http://www.ft.com
By Tony Barber in Brussels
Published:
September 11 2009 17:27 | Last updated: September 11 2009 17:27
The
European Union will signal its interest in reopening a political
dialogue
with Zimbabwe on Saturday when a high-level EU delegation meets
government
leaders on the first such visit to the African nation for seven
years.
EU diplomats cautioned against expecting a breakthrough from
the talks, in
which the Europeans will be represented by Fredrik Reinfeldt,
prime minister
of Sweden, which holds the 27-nation bloc's rotating
presidency, and Karel
De Gucht, the EU commissioner for humanitarian aid and
development.
No EU leaders of this rank have visited Zimbabwe since
the bloc began
imposing sanctions in 2002 on the government of Robert
Mugabe, the country's
president, who is now aged 85.
South Africa and
other countries in the region called on the EU and the US
on Tuesday to lift
sanctions against Zimbabwe. But Mr De Gucht told
reporters in South Africa
on Friday that the European sanctions, which
include visa bans and asset
freezes, were carefully aimed at Mr Mugabe's
entourage and specific
companies.
Mr De Gucht, a former Belgian foreign minister who took up his
Commission
post in July, and Mr Reinfeldt plan to meet Mr Mugabe in Harare.
They will
meet Morgan Tsvangirai, Mr Mugabe's prime minister and main
political
opponent, in Bulawayo.
Speaking to reporters in South
Africa on Friday, Mr Reinfeldt made clear the
EU's view that political
reform in Zimbabwe had not gone far enough, in
spite of a power-sharing
agreement between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai last
February.
"We
still see the use of violence directed against the supporters of
Tsvangirai
and also the abuses, still, of human rights," Mr Reinfeldt said.
However,
officials in Brussels said the EU would happily restore
co-operation with
Zimbabwe in economic development and other fields if Mr
Mugabe and Mr
Tsvangirai fully implemented their accord, known as the global
political
agreement.
"There is an urgent need for all parties to fulfil their
obligations under
the GPA. By doing this, the EU can once again fully
re-engage with Zimbabwe
and help the country on its return to normality and
prosperity by resuming
our development co-operation in full," Mr De Gucht
said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
11 September
2009
Robert Mugabe has cast a dark cloud on this weekend's landmark visit
by a
delegation from the European Union (EU), condemning 'bloody whites' for
meddling in Zimbabwe's affairs.
Swedish International Development
Cooperation Minister, Gunilla Carlsson,
and EU Aid Commissioner, Karel de
Gucht, will travel to the country this
weekend after an EU-South Africa
summit came to an end on Friday. They are
set to meet Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, as well as other
ministers, officials and
representatives of NGOs, in an effort to start
rebuilding a diplomatic
relationship with Zimbabwe.
But that relationship will likely be a
one-sided initiative, after Mugabe on
Friday said the 'bloody whites' had
not been invited to the country. He also
denounced the targeted sanctions
still imposed by western nations on him and
his cronies. He was speaking at
a gathering of the ZANU PF youth wing where
he accused America and the EU of
being 'imperialists' that want to steal the
country's heritage.
"Who said
the British and the Americans should rule over others? That's why
we say
down with you. We have not invited these bloody whites. They want to
poke
their nose into our own affairs. Refuse that," he said.
He continued: "We
have stood firm and we have refused to let go. Zimbabwe,
sanctions or no
sanctions, Zimbabwe remains ours."
The visit by the EU delegation is the
first since the targeted sanctions
against Mugabe, his cronies, and several
regime-linked businesses were
introduced in 2002, and comes amid African
calls for the targeted sanctions
to be lifted. EU officials have said there
is no plan to lift the sanctions,
saying the visit is merely 'preparatory'
and to 're-establish political
dialogue'.
South African President
Jacob Zuma on Friday dismissed the EU's position and
instead echoed the
calls made by leaders at the Southern African Development
Community (SADC)
summit in Kinshasa earlier this week, for the sanctions to
be removed. He
told South African media on Friday that the lifting of the
sanctions would
speed up Zimbabwe's recovery.
"The EU has a position that they are not
lifting sanctions. We are seeing
things, as SADC, from a different point of
view," he said.
Zuma was speaking after talks with visiting Swedish Prime
Minister Fredrik
Reinfeldt, which included discussion on the situation in
Zimbabwe. Referring
to the EU fact-finding mission heading to Zimbabwe on
Saturday, Reinfeldt
stressed it was going there to listen, and was "not in
preparation, at this
time, for lifting of the restrictions we have coming
from the EU."
Meanwhile a Zimbabwe action group based in the UK, on
Friday cautioned the
delegation against handing over developmental aid
directly to the unity
government. The Zimbabwe Europe Network said in a
statement that the EU must
"use this very timely visit to increase the
pressure for the Zimbabwean
inclusive government to undertake the key
reforms it had committed itself to
in the GPA."
"For the European
Union to support the inclusive government directly, before
any reform, would
be rewarding the instigators of violence," Tor-Hugne
Olsen, Coordinator of
the Zimbabwe Europe Network said.
Government officials at the same time
told the state-controlled Herald
newspaper on Friday that the government
would demand an apology for the
sanctions, while the EU delegation is in the
country this weekend.
"There can be no ties where one nation is treated
as inferior. It is not in
our national interest to allow foreigners to
dictate to us how we should
govern ourselves," an Information Ministry
official said in the paper.
"The starting point would then obviously be
that the EU has to admit that
sanctions are wrong and that land reform in
Zimbabwe is irreversible," the
official said.
http://news.yahoo.com
by Fran Blandy - Fri Sep 11, 10:26
am ET
KLEINMOND, South Africa (AFP) - The European Union and South Africa
Friday
urged Zimbabwe's political rivals to make their troubled unity
government
work as they failed to resolve their differences over
sanctions.
After talks, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and
South African
President Jacob Zuma issued a joint statement calling on
Zimbabwe to "remove
all obstacles to the full implementation of the global
political agreement
(unity pact) and the effective functioning of the
inclusive government".
"We recognise and appreciate the humanitarian and
other assistance that the
international community continues to provide to
the people of Zimbabwe,"
added the brief statement, notable for its absence
of any reference to
sanctions.
Zuma and his fellow southern African
leaders issued a joint call for an end
to the sanctions earlier this week
and he made clear that he intended to
bring up the subject during the summit
with Reinfeldt.
But Reinfeldt, whose country holds the EU's revolving
presidency, was
equally insistent ahead of the talks that it was not time to
drop the
measures targeted against veteran President Robert Mugabe and his
inner
circle.
A high-ranking EU delegation is due in Zimbabwe this
weekend for the first
such visit in seven years, and six months after the
signing of a unity
accord between Mugabe and his long-time rival, now prime
minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.
The pact has helped Zimbabwe stem its
shattered economy but has been plagued
by power-struggles over key posts and
continued rights abuses. Several
lawmakers from Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change party have been
arrested, including its choice for deputy
agriculture minister.
"Hopefully that will give us an on the spot
description and possibility to
learn more about the actual situation in
Zimbabwe and we welcome that very
much," Reinfeldt said during opening
remarks at Friday's summit.
After a regional summit in Kinshasa ended
with a joint call for the end to
the sanctions, the South African leader
said he would continue to lobby the
EU over the matter.
But the
Swedish premier said on Thursday that penalties will be kept in
place,
saying that Zimbabwe's mismanagement and poor human rights record and
not
sanctions were behind the country's problems.
"I want to be clear: the EU
is not prepared (for) lifting the restrictions
we have on Zimbabwe," he
said.
Speaking Friday at a gathering of his ZANU-PF party's youth wing,
Mugabe
lashed out at the sanctions, condemning "bloody whites" for meddling
in
Zimbabwe's affairs.
"Who said the British and the Americans should
rule over others? That's why
we say down with you. We have not invited these
bloody whites. They want to
poke their nose into our own affairs. Refuse
that," he said.
The former colonial power Britain and other EU countries
imposed a travel
ban and freeze on bank accounts belonging to Mugabe and his
inner circle,
over claims that he rigged a 2002 election and allegations of
rights abuses.
The state-run Herald newspaper reported Friday that the EU
was expected not
only to end the sanctions but apologise for their
imposition.
"There can be no ties where one nation is treated as
inferior," an
information ministry official said.
But the EU Aid
Commissioner Karel De Gucht, who will lead the EU delegation,
on Friday said
the mission was "not about naming and blaming".
"It's not about excuses
and disputes it is a mission aiming at trying to
find common ground so we
can make progress with the political agreement and
reinvigorate full
co-operation with Zimbabwe."
http://www.sabcnews.com
September 11
2009 ,
5:50:00
Thulasizwe Simelane, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has threatened to unleash the
police on
white commercial farmers who refuse to vacate land offered to
indigenous
farmers for resettlement. The Zimbabwe president was addressing
his party's
youth conference in Harare. He says the formation of the
inclusive
government will not change the country's stance on its sovereign
rights to
control its resources.
Mugabe also triggered an almost certain
stalemate over the new
constitution, saying he will instruct his legislators
to reject any charter
that is not in line with a secretly written draft,
whose opponents say it
gives him too much power. Mugabe addressed the
party's youth, blasting
everyone from what he says are 'bloody whites'
seeking to stick their noses
in Zimbabwe's affairs to
counter-revolutionaries who voted against his
party.
Mugabe
says farmers refusing to vacate demarcated land are courting
trouble. The
president has vowed to shoot down any draft constitution tabled
in
Parliament that differs from the one written and accepted by all
political
parties two years ago. With the constitution needing a two thirds
parliamentary majority, the president's words point to an almost guaranteed
constitutional stalemate.
The Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) and civil society oppose the
so called Kariba Draft on the grounds
that it gives the president too much
power.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Violet Gonda
11 September 2009
The
strike action led by the Zimbabwe Teachers' Association (ZIMTA) is going
into its third week, with no solution in sight. ZIMTA embarked on a
nationwide strike for better salaries and working conditions, to coincide
with the start of the new term on September 3rd. ZIMTA acting Chief
Executive Officer, Sifiso Ndlovu, said the strike action will continue until
the authorities prioritised education. However he said the union is waiting
for a number of crises meetings with the authorities next week. Ndlovu said
this was as a result of meetings they first had with Education Minister
David Coltart on September 8th and a follow-up meeting with Public Service
Minister, Eliphas Mukonoweshuro.
According to Ndlovu they have
also been directed to present their grievances
to the National Joint
Negotiating Council, which operates under the Public
Service Ministry. He
said; "We hope at that meeting we should be able to
reach an
understanding."
ZIMTA is demanding a salary increase, up from about
US$150 a month to
US$500, however the government has said this is beyond its
means. Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was quoted this week saying teachers
should stop
their industrial action as there was no way government could
cede to their
demands, as it is broke. Reports quoted the PM addressing a
stakeholders'
briefing at Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Polytechnic College saying
the teachers
"cannot squeeze blood out of a stone."
Tsvangirai is
also quoted saying: "We are all earning the same amount and I
believe the
decision by teachers to go on strike was a bad proposition."
Ndlovu
believes the crisis in their sector is not about the government's
lack of
resources, but about misplaced priorities. He told SW Radio Africa
on
Friday: "We have identified areas of wastage where we think government
has
had its priorities wrong and areas where we think they can channel some
of
the resources to education."
Since the formation of the coalition
government, the authorities have been
criticised for spending much needed
money on buying expensive vehicles for
officials and extensive
globetrotting, at a time when it should be
streamlining all expenditure to
set an example that the new government was
going to be different to the
old.
Ndlovu insists the teachers are aware of the government's economic
crisis,
but are asking for their salaries to be increased progressively
towards the
poverty datum line, which at present is $502.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Center for Research and
Development
Friday, 11 September 2009 16:14
Army Commander
Valerio Sibanda visits Chiadzwa as extrajudicial
killings continue
In a show of the continued militarization of Chiadzwa Diamond Fields,
the
Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, Lieutenant General Philip
Valerio
Sibanda visited the diamond fields in the company of senior military
personnel on the 3rd of September 2009. As has become the norm, a clean up
operation to drive out panners from the diamond fields was carried out by
the military ahead of Sibanda's visit.
Sibanda's visit was for a
few hours but the operation has continued
even after his visit. He is
reported to have proceeded to the plant where
the Zimbabwe Mining
Development Company is conducting mining activities.
Meanwhile the military
imposed an illegal curfew around Chiadzwa during the
operation. For several
days Chiadzwa residents could not enter or leave
their area due to the
curfew. Several people failed to travel to Mutare to
seek medical attention
and other essential services due to the illegal
curfew. One of the men
accompanying Valerio Sibanda, Brigadier General
Chimonyo, was described as
someone extremely cruel. Meanwhile the soldiers
captured and murdered
Moreblessing Tirivangani of Harare on Sunday 6
September. Moreblessing was
captured on Saturday and was beaten for the
whole night at a military base
in Chiadzwa and subsequently died on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Police who
brought Moreblessing's body to Mutare
General Hospital Mortuary were ordered
to report that Moreblessing was
trying to disarm a soldier. This is highly
untrue given that soldiers always
move around in pairs or more. Also given
the general fear among the people
with regard to soldiers, it is very
unthinkable that a civilian can try to
disarm a soldier in a highly
militarized zone like Chiadzwa. Moreblessing
had a plastic covering his
nose, suggesting that he may have been tortured
before his death. He also
had stripes and bruises on his ribs, suggesting
persistent
beatings.
Sibanda's visit highlights two major issues of great concern:
First
the military bosses have instructed soldiers to kill anyone found
wondering
or panning in the diamond fields. The complete disregard of the
laws of
Zimbabwe during a visit by a very high ranking military official
reveals
that the soldiers were indeed under instruction to kill. It can
therefore be
concluded that soldiers continue to kill people in Chiadzwa
despite the
government denials. Deputy Mines Minister Murisi Zvizvai (MDC)
has fiercely
contested that no single person was ever killed by the soldiers
in Chiadzwa.
However, soldiers have quietly killed hundreds of civilians in
Chiadzwa, in
complete violation of the laws of Zimbabwe. It must also be
highlighted that
the Inclusive Government has betrayed the people of
Zimbabwe in as far as
military abuses are concerned. Both ZANU PF and the
two MDC formations have
conspired to suppress information coming from
Chiadzwa, thereby allowing the
human rights abuses to continue
unabated.
Further, the CRD is grossly concerned with the lack of
transparency
and accountability with regard to the mining and trading of
Chiadzwa
diamonds. Close sources within the plant reveal that top government
and
military bosses are in the forefront of looting diamonds from the plant.
The
Deputy Mines Minister Murisi Zvizvai has also been reported to be using
his
strategic position in government to loot diamonds. Given the rampant
looting
of Chiadzwa diamonds by government and military bosses and
widespread
panning activities being conducted by soldiers and civilians one
wonders why
some people are still being killed for allegedly trespassing
through the
diamond fields.
It is against this background that the
CRD is of the opinion that
Zimbabwe needs to be given enough time to reflect
and come up with proper
mechanisms to conduct mining in a professional,
transparent and accountable
manner. It is for the overall good of all
Zimbabweans that diamond mining
activities be suspended until such a time
that the country complies with the
Kimberly Processes Certification
Scheme.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=22525
September 11, 2009
By Raymond
Maingire
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe has told supporters of his
Zanu-PF party to
start preparing for fresh national elections which he said
could
spontaneously be called within the next two years.Mugabe (85) also
urged his
supporters to remain loyal to his party which in March last year
lost its
parliamentary majority to the then opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC).
The MDC has since formed a unity government
with Zanu-PF under a
SADC-brokered unity arrangement following the fiercely
disputed elections in
June last year.
The unity agreement signed by
the former arch-rivals, although saying the
elections would be held after
the writing of a new constitution, has no date
for the holding of the
elections.
The unity government was also occasioned by the failure by any
of the
parties that contested the elections to produce a clear majority in
Parliament.
"The inclusive government is meant to last for 18 months
to 24 months,"
Mugabe said in a one and a half hour-long keynote address to
supporters at a
Zanu-PF youth conference held at the City Sports Centre
Friday afternoon.
The Zanu-PF youth conference, held every five years,
will see the
replacement of current chairperson Absolom Sikhosana and his
deputy Saviour
Kasukuwere by younger leaders of between 15 and 30 years of
age, as per new
party rules.
Mugabe continued, "Thereafter if we are
agreed on a new constitution, there
should be another election and therefore
we must be ready for that election.
Kutengesa kwakaitwa gore rakapera hatidi
kukuona (Let there be no selling
out as happened last year).
"And it
is the youth league that we rely upon. We have two wings, the youth
league
and the women's league. But you (the youth) are full of blood, full
of
vigour."
The youth conference was also attended by senior Zanu-PF
politicians and
more than 2000 youths who sporadically burst into wild
cheers as Mugabe
spoke.
Mugabe said the holding of fresh elections
also depended on the success of a
new constitution by the current inclusive
government. He said his party
would not support any attempts by the MDC to
push through a new constitution
which was not anchored on the Kariba Draft
Constitution.
President Mugabe also accused the MDC of alleged siding
with western
governments, which he said were fighting to block the continued
takeover of
white-owned commercial farmland under the land reform
programme.
"We do not want those who side with the British," he
said.
"What sort of discipline or national consciousness is it of a
person who
would decide to say Mugabe and his party Zanu PF are wrong, the
British are
correct. Wabikirwa sadza rakaita sei nemaBritish? (What have you
been fed by
the British?)"
Mugabe declared the seizure of farms would
continue in spite of pleas by the
MDC to halt the process.
The MDC
wants any fresh farm takeovers to stop to allow government to
conduct a
transparent land audit.
The MDC accuses Zanu-PF politicians and the
military of continuously
grabbing land from the commercial farmers to add on
to multiple farms they
have seized since the onset of the violent programme
in 2000.
Mugabe also said Zimbabwe will not abide by the SADC Tribunal
ruling which
in November last year barred his government from further
repossessing land
from the embattled white commercial farming
community.
The Windhoek-based court, whose jurisdiction the Zimbabwean
government has
since challenged, further ordered government to compensate
commercial
farmers who had lost their land.
Mugabe said white
commercial farmers who were hoping the MDC's participation
in the inclusive
government would force a stop in fresh farm takeovers were
only fooling
themselves.
He said his government will not hesitate to prosecute those
farmers who were
defying orders to vacate their land.
He was adamant
that Zimbabwe's former colonial power, Great British remained
under
obligation to pay compensation for land taken by his government for
redistribution.
Mugabe accused the British labour government then led
by former Prime
Minister Tony Blair of reneging on promises made by its
predecessors to pay
for land repossessed by the Zimbabwean
government.
"There is the sharing of power within the inclusive
government," Mugabe
said.
"However, the fundamental issues that have
to do with our sovereignty, these
we would not want to see compromised. So
there is no reversal of the land
reform programme at all.
"There is
no reversal of our sovereignty. We don't want outsiders to
interfere with
our system. Our stand with regards to interference is the
same. Zimbabwe is
for Zimbabweans."
He also accused local Non Governmental Organisations
(NGOs) of inciting
Zimbabweans to vote against his party telling his
supporters to be careful
about them.
He said Zimbabwe's the economic
decline in the past 10 years has allowed
NGOs to move in with handouts to
try and force massive rebellion against his
government.
"We have
foreigners now coming in with food aid through the NGOs," he said.
"Now
these creatures called NGOs, you must be careful about them.
"They even
get some of our people to act against themselves, to vote against
themselves, to vote against Chimurenga. They become counter
revolutionary."
Mugabe had no kind words for the unity government which
he formed with MDC
leaders, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara. He
referred to it as "this
creature".
"When you vote against a
revolutionary party, a Chimurenga party, you are
becoming a
counter-revolutionary," he said. "You are voting against
yourself. You are
voting against your right to the ownership of your land.
"And this is
what happened last year when we had a balanced situation with
the opposition
and that is why we have had this creature called the
inclusive
government."
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=2250
September 11, 2009
(Reuter) DALIAN,
China - Africa was "sick and tired" of having its natural
resources
exploited by China and getting little development in return,
Zimbabwe's
deputy prime minister said on Friday.
"We are sick and tired of the
old model, where China comes to Africa and
extracts raw materials and goes
back to China," Arthur Mutambara told
Reuters in an interview on Friday.
"Now we are not interested in that."
China is one of the few countries
close to the long-embattled Zimbabwe
government, but that did not deter
Mutambara from challenging Beijing to do
more to help
development.
"We are not going to produce raw materials in Zimbabwe for
China. China will
come on our terms as partners," he said during a trip to
China to attend the
World Economic Forum in the northeastern Chinese port
city of Dalian..
"We want to manufacture cars with China in Zimbabwe. We
want to manufacture
computers with China in Zimbabwe."
China and
African nations will gather for their latest summit later this
year in
Egypt.
While Mutambara does not stand at the front ranks of Africa's
leaders, his
strong comments may suggest some of the ambitious expectations
that Beijing
must address as that summit approaches.
Mutambara leads
a faction of the Movement for Democratic Change, the
opposition group that
has secured a place in Zimbabwe's government, which is
struggling with deep
economic malaise, inflation and scant investment.
Zimbabwe has asked the
world for help for its devastated economy, and says
it needs $10 billion to
rebuild dilapidated infrastructure and ease a 90
percent unemployment
rate.
Zimbabwe has urged Chinese mining companies to invest in that
sector, but
Mutambara said his government also wants China to channel
investment into
building the manufacturing plants that are China's strength,
for products
such as catalytic converters and computers, and funding the
country's banks.
"China has a lot of capital," he said. "We want them to
capitalize our banks
so we can invest in agriculture."
Mutambara said
Zimbabwe was in talks with Chinese companies on potential
manufacturing
projects, but he gave no details.
While Beijing has shown more support
for Zimbabwe's government than Western
powers, Chinese investors have
remained skittish about investing amid the
recent unbridled inflation and
political turmoil.
Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change in
February formed a
brittle coalition administration with President Robert
Mugabe's Zanu-PF to
end a long-running political crisis and a decade of
economic ruin.
As he became a pariah in the West, Mugabe has tried to
boost economic ties
with Asian countries, especially China.
Beijing
and Chinese companies have pledged tens of billions of dollars to
Africa in
loans and investments, mostly to secure raw materials for the
world's
fastest-growing major economy.
China's trade with the continent has
jumped by an average 30 percent a year
this decade, reaching nearly $107
billion in 2008.
Tsvangirai said earlier this year that Zimbabwe had
secured $950 million in
credit from China to help rebuild its economy, but
the Zimbabwe Finance
Minister later said no such agreement had been
reached.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona
Sibanda
11 September 2009
The international community must not lift
targeted sanctions against Robert
Mugabe until the day he dies, former MDC
MP Job Sikhala said on Friday.
'Only when he is buried in Kutama or at
their own shrine (Heroes Acre) can
the western world consider removing
sanctions against him,' said Sikhala,
who claimed to have taken over the
leadership of the MDC formation led by
Arthur Mutambara.
'Mugabe must
die isolated if he doesn't want to reform. People can reform -
even the evil
satan had the capacity to reform. So the ball is in Mugabe's
court, if he
fails to change he must be ostracized until his very last day
on this
universe,' Sikhala added.
Asked to comment on the SADC summit resolution that
called on the
international community to lift targeted sanctions against
Mugabe and his
cronies, Sikhala retorted; 'There are no sanctions against
Zimbabwe. The
issue is that Mugabe has been denied access to civilized
communities and I
hope they will still deny him that opportunity until he
has totally reformed
himself.'
Speaking to SW Radio Africa, the former St
Mary's MDC MP said he was
saddened by SADC's decision to throw its support
behind Mugabe, instead of
the suffering of millions of Zimbabweans.
He
said the rejection of the removal of sanctions by the European Union was
further evidence that regional leaders may have miscalculated the global
political thinking on human rights violators.
'It is clear that SADC has
always been in support of Mugabe and his ZANU PF.
It's really saddening that
they only accepted issues raised by Mugabe at the
meeting. We've been
betrayed by these leaders in the region and continent
who see no evil and
speak no evil about each other,' Sikhala said.
The outspoken former
University of Zimbabwe student leader said the trend by
African leaders to
protect each other has caused underdevelopment in the
region and on the
whole continent.
He added; 'As long as the SADC leaders don't think outside
the box,
Zimbabwe will remain oppressed and never be able to achieve full
democracy.'
'We've been throttled, abused, tortured and killed and these
leaders still
want to pamper Mugabe's ambition to die in power. I find it
strange that
they don't see anything wrong with Mugabe at all.'
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
www.chinaview.cn 2009-09-11
16:00:27
HARARE, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- British Ambassador to
Zimbabwe Mark
Canning has said his government recognizes that the land
redistribution
exercise is an unavoidable exercise and his government is
willing to resume
support for the program.
Canning was
presenting a paper on understanding British policy
towards Africa and
Zimbabwe at a diplomatic training course, ZBC News
reported on
Friday.
During a question and answer session, Canning revealed
that his
government recognizes the need for equitable distribution of land
and is
willing to resume support for the program.
As part
of the ambassadors-designate training, ambassadors from
different countries
posted to Zimbabwe are being invited to make
presentations and so far
ambassadors from Egypt, Palestine, Algeria,
Malaysia, Iran among others have
been invited.
Portuguese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Jaoa Dia Camara
made a
presentation on appreciating EU policy towards Africa and expressed
optimism
that trade relations between EU, Africa and the east will
improve.
Five ambassadors designate and foreign affairs
officers are
undergoing a two month diplomatic training course to prepare
them for the
demanding roles they will soon be playing at various stations
through out
the world.
The training course is designed to
equip the prospective
ambassadors and foreign service officers with
professional and
administrative skills for them to be able to effectively
articulate and
manage the country's foreign policy when they are eventually
posted
Email: jag@mango.zw : justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
JAG
Hotlines: +263 (011) 610 073, +263 (04) 799410. If you are in
trouble or
need advice, please don't hesitate to contact us - we're here
to
help!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Stockdale
Citrus
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As
the SADC summit draws to a close which has rattled the government cage
there
are ashes in the Chegutu area which no arrests will be made On
Stockdale
citrus estate where Edna Madzongwe has illegally taken the farm
and stolen
the export oranges some of which were supplied to Mazoe Citrus
estate (Mazoe
orange juice) Senator Madzongwe's son Valentine has stolen
a four trax motor
bike from the residence of Peter Etheredge The motor
bike is currently parked
at the house where they are living a report was
made to the local police but
NO arrests have been made Etheredge is a
SADC member farmer who has the
Protection of the SADC Tribunal ruling
which the treaty was signed by the
Zimbabwe president in 1992
http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/
Friday
September 11, 06:19 PM
HARARE, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Engen Petroleum and KenolKobil plan to
acquire
BP and Shell 's Zimbabwe assets in anticipation of economic growth
under a
unity government formed earlier this year, the companies said on
Friday.
They will acquire more than 75 service stations in a deal now
under
consideration by Zimbabwean authorities.
BP and Shell's move
would be the highest profile exit by a major foreign
investor since
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
set up a
power-sharing government in February in a bid to end a political
and
economic crisis.
Engen -- one of South Africa's leading petroleum
products retailers -- and
east African KenolKobil said they were to acquire
all the shares in Shell
Zimbabwe and BP Zimbabwe.
BP and Shell, whose
joint Zimbabwe operations employ about 400 people and
whose blending plant
in Harare has a capacity of 30 million litres per year,
were not available
to comment.
Engen has existing operations in Zimbabwe and Jacob Segman,
managing
director of KenolKobil, said the joint venture would seek to
benefit from
the country's reconstruction.
'While Zimbabwe's economy
has declined sharply over the last decade, it
still boasts good
infrastructure and we believe that this will form the
basis of renewed
economic growth under the new government of national
unity,' Segman said in
the statement.
(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Dan Lalor)
http://www.zimgossip.com/?p=490
By MEMORY KHOZA September 11, 2009
HARARE -
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono has moved into a
112-roomed
mansion in the leafy Borrowdale estate, zimGossip can report.
The
mansion, located at Number 2, Luna Road on Sunlands Farm, is located on
the
periphery of the Borrowdale Estate and boasts 45 Bedrooms and four
helipads.
A close associate told zimGossip that the 'beloved'
Governor boasts that
his house is better than 'Mudhara's'.
"Just
after Mugabe's 25 bedroomed mansion was completed a few years ago and
everyone in Zanu-PF was talking about it, Gono whispered to me saying, wait
till I finish mine - "Yamudhara hapana zviripo" (Mugabe's mansion is
nothing), the source said.
The governor, accused of stealing from the
treasury, is said to have blew
US$5 million on the imposing structure. The
house has been under
construction since 2001 when Gono was still head of the
partly
government-owned Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe.
Government Deeds
and Registry office records confirm that the farm on which
the imposing
castle-like house stands is registered in Gono's name under
deeds
registration number 6225/00.
Neighbours told zimGossip that Gono had
moved into the property.
According to sources on the site, Gono, who is
also Mugabe's personal
financial adviser, has demanded the faces of his
wife, children and himself
be carved onto the house's stone castle
tower.
And among some of the features of the beautiful mansion are an art
gallery,
billiard room, library, a 60-guest dining room, servants' quarters,
and
plasma televisions in virtually every room. The grounds boast a
magnificent
swimming pool, with three islands and a gazebo.
The
house, believed to be the biggest in Harare, has a Victorian shingle
style.
Sources said the interior is expansive, but contains many classical
elements.
"The original quarter-sawn golden oak woodwork is
magnificent," said a
source. He added: "The home is furnished with museum
quality oil paintings,
furniture, and family heirlooms."