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Zimbabwe to Throw Out Thousands of Land Seizure Challenges |
By VOA News
18 September 2005
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| Robert Mugabe (file
photo) |
Zimbabwe is preparing to nullify thousands of
legal challenges by white farmers who had their land seized under the country's
controversial land reform program.
A report in Zimbabwe's Sunday Mail newspaper says authorities will
file court papers Monday to officially end the litigation under a new
constitutional amendment that nationalizes all seized farms and bans any legal
challenges.
An official in the attorney general's office says 4,000 cases pending before
the courts will be nullified.
President Robert Mugabe began the land seizures in 2000 and transferred
ownership to landless blacks. Mr. Mugabe says the land seizures were necessary
to correct ownership imbalances created under British colonial rule. But
critics say the program has been a failure and has led to the collapse of
Zimbabwe's economy.
Some information for this story provided by Reuters and AFP.
News.com.au
Mugabe calls Britain, US 'terrorists'
From: Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in United Nations
September
19, 2005
ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe has launched a
virulent attack on Britain and the United States at the UN General Assembly,
accusing them of "state terrorism" over the Iraq war.
Mr Mugabe, whose
relations with Britain, Zimbabwe's former colonial ruler, have been frosty for
years, also accused London of "abusing its privilege and acting dishonestly" for
raising his government's slum demolition campaign in the UN Security Council.
"Is it not obvious that Britain, under the regime of Tony Blair, has ceased
to respect the charter of the United Nations?" President Mugabe asked.
"Witness its being a principal member of the anti-Iraq illegal coalition that
went on a devastating campaign of the country in complete defiance of the United
Nations Charter.
"Any state or group of states that commits such an act of aggression on
another, justifying it on blatant falsehoods, surely becomes guilty of state
terrorism," he said.
In a dig at the United States, Mr Mugabe said "imperialist countries have
remained silent about the shocking circumstances of obvious state neglect
surrounding the tragic Gulf (of Mexico) coast disaster."
"A whole community of mainly non-whites was deliberately abandoned to the
ravages of Hurrican Katrina as sacrificial lambs," he said.
As Mr Mugabe spoke, only junior diplomats occupied the British and US
assembly seats.
The veteran African leader accused "Britain and its Anglo-Saxon allies" of
embarking on a "vicious campaign of first peddling blatant lies intended to
tarnish Zimbabwe and secondly appealing to Europe and America for sanctions
against it."
He said that Britain's push last July for a Security Council debate on a
damning UN report on Harare's slum demolition blitz was aimed at scoring "cheap
political points in its bilateral dispute with us."
"We were dragged on to the Council's agenda over an issue that has no
relevance to the maintenance of international peace and security," Mr Mugabe
noted.
Last July, after a two-week fact-finding visit by UN special envoy Anna
Tibaijuka, the UN released a scathing report charging that Harare's shantytown
demolition drive had left 700,000 Zimbabweans homeless and destitute and
affected a further 2.4 million.
Zimbabwe has defended the demolitions as a campaign to rid cities of squalor
and crime and has since launched a reconstruction program to house those
displaced.
"We have rejected the scandalous demands, as expressed in Tibaijuka's report,
that we lower our urban housing standards to allow for mud huts, bush latrines
and pit toilets as suitable for the urban people of Zimbabwe and for Africans in
general," he said.
He also rejected as "unfounded alarms" reports of a "humanitarian crisis" in
Zimbabwe.
| Zimbabwe's President
Mugabe Criticizes US, Britain in UN Speech |
By Peter Heinlein
United Nations
18 September
2005
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|
Heinlein
report - Download 408k 
Listen
to Heinlein report
 |
| President Robert Gabriel Mugabe of Zimbabwe addresses the
United Nations General Assembly |
Zimbabwe's president,
Robert Mugabe, has spoken out at the United Nations in defense of his country's
urban demolition campaign. The Zimbabwean leader lashed out at two of his
strongest critics, the United States and Britain.
Mr. Mugabe Sunday rejected a U.N. report that described Zimbabwe's
destruction of urban slums as a "catastrophic unjustice" against the poor. In an
address to the General Assembly, the embattled Zimbabwean leader called the
findings of a U.N. investigator "insulting and degrading."
"I the aftermath of our urban clean-up operation, popularly called Operation
Murambastsvina, or Restore Order, the familiar noises re-echoed from the same
malicious prophets of doom, claiming that there was a humanitarian crisis in
Zimbabwe," said Mr. Mugabe. "Those unfounded alarms are aimed at deliberately
tarnishing the image of Zimbabwe, and projecting it as a failed state."
In a 100-page report issued last July, the Tanzanian director of the U.N.
Habitat organization, Anna Tibaijuka, concluded that the urban demolition
campaign was ill-conceived and inhumane. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the
report "profoundly distressing."
But in his comments to the General Assembly, Mr. Mugabe ridiculed the
Tibaijuka Report, saying it was effectively calling for "development in
reverse." He accused Britain, of attempting to score cheap political points by
bringing up the urban demolition campaign at the U.N. Security Council.
"It is my hope that member countries will join us in rejecting this
neo-colonialist attempt and blatant interference in the internal affairs of
Zimbabwe," he added. "But is it not obvious that Britain, under the regime of
Tony Blair, has ceased to respect the charter of the United Nations."
Mr. Mugabe also lashed out at the United States for its response to the
devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. He charged that authorities had
deliberately abandoned non-white Americans in what he called an example of
"callous racial neglect."
"Most of the victims were blacks, and we are bound to ask what transgressions
we, the blacks of this world, have committed? Was it not enough punishment and
suffering in history that we were uprooted and made helpless slaves?" asked Mr.
Mugabe.
President Bush has said every race was affected by the hurricane, but he
acknowledged that the greatest hardship fell on the poor, and that poverty has
its roots in generations of segregation and discrimination. He appealed to
Americans to "clear away the legacy of inequality."
In his U.N. speech, the 81-year-old Zimbabwean leader also criticized what he
referred to as "detractors and ill-wishers" for reporting mass starvation in his
country. He said "there has been none of that."
In an interview with The Associated Press during his visit to New York, Mr.
Mugabe said people in his country are not hungry, they just cannot eat their
favorite food. He told The AP, Zimbabweans are "very, very happy." Aid agencies
have said four million out of the country's 11.5 million people face
famine.
Mail & Guardian
Mugabe: 'Let them eat potatoes'
Michelle Faul | United
Nations
18 September 2005 08:17
The African leader some call a
hero and others a destructive despot suggests people in his country aren't
hungry, they just can't eat their favourite food.
President Robert Mugabe
of Zimbabwe said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Friday
that his people are "very, very happy", though aid agencies report four million
of 11,6-million face famine.
"You describe it as if we have a whole
cemetery," Mugabe said of a reporter's description of the Southern African
nation's dire straits, blaming "continuous years of drought".
The problem
is reliance on corn, he said, "but it doesn't mean we haven't other things to
eat. We have heaps of potatoes but people are not potato eaters ... they have
rice but they're not as attracted [to that]."
But the cost of potatoes is
beyond the pocket of ordinary Zimbabweans.
Internationally, Mugabe has
become a pariah and looked set for further isolation at the weekend, when the
United States government said it was preparing travel sanctions against him, his
government and family members, prohibiting them from travelling to the
US.
That would be punishment for alleged gross human rights abuses,
including torture of opponents and theft of elections, most recently in
March.
Zimbabwe became one of Africa's most vibrant economies under
Mugabe, who was elected in landslide 1979 elections after a seven-year guerrilla
war forced an end to white minority rule in Rhodesia, once a British
colony.
He assured nervous white farmers, then fleeing the country, that
"there is a place for you in the sun".
Zimbabwe became the regional bread
basket, with about 5 000 white commercial farmers growing enough to feed the
nation and export.
Buyers from all over the world came to Zimbabwe's
annual tobacco auction and tourists flocked to the Victoria Falls and wildlife
reserves, while its Sandawana emeralds and renowned Shona stone sculpture were
widely popular.
That changed in the 1990s. Mugabe's rule became
increasingly repressive against a growingly vociferous opposition and corruption
grew rampant. Mugabe then seized on an issue that long has preoccupied Africans
-- land ownership.
Pointing to a distribution that had a few thousand
whites owning tens of thousands of hectares of rich lands, the government began
appropriating white farms in a violent campaign in which some white farmers were
killed.
Tens of thousands of farmworkers lost their jobs and most land
was distributed to the family and friends of politically connected Zimbabweans,
though some ordinary people got small plots.
Last week, the Commercial
Farmers' Union said fewer than 1 000 white commercial farmers remain, working a
fraction of land they once sowed. A parliamentary committee said there would be
no farming season this year, even if the drought breaks, because there are no
seeds, no agricultural chemicals because there is no foreign currency, and no
fuel to transport products or work tractors.
Every day in Zimbabwe,
queues more than a kilometre long form for basics such as bread and
gasoline.
Zimbabweans also are reeling from what Mugabe calls a
"clean-up" campaign, in which hundreds of thousands of poor and working-class
urban people lost their homes to bulldozers.
Mugabe insisted, though: "We
pride ourselves as being top, really, on the African ladder ... We feel that we
have actually been advancing rather than going backwards."
Yet on
September 8, setting out Zimbabwe's aims for the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals before heading to the World Summit, he said the number of
Zimbabweans who cannot afford one daily balanced meal has risen from 20% in 1995
to 48% in 2003, and that 63% now cannot afford more comprehensive basic needs,
including things like school fees.
In Africa, his seizure of lands that
whites took from natives when they colonised in the 1800s is applauded, and he
is seen as a towering hero.
Now, he said, his government will take a
stake in private mining enterprises to ensure Zimbabweans benefit from their
natural resources. He said he expects companies mining there, including the
multinational Anglo American, to understand that desire.
"What we intend
to do is for the state to have a stake in the production of some of our minerals
-- gold, platinum, diamonds," he said. "We just want to be partners. We are not
doing anything unusual, and this is the practice in many countries."
Zimbabwe also mines coal, chromium ore, asbestos, nickel, copper, iron
ore, vanadium, lithium and tin.
Mugabe (81) said he has fulfilled all his
ambitions except retirement. He plans to stop being president in 2008, and write
and farm, but said he'll remain in politics until he dies.
"I can't
retire from that unless the Almighty says, 'Enough is enough.'" -- Sapa-AP
The Herald
Annan visit still on
From Itai Musengeyi in NEW YORK PRESIDENT Mugabe and United Nations Secretary-General Mr Kofi
Annan met here on Saturday and discussed the impending visit by the world body’s
chief to Zimbabwe and the UN’s willingness to assist Harare with food aid.
Officials who attended the meeting held at Mr Annan’s offices at the UN
headquarters said the Minister of Foreign Affairs Cde Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and
a senior official in the UN Secretary-General’s Office were tasked to work out a
programme of the expected visit.
The officials said the two would take
into consideration the fact that Zimbabwe will soon be holding elections to
choose a Senate while the ruling Zanu-PF would hold its National People’s
Conference in December.
President Mugabe, the officials added, however,
voiced concern over intrusion and the politicisation of Mr Annan’s expected
visit to Zimbabwe, especially by Britain and the United States, who have staked
a high political outcome ignoring that the visit was initiated by Harare.
The President invited Mr Annan to Zimbabwe to see for himself the
situation on the ground following the conclusion of Operation
Murambatsvina/Restore Order and the launch of Operation Garikai/ Hlalani Kuhle.
In their meeting, President Mugabe briefed the UN chief on the housing
delivery programme the Government has come up with and was implementing under
Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle.
Mr Annan told Cde Mugabe of the UN’s
wish to assist with food relief, but the President objected to the use of
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to distribute the food because these
tended to politicise humanitarian assistance.
"What we do not want is
for the UN to give a role to non-governmental-organisations so these NGOs make
politics out of it," the officials quoted President Mugabe as having told Mr
Annan.
Mr Annan said he would dispatch the UN co-ordinator of
humanitarian operations in November to assess the situation in Zimbabwe and
study the best mechanisms to distribute the aid.
The officials said
President Mugabe suggested that the UN could make use of the traditional
structures the Government of Zimbabwe has used over the years whenever the
country experienced drought.
They said Zimbabwe had not asked for food
assistance from the UN because it was importing grain on its own and had the
capacity to manage the situation.
But if the UN was willing to help, it
was welcome to complement the Government’s efforts.
The Guardian
Minister vows to rid Zimbabwe of 'filth'
Andrew Meldrum
in Pretoria
Monday September 19, 2005
The Guardian
A leading
Zimbabwean cabinet minister vowed at the weekend to rid the country of the
"filth" of white farmers. Didymus Mutasa, the minister for state security and
land reform, said all remaining white farmers must be "cleared out".
About
400 white families are still farming in Zimbabwe, following the seizure by
President Robert Mugabe's government of more than 4,000 farms.
Mr Mutasa,
one of Mr Mugabe's closest advisers, referred to Operation Murambatsvina ("Clean
out the trash" in the Shona language) - the campaign in which the government
destroyed the homes of hundreds of thousands of urban poor.
"Operation
Murambatsvina should also be applied to the land reform programme to clean the
commercial farms that are still in the hands of white farmers. White farmers are
dirty and should be cleared out. They are similar to the filth that was in the
streets before Murambatsvina," said Mr Mutasa, according to the state-controlled
Sunday Mail newspaper.
The government also announced it had annulled more
than 4,000 court challenges by farmers to the expropriation of their farms. Last
week Mr Mugabe signed a constitutional amendment taking away the farmers' rights
to legally challenge land seizures. "All the challenges are now useless - they
are all being nullified," said the chief law officer in the attorney general's
office, Nelson Mutsonziwa.
Mail & Guardian (SA), 18 September
Zim needs new land policy to save
economy
Abhik Kumar Chanda
Harare - Zimbabwe must radically overhaul its
land-reform policy to revive the economy and retain membership in the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has given it six months grace from
threatened expulsion, analysts say. The Southern African nation, in the throes
of economic turmoil, faces a bleak future with inflation hovering at more than
250%, real unemployment pegged at 90% and an acute fuel and food crisis. To add
to its woes, the current agricultural season has got off to a sluggish start
with prices of seed and fertiliser increasing significantly over those of last
year amid poor distribution. "Over the next three months, we have to put the
crops into the ground in the face of every disincentive and problem," economist
John Robertson said. "There is no fuel to transport the seeds to the farms,
there is no fuel to run the tractors and seed and fertiliser stocks are scarce,"
he said. "Next year's crops will be a massive disappointment." Zimbabwe got a
reprieve on September 9 when the IMF put off a decision to expel Harare for debt
arrears by six months. This was after Harare - in arrears since 2001 - paid back
$120-million of its debt. The remaining debt to the IMF now stands at about
$175-million. Minister of Finance Herbert Murerwa has announced that in line
with IMF demands to cut public spending, he will aim at confining the budget
deficit to within 8,6% of gross domestic product (GDP). Economists say the
budget deficit currently stands at between 12% and 14% of GDP. The finance
minister has spoken of "restructuring" the civil service to reduce the wage
bill, currently 20% of GDP. Murerwa also hinted at lifting price controls -
which have led to scarcity and a flourishing black market - and implementing
policies to stimulate investment levels from 4% of GDP to 25%.
Eric Bloch, an
independent economist who advises the government, said the key lies in reversing
Zimbabwe's land reforms under which white-owned farms were seized and
redistributed to blacks with no farming expertise. Bloch said the government
should return land to farmers to come in line with earlier agreements entered
into in Paris and Abuja, stating that white farmers would be allowed to retain
one farm each and not in excess of a stipulated size, while the reminder would
be sold under a willing-buyer, willing-seller principle. Zimbabwe launched land
seizures in 2000 in which 4 500 farmers lost their property, with fewer than 500
remaining. Bloch said "corruption is a major cause of inflation", but stressed
that if correctives are put in place, Harare could pay back another $50-million
to the IMF in six months. Robertson echoed Bloch in saying that the key to
economic revival lies in putting "the land back in the marketplace". He said the
new beneficiaries often stripped the farms of equipment and irrigation
facilities to make a quick buck and then reverted to subsistence agriculture.
Tapiwa Mashakada, shadow finance minister of the main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change party, called for a "total paradigm shift". "It's high time
that the government restore economic cooperation with multilateral lending
institutions and pursue rational policies so that investment comes in," he said.
But President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe for 25 years, shows no signs
of relenting even after the IMF move to postpone the decision on expulsion. "The
IMF has never been of real assistance to developing countries," he said. "It is
wielded by big powers. We have never been friends with the IMF and therefore in
future we shall never be friends with the IMF."
IOL
SAAF air show 'flies in the face of poverty'
September 18 2005 at
08:44AM
By Mike Cadman
The South African Air Force last week
played a leading role in celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the
Zimbabwean Air Force, sending no fewer than 14 sophisticated aircraft to an air
show held in Harare.
The display of South African air power has been
criticised by opposition politicians in both countries as being financially
extravagant and a direct signal of support for President Robert Mugabe's
government.
The aircraft included four Cheetah fighter jets, a Boeing
707 used for air-to-air refuelling, a Rooivalk combat helicopter, one Oryx
helicopter, a Hercules C-130 heavy transport aircraft, a Casa C212 light
transport aircraft, a Cessna Caravan and four Pilatus PC7s used by the Silver
Falcons aerobatics team.
The air show, described by the
state-controlled Herald newspaper in Harare as being "part of national
celebrations to mark a Silver Jubilee of excellence by the Zimbabwe Defence
Forces" was attended by the chief of the SAAF, Lieutenant-General Carlo Gagiano,
as well as dignitaries from other Southern African Development Co-operation
countries. Botswana and Zambia contributed one aircraft each.
South
Africa paid for the fuel to and from Harare but Zimbabwe supplied the fuel used
during the show held at the Charles Prince Airport last Saturday (September
10).
"It is highly objectionable that South Africa should help legitimise
the Zimbabwean government in this way," Rafeek Shah, the Democratic Alliance
spokesperson on defence, said this week.
"Why should we give legitimacy
to a country like Zimbabwe that has no money to pay back International Monetary
Fund loans, provide adequate food for its own people or upgrade basic
infrastructure?"
Zimbabwe is currently experiencing the worst fuel
shortages in its history and last week the Harare city council admitted that it
had bought fuel on the black market in an attempt to keep emergency vehicles
running.
Paul Themba Nyathi, a spokesperson for the Zimbabwean opposition
Movement for Democratic Change, said the air show - and South Africa's
participation - was "yet again a reflection of misplaced priorities in a country
where people are facing severe food shortages and social
deprivation".
Responding to a question from Shah in parliament this week,
Mosiuoa Lekota, the minister of defence, said the SAAF's participation in the
show was an important way of maintaining good relations in the region and to
showcase South African equipment to potential buyers.
"It is an
established practice that in peacetime, defence forces periodically create shows
to give their trainees an opportunity to test their skills against other defence
forces," the minister said.
"The participation of the air force in the
air show in Zimbabwe is critical for this purpose."
He added that South
African military industries were attracting growing interest from African states
and said it was the government's task to "take advantage of every opportunity so
that this emerging African market is increasingly attracted to come down south,
and spend their rands here".
However, of the aircraft sent to Zimbabwe
only the Rooivalk helicopter and the Oryx are actively marketed for sale by arms
manufacturer Denel.
Earlier this year South African military equipment
supplier Armscor sold Alouette helicopter spare parts to Zimbabwe. These
helicopters, some of which had been grounded due to a lack of spares, were
widely used during the destruction of tens of thousands of homes by Zimbabwean
police and soldiers in Operation Murambatsvina, which the Zimbabwean government
said was aimed at slum clearance.
The Democratic Alliance also said the
SAAF's participation was a waste of money. "It is reported that it cost the SAAF
R616 000 per flying hour, which is an unaffordable extravagance given the
minister's recent admission that the SANDF was struggling to maintain even its
core capability," Shah said earlier this week.
"The money should rather
have been spent on fuel for much needed flying hours for training flights here
in South Africa, and on filling the hundreds of vacancies that exist in critical
positions within the SAAF."
A spokesperson for the SAAF,
Lieutenant-Colonel Frans Schoombee, said that the fuel costs and other expenses
had already been allocated within the SAAF's budget as part of the standard
procedure of "force preparation".
"It is vital that our pilots are kept
current [in the use of their equipment] and maintain their expertise to ensure
that when they are called on they know exactly how to operate," Schoombee said,
adding that the trip created the opportunity for pilots and ground crews to gain
experience of operating conditions in other parts of the SADC region.
He
said that important training procedures had been carried out during the mission
and noted that the four Cheetahs had not touched down in Harare, having
refuelled from the air force's Boeing B707 tanker aircraft in mid-air over
Zimbabwe.
This article was originally published on page 1 of Sunday
Independent on September 18, 2005
Metals Place
Zimbabwe nickel production down 10%
Source:
Angop
Zimbabwe's sole nickel producer, Bindura Nickel Corporation Thursday
reported a 10-percent drop in output in the first half of this year at 3,070
tons, which it blamed on various factors, including equipment breakdowns and
lack of spare parts.
In the same period last year, the company produced 3,415
tons, and 10,585 tons for the whole year.
"Equipment breakdowns and spares
procurement problems impacted adversely on production. Consequently, the group's
nickel production for the first half of the year of 3,070 tons was 10 percent
down on the 3,415 tons achieved during the comparative period last year," it
said in a statement.
BNC also reported a drop in both turnover and profit for
the period, in spite of high prices for nickel on the international
markets.
Business Report
Zimbabwe faces worst ever tobacco season
September 19,
2005
Harare - Zimbabwe is facing its worst ever
tobacco growing season due to a shortage of seedlings, fuel and fertiliser, the
state-controlled Herald newspaper reported Monday.
A top tobacco industry
official told government last week the upcoming season would be "the worst in
the history of growers", The Herald said.
The chairman of the Tobacco
Industry Marketing Board (TIMB), Njodzi Machirori, said the country had only 600
tonnes of fertiliser in stock, compared with a demand of 20 000
tonnes.
Unless the situation improved swiftly, "only 857 hectares would
be put under tobacco instead of 150 000", he said.
Zimbabwe was once one
of the world's largest tobacco producers and the crop has traditionally been a
key foreign currency earner.
But since the launch of a controversial land
reform programme five years ago, annual production of tobacco has plummeted from
more than 200 million kilograms to less than 70 million kilograms last
year.
Farming experts are predicting a disastrous growing season
generally, because of a lack of foreign currency needed to import seeds,
fertiliser and crop chemicals. - Sapa-dpa
NewZimbabwe
Zimbabwe's small minded rulers
Last updated: 09/19/2005 19:31:28
SO ROBERT Mugabe’s minister of
justice Patrick Chinamasa presumes to define “patriotism” for the rest of us,
does he now? He has been triumphantly crowing at the recent enactment of a law
to withdraw travel “privileges” from Zimbabweans the Mugabe regime feels
threatened by.
The general reaction to this
new law has been outrage and shock. Why there is shock is a mystery to me. By
the standard of repressive measures that have been taken by the regime of Mugabe
against the people of Zimbabwe, this one is minor and mild. Withdrawing the
passports of critics may be backward, but it should hardly shock us and is
nothing compared to the hunger, discouragement, economic collapse and political
oppression that Mugabe’s regime has visited on Zimbabwe.
One good thing this new law
has done is disabuse Zimbabweans abroad of the idea that they are safe and
removed from the events in their tortured country. Some Zimbabweans in the
Diaspora look down at us and sniff, “why don’t those of you suffering at home do
this or that?” Some feel safe and superior from their hiding places in
Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. Even those who now only have a Zimbabwean
passport to link them to their homeland have been woken out of their complacency
by the risk of those passports being withdrawn if they don’t toe the line as
defined by the likes of Chinamasa.
| "This latest trick so savoured by Chinamasa will not make an ugly
regime look any prettier. This is just one more of many depredations we must
endure on the road to a new Zimbabwe" |
| CHIDO MAKUNIKE |
These are the actions of a
government that no longer has confidence in itself. They kicked out foreign
correspondents unceremoniously, flagrantly flouting their own laws in their
panicked rush to do so. The regime’s reputation did not get any better. Mugabe’s
regime rented the wicked Jonathan Moyo for five years to destroy the state media
and much of the private media and try to recreate both in its image. During
Moyo’s evil tenure as chief Mugabe propagandist any hint of professionalism,
balance or criticism of the regime was equated with treason. The media and
intellectual space definitely shrunk but the regime’s reputation did not
improve, in fact it sank further. Chief Constable Tafataona Mahoso of the Media
& Thought Police has valiantly played his part along with Moyo of trying to
intimidate and silence opponents with pan-Africanist mumbo-jumbo and “you are
controlled by the whites” to any who see through his and the regime’s
nation-destroying claptrap. That has neither helped the country’s image nor that
of the regime that continues to destroy it. Ditto for the efforts to jam radio
stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe or otherwise contain the avalanche of
deserved bad press the regime gets from all over the world 24/7.
This latest trick so
savoured by Chinamasa will not make an ugly regime look any prettier. Chinamasa
has reveled in the panicked reaction of many in the media and opposition
circles. This is just one more of many depredations we must endure on the road
to a new Zimbabwe. Let us not whine about it.
Actually it provides new
opportunities to lay bare the bankruptcy of the regime that is destroying
Zimbabwe. The pretext of this latest effort to rein in increasing dissent and
rebellion against the Mugabe regime is that critics are “tarnishing the image of
the revolutionary government abroad,” mainly in Western capitals. Minister, we
could ask, what are your son/daughter/wife and many other relatives doing in
these capitals if these countries are bent on doing Zimbabwe harm as you claim?
Smoking out the many close family members of regime officials who benefit from
nation-destroying patronage at home while also enjoying the benefits of life in
countries they claim are at war with us would be one small part of showing the
utter cynicism of the small-minded officials we are dealing with. “Revolutionary
patriotism” my bloody ass! From the mouth of Chinamasa of all people?
Purrleeze!
The most “patriotic”
contribution that any Zimbabwean can be engaged in at this sad, critical time in
our nation’s short, painful history is to fight the oppression and decline it is
experiencing under the ruinous, bloody regime of Mugabe. We should be outraged
by silly efforts to prescribe patriotism for us by brutal, unpatriotic failures
whose only concern is to pick off the few remaining pieces of flesh from the
carcass of our beloved, formerly great Zimbabwe that they have
murdered.
Chinamasa identified
Zimbabweans abroad as a group disproportionately responsible for the Mugabe
government’s awful reputation, hence the passing of the new law. But true to his
reputation as one of the shallowest and most intellectually challenged people to
occupy a lofty position in the Mugabe regime, Chinamasa failed to go where his
premise would logically lead.
Is the alienation from the
Mugabe government of so many Zimbabweans at home and in the Diaspora a cause of
the government’s present image woes, or an effect of them? Why has the Mugabe
government failed to harness the millions of Zimbabweans abroad into a national
asset in terms of hard currency remittance, skills transfer and international
goodwill for the country? If Zimbabweans abroad suddenly lose their sense of
judgment and easily fall prey to claimed efforts by Western countries to turn
them against their government, why are so many members of the regime from the
“presidium” to its lowest echelons so eager to retain their many ties to the
West? And why has the “revolutionary people’s government” failed so dismally to
make disaffected Zimbabweans believe the regime’s propaganda over that of those
the regime claims are enemies of the country?
Is it realistic to hope that
the fear of losing passports is going to be significant enough to silence
critics against the regime’s destruction of their country? Does the
regime-stinging fire of Pius Ncube, Morgan Tsvangirai or many others depend on
whether it is delivered in Bulawayo, Harare or London? The truth of their lament
of Zimbabwe’s destruction by the demolition derby of Mugabe, Chinamasa & Co
will resonate with most Zimbabweans and much of the world regardless of where it
is delivered. Previous cheap efforts to insinuate treason against these and many
other critics have backfired spectacularly on the Mugabe regime and the threat
of passport withdrawal has even more potential to do so. In any case, the ways
in which Zimbabwe under Mugabe is one big disaster area are now so obvious that
they do not even require Zimbabweans going out of their country for the whole
world to see!
Many have probably rightly
said this measure is a tit for tat against senior regime members and
sympathizers being banned from many Western capitals. But isn’t it interesting
that the “tat” by the regime is not against those Western nations or their
citizens wishing to visit Zimbabwe, but against its own citizens wishing to
leave Zimbabwe?! Is this desperate, small minded and crazy or what?! Which is
the regime’s worst enemy, its critics or itself?!
The regime is fighting on
levels that it simply cannot win. It is one thing to beat up, intimidate,
imprison and murder your critics and opponents. This is not difficult to do-any
old bully with a military machine and enough ruthlessness can do this. But on an
economic, image and many other levels you must have the support of a majority of
your people to fight off threats to your ruler ship. The Mugabe government no
longer enjoys such support. Many of its increasingly shrill and desperate
measures to forestall the whirlwind of opposition that it continues to cultivate
and reap will only make it sink deeper in the mire of international opprobrium
and isolation.
An individual in Harare who
does not even possess a passport can just as effectively tell the world about
the Mugabe regime’s war against the people as a Zimbabwean in Sydney,
Johannesburg or New York. Actually in the modern age the person in Harare
without a passport may be even more equipped to do so than the Zimbabwean in a
foreign capital! I am shocked that the Mugabe regime’s lawmakers do not seem to
realize this. They are trying to lock the stable door after the horse has
already bolted out of their control.
Zimbabweans, let us not be
chickenly. The battle to save our country from those who would destroy it will
inevitably become more vicious, requiring us to be ever more innovative to
resist the increasingly desperate flailing of a regime that has failed on all
counts. Zimbabweans are dying of hunger and lack of hope and confidence in their
country’s prospects and yet a few of us get uptight and intimidated, whining
about the fear of having our passports withdrawn!
Let us get real about the
task at hand. Are we in a struggle for the very soul of our country against a
brutal, vicious regime or are we on a Sunday picnic? I have said before and I
repeat: the new struggle for Zimbabwe is being fought on a much more
sophisticated level than the brutal, simplistic, physical ways the Mugabe regime
is accustomed to and so good at. Mugabe, Chinamasa, Moyo and their laws have
done and will continue to do incalculable harm to Zimbabwe but they are a
passing phase. As has been proven by how virtually all of the regime’s efforts
to fight off opposition that it has earned for itself have sunk it deeper into
the mire, it is a regime that is embattled on so many fronts, with so few
options to get out that it lashes out without thinking.
Chinamasa is right to say
that the regime of which he is a member is besieged but as usual fatally wrong
about the reasons why. It is therefore not surprising that in that latest
panicked reaction to the growing opposition towards it at home and abroad, it
shows the growing gap between it and those it oppresses.
As used to be said
by those fighting for a better dispensation for their country during the second
chimurenga before it was eventually usurped by gangsters, aluta
continua!
Chido Makunike is a social commentator and a New Zimbabwe.com
columnist based in Harare. He also has a weekly column in the Zimbabwe
Independent newspaper
CONTACT CHIDO: chidomakunike@yahoo.com
Zim Standard
Zimbabwe faces another crippling drought - experts
By Walter Marwizi ZIMBABWE faces a crippling
drought in the 2005/2006 agricultural season, dampening hopes of an end to
critical food shortages that have haunted the country over the past few years.
Weather experts say the country, which has experienced poor
agricultural seasons consecutively over the past five years, is likely to
receive less rainfall than predicted during early and late summer.
"Extreme events (droughts and floods) are becoming more extreme and frequent.
Climatic research in Zimbabwe has also revealed changes in month-on-month
rainfall amounts with October and January showing an increasing trend while
November and February rainfall is decreasing.
"The duration of intervening dry spells during the rainfall season is
increasing (extended dry spells), while wet spells are becoming shorter and
sometimes with intense storms and heavy downpours," said a Harare-based expert
on Friday.
A 2005/2006 forecast produced by the Meteorological Services Department last
week shows that only areas under region 1 (Mashonaland West, Central and East,
Manicaland and Northeast Midlands) had higher chances of a normal to above
normal rainfall during the month of January, February and March.
The rest of the areas in region 2 and 3 (Matabeleland North and South,
Masvingo and Midlands Central, South and Northwest) had higher chances of normal
to below normal rainfall during the same period.
Sunday Times
Court delays scrapping land cases
Monday September 19,
2005 13:46 - (SA)
HARARE - A court in Zimbabwe today held off a decision on
a government request to scrap legal challenges by white farmers whose properties
have been seized, a lawyer said.
The administrative court put off the
ruling on some 4,000 cases involving government seizures of farms pending
further information from the attorney general, said Richard Wood, a lawyer
representing some 250 commercial farmers.
The government was to ask the
court to scrap the challenges after a constitutional amendment on state
ownership of land was approved, effectively preventing farmers from taking legal
recourse.
"The state lawyer told the judge he was still waiting
instructions from the attorney general's office," said Wood.
"Until
then, the case cannot proceed and was for now struck off the roll," he told AFP.
Wood said he believed the attorney general's office would consolidate
the cases before returning to court to have them scrapped.
"The
constitutional amendment in any way rendered these cases totally irrelevant
unless somebody can actually go to court and challenge the constitutional
amendment itself," he said.
The constitutional changes approved by
President Robert Mugabe earlier this month would allow the state to assume
ownership of farms immediately after a property has been listed for
expropriation, making it impossible for white farmers to seek legal redress.
Nelson Mutsonziwa, chief law officer in the attorney general's office,
was quoted Sunday in a newspaper as saying "the passing of the constitutional
bill means that they (the challenges) are all being nullified. All the
challenges are now useless and there is only need to formally withdraw the
issues before the courts."
Zimbabwe has since 2000 seized some 4,000
farms and redistributed them to landless blacks under its land reform programme.
Fewer than 500 white commercial farms remain.
AFP
Zim Standard
Doctors quit By Caiphas Chimhete
AT least 20 junior and middle doctors have left the public
service in less than two months because the government failed to increase their
salaries, The Standard has established. The doctors are part of a
group that staged a crippling strike last month demanding a salary increment of
800% and better working conditions.
Sources in the medical profession last week said more doctors could leave the
country due to frustration if the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare fails to
address their grievances urgently.
"Their position is worse off now because the economic environment is
deteriorating fast. But very soon we will feel the void they have left in the
health sector," said the source.
The junior doctors, who earn a basic salary of $5.7 million a month, went on
strike in August demanding that their salaries be increased to $47 million. They
also receive $440 000 monthly housing allowance and are offered a $50 million
car loan and $10 million housing loan.
The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe says a family of six now requires about $6.7
million a month.
Zimbabwe Medical Doctors Association (ZMDA) president, Takarunda Chinyoka,
confirmed the departure of mainly junior and middle ranking doctors. "Our list
indicates that 21 doctors have left since the strike. The majority are junior
doctors and those who had just finished their housemanship and were about to be
deployed to provincial hospitals," Chinyoka said.
He said the doctors left for the UK, America, Australia and the region in
countries such as Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland, where their
services are much sought after.
Some of the doctors have moved into the private sector in the country because
"it is no longer sustainable to work in government".
The ZMDA president said the resignation of the doctors had worsened the
crisis in the health sector, which is characterised by shortage of drugs and
equipment. The crisis was most pronounced in government hospitals where, he
said, less than 100 specialist doctors were serving the whole country.
Chinyoka said basic drugs such as MMT, used to treat internal bleeding and
antibiotics, were in short supply. The doctors also lack protective clothing and
theatres at major hospitals had very poor lighting, exposing them to HIV and
Aids since they used sharp instruments, he said.
"At the moment, plastic surgery at Parirenyatwa and Harare Hospitals has been
discontinued because there is nobody to run that area of speciality," Chinyoka
said.
There are 300 junior doctors, 150 middle ranking and well below 100
specialist doctors in the country. But the country needs at least 2 000 general
medical practitioners and 500 specialist doctors for government central
hospitals, Chinyoka estimated.
The deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Edwin Muguti, said he was
not aware that such a huge number of doctors had left.
"I need time to check on that. But the issue of salaries is being addressed
by the Health Services Board," Muguti said.
The chairman of the board, Lovemore Mbengeranwa, said he was not in a
position to comment.
During the August strike, the government promised to regularise salaries for
health workers including doctors, nurses, radiographers and pharmacists.
The junior doctors resumed work following threats of arrest from Health and
Child Welfare Minister David Parirenyatwa and his deputy Muguti for breaching
the Essential Services Act.
In January last year, the Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces General
Constantine Chiwenga gave striking doctors 24 hours to return to work or face
detention.
Zim Standard
The struggle continues By Kumbirai Mafunda
ZIMBABWE has not paid the remaining US$50 million in arrears
to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), contrary to reports in Harare that the
central bank had raided all private and commercial foreign currency accounts to
pay off the Bretton Woods institution last week. RBZ Governor Gideon
Gono on Friday told Standardbusiness that Zimbabwe was still in arrears to the
IMF and struggling to raise the remaining US$50 million, which has to be paid in
six months.
For the third time in 18 months, the IMF's Executive Board a fortnight ago
voted to postpone the expulsion of Zimbabwe for non-payment of overdue loans but
gave the southern African country six months to pay the remainder. The IMF board
said the six-month period would also give Zimbabwe a chance to implement sound
economic policies and cut down on its other arrears.
Government sources had suggested that Harare had paid an additional payment
of US$50 million two or three days before Gono left for Washington to plead at
the Executive Board meeting. The sources had indicated that it was the extra
payment that worked in Harare's way to escape expulsion.
The central bank, the sources hinted, had liquidated all corporates' FCAs as
well as those of individuals at local banks that had not been utilised after the
expiry of 30 days. But Gono, who arrived in the country Thursday from Washington
said nothing like that had happened.
"It's not true … That is the usual Harare rumour mongering," said the RBZ
Governor.
Gono, in his second year as the Governor of the central bank, vowed that
Zimbabwe would pay off its staggering arrears by the end of 2006.
"We will deal with our arrears and we hope to eliminate our arrears by
November 2006," he said. Meanwhile, Thomas Dawson, the IMF's External Relations
Director has indicated that notwithstanding increased payments, Harare needs to
reform on a wider scale if it is to irrevocably survive the chop.
"It is a wide range of policy measures that need to be addressed in the
fiscal monetary, exchange rate, structural, social safety net areas particularly
for the most vulnerable groups in the society. So it is a wide range of actions
that need to be taken," Dawson said last week.
Zim Std
Bargain hunters cheer as market rebounds
BARGAIN hunters took charge of the ZSE,
giving stocks their first respectable advance in nearly two months as memories
of the month-long apathy faded. The renewed buying, nudged stocks
higher to an unprecedented rally of 4 744 675.15 points. Around 29.8 million
shares valued at $60 billion exchanged hands on the bourse Monday. Owing to
enthused investors, the bullish trend immediately prompted dealers to predict
that the trend will continue until the 1st of October when the 5% withholding
tax comes into effect.
Old Mutual, which is bidding for Swedish insurer Skandia raced $8 000 to an
all time high of $78 000, followed by pork and beef processor Colcom which
firmed $1 000 to $6 000. Not to be left out were DZL $600 firmer at $3 600 and
Innscor $150 at $8 200. On the losers side, seed producer Seedco, which is
failing to meet the country's seed demand this season lost $500 to $2 500,
alongside TA Holdings which is crying out urgent attention over its fertilizer
manufacturing plant in Kwekwe, Sables.But Monday's buying was less resolute as
the market came off tumbling Wednesday. As anxiety over the implementation of
the 5% capital gains tax filtered through the index slid 2,27% to 4 637 165.86
points Wednesday before slipping again to 4 533 247 Thursday while in
correspondence minings shed 2.85% to 722 997.59 Wednesday.
"Individuals are selling to try and avoid the new tax," sounded one market
strategist. However, other market veterans interpreted Wednesday and Thursday's
losses as just a pause predicting that the market will regain momentum once
again.
Dealers were poring over a feast of profit reports from a host of corporate
heavyweights among them Innscor, FML, Colcom and BNC. Of the four BNC wailed
over a combined 15% and 56%% decline in sales tonnage of nickel and toll
refining revenue. BNC says equipment breakdowns and spares procurement problems
adversely impacted on production. Consequently, BNC mined 3 070 tonnes - 10%
down on the 3 415 tonnes achieved in June 2004.
With little to animate the market, investors say they will keep their focus
on corporate earnings after the release of unpleasant inflation data of 265,1
that didn't capture a wide range of push factors among them the recent hike in
fuel prices and the adjustment of the VAT to 17,5%. Analysts project that
September figures will come in searing and feel that the central bank's year-end
target of double digit inflation figures is a fallacy.
Zim Standard
Power shortages loom By Ndamu Sandu
A HIGH-LEVEL regional electricity investment conference
(REIC) opens in Windhoek, Namibia, tomorrow as Southern African nations battle
to build capacity ahead of electricity shortages in 2007. Tomorrow's
meeting is a culmination of SADC energy ministers' indaba held in South Africa
last year, which proposed to hold an investment conference. The three-day
conference runs until Wednesday and is aimed at raising funds for the short and
long term generation transmission projects.
Stakeholders for the conference are drawn from SADC governments, private
sector, local and international investors and financiers and cooperating
partners, among others.
Southern African nations housed under the African Power Pool (SAPP) face
power shortages in 2007 if nothing is done to augment electricity generation
capacity. Net capacity is expected to reach 45 000MW while peak demand is
expected to be over 45 000MW.
Power demand in the SAPP region has been increasing at a rate of 3% in the
last six years while there has not been any significant investment in generation
in the last 10 years despite the rising demand. SAPP was formed in 1995 after
energy ministers in SADC signed an inter government Memorandum of Understanding.
SAPP members have each identified short- term priority generation projects
envisaged to output 8 764MW by 2009.
Long term projects which run from 2010 to 2020 will generate 31 743MW, SAPP
says.
The prool is a 12 member country organisation with a power installed capacity
of 52 743MW but having a net capacity of 45 044MW meaning that it is not
exploiting its capacity to potential. Figures from SAPP show that in 2004 its
peak demand was 41 036MW.
Members under SAPP include Botswana Power Corporation (Botswana),
Electricidade de Mocambique (Mozambique), Electricity Supply Corporation of
Malawi (Malawi), Empresa Nacional de Electricidade (Angola), South Africa's
ESKOM), Lesotho Electricity Corporation and NAMPOWER of Namibia. Other members
are Societe Nationale d'Electricite (DRC), Swaziland Electricity Board, Tanzania
Electricity Supply Company Ltd, Zambia's ZESCO Limited and ZESA Holdings.
Officials from SAPP offices in Harare told Standardbusiness that Alison
Chikova and Lawrence Musaba, systems studies supervisor and centre manager,
respectively were already in Namibia by Thursday in preparation for the historic
conference.
It was not immediately clear who would represent Zimbabwe at the conference
though there were indications that officials from ZESA and the ministry of
Energy and Power Development were billed to attend.
Zim Std
When the cat is away
WHEN the cat is away, the mice play - and
that includes even the usually reticent ones. So it was with
Zimbabwe's industrialists and businesspersons at last week's annual gathering of
the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI).
Business executives greeted with glee the absenteeism of Reserve Bank
authorities as they tirelessly rounded off the absent officials leaving amazed
financial journalists bowled over.
Most amazing was the acidic tone emanating from the delegates since most of
them are known for overtly lauding central bank Governor Gideon Gono and his
lieutenants whenever they around "for their attempts at turning around" the
battered the economy.
Upon assuming office in 2003, Gono has been viewed by industry as "the
saviour" of the bleeding economy and business leader after another has sprinted
to shower him with tributes throughout his tenure.
Gono's major feat has been culling inflation from an unprecedented level of
622,8% in January 2004 to 123,7% by March this year. Some critical observers
have however expressed concern at the amount of eulogy that Gono has been
receiving from industry executives.
At one time, business people fell over themselves trying to get coveted seats
at the endless breakfast meetings broadcast on State-run national television
presided over by the central bank boss.
But the gloves came off last week as some of "Gono's guys" voted to sing a
different tune altogether choosing the mountain resort town of Nyanga to
question the RBZ policies.
Other critics however pointed at the timing of the tirade against the
"Monetary Authorities" - as Gono and his lieutenants have come to be known.
First, they said critics of the Governor took advantage of the venue - Nyanga -
that is more than 200 kms away from Harare, and the non-appearance of the
central bank authorities.
Former CZI President and DZL CEO, Anthony Mandiwanza set the ball rolling
soon after organisers of the conference observed and announced that the
"Monetary Authorities" could not make it to the conference.
"The absence of the RBZ officials is a mockery to the economy," remarked
Mandiwanza, a close colleague of Gono.
Then Harambe Holdings CEO and Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce
vice-president David Govere joined into the fray. The bulky Govere described as
"crazy" the central bank's decision to pay most of Harare's overdue arrears to
the IMF.
"How do we ask a country to pay the IMF when we could import grain and fuel
and celebrate that we paid US$120 million to the IMF," said Govere. "Are we
crazy?"
The payment of the debt drew widespread criticism as critics pointed at the
opportunity cost of paying the IMF. They said Harare could have sourced
considerable stocks of fuel and several tonnes of maize enough to feed its
starving citizens and avert a hunger crisis.
But Govere would not end his diatribe at the central bank only. Journalists
working for the independent media were roped in as co-conspirators in the mutual
destruction of Zimbabwe. He ranted about "negative" stories being churned out by
independent journalists and said he might seek an audience with the publishers
of The Standard and The Zimbabwe Independent.
But are these the same people who have been praising Gono as the country's
number one turnaround strategist?
"When big groups meet they degenerate into a university fiasco where kids
compete as to who is more competitive than others," observed Jonathan Kadzura,
an economic commentator sympathetic to the governing Zanu PF party.
Added Kadzura: "Those meetings sometimes degenerate into tea parties."
But CZI president Pattison Sithole shot back.
"We wouldn't bring ministers and fly people as far as South Africa for a tea
party. I can have that tea party at Meikles Hotel," said Sithole.
Nevertheless, did the congress achieve any of its objectives?
"We can't talk of paradigm shift when we are laying blame on others," says
Kadzura.
And the criticism on Gono?
Kadzura said: "The RBZ finds itself in an added responsibility. This is one
Governor who has exposed himself to all sectors and has been to all provinces
meeting the same people who are criticising him."
Other observers however said industrialists could be feeling the heat and
getting frustrated with the economic dislocation just like any other ordinary
Zimbabwean.
PG CEO Nyasha Zhou, whose company is being forced to start and halt
operations abruptly due to the myriad economic troubles, is worried at the
odious interrogation exporters are subjected to when they apply for foreign
currency from the RBZ.
"I am a creator of foreign currency. I work 24 hours a day to create it,"
says Zhou, "So when I walk into the Reserve Bank I do not expect to be treated
like a slave boy. I deserve respect."
Art Corporation could also not hide its disappointment with the government's
inconsistent economic policies.
"We are flip flopping in policy," said a representative of Art. "We open
markets and the next time we lose them."
Ministry of Agriculture Permanent Secretary Simon Pazvakavambwa, who has
rattled the government after disclosing that millions of people could be facing
starvation, was even more direct.
"I want someone to carry the message to the central bank. I don't think it is
right for a bank to run agriculture. Agriculture must be run by us who went to
the school of farming," said Pazvakavambwa.
But whether the delegates were playing to the gallery or were espousing a
paradigm shift remains to be seen. The whole exercise, could, after all just
have been a jamboree of mice since the cat - RBZ Governor - was thousands of kms
away.
Zim Std
Gono turns right … Mugabe turns left By
Ndamu Sandu PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe last week turned back
the hands of time by rubbishing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as
inconsequential to the needs of developing countries some few hours after the
global lender had spared the axe on Zimbabwe. IMF gave Harare a six
months stay of execution by postponing recommendations to the board of governors
with respect to the country's withdrawal from the fund.
Arriving in Cuba last week on a four-day State visit en-route to the United
Nations summit that began on Wednesday, the embattled Mugabe was quoted in a
local weekly saying that the IMF had never been a friend to developing
countries.
"Well, the IMF has always never been of real assistance to developing
countries.
"It is wielded by big powers; we have never been friends of the IMF and
therefore in the future we shall never be friends of the IMF," said Mugabe.
Economic commentators say Mugabe's statements contradict efforts by the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and the Ministry of Finance to settle Zimbabwe's
arrears with the global lender. Zimbabwe owes IMF US$175 million and has pledged
to settle the debt by November next year.
In his mid-term monetary policy review, RBZ chief Gideon Gono reiterated
Zimbabwe's commitment to settle its arrears with the multilateral financial
institutions. Also presenting his mid-term fiscal policy review, Finance
Minister Herbert Murerwa said Harare had intensified dialogue and cooperation
with the country's development partners.
Mugabe's statements, analysts say, were a mockery of efforts made early this
month to pay IMF. Harare made a surprise US$120 million payment thereby reducing
its debt to US$175 million.
Experts were unanimous last week that Mugabe's statements were unfortunate
and a reflection of the inconsistencies in government.
"Its dangerous to accuse Mugabe of talking rubbish however this shows that
Mugabe is out of touch with reality," said a Harare-based economist who
requested anonymity.
"These are ideological contradictions of Zanu PF. On one hand they preach the
anti-Blair and anti-Bush mantra and on the other hand they make people suffer
because we want to pay IMF," said Tendai Biti, opposition MDC's secretary for
economic affairs.
Biti was referring to a Standardbusiness story last week that Harare had
foregone maize, fuel and electricity imports in order to settle its debts with
the global lenders.
As Harare races against time to settle its debt to Washington by November
2006, the question that remains unanswered is: Will Harare cut ties with the
international world the same way Ian Douglas Smith did in 1965 when he declared
Unilateral Declaration of Independence?
Zim Std
2008: a bridge too far Shavings from the
Woodpecker OUCH! Why didn't he just say he is leaving end of
the month … or end of the year? He could even have said he would call it quits
on his next birthday and many Zimbabweans would have applauded. The
news this past week was that Uncle Bob (why does he always give these important
interviews when he is out of the country?) told a British newspaper that he was
ready to quit the presidency in … 2008.
While confirming the obvious (that he is now tired), the great one told the
British Sunday Times that he needed a rest (also another obvious fact) and would
not extend his tenure for another day in office when it runs out in 2008.
Granted President Mugabe was elected into office 2002 and his term runs out
in 2008. By right and if all things were equal, he should see through his term
of office. If everything was fine in Zimbabwe and our economy was as sound as it
was when he took over in 1980, then every Zimbabwean would wish him to serve his
last term to the last day.
But everything is not equal. The economy is stuttering like a ramshackle
kombi about to run out of fuel. More Zimbabweans are sleeping on empty stomachs
than when he took over on April 18, 1980. Commercial farming is long dead. It
was buried in 2000. The picture is even gloomier if one looks at the hospitals,
the schools, commerce and industry, the state of our roads, our water,
electricity supplies, medicines … just to name a few.
Zimbabwe has been without enough fuel supplies now for more than a year and
even the extremely well educated great leader cannot find any answers from his
many degrees. He has run out of ideas, and of friends to help him.
Such is the state of panic in his ship that a senior government official is
now in hot soup just for saying the obvious: that we have enough maize stocks to
last less than a month.
Industry - the life blood of any modern nation - is almost dead; HIV and Aids
are decimating the nation because ARVs are too expensive, food and all other
essentials are now beyond the reach of many and ninety percent of school leavers
will surely join the millions of jobless every year … hopefully until 2008.
President Mugabe is right in telling the whole world that he deserves a rest.
His term in office was never easy. At independence, his was the difficult task
of trying to reconcile warring factions. He must have spent sleepless nights
trying to deal with the needs of former adversaries forced to sit and work
together.
Then there were the "dissidents" and the hard task of trying to find peace in
the Matabeleland provinces and the Midlands, which culminated with the peace
accord that he signed with the late Father of the Nation in 1987.
Over the years there have been challenges and catastrophes aplenty. The
expensive wars in Mozambique and the DRC, persistent droughts, and the wars of
attrition with successive British administrations. It has not been an easy 25
years for the head that has worn the crown since 1980.
When he took over in 1980, Uncle Bob was a sprightly youngish leader. Now he
is - in his own words - a young, old man.
The challenges facing Zimbabwe need the full time attention of a young leader
and the next 30 months would be the most challenging. It is therefore imperative
for Uncle Bob to reconsider his position.
The simple truth is that Uncle Bob; great leader though he might have been to
his admirers, is now too old and tired. He must go and rest now … 2008 is too
far.
Spoils
TO the winner, the spoils. It is indeed true that everyone loves a winner.
Take the case of Zimbabwean cricketer Duncan Fletcher.
Fletcher, the coach of the all-conquering British national cricket team that
finally brought those coveted Ashes (ashes of the British empire, if you ask
Uncle Bob) home to London, was last week awarded British citizenship after 15
years of trying.
Fletcher - whom Zimbabwean cricket authorities must surely wish was deported
immediately and sent home to Harare to save local cricket - had twice been
turned down and his application would surely have been unsuccessful again for
the third time if England had been beaten by Australia.
But when his team humiliated the Aussies, even the British Home Secretary was
impressed and before you could say "leg before wicket", his application had been
approved because British authorities suddenly realized that Fletcher's long dead
relatives had been British citizens after all!
By getting British citizenship Fletcher automatically denounces his
Zimbabwean papers, much to the chagrin of local cricket authorities who surely
would have wished he spent more time at home teaching Taibu and company to stay
on the field, at least until lunch.