Zimbabwe Court to Allow Torture Allegations in Bennett Trial

http://www.voanews.com

     
      By Peta Thornycroft
      Southern Africa
      11 November 2009

A Zimbabwe High Court judge has ruled Movement for Democratic Change
treasurer-general Roy Bennett may raise allegations of torture during his
treason trial. This long-delayed trial has strained Zimbabwe's power-sharing
government.

Roy Bennett's defense lawyers had asked state witness Michael Hitschmann be
barred from testifying, because they said he had been tortured into making a
confession, had not signed that statement, and did not implicate Bennett in
it after he was arrested in 2006.

Hitschmann, a gun dealer and collector, was acquitted of the same terrorism
charges Bennett now faces, but served a two-year sentence for possession of
unlicensed guns, including several automatic weapons.

Judge Chinembiri Bhunu said the charges against Bennett are serious and
therefore technicalities should not stand in the way of evidence, indicating
Hitschmann will have to testify at some point.  But Judge Bhunu said he
would allow questions about torture allegations made by Hitschmann.

Hitschmann submitted an application to the court claiming the statement he
made when he was originally detained in eastern city of Mutare, was obtained
under duress.  Hitschmann said he was tortured after he was arrested.

The lawyer who submitted Hitschmann's application last week was later
detained for 48 hours, accused of obstructing justice.

After the Judge Bhunu's ruling, Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, who is
leading the prosecution, asked for time until Thursday to arrange his
prosecution.  The state has listed eight other witnesses, all policemen or
members of Zimbabwe's spy agency, the Central Intelligence Organization.

Bennett's arrest last month led Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to
partially disengage from the 10-month-old unity government that includes his
Movement for Democratic Change and President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF.

After South Africa said last week it would more closely monitor progress in
resolving outstanding issues of the political agreement that led to
formation of a power-sharing government, Mr. Tsvangirai ended his boycott of
Cabinet meetings.

Judge berates Tomana, Mtetwa in court

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=24845

November 11, 2009

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - High Court judge Chinembiri Bhunu has berated Attorney General
Johannes Tomana and Beatrice Mtetwa, the lead defence counsel in the
high-profile Roy Bennett terrorism case, for seeking to outperform each
other before a packed court instead of concentrating on the merits of the
arguments they are presenting.

Bhunu then ruled on Wednesday that Peter Michael Hitshmann, the state's key
witness in the MDC treasurer general's high-profile trial, should be called
to testify in court.

The ruling put paid to strong contentions by defence lawyers at the
beginning of the trial that the firearms dealer must not testify in the
Bennett case as he had already disowned statements attributed to him by the
State in Bennett's indictment papers.

Bennett's trial opened on Monday with attorneys for both the State and the
defence filing applications to challenge both the contents and the legality
of each other's outlines.

On Wednesday Justice Bhunu said Tomana and Mtetwa appeared more motivated by
the need to outdo each other at all costs in court as opposed to
concentrating on the merits of their legal arguments.

He berated both counsel for displaying open hostility towards each other
during Monday's court proceedings, warning that they should desist from
allowing themselves to be unnecessarily unsettled by the packed court.

Bennett, the deputy Minister of Agriculture-designate faces charges of
possessing firearms for purposes of deposing a lawful government through the
use of violence, insurgence, banditry, sabotage and terrorism. Bennett
denies these charges.

The lead defence counsel, Beatrice Mtetwa made an application that the State
be compelled to strike off certain portions of the State outline arguing
that Hitshmann had, in an affidavit deposited with the courts, disowned an
earlier confession that he had connived with Bennett in the actions he now
stands accused of.

Hitshmann claimed he had signed the statement in which he purportedly
confessed to being Bennett's accomplice after being tortured and abused at
the hands of the police and state security agents.

He described his statements as "pure fiction that bore no relationship at
all to any reality"  and prayed that the court should disregard them.

On the other hand, the State, represented by Tomana, filed its own
application to compel the courts to strike off the defence outline which it
said was filed well out of the stipulated period, while failing to address
the issues raised in its own outline. The appearance of the Attorney General
himself, Tomana, to direct the State's prosecution of Bennett has raised
eyebrows in legal circles.

After a fierce argument which lasted over two hours on Monday, Justice Bhunu
deferred his judgement to Wednesday, whereupon he dismissed the two
applications.

Following Bhunu's ruling on preliminary issues raised by both counsel,
Bennett's trial starts in earnest Thursday morning when Hitshmann is
expected to testify.

In dismissing the applications, Justice Bhunu said both applications were
not consistent with the statutes cited by the parties in advancing their
arguments.

He said the case should be balanced on the accused person's right to liberty
as well as the need for State security. Bhunu said Bennett's guilt or
innocence should be determined more on merit than or technicalities.

"I fail to see how the calling of a witness who says that he has no relevant
evidence to give can be prejudicial to the accused," said Bhunu.

Outrage as top SA firm admits funding state run Zim newspapers

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
11 November 2009

Yet another corporation is coming under fire for its direct involvement with
the Robert Mugabe regime, after South African insurance giant Old Mutual
admitted it is a major shareholder in Zimpapers.

Old Mutual this week confirmed its business interest in the publishing group
which produces, among others, the state's mouthpiece Herald newspaper. South
African refugee rights group, People Against Suffering, Suppression,
Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) explained that Old Mutual is the second
largest shareholder in Zimpapers, essentially using insurance policy holders'
money to prop up Mugabe's vehicles of propaganda and hate speech.

PASSOP's Braam Hanekom, a Zimbabwean born activist, told SW Radio Africa on
Wednesday that Old Mutual was essentially 'arming' the state media, arguing
"this is politically equivalent to putting bullets into the guns that kill
opposition voices in Zimbabwe." Hanekom has demanded that Old Mutual
publicly withdraw its stake in Zimpapers, saying the group's refusal to do
so will point towards a business relationship based purely on corruption.

"Old Mutual is not making money out of selling newspapers in Zimbabwe, not
so much that they can't, on moral grounds, withdraw their stake," Hanekom
said. "There's no other reason to protect its stake unless there is
corruption."

PASSOP started an online petition on Tuesday night, which calls for Old
Mutual to withdraw its Zimpapers investment and publicly apologise. The
petition is set to be delivered to Old Mutual management within the next
seven days. Hanekom warned on Wednesday that the group will start protest
campaigns against Old Mutual if their calls and the petition are ignored.

"Companies cannot continue to plead ignorance about their business
relationships, when they know these relationships are not morally
 supported," Hanekom said.

The controversy is reminiscent of the Nestlé saga that erupted last month,
after it emerged that the food giant was buying milk from a dairy farm,
seized during the land 'reform' programme and owned by Grace Mugabe. Scores
of people and organisations called for a boycott of Nestlé products, if the
company did not stop buying milk from the Mugabe's Gushungo Dairy Estate.
The company eventually severed its commercial ties with the Mugabes, amid
intense pressure from concerned individuals and rights groups. Critics had
lashed out at the food group over its disregard for basic corporate
responsibility, saying multinational support of the Mugabes would ensure
their continued corrupt practices.

Meanwhile, more concern has been raised over the inaction of the Mayor of
Harare, Muchadeyi Masunda, who is also a Chairman of the Zimbabwe branch of
Old Mutual. Masunda has been facing increasing criticism for not doing more
in his position as Mayor to make changes in the capital, where rampant abuse
of resources by the council has seen the city continue to deteriorate.
Questions are now being raised as to why Masunda has not spoken out about
Old Mutual's financial support of Zimpapers and why he has not persuaded
them to divest their Zimpapers shares.  We tried unsuccessfully to contact
the Mayor for comment.

Old Mutual's defence of Zimbabwe Herald investment

http://www.therichmarksentinel.com

Michael Trapido
Wednesday, November 11, 2009

" Old Mutual says its investments are dictated by profit and not political
considerations.

The insurance giant was reacting to a call to shed its investment in the
Zimbabwean company that prints the Mugabe government's propaganda
mouthpiece, the Herald newspaper.

"Our investments are made for the benefit of our policyholders, meant to
meet needs and expectations in terms of return and not contingent upon
political consideration," OM Zimbabwe group chief executive Luke Ngwerume
said in a statement on Wednesday."(sapa)

Anyone who has been living in Southern Africa for more than an hour would be
aware of the atrocities that have been committed by the Zanu-PF and
President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe in order to cling to power.

One of the most important cogs in the machinery that they employ in order to
achieve this is the Mugabe mouthpiece the Herald.

It ensures that only the information and disinformation he wants circulated
goes out to the people through the major newspaper of that country.

Moreover the government censor, to a large degree, anyone who dares to take
up an anti-government position.

This is not rocket science and everyone knows it.

Accordingly Old Mutual are acutely aware that this particular investment of
theirs is occasioning untold hardship on the people of that country.

Personally I was shocked to hear that one of our major corporates was
involved with a Mugabe propaganda machine.

It is totally unacceptable.

What is worse is that they try to justify the indefensible by saying that
they have a duty to their shareholders to ensure that they retain profitable
assets and anyway it's an investment dictated by money not politics.

What a load of crap.

There are many corporate monsters that have tried singing the exact same
song before and their conduct was equally disgusting. Let's look at one
example.

Zyklon-B was a commercial rodenticide and pesticide in common use before
World War II.2 The active lethal ingredient in the product is hydrogen
cyanide, which is deadly to warm-blooded animals in very low concentrations,
and to insects in considerably higher concentrations.

DEGESCH (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Schädlingsbekämpfung mbH / German Vermin
Controlling Company), a subsidiary of IG Farben 4, licensed two German
companies for the manufacture and distribution of Zyklon-B: Tesch und
Stabenow (Testa) and Heerdt-Lingler (Heli).

Zyklon-B was also manufactured in one of its forms in the United States by
the American Cyanamid Company 5 under license from the patent holders, I.G.
Farben.

Hydrogen cyanide has historically been employed for the destruction of
rodents and insect pests.

When however the Nazis were looking for an effective method of gassing the
Jews and other undesirables in their concentration camps they chose Zyklon-B
as the most suitable for that purpose.

As a result huge orders went out to the suppliers who naturally also
considered themselves indebted to their shareholders and only interested in
profits and not politics.

Or that's their version and they're sticking to it.

If the comparison makes anyone uncomfortable it's meant to.

In Zimbabwe we have 5 million people on the brink of starvation, political
murder, millions in exiles and on and on.

The part that the Herald has played in promoting Mugabe and the Zanu-PF can
never be underestimated. Despite millions starving, other millions leaving
the country and their countrymen's terrible suffering they simply keep
pumping out the "good word".

Old Mutual is an insurance company which weighs up risk very carefully
before spending their money. In order to do this they need information in
depth.

Accordingly if they invested heavily in the Herald they know far more about
the horrendous goings on in Zimbabwe than almost
anyone else.

Yet they say they are not concerned about politics merely profits.

I hope they've heard of Dormicum or falling asleep every night must be a
bitch.

Mugabe, Tsvangirai parties to hold talks

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Cuthbert Nzou Wednesday 11 November 2009

      HARARE - Zimbabwe's three governing parties are expected to begin
negotiations before weekend in line with a SADC recommendation to tackle a
power-sharing dispute threatening to tear apart their shaky coalition
government.

      According to sources, senior officials from President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU PF party and the two former opposition MDC formations are expected to
meet before Friday to make proposals how on to resolve a host of outstanding
issues from last year's global political agreement (GPA) that gave birth to
the nine-month old power-sharing government.

      The proposals will be forwarded to Mugabe, main MDC leader and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, who
heads the smaller MDC party.

      The sources said Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara did not hold their
normal Monday meeting because the President was away in Egypt.

      "The negotiators should meet by Friday to reduce areas of differences
on the outstanding issues," one of the sources said. "Proposals on how to
resolve the issues will then be sent to the principals who have the final
say."

      The Southern African Development Community (SADC)'s organ on defence
and politics gave Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara 30 days to resolve
outstanding issues.

      The sticking points that saw Tsvangirai and his MDC party boycotting
Cabinet more than three weeks ago include Mugabe's refusal to rescind his
unilateral appointment of two top allies to head Zimbabwe's central bank and
the attorney general's office.

      Mugabe has also refused to swear in Tsvangirai ally Roy Bennett as
deputy agriculture minister while the MDC is also unhappy by what it says is
selective application of the law to target its activists and officials.

      ZANU PF, which insists it has met all its obligations under the GPA,
accuses Tsvangirai and the MDC of not living up to their promise by refusing
to lead a campaign for lifting of Western sanctions against Mugabe and his
top allies.

      Nelson Chamisa, the spokesman for Tsvangirai's MDC-T party, confirmed
yesterday that the negotiators would meet before the weekend to come up with
proposals to resolve the sticking points.

      "In line with the resolutions of the SADC organ, the negotiators
should meet and make proposals on how to tackle the issues now affecting the
survival of the inclusive government," Chamisa said.

      "According to SADC's timelines, principals should resolve the
outstanding issues in 15 days and if there are no solutions, the next 15
days would be used for mediation by the facilitator," he added.

      The facilitator, Chamisa said would be South African President Jacob
Zuma.

      "It was agreed in Maputo that the facilitator is South Africa, hence
President Zuma will mediate in the event of a deadlock instead of Thabo
Mbeki who brokered the GPA," Chamisa explained.

      Mbeki facilitated the GPA when he was the president of South Africa.

      Chinamasa confirmed that negotiators have to meet first to deal with
the outstanding issues, but declined to give details.

      Besides the outstanding issues, the organ asked the inclusive
government to immediately set up the national economic council in line with
the GPA in a move meant to come up with sound policies to revive the country's
comatose economy. - ZimOnline

Tsvangirai attends cabinet meeting after three-week boycott

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
11 November 2009

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and ministers from his party attended a
cabinet meeting on Wednesday following their 're-engagement' with ZANU PF.

The MDC leader last week Thursday ended a three week boycott of the shaky
inclusive government after disengaging from Robert Mugabe's 'dishonest and
unreliable' ZANU PF party in the unity cabinet, set up in February. The
boycott sparked the biggest crisis since the new government was formed.

Tsvangirai had vowed he would boycott the power-sharing government until all
sticking points had been resolved and a political deal reached. But a
regional SADC summit on Zimbabwe in Maputo last week set a deadline for the
three parties in the government to meet within 15-30 days to discuss how to
resolve the conflict. Because of this, Tsvangirai decided he would re-engage
with ZANU PF.

James Maridadi, Tsvangirai's spokesman, told SW Radio Africa that Wednesday's
meeting would have covered government business only and that it would not
cover other issues, especially those to do with the Global Political
Agreement.

Normally Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara meet every Monday to
discuss issues contained in the GPA. But this week's meeting was postponed
because Mugabe was away in Egypt on official business. The three political
leaders are now due to meet next week Monday. Party negotiators are expected
to meet to work on the agenda and modalities of the talks.
The guarantors of the political agreement - SADC- say they are still hopeful
the deadlock between Mugabe and Tsvangirai can be resolved.
South African President Jacob Zuma, whose country facilitated the unity
agreement, is to visit Harare in two weeks' time to review progress.
Political analyst Gabriel Shumba told us the 15 day timeline was unrealistic
to expect a concrete resolution on all outstanding issues.
'It's just an impossible timeline. Remember we are looking at issues that
have dragged over a period of time. My guess is Mugabe will try and drag his
feet again because of an upcoming ZANU PF congress where I'm sure his
position would be shaky if he makes major concessions to the MDC,' Shumba
said.
Shumba, who is also a lawyer by profession, said it takes times to reform
institutions that have been pro-Mugabe. He said at institutions like the
police and the Reserve Bank there was a need also to change the 'main actors',
which has been one of the MDC's demands.

It was reported that Finance Minister Tendai Biti briefed Parliament on
Tuesday on the RBZ Amendment Bill that seeks to limit the functions of the
central bank and bring the powers of Governor Gideon Gono under the control
of a board.

Gono's first five-year tenure at the helm of the bank was directly blamed
for the supersonic hyperinflation of unprecedented proportions in the
country.

On Tuesday, Biti told legislators that the proposed legislation was a
'firefighting Bill', as members of the public would be asked what the
central bank should be like during the forthcoming constitution-making
process.

MDC-T MP proposes bill to amend repressive POSA

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
11 November 2009

Mutare Central MP and MDC-T Chief Whip in Parliament, Innocent Gonese, last
week Thursday sought Parliament's permission to present a Bill amending the
repressive Public Order and Security Act (POSA). Since the Act was passed
Mugabe's regime has used it to harass, arrest and detain opposition and
trade union activists either wanting to have public meetings or participate
in demonstrations.

Veritas, a group that monitors legal and parliamentary issues in the
country, says Gonese's Bill could be the first 'Private Members Bill' since
independence. Under the rules, government ministers do not require
permission to present bills in Parliament but with Gonese not running any
ministry he effectively presents his Bill as a 'Private Member' of
Parliament. His motion will be debated, before it is approved. This debate
is expected to take place this week. If approved the Bill would be gazetted
and go through the normal parliamentary stages.

Speaking in Parliament Gonese said the police had used POSA over the years
to arrest and detain hundreds of people but had so far never successful
prosecuted anyone. He also said the Act has never been used to arrest any
ZANU PF officials or supporters. The MP said his Bill aims "to ensure that
public gatherings are regulated in a manner that will allow Zimbabweans to
fully exercise their fundamental democratic right to engage, to express
themselves through the medium of peaceful assembly and association and to
clarify some of the existing provisions in the current Act".

Gonese said the Bill would seek a reduction in police powers and give
magistrates the power to prohibit meetings instead. Other amendments sought
include repealing a provision that penalises people for not carrying their
ID documents.

This week Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) condemned the unlawful
arrest of labour leaders by police in Victoria Falls over the weekend. ZLHR
cited this as another abuse of POSA and said they welcomed attempts by
Gonese to introduce a Bill amending the repressive law.

ZLHR went further to suggest the urgent establishment of an Independent
Parliamentary Committee inquiry, into the continuing unlawful actions of the
police. "This inquiry should also include an investigation into the actions
of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Attorney General who, as the
legal representatives of the ZRP, have failed and/or refused to execute
their constitutional and professional duty to advise the police of their
continued misinterpretation and misapplication of the law," ZLHR said in
statement.

Arrested student leaders released

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
11 November 2009

Four students arrested in Bindura on Monday have been released after a night
behind bars, as the harassment of activists across the country continues to
intensify.

The four were arrested during a campaign meeting at the Bindura University
of Science Education, where SRC elections have been underway. The group,
including outgoing SRC President Respect Ndanga, had just finished
addressing students at a campaign rally for one of the new presidential
candidates, Paul Dakarai. They were detained at Mashonaland Central police
station, where they were charged under the Criminal law Codification and
reform Act, allegedly for "participating in a gathering likely to cause a
breach of peace or bigotry."
The arrests come after nine other students were arrested last Friday,
reportedly by five members of Robert Mugabe's presidential guard. The nine,
who had been holding a discussion outside the Bindura University's premises,
were detained on allegations that they wanted to disrupt a graduation
ceremony being held that day. All nine were eventually released.
The Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) meanwhile expressed concern
Wednesday that its President, Clever Bere, is still being hunted by police.
The union said that police details at Mashonaland Central Police Station
said that they were still looking for Bere, apparently to interview him on
charges of inciting violence. The president was one of the speakers at the
campaign rally on Monday where the other four student leaders were arrested.
On Monday night police in Bindura launched a manhunt for the ZINASU leader,
mounting roadblocks around the town with search lights, guns and police
dogs, all in a desperate bid to arrest Bere. The ZINASU president managed to
escape the town and is now in Vienna Austria where he is representing ZINASU
at the World Justice Forum conference.
At the same time, five members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU) are still being held in custody in Hwange, after they were arrested
in Victoria Falls on Sunday. The group, including ZCTU President Lovemore
Matombo, has not been taken to court, despite being set to appear on
Tuesday. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) Director Irene Petras
explained that police managed to secure a warrant for further detention on
Wednesday, on unexplained grounds. Petras and her ZLHR team have filed an
urgent application for their clients' release.

Targeted trade unionist out of hiding after failed abduction

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
11 November 2009

The Secretary General of the General Agriculture and Plantation Workers
Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ), Gertrude Hambira, has spoken of her family's
distress after she was targeted for abduction by suspected state security
agents a week ago.

Hambira has been in hiding during the past week after the failed attempt to
abduct her from her Harare home last Tuesday. She was not at her house when
three armed men broke in, and demanded to know where she was. But her
husband and children were, and Hambira told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday
that they have been left traumatised by the incident. The men who broke into
her home threatened to shoot her husband, before fleeing with mobile phones
and pictures of Hambira. She immediately went into hiding fearing for her
life.

But Hambira risked possible arrest this week by coming out of hiding to
launch a damning report and documentary exposing the devastating effects of
the so called land 'reform' programme on the livelihood of farm workers. It
is widely believed that the documentary is the reason behind Hambira's
attempted abduction, because it exposes top government officials'
involvement in the torture, harassment and eviction of farm workers in the
chaotic land seizures. The documentary entitled 'House of Justice' contains
26 minutes of footage laying bare the evidence of human rights violations
targeting farm workers, over ten years of Robert Mugabe's land grab
campaign.

Speaking from South Africa where the documentary is being screened on
Thursday, Hambira said the film is a vital tool to try and pressure regional
governments to intervene in the spiraling land crisis in the country. In the
documentary Hambira appeals to the leaders of the Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC) to pressure the Zimbabwe government to end the
ongoing violence on farms across the country. SADC has come under fire for,
among other issues, not acting on Zimbabwe's 'pull out' from the SADC
Tribunal, a human rights court set up by the nine member body to deal with
judicial disputes in the region. Last year, in a landmark ruling meant to
protect more than 70 commercial farmers and their rights to their land, the
SADC Tribunal ruled that the government should stop land attacks.

But Zimbabwe has refused to abide by this ruling and has pulled out of the
Tribunal, effectively opening the door for an escalation of attacks on
commercial land this year. GAPWUZ has already said that more than 60 000
farm workers have been left with jobs as a result of the land attacks this
year alone, with hundreds of workers being beaten and arrested. 'House of
Justice' questions what the ultimate point of SADC is, if member states will
not stand up for justice and the official SADC court.

The report 'If Something is wrong', which is accompanying the documentary,
also highlights the impact of the land reform exercise on the farm workers
during the past ten years. This is the first report on so called 'land
reform' to deal solely with the experiences of farm workers and makes for
sobering reading. The report balances statistical evidence from farm workers
with shocking narrative examples of the types of violations they have
experienced. It also provides damning evidence that the violence perpetrated
on the farms has been largely targeted on farm workers.

Hambira said she hoped the documentary and report were going to go a long
way in raising regional and international pressure on Zimbabwe to start
respecting basic human rights.

"We want them to start seeing farm workers as people and to recognise their
genuine need for the basic things like shelter and source of livelihood,"
she said.

Farm labour shortage threatens food production

Photo: IRIN

Staving off hunger

HARARE, 11 November 2009 (IRIN) - An acute shortage of labourers on Zimbabwe's newly resettled farms, combined with the farmers' inability to raise loans from financial institutions to purchase agricultural inputs, and money owed to them by the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), do not bode well for food insecurity.

"The majority of our members have indicated that their farming activities have been severely affected by the shortage of manpower to use on the farms. We are poorly prepared, and our hands as farmers are tied because we don't have the money to keep the farm workers," said Denford Chimbwanda, president of the Grain and Cereal Producers Association (GCPA).

Chimbwanda told IRIN that although banks have finally agreed to provide loans, with the government's offer letters on the land as collateral, the slow pace of approving loans was not taking into account the window period of the main planting season.

Offer letters, or 99-year leases, have been issued to farmers settled on land redistributed from white-owned commercial farms to landless blacks in President Robert Mugabe's fast-track land reform programme, which began in 2000. Banks have only recently started accepting the offer letters as collateral for loans.

Renson Gasela, an agricultural analyst and the secretary for agriculture in the breakaway faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Arthur Mutambara, told IRIN that many farmers who had sold their previous harvest to the GMB - the sole grain purchaser in Zimbabwe - were still awaiting payment, further turning the screws on their cash flow.

"Farm workers are deciding that enough is enough. I am aware that some farmers have managed to keep some of their workers, on the promise that once they get paid by the GMB they will settle the wage arrears, but these promises have gone for too long, forcing them [workers] to look for other sources of income," he said.

In some cases wages had not been paid for three months, "and this has led to frustration among the employees, who, together with their families, need to subsist on a daily basis," Gasela said.

In the first quarter of 2009 nearly seven million Zimbabweans depended on food aid, but a relatively successful harvest of 1.14 million metric tons of maize, the staple food, in June 2009 - a two-fold increase on the previous year - brought optimism that the country was turning the corner on its food insecurity.

It is easy to notice the absence of farm workers, who, in the past, would be seen busy in the fields at this time of the year

"Moving across the country, you cannot believe that we are already in the main farming season. Only a privileged few have managed to till their land, using tractors and the diesel that they managed to buy, but the story is different with the majority of farmers," Gasela said.

"It is easy to notice the absence of farm workers, who, in the past, would be seen busy in the fields at this time of the year. Instead, they can be found by the roadside selling firewood, or fish from nearby dams," he commented.

Fleeing farms

Tapiwa Zivira, spokesperson for the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union (GAPWUZ), told IRIN that labourers were "fleeing" farms because wages were not being paid.

"Farming should be for those who are prepared to meet the costs that go with agriculture. It is disturbing that the wages we are asking them to pay our members are way below the poverty datum line, but the farm owners still insist that they are too much," Zivira said.

Farm workers are paid a maximum of US$30 a month, when they are paid, and the GAPWUZ bid for a minimum monthly wage of US$50 has so far fallen on deaf ears.

Low wages, non-payment of wages, and poor living and working conditions were accelerating the flight of farm labourers. Zivira said children were being employed in their place "because they [farmers] know that these minors lack the capacity to demand what is due to them".

Another round of "farm invasions" by high-ranking officials in Mugabe's ZANU-PF party - after the formation of the unity government in February 2009 - meant ongoing instability on farms. More than 3,000 families had been forced to migrate from farms whose ownership had changed since February, with some finding refuge by the roadside, Zivira said.

Making ends meet

Ennia Samson, 40, a widow of Malawian origin, moved to a business centre in the Murombedzi district of Mashonaland West Province, about 65km northwest of the capital, Harare, because ownership of the farm she was raised on changed hands in March.

"When the new farmer arrived he encouraged us to stay, saying he would look after us well, but by the time I left in September only a few workers had been given a maximum of US$15," Samson told IRIN.

Other women and girls had left the farm and were now domestic workers or had gone into commercial sex work. Samson had cleaned shops at the business centre and managed to raise the capital to start a small second-hand clothes business

She now lived in a makeshift shelter with her two school-going children. "Even though we are living as squatters, life is much better here than on the farm, where we were almost starving," Samson said.

Union highlights abuses against farm workers

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Simplicious Chirinda Wednesday 11 November 2009

HARARE - An organisation representing workers in the agricultural sector on
Monday launched a scathing video report highlighting human rights abuses
that took place on Zimbabwe's commercial farms between 2008 and 2009.

General Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ)
spokesperson Tapiwa Zivira told ZimOnline on Tuesday that the 26-minute
video titled "House of Justice" highlights some of the worst abuses against
farm workers in the wake of the controversial land reform programme launched
by President Robert Mugabe's government in 2000.

"The report features the gory acts of what has been happening on the farms
throughout the country since last year," said Zivira.

"It exposes the human rights violations which are still being committed by
marauding mobs and some senior politicians against farm workers. The report
also urges regional bodies such as the Southern African Development
Community and African Union to look into the plight of these people and urge
the government of Zimbabwe to respect the rule of law."

GAPWUZ said several government officials from the ministries of home
affairs, agriculture and national healing who were invited to the event did
not turn up.

"Only a representative of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai came but we would
have wanted the government officials to see for themselves the abuses on the
farms," said Zivira.

The organisation will next week host a regional launch of the report in
Johannesburg, South Africa.

GAPWUZ also launched at the same occasion another report titled "Is
something wrong", which highlights how Zimbabwe's chaotic and often violent
land reform programme has affected farm workers since 2000.

Individual workers give testimonies on how they were affected by the farm
seizures which were spearheaded by mobs of war veterans and ZANU PF party
supporters.

The report also highlights how labour laws and basic human rights of farm
workers have been violated. It also contains evidence of people who were
beaten up, harassed and sometimes shot at by Mugabe's militia under the
guise of redistributing arable land previously in the hands of whites.

Fresh farm disturbances in Zimbabwe have reportedly rendered over 4 000 farm
workers homeless since the formation last February of the unity government
by Mugabe and his once bitter rival Tsvangirai.

The decade-long farm invasions which the 85-year-old Mugabe says were
necessary to ensure blacks also had access to arable land that they were
denied by previous white-led governments have been blamed for plunging
Zimbabwe into food shortages.

Once a net food exporter Zimbabwe has avoided mass starvation over the past
decade only because international relief agencies were quick to chip in with
food handouts.  - ZimOnline

Zimbabwe Land Seizures Reportedly Intensify

Farm Workers Suffer With White Farmers as Zimbabwe Land Reform Continues

http://www.voanews.com

     

      By Scott Bobb & Jonga Kandemiiri
      Harare, Washington
      11 November 2009

Zimbabwe's few remaining commercial white farmers said they are under
increasing pressure, some of it violent, to leave their land in the latest
surge in farm seizures since President Robert Mugabe launched fast-track
land redistribution about a decade ago.

The program was intended to right a wrong of the colonial era when mainly
British whites dispossessed indigenous blacks in the former Rhodesia, but
many blame land reform for Zimbabwe's precipitous economic decline, reports
VOA correspondent Scott Bobb.

The General Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe this week
released a documentary and a report on the impact of land reform on farm
workers. It said the initiative has driven many farmworkers into poverty by
eliminating their source of income, and that the government has not
addressed the dire plight of many thousands of rural workers.

The documentary, called "House of Justice," and the report, entitled "If
Something is Wrong," was launched on Tuesday in Harare at a gathering
attended by representatives of civil society organizations, labor unions and
members of the diplomatic corps.

Gender and Child Labor Coordinator Juliet Sithole of the farmworkers union
told VOA Studio 7 reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that the organization wants to
increase regional and international pressure on the government to respect
basic human rights.

 from VOA's Studio 7

Pride of lions kill cattle in Chipinge as elephants destroy crops

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
11 November 2009

A pride of lions has since August this year killed 45 cattle and terrorized
villagers in Chipinge, where a herd of marauding elephants has also caused
massive destruction to crop fields.

The MDC MP for Chipinge West, Bonile Nyamudeza, told SW Radio Africa on
Wednesday that four lions have been invading resettlements in Maronga,
Tongogara, Mutema, Chaona and Charume, killing cattle and donkeys belonging
to villagers. Luckily no human life has been lost to the animals.

'Most of the cows were just killed and left there while some were eaten. So
far villagers have lost seven donkeys to the lions,' the MP said.

Nyamudeza said National Parks officers have so far failed to track down the
lions, but have killed two elephants, after attempts to drive them back to
the sprawling Save conservancy park from where they had strayed proved
difficult and dangerous.

The MP blamed poachers and some ZANU PF war veterans for destroying the
electrical fence that borders the conservancy. The war vets and a well known
ZANU MP have invaded land on the conservancy and have been cutting down the
fencing. At least 5 hectares of farmland have been destroyed by a large
group of elephants which invaded the villages of Goko, Nyunga and Musani.

The MDC legislator said more than 60 elephants had ravaged bean, tomato and
wheat fields, several times since October, and local villagers' attempts at
driving the animals away had proved futile.

The Department of National Parks had intensified surveillance in the area to
protect locals against marauding animals. Hundreds of people from several
villages along the Middle Sabi region, that straddles the Save conservancy,
are spending sleepless nights guarding their crops.

Nyamudeza said that the gravity of the situation jeopardises the communities
food supply. He also described the situation as alarming and called for
urgent intervention.

'The situation is quite serious and alarming. We need helicopters to
ascertain the exact number of the elephants that fanned out in all areas of
the district,' he said.

He said people in the district were living in fear as the presence of the
jumbos is leading to human-animal conflicts. The MP said most farmers would
harvest little if the situation was not controlled.

The problem remains the chaotic, violent, so called land reform. Until this
basic problem is resolved nothing can be dealt with effectively.

Zimbabwe Agrees Not to Export Disputed Diamonds, U.S. Says

http://www.bloomberg.com

By Brian Latham

Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Zimbabwe's government won't export diamonds from its
disputed Marange diamond fields until it has put in measures to better
monitor trading in the gems.

"Zimbabwe agreed not to export Marange diamonds until the monitoring
mechanism is established," Ian Kelly, a spokesman for the U.S. State
Department, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

The Kimberley Process, a global body created to curb trade in gems mined to
fund conflict, on Nov. 5 decided not suspend Zimbabwe's membership, saying
it supports the nation's attempts to work toward compliance with the group's
requirements.

Marange was seized by the Zimbabwe government from Maidstone, England-based
African Consolidated Resources Plc in 2006 after gems were found. As many as
20,000 illegal miners besieged the area, also known as Chiadzwa, and were
later cleared off by the army and police. New York-based Human Rights Watch
says more than 200 were killed last year. Zimbabwe's police say they have
had no reports of atrocities.

Zimbabwe's diamond battle far from over

http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za

Eyewitness News | 5 Hours Ago

Zimbabwe's government has named the two companies mining in the eastern
Chiadzwa diamond fields where human rights abuses have been reported.

Neither of them are the legal owner of the diamond claim.

Mines Minister Obert Mpofu named Mbada Minerals and Canadile Miners Private
Limited which is reported to have South African shareholders.

He said the companies have already started mining in Chiadzwa, in
partnership with the state-run ZMDC.

Mutare residents say the new investors have booked out a holiday resort near
the diamond fields.

What is not being mentioned is the legal battle over the Chiadzwa claim.

President Robert Mugabe's government evicted Africa Consolidated Resources
three years ago as the diamond rush began.

The Harare High Court confirmed in September ACR was the legal owner of the
claim.

The battle for Zimbabwe's diamonds is clearly far from over.

Kimberly Process Chair Defends Recent Decision Not to Suspend Zimbabwe

http://www.voanews.com

     
      By Sandra Nyaira
      Washington
      10 November 2009

Responding to critics of last week's decision by the Kimberly Process
Certification Scheme not to suspend Zimbabwe over charges of human rights
abuses in the eastern Marange diamond field, outgoing Kimberly Process
Chairman Bernard Esau said that the Harare government has done much to
address problems in the Manicaland province district.

Esau added in an interview with VOA Studio 7 reporter Sandra Nyaira that
diamonds from the field are not funding conflict and Harare needs help to
comply with Kimberly standards.

But Mutare-based analyst Farai Maguwu of the Center for Research and
Development said Esau's explanation won't keep independent groups from
speaking out on Marange, where Human Rights Watch says the military in
control has killed more than 200 people.

from VOA's Studio 7

Zimbabwe launches six-year plan to transform economy

http://www.rfi.fr

Article published on the 2009-11-10 Latest update 2009-11-10 19:30 TU

Zimbabwe has launched a six-year economic blueprint aimed at reviving the
country's moribond economy. The plan seeks to improve the investment climate
in the country, starting with the signing of an investment deal with South
Africa, expected later this month.

The Minister for Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Elton Mangoma
unveiled the plan in Harare on Monday.

Mangoma told RFI that the strategy was designed to end Zimbabwe's reliance
on its raw materials, which have traditionally been its main source of
income.

"We are going to see a transformation of the Zimbabwean economy, from
largely relying on primary products [...] to value-added manufacturing
through the adoption of new technologies, so that we beceom a global
competitor," he says.

Interview: Elton Mangoma, Zimbabwean Minister of Economic Planning

10/11/2009 by William Niba

Mangoma also rules out any return to the local currency banished in January
due to hyperinflation.

He believes Zimbabwe can fast track its economic recovery through the
multi-currency system marked by trading in US dollars and the South African
Rand.

Zimbabwe's economy is expected to post a 3.7 per cent growth rate this year,
the first positive figures in a decade, according to the International
Monetary Fund.

With the new strategy in place, Mangoma is hoping for 12.5 per cent growth
in gross domestic product in 2010.

Unreformed Zimbabwe Central Bank Discouraging Donors, Says Finance Minister

http://www.voanews.com

     

      By Patience Rusere
      Washington
      11 November 2009

Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti has told Parliament that he is
unable to persuade international donors to provide "a single cent" for the
country's 2010 budget - as opposed to food aid or other humanitarian
assistance - out of fear funds could be diverted.

He made the comment in parliamentary debate on legislation to reform the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, according to the Web news agency ZimOnline, which
quoted Biti as saying donors' first question was whether their funds would
be in RBZ hands. RBZ Governor Gideon Gono has acknowledged that he diverted
donor and other funds to government uses.

Biti said the solution is reform of the central bank. Biti, who is also
secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, has urged that Gono be replaced. The issue is
among those deeply dividing the Tsvangirai MDC and the long-ruling ZANU-PF
party of President Robert Mugabe, who has defended Gono.

VOA could not immediately reach Biti for confirmation of the attributed
remarks.

Economist Nhlanhla Nyathi told VOA Studio 7 reporter Patience Rusere that he
agrees with Biti, as donors must have confidence the central bank will
properly handle funds.

from VOA's Studio 7

COSATU threatens action against Zimpapers

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=24862

November 11, 2009

By Ntando Ncube

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's labour movement COSATU and civil rights
pressure group People Against Suppression, Suffering and Oppression (Passop)
on Wednesday made a public appeal to insurance giant, Old Mutual, to
withdraw its stake-hold in Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Ltd.

If Old Mutual ignores the call the pressure groups are threatening to
mobilise protests against over its business interest in Zimbabwe's
state-owned media group, the largest newspaper publishing company in the
country.

Old Mutual on Tuesday confirmed that it is a major shareholder in Zimpapers
which publishes The Herald, The Sunday Mail, The Chronicle and other
newspapers in Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare. The newspapers are now largely
viewed as propaganda mouthpieces for Zanu-PF and President Robert.

'We are shocked and dismayed that a company with so much to lose,
considering its international profile, has chosen to include the Mugabe
regime's propaganda newspapers in its investment portfolio.  We demand that
Old Mutual publicly withdraw its stakes in Zimbabwe Newspapers Ltd and
openly apologise for an investment that we sincerely hope was an accidental
oversight on your part. Should Old Mutual ignore this request, we will be
forced to embark on protest actions, and plan to engage as many Old Mutual
policy holders as possible," Hanekom wrote in a letter addressed to Old
Mutual Chief executive officer Julian Roberts.

We have a copy of the letter.

Old Mutual was, in fact, already a shareholder in the original Rhodesian and
Printing and Publishing Company, the forerunner of Zimpapers. Soon after
independence the new government of Zimbabwe created the Zimbabwe Mass Media
Trust, which acquired the majority of shares in the company from the Argus
Publishing company of South Africa.

Zimbabwe's independent newspapers have been subjected to a campaign of
threats, intimidation and violence by the Mugabe government. In 2003 the
government banned the popular Daily News and its sister paper, the Daily
News on Sunday as well as The Tribune.

"While the international community, appalled by the actions of the Zanu-PF
leadership, imposes sanctions on Zimbabwe, your company's investment is
essentially arming Mugabe propaganda machinery, the equivalent of loading
bullets into the guns that kill oppositional voices in Zimbabwe.  In light
of the detrimental effects of forced migration of recent years, we consider
your interest in the company a direct attack on the impoverished people of
not only Zimbabwe, but also those of South Africa.", the letter added

Jonas Mushosho Managing Director of Old Mutual Life Assurance Company
Zimbabwe said Old Mutual Zimbabwe's investment in Zimpapers, dates back to
the pre-independence era.

"This shareholding in Zimpapers of 19 percent is held on behalf of our
policyholders and therefore this is a portfolio investment and as a result,
we do not influence or involve ourselves in their operational policy or
practice," Mushosho said.

After the government, Old Mutual is the next largest shareholder in
Zimpapers.

Mushosho added that from a top-down approach, Old Mutual was limited in the
choice of print and media investment assets in the country and Zimpapers is
the only substantial printing and media asset type that is available to
policyholders in terms of exposure to that sector.

"Old Mutual Zimbabwe will continue to hold this investment for as long as it
continues to make investment sense for our policyholders," he added.

Zimbabwe Newspapers has for a long period now, not been a profitable
organisation, mainly because of the flight of advertising away from the
company's

newspapers. Sales of the company's publications have also plummeted. The
Herald had a circulation of more than 160 000 in the 1980s. Now the company
prints less that 20 000 copies of its flagship a day.

COSATU high ranking official, Western Cape Provincial Secretary Tony
Ehrenreich, expressed outrage that Old Mutual has a stake in state-owned
media in Zimbabwe.

"These newspapers are responsible for spreading the propaganda of the Mugabe
regime and Old Mutual should, as a matter of urgency, disinvest in the
company," he said.

Mugabe says Zimbabwe dollar coming back

The war against the whites is not over in Zimbabwe

Ben Freeth

7 November 2009

Power-sharing has not loosened Mugabe’s iron grip, says Ben Freeth, a farmer whose home and livelihood were destroyed by Zanu-PF militants

On Sunday 30 August last year, as we drove back from church to our home in Chegutu, northern Zimbabwe, my wife and I spotted a large swirl of white smoke in the distance. We soon realised, to our horror, that the thick fumes were coming from our property. Our farm was on fire.

By the time we reached the drive, the flames were tearing across our land, heading towards our workers’ homes, the orchards and our own house. We needed water, and lots of it, fast. But we were at a major disadvantage. Several weeks earlier the Zanu-PF militants (the same men who, we can be certain, started the fire) had stolen our tractors, water carts and fire-fighting equipment, leaving us no means of dousing the flames. In desperation, we took some green branches and beat frantically at the fast-advancing walls of flame. It was no use: the wind was strong and in a matter of minutes the blaze had spread to our thatched roofs. I ran in and out of the house twice, grabbing our most important documents and our computers. But the heat was unbearable, and soon it was impossible to go back in.

Two of our workers managed to remove some chairs and a table from the house. All we could do was sit down and watch hopelessly as the fire devastated everything: the little linen factory we ran on the farm, our possessions and our home. Our life’s work — our history — was consumed in about half an hour. A few hundred yards away, I saw one of the thugs sitting on one of our tractors, laughing at us. After the fire, my nine-year-old son Joshua approached me and asked, ‘Is water stronger than fire, or is fire stronger than water?’ I thought a bit and said, ‘fire is very strong... but if there is water then fire is weaker.’ I think he understood. Two days later, they burnt down my parents-in-law’s house as well.

Fire is only the latest ordeal that our family has had to endure under Robert Mugabe’s regime. In the last ten years, we have been remorselessly harassed and persecuted on our property by violent men who think white people don’t belong in Zimbabwe. On 29 June last year, the day before Mugabe was sworn in as President for a sixth term, a group of armed militiamen raided our farm, kidnapping my wife’s parents, Mike and Angela Campbell, and me. We were badly beaten, abducted and dragged to a pungwe — a mass all-night indoctrination meeting led by a brainwashed nationalist mob — then beaten again. Angela, 67, had her arm broken twice and a red-hot stick thrust into her mouth. Mike, 74, had his ribs smashed and bones broken in his hands and feet. He suffered brain damage from repeated blows to the head.

We are not the only ones, of course. Many other farming families have been through similar experiences. Some of my friends have been killed; many more have been left traumatised or debilitated. More than a million Zimbabwean farm workers have been forced from their homes.

My family has tried to resist, but with little success. After the latest invasion that started in April this year, we won two high-court orders decreeing that the criminals occupying our land should be removed. But the police refused to obey them. Last year, the Southern African Development Community Tribunal issued a ruling supporting our family’s property rights, and later pronounced the Zimbabwean government in contempt of court for failing to comply with the judgment. The SADC’s intervention seemed a major breakthrough for Zimbabwe’s farmers, the first time that an international court had condemned Mugabe’s appropriation of our land. Again, though, nothing happened.

We’ve filed other suits, including one against our local police department head, Chief Inspector Manika, who on countless occasions has looked the other way as the invading brutes have destroyed our property and brutalised our workers. The authorities, perhaps sensing some pressure on Manika, elected to dispatch him to Liberia — to serve a UN peace-keeping mission.

This is the madness of Zimbabwe, where small currents of order and justice appear only to vanish into a hellish swamp of oppression and corruption. In the eyes of the outside world, our country has recently improved. The so-called ‘unity government’ that emerged in February, with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister, was greeted as a great triumph for free people everywhere. Hyperinflation stopped with the final collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar, and everyone thought the economy might show signs of growth. The European Union, apparently convinced that Zimbabwean democracy is on the mend, has re-entered negotiations with Mugabe, who in reply makes noises about ‘fresh and co-operative relations’.

Don’t believe a word of it. In rural areas, Zanu-PF is consolidating its power with a terrifying zeal. Tsvangirai may be prime minister, but he has little or no real influence. Mugabe still controls the army, the police, and the Ministry of Justice; and he still has his appointees in the Supreme Court. In Chegutu, I see children as young as ten being trained at the police station. They are being prepared, we fear, for the next election, when Mugabe will squash whatever democracy is left.

For all the talk of progress, Zimbabwe — a rich agricultural land — remains one of the nations most dependent on food aid. That problem is not going to resolve itself while the vicious destruction of the farming industry continues. This year, we expect the national wheat harvest to be less than a tenth of what it should be, because so much equipment has been destroyed, so many crops damaged.

On that terrible day in August, one of the many treasured possessions my family lost was a battered old wallet belonging to my mother-in-law. In it, she kept a heavily creased black-and-white photograph that she had recently inherited from her father. The picture was of Angela as a young girl. On the back was marked ‘Stalag 4’, the name of one of the Nazi camps where her father, a South African prisoner of war, had been incarcerated. He used to tell us about his wartime experiences. He would describe how, interned next to the concentration camp at Dachau, he could smell the bodies burning in crematorium incinerators.

When I look at the charred ruins of our home, I think of him and the horrors he witnessed. It is hard for me not to see a parallel between the situation of white farmers in Zimbabwe and that of Jews under Hitler. Zimbabwe’s nationalist leaders today hate the white man just as Nazis despised the Jew. Mugabe blames us for the chaos he has created, just as Hitler pinned all the problems of Germany on to a small Jewish minority.

The white population of Zimbabwe, which at its height numbered about 270,000, has now been whittled down to around 20,000. Only a few hundred farmers remain. Our tormentors grow bolder and more violent. We wonder how it will end.

Zim must get its act together