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"We have teeth, we will bite," warns Zimbabwean government

Monsters and Critics

Jan 27, 2007, 7:55 GMT

Harare - Zimbabwe's security minister warned white farmers resisting
attempts to take over their farms that the government has 'teeth and will
use them to bite', the Herald newspaper reported Saturday.
Didymus Mutasa made the remarks Friday at a former white-owned farm on the
outskirts of Harare, where a housing programme for civil servants has been
launched, the report said.

The Zimbabwean government accuses the former owner of the farm of resisting
government attempts to acquire it. He is reported to be still trying to farm
part of the land.

Mutasa said whites who resisted President Robert Mugabe's land reform
programme, launched more than six years, ago 'would be dealt with severely',
the Herald quoted him as saying.

'Anyone who attempts to stand in the way will not be tolerated. May I warn
those who want to derail the land reform that we have teeth and we will use
them to bite when the need arises,' Mutasa added, according to the report.

Most of Zimbabwe's more than 4,500 white farmers have lost their farms in
the last six years. Less than 600 are believed to be still on their farms,
and they are enduring an anxious period as evictions continue.

Earlier this month, Mutasa warned white farmers that only those who had
shown goodwill towards the government would be allowed to keep part of their
land.

© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur


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Pillage and Patronage: Human rights abuses in Zimbabwe's informal gold-mining sector

Sokwanele - Enough is Enough - Zimbabwe
PROMOTING NON-VIOLENT PRINCIPLES TO ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY



Sokwanele Report : 27 January 2007

The international press is currently swamped with reports of the arrests of over 25 000 gold panners in Zimbabwe. Operation Chikorokoza Chapera ("No Illegal Panning") was launched in November last year, ostensibly to bring gold panning activities under control. With the implosion of the economy, this sector had been burgeoning, albeit illegally in most cases, as poverty-stricken Zimbabweans endlessly struggle to provide for themselves and their families. Make no mistake, this loss of livelihood is not an incidental side-effect of the operation, but it is its very raison d'etre. Just as they did with Operation Murambatsvina (Clean Out Filth) in 2005, the regime has purposely set out to destroy this activity, and with it, the lives of those involved.

This brutal operation is tantamount to genocide with constructive intent - the authors knew in advance that their actions would lead to death by starvation, depriving the poorest of the poor of their only - and last - means of feeding themselves and their families.

Not only have livelihoods been eliminated, but lives too. Since the beginning of January, the press - muzzled as it is - has still been able to report deaths as disused mines collapse on miners who are tear-gassed as they hide, seeking to evade arrest and others who have been shot by a police force bent on serving its despotic leader. By far the most appalling case is of three miners in Inyathi district who died from hunger and exhaustion after the police forced them to work for six days, filling up trenches left open by other gold panners, beating them and denying them food at the same time. They had been complaining of dizziness and hunger before they collapsed and died on December 24th.

Once again it is the poorest of Zimbabweans who are being victimized and used as pawns to hide the culpability of the big players, government ministers and zanupf apologists, who are allowed to continue the rape of the country's precious resources with impunity.

The facts are there, but the intention behind these widespread arrests stand veiled by layers of conspiracy and malice.

A not so glittering History …

One has to look back a decade to understand the regime's haphazard stance on gold panning, which has left the desperate panners confused and now threatened with violence and starvation.

The early 90's saw Zimbabwe reeling under its disastrous Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP). With the devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar and the subsequent high gold price in Zimbabwe dollar terms, more people began to join the informal gold panning trade as retrenchment caused by the structural adjustment programme began to bite.

In 1992 gold panning along the country's streams was legalised and actively encouraged, provided the panners obtained the necessary permits and deposited their gold with the Reserve Bank or its agents. The panners were also required to rehabilitate their operations by backfilling. In those days environmental policing took place regularly.

The then Mines Minister, Chris Anderson, said it was high time the panners were recognised as part of the informal sector. Instead of hunting them down, he said they should be encouraged to sell their gold to the reserve bank. He even suggested that small-scale miners should be paid a higher price than the market rate to prevent them from selling to the black market. Prospective panners were able to apply for permits to exploit the gold deposits from their respective councils.

There is a common belief that small scale gold mining and panning, which mainly took place on commercial farms, was encouraged by government then not only to control this informal sector, but also as a means of harassing white farmers and precipitating conflict with the farmers who later suffered under the most severe form of intimidation.

From 1999 to 2000, following the violent seizure of land from commercial farmers, Zimbabwe's mineral production declined between 17%-60% in nine major commodities with the gold sector hardest hit - three major mines and several small operations closed and gold production declined for the first time in 20 years. Output was 22,070 kg, down from 27,666 in 1999. The "land reform programme" did not only affect agriculture, the mining industry was severely impacted by government's madness on the farms.

Gold mining previously accounted for the highest income of the precious foreign currency earned by Zimbabwe; that was before the ruinous policies of the Mugabe regime started to decimate our economy. Since 2000 the Zimbabwean government policy towards formal and large scale mining has been executed with the customary myopic ineptitude expected from mugabe's cabinet. This sector has been hamstrung by foreign exchange shortages which have prevented it from buying new equipment and the supplies essential to this industry. With threatened take overs and the severe recession in the country Zanupf has successfully inhibited foreign investment in this vital sector and brought many previously productive mines to a grinding halt.

The gap in production left by the near collapse of formal mining was replaced by the precious metal being brought in from the informal sector, with the Reserve Bank buying much of its gold from illegal panners.

However, the panners today sell their gold on the black market as the Reserve Bank pay well under the true market value.

The Victims of Human Rights Abuses …

The attack on panners has been merciless and indiscriminate. Some of the victims are the estimated 100 000 gold panners operating legally since the 1990's, still holding licenses issued then. They have not escaped the wrath of state agents.

Following the illegal, violent and chaotic land seizures, the country was thrown into turmoil and an estimated 500 000 commercial farm workers were forced from their homes. Employment in agriculture was for most of them vindictively ended by the so called "new farmers" and war vets, and the vast majority were unable to find any formal employment, so many were forced to turn to gold panning. They required little expertise or capital investment to get going.

Gold panning was their last and sole means of livelihood, and even that has now been brutally eliminated.

Ironically, by 2003 the "new famers" came to loggerheads with small scale miners who were viciously competing for the land which had been redistributed and in many cases divided into small plots. Environmental surveillance became increasingly difficult and virtually non-existent with manpower and funding shortages. Clashes between small scale miners and new farmers grew alarmingly. There was no clear legal instrument on which activity held sway, with mining permits sometimes going directly against land resettlement patterns.

In recent years, with the almost total collapse of the agricultural sector, those same new farmers who were allowed to stay on seized land have had to resort to panning as a means of survival for they have been unable to effectively produce food with hyperinflation directly hampering access to seed, fertilizer and fuel.

Many of these panners were informal traders, whose livelihoods were hit by Operation Murambatsvina ("Drive out the trash") in 2005, when the regime sought to punish the urban poor for voting against them in the recent elections by razing their houses and trading stands, and banishing them forcibly back to the rural areas where they could do less political 'damage' .

There are an estimated 1 million small scale gold miners currently operating in Zimbabwe. In its sixth year of recession, where mining rather than farming is now the biggest sector, businesses are running below 30% of capacity and president Mugabe claims the country is a victim of a Western sabotage campaign. He tries to hoodwink the world and his grandstanding makes a mockery of the country's beleaguered victims of zanupf inflicted sabotage - the school children, grandmothers, educated and uneducated citizens, now all bound by the common malaise of poverty, inspired and inflicted by the illegal mugabe regime.

This regime has made it quite clear that they place little value on the lives of Zimbabweans. In 2002 Didymus Mutasa exposed the government's shocking intention to fulfill their vision of a final solution for Zimbabwe to effectively halve the population of 12 million. He stated, "We would be better off with only six million people, with our own (Shona) people who support the liberation struggle. We don't want all these extra people". By "extra people" Zimbabwe's leading civil servant means the people who live in non-Shona-speaking areas, who in their majority supported the opposition party ready to stymie the ruling party's obsession with power.

What are their intentions?

We know the regime actioned Operation Murambatsvina back in 2005 to punish those voting for the opposition, and to remove them to the rural areas where they could be better controlled.

Why, though, has the regime engaged in this persecution of the informal gold-producing sector? The answer is not at all obvious, and we can but speculate on how their evil minds work, but a few possibilities do come to mind:

1. Who stood to lose when the sale of gold no longer all passed through the Reserve Bank? Zimbabwean legislation requires that all gold is sold to Fidelity Printers - an arm of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ); the price paid for the gold is controlled by the government. The RBZ then sells the metal on the world market, generating much needed foreign exchange for itself. Now in former days, when all the gold used to pass through the official channels, there was more foreign currency (forex) being generated. It is common knowledge that the chefs had access to forex, buying it at the controlled rate, and then selling it in the market at the much higher parallel rate; alternatively, they would buy fuel with it, and make a killing by selling their fuel at market rates.

Official records state that gold production has decreased from 1999 (27,666kg) to the end of 2006 (estimated 12,000kg) by 57%, but gold producers will tell you that the same amount of the precious metal is coming out of the ground as before. This means that the difference has been passing through the informal system in the last few years. That means less forex for the chefs (top dog zanupf leaders and their cronies)! If I were a chef, I wouldn't be too happy, would you? I'd try and put a stop to this informal sector 'leakage'. And maybe that's what they've done!

2. Stopping the fuel profiteers? These small-scale gold panners were selling their gold to middle-men either inside or outside the country. The middle-men then traded the gold for Rand, and with the Rand bought fuel, which was then sold inside the country at great profit. This fuel is what has been keeping the Zimbabwean economy afloat; now that whole sector of the economy - fuel procurement - has been drastically reduced. Was this part of their plan?

3. Gideon Gono's involvement? Gono, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe - and now often dubbed CEO of Zimbabwe Inc., for his close relationship with Mugabe and his single-handed control of the economy - must surely have been involved in this operation. It is inconceivable that he did not sanction it, and he may even have been the architect of the scheme. What was his intention, though?

Aside from himself benefiting from access to cheap forex (and who believes the full page supplements in the newspapers, denying his purchase of a top-of-the-range Mercedes Benz?), is there anyone he might have a personal vendetta against? We know that Mnangagwa closely controlled all the gold panners in the Kwekwe area; and Joyce Mujuru has certainly been profiting from fuel deals; did Gono want to get back at them, both of whom were threatening his own presidential ambitions?

And why, by the way, is Gono's name not on the list of the European Union's travel ban?

4. Pillage of the gold milling industry? Maybe this wasn't the original intention, but the chefs are now trying to grab all the resources they can get their hands on. Do they sense that the days of this evil regime are numbered? Gold millers are central to the gold industry, as all gold passes through them for milling; they are now being harassed beyond belief, arrested on trumped up charges designed to elicit bribes, or even the forced sale of the companies, we presume.

5. Punishment of the electorate? Look at the timing: this operation kicked in just after the Rural District Council (RDC) elections. Like Murambatsvina, was this again punishment of the electorate for not voting for the Zanu PF candidates? Zanu certainly wasn't happy with the results of the elections - they might have won more wards in total than the opposition, but they lost in some of their strongholds, and they certainly didn't win the number of wards that they expected! Was it considered convenient, once more, to dispatch these "trouble-makers" to the depths of the rural areas, and to punish them by removing their last means of livelihood?

We don't know where these people are now: part of the starving urban poor, or part of the rural poor - also starving. But we can say truthfully that the regime's actions are tantamount to death sentences - no other means of livelihood remains to them - these people and their dependents are going to starve to death.

6. Control, control, control? As briefly mentioned in the introduction, the Mugabe regime had previously encouraged small-scale mining, as a prelude to getting people off the farms and into the rural areas. Operation Chikorokoza Chapera seems to be Part 2 of their plan.

Whilst they were mining, these people - many former farm-workers - were outside the regime's control. Forcing them back into the rural areas, under the watchful eye of the compliant village chiefs, control is re-established. It ties in with punishment of the electorate; it ties in with Mutasa's aim of reducing the population and so removing the non-compliant sector.

7. Local intentions? The local police are certainly benefiting from this Operation Chikorokoza Chapera; many of them have been stealing the gold confiscated from the panners! Are these the same policemen or militia who broke down houses and stands in Operation Murambatsvina? The police benefited there too, confiscating goods for their own use, or selling them and pocketing the proceeds.

As said previously, one can only speculate on the intention of the regime in this latest act of elimination. However, one thing is for sure, and that is that it was not done from pure motives.

Shooting, beating, starving - this is the Zanu PF way. It is tantamount to genocide.

They will plead the excuses of trying to prevent a cholera outbreak, or protecting the environment - fine! - but this isn't how it should be done, and they know it.

The world is not turning a blind eye to human rights abuses: look at Pinochet, Sadam Hussein, and now our own 'guest' Mengistu!

Operation Chikorokoza Chapera is the latest in a succession of human rights abuses by this regime: misery is piled upon misery. When will it end?


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Please help with this campaign for Zimbabwe in your local neighbourhood

FROM THE ZIMBABWE VIGIL
 
Dear Supporters
 
ACTSA (Action for Southern Africa) has asked us to circulate the following information about their latest campaign for raising awareness about Zimbabwe.  Please do what you can to support this.

 

Vigil Co-ordinator

The vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturdays from 14.00 - 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe.  The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe.  http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.
_________________________________________
As the blockbuster film The Last King of Scotland takes cinemas across the country by storm, ACTSA is urging supporters to make the parallels with the current situation in Zimbabwe known. Although they are set in their own unique historical, political and social climate, there exist distinct similarities between the past regime in Uganda and the current day crisis in Zimbabwe. We urge you to download the flyer and raise awareness by educating fans of the film about the suffering of the people in Zimbabwe 
 

We are asking you to print out the leaflets on double-sided paper and then cut them in half across the middle. Also you can print out the A4 poster and ask you local cinema if they could pin it up. Please see below a list of possible actions:

 

Standing outside your local cinema and distribute leaflets to the audience.

- Asking your local cinemas if you could leave the information in the foyer or put up a poster.

To find your local cinema http://www.odeon.co.uk/fanatic/film_info/m10364/The_Last_King_Of_Scotland/ or in http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/find_cinema.asp

- Inform local press of the action and/or interest in the film.

- Telling your friends and family to watch the film and pass on the information.

- Start up discussion groups about the film, book and current situation in Zimbabwe.

 

Every little helps! Please download ACTSA's The Last King of Scotland flyer and/or ACTSA's The Last King of Scotland poster 

 

Thank you for your kind support

 

ACTSA

 


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Farmers lay siege on GMB depot

Zim Standard

  BY WALTER MARWIZI

      HERE was a stampede at the Grain Marketing Board's Aspindale depot in
Harare on Thursday as farmers scrambled to buy Chinese fertilizer which
arrived in the country last week.

      The chaos broke out as it emerged that government officials and the
well-connected, described by GMB acting chief executive as "serious
farmers" - including President Robert Mugabe - had privileged access to buy
fertilizer in Harare.

      This was happening at a time when ordinary Zimbabweans are resorting
to the black market to get fertilizer which is among the many commodities in
short supply.

      Witnesses told The Standard the GMB Aspindale depot was besieged by
small-scale farmers and dealers who had failed to access the commodity for
the past two months. Stocks were last sold at the depot in November.

      News about the arrival of six National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ)
wagons laden with Chinese fertilizer prompted a stampede as early as 11:00AM
and by 4:00 PM farmers were still battling to get fertilizer.

      The acting GMB boss said the stampede showed that Zimbabwean farmers
were taking their business seriously.

      "There were no riots," he said. "We are happy with the enthusiasm
shown by the farmers when they heard that fertilizer had arrived. Farmers
are conscious of the need to apply fertilizer on their crops, especially
considering that there are good rains in the country," said Muvuti.

      But as the ordinary farmers were scrounging since the past year for
one or two bags of fertilizer, The Standard investigations showed that
government officials and those close to the establishment were allowed to
buy large quantities of the commodity for the winter wheat season.

      These include ministers, Didymus Mutasa and Flora Buka, who bought 60
tonnes and Chris Mushohwe who got 25 tonnes. Governor David Karimarinzira
got 26 tonnes, Nicholas Goche 20 and David Parirenyatwa 14 for his
Tambawaguta farm in Rusape.

      Air Marshall Perence Shiri received 30 tonnes and Retired General
Vitalis Zvinavashe 60 tonnes.

      Manicaland Zanu PF chairperson Enock Porusingazi was among those who
bought 30 tonnes. Vice-President Joseph Musika bought only six tonnes from
Aspindale.

      Asked to explain why government officials were allowed to buy large
quantities of fertilizer while ordinary farmers with limited resources
failed to get a single bag, Muvuti said ministers were farmers, "serious
farmers for the matter".

      "It's not a question of being ministers, but the scale at which one is
farming. They are engaged in large-scale farming activities and they deserve
to get those quantities," said Muvuti.

      He added: "We have made an arrangement that A2 farmers order their
fertilizer in Harare instead of their local depots. We don't want a
situation where an A2 farmer in Mvurwi where we may have put between 60 to
100 tonnes to turn up at the depot and ask for 80 tonnes. What will the
small scale farmers who may need a bag or two say when they see one person
taking all the available quantities?"

      Muvuti said ministers, "like everybody else", brought letters from
Arex officials and their depot managers who confirmed that their required
tonnage was appropriate to their crop.

      Asked if war veterans leader Joseph Chinotimba who bought 24.5 tonnes
of Shasha Top fertilizer was one of those serious farmers, Muvuti said:
"Chinotimba? His own son is running the farm".

      About Sekesai Makwavarara who bought 5.9 tonnes of Shasha fertilizer,
Muvuti said: "Mai Makwavarara, she is a serious farmer. For your own
information she has a son who is running the farm."

      The Standard also established that while small scale farmers were
wondering where they could get fertilizer, top GMB officials have made sure
they had stocks of fertilizer at their farms before the onset of the rains
this cropping season..

      The Standard discovered that between the 23 and 24 August last year,
the Aspindale depot released 80 tonnes of fertilizer for the acting GMB
chief's Musengezi farm following an instruction from the GMB headquarters.

      Of these, 40 tonnes were Compound D and the remaining Shasha
fertilizer. The fertilizer was transported to Mvurwi depot where it was to
be picked up by Muvuti.

      Thirty more tonnes of fertilizer were transported from Aspindale to
Goromonzi. These were for Woodform farm owned by John Madzinga, the GMB
operations director.

      Zvidzai Makwenda, the GMB marketing director got 30 tonnes.

      Muvuti admitted that he had and other officials of the GMB had bought
large volumes of fertilizer. "I even got more than what your sources told
you. I have a tobacco crop and I am pursuing farming seriously. To me it's a
passion," said Muvuti.

      "Muchafa muchinyora tumafalsehoods twenyu vamwe vachirima
vachibudirira, (You will die writing these falsehoods while others are
farming and succeeding)," said Muvuti.

 


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Bulawayo to 'fight' ZINWA take-over

Zim Standard

  By Kholwani Nyathi

      THE government and the Bulawayo City Council are headed for a bruising
showdown after the local authority last week vowed it would not hand over
water and sewer management to the beleagured Zmbabwe National Water
Authority (ZINWA) without a "fight" .

      Last week the government formally wrote to the council ordering it to
hand over its water distribution and billing functions to ZINWA. The Mayor,
Japhet Ndabeni Ncube has said this transfer would be "disastrous" for his
city.

      The town clerk, Moffat Ndlovu, said the hand-over could only be done
after the approval of councillors and residents. He said this week council
management would brief residents and councillors "about the implications" of
the takeover before considering whether or not to comply with the directive.

      "We just got a letter from the ministry concerning the directive but I
don't know how they will do it (take-over)," Ndlovu said. "We will have to
sit as the council to take a decision on the matter."

      A full council meeting will be held on Wednesday where the matter is
likely to dominate debate. Councillors have already publicly stated that
they will not allow ZINWA to take over the city's water administration.

      They enjoy the support of Zanu PF officials who have backed the
Movement for Democratic Change-dominated council's defiant stance in its
battle to retain the right to distribute water.

      Zanu PF provincial spokesman, Effort Nkomo said the government's
interference was unwaranted because everyone accepted that "Bulawayo is the
best run city in the country".

      "We are saying NO to the ZINWA takeover," said Nkomo. "We believe the
city council has the capacity to provide us with clean water and ZINWA's
track record does not satisfy us."

      He added "The best thing ZINWA can do is to construct the dams and
bring water to the reservoirs and let council distribute the commodity
because it has the capacity to carry out that function."

      Bulawayo United Residents Association chairman, Winos Dube said
"residents are angered" by the government's attempts to intefere in the
affairs of the city.

      "I have been recieving calls from a number of residents who are really
angry about the announcement that ZINWA will take over the management of
water and sewer," said Dube . "Generally, residents fear that if ZINWA takes
over our standards will tumble because it has demonstrated beyond doubt, in
towns like Harare, that it is not capable."

      He said ZINWA should stick to its mandate of providing bulk water to
Bulawayo where so far "it was failing to perfom to expectations".

      The government through ZINWA owns all water bodies in the country and
sells raw water to local authorities. In the case of Bulawayo, the last
supply dam was built in 1976 when it was still the responsibility of the
city council.

      Bulawayo was plunged into serious water shortages last week following
the decomminissioning of two supply dams last year after they ran dry.

      The council cannot immidiately utilise 77 boreholes in the Nyamandlovu
aquifer to minimise the impact of the shortages because ZINWA does not have
money to rehabilitate them.

      The Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project, first conceived in 1912 and
involving the laying of a pipiline stretching for over 400 kilometres as
well the construction of the Gwayi Shangani Dam has been touted as the
permanent solution to the water crisis.But lack of government support has
stalled the project.

      The ouncil has said handing over the distribution of water and the
billing would lead to its financial ruin, as it relies heavily on revenue
from water and sewerage tariffs. ZINWA took over the distribution of water
in Harare in 2005 and the billing system last year and since then the city
has never enjoyed consistent water supplies.

      There have also been questions about the quality of water with the
parastatal always complaining about the shortage of water treatment
chemicals.

      The Minister of Water Resources and Infrastructure Development,
Munacho Mutezo was not immidiately available for comment on the latest
developments. But Mutezo told sate media last week that government will go
ahead with the takeover despite opposition

 


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Lowly paid workers opt to stay home

Zim Standard

  BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE

      WHEN Zimbabwe was still regarded as the "Jewel of Africa" in the
1980s, getting a formal job was the dream of any unemployed worker.

      Back then, the Zimbabwean dollar was at par with the now most
sought-after American dollar and slightly less than the British pound.

      At that time, you took a few coins to the supermarket to buy groceries
for the whole family.

      If you were fully employed, you were guaranteed a good life, more or
less.

      But as the country's economy continues its downward spiral, with the
Zimdollar tumbling against the world's major currencies, Zimbabweans'
attitude towards formal employment has changed.

      Jacqueline Munyaka (35) of Harare resigned from formal employment as a
merchandiser in December.

      She told The Standard: "It was no longer making sense for me to travel
to the city centre every day because transport alone would take up over
three quarters of my salary then. I would have to scrounge for money for
rentals, school fees and food from friends every month."

      In December she was earning $28 000 a month. "Buying and selling" is
now her source of livelihood, Munyaka said, without elaborating.

      Tendai Muchena (28) of Mutare quit formal employment late last year
and is now into vegetable vending at the city's green market, popularly
known as Musika Wehuku.

      "The touts I went to school with would laugh at me whenever I asked
for money. I decided to go it alone and I am doing well now," said Muchena,
who holds a teaching diploma from Mutare Teacher's College.

      Muchena vowed that he would not return to the classroom, even if the
government kept its promise to award them a 300 percent pay increment

      "I make more money at the market than in the classroom. In any case,
teachers will go for another year without a pay rise," he said.

      Munyaka and Muchena are not the only workers who have abandoned formal
employment.

      Zimbabwean workers are leaving formal employment to join the informal
sector in droves as their incomes are being eroded by the ever-escalating
inflation.

      Some are venturing into vegetable vending, furniture manufacturing,
cross-border trading, while others engage in foreign currency dealing. Many
others have turned into gold panners or have joined the thriving illegal
trade in diamonds.

      Latest government figures indicate that the poverty datum-line has
topped $370 000, an amount most civil servants do not dream of ever earning.

      Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary-general, Wellington
Chibebe, confirmed that workers were voluntarily quitting employment to stay
at home, citing poor wages.

      He said most employers were being subsidised by their employees, whom
they pay unsustainable wages.

      "I have a classic example of a close relative of mine who also left
employment because of that. It's very true and the rate is alarming," said
Chibebe.

      According to the ZCTU, most workers earn between $85 000 and $200 000
a month on average, which he called a "mockery".

      The number of workers in formal employment has dwindled from 1,2
million in 2000 to about 800 000 this year, said the ZCTU.

      This has been attributed to the 2000 farm invasions and the ripple
effects on industry, resulting in the closure of many companies.

      Employers' Confederation of Zimbabwe (Emcoz) national director, John
Mufukari, conceded that employers were cognisant of the hardships that
workers were experiencing.

      "This is why some employers are arranging transport for their workers
or providing bicycles. Every serious employer will ensure that his workers
come to work and when they come they work," Mufukari said.

      Emcoz, the apex body of employers' organisations, estimates that only
20 percent of all able-bodied people are in formal employment.

      Analysts say as long as the economy continues its downward spiral, it
would be impossible for employers to award hefty salaries to their workers
as the companies are themselves struggling to stay afloat.


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ZCTU threatens government

Zim Standard

  THE Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has
given the government until 23 February to address the workers' grievances
and the economic decline or face a nationwide strike.

      The ZCTU special general council, which met on Saturday, said unless
the government addressed pay concerns by teachers, doctors, Zesa and tobacco
workers, it should brace for a strike.

      The council said all the concerns must be addressed by the 23 February
and failure to do so, or the labour body would meet on 24 February 2007 to
"decide on the dates of the next industrial action."

      Efforts to obtain comment from the Minister of Public Service, Labour
and Social Welfare on the ZCTU threat were fruitless.

 


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War veterans say no to $25 000 pensions

Zim Standard

  By Nqobani Ndlovu

      BULAWAYO - War veterans have joined civil servants in demanding hefty
pay increments, claiming their $25 000 a month pensions are driving them
into "extreme poverty".

      The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA)
last week said its members expected the government to increase their
pensions to $400 000 and provide loans for income-generating projects.

      Junior doctors and other health workers went on strike last December,
demanding substantial pay hikes while teachers and university lecturers are
expected to join them this week as they protest at deteriorating working
conditions.

      Soldiers and the police are also reportedly disgruntled about the
salary increments awarded to them this month.

      The spokesperson for the Bulawayo ZNLWVA committee, Velaphi Ncube
said: "The pension is really unsustainable with the country's current
economic situation.

      "War veterans have gone back to square one and are living miserable
lives. The government should urgently release funds for us to start our
projects."

      Toriso Phiri, the chairperson of the Bulawayo province ZNLWVA said:
"It is painful, especially so when one looks at the contribution of the war
veterans. Besides giving us increased allowances, we want the release of
funds for projects speeded up."

      In November 1997, under the late Chenjerai Hitler Hunzvi, war veterans
forced the government to award them $50 000 gratuities each and $2 000
monthly allowances. The release of the unbudgeted funds by the government
has often been cited as one of the reasons behind the economic crisis, now
in its tenth year.

      Bouyed by the payouts, the war veterans went on to lead violent land
invasions in 2000 which precipitated the decline of the agriculture
industry. Their violent campaigns in 2002 ensured President Robert Mugabe's
controversial re-election victory against Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement
for Democratic Change.

      But as the economic decline continues to accelerate with inflation now
hovering above 1 200 percent, the government has failed to keep pace with
the war veterans' demands for better pensions.

      Andrew Ndlovu, who claims Mugabe asked him to re-organise the ZNLWVA
following the Tsholotsho Declaration where its leadership was implicated,
also noted that war veterans needed urgent help from the government through
a massive increase in their pensions.

      Dumiso Dabengwa, a member of a committee appointed by Mugabe to look
into the affairs of war veterans, said they were "yet to meet to look into
the issue".

      Dabengwa said: "I can't say anything now about the pensions. We have
had one meeting so far. There are many things that have to be sorted out
before other issues are addressed. We will meet in the coming weeks to look
at that (pensions) and project funds."

      Economist John Robertson has warned that if the government increased
the war veterans' pensions, this would further fuel a rise in inflation.

      "The government will have to borrow money to meet those demands. But
there is a difficulty in doing that as it has a bad debtor's tag. The other
option is to print money, which is very inflationary," said Robertson.

      He warned the move would trigger more demands for wage rises from
other workers.

      Nicholas Goche, the Minister Labour, Public Service and Social Welfare
said he could not comment on the war vets' demands because he was "on
leave".


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Court ruling on Ncube citizenship case hailed

Zim Standard

  BY OUR STAFF

      HUMAN rights lawyers and media activists have welcomed the High Court's
decision to block Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede from withdrawing
publisher Trevor Ncube's Zimbabwean citizenship.

      Ncube is the publisher of the Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard
and had his passport confiscated by government on 8 December 2006 on the
allegations that he was Zambian.

      Justice Chinembiri Bhunu on Thursday ordered that Ncube is a citizen
of Zimbabwe by birth and the withdrawal or cancellation of his citizenship
was unlawful, null, void and of no force or effect.

      Rangu Nyamurundira of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights applauded
the High Court's decision saying it protected the right to citizenship as
enshrined in the Constitution.

      "Citizenship cannot be used as a tool to attack certain individuals
because they hold different opinions. The judgment also fights government
impunity with regards to the conduct of the Registrar-General. There was
some form of abuse of office," Nyamurundira said.

      Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) president Mathew Takaona said the
courts' decision was welcome since the case had the potential to cause
unnecessary suffering among journalists at The Zimbabwe Independent and The
Standard.

      "It's a welcome development for the media and now there are no more
further grounds to harass him. Now the security of the two publications he
runs is now assured. As a union any threat to the newspapers will affect our
      membership," Takaona said.

      Rashweat Mukundu director of the Media Institute of Southern Africa
said the case was politically motivated and should have never been brought
before the courts.

      "It has never been in doubt that Trevor (Ncube) was Zimbabwean. The
case only shows the vindictiveness of the Registrar-General (Tobaiwa Mudede)
and the government. We believe the case was politically motivated because of
his
      papers," Mukundu said.

      He added that the case was a "sheer waste" of State resources and
should be condemned out rightly.


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Donations spurned

Zim Standard

  By Kholwani Nyathi

      THE Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (PWMA) is rejecting
donations worth billions of dollars from the Zimbabwe Conservation Trust
which it accuses of spreading negative information about the country's
wildlife management methods at a time the authority is struggling to
maintain national parks.

      The trust claims that more than 80 percent of the wildlife at
conservancies was poached in the aftermath of the 2000 controversial land
reform programme.

      Edward Mbewe, the authority's spokesperson, told a recent media
briefing that PWMA was not "desperate for the money as we are finacially
fluid anyway". He said they had written to Johnny Rodrigues who runs the
trust linked to the United Kingdom-based Hwange Conservation Society (HCS)
informing him the authority did not want to be associated with his
organisation anymore.

      HCS claims its members raised, through the ZCT, more than 600 000
pounds to save animals dying of thirst at the Hwange National Park during
the 2005 drought. It said 26 boreholes were repaired and pumps to supply
water to pans were rehabilitated.

      "We are saying no to aid that comes with strings attached," Mbewe
said. "We do not deny that there is a problem of poaching in this country
but it is not at the level that is being claimed by organisations such as
ZCT whose agenda is to tarnish the image of the country."

      The ZCT claims in its website that: "It is estimated that game ranches
have lost beetween 50 and 90 percent of wildlife to poachers and larger
conservancies have lost around 80 percent. Some game ranchers report that
they have no single animal left."

      PWMA director Morris Mutsambiwa said the authority would this year
focus on anti-poaching activities.


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Cross-border traders provide lifeline for retailers

Zim Standard

  BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE

      CROSS-border traders have become the saviours of local retailers
supplying basic commodities following the virtual collapse of the local
manufacturing sector.

      A snap survey by The Standard last week revealed that most retail
shops in the country are stocked with basic goods from Botswana, South
Africa Mozambique and Zambia.

      The goods range from washing soap, toothpaste, and rice to cooking
oil, commodities which were once readily available before the Zimbabwean
economy started to decline in 2000.

      Even established supermarkets, among them OK Zimbabwe, TM and Spar are
stocking up with the same foreign commodities.

      A supermaarket manager in central Harare said they contracted
"agencies", who import basic commodities on their behalf.

      He conceded that sourcing basic commodities locally had become
"extremely difficult" as they were not readily available.

      "If we were to wait for local deliveries, the whole chain would
definitely collapse. We don't get our deliveries that often. So we have to
find alternative sources," he said.

      A supermarket owner at Machipisa Shopping Centre, who requested
anonymity, said he had been buying basic commodities from importers,
including cross-border traders, for resale over the past two years.

      "I give them orders before they leave for South Africa and I pay them
when they supply the goods," he said.

      Retail Association of Zimbabwe (RAZ) chairman, Willard Zireva,
confirmed that his members were relying on imports but at a low level. He
said low production levels were impacting negatively on the association's
members.

      "Local production is very low due to shortage of inputs. Therefore
some products are coming through those with free funds (foreign currency),"
said Zireva, OK Zimbabwe chief executive officer.

      Zireva said his members were facing the same challenges as the rest of
the country and there was little the association could do to assist them.

      "Unfortunately, there are no mechanisms in place to ensure product
availability and we can only sell what the manufacturers have been able to
produce," he said.

      Independent economist John Robertson said the current scenario whereby
retailers depend on imports was damaging to the country's economy.

      "Bigger retailers are buying in bulk from agencies who import these
commodities but the result is that it kills the local industry. Apart from
that, prices will continue to increase because they get foreign currency
from the black market," he said.

      The country's economy has been in free-fall over the past seven years,
precipitated by hyperinflation, now at 1 281% as at December last year.
Shortages of foreign currency, fuel and food have compounded the woes of
most Zimbabweans who live on less than US$1 per day.

      A report by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries last year said 1
000 companies have folded since 2000, throwing thousands of workers onto the
streets in a country where conservative estimates put unemployment at more
than 70%.

      It is estimated that more than 200 000 workers lost their jobs in 2006
alone as the hostile operating environment forced firms to either scale down
operations or shut down altogether.


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Gono walks a tightrope

Zim Standard

  BY NDAMU SANDU

      RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) chief Gideon Gono will cut a lone
figure this week when presenting his delayed 2006 second half monetary
policy review statement at a time confidence in the monetary authorities has
plunged to its lowest.

      The invidious position facing Gono is to convince most Zimbabweans,
now resigned to their fate of shortages of foreign currency, fuel and food,
that things will get better.

      Announcing his maiden monetary policy in December 2003, Gono said the
pain of adjustment would be felt in 2004 than in subsequent years.

      Gono said then: "It should be acknowledged that much of the pain of
adjustment will be felt, more in the year 2004, as our first year of
adjustment, than in subsequent years, but as academics say, no pain, no
gain."

      Gono also announced a raft of measures that would see inflation at
170-200% in December 2004 further plummeting to single digit band of between
5% and 9% in December 2008.

      But 37 months down the line, the pain is now excruciating as
Zimbabweans grapple to make ends meet on generally paltry incomes. Annual
inflation, at 1 281.1% as at December is racing northwards with analysts
predicting that it will clock the 2 000% mark in the mid term.

      The three zeros banished in August last year are back with much
vengeance, pushing prices of basic commodities to the roof: an indication
that their spirits were not appeased!

      Analysts contend Gono's monetary policy reviews will not succeed
unless backed by political and governance reforms.

      "Zimbabwe is in a crisis resulting, not in a failure of economic
policy alone . . . there is political and governance failure," said Dr
Daniel Ndlela.

      "If he doesn't address the factors that converged to create the
crisis, there is no such thing called turnaround."

      He said the monetary policy review should address the exchange rate to
narrow the gap between the parallel and official rate which is breaking new
grounds every week.

      Dr Ndlela said: "When a nation is in a crisis and wants to address the
exchange rate, it has to adjust it to the ruling black market but Zimbabwe
cannot do that because it needs money from outside to back the initiative."

      Analysts say Gono has to give the market a clear direction in the
interest rate policy to stem speculative tendencies on the market.

      "We need a clear interest rate direction to guide the market. There is
uncertainty resulting in speculative tendencies on the market," said
economist David Mupamhadzi.

      He said given the high inflationary pressures prevailing, there was
need to come up with additional measures to control excessive money supply
growth fuelling the inflation dragon.

      On the review of the exchange rate, Mupamhadzi concurred with Dr
Ndlela but added that there was need for clarity to guide the market.

      An Exchange Rate Impact Assessment Board announced by Gono last year
is yet to be made public. The board, to be chaired by Gono, was envisaged to
be drawn from major stakeholders such as exporters, major importers,
officials from the ministries of Finance, Economic Development and Industry
and International Trade and Bankers.

      For ordinary Zimbabweans, the cost of living is escalating by the day
and they yearn for the glory days.

      Dr Ndlela concurs: "The pain is borne by people now; that's why there
are many wildcat industrial strikes."

      An SMS circulating in Harare sums up Gono's predicament. It reads:
"Anonymous voices call on Gono's bedroom, disturbing his sleep. Governor
asks, who is this? The voices reply, tishu mazheyo tajoka zhachose bhigaz"
(we are the banished zeros and are back for good).

      Will Gono bite the bullet and confront the exchange rate monster, or
will he modify his slogan: Failure is not an option? This week could be the
defining moment for Gono: is he a man or a mouse?


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'Why it was not difficult to forgive The Standard'

Zim Standard

  Sundayopinion by Gideon
Gono

      I have seen the page one and two Apology and Retraction respectively
by The Standard newspaper of 21 January 2007 and my reaction is simple:
"Give me a man or woman who has never made a mistake in his or her life and
I will give you the world."

      I have come face-to-face with numerous mistakes made by myself as well
as various people in my 47 years of existence and almost 30 years working
life.

      Some of those mistakes that I have witnessed have been fatal or
near-fatal, while others were not so serious. This one by The Standard
newspaper was near-fatal.

      In both categories of mistakes, I have come to appreciate that it is
not so much the mistake which matters, but what one does after realising
that he or she has made a mistake. Few own up to their mistakes while many
will always refuse to take responsibility and, instead, blame others. These
two postures draw different reactions in my book and I suppose, also, in the
court of public opinion.

      Despite the undeniable hurt, ridicule and public condemnation that I
and my family suffered within and outside our borders, we take comfort from
the realisation that the reporter, Caiphas Chimhete, the acting editor Bill
Saidi and Group CEO Raphael Khumalo displayed professional courage to
investigate further the truth and upon establishing it, have apologised and
admitted that the initial story was false.

      It was clear that they had been taken for a ride and misled by people
who had their own agenda. Most importantly also was the fact that in
publishing the story, the team at The Standard harboured no malice against
me, as they sincerely believed that the story was genuine.

      The paper and myself further witnessed during the week attempts by
certain people who wanted to again mislead both the paper and publishers
with new inventions and/or variations about the same car in an apparent
mission to tarnish the Governor by creating a new angle to explain their
failure to substantiate the first story.

      Fortunately for me, I had revealed all the paperwork to do with the
car and even invited the Group CEO, the Acting Editor and the Reporter
himself to ride in the car concerned, with me behind the wheel.

      Against this background, I have not found it difficult to forgive the
team at The Standard newspaper and life must just go on. No sweat.
Furthermore, there will be no legal action to be taken to clear my name as
the matter has been dealt with satisfactorily and amicably.

      There are more pressing issues of national significance to do with the
state of our economy that must surely take precedence of occupation than to
pursue a mission to settle scores against one another.

      It was His Excellency the President, Cde R G Mugabe who in one of his
State of the Nation addresses observed that: "We are all witnesses to the
futility of trying to turn around our economy in an environment of pointless
conflict."

      Indeed what Zimbabwe needs more at this stage than at any other in its
development and turnaround is "healing." Healing between and among
individuals and families alike, healing and tolerance between and among
politicians and political parties, between and among different economic,
labour and government players, the media, civil society, churches and their
leaders, and healing between Zimbabwe and some sections of the international
community, including multilateral financial institutions.

      Only through unity of purpose, forgiveness of one another and the
desire and discipline to stand by the truth can we truly move forward.

      At the personal level, I welcome the existence of multi-media
platforms of expression and scrutiny of public officials and their public
conduct as this improves accountability and entrenches transparency of that
conduct. I am on record, way back, as publicly stating that the media is an
indispensable partner in the turnaround of our economy and indeed in the
arena of social progress.

      I welcome criticism of my monetary and economic policies, as well as
my public conduct as long as this is done genuinely and in fairness,
respecting obviously, my right, as indeed the right of others, to one's own
privacy.

      Let me take this opportunity also to state that, as with any public
official, it is not possible or even desirable that I respond to each and
every story written about me, whether in newspapers or on the internet,
respond to every rumour or bar talk in the market or speculation directed at
me. I take all these in my stride as occupational hazards which come with
the territory.

      My silence or non-response to some of these does not however always
make these stories gospel truth as some market players have been prone to
think. The office of the Governor is a very busy one, particularly this
Governor. Taking care of an economy with the highest inflation in the world
cannot be a walk in the park or an 8 to 5 job.

      Regarding the bank's position on The Standard story, I have spoken to
the Board Chairman for Human Resources Mr Lovemore Chihota and persuaded the
bank's Board of Directors to consider withdrawing their intention to sue the
paper and rather, let the matter lie to rest. The Board has agreed to put
the matter down to experience, for both the team at The Standard and myself.

      The same cannot however be said of UK-based The Zimbabwean newspaper
which went beyond the bounds of the initial false story to manufacture their
own trinkets to make the story seem authentic and joined previous lies about
the fertilizer story into this one. Our lawyers will be getting in touch
with them unless they take the honourable route that would protect their
integrity and standing in the news-world and do like the team at The
Standard has done. We await their next issue to establish their position.

      I thank all the stakeholders who "saw-through" the offending
publication and declared the report "prima-facie false" from the word go
because of their confidence in me and the office of the Governor.

      Indeed, if the car issue was true, I would have been the first one to
make a public admission of the fact and would have requested for public
forgiveness, but as we all are aware now, it wasn't true, neither had the
thought ever crossed my mind about the need to acquire such an expensive
car. I didn't even know that such a car existed in the world. The speed and
cost factors would have made it inappropriate for me, let alone Zimbabwe in
the first place.

      The car that I drive today, an S600 is both personal and within my
contractual entitlements and duly approved by the Board.

      In the same vein, let me add that I have been working for the last 29
years and during that period I have managed to acquire a number of personal
assets in the farming, real estate, stock/financial and other sectors of the
economy, all of which were declared to my Principals upon my assumption of
Governorship of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe as required by the appropriate
Statutes.

      Some stakeholders think that I only started working at RBZ in 2003 and
not being privy to my asset and liabilities statement then, and now being
driven by ulterior motives, have seen it fit to portray a false picture of
misuse of public funds on what are purely legitimate private and personal
acquisitions and investments, some of which are beginning to mature now
after a long period of gestation.

      We must as Zimbabweans, stop pre-judging others probably by our own
"way-ward" ways!


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Can change in UK have any impact on Zimbabwe?

Zim Standard

  reflections with Dr Alex
Magaisa

      By the end of 2007, Zimbabweans living in Great Britain will have
experienced what is undoubtedly a very rare phenomenon in their lives. For
most, it will be the first time in their entire lives that they would have
actually witnessed change in the national leadership when, as is widely
expected, Prime Minister Tony Blair departs office by the end of the year,
giving way to a successor, and everything appears to point to that being
Gordon Brown, the current Chancellor of the Exchequer.

      Blair has had his critics, not least because of the on-going Iraq war,
but for most Zimbabweans, coming as they do, from a country where the rule
appears to be that leaders remain in power for as long as possible and
employ every available tool to do so, one can hardly blame them should they
choose to applaud the coming of this rare phenomenon. They are reassured
that it is possible for politicians to actually relinquish power; that there
is life beyond politics. Blair has had his time and he is now passing the
baton to another and life goes on. So the ordinary Zimbabwean in Britain
waits in anticipation, like a child waiting for new clothes that come only
at Christmas, looking forward to experience this rare phenomenon, for the
first time in his life.

      But is this change in British politics likely to have any implications
for Zimbabwe, at least, in so far as the relations between the countries are
concerned? It is very difficult, if not impossible, to foretell the future.
But it is possible to shape the future by improving the present. As Paolo
Coelho says, in The Alchemist, "The secret is here in the present. If you
pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve
on the present, what comes later will also be better." All too often, when
we discuss about Zimbabwe, we tend to critique matters in retrospect. It is
easy because we have the benefit of hindsight but it has limited practical
effect when we do so without actually offering solutions about improving the
future. This is why I thought it would be useful to attempt to tackle what I
identify as one of the problems and consider possibilities of preparing the
current situation, with a view to achieving an improved future for Zimbabwe.

      The solution is here in the present; we just have to look around and
see events elsewhere in the world and identify opportunities that can be
exploited.

      It is clear that, in the last ten years, while diplomatic relations
have been maintained and Britain has continued to provide some aid to
suffering Zimbabweans, political relations between the two countries have
largely been strained.

      People can choose to be dismissive of the crisis in the relationship
as an imaginary creation of the Zimbabwean leadership. This is
understandable, because for years, people have become fed up with the
incessant and embarrassing torrent abuse by the Zimbabwean leadership, which
they direct at the British government. Even where the criticism may be
valid, it is often undermined by the manner of its communication.
Unsurprisingly, some Zimbabweans have come to see the alleged "problem"
between Britain and Zimbabwe as nothing more than a smokescreen created by
their own government in order to obscure or excuse its own limitations.

      There is, however, a second way of looking at the relationship, which
is informed by realism. Those schooled in marketing know very well that
often, perception is, in fact, reality. The same applies in politics - one
cannot afford to ignore things simply because in his view they are mere
perceptions. You have to confront what you define as perceptions, in the
same way that you would approach what you classify as realities. So even if
the Britain-Zimbabwe tension is a mere perception created by the Zimbabwean
government, it would be foolhardy to ignore it.

      There are some people, and indeed other countries, especially in
Africa, that have taken to this perception so that their stance is informed
not by what Zanu PF opponents consider to be the real issues, but by what
Zanu PF has defined as a bilateral dispute between Zimbabwe and Britain.

      This conflict in approaches is probably best exemplified by the way in
which Zanu PF managed to harness the land issue into the political equation
in the 2000 and 2002 elections when it faced its stiffest challenge from the
MDC.

      Undeniably, land was a long-standing issue, but it was hardly the
immediate and most pressing matter at the heart of people's grievances
against the government in 2000. However, Zanu PF made it an issue or at
least created the perception that land was the immediate issue, because it
saw land as a convenient rallying point to gain sympathy locally and
internationally. Yet because it was an inconvenient matter, one that it
considered a non-issue, the MDC adopted a non-committal and rather
ambivalent attitude to it. This failure to deal with the perception created
by Zanu PF, which had become the reality, goes some way to explain why the
MDC has continuously failed to gain the full support of fellow African
leaders. This matter also had implications for the breach in relations
between Britain and Zimbabwe.

      Keen to divert attention from its incompetence, the government
constructed the problem not as a crisis of governance but a bilateral
dispute between the former colony, Zimbabwe and its former imperial power,
Britain. Zanu PF has managed to create the perception that everything bad in
Zimbabwe is due to the negative influence of Britain. Admittedly, with the
benefit of hindsight, it is fair to say that Britain might have handled its
relations with Zimbabwe over the land issue a little bit differently, given
the historical circumstances pertaining to that issue. Whatever its errors,
it is hardly fair or correct to place such blanket blame on the former
imperial power. Unfortunately, the perception created by Zanu PF makes sense
to others, especially in the developing world and therefore draws sympathy
towards the ruling party.

      It is therefore an exercise in futility to dismiss the apparent
conflict between Zimbabwe and Britain as a perception of Zanu PF and its
misguided followers. Because it has believers it is real and therefore must
be tackled. This is not to dismiss the powerful argument of the need to sort
the domestic situation but I do not think it is necessary to get bogged down
on what to do first. The resolution of the apparent conflict has the
potential to unlock others avenues that are currently blocked because of the
situation. I like to think that reluctant countries and institutions allied
to Britain are more likely to open up and view Zimbabwe differently, should
there be a thaw in relations between the two.

      The severely strained personal relations between Mugabe and Blair and
the limited time remaining for Blair suggest that it is unlikely that
anything tangible can be achieved between them. The question then, is
whether Brown might adopt a different approach to the Zimbabwe matter. It
seems to me unlikely for as long as Mugabe remains in power.

      I do not think Brown would risk the wrath of those in his country for
whom rightly or wrongly, Mugabe is the personification of the Zimbabwean
problem. That is why for the sake Zimbabwe, it makes sense to have some form
of change in the Zimbabwean leadership. The prospect of two new leaders in
both countries, a relatively new dispensation, possibly a fresh look at
issues and perhaps the redefinition of new avenues for improving the
relations is hard to resist.

      There is reason to be hopeful. Throughout the political and personal
stalemate between the leadership, the people of both countries continue to
enjoy relatively cordial relations. In addition, diplomatic relations
between the two countries continue to thrive, albeit in difficult
circumstances. It would be harder if such relations had totally broken down,
which in diplomatic practice is often registered by a country withdrawing
its diplomats. It is notable that Brown has shown a willingness to help
tackle problems in Africa. There are also real prospects for change in
countries that have been closely involved in relation to the Zimbabwe
crisis.

      The US will have a new President at the end of President Bush's term
in 2008, South Africa will also have a new President when President Mbeki's
term expires in 2009. This year Nigeria will also have elections after which
a new President will hopefully, emerge. Zimbabwe can maximise on these
changes to start things on a fresh slate. It is unfortunate therefore that
Zimbabwe appears to be intent on retaining the existing order until at least
2010. A leadership transformation could have far reaching implications not
only in ushering a new phase of relations with Britain but also other
countries that have kept on the sidelines as a result of this political and
personal impasse between the leadership. By improving the present, there is
room to have a better future.

      * Alex Magaisa can be contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk


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How debt relief could be a worthwhile target for Gono

Zim Standard

 Comment

      NOBODY of any substance has ever suggested that Zimbabwe could benefit
from debt cancellation. The reason is obvious: the country is economically
out in the wilderness.

      Yet if Zimbabwe normalised its status with international financial
institutions and behaved with the requisite decorum and honesty of a
mendicant, there is no telling how many of the rich countries would
sympathise with its plea for debt forgiveness.

      The problem is one of pride, basically. It may even be just plain
pig-headedness.

      Malawi and Zambia have benefited from debt cancellation. With all
things being equal, one can predict a huge leap in development project
funding in these countries.

      The problem with Zimbabwean politicians seems to be this: they are
more concerned with enjoying the fruits of independence than raising the
living standards of the people.

      It seems to the people that the politicians expect them to endure the
same pain and suffering as they did during the colonial era. Why? Perhaps
the politicians are no different from every other African politician, except
a few: once they are on the gravy train, they don't want any other
passengers.

      Yet, when you look at independence logically, and analyse the motive
which drove people to lay down their lives, don't you sometimes wonder if
they weren't hoodwinked?

      In Zimbabwe, it is probably unrealistic to campaign for debt relief.
Last November, the Minister of Finance gave the country's foreign debt as
US$4,1 billion. If it was cancelled today, Zimbabwe would theoretically be
US$4,1 billion richer.

      Of course, knowing the government's penchant for squander mania, there
is no telling what that bonanza would be spent on - a new fleet of Mercedes
Benz saloon cars for all the big shots perhaps?

      Sierra Leone, nearly torn into shreds by a civil war in which 50 000
died - compared with 20 000 in Gukurahundi - has just had a foreign debt of
US$l,6 billion cancelled by the Group of Eight industrialised countries.

      Lebanon, devastated by Israeli bombs during last year's stand-off with
Hizzbollah, has just had billions pledged for its reconstruction by European
countries and the United States.

      Zimbabwe, devastated, mostly by the pride of its politicians, is
unwilling to plead for help because, to some of them, it would be "beneath
our dignity" to beg.

      Meanwhile, independence has been denuded of its meaning for many
citizens, some of whose relatives died during the war. They scrounge for a
living, some of them from the dustbins of the rich politicians, now resident
in such luxurious suburbs as Glen Lorne and Borrowdale Brooke, while the
"people" for whom the struggle was fought huddle in makeshift shacks after
being displaced by Murambatsvina.

      In Malawi and Zambia, there was a virtual revolution when the Founding
Fathers of the republics, Hastings Kamuzu and Kenneth David Kaunda
respectively, were defeated in free and fair elections.

      During the last years of these two leaders' rule, their countries'
economies, like Zimbabwe's today, had declined horribly.

      As people wait for Gideon Gono's latest monetary policy review, they
must wonder if he will bite the bullet and campaign to return the economy to
the good old days of its recognition as one of the best in the region, if
not in Africa.

      Certainly, it could then qualify eminently for debt relief, perhaps
offering the people a chance, at last, to bite gleefully into the delicious
fruit of their independence.

      But the politicians, living off the fat of the land as they are, have
to be convinced first: independence is about ordinary people "eating
independence".


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Zanu PF, stop and smell the mushrooms

Zim Standard

  sundayopinion by Bill Saidi

      EVERY country in the world must have its share of beggars, people so
desperate they have to depend on the generosity of strangers.

      Africa, because it is the poorest continent on the planet, has more
beggars than any other. Blaming this on the ineptitude, corruption, greed
and selfishness of African leaders may be legitimate.

      But that doesn't go to the heart of the matter, which is that the
people themselves must react to their poverty with the kind of robust
determination that sends such leaders scurrying into forced exile.

      Africa has even exported its beggars to other continents. The first
foreign beggar I ever come across was a Nigerian in London, in 1964, four
years after that oil-rich giant of a country gained independence from the
British.

      His tale of woe was simple enough, but heart-rending as well: he had
come to Britain to study, but had run out of money. He dared not return home
empty-handed. I was astonished: what did he intend to do? Try and raise
money to continue his education.

      I know that I gave him some money, more out of shame than out of any
genuine desire to contribute to his educational fund.

      * 2007, it is quite likely that Zimbabweans outnumber Nigerians as
beggars on the streets of London.

      These days, when I think of African poverty, I think of how Nigeria,
with oil belching out of its ears, is still basically poor, its people
risking life and limb to extract fuel illegally from pipelines, which quite
often burst in flames and lead to many deaths.

      I often wonder what happened to that beggar, more than 40 years ago.

      Did he finish his education, or did he die a lonely, miserable death,
on a cold London pavement, when the temperature was sub-zero?

      If I am one of those who accuse African leaders of creating conditions
which are not designed to end our poverty, you have to forgive me.

      In Hamburg in the 1990s, I found a Congolese begging in the streets,
playing his guitar. For a man who said he had played music with the great Dr
Nico, he looked pathetic.

      Falling on hard times in a foreign land is far more devastating than
in your own country.

      Recently, I have wrestled with my conscience over the death of members
of the Sawa family, after eating poisonous mushroom, called Death Angel, in
Epworth.

      This is now one of the poorest suburbs in the country. Ironically,
this place, also known as Chiremba, was once famous as the home of one of
the most progressive church missions in the country, apart from producing
the legendary Epworth Theatrical Strutters, headed by the Kanyowa brothers.
One of them, the pianist Andrew, died only recently in his 70s.

      Today, Epworth is riddled with poverty. John Sawa died at 64,
fortunate enough to have escaped the tragedy of being counted among the
typical Zimbabwean male of this millennium: our average life expectancy is
now 34 years.

      He picked the mushroom that eventually killed himself, his wife and
some of their children. There have been other deaths from eating poisoned
mushroom in this country before; people have been warned repeatedly about
this, yet in any country where poverty stalks the land like a marauding
behemoth, who could blame John Sawa for trying to feed his family?

      I doubt that Zanu PF, whose annual congress last December was a
disgraceful display of a lack of concern for the poverty plaguing the
country, would ever link the Sawa family's tragedy to its own tragic record
of misrule.

      Yet, who would dither about answering the question: why are
Zimbabweans poorer now than they ever were in 1980?

      Those who answer "illegal sanctions" are most likely the same people
edging towards obesity from feasting on rich food. If Zanu PF insists the
poverty has little to do with its misrule since 1980, then it can confirm,
for many of us, that after they were installed as the new government in
1980, they had no well-crafted blueprint for the future economic development
of the country - except, perhaps the looting.

      To be sure, there were years during which we all bubbled with hope.
Now, all we can smell is the acrid stench of the deadly Death Angel, Zanu PF
ought to do the same: it might shock the leaders out of their
self-satisfaction, self-absorption.


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Zim Standard Letters

 ZUPCO pensions: The cat is out of the bag MAY you please allow me to use
your wonderful newspaper to let the cat out of the bag on an issue
concerning pensioners of the once beloved ZUPCO.

      I hope someone in the Anti-Corruption Commission will come across this
article and perhaps go further up the administration tree at ZUPCO and trace
the problem.

      As times are hard nowadays, ZUPCO pensioners are being put through
hell as they try to claim their pensions. At ZUPCO head office, they're
referred to Fidelity Life Assurance (FLA) to collect their cheques, but when
they get there, FLA confirms they have the cheques but cannot give them out
because they are waiting for the signatures of the ZUPCO board of trustees.

      These board members are almost always unreachable. They're always in
some meeting. An informed source at FLA confirms that the board members
refuse to sign the cheques because the amounts are just too much for ZUPCO,
a company claiming to be making over $50 million a day on its cross-border
routes.

      The board has resorted to delaying tactics in the hope that the values
of the pensioners' cheques will depreciate and in a couple of years, they'll
be worth nothing. They haven't paid monthly payouts to most, if not all, of
their pensioners for more than five months. The pensioners are always told
the same story: the board is still meeting to try to resolve the payment
issue. The pensioners are never involved in these meetings. One wonders how
they hope to resolve the issue if they don't involve all the stakeholders in
the meetings.

      Sources at FLA state that the pensioner with the largest claim at
ZUPCO is less than a million Zimdollars. This claim is supposed to be paid
out over the next five years.

      As the board continues to run rings around its once cherished
employees (pensioners), the life savings of these pensioners continue to be
eroded by inflation, I plead with Paul Mangwana and his Anti-Corruption
Commission or someone else to do something about this form of corruption
that is slowly gripping this country.

      The Voice of a ZUPCO Pensioner,

      Beitbridge

      ZUPCO Responds:

      Thank you for sending us the letter about the ZUPCO pensioner.
Relevant departments are investigating the matter with a view to offer you a
response and to solve the alleged malpractice. You will be hearing from us
quite soon.

      Richard Mlambo

      Public Relations Manager

      ZUPCO

      Harare

------------
 Government should appreciate doctors are human beings too LET us not be
cheated by cheap propaganda that the doctors have no interest in patients'
welfare at heart. They do have it in thought, word and deed. This government
propaganda is only looking at the effects of the doctors' strike. If the
government has the interest of the majority of the people at heart, as it
claims, then it should accept and implement the doctors' demands.

      Doctors are also human beings who have feelings. When they look at
what is happening in Zimbabwe today, it really hurts them, just as it is
hurting the majority of intelligent Zimbabweans.

      This is unlike the Zanu PF government's unintelligent supporters who
just follow their party blindly at any cost.

      Last year most people spoke out against the Senate elections. They
said that instead the money should be paid to civil servants because of
their very low salaries. This was ignored because the Zanu PF government
wanted to give employment to its faithful supporters.

      Why did the government allow the Reserve Bank governor to burn such an
exorbitant amount of scarce foreign currency to by such a luxurious car for
one man, when there is no cheap fuel for workers? Does this show that the
government has no money? No, the money is there. So give the doctors their
legitimate dues. All intelligent Zimbabweans support the doctors' strike
because it is very genuine.

      The government sho-uld stop using money on things that are not a
priority for the majority of the people. The war was not fought to make a
few people live a heaven on earth life.

      DR Mutungagore

      Mutare

      ------------------

       What's going on at RBZ, Dr Gono? RBZ THE response by the RBZ to the
article in The Standard on the purchase of the governor's vehicle raises
more questions about what is really going on at the RBZ. Why take three full
colour page adverts to respond? Why splash the adverts in every single paper
in the country? Why have the response in three different languages when the
papers are all in English?

            The estimates are that this campaign cost the RBZ over $34
million. Since the RBZ wants to be transparent, maybe it would like to share
with the public the true cost of the campaign.

            The issue at hand, Dr Governor, is neither whether you bought a
Brabus or an S600. To the average Zimbabwean it's all the same. What the
public wants to know is whether the Reserve Bank is allocating the precious
forex in the most transparent and deserving manner.

            In its response the RBZ is trying to portray itself as a clean
institution in the way it conducts its business. Why then did the governor
opt for a loan instead of the RBZ owning the car? Was it not that the
Governor wanted to make it a big score? Who would not have wanted a loan of
US$138 000 at Z$250? That's Z$34,5 million.

            Any car dealer in town would tell you that a car bought at
US$138 000 has an open market value of over $600 million. So overnight the
RBZ governor made-whopping paper profit of over $550 million.

            No wonder he opted for a loan. Is this car loan scheme available
to all RBZ senior staff in order to enrich themselves overnight?

            If the RBZ governor has nothing to hide then he needs to publish
with the same vigour a list of all his employees who have benefited from
this scheme and the amounts involved. He must also publish the list of
government officials not, to mention Minister Chombo, that have been getting
forex at $250 to import personal luxury vehicles and trinkets.

            Is it any wonder why it has taken so long to devalue the Z$ when
inflation is ravaging at 1 200% plus? Is it any wonder why governor failed
to put in place a forex rate determination committee, as promised in one of
his many empty monetary policy statements last year?

            My heart bleeds when people are dying in our hospitals every
hour due to shortages of medication and equipment because there is no forex,
or patients fail to buy prescriptions because medication is sourced using
expensive parallel market funds.

            Jobs are being lost everyday because of forex shortages. Hotels
are at pains everyday.

            Explain to tourists why their charges are completely out of sync
with the rest of the world.

            All this because the Reserve Bank governor and fellow senior
staff, not to mention government ministers, want to make super profits
overnight. My question to you Dr Gono, who do you think you are fooling?

            Tendai Manhanga

            Harare

            ----------------

             Driven to a point where people will choose to fight rather than
suffer IT is hard to imagine that when Zimbabwe won her independence in
1980, the country had the second largest economy in the region.

                  No wonder the country was given the food security
responsibility in the Sadc region in the 1980s. All this is now history -
thanks to the powers that be.

                  Today, the country is not only broke, but our balance of
payments schedule leaves a lot to be desired. How we wish our country could
go back to the post-independence transitional State based on good
governance.

                  This could have been possible if our leaders embraced
integrity, justice, equality and harmony. But, the opposite is true as our
leaders sow the seeds of greed, self-indulgence, corruption, recklessness
and hegemony; which are the sure ingredients for the collapse of any vibrant
economy - exactly our situation today.

                  As we begin the year 2007, we are better advised not to
resign ourselves to fate. Since the beginning of the millennium the
political scenario in Zimbabwe has greatly changed, with some progressive
forces coming into the fold. The coming on board of the MDC, which was a
direct challenge to Mugabe's throne, proved to be the turning point in the
struggle for the people's right to democratise our society.

                  Indeed, while this has not been the end to self-struggle
for the restoration of the majority's right to self-governance, what has
been achieved so far should be commendable.

                  Indeed, the land reform programme which has generally
failed, has accelerated the deterioration of our economy. By destroying
agriculture which is the backbone of our economy, was as good as killing a
goose which lays golden eggs.

                  I am surprised that our leaders are not embarrassed by the
four figure inflation rate, which is the highest in the world.

                  What we have witnessed since 2000 to date is the trampling
of human rights with impunity by a despotic government. Of course
parliamentary and presidential elections were held in 2000, 2002 and 2005,
but in all instances Mugabe and his party rigged themselves into power.

                  There will come a time when the masses will have no option
but to fight back to reclaim their lost pride ad integrity.

                  Let it be spelt out that Zimbabwe is bigger than anyone
and that no one should be allowed to privatise it.

                  Maunganidze Vhusani

                  Chipinge South

                  -------------

                   Raw deal for ZTV viewers

                        IT is with a heavy heart that I took pen to paper.
The standard of programmes flighted on ZTV are deplorable and sickening. To
say boring underestimates the situation. Gone are the days since we last sat
glued to our seats watching television.

                        The programmes are not people-oriented and I think
there is need for wide consultations on the issue. Since this is the only
broadcasting station in the land, I think there is need to introduce
programmes that really give people value for their money.

                        Family viewing time is now loaded with programmes
that are sexually provocative. This really makes me wonder what kind of
behaviour we really want to impart to our children.

                        However, on a lighter note, thanks to ZTV for
introducing church programmes on Saturday and Sunday morning. At least
watching these wither our everyday sorrows.

                        PIRF

                        Harare

                  ------------------

                   ZBC ignoring rural folks I write this letter to confirm
my disgruntlement with the unequal coverage of other areas outside the
capital by ZBC and ZTV news teams.

                        It must be appreciated that marginalised and
disadvantaged groups mostly in rural areas have far more itching day to day
problems that are not receiving any attention.

                        In the Midlands Province areas or resettled new
farmers have transport problems and health facilities are few and far apart.
They also lack adequate farming inputs.

                        To foster development in our country let's have the
national broadcaster visiting and gathering such information from all areas
and not just concentrate on urban areas. Infact, ZBC/ZTV must establish
offices in our districts so that they spread their coverage countrywide.

                        Papparazzi

                        Gweru


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Blinded by the Light

http://africantears.netfirms.com/thisweek.shtml

Saturday 27th January 2007

Dear Family and Friends,
A large black snake showed up in my garden this week. I believe it was an
Egyptian Cobra and it seemed to come from nowhere and without any warning.
It's that time of year when animal encounters increase. It is wet, hot and
humid and there is thick, tall bush everywhere you look - including on
un-mown roadsides and uncleared drains in the residential suburbs of the
towns. I watched in horror as the snake approached my chickens. It raised
its head, began to spread a hood and I could not believe that the chickens
just stood there, completely still, seemingly paralyzed. The hens did not
move a muscle or make a sound as death literally stared them in the face. I
didn't wait any longer and soon the missiles began to fly. At last, perhaps
buoyed by the noisy support, the hens woke up from their stupor. Feathers
were ruffled, necks craned and a great clucking and alarmed babbling started
up, and carried on for a considerable time. Many missiles later the snake
retreated down a hole in the corner of the garden and now I know it's there
but can't do anything except wait for the next encounter. The garden is
tended, the grass is short and on the surface everything looks serene and
peaceful, but I know its just an illusion and that at any time all hell will
break loose again.

We have become a country full of illusions and this rainy season the
tricks,mirrors and juggling acts are very battered indeed. In many small
towns we seem to be moving perilously close to a ticking time bomb.This week
on state sponsored TV came a headline report of Kwekwe town being "on the
edge of collapse" as miners are digging right under the railway lines. From
Bindura came news that the municipal department responsible for housing has
been closed until further notice. It seems that the receipts for money being
paid to the department differed hugely between the top and duplicate copies
and a huge fraud has been playing out to the detriment of the town.

In Marondera when the dustbins had not been collected for three weeks
recently, the local Health Inspector was contacted. He was sympathetic to
the obvious effects of uncollected garbage at this time of year - the smell,
flies, mosquitoes rats and health hazard but said there was nothing he could
do. The fuel intended for the refuse removal trucks had been reallocated to
the army for land tillage. The large government hospital, and in fact most
of Marondera town, continues to have major water shortages. Public toilets
at the hospital outpatients unit are closed but desperate patients continue
to use them as they wait for five or more hours just to see a nurse as the
doctors are still on strike. The toilet floors are apparently thick with
maggots and horrors you would expect in a sewer, not a major provincial
government hospital.

And so the appearance of things being under control in Zimbabwe is just a
shaky illusion. Someone told me this week that there is bright light at the
end of the tunnel. Its from an express train coming straight at us and we
are standing right in its path, blinded by the light, unable to move.
Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy.


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Rainy Season Brings Mixed Blessings

IPS

Moyiga Nduru

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 27 (IPS) - This year's rainy season has brought some mixed
blessings to farmers and aid agencies operating in Southern Africa, which
experienced a spell of drought and famine last year.

In most of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC), the
rainfall on which most farmers rely -- unable to afford irrigation -- starts
in November and ends in March.

"We had a poor start to the season. But since late December we have
experienced some good rainfall. This doesn't mean that all is well. The
southern and eastern parts of the country are not having good rainfall,"
Ajah Vashee, president of the Trustee of Zambia National Farmers Union, told
IPS from the central town of Ndola by phone.

"Some farmers, because rains started late, have had to replant their crops.
This means extra cost for them," he said. "We hope that the weather holds up
between now and mid-February."

"Despite the uncertainty, we are optimistic that we will have reasonable
good production this year in Zambia," Vashee said.

In its seasonal outlook update for December-February 2007, the
Zimbabwe-based SADC Drought Monitoring Centre says it expects above-normal
rainfall in the greater part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It
expects similar rainfall in northern Angola, most of Zambia, the southern
half Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique, most of Zimbabwe, the eastern half
Swaziland and extreme eastern South Africa.

Aid agencies are still waiting for the rainy season to pick up or slow down
so as to determine the number of people likely to require food aid this
year.

"Currently we feed 4.3 million vulnerable people and school children through
food provision," Mike Huggins, a spokesman for the United Nations World Food
Programme (WFP) in South Africa's commercial capital of Johannesburg, told
IPS by phone.

"There are vulnerable people, such as those living with HIV, and AIDS
orphans that always require food aid in the region," he said.

Early last year, aid agencies were feeding 10.3 million people across the
region prone to floods and drought. "This figure has fallen to 4.3 million
because of the good harvest last agricultural season," Huggins said. "It's
too early, however, to speculate on this year's food demands."

One of the countries experiencing acute food shortages, Zimbabwe, with a
population of 13 million, used to be the grain basket of the region. But
production fell after President Robert Mugabe seized land from 4,500 white
commercial farmers to resettle landless blacks between 2000 and 2002.

White commercial farmers used to produce the bulk of Zimbabwe's food. Now
the country is reeling under a runaway inflation rate of more than 1,000
percent, and has become a net food importer. Last week it imported 3,351
tonnes of wheat from South Africa, according to the South African Grain
Information Service.

Apart from South Africa, Namibia, Mauritius and Botswana, farmers in the
region face difficulties in obtaining bank loans. Banks require collateral,
something which poor farmers usually cannot provide.

"The biggest problem most farmers have is the inability to borrow money and
produce food," Vashee said. "The other problem is the functioning of the
maize marketing."

Maize is the staple food in much of the SADC region. "Sometimes you have the
crops, but you can't sell them," he said.

Last year the Zambian government bought the maize surplus but didn't have
sufficient money to back up the deal. "As a result, they are still paying
the farmers," Vashee said.

Relatively wealthy Namibia, too, is feeling the pinch. "WFP is facing a
shortfall of four million dollars for its operations in Namibia through to
April, and needs a total of nine million dollars through to the end of
2007," the UN food agency said in a statement. The agency is looking after
90,000 orphans and vulnerable children in Namibia.

"Across the region, excluding Namibia, WFP faces a funding shortfall of 48
million dollars for programmes in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland,
Zambia and Zimbabwe which assist about 4.5 million people," the WFP added.

More rainfall is needed if the SADC region is to overcome food shortages and
look after its vulnerable people, many of whom are living with HIV/AIDS and
are too weak to farm.

"There are no clear signs of declining HIV prevalence elsewhere in southern
Africa -- including in Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland. In Swaziland,
national adult HIV prevalence is estimated at 33.4 percent. Botswana's
epidemic is equally serious, with national adult HIV prevalence estimated at
24.1 percent in 2005. Lesotho's epidemic seems to be relatively stable at
very high levels, with an estimated national adult HIV prevalence of 23.2
percent," said the 2006 UN Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) report.

"On the eastern coastline, a dynamic epidemic is underway in Mozambique,
where the estimated national adult HIV prevalence is 16.1 percent. HIV is
spreading fastest in provinces linked by major transport routes to Malawi,
South Africa and Zimbabwe," according to UNAIDS.

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