Dear Family and Friends,
Exactly one month after the Presidential elections
in Zimbabwe, Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede held a Press Conference this week
and announced new election results. In his "new figures" Mudede has found a
further 4002 votes for the MDC. Reporters demanding explanations for a number of
conflicting figures and totals saw Mr Mudede getting very annoyed and finally
losing his cool altogether. "Get Out !" he shouted at the Daily News chief
reporter, "call the boys" he said to his officials. Mr Mudede's conduct as the
Registrar General of elections in Zimbabwe is just one of the reasons the MDC
yesterday filed papers with the High Court to challenge the results of the
recent Presedential elections. The challenge ran to 138 pages and Mr Mudede is
one of the respondents. The MDC say the elections were not free or fair; they
cite violence, murder, intimidation and rigging. They pinpoint militia and
terror bases set up throughout the country, talk about ballot boxes which had
been opened at the bottom, court rulings which were ignored and say the figures
announced on ZBC by Mr Mudede had been doctored.
Mr Mudede is not the only one who's been speaking
to the press this week. Yesterday agriculture minister Dr Joseph Made also held
a press conference which he said was needed to "give direction in order to
complete land reform." Minister Made outlined a number of new
directives designed to get farmers off their land and he said the "major
objective is to further enhance social, political and economic stability." Dr
Made said that "white commercial farmers must stand warned that government will
not tolerate interference of the operations of newly settled farmers." He also
said that civil servants within his own ministry who had been working hand in
hand with farmers would be "dealt with." It's not immediately clear what plans
Dr Made has to get food onto our tables or how he will satisfy the 300 odd
people who were standing in a line outside a Marondera supermarket yesterday
waiting to buy a bag of sugar. Neither is it clear how Dr Made will get milk,
cooking oil and maize meal on our supermarket shelves. The only thing that is
clear is that he wants all farmers with white skin to get off their farms and
out of their houses. His "direction" is being assisted by Andrew Ndlovu, the
secretary for projects in the War Veterans' Association who is less patient and
wants every white farmer off their land NOW. This week war veterans have been
delivering letters from Mr Ndlovu to farmers telling them they must be off by
the end of the month. Ndlovu said: " We have so far issued ultimatums to more
than 800 farmers. ...The farmers have to vacate their farms regardless of
whether their farms have been listed for acquisition by the government or not."
Ndlovu said that farmers should "go and get compensation from Britain" and "if
they refuse to go peacefully, we will remove them violently." Neither Andrew
Ndlovu nor Dr Made explained why armed riot police this week forcibly evicted 80
people settled on a property just outside Marondera because the farm is wanted
by the Minister of Defence, Dr Sekeremayi. Neither Made nor Ndlovu came to
Marondera to address the 80 people, 20 of whom were women with babies on their
backs, as they gathered outside our Governers Office and demanded an
explanation. Finally the Marondera DA explained the situation by telling the
settlers who had been on that farm since March 2000 : "that was random
occupation. This is now land reorganisation." Like a pack of cards Zimbabwe's
ministers and leaders are shuffling things around every day and ordinary people
are stuck in the middle. Women with babies on their backs have nowhere to go and
neither do white farmers who sit with huge truck loads of furniture in car parks
and wander around aimlessly. For thousands of people this has turned into an
absolute disaster and if Ndlovu and Made and various Governors and DA's have
their way, over half a million farm workers will also be wandering around
aimlessly. There are officially over 7 million people needing food aid now and
the figures are growing by the day. Until next week, with love, cathy http://africantears.netfirms.com
The Scotsman
Prize white-owned farm seized by Zimbabwe
politician
Fred Bridgland in Johannesburg
ONE of Zimbabwe’s
most productive and profitable farms, a model for the way
it treats its black
labourers, has been expropriated by a senior Zimbabwe
army officer who is
also a ruling ZANU-PF party MP.
Brigadier Ambrose Mutinhiri’s forcible
takeover of the £8 million cattle,
tobacco and maize farm of Guy Cartwright,
68, came as the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) yesterday
filed a petition in the
Zimbabwe high court to have Robert Mugabe’s victory
in a presidential
election last month nullified on grounds of fraud.
A
devastated Mr Cartwright, who was away from home when Brig
Mutinhiri,
accompanied by so-called war veterans, took over the farm,
Waltondale, said
his property was one of the few commercial farms not
officially designated
for takeover by black Zimbabweans.
Mr
Cartwright’s father bought Waltondale in 1934. The farm, in the
Marondera
area, to the east of Harare, has 700 head of prize cattle, fields
of tobacco
and maize, and huge stocks of cured tobacco ready for the upcoming
Harare
tobacco auctions - Zimbabwe’s biggest source of foreign exchange
earnings.
"All of which the brigadier has announced now belongs to him,"
said Mr
Cartwright, a Zimbabwean citizen, in a call from the house where he
is in
hiding in Harare.
Mr Cartwright has built homes with electricity
and piped water, for his
large black workforce, together with a school on the
farm for 400 children.
He has also donated hundreds of thousands of pounds
worth of medical
supplies to Marondera’s public hospital.
Mr
Cartwright had no involvement with politics - unlike other white
commercial
farmers in the area, who had ties to the MDC and whose farms have
been
forcibly occupied by war veterans.
Brig Mutinhiri won the Marondera seat
in a controversial by-election 15
months ago amid accusations that he had
bought votes and intimidated MDC
supporters.
He defended the
occupation of white farms, calling it "a revolution in which
those without
land are prepared to fight for it, while a minority group are
resisting
parting with it".
The MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, said the petition to
the high court in
Harare would "expose overwhelmingly shocking evidence of
electoral fraud ".
He said any "independent and impartial court" would
immediately set aside
the election result when presented with the MDC’s
evidence.
However, Mr Tsvangirai said Mr Mugabe had subverted the
judicial system and
packed the bench with ZANU-PF loyalists. The MDC had no
illusions that it
could win in the courts and its political battle to secure
a new
presidential election would continue, he added.
Landmore Jongwe,
an MDC spokesman, said: "The evidence we will present to
Mugabe’s cronies on
the high court bench is overwhelmingly shocking. Ballot
boxes were stuffed.
Voters’ rolls were manipulated. Hundreds of thousands of
people were denied
the right to vote."
In a further development in the Marondera farm
takeover saga, a dispute has
broken out between Sydney Sekeramayi, the
defence minister, and war veterans
over the ownership of a confiscated white
farm.
The independent Daily News yesterday said Mr Sekeramayi had laid
claim to
the Maganga estate, ten miles from Marondera. To reinforce his
claim, Mr
Sekeramayi sent armed riot police to clear 80 black squatters who
have been
occupying the farm for the past two years.
The squatters
said they were particularly angered that Mr Sekeramayi was
evicting them just
a month after the presidential election, as they had
voted for Mr Mugabe.
"Now that the election is over they are evicting us to
make way for the party
boss," one told the Daily News.
The district administrator, Eric Samunda,
said: "When they settled on the
farm, that was random occupation. This is now
land reorganisation."
From The Saturday Star (SA), 13
April
Police evict farm 'settlers' for Zim
elite
Harare - Just a month after Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe
returned to power, members of his Zanu PF party elite have begun evicting
self-styled war veterans and peasant settlers off commercial farms to make way
for themselves. In the Marondera district 70km east of Harare, armed riot police
this week evicted about 80 settlers from a prime forestry estate, allegedly in
preparation for its takeover by Sydney Sekeramayi, Zimbabwe's defence minister.
The settlers and war veterans on Maganga Estate say they have been on the farm
since March 2000. One of the evicted settlers said that armed riot cops had
swooped on the farm and ordered them off. "The police said the same government
that had let us settle on the farm was the same government that was now evicting
us." The farm's owners, Zimbabwean pulp and paper giant Hunyani, were not
prepared to comment. Commercial Farmers Union regional executive Steve Pratt,
said he had heard of other instances where war veterans and peasant farmers had
been evicted to make way for the so-called A2 resettlement scheme land
occupiers. A2 settlers are small-scale commercial farmers. "I suppose these
people have a lot more clout than the peasants they evict from the ground," said
Pratt. Marondera district administrator Eric Samunda said Sekeramayi had every
right to be allocated land. "There's no discrimination just because he's a
minister," he said.
Comment from The Financial Gazette,
11 April
With love from Uncle
Sam
Over the past week, there has been pandemonium within the
business community after names of Zimbabwean tycoons who have been banned from
entering the United States began to leak out. The list has been the talk of town
and debate has been raging on in political and business circles on who is on the
list and who is not. A witch-hunt has even started on why the names of some
business leaders perceived to be close to the governing Zanu PF party were left
out from the list. Many top local business chiefs are frantically making
inquiries to the US embassy every day to check their status and how best they
can evade the net, which is likely to be expanded. Never have I seen the Who is
Who of Zimbabwe's business community so concerned about a decision made so far
away in Washington. As I write, several business leaders are in the process of
being served with letters from "Uncle Sam" to confirm their status of being
banned from entering the United States either for business or for pleasure.
In coming up with the criteria and decision of drawing up the
list that slaps President Robert Mugabe, his inner circle and business leaders
close to Zanu PF with the travel restrictions, the United States clearly states:
"These actions have forced the United States to impose targeted travel
restrictions on senior members of the government of Robert Mugabe, certain
persons with business dealings with Zimbabwe government officials, and others
who formulate, implement or benefit from policies that undermine or injure
Zimbabwe's democratic institutions or impede the functioning of multiparty
democracy. The restrictions seek only to limit the ability of a few people from
inflicting further damage on Zimbabwe." I do not want to be drawn into debating
individuals affected by this measure or those who may not be affected and
whether or not they are supposed to be on the list. The bottom line is that a
very small clique within the business community with strong leanings with the
current leadership has been the single biggest beneficiary of this regime. No
doubt about that.
In fact, some of their business empires have been built purely
on Zanu PF patronage under which these business persons have received
preferential treatment in shady deals and operations because of their links with
Mugabe's regime. Some, in most instances, are even conduits which have been used
to loot state resources and to siphon money out of state coffers. Lucrative
multi-million-dollar government tenders which in the past have been given to
Zanu PF cronies are well known and no longer an issue to debate. Some of these
businessmen and their empires are known to even get a sympathetic ear from the
taxman largely because of their strong relationship with the status quo. These
are business empires that have been built or set up to serve the needs of the
ruling elite and not of ordinary poverty-stricken Zimbabweans.
Without Zanu PF and if they were operating under a fair, honest
and professional environment, most of the affected business leaders and their
empires would not survive even a day. These institutions' sole purpose has been
the funding and fuelling of Zanu PF's political activities while others have
been used as fronts by corrupt politicians in setting up business empires for
themselves. We have seen on numerous occasions some of the business leaders,
including their companies, falling over each other to donate to the coffers of
Zanu PF. This clique also has the most vocal and elite supporters of Mugabe. It
is composed of people who have made a significant input in undermining democracy
in this country by funding and sustaining Zanu PF's violent political activities
of oppression for their own selfish interests.
The Zanu PF "supply line" has to be cut and its main players
put under check if its excesses have to be contained. The same clique of
business leaders is the one that does not want to hear talk of Mugabe's
retirement or him being voted out because they know they cannot survive under a
new administration that would not tolerate shady deals. Most of the business
leaders targeted by the Americans do not see any life beyond Mugabe and Zanu PF
because their empires and operations have no professional foundation. But this
is the clique that wants to lecture us about black empowerment and
indigenisation when, in actual fact, it is the empowerment of a few and a free
rein to loot and plunder for those close enough to the powers-that-be. Time is
up for those who want to be double-faced and are involved or used in funding
this tyranny. Time has come to punish all those who support tyranny and those
who fund it. This is the way it should be.
Daily News - Leader page
A compelling case for nullifying poll
results
4/13/02 9:44:40 AM (GMT +2)
If there is one man
who is in big trouble in this country at this point in
time, it is the
Registrar-General, Tobaiwa Mudede.
The man appears to have made such a
mess of conducting the recent
presidential election that only a miracle could
free him from blame.
There are those who will argue that he was only
acting under orders to win
the election for President Mugabe.
Yet,
even if that speculation is true as seems likely, it cannot be denied
that he
bungled that assignment in spectacular fashion. His every move taken
in
fulfilment of the assignment was so amateurish it gave the game away even
to
the most unsophisticated of sleuths.
His troubles started some time
before the election itself. There was, for
example, the illogical decision to
reduce polling stations in urban centres,
notably Harare and Chitungwiza,
while at the same time increasing those in
rural areas. Everyone knows we
cannot even begin to compare the vast
differences in population density
between Harare and rural areas, to say
nothing of the disparities in levels
of political awareness between the two.
In view of that and, more so,
because voters in Harare were going to cast
three different ballots in one
outing, effectively meaning they were going
to need to spend three times as
much time in the polling booths than voters
in the rest of the country,
common sense would have dictated the opposite of
what Mudede
did.
Alternatively, he could have opted to maintain the number of
polling
stations as they were for the June 2000 parliamentary election and
treble
the number of voting days for Harare. But then common sense does not
seem to
be a common commodity at the Registrar-General’s
Office.
Denying this can only strengthen charges that his action was in
line with
helping Mugabe to win.
Then there was his initial refusal to
comply with a clear court order to
allow voting to continue at all the
polling stations in Harare beyond the
original two days. Mudede only finally
gave his staff orders to reopen the
stations at about 12 noon when thousands
of voters who had been long in the
queues had left in frustration and
despair. Again this was widely seen as
the obverse side of Mudede's
assignment: ensuring Tsvangirai loses the
election.
But the real coup
de grace was delivered on Mudede on Wednesday, courtesy of
The Daily
News.
Having gathered irrefutable evidence that the figures officially
announced
by the Registrar-General in a live broadcast on 13 March were at
variance
with the figures subsequently published in other media, we had a
duty to
inform the public.
It was because of our story that Mudede was
forced to call a hastily
arranged Press conference to announce the “final
results” of the
election -one month after he had announced the winner! We
find it singularly
instructive that the “final” figures he announced on
Wednesday differed so
vastly with those he gave in his first “final”
announcement which he ought
to have labelled “preliminary” and dutifully told
the nation so, being the
honest official he says he is.
Trying to
justify his ineptitude or, alternatively, dishonest intentions,
Mudede
offered the unintelligent explanation that the discrepancies arose
because
when he made his first announcement on 13 March declaring Mugabe the
winner,
“figures were (still) coming (in) from the counting centres and they
were
subject to correction in the event of that the centres discover
some
mistakes”.
The question we must all ask is: Why announce a winner
when the figures are
still coming in and subject to correction? Indeed, why
the hurry?
What all this boils down to is that the results cannot easily
be accepted as
a true reflection of the will of the majority of the people of
Zimbabwe.
They are highly contestable and chances of their being declared
null and
void in a fair court of law are almost guaranteed.
In the
event of that happening, because he was one of the contestants who
has a
vested interest in seeing the results stand, Mugabe shall have no
right at
law to block a rerun.
He will have to comply.
Daily News
Zanu PF has no rural support
4/13/02 9:17:46 AM (GMT
+2)
OUR beleaguered and belligerent President is at it again. He
recently
castigated people who live in the cities of Harare and Bulawayo for
not
supporting him in last month’s presidential elections.
He stopped
short of calling them totemless as he once did to the people
of
Mbare.
He, however, accused them of being so intoxicated with sugar
that they had
lost their minds. One wonders if at State House they have
porridge and drink
their tea and coffee without “intoxicating”
sugar.
Zanu PF prides itself on having the undivided support of people in
the rural
areas. If this is so why did they ban civic groups and churches
from
conducting voter education there? Why did they set up roadblocks by
youth
brigades to stop people from towns visiting their rural relatives? Why
did
they ban the informative Daily News from these areas?
Despite
denials by two-faced Zanu PF ministers, all Zimbabweans know that
the rural
areas suffered the brunt of Zanu PF’s brutal violence prior to
the
presidential election. I could not even go to my village to bury
my
favourite uncle, Elijah Nyandoro, because I had received information
that
Zanu PF “boys” would be waiting for me there. Zanu PF’s much-vaunted
rural
support is a figment of their own imagination. If it was real the
party
would not have declared rural areas “no-go” areas for the opposition
MDC.
There would also have been no need for the well-documented
violent
intimidation which took place.
In some places MDC polling
agents were harassed, tortured and killed so that
they would not be at their
posts to monitor the polling process. This left
Zanu PF free to stuff ballot
boxes with phantom votes. I am inclined to
believe that the rural support we
hear so much about only exists in the Zanu
PF leadership’s minds.
Even
in those areas where the support was real, hunger, violence and lies
have
turned the people against Zanu PF. The people, though unsophisticated,
have
seen the light. I was intrigued to read that villagers in the
remote
Gwangwara village in rural Rushinga lashed out at Grace Mugabe,
accusing her
of thinking about them only when elections were around the
corner.
One villager is reported to have publicly said: “Mugabe thinks we
are fools
but some of us are not. We have suffered for a long time and now we
know
that we are being abused. We have had to think again.” She is reported
to
have said the issues of starvation, unfulfilled promises and poverty
had
contributed to the growing dislike for Zanu PF countrywide. Her
sentiments
are today being echoed in almost every village and growth point in
Zimbabwe.
Zanu PF has virtually no support in the rural areas.
The
people of Zimbabwe are facing mass starvation. If the President really
loved
the people he would do everything in his power to alleviate their
suffering,
even if it means a rerun of the election. He could ask that,
since the
country is broke, the European Union or the United Nations fund
the exercise.
He has nothing to fear but the reality of losing, of course.
The fact
that Zanu PF lost the election only to steal the vote through
chicanery is
common knowledge, even among the rural people. No amount of
retributive
violence can remove that truth from the people’s minds.
They know that
the regime now calling itself the government does not have
the mandate of the
people. They are impostors. Our real government should be
an MDC
government.
Even Zanu PF knows that. This is why they are eager to make
some kind of
accommodation with MDC. If they won why are they talking to the
MDC about
the legitimacy of the presidential election?
In all the
history of parliamentary democracy who has even heard of a
president who,
after winning a free and fair election, and being duly sworn
in as president,
goes on to invite the leader of the losing party to form a
government of
“national unity” with him?
After the brutal way they treated white
Zimbabwean farmers and sinking so
low as to take away Sir Garfield Todd’s
citizenship from him, it is quite
clear that Zanu PF is not capable of such
magnanimity. In their hearts they
are aware that they are an illegitimate
government and that the people and
the international community knows that.
Hence their frantic efforts to get
the “tea boy” to legitimise their theft.
He won’t, for if he does, he will,
in the eyes of the people, also become a
thief. The story of Zapu and the
Zanu PF killer whale is still fresh in his
mind. Once it swallows him it
will not spew him out, as in the case of
Jonah.
President Mugabe relied heavily on his friends to back his theft
of power.
It seems he over-estimated the strength of their feelings of
“African
solidarity”. When Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo were faced with
certain
realities, they decided to turn towards what was in their national
strategic
interests, rather than back a spurious Mugabe victory in
Zimbabwe.
Mugabe’s claim that he is in the forefront of fighting
imperialism is
believed by nobody except an eccentric like Muammar Gaddafi,
whose country
does not practice democracy. He seems to be the only friend
that Mugabe has
left. He has his own agenda, of course. He would like to
replace the British
as our coloniser.
Even Ghana, the breeding ground
of Pan-Africanism has washed her hands. The
Ghanaian observer team said the
election was not free and fair and the
results were, therefore, unacceptable.
This must have been a tough decision
for Ghanaians to make. After all Robert
Mugabe was their son-in-law.
Zimbabwe and Ghana enjoyed a special
friendship because of that
relationship.
Many Zimbabweans feel that
the tragedy which has befallen us would not have
taken place had Mai Sally
Mugabe been alive. She would have prevailed upon
her husband to do the right
thing.
She loved her husband and the people of Zimbabwe. We were all
proud to call
her mother. She would never have called fellow Zimbabweans who
thought
differently from her husband, cats and dogs.
Mai Sally did not
marry her husband for wealth and position. He was a
struggling schoolteacher
while she came from a highly placed family in
Ghana. She struggled with us
and was loved by all. May her soul rest in
peace, despite the suffering her
beloved people are going through at the
hands of her husband and his new
wife. He who has ears to hear, let him
hear.
Daily News
CFU closes down magazine
4/13/02 9:11:55 AM (GMT
+2)
Farming Reporter
Modern Farming Publications Trust (MFP),
the publishing division of the
Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU), has stopped
the publication of its weekly
magazine, The Farmer, because of financial
problems.
The magazine was the mouthpiece of the CFU members.
Mike
Rook, the MFP Trust chief executive officer, yesterday confirmed that
The
Farmer magazine was last published last week.
Rook said: “It is just a
temporary closure as a result of a restructuring
exercise we have embarked
on. The MFP Trust board and the
Commercial Farmers’ Union will be meeting to
map the way forward about the
magazine’s future.”
He, however, could
not be drawn into giving an exact date when the next
issue of the magazine
would be published.
It could also not be established whether other
publications by the trust,
Ruminations and Cattle World, would continue
operating.
All the workers under the MFP Trust, including Rook, the
editor Brian
Latham, editorial and advertising personnel were laid off at the
end of last
month. Latham was named in a newspaper report this week as the
new deputy
editor of The Standard newspaper following the resignation of
Mark
Chavunduka, who has taken over Thomson Publications.
The closure
of The Farmer magazine is believed to be linked to the collapse
of the
commercial farming sector as a result of the government’s
controversial land
reform programme and the violent commercial farm
invasions which started in
February 2000.
David Hasluck, the CFU director, was said to be out of
town and could not be
reached for comment.
Daily News
No cattle exhibition at ZITF due to disruption of
farming
4/13/02 9:09:07 AM (GMT +2)
From Sandra Mujokoro in
Bulawayo
DISRUPTIONS in farming activities due to the fast track land
reform exercise
have dealt a major blow to the participation of the Bulawayo
Agricultural
Society in this year’s trade fair.
The Zimbabwe
International Trade Fair (ZITF) runs from 23 to 28 April.
This is the first
time that the BAS has failed to showcase cattle at the
fair, which is
expected to be officially opened by the newly inaugurated
Zambian President,
Levy Mwanawasa, on 26 April.
The BAS cited the general hardships being
faced in the agricultural sector
as part of the reason why they could not
take part this year.
The ZITF general manager, Graham Rowe, confirmed
that there would be no
animals this year adding that this was because of
fears of foot- and- mouth
disease outbreaks.
“It happened a few years
back that there was a foot-and-mouth disease
outbreak in the country during
the trade fair period and we had to keep the
cattle here for about six
months. We would not like that to happen again,”
he said.
The
agricultural society also said the uncertainty in the supply of
stockfeed has
also contributed to their non-participation of the livestock
sector. The
society will only showcase the home industry and
projects
section.
Stockfeed has become increasingly difficult to
secure as maize and cereals
have become scarce in the
country.
Zimbabwe is on the verge of starvation as very little maize was
harvested
from the last farming season.
Cattle, poultry and ostrich
farmers have been struggling to get enough
stockfeeds. Some have already
abandoned their projects because of a
viability crisis.
This year only
13 foreign countries with 67 companies have so far confirmed
their
participation in the trade fair along with 406 local exhibitors.
Last
year, 172 foreign and 451 Zimbabwean companies took part in the
trade
fair.
The participating countries are Malaysia, Pakistan,
Botswana, Austria, DRC,
China, Egypt, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia,
Mozambique and South Africa.
SADC and COMESA will also be
represented.
Addressing a press conference in Bulawayo on Wednesday, the
Minister of
Industry and International Trade, Dr Herbert Murerwa, said
despite the
reduced number of exhibitors, the fair would be a success due to
the huge
amount of space taken up by the exhibitors.
Already 95
percent of the ZITF budget has been covered by the space taken up
by the
exhibitors.
Last year the area covered was 43 186 square metres and this
year so far it
is 42 891 square metres with more companies still to confirm
participation
Murerwa said traders days had been reduced to two instead of
the traditional
three.
The public days have been increased to four due
to the positive response of
the public towards the trade fair over the
years.
“Despite the economic problems being faced by the country, trade
fairs are
valuable during such times because they helpboost the industries,”
Murerwa
said adding “If we can still host a trade fair then it means our
industries
are still very resilient.”
Daily News
Zanu PF supporters remanded in court for burning MDC
activist’s home
4/13/02 7:57:05 AM (GMT +2)
Staff
Reporter
SEVEN Zanu PF supporters were granted $5 000 bail each when they
appeared
before Rusape provincial magistrate, Tranos Utahwashe, last Friday
on a
charge of setting on fire the house of Idah Mafuli, a Movement
for
Democratic Change (MDC) activist. Property worth $183 000 was
destroyed.
Utahwashe ordered them not to interfere with state witnesses,
particularly
the Mafuli family until the matter was finalised in
court.
The accused are Zenzo Elijah Nyoni, 28, Tendai Nerwande, 21,
Taurai Manyama,
20, Claud Gwete, 18, Charles Chipunza, 18, Tafadzwa Bhero, 18
and Calisto
Sekani 24.
They are being charged with contravening
section 17 subsection 1(a) of the
Public Order and Security
Act.
Tirivanhu Mutyasira, for the state, told the court that on 16 March
2002,
the accused seven acting in concert with Gilbert Soko, who is still
at
large, went to Mafuli’s house in Vengere, Rusape.
Whilst at
Mafuli’s house, the Zanu PF supporters started throwing stones at
her house
and broke the windows panes in the process.
Mutyasira said they then
soaked a rug with petrol, set it on fire before
throwing it inside the
house.
“The house caught fire and property worth $183 000 was damaged.”
Mutyasira
said.
The ruling party supporters were represented in court
by Andrew Makoni from
Mutare.
They were initially denied bail and
remanded in custody. They will appear in
court on 26 April.
Daily News
Top Zanu PF officials knew of Mpofu’s homosexual
activities
4/13/02 7:56:30 AM (GMT +2)
By Collin
Chiwanza
SENIOR Zanu PF and government officials knew about the
homosexual tendencies
of Alum Mpofu, well before he was appointed to head the
country’s sole
public broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, in
August last
year.
It has now been established that Mpofu’s political
rivals in Mberengwa, his
rural home, thwarted his political ambition to
become the constituency’s MP
by decampaigning him over his sexual
orientation.
Mpofu resigned 11 days ago after he was arrested by a
security guard at a
Harare nightclub, while engaging in a homosexual act.
Mpofu’s partner on
that day is alleged to be an Angolan.
In 1995,
Mpofu contested in the Zanu PF primary polls to represent the party
in the
June 2000 parliamentary election.
He lost after his opponents - who
included the late Byron Hove, the former
Zanu PF MP for the area, Joram
Gumbo, Zanu PF’s parliamentary chief whip,
Rugare Gumbo, now the Deputy
Minister of Home Affairs, and Ben Mataga, a
Mberengwa businessman and a Zanu
PF heavyweight -publicly decampaigned Mpofu
on the grounds of his homosexual
activities.
Allegations of homosexuality against Mpofu date back to 1983
when he was a
headmaster at Makuwa Secondary School. Several villagers in
Mberengwa
district, particularly around Makuwa Secondary School, which he
headed from
1983 to 1992, testified that Mpofu had homosexual
tendencies.
It was during his days at the school that his tendencies
became a matter of
public knowledge.
Hove, who eventually won the
parliamentary seat for Mberengwa East,
reportedly denounced Mpofu for
engaging in homosexual practices.
Mpofu tried his luck again in the 2000
Zanu PF primary elections which he
reportedly won. He was, however, elbowed
out in unclear circumstances
following a rerun of the primaries held at
Maringambizi, which saw Gumbo
emerging victorious. Rugare Gumbo subsequently
won the Mberengwa East seat o
n a Zanu PF ticket.
Dickson Manjengwa, a
Zanu PF member in Mpofu’s rural home village, who at
that time was privy to
the circumstances surrounding Mpofu’s sidelining,
said it was on the grounds
of his homosexuality that Mpofu was eliminated
from the race.
Manjengwa
said: “In 1995, he contested and lost to Byron Hove because he was
publicly
denounced as a homosexual. Hove asked the people why they wanted to
be led by
a man who was gay.”
Rugare Gumbo, the MP for Mberengwa East, refused to
comment. He could only
say: “I don’t have a comment because I don’t want to
be involved and I am
sorry I am seeing my doctor. Can you excuse me
please?”
Joram Gumbo also said he could not comment on the issue because
he was the
MP for Mberengwa West. The police have since recorded a statement
from Kevin
Olivier, 25, the security guard at Tipperary’s nightclub, who
arrested
Mpofu.
In Mberengwa, scores of villagers, including one who
claimed to have been
Mpofu’s victim during his days at Makuwa Secondary, this
week said students
at the school once staged a demonstration against Mpofu’s
activities when he
was heading the school. Elders in the area then called for
Mpofu’s
resignation.
He eventually left the school.
Daily News
Harare residents boo Chombo at mayor’s installation
ceremony
4/13/02 7:54:04 AM (GMT +2)
By Luke Tamborinyoka
Municipal Reporter
IGNATIUS Chombo, the Minister of Local Government,
Public Works and National
Housing, was yesterday booed by about 4 000 Harare
residents who attended
the installation ceremony for the new mayor of the
capital city, Elias
Mudzuri.
Chombo was officiating at his first
installation ceremony of an MDC mayor at
the City Sports Centre in
Harare.
He has boycotted installation ceremonies in Chitungwiza,
Bulawayo, Masvingo
and Chegutu where MDC candidates have won the mayoral
elections.
When he rose to make his speech, the residents booed Chombo,
who has had a
frosty relationship with the MDC-dominated Harare City Council
since Mudzuri
was sworn into office two weeks ago. Chombo has served the
council with
three directives in a show of muscle of who is in control at
Town House.
Meanwhile, upon realising how tense the situation was, Chombo
made amends
and endeared himself with the crowd when he immediately
acknowledged the
presence of Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, who was
seated in the crowd.
“I would want to welcome the presence of Mr
Tsvangirai, who I understand is
sitting somewhere behind me,” he
said.
“Losers must accept defeat with magnanimity while victors should
also accept
victory with dignity,” Chombo told the residents, who continued
shouting MDC
slogans.
Chombo clashed with the new council after he
issued a first directive to
save the jobs of 1 235 mainly Zanu PF supporters
who were given jobs by the
Chanakira Commission just before it vacated office
last month.
The other directives barred Mudzuri from attending Cabinet
Action Committee
meetings and to refer all personnel and financial matters to
the minister
for scrutiny.
Chombo extended what he called “a special
congratulatory message” to Herbert
Nyanhongo, the only Zanu PF councillor in
the council chamber.
The ceremony was attended by Harare MPs, the
Executive Mayor of Chitungwiza,
Misheck Shoko, the Executive Mayor of
Masvingo, Alois Chaimiti, and
councillors from other towns.
In an
apparent reference to the political polarisation at Town House,
Mudzuri said
council employees must not indulge in politics while at work.
“My council
will have no compromise with and will not accept political
actions at work
and measures shall be taken to ensure that politics is done
outside the
council’s working hours,” Mudzuri said.
He was apparently referring to
the council’s chief security officer, Joseph
Chinotimba, a war veterans’
leader, accused of spending most of the time he
should be at work on Zanu PF
business.
Chinotimba, the self-styled commander-in-chief of farm
invasions, has
reported for work intermittently since February 2000 when war
veterans and
Zanu PF supporters led violent farm invasions with the backing
of the
government.
Daily News
Highfield demands Gwisai’s expulsion
4/13/02 9:35:10 AM
(GMT +2)
By Collin Chiwanza
ANGRY Highfield residents
yesterday called on Munyaradzi Gwisai, their
controversial Member of
Parliament, to immediately resign and make way for
another legislator with
the interests of the constituents at heart.
The residents said they would
soon lodge a petition with the national
executive of the MDC calling for the
ejection of Gwisai from Parliament.
This comes in the wake of statements
issued by Gwisai on Thursday in which
he attacked the MDC for entering into
inter-party talks with the ruling Zanu
PF.
Gwisai’s secretary,
Tafadzwa Choto, yesterday denied that the MP had
resigned from the MDC as
reported by The Herald yesterday, but would only do
so if the MDC continued
to participate in the talks when they resume on 13
May.
Gwisai himself
said as much at a news conference on Thursday.
His threats were, however,
immediately dismissed by Learnmore Jongwe, the
MDC secretary for information
and publicity, who said Gwisai and a few of
his colleagues in the
International Socialist Organisation (ISO), which the
maverick politician
heads, were free to leave the party.
Tambudzai Chirisa, of Highfield,
said Gwisai had outlived his welcome within
the MDC camp.
Chirisa
said: “This is not the first time that Gwisai has caused such
confusion
within the MDC. If he is allowed to continue on this path, he will
destroy
the party.”
Dudley Ben, another Highfield resident, said the time had
come for people in
his constituency to take decisive action against
Gwisai.
Ben said: “I am very saddened to hear Gwisai’s irresponsible
statements. He
is always disagreeing with the party policies and we feel it’s
high time he
went together with his ISO.
“Gwisai was not part of the
team that introduced the MDC in Highfield. He
came much later, but he is now
causing serious confusion.”
MDC MPs Job Sikhala of St Mary’s and Tafadzwa
Musekiwa of Zengeza lashed out
at The Herald, saying the paper had brazenly
thrown out of the window all
professional ethics in its bid to discredit the
country’s largest opposition
party.
Citing Sikhala and Musekiwa in its
front page story yesterday, The Herald
said Gwisai’s “resignation” could open
the floodgates for more resignations
from the MDC.
Dismissing the
story, Musekiwa said: “It is regrettable that we have some
people in Zanu PF
who believe that at some stage founding members of the MDC
like myself will
leave the MDC.
“It is unfortunate that their prophecies of doom will
never come to
fruition.
“When we formed the MDC, I believed in its
policies and I still believe in
those policies. For anyone to think that I
will leave the MDC is mere
wishful thinking.”
Sikhala said he would
never leave the party which he helped form.
Said Sikhala: “We in the MDC
should remain united by our noble objective of
removing Mugabe’s dictatorial
government. This is the time when we should
come together to fight Mugabe
until he goes.”
Daily News
Ncube accuses Moyo of lying on talks agenda
4/13/02
7:52:34 AM (GMT +2)
Chief Reporter
The ruling Zanu PF
reportedly only agreed to have the legitimacy of the
presidential election on
the agenda of the inter-party talks with the MDC
after the opposition party
threatened to pull out of the exercise.
Professor Welshman Ncube, the MDC
secretary-general and leader of the party’
s delegation in the inter-party
talks with Zanu PF, yesterday said Zanu PF
was pressured by the Nigerian and
South African facilitators to have the
legitimacy of the presidential
election and President Mugabe’s government
included on the agenda after the
MDC threatened to withdraw from the talks.
Ncube said: “'The South
African representative and his Nigerian counterpart,
Kgalema Motlanthe, and
Professor Adebayo Adedeji, respectively, came to my
office to persuade me to
leave this vital issue out of the agenda, but I
completely
refused.
“There is no way we could recognise a government which assumed
office by
uprooting our supporters’ houses, murdering, raping and
torturing
law-abiding citizens.
“Let there be no illusion from anyone
that the MDC wants to join the Zanu PF
government. Our supporters do no want
to hear this rubbish.”
Ncube said he had decided to speak out after what he
described as “the
unprofessional and unethical behaviour” by Professor
Jonathan Moyo, the
Minister of State for Information and Publicity in the
President’s Office.
He accused Moyo of using the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation (ZBC) and
other State media “which he controls”, to deliberately
misinform the public
about the talks.
Ncube was responding to
allegations by Moyo on ZBC on Thursday night that
the MDC had only
contributed one item on the agenda for the talks which
resume on 13
May.
Ncube said: “I would not have talked to you in this manner because
some of
us are professional people. The rules of the talks state that what
happens
in the talks shall be confidential.
“Because we have
integrity, we decided not to speak to the media, but we
cannot allow Moyo to
continuously lie and mislead the nation about these
talks.”
Ncube said
contrary to Moyo’s claims, the MDC contributed four items on the
agenda
including the most crucial one, which deals with the legitimacy of
the
election result and the government.
He said it was evident that Moyo was
lying when he said the MDC only brought
up the issue of
confidence-building.
“Is Moyo telling me that he put the issue of
legitimacy of the election
result and the government on the
agenda?
“If that is what he wants the nation to believe, has his party
abandoned its
misplaced position that President Mugabe’s victory is
non-negotiable?” Ncube
asked.
He said the MDC never raised the issue
of changing the composition of the
Zanu PF delegation. The MDC, however,
pointed out to the facilitators that
the ruling party’s team was “a
delegation meant to fail the talks because
Moyo was not a serious person
because he always wants to play to the
gallery”.
Ncube said: “If the
people of Zimbabwe elected Zanu PF into power without
undue influence we will
congratulate it, but we will never accept a
government elected through
violence and murder.”
Ncube said the MDC was aware that the talks would
not yield anything because
Zanu PF had stolen the election and was not going
to surrender its “stolen
victory”.
He said his party went into the
talks because some respected African leaders
sincerely believed that a
solution to the crisis of governance in the
country could be found. Ncube
said it would have been undiplomatic for the
MDC to have spurned the African
leaders.
Please note that this statement is sent out on behalf of the
Commercial
Farmers Union as a service to farmers. Every effort has been made
to
reproduce as per the fax copy received.
For more information, please
contact Jenni Williams Mobile (Code +263) 91
300 456 or 11 213 885
Email
jennipr@mweb.co.zw
Office landlines:
(+2639) 72546 Fax 63978
Email prnews@telconet.co.zw
PRESS
STATEMENT BY MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT,
HON J.M.
MADE, ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LAND REFORM PROGRAMME (MODEL A1
AND
A2)
INTRODUCTION:
The Land Reform Programme has seen many
challenges to government and in
particular the implementation of the Fast
Track Resettlement Programme
launched 18 months ago.
Some of the
challenges that government has faced in implementing the land
reform
programme have been: -
* Resistance by the Commercial Farmers
*
Delays in the Administrative Courts
* Bureaucratic delays at the ministry
level. Officers wanting
to formulate policy instead of implementing
policy.
* Lack of adequate resources (financial, human and
physical)
In order to address most of the challenges that have been
faced, government
through my ministry has taken a decision that we fully
address the issues
and give a public statement to indicate which measures we
are going to take
and the direction in order to conclude the Land Reform
Programme.
The major objective being to further enhance social, political
and economic
stability.
EFFECT OF SERVING PRELIMINARY NOTICE. (SECTION
5)
Where government has expressed an interest to compulsorily acquire a
farm by
gazetting the farm and serving a preliminary notice (commonly
referred to as
a Section 5). The landowner shall not: -
* Sub-divide
or apply for a permit to subdivide such land
* Construct permanent
improvements on the farm
* Dispose of such land
* Demolish, damage,
alter or in any other manner impair the
farm, or
* Release water from the
dams; destroy pastures or carry out
activities that sabotage the smooth
implementation of the land reform
Programme
EFFECT OF SERVING
ACQUISITION ORDER (SECTION 8)
The serving of an acquisition order
(commonly referred to as section 8) on a
gazetted farm, has the effect of
immediately transferring the ownership, of
that farm to the acquiring
authority, represented by the Ministry of Lands,
Agricultural and Rural
Resettlement. The acquiring authority will
immediately survey, demarcate and
allocate the land concerned without undue
interference to the living quarters
of the owner or occupier of that land.
It is a criminal offence for the
landowner to interfere with the exercise of
survey, demarcation and settler
emplacement. The landowner should now
confine himself or herself to the
homestead, and must vacate the farm within
90 days of being served the
acquisition order. The acquisition order now
also serves as an eviction
notice. No requests for extensions of the notice
period shall be entertained.
Government expects the new settlers to quickly
move into their newly acquired
land and become the landowner and newly
settled farmer. White commercial
farmers must stand warned that government
will not tolerate interference of
the operations of the newly settled
farmer.
IMPLEMENTATION OF MAXIMUM
FARM SIZE REGULATIONS
Government has now started to implement the Maximum
Farm Size regulations.
The Maximum Farm Size regulations will be implemented
as follows: -
* The affected farms are going to be gazetted and
compulsorily
acquired.
* the farms are going to be subdivided to conform
with the
required maximum farm size,
* the current landowners that wish
to continue farming in
Zimbabwe will have to indicate their intention to do
so and government will
consider the requests.
In December 2000
government gazetted Statutory Instrument Number 288 of 2000
in which maximum
farm sizes were prescribed for all the agro-ecological
regions of our
country.
The maximum farm sizes were broken down as follows:
-
Agro-Ecological Zone Maximum Farm Size (ha)
l 250
lla 350
llb
400
lll 500
lV 1 500
V 2 000
All farms that have not been
gazetted for compulsory acquisition are going
to be sub-divided to comply
with the maximum farm sizes.
The following farms/properties will be
exempted from the maximum farm size
regulation: -
* State land
*
Properties belonging to church or mission organisations
* Properties
belonging to educational institutions
* Properties owned by black indigenous
farmers
* Properties where Model A1 and A2 allocations have already
taken
place
My ministry is still working out the appropriate maximum farm sizes
for
conservancies and plantations in consultation with the Ministry
of
Environment and Tourism.
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT AND PROVISION OF
RESOURCES
Government has also identified under the Land Reform Programme,
a second
challenge, that is, the need to support fully the resettled families
in
order to optimise agricultural production so that economic growth,
food
security and employment creation are assured.
In all
government-supported programmes under the Land Reform Programme,
the
production of starch based crops like maize, sorghum, millet and potatoes
is
going to be emphasised and production targets are going to be
set.
Government is also going to put a price structure that will
encourage
farmers to produce these crops. As people are moved from marginal
land to
land with better pastures, livestock is also going to take centre
stage in
our programme so that the country can meet domestic consumption and
export
needs.
Government is also going to beef up resources and
support services at
provincial and district levels to meet the demands of the
land and agrarian
reform. The required personnel are going to be recruited so
that the various
activities under the land and agrarian reform can be carried
out swiftly and
efficiently.
We have to create a normal life in the
resettled areas by designating areas
for rural service centres in order to
provide schools, clinics,
infrastructure for grain storage,
etc.
SABOTAGE AND DESTRUCTION OF INFRASTRUCTURE ON FARMS
We have
received reports of commercial farmers who are destroying
infrastructure and
removing or vandalising irrigation and other farm
infrastructure. The aim is
to frustrate government efforts to grow a winter
crop and preparations for
the summer crop and other farm operations. The
nature of other acts of
sabotage, include among others the spraying
sugarcane plantations with
harmful chemicals and infecting cattle with
diseases. These criminal acts are
going to be investigated and the culprits
will be brought to
book.
MINISTRY CIVIL SERVANTS
The Ministry's civil servants
have done a hard job so far.
However a serious problem has arisen of
different levels not working at the
same pace. A number of critical officers
seem to be putting brakes on the
implementation of the Land Reform Programme.
Numerous reports are coming
from the ground alleging that civil servants in
my ministry at certain
levels are working hand in hand with commercial
farmers to derail and delay
the gains so far achieved on the future of the
Programme. As Minister I will
not hesitate to deal with officials that derail
and or delay the land reform
programme.
NATIONAL LAND TASK
FORCE
The National Land Task Force has been re-activated. The Task Force
will have
very clear terms of reference to monitor and recommend action to be
taken by
my Ministry in order to have the Land Reform Programme
effectively
concluded. In addition to the Task Force, various Ministers will
be
requested to assist in various provinces to see that our targets are
met.
Ministers Mujuru, Chombo, and Made will soon meet the Task Force to map
out
its action.
CONCLUSION
Our Land Reform and Agrarian Reform
are well crafted as they are based on
studies that have indicated that we
have land that is under- utilised or
virgin. Our Land Reform Programme is
going to be carried out in an
environmentally sustainable manner.
I
would like to take this opportunity to tell the nation that there is no
going
back on the land reform programme.
Overally by implementing land
re-distribution and de-racialisng the
agricultural large scale sector,
Zimbabwe will ensure that agricultural
production is never again in the hands
of a few who under-utilise or hold to
ransom the means of food security,
employment creation, and economic growth.
I thank you.
Telegraph
Zimbabwe election challenged in court
By Peta Thornycroft in
Harare
(Filed: 13/04/2002)
ZIMBABWE'S opposition Movement for
Democratic Change lodged a 135-page
affidavit in the Harare High Court
yesterday, demanding annulment of
President Mugabe's election.
After
chaotic and violent polling on March 9 and 10, Mr Mugabe was declared
the
winner over Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC candidate, by more than 400,000
votes.
Mr Mugabe has used his victory to step up attacks against the mainly
white
commercial farming sector. Mr Tsvangirai refused to recognise the
result,
saying it was "illegitimate", and demanded a new poll under
international
supervision.
David Coltart, the MDC justice spokesman, said yesterday the
affidavit
contained 38 "profound cases of election fraud. In a normal court
any one of
them would be sufficient to throw the election out the window". He
said it
could be several months before the challenge is heard.
Mr
Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party has refused a re-run of the election,
saying it
was free and fair. In the June 2000 parliamentary elections the
MDC
challenged the results in 30 constituencies and out of 20 cases heard so
far,
has won five, which Zanu-PF has appealed to the Supreme Court. Zanu-PF
has
packed judicial benches with judges loyal to the party.
The Commonwealth
election observers, South Africa and Nigeria, have
initiated dialogue between
the MDC and Zanu-PF to explore ways of healing
the rift between the two
parties. Ahead of the talks, Mr Mugabe's officials
and his militant
supporters, including the self-styled veterans of the
independence war, have
further raised the stakes against the commercial
farming sector.
More
than 60 white farmers and about 5,000 worker families were evicted from
their
homes this week by Mugabe's supporters who said all farms now belonged
to
them.
The Irish Times
Zimbabwe's Irish grit their teeth and hope for better
days ahead
ZIMBABWE: People are waiting for something to
happen, but they don't know
what, one resident told Declan Walsh
Jim
McComish's first trip to Zimbabwe was a six-month business
contract.
Eleven years later he still hasn't gone home, having fallen in
love with the
country, married a Zimbabwean and become a partner in a Harare
architect
firm.
But life in the African idyll is souring fast for him
and the rest of
Zimbabwe's Irish community, estimated to be
3,000-strong.
The crumbling economy and powderkeg politics, culminating
in the recent
elections, have caused many to think twice about staying
on.
"Corruption is destroying the economy, and the country is being run
into the
ground. People are leaving in significant numbers," said the Belfast
man.
For example, nine committee members were elected to the Mashonaland
Irish
Society last June. Four have since left. But many others, like Mr
McComish,
say they are determined to stick it out.
They cling doggedly
to the hope that better days are in store for southern
Africa's most
bedevilled country.
"I've devoted so much of my life here, and it's a
fantastic country. We're
hopeful that change will come sooner rather than
later," he said.
To yearn for "change" in Zimbabwe can be a dangerous
thing, however, under
President Robert Mugabe's authoritarian rule, as two
Irish missionaries
recently found out.
Last summer a Redemptorist
priest, Father Gabriel Maguire, was expelled,
while an Anglican priest from
Co Meath, the Rev Noel Scott, is currently
facing public disorder charges for
the apparent crime of organising a prayer
rally.
The election results
- which have been internationally condemned for
state-sponsored violence and
irregularities - have seen a black mood descend
over many of Zimbabwe's
Irish.
"The country is going to go down even further before it comes up
again,"
predicted the Mashonaland Irish Society president, Mr Paul Robinson,
an
industrial chemist who hails from Roscrea.
Unlike many white
residents, Mr Robinson was able to vote at the recent
elections: draconian
new laws disenfranchised thousands of citizens who had
not renounced their
foreign citizenship.
However, he only managed to cast his ballot after
visiting four polling
stations.
"Just seven people were being
processed per hour at one station," he said.
Zimbabwe's problem is
social, not racial, he said. "The government would
like to have racial
tensions because they are in a weak position. They are
neutrotic about
criticism."
These days the biggest challenge for Zimbabwe's Irish, a
smattering of
engineers, teachers, other professionals and religious workers,
is to cope
with the severe economic situation.
Mr Gary Killilea, a
Limerick native, once employed 80 people at his Harare
civil engineering
firm.
Now, due to the collapsing business environment, there are barely
20, and he
has moved much of his business to contracts in neighbouring
Mozambique.
Since the elections there has been an "eerie, downcast"
feeling about
Harare.
"People are waiting for something to happen but
they don't know what," he
said. "One wonders if something isn't going on in
the background."
Mr Killilea has also been targeted by the government's
controversial land
policy. He is part-owner of a 6,500-hectare ranch for a
large herd of cattle
and a lucrative patch of paprika, mainly for export to
Spain.
The property has been listed for seizure but not yet invaded by
the dreaded
war veterans.
"We're just holding our breath and hoping
that things will pan out," he
said.
But daily life in Zimbabwe is not
as dangerous as it may appear in the
media, he added. "The violence is very
focused, and unless you are part of
the group, it's as safe as walking down
Main Street in Limerick".
Nevertheless, he and his wife, Diane, have
taken extra security measures,
such as avoiding driving through the city
centre at night.
Despite the fears and dangers, however, many Irish
stressed that their
difficulties pale in comparison with those faced by
ordinary black
Zimbabweans.
There are already long queues for the
staple food, and the crisis is
predicted to escalate into a widespread famine
before the end of this year.
"Some days 1,000 people can be queueing to
buy mealie meal [ground maize],
but only half of them can get it," said one
Irish resident.
Farmers Warned Not to Vandalise Infrastructure
The Herald (Zim govt paper)
(Harare)
April 13, 2002
Posted to the web April 13, 2002
Herald
Reporters
COMMERCIAL farmers who vandalise infrastructure to
frustrate land reforms
will be arrested, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture
and Rural Resettlement,
Cde Joseph Made, warned yesterday.
He told
journalists that he had received reports of commercial farmers who
were
vandalising irrigation equipment, spraying sugar cane plantations
with
harmful chemicals and infecting cattle with diseases.
"These
criminal acts are going to be investigated and the culprits will be
brought
to book," he said.
The vandalism, he said, was aimed at frustrating
Government efforts to grow
a winter crop.
"It is a criminal offence
for the landowner to interfere with the exercise
of survey, demarcation and
settler emplacement," he said. "The landowner
should confine himself or
herself to the homestead and must vacate the farm
within 90 days of being
served the acquisition order."
The acquisition order, he said, now also
serves as an eviction notice and no
requests for extension of the notice
period shall be entertained.
The serving of an acquisition order has the
effect of immediately
transferring the ownership of a farm to the acquiring
authority, the
Government.
Cde Made said the acquiring authority will
immediately survey, demarcate and
allocate land concerned without undue
interference from occupier of that
land.
"White commercial farmers
must stand warned that Government will not
tolerate interference of the
operations of the newly settled farmers," he
said.
He said he had
received reports of some civil servants in his ministry who
were working hand
in hand with commercial farmers to derail and delay the
gains so far achieved
on the implementation of agrarian reforms.
"As minister I will not
hesitate to deal with officials that derail and or
delay the land reform
programme," he said.
Cde Made identified four challenges which he said
were delaying the
implementation of fast track resettlement launched 18
months ago.
These were, resistance by the white commercial farmers,
delays in
administrative courts, bureaucratic delays at the ministry level
and lack of
adequate resources.
The National Land Task Force has been
re-activated and will monitor and
recommend action to be taken by the
ministry to conclude the land reform
programme.
The Government, he
said, was going to beef up resources and support services
at provincial and
district levels to meet the demands of the land and
agrarian
reforms.
He said the Government also acknowledged the need to support
fully the
resettled families in order to optimise agricultural production so
that
economic growth, food security and employment creation were
assured.
More emphasis, Cde Made said, will be put on the production of
crops like
maize, sorghum, millet and potatoes for which production targets
will be
set.
A price structure will be set to encourage farmers to
produce these crops.
As people are moved from marginal land to land with
better pastures,
livestock breeding will take centre stage so that the
country can meet
domestic consumption and export
requirements.
Implement
The Government has started to implement
the maximum farm size regulations.
Current landowners who wish to
continue farming in the country will have to
indicate their intention to do
so and Government will consider their
requests, he said.
Maximum farm
size were set at 250ha for agro-ecological zone I, 350ha for
zone IIA, 400ha
zone IIB, 500ha zone III, 1 500ha zone IV and 2 000ha zone
V.
State
land, church or mission land, educational properties, land owned
by
indigenous farmers and properties on the Model A1 and A2 allocation
was
exempted from maximum farm size regulations.
His ministry, he
said, was still working out the appropriate maximum farm
sizes for
conservancies and plantations in consultation with the Environment
and
Tourism Ministry.
"I would like to take this opportunity to tell the
nation that there is no
going back on the land reform programme," he
said.
He said land redistribution and the de-racialisation of the
agricultural
sector will ensure that agricultural production is never again
in the hands
of a few who underutilise or hold to ransom the means of food
security,
employment creation and economic growth.
I have been sent a sad/funny song about the current situation on
Zimbabwe
farms. It is an MP3 - a file of 2.70 megs! I do not like to email
files of
this size, so have placed it on a web page for those who wish to
download
it. This is the address:
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~gosses/song.html
Barbara