From The Daily News, 2
December
Famine looms as commercial farms
reduced to zero activity
Geoffrey Nyarota
As Flight SA020 descended in preparation
for touchdown at Harare International Airport last Monday the intercom crackled
into life overhead and an authoritative voice made an unusual announcement.
"This is your captain speaking," the voice said. "Passengers occupying a window
seat on either side may wish to look below to see how commercial farming is fast
disappearing from Zimbabwe." Passengers, including those like me who were not
occupying a window seat, responded and were reeled in shock. Their aerial
inspection of the fast changing landscape below presented them with a forlorn
picture of what the commercial farming sector has degenerated to in the 34
months since the first farm was invaded by a group of war veterans in the
Masvingo area to signal the advent of government's agrarian reform programme, an
exercise which has been marred by lawlessness and violence. What the passengers
on Flight SA020 saw along their flight path was a scene of zero farming activity
on commercial farms in the Beatrice and Harare South commercial farming area.
While listeners and viewers of radio and television
have been bombarded with the outrageous propaganda spewed out day and night by
the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation to extol the virtues of their country's
new agrarian revolution spearheaded by the new farmers what the passengers on
this flight and, no doubt, passengers on other flights, local and international
see as they fly in and out of Harare is a totally different story. It is a story
of desolation and total waste. Quite evidently there is little farming activity,
let alone an agricultural revolution taking place on the commercial farms that
once elevated Zimbabwe to the status of bread basket of the region along with
South Africa. The new farmers in the Beatrice and Harare South areas are quite
obviously not part of the new revolution that became the centrepiece of the
optimistic propaganda that the draughtsmen at the Ministry of Information
started to churn out before the first crop of the much anticipated rainy season
had even taken root.
The resettlement programme has been
bedevilled by a serious shortage of tractors, seed and fertilisers. There is a
serious shortage of fertiliser in the country. A bank official who spoke on
condition he was not identified said last week his bank's agric-business
department was processing and approving, hundreds of applications from new
farmers for loans. "Normally this process is over by August," he said. "But we
are still processing hundreds of applications from people who say they want to
buy tractors and other implements and inputs for this season. It's chaotic, but
we are giving them the money, sometimes without full assessment of viability and
without security." He said A2 Scheme farmers were receiving loans of up to $10
million. "Some government ministers are receiving up to $70 million. They say
they want to buy combine harvesters. Some have old loans that they have not
repaid or been servicing." In order to avoid jumping
to a negative conclusion over government's much publicised agrarian reform on
the basis of observations made from the air in only a part of the country, The
Daily News last week chartered light aircraft to fly extensively over other
commercial farming areas. This was to establish whether the pattern was the same
there and to ascertain the extent or lack thereof of farming activity by the new
settlers, many of them members of the war veteran community but others who are
civilians resettled in orderly fashion as part of the A2 Scheme on productive
land from which the previous white owners were forcibly, and in some cases,
violently evicted over the past 34 months, as part of government's land
resettlement programme. The chartered plane flew a Daily News photographer over
the rich commercial farming area of Mazowe Valley to cover the Bindura and
Concession areas, before veering off south east-wards to fly over the equally
rich Marondera and Hwedza areas. A common observation in all areas was the
almost total absence of land preparation for the new season in the commercial
farming areas. It was also quite apparent that no winter crops were harvested.
It was also evident that the occasional farming activity, which the traveller
sometimes observes in the commercial farming districts is limited to the
roadside, the favourite haunt of farm invaders.
The pictures published on this page are an
example of what one sees from the air as one flies from Harare to Bindura via
Concession and Glendale, where there is unequivocal evidence of almost zero
farming activity. Similarly non-existent farming activity was observed in the
Marondera/Hwedza area, despite the abundance of water, including irrigation
schemes. The fact simply has to be accepted by the most ardent supporters of the
current agrarian programme - it has been the cause of the total or near collapse
of serious commercial farming activity in those areas covered by The Daily News
flight. It becomes a logical assumption that it could be this serious decline in
productive agriculture, rather than last season's drought situation that was the
major cause of the current dire shortage of food, with little prospect that the
haphazard planting of a few resource-strapped new farmers will make up for the
national loss. Since the wave of government-sponsored
farm invasions started in earnest in 2000 some 3 000 white commercial farmers
have been evicted, some violently, from their farms. More than 10 members of the
commercial farming community lost their lives in the period. Only 600 farmers
remain on their farms, being engaged in full-scale or limited farming activity.
There are unofficial reports that government is currently encouraging selected
farmers either to return to their farms or to increase production. An estimated
900 000 farm workers have been displaced over the same period. The Farm
Community Trust of Zimbabwe, which is assisting displaced farm workers, reports
that more than 150 000 farm workers and their families were displaced in August
alone, when their employers were evicted by government's agrarian reform
programme. Meanwhile, United Nations agencies estimate that 6,9 million
Zimbabweans currently face starvation. The shortage of basic food stuffs has
become acute in both rural and urban areas. There may be a deluge of rain this
season. In the commercial farming sector the rains will fall, in most cases, on
untilled land with little prospect of contributing towards the alleviation of
the current spectre of starvation on a massive scale.
Daily News
Leader Page
Gezi must be in anguish at horror
done in his name
12/3/2002 8:50:48 AM (GMT +2)
THERE will be thousands of children streaming out of senior schools
this
week, looking for jobs, apprenticeships and training courses.
All
of these senior school graduates who wish to train as teachers,
doctors,
nurses, policemen/women or even clerks in government departments
will have to
undergo compulsory training at the Border Gezi
National
Institute.
From everything we hear, the teenagers
churned out by the Border Gezi
camps are not displaying loyal and patriotic
behaviour. By all accounts, it
would seem that they are learning:
-
How to intimidate, harass and terrify ordinary citizens;
- How to
queue-jump without being lynched;
- The quickest way to burn someone's
house down;
- How to beat up people two or even three times older than
them;
- How to physically abuse anyone who disagrees with
them;
- How to treat women as toys to be thrown away when they get
bored;
- How to establish the most profitable black market;
and
- How to destroy people's food.
I believe Zimbabwe's
chiefs, headmen and elders must be cringing in
shame when they hear of the
horrors that these children are inflicting on
people around the
country.
It was with enormous shock that we read in The Daily News
last week
that a group of Border Gezi products, accompanied by a Zanu PF
ward
councillor and an acting village chief, had gone on the rampage in
Cashel
Valley, Chimanimani.
They slashed 15 fields of maize,
amounting to 10 hectares of food,
that was almost ready to be harvested. The
reason the maize crop was
destroyed by the products of the Border Gezi camps
was because the people
who had grown it were suspected of supporting the
MDC.
At any time this would be regarded as pretty barbaric
behaviour but
now, when people are literally starving to death, this is
utterly obscene.
The fact that they were accompanied by a chief, a
man who should be a
respected leader, an elder, a man of wisdom and position,
defies all belief.
Or perhaps it does make sense in view of the fact that
last week President
Mugabe announced that from January all chiefs are to get
a pay rise.
These august traditional leaders will now get $50 000 a
month, up from
the $18 000 they presently earn. Is slashing people's crops
and condemning
them to starvation a fair exchange for a 300 percent pay
rise?
Old men are leading young men and together they are on a path
of
destruction and it appears they will do anything for money. The
youths
drilled at the Border Gezi training camps, some not even old enough
to
shave, are strutting around our villages, towns and cities in their
green
uniforms, exuding arrogance, spitting out venom and weaving a mosaic
of
hatred.
When I look at these once proud and enthusiastic
teenagers, I can see
too many frightening similarities between them and the
child soldiers of
Angola, Somalia and other war-ravaged African
countries.
The only thing missing at the moment, in my comparative
view, is that
the boys roaming our streets do not have guns in their hands,
knives in
their belts and hand grenades in their pockets. I wonder how long
these
appendages will be in coming.
Our ancestors must be
turning in their graves when they see what
respected elders are doing and
what is becoming of their
great-grandchildren. All the traditional beliefs
that Zimbabweans once held
as sacred, the things that made up the foundation
stones of an ancient
culture, are being destroyed. There is no respect for
elders anymore - how
can there be when it is the elders themselves leading
children on raiding
and slashing parties?
In exchange for money,
old and young men alike are destroying homes
and crops. The youngsters do
this under the name of the late Border Gezi.
He, too, is now one of our
ancestors and I believe even he must be in
anguish at the horrors being
perpetrated in his name.
The question that must be asked is: what
will happen in the years
ahead? When teenage boys and girls are taught and
encouraged to destroy and
use force to get what they want, how do they later
fit into an ordinary
society ?
What values, principles and life
skills will these teenage destroyers
of today have to pass on to their own
children?
We hear numerous reports of how child soldiers in other
African
countries have to be re-trained and un-brainwashed to fit back into
society
when the political wars are over. Is this what Zimbabwe too must
prepare
for?
As parents, it is up to us to put a stop to this
right now. For 16
years we give everything we have to our children. We feed,
clothe and
educate them.
The power is in our hands to stop our
own children from destroying us.
Daily News
Leader Page
Soldiers always for, not against,
people
12/3/2002 8:45:04 AM (GMT +2)
PRESIDENT
Mugabe should not complain when people accuse him of running
a military
regime disguised as a civilian government.
In his address last
Saturday to the soldiers who returned from the
civil war in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, he made this statement:
"Our forces have, therefore,
gone that extra mile in terms of combat
readiness and would be more than
prepared to use their experience and skills
in dealing with aggression either
at home or elsewhere, when duty should
call."
Some would say the
use of soldiers at home in any democratic society
would only be possible
under extremely unusual circumstances, such as a
civil war in which
Zimbabweans take up arms against the government.
Others would say
that in the Zimbabwean context, the use of soldiers
to kill and maim their
own people does not necessarily require for the other
side to be
armed.
This is not specifically a reference to the massacre of
innocents by
the notorious North Korean-trained 5 Brigade in the Gukurahundi
massacres in
Matabeleland and Midlands provinces in the 1980s.
After the parliamentary election in 2000, during which Zanu PF was
defeated
in most urban centres, soldiers or people in military uniform went
around the
towns and cities beating up patrons in bars and other places
of
entertainment.
Some of these misfits were heard to berate
their victims for having
voted for the opposition, as they whipped them or
kicked them with booted
feet. They were warned they would be given the same
treatment if they
repeated their "mistake".
In the presidential
election two years later, these urban voters,
obviously unbowed by the
beatings in 2000, still opted for the opposition
candidate. Again, people in
army uniforms went around beating them up.
In the late 1990s, as
the people rose to protest against a whole
series of government disasters -
including the monumental bungling of the
economy - the government called on
the army to intervene, with the then
Minister of Home Affairs announcing on
public television that the soldiers
had orders to "shoot to kill" any
protesters.
Indeed there were deaths. The army, whose prime
function is to defend
the nation from foreign aggression, had been used again
to kill its own
citizens.
The psychological impact on the
individual soldier may be difficult to
gauge at this stage. But it would be
hardly surprising if most of them now
feel that they can kill their own
brothers and sisters on the orders of
their commander-in-chief if they
believed their relatives constituted a
political threat to the
President.
Such relatives need not be armed at all; they need only
to have
demonstrated in word or deed their opposition to the
government.
Many people have condemned the politicisation of the
defence and
security forces. The three key leaders of the defence forces, the
commander
of the defence forces - the commander of the army and the head of
the air
force - are all war veterans. The heads of the Central
Intelligence
Organisation and the prison services are similarly people who
fought in the
liberation war.
These men may eminently deserve
the positions they hold, but it is
difficult not to conclude that Mugabe, a
man now so unpopular the government
has decreed it is a crime to make a
gesture of disapproval as his motorcade
passes by, may be keen to put the
fear of God into the citizens' hearts.
Saturday's lavish parade,
seen against the backdrop of the six million
people facing starvation, was
almost obscene. But if the intention was to
frighten the people, it may have
succeeded, among the gullible and
weak-kneed citizens.
For the
rest, it could only have been a confirmation of their
suspicions that Mugabe
has now become so desperate to frighten his critics
he will stoop to
melodrama to drive his point home. The soldiers themselves
need to examine
their consciences: their national duty is to defend Zimbabwe
and its people.
It can never be to work against the people's wishes.
Daily News
Government in move to tax informal sector
12/3/2002 (GMT +2)
By Colleen Gwari recently in
Nyanga
DESPERATE to broaden its revenue base, the government is
seeking to
incorporate and tax the informal sector. Speaking in Nyanga over
the weekend
during the Institute of Administration and Commerce of Southern
Africa
(IACSA), Zimbabwe chapter's annual conference, Evelyn Ndlovu, the
secretary
for the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises, said the
government was
working towards a framework that would within the foreseeable
future see
players in the informal sector being subject to
taxation.
Ndlovu said the national cake was getting smaller, hence
the need for
the informal sector to contribute towards evelopment. She said:
"It is high
time those in the informal sector contribute to the national
cake." Ndlovu
said government was working on modalities that would compel the
informal
sector to pay tax. Company closures and massive retrenchments in
Zimbabwe's
deteriorating economy have seen the government's revenue base
shrink
considerably over the years. Ndlovu said given the fact that the
country was
being isolated by the international community, the $1,5 billion
set aside
for the informal sector in the 2003 National Budget was
reasonable.
A majority of retrenchees had joined the
informal sector following
massive retrenchments as economic decline
continued. The informal sector had
not made any significant contribution to
revenue collection as it was not
subject to taxation. It is believed that
government continues to lose
millions of dollars in revenue through the
non-contribution of the informal
sector. Participants at the IACSA annual
conference said the small-to-medium
scale enterprises played a critical role
in the development of economies
across the world.
In Japan
and the United States, small-to-medium scale enterprises
constitute more than
60 percent of the corporate world. Large conglomerates
across the world were
scaling down operations, shedding off non-core
activities. The move has seen
millions becoming redundant, thus opening up
opportunities for smaller
organisations. Though Ndlovu could not give a
specific time-frame, she said
efforts were underway for the informal sector
to play a meaningful role. She
urged the government to create an enabling
environment favourable to the
growth of small enterprises. The Permanent
Secretary bemoaned the country's
legal environment saying over-regulation
was a threat to
competitiveness.
"Yet there should be laws governing
operations, let us guard against
over-regulation as it can be a threat to
competitiveness," Ndlovu said.
Players in the informal sector called upon
government to deal with
bureaucratic tendencies prevalent at border posts.
They also called for
incentives such as tax relief to enhance growth in the
face of stiff
competition.
Daily News
Feature
Dulibadzimu's two contrasting faces of
squalor and luxury
12/3/2002 (GMT +2)
From Oscar
Nkala in Beitbridge
IN most Zimbabwean urban centres it is unusual
to see donkeys roaming
the town centre, but in Beitbridge's Dulibadzimu
suburb, popularly known as
Elokitshini (location), the beasts of burden have
a purely hygienic role
which they play with astonishing
efficiency.
They have taken the role of environmental health
technicians, doing
exactly what the struggling council's health services
department should be
doing - cleaning the town.
Instead
of brooms and mops, the donkeys in Dulibadzimu eat as much of
the rubbish as
their appetite demands.
"We are proud of all the domestic
animals that roam this place," says
Malebogo Sihwa, a vendor at the
Dulibadzimu country bus terminus.
"The council has not
collected refuse in three years, if I am not
mistaken. But these animals are
our refuse removal managers. They eat most
of the rubbish that comes from
around the main bus terminus.
"Without the donkeys this place
would be worse than it is now. We also
hope the solar eclipse tourists will
come to see this place raw as it is.
The sight of donkeys reminds one of the
time when Bulawayo's Old Pumula
suburb was nicknamed Emadonkini (a place for
donkeys)."
This was not only because of the large number of
donkeys foraging in
the dustbins, even today, but also because there was
indeed a time in the
mid-1980s when illegal meat dealers slaughtered the
donkeys and sold the
meat to unsuspecting residents.
There
was a very high demand for the affordable meat, until police got
wind of the
scandal and saved the donkeys. It is not unusual at Dulibadzimu,
situated at
the border town of Beitbridge in Matabeleland South, to find
cattle and goats
wandering at the crowded bus terminus. Two narrow streets
away, a bullock
dodges a bus. It is an unsettling and incongruous sight to
watch the herd of
goats, with prominent, protuberant backbones and rickety
legs, scatter under
attack from a sugar cane vendor intent on protecting his
day's wares. A bus
enters the terminus, kicking up a huge cloud of red dust
that takes its time
to disperse in a lazy, luxuriant fashion. But the
business goes on among
stall traders at Dulibadzimu's country bus terminus.
Other
vendors agree and do not mince their words when talking about
endemic
inefficiency and corruption in the Beitbridge Rural
District
Council.
They even allege that Zanu PF has the council
under remote control
and, therefore, view the ruling party as the foundation
of all the problems
affecting the town.
The flowing river of
raw sewage passes a few metres away from the row
of women seated facing their
wares and all buses approaching the rank from
the west splash across it,
carrying the stench all the way to the loading
bay of the
terminus.
"The sewage effluent has been flowing like this for
years," another
vendor says. "It is only visitors like you who bother about
it. Where do you
come from?"
Dulibadzimu is a place of many
faces. On one side are the slums, the
exact replica of a squatter camp. A
network of narrow paths winds through
the shacks and everyone seems to know
the other as they exchange greetings
more often than in any other urban
centre.
This is the squalid section of the pole-and-mud shacks.
But in the
shacks in Soweto - a special section accommodating the "haves" - a
pleasant
surprise awaits. Some of the shacks are technology centres where
remote
controlled big screens, video cassette recorders and five CD changers
share
the small space inside the ramshackle structures. Cookers and
refrigerators
bearing South African labels are squeezed into the other small
room, while
expensive furniture, including real antiques, occupy what serves
as the
sitting room.
"We are not as poor as some people seem
to believe," says a woman who
preferred to be identified only as Sis
Beatrice. "I bought all this property
in all the 10 years my husband and I
worked in South Africa. We lived for 10
years in Alexandra township on the
outskirts of Johannesburg. That is where
the best and cheapest second-hand
goods are. I have lived most of my adult
life in these shacks, but I do not
regret it. I raised all my kids from here
and they are now supporting me from
Johannesburg. I live in a shack yes, but
I am not poor."
Sis
Beatrice runs a shebeen which she says complements her husband's
income from
selling oranges in Messina, just across the border.
"He sells
his oranges as far as Polokwane because he has good
connections," said Sis
Beatrice grinning at the mention of her husband's
good links which had
already been confirmed by the expensive furnishing.
"That is
why we have resisted council efforts to evict us. The other
part was
destroyed because the people there have nothing to lose in terms of
property.
But this side no one will allow council to do that. They will only
move us
when they have the houses to accommodate us."
The council has
started a programme of demolishing illegal shacks to
give a semblance of
order ahead of the arrival of solar eclipse enthusiasts
on 4
December.
An estimated 3 000 people were thrown into further
destitution. The
majority of those who were evicted are now squatters along
the banks of the
Limpopo River. The squalid appearance of shacks in the
Soweto zone is
contrasted by the swanky vehicles parked at shebeens. "We
serve classy
clients," said Sis Beatrice. "You should be here on weekends to
see our
South African clients who cross from Messina and nearby to buy
Zimbabwean
beers which are cheaper for them." A vibrant night life in all its
colours
is what revellers can get in Beitbridge. Dulibadzimu is a fast-life
place
where corruption oils most of the deals that thrive even where
others
falter. But the residents are not pleased that it is viewed as a haven
for
criminals in all their forms. The residents frown at hearing that
border
jumpers, thieves, prostitutes, car-jackers and other fugitives of a
worse
order make up the majority of shack dwellers. They dispute
it.
Says Edwin Mashiri, a resident: "The problem is just like
in your own
town. Don't you have thieves, prostitutes, car-jackers and drug
peddlers?
People do not understand us and the less they do, the
better."
Dulibadzimu is unique in that it is the melting pot
for Venda, Sotho,
Ndebele, Shichangani, Shona and English speakers."We are
the best hosts
because when you come here we speak your language. Where else
have you found
that much of hospitality?" says Mashiri. The radio and
television services
are exclusively South African. Beitbridge receives clear
signals from four
South African Broadcasting Corporation radio stations and
three television
signals. There is no Zimbabwe television and the only way to
listen to
Zimbabwe radio is by tuning to shortwave.
"We know
nothing about what happens in Zimbabwe," said Carol Noko, a
hotel
receptionist.
"We consider ourselves blessed at least because
we are not subjected
to the Hondo Yeminda propaganda which Zanu PF dishes to
you people every
hour through Zimbabwean radio and television. On good days
we also receive
Botswana TV in addition to the radio services. Don't forget
that we do not
buy any licences for all the services. It's one of the
privileges of being a
border community." Beitbridge enjoys the biggest
international cellular
phone network, according to Noko.
"We
are covered by Vodacom and MTN from South Africa. Zimbabwean
service
providers Econet Wireless, Net One and Telecel are also competing
for
customers, but poor service has made them losers. Most people here
would
rather cross into Messina and buy juice MTN and Vodacom cards than wait
for
the few days when Zimbabwean networks are operational."
Just as the Botswana Broadcasting Corporation radio and television
services
are available free of charge to residents of Plumtree and Matobo
districts,
South African radio, television and cellular phone services
extend about
160km into south-western Zimbabwe covering Beitbridge and
Gwanda
South.
The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC)'s obsolete
signal
transmission equipment has ensured that most border communities
receive
foreign radio and television broadcasts.
As a
visitor leaves Beitbridge, one memorable word to carry away is
Nda-aa, a
Venda word for "thank you" which the residents use to give thanks
for the
slightest favours.
Daily News
Dealers vow to bypass forex restrictions
12/3/2002 9:26:38 AM (GMT +2)
From Oscar Nkala in
Bulawayo
ZIMBABWEANS working in the United Kingdom, the United
States and other
non-African countries have reacted to the closure of foreign
exchange
agencies by sponsoring the immigration of trusted relatives and
friends to
Botswana and South Africa from where they will bring foreign
currency by
road into Zimbabwe.
The aim is to bypass the new
restrictions by changing the currency at
the black market rates. The move is
a reaction to the government closure of
foreign exchange agencies to force
people to change foreign currency in
commercial banks at the official
rates.
In interviews in Bulawayo, several residents with relatives
working
abroad said families were preparing to send trusted family members
to
countries such as Botswana and South Africa to receive money from
outside
Africa and bring it into the country.
"A lot of people
are planning to facilitate the relocation of
relatives who will open bank
accounts in those countries," said Tracy Moyo
whose two brothers work in
Canada. "Overseas-based relatives will deposit
some money into those
accounts. No one will change their hard-earned
currency at the paltry bank
official rates."
At government controlled rates, the South African
rand is exchanged
for Z$5 and the Botswana pula fetches only
Z$9.
But on the black market, one pula fetches Z$240, and the South
African
rand gets Z$120.
"Minister Murerwa is merely wasting his
time. Many people are already
using that method to avoid sending their cash
through banks. It will still
get to the black market at home," said
Moyo.
Herbert Murerwa, the Minister of Finance and Economic
Development,
presenting his 2003 Budget in Parliament last month, announced
the closure
of the foreign exchange agencies.
Foreign currency
dealers on Bulawayo streets have been quoted by the
media as saying they were
preparing for brisk business following the closure
of the foreign exchange
agencies.
"We are heading for big business," said one trader who
declined to be
named. "The closures will promote our business, and customers
should expect
higher exchange rates from January 2003. At present the rates
are down
because South Africa and Botswana-based Zimbabweans have already
started
arriving in large numbers and are flooding the market with their
respective
currencies.
"The rates will increase when the market
runs dry in January. As for
the threat to crack down on us, the government
should remember that this is
not the first time they have tried to stop us.
They shall fail as before."
Last Friday, a group of youths from the
so-called national service
raided illegal foreign currency dealers in
Bulawayo, but the raid turned
into a robbery spree, resulting in the arrest
of at least eight of the
youths.
Some of the foreign currency
dealers claimed that $600 000 was stolen
from them by the youths who had been
deployed on the streets as early as 8am
that day.
Daily News
Solar eclipse warning
12/3/2002 (GMT
+2)
From Sandra Mujokoroin Bulawayo
A total
eclipse will be experienced in the Maphisa, Kezi, Marula,
Plumtree, Guyu
areas and parts of Hwange and Beitbridge tomorrow. The sun
can be viewed
safely with the naked eye only during the brief period of
total
eclipse.
Partial eclipses and partial phases of total eclipses are
not safe to
watch without special precautions as that could lead to permanent
eye
damage.
Even when 99 percent of the sun's surface is
obscured during the
partial phases of a total eclipse, the remaining
photospheric crescent is
intensely bright and cannot be viewed safely without
eye protection.
Dr Francis Podmore of the Department of Physics
at the University of
Zimbabwe said the next total solar eclipse is on 23
November 2003 over the
Antarctica. Zimbabwe will have to wait until 2 June
2095 for the next total
solar eclipse.
An annular eclipse
will cross over Mutare on 4 October 2070. This
refers to an eclipse in which
a considerable rim of the sun is still visible
around the edge of the moon,
and occurs when the moon is farthest from the
earth.
According to the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa, a total
eclipse of
the sun takes place when the moon passes between the sun and the
earth, and
its shadow is cast onto the earth's surface. Outside this path of
totality,
there is a broad area where the sun is partially covered
or
eclipsed.
This partial eclipse will be seen within the
much broader path of what
is referred to as the moon's penumbral shadow,
which includes most of
Africa, (excluding the north), parts of Indonesia,
Australia and eastern
Antarctica. After crossing the southern Indian Ocean,
the path will sweep
through southern Australia where the eclipse will end at
sunset.
A total solar eclipse can be viewed within a distance
of around 38km
of the centreline which can be drawn on a map to run directly
through
Plumtree and Beitbridge. The further from the centreline, the shorter
the
duration of the eclipse.
At Plumtree, it will last for
approximately one minute and 17 seconds.
But in areas on the outskirts of the
town, it will last for a few seconds.
At Plumtree and Marula, the
eclipse will occur at approximately 8:15
in the morning, and at Beitbridge,
at about 8:18am. Bulawayo will experience
a 99 percent partial
eclipse.
Preparations to host this event are almost complete as
areas that will
experience the total eclipse prepare to welcome the thousands
of expected
visitors.
Most hotels, lodges and campsites have
reported full bookings, mostly
by local tourists.
Daily News
NCA applauds demo participants
12/3/2002
(GMT +2)
From Ntungamili Nkomo in Bulawayo
The
National Constitutional Assembly's (NCA) nationwide demonstrations
that took
place over the weekend were described as a success by Felix Mafa,
the
organisation's vice-president.
The demonstrations were part of the
civil body's ongoing campaign to
lobby for constitutional reforms that it
hopes will lead to a presidential
election rerun and the restoration of the
rule of law.
The NCA is one of several organisations that
maintain that the
government, which has been accused of rigging the March
presidential
election, is illegitimate.
Mafa commended the
people who participated in the demonstrations for
their courage in defying
the Public Order and Security Act, describing it as
"infamous legislation",
and for exercising their right to demonstrate
publicly. He said no reports of
arrests had been made to him by Sunday.
Mafa said: "We wish to
applaud the people of Zimbabwe for their
courage and determination against
repressive laws such as the Public Order
and Security Act which infringe upon
their right to freedom of association."
He said they had
managed to circumvent the police because they had
adopted strategies to
wrong-foot the police.
"Our strategies were far above the
police intelligence. Many people
took part, and as I had said before, our
demonstration started in the
high-density suburbs, while the police were busy
patrolling in the city
centre," said Mafa.
"That action was
only the beginning. People are disgruntled and fed up
and, therefore, are
prepared to take up any action possible to challenge the
oppressive Mugabe
government."
The NCA has been in the forefront agitating for a
new constitution,
and some of its members have been arrested or beaten up in
the process by
State security agents.
Lovemore Madhuku, the
NCA chairman, has been arrested on a number of
occasions. Last Friday the
police in Harare raided the NCA offices, arrested
17 of the organisation's
members, and confiscated documents, money and
campaign
material.
They had a search warrant, and said they were
searching for
"subversive and offensive material".
Daily News
MDC activists arrested at cricket match
12/3/2002 (GMT +2)
Staff Reporter
EDDISON Mukwasi,
the MDC youth chairman for Harare province, was on
Saturday arrested by the
police together with five other people while
watching a cricket match on
allegations of distributing offensive material
to incite
violence.
Mukwasi, Fidelis Kanyemba of Warren Park D and five
others, including
a family that had travelled from Bindura for the fourth one
day cricket
international match between Zimbabwe and Pakistan, said they
spent two
nights at the police holding cells at the Harare Central Police
Station.
Mukwasi said: "The police accused us of possessing
and distributing
pamphlets which called for the stripping of Zimbabwe's
hosting of the
Cricket World Cup next year, because of the political and
economic meltdown
in the country.
"They also queried our
presence at a cricket match saying that it was
suspicious for blacks to watch
a 'white man's game' and accused us of being
agents of neo-colonialists.
Being an MDC activist, the police 'advised' me
to change alliance while it
was still day."
Some of the pamphlets reportedly read: We Are
Victims Of Political
Violence, Move The Cricket World Cup To South Africa and
Mugabe Must Go.
Mukwasi said after they were arrested they were
taken to the police
station where they were tortured and interrogated. He
said they were
brutally assaulted by officers named only as Jena and Sergeant
Chikande.
"We were warned not to visit The Daily News offices
or else we would
be picked up again. The police alleged that we were
accomplices of Tawanda
Spicer who they suspected to have printed the messages
on the pamphlets,"
Mukwasi said.
"I was denied medication
even though I showed them evidence that I was
suffering from chest pains,
instead they made me sleep in a room that was
teeming with insects and
lice."
Kanyemba said the six had initially been brought under a
charge of
contravening section 15 of the repressive Public Order and Security
Act.
However, when they were released yesterday, the charge stated on
their
Admission of Guilt forms had changed to: "(committing) conduct likely
to
provoke breach of peace".
The police refused to comment
on the arrest.
Daily News
Hill accused of corruption
12/3/2002
9:24:23 AM (GMT +2)
By Pedzisai Ruhanya Chief
Reporter
THE outgoing Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe
(UZ),
Professor Graham Hill, has been implicated in the illegal
externalisation of
foreign currency and awarding himself loans and salary
advances.
Hill is also accused of directing his officials not to
pay tax and of
violating government tender regulations.
He
allegedly engaged university lawyers without following laid-down
procedures
and used UZ funds to refurbish his private residence, according
to papers
filed in the High Court by William Mapani, the institution's
former bursar,
dismissed from his job by Hill two weeks ago.
Hill will be replaced
by his deputy, Professor Levi Nyagura, who will
assume office on 1 January
2003, the government announced over the weekend.
Nyagura has been
appointed despite a damning parliamentary report
which recommended that he
and Hill be investigated on corruption charges for
alleged maladministration,
including abuse of UZ funds.
Mapani was demoted to deputy bursar by
the UZ Staff Disciplinary
Committee on allegations of wrongfully and
unlawfully authorising the
purchase of curtains and permitting payment of
about $11 million to a
company called Branchycombe.
The
parliamentary report said Nyagura irresponsibly approved
the
purchase.
But Hill, using his powers under the University of
Zimbabwe Amendment
Act, overturned the ruling of the committee and
unilaterally dismissed
Mapani without any benefits, a measure Mapani said was
unlawful.
Mapani's lawyer, Selby Hwacha, said yesterday Hill was
yet to file his
opposing affidavits. Hwacha said Hill has a week to do
so.
Mapani is challenging both the committee and Hill's decisions,
arguing
the measures were unlawful and that Hill wanted to punish him for
revealing
to a parliamentary committee that the departing Vice-Chancellor was
involved
in corrupt activities at the institution.
"I should
state at this point in time that all the events are factual
and the relevant
documentary evidence can be obtained from the UZ offices
and, of course, both
Hill and myself to the Parliamentary Committee under
oath.
"Hill
is afraid that if he does not quickly dispose of me, and/or
create an
impression that I am guilty of wrongdoing, I will expose with my
defence
numerous irregular financial transactions that he made for his
personal
benefit," Mapani said in his affidavit.
Mapani wanted his case
heard by an impartial body and not the one
headed by Professor Obert
Maravanyika, who is part of Hill's administration
and allegedly involved in
carrying out decisions that violated the
Government Tender Board regulations
in the procurement of goods at UZ.
In his affidavit, Mapani said
following the damning parliamentary
report, which is still under debate, the
police approached him to be
a witness in the event of the prosecution
of the individuals accused
of corruption at UZ.
He charged that
Hill was determined to fire him following his
submissions to the
parliamentary committee.
On 19 September 2002, Mapani wrote a
letter to Dr Hope Sadza, the
chairperson of the UZ Council, expressing his
fears that Hill wanted to
expel him.
The letter read: "I would
like to bring to the attention of the
council very disturbing developments
coming out of the UZ Vice-Chancellor's
Office. Hill has on a number of
occasions been quoted as saying even if
Mapani may not have a case to answer,
'I will make sure he will not come
back because he embarrassed
me'."
In his court application, Mapani then listed cases of alleged
corrupt
practices by Hill. He charged that the Vice-Chancellor wanted to have
the
cases swept under the carpet, hence his determination to dismiss
him.
He charged that Hill had illegally awarded himself loan and
salary
advances.
The papers before the High Court show that on
13 October 1999, Mapani
wrote a letter to Gideon Gono, the then Chairman of
the UZ Council,
informing him that Hill had instructed him to stop remitting
tax.
The letter reads: "I am seeking your guidance on the
attached
directive by Hill not to pay PAYE starting from the month of
October.
"In view of the fact that PAYE is a statutory obligation,
I am
inclined to think that this instruction from Hill is illegal in terms of
the
Finance Act, the Income Tax Act and the Audit and Exchequer
Act."
Hill had written to Mapani on 8 October 1999, saying: "I note
that the
monthly current disbursement from the government once again does not
include
$11 million required to pay the Cabinet-approved academic staff
salary
wards.
"In order to avoid further strain on the
University's financial
resources, you are directed not to pay the
University's PAYE contributions
this month and until further
notice."
Mapani also alleged that Hill wanted him out because of
his knowledge
about his alleged abuse of foreign currency. The parliamentary
report
recommended that Hill should be investigated for externalisation
foreign
currency.
From IRIN (UN), 2
December
Government denies tensions with
Botswana
Johannesburg - Zimbabwe on Monday said a decision to recall its
high commissioner to Botswana was part of a broader government reshuffle and had
nothing to do with President Festus Mogae's recent criticism of the country's
political and economic policies. "A number of ambassadors have been affected by
the changes and reports suggesting that the commissioner in Gaborone was
recalled because of some kind of worsening relationship between Zimbabwe and
Botswana is simply not true," political counsellor at Zimbabwe's High Commission
in Botswana, Tamuka Muranga told IRIN. But one analyst said Mogae's comments
would have certainly angered Zimbabwean authorities and the removal of High
Commissioner, Zenso Nsimbi, from Gaborone was evidence of that. Last month Mogae
told the London-based African Business magazine that Zimbabwe's deepening
political crisis was due to a "drought of good governance". "Mogae is the only
African president who has publicly raised concern over the political upheavals
in Zimbabwe. By recalling the high commissioner from Botswana, President Robert
Mugabe certainly wants to send a clear message to Gaborone that Harare will not
tolerate criticism," a senior researcher at the Institute of Security Studies
Chris Maroleng said. Meanwhile, the Botswana Guardian reported that Nsimbi had
been recalled following his inaction regarding complaints that Zimbabweans
fleeing economic hardships in their country were being ill treated by Botswana
authorities. Responding to the accusations, Mogae was quoted as saying: "This is
a humanitarian crisis. We are trying to handle it as humanely as possible. But
within the limits of our capacity, of our resources. We have no choice."
Maroleng said Nsimbi's replacement would certainly be a "Zanu PF hardliner,
somebody who could be tougher when it comes to defending the government's human
rights record abroad". "It is unlikely that there would be total breakdown in
diplomatic relations between Zimbabwe and Botswana as there are diplomatic
channels through which these tensions can be discussed. But what Mogae's
comments makes clear is that not all African leaders support what is going on in
Zimbabwe," Maroleng said.
From The Financial Times (UK), 2
December
Mugabe 'to blame for region's
woes'
By Nicol Degli Innocenti in Johannesburg
The crisis in Zimbabwe is hurting the economies of the region,
damaging trade relations and undermining efforts to reach closer integration,
Pascal Lamy, the European Union trade commissioner, said at the weekend.
"Southern African countries are paying a high price," Mr Lamy said at the end of
a trip to southern Africa. "They know Zimbabwe is a mess, an absolute shambles.
Their solidarity has cost them very dear. They have lost a lot of trade." Mr
Lamy met ministers in all the Southern African Development Community countries,
including the representative from Harare, to outline EU policy, boost trade
co-operation talks and explain the benefits of trade liberalisation. Last week a
meeting between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries had to be
cancelled when the ACP representatives objected to the EU's exclusion of two
Zimbabwean officials. The SADC has also criticised EU sanctions against
Zimbabwe. But despite shows of unity, SADC is deeply divided over Zimbabwe.
Botswana and Mozambique have been critical of President Robert Mugabe's
policies, which they believe are undermining efforts at promoting good
governance, developing their economies and attracting investment.
South Africa has focused on engaging with Mr Mugabe and keeping
the channels of communication open. Yet South Africa's exports to Zimbabwe have
dwindled and Mozambique has replaced it as its biggest African trading partner.
"Peer pressure is the only way to address the crisis in Zimbabwe," Mr Lamy said.
"SADC is the right forum to deal with the Zimbabwe problem. The main focus of my
trip has been the encouragement and promotion of regional integration," Mr Lamy
said. "It is the only way southern African countries can hope to compete with
the strong economies of the developed world." Mr Lamy's trip is part of a
renewed effort by the EU to improve relations with African countries. The
lingering resentment towards the EU was partly due to a communications problem,
Mr Lamy said, and partly to history: "The EU is seen as the former colonial
power and the US is not. It boils down to a psychological thing. But in general,
there is no doubt we are much more open than the US to South African
imports."
Comment from ZWNEWS, 3
December
Jambanja
By Michael Hartnack
Orders went out quietly from Robert Mugabe's Cabinet in late
November: "Jambanja (smash-and-grab) is over. It is time for return to the rule
of law. We wanted something. Now we have got it so jambanja is finished." This
seems in harmony with noises coming from the South African government that "even
if mistakes were made" in the seizure of 5 000 white-owned farms and violent
suppression of the opposition, Mugabe deserves a fresh start. Squatters building
houses on unzoned land were ordered to move off; district administrators were
told that although all whites served with seizure and eviction notices would
have to quit, no more indiscriminate seizures of farms would be permitted.
Harare sources say the inspiration behind this is Leonard Tsumba, governor of
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, who, with undoubted South African backing, is
urging reconciliation with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to
regain access to budgetary support, end the foreign currency crisis, and curb
142 percent inflation which the IMF believes will soar to 522 percent next
year.
But "Jambanja is over" is easier to say than to accomplish,
even with the good offices of the South African government. In reality,
relations with Western nations, and thus the international monetary
institutions, go from bad to worse; the economy is crashing; ordinary people are
desperate; UN bodies warn of mass deaths from starvation within months; and the
political manipulation of food aid is increasingly blatant. Last Saturday, at
the National Sports Stadium, Mugabe himself spelled out how he views the "end of
jambanja" when he reviewed the armed forces following their withdrawal from the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the height of four-year involvement, 14 000
Zimbabwean troops were deployed there. With attack helicopters and armoured
personnel carriers on display for the first time, Mugabe made clear the menacing
weaponry was intended for counter-insurgency duties at home. "Our forces have
gone that extra mile in terms of combat readiness and would be more than
prepared to use their experience and skill in dealing with aggression either at
home or elsewhere." He still refused to reveal the cost either in cash or
casualties, made the usual cracks about British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and
told returning troops they would receive white-owned farms seized in their
absence – "So you needn't worry, there is still a lot of land to parcel
out."
The World Food Programme warned last Thursday 6,7 million
people are at risk of dying before the next harvests. The WFP had aimed to feed
three million people during November but failed. "We will all have to work
non-stop over the coming months if we are to prevent millions from starving,"
said Kevin Farrell, the WFP chief representative. Families were surviving on
wild fruits and filling their bellies with semi-poisonous tubers. WFP field
monitors say many schoolchildren arrive at classes without having eaten, and
commonly faint. Some children have dropped out altogether because of hunger, and
many older pupils have quit school to seek work as casual labourers. Even those
in formal employment were suffering due to omnipresent shortages of maize meal,
bread, milk and sugar, said the WFP. Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube of
Bulawayo says that 160 have already starved to death in Matabeleland. And the
next few months may be only the start. Even if good rains fall -and brilliant
blue skies make this look increasingly unlikely - a maize crop cut to 800 000
tonnes by political disruption will not meet the 1,8 million tonne 2003-4
demand. No one now mentions the protestations of Agriculture Minister Joseph
Made well into 2002 that the country had adequate food stocks and might not need
to import any if grain "hoarded by whites" was seized. With Made-style disregard
for the truth, the regime this week claimed it had succeeded in forcing down
black currency market rates from Z$1 700 to Z$600 to one U.S. dollar. All that
happened was that Zimbabweans trying to sell foreign currency were offered
Z$600-US$1, to compensate for the greater risk faced by traders if found out,
while those wanting to buy were asked upwards of Z$2 200-US$1. The Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange crashed as officials tried to enforce impracticable price
controls and exporters were ordered to surrender earnings to the authorities at
the official rate of Z$55-US$1, while having to buy imported inputs at Z$2
200.
There are new reports of political interference in the
distribution of food: children of suspected opposition supporters barred from
supplementary feeding schemes in schools, food sales in which only those with
ruling party cards dated before the disputed presidential election in March are
allowed to take part. In Buhera, rural home of Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Chief Makumbe told workers for
Christian Care who were about to distribute relief: "I don't want any food from
the people who are sponsoring Tsvangirai to oust our legitimate leader, Mugabe.
Go to other areas." American embassy staff assessing the food crisis among
homeless and starving former farm workers near Harare were set upon by Mugabe's
militants. The regime ignored US protests and responded by saying the USalan
personnel were "trespassing," and that displaced farm workers do not exist.
Finally, in a detailed report last week, Danish Physicians for Human Rights said
the situation in Zimbabwe might be summoned up in a four-word slogan: "Vote Zanu
PF or Starve!" "Starvation and death will occur on party political lines,"
warned the Danes. Among all the official truth-twisting statements, one smacks
of the truth: the chilling announcement earlier this year by former
Parliamentary Speaker Didymus Mutasa, now Zanu PF secretary for administration,
that the party would rather see the population halved to six million - if they
are all loyal supporters.
Magistrate Mandinde Resigns, Joins Misa
The Herald
(Harare)
December 2, 2002
Posted to the web December 3,
2002
Peter Matambanadzo
Harare
HARARE magistrate Mr Wilbert
Mandinde, accused of having improperly granted
an application by former High
Court Judge Justice Fergus Blackie to have his
bail conditions relaxed,
resigned early last week.
Mr Mandinde tendered his resignation to the
Ministry of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs on Monday last week and
has since joined the Media
Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), as a legal
officer.
In a statement last week, MISA confirmed Mr Mandinde's
appointment adding
that his mandate would be to deal with broader issues of
media law.
MISA is a Non-Governmental Organisation that purports to
promote freedom of
expression in Zimbabwe.
The organisation, however,
has been advancing the cause of the opposition
media in the country and is
against land reforms and the Government.
In an interview, Mr Mandinde
said that after handling the retired judge's
case, he was offered a job by
MISA.
He, however, denied mishandling cases to boost his curriculum
vitae.
Two weeks ago, Mr Mandinde relaxed Justice Blackie's bail
conditions.
The judge is facing charges of obstructing the course of
justice for
allegedly improperly freeing Tara White who had been jailed for
stealing
from her employer.
The Attorney-General's Office has rebuked
Mr Mandinde and described his
conduct as grossly irregular and ill-use of
judicial discretion.
The AG's Office has since filed an appeal against
the lower court's ruling
at the High Court.
It has pointed out in the
application that the magistrate granted the order
without hearing the State's
side.
Mr Mandinde and Justice Blackie are listed as respondents in an
urgent
application by the AG's Office seeking the setting aside of the
magistrate's
ruling.
In the ruling, Mr Mandinde ordered that Justice
Blackie be given his
passport back and cancelled his reporting conditions to
allow him to travel
to South Africa.
Earlier Mr Mandinde had freed St
Mary's Member of Parliament Job Sikhala who
had been accused of having
telephoned the Minister of State for Information
and Publicity Professor
Jonathan Moyo and threatened him with death.
Last month Mr Mandinde
released four suspected armed robbers on free bail
after they had claimed to
have been assaulted by police.
A few days after the gang was released,
some of its members were re-arrested
in Mabelreign, Harare, for
housebreaking.
Mail and Guardian
Zimbabwe says relations with Botswana haven't
soured
Johannesburg
03 December 2002
10:50
Zimbabwe on Monday said a decision to recall its high commissioner
to
Botswana was part of a broader government reshuffle and had nothing to
do
with President Festus Mogae's recent criticism of the country's
political
and economic policies.
"A number of ambassadors have been
affected by the changes and reports
suggesting that the commissioner in
Gaborone was recalled because of some
kind of worsening relationship between
Zimbabwe and Botswana is simply not
true," said political counsellor at
Zimbabwe's High Commission in Botswana,
Tamuka Muranga.
But one
analyst said Mogae's comments would have certainly angered
Zimbabwean
authorities and the removal of High Commissioner, Zenso Nsimbi,
from Gaborone
was evidence of that.
Last month Mogae told the London-based African
Business magazine that
Zimbabwe's deepening political crisis was due to a
"drought of good
governance".
"Mogae is the only African president who
has publicly raised concern over
the political upheavals in Zimbabwe. By
recalling the high commissioner from
Botswana, President Robert Mugabe
certainly wants to send a clear message to
Gaborone that Harare will not
tolerate criticism," a senior researcher at
the Institute of Security Studies
Chris Maroleng said.
Meanwhile, the Botswana Guardian reported that
Nsimbi had been recalled
following his inaction regarding complaints that
Zimbabweans fleeing
economic hardships in their country were being ill
treated by Botswana
authorities.
Responding to the accusations, Mogae
was quoted as saying: "This is a
humanitarian crisis. We are trying to handle
it as humanely as possible. But
within the limits of our capacity, of our
resources. We have no choice."
Maroleng said Nsimbi's replacement would
certainly be a "Zanu-PF hardliner,
somebody who could be tougher when it
comes to defending the government's
human rights record abroad".
"It
is unlikely that there would be total breakdown in diplomatic
relations
between Zimbabwe and Botswana as there are diplomatic channels
through which
these tensions can be discussed. But what Mogae's comments
makes clear is
that not all African leaders support what is going on in
Zimbabwe," Maroleng
said - Irin