International Herald Tribune
The Associated PressPublished:
September 18, 2007
LONDON: Archbishop Desmond Tutu called on
Britain Tuesday to toughen its
stance on Zimbabwe and press the troubled
nation's neighbors, including his
own South Africa, to
intervene.
Tutu told Britain's ITV television network that "quiet
diplomacy" had failed
to halt the crumbling of Zimbabwe's economy and a
political and humanitarian
crisis.
"By now it ought to be clear that
the softly softly approach - quiet
diplomacy - has not worked at all and we
want something a little more
forthright, a little more categorical," Tutu
told ITV News.
He called on Brown to press for international efforts to
set President
Robert Mugabe deadlines to improve the country's economic and
political
woes - and threaten punitive measures if improvements aren't
made.
"I myself believe that the humanitarian situation is so fraught
that we
would need all the help we can get," Tutu said. "It's been deeply,
deeply
distressing, the kinds of things that have happened to ordinary
people in
Zimbabwe."
"All of us Africans must hang their heads in
shame for having allowed such a
desperate situation to continue almost
without anybody doing anything to try
and stop it," Tutu said.
The
Brussels-based International Crisis Group warned in a report Tuesday
that
Zimbabwe "is closer than ever to complete collapse," saying four out of
five
of the country's 12 million people live below the poverty line.
Inflation
in Zimbabwe may hit 100,000 percent by the end of the year, the
International Monetary Fund has warned.
Tutu said he hoped the
international community would push South African
President Thabo Mbeki and
the Southern African Development Community to do
more to alleviate suffering
in Zimbabwe.
"People are being detained, human rights are being violated
without any
conscience at all," Tutu said. "It is we who are on the outside
who ought to
intervene."
The Times
September 19, 2007
Jane Macartney in Beijing
China has bowed to economic reality and
political expediency by calling a
halt to aid to Zimbabwe.
One of the
few remaining friends to President Mugabe, Zimbabwe's embattled
leader,
China has been quietly allowing the relationship to cool over the
past few
months. But Li Guijin, China's special envoy for Africa, confirmed
yesterday
that Beijing had halted development aid. "China's assistance is
mainly
humanitarian. In terms of development assistance, we have some
difficulties," he said.
"China in the past provided substantial
development assistance but owing to
the dramatic currency revaluations and
rapid deterioration of economic
conditions, the economic outcomes of these
projects have not been so good."
The decision deals a heavy blow to a
country where unemployment is 80 per
cent, inflation hit 7,600 per cent in
July and the value of the Zimbabwean
dollar on the black market recently
fell to 500,000 to the pound.
China's continued aid could have served as
a lifeline to Mr Mugabe's
Government. And its decision to end years of
government investment must have
involved much soul-searching for a country
eager to present itself as an
unconditional friend of Africa and one that
does not impose conditions on
its loans and investment.
As recently as
April Jia Qinglin, a member of China's all-powerful Politburo
standing
committee, promised to build two primary schools, a hospital and an
agriculture training centre. And he reiterated plans to renovate the
National Sports Stadium, that was built by China in the 1980s. But the only
definite deal was a swap of farm machinery for tobacco. The future of those
projects is now in doubt.
Lord Malloch-Brown, the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office Minister for Asia,
Africa and the United Nations, said
during a visit to Beijing last month
that officials had informed him of the
change. He described the shift as
enormously important. "That puts it in the
same position as Britain, which
is the second-biggest provider of
humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe," he
said.
President Hu Jintao
excluded the country from a tour of several African
countries this year.
Beijing may have begun to feel international pressure
after it welcomed Mr
Mugabe to the Sino-African summit in November.
With the Olympic Games
less than a year away China may not want to be
associated with a state
leader regarded by many nations as a pariah. China
is Zimbabwe's largest
investor and its second-biggest trading partner -
after South
Africa.
Ailing agriculture
China extended loans worth $58 million
(£30 million) to Zimbabwe in April to
spend on agricultural
equipment
It provided Mr Mugabe with $200 million of fertiliser to revive
the country's
beleaguered farms
A human rights report in June
estimated that Mr Mugabe's policies have cost
the country $8.5 billion since
2000
Source: Reliefweb; Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum; Times archives
The Telegraph
By Peta
Thornycroft and Sebastien Berger
Last Updated: 2:34am BST
19/09/2007
Gordon Brown should put more pressure on
President Robert Mugabe to
improve Zimbabwe's human rights record, Desmond
Tutu said last night.
The Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and
Nobel peace prize winner said
the "quiet diplomacy" pursued by the Southern
Africa Development Community
(SADC) had "not worked at all".
He
called on Britain and the West to pressure SADC, including South
Africa,
which is chairing talks between President Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and
the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change, to set firm deadlines for
action,
with consequences if they are not met.
"All of us Africans must
hang their heads in shame for having allowed
such a desperate situation to
continue almost without anybody doing anything
to try and stop it," he
said.
"It's been deeply, deeply distressing, the kinds of things
that have
happened to ordinary people in Zimbabwe. People are being detained
and human
rights are being violated without any conscience at
all.
"The people are doing as much as you possibly could in such a
ghastly
situation. They have suffered enough. It is we who are on the
outside who
ought to intervene," he told ITN. He looked, in particular, to
Gordon Brown
"for more effective intervention".
Dr Tutu's
comments were echoed in a report by the International Crisis
Group, a
respected think-tank.
It said that the country's economic crisis
had brought it "closer than
ever to complete collapse" with inflation
running at nearly 7,000 per cent,
and called on the SADC to persuade Mr
Mugabe to step down.
"Some SADC leaders remain Mugabe supporters,
and there is a risk the
organisation will accept cosmetic changes that
further entrench the status
quo," the report said. Possible incentives for
retirement could include
"immunity from prosecution for Mugabe and other
senior Zanu-PF officials",
it said, as well as "guarantees, at least to a
specified level, that the
accumulated wealth, including land, of Mugabe, his
family, and other members
of the establishment will be secure".
"Zimbabweans want above all an end to their nightmare," it added, but
said
EU and US measures were ineffective. "Western sanctions - mainly
targeting
just over 200 members of the leadership with travel bans and asset
freezes -
have proven largely symbolic," it said.
"And general condemnations
from the UK and US if anything (are)
counterproductive because they help
Mugabe claim he is the victim of
neo-colonial ambitions."
In
Harare, the Movement for Democratic Change struck a surprise deal
with
Zanu-PF to change the country's electoral laws.
The constitutional
amendment abolishes President Mugabe's right to
appoint 30 MPs, removing a
major hurdle to the opposition winning an
election.
But it also
increases the number of constituencies from 120 to 210,
which the current
election commission, appointed by Zanu-PF, could
gerrymander to return
loyalist MPs.
The Telegraph
By
Peta Thornycroft in Johannesburg
Last Updated: 2:34am BST
19/09/2007
Zimbabwe's opposition party, the Movement for
Democratic Change,
yesterday struck a deal with Robert Mugabe to change the
country's electoral
laws.
The rule change abolishes President
Mugabe's right to appoint 30 MPs,
removing a major hurdle to the opposition
winning an election.
But it also increases the number of
constituencies from 120 to 210,
which the ruling Zanu-PF party could easily
gerrymander to return loyalist
MPs.
But observers believe that
the deal could mark a breakthrough and that
talks chaired by South Africa
could produce a new constitution in time for
presidential and parliamentary
elections next March. The process, however,
remains subject to Mr Mugabe's
veto and there are no assurances of a free
and fair ballot.
Welshman Ncube, founding secretary-general of the MDC, said: "A new
constitution is now firmly on the agenda and hopefully agreement will be
reached."
If Mr Mugabe, 83, retires or dies before the next
election, parliament
will have the power under the new law to appoint his
successor.
Mr Mugabe, though, appears determined to stand for
re-election, but
his factionalised party has called an "extraordinary"
congress in December
where his candidacy could be on the
agenda.
The government yesterday announced that Zimbabwe's
hyperinflation had
slowed to 6,592.8 per cent in August, but in a new report
the respected
International Crisis Group think-tank said that the country's
economic
crisis had brought it "closer than ever to complete
collapse".
It called on Zimbabwe's neighbours in the Southern
African Development
Community (SADC) to focus on persuading Mr Mugabe to
step down.
Zim Online
Wednesday 19 September 2007
By
Patricia Mpofu and Lizwe Sebatha
HARARE - Zimbabwean police on Tuesday
raided the offices of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) demanding
to see the secretary general of
the workers' federation Wellington Chibebe,
a day before the union leads a
two-day protest against worsening economic
hardships in the country.
The raid on the ZCTU offices in Harare followed
an increased presence of the
police on the streets where security forces
mounted roadblocks on all major
roads leading into the capital ahead of
today's job stay-away.
Chibebe confirmed that the police had raided his
offices at Chester House in
Harare looking for him adding that the police
had also arrested three more
ZCTU members in the morning.
The ZCTU
boss said those who were arrested were Wilson Gambanje, the union's
regional
officer for Chinhoyi, Charles Chikozho, the Midlands regional
secretary and
another member identified as Isaac Tebetebe.
"We are pushing ahead with
the protests despite the police intimidation. We
want the government to
address the plight of workers," said Chibebe.
Police spokesperson Oliver
Mandipaka said he was still to be briefed over
the arrest of the three ZCTU
members.
"I have to check with my office for details but police are on
high alert for
any disturbances," said Mandipaka.
Meanwhile, ZCTU
spokesperson Khumbulani Ndlovu said the labour union's
lawyers were battling
to gain access to three members who were assaulted and
later abducted by
suspected state agents while distributing fliers on
Monday.
The
three, Michael Kandukutu, Justice Mucheni and Tennyson Muchefa, were
detained at Mbare Police station on Monday night but were yesterday moved to
Harare central police station.
"They (lawyers) are preparing to take
the matter to the High Court to apply
for an urgent order to have access to
the three," said Ndlovu.
Alec Muchadehama, the lawyer representing the
ZCTU officials, said he was
still preparing the High Court
application.
"The police have also denied the three access to food. The
last meal they
had was breakfast and those bringing them lunch were turned
away," said
Muchadehama yesterday.
The two-day anti-poverty protests
come at a time when most Zimbabweans can
hardly put food on the table for
their families as they grapple with an
acute economic crisis that was
worsened by a controversial government blitz
on prices that began last
June.
The directive to retailers to roll back prices by 50 percent has
resulted in
empty shelves in most supermarkets after manufacturers and shop
owners
failed to restock as they were forced to sell basic goods at a
loss.
The Zimbabwean government, which accuses business of working in
cahoots with
its Western enemies to effect regime change in the country,
last September
beat up Chibebe and other senior labour leaders after they
had organised
similar protests in Harare. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wednesday 19 September 2007
By
Sebastian Nyamhangambiri
HARARE - Zimbabwean civic society leaders under
the 'Save Zimbabwe Campaign'
banner left the country yesterday for a meeting
with South African mediators
in talks between ruling ZANU PF party and the
Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) party, ZimOnline has learnt.
The
team, composed of National Constitutional Assembly president Lovemore
Madhuku, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights director Arnold Tsunga and Pastor
Ray Motsi who is spokesperson for Christian Alliance, was yesterday expected
to meet South African Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota.
Lekota is part
of the South African team mediating in the Southern African
Development
Community-initiated talks between ZANU PF and the MDC.
"There is a
possibility of meeting the South African president, but that is
not certain
yet," said a source close to the delegation.
The source said the civic
leaders are going to make known to the South
African team their misgivings
after the Zimbabwean civil society was left
out of the talks.
"The
delegation also wants the issue of the constitutional reforms to be
part of
the concessions that will be made by the MDC and ZANU PF. The
constitution
is the centre of the current crisis. We believe having an
election under the
current constitution is academic," the source said.
The 'Save Zimbabwe
Campaign' meeting with Lekota comes days after President
Thabo Mbeki met
leaders of the divided MDC over the weekend.
The South African leader
briefed Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara on
progress in the
talks.
Madhuku, who is said to be leading the "Save Zimbabwe Campaign",
confirmed
going to Pretoria but refused to be drawn into
details.
"Maybe the right time to comment would be when I am back. I am
not going to
say what I am going to South Africa for," said Madhuku speaking
from the
Harare International Airport.
Lekota or Mbeki's office could
not be reached for comment yesterday.
Mbeki was mandated by SADC last
March to mediate in the Zimbabwe crisis
talks seen by many as key to ending
a biting eight-year economic and
political crisis in the country. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wednesday 19 September 2007
By
Thulani Munda
HARARE - The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC)
has warned of a 30
percent slump in foreign investment if President Robert
Mugabe presses ahead
with a controversial law that will force foreign
companies to cede majority
control to indigenous Zimbabweans.
ZNCC
chief executive Cain Mpofu told a special parliamentary committee in
Harare
that the chamber was worried that the "noble" intentions of the
proposed law
could be eclipsed by a lull in critical foreign direct
investment (FDI)
inflows.
Mugabe's government has said it intends to bring in more blacks
to
participate in the country's mainstream economy by making sure that
locals
take up at least 51 percent shareholding in every investment where
foreign
investors will be involved.
The Zimbabwean leader says the
Indigenisation and Empowerment Bill is meant
to give control of the
country's natural resources to the majority blacks,
claiming that foreigners
were not investing in Zimbabwe's future
development.
But Mpofu said
the Zimbabwean economy would be the overall loser if the Bill
was passed in
its current form.
"There is a likelihood of a 30 percent drop in FDI
following the passage of
the proposed Act," Mpofu told the parliamentary
committee during a heated
debate attended by industry representatives and
private companies.
He said the Bill, currently being debated in
Parliament, should put in place
mechanisms to make sure that every
Zimbabwean had access to participation in
the economy.
"A decline in
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is also anticipated after the
implementation of
the indigenisation programme," said Mpofu.
The tottering southern African
economy is estimated to have shrunk by up to
40 percent since Mugabe chased
white farmers from their properties in 2000,
triggering a severe recession
highlighted by an exodus of foreign investors
and unprecedented shortages of
foreign currency to import raw materials.
The crisis, triggered by
Mugabe's controversial land reform programme that
started in 2000, has seen
a slump in industrial and agricultural output and
condemned more than 80
percent of the population to a life of abject
poverty.
Millions
others have escaped to other countries in search of better living
conditions.
"It is also not clear what the implications of the Bill
will be for those
corporates that are listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
How will trade in
stocks on the market be handled? Will issues of race be
incorporated into
the stock exchange?" Mpofu asked.
Questions were
also raised over the safeguards in the Bill to ensure that
all Zimbabweans
benefited from the proposed law.
Previous attempts to empower blacks have
benefited those with connections in
high places or those seen to be
sympathetic to Mugabe's ruing ZANU PF party.
"There are inadequate
safeguards in the Bill to suggest that this will not
happen if the Bill
becomes law," said Mpofu, who however acknowledged that
if properly done the
Bill would create an enabling environment that will
result in increased
participation of indigenous people in Zimbabwe in the
economic activities of
the country.
Chamber of Mines president Jack Murehwa warned against
government's recent
intention to be a "referee in a match it is playing"
arguing there were
serious "conflicts of interest" in such
practices.
Murehwa could have been referring to the recent entry by the
government in
diamond mining in Marange.
He warned that while the
proposed law had the potential to increase the
people's participation in
mining, government should be careful in its
selection of those who will
benefit from the laws.
"Government must nurture those indigenous people
that are capable of adding
value to the economy without subsidies or
handouts from the taxpayers.
Existing agreements between government and
mines should continue to be
recognized," Murehwa told the
committee.
The empowerment Bill has drawn criticism from economists who
fear it would
scare away foreign investors at a time Harare desperately
needed support
from the international community.
Zimbabwe has
struggled to meet her fuel and power requirements since 2000
after the
International Monetary Fund and other Western donors pulled the
plug on
economic assistance, triggering acute shortages of foreign
currency. -
ZimOnline
Gulf News
By Nicholas Coates, Associate
Editor
Published: September 18, 2007, 23:50
If Zimbabwe was
floating on a sea of oil, would Robert Gabriel Mugabe still
be heading the
government? The simple answer is no, because the Western
world would never
have allowed the country to deteriorate to the extent it
is, under President
Mugabe's rule, or misrule.
With inflation now standing at somewhere in
the region of 10,000 per cent
(it is difficult to extrapolate precise
figures; with 80 per cent of the
population out of work; with the Zimbabwean
dollar official rate being
ZB15,000:$1 (but on the black market, nearer to
ZB300,000:$1), the nation is
imploding and the people are
starving.
Not only is there insufficient food, what there is available is
of poor
quality and unaffordable to the majority. Mugabe, in his infinite
wisdom,
decided the way to curb inflation of basic commodities was to invoke
a law
whereby retailers could not sell produce below the government-stated
price.
This meant that effectively, shops had to shut as they were
expected to sell
items for less than they were buying them. Since much of
the foodstuff was
being imported from South Africa by individual retailers a
great personal
expense, it is not surprising that the government
intervention would put a
stop to the practice.
This was a nation that
was once known as the breadbasket of Africa. It not
only supplied adequate
cereal crops for its own people, but was able to
build up a lucrative
foreign exchange in export trading of crops, including
tobacco.
Now,
the majority of Zimbabweans is destitute, and has little access to food
or
medicine and is slowly dying. And the world sits idly by, wondering how
much
longer things will continue as they are.
For several years Thabo Mbeki,
President of South Africa, has insisted that
his "quiet diplomacy" approach
will in the end pay dividends. It has not
only proved to be totally
ineffective, but brought disrepute to Mbeki's
abilities, especially in the
light of so many problems that still persist in
his country.
It is
said that no one in Zimbabwe is prospering, but that it not true.
Mugabe is
prospering, and very nicely too. He not only lives in a large
spacious
manor, with all found, but is reputedly building a palace for
himself for
his retirement.
This costly project not only mocks the poverty-stricken
Zimbabweans who are
building it, but also the many that cannot find, let
alone afford, food for
their table. For talk of Mugabe's retirement seems to
be that only. No
indication of when he will step down has been given, nor is
likely to be.
Mugabe now wants to change the constitution (he has done it
before) so it
leaves him free to nominate his successor, instead of having
an election.
(The term "free and fair" election cannot be applied in
Zimbabwe, as there
never has been one.)
The reason for nominating his
successor is the same reason Mugabe persists
in holding on to
power.
So corrupt has his regime become that he fears any successor of
independent
nature might take him to court, charged with various felonies,
like
corruption, racketeering, forced imprisonment, torture and so on. It is
for
similar reasons that Mugabe is restricted in his movements in travelling
abroad.
If he was to leave his own country it is possible he would be
arrested and
charged with similar offences, as there is a European Union
warrant out for
him.
Sanctions
Mugabe claims that the problems
are brought about by Western sanctions,
which is why his argument is so well
received in Africa. But the sanctions
only apply to the foreign assets held
by Mugabe and his family, the
sanctions are not against the
nation.
In fact, there reverse is true, if anything, because for several
years
Western aid agencies have been trying to get basic materials in, only
to be
rebuffed by Mugabe.
The truth is the decline of Zimbabwe's
economy started once he decided to
move against white farmers and hand their
farms over to his cronies and self
styled "war veterans" from the earlier
civil strife.
These veterans, many of whom did not appear old enough to
have fought, were
given allotments from larger farmlands, sufficient for a
family to sustain
themselves.
With inadequate knowledge of farming,
and insufficient grain for replanting,
the once-fertile lands decayed and
failed to produce sufficient food for
Zimbabweans, let alone for export. At
least half the population now depends
on aid from other countries.
No
one will move against Mugabe - he has the army and police on his side,
and
ensures they stay on side by paying them well and ensuring they are fed
adequately. In return, the troops are prepared to beat down or torture any
opposition to Mugabe.
If sanctions were applied against Zimbabwe, it
would merely add fuel to
Mugabe fire; although there by virtue of a corrupt
election, technically
Mugabe is the elected president (amazingly, he still
has supporters is some
regions), so other nations, including the West, are
reluctant to move
against him.
But if Zimbabwe was floating on a sea
of oil ...
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
18 September
2007
Police on Tuesday arrested six more officials of the
Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions for a total of nine since Monday, and were
still detaining
seven of them on the eve of a two-day national general
strike called by the
trade union federation.
The union called the
strike to protest a freeze on wages imposed by the
government as part of its
crash program to reduce inflation officially
running at
6,593%.
Police were holding ZCTU Matebeleland Regional Chairman Reason
Ngwenya and
Regional Secretary Ambrose Sibindi, who were picked up by
officers of the
Bulawayo law and order section, union sources
said.
As of late Tuesday, police in Gweru were continuing to hold ZCTU
Midlands
Chairman Charles Chikozvo and the union's regional secretary, Isaac
Teveteve.
But police in Chinhoyi freed Mashonaland West Regional
Secretary Wilson
Kambanje and Organizing Secretary Wellington Chiparamakura
after detaining
them briefly for handing out union fliers urging workers to
participate in
the "stay-away."
Three union officials arrested Monday
in Harare for passing out fliers were
still held by police. Union sources
said they were denied food and legal
representation.
ZCTU Secretary
General Wellington Chibebe told reporter Patience Rusere of
VOA's Studio 7
for Zimbabwe that police came to union headquarters looking
for him.
Christian Science Monitor
Chaos and want are not a part of the heritage God has provided for
anyone.
from the September 19, 2007 edition
"Dear World,
I
am a 16-year-old living in Zimbabwe.... Maybe, just maybe, there might be
someone out there who can help us...."
This e-mail message showed up
in my mailbox recently, along with a request
for prayer for that deeply
troubled country. As the news pages of this paper
reported in late August,
"Once considered a shining example of Africa's
potential, Zimbabwe is now a
country in the throes of its worst economic
crisis in decades. Critical
shortages of food, fuel, foreign currency, and,
in some areas, water, beset
a nation where the official inflation rate tops
7,600 percent" ("Zimbabwe
economy in free fall," Aug. 27).
A large part of the problem seems to be
repressive and corrupt government
policies that over two decades have made
life more difficult for people. But
one thing I found encouraging as I was
praying about Zimbabwe and also
reading in one of its newspapers is that,
despite the difficulties, people
both within and outside the government are
working to improve people's
lives. Our prayers can support efforts to free
people in the country from
violence and destitution.
The obstacles to
progress seem almost insurmountable, but Mary Baker Eddy,
the founder of
this newspaper, offered a powerful thought to offset
discouragement. At the
very beginning of her book "Science and Health with
Key to the Scriptures,"
she wrote, "The prayer that reforms the sinner and
heals the sick is an
absolute faith that all things are possible to God, - a
spiritual
understanding of Him, an unselfed love."
This isn't an abstract
statement. Mrs. Eddy dealt with poverty, abuse,
doubt, itinerancy, and many
other challenges in order to establish Christian
Science and the
organization that supports it. And her conviction that "all
things are
possible to God" never wavered. It rests on the understanding
that there is
a Science of Love that is practical and that can change the
course of events
to a more spiritual direction. It can heal a sick country -
whatever the
situation - as readily as a sick body.
The basis for such healing is that
each of us is spiritual, made to express
qualities such as intelligence,
peace, purity, goodness, honesty, love,
order, and beauty. Chaos and want
are not part of the heritage God has
provided for His creation. So whatever
instills feelings of chaos and lack
doesn't have divine support. On the
contrary, it is eliminated by the
spiritual fact that God's goodness is
unlimited and ever present. God never
abandons His children.
Even so,
when people are striving make reforms, they sometimes have to
struggle with
the feeling of being alone. Like the young girl whose e-mail
appeal touched
my heart, they ask if someone anywhere cares. This passage in
Philippians
helps me: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
For it is
God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure" (Phil.
2:12, 13).
In our prayers we can affirm that God is actually working with
each
individual; no one is alone. Through God's guidance, they will be able
to
find useful answers and have the courage to pursue what is right. At the
same time, this God - who loves all His children - can inspire the
leadership to change its operating methods, to become wiser, more
compassionate.
Often, when conditions are desperate, fear blocks
positive steps toward
progress. Prayer enables us to recognize that God is
Love, and this Love is
present for everyone, 24/7. Love provides guidance,
sustenance, and comfort.
The Bible makes clear that there is no fear in
love, so Love is fear's
antidote. Love embraces its full creation in ways
that heal and bless.
Ultimately, it is "Love that worketh within" us and
leads us to the right
answers. It's love that is empowering your prayers and
mine on behalf of
Zimbabwe. And it's love that will lift that country out of
its anguish and
into the light once more.
Zim Online
Wednesday 19 September
2007
JOHANNESBURG - In a story published on 24 August 2007,
we erroneously
claimed that Dr Dickson Chibanda said that close to 40
percent of
Zimbabweans suffer from mental disorders due to economic
hardships the
country is facing and also because of the effects of Operation
Murambatsvina, the government's urban clean-up operation carried out in
2005.
It has since been brought to our attention that Dr Chibanda
never claimed
that 40 percent of Zimbabweans suffer from mental disorders
and that this
was in part attributable to Operation
Murambatsvina.
The correct position is that Dr Chibanda is an employee of
the Ministry of
Health and was last year involved in a research project
conducted in Harare's
high-density suburb of Mbare. The research project -
which was approved by
the Ministry of Health - focused on cases of common
mental disorders at
clinics in Mbare.
The survey established that
approximately 40 percent of persons seeking
medical assistance in the
clinics were at risk of having common mental
disorders, which included
depression, anxiety and stress related conditions.
These findings were based
on a screening tool called the SSQ (the Shona
Symptom Questionaire) which is
a screening tool and not a diagnostic tool.
Dr Chibanda presented the
findings of the research at a meeting of various
stakeholders amongst them
representatives of the Ministry of Health and the
Harare city council in
November 2006.
He explained that the findings of the survey did not apply
to the rest of
the country. Dr Chibanda specifically did not say that almost
40 percent of
all Zimbabweans suffered from mental illness as a direct
result of Operation
Murambatsvina.
We regret misrepresenting Dr
Chibanda and attributing quotes that he never
made in our story that claimed
that almost 40 percent of Zimbabweans suffer
from mental illness. We
sincerely apologise to Dr Chibanda for the
publication of the inaccurate
article. - Editor