| The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
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President Robert Mugabe
announced at Heroes Acre on March 21 that government
was setting up a new
land audit team, remarks he repeated to Zanu PF youths
the next
day.
The United Nations Development Programme has asked for a land
audit before
donors can be brought on board. And as the agricultural crisis
mounts
government appears prepared to comply but wants to get in first with
its own
reckoning.
The international community has refused to fund
land reform saying it was
chaotic and non-transparent.
Zanu PF
bigwigs are understood to be scrambling to put their houses in order
ahead of
Mugabe's probe. This will in many cases involve putting their farms
in the
names of family members and friends.
"There is unconcealed panic in
some quarters," a politburo member told the
Zimbabwe Independent this
week.
The Buka report revealed that some governors, ministers and
other
well-connected beneficiaries owned up to five farms. There has been
an
indignant response from those named, claiming the report is inaccurate
or
driven by hostile agendas.
Buka told the Independent this week
that her full report would still appear
despite plans for another
audit.
"When my report is ready it will be published and it will be
availed to
you," she said.
She refused to comment on the proposed
new audit saying it was premature to
do so.
"I cannot comment on something that has not been set up as yet," she said.
"I have not yet
been approached by the president and I cannot say whether I
will be part of
the committee," she added.
A source in the President's Office said
the executive regards the Buka
document as only a "surveillance report",
hence the need to constitute a
team to do a more thorough job.
The
source said the committee would be co-ordinated from the
President's
Office.
Government sources said the audit team would
be supervised by a cabinet
committee, which would in turn report to the
president.
Observers said the setting up of another audit team was an
attempt by
government to show it was transparent in its land reform exercise.
But there
was scepticism as to its findings.
"This report is going
to be filed away like others produced by previous
commissions set up by the
president," said a diplomat.
The UNDP has proposed the setting up of
an independent audit of the
resettlement programme to identify areas where
international donors can
assist. Diplomatic sources said the government was
keen to pre-empt that
initiative by coming up with its own probe. And that
there could be public
reprimands and even confiscations to impress the
international community.
However, most donors are likely to remain
unimpressed by this "window
dressing".
Patrick Nyaruwata, acting
chairman of the war veterans, said his association
had not been included in
the Mugabe committee.
"We are not included in the presidential committee," he said.
"The committee, we understand, has been
appointed from the cabinet and what
we will be doing is to monitor the
proceedings. When we are unhappy with the
proceedings we will let them know,"
he said.
Industry sources said government could
raise the price of fuel before the
end of the month in a bid to restore
viability to the industry and guarantee
supplies which have dwindled in
recent weeks.
The sources said negotiations for another price rise
have already started
but it was unlikely the government would agree to
anything more than a 300%
increase.
Indigenous fuel players this
week confirmed they wanted the government to
review the pump price again as
the one effected in February was
unsustainable.
"We have written
to the minister (Energy) to inform him that we need another
round of
increases," said Chris Pasipamire of Royal Oil.
"The current margins
we are getting are unsustainable and they have not had
an impact on the
availability of fuel," he said.
Industry players this week said a
pump price of $500 a litre would result in
improved availability of the
commodity as it would enable more direct
imports. The players pointed to the
fact that NGOs, international
organisations and banks were already buying
petrol at US75 cents per litre,
which translates to $1 125 at the parallel
rate of US$1:$1 500 and $618 at
the commercial rate of
US$1:$824.
Sources yesterday said the government was uneasy about the
idea of a large
fuel hike as this would wreak havoc on its price controls for
all
commodities.
The last increase was on February 25 when petrol
went up from $74,47 to
$145,20 while diesel went up by 80% from $66,39 to
$119,43. The industry had
proposed increments of up to $500 a litre for
petrol and $300 for diesel.
Industry players at the time described
the hikes as arbitrary. They
completely ignored the concerns and inputs of
industry, they said.
Meanwhile, supplies have remained critical as Noczim
has continued to live
from hand to mouth due to a severe foreign currency
crunch.
"We are dealing with that question with the Zimbabwean
government," Mbeki
said.
"Indeed, we have said to the Zimbabwean
government that we would not agree
with actions that deny the right of
Zimbabweans to protest peacefully,
democratically and so on."
His
remarks prompted a flurry of criticism in the Zimbabwe state media.
Ndou
said in an interview Mbeki's point was that "it is a standard principle
that
freedom of expression and peaceful protests should not be
suppressed".
But Mbeki's comments seem to have provoked official
anger in Zimbabwe where
peaceful anti-government protests are
banned.
A day after Mbeki's remarks Information minister Jonathan
Moyo said he was
shocked that people could confuse peaceful demonstrations
with what he
called "thuggery", a term that lately has been liberally used in
the
official media to describe any action taken or contemplated by
the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
"Even children can
tell the difference between a peaceful demonstration on
the one hand and
violence and thuggery on the other," Moyo was quoted
as
saying.
Moyo, without directly mention-ing Mbeki, said only a
deceitful person would
confuse such issues.
"It would take someone
who is either dishonest, ignorant or malicious to
describe that violence and
thuggery as a peaceful demonstration," he said.
Moyo said government
would punish dissenters associated with violence.
"We are determined to
ensure that the rule of law will be visited upon the
culprits come rain, come
sunshine. They can run but they will never hide,"
he
said.
Although Ndou said he did not think Moyo's remarks represented
criticism of
Mbeki, some appeared targeted at the South African
leader.
In particular Moyo appeared irked over Mbeki's welcome to
opposition MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai's recent call for the resumption of
dialogue with
the ruling Zanu PF.
Mbeki said Tsvangirai's call for
talks was welcome and urged dialogue, but
Moyo scoffed at
this.
"We don't believe Tsvangirai's nonsense merits any support or
endorsement
from any responsible quarter," he said.
"We are very
disappointed that the usual quarters that make noise about
peace, stability,
democracy and the rule of law in Zimbabwe have not
condemned last week's
violence. It displays worrying double standards."
The
government-controlled Herald, which has attacked Mbeki in the past,
last
Saturday, following Moyo's comments, attacked Pretoria more
directly.
"Not so long ago, South Africa arrested whites linked to a
spate of
extremist bombings and threats to topple the government," it
said.
"(But) no one called for dialogue between the South African
government and
the white right-wing Afrikaners to resolve whatever
differences they had."
But Ndou said the Herald's comparison
displayed ignorance as the Afrikaners
in question were "an armed terrorist
group fighting for a separate homeland"
whereas in Zimbabwe it was just a
stayaway.
It also comes in the wake of an evident upsurge in state
terror which has
seen the arrest and torture of civic activists and
opposition politicians
who include the Movement for Democratic Change
vice-president, Gibson
Sibanda, detained on Monday andremanded in custody on
Wednesday for
allegedly mastermind-ing the two-day stayaway last
month.
In separate interviews this week, human rights activists
warned that civil
society has had enough of government's harassment and that
protests were
unavoidable.
"Remember that civil society today is
more mass-based," said Reginald
Matchaba-Hove of the Zimbabwe Election
Support Network.
"There is so much that we are doing on the ground
and the people now rely
more on us than the
government."
Matchaba-Hove said while the government's totalitarian
tactics of
emasculating civil society through infiltration and formation of
rival
groups appeared to have worked to a degree, civil society was still
growing
and well supported by the oppressed population.
"We all
know that once you tighten things too much it boomerangs. So too
much
(repressive) legislation will lead to more activity and resistance,"
said
Matchaba-Hove.
He said organisations that appeared to have been cowed
through government
meddling were now being rejuvenated.
"Yes,
civil society is not as strong as it should be but much is happening
to
improve this. On top of government meddling we had the formation of the
MDC
which took with it a number of active members. So now is the time to
rebuild
and the curve is growing upwards," he said.
He said since the
appointment of the new national chairman, Arnold Tsunga,
ZimRights was
changing its image and there was some improvement.
Since the firing
of David Chimhini four years ago the organisation has been
seen to be
ineffective. The clergy have also been seen to be directionless
and mute in
the wake of ever-mounting state-terror.
Only last week it emerged
that the Zimbabwean Catholic bishops had protested
to their South African
counterparts over criticism of President Mugabe's
government and support for
Archbishop Pius Ncube.
Human rights activist Brian Kagoro said civil
society was now more
integrated than before and was working in coalition
leading to the
impression that some organisations were doing less than others
were.
"Some of these organisations that you are talking about are
working in
coalition and I can tell you that they are involved in
capacity-building,
civic education, torture documentation and so on," he
said.
The new farmers failed to grow enough
wheat last year and the few who
planted winter wheat could not harvest it in
time because of lack of
machinery. This year's countrywide crop failure could
have been minimised if
the farmers were able to restore irrigation facilities
to the same level as
displaced commercial farmers.
Farming sources
this week said the government wanted commercial farmers in
wheat producing
areas of Mashonaland East, West and Central to return. The
start of the wheat
production season is less than six months away and
government is keen to
improve production to cut down on imports.
CFU officials said
information at their disposal indicated that some of the
290 commercial
farmers called to the Department of Lands and Rural
Resettlement to discuss
the position of their farms could be considered for
restoration of their
properties.
"We are aware that some farmers have been called to
discuss compensation
issues," an official said.
"Government wants
to use that chance to get agriculture back on its feet,"
he
said.
Government last week invited farmers throughout the country to
come and
discuss the status of their properties. Eighty-seven farmers
from
Mashonaland West are on the list, representing 33% of the 290
farmers
invited.
Justice for Agriculture chairman Dave Connoly
said a total of 290 farms had
been visited by Agriculture and Rural Extension
Services (Arex) officials
for valuations.
"Government has no money to compensate all these farmers," Connoly said.
"Properties on the
list range from highly mechanised farms to those with
limited activity," he
said.
CFU chief executive Gerry Davidson said there had been no
official
communication about returning farms to their original
owners.
"No official communication to that effect has been forwarded
to us,"
Davidson said.
"We do, however, understand that government
wants to revive agriculture in
the shortest time possible and the easiest way
would be through bringing
back some of the displaced farmers who are skilled
and have machinery," he
said.
Davidson said the CFU would leave
individual farmers to make their own
decisions on the matter because of the
risks now involved in the
agricultural sector.
"Government should
guarantee the safety of the farmers if they are to return
to their farms. I
am convinced that a good number of farmers are prepared to
come because
farming is their only source of income," he said.
Farmers said they
wanted a restoration of the rule of law and respect for
property rights if
government genuinely wanted them to return to
their
properties.
The CFU said the down-turn in agricultural
production over the past three
years was directly linked to the displacement
of their expertise and
machinery under the land reform
programme.
The CFU said maize production by commercial farmers had
fallen from 810 000
tonnes in 2000 to an estimated 80 000 in 2003. The fall
in production this
season has seriously affected maize seed production which
would limit
production next year.
"Wheat production has fallen
from 280 000 tonnes in 2001 to 115 000 tonnes
in 2002. Production in 2003
will be limited by water shortage in dams and
river systems and lack of
infrastructure - irrigation equipment.
Marketing of wheat, which is
controlled, will also not encourage the few
farmers who have irrigation
facilities to grow wheat," the CFU said.
"We discussed this matter
with the chair of the troika (Howard), and agreed
that it would not serve a
useful purpose," Mbeki said.
"The reason for that is because the
Commonwealth chair had asked for a
meeting six months after our meeting in
London (March 19 2002) instead of 12
months and, out of respect for him, we
agreed to meet (in Abuja), at which
point he wanted us to impose additional
sanctions on Zimbabwe."
Mbeki's statement comes as it emerges that
Commonwealth secretary-general
Don McKinnon's report on Zimbabwe shows the
situation has not improved in
key areas since Harare's suspension last
year.
Diplomatic sources say the report, which is yet to be
officially released,
indicates no progress on issues of democracy, human
rights, the press, the
judiciary and the chaotic land reform
exercise.
Meeting again after Abuja, Mbeki said, was not necessary.
"We knew what the outcome of the meeting would be and
therefore there was no
point to the meeting," Mbeki said. "He agreed to that
and said, indeed, it
would be a waste of time because we knew what the
outcome would be."
Mbeki said Howard wanted the ban reviewed after
March 19, while Obasanjo and
himself thought it would expire
automatically.
"He raised the matter of what we do with regard to the
sanctions, and we
said, as a troika we had agreed (last year) unanimously to
impose
suspensions on Zimbabwe from councils of the Commonwealth for 12
months, and
that was the penalty that was imposed," said
Mbeki.
"The penalty was agreed, includ-ing by the chair of the
Common-wealth. As I
was saying, we discharged our mandate."
Mbeki
said Obasanjo and him-self never proposed the lifting of
thesuspension, as
widely reported inthe media, because the ban would have
elapsed on its
own.
However, Howard has said the troika was supposed to meet to
review the
Zimbabwe situation based on McKinnon's report. Mbeki and Obasanjo
argued in
Abuja last September that no decision should be made then because
it would
pre-empt a final decision at the end of the 12-month period. They
have now
arbitrarily decided not to make that decision and abandoned the
final stage
of the clearly delineated Coolum process, critics
charge.
Meanwhile, Leon has demanded the release of the Commonwealth
report on
Zimbabwe.
"This report should be published by President
Mbeki in South Africa so that
our own foreign policy-making can be more
coherent and transparent," he said
during a visit to London this
week.
"It is my understanding that the report paints an extremely
negative picture
of the situation on the ground in Zimbabwe, hence the
disagreement in the
troika leadership," Leon said.
However, the
Commonwealth Secretariat yesterday told the Independent "there
are no plans
to publish the report".
Leon made his remarks after holding talks
with senior British officials,
MPs, and McKinnon.
Mudzuri said he wanted his opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
to be a part of the
committee.
"The MDC has the majority in terms of representation in
Harare and excluding
them is not acceptable at all," said
Mudzuri.
Mudzuri said the council should lead any such committee.
"I made it clear to the minister that any such committee
must be led by the
elected council and the responsible ministry and not by
Zanu PF and war
veterans," he said.
The illegal settlements that
Chombo is trying to legalise include Whitecliff
near Kuwadzana, Sally Mugabe
Heights on Echo Farm in Borrowdale, Chaminuka
Housing scheme along Seke Road
and another settlement at Hopley Estate.
There is also another illegal
settlement at Acorn Farm in Borrowdale.
The Ministry of Local
Government still controls Dzivarasekwa, Kuwadzana
extension, and Hatcliffe
extension.
"These were meant to be temporary settlements and
conditions there remain
poor. There are no roads and no proper reticulation
system," said Mudzuri.
Mudzuri called them "creations of central
government" and said the council
would adopt them only after they had been
fully developed.
"There is need for the central government to first
build the required
infrastructure and inject capital to the council to
upgrade them.
"They cannot just be handed over to council when they
are substandard. The
other major problem is that some of these settlements
such as Whitecliff and
Sally Mugabe Heights have legal wrangles and the
ministry must first solve
such issues," said Mudzuri.
He accused the government of ignoring the Urban Councils Act.
"The Act, no
matter how defective it might be, clearly stipulates that any
plans have to
include the relevant authority. They have been going round
this and later ask
the council to regularise these settlements. It's not
feasible," he
said.
The mayor said Harare caters for a population of 4,5 million,
which also
includes the dormitory towns of Ruwa, Norton and Chitungwiza. He
said the
council's facilities such as sewerage disposal and the dumpsites
were
already overstretched and connecting the illegal settlements to the
existing
infrastructure was not sustainable.
"Movement of maize, maize meal, wheat and wheat
flour from one specified
area to another without a valid Movement Permit or
private trading in these
commodities is illegal," the notice
said.
"GMB hereby reminds farmers and members of the public that
failure to comply
with the above statutes may lead to
prosecution."
The government issued Statutory Instrument 235A in 2001
which made it
illegal to sell maize to any persons other than the GMB.
Another statutory
instrument, 387 of 2001, makes it an offence for any person
to fail to
deliver maize to the GMB within 14 days of harvest unless there is
a
specific exemption.
The invoking of the statutory instrument
comes despite the maize producer
price increases late last month. The
producer price of maize was raised from
$28 000 to $130 000 a tonne.
Agriculture minister Joseph Made said the GMB
would not change the selling
price to millers. Millers buy maize at $9 600 a
tonne.
Commercial
Farmers Union executive officer Gerry Davidson said the informal
market
remains lucrative.
"Farmers are still attracted to the informal
market and most of them have
been selling green maize cobs," said
Davidson.
He said the raids last year had greatly affected commercial farmers.
"The maize that was targeted last year belonged to the farm
labourers.
Most ended up starving as they failed to get any maize from
the GMB," said
Davidson.
He said the few commercial farmers who
grew maize last year have not yet
been raided. He said the commercial farmers
use combine harvesters and they
will only start harvesting later this month.
Peasant farmers who normally
harvest manually have just started and are thus
being targeted.
The inspectors have been deployed in Mashonaland
East, Mashonaland West and
Mashonaland Central.
Despite the raids
last year, most maize found its way onto the informal
market and was being
sold at exorbitant prices. Police spokesperson,
Assistant Commissioner Wayne
Bvudzijena, said last year's operation was a
success.
"We managed
to stop the wholesale movement of maize at the roadblocks we
erected,"
Bvudzijena said.
He said the police would continue with the operation
this year.
The delegation will include
director of foreign investments for the Southern
Africa region, Dr Rajab
Mansour, and Mustafa Tayeb-Khattabi, head of the
Libyan Arab Africa
Investment company. Representatives from three other
companies reportedly
interested in building a hotel in Kariba and investing
in shoe and plastic
manufacturing as well as in cold storage will also form
part of the
delegation.
Libyan Arab Africa Investment company general manager
Rajab Lasswad said his
firm had interests in Zimbabwe.
"We as a
company have Zimbabwe in our plans. As you know, we have invested
in the
Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG) and we are still prepared to take other
options
in the country," he said.
To date the company has acquired a 14%
stake in RTG. The Libyans have also
acquired vast tracts of prime land whose
location the government is keeping
secret.
Last December
Tayeb-Khattabi said his company was reconsidering investment
in a
water-bottling venture after they opted out of a deal with Ibbo
Mandaza's
Juliasdale-based Mvura-Amanzi.
The Zimbabwe Investment Centre and
Libyan sources said the trip would be a
follow-up to the 2000 trip which saw
Zentuti hold high-profile discussions
with the Lesotho and Swazi governments
on investment opportunities in the
construction and manufacturing
industries.
The Libyans' visit follows last year's reports that
unspecified Libyans were
eyeing the country's biggest platinum producer, the
Hartley Mine owned by
Zimbabwe Platinum Mines as part of an oil barter
deal.
Of late the Libyans have been reported to be upping their
demands in the
country after Zimbabwe's failure to service a US$60 million
line of credit
for fuel deliveries.
The Libyan ambassador to
Zimbabwe was not reachable for comment yesterday.
Taken on a
government-organised tour of damage allegedly caused during the
recent
stayaway, Banda gave a little lecture on colonial imbalances that
appeared to
have been borrowed from his hosts and proceeded to suggest
"certain elements"
wanted to take over the country's resources.
But Africa would
continue to support Zimbabwe and President Mugabe's
leadership which the
continent endorsed, Banda said.
"You can be rest assured (sic) that
you will ultimately win. The indigenous
people of this country will
ultimately win," he said.
These remarks were made on the very day
that election results released for
Highfield and Kuwadzana showed that the
indigenous voters of the nation's
capital had decisively rejected President
Mugabe for the fourth time in as
many years.
Harare gave Mugabe
and his henchmen the boot in February 2000, June 2000,
March 2002 and last
weekend. It must be obvious to all but the most obtuse
observers - and that
certainly includes Banda - that the MDC would win a
democratic poll hands
down.
How many times does the Zambian High Commissioner and the
complicit
diplomats who allowed themselves to be led by the nose around
Harare and
Chinhoyi on Monday propose to ignore the democratic will of the
Zimbabwean
people while swallowing hook, line and sinker whatever they are
told by the
Department of Information and a highly-partisan
police?
Banda needs to go back and read what the Ghanaian observer
group had to say
about the presidential poll last March before he cites
continental approval
for the electoral theft that took place under the very
eyes of some of the
diplomats on Monday's tour. And what "resources" are
"enemies" trying to get
their hands on?
Why would anybody want to
take responsibility for the fastest shrinking
economy in the world?
Agriculture, mining, tourism and manufacturing no
longer offer returns to the
investor after they have been sabotaged and
crippled by government policies.
Ask France's Accor or Malaysian investors
why they can no longer make a
profit here.
And apart from undergraduate expressions of solidarity,
what tangible
support has the rest of Africa given to the millions of
Zimbabweans facing
starvation as a direct result of Mugabe's
misrule?
If he has been quoted accurately, Banda has broken the first
rule of
diplomacy by interfering in Zimbabwe's internal affairs. It is a
shocking
reflection of this government's view of their gullibility that
only
diplomats from Africa were invited on its tour of "bomb damage".
Other
diplomats were not asked precisely because they would have adopted a
less
indulgent approach. Who is to say who caused the petrol-bomb damage
in
Chinhoyi? Has anyone been found guilty yet? If not, why is Banda and
his
colleagues finding opponents of President Mugabe guilty?
Who
bombed the premises of the Daily News in 2000 and 2001? Why did Banda
not
enquire about those cases where nobody has been brought to trial, or
the
bombing of the Voice of the People radio station where the culprits
roam
free?
But the most important question for Banda and his
myopic colleagues from 17
embassies and high commissions is this: What have
you said about
state-sponsored violence against the people of Zimbabwe? Which
of you have
raised your voices against arbitrary arrests, torture, or
other
unconstitutional attempts to prevent the opposition from
functioning?
As the MDC pointed out in a statement this week, Banda's
comments amount to
"tacit approval of the murder and torture that is going on
today".
The party noted that the Zambian High Commission is not far
from the Avenues
Clinic where hundreds of MDC supporters are being treated
for assault and
torture on a daily basis.
It may be unreasonable
to judge those diplomats who did not speak out on
Monday. But none have
dissociated themselves from the remarks of their dean.
Do they all seriously
believe President Mugabe and his brutal party are
going to remain in power
forever? Do they think Zimbabwe has no future
beyond this era of
repression?
Banda and his colleagues need to look beyond their
current focus to an era
of democracy and freedom in this country. Then we
will be asking them to
account for the partisan and unprofessional positions
they have adopted now.
The country's
domestic debt, which stood at $205 billion in December 2001,
rose
dramatically to $346 billion by the end of December 2002.
The
country's foreign payment arrears continued to build up during 2002 and
are
forecast to have ended the year at US$1,5 billion up from US$700 million
in
2001.
In its report after studying the country's economic situation
from February
25 to March 13 a seven-member IMF team said while budget
implementation was
reasonably good in 2002, quasi-fiscal expenditures to
support certain
economic sectors through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
required
sizeable domestic financing.
The IMF said: "This was
accommodated by loose monetary policy that
intensified inflationary pressures
and has left interest rates highly
negative in real terms, imposing a heavy
tax on savers, encouraging
excessive borrowing, and increasing financial
sector vulnerability. These
pressures also led to a rapid depreciation of the
exchange rate in the
parallel market, a flight to quality assets that
contributed to record
increases in real estate and stock prices, and hoarding
of goods."
Consumers are now faced with various shortages of basic
commodities such as
cooking oil, sugar, salt, and soap.
The
country is also facing a severe fuel shortage, which has almost
ground
industry to a halt.
Analysts said resolution of the current
economic crisis required that
Zimbabwe, as a country maps out a comprehensive
programme of action,
encompassing government, business and
labour.
Major areas where commonality of purpose and companies would
have to be
struck include sustainable exchange rate management, prudent
monetary and
fiscal policy management, inflation stabilisation, and poverty
alleviation
and food security.
They said efforts should also be
made to improve relations with the
international community and enhance
international partnerships.
The IMF said pervasive price controls and
other policies, such as the Grain
Marketing Board (GMB) monopoly, contributed
to shortages, damaged business
confidence, drove up prices, and created room
for rent-seeking activities.
"The intensification of exchange and
price controls in November resulted in
further damage to production and new
shortages," the IMF said.
It said in the past two years, Zimbabwe had suffered from bad weather.
"Structural changes in agriculture related
to the way in which the land
reform was implemented also affected
agricultural production," the IMF said.
"In recognition of Zimbabwe's
grave food security situation, foreign donors
have provided large amounts of
humanitarian aid, but other donor assistance
has been curtailed because of
concerns over governance issues. However,
Zimbabwe's economic difficulties
also reflect weaknesses in past economic
policies."
The Fund said
the country's economy had experienced a progressive and sharp
deterioration
in the last four years.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) declined by
about 30%, and was still
contracting.
Inflation doubled in each of
the last two years to reach 200% at the end of
2002.
It is now pegged at 220,9%.
There are widespread shortages, poverty and
unemployment have risen, and the
HIV/Aids pandemic is
worsening.
At least 2 500 people are dying weekly in Zimbabwe because
of the HIV/Aids
pandemic.
This has adversely affected the
country's skilled personnel resource base.
In an interview with
Malaysia's Malay Mail on Wednesday, Leong said: "We met
with the Zimbabwe
officials during the recent Non-Aligned Movement meeting
here and they asked
us to delay the construction of the farm."
Zimbabwe sent a
high-powered business delegation to the Nam meeting held in
Malaysia last
month where they tried to market the country to nations of the
Far
East.
Leong said the Zimbabwe officials had told Confarm that a
decision on when
the venture would get the green light would be made either
in December or
January next year.
Last year, Confarm signed an
agreement with the Agricultural Research and
Development Authority of
Zimbabwe (Arda) to set up an integrated poultry
farm in
Zimbabwe.
The farm, expected to produce between 200 000 and 300 000
eggs a day was
supposed to begin operations next year, while construction
works were
supposed to start by this year.
"So far we have not done any construction works on the farm," Leong said.
"We will wait
until we get the go-ahead and the delay will not have an
impact on the
company as it is only an investment. We are not too dependent
on the venture.
Our core business is still the supply of eggs and poultry to
the local
market."
According
to reports and given the circumstances, it is obvious that
elements of the
CIO, the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the army are involved.
As if in
support of that, on the periphery we have the repulsively feral
wife of our
army commander meting out her own brand of savagery. The fact
that no effort
whatsoever is made to bring any of these perverted criminals
to justice, not
to mention the end of a rope, is bad enough. Far worse
though are the filthy
acts involved, prominently reported and no doubt well
documented. They bear
repeating here, if only in the hope that publicity
will stop
them.
We read with revulsion of electric shocks applied to genitals;
urinating on
hapless victims; forcing a woman to sexually engage the
condom-covered
barrel of a government issued AK-47 rifle while making
appropriate noises of
pleasure and in the presence of her six-year-old son;
forcing her to
publicly urinate around her ankles while standing naked;
forcing her and
other people to drink their own or other's urine; forcing
tortured captives
to lick the floor clean of urine; forcing night-clubbers to
strip naked and
roll around the floor while beating them with a variety of
clubs and whips,
including those enhanced with wire and barbed wire; forcing
other
night-clubbers elsewhere to strip naked and engage in sexual
intercourse
with other similarly bestially treated patrons; beating senseless
those
males unable to have an erection; and God knows what other
sexual
obscenities and violence which cannot be decently reported in
family
newspapers.
Despite one case being presented with
photographic and other substantiated
evidence from reputable people, "an army
spokesman", one Colonel Ben Ncube,
averred:"It never happened." At least the
principal police spokesman is,
questionably, more honest as in most cases of
any kind he is mute and
prefers, as here, to say nothing.
The army
is on record as saying too that it knows nothing of other very
recent
incidents, despite hordes of AK-47-wielding, partly uniformed thugs
being
observed to arrive at premises in vehicles of the type supplied to
the
military by both the UK and Austria.
They may have been
missing their registration plates in at least one
instance, but they were not
of the type or colour employed in the private
sector.
The
perpetrators of these unspeakable acts of horror cannot be viewed as
human.
They are nothing more nor less than a sub-human cultural product of
the very
society they are terrorising.
It is a society in which wife-beating,
child abuse and baby rape feature all
too often. So perhaps we are reaping
what we tolerantly sow. The so-called
men involved are not only Godless. They
are beyond redemption and should be
exterminated.
Above all, they
are members of supposedly "disciplined" uniformed forces and
this brings
direct responsibility to the office of the commander-in-chief of
the armed
forces. This is a function of Robert Mugabe and he has only
himself to blame
for those who will charge him with direct responsibility
for this state of
affairs.
They will rightly single him out for retributive treatment.
Whether he
deserves this as a result of his acts of commission or omission
is
debatable, but sitting where he does, it has to be one or the other.
His
likening of himself to "ten Hitlers" suggests the
former.
"Those who play with fire will not only be burnt but consumed
by that fire"
only reinforces the opinion. Shades of Auschwitz, Belsen and
Dachau!
In truth though, no matter what his fevered imagination may tell
him, Mugabe
is not even one-tenth the man that Hitler was. The unusual
moustache is
similar as is the incandescent racial hatred he preaches. Both
fuehrer and
president stand accused of genocide - so they are similar in
that.
Hitler was as bombastic as Mugabe is rhetorical. He too showed
signs of
irrationality and mental instability. He was not, however, craven -
at least
not at the height of his popularity. He was not, for instance, a
man
publicly seen to be frightened to walk among his own subjects. Above
all,
when the game was up he recognised the then equivalent of the red card
and
removed himself from the field.
Is it too much to expect a
chicken-hearted Jongwe to do the same and pave
the way for a rebuilding of
Zimbabwe and the lives of its people?
Unfortunately the answer is probably
"yes", leaving the one-sided struggle
for change to continue.
Post
nubila phoebus,
Borrowdale.
Zim Independent
Muckraker
Mandaza Circus ensemble
tours Baghdad
CONGRATULATIONS to ZTV for supplying us in these
troubled times with
first-class entertainment. We refer of course to Ibbo
"Five Farms" Mandaza's
Invasion of Iraq nightly TV programme.
Viewers
seem to be reacting in record numbers to this clumsy - but amusing -
attempt
to divert our attention from the Iraq all around us - the one Zanu
PF has
created.
Despite his years of experience in hosting one-sided programmes
of this
sort, Mandaza doesn't appear to have improved his skills as a
presenter.
"Tonight we're going to focus on, um er, what some people, um
er, would call
the carpet bombing of Baghdad," he ventured.
And who is
referring to the "carpet bombing" of Iraq? Well, Mandaza of
course and his
panel who comprise the usual suspect from the media
commission plus a couple
of willing helpers prepared to assist in averting
the nation's gaze from the
real issues of tyranny and misrule closer to
home.
Last Friday,
Mandaza was joined "as usual on my right" by Tafataona Mahoso,
plus a Belgian
journalist who didn't seem to mind being associated with this
one-sided and
partisan discussion, and Jamell Asani who declared that he
detected a
"Zionist hand behind everything".
It was downhill from then on as
panellists competed to advertise their
anti-American credentials. The
invasion of Iraq had opened the world's eyes
to America's imperialist agenda,
Asani ventured.
"A lot of people have been looking up to the US as the,
um er, what is it
called?"
"Epitome." Mandaza helpfully
suggested.
"Yes that's right, the epitome of democracy," Asani staggered
on.
Mandaza's long-winded questions often proved longer than the answers
he was
soliciting as he steered the discussion along the pre-ordained path.
Mahoso'
s claim that "we are seeing an attack on media institutions" for
instance
was allowed to pass without anybody asking which country he was
talking
about. His view that pictures of US prisoners and casualties were
likely to
shock people back home who supported the war was at complete
variance with
polls which show a surge of support for George W Bush and Tony
Blair as the
war becomes more protracted.
Bush would become "one of
those presidents who go into hiding and cannot run
for office again", Mahoso
suggested, the wish no doubt being father to the
thought.
As a number
of callers have suggested, the panellists are motivated largely
by the fear
that they will be next, so any setback to the US and UK war plan
is welcome
in their eyes.
The absence of depth or balance was matched by the studio
production which
was supervised by Tazzen Mandizvidza. The camera was
occasionally adrift, at
the end zooming in on the floor. A cellphone went off
half way through
without its owner noticing. And the lights came on and went
off, no doubt in
an attempt to create the impression of a Baghdad air raid!
Despite repeated
criticism of CNN, BBC and Sky, their footage was hijacked to
give the
programme its context.
The star of the show last week was
undoubtedly Eddison Zvobgo who committed
heresy by suggesting some regimes
were so heinous that they could not be
defended.
"Dictators could not
hide behind issues of sovereignty," he advised,
endorsing the legitimacy of
UN Security Council resolution 1441. "When a
leader is determined to kill his
own people he should be flushed out," the
Masvingo MP declared.
These
pointed remarks so infuriated the politicians behind the Iraq show
that ZBC
was commissioned to go out on the streets to place Zvobgo on trial.
But the
veteran lawyer was unperturbed. "It was sad to take a debate from
the table,
misinterpret it and run with it in the streets," he told the
Daily
News.
Now he knows how Tsvangirai feels!
Still with the deliberate
misinterpretation of legal opinions, the Herald
appears to be under the
impression that Guardian correspondent Andrew
Meldrum, who was prosecuted
under Aippa, had his case "deferred" while he
challenged the
constitutionality of the Act in the Supreme Court.
In fact he was
acquitted of the charges under Aippa in a magistrate's court.
The government
then tried to deport him even though he was a permanent
resident. When he won
the right to stay in the High Court, the state was
given leave to appeal to
the Supreme Court. A rather different set of
circumstances to those reported
in the Herald!
As for prosecutor Thabani Mpofu, the target of the
Herald's story, he was
entitled to make whatever arguments he thought
appropriate to obtain a
conviction in that and any other case. He was
certainly never seen as an
ally of the defence and if he suggested Meldrum
would not be jailed for
publishing falsehoods, perhaps it was because he
thought this was the best
way of securing a conviction in a case that was
looking decidedly shaky.
The Herald suggests that according to sources in
the Ministry of Justice
Mpofu's continued presence in the public prosecutor's
office would lead to a
loss of public confidence in the public
service.
Really? We would have thought that this further example of
executive
interference in the judicial process would have led to a loss of
public
confidence in the public service.
When President Thabo Mbeki
next attempts to persuade the Commonwealth that
Zimbabwe has made progress in
the administration of justice we must draw
this case to his
attention.
While the Herald's court reporting in the Meldrum case may be
dodgy, its
reporting in the Nkalacase last Saturday was
positivelyriveting.
Under cross-examination from Advocate Erik Morris,
Detective Assistant
Inspector Refias Masuna said he had not heard the rumour
that Bulawayo war
veterans' leader Cain Nkala was kidnapped and murdered
because he was about
to spill the beans on circumstances surrounding the
disappearance of MDC
activist Patrick Nabanyama.
"Cain Nkala's death
was very convenient for some people," Morris pointed
out, but "certainly not
to the MDC".
He suggested that Nkala was murdered possibly because his
killers wanted to
prevent him from spilling the beans about Nabanyama and for
the powers that
be to stage-manage, in the "most disgraceful way", the
exhumation of Nkala's
body for propaganda purposes.
He queried why the
police had to wait for Reuben Barwe, a ZBC reporter, to
film indications
during police investigations.
Masuna said he had no comment as to how ZBC
got to the scene. "People who
were in charge are better placed to answer
that."
Quizzing the detective about anomalies and contradictions in
police
evidence, Morris appeared dissatisfied by the responses he
got.
"Let me remind you," he told Masuna, "today is Friday and not
lie-day.
Indications were made on November 13 (2001) to allow the ZBC, led by
its
reporter Reuben Barwe, to film the indications in the exhumation,
weren't
they?" Rules were first not followed and then subsequently followed,
Morris
suggested.
"That much I don't know," Masuna replied.
The
Nkala murder investigation was "unique", Morris said, because details of
the
police diary, police evidence and other evidence differed in
several
aspects.
"I don't think there is one single statement that
agrees with any other," he
argued. "Every piece of evidence given tells a
different story."
The Zanu PF regime is beginning to feel the effects of
its isolation judging
by a recent Comment in the Herald. It was "outrageous",
the Herald said,
"that the opposition party can openly blackmail a sitting
government without
any outrage from either the region or those that have been
quick to express
concern about the consequences of instability to their own
countries".
That was the first give-away. Here's another from the same
editorial: "It is
interesting to note that although almost everyone in the
Commonwealth is
agreed that the extension (of Zimbabwe's suspension) was
illegal, none of
the countries that have been expressing concern over the
situation in
Zimbabwe have attempted to reverse the illegal
suspension."
That looks remarkably like the same target. Just in case you
weren't sure
which country the Herald was having a go at, here's the final
kick in the
teeth: "Not so long ago South Africa arrested whites linked to a
spate of
extremist bombings and threats to topple the government, seizing
almost a
tone of explosives and arms that were clearly designed to kill and
create
mayhem. No one called for dialogue between the South African
government and
the white right-wing Afrikaners in order to resolve whatever
differences
they had."
The paper asked if any parallels could be drawn
between the South African
situation and threats made by Morgan Tsvangirai to
destabilise the country.
The answer is no. Firstly, the bombing campaign
by the Boeremag has led to
calls for dialogue between the ANC government and
the "Committee of 63"
academics who point out that the campaign is the
product of alienation of
Afrikaners by government's anglicisation policies.
The Committee of 63
contains individuals who have long advocated a policy of
dialogue with the
ANC and are opposed to violence.
Secondly, in
Zimbabwe nobody believes police claims about a "terrorist
threat" from the
MDC. We all know who the real terrorists are.
But we are pleased to have
growing evidence of a regime assailed by even its
friends. Wasn't it just a
couple of weeks ago that President Mugabe was
claiming support from Africa,
NAM, the non-white Commonwealth etc?
Mugabe and his cronies should learn
a lesson from Highfield and Kuwadzana:
CIO - Change is
Obvious.
Finally, a senior radio reporter in Swaziland who has been
pretending to be
reporting live from the war front in Iraq has been exposed
as a fraud, BBC
News Online reports.
Phesheya Dube who works for the
state broadcaster, Radio Swaziland, was
spotted in parliament by eagle-eyed
MPs when he was purportedly in Iraq.
Since the start of the war on Iraq,
Dube had been reporting on the English
language The Morning Show.
The
programme's presenter helped in the charade, by wishing Dube well and
telling
him to "find a cave somewhere to be safe from the missiles" after he
filed
his pieces.
But it appears he had just followed reports on the war from
international
radio and television networks, and then rewritten them as his
own eyewitness
material.
In parliament, MP Jojo Dlamini asked the
Information minister: "Why are they
lying to the nation that the man is in
Iraq when he is here in Swaziland,
broadcasting from a broom
cupboard?"
Swazi journalist Thulane Mthethwa in Mbabane told BBC News
Online that the
deception had now stopped, although the reporter could still
be heard on air
reporting other news.
He said that surprisingly there
has been no reaction from the public to the
radio station's underhand
practice.
It is quite remarkable what Information ministers will condone
when it is
their own reporters!
Turning of the tide in
Zimbabwe's politics
THE results this week of two Harare
by-elections contested last weekend mark
a turning point in the fortunes of
the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change - and for the
country.
The government understands this perfectly. It put its life and
soul - not to
mention its fists - into winning the two urban seats so it
could demonstrate
a national appeal. It needed to win to show that Zanu PF is
not just a party
of coerced peasant voters, with no appeal whatsoever to
people who can make
an informed choice.
The two urban seats of
Highfield and Kuwadzana had enormous symbolic
importance. Highfield, the core
township of the colonial era, was the cradle
of African nationalism in this
country. That is why Robert Mugabe claimed it
as his constituency in 1980.
Winning it back from what Zanu PF regards as an
alien and adventurist party
was therefore a major priority for Mugabe's
followers.
They put up as
their candidate the "commander-in-chief of farm invasions",
Joseph
Chinotimba, a candidate whose delinquent career in municipal service
is
emblematic of the lawless regime he serves. Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay'
s
scalp no doubt takes pride of place in his collection.
Kuwadzana was
equally important. An outlying township that has grown up
since Independence,
it was a perfect target for Zanu PF's thuggery. Many
voters were
unsophisticated newcomers to the city and the constituency
adjoined informal
settlements where the Mudede magic could be worked on the
voters' roll. Above
all people were susceptible to blandishments - what used
to be called
"treating", technically illegal. Since Learnmore Jongwe's death
in October
last year, Zanu PF has been pouring food supplies into Kuwadzana
to win the
hearts and minds of voters.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, an
umbrella body of 36 civic
organisations, reported that the polling days were
"characterised by
vote-buying, violence, abductions of observers and party
polling agents,
intimidation (and) denial of access to polling stations by
accredited
observers."
In both constituencies the electorate was under
siege. Those who could not
show membership of the ruling party were subject
to harassment and beatings.
A nightly curfew enforced by the militia ensured
that the streets belonged
to Zanu PF. A library and community hall were taken
over as militia bases in
Kuwadzana and police remained indifferent to pleas
from Mayor Elias Mudzuri
to remove them.
Despite this illegal
coercion, inducements of all sorts, registration of
"ghost voters",
saturation coverage of Zanu PF's campaign in the state
media, a barrage of
vilification against the MDC, and the complete absence
of a level electoral
playing field, the ruling party still couldn't win.
That is a formidable
feat! But it does at least prove that Mugabe is the
alien in the nation's
capital. His threats and pretensions have no purchase
here. Voters know who
is responsible for their sorry condition and they
simply won't buy Zanu PF's
childish stories about a foreign conspiracy.
Indeed, this is as much a
defeat for his message as it is for Mugabe. A
steady torrent of lies and
deceit from the government media have failed to
make the slightest impression
on Harare's residents. All Zanu PF is left to
do is comfort itself with the
pathetic belief that it has "maintained its
support base" - whatever that
is!
Mugabe is a loser. That is the central message to come out of this
week's
results. And it will not be lost on the already scheming court around
him.
It is one thing to fail in the delivery of economic goods to the
country,
another to hesitate in confronting the opposition in its
heartland
preferring instead to let police batons and militia clubs do
your
campaigning.
Reports suggest he was unhappy with the selection of
candidates. But
nevertheless, once those selections had been made he should
have supported
the candidates and braved the MDC beast in its lair, instead
of waiting for
polling day to sweep into Highfield in the safety of his
motorcade.
This is not the behaviour of a leader confidently ensconced in
the
affections of his people. The defeat of Zanu PF by such wide margins and
the
success of the stayaway represent crucial shifts in the national balance
of
power. Zanu PF's three-year campaign to prove its "national"
credentials
lies in tatters on the streets of Harare. It remains a party of
rural exile
while the MDC has proved more than a flash in the
pan.
Zanu PF may have bought the support of the police and the army. But
they
have lost the battle for hearts and minds where it matters most - in
the
nation's rapidly expanding urban centres. The opposition,
seriously
disheartened by a number of setbacks in recent months, has shown
remarkable
resilience and tenacity. Now their patience has been rewarded.
They have
retained the confidence of voters who have demonstrated enormous
bravery in
the face of criminal brutality.
Make no mistake, Zanu PF is
losing the struggle for Zimbabwe's future. The
end is not in sight yet as
they marshal their forces of oppression. And the
MDC would be foolish to
throw away their advantage by adopting tactics that
have not been fully
thought through.
But the last two weeks of March have provided a turning
point. Repression as
a policy is failing, and its sponsors have manifestly
forfeited popular
support. Zanu PF offers no prospects for its supporters and
long ago lost
any vision for the country beyond its threadbare land
rhetoric.
The MDC will now need to demonstrate leadership skills in
reaching out to
those in the failed party of power who see a future beyond
Mugabe. It will
also have to redouble its efforts to expand the scope of
civic education so
everybody understands the link-age between curtailment of
their rights and
declining living standards; between Mugabe's dictatorship
and national
collapse.
"A nation of well-informed men who have been
taught to know and prize the
rights which God has given them," Benjamin
Franklin said, "cannot be
enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that
tyranny begins."
Other letters to the Zimbabwe Independent - they are not yet on the
website but if you click the appropriate heading you will be able to read
them once they are there.
Time to
say enough is enough
THIS is yet another letter to the people of
Zimbabwe. It is not about race but about the difficulties all the races are
going through in Zimbabwe.
Catholic
complicity
I MAY have missed it but did the moral runts at the
head of the Bambazonke Anglican and Catholic dioceses have anything to say about
the arrest of 21 clergymen in Harare?
World
watches in shocked wonder
PRESIDENT Mugabe's government is
digging all of Zimbabwe into a hole into which the rest of the world is looking
in shocked wonder.
A lot
of things did change after 1980
I HOPE you will allow me to
respond to Abie Walker's letter ("Then and now - the reality", March 28).
A
Christian perspective on human rights abuses
THE wave of further
repression and state-sponsored violence following the successful stayaway on
March 18 and 19 is hardly a cause for surprise, so accustomed have we become to
the Hitlerian tactics of this regime.
Strategy
vs tactics
I AM going to start a campaign to get Eric Bloch
elected president of Zimbabwe. His column (Independent, March 28) is nothing
short of genius.
Shame
on the UN
THE countrywide violence by the army and police against
ordinary citizens that followed President Mugabe's shameless Hitler speech at
Heroes Acre has been condemned around the world.