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Five American Health Workers Carrying AIDS Drugs Are Arrested in Zimbabwe

http://www.nytimes.com/

By CELIA W. DUGGER
Published: September 11, 2010

JOHANNESBURG - Five Americans - two doctors, two nurses and an organizer -
who carried donated AIDS drugs to Zimbabwe for distribution to the poor were
arrested Thursday and remained jailed in Harare on Saturday on a charge of
dispensing the medicine without the supervision of a pharmacist or proper
licenses, their lawyer said.

The Americans, who are being held in smelly, poorly ventilated cells at
Harare Central police station, were supposed to appear in court on Saturday
for a bail hearing, but the police said they had not finished the paperwork,
said the lawyer, John Sakumange. The Americans are expected to appear before
a magistrate on Monday.

A Zimbabwean doctor working with them was also arrested on related charges.

The state-run newspaper, The Herald, on Saturday quoted a spokesman for the
criminal investigations department, Detective Inspector Augustin Zimbili,
confirming the arrests and the charges against the Americans.

The Americans belong to the Allen Temple Baptist Church AIDS Ministry in
Oakland, Calif. The church serves a predominantly African-American
congregation. Three or four times a year since 2000, members have paid their
own way to Zimbabwe to give antiretroviral medicine, vitamins, clothing and
food baskets to impoverished people with AIDS.

The epidemic is severe throughout Zimbabwe and the country's broken health
system fails to treat most people in need.

On this trip, the team had brought a four-month supply of antiretroviral
drugs for about 800 people, some of them orphaned children, in Harare and
Mutoko, a rural district.

Arnold Perkins, the retired public health director in Alameda County,
Calif., said in a telephone interview from California that he had made the
trip six times and seen skeletal AIDS patients restored to health by the
medicine. The arrest of the team there "breaks my heart," he said.

"If this work stops, it's a human tragedy," he said. "People will die. That's
a fact."

But the police spokesman defended the arrests. "It is our duty to ensure
that all clinics and medical institutions are registered for easy
monitoring," The Herald quoted Detective Inspector Zimbili as saying. "There
is a risk of dispensation of expired drugs. When premises are not licensed,
it is difficult to check if the act is being complied with."

The Americans deny the charges. Their lawyer, Mr. Sakumange, said the
doctors who dispensed the medicine, Dr. Andrew Reid, an American resident in
Zimbabwe, and Dr. Tembinhosi Ncomanzi, a Zimbabwean, are licensed to
practice there.

In addition to the two doctors, according to the ministry, the others in
custody include two nurses, David Greenberg and Gregory Miller, and the head
of the AIDS ministry, Gloria Cox-Crowell. "They're all in good spirits," Mr.
Sakumange said.

Kenric Bailey, a member of the AIDS ministry, said a soured relationship
with a Zimbabwe charity was at the root of the arrests. The ministry stopped
working with the charity after disagreements with its new leader, and the
new leader then apparently reported the team to the police, Mr. Bailey said.

"It's very unsettling," said Mr. Bailey, who has paid his way to Zimbabwe
eight times.

Mr. Sakumange said he expected that the American medical team would be
released on bail on Monday and subjected at most to a fine.


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US$3 billion power plant planned for Zim

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Charles Tembo Saturday 11 September 2010

HARARE - Zimbabwean energy development minister Elton Mangoma said on Friday
that the country was set to grant a licence to a French consortium to set up
a US$3 billion electricity generation project.

Mangoma did not name the consortium but described the deal as good as
sealed, adding that the French investors were likely to receive a licence
"possibly before the end of the month".

Zimbabwe, which suffers incessant power outages because of low generation,
has already signed awarded a licence to Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed
RioZim to develop up a US$4 billion project in the south-western Gokwe
Sengwa coalfields expected to produce about 2 400 MW.

Mangoma said: "We have already given a license to RioZim for the Gokwe
Sengwa coal fields which will produce about 2400MW and this project is
expected to come in line in 2014. I have on my desk a proposal by a French
consortium that wants to generate 2000 .. the French investment is close to
US$3 billion."

Zimbabwe's total requirement stands at 2 000MW, but the country is currently
generating around 1 100MW.

The country imports 150MW from Mozambique and another 125MW from Zambia in a
bid to ease power shortages.

The state-owned Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority inability over the
years to boost generation capacity at its ageing power stations and a
critical shortage of foreign currency to import adequate electricity from
neighbouring countries has left Zimbabwe grappling with severe power
shortages.

The government energy utility has previously said cash-rich foreign
investors remain reluctant to provide funding badly needed to boost power
generation because of uncertainty about the country's future political and
economic direction.

But Mangoma said Zimbabwe's risk factor was no longer as high as before and
said this coupled with viable tariffs since introduction of the US dollar
and other foreign currencies in place of the local dollars was drawing
investors into the energy sector where potential for growth is high. -- 
ZimOnline.

 


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SA to issue permits to Zim immigrants

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Tobias Manyuchi Saturday 11 September 2010

HARARE -- South Africa will in about two weeks time begin issuing permits to
Zimbabwean immigrants living in the country, it was announced on Friday.

Pretoria last week said it would in December resume deporting undocumented
Zimbabweans, ending an 18-month moratorium on deportations of illegal
immigrants from its struggling northern neighbour.

But Pretoria said Zimbabweans already working, engaged in business or
studying in South Africa will be issued with relevant permits on condition
they produce valid documents to show they are citizens of Zimbabwe.

Home Affairs director general Mkuseli Aplenis said the documentation process
will begin on September 20, adding that Zimbabweans who fraudulently
acquired South African permits should surrender these and will not be
prosecuted.

"The permits will be issued through all forty-six (46) regional Home Affairs
offices in all the nine provinces in the country," Aplenis said. " Two
hundred and thirteen (213) Home Affairs officials both at headquarters and
provinces have been deployed to facilitate this process."

Both Harare and Pretoria officials have said they will cooperate to ensure
that all deserving Zimbabweans have necessary documents to allow them to
stay in South Africa.

But civil society organisations have criticised the move to resume
deportations saying it will spark a witch-hunt against Zimbabweans by state
immigration officials and that it could also fuel xenophobia against
foreigners.

South Africa, which has Africa's most prosperous economy, is home to
millions of foreign nationals, many of them living illegally and seeking
better opportunities from failed economies like Zimbabwe.

There no exact figures of how many Zimbabwean live in South Africa but
estimates put the figure at anything above two million or above a sixth of
Zimbabwe's total population of 12 million people.

Locals often complain that the immigrants steal their jobs or lower working
standards by readily accepting below market wages, while also overloading
government social services.

An outbreak of xenophobic violence in 2008 left at least 62 foreigners dead
and thousands of others displaced, leaving foreign investors unsettled and
South Africa's image as one of the more tolerant countries in the world
shattered.

Similar xenophobic attacks broke out soon after the end of the FIFA World
Cup ended last July but security forces were this time round quick to move
in to quash the violence and protect foreigners. - ZimOnline.


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Civic Group Gives Thumbs Down to Zimbabwe Constitutional Outreach Process

http://www.voanews.com

Restoration of Human Rights said that based on its monitoring of outreach
meetings around Zimbabwe the process was widely marred by political
intimidation and general disorganization

Patience Rusere & Thomas Chiripasi | Washington 10 September 2010

The advocacy group Restoration of Human Rights is giving the constitutional
outreach process a thumbs down, saying parliament's finding are not likely
reflect the true opinion of Zimbabweans as to what should be in the new
constitution.

The non-governmental organization said it has been monitoring outreach
meetings countrywide and concludes the process was widely marred by
intimidation as well as disorganization.

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Revision said it is
mopping in the provinces with public comment sessions to be held in Harare
and  Bulawayo on September 18 and 19.

Restoration information officer Ronald Mureveriwi said  ZANU-PF supporters
and youth militia hijacked the process, silencing people and hand-picking
individuals to express views.

Mureveriwi told VOA's Patience Rusere that intimidation was particularly
widespread in rural areas.


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Mugabe will conform to legitimate elections: Tsvangirai 

http://www.sabcnews.com

September 11 2010
, 6:10:00

Thulasizwe Simelane: Harare

Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party leader Morgan
Tsvangirai has expressed optimism that long-time president Robert Mugabe
will stick to his end of the bargain and stage legitimate elections at the
end of the transitional government's tenure.

Tsvangirai has moved to allay fears that Mugabe will simply dismiss the MDC
component of government, before staging fraudulent and violent elections
early next year. Speaking at his party's 11th anniversary commemorations,
Tsvangirai expressed hope that the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) will prevail on Mugabe to stage free and fair polls.

The MDC's 11 years of political existence has been rocky. Two years ago the
situation came to a head after a bloody election forced SADC's hand. At the
region's request, Tsvangirai joined hands with Mugabe to form a unity
government. With the clock ticking down to February 2011, some suspect
Mugabe may renege on the deal.

Political analyst John Makumbe says Mugabe will dissolve Parliament, dismiss
all but Zanu-PF ministers and call for new elections. But the MDC leader has
faith in SADC's influence on Mugabe, saying the latter will not dissolve
Parliament as he seeks a soft landing to his legacy crisis. According to
Tsvangirai, the only way for Mugabe to restore some degree of credibility is
when he can manage the transition to a successful conclusion.

The MDC leader has also revealed that the fears of Mugabe's powerful
security cluster, that they could face prosecution, have been a
consideration for the transitional government. Tsvangirai maintains that
addressing such fears is the only way to ensure a smooth transition.


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CFU moratorium ruling set for month-end

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by Vusimuzi Bhebhe
Friday, 10 September 2010 10:32

HARARE - Zimbabwe's Supreme Court is expected to pass judgment at the end of
September on an application by the country's beleaguered white farmers for a
moratorium on ongoing farm evictions and persecution of those refusing to
vacate properties targeted for compulsory acquisition.
The Commercial Farmers Union said the Supreme Court would make a ruling on
an application the union made earlier this year for order suspending further
punitive prosecutions and evictions of the few remaining productive farmers
in Zimbabwe until such time that President Robert Mugabe's controversial
land reform programme has been properly examined and addressed more
transparently. "A hearing date has been set for 30 September 2010," the
union said last week.
The CFU is seeking an order suspending ongoing prosecutions and criminal
proceedings against several of its members accused of allegedly contravening
Section 3(3) of the Gazetted Land Act by refusing to vacate farms illegally
occupied by Mugabe's supporters. The union contends that the prosecutions
are "invalid and of no force" and violate the constitutional rights of the
farmers.
The Attorney General's Office has in recent months stepped up prosecution of
white farmers it claims are refusing to vacate land acquired by the
government for purposes of redistribution to land less blacks. This is
despite the fact that the Southern African Development (SADC) Tribunal ruled
in 2008 that the government's land reform programme is discriminatory and
illegal under the SADC Treaty to which Zimbabwe is signatory.
Hordes of Zanu (PF) supporters, so-called war veterans and members of the
army and police stepped up farm invasions almost immediately after the
formation of the inclusive government in February 2009. Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai has ordered the arrest and prosecution of the farm
invaders but his word is largely ignored with farmers reporting continuing
invasions of their properties and disruption of farming activities.
Western donors have - on top of other conditions - made it clear that they
would not consider giving aid to the Harare government while farm invasion
continue. Zimbabwe has since the start of the land reforms in 2000 relied on
food imports and handouts from international food agencies mainly due to
failure by resettled black peasants to maintain production on former white
farms.


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Top judges, ex govt chefs face eviction

http://www.financialgazette.co.zw

Friday, 10 September 2010 12:46

Clemence Manyukwe, Political Editor

FOUR top judges and senior ZANU-PF officials occupying government houses at
Gunhill Villas are being evicted at the high-security complex to make way
for new tenants from the bloated coalition, which is battling to find
accommodation for several bureaucrats. The evictions are part of the first
phase of an initiative by the Ministry of National Housing and Social
Amenities of taking stock of government property as well as getting rid of
undeserving occupants who are refusing to vacate the State residences.
The ministry has been under intense pressure to serve eviction notices on
former government ministers clinging on to houses leased from the State as
well as those who are leasing multiple government houses.
Results of an initial audit of government houses in our possession targets
for eviction four judges and three former ministers. Those who are required
to move out of the Gunhill Villas, home to several top officials, are the
Deputy Supreme Court, Chief Justice Luke Malaba, and High Court judges
Justice Lavender Makoni, Justice Antonia Guvava and Justice Maphios Cheda.
Masvingo Resident Minister and provincial governor, Titus Malule-ke, and
former deputy ministers, Abigail Damasane and Morris Sakabuya, are among the
senior politicians at the villas who should vacate the State premises within
the next three months.
The four judges, who are entitled to State accommodation are said to be
having alternative accommodation, while Damasane, a Matabe-leland South
ZANU-PF central committee member, and Sakabuya, who is now the chief
executive officer of the ailing Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO),
are no longer in government.
Although, Maluleke is still serving government, resident ministers and
provincial governors are required to have official accommodation only in
their respective provinces, with the top official also facing uncertainty in
his current position since the posts of provincial governors expired last
month.
The appointment of provincial governors is currently the subject of
contestation between the main political actors in the inclusive government.
An official communication in possession of The Financial Gazette from the
Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities, Giles Mutsekwa, to his
permanent secretary, David Munyoro, directs the latter to draft letters to
the affected individuals to find alternative accommodation within three
months failure of which they would be evicted.
"The following have no reason to be occupying the villas indicated against
their names: a) SI449/427 Hon A. Damasane - she was deputy minister of
education sometime. But still does not enjoy these facilities, otherwise we
(will) have the entire Parliament knocking at our office doors every day; b)
SI449/446 Hon M. Sakabuya - he was deputy minister of local government
sometime. He left government and I understand he now works for ZUPCO as
chief executive officer," said Mutsekwa.
"S449/436 Hon Maluleke - he is the sitting provincial governor for Masvingo.
Surely, governors have official accommodation in their respective provinces.
This governor cannot have it both ways."
The minister also ordered that three persons occupying villas identified
only as L. Ngwenya, G. Marema and P. Mahlaba must be given two weeks to
identify themselves and where they work to determine the way forward.
In another directive, the Housing and Social Amenities Minister requested
further information on the persons earmarked to take possession of  six
other unoccupied government houses since they were said to be reserved for
unidentified persons.
In an interview yesterday, Mutsekwa declined to comment on the latest
government housing audit saying it was still an internal and confidential
matter that is not yet ripe for public consumption.
"We will issue a statement at the appropriate time," the minister said.
The deliberate exercise of taking stock of government high-security houses
and evicting undeserving occupants, comes at a time the inclusive government
is faced with a serious crisis of accommodation that has seen Vice-President
John Nkomo and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai still living at their
previous residences in Milton Park and Strathaven in Harare.
The situation is said to have been exacerbated by the reluctance by former
ZANU-PF top officials, who lost their positions at the formation of the
inclusive government in February last year, to vacate the residences
triggering the latest initiative.
More names are expected to come into the open as government spreads its
initiative beyond Gunhill Villas to other parts of Harare where former
bureaucrats and top ZANU-PF officials are said to be refusing to vacate
State houses.
Some ministers from the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) are said to be staying in flats in the Avenues area and hotels,
thereby increasing pressure on the fiscus.
Last year, the then Housing Minister, Fidelis Mhashu, who lost his
ministerial post when Prime Minister Tsvangirai reshuffled his cabinet in a
development that saw Mutsekwa being moved from Home Affairs to the current
post, complained that some senior ZANU-PF officials were hiding information
pertaining to the state of government houses in order for them to live
illegally in these properties.
But in his latest communication to Munyoro, Mutsekwa said the vacating of
undeserving individuals from the Gunhill Villas would see others without
accommodation, especially ministers, being accommodated.
The minister added that the development would also result in lawful
occupants not being subjected to what he said was "unnecessary censorship".
Although in the correspondence Mutsekwa did not explain the issue of
censorship, during a 2004 High Court case in which the State sought the
eviction of former information and publicity minister, Jonathan Moyo, from
the same villas following his sacking from government, a law officer told
the presiding judge in the matter that only those who enjoy the confidence
of the State occupy them.
The law officer added that if Moyo or any other person who is not in
government, was allowed to occupy the villas, it would "highly endanger the
security of the other remaining guests and the security of the State in
general".


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Ministers sued over filthy holding cells

http://www.financialgazette.co.zw

Friday, 10 September 2010 12:20

Staff Reporter

MEMBERS of a prominent human rights group have served a notice to sue
co-Home Affairs Ministers over alleged inhuman and degrading conditions at
the Harare Central Police Station's holding cells where toilets are said to
be overflowing with human waste as a result of lack of running water.
Award-winning human rights activists Jennifer Williams, Magodonga Mahlangu,
Clara Manjengwa and Sellina Madukani, all members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise
(WOZA) and 67 others have engaged the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights to
sue the ministers, Kembo Mohadi and Theresa Makone over their incarceration
at the police station under filthy conditions.
In their notice to sue addressed to the two ministers dated August 25, their
lawyers state that the activists were arrested on April 15 following a
demonstration organised by WOZA to protest against power utility ZESA's
appalling service delivery. The Competition and Tariffs Commission has since
ruled that the parastatal has been short-changing its customers and abusing
its monopoly.
According to the activists' notification, the police rounded up about 71
activists an hour after the protests began, and these were taken to the
Criminal Investigation Department Law and Order section.
"Our clients inform us that they were then forced to remove their shoes and
all under-garments including brassieres and under-pants until they each had
a single top and bottom. It was clear from the circumstances and demeanor of
the police details that this was a peremptory order, which all detainees
were subjected to, in terms of the practice and rules at the Harare Central
holding cells," reads part of the letter indicating an intention to sue.
"They were given no formal communication as to why it was necessary to
remove their shoes and under-garments, but were then marched to the cells.
When they got to the cells, their senses were assaulted by the choking smell
of human excreta, and flowing urine of varying colours.
"Even the beds were covered with human excreta, so they sat and spent the
night huddled in the corridors of the cells, as they could not sit inside
the cells due to the faeces. However, even the corridor itself had flowing
urine and they had to use their own tissues, to clean up the area where they
planned to sit on."

The notice added:" When they wanted to use the toilet, they discovered that
it was inside the cells, and they had to wade through a  pool of urine to
get there.
"The toilets had no running water and were already full and overflowing with
human excreta. Police denied them access to the toilets with their own
tissue paper and categorically stated that they would have to use their bare
hands, this was extremely humiliating, moreso because Magodonga Mahlangu,
had a running stomach and had to use the toilet frequently. There was
neither a hand basin nor soap in the cell so they could not wash their hands
after using the toilet."
The lawyers added that during the night, the activists requested some
blankets for warmth, and were supplied with some they allege had clearly
been "dipped in and were reeking of urine."
The intention to sue notice says 16 detainees were given only three
blankets, as there were more people who had been arrested for varying
offences, unrelated to the demonstration.
Due to the strong stench, the women say they could not cover themselves with
the blankets, and had to put the blankets on the cement floor so as to make
their situation a little more comfortable. They said they spent a total of
four nights in an "insalubrious environment", and complaints to the police
fell on deaf ears.
Food was said to be unpalatable, as they had to eat it in a filthy and
smelling environment.
"In the premises, we hold strict instructions to apply to the Supreme Court,
for a declaratur declaring the conditions at Harare Central Police Station
Holding Cells, cruel, inhuman and degrading, and thus a violation of section
15 of the Constitution," the lawyers said in their notice to sue, dispatched
to Mohadi and Makone.
Both ministers have not responded to the notification to sue.


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Air Zim pleads with striking pilots

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

11/09/2010 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

AIR ZIMBABWE has pleaded with its striking pilots to return to the cockpit
after an earlier threat to sack those involved failed to end the job action.

The national carrier's 45 pilots went on strike during the week and vowed
not to fly until the cash-strapped airline paid over US$3 million in
outstanding allowances.

Air Zim board chairman, Jonathan Kadzura, gave the striking pilots a 24-hour
deadline to return to work on Thursday warning those who failed to comply
would face "disciplinary action".

However, as the strike continued on Friday amid reports the airline was
losing US$350,000 a day while up to 1,000 passengers had been
inconvenienced, the state-run company was forced to change tact.

Chief executive, Peter Chigumba told the pilots they "had made their point"
and urged them to return to work.

"Boys and girls get back to the cockpit. Zimbabwe does not have another
airline," Chigumba said.

"Do not hold the shareholder and our customers at ransom. I have no doubt,
sooner or later they will be back."

The Air Zim boss said the airline was hemorrhaging badly needed cash due to
the job action.

The company has been forced to book stranded passengers onto other airlines
as well as lease planes to ply some of its routes.

Chigumba said the strike was only benefiting the airline's competitors.

Meanwhile, the pilots say the allowances have been outstanding since
February last year and insist they will not return to work until Air Zim
pays up.

"We're not prepared to continue working for peanuts. We're saying: Pay us
what you owe us," one pilot said.


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Civil servants threaten job action

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

11/09/2010 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

CIVIL servants have demanded that the government use proceeds from the
country's diamond sales to improve their conditions of services and
threatened to go on strike if their salaries are not reviewed within 30
days.

The coalition government has long insisted that while it was keen to improve
the remuneration of its workers, the country's constrained fiscal situation
meant this could not be done.

Finance ministry officials say government revenues remain limited as the
country's economy struggles to recover from a decade-long crisis.

However the civil servants, who earn an average monthly salary of US$200,
said government revenues had improved with the discovery of diamonds in the
eastern Marange district.

"We are cognisant of the fact that Zimbabwe's revenue collection has
improved since diamonds were sold but we do not understand why civil servant's
salaries were not reviewed," the Apex Council, which represents the country's
government workers said in a statement.

The council gave government 30 days to address its members' concerns.

"We demand unreservedly to be paid living salaries and further demand that
Government takes action on the issues of public service salaries within 30
days," the statement read.

The civil servants said they would hold nationwide demonstrations and picket
the offices of public service minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, to press their
point.

Apex Council officials claimed the government had pledged to improve civil
servants' salaries once diamond sales were conducted.

Zimbabwe recently realised just over US$50 million from the sale of gems
extracted from the controversial Marange fields after securing Kimberly
Process authorisation for the auction.

Meanwhile the country's civil servants went on an abortive strike in
February demanding minimum salaries of US$500.

The strike precipitated a public spat between Mukonoweshuro and Finance
Minister Tendai Biti.

Another job action could paralyse the country's education sector and other
public services.


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Zimbabwe Authorities Impose Secrecy on Diamond Auction Dates, Receipts

http://www.voanews.com

The National Association of Non-Governmental Organizations commented that
the imposition of a veil of secrecy over the auctions of Marange diamonds
would open the door to further abuses

Sandra Nyaira | Washington 10 September 2010

Critics of the Zimbabwean government's development policy in the
controversial Marange diamond field in the east of the country say Harare is
heading in the wrong direction on transparency following word that future
Marange diamond auctions will be held in secret and with sales figures
withheld.

Mines Ministry Permanent Secretary Thankful Msukutwa said this week that for
reasons of security and in line with international standards, auction dates
would no longer be announced.

"We are the only country in the world that announces what we have [in terms
of diamonds for offer) and and what we are going to sell," Musukutwa said.
"Besides, there is also the issue of security that has to be taken into
account. The security of the monitor has to be addressed."

The National Association of Non-Governmental Organizations commented that
the imposition of a veil of secrecy over the auctions of Marange diamonds
would open the door to further abuses, noting that some $30 million from
past diamond sales has never been accounted for.

The secret auction policy was announced as Kimberley Process Zimbabwe
monitor Abbey Chikane arrived in Harare on Thursday to certify a second
batch of diamonds from the field for sale.

The first such auction was held last month at the Harare International
Airport.

NANGO Programs Director Machinda Marongwe told VOA Studio 7 reporter Sandra
Nyaira that the country cannot afford secrecy when when revenues from
previous sales are not made public.

Though the Marange diamond field has been described by experts as very rich,
the government has seen scant revenues though it is in theory a partner in
joint ventures with mining companies there. The Mines Ministry has
frustrated efforts by Parliament to conduct fact-finding missions in
Marange.


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Zimbabwe to Engage South Africa on Reviving Rhodesia-Era Credit Facility

http://www.voanews.com

Economist Rejoice Ngwenya commented that that while credit lines are needed
to jump-start growth, drawing upon them will also worsen Zimbabwe's s
external debt position

Gibbs Dube 10 September 2010

Having secured lines of credit totaling US$90 million from Botswana and the
European Union, the Zimbabwean government is soon to open talks with South
Africa in which it will seek the revival of a loan facility that existed
between the two countries before Zimbabwean independence in 1980.

Sources said Finance Minister Tendai Biti will meet with South African
officials in Pretoria within the next few days for final discussions on the
credit line which is much needed to sustain economic recovery.

The sources said Biti will also ask South Africa to revive a R3.3 billion
loan facility once tapped by the Rhodesian government in the days when South
Africa was still white-minority ruled. That amount would be equivalent to
some US$460 million. An estimated US$10 billion is needed for
reconstruction.

Economic commentator Rejoice Ngwenya told reporter Gibbs Dube that although
such credit lines are needed to jump-start growth, they will also worsen the
country's external debt position.


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New menace on the highways

http://www.financialgazette.co.zw

Friday, 10 September 2010 12:30

Dumisani Ndlela, Staff Reporter

THERE was one thing to look out for when travelling through Zimbabwe's
dreaded highways: The big potholes! It bothered everyone, and on the busy
Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge road, it was always a nightmarish experience and
nobody dared travel without uttering a prayer.
There are patches and too few of those deep holes now, but for public
transport operators and their passengers, and even for the private car
drivers, there is something new to look out for, especially towards school
opening days and, well, even when there is an urgent need for cash back
home.
Well, it's not an automated teller machine, in case one dared hazard a wild
guess, but for those who have been on the road mainly as drivers, there is
certainly no price for guessing who causes a shiver without showing a danger
warning sign.
Police Ahead is normally a sign that should invoke happiness among commuters
and drivers on the country's roads, but that sign no longer inspires a sense
of safety but dejection among road users across the country.
Last Saturday, travelling to Beitbridge by public transport from Harare was
terrible: 18 police stops, one of which had the dreaded Vehicle Inspectorate
Dep-artment (VID) officers.
A journey that should have taken at least six hours ended up taking 10
hours: 10 of the police road blocks - one was in fact a highway patrol
team - were between Harare and Chivhu; six were between Chivhu and Masvingo
and two were between Masvingo and Ngundu, way before reaching Beitbridge.
The count could have been more if the commuter vehicle I was travelling in
had crossed Ngundu during day time: a driver who had wanted to get to
Beitbridge at 4:30 pm for another trip to Bulawayo was only too happy to
finish the remainder of the journey under darkness.
"It's terrible. We are working for these people," said the driver,
dejectedly. "I've paid, I've paid..." he stutters, then, after what appears
to be second thoughts, withhold his words.
But even at US$4 per road block, it's a staggering US$40 between Harare and
Chivhu, but at two of the road blocks, when he sounded stubborn to officers,
he was slapped with two US$10 tickets. These were waved like visa's at
subsquent roadblocks, but each time the man with the badge would look for an
offence different from any of those written on the two tickets.
"You haven't started yet," charged a female police officer when the driver
flashed his two fine tickets at a roadblock just before Masvingo town. And
indeed, he hadn't. After penny-pinching efforts, he had to pay up as
passengers grew increasingly frustrated.
But a passenger was to later plead with an officer at a roadblock in
Masvingo close to the golf course: "Please spare this man. We've had 16
roadblocks already."
"Oh, I didn't know police officers are working that hard," retorted the
officer, mockingly.
So, along the way, each time an oncoming public transport vehicle flashed
the headlights, he cringed - another roadblock ahead, and how much should I
pay?
"Schools are opening and they are only trying to raise fees for their
children," said a frail old man as he climbed down the car at Ngundu. "But I
guess you can now travel well. It's now dark, isn't it?"
The driver just stared blankly at the old man. He did not answer. The maths
wasn't adding up.
The car staggered forward, and there was a scream.
"Hey, don't let this stress you because you'll kill us," shouted a passenger
from the back seat.
Well, the driver might already be dead, so what's the point. There's still
need for a prayer!

 


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Lonely sentinels


Dear Family and Friends,
My son was 8 years old when we were forced off our Marondera farm by war
veterans and Zanu PF youths in September 2000. Richard does not remember
those very traumatic months that we lived alongside the men who had invaded
our farm. Men who were far too young to have been veterans of war; youths
who were almost always drunk, drugged, abusive and threatening. Camped in a
paddock within sight of our house, a rabble took over our lives, claimed the
farm field by field, destroyed our business, livelihood and pension and
finally chased us out of our home. For a long time I have been very glad
that Richard does not remember that frightening, horrible time but that all
changed this week when I phoned him one morning. Richie said he couldn't
talk just then because he was on his way to help a friend who was being
evicted from his farm and had been given until 3 that afternoon to get out.

My heart was in my mouth at the thought of another family going through the
devastating anguish of being forced out of their home. With just hours in
which to pack and move a home and business of a lifetime, I knew that this
Mother and her son would need all the help they could get. Before long, like
Richard, I was rushing to help and it took me back in time to that bad place
that holds only fear and painful memories.  Just a few kilometres out of
Marondera town, down a bumpy, winding, dust road through the most
magnificent Msasa woodland adorned in glorious spring leaves, I followed my
son's vehicle. We travelled for a dozen kilometres and saw no one and
nothing: no ploughed fields, no sheep or cattle, no crops or greenhouses. A
line of fence posts caught my eye: standing in a perfectly straight line
they had once been a paddock or a boundary but the wire was all gone and the
poles stood as lonely sentinels watching over these deserted, seized farms.

Arriving at the farm of my son's friend, the hairs on the back of my neck
stood up as soon as I stepped out of my vehicle. Sitting on stumps and
broken plastic chairs under a covered carport a few metres from the house
were the land invaders. A tatty rabble they were. Half a dozen of them,
mostly youngsters and openly drinking at 11 in the morning; one swigging
from a $4 bottle of Vladinoff Vodka, others drinking beer out of cut off
plastic bottles. One was drumming and they were singing crude versions of
"Chimurenga songs" whose lyrics had been changed to: "They are coming to
move you out. By 3 this afternoon this will be our house. We are happy you
are going. We are getting our land."
I recognized one of the men, a scruffy layabout with dreadlocks who hangs
around car parks. And these were to be our farmers, I thought with contempt.
I did not meet their eyes or respond to their begging calls for cigarettes.

I hugged the woman who was losing her home today but we did not talk, there
are no words. All day we worked removing curtains and pictures, emptying
drawers and cupboards, loading our vehicles with another destroyed life.
Eight years ago half this farm was given to the Zimbabwe government but bit
by bit they took more and now this bunch outside wanted it all. Wearing
broken green plastic flip flops and woolly hats even in the 25 degree heat,
they were determined they were going to have this house, and they were going
to have it today.

The Police did not come, would not come, because this, they said, was
political, not criminal. As 3pm came and went, tempers flared and the
invaders moved into the garden and then some even into the living room. The
farmer's dogs, chained under a shady tree whined and whimpered as they
couldn't protect their owners. A beautiful brown and white cat lay on the
floor in the bedroom surrounded by boxes, piles, suitcases, coat hangers.

As the shadows lengthened and with the red setting sun in our eyes I
followed my son's vehicle away from his friend's farm for the last time. The
dust was thick and choking and I felt tears burning my eyes. How can this
be? 10 years after it happened to us, it is still going on. Nothing has
changed; no attempt to stop the destruction of agriculture; no response from
the Police; no respect for Title Deeds, property rights or even a family's
private home.

Who in their right mind would dream of investing in Zimbabwe when a bunch of
arbitrary drunken thugs can get away with something like this because "it is
political." Is this Zanu PF politics or Unity Government politics? Until
next time, thanks for reading, love cathy.
Copyright © Cathy Buckle. 11th September 2010.
 www.cathybuckle.com

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