From The Cape Times (SA), 25 October
Strasbourg - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe cannot
be excluded from the
upcoming EU-Africa summit just because he is a
dictator, or others must be
barred too, EU Development Commissioner Louis
Michel said yesterday. "If we
were to judge each of the dictators or
personalities whom we consider
unsuitable we wouldn't just have problems
with Mugabe, there would be
others," Michel told the European parliament in
Strasbourg. The possibility
that Mugabe could attend the EU summit in Lisbon
in December has been a
focus of Brussels's attention for weeks, not least
because he is formally
banned from entering the European Union due to human
rights violations.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has already warned
his EU partners that
if Mugabe attends the summit then neither he nor any of
his cabinet
ministers will be there. The same issue resulted in the
EU-Africa summit
being cancelled in 2003. Michel said the summit should be
used to put the
question of human rights in Zimbabwe on the table. Earlier
this month the
EU's Portuguese presidency said summit invitations would not
be sent out
until after an EU-Africa ministerial meeting in Accra on October
30. While
Europe is increasingly in competition with China over African ties
and
trade, there has so far been just one EU-Africa summit, in Cairo in
2000.
Monsters and Critics
Oct 25, 2007, 10:05 GMT
Johannesburg/Harare
- Zimbabwe's central bank chief Gideon Gono has called
for the lifting of
some price controls, saying price adjustments are needed
in the
inflation-riddled country, the official Herald daily reported
Thursday.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) chief told
state-sanctioned reporters
that shoppers should not expect prices to remain
fixed.
In July, President Robert Mugabe ordered huge price slashes and a
six-month
price freeze that saw shoppers descending on stores in droves,
quickly
emptying them of stock.
Now basics are in desperately short
supply as store owners refuse to
restock. The opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) this week
complained bread was as scarce as
gold.
There must never be expectations from consumers that prices should
be at the
same level as three months ago, said Gono, who is one of only a
handful of
top officials willing to speak out against government
policy.
There is also an animal called inflation, he said. Zimbabwe's
annual
inflation rate is the highest in the world, at just under 8,000 per
cent.
'Consumers need to realize that in an inflationary environment, it
was
inevitable that producers need some modicum of price adjustments to
create
the capacity to meet their next and successive production and
purchase order
schedules, Gono said.
'Prices of goods like
newspapers, for example, must be de-controlled so that
they are available,'
he said.
Independent reports say bakers are pushing for an upward review
in the price
of bread, arguing that a loaf should sell for at least 400,000
Zimbabwe
dollars, four times the government-set price.
Bakers all but
stopped baking when the National Incomes and Pricing
Commission decreed that
a loaf be sold for just 30,000 dollars (officially 1
US dollar but worth
only a few cents at prevailing black market rates).
The price was hiked
to 100,000 Zimbabwe dollars 10 days ago: less than the
cost of a small bun
of bread that sells clandestinely for around 150,000
Zimbabwe
dollars.
Some companies and service providers have already started
ignoring the price
freeze. The state-appointed commission running the city
of Harare announced
this week it wanted to raise tariffs
ninefold.
And on Wednesday dozens of activists were joined by street
vendors in a
brief march in the eastern border city of Mutare to protest
huge hikes in
water rates by the state-run Zimbabwe National Water Authority
(ZINWA), said
rights group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA).
Police
arrived on the scene after the activists had dispersed, the group
said.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
SW Radio
Africa (London)
25 October 2007
Posted to the web 25 October
2007
Tichaona Sibanda
There was a peaceful protest march by
hundreds of Woza and Moza members in
Mutare late on Wednesday, against the
huge increases in water tariffs
recently introduced by the
government.
A statement issued at the end of the protest by Woza said
nearly 300 women
and men marched for several blocks through the eastern city
to the civic
centre, demanding access to affordable water and a more
reliable service.
The statement added that there were no arrests
during or after the
demonstration as riot police officers arrived after the
protesters had
dispersed. Several bystanders are reported to have joined in
the procession.
The protestors also called for an end to violence against
human rights
defenders. This is the fourth Woza demonstration in Mutare this
year and the
third peaceful street action this month, following two in
Bulawayo and one
in Harare.
There have been concerns that state
security agents are in the habit of
visiting homes of activists at night in
Mutare, long after demonstrations
are over. After a demonstration in Mutare
in August, several members had
their homes visited and illegally searched.
It is expected that similar
harassment of activists will occur in the coming
weeks.
The Zimbabwean
Thursday, 25 October 2007 09:40
Mugabe regime at work to destabilise
Crisis, says Mafume
LONDON - Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe has dismissed
allegations of
corruption in its Johannesburg office, and possible closure
of the
organisation, as part of a vicious attack by the Mugabe regime to
discredit
it.
"I would like to place it on record that the
office is not closing in
the near future. Crisis is a critical component in
the fight for a
democratic Zimbabwe, and therefore has many enemies working
against it.
These rumours are their handiwork," said Jacob Mafume, the
co-ordinator.
He said the coalition had recently conducted an audit
of its accounts
for the relevant period, and these were available for
scrutiny.
"Copies of these have been lodged with our partner
organisations and
everything is above board," said Mafume.
"The
people who are in the office in South Africa are people of
integrity who
have contributed to the struggle in many ways, including the
use of personal
funds. It is ridiculous to suggest that they would take
anything from the
organisation.
"We are at a loss as to how to respond to such flimsy
and
unsubstantiated allegations and can only suspect sinister motives from
the
author, aimed at tarnishing the respected individuals in Crisis," he
said.
Mafume said there had been recent staff and leadership changes
within
the organisation, whereby people had moved on to other organisations
where
they hold influential positions. He said this was a testimony to the
calibre
of people Crisis continues to attract.
"Crisis
Coalition by its very nature is a dynamic organisation where
staff and
leadership changes have occurred in the past and no doubt will
continue to
happen in the future. The people who have moved have done so
with the
blessing of the organisation and without scandal and the office
will
continue in its critical role of providing leadership to the struggle
for
democracy," said Mafume.
Well-known Zimbabwean activist and author,
Elinor Sisulu, who has
worked for Crisis for many years, said she fully
endorsed Mafume's
statement.
"I would go further to say that as
a signatory to the Crisis bank
account, these allegations of embezzlement
are a direct slur on my
integrity," she said. Sisulu challenged the news
agency that circulated the
story, CAJ News, to supply evidence to
substantiate their allegations.
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 24 October 2007 16:18
FIGTREE - War veterans and members
of the government's youth militia,
otherwise known as the Green Bombers, are
harassing travellers and bus crews
along the Plumtree-Bulawayo Road, where
they man 24-hour roadblocks.
Notorious for their violent behaviour
against perceived opposition
members, the state-sponsored thugs stop buses
and commuters and ransack
people's bags for imported goods.
They
also harass public transport crews, whom they accuse of working
with the MDC
to try and incite a public revolt against Mugabe by
continuously raising
their fares.
"They have been there since the government launched its
price-control
operation three months ago. At first they demanded bus tickets
from
travellers and would commandeer a bus back if they found that people
had
been charged more than what the government stipulated. Now they have
turned
against cross-border travellers, whom they accuse of spreading wrong
information about Mugabe when they go shopping in neighbouring countries,"
said Mkhulli Dube, a bus conductor who plies the Bulawayo-Francistown
route.
Eye witnesses said the group, which alternates its roadblocks
between
Figtree and Marula business centres, confiscated imported goods such
as bulk
grocery and clothing items, claiming to be acting on orders from
ruling
party politicians.
"Reporting them to the police does not
help at all because at times
you find them together and police seem to be
afraid of them. Sometimes they
ask for bribes in foreign currency from
travellers, but most of the time
they take away your goods," added another
traveller.
A policeman at Figtree police station confirmed the presence
of the
youths on the road last week.
"They say that they were
deployed by the ruling party politicians here
in Matabeleland South and
there is nothing we can do against that because
our actions might attract
reprisals from both our bosses and the ruling
party. Some of the things they
do are not right but all that we can do is
watch and do nothing because they
are protected," said the policeman.
Police national spokesman, Chief
Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka,
refused to comment on the matter, saying he
did not know about that. -
Bayethe Zitha
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 24 October
2007 16:24
The Mugabe regime's spy agency, the CIO, has become
embroiled in the
fracas involving Anglican church leader Nolbert Kunonga - a
staunch
supporter of President Robert Mugabe.
Kunonga is bitterly
fighting his ouster from the Anglican Diocese of
Harare after the Dean of
the Province of Central Africa, Albert Chama,
dismissed him and declared his
position vacant last week.
Sources told The Zimbabwean that the
Anglican Church in Harare had
been infiltrated by members of the CIO trying
to intimidate members into
accepting Kunonga's leadership.
"We
have been getting several uninvited guests from the president's
office
clearly wanting to influence the course of events in favour of
Kunonga," a
council member said. "The matter is becoming increasingly
political and
Kunonga's plan now is to get political backing so that he can
establishing
what others have referred to as the Church of Kunonga in
Central Africa, in
other words, his own church."
When contacted for comment, Kunonga said,
"I have nothing to say
because the issues are in court and also being
handled through church
channels."
Chama, who is also the bishop
of Northern Zambia, recently declared
the Harare and Manicaland diocese
vacant after receiving communication from
Kunonga and Bishop Elson Jakazi
announcing withdrawal from the Province of
Central Africa over the
contentious issue of homosexuality in the church.
The Province of Central
Africa is made up of Anglican churches in Zambia,
Botswana, Malawi and
Zimbabwe. Chama described Kunonga and Jakazi's move as
"unconstitutional and
un-canonical" and an attempt at "altering the
structure and the essence" of
the church.
A vicar-general is expected to be appointed to replace
Kunonga on an
interim basis in the diocese of Harare. Kunonga's decision to
pull the
Diocese of Harare out of the Province of Central Africa is believed
to have
been caused primarily by the fact that he is being forced to
surrender
church assets as one of the moves towards deposing him by church
members
disgruntled with his leadership and blind loyalty to the murderous
Zanu (PF)
regime.
However, the Chancellor of the diocese of
Harare, Robert Stumbles, who
is also Deputy Chancellor of the Province of
Central Africa, says Kunonga
cannot avoid his deposition. "Resignation or
withdrawal from the province
does not stop a court enquiring into these
offences," Stumbles said.
In reference to the meeting that Kunonga
cites as the basis for his
decision to withdraw the diocese, Stumbles noted,
"Nowhere does it
categorically empower the Bishop to sever relations with
the Province of
Central Africa."
By Itai Dzamara
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 24
October 2007 10:14
BY CHIEF REPORTER, HARARE – President Robert Mugabe
was rebuked on
Monday night by South African President Thabo Mbeki over his
failure to act
against the mayhem that has seen heavily-armed police
officers and groups of
Zanu (PF) militia involved in incidents of
lawlessness against the
opposition this week.
Western diplomats
confirmed the rebuke.
“The MDC is dismayed by Zanu (PF)’s disdain for
the SADC-initiated
talks that are aimed at finding common ground between the
regime and the
opposition,” MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.
“While the MDC and Zanu (PF) are engaged in dialogue in Pretoria, the
regime
has continued to hound our supporters; brutally assaulting and
attacking
them against the spirit of the dialogue process.”
The MDC delivered
a detailed report to Mbeki on the last two weeks of
violence and harassment
its members have suffered from Mugabe’s security
forces and militias, led by
so-called guerrilla war veterans.
Mugabe indicated he knew nothing
of the MDC attacks, SA sources said.
“He asked Mbeki, ‘why haven’t they been
telling (Justice Minister Patrick)
Chinamasa and (Social welfare Minister
Nicholas) Goche,” said our source.
At Mbeki’s insistence, Mugabe
promised he would ensure that the
protagonists met this week to discuss the
deteriorating situation.
Mbeki dialogued with Mugabe as police
arrested almost 100 WOZA women
on a peaceful protest against the
deteriorating national crisis. On the same
day, senior police and
intelligence officials summoned MDC Harare provincial
organizing secretary
and Glen View MP, Paul Madzore, to Harare Central
Police Station in
connection with alleged “hate speech” against police made
at an MDC rally in
Glen Norah on Sunday. The police said they took great
exception to calls by
the speakers at the rally for people to note down the
names of police
officers who are involved in human rights abuses.
Chamisa said
since the dialogue process started, police have turned
down 103 opposition
rallies while Zanu (PF)’s “solidarity marches” led by
so-called war veterans
continue throughout the country without any police
interference.
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 24
October 2007 10:16
BY ITAI DZAMARA, HARARE - The USA
government is planning to deport
some 400 children and relatives of top Zanu
(PF) and government officials at
the beginning of next month, highly-placed
sources have told The Zimbabwean.
US authorities have finalised a
list of about 400 children and
relatives of those it accuses of fostering
the economic, political and
social misgovernance that has condemned the
majority of Zimbabweans to
abject poverty, said the source.
“Recent meetings finalised the list and agreements were reached
regarding
the modalities. The deportations are likely to start as soon as
next month,”
he added. “Efforts have also been made to establish the sources
of income of
those concerned, as well as the means that led to them being in
the USA.
This information will be used to prove that they benefit from the
system of
patronage operated by Zanu (PF) and the government.”
Australia
pulled the first trigger two months ago when it deported
kids of Police
Commissioner Augustine Chihuri, Rural Housing and Social
Amenities minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor
Gideon Gono, much
to the chagrin of the Zanu (PF) regime which responded by
issuing threats
against the MDC who it accuses of being responsible for
sanctions.
European countries, led by the United Kingdom, are
expected to follow
suit and deport Zanu (PF) leaders’ kids studying or
staying there. These
countries argue that it is immoral for senior officials
in the Mugabe regime
to spend huge amounts of scarce foreign currency on
sending their kids to
study in western capitals when their corrupt and
repressive policies have
led to the destruction not only of the Zimbabwean
economy, but also of the
education system.
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 24 October 2007 10:09
BY ITAI DZAMARA, HARARE - The
political battle between Robert Mugabe
and the Mujuru faction has
intensified over the past few months as the Zanu
(PF) December special
congress looms. Investigations have revealed vicious
rivalry, involving the
use of sabotage and dangerous elimination methods.
Retired army
general Solomon Mujuru heads the faction championing his
wife Joice, as
successor to Mugabe as the leader of the ruling party,
subsequently earning
the right to contest next year’s presidential
elections. The Mujuru faction
comprises other senior Zanu (PF) officials
such as Governor of Mashonaland
East Ray Kaukonde, David Butau, Joel Biggie
Matiza, David Parirenyatwa,
Kenneth Musanhu and David Karimanzira.
Sources privy to the
goings-on within the ruling party revealed to The
Zimbabwean recently that
programmes targeted at weakening and inflicting
damage on the Mujuru faction
have been implemented at the behest of Mugabe,
mainly using the security
forces to manage power dynamics.
It has emerged that members of the
Mujuru faction were the major
victims within the Zanu (PF) system of the
controversial programme by
government to enforce price reductions in the
manufacturing, wholesale and
retail sectors.
Sources involved
have also revealed that Mugabe tried to get at the
Mujurus through the
foiled coup plot of June this year.
“The Mujuru faction has been in
the forefront of resisting Mugabe’s
plans aimed at safeguarding his power.
Remember the 2010 project he wanted
to push, as well as the attempt at
having him prematurely endorsed as the
party candidate for next year’s
presidential elections,” a Zanu (PF)
official said. “This faction has
declared itself a sworn enemy of Mugabe and
a threat to his power games.
Hence the aged leader has launched an
offensive against the faction in
rather a brutal manner.”
The security forces, particularly the
police in this case, have also
been used to target the operations of the
Mujurus and their followers in the
crackdown on illegal minerals mining and
marketing.
“The plan has been to paralyse the Mujuru faction
through hitting at
its strengths, and the primary target has been crippling
its
income-generating base,” a source said.
A senior Zimbabwe
Republic Police (ZRP) official confirmed the use of
the police to destroy
the Mujuru faction. “There were clear and specific
directives from the top
echelons of government to target the gold and
diamond operations of the
Mujuru faction, with information being provided
from the president’s office.
The same was done during the price control
operation. Teams were set out
specifically to deal with businesses owned by
the Mujurus and other
politicians in their camp.”
This paper has established that
businesses owned by Kaukonde and Butau
were targeted during the crackdown on
prices, leading to the arrest of their
managers. There were also failed
attempts at opposing the operation to
enforce price reductions by the Mujuru
faction. Kaukonde operates a bus
company and a chain of supermarkets in
addition to having shares in a number
of blue chip companies. Butau has
operations in the cotton marketing
industry.
One of the members
of the Mujuru faction, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told The
Zimbabwean: “There has been a deliberate plan to
sabotage our business
operations while another process was pursued at the
same time aimed at
killing us politically, which included a media black-out
or negative
coverage. All this has been spearheaded by Mugabe. Daggers are
drawn and we
believe the party (Zanu) has to allow the will of the people to
prevail
regarding election of leaders to represent it in vital elections
such as the
presidential polls next year. Indeed, we are going to fight all
the way for
our candidate, whom we believe has the capacity to correct
things in the
country.”
Sources also told us that Solomon Mujuru was put under
house arrest
after the coup plan in June and Mugabe tried through his
security handlers
to pin him down. “There was a plan to have the whole coup
saga end up
implicating Mujuru as the architect and it would come out saying
he wanted
to pave the way for his wife thereby destroying her politically,”
a source
said.
The state-controlled media has reportedly been
issued with directives
by Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba not to cover
Joice Mujuru or members
of her faction, while increasing a positive bias
towards Mugabe.
A journalist at one of the country’s daily
newspapers said the
directive had specifically stated that Mugabe had to
enjoy unwavering front
page or top story coverage, but a black-out had to be
imposed on the Mujuru
faction.
“This is aimed at pulling us down
through the media ahead of the
special congress so that members of the party
are opinionated in a manner
that will see them back Mugabe’s candidature,” a
member of the Mujuru
faction said. “This is being done parallel to the
campaign by war veterans,
youths and women’s groups in the party being
sponsored to campaign for
Mugabe’s endorsement and threaten others,
particularly those from the Mujuru
faction.”
It has also
emerged that Mugabe is scheming to elbow out the majority
of the Mujuru
faction members through a primary election process to choose
those that will
represent the party in next year’s parliamentary elections.
“Mugabe is using
the war veterans, youths and women to destroy their chances
before the
primary process,” a source said.
*Next week in Part 2 we reveal how
the Mujuru faction is fighting
against Mugabe’s power plans to the extent
that it opposed the 18th
amendment and planned to block it in parliament -
only to be “sabotaged” by
the MDC.
IOL
October 25 2007 at 02:48PM
Harare - Zimbabwe's home affairs
minister has dismissed as hearsay
claims by the main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party
that its members are being targeted in violent
attacks by ruling part
supporters, state media said on
Thursday.
A delegation from the MDC was on Wednesday summoned to
meet Home
Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi to explain the party's
claims.
"They gave me a list of claims and I am going to study the
paper.
There doesn't seem to be anything of substance, its all hearsay,"
Mohadi
told the official Herald daily.
Last week the MDC
reported a recent spate of violence allegedly
committed against its members
across the country by state agents and
supporters of President Robert
Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party.
The MDC said the
violence was threatening South African mediated talks
aimed at defusing
political tensions ahead of presidential and parliamentary
elections next
year.
But on Wednesday Mohadi told the opposition party not to take
their
claims of violence to the media, but to bring them to his
office.
"This office is not a (ruling party) Zanu-PF office, but a
government
office. They should come to us first rather than go to the media
when there
are any problems," Mohadi told the paper.
The head
of the opposition's delegation, Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, said the
meeting with
Mohadi had taken place in a very amicable atmosphere, the
Herald said. -
Sapa-dpa
Business Day
25 October 2007
Dumisani
Muleya
Harare
Correspondent
THE Zimbabwean government yesterday held a "candid" meeting
with the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the main opposition, over
rising
political repression and violence ahead of elections next
March.
The meeting, which came after the MDC threatened to withdraw from
continuing
talks with the ruling Zanu (PF) to resolve the political and
economic
crisis, showed the government feared a possible collapse of the
dialogue.
Zanu (PF) wants the talks to ward off international pressure
and buy time
for President Robert Mugabe.
The crucial meeting was
attended by Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi and a
four- member MDC
delegation that included Nelson Chamisa, Sam Siphepha
Nkomo, Innocent Gonese
and Kerry Kay.
This followed a letter written by Mohadi on October 18 to
MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai regarding the issue of political
violence.
Mohadi said in his letter that the MDC must provide him with
evidence of
violence so that police could deal with the situation. The MDC
replied to
Mohadi's letter on October 22, saying it would send a team of
senior
officials to present the evidence.
The MDC delegation
yesterday gave Mohadi a dossier showing recent episodes
of state-sponsored
violence against its members and civil society activists.
There has been a
wave of arrests of MDC supporters and their allies in civic
organisations
for legitimate political activities.
The MDC also complained about a
breakdown in the rule of law and a growing
culture of impunity; selective
application of the law; partisan behaviour by
police in the conduct of their
official duties; and general lawlessness in
the country.
The meeting
"went well", said Chamisa. "It was a good meeting and we hope
government
will deal with the issues we raised with them."
Chamisa said that
Mohadi had said Zanu (PF) and the MDC were not political
"enemies" but
"competitors". Mohadi also said the law must be applied
unselectively
without political bias.
"It was a candid meeting and the minister was
very honest in his remarks.
Even though we must take some of his comments
with a pinch of salt, it was
encouraging a Zanu (PF) minister can be so
frank. It's very unusual,"
Chamisa said.
"Probably it was because we
showed him evidence of violence and the
persistent disruption of our rallies
and meetings by unlawful means."
Tsvangirai said in the US last week his
party would walk out of the talks if
Zanu (PF) continued to perpetrate
political violence against his party's
members.
President Robert Mugabe's government is
launching an ambitious plan to revive Zimbabwe's agricultural production, which
plummeted following the chaotic expropriation of white-owned farmland for
redistribution to landless blacks seven years ago.
HARARE, 25 October 2007
(IRIN) -
Photo:
Obinna Anyadike/IRIN
A return to the days of plenty?
The government's
fast-track land reform programme dispossessed about 4,000 white commercial
farmers of prime agricultural land, ostensibly to correct a history of skewed
ownership. Critics allege the newly settled farmers were not given adequate
state support, while senior members of the ruling ZANU-PF party and other
government officials, including high-ranking army and police officers, took over
the best estates.
Since the onset of the land redistribution programme
the country has recorded increasingly acute food shortages, and international
donor agencies estimate that more than a third of the population, or 4.1 million
people, require emergency food assistance. Zimbabwe has suffered poor
rainfall since 2002 and the government called 2007, a year of drought.
The government has declared the forthcoming agricultural season, which
has just begun, "The Mother of All Farming Seasons", and agriculture minister
Rugare Gumbo told IRIN that farmers were planning to plant two million hectares
of maize, with 400,000ha set aside for small grains, such as sorghum and millet,
while soya beans would be cultivated on another 120,000ha.
"These are
targets which we want to achieve, and the fact that there are figures being
mentioned in terms of hectarage is an indication of how serious we are in terms
of ensuring food security," he said.
Optimism not shared by all
Gumbo said the government had already sourced the required seed and
fertiliser, and was attempting to ensure that new farmers and those working
communal lands had adequate inputs and equipment, which would re-establish the
country as a net exporter of agricultural produce.
Gumbo's claim is
being disputed by seed and fertiliser producers, who told the Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee on Lands, Land Reform, Resettlement, Agriculture and Water
that there was insufficient seed and fertiliser for the new farming season
because the government's recent price controls had resulted in unrealistic
prices, which had created shortages of these inputs.
A delegation
representing the Seed Trade Association told the portfolio committee, "We are
facing problems getting seed from growers, who are not willing to release their
seed due to the price, which they say is not viable." Out of a total 20,000
metric tonnes (mt) of seed required, they had only received 10,000mt.
We
are facing problems getting seed from growers, who are not willing to release
their seed due to the price, which they say is not viable
Ngoni Masoka, permanent secretary in the ministry of agriculture, said
the fertiliser industry was not operating at maximum capacity because of the
unavailabilty of foreign exchange for the purchase of raw materials.
"We
can meet our targets, as we have almost put together all the necessary inputs
and mechanisation except for a few aspects such as fertiliser and timeous seed
availability," he said.
Mechanisation of agriculture
A newly
created Agricultural, Engineering and Mechanisation Ministry, in cooperation
with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, aims to increase the mechanisation of
agriculture. The government has already begun distributing hundreds of tractors,
combine harvesters, planters and discs as part of phase one of its plan.
Phase two has seen more than 50,000 animal-drawn implements such as
harrows, ploughs and cultivators being given to small-scale farmers, although
critics say that once again senior politicians and security officers have
been the beneficiaries of the bulk of the government's largesse, while those
without political connections have been left in the cold.
There are also
reports that the tractors, of Chinese origin - which were delivered without
spare parts - were being used to provide transport in rural areas because of a
chronic lack of public transport, instead of being used for ploughing.
Reserve Bank Governor Gono, himself a beneficiary of land
redistribution, was upbeat about the government's plan. "A mother symbolises
stability, care and everything good about life. Let's put every inch of soil
under crops or grazing. Let's see Zimbabwe being all green, and let's see a hive
of activity in the rearing of livestock as well."
Although the country
is experiencing an acute shortage of foreign currency and is battling an
inflation rate of more than 6,000 percent - the highest in the world - Gono has
pledged to pay for half the farmers' produce in foreign currency, and purchase
the remaining produce with the local currency, the Zimbabwean dollar.
Another hurdle the mechanisation of agriculture initiative faces is the
crippling shortages of fuel, although Gono dismisses any suggestion that this
might hamper the revitalisation of agriculture. "We are making efforts, and we
are expected to launch a programme that guarantees only enough fuel supplies but
not an excess," he said.
Subsidised fuel for the agricultural sector has
often been resold on the parallel market, while this year's disastrous winter
crop was blamed on frequent regular power outages, which meant irrigation
systems and other farming equipment could not be used.
Rains have
started but planting has not
An agricultural expert in Zimbabwe, who
declined to be named, told IRIN the latest government pronouncments were another
detour in "fantasy". "Farming is a matter of detail and if you get one thing
wrong it affects everything," he said. "It's not just about the weather."
Fertiliser was not available, and there had been no land preparation for
the 2007 farming season; there was no fuel, the oxen envisaged to be used for
draught power were in a very poor state after a dry year, and each day planting
was delayed resulted in lost yield. He said a 10-day delay can contribute to a
20 percent reduction in yield.
The agricultural expert said the average
cost per hectare to produce maize in neighbouring South Africa was between
US$600 and US$800, but in Zimbabwe this would be more because of the distortions
in the hyperinflationary economy, resulting in higher farming costs, in a
country where farmers had no access to capital.
He said he was
pessimistic about Zimbabwe producing enough food to feed itself from this
farming season, and expected food shortages to continue after the harvest and
well into 2008.
Former Grain Marketing Board chief executive Rensen
Gasela, now the shadow minister of agriculture in the main political opposition
party, the Movement for Democratic Change, told IRIN the government was
expecting too much from this farming season.
"Certain
things need to be in place for that [food sufficiency] to be met, and that
includes adequate maize seed ... at this rate, including local deliveries and
imports, we will end up with 35,000mt when we require about 60,000mt of maize
seed," he said.
The
rains have started falling, but there is no maize seed or fertiliser in sight.
There are people with farms, who are not farmers, who access seed and fertiliser
and ... it pays them better to sell [the inputs] off instead of using them on
the land
"The rains have started falling, but there is no maize
seed or fertiliser in sight. There are people with farms, who are not farmers,
who access seed and fertiliser and ... it pays them better to sell ... [the
inputs] off instead of using them on the land."
He said the country
could experience another bad season because communal farmers, who traditionally
produced 60 percent of the country's food requirements, were unable to afford
the seed and fertiliser available on the parallel market.
Gasela said
the maize seed shortages were a consequence of the fast-track land reform
programme, as white commercial farmers had previously produced seed for sale.
dd/go/he
Mail and Guardian
Johannesburg, South Africa
25
October 2007 01:58
There is no compelling evidence that
circumstances in Zimbabwe
currently pose a threat to financial stability in
South Africa, the South
African Reserve Bank (SARB) said on
Thursday.
Releasing the September 2007 edition of the
Financial Stability
Review, the SARB said that currently the potential for
negative news from
Zimbabwe to affect investor sentiment towards South
Africa is small, as
investors increasingly differentiate political risk
between the two
countries.
Furthermore, South African
companies operating in Zimbabwe have
taken steps to minimise the adverse
financial impact of conditions in
Zimbabwe.
These actions
have included either "writing off" their stake in
Zimbabwe or reducing their
investment to a minimum. Many of these companies
have, however, opted to
keep a foothold in Zimbabwe to be poised for an
economic
recovery.
The SARB added that the political and economic
status of
Zimbabwe has been receiving increasing attention both
internationally and
domestically.
"The impact of
conditions in Zimbabwe on South Africa could
escalate as the situation
deteriorates and solutions become harder to find,"
the SARB
noted.
"Although the Bretton Woods Institutions and some
First World
economies have spoken out against the Zimbabwean government and
demanded
support for the reforms they propose, the motivation for South
Africa to
change its approach of 'quiet diplomacy' is currently more likely
to be
motivated by the growing humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe than by the
stability impact on South Africa," the SARB added.
Meanwhile, any direct impact of the subprime-mortgage turmoil on
the South
African financial system is likely to be negligible, the SARB
said.
It said South African financial institutions have
very little
exposure to the United States subprime lending industry or to
securities
with subprime loans as underlying assets.
According to the Financial Stability Review, the resilience of
financial
markets globally was severely tested during the past few months
following
the widespread impact of negative developments in the US housing
market and
the subprime mortgage market in particular.
Emerging market
economies in general have proven to be resilient
to the financial market
turmoil following the subprime crisis, it said.
The Review
focuses on the six months to June 2007 and is part of
the SARB's approach to
encourage debate on financial stability issues and
enhance the understanding
of the financial system and its strengths and
weaknesses. -- I-Net
Bridge
tradingmarkets.com
Thursday, October 25, 2007; Posted: 01:57 PM
VANCOUVER, BRITISH
COLUMBIA,
Oct 25, 2007 (Marketwire via COMTEX)
Canaf Group Inc. (TSX
VENTURE:CAF) announced today that negotiations for the
acquisition of Great
Lakes Minerals and the associated Zimbabwean assets
have been terminated due
to increased political risk.
The initial agreement with Midas Trust was
adjusted after the announcement
of the new Indigenization and Empowerment
Bill passed through parliament in
Harare last month. Both Midas Trust and
Canaf remain on good terms and may
choose to revisit the acquisition
potential of Great Lakes Minerals at some
time in the future.
"After
much discussion, we have decided that this acquisition is not in the
best
interests of our shareholders at this time," stated David Way,
President and
CEO. "We are committed to providing value to our shareholders
and will focus
on our now 90%-owned coal processing facility, with a view of
increasing
both our ownership stake to 100% and the overall profitability of
the plant.
We will continue to search for new high-potential mining and
mining related
opportunities in Africa."
David Way, President and CEO
SOURCE:
Canaf Group Inc.
zimbabwetoday
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
The fascinating leader of the War Veterans reveals how to be
a hero in easy
stages
This coming Friday might be a good day to stay
at home for some of us,
because this is the day when Jabulani Sibanda will
lead one million men on a
march through the streets of Harare. At least, he
says there will one
million, and anyone who want to try and count them is
welcome.
The march is called the One Million Men Solidarity March, and it
has two
aims: firstly, to show loyalty to the President; and second and
more
important, to stamp on any criticism of Mugabe within the disruptive
ranks
of Zanu-PF.
Sibanda, an erratic, noisy and charismatic figure,
is the leader of the War
Veterans, and it is these vets, he says, who will
make up the great majority
of the Friday march. This puzzled me. Only 50,000
veterans turned up at army
assembly points, back in 1980. Twenty seven years
on, even those warriors
are begining to age. Exactly where is Sibanda
finding his million men? I
decided to ask him.
His home is in
Nkulamane, and it is heavily guarded. Given the death threats
uttered by
enemies within his own party recently, that's not surprising.
While I talked
to him, his guards moved restlessly in and out of the room.
One asked me to
show him my Zanu-PF membership card. I told him I'd left it
in my other
jacket.
Sibanda himself, dressed as always all in black, looked tired. He
had just
returned from leading a march of more war veterans in Mashonaland.
But he
had an easy answer to my query about his numbers.
"All those
patriotic sons of the soul who actively took part in the land
reform
programme are veterans," he announced. He was referring to the
gun-toting
mobs who drove white couples and their children off their farms.
"The Third
Chimurenga Heroes," he called them. We all remember their heroic
deeds.
I then asked him about the street kids, seen in recent War
Veteran marches.
Were they just making up the numbers? Not al all. "They are
our Future
Heroes," he told me. It was good to hear that our street kids
have a future,
let alone a heroic one.
Thus, with his collection of
thugs, kids and clapped-out old men, Sibanda
marches to support his
President. He will have no truck with discussion
about rival candidates for
the top job. "There is no vacancy," he told me.
"Robert Mugabe is President
for Life. Until the day he dies."
I didn't like to suggest that, when
that sad day comes, and Robert Mugabe
goes to a better place, Jabulani
Sibanda may need all his guards to make
sure he doesn't go with him.
International Herald Tribune
The Associated PressPublished: October 25,
2007
MAPUTO, Mozambique: Mozambique is to export about
100,000 crocodiles to
South Africa and Zimbabwe over the next six months,
authorities said
Thursday.
An operation to collect crocodile eggs in
the Zambezi Valley is being
carried out by local fishermen in collaboration
with South African crocodile
breeders, Manuel dos Santos, a spokesman for
the provincial government said
Thursday.
"Crocodiles born in
artificial incubators will be exported to South Africa
and Zimbabwe", Dos
Santos said.
Crocodiles are also being bred in the southern provinces of
Maputo and
Inhambane, as well as the central province of Manica. The
reptiles are
prized for their meat and skin.
Dos Santos said that,
apart from the financial gain that the export of the
crocodiles would bring,
Mozambican authorities also believe it will reduce
the risk posed by the
animals. Collecting the eggs will, presumably, reduce
the crocodile
population in the country.
Crocodiles, known as deadly man-eaters, lurk
in Africa's many rivers which
are a life source for the continent's
impoverished populations. Along with
elephants and lions, they are
responsible for hundreds of deaths.
More than 30 people have been killed by
animals in the last few years in
Mozambique.
"Crocodiles represent a
threat to the population," said Dos Santos.
zimbabwejournalists.com
25th Oct 2007 09:09 GMT
By Zinasu
BRENDA Furusta, a
social sciences student at the Great Zimbabwe University
was recently
arrested during a court session at the Magistrates Courts in
Masvingo where
her long time boyfriend Edison Hlatshwayo appeared for A
routine remand
hearing.
Brenda was part of more than 100 students, who organized the
FREE EDISON
CAMPAIGN, a solidarity campaign organized by ZINASU, Zimbabwe ’s
strongest
students’ body.
Brenda has been in custody for the past
seven days and her legal
representatives see her arrest as a political move
that was targeted to
emotionally breakdown her vibrant rights activist and
student leader
boyfriend.
Lawyer selby Hwacha has since confirmed
that Edison and Brenda will appear
in court today as they make another
desperate attempt to gain their freedom
from the heinous regime of Mugabe,
says Zinasu.
Meanwhile, evidently starving policemen failed to testify in
court against
the NCA National Spokesperson and Youth Forum Board
Chairperson Madock
Chivasa, who is facing a charge of undermining police
authority.
The allegations stemmed from the speech made by the vibrant
former student
leader and civic rights activist at a Youth Forum Public
Meeting on the 27th
of September this year where he purportedly likened the
conduct and
ineptitude of the Zimbabwe Republic Police to wild dogs which do
not think
but just follow instructions blindly. Chivasa has since denied
this charge
vehemently before the courts arguing that the police are
pursuing a
political agenda meant to fix him as ardent critic of the regime
of Robert
Mugabe.
A truck load of policemen from the notorious CID
law and order section
appeared at the magistrates courts early in the
morning expecting to
strengthen the state case against Chivasa. Hunger took
its toll against the
infamous human rights abusers who failed to turn up for
the court
proceedings which had been postponed to 1500HRS after one of the
magistrates
who was expected to hear the case Makunde recused himself
without disclosing
the reasons. Out of the12 policemen who were expected to
appear against
Chivasa only one was found as the rest were spotted
scrambling for buns at a
nearby restaurant. This left prosecutor Dewa with
no option but to postpone
the trial to the 20th of November this year.