Business Day
Mugabe is no
idiot
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ANYONE who thinks that Mugabe is an idiot is severely mistaken. Mugabe
is a
very canny political animal who has played the survival game superbly,
just
when it seemed that he was on the verge of losing political power.
He has been spectacularly successful in deflecting the debate from
his
manipulation of the election results and his gross human rights
violations
record to the issue of white farms.
Behind the
smokescreen of expropriating the land of white farmers, and
driving them off
their farms, his so-called war veterans are going about
their business of
raping, beating, killing and generally intimidating
opponents of his illegal
regime. His real purpose is therefore to stifle and
crush all political
opposition by any means possible, even to the starvation
of his own people.
Mugabe is at war with his own people, not with the
white
farmers.
The issue of white farms is really a very clever
and useful red
herring, as it plays upon the antiwhite sentiments and
sympathies of many
Africans. No wonder then that Mugabe received an ovation
for his political
speech attacking Tony Blair at the recent World Conference
on Sustainable
Development, while Secretary of State Colin Powell was jeered.
Powell also
fell into Mugabe's trap of attacking him on the issue of farm
seizures on
which Mugabe has the sympathies of many Africans, instead of
calling him to
account for his appalling human rights record.
In
many ways, Mugabe's war on his own people resembles Stalin's
farm
collectivisation programme.
Countless millions of Russians
died in a man-made famine to crush any
form of political dissent and to
ensure that Stalin's hold on power would be
unquestioned.
Peter
Philip-JonesPaarl
Sep 17 2002 12:00:00:000AM Business Day 1st
Edition
Tuesday
17 September 2002
Daily News
Supplies of petroleum gas reach critical
levels
9/17/02 8:41:32 AM (GMT +2)
By Chris Mhike
Senior Business Reporter
SUPPLIES of liquid petroleum gas (LPG),
have reached critically low
levels leaving many homes, hotels, restaurants,
health institutions and
industries stranded.
The petroleum
product, commonly known simply as "gas" has been in
short supply since the
end of June this year.
A snap survey carried out by the Daily News
over the weekend showed
that gas outlets had no business, with no ounce of
the product in stock.
A manager at The Gas Works, an outlet in
central Harare, Mangarai
Mudeyi confirmed the shortages of LPG.
He said: "We have been receiving very little of the product for many
weeks
now.
"We used to receive four tonnes of gas every day, which we need
to
adequately supply our customers but at the latest supply we got only 1
344
kg for the whole week. In the first week of September we received a
week's
supply of 480 kg."
Another outlet in Harare, Peter Gas,
made similar complaints about the
non-availability of gas. Enia Mukungwa, an
officer at the outlet, said they
were losing a lot of money and customers
because of the non-availability of
gas. "We are running massive losses not
only of money but also of customers.
But even when our customers go to other
outlets they will not get anything
because this problem of the shortage of
LPG is nationwide," said Mukungwa.
Numerous callers from different
parts of the country have phoned the
Daily News to inquire about the
shortages of LPG in their respective areas
of residence.
Mukungwa
said the main suppliers of the product had informed outlets
that National Oil
Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) was having problems
co-ordinating the
importation of gas.
The main suppliers of LPG are British
Petroleum, BP, Shell and BOC
gases.
All the three petroleum
companies confirmed in separate interviews
that gas was in short
supply.
An official from BOC said problems started when government
stipulated
that the product had to be procured only through
Noczim.
"In the past local suppliers would buy gas directly from
international
suppliers but now we have to go through Noczim and as everyone
can see the
arrangement is not working out well," said the BOC official.
Noczim however
denied that there were any shortages of gas, even in the face
of the
non-availability of the product on the market.
"Those who
say there is no LPG do not know what is happening right
now. There are trucks
full of gas out there and suppliers are failing to
cope with the abundance of
it.
There has never been any shortage," said an official who
refused to be
named.
He declined to give more details and
referred the Daily News to the
Ministry of Energy.
The ongoing
gas shortages have affected families that use gas stoves
and other household
appliances such as fridges. Some families in rural areas
where firewood has
run out as a source of energy, had turned to gas as
an
alternative.
But lately urban families have also turned to
gas energy to keep their
electricity bills low.
Zabron Jimu from
Belvedere said on Saturday the shortage of gas was
negatively affecting his
life.
Jimu said: "All my gas reserves are exhausted. My family
cannot cook
and I can no longer engage in backyard businesses such as
welding."
LPG shortages are set to also affect the hotel industry
where hotels
keep food warm using gas. Cresta Hospitality confirmed that they
had been
forced to use electrical stoves where gas should have been used,
thereby
experiencing slashes in profits.
Many factories rely on
LPG for industrial processes, such as the
operation of particular types of
furnaces. Hospitals, clinics and scientific
laboratories also use LPG
extensively.
Daily News
Property market in danger of collapse,warns
experts
9/17/02 8:35:41 AM (GMT +2)
Business
Reporter
SOME local analysts and estate agents have warned of an
imminent
collapse of the property market if no proper policy measures are
taken.
Drawing similarities between the local property
market and the
Indonesian one, analysts indicated that some form of
intervention had become
necessary.
In a wide ranging interview
with The Daily News, Edson Muvingi, a
property portfolio manager with Bard
Real Estate, said it was unfortunate
that the bulk of Zimbabweans were taking
a simplistic approach to problems
bedevilling the local market.
"Problems in the property market that have seen demand by far
outstripping
supply are a serious indicator of an anomaly that requires
immediate
attention. As long as nothing is done to correct macro-economic
problems
afflicting the nation, you can be certain that the property market
will
collapse," said Muvingi.
Muvingi said the supply side was dead,
hence even some government
flats in Waterfalls built years back when Enos
Chikowore was Local
Government minister were still incomplete.
"People are just exchanging what is available and like what happened
during
the Indonesian crisis there shall be a point when monies run out and
all of
it collapses," added Muvingi. The majority of the people are crowding
in the
high density areas pushing prices of the deteriorating structures up.
Most
professionals including some executives no longer afford mortgage rates
by
local banks and building societies.
Justin Machibaya, a director
with Homelux Real Estates echoed the same
sentiments and called for some form
intervention.
He said most people selling houses were emigrating
overseas, but there
was nothing much to sustain high demand for
houses.
"Yet it may sound difficult because of the problems the
country is
facing, some form of government and private sector intervention is
the best
way forward," said Machibaya.
However, Boysen Mutembwa
of Sunway City Estate, who is also a board
member of the Real Estates
Institute of Zimbabwe, had a different
perspective as he said market forces
would determine the fate of the
properties market.
Daily News
Leader Page
Josiah Tongogara must be turning in
his grave
9/17/02 9:22:24 AM (GMT +2)
NOTHING
is sacred any more as far as Zanu PF is concerned: the
government media can
misrepresent the speech of an opposition leader and get
away with it,
although a law now exists which makes publishing "falsehoods"
a
crime.
Morgan Tsvangirai's speech in Harare last week was so
deliberately
mutilated by both the State electronic and print media it
reflected a panic
in Zanu PF ranks which we have seen only in their resort to
violence.
If the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy
Act was not
such a deliberate strategy to gag the independent media, the
editors
responsible for that State outrage would have been jailed for a
hundred or
more years.
Then a 65-year-old former judge of the
High Court is hauled into court
on allegations of committing a crime when he
was still on the Bench.
Recently, the same judge ordered the arrest
of the Minister of
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on a charge of
contempt of court.
Fergus Blackie was locked up in Matapi Police
Station in Mbare,
although he was arrested at his home in the low density
suburbs, on the
other side of the city.
The police brought him to
court in handcuffs. All this can probably be
explained by the police, perhaps
convincingly, but it would be difficult for
them to wash away the foul stench
in most people's mouths that this was
"payback time" - a deliberate attempt
to humiliate the former judge.
Some might even go so far as to say
that the intention was to show the
Europeans and the Americans how whites are
now being treated by the
government since the European Union and the United
States imposed "smart"
sanctions on President Mugabe and his inner circle,
including Patrick
Chinamasa. At the end of it all, it is so petty and
petulant.
But nothing is now beyond a ruling party and a government
under siege
and lashing out at everyone and everything they perceive as
critics of their
arrogant, cruel and corrupt rule.
Among
historians of the liberation struggle, the worst display of the
crass
repudiation of everything thousands of people died for was the
harassment
last week of Joshua Tongogara in Shurugwi.
His brother, Josiah
Magama Tongogara, was one of the first heroes
buried at the Heroes'
Acre.
It is true that his death in Mozambique, like Herbert
Chitepo's in
Zambia, has always been shrouded in controversy: who killed him
- the usual
suspects, the Smith regime, or his rivals for power in his own
party?
But what cannot be denied is that Josiah Tongogara, like
Chitepo, paid
the ultimate price for the freedom of his country. What he
fought for was
the freedom of the people from colonialism, their freedom to
choose what
form of government they wanted, the kind of leadership they
wanted to
spearhead that government and the freedom to legally change that
government
and that leadership, if they felt it had betrayed their
expectations.
Joshua Tongogara had apparently defected from the
party of his brother
to the MDC.
But Zanu PF, as they have done
since 2000, terrorised him until he
apparently defected back to Zanu
PF.
The upshot was that he withdrew his candidature from the
rural
district council elections due later this month.
Some
people have argued that these elections are of such insignificant
consequence
to national politics that nobody ought to bother about the
outcome. But this
is wrong and is a clear sign that some people have no
clear understanding of
what democracy entails.
If there is an elective office anywhere in
the country, a political
party which doesn't put up candidates is either too
naive to appreciate what
the struggle was all about, or is too lily-livered
to engage in the rough
and tumble of real politics.
The real
pity is that men like Joshua Tongogara are forced to betray
their politics as
Zanu PF holds a gun to their heads. Josiah Tongogara must
turn in his grave
every time that happens.
Daily News
Priests blast Bishop
9/17/02 9:19:38 AM
(GMT +2)
From Brian Mangwende in Mutare
THE forced
departure of a Roman Catholic Church priest from his Nyanga
parish took a new
twist last week with a group of priests attacking their
superior for his
alleged inaction in the matter.
Catholic priests of the St Patrick
Missionary Society in the Mutare
Diocese blasted Bishop Alexio Muchabaiwa
over his failure to immediately
resolve the forced departure of Father
Patrick Joseph Kelly from Nyanga.
Father Joseph Patrick O' Conor,
speaking on behalf of the society,
said: "We, the members of St Patrick
Missionary Society, working in the
diocese of Mutare, wish to express
disappointment and concern that a priest
of the diocese, Father Kelly has
been removed from his parish in Nyanga
allegedly by order of seven war
veterans.
"Bishops Muchabaiwa and Mutume, of the Catholic Diocese
in Mutare have
failed to adequately address the matter of Kelly's expulsion
by the said war
vets, members of the
Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) and the political leadership.
"They have
acquiesced to his departure.
"The acquiescence undermines the work of
those who work for justice
and peace in this troubled country."
But Muchabaiwa has maintained that the issue was "sensitive" and
his
investigation had so far yielded nothing.
"I'd like you to
ignore that letter," said Muchabaiwa yesterday.
"We've a very different
way of dealing with issues."
Last month, Kelly was allegedly
approached by a group of seven war
veterans in Nyanga and ordered to leave
the constituency by August or face
unspecified action.
The former
fighters allegedly accused him of preaching opposition
politics.
Following the threats, Kelly left Nyanga and went into hiding.
Earlier, the priest said he had been detained on two occasions by CIO
agents,
who accused him of distributing anti-government literature.
He said
on each occasion the interrogations lasted for at least
two
hours.
Meanwhile, Kelly said yesterday he was still living
in fear and was
disturbed by Muchabaiwa's silence on his plight.
He said he might be forced to leave the country if Muchabaiwa
completely
failed to resolve his problem.
"I am disturbed by Muchabaiwa's
actions," he said.
"I may leave the country as there seems to be no
light at the end of
the tunnel," Kelly said.
"I am out of a job. I
have been left high and dry.
"I will have to leave and go somewhere
where I can continue to work
for the Lord," the priest said.
"Muchabaiwa has not even gone public to condemn my forced departure
yet he is
our leader in the province. What message is being sent here, I
wonder?"
Daily News
Lebanese sue ZBC for $15m
9/17/02 8:57:48
AM (GMT +2)
Court Reporter
TRANSWORLD Television
Corporation (TTC), a Lebanon-based company, is
suing the State-run Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) in the High
Court over the non-payment of at
least US$268 729,47 (Z$15 million at the
official exchange rate and about
Z$175 million at the parallel rate).
The money is for several
films and television programmes such as
Richmond Hill, Walker Texas Ranger,
Sesame Street, EMU-TV and Shortland
Street, supplied between 10 September
1997 and 23 May 2000.
According to court documents, ZBC says it
only owes TTC US$226 535, 83
(approximately Z$147 million on the black market
and Z$12 million at the
official rate) and has offered to pay the equivalent
in Zimbabwean dollars.
The Beirut company has rejected this. Part
of a letter written by
Jennifer Tanyanyiwa, the ZBC's head of corporate
affairs, to TTC's lawyer in
Zimbabwe, Ostern Mutero of Sawyer & Mkushi on
20 June this year, reads:
"Unfortunately, due to shortage of foreign currency
in our country we have
been unable to secure the requisite forex to offset
the debt.
"If your client is agreeable we can pay the equivalent in
Zimbabwean
dollars as we have exhausted all possible channels and are unable
to secure
enough foreign
currency. We await to hear from you
soon."
TTC decided to sue Zimbabwe's sole broadcaster in July after
it came
across information on the internet that the ZBC was either almost or
already
insolvent and decided against taking any risks by extending the
corporation
another reprieve.
It instructed its lawyer to serve
summons on the ZBC on 22 July.
Mutero is still to apply for a date
for the hearing to be set down
after the ZBC indicated that it would defend
the suit four days later.
According to the summons, the corporation
has acknowledged its
indebtedness to TTC, but it has failed to settle the
debt despite several
demands.
The ZBC and TTC entered into an
agreement in terms of which TTC would
supply ZBC with films and television
programmes, reads the summons.
The agreement says the ZBC was
supposed to make monthly payments for
materials supplied. All payments would
be made in US dollars and in the
event the ZBC fell into arrears, those
arrears would attract interest at the
rate of 9 percent per
year.
The agreement was oral and at all material times, ZBC has
always paid
interest on arrears at that rate, states the
summons.
TTC says as on 3 August 2000, ZBC owed it US$230 435,83.
That amount
plus US$38 294,64 in interest accrued between September 2000 and
July, at
the rate of 9 percent per year, brought the total debt to US$268
729, 47.
NGO Network Alliance Project (NNAP)
CLG - Update #23 - Another round of disenfranchisement?
September 03, 2002
Dear All
A couple of emails today have alerted me to the reality that the
Registrar-General's office is up to it's old tricks.
Individuals are starting to receive documents entitled:
"Finalization of electoral appeals to objections issued in terms of Section
25 of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:01]"
The text reads as folows:
The Constituency Registrar served you with a notice objecting to your name
remaining on the voters roll with the belief that you had become disqualified by
operation of the law and in response you duly filed a notice of appeal against
that objection.
Following the decision of the Supreme Court in the ase of the Registrar
General and Others vs Morgan Tsvangirai S.C.12/2002 which held that
non-citizens, other than those who had become permanent residents as at 31-12-85
were not entitled to vote and hence had no right to be registered as
voters.
Unless your citizenship is restored in terms of the Citizenship Act of
Zimbabwe [Chapter 4:01], the loss of your right to vote still stands: per High
Court Judgement Case No. H.C. 2434/2002 (Hlatshwayo J.) and Supreme Court
Judgement, Case No. S.C.12/2002 (Chidyausiku C.J).
Please be advised that the $50-00 deposit you paid to lodge your appeal in
terms of section 25 (5) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:01] will be refunded:
per High Court Judgement, Case No. H.C.2434/2002 (Hlatshwayo J.).
------------------------------------
Constituency Registrar
What you should do :
Check you post office box regularly for the time being!
Please urgently advise me when/if you receive such a document. Please
supply the following:
1. Name
2. Email address and/or tel#
3. Date of letter
4. Date stamp on letter if different from 3. above
5. Date letter received
6. District Registrar concerned
What I will do
1. Foward details in a structured form to the Zimbabwe Lawyers' for Human
Rights and the Legal Resources Foundation
2. Request advice and information from the ZLHR & LRF regarding the way
forward.
Please consider the importance of your resistance to this
disenfranchisement.
Your combined participation against this abuse of the legal system is
critical to our progress.
The significance of your right to vote cannot be understated.
Zimbabwe police chief elected chairman of SADC police
body
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Xinhuanet 2002-09-17 14:45:39
HARARE, Sept. 17 (Xinhuanet) --
Zimbabwe's Police Commissioner
Augustine Chihuri was unanimously elected as
chairman of the Southern
African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation
Organization (SARPCCO) Monday
during the ongoing seventh annual general
meeting in Victoria Falls.
SARPCCO is an influential grouping
of Southern African Development
Community (SADC) police chiefs, which
operates under the auspices of the
International Police
Organization.
Commissioner Chihuri takes over, on a one-year
tenure, from
Mauritian police chief Amanooj Gopalsingh.
Accepting the leadership role, Chihuri, who is also the
vice-president of
the International Police Organization for Africa, said
that despite the
dynamics and sophistication of criminals in the region,
crimes such as
carjacking, armed robberies, theft of motor vehicles and drug
trafficking
should never be given leeway to stifle efforts in creating
conducive business
climates in the region.
"Strategic policing initiatives are
critical in a world facing the
scourge of terrorism. Terrorism has an adverse
effect on undermining the
confidence of our people in the ability of
law-enforcement organizations in
providing a tranquil environment," said
Chihuri.
He said that SARPCCO would be entering a new phase of
close
cooperation and understanding while extending frontiers against
renegades of
lawlessness in the region. Enditem
Daily News
Industry, mines face invasion
9/16/02
7:46:06 AM (GMT +2)
Business Reporter
INDUSTRY and
mines in Zimbabwe could soon face the same fate that the
farming sector has
been subjected to if the country's economic downturn
continues, Brian
Raftopoulos has warned.
Speaking as a respondent at a Mass Public
Opinion Institute public
forum in Harare on Monday this week, Raftopoulos, an
associate professor at
the University of Zimbabwe's Institute of Development
Studies, said: "As the
national economic cake shrinks further and as the
government discovers that
the land alone is not the economy, and the economy
is not the land alone,
industry faces a real danger of being invaded the same
way farms have been
taken over.
"Government might want to see
the economy grow but in the present
circumstances the Zimbabwean economy
cannot grow; it can only contract
further and that will likely push
government to the limit, into the invasion
of factories and
mines."
He said the company invasions by the Zimbabwe Federation of
Trade
Unions (ZFTU) last year were a precursor to the present threat
against
industry. ZFTU was in the headlines in 2001 as it raided private
businesses
under the leadership of Joseph Chinotimba, who claimed to act in
the
interests of aggrieved workers.
TM Supermarkets, Glendale
Spinners and Jetmaster (Pvt) Limited were
some the companies targeted by ZFTU
in the company invasions.
Local economist Godfrey Kanyenze, a
consultant at the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions echoed Raftopoulos'
fears, in an interview. He
said: "That industry is under threat from the
current situation is clear.
Companies have been closing either as a direct
result of intimidation or
indirectly as a result of the negative impact of
macro-economic pressures on
business."
Kanyenze said: "when Zanu
PF made the statement about the land and the
economy it was simply playing a
political gimmick, romanticising the land
issue. It is clear that
over-reliance on the land for a nation's economic welfare is
problematic
because agriculture depends on many factors, such as climatic
conditions and
prices of commodities on world markets."
Kanyenze warned that
invasion of industry would lead to the same
disaster that has
befallen the farming sector. He said: "The 'invasions strategy' was
tried in
Tanzania in the Ujamaa project and its results were disastrous.
What Zimbabwe
needs are not invasions but a holistic approach to the country
's economic
problems; an approach based on consultations with stakeholders.
Political
expediency should not prevail over economic expediency."
The
banking industry has often been accused of doing too little to
support the
land reform programme and sections of the sector reported that
government
officials had threatened "unspecified acton" upon banks who have
not
co-operated within the land reform programme.
President Mugabe
issued a stern warning to companies he termed
"principal saboteurs of our
economy". Addressing the 19th session of Zanu PF
's national consultative
assembly in Harare, in June this year, Mugabe said
if companies were not in
favour of a partnership with government, the State
would be compelled to take
over the enterprises and transfer their ownership
to the indigenous
populace.
Daily News
Mass action rejected
9/16/02 8:14:10 AM
(GMT +2)
Staff Reporter
MOST Zimbabwean urban
voters want a peaceful rerun of the presidential
election, not mass action,
because they believe the March polls were rigged
in favour of President
Mugabe, says a public opinion survey conducted in
July.
"A
majority favour dialogue and not confrontation as a way of solving
this
country's problems," says the Mass Public Opinion Institute's summary
of a
survey in which 1 768 voters were interviewed randomly in 10
political
provinces.
The institute's director is Professor
Masipula Sithole of the
University of Zimbabwe.
"Regardless of the
high percentage that wants an election rerun, 56,9
percent of the respondents
are opposed to the proposed mass stayaway by the
MDC," says the
report.
Most urban voters were uncomfortable with mass stayaways to
force a
rerun, while some in the rural areas, particularly those aged 18 to
20 and
41 and above, believe the election was free and fair.
MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai filed a petition in the High Court
challenging the
election his party believes Mugabe won fraudulently.
Tsvangirai
described Mugabe's victory as "the biggest election fraud
in
history".
The United States of America, the European Union (EU) and
the
Commonwealth support this view. These powerful blocs have consistently
cited
the government's abuse of human rights, a flawed agrarian reform
programme,
lawlessness and the shrinkage of democratic space in Zimbabwe as
impediments
to freedom and progress.
The US and the EU have
imposed targeted sanctions and a travel ban on
Mugabe and most senior
government and Zanu PF officials. They say this could
help the government see
the need for tolerance, sanity and respect for basic
human
rights.
The Commonwealth has suspended Zimbabwe from its councils
for a year
for the same reasons.
Last week, the Australian Prime
Minister, John Howard, who is chairman
of the troika which recommended
suspension, called for a review of Zimbabwe'
s reaction to the suspension. He
said the government had not responded
positively to calls for a reversal of
the policies which led to suspension.
The next step could be
Zimbabwe's expulsion from the Commonwealth.
In the opinion survey,
it transpired that apart from the calls for a
rerun, the majority favour a
government of national unity, especially women
in the rural areas and voters
aged between 18 and 20.
They urged Zanu PF and the MDC to revive
the abandoned unity talks
brokered by Nigeria and South Africa.
The talks were scuttled soon after Tsvangirai lodged his challenge in
the
High Court. The petition is yet to be heard.
"An impressive 65,6
percent say President Mugabe must make known his
retirement plans now. More
significantly, this is one question where there
is agreement in all
provinces, even those provinces that are considered
overwhelmingly pro-Zanu
PF, across the rural and urban divide, the gender
and age
divides."
The survey found that Zimbabweans were concerned about
succession
within political parties at national level. They credited
Tsvangirai with
uniting the opposition, endorsing his continued leadership of
the MDC.
Zimbabwe's foreign relations came under the spotlight
during the
survey. "A significant 65.8 percent of the respondents said
Zimbabwe should
be very much concerned about how it is viewed by countries in
the region and
the international community respectively."
Eighty-two percent of the respondents rejected the view that Zimbabwe
go at
it alone, surviving without international co-operation.
"The depth
of these opinions can be gauged by the fact that there is
agreement in all
the provinces, across the rural/urban divide, across the
gender divide and
within all the age groups interviewed," says the
institute.
Asked for their priority number one in an economic turnaround, people
listed
a resumption of ties with the World Bank and other international
financial
institutions. Stronger ties with Africa and the Far East came
second and
third respectively.
"Going it alone was ranked last," says the
report.
The voters felt economic recovery must have been a
government priority
after the election, followed by improved relations with
the rest of the
world. A third urgent matter was the constitution which they
felt was
flawed. The land question came last, except in the rural areas where
it was
ranked number one.
Future national elections for a
president and parliament must be run
at the same time, as their current
separation seemed to serve no purpose.
"It would appear the
separation of parliamentary and presidential
elections is of concern to the
electorate, with 46,8 percent of respondents
saying they would like to see a
constitutional amendment that would require
the elections to be held
concurrently," says the survey.
"Significantly, 54,2 percent of
those who hold this view would like
the date of the concurrent elections to
be as soon as possible."
Daily News
Survey shows more people voted for MDC
9/16/02 8:49:43 AM (GMT +2)
Staff Reporter
A
SURVEY conducted four months after the disputed presidential
election in
March shows that 30,5 percent of the voters said they voted for
MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai, while 27,4 percent opted for President Mugabe.
The margin could have been higher if the electoral process was
clean.
The election result has plunged Zimbabwe into controversy
because it
was fraught with numerous problems, resulting in 27,9 percent of
the
respondents stating that they failed to vote.
Harare and
Bulawayo, in particular, recorded the highest percentages
of those who failed
to cast their ballots (32 percent and 36,7 percent
respectively)
despite
a reasonable set of facilities for elections, available
transport and
an impressive literacy rate.
By coincidence, the
majority of those who failed to vote fell under
the 18-40 years age group,
Tsvangirai's prime catchment area. Those 41 years
old and above, originally
perceived to be Mugabe's supporters and residing
in the rural areas, managed
to cast their vote.
Wilson Kumbula of Zanu Ndonga, Shakespeare Maya
of the National
Alliance for Good Governance, and Paul Siwela, an
independent, were named as
preferred candidates by 00,9 percent, 00,5 percent
and 00,3 percent
respectively.
Nearly half the voters in
Manicaland, Matabeleland South, Bulawayo and
Harare and a third in
Matabeleland North said they voted for Tsvangirai,
while Mugabe was ahead in
Mashonaland West (55,3 percent), Masvingo (54,8
percent), Mashonaland Central
(38,8 percent), Mashonaland East (32,3
percent) and the Midlands (37,7
percent).
But another 40,5 percent refused to say how they cast their
ballots,
arguing their vote was secret.
Conducted by the Mass
Public Opinion Institute, an independent
organisation run by Professor
Masipula Sithole of the University of
Zimbabwe, the survey sampled 1 768
Zimbabwean voters, picked up randomly,
using a computer.
The
institute posed 31 questions to voters in 10 political provinces
over a
12-day period in the first half of July.
"While the survey provides
facts and figures on the questions raised,"
says the institute, "it does not
attempt to offer comprehensive
interpretation or give meaning to these facts,
preferring to leave this to
the reader."
Survey interviewers
found that an atmosphere of fear was still alive
among the people - four
months after the election. Some voters were even
threatened in the presence
of interviewers, raising the possibility of some
element of distortion of the
responses out of fear. As a result, a high
rejection rate was recorded,
particularly among women.
However, the institute believes most of
the people responded honestly
and sincerely to most of the
questions.
The result shows that Tsvangirai's power base was evenly
distributed
between 30,7 percent and 39,1 percent among the 18 to 30 age
group. It
averages 26,45 percent among the 31 to 50 age group, and fell to
19,6
percent in the 51 and above category - a group which supports Mugabe
most
(43,1 percent).
Mugabe enjoys a lower, but significant,
backing within the 31 to 40
age group (30,4 percent) and least support among
those aged between 41 and
50 (18,6 percent).
There is an average
19 percent of Zimbabwe's young adults (under 30)
who still believe in Mugabe,
while 36,3 percent in the same age group favour
Tsvangirai for
President.
Mugabe drew the support of 35,5 percent of the voters in
the rural
areas and 18,3 percent in towns and cities, while Tsvangirai logged
22,3
percent in the villages and 39,7 percent in urban areas. More women
(31,9
percent) thought Mugabe was a better candidate compared to 23,9 percent
who
love Tsvangirai.
The MDC leader commands respect among 37,4
percent of the men, with
Mugabe trailing behind at 22,7 percent.
"Although the idea was to sample the same number of females and males,
we
ended up with 934 or 52,8 percent female respondents and 834 or 47,2
percent
male, notwithstanding the fact that the female refusal rate was
slightly
higher than male," says the institute. Women constitute 52 percent
of the
population.
None of the respondents aged between 18 and 20 and 41
and 50 said they
voted for Maya and Siwela.
Further, Maya
received nothing from the 21 to 24 age group, while
Siwela had no supporters
aged 41 and above. Kumbula recorded nothing among
the 41 to 50 age group, but
managed to pick up little support among other
categories. He has no support
in Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central,
Matabeleland North and
Masvingo.
Kumbula's main base is in Manicaland where 03,9 percent
claimed to
have voted for him, followed by Matabeleland South (01,4
percent).
Maya recorded nothing in Bulawayo and throughout
Matabeleland,
Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central and Masvingo. But he has
a foot in
Harare where he secured a tiny 01,1 percent.
Siwela
registered no support in seven provinces, but picked up a few
face-savers in
Bulawayo (01,8 percent), Matabeleland South (01,4 percent and
Harare (0,4
percent).
"The 2002 Presidential election raised more questions than
answers,"
says the institute.
"What had been billed as a
watershed election has in fact left the
country in a state of limbo. Never
before, since this country gained its
independence, has politics been such a
centre of attention."
Daily News
Government gazettes new Bill to invalidate
evictions
9/16/02 8:44:54 AM (GMT +2)
Senior
Business Reporter
THE government last Thursday gazetted the Land
Acquisition Amendment
(No 2) Bill as the first step towards sidelining the
High Court ruling in
which Justice Benjamin Paradza declared numerous Section
8 eviction orders
illegal.
A memorandum in the Bill reads: "This
Bill will amend the Land
Acquisition Act in the light of certain difficulties
that have become
apparent in implementing its provisions connected with the
acquisition of
agricultural land required for resettlement
purposes.
"A recent High Court judgment impugned the validity of
certain
acquisition (Section 5) notices upon bond-holders under the principal
Act."
On 28 August Justice Paradza heard the case of 56 commercial
farmers
who sought the invalidation of the Section 8 eviction notices served
on them
by government. He ruled the orders were null and void.
The government itself had conceded a week earlier, in a case before
Justice
Charles Hungwe, that many of the Section 8 orders it had issued out
to
farmers were illegal.
The Bill is expected to be tabled before
Parliament tomorrow.
Daily News
Zanu PF militias kidnap candidates
9/16/02
8:45:28 AM (GMT +2)
By Daniel McGrory
Organised
gangs loyal to President Mugabe have kidnapped and beaten
hundreds of
opposition candidates to stop them from registering for this
month's local
government elections.
As Mugabe attended the United Nations General
Assembly in New York,
his opponents in Harare released a dossier showing how
nearly 600 of their 1
200 candidates had been blocked from contesting the
ballot.
Leaders of the main opposition party, the Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC), said that Western powers were so obsessed with
dealing with
Iraq that they were ignoring President Mugabe's worsening reign
of terror.
Paul Themba Nyathi, the MDC's director of elections, who
has met
Foreign Office diplomats in London, said: "Mugabe is acting with
impunity
now because he knows he can get away with it. Western leaders talk
about
dealing with tyrants, so how does
Mugabe escape?"
MDC candidates have been kidnapped and beaten to stop them from
registering
in time for the 28 September elections.
Police roadblocks have been
placed at registration centres in some
parts of the country to bar access by
MDC candidates and armed militias have
waited outside a number of offices to
intercept opponents attempting to meet
the deadline. Some candidates are
still being held hostage.
Nyathi said: "So who do we complain to
about this? The courts, the
police, the election officials are all in
Mugabe's pocket.
"Look at who the beneficiaries are who are being
given previously
white-owned farms - judges, army commanders, secret police
chiefs, senior
policemen; so who maintains the law?
"The West is
too concerned with the confiscation of white-owned farms
and Mugabe's
performance at the Earth Summit to monitor this latest episode.
"It
doesn't matter what sort of intimidation is employed during
campaigning if
you have stopped nearly half of the opposing side from
even
standing."
For his part, Mugabe told the UN last Thursday
that Zimbabwe had cast
off the "colonial yoke for all time", and attacked
Britain and Tony Blair.
He said: "I appeal to this General Assembly to convey
to Britain and
especially to . . . Mr Tony Blair that Zimbabwe ceased to be a
British
colony in 1980 after Prince Charles had gracefully lowered the
British flag.
Daily News
Japan provides $220m food aid through WFP
9/16/02 8:42:42 AM (GMT +2)
Staff Reporter
JAPAN
extended a grant of US$4 million (about $220m) to Zimbabwe last
week through
the World Food Programme (WFP) to alleviate the current
food
shortage.
The grant is part of a package of US$12 400 000
(about $Z6,82 billion)
meant for the Southern African region.
"This grant is a humanitarian gesture from the government and people
of Japan
in the wake of the chronic food shortages being experienced in
the
sub-region," said a Press statement from the Japanese
Embassy.
"A severe food crisis threatens 15 million people in the
affected
countries in the region, with Zimbabwe and Malawi being the worst
hit."
The embassy said about half of Zimbabwe's 13 million people
were in
dire need of food aid.
"Given the gravity of the
findings by assessment missions in the
countries surveyed, the Food and
Agriculture Organisation and the WFP have
appealed to international donors to
respond quickly and generously with food
aid donations to avert widespread
hunger leading to a major humanitarian
crisis," said the embassy.