Zim Online
Fri 28 October
2005
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe has authorised a
restructuring of the
police force that will see Police Commissioner
Augustine Chihuri and other
senior officers leaving the force to be replaced
by a "new breed of trusted
officers" by next year, ZimOnline has
learnt.
Authoritative sources said the changes in the police force,
which they
said had initially been earmarked to take place last month, were
part of a
wider re-organisation of the top brass in the security forces by
Mugabe
designed to place the forces in the hands of trusted loyalists before
the
veteran President retires in 2008.
According to the
sources, Chihuri was supposed to be replaced by
Mugabe's nephew, Innocent
Matibiri, when his term expired last September but
this could not happen
because Mugabe had until a few weeks ago not given his
final approval to the
restructuring plan.
"Chihuri will be forced to go
since his rank will be phased out. Some
of his deputies and senior officers
whom the President is suspicious of will
be forced to leave as well. A new
breed of trusted police officers will be
installed," said a source, who did
not want to be named.
Chihuri, part of a group of fighters that
unsuccessfully rebelled
against Mugabe during Zimbabwe's 1970s war of
independence, is still Police
Commissioner after his term was
extended.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena could not be reached
for comment on
the matter while Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi would not
deny or
confirm whether the police will be restructured, only saying that if
that
happened it would not be because the government wanted to purge anyone
from
the law enforcement agency.
"We don't use restructuring
exercises to purge people," Mohadi said.
According to the sources,
under the new structure the police force
will no longer be headed by a
police commissioner. An inspector general will
be appointed to head the
police force. He/she will be assisted in his duties
by a pool of police
commissioners. It is not yet clear who these
commissioners will be or how
many they will be.
The sources said Chihuri will be retired
apparently because Mugabe had
lost faith in the police chief because of his
involvement in a silent but
vicious battle raging in Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF
party over his succession.
Changes were also expected in the army,
air force and state spy
Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). But the
sources said it was most
likely that only some of the top officers would be
replaced with the command
structures of the armed forces and CIO remaining
unaltered.
"He wants to leave the security forces in the hands of
trusted people
before he leaves office. Similar moves will take place in the
army and the
CIO. He might not restructure their command but current leaders
look certain
to leave and make way for people whom Mugabe trusts will
protect him after
he leaves office," said another source.
Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in
1980, has
said he will step down when his term of office expires in 2008.
Many
Zimbabweans hold Mugabe directly responsible for gross human rights
abuses
in the country in the last 25 years particularly atrocities committed
by
Zimbabwe's army in the country's southern region, home of the minority
Ndebele tribe.
At least 20 000 innocent civilians were murdered
by the army's now
disbanded North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade that had been
deployed in the
region to crush an armed rebellion by dissidents loyal to
the late
nationalist Joshua Nkomo.
Nkomo, the founder of modern
Zimbabwean nationalism, later agreed to
form a government of national unity
with Mugabe which saw an end to armed
conflict in the southern region but
the issue of army atrocities was never
resolved. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 28
October 2005
HARARE - The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) this week
summoned bankers
and instructed them to soft-land the exchange rate to
around Z$60 000 to the
American dollar, a clear departure from its stance
that the market would
determine the rate, it emerged yesterday.
The Zimbabwe dollar was trading at between $58 000 and $60 500 to the
US
dollar at all the country's commercial banks on Thursday, down from as
high
as $97 000, which some banks were quoting earlier in the week. The
interbank
rate had been set at $76 300 on Tuesday but was at $60 437
yesterday.
Bank sources said the RBZ was "alarmed" that some
banks were buying
the greenback at $97 000, the rate at which the local unit
is trading on a
thriving parallel market, forcing it to intervene by
indicating the rate it
was comfortable with.
"Bankers
Association members were called to the Reserve Bank this week
where they
were courteously told that the central bank would like to see the
entry
level on the interbank market at around $60 000," a bank treasurer
told
ZimOnline in Harare.
"This is why there has been this sudden
convergence of the rate among
the banks but there is no fundamental
justification for the Zimbabwe dollar
to strengthen the way it has done. I
suppose they just looked at the black
market and the auction and averaged to
come up with $60 000," added the bank
official who did not want to be named
for professional reasons.
RBZ governor Gideon Gono was not
available yesterday for comment on
the matter.
Analysts said it
will take time for the interbank market to establish
itself free of RBZ
influence, but they warned if the Zimbabwe dollar remains
static on the
official market, rates will even soar higher on
the black
market.
Zimbabwe is suffering a six-year economic recession that
has caused a
serious foreign currency crunch, which has hit fuel imports and
industry.
The country is also grappling with run-away inflation and one of
the highest
known unemployment rates in the world.
Under the
new interbank system, exporters are required to sell 70
percent of their
receipts at "market determined rates" and the rest to the
RBZ-controlled
auctions.
Analysts however said if the RBZ continued to influence
the direction
of the local currency, this would further undermine the
confidence of
exporters, some of whom authorities accuse of under invoicing
exports and
denying the country critical foreign currency.
"I
think this clearly explains the caution we have seen in the market
since the
announcement of the interbank, there is still suspicion that this
whole
thing is not going to be determined by the market," a Harare-based
economist
who refused to be named said. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 28
October 2005
HARARE - The chief executive of Zimbabwe's banned
Daily News
newspaper, Sam Sipepa Nkomo, on Thursday
defended his
participation in next month's senate election on an
opposition ticket saying
the move would not jeopardise the paper's bid to
return onto the
streets.
Last Monday, Nkomo was among 26 opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) candidates who filed papers at nomination courts
around the
country to stand in the senate election in defiance of the
party's president
who had called for a boycott of the poll.
There were fears that by contesting the November 26 election on an
opposition ticket, Nkomo had literally blown whatever chance there was the
government's Media and Information Commission (MIC) would allow the paper
back.
Asked to comment on the issue, Nkomo said: "I don't think
it's a cause
for concern at all that I am taking part in the senate election
on an MDC
ticket.
"If they (the commission) apply the law then
that won't affect us at
all. The application should be considered on its own
merits. I have just
seen my lawyers and they told me that it won't affect
our position at all as
these are not personality issues."
Nkomo
is itching for a second bite of the cherry in the senate poll
after he lost
the right to represent the opposition party in the party's
internal
elections to choose a candidate for last March's parliamentary
poll.
The Daily News, which was accused by the government of
backing the
opposition, was shut down two years ago after it failed to
comply with the
tough Access to Information and Protection of Privacy
Act.
The case is back at the Administrative Court after the Supreme
Court
earlier this year ruled that the MIC should reconsider the paper's
application. But the MIC in July refused to grant a licence to the company
arguing they had not fully complied with the law. -ZimOnline
fidh.org
27th/10/2005
Abduction / Ill-treatment / Harassment -
ZWE 003 / 1005 / OBS 102
The Observatory has been
informed by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
(ZLHR) about the abduction of
and violent acts of harassment against five
field officers of the Mass
Public Opinion Institute.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human
Rights Defenders, a joint
programme of the World Organisation Against
Torture (OMCT) and the
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH),
requests your urgent
intervention in the following situation in
Zimbabwe.
Brief description:
According to the information
received, on October 25, 2005, ZLHR received a
call around 10:00 pm to be
informed that five field officers of the Mass
Public Opinion Institute, Mr.
Officen Nyaungwe, Mr. Claris Madhuku, Mr.
Sozwaphi Masunungure, Mr. Isaiah
Makatura and Mr. Wilson Shonhiwa had been
abducted and severely beaten by a
group calling themselves "war veterans".
The authors of the call also gave
information about the vehicle in which
these five persons were travelling
when they got captured.
The five field officers were conducting a
research titled "Africa Barometer",
a project of democracy in Africa in a
small farming community outside Harare
called "Beatrice". The research
basically entailed asking and administering
a questionnaire onto willing
individuals on the perceptions and notions of
democracy in Africa and
Zimbabwe. While carrying out the survey, the
researchers were confronted,
abducted and detained by individuals calling
themselves war veterans. They
were then presented to a local community of
over 100 people, where upon
after being accused of acting against national
interests, the group of "war
veterans", who did not identify themselves,
began to beat them up in full
view of the community, using booted feet,
clenched fists, open palms,
sticks, logs and bottles. Then a soldier from
the Zimbabwe National Army
dressed in full military uniform arrived at the
scene and immediately joined
in the beatings. The soldier used fresh sticks
and logs hew as cutting from
the trees around. The assaults were largely
indiscriminate but mainly
focused on the buttocks, underneath the feet and
head area.
In the
course of the assault, the "war veterans" and soldier demanded
identification cards from the five field officers. Upon production of the
cards, one of the field officers, Mr. Claris Madhuku, was then established
to be a relative of Mr. Lovemore Madhuku, Chairperson of the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and a well known human rights defender and
constitutional activist (See Observatory Urgent Appeal ZWE 002/0805/OBS 068
and Observatory Annual Report 2004). This incensed the assailants resulting
in more severe beatings on Mr. Claris Madhuku, the assailants advising the
latter that he now was being beaten "for the sins of his brother". The
assaults lasted approximately three hours.
The field researchers were
then admitted for treatment at the Avenues
Clinic. Three were discharged
after treatment while two were hospitalised
and detained overnight for
monitoring as they sustained severe injuries.
The mission of the Mass
Public Opinion Institute, which is based in Harare,
is "to promote and
strengthen democratic governance through research,
publishing and
facilitating discussion of public opinion on topical issues
thereby
connecting policy makers with the citizens they serve; to facilitate
the
destruction of the "culture of fear" by encouraging people to express
their
views on issues that are of concern to them; to become a permanent
organisation that promotes and encourages the institutionalisation of
democracy in Zimbabwe", through the realisation of public opinion
surveys.
Up to now, the field officers have not formally reported to the
police as
they are concerned about the impunity on acts committed by state
and/or
non-state actors acting with the acquiescence or participation of the
state
law enforcement agents.
The Observatory is deeply concerned
about these events, which blatantly
violate the provisions of the
Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted
by the General Assembly of
the United Nations on December 9, 1998, in
particular its article 12.2,
which states that "the State shall take all
necessary measures to ensure the
protection by the competent authorities of
everyone, individually and in
association with others, against any violence,
threats, retaliation, de
facto or de jure, adverse discrimination, pressure
or any other arbitrary
action as a consequence of his or her legitimate
exercise of the rights
referred to in the present Declaration".
Actions requested:
Please
write to the Zimbabwean authorities and ask them to:
i. take all
necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological
integrity of
Mr. Officen Nyaungwe, Mr. Claris Madhuku, Mr. Sozwaphi
Masunungure, Mr.
Isaiah Makatura and Mr. Wilson Shonhiwa, and all human
rights defenders in
Zimbabwe;
ii. Conduct a fair, impartial and independent inquiry into
these and other
events of attacks of human rights defenders, in order to
identify the
authors, bring them to justice and pronounce sentences
proportional to the
gravity of their crimes to bring about an end to
impunity prevailing in the
country;
iii. end all forms of harassment
and ill-treatment of human rights defenders
in Zimbabwe, and guarantee in
all circumstances that human rights defenders
and organisations are able to
carry out their work without any hindrance;
iv. comply with the
provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders
adopted by the UN
General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular
article 1, which states
that "everyone has the right, individually or
collectively, to promote the
protection and fulfilment of human rights and
fundamental freedoms at the
national and international levels", and
above-mentioned article
12.2;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms
in
accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other
international human rights instruments ratified by
Zimbabwe.
Addresses:
President of Zimbabwe, Mr. Robert G.
Mugabe, Office of the President,
Private Bag 7700, Causeway, Harare,
Zimbabwe, Fax : +263 4 708 211
Mr. Khembo Mohadi, Minister of Home
Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs,
11th Floor Mukwati Building, Private Bag
7703, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe,
Fax : +263 4 726 716
Mr. Patrick
Chinamasa, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs, Ministry of
Justice, Legal nd Parliamentary Affairs, Fax: + 263 4
77 29 99
Mr.
Augustine Chihuri, Police Commissioner, Police Headquarters, P.O. Box
8807,
Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe, Fax : +263 4 253 212 / 728 768 / 726 084
Mr. Sobuza Gula Ndebele, Attorney-General, Office of the Attorney, PO Box
7714, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe, Fax: + 263 4 77 32 47
Mrs.
Chanetsa, Office of the Ombudsman Fax: + 263 4 70 41 19
Ambassador Mr.
Chitsaka Chipaziwa, Permanent Mission of Zimbabwe to the
United Nations in
Geneva, Chemin William Barbey 27, 1292 Chambésy,
Switzerland, Fax: + 41 22
758 30 44, Email: mission.zimbabwe@ties.itu.net
Please
also write to the embassies of Zimbabwe in your respective
country.
***
Geneva - Paris, October 27, 2005
Kindly inform
us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in
your
reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the
protection of
Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support
in their time
of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998
Human Rights Prize of the French
Republic.
To contact the
Observatory, call the emergency line:
Email: observatoire@iprolink.ch
Tel
and fax FIDH: 33 1 43 55 55 05 / 01 43 55 18 80 Tel and fax OMCT: + 41
(0)
22 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
Reuters
Thu 27 Oct
2005 12:44 PM ET
HARARE, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The leaders of Zimbabwe's main
opposition moved
on Thursday to heal a rift over participation in next
month's senate polls
which has raised the spectre of a party
split.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has plunged into its
deepest
crisis since coming into being in 1999, due to a bitter dispute
among its
top leadership over whether to contest elections that critics say
are merely
aimed at tightening President Robert Mugabe's grip on
power.
On Thursday MDC chief Morgan Tsvangirai -- who wants a boycott of
the Nov.
26 poll, said he had met his top five lieutenants who have opposed
his
stance and earlier this week sponsored the registration of candidates
for 26
seats in the 66-strong senate.
"The management commitment of
the MDC ... agreed ... to continue dialogue
with a view to finding an
expeditious resolution of the dispute in the
party," Tsvangirai, who was
flanked by his deputy Gibson Sibanda told a news
conference.
The
faction in favour of contesting argues that a boycott would only widen
ZANU-PF's political dominance at the expense of the opposition.
He
said the MDC leadership had also agreed to desist from making
"acrimonious
comments on the dispute", and urged party members not to use
threats,
intimidation and violence against colleagues across the senate
issue
divide.
The MDC says ZANU-PF has used rigging and violence to avert
defeat in
parliamentary and presidential elections in the last five years in
the face
of a worsening economic crisis, and Tsvangirai says taking part in
the
senate vote would lend credence to a flawed process.
[ This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 27
Oct 2005 (IRIN) - The rift in the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC) over participating in next month's senate election
has degenerated
into violence, according to the official Herald newspaper.
It reported
that five men loyal to MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai had appeared
in court on
Wednesday for allegedly attacking three senate candidates who
defied
Tsvangirai's order to boycott the poll.
The state claimed that on Monday
the men had assembled illegally at the
nomination court in Gweru, in the
Midlands province, with the intention of
preventing any MDC candidates from
filing papers.
They allegedly attacked three 'rebel' MDC candidates who
had just filed
papers and were leaving the nomination
court.
Tsvangirai's critics have pointed to an MDC national council vote
in favour
of participating in the 26 November senate election. Their
opponents stress
that the party had earlier agreed to boycott the election,
because the
creation of an upper house was a waste of taxpayers' money and
was likely to
be stacked with ruling party supporters.
John Makumbe,
a senior political science lecturer at the University of
Zimbabwe, told IRIN
that Tsvangirai and his supporters, including the youth
and women's wings of
the party, were preparing a campaign to boycott polling
stations, which
could result in a "very contradictory situation that's going
to be quite
confusing [for MDC supporters] ... the potential for violence is
everywhere," he warned.
The pro-senate faction has made allegations
of intimidation in the battle
for control of MDC offices around the
country.
MDC officials aligned with Tsvangirai have allegedly taken
charge of affairs
at the party's national headquarters in the capital,
Harare.
The pro-poll faction aligned to MDC vice-president Gibson Sibanda
and
secretary-general Welshman Ncube appeared to have gained control of the
offices in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city, and the provinces of
Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South.
When Sibanda and Ncube
held a press conference in Harare last week they used
a five-star hotel
instead of the party's headquarters.
Pro-election MDC spokesman Paul
Themba Nyathi said: "There is an unfortunate
culture of violence emerging in
the MDC. I have been informed that some
rowdy youths were denouncing us,
threatening us with death for disagreeing
with Tsvangirai. Those that have
not been to the party offices are afraid of
being beaten up by some
extremist elements in the MDC."
But Tsvangirai insisted that no such
instruction existed. "Every member of
the MDC is free to visit the party
headquarters, unless they have other
reasons for not coming which I am not
aware of," he said, and added that he
intended visiting party offices in the
Matabeleland region "in due course".
Matabeleland has voted
overwhelmingly for the MDC since its formation in
1999, and pro-senate
leaders have stressed that by boycotting the election
they would allow the
ruling ZANU-PF party a toehold in the region.
The Matabeleland region was
the scene of a vicious counter-insurgency
campaign by the ZANU-PF government
against armed dissidents in the 1980s, in
which an estimated 20,000
civilians died.
[ENDS]
The Star
October 27, 2005
By Shaun Smillie
Torture still occurs
in police interrogation rooms across South
Africa - despite 10 years of
democracy. This is according to researchers at
the monthly Jala Tsebo
Seminar, organised by the centre for the Study of
Violence and
Reconciliation (CSVR).
"We need empirical data. NGOs need to take a
more active role in
revisiting the issue of torture," Piers Pigou, a
researcher with the
Zimbabwe Victims Torture Project, said
yesterday.
Some of the evidence that police have used torture to
extract
information from suspects and criminals comes from a NGO study in
KwaZulu
Natal
The torturer places the tube over the victims
mouth, then pulls
it up ...
. The study, according to Pigou,
involved 149 visits to six police
stations over seven months in
2002.
"What they found were 78 serious allegations of police abuse,
half of
these involved smothering," Pigou said.
Smothering -
also known as "tube" torture - involves the inner tube of
a car
tyre.
"The victim is placed on their stomach. The torturer places
the tube
over the victim's mouth, then pulls it up, causing the victim to
bend
backwards. The victim can't breathe ... and passes out. They wake them
up
and the perpetrators do it again," Pigou said.
This is
not the only evidence of police torture.
An investigation into the
Vanderbijl Park Murder and Robbery Unit in
the late 1990s revealed extensive
use of electric shock torture.
"Over a three-day period, we asked
awaiting-trial prisoners in Vaal
triangle if they had been tortured. We
asked 150 of them and 150 said they
had. We managed to secure 30
prosecutions," Pigou said.
The reason why torture still exists in
post-apartheid South Africa,
Pigou believed, is because it has not been
addressed properly. "The
Independent Complaints Directorate is
under-resourced and the police closed
down their own unit which was
investigating abuse," he said.
CSVR executive director Ahmed Motala
said another reason why police
torture was still a problem was because it
was not legally recognised in
South Africa. "In SA there is no such criminal
offence as torture. The worst
criminal charge you could get would be
attempted murder," Motala said.
According to Pigou, research also
shows that an alarmingly high
percentage of the public are supportive of the
police using torture
techniques.
"In 1998, a third of 2 000
people surveyed supported the right of the
police to use some sort of
force," he said.
ssm@star.co.za
26 Oct 2005 19:51:15
GMT
Source: IRIN
JOHANNESBURG, 26 October (IRIN) - The
current crisis in the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has
undermined the party's bid to
present itself as an alternative to President
Robert Mugabe and the ruling
ZANU-PF.
With the party divided over
participation in the upcoming senate elections,
MDC president Morgan
Tsvangirai's leadership has been besieged by questions.
Three weeks ago
he overruled a national council decision, which voted in a
secret ballot to
participate in the senate poll.
Tsvangirai based his veto on the belief
that an upper house was an
unnecessary drain on taxpayers and would do
nothing to improve the lives of
ordinary Zimbabweans, and the fact that the
MDC had opposed the
constitutional amendment that created the senate during
the parliamentary
debate on the issue.
The influential women's and
youth wings have backed him, but his attempt to
overrule the national
council decision, arrived at by a slim 33 to 31
margin, has seen party
spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi, general-secretary
Welshman Ncube and deputy
president Gibson Sibanda accuse him of being
undemocratic.
They
argued that the national council was the supreme decision-making body
between congresses and Tsvangirai did not have the authority to ignore its
verdict.
Party officials in the MDC stronghold of Matabeleland
insisted that by not
contesting the senate poll they would hand victory to
ZANU-PF, which up
until now had been shut out of the southern
region.
On Monday, 27 members of the MDC defied their party president and
filed
nomination papers as candidates for the 26 November senate election.
More
surprising to MDC officials in the capital, Harare, was that three
rural MDC
members had filed papers to stand as candidates in urban
Harare.
The development followed an attempt by South Africa's President
Thabo Mbeki
to broker a deal between the factions at a weekend meeting
attended by
Sibanda and Ncube. Tsvangirai declined the
invitation.
John Makumbe, a senior political science lecturer at the
University of
Zimbabwe, commented that Tsvangirai had been blindsided at the
national
council meeting three weeks ago.
The MDC leader had not
expected a secret ballot, because "the national
council has previously
always decided by consensus or a show of hands",
Makumbe
said.
Tsvangirai had fought against a secret vote on the matter, but was
unable to
get his way.
"The impasse continues and the stalemate
continues; insults are flying left,
right and centre within the party. What
is interesting is that [the ruling]
ZANU-PF and the state media are firmly
behind the MDC individuals who have
decided to file nominations because they
are useful for legitimising the
regime," Makumbe noted.
Most
importantly, however, the split in the MDC has handed Mugabe an
opportunity
to argue that the MDC is no longer as popular as it once was,
when in 2000
it came within a whisker of beating ZANU-PF in parliamentary
elections.
"Tsvangirai is scared, but whether they boycott or
participate, to us that
is irrelevant - they are an irrelevant party,"
Mugabe was recently quoted as
telling a ZANU-PF rally in
Bulawayo.
DEFIANCE
Tsvangirai's spokesman, William Bango, told
IRIN the MDC leader would not
recognise the 27 MDC senatorial
candidates.
Although he would not say what action Tsvangirai would take,
he ruled out
any chance of them being expelled from the labour-backed
party.
"Tsvangirai's position on the senate remains the same: he does not
support
participation, and he also does not recognise those who are
purported to
have registered for the elections on behalf of the party. But
that does not
mean he will go out of his way and expel them, because he is
not a
bloodthirsty person. He realises that this is a political crisis that
requires a political solution," Bango commented.
He rejected
assertions that the open defiance of Tsvangirai was a sign of
the MDC's
imminent demise.
MDC secretary-general Ncube meanwhile told IRIN: "It is
unfair for anyone to
suggest that those who complied with the national
council resolution acted
outside the law. If anything, it is those who
support the boycott who are in
violation of the party's constitution, which
stipulates that no one has
powers over the national council."
Ncube
said contesting the senate poll was necessary if the party was to
remain
relevant, despite MDC nationally losing all previous ballots and,
along with
several international election observers, accusing ZANU-PF of
intimidation
and rigging.
Describing the meeting with Mbeki at the weekend, Ncube
observed: "Mbeki had
invited us ... [because] there seemed to be two sides
to the MDC conflict.
He wanted to hear both arguments and offered to
mediate, that was his only
interest. Tsvangirai was invited but he didn't
think it would serve any
purpose."
But Makumbe maintained that
Tsvangirai had not missed an opportunity to
resolve the crisis in his party
by spurning Mbeki's invitation.
"Mbeki himself has never been happy with
Morgan Tsvangirai as head of the
opposition party ... he's scared of what
they call a labour movement pushing
out a liberator [Mugabe]. Mbeki's
preference is for Ncube ... as he's an
intellectual," Makumbe
commented.
The response of the Tsvangirai camp to the senate confusion
has been a
national tour of party offices. "Right now we have begun the
process of
visiting all provinces to denounce the elections and urge the
people not to
vote. I will visit all the provinces before the elections,"
Tsvangirai told
IRIN.
Makumbe said the fact that the 27 MDC
candidates would be 'backed' by
ZANU-PF but denounced by Tsvangirai would
undermine their chances of success
at the poll, and the position of the
youth and women's wings would further
erode their chances of success -
"they'll have nobody to campaign on their
behalf", he noted.
MDC
youth chairman Nelson Chamisa told IRIN that 'politics of the belly' may
have played a role in the decision of the 27 candidates to stand - the 65
senators in the upper house will reportedly earn substantially more than
members of parliament.
RECONCILIATION
However, Ncube stressed
the principle on which the candidates registered,
saying he believed the MDC
"leadership must rethink and reflect on the
founding values of the
party".
"We need to recommit ourselves to the values that bind us as
collective
decision-makers. If we all do that, I have no doubt that we can
solve this
problem," he noted.
University of Zimbabwe political
analyst Professor Henri Dzinotyiwei said,
"The invitation from Mbeki [to the
MDC leaders] shows that he considers the
party as a partner in ending the
crisis [in Zimbabwe]. To him the cohesion
of the MDC gives it strength, and
there is always the possibility that
President Robert Mugabe would not talk
to any faction of a crumbled MDC."
Despite media reports predicting the
end of the MDC, Makumbe said the party
was not about to
collapse.
"This conflict is taking place at the highest level of
leadership and not at
grassroots level. Secondly, this is a necessary stage
in the political
development of the party - it's consolidating its power,
its integrity and
its membership, and in the process there are bound to be
some elements who
will fall out - it happens in every party," he
observed.
Analysts suggested that Tsvangirai would ride out the crisis
over the next
two months, ahead of an expected party congress, and then ask
congress to
decide on the poll dispute.
"The danger, at the moment,
of him pursuing the matter in any way is that it
could be taken to court ...
and it will become a question of ownership of
the MDC," Makumbe pointed out.
With the judiciary said to be compromised by
political pressure, this could
be a disastrous course of action.
"There is quite a lot of work being
done by various groups, including church
leaders, to try and mediate between
the MDC leaders," Makumbe said. "There
could be a cooling-off period between
now and next week - there is
essentially a rapprochement in
progress."
Business Day
Posted to the web on: 27 October 2005
Dumisani
Muleya
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ZIMBABWE's
main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
is locked
in increasingly self-destructive political combat. The party seems
determined to go down - fighting itself!
The current internal war
in the MDC has been proceeding at low intensity for
some time, but escalated
three weeks ago following a dispute over
participation in next month's
senate election.
The party's national executive council voted 33 to 31
for participation in
the election. Two ballots were
spoilt.
However, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled rank and
overruled the council,
saying that entering such elections breeds
"illegitimate outcomes".
Welshman Ncube, MDC secretary-general,
argued that boycotting the poll would
be political suicide as it would
render the party irrelevant. This triggered
a battle of wills between the
Tsvangirai and Ncube camps.
At face value, the crisis assumes an
ethnic character because Tsvangirai
leads a Shona-dominated faction, whilst
Ncube heads a largely Ndebele camp.
But the central issues have nothing
to do with tribalism. The crisis in the
MDC is due mainly to structural
tensions resulting from its failure to
balance competing interests. The
conflict is also about leadership and
policy differences. There are
compelling questions being asked about
Tsvangirai's leadership
qualities.
The MDC's obvious lack of ideological cohesion is another
sticking point.
Modern politics is a fight of ideas. Any party's ideology is
vital in
shaping and defining it.
A cursory look at the MDC's
short history reveals that it emerged from the
trade union and civic
movement in 1999. The party was an eclectic mix of
trade unions, civic
organisations, business associations, pressure groups,
professionals,
farmers and students. The MDC was in essence a creature of
Zanu (PF)
failures. President Robert Mugabe's ineptitude provided conditions
for the
MDC to emerge.
After winning almost half the contested seats in the
national elections in
2000 (57 of 120), the MDC, largely due to a hostile
political environment
and internal weaknesses, failed to evolve into a
cohesive unit. It also did
not come up with credible policies.
The
party failed to recruit some of Zimbabwe's best minds, and this explains
its
intellectual poverty, its policy inadequacies and its leadership
limitations.
Now, Tsvangirai cannot rise to the challenge to
rescue his party from its
self-destruction.
Leadership is a process
of policy and administrative decisions, particularly
under difficult
conditions. It is the leader's responsibility to hold his
party together -
to act as a referee and ensure disputes do not impair or
destroy the
organisation. But instead of being umpire, Tsvangirai has
reduced himself to
faction leader.
If he had stayed neutral and mediated successfully in
the crisis, his rating
would have increased. Leading a faction and engaging
in dogfights has
damaged his credibility.
If the party splits, it
will be a tremendous waste of the courageous
challenge it has presented to
the Mugabe regime for the past five years. The
MDC plucked up enough courage
to enter into Zimbabwe's cutthroat politics,
and to fight the ruling Zanu
(PF). As a result, the MDC and its supporters
suffered endless bouts of
state-sponsored political violence, beatings,
arrests, detentions, torture,
and death. Tsvangirai, Ncube and agriculture
secretary Renson Gasela escaped
treason convictions, while party members
were subjected to relentless
harassment. Against all these odds, the MDC
almost defeated Zanu (PF),
twice.
But now - unless something dramatic happens - the party seems
headed for a
breakup.
Muleya is Business Day's Harare
correspondent and Zimbabwe Independent news
editor.
cna.com.tw
2005-10-27 13:55:54
Taipei, Oct. 27 (CNA) A
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA)
official denied Thursday a report that
Taiwan has provided funds to
Zimbabwe's main opposition party.
Debbie Jeans (nee Warren) is married to a medical sports doctor and
was
karate champion (world/olympic) in the mid to late 1980's and also
Zim
'Sports Person of the Year'.
"Any fact facing us is not as
important as our attitude toward it, for that
determines our success
or
failure."
- Norman Vincent Peale -
"The greatest thing in
this world is not so much where we are, but in what
direction we are
moving."
- Oliver Windell Holmes -
Having just returned from
attending a week long sports medicine conference
in "Joezies" with Austin,
the extent of both the economic and emotional
"meltdown" in less than seven
days is very obvious! Prices soaring, fuel
still an even rarer luxury, add to
this the alarming rate at which our
hard-earned cash seems to vanish on a
pitiful bag or two of basic
groceries.... it's a battle both out there as
well as here in our heads, to
desperately try to keep calm!! We all do what
needs to be done to feed,
clothe and school the children, work harder to
attempt to keep up with the
weekly inflation of bills, but catching
ourselves at odd moments in the day
wondering where it will all end and what
the future holds?
This is "survival mode". This is where we get to stare
at our own fear in
the face and tread where we've never been before. We make
a plan for fuel,
another to buy rare luxuries such as sugar or cooking oil
and yet another to
stretch the dollars until the end of the month. We have
learned to say "no"
to many things which we want to ensure that we can say
"yes" to the things
that we or our family need. Normal everyday "basic"
commodities and actions
in another place and time have become a treat for us,
something to fully
appreciate, to savour and to draw out the pleasure with
which it comes! This
can be a glass of imported wine, a take-away pizza for
the kids, an imported
deodorant, or even a bottle of hair
conditioner!!??#*!
Many, many ex zimbos and people living outside, simply
cannot understand why
we're still here!!! Incredulous stares when one
describes the plan of action
for water shortages, fuel saving and sourcing,
and daily adjustments on
every level to rising costs and inefficiencies in
just about every sector of
business, municipality or service industries!
Empathy runs high amongst
those on the outside who understand why we are
still here. So many have
openly encouraged us to stand our ground, to hang in
and to throw ourselves
at making it "work out", to do whatever it takes to
build upon the
foundation of who and what we are. These very same people are
the ones who
tell us about the despair, the longing, the loneliness and the
yearning for
parts of our beloved land. The wide open spaces, the people and
friendships,
the Kariba sunsets, the laughter around a braai, the community
in "making a
plan". The "drop in for tea" attitude so prevelant amongst all
zimbabweans
regardless of race, colour, tribe or background. The "we're all
in it"
under-current that brings us together in fuel queues, financial
disasters,
daily challenges.
Our mountains are huge, yet sitting in
that auditorium listening to the
shift in some of the best researchers and
practitioners from sports medicine
and the field of excellence in both
physical and mental endeavour towards
prevention and treatment of "chronic
diseases", I found myself counting
blessing after blessing for living in
Zim!!!! Here are just a few of the
"highlights" ...
* 60% of men and
50% of women are overweight in Oz. Could say the same for
UK and USA ...
South Africa not far behind.
* Inactivity has become a number one killer risk
factor for heart
disease...on a par with smoking. In fact, being inactive is
the same as
smoking 20 a day!!!!!!
* Countries all over the world are
engaging in huge, multi billion dollar
health warnings and promotions. Get
moving, eat less junk, get away from the
T.V., eat less junk, get off the
couch and turn off the tv ... don't use the
remote, eat less junk, get
moving!!!!!!
* Clogged and diseased heart arteries has just become the
biggest killer in
the world!!!!
* It has become a crisis of such huge
proportions to just get people to do
enough movement to shunt blood through
their blood vessels to literally slow
down the rate at which bodies are
rotting from disuse, from stress and from
almost 100% diseases caused by
LIFESTYLE!!!!!!!!
So, my dear friends and countrymen, compare that to our
verrrry junk food
depleted daily diet (due to being too expensive or not
available), our lack
of super-duper-high-speed-high-perfromance technology
which means that we
have to actually get off our butts and DO something with
muscles somewhat
larger than those in our index fingers, our problem of kids
having half of
most days doing school sports, our awful transport system so
we walk, cycle
or run from A to B. We don't run the risk of our kids hanging
out at malls
at every free moment .... there aren't any at which to hang
out!!
Most of our kids don't get access to T.V. games, to the latest cell
phones
and ipods .... because we simply can't afford them. Even DSTV is a
treat in
increasingly more households .... so what's a poor, deprived Zim kid
to
do???? Well, they swim, run, cycle, play all manner of school and
social
activities. Triathlon, swimming, cycling, dancing (all kinds!), run
around
playing in the garden and occasionally they have a small relative
break in
their weekly activity mileage to watch a movie, listen to some music
or
chill at home or a mate's house for a few hours. Our challenge is not
to
stop them eating, but to ensure that they eat enough for their
needs!!!
Ok, ok. Yes, I am biased. But do me a favour and compare the
average one-way
hour commute in Jo'burg / Cape Town / Durbs traffic with the
6 minute trip
we have to make all the way from my front door to work /
school. Cycling in
Durbs or Joezies is like having your dearest death wish
come true. Doing
what you love, whilst playing with the grim reaper every
time a vehicle
passes .. which is around 5 million a minute. In Zim, the
driving's not too
great but hey, not too much of a hassel considering that
20 minutes on a
bike in any direction out of town gets you into some
exquisite countryside
and all the wide open space in the world and a fraction
of the traffic with
which to contend!
No trip to Joezies is complete
without a trip to Pick n' Pay supermarket -
which was heaven as always; I
tried not to let the morbid, stressed,
depressed local shoppers get me down
as they went about their daily / weekly
million-choice-product shopping
burdensome routine. I skipped out of there
with my bag of treasures (sunlight
soap, Charlie Gold deo, meusli, oats and
a whole bottle of chocolate sauce
for kids' twice a week ice-cream treat)
and went back to the lectures on
averting the biggest ever, world lifestyle
disease disaster . smiling
secretly to myself as more and more "evidence"
was given by some of the best
experts in the world as to why we are still
here!!!
In conclusion, I
don't dispute the fact that we are being faced with a
mountain of struggles,
but from the bottom of my heart I want you to
consider the daily effect on
our own health, sense of community spirit, and
most importantly, the impact
on that of our children!!! Every day that we
are here, someone out there is
being admitted to coronary care, another
child is diagnosed with type II
diabetes, billions is being spent on drugs
to treat obesity, high blood
pressure, high cholesterol, depression. Whilst
the angels in our midst are
desperately fighting to treat, uplift and feed
the starving and fatally ill,
in the first world there are incomprehensible
measures and expenses taken to
prevent the over-fed from
self-destruction!!?!
We get to spend
daylight hours with those we love in many an impromptu
gathering - each one
an opportunity to laugh, really laugh. To cry, really
cry. And to know the
caring and genuine bonds that nourish our souls, feed
our resolve to lift our
chin and square our shoulders. These are the things
worth struggling for,
this is why we're still here. Let us look to our
challenges always with the
knowledge that the flip side of that hardship
coin holds many, many personal
and nation-building attributes!! By the grace
of God we will look back on
this time and feel the warmth of all those in
our lives who held our hand and
walked with us physically, mentally and
spiritually. Every day that we are
here is a blessing not a curse, and don't
ever think that it's a breeze
outside of these borders. Enough said, I just
wanted to share these thoughts
with you and to tell you that we are in this
together and we will make it
together .... our attitude and direction is the
same ... "Our Zimbabwe".
Let's do it . Together.
Always, and
always,
Debi-great-to-be-back-home Jeans xxxx
Issued by NACFREEZ
co-cordinators
Handel Mlilo, Washington. D.C.
Ralph Black, Texas
http://www.zimbabweans.org/
For
questions please contact:
Stanford G. Mukasa
mukasa@iup.edu
(724) 467
0001
NACFREEZ statement
October 24,
2005
The North American Coalition for a Free Zimbabwe
(NACFREEZ)
reiterates the position it took recently rejecting both
the
Senate
and the Senate elections.
NACFREEZ renews its call to
the civic society leadership and the
people of Zimbabwe to boycott the Senate
elections and mobilize
for mass action against the Robert Mugabe
regime.
NACFREEZ also calls upon the opposition movement in Zimbabwe
to
close ranks in order to forge a united front against the
Mugabe
regime.
To this extent, NACFREEZ calls upon the civic society
leadership
to formulate a strategy for mass mobilization with the
defined
objectives of making Zimbabwe ungovernable. Civil disobedience
is
an internationally sanctioned self-defense right of people
groaning
under the iron heel of oppression.
The Zimbabwean people have the
strength in numbers to launch an
effective mass campaign against the Mugabe
regime. They need a
united leadership that will mobilize
them.
NACFREEZ condemns the fiscal irresponsibility demonstrated
by the
Mugabe regime on the useless Senate which will, this year
alone,
consume over $250 billion of taxpayers' money. This is
an
unbudgeted expenditure.
Mugabe's fiscal irresponsibility has
seen Zimbabwe's scarce
resources being used for unproductive adventures
ranging from the
military expeditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to
the
recent purchase of military jets at a cost of over
US$200
million.
Like Nero fiddling while Rome was burning, Mugabe is
wastefully
spending the country's resources at a time when the
Zimbabwean
economy
is in shambles. Unemployment is at an all- time high of
over 80
percent. Inflation is spiraling out of control to the present
360
percent. By some estimates, if this trend continues, inflation
could
reach 1,000 percent by the end of the year. The economy
which shrunk by five
percent last year is projected by the IMF to
decline a further seven percent
this year.
In the past five years alone the economy has shrunk by about
40
percent. Educational, health, agricultural and social
institutions are
teetering on the edge of total collapse.
The standard of living has
regressed to the level of the 1950s.
In the 1980s you could get one American
dollar for seven Zimbabwe
dollars. This October, 2005 you would need as many
as 100,000
Zimbabwe dollars to get that one US dollar. In a recent
article
from Zimbabwe, Judy Todd, writing from Bulawayo, describes a
thin
young couple, a baby strapped to its mother s back,
standing wide-eyed,
silent and apparently transfixed by the
realization that there was absolutely
nothing in the entire
supermarket which could be purchased with the little
sheaf of
useless notes the man was holding. Over one-quarter of
the
Zimbabwean population has left the country either as political
or
economic refugees. Those who have remained in the country have
been
reduced to abject poverty, or quiet deaths with no media to
tell their
stories to the world.
Why would the people of Zimbabwe want to reward
such a government
by enlarging it? Wouldn t removing such a government be
more
logical? The entire leadership in the opposition movement
has
condemned the Senate as a burden on the already financially
distressed
people of Zimbabwe.
The opposition movement in Zimbabwe is also in
agreement
that the Senate is a grand project of Robert Mugabe to
reward
failed ZANUPF politicians who lost in the last
general elections.
The Senate elections will not be free or fair,
just as elections in Zimbabwe
have been rigged since 2000.
Mugabe has already predetermined how many
seats ZANUPF will have
on the Senate.
Zimbabweans cannot tolerate
this situation any longer. They now
have to stand up and take the courage to
regain their country,
their democracy, their independence, their dignity and
the rule
of
law.
NACFREEZ calls upon Zimbabweans in the Diaspora to
extend
whatever
material or moral assistance they can to our fellow
citizens
inside Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans living aboard must individually
or
in
groups take proactive steps to inform their communities
about
the
oppressive situation in Zimbabwe.
NACFREEZ calls on the
international community to redouble their
efforts to put pressure to bear on
the Mugabe regime. One
example
of such pressure is the strengthening of
the travel ban to the
countries of the international community against both
the Mugabe
regime and their families.
NACFREEZ condemns the recent
action taken by the Food and
Agricultural Organization (FAO) to invite Mugabe
to the
organization's 60th anniversary in Rome. This invitation
gave
respectability to a dictator who has destroyed agriculture
in
Zimbabwe and reduced the country from a
bread basket to a basket case
in a matter of a few years.
While we all expect, and indeed call upon,
the Zimbabweans to
stand up against the repressive Mugabe regime, the
international
community has a strategic and moral obligation to come to
their
aid,
just as the international
community campaigned against the
apartheid regime.
NACFREEZ calls upon the countries of the SADC region
in
particular, and the African Union in general not to allow the
situation
in Zimbabwe to continue to degenerate the way it has,
but to also bring
pressure to bear on Robert Mugabe.
While Africa understandably
appreciates Mugabe's contributions to
the struggle for independence for
Zimbabwe, both the AU and SADC
have an obligation to use the NEPAD peer
review mechanism to
ensure
Mugabe's compliance with the objectives of the
struggle for
independence. It is in the interest of both the SADC
and the
AU that the people of Zimbabwe find self fulfillment in
an
independent
Zimbabwe. If the Zimbabwe situation is allowed to
deteriorate further, it
will destabilize Sub-Sahara Africa and
further Africa's
marginalization.
Mugabe and his government must not be allowed to
disgrace the
AU, SADC and the African Diaspora by preying on their own
people
with impunity. Now is the time to take a stand.
The Herald
By Walter Nyamukondiwa
THE
Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) has cut off supplies to
Chitungwiza amid revelations that the municipality has not paid its bills
for five months while hundreds of thousands suffer as Mayor Misheck Shoko,
other councillors and senior officials are living it up in a luxury hotel in
Victoria Falls.
Chitungwiza owes Zinwa almost $18 billion, some of it
from as long ago as
May.
The council has been charging residents for
the water it buys in bulk from
Zinwa and distributes to houses and
businesses but has not been paying Zinwa
its share of the money it collects
from residents.
The municipality was warned before top councillors and
officials left for
the Falls at the beginning of the week that supplies
would be disconnected
if nothing was done, but they simply told the water
authority to wait until
they came back and then flew off.
Faced with
this attitude, Zinwa felt it had no choice but to close the taps
on
Monday.
"Zinwa has disconnected water to Chitung-wiza for failing to meet
its
obligation of honouring its water bill," said a Zinwa official who
declined
to be named.
"We notified them of our intention to
disconnect water last week but there
has been no response from them
(Chitungwiza officials) up to now."
Acting town clerk Mr Amos Matanhike,
who is in Victoria Falls, said last
night from his $4 million-a-night hotel
that he knew nothing about the dry
taps in the town but confirmed Zinwa had
warned the council of its intention
to disconnect water supplies over the
unpaid bill.
"We told them to wait while a payment plan was being worked
out. I don't
know what the situation is like because right now I am in
Victoria Falls for
the meeting," said Mr Matanhike.
Councillors and
officials are attending the annual general meeting of the
Urban Councils
Association of Zimbabwe.
Mr Matanhike, Mayor Shoko and town treasurer Mr
Godwin Mvududu flew to
Victoria Falls on Monday while about six councillors
and an unspecified
number of other officials are expected to join them
today, according to
reliable sources within the council.
While the
total bill payable by the council for its large delegation -
Harare has sent
a team of just two despite being a far larger and richer
council - is not
known, the town must be paying more than $100 million and
the final figure
is probably closer to $200 million.
Some of the officials travelled by
road while others flew.
A return air ticket to Victoria Falls costs $8,6
million while a single
night at the Elephant Hills Hotel, where the meeting
is being held is $5,8
million double, or $3,9 million single.
Mr
Shoko's wife, the mayoress, seems to be in the Falls since she answered
his
phone last night.
Added to the cost of tickets, accommodation and
motoring expenses are,
according to a council official who did not wish to
be named, the daily
allowances paid each delegate from
Chitungwiza.
It is not known where those councillors and officials who
are travelling by
road obtained the fuel for the 1 800km return journey
since the council has
repeatedly said it cannot collect garbage or provide
many other services
because it has no fuel.
Mayor Shoko and town
treasurer Mr Godwin Mvududu were not reachable for
comment last night
although Mr Shoko's phone was answered by his wife who
said he was locked up
in a meeting.
While the town's leadership is up at the Falls, the
residents are starting
to suffer seriously.
The small minority with
cars are taking water home from workplaces in Harare
but most have to buy
water from Mayambara Village next door or get water
from open wells in
vleis.
Unfortunately, the poor state of the sewerage in Chitungwiza means
many of
the vleis are contaminated with raw sewage.
As the shortage
worsens, some of those with transport are cashing in on the
crisis.
A
single bucket of water is going for anything between $20 000 and $30
000.
Chitungwiza is notorious for delaying payments for bulk water,
despite
collecting the water bills from its residents.
Before Zinwa
took over the bulk water supplies in the Harare metropolitan
area, the town
bought its water in bulk from Harare City Council. When Zinwa
took over
early this year, the city was still owed around $12 billion,
according to
city sources.
Residents are furious about the cut.
Already some
are complaining of unending stomachaches and diarrhoea.
"Munofanira
kumboenda kumabani munoona vanhu vachiita kunge mombe dziri
patsime. Tiri
kutyira zvirwere nekuti sewage dzinopfuura nemumabani imomo.
(People are now
swarming vleis to get water from small wells. That's where
the sewerage
passes through)," warned Mr Tapfumaneyi Jonasi of Zengeza 2.
"For a
council that always complains of not having money, I think this is
irrational and a dereliction of duty. How can we have the treasurer, the
mayor, and the acting town clerk and probably their spouses attend the same
meeting in a far away place like Victoria Falls when they knew the situation
was bad," fumed Mr Johnson Mwamvura
He said it was surprising that
council would send such a large contingent
when Harare had cut on the number
of people attending the same meeting.
"This is extravagance of the
highest order. Harare has sent only two people
and the town clerk stayed
behind because of some pressing things in council.
Why didn't they do the
same?" he said.
By
Tichaona Sibanda
27 October 2005
The MDC Mayor of
Chitungwiza, Misheck Shoko, has denied that his
council owes the Zimbabwe
National Water Authority Z$18 billion.
The state controlled Herald
in its front-page story Thursday reported
that Zinwa cut off water supplies
to the town because the municipality has
not paid its bills for five
months.
The paper added that while hundreds of thousands of people
suffer,
Mayor Shoko, other councillors and senior officials are living it up
in a
luxury hotel in Victoria Falls.
Shoko and all other Mayors
from cities and towns around the country
are attending the annual general
meeting of the Urban Councils Association
of Zimbabwe.
Speaking
from Victoria Falls a fuming Shoko said their account with
Zinwa is up to
date and that the last payment they made to the Water
authority was credited
to the Harare City Council in error.
'We don't owe Zinwa Z$18B.
When we paid our account they accredited
that amount to Harare City Council.
The error was theirs not ours,' said
Mayor Shoko.
Zinwa
officials have since phoned him to apologise and water supplies
have been
reconnected but it will be Friday before all areas in the town
received
supplies.
Shoko alleges the whole water saga centres on a plan
dubbed 'final
push' by his detractors to remove him from office next week
Monday. He said
a demonstration against him by former employees, fired for
stealing council
funds, has been organised for Monday outside the
Chitungwiza council
offices.
Brushing aside the planned
demonstration the MDC Mayor said the only
crime he has committed was
belonging to a political party that is not the
ruling
party.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
TV PROGRAM
TRANSCRIPT
LOCATION: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2005/s1492438.htm
Broadcast: 27/10/2005
Reporter: Zoe Daniel
TONY
JONES: South Africa is embarking on a new strategy to force white
farmers
off their land if they refuse to sell up to black families. The slow
pace of
change since the end of apartheid has frustrated the government and
now it
is abandoning its policy of 'willing buyers and willing sellers';
instead
starting a program of forced expropriations. It hopes to return
around one
third of South Africa's farmland to dispossessed black families.
But some
white owners are vowing to fight. Africa correspondent Zoe Daniel
reports.
ZOE DANIEL: Eviction day is looming for Hannes Visser.
He's being
forced to sell his property to the government so it can be given
to its
former black owners and he doesn't want to let it go.
HANNES VISSER, FARMER: Do certain people have more rights than other?
And
why expropriate when there is so much land available in open
market?
ZOE DANIEL: The South African Government is returning land
to black
families dispossessed during apartheid and it's offered Mr Visser
about
AUS$340,000. But he believes the property and facilities are worth
twice
that.
HANNES VISSER: I have to be in the same position
that I'm here after
I've been expropriated and that's not going to
happen.
ZOE DANIEL: Unless he can find a legal avenue to stop it,
Mr Visser's
property will be returned to the Molamu clan - an extended
family of 500 who
say their great grandfather was forced to sell back in the
1940s. Some of
the family members lived here when they were tiny
children.
MOSES MOLAMU, FAMILY SPOKESMAN: We could be feeling pity
for him, but
because we are also...we want our property back, let him also
feel that we
also want our field, our land back.
ZOE DANIEL:
South African authorities reject comparisons with violent
white farm
seizures in Zimbabwe, but they say expropriation will be used
from now on if
farmers hold out for high prices.
BLESSING MPHELA, SOUTH AFRICAN
LAND COMMISSIONER: From those that have
benefited from the past, what
contribution - material and otherwise - are
they making to this process?
Should they insist on their right to stay on
the farms? What about the right
of those people who were dispossessed?
ZOE DANIEL: Only 4 per cent
of white-owned farmland has been handed
back to the black community since
the end of apartheid. The government wants
to transfer a third by 2014 and
that means many more expropriations to meet
the target. Zoe Daniel,
Lateline.
International Journalists' Network
Oct 27, 2005
At least 90
exiled Zimbabwean journalists, including several international
award
winners, make up one of the largest groups of exiled journalists in
the
world, according to an October 19 report from the Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ).
CPJ conducted 34 interviews with Zimbabwean
journalists living in England
and South Africa to compile the report. Many
of these journalists continue
to cover issues in their home country, which
now has no independent daily
newspapers, no private radio news programs, and
just two independent
weeklies, CPJ said.
The exiled journalists are
forming networks to pool resources and improve
their coverage. Meanwhile,
small budgets limit their reporting. So does the
limited ability to access
government information and check facts from afar.
Both reporters and sources
are frequently anonymous, stunting their
credibility.
Daniel Mololeke
recently launched the Media Reference Group, an organization
of expatriate
journalists, to help unify the scattered group and share
information.
"Media is the glue that holds Zimbabweans living outside
their country
together," Mololeke told CPJ. Mololeke also is a columnist for
NewZimbabwe.com. Journalists and press freedom watchdogs have said for years
that Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe persecutes independent journalists. In
2002, the government adopted a law that criminalizes journalism without a
license. Many of the exiles served time in jail, and many were physically
assaulted for reports criticizing Mugabe's regime, CPJ's report
says.
CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2005/DA_fall05/zim/zim_DA_fall05_2.html.
New Zimbabwe: http://www.newzimbabwe.com/. Zimbabwe
Situation:
https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/.
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2005 8:21 PM
"It's never too late to maintain one's rational
judgement;
Never too late to preserve one's courage and composure;
Never
too late to seek new opportunities;
Never too late to depend on true
friends;
Never too late to uphold the struggle for a just cause."
- Saeb.
S. Sallam - (former PM of Lebanon)
As the cost of just about everything
soars almost on a daily rate, we are
finding ourselves confronted by a
choice; to let the tide of obstacles wash
over us, suffocating and crushing
the last bit of resilience and hope out of
us or we can choose to lift our
heads just high enough to enable ourselves
to still breathe. With breath
comes life. As long as there is life, there is
also the capacity and all the
resources we need to have hope. You may ask
what resources? The money runs
shorter every week, the challenges just to
get from A to B, to feed the
family, to pay the school fees, to keep our
businesses afloat, to plan for
the future. It's downright scary out there in
that unpredictable Zimbabwean
Ocean!!
So, squeezing in the St.John's College Speech Day on Wednesday
morning,
whilst walking across from the gym, I tried not to think about the
problem
at hand: how I was going to find and then negotiate the price of bags
of
maize meal for my home and work staff. Not to mention the mountains
of
pending work I could get through in a whole morning! Anyway, off I
went
mostly out of regret at not having gone last year and wanting to see who
had
done what and who was going to become what in the coming year as we have
a
lot to do with many of the fine young men and women across at the
college
over the course of the year.
How can I describe the
experience? Imagine a huge hall packed to bursting
including the balconies
with students, staff and a few parents. The
headmaster and head of the board
spoke about the successes and nothing short
of miraculous achievement in
overcoming the seemingly insurmountable
obstacles thrown at the education
system and the College over this last
year. They openly thanked the tireless
work of teachers, parents and
concerned citizens of all colour, race and
cultural background from not just
this school but the united front formed by
all schools and individuals that
comprise our Zimbabwean schooling community.
By working together and putting
aside all things to work towards saving our
schooling system and the schools
themselves, the victory belonged to the
children of Zimbabwe ... and at the
end of this year, they will have managed
to lay another brick in the
foundation of the generation at hand and those to
come.
The guest speaker, a man of integrity and of his word, having
played a
pivotal role in keeping destructive forces at bay when they
threatened to
control the fees, spoke about how a carrot, an egg and a coffee
bean each
change when put into boiling water. The carrot gets soft, the egg's
middle,
once liquid, becomes hard but the coffee bean changes the water
around it
and even improves the water's taste, flavour and aroma!! His
challenge was
to ask us what happens to us when we're in hot water!! Are we
carrots, eggs
or do we change the environment around us - perhaps making it
even better!??
A fine message for all of us!
The tone was set, an
excellent and uplifting speech day was in the making
until ......... Frank
Matande, the outgoing headboy gave his speech. Not a
dry eye in the house.
Not a heart unmoved. Not a spirit that was not lifted
and not one person who
was not enlightened by the message spoken by this
incredible young man. Frank
is driven from within by his attitude of
gratitude and wisdom powerfully
fuelled by his God, his parents and his
beloved friends, peers and community
around him. One of the most eloquent
speakers I have ever had the pleasure to
hear, his message was one of
enormous pride, love and service to his school,
his beloved peers in his
year and to simply all that is perhaps taken for
granted in our schooling
system.
The dedication, committment, patience
and humour with which our teachers
give of themselves towards the mental,
physical and spiritual development of
each soul who falls into their sphere.
The discipline of self and school
code drilled into each member of each
school ... and with it, roots
extended deeply in place, supported by moral,
ethical and spiritual lessons.
Frank spoke about the ups and downs of the
year, yet the theme that moved
our little world that morning was one of
standing together as brothers and
sisters, win or lose; the victory or the
defeat; together through absolutely
every detail in life.
He spoke
about the best year of his life, about how he would leave the
school, but
that the school would never leave him; his DNA which is present
in his blood,
in his cells, throughout his body was the DNA of Zimbabwean
tradition, pride,
culture, education and a bonding with peers for life. His
prefect body was
called "The United Nations" as he described the wide
diversity of all it's
members, and he was known as "Koffi Annan"!! His UN
had taken a major step
forward in the evolution of his humble college; he
described how young men
and women worked tirelessly towards the governance
of their charge and in so
doing, proved that we have reached an amazing new
time in the history of our
nation. He attributed this to the spirit of
endeavour which he felt pervades
the school ethos.
Lastly, I stood aside at the end when most parents and
teachers had left
the hall and witnessed the outgoing upper 6th form gathered
together with
the incoming one, stand on the stage to face the whole of the
rest of the
school as they sang the St'John's college song. There they were,
everyone in
that hall, arm in arm, many in tears as they lifted their heads,
their
hearts and their spirits in unison. I won't tell you what state both
myself
and the teacher with whom I was standing left the hall ... but my
mascara
didn't look very pretty running all down my face!!!
My
thoughts? No thoughts ... just a wonderful sense of peace and gratitude
for
all that we have here and now in our "deprived" lives. We are so on
purpose,
you and I. Whether living here or outside of our borders, every
Zimbabwean
has the choice to be on course, if he or she simply dares to
hope, to believe
and to work towards the rebuilding of our families, our
children and
therefore the future of our nation. To have hope does not mean
that we will
necessarily get what we want; hope is when we can work
tirelessly and
lovingly in doing what is good and right. If enough of us do
this; live and
work in hope, then our future can only be bright! (Thanks for
that Andy
Vincent!)
Thank you Frank, thank you every teacher who ever taught me and
who teaches
all the children of Zimbabwe. If I have to sell my house to pay
to keep you
here and to ensure that my sons and daughter have Frank's
experience, then
so be it. There is no price that can match it and no words
that can
adequately describe it. God Bless all of you those leaving school
this year;
go into the world and always proudly remember your heritage. Work
so that
you may be part of the great wave that carries this ship into calmer
waters.
God speed and God bless you all.
Debbie Jeans (Oriel girl!!!)
BBC
Zimbabweans wishing
to leave their country are the target of a new
campaign by the International
Organisation for Migration.
Some of Zimbabwe's best-known musicians are
contributing to an album
that forms part of a multi-media campaign, and are
to perform at a concert
on Thursday.
IOM hopes to make would-be
migrants aware of the dangers of leaving
the country without
support.
At present, 2,000 Zimbabweans are sent home each week from
South
Africa alone.
The campaign, known as "Safe Journey", aims
to reduce the risks of
potential migrants and to inform citizens on HIV
prevention and the dangers
of irregular migration.
Increasing
numbers of people have attempted to leave Zimbabwe in the
wake of the
government's Operation Murambatsvina, in which 700,000 people
were affected
by the destruction of homes and small businesses, according to
the United
Nations.
Risk
"We want people to think before they
go," the IOM spokeswoman in
Harare, Nicola Simmonds, told the BBC News
website.
"They have got to know before they go that they are taking
a risk, and
things could be worse on the other side."
Oliver
Mtukudzi is among the musical stars supporting the campaign,
which in
addition to music will use television, film, radio, print,
billboards,
bumper stickers, and a website to get its message across.
The
Zimbabwean government is also backing the initiative.
Fact of
life
"The government has accepted that migration is a fact of
life," Ms
Simmonds said.
"Migration is a very normal procedure,
and [the government] has
accepted that it is happening more now than usual,"
she added.
"For reasons of regional relations they want to ensure
that it is done
as regularly as possible."
The IOM's Chief of
Mission in Zimbabwe, Mr Mohammed Abdiker, said the
campaign would reach out
to vulnerable groups.
"With a special focus on mobile populations
such as truck drivers,
cross border traders, families and individuals in
search of work, the Safe
Journey campaign will give critical information on
what documents are needed
and how to avoid the grave dangers of irregular
migration," he said.
Mail and Guardian
Cape Town, South Africa
27 October 2005
03:52
President Thabo Mbeki has dismissed speculation South
Africa
might follow Zimbabwe's example in dealing with land
reform.
Replying to questions in the National Assembly on
Thursday, he
said the government was committed to respect the Constitution
regarding its
approach to land reform, restitution and
redistribution.
Speeding up the process of land
redistribution was a fundamental
part of government's
policy.
Therefore, the "blockages" holding up faster forward
movement in
this regard had to be looked at and removed.
"One of them is affordability; the provision of resources to
make sure that
we acquire this land [for redistribution].
"We say,
expropriation is provided for in the Constitution, but
the Constitution also
provides that there must be fair compensation. So, you
need those resources
even when you expropriate.
"Here we have got the challenge of
the land question in
Zimbabwe.
"And as we look at what we
have to do, naturally as part of
answering the challenges that we face, we
look at all examples, including
the Zimbabwe example.
"Now to look at the Zimbabwe example is not to say we are
therefore going to
copy what is happening in Zimbabwe.
"But to look at the
Zimbabwe question may very well be to say,
if things went wrong [there],
there's no reason why we should repeat them
because we've got that prior
experience.
"So... well, I'm sure all of us are accustomed to
scarecrows
that are raised every day. This was one of them," Mbeki said. -
Sapa
iafrica.com
Thu, 27 Oct 2005
A
statement denouncing Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe may be popular but
would not solve the problem of Zimbabwe, President Thabo Mbeki said on
Thursday.
Responding to a question from African Christian Democratic
Party leader
Kenneth Meshoe, Mbeki said he remained committed to engaging
with both the
ruling party of Zimbabwe and its opposition and other parties
"to contribute
what we (South Africa) can to the solution of this
problem".
"If I issued a statement denouncing Robert Mugabe, you may
applaud me and
say ... 'very well done'. Will that have solved the problem
of Zimbabwe?
(It) may have made me popular in your eyes. Will it have solved
the problem
of Zimbabwe? I doubt it."
Noting that he had received a
delegation from the Zimbabwean opposition
Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) last week, he said that they had come
to raise "some concerns about
what was happening and asked us to intervene
which we did". He expected that
he would be approached again to assist them.
Mbeki did not refer to the
factions within the MDC squabbling over its
participation in upcoming senate
elections or the fact that he had,
reportedly, been snubbed by MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai.
However, Mbeki said Zimbabwe was "fortunately" not a
province of South
Africa. "We can't instruct them. What we can do is engage
them."
Mbeki was replying to questions in the National
Assembly.
I-Net Bridge
Islamic Republic News Agency
Pretoria, Oct 27, IRNA
Iran-Zimbabwe-Cooperation
Iranian Ambassador
to Zimbabwe Hamid Moayer and Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister
Mubengegwei
Simbarashe in a meeting on Thursday discussed matters of
bilateral
concern.
During the meeting, Moayer referred to cooperation between the
two countries
in the international assemblies and bilateral agreements and
declared Iran's
interest in establishing a joint commission.
The
foreign ministers of the two countries will jointly preside over the
commission, which is to hold talks about its cooperation trend in various
fields including trade, defense, information and publicity, roads and
transportation, telecommunications as well as promotion of sciences and
technology.
Expressing the interest of Iranian companies in making
investment in
Zimbabwe's various economic fields, the Iranian diplomat
called for the
guarantee and facilities required for the presence of the
Iranian
enterprises in Zimbabwe.
For his part, Mubengegwi appreciated
Iran's contribution to in the country's
various economic projects, calling
for closer collaboration, particularly in
extraction and exploitation of
mines in Zimbabwe.
The foreign minister pointed to his country's economic
problems and said,
"Given that Zimbabwe's debts to the International
Monetary Fund is soon
overdue, the country is now in critical financial
condition."
As opposition MP’s they were mandated to oppose Constitutional
Amendment Number 17 in parliament. An amendment which nationalized all farm
land, blocked court petitions relating to land and created powers to seize
passports belonging to critics. It also created the senate. How then can they
‘indicate left and then turn right?’ Prominent lawyer Tendai Biti, who is also
Harare East MDC Member of Parliament, is the guest on Behind the Headlines. He
has no kind words for those in favour of participating in the forthcoming senate
elections describing them as ‘ having cheques from the Central Intelligence
Organization (CIO) in their underwear’. The 26 candidates who submitted their
names for nomination were not approved by the National Council as prescribed by
Article 12 of the party’s constitution and hence his colleagues could not choose
and chop parts of the constitution, which they were comfortable with. He has a
few choice words for St Mary’s MP Job Sikhala who stirred up allegations of
illegal foreign funding and describes him as needing psychiatric examination.
Don’t miss this explosive interview.
New Zimbabwe
By
Staff Reporter
Last updated: 10/28/2005 04:16:51
LEADERS of Zimbabwe's
main opposition party -- the Movement for Democraic
Change (MDC) -- moved on
Thursday to heal a rift over participation in next
month's senate polls
which has raised the spectre of a party split.
The opposition MDC has
plunged into its deepest crisis since coming into
being in 1999, due to a
bitter dispute among its top leadership over whether
to contest elections
that critics say are merely aimed at tightening
President Robert Mugabe's
grip on power.
On Thursday MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai -- who wants a
boycott of the
November 26 poll -- said he had met his top five lieutenants
who have
opposed his stance and earlier this week sponsored the registration
of
candidates for 26 seats in the 66-strong senate.
"The management
commitment of the MDC ... agreed ... to continue dialogue
with a view to
finding an expeditious resolution of the dispute in the
party," Tsvangirai,
who was flanked by his deputy Gibson Sibanda told a news
conference.
The faction in favour of contesting argues that a boycott
would only widen
Zanu PF's political dominance at the expense of the
opposition.
He said the MDC leadership had also agreed to desist from
making
"acrimonious comments on the dispute", and urged party members not to
use
threats, intimidation and violence against colleagues across the senate
issue divide.
The MDC says Zanu PF has used rigging and violence to
avert defeat in
parliamentary and presidential elections in the last five
years in the face
of a worsening economic crisis, and Tsvangirai says taking
part in the
senate vote would lend credence to a flawed process.
New Zimbabwe
By Staff
Reporter
Last updated: 10/28/2005 03:39:49
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's
nephew and Makonde legislator, Leo Mugabe, has had
his farm confiscated by
the government just over a week after he was charged
with illegally
exporting wheat flour.
Journey's End Farm in Mashonaland West was seized
by the government due to
lack of agricultural activity, the Daily Mirror
newspaper reported.
Mugabe, also chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on Transport
and Communication, confirmed the government had
seized his farm for "lying
idle".
"I am currently in the process of
removing my things," Mugabe told the
Mirror. "The process has been slow
because of the current fuel problems."
Mugabe, a former chairman of the
Zimbabwe Football Association, was farming
cotton and maize on the 3
000-hectare estate.
A source told the Mirror: "It seems that Leo is being
victimised. How do you
remove someone when the rains are here? Whose
interests are being served as
it is now raining and there is no one
utilising the property?"
Mugabe said he had not been consulted when the
farm was acquired.
"I am not a multiple farm owner. It was my only farm.
I bought it in 1993
and I have title deeds to it. No reason was given for
the acquisition,"
Mugabe said. He also confirmed that no one was currently
using the property.
Asked who had delivered the message of the farm
acquisition to him, Mugabe
said: "I just saw it in the papers. Do you have
to be told? When you see it
in the papers unobva watoziva kuti ratobaya (you
then know that you have
lost it). Since I had title deeds, I wish they could
also give me title
deeds for another one."
The legislator said he had
evaluated improvements made on the farm for
possible compensation. Mugabe
put the figure for the improvements at $15
billion.
Under the
recently passed Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 17) Act,
no
compensation can be paid for land except improvements made on it. The
amendment also bars all courts from presiding over such land issues. Mugabe
also said that he had installed electricity at the farm, sank nine
boreholes, developed paddocks and fenced the property.
He is
currently on bail on charges of contravening the Grain Marketing Board
(GMB)
Act as well as the Customs and Excise Duty for allegedly exporting
wheat to
Mozambique.
Mugabe, a quiet but highly influential figure, is regarded as
one of the
wealthiest people in Zimbabwe. His mother, Sabina, is President
Mugabe's
sister.
The multiple farm owner has previously been accused
of high-level corruption
and violating the law with impunity.
He
gained notoriety in 1999 after acting as an agent in a £33 million
contract
for Harare's new international airport, representing a Cypriot
company run
by a Saudi millionaire who eventually built the facility.
The Saudi
millionaire then helped build President Mugabe's new Borrowdale
mansion
estimated to have cost £5 million. No charges were brought against
Leo over
the affair.
forbes.com
10.27.2005, 08:30
AM
The Zimbabwe dollar has plunged just over 130 percent on the new
interbank
market aimed at easing acute hard currency shortages that have
crippled the
southern African country's economy, banks said
Thursday.
The Zimbabwe dollar was trading Thursday at around 60,000 to
the U.S.
dollar, or 72,540 to the euro.
The official rate set at
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe managed auctions remains
26,004 Zimbabwe dollars to
the U.S. dollar, or 31,400 to the euro. But
exporters, individuals with hard
currency and Zimbabweans living abroad can
exchange at least 70 percent of
their foreign earnings at the new rate set
by commercial banks.
The
Zimbabwe dollar slid to 76,029 against the U.S. dollar, 91,397 against
the
euro, on some financial floors on the first two days of trading under
the
new system announced Friday.
While it had recovered slightly by Thursday,
independent economist John
Robertson forecast further drops to between
80,000 and 100,000 to the U.S.
dollar - 96,700 and 120,000 to the euro - to
bring the interbank rate in
line with prevailing black market
rates.
"We haven't sorted out a single one of the supply problems, but
people can
now bring money into the country legally and get a more realistic
rate for
it," he said.
Exporters are still required to sell 30
percent of their foreign earnings to
the central bank at the official rate,
which Robertson called a "concealed
upfront tax."
Zimbabwe's economy
has spiraled out of control since President Robert
Mugabe's government began
seizing thousands of white-owned commercial farms
for redistribution to
blacks in 2000. Years of drought have compounded the
decline. Inflation has
soared to 359 percent, and the country is plagued by
acute shortages of
food, fuel and other essential imports.