
support her because of the good
work she and the commission she chairs are
doing. Makwavarara and her fellow
commissioners do not deserve the kind of
support the business women gave
her.
What is most disappointing is that this gesture of
support for
someone who has from Day One consistently embarked on a path to
make
residents of this city suffer so much through failure to collect
refuse,
recurrent water cuts, the collapse of public street lighting and
inability
to repair potholes and roads throughout the city comes from people
who
should be better informed. The commission is the biggest litter bug in
Harare through its failure to collect refuse timeously.
The majority of those at the tea party probably did so out of a
genuine
desire to help the less fortunate, but there would also be those
angling for
contracts from the commission running Harare. Very few people
have qualms
about doing the right thing. Rather, their pre-occupation is
doing what's
right for oneself.
As for Makwavarara, the turn out at the
tea party is regrettably
interpreted as support for an administration whose
performance has been
abysmal.
Zim Standard
Sundayview
THERE was much fanfare when
the government's latest turnaround
programme, the National Economic
Development Priority Programme (NEDPP) was
launched.
Many
Taskforces were set up to look into various sectors and how
they could be
turned around. Among these was the Task Force on Information
Communications
Technology (ICTs). The Task Force on ICTs was set up under
the auspices of
the Office of the President and Cabinet and its members
include senior
members of government, industry, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe,
the Defence
Forces, the Postal and Telecommunications Authority of Zimbabwe
(Potraz),
all telecommunications operators, IT companies and other
interested
organisations.
The Task Force chairman is Permanent Secretary
in the Ministry
of Science and Technology Dr Vincent Hungwe with J Malaba,
of CZI as
co-chairman. Whichever way one looks at the composition of the
Task Force,
there can be no question that it is representative of all
stakeholders in
the sector. Given its representative nature, and the fact
that it is a Task
Force set up in the highest office in the land, one would
expect its
deliberations, recommendations and resolutions to carry a lot of
weight.
We are informed that members of the Task Force, who
are all very
busy men and women, met every week to deliberate on how to turn
around the
sector. Leakages on international traffic resulting in foreign
currency
losses were discussed and identified. Uneconomic tariff rates for
outward
bound traffic were cited as one of the major factors that encouraged
people
outside Zimbabwe to instigate reverse calls which result in high
outbound
traffic which has to be mainly paid for in foreign currency. The
Committee
therefore resolved, among other things, to look into how foreign
currency
inflows could be maximised whilst looking at minimising outward
bound
telecommunications traffic which is a drain on the country's scarce
foreign
currency.
The Task Force also discussed the now
thorny issue of
termination rates, which is the major bone of contention
that has pitted
Telecel and Econet against Potraz and the Minister of
Transport and
Communications. The Task Force resolved to have only one
termination rate of
US$0.15 in respect of all telecommunications operators
in order to create a
level playing field. The Task Force specifically stated
that if the
Regulatory Authorities (Potraz) were not prepared to implement
the single
termination rate of US$0.15 for all operators, Statutory
Instrument 70/2006
would have to be reviewed. The Task Force also emphasised
the urgency of
implementing the single termination rate it had recommended
in order to
immediately maximise foreign currency earnings for the
sector.
The need to maximise foreign currency earnings from
the
telecommunications sector had, of course, been alluded to by the Reserve
Bank Governor in his maiden monetary statement in December, 2003. The
Governor specifically referred to uneconomic international traffic
termination rates which resulted in Zimbabwe paying "approximately seven
times more than it is paid for the same volume of traffic terminating in
Zimbabwe thus making Zimbabwe a net payer of scarce foreign currency". The
Regulator, Potraz, was specifically tasked with coming up with a policy that
would minimise the dumping of international traffic in Zimbabwe at
sub-economic rates. The Reserve Bank recommended minimum termination rates
of between US20c- 25c.
In any other country, the
regulator would have immediately
followed up on the recommendations of the
monetary authorities.
When the regulator finally woke up from
its deep slumber, it
promulgated Statutory Instrument (SI) 70/2006 in March,
2006 and it did the
exact opposite of what had been recommended. It
determined that TelOne could
charge a termination rate far less than that
recommended by the monetary
authorities which mobile operators contended
would result in the routing of
traffic through TelOne which was cheaper at
US7c compared to the mobile rate
of US20c. The dumping of international
traffic at sub-economic rates is
therefore likely to increase if SI 70/2006
is implemented in its present
form.
The SI 70/2006 was
put in abeyance while stakeholders were
looking into how to maximise the
foreign currency gains while charging
economic rates. The setting up of the
Task Force at the highest possible
level would have been a most welcome
development to the sector as the issue
of termination rates for
international traffic would be considered at
Presidential and Cabinet level.
The deliberations, resolutions and
recommendations of the Task Force would
have been considered a serious
matter that would receive serious
consideration from those who had set up
the Task Force.
Enter Potraz. Despite being a member of the Task Force, and
despite being
fully aware of the recommendations of the Task Force, Potraz
simply brought
into effect the provisions of SI 70/2006 without so much as
informing the
Task Force. This was obviously done in consultation with the
Ministry of
Transport and Communications. The fate of the Task Force's
recommendations
to the Cabinet is currently not known and it would not be an
exaggeration to
surmise that it is gathering dust somewhere.
When challenged
about ignoring the recommendations of the Task
Force, Chidoori, who is also
a prominent member of the Task Force, stated on
oath that ".the
recommendations of the Task Force have no force of law, they
remain
recommendations."
He also stated that "The Minister has
opined that the fixing of
termination rates is desirable, and has gone ahead
to promulgate the
regulation". He further stated that the SI 70/2006 was
also meant "to
protect and promote the interests of consumers", and the
consumers he is
referring to are the external operators likely to take
advantage of TelOne's
cheaper rates.
Why would a
Zimbabwean regulator tasked with regulating the
telecommunications sector in
Zimbabwe want to promote the interests of
consumers outside Zimbabwe? Is the
regulator seeking to protect the hordes
of ministerial offspring in the
Diaspora ahead of the country's foreign
currency needs?
The Minister's representative, George Mlilo, whose Ministry is
equally
represented in the Task Force, was not to be left out. He also
stated that:
"The discussions led by the ICT Task Force are not legally
binding on either
party. They were just representations being made by all
stakeholders."
Now, if the government is serious about
turning the economy
around, why is it ignoring the recommendations of a body
it set up and which
it confirms represents stakeholders in the sector? And
why should this Task
Force and all the others in the other sectors continue
wasting time on
meetings, resolutions and recommendations that are subject
to ministerial
whims? And what sort of Presidency sets up a Task Force and
thereafter
allows it to be humiliated by junior ministers and functionaries
in a
regulatory body?
The silence from the Presidency and
from Industry on the
treatment meted out to the Task Force can only lead to
the conclusion that
the NEDPP is yet another diversionary programme meant to
take the spotlight
away from the serious economic decline that has engulfed
every sector.
The treatment meted out to the ICT Task Force
constitutes a
clear lack of commitment to turn around the economy. The NEDPP
is therefore
stillborn and the only things it is likely to turn around are
the fortunes
of those who have made it a matter of national pride to outdo
each other in
the looting orgy of parastatals.
A LOOTA
CONTINUA COMRADES.
Zim Standard
Sunday Opinion
We should consider as a matter of conscience
that our liberation
actions have been marred by divisions. We have not done
an important number
of things we should. We have influenced ourselves to be
pre-occupied with
the defence of our selfish positions, ignoring in fact
that, unity in action
is the best means to victory.
The
recent disastrous rural district council elections, coming
16 months before
the presidential elections should be a wake-up call for all
progressive
forces to unite and launch a "Free Zimbabwe Campaign" .
Zimbabweans should start strengthening their unity, whether
behind the
prison walls, in hospitals or in the Diaspora, by sharing a
common ideal and
acting together for the cause of our liberation and
prosperity. Our unity
should be indissolubly linked, with that of the
selfless fighters who
perished in the struggle from the First Chimurenga to
Gukurahundi and right
up to Murambatsvina.
The "Free Zimbabwe Campaign" should
prioritise action around
areas of convergence like the need for a new
constitution which cuts across
all progressive movements, from the groupings
within the MDC to social
movements.
There should be an
action team tasked to co-ordinate and
intensify mass action. Without unity
in action President Robert Mugabe's
dream to become Life President will be
realised.
All progressive forces should feed into the action
team
committees, imagine all the 41 MDC MPs, joining the action team and
mobilising at least 50 cadres from their respective constituencies and the
civic society joining the action team at all levels for common action
against a common enemy. A common struggle against a common enemy will create
the basis for friendship and future collaboration to serve the interests of
Zimbabweans.
Organisations can maintain their identity,
like the National
Constitutional Assembly and the Zimbabwe National
Students' Association, as
long as they join the action team structures and
mobilise their membership
to toyi-toyi for a free Zimbabwe. If we learn to
fight together then the
main aspect of our unity will be
simplified.
The time is ripe to be alert and create awareness
among the
masses about the evil intentions of the regime with regard to
extending and
entrenching Mugabe's dictatorial rule to 2010.We must be
conscious of the
real forces at our disposal and base our revolutionary work
on the popular
masses.
Frequent meetings should be held
to explain to the people what
is happening in the struggle; what the
democratic forces are endeavouring to
do and what the intentions of the
regime may be. We should write and
distribute letters, fliers, and pamplets
and draw slogans on the road to
regenerate a sense of duty in the masses to
free Zimbabwe. That's the way
forward.
There is need to
try as much as possible to protect liberated
zones such as Harare and
Bulawayo and in areas such as in Mashonaland
Central where we must reinforce
meetings, mobilisation and organisation of
the people. Let's educate people
to fight fear and ignorance. That's the way
forward.
Half
successes should not be a deterrent to enter into the
presidential race. The
Free Zimbabwe campaign should actually culminate into
a full-fledged
presidential campaign. It is difficult for any opposition to
win the
presidential election under the current constitution. The challenge
is to
envisage and counter any rigging.
Though an uphill, struggle
it's not a political mirage to win
the elections. In 2002 the MDC could have
won if there was better voter
turnout in its strongholds. In liberated zones
voter turnout averaged 50%.
In Harare it was 52.2% and Bulawayo 45.7%,
whereas in Mashonaland East it
was 70% and in Mashonaland West it was
62%.
If voter turnout had been 60% in all constituencies
throughout
the country, assuming the same voting trends applied, the MDC
could have won
under those harsh conditions.
While the
struggle to defeat the regime is our main concern, we
should nevertheless
envisage the problems likely to be encountered in the
future on the road to
full prosperity and democracy.
It is no longer about the
Zimbabwe we want but about the
Zimbabwe we need.
Publicity of salary hike fuels inflation
I think that whenever
civil servants are awarded salary
increments, they should not be publicised.
In the private sector whenever
they award pay increases they do not shout
about them. They just do it
quietly.
The moment you have
the pay increases published by the media,
you fuel inflation. Prices will go
up as a result of this media coverage. I
strongly believe that if you don't
cover the increments in the media, prices
will stabilise and things will
work out for the benefit of everybody.
Please consider this
advice seriously as it will help in the
long run. Another issue is about new
workers who join the Public Service.
Why does it take forever for one to be
on the payroll?
One will work for three months without pay
even though he or she
may get the salary at a later stage. Money is losing
value on a daily basis.
If one's salary is delayed it is a great
disadvantage.
I believe that given the current economic
situation the Public
Service Commission needs to speed up processing
salaries for new members who
join the Civil Service. Why does it take three
months for one to be on the
payroll?
Is Dr Mariyawanda
Nzuwah, the chairperson of the PSC, aware of
this? If he is aware, what is
he doing to speed up the process?
M F
K
Harare
----------
'Christian' politicians not living up to the dictates of their
faith
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe is a "devout" Catholic,
so I hear.
Vice-President Joseph Msika is a certificated lay preacher in the
Anglican
Church, while Vice-President Joice Mujuru is a devout Salvation
Army
trooper. That completes the Presidium.
Other
"confessed" Christians are Ignatious Chombo, Webster
Shamu, John Nkomo,
Herbert Murerwa, to name but a few. Even the tough Elliot
Manyika claims
silver faith although he does not appear to know his Bible
very
much.
There are so many "Christians" in Zanu PF's top
hierarchy
that if they were serious they could make a difference. I remember
seeing
Vice-President Mujuru one day in serious prayer holding hands with
other
women on television. She also spoke on tolerance and
non-violence.
Mugabe has been seen at various Christian
forums while
Murerwa and Gideon Gono always close their presentations with a
scripture or
benediction. Actually it is Murerwa, who made famous Jeremiah
29:11 during
the 2002 budget presentation with the quote, "I know the plans
I have for
you, plans to prosper you and not to harm
you."
And yet it is these same "Christian" leaders who
wreaked
havoc in Matabeleland during the Gukurahundi era. It is they and
their
cronies who masterminded several "suicides", disappearances, secret
murders,
assaults and "accidents".
Christianity
talks of two types of sins - sins of
commission and sins of omission. Our
"Christian" leaders are guilty of both
sins. While our houses were razed to
the ground by Operation Murambatsvina
none of these Christians
protested.
"Christian" members of Parliament pass
draconian
legislation like Aippa and POSA and deliberately swallow the
government lie
that victims of police violence fell from a moving vehicle. I
wonder if
these Christians take their Christianity
seriously.
When Solomon assumed the awful task of
leading God's
people, at a tender age, he asked for wisdom from God to do so
wisely.
Solomon took two things seriously. The first was his own faith and
the
second was his conviction that his was a divine duty towards God's own
people.
It is a viewpoint I would challenge
"Christian" Mugabe and
his henchmen to take seriously if they are indeed
Christian and realise the
awful responsibility they
bear.
I hear Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC is a regular
Methodist
and that his wife is a devout member of the same church. Lucia
Matibenga and
Paul Madzore are devout Catholics. Sekai Holland has a strong
Lutheran and
London Missionary Society background, while Tapiwa Mashakada is
a devout
Methodist.
My advice to these people is -
please take your faith
seriously. Battling for our lives after our brutal
assault at cells at
Matapi Police Station I remember Ian Makone and Lovemore
Matombo asking that
we pray and we all bowed our heads in prayer. I believe
this may have saved
the life of at least one of us: note: Wellington Chibebe
was unconscious for
most of 12 hours.
I challenge
all these leaders to take Christianity
seriously even in their private and
political lives.
As I write, I am watching television
and Vice-President
Mujuru is on television urging the people of Mashonaland
Central to deal
with sell-out non-governmental organisations. She actually
urges them to "do
what you know" with them. This is the most dangerous and
reckless statement
such a "mother" has ever
made.
Reverend Nqobizitha
Khumalo
Epworth
Harare
--------
Mugabe has no claim
to being a custodian of African values
President
Robert Mugabe is impliedly portrayed by
African leaders like Thabo Mbeki as
the custodian of African values and this
is what he claims to be. I wish to
express how disgraceful he has been in
the light of African values about
land, starvation, death and disease.
In Africa,
death is something which is respected,
something that should not be the
order of the day - not to be talked about
and not to be content with when it
occurs in the family, community and
society.
I remember in the early 1980s when two of my
extended family members died of
natural causes within the space of a year.
My grandparents quickly called
for a gathering of all my extended family
members including those who were
as far away as South Africa to discuss why
such a "tragedy" had happened and
how to prevent such a tragedy from
happening
again.
Every week I call my folks back home from
New
Zealand. At least two people die every week - mainly of HIV or AIDS. At
cemeteries in urban areas fresh graves, are now a common sight! I wonder
what as the head of a family that we call Zimbabwe Mugabe thinks of
this.
I write from miles away from the land of my
birth as
a refugee - displaced by Mugabe who claims to be a custodian of
African
values and yet about a third of Zimbabweans are out of the country -
fugitives from their land but Mugabe always brags about giving the "land to
the people".
In African culture, a man who
leaves his children to
starve is seen as disgraceful. Food is a basic
necessity. Slaves and
servants of a kingdom would be subjected to hard
labour but never left to
starve.
What does
Mugabe think when citizens of his country,
mostly graduates, are all over
the world, under-employed? Is he not a cursed
father? Instead of seeing the
flight of skills as a manifestation of
something wrong in his house he is
always fond of posturing, cursing fellow
Zimbabweans who seek their survival
overseas.
Our neighbours, Botswana and South
Africa have
become xenophobic of Zimbabweans because we have flooded their
countries as
we run away from starvation in our own
country.
I am saddened to see my relatives who
have remained
in Zimbabwe being subjected to starvation while our
forefathers taught us
that it is taboo for hunger to play havoc with a
family while its head plays
the role of a spectator. Can Mugabe really be
the custodian of African
values, given the
above?
Chris
Mafu
Wellington
New Zealand
---------
Zanu PF promoting violence in Mutoko
SINCE the
institutionalisation of violence by
President Robert Mugabe in 2000,
so-called war veterans have taken advantage
of this "legalisation of
violence" to apply "beat up and bruise" tactics in
order to control the
masses.
When the majority of Zimbabweans
voted against
the proposed constitution, Mugabe in frustration, unleashed
the so-called
war veterans and the politically ignorant rural folk on to the
commercial
farmers whom they accused of having worked with the MDC and the
National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) to influence the electorate. This was
the
beginning of our nightmare.
If
Mugabe can sanction the brutal assault of
white commercial farmers and more
recently the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions' leadership and NCA members,
who can stop the likes of Zanu PF
political leaders from acting
likewise?
During the handover ceremony of
irrigation
pipes in Chiutsi village in Mutoko by a local mining company on
Friday 29
September 2006 David Chapfika , who was the guest of honour, gave
food
vouchers and a bag of fertilizer each to two women whose husbands (a
war
veteran and a Zanu PF supporter) were jailed after brutally assaulting
the
MDC candidate for Chiutsi in the rural district council
elections.
The Zanu PF MP promised to look
after these
two women because their husbands were arrested while on duty for
the ruling
party. By these "donations" the ruling party member was
encouraging other
Zanu PF politicians and their supporters to emulate the
two who are
languishing in prison. This political thuggery must
stop!
As if that was not enough, another
ruling
party official from Ward 20 asked vendors to prove that they had
voted by
showing him the indelible ink. He ordered vendors to go and vote
for him,
claiming that he was the one who made it possible for them to sell
their
goods from the markets they operate from. He also threatened to bar
one
commuter bus operator from using the rank because it was allegedly
carrying
MDC activists during campaigning for the rural district council
elections.
Doesn't such conduct have an
impact on the
outcome of elections and can the elections be considered free
and fair?
It is high time the people of
Mutoko freed
themselves from Zanu PF bondage. The tools of change are none
other than the
educated youths, especially those attending or those that
have attended
institutions of higher learning. My advice to them is: Let's
educate our
relatives in rural areas. They are in a position to listen to us
more than
to the local political
leadership.
Our relatives are being used as
political
tools during election times but are subsequently dumped while
Mugabe's
hangers-on drive Hummers and Jeep Cherokees and put on designer
suits. We
should give Mugabe his MDC - Mugabe's Death Certificate,
politically.
Let us introduce our relatives
in the rural
areas to newspapers such as The Standard, The Zimbabwe
Independent, the Mail
& Guardian and The Sunday Times that enlighten
them. In addition, let us
introduce them to radio stations such as Studio 7,
SW Radio Africa and the
BBC so that they get to know the truth about the
real causes of our problems
and not the smart sanctions against the ruling
party's leadership and
government
ministers.
Human rights organisations
should target the
population in Mutoko for workshops. We need workshops
where we are educated
about our rights so that we know what to do when
ruling party officials
threaten us.
T K G Hungwe
Mutoko
---------
No love lost between Africans and
racist
Moslem Arabs
THE current fear of
criticising anything
Islamic by countries of the world is a great disservice
to intellectual
religious discourse.
The reaction of Moslems whenever they feel
that their religion has been
belittled should be a cause for concern by the
non-Moslem world. Is their
Allah not powerful enough to protect himself from
the infidels without the
Moslems venting anger?
History has taught
me to be wary of the
Arabs. There has never been any mutual relationship and
understanding
between Arabs and Africans since the early expeditions into
Africa by Arab
traders.
Arabs have
always regarded themselves as
superior to Africans. The slave trade
re-enforced this belief, otherwise,
why would they treat Africans the way
they did during the barbaric human
trafficking?
The fact that some
African countries
embraced Islam does not indicate love between the two
races, but
demonstrates that Islamisation was through forceful persuasion.
Islam found
roots in many parts of Northern and Western Africa through
conquest during
the slave trade.
No
other religion has been as brutal to
Africans as Islam. Imagine parading
human beings for sale at a market place
just the same as goats, chickens,
camels and other livestock! Has there ever
been a public apology to the
continent of Africa from the Arabs for their
criminal
trade?
I will admit that the slave trade
was not
restricted to the Arabs alone because many other foreign countries
were
involved but the Arabs did the actual brutal hunting down of
slaves.
Africa has been known to be
involved in
ethnic or civil wars - which country on earth has been free of
such wars?
But Arabs should not have taken advantage of such a state of
affairs to
devastate Africans in the manner they did for
decades.
Many Africans, millions of them
were rounded
up like wild horses and shipped all over the world,
particularly, America.
There are communities of African origin in
India.
Africans should not be deceived by
Islam,
which seems to spread love all over the world when their love is
nothing but
hollow. A few of us who were lucky enough to be awarded Arab
scholarships
were soon disillusioned when we experienced Arab
discrimination.
Out of a group of 10 who
went to Libya none
will say that they had friends from that society. African
students who dared
to date Moslem girls soon found themselves on the
earliest planes back to
Zimbabwe.
The
story is the same in every Moslem
country. How many Moslems have been
expelled from African countries for
dating African girls? I am not promoting
love affairs across the
African/Arab divide but all I am doing is to
disprove the myth that Arabs
have love for Africans - there is no such
thing.
The events in Sudan bear testimony
to what I
have been discussing. The Islamic government in Sudan is busy
eliminating
groups of people of African origin. America and Britain called
it genocide
but Arab countries are silent about this genocide because it
would be
unArabic to voice any complaint against a fellow Arab
country.
The African Union (AU) is slowly
waking up
and is now realising that Arabs are anti-black Africans. However,
the AU's
financial muscle is too feeble to make any meaningful contribution
towards
helping the ravaged people of Darfur. The voice of the AU should be
heard on
all broadcasting stations on the continent condemning the genocide
of fellow
Africans in Darfur.
Is it
not ironic that the Americans and the
British, who are hated most, are
really the saviours of oppressed Africans,
particularly in Sudan's Darfur
region?
Anti-Genocide
Masvingo
---------
Without tools,yields
poor
I visited Mudotwe Irrigation Scheme in
Musana,
Mashonaland Central, recently and have a very sad story to tell
about the
government's so-called agricultural
revolution.
After benefiting from the wheat
seed and
fertilizer allocation for their winter wheat, farmers had high
hopes of
contributing to the dwindling national yield, but their hopes have
been
shattered because they have failed to secure a combine harvester to
harvest
their crop before the onset of the
rains.
Desperate farmers have resorted to
the use of
sickles in order to harvest their wheat crop but this is costly
and they are
bound to incur heavy losses, raising fears that the expected
high yields may
not be realised.
The
situation at Mudotwe is a wake-up call for
the government to start making
sure they help these small-scale farmers to
acquire the necessary
equipment.
The corporate sector could buy
and lease the
equipment to the farmers or enter into an arrangement that the
farmers are
able to-rent-to-buy the equipment. It would be a worthwhile
investment.
T P
Z
Highfield
Harare
--------------
End is nigh for
Mugabe tyranny
AS a patriotic
Zimbabwean I would like to
express my sympathy and solidarity with those who
were brutalised by this
barbarous regime for merely marching and asking it
to improve the lot of the
majority of our
citizens.
First, it is the government's
mismanagement of
the economy and the corrupt tendencies, coupled with its
profligacy that has
brought Zimbabwe to its
knees.
I was unsettled by the arrests and
brutal
assaults of leaders of the labour movement and their counterparts
from the
civic society by youth militias disguised as uniformed police and
the
Gestapo-like Central Intelligence
Organisation.
Such horrendous violence
against defenceless
citizens by a government that purports to be a custodian
of democracy must
be condemned.
I
salute the labour leaders and the democratic
movements who have participated
in protests against the government. Their
courage under the current state of
affairs is a victory against Mugabe's
tyrannical rule. The prospect of
ending oppression and tyranny is about to
be
realised.
S T
M
Bulawayo
-----Original
Message-----
Subject: Elephants
Hi
We have not heard from you
for some time. We just wanted to let you know that Shearwater have secured a
permit from National Parks to capture 15 wild juvenile elephants (7 - 8 years
olds) from Shumba Pan in Hwange. We have sent an Inspector to monitor the
welfare of the elephants who will intervene if the elephants are not treated
humanely. We are at a loss to understand why the permit was issued which
contravenes accepted policy that no wild caught elephants will be domesticated.
IFAW and NSPCA are issuing press releases and we are contacting everyone we can
think of who can bring pressure to bear on National Parks to stop the capture.
The individual doing the capture is one Le Grange. Johnny Rodriguez is out of
the country at present. Anything you can do to assist or if you have any
information in this regard, please contact Glynis Vaughan. Our Inspector, John
Chikomo, will have a camera and he has been instructed to follow the elephants
to establish where they are being relocated to. Glynis is also trying to secure
a meeting with Minister Nhema.
Thank you for any
assistance.
Bernice Dyer
ZNSPCA HQ
Phone: 04 497885 / 497574 /
091 367 260
John Chikomo 091 696 309
---------
Subject: update on
eles
Hi ,
Finally had contact with Insp with elephants. He caught
up with them at Simantella camp at Hwange National Park. 4 eles had been moved
already to Nakavongo Range in Vic Falls ( belonging to Shearwater - where they
have their elephant company). Four others (2 seven yr old, 1 ten yr old, 1 eight
yr old) were being loaded and moved tonight to the same venue to be offloaded
tom. Our Insp is instructed to stay with them. Shearwater deny any ownership
of the captured eles. The permit is in the name of a Mr. Mainos Mudukuti of 12
Fairmile Close, Ruwa. But Shearwater were using their helicopters, equipment
etc and moving them to their facility. They want to capture another three on
Friday but we are hoping that they will put it off because of our prescence.
Will keep you updated on all that. Also another guy that we have been watching
for a while - Basil Steyn - month ago he moved 15 elephants from Sondelani Ranch
in Gwanda area to Vic Falls. Those poor 15 eles are still in small boma in
Falls and are in appalling condition. Our insp. will go their tomorrow to
investigate and let me know.
Kind regards
Glynis
-----------
-----
Original Message -----
From: SAVE FOUNDATION & Nicholas
Duncan
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2006 6:19 AM
Subject: Fw:
Pic
Please find attached a picture of one of the captured
elephants being loaded
in Hwange National Park. Pic from a tourist, taken on
side of the road.