Reuters
Tue
Dec 26, 2006 10:41 AM GMT
BEIJING (Reuters) - China denied on Tuesday it
was in talks to give Zimbabwe
a $2 billion loan, contradicting a report last
week in an official
Zimbabwean newspaper.
Chris Mutsvangwa,
Zimbabwe's ambassador to Beijing, was quoted by the Herald
newspaper as
saying China had appointed a projects officer to open the talks
with
Harare's finance minister and central bank governor.
It would be the
largest foreign loan for President Robert Mugabe's
government, which is
presiding over its worst economic crisis since
independence from Britain in
1980.
"After seeing this news, we looked for confirmation with the
relevant
departments, and the result was that there is absolutely no such
thing,"
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news
conference.
He did not elaborate and calls to the Zimbabwe embassy went
unanswered.
Zimbabwe is suffering shrinking gross domestic product, the
highest
inflation in the world, unemployment above 80 percent and shortages
ranging
from foreign currency to food.
Shunned by key Western donors
over his policies such as seizing white-owned
farms for blacks, Mugabe has
scrambled for aid and investment from the East.
Zimbabwe has $2.2 billion
arrears out of a total $4.1 billion external debt.
Zimbabwe has
previously said it was behind with payments for Chinese fighter
jets it
bought last year. It has also bought small commercial planes, trucks
and
buses from China.
China is attracted to Zimbabwe's mineral resources such
as uranium and
platinum as it increasingly looks to Africa for raw materials
to fuel its
booming economy, a move that has raised fears of exploitation
among
activists and labour groups.
China, which has historical links
with the continent forged in the struggle
for independence, has sought to
deepen ties with Africa and has offered low
interest loans and other
aid.
Qin added that Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing would make his first
foreign
trip of the new year to Africa, as he traditionally does, with stops
in
Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Central African Republic,
Eritrea and Botswana.
Li would leave on December 31 and return on
January 8, Qin said.
VOA
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
26 December
2006
The World Diamond Council has expressed concern at
reports that rough
diamonds from Zimbabwe are being illegally exported into
South Africa for
onward sale into the world market under fraudulent
certification of origin,
a council statement said.
Such certification
is provided under the so-called Kimberly Process to
assure dealers and
consumers that diamonds are not coming from areas in
conflict and that
proceeds will not go to fund warfare and human rights
abuses - for instance
by rebel forces as happened in Sierra Leone, which
gave rise to the Kimberly
Process.
WDC Chairman Eli Izhakoff said in a statement that "such illegal
exportation
presents a clear threat to the integrity of the legitimate
export process as
a whole" and urged nations who are signatory to the accord
"to act swiftly
and in unison, to resolve this situation and protect the
legitimate and law
abiding industry."
Though Zimbabwe is not a war
zone, diamonds from all countries are supposed
to be certified under the
Kimberly Process to maintain international
consistency.
In a related
development, the European Commission has requested an update
from Harare on
the allegations and urged the World Diamond Council to share
information on
abuses in Zimbabwe and the impact of such abuses on
neighboring
countries.
It has been alleged that gems from a mine in Beitbridge whose
ownership is
in dispute, and diamonds from Marange, are being sent to South
Africa for
fraudulent Kimberly certification. This could lead to the
blacklisting of
Zimbabwean diamonds.
The government itself has been
accused of using security forces to seize a
Marange diamond mine in
violation of a high court order supporting the claim
of the British-based
African Consolidated Resources to rightful ownership of
the
mine.
Bubye mines of Beitbridge is embroiled in an ownership dispute with
a
business group led by retired army General Solomon Mujuru, husband of vice
president Joyce Mujuru. Bubye managers said they may appeal to Kimberly
authorities, charging that Mujuru's group, which has physical control of the
mine and has renamed it River Ranch Mine, has exported diamonds in violation
of court orders and without proper certification.
Reporter Blessing
Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe interviewed Bubye mine
Director Adele
Farquhar, who said she has evidence of diamond smuggling.
River Ranch
Executive Director George Kantsouris, also contacted, disputed
the
allegation that his group has been smuggling diamonds to South Africa.
The Village Voice
Nat Hentoff
Leaving the United Nations, the Secretary General tells us why it's
not
working.
by Nat Hentoff
December 26th, 2006 2:15
PM
The principles of the [United Nations]
are holier than the policies of any
single nation.
-Former U.N.
secretary-general Trygve Lie
Gunmen on horseback attacked a truck carrying
medicine and aid . . . in
Darfur . . . and killed 30 civilians, some of whom
were burned alive, the
United Nations said yesterday.
-The Guardian,
London, December 11
Sixty years after the liberation of the Nazi death
camps, and 30 years after
the Cambodian killing fields, the promise of
"never again" is ringing
hollow.
Kofi Annan, speaking in honor of
International Human Rights Day, December 8,
New York
I have often
been critical of the departing Kofi Annan-before he became
secretary-general
of the United Nations-starting with his complicity of
silence, along with
former president Bill Clinton, in the Rwanda genocide,
which he and Clinton
could have stopped before the rivers of blood flowed.
(Annan was then head
of U.N. peacekeeping operations.) In response to my
criticism, I've been
publicly rebuked by his spokespeople. But now, in a
resounding goodbye at
Lincoln Center, under the auspices of Human Rights
Watch, Annan has partly
redeemed himself by nakedly revealing the lethal
failures of the U.N. and
its sovereign nations. (The press largely ignored
this speech in favor of
the less fiery one at the Truman Library.)
Referring to Sudan's incessant
invocation of its national sovereignty, in
refusing to let in U.N. forces to
stop the rivers of blood there, Annan did
not limit his indictment to
Khartoum. He nailed many other U.N. nations
complicit in a genocide even
more horrifying than Rwanda's, which will
eventually produce far more
corpses:
"[Blame] can be shared among those who value abstract notions of
sovereignty
more than the lives of real families-those whose reflex of
solidarity puts
them on the side of governments and not of peoples, and
those who fear that
action to stop the slaughter would jeopardize their
commercial interests."
For example, sitting coldly on the all-powerful
Security Council-threatening
vetoes against actions that would being the
genocidal rulers of Sudan to
disarm the murderous Janjaweed and bring in
U.N. forces-is the People's
Republic of China, which buys most of Sudan's
oil.
But not only China helps to fuel the mass murders and rapes by the
Arab
Janjaweed in Darfur. As the December 9 issue of The Economist points
out:
"Too many countries now have a large financial stake in Sudan. Their
wish to
be nice to the regime in Khartoum means they have no interest in
forcing it
to mend its ways. . . . [And] there has been little help from the
Arab
League either-or from India and Malaysia."
And what of the
countries Annan refers to when calling the responsibility to
protect Darfur
a "conspiracy by imperialist powers to take back the hard-won
national
sovereignty of formerly colonized people"?
The United Nations allegedly
has a Human Rights Council, which,
unaccountably, Human Rights Watch
initially praised as a marked improvement
over its disgraced predecessor.
Annan, in his New York speech, justly scored
the new council for its
one-sided focus on Israel-and for its indifference
to unabated human rights
abuses in many other countries, including Sudan and
others in Africa.
Consider, for example, the hell on earth that is Zimbabwe.
(And why is the
venerated human rights icon Nelson Mandela so silent on the
human rights
crimes of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's onetime "liberator," who
has become the
scourge of his people?)
Said Annan on Africa: "Unless Africa
wholeheartedly embraces the
inviolability of human rights, its struggle for
security and development
will not succeed. Many African governments are
still resisting the
responsibility to protect. Many, even among the most
democratic, are still
reluctant to play their role in the Human Rights
Council by speaking out
impartially against all abuses. They can, and must,
do more." (Emphasis
added.)
In leaving, Kofi Annan did not ignore the
war on terrorism. "We need an
anti-terrorism strategy that does not merely
pay lip service to the defense
of human rights but is built on it," he said.
"That is why secret prisons
have no place in our struggle against terrorism,
and why all places where
terrorism suspects are detained must be accessible
to the International
Committee of the Red Cross. Leading promoters of human
rights undermine
their own influence when they fail to live up to these
principles."
(Emphasis added.)
Which country could Annan be referring
to? Could it be this country, with
its "exceptions" to the Geneva
Conventions and its own war crimes statute on
the treatment of prisoners?
And its refusal to let the Red Cross inside the
CIA's "black
sites"?
Annan dropped a heavy hint on the country he had in mind: "Once
we adopt a
policy of making exceptions to these rules or excusing breaches
of them, no
matter how narrow, we are on a slippery slope. The line cannot
be held
halfway down. We must defend it at the top."
Those at the
very top here for two more years show no signs of being swayed
one inch by
Annan's urgent farewell message. As for the candidates to
succeed them, John
McCain sold out his principles on the issues that define
a nation by voting
for-and warmly supporting-the Military Commissions Act of
2006, allowing the
president to ignore the Geneva Conventions and define
what "torture"
is.
And in his successful book signings around the country, Barack Obama
has yet
to say specifically what he would do about the CIA secret prisons,
the
warrantless eavesdropping on us by the National Security Agency, or the
government's use of the "state secrets" weapon to foreclose judicial
oversight into its "exceptions" to American and international
law.
Further, while Hillary Clinton did briefly come alive on some of
these
"exceptions" to the Bill of Rights during floor debate on the Military
Commissions Act (while McCain dozed), these do not appear to be among her
current priorities, let alone those of hordes of advisers for her
presidential campaign.
And whoever thought of Rudy Giuliani as a
civil libertarian-or a passionate
protector of human rights around the
world? But at least Annan, much too
late in his tenure, has set clear
standards for all presumably civilized
nations, very much including this
one. Any presidential candidates
listening?
From The Sunday Mirror, 24 December
Mabasa Sasa, Political Editor
Controversy
surrounds a SADC Ministerial Action Group (MAG) reportedly
appointed by the
regional body's chair, Lesotho, to compile a report on the
'Zimbabwe
crisis', with sources saying Harare would not accommodate the body
as it was
commissioned outside the organisation's Summit. The South African
media have
in the past weeks reported that SADC chair, Prime Minister
Pakalitha
Mosisili of Lesotho, after consultations with South African
President Thabo
Mbeki, commissioned a three-country group to report on the
situation in
Zimbabwe. However, the sources said it increasingly looked as
if the MAG
might never visit Zimbabwe, as there was no consensus among
various SADC
member States over how to proceed, adding that there was a
"media blackout
on what was now taking place behind the scenes". According
to Foreign
Affairs and diplomatic sources, a rift was emerging in SADC over
how to
engage Zimbabwe, with some members like "Namibia, Mozambique and
Tanzania
emphasising non-interference while others were pushing for a
tougher line"
including the commissioning of an MAG.
"SADC is not agreed on the
mandate of the MAG and whether or not to accept
any of its findings. At the
same time the Zimbabwe government has told the
SADC secretariat it will not
allow the MAG into Harare as it does not have
legal standing within the
regional body. At present, no one seems to want to
own up to being behind
the setting up of the group. It has been difficult
getting confirmation from
Lesotho and South Africa on what is taking place.
It is not even clear who
is in this MAG but the general belief is that the
three countries are
Lesotho, South Africa and Botswana," The Sunday Mirror
was informed.
Fuelling the controversy and confusion, officials at the SADC
secretariat in
Botswana are apparently unaware of the composition of the
group, its mandate
and to whom it will report its determinations, though
suggestions in the
South African media are that the MAG will present a
report to an emergency
Summit. There has also been speculation that the MAG's
report will result in
a referral of Zimbabwe to the SADC Organ on Politics,
Defence and Security,
which is currently chaired by Tanzania, a close ally
of
Harare.
Contacted for comment, Leefa Martin, the SADC head of
communications said
she had no information on the MAG adding "it seems no
one has concrete
information" on the status of the group. She said she had
been unable to get
any details on the matter from her colleagues in the
secretariat and
referred further inquiries to a ZK Masanja who is the SADC
national contact
point in Tanzania's ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the
time of going to
press, Masanja had not responded to questions sent to him
by The Sunday
Mirror some three weeks ago. Deputy Information and Publicity
minister
Bright Matonga said: "We have not had any official communication on
the
matter and so as far as we are concerned there is no issue." Efforts to
get
a comment from Lesotho's principal secretary for Foreign Affairs
Motlatsi
Ramafole through the department's contact person Mamoliehi Moetetsi
were
fruitless, as he too did not respond to questions sent to his office
some
three weeks ago. South Africa's Foreign Affairs minister Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma also did not respond to questions forwarded to her on the
issue.
Our Foreign Affairs insiders said it was highly unlikely
that the MAG would
in actual fact visit the country as such commissions and
their agendas were
decided on at Summit. "There appears to be nothing
official vis-à-vis the
MAG's mandate and its proposed visit to Zimbabwe. It
is not that we are
against anyone coming into the country and seeing things
for themselves but
it is just that these things have to be done procedurally
so that they can
be respected," said an insider. The Foreign Affairs insider
said it was
consequently surprising that Lesotho had then decided to go
ahead and create
an MAG "against the wishes of the Summit". Two weeks ago in
his address to
the Zanu PF People's Conference held in Goromonzi, President
Mugabe said:
"Even our neighbours have no power to change the government in
Zimbabwe. In
the same way that we will never go to Zambia, Malawi, South
Africa and
Mozambique telling them who should rule there, no one can tell us
who should
rule here."
At the most recent Summit in Maseru,
Lesotho, SADC Heads of State said they
did not feel compelled to interfere
in Zimbabwe, preferring to give the
Benjamin Mkapa mediation between Harare
and London a chance to work,
something that did not go down well with
opposition forces in this country.
Since the onset of the Fast Track Land
Reform Programme six years ago, there
have been a number of calls for SADC
and the African Union to take a leading
role in criticising Zimbabwe with
American President George W. Bush once
calling President Mbeki his "point
man" on Zimbabwe. However, this pressure
has largely been resisted with the
two bodies often pointing out they would
not meddle in the internal affairs
of a fellow Member State. At the
African-Caribbean-Pacific and EU Joint
Parliamentary Assembly in Barbados in
November, SADC delegates once more
rebuffed calls for the regional grouping
to attack Zimbabwe.
Iran Daily
In between scribbling,
shuffling small pieces of paper and tapping
calculators, the brokers yell
loudly, clamoring for attention. It's another
busy day at the Zimbabwe Stock
Exchange (ZSE).
The bull run here is an odd side effect of an economic crisis
that has seen
inflation spiral to over 1,000 percent--the highest in the
world--while
unemployment has hit 80 percent and poverty levels have
soared.
The crisis has been widely blamed on President Robert Mugabe's
government,
but it denies responsibility and says it is a victim of a
Western sabotage
campaign over a controversial and sometimes violent land
reform program.
"In a normal economy, stock market performance should mirror
the economic
prospects of the country but in our case it is a lot different
... I think
the good rally is because there are very few investment options
that can
provide real returns," Patrick Saziwa, an analyst with Kingdom
Stockbrokers
said.
The Africa Stock Exchanges Association (ASEA) said the
ZSE was among the
bourses that offered investors the highest returns in
Africa in 2005 and for
most of this year, despite a deep economic
recession.
ASEA statistics showing the ZSE recorded a 1,545 percent rise in
2005 and
shot up by more than 2,000 percent between January and the first
week of
November, 2006.
The ZSE has a market capitalization of around $20
billion, with 9.6 million
shares valued at $760 million traded in
2005.
Compared to Johannesburg's JSE Securities Exchange, which had a market
value
of 3.5 trillion rand ($489.2 billion) at the end of 2005, this is
tiny. But
Zimbabwean investors say their exchange is one of the few places
in the
country to get good investment returns.
"People know where the
good returns are. The stock market is one of the few
(to offer these) and
this is why we see it performing above all markets,"
ZSE Chief Executive
Emmanuel Munyukwi told Reuters.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono
has said the ZSE has become a
haven for speculators, where "dirty" money
from illegal foreign currency
trading is used.
Some companies have been
accused of taking advantage of special low interest
rates meant for troubled
industries to borrow money cheaply and buy shares,
instead of using the
funds to improve industrial production.
The central bank's recent efforts to
mop up excess liquidity from the market
by hiking bank statutory reserve
requirements to 60 percent from 45 percent
and forcing the banks to invest
more funds in long-term bonds have failed to
halt the bullish
trend.
Shares here can rise by more than 50 percent in a week, something not
lost
on investors scouting for opportunities to hedge against inflation of
more
than 1,000 percent.
Heavily capitalized stocks like Old Mutual
Zimbabwe, Pretoria Portland
Cement, hotel group Meikles Africa and mobile
phone firm Econet Wireless
have largely driven activity at the stock
market.
"It is not true to say dirty money is responsible for the bull run
and
neither is the stock market a haven for speculators," Farayi
Dyirakumunda, a
research analyst with Interfin Securities said.
"It is a
case where investors have limited legal investment vehicles. There
are
always speculators and non-speculators but that's the nature of stock
markets," Dyirakumunda said.
The majority of Zimbabwe's 12 million people
have not benefited from the
stock rally. Munyukwi said 90 percent of shares
on the 80-company bourse
were held by large corporate.
Brokers said this
was because stock broking firms required a minimum of
100,000 Zimbabwe
dollars ($400) from investors--more than twice the monthly
earnings of an
average Zimbabwean.
"The biggest impediment to participation by many people
is the erosion of
disposable income. People do not have money and even if
they could afford
the lower capitalized stocks, the returns are way below
the transaction
costs," Munyukwi said.
"I think many people are more
worried about surviving until the next day and
sending their children to
school rather than thinking about the stock
market," Sekai Muchineripi, a
primary school teacher outside Harare said.
"How many people know the stock
market anyway?" she asked.
The stock market boom has also failed to woo
foreign investors. ZSE
statistics show that only 2.31 percent of the shares
were held by foreigners
at the end of October, compared to 2.8 percent last
year.
China Post
2006/12/27
TOKYO, Reuters
Japan on Tuesday
urged emerging donors such as China to be more forthcoming
about the content
and motives of their foreign aid to developing countries
in Africa and
elsewhere.
"Brazil, Russia, India, China, all these countries are increasing
their aid,
but outside the framework of traditional donors," a foreign
ministry
official told reporters after a report on Japan's overseas aid was
submitted
to the cabinet.
"Of course, it is welcome ... but there is
a lack of transparency about what
they are actually doing on the ground," he
said. "For emerging donors, I
think this is a new experience. Their motives
are different. Their status is
different."
The African continent has
seen a rush of Chinese business interest focused
mainly on oil and
commodities, while Beijing has also emerged as an
important source of aid
for Africa.
China's aid policies there have drawn criticism from some
Western donors,
who say they support brutal governments such as Sudan and
Zimbabwe and
undermine global efforts to foster reform.
Tokyo's
expression of concern comes as its own aid budget is set to shrink
for a
ninth straight year.
A draft budget approved by the cabinet on Sunday
plans a 4 percent drop in
spending on official development assistance (ODA)
to 729.3 billion yen
(US$6.13 billion) in the year from April
1.
Japanese public support for boosting foreign aid is slight, given a
persistently huge public debt and a perception that the aid may not be
serving Japan's strategic interests.
"I personally think that we are
standing at a crossroads in policy
deliberations for official development
assistance," the Japanese official
said, noting other advanced industrial
nations were boosting their aid even
as Japan's assistance budget
shrinks.
Japanese aid officials hope they can rekindle popular support
for foreign
aid in the run-up to 2008, when Japan will host a summit of the
Group of
Eight advanced countries.
"We think it's about time to
regain support from the general public for
Japanese official development
assistance.
The Herald
(Harare)
December 25, 2006
Posted to the web December 27,
2006
Bulawayo
THIRTEEN Solusi University lecturers have been fired
for allegedly taking
part in an illegal strike.
The affected
lecturers had earlier this month been suspended and ordered to
appear before
a disciplinary committee to answer charges of taking part in
an illegal job
action.
The lecturers, however, refused to appear before the
committee arguing that
the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare, Cde Nicholas
Goche, had not declared the strike illegal.
The
lecturers also argued that they could not attend the disciplinary
hearings
in the absence of their lawyer.
The disciplinary committee was supposed
to listen to charges brought against
the 13 lecturers and 10 others who were
accused of planning the strike.
A lecturer who spoke on condition of
anonymity said the 10 lecturers' cases
were heard and they were back at
work.
"The 10 lecturers cases were heard and they were only warned and
told that
the institution would take sterner measures if they were to be
involved in
another strike," he said.
The lecturer added that the 13
who refused to attend the disciplinary
hearings were handed their pink slips
on Thursday and told to vacate the
university's premises.
"The
authorities viewed the refusal by the lecturers as insubordination and
decided to fire them," he said.
Indications however, are that the
lecturers are going to challenge their
dismissal, setting the stage for what
is likely to be a protracted legal
battle.
Earlier last week, the
lecturers' spokesman, Mr Ignatious Ncube, indicated
that the lecturers had
taken their case to an arbitration court.
"Our case is now with the
arbitration court in Plumtree which is due to
convene on the second week of
January," he said.
Mr Ncube was, however, not available to comment on the
latest twist.
The institution's spokesman, Mr Nceku Msimanga said he
could not offer an
immediate comment and asked that questions be sent to him
by e-mail.
At the time of going to print, Mr Msimanga had not responded
to the
questions.
The lecturers had gone on a three-week strike over
low salaries and poor
working conditions.
They claimed that they were
getting paid $46 000 per month, which they said
could not sustain
them.
The lecturers were also not happy with the conduct of some of the
administrators.
The Herald (Harare)
December
25, 2006
Posted to the web December 27, 2006
Joseph
Madzimure
Harare
THE Consumer Council of Zimbabwe has urged consumers
to desist from engaging
in illegal dealings that fuel shortages of basic
commodities on the formal
market.
This follows a survey conducted by
CCZ countrywide in which it emerged that
flour, sugar and other commodities
were not available on the formal market
but were in abundance on the
parallel market at higher prices.
The survey revealed that a green
bar of washing soap was selling for $2 500
on the black market as compared
to $1 500 on the formal market, and a blue
bar was costing $1 400 in shops
against $2 500 on black market.
Furthermore, a two-kilogramme packet of
sugar was going for $570on the
formal market but $1 000 on the parallel
market, while two litres of cooking
oil priced at $6 000 in supermarkets but
$8 000 on the black market.
Two kilogrammes of self-raising flour was
selling at $2 094 in the formal
market against $2 500 charged by illegal
vendors.
A standard loaf is selling at $825 in the formal market and $1
000 on the
black market.
Fuel was going for $325 per litre on the
formal market while selling at
between $2 000 and $3 000 on the parallel
market.
The consumer watchdog added that bread supplies continued to be
erratic,
with most bakeries only supplying confectionery, super white and
whole wheat
bread costing more than $1 500.
"Most major bakeries have
been supplying bread in very low quantities such
that most consumers have
had to resort to buying from in-store bakeries at
outlets such as Spar, TM,
OK, Gutsai and Food Chain groups," noted CCZ.
However, CCZ indicated that
fuel supplies have improved significantly during
this festive
season.
"The commodity is now available at most service stations although
there has
been little or no adherence to the selling of fuel at the gazetted
prices.
"Most service stations are selling the commodity at the parallel
market
prices which are ranging between $2 100-$2 500 a litre," added the
consumer
watchdog.
CCZ called on the relevant authorities to act so
as to normalise the
situation, which had dampened consumers' mood during the
festive season.
"Unruly elements and businesspeople have been hoarding
the commodities
whenever they are available on the formal market. Whilst the
commodity is
scarce in shops, it can be seen in pushcarts outside the
shops.
"On the other hand, due to anticipation of a price increase,
consumers have
been panic-buying the commodity when it is available, with
some people
withdrawing it for the same reason, thereby creating artificial
shortages."
The Herald
(Harare)
December 25, 2006
Posted to the web December 27,
2006
Harare
AT LEAST eight people were killed yesterday, bringing
to 15 the total number
of people who have died so far in 114 road accidents
recorded countrywide
since Thursday night last week.
Police said 69
people were injured in accidents reported since the beginning
of the festive
season.
Police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka
yesterday said
seven people had died between Thursday night and
Saturday.
He attributed the accidents to speeding, inattention and
misjudgment on the
part of drivers.
"However, the majority of these
accidents were minor," said Chief Supt
Mandipaka.
He urged motorists
to exercise caution when travelling to their
destinations, adding police
would continue to mount 24-hour roadblocks and
carry out patrols especially
on the country's highways.
Police recently assured the nation that they
would be out in full force
during the festive season
countrywide.
Last year 43 people were killed while 398 others were
injured in road
accidents during the festive season.
Seventy-five
people died while 762 were injured in 936 accidents during the
2004 festive
season, one of the bloodiest on record. Most of the accidents
were
attributed to speeding, negligence and tyre bursts.
In 2003, 62 people
were killed and 517 others injured in 669 accidents over
the same
period.
Forty-two people died, 20 of them on Christmas Day alone, while
280 others
were injured in more than 250 accidents countrywide in
2002.
Meanwhile, thousands of people were yesterday still stranded at
Mbare Musika
bus terminus after failing to get transport to their rural
homes.
Transport operators have attributed the acute transport shortage
to the
large number of people wishing to travel during the festive
season.
But the people stranded thought otherwise. As far as they were
concerned,
there were just not enough buses.
When the Herald visited
Mbare Musika only few buses could be seen ferrying
people at the bus
terminus while travellers wondered whether they could make
it to their rural
homes in time for the celebrations which begin in earnest
today.
As
would be expected, some bus crews were overloading their vehicles to
maximise profits.
On the other hand, some commuter omnibus operators
were abandoning their
suburban routes preferring to ferry stranded
passengers to their rural
destinations countrywide.
A visit to a bus
stop along the Harare-Masvingo road, popularly known as
Kumbudzi, revealed
that hundreds of people were still battling to get
transport with some
boarding private cars and haulage trucks.
While some battled to go home
or visit relatives in different parts of the
country, others were making
last-minute Christmas shopping.
Few shops were open yesterday, unlike in
the past when most shops and
supermarkets opened to allow everyone a chance
to buy Christmas goodies.
Our Bulawayo Bureau reports that hundreds of
travellers were stranded at the
long-distance bus terminuses in Bulawayo
yesterday afternoon as they made
last-ditch efforts to travel to their rural
homes in time for Christmas.
Long winding queues were also the order of
the day yesterday at Beitbridge
Border Post as travellers, mostly
Zimbabweans working in South Africa,
continued to flock home for the festive
season.
A survey showed that some of the would-be travellers had spent
the better
part of the day at the Renkini and Nkulumane long-distance bus
terminuses in
Bulawayo.
"I have been waiting here since 6am and it
looks as if I am no longer going
to Gwanda for Christmas," said Mrs Thandeka
Mlotshwa, who was part of the
crowd struggling to get transport at Renkini
bus terminus.
The worst affected were those travelling short
distances.
"We are being treated like people whose homes don't matter. I
have been here
since 5am and I want to go to Gweru but these rank marshals
and their
drivers are telling us that they are only taking people who are
going
straight to Harare. This is very disappointing because Gweru is only
two
hours away," said a frustrated Mr Phineas Njobvu.
Other
travellers who were destined for Gwanda, Filabusi and Fort Rixon
expressed
similar concerns over the transport problems.
"I am sure you can see for
yourself that the situation is bad. How am I
supposed to go home? I bought
all these groceries to take home. What was the
point of me buying them in
the first place if I can't go home?" fumed Mr Job
Mutasa.
The
situation was the same at the Nkulumane terminus.
Although some residents
were still doing last-minute shopping for Christmas
yesterday, the majority
of shops were virtually empty as most people had
done their shopping on
Saturday.
The few that were doing their shopping yesterday were filling
their trolleys
with the traditional Christmas groceries which include rice,
chicken, salad
cream, jelly, pudding as well as fireworks and crackers for
the
celebrations.
Bargain hunters could be seen queueing at shops
which were selling
commodities at affordable prices as "Christmas
Specials".
While others were running around for groceries in preparation
for Christmas,
others took the opportunity to seek spiritual guidance and
healing from a
faith healer, Mr Thabani Ngwenya, who operates from a bush at
Pumula South
in the city.
Many of the believers had cars with South
African registration numbers
suggesting that they were Zimbabweans,
popularly known as injiva, working in
South Africa.
Mr Ngwenya, who
addressed his followers from a boulder, also sprinkled them
with "holy
water", with the followers scrambling to get the "blessings".
The
principal immigration officer in Beitbridge, Mr Dennis Chitsaka, said
they
handled a huge volume of people between Saturday and yesterday.
"We have
been handling huge volumes of travellers between Saturday and
Sunday
especially returning residents and Zimbabweans working in South
Africa," he
said.
He said they recorded more arrivals on Saturday compared to
yesterday.
Mr Chitsaka said although there were long queues, the
department had
nevertheless managed to clear them without delay. He said
they had to open
one of the main filter gates to allow commercial vehicles
to pass to avoid
congestion.
When our correspondent in Beitbridge
visited the border post yesterday,
frantic efforts were being made by both
the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and
immigration officers to clear the queues
with clearance being done from
inside and outside the customs and
immigration halls.
Last year, the Beitbridge Border Post
experienced unparalleled congestion
which resulted in long
delays.
Several travellers spent between two and three days in the queues
while
waiting for clearance. The situation prompted a high-powered
delegation from
both Zimbabwe and South Africa to visit the border
post.
The delegation included Zimbabwe's Ambassador to South Africa, Cde
Simon
Khaya Moyo, and top South African Home Affairs Department
officials.
The Herald
(Harare)
December 25, 2006
Posted to the web December 27,
2006
Sifelani Tsiko
Harare
THE scale of environmental
challenges that Zimbabwe and Africa faced in 2006
was huge with the
environmental sector reeling from budget cuts, sprawling
land development
patterns, pollution, veld fires, poaching, toxic dumping to
biodiversity
loss and the consequences of global climate change.
Zimbabwe and the rest
of the continent continued experiencing challenges in
the management of the
environmental inventory which included less visible
resources and assets
such as fresh air and the use of solar energy as an
alternative source of
power that does not damage the environment.
It is worrisome that
Zimbabwe and most countries in Africa still lack
effective technologies that
control and reduce air pollutants emitted from
motor vehicles, industry,
food outlets, the agricultural sector and a whole
array of other fuels --
coal, paraffin, jet fuel and fuel wood.
Health experts say many people in
Africa now suffer from respiratory,
pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases as
a result of lack of specific legal
frameworks to deal with polluters as well
as the technical know-how to
effect controls.
The industrial sector
still lacks emission-reduction machines and this has
led to air pollution
and unsafe levels of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide
sulphur dioxide,
lead and other oxides in sprawling urban areas across the
continent.
Horticultural activities, sand blasting processes,
industrial activities,
cement and fertilizer manufacturing, quarries, the
burning of e-waste -
computers and other electronic gadgets dumped in Africa
continues to worsen
the levels of air pollution.
There is a growing
use of ozone depleting substances that were identified as
violating the
Vienna Convention of 1985 and the Montreal Protocol of 1987.
These
ozone-depleting substances include carbon tetrachloride, methyl
chloroform,
carbon-fluoro carbons, methyl bromide and halons used in fire
fighting.
Even though Zimbabwe and most other African countries
ratified the
protocols, methyl bromide is still widely used as a fumigant in
agriculture
and carbon tetrachloride is used in various industrial
operations.
Meteorologists warn that owing to inconsistencies by African
countries in
the phasing out of the use of depleting substances, the
delicate layer that
protects all life on earth continues to wear
off.
If this trend continues, unabated, they say more Africans will be
exposed to
sunburn, eye cataracts, skin cancers and
immuno-suppression.
Ms Charlene Hewat of Environment Africa, an
environmental organisation based
in Zimbabwe, says communities are not
playing their role in the fight
against pollution hence the need for
awareness campaigns before stringent
measures are effected to deal with
polluters.
Waste management remains one of the biggest problems facing
Zimbabwe and
most other African countries.
There is still a
widespread lack of resources, the technical and
administrative capacity to
properly implement sound mechanisms for waste
management across the
continent.
Latest satellite images of Africa's natural resources show
that the
continent is under an environmental assault of bigger proportions
that could
have debilitating consequences on livelihoods in future.
A
United Nations Environment Programme atlas launched at a water conference
held in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, indicates that Africa's river
basins, fresh water lakes, forests, coastal lagoons and wildlife sanctuaries
are under siege from unsustainable exploitation.
The satellite images
documented the shrinking of Lake Chad, the spread of
water hyacinth in Lake
Victoria, the destruction of rainforests, the deadly
effects of oil spills
and other major environmental changes on the
continent's
ecosystem.
Cote d' Ivoire paid a heavy price for lax controls after a
toxic waste
tragedy claimed 10 lives and affected more than 10 000
others.
This showed the damaging effects of toxic dumping in Africa in
which
industrialised nations dump highly toxic waste violating the Basel
Convention on Trans-Boundary Movement of Hazardous Waste.
Millions of
used computers, televisions and other electronic gadgets -
e-waste, are
being dumped in Africa daily as the continent lacks the
capacity to handle
this type of waste.
Industrialised nations are running away from the
harsh environmental laws in
their own backyards and emptying toxic wastes in
Africa, a development that
now requires African countries to tighten their
laws.
The Zambezi River, which supports livelihoods in eight Southern
African
countries, is now under threat from what environmentalists say is
ecological
mismanagement.
Water experts who met in Malawi in November
expressed concern over how the
river basin was being mismanaged through lack
of monitoring, conservation
and implementation of water conservation
policies.
Water pollution remains problematic along the 2 700km river
where aquatic
weed infestation has devastated some parts of the river basin
leading to
loss of biodiversity.
Experts said unco-ordinated
development interests, divergent approaches to
planning and management, poor
resource governance and conflicts over water
and land resources are damaging
the river.
These problems are becoming evident both in Zimbabwe's
internal river
systems and elsewhere in Africa, along major rivers such as
the Congo, Nile,
Limpopo and many others in many parts of the
continent.
Experts say there is need for a co-ordinated approach to
manage Africa's
river systems to avert a serious crisis in future.
A
deadly outbreak of a fish infection that still remains unidentified in
December along the Zambezi River is threatening fresh water fish and
biodiversity in southern Africa owing to unsustainable exploitation of
natural resources.
The outbreak showed that the eight countries
served by the Zambezi River
have no capacity to identify or monitor fish and
other animal diseases
neither do they have fish pathologists to help
identify deadly fish
infections.
Victoria Falls, one of Seven Natural
Wonders of the World, which sustains
tourist activities in southern Africa
is now under threat from pollution,
poor waste management and rapid
urbanisation owing to unco-ordinated
conservation approaches.
The
deadly fish infection outbreak has caused panic among people dependent
of
fishing along the Zambezi River.
Up to now, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana,
Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi and
Tanzania have not set up a commission
to inquire into the deaths of fish
owing to lack of resources, fish experts
and commitment into the management
of biological resources along the
river.
Veld fires wreaked havoc for the most part of 2006 in Zimbabwe
with
thousands of hectares of grasslands and forests worth billions of
dollars
going up in smoke.
The fires also endangered the survival of
wildlife that was already battling
to survive owing to poaching activities,
lack of pasture and water in some
parts of Zimbabwe's wildlife
areas.
The Government, environmentalists and other stakeholders bemoaned
the
irresponsible and reckless destruction of Zimbabwe's flora and fauna and
called for stringent penalties for the culprits to prevent the ugly scourge
of veld fires.
Despite pleas for co-operation and the implementation
of strategies to curb
the reckless burning of the forests and grasslands,
fires raged on even more
ferociously destroying property, wildlife,
livestock and the country's
biological resources.
Lack of resources,
and commitment by some Government departments and
communities, poverty and
lack of capacity by the Environmental Management
Agency to monitor and
implement programmes to manage veld fires worsened the
situation, described
by some as the worst since Zimbabwe gained independence
in
1980.
Without a permanent environmental force to monitor the outbreaks, a
sustained awareness programme and the participation of communities, veld
fires will continue to haunt Zimbabwe destroying property, wildlife, forests
and grasslands and other biological resources.
Reports indicate that
Zimbabwe lost 11 million hectares of land in 2004,
more than 11,5 million
hectares in 2005 and in 2006, environmentalists
estimate that this had
increased to more than 15 million hectares.
Desertification, the
indiscriminate cutting down of trees, illegal mining
activities, sand
poaching, the dumping of litter, poaching of wildlife, the
spread of water
weeds and the rapid spread of genetically modified organism
crops, the
rampant exploitation of medicinal herbs by rich nations all
affected efforts
to provide a decent environment for Africans.
Despite the problems,
governments and environmental activists held
conferences, seminars,
awareness programmes and supported a number of
initiatives to try and
conserve the environment.
The Clean Up campaigns, tree planting
activities, tightening of regulations
to curb illegal mining activities, the
reckless dumping of litter, veld
fires and other environmental activities
all provide hope that Africa will
stop at nothing to protect its
environment.
Protecting the environment is a shared responsibility
requiring the
participation of everyone to ensure fresh air, water and land
for the
people.
Mapping tools to identify and manage environmental
hazards are desperately
needed in Africa despite the fact that the scope of
environmental activism
is broadening.
The overwhelming number of
environmental problems is forcing Zimbabweans and
Africans to re-think key
issues such as increasing budgets for environmental
activities that aim to
support identification, monitoring and implementation
of sound environmental
programmes.
There is need to create a compelling positive vision of the
future and make
people aware of their responsibilities when it comes to
protecting the
environment.
Zimbabwe and Africa cannot afford to lose
their assets through degradation,
reckless attitudes and lack of commitment
to protecting what is truly
theirs -- the environment.
The year 2007
should see sustained efforts to protect the environment.
The Herald
(Harare)
December 25, 2006
Posted to the web December 27,
2006
Bulawayo
A GROUP of cattle rustlers is wreaking havoc at the
Norwood Plots in
Bulawayo with one family reported to have lost eight cattle
and household
property worth $1,8 million to the thieves.
Residents
said they reported the matter to the police but no arrests had
since been
made in connection with the spate of cattle thefts in their area.
One
of the affected residents said the gang had slaughtered "too many
cattle" in
the area and continued to harass them.
The residents could however, not
give the exact number of cattle that had
been killed by the
gang.
"The gang has slaughtered our cattle and very soon if they are not
caught
they will kill everything.
"We do not know what the police are
doing about our issue because most of us
are now scared. These guys are
capable of doing anything," he said.
Another resident, only identified as
Mr Ncube said his father was beaten up
and left for dead by the gang that
slaughtered a cow.
"We found my father tied up lying unconscious in the
fields. They had struck
him with an axe. These people have continued to
harass us and have stolen up
to eight head of cattle and we do not know what
to do since we have been
making reports but no arrests have been made," he
said.
Mr Ncube said the incident that shook him was when the gang
ambushed his
parents at 3am and ordered them to stay in the
house.
"The gang had come back for another cow and this time threatened
my parents
who began to shout for help and our neighbours had to come to
their rescue.
Another report was made to the police.
"When the
thieves came back, they didn't find anyone at home. They then
stole
household property.
"There is nothing left in our house and we do not
understand why we are
continuously being targeted by the gang," he
said.
Acting Police Spokesman for Bulawayo, Assistant Inspector Langa
Ndlovu said
police had only received reports of the theft of seven head of
cattle and
household property worth $1,8 million in the Norwood
area.
"We had initially received a report that six head of cattle were
stolen from
the family but we have now received a report that another cow
was stolen
from the family.
"The family also lost property worth over
$1,8 million to the thieves. The
property includes three beds, a wardrobe,
display unit, clothing and
blankets," he said.
Asst Insp Ndlovu said
police investigations were in progress and no arrests
had been made so
far.
"We are appealing to members of the public with information that may
lead to
the arrest of these people to contact any nearest police station,"
he said.