The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
Back to Index
Back to the Top
Back to Index
from Zim-Gateway
Help to end the impunity - Help document the crimes

Accountability Commission Zimbabwe works on behalf of the oppressed so that
those who override the law and use criminal acts to protect their political
power are brought to justice. The regimes crimes must be documented and
stored safely for eventual prosecution.

"If you have any information about incidents of violence or individuals whom
you know to have been involved in beatings, torture, rape or murder or any
other form of human rights abuse we need to know about it."

"We need as much detail and corroborating evidence, as it is possible for
you to supply. For example:

* Date, time & location of the incident

* Names or descriptions of the perpetrators

* Names or descriptions of the victims

* Describe what happened

* Description and identification marks of any vehicles involved

* Addresses of perpetrators

* Any other useful background information about the perpetrators, victims or
incident."

www.theaccountabilitycommission.com

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution
inevitable. John F. Kennedy
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Four MDC Supporters Brutally Assaulted in St. Mary's - MDC Press

Four MDC members of the youth wing in St Mary's were picked from their
respective homes by a group of about 25 people dressed in riot police
uniform.

The four youths, David Chipunza, Tonderai Machiridza John Mazhambe and
Lisbon were picked early morning on Sunday . They were severely assaulted by
the militia before being taken to St Mary's police station where they were
further assaulted in the presence of the police officers by the militia who
were using iron bars sticks and clinched fists. The four are being accused
of having assaulted a police officer during the mass stay way.

The wives of Machiridza and Chipunza were assaulted in spite of the fact
that David's wife is pregnant.

After having subjected the victims to severe assaults, they (police) took
them to Chitungwiza General Hospital where they are under police guard and
are chained to their hospital beds. The hospital X ray machine is not
working and as such the victims are not receiving treatment. David is
suspected to have suffered a broken leg while John broke his arm.

The victims' lawyer Mr Muchadehama of Mbidzo Muchadehama and Makoni was
denied access to his clients by the police.

In a related development, the MDC candidate for ward seven in Ruwa Robson
Pinias Mushayavanhu was arrested yesterday in Ruwa and his whereabouts are
not known. Ward seven is due to hold a by-election next weekend and Mr
Mushayavanhu was doing some clean up exercise in the area when a group of
ZANU PF supporters confronted him and his supporters and demanded that he
should leave the area immediately. The ZANU PF supporters started attacking
the MDC supporters and the police came and arrested the MDC members
including the candidate.

We still do not understand why the police continue to be used to further the
interests of ZANU PF by subjecting innocent members of the society to such
horrendous and barbaric treatment instead of bringing the real culprits to
book.

We demand that our members be allowed access to both medical attention and
that the lawyers be allowed to see them.

Paul Themba Nyathi - Secretary for Information and Publicity
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

      Chigovera forced to retire

      4/17/03 6:37:26 AM (GMT +2)

      By Brian Mangwende Chief Reporter

      ANDREW Chigovera, the Attorney-General (AG), could have been forced to
retire, contrary to reports by the State media that he had done so
voluntarily.

      Chigovera was appointed to the post in August 2000 when President
Mugabe reshuffled the Cabinet following Zanu PF's narrow victory over the
MDC in the parliamentary election.

      Last Wednesday, when The Daily News contacted Chigovera, 50, well in
advance of the official announcement of his retirement, he categorically
dismissed the reports of his impending retirement as false.

      He said: "That's not true. There is nothing of that sort which has
happened."

      His deputy, Bharat Patel, professed ignorance on the matter, saying:
"I know nothing about that. I have no comment."

      But that Wednesday, Chigovera and Patel were reportedly in marathon
meetings with the latter trying to convince his boss not to leave.

      Despite vehemently denying that he had tendered his resignation,
Chigovera later appeared on ZBC/TV in a telephone interview over the
weekend, confirming "his retirement".

      Contacted for comment on the same issue, Patrick Chinamasa, the
Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Chigovera's
predecessor, also expressed ignorance over the issue.

      He said: "That is incorrect. He has not left his office and neither am
I aware that he wants to leave. That is untrue."

      But a source in the legal fraternity said Chigovera had become a
 "risk" and had lost the confidence of Zanu PF officials.

      The government has in the past shown that it had no faith in
Chigovera. Although his office is supposed to handle all cases involving
government institutions, private lawyers were being engaged.

      The AG's Office has in the past been heavily criticised for failing to
secure convictions following the arrest of several MDC activists, a number
of whom have been cleared without being charged on appearing before the
courts.

      The source said Zanu PF felt betrayed by Chigovera because he had
allegedly failed to successfully prosecute members of the opposition by
"letting them off the hook".

      In April 2002, Professor Jonathan Moyo, the Minister of State for
Information and Publicity in the President's Office, launched a scathing
attack on the AG's Office, saying there were increasing reports of some
well-known MDC members bragging that they would not be prosecuted because
some of the prosecutors were their former students.

      Moyo said at the time: "The laws are very clear. No one is above the
law. If anyone has committed a crime he should appear before a court of
 law."

      He accused prosecutors and the judiciary of being biased against Zanu
PF in favour of the MDC.

      Said the source: "Chigovera had become unpopular with the Zanu PF
leadership. He was summoned to State House where he was grilled over his
failure to successfully prosecute people perceived to be 'enemies of the
State'.

      "He should have seen it coming. He is a professional who was doing his
job, but Zanu PF literally hates professionals.

      "The security guards at his house have since been removed."

      Efforts to get comments from Chigovera proved fruitless as he was said
to be attending a funeral, while Chinamasa could not be reached.

      But some Harare lawyers, who refused to be named, said Chigovera did
not retire voluntarily.

      One lawyer said: "We are aware that Chigovera was forced to leave
office. He was seen as a person sympathetic to the MDC as most of the State
cases flopped in the courts.

      "Prosecutors are having a tough time trying to prosecute cases against
opposition members because of lack of evidence. It's embarrassing."

      Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Chigovera was being retired for
failing to effectively represent Chinamasa and Information Secretary George
Charamba when they faced separate contempt of court charges.

      The government has also accused several judicial officials of
deliberately bungling hearings to protect opposition members hauled before
the courts.

      The Reuters story quoted the State-owned Sunday Mail newspaper citing
Chinamasa as saying Chigovera would leave immediately.

      Chigovera's early retirement officially takes effect from 1 May.

      Since the parliamentary campaigns in 2000, hundreds of opposition
supporters have been arrested, tortured and unlawfully detained.

      In many instances, the courts have either refused to prosecute them or
place them on remand.

      Since he was appointed AG in August 2000, Chigovera pledged to
investigate the murder of Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika, the two MDC
activists who were petrol-bombed four months before his appointment, with a
view to prosecuting the alleged murderers.

      Joseph Mwale, a CIO operative, and Kainos Tom "Kitsiyatota" Zimunya, a
war veteran, were named in the High Court as the killers.

      The two activists were killed in the run-up to the 2000 parliamentary
election in Buhera North, where MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai lost, but the
result was nullified by the High Court.

      The alleged killers have still not been brought before the courts.
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

      Chinese firm yet to clear land

      4/17/03 6:51:23 AM (GMT +2)

      From Energy Bara in Masvingo

      THE government's programme to clear 100 000 hectares of land in
Masvingo's Nuanetsi ranch hangs in the balance as Chinese Water and
Electrical International, the company contracted for the job, has still not
started work on the project.

      The company was supposed to have moved on to the site on 1 March but
has not done so a month later.

      There are fears the company might not be able to start work in the
next two months since the contract between the Zimbabwean and Chinese
governments has not been finalised.

      Investigations by The Daily News show that not much equipment for the
project is in the country, and no workers have been recruited.

      Surveyors and engineers who were expected to be on the site in March
have not turned up.

      The company won the tender to clear the vast piece of land and later
grow maize on behalf of the government.

      Josaya Hungwe, the Masvingo Provincial Governor, confirmed on Tuesday
the Chinese company was scheduled to be on site on 1 March but had failed to
start the project as expected.

      Hungwe said he would want the Chinese company to contract some of its
work to indigenous companies.

      He said: "Although they have not started work, we would want to see
indigenous companies involved. Some of the work has to be contracted to
local people."

      The Agriculture Rural Development Authority (ARDA) is supervising the
project.

      Sources in ARDA said the contract between the Zimbabwean and Chinese
governments had not been finalised, thus delaying the start of the project.

      One source said: "We are still negotiating the contract although the
company has already won it.

      "The manager of the company is not in the country and all company
workers are reported to be on holiday.

      "Practically nothing has been done so far. We need to meet the company
manager first, so that we can deal with the details of the contract."

      ARDA has already cleared 1 000 hectares of land and maize crop has
been planted on 14 hectares.
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

      Farmers to sue Mliswa for damages

      4/17/03 6:52:30 AM (GMT +2)

      JENNY Parrson, 44, the wife of a white commercial farmer, said they
would file papers in the High Court to compel the controversial fitness
trainer, Themba Mliswa, to compensate them for the alleged damages he has
caused to them. Parrson said her husband, Allen, 44, spent almost a day at
the Avenues Clinic where a brain scan was done.

      "He sustained severe injuries to his head and whole body," she said.
"His colleague, John Coast also received treatment."

      She said they were preparing the lawsuit with their lawyer Jeremy
Callow. Initial estimates of the lawsuit would range between $50 million and
$100 million, she said.

      Mliswa was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly assaulting Parrson,
Coast, three policemen, including an Inspector Khumalo from Karoi Police
Station, and Brighton Chiimba, an official from the Deputy Sheriff's
Office - Staff Reporter
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

      Kasukuwere slams intolerance

      4/17/03 6:53:07 AM (GMT +2)

      From Kelvin Jakachira in Mutare

      SAVIOUR Kasukuwere, the Member of Parliament for Mt Darwin South, has
said lack of political tolerance was to blame for the problems bedevilling
the country.

      "Tolerance is the challenge gripping our nation today," Kasukuwere
told participants at a two-day workshop organised by the Public Affairs and
Parliamentary Support Trust (PAPST) in Mutare recently.

      "We have to accept that once we start the game of democracy whoever
loses an election would have lost and should accept that."

      MPs from both Zanu PF and the MDC attended the workshop.

      The workshop was organised to review activities and programmes of
PAPST and to access the impact of the organisation's activities in
constituencies, among other things.

      Kasukuwere said there was an urgent need to bring people together for
the country to develop.

      "We have to unite for the interests of the country."

      Kasukuwere said for the country to totally embrace political
tolerance, there was need for the MDC to recognise the election of President
Mugabe.

      "If you want me to recognise you as an MP," Kasukuwere said in
reference to MDC MPs, "you have to also recognise the President of our
country."

      The MDC has refused to recognise the re-election of President Mugabe
last year saying the poll was fraudulently held.

      The opposition party has since petitioned the courts to nullify the
election results.

      President Mugabe beat Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC president by over 400
000 votes.

      Kasukuwere's plea for political tolerance comes amid reports of
widespread violence targeted at MDC supporters and sympathisers.

      Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, the MP for Glen Norah (MDC) said
Kasukuwere's plea was refreshing because there was an urgent need to
cultivate a culture of tolerance and the restoration of law and order in the
country.

      Zanu PF activists, war veterans and security agents are allegedly
perpetrating the violence.

      David Katsonga, the deputy Speaker of Parliament in Malawi, supported
Kasukuwere's views.

      Katsonga said: "The problem we have as MPs is to build bridges because
after every election people would be divided. The campaign would be very
confrontational so the first thing we have to do is to bring everybody back
to the fold including your opponents."
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

      MP, 36 MDC men granted bail

      4/17/03 6:54:14 AM (GMT +2)

      From Our Correspondent in Gweru

      AUSTIN Mupandawana, the Kadoma Central Member of Parliament (MDC), and
36 party supporters accused of destroying property worth about $12 million
during last month's mass action, were further remanded to 12 June when they
appeared at the Kadoma Magistrates' court yesterday.

      The 37 men, represented by Christian Mafirakureva, were granted $10
000 bail each.

      They were all ordered to report twice a week at the CID Kadoma offices
and stay at their given addresses until the matter had been finalised.

      Apart from the reporting conditions, Mupandawana was ordered to
surrender his travel documents to the clerk of court and refrain from public
violence.

      They are being charged for contravening sections of the draconian
Public Order and
      Security Act following their alleged participation in an MDC-organised
mass action held on 18 and 19 March.

      The State alleges that on 18 March, Mupandawana and a group of his
party supporters petrol-bombed and destroyed property worth $11 743 593, as
part of the opposition party's campaign against the government's misrule.

      The group allegedly targeted properties owned by suspected Zanu PF
supporters in spontaneous attacks that were allegedly timed to coincide with
the MDC-organised mass action.
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

      Tar shortage hampers Harare road repairs

      4/17/03 6:53:43 AM (GMT +2)

      Staff Reporter

      The shortage of tar is hampering the repair of Harare's potholed roads
at a time when the city council is battling to acquire foreign currency for
other major development projects.

      Engineer Elias Mudzuri, the executive mayor, told residents at a
meeting at Town House last week: "We are trying to repair the roads, but
from January this year we have been having problems acquiring bitumen (tar).

      "The company which imports the bitumen has been having problems
because of the shortage of foreign currency."

      Mudzuri said the council would repair the major roads first when tar
becomes available.

      He said the incessant rains last month had made pothole filling
virtually impossible.

      Mudzuri said the council remained committed to "bringing our roads to
the reasonably good state they had reached last year, if not better".

      He urged residents to point out problems in their areas to district
officers so that they could be attended to speedily.
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

Leader Page

      Fuel price hike: a dog chasing its own tail

      4/17/03 6:36:05 AM (GMT +2)

      The government can increase the pump price of fuel as many times as it
pleases, but that is not the solution to the fuel crisis.

      As long as the country does not have enough foreign currency reserves
to import adequate supplies, the problem will not go away. It is like a dog
chasing its own tail - there is no hope in hell of a dog ever catching up
with its tail.

      The latest price hike will not increase the government's chances of
securing foreign currency. It will probably deter a few motorists from
filling up their tanks each time they go to refuel, but it will not secure
foreign currency to ease the shortage. It will only push inflation upwards.

      Everything that people buy is determined by the price of fuel. If the
price of fuel goes up, the cost of producing and delivering bread goes up.
In other words, this latest increase serves no purpose other than to worsen
inflation.

      The foreign currency shortage is here today because the goose that
laid the golden egg was slaughtered.

      Even schoolchildren are aware that without a solid agricultural
foundation there can be no foreign currency to speak of in Zimbabwe. In
fact, there can be no economy to talk about.

      The government-sponsored land invasions are the root cause of all this
hunger, starvation, poverty and economic melt-down. Farm invasions and the
violence that accompanied them caused massive disruptions in tobacco
production. The farmers could not produce in the face of intimidation,
harassment, torture, detentions, murder and rape on the farms. The people
had rejected the government-crafted draft constitution and the government
was bent on ensuring that they suffered for it.

      Mayhem and the destruction of life and property did not only affect
the farmers. It affected their workers as well. They were chased off the
land by the new farmers, mainly Zanu PF beneficiaries who wanted nothing to
do with them because they were "sell-outs", coerced into rejecting the draft
constitution in the referendum.

      As a result, the farmers failed to produce enough tobacco to beef up
the country's foreign currency reserves to import fuel and numerous other
raw materials required by industry and commerce.

      The chickens have now come home to roost.

      Political instability led to Zimbabwe's isolation by the international
and donor community. The country became a pariah state not many people
wanted to be associated with because of Zanu PF's insatiable appetite for
power. This affected tourism, another major foreign currency earner, as
tourist arrivals dwindled. Zimbabwe was considered an unsafe destination.

      These are the facts.

      Well-wishers have tried to browbeat, cajole, urge and persuade the
government to face these facts head-on, but it chose to ignore the calls
from its own people and the international community to stop playing the
head-in-the-sand game. They thought the current economic crisis was a
nightmare from which they would wake up.

      But this is not a dream. The captain and crew of the rudderless ship
seem hell-bent on ensuring that the country gets shipwrecked.

      There is a deeper problem which they acknowledge, but do not want to
resolve.

      Only until President Mugabe and his entire team agree to step down and
make way for a transitional government will the international community
intervene with the kind of aid that would end this nightmare. Without that,
the government can increase fuel prices as many times as they want, but to
no avail.

      Moreover, there are sanctions against this country, and there is very
little hope that things will return to normal in the foreseeable future.
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

      Unemployed seek solace in informal sector

      4/17/03 6:39:00 AM (GMT +2)

      By Colleen Gwari Business Reporter

      UNEMPLOYMENT, which has been worsened by the current economic
recession, has leveraging activities in the informal sector.

      With unemployment estimated at 70 percent, the informal sector is now
the escape route for thousands of people who have lost their jobs in the
past few years.

      The sector is also providing jobs to retrenchees and students, who
fail to secure formal employment. A number of people are beginning to see
the informal sector, as the panacea to current economic problems.

      There is debate, however, on whether Zimbabwe should pin prospects for
economic recovery on the informal sector. Apart from not contributing to the
fiscus through taxes, data from the informal sector cannot be captured in
national statistics.

      It is also difficult to regulate the sector, hence the current trend
where established companies are disbanding only to resurface as informal
businesses.

      Former Finance Minister, Simba Makoni, stirred controversy when he
spoke against the informalisation of the economy at a National Economic
Consultative Meeting last year.

      The establishment of the Informal Sector Ministry, headed by
Sithembiso Nyoni, after the resignation of Makoni last year, showed that not
everybody in government shared Makoni's view. Evelyn Ndlovu, the permanent
secretary in the ministry, said the informal sector would be Zimbabwe's
future.

      Ndlovu said: "The informal sector is a major force for economic growth
hence the need to create a favourable environment for it to prosper."

      She bemoaned a number of factors that militated against the
development of the informal sector.

      Informal traders, in particular, allege harassment at the border posts
and are subjected to red-tape when processing their documents. Incentives
had also remained the preserve of the formal sector.

      The allocation of $2 billion to the sector in the current budget
showed the government's commitment to the success of the informal sector.

      Lovemore Kadenge, president of the Zimbabwe Economics Society (ZES),
said the informal sector could never provide the long term solution to the
country's economic woes.

      "The answer lies in strengthening the manufacturing sector," said
Kadenge.

      The ZES boss said the country could easily come out of recession if
mechanisms of boosting investor confidence were found and implemented.

      The challenge, economic pundits said, was to nurture the informal
sector into small-to-medium-size (SMEs) enterprises first, and later
established businesses.

      In the United States, SMEs employed more than 60 percent of the
population, while 80 percent of jobs in the Japanese economy were in this
sector.

      Peter Hove, a local entrepreneur said: "There is nothing informal
about the sector. It is just a colonial mentality that makes people view it
that way. Government needs to set quality standards for the sector and in
the process unlock value for economic development."

      He said, while there were a lot of opportunities that could be
exploited by the informal sector, little was being realised at national
level.

      "A close look at the informal sector will show you that a lot of money
changes hands while there is very little that goes towards enhancing the
gross domestic product of the country," Hove said.

      Augustine Zhanje, an emerging entrepreneur in Glen View, said the
government should formalise the sector and ensure that it contributed to the
fiscus. The Informal Sector Ministry said plans were afoot to tax the
informal sector in a bid to make sure they contributed towards economic
development.
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

Letters

      Let's mourn the mockery that our independence has become

      4/17/03 6:42:35 AM (GMT +2)

      It is 23 years now since independence. Tomorrow we commemorate the day
when we achieved political emancipation from Britain. Everybody will agree
that all those who fought and died for our liberation deserve special
recognition.

      Some perished in foreign lands, others died in action inside the
country and a few were laid to rest at the national shrine, Heroes' Acre.
May their souls rest in peace.

      There are other gallant sons and daughters of the soil who are still
with us today. These are the genuine liberation war heroes, not the
impostors and malicious people who are terrorising the nation today,
masquerading as war veterans.

      Gone are the days when President Mugabe was an icon. Many of us were
always prepared to listen to him or even to a speech read on his behalf.

      Gone are the years when we would throng various venues countrywide for
Independence Day celebrations and converse with each other, reflecting on
the beauty, achievements and successes of Zimbabwe, which was then
undoubtedly a beacon in southern Africa.

      Those were the years when congratulatory messages would pour in from
diverse places, within and abroad. Those were the years when most of us were
proud to be Zimbabweans, when we could gather freely without the fear of
obnoxious and draconian pieces of legislation like the Public Order and
Security Act.

      I still remember the days when we would cheer and wave at the
President's motorcade freely, unlike today, when doing so constitutes a
criminal act.

      Many questions should be asked today. Things have suddenly changed.
The police now have sweeping powers to arrest any gathering comprising three
or more people because they constitute a group according to POSA. We can no
longer enjoy reading the newspaper; certain papers have been "banned" from
circulating in some areas. Those who spread pro-State propaganda have become
hackneyed to the point of irrelevance. The State monopolises the airwaves
and broadcasting is now the preserve of government mouthpieces. Journalists
can now be arrested willy-nilly, thanks to the notorious Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

      We thought independence meant total freedom - economically,
politically and socially. But, alas, the present situation is totally
different. It is now a crime to belong to and support any opposition party.

      Inflation is now at over two hundred percent. We now spend
three-quarters of our time in queues. We queue for fuel, sugar, mealie-meal,
transport - almost everything. Unemployment now stands atmore than 80
percent. The government's solution is to turn our youths into Green Bombers
who rape, murder, torture and terrorise fellow countrymen with impunity.

      Our intellectuals and other highly skilled compatriots now live
abroad. The country is now a pariah state. The police and the army can now
beat us up for participating in a stayaway.

      We can now even be forced to indulge in unprotected sex by State
security agents. People are scavenging for food in a country that was once
the regional breadbasket.

      We now live a beggar's life under an autocratic state. As we gather
for the Independence Day celebrations on 18 April this year, let's ask
ourselves:
      Is this Uhuru ?" Instead of celebrating, we should mourn the death of
Zimbabwe.

      Christopher Mucheregwa
      Highlands
      Harare
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Daily News

Feature

      Yet another gigantic Zanu PF failure

      4/17/03 6:32:26 AM (GMT +2)

      When we embarked on the liberation struggle in the 1950s, the main aim
was to create an environment where the black majority could have equal
opportunities with the privileged racial minority to improve their lives.

      In Salisbury (now Harare) James Robert Dambaza Chikerema, the late
George Bonzo Nyandoro, Paul Mushonga and others launched the Salisbury Youth
League (SYL), a militant organisation whose activities were a cause of much
concern to the Southern Rhodesian settler administration.

      In Bulawayo and other parts of the country, Joshua Nkomo, Jane
Ngwenya, Joseph Bruno Msika, Francis Nehwati, Grey Bango, the late Jason
Moyo,

      Edward Ndlovu, John Cyril Shoniwa and quite a large number of others
revitalised the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress (SRANC), a
movement founded by Jacha Rusike in 1934.

      Its aims and objectives were identical with those of a South African
movement of the same name founded and launched at Bloemfontein in January
1912.

      The SYL and the SRANC merged as the SRANC in Salisbury in September
1957 because it was obvious that their aims and objectives were very similar
and also because in unity lies strength.

      The core of those objectives was for the SRANC to acquire power to
improve the lives of the people, particularly those who were disadvantaged
by the laws and administrative system of the country. What occurred
thereafter is history whose culmination was the birth of the nation of
Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980, exactly 23 years ago tomorrow.

      From that date up to this very day, everybody in Zimbabwe has been
praying and hoping for a life better than that of the previous day. At
first, there were the inevitable ups and downs, but optimism prevailed in
the nation as people thought that the downs were nothing more than national
birth pangs.

      Those downs included a rise in the cost of living, resulting in a fall
in the country's standard of living. In the early 1990s, criticism by Zanu
PF was heaped on an International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank
economic revival formula called the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme
(Esap).

      That measure flopped and was abandoned, having been caused, in the
first place, by Zimbabwe's indebtedness to the IMF and the World Bank. That,
simply stated, had been brought about by the government's failure to spend
within its budgetary limits.

      Having roundly condemned and completely abandoned Esap, the nation
truly hoped that the national economy would pick up, and that price
increases of basic consumer goods and services would be matters of the past.
That was not to be.

      Two days before the nation celebrates its 23rd independence
anniversary, the government announced a truly shocking increase in the price
of petrol and diesel.

      What an independence present to the nation by Zanu PF!

      While we should accept that increases of prices of some goods and
services, particularly imported ones, are not avoidable in most cases, it is
neither understandable nor acceptable for a government to announce and
introduce literally overnight such hefty increases as those made by the
Minister of Energy, Amos Midzi.

      Why were the increases not introduced a little at a time over a period
of, say, 24 months?

      In any case, it is shocking that the Zanu PF government has found it
acceptable to impose such an intolerable burden on the nation. Progressive
modern governments uphold the basic principle that public transport services
are essential to all the nations, and that it is the duty of governments to
make them affordable to the public. The same principle should apply to
public medical services where affordability should be the guiding principle.

      In Zimbabwe, the government has undoubtedly lost policy direction,
leading to its tragic failure to prioritise nationals needs.

      The fuel price hikes will lead to goods and services becoming
inaccessible to the vast majority of the people, especially those in the
rural areas where commodities have to be transported by road.

      Most of the people in Zimbabwe live in the rural areas. How will they
afford the high prices that have been created by this unbelievable
development?

      Employees will, of course, demand a steep increment in their wages and
salaries and employers will either resist the demands or oblige, but
increase proportionately the prices of their goods or services, leading to
galloping inflation shooting through the roof.

      The general economic climate will sooner than later become so
untenable that some investors will leave the country, worsening
unemployment, which is already at 228 percent. That is bound to lead to a
great deal of restlessness and social upheaval.

      There is one fact about Zanu PF which always astounds me. It is that
its stalwarts repeatedly create socio-economic conditions that generate
public hostility against their party.

      Who can justifiably criticise the MDC for calling for a stayaway in
such a situation?
Back to the Top
Back to Index
The saga of victimisation and subhuman brutality continues - swradioafrica

More and more evidence is being reported of how MDC supporters are being
victimised and assaulted by Zanu PF youths, police and soldiers. Two
activists say they were brutalised by the army in Chitungwiza just after the
mass stayaway. One man said he was among the group that was beaten by
soldiers in Chitungwiza during the stayaway.

After the beatings they were taken to Chitungwiza police station where they
were severely tortured. He spent a week in remand prison and was later
released on bail on 2nd April. He alleges that he was attacked again this
week, on Monday. He says he was confronted by his assailants who were
shocked to see that he had been released. They allegedly beat him up saying
his place as an MDC supporter was in prison. He suffered a broken arm and
was discharged from St Annes Hospital this morning. The other victim alleges
he was picked up from home by soldiers. They assaulted him severely before
dropping him off at Chitungwiza Police Station where he was charged for
public violence. He says after being beaten by the army and the police in
Chitungwiza, he was taken to the law and Order Section at Harare Central
where he was charged for public violence.

This man had initially been picked up from his home. After appearing in
court he was placed on remand together with several other MDC activists. He
says there were 19 MDC supporters from Chitungwiza and about 108 from Glen
View in remand. They were beaten by some 'new recruit' prison officers taken
from the Border Gezi Training Center. They were continuously assaulted by
these men who accused them of trying to give the land back to the whites.
This man says although some of them were released on bail others are still
in remand.
Back to the Top
Back to Index
Letter to Zim-Gateway

Was Jocelyn heading team of army deserters?

So Jocelyn Chiwenga, the wife of the Army Commander, Constantine Chiwenga,
also went on a rampage and beat up people in Glen View? Of course, this fact
has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt by the reports in the Daily
News, and the chilling account chronicled by Gugulethu Moyo of how shewas
abused by this errant and myopic woman.

It is a fact that Jocelyn was beating up people in her capacity as the wife
of the army chief. Now there is one question Zimbabweans need to ask
themselves against the inccessant propaganda oozing out of the so called
national broadcaster about supposed army deserters who have been terrorising
people.

If the army chief could allow his wife to go and terrorise people, what
about the army which he controls? Simple logic would seem to suggest that
Jocelyn was leading a team of errant soldiers.

It is very important for Zimbabweans to realise that reports of people in
army uniforms terrorising people come against the backdrop of increasing
international pressure on the Harare regime.

The regime is now feeling the pinch of international isolation and would
want to get rid of this tag as of yesterday. What with the Saddam regime
falling in Iraq. They know that if the army is seen as a tool of
entrenchment of the ruling order, international isolation will only
increase.

But Zimbabweans are not fools. As the famous saying goes, you can fool all
of the people some of the time, and you can fool some of the people all the
time, but you can't fool all the people all the time.

Who so ever goes against a people's struggle is not only playing with fire
and risking the wrath of the people when the hour of reckoning arrives, but
may also find themselves caught in the crossfire of people bullets that have
no direction.

Masimba Nyamanhindi - Harare
Back to the Top
Back to Index
IOL
 
'Dlamini-Zuma is Mugabe's chief apologist'

April 17 2003 at 05:49AM
 

 
By Basildon Peta

Johannesburg - "Mugabe's chief apologist" is how Zimbabwe's main opposition party brands South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said it was sick and tired of Dlamini-Zuma's "never-ending" habit of "manufacturing" excuses for President Robert Mugabe.

This follows Dlamini-Zuma's claim at the weekend that his government was "moving" to restore some confiscated farms to white farmers and was amending repressive legislation.

Dlamini-Zuma told reporters in Pretoria last Friday that there had been "movement" by the Zimbabwe government on fulfilling two other undertakings it had given to the South African government.
'South Africa is not the universe'
She said it had set aside R450-million to compensate evicted farmers for improvements to their farms. It had also submitted legislation to parliament to amend the draconian Public Order and Security Act (Posa) and a harsh media law under which 13 journalists have been arrested and charged.

But a top MDC official said in Johannesburg on Wednesday that Dlamini-Zuma was either "living on another planet" or had chosen to effectively become Mugabe's "chief apologist".

"Instead of barking about non-existent progress in Zimbabwe, Dlamini-Zuma should at least have a mechanism for ensuring that these so-called undertakings made to her have been delivered by Mugabe before she misleads the world," said the MDC's secretary for economic affairs, Tendai Biti.

Biti said the MDC had "stopped feeling let down" by Dlamini-Zuma's patronising statements on Mugabe.

"We have told ourselves that South Africa is not the universe.

Only decisive action from the people of Zimbabwe themselves will free them from his regime. But when that happens, we will find it hard to relate to Dlamini-Zuma and Mbeki," he said.

Back to the Top
Back to Index