• Land Report: the Details
• MDC Weekly Briefing
• Protesters 'still in custody'
• Zimbabwe protesters 'assaulted'
• Spat grows over British aid for Zimbabwe
• Political opponents denied food in Zimbabwe: Report
• Police bar lawyers after demo arrests
• Cons thrive in Zimbabwe as economy shrinks
• Zimbabwe Judge Removes Two Senior Officials from Election Misconduct Case
• MDC outlines poll challenge
• ZESA shakes up top management
• 27 firms barred from tobacco floors
• Heads set to roll at troubled RBZ
• Massive failure rate at ZOU
• November 20 is budget day
• Zim goes 2 months with no IMF representative
• Inputs crisis puts more food woes on the horizon
• Zim excluded from African C'wealth countries meeting
• Two-tier fuel pricing system falls flat
• War vets chief clears air on land reform
• How’s this for naivety, gullibility?
• NEPAD and its relevance to Zim
• How gun-toting youths wreaked havoc in Zambia
• Low maize produce forecast
• Tobacco farmers' groups resisting
• Nullification of Makoni East Parliamentary Election result
• World Vision Zimbabwe to launch urban school-feeding program

The Herald (Harare)

DOCUMENT
October 23, 2003
Posted to the web October 23, 2003

Harare

This is the first part in a series of the Report of the Presidential Land
Review Committee. Today we start with the Executive Summary of the main
findings and recommendations.

1. THE Committee was able to establish, in regard to those who appeared
before it at both national and provincial levels, that:

(a) Ministers and other Government officials wholly supported the Programme,
stated it to have been successfully implemented in the face of formidable
odds, but variously noted numerous obstacles that impinged on the
implementation process, including resource constraints, the legal framework,
bureaucracy and related operational difficulties.

(b) Beneficiaries of the Programme generally expressed happiness with the
outcome of Programme implementation and the manner in which their own lives
had begun to be transformed, in some cases reportedly dramatically. Yet
complaints were also heard from would-be beneficiaries who were awaiting
resettlement as promised by their local leaders, particularly the Chiefs, or
who, in the case of applicants for the model A2 plots, had still to be
informed as to the fate of their applications or as to whether their plots
would be given back to them or replacement allocations made where such plots
had been taken over irregularly by other persons or where the farms in
question had been "delisted". In addition some former white commercial
farmers wrote or telephoned the Committee's Secretariat seeking the latter's
intervention to enable them to return to their farms on the basis that they
were in compliance with all criteria set by Government in this regard. The
Committee referred such cases to Government for review and rectification
where deemed warranted.

(c) Representatives of farmers' unions, the financial services sector, and
agro-business generally saw land reform as vital for the.country's political
stability and economic development, while however insisting that agriculture
be placed on a properly planned and adequately resourced basis.

2. It should be noted that the process of acquiring and distributing land to
the people under the two resettlement models, the Al and A2, was undertaken
in a complex legal framework which rendered the process both difficult and
cumbersome. As the Committee went about its work it could not fail to be
struck by the number and variety of legal issues that still required
resolution in respect of the acquisition procedures; the allocation of land
to beneficiaries, especially under the A2 model; the assessment of the value
of improvements; and ownership and access to moveable assets on the farms.
Inevitably, the Governmental machinery for administering these matters was
taxed to the limit.

Above all, there was a major contradiction observed as between the 1992 Land
Acquisition Act as amended, which provides for the compulsory acquisition of
land, and the provision embedded in the Constitution which requires that
such acquisition be confirmed by the Administrative Court. This
contradiction ought to be removed.

3. (a) The Committee established that nationally a total of 2 652 farms with
a combined hectarage of 4 231 080 had been allocated to 127 192 households
under the A1 resettlement model as of 31st July 2003. The take up rate by
beneficiaries was 97%. As for the A2 resettlement model, the corresponding
figures were 1 672 farms amounting to 2 198 814 hectares for 7 260 applicant
beneficiaries. The take up rate under this model however ranged from 42%
(Manicaland) to 100% (Matabeleland South), with an average take up rate of
66% nationally. This failure by some 34% of applicants to take up their
allocations implied a considerable amount of land lying fallow or unused
while, ironically, thousands of would-be A2 beneficiaries were pressurising
the authorities to be allocated land.

(b) Regarding former farm workers the Committee established that a number
had been officially resettled under the Programme, and others had secured
employment with the new farmers whilst the remainder opted to either return
to their countries of origin or to their rural homes in Zimbabwe. The third
category however remained in the farm compounds pending a determination of
their fate by the Government.

(c) It was also established that 1 323 white farmers remained with 1 377
farms, amounting to 1 175 607 hectares as at 31st July 2003. The total
landholding under this category constitutes about 3% of land in the country,
excluding land held by corporate entities. The presence or otherwise of
these farmers on the land could not in all cases be verified at the time of
the compilation of this Report.

(i) The Committee recommends that A2 plots not taken up by applicants
already notified of their availability be allocated to other A2 applicants
still on the waiting list subject to the bulk of the land in question being
reassigned to, and re-planned for, the A1 model with a view to further
decongesting the communal areas.

(ii) The Committee also recommends that the resettlement models be recast
with respect to some parts of the country such that the old three-tier model
is restored in parts of Matabeleland South.

(iii) The Committee further re commends that a corporate-type model with a
component to provide for local community participation is established in
plantations, conservancies, safaris and forest areas with particular
reference to the two Mata-beleland Provinces, Masvingo and Manicaland. The
Committee has noted that development in these areas has up until now
occurred in a haphazard or segmented manner. Worse, the Fast Track saw what
amounted to an attempt to subdivide these areas into individual plots which
would clearly be unviable. The Committee calls for a comprehensive policy
and approach that would ensure that returns to the country in both local and
foreign currency multiply well beyond what has been realised to date.

(iv) The Committee recommends that the issue of leases or other forms of
legal title for the beneficiaries of the A2 model be concluded speedily.
Such title is vital for assured productive use of the land. The variability
in plot sizes and the state of prior improvements on them (including such
assets as houses and other infrastructure, etc) should be properly assessed
for purposes of determining the quantum of individual lease rentals and
other cost recovery measures as may be determined.

(v) The Committee recommends that Government urgently addresses the
situation of former farm workers in the farm compounds. Their continued
presence on the farms had created numerous problems arising from illegal
gold panning, misuse of farm facilities and resources and general criminal
activities.

4. Given the historically diverse and pivotal role of women in all aspects
of agriculture in the communal lands and the need to strike an overall
gender balance in this crucial sector of the economy, measures such as those
outlined under the relevant section of Part IV of this Report should be
implemented to ensure equity in, and the effectiveness of, the agrarian
reform in the country. Moreover, in order to ensure the survival and
stability of the growing number of families in rural areas now headed by
women and even children as a result of the devastation wreaked on society by
the AIDS pandemic, and in the light of the growing phenomenon of the
feminisation of poverty among women-headed households, the gender dimension
of the agrarian reform needs to be kept uppermost in the transformation of
the sector in the context of the Fast Track. The agrarian reform thus
constitutes an important vehicle for economically empowering women.

5 Programme implementation was adversely affected by many factors, among
them a hostile external political environment, national macro-economic
instability, and adverse weather conditions vis-a-vis a largely rain-fed
agricultural sector. Other impediments to Programme implementation included
limited financial and other resources and administrative difficulties
encountered by an over-stretched bureaucratic apparatus suddenly called upon
to implement a complex programme in great haste, and in a context that
turned out to be exploitable by some through unauthorised and unilateral
interventions in the allocation process.

(i) The Committee thus recommends that there be undertaken a major overhaul
of the machinery of Government involved in land and agricultural affairs
such that these functions are handled by two separate Ministries, a Ministry
of Agriculture and a Ministry of Land Affairs.

(ii) The Ministry of Agriculture would deal with all agricultural matters
including water development and irrigation. It would also house most if not
all of the parastatals currently engaged in agricultural activities of one
kind or another. These parastatals themselves would need to be reformed in
the manner indicated under Part IV hereunder. In addition the proposed
Agricultural Marketing Council (see Part IV) would be so structured as to
provide a direct link to the Ministry.

(iii) The Ministry of Land Affairs would have responsibility on all land
issues including land registration, resolution of boundary disputes, the
proffering of advice to Government on matters of tenure, compensation, farm
sizes, land taxation, land subdivisions, distribution and allocation.

(iv) To facilitate the effective functioning of the Ministry of Land
Afffairs, it is recommended that a semi-autonomous National Land Board be
established. The Board would exercise both executive and advisory functions
vis-a-vis the Ministry.

(v) Further, the Committee recommends that the National Land Board be
empowered to ensure that land allocated to the people under the Land Reform
Programme is fully utilised. Any demonstrated failure over a defined period
to use the land productively especially in regard to the A2 model should
result in cancellation of leases, and the re-allocation of the land to those
willing and able to make use of it

6. Provincial profiles in the Programme implementation process reflect
fairly similar problems and opportunities around the country. However, some
problems were found to be more severe in some provinces than in others. Land
use patterns were a major issue in the two Matabeleland Provinces as already
noted under paragraph 3(ii) and (iii) above and under Part III of this
Report. In addition the pressure for land in certain parts of the two
provinces considered desirable was extremely intense as shown by the take up
rates under the Al model of 100 percent for Matabeleland South and 120
percent for Matabeleland North. In Manicaland while the Provincial
authorities cited the problem of land shortage, this Report noted that the
province had the lowest take up rate (42 percent as against the national
average of 66 percent) under resettlement model A2. More land could be
secured for resettlement under the Al model, with any necessary
modifications, on such state-owned land as that at Chisumbanje and Middle
Save, some of which land is lying fallow. In Masvingo the issue of
Plantations and Conservancies and even a national Game Park loomed large in
relation to the pressure for land among the people in that Province. In the
Midlands Province the Programme implementation process left intact some
properties that exceeded maximum farm sizes. A review of this situation
however would have to take into account land use patterns in the affected
areas of the Province. It was noted that not much decongestion had taken
place in the districts of Mberengwa and Zvishavane and that some people from
these districts had had to seek accommodation in the neighbouring provinces
of Matabeleland South and Masvingo. Further, a number of people from the two
districts of Gokwe in the same province had been resettled, formally or
informally, in Mashonaland West Province. In parts of Mashonaland West
particularly the areas as adjacent to Harare and the western and
north-western parts of the province, the resettlement process appeared to
have taken place in a haphazard manner. In Mashonaland East the delisting of
dairy farms gazetted for acquisition remained outstanding at the time of the
compilation of this Report, despite request for such delisting by the PLIC.
In Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West and parts of
Matabeleland North and South the pressure for land especially as regards the
A2 model was particularly intense to the extent that further efforts will
have to be put into the review and refinement of land allocations in these
areas. The Committee recommends the following in addition to the
recommendations captured under Paragraph 3 above:

(i) Measures be taken to decongest areas in a number of provinces including
those mentioned above where pressure for land remains acute.

(ii) Action be taken as soon as possible to regularise the situation
regarding land which is held under Bilateral Investment Promotion and
Protection Agreements.

(iii) A conclusive position be taken on the allocation of land subdivisions
to which the LA3 forms were designed to apply. Representations were made by
a number of white commercial farmers who had been served with Section 8 but
who only had one farm or whose farm was claimed to fall under the
agro-industrial category or who surrendered their other farm(s) to
Government and had been allowed to make a choice of one farm or sub-division
thereof to allow them to continue with farming. Many such persons expressed
the view that as they satisfied criteria set by Government in its policy,
they should have been allowed to continue farming operations on the property
or subdivision in question. A similar view was also expressed by those whose
farm or farms were gazetted without an option being given them to retain
either one such farm or a subdivision thereof. These matters need to be
addressed by Government conclusively and expeditiously to allow for
productive use of the land and a sense of certainty about their future for
the farmers concerned.

(iv) There is need for a countrywide review of plots sizes allocated under
the Al and A2 models to ensure consistency and compliance with policy
guidelines.

(v) In regard to statutory maximum farm sizes, the Committee, while noting
the rationale for these, recommends flexibility in the enforcement of the
same taking into account land use patterns viability considerations and the
existing infrastructure.

(vi) All self-settled land occupiers in any part of the National 'Parks
Estate should be removed and the protective game fences restored without
further delay.

(vii) Efforts be made in Mashonaland East in particular to delist the dairy
farms which had been gazetted for acquisition, with a view to restoring
viability in this crucial industry.

(viii) The Committee urges deliberate and speedy action by Government to
resolve with finality all allocation issues arising out of, or outstanding
from, Programme implementation. Particular reference is made to the case of
applicants for A2 plots whose names were published in newspapers as
confirmation of their successfully meeting the criteria for land allocation.
It had been indicated. by the allocating authority that all that remained
was the allocation of plots but one and half years later, the applicants
were still to be allocated such plots.

7. Related to the above, the problem of uncertainty as to the place of
pen-urban areas in the Land Reform Programme appeared to remain unresolved
in the period of the Committee's assignment. It is urged that this
uncertainty be removed as it has partly been responsible for the contests
for land that the Committee observed or was informed about as its members
visited the areas in question.

8. Production in the resettled areas, while not computed statistically by
the Committee, reflected appreciable performance especially under model Al.
Beneficiaries made full use of the land allocated to them. In some areas
yields realised in crops such as maize and tobacco were quite significant if
not impressive. This was especially so given the poor rainfall patterns in
the summer seasons covered by the Fast Track. However, a recurring theme in
the producing areas was the need for timeous provision of adequate till-age
services and inputs of all types.

(i) Inputs availability and affordability are fund-amental to enhanced
productivity. It is therefore imperative that practical steps be taken
before the onset of the 2003-2004 cropping season to address the current
shortages and exorbitant prices.

(ii) It is imperative that Government proceed in a co-ordinated manner and
with a streamlined implementation machinery cutting across relevant sector
Ministries. It is important however that Government should seek to engender
the ethos of pride and self reliance amongst the people. In this regard,
assistance with inputs should be carefully targeted, such that it is based
on definite criteria as to need.

(iii) Apart from seed production and fertiliser manufacturing domestically
including the exploitation of coal-bed methane resources for fertiliser
production (especially ammonium nitrate), it is also critical that value
addition to agricultural produce be undertaken as a matter of deliberate
policy For example there is no plausible reason in the country exporting
bulky cotton lint instead of weaving it to boost the textiles and clothing
industry.

Given the fact that the country is drought prone, the need for a water
resource development strategy is compelling. As part of such development and
having regard to the agricultural sectors needs, irrigation must be viewed
as a national priority. Accordingly, it is imperative to evolve a set of
policies that accord irrigation its appropriate place in the country's
agriculture. It is equally imperative that governmental institutions
involved in water resource development and irrigation be harmonised and
streamlined to enhance the effectiveness of their overall impact on the
transformation of the sector.

10. The issue of enhanced agricultural production in both the resettled
areas and the present communal lands is vital In the interest of both food
security and the development of the economy as a whole. In this regard, the
Committee has recommended under Part IV of Volume I and Volume II of this
Report, a number of measures to be undertaken across the sub-sectors of
agriculture which would, it is hoped, lead to such enhanced production.
These recommendations cover in the first instance the need for comprehensive
and systematic planning of future agricultural development having regard to
the five pillars that appeared to the Committee to be critical for
transformation in this regard, namely:

Institutional Framework for Agricultural Service Provision;

 Human Capacity and Skills Development;

 Agricultural Research and Technology Transfer;

 Agricultural Inputs and Financial Services; and

 Domestic and International Markets for Agricultural Products.

Details pertaining to the production of specific crops are also dealt with
in the sections of the Report cited above.

 
1 Engage in real and constructive dialogue with the MDC
2 Repeal repressive laws against journalists and the media
3 End harassment of the opposition
4 Address the issues of electoral malpractice raised by the Commonwealth observers at the 

   2002 presidential and 2000 parliamentary elections
5 Engage both the UN and the Commonwealth with regard to lawful and transparent land reform.
 
END
 

[1] Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
[2] International Confederation of Free Trade Unions

Harare, Zimbabwe - Human rights lawyers said 77 protesters remained in
custody Thursday, a day after police broke up the latest anti-government
demonstration in this troubled southern African country.

Riot police used batons and dogs on Wednesday to disperse a gathering
organised by the National Constitutional Assembly, an alliance of civic
groups seeking political reform in Zimbabwe. About 300 people were arrested
by police and held at different locations.

Alex Muchadehama, one of the human rights lawyers tracing detainees
Thursday, said most were believed to have been freed.

He said those arrested would likely be charged with threatening public order
by holding an unauthorised public gathering.

Under Zimbabwe's sweeping security laws, all protests and public
demonstrations have been declared illegal unless approved by government.

Police were not available to comment. But an unidentified spokesman told
state radio that police believe the alliance is "on an attention seeking
campaign".

Witnesses said local reporters and photographers were among those detained.

Iden Wetherell, editor of The Zimbabwe Independent weekly, confirmed one of
his staff members, Blessing Zulu, was beaten with batons and detained. Zulu
was released Thursday morning without charge, he said.

Alliance chair Lovemore Madhuku was among those who remained in custody late
on Thursday.

Zimbabwe is in the midst of political and economic crisis, with 70%
unemployment and acute shortages of food, gasoline and medicine.

A state program to seize thousands of white-owned farms for redistribution
to blacks has crippled its agriculture-based economy.

President Robert Mugabe's government has also stepped up its crackdown on
dissent, charging opposition leaders with treason and shutting down the
country's only independent daily newspaper.

      Britain will give a further £6.88m ($11.65m) in humanitarian aid to
Zimbabwe, bringing the total of British assistance to over £62m in the last
two years.

      The new pledge comprises £5m to the World Food Programme and £1.88m to
Unicef. It excludes ongoing British support for HIV-AIDS programmes in
Zimbabwe.

      The announcement in Harare on Thursday came ahead of Friday's
publication of a report by Human Rights Watch not only accusing the Zimbabwe
government of using food aid for political ends but claiming that
international agencies have failed to ensure that access to food is based on
need alone.

      The 51-page report, "Not Eligible: The Politicisation of Food in
Zimbabwe", claims that food has been denied to suspected supporters of the
main opposition party and to residents of former commercial farms resettled
under the government's land reform programme. It accuses members of the
ruling ZANU-PF party of systematically manipulating the supply and
distribution of food aid.

      Human Rights Watch also accuses donor agencies of tacit complicity in
preventing food from reaching former commercial farm areas resettled under
land reform. While the international community has spent hundreds of
millions of dollars pouring food aid into Zimbabwe, thousands continue to go
hungry, it says.

      These claims are dismissed by the World Food Programme, which
co-ordinates international food aid to Zimbabwe. Its Harare representative,
Kevin Farrell, said on Thursday that politicisation problems had been "minor
and dispersed". But Peter Takirambudde of Human Rights Watch said the
government was manipulating relief efforts while the international community
was "playing along".

      Estimates are that 5.5m people - about 45 per cent of the population -
will need food aid over the next nine months. Food imports to date are
estimated by FEWSNET, a non-government organisation that monitors food
problems in Africa, at only 28 per cent of the current year's cereal
deficit.

      Although there have been repeated warnings of another poor harvest in
2003/4, the government insists its land resettlement programme is working
and that Zimbabwe will produce up to double its domestic consumption of
maize (3.5bn tonnes) in the current year.

      FEWSNET warns that while rainfall prospects for the current season are
"fair to good", the signs are that Zimbabwe will not manage to produce even
two thirds of its annual maize requirement unless urgent steps are taken to
overcome shortages of fuel, fertiliser, foreign currency and maize seed.

      The government appeared to confirm this on Monday when Agriculture
Minister Joseph Made said the central bank had failed to release $30m needed
to pay for maize seed imports. Bankers say this is a reference to a $30m
loan - with repayment pledged against next year's tobacco crop - that the
government is trying to raise from foreign banks.

      Tobacco sales for the current year will end next week with sales of
around 80m kilograms - less than half the 166m produced last year. The 2004
crop is forecast to be possibly as low as 40m kilograms.

      This latest spat over food aid comes against a background of rising
political temperatures in Zimbabwe. On Wednesday some 300 civil rights
demonstrators were arrested by police, with most of them kept in the cells
overnight.

      On Monday the treason trial of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
will resume, while a week later the high court will hear the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change's challenge of President Robert Mugabe's
March 2002 election victory, widely perceived to have been rigged.

Police bar lawyers after demo arrests

Harare - Zimbabwean lawyers were forcibly evicted from the capital's main
police station yesterday as they tried to secure the release of more than
200 demonstrators arrested earlier in the day. The demonstrators were
members of the National Constitutional Assembly, who were held after a
protest against the government's handling of the economy, which the group
believes is responsible for chronic shortages of food, fuel and foreign
currency. The lawyers were concerned about the welfare of the protesters
after witnesses in the police station reported riot police using batons to
beat the detainees. Beatrice Mtetwa, a prominent human rights lawyer, who
was the victim of a police attack earlier this month, was one of seven
lawyers thrown out of the police station. She said: "Riot police threatened
us with tear-gas and beatings." Last month police quelled a similar protest
by the NCA, a coalition of political parties and student, church and rights
groups which has staged a series of demonstrations in the past four years.
It believes President Robert Mugabe has manipulated the constitution to
tighten his 23-year grip on power.

      "If you really want to survive you cannot afford the luxury of
blinking during your transactions because it can be very costly."

      Almost daily, Zimbabwe's media carries private and public
advertisements warning people about scams ranging from counterfeit money to
fake crop seeds.

      The economic crisis has left the country with disastrous shortages of
fuel, cement, seed, fertiliser and basic foods such as sugar.

      Black market traders sell their wares at up to 10 times the prices set
by President Robert Mugabe's government. But the hunger for life's basic
necessities has also spurred a raging trade in fake goods.

      Many Zimbabweans now comb newspapers for "health warnings" on what
fraud schemes to look out for in what one government minister called a fight
against the "mafia economy".

      A bag of cement might be partly filled with sand, a tin of cooking oil
might turn out to be tightly sealed water while a pack of "maize seed"
bought at a premium might just be ordinary maize glossed up with paint.

      Some estate agents have warned property buyers to watch out for crooks
"selling" homes they did not own, while urban authorities have put up
notices warning consumers to get official receipts for rates and water
charges - or risk yet another fraud.

      An official with the watchdog Consumer Council of Zimbabwe said on
Tuesday that fake goods had become a big problem.

      "We don't have figures ... but yes, we are getting many reports of
people being cheated [and] of fake goods on the market," he said.

      "We are trying to work with the police to address the problem."

A High Court judge in Zimbabwe Wednesday has approved a petition by two top
government officials that allows them to remove themselves from a case
brought by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. The opposition is
questioning the judge's decision, saying the two officials played a key role
in the presidential election last year that the opposition is challenging in
the courts.
In their petition, the two officials, the registrar general and the minister
of justice, argued that the election challenge is strictly between President
Robert Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan
Tsvangirai, who alleges gross irregularities in the poll. Most Western
observers condemned the election result, which Mr. Mugabe won, as not being
either free or fair.

With the registrar general and the minister of justice removed from the
case, two respondents remain: President Mugabe and the Electoral Supervisory
Commission. But the Commission has also applied to the courts to be removed
as a respondent.

The opposition has expressed surprise at the court decision. Brian Elliot,
the MDC legal representative in the case, said any person with a substantial
interest in the case must be cited. He said the registrar general was cited
in his capacity as head of the body that conducts elections and the minister
of justice was cited because he wrote the laws that tilted the elections in
the president's favor.

In a related development, another High Court judge has annulled the election
victory of a ruling ZANU-PF parliamentary candidate in the 2000 general
election. The MDC won 57 of the 120 contested seats in that election.

The courts have so far ruled in favor of the opposition in eight of the more
than 20 results it has challenged. However, the ruling party candidates in
the other cases continue to sit in parliament pending the hearing of their
appeals in the Supreme Court. The next general elections are due in 2005

      10/23/2003 1:16:09 PM (GMT +2)

      From the onset, the new pricing system has been a compromise as the
government was under pressure to break the National Oil Company of
Zimbabwe's (Noczim) monopoly without upsetting the electorate that was
growing impatient because of the high cost of living.

      Oil producing countries, notably Libya, had also shut off regular
shipments to Zimbabwe owing to the fuel procurer's failure to pay on time.

      Under the circumstances, Amos Midzi's Energy Ministry opted for a
compromise where Noczim charged a much cheaper price to government,
passenger transport operators and the agricultural sector than the price
passed on to the rest of the economy by private oil companies.

      Analysts told The Financial Gazette this week that although the dual
fuel pricing system sounded good on paper, its outcome has been another
policy faux-pas for President Robert Mugabe's government, which has battled
to normalise fuel supplies for the past three years.

      Supplies from Noczim have virtually dried up with the government's
mouthpiece, The Herald, confirming the national fuel procurer had run out of
the precious liquid in an unusual headline carried in its Saturday's
edition.

      Corruption and profiteering have scuttled the two-tier pricing
system's original objective of cushioning impoverished commuters from fare
hikes and keeping fuel affordable for newly resettled farmers.

      Critics said the dual fuel pricing system was only meant to portray
the government as concerned about the plight of the ordinary citizen.

      Harare economist Joseph Muzulu said the new system, which was
hurriedly and half-heartedly put together, has created arbitraging, where
fuel dealers secure the resource from Noczim and dispose of it at
market-linked prices.

      Muzulu said: "With dual pricing, you need a strong monitoring
mechanism because someone can buy from Noczim and sell on the other market."

      While the loss-making parastatal is still selling a litre of petrol at
Z$450, the pricing of fuel by private oil companies is now chaotic. A litre
of petrol can be bought at anything between the gazetted Z$1 980 and Z$3
500.

      Law enforcement agencies have been turning a blind eye on private
importers, amid allegations that private oil companies linked to the ruling
ZANU PF were being let off the hook because of their connections.

      Only Comoil, owned by a ZANU PF Member of Parliament, was fined for
selling fuel at black market prices, but that was before the de-regulation
of the petroleum industry.

      The agricultural sector, which is in limbo because of the shortage of
inputs, particularly maize seed and fertiliser, will not get adequate fuel
supplies this season, while the public transportation system, which include
the National Railways of Zimbabwe's "freedom train", is virtually grounded.

      The justice delivery system has also been affected and cannot secure
transport to take prisoners to the courts, while the fleet for
municipalities and the government-run CMED (Private) Limited is grounded.

      On average, it now takes at least three hours for a commuter to get
transport to and from work, a trend that has led to absenteeism and loss of
production.

      Economic consultant John Robertson told The Financial Gazette that the
whole crisis hinged on the shortage of foreign exchange blamed on poor
export performance and the loss of donor support from the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international backers.

      Zimbabwe has to regain the IMF's support to improve foreign exchange
inflows while strategies to stimulate exports are being worked out.

      "People are not happy with the exchange rate and right now, they are
waiting for a devaluation," said Robertson.

      Exporters, who have been accused of externalising their earnings
through under-invoicing and transfer pricing, have been calling for more
incentives to improve foreign currency inflows required to bankroll fuel and
electricity imports, among other things.

      With agriculture in disarray because of the shortage of inputs, the
fuel crisis may continue for a long time to come. The land seizures slashed
production of tobacco, the main hard currency earner at a time when aid,
investment and tourism earnings were drying up.

      Muzulu said Noczim was now borrowing to service its loans instead of
importing fuel to retire its massive debt, running into billions of dollars.

      "In my view, controlling the price of fuel only serves to worsen the
situation. It is obvious that Noczim needs a subsidy but the government
doesn't have the money," said Muzulu.

      "Things have fallen too far apart. It's a whole package, where you
have to make the exchange rate find its own level and prices finding own
levels," he said.

      Noczim, which is raising money locally to pay for its imports, may
need to raise the price of fuel and put pressure on the government to double
the level of subsidy.

      More increases in petrol prices will however, aggravate the country's
spiralling official inflation currently at around 500 percent.

      10/23/2003 1:17:39 PM (GMT +2)

      THERE is confusion over the role of war veterans with the dominant
view being that the fighters of Zimbabwe's liberation have turned villains
because of their endless and "unreasonable" demands including their
controversial role in the land reform exercise.
      The Financial Gazette Acting News Editor BRIAN MANGWENDE spoke to the
acting chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans'
Association, Patrick Nyaruwata, on this and other issues.

      Excerpts:

      Question: There has been talk that the fast track land reform exercise
was President Robert Mugabe's brainchild and not the war veterans'. Who
really was behind it?

      Answer: The war veterans initiated that programme. What happened was
that after the rejection of the referendum, which sought to come up with a
new constitution for Zimbabwe, parts of which stipulated that land must be
distributed among the landless, we then took it upon ourselves to seize
land.

      Q. How clean are the war veterans in light of the killings of
commercial farmers that took place during the land reform?

      A.You must understand that wherever there is pandemonium people are
bound to commit crimes. Not only white farmers were killed, but our people
(blacks) were also killed and some maimed. I am not saying I support crime.
The law must take its course.

      Q. Have any war veterans been convicted of these crimes on the farms?

      A. A number of war veterans have been convicted for causing chaos on
farms. Some were convicted because they did not have legal representation.
Even the whites were convicted. Wherever there is war, blood is spilt, but I
am happy that the law took its course.

      Q. Since you said the war veterans were instrumental in the land
reform exercise, how many have actually benefited?

      A. I don't have the figures at hand, but a sizeable number benefited -
the majority under the A1 model and some under the A2 model. I must,
however, emphasise that we still have a large number of war veterans waiting
to be allocated land.

      Q. But the government says the land reform has reached its logical
conclusion and they are now tying up the loose ends. What do you say to
this?

      A. We are looking forward to government allocating land to those war
veterans who have not yet benefited, but were instrumental in the land
seizures.

      Q. Some newly resettled farmers were kicked off the farms to pave way
for senior government officials under the pretext that they were wrongfully
resettled. Could this be an admission that the whole exercise was unplanned
and do you feel short-changed?

      A. The government should have been clear on the policy and on who
should have been resettled, where and when. There was a technical problem in
that when people applied for land, they were not told under which model they
would fall, hence the hiccup. War veterans must be allocated the land they
want, but no one is more equal than the other. We won't allow that to
continue happening. It's unacceptable.

      Q. You are on record saying those with more than one farm should
relinquish the excess land. Is this happening and don't you think war
veterans were used by the powers-that-be to achieve their own goals?

      A. Some have already started relinquishing excess farms. Some had
become greedy that's why President Mugabe appointed a land review committee
to look into that matter and solve the problem amicably. They have been
warned to stick to the policy of one-man-one-farm and those who do not
comply will face the music and the law will take its course.

      Q. Have you seen the Charles Utete report on the land reform and if
you have, what do you make of it?

      A. No, I have not seen it yet, but we gave our representations. We
won't stand by and allow anyone to own more than one farm, whether black or
white. Zimbabwe is not expanding so why should people have more than one
farm? I am happy the President took that decision otherwise some senior
party officials who have become so corrupt would be owning at least five
farms each.

      Q. Most acquired farms are lying idle, with no production taking
place. What is the rationale behind this?

      A. This is because some farmers do not have the inputs yet.

      Q. Is it true that Andrew Ndhlovu (the managing director of Zimbabwe
Ex-combatants Investment Fund - Zexcom) was sacrificed so that the
government and war veterans could be seen to be adhering to the rule of law?

      A. I don't take it that way. It's just like any other case. If there
is something behind it, I am unaware of it.

      Q. How many farms do you have?

      A. I have one farm and it's in Mazowe - Nalile Farm - otherwise known
as Bramsfield. We are doing wonders there. At the moment, I have 77 hectares
of wheat and another 77 of barley. I am now venturing into maize seed and
soya beans.

      Q. You have been implicated alongside the secretary-general of the war
veterans association, Endy Mhlanga, in the disappearance of $65 million at
Zexcom and your colleagues are accusing you of deliberately delaying the war
veterans' congress to cover up your tracks first. What is your position?

      A. They don't know what they are talking about. Zexcom is a public
company formed by war veterans to benefit them. In 1997, the late Chenjerai
Hunzvi was its chairman with Mhlanga as managing director. The company also
had a board. I was the vice chairman, but as you are aware, I fell ill for
some time and was not active in the day-to-day running of the business. I
have no knowledge of the said money. I am a clean man in all this nonsense.
In 2000, other shareholders in Bulawayo petitioned the High Court asking it
to place the company under judicial management saying they want their money
back. The petition was successful and now investigations are under way. It's
now with the Master of the High Court.

      On the issue of the congress, we were very busy with the Presidential
election and on top of that, the enemy was advancing fast towards us calling
for sanctions in the country, stay-aways and all sorts of various disruptive
actions. That's why we delayed the congress. We were under serious attack.
Now that our society is no longer under threat, we can safely hold the
congress where we will choose a new leadership. Those who thought we are not
going to hold the congress will see miracles in November. It will happen.
Those who have any ideas of scuttling the congress do not have the capacity
to do so.

      Q. Who do you think is responsible for the current state of affairs in
Zimbabwe, especially the meltdown of the economy?

      A. We are aware of those who want the economy to collapse totally.

      Q. Who are they?

      A. The enemy of course and the enemy can be white or black in Zimbabwe
being sponsored by the British and Americans. The enemy has been calling for
sanctions. We know them.

      Q. Where do the war veterans stand in the succession debate?

      A. It's too early for that. The position is not yet vacant. I am a
member of the central committee and everyone is going to be involved when
the time comes. This is a straightforward thing. I don't know why people are
very excited about this.

      Q. What do you make of the current confusion in ZANU PF in light of
the dissolution of the succession committee?

      A. I don't know why that committee was put there in the first place.

      Q. Have the war veterans been able to access the $40 billion facility
set up by the government through the Land Bank to purchase agricultural
inputs?

      A. That is a big problem and I am addressing the issue. We understand
that some branches of the Land Bank are turning our people away because they
don't have collateral. That's nonsense. The minister gave the directive and
it should be followed. During the war, while some were fighting, others were
busy amassing wealth. Where do they want the majority of us to get
collateral from? Do they want us to steal property? We can't accept that.
They must lend them the money without collateral. Most of the war veterans
are pensioners and we have records of them if the banks want to trace them.
If they continue refusing, they will see what's coming to them.

      Q. Are war veterans benefiting from the input support scheme or was it
just a government bluff to maintain your support?

      A. Some are and some are not. We are looking into that.

      10/23/2003 1:00:00 PM (GMT +2)

      EDITOR — How’s this for naivety and gullibility:

      - President Bush, visiting South Africa some three months ago,
believed President Mbeki when the latter told him his "quiet diplomacy" was
going to bring President Mugabe to heel - and soon; (incidentally, what
became of Collin Powell, who was breathing fire and brimstone before that
visit but seems to have disappeared from sight since then?);

      - The South African High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, who thought he
could just visit his beleaguered countryman in the Chinhoyi area and sparked
an inter-regional incident when nearly chomped by angry farm invaders (oh,
shame, of course, utter shame!;

      - Don McKinnon (but what else could you expect from him?):
"Commonwealth to tackle Zim head-on" (ZimInd October 17 ). "Zimbabwe is not
. . . an issue dividing Africa from the rest of the Commonwealth. There's
not a single African leader I spoke to that isn't deeply unhappy about
Zimbabwe (etc, etc)". Just like Bush, hasn't McKinnon learned that African
leaders will tell you exactly what they think you want to hear - and then go
and do what they always intended, marvelling at the stupidity of the white
man? (My two regular readers will recall my comment when McKinnon first
visited President Mugabe some 3-4 years ago - "If he's the best they could
get as Commonwealth Secretary General, what were the rest like?". That
opinion has not changed).

      - Anyone who believed the Utete report would be useful in trying to
establish a new route to proper correction of the land reform programme: "a
political smokescreen aimed at whitewashing the damaging consequences of the
"fast-track" programme", and more, much more (ZimInd, 17 October);

      - Anyone who thought President Mugabe and ZANU PF would be honest in
their approach to the talks with the MDC aimed at bringing the two parties
together to rescue Zimbabwe from its current freefall and re-establish a
viable country.

      And, as an addendum, two other items contained in that ZimInd issue;

      Utterly shameful; "Police assault Harare lawyer". Beatrice Mtetwa, MDC
lawyer, was severely assaulted at Central and Borrowdale Police Stations and
in vehicles travelling to and between the two, and had to be treated at the
Trauma Centre;

      Today's hollow laugh: NRZ suspended inter-city passenger train
services due to an acute shortage of diesel, and urban commuter trains will
likely suffer the same fate, perhaps this coming week-end - "Train services
grounded".

      Two steps nearer the inevitable disintegration of Zimbabwe. Of course,
the Commonwealth meets in Abuja in early December and will "tackle Zim
head-on", as McKinnon says. Can anyone really believe that meeting will
result in a positive move by the Commonwealth (or anyone else?) to give
practical help to this country?

      PNR Silversides,

      Harare.

      10/23/2003 1:31:51 PM (GMT +2)

      New African Initiative (NAI). Three months later, at a meeting in
Abuja, Nigeria, the NAI became NEPAD.

      A 60-page summary of aims and aspirations deals with peace and
security concerns, democracy and good governance and the need to attract
more foreign direct investment. NEPAD's architects aspire for a growth rate
of seven percent across Africa but accept that over US$64 billion will be
required to make that happen. The first question for sceptics has been:
where will the money come from? Given the past failure of industrialised
countries to meet their own, extremely modest aid targets, why should there
now be a sudden upsurge of interest in Africa?

      NEPAD stresses the merits of self-reliance and the need to shake off
the chains of economic dependency, yet some of NEPAD's detractors argue that
it does nothing to challenge the supremacy of the North and the weakness of
the South. While the NEPAD documents reflect a bleak, angry account of
Africa's humiliation through the years of slavery, colonisation and its
current marginalisation, critics say NEPAD meekly follows the borrowed
wisdom of the IMF and World Bank, courting the private sector and embracing
globalisation at whatever cost.

      Serious reservations have been raised about what sort of "partnership"
this is where the G8 "partners", at their summit in Kananakis in Canada mid
last year, promised a measly US $1billion to the 54 "partners" in Africa
while they gave $20 billion to Russia, give $3 billion annually to Israel
(by America alone), and take $15 billion in interest payments from Africa!
(These figures were valid as at mid last year and may have changed).

      The anti-NEPAD brigade argues that at Kananakis the West revealed its
true colours - it will assist countries on a bilateral basis - countries
that serve Western interests and that this is no more than the old strategy
of "divide and rule". A leopard, after all, does not change its spots, so
they argue.

      Critics of NEPAD point out that the West preaches free enterprise and
competition but when they can not compete they change the rules and use all
kinds of devices, the only constant here is what is in their interest. The
anti-NEPAD brigade emphasises that the interest factor should never be
excised from the equation because it is very fundamental in the Northern
psyche. They add that if there is any opportunity of a "partnership" as
espoused by NEPAD, the Northern mentality of "how can we take from Africa"
will have to be replaced by the African Union with "how can we work with
Africa or our mutual benefit".

      Given the contrasting heritage of the African Union and the European
Union, serious doubts have been expressed if the latter will allow the
former to strengthen its will, ability and capacity to fight for the
interest of Africa, leverage it, maximise it and protect it to the benefit
of all the African people.

      Common cause, common purpose, and unity in diversity are the buzzwords
and the next is action. Serious effort has to be made to make the AU an
action union that will make us withstand the pressures of the global economy
of alliances.

      But it is not just the G8 and investors who are being viewed with
scepticism. There have been arguments that NEPAD, far from being a
collective, continental project, drawing on African intelligence and input,
is a product of a few personalities. There is concern too, that NEPAD will
be unable to honour its own commitments on good governance and human rights,
that the "peer review mechanisms" talked about will count for nothing given
African leaders' and OAU's past reluctance to criticise and ostracise.

      Many Africans have been largely left in the dark on what NEPAD is
really about. Civil society organisations, trade unions and other interest
groups have criticised the lack of consultation while the African private
sector has been a peripheral player so far. Some have noted that the leaders
who supposedly came up with NEPAD are like the old prophets, honoured
elsewhere but not in their own countries. This is also true of the
Zimbabwean President.

      Yahya Jammeh, the President of the Gambia, is a vicious critic of
NEPAD and his view can be taken as a school of thought complete in itself,
although it still needs to be developed further. This school of thought
argues that Africans can only solve their problems by rising against the
unfairness in the world trade system which is responsible for the
misfortunes of more than half of the world's population.

      Addressing his people, in festive mood, on July 2 2002 on the 8th
anniversary of the "revolution" that brought him to power on July 22 1994,
Jammeh made it clear that Africa's salvation would never come from NEPAD. In
his view, Africa's socio- economic development must come from Africa. To
quote him directly, Jammeh said:

      "NEPAD will never work. You come up with a programme and depend on
nothing but begging . . . I am not criticising NEPAD but the way it was
conceived to be dependent on begging. Nobody will ever develop your country
for you. What we want is an African Development Trust Fund where we put our
resources and give loans to African countries to develop. But if you want to
develop Africa by begging, you must train so that you have strong knees and
that is why they call it kneepad. If you rely on NEPAD, buy more pads for
your knees and you will never get anything."

      In a separate interview with West Africa magazine in 2001, President
Jammeh questioned the rationale of taking NEPAD to the G8 Summit for
approval, arguing that if it is an African project, there is no need to seek
the approval of the G8 because the G8 has never brought its agenda to Africa
for us to approve it. He added that:

      "If the problem is an African one what I believe is that before
talking to the G8, the very people responsible for the problems we have
today, we should have brought it to Africa, and each country should have
gathered its intellectuals and allowed them to debate it, as we did with the
African Union project . . . people are sick and tired of African beggars . .
. the socio-economic development of the continent must come from Africans.
That is what I call independence."

      It is therefore clear from the foregoing discussion that with the
current trend in the African neo-colonies, nobody seems to be able to see
the way out. The result has been mish-mash of unworkable social theories,
amateurism and universal incompetence, and above all, mass cynicism,
hypocrisy and corruption.

      The Zimbabwean government is capitalising on this confusion by
advancing its own notion of a solution and it is in this context that the
supposed support they have been getting from other third-world countries
should be critiqued. Let's make a date next week.

      Isaya Muriwo Sithole is a Harare-based legal practitioner

World Vision International
Website: http://www.wvi.org
World Vision Zimbabwe (WVZ) is close to launching an urban school-feeding
program, funded by WFP, as part of the organisation's urban intervention.

WVZ-Relief Deputy Director Zvidzai Maburutse said the program is set to kick
off at the beginning of November.

"We are going to use the lessons drawn from this pilot program to expand
into other urban schools," said Maburutse.

This is the first time that WVZ has implemented an urban school-feeding
program. Its focus has been in the rural areas where an estimated 4.4
million people need food aid.

He added that the intervention was coming at a time when the food insecurity
in urban centres was becoming increasingly desperate and school children
have been identified as one of the most vulnerable groups.

Urban vulnerability fuelled by the declining economy has continued to slide
and households have been forced to come up with strategies to survive. It is
estimated that 1.1 million people in urban centres are in urgent need of
food aid.

"We welcome this program and we would like to urge you if you can start as
soon as possible," said Kevi Ndiweni, the chairman of St. Peters Primary
School.

Ndiweni said because of the increasingly desperate situation, most children
were now staying out of school.

WVZ intervention is set to augment already existing programs being run by
other humanitarian agencies in the city.

Last month Catholic Relief Services launched the Market Assistance Pilot
Program (MAPP) to reduce urban vulnerability in Bulawayo.

The MAPP program, which is funded by the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) is bringing in 20 000 metric tonnes of
sorghum into the country. The sorghum is going to be milled and placed in
strategic retail outlets and sold to the public and subsidised rates.

The WFP is also running supplementary feeding in 37 clinics dotted across
the city reaching out to over 25 000 under fives.