New Zimbabwe govt sets 100-day target for economy

http://af.reuters.com

Sat Apr 4, 2009 10:54am GMT

HARARE, April 4 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's new government hopes to start seeing
results from an economic recovery plan after 100 days, state media reported
on Saturday.

The new unity government of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai faces the daunting task of reversing years of economic
decline marked by hyper-inflation and severe food and fuel shortages.

The administration has said its short-term emergency recovery programme
STERP will require $8.5 billion over the next two to three years. It will
depend heavily on help from Western donors and Harare wants financial
assistance from countries in the regional grouping SADC.

Mugabe, who critics blame for the country's economic crisis, told a
government reconstruction summit in the resort town of Victoria Falls that
there was no time to waste. He blames Western sanctions for Zimbabwe's
economic downfall.

"It is our collective hope that after the 100 days, the country will begin
experiencing a firm and determined walk on the road to economic
stabilisation and recovery," Mugabe said.

"Honourable Prime Minister, you have the challenge of carrying this
assignment and, indeed, cabinet will look forward to your implementation of
STERP."

SADC leaders have backed the plan, although there are doubts they can offer
anything substantial. Mugabe said Zimbabwe must depend on itself.

"I should, however, hasten to point out that the mobilisation of (our) own
resources should be considered as key to the successful implementation of
STERP, with outside support being complementary," he said.

"This strategic posture is not only necessary but also prudent and
far-sighted, more so in the light of the prevailing international financial
crisis."

Tsvangirai told the meeting that while there were some outstanding issues
connected to the September power-sharing agreement, the government was
making progress.

"As both President Mugabe and I have stated, this agreement is not perfect
but it is workable. Proof of this lies in our incremental achievements to
date," Tsvangirai said.

"Together, we have overseen the opening of hospitals and schools, the taming
of hyperinflation, the lowering of prices of basic commodities and the
rationalisation of utility tariffs." (Reporting by Nelson Banya)

MDC, ZANU PF co-chair constitutional commission

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Cuthbert Nzou Saturday 04 April 2009

HARARE - Zimbabwe's three political parties in the inclusive government have
resolved to co-chair a 25-member parliamentary select committee to drive the
writing of new constitution for the country in the next 18 months as
outlined under power-sharing agreement the parties signed last year.

The move to co-chair the committee was arrived at by parliament's Standing
Rules and Orders Committee on Wednesday after ZANU PF and the two Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) formations had on Monday disagreed on who would
head the committee.

Standing Rules and Orders Committee chairperson and also House of Assembly
Speaker Lovemore Moyo confirmed the co-chairing of the constitutional
committee.

"We have resolved the differences on the chairmanship of the select
committee," he said on Friday. "The committee would be co-chaired by the
parties."

Moyo refused to give finer details of the arrangement, but parliamentary
sources said the decision to co-chair the constitutional committee was a
compromise between the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC and ZANU PF.

The sources said the MDC-T on Monday had insisted that the constitutional
committee be chaired by someone from the civic society in order to properly
manage the politics around the constitutional issue and ensure a people
driven process.

ZANU PF, the sources said, was opposed to such an arrangement. "ZANU PF
argued that allowing civic society to preside over the select committee and
its sub-committees will require amendments to the GPA," one of the sources
said.

"A meeting of the Standing Rules and Orders Committee was then held on
Wednesday and agreed to co-chair the committee as a compromise," the source
said.

The MDC-T, the sources said has already picked Nyanga North legislator
Douglas Mwonzora to represent it as chairman alongside of the constitutional
committee alongside lawmakers from ZANU PF and the other MDC lead by Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.

ZANU PF and MDC-M were by yesterday yet to appoint their representatives.

The drafting of new constitution is expected to lead to free and fair
elections once the supreme law is signed into law by the president.

According to Article 6 of the GPA, a parliamentary select committee will be
composed of legislators and representatives of civil society, but the
committee will have a final say in the drafting of the proposed
constitution.

The agreement states that the select committee should be in place two months
after the formation of the inclusive government and should convene an
"all-stakeholders" conference within three months after its appointment. The
inclusive government was formed on February 13.

The public consultation process, the pact reads, should be completed no
later than four months after the stakeholders' conference and referendum
shall be held to allow Zimbabweans to have final say on the draft
constitution.

In the event that the draft is approved in a referendum, it shall be
gazetted within a month of the date of the plebiscite and would be
introduced in parliament not later than a month after the expiration of a
period of 30 days from the date of gazetting.

Zimbabwe is currently governed under the 1979 constitution agreed at the
Lancaster House talks in London . The constitution has been amended 19 times
since the country's Independence in 1980.

An attempt to introduce a new constitution between 1999 and 2000 failed
after the NCA and other civil society organisations, backed by a nascent
MDC, successfully campaigned against a government-sponsored draft.

NCA chair Lovemore Madhuku has promised to oppose an new draft penned by
political parties without direct input from the public.

"People must write their own constitution directly, not through politicians,
parliamentarians or government. The surest way to make sure that a
constitution is respected is if it is written by the people themselves and
carries their word," Madhuku said after the signing of the GPA on September
15 2008. - ZimOnline

Chegutu farmers fear possible charges as police support land invaders

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
04 April 2009

In the clearest sign yet that some police officials are in fact supporting
the fresh wave of farm invasions sweeping the country, a Chegutu farming
family on Saturday said they fear being charged by police after land
invaders were forcibly removed from their land.

Ben Freeth and his family have been under siege by a gang of lawless land
invaders since Friday afternoon. Freeth explained on Saturday that he now
fears facing possible charges after Chegutu police were called in by the
same land invaders. This after the thugs were forcibly removed from the farm
property by the farm's employees and workers from other farms in the area,
who united against the invaders on Saturday morning.

Freeth had spent most of Friday afternoon trying to report the invasion as
well as trying to convince Chegutu police officials to come charge take on
his property. But his efforts were to no avail, and police ignored his
obvious plight. The same scenario was then repeated on Saturday when the
invaders returned in the morning after leaving late Friday night. But the
police responded within an hour, after the head invader reported that he and
his fellow invaders had been removed from the farm they were trying to
seize.

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

Tragedy hits Zimbabwe's prime minister anew with death of grandson

http://www.monstersandcritics.com

Africa News
Apr 4, 2009, 18:16 GMT

Harare - Tragedy has struck again at Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai with the death of an infant grandson, just days after Tsvangirai
returned to work after grieving the recent death of his wife.

According to an official from Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change
party, Tsvangirai's infant grandson died in a drowning accident Saturday at
the family's Harare home. The property has a swimming pool.

The official, who did not want to be named, said the boy, whose name he gave
as Sean, died while Tsvangirai was away at a political retreat in Victoria
Falls.

Tsvangirai was due to cut short his stay in Victoria Falls, where he and
other government members, including President Robert Mugabe, had been
meeting since Friday to plan a political programme for the next 100 days.

The incident comes just weeks after Tsvangirai lost his wife, Susan, in a
car collision in which he was also slightly injured.

The 57-year-old prime minister had just returned to work on Wednesday after
a period of grieving his wife.

Security Agents Interfere With Corruption Investigations

http://www.radiovop.com


HARARE, April 3 2009 - Transparency Zimbabwe International (TZI), an
anti corruption non-governmental organisation, says it is being threatened
by politicians and security agents for investigating high profile corruption
within the public service.

The organisation's Executive Director Mary Jane Ncube, told RadioVOP
that powerful politicians and the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO)
have threatened the organisation over the past two weeks. She however
refused to reveal the names of those threatening her, for fear of
victimisation.

"We have received threats from high profile civil servants and
politicians who want to stop us from carrying out investigations in the
public service - where we have received a number of tip-offs pertaining to
corrupt activities including the issue ghost workers," said Ms Ncube.

Ncube said since the formation of the inclusive government in
February, her organisation has received thousands of corruption reports
mainly from the Reserve bank and the public service.

"People now feel free to report corruption since the inclusive
government came on board, because they had been for a long time living in
fear," added Ncube.

Reports indicate that the public service has thousands of ghost
workers who are costing the bankrupt government a lot of money. Donors are
reported to have called for an audit in the public service if they are to
fund civil servants salaries.

Transparent International Zimbabwe was launched 12 years ago but has
not been very effective owing to government's interference in the operations
of Non-Governmental Organisations.

The Ministry of Education recently unearthed massive corruption by the
Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council, ZIMSEC, after hundreds of ghost
markers found their way on the examination markers list forwarded to
Minister David Coltart, forcing him to amend the list and delay the payment
of markers.

In an interview with RadioVOP, Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
(PTUZ)'s national treasurer Laudious Zunde, said Coltart revealed in a
stakeholders meeting held Tuesday, that the examination payment schedule
forwarded to him by ZIMSEC had a lot of irregularities and he had ordered a
thorough audit before disbursing payments.

Zunde said some markers names were listed more than once under
different identification numbers and that an emended schedule had to be
resubmitted to the minister.

'Zim diamonds a no-go'

http://www.iol.co.za

    April 03 2009 at 10:01PM

The global diamond certification body on Friday ordered a ban on trade
in diamonds from eastern Zimbabwe over concerns about human rights
violations.

President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, Avi Paz said the
decision to ban the Zimbabwe diamonds follows reports of violations of the
Kimberly Process - a system meant to prevent trade in conflict diamonds.

The ban affects only the Marange deposits in eastern Zimbabwe, where
local media have reported of forced evictions of small-scale miners.

"The WFDB and its membership worldwide are committed to do all it can
to prevent conflict diamonds from Zimbabwe or from any other source for that
matter to be traded by our members," Paz said in a statement.

The group only allows its member bourses to trade in diamonds that are
accompanied by a Kimberly Process certificate, meant to guarantee that the
gems are not fuelling conflicts.

"Any bourse member who trades in rough diamonds without KP
certification is liable for expulsion from his bourse, which in all
practical terms means the exclusion from the entire diamond business
community," Paz said.

Government officials made no immediate reaction as they are attending
a weekend retreat in the resort town of Victoria Falls.

Last year, Zimbabwean authorities sealed off an eastern mining area,
where the state-run Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation is now
extracting up to 60 000 carats per week, according to official figures.
Sapa-AFP

WFP Suspends Aid Distribution in Masvingo

http://www.radiovop.com

MASVINGO, April 4 2009 - The World Food Program (WFP) has suspended
relief aid to HIV/AIDS patients in the province following irregularities in
food distribution by its agent, Red Cross, RadioVOP can reveal.

According to recent city council minutes, WFP has stopped issuing
flood handouts to more than six thousand HIV positive patients until Red
Cross 'institutes investigations into the anomalies.'

Greatly affected by the freeze are Masvingo Urban and Chibi districts,
which have the highest number of HIV patients.

At the last full council meeting held Monday this week, the city
council instructed the chief health officer, Zvapano Munganasa, to try and
convince WFP to lift the suspension as it has dealt a major blow to the
poverty stricken urbanites, most of whom are home based care-givers.

Red Cross provincial head, Luckson Goteka, refused to discuss the
issue with RadioVOP.

"I cannot talk to about the matter, why don't you talk to WFP," Goteka
said.

Although no official comment could be obtained from WFP, a top
official from an HIV and AIDS support group, Ambassadors Plus, confirmed the
suspension.

"We have not been receiving food handouts for the past two months
following alleged anomalies in handling the aid by Red Cross," Ambassadors
Plus Director Joshua Mavhundu said.

Mavhundu appealed to WFP to 'find other avenues through which they can
channel the food' as members of his organization, some of whom are
unemployed and bedridden, are on the receiving end.

In November last year, Red Cross (Masvingo Chapter) made headlines in
the local media for the wrong reasons after ghost HIV positive patients were
unearthed from the list of beneficiaries in a scam that also sucked in top
employees who were allegedly conniving with the locals.

Many opportunistic urbanites also fraudulently acquired HIV status
cards from the hospital and the New Start Centre, in a bid to get the free
mealie meal, cooking oil, sugar, beans, salt and porridge, among other then
scarce basic commodities.

US Says Further Reforms in Zimbabwe Will Bring Aid

http://www.voanews.com

By David Gollust
Washington
03 April 2009

The State Department said Friday the United States and other donor countries
stand ready to provide development aid to Zimbabwe, if the unity government
continues on the path to reform. Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
made a new appeal for outside assistance this week aimed at the G-20 summit
of economic powers in London.

The Obama administration had dismissed early appeals from the unity
government for reconstruction aid, contending that the mere fact that
President Robert Mugabe had brought former opponents into the government was
not sufficient for a change in assistance policy.

But it now appears to be taking a more positive view of the political
situation in Harare, even while insisting on further reforms.

The United States and European allies imposed targeted travel and economic
sanctions against Mr. Mugabe and key aides because of past electoral and
human rights abuses, and have limited aid to Zimbabwe to humanitarian
assistance delivered by non-governmental groups.

The first sign of an easing of policy came in a statement issued after a
State Department meeting of 18 potential donor countries and international
lending institutions two weeks ago.

The statement by the so-called like-minded countries commended reform
efforts by the unity government, which took office in February, and said the
donor community is ready to support Zimbabwe's rebuilding effort with
development assistance, provided there are additional reform steps.

Asked about this week's new aid appeal by Mr. Tsvangirai, State Department
Acting Spokesman Robert Wood said the statement from the March 20 meeting
reflects U.S. policy. "Provided we see further political and economic
reforms, the donor community stands ready to help rebuild Zimbabwe with
development assistance. But that hasn't happened yet, and there are a number
of things that need to take place. And, until we see further reforms, I
don't think we can make any kind of commitment right now to restore our
development assistance. However, as you know, we and others in the
international community are very focused on the humanitarian crisis in
Zimbabwe, and that's where our efforts are focused right now," he said.

Mr. Tsvangirai, in his written appeal to the G-20 summit countries, said the
unity government has already made small but significant progress in tackling
the country's economic crisis, including runaway inflation, while
acknowledging resistance to reforms by what he termed non-democratic
hardliners.

In asking for immediate outside aid, he said Zimbabweans standing up for
democratic ideals should not have to pay a further price because the new
government does not yet fulfill all of the reform terms set by would-be
donors.

The statement from the March 20 meeting here called for, among other things,
the release of all Zimbabwean political prisoners, an end to media
harassment and seizures of commercial farms and a commitment to credible
elections in a timely manner.

It said donors will work closely with the guarantors of the Harare political
accord - the African Union and southern African regional grouping SADC - in
encouraging its full implementation, and said that subject to performance by
the unity government, they will develop an appropriate framework for
re-engagement with Zimbabwe.

In the meantime, they said they would maintain, and to the extent possible,
increase, humanitarian aid programs that have collectively totaled just
under $1 billion since the beginning of last year.

Public rage over perks for new Zimbabwe ministers

http://www.guardian.co.uk

* Tsvangirai allies are allocated Mercedes cars
* Pro-Mugabe newspaper criticises high living

Maurice Gerard in Harare
The Guardian, Saturday 4 April 2009

Zimbabwe's new unity government has sparked public outcry by accepting a
succession of perks including a "retreat" to a luxury resort at Victoria
Falls this weekend and a fleet of $50,000 Mercedes vehicles for ministers
while the vast majority struggles to afford basic commodities.

The perception of officials feathering their nests is particularly awkward
for former opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his allies in the unity
government, who spent years championing the lot of ordinary Zimbabweans
during the economic collapse presided over by Robert Mugabe. It is also
likely to raise questions about the government's spending priorities, coming
just days after it issued an appeal for billions of dollars.

Officially billed as a brainstorming session on how to take the country
forward, the weekend retreat will take place at a tourist resort famed for
its five-star safari lodges and the spectacular "Mosi-I-Tunya" waterfalls,
the "smoke that thunders" in the local Shona language. Many Zimbabweans see
the trip as another junket for the politically privileged.

"It's just spitting in peoples' faces at a time when the cities are
suffering and much of the countryside is starving," said Dumisani Moyo, 39,
an office worker in the capital Harare.

The government has been quoted as saying the retreat will promote tourism,
particularly as most foreign visitors have forsaken Zimbabwe for Zambia's
side of the falls. But criticism came from the most unlikely of sources: the
slavishly pro-president Mugabe state-owned Herald daily newspaper. In a rare
show of dissent its political editor Mabasa Sasa wrote a column earlier this
week asking why politicians needed to spend "untold sums" of precious
foreign exchange to wine, dine and talk on the peoples' behalf when they
could stay in the capital Harare.

Satirising the bon viveur politicians' new taste for luxury in a rebuke all
the more stinging for its unexpectedness, Sasa said: "It would be
interesting to find out how high the bar tab will be considering the
penchant for Chivas Regal and other exotically named whiskies and cognacs
that people acquire when someone starts addressing them as Shefu [chief]".

Barely seven weeks ago many of the ministers expected to attend were in
opposition fighting for their political lives or facing the truncheons of
president Robert Mugabe's security services.

But the excursion is the culmination of a series of perks. These include the
new government's self-award of one Mercedes-Benz E-class for every minister
at a time when most Zimbabweans are struggling to afford basic commodities
such as cooking oil and the national maize staple mealie-meal.

Only one politician, MDC MP and minister for education David Coltart,
refused the Benz. He said a Mercedes was not practical for negotiating the
potholed roads of rural constituencies.

Zimbabwe's economic and financial needs meanwhile remain critical. The
regional Southern African Development Community announced this week that it
would assist Zimbabwe in trying to raise up to US$8.3bn to rebuild its
shattered economy.

The reforming MDC finance minister Tendai Biti said the country urgently
needed US$2bn in aid inflows within the next two weeks to meet its debt
obligations and pay civil servants.

Important, if modest, economic and political reforms have already taken
place under the combined auspices of Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and their
one-time enemies the Movement for Democratic change. But there are also deep
misgivings. Christopher Goche, 35, a taxi driver and MDC supporter, said he
was worried that politicians were "feathering their nests when there is a
long way to go".

Despite the national outpouring of sympathy for prime minister Tsvangirai,
whose wife died in a car accident last month, there are fears that the
former trade unionist is becoming co-opted by Mugabe much like one-time
opposition leader Joshua Nkomo was in the 1980s.

Nkomo, once the president's most popular rival, was incorporated into a
Mugabe-led government under Zimbabwe's "unity accord" in 1987.

"For the moment things are stable but one can't mistake growing
disenchantment with the new unity government barely a month after its
inception ... Tsvangirai is operating under a shadow of Nkomo," said Dr Ibbo
Mandaza, a former Zanu-PF politician and Harare-based analyst.

Tsvangirai snubs Gono over vehicles

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=14618

April 4, 2009

HARARE (Africa News) - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's office has
reportedly rejected four 4X4 vehicles allocated by the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono.

Gono reportedly made the vehicles available but the Prime Minister ordered
them returned to the Reserve Bank because it was not Gono's responsibility
to allocate vehicles.

"The Prime Minister's argument was that there is a specific body responsible
for dispensing cars to members of government, which is the CMED, and it is
not Gono's job to distribute cars," said Tafara Chiroma a CMED official
responsible for allocation of vehicle.

Gono is said to have been shocked to discover that the vehicles were still
parked at the Reserve Bank headquarters after they had been delivered.

Meanwhile, 10 members of staff in the Prime Minister's office, including
James Maridadi, his official spokesperson, have not been paid for over two
months.

The Public Service Commission has reportedly refused to formalise their
appointment.

Their details were submitted to the commission in February so that they
would be included on the government payroll but no action has since been
taken.

A source at the Tsvangirai-led MDC said that the commission, which is headed
by Mariyawanda Nzuwa, had been notified of the appointments but its
confirmation was still needed so that the 10 are included on the payroll.

When the Prime Minister's office sent the names, the commission reportedly
stated that the 10 needed to be holders of degrees.

"Fortunately all the ten have degrees and the Public Service Commission then
said they now wanted the CVs of the 10," the source said. "But up to now
nothing has been done."

Family sues police over alleged killings

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=14623

April 4, 2009

By Our Correspondent

BULAWAYO - A Bulawayo family has sued the police for allegedly lying that
they shot their son to death while he was trying to flee from arrest to
cover up for the fact that they tortured him until he died.

The police allegedly tortured to death two suspected armed robbers -
Nehemiah Vumbunu (27) and Andrew Sibanda (25) on 9 March. It is now said
that they then shot them to make it appear as if they had been shot while
fleeing from arrest.

The police said in a report that the suspected armed robbers were shot while
trying to flee arrest.

Relatives of Sibanda are now suing the police, acting through their lawyers.
They have demanded that an inquest be held into the circumstances leading to
or surrounding the death of their son. They also seek to establish what
action, if any, is being taken against the detectives involved.

"Our client requires this information in order to take the matter further,"
reads a letter addressed to Senior Assistant Commissioner Lee Muchemwa,
Officer Commanding Bulawayo, by the relatives of the late Sibanda through
their lawyers, Doreen Vundla and Christopher Dube-Banda of Dube-Banda,
Nzarayapenga and Partners.

"Unfortunately and regrettably because of the urgency of the matter, we have
to place you on terms, that unless we receive the information within seven
days, we shall file a court application to compel your office to release the
information sought."

Police sources told The Zimbabwe Times that Sibanda and Vumbunu were shot
dead at night by CID Homicide detectives in the bush in the Queens Park area
last month along Airport Road.

Sibanda was picked up by the detectives at 5am Monday morning on March 9,
together with his relatives, Esther Moyo (60), Cynthia Ncube (22) Alister
Moyo (29), and Reginald Moyo. Vumbunu had been picked up on Sunday.

"They were all taken to the same room at the CID Homicide section at
Bulawayo Central Police Station where they were beaten and tortured during
interrogation.

"They were beaten under the soles of their feet and Sibanda and Vumbunu were
subjected to heavy torture and beatings until they broke Sibanda's legs.
They were both spitting blood and collapsed several times until they could
not talk," a police officer close to the case said.

Esther Moyo, Cynthia Ncube and Alister Moyo were released the same day on
Monday evening. All their feet were swollen. They were not charged. Police
sources said the torture of the two suspected armed robbers continued until
they died.

"They left with the dead bodies in the evening in a police truck and the
next thing we received was a memo saying they had been shot while trying to
run away yet they had already died through torture," one source said.

JAG open letter forum - No. 617- Dated 2nd  APRIL 2009

Email: jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw

Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the subject
line.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. I really believe the time has come to cease the "blame game"?

2. The court cases drag on and on,

3. More urgent than aid -

4. Inspiration from this poem....

5. Good news - ZANU PF stalwart Hwarare is jailed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Dear JAG,

I really believe the time has come to cease the "blame game"? says
Patricia

Hmmmm, interesting concept. It really didn't happen?

So what we must do is let the killers, rapists and thieves off scot free
because Patricia was inspired by one church event? I guess that means
impunity wins and the little people die. Who the hell cares anyway? Is
that it?

Well, I care a whole lot and I refuse to be so flippant.

Patricia, how many of your family have been raped or murdered? How many
of your daughters have been gang raped in militia camps? I can keep going
if you want me to because I have all the details on database and that
includes the names of the perpetrators and the victims.

I, like most level headed Zimbabweans, prefer accountability for one's
actions. Africa must make criminals accountable or you just end up with a
blue-print to destroy everything to keep power at ALL costs and after
that, we ordinary people are supposed to cosy up to the killers and let
them off?

Is that what we must do?

Patricia, over my dead body!

Get real! The people need closure and that means killers need to come
clean and repent.

S Ntombi

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Dear JAG,

The court cases drag on and on, not in court, but under the Indaba Tree
on the island outside the courthouse.  Now and again we get called in to
hear it all remanded, or postponed to another date. The support is
constant since Mr Venter was railroaded, and the sandwiches get better as
well.  We are gaining support as the injustices become more apparent.
Spirits remain high, and determination is strong. Thanks

Possible jailbirds. Midlands

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Dear JAG

More urgent than aid - is the re-establishment of a credible Zimbabwean
currency - Zimbabwe must rebuild its economy with Zimbabwean money.

Calls for 'recapitalisation' are a euphemism for selling out to
foreigners in exchange for their worthless paper, and should not be
entertained. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that any purely fiat currency
printed by the Reserve Bank would be trusted by the Zimbabwean public.

My suggestion is to back the currency will gold coinage. A substantial
proportion of the public are familiar with gold, and such coinage would
soon become acceptable to the general public.

Whilst a currency based upon gold is disallowed by the IMF, I believe
that in the current circumstances this would be justified. What else is a
nation to do, in the case that the IMF withdraw reserve support for their
local currency?

There are technicalities involved in such issue, in order to prevent
attack upon the currency, and to make the scheme successful. A suggested
framework is outlined below:

- Fidelity should accept gold bullion deposits in exchange for minted
gold coins with a face value, expressed in grams of gold - suggested
denominations are 5g, 10g, 20g and 50g.

- The gold bullion content of such coins should be 90% of their face
value.

- Such coinage should be clearly marked with a date of expiry 12 months
after date of issue.

 - After date of expiry, the coins would cease to be legal tender, and
their value would be reduced to their bullion content.

- Paper currency should then be issued, denominated in tenths of grams of
gold (points) - suggested denominations are 1 point, 2 points, 5 points,
10 points and 20 points.

- Such paper currency must be freely exchangeable for gold coinage.

- Such paper currency should also be issued with an expiry date. After
expiry the paper fiat would cease to be legal tender, but would be
redeemable for gold bullion at 90% of face value.

- Standard metal coinage could be issued in smaller denominations for use
as change - denominated in hundredths of a gram.

This scheme would finance the issue of such gold coinage, energise the
gold mining sector, and prevent leakage of gold and gold coinage from the
country.

Inflation of paper fiat would not occur, provided that paper issued did
not exceed future tax revenues. A suggestion would be to allow tax
authorities (local councils), to issue such paper in such quantity and
with expiry dates, so as to exactly match bills issued for future rates
and unit taxes. This would provide an urgently needed source of cash for
local councils.

The scheme could be withdrawn or modified at some future date, once the
currency had achieved its purpose.

regards William Jackson

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Hi JAG,

Seeing your letters column I thought your members may get some inspiration
from this poem, a change from the "winging" and is good stuff .

I have a white warvet in my Harare house , have taken on Lawyers to evict
maybe we should expose some of these marungu's.................they have no
excuse if you get what I mean!

Keep up the great effort

If you decide to publish this no names please

Best Regards

Farmer in Exile

          __________________________________________________

IF.....

__________________________________________________

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Dear JAG,

Lowveld News 1st April 2009

Good news - ZANU PF stalwart Hwarare is jailed.

First let me tell you about this scab.  Hwarare is a staunch ZANU PF
worker who instigated and most times led the Jambanjas (public violence)
against the white cane growers in the Lowveld for the past 8 to 9 years;
he once threatened to kill a young lady who was on one of these farms.
He was also in the forefront of the violence against the MDC supporters
during the March and June 2008 elections in the Lowveld, where several
supporters were murdered.

A couple of years ago he was caught embezzling the Commercial Sugar
Farmers Association of Zimbabwe (CSFA) funds, of which he was the
Chairman.  He through his hard work for the ZANU PF party got off scot
free, they forgave him and took him back as Chairman. All the cane farm
thieves are members of this association.

He has stolen several farms for himself, John Taylor's cane farm on
Mkwasine, the late Jerermy Baldwin's cane farm in the Chiredzi area,
Samba Ranch 20km north of Triangle, and Mkwasine Estates cattle section.
Above is just what I am aware of, there may be more as he was an
exceptionally greedy person and got away with it because of his hard and
ruthless work for the ZANU PF party who have ruled and destroyed a
country in Africa called Zimbabwe.

Hwarare with Tsingo the Chief Executive Officer and Chiwa the Secretary
General of the Commercial Sugar Farmers association have been arrested
for embezzling the members of US $132,000. They were responsible for
collecting the sugar from the mills for distribution to the members to
pay there workers with. They black marketed some 90tons of
the members sugar and pocketed the money.

One of the members of the CSFA, who lost his sugar to these thieves, was
none other than Deputy Police Commissioner Veterai, yes the very man who
has stolen and forced Digby and Jess Nesbitt out of their home, which was
on their sugar cane farm which Veterai has also stolen.

We believe that Veterai is responsible for the arrest of Hwarare and Co.
and that they will go to jail this time.

There is no doubt that all the ZANU PF are just a bunch of thieves who
have destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives in a country, that they
have also destroyed.

Gerry Whitehead - Chiredzi

ZCTF Report - April 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

I am delighted to be able to tell you that my new book: "Innocent Victims," has just been published by Merlin Unwin Books in the UK.  

Innocent Victims is the story of  how Meryl Harrison rescued thousands of animals stranded on farms during Zimbabwe's land invasions. In her sixties and with a heart condition, Meryl travelled with one or two young SPCA Inspectors and together they faced mobs of men who were often drugged or drunk and almost always armed with weapons ranging from sticks and stones to guns, knives and whips. Meryl drove thousands of kilometres to remote and abandoned farms; she and her colleagues went into "no-go areas" and faced war veterans, secret police, army and youth militia; they dismantled road barricades and went to places which even the Police said were dangerous and unsafe. There wasn't an animal too big, small, slippery or furry for Meryl and she rescued cats, dogs and goldfish. She and her team caught pigs, sheep, cows, goats and chickens. They saved horses and ponies, duikers and sable antelope and intervened on behalf of lions, hippos and ostriches.

For some the heart of Innocent Victims will be in Marmalade, the cat rescued from under the bath; for others it may be in Bokkie, the dog on Roy and Heather Bennett's farm who won an award for "his exceptional bravery and loyalty to his owner and his family and his courageous action that saved their lives." Or maybe it will be the little un-named piglet which Meryl  popped onto the floor of her truck while mobs of men raged, shouted and threatened all around her.

All of the stories in Innocent Victims are the original first hand accounts taken from Meryl's personal diaries. Some of the rescues are gruesome and heartbreaking but others tell of great courage, ingenuity and joyous reunions. All tell of the extraordinary dedication and deep passion shown by one woman for the lives of many thousands of animals. Innocent Victims is the story of an unsung and reluctant hero in Zimbabwe’s darkest of times.

Innocent Victims can be ordered from my website: www.cathybuckle.com/innocentvictims.php or from the publishers at: www.merlinunwin.co.uk .

Thank you for your support of my writing and for reading this letter, love cathy. 22nd February 2009.

THE ELEPHANTS AND I by SHARON PINCOTT

Ongoing Elephant Conservation on the Hwange Estate

SHARON PINCOTT’S NEW BOOK:

In March 2001 Sharon Pincott left her home in Australia and began working with ‘The Presidential Elephants of Zimbabwe’ on a full-time voluntary basis, on land bordering Hwange National Park in western Zimbabwe. President Mugabe decreed in 1990 that the elephants which roam this land – known locally as the Hwange Estate – should never be hunted or culled, and that they should symbolize Zimbabwe’s commitment to responsible wildlife management.

    Sharon instigated a formal naming process, for ease of identification, and learnt to know hundreds of elephants as individuals, and members of close-knit families; monitoring their lives on a daily basis. It was an idyllic time.

    But it soon became apparent that snaring was rife, and snare-destruction teams were established to help combat the poaching problem. No sooner was the snaring situation better under control, a government official claimed this tourism land as his own, and secured quotas to sport-hunt. What followed was 16 months of heartache and endurance, before this situation was eventually righted. But still, the degradation continued. Every year from that point on, pans were left to dry up; the elephants forced to move elsewhere to find adequate water. Snaring was once again rife, and continual efforts were made to save the lives of maimed animals.

    What has kept Sharon in Zimbabwe during these past 8 years is the beauty and wonder of the Zimbabwean veld – which still remains, despite everything – and the extraordinary relationship that she’s formed with these wild, free-roaming giants over the years. Adult female elephants now come to her when they’re called – and even more remarkably, allow her to rub their trunks.

    Sharon considers ‘The Presidential Elephants of Zimbabwe’ to be a truly unique tourist attraction, which could potentially attract a myriad of people from all around the world to Zimbabwe, yet the indifference of the safari operator who now hosts these elephants continues, adding to the frustrations of her ongoing voluntary work.

    Sharon has written a book about her 8 years living and working amongst these elephants, which has been published by Jacana Publishing in South Africa, titled:

THE ELEPHANTS AND I:  Pursuing a dream in troubled Zimbabwe

    It’s available now in bookshops throughout South Africa, and from the internet sites www.kalahari.net   www.loot.co.za   www.exclusivebooks.com

    It should be available on the UK Amazon book-site by June, but unfortunately availability on the USA Amazon site will take considerably longer.

    This is what Kuki Gallmann - author of the international bestseller - I Dreamed of Africa has written about Sharon’s new book:

A moving account of Africa’s power to attract, inspire, and change the course of one’s life, giving it a new meaning. Sharon’s story is of courage, adventure, love and commitment to the elephant of Zimbabwe.

Overview:

An unplanned visit to South Africa’s Kruger National Park changed Sharon Pincott’s life as she knew it. She was a high-flying information technology specialist Down Under, but now she dreamed of working with Africa’s wildlife. Eventually, she abandoned her life of privilege and luxury and moved to Zimbabwe – a country in turmoil – to live and work among elephants on land bordering Hwange National Park. It was a startling contrast to her former life. In time, Sharon formed extraordinary relationships with wild elephants, having learned to know them intimately. She treasured escapades with friends, both human and animal, in spectacular, remote places. But, as she soon discovered firsthand, the beauty and wonder of wild Zimbabwe had a dark foreboding side. Snaring of wildlife was rife, and when land invaders claimed the area where Sharon’s elephant friends roamed, she went into battle for their land and their lives – while fighting for her own wellbeing, in her homeland of choice.

    This is an inspirational true story filled with unrivalled splendour, joy and hope – but in today’s Zimbabwe, this precious beauty is frequently shattered by heartbreaking despair.

Cynthia Moss, World-renowned Elephant Specialist, Amboseli, Kenya says:

Sharon Pincott has written a brave and passionate book about her work in Zimbabwe trying to protect the special herd called the ‘Presidential Elephants’. Against all odds and her own safety she has stayed in this troubled country for over eight years trying to deal with poaching, land grabbing, unethical hunters and personal harassment. Sharon vividly portrays both the tragedies and joys of her mission. Her writing about the individual elephants and their behaviour is fascinating. I highly recommend this book for its insights into some of the conservation challenges in Africa, into elephant behaviour and into the personality of an extraordinary woman.

Wilf Mbanga, Editor, The Zimbabwean writes:

Sharon Pincott is the Joy Adamson of Zimbabwe. It takes a very special person to battle the loneliness and isolation of the African bush. Sharon’s passionate commitment to the Presidential Elephants – in the face of soaring political tensions … – is contagious. We salute her courage and dedication. Her book gives rare and important insights … This vivid, first-hand account … is heart-breaking.

David Shepherd OBE, FRSA, Founder of the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, UK states:

During the fifty years since I first went to Africa, I have collected or been given a considerable number of books written by those who have been to Africa but very few stand out in my memory as being exceptional. I was privileged therefore to be asked to contribute a few words to this very special book written by a great lady who writes with such dedication, feeling and passion for the gentle giants of Africa. … [Sharon] writes as only someone who has Africa in her blood can, of the despair and the delights of the so called dark continent. Wildlife deserves a better deal than it is getting from Man, the most lethal animal on the planet and when I leave Africa now after every visit I cry tears of joy and anger. Sharon’s book will, I know, bring similar feelings to the reader.

Sharon’s own royalties from the sale of this book will help to fund her ongoing wildlife conservation efforts – and so we encourage your support of her book. A portion of the text of The Elephants and I appeared in a different, and much more reserved form, in Sharon's two Zimbabwe edition books - but to know the full story, this tell-all book is the one you must read.

Johnny Rodrigues
Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force
Landline:  263 4 336710
Landline/Fax: 263 4 339065
Mobile:     263 11 603 213
Email:       galorand@mweb.co.zw
Website:  www.zctf.mweb.co.zw
Website:  www.zimbabwe-art.com