The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe - may peace, truth and justice prevail. |
By Gustav Thiel
Amid
weekend reports that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is building
a
R60-million retirement mansion, it has emerged that one of his
closest
allies has claimed the world-renowned Hwange Wildlife Estate to be
used for
hunting purposes.
The estate is home to the "presidential
herd" of about 500 elephants, which
were given special presidential
protection in a decree issued by Mugabe in
1991.
Johnny Rodrigues,
chairperson of the Zimbabwean Conservation Task Force,
said on Sunday that
the governor of Matabeleland, Obert Mpofu, "has just
simply taken the Hwange
estate".
"The land will now be a free-for-all for poachers and for him
(Mpofu) to
allow hunters to kill the animals," he said.
The Hwange
Wildlife Estate is state-owned and comprises 14 000ha of
prime
land.
Rodrigues said he "would not be surprised if he (Mpofu)
next moves to claim
land in the Hwange National Park for his own purposes"
because there were no
fences separating the estate from the
park.
Hwange National Park is Zimbabwe's biggest game reserve at 14
650km2.
Rodrigues added that people like Mpofu "are putting a death
sentence on the
future heritage of the country and the benefits that wildlife
conservation
would have had for the people of the country".
It has
been estimated that more than $400-million (about R2,9-billion) has
been lost
in Zimbabwe's southern region because of rampant poaching.
Bambo
Kadzombe, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Wildlife Advisory Council, said:
"Three
thousand animals have been poached so far on commercial game farms
and
Zimbabwe's conservancies, mainly at Save Valley, Mahenye,
Bubiyana
conservancy, Bubye Valley and Chiredzi River conservancy."
In
2002, more than 100 poachers had been arrested and Kadzombe said that if
the
poaching continued species could become extinct. Rodrigues said it was
with
that in mind that Mpofu should understand the "folly of allowing
hunting at
Hwange".
He said over the past five years more than 300 of the remaining
black rhino
in Zimbabwe had been killed.
A wildlife researcher based
in Zimbabwe said the taking of the land by Mpofu
could jeopardise the
inclusion of Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou Park in the Limpopo
Transfrontier Park,
combining three national parks in Zimbabwe, Mozambique
and South
Africa.
SOKWANELE
PROMOTING NON
VIOLENT PRINCIPLES TO ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY.
Bulawayo
6.15pm
The democracies of Africa can no longer deny the wishes of the Zimbabwean people as the Movement for Democratic Change has proven their position as the party of choice for the country’s major urban centers.
Twenty nine Council Seats were fought for in Bulawayo over the weekend and every one of those has been overwhelmingly won by the opposition MDC. A crowd of around three hundred MDC supporters were gathered at the steps of the City Hall when the results were announced. The crowd spontaneously and euphorically erupted into songs of jubilation, but this excitement was short lived as all realized the potential danger of their pro MDC celebration.
The police gathered in the area looked on despondently, but no violence has been reported. However, information has come in that a force of around fifty uniformed (not riot) police are currently awaiting instruction outside Central Police Station, close to the City Hall.
Alderman Charles Mpofu was arrested on Sunday for violating Section 21 of the infamous Public Order and Security Act (POSA). His crime was to allege that the police were behaving in a partisan manner! He has been released on remand.
The City Council results are made especially significant considering the widespread intimidation carried out by the ZanuPF regime in the run up to the elections and throughout the weekend, as well as the regime’s manipulation of the voters’ roll. The MDC has consistently been denied access to the voters’ roll and there is extensive evidence that the roll has been tampered with.
According to photographic and anecdotal evidence collected there were also several reports of food used as a means to coerce voters to cast their ballot in favour of the regime. The abuse of food comes at a time when millions of Zimbabweans are on the brink of starvation.
The MDC victory is a remarkable feat bearing in mind that the party is denied any access to the population through the state controlled television and radio. In any truly democratic society Council elections are fought through the media, not so in Zimbabwe.
Despite all odds the MDC has gained almost total control of the country’s major urban centers. The ZanuPF regime still manages to hold on to power in the rural centers, but only under the threat of violence to a depressed population ravaged by starvation and intimidation.
Masvingo
Eight out
of ten Council seats were claimed by the MDC.
One of the seats lost to the ZanuPF regime was drastically affected by
the “import” of all A2 settlers in the area into that ward. The other seat was lost by seven
votes.
Gwanda
Seven out
of ten seats went to the MDC as did the position of Mayor. It has been reported that the city is in
celebratory mood with all bottle stores plying a brisk
trade.
Victoria
Falls
Eight out
of ten Council seats were won by the MDC, as did the Mayoral
position.
One ward
reporting no voting, and one seat
loosing by two votes.
………………………………………..
Report Bulawayo South; Midday
Sunday 31st August 2003
I have just completed a tour of
several polling stations in the Bulawayo South constituency. 5 Wards are being
contested in the constituency. The election has been marked by a high level of
voter apathy and by lunchtime today less than 10% of those registered to vote
had done so. I spoke to a number of people in the constituency this morning who
had not voted and they gave a variety of reasons for not doing so, including
that they were worn out having queued over the last few days for money, food and
other basic necessities, that there was no need because the MDC would win a
landslide in any event and, most often, that they feared that if they voted and
Zanu (PF) lost they would be denied food aid.
Once again it appears as
if Zanu (PF) has been using food as a political weapon. On Friday the
29th August I received a credible report from a local Postmistress
that she had personally witnessed the Zanu (PF) candidate for Ward 5
participating in a hand out of GMB food at Sir Henry Low School, Morningside.
The Zanu (PF) candidate was recording the names and ID numbers of those
receiving GMB maize meal. I received a completely separate report that the same
candidate was witnessed doing the same thing at Bradfield Shopping Centre
earlier on in the week.
On Friday evening I
received a report from a Bulawayo businessman who runs a transport business that
army and police had tried to commandeer one of his lorries on Friday to convey GMB maize to areas within
Bulawayo where Council elections are being held. On the same day police and army
raided a large Bulawayo based milling concern, National Foods, and tried to
commandeer stocks of maize for the same purpose. They were only thwarted because
the business was conducting a stock take and the maize meal could not be
accessed.
At Barham Green School
polling station (in Ward 6) yesterday an old woman, after voting, demanded that
she receive a “receipt” from the Presiding Officer to be able to prove to Zanu
(PF) that she had indeed voted as “that
would enable her to get food” in the next few days. Yesterday I received reports
from two of the MDC candidates in Wards 25 and 26 (Councillors
Kheswa and
Ndlovu) that people had been told by Zanu (PF) election officials that large
stockpiles of maize situated just outside two polling stations in the two wards
would only be made available to the public on Monday (the 1st
September) “once they had seen how the people had voted”.
I took a drive myself
through these two wards this morning and sure enough there were the two
stockpiles being guarded by so called “war veterans” outside Nkulumane High
School polling station in Ward 25 and outside Senzanakona School polling station
in Ward 26. The stockpile outside Nkulumane School is located in a fenced yard
which is owned by war veterans and which is right over the road from the school.
The huge stockpile of food in Ward 26 is located in an open stretch of land
about 500
metres from
the School next to the main road that leads to the polling station. Photo 69
shows the pile of food with Senzanakona School in the background, 68 is a close
up of the food being guarded by war veterans and 67 shows the food from a
distance and the road which leads back to the polling station. Photo 66 shows
the Nkulumane High School polling station with the yard containing the food just
to the right, 65 is a close up of the food in the yard, 64 shows Nkulumane
polling station with the yard to the right and 62 is of
Councillor
Litshe Kheswa the sitting
Councillor
and MDC candidate for Ward 25 with the stockpile of food in the
background.
It is pertinent to
recall the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act which outlaw this type of
practice. Sections 104, 105 and 106 are recorded in full
below.
“PART XX
CORRUPT PRACTICES (sections
104-109)
[Chap2:01s104]104
Treating
(1)
Any person who corruptly by himself or by any other person, whether
before, during or after an election, directly or indirectly, gives or provides
or pays wholly or in part the expenses of giving or providing, any food, drink,
entertainment, lodging or provisions to or for any
person-
(a) for the purpose of corruptly influencing
that person or any other person to give or refrain from giving his vote at an
election; or
(b) on account of such person or any other
person having voted or refrained from voting or being about to vote or refrain
from voting at an election;
shall be guilty of the offence of
treating and liable to a fine not exceeding level seven or to imprisonment for a
period not exceeding two years or to both such fine and such
imprisonment.
[Subsection (1) amended by section 4
of Act 22 of 2001 with effect from 20 May 2002.]
(2)
Any voter who corruptly accepts or takes any food, drink, entertainment,
lodging or provisions supplied by a person guilty of an offence in terms of
subsection (1) shall also be guilty of the offence of treating and liable to a
fine not exceeding level seven or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two
years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
[Subsection (2) amended by section 4
of Act 22 of 2001 with effect from 20 May 2002.]
(3) The giving, providing, accepting or
taking of such food, drink, entertainment, lodging or provisions as are
reasonably necessary to enable voters to attend any meeting or rally shall not
amount to a contravention of this section.
[Chap2:01s105]105
Undue
influence
(1)
Any person who, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other
person-
(a) makes use of or threatens to make use of
any force, violence or restraint or any unnatural means whatsoever upon or
against any person; or
(b) inflicts or threatens to inflict by
himself or by any other person any temporal or spiritual injury, damage, harm or
loss upon or against any person; or
(c) does or threatens to do anything to the
disadvantage of any person;
in order to induce or compel that
person-
(i) to sign a nomination paper or refrain
from signing a nomination paper; or
(ii) to vote or refrain from
voting;
shall be guilty of the offence of
undue influence and liable to a fine not exceeding level seven or to
imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years or to both such fine and such
imprisonment.
[Subsection (1) amended by section 4
of Act 22 of 2001 with effect from 20 May 2002.]
(2)
Any person who, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other
person-
(a) makes use of or threatens to make use of
any force, violence or restraint upon or against any person;
or
(b) inflicts or threatens to inflict by
himself or by any other person any temporal or spiritual injury, damage, harm or
loss upon or against any person; or
(c) does or threatens to do anything to the
disadvantage of any person;
on account of that
person-
(i) having signed or refrained from signing
a nomination paper; or
(ii) having voted or refrained from voting
at any election;
shall be guilty of the offence of
undue influence and liable to a fine not exceeding level seven or to
imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years or to both such fine and such
imprisonment.
[Subsection (2) amended by section 4
of Act 22 of 2001 with effect from 20 May 2002.]
(3)
Any person who by abduction, duress, threats to invoke any unnatural
means whatsoever or references to such unnatural means or by fraudulent device
or contrivance-
(a) impedes or prevents the exercise of his
vote by a voter; or
(b) compels, induces or prevails upon a
voter either to vote or to refrain from voting at an
election;
shall be guilty of the offence of
undue influence and liable to a fine not exceeding level seven or to
imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years or to both such fine and such
imprisonment.
[Subsection (3) amended by section 4
of Act 22 of 2001 with effect from 20 May 2002.]
[Chap2:01s106]106
Bribery
(1)
Subject to subsection (2), any person who, directly or indirectly, by
himself or by any other person-
(a) gives, lends or procures or agrees to
give, lend or procure or offers or promises to procure or to endeavour to
procure, any money to or for any person on behalf of a voter, or to or for any
other person in order to induce a voter to vote or refrain from voting, or who
corruptly does any such act as aforesaid on account of such voter having voted
or refrained from voting at any election; or
(b) gives, lends or agrees to give or lend,
or offers or promises to procure or to endeavour to procure, any money to or for
a voter, or to or for any other person on behalf of a voter, or to or for any
other person, for acting or joining in any procession or demonstration before,
during or after an election; or
(c) makes any such gift, loan, offer,
promise, procurement or agreement to or for any person in order to induce such
person to procure or to endeavour to procure the return of a candidate at an
election or the vote of a voter at an election; or
(d) upon or in consequence of any such gift,
loan, offer, promise, procurement or agreement, procures or engages or promises
or endeavours to procure, the return of a candidate at an election or the vote
of a voter at an election; or
(e) advances or pays any money to or for the
use of any other person, with the intent that such money, or any part thereof,
shall be expended in bribery at an election, or who knowingly pays any money to
any person in discharge or repayment of any money wholly or in part expended in
bribery at an election; or
(f) before or during an election, receives
or contracts for any money or loan for himself or for any other person for
voting or agreeing to vote or for refraining or agreeing to refrain from voting
at an election; or
(g) after an election receives any money on
account of any person having voted or refrained from voting or having induced
any other person to vote or refrain from voting at an election;
or
(h) conveys or transfers any property or
pays any money to any person for the purpose of enabling him to be registered as
a voter, thereby to influence his vote at a future election, or pays any money
on behalf of a voter for the purpose of inducing him to vote or refrain from
voting;
shall be guilty of the offence of
bribery and liable to a fine not exceeding level seven or to imprisonment for a
period not exceeding two years or to both such fine and such
imprisonment.
[Subsection (1) amended by section 4
of Act 22 of 2001 with effect from 20 May 2002.]
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall be
construed as applying to any money paid or agreed to be paid for or on account
of any expenditure bona fide and lawfully incurred in respect of the conduct or
management of an election.”
Such brazen actions
confront voters with a huge dilemma – they want to vote for the MDC and yet if
they do they fear starvation will visit them. In the circumstances it is not
surprising that people adopt what they perceive is the safest option - staying
away from the poll.
It is pertinent to note
that these flagrant violations of the Electoral Law have been perpetrated in
full view of both the Electoral Supervisory Commission and the Police who have
done nothing to investigate and arrest the perpetrators. There were no
international observers to witness this electoral fraud
either.
Until Zimbabwe’s
elections are run by an Independent Electoral Commission and enforced by a
neutral and professional Police force our elections will remain a sham. Despite
these illegalities we are still confident of winning all the Wards contested in
Bulawayo South. However if there can be such brazen acts committed in broad
daylight in Bulawayo one shudders to think what is going on in smaller centers
where there are no digital cameras and computers to expose quickly electoral
fraud and it would not surprise me to see Zanu (PF) “win” in areas they have no
meaningful support left.
David Coltart
MP
Bulawayo
South
Sunday 31st
August 2003
Voters in
Bulawayo and Mutare alleged that some ZANU PF officials
maintained a presence
at several polling stations and were giving out cash
and promising handouts
of maize if the ruling party won the elections.
In Mutare,
Daily News reporters witnessed ZANU PF officials at Zamba
and Mutanda primary
schools and at Sakubva Hospital reminding voters about
the food handouts the
party had given them prior to the election.
They were heard
promising the voters food, depending on the outcome of
the
election.
In Bulawayo, there were reports that maize was being
sold a short
distance from some polling stations.
Electoral
Supervisory Commission (ESC) spokesman Thomas Bvuma told the
Daily News that
the government-controlled body had also received
"unsubstantiated reports" of
vote-buying.
"We received reports of vote-buying in Bulawayo,
but our officials
whom we sent to investigate did not notice anything amiss.
There was no
maize being given to people as had been
alleged."
But Victor Moyo, a spokesman for the opposition
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) in Bulawayo, said his party had received
reports of
"gross manipulation and harassment of the electorate perceived to
be MDC
supporters".
He added: "Maize-meal and grain is being
sold near the polling
stations and many people have been beaten by ZANU PF
youths on their way to
or from the polling stations."
MDC
mayoral candidate for Mutare Misheck Kagurabadza said he had also
reported
incidents of vote-buying to ESC officials.
"We made a report to
ESC officials, but they told us that they could
not do anything since this
was being done away from polling stations."
But Munacho Mutezo,
the ZANU PF Manicaland provincial secretary for
administration, denied
allegations of vote-buying in Mutare.
He said: "That’s a wild
and crazy allegation. That alone wouldn’t
prove which party the individual
voted for. The MDC is afraid of a defeat,
period."
Opposition party and independent candidates said the weekend elections
were
also marred by violence, mostly blamed on supporters of the
ruling
party.
In Bulawayo, violence broke out on the first
day of voting, with MDC
officials alleging that ZANU PF youths barricaded
roads leading to polling
stations and beat up individuals they suspected to
be MDC supporters.
The police confirmed that Kwekwe mayoral
candidate Henry Madzorera and
Kwekwe Central Member of Parliament Blessing
Chebundo were attacked by
suspected ZANU PF supporters yesterday morning when
they visited polling
stations around the town.
This was the
second attack on the two, who were also assaulted on
Saturday. Madzorera’s
truck was badly damaged in the attack.
Cases of violence and
intimidation were also reported in Gwanda and
Karoi.
The MDC
chairman for Mashonaland East, Silas Matamisa, said nine
polling agents and
two aspiring councillors in Kariba were arrested by the
police under unclear
circumstances.
In Mutare, ESC officials and the police had to
be called in to remove
a group of ZANU PF activists who were beating drums
and singing songs in
praise of ruling party candidates near polling
booths.
The youths were about 50 metres from the polling station
at
Chirowakamwe Primary School in the Mutare suburb of Dangamvura.
Electoral
regulations do not allow such behaviour within 100 metres of
polling
stations. Joyce Munamati, the provincial registrar for Manicaland,
yesterday
said she was unaware of the incident. "I cannot comment on the
story before
I get an explanation from my officials at the station. Try later
when I have
all the details," Munamati said. Meanwhile, in Gwanda thousands
of potential
voters were turned away because they were said to have
registered at the
wrong points. Voter turnout in the area was low on Saturday
but reportedly
improved dramatically yesterday. Voter turnout was also low in
Chitungwiza
and Ruwa where there were no reports of disturbances. Ruwa ward
registrar
Edward Nyandoro told the Daily News: "The environment here is
peaceful. But
people have been coming in very small numbers since Saturday.
Queues are not
long, I do not see us going beyond seven o’clock." Biggie
Haurobi, the MDC
district chairman for Hurungwe, which includes Karoi, said
intimidation of
MDC supporters started at the beginning of July and was still
continuing.
Haurobi’s house was petrol-bombed and stoned on the eve of the
elections. He
alleged that he turned down a $2 million bribe from people
requesting him to
withdraw MDC candidates from the polls. Meanwhile, Bvuma
said voting was
peaceful in most towns, adding that voter turnout yesterday
had fallen. He
said: "Generally, the turnout was lower than Saturday. The
atmosphere was
calm and peaceful countrywide, including in Kwekwe, where
there was a report
alleging that a mayoral candidate’s car was stoned. That
case is still being
investigated." Staff Reporters
Daily News
ZANU PF activist’s trial deferred to
September
HARARE magistrate Judith Tsamba has deferred to 16
September the
trial of a ZANU PF activist charged with violating the Public
Order and
Security Act, to enable the state to call more
witnesses.
The case was deferred last Friday. The state alleges
that on 13 March
last year, Winefrida Govati led a group of about 30 youths
to the home of
one Beauty Mhembere.
The court heard that at
the house, Govati and and the youths sang
liberation war songs and chanted
ZANU PF slogans.
Some of the youths allegedly began causing a
commotion and confusion
at Mhembere’s tuckshop and others allegedly looted
some frozen flavoured
drinks and money from the tuckshop’s cash
box.
The state alleges that Govati and her group then assaulted
Mhembere,
beating her with sticks and accusing her of voting for the
opposition
Movement for Democratic Change in the 2002 presidential
elections.
In her defence outline, Govati denied the charges.
Govati said on the
day she is alleged to have committed the offence, she was
not at the alleged
scene of the crime, but was attending victory celebrations
for President
Robert Mugabe at Holland.
She also said it was
absurd for the state to charge her with public
violence because this offence
entailed rowdy behaviour by a group of people
in a concerted effort to
deliberately disturb the peace, therefore, she
should have been in the dock
with several other people.
Court Reporter
Daily News
Government, settlers headed for showdown
A CLASH is looming between the government and nearly 5 000 settlers
who were
given until last Saturday to vacate 11 farms in Zvimba district to
make way
for State House officials, and who yesterday remained on the
properties in
defiance of the directive.
The settlers, who say they have been
pressing the government to
regularise their occupation of the Zvimba
properties under its land reform
programme, were ordered to leave to also
make way for a relative of
President Robert Mugabe’s, Marjorie Winnie
Mugabe.
Mugabe now lives in the farmhouse at Little England
with her sons
Jongwe and Hugh. She was, however, not at the farm yesterday
when this
reporter visited it.
Edgar Manyora, a
representative of the settlers, told The Daily News
yesterday that they would
meet Mashonaland West governor Peter Chanetsa this
week at his provincial
offices, where they would ask him to explain the
government’s position on the
controversial resettlement of Mugabe and 68
State House
officials.
He said: "We are not retreating on this until
President Mugabe knows
full well that his officials in Mashonaland West are
corrupt. We resolved to
present our position to Governor Chanetsa and hear
what he has to say
concerning our stay at the farms.
"Our
delegation will also petition President Mugabe before the end of
the week so
that he sets the record straight."
Manyora said the settlers
had resolved to remain on the farms and
continue with their farming
activities because Mugabe had made it clear
during his election campaigns
since 2000 and several speeches he made in the
past three years that no
settlers would be evicted from farms they invaded
in 2000.
War veterans and other ruling ZANU PF supporters in February 2000
spearheaded
the illegal occupation of white-owned farms. The government,
whose
controversial land reform programme is supposed to allocate land to
landless
blacks, indicated that the illegal occupations would be regularised
through
its fast-track resettlement programme.
Under this pledge,
settlers at Paradise Gwebi, Jonker, Lilfordia,
Rayndon, Mede, Audley End,
Worselly, Gordonsbury, Gwebi of Sigaro, Sodbury,
Sigaro Eastwood, Coker and
two farms under Burney Investments, known as
Little England, should have
received letters of allocation from the Lands
Ministry.
But
the settlers were told on 17 August that they had until 30 August
to leave
the properties.
The settlers on Saturday held a meeting at
Worselly Farm in Chief
Nyawira’s area of Zvimba, about 50 kilometres from
Harare, and another at
Little England Farm yesterday.
According to a programme of the Saturday meeting shown to this
reporter, the
meeting was supposed to be attended by Local Government
Minister Ignatius
Chombo, who is also the Zvimba North Member of Parliament,
Zvimba South MP
Sabina Mugabe and a provincial lands committee official from
the Ministry of
Lands only identified as Makaza.
None of the officials attended the meeting.
It was not possible to secure comment from Chombo
yesterday. However,
ZANU PF Mashonaland West chairman Philip Chiyangwa said
he was not
responsible for settling "illegal people from outside my provide"
to cause
shortages of land in Mashonaland West.
He said: "I
did not settle them there. They are strangers in the
province and I am the
only chairman of ZANU PF in Mashonaland West. They
should have approached me
first. They settled in the wrong place and did not
seek my
permission.
"Anyone without an offer letter from the Ministry
of Lands should not
be where they are unless they have come through the party
political
structure, district and provincial lands committees. I have too
many people
that are not yet settled, whose positions were taken by outsiders
from
Mashonaland West. Their eviction is fine and they should be
fired."
Chanetsa switched off his mobile phone when The Daily
News sought his
comment yesterday.
By Precious
Shumba
Senior Reporter
Daily News
Urban families no longer afford food needs –
report
Although supplies of basic commodities have improved on
both the
parallel and formal markets, most urban-based Zimbabweans cannot
afford the
cost of all their household food needs, the Famine Early Warning
Systems
Network (FEWSNET) said in its latest report.
"The
majority of market-dependent households cannot afford to meet all
of their
food needs, given their limited incomes and the extremely high
prices at
which these commodities are trading. Price controls have failed to
arrest
price increases and protect the poor from the ever-escalating
prices," noted
FEWSNET’s monthly update report, issued on 18 August.
The
availability of basic items such as bread, maize-meal and maize
grain
improved in most urban centres in August, but are sold for much more
than the
government-stipulated price.
In the case of maize-meal, the
price differential is over 590 percent.
As a result, "the cost of living for
all sections of the urban poor
continues to increase, seriously compromising
food security for this group",
FEWSNET said.
In response,
the government has disbursed the first Z$857 million
(US$1 million) tranche
of the Z$12.5 billion (US $15.2 million) allocated to
rural and urban
councils for food relief. The programme is intended to cover
the needs of 3.1
million people, providing Z$10,000 (US$12) per month to
recipients enrolled
in public works programmes, and direct payments to the
elderly, chronically
ill, the disabled and child-headed households.
The payments
will be just enough to purchase a month’s supply of maize
grain for an
average-sized household at the parallel market rate outside of
the
drought-prone south of the country.
"If the Grain Marketing
Board, a parastatal monopoly, continues to
supply food at subsidised prices,
increasing the volume and frequency of
these supplies over time, and if the
food relief is paid regularly, the food
security situation will certainly
improve in the targeted areas," FEWSNET
observed.
However,
an aid worker told IRIN that in view of Zimbabwe’s current
dire shortage of
banknotes and fuel, the government’s disbursement of these
funds to the
councils would only be the first step.
"How do you get the cash
out? If the bank has no banknotes and there’s
no fuel, it will just be a
bunch of noughts in the cheque account of the
local councils," the aid worker
said.
The World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture
Organisation
estimate that 5.5 million Zimbabweans will be in need of food
aid by January
2004.
– Irin
Daily News
Stand-off delays action at Town House
THE
implementation of Harare’s strategic plan and several key
projects has been
delayed by the stand-off between the capital city’s
council and the central
government, according to municipality officials.
Harare city
councillors said they now lived in fear of taking
decisions because they were
afraid of clashing with Local Government
Minister Ignatius
Chombo.
The minister has this year suspended executive mayor
Elias Mudzuri and
six councillors. Mudzuri was suspended earlier this year on
allegations of
mismanagement and corruption.
Two councillors
were suspended this month on a day the council was
scheduled to hold
elections that the minister had ordered it to postpone
until after the
conclusion of a probe into the allegations levelled
against
Mudzuri.
Another four councillors were suspended
last Thursday, on the day the
municipality was supposed to sit to ratify the
election of a new deputy
mayor and the heads of several
committees.
City councillors said a strategic plan proposed by
Mudzuri to turn
around the city’s operations within 10 years could not be
implemented
because of the uncertainty in the municipality. The councillors
said their
majority of municipality officials were now backtracking on
crucial
decisions due to fear of being expelled or suspended by the
minister.
Chombo was yesterday unavailable for comment. Calls
to his mobile were
diverted to his office and went unanswered. But council
officials said the
minister’s directives and unilateral decisions had
rendered them
ineffective.
Mudzuri told the Daily News:
"Everything is now out of control for
most senior staff in council. We had
put in place a strategic plan that
should be implemented, but now there has
to be a long wait before
investigations are complete."
Gabriel Chaibva, the shadow local government minister of the Movement
for
Democratic Change (MDC), on whose ticket Harare city councillors
were
elected, added: "Chombo has ensured that council does not operate until
he
imposes his people to handle council affairs. It is shocking that Chombo
had
to announce at a meeting that he had approved the borrowing of $5.9
billion
from the banks, 18 months after an application by the City of
Harare.
"Considering that inflation is pegged at 400 percent,
the $5.9 billion
is a minute fraction of what is required to complete key
projects like the
water reticulation and sewerage systems at Morton Jaffray
to improve the
water supply system." Lack of borrowing powers has adversely
affected the
operations of the Harare City Council, as well as those of other
urban
councils around the country. Because of soaring inflation, city
councils are
unable to fund service delivery exclusively using money
collected from
residents and ratepayers.
Chaibva said: "The
minister has used informal means to threaten and
issue directives to council
officials. The latest are his verbal threats to
senior engineering staff and
the suspension of six councillors deemed to be
progressive.
"Chombo has become a master of threats and vindictive management.
The
behaviour of Chombo is setting an agenda for confrontation. What this
means
technically, is that we are going back to the pre-22 July gesture
in
Parliament. These people in ZANU PF cannot co-exist with the MDC
because
they are not democrats." MDC legislators last month resolved to sit
through
President Robert Mugabe’s speech at the opening of Parliament instead
of
walking out as they had done in the past. The opposition party, which
does
not recognise Mugabe’s 2002 re-election, said its parliamentarians
sat
through the speech as an attempt to pave the way for better relations
with
the ruling ZANU PF.
Meanwhile, Chaibva said his party
was consulting over Chombo’s actions
against the Harare City Council, and its
position on the matter would be
integrated into the MDC’s national political
strategy.
He said the strategy would soon be made public. "The
minister has
deliberately embarked on a manpower depletion exercise in the
council. The
strategy is a bigger game-plan which is being orchestrated by
ZANU PF," he
said.
University of Zimbabwe academic Jameson
Kurasha, who heads the
commission appointed to probe Mudzuri, yesterday said
he could not comment
on developments at the city council. "We are just
investigating the
circumstances under which the elected mayor was suspended,"
Kurasha said. "I
am just looking at Harare, which everyone must serve. People
should work
together for the good of Harare."
Staff
Reporter
Daily News
Shamuyarira says MDC must use proper
channels
THE Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) should go
through the
proper channels if it is serious about resuming dialogue with the
ruling
ZANU PF, according to ruling party spokesman Nathan
Shamuyarira.
He said if the country’s main opposition party was
serious about
ending the political stalemate in Zimbabwe, it would not
attempt to engage
ZANU PF through the Press or at rallies.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai last weekend told supporters at a rally
that the
window for talks would only be open until the end of October, after
which the
opposition party would proceed with its court challenge of
President Robert
Mugabe’s March 2002 re-election.
He also indicated that the MDC
would again resort to mass action to
press for change.
But
Shamuyarira said: "If Tsvangirai is serious about what he is
saying, he knows
the route to engage in talks with ZANU PF.
He cannot negotiate
with the party through the Press. Tsvangirai has
to go through our party
structures."
Shamuyarira also blamed the Press for "spoiling everything".
The local and international media has extensively
covered efforts by
local church leaders to broker dialogue between Zimbabwe’s
main political
parties. Analysts say their efforts seem to have come to
nought, with the
ruling party failing to submit its agenda for the proposed
talks.
The MDC made its submissions to the church leaders early
this month,
before the expiry of a deadline set by the
churches.
MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube told the Daily
News that his
party was organising its structures to come up with a common
position on
what to do if talks did not resume before the end of
October.
He said: "Between now and October is the only time
left for ZANU PF to
consider our options. The MDC is organising its party
structures to map out
an agenda on what form of action to take after the
expiry of its deadline."
But University of Zimbabwe law
lecturer Lovemore Madhuku said the
ultimatum was ill-advised because it might
adversely affect the little
chance there was of ending the country’s
political stalemate. This would
hamper efforts to end Zimbabwe’s political
and economic crisis, the worst
since the country attained independence from
Britain in 1980.
"Dialogue is a two-way process and making
threats might not go down
well with the other party. This might cripple the
whole process," said
Madhuku, who is also the chairman of the National
Constitutional Assembly.
He added: "Tsvangirai has to be
patient as he has fairly limited
options that he can use to engage ZANU PF in
negotiations. The people of
Zimbabwe are suffering and the MDC should
consider another mass protest as
it is the only action that ZANU PF
understands."
Staff Reporter
Daily News
SADC has done a great disservice to
Zimbabweans
"They must call clearly and publicly, not in the
middle of the
night, but in broad daylight, the MDC must call for an end to
sanctions on
Zimbabwe !" This was the loud declaration of Junior Minister of
Information
Jonathan Moyo in the last week.
His cries were
echoed in an impassioned plea made by Tanzanian
President Benjamin Mkapa at
the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) meeting in Dar es Salaam.
Mkapa said that sanctions against Zimbabwe
should be lifted immediately. His
words followed the pronouncement by SADC
executive secretary and chief
executive officer Pega Ramsamy: "Sanctions on
Zimbabwe are hurting the people
of Zimbabwe and should be lifted."
What sanctions?
It is disgusting that such highly educated,
influential and supposedly
well informed people in the SADC should be calling
for a lifting of
sanctions on Zimbabwe. There are no sanctions imposed on the
ordinary people
of Zimbabwe, only on 70 top, named government
officials.
It is these officials who have been banned from
travelling to Europe,
America and Australia, not the masses of
Zimbabwe.
It is these officials who have had their overseas
assets and bank
accounts frozen, not ordinary people. It is these officials
who are
suffering, not eleven and a half million ordinary
Zimbabweans.
It is the President of Zimbabwe, his wife, members
of Cabinet and the
politburo, the commissioner of police, commander of the
armed forces and
Anglican Bishop Nolbert Kunonga who have "targeted
sanctions" imposed on
them, not the people of Zimbabwe.
Moyo
is one of the named officials in the Zimbabwean government who
has sanctions
imposed on him.
The SADC have done a great disservice to the
people of Zimbabwe by
peddling this misinformation about
sanctions.
Far worse, they have rubbished Africa in the eyes of
the world. They
have made African presidents look like a corrupt old boys’
club. The members
of the SADC have got a terminal case of laager mentality.
They have
encircled their wagons, placed themselves in the centre and are now
firing
wildly into the darkening African night.
They talk
proudly of the reformation of Africa and of the African
Renaissance, but
again they have shown that they only care about themselves
and their
positions, not the immense suffering of ordinary African
people.
It is utterly disgraceful that African presidents could
have gone into
such an important forum without making sure that they were
aware of the
facts now prevailing in Zimbabwe. By deliberately leaving out
that little
descriptive word "targeted" in front of the word "sanctions", who
did they
think they were fooling, aside from themselves?
They certainly did not fool the very countries who imposed targeted
sanctions
on top officials in our government. Neither did they fool the
ordinary people
of Zimbabwe who are not suffering one iota because our
leaders can no longer
jet-set around the world on extravagant shopping trips
and have had their
assets frozen.
Because of sanctions, the people of Zimbabwe no
longer have to see
their taxes being used to pay the air fares and foreign
hotel bills of
massive government delegations travelling around the world. In
a thinly
veiled reference to Zimbabwe, Mkapa also praised developments which
removed
"colonials" from farmland, supposedly to give black Africans the
power to be
in charge of their own destiny.
What a disgrace
that Mkapa could have addressed such an important
forum as the SADC without
making himself aware of what is really going on in
the colonial ethnic
cleansing that has ravaged Zimbabwe and made us
dependant on world food
aid.
Surely Mkapa’s aides must have told him that in the last
fortnight, 6
000 black Zimbabweans have been evicted from farms in the
country.
One thousand of these people, called A1 "new settler
farmers", were
given 13 days to vacate farms they had been living on for
three years in
order to make way for the family of the late Innocent Mugabe
and other
"chosen people".
Didn’t anyone tell Mkapa that
peasant farmers are being ordered to go
back to where they came from so that
yet more ZANU PF officials and their
relations can have the
land?
The government official undertaking the evictions told
settlers: "This
is a directive coming from the highest office so I will not
answer your
questions."
Didn’t anyone tell Mkapa any of
these things, or even that Innocent
Mugabe was the son of President Robert
Mugabe’s sister, Sabina?
To African presidents, the African Union
and the SADC, I say: "Shame
on you all. You do not lead by example, nor do
you inspire confidence. You
have buried your heads so deeply in the hot
African soil that you have
become brainwashed by your own disinformation."
People are dying here in
Zimbabwe. They are starving. They have no food, no
money, no medicines and
are dying. Not white people, but black African
people. Shame on you all in
the SADC. There are none so blind as those who
will not see, particularly
African presidents, who are huddled in their self
important laager.
By Cathy Buckle
Cathy Buckle is a
social commentator.
Daily News
Punishing banks not solution to forex
crisis
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is reported to have adopted a
tough
stance against local financial institutions suspected of trading on
the
illegal foreign currency black market. But yet again, the central bank
is
merely treating one of the many symptoms of a much more serious
problem.
Worse still, the Reserve Bank does not seem to have
learnt from the
lessons taught by the outcome of similar crackdowns, which
have dismally
failed to curb the parallel market for hard cash that has
become such a
thorn in its side.
Clearly, it is admirable
that the usually easy-going Reserve Bank has
decided to move vigorously
against financial institutions that are believed
to be major players in the
parallel market.
One financial institution has had its foreign
currency licence
withdrawn for a year, while another nine have been
threatened with the same
fate for allegedly flouting exchange
controls.
Indeed, reports indicate that the central bank is
scrutinising and
quizzing another three commercial banks and a merchant bank
over their
foreign currency dealings. No one is disputing that the Reserve
Bank has an
obligation to punish financial institutions found to be flouting
exchange
controls.
However, all we would ask is that such
measures be part of a
comprehensive campaign to get to grips with Zimbabwe’s
critical and
crippling foreign currency crisis.
It is not
enough for the central bank to be merely seen to be acting
against rogue
banks; this alone will not generate enough hard cash to end
the shortages
that have plagued the country for the past four years.
It is
only by significantly easing the foreign currency shortages that
Zimbabwe can
hope to deal a serious blow to the black market, which has
contributed to the
country’s economic crisis by fuelling inflation.
The Reserve
Bank cannot do it alone, but it must work with the
government to restore
confidence to Zimbabwe’s economy and to create a
conducive operating
environment for exporters and other local businesses.
It must
be obvious that this will not be possible unless decisions are
taken that are
necessary to curb inflation, which has contributed to a
decline in output and
to making local exports uncompetitive on the
world’s
markets.
In addition, Zimbabwe will not be able to
pull itself out of the mess
it is in without international financial
assistance and a significant
improvement in foreign direct investment
inflows.
This will only be possible if Zimbabwe can show that
it is serious
about addressing the issues of the rule of law and property
rights, lack of
which has cost the country billions of dollars in foreign
investment and
balance of payments support in the past four
years.
Of course, these are matters that have been highlighted
countless
times before and which we have no doubt the central bank and the
government
are fully aware.
These are issues that will be
repeated again and again until there is
some indication that economic sense
is finally going to prevail in Zimbabwe.
Unfortunately, the longer it takes
the authorities to deign to see economic
sense, the worse the damage to the
economy, the more money will be needed to
fix our problems and the harder the
consequences of some of the harsh
decisions that will have to be
taken.
In the meantime, the central bank can continue to flex
its muscles by
acting against banks, but the outcome of its measures are more
or less
predictable.
Just as the closure of Zimbabwe’s
bureaux de change last year and the
continuing crackdown on black market
dealers has not killed the parallel
market, neither will punishing banks, no
matter how many financial
institutions are made an example
of.
Closing the bureaux de change did not release a floodgate
to allow
foreign currency to flow into the banking system. The parallel
market was
subdued for a short while, but soon picked up and continued as if
nothing
had happened.
Meanwhile, black market dealers
continue to drive a thriving market
even though they face arrest on a daily
basis. With these examples in mind,
why then does Zimbabwe continue to fly in
the face of common sense? How much
longer can the country absorb the impact
of such bungling.
Daily News
Tobacco deliveries down by 50 percent
ONLY 55 million kilogrammes of tobacco has been delivered to the
tobacco
auction floors in the past 17 weeks of trading, half what was
delivered in
the same period last year, according to the Tobacco Industry
Marketing Board
(TIMB).
The TIMB said Zimbabwe had earned US$120 million
(Z$96.6 billion) from
deliveries so far, which have continued to be low as
growers agitate for a
devaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar.
After 17 weeks of trading last year, about 108 million kg of tobacco
or more
than 64 percent of the total crop, had passed through the
auction
floors.
"Demand remain(s) strong particularly for
the upper stalk reapings and
dominated offerings," the TIMB
said.
"To date, a total of 55 million kg of tobacco has been
sold at an
average price of US$2.20 (per kg) compared to 108 million kg that
was sold
at US$2.17 (per kg) in 2002."
Up to 87 million kg
of tobacco is expected to be sold at the country’s
auction floors in 2003,
compared to 168 million kg last year.
Large-scale tobacco
farmers, most of whom are white farmers, will
account for 72 percent of the
current crop, down from the 87 percent
contribution last
year.
The number of large-scale tobacco growers has dropped in
the past
three years because of the government’s seizure of white-owned
land.
Industry officials have warned that tobacco output, which
peaked to an
all-time high of 228 million kg, will slump again this year
because of
continued disturbances in the agricultural sector and
unavailability of
inputs.
Some of Zimbabwe’s large-scale
tobacco farmers have relocated to
Zambia, where they are said to be receiving
funding from international
buyers to grow the same variety of tobacco they
were producing locally.
Zimbabwe produces a distinctly
flavoured tobacco crop, which has in
the past drawn international buyers to
the country’s auction floors.
However, some buyers are already pulling out of
Zimbabwe for alternative
sources of the crop.
"Some
international buyers are now contracting former Zimbabwean
tobacco producers
to produce the same flavour in Zambia and in a few years’
time we could see
our neighbours producing more than us," a tobacco industry
official
said.
The Zimbabwe Tobacco Association, the body which
represents the
interests of commercial growers, has indicated that about 258
of its members
will be able to grow tobacco this year.
There
are also fears that some producers, unable to grow tobacco due
to escalating
production costs which have risen by at least 900 percent from
last year, are
buying seed to resell in the region to earn foreign currency.
The TIMB said the tobacco selling season was expected to end on 17
October
and grading of the crop should be completed by 30 September at
the
latest.
According to the TIMB, demand for the golden
leaf remains strong but
deliveries are low as growers anticipate a review of
the government’s export
incentive scheme, under which the Zimbabwe: US dollar
exchange rate has been
pegged at $824: $1 since February.
Although the average price, at US$2.20 per kg, is slightly higher than
that
realised last year, growers argue that the government should have
adjusted
the exchange rate as promised, so that they could get higher
Zimbabwean
dollar earnings to match galloping inflation.
Local growers are
paid for the Zimbabwean dollar equivalent of their
forex earnings, but have
recently been lobbying the government to let them
retain 50 percent of their
sales in hard cash, as is the case with other
exporters.
Growers are entitled to only 20 percent of their tobacco sales in hard
cash,
which is used to procure inputs and is administered by the Tobacco
Growers’
Trust.
Business Reporter
Daily News
Resettled farmers given taste of their own
medicine
It is with some disappointment that I detect some
sympathy emanating
from your paper directed at the resettled farmers whose
property was torched
by the police to make way for a Mr Mukumba in Masvingo
(Police torch 1 000
homes, Daily News 26 August).
Those
people who were forcibly removed by the police do not have my
sympathy at
all. They certainly do not deserve any from anyone.
These
resettled farmers wilfully participated in the orgy of violence
orchestrated
by ZANU PF and directed at farmers purely on the basis that
these farmers
were white.
They forcefully, and without an iota of mercy,
hounded farmers out of
their farmhouses and took over their households. They
then unlawfully
confiscated the farmers’ equipment and started using the farm
forks, knives
and beds.
They ate the farmers’ cheese and
slaughtered their cattle for braais.
It is with a sense of great satisfaction
that I learn that these resettled
farmers have themselves been made
recipients of similar treatment by their
former allies, who previously turned
a blind eye to their terrorism.
During the so-called
resettlement exercise countrywide, farm workers
had their property torched
and they were thrown into abject poverty. They
suffered immensely. These
resettled farmers were well aware of the
wrongfulness and unlawfulness, not
to mention unfairness, of their selfish
actions.
They were
willing to be used as pawns for the so-called spontaneous
land invasions.
They now cry foul when they are treated shabbily and expect
sympathy from the
public.
Fat chance!
These people were
accomplices in the destruction of the agricultural
industry in a prospering
Zimbabwe. They have directly and indirectly
contributed to the food shortages
that are presently being endured by the
nation.
They are
discovering that what goes around certainly does come around.
God is alive,
after all.
As far as some of us are concerned, the recent
eviction of resettled
farmers by the police and government is nothing but a
fallout with a partner
in crime. We gleefully look forward to more of the
same!
Vusumusi Sibhula
Bulawayo
Daily News
Let’s suffer for the good of our children
Every time I read the papers from home, I see the reason why there
are more
than a million Zimbabweans now living in South Africa.
I left
home because I could not find a job. Why? Because I refused to
go for
national service.
Six months later, Zimbabwe has been turned
into a dilapidated pile of
trash.
Do people like Jonathan
Moyo and Joseph Made feel anything for the
ordinary people? I guess
not.
Zimbabwe now holds the world record when it comes to
inflation and
with the next rainy season around the corner, nothing seams to
be taking
place to avert food shortages, unlike in the past.
How many people have died to date because they do not have enough food
to
eat? How many have died because there is no medicine in the hospitals?
How
many have died because there is no fuel to transport them to
hospitals?
Last, but not least, how many people are enjoying
life at the expense
of the masses?
I personally feel there
is nothing much to talk about between the
opposition Movement for Democratic
Change and the ruling ZANU PF party.
Instead, the only thing to do is for
President Robert Mugabe and his
followers to accept failure and leave
office.
Vamwe vanoti kusiri kufa ndekupi. (Either way, we will
suffer) but let
us suffer for the good of our children.
Nyika Edwin
South Africa