Never too late to scramble

Oct 26th 2006 | BEIJING, LAGOS AND LUSAKA
From The Economist print edition

IN HIS office in Lusaka, Zambia's capital, Xu Jianxue sits between a portrait of Mao Zedong and a Chinese calendar. His civil-engineering and construction business has been doing well and, with the help of his four brothers, he has also invested in a coal mine. He is bullish about doing business in Zambia: “It is a virgin territory,” he says, with few products made locally and little competition. He is now thinking of expanding into Angola and Congo next door. When he came in 1991, only 300 Chinese lived in Zambia. Now he guesses there are 3,000.

Mr Xu reflects just a tiny part of China's new interest in Africa. This year alone many bigger names than his have come visiting. Li Zhaoxing, China's foreign minister, swept through west Africa in January; President Hu Jintao visited Nigeria, Morocco and Kenya in April; and the prime minister, Wen Jiabao, knocked off seven countries in June. In the first week of November Chinese and more than 30 African leaders will gather at the first Sino-African summit in Beijing. And Chinese companies, most of them owned by the state, have been marching in the footsteps of their political leaders. But is this all good for Africa? Is it bringing the trade and investment that Africa so badly needs, or just meddling and exploitation?

The summit in Beijing is being greeted by Chinese officials and the country's state-run media with an effusion reminiscent of the cold-war era, when China cosied up to African countries as a way of demonstrating solidarity against (Western) colonialism and of outdoing its ideological rival, the Soviet Union. It supported African liberation movements in the 1950s and 1960s, and later built railways for the newly independent countries, educated their students and sent them doctors.

China's main aim then was to gain influence. Now China wants commodities more than influence. Its economy has grown by an average of 9% a year over the past ten years, and foreign trade has increased fivefold. It needs stuff of all sorts—minerals, farm products, timber and oil, oil, oil. China alone was responsible for 40% of the global increase in oil demand between 2000 and 2004.

The resulting commodity prices have been good for most of Africa. Higher prices combined with higher production have helped local economies. Sub-Saharan Africa's real GDP increased by an average of 4.4% in 2001-04, compared with 2.6% in the previous three years. Africa's economy grew by 5.5% in 2005 and is expected to do even better this year and next.

Which countries are the main beneficiaries? For copper and cobalt, China looks to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia; for iron ore and platinum, South Africa. Gabon, Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville supply it with timber. Several countries in west and central Africa send cotton to its textile factories.

Oil, however, is the biggest business. Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil-producer, has been getting lots of attention. CNOOC, a state-owned Chinese company, paid $2.7 billion in January to obtain a minority interest in a Nigerian oilfield, and China recently secured exploration rights in another four. In Angola, which has now overtaken Saudi Arabia as China's biggest single provider of oil, another Chinese company is a partner in several blocks. China has shown similar interest in other producers such as Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville, which already sells a third of its output to Chinese refiners.

As a result, trade between China and Africa has soared from $3 billion in 1995 to over $32 billion last year. But China's commerce with the world also expanded over the same period, so Africa makes up only 2.3% of the total. This constitutes about 10% of Africa's total trade (see chart).

However, trade between China and Africa is expected to double by 2010. Although Europe remains Africa's main partner, its share has melted from 44% to 32% of the region's foreign trade within the past ten years, whereas America's share has, like China's, risen. For some countries, the redirection of exports has been dramatic. China now takes over 70% of Sudan's exports, compared with 10% or so in 1995. Burkina Faso sends a third of its exports, almost all of which are cotton, to China, compared with virtually nothing in the mid-1990s. China is now Angola's largest export market after the United States.

Africa has found more than a new buyer for its commodities. It has also found a new source of aid and investment. According to China's statistics, it invested $900m in Africa in 2004, out of the $15 billion the continent received. This was a huge increase (see chart), though most of it went to oil-producing countries. But its aid is spread more widely. It has cancelled several billion dollars of African debt, which has helped to build roads, railways, stadiums and houses in many countries.

This largesse is sometimes an entry ticket. In Nigeria China's promises to invest about $4 billion in refineries, power plants and agriculture were a condition for getting oil rights. In Angola a $4 billion line of low-interest credit enables Chinese companies to help rebuild the bridges, roads and so on that were destroyed in decades of war. The debt is repaid in oil.

For Angola, which has been keen to get going with the reconstruction of its infrastructure, China's straightforward approach is an attractive alternative to the pernicketiness of the IMF and the Paris Club of creditors, which have been quibbling over terms for years. So it is with many African countries, fed up with the intrusiveness of Europeans and Americans fussing about corruption or torture and clamouring for accountability. Moreover, the World Bank and many Western donors were until recently shunning bricks-and-mortar aid in favour of health and education. China's credit to Angola is not only welcome in itself. It has reduced the pressure from the West.

Thanks to China, therefore, workers from the Middle Kingdom in straw hats are now helping Angolans to lay down new rails on the old line from Luanda to the eastern province of Malange. Another railway, from Benguela to Zambia, once used to carry copper, is also being rebuilt. China is happy: the work helps offset some of its trade deficit with Angola. The Angolan government is also happy: it is rebuilding its shattered economy at last.

For José Cerqueira, an Angolan economist, China is welcome because it eschews what he sees as the IMF's ideological and condescending attitude. “For them,” he says, “we should have ears, but no mouth.” Others are pleased because China is ready to pass on some of its technology. It is, for example, helping Nigeria to launch a second satellite into space. Some African officials, disillusioned with the Western development model, say that China gives them hope that poor countries can find their own path to development.

The love affair with China, however, may be sour as well as sweet. For countries that do not sit on oil or mineral deposits, higher commodity prices make life harder. Even for producers there are risks. A recent report by the World Bank argues that Africa's new trade with China and India opens the way for it to become a processor of commodities and a competitive supplier of cheap goods and services to Chinese and Indian consumers. But another report, from the OECD, a club of industrialised countries, argues that China's appetite for commodities may stifle producers' efforts to diversify their economies. Oil rigs and mines create few jobs, it points out, and tend to suck in resources from other industries. And if Africa is to escape its vulnerability to the capricious movements of world commodity prices, it must start to export more manufactures. On this the World Bank adds its own warning: China and India must end their escalating tariffs on Africa's main exports.

China is also bringing irresistible—some say unfair—competition to Africa. All over Africa Chinese traders can now be seen selling cheap products from the homeland, not just electronics but plastic goods and clothes. In Kamwala market in Lusaka a host of Chinese shops have appeared over the past couple of years. “Two years ago,” says Muhammad, a local trader of Indian origin, “I did not have time to sit down; now I'm sitting doing nothing.” Though his shelves are full of clocks and radios made in China, he blames his enforced idleness on the competition brought by Chinese traders.

Zambian and other African consumers do not share his despondency. They like Chinese prices. But in some countries consumers are less well organised than textile workers, and in South Africa the trade unions have succeeded in getting the government to negotiate quotas on Chinese clothing imports. Still, the power of China's productivity and economies of scale—never mind government subsidies—certainly hurts local industries. Textile factories in places like South Africa, Mauritius and Nigeria have been badly hit. In tiny Lesotho, where making clothes for Europe or America is the only industry around, this has been catastrophic.

The working conditions, as well as the prices, set by Chinese employers are also a concern to some Africans. The alleged ill-treatment of workers in a Chinese-owned mine in Zambia in July led to a violent protest in which several workers were shot. And many Chinese firms bring in much of their own labour, rather than hiring locals. China brought in thousands of its own workers to build the 1,860km (1,160-mile) Tazara railway between Lusaka and the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam in the 1970s. It was finished ahead of schedule, but Tanzania and Zambia still have to rely on Chinese technical help to maintain it. African hopes of technology transfer may be over-optimistic.

Some say China's involvement will erode efforts to promote openness and reduce corruption, especially in oil and mining. Nigeria insists that Chinese companies must respect its new anti-graft measures, and the latest bidding round for oil blocks in Angola has been the most open so far. In both countries it is unclear whether China's presence is making corruption better or worse. It is clear, though, that China is not interested in pressing African governments to hold elections or be more democratic in other ways. That helps to explain why China directs so much money towards Sudan, whose odious regime can count on China's support when resisting any UN military intervention in Darfur. China invested almost $150m in Sudan in 2004, three times as much as in any other single country. When American and Canadian oil companies packed their bags there, China quickly stepped in, drilling wells and building pipelines and roads. The Chinese are supposed to be building an armaments factory as well.

China's lack of interest in human rights is something that President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe can also be thankful for. Shunned by the West, and with his country's economy in a shambles, he has turned to China for political and economic support—and got it. After he launched Operation Murambatsvina last year, in which 700,000 people had their homes or businesses destroyed, China neutered all attempts at discussion, let alone condemnation, in the UN Security Council. However, despite this, China may not want to squander any more money in a country that has no oil and few mineral rights left to dispose of.

But China's friendship and support at the UN comes with one important political string attached: the endorsement of the one-China policy. To date 48 African countries have paid due obeisance to Beijing: Chad, Senegal and Liberia are the latest to have abandoned their recognition of Taiwan. The suggestion by Michael Sata, the main opposition candidate in Zambia's presidential election on September 28th, that he would have recognised Taiwan if he had won was enough to bring the first public intervention by China in the internal affairs of an African country; the ambassador said that China would consider cutting diplomatic relations if Mr Sata won (which he did not).

That is a warning to Africans that this new interloper in their continent is no more altruistic than its predecessors. Still, that does not mean China's involvement is bad and it is certainly not to be stopped. It is up to Africans to ensure that they get a fair deal from it. If so, both China and its African partners can be winners.

Harare City Council branches into horticulture

The Zimbabwe Times

By Our Correspondent

THE beleaguered Harare City Council has embarked on an ambitious
horticultural project, which the council believes could extricate it from a
nagging foreign currency crisis that has grounded service delivery.

Insiders at Town House told The Zimbabwe Times that a newly created business
unit under the Department of Housing the project which is spearheading the
project. The council has already cleared 50 hectares of land near the suburb
of Mabvuku, on the eastern outskirts of the city. Surveying of roads and
water canals has been completed. Flowers will be cultivated for export to
the lucrative European Union (EU).

The sources said the city council had approached the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) to finance the ambitious project to the tune of $150 million,
up from an initially budgeted $20 million. In addition the city also wants
the RBZ to avail foreign currency where necessary.

The sources said once the city council secures funding it will go to tender
to select a contractor to supply chemicals and plastic sheeting for the
project. Another contractor will be appointed to oversee the grand project.

"Preference for the supply of infrastructure will be given to someone who
has forex," said one insider.

The city council has been choking under a six-year-old foreign currency
crisis, which has failed it to raise money for water treatment chemicals and
to repair damaged equipment. The precarious situation at Town House has
resulted in most suburbs running dry owing to intensive water rationing
while heaps of garbage lie uncollected in the rundown capital.

Apart from grappling with shortages of water treatment chemicals and
stinking refuse the council is also battling to repair port-holed roads.

Council spokesperson, Percy Toriro, confirmed the flower project telling The
Zimbabwe Times that the city council would generate hard currency earnings
to meet its foreign currency denominated obligations.

"We import a lot of equipment and even refuse trucks so with severe
shortages of foreign currency we have found it worthwhile to venture into
projects that generate foreign currency," said Toriro. "It will save
ratepayers significantly."

Already, the city council grows vegetables and cultivates garden flowers and
plants at Hillside Nurseries on a smaller scale.

The troubled city council joins two state-owned companies, power supply
parastatal ZESA Holdings and fixed telephone provider-TelOne, both of whom
have invested massively in tobacco contract farming as part of barter deals
with Asian companies to reduce massive foreign debts.

Chaos and lack of preparedness delay rural council elections

By Lance Guma
28 October 2006

There was chaos at major polling stations across the country on
Saturday as scheduled rural council elections failed to take off on time.
According to Nelson Chamisa, a spokesman for the Tsvangirai MDC the polling
stations were supposed to open at 7am but even around 11am some of them
remained closed as they were waiting for ballot boxes.

Despite assurances by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission earlier in the
week that preparations were on course for the elections Chamisa says
thousands of people had to stand in queues waiting to vote. He says
opposition strongholds have mainly been affected and this was a deliberate
strategy to disadvantage the MDC.

A combination of a lack of resources to run the elections and a desire
to make the playing field uneven is thought to be at the core of the
problems. Pre-election violence has also been a major issue for the
opposition. Several homes and business premises belonging to MDC candidates
and supporters have been destroyed while some of its members have been
physically assaulted.

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

Grimy, slimy cardboard

Dear Family and Friends,
There were about sixty people standing in a line that snaked across the car
park outside a post office a few days before the end of the month. This is
October and the month notorious for seethingly hot temperatures and this
day was no exception. Before 8.30 in the morning jerseys and jackets had
been discarded, most people were wearing slip slops or sandals and short
sleeved tops. The queue was made up of people waiting to draw money out of
post office savings accounts. A few minutes before opening time a man
emerged carrying a small pile of brown cardboard squares, each the size of
a thumbnail. On each scrap of grimy, slimy cardboard was written a number
from one to fifty and the man prepared to start giving them out to the
people in the line. A peaceful, patient line turned immediately into chaos
and it was like watching a spreading pool of petrol and waiting for someone
to drop a match. Louts that hadn't been in the queue ran across the car
park to grab a square of cardboard, desperate people at the back surged
forward, arms stretched out, voices rose up and angry shouts were heard.
Then suddenly it was over, the squares of cardboard had been issued and it
was simple - no bit of cardboard equals no money for you. Only the people
with a numbered square of cardboard would be able to draw their money out
today - there just isn't enough money to go round anymore and so the levels
of deprivation increase another peg.

I drafted this letter one day before rural council and mayoral elections
got underway across the country. In the run up to the vote it has been
blatantly obvious that the ruling party are as bereft of ideas as the post
office is of money. Year after year, election after election - absolutely
nothing changes. In the last week the President of the Council of Chiefs
publicly declared that villagers who did not vote for the ruling party
would be evicted from their homes. TV news reports have showed ruling party
officials addressing rallies and from both speakers and audiences its just
the same old same old. The clenched fist-raising in praise of the ruling
party, the stream of "pasi na" (down with) slogans which are declared about
anyone who dares to differ, and the predictable shouting and berating by
the leaders and candidates who don't seem to know how to charm or persuade
audiences and so they just tell them off. Ever present too is the huge
range of clothing decorated with the President's face and the gyrating
women dancing frantically in front of the candidates. All this takes place
outside in the open in the dripping October sun and there is no laughter,
pleasure or even interest on peoples faces.

Zimbabwe's rural infrastructure is crumbling, everyone sees and knows it -
roads, clinics, schools, boreholes and transport systems. It is not all
hard to know who to vote for in rural elections. It is very very hard to
pay attention to the shouting, berating and anger of prospective candidates
when you know this and some of the other facts about life in Zimbabwe this
week:

A four rung, five foot wooden ladder, unvarnished and untreated cost 76
thousand dollars, this is 8 times more than the monthly wage of a garden,
house or farm worker. A consultation and filling at a private dentist costs
38.5 thousand dollars - this is more than most government school teachers
take home in a normal month. One orange from a roadside vendor this week
cost 550 dollars - this was how much a 1000 acre farm cost just a little
over ten years ago - a farm with 2 dams, a dairy, tobacco barn, trading
store, large farmhouse and 10 farm workers houses.

This week it doesn't matter where you go or who you talk to, rural or
urban, everywhere the clarion call is the same - how much longer. Until
next week, thanks for reading, love cathy. Copyright cathy buckle
28 October 2006. http:/africantears.netfirms.com

75-year-old protestor arrested in Zimbabwe

October 28, 2006

By www.andnetwork .com

Five women including a 75-year-old grandmother have been arrested in
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, as they protested their imminent eviction from their
homes.

Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) said the five were among a group of 60
women protesting the actions of a local housing officer, whom they accused
of evicting people from their homes in Bulawayo's Mpopoma suburb.

The group said 36 residents were to be evicted from the homes they had
been leasing.

WOZA alleged that the homes were to be reallocated to cronies of the
superintendent of Mpopoma's housing office.

Housing has become a contentious problem in Zimbabwe after last year's
widescale destruction of homes under President Robert Mugabe's
much-criticised Operation Restore Order, which was condemned by governments
and human rights groups around the world.

The United Nations said that the shack demolitions left up to 700 000
Zimbabweans homeless and jobless.

Since then, housing has been in short supply, and rents have shot up
nationwide.
ZNBC

Army to seal off diamond fields

Zim Standard

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT

MUTARE - The army and police are this week expected to cordon
off a thriving diamond mining field in Marange, Manicaland province, as the
government clamps down on illegal trading in the precious stone.

On Friday, the government suspended activity and ordered
everyone off the site, ostensibly to allow them to prepare to vote in
yesterday's rural district council elections.

The miners were assured they would resume work tomorrow. But
that appeared doubtful, with reports of the impending deployment of army and
police units.

In fact, the police were already on site as the miners moved
out.

Although army spokesperson, Simon Tsatsi, could not be reached
for comment yesterday, police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena confirmed the
police would remove the illegal miners.

"It does not need an operation," said Bvudzijena. "Police will
simply have to respond to the illegal activities happening in Marange. We
have to put a stop to the illegal activities."

The Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Amos Midzi, whose
ministry prefers the establishment of a full mining operation at the site,
could not be reached for comment yesterday.

But there were reports that some officials wanted villagers off
the site so that selected indigenous companies could be awarded contracts to
mine the diamonds.

Authorities have in the past threatened to end the haphazard
mining and trading in diamonds.

They said the country was losing millions of dollars in
potential foreign currency earnings through illegal sales.

Since the discovery of industrial diamonds towards the end of
last May, up to 5 000 people from Marange district, near the border with
Mozambique have descended on the site - now known as the "Chiadzwa mining
fields" - hoping to strike it rich.

The convergence of so many people, including entire families,
has created potential health and environment disasters, as there is no
running water or lavatory facilities.

Uncontrolled digging has left many mini-craters in the area.

Several traders interviewed said they were forced into the
illegal trade to middlemen because the official buyer, the State-run
Minerals Marketing Cooperation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ), was failing to cope with
swelling number in customers.

"The MMCZ people just don't want to admit the truth," said one
trader, "which is that they don't have enough money and staff to handle the
volume of the trade.

"They are always running out of money. This week they were still
paying people who were put on a list a week earlier. And they didn't even
pay everyone on that list."

The MMCZ is Zimbabwe's sole buyer and marketer of minerals,
except gold. It was granted the diamond mining rights for Marange in June
this year.

However, Africa Consolidated Resources, a British listed mining
company, is taking legal action to stop seizure of the claims by MMCZ. The
British company argues that MMCZ has no legal right to the claims because
the Precious Stones Trade Act prohibits any licensed dealer like the MMCZ
from engaging in mining activities.

The police in Manicaland have over the past fortnight arrested
close to 80 people caught selling the stones through unofficial channels.

Some of those arrested have already appeared in court and
ordered to pay fines. Industrial diamonds are said to have a ready market in
South Africa.

Zimbabweans, including government officials and soldiers, have
in the past been accused of looting diamonds in the DRC, particularly when
the army intervened to prevent the ouster of President Laurent Kabila,
father of the current president.

Kabila was assassinated by one of his guards.

MDC mayoral candidate's house stoned

Zim Standard

BY OUR STAFF

SUSPECTED Zanu PF supporters yesterday stoned a house belonging
to MDC mayoral candidate for Kadoma, Jonas Ndenda during an orgy of election
violence.

No one was injured but three windowpanes and doors were broken.

Ndenda stood against the incumbent mayor, Zanu PF's Fani Phiri
in an election whose results are expected any time today.

The stoning led to violent clashes between supporters of the two
parties in the mining town.

Police would not give details of injuries or arrests.

Police spokesperson, Wayne Bvudzijena, referred The Standard to
Oliver Mandipaka, who could not be reached.

Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) condemned the attack on
Ndenda's house. Zesn information officer, Ellen Kandororo-Dingani, said the
attack was masterminded by suspected Zanu PF supporters.

"We strongly condemn the acts of politically motivated violence
that took place at the residence of the MDC candidate for Kadoma Jonas
Ndenda."

In rural areas where elections were taking place, the integrity
of the poll was thrown into doubt following reports that Zanu PF had roped
in traditional leaders to bolster its chances of victory.

In Masvingo opposition parties accused Zanu PF of vote-buying
after it distributed maize seed and fertilizers to villagers ahead of rural
district elections set for yesterday.

Zanu PF political commissar in Masvingo, Dzikamai Mavhaire,
yesterday confirmed that the party had distributed fertilizers and maize
seed to villagers but dismissed charges that the party was engaged in
vote-buying.

Opposition sources said the maize seed and fertilizers were
ferried to all the country's 10 provinces in army trucks earlier this week
as Zanu PF sought to retain control of rural areas during the weekend
elections.

Nelson Chamisa, the spokesman of the main wing of the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) party said the election could not be free and
fair because of the charges of vote-buying by the ruling party.

Chiefs and traditional leaders, he said, were threatening and
intimidating their supporters. "Given these allegations, the elections can
never be free and fair," Chamisa said.

Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) spokesperson, Utoile
Silaigwana, said yesterday elections had started in all districts on
schedule.

"Everything was in place when polling started. We did not have
any problems that could be anticipated," he said.

But the MDC anti-Senate spokesman, Nelson Chamisa said in the
rural areas, voting started as late as 11 am because of logistical problems.

The MDC said it was concerned that Zanu PF had enlisted the
services of chiefs and headmen in areas where the opposition party had made
significant in-roads.

The anti-Senate faction has already won six wards in the Zanu PF
strongholds of Makoni, Guruve, Shamva, Bikita West, Gokwe North and
Chikomba.

Their candidate in Matobo was declared a councillor after a Zanu
PF candidate developed cold feet.
Zanu PF has for years claimed it had unwavering support in rural
areas.

The pro-Senate MDC faction waltzed into council after two of its
candidates were unopposed in Nkayi and Mangwe districts.

Asked how the ruling party could fail to find anybody willing to
represent them in council elections, the Zanu PF secretary for
administration, Didymus Mutasa declined to comment yesterday. "Iyo inyaya
yaElliot Manyika. Bvunza Manyika."(That is Elliot Manyika's portfolio, ask
him.)

Manyika could not be reached yesterday.

The MDC reported many cases of intimidation. The MDC winning
candidates were beaten up and had their homes set on fire in Gokwe and
Shamva.

Chamisa said traditional leaders had summoned more than 50 of
their candidates in rural areas for kangaroo court sessions to intimidate
them ahead of yesterday's elections.

The Standard is in possession of a letter written by Chief
Nerupiri of Gutu, in Masvingo, accusing the MDC candidate, identified as
Chidanhika of brewing traditional beer without informing traditional leaders
and government authorities.

"Wakabika doro mumusha sabuku naShe vasingazivi mukavunganidza
vanhu vakawanda musina mvumo, vehurumende vasina kuziviswa namaporisa."

The fate of the Chidanhika was not clear at the time of going to
print.

Traditional beer is brewed in rural areas without clearance from
the chief or headman. Many people have used the proceeds from the sales to
send their children to school.

Traditional leaders in Shamva and Gokwe, according to Chamisa,
have banished MDC candidates who won council elections unopposed.

"Samson Ncube, the unopposed winning candidate in Gokwe fled to
Kwekwe after his homestead was set on fire," said Chamisa. "The same has
happened to our winning candidate in Shamva, Fletcher Chimusasa."

Welshman Ncube, the secretary general of the Arthur Mutambara
faction, said rogue traditional leaders had prevented their candidates from
campaigning.

"In Zhombe, one traditional leader said we could not have a
rally there as there had been a death in the area, while in Nyamaropa, the
traditional leaders have virtually sealed off the area," said Ncube.

'Vision' paper slammed

Zim Standard

By Foster Dongozi

PRO-ZANU PF church leaders who launched a document towards a
national vision have been accused of using the initiative to divert the
attention of Zimbabweans away from pressing bread and butter issues, while
extending the ruling party's control of national affairs.

The document calls on Zimbabweans to debate the issue of land,
the economy, the constitution, electoral laws, human rights, governance and
reconciliation.

President Robert Mugabe welcomed the document on Friday and set
parameters on what needed to be debated. He said matters of sovereignty,
freedom from foreign domination, independence and the right to control
resources were non-negotiable.

Members of the clergy who spoke to The Standard said while
debate was taking place, Zanu PF would continue to run the economy into the
ground.

"The sad reality is that church leaders are now in Mugabe's
pocket," said one member of the clergy, "and are being used to pursue a Zanu
PF agenda which is to perpetuate the ruling party's stay in power and bring
more suffering to the people of Zimbabwe. While debate is taking place on
the many topics that have been suggested, the ruling party will continue to
cling to power amid rampant corruption and nepotism.

"Any person who is serious about the welfare of Zimbabweans
should have advised Mugabe that Zimbabweans continue to suffer because he is
still clinging to power and that aid would flow into Zimbabwe as soon as his
dictatorship comes to an end."

Church leaders perceived to be under the control of Zanu PF are
from the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference, the Evangelical Fellowship
of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches.

Although the document is supposed to be a vision for Zimbabwe,
it was drawn up by intellectuals who have benefited from Zanu PF patronage.

Jonah Gokova of the Christian Alliance welcomed the document
saying: "It will go on to prove the number of contradictions that exist in
the Church in Zimbabwe.

"However, we welcome any all-embracing efforts to come up with
solutions to the crisis that we have. What would be unfortunate would be the
emergence of an exclusive group of people who believe they alone can come up
with solutions affecting this country." Methodist Church in Zimbabwe Bishop
for Harare East, Levee Kadenge, said: "I am shocked at the whole process."

Harare city managers accused of corruption

Zim Standard

BY VALENTINE MAPONGA

HARARE City council workers have blamed their senior managers
for wasting the council's time and resources on "power struggles" and of
using "massive" tribalism and nepotism in the employment of new staff.

The employees spoke at a workshop in the city last Friday - only
after they had been assured they would not be victimized for publicly
berating their seniors.

They said they were generally unhappy with the conduct of the
managers.

The commission is led by Ms Sekesai Makwavarara, who entered the
council on a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) ticket in the 2000
elections. Later, she switched to the ruling Zanu PF, which had lost control
of the capital, for the first time since independence.

The one-day seminar was designed to discuss the council's
turnaround programme.

The commission's term of office has been extended a number of
times despite a groundswell of opposition from residents, disgusted with the
deteriorating standards in the once proud Sunshine City.

In the past few years, a number of senior managers have been
fired in controversial circumstances. Town Clerk Nomutsa Chideya, is
currently fighting to block his dismissal in a matter that has divided the
council and gobbled up millions of dollars.

The workers complained that managers were harassing them on the
pretext of implementing the turnaround strategy. They said no proper
procedures were followed when workers were being recruited.

"There is massive tribalism and nepotism, especially when it
comes to the appointment of senior and junior acting managers and
supervisors," said Harare Municipality Workers' Union chairman, Cosmas
Bungu.

"Right now we have so many managers who are acting yet they do
not have the necessary experience and qualifications."

He said the confusion had resulted in a qualified artisan being
transferred from a workshop to the cemeteries.

Bungu alleged corruption and abuse of council resources was
rampant at Town House.

He said: "Cheques are being drawn up with the city losing
billions of dollars. It was also discovered that there are a lot scandalous
bank transfers of money from the city coffers." But he did not name the
culprits.

He said the situation had dampened workers' morale over the past
months.

"Currently the whole programme (turnaround) has caused
unnecessary anxiety, despondency, hence fears of the unknown within the
whole workforce," said Bungu.

Percy Toriro, the council spokesperson was not available for
comment yesterday.

But the commission has failed in the past few years to turn
around the fortunes of the city.

Among other things, traffic lights are not working, roads are in
a state of disrepair and sanitary lanes are piled high with uncollected
rubbish.

There have been frequent water cuts and raw sewer pipe bursts in
a number of suburbs .

Aids activists give NAC ultimatum

Zim Standard

BY Bertha Shoko

MORE than 35 HIV and Aids activists stormed the National Aids
Council headquarters in Harare at 9am on Thursday refusing to leave until
officials gave them a written undertaking to act on their demands for
life-prolonging Anti-Retroviral drugs.

Some were armed with placards which read "NAC board must resign"
and "Treat 600 000 now",

After meeting NAC officials, the activists, led by Joao
Zangarati aka as General Gunpowder, threatened to return to the NAC offices
for a "die in" if their demands were not met in a week's time.

Some had walked into town from suburbs as far away as Glen View
and Mbare. They brought with them light blankets and heavy jackets in
preparation for a number of nights in the open.

One of them, Membo Chirere, told The Standard: "We are not
moving from here. We are sleeping here. As you can see (taking a blanket out
of her bag) we are very much prepared. As for what we are going to eat we
don't care; we are dead already. Tajaira kutsanya chero tisingade."

After hearing the commotion outside the NAC offices, deputy
director Raymond Yekeye came out and invited their representatives to the
boardroom for "discussions".

The protestors turned down the invitation, saying they felt
already marginalised by the organisation. They insisted on a conference
under what they called the "avocado tree office" outside the NAC
headquarters.

"We don't want to wear and tear your office carpets with our
cracked feet," cried one activist, with heavy sarcasm.

Yekeye tried in vain to "sweet talk" the activists, into
entering his office, but they refused. He was handed their petition, after
which negotiations began under the avocado tree.

In the petition, the protestors demanded that all people living
with HIV and Aids (PLWAs) be supplied with ARVs regularly, preferably
through the government's district structures.

They also demanded that the one-year waiting period for ARVs for
government programmes be reduced to three months, saying most of their
friends and relatives had died on the so-called "waiting list".

Yekeye then asked the activists to leave the premises to give
the NAC time to look into the their demands.

The protesters refused to leave until the NAC gave them a
written guarantee to act on their demands in a week's time. They left around
3pm.

Later, speaking to journalists after the negotiations General
Gunpowder said: "We will as sure as hell be back. If they think they can
just shoo us away like little children, they are in for the surprise of
their lives. We are going to force them into action.

"We will not stand and watch while our brothers and sisters die
in pain at home with not even a cent for painkillers. Enough is enough. One
week is all we are giving them and this time we will be back with pots and
pans to camp here. This is phase one of the ARV Chimurenga. At least they
know now that we are serious and are just not playing to the gallery."

According to government statistics, of the 1,8 million people
living with HIV and Aids only 40 000 are accessing ARVs, compared with 600
000-plus people in urgent need of the miracle drugs.

Judge reserves judgment in assault case

Government rejects ZCTU proposal for maternity tax relief appeal

Zim Standard

By Foster Dongozi

THE government, which claims to have the interests of women at
heart, has shot down a proposal by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU) to introduce tax-free maternity cash benefits for pregnant women.

The proposal, if it had been allowed, would have seen all
employed women receiving untaxed salaries for the 98 days of maternity
leave.

Recommendations for the proposed scheme came out of a national
workshop on maternity protection held on 18 July this year. It had been
proposed that the State should introduce a tax-free maternity cash benefit
in order to cushion female employees' disposable income during their time of
need.

According to Wellington Chibebe, the ZCTU secretary general:
"The State seems not to recognise the plight of female workers and has
declined to approve such a benefit."

The government has in the past refused to allow ZCTU- sourced
sanitary towels to come into the country for free and instead charged high
duty.

The women's wing in the ZCTU had sourced the sanitary towels in
response to reports that some women were using newspapers, pieces of cloth
and tree bark as substitutes for sanitary towels because of their
prohibitive costs.

An official from the Ministry of Finance who only signed his
name as D Gwamba, in a letter to the ZCTU, flatly turned down the request:
"In order to reduce distortions within the economy, as well as reduce the
administrative burden of tax collection on the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority,
government has taken a deliberate stance to reduce the schedule of tax
exemptions. In view of the above, I regret to inform you that your request
was not acceded to," he wrote Chibebe reacted angrily to the snub by the
government.

'RBZ emissaries' stalk banking official

Zim Standard

By our Staff

CHRIS Tande, the Time Bank founder and managing director,
alleges he has been twice set upon by unknown assailants claiming to be
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe security officers.

The attacks come at a time the closed bank is pressing ahead
with the payment of depositors as part of its two-year battle with the RBZ.

The attacks were reported to the police as case number
CR23/10/06 while RBZ governor, Gideon Gono was also notified of the
Mafia-style ambushes on 3 July and 18 September this year.

In two letters to Gono, Tande's lawyers said their client was
waylaid in the driveway of his Chisipite home on 18 September by men
claiming to be RBZ security men.

The motive of the late-night raid was undisclosed, but the
assailants were searching for unspecified material.

"The three people who claimed to be from the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) advised that they had been carrying out a surveillance of Mr
Tande and that they wanted to carry out a search of his person, his vehicle
and his house," noted the lawyers, Mutamangira and Associates.

They said the thugs attempted to seize two Time Bank files
containing key information on the on-going depositor-payment scheme.

After failing to locate the targeted material, the gang ordered
Tande to accompany them to the RBZ for questioning, but he broke free and
blew the hooter of his car, causing "the RBZ officers" to flee.

His lawyers argued that the three could not have been petty
thieves or genuine investigative officers, as they did not demand personal
effects and refused to show their identification.

"It also appears that whoever is behind such an operation may
have targeted Mr Tande for certain reasons known to themselves, but he is
not aware of any reason that may warrant such a covert operation.

"The only significant thing done by Mr Tande and his team is the
payment of former depositors of Time Bank, and one would think that such
payment would not result in such targeting of Mr Tande because the payments
are necessary, important and beneficial to depositors who had waited for too
long with no payment or solution," the lawyers said.

Tande's lawyers believe there could be even more sinister
motives behind the attacks.

"The motive of these people is not clear. They appeared as
neither common thieves nor law enforcement agents nor the police. Instead it
appeared as if it was a special gang of people set up for a special purpose.
Certainly they were not interested in a normal lawful investigation or
search because they did not show their identities and they ran away from the
horn when it was blown," said the letter which the lawyers wrote to Gono.

Time Bank, which has challenged the RBZ on many fronts over its
curatorship and subsequent licence withdrawal in May, was recently forbidden
from using the word "bank" in its current depositor-payment programme.

Tande has had other visits at his home in Harare from alleged
officers of the RBZ, since last July.

RBZ spokesperson, Kumbirai Nhongo had not responded to questions
forwarded to him by The Standard.

Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said: "When the case has a CR
number like the one that you are talking about, then it means the case is
already under investigation."

Minister Langa still at Parks lodge

Zim Standard

BY VALENTINE MAPONGA

DEPUTY Minister of Environment and Tourism and Insiza MP, Andrew
Langa is still booked at the Chivero National Parks' Kingfisher lodge,
spending about $200 000 of tax-payers' money in monthly rentals, The
Standard has heard.

Officials from the tourism ministry last week said the
government has failed to secure alternative accommodation for Langa in
Harare.

The Chivero National Parks lodge is about 35 kilometres from
Harare and Langa travels 70km to and from work each time he is in Harare on
ministerial business.

An official with the Parks' reservations office in Harare last
week also revealed that the lodge's overnight rates are now $6 500 a day,
which means Langa spends more than $200 000 a month on accommodation alone.

However, when fuel allowances and the cost of food are factored
in, the figure could run into several hundreds of thousands of dollars of
tax-payers' money.

However, officials from Langa's ministry last week claimed that
Langa made personal arrangements to stay at the lodge with National Parks
and Wildlife management.

"You will have to talk the minister himself or people from the
National Parks because it's an arrangement that was made between the two,"
said a senior officer in the ministry, who declined to be named.

Environment and Tourism Minister, Francis Nhema, said Langa's
stay was meant to be temporary while the Ministry of Local Government,
Public Works and Urban Development, looked for a government house in Harare.

"I am aware of the situation and we are still waiting for the
Ministry of Local Government to find him a government house to stay in,"
Nhema said.

Langa was last week not available for comment.

National Parks director general, Morrison Mutsambiwa, was not
immediately available for comment either. His mobile number was unreachable
the whole of last week.

The National Parks falls under the Ministry of Environment and
Tourism.

National Parks public relations manager, Edward Mbewe, last week
said he would check on the matter. By the time of going to print, Mbewe had
not done so.

"I will have to check that for you but right now I am not in the
office," Mbewe said.

Local Government Minister Ignatious Chombo was not immediately
available for comment.

In March this year, The Standard revealed that Langa had been
booked at the lodge for five months. This means Langa has been staying at
the expensive lodge for more than a year at the tax payers' expense.

Zimbabwean youths ambush South African Minister

Zim Standard

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT

LONDON - South African Foreign Minister, Dr Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma, was ambushed on Wednesday night by 10 Zimbabwean human rights
activists from Free Zim Youths (FZY). She was in London where she was giving
a speech on the future of the United Nations.

Her lecture at the London School of Economics was repeatedly
interrupted with accusations of: "ANC betrays black Zimbabwe" by the youths
who were joined by gay rights activist, Peter Tatchell.

Free Zim Youth says it is committed to "anti-aparheid-style
direct action protests against Mugabe's tyranny and against the ANC's
refusal to support the struggle for democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe".

About 10 minutes into her lecture on the future of the United
Nations, Zuma spoke of the importance of international solidarity.

She praised the late ANC leader Oliver Tambo, stating that he
was an "ardent internationalist" and a person who believed in "true
solidarity". This was too much for young Zimbabweans in the audience.

"We were sickened to hear Dr Zuma talk about international
solidarity when her government is refusing to show solidarity with the
persecuted people of Zimbabwe," said 25-year-old Alois Mbawara, a founding
member of the FZY and one of the protesters.

Mbawara stood up in the balcony and shouted at Zuma: "Why are
you doing nothing to help Zimbabwe? The ANC called for solidarity against
apartheid. But the ANC government is showing no solidarity with the people
of Zimbabwe."

When asked by the chair of the meeting to keep quiet, Mbawara
replied: "We can't keep quite while Zimbabwe is suffering."

When stewards dragged Mbawara out of the auditorium, Tatchell
walked onto the stage and unfurled a placard behind Dr Zuma. It read: "Mbeki's
shame.

ANC betrays black Zimbabwe." As security officials tried to
wrestle Tatchell off the stage, he accused Zuma and the ANC government of
"betraying Oliver Tambo's commitment to international solidarity with
oppressed people".

"The ANC sits on its hands and looks the other way while
Zimbabwe burns," he told Zuma.

"Mugabe has murdered more black Africans than the apartheid
regime. In Matabeleland in the 1980s alone, he massacred 20 000 civilians.
That is the equivalent of a Sharpeville Massacre everyday for nine months.
Yet South Africa does nothing effective to stop the killing. President Mbeki's
quiet diplomacy is a failure. Mugabe's abuses have increased, not
diminished," said Tatchell.

The police were called and Tatchell was dragged from the
auditorium. Soon after he was removed, another ZFY activist, Wellington
Chibanguza, aged 24,rose from the balcony: "Why do you (Dr Zuma) and your
government persist with quiet diplomacy when it has failed to deliver?" he
asked. Chibanguza was also ejected.

Infuriated that Zuma refused to respond to any questions put to
her, or express even a word of sympathy for the plight of her fellow
Africans in Zimbabwe, four women activists from ZFY began cat-calls from the
balcony.

They, too, were hauled out.

By this time, even the officially invited audience became
irritated by Zuma's lack of engagement and absence of empathy.
"Throughout the protests she sat silent, motionless and
grim-faced," said

Chibanguza. "Much of the audience was riled by her arrogant,
heartless refusal to express even a few words of solidarity with the
Zimbabwean people.

"They urged her to say something. I think she lost a lot of
respect because of her intransigent attitude.

Although Dr Zuma was greeted by warm applause when she arrived,
by the time she finished her speech she had alienated much of the audience.

"What really angered people was her final comment, when she did
eventually refer briefly to Zimbabwe.

Dr Zuma said Zimbabweans in Britain had no right to speak out
about the situation Zimbabwe. This was a bit much coming from Dr Zuma, who
spent much of the apartheid era in exile in the UK. That comment really
incensed the audience."

Given the level of the audience disquiet, the organisers
curtailed the promised question and answer session. While the ejected ZFY
activists continued their protest outside the LSE, Dr Zuma was humiliatingly
smuggled out of a side exit to a waiting unmarked car.

"She scuttled away like a rat from a sinking ship," Tatchell
said.

Explaining why the protest was necessary, Mbawara said: "Polite
lobbying of the South African government has got us nowhere. The ANC ignores
all cries for help from Zimbabwe. That's why we had to stage this protest.
If Mbeki and Zuma spoke out against Mugabe and organised international
sanctions against his regime, Mugabe's control would soon start to unravel.
South African inaction is helping to keep him in power," he said.

'War veterans body could be burial society' along here

Zim Standard

Foster Dongozi

THE Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association
(ZNLWVA) will soon be dissolved to pave way for an association controlled by
the Ministry of Defence, said a veterans' leader last week.

Early this year, The Standard reported that the Minister of
Defence, Sidney Sekeramayi, had presented to the Zanu PF politburo plans to
transform war veterans into part of the army.

Andrew Ndlovu, the chairman of the War Veterans' re-organising
committee confirmed the association would soon be "history".

"Very soon, all war veterans will be part of the reserve force.
Membership is compulsory for all comrades. The war veterans association will
remain but it will not be different from a burial society. The welfare of
all war veterans will now be taken care of by the state."

Ndlovu's bombshell comes before the war veterans hold a congress
and elections in December.

The congress is likely to sow confusion among the former freedom
fighters.

Some war veterans who spoke to The Standard said they would
resist efforts to be "swallowed up" into the military structures.

"We want to avoid a situation where most of those
pseudo-revolutionaries who were in London and America take advantage of the
comrades who were fighting in the trenches while they lived luxuriously
abroad," said one ex-fighter.

Another ex-combatant, preferring to speak on condition of
anonymity, said being absorbed into the military structures would render
them "useless".

"We are now retired soldiers. So why should we fall under the
military command structure again? This is an attempt to make us useless and
voiceless as a group. The next thing will be that even press statements made
by the veterans' association would have to be cleared by the army's public
relations department."

The war veterans blame Zanu PF politicians for the increasing
level of corruption in the government.

"As war veterans, we have been completely banished from anywhere
near top decision-making posts. Before the 2005 elections we had agreed that
we should take part in most primary elections for the ruling party. But many
freedom fighters were elbowed out of the race to pave the way for non-war
veterans."

Among those blocked from contesting was the chairman of the
ZNLWVA, Jabulani Sibanda, his deputy, Joseph Chinotimba and James Kaunye
from Makoni district.

Contacted for comment, Zanu PF secretary for administration,
Didymus Mutasa, suggested the story would be better dealt with by his party's
mouth-piece, The Voice.

"The veterans talking to you should take their story to The
Voice. Then I would respond to them. I can't respond to them through a
newspaper like The Standard."

Zesa power cuts fuel deforestation

Zim Standard

BY CAPHAS CHIMHETE

AFTER every four days, Miriam Munangwa of Mufakose high-density
travels more than 5km towards Lake Chivero, where she cuts down trees to
replenish her stocks of firewood.

The 53-year-old widow says the distance she covers in search of
firewood increases every week as more and more people are getting wood from
the same area.

"We are coming this far because all the trees in our
neighbourhood have disappeared. We used to fetch firewood from a hill
between Mufakose and Kambuzuma but that area is now depleted of all its
trees," Munangwa said.

But it is not everyone who is prepared to travel long distances
in search of firewood.

As load-shedding by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
(Zesa) becomes more frequent in Harare, desperate residents are resorting to
cutting down trees lining the streets for use as firewood.

Felling trees for domestic use is most prevalent in Harare's
high-density areas where most of the poor, who cannot afford alternative
sources of energy, live.

Some of the residents eke out a living from selling firewood,
which they cut down along suburban streets during the night to avoid
detection by municipal police.

Worsening poverty among urban households, who can no longer
afford to buy paraffin or candles, further compounds the problem.

Paraffin is not always available in most shops or service
stations. It is being sold on the parallel market at exorbitant prices.

Among the most affected suburbs are Epworth, Mabvuku, Kambuzuma,
Warren Park, Dzivaresekwa and Kuwadzana.

For the past three months, some parts of Kuwadzana have been
without electricity after a Zesa sub-station went up in smoke.

Several houses in Highfield's Engineering section have also been
without electricity for the past one and half months after thieves stole
transformer oil from a Zesa sub-station. But Highfield residents believe
this was not the work of ordinary thieves.

"People who work at Zesa are the ones stealing the oil because
the same day that electricity went off; I had seen a Zesa truck parked at
the sub-station. No ordinary person can have the audacity to tamper with
electricity installations," said Evermay Moyo, who resides in Highfield.

Other residents said they have resorted to firewood because
electricity charges and the cost of paraffin have shot up and are
unaffordable.

"I know it is a crime but there is nothing we can do. If Zesa
cannot provide electricity, then this problem will not end," said Revai
Mugoni, who stays in Kambuzuma.

Zesa has always blamed the current prolonged power cuts on
thieves who it says drain oil from transformers.

Environmentalists, however, warn if the trend continues Harare
will soon be turned into a "desert city".

Environment Africa (E-Africa), an organisation that promotes
conservation, has embarked on an educational campaign in Harare to stress
the importance of trees in a bid to curb deforestation.

E-Africa spokesperson, Deliwe Utete, said they have "adopted" a
woodlot near Cleveland Dam in Epworth, where they try to maintain the
natural environment.

In Mabvuku, E-Africa is also planting trees to replace those
that have been cut down. But Utete said replacing trees was very difficult
because they take many years to grow, particularly the indigenous ones.

"Cutting down of trees disturbs the natural environment. For
example, it affects carbon sink, a process where trees absorb most of the
pollution. So without trees our city will be heavily polluted," Utete said.

Municipal Development Partnership (MDP) co-ordinator, Takawira
Mubvami, said there was need to re-look at the country's energy policy. He
called for the urgent development of alternative sources of energy.

"We need to look at long term solutions like the use of solar
power, biogas and wind energy. Without the development of alternative
sources, the problem will haunt us forever," Mubvami said.

He said trees provide habitat for many species of animals as
well as beautifying the environment. They also manage underground water.
Trees such as Eucalyptus, for example, can be used to drain swampy areas.

The environmentalist also suggested the development of woodlots
in Harare, where people can harness wood for domestic purposes.

Mubvami, however, concedes that increasing poverty would make it
extremely difficult to the curb deforestation.

Most workers earn about $30 000 a month, a figure which is far
below the poverty datum line (PDL) of about $100 000 for a family of six
people.

Harare City Council spokesperson, Percy Toriro, said curbing
tree cutting in Harare would be impossible without addressing issues of
poverty and poor service delivery by Zesa.

"We are quite worried about the rate of deforestation in Harare.
It's because of the general decline of service delivery by Zesa, which
leaves people with no option but to resort to cutting down trees," Toriro
said.

He added that the council was working in partnership with NGOs
in the environment sector to arrest the problem.

Toriro said they are also deploying the municipal police to
enforce by-laws.

Countrywide, deforestation has accelerated since the 2000 land
invasions, which saw new farmers taking over previously white-owned
commercial farms.

Instead of pursuing farming activities, most of the new farmers
started cutting down trees and selling them as firewood in urban areas.

Masunda acquitted

Zim Standard

BY OUR STAFF

BULAWAYO - Langton Masunda was on Wednesday acquitted on charges
of illegally poaching a baboon and other wildlife worth $123 000 at the
disputed Lugo Ranch. Speaker of Parliament, John Nkomo has claimed ownership
of the ranch.

Hwange Magistrate Eilene Madzorera said Masunda was set free
because the state failed to produce evidence that he illegally poached
wildlife at Nkomo's ranch.

Madzorera said the State's case led by Sifelumusa Fuzane had
inconsistencies as it also failed to explain why Nkomo was not called to
court to testify as the complainant.

She said the State failed to prove that Masunda violated the
Wildlife and Parks Act after allegedly poaching wildlife without permits
from the Department of Parks and Wildlife Management.

Masunda's lawyer, Vonani Majoko of Majoko and Majoko Legal
Practitioners, also confirmed that the black empowerment activist and
businessman had been cleared of any wrong-doing.

"He was acquitted on Wednesday after the State failed to prove
its case. His co-accused, John Marira and Elliot Nobula, were also
acquitted," Majoko said.

Minister, board lock horns over AirZim CEO

Zim Standard

BY NDAMU SANDU

A row is simmering between Transport and Communications Minister
Chris Mushohwe and the Air Zimbabwe board over the appointment of
substantive group CEO of the airline.

Standardbusiness heard last week that the Mike Bimha-chaired
board had recommended acting group CEO Oscar Madombwe for the coveted post
while Mushohwe had recommended former Air Zim staffer Peter Chikumba.

Normal procedure is that the board selects a candidate and
forwards the name to the minister for approval.

One board member confided to Standardbusiness that the airline
had head-hunted for people with little success. Although the member refused
to disclose the names of candidates approached to head the airline this
paper has it on good authority that the board had approached lawyer Francis
Chirimuuta, Jonathan Majakwara and Zimbabwe Tourism Authority boss Karikoga
Kaseke.

Kaseke is a former permanent secretary in the Ministry of
Transport and Communications. Majakwara is a former SADC representative to
the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

Impeccable sources said last week that Mushohwe showed disdain
for Madombwe and fired him last month. Madombwe was reinstated by the board,
which indicated to Mushohwe that his action was improper. The post of CEO
was advertised in March this year to fill the void left by then suspended
boss Tendai Mahachi. Mahachi was suspended in November last year together
with then divisional director for finance Tendai Mujuru for running down the
airline.

Chikumba, who worked as director for Operations and Engineering
for Air Zimbabwe was appointed acting CEO of Air Namibia in November 2001
replacing Malaysian Jaafar bin Ahmad. He was dismissed in 2002 amid
allegations of fraud.

At Air Namibia, Chikumba was known for the prayer sessions he
held in management meetings during which he "asked God to help him and his
team to rid Air Namibia of fraud and corruption".

Chikumba was later appointed International Air Transport
Association regional manager for Africa in September 2002.

Madombwe joined Air Zim in 1982 as aircraft engineer rising
through the ranks to senior manager Operations. He left the airline for the
Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ). He left CAAZ to join DST.

Madombwe rejoined the airline as director of National Handling
Services (NHS) in 2004 and was subsequently appointed acting group MD of the
airline the same year following the resignation of then head Rambai
Chingwena. He returned to CAAZ after the appointment of Mahachi as
substantive CEO of the airline. Madombwe bounced back as acting group CEO in
November last year in the wake of Mahachi's suspension.

Contacted for comment, Air Zimbabwe board chairman Bimha
professed ignorance about the rift but said the board had made
recommendations to the ministry and was awaiting a response. Bimha said the
interviewees for the post had gone through psychometric tests as part of the
selection process.

He said the selection panel had also looked at the references of
the cast. Repeated efforts to contact Mushohwe were fruitless throughout the
week as he was said to be attending meetings or away from the office.

Cash squeeze stalls Buffalo Range refurbishment

Zim Standard

By Our Staff

THE Civil Aviation Authority needs US$8 million if progress is
to be made in the upgrading of the Buffalo Range airport, an official has
said.

CAAZ official, Ben Ncube told participants at a Transfrontier
Conservation Areas workshop held at the sidelines of the Zimbabwe Council of
Tourism congress that lack of funding had stalled progress at the airport.

"If we have the funding by February, then construction should
begin in March. The work should be complete in 18 months," Ncube said.

He said the two major projects that needed to be funded were the
construction of a runway and a terminal at the Chiredzi-based airport.

So far, Ncube said, architects had finished the initial drawings
for the buildings while grass had been cleared from the site.

The airport is crucial for the successful implementation of the
Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park famed for inaccessible and bad transport
network.

Participants at the workshop were uneasy about the transport
network and recommended that CAAZ expedites the upgrading of the airport and
government improves the road network to attract investors.

Ncube said once the funds are available CAAZ would speed up
construction to enable Air Zimbabwe to follow through its commitment to
introduce a flight when it drawsup its schedule for next year.

"They (Air Zimbabwe) said by March they could be flying into the
Buffalo Range while all these developments are taking place. Of course, that
will be dependent on the flow of tourists because they cannot fly if there
is no one going there."

The ZCT two-day congress held under the theme Mapping the Future
ended on Friday.

Committee adamant on Zisco report

Zim Standard

BY OUR STAFF

THE parliamentary portfolio committee on Foreign Affairs,
Industry and International Trade will pursue "other avenues" to lay its
hands on a report by the National Economic Conduct Inspectorate (NECI)
highlighting high level graft at ZISCOSTEEL.

The committee is probing the fate of ZISCOSTEEL US$400 million
management contract with Indian firm Global Steel Holdings Limited (GSHL)
that hangs in the balance.

Committee chairperson Enock Porusingazi said last week despite
promises, the report had not been given to them.

Porusingazi said: "The NECI report was not submitted to us. With
or without the NECI report, we are going ahead with our report which we will
present to Parliament."

Porusingazi could not be drawn into revealing what other avenues
the committee would pursue to get the report, though Standardbusiness
understands parliamentary powers could be invoked to force the release of
the document.

Porusingazi said the committee's report would proffer
recommendations on how the troubled steelmaker would be resuscitated.

Last month Industry and International Trade Minister, Obert
Mpofu, told the committee that there was a report done by NECI, which showed
that ministers and MPs had looted ZISCOSTEEL. He made a sensational U-turn a
week later saying he did not mean that, ministers and MPs had looted
ZISCOSTEEL but that their companies that were buying from the parastatal
were making huge profits at a time the troubled steel maker was making
astronomical losses.

Porusingazi said the report would be composed of the findings
made by the committee. As part of their fact-finding mission, the committee
invited Mpofu and his permanent secretary Christian Katsande to Parliament
on three occasions. The committee also toured the ZISCOSTEEL plant.

Meanwhile the board has tasked a consultancy firm, Kipps
Personal consultants to look for a substantive MD of the steelmaker.

The new MD will replace GSHL Lalit Seghal who left in August in
a huff. Seghal had replaced Gabriel Masanga in March.

'Lack of locomotives to blame for NRZ failure'

Zim Standard

BY OUR STAFF

POOR locomotive availability has contributed to a decline in
freight traffic at the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) a report by the
World Bank shows.

The report, Zimbabwe Infrastructure Assessment Note for Roads,
Railways and Water sector, said that freight traffic had nose-dived sharply
to 4.9 million tonnes in 2004 from 14 million tonnes in 1990.

"Poor locomotive availability and utilisation have been
established as the main causes," the World Bank said.

It said that from the locomotive analysis the railways could
provide only 67% of the total locomotive requirements.

". . . The railway could have carried 50% more traffic, if
adequate number of locomotives were to be available. Locomotive availability
and utilisation are both critical areas for investigation and corrective
action," the World Bank said.

It said that the unavailability of the necessary foreign
exchange and fuel continue to hamstring the operations of NRZ.

The study is a joint effort between the government and the World
Bank and assesses the current status of key infrastructure identifying
critical areas in sector policies. The assessment was carried out under the
framework of the World Bank's Interim Strategy for Zimbabwe approved by the
lending institution board in March last year.

The report said that NRZ had managed to reduce its financial
deficit to US$20 million in the 1998 financial year from a peak of US$100
million in 1990. It attributed the decline to a combination of tariff
rationalisation and an improvement in operating efficiency and operating
costs through a reduction in staff. In the period under review, staffing
levels declined to
10 000 at the end of 1998 from 17 000 in 1990.

The report doubted NRZ management to operate the company at the
peak of efficiency and productivity in the face of bureaucratic rules and
procedure.

The report said: "Private sector participation in the management
and operation of the railways remains as justified as before in order for
the railways to realise its full potential."

Impunity that encourages violations of human rights

Zim Standard

Comment

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's recent encouragement to the police to
deal decisively with Zimbabweans protesting against his government, the
reluctance of the police to arrest supporters of the ruling party implicated
in the murder of opposition political activists and last weekend's
destruction of MDC supporters' houses in Chitungwiza and Mabvuku confirm a
pattern of impunity that has fuelled human rights violations since 2000.

Last weekend the houses of MDC supporters were destroyed in what
the opposition suspects were attacks by Zanu PF intended to send shivers
down their spines ahead of yesterday's rural district council elections.

While in the past presidential powers of amnesty have been used
to protect perpetrators of the most heinous crimes against the people of
Zimbabwe, in recent years the government has, however, ignored calls for the
prosecution of those responsible for torture, abductions and political
killings.

High Court Judge, Justice James Devittie ordered that Joseph
Mwale and Kainos Tom "Kitsiyatota" Zimunya appear in court by 26 March 2001
to give evidence in the case involving the killings of two MDC activists,
but neither appeared in court although police served summons on them. There
was no further action by the police, who claimed they could not find them.

Mwale is employed by the Central Intelligence Organisation and
is now believed to be in Nyanga after having worked in Chimanimani where he
led a campaign to purge the area of opposition activists. At the beginning
of October the Office of the Attorney-General ordered the police to arrest
Mwale. He is still a free man. There is a definite deliberate attempt by the
state to subvert the course of justice.

The people responsible for the "disappearance" of Patrick
Nabanyama, a polling agent for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) in the June 2000 Parliamentary elections are free men -thanks to their
membership of the ruling party.

Wilson "Biggie" Kufa Chitoro, the Mberengwa district chairman of
the war veterans' association as well as a senior Zanu PF provincial
official, was identified in legal proceedings as the leader of the
''militia'' operating in the Mberengwa West area near Mataga.

Several witnesses in a High Court petition challenging the
election in June 2000 of Joram Gumbo as the MP for Mberengwa West, told the
court that Chitoro, based at a ''militia'' camp at the Texas Ranch farm,
co-ordinated a terror campaign against the opposition in the district.

Chitoro led ''militia'' members on 4 June 2000 when they
abducted James and Fainos Zhou from their home in Danga, near Mataga. Fainos
died from internal injuries on 9 June 2000 following a brutal assault.

On 6 October 2000 an amnesty was issued and the prosecution of
Chitoro and the three other alleged accomplices, on charges of kidnapping
and assault was dropped.

Then there is the case of David Stevens, the first commercial
farmer to be killed in the wave of political violence following the chaotic
land invasions. Stevens was executed by being shot in the face. No one has
been brought to justice in connection with the murder.

It is because of such cases that there are growing calls for
Mugabe to be brought before the International Criminal Court for crimes
against humanity. If Mugabe wanted these crimes against humanity to cease
and ordered an end to the torture and murders, the culprits would have. And
if he cared for justice, the law would have been allowed to run its course.

Hypocrites among religious activists

Zim Standard

Sunday Opinion By Jonah Ncube

IF God did not care for the 2.5 million or more women and girls
in Zimbabwe who have experienced horrendous sexual violations and physical
battery mostly in places they should feel the safest, their homes, then this
nation would be doomed.

Our experiences as women and indeed scientific studies and
surveys show that at least one third of Zimbabwean women have experienced
sexual/domestic violence. The good news is that God does care for these
women and as a God who hates evil and sin, he hates the pain, the sorrow,
the anguish, the humiliation most women are subjected to in their homes, at
school, at their work places, the streets and other public places as they go
about their business in our towns and cities and indeed in the hands of the
State.

I am glad Zimbabwe is not doomed despite the surprising actions
of some religious leaders who have taken a pro-active stand against the
domestic violence bill in the pretence of supporting and protecting
families. In fact, the actions of some religious activists who have swamped
Zimbabwean newspapers with adverts quoting the Bible and warning the public
against the domestic violence bill are a show of religiosity which is
removed from the truths of the Bible they purport to base their arguments
on.

The hypocrisy being shown by these religious activists cannot go
uncontested. On one hand these adverts imply that we should wait until women
and children are raped or murdered to intervene as a society. This implies
that any violence against women and children is acceptable to them and
should not be punished.

I think it is absolutely a shame that these religious activists
have not been voicing against the pain and brutality that women and children
experience until the state has had to intervene with a law. The hypocrisies
our communities have lived with for so long are responsible for the
catastrophic impact of HIV and AIDS in our region.

We would not admit and talk about sexual promiscuity which we
condoned by not standing up against philandering and whoring husbands and
brothers and today we are burying the young every other day, we are burdened
with orphans we can hardly afford to feed and most of our economically
active citizens have been lost or are bed-ridden and waiting to die.

For a long time we have not wanted to confront the evil of
domestic violence which has led to the breakdown of many lives and led to
broken children who have lived with the horror of watching their father
express utmost hate on their mother by beating her. We must admit that our
extended family and community systems have failed too many women and
children as they have tended not to stop the beatings and the torture.

Reporting a father who has beaten up his wife or a brother who
is tormenting his siblings is not what breaks up families. What breaks up
families is a father who lifts his hands in aggression against his wife. Not
confronting these acts of aggression against the vulnerable and disempowered
of our societies is what breaks up families. Not standing up to such
messages is what breaks up families.

A family is one place where one should be safe, must feel and be
wanted, be loved, be affirmed and be protected. If in your family you are
ridiculed, abused and violated then that family link will be broken. Jesus
Christ when talking of his mission on earth in John 10 v 10 said: "The thief
comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have
life and have it to the full."

Domestic violence steals joy and peace from our families.
Domestic violence kills the spirit of those who are its victims and domestic
violence destroys the bodies, the warm feelings, at times properties of
those in a family where it is allowed to happen. We cannot allow our
families to be destroyed by domestic violence anymore.

No victim of any violence enjoys the experience. And since as
communities have allowed our society to
degenerate to such levels, we are standing up to domestic
violence and putting regulations that ensure that victims and the vulnerable
are protected. We are advocating for families, communities and a nation
where everyone lives their life in absolute abundance of joy, peace,
security, safety and love. No more fear of husbands, brothers, uncles,
fathers-in-law.

This bill is a demonstration of decisiveness by our society that
we are deliberately taking very specific measures to ensure that our
families and communities are peaceable and are safe and healthy environments
for all of us. No one has the right to abuse another human being.

Marrying someone or giving birth to someone does not give one
the right to abuse them or to violate them. In Zimbabwe hundreds of women
are murdered by their husbands or lovers every year; hundreds of girls are
molested and abused by their fathers until they get pregnant and are further
traumatised by societal response to such horrors.

Thousands of young girls are raped and molested by their school
officials and authorities. All this must stop. It starts with verbal and
psychological abuse and manipulations many times and eventually ends
tragically with murder and rape. We must stop it at the very beginning and
to do that we must create a societal environment that allows women and
children to know they can be protected by the police and have community
support when ever they feel threatened.

Those who have often been responsible for abusing others must
get the clear message that Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans are no longer going to
tolerate such uncouth behaviour.

If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8 v 31). We
wait to celebrate on the day the domestic violence bill will be passed into
a law. We have been waiting for a very long time but the day is near so we
continue to fight for what we know is right until that day.

Misguided church leaders cannot legitimise an illegitimate regime

Zim Standard

Sundayview By Pedzisai Ruhanya

ATTEMPTS by some sections of the church led by Zanu PF religious
sympathisers and sycophants to legitimise the norm-violating regime of
President Robert Mugabe by crafting what they view as the solution to the
crisis in Zimbabwe through their so-called national vision document should
be interrogated, demystified and rejected on the basis of its failure to
locate causes of the country's national decay.

While some leaders of the church have a right to rehabilitate
the decadent Zanu PF regime that has authored the national crisis, they
should not mislead the country into believing that their sectional interests
could reflect the national mood.

Firstly, the misguided church leaders and Zanu PF praise-singers
miss the point by failing to understand that the country has numerous people
with vision better than Zanu PF leadership. It is therefore clear that the
country has visionary leaders and what is needed is constitutional and
institutional framework to implement the abundant vision Zimbabweans are
blessed with.

There is therefore an urgent need for a constitutional overhaul
in the country in order to create a Zimbabwe that everyone could be proud
of. A constitutional framework is necessary to implement that vision because
a regime whose powers are not restrained is a danger not only to the country
but even to itself. This is so because governmental power which is essential
to the realisation of national values including the so-called vision that
the Zanu PF associated church leaders are calling for should be controlled
in order that it should not be destructive to the national values that any
civilised and democratic government is established to promote.

There is no governmental restraint in Zimbabwe and most critical
institutions in the country are appendages to the executive. This in my view
is what Zimbabweans should concern themselves with through constitutional
reforms as a starting point.

It is my view that the principle of constitutionalism rests on
the idea of restraining the government in its exercise of power. The abuse
of human rights in Zimbabwe is a result of an unrestrained government. This
is not a new phenomenon. During both World War I and World War II and other
wars in the past, unstrained governments created the conditions for such
wars. In the case of Germany under Adolf Hitler, millions of Jews were
murdered in concentration camps by the Nazis because Hitler's government was
a dictatorship with absolute powers.

In Zimbabwe, thousands of people were killed at Freedom Camp in
Zambia, Tembwe, Nyadzonia and Chimoio in Mozambique by the Rhodesian
government because that regime did not respect human rights and the
government had unfettered powers. In fact, the 1965 Unilateral Declaration
of Independence (UDI) by Rhodesian dictator, Ian Smith was a constitutional
overthrow that led to rampant human rights violations during the liberation
struggle.

After Independence, the Zanu PF government killed thousands of
innocent Zimbabweans in the Midlands and Matabeleland provinces because
Mugabe's regime was answerable to itself and not even to the Zanu
PF-controlled Parliament. More recently, especially after 2000, many
Zimbabweans have died through State-sponsored violence while some of the
culprits such as the Central Intelligence Operative, Joseph Mwale still
remain free because of executive protection.

It is my view therefore that Zimbabwe needs a total overhaul of
its governance structure through constitutional reform not the so-called
national vision document that the church leaders linked to Zanu PF are
talking about. Contrary to what the church leaders that visited Mugabe are
saying, it is critical that there be regime change in Zimbabwe because
without a fundamental change in the institutional and governance structure
of the country, the country will be with this crisis for a long time.

When Zimbabweans say they need regime change, they are talking
about governance changes which include constitutional reforms. The regime
that we need to change in Zimbabwe is a regime that celebrates and values
murder, violence, rape, militarisation of State institutions such as the
Grain Marketing Board, electoral manipulation, political violence and other
vices. If the leader of the country and his government celebrate or entrench
such vices, then they will be part of the regime change. Surely any
Zimbabwean who argues that the country should not change a violent regime
that encompasses murder in its governance structures needs urgent medical
attention.

If the church leaders want to convince Zimbabweans that regime
change is wrong, then there is a need to question their religious intentions
in this matter. They need to appreciate that regime change goes beyond the
mere removal of a leader and the government but goes to the heart of
governance. This means a leader of the government such as Mugabe can effect
regime change although it is impossible in Zimbabwe. Mugabe can do so by
working with others in the country to overhaul the institutional and
governance regime in the country through the establishment of a democratic
state via constitutional reforms and see changes in the political culture of
Zimbabweans where people desist from creating political enemies among each
other and where political diversity is celebrated in the country and not
denouncing others on phantom allegations of selling-out the country as a
cover up for political failure.

It has been argued in political science discourse that power can
be said to be legitimate to the extent that: it conforms to established
rule, the rules can be justified by reference to beliefs shared by both the
dominant and subordinate, and there is evidence of consent by the
subordinate to the particular power relation. Those who argue that the Zanu
PF government is a legitimate regime must satisfy these criteria. In my view
the current political situation since 2000 indicates that the Harare regime
is not legitimate.

The first and most basic level of legitimacy is that of rules.
It is argued that power can be said to be legitimate in the first instance
if it is acquired and exercised in accordance with established rules. These
rules may be unwritten, as informal conventions, or they may be formalised
in legal codes or judgments. In the case of Zimbabwe, during elections
times, rules are broken down with impunity, judges are harassed, lawyers are
beaten up while journalists are banned and newspapers bombed. A government
that is born out of such a process cannot be called a legitimate regime.
These are the issues that the church leaders need to make Mugabe appreciate
in order to gain legitimacy both at home and abroad.

It is therefore plausible to argue that on its own, legal
validity is insufficient to secure legitimacy, since the rules through which
power is acquired and exercised stand in need of justification. Power is
therefore legitimate to the extent that the rules of power can be justified
in terms of beliefs shared by both dominant and subordinate, the governors
and the governed. In Zimbabwe, there is dispute on how Zanu PF acquires its
power and therefore the regime cannot be said to be legitimate.

For power to be fully legitimate, then, three conditions be said
to be legitimate.

For power to be fully legitimate, then, three conditions are
required: its conformity to established rules; the justifiability of rules
by reference to shared beliefs; the express consent of the subordinate or of
the most significant among them, to the particular relations of power.

In the case of Zimbabwe, the leader derives power through
violence, fear and others vices hence my contention that the Zanu PF
government is illegitimate because it fails to meet the criterion of a
legitimate government. A government that disenfranchise its citizens living
abroad, that fires judges, bans newspapers and forces its citizens to vote
for it cannot be called a legitimate government.

The church leaders need to deal with this illegitimacy by
encouraging Mugabe to return the country to democratic legitimacy before
they talk about their national vision document.

* Pedzisayi Ruhanya is a human rights researcher.

A people's government or an enemy?

Zim Standard

sunday view By Mutsa M Mlambo

IN the life of every nation, there comes a time when silence is
a betrayal. The time has come for genuine human rights defenders to speak
out.

I join the many others who have been intrepid and valiant enough
to speak out about the suffering we have had under the present government.
These are the people who have taken up the Biblical message seriously: Speak
up for the people who cannot speak for themselves; and protect the rights of
the poor and needy. I am doing this because my conscience leaves me no other
choice.

Doing the above is not simple and unproblematic. It is complex
and explains why it is often said that "any social scientist or lay person
knows that an issue is generally studied when a problem has arisen".

This contribution is dedicated to the proposition that Zimbabwe
does not have a people's government. In other words, the government we have
is imposed, thereby making it an enemy of the people.

The liberation struggle was built on the hope for new
opportunities. People made great sacrifices during the war and have worked
hard since but there is nothing to show that we have been independent for 26
years. The truth is that people are hurt, disillusioned and angry about the
paucity of opportunities that have come with liberation. The future looks
bleak unless drastic steps are taken now to reverse current conditions and
trends.

The government has turned our society into one replete with
paradoxes. On one hand is a society built upon freedom of the human being,
but on the other is a society totally opposed to the very same freedom.

Poverty is deprivation - deprivation for the many but affluence
for the few. Put differently, there is material affluence for some but
grinding poverty and squalor for many. There are many who benefit from the
suffering of the majority. The sorrow of many brings joy to the few.

The sad thing is that all this is happening 26 years after
independence. The question begs: Are some people more equal and human than
others? A people's government cannot allow this to happen especially when it
claims to be sovereign. But ours is not a people's government, but an enemy
of the people since it is completely divorced from its citizenry.

There is clear evidence of violation of Article 19 of the
African Charter on Human and People's Rights, which states that: "All people
shall be equal; they shall enjoy the same respect and shall have the same
rights. Nothing shall justify domination of a people by another."

The government deserves the label of "enemy of the people"
largely because the breakdown of the rule of law has serious negative
implications for the observance of basic human rights. For example, Article
21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: "Everyone has
the right to take part if the government of his country directly or through
freely chosen representatives.

Members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change have
been the major victims of the ruling party. Several citizens have been
denied this right to participation and other people have lost their lives
during parliamentary and Presidential elections due to political violence.
Those responsible for the murders were not prosecuted, providing ample proof
that the perpetrators of the murders had the support and approval of the
government. This qualifies it to be called an enemy of the people.

It is important to recall that since 1985 Zimbabwe has not had
free and fair elections as a result of Zanu PF machinations. The government
has been able to achieve this through the use of war veterans and youth
militias, who murdered, maimed, raped, tortured and intimidated opposition
supporters.

What this means is that we need to come up with our own
democratically elected government because as things stand, we do not have a
people's government.

There is need to remind each other that we have the right to
confront a government that continues the practice of colonial regimes. We
are the owners of our destiny and civil disobedience is the solution.

To quote a Gikuyu saying: "On the road to one's beloved, there
are no hills."

Poverty derails HIV mother, child transmission aid plan

Zim Standard

BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE

PERVASIVE poverty among rural communities in Zimbabwe has
impacted negatively on a programme designed to reduce the transmission of
HIV from mothers to their children.

Several mothers, who are on the Prevention of Mother to Child
Transmission (PMTCT) programme, last week said they were failing to adhere
to the prescribed food requirements because of poverty.

The women were speaking on the sidelines of the official launch
of the second phase of the Zimbabwe Vitamin A for Mothers and Babies
Organisation (Zvitambo) in Mvuma, Midlands province last week, where the
Canadian embassy donated CAD$2.4 million (Z$500 million) towards the fight
against HIV/AIDS among women.

One of the women, Lucia Tsvangirai (34), of Holy Cross in Mvuma,
said due to lack of nutritious foods, she could not produce any milk. She is
also unable to buy the recommended formula mix for her five-month-old baby.

"My breasts are dry. They cannot produce any milk because I am
not having enough food. I also cannot afford the recommended formula mix to
feed my child," said Tsvangira, who tested HIV-positive eight years ago.

Under the PMTCT programme, HIV positive mothers are recommended
to exclusively breastfeed for six months or give the child formula mix for
the same period of time.

Another woman on the PMTCT programme, 30-year-old Virginia
Fararira of Makanya Village in the Midlands province, said she was now
feeding her child on whatever type of food she could afford.

Fararira, an HIV-positive widow, said her food stocks had run
out. She did not grow any crops last season because of ill-health. Fararira
appealed for seed and a plough so that she could grow crops this coming
season. She also asked for clothing.

"I am now feeling better as you can see but the problem is that
I have no food to feed my child. He is also HIV-positive. Probably, if he
gets enough nutritious food he will live longer," Fararira said.

The first phase of Zvitambo HIV/AIDS prevention programme for
mothers and children involved the provision of technical support to PMTCT
programmes to 14 rural mission hospitals in four of the country's provinces.
It benefited about 25 000 rural women through HIV counseling and testing and
600 staff through training.

The Minister of Health and Child Welfare, David Parirenyatwa,
said the issue of poverty among women on PMTCT programme was not a national
problem as real poor people were getting assistance from the department of
social welfare and charitable organisations.

"Those could be isolated cases. What I can say is the programme
is going on very well at the moment," Parirenyatwa said last week.

Canada's Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Roxanne Dube, said she was
hopeful the donation would help reduce Mother-to-Child-Transmission (MTCT)
rates, decrease HIV prevalence among antenatal women and increase awareness
about HIV and AIDS.

Canada has committed more than $800 million to the fight against
HIV and AIDS in the country since 2000.

Zim Standard Letters

  What will it take for Zimbabweans to act?
THE average company today is operating at below 30% capacity.
Some companies are downsizing, while others are folding up.

More people are swelling the unemployment ranks because right
now unemployment stands at 80%.

Food aid is dwindling, while the mortality rate among children
is on the increase.

The government is already importing additional maize because the
reality is that, this year's harvest is poor.

How soon will the harvest improve when committed farmers
continue to be harassed and are told to leave farms at the time of harvest?
How many genuine farmers feel safe to embark on farm production under these
conditions?

So, as a people, what we are doing? Continue fooling ourselves
that more employment will be created through the country's deals with the
East, and that soon we shall be able to feed ourselves and once again become
the breadbasket of Africa?

We continue to pretend that inflation can be contained yet the
average salary of those still earning an income is below the Poverty Datum
Line. We continue to pretend that there is neither pellagra nor kwashiorkor.
We continue to pretend that there are enough ARVs for the sick, yet of the
300 000 to 400 000 in need of drugs, only 40 000 are able to access them.

We pretend that the education system is perfect when fees are
increased just before examinations and those failing to pay are sent home
and are excused from writing the examinations.

We still pretend that there is a future for our children and
that people in the Diaspora will continue to sweat for years on end in order
to feed the families back home when closure of money transfer agencies means
that the US$100 is now reduced to Z$25 000 from Z$130 000.

Therefore, who among us is untouched by these warped national
political and economic visions and plans?

We have become a nation of victims, due to Gukurahundi, election
violence, POSA and AIPPA, hunger and starvation, HIV and Aids, Operations
Murambatsvina and Sunrise and unending economic reforms.

Yet, we keep on waiting and hoping. Waiting for whom? Hoping for
what?

Perhaps hoping to be driven to the rice fields as happened in
Cambodia, where more will die from hunger and disease on the farms, while
the political elite grab our property in towns! Then we might wake up, but
it might be too late.

Apologies for the harassment as it appears right now we are
eating cakes.

Right now we are eating rice and potatoes and life is too good
to disturb.

We cannot afford to listen to trouble-makers. We are OK.

Is now the time to continue to pontificate? Is now the time to
discriminate as to who goes into the trenches and who doesn't? Is now the
time to complain as to why X thought of going to the trenches first? Is
poverty and suffering not bonding us enough? Is the unfolding evil like the
one experienced in Cambodia not enough suffering?

This time, more than ever, there is need to work as a team.
Working as a team with one democratic objective of exerting our effort in
our various areas of expertise and knowing when to come together so as to
realise that democratic objective.

Do we need the rice fields of Cambodia, another intensified
Murambatsvina, to open our eyes to this painful reality?

Elizabeth Marunda (Dr)

Harare

-----------
The answer to Zimbabwe crisis is here, not London
THE Sunday Opinion article (The Standard 22 October 2006)
by Phillip Pasirayi, is to say the least, insulting to your knowledgeable
readers.

He suggests the assertions by academics Keohane and Nye,
"today's world is characterised by pooled sovereignties and increased
integration and interdependence in the spheres of economics and politics" as
fact.

Reality does not work like that and it never has and might
not in the short or medium term. There is a hierarchy in the world political
and economic system.

The United Kingdom government and the European Union work
towards promoting their cause, which is the acquisition of wealth for their
country and security of their nations (against a background of wars within
Europe marked by World Wars).

The EU is working frantically to close the doors to
outsiders, especially Africans. Look at how Britain is treating economic
migrants from Zimbabwe and from other developing countries. Pasirayi can't
disguise that he is calling for external intervention to solve the political
and economic crisis in Zimbabwe, namely by the removal of Zanu PF from
power.

One only has to look at Iraq and Afghanistan to see what
is likely to happen. There is no guarantee of peace. However, I for one
would argue that everlasting solutions can be found if the people of
Zimbabwe are truthful to themselves first, about what their problem is.

The answer is here, and not in London or Brussels. It's
only dreamers like Pasirayi, who believe that somewhere in Europe there is a
special place for Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans. There is none.

George Bachinche

United Kingdom

----------
Makwavarara must pay the price
THE Combined Harare Residents' Association (CHRA)
has consistently lambasted the Chairperson of the Commission running the
City of Harare Sekesai Makwavarara for mismanagement, corruption and misuse
of power.

In a development that confirms the above,
Makwavarara is probably going to be charged with contempt of Parliament
after she snubbed calls for her to give oral evidence to the Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee on Transport and Communication on three consecutive
meetings.

Evidence abounds that social service delivery has
collapsed and continues to decline to unprecedented levels in Harare since
she took over in December 2004.

Makwavarara led the onslaught against residents with
her "Operation Murambatsvina" that has caused untold suffering to residents.
Waste management in the city has collapsed with burst/blocked sewers
everywhere in most suburbs.

Roads are heavily infested with potholes and as the
rainy season is approaching the levels of deterioration can only be too
ghastly to contemplate.

All these challenges facing the City of Harare
emanate from the incapacity of the commission chairperson to run the city.

CHRA reiterates that Makwavarara is not qualified to
run the affairs of the city and was only appointed through political
patronage. It has been charged and not denied that Zanu PF is using this
political reject to further its agenda of suffocating residents of their
right to choose leaders of their choice.

The Parliamentary Committee has threatened to charge
her with contempt of parliament if she fails to avail herself at its next
meeting. It remains to be seen whether Leo Mugabe the chairperson of the
Parliamentary Committee has the political will and clout to convict
Makwavarara after many have failed to oust the Ignatious Chombo-backed city
misfit.

Makwavarara has committed a serious offence that
calls for a stiffer jail sentence. CHRA insists that she must be booted out
together with her fellow puppets. Punishment for Makwavarara will surely
send the loudest message to her handler.

Mfundo Mlilo

Harare

-----------
Gono's alarmist tactics counter-productive
HOW does a policy maker wake up one day and
close down the activities of 17 financial institutions without warning?
In most countries, governors of central banks
occasionally make pronouncements or introduce measures to reassure and
stabilise financial markets.

It appears that statements and measures from
the local variant on Samora Machel Avenue are increasingly associated with
alarm, confusion or at times downright panic within and beyond the financial
markets.

There is increasing loss of confidence in the
banking sector and the local currency.  You wake up one day and someone has
frozen your life savings in a bank by closing it, on another day he decides
how much money you can carry on your person at the threat of being molested
by "Green Bombers" or subject to extortion from corrupt police officers, and
on another day, how much you can withdraw from the bank - with immediate
effect and without warning.

Measures announced often appear to achieve the
opposite of the desired effect - witness inflation, the exchange rate for
the dollar, controlled fuel prices, subsidies to parastatals and
agricultural funding schemes among others.

At times, measures are reversed within a short
space of time.  The overall impression is of a man walking in a cluttered,
dark room: when he bumps into one object, he turns and tries another
direction until he bumps into another object and so on, sometimes retracing
his steps and walking into the same object again.  All of this would be
merely entertaining buffoonery were it not for the fact that all the while a
group of people, including non-productive speculators and middle men, is
getting ever richer and the poor poorer.

Rwendo
Harare

---------
Disaster in the making
  TO say that the government has run out of
ideas and that the will to govern has gone would be the understatement of
the century. The country is groping in the dark and is going nowhere except
drifting backwards into the past.

  The government is no longer able to govern
except delegating chiefs and headmen to spearhead unplanned settlement on
land. In Masvingo a disaster is looming because of unplanned settlements
around Lake Mutirikwi.

  One of these settlements is a sprawling
shanty village called Zero Farm, occupied by thousands of families with
hundreds of their domestic animals - donkeys, dogs, chickens and cattle.

  More families are daily being allocated land
on this farm. Yet the catchment area for Lake Mutirikwi was never meant for
human settlement or farming but local leaders with connections to the ruling
Zanu PF are busy dividing up the land for settlement.

  It goes without saying that thousands of
Zimbabweans are without land - 26 years into independence, but distributing
land unlawfully is not a solution. The poor settlers have no official
documents enabling them to occupy the once protected area.

  The official tenants are the wild life which
has since disappeared into the new settlers' cooking pots. Unplanned
settlements are really a disaster in the waiting. The re-introduction of
cattle has also destroyed the once lush flora and fauna in the entire
catchment area. The fence protecting the lake has been removed by the people
with the "we are independent" mentality.

  Does independence mean advocating
lawlessness, plundering what does not belong to you and destroying your
children's inheritance? Where are the government extension workers who used
to plan settlements and activities on land in the country?

  Pollution of the lake is also rife because
these settlers have no toilets connected to a well-planned sewage
reticulation plant. Trees holding down the soil have been cleared all over
the catchment area. This is not only causing soil erosion but is threatening
the very existence of the lake wall.

  What is urgently needed is a thorough
investigation of all unplanned settlements by a credible group of land
specialists, preferably from outside the country because our own scientists
are already tainted and controlled by the government.

  President Robert Mugabe must wake up and do
something urgently in order to correct the mistakes that his government has
been making.

   Looming Disaster

   Masvingo

----------
  Teachers should reject latest daylight
robbery
  IF it is true that teachers' housing and
travelling allowances are going to have a percentage deducted to go towards
their pensions, then I call that daylight robbery.

  Allowances should never be deducted towards
pensions nor should they be deducted because these are meant to go towards
rentals and travelling. It is truly a mockery to adjust allowance and then
turn around and deduct a percentage towards pensions.

  The government is giving with one hand and
then taking with the other. I hope that even our government ministers'
salaries will also be affected by these deductions.

  Civil servants are promised better pensions
because of the deductions on their allowances but this is not really true
because our government does not give meaningful pensions to its retired
workers. The paltry pensions will be heavily taxed and what remains takes
ages to get to the retired member.

  The majority of members paying towards the
AIDS levy are teachers yet they do not benefit from the fund. Thousands of
teachers affected by HIV and AIDS die every year without getting a single
anti-retroviral drug they have already paid for in advance.

  The promised pensions will come as a
shocking let-down. Whatever the amount, it will be grossly inadequate. With
taxation on almost everything, the government hopes to make an economic
turnaround but this is day-dreaming and a pie in the sky.

  Teachers and civil servants need to wake up.
They should not accept these allowances because they are actually not going
to make any difference to their standard of living. In fact, their situation
is going to get worse. Landlords have already adjusted rentals upwards while
transport is going to go up.

  With the government eyeing their allowances,
the landlords increasing rent and commuter operators demanding their share,
civil servants and teachers will be left with nothing. And if they believe
that the government did them a favour by adjusting their allowances, then
they are living in cloud cuckoo-land.

  Their retirement packages will make them
dislike ever having chosen the teaching profession. Receiving between $400
000 and $500 000 and a monthly "stipend" of less than $20 000 will never
enable them to retire in comfort. If a teacher or civil servant failed to
own or build his/her own house during their entire working life, they can
forget about ever doing so after the government has given them the kiss of
death - retirement package.

   Working for the government is horrible by
any standards, but living in retirement after working for the government is
hell on earth. Any government which comes after the Zanu PF government must
be prepared to review the salaries, packages and pensions of all government
workers on retirement.

  Payment to dead civil servants should be
made out to relatives or charities if there are no known relatives. What
civil servants have been receiving since independence is a shame for an
independent government.

   Government workers need to understand that
once retired the allowances they have been receiving will cease coming - as
if they no longer pay rent and bus fare. Government workers need to prepare
for their retirement. If they fail to do so, they will die soon after
getting sight of their heavily taxed pension.

  The government likes its workers while they
are still working for it, but once retired it forgets that they ever
existed. Retired workers in the other sectors are better of. What government
workers receive is spent in a matter of months and then they are condemned
to destitution.

  In my view what the government is doing to
its former workers is evil.

  Retired and exhausted

   Masvingo

   ----------

  Education for the rich

  ONE song best summed up our situation. It
said muchaona tsunami (you will witness disaster of the worst kind).

  We did not know that it was closer to home
than we thought. The fee increases for students at higher institutions of
learning were a tip of the iceberg as education became a commodity sold to
the highest bidder.

   Whatever happened to educa-tion for all? Now
government is destroying its own human resource development. Students,
especially those at teachers' colleges are asked to pay shortfalls. No!
Enough is enough no more shortfalls.

  Let's unite and fight the regime. As we join
the Save Zimbabwe project let's start a Save Education programme. Let's stop
education for the rich. We are fed up!

  L Z

   Bulawayo
   ---------

  A point of correction

  IN your story "Zimbabwe: Mugabe could be
headed for The Hague" (The Standard 22 October 2006) there is confusion
between the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to which the article
claims Mugabe could be sent (second paragraph), and the International
Criminal Court (ICC), which is correctly referred to in the rest of the
article.

  The two Courts, which are both established
in The Hague, have quite different missions.

  The ICJ is a civil court which settles legal
disputes between States according to international public law. The ICC, for
its part, is a criminal court which tries individuals accused of having
committed crimes against humanity or war crimes. There is no overlapping of
jurisdiction.

   Maxime Schouppe

  Information Officer

  International Court of Justice