Zim Online
Wednesday 24 January 2007
HARARE - Crisis-hit Zimbabwe faces
more power cuts after neighbouring
countries that normally supply 40 percent
of its electricity needs
drastically cut down supplies to the country, the
Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply Authority (ZESA) said on Tuesday.
Acting
ZESA chairman Christopher Chetsenga told journalists in Harare that
regional
power utilities, which were in the first place struggling to supply
their
own domestic markets as an energy crisis long predicted to hit the
region
begins to bite, had only guaranteed to supply Zimbabwe with
150MW.
Zimbabwe, which can generate slightly above 1 000MW, normally
imports about
650MW from South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and the Democratic
of the
Republic of the Congo.
"Electricity imports are limited due to
diminishing surplus generation
capacity in the region . . . we have imported
650MW in the past but this
year what has been promised to us is 150MW
because South Africa is short of
electricity - it is a terrible situation,"
said Chetsenga.
Only the DRC would be able to supply Zimbabwe with 100MW
while Mozambique
would chip in with 50MW, the acting ZESDA chairman
said.
Chetsenga said Zimbabwe's energy problems were further compounded
by below
capacity generation at the country's two biggest power plants,
Hwange
Thermal Power Station and Kariba South Hydro Power Station, where
long
overdue plant overhauls have not been carried out because there is no
foreign currency to import replacement spares.
Coal shortages at
Hwange have further scaled down power generation with the
plant producing
350MW out of an installed capacity of 780MW. Kariba, which
at full capacity
should generate 750MW, was only producing 697MW, said
Chetsenga.
Three smaller thermal power stations in Harare, Munyati
and Bulawayo were
also producing less than their combined 150MW due to coal
shortages and high
cost of production.
Chetsenga, who also lamented
the poor salaries that ZESA was paying workers
which he said had worsened
the brain drain at the utility, said the state
power firm had roped in some
foreign investors to mobilise US$800 million to
expand generation capacity
at Hwange and Kariba.
He did not name the investors whose arrival is
surely too late for long
suffering Zimbabweans who before the latest energy
shortfall announced by
Chetsenga were already having to go for several hours
on end without
electricity as ZESA rationed the little that was
available.
But the worsening energy crisis is only an addition on a long
list of
hardships that Zimbabweans have become accustomed to as the country
grapples
with a severe economic recession described by the World Bank as the
worst in
the world outside a war zone.
The economic meltdown has seen
inflation shooting beyond 1 000 percent,
deepening poverty and shortages of
food and just about every basic survival
commodity. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wednesday 24 January
2007
BULAWAYO - A United States-based food
security assessment group
has warned that Zimbabwe's winter wheat harvest
will be far below average
this year because of late plantings and
disruptions caused by fuel
shortages.
In its latest
report released on Monday, the Famine Early
Warning System Network (FEWSNET)
says Zimbabwe will likely harvest about 135
000 metric tonnes of wheat
against national needs of about 300 000 metric
tones during the 2006/7
season.
The latest warning comes barely two weeks after the
same
organisation also warned that 1.4 million Zimbabweans were in urgent
need of
food aid between now and the next harvest in
April.
"The harvest of winter wheat, a significant proportion
of which
was planted late, was disrupted by fuel shortages and the early
rains.
"Winter wheat production will be below average and not
expected
to exceed 135 000 mt, and the country will have to import 265,000
MT of
wheat to meet domestic needs," says the report.
Zimbabwe, once a regional food exporter, has battled severe food
shortages
over the past seven years after President Robert Mugabe sanctioned
the
violent seizure of white farms for redistribution to landless
blacks.
The southern African country has survived on food
imports from
neighbouring countries over the past seven years because of
failure by the
new black farmers to maintain production on the former white
farms.
FEWSNET says the food situation in the country was
worsened by
erratic rains which began six weeks earlier than normal before
farmers were
prepared for planting.
"In some areas, the
early start was a false one, followed by dry
periods of up to twenty days,
and farmers had to wait for rains to resume in
order to
replant.
"Although cumulative rainfall has been normal over
most of the
country, it has not been well timed or well distributed," says
the report. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wednesday 24 January 2007
HARARE -
France has been given until the first week of February to revoke
its
French-Africa Summit invitation to President Robert Mugabe or face a
demonstration outside its embassy in London.
The demonstration is
being organised by Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA),
a British-based
non-governmental organisation that campaigns for democracy
and good
governance in southern Africa.
Formed in 1994, ACTSA is the successor
organisation to the Anti-Apartheid
Movement that helped mobilize support
across the globe for Nelson Mandela
and his African National Congress party
in their struggle to end apartheid
in South Africa.
ACTSA said it was
concerned that some European Union (EU) countries such as
France were ready
to ease pressure on Mugabe at a time when the Zimbabwean
leader continued to
engage in human rights abuses.
The human rights activists were incensed
by the decision by Paris to extend
an invitation to Mugabe in total defiance
of the EU common position that the
Zimbabwean leader should not be allowed
to set foot on European soil unless
he is on UN business.
"ACTSA has
asked the French government for a clarification on whether or not
this is
true, and if it is, we are planning action outside the French
Embassy in
London at lunchtime on 2 February," warned ACTSA.
The EU will meet on 20
February to review its position on targeted sanctions
imposed on Mugabe and
more than 200 of his top officials. The sanctions,
which were imposed in
2002, are due to end next month.
ACTSA said dropping the sanctions was
tantamount to condoning the human
rights abuses allegedly perpetrated by
Mugabe.
"The EU sanctions against Mugabe must be upheld. We cannot stand
aside and
condone Mugabe's treatment of the Zimbabwean people," said ACTSA.
-
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wednesday 24 January 2007
HARARE -
The High Court in Harare will today hear a case in which South
Africa-based
Zimbabwean businessman Trevor Ncube is challenging the
withdrawal of his
citizenship by the Harare authorities.
Justice Chinembiri Bhunu will
preside over the case.
The Zimbabwe government last year stripped Ncube
of his Zimbabwean
citizenship arguing that he was a Zambian by descent
because his father was
born in Zambia.
Under Zimbabwe's Citizenship
Act, all Zimbabweans whose parents were
foreigners were supposed to renounce
their foreign parentage to qualify for
Zimbabwean
passports.
Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede says Ncube automatically lost
his
citizenship when he failed to renounce his citizenship in line with the
new
requirement in 2002.
Ncube, who owns The Zimbabwe Independent,
The Standard and South Africa's
Mail and Guardian newspapers, argues that
the withdrawal of his citizenship
was unlawful as he has never been a
citizen of any other country.
He further argues that the decision to
invalidate his citizenship disregards
the rules of fairness and natural
justice.
Meanwhile, Ncube yesterday said he was confident that the court
in Harare
will deliver justice in the case.
In a statement released
in Johannesburg, South Africa yesterday, Ncube said:
"I have approached the
court for protection because I am confident that the
court will apply itself
to the arguments placed before it in a fair and just
manner". -
ZimOnline
VOA
By Ndimyake Mwakalyelye
Washington
23
January 2007
A statement issued recently by the United States
Embassy In Harare, blames
the country's economic crisis on government
mismanagement and cites
corruption and "reckless" fiscal practices including
the wholesale printing
of money.
Responding to questions from a
reporter for the Sunday Mail newspaper, the
embassy in an unsigned statement
said that economic collapse and lack of
confidence in the government has led
to the flight of American and other
foreign investors.
Harare has
insisted that the economic collapse was brought on by Western
sanctions. But
the U.S. statement said only about 100 top officials
including President
Robert Mugabe are affected by the "targeted travel and
financial
sanctions."
The U.S. statement called on Harare to adopt policies urged
by the
International Monetary Fund, foremost among which is to rein in
government
spending, which most economists say has driven annual inflation
to 1,205% as
of December.
Reporter Ndimyake Mwakalyelye of VOA's
Studio 7 For Zimbabwe sought comment
on the U.S. statement from Luxon Zembe,
an economist and executive member of
the Zimbabwe National Chamber of
Commerce. He said the U.S. analysis is not
far from the truth insofar as the
causes of the economic crisis are
concerned.
Monsters and Critics
Jan 23, 2007, 7:55 GMT
Harare - Only white farmers
who have shown goodwill to President Robert
Mugabe's government will be
allowed to keep their farms, Zimbabwe's security
minister was quoted as
saying Tuesday.
'Zimbabwe's security forces have been directed to
identify white farmers who
have shown goodwill towards the government so
that they can retain some
land,' Didymus Mutasa told the official Herald
newspaper.
Hundreds of white farmers have been chased off their farms
since Mugabe
launched a controversial programme of land redistribution
nearly seven years
ago.
The programme sparked condemnation from some
Western nations. Commercial
agricultural production dropped sharply by more
than 40 per cent, leaving
the former breadbasket nation forced to import
food.
Mugabe, 82, was however strengthened by support from African and
Asian
nations. He blames Zimbabwe's agricultural and economic problems on
drought
and Western sanctions.
Less than 600 white farmers live on
their farms today, out of more than
4,000 in 2000.
Those on their
farms were given a spark of hope last year when the
authorities said they
would hand out land leases to some white former
landowners.
Mutasa, a
close confidante of Mugabe, said white farmers must have
consistently shown
goodwill towards the government to be allowed to keep
some
land.
White farmers are frequently asked to contribute food and money to
ruling
party functions and provide equipment and services to new black
farmers.
'We are taking land from whites and giving it to landless
blacks, but we are
also in the process of identifying white farmers so that
they can retain
some land or be allocated a portion of the land,' the
security minister
said.
'We know those white farmers whom we have
been working with and our security
forces would also assist us in this
regard to identify white farmers who
should remain. They should not want to
seek goodwill today,' he added.
Reports say up to 15 white farmers in the
southern Chiredzi area have been
served eviction notices in recent
days.
A farming spokeswoman said earlier this month that white farmers
were living
through an enormously anxious time.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche
Presse-Agentur
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
22 January 2007
At the weekend the State security and
lands minister Didymus Mutasa is
reported to have said white farmers have no
future in Zimbabwe and more land
would be seized from the few who remain on
their properties. The ZimOnline
news site said Mutasa was responding to
their questions as to whether
eviction orders served on 15 white farmers
last week meant government was
revoking its earlier promise to allocate land
to former white farmers.
Mutasa is quoted saying: "Only the lucky ones among
the outgoing farmers
could hope to keep their farms". This is despite the
fact that black farmers
allocated plots on commercial farms have not
produced enough food to feed
themselves or the nation.
Then on
Tuesday Reuters news agency reported that Mutasa told them the
government
was compiling a list of white farmers who would be exempt from
eviction,
saying: "We are conducting an exercise from the provinces to see
who the
provincial lands teams would want to remain."He went on to add: "We
are
basically looking at those white farmers who have been relating well in
terms of good human relationships. Their names will be submitted to me and,
after vetting, some will get offer letters for land."
But late last
year about half a dozen whites were included in a group of 100
black farmers
that received the first 99-year leases from Mugabe himself at
a widely
publicised ceremony. Those few whites were alleged to have close
ties to
ZANU-PF and Robert Mugabe. Is this what Mutasa meant by "white
farmers who
have been relating well in terms of good human relationships?"
ZimOnline
also quoted him saying the government was clear that the future of
farming
in the country was black.
John Worsley Worswick of Justice For
Agriculture which represents evicted
farmers said the vast majority of white
farmers have excellent relations
with their work force. He said Mutasa sends
contradictory and racist views
and the skills needed for farming have
nothing to do with colour. Worswick
explained that disengagement with the
white farming community has devastated
agriculture and left people starving.
He added that this does not mean that
farming skills are vested in the
whites only.
The Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) said about 80 farmers
have been ordered
to leave in the past five months. The most recent batch of
eviction notices
were served to farmers in the Chiredzi area where 24 white
farmers were
given notices. By law once the government formally notifies a
farmer of its
intention to acquire their land, he/she immediately loses all
rights to that
property and it automatically becomes state
land.
Worswick said JAG is encouraging farmers who received these notices
"to stay
put because there is no mileage in leaving". He explained that
since the
farmers have been denied access to the courts, the state must
proceed "by
way of arrest and prosecute" in which case the farmer gets their
day in
court after all.
But the constitutional amendment that took away
the farmers' rights to
challenge government takeovers is due to be
challenged.The Business Day
newspaper in South Africa reported Saturday that
lawyers for the Mike
Campbell firm will attempt to prove the amendment
itself is
unconstitutional, and "brings the rule of law to an end". They
will argue
that other modern democracies have no similar laws and this sets
Zimbabwe
apart from member states in the Southern African Development
Community, the
Commonwealth and the African Union. Their other argument is
that
constitutional amendments that change the essence of a constitution and
alter its fundamental values are themselves unconstitutional and
invalid.
It is estimated that only 400 to 600 white farmers still occupy
their land
out of about 4 000 that existed before the chaotic land reform
programme was
initiated in 2000. Observers say Mugabe turned to the land
issue to boost
his support base after losing a public referendum on the
constitution and
after losing many parliamentary seats to the opposition.
War veterans were
used to invade commercial farms and government officials
have since seized
the opportunity to take productive farm land
illegally.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
The Raw Story
dpa German Press Agency
Published: Tuesday January 23,
2007
Harare- Very few patients are now bothering to go to Zimbabwe's four
main
hospitals where patient care has been paralysed by a junior doctors
strike,
state radio reported Tuesday. The report said only a few people were
now
seeking treatment at the hospitals in Harare and the second city of
Bulawayo.
Only two casualty doctors were on duty at Harare's main
Parirenyatwa
Hospital, said the radio reports.
A strike over poor pay
by scores of junior doctors is now into its fifth
week with no sign of a
real climbdown on the part of President Robert
Mugabe's government or the
doctors.
Badly hit by Zimbabwe's soaring inflation rate, the doctors want
a
near-hundredfold pay hike, up from the current 56,000 Zimbabwe dollars per
month to 5 million dollars.
While the government says it has worked
out an attractive package for the
doctors, they complain they haven't
actually been told what the package
comprises, said the radio report,
quoting Kudakwashe Nyamutukwa, President
of the Hospital Doctors
Association.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa has urged the doctors to
be driven by
human conscience to serve the interests of the nation,
according to the
radio reports.
© 2006 dpa German Press
Agency
By Tichaona
Sibanda
23 January 2007
The President of the Zimbabwe's Doctors for
Human Rights has issued a stark
warning that senior consultants currently
holding fort in the absence of
junior doctors are no longer coping with the
extra workload.
Dr Douglas Gwatidzo told us from Harare on Tuesday the
standoff between
government and the junior doctors spells doom for the whole
nation if it is
not resolved soon.
He said consultants (senior
doctors) currently manning the country's major
hospitals have become so
overwhelmed some are working daylong shifts without
a break. The doctors are
spending all mornings at state hospitals before
attending to their private
surgeries in the afternoon. At night they go back
to the hospitals to work
on emergencies.
With the doctors strike now in its fifth week, we are
getting reports that
hospital mortuaries are now overflowing with bodies as
more and more people
die from lack of treatment. And to make matters worse,
a simple burial in a
local cemetery in the least expensive coffin now costs
Z$400 000. This is
the same as six months salary for one of the doctors
presently on strike.
Government's response to the crisis has been
castigated by many analysts and
the situation was made worse on Monday with
reports that Health Minister
David Parirenyatwa has taken time off from work
at the height of the
crippling strike, to go on holiday.
The doctors
are demanding a salary of Z$5 million a month and have vowed not
to return
to work until their demands are met. Dr Gwatidzo has urged the
government to
act quickly before the situation becomes irreversible.
'I think the
government is wise enough to realise that the few consultants
working in
hospitals will eventually get exhausted and cease to function as
the body
needs to rest. I sincerely believe a solution will be found soon.
But I
think we have failed as a nation to deliver health to the people,'
said Dr
Gwatidzo.
The Doctors for Human Rights are urging the government to at
least settle
for the minimum standards required for the doctors to survive.
They believe
the government has been slow to act because they fear a pay
increase for the
doctors will set off a chain reaction in the civil service
which is also
reeling from being
underpaid.
SW Radio
Africa Zimbabwe news
Zimbabwejournalists.com
Zimbabwe's Medical School at Parirenyatwa Hospital
has been closed as a
result of the strike by doctors who are pressing for a
hefty salary
increase.
Ministryof Higher and Tertiary Education
closed the school after students at
the institution complained that they
were not having lessons.
Most of the affected students were studying
Radiography part 2, Nursing
Science Honours Parts 2 to 4, Bhachelor of
dental surgery parts 3 to 5 and
Mecicine and Surgery part 3 to
5.
However by yesterday it could not be established how many students
were
affected by the closure.
Although University of Zimbabwe
information and public relations director
Mrs Florence Mabeza played down
the closure as vacation, students said they
were ordered to go back home
until the strike was over.
"The medical school is not closed. The
University is on a vacation until 26
February, 2007," Mrs Mabeza said in an
interview.
Ironically, the Medical School was on vacation from December
14 2006 to
January 8 2007. But an official from the Ministry of Higher and
Tertiary
Education who declined to be named said the school was closed until
further
notice but could not be drawn to give more details.
"Yes the
medical school was closed until further notice. " the official
said.
According to students who spoke on condition of anonymity, secretary
for
Higher and Tertiary Education Dr Washington Mbizvo ordered the closure
of
the school after meeting with students on Wednesday.
"We appealed to the
ministry (Higher and Tertiary Education) after we were
failing to have any
lessons. We had been coming to school but we were not
learning because of
the industrial action by
doctors," one of the students said.
Another
student said their course was practical and it was pointless for
them to
continue coming to school when the doctors were not there.
"So we asked
if they could excuse us and call us when they have resolved
their dispute
with doctors and Dr Mbizvo gave the order," the student said.
The
students also said they were paid $20 000 each for transport when the
school
was closed.
Dr Mbizvo could not be reached for comment as he was said to
be attending a
workshop.
Doctors went on strike early this month
demanding salaries of $30 million a
month. The doctors argue that such a
hike was needed to keep pace with
inflation, which is currently at 1 281
percent.
[This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
HARARE, 23 Jan
2007 (IRIN) - More disgruntled Zimbabwean government
employees have joined
striking doctors and nurses to demand higher salaries
as the economy
continues to crumble.
Lecturers at the country's eight state-owned
educational institutions have
become the third group of employees - after
doctors and power utility
workers - to take industrial action this year.
Government awarded civil
servants across the board a 300 percent salary
increase last week, but this
was rejected as too low.
Bernard
Njekeya, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe State Universities Union of
Academics
Association, told IRIN that the lecturers would be on a go-slow
until the
end of a two-week period given to the government to address their
grievances.
"If the period expires and no meaningful adjustments have
been done, we will
go on a full-blown strike, and no doubt this will be very
detrimental to the
educational sector; it is students who will suffer more,
and government is
the only party that can avert this. We need a pay rise
that takes into
account the worsening hyperinflationary environment that has
caused massive
price hikes of essentials," he said.
The educators
want their salaries adjusted to match the rate of inflation,
now estimated
at more than 1,200 percent annually. Junior lecturers earn
about US$480 (at
the official foreign exchange rate), while those holding
senior lectureships
get around US$740, way below the US$1,406 a month the
Zimbabwe Consumer
Council says it costs a family of six to subsist.
As spiralling prices
take basic household items further beyond the reach or
ordinary Zimbabweans,
more employees have placed their demands before the
government. Last week,
the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, which
represents the bulk of the
country's secondary and primary school teachers,
gave the authorities 30
days to raise their monthly pay from US$240 to
almost US$12,000. Student
unions at tertiary institutions have also warned
of protests over increased
tuition fees.
The strike by doctors and nurses, now more a month old, has
left dozens of
desperate patients without medical care in rural and urban
areas. The
doctors, who earn less than US$240 a month, opened the gate to
what has
become a growing torrent of wage protests by demanding an 8,000
percent
increase to cushion themselves against inflation, and high transport
and
food costs.
Government employees in the security sector,
including police and soldiers,
who get an average of about US$280 a month,
are also reported to be unhappy.
They are not allowed to go on strike, but
top security officials have warned
that if the government does not raise
their salaries and improve conditions
of service, their personnel may end up
joining opposition forces to remove
the ruling ZANU-PF party from
power.
The state-owned Standard newspaper reported on Sunday that many
soldiers had
left the Zimbabwe National Army over poor pay to take up posts
as security
guards or restaurant waiters in neighbouring South Africa and
Botswana.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said more than 10,000 police
officers had
tendered their resignations last year, while a High Court judge
last week
urged government to increase the salaries of employees in the
justice
delivery system, saying low wages had already forced many to seek
employment
in other countries.
Analysts have warned that Zimbabwe may
experience more work boycotts and
street protests as hardship escalates,
aimed against a government accused by
many of ruining the once vibrant
economy.
"What we are seeing this year is a situation whereby government
workers are
fed up with their employer and are determined to show by way of
job boycotts
that they need better salaries," said Felix Mafa, president of
the Post
Independence Survivors Trust, a nongovernmental organisation (NGO)
based in
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city. The NGO advocates for
justice for
the victims of the Gukurahundi operation conducted between 1982
and 1987
against PF-ZAPU, which drew most of its support from the Ndebele
people in
southwestern Zimbabwe, and Mugabe's ZANU, whose cadres were mainly
drawn
from the majority Shona people in the north.
"It is public
knowledge that the security forces are also disenchanted
because of poor
working conditions and low wages," Mafa said. "If the
situation continues
like this, we are likely to plunge into serious turmoil,
as everyone becomes
against the ruling authorities."
People's Daily
A nationwide
strike by mine workers in Zimbabwe is looming after wage
negotiations held
with the Chamber of Mines for the first quarter of 2007
reached a deadlock,
state media reported on Monday.
The Associated Mine Workers Union of
Zimbabwe (AMUZ) President Tinago Ruzive
was quoted by New Ziana as saying
that the union was considering this option
because the Chamber was
insensitive to the workers' plight.
"We have written to all our
constituents informing them of the deadlock and
we await their response to
find out what position we should take. I think it
is likely that we could go
on strike rather than take the route of
arbitration which takes longer to
achieve results," he said.
Ruzive said they would hold another meeting to
break the deadlock and warned
that failure to break the deadlock would
"plunge the industry into mayhem."
The mine workers, he said, were
severely affected by the adverse economic
climate characterized by high
inflation of 1,281 percent at the end of last
year and could barely make
ends meet.
The union was flexible as long as the Chamber demonstrated the
will to
reconsider its offer, he said, adding it was unfortunate that the
two
parties had not reached an agreement as this would delay the payment of
new
salaries to workers, thereby prolonging their suffering.
Doug
Verden, a senior executive with the Chamber of Mines, said negotiations
between the two parties would continue and was optimistic that they would
soon reach an agreement.
Deadlocks in wage negotiations have been
prevalent as the harsh economic
climate takes its toll on workers in all
sectors of the economy.
Source: Xinhua
By Lance Guma
23 January
2007
Police vindictiveness in Zimbabwe took on a new form last week
Friday when
law enforcements agents dumped 10 student leaders near the
Matopos national
park, two days after arresting them for holding a meeting
in Bulawayo. The
national park, home to the famous balancing rocks and Cecil
John Rhodes'
grave is 50km outside Bulawayo. According to Promise Mkwananzi
the president
of the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) they spent 2
days in
custody with no charges being placed.
On Friday the group
thought they were being transferred from Mzilikazi to a
police station
outside Bulawayo only to realise the officers wanted to leave
them stranded
in the bush and away from any form of transport. They were
left by the
disused old Gwanda road and say the police knew very well no
vehicles
travelled the road. It took until Saturday evening for the students
to get
back to Bulawayo after walking through bush inhabited by lion and
leopard.
Mkwananzi told Newsreel they were deliberately abandoned so as to
expose
them to the dangers these wild animals posed. Although they walked
for the
greater part of the 50km, he says a well-wisher driving a tractor
gave them
a lift towards the city.
The ten student leaders were drawn from
universities and colleges around the
country and were picked up while
addressing students at the United College
of Education in Bulawayo. Prior to
the arrest Mkwananzi had been in hiding
following police threats that he was
on their wanted list. He had attracted
police attention by addressing
meetings around the country calling for
student
demonstrations.
Others arrested include Gladys Mukubvu, Blessing Vava
(Bulawayo
Polytechnic), Zwelithini Viki (University of Zimbabwe), Tafadzwa
Chengewa
(Hillside Teachers College), Clever Bere, Jonathan Magabathela
(National
University of Science and Technology), Emmanuel Nyoni (UCE),
Beloved
Chiweshe and Melward Makwenjere from ZINASU.
The students are
locked in a dispute with government over what they consider
to be
unreasonable tuition fee increases. Government hiked fees by between
300 and
2000 percent while maintaining the same level of grant allowances
for the
students.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
The Zimbabwean
23-01-07
Hundreds of riot police have been
flooding Masvingo urban for the past two
days in anticipation of a techers'
strike. In a show of force riot police
paraded their anti-riot vehicles
yesterday morning moving in the urban and
residential places with full blown
sirens. Residents were taken by surprise
by such a move. Riot police have
mantained their presence at the Progressive
Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
provincial office (housed at ZCTU) since
yesterday. Four police officers
interrogated workers at the offices about
the whereabouts of PTUZ leadership
in general and the president in
particular. They also revealed that they
wanted to inquire about the
impending strike. As teachers withdrew their
pathetic and paltry amounts
today, they were greeted by the riot police in
full gear and read for
action. PTUZ wants to make it categorically clear
that no amount of force
can stop an idea whose time is up. When the real
winds of life blow teachers
will make a point. Teachers' demand for $3000
000 per month is legitimate
and the sooner the powers that be understand
this the better. PTUZ also
condemns the current demonisation of teachers by
police and government
officials. Several teachers have been harassed by
security agents on
allegation that the radios given by the union are sources
of subversive
material while many others have appeared in courts on false
allegations of
denigrating President Robert Mugabe.All what teachers are
asking for is
living salary as they are not volunteers but workers playing a
vital cog in
the development of the nation.
Takavafira Zhou -
president
091937009
Monsters and Critics
Jan 23, 2007, 12:15 GMT
Johannesburg - The owner
of two independent Zimbabwean newspapers, Trevor
Ncube, said Tuesday that
moves by Zimbabwean authorities to strip him of his
citizenship were an
attempt to 'intimidate and harass' him, which he would
be challenging this
week in the High Court in Harare.
'They (Zimbabwean authorities) are not
giving up trying to intimidate and
harass me,' Ncube told a press conference
in Johannesburg, South Africa -
where he is also chief executive of the
respected Mail & Guardian weekly.
'They believe what they're doing
will lead me to come down on my
journalists,' said Ncube who believes the
Harare government is trying to
send a message to staff at The Standard
weekly and The Zimbabwe Independent
business daily that 'if we do this to
your boss, we can do this to you.'
Zimbabwe's registrar general, Tobaia
Mudede, told Ncube in December he could
not renew his Zimbabwean passport
because, he said, Ncube was a Zambian
citizen by descent.
Ncube
denies ever having had Zambian citizenship. His father moved to
Zimbabwe,
then Southern Rhodesia, in 1960 and both his parents were
Zimbabwean
citizens at the time of his birth, he said.
It was initially thought that
Ncube's possible loss of citizenship was an
attempt to close down his two
Zimbabwean papers, considered the last two
independent newspapers in the
country and known to be critical of the
autocratic government of President
Robert Mugabe.
Strict press laws in Zimbabwe prohibit foreigners from
owning more than 40
per cent of local media outlets but Zimbabwe's state-
appointed Media and
Information Commission (MIC) said earlier this month
that, in the event of
Ncube's citizenship being revoked, the Standard and
the Independent would be
allowed to continue publishing.
'I was very
comforted by the MIC statement,' said Ncube.
Ncube said he had been
forced by the authorities in Zimbabwe to renounced
his presumed entitled to
Zambian citizenship, an exercise he termed
'demeaning and
humiliating.'
The case will be heard Wednesday in Harare High Court by a
judge who ruled
in Ncube's favour following a similar unsuccessful attempt
by the registrar
general to seize his passport in 2005.
© 2007 dpa -
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
The Raw Story
dpa
German Press Agency
Published: Tuesday January 23, 2007
Harare-
Zimbabwe has frozen all developments at its
spectacular Victoria Falls resort
while it and northern neighbour
Zambia work out a sustainable development
plan for the area, reports
said Tuesday.
The Victoria Falls risks being
downgraded from being a World
Heritage Site after a visit last year by a team
from UNESCO found
uncontrolled development on both sides of the Zambezi
River.
The two countries were given until June to come up with
an
integrated plan on how to use the land around the falls, the
state-
controlled Herald said.
Zimbabwe is now very concerned about
the possibility of Victoria
Falls, its key tourist site, losing its
privileged status, the
director general of Zimbabwe's National Parks and
Wildlife Management
Authority said.
"We were very much concerned
because this meant that the tourist
attraction could be de-listed from its
World Heritage status. This
would be a shame to us because we presented this
area as deserving
such a status," said Morris Mtsambiwa.
"To try and
regain that status, if it happens that we lose it,
would actually be almost
impossible," he added.
Zambia is understood to have plans for a 500-bed
lodge and a hot-
air balloon base on its side of the waterfall, with possible
negative
consequences on the fragile ecosystem.
Zimbabwe has meanwhile
been told to stop developments on islands
near the falls, the Herald
said.
© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency
New Zimbabwe
By Torby Chimhashu
Last updated: 01/23/2007 14:53:11
EDGAR
Tekere is unfazed by calls for his expulsion from Zimbabwe's ruling
Zanu PF
party by disgruntled officials who have closed ranks seing his
ouster.
Tekere, a nationalist and former minister, said his
suspension or expulsion
from Zanu PF over his controversial new book,
Lifetime of Struggle, would be
"inconsequential".
Tekere was
responding to weekend recommendations by the Zanu PF Youth League
to the
party leadership for his expulsion from the party he founded.
Ironically,
the firebrand politician has just been re-admitted into Zanu PF
after being
expelled almost two decades ago for resisting attempts by
President Robert
Mugabe to establish a one-party state.
"I am a member of Zanu PF. All I
can say is they can expel me. I have been
always their football which they
can kick around anytime they want," Tekere
blasted Monday.
He added:
"But the expulsion would be inconsequential. There is a lot of
foolishness
going on at the moment in Zanu PF."
On Saturday, the Youth League met in
Harare and recommended that the former
Zanu PF secretary general be
suspended pending dismissal.
Led by former PF ZAPU member, Absalom
Sikhosana, the Youth League said
Tekere had distorted the history of the
liberation and denigrated the late
Vice President, Cde Joshua
Nkomo.
The league said in a statement: "...the Zanu-PF Youth League has
resolved
that Edgar Tekere be suspended immediately from the party pending
disciplinary action. To this end, the Zanu-PF Youth League has resolved to
lodge a complaint against Tekere with Cde (John) Nkomo."
"Edgar
Tekere claims to own the party, a party that belongs to the people of
Zimbabwe. No individual can ever claim ownership of the party; the party
belongs to the people.
"Such an act is an act of gross indiscipline
and negates the very principle
of democracy that several gallant sons and
daughters of the soil lost their
lives for."
But Tekere last night
said Zanu PF was panicking because he had exposed them
in the book which
portrays President Mugabe as weak and suggests his
intelligence is
exaggerated.
In the book, Tekere says Mugabe flunked several examinations
while they were
in jail during the armed struggle for independence. Tekere
suggests that
this explains the animosity displayed by Mugabe towards the
late Edison
Zvobgo, who used to laugh at him.
"There are some many
people within Zanu PF who are trying to please Mugabe
by making statements
about me without even reading the book," Tekere said.
Since launching his
book, Tekere has been criticised by Zanu PF members and
war veterans such as
polygamist George Rutanhira who is wasting away in the
plains of Mashonaland
Central.
"I am not worried. We will have something to laugh about. The
Youth league
does not concern me. They say I denigrated Joshua Nkomo, I have
no qualms
with that.
"What does Sikhosana know about the history of
Zanu PF. He was in Zapu when
Zanu PF swallowed them up. I said Nkomo should
have stood up and stuck to
his politics. We could have been having a strong
opposition party with
strong liberation credentials," Tekere said.
PF
ZAPU heeded calls by Mugabe for Unity Accord in 1987 to end years of
frosty
relations and suspicion by Zanu PF.
But it turned to be the beginning of
the end of the party that once
presented Zanu PF with a strong
test.
Before the Unity Accord, Mugabe had ordered the crack
Korean-trained 5
Brigade to commit atrocities against the people of the
Midlands and
Matabeleland in an operation he said was aimed at flushing out
banditry
insurgence.
More than 20 000 civilians lost their lives in
the massacres that became
known as Gukurahundi, according to rights
groups.
Many political analysts said the move by Zanu PF to sign a unity
accord with
Zapu was a ploy to swallow the party. It effectively buried the
once
boisterous liberation movement.
Against that background, Tekere
said the late Vice President sold out the
nation by abandoning Zapu adding :
"The nation lost the potential of having
a good opposition
party."
"That was political suicide by Nkomo. When I wrote the book, I
was merely
telling my story and experiences in the liberation struggle. I
did not write
the book to please anyone neither did I wrote it to provoke
anyone. It's
about what happened to me and those around me during that
time," Tekere
said.
"Let the foolishness continue. We will surely
have something to laugh about.
I have no problems with anything that comes
out of Zanu PF. I still say it
is my party," he added.
The recent desperate
attempts by Edgar Tekere and Enos Nkala to revive their
waning political
fortunes lack credibility just as much as they are
dismissible. It is very
difficult to take people like Tekere and Nkala
seriously given their track
records, and the fact that they are being given
any space and platform at
all only shows just how desperate Zimbabweans are
for heroes nowadays.
Surely the only thing the two men could still write
home about themselves is
their nostalgic connection with the liberation
struggle and that should
never be used as any cushion from the consequences
of their respective
disgraceful pursuits.
Tekere and Nkala are all founding members
of the liberation struggle and
both are veterans of that era. Their
individual efforts and contributions in
founding and shaping the struggle
for our liberation are much appreciated.
However, these are two men who had
fantastic opportunities after the war to
build on their liberation
credentials by taking our independent nation
forward, but they blew those
chances up. Proportionate to our national
population and the level of
involvement during the war, only a tiny fraction
of Zimbabweans were
accorded such opportunities given that the liberation
struggle was much more
complex and more inclusive than the exclusive post
war scenario created by
the likes of Tekere, Nkala and their cronies now
turned foes who are still
roaming the corridors of power.
The war of liberation was fought
from so many fronts and so many more people
were involved than we are made
to believe today by selfish people with
selective memories and chronic
memory lapses. It would appear now as if only
a handful of people risked
their lives during the war yet villages upon
villages of masses were risking
their lives too, parting with hard earned
property and livestock to give
logistical support to our liberators some of
whom have now turned into our
worst captors. There was untold suffering in
the villages where people would
be shot dead in front of children and
relatives, or battered and left for
dead simply because they were proven or
even suspected to be aiding the
freedom fighters.
Cattle were shot dead and burned with petrol,
while chickens would be locked
up in foul runs and set ablaze so as to send
a very chilling message that
the "terrorists" must never be supported in any
way. Wherever and whenever
they were found, they were to be reported to
authorities immediately and
failure to do so had dire consequences. In some
areas like most parts of
Mashonaland people were herded into protected
compounds, the so-called
"keeps" that were initiated by the Rhodesian regime
as a way of cutting them
off from any ties with the 'comrades'. A few people
would succumb to the
intolerable cruelty and turn themselves into informers
"vatengesi" who
reported the comrades or anyone supporting them to the
authorities.
However, the fate was nearly the same regardless of
whom you chose to side
with, because whenever they were caught, the
informers also suffered untold
cruelty at the hands on the freedom fighters.
Such people were dealt with in
the most brutal and punitive manner and the
aim was also to deter not only
they, but also any other aspiring informers
from betraying the national
cause. Obviously the penalty was mostly death
and such people would be
burned alive or beaten to death during all night
gatherings called "pungwes"
and in front of singing and ululating multitudes
of people some of whom
would have preferred not to witness the
administration of such raw justice.
The psychological trauma of
being so close to the struggle and witnessing
all the harrowing scenes of
death and survival still live with most of the
ordinary people some (if not
all) of whom have not been compensated in any
way. This is against a
backdrop of massive rewards that have been given to
war veterans who are not
in office while those in government office simply
help themselves to the
national pot. This is just how sadly our history has
become twisted and
distorted courtesy of people who would do anything to
retain undue limelight
while condemning an entire nation into near oblivion.
And back to
the two comrades well, they say birds of the same furthers flock
together.
It is very important to remember that both Tekere and Nkala were
sacked from
the government, with the former being expelled from the party
only to be
readmitted after frantic efforts. None of the two of them had the
decency to
resign in protest of the wrongs that they now want to point out.
Had they
not been dispensed with by Mugabe these are the kind of people who
could
still be very much at the heart of the rot in the ZANU PF government.
If
closely analysed Tekere and Nkala stood out for themselves while in ZANU
PF,
and for no one else. These are two individuals who championed their own
respective causes that were never intended to benefit anyone
else.
Tekere's conduct as a leader both in the ZANU PF party and
as a government
official is not the most admirable nor exemplary. Who can
imagine a cabinet
minister who brandishes a rifle and goes out to mete out
instant justice,
precisely to commit murder? That does not only show a gross
propensity to
break the law, but a dangerous obsession with power and
oneself. Even if he
was dealing with "terrorists" as he claimed, that should
have been the
prerogative of the government of the day and not individuals
to take things
into their own hands and turn themselves unto law. Tekere's
short stint at
the highest level of government is littered with spontaneous
outbursts, and
very gratuitous political posturing. He demonstrated a lack
of stability of
mind that is expected of a leader at the level he had
attained.
Initially, Tekere commanded great support and respect
within ZANU PF, in
government and in the country at large, but this greatly
deteriorated at the
same rate at which his political pedigree was wilting.
Steadily people
realised that Tekere was not of the kind of person to lead
anyone on to a
consistent and fruitful path regardless of his voiced
criticism of
corruption in the government. It was the manner in which Tekere
expressed
his misgivings and what he wanted to do about it that people could
neither
buy nor give the benefit of their doubt. This was clearly
demonstrated in
1990 when Tekere eventually severed ties with ZANU PF to
form his doomed
Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM) and no single ZANU PF heavy
weight was on his
trail. Neither was Tekere joined by any other real high
profile persons into
the high ranks of the ZUM party that was largely
branded a ZANU PF off
shoot.
It was not due to the popularity
or acceptability of ZANU PF as a party and
government that ZUM lost the 1990
elections. The main reason was that there
was a very faint line dividing
ZANU PF and ZUM and also, Tekere failed
dismally to turn his fierce
criticism of ZANU PF into alternative policies
that could form the bedrock
of a different version of government. ZUM's
policies were neither here nor
there and their case was not very
convincingly articulated especially as to
how the already notably high
unemployment and runaway inflation would be
tackled under a ZUM regime.
Also, Tekere's personality also
caught up with the new party because there
was a very visible culture of
drunkenness especially among ZUM youths some
of had very nasty clashes with
ZANU PF youths in places like Harare and
Mutare. All this for a new party,
proved too deep a plunge for any political
nomads who were looking for a new
flock to join, thereby limiting ZUM's
appeal. It can only be attributed to
Tekere and his ZUM project that our
country was later to be plunged into the
messy Economic Structural
Adjustment Programme (ESAP), because the ZANU PF
government was simply
scurrying around for quick fixes to rein in an errant
economy. If ZUM had
presented a credible alternative then, Zimbabweans would
have embraced it
just as much as the MDC was taken on board ten years
later.
Tekere's recent claims that he still commands respect and
authority among
the ZANU PF faithful is a deplorable showcase of the ZANU PF
"chef"
mentality that has ruined our country. His pathetic rants that
"hushefu
hwaramba kupera is a desperate and pathetic denial of his true
state, that
is a complete shadow of his former self. Obviously Tekere dearly
misses the
high "chef" life characteristic of ZANU PF officials who have
outright
contempt of other people's basic human and economic rights.
Whatever story
Tekere has to tell, it must be told just like any other
ordinary round the
fire evening folk tale, with no extra-ordinary meaning or
divine message.
His timely undoing of a decades old mystery of the death of
Josiah Tongogara
only further demonstrates just how common Tekere's story is
and anyone
expecting more than that must surely have been very
disappointed.
The fact that Tekere would go full circle from
North to South Pole and back
in his political exploits, also shows a person
with great confusion and lack
of self-respect. What is it that is in ZANU PF
that he cannot find
elsewhere, especially when he is one of the people who,
as he claims,
actually made Mugabe what he is today? It is true that Mugabe
has messed up
big time and that has to be highlighted. But it should not be
an opportunity
for failed politicians to claw back into the lime light by
simply singing
the national song because what Zimbabwe needs today is to do
away with
yesteryear heroes who have virtually nothing to offer either for
the present
or the future.
As for Enos Nkala, it is really
sad for someone who gave so much in the
initial stages of the struggle to
allow himself to fall from grace by
betraying his own people. Nkala's own
tenure of office as a government
minister is neither honourable nor without
controversy. What Nkala needs to
do is mend fences with the people of
Matabeleland, and be forgiven by the
people of Matabeleland so as to be
accepted back as a leading Ndebele person
and national leader. Nkala was
born out Matabeleland and it was the people
of Matabeleland who gave him the
opportunity to serve his country and what
can he say he did for them? Nkala
needs to address a full capacity
repentance and forgiveness rally in the
White City Stadium in Bulawayo and
beg for forgiveness to the people of
Matabeleland in public and be forgiven
in public. Only then can he champion
the cause of the people of Matebeland
and the Zimbabwean people at
large.
As long as people like Nkala wash their hands and remain
hypocritical
especially about the issue of Gukurahundi, they are giving
people like
Nathan Shamuyarira the carte blanche to belittle such a serious
chapter of
our country. Even if people propose the Sharia Law for
Gukurahundi, that
will not be the solution. The law will still have to be
applied to people
and those people need to kick start a process of owning
up, and for being
art and part to the atrocities committed in Matabeleland
and Nkala would an
idea candidate to kick start such a national process.
Even if Nkala says he
did not sanction Gukurahundi either directly or
indirectly as he says, and
might even be true, the fact that he was in
government at the time and
occupying a relevant ministerial seat for that
matter, makes him responsible
by association to the government of that
era.
The Zimbabwean story does need to be told, but what we
seriously lack are
credible people to tell that national story. All the
people who usually come
forward claiming to know this or that either
seriously lack the credibility
to recite such national detail, or are doing
it in an act of desperation to
salvage either plummeting personal fortunes
or ramshackle political careers.
These are usually people who have been in
bed with the authorities and have
fallen on hard times and now want to come
back to the people presumably as
the messengers of the national truth. This
is why Zimbabwe is a near basket
case because we have produced leaders who
only serve their own selfish
interests at the expense of the country for,
who will serve the national
interest as they really are under
threat?
People like Tekere and Nkala lack the credibility to tell
the Zimbabwean
story or to tell Zimbabweans to rise against a monster that
they claim to
have made. It is just crazy. Zimbabwe needs honourable men and
women who
rise to national challenges as and when they come, not
self-serving people
who duck those challenges when they come, only to rise
from the sand when
they smell their own death, the death of their own
legacies and personal
fortunes. How can Zimbabweans take such people
seriously? Tekere was in
total support of the Gukurahundi massacres saying
back then they were
necessary to avert what he called "a Biafra situation".
No wonder he is a
friend of Nkala.
I think the truth is that
"hushefu hwaramba, hwaramba kudzoka" for these two
former chefs. Don't worry
boys, you are better off a person than a "chef'
after
all.
Silence Chihuri
Contact him on silencechihuri@hotmail.com
Yorkshire Post
Henry Olonga was
forced to flee his country in 2003, but his only regret is
that his protest
against tyranny has not had a more positive effect. Robert
Gledhill
reports.
HENRY OLONGA fears that he may never be able to return to his
beloved
Zimbabwe unless Robert Mugabe's regime is toppled from
within.
Just over 12 months since writing an article for the Yorkshire Post
headed:
'The world cannot sit idly by as my country is destroyed', Olonga
claims:
"If anything, it has all gone even further downhill economically and
politically."
Olonga sacrificed his Test career when, in 2003, he and
Andy Flower wore
black armbands at the Cricket World Cup in protest at the
policies of
President Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party, resulting in a
warrant being
issued for their arrest on charges of treason which carry the
death penalty
in Zimbabwe.
Speaking ahead of the Huddersfield League
annual dinner, where he received a
huge ovation from almost 400 players and
officials as chief guest, Olonga
said: "Inflation is now at over 1,000 per
cent, heading towards 2,000 and,
economically, the country is at crisis
point. How long it can go on I don't
know.
"The truth of the matter is
that it is hard to say where a solution can be
found, but it has to start
with Robert Mugabe realising that he is not doing
anything good for the
country any more and that he is a stumbling block to
progress.
"The
problem is that he himself is not as significant as much as the cronies
who
are helping to keep him in power. They are the ones who are under threat
and
in danger if he goes. They are worried about their positions and they
are
the ones causing the political impasse."
Olonga, the first black cricketer to
play at Test level for Zimbabwe when he
made his debut against Pakistan in
Harare as an 18-year-old in 1995, is
dismayed that the international
community has done little but watch the
tragedy in his adopted country
unfold - having been born in Lusaka, Zambia.
White farmers have been forcibly
evicted from their lands and the
government-sponsored Operation
Murambatsvina ("drive out trash"), a policy
aimed at clearing urban slums
forcibly, deprived more than 18 per cent of
the population of homes or
livelihoods.
The severe economic slide resulted, in April last year, in
inflation
officially topping 1,000 per cent, helped by the decision to print
$230m
worth of Zimbabwean currency to pay international debts and sustain
operations.
Unemployment is over 85 per cent, poverty over 90 per cent
and foreign
reserves are almost depleted.
ZANU-PF's grip on power is
stronger than ever, however, after internal
divisions over participation in
the 2005 Senate elections caused the split
of the opposition MDC party into
separate factions.
Looking ahead, Olonga said: "The obvious solution is for a
totally
democratic election to take place where the people can have a fair
and duly
elected leader. That would be a start, but there is now talk of
Mugabe
hanging on until 2010 before any elections will be staged.
"I do
miss my country terribly, but it is hard to say whether I will go
back -
probably not for the next five years at least.
"I am married to an
Australian, Tara, and we have a home out there and I am
trying to forge a
musical career in England. I was chatting to several major
record labels a
couple of years ago and they were interested in me as an
artist, but they
passed on me when someone in a position of power in the
marketing department
decided that a former cricketer could not sell records.
"However, it allowed
me to become an independent artist and gave me the
freedom to choose what I
wanted to put out on album - from R and B to
classical. I have been classed
as being between two stools, but I do not
mind that as I do not want to
become pigeon-holed."
A right-arm pace bowler who took 68 wickets in 30 Tests
at 38.52, Olonga
added: "I still play the game, having been a member of
Lashings CC (a
corporate charity fund-raising XI) since 2003.
"I also
enjoy going round to schools, giving talks and sharing my
experiences with
the kids and trying to persuade them to put away their
games stations and do
something more active and make the right choices in
life."
The right
choice as far as Olonga is concerned is for Mugabe to go now.
Olonga has a
new album out, Aurelia, which can be downloaded off his website
www.henryolonga.net
"I do miss my
country terribly, but it is hard to say whether I will go
back - probably
not for the next five years."
HAVE YOUR SAY
Write to: The Editor,
Yorkshire Post, Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 1RF. Fax:
0113 238 8537.
e-mail: yp.editor@ypn.co.uk
23
January 2007
People's Daily
An
18-year-old suspected Zimbabwean border jumper was seriously injured
after
South African soldiers shot him in the left leg as he tried to flee, a
local
newspaper reported on Tuesday.
It is reported that Adrian Mpofu was shot
in a bushy area along the Limpopo
River last Thursday morning.
Mpofu
was rushed to Mussina Government Hospital where he is said to be in a
critical condition.
South African national police spokesman Vishnu
Naidoo confirmed the shooting
on Monday, adding that the soldier who opened
fire has since been arrested.
The spokesman said the soldiers ordered
suspected border jumpers to stop,
but instead they armed themselves with
catapults and attacked the soldiers.
"As a result the suspect (soldier)
opened fire and shot Mpofu on the left
leg. Mpofu's friends however fled and
left him," he said.
Source: Xinhua
From The Wigan Evening Post (UK), 22 January
The Moonraker pub in Leigh is offering an unusual bush-tucker
bar snack
alongside the usual pork scratchings and peanuts - caterpillars!
African
landlady Portia Gwanzura was determined to give the people of Leigh
something different when she took over the pub. She said: "It's all just a
bit of fun really, but for those people who are feeling adventurous there
will be things like caterpillar available. Our menu will still have all the
traditional pub foods but we wanted to offer people something different."
The 39-year-old, from Zimbabwe, was a businesswoman in her home country and
believes that she has found a gap in the Leigh market, bringing a slice of
the Africa to the town. She added: "I came to live in Leigh five years ago
and it is a beautiful place with a lot of nice pubs, but they are all very
similar so I wanted to make the Moonraker different." As well as the wild
snacks, customers at the King Street pub can enjoy African beer and cider
and a liqueur called Amarula. Portia said: "People always ask me what we
drink in Africa so I wanted to show them. They love the drinks, especially
the Amarulla. It's like Baileys but, I think, much nicer. A lot of people
are visiting Africa these days, and they always just visit the big cities.
But I am a real African woman from the country and the Moonraker will be
more authentic than those places." The pub re-opened in November and the
regular African music and dance, courtesy of Portia's group Hohodza Band, is
already going down a storm. The caterpillars Portia uses are native to
Zimbabwe. They are boiled and dried before being exported to her thousands
of miles away in Leigh. They form a small part of a menu which also includes
much more familiar produce such as chicken. Portia said they were introduced
as a novelty item and to show the breadth of African
cuisine.