| The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe - may peace, truth and justice prevail. |
Southern African countries suspicious of West's motives on
Zimbabwe, says
study
Dingilizwe
Ntuli
The growing tendency to oust
regimes in areas of strategic interest by major
foreign powers is increasing
reluctance among Southern African countries to
deal with the Zimbabwe
crisis.
A report released by the Africa Institute of South Africa on the
impact of
the Zimbabwe crisis in the region said increasing calls on regional
leaders
to put pressure on President Robert Mugabe to quit by the West were
being
viewed with suspicion and were prolonging the Zimbabwe
crisis.
Che Ajulu, a researcher at the institute, said this
resistance to foreign
interference and the financial backing of the
opposition MDC by Western
donors had strengthened solidarity among the
region's governing former
liberation movements, in which Mugabe played a
pivotal role.
Ajulu said some regional leaders feared that if Mugabe
relinquished power as
a result of foreign pressure, they too might be
targeted.
He said the financial backing of the MDC by the West had
put it in bad stead
and explained why countries in the region had been
reluctant to engage it.
"Mugabe played a major role in the liberation
of South Africa and supporting
other liberation movements on the continent,
and that has not been
forgotten.
"The fact that MDC is supported
by foreign powers also plays a major role
because it's a threat to most of
the liberation movements in the region,"
said Ajulu.
He said the
MDC's attempt to form an alliance with Tony Leon's Democratic
Alliance and
Renamo of Mozambique had also sent alarm bells around the
region and
complicated matters.
"The MDC now has to prove that it's a credible
opposition party for a quick
solution to be reached," he
said.
Ajulu said the MDC's refusal to recognise Mugabe as the
legitimate leader of
Zimbabwe had also caused division within the 14-member
Southern African
Development Community, as shown by its 2001 task team's
failure to move
Mugabe towards a programme of action.
The task
team recommended that Mugabe restore law and order, and address the
land
question but its findings were shot down by staunch Zimbabwe allies
Namibia
and Angola.
"Namibia and Angola have built strong ties with Zimbabwe
and their
solidarity was strengthened when they militarily intervened in
the
Democratic Republic of Congo, which probably explains why SA has opted
for
quiet diplomacy to try to resolve the crisis."
|
HOME ON THE AFRICAN
RANGE |
| The Save ("Sah-veh") Valley Conservancy comprises
almost 900,000 acres west of the Save River in the southeastern lowveld region
of Zimbabwe. The conservancy was formed in 1991 by 21 landowners and is regarded
as the largest privately owned wildlife area in Africa.
Landowner Clive Stockil, who helped pioneer the concept, said the initial objective was to eliminate cattle ranching and farming to provide natural habitat for endangered rhinos. The country is a mix of thick mopane bush and grassy plains punctuated by rock hills and lush riverine areas. It represents a diverse habitat for a variety of native wildlife. As the project flourished, multiple wildlife-based uses were apparent. The conservancy became a popular destination for wildlife tours and photo safaris. Many animals, game and non-game, thrive in the conservancy, including various native species that were reintroduced. Populations of elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards and Cape Buffalo -- Africa's classic "big five" -- continue to grow, and most plains game species are in abundance. The conservancy was opened to limited sport hunting in 2001. Rifle and bow hunting were permitted to curb growing game populations, and the permit quotas are carefully regulated. Most game animals are an excellent source of food, and the meat is distributed to nearby villages. Annual census counts are conducted each spring to ensure that all game populations are maintained within a healthy balance. Poaching with snares, dogs and primitive weapons remains an ongoing problem, and uniformed game scouts regularly patrol the vast conservancy; however, the wildlife has a way of balancing the score. Professional hunter Gordon Duncan said that in recent years warthogs killed two poachers, lions killed one, and elephants killed one. -- JOE DOGGETT |
It was an eyeful for Houstonians watching from an open Land Cruiser. Nothing -- at least nothing in Texas -- can prepare you for such a sight.
The tawny lions looked up with red fangs and shaggy manes and twitching tails from the torn carcass. The vehicle approached within 50 yards before they rambled into the bush. The distended bellies swayed.
The image was dazzling; these were wild and unreconstructed cats, not somebody's pets. This was not an orchestrated tour through a zoo park. It was the beginning of a weeklong safari in the 900,000-acre Save Valley Conservancy in the southeastern lowveld of Zimbabwe. The nearest fence was several mountains away.
"This is the real African experience," said booking agent Ron Oliver of Zimbabwe Wildlife Safaris. "You have to go in after them, and it really gets exciting when something can bite back. Even on the non-dangerous game, it's not always easy, but that's why it's hunting -- and Africa is the greatest hunting destination in the world."
Headquarters for the trip was Senuko Lodge, an impressive open-air facility situated on a granite hilltop, or kopje, with a magnificent view of the uncut bush.The Save (pronounced sah-veh) Wildlife Conservancy was formed during 1992 when 21 landowners joined to restrict cattle ranching and farming and restore the natural habitat for wildlife.
The lodge, built by second-generation landowner Clive Stockil, was intended primarily for photo safaris and eco-tours, but the conservancy was opened two years ago to limited hunting to control expanding game populations. The hunts are based on permit quotas determined by annual game surveys. The move was a positive one.
The rifle safari is expensive -- more so than the camera safari -- and funds generated by the hunts are used for the conservancy. In Africa, as in Texas, the sportsman's gun plays a significant roll in benefitting wildlife.
During the shakedown drive, the abundant game was evident. Several turns past the lions, three cheetahs, bold against the setting sun, stood under an acacia tree. Groups of graceful impala bounded through the grass and mopane scrub, and, once, the tall spiral horns of a kudu were framed against the scrub. The big gray antelope blended amid a screen of foliage, then it vanished like smoke.
Even driving back to camp was an adventure. There, right in the middle of the main gravel road, was a gigantic mound of dung; the "sign" appeared preposterous to wide-eyed hunters accustomed to spooring white-tailed deer. "Elephants," Stockil dismissed casually.
A bit farther, the vehicle passed an equally impressive tonnage of different droppings. "Rhino."
Words were unnecessary. Africa, after 40 years of dreaming, was close enough to touch. Not to mention smell.
The hunting began each day at dawn. Each client was teamed with a professional hunter, a vehicle and three trackers. The trackers, from the nearby Shangaan and Shona tribes, were skilled professionals with years of experience in the bush.
Oliver and professional hunter Gordon Duncan helped oversee the operation. Oliver is based in Pensacola, Fla., and has been booking African adventures for 10 years; before that he was attached to the U.S. Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Duncan was born in Zimbabwe. He has 10 years of professional hunting experience and coordinates the Shangaan Hunters Africa operation based at Senuko Lodge.
The typical drill is to drive the many dirt roads and trails cutting the bush. No shooting is permitted from the vehicles; the keen trackers search for animals or fresh prints, and if game is marked you stop and stalk on foot. The stalk might take 10 minutes or all day.
The first morning, as Duncan and trackers Augustin Goromondo, Collin Rwanda and Charles Jeremiah assembled in a Land Cruiser, Goromondo placed an AR 15 assault rifle in the gun rack. The military weapon looked out of place on a safari.
"What's that for?" said Houston hunter Robert Hibbert.
"That's our guitar," said Duncan.
"Sayagain?"
"Oh, now and then, rogue elephants chase the vehicles. You don't want to shoot one unless you absolutely have to, so we use the assault rifle to make a lot of noise. You start strumming a few bursts over their heads and they usually run.
"Last week an old cow -- they're worse than the bulls -- got after us for about 400 yards. I couldn't accelerate fast enough through the river bottom. She was right on top of us before Charles spooked her off with a final burst."
Bellicose elephants aside, driving the bush and looking for game is a thrilling experience. The hunters were searching primary for Cape buffalo, but many random photo opportunities were available.
"One of the real thrills of safari is seeing all the game," said Oliver. "A lot of clients enjoy that as much as the actual hunting. But photography in the real bush sometimes is frustrating. The animals don't always just stand there and gawk like they do in a game park."
Once, attempting to slip on foot through brush to intercept a feeding giraffe, Duncan maneuvered to face a 6-foot-high opening in the scrub. You would think that a 6-foot gap would be sufficient for a telephoto shot, but the camera framed nothing but legs. The rest of the beast was way up there, shrouded by branches. As Duncan attempted to relocate, the giraffe spooked and galloped away.
A galloping giraffe will get your attention. So will a rambling rhinoceros.
During a kudu stalk, Duncan nodded to a huge gray mound about 100 yards away in the high grass. "Rhino," he whispered. "We've got the wind; maybe we can slip close enough for a good photo."
Several steps closer, a smaller beast appeared. "Smaller" means one ton rather than two.
The larger rhino was peering with upturned horn, twiggy ears and watery eyes. But there wasn't much danger. Rhinos have terrible senses and are half-blind.
A telephoto lens clicked off several shaky frames, and, mercifully, the cow and calf trotted away.
Buffalo hunting was the main event, but the experience was grueling and exhausting.
"What we try to do is pick up fresh sign made the night before," said Duncan. "When we find a trail, the trackers usually work about 20 or 25 yards out in front. It's their job to follow the tracks. I'm behind, letting them work, and I'm scanning the bush and looking for the animals. You try to always move upwind, checking the breeze whenever it shifts. In thick brush, the nose is the main defense.
"When we're on the spoor it's serious business -- no talking, no unnecessary movements. We use low hand signals, maybe a bird whistle. We carry crossed sticks to shoot from, but to be honest, most of the time on dangerous game in thick bush you don't have time for the sticks. The shots can be close and fast, and you better make the first one count. A wounded buffalo is a good bet to charge, and they can be awfully hard to stop."
On the third day, Duncan spoored a herd at 7:30 a.m. and tracked them all day through mopane scrub and "jesse" -- a thick mix of thorny brush that buffalo favor. Buffalo also are fond of wallowing in "dagga," or mud, which explains why solitary old bulls are called dagga boys and why the waffled soles of low-cut hiking boots are repeatedly caked in mats of straw.
It was tough walking, always an hour behind the herd, and it took the group about an hour to hike through the black bush back to the vehicle.
Back at the camp bar, Houstonian David Boyl?s, Stockil and liver were celebrating. Boyles had taken a fine Cape buffalo after an all-day stalk through the thick scrub and wet bottoms.
"I was whipped," Boyles said. "I had about an hour left in me, but Clive kept pushing -- felt certain we'd catch up
"We tracked him until he joined a herd. Then the dagga boy picked a fight with the dominant herd bull -- an incredible sight. They really went after it, and we were able to slip within about 35 yards. When they broke apart, I had my chance."
Boyles stood firm and put a clean shot with a .416 low on the shoulder, dropping the big bull almost instantly.
Stockil stood by the fireplace. Mopane limbs crackled and snapped in the gathering flames. He was flushed from a long day in the bush. His eyes were gleaming, reflecting the ancient call of the chase.
"He did it right," Stockil said, raising his glass. "People come here for different reasons, but to get out there and go one-on-one with dangerous game -- that's what Africa is all about. That's why serious hunters keep coming back."
Dingilizwe Ntuli
The solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe did not lie in a
government of
national unity with the ruling Zanu-PF, but in a transitional
arrangement
leading to free and fair elections, the opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change said on Friday.
MDC spokesman Paul Themba-Nyathi
said Zimbabwe's fate could only be
determined through a free ballot. He was
responding to calls by President
Robert Mugabe for the opposition to repent
and re-orientate itself before
national political dialogue could resume.
Mugabe said there could be no
unity with enemies of the
people.
Said Themba-Nyathi: "A unity government will not rescue
Zimbabwe from its
crisis as long as democracy is not restored in this
country. We will not be
seeking a unity government when we go to the
negotiating arena but want to
see the people's right of self-determination,
through electing leaders of
their choice, returned to
them."
Zanu-PF spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira said talks between the
two parties
should be left to Zimbabweans, and that commenting on
non-existent talks
only served to complicate the work of mediators trying to
bring both parties
to the negotiating table.
From The Sunday Mirror, 17 August
A2 multiple farm owners ignore Mugabe's order
Innocent Chofamba-Sithole
The Presidential
Land Review Committee has begun formulating the final
report of its findings
on the fast-track land reform programme amidst
allegations that President
Robert Mugabe’s call to multiple farm owners
allocated farms free of charge
under the A2 scheme has gone largely
unheeded, the Sunday Mirror has learnt.
Informed sources at the weekend said
that most multiple farm owners, some of
whom were named in the controversial
Flora Buka Land Audit Report, had still
not come forward to give up their
ill-gotten properties. Investigations
carried out by the Sunday Mirror last
week revealed that the focus of the
current farm reclamation exercise
appears to be targeting only small plot
holders under the fast-track A1
resettlement scheme while the commercial
farming model under which powerful
politicians and businessmen acquired
scores of farms free of charge has been
largely left unruffled. The move has
raised glaring questions over the
morality of parcelling out farms free of
charge to middle class
beneficiaries of the A2 scheme and placing the burden
of compensating white
farmers evicted from the properties on the frail
shoulders of the
hard-pressed tax-payers. "The middle classes should have
been made to buy
farms and not allocated. So now, even the middle classes are
waiting for
compensation from government. Why should someone get a free farm
when others
have bought?" queried a source. He argued that the recalcitrance
of the
beneficiaries of free farms could have been avoided had the land
reform
programme included a mechanism allowing the middle classes to
compliment
government’s efforts through buying farms as opposed to having
them
allocated for free. Local businessman, Mutumwa Mawere also threw his
weight
firmly behind the idea of black Zimbabweans purchasing farms to
support the
agrarian reform, adding that ultimately, the issue of land use
should
attract paramount attention. "What’s wrong with black people buying
farms?
The debate, really, should centre on whether that land is being
used
productively or not," he said.
It is common knowledge among
senior government officials and politicians
themselves that their peers,
including some very senior people, have
acquired more than one farm for free,
thus making it difficult to
effectively enforce the policy. "(Presidential
Land Review Committee
chairman, Charles) Utete is in a spot because this is
just a smokescreen; he
knows the anomalies that exist. His objective now is
to highlight how much
the land reform programme has benefitted ordinary
Zimbabweans, which of
course is a fact that should be acknowledged by all," a
source close to
government said. At the time of going to press, only
Matabeleland North
governor, Obert Mpofu had been confirmed as having filled
in forms giving up
one of his commercial farms, which he had acquired under
the government’s A2
resettlement scheme. "Well, I wouldn’t want to comment on
whether senior
politicians here have given up their extra farms or not
because that is a
very sensitive issue. But as far as I know, only the
governor has
surrendered one of his farms, which was formerly owned by the
Cold Storage
Company. I understand he now wants to go into game ranching in
Hwange," a
well-placed government official in the province told the Sunday
Mirror
yesterday.
While most provincial governors who spoke to
this paper yesterday reported
progress on the regularisation of the ownership
of A1 plots, most were
reluctant to comment on the contentious issue of A2
multiple farm ownership.
"The national land task force was here in the last
two weeks and people
identified as holding more than one property have been
interviewed. In fact,
some are coming forward to voluntarily surrender their
farms," said
Mashonaland West provincial governor, Peter Chanetsa. The
national land task
force is currently visiting all the provinces countrywide
to verify claims
of multiple farm ownership and to effect the surrender of
excess properties.
The task force, which already has a list of alleged
violators of the
government’s one man, one farm policy has also been to
Mashonaland Central
province and Manicaland, whose provincial governor Oppah
Muchinguri could
not be drawn into commenting on the multiple farm issue.
Acting provincial
governor for Mashonaland Central, Elliot Manyika confirmed
that he had
received the task force and had already regularised the ownership
anomalies
in the A1 model, with only a few cases outstanding. Matabeleland
North
provincial administrator, Livingstone Mashengele said the task force
was due
in Bulawayo this week and indicated that his team had already
identified a
number of A1 plots irregularly owned by some war veterans for
reclamation.
Contacted for a comment on the farm reclamation
exercise, national land task
force chairman and special affairs minister,
John Nkomo said it was too
early to gauge the progress registered so far as
the Presidential Land
Review Committee is yet to submit its final report. "I
wish I could respond
but it’s probably too early, why don’t you wait till
next week?" Nkomo said.
A government-sanctioned preliminary land audit report
detailing massive
abuses of the one man, one farm policy under the A2
commercial farming
scheme was early this year leaked to the international
media, prompting
spirited denials of its existence by both government and
named persons. The
report, which was compiled by land resettlement minister,
Flora Buka,
admitted that its long list of multiple farm owners under the A2
scheme was
"not exhaustive as the people interviewed were scared to reveal
any
information" for fear of victimisation by the multiple farm owners "who
seem
to have their loyalists within the various land committees". Manyika,
who is
also named in the report as the owner of Duiker Flats and Sub Division
3 of
Caledon farms, dismissed Buka’s report as non-existent, saying
the
allegations of multiple farm ownership under the A2 scheme in his
province
were "false insinuations". "Those were insinuations, there was no
Buka
report," he said. "Those kind of insinuations were false, that is why
it
(the Buka report) was dismissed by government. As far as I’m concerned
that
report never existed because, as a member of government, I never saw
it," he
added. But Buka yesterday said she had indeed gathered information on
the
land reform programme but refused to confirm or deny whether she
had
compiled and submitted a report to government. "I know that I went
around
the country and gathered information on the land reform programme, but
I
cannot confirm or deny that a report exists because I do not know
the
particular information for which you want that confirmation," she
said.
Utete on Friday briefed President Mugabe on the progress his
committee had
made. He said the process of gathering data was now complete,
with only the
editing and ‘polishing up’ of the report remaining. The former
chief
secretary to the president and cabinet’s appointment as head of the
land
review committee is widely seen as indicative of President Mugabe’s
desire
to effectively plug the holes in the ambitious land reform programme
on
which he has staked his political career and legacy as a nationalist
leader
of independent Zimbabwe. On July 30, President Mugabe told a
politburo
meeting of the ruling Zanu PF that officials with multiple farms
must
relinquish them within two weeks to comply with the government’s one
man,
one farm policy under the A2 scheme. Dozens of senior Zanu PF
leaders,
including government ministers, are in possession of more than one
farm
obtained free of charge under the A2 scheme, a situation that has
prompted a
vociferous outcry from landless peasants, war veterans and other
disaffected
groups whose chances of owning land have been scuppered by the
avaricious
"chefs". In response, Mugabe then announced his plans to establish
a
presidential land review committee at Zanu PF’s national people’s
conference
held in Chinhoyi last December. "It will be necessary for us to
review our
land reform programme and establish where the process still
needs
strengthening, for as we have celebrated our progress, we have also
heard
disapproval of and dissatisfaction with certain elements of the
programme,"
he said.
Irish News
Zimbabwe accuses 'racist' Blair and Howard
British
Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australian Prime Minister John Howard
were
accused of being racists today in a bitter attack by
Zimbabwean
officials.
The comments follow Mr Howard’s sharp criticism
of Zimbabwe’s political and
human rights record.
He described
embattled President Robert Mugabe as an “unelected despot” and
called on the
Commonwealth not to lift the suspension of Zimbabwe from its
decision-making
councils.
Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said Mr Howard and Mr Blair
“have stood
out as racists who want to divide the world on racial lines” and
protect
white interests in Commonwealth countries, the state Sunday Mail,
a
government mouthpiece, reported.
Critics of the Zimbabwean
government have said officials often resort to
playing the race card to
deflect from the economic and political chaos in
the country.
The
readmission of Zimbabwe, a former British colony, to the councils is to
be
considered at a Commonwealth summit scheduled for December in
Nigeria.
Zimbabwe was suspended for a year because of its deteriorating
human rights
record and disputed presidential elections narrowly won by
Mugabe last year.
Independent observers, including Commonwealth monitors,
said the
presidential election was swayed by political intimidation by ruling
party
militants, corruption and vote rigging.
Moyo said Mr Howard’s
campaign against Mugabe was a ”kangaroo court” that
attempted to turn
Commonwealth countries against Zimbabwe.
“We are convinced this is a
kangaroo noise from a kangaroo prime minister
who is frustrated the
international community has refused to be used as a
kangaroo court against
Zimbabwe,” Moyo said, referring to the Australian
prime minister as “coward
Howard.”
Howard is a member of a Commonwealth troika on Zimbabwe, along
with South
African President Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian President Olusegun
Obasanjo.
The two African presidents have been trying to bring Mugabe’s
ruling party
and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change to the
negotiating table
on the country’s deepening political and economic
crisis.
Mugabe, at a state ceremony last week, dashed hopes of any early
compromise
with the opposition.
Moderates in both parties say Mbeki
and Obasanjo are pushing for talks to
begin before the Commonwealth summit in
December.
Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic crisis since
independence in 1980.
The deepening economic crisis is blamed partly on the
state programme that
seized thousands of commercial farms from the white
minority for
redistribution to black settlers. The programme is also blamed
for
exacerbating a hunger crisis that threatens nearly half of the
population.
Zim Standard
Soldiers run amok over cash
By Kumbirai
Mafunda
ANGRY soldiers stormed the Chitungwiza premises of Beverley
Building
Society yesterday afternoon breaking windows and threatening tellers
as the
biting cash crisis threatens to spill into the streets.
About 40 soldiers and police officers, who had been on the long queue
for
hours, were incensed when the building society announced that it was
running
out of bank notes and would serve only four of their colleagues who
were
helping out to maintain order.
A glass panel was destroyed as the
soldiers and policemen, desperate
to get money for the weekend, broke into
the Beverley Building Society
premises and tried to force the tellers to
serve them.
Eyewitnesses said the soldiers and policemen, some in
uniform, were
angered by the building society's controller, a Mr Nyabani, who
said they
had run out of cash and told the huge crowd of customers to go
home.
Infuriated by the announcement, the soldiers bulldozed their
way into
the premises and only left after, apparently, realising that they
had caused
considerable damage to the building.
"Masoja ndivo
akonzera zvose izvi. (the soldiers caused all this) We
had closed the door
when we realised that cash had run out. We explained to
them that we were
going to serve the four soldiers who were helping us. This
is when the
soldiers forced their way," said Kudakwashe Chipamawanga, a
security guard
with Safeguard Security, who was manning the entrance.
The security
guard said two queues had formed at the premises: one for
soldiers and
members of the armed forces, and another for the general
public.
"We were even favouring those from the uniformed forces. After every
20
civilians, we were allowing five soldiers," said Chipamawanga.
The
eyewitnesses said they were surprised at the slow reaction by the
police
stationed near the shopping centre.
The police, said the
eyewitnesses, only arrived at the building
society premises after the
soldiers and policemen had dispersed.
The shortage of bank notes,
which has paralysed Zimbabwe for more than
a month, is likely to spill into
the streets as desperate people try to
force their way into banks and
building societies to withdraw their savings
and salaries.
Last
month, The Standard reported that irate customers had forced
their way into a
number of banks and building societies in Harare and in the
melee, many
premises were damaged.
Zimbabwe's biting bank notes' shortages
continue unabated despite
attempts by the government to replace the notes
with travellers' cheques.
Many Zimbabweans say the travellers'
cheques are cumbersome and
difficult to use because they come in huge
denominations that cannot be used
for small transactions.
Zim Standard
Gold production falls to record lows
By
Kumbirai Mafunda
GOLD production continues to plummet and the
sector, which is in its
fourth year of recession, is expected to shrink a
further 27,6 % to 11
tonnes this year, the lowest for years.
Last year, Zimbabwe realised 15,2 tonnes of gold, down three tonnes
from the
2001 output. Production peaked at more than 30 tonnes in 1998 when
Zimbabwe
was the third biggest gold producer on the continent after South
Africa and
Ghana. It has now slipped to eighth in Africa.
Ian Saunders, the
acting president of the Chamber of Mines told
StandardBusiness that
government's reluctance to devalue the local currency
and the skyrocketing
inflation was to blame for the demise of gold output.
He said
despite the devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar to $824 to the
American
greenback, viability is continuing to be eroded by the increase in
inflation,
which is pegged at 365,5%. The 11 tonnes are estimated to earn
the country
US$100 million.
Saunders projection comes against a background of
mine closures in the
recent months.
The Chamber of Mines reports
that 12 mines have closed in the past
three years and new projects have been
suspended. He said monthly production
of gold has been reduced to 950 kgs,
down from 1 150 kgs.
"The decline in output will result in loss of
revenue to us and less
money to reinvest in projects," said
Saunders.
Elvington Mine is the latest gold mine to close shop hard
on the heels
of Venice Mine and Eureka Mine, which folded a couple of years
ago.
Rio Tinto and Falcon Gold have already reported decreased
output as
the skewed macro-economic fundamentals take their
toll.
In a statement to shareholders on Friday, Rio Tinto Zimbabwe
reported
that gold production for the half year ended June was 424 kgs
compared to
668 kgs in the same period last year.
"The failure
of the authorities to adjust the export exchange rate on
1 June as indicated
in the Minister of Finance's statement in February has
led to a loss of
confidence and has latterly fuelled rapid rises in other
exchange rates as
exporters struggle to earn sufficient Zimbabwe dollars to
cover their
expenses.
"Rio Zim, along with other gold producers, also faces the
prospect of
delayed receipt of US dollars for gold deliveries," said the
company.
"Although production related issues should have dominated
senior
management time, this was not necessarily the case, with a great deal
of
effort wasted in trying to extract the US$ payment for gold,
already
delivered, from the Reserve Bank.
"The delayed receipt
of these funds, which reached 60 days after
delivery at one point, meant that
suppliers, including ZESA were left
unpaid. Additionally dealing with the
bureaucracy introduced by the bank for
payment of suppliers' invoices became
a further time wasting endeavour," the
gold miner added.
The
mining sector contributes about 30% of net foreign currency
earnings and
about 4% to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Since the
imposition of the 50-50% foreign currency retention scheme,
the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe - the sole buyer of gold - has failed to pay
mining companies in
time.
The mining industry is also asking for an exchange rate of $1
500 to
the American greenback to break even and recover from the current
slump. On
the thriving parallel market, the US dollar is fetching as much as
$6 000 of
the local unit.
"We need a credible exchange rate
system. Power costs are astronomical
and not revenue reflective. So we need a
systematic and independent look at
our power costs to ensure they are
competitive with neighbours," said
Saunders.
Zim Standard
Muzenda critically ill
By our own
Staff
Air Zimbabwe managing directtor, Rambai Chingwena, last night
refused
to confirm or deny reports that a plane bound for Victoria Falls
was
yesterday diverted from Bulawayo to Johannesburg to bring back home
Vice
President Simon Muzenda who is seriously ill and was receiving treatment
in
South Africa.
I am not aware of any plane being diverted from
Bulawayo to
Johannesburg," Chingwena told The Standard, adding " I don't
comment on
presidential matters.."
An Air Zimbabwe official in
Bulawayo confirmed that the Victoria Falls
flight was delayed for about two
hours yesterday morning "for technical
reasons". He would not
elaborate.
Muzenda, whose absence was conspicuous during the
National Heroes' Day
celebrations presided over by President Robert Mugabe at
the National
Heroes' Acre on Monday, is said to be seriously ill with an
undisclosed
illness.
He was, earlier this year, urgently flown
to China to receive
emergency treatment from world famous Chinese
doctors.
State broadcaster ZTV showed a forlorn looking Maud
Muzenda, his wife,
unaccompanied at the national shrine where national heroes
are buried, as
Mugabe read his official speech and acknowledged Muzenda's
absence.
The veteran Masvingo politician, 82, a founder member of
the governing
Zanu PF party and a close confidante of Mugabe, has been in
poor health for
the past three years.
A family friend said the
politician, who is perhaps the second most
powerful person in Zanu PF, had
recently fought off pressure from his
children to quit public office and take
time to recuperate, insisting that
he would only resign when Mugabe
retires.
Zim Standard
Mugabe gobbles millions on private junket to
Malaysia
By our own Staff
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe is on a
private visit to Malaysia after
attending the 2003 Smart Partnership
International Dialogue in Mbabane,
Swaziland, government sources have
said.
From Malaysia, Mugabe is expected to travel to Tanzania for a
SADC
summit.
The globe-trotting Zanu PF leader, who these days
normally travels
with his entire family, is believed to have chartered yet
another Air
Zimbabwe plane, costing Zimbabwean taxpayers
millions.
Mugabe, blamed by Western countries of stealing last
year's
presidential election, is banned to travel in Europe but seems to have
found
solace in the Far East, especially in Malaysia where the leader
Mahathir
Muhammad, is his personal friend.
Although it was not
possible to calculate how much the Malaysia
private visit, and the round trip
from Mbabane to Kuala Lumpur and then
Dar-es-Salaam would cost the Zimbabwean
taxpayer, experts said the bill for
the visit was likely to run into
millions.
Zim Standard
'O', 'A' level examiners flee Zimsec
By
Henry Makiwa
PROBLEMS continue to dog the marking process of this
year's June 'O'
and 'A' level examinations after it emerged that Zimsec has
failed to raise
the $5 billion it needed to house markers at centralised
locations.
Investigations by The Standard have revealed that
President Robert
Mugabe's cash strapped government has failed to raise the $5
billion needed
for the proper upkeep of examiners who are marking the June
'O' and 'A'
level exams, throwing the whole exercise into
disarray.
Zimsec sources said the government had only managed to
raise a meagre
$1,8 billion for the accommodation and sustenance of hundreds
of examiners
during the two-week marking exercise, leading to many examiners
abandoning
the whole process altogether.
"The government failed
to raise the $5 billion that the traditional
marking centres were asking for
to pay for accommodation and catering
expenses during the course of marking
the June 'O' and 'A' level
examinations," said a senior Zimsec official who
declined to be named for
fear of victimisation.
"This was also
the primary cause of the delay in marking the June
examinations," said the
source. The Standard has also learnt that scores of
despondent examiners are
refusing to mark the June papers citing the "poor
rates" being offered by
Zimsec.
Some of the examiners alleged that they were turned away by
Zimsec
after the beleaguered national examination board failed to secure
enough
money to pay for their food and accommodation. The shortage of
examiners,
they said, was likely to affect the outcome of the June 'O' and
'A' level
results.
"Morale is at its lowest among examiners this
year more than at any
other time in history. Zimsec is failing to pay the
markers meaningful
salaries and this has led to most of us boycotting the
whole exercise this
year," said one teacher, who also preferred
anonymity.
"Many feel that they are actually doing some form of
national service
and are subsidising the government's expenditure rather than
working for
themselves," he added.
Zimsec's traditional
examiners are mainly experienced secondary and
high school teachers
specialising in the different subjects.
When The Standard visited
the Zimsec marking centre at Belvedere
Teachers College in Harare on Friday,
examiners were going through a
co-ordinating exercise before being deployed
to the provinces where they
will mark the examinations under a new
decentralised cost-cutting strategy.
Many of the examiners who
spoke to this newspaper in Belvedere were
bitter at the $5 000 to $10 000 per
day that was being paid by Zimsec. The
examiners said the amounts offered by
Zimsec were "too low" and had forced
some teachers to abandon the whole
marking process.
"Because of the lack of funds, Zimsec has now set
out on a crash
programme to rush the marking exercise at the lowest cost.
They will, for
the first time, invite markers to commute from home paying
them $1 200 each
if they reside in Harare or Bulawayo; and a paltry $600 per
day as transport
allowances," the source added.
"Because of
these poor salaries, examiners of certain subjects such as
the O' level Shona
Paper II have not shown up. This will discredit the
entire marking process
because the markers are likely to go through the
papers without passion," he
said.
Copies of the new contract entered into between Zimsec and
the
examiners show that markers are required to pay for their own
accommodation
and pay for their food during the marking exercise between
August 17 and 31.
"Examiners please note that you can only accept
this invitation on
condition that you have or can find your own accommodation
close to the
marking centre. The council will not be responsible for any
accommodation
expenses incurred by examiners who accept this invitation,"
reads part of a
letter sent to examiners by Zimsec's assistant director for
examination
administration, Chamunorwa Murira.
Neither Murira
nor Zimsec director, Happy Ndanga, could be reached for
comment.
Zim Standard
Zanu PF, MDC brace to battle for Bulawayo
By
Wilson Dakwa
BULAWAYO - The stage is now set for what looks like a
bruising battle
between the governing Zanu PF party and the opposition
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) for control of City Hall in the
forthcoming Bulawayo
municipal elections scheduled for the end of this
month.
Twenty-nine council seats are up for grabs and Zanu PF and
the MDC say
they are contesting all the vacant wards. Unlike in previous
years when the
elections generated a lot of interest, this time there is very
little
excitement.
Some political commentators and analysts
believe that the lack of
interest, especially from the ruling party, is
because Zanu PF appears to
have given up the turf to the
opposition.
Bulawayo and Matabeleland in particular have been a
problem for the
party and have always been considered a breeding ground for
the opposition.
Just after independence from Britain in 1980, many
residents supported
the late Joshua Nkomo's then Zapu, a trend which was only
broken after the
signing of the so-called Unity Arccor in 1987.
This arrangement was broken after the death of Nkomo and the emergence
of a
strong opposition in the form of the MDC.
A leading Zanu PF
official last week admitted to The Standard that
they had had no hope of
capturing Bulawayo City Hall judging by the gloomy
mood prevailing among
urban dwellers.
"Already some of our councillors who have been in
council for years
have thrown in the towel and are refusing to stand. With
the current
unpopularity of Zanu PF here, we will be lucky to win even a
single seat,"
said the Zanu PF official.
Five veteran
councillors here say they will not seek re-election.
These are Israel
Gadhlula, Mike Lumsden, Mohammed Esat, Mike Constandinos
and Margaret
Sibanda.
The MDC has already won two seats unopposed after Zanu PF
failed to
field candidates.
"There is a mood of resignation in
the party. Some people were not
willing to contest for fear of embarrassing
themselves. We had difficulty
securing candidates," said another Zanu PF
veteran.
National University of Science and Technology lecturer,
Lawton Hikwa,
said while it was difficult to predict the outcome of the
election, the
present urban set up tended to favour the
opposition.
"Urban dwellers experience the brunt of the present
economic
conditions and tend to favour the opposition," said
Hikwa.
A prominent MDC councillor, Matson Hlalo, who will be
representing the
party in Mzilikazi, believes that his party would be
controlling the
municipal affairs of this city come September 1.
"Zanu PF is herding for a crushing defeat. They have nothing to offer
and
their reputation of economic mismanagement and corruption is legendary,"
said
Hlalo.
Zim Standard
Treason suspects further remanded
By our own
Staff
FIVE Matabeleland North MDC leaders who are facing charges of
treason
following allegations that they were involved in a plot to
overthrow
President Robert Mugabe through the June 2-6 mass action, have been
further
remanded to October by a Hwange magistrate.
The five are
Stephen Mudenda and Emmanuel Dropa, provincial executive
member Philip
Kawara, Emmanuel Riyano, a member of the Hwange East district
executive and
Melford Homela, a member of the Hwange West district
executive.
In their initial appearance in early June, they were charged with
treason and
remanded out of custody to July 25 after paying bail amounts of
between $2000
and $5 000 each.
They were arrested with 46 party activists on
allegations of
involvement in Hwange and Victoria Falls in plots to overthrow
the
government through the mass action, dubbed the "final push" by the
MDC.
Twenty five people were arrested and tried in Victoria Falls
while 26
others who were picked up in Hwange appeared at the local
magistrates' court
last week.
Four of those arrested in Victoria
Falls were released on $10 000 bail
while the rest, including the Hwange
suspects, paid admission of guilt fines
ranging from $2 000 to $5 000 and
were released.
Zim Standard
Cold reception for new TC's ruling
newsfocus
with Henry Makiwa
THE recent introduction of local travellers'
cheques (TCs) in place of
cash has become the latest signal of the
government's mounting desperation
and lack of ideas to solve Zimbabwe's
burgeoning economic problems.
Bank notes are now the latest on
Zimbabwe's long list of "shortages"
after food, fuel and foreign currency and
President Robert Mugabe's
administration - faced by an increasingly restive
populace - has hastily
introduced the ill-fated TCs in denominations of $100
000, $50 000, $20 000,
$5 000 and $1 000.
The TCs, the
government argues, would be as good as bank notes and be
accepted locally as
payment for goods and services in an effort to eliminate
the cash
shortages.
Two weeks on, the TCs have proved a futile panacea to
the cash
shortages as long winding queues are still evident in almost all the
banking
halls and at many automated teller machines (ATMs), especially in
the
country's major cities of Bulawayo and Harare.
Several banks
have also reportedly not received their allocation of
the local travellers'
cheques from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).
In most instances,
where they are available, the TCs are being issued
out in their largest $100
000 denominations, an amount that many ordinary
Zimbabweans say they do not
have in their bank accounts anyway.
In Harare, several retail
outlets have reportedly rejected the newly
introduced TCs leaving consumers
stranded, thus defeating the whole idea of
introducing the cheques in place
of cash.
The core of Zimbabwe's crisis however, analysts say, is
the country's
tarnished international image, bad governance and the breakdown
of the rule
of law. The introduction of TCs was therefore seen as yet another
of the
government's attempts at "crisis management" .
Analysts
have dismissed this latest move as yet another fragmented and
piecemeal
solution that stands no chance of addressing comprehensively the
country's
mounting crisis.
"Zimbabwe has now presented itself with a rare
chance of storming into
the Guinness Book of Records if the country can run
its monetary system on
the TCs," noted former Zimbabwe Chamber of Commerce
boss Danny Meyer.
"The government should have addressed the causes
of the problem which
are the galloping inflation, government expenditure and
money supply instead
of the symptoms. The people cannot conduct their daily
commercial activities
such as buying bread and commuting to work using TCs
... changing the colour
of currency will not solve anything," he
said.
Godfrey Kanyenze, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
chief
economist, urged President Robert Mugabe to take full responsibility
for the
country's crisis and also to apologise to the nation for current
state of
affairs instead of accusing the West.
"There is an
apparent lack of understanding even on government's part
with regards to the
TCs. Why should Zimbabweans use TCs, are they nomads who
are always
travelling?
"The economy has already rejected these TCs and our
dear leader should
just accept responsibility for the country's woes and work
towards the total
revitalisation of the country's economy as a whole," said
Kanyenze.
Most people who spoke to The Standard professed ignorance
of the
operations of the TCs given the hurried introduction the cheques by
the
government. Many were also skeptical that the TCs could be effective
for
normal transactions.
Silas Mwandila, a miner in Bindura
thought TCs were "air travelling
documents for the rich and
famous".
"To be honest I thought the TCs were some of those things
to make
travelling easier for the more affluent. There was no proper
education
campaign prior to the introduction of the cheques as has been the
case in
the past when the government introduced a new currency," said
Mwandila.
Douglas Mwenda of Kuwadzana blamed both the government
and the RBZ for
the general public's misgivings over the TCs.
Mwenda said: "It was clear that the government had been caught napping
by the
cash squeeze and was executing a rushed stop gap measure. Besides,
the amount
of $100 000 that the banks are offering is just too high for
ordinary people
like myself."
He added: "On average, I buy groceries worth between
$30 000 to $40
000, so how will the retailer be able to change the $100 000
TC and give me
cash worth more than the value of goods I have purchased in
these times of
bank note crisis?"
With the travellers' cheques,
the government says, an account holder
can buy goods and services from
supermarkets and other retail outlets within
Zimbabwe's borders without the
hassle of carrying stacks of bank notes, an
explanation analysts say is over
simplified.
Zim Standard
Kamba slams falling education
standards
FORMER University of Zimbabwe vice chancellor Walter
Kamba says the
rising number of universities is likely to lower the standards
in university
education. Kamba also gave his views on the current talks
between Zanu PF
and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. He speaks
to Walter
Marwizi.
Excerpts:
Question: The past few
years have seen the proliferation of
universities across the country. As a
celebrated academic, what are your
views regarding this kind of development
which came against a background of
dwindling government support to
institutions of higher education?
Kamba: You need a systematic
approach. As you can see there are not
enough resources to go around all
these universities. You end up with poor
quality education. Poor quality
education can be so destructive. If I were
to do anything, I would set up a
commission to look into the higher
education system with a view to establish
what we need, which we can afford,
which will provide us with quality
education. In this way, then you would
have looked at the recommendations.
The rationalisation, which is taking
place in South Africa right now, is
partly a consequence of that. So you
need a systematic approach
Š
Q: So in other words you are saying - to be more direct - we
don't
have the resources for all these universities?
A: We
don't, we don't. Look at the University of Zimbabwe just now.
The academics
have left; the physical facilities are deteriorating. At one
time we were
going to have a public lecture in one of the theatres, there
were no bulbs.
They had to open the doors and try to open the windows to let
in light -
that's poor performance.
Q: What do you attribute this rot
to?
A: Partly to the unsystematic increase in the institutions and
partly
because of our whole situation in Zimbabwe right now. The economy is
going
down, down everytime. The shortage of investment, what not, all those
things
are contributing to the whole thing.
Q: You are talking
about the sad state of affairs in Zimbabwe. And as
one of the sons of
Zimbabwe who were proud of the new Zimbabwe that was
emerging from the
shackles of colonialism, I am sure you are disappointed
with the way things
have gone after so much hope and promise at
independenceŠ
A:
Well, I am sure we all want to see the Zimbabwe we had dreamt of,
which was
emerging and developing. We wish to see that.
There is nobody who
says things are OK, that there is nothing wrong.
We want to see the revival,
the revitalisation progress in all areas of our
country. Good quality life -
that's what we wish to see.
Q: How can we achieve
this?
A: No single act will do that. A whole lot of things need to
be done Š
Q: Like what? What would you say is the most important
thing that
needs to be done to pull Zimbabwe out of the
quagmire?
A: The most important thing is to put our heads together.
What we need
is a framework, an understanding that there are things that are
wrong. We
identify what is wrong and we seek solutions. We need
that.
Q: What about the church-initiated talks, aren't they the
solution to
our problems?
A: Talks about what? What are they
talking about? Can you say?
Q: To try and bring Zanu PF and MDC to
the table
A: To do what? Talking doesn't simply mean you and I
sitting here and
talking. If you want to achieve a goal you have to be clear
about the goals,
the objectives and you work, engage in a process which leads
to the
objectives. There are no objectives right now. You can't just
talk.
Q: So do you have any hopes about these talks?
A: There is nothing which has happened so far.
Zim Standard
Dump sites become gold mine for desperate
Zimbabweans
Zimbabwe's economy is in tatters forcing many
ordinary citizens to
make a living through foraging rubbish dumps. But as
Terry Murry reports,
many have salvaged their lives by finding hidden
treasures in the rubbish
dumps of Harare.
Necessity, as
Zimbabweans are rapidly discovering, is the mother of
invention, and few can
claim to be more inventive than those searching for
re-usable scrap in
Zimbabwe's many rubbish dumps.
In these days of want and gnawing
poverty, many Zimbabweans have come
to realise that rather than live in total
destitution, they can make a
comparatively decent living turning waste into
useful, saleable objects.
For most families in the city slums that
are found around garbage
dumps, digging for buried treasure has become a
thriving business and a
permanent way of life.
Until 1997 when
the national economy took a nose-dive, many towns and
cities in Zimbabwe
enjoyed an uninterrupted supply of electricity. Hurricane
lamps for home
lighting had become a thing of the past.
But as these towns and
cities are being plunged into almost permanent
darkness by the erratic
supplies from Zesa, demand for hurricane lamps is
shooting up, and the search
for used tins to make new lamps makes garbage
dumps a goldmine.
Similarly, foreign exchange was once readily available to import tools
like
hoes, machetes and watering cans.
But without the hard currency and
with the local brands getting priced
beyond the reach of many, garbage dumps
have become a never ending source of
raw materials for impoverished
Zimbabweans to manufacture their own tools.
Scavenging has become
an industry in its own right, fuelling the needs
of other
industries.
"We encourage them to dig up the dump by offering
attractive prices
for the empty tins and the like, because we cannot
successfully be
manufacturers and at the same time suppliers of our own raw
materials," said
John Taruvinga, a tin smith.
Taruvinga, a
member of the Marange Apostolic Church, said business is
booming for members
of his church as they are known to be accomplished tin
smiths.
Old car bodies, discarded paint tins, cans and funnels, old shoes,
slippers
and plastic footwear, all fetch a good price for the scavengers.
So
far, these are the most sought after commodities, but a day's
treasures
depend on the areas where garbage bins have been picked up.
"Bins
from affluent residential neighbourhoods contain an assortment
of valuables
like old clothing and household utensils," explains Tawanda
Murindi, who
claims a decade of experience in scavenging.
But things have been
changing for many of the old hands. Murindi is
worried about the growing
competitive nature of life on the dumps.
"It is increasingly
becoming survival of the fittest, with young and
able bodied men and women
taking the lion's share," he said.
Murindi complains bitterly about
the invasion of the garbage dumps by
displaced former farm workers and says
that had the invaders not outnumbered
the original scavengers by far, he and
his fellow old timers would have
forcibly evicted them.
For the
displaced farmers and their families, the dumps have become a
real beacon of
hope.
"We come here because some of us want to earn a decent living
instead
of going begging all over the place. Most of us were chased from
farms where
we used to work by war veterans," said Ivy Machona, a former farm
worker.
A considerable number of the scavengers at dumps in Harare
are like
Machona, former farm workers who were displaced during the country's
chaotic
land reforms that started in 2000.
The dump sites also
serve as permanent source of organic manure to
such an extent that most dump
sites are surrounded by vegetable gardens
growing a huge variety of crops and
without using chemicals and other
fertilisers.
The irony of it,
is perhaps, that in a decaying country like Zimbabwe,
decay itself has become
the source of renewal.
Zim Standard
Zimbabweans ignore State cash plea
BANKERS in Zimbabwe on Friday said few people had heeded a government
plea to
return large amounts of cash stashed at home, providing no relief to
a
crippling shortage of bank notes which has hit the country.
For the
last two weeks scores of people have queued at banks in a
desperate hope that
depositors, mostly retailers, would bring in cash which
could be withdrawn to
buy food and fuel-which are also scarce in the
crisis-hit
economy.
President Robert Mugabe's government last week said it had
outlawed
the hoarding of cash and the government had set an end of September
deadline
to abolish the highest denominated Z$500 note, which it says is
being
hoarded for black market trade.
"We haven't seen any
significant inflows of the Z$500 notes back into
the system, and cash
injections from the central bank are still inadequate
to meet demand," one
official at a Harare commercial bank said on Friday.
"Either people
do not believe the government means business, or they
are waiting until the
last minute to bring back the money," he said.
Inflation in
Zimbabwe is running at an annual rate of 366 %- one of
the highest in the
world-and the Zimbabwe dollar is plummeting on the black
market where it is
trading at 4 000 to the dollar, versus an official rate
of
824:US$.
Just a month ago it was trading illegally at 3 500 to the
dollar,
while at the end of June it stood at 2 500-a trend which has
fuelled
expectations of an official devaluation.
The country's
main labour union, which has recently led several
anti-government protests,
says it will consult its members on what action to
take after a two-week
deadline it gave the government to resolve the cash
crunch expired on
Tuesday.
The banknote shortage is the latest sign of a political
and economic
crisis which has deepened since Mugabe's controversial
reelection in a March
2002 poll condemned as rigged by both the opposition
and several Western
countries.
Critics say Mugabe has mismanaged
the country since assuming power at
independence from Britain in 1980,
leading to chronic shortages of food,
fuel and cash, along with an
unemployment rate of more than 70%.
In a statement accompanying its
interim results this week financial
services group, Kingdom, warned of
further hardships for the country in
coming months and said inflation could
exceed 800% by the end of 2003.
"What has clearly emerged ... is
that any remedy is dependent on a
resolution of the political
environment...thereby improving the country's
sovereign risk, which is
essential to attracting foreign investment," the
group said.
Mugabe, 79, denies the charges of misrule levied against him and says
the
economy has been sabotaged by local and international opponents over
his
controversial seizure of white-owned farms, for redistribution to
landless
blacks.
Earlier this month the International Monetary
Fund urged Zimbabwe to
enhance governance and transparency in its policies to
attract foreign
investment and regain the support of creditors and
donors.-Reuters.
Zim Standard
Fewer exhibitors at Harare show
By our own
Staff
THERE will be fewer exhibitors at this year's Harare
Agricultural Show
that kicks off next week as the economic and political
crisis continues to
bite. Organisers said there would 416 exhibitors, down
from 427 last year,
at this year's show.
This reflects a decline
from last year's fair, which also fell victim
to the prevailing economic
problems that have seen agricultural activity
ebbing to its lowest
record.
Show society spokesperson, Oliver Gawe, said a total of 453
stands
have been taken for this year's exhibition.
"We are
almost where we were last year. People haven't lost hope. They
are still
enthusiastic," Gawe said.
This years show is being held under the
theme, 'What To see in
2003;The Harare Agricultural Show'.
For
the third year running, the livestock section, a major attraction
for show
crowds, will once again be missing owing to the continued outbreak
of the
contagious foot and mouth disease in Harare and its
surrounding
environs.
At last year's show, cattle pens remained
empty because of
uncertainties in the commercial farming sector.
Zim Standard
Humiliating life for 'Zimbos' in Britain
americannotes By Ken Mufuka
(The people in this story are real, and
their suffering is beyond our
imagination. Their names have been slightly
altered to protect the
innocent.)
I have been doing some summer
research at Rhodes Library at Oxford. In
my spare time, I have traveled to
many towns in Britain in order to witness
the great tragedy that has befallen
our country. One can see the suffering
of the Zimbos (as they call
themselves) through their eyes and their talk.
Muchataure chiiko Va Mufuka,
hapana zvatingaita, almost every one of them
told me. (What can we say, we
are in a predicament.)
The predicament is not always that the
Zimbos in question had no jobs
in Zimbabwe as you shall see. In fact, many of
them were well to do, but the
depreciation of their incomes at a time when
prices were rising by multiples
of tens a day, made it impossible for them to
maintain any reasonable life.
And as I suspected, the retirees (though well
educated) were affected. Even
those who were stalwart Zanu PF members labour
here quietly in shame, doing
RR jobs (RR means rese rese). This must be a
humiliation of the spirit to
the last degree.
Let me begin with
the biggest of them all. Josiah Ngoni, a stalwart
Zanu PF apparatchik,
trusted by President Mugabe himself, took over the
greatest city in Central
Africa as its chief operating officer.
He walked in the corridors
of power and some say he was responsible
for designing a system of cronyism
and corruption, which finally destroyed
the blood vessels of a once
flourishing city.
This system was based on the tender system.
Nobody outside their
coterie had any chance of winning a tender in this great
system, and some of
the winners of these tenders were no show business party
stalwarts who never
started or completed the work they had tendered
for.
A common method of enriching themselves was to sell official
Mercedes
Benz (after a three year period of use) to their users at ridiculous
prices.
The crony apparatchiks would then realise thousands of dollars on the
open
market.
"Do you see that man there," said my Mukwasha, " he
is here now." We
were in a little but very upscale town called Maidenhead in
Berkshire and
the neighbourhood where the brother was living his last days
was called
Hatfield.
"Zvinhu hazvichaita kumusha," My Mukuwasha
told me trying to hurry me
up, knowing that I would be tempted to ask too
many questions. Our next stop
was a place called; "Nyama
Yakachipa."
To give credit to the Mr. Ngoni, he did attempt to
redeem himself by
resigning from Zanu PF and trying to win the mayor's seat
through an MDC
ticket. The tragedy of his position today is that apparently,
the wealth he
created was based on a house of cards and the economic
conditions he helped
to create blew the house down. I know the suffering.
Here is man who has
seen and tasted power, who had an opportunity to do good
to himself and to
our country, but who (perhaps through foolishness)
implemented greedy
policies that have now come to ruin himself and
others.
Now, well over 60 years old, he faces a humiliating
experience and is
told: "Come, Go" by the very imperialists he had spent all
his life fighting
against.
My Mukuwasha has not been spared the
suffering also. Educated as an
electrical engineer in Europe, he had done
well at home until the economy
began to unravel. Twenty-five years after he
had left Europe, he returned to
do an RR job. His first encounter with
humiliation was in housing.
British landlords are wary about black
and West Indian tenants. In
their place the Nigerian landlords have jumped in
with gusto. He took a
house whose plumbing and wall paneling was not in
order. He set to repair
these, but this provoked the landlord's jealousy. He
found himself locked
out, all the locks changed and his furniture thrown out.
The landlord went
for higher paying tenants.
Anybody who comes
from Masvingo will remember Mai Gwatidzo, the
district nurse. We know her for
her kind heart. Her children have done well;
one is in the United
States.
She is retired. "I will keep my mouth shut," she told my
wife.
"I know what Ken will do with my story." But her story is the
story of
many thousands of Zimbabweans. Her pension can no longer pay for her
CIMAS
(medical insurance). Everyday, just like the Pharaoh in Egypt, the
rulers
think up new ways to make the people suffer.
Oh, I cannot
finish this letter before I tell you about this older
lady. She was a power
in the nursing world. Mai Taputsa was her name. She
was a senior nurse tutor
at Harare (PaGomo) and a pioneer in her field.
Later on she became chief
matron in Chitungwiza. Her students remember her
for her fanatical adherence
to hygiene and others remember her for her kind
heart. Her husband was a
professor. But times are hard. Now well into her
seventies, she has returned
back to the floor as they say through none of
her fault.
Almost
every Zimbo I saw had a story to tell.
They live in humiliation,
the older ones returning to jobs they did 30
years ago. Almost all of them
have two jobs, for they realise that time is
not on their side, either for
fear of deportation or the fear of age
overcoming them.
They
live like a people without a country, in fear of the authorities,
here or at
home, in humiliation at the RR jobs they do. The commonest job is
taking care
of elderly people. While nurses have no problem with this job,
untrained men
from Zimbabwe find it most humiliating to clean up an elderly
man's body
toiletry.
Their profiles show that the majority of the 80 000
Zimbabweans who
have flocked to Britain in the last six years, the majority
of them were
highly skilled. A former manager at INNSCOR, 32 years old and a
university
graduate, is typical of those who are now doing RR jobs. The town
clerk
mentioned above has several law degrees.
My aunt has
several nursing diplomas. Mai Gwatidzo and Mai Taputsa
were pillars of the
nursing profession in Zimbabwe. The common story behind
all of them is that
even if one earned a million dollars in Zimbabwe today,
you will do better
with one thousand British pounds. If you kill the money,
you literally steal
the people's savings and wealth.
Zim Standard
Repent: To whom, for what?
WHETHER
President Robert Mugabe was choosing his words to suit the
occasion or
honestly displaying his unrepentant nature, the Zimbabwe public
cannot be
blamed for dismissing the so called talks about 'talks' as 'full
of sound and
fury but signifying nothing'.
Departing from his prepared speech at
this year's Heroes' Day
celebrations, President Mugabe had this to say about
the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC): "There is room for them to
repentŠthere is room for
them to say we were wrong yesterday; we shall not be
wrong tomorrow."
The obvious question that immediately comes to
mind is repent to whom
and for what? Is somebody seeing himself as God here?
Why is the President
acting as though everything depends on him - as the
omnipotent giver of life
itself and all that goes with it.
These
are hardly the words of a man whose attitude is of one willing
to negotiate a
political settlement with the opposition as equal partners.
Negotiation
essentially means you are not speaking the same language,
otherwise why
negotiate in the first place? Negotiation necessarily implies
making
compromises and being able to accommodate each other whichever the
case might
be.
There is absolutely nothing for MDC to repent about. If
anything, it
is the ruling party which has to repent about the enormous
suffering that it
has caused the people of Zimbabwe. We are merely stating
the obvious when we
say this. But it has to be said over and over
again.
The cash crisis, the fuel crisis, the crisis of the
unaffordability of
basic commodities-all these problems show no sign of
abetting. In fact,
things are getting worse by the day. This is on top of the
shocking
catalogue of human rights abuses that have been perpetrated by this
regime
for more than three years now.
President Mugabe's address
at Heroes's Acre on Monday has cast a dark
shadow on the whole process of
dialogue. Many had doubted his political
commitment to dialogue and they
appear to be vindicated by the President's
remarks. As we write, there is no
indication to show that there is any
progress in the dialogue beyond spurious
declarations of intent.
Clearly, as has been pointed out by others,
the ruling party is merely
buying time and hoodwinking regional leaders into
thinking that some
political reforms are underway when in reality, as we all
know, there is
nothing on the ground. President Mugabe has not done a U-turn
at all, as
some might have thought following media reports that he had
welcomed the
intervention of church leaders in efforts to rekindle talks
between the two
warring parties. And as far as we can tell, he is unlikely to
do it any time
soon.
The language that is being used by the
ruling party functionaries
clearly reflect a party that is unwilling to
change and is hell bent, in the
interest of self-preservation, to perpetuate
the status quo, and along with
it the suffering and hopelessness that now
assails the people of Zimbabwe.
The severity of the problems in
this country has not, it seems, jolted
the ruling party one bit into concrete
solutions save for lurching from
stop-gap measure to another. The President
and his lieutenants continue to
be locked in a paranoid mind set where they
see enemies where none exist.
How can a fellow Zimbabwean be regarded as an
enemy? We have said it before
and we shall continue saying it that if people
disagree with you, they are
just thinking differently; they are not your
enemies.
The moment all Zimbabweans start thinking alike or
speaking the same
language at every turn, then Zimbabwe will cease to exist.
The moment Zanu
PF and MDC speak the same language, then the two political
parties cease to
be thinking and dynamic organisations. It is just that
simple!
But more dangerous is the belief that the sovereignty of
Zimbabwe
boils down to President Mugabe and Zanu PF. That notion must be
dispelled
once and for all. Zimbabwe is much bigger than any individual dead
or alive.
That is why it is nonsense for the President to say that
'there could
be no unity with enemies of the people, enemies of the struggle
and enemies
of our independence'. How can anyone label MDC as 'enemies of the
people'
when more than half of the Zimbabwean population voted for them in
the last
general election. MDC and its President, Morgan Tsvangirai, are just
as
passionate and committed to the development of Zimbabwe as anyone
else.
There is a clear distinction between national interest and a
political
party that is in power. Loyalty to Zimbabwe means one's
unwavering
allegiance to the country regardless of the political party that
is in power
at any given moment. Governments come and go. But the nation of
Zimbabwe
will forever remain.
Whatever President Mugabe's
antics, we are, therefore, comforted by
the fact that nothing is permanent in
this world. One cannot fight against
the tide of democracy forever. Change is
inevitable.This may, of course, be
an unpalatable truth for the ruling party
to swallow, but as certain as
night follows day, change is coming. Nobody can
stop it. It is foolish and
ridiculous for anyone to say never ever Š .
History has a chemistry of its
own. It moves at a certain pace aided of
course by the resilience and power
of the people, however docile they might
appear to be.
The MDC, civic society and ordinary Zimbabweans must
not relax in the
struggle. They must not be intimidated. They must go on in
the knowledge
that nothing endures forever. Everything - including President
Mugabe and
Zanu PF - perishes in time.
Zim Standard
A quick guide to duplicitous doubletalk and
deceit
Overthetop By Brian Latham
There is much in the
troubled central African nation that is not as it
seems. And much that is
said that, to an outsider, seems incomprehensible.
And so it was
last week when the most equal of all comrades and lord
high chief of the Zany
party said that the More Drink Coming party must
repent before talks
begin.
Puzzled foreigners asked why the More Drink Coming party
should
repent, but troubled central Africans, being fleet of mind, knew that
the
More Drink Coming party has to repent being beaten, bludgeoned,
tortured,
murdered, raped and otherwise suppressed by the Zany
party.
That is the way it works in the troubled central African
banana
republic. And indeed in banana republics the length and breadth of
the
troubled continent. It tells us that if the troubled central African
basket
case has adopted nothing else from the bland, neo-liberal imperialists
in
the West, it has at least purloined Orwellian logic.
From the
drug-crazed warlords of Liberia to the mad king of Swaziland,
the situation,
and the same upside down logic, is the same.
Those same neo-liberal
western imperialists wonder why this doesn't
worry troubled central Africans.
They wonder too why troubled central
Africans aren't turning into embarrassed
central Africans, because the
behaviour of the government is surely cause for
deep embarrassment.
Well, it would be if anyone took much notice of
government. Government
might be important in the US, or Britain perhaps. It
certainly is in
Germany, where people fawn over their rulers. But troubled
central Africans
don't believe that government is anything more than a
necessary evil, a
bureaucratic stumbling block that must be endured and where
possible
undermined.
So, no, it isn't embarrassing to listen to
the most equal of all
comrades telling his opponents to repent. On the
contrary, troubled central
Africans may well be deeply troubled by the
turmoil and tyranny they're
experiencing, but most of them remain
proud.
Still, it was curious of the most equal of all comrades.
Just when the
troubled country and its increasingly nervous neighbours
thought progress
might be in the offing, along he comes and throws a well
aimed spanner in
the works.
Perhaps with the benefit of
hindsight, troubled central Africans could
have seen it coming. But perhaps
not. The breathtaking brazenness of the
statement takes some beating and it
will take the More Drink Coming party's
spin-doctors some time to match that
well timed and well aimed bazooka.
After all, what's there to
repent? If the More Drink Coming party
isn't kicking itself for not making
the now famous "repent statement" first,
it should be. But then it would have
been blamed for wrecking the talks
before they even began.
That
sort of accusation can't be made against the Zany party, even if
it's true.
Had the More Drink Coming party told Zany thugs to repent,
leaders from the
region would've woken from their slumbers to lob insults at
it.
But as it came from the Zany party, the region's leaders (such as they
are)
slept on unperturbed and undisturbed. Troubled central Africans have
come to
expect little else. If they once considered looking up to their
southern
neighbour, they now look down on it - and not just geographically.
Led by an old soak of such spinelessness he surely needs a corset to
remain
upright, the Zany demand that the More Drink Coming party repent
passed - at
least publicly - without comment.
That, not surprisingly, led many
troubled central Africans to consider
whether their silly southern neighbour
might have an agenda of its own - and
to decide they'd rather live with
tyranny than become an adjunct of that
lunatic asylum.