-------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE
FOLLOWING LISTINGS OF SECTION 8 orders of Compulsory Acquisition under the
recently amended Land Acquisition Act are the first orders to be listed under
the new Act.
Farmers must take note that it is no longer necessary under
the new law for the acquiring authority to serve Section 5 Notices, Section 8
orders or Section 7 admin court papers.
All Farmers listed below are
advised to avail themselves of the Section 8 orders from the acquiring
authority. Those farmers requiring legal advice as to how to proceed should
contact JAG as a matter of urgency or their legal practitioners, especially
those farmers still on their farms and particularly vulnerable.
Take
note also that the new acquiring authority is J L NKOMO, Minister of Special
Affairs in the Presidnet's Office in Charge of Lands, Land Reform and
Resettlement.
LAND ACQUISITION ACT (CHAPTER 20:10) Vesting of land,
taking of materials and exercise of rights over land
NOTICE is
hereby given, in terms of paragraph (iii) of subsection (1) of section 8 of
the Land Acquisition Act (Chapter 20:10), that the President has acquired
compulsorily the land described in the Schedule for resettlement
purposes.
J L NKOMO, Minister of Special Affairs in the President's
Office in Charge of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement.
DATE, PAPER
NO., TITLE NO., OWNER, DISTRICT, FARM NAME, AREA LOT 2 - SECTION 8 - 26 TH
APRIL 2004
26.04.2004; 1. 5290/80. Watershed Estates (Private) Limited;
Chipinga; Kroomklof of Kenilworth; 259,8125 ha 26.04.2004; 2. 2955/92. Dandon
(Private) Limited; Chipinga; Lot 2 of Newcastle; 158,1572 ha 26.04.2004; 3.
2954/92. Dandon (Private) Limited; Chipinga; Lot 3 of New Castle; 122,1433
ha 26.04.2004; 4. 8600/71. Cecillia J Hunwick; Chipinga; Hilderstroom of
Dhleni of Hartbeastnek; 429,2900 ha 26.04.2004; 5. 5523/80. Red Sands
(Private) Limited; Chipinga; Remaining Extent of Clearwater; 428,2403
ha 26.04.2004; 6. 8366/91. Dandon (Private) Limited; Chipinga; Remaining
Extent of Laughing Waters of Newcastle; 320,6658 ha 26.04.2004; 7. 9395/90.
The Chipinge Coffee Company (Private) Limited; Chipinga; Lot 1 of Rietvlei of
Kenilworth; 31,4513 ha 26.04.2004; 8. 1589/85. Joubert Brothers (Private)
Limited; Chipinga; Subdivision A of Woodstock; 256,9554 ha 26.04.2004; 9.
6846/87. Lydell Farm (Private) Limited; Chipinga; Subdivision A of Busi;
202,3392 ha 26.04.2004; 10. 0003787/98. The Trustees for The Time Being of
The Late Merlach Trust; Goromonzi; Subdivision D of Binder; 122,0751
ha 26.04.2004; 11. 415/89. Cecil Robin Balfour Green; Inyanga; Leaping Waters
of Rupurara; 148,7655 ha 26.04.2004; 12. 5634/69. Bracken Hills A Development
Company (Private) Limited; Inyanga; Remainder of Bracken Hills A; 544.0390
acres 26.04.2004; 13. 8396/97. Chitatu Farm (Private) Limited; Lomagundi;
Virgiia; 1 315,1606 ha 26.04.2004; 14. 24443/86. Martinna Susanna
Hunderrmark, Frederick Albertus Vander Merwe & Johanna Eliza Van Der Merwe;
Lomagundi; Maryland; 1 302,9868 ha 26.04.2004; 15. 4576/93. Consolidated
Afric P/L; Lomagundi; Gretton Extension A; 390,8900 ha 26.04.2004; 16.
9221/87. E D Dodgen (1987) (Private) Limited; Lomagundi; Nyrugwe; 954,4325
ha 26.04.2004; 17. 8755/99. Atlantic Farming Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd; Makoni;
Farm 3 of Yorkshire Estate; 993,4753 ha 26.04.2004; 18. 5128/74. Dagbreek
Estates (Private) Limited; Makoni; Dagbreek; 486,5422 ha 26.04.2004; 19.
5222/91. Pambeli Farms (Private) Limited; Makoni; Lot 9 of York of Yourshire
Estate; 888,28 ha 26.04.2004; 20. 4240/98. Farinya Farming Enterprises
(Private) Limited; Makoni; Lot 1 of Chimbi; 1 120,97 ha 26.04.2004; 21.
1271/96. Gerald Ian Balance; Makoni; Ripple Mead; 725,7751 ha 26.04.2004; 22.
7451/80. Excelsior Farm (Pvt) Ltd; Makoni; Excelsior; 567,3100 ha 26.04.2004;
23. 4094/92. Hunyani Agri-Forestry Limited; Makoni; Remaining Extent of Eagles
Nest; 1170,3941 ha 26.04.2004; 24. 4094/92; Hunyani Agri-Forestry Limited;
Makoni; The Remainder of Subdivision A of Eagles Nest; 1266,2709
ha 26.04.2004; 25. 539/85. Magadalena Catharina Malan; Makoni; The Remainder
of Mount Tikwiri; 1097,4252 ha 26.04.2004; 26. 2174/88. Masori Investment
P/L; Makoni; York of Yourshire Estate; 2 055,66 ha 26.04.2004; 27. 7980/02.
Baracco Farming (Private) Limited; Makoni; Merion; 1 536,38 ha 26.04.2004;
28. 7377/87. Nirmalalini (Private) Limited; Makoni; Subdivision D of Wick;
284,1342 ha 26.04.2004; 29. 152/98. Chimbi River Farm (Private) Limited;
Makoni; Farm 24A Lawrencedale Estate; 1 286,2684 ha 26.04.2004; 30. 7303/83.
Mazuri Farms (Private) Limited; Marandellas; Murrayfield; 843,6417
ha 26.04.2004; 31. 2005/96. Rietpan (Private) Limited; Mazoe; Rietpan;
837,646 ha 26.04.2004; 32. 1021/87. Chipudzana (Private) Limited; Melsetter;
Weltvrede of Avontuur Extension; 981,3334 ha 26.04.2004; 33. 441/70. Michael
Edwin Guyse Thorburn; Salisbury; Remainder of Subdivision A portion of
Ellandale; 1 189,5976 morgen 26.04.2004; 34. 3859/95. Cregg Conell (Private)
Limited; Salisbury; Lot 1 of Somerby; 101,6577 ha 26.04.2004; 35. 6696/92. P
D Hulley; Umtali; Lot 1 of Orkney of Howth; 438,0069 ha 26.04.2004; 36.
3350A/84. Constance Campbell-Morrison; Umtali; Subdivision E of Burma of
Clydesdale; 101,1969 ha 26.04.2004; 37. 3766/68. Sleightholme Farms (Private)
Limited; Umtali; Subdivision C of Burma of Clydesdale; 249,9964
acres 26.04.2004; 38. 3765/68. Sleightholme Farms (Private) Limited; Umtali;
Subdivision D of Burma of Clydesdale; 249,9966 acres 26.04.2004; 39. 6717/71.
Ardroy Estate (Private) Limited; Umtali; Lot 2 of Essex; 244,9615
ha 26.04.2004; 40. Certificate of Consolidated Title 2904/68; Guy Goodwin
Coke-Norris; Umtali; Lot 1E Laverstock; 528,2422 acres 26.04.2004; 41.
7391/71. Mutare Board and Paper Mills Limited; Umtali; Nyagari; 588,3894
ha 26.04.2004; 42. 2572/80. Border Timbers Limited; Umtali; Penhalonga Tree
Plot; 86,3255 ha 26.04.2004; 43. 2572/80. Border Timbers Limited; Umtali;
Tyrconnel East of Tyrconnel; 301,5158 ha 26.04.2004; 44. 2572/80. Border
Timbers Limited; Umtali; Tunnes Rus; 241,1384 ha 26.04.2004; 45. 9876/90.
Gibons Investments (Private) Limited; Umtali; Falling Waters of Laurance Ville;
173,5302 ha 26.04.2004; 46. 5967/80. B & C Bus Company (Private) Limited;
Umtali; Remaining Extent of Fernicarry Extension; 279,0843 ha 26.04.2004; 47.
5371/72. Malcom William Shaw; Umtali; Remaining Extent of Felsted of Laurance
Ville; 194,9938 ha 26.04.2004; 48. 2650/94. High Point Estate (Private)
Limited; Umtali; Lot 1 of Greencroft; 173,0877 ha 26.04.2004; 49. 4711/85.
Border Timbers Limited; Umtali; Imbeza Valley Lot; 8 92,5039 ha 26.04.2004;
50. 288/81. Eastlands (Private) Limited; Umtali. Remaining extent of Subdivision
B of Eastlands; 148,1388 ha 26.04.2004; 51. 3663/86. Robert John Rickard and
Jill Penelope Rickard; Umtali; Globe Rock of Monkfield of Norseland; 74,5303
ha 26.04.2004; 52. 2897/48. The Wattle Company Limited; Umtali; Balgregie;
1595 morgen, 593 square roods 26.04.2004; 53. 1241/73. Glenburn Investments
(Private) Limited; Umtali; Glenburn of Dunmon of Laurance Ville; 102,6362
ha 26.04.2004; 54. 1865/46. The Wattle Company Limited; Umtali; "Mapoff"; 842
morgen, 25 square roods 26.04.2004; 55. 288/81. Eastlands (Private) Limited;
Umtali; Remaining Extent of Eastlands; 153,6801 ha 26.04.2004; 56. 2558/56.
Johannes Stephanus Vorster; Umtali; Elrado of Gwindingwi; 472,4622
morgen 26.04.2004; 57. 1367/75. Terence Joseph Grant; Umtali; Chinakatori of
Maonza; 136,5111 ha 26.04.2004; 58. 49040/71. Nyameni (Private) Limited;
Umtali; Remaining Extent of Cloudlands Estate; 407,2163 ha 26.04.2004; 59.
3479/93. Ferndale Investments (Private) Limited; Umtali; Nahoon Estate; 444,2658
ha 26.04.2004; 60. 6180/94. Chalgrove (Private) Limited; Umtali; Chalgrove of
Burma of Clyesdale; 521,4907 ha 26.04.2004; 61. 6181/94. Manyera Farm
(Private) Limited; Umtali; Manyera; 809,2688 ha 26.04.2004; 62. 3207/88;
Ardingly Farm (Private) Limited; Umtali; Lot 1 of Lot 1 of Brown Hill Estate A;
240,9409 ha 26.04.2004; 63. 2119/96. Dentrow Farm (Private) Limited; Urungwe;
Dentrow Estate; 962,3647 ha 26.04.2004; 64. 4560/85. Kapena Farm (Private)
Limited; Urungwe; Tengwe; 69 505,4835 ha 26.04.2004; 65. 8595/99. Acredell
Services (Private) Limited; Urungwe; Lot 1 of Deerwood Park; 1 406,2605
ha 26.04.2004; 66. 5389/81. Dendera Estate (Private) Limited; Urungwe;
Katengwe; 338,2053 ha 26.04.2004; 67. 5314/68. Stan Sheppard (Private)
Limited; Urungwe; Lot 1 of the Ridges; 1 499,9783 acres 26.04.2004; 68.
7342/95; Francis George Radford and Rosemarie Elsie Scarborough; Umtali;
Subdivision D of Orkney of Howth; 101,1728 ha 26.04.2004; 69. 2849/88. H J
Vorster P/L; Umtali; Gwindingwe; 419,1474 ha 26.04.2004; 70. 7023/80. Gary
Terrence Goss; Umtali; Inodzi Extension; 135,3300 acres 26.04.2004; 71.
2435/77. David Charles Walker; Umtali; Imbeza Valley Lot 2; 73,66
ha 26.04.2004; 72. 658/87. Richard Seager; Wedza Lot 1 of Una; 606,99
ha
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE LEGAL COMMUNIQUÉ - April 26, 2004
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet: www.justiceforagriculture.com
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LOT 142 SECTION 5 26TH APRIL 2004
26.04.2004. 1. 1847/01. Mazville Farming (Private) Limited; Bellingwe; Shenandoah of the Umsungwe Block; 80,9359 ha
26.04.2004. 2. 1338/59. Moorcroft and Moorcroft; Bellingwe; Remaining Extent of Kromdraai Estate; 8 420,6127 morgen
26.04.2004. 3. 11038/97. Propkept Investments (Private) Limited; Goromonzi; Remainder of Subdivision C of Learig; 370,5811 ha
26.04.2004. 4. 2959/71. Melfort Farm P/L; Goromonzi; Melfort B; 398,2267 morgen
26.04.2004. 5. 8629/99. Becontree Investments (Private) Limited; Goromonzi; Rots Der Eeue Estate A; 189,5461 ha
26.04.2004. 6. 5508/89. Christoffel Gideon Laurens; Gwelo; Subdivision A of De Rust of Fallowfield; 1 027,8196 ha
26.04.2004. 7. 1111/80. Heynie Lodewikus Liebenberg; Gwelo; Taranaki of East Shangani Block; 933,1793 ha
26.04.2004. 8. 211/65. Freda Mary Kaschula; Gwelo; Remaining Extent of Subdivision 20 of West Gwelo Block; 1 961,8913 acres
26.04.2004. 9. 3117/73. Joseph Pytlik and Maria Elizabeth Pytlik; Gwelo; "Shaw Lands"; 1 284,771 ha
26.04.2004. 10. 4710/90. Manuel Dos Santos; Gwelo Lot 75 of the Umsungwe Block; 389,7143 ha
26.04.2004. 11. 398/66. James Redmond and Catherine Mary Redmond; Gwelo; Berkshire of the Fife Scott Block; 1 787,7874 acres
26.04.2004. 12. 1014/71. Walter James Avery; Gwelo; Gwelo Small Holding; 28 239,6509 ha
26.04.2004. 13. 1302/99. Davis Granite (Private) Limited; Gwelo; La Rochelle of Bendhu; 102,4531 ha
26.04.2004. 14. 2248/83. Clive Leopold Hein; Gwelo; Remainder of Dopton; 2 284,7657 ha
26.04.2004. 15. 2843/72. Petrus Jacobus Van Der Merwe; Gwelo; Buda; 2 446,9736 ha
26.04.2004. 16. 1949/68. Ian Stewart Cox; Gwelo; Adamantia; 4 517,6155 acres
26.04.2004. 17. 2559/86. Hester Antoenetta Mortley-Wood; Gwelo; Remainder of Dewhurst; 1 357,3013 ha
26.04.2004. 18. 1517/94. DesputeFarm (Private) Limited; Gwelo; Despute of Ghoko Block; 1 131,3514 ha
26.04.2004. 19. 1353/82. Michael Edwin Futter; Gwelo; Remainder of Four Chums Block; 921,4884 ha
26.04.2004. 20. 2107/70. Colin Charles Barry; Gwelo; Ellangowan of Foxton; 1 000,0507 acres
26.04.2004. 21. 1248/97. Chrisgid (Private) Limited; Gwelo; Woodlands; 2 802,5028 ha
26.04.2004. 22. 341/96. Elsje Hester Herbst; Louisa Antoinetta Erasmus; Anna Magdalena Van Druten and Hendrika Maria Griffiths; Gwelo; Good Hope of Ghoko Block; 2 213,5004 ha
26.04.2004. 23. 2004/76. Norman Naisbitt (Private) Limited; Gwelo; Hursley Park of Walton; 736,6055 ha
26.04.2004. 24. 2004/76. Norman Naisbitt (Private) Limited; Gwelo; Subdivision A of Staines; 1 070,5754 ha
26.04.2004. 25. 98/47. Robert Basson; Gwelo; Farm 'Koppies' portion of East Shangani Block; 1100morgen 201 square roods
26.04.2004. 26. 2377/94. Maliyetu (Private) Limited; Gwelo; Hebron of Kenilworth; 213,7327 ha
26.04.2004. 27. 870/84. Arcadia Farm (Private) Limited; Gwelo; Gwelo Small Holding; 26 215,8126 ha
26.04.2004. 28. 1428/81. Anges Patricia Mountford, George Bowie Mountford and Godwin Emmanuel Mountford; Gwelo; Fairview C of Fairview A; 501,9196 ha
26.04.2004. 29. 3022/97. Hollyland Farming (Private) Limited; Gwelo; The Remainder of Lot 3 of Bushy Park 2; 3 946,8085 ha
26.04.2004. 30. 2588/94. Basil Walter Scheepers; Gwelo; Lot 1Gmnyomi; 224 6212 ha
26.04.2004. 31. 856/79. Moral Re-Armament; Gwelo; The Remainder of Gwelo Small Holding; 18 134,726 ha
26.04.2004. 32. 513/88. Alveston Estate (1985); Makoni; Lot 4 Lawrencedale; 838,3100 ha
26.04.2004. 33. 4596/81. Masori Investments (Private) Limited; Makoni; Remaining Extent of Maidstone; 1 113,3764 ha
26.04.2004. 34. 5128/74. Dagbreek Estates (Private) Limited; Makoni; Dagbreek; 486,5422 ha
26.04.2004. 35. 2937/00. Michael Barry Jansen; QueQue; Xanthippe of the Main Belt Block; 1 333,0262 ha
26.04.2004. 36. 1491/97. Eggton (Private) Limited; QueQue; Boulderwood of the Main Belt Block; 1 284,7771 ha
26.04.2004. 37. 862/84. N G Coetzee and Son (Private) Limited; QueQue; Subdivision 4 of East Clare Block 41,2790 ha
26.04.2004. 38. 4284/89. Brimley Estate (Private) Limited; QueQue; Bezuidenhout's Kraal; 1 284,7771 ha
26.04.2004. 39. 3124/72. Henry Swan Elsworth; QueQue; Kilkenny; 2 569,5570 ha
26.04.2004. 40. 188/84. Richard James Danvers; QueQue; Maliami; 809,3567 ha
26.04.2004. 41. 660/61. Bealuieu Farm Holdings (Private) Limited; QueQue; Lot 1 of Newlands; 3 065,1754 acres
26.04.2004. 42. 2691/81. Harold John Corbelt; QueQue; Bridgewater of the Quantocks; 987,2561 ha
26.04.2004. 43. 2348/77. Colin Charles Barry; QueQue; Remainder of Kingswood of the Main Belt Block; 877,0381 ha
26.04.2004. 44. 3671/72. Eduan Estate (Private) Limited; QueQue; Remainder of Lot 1 of Sherwood Block; 794,7301 ha
26.04.2004. 45. 367/72. Eduan Estate (Private) Limited; QueQue; Toekoms Droom of Sherwood Park of Sherwood Block; 368,1420 ha
26.04.2004. 46. 292/98. Junita Farm (Private) Limited; QueQue; Junita of the Main Belt Block; 1 675,7662 ha
26.04.2004. 47. 2666/73. Caberfeugh Estate (Private) Limited; QueQue; Runnimede; 940,4568 ha
26.04.2004. 48. 2666/73. Caberfeigh Estate (Private) Limited; QueQue; Collynie; 1 027,8216 ha
26.04.2004. 49. 363/01. Finchley Farms (Private) Limited; QueQue; Finchley; 467,6500 ha
26.04.2004. 50. 616/79. Hilton Stewart Gifford; QueQue; Kabanga Ranch; 8 604,3602 ha
26.04.2004. 51. 2335/81. Anthony David Graham Clarke; QueQue; Remainder of Bon Accord of the Main Belt Block; 188,6096 ha
26.04.2004. 52. 4313/87. Mark Anthony Macgregor; QueQue; Lot 1 of Graydene; 124,6356 ha
26.04.2004. 53. 1279/89. Derek John Louis Austen; QueQue; Lot 2 of Matchbel; 258,4497 ha
26.04.2004. 54. 2020/81. Edwin Ridley Trewin Parker; QueQue; Gwengula; 1 417,3662 ha
26.04.2004. 55. 3493/00. Theunes Farming Company (Private) Limited; QueQue; Lime Ridge of the Main Belt Block; 1 564,0134 ha
26.04.2004. 56. 1095/98. Douglas Harry Hensberg and Heather Hensberg; QueQue; Summerfield of East Clare Block; 102,0557 ha
26.04.2004. 57. 670/76. Paul Redin Savory; QueQue; Remainder of Loozan Estate; 2 733,7627 ha
26.04.2004. 58. 413/64. Patrick Joseph Burke; QueQue; Circle G Ranch; 17 264,2780 acres
26.04.2004. 59. 2742/88. Jemville (Privte) Limited; QueQue; Sandspruit Estate; 1 058,036 ha
26.04.2004. 60. 4309/88. Maria Elizabeth Steyn; QueQue; Long Valley of Belgrave; 808,1267 ha
26.04.2004. 61. 141/87. Pavloma (Private) Limited; QueQue; Maryann; 3 419,8564 ha
26.04.2004. 62. 1687/86. Que Que Cinema Investment Company (Private) Limited; QueQue; Solitaire; 1 735,1517 ha
26.04.2004. 63. 2639/80. H E Elsworth and Son; QueQue; Gabbari Extension; 2 589,1470 ha
26.04.2004. 64. 226/90. D I J (Private) Limited; QueQue; Remainder of Glen Arroch of the Main Belt Block; 1 221,2191 ha
26.04.2004. 65. 2065/76. Arcadia Farm (Private) Limited; Selukwe; Valentia; 815,4052 ha
LOT 143 SECTION 5 26TH APRIL 2004
26.04.2004. 1. 4801/89. Turner Properties (Private) Limited; Salisbury; The Remainder of Mount Hampden; 305,5417 ha
26.04.2004. 2. 1723/76. Retreat Farm P/L; Salisbury; Retreat; 624,50 ha
26.04.2004. 3. 3975/87. Mashonaland Holdings (Private) Limited; Salisbury; Chizororo of Eyrecourt; 197,5300 ha
Commonwealth head sees no Zimbabwe progress Mon 26 April, 2004
14:06
By Andrew Quinn
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Diplomatic
efforts to reconcile Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth have made no headway and
there is little prospect that President Robert Mugabe's government will
rejoin soon, Commonwealth head Don McKinnon says.
"We consider it very
sad that they have left the Commonwealth. We would like them to come back, we
believe someday they will be able to come back, but I think the climate right
now is not really conducive," McKinnon said on Monday.
Mugabe pulled
Zimbabwe out of the Commonwealth in December after the 54-member group of
mostly former British colonies extended a suspension of the southern African
nation's membership.
Last week Mugabe, 80, derided the Commonwealth --
which criticised his re-election in 2002 polls described as rigged by Western
observers and local opposition groups -- as an "evil" group bent on
infringing Zimbabwe's sovereignty.
McKinnon said efforts by South
Africa and Nigeria to bridge the gap with Zimbabwe appeared to be going
nowhere.
"I know that there are African leaders who are talking quietly
about this issue. They would like to see it resolved...but no one has high
expectations at the present time," he told Reuters.
"I believe we've
done everything possible to see some kind of reconciliation. But there has
just been no desire to do such a thing on the Zimbabwe side."
Mugabe,
who led a 1970's guerrilla war against white minority rule and has been
Zimbabwe's leader since independence from Britain in 1980, denies critics'
charges that his misrule has brought a once-thriving economy to
its knees.
He says his opponents, led by Britain, have sabotaged the
country to pay him back for seizing land from white farmers to give to
landless blacks.
Zimbabwe's suspension caused a rift along racial lines
in the Commonwealth, with several African countries, including South Africa,
lobbying hard for its re-admission.
The diplomatic fracas escalated
when South Africa, backed by several other countries, put forward an
alternate candidate to replace McKinnon as Commonwealth secretary-general --
although the former New Zealand foreign minister won
reelection.
McKinnon, in South Africa to attend President Thabo Mbeki's
inauguration for a second term on Tuesday, said the Commonwealth weathered
the diplomatic crisis with a new consensus on the importance of its
democratic principles.
"In the end we failed because (Zimbabwe) left the
Commonwealth. But on the other hand the Commonwealth was able to uphold its
values. To some extent the Commonwealth has come out stronger," he said.
OPINION April 23, 2004 Posted to the web April 26,
2004
Everjoice J Win: Comment
To vote or not to vote in 2005 -
that is the dilemma facing many Zimbabweans. While others ponder, as do many
political parties, here are six reasons why I will not vote next year if
Zimbabwe does not have a new Constitution.
I am tired of protest
voting: In 2000 and 2002 I voted against Zanu-PF, and not necessarily for the
various opposition parties. Zimbabweans need to vote for coherent
alternatives: policies, values, principles and leadership. Some of us have
huge ideological problems with the alternatives to the ruling party. I will
vote for someone with sound ideological principles on gender, race and
class.
Voting does not make a difference: Since we voted against Zanu-PF
in 2000 (parliamentary) and 2002 (presidential), what difference has it made?
Quite frankly, very little. Yes, we now have new faces and some good debates
in Parliament or in local government, and Zanu-PF finally came to grips
with how angry most citizens were. Other than a simple change of faces, not a
lot else was different after 20 years of independence. We need a lot
more change.
Without a new Constitution nothing can change: I am one
of the five founder members of the National Constitutional Assembly - the
NCA. Our founding principle was constitutional transformation, not mere
reform. This imperative remains as valid and as urgent as it was in 1997 when
we formed the NCA. It would seem, in our quest for quick change, some of us
are satisfied with the cosmetic changes we get from time to
time.
Similarly, those without any principled base are happy
participating in structures in which they have no capacity to make a
difference. While we empathise with the MPs or councillors who fear losing
their jobs if we boycott the elections next year, these leaders will be
reminded that citizens are not in the business of creating jobs for
them.
Neither is it our job as the electorate to hold together political
parties that have no glue and resolve to act in effective
coalition.
If anything, things have gotten worse. The powers of the
executive are unchecked and the powers of the ruling clique also remain
intact. The recent sacking of the mayor of Harare by the minister of local
government is a good example. Under the Urban Councils Act, the minister has
the power to appoint and fire all mayors and councillors.
While many
NGOs, donors and well-meaning groups have wined and dined MPs or attempted to
build their capacity during endless workshops, the Zimbabwean Parliament does
not make decisions. They have no power. This has consistently and
systematically been demonstrated time and again. An MP can be thrown in jail
on trumped-up charges - several Movement for Democratic Change MPs have been
arrested in the past four years.
Laws passed over the past four years,
like the Public Order and Security Act, further restrict already emasculated
MPs. The public order law requires MPs to get police clearance before they
hold any gathering in their constituency. The police have denied the elected
Council of Harare City to hold consultative meetings with residents every
Wednesday.
So what is the point of electing representatives who have no
power to make decisions? Why bother to elect leaders who can be dismissed by
President Robert Mugabe, a leader whose electoral victory is still under
challenge before the courts? Some of the most powerful ministers in Zimbabwe
today were never elected by anybody, but are presidential
appointees.
Predetermined results: The current regime is not likely to
put in place the Southern African Development Community minimum standards for
free and fair elections by next year. Any dimwitted person will know the
results of the elections are, in a sense, predetermined.
There will be
no informed choice: Given the Broadcasting Services Act and the ruling
party's hold on the national broadcaster, Zimbabweans, particularly those in
remote rural areas who depend on radio, will once again go to the polls with
very little idea of what anyone else besides Zanu-PF stands for.
I
have election fatigue and poll-related stress! Nothing short of a brand-new
Constitution will give us a free and fair election in 2005.
Everjoice J
Win is a Zimbabwean women's rights activist
ANALYSIS April 23, 2004 Posted to the web April 26,
2004
Dumisani Muleya
The succession struggle within Zimbabwe's
ruling Zanu-PF has resurfaced with increased intensity amid speculation that
President Robert Mugabe will announce his retirement at the party's crucial
congress in December.
Official sources say the issue has come back with
heightened ferocity ahead of the critical congress, which party spokesperson
Nathan Shamuyarira has said would be a "defining moment" for
Zimbabwe.
Shamuyarira recently said Mugabe could announce his retirement
plans at the congress. He warned there would be serious in-fighting if Mugabe
hinted at relinquishing power beforehand.
Well-placed sources say the
succession battle currently pits two camps - one led by Secretary for
Administration Emmerson Mnangagwa and the other by Zanu-PF politburo
heavyweight, retired army commander General Solomon Mujuru - against each
other.
The two groups are said to be engaged in combat in a bid to seize
strategic ground within the party in preparation for the final assault for
power.
Sources say recent developments surrounding Mnangagwa - who
Shamuyarira says is one of Mugabe's potential successors - such as illegal
gold-dealing allegations and the probe of Zanu-PF companies, are part of the
escalating succession battle.
Mnangagwa was recently accused of
receiving about Z$16-million from an alleged illegal gold dealer, Mark Mathew
Burden, who has been arraigned before the courts.
Zanu-PF sources say
Mnangagwa's arch-rivals in the Mujuru camp are actively manoeuvring to
counter his ascendancy as the succession fight intensifies.
The Mujuru
group is said to be behind the recent appointment of an internal team to
investigate Zanu-PF companies that Mnangagwa controlled.
Mnangagwa, also
Speaker of Parliament and fourth in the ruling party pecking order, was
Zanu-PF treasurer and a member of its companies' boards for
many years.
Together with the Joshi brothers - Jayant and Manharlal
Chunibal - and Dipak Pandya, who recently fled the country to escape the
investigation, Mnangagwa firmly controlled Zanu-PF's financial levers for
some time.
Zanu-PF businesses are seen as opaque and
controversial.
The ruling party never produced audited books during the
past 23 years, except for one announcement in 1992 to the effect that its
assets then were worth Z$486-million - a lot of money at the time.
It
is understood that Mnangagwa's rivals are hoping he would be implicated in
corruption and plunder after the internal graft probe, something calculated
to damage his repu- tation and undermine his
succession prospects.
Mnangagwa's adversaries are already using
accusations of pillage involving precious minerals during the Democratic
Republic of Congo war as a political weapon against him.
"The
in-fighting is now serious and is getting increasingly worse. It's now a
dog-eat-dog affair," a source said.
"The Mnangagwa and Mujuru camps are
battling to gain advantage over each other."
The composition of the
Zanu-PF investigation squad formed late last month has raised eyebrows and
lends credence to claims that the Mujuru camp is behind the whole
issue.
The team comprises Zanu-PF finance secretary David Kariman- zira,
who is the chairperson, former finance minister Simba Makoni, Matabeleland
North Governor Obert Mpofu, Deputy Transport Secretary Thoko Mathuthu and
Mujuru himself.
A source said: "If you look closely at the group there
is no doubt it is dominated by the Mujuru camp.
"Karimanzira is
Mujuru's ally in Mashonaland East province and Makoni is part of the camp.
Which-ever faction Mpofu and Mathuthu support it's immaterial because they
are window-dressers anyway."
Mujuru is regarded as the Zanu-PF
king-maker. His power derives from his role as a wartime second-in-command
general - after the revered Josiah Magamba Tongogara - within the ranks of
Zanu-PF's military wing, Zanla, during the struggle for independence from
Britain in the 1970s.
Last year Mujuru, who retired from the army in 1992
but still wields a lot of influence within the military, was linked to a
clandestine committee that was formed to gather and collate people's views on
Mugabe's succession debate.
The team was, however, later disbanded
after it was alleged to have fuelled Zanu-PF factionalism.
The Mujuru
camp is seen as powerful because it apparently includes Zanu-PF politburo
kingpins Dumiso Dabengwa and retired Air Marshal
Josiah Tungamirai.
Mujuru is not interested in becoming president
wants but to install an ally. Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, party
chairperson John Nkomo and Makoni are said to be his favourites.
In a
rare insight into Zanu-PF internal dynamics, Shamuyarira recently
said Mnangagwa was going head-to-head with Nkomo in the succession race. He
also said Sekeramayi, a close Mujuru associate, and former Zimbabwe Defence
Force commander General Vitalis Zvinavashe, Mnangagwa's ally, were in
the succession picture.
For the first time Zvinavashe this week
admitted he is a politician and declared himself ready to play "any role
given to me by the ruling party or the government".
The Zanu-PF
succession fight is said to have now permeated state security structures
where Mnangagwa and Mujuru exercise huge influence.
The roping in of
security agents has created an explosive situation.
Mujuru is influential
in the army, while Mnangagwa, former state security minister, is connected
within the Central Intelligence Organisation.
Following recent illegal
gold-dealing allegations, Burden claimed he was tortured by the police to
implicate Mnangagwa.
Zimbabwe: UNI's ILO Complaint on Freedom of
Association
UNI has submitted an official complaint to the ILO
Director General, about the Zimbabwe Government's violations of the ILO core
principles. Lovemore Matombo, President of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) and of UNI affiliate, Communications & Allied Services
Workers' Union (CASWUZ), was dismissed from his employment in Zimpost after
attending the Congress of the Organisation of African Trade Unions in
Khartoum (Sudan) on 5-11 January 2004, in his position as ZCTU
president. In the complaint Philip Jennings, UNI General Secretary said
"Lovemore Matombo is being victimised for his trade union activities and that
his dismissal has been carried out on totally spurious grounds and cannot
be justified" The complaint has now been referred to the Committee on
Freedom of Association.
Coach Marsh has abandoned us, say Zimbabwe's rebel
players By Alex Brown April 27, 2004
Geoff
Marsh stands accused of abandoning Zimbabwe's rebel white players, a day
after the Australia-born Zimbabwe coach watched his depleted XI stumble to a
record low one-day international total against Sri Lanka.
According to
veteran batsman Grant Flower, Marsh's silence throughout the Heath
Streak-inspired player revolt had surprised and disappointed the 15 white
cricketers, all of whom are involved in a tense dispute with the Zimbabwe
Cricket Union.
While those players remain sidelined, Zimbabwe's makeshift
one-day side was dismissed for 35 by Sri Lanka in Harare.
That result,
Flower said, could mark the beginning of a new, woeful chapter for Zimbabwean
cricket, not aided by Marsh's apparent indifference to the rebel players'
stand.
"To be honest, I thought he would have stood up for us and said a
little more," Flower said. "He has sat on the fence and obviously just wants
to see out his contract. He obviously has his own personal
reasons.
"He told us that he had tried for two years to make changes
happen but he couldn't do anything about it. I don't want to go too deeply
into it. But with everything that's going on, I don't think any of us were
too upset at the loss to Sri Lanka. We still want to play for Zimbabwe, but
it doesn't look good."
Flower's bleak assessment was supported by Sri
Lanka coach John Dyson. Having watched his side dismantle Zimbabwe inside 18
overs - en route to a thunderous nine-wicket victory - Dyson offered a dire
prediction for the struggling African nation ahead of Australia's tour next
month. "They'll have huge problems against the Australian attack, I don't
think there's any surprises there," Dyson said.
"They've really
struggled against us . . . we didn't even use our spinners in the last match.
I've spoken to Geoff [Marsh] at the matches and he said to me that he's
basically doing his job until the end of his contract and then
leaving."
Marsh's predicament and Zimbabwe's struggles are causing
concern among certain factions within the International Cricket Council, many
fearing that continued lopsided results will undermine the legitimacy of the
Test championship and substantially alter the record books. The latest
impasse was reached after the rebels were stood down for supporting Streak,
who was sacked from the Zimbabwean captaincy after giving the ZCU a list
of demands - mainly relating to team selection policies.
The ZCU made
several concessions but refused to alter its stance on Streak and the
captaincy. Those sympathetic to Streak have remained in selection exile
throughout the Sri Lanka series, restricting Zimbabwe to a virtual second
XI.
Under ICC regulations, a nation cannot be stripped of Test status
once elected a full member of the council. But when approached by the Herald
last night, former ICC president Malcolm Gray said a nation could feasibly
ask the ICC to suspend tour arrangements in a time of crisis.
"It is
usually cricket that loses out with when disputes arise between players and
administrators," Gray said. "It is hoped a joint solution can be found even
if there is a temporary suspension of Zimbabwe's commitments."
Flower
doubted the ZCU would make such a move. He said the Zimbabwe board would be
loath to forgo a place among the elite cricket-playing nations.
"There's
definitely a lot of merit in [Zimbabwe's temporary suspension], but it won't
come from their end," he said. "And the ICC's stance has been that they don't
want to get involved in nations' internal politics, so I don't think it will
ever happen.
"One or two of the guys have begun looking at playing
options outside of here.
"No one's sure whether they'll be able to
play for Zimbabwe again. But everyone believes in what we're trying to
achieve, so the focus is more on this issue."
Hotels did not refuse to accommodate Mugabe: Envoy
April 26,
2004, 14:44
Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, visiting South
Africa for tomorrow's inauguration of his counterpart Thabo Mbeki, has not
been refused accommodation by any of the local hotels, his envoy said in
Pretoria today.
Denying media reports to this effect, Simon Moyo, the
ambassador, said Mugabe was staying at a guest house out of choice. He added:
"President Mugabe was offered three hotels and a guest house to choose from.
He preferred a guest house."
Media reports said that Mugabe would stay
at a guest house in Pretoria after two five-star hotels refused to
accommodate him. Moyo said the South African media had been "abuzz with
distortion and falsehoods" since Mugabe's arrival at the Waterkloof air base
in Pretoria yesterday.
The ambassador added: "The fact is that President
Mugabe is jubilant to be in South Africa, for the relations between South
Africa and Zimbabwe at both party and government levels remain cordial and
excellent.
"He is here to congratulate his brother President Mbeki and
the ANC for their thunderous victory in the recently concluded elections. His
reception at the airport in Pretoria yesterday was
fantastic."
Mugabe's rule has been widely criticised in recent years over
political and economic instability in his country. - Sapa
Chris Kuruneri, the Finance and
Economic Development Minister, who became the first cabinet minister to be
stung by the anti-corruption wasp following his arrest yesterday morning, is
likely to face the chop in the course of this week, the Sunday Mirror has
been told. Kuruneri was nabbed by the Criminal Investigations Department's
Serious Fraud Squad and is being charged under the Exchange Control Act for
allegedly illegally externalising foreign currency between 2002 and 2004. He
is also being investigated for allegedly holding two passports, one
Zimbabwean and another Canadian. nder Zimbabwean law, it is an offence to
hold dual citizenship. A highly-placed source said the arrest of Kuruneri
came at a time pressure was mounting within cabinet and the ruling Zanu PF's
Politburo for Kuruneri to resign, particularly after it emerged that he had
built a posh mansion worth about R30 million in South Africa, paid for in
foreign currency. "With or without the arrest of Kuruneri, it had been
planned that he would face the chop some time this coming week. The decision
to investigate Kuruneri came from high above and the CIO was involved in
compiling evidence against the minister, with the report having been
finalised last week," said the source.
Chief police spokesman, Wayne
Bvudzijena confirmed the arrest of Kuruneri. "He (Kuruneri) has been arrested
and is in police custody. We are charging him under the Exchange Control Act
for the externalisation of foreign currency. He will appear in court as soon
as possible," Bvudzijena told the Sunday Mirror. Bvudzijena would not
available details on how the externalisation of forex occurred, saying the
police were still trying to gather more details about the alleged offence. A
high-powered team of detectives has since been dispatched to South Africa to
dig out the minister 's financial transactions. The police spokesman said
Kuruneri had externalised US$1 million, 300 000 pound sterling and R300 000
rand - all amounting to Z$7.513 billion - and confirmed that the minister was
being investigated for allegedly possessing two passports. Kuruneri spent
the better part of yesterday at the CID headquarters at Morris Depot, where
he was being interrogated. He was arrested by a team of detectives headed
by one Chief Superintendent Mangoma, but operatives from the President's
Office were also involved.
Four state of the art four-wheel drive
vehicles, which a constable said had accompanied Kuruneri there, were parked
inside the HQ's gate while another fleet was parked in the car park adjacent
to the Forensics building when the Sunday Mirror crew visited Morris Depot
yesterday morning. Two CIO officers, ostensibly providing security for
Kuruneri, kept guard outside the building where the interrogation was taking
place, while a number of police Mazda pick-ups were lined up outside the gate
to the HQ. Kuruneri was recently reported to have built a mansion in upmarket
Llandudno in Cape Town through cash transactions in the greenback. This
evoked anger among Zimbabweans, who argued that it was improper for a cabinet
minister to do so when forex was scarce at home. There were subsequent media
reports that he had another high-profile property in South Africa which he
was letting, outside the one under construction. A senior police officer said
Kuruneri faced a long time in remand prison before being brought before the
courts for a fully-fledged trial. "A warrant of arrest was speedily prepared
to ensure that there would be no hiccups as happened in the case of (James)
Makamba, even though it is possible that he could appear in court soon for
initial remand. "It has been ensured that there would be no grounds for his
lawyers to successfully appeal for bail before regulation time under the
Presidential Powers legal provisions."
Prominent businessman and
Zanu PF Central Committee member, James Makamba was arrested in February for
allegedly externalising billions of local currency in forex. The Presidential
Powers (Temporary Measures) (Amendment of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Act) Regulations 2004 was swiftly promulgated, disabling courts from granting
bail to accused persons accused of certain crimes in a period within 21 days.
The amendments caused a furore among legal experts, with critics saying that
was unconstitutional because the amendments were tantamount to officialising
the arresting of a person in order to investigate, but the state argued that
the period was vital for undisturbed investigations to take place. The
revelation that Kuruneri allegedly held two passports has left the general
public dumbfounded, with people wondering how, if true, a cabinet minister
could do so. Questions are being posed over his allegiance to his country,
this time regarding the allegation that he held onto his Canadian passport
even after the government made that a criminal offence. Critics are charging
that Kuruneri's allegiance to his country, worse still because he is in
charge of the sensitive portfolio of finance, would be questionable if the
allegation of dual citizenship were true. Given that it is illegal to hold
dual citizenship under Zimbabwean law, it is also mysterious how President
Robert Mugabe promoted Kuruneri to full minister without state security
checking on his details, a development many say betrays yawning gaps in the
country's intelligence system.
The beleaguered minister deputised
in the finance ministry from 2000. Ironically, when Mugabe promoted Kuruneri,
he hailed him as the panacea to Zimbabwe's economic woes. The 55-year old
Kuruneri, who was elevated to his current portfolio in the February cabinet
reshuffle, has been dogged by controversy for a long time. In August 2001,
when he was deputy minister, the deputy sheriff, on orders from the High
Court, attached property from a firm linked to him, Quality Packaging
Products, over a $130 000 debt. He was in 1995 loaned $19 702 by the now
defunct Universal Merchant Bank and he failed to repay the debt by the
deadline date of December 31 1997. In yet another saga, while he was with the
Transport and Communications ministry, $5 billion worth of tenders
mysteriously disappeared from the then Post and Telecommunications (now
ZIMPOST) department and his office could not give a satisfactory answer.
President Mugabe recently launched an across-the-board sting campaign against
corruption, which has so far netted in several prominent politicians and
businesspeople, while others are reported to be on the run. Among those who
have been arrested are Phillip Chiyangwa, the Zanu PF Mashonaland West
provincial chairman whose post seems to be hanging in the balance, and
Makamba. While Chiyangwa successfully applied for bail, Makamba is still in
custody. The anti-corruption blitz has extended to the ruling party's own
businesses. Several directors linked to the business concerns, among them
Jayanti Joshi, a British national who for a long time managed Zanu PF
businesses, have since skipped the country. Meanwhile, even before the
current Zanu PF probe, there had been rumours that a very senior ruling party
official was under investigation for his alleged involvement in irregular
dealings and might be suspended from his highly important state post any time
from now. Confidential sources allege the senior official's arrest has been
postponed several times in the past, but that the relevant authorities in
government had now been asked to prepare the necessary paperwork to
facilitate his suspension.
THE Minister of Local Government, Public Works and
National Housing, Cde Ignatius Chombo, ruled out the holding of new elections
for Harare saying Government had seconded competent and experienced personnel
to help the city improve service delivery.
Cde Chombo on Wednesday
announced a committee comprising educationist Professor Jameson Kurasha,
acting Harare provincial administrator Cde Benard Chahuruva and businessman
Cde Tendai Savanhu to monitor the operations of Harare City
Council.
He said additional experts in the fields of finance, law and
engineering would be seconded to the city.
"Government will pay
members of the committee," he said.
Cde Chombo said the secondment was a
deliberate Government move to arrest the fast decline in service delivery in
the city.
The Kurasha committee started work on Thursday.
Cde
Chombo's comments on Eng Mudzuri follow media reports that the fired mayor
was suing President Mugabe over the dismissal.
The minister said the
dismissed mayor Engineer Elias Mudzuri is free to contest his dismissal in
the courts of law but should not stand in council's way to deliver quality
service as directed by Government.
But when contacted for comment, Eng
Mudzuri referred The Herald to the Financial Gazette.
He said
enquiries should be made at The Financial Gazette because they were the ones
who had written the story.
"Ask The Financial Gazette. I did not write
that story. They should know better," he said.
Eng Mudzuri said he was
not moving out of the council house in Gunhill because the seven days he was
given to move out was too short a notice.
"Where do you want me and my
family to go? There is a tenant in my house and all I can do is to give him
enough time to look for alternative accommodation," he said.
Eng
Mudzuri said if he were to move out of the council house now, his only option
would be to move into a hotel together with his family.
He said the
directive to dismiss him from the house was inhuman.
Eng Mudzuri denied
allegations of corruption and mismanagement which were levelled against him
by the Government. The allegations led to the setting up of the Kurasha
committee which investigated him and produced a report, which subsequently
led to Eng Mudzuri's dismissal.
The 70 suspected terrorists who were arrested at
Harare International Airport last month in connection with a foiled coup in
the Equatorial Guinea, were back in court at Chikurubi Maximum Security
Prison yesterday.
The court proceedings were however dominated by an
argument over whether they should receive extra food from outside the prison
system.
Their lawyer, Advocate Francois Joubert, instructed by Mr
Jonathan Samkange of Byron, Venturas and Partners told the court, presided
over by provincial magistrate Mr Mishrod Guvamombe, that relatives of the
suspects were bringing food for them but prison officers were denying them
that food.
Mr Samkange said the suspects were being treated as if they
had already been convicted.
"They should be allowed food because they
need to follow these proceedings. Right now, they are hungry," said Mr
Samkange.
Mr Lawrence Phiri, representing the State and assisted by Mr
Stephen Musona said there were several security reasons why such persons were
not always allowed food from outside the prison system.
"Some of them
are now hiring other prisoners to do certain chores for them on promises of
food," said Mr Phiri.
Police officer-in-charge at the prison,
Superintendent Solomon Gonye testified that the suspected mercenaries were
high-risk prisoners in Class D and that they were therefore not allowed to
receive food from outside the prison system.
He said prison
authorities had the powers in terms of the prison regulations to deny outside
food for certain prisoners.
"It is normal for our superiors to give us
instructions and in this case, they last received food from outside on Friday
last week," said Supt Gonye.
Mr Guvamombe ruled that unconvicted
prisoners were allowed to receive food from outside the prison
system.
"It would be unjust for the court to sanction the departure from
normal prison regulations and the application for the accused to receive
extra food is granted," said Mr Guvamombe.
He however said the prison
officers had a discretion on the type and quantities of the food brought for
prisoners and there should be a balance between the rights of the prisoners
and the security concerns.
The suspected terrorists were remanded in
custody to April 26. They were brought to the huge improvised courtroom in
handcuffs and leg irons.
Although dressed in prison garb, some of them
were wearing designer snickers rather than the normal prison sandals. They
were also observed communicating with relatives through signs during the
court's adjournments.
Charges against the group comprising 10 whites, two
coloureds and 58 blacks arose in June 2003 when Simon Francis Mann was
allegedly contracted by Severo Moto, an exiled opposition political leader
from the Equatorial Guinea, to assist him in toppling the current government
in that country through a violent coup.
The suspects allegedly
conspired to possess dangerous weapons, which were to be used in carrying out
the coup.
On March 6, the State alleges, the men landed at Harare
International Airport to collect weapons and were arrested before they could
conduct a pre-loading inspection of the weapons.
The suspects are from
South Africa, Britain, Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
There is one Zimbabwean in the group.
They are being charged under the
Public Order and Security Act, the Firearms Act and the Immigration Act.
THE Government
has dismissed as a "figment of imagination" claims by the MDC that there
would be low crop yields this season, saying the opposition party was just
trying to get sympathy from its sponsors.
MDC shadow minister for
agriculture Mr Renson Gasela on Thursday presented what he said were outcomes
of a 10-day countrywide survey of communal, small-scale commercial areas and
fast track resettlement areas at a press conference in Harare
yesterday.
He said Zimbabwe's estimated maize output would be 800 000
tonnes and 200 000 tonnes of small grains like rapoko, representing a
shortfall of 900 000 tonnes of the country's grain requirements.
Mr
Gasela said the figure of 800 000 tonnes was a liberal one saying the safest
figure to use was 600 000 tonnes as total grain output for the 2003-2004
cropping season.
He accused Government of deliberately starving urban
dwellers by impounding maize coming into the urban areas by mounting
roadblocks manned by police and GMB officers.
"This is nothing short
of a systematic starving of the urban people who in many cases would have
provided the productive inputs to their parents and relatives in communal
area," said Mr Gasela.
But the Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Dr Joseph Made said Mr Gasela was simply playing to the gallery
to gain sympathy from his party's sponsors.
"He (Mr Gasela) does not
know what else to say because their world (MDC) has come to an end," said Dr
Made.
The MDC has lost almost all the contested by-elections with the
latest being the Zengeza parliamentary by election held last month.
Dr
Made said the police and officials from the GMB were doing their job
of enforcing laws.
"Anyone who carries a bag more than the accepted
number will be dealt with according to the law," he said.
"The police
officers are only enforcing the laws of the country, which control the
movement of grain in the country."
He said the MDC was busy buying maize
from commercial farmers last year for export to create a deficit in the
country.
"What Gasela is saying is the figment of his imagination and of
course, it is the work of the enemy. It is a shame that a black man, a black
brother and African would want to undermine the work of small
farmers.
"It is clear that the Satan has taken hold of Gasela and his
party. It is a shame for an honourable member who purports to be shadow
minister of agriculture to be saying such things. I just wish if the good
Lord could help deliver him for he really needs to be exorcised and
rehabilitated," said Dr Made.
The minister said the Government was
committed to helping people in need of food aid, adding it was a shame that
the MDC would make such accusations at a time when the price for maize meal
had actually gone down as a result of increased supply of maize.
"We
are going to be releasing the anticipated figures for the crop output in the
country and these will put their remarks to shame," said Dr Made.
The Agricultural Rural Development Authority's
operations at Kondozi Farm in Odzi have moved into top gear as peace now
prevails at the farm.
Acting Manicaland provincial administrator Mr
Fungai Mbetsa, on Wednesday said recruitment of workers was in progress as
jobless people from the surrounding areas flocked to the farm in search of
employment.
Arda started operations at the farm last week after its
former owners, the De Klerk family who had refused to vacate, made way for
the authority.
The De Klerk family and Mr Edwin Moyo were said to have
formed a joint venture company that had purportedly been running the farm and
were refusing to vacate after the property's acquisition by the
Government.
The latest developments at the farm have put to rest,
speculation that former Kondozi workers were likely to return to the farm as
they anticipated a Government reversal of the acquisition.
On Sunday,
the Government reiterated that there was no going back on the acquisition of
the farm.
The Government dismissed a story published in The Standard
newspaper quoting Vice President Msika as saying that he had ordered Arda off
the farm until "proper channels" were followed.
The Minister of State
for Information and Publicity, Professor Jonathan Moyo said the Standard
story represented wishful thinking for the "treacherous Standard and its evil
sponsors".
"There is no single right-minded Zimbabwean person who would
believe that The Standard, of all newspapers in this world, can report
authentically the Government's position. Obviously, the paper sought to abuse
the views of the Vice President on behalf of its usual white racist
sponsors.
"The true position that reflects the collective decision of
Government is that there is no going back on Kondozi, come rain, come
sunshine and Arda as an institution is there to stay and relevant authorities
will ensure that happens."
Prof Moyo said reports about a High Court
order were a figment of the imagination peddled by people who wanted to
confuse a very straightforward matter.
He said Mr Moyo did not own the
place, had not owned it before and would never own it as it belonged to the
State and, therefore, to the people of Zimbabwe.
"The sooner everyone
interested in the matter recognises this point, the better for them," he
said.
It has come to the attention of the The Manica Post that a few
villagers from Marange, who were against the take-over of the farm by Arda,
allegedly went to Vice President Msika last week purporting that they had
been sent by Chief Marange to ask for a reversal of the decision to hand over
Kondozi to Arda.
The villagers were said to have been sent by the
former owners of the farm in a desperate attempt to win back the
farm.
But Chief Marange has since disowned the villagers.
Mr
Mbetsa said he had a meeting with a delegation from Chief Marange led by his
representative Chief Hama Marange on Wednesday and the chief said he was in
full support of the Government's acquisition of Kondozi Farm.
"This
delegation was not the one which was sent to Harare and Chief Marange said he
was in full support of the Government," Mr Mbetsa said.
Mr Mbetsa
reiterated the Government's position on the acquisition of
the farm.
"There is no going back on the acquisition of the farm and I
was at the farm yesterday and work is going on smoothly. Arda officials have
confirmed that they are paying workers the same rates, if not more, than
those paid by the former owners. They have confirmed that with me," he
said.
The Government acquired Kondozi for Arda last year and said the
decision to acquire it was non-negotiable.
The inauguration
of President Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday will be sullied by the attendance of
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, the official opposition Democratic
Alliance said on Monday. Mugabe was reported to have arrived in South Africa
on Sunday.
DA federal chairperson Joe Seremane said in a statement that
South Africa's successful election "is a tribute to the growing maturity of
our democracy".
"It has shown that diversity is not only tolerated; it
has become a hallmark of our strength as a country. But for Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe to bask in the reflected glory of our achievements
should be something that is an affront to all who treasure South Africa's
hard-won freedoms."
Seremane noted that former president Nelson Mandela
pledged (during his inauguration in 1994) that "never again shall it be that
this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another
and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world".
"The sad
irony is that this is precisely the scenario that has developed in Zimbabwe,
a country which was once seen as a beacon of hope for the continent,"
Seremane said.
"Under Mugabe's leadership Zimbabwe has lurched from
crisis to another. Today Zimbabwe finds itself in a political and economic
morass from which it will struggle for years to extricate itself.
"The
suffering of ordinary Zimbabweans should not be underestimated
as unemployment; hyperinflation, food shortages and political violence
continue to exact their toll.
"Zimbabwe's record of holding free and
fair elections could not be further removed from that of South Africa's. Its
presidential elections in 2000 were viewed by many of the foreign observer
delegations and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change as being
fatally flawed, with large-scale vote rigging, massive electoral fraud and
political violence being perpetrated against opposition members and
supporters.
"It is simply not appropriate for Mugabe to attend President
Mbeki's inauguration. The Zimbabwean leader's rule has come to symbolise the
very kind of injustice for which so many South Africans fought so long
to overcome." -- I-Net Bridge
AT least 225 340 malaria cases have been reported
countrywide this year compared with 208 873 cases last year.
This has
been attributed to the increase in rains.
Addressing journalists in
Harare last Friday, the Minister of Health and Child Welfare Dr David
Parirenyatwa said the areas most affected by malaria are Hwange, Mwenezi,
Chipinge, Mutasa, Nyanga, Gokwe North and South, Kariba, Hurungwe,
Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe, Shamva, Mudzi and Guruve.
Dr Parirenyatwa
however, said despite the increase in malaria cases, the country has adequate
anti-malarial drugs to effectively treat people suffering from the
disease.
"Despite current economic challenges, we have adequate
anti-malarial drugs in our health facilities including at community level
where we have chloroquine holders," said Dr Parirenyatwa.
He said
other preventative and control measures that the Ministry of Health and Child
Welfare had put in place include the use of indoor residual spraying which
would be used in high risk malaria areas and stagnant water to kill the
mosquito larvae.
"We also encourage self-protection measures such as the
use of insecticide treated mosquito nets, repellents that include soaps and
creams and taking anti-malarial tablets.
"The Government and its
partners in the fight against malaria are currently promoting the use of
insecticide treated nets for children under five years and pregnant women to
achieve the 2005 Abuja targets," said Dr Parirenyatwa.
A malaria
awareness jingle is expected to be aired on radio soon in Shona, Ndebele and
English.
Africa Malaria Day, which is commemorated on April 25 will be
celebrated under the theme "A Malaria Free Future: Children to Children Roll
Back Malaria". The day will be commemorated in Mudzi at a date to be
advised.
Dr Parirenyatwa said the country this year is focussing on
children in combating malaria as they are among the groups who are at greater
risk of contracting the disease.
"Children form a large proportion of
the population and are the future generation. We will strive to give them
information on malaria so that they become actively involved in educating
each other and the nation on malaria control."
Dr Parirenyatwa is
appealing to the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture, parents and
guardians to afford children the opportunity to attend the commemoration
event which will have activities like poems, fun-fares and drama.
In a
related issue, the British American Tobacco on Friday evening gave
$35 million to the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare for countrywide
malaria awareness campaigns.
Receiving the money, Dr Parirenyatwa said
the money would go towards disseminating messages on malaria prevention and
control.
He said information on the vulnerability of pregnant mothers,
the elderly and children under five years to malaria needed to be highlighted
around the country including messages on the use of insecticide-treated nets,
indoor residual spraying and mosquito nets.
Dr Parirenyatwa said the
money would also go towards malaria campaigns on early treatment of
malaria.
"The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare would like to let the
nation aware that we have adequate anti-malarial drugs at health centres
countrywide, " he said.
BAT managing director Mr Kennedy Mandevhani
said the donation was part of social responsibility by the private
sector.
"BAT believes in supporting the community in various initiatives
including malaria programmes," said Mr Mandevhani.
RESIDENTS of
Chiredzi have expressed dismay over the dilapidated state of roads in the
town amid reports that the town council is failing to access funds from the
National Road Fund to repair the roads.
Most roads in the town are in bad
shape and have huge potholes due to lack of repair.
It is said council
cannot access money from the National Road Fund because it does not have a
permanent engineer.
Contacted for comment, acting Chiredzi town secretary
Mr Clayton Sanjobo confirmed that rehabilitation of the roads was being
hampered by shortage of funds, a situation which he said was being
exacerbated by council's ineligibility to benefit from the road
fund.
"We do not get funds from the road fund because we do not have an
engineer and we have just hired one from the beginning of this month but we
do not know whether we will now get funds from the Government.
"The
council has, however, pooled together its own resources and is in the process
of carrying out repairs on the town's roads," said Mr Sanjobo.
Government
through the Ministry of Transport and Communications gives local authorities
funds from the road fund.
The poor roads were further damaged by heavy
rains brought by cyclones Eline in 2000 and Japhet in early 2003.
A
Masvingo lawyer Mr Tongai Matutu recently sued the town council,
alleging that the poor state of the roads damaged his vehicle.
MDC leader Mr
Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday expressed frustration at his party's failure to
remove Zanu-PF from power.
"We have struggled to remove Zanu-PF from
power during the past four years and we have failed," he said.
"We
must have proper party structures for us to win the general election next
year."
Mr Tsvangirai made the remarks in an address to his party's
supporters at Chitubu Shopping Centre in Glen Norah high-density suburb,
Harare.
The MDC, Mr Tsvangirai claimed, had now devised a strategy to
penetrate the rural areas that were strongholds of Zanu-PF.
However,
he did not elaborate on what the strategy was.
Commenting on the
divisions and resignations that have rocked the party, Mr Tsvangirai conceded
that there was conflict among senior members but lashed out at those who had
deserted him and his party, branding them "useless".
He urged those who
still retained faith in his West-backed party to remain in it.
"The
MDC is like a boat and whether things are good or bad you must remain in it
because if you try to jump out you will sink," he said.
The opposition
leader scoffed at criticism that he had the habit of imposing candidates for
the party.
"I am not a dictator but the advantage of having sitting MPs
as candidates is that they already know the parliamentary process whereas new
candidates could spend the next five years trying to locate where toilets are
at the Parliament Building," Mr Tsvangirai said.
He said the MDC would
only participate in next year's general elections under conditions that
included the setting-up of an independent electoral commission and holding
the elections in one day.
The opposition party has been rocked by
resignations of senior officials with four councillors in Harare having
resigned so far.
The four are Harare acting executive mayor Ms Sekesayi
Makwavarara, Clr Gladmore Hakata (Ward 4, Mbare), Clr Tapfumaneyi Jaja (Ward
38, Kuwadzana 4) and Clr George Vlahakis (Ward 2 Arcadia, Eastlea, Hillside
and Cranborne) who has rejoined Zanu PF.
Clrs Makwavarara and Hakata
resigned from the MDC citing harassment by senior party officials.
The
Government last week dismissed Harare executive mayor Engineer Elias Mudzuri,
who was elected on an MDC ticket, for corruption and mismanagement of council
affairs.
Zanu-PF also recently wrestled the Zengeza parliamentary seat
from the opposition there-by penetrating the so-called MDC's urban
strongholds.
Zimbabwe minister in court over illegal forex deals
April 26,
2004, 21:59
Zimbabwe's finance minister appeared in court on charges of
breaking exchange control and citizenship laws today, the first member of
president Robert Mugabe's cabinet to be charged in a corruption
crackdown.
Judith Tsamba, the Harare magistrate, ordered Chris Kuruneri
to remain in prison custody until the next hearing on May 11, dismissing an
application by his lawyers to place him in a government hospital because of
chronic back problems. Kuruneri was arrested on Saturday.
Tsamba did
not ask Kuruneri to plead on four counts of dealing with and smuggling
foreign currency and another of using a foreign passport without authority.
David Drury, Kuruneri's lawyer, later told journalists that he denied the
charges and said the defence planned to make an application at the High Court
tomorrow.
According to the charge sheet, Kuruneri, a member of the
central committee of Mugabe's ruling Zanu(PF) party, illegally dealt in
foreign currency amounting to $582 611 91. Mugabe embarked on an
anti-corruption drive at the start of the year against the background of an
economic crisis opponents widely blame on his government.
The once
prosperous country faces record inflation and unemployment as well as chronic
shortages of foreign currency and fuel. Several prominent individuals,
including Zanu(PF) officials, have been hauled before the courts on
corruption charges. Some businessmen have fled the country to avoid
arrest.
Kuruneri, a former deputy finance minister was promoted in
January. His arrest follows an investigation prompted by a report in a South
African newspaper that he was building a mansion in that country's holiday
resort of Cape Town. Kuruneri has previous denied any wrong doing and said
that he earned the money legitimately from consultancy work done outside
Zimbabwe.
Mugabe denies responsibility for Zimbabwe's prevailing economic
woes, blaming them largely on sabotage by local and foreign opponents of his
drive to forcibly redistribute white-owned farms among landless blacks. -
Reuters
Mon
April 26, 2004 9:51 PM HARARE (Reuters) - The Zimbabwe Cricket Union's (ZCU)
claim that it has agreed a mediation procedure with the 15 rebel players
refusing to represent their country has been disputed. "The ZCU has
furnished to Heath Streak and the players a proposal that they make
themselves available immediately for selection and that if this is done a
mediation procedure will be immediately established for the
players' outstanding grievances to be ventilated before an independent
mediator," a ZCU statement said on Monday.
"Agreement has been
reached upon who the mediator will be and it is sincerely hoped that the
impasse will be resolved on this basis, hopefully by the end of tomorrow
(Tuesday)."
Vince Hogg, the ZCU's managing director, told Reuters
the mediator was Much Masunda, a professional arbitrator in Zimbabwe. "He's
very well respected by both parties," Hogg said.
However, a
player who declined to be named disputed that the mediation process had been
confirmed.
"There has been talk about mediation and about this
process leading to arbitration, because we believe it will lead to
arbitration," the player told Reuters.
"But we are still not up
to date with regard to confirming mediation. We think it is Much Masunda, but
we're not sure because we haven't voted on Much Masunda."
Hogg
was bullish about resolving a crisis that was sparked by a decision taken at
a ZCU board meeting on April 2 to replace Streak with Tatenda Taibu as team
captain. Streak had questioned the composition of Zimbabwe's selection
panel.
Fourteen other players joined Streak in a players' boycott.
They demanded Streak's reinstatement, a new selection panel and that the
ZCU acknowledged a series of transgressions the players say were committed
by ZCU officials.
"The players had a nine-point agenda, and
there's very little left," Hogg said. "They need to come back to work, and
mediation and discussion can continue.
"I'm expecting them back
at work on Wednesday. They should be available for Thursday's match (the
fourth one-day international against Sri Lanka), if they're fit, and for the
test matches if the selectors choose them.
"The players wanted
some cast-iron assurances about a mediation procedure, which we have given
them now."
The player said the rebels would refuse to make the
first move.
"The ZCU is telling us to go back to practise before
mediation takes place, and we believe it should happen the other way around,"
he said.
"Come back to us after the mediation, and if it sounds
good we'll go back.
"If it doesn't sound good we might have to
go to arbitration, which is final and binding."
Zimbabwe were
forced to select an inexperienced squad for the current one-day series
against Sri Lanka.
Zimbabwe have lost all three matches so far, and
were dismissed for a world record low total of 35 in Harare on
Sunday.
Zimbabwe Monetary Policy Comes Under Fire Peta
Thornycroft Harare 26 Apr 2004, 16:43 UTC
Zimbabwe's central
bank has pulled in as much foreign currency in the first three months of 2004
as it did in the whole of last year. The rise in Zimbabwe's foreign currency
reserves is due to a campaign to reduce hyper-inflation and stamp out illegal
money trading, but the effort has also hurt Zimbabwean exports by making them
more expensive. Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono has cleaned up many gray
areas in Zimbabwe's unpredictable and volatile economy. He has stopped banks
from speculating in foreign currency, and managed to limit damage to
depositors while closing some financial institutions that had broken the
rules.
Last week he surveyed results of his monetary policy announced in
December. It looks like good news for foreign currency reserves, and Mr. Gono
has been praised profusely by the government and its media press.
But
private sector economist Peter Robinson says the only difference is
that foreign currency earned by Zimbabwe has come into official channels. He
says last year it came in through the illegal parallel market, and was used
more efficiently by the productive sector.
Mr. Robinson says one
result of Mr. Gono's monetary policy is that exports are declining every day,
and he accuses the central-bank governor of ignoring, what he describes as,
desperate cries from exporters.
The exporters are required to sell a
quarter of their export revenues to the government at the official rate of
824 Zimbabwe dollars to one U.S. dollar, and the rest on auction at about
4,500 Zimbabwe dollars to the U.S. dollar.
The open-market rate is more
than 6,000 to the U.S. dollar.
Mr. Robinson says unless Mr. Gono does
away with the limits and allows the Zimbabwe dollar to float to its real
value, the economy will suffer because export earnings are plummeting. He
says declining exports will mean less foreign currency available in Zimbabwe
than ever before.
Already, there is a shortage of foreign currency that
severely limits imports of raw materials and other products needed by the
private sector.
Many commentators, mostly quoted in the private-sector
press, acknowledge that the central-bank governor's policies have led to a
six-percentage point reduction in Zimbabwe's inflation rate of nearly 600
percent. Reducing inflation to 200 percent by the end of the year was one of
Mr. Gono's primary goals.
But they charge the policy is aimed at
grabbing headlines and helping the ruling ZANU PF party in next year's
parliamentary elections, and is hurting the economy in the medium to long
term.
By Staff
Reporter Last updated: 04/26/2004 22:34:05 FIREBRAND MDC legislator Job
Sikhala has been arrested over violent clashes between his supporters and a
rival faction last Friday.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena had revealed
at the weekend that police were keen to talk to Sikhala about violent clashes
at his home last Friday. The clashes are said to have started when a rival
faction stormed Sikhala's house and disrupted a party that was going
on.
The motive of the attack was not known but two people were stabbed
during the skirmishes which later spilled over to a funeral wake in
Zengeza.
"We are still investigating because we are now looking into two
cases of kidnapping in addition to the attempted murder cases that we
were investigating," said Bvudzijena.
Bvudzijena did not say what
charges Sikhala faced or when he would be appearing in court.
Sikhala
is the most arrested MDC legislator after several brushes with the law. He
was fined late last year after being convicted of assaulting a uniformed
police officer.
A PROFESSOR who risked life
and limb searching for dinosaur footprints in Zimbabwe has been told that a
unique footprint discovered by himself and his colleagues was recently
destroyed by a herd of elephants.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
palaeontologist Professor Theagarten Lingham-Soliar and Zimbabwean geologists
Ait-Kaci Ahmed and Tim Broderick discovered the 150 million-year-old
footprint of the Brachiosaurus in December 2001.
The Brachiosaurus was
the biggest plant-eating dinosaur on earth. It could grow as tall as 16m and
weigh as much as 10 fully grown elephants.
This dinosaur resembled a
giraffe, with a long neck and front legs which were longer than its hind
ones.
The footprint of the dinosaur's back left foot was found in the
Chewore area of northern Zimbabwe.
Broderick recently informed
Lingham-Soliar that the footprint, the first to be discovered in sub-Saharan
Africa, had been destroyed.
Broderick, who took pictures of the destroyed
footprint, said: "The smoothly rubbed and rounded banks in the close vicinity
are distinctly elephant traces and strong indications are that the agent of
the destruction was a herd of elephants."
Only three toes of the
footprint remain. Lingham-Soliar said the irony was that the track of the
largest extinct land animal was destroyed by its largest existing
counterpart.
At the time of the discovery, Lingham-Soliar and his team
were unable to make a mould of the footprint as there was no latex available
in strife-torn Zimbabwe. However, they did photograph it.
"The
footprint was large, about a metre-long and 22cm deep,"
said Lingham-Soliar.
Initially Lingham-Soliar and Broderick discovered
footprints of meat-eating dinosaurs, after a tip from local
hunters.
"We followed it up and found the prints. .. The footprint was
well preserved with a mound completely surrounding it," said
Lingham-Soliar.
He added that the footprint was "first exposed after very
heavy floods in northern Zimbabwe about 10 years
ago".
Lingham-Soliar's paper, published in the scientific journal Neues
Jarbuch, interpreted the walking patterns of dinosaurs, indicating that
the Brachiosaurus did not waddle but walked like a dog.
LADEN with a 'mountain' of sand and
belching thick black smoke, a battered lorry labours its way up a hilly area
in Harare's Tynwald South suburb, where development of new houses is
proceeding rapidly.
The driver of the dilapidated lorry, with no number
plates, no tail lights or indicators, is happy that he has finally reached
his destination without experiencing a breakdown, which is quite common with
the state of his vehicle, or encountering a police road block where he risks
being ticketed for the same reason.
"At least I know I will get my
full payment tomorrow," said Aleck Nyamumwe, with the triumphant smile of a
victor. "But before I go home, I have to make one more trip because I know
the police are occupied at major highways because of the Easter holiday," he
says.
Nyamumwe is one of scores of self-made entrepreneurs
euphemistically known as "sand miners" rather than "sand poachers"making a
living out of illegally quarrying sand in areas around Harare to mitigate the
effects Zimbabwe's economic meltdown.
In the wake of escalating
building costs, sand poaching for brick making and construction has become
rampant in Harare, raising fears of massive land degradation. The problem is
most common in areas such as Epworth, Kuwadzana, Budiriro, Glenview, Snake
Park and Chitungwiza.
The sand is carted away for construction in the
more-up-market areas such as Borrowdale Brooke, Westgate, New Marlborough,
Tynwald, Budiriro 5 and Whitecliffe Farm where erection of new residential
structures is currently taking place.
While "sand mining" has become
lucrative for those with the stamina to dig up the sand and move it to where
it is required, its indelible environmental footprints - deep gullies and
gaping holes providing ready breeding grounds for mosquitoes - will be costly
to reclaim as the city grows.
On average, a 10 m3 of pit and river sand
sells for as much $400 000 and $500 000 respectively. The price, however, can
fluctuate depending on supply and demand factors. Some of the sand merchants
advertise in the Press while others heap their 'offerings' on roadside of
major highways such as Bulawayo and Beatrice roads, to attract passing
motorists.
Environmental experts interviewed by The Standard expressed
alarm over the on-going land denudation caused by uncontrolled sand mining,
topsoil harvesting and brick moulding in Harare. In areas such as Epworth,
Snake Park and Chitungwiza where brick moulding is big business, trees
have virtually disappeared leaving the soil exposed to the vagaries of
weather.
"We don't have any other means of burning the bricks so we have
to cut down the trees around here. Remember we have families to feed," said
one brick moulder near Stopover Shopping Centre in Epworth, pointing to a
vast area now virtually stripped of any vegetation.
Shingi Mushamba, a
senior programme officer with the Municipal Development Partnership (MDP)
blasted the city fathers for not doing enough to curb environmental
degradation caused by sand mining.
"There is little attention that is
being given by the local authorities to this problem. People are currently
getting cheap building supplies but in the long term its dire consequences
are going to catch up with, not only with the authorities, but the residents
as well," said Mushamba.
The MDP official said in areas where there are
fertile soils, poachers "harvest" rich top soil, which sells fast in Harare's
northern suburbs, where it is used as nourishment in flowerpots, vegetable
gardens as well as in green houses.
Apart from general environmental
degradation, sand mining poses a serious threat to Harare's food security
situation. About 60 percent of Harare's food, according to MDP, comes from
farms in its peri-urban areas.
"Peri-urban agriculture contributes
significantly to the food situation in cities and if the top soil is removed
and the land degraded it will impact negatively on the overall food
situation," said Mushamba, whose organisation works closely with the city
council on a number of environment and agriculture-related issues.
He
said that while in the short term, the sand poachers were sustaining their
families their activities were leaving gullies and pits that would require
billions of dollars to reclaim.
Another lurking danger arises from the
deep gullies accumulating stagnant water and becoming breeding places for
mosquitoes and other water borne diseases - especially during the rainy
season - exposing city residents to health hazards. In addition, the
excavations of stream and riverbanks also cause serious siltation and
deposition of soil minerals into Harare's water, making the purification of
drinking water costly.
Harare City Council public relations, Leslie
Gwindi, concurred that the city faces a serious environmental degradation
because of the sand poachers.
"We have made a number of arrests around
Glen View and other areas in the West of the city. However, some of the
poaching is taking place on land outside our jurisdiction and so we can't
act," said Gwindi.
Analysts said the problem of sand mining is
exacerbated by the current economic depression, which is forcing people to
seek alternative means of survival. The economic recession has resulted in
the country's formal sector shrinking and throwing thousands of workers out
of work.
A University of Zimbabwe agriculture lecturer said the
environmental problems in Harare were no different from those afflicting
other areas including the Midlands town of Kwekwe, where gold panners have
besieged the countryside in search of the precious mineral.
"It has
become increasingly difficult to access formal employment in Zimbabwe and
people are turning to the natural environment in the peri-urban areas for
livelihood," said the lecturer.
THE
outgoing Australian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Jonathan Brown, said the land
reform programme has been derailed by the haphazard manner in which
the people were resettled.
In his farewell remarks at a reception on
Friday, Brown said it was myopic to expect people to farm productively given
the way they were resettled. The majority of the resettled farmers were given
land but had no farming equipment, fertiliser, seeds and
expertise.
Brown said although there might be successful resettled
farmers, he had not seen one during his stay in Zimbabwe.
"Zimbabwe
may have suffered from drought that is now diminishing, but drought is not
responsible for the broken fences, the game snares, ruined greenhouses and
derelict and burnt-out farm buildings that I have seen," Brown
said.
He said the prosperity of Zimbabwe has been adversely affected as
official figures indicate that there has been a decline in the agriculture
sector. Presently, agriculture is the country's economic
backbone.
Brown, who is leaving for Australia tomorrow, also spoke of the
breakdown of the rule of law, human rights abuses and the disregard of court
orders by the government.
He said that during his tenure in Zimbabwe
he has met even judges who expressed fear for the independence and
effectiveness of their judicial responsibilities.
Even legislators and
civic leaders have been tortured by the police, said Brown who added that
ordinary people were now afraid to talk about politics.
"I have met a
civic leader who was savagely beaten by police. I have met lawyers who have
been assaulted while assisting their clients. I have met journalists and
others who have been arrested, imprisoned and released without charge or with
charges dropped. I have read court orders and heard from litigants that the
orders have not been respected or implemented by the authorities," said
Brown.
On the economic front, Brown said businessmen have been forced
into illegal practices to remain viable due to President Robert Mugabe's
skewed economic policies.
The Australian Ambassador said it was
because of the government's abuse of human rights and absence of the rule of
law that Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth.
"In view of
what people have shared with me, it would be a mockery to say I leave this
country with happy memories. I leave Zimbabwe with an earnest and abiding
hope for justice," said Brown.