The Telegraph
The Times, UK April 18, 2006
From Jan Raath in Harare
THE first time that Anna was arrested, two policemen confiscated
her box of
tomatoes, bananas, popcorn and a couple of cigarettes and ordered
her to pay
an on-the-spot fine of Z$250,000 (65p) for illegal vending.
When
she refused to pay they took her Z$160,000 takings for the
afternoon, put it
in their pockets and left. Two days later Anna was caught
by the police with
her goods spread out on a sack. They told her to bring
her goods with her to
the police station.
On the way the police asked how
much money she had. "Nothing,"
she said. They said she could go. "No," she
said. "I want to go to the
police station. I have done criminal things.
Let's go."
"What's your name?" they asked aggressively. She
told them. "You
are too cheeky," they said. "Yes," she said, "I am too
cheeky." She strode
back to her corner, triumphant. Anna started trading on
the street to pay
her two children's school fees. For millions of
Zimbabweans, informal
trading on a tiny scale has become the difference
between life and
starvation.
President Mugabe has
declared the activity illegal. Every day
thousands are arrested in police
raids and lose their earnings and their
goods, or have them
smashed.
"I will be back there every day, selling," Anna
said. "They can
come. I am no longer afraid of them."
This is the reality of Zimbabwe as the country commemorates
today the 26th
anniversary of independence from Britain. Mr Mugabe has
presided over the
ruin of the country's economy, once one of the strongest
in Africa. The
rapid impoverishment of Zimbabweans has been compunded by the
destruction of
the homes of nearly one million people, who have also been
banned from
making a living in his notorious "Operation Remove the Rubbish",
which
continues after 11 months.
Last week the World Health
Organisation said that Zimbabwean
women had the lowest life expectancy in
the world, at 34 years. The country
has the highest inflation, at 913 per
cent. The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe
estimates that a family of six needs
Z$35 million a month to survive. Six
years ago Z$1 million dollars would
have bought a whole block of luxury
apartments.
State
school fees have recently risen by 1,000 per cent.
"Zimbabwean children are
faced with some of the worst hardships confronting
children anywhere in the
world," a Unicef spokesman said.
John Makumbe, a political
commentator, said: "Life has become
unbearable and unaffordable. These
people are waiting to vent their anger
through mass demonstrations. We are
on the brink. The element of (ordinary
Zimbabweans') fear is overrated. That
point is going to become clearer in
the next few months."
Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of what appears to be the dominant
faction of
the divided Opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change, is
capitalising
on the rising mood of defiance.
He has promised in recent
weeks that he will lead street
protests to bring down the Government and has
said that he is prepared to
die doing so. He has hinted that the movement
will start next month.
Mr Mugabe responded with a stark
warning to Mr Tsvangirai: "If
he wants to invite his own death, let him go
ahead."
John Robertson, an economist, said: "We are in a
tinderbox
situation. If something starts, it can become complete collapse
and it can
be started by street violence. They will call the soldiers out,
but the
soldiers may turn their guns on their leaders. They are having as
difficult
a time as everyone else."
BACKWARDS
STEP
1980
Name Rhodesia
Capital Salisbury
Government White minority rule under Prime
Minister Smith
Cost of loaf of bread Z$0.20
Land
4,500 white farmers own 70 per cent of fertile land
Adult
literacy 70 per cent
Life expectancy 58
GDP per
capita (real terms) US$3,377
2006
Name
Zimbabwe
Capital Harare
Government Nationalist
ZANU-PF party under President Mugabe
Cost of loaf of bread
Z$90,000
Land Farms seized from white ownership
Adult literacy 91 per cent
Life expectancy 37
GDP
per capita US$2,100
Zim Online
Wed 19 April
2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe has put security forces on alert as
President Robert
Mugabe on Tuesday again signalled he was ready to
ruthlessly crush street
protests planned by the opposition against his
government.
Addressing thousands of people celebrating Zimbabwe's
26th year of
independence in Harare, Mugabe warned opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) party leader Morgan Tsvangirai that he would be
"playing with
fire" if he ever attempted to instigate a Ukrainian-style
revolt against his
government.
Tsvangirai has in the last three
weeks toured major cities mobilising
supporters for mass protests against
the government whose date he has not
yet announced.
Senior army
and police officers who spoke to ZimOnline on Tuesday on
condition they were
not named said the security forces had been put on high
alert and had since
the Easter holidays intensified anti-public riot drills
to keep them in
shape to quell MDC -led protests.
The police have
in the last week also used the Israeli-made anti-riot
water cannon trucks in
the drills according to a senior inspector at the
police's Morris Depot in
Harare where some of the drills have taken place.
The water
cannons, four of which were on display at the National
Sports Stadium where
Mugabe addressed the independence gathering, were
acquired from Tel-Aviv
about four years ago but had remained unused because
there have been no
significant clashes between the government and the
opposition on the
streets.
"We have been using them (water cannons) for the past days
to train
some police officers in anticipation of the protests," said the
police
inspector.
Soldiers and police officers, including those
on leave have been put
on standby in case they may be required for urgent
duty, while members of
the police's anti-riot squad told of how they had
been ordered to be always
in "full anti-riot gear" in readiness for any
eventuality.
A junior officer in the anti-riot squad said: "We have
been told to be
always alert as Tsvangirai is threatening violence. We were
told that
everyone should parade in full riot gear at Morris Depot and
Chikurubi
police camp where everyone is supposed to go through some
anti-riot drills.
"We were also told not to put money (by backing
Tsvangirai) ahead of
our country as there is no monetary value that can be
attached to Zimbabwe
as most people died for it."
It was not
possible to get comment on the matter from the Zimbabwe
National Army's
public and press relations office but police spokesman Wayne
Bvudzijena said
the security forces' state of preparedness was because they
believed there
was a threat to peace and stability in the country.
"Whenever there
is a security threat in the country, we will always
put our men on standby.
We have the mandate to protect innocent civilians
against politicians who
want to fan violence in the country .. (we)
obviously do not want to be
caught unawares," Bvudzjiena said.
In addition to stepping up
anti-riot drills, the police have also
increased their visibility on the
streets of Harare, erecting roadblocks on
nearly every major road leading
into the capital city's centre.
At the roadblocks the police, some
armed and some not, search cars for
weapons that could be used to commit
public violence.
Tuesday's deployment of the awesome water cannons
at the sports
stadium while Mugabe was addressing the public was also the
first time they
have been hauled before the public in the presence of
Mugabe, in what could
have been an attempt to forewarn the public on the
futility of rising up
against the government.
The police and
the army have been the backbone of Mugabe's 26-year
rule, ruthlessly
suppressing dissension and protests by the MDC and civic
groups.
But Tsvangirai, whose MDC was weakened when it split
into two last
year, has vowed to mobilise Zimbabweans to take to the streets
to demand
Mugabe paves way for a transitional government that will be tasked
with
spearheading the writing of a new and democratic constitution that
would
lead to free and fair elections under international
supervision.
Political analysts say although Zimbabweans have
largely been cowed by
Mugabe's tactics of routinely deploying security
forces to crush street
protests, a crumbling economy has fanned public
frustration with the
government.
Zimbabwe is battling a
six-year recession dramatised by acute
shortages of foreign currency, fuel
and food while the rate of joblessness
is around 70 percent and the world's
highest inflation rate of 913 percent,
scaled in February. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Tue 18 April 2006
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe used
Zimbabwe's 26th independence
celebrations to warn the opposition he will
ruthlessly crush street protests
against his government and to remind
foreign-owned mining firms he was still
contemplating seizing shareholding
in their businesses.
Mugabe, who was addressing a several thousands
of people gathered at
Harare's National Sports Stadium for the celebrations,
warned opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party leader Morgan
Tsvangirai he was
"playing with fire" by attempting to instigate a
Ukrainian-style revolt
against his government.
"There are some
who say they no longer want elections saying they now
will change the
government through mass protests .. I warn them, they are
playing with fire
and they should stop," said Mugabe, who was speaking in
the vernacular Shona
language.
Tsvangirai, who says the MDC has lost faith in elections
because
Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF party always rigs them, has in the
last three
weeks toured major cities mobilising his supporters for mass
protests whose
date he has not yet announced.
The opposition
leader says the street protest are meant to force
Mugabe to pave way for a
transitional government that will be tasked with
spearheading the writing of
a new and democratic constitution that would
lead to free and fair elections
under the supervision of the international
community.
But
Mugabe, who last month told Tsvangirai street protests would be a
"dice with
death", vowed never to leave office because of public protests
and mockingly
told the opposition it would be "trimmed to size" if it ever
attempted to
gain power through "mob action".
The Zimbabwean leader, who last
month said a draft law proposing to
force foreign-owned mining firms in the
country to surrender 51 percent
stake to the government and local blacks was
not government policy but only
a position for debate, appeared to backtrack
on that position insisting that
his government wanted a balance in mine
ownership.
"We shall be bringing up policies and the regulatory
measures to
effect balance that we would like to see between those who hold
shares and
Zimbabweans," said Mugabe, whose government has in the past six
years seized
land from whites without compensation for redistribution to
landless blacks.
The land seizures that Mugabe defended as
necessary to ensure a fair
distribution of land between blacks and whites
are largely to blame for food
shortages in the country because the newly
resettled black farms did not
have cash or other resources as well as the
skills to maintain production on
the seized farms while the government,
itself facing severe cash problems,
could not give back-up to the new land
owners.
The country's Chamber of Mines has warned any seizure or
forced sale
of stake in mines to the government and local blacks is certain
to lead to a
collapse of the mining sector, now the country's largest hard
cash earner
after the collapse of agriculture. The mining sector is also the
only one in
the country still enjoying a significant presence of foreign
investors.
Zimbabwe is grappling a severe economic crisis that has
spawned
shortages of food, fuel, essential medical drugs, electricity and
just about
every other basic commodity. Inflation is pegged at 913 percent
while
conservative estimates say unemployment is more 70
percent.
Critics blame repression and wrong policies by Mugabe for
ruining
Zimbabwe's once brilliant economy. But the veteran leader rejects
the charge
saying Zimbabwe's problems are in fact a result of sabotage by
Western
governments opposed to his land reforms.
Mugabe also
used the independence celebration to heap more scorn on
the West which he
accused of attempting to put Zimbabwe on the United
Nations Security Council
agenda but were blocked by "progressive states"
that are friendly to Harare.
- ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed
19 April 2006
BULAWAYO - Police in Bulawayo have launched a fresh
blitz against
street vendors and foreign currency dealers in a campaign
which residents
say is reminiscent of last year's controversial clean-up
exercise.
Residents in Zimbabwe's second biggest city of Bulawayo,
told
ZimOnline yesterday that the police had intensified the campaign
against
vendors and the homeless with over a hundred people being arrested
last
weekend alone.
The residents said the police were being
aided in the operation by
Bulawayo municipal police.
Bulawayo
executive mayor, Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube, confirmed the
participation of
municipal police in the exercise saying the police had
requested assistance
from his municipal police to rid the city of "criminal
elements".
"We provided the manpower after the police
approached us to help them
round up the illegal traders in a bid to reduce
crime in the city," Ndabeni
Ncube said.
The police could not be
reached for comment on the matter last night.
But vendors who spoke
to ZimOnline said they were arrested at the
weekend and were only released
from Bulawayo central police station after
they had paid admission of guilt
fines.
"The majority of vendors and homeless people have been
arrested in the
city and those who were lucky were made to pay admission of
guilt fines
while some are still detained at the central police station,"
said a vendor
who had just been released.
Some vendors said
they had been assaulted by the police despite having
valid business licences
from the city council to carry out their activities.
The latest
crackdown by the police comes almost a year after the
Harare authorities
carried out a similar exercise which displaced about 700
000 people and
directly affected another 2.4 million people, according to a
report by the
United Nations.
The UN envoy who compiled the report, Anna
Tibaijuka, criticised the
home demolition exercise by President Robert
Mugabe's government as a gross
violation of the rights of the
poor.
But Mugabe rejected the criticism insisting the clean-up
exercise was
necessary to rid cities and towns of squalor. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 19 April 2006
HARARE - The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority
(ZTA) has shelved an ambitious
public relations campaign to spruce up
Zimbabwe's battered image due to lack
of funds and lack of interest from
some key stakeholders, ZimOnline has
learnt.
Tourism industry
sources close to the botched campaign said the
exercise, which was supposed
to have started early this year, had been put
on ice because of the huge
financial resources required to see the project
off.
"To be
effective the campaign needed an international and domestic
blitz, targeting
our key source markets and local stakeholders such as the
media, industry
and government departments," said one source, who was
involved in organising
the campaign.
"This obviously meant the injection of massive
financial resources
running into hundreds of billions of dollars," he
said.
No comment was available from the ZTA or its parent Ministry
of
Environment and Tourism.
At least three teams of
advertising, marketing and public relations
consultants had been identified
to manage the campaign.
They were required to, among other things,
come up with a new slogan
for the country to replace the current one that
identifies Zimbabwe as
"Africa's Paradise".
It was felt by
both the ZTA and other players in the tourism sector
that the slogan was no
longer appropriate, given Zimbabwe's current status
as one of the world's
pariah states.
The consultants were also required to produce
generic logos adaptable
to all sectors of the economy. The idea was to come
up with logos along the
lines of the Proudly South African
campaign.
The sources said the campaign failed to win favour among
all key
stakeholders, with some arguing the exercise was ill-timed in light
of the
volatility of the political and economic situation in the
country.
"The general feeling is that it will be an exercise in
futility to try
to sell the product called Zimbabwe under the present
environment. For
starters, there seems to be no common agenda among key
stakeholders," said
the source.
He noted that the situation has
not been helped by the careless
statements by senior government
officials.
These included statements such as that the government
wanted to take
over the fertiliser and mining industries, and that state
security agents
were ready to use live ammunition on anti-government
demonstrators. -
ZimOnline
|
Sokwanele - Enough is Enough -
Zimbabwe PROMOTING NON-VIOLENT PRINCIPLES TO ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY |
|
Sokwanele Comment: 18 April 2006 Zimbabwe has a history of violence, in both the public and the private sphere. Pre-colonial narratives disclose on-going conflict within clans over succession, and between clans over the process of state-building. The nineteenth century brought invasions by Zulu off-shoots and the occupation of the western part of the country by Mzilikazi's Ndebele, followed by European invasion and conquest. Violence became the instrument again to dislodge coercive settler rule and achieve independence with majority rule in 1980. By 1980, Zimbabweans could hope for a peaceful development, but too many had learned a fearful lesson - power is gained and retained by the use of force. The use of state perpetrated violence as a political weapon has marred our post-independence history and deprived us of the opportunity to establish a democracy based on the will of the people. The private sphere is less transparent, but few would dispute that violence is also prevalent in our personal relationships and in our institutions, whether it take the form of domestic disputes, disciplining of children, or sexual assaults on young girls and women. The effects of violence and torture on human beings, whether it occurs in the public sphere, perpetrated by political enemies or state institutions, or whether it occurs within families, has been well documented by research in many countries. While some personalities are less affected, many bear deep scars which cripple their ability to form normal relationships throughout their lives. Unable to trust other people, the victims, traumatized and often emotionally disabled, live with suppressed anxieties and fears, while the perpetrators' guilt and their memories of what they have done to others leads all too often to mental disturbance. We are talking here not just of the effect on the victims; perpetrators of violence, too, are affected. Violence takes two, just like the tango. But violence in Zimbabwe does not conform to the classic dance routine. The normal, right-side-up and justice-based version of violence in fairy tales and mythology presents us with the evil, ugly (often male) perpetrator, who ravishes the innocent, beautiful (usually female) victim. The perpetrator is punished, the victim is rescued by prince charming, and equilibrium is restored. That is the fairy tale. The Zimbabwean reality is quite different - in fact the very opposite. In Zimbabwe, the perpetrator is excused, if not glorified. It is the victim who is blamed for not avoiding the violence. Whether it is a girl who is raped (she should not have been there, or have tempted the perpetrator), a child who is beaten (he was disobedient), a wife who is thrown out of the house (she was a witch, or she did not serve her husband well enough), a white farmer beaten to a pulp (his ancestors stole the land and he didn't give it back), or the tortured opposition member (he was working against a legitimate government) - the perpetrator is blameless. It is the victim who is seen to have caused the violence. In the public sphere, we have had amnesty after amnesty excusing perpetrators of unspeakable brutality and cruelty performed in the name of the state or of a political party. Domestic violence is routinely dismissed or ignored not only by the police who receive reports, but also by family members who try to persuade a woman that to be a victim is her destiny. How did violence become so deeply ingrained in our culture, our relations with each other and our relations with the state? And how can the victims be held responsible? Is there no obligation on the perpetrator to stay his hand, to contain his emotions, and to find peaceful ways to resolve disputes? Apparently we approve of physical force to achieve, not tranquility, but submission. And this lesson is learned, not first in the political or public sphere; it is learned initially in the home. Most children experience violence first in the home, then in the school. At home many - not all of course - witness violence between adults, most frequently perpetrated by their fathers against their mothers. They learn that it is acceptable; it is the privilege of the perpetrator and must be suffered and tolerated by the victims. Not because the perpetrator is right, but because he has the power. A substantial number of girl children experience sexual assault from early ages; they learn to suffer and to keep silent. And almost all children are "disciplined" by physical beating. By the time they reach school they are well socialized to accept beating, pinching, and slapping by teachers, which not infrequently becomes unacceptably abusive, intended to humiliate and rob a child of his dignity rather than to punish. Children learn to become victims of superior force backed up by the authority of a revered institution. The next step in their socialization for violence is even more frightening - they are taught to become perpetrators of violence. This occurs in the training of police, where the young people are told that they must have the civilian beaten out of them. But it also takes place in some of the "best" of our secondary schools, particularly boys schools. The "prefect system", passed down from the English "public school", the molder of colonial officials, requires senior pupils, rather than teachers, to become responsible for the discipline of younger boys. Their duty is not to be leaders by example, by creativity and by sensitivity; their duty is to punish. They are permitted to exert considerable brutality, humiliating younger children by forcing them into uncomfortable positions, crawling on gravel on hands and knees, carrying heavy bricks. School administrations with little understanding of the means of developing leadership and morality support the prefects in the name of school discipline. There is little protection for the victimized. In one prominent religious boys secondary school a headmaster recently told his pupils that they must not report to their parents if they are punished by prefects; those who do have been further victimized. Where are the checks which would prevent the system from becoming abusive? What are these boys learning, both prefects and their victims? They are learning that there is no justice, that brutality and sadism rule. They are learning that when it is your turn to be victim, take the medicine and be quiet, and wait until it's your turn to perpetrate violence yourself. You will get back at those who tortured you by torturing other innocents. Boys at this particular school in the junior forms will complain about their treatment, but those in the senior forms will tell you it's all right "because we were treated like that". Do as was done to you, not as you would like others to do to you. We should not be surprised then that the experience of the family and the school is carried over smoothly into the public sphere. We are a nation of victims and perpetrators of violence. When we are not in power we will be abused and suffer injustices. When we see that we are being exploited and cheated by those holding political power we will shrug our shoulders and say "what can we do?" But when we get our own chance, we will be every bit as brutal as those who tortured us. How else do we explain the ministers who sit happily at the cabinet table with those who tortured them a generation ago? Victims of trumped-up "arms cache" charges preside over the same fabrications against others twenty years later. They seal their lips, keep quiet about their own mistreatment, and allow the torture of others. As a people our solution to all conflicts is not to seek justice, to instill respect for human dignity and protect the powerless. Our solution is to resort to the coercion which is allowed by unrestricted power, a coercion which robs both victim and perpetrator of their ability to respect each other. We teach our children in our homes and in our schools that the powerful rule, with brutality if they choose; the weak must not offend them or provoke, for there is no justice, no reconciliation, only an endless chain joining one cohort to the next - first we become victims, then violators. Are we surprised that our political life is plagued by violence and coercion? We shouldn't be; it is all one seemless garment. Once we accept that human beings can be humiliated and abused we take on the roles, depending on our status in a given situation. Ian Smith taught us that only superior violence could dislodge a recalcitrant undemocratic regime; but once that regime was dislodged, we continued to allow violence to be the ultimate determinant in our political relationships. We simply took over the machinery from our predecessors and turned it on each other. This is our heritage; will it also become our future? Is it possible to change? How do we build a democratic society, where many voices are heard, where persuasion and enlightenment prevail to create a political consensus, not violence and submission? It is not easy, given such a legacy. Those who are cowed, as are most Zimbabweans today, would rather suffer in silence than raise their voices in their institutions or march in the streets to exercise their rights. Journalists write about street protests as if they were inevitably violent, failing to understand the non-violent nature of civil disobedience. The present political opposition has seen that the violent way has brought disaster, and have vowed this time to dislodge a tyrannical regime through non-violent action. But they cannot resist using violence and intimidation (the threat of violence) themselves; they already seek to use coercion to establish hegemony in what they consider their own territory. Is it the only way they know? Have they not yet understood that the democracy and social justice which they claim to espouse cannot be built through coercion? Change is always possible, but it takes a great amount of commitment and effort by those who wish to eliminate this culture of intimidation - violence on the one side and fear and submission on the other. It is, however, necessary, unless we are prepared to continue to replace one cycle with another of the same, with new perpetrators and new victims each time around. What can be done? The most important thing is for political leaders to speak for non-violence, to practice it within their own organizations, to teach their followers the discipline of non-violence and to punish those who depart from its principles. And then they must go further, to teach them democratic and non-violent means of political organization; loyalties need to be built by open policy debate, argument and persuasion, in order to create a new politics that depends not just on tribe or personality and artificial unities, but binds people on the basis of ideas, and commitment to just solutions by leaders who respect others as human beings. The day has not yet come for a public reckoning in which those who have brought suffering and confusion to our nation will be held to account. But some day it has to happen. We allowed the Rhodesian government and their adherents to go free for the sake of independence; we allowed the perpetrators of gukuhurundi to go free because we were forced to submit to them; we have so far allowed the perpetrators of violence against the MDC to go free. Only those who commit violence against members of ZANU PF are called to account. The impunity must come to an end. If we are ever to end the acceptability of public violence as a political instrument, people who promote it have to be punished, and punished publicly. That is the beginning. It will have to be accompanied by steps to build a political culture based on respect for difference, and the development of skills and commitment to peaceful methods of conflict resolution. But what about our socialization as young people? What about the violence and abuse in our homes and our schools? It is important that we also deal with these problems, to stop our youth from learning to become victims and perpetrators at a young age. Violence in our institutions can only be effectively dealt with over a period of time, with the lead being taken by a government that itself eschews violence. Government must create the moral leadership which makes abuse in the schools unacceptable socially and legally. There are already strict controls on physical punishment in schools, but they are largely ignored by staff and administration, and parents who complain on behalf of their children find their children further victimized. This attitude can only be stamped out by a Ministry of Education committed to do so and by creating a framework for whistle blowing and complaints that will not punish the complainant. The same applies to violence in the home. It requires a cultural change, which comes slowly, and will only take place if a public mood which condemns violence is created by social and political leaders, who then introduce legislation and enforcement measures to reduce it. For the moment we continue, entrapped in our various cycles of violence. Those who dream of an early political change to rescue us from this tragedy, need to study carefully how deeply all this abuse and the trauma it causes is embedded in society, and commit themselves to a long-term programme of social change. The peace-builders have a great deal of work to do. They must not only heal the wounds of past violence; they must also show the people that violence of any kind, whether public or private, degrades a human being, whether he is victim or perpetrator. Only when we are prepared to change some of these essential elements of our culture will we be in a position to take meaningful strides towards a peaceful Zimbabwe based on justice, not power. Visit our website at
www.sokwanele.com We have a fundamental right to freedom of expression! Sokwanele does not endorse the editorial policy of any source or website except its own. It retains full copyright on its own articles, which may be reproduced or distributed but may not be materially altered in any way. Reproduced articles must clearly show the source and owner of copyright, together with any other notices originally contained therein, as well as the original date of publication. Sokwanele does not accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising in any way from receipt of this email or use thereof. This document, or any part thereof, may not be distributed for profit. |
The Telegraph
The Star
April 18, 2006 Edition 4
Harare, Zimbabwe - Zimbabweans
mark 26 years of independence today with
little to celebrate amid deepening
economic hardships, personal tragedies
and a rapidly widening gap between
the rich elite and the poor majority.
President Robert Mugabe's ruling
party yesterday said it was "disturbed"
that young Zimbabweans, in
particular, showed no pride in their nation's
independence from colonial-era
white rule after a bitter seven-year bush war
in which at least 40 000
fighters died.
Lavish celebrations are planned throughout the country,
including an address
by Mugabe.
Linda (22), an unemployed office
clerk, won't be going. Known as a member of
the Freedom Generation, born
after 1980, she benefited from free education
and health care as a child,
achieving modest school results.
Linda - who wouldn't give her last name
for fear of reprisals - now hangs
out in a seedy Harare bar, looking for
customers. She said she is aware of
the dangers of prostitution in a nation
where at least 3 000 die of HIV/Aids
related illnesses each week.
She
said some men pay more for unprotected sex.
"What can I do?" protested
Linda, in a now-common Zimbabwe refrain. "I have
to eat."
The vast
and growing disparity between the poor and a rich elite of about 5%
of the
population is blamed largely on corruption, black market
profiteering,
favoritism in official contracts and land deals and the
peddling of
political influence.
Unemployment exceeds 70% and inflation is the
highest in the world at 913%
on basic goods. About 3,5-million Zimbabweans,
many professionals, are
living outside the country.
Disruptions in
the agriculture-based economy after the often violent
seizures of thousands
of white-owned farms since 2000 have led to acute
shortages of food, petrol
and medicines.
The weak Zimbabwe dollar has hit health, education and
other public
services. Absenteeism from schools has soared in the wake of
frequent fee
increases. - Sapa-AP
The Australian
Rowan
Callick, China correspondent
April 19, 2006
AS China's President Hu Jintao
flies in to Seattle today, American critics
are looking sharply at Beijing's
cosy relationships with African leaders.
Peter Brookes of the Heritage
Foundation wrote in The Weekly Standard that
China was "shoring up some of
Africa's most odious regimes".
Mr Hu will fly from the US to Saudi
Arabia, then to Morocco, Nigeria and
Kenya.
In a typical example,
China's trade with oil-rich Nigeria has soared from
$US384 million in 1998
to $US3 billion ($4.1 billion) last year.
In South Africa, the most
successful economy in the region, 28 per cent of
business owners said in a
recent survey that Chinese imports were their
greatest threat.
But
Beijing's great play for African resources and diplomatic dominance of
the
continent is already fraying at the edges.
When Zimbabwe's President
Robert Mugabe visited China last July, he received
the full red-carpet
treatment, in contrast to his pariah status in most of
the Western
world.
Mr Mugabe, a Marxist and admirer of Mao Zedong since his political
youth,
told Zimbabweans on Independence Day: "We have turned East, where the
sun
rises, and given our back to the West, where the sun sets."
But
last weekend The Zimbabwe Independent editorialised: "The deals that he
trumpeted then have yet to come to fruition. The Chinese dream is
collapsing."
Although Zimbabwe, which is celebrating the 26th
anniversary of its
independence from Britain, was accorded "approved tourism
destination
status", few Chinese comrades have been
attracted.
Arrivals have declined 70 per cent since state-owned Air
Zimbabwe began
flying to Beijing last year, and the operations to "where the
sun rises" are
now running rivers of red, losing more than $1 million a
month.
A claimed deal through which China would finance a thermal power
station and
provide a loan to keep the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
afloat has
not materialised. Electronic firms and agro-processing plants
that were also
supposed to be coming from China have failed to
arrive.
The Independent said: "We warned that the euphoria about 'looking
East'
would not benefit the country as long as Zimbabwe did not have foreign
currency and was instead reducing itself to a dumping ground for substandard
Chinese goods.
"The reality was that nothing would come Zimbabwe's
way on the house. The
Chinese, like any economic power, demand international
commercial rates for
whatever services they render Zimbabwe."
One
Chinese venture is proceeding to plan, however. The China State Farms
and
Agribusiness Corporation has leased from the Zimbabwe Government a
number of
farms seized at gunpoint from white farmers.
Reuters
By
MacDonald Dzirutwe and Stella Mapenzauswa
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe vowed on Tuesday to
crack down mercilessly on
opponents he said were trying to topple him
through violent
protests.
"I want to warn them that they are playing with fire," Mugabe
told thousands
at a sports stadium in a speech marking Zimbabwe's 26 years
of independence,
all of it under his rule.
It was Mugabe's second
warning since his main opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai of
the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), called last month for street
protests to end his
long rule.
Zimbabwe is battling its worst economic downturn since
independence from
Britain, dramatized by the world's highest inflation rate,
unemployment
above 70 percent and shortages of fuel, food and foreign
currency.
Mugabe departed from his prepared text to deliver his warning,
speaking in
both English and the local Shona.
"Anyone ... who dares
lead any group of persons to embark on a campaign of
violence ... will be
inviting the full wrath of the law to descend
mercilessly on him or those
who follow him," he said.
Political analysts say the government is
concerned that Tsvangirai's call
could be heeded by Zimbabweans, many of
whom are increasingly unable to cope
with a crumbling
economy.
Tsvangirai last month threatened to lead a campaign of peaceful
mass
protests, prompting a warning from Mugabe, 82, that he would be "dicing
with
death".
"There are those who dream governing this country. I
want to tell them that
dreams are only dreams, they should end at home,"
Mugabe said to cheers from
the crowd.
Some at the rally expressed
skepticism about the success of any opposition
protests, but equally doubted
Mugabe's government had any fresh ideas to
solve the country's deepening
crisis.
"I think these guys have no new ideas to solve all problems
confronting us.
They have done their part and I think someone else should
take over for a
change," said 25-year-old Kennedy Chikuse, who said he had
come to watch a
soccer match scheduled for later in the day.
ECONOMY
THE KEY ISSUE
Mugabe revised down the economic outlook, putting
growth at between 1-2
percent on the back of officially projected growth of
9 percent in the key
agriculture sector.
The government earlier put
2006 growth at 2-3.5 percent, but independent
analysts see the economy
shrinking even further after contracting by about a
third over the past six
years.
Mugabe reiterated that his government was seeking a 51 percent
controlling
stake in foreign-owned mines, backing a proposal which has
fanned fears
among foreign investors.
Mugabe has in recent years used
his public speeches mainly to rail against
Britain and the United States,
accusing them of campaigning for regime
change.
The two countries
have led limited Western sanctions against the government
over charges of
political repression and vote rigging.
Mugabe co-led the 1970s guerrilla
war against white minority rule in the
then British colony of Rhodesia and
was revered in his early days in power
as a nationalist hero.
But the
memory of that struggle is lost on many jobless young Zimbabweans,
who are
fleeing in their hundreds of thousands to neighboring South Africa
and
beyond.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the
views of the United Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 18 Apr 2006 (IRIN) - The
Zimbabwean government has called off
a joint crop and food supply assessment
mission with the UN's Food and
Agricultural Organisation (FAO), said
humanitarian sources.
FAO was prevented from carrying out similar surveys
in 2004 and 2005.
Humanitarian agencies in Zimbabwe said the government's
decision to call off
the FAO mission was related to a UN World Health
Organisation (WHO) report,
which said the country's women have the shortest
lifespan in the world.
"They [Zimbabwean government] are very upset about
it ['The World Health
Report 2006' by WHO]," said an aid worker. The study
results released
earlier this month were based on 2004 statistics indicating
that Zimbabwe's
women now have an average lifespan of 34 years - the lowest
in the world -
while that of men is 37 years. The Minister of Health and
Child Welfare,
David Parirenyatwa, has reportedly declared these statistics
false.
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made told IRIN that the government was
going to
conduct crop and food supply assessments on its own, without the
involvement
of local and international NGOs. "The government has the
capacity to do the
task at hand. We will only invite others where we need
help." Last week, he
insisted that the only legitimate surveys would be
those carried out by a
special government committee headed by the Central
Statistics Office.
The FAO said it was aware of press accounts that Made
was not pleased with
"backdoor" assessment missions, but was still awaiting
an official response.
"FAO is always ready to assist member countries with
such missions but the
organisation must maintain its credibility and
capacity to speak freely and
openly regarding the mission's findings," said
John Riddle, FAO spokesman.
"These statistics are needed by the
government and the people of Zimbabwe -
not all these other foreign agencies
competing to [be part of] the
assessment. Once the figure is given, it will
be up to us to decide on what
to do next," Made told IRIN. He refused to be
drawn into giving a crop
estimate, but insisted that the harvest would be
better because the rains
had been good.
The Ministry of Agriculture
has started sending officials into the
countryside to carry out this year's
pre-harvest food security survey.
"We are deploying officers to all
provinces, districts and wards. We need
one week to carry out the
assessment. If all goes well, the results will be
ready by late next week,
but only through the Ministry of Agriculture," Dr
Shadreck Mlambo, a senior
official with the Agricultural Extension Services,
told local media at the
weekend.
Deployment of the officials comes amid concerns that Zimbabwe,
which is
facing acute food shortages, will have another serious grain
deficit this
year.
Although the government insists that this year
will see improved harvests,
independent food security organisations have
warned that the country may not
produce enough to be food secure in 2006.
The last two independent surveys
published were conducted by the US-funded
Famine Early Warning Network and
the US Department of Agriculture. Both
forecast deficits, with maize
production estimated at between 700,000 mt and
900,000 mt, compared to a
domestic demand of 1.4 million
mt.
[ This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
HARARE, 18 Apr
2006 (IRIN) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe assured his
countrymen on
Tuesday that there was a ray of hope, predicting the economy
could grow by
one or two percent - the first positive move in eight straight
years of
recession.
Addressing low-key celebrations to commemorate independence
from Britain 26
years ago, a frail-looking Mugabe said the government
planned to stabilise
the economy in the next six to nine months "by focusing
on food security and
increased agricultural production" and "foreign
exchange generation",
accompanied by "aggressive marketing of Zimbabwe as a
conducive investment
[destination]".
Zimbabweans are suffering
shortages of food, foreign exchange and fuel, and
an inflation rate in March
of 913.6 percent. Mugabe's projected agro-led
growth is despite estimates
that Zimbabwe will again be unable to feed
itself this year.
Mgcini
Nyoni, an economic analyst, was nonplussed by Mugabe's optimism. "We
have
the worst inflation in the world, high unemployment, a collapse of the
agricultural and manufacturing sector - so that does not conjure up images
of an improving economy."
A chaotic land reform programme beginning
in 2000 accelerated Zimbabwe's
economic decline, although the government
insists it has been the victim of
"sanctions" by key donor countries in
punishment for the seizure of
white-owned farms.
A crowd of around
15,000 came to the 60,000-seater National Sports Stadium
on the outskirts of
the capital, Harare, where Mugabe, 82, appealed to the
youth not to join the
brain drain leaving Zimbabwe.
"If you go away, who will build your
country? Please don't run away from me,
I am one of you ... When you get to
the United Kingdom, they will give you
dirty, menial jobs." An estimated
three million Zimbabweans out of a
population of 13 million are living
outside the country.
Mugabe's speech provided some cheer for the armed
forces: "We know the
conditions of living and salaries of our forces are
deplorable. Government
is dedicated to reviewing these salaries and
conditions of service in order
to enable members of our forces to be more
comfortable than they have been
before."
The move was widely expected
after the Zimbabwe National Army Commander,
General Constantine Chiwenga,
had reportedly warned of discontent in the
ranks over
salaries.
Flashes of the old fist-waving Mugabe returned when he warned
the leader of
a faction of the opposition, Morgan Tsvangirai, not to go
ahead with
proposed street demonstrations against his rule.
"Anyone,
therefore, who dares lead any group of persons to embark on a
campaign of
violence or terrorist activities, will be inviting the full
wrath of the law
to descend mercilessly on him or on those who follow him.
You will be
playing with fire!"
Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the Tsvangirai faction
of the Movement for
Democratic Change, said Mugabe's statement was an
attempt to frighten
Zimbabweans who wanted to embark on peaceful
demonstrations.
"We just regard those as his geriatric convulsions,"
Chamisa said. "Mugabe
has no solutions to the problems facing the people of
Zimbabwe, and that is
why he can use threats against his own
people."
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The
Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Apr-18
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe
yesterday said he was prepared, not through his
government arms, to meet
representatives of teachers and discuss their
conditions of service and
salaries with a view to improve their economic
status.
The President
was speaking at an independence celebration party he hosted
together with
the First Lady, Grace Mugabe, for school children from the
country's 10
provinces.
"Let us discuss problems whenever they arise even at my level you
are free
to discuss with me. You are free to come to me with the problems
whenever
those below could have failed," President Mugabe said.
Earlier,
the president had acknowledged that teachers were working under
difficult
conditions.
He said: "I sympathise with them (teachers) because they are
doing hard work
under difficult conditions. We will remain very cognisant of
the problems
they are facing. I will never accept it that they must toil
like slaves
without benefit. True, they have a national duty to perform, but
not without
rewards and benefit."
The lowest paid teacher is currently
earning a net salary of $8 million with
the highest pocketing approximately
$12 million.
President Mugabe added the teachers had a pivotal role to play
in the
development of children.
"Teachers should see you develop not only
physically, but mentally and
spiritually," he said.
The Head of State
urged the youngsters to take their education seriously
saying those who
sacrificed their lives in the liberation struggle did so
the future
generations would have a better life.
The President said children had a right
to education, but warned that those
who engaged in social vices like theft
and robbery would be sent to prison.
President Mugabe added that a lot of
people sacrificed their lives for the
independence.
He then castigated
former Rhodesian leader, Ian Smith.
"You are all children, firstly, of your
father and mother, secondly of
communities in which we all live, and finally
you are children of Zimbabwe.
"Ian Smith wanted you to be children of
Rhodesia named after the colonialist
Rhodes. Rhodes had no children,
he
was a homosexual and we rejected that," he added.
He also attacked
those who aligned themselves to Smith during the
short-lived
Zimbabwe-Rhodesia of 1979.
The party, an annual event, was attended by
government officials including
Minister of Education, Sport and Culture,
Aeneas Chigwedere, Harare
provincial governor, David Karimanzira and the
Deputy Minister of Youth
Development and Employment Creation, Saviour
Kasukuwere.
By Lance
Guma
18 April 2006
The Movement for Democratic Change has
distanced itself from press
reports suggesting it is in talks with Zanu PF
about setting up a
transitional government. Some reports had said United
Nations Secretary
General Kofi Annan had tasked a former representative of
the UN to broker
some form of negotiated settled. The former spokesperson
for the under
Secretary-General for Peace Keeping Operations based in
Harare, Leonard
Kapungu, is alleged to have already met MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai 'to
sell him the plan.' Party spokesman Nelson Chamisa says the
story is
speculative and untrue.
He described it as an attempt
to tarnish the party leadership by
giving the impression they were in bed
with Zanu PF. 'Clearly it's a
speculative piece which is meant to try and
paint a negative image about the
party leadership and its principles,' he
told Newsreel. Chamisa says the MDC
has already laid out its roadmap for the
restoration of legitimacy in
Zimbabwe and they are very clear about how to
achieve it. 'Its very
regrettable we have to comment on distortions and half
truths,' Chamisa
added. A new constitution followed by free and fair
elections is the only
route to restoring legitimacy in government and any
other compromise will
not work he said.
Zimbabweans have had to
endure one frustrating year after another with
no sign things will change.
The political and economic situation slides from
one low point to another
while setting world records for all the wrong
reasons. The country has the
fastest shrinking economy, the highest
inflation rates and its human rights
record ensures it is always in the top
ten worst offenders list. Debate
currently surrounds what would make for a
suitable solution to the country's
crisis, with some favouring dialogue with
a reformed wing of the ruling Zanu
PF while others advocate a complete
change of
government.
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
April 18, 2006
By Andnetwork .com
PRESIDENT Robert
Mugabe has agreed in principle to an ambitious plan
for a transitional
government made up of opposition and ruling Zanu PF
officials when his term
expires in 2008, New Zimbabwe.com can reveal.
The negotiated
settlement of Zimbabwe's political impasse is being
planned as United
Nations secretary general Koffi Annan's "last hoorah"
before he retires in
December, diplomatic sources told New Zimbabwe.com.
Annan is pinning
hopes of a breakthrough on Leonard Kapungu, the
former Representative of the
UN Under Secretary-general for Peacekeeping
Operations at the SADC Regional
Peacekeeping Centre in Harare. Kapungu now
heads an NGO called the Centre
for Peace Initiatives in Africa.
According to sources, Kapungu has
already met Morgan Tsvangirai,
leader of a splinter group of the fractured
Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) to sell him the plan.
A
western diplomat told New Zimbabwe.com from Harare: "The plan has
been
approved by the Americans and the British. Koffi Annan will delay his
long
promised trip to Zimbabwe until all details of this political
settlement
have been agreed and he will announce a major political
breakthrough in
Harare as his last hoorah before he quits."
The diplomat said Zanu
PF officials loyal to the powerful faction led
by Vice President Joice
Mujuru were "very receptive" to the plan as they see
it as an opening to
outmanouvre another faction led by Emmerson Mnangagwa in
Zanu PF's internal
power play.
The plan for the transitional government is a striking
replay of
similar attempts by Mnangagwa's Zanu PF faction to negotiate with
the MDC
last year before it was foiled by Mujuru's group.
Tsvangirai recently stoked up the political flames when he threatened
to
lead mass protests against Mugabe's government. Mugabe swiftly responded,
warning his chief political nemesis for the past six years that he was
"dicing with death".
Despite the two leaders' tough-talking in
public, sources say the
economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe has
frustrated both Tsvangirai and
Mugabe in equal measure and a negotiated
settlement appears to be favourable
option.
Nelson Chamisa, a
spokesman for Tsvangirai's group appeared to break
with his party's openly
expressed view that it would not negotiate a
political settlement with Zanu
PF when asked for his reaction Sunday.
Chamisa said: "The party
would welcome any initiatives that seek to
address problems our country is
facing. Our position is that the party would
welcome demestic, national and
international intervention."
He added: "We are not exclusive on who
is going to be
engaged...solving our problems requires all stakeholders to
get involved and
that includes those in Zanu PF."
At a recent
rally in Chitungwiza, during which he announced that his
group would
participate in future elections, Tsvangirai dropped a hint of
the negotiated
settlement when he said the country would have a new
constitution soon,
without explaining.
As part of the plan, President Mugabe would
step down in 2008 and
appoint a successor. The leader of that transitional
government will then
invite opposition politicians and civic leaders into
the coalition
government to reflect on the country's ethnic and gender
balance, sources
said. That will lead to harmonised Presidential and
Parliamentary elections
in 2010.
A source said: "A new
constitution is one of the areas being
negotiated. From Zanu PF's point of
view, they want to ease Mugabe's
successor into power with minimal
resistance and they hope this transition
government will send out a message
to the international community that they
are reforming."
The
sources said the Mujuru-camp in Zanu PF, which has the political
support of
Mugabe, also hoped wrapping in Tsvangirai's overwhelmingly
Karanga
leadership team would compensate for the loss of Mnangagwa (a
Karanga), in
the event of an internal fall-out within Zanu PF.
The source added:
"Mujuru's faction in Zanu PF, and Tsvangirai's
faction in the MDC are united
on one thing: crushing any challenge from
Arthur Mutambara's MDC faction and
in the coming weeks, we could see some
bold attempts to discredit them by
hook or crook."
In an 'Independence Day' message published on New
Zimbabwe.com,
Mutambara appeared to refer to the Mujuru-Tsvangirai plan when
he said: "On
harmonization (mooted as Amendment 18 to the Zimbabwean
Constitution), the
Zanu PF objective is to use its fraudulent two thirds
majority in the
legislature to change the constitution in order to combine
the Parliamentary
and Presidential elections in 2010, thus denying the
people an election in
2008.
"The idea is to have an unelected
Zanu PF transitional president who
then gains the power of incumbency for
two years before being subjected to
an election. The political demand should
be for harmonization in 2008 not
2010."
New Zimbabwe.com
understands that Sam Sipepa Nkomo defected from
Mutambara's faction to join
Tsvangirai's group after holding discussions
with his relative and Speaker
of Parliament, John Nkomo.
John Nkomo, sources say, advised Sipepa
Nkomo that he stood a better
chance of making it as a representative from
Matabeleland in the
transitional government if he joined Tsvangirai's
group.
Repeated attempts to get comment from Kapungu were fruitless
last
night.
Source : New Zimbabwe
For only the second time in the history of SW Radio
Africa, Robert Mugabe speaks to the nation as we bring you a repeat of
the Independence Day special, first broadcast in April 2003, documenting his
pre-independence visions and promises and the reversal of policy that shocked
many and destroyed the country.
Mugabe famously said in 1980; “Tomorrow is thus our birthday, the birthday of great Zimbabwe and the birthday of its nation. Tomorrow we shall cease to be men and women of the past and become men and women of the future. It is tomorrow then, not yesterday, which bears our destiny. As we become a new people we are called to be constructive, progressive and forever forward looking. For we cannot afford to be men of yesterday backward looking, retrogressive and distractive.”
Sadly, as Zimbabwe celebrates 26 years of Independence
Mugabe has failed to be constructive or progressive. In fact he has indeed
regressed. Inflation is the highest in the world, health and education have
collapsed and 5 million Zimbabweans are estimated to be living outside the
county.
The documentary “Mugabe at Independence 1980”
looks at what he said versus what he did. Introduced and produced by Violet
Gonda.
You can listen to the programme Hot Seat (today) at www.swradioafrica.com at 6pm (UK time)
If you miss the live broadcast ARCHIVES are posted after 7pm (UK time) - Hot Seat TUESDAY 18 APRIL 2006 http://www.swradioafrica.com/pages/archives.php
Archives are kept for two weeks.
Reuters
Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:47 PM GMT
HARARE (Reuters) - President Robert Mugabe
on Tuesday said Zimbabwe's
economy would grow by between 1-2 percent this
year, the first time in 8
years, powered by a revival of the key agriculture
sector.
Zimbabwe is in its eighth year of punishing recession seen in
shortages of
food, foreign exchange and fuel, triple digit inflation,
rocketing
unemployment and deepening poverty.
In December, Finance
Minister Hebert Murerwa during a national budget
presentation said the
economy was expected to grow by between 2-3.5 percent
in 2006.
"The
economy is expected to grow by between 1-2 percent this year,
underpinned by
agriculture with a forecast growth rate of 9 percent," Mugabe
said during a
speech to mark the country's 26 years of self rule in Harare.
"Government
(will) stabilise the economy in the next 6-9 months by focusing
on food
security and increased agriculture production, foreign exchange
generation
and mobilization through the full utilization of the idle
capacity in all
sectors of the economy," said Mugabe.
This would be the first positive
growth in gross domestic product (GDP) for
Zimbabwe after 8 years of
decline, which critics blame on mismanagement by
Mugabe's
government.
The International Monetary Fund and local analysts have all
forecast another
decline in GDP this year and have warned the government to
craft a
comprehensive economic package to rescue the southern African
nation's
economy.
The unbridled inflation, at 913.6 percent in March,
is playing havoc with
the finances of ordinary Zimbabweans, who must often
now go shopping with
huge wads of cash for simple purchases that can end up
costing millions of
Zimbabwe dollars.
Industry has also suffered,
with the cost of doing business rising daily,
forcing some firms to fold.
Most of industry is operating below 30 percent
capacity due to high
inflation and foreign currency shortages.
"We had a better agriculture
season than last year but that will not be
enough to kickstart economic
growth. I do not agree with these projections,
we will see another
contraction this year," James Jowa, an economist with
Harare finance house
said.
Zimbabwe's key agriculture sector has plunged more than 40 percent,
which
critics blame on Mugabe's policy of seizing land from white commercial
farms
to resettle blacks.
Mugabe said the prospects of a better
harvest this year meant the government
would be able to reduce food imports
and divert the resources to develop and
rehabilitate its crumbling
infrastructure.
Zimbabwe's crisis has been worsened by the withdrawal of
aid by key donors
who cited policy differences with Mugabe, especially over
the land seizures.
The veteran leader repeated on Tuesday that the
economy had suffered from "a
spate of devastating droughts and an evil
programme of unjustified
sanctions".
IOL
April 18
2006 at 08:35AM
By Demian van der Reijden
On the 26th
anniversary of Zimbabwe's independence, the South African
Youth Communist
League was due to embark on a protest march in
Johannesburg's city centre on
Tuesday.
"We think the situation for Zimbabwe's youth is quite
depressing," YCL
national secretary Buti Manamela said at a press conference
at Cosatu House
in Braamfontein on Monday.
"Students and other
youth are arrested on a daily basis, just for
expressing their disapproval
of the government. We believe that the issues
in Zimbabwe are only addressed
in South Africa just before, during and just
after elections.
"But the atrocities take place on a daily basis, not only around
elections.
"We cannot silently ignore what's happening in
Zimbabwe. And it is a
South African problem as well: Zimbabwean refugees
crowd Johannesburg's
streets, prostituting and committing
crimes."
The South African government should persist in working
towards a
power change in Zimbabwe, Manamela stressed.
"On
Tuesday Zimbabwean officials will dish out meals to all
residents - for most
of them probably the only warm meal this week.
Tomorrow, the Zimbabwean
people will go back to poverty.
"It is said that Zimbabwe is
democratic, but 26 years after Robert
Mugabe replaced Ian Smith as
president, I think we're not celebrating 26
years of democracy, but 26 years
of hell."
The YCL invited other youth organisations, including the
ANC Youth
League, to take part in the march together with YCL members from
other
provinces.
Manamela said the YCL wanted to reach as many
people as possible to
create more awareness and set change in motion for its
Zimbabwean comrades.
"It took South Africa 350 years to achieve the
democratic prosperity
we have now. In time, Zimbabwe's troubles will be
overcome. It is just not
possible that Mugabe's government will be in power
for ever."
At the end of the march, at the Zimbabwean high
commission, the YCL
was due to hand over its demands for the Zimbabwean
government to its
delegates.
The YCL is demanding the end of
all human rights abuses against youth,
the rebuilding of Zimbabwe's economy,
the end of media suppression and the
immediate resignation of
Mugabe.
But, before they issue their demands, the march was to take
them
through the city centre to Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa's office to
hand
over their "Ten demands for 2015" to representatives of the
government.
The list contains demands for the nationalisation of
land for communal
benefits, nationalisation of mineral wealth, the creation
of a state bank to
finance developmental needs for youth, and the
establishment of a youth
co-operative in each municipal ward before the next
local elections.
"For now, there's no way that South African youth
can celebrate
democracy on June 16, considering the post-1994 situation most
of them are
living in. Most initiatives taken so far to improve their lives
or provide
opportunities did not have any effect at all," Manamela
said.
The YCL was also concerned about the situation in
Khutsong.
"We ask the government to reconsider the decision to
demarcate
Khutsong from Gauteng, and integrate it to North West," Manamela
said.
"Further, we request an immediate by-election after the
demarcation
process, as the current municipal representatives were elected
by a mere
once percent of the 37 000 voters in the
municipality."
.. demian.vanderreijden@inl.co.za
This article was originally published on page 8 of The Star on April
17,
2006
By
Tichaona Sibanda
18 April 2006
A senior Zimbabwe National
Army officer has confirmed long held views
that government is now under the
control of the military.
A Brigadier based at army headquarters in
Harare told our Bulawayo
correspondent, Themba Nkosi over the Easter holiday
that nearly all
government structures have been placed into the hands of the
army.
Almost all essential parastatals in the country are being run
by
personnel seconded from the army. Recently defence forces commander
General
Constantine Chiwenga took charge of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority,
ZIMRA.
With the country's economy in freefall, compounded by
escalating
shortages of basic commodities like mealie meal and bread,
tensions are
running high.
As a measure to clamp down on any
dissent against the government
analysts say Mugabe has put the army in
control of all essential government
institutions and parastatals that are
significant to the regime's survival.
Nkosi said the Brigadier told
him the exercise has sharply divided the
army as only those from the former
Zanla forces are being considered for the
top posts at the expense of former
Zipra combatants.
'Even those taking over the command of brigades
are from the former
Zanla forces, so it is a case of not trusting anyone
outside the Zanu (PF)
inner circles, despite the Unity Accord that brought
together Zanu (PF) and
Zapu,' said
Nkosi.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe
news
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
18 April 2006
The Legal Services Commission
(LSC) which funds publicly supported
legal cases for asylum seekers in the
UK has proposed drastic cuts in the
programme and is being accused of
targeting immigration solicitors unfairly.
The Reverend Dr. Martine
Stemerick who has been following developments in
immigration affairs of
Zimbabweans in the UK reports that the LSC is
proposing to end the contracts
of all immigration solicitors who do not meet
a 40% success rate in asylum
case appeals. There has already been a 10%
reduction in the number of
immigration solicitors' offices between September
2005 and February 2006. As
a result fewer lawyers are now willing to tackle
asylum cases and their long
drawn-out process. This spells problems for many
Zimbabwean asylum seekers
who are relying on publicly funded solicitors.
Dr. Stemerick said
despite the fear of a flood of refugees from
Zimbabwe, the facts on the
ground actually show that the numbers of new
cases have gone down and the
proposed changes are not necessary. She said
the figures fell sharply in
2005 and for the 4 th year in a row. There were
only 384 new asylum
applications in the last quarter of 2005. There is also
a backlog in asylum
cases that is quite substantial. According to Dr.
Stemerick the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has warned
countries imposing tighter
restrictions on refugees that they may be closing
the door to women and
children who are being persecuted in their home
countries.
Dr.
Stemerick said the LSC proposals to cut funding were made without
parliamentary debate and with only 4 weeks of consultations. On the legal
side the Home Office has 8-10 solicitors representing them in court in the
case that will determine policy on Zimbabwe. They also have the resources to
go to Zimbabwe for research. But the other side, the Refugee Legal Council
representing asylum seekers, has only 2 lawyers whose funding has been cut.
This is very discouraging and Dr. Stemerick described it as a " David and
Goliath" task. She said all this needs to be brought to the attention of MPs
in the areas Zimbabweans reside.
SW Radio
Africa Zimbabwe news
VOA
By Blessing
Zulu
Washington
17 April 2006
Zimbabwean drivers
could be facing an 800% increase in the official price of
gasoline as the
government contemplates an increase to the levels prevailing
on the parallel
or black market. But the move could make it easier for
consumers to obtain
fuel through authorized outlets, many of which are
already demanding
free-market prices.
The stiff increase in the price of gasoline from
Z$22,300 a liter to
$200,000 has yet to be approved by President Robert
Mugabe's cabinet. But it
has been endorsed by the "stakeholders" committee
convened recently by the
Ministry of Energy and Power. Diesel fuel, now
going for $20,800 a liter, is
expected to see a similar rise.
State
fuel distribution has been plagued by corruption - much, if not most,
of the
fuel that is made available at the official price by the National Oil
Compny
of Zimbabwe finds its way onto the black market where officials and
cronies
reap huge profits.
In March, authorities arrested two senior officials of
the ruling ZANU-PF
party, member of parliament Enoch Porusingazi, and Mutare
businessman Esau
Mupfumi, on charges of fraudulently obtaining 1.3 million
liters of diesel
fuel from NOCZIM for resale. Also, State Security Minister
Didymus Mutasa
has threatened to confiscate agricultural property from
resettled farmers
who have abused their access to state
supplies.
Reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe asked
independent
economist John Robertson of Harare why Harare is finally bowing
to economic
reality.
BBC
Zimbabwe manager
Andy Pycroft is confident the team can ignore the
politics and infighting at
home and perform well in the West Indies.
Zimbabwean cricket has been
hit by a row over the running of the game
which has led to the loss of Test
status.
"We're looking at cricket not politics, and trying to
prepare this new
side as quickly as we can," Pycroft said.
Zimbabwe will meet West Indies in seven one-day internationals
starting on
29 April in Antigua.
The tour originally included two Tests, but
the Zimbabwe government
withdrew the team from all Tests this
year.
It also replaced the national board and retained
controversial
chairman Peter Chingoka, who has been investigated by police
and auditors.
Former captains Tatenda Taibu and Heath
Streak quit the side and left
overseas after personal threats and disputes
with the board.
"A lot of people have written Zimbabwe cricket off
with the problems
they've had, but there is still a lot of potential there,"
Pycroft said.
Pycroft, a former Zimbabwe batsman, said he was
optimistic the team
would return to Test cricket next year.
"We
wouldn't be doing what we're doing unless we believe it was
possible for us
to return to Test cricket," he said.
"The timeframe has been set to
try and get back into Test cricket in
February next year.
"We've very much been focused on one-day cricket because we believe
that's
the way to bring the side through and then get back into longer
cricket once
we've got the experience that we need."
Zimbabwe's 16-man squad
will be led by Terry Duffin, who also
captained the team in the drawn series
with Kenya six weeks ago.
Pycroft added: "It's a very young side.
The average age is only
something just over 20 years old, forced on us
because of lot of players
have given up the recent past.
"The
side we've got together has been practicing hard over the last
five or six
weeks. They are learning quickly and playing quite well. The
strength of the
side is more in the bowling department. The batting is quite
inexperienced."
Zimbabwe will play seven games in the
Caribbean, the first in Antigua
on 29
April.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zimbabwe squad: Terrence Duffin (capt), Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Elton
Chigumbura, Charles Coventry, Keith Dabengwa, Ryan Higgins, Anthony Ireland,
Blessing Mahwire, Keegan Meth, Tawanda Mupariwa, Edward Rainsford, Piet
Rinke, Vusumuzi Sibanda, Gregory Strydom, Brendan Taylor, Prosper
Utseya.
East Day, China
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17/4/2006
17:23
A total of 11 people have been killed while 161 others injured in
132 road
accidents reported countrywide in Zimbabwe since the beginning of
the Easter
holiday, local media reported yesterday.
Police spokesman
Inspector Andrew Phiri said on Sunday that Masvingo
province had the highest
number of casualties with three deaths while the
provinces of Mashonaland
East, Matabeleland North and Midlands recorded two
accident-related
fatalities each. Manicaland and Bulawayo both had a single
death.
Phiri
said most of the accidents were attributed to speeding, tyre bursts
and
negligent pedestrians.
He also said last year, 29 people were killed while
447 others were injured
in 406 accidents reported countrywide.
He
attributed the decline in the number of accidents this year to heavy
police
presence on the country's major roads and road safety campaigns by
the
police and the Zimbabwe Traffic Safety Board.
Xinhua
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 8:32 AM
Subject: MDCUK ASSEMBLY
MEETING.-23/04/2006.
Please be advised that the MDC
UK,meeting scheduled
for the 23rd of April will be held at this
following
address:
5 Bridgemill
22a Beswick
Street
Manchester
M4 7HR
Close to the Manchester City
Stadium.
Time:12pm -3pm.
For directions please visit
www.multimap.com/directions or
contact Manchester
Chairman Mr Green Nyoni -07949811137.
MDCUK-Deputy
Secretary,
Njabulo Ngwenya.
07956313801.
rastaz9@yahoo.com
