Zimstat reopens census after miscount outcry

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

03/09/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

THE body running the 2012 census says it is redeploying enumerators for a
so-called “mop-up count” after an outcry by people who say they were not
counted.

Residents of several Bulawayo suburbs said Monday they were excluded from
the 15-day population count which was carried out between August 12 and 27.
Similar complaints have emerged from areas such as Harare and Masvingo.

MDC spokesman Nhlanhla Dube said: “These guys got to my house and told the
maid that they would only accept the numbers of people who live in our house
from either my wife or myself and since we were both at work, our family was
not counted.

“So the Bulawayo numbers cannot be correct. I just wonder how many other
people were not counted. Is this deliberate?”
Deputy Justice Minister Obert Gutu has already threatened to sue the
Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) claiming several of his
constituents were not counted in what he described as a gross violation of
their human rights.

“My household in Ward 8, Harare, was not enumerated. I have no explanation
from ZimStat as yet; I am not happy about this,” Gutu fumed.

“I live in a small close in Ward 8. There are seven houses in our close, but
none of the houses were enumerated. I feel that our constitutional right to
be enumerated was grossly violated. I am mooting taking appropriate legal
action against ZimStat.

“My family feels marginalised, discriminated and violated by not being
enumerated in this otherwise very important national programme that takes
place only once in every 10 years.”

Zimstat’s population census director Washington Mapeta said the agency would
deploy enumerators for a mop-up count to address the problem.

"We are checking all those reports and for the purposes of making the whole
process credible, enumerators will visit areas where people are said to have
been left out,” he said.

"It is something we are looking at seriously because we know that there are
single households where occupants might not have been there during the
official days."

Finance Minister Tendai Biti recently described the census as a success
adding results were expected by the end of the year.

Zimbabwe holds a census after every 10 years and the last count in 2002 put
the country’s population at 11,6 million.

Minister, Hundreds of Households Left Out of Population Census

http://www.voazimbabwe.com

Tatenda Gumbo
03.09.2012

Some Zimbabweans are crying foul for being left out of the just-ended
national population census saying they have not yet been counted despite
claims by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) that a recent
mop-up exercise was a big success.

Hundreds of households in various provinces claim that they have not been
visited by enumerators following the completion of the exercise last week.

People in areas such as Matabeleland North's Lupane District, Mhondoro in
Mashonaland West, and major cities - Harare and Bulawayo - told VOA they are
yet to be counted.

Zimstat officials last week reported that they had successfully completed a
so-called mop-up exercise but now say the process will continue this week.

National census manager Washington Mapeta said people who have not yet been
counted should contact enumerators or visit the deparment's offices in all
provinces.

Mapeta said some households were left out as the exercise had to be
conducted in a timely manner in order to get accurate data.

Deputy Justice Minister and Harare resident Obert Gutu, who had been exluded
in the exercise and threatened to sue Zimstat, was today counted by
enumerators at his home.

Gutu said excluding Zimbabweans from the national count is a violation of
the rights of citizens.

The minister said he will press, along with other government officials, for
Zimstat to account for Zimbabweans who were left out of the exercise.

Former lawmaker Njabuliso Mguni of Lupane East said in his area 108
homesteads were not visited by enumerators "and there is no clear indication
why the homesteads were left out".

Mguni said there was no indication from local enumerators if the villages
would be counted.

Chiefs want conservancy seizure reversed

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

03/09/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

CHIREDZI chiefs have demanded that the government reverse the controversial
indigenisation of Save Valley Conservancy which has sparked public clashes
between cabinet ministers and drawn threats of aid cuts by the European
Union.

Environment minister Francis Nhema recently directed that owners of the
prized 3,400 square-kilometre wildlife reserve in the south-east Lowveld
region take on some 25 individuals, most of them senior Zanu PF officials,
as partners in order to comply with the country’s indigenisation policies.

The beneficiaries include higher education minister Stan Mudenge, Masvingo
governor Titus Maluleke, senator Josiah Hungwe, MPs Ronald Ndava, Alois
Baloyi, Abraham Sithole and former legislator Shuvai Mahofa.

But the decision appeared to cause divisions in the cabinet with Tourism
minister, Walter Mzembi, accusing his party and cabinet colleague of
promoting greed by “empowering people who are already empowered severally in
other sectors, such as farming, ranching, sugar cane farming, mining”.

And on Monday, traditional leaders from the area, Chief Gudo, Chief Tshovani
and Chief Sengwe, called on the government to reverse the decision, accusing
Nhema of empowering a few individuals at the expense of their communities.

“The adopted programme, which sadly prioritises a few individuals is against
the concept of broad-based economic empowerment of communities,” the chiefs
told reporters at a press conference in Harare.

“It has allocated vast resources in Chiredzi to a few individuals. The
option that the governor and his clique have adopted, under which they
partner the sitting tenants, has caused a lot of destruction to the
wildlife.

“The option we had proposed would, instead, see the owners teaming up with
local communities who would own 51 percent of the project in line with the
country's indigenisation programme.”

The conservancy’s owners deny allegations that the project is controlled by
foreigners and warn that Nhema’s decision could lead to its complete
collapse.

"Two-thirds of the stakeholders of the conservancy are black,” Wilfried
Pabst, a German businessman who is vice-chair of the conservancy said
recently.

"(The park) is a working example of how something really special can be a
success, by including all sectors of the community, especially the rural
poor who have previously got nothing out of wildlife.”

Still, the new partners have since vowed to stay put and dismissed claims
their involvement would threaten wildlife and leave thousands of jobs at
risk.

“What we are trying to do is correct the historic imbalances caused by
colo­nialism and opening up opportu­nities for blacks in Zimbabwe,” said
Baloyi.

“We are the rightful players in the Save Valley Conservancy because we have
the leases and the other guys do not have anything.”

Traditional leader assaulted by ZANU PF in Mutoko North

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
04 September 2012

A village head accused of having too many MDC supporters in his area was
assaulted by ZANU PF activists in Mutoko North on Monday.

According to SW Radio Africa Bulawayo correspondent Lionel Saungweme,
Sabhuku Claudius Nyamudangara was targeted by two thugs named only as
Kambadza and Damios, who are known to be ZANU PF’s “hatchet man” in the
rural districts of Mutoko North.

Sabhuku Nyamudangara had left his village to visit Jigu Village in Ward 17
when the two ambushed and assaulted him with fists and boots. “A report was
made to the police and they have opened a docket. Normally they do not even
follow-up but JOMIC has been involved and police want to appease them,”
Saungweme said.

He added that the traditional leader is making arrangements to travel to
Harare for medical treatment. “He was unconscious during most of the attack
and he woke up with a badly swollen face, lacerated ribs and suspects he has
a fracture in his right shoulder because he is in pain,” Saungweme
explained.

Our correspondent said a photo-journalist in the same area, Shadreck
Manyere, reported that his brother Saddam had his tomatoes and other
property confiscated by ZANU PF activists. Saddam had also been accused of
being an MDC supporter and too close to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mutoko North is in Mashonaland East, the same province where ZANU PF
supporters killed the MDC-T ward one chairman for Mudzi North, Cephas
Magura, in May this year. The attackers also injured seven other MDC-T
supporters, who were admitted to the Avenues Clinic in Harare.

According to Saungweme, JOMIC has been monitoring violence in Mash East
province and there has been a presence of high level officials since Magura’s
death. The police are aware of this and appear to have eased up on their
usual partisan behavior.

Meanwhile Newsday newspaper reported this week that they were in possession
of internal party documents which show that ZANU PF’s campaign strategy for
the forthcoming general elections “will hinge on infiltration of churches,
neutralisation of civic society and use of traditional leaders to whip the
rural electorate into line.”

Saungweme said the politicization of traditional leaders breaches a section
of the Global Political Agreement (GPA), which stipulates that traditional
leaders have responsibilities and obligations to all members of their
communities, “regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, race, religion and
political affiliation.”

Article XIV calls on all Political Parties to: “Commit themselves to
ensuring the political neutrality of traditional leaders and calls upon
traditional leaders not to engage in partisan political activities at
national level as well as in their communities”.

But ZANU PF continues to use traditional leaders to victimise villagers in
their constituencies who are suspected of being MDC-T supporters. And those
who do not comply, like Sabhuku Nyamudangara, become the victims.

Constitution stalemate designed to divert attention from reforms

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
04 September 2012

Attempts by ZANU PF to make ‘outrageous’ changes to a draft constitution
produced by all three coalition partners is designed to divert attention
from fundamental reforms that are needed, a cabinet minister has told SW
Radio Africa.

Information, Communication, Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa, the National
Organising Secretary for the MDC-T, said the haggling over a draft
constitution was just a ZANU PF ‘decoy’ designed to divert attention from
the need to reform the voters roll, media landscape and the security sector.

“A constitution alone has never been an instrument for the holding of free
and fair elections,” Chamisa said. He cited the staffing of the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (Secretariat) with partisan members from the army and
state security agencies, as an example of a crucial issue going under the
radar.

“We must be careful that we are not chasing after a ZANU PF kite. ZANU PF
are in the habit of creating false and pseudo-imaginations of problems when
in fact we must be focused on fundamental reforms to the issue of free and
fair elections.

“We have to address the issue of the ZEC, the technical composition of ZEC,
to speak to the issues of the media and media reforms. We must address the
voters roll, issues of delimitation, we must go to the software issues of
elections, election management and the security of the voter,” Chamisa told
SW Radio Africa.

Meanwhile it’s reported all three parties in the coalition government have
agreed to have members of a SADC technical team help the Joint Monitoring
and Implementation Committee (JOMIC), a year after the team was appointed.
The agreement was secured by President Jacob Zuma’s facilitation team in
Harare last week.

Its reported disagreements over the teams ‘terms of reference’ held up its
deployment. Ambassador David Katye from Tanzania and Mrs Colly Muunyu, a
diplomat from Zambia, are the members of the team. South Africa were meant
to supply a third member, but opted not to.

Air Zimbabwe Woes Continue

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, September 04, 2012 - Air Zimbabwe woes continues to haunt the
parastatal as the airline continue to delay flights due to operational
problems.
On Monday the airline delayed passengers to Bulawayo and Victoria Falls for
two hours for what the captain, who was flying the Boeing 737, said were
operational problems.

"We are sorry for the late departure. This was due to operational problems,"
Chipo Matimba, the captain, told passengers.

The delay affected top government ministers who included Mines Minister
Obert Mpofu, Water Resources Minister Sipepa Nkomo and deputy health
minister Douglas Mombeshora.

The national airline was castigated by some passengers who had come without
tickets to board the plane thinking that the airline had a record of all
passengers booked.

But to the surprise of passengers, an official at Harare International
Airport said the airline was operating manually and they did not have
information of their passengers readily. They had to telephone their Harare
office in town to confirm passengers not carrying their tickets.

Air Zimbabwe has been facing problems over the years, which include plying
non viable routes, ageing fleet, corruption and mismanagement resulting in
the airline incurring over $100 million in debt.

At one time the airline flew one passenger from Victoria Falls to Harare.

Zimbabwe, which is hosting the United Nations World Tourism Organisation
(UNWTO) general assembly meeting with Zambia next year, has already
announced that it will approach South African airways to be the official
carrier of delegates next year.

Zanu PF infiltrates churches

http://www.thezimbabwemail.net

6 hours 36 minutes ago

ZANU (PF)’s campaign strategy ahead of the forthcoming general elections
will hinge on infiltration of churches, neutralisation of civic society and
use of traditional leaders to whip the rural electorate into line, internal
party documents have revealed.
Zanu PF has been pushing for fresh elections since 2010 and this position is
reflected in the reports obtained by NewsDay last week.

Part of the 2011 central committee report states: “These activities involved
a visit to church gatherings and conferences, meetings and traditional
leaders, minority groups and members of the business community.

“His Excellency, the President and First Secretary Cde R G Mugabe, pioneered
the programme by paying a visit to the Johane Marange Apostolic Church
gathering in Marange.

“Other members of the Presidium followed suit as guests of honour at various
gatherings.”

Over four million Zimbabweans are estimated to be members of the mainline
churches which Zanu PF is targeting.

In April this year, Zanu PF political commissar Webster Shamu addressed
scores of members of the Guta Ra Mwari (Zvimiso) Church at its Holy Shrine
in Nyazura.

The meeting was also attended by Zanu PF Manicaland provincial chairman Mike
Madiro and several central committee members.

In June, party chairman Simon Khaya Moyo officiated at the Annual Feast of
Tabernacles of St John’s Apostolic Church of the Whole World.

Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo, Mashonaland West governor Faber
Chidarikire, president of the Senate Edna Madzongwe, Zanu PF Mashonaland
West provincial chairman John Mafa, MP for the area Sylvester Nguni and
local chiefs were among the delegates.

In his address, Khaya Moyo pledged to dole out land and three boreholes to
the church members and urged those interested in owning residential stands
to approach Chombo.

The party has gone a step further to use compromised preachers to prop up
the Mugabe regime at church gatherings.

Zanu PF has also courted the support of traditional leaders, according to
the reports.

To date, several chiefs have been allocated farms and service vehicles, a
move that has been widely condemned as a vote-buying gimmick. Most chiefs
have in the past openly declared their allegiance to Zanu PF while others
are reported to have threatened to evict non-Zanu PF members from their
areas of jurisdiction.

Both party reports praised war veterans’ leader Jabulani Sibanda’s
countrywide“mass mobilisation campaign”.

According to the reports, the youths would be lured through the
indigenisation programme while “Western-sponsored” civil society’s
resistance would be neutralised by the establishment of “progressive”
organisations.

“The indigenisation programme and economic empowerment policy were
reaffirmed as the main policy of the party and it is the message Zanu PF
will take to the electorate,” the party said although in public it has
described the policy as a national programme which deserves support from all
political parties. - NewsDay

Howard Hospital nurses stand trial after violent protests

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
04 September 2012

A case against a group of nurses from the Salvation Army run Howard Hospital
in Chiweshe was heard in court on Tuesday, after violent protests against
the dismissal of a top doctor there last month.

The nurses have been accused of inciting the violence that saw 12 Chiweshe
residents being arrested. The protest was called over the removal of Dr.
Paul Thistle, who was the chief doctor at the Hospital and a highly
respected and greatly loved member of the community.

The Canadian born doctor has been in Zimbabwe for more than 16 years and had
helped Howard Hospital become one of the most respected medical facilities
in the country.

But it is understood that he recently ran afoul of the Salvation Army
leadership in Zimbabwe after raising concerns about missing funding and
materials meant for the Howard mission. These concerns have led to him being
removed from the hospital, and last month he was given a 48 hour ultimatum
to leave the country and return to his native Canada.

SW Radio Africa has been told that the doctor is refusing to leave Zimbabwe
while the case against his colleagues is pursued. According to a source, the
Salvation Army has tried on three separate occasions since his dismissal to
get him and his family on a plane bound for Canada, but he has refused.
There was no news about the results of Tuesday’s case by the end of the day.

Residents in Chiweshe meanwhile have told SW Radio Africa that they are
planning to petition the government, urging intervention in getting Dr.
Thistle returned to the hospital.

A resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday that the
hospital is still not functioning properly, and there is general concern for
the wellbeing of patients.

“Morale is very low. Things just aren’t the same and services are not as
good as when Dr. Thistle was here. People are collecting signatures to give
to the headman to give to the president’s office, because they want Dr.
Thistle back,” the resident said.

Speculation remains rife about the real reasons for Dr. Thistle’s removal,
with allegations that he is a victim of ZANU PF infighting. SW Radio Africa
has been told that Joice Mujuru is a senior member of the Salvation Army in
Zimbabwe and she has used her influence to have the doctor removed. This is
believed to be in an effort to control the area where her rival Emmerson
Mnangagwa has support.

Siwela says Mugabe fears retribution for crimes

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
04 September 2012

Paul Siwela, leader of the Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF), believes Robert
Mugabe and his ZANU PF party will never relinquish power as long as they
think they will be held to account for the atrocities committed during their
32-year reign.

Speaking on SW Radio Africa’s Hidden Story program, the MLF leader said as
long as fundamental issues that have littered the country’s troubled history
are not dealt with as a matter of urgency, ZANU PF will delay the transition
to democracy.

‘Do you think Mugabe, knowing that his troops killed over 20,000 Ndebele
speaking people, will step down willingly knowing that he could face
possible deadly retribution…no,’ Siwela said.

He added: ‘The stumbling block to the change that everybody wants is the
lack of sincerity and clarity on issues which have to be dealt with so that
the country can move forward.

‘If those issues are not dealt with, no solution will be found but the
country will head towards serious turbulence.’

Siwela is of the opinion that Mugabe and his ZANU PF party should sit down
with all stakeholders and seek guarantees for their safety if they lose the
next poll.

‘However, those guarantees won’t come cheap. They have to admit to their
crimes and compensate victims of the Gukurahundi, Murambatsvina and 2008
elections where hundreds of MDC supporters were killed.

‘That way alone can heal this nation and he will step down knowing he has
made efforts to right the shameful wrong,’ Siwela.

The outspoken Siwela gave the constitutional stalemate as one example that
showed ZANU PF’s insincerity to move the country forward.

‘This delay in the constitution process is giving them a window of
opportunity to see how they can wriggle out of this issue. They don’t want a
new constitution and they have never wanted one. It’s all a fallacy,’ he
said.

Kombi pullout leaves thousands stranded

http://www.herald.co.zw

Tuesday, 04 September 2012 10:53
Farai Kuvirimirwa
Herald Correspondent

Thousands of commuters from Chitungwiza were yesterday stranded after kombi
drivers withdrew serv­ices in protest over high police presence along Seke
Road.

A few operators who remained on the road increased fares from US$1 to US$4
per trip.

Most commuter omnibus drivers started plying St Mary’s–Makoni routes that
were not affected by road­blocks.
Police in riot gear were immedi­ately deployed to Makoni shopping centre and
dispersed drivers who had a brief gath­ering.
The drivers said they were losing a lot of money to police manning
roadblocks mounted each morning on the route.
“On our way to town there will be several roadblocks, at times seven.

Concern raised over irregularities in SA deportation process

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
04 September 2012

Concern is being raised over serious irregularities in South Africa’s
process of deporting foreigners, including thousands of Zimbabwean
nationals, who are being picked up and dumped at Beitbridge without any
consideration for the law.

The International Organisation for Migration in Zimbabwe has reported that
more than 28,000 Zimbabweans have been deported since South Africa lifted
its moratorium on the forced returns last year. They said many of the
Zimbabweans had been picked up and then dumped at the Beitbridge Border
Post, without being given the chance prove their legal status or to collect
their personal belongings and salaries.

Diana Zimbudzana from the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum in South Africa confirmed
these reports, telling SW Radio Africa that they have been dealing with such
cases for several months.

“What is happening now is that people are just being picked up in trucks and
not even being given a chance to prove if they are legal or not. The problem
is this is very difficult to prove to the higher levels of Home Affairs,”
Zimduzana said.

There are also growing reports of abuse, violence and victimisation of
Zimbabwean nationals at the notorious Lindela Repatriation Centre in South
Africa, where the South African Human Rights Commission is reportedly
launching a probe. Recently a Zim national detained at the facility told SW
Radio Africa that four people, including two Zimbabweans, died after a riot
at the facility on the 13th August. The riot was in protest at the brutality
of security guards at the centre.

Their ‘reign of terror’, as is being reported by South Africa’s Sunday Times
newspaper, has now led to a probe by the Human Rights Commission. The
Commission has also confirmed that there were eight new complaints about
abuses and human rights infringements at the centre in August alone.

Meanwhile the Lawyers for Human Rights group has warned that xenophobic
violence in South Africa is on the rise. Most recently a group, calling
itself the South African Blacks Association, made threats of violence
against foreigners in Mayfair, Johannesburg, in pamphlets distributed to
foreigners there.

“We will burn your houses, your so-called luxury cars, we will kill your
fucken [sic] puppies [children] and burn down your shops,” the pamphlet
reads. The authors of the pamphlet have also threatened to rape and kill
foreign women.

Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh from Lawyers for Human Rights said these kinds of
threats are not isolated, and violence “is gaining momentum.” She said that
this is “reminiscent of the precursors to the 2008 violence, where 60 people
died.”

“In the 2010-2011 year, about 100 people died in incidents related to
xenophobic violence. So it hasn’t gone away, it’s just not being picked up
in the media,” Ramjathan-Keogh said.

‘Harare turning into desert’

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Tuesday, 04 September 2012 10:55

HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party has warned of
desertification of the capital Harare which is being triggered by haphazard
parcelling of wetlands.

Obert Gutu, spokesperson for MDC Harare province, spoke as Cabinet trashes
residents’ objections to the construction of a $100 million shopping mall in
the leafy Borrowdale suburb.

Another 300-room five-star hotel is being built by a Chinese investor on a
wetland between Belvedere suburb and the National Sports Stadium.

“MDC Harare province would like to express its utmost disappointment at the
continued parcelling out of wetlands to certain people and organisations for
the purpose of constructing hotels, shopping malls,” Gutu told the Daily
News.

“It is a well-established environmental concept that wetlands should be left
as open spaces for recreation purposes in order to protect such fragile
pieces of land from degradation.

This is a global practice meant to ensure the environment is protected and
preserved,” said Gutu.

Gutu, who is also deputy Justice minister in the fragile coalition
government, said scientific studies had proven that the preservation of
wetlands was important to ensure the water table remained high in the long
run.

He said this was an effective remedy against the negative effects of climate
change.

Gutu said the proposed mega-mall dubbed the Millennium Park was unnecessary
given that there were shopping centres such as Sam Levy, Bond Street, Mt
Pleasant, Chisipite and Kamfinsa nearby.

Ken Sharpe, the controversial tycoon building the mall in partnership with
Johannesburg-listed international property group and developer McCormick
Property Development, insists his luxury outlet will be a draw card for
tourists and locals, and could help stop cross-border shopping.

Harare mayor Muchadeyi Masunda claims existing shopping malls in the
Borrowdale area were failing to meet the expectations of “fairly affluent
residents”.

Survey shows Zimbabweans fear violence flare-up in next year’s poll

http://www.bdlive.co.za

BY RAY NDLOVU, SEPTEMBER 04 2012, 09:57 | 0 COMMENT(S)

AN OPINION poll conducted by Afrobarometer shows fears of political violence
breaking out during elections next year persist among Zimbabwean voters, as
the country’s political leaders forge ahead with plans to hold the elections
that will end the three-year-old unity government.

The Afrobarometer report, titled Voting Intentions in Zimbabwe: A Margin of
Terror? notes that "Zimbabweans remain deeply concerned about political
violence".

Fully 88% think that multiparty competition "often" or "always" leads to
violent conflict. … 63% of Zimbabweans say that during an election campaign
they personally fear becoming a victim of political intimidation and
violence".

The percentage of voters afraid of political violence, according to the
report, had increased from 80% in 2009 to 88%.

The findings by Afrobarometer, which surveyed nearly 3,000 voters has now
been used by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan
Tsvangirai to counter a damning report released last month by Freedom House,
entitled Change and New politics in Zimbabwe.

"The document from Afrobarometer seems to confirm our position on the
questionable reliability of the Freedom House report," MDC spokesman Douglas
Mwonzora said at the weekend.

But Jonathan Moyo, a Zanu (PF) Politburo member, warned the MDC not to get
"carried away" with the latest report.

"The Freedom House statement confirmed that Zanu (PF) has more popular and
sustainable support on the ground — especially in between and beyond
elections when policies matter the most than the MDC which in the past comes
alive during elections to capitalise on the political discontent of the
moment only to become clueless and utterly redundant after and beyond
elections".

Political observers indicated that the Afrobarometer report highlights the
"tight contest" that could characterise the next election and could
culminate into a repeat of the June 2008 presidential election rerun.
President Robert Mugabe has faced off against Mr Tsvangirai in successive
presidential elections held in 2002 and 2008, with the outcome bitterly
contested.

"The results of the report show a close call" between Zanu (PF) and the MDC
under the prevailing circumstances and we are likely to go for another
election which will end in a rerun," Trevor Maisiri, an analyst at the
International Crisis Group, said. "This close call between both political
parties also increases the stakes and means we will see desperate and
resolute measures being applied by both parties to win in the next
election."

More state-sanctioned violence cannot be dismissed, he said. The next
election would be a high-level political showdown "which given Zimbabwe’s
history is a recipe for violence and undue means will be used to win in the
election".

Underpinning Zanu (PF)’s comeback onto the political stage, the
Afrobarometer report linked this to efforts by the former ruling party to
"invest resources" in preparation for the elections, while the MDC was
basking in the marginal success of stabilising the economy that it had
scored in the unity government.

Tendai Biti, the MDC’s secretary-general and Zimbabwe’s finance minister,
admitted his party had been caught up in the transition, but they would
learn from its mistakes. "The major lesson being learnt is that the MDC
needs to reconnect with its base and needs to carry out protracted
programmes of mobilisation, advocacy, education, recruitment and delivery.
We accept fully the message that the MDC does not have a God-given right to
govern and that the MDC by action has to wake up and work for the support of
Zimbabweans," Mr Biti said.

The MDC was basking in the marginal success of stabilising the economy that
it had scored in the unity government

Zimbabwe's Man-Made Food Crisis

http://thinkafricapress.com

Zimbabwe's poor harvest is not only the result of drought, but years of failed agricultural policy.

ARTICLE | 4 SEPTEMBER 2012 - 5:34PM | BY ANDREW MAMBONDIYANI

Zimbabwean pupils planting maize in 2009. Photograph by Peter Morgan/Sustainable Sanitation.

Mutare, Zimbabwe:

Zimbabwe is facing severe and widespread food shortages. 1.7 million Zimbabweans currentlyrequire food aid and some fear the situation will get even worse before the next harvest in April.

“The situation is really bad. Many people are going for days without proper meals”, Nekias Mkwindidza, a village elder from Zimunya, about 50 km south of Mutare, tells Think Africa Press.

In Buhera district, Jane Sithole reveals that some are now surviving on porridge made from baobab fruits. “We’re appealing to the government and non-governmental organisations to assist. Some children are no longer going to school because they cannot go on empty stomachs”, she explains.

Tambayi Mhlanga, another villager from the Hotsprings area in Chimanimani district, explains that although the area is accustomed to droughts, this year has been particularly bad. “I am not sure whether we will make it to the next season”, he says, “The future looks so bleak”.

The shortages follow some of the poorest farming weather for years, but the crisis derives not just from recent, uncontrollable factors, but from some longer-term and very much man-made problems.

Too little too late?

Last November, 1.2 million hectares was planted with maize, the national staple. Although this should have been nearly enough to produce the 1.8 million tonnes Zimbabweans consume annually, the agriculture ministry only delivered seed and supplies once the rains were already well underway, a frustrating practice that has been repeated since 2000. As early as January, farmers’ unions were warning that they expected to harvest just 700,000 tonnes, 1.1 million tonnes short of the required figure.

In April, Minister of Agriculture Joseph Made reported that around a third of planted crops had failed due to the lack of irrigation systems and the fact farmers were unable to buy the necessary inputs in time.

At the same conference, Finance Minister Tendai Biti made available $20 million for farmers to buy seeds, fertiliser and other agricultural inputs in a bid to boost crops, in particular wheat, and mitigate the crop failure.

Made said: "I hope in what we are doing we are correcting the situation so that never again are the inputs are delayed…. Farmers suffer the vagaries of weather. That you cannot control. The best is to assist farmers by development of irrigation."

Despite this intervention, however, the UN estimates that this year’s cereals harvest was a third lower than last year, and that the number of people in need of food assistance is 60% higher than during the last lean season. The impact will be greatest between January and March next year.

World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director, Felix Bamezon said: “The United Nations World Food Programme and our partners are gearing up to respond to this large rise in food needs…Our field staff is already reporting signs of distress in rural areas, including empty granaries and farmers selling off their livestock to make ends meet.”

But while the WFP’s targeted assistance programme is scheduled to run until the end of March, its $119 million budget is currently facing a shortfall of approximately $85 million.

Self-inflicted failure

Droughts, poorly implemented policies and a shift by banks to fund tobacco and cotton instead of maize and other grains have all contributed to Zimbabwe’s current situation, but to fully understand how the country reached this state of affairs from once being southern Africa’s breadbasket requires us to look further back to 2000.

In 2000, as President Robert Mugabe was struggling politically for the first time, he launched a reform programme seizing land from white commercial farmers to be restored to black peasant farmers. The expropriation of the land broke apart one of the most important pillars of the Zimbabwean economy and often replaced white agriculturalists with inexperienced farmers, with insufficient planning and state support. Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector has never quite recovered and this season, farmers who got free land under Mugabe's policy contributed just 16% of total maize output.

Charles Taffs, president of the Commercial Farmers Union of Zimbabwe, insists the country’s predicament is self-inflicted and the result of the government’s agricultural policy or lack thereof. “For the last 12 years, we haven’t been feeding ourselves and the problem is that we are growing maize where it is not suitable to do so”, he said. “There is no drought here. It’s bad planning. The country does not have an agricultural policy.”

Vice-President Joice Mujuru last week launched a new drought-tolerant maize seed variety, which could help for next season, but currently many are struggling to get by and it seems unlikely this will be enough to reform Zimbabwe's agricultural sector.

“It does not make sense to talk about the decline of agricultural output as an embarrassment", says Taffs. "It is a direct result of poor policies. Currently the land has no value and farmers cannot plan.”

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