Dear Family and Friends,
What a week it's been in Zimbabwe. For the first
time in nearly 2 years the work I and hundreds of others (and all of you) have
put into exposing the truth of Zimbabwe's crisis has at last started to bear
fruit. Suddenly the world has woken up to the truth behind the horror in our
country and have started to do something. The week started with South African
President Mbeki speaking out, frankly and honestly. President Mbeki is calling
for urgent dialogue with regional leaders and said: "In a situation in which
people are beaten up so that they don't act according to their political
convictions, there can't be free elections." Past President Nelson Mandela said:
"It is quite clear now that Mugabe has not listened to him (Mbeki) and that is
why he is getting tough." The massively powerful Congress of South African Trade
Unions, (Cosatu) added it's voice: "We should be doing more than sending a
memorandum ... we should be mobilizing workers to defend democracy actively." In
New Zealand pressure increased too when Foreign Minister Goff said he would call
for Zimbabwe's expulsion from the Commonwealth. Mr Goff said: "Mr Mugabe appears
ready to do anything to stay in power including destroying his country." The
Canadians announced that with immediate effect visas would now be required
for Zimbabweans travelling to their country to try and control "an increasing
flow of irregular migrants" into Canada. In the UK Foreign Minister Jack Straw
said that Commonwealth Heads would meet before Christmas to consider action
against Zimbabwe. Mr Straw said: "Do I believe that Abuja has been followed up?
No!" The most damning condemnation came when America voted (396-11) in favour of
the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill. This Bill asks President Mugabe to do 5 things:
Get your soldiers out of the Congo; return to the 1998 world backed plan for
land reform; allow freedom of the press; restore law and order; and lastly,
allow election observers into the country to ensure a free and fair election. If
Zimbabwe agrees to these 5 issues, the Americans will release US$20 million for
land reform; US$6 million for election monitoring and release millions in
humanitarian and food aid. Undoubtedly our government are not prepared to even
consider any of the 5 issues and will therefore face the prospect of targeted
sanctions which will: impose travel restrictions on President Mugabe and his
associates; block aid and debt relief; freeze Zanu PF assets abroad and freeze
new investment into Zimbabwe. American Congressman Donald Payne said: "The
objective of the Zimbabwe Democracy Act is not to punish the people of Zimbabwe.
Rather it is to ensure a secure, democratic and prosperous
Zimbabwe."
Well, to put it bluntly, this combined
international attack on our government has left our propaganda peddlers foaming
at the mouth. All week the state radio and television have lambasted the whole
world. The Herald newspaper said that President Mbeki's statements "neatly
dovetail into Britain's grand plan for a global coalition against Zimbabwe." A
Zim Foreign Minister spokesman, according to The Herald, said the US Bill was "a
racist piece of legislation which has nothing to do with the natural norms of
sound governance." And the Minister of Information, Jonathan Moyo (not known for
either small words or succinctness) said (Take a deep breath!) : "Now the people
of Zimbabwe, Africans and the rest of the progressive world know that the
treacherous MDC is a movement for anti-people sanctions operating under the
guise of democracy, good governance, human rights and the rule of law as defined
and dictated by racist Americans and Britons." We have been bombarded with very
long sentences like this all week which have been littered with phrases like:
diabolic and treacherous, racist union, racist websites, unethical foreign
correspondents, despicable but predictable machinations, racist American
Senators etc ...ad nauseum. It seems to be beside the point that sanctions
against both Rhodesia and apartheid South Africa were good but against Zimbabwe
they are bad.
While all this was going on President Mugabe said,
as usual, absolutely nothing. He spoke to teenage boys newly graduating from the
governments Youth Brigade. He said: "We realised that we had beaten the snake
(whites) but left out the head. What is left is to finish off the head (the
MDC)" President Mugabe also said that youth service would now be mandatory for
anyone applying for work in government departments or entering Zimbabwean
universities. Shortly afterwards President Mugabe and a "large entourage"
arrived at Harare airport, diverted a UK bound plane and left dozens of
passengers stranded. Mugabe has gone to Spain apparently to lobby EU officials
ahead of possible sanctions from there too and also to consult an eye
specialist. Sadly, an eye specialist is also needed in a Bulawayo maximum
security prison where an MDC MP, Fletcher Dulini-Ncube is still detained. He was
one of the 18 implicated in the abduction and murder of a war veteran in
Bulawayo. Fletcher is an insulin-dependant diabetic and has been refused
adequate supplies of insulin and subjected to a continuous regime of all night
interrogation since his arrest. Fletcher's eyesight is said to be failing as a
result of insufficient insulin and his lawyers continue to frantically try to
get him released on bail. Simon Spooner, implicated in the same case was granted
Z$100 000 bail on Thursday after a lengthy struggle by his lawyers.
For 2 years I have reported on the crisis on
Zimbabwe's farms so cannot end without telling of the most devastating ruling
made this week by our Supreme Court. In a 4:1 judgement, the Supreme Court ruled
that law and order had been restored on our farms and that the government had
come up with a satisfactory land redistribution exercise. The newly appointed
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Godfrey Chidyuasiku, was asked to recuse
himself from the hearing on the grounds of political bias but had refused. In
Parliament this week Justice Minister Chinamasa was asked to explain why
Z$1million had been allocated to furnishing Justice Chidyuausiku's new
government house. Need I say more?
I know this letter is very long but it has been a
momentous week in our country and in answer to the dozens of enquiries, Alan
Bradley, shot in the arm and chest a fortnight ago is now out of intensive care,
the drain has been removed from his lung and he is on the long slow road to
recovery. Last night a roll of honour in memory of 83 people killed in
Zimbabwe's political violence was loaded onto my web site. It can be seen at: http://africantears.netfirms.com
Until next week, with love, cathy
Daily News - Feature
Zimbabwe cannot go it alone
12/8/01 8:02:02
AM (GMT +2)
Pius Wakatama on Saturday
THERE is something
rather sweet in being able to pat yourself on the back
and saying to those
who disagree with you: "See, I told you so."
In June last year I wrote
about Thabo Mbeki's soft diplomatic approach to
the Zimbabwean situation.
When some were saying Mbeki supported the violent
and chaotic land reform
programme in Zimbabwe, I begged to differ.
I wrote, "Regional leaders
too, realise the danger of encouraging
lawlessness. They would not like the
anarchy that is taking place in
Zimbabwe to spill over into their countries.
They would like to see land
redistributed in an orderly peaceful and just way
which will not harm their
fragile economies.
"... President Mbeki is
no fool. It is most unlikely that a man like Nelson
Mandela could have made a
mistake in his choice of a successor. He realises
that nothing will be gained
in antagonising our rather irrational and
belligerent President
Mugabe.
"... Even though Mbeki might not succeed with Mugabe, his
philosophy and
diplomacy have to be applauded. With leaders like him there is
hope for
Africa yet..." His vision of an "African Renaissance" has rekindled
hope in
the hearts of those of us who look beyond the mundane. Let us give
the man
who has put on Madiba's mantle a chance."
I have been proved
right. In the fullness of time, Mbeki saw that he was not
getting anywhere
with Mugabe and that he was actually being used and he has
plainly said so.
He no longer wants to be friends with us. He can no longer
continue to
protect us in the international arena.
Now we have lost the only real
friend we had. We are on our own.
When a friend is drowning and you jump
in to rescue him, he should
co-operate by trying to swim as you pull him. If
he clings onto you in such
a way that you can't swim and are in danger of
drowning with him, it is
better for you to disentangle yourself from him and
swim ashore, even if it
means using force.
Many people have lost their
lives trying to help desperate but
unco-operative drowning friends. Mbeki has
rightly chosen to swim ashore
rather than drown with Mugabe. Who can blame
him?
The road to our isolation began with our getting broke, ineptitude,
fiscal
mismanagement, corruption and outright thievery. In order to make ends
meet
we went, cap in hand, to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank
and
the international donor community for assistance.
After borrowing
huge amounts of money from these institutions we were not
willing to take the
necessary measures required for our economy to improve
and for us to be in a
position to pay back the loans.
When we couldn't meet our loan
obligations the IMF refused to give us more
money until we met the
requirements of the Economic Structural Adjustment
Programme, which we had
accepted. Our response was to tell the IMF, the
World Bank and the
international donor community to "go to hell".
Later on we took on the
British, the Commonwealth, the European Union and
the Americans for insisting
that we return to the rule of law and hold a
free and fair presidential
election observed by the international community.
Our president told the
European Union, in no uncertain terms, that Zimbabwe
was not going to allow
former colonisers to lecture it on how to conduct
elections, good governance
and democracy.
He said Zimbabwe had a lot of experience in holding
elections and did not
need any foreign assistance. Our refusal to allow
foreign election monitors
and observers because that would compromise our
sovereignty is a lot of
hogwash. A few years ago Zimbabweans were part of an
international team that
went to Cambodia to monitor the elections there. That
did not compromise
that country's sovereignty at all.
Even if we don't
want foreign election monitors and observers because that
would compromise
our sovereignty, why is the government not willing to allow
local
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and churches to be monitors and
to give
voter education to the people.
What are they afraid of?
The more
our society is open and transparent the stronger our sovereignty
will be,
because real sovereignty comes out of the respect accorded our
national
institutions by the international community. Sovereignty does not
come out of
thumping one's nose at the rest of the world and beating one's
chest in
defiance like a stubborn chimpanzee.
If our elections are going to be
free and fair we shouldn't be afraid of
anyone observing them. In fact, we
should be proud to invite all and sundry
to learn form us how democratic
elections should be conducted.
You and I know the government is afraid.
The history of our elections is a
history of racial hatred, polarisation,
violence, torture and outright
murder.
They are afraid that foreign
monitors and observers will be astounded by the
machinery Zanu PF has set up
to rig the election and to bar thousands of
Zimbabwean citizens from
exercising their right to vote freely.
If the MDC does win it will be a
miracle from heaven. The whole thing is
going to be an expensive
charade.
In our volatile situation it is imperative that neutral parties
from outside
be involved. If that does not happen, any government leader
recognising
President Mugabe as the winner and legitimate President of
Zimbabwe will
need to have his head examined.
As if we don't have
enough so-called enemies to fight we have added the
United Nations to our
hate list for daring to publish a report which claims
that our politicians
and army chiefs have been looting the DRC. According to
our government it is
the British who have influenced the UN to turn against
poor, innocent
Zimbabwe.
The United Nations reports that our greedy leaders have been
looting the DRC
is quite believable. If it is all lies why doesn't the
government come clean
and put out a report on the activities of
government-owned and other
companies in that country? Why is everything
shrouded in secrecy?
The truth is that our boys are suffering and dying
over there to fill the
pockets and stomachs of a few Zanu PF leaders. They
will therefore do
anything to remain in power in order to protect their
ill-gotten gains.
Zimbabwe has not benefited as a nation from our
involvement in that rich
country. What we have there is a mercenary force,
propping up an unelected
and undemocratic regime.
My question is, can we
be right and the rest of the world wrong?
Are we going in the right
direction? Can Zimbabwe really exist alone without
the co-operation and
assistance of the rest of the world?
The answer is an emphatic no. John
Dunn was right when he said: "No man is
an island unto himself."
He
who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Daily News
Money market faces shortages as panic grips most
investors
12/8/01 8:44:44 AM (GMT +2)
Business
Reporter
The money market is experiencing shortages as a result of final
tax payments
by corporations, stockbrokers have said.
In its weekly
commentary for the period ending 30 November, Sagit
Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd
said the shortages ranged from $1,2 billion and $1,5
billion.
Sagit
said: "The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe rejected all 91-day Treasury Bill
bids
because of the high rates quoted. There will not be any
significant
maturities until 7 December and the market should remain square.
As a
result, overnight rates should remain relatively firm."
The
brokers said the 91-day Treasury Bill rate remained at 23,23 percent.
The
foreign currency market remained the same.
Sagit said it appeared that
panic had gripped most investors, including
those who would not normally
panic.
"The falling prices have led to frantic stock trading and share
dumping,
leading to a market oversupply," Sagit said.
"Invariably,
prices continue to be depressed, leading to even further
frenzied trading and
panic.
"It is a vicious circle out there. Excellent corporate results have
failed
to stir the market upward - if anything, prices have failed to stir
the
market upward - if anything, prices have fallen after release of
impressive
results."
Sagit said these were certainly tough times for
equity investors.
"But remember, volatility is a way of life for equity
investors," Sagit
said.
Daily News - Leader Page
The tragedy of being a youth in
Zimbabwe
12/8/01 8:26:41 AM (GMT +2)
By Givemore
Nyanhi
THERE has been a massive exodus of Zimbabwean youths in recent
years. The
tide of young men and women leaving the country keeps on rising.
The flood
of youths who are making the sacrifice to leave their families and
face the
challenges and ravages of living in a foreign land, away from their
parents,
increases with each day.
Almost in every household the
probability of having no relative abroad is
becoming rare. Almost every
family has a relative who has joined the great
trek northwards, particularly
to the United Kingdom, where the lure of the
pound has opened fantastic
possibilities for youths and has become a very
powerful incentive that is
hard to resist.
In the wake of all this, questions are being asked and
justifications being
given on why this trend is becoming so prevalent. Some
say that it is
colonialism in reverse, others call it globalisation, while
still others
more cynical would prefer to see it as the new face of modern
slavery, a new
form of exploitation, a situation under which cheap labour is
being
channelled to the richer countries as a direct result of their
perverted aid
policies that are designed to create large pools of well
educated,
intelligent unemployed youths in declining economies.
Youth
is the thread that binds any society, and a society devoid of youth is
one
that is also devoid of vision and a future. It hurts to think that
our
country spent billions of dollars since 1980 investing in an
education
system and social services so that other counties could benefit. It
hurts to
think that schools and colleges are churning out youths in their
thousands
who have no other desire save to get their certificates and go
abroad.
Society has always had a knack for coming up with a name for
youth movements
that defy common societal beliefs. For instance in the late
1950s in the
United States of America, a new post-war generation arose to
challenge
America's military arrogance. The youth were clamouring for a free
society
that was not driven by any fierce capitalist motive. This generation
or
youth movement came to be known as the "Hippie Generation" with
Allen
Ginsberg standing out as its most ardent and well-known proponent. In
one of
his most famous poems, he wrote: "I saw the best minds of my
generation
being destroyed by madness/starving, hysterical, naked."
It
seems as if a madness has finally caught our country unawares and swept
all
sanity away. A madness tearing our country to pieces, a madness sending
our
youth scampering abroad, fleeing from the tragedy that our country
has
become.
Our own Zimbabwean society has come up with a new label to
describe the new
post-Independence generation that we have today. Some call
us "maborn-born",
while others call us "born-frees". It becomes difficult to
understand
whether the terms are derogatory, condescending or
derisive.
The tragedy of being a youth in Zimbabwe is that of having to
come to terms
with the fact that we did not have any overdose of
Marxist-Leninist
teachings, and neither do we have any sentimental
attachments to the war of
liberation in Zimbabwe. To say that our
contemporary youth shed tears when
they think about the liberation war, which
they can't recall is an atrocious
lie. We have no vivid memories of the
pre-Independence era, but what we know
is that we are Zimbabweans by birth
and right and we are proud of the legacy
that our fathers bequeathed
us.
In Zimbabwe today there are more than 2,5 million unemployed youths
and the
effects of unemployment are beginning to show in our disintegrating
social
fabric: the prevalence of poverty, child prostitution and labour, high
rate
of crime and death, frustration, anger, a huge sense of betrayal
and
disillusionment among the youth, political violence, imminent social
unrest
and, lately, the mass exodus of our youth to other
countries.
The boys I grew up playing soccer with in the streets,
fighting with and
sharing passionate dreams with are all gone. In three years
I have seen more
friends of mine leave this country than ever before. It has
suddenly become
unfashionable to remain in Zimbabwe. It is not a case of any
lack of
patriotism or nationalism that they are going it used to be that a
long time
ago, but what is happening today is a case of survival, a matter
of
self-preservation.
The older generation never took time to explain
our own national history.
For the past 21 years they have allowed us to
evolve into something they
can't understand. Twenty-one years were more than
enough to instil a sense
of patriotism and national pride. Twenty-one years
were more than enough to
inculcate and entrench the teachings, ideas, and
values that influenced and
won the liberation struggle. Twenty-one years were
more than enough to shape
the destiny of our nation. The absence of a vibrant
non-partisan youth
policy in Zimbabwe in the past 21 years is now proving to
be the cause of
its undoing and the presence of one now makes a very big and
yawning
difference appear between teaching youths about their past
and
indoctrinating them with selected information.
But what we have is
a young generation alienated from its past not out of
any devise of their
own.
What we have is a generation of youths fed on a flawed education
system that
the Nziramasanga Commission found wanting, a youth that was fed a
perverted
diet on national television and radio. We grew up watching the
films like
the A-Team, McGyver, Santa Barbara and many others.
If our
youth grew up watching and listening to State-controlled stations
that
provided more than 90 percent foreign content for the past 21 years, it
shall
need another 21 years to rectify that wrong.
Saying that all this can
change within a short space of time is unrealistic;
it's more of a
declaration of war on the youth that I don't think anyone
can
win.
Amid all this, our country is haemorrhaging profusely, the
rich blood of its
veins is gushing out and soon only a carcass will be
remaining.
Daily News - Leader Page
Government deliberately misleading people on
Act
12/8/01 8:26:02 AM (GMT +2)
THE government has become
paranoid, if it believes the rest of the world has
ganged up against it in
one giant conspiracy.
The Zimbabwe Democracy and Recovery Act passed by
the US House of
Representatives on Tuesday this week is not against the
people of Zimbabwe.
It targets those who, for the past 23 months, have
deliberately authored and
orchestrated anarchy and terror in both the rural
and urban areas, and are
responsible for the foreign currency and fuel crisis
and shortages of many
basic commodities.
It targets President Mugabe,
his ministers and colleagues in government and
Zanu PF and their
families.
But the government, realising it is cornered, is deliberately
seeking to
mislead Zimbabweans by
suggesting that all Zimbabweans will
become victims of the American action.
If ever there was any need for
fresh evidence of just how our rulers have
become clueless, then it is there
for all to see. Either they now live in a
totally different world or they
have consistently lied for so long to
themselves that they believe it is
impossible to distinguish them as
individuals from the country. They now
believe they have become synonymous
with Zimbabwe.
But the
introduction of the Bill presented a window of opportunity for the
Zanu PF
leadership to reflect on just what has gone wrong during the past 23
months.
The fact that they do not see how roguish their conduct as a
government has
become is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.
They are effectively
demonstrating their lack of depth and incapacity to
rescue this country from
the nightmare they have created.
While the government will rant and rave
about how its friends have deserted
it, the truth is that they are being
abandoned because they themselves have
pressed the "self-destruct" button.
And how the collective intelligence of
the government cannot remind the
leadership that it is going off the rails,
only demonstrates how cunning they
were to hoodwink the rest of the
population into believing that they could
have been our liberators. They
sacrificed the lives of scores of thousands of
young Zimbabweans in the
fight against settler oppression so they could
become the new tyrants.
How could people who sacrificed so much in the
interests of democracy,
suddenly abandon the very tenets of
democracy.
Zanu PF has always known terror, but for as long as it was
assured of
continued rule, it saw no basis for resorting to its trump card:
terror
against the masses.
The Zimbabwe Democracy and Recovery Act is
not as vindictive as the
government wants the rest of the population to
believe. In fact, it is a
package of incentives: the House of Representatives
offered US$26 million
(Z$1,43 billion) in aid, forgiveness of some debt and a
promise to help
promote trade and investment if conditions for a fair
presidential election
next year are met. Anyone who does not see this in the
Act is dishonest.
Of course, one of the many effects of the Act, is that
it will bring the
crisis in Zimbabwe right into the living rooms of the
political hierarchy.
Their children, who enjoy the privilege of education at
some of the world's
best institutions of higher learning, will be sent home,
where they will be
forced to put up with what their parents have prescribed
for the children of
the masses. Perhaps for the first time, the student
disturbances at the
universities will end. Their children will brief their
parents on the lack
of resources and facilities, conducive to higher
learning. And because of
this, the government funding for university
education will be tempered with
realism because government ministers and
officials will be paying for their
own children's education, unlike the
situation at present where the children
enjoy a monopoly of government
scholarships or those extended to Zimbabwe by
other countries and
international organisations.
This should provide a salutary lesson for
the government.
Daily News
Name-calling dominates parliamentary debate
12/8/01
9:07:34 AM (GMT +2)
By Sandra Nyaira Political Editor
TEMPERS
flared in Parliament this week, with MPs calling each other names
like
racist, stupid, foolish and silly.
All this happened in the heat of
debate in which the MDC described as
dictatorial some of the laws being
introduced in Parliament.
The forthcoming Presidential election, which
has much at stake, could be
responsible for the rising temperature.
It
started on Tuesday with the debate on the 2002 budget dismissed by the
MDC as
"disastrous, unorthodox and bankrupt", and a Zanu PF electoral
amendment
designed to tighten the electoral process.
The chairman of committees,
Kenneth Manyonda, ejected Munyaradzi Gwisai
(Highfield) for raising a point
of order against Manyonda, who had announced
the adoption of the Ministry of
Home Affairs' $17,9 billion budget in spite
of an objection from Innocent
Gonese (Mutare Central) and Gabriel Chaibva
(Harare South). They claimed they
had not heard Manyonda calling for
objections.
The MDC MPs walked out,
alleging Manyonda was trying to stifle debate.
This is not the first time
the MDC has walked out during debate on the
budget.
After the walkout on
Tuesday, Zanu PF passed all but one of the votes
without debate. Manyonda
introduced the ministerial votes and asked for
debate. Zanu PF MPs shouted
back "No debate".
The amount of resources invested into the budget by
institutions such as the
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, the State
University of New York and
other stakeholders in assisting them to analyse it
seemed wasted
Gonese, the MDC chief whip, said they walked out in protest
at Manyonda's
conduct but Joram Gumbo, the Zanu PF chief whip, saw it
differently.
He said: "The MDC has a problem in understanding the
implications of walking
out and the rules of debate regarding the budget. A
lot of resources and
help came our way through workshops. It pained me for
them to walk out and
allow the budget to be passed in 10 minutes because a
lot of work was put
into this budget."
Then came the mayhem on
Thursday, which ended with the ejection of two MDC
MPs from the House as
debate raged on the amendment to the Land Acquisition
Act through the General
Laws Amendment Bill.
Gonese and Chaibva were thrown out by the
Sergeant-at-Arms, Alfonso Mhuru,
as tempers flared.
The MDC said the
government was cheating them by introducing the amendments
through the back
door.
They felt cheated by the deputy chairperson of committees,
Reuben
Marumahoko, who moved for the adoption of the amendment promulgated
by
President Mugabe through the Presidential Powers Act, without giving them
a
chance to object.
A statement from Patrick Chinamasa, the Minister
of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs, enraged the MDC.
"It is a
shame that you, the descendants of Lobengula, still want to beg the
white men
by going down on your knees and appointing a descendant of Rhodes
to talk on
your behalf on issues to deal with land," he said.
There was uproar from
the MDC side, with Paul Themba Nyathi (Gwanda North)
saying of Chinamasa's
oblique reference to David Coltart (Bulawayo South):
"That is a stupid remark
from a stupid person."
Nyathi later apologised for "losing my cool and
reacting to insults by
Chinamasa - this is akin to being kissed by a
toothless nun".
The House had to be divided at one stage for the
remaining clause on the
controversial amendment Bill to pass.
The MDC
was unhappy with the way the government sneaked through the back
door new
amendments to the Electoral Act. The draconian amendments,
criminalising the
posting of election posters, were sneaked in through the
Order Paper and are
to be incorporated into the General Laws Amendment Bill,
already passed
through to the second reading.
Parliament adjourned to 18
December.
Daily News
Nyarota scoops Economist Freedom of the Press
Award
12/8/01 9:04:52 AM (GMT +2)
Staff Reporter
The
Daily News Editor-in-Chief, Geoffrey Nyarota, was this week named the
winner
for 2001 of the prestigious Economist Freedom of the Press Award.
The
award, which was introduced last year by the Association of
Circulation
Executives and is sponsored by The Economist monthly publication,
recognises
"publishing achievement anywhere in the world in the face of
adversity,
whether through government restriction, civil war or other
hardship".
As he received the award in London on Wednesday, Nyarota paid
tribute to the
courage of the Daily News vendors who have been subjected to
arrest and
physical attack as they sold the paper. He said in some rural
areas the
paper was banned by overzealous Zanu PF supporters, who did not
themselves
miss an opportunity to read the paper.
He said: "While the
detention and harassment of journalists has been well
documented, the risks
and hardships faced by those who sell newspapers in a
hostile environment
have often been overlooked."
Nyarota also paid tribute to the late
Mozambican journalist Carlos Cardoso,
the first winner of The Economist
Freedom of the Press Award.
"Cardoso, a promoter and defender of Press
freedom, was murdered as he
investigated corruption in the Mozambican
government," Nyarota said.
The Daily News, launched only 34 months ago,
was this week officially
recognised as Zimbabwe's most widely read newspaper.
The Daily News has
overtaken its main rival, The Herald, in circulation and
readership in both
the rural and urban areas, according to a survey
commissioned by the
Zimbabwe Advertising Research Foundation.
Daily News
Mugabe must go, says Cosatu
12/8/01 9:09:07 AM (GMT
+2)
By Sandra Nyaira Political Editor
THE powerful Congress of
South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), part of the
ruling alliance in South
Africa, said yesterday Zimbabwe could only be saved
from economic collapse if
President Mugabe was removed from power at the
next election.
Cosatu
general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, said Zimbabwe could only be saved
through
the mobilisation of "workers to defend democracy actively".
According to
the Mail & Guardian weekly newspaper of South Africa, Vavi
spoke after a
three-day meeting of the Southern Africa Trade Union
Co-ordination Council
(Satucc) in Johannesburg.
He asked: "How do we save Zimbabwe? Remove
Mugabe in the next election."
He said Mugabe's sole aim was power and he
was "desperate and does not care
how many corpses he leaves
behind".
Satucc, of which Vavi is president, brings together trade unions
from
Southern Africa Development Community, except the Democratic Republic
of
Congo and Mauritius.
The federation decided that free and fair
elections in Zimbabwe were not
possible if the current climate of lawlessness
persisted.
"We should be doing more than sending a memorandum, though, as
this will
probably be ignored. We should be mobilising workers to defend
democracy
actively," Vavi said.
His comments come after a visibly
toughening stance of the South African
government on Zimbabwe, including
three public attacks by President Thabo
Mbeki last week.
The attacks,
to which the official State media, especially The Herald, have
responded with
venom, have strained relations between the two countries.
But officials
from both governments have refused to be officially drawn into
the debate,
saying they will not comment on newspaper reports.
Vavi said he was not
sure the South African government could do anything
about the situation in
Zimbabwe, "seeing that we are facing similar
problems - though not on the
same scale - of poverty and escalating
unemployment. We do not have our
fundamentals right in this country".
But he said Mbeki was now "making
the right noises, which is encouraging . .
. We need more of these noises,
but would have preferred stronger statements
earlier. It might have helped a
bit".
Mbeki, supported by his predecessor, Nelson Mandela, over his tough
stance
against Mugabe, has for a long time maintained a "quiet diplomacy"
policy
towards Harare, only to change recently, citing Mugabe's failure to
accept
and implement advice from his colleagues.
Satucc leaders will soon
be writing a letter to Mugabe asking him "to curb
the anarchy" in the country
and to stop intimidating unions and opposition
parties.
Meanwhile, the
New Zealand Foreign Minister, Phil Goff, yesterday said
Zimbabwe must be
expelled from the Commonwealth, if a "free and fair"
Presidential election is
not held next year.
Goff said Mugabe seemed committed to maintaining power at
any price,
including the destruction of his own country.
He said it
was "critically important" to get international observers into
the country in
time and under conditions that would enable them to monitor
the election
effectively.
- Bail refused - ZWNEWS
- Amnesty slams violence -
News24
- Spanish visit - ZWNEWS
- Vic Falls 'no-fly' zone -
ZimInd
- Black Caucus ditches Mugabe -
ZimInd
- Dissenting judgement -
ZimInd
From ZWNEWS, 8 December
Bail refused
Fletcher Dulini-Ncube, MDC MP and
Treasurer, was yesterday refused bail by the High Court. Dulini-Ncube, who was
arrested nearly a month ago, is 60 years of age and a diabetic. He has been
denied adequate supplies of insulin and medical attention during his detention,
with the result that both his sight and his hearing are now failing rapidly.
Judge Chiwesha, before whom he appeared, is a former Advocate-General in the
Zimbabwe National Army and a member of the War Veteran’s Association. Simon
Spooner, 48, who was granted bail by the High Court on Thursday and freed from
his four-week detention, was re-detained less than 24 hours later, when, in
compliance with one of his bail conditions, he reported to the Hillside police
station in Bulawayo. Police said the reason for his re-arrest was that the
Attorney-General was appealing against the High Court order granting him bail.
An urgent application for his release from this second arrest was turned
down.
Dulini-Ncube, Spooner, and dozens of other
MDC members were originally arrested in the wake of the murder of Cain Nkala, a
leader of war veterans in Matabeleland. Two MDC members were paraded on state TV
confessing to their part in Nkala’s murder, and implicating senior MDC
officials. These confessions were the only evidence the state has produced as
justification for the charges laid against a number of MDC members. However, the
two witnesses last week retracted their confessions in court, saying that they
had been extracted under police torture. The state’s case against all those they
have accused of complicity in Nkala’s murder has therefore collapsed, and in the
order granting bail to Spooner, the judge said there was no evidence against
him.
Legal sources described the vigour with
which the Attorney-General has pursued the prosecution of all the MDC members
arrested in the sweep following Nkala’s murder as "simply astounding". Biggie
Chitoro, a Zanu PF supporter who was heavily implicated in brutal political
violence in the Mberengwa constituency during last year’s parliamentary
elections, is free on bail. Mberengwa district was reported by human rights
organisations as being one of the areas worst-affected by government and Zanu PF
brutality against opposition supporters. Chitoro has resumed his "political"
activities in violation of his bail conditions. Few, if any, prosecutions have
been brought against those accused of murders in politically motivated violence
since February 2000, which now stand at almost 120. Those responsible for the abduction and probable murder of Patrick
Nabanyama, who disappeared in June 2000 and has not been seen since, have also
not been prosecuted. Nkala was one of those charged with Nabanyama’s abduction,
and had been due to appear in court shortly after he, too, was abducted and
murdered. Matabeleland war veterans, and members of Nkala’s own family have said
that Nkala’s murder was an "inside job", related to fears that he was about to
reveal that senior members of Zanu PF in Matabeleland had ordered the killing of
Nabanyama.
From News24 (SA), 7
December
Amnesty slams Zim
violence
Johannesburg - Amnesty International said
on Friday police and security forces in Zimbabwe are waging a campaign of
violence and intimidation against judges, journalists and opposition leaders in
advance of presidential elections early next year. An organisation of
African-based foreign correspondents also condemned a proposed media law that
would effectively ban foreign correspondents from Zimbabwe, allow the government
to decide who could be a journalist and set prison terms for violating "media
standards" set by a government commission. Casey
Kelso, the Zimbabwe researcher for Amnesty International, told journalists in
Johannesburg that President Robert Mugabe's government had created a climate of
intimidation and political violence that could prevent free and fair voting in
presidential elections to be held early next year. "I observed a level of fear
that I have not seen before," said Kelso, speaking of meetings he held over two
weeks inside Zimbabwe with aid workers and supporters of the political
opposition. "Everybody was looking desperately for the outside world to come in
and help." Kelso accused the government of waging a
"war by proxy" against its own people and said Amnesty International was
appealing to the 14-nation Southern African Development Community to apply
pressure on ruling party officials. "Zimbabwe is using the legal system to
undermine independent institutions," said Kelso, explaining that the government
was using security forces and groups of ruling party militants to attack, arrest
and intimidate the opposition and the media. He also noted that President Robert
Mugabe's government was packing the courts, undermining the once independent
judiciary and giving legal cover to acts of repression.
Political violence has convulsed Zimbabwe
since March 2000 when ruling party militants, encouraged by the government,
began the often violent occupation of white-owned farms. About 60 people have
been killed in the political violence. Mugabe's government ignored court orders
to end the occupations and restore the rule of law. It also refused to protect
judges, including the chief justice of the supreme court, when they were
threatened and harassed into resigning. The government has appointed new judges
that consistently rule in favour of the government. Kelso also confirmed media
reports that ruling party militants randomly attacked whites on the streets of
Bulawayo last month, attacked vendors selling independent newspapers and blacks
regarded as members of the opposition. He said they also firebombed opposition
party offices while police escorts watched passively. The government accused
foreign media organisations of being terrorist collaborators for reporting on
the violence in Bulawayo, which was also confirmed by Western
diplomats.
The crackdown on the opposition and the
press in Zimbabwe is increasing as the country moves closer to presidential
elections. Mugabe, 77, who has ruled since independence in 1980, wants another
six-year term. He is facing the toughest electoral challenge of his rule. In an
effort to gain greater control over the press, Mugabe has approved a proposed
new media law that would license journalists and set prison terms for
journalists who violate "standards" set by a government-appointed media
commission. The bill is likely to be presented to parliament for enactment
before the Christmas recess. The Foreign
Correspondents Association of Southern Africa said on Friday the proposal
violated freedom of expression and "would aggravate the dangerous conditions
local and foreign journalists already face in Zimbabwe". The association urged
the government to withdraw the proposed law and give journalists access to the
country before presidential elections. Under current accreditation restrictions,
Mugabe's government is preventing most foreign correspondents from entering the
country.
From ZWNEWS, 8 December
Spanish visit
Speculation is again mounting over the health of
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Mugabe last Sunday ordered a London-bound
Air Zimbabwe flight to divert to Madrid, leaving forty paid-up passengers
stranded at Harare airport to make way for his entourage. Reports from sources
in Brussels earlier this week suggested that Mugabe had included a consultation
with an eye-specialist during a visit to Spain. The UK’s Independent newspaper
reported yesterday that doctors from France would be flown to treat him there.
The South African News24 news service, quoting the Spanish-based Europa Press
agency, reported today that Mugabe, together with his wife and several of his
children, is in the north-eastern Spanish city of Barcelona for medical
examinations. The Financial Times reports that he was seeking a second opinion
on medical advice received in London. Britain's Daily Telegraph today confirmed
the earlier reports of eye-trouble, quoting a spokesman at the
Barraquera hospital in Barcelona, which is renowned for its world-class eye
treatment, who confirmed that the 77-year-old Zimbabwean president was attending
the clinic as an out-patient. Diplomats have also suggested that Mugabe has
advanced cancer. There has also been speculation that
Mugabe’s trip to Spain may have been related to an attempt to heal a rift with
the European Union (EU) that had widened after he had stormed out of a meeting
with senior EU officials and politicians in Harare recently. However, the
Independent reports that he had travelled without an invitation from Spain.
News24 reports that he did not meet any Spanish government leaders during his
week-long visit, which the Financial Times describes as "unofficial". Mugabe is
expected to leave Spain this evening. Mugabe is due to address the Zanu PF
annual congress in Victoria Falls next week.
From The Zimbabwe Independent, 7
December
Vic Falls "no fly
zone"
In a clear sign of growing paranoia, the government has banned
all light aircraft from flying below 5 000 feet in the resort town of Victoria
Falls during the Zanu PF conference from December 12-17. The six-day flight ban
will negatively impact on the struggling tourism industry in the town as
bookings will have to be cancelled. The acting director of Air Navigation
Services in the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, Ezra Mazambara, yesterday
said planes could still fly over the town but would have to remain above 5 000
feet. He said this restriction had been put in place as a precautionary measure
for the safety of the gathering on the ground. "This is not the first time we
have done it. We have always tried to do this whenever people gather," said
Mazambara. However, operators who spoke to the Independent yesterday said it was
pointless to organise sight-seeing flights at the prescribed height as it was
too high. Industry sources said each operator is set to lose as much as US$3 000
($165 000) a day as a result of the ban and more from other
cancellations.
From The Zimbabwe Independent, 7
December
US Black Caucus ditches
Mugabe
President Robert Mugabe’s claims of support from the Black
Caucus in the United States congress evaporated on Tuesday night after the House
of Representatives overwhelmingly voted for tough measures against his regime. A
last-minute attempt by lobbyist Andrew Young to sway the vote failed. Gregory
Simpkins, vice-president of the Foundation for Democracy in Africa, a
Washington-based think-tank, said there was irresistible consensus in favour of
the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Bill. "Everyone voted for the
Bill," Simpkins said. "The Republicans and the Democrats voted for the Bill,
nearly all Black Caucus members voted for the Bill, all Black Caucus members in
New York voted for the Bill, conservatives and liberals alike voted for the
Bill," he said.
Simpkins said House of Representatives members - including
Congressman John Louis who replaced Andrew Young and others who initially gave
Mugabe the benefit of the doubt such as John Conyes, Charles Rangel and Maxine
Waters - voted for the Bill. Simpkins, an African-American, told the Zimbabwe
Independent it was a fallacy that black congressmen were opposed to the Bill.
"Blacks know what is right and what is wrong. It was not a matter of black and
white but what is happening in Zimbabwe," he said. "Silence is not
consent...Just because they haven’t been saying anything doesn’t mean they
supported Zimbabwe." Simpkins said the silence of developing countries does not
mean support for Harare either. US congressmen were anxious to act, he said.
"An overwhelming majority voted for the Bill, much more than
those who voted in the Agoa (Africa Growth and Opportunity Act)," Simpkins said.
Zimbabwe was excluded from Agoa. Simpkins said the breakdown of the rule of law,
official pursuit of "political justice which is not justice at all", and the
land crisis swayed the vote against Zimbabwe. Congress passed the Bill by 396 to
11 votes. It was unanimously approved in the Senate earlier this year but will
now return to the upper house to approve minor amendments. A last-ditch appeal
by former Atlanta mayor and US ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young to
members of congress cut no ice. Now the head of GoodWorks International Inc, a
firm of lobbyists, Young claimed Mugabe is a "Christian socialist who has
focused on the distribution of wealth but less on generating wealth through
foreign investment, which should be the strategy of the debt-ridden Zimbabwean
government".
Repeating remarks he made in Harare earlier this year, Young
said there had been much less violence in Zimbabwe than in Britain, Ireland or
South Africa. "Fewer than 50 people in two years of struggle over land reform
have been killed," he said. "I hope you will do everything in your power to
oppose this Bill," he pleaded - in vain. Young told the Independent in July that
he was not being paid for his work on behalf of the Mugabe regime. In a
statement after the passage of the Bill, Africa subcommittee chair Ed Royce said
Congress had acted on dictatorship. "Today, the US House of Representatives
acted against tyranny in Zimbabwe," he said. "I foresee the US working closely
with the European Union, South Africa, and other regional states to address this
crisis. The US congress is watching Zimbabwe. I hope President Mugabe gets the
message."
Zimbabwe, Simpkins said, squandered opportunities to block the
Bill. "There were a lot of attempts to talk to Zimbabwe but that didn’t work,"
he said. "But Zimbabwe still has a chance. The ball is in government’s court.
This Bill is a plea for dialogue. I hope it will not result in more
intransigence." Simpkins observed the Bill is aimed at the regime and not the
people. "It’s strictly targeted at government and the leadership. We want
Zimbabwe to be a partner in democracy. We are looking at how to get Zimbabwe
back on track and not how to destroy it." US assistant secretary of state Walter
Kansteiner is expected in Zimbabwe next week for talks on the local crisis. He
has already visited Kenya and Ethiopia and is currently in South Africa.
From The Zimbabwe Independent, 7
December
Ebrahim blasts fast-track land
programme
Supreme Court Judge Justice Ahmed Ebrahim differed sharply with
his colleagues on the Supreme Court bench who this week ruled that the
government had re-established the rule of law on the country’s white-owned farms
and had implemented a proper programme of land reform. In what appears to be a
stinging rebuttal of remarks made in the majority ruling, Justice Ebrahim said
it was not the duty of the court to support the government of the day but to
uphold the law. Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku together with Justices Misheck
Cheda, Vernanda Ziyambi and Luke Malaba agreed that the government’s land reform
programme was a matter of "social justice and not, strictly speaking, a legal
issue". However, Justice Ebrahim, the fifth member of the bench handpicked by
Chidyausiku to hear the case, said it was "impossible" to state that the rule of
law had been restored on the country’s white-owned farms or that there was a
land reform programme. "It is not the function of the courts to support the
government of the day," he said in his dissenting judgement. "The court’s duty
is to the law and the law alone. They may never subvert the law. To act
otherwise would create huge uncertainty in the law," he said.
The majority overturns an order given last year by the previous
Supreme Court bench, led by internationally respected former Chief Justice
Anthony Gubbay, which declared that Mugabe’s fast track land reform programme
was chaotic and illegal. Justice Gubbay resigned after threats of violence by
Mugabe’s supporters and Mugabe appointed Chidyausiku in his place. Justice
Ebrahim said that the state lawyers were "repeating the arguments previously
rejected by the Supreme Court under Justice Gubbay. "All the points were
carefully considered and that court came to the conclusion it did," said Justice
Ebrahim. "Haphazard squatting cannot form part of a lawful programme of land
reform. It is not lawful for any occupier to be on the land at all, let alone
cut down trees, build homes, till land, graze their cattle. It is a criminal
offence. It is impossible to accept that the rule of law has been restored."
Apparently responding to the view of Chidyausiku and the other three that land
reform was a matter of social justice rather than the law, Ebrahim said "the
courts’ duty is to the law and the law alone. Judges, as individuals, have their
own political, legal, and social views and opinions. But it is the sworn duty of
every judge to apply the law, whatever he or she may think of the
law."