• ZAMBIA: Zimbabwean farmers increase tobacco production
• Obasanjo angry over failed meeting
• Zanu PF clashes over Banana
• Murerwa in gloomy budget
• Mawere rejects Zanu PF's poisoned chalice
• Tsvangirai files for Mudede's arrest
• Govt tightens grip on GMB
• Rains spell doom for wheat farmers
• Zupco chairman takes over bird sanctuary
• Harare on slide
• Govt/displaced farmers set to clash as budget omits compensation
• 'Budget offers little hope for economic recovery'
• Budget puts Gono under pressure
• 'Murerwa's forecast a mirage'
• What they said about 2004 national budget
• Govt calls private sector to the rescue
• No position on price controls
• Moyo pushes for revival of old doctrines
• Abandonment of privatisation ill-considered
• How will tourism police cope with Jocelyn?
• Mugabe sinks Obasanjo’s diplomacy
• Does Dube know the price of bread?
• Zanu PF defacing our history
• Letter to Mbeki: Mugabe beyond diplomacy
• Independent voices gagged

Sources said Mugabe rejected Obasanjo's attempt to organise an emergency
meeting with Tsvangirai to break the political impasse, claiming he needed
to consult his party first.

The meeting would have helped Obasanjo to claim he had brokered a
breakthrough between the two sides and thereby opened a door to Mugabe at
Abuja.

Obasanjo had ostensibly plan-ned to meet Mugabe to formally tell him why he
had not been invited to the Chogm, but later saw an opportunity to try to
break the political impasse.

When he arrived in the country on Monday, he first met Mugabe before seeing
Tsvangirai later in the morning. Sources said Mugabe briefed Obasanjo on the
situation and claimed he was a victim of a racist campaign by the "white
Commonwealth" angered by his land reform programme.

Mugabe claimed he was trying to address the economic situation. He also said
there had been informal talks between Zanu PF and the MDC.

After meeting Mugabe, Obasanjo went to see Tsvangirai for a briefing.
Sources said Obasanjo's first words were: "What's happening Mr Tsvangirai?"
to which the MDC leader replied: "Since your last visit to Zimbabwe (with
South African President Thabo Mbeki in May) nothing has changed, except for
the worse."

"Obasanjo looked surprised because Mugabe had given him the impression there
was progress," a source close to the talks said.

Tsvangirai then went on to chronicle events from last year up to now.

Sources said Tsvangirai started with Colonel Lionel Dyck's purported mission
last December, followed by the visit to Zimbabwe of Cape Town Archbishop
Njongonkulu Ndungane in March and then the meetings between Patrick
Chinamasa and MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube.

Tsvangirai also spoke about the church leaders' initiative and secret
meetings with Zanu PF chair John Nkomo in September in an effort to secure a
meeting between Mugabe and himself.

"It was an extensive briefing by Tsvangirai and Obasanjo was impressed," a
source said. "After that Obasanjo went back to Mugabe at State House hoping
to arrange a meeting between the two.

"But when he came back to Tsvangirai from State House he was visibly
disappointed because Mugabe had refused an immediate meeting with
Tsvangirai. Mugabe said he wanted to first consult his party and gave
February or March next year as dates for a possible meeting."

The sources said after Obasanjo's experience on Monday, there would be no
invitation to Mugabe "unless something dramatic happens" between now and the
opening of the conference on December 5.

Obasanjo is on record as saying Mugabe would not be invited unless there was
a positive "sea change" in Zimbabwe. His insistence on Monday that "we are
still consulting" suggested he had not found any "sea change" during his
visit.

Tsvangirai told Obasanjo Mugabe had failed to address Commonwealth concerns
raised when Zimbabwe was suspended from the club in March last year. The
issues include political reconciliation and democratic reforms.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard and officials at the Commonwealth
secretariat in London said after Obasanjo's visit this week that Mugabe
remained uninvited.

      The camp that supported Banana's case is believed to include
Vice-President Joseph Msika, Zanu PF chair John Nkomo, party secretary for
administration Emmerson Mnangagwa, spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira and other
heavyweights, although not all of them spoke at the meeting.

      Msika is understood to have led the argument for conferring hero
status on Banana. Contrary to reports, President Robert Mugabe appeared
initially to back this group.

      But an opposing front led by former army commander Solomon Mujuru and
his ex-airforce counterpart Josiah Tungamirai blocked attempts to declare
Banana a hero.

      The politburo decision so angered Banana's family that when Mugabe
visited Banana's Sentosa home to express his condolences on Tuesday there
was obvious tension, sources present reported. Banana's son Nathan, who
accompanied the body of his father from London where he died, avoided
talking to Mugabe altogether.

      Sources said the controversy over Banana's hero status forced Mugabe
to stay away from the burial in Esibomvu, Matabeleland South, on Wednesday.

      Mugabe has an impressive record of attending the funerals of his
adherents.

      Mujuru's camp argued Banana's criminal charges of sexual assault had
badly blemished his record and diminished his standing in society.

      Mujuru and Tungamirai were in charge of the armed forces when Banana
abused personnel assigned to guard him at State House between 1980 and 1987.

      Tungamirai testified during Banana's High Court trial in 1999. Banana
was convicted in 2000 and spent nearly a year in jail.

      Sources said political considerations played a key role in the
politburo's final decision.

      Those opposed to Banana's hero status argued that at the time of his
death he had become an opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
informal advisor. They cited his criticism of government's land reform
programme and denunciation of Zanu PF over political violence.

      In May 2000 Banana said "no one is ordained to rule for eternity".
This irked Zanu PF mandarins who viewed the remarks as an attack on Mugabe.

      Banana also said the presidential term of office should be limited
because "Zimbabwe cannot be ruled by one person".

      In 2001 Banana said Zimbabwe should put its house in order to avoid
targeted sanctions. He also said he supported a government of national unity
bringing Zanu PF and the MDC together.

      When Zanu PF denied its founder president Ndabaningi Sithole hero
status in 2001, Banana said the system of selecting heroes was flawed.

      "I think the problem is with the whole process of declaring heroes. I
believe that the question of determining who should be a national hero
should not be a party issue," he said. "You need an independent commission
to deal with the issue."

"We should now address these challenges in earnest if the economy is to be
turned around."

Murerwa said the economy was expected to contract by 13,2% this year while
inflation, currently at 525,8%, will rise to 700% early next year.

For the first time in the country's history the minister dished out
trillion-dollar amounts to various ministries. Eyebrows were raised when
Murerwa told the House that he was earmarking a shocking $1,27 trillion for
defence and security when there is peace in the region.

The figure was the third largest vote after the civil service wages bill
($3,18 trillion) and the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture ($1,52
trillion).

The defence and security amount was higher than that for Agriculture -
$587,6 billion - and Housing $10 billion. The meagre housing vote raises
doubts about promises by President Mugabe last week that government would
build a million houses in five years. It now costs about $15 million to
build a basic four-roomed house.

Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) policy manager James Jowa told
the Zimbabwe Independent that like other budgets before, last year's budget
had not been a real budget at all. It missed all its targets.

"We have gone through 22 budgets but we seem to continue making the same
mistake of living beyond our means," Jowa said. "We love to spend what we do
not have. Chronic fiscal deficits and supplementary budgets have been the
chief architects of the hyperinflationary environment now prevailing in the
country."

He said of particular concern had been excessive budget overruns.

In August Murerwa presented a $671 billion supplementary budget despite
admitting that the resources are simply not there.

"One may ask what then needs to be done?" Jowa asked.

"We do not need just an engine overhaul but a completely new engine to move
the economy ahead.

"The Minister of Finance in his 2003 budget statement mentioned the need to
restore confidence. He acknowledged what all of us had observed much
earlier, that the agrarian reform had played a part in the negative
publicity..

"But he did not announce the measures to be adopted to address these
fundamental issues. Probably the issues are beyond the budget and the
minister. But all the same it is quite refreshing that the government is at
least aware of the centre of the problem."

In an interview on Wednesday, Mawere said he wasn't a Zanu PF politician and
wanted to remain a businessman.

"No, I am not a member of Zanu PF or any other party. I have never been in
politics. I am only a businessman," said Mawere.

"I am convinced that my contribution to national development is enough
through my business interests. I have chosen business as one of the
nation-building planks that will further the gains of political freedom," he
said while paying tribute to "those who struggled to make me relevant as a
black man".

Ruling-party sources say efforts to revive the party include the co-option
of business people and academics.

Mawere said he understood that Zanu PF members had hoped to include him in
their attempts to buttress the party, but he wasn't able to take up the
offer.

"They were looking for people who can help them solve their problems and had
hoped that I could contribute. There is nothing wrong in people electing you
to a political position. However, I have advised them to look for someone
else because I can't take on the responsibility," he said

Mawere is said to have been approached last month by Zanu PF leaders with an
invitation to join its structures and he requested time to look into the
issue. However, elections were held last week when he was in India. He
returned on Monday this week only to be informed he had been elected as the
party's provincial secretary for economic affairs.

Zanu PF holds its annual conference in Masvingo next month at which the
contentious issue of choosing a successor to President Robert Mugabe could
feature prominently.

Sources said Zanu PF secretary for administration, Emmerson Mnangagwa,
considered Mugabe's heir apparent, was behind the election of both Mawere
and Shumba who are seen as his protegés in the province.

Mnangagwa can solve the Masvingo challenge by dealing a blow to Samuel
Mumbengegwi's faction that would deny him key votes in the succession
battle.

Mawere denied allegations that Zanu PF's patronage system had helped him
grow his business empire.

"Do my services or products produced by my businesses appeal to customers
because of a Zanu PF identity?" he asked. "The people who work in the
companies where I have shares are defined as Zimbabweans, not Zanu PF. How
does one justify the claim that I benefited from Zanu PF patronage?"

Despite his denial of links with the ruling party in the past, Mawere raised
eyebrows when he formed the National Development Assembly to counter the
Lovemore Madhuku-led National Constitutional Assembly, a civic rights
organisation.

Mawere, owner of Africa Resources Ltd, has under his wings Shabanie Mashaba
Mines, a major producer of asbestos.

Meanwhile, Mawere has confirmed that his business entities have a major
shareholding in Media Africa Group (MAG), publishers of the Business Tribune
and the Weekend Tribune.

"It is not true to say Mawere owns MAG. I don't have a personal interest in
the group. My interest is a corporate one. My companies have major
shareholdings in the group," he said.

Mudede is cited in the case in his personal capacity as the second
respondent while his office is cited as the first.

"I am bringing this application seeking an order from this honourable court
that the respondents are in contempt of this honourable court and that they
are in fact in contempt in a most serous and grave manner," said Tsvangirai
in his affidavit.

The contentious issue has been the failure by Mudede to move to the capital
from various parts of the country electoral material from the 2002 poll.
This is despite numerous High Court rulings compelling him to abide by
Section 78 of the Electoral Act.

The section compels the registrar-general to move all counted and rejected
ballot papers together with counterfoils and used voters' rolls in sealed
packets to a specified place for safekeeping.

The latest such ru-ling compelling Mudede to follow the law was by Justice
Moses Chinhengo on October 15. Chinhengo ordered that the electoral material
should be kept at the offices of the Registrar of the High Court.

Mudede has for the past year pleaded that he has no funds to move the
electoral material. But Chinhengo, who said Mudede had a statutory
obligation, quashed this argument.

"It must be clear therefore that the request that the ballot papers not be
brought to Harare because of the alleged lack of funds is an attempt by the
respondent (Mudede) not only to disregard the order of this court but more
importantly it is an attempt by him to have this court revisit its earlier
decision," Chinhengo said.

Meanwhile, the Administrative Court will on Monday hear an application by
Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe to effect an October 24 ruling which
declared that the publishing company should be declared registered by
November 30.

The Administrative Court also ruled that the Media and Information
Commission (MIC) was improperly constituted and that its chairman Tafataona
Mahoso was biased against ANZ, publishers of the Daily News. Mahoso has
already noted an appeal against the Administrative Court's ruling.

The ANZ is seeking a confirmation order of the October 24 ruling so that it
can resume publishing after it was closed by government following a Supreme
Court ruling on September 11 that the company was operating outside the law.

The first move was government's appointment of a taskforce to coordinate
grain distribution to starving people in 2001 and then the appointment of
Colonel Samuel Muvuti as GMB chief executive officer.

In September government appointed Zanu PF losing candidate in the Harare
Central parliamentary election in June 2000, Winston Dzawo, as GMB
operations director.

Government has also politicised GMB provincial structures by appointing
ruling-party henchmen as the parastatal's provincial managers. The
provincial managers have been vested with powers to control the distribution
and movement of grain to the populace in the countryside.

Highly-placed sources said all the appointees had links with the ruling
party in one way or another.

In Mashonaland Central, gov-ernment appointed Temba Mapu-ranga, a known Zanu
PF member who is understood to be vying for the provincial chairmanship in
the elections to be held tomorrow in Bindura. Contacted for comment,
Mapuranga, who was in Masvingo, said he would only comment next week.

"Contact me next week," he said.

An S Chatikobo was appointed provincial manager for Masvingo, John Mafa for
Mashonaland West, and Podiso Mafa for Matabeleland North.

Mafa referred all questions to GMB head office.

"All press issues are handled by our operations director," she said.

Norman Sobuza was appointed provincial manager for Matabeleland South while
a G Shiri was made responsible for the Midlands province.

An agriculture expert told the Zimbabwe Independent that new farmers could
not achieve desired production levels due to lack of knowledge, skills and
finance. They do not have the capacity to match production levels of
displaced commercial farmers.

"Wheat is a very difficult crop to grow for the new farmers," said the
expert.

"Most of these farmers are growing wheat on land between 10 and 15 hectares
when the crop must be grown on a large area for someone to realise a profit.
Small areas are difficult for farmers to get a profit from since hiring a
combine harvester for 1 hectare now costs $300 000," he said.

The worst affected areas include Mushandike Irrigation Scheme, the largest
irrigated area under wheat in Masvingo Province, and in Mashonaland Central
province.

Local demand of between 400 000 and 500 000 tonnes per annum used to be met
through imports of gristing wheat used to blend the local product to get
high quality flour.

The Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) in August said only 4 500 hectares had
been put under wheat in the commercial farming sector because of continued
disturbances and uncertainty. The figure was a mere 6% of the area that used
to be planted before the land reform programme in 2000.

Commercial farmers used to put between 65 000 and 80 000 hectares of land
under winter crop, producing up to 300 000 tonnes of wheat.

A visit to the conservancy over the weekend showed that Nherera has deployed
five of his workers to occupy one third of the 1 145-hectare conservancy
which he wants to convert into farmland. Nherera's workers have allegedly
occupied staff houses and have barred caretakers from watering and feeding
the cranes.

Conservancy owner Rolf Hangartner said Nherera first approached him in July
with a letter purportedly from the Ministry of Lands for the subdivision of
the farm.

"Arex Chinhoyi denied the existence of any such subdivision at Pinefarm or
knowledge of Nherera's allocation," Hangartner said. "Arex suspected the
offer letter was a fraud."

Hangartner said on November 8, Chinhoyi provincial administrator Christopher
Shumba arrived in the company of Mutorashanga police and Nherera to claim
ownership of the conservancy. Nherera left his five workers on the farm.

"Shumba imposed Nherera and his employees on the conservancy premises to the
exclusion of owners and staff," Hangartner said.

"The illegal occupants don't allow caretakers to water and feed the cranes.
The sole water supply for birds and staff has since broken down, and is
outside our control," he said.

Hangartner, a Swiss national, bought the farm in 1993 with the support of
Zvimba rural district council, the South Ayrshire Natural Resources
Sub-committee and the Department of National Parks to establish a breeding
centre for the endangered wattled cranes.

"We have invested over US$20 million to be where we are now," Hangartner
said.

"This investment is protected by the agreement between the Swiss
Confederation and the Republic of Zimbabwe on the Promotion and Reciprocal
Protection of Investments," he said "The centre is acclaimed by the
International Crane Foundation in America as a vital African contribution to
saving Zimbabwe's wattled cranes, a unique venture in Africa."

Hangartner said Nherera's move was a clear violation of land redistribution
criteria which exclude conservancies and properties protected under country
to country agreements.

"Government had reconsidered its shortsighted intention to acquire the
conservancy and accepted Zvimba land committee's recommendation to delist
the conservancy," he said. "The property is however still listed."

Hangartner said he had pursued dialogue and had also taken the case to court
to spare the bird sanctuary from occupation.

He said letters written to Vice-President Msika, provincial governor Peter
Chanetsa, Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo, Foreign Affairs
minister Stan Mudenge by the Embassy of Switzerland and the International
Crane Foundation had not moved government to delist the conservancy.

"Court action by our lawyers is unopposed by the commissioner of police and
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but determination has been delayed for
months," he said

The cranes had ceased breeding in the northern Great Dyke as a result of
human disturbances to the nesting sites.

The conservancy currently has 13 cranes plus 24 other different bird
species. It also has up to 27 species of animals.

Ratepayers should mount a revolt against such an imposition. There has been
a marked deterioration in the "services" the city provides, and indeed they
are charged for "improvements" to their properties when all around them the
city is falling apart.

While for once I agree with many of the criticisms levelled in the
government press, there is an important part of the story they are not
telling. And that concerns the deliberate incapacitation of the mayor of
Harare by Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo.

Ignoring the democratic will of the city's voters, Chombo has suspended
Elias Mudzuri and set up a kangaroo court, called a committee of
investigation, to try him for "crimes" such as failure to provide a
strategic turnaround plan, arbitrary dismissal of senior staff, and inciting
a stayaway.

The committee comprises Zanu PF-affilated officials whose mandate is clearly
to prevent Mudzuri from doing his job. One is a losing Zanu PF candidate in
Mbare, another a failed Zanu PF Bulawayo mayoral candidate.

Some of the officials Mudzuri was trying to get rid of were planted in the
civic administration in the dying days of the Zanu PF municipal regime and
clung on there long after their sell-by date.

The idea behind all this interference is to show MDC government doesn't
work. But the MDC appears to be conspiring in its own failure. It lacks
direction, resolution or resourcefulness in coping with the crisis in
Harare.

Who's in charge with Mudzuri paralysed? Does anybody know? The minister
appears to be giving instructions to the Town Clerk, an unelected official
appointed under the old order, while shunting aside the acting mayor who
should also be the acting chief executive officer. But the rot goes deeper
than that.

I have been told of councillors who have not even had the courtesy to reply
to letters from their ward residents seeking their help. Many are simply not
functioning at any level. Their collective demand for a hike in their
allowances should be flatly refused until there is an improvement in their
performance.

The traffic lights at the junction of Bishop Gaul and Argyle roads, a
dangerous intersection, have been out of action for over six months. Roads
in Msasa, a prime business district, have reverted to dirt tracks.
Meanwhile, the Director of Works blithely ignores the protests of residents
who object to change-of-use applications by businesses likely to change the
character of their neighbourhoods by increasing traffic flows and litter.

This is an unresponsive, uncaring council that needs to hear the crack of
the party whip. But Morgan Tsvangirai and his "shadow ministers" appear to
be indifferent to the fate of their key constituency - the nation's capital.

Bulawayo by contrast is well run and looks a whole lot better. It is clean
and relatively efficient (the residents may differ on this but let them
spend a week in Harare!), and there is a sense of solidarity between
council, its officials and the electorate.

Harare is a disaster area by contrast. Councillors and officials are at war.
The government is able to play divide and rule by dealing directly with its
chosen instruments at Town House. And there is no coherence to the MDC
caucus in what should be its flagship council.

Instead of imposing an unacceptable budget on the residents of the capital,
the council should be looking at ways of relieving the rates burden. Cities
around the world cope under adversity by devising new management techniques
and diversifying the revenue base. Brazil provides several examples. So does
South Africa. It takes commitment and imagination.

Thinking outside the box.

The failure of mechanical equipment is cited as the reason for breakdowns
and inadequate service delivery. In fact this is an administrative problem.
There is a complete absence of a culture of supervision and maintenance. And
mechanical equipment is not needed to remove rubble, cut grass and tend
verges.

Where traffic lights cannot be replaced, a return to traffic circles might
do in some situations. What is clear is the complete absence of a plan or
direction. The announcement of a $1-trillion budget shows just how far
removed the council is from the public it is supposed to serve. It sounds
like a case of "think of a figure, then multiply by 10". The residents of
Harare must not be penalised for poor maintenance or inadequate investment
in infrastructure under Zanu PF.

The MDC, little heard of nowadays just when it should be speaking out on the
ruling party's appalling misrule, needs to treat this as a showcase
opportunity to demonstrate its capacity for governance. That means looking
for ways to save money, using revenues thoughtfully, and above all
responding to the needs of ratepayers. Cleaning the place up would be a good
start!

That is not happening. Harare is slowly but surely going the way of Lagos
and Kinshasa. Its residents deserve better but won't get it if they remain
silent.

Government promised to compensate displaced farmers for the improvements
made on the farms but not the farms themselves.

Last year government allocated a mere $10 billion for compensation, which
farmers said was enough to pay for improvements on only 30 farms.

Finance minister Herbert Murerwa's budget gave agriculture the fourth
highest vote. The budget totally ignored compensation, concentrating on
financing inputs for the newly resettled farmers, suppression of animal
diseases, irrigation rehabilitation and capitalisation of the Agricultural
Development Bank.

"In order to improve productivity, mitigate the effects of drought and
restore the viability of the agricultural sector, I have allocated $587,6
billion to be channelled towards irrigation rehabilitation and development,
mechanisation, capitalisation of the Agricultural Development Bank,
livestock production and enhanced extension services," Murerwa said.

The minister said other than financial support for agriculture, government
was putting in place mechanisms for private investor participation in the
agrarian reform.

"Government has put in place mechanisms for private sector support which
include incorporation of already signed memoranda of understanding between
the ministry and private players."

Murerwa said government was also facilitating contract farming by providing
tax and non-tax incentives to private players supporting the agrarian
reform.

- Economy expected to shrink by 8,5% in 2004, slowing down from a revised
contraction of 13,2% in gross domestic product (GDP) for 2003.

- Inflation, which soared to 526% in October from 208% in January, was
described as the country's "number one enemy". Murerwa said the inflation
rate was expected to shoot to 700% in the first quarter of 2004, before
starting to subside. He gave no further estimates.

- There were no firm proposals on how the government intends to tackle
chronic foreign currency, fuel and short-term food shortages.

- Instead Murerwa said the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe would announce a new
monetary policy in mid-December detailing, among others, proposals on
foreign exchange management, interest rates and the management of money
supply to help slow down inflation.

- Murerwa said the government would introduce value-added tax from January
1, and estimated the country's budget deficit would remain unchanged at
around 7,5% of GDP.

- Murerwa announced several but mostly small tax concessions for workers and
pensioners. But he maintained the corporate tax rate at 30%.

Murerwa avoided the hot issues of interest rates and the exchange control,
which the market has been awaiting in anticipation of a sliding devaluation
of the dollar. The minister was vague on interest rates saying government
would pursue a policy that encourages growth on one hand, while fighting
inflation on the other.

"The details will be announced in the monetary policy statement to be issued
by the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe by mid-December," said
Murerwa.

On the exchange rate, the minister again referred to the Gono statement,
which he said would ensure there were no foreign currency leakages.

Analysts say the skeletal budget leaves Gono exposed. The burden now lies
squarely with Gono who is expected to pull the ailing economy from the
abyss.

In his 2003 national budget Murerwa promised that inflation would reach 96%
before gradually decreasing to "all-time lows".

The minister told the same parliament in August, this year, when he
presented his $672 billion supplementary budget that as Zimbabwe's inflation
escalates and economic performance worsened a growing proportion of the
population was now living below the poverty datum line.

Yesterday the minister harped on about inflation again, this time saying it
remained an enemy.

"Inflation remains our number one enemy whose containment requires total and
unwavering commitment and collaboration of all stakeholders," Murerwa said.

"In order to arrest rising inflation and reduce it initially to double-digit
levels and ultimately to single digit figures, government will rigorously
implement fiscal and monetary stabilisation measures. These will be
complemented by structural measures to invoke an immediate positive supply
response from the productive sectors of the economy."

He said it was important that government policies "fight inflation".

"Continued failure to do so threatens to destroy the very social fabric of
the nation," Murerwa told parliament in August.

Zimbabwe is facing hyperinflation that has resulted in the prices increasing
almost on a daily basis causing hardships for citizens.

"Murerwa is probably dreaming and underestimating the current economic
crisis we are facing," Robertson said yesterday.

"He is probably thinking much will be done by the central bank when it
introduces a new monetary policy with changes in interest rates."

Murerwa said the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe incoming governor Gideon Gono
would announce a new monetary policy mid-December that would "invoke an
immediate positive supply response from the productive sectors of the
economy".

He was however vague on how this would be done.

A Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce economist said inflation was already
way off target.

"Is the minister surprised at the way things have gone or is it that he does
not believe his own inflation assumptions in the first place?" he asked.

"Zimbabwe's gross domestic product is set to decline by more than 12% this
year."

Zimbabwe's year-on-year inflation rose sharply from 116,7% in January 2002
to 198,9% in December 2002 and 525,8% this week.

Bankers said because of inflation the purchasing power of the Zimbabwe
dollar fell by nearly two-thirds during 2002, with a dollar in 2003 now
worth less than one cent of its value in 1990.

- "The budget responds to the various inputs that came from business. To me
it was a balanced budget which put into account the revenue and expenditure
side. It looks realistic. The biggest challenge for the minister is to make
it work, so that we are not having a budget that does not mean what it
says." - CZI president Anthony Mandiwanza.

- "I think there is awareness among business, labour and government that we
are in a crisis that cannot be postponed any further."- Kombo Moyana,
businessman and former RBZ governor.

- "We will not be supprised if they come up with another supplementary
budget. To us this is a non-event. It is a dishonest budget." - Tendai Biti
MDC MP for Harare East.

- "A workable budget should be at least 20% of the Gross Domestic Product.
Last year the budget was around 10% of the GDP and that has fallen far short
of the expenditure. This year's budget is only about 11,5% of GDP and it
falls in the same danger as last year." - David Chapfika, MP Mutoko North.

"In particular, the capacity as well as the quality of services provided in
sectors such as water, roads, railways, airports, electricity, education,
health, posts and telecommunications pose serious bottlenecks to the
country's economic growth prospects."

Murerwa said government as the traditional financier and provider of the
above infrastructure services was facing severe financial constraints, it
will involve private sector through concessioning and build operate and
transfer (BOT) schemes to meet the gap.

"Concessions will be explored with foreign operators for the rehabilitation
and upgrading of the railway track and signalling systems," he said.

He said the road dualisation programme would continue to be financed through
budgetary allocation complemented by private sector participation on BOT
basis.

All government projects ground to a halt this year with their allocations
being exhausted before doing any meaningful work.

The government introduced the populist policy of price controls in 2001 at
the height of political and social tension in the country.

The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and the Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries have condemned price controls which they say serve only to feed
the black market.

Militant members of Zanu PF are understood to have remained adamant on price
controls which they regard as one of the few remaining ways to win the
hearts of the electorate.

As a way of cushioning themselves from the menace of price controls,
manufacturers have resorted to unorthodox re-branding of products.

By the way, does Dube know that a loaf of poorly made bread now costs:
nearly $4 000?

Leslie Vollenhoven,

Gweru.

The oppressed fought for the right to exist and to participate in the
creation of a vision for Zimbabwe. They sacrificed their lives for justice,
peace, equality and freedom for all. They fought for the right to belong to
the community of the free world.

There are parallels in the current struggle. On one side is a regime, Zanu
PF, determined to rob us of all of the ideals mentioned above. On the other
side, the majority's will persevere in spite of the persecution.

Chimurenga is in our midst, but you don't need the brains of a rocket
scientist to determine which side is which. We, the people of Zimbabwe, are
in another struggle for liberation, Chimurenga Three, from Zanu PF's
clutches.

One can understand why this party is desperate to associate its outlawed
rule with "the people's struggle". It has never been able to grasp the true
essence of Chimurenga.

Chimurenga is an unbroken chain, laid on the foundation of a determined
human struggle. The spirit is not static; it matures with age and assumes
different forms.

Zanu PF's uneducated interpretation of Chimurenga revolves around the land
issue and every other project the regime embarks on. Is the party aware that
it didn't exist when Nehanda inspired the first Chimurenga?

Both Mugabe and his party are defacing our history. They now want to take a
leap ahead of us, to force themselves into the present and the future, by
inventing history. Mugabe is using the party to deconstruct his irrevocably
notorious legacy. With its continued perpetuation of a stolen mandate, the
party is defeating itself. It's even surrendering its stake in Chimurenga
Two.

Obert Ronald Madondo,

Toronto, Canada.

Zimbabweans are poorer now than at any other time in the last century.
Inflation is running at 526% and rising. Imagine: every week the price of
bread doubles. Most basics have all but disappeared from store shelves.

For many people, there is no mealie-meal, no oil, no fuel, no flour, no
beef, no salt, no sugar, no biscuits, no grain for either humans or animals.
The national cattle herd has been decimated; most chicken, pig and sheep
breeders have been forced to slaughter.

Critical fuel shortages enter their third year with no sign that the
government is doing anything. Millions are starving. The agricultural sector
has been systematically vandalised. The land reform process has been grossly
mismanaged and hijacked by unscrupulous officials. With Robert Mugabe's

"Operation clean sweep", the process has become openly racist, targeting
even tiny holdings and non-arable mountain reserves. Only a few landless
peasants are benefiting, and tens of thousands of hectares of prime land now
lie fallow.

The knock-on effects are disastrous. Agro-industry has been eviscerated,
forex earnings almost obliterated, hundreds of thousands of jobs lost, the
tax base seriously depleted and banks thrown into disarray. Small businesses
everywhere are collapsing. The brain-drain amongst all races is huge.

Medical, industrial and educational expertise is dissolving. Nurses are
striking for a 7 000% pay rise, desperate to make ends meet, while bodies
rot in mortuaries because hearses have no fuel to fetch them. Government
price controls have backfired. Almost all small bakeries have been put out
of business, and bread sales have simply gone into black market mode. In
effect, the entire population has become a nation of petty criminals as
there is no other way to survive. Cross-border smuggling is rampant.

On my most recent visit, I gave a lift to an elderly man who showed me his
scars: Zanu PF militia had smashed his legs with bricks for campaigning for
the opposition. Dissenting newspapers are bombed and harassed.

Opposition leaders are arbitrarily arrested or attacked.

Food and fuel distribution are regularly reserved for Zanu PF card-holders.
Documented human rights abuses at the hands of government agents now run
into the hundreds of thousands.

The majority feel once again - as they did under Ian Smith - that they have
no recourse to the law. The constitution has been emptied of meaning.

Meanwhile, officials and unscrupulous businessmen and foreign hunters make
millions by pillaging the country's resources, often with government
connivance. Patriotism is dead. President Mugabe harps constantly about
Zimbabwe's sovereignty, but Zimbabwe has never in its history been so
dependent on the outside world, and never so vulnerable.

To blame all this on foreign saboteurs is absurd. Only a centralised
machinery, a governing power, could bring about such comprehensive vandalism
and collapse.

The environmental impact is catastrophic. One tiny example: in the Nyanyadzi
district young baobab trees are stripped of bark to make fibre mats for a
tourist market which no longer exists. Unsold mats hang everywhere; the
baobabs die. This inward-turning, hopeless destruction is happening
nationally. Extensive denuding of tree-cover is affecting water supplies.
Even non-arable conservancies are being carved up amongst Zanu PF heavies.
In satellite photographs, Zimbabwe looks like semi-desert. The latest count:
60% of wildlife on private conservancies is gone; 40% in national parks in
two years. South African citizens are implicated in the slaughter.

I am sure you do not need reminding, Mr President, of Nepad's explicit
commitment to environmental health for all, as well as to the principles of
good governance. No amount of prevarication and sidestepping can conceal the
fact that Robert Mugabe's government is primarily responsible for the
meltdown, and that it is a regional disaster. If Zimbabwe is not rescued,
Nepad is dead.

This is not about saving a few thousand whites, who are not even remotely an
electoral or pragmatic threat to Zanu PF, and who will in any case survive.
It is not about some mythical return to a pernicious colonial or
neo-colonial rule. It is not about kowtowing to self-serving programmes
dictated by the World Bank or rapacious multinationals. It is not about
narrow party politics. And it is not just about removing a single man from
power.

Mugabe is not the only member of the Zanu PF government who has publicly
threatened death to a constitutionally-protected opposition or boasted about
being greater than Hitler. Hitler - do we really need to remind ourselves? -
murdered six million people on purely racial grounds, and launched the most
destructive war the planet has ever known. These are not boasts worthy of
any statesman, whatever his liberation credentials. In Zimbabwe, those
credentials have been comprehensively betrayed and abandoned.

It is time, Mr President, to turn the corner.

It is now a much wider matter of upholding moral, humane and democratic
principles. It is about saving millions of lives, and averting the already
massive refugee crisis. It is about serving the majority for whom the
liberation wars in the whole region were fought. It is this majority which
is suffering: not the colonials, who effectively no longer exist, and
certainly not the new elite who are making astounding profits from the
crisis itself.

"Quiet diplomacy" has not worked, not because it is in itself a bad policy,
but because Mugabe and his henchmen have already put themselves beyond
diplomacy. Current "power-sharing" initiatives simply avoid the central
problem: that Zanu PF has been abusing power for years (are the 20 000
Ndebele dead of the 1980s Gukurahundi not testament enough?).

They have consistently proven themselves tyrannical, incompetent and
untrustworthy. They have deliberately destroyed truthfulness in Zimbabwe.
Their lies are transparent to a 12-year-old, their public assurances
contravened daily on the ground. "Sharing" with them will solve nothing,
unless tied to a clear programme for a thorough election-based overhaul.

President Mbeki, no one expects from you an armed invasion, or even punitive
sanctions. But the majority of oppressed people in the entire region look to
you to express open, upright, consistent, and public outrage at the slow
genocide and state-sponsored criminality being perpetrated in Zimbabwe.

They need this moral support to help themselves. They need your powerful
presence to help permit a non-violent change to a peace-loving and selfless
government. They need you to lead the region's leaders into an unequivocal
stance against a terror which can no longer be shut away within Zimbabwe's
borders: it is a cancerous regional problem.

Above all, President Mbeki, we all need to hear your voice, loudly and now.

Dan Wylie,

South Africa.

The Supreme Court ruling has attracted the attention of virtually all human
rights organisations, civic groups, and members of the legal fraternity. The
Supreme Court decision, which prompted the closure of the Daily News, has
received widespread condemnation on the perception that it abrogated its
duty to defend and protect the freedoms provided for in the constitution and
other international covenants that Zimbabwe signed and ratified. The
subsequent seizure of ANZ property by the Zimbabwe Republic Police without
judicial sanction is a further violation of certain fundamental rights in
Zimbabwe. The directors, staff and journalists of the ANZ were not spared
either as the police subjected them to arbitrary arrests and detentions from
time to time.

The ANZ then filed an application for registration in compliance with the
requirements under Aippa to the Media and Information Commission (MIC). The
MIC turned down the application on the basis that the ANZ had not satisfied
the requirements. The ANZ appealed against the decision of the MIC with the
Administrative Court, which found in favour of the Daily News on October 24.
The Administrative Court ruled that the MIC was improperly constituted, that
it was biased largely due to the conduct of its chairperson and also that it
acted ultra vires its powers in terms of Aippa.

The Constitution of Zimbabwe provides in Section 20 of the Bill of Rights
for the freedom of expression and in verbatim states: "Except with his own
consent or by way of parental discipline, no person shall be hindered in the
enjoyment of his freedom of expression, that is to say, freedom to hold
opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without
interference, and freedom from interference with his correspondence."

It is evident from the above that freedom of expression is one of the
elementary rights which must be guarded jealously by all individuals in
society for its violation affects the enjoyment of other rights.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in Article 19 states:
"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right
includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive
and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers."

Even though not necessarily binding, the provisions of the UDHR have been
considered to be an authoritative guide to human rights and constitute
general principles of law and are widely held as having acquired legal force
as customary international law. Some jurists have also regarded the UDHR as
part of the United Nations Law.

The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which Zimbabwe ratified in
1986, equally provides for freedom of expression under Article 9 (1) when it
states that "Every individual shall have the right to receive information".

The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights meeting at its 32nd
Ordinary session in 2002 adopted the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of
Expression, the preamble of which reaffirms "the fundamental importance of
the freedom of expression as an individual human right, as a cornerstone of
democracy and as a means of ensuring respect for all human rights and
freedoms" in Africa.

The Declaration recognises the key role the media and other means of
communication play in "ensuring full respect for freedom of expression, in
promoting the free flow of information and ideas, in assisting people to
make informed decisions and promoting the free flow of information and
ideas, in assisting people to make informed decisions and in facilitating
and strengthening democracy".

An important aspect of the states' positive obligation to promote freedom of
expression and of the media is the need to promote pluralism within and to
ensure equal access of all to the media. This entails that states not only
refrain from interfering with the rights but also take positive steps to
ensure that rights, including freedom of expression, are respected. In
effect governments are under an obligation to create an environment in which
independent media can flourish, thereby satisfying the public's right to
information.

Article 14 of the Declaration provides that "states shall promote a general
economic environment in which the media can flourish". The Declaration
unequivocally affirms the principle of independence of media regulatory
bodies, as this is a vital condition for the promotion and protection of the
right to freedom of expression. To ensure the free flow of information and
ideas, media regulatory bodies should enjoy both organisational and
operational autonomy - a requirement that the MIC of Zimbabwe cannot
satisfy.

Zimbabwe also ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights in 1991 which provides for the freedom of expression under Article 19
(2) as follow: "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this
right shall include freedom to receive and impart information and ideas of
all kinds regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in
the form of art, or through any other media of his choice".

It is clear that freedom of expression is one of the fundamental rights; all
state parties to the above cited instruments are expected to implement
measures that further enhance the enjoyment of these rights. The ANZ case is
emblematic of the patent suppression of the freedom of expression by the
state. It goes without saying that the existence of an independent media is
important in the furtherance of democracy and democratic values in society.
To this end, Zimbabwe Lawyers For Human Rights is campaigning for the
respect and protection of freedom of expression in Zimbabwe. The granting of
a publishing licence to the ANZ is only but a step towards the promotion,
enforcement, and realisation of the right to freedom of expression in
Zimbabwe.

- Otto Saki is a projects lawyer with the Zimbabwe Lawyers For Human Rights.