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Zimbabwe police patrol streets as army is put on alert

Zim Online

Sat 9 September 2006

      HARARE - Armed police manned roadblocks on major roads and patrolled
streets in key Zimbabwean cities, while sources said the army was on standby
as President Robert Mugabe readies to crush worker and student protests
against his rule planned for next week.

      Government agents on the other hand maintained an eagle eye on leaders
of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the main organisers of next
Wednesday's protests.

      Suspected agents of the state's dreaded Central Intelligence
Organisation were on Thursday seen recording registration numbers of
vehicles belonging to ZCTU officials who were attending a meeting in Harare
to fine-tune strategy ahead of protests, in what appeared an open attempt to
intimidate the union leaders.

      The ZCTU on Friday said unidentified people were tailing vehicles
driven by some of its officials, while in Harare armed police monitored the
streets, dispersing people gathered in small groups and chased away people
who were relaxing in the two parks near the capital's central business
district.

      Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi told ZimOnline by phone that
security forces would remain on "high alert" until the situation in the
country was normalised.

      He said: "We are ready to deal with any threats to stability. We are
on alert, yes, and we will continue until the situation normalises."

      Zimbabwe has been on knife-edge since the ZCTU and the Zimbabwe
National Students Union announced last weekend and earlier this week plans
to stage nationwide mass protests to force Mugabe's government to halt an
eight-year crippling economic recession.

      The country's largest coalition of civic society organisations, the
National Constitutional Assembly, announced later this week that it would be
taking part in the protests.

      The sources said Mugabe personally ordered security to be heightened
after main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and top officials of his
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) caught the government by surprise,
marching to Parliament, in what they said was a warning of more protests to
force the veteran President to accept sweeping political reforms.

      The MDC has promised Ukraine-style protests to force Mugabe to give up
power to a transitional government that should write a new democratic
constitution for Zimbabwe and organise fresh elections under international
supervision.

      The opposition party has however said while it sympathises with
workers and students, it will not be part of next week's protests.

      But our sources say Mugabe and his security chiefs are not convinced
the opposition party does not have a hand in the protests and have put all
security organs on alert to ensure nothing is left to chance.

      A security official, who spoke on condition he was not named, said:
"We cannot take the MDC on its word that it is not part of this whole
thing ..indeed there is a genuine fear that the ZCTU could be used as a
front, and then the MDC will hijack proceedings at some stage and catch us
unawares.

      "This why we cannot take chances .. the army will be on standby, ready
to move in once the police send a signal that the situation (protests) on
the ground is getting out of hand."

      Mugabe has promised to ruthlessly crush any mass action against his
government and last month boasted that the security forces would "pull the
trigger" against protesters.

      Political tensions have been rising in Zimbabwe as the country
grapples with an economic meltdown blamed mainly on state mismanagement.
Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate at just under 1 000 percent,
skyrocketing unemployment, shortages of foreign currency, food, fuel and
power and increasing poverty levels.

      Mugabe, in power since Zimbabwe's 1980 independence from Britain,
denies mismanaging the economy and instead accuses the West of slapping
sanctions on Harare to punish his government for seizing land from whites
for redistribution to landless blacks. - ZimOnline


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UNICEF combats child abuse in Zimbabwe

Zim Online

Sat 9 September 2006

      HARARE - The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has launched an
ambitious programme in Zimbabwe to train teachers to help prevent and detect
cases of sexual abuse of children in primary schools.

      UNICEF representative in Zimbabwe, Dr Festo Kavishe, told the media
that his organisation had enlisted the help of 1 200 teachers from around
the country to help combat cases of child abuse.

      "We want to assist teachers to be more effective facilitators of life
skills learning, promote children's ability to say 'no', prevent and detect
child abuse, know how to seek action, and to counsel children in need of
care and support," said Kavishe.

      Kavishe said the HIV/AIDS pandemic which is killing at least 3 000
people every week and the current economic crisis in Zimbabwe had left many
children vulnerable to abuse.

      Zimbabwe government statistics indicate that there are over a million
children who have been orphaned by AIDS in the country while a local child
rights group, the Girl Child Network, says at least 6 000 girls were
sexually abused last year alone.

      Although Zimbabwe has a national curriculum on HIV/AIDS in schools,
UNICEF said the programme was not being effectively carried out.

      "In part this is due to the intergenerational communication barriers
on sex and sex-related issues between teachers and their pupils.

      "This is also because the school curriculum is over-loaded and
teachers lack the necessary resource materials, motivation and supervision
to deliver," said Kavishe. - ZimOnline


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Ruling in Zimbabwe businessman's passport case postponed

Zim Online

Sat 9 September 2006

      HARARE - A Zimbabwean magistrate on Friday postponed ruling in the
case in which one of the country's richest businessman, John Arnold
Bredenkamp, is accused of holding a South African passport in breach of the
Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act, his lawyer said.

      "The passing of judgment has been postponed to Thursday next week,"
Bredenkamp's lawyer, Advocate Eric Matinenga said. "The magistrate said he
needed more time until Thursday next week."

      Bredenkamp, who is said to have close ties to President Robert Mugabe
and his ZANU PF party, was arrested last month for allegedly obtaining a
passport from Pretoria without permission from Home Affairs Minister Kembo
Mohadi.

      The Citizenship Act requires Zimbabweans to obtain special permission
from the government to hold the passport of another country.

      The business tycoon is regarded in Zimbabwe's political circles as
being closer to former parliamentary speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa who is
involved in a mortal fight with a rival ZANU PF faction to succeed Mugabe.

      Mnangagwa was for many years regarded as heir apparent to Mugabe but
was last year sidelined at the eleventh hour when the veteran leader
handpicked Joice Mujuru to the posts of second vice-president of ZANU PF and
the government.

      The two posts place Mujuru, wife of powerful retired army general
Solomon Mujuru, a step ahead to succeed Mugabe when he and first
Vice-President Joseph Msika step down as expected in 2008.

      Some analysts believe the targeting of Bredenkamp, who the authorities
have always known to hold two passports, could be part of the power
struggles between the Mnangagwa and Mujuru factions. - ZimOnline


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Zimbabwe: Quantifying destruction - satellite images of forced evictions

Amnesty International
Date: 08 Sep 2006

Between May and July 2005 some 700,000 people in Zimbabwe lost their homes,
their livelihoods or both as a direct consequence of the government's
Operation Murambatsvina 1, a programme of mass forced evictions and
demolitions of homes and informal businesses. In some areas entire
settlements were razed to the ground. While the demolitions took place right
across the country, the majority of the destruction occurred in high density
urban areas in Harare, Chitungwiza, Bulawayo, Mutare, Kariba and Victoria
Falls. In these areas tens of thousands of poor families lived in what are
known as backyard cottages or extensions - these were small, often brick,
structures built on residential plots around the main house,
sometimesattached to the main house, and sometimes a little way separate
from it. They varied in size from one to several rooms. In urban areas these
backyard structures were the only source of accommodation for poor people,
who could not afford to buy a plot of land and build their own home. The
government and local authorities in Zimbabwe provide almost no cheap rental
accommodation.

Operation Murambatsvina occurred countrywide. This report contains "before"
and "after" satellite images of four sites affected by Operation
Murambatsvina: Porta Farm settlement and portions of both Hatcliffe and
Chitungwiza, all located around the capital, Harare, and Killarney, an
informal settlement on the outskirts of Bulawayo in the south of Zimbabwe.2
These images, which represent only a fraction of the demolitions, provide
compelling visual evidence of the scale of the destruction and human rights
violations which took place in Zimbabwe during 2005. Using satellite
technology it has also been possible to count the number of structures
destroyed at these sites, providing quantitative evidence of the
demolitions. In just the four areas covered by the satellite images more
than 5,000 structures were destroyed.

The government of Zimbabwe maintains that all of the homes demolished were
"illegal" structures. However, the homes and settlements destroyed included
informal settlements of long standing where the government itself had placed
people, homes on sites where people held government leases, and areas where
court orders existed prohibiting the evictions.3

Despite the claims of the government of Zimbabwe, forced evictions and
demolitions without due process, even of structures deemed to be "illegal",
are not permitted under international law. The United Nations (UN)
Commission on Human Rights considers that "the practice of forced evictions
constitutes a gross violation of human rights, in particular the right to
adequate housing",4 while the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, which monitors compliance with the International Covenant on
Economic Social and Cultural Rights, to which Zimbabwe is a state party, has
stated that "instances of forced eviction are prima facie incompatible with
the requirements of the Covenant and can only be justified in the most
exceptional circumstances, and in accordance with the relevant principles of
international law."5 The mass evictions of Operation Murambatsvina were
carried out without adequate notice, court orders, due process, legal
protection, redress or appropriate relocation measures. They resulted in
hundreds of thousands of people being made homeless in winter.

1 Operation Murambatsvina means 'drive out rubbish' in Shona.

2 Amnesty International researchers visited Porta Farm, Chitungwiza and
Hatcliffe in August 2005 and witnessed the visible evidence of demolitions
and evictions at all these sites. Interviews were conducted with residents
of Porta Farm, Chitungwiza, Hatcliffe and Killarney, also in 2005. The
residents of Porta Farm and Killarney, both of which were destroyed, were
interviewed in various locations to which they had moved in the aftermath of
Operation Murambatsvina, including churches and a holding camp set up by the
government. Amnesty International researchers subsequently visited Porta
Farm, Hatcliffe and Killarney in April and May 2006, and interviewed people
who had returned to Killarney and Hatcliffe. Porta Farm was deserted and
access was restricted by wildlife officers who claimed they were there to
prevent poaching of fish from the nearby lake.

3 Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe to assess the Scope and
Impact of Operation Murambatsvina by the UN Special Envoy on Human
Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe, 22 July 2005. See also: Amnesty
International, "Zimbabwe: shattered lives - the case of Porta Farm", AI
Index AFR 46/004/2006, 31 March 2006.

4 UN Commission on Human Rights, Resolution 1993/77, para 1.

5 CESCR General Comment No. 4 on right to adequate housing (1991), para. 18.

See the full report, with images


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The hitchhiker's guide to Zimbabwe

Mail and Guardian

      Lisa Johnston

      08 September 2006 10:59

            "Don't fool yourself. Speed kills," a Power FM radio announcer
tells listeners. It is hard to take his statement seriously. It's a Friday
afternoon in central Harare, and traffic dithers along at 40kph even though
the speed limit is 60kph. Motorists drive slowly to conserve petrol, I am
told, keeping an eye on the fuel gauge as the precious liquid diminishes
into puffs of carbon dioxide.

            Despite reports in the local media trumpeting the "tumble" of
annual inflation from 1 184,6% to 993,6%, and the success of the recent
currency-reform programme, there is little evidence of improvement in the
daily lives of locals.

            In the 10 days that I was in the country, the price of a bus
ticket from Chitungwiza to Harare rose from Z$200 to Z$250, and then to
Z$300 -- a hefty penalty if you consider that a security guard in
Chitungwiza has to spend Z$12 000 of his Z$20 000 monthly salary travelling
about 22km to work in Harare.

            One trader, selling fruits and vegetables, says she earns about
Z$5 000 on a good day, and about Z$3 000 on a bad day. Even state-employed
teachers, who earn about Z$30 000, live below the Z$68 000-a-month
breadline.

            As one of the few people with a full tank of petrol, I felt
compelled to pick up hitchhikers on my visit and was offered insight into
what ordinary Zimbabweans think about the economic and political climate.

            "This country is bleeding; this country is finished," says
Constantine, a housewife and mother of six, who catches a ride for the final
20km stretch of road to Bulawayo.

            After we are searched at one of numerous roadblocks set up ahead
of the August 21 currency-exchange deadline, she mutters: "It is complete
harassment. The policemen and politicians are just getting fatter. You can't
pass anywhere without handing something to police. We are stuck here because
we are born here. It is only because of this that we stay."

            When I meet Theresa, an elderly woman, near Amakhosi Theatre in
Bulawayo, she is on her way home from the hospital. "They didn't have pills
so they gave me a paper [script] for what is wrong with me, but I can't
afford to buy the medicine at the pharmacy so I went back this week, but
there are still no pills," she says with resignation.

            Joyce, a cross-border trader I pick up on the road outside of
Kwekwe, says: "To live in Zimbabwe is to be very angry." Joyce buys batiks
in Harare and sells them in Botswana. ""There are many [border] jumpers now;
everyone is jumping."

            Back in Harare, The Village, an upmarket complex in Borrowdale,
is buzzing as people go about their Saturday-morning shopping. Initially it
appears that the country's economic crisis has had little effect here -- 
until one takes a closer look. Supermarket trolleys contain only the bare
minimum and products at the local Clicks are arranged in single rows in an
attempt to make the shelves look fuller.

            "Life here is unbearable," says Chengetai, a bookkeeper who
lives in Chitungwiza. At 4pm, she hands around plates of stiff samp mixed
with peanut butter, and laughs. "We can no longer afford a decent meal. We
have to eat supper in the afternoon if you don't [have] tough luck -- the
electricity can go off at any time."

            She points outside to the keloid scars of rubble that still
litter the suburb a year after the controversial slum clearance that was
Operation Murambatsvina. "We used to be a building here [a phone shop]. That
was a good enterprise, but in a few minutes it was gone. Bulldozed. You
spend your whole life working and at the end of the day you have nothing
tangible to show for it."

            On the drive back into the city, I pick up two passengers. As
the sun dips the mood is high and the two friends laugh and joke. "When that
man [Mugabe] dies," one woman roars. "I am going to drink so much my husband
is going to have to put out an ad to find me. When he dies I am going there
to the state funeral to see for myself and I am going to pour concrete in
the grave."

            Her friend pipes in: "Concrete and cement. That way we can make
sure he can't come out."


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EU wants Security Council action against Zimbabwe


afrol News, 8 September - The European Union (EU) parliament has urged the
UN Security Council to "report on the human rights and political situation
in Zimbabwe as a matter of urgency," normally a first step in UN actions
against a state. Pressure groups assume possible "crimes against humanity"
are being committed in Zimbabwe, which could call for UN sanctions or even
intervention.

The EU parliament yesterday endorsed a strongly worded resolution,
condemning the regime of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, criticising
especially South Africa's failed approach towards the Zimbabwe crisis and
calling for stronger actions against the regime. It calls on EU member
states, African governments, China and the UN to intervene.

The resolution condemns the "appalling humanitarian, political, and economic
situation in Zimbabwe," which was continuing to deteriorate, "with the
so-called Operation Murambatsvina (drive out rubbish) leaving 700,000 people
destitute, with over 4 million Zimbabweans at risk of starvation and
surviving on food aid, and political repression continuing apace."

The member of the European parliament (MEPs) held the "Mugabe dictatorship"
stood behind "relentless oppression of the Zimbabwean people." Zimbabweans
were now suffering from an unemployment rate of over 70 percent and the
highest inflation rate in the world due to this repression, they added.

Another concern among MEPs was at government efforts to take control of
Zimbabwe's Red Society by forcibly recommending the employment of regime
members and supporters. Member states, who also are the Red Cross' largest
donors, were fearful that this move would "herald the use of Red Cross food
support as a political weapon," the resolution said.

The African Union (AU), the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
"and, in particular, South Africa" had "failed to take a strong enough stand
against the reprehensible Mugabe regime," the resolution said. The MEPs
therefore expressed their "profound disappointment" of these regional
actors' "refusal" to take a more robust stance against the regime's abuses.

Also China is strongly criticised in the resolution, as the country has
become Zimbabwe's main non-African trade partner and its principal arms
supplier. The MEPs deplored that while the UN is appealing for US$ 257
million in humanitarian aid for Zimbabwe, the Mugabe regime had completed a
US$ 240 million purchase of twelve K-8 military aircraft from China.
Further, the army was to purchase 127 vehicles for senior officers, with
another 194 to be bought later on.

The resolution concludes in a list of demands and recommendations to the
Harare government, the EU and other international institutions. Harare was
urged to provide housing for the victims of Operation Murambatsvina, to take
urgent action against the ever-increasing HIV-AIDS pandemic and demands the
withdrawal of several repressive bills.

Recognising that the EU's targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe "have failed
to have the desired impact," the EU parliament urged member states to
"rigorously apply existing restrictive measures, including the arms embargo
and the travel ban." China is urged to stop "supplying weaponry and other
support to the Mugabe regime," while SADC is urged to close its regional
peacekeeping training centre in Harare.

The most important demand in the resolution, however, was directed to the UN
Security Council, which was asked to "report on the human rights and
political situation in Zimbabwe as a matter of urgency." The resolution has
been sent to Security Council members and may be picked up by one of the
EU's four current Council members; Denmark, France, Greece or the UK.

Ordering such a report will be seen as the first step towards possible UN
actions against Zimbabwe. If the report concludes on "crimes against
humanity" or an inability or unwillingness "to protect its own people"
against systematic violations of human rights, actions could be sever.
Actions usually start with a Security Council demand, followed up with
economic and military sanctions and could end in physical intervention.

The EU demand of a Security Council human rights report today was met with
applause by the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association
(IBA). "We hope that the Security Council will follow the EU's
recommendation. Our long-held view is that crimes against humanity are being
committed in Zimbabwe and a Security Council investigation is a crucial
first step to ensuring that those responsible are brought to justice," the
IBA's Mark Ellis said in a statement.

"The protection of human rights requires all in the international community
to engage in unremitting efforts to end gross violations of international
human rights law wherever they occur, and the EU's persistence in calls for
high-level UN action on Zimbabwe should be supported," he added.

Fortunately for the Mugabe regime, however, the EU parliament - the only
democratically elected institution in the Union - remains a forum with
little powers and very restricted influence. Its decisions barely reach the
media and population in Europe and are mostly ignored by other EU
institutions and member states.

By staff writers


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Zimbabwe Humanitarian Situation Report Issue no. 10, Aug 2006

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Date: 31 Aug 2006

HIGHLIGHTS

Consolidated Appeal (CAP) for Zimbabwe 2006 is now 47% funded, which
accounts for approximately US$122 million (see tables on page 6)

2007 Consolidated Appeals Process off to a good start (see section IV)

HIV prevalence rate goes down again in 2 years (see section III under
HIV&AIDS and map on p7)

I. ESSENTIAL STATISTICS/DATA

11,750 million country population in 10 provinces, with 61 districts (CSO)

2.4 million people affected in varying degrees and 700,000 people lost
shelter, livelihoods due to Operation Restore Order/Murambatsvina of May .
July 2005 (UNSG Special Envoy's Report on Zimbabwe, 18/07/05 . figures
disputed in the GoZ response.)

18.1% HIV prevalence rate, down from 20.1%; (Zimbabwe Demographic Health
Survey 2005/6)

- 1.6 million people of all ages are HIV infected (MoHCW, National Estimates
2005).

- 1.3 million children orphaned by 2003, about 1 million due to AIDS
(UNICEF)

993,6 % inflation rate down from 1,184% in June for the second successive
month (CSO)

70-80% unemployment rate

Z$96,000 (US$384) Poverty Datum Line (PDL) (CSO)

II. FUNDING

The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator allocated US$1 million to
Zimbabwe from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) as part of the
second round of funding for "under-funded emergencies".

On 23 August, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Country Team
discussed the new CERF allocation and agreed on the following sectoral
priorities: health, water/sanitation, shelter and food. In this context, the
IASC Country Team recommended grants of US$250,000 for each of the following
CAP projects:

WHO: "Procurement of vital drugs and medical supplies" (ZIM-06/H17) or
"Procurement of ARVs and laboratory reagents" (CAP project no. ZIM-06/H12)

UNICEF: "Provision of emergency safe water supply, sanitation and hygiene
education to targeted vulnerable populations in urban and rural areas".
(ZIM-06/WS07) (This project will be adjusted also to include the provision
of water to refugees in Tongogara Camp)

IOM: "Emergency Provision of Temporary Shelter and Related Humanitarian
Assistance to Destitute Households Affected by Operation
Murambatsvina/Restore Order" (ZIM-06/S/NF01)

WFP: "Targeted food support for vulnerable groups" (ZIM-06/F01)

On 10 August, the Japanese Government donated US$89,200 to World Vision
Zimbabwe in support of the organization¡¯s CAP 2006 project for Emergency
Water Supply and Sanitation. The funding will be used for the rehabilitation
of boreholes and purchase of 32 bush pumps in high-density areas of
Bulawayo; the training of 32 water point monitors and six water point Users
Committees and hygiene promotion activities.

The drop in the inflation rate is generally seen by the humanitarian
community as a positive development though it remains high. Perched at 993%,
the index is under pressure from ever-increasing prices of fuel and basic
commodities and the general weakening of the local currency. The floating of
official exchange rate that is decided by the central bank currently
standing at Z$250 to US$1 is causing distortions on budgeting processes and
operational costs are becoming too high for the humanitarian community to
adequately provide the interventions needed by vulnerable people.


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Parliament Question Time Wed 6 Sept - Stevenson Q on mealie meal

From: Trudy Stevenson
 
Sent: Friday, September 08, 2006 5:58 AM
Subject: Parliament Question Time Wed 6 Sept - Stevenson Q on mealie meal

(* Hansard is now being printed by another company, and we have started receiving Hansard the day after sittings, once again - long may it last!  TS)

 

Hansard 6th September 2006

 

Oral Answers to Questions

 

…….

Mrs Stevenson:  My question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture.  It is very difficult to find mealie meal in the shops, particularly in Harare.  I would like the Minister to explain why this is so, and what policy measures he is putting in place to ensue that we will be able to find it.

 

The Minister of Agriculture (Dr Made):

Mr Speaker, I really want to thank the hon. member for raising that question, because it gives me an opportunity to let the House and the public know.  Indeed, we have been having a problem of grain to the millers.  You are aware that we have been importing as well as collecting maize from our farmers for this year’s harvest. – (An Hon. Member..inaudible interjections).  I wish you could give me an opportunity to respond.

 

I want to emphasize that in our programme, we have been balancing the distribution between what we have already collected and what we have imported.  We have now given authority to the GMB to make sure that our stocks now meet the shortfall on importation on a weekly basis.  As early as today, the instruction including last week, you saw some marginal movements in the supply of the grain but it has not been enough.   This morning, we met to examine the real problem of the grain movement from the GMB silos.

 

The issue has been that when we tell the millers to collect, let us say from Aspindale, everybody will be going there because it will be much cheaper than going to Concession in terms of transportation costs.  So, instruction has been given that whatever depot we choose to say, this is where the millers are going to collect, they will be given enough grain to make sure that we cover the backlog that seems to exist, particularly in Harare and Bulawayo because these are our major cities.  It will also include other cities like Gweru, Mutare, Bindura and so on.  I can assure you that there will be adequate grain being distributed to the millers.

 

Te second point, I also want to indicate that the millers should mill and deliver mealie meal as soon as they receive the grain.  I do not want to blame them now but we all know that at times, millers will tend to hold on to some mealie meal.  There have been issues that there will be price movements and so on but I would want to say that three is nothing like that at the moment. 

 

So Hon. Member and through you Mr Speaker, I expect that the measures that we have taken will be useful.  I also want to advise Members of Parliament that whenever you have problems within your constituencies, you can call me, my line is always available – (some Hon. Members: What is your number?) – You know my number very well, it is 011 402 285.

…….


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Zimbabwe student leaders arrested



      By Violet Gonda
      8 September 2006

      Armed riot police descended on a workshop organized by the Zimbabwe
National Students Union and arrested 8 student leaders in Harare today. The
student leaders were having a strategic workshop ahead of mass protests
scheduled by the ZCTU and ZINASU for Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

      It is reported that the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) Rapid
Reaction Unit lawyer Tafadzwa Mugabe was denied access to his clients all
day. The ZLHR said the police threatened the lawyer saying they were going
to throw him out of the police station and warned that further unspecified
action would follow.

      The human rights body said upon the attendance of a further lawyer
from their Public Interest Litigation Unit, Mr. Lawrence Chibwe, and
insistence by the two lawyers that their clients' rights were being
violated, a police officer from the Police District Intelligence Office told
the lawyers: "We have been violating your clients' rights since this
morning, and we will continue doing so. We are also violating your rights to
see your clients."

      The lawyers are currently preparing an urgent application to obtain
access to the detained students and secure their release.

      The students were working on a petition demanding accessible education
for all in Zimbabwe. The arrested include the ZINASU Vice President Gideon
Chitanga, Secretary General Beloved Chiweshe, President of the Bulawayo
Polytechnic Milward Makwenjere, George Makoni, Fungai Mageza, Lawrence
Mashungu, Clayton Njova and Terrence Chimhavi.

      There has been a tense atmosphere and tightened security ever since
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) announced it is organising
countrywide protests which have been backed by most progressive democratic
forces in the country.

      The arrests come on the heels of massive threats by the Mugabe regime
who have warned of fierce reprisals to crush any protests. The students are
being charged with planning to carry out an unlawful protest.

      Undeterred, the students' union said in a statement the demonstrations
are going ahead next week. The statement reads: "We would like to reiterate
our commitment to embark on peaceful and lawful protests as planned. We
remain resolute, steadfast and undeterred and our actions on the said date
are going on as planned and unabated."

      The group added; "We wish to inform ZANU PF that this is the same
Union with the propensity to fight at a relentless capacity and that our
students are in fact motivated by and geared for the arrests as a way to
prove to the world that the regime has lost the last iota of adherence to
the rule of law."

      In a strongly worded statement ZINASU President Promise Mkwananzi
said; "We would like to warn Government to start to be responsive to the
sensibilities of the people before they are swept away by the Democratic
storm. Our protests are not a secret and will not hide."

      Irene Petras, acting Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights, criticised the police behaviour saying it was un-procedural
and lawless. She also stressed that detainees have a constitutional right to
access their lawyers and be represented at all times.

      We were not able to get a comment from the police.

      SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news


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Protests due next week as Zimbabweans demand change



      By Tererai Karimakwenda
      08 September 2006

      Several protests against the government and its policies that have
destroyed the country have been organised for the coming week as the
situation on the ground in Zimbabwe continues to become more and more
difficult to manage. Organisations planning to demonstrate say their members
have been forced to take some form of action however risky to improve their
lives in the face of poverty, hunger, oppression and corruption.

      Although each group is protesting a specific set of issues that are
affecting its members, they all agree it is the ruling party that is
responsible and have vowed to support each other's efforts on the streets.
Never before have so many groups come together in Zimbabwe to demand
immediate change leading to free and fair elections for a new government.
And instead of addressing the issues and creating an atmosphere of peace,
Robert Mugabe and his government have responded with their usual rhetoric of
threats and violence. However Zimbabweans say they will be out in full force
peacefully as it is their constitutional right.
      The most widely publicised has been The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) with protest marches scheduled for next Wednesday September
13th. ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo and secretary-general Wellington
Chibebe are expected to lead the protests, which have been dubbed "Operation
Tatambura" (we have suffered). The demonstrations are being held in Harare,
Bulawayo, Gweru, Mutare, Chinhoyi, Masvingo and many other towns around the
country.

      The umbrella labour group has received confirmation from leaders of
many other organisations that they too will be on the streets on Wednesday
supporting the workers. Among those who will participate are the Zimbabwe
National Students' Union (ZINASU), and the National Constitutional Assembly
(NCA).
      In the U.K. members of The Zimbabwe Vigil have joined forces with the
MDC-UK to organise a demonstration in solidarity with the ZCTU action in
Zimbabwe. The U.K. demo will take place Wednesday as well from 12.00 - 15.00
hours outside Zimbabwe House.

      The ZimOnline news site reported that the government has placed top
leaders in the opposition, labour and student movements under 24-hour
surveillance in anticipation of the protests. The report cited several
sources including members of the state's Central Intelligence Organisation
(CIO), who said the government had panicked after top executives of the MDC
held a surprise march across Harare last week. Among those alleged to be
under surveillance are MDC officials including president Morgan Tsvangirai,
deputy president Thokozani Khupe, organising secretary Elias Mudzuri,
spokesman Nelson Chamisa and secretary-general Tendai Biti.

      Also under close watch are ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo,
secretary-general Wellington Chibebe, Zimbabwe National Students' Union
(ZINASU) president Promise Mkwananzi and the University of Zimbabwe
students' leader Washington Katema.

      It is a peaceful protest march that will culminate in the leadership
in Harare presenting petitions to the Ministers of Labour Nicholas Goche,
Finance Herbert Murerwa and the Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe,"
Sibanda said.

      SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news


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What's Wrong With Our Parastatals?



The Herald (Harare)

OPINION
September 8, 2006
Posted to the web September 8, 2006

Harare

THE parastatals' story is a very sad one. We can talk and write about them
till the cows come home. It seems, like the leopard, parastatals cannot
change their spots.

Take Air Zimbabwe, for instance. The airline has received a cumulative US$50
million from the Reserve Bank since last year. But up to now for reasons
unknown, it has failed to pay back.

Maybe the airline's management is so overwhelmed by the challenges facing it
they have gone into hibernation. For how can one explain a situation whereby
at one time management or whomsoever is responsible for assigning flights
decided to let go a long-haul plane to Dubai only to return to Harare with
one passenger?

Not only that, thousands of travellers have had their flights delayed,
rescheduled or cancelled altogether -- at considerable cost in lost revenue,
never mind its battered image.

One friend of mine, a frequent flyer, has vowed "never to fly Air Zimbabwe
again". I will spare the readers what exactly he went through. But all I can
say is he is not alone in this respect.

With a virtual monopoly on the local skies, Air Zimbabwe should be making a
tidy profit. Instead it continues to rely on loans from the central bank
and, of course, handouts from the Treasury.

So what is the problem at Air Zimbabwe? Nobody knows for sure. But one thing
for sure is that the chief executive's seat has proved to be one of the
hottest in the country. No less than six MDs or CEOs -- including at least
one expatriate -- have come and gone in the last 25 years. Maybe lack of
continuity lies at the core of Air Zimbabwe's problems.

And let's not forget that each of them has been given a golden handshake at
the end of their tenure -- severance packages running into millions,
executive cars, and everything that goes with such top posts.

While the deposed or suspended CEOs were laughing all the way to the bank,
the shopfloor workers -- engineers, air hostesses, flight attendants -- were
sulking, on a go-slow or fully-fledged strike.

My sympathies go to acting CEO Captain Oscar Madombwe, who has the uneviable
task of keeping a restive workforce under check. I understand he must also
occasionally step out his office into the cockpit.

Admittedly, the company has had its fair share of problems just like any
other parastatal. But AirZim has sunk rock bottom; so deep, that even
attempts by the central bank to redeem it appear to be an exercise in
futility.

I find it difficult to believe that the national airline has been reduced to
a travel agency for its rivals, who might even fall short of thanking the
once big firm for its committed intermediary role.

Perhaps, some business sense needs to be knocked hard into the minds of
those who call the shots at AirZim.

The same applies to the Grain Marketing Board where good governance has
become a veritable stranger. Needless to say, the shuffling of CEOs, the
lack of substantive executives, has been a huge drain on service delivery.

For how long should these and many other parastatals continue to operate
like backyard tuckshops? They have been a drag on economic recovery
initiatives and responsible ministries should take the flak for failing to
whip the institutions into line.

And then there is Harare City Council. The council has failed to deliver
despite astronomical rate hikes.

For instance, in the high-density areas, sewer effluent has continued to
flow freely, as the council takes a back seat. The situation is like this:
If you cannot afford to extend a gift of evil, then you are sure to be left
in the rot. Raw sewage will continue merry-making at your doorstep, and one
may have to learn the hard way to accept these dedicated streams of effluent
as part of everyday life.

The situation is so dire in some areas innocent children have drowned in
ponds of sewage while disease lurks in the background. The council is run
down, as much as an expanding population has incapacitated its sewer
systems.

Most high-density areas have turned into an eyesore with mountains of
uncollected garbage building up at every corner. Yet the council still asks
the long-suffering ratepayer to pay up or risk having your water cut off.

And yet, at Town House, the authorities are busy "fighting for power but
they know not the hour". They manifest their wicked influence through
endless court hearings or selling themselves council property for a song.

But the masses continue to suffer, the ratepayers suffer; and if power was
vested within, then these hearings would make more sense and may become more
reasonable.

Council just has to start delivering and liberate all from this ruthless and
carefree behaviour. The council exists because of the people, not the other
way round. It is council's duty to treat the people right and expect a
similar treatment from the masses. But I guess that's just the way it is.

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