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The Zimbabwe Economy - a Weekly Brief from the Movement for Democratic Change - 6 July 2000.

MDC now has a block of 57 Members of Parliament and is planning to increase these by legal means and bi-elections over the next few months. In addition we have decided not to co-operate with Zanu PF and to act as an opposition until we can take power through democratic means. Observers will probably regard the election as "not free and fair" and therefore the government will continue to be denied significant financial and political support. Early indications from the Zanu PF side suggest that they have no ideas of how to get to grips with this situation. Suggestions that they are continuing to stick to the "Millenium Economic Recovery Program" that is not worth the paper it is written on, is testimony to this. They also talk of continuing to control the value of the dollar and to impose price controls. This can only result in the present suspension of all bi-lateral and multilateral development assistance continuing.

Without support from our development partners, there is no possibility of stabilizing the economy and financial markets in Zimbabwe. This will lead to the continued decline in the economy and an intensification of the inflationary pressures on both the local currency and foreign exchange markets.

Without a coherent and integrated stabilization and recovery program, based on improved relations with the major development partners of Zimbabwe, the melt down of the economy will persist with disastrous consequences. It is now expected that the economy will reflect the following main features in the year 2000.

1. Inflation, presently at 60 per cent, will continue to rise reaching 85 per cent by year-end. As always this will impact most on the low-income community and those on fixed incomes. Wage increases of 50 to 60 per cent are being agreed between the Unions and the private sector at present and this will not halt the rapid decline in living standards. In fact real incomes - already down a third in a decade will decline by up to 20 per cent this year.

2. The value of the Zimbabwe dollar will depreciate on currency markets to over 70:1 against the US dollar by the year-end. The dollar is already trading freely in local markets at 55 to 65: 1 against the local currency. Tobacco traders and gold producers continue to be forced to operate at the official rate of 37:1 and this is holding down earnings on both commodities to the detriment of the producers. Other exporters are selling about 60 per cent of their earnings from exports on the parallel market and 40 per cent at official rates to support energy payments. The government is using gold sales to support its own (mainly military and diplomatic) requirements.

3. Serious food and other shortages will continue and intensify from September onwards as the limited supplies from the 1999/00 agricultural season are exhausted. However it is estimated that the country will have a surplus of maize grain this winter and some exports may be authorized. It would probably be prudent to try and rebuild stocks - totally depleted at the end of last year, but the high cost of borrowings will inhibit this.

4. Some 250 000 people will lose their jobs in the formal sector, reducing over 1,5 million urban and rural poor to a state of penury. Job losses are accelerating in the mining and industrial sectors and the continued loss of formal sector jobs in the agricultural industry depends on the situation with regards to the illegal farm occupations and the attempts to take over farms by the government using extra legal instruments.

5. Some 500 000 people will be displaced by farm occupations with no possibility of orderly settlement of the land that is involved. This will remove a very large proportion of land from productive agriculture and return it to the peasant communal holdings that have proved such a disaster in other areas. Average incomes of all the affected people will be reduced to very low levels - estimated as US$150 per capita per annum, a third of present incomes.

6. Commercial farm income will decline by Z$20 billion or over 40 per cent in the winter of 2000, this will lead to the collapse of the farming industry and will result in severe shortages of food and other essential industrial inputs in 2001. Such a huge loss of incomes will also inhibit their ability to service bank loans and this must affect the position of the banking sector.

7. Foreign exchange earnings in 2000 are projected to fall by 50 per cent over those achieved in 1999. This will result in the escalation of shortages of essential inputs and liquid fuels with further closures of mining and industrial enterprises. This also means that the government will not be able to service its loan obligations and further defaults can be expected. The present backlog of foreign exchange payments is estimated to be US$1,1 billion and growing by over US$100 per month.

8. Formal sector employment will fall below 10 per cent of the population for the first time in 80 years. Unemployment will rise to over 85 per cent of all adults - who will be forced, into the informal sector or back to the rural peasant sector to find a means of sustaining themselves and their families.

9. GDP is now expected to fall steeply in 2000, probably by over 10 per cent - some commentators are suggesting up to 20 per cent, anything is possible.

10. The deficit in the national budget is now expected to exceed 20 per cent of GDP and will mean that for the first time in our history, nearly half of all government expenditure will be funded by borrowings - all of it on the local market at very high interest rates. Borrowings are running at Z$2 billion a week - an extraordinary level that is difficult to comprehend.
The government is printing money and also using an illegal overdraft facility at the Reserve Bank in violation of the Finance Act.

Long-term damage will be done to the economy if this situation continues for even 6 months. To envisage that the economy will survive a further two years of Zanu PF led government is an impossibility. Such a collapse will impact on every State in southern Africa and will endanger the political and economic stability of the region as a whole. It is already known that the impact on Mozambique - one of the poorest states in the world, is severe as Zimbabwe is defaulting on energy, port and pipeline charges as well as payments for rail transport services. The ports and railways are very quiet and as they normally generate in excess of 40 per cent of that countries foreign earnings, the impact on the country is serious. All Zimbabwe's neighbours are feeling similar but less severe effects.

The resulting economic conditions in the domestic economy will result in real hardships for the low-income community who have no savings and no alternative means of support. It will also result in serious long-term damage to the private sector in Zimbabwe unless means can be secured to help in the most critical areas.

Eddie Cross
Secretary for Economic Affairs, MDC.
Keep up the support!
Regards,

MDC Support Centre
8th Floor, Gold Bridge
Eastgate
Harare
Guqula Izenzo/Maitiro Chinja
"The people of Zimbabwe have begun the process of reclaiming power and the institution of true democratic change." (Morgan Tsvangirai)
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EU Foreign Ministers on Zimbabwean Election

BRUSSELS (July 11) XINHUA - European Union foreign ministers on Tuesday expressed their hope that the newly-elected Zimbabwean government is committed to steering the country to recovery.
The EU foreign ministers agreed at their two-day general affairs council meeting that the heavy presence of international observers had contributed to the Zimbabwean general election held on June 24 and 25.
They reviewed a report handed in by the EU observer team and noted that though the election campaign was marked by violence, large-scale intimidation and procedural irregularities, the voting was generally calm and that all the Zimbabwean political forces have generally accepted the voting results.
The EU foreign minister council urged the Zimbabwean government to tackle the country's economic and social problems as a matter of resolute priority and in a spirit of cooperation.
The council also hoped that the Zimbabwean authorities are committed to restoring the confidence of international financial backers by demonstrating their ability to lead their country onto the path of recovery.
The EU has dispatched 109 observers to monitor the elections held after four months of holdings of white-owned farms by veterans from the liberation war that led to the Zimbabwean independence from Rhodesia in 1980.
A total of 5 million people were eligible for casting their ballots in the elections for the 120 parliamentary seats and the turnout was reported to be the highest since 1980.
The European Union has provided the southern African country with 1.83 million euro (1.75 million U.S. dollars) for the preparation and process of the two-day elections.
The EU foreign ministers called on the Zimbabwean government to work toward a rapid, fair and just solution to the recurrent problem of land reform in the country.


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We Would Rather Live in Poverty than in Bondage

(July 10, 2000), Post of Zambia - Lusaka -We would rather live in poverty than in bondage to have our land taken away by foreigners, Zimbabwean High Commissioner to Zambia, Trivafi Kangai has said.
Addressing the Evelyn Hone College Press Club palaver on the "Land Crisis in Zimbabwe", High Commissioner Kangai said the land issue was a matter of life and death.
"We must repossess our land at all costs," High Commissioner Kangai said. Accusing the British government of lobbying the donor community to deny his country aid because of the land reform policy, High Commissioner Kangai said it was better to suffer for a just cause.
Asked about the consequences of Britain imposing a trade embargo on his country, High Commissioner Kangai said "Britain will suffer since it owns the majority of companies in Zimbabwe and we shall fight it internationally".
High Commissioner Kangai said the majority of Zimbabwean white farmers were hard core racists who had declined to share land with the black landless masses. He said the South African whites and those in Namibia were willing to get into reconciliation with blacks than their brothers across the Zambezi river because the former had learnt a lesson.
"Violence will be avoided in South African and Namibian cases because they have learnt a lesson from Zimbabwe. We are saying lets share the land but they are resisting," High Commissioner Kangai said.
He said the land issue was not about grabbing farms but about equitable redistribution of land among landless Zimbabweans.
High Commissioner Kangai said the one farm, one farmer policy would apply to both whites and blacks who owned more than two farms." How can one farmer own more than fourteen farms?" he wondered, " Its immorality and corruption of the highest order."
And in supporting the war veterans invasion of white farms, High Commissioner Kangai who likened the ex-combatants plight to Zambian street kids said it was impossible to remove them without finding an alternative solution.
High Commissioner Kangai said the repossessed land would be shared amongst the war veterans, poor women, agricultural graduates, and master farmer to empower them economically and increase food production.
He said the land reform resettlement programme was meant to correct the colonial injustices in which about 4,500 white farmers owned over 80 per cent of that countrys fertile land. "We are fighting to get back what is ours; those whites who will have their farms grabbed will get farms elsewhere within the country and if they want to leave we shall not force them to stay," High Commissioner Kangai said "Confrontation is over and Britain, the colonial power, should pay white farmers compensation because we cannot buy what belongs to us."
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Zimbabwe Parties under Pressure to Save Ailing Economy

HARARE, Zimbabwe (PANA) (Panafrican News Agency, July 10, 2000) - As widely expected, Zimbabwe's two main political parties are bickering after last month's closely fought parliamentary elections narrowly won by President Robert Mugabe's governing ZANU-PF party.
The parties' petty quarrels are not amusing the electorate, which has started to exert pressure on them to bury their poll hatchet and deliver on the economy and other election promises.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) garnered 57 seats to 62 for ZANU-PF in the election, the biggest and tightly contested the southern African nation has held since independence from Britain in 1980.
The 57 parliamentary seats give the labour-backed opposition party enough numerical strength to block government decisions it opposed, although President Mugabe has overriding powers over the legislature.
The MDC has immediately made it known it would make life difficult for the government, and has already demonstrated this by turning down overtures for a coalition administration, unofficially mooted by ZANU-PF.
Business leaders, church groups and other organisations have implored the MDC and ZANU-PF, which between them control 149 seats of the 150-member parliament, to put the interests of the nation above those of their own political parties. But the eight-month old opposition party, basking in the glory of its strong showing in the elections, is adamantly refusing to work with President Mugabe's government in any form, let alone help it pull the economy from its worst crisis in 20 years of self-rule.
"Mugabe can form his government since he has got enough members of parliament from ZANU-PF," said MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai, dismissing unofficial offers of ministerial positions for his party in a new cabinet the Zimbabwean leader is expected to name this week.
The two parties have produced rival economic blueprints and were separately seeking the stamp of approval of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other donors for their respective draft programmes.
This is increasingly incensing the electorate and business leaders, who want the MDC and ZANU-PF to combine their respective strengths and focus on resuscitating Zimbabwe's economy.
The economy has been in free fall since last year when the IMF and other international donors cut off lending to the country owing to policy differences with the government.
"It is unfortunate that the MDC would want to withhold any good ideas it had on how to pull the economy out of the difficulties it was currently in just because it is not in government," Mutumwa Mawere, a former senior World Bank official and now one of Zimbabwe's top businessmen, said.
"The international community takes a cue from us. If we can work together, it becomes easier for the international community to come in and assist," he said. His sentiments are widely shared by a majority of 12.5 million Zimbabweans whose life savings have evaporated through an inflation of more than 70 percent. The rising cost of living has sunk 76 percent of the country's people into poverty in the last few years.
"At the end of the day, both parties (MDC and ZANU-PF) must realise that they are there to serve the people that elected them and that doing so is the most important thing they have to be doing above everything else," said University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer Alfred Nhema.
He said the post-election bickering between the two parties, including an MDC attempt to challenge the poll results in 28 constituencies it lost, was "a mere testing of waters and defining of their respective positions ahead of parliamentary debates."
But other political observers see the quarrels as preparatory campaigning for the presidential elections in 2002. They say that will characterise the relations between the two parties until those polls are held.
"The MDC, after sensing victory, will clearly not want to make life for the government any easier in as far as the presidential elections are concerned. If anything, they would want the government in much worse trouble than it is at the moment," said Fanuel Kanyemba, a student at the University of Zimbabwe.
He expects government and the economy to wobble without firm captaincy in the next two years until after the presidential elections, which will give the victor real political power.
But that is too long for Zimbabwean business leaders and the electorate to wait.
The country's gross domestic product is shrinking fast, and so does income per capita.
Income per capita has slumped from 617 US dollars five years ago to 432 US dollars last year.
Unemployment has soared to over 50 percent as both local and foreign investment dries up in the face of weak macro-economic fundamentals and a political climate perceived as unfriendly to investment.
Already, more than 50,000 people have lost their jobs since the beginning of the year due to business closures, and over double the figure are expected to be thrown onto the crowded job market by the end of the year.
It is against this background of bleak economic prospects that Zimbabweans of all sheds are putting pressure on the country's politicians to close ranks and work together for the sake of the nation.
"Never trust a politician, never. They will always put their interests ahead of those of the people who elected them," Victor Zharare, a college accountancy graduate who has been fruitlessly hunting for a job for three years, said of the post-election bickering between the MDC and ZANU-PF.
The attitude of the IMF and other donors will be critical in rescuing Zimbabwe's economy, and political analysts say it is too early to tell their mood.
The IMF, from whom all donors took the cue to suspend aid last year, has said it would consider resuming balance of payment support to Zimbabwe once President Mugabe named a new cabinet and presented fresh economic reform proposals.
Finance minister Herbert Murerwa flew to neighbouring Mozambique on Friday for unscheduled talks on possible resumption of aid, with visiting new IMF chief Horst Koehler.
The nation anxiously awaits the outcome of the talks.
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Violence Influenced Zimbabwe Poll, Election Observers Say

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -- A Commonwealth observer mission said on Tuesday that pre-poll violence influenced voting in Zimbabwe's general election last month.
President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF won 62 parliamentary seats against 58 for the opposition after the biggest election challenge the ruling party has faced in 20 years of power.
In a summary of its report, the Commonwealth observer group said voting on June 24 and 25 was generally orderly and peaceful.
But it said the pre-election period was marked by politically- motivated violence which made free campaigning difficult.
"While the picture was not uniform, we can only conclude that incidents of violence and threats impaired the freedom of choice of the electorate," the Commonwealth report said.
At least 30 people -- mostly opposition supporters -- died in the runup to elections in violence blamed by many Zimbabweans on ZANU-PF supporters led by liberation war veterans who invaded hundreds of white-owned farms.
Describing the June elections as a major step towards democracy, the Commonwealth observers said the Zimbabwean authorities must consider establishing an independent electoral commission and a code of conduct for the media and contestants.
They called for a major revision of the voters' register and a better system for managing the ballot.
The group from the Commonwealth of mostly former British colonies deplored last minute changes to electoral procedures and said the authorities could have been more helpful to independent local groups which sponsored poll monitors. Mugabe's government barred British officials from joining the Commonwealth observer group. It accuses London of backing the Movement for Democratic Change, which won all but one of the opposition seats.
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Politics-Zimbabwe: few Clues as to MUGABE'S New Cabinet

HARARE, (Jul. 10) IPS - Zimbabwe's beleaguered business community is waiting for Pres. Mugabe to announce a new cabinet, after the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) nearly knocked his party from power in June parliamentary elections.
There has been widespread speculation that Mugabe will announce a new cabinet this week. Zimbabwe's sixth parliament will be sworn in on July 18. To be appointed a minister, one has to be a member of parliament.
"We need to see the line-up of the cabinet. We are all waiting for Mugabe to announce his cabinet for this will effectively determine the direction of the economy, especially with regards to the appointment of key economic ministries," said Edmore Tobaiwa, vice-chair of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) economic affairs.
"If Mugabe comes up with a good cabinet, then the international community could open. That all has to be seen," said Tobaiwa.
John Nkomo, the chair of the ruling ZANU-PF party, said before the elections that ZANU-PF would form its own government even if it lost last month's vote. The statement had been in response to opposition suggestions that the ruling party would be forced to share power even if they won the elections.
But Zimbabwe's main opposition, the MDC, which won 57 of the 120 elected seats, said its members are not interested in cabinet posts, even if they are offered. "How can you join them? Who would want to be an accomplice to failure? You would have to have your head examined," declared Tendai Biti, an MDC member of parliament.
So last week the MDC announced a 15-member shadow cabinet.
According to Biti, it would be "suicidal" for anyone in the MDC to join a ZANU-PF government with just over 15 months left before presidential elections are held in 2002.
After an impressive debut in last month's elections, the MDC is upbeat that its candidate will be the next president of Zimbabwe.
For his part, Pres. Mugabe has said that he does not intend to appoint any MDC members of parliament to his cabinet.
Economists say this stance is short-sighted.
"The composition of the cabinet is expected to signal to the international community whether it's the right time to unlock the more than $1 billion of frozen aid, loans and grants which were pledged over the past two years," said Tobaiwa.
"At this moment in time and given Zimbabwe's current economic status of dislocation, it is important that it (aid) is unlocked especially as there is virtually no positive supply response from the private business and at the same time we are fast losing export markets because we are failing to meet export orders," added Tobaiwa.
Zimbabwe is down to less than two weeks of foreign currency cover. Fuel is still in short supply and industry is operating at less than 50 percent of its capacity.
Zimbabwe is now ranked among those countries who have the fastest shrinking economies. Companies have either laid off workers, suspended operations or reduced operations as a result of a shortage of foreign currency to import raw materials and fuel.
But Moses Tekere, Economics lecturer with the University of Zimbabwe, does not see a quick turnaround in the country's economy or in mending damaged relations with the international community, despite the holding of the much awaited elections last month.
"Mugabe will still choose his government and he will still be responsible for economic policies," said Tekere.
Zimbabwe has the unenviable record of having one of the highest run-away government expenditures. Economists say that with six more months to go most ministries have spent their entire budget allocations and are looking to receiving supplementary budgets .
Economically, noted Tekere, there will be no easy transition. "What would have made for an easy transition in economy would have been absolute majority for the MDC which would have forced Mugabe to hold presidential elections earlier than 2002."
"If presidents change, then there is much hope for a quick turnaround," asserted Tekere.
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Zimbabwe Farmers Worry about Fall in Maize Production

Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) (Panafrican News Agency, July 11, 2000) - Zimbabwean farmers said Tuesday the country's maize output would decline sharply in the next few years owing to a harsh economic climate, farm seizures and by the government under its land reform programme and uneconomic prices gazetted by the authorities.
The Zimbabwe Grain Producers' Association said it forecast a decline of 15 percent in maize production in the next farming season starting in October, and expected this to continue in coming years if the government did not address the problems the agriculture industry faced.
"The state of the economy and the viability of maize production, the government maize marketing policy and controls, availability of inputs, maize thefts and land invasions and security are some of the reasons why producers intend to reduce maize planting this coming season," the association's chairman, Koos Burger, said.
Zimbabwe this year produced 2.1 million tonnes of maize, giving it a surplus of just 400 tonnes, which the authorities have said, would be transferred to a national strategic stockpile.
The farmers said the government's controversial land reform plans, under which it wants to seize white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks, had forced growers to scale down investment in farming, which was expected to impact negatively on maize production.
Burger said government price controls on maize, the country's staple food, was also forcing growers to switch to other crops which were more viable.
In the coming season, the government has gazetted a selling price of 5, 500 Zimdollars (101 US dollar) per tonne for maize, which farmers said was uneconomic in view of high inflation and interest rates of up to 70 percent.
Growers are demanding between 6,500 and 7,000 Zimdollars.
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Mugabe to begin seizing white farms

Zimbabwe's government is to begin seizing white-owned farms in the next few days without paying compensation.

Nathan Shamuyarira, the ruling party information secretary, said landless blacks could be resettled on the first of 160 seized farms as early as Friday.

The Zanu-PF-controlled Herald newspaper said 20 farms in each of the country's' eight provinces were to be seized under an "accelerated land redistribution programme."

A constitutional amendment allowing the government to seize those farms without paying for them was rejected in a referendum in February, but the ruling party went ahead and passed it anyway.

President Robert Mugabe's defeat in the referendum triggered the violent occupation by ruling party militants and illegal squatters of more than 1,700 white-owned farms.

A number of white farmers and opposition party supporters have died in the violent clashes.

Mugabe argued the occupations were a justified protest against unfair land ownership by whites, mostly the descendants of British and South African colonial era settlers.



War vets to be moved to newly acquire farms

Accelerated land redistribution set to resume this Friday: Shamuyarira

Herald Reporter

THE accelerated land redistribution and resettlement programme is set to resume on a full scale this Friday, with 160 farms having been set aside for the exercise.

This will also see some war veterans and land-hungry villagers occupying farms being moved to the newly acquired farms.

Zanu (PF) secretary for information and publicity, Cde Nathan Shamuyarira, last night said at least 20 farms in each of the eight provinces had been acquired for resettlement.

"The acquisition notices are being served on the occupants of each of the designated farms that have not been contested by the owners.

"In all, 804 farms have been designated and all the ex-combatants and peasants who had occupied certain farms will be required to move from those farms to the newly acquired farms, where they will be given land and settled permanently," he said

At least 500 farmers are challenging the compulsory acquisition of their properties while the Commercial Farmers’ Union has offered the Government some 400 farms for resettlement.

The land resettlement exercise was debated at length at a Zanu (PF) Politburo meeting held in Harare yesterday.

The Government has said the land redistribution programme has been very slow and time had come for the national problem to be solved once and for all.

President Mugabe has campaigned strongly for an immediate massive land reform programme to correct a historical injustice by giving land to the majority of Zimbabweans.

Cde Shamuyarura said that the land redistribution and resettlement programme was a major administrative and indigenous empowerment programme, whose success will require co-operation of all the stakeholders, particularly the commercial farmers and the ex-combatants.

The implementation of the programme comes just a few days after war veterans in Mashonaland Central province called on the Government to immediately allocate land to them before the start of the rainy season. Some of the war veterans had threatened to disrupt the operations at the farms they occupied, if the land was not immediately allocated.

In Masvingo province the former freedom fighters have already completed demarcating and allocating themselves plots on 36 commercial farms listed for acquisition.

War veterans have said they will not leave the farms they occupy unless the Government provides them with land. The Government envisages to transfer more than five million hectares of land over the next five years to resettle some 150 000 families.

Current statistics show that only 4 460 large-scale commercial farmers hold 11,2 million hectares.
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Shortage of essential medicines looms

By Ruth Chinhema

ESSENTIAL medicines in all major Government hospitals have sunk to low levels and are expected to run out in the next four weeks unless the Government secures $15 million in foreign currency to buy drugs.

The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare is now negotiating with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for the release of funds that had been set aside for family planning programmes.

In an interview in Harare yesterday, the minister, Dr Timothy Stamps, confirmed that essential medicines were running low owing to the shortage of foreign currency.

"In all the major hospitals, we are only left with a month’s supply of medicine, a situation that could become critical if we do not get foreign currency within the next few weeks.

"We held a meeting today (Tuesday) with UNFPA, who have promised us that they will look into the issue."

He, however, would not be drawn into disclosing the amount of money they need from UNFPA, saying it would jeopardise on-going negotiations.

Since November last year, Zimbabwe’s foreign currency reserves have been severely depleted, resulting in the current fuel, power and imported raw material shortages that have negatively impacted on production.

Drugs that are in short supply include all vaccines, morphine and quinine.

Dr Stamps said the shortage of drugs was compounded by problems at the Government Medical Stores as well as failure by the Government to pay Medical Stores for drug supplies in hospitals.

Last year alone, the health ministry, through the GMS, lost millions of dollars due to negligence, corruption and maladministration.

At one time the medical stores ordered 60 000 units of an injectable antibiotic for a sexually transmitted disease meant to last 75 years, but the drug had an expiry date of October 1998.

Such negligence had resulted in huge stocks of drugs expiring on the department’s shelves when the country was facing an acute shortage of drugs.

Dr Stamps said while hospitals could purchase medicine from any supplier, they were failing to do so because they had no foreign currency.

The Government needs a total of $15 million each month for the purchase of drugs to supply hospitals.

In the affected hospitals the situation is now desperate, with patients in some cases being asked to pay for their own drugs. Basics such as bandages, gloves and syringes are also running short, making the operations of the hospitals very difficult.
Z I M N E W S

12 July 2000
In today's issue:

From the MDC, 12 July

MDC CONDEMNS CONTINUED VIOLENCE 10 July, 2000

The primary aim of the MDC after the general election has been reconciliation and rebuilding the nation in a peaceful manner that respects people's choices, allows law and order to prevail. As a social democratic party we believe in the freedom of association and expression. We are tolerant and accommodating. That remains our persuasion.

However we note that the government of Robert Mugabe continues to refuse to accept the verdict of the people and is making concerted efforts to subvert it. Our membership, supporters and well wishers have since the end of election been subjected to acts of extreme provocation; physical assaults, verbal insinuations and outright retribution for the verdict they delivered at the parliamentary polls.

Abuse of the State Apparatus

It is unfortunate that in engaging in these acts of retribution on the MDC membership and its supporters government is using the state apparatus. Under the pretext of preventing post election violence high density suburbs of Harare have been placed under virtual martial law. The police have been replaced with the mechanized sections of the army. We have received reports of arbitrary beatings of people suspected by these soldiers. Reports have been received from Dzivarasekwa, Kambuzuma, Mufakose, Mabvuku, Sunningdale, Tafara and other townships of arbitrary nightly beatings of innocent people by the soldiers deployed in the area. We note that contrary to what government would have us believe that they are trying to prevent post election violence no deployment of these soldiers has been witnessed in the rural communal lands and the commercial farms, where the massive pre-election violence was prevalent. We note instead that efforts are not being made to restore law and order on the commercial farms.

On Sunday July, 9 2000, we noticed yet another flagrant violation of the rights of Zimbabweans during the Zimbabwe vs S. Africa soccer match. It is not a secret that action of the police that resulted in the death of 12 innocent people was a politically motivated. There can be no justification for this irrational behaviour. But a government that refuses to accept the verdict of the people treads on illegitimate ground and deserves condemnation by the people.

We wish to state here that the government has tested the patience of Zimbabweans to the limit. Let government be reminded that the people have the capacity in their numbers to see to it that their collective will prevails. In the face of this provocation and sustained state sponsored violence the MDC shall engage its structures and stakeholders with a view of receiving a clear mandate of what form of collective action to take in order to confront this flagrant violation of people's rights.

From The Times (UK), 12 July

Courageous Zimbabwe put star attractions in the shade

VIRTUE isn't always pretty. And on that thought, I'm beginning to wonder if the real heroes of the sporting summer are not the Zimbabwe cricket team. Yesterday they beat West Indies rather easily and as a result, will play in the final of the triangular one-day series on Saturday week. It has been an extraordinary performance from a team that arrived here as makeweights. It was the first time that England had condescended to invite them over to play Test cricket: England seemed to see it as an irksome duty, a visit by the in-laws. Zimbabwe's real job was to prop up the sexy notion of a one-day series, providing the short side of a very tall isosceles triangle. The real teams in the tournament are, or were supposed to be, England (ha) and West Indies. It has been a miserable summer, but Zimbabwe have risen above the trivial miseries of the weather as they have risen above the far greater miseries affecting their country.

It all began so badly, but it is a fine and unusual thing to see any team or individual recovering from a catastrophic start. They played dreadfully at Lord's, overwhelmed by the place, as England usually are. But in the second Test they came back, responding with boldness and aggression, declaring their first innings closed 89 runs behind and then bowling England out for 147. Zimbabwe were 25 for one at the close: rain spoilt a taut match that seemed to be going Zimbabwe's way.

They have filled in time between then and the start of the one-day internationals by playing everybody everywhere. And then their services were required again, like a guest ignored for far too long at a dinner party. They beat West Indies handsomely in the first match, with Neil Johnson making 95, and then they outplayed England at the weekend, bowling them out for 207. They went into that match without their four best bowlers. Henry Olonga, the dreadlocked opera singer, has missed everything and, at the weekend, they were without Mbangwa, Nkala and their one top-drawer performer, Heath Streak. England were undone by the dibbly-dobblies - or, to be more accurate, they were undone by Zimbabwe's refusal to let their vast problems get in the way.

For let us not forget that Zimbabwe are touring England while their country has flirted with civil war. Most of the players will be personally acquainted with some of the victims and all will know farmers vulnerable to the violence of squatters. All will have families and friends to worry about and all have lived with the fear that the entire country - their entire way of life - will collapse under the stress of its President's determination to hold on to office. It is a strange and difficult time to spend three months away from home, with a troubled country not only to think about but to represent.

It was heroic enough that they did not pack it in right at the start, or even before the tour began. But, with their hearts and minds in two places, they have played with unquenchable spirit. How splendid it is to see such mental toughness and how intriguing to compare it with England when they visited Zimbabwe in 1996-97. England felt themselves to be exactly what the Zimbabweans are not: victims.

England whinged and moaned their way across the country, skulking in hotel rooms and complaining that they were bored. John Crawley wrote a tour diary in The Sunday Telegraph: here is an extract from the work that my old friend, Ian Wooldridge, called "a document of melancholy and despair".

"Absolutely nothing to do. I go back and work out Take That's "Back for Good" on the guitar and after realising I'm getting sad, I go to bed at 10.15." A real taste for adventure, that boy. Another player, this time unnamed, said: "I can't wait to leave this place. Whenever you order room service you are told to repeat your order." Meanwhile, David Lloyd made his classic "we flippin' well murdered 'em" whinge after the first drawn Test, and then England were flippin' well murdered in the one-dayers with a farmer nicknamed Chicken George taking the wickets as England ran up the white flag.

But I do not wish to use Zimbabwe's cricketers merely as a stick to berate English attitudes to hardships abroad - don't worry, we shall hear plenty more when England go to Pakistan this winter. The Zimbabwe cricket team embody all kinds of humdrum virtues. They haven't any stars, no Lara, no Shoaib, no Warne. They are frightfully good at fielding. They are committed to the team thing, the all-for-one thing. And so they all contribute bits here and bits there, and all believe in dull things such as sticking together and sticking it out and seeing it through. They are competent. More than that, they are unflinchingly competent. Their refusal to flinch is one of the summer's high spots.

Comment from the Guardian (UK), 12 July

Zimbabwe, the success story

Its race relations are good, its judiciary unbowed, its civil society vibrant. Its leaders are a problem though

Now that the furore over Zimbabwe's election has abated, let's draw a deep breath and admit it. Zimbabwe is an African good-news story. The country has a literacy rate of around 90%, one of the highest on the continent. Its race relations are excellent. The attempt to fan black hostility against white farmers during the election campaign was a failure, and a European can move comfortably around in Harare's African townships or the so-called communal areas where most rural Africans live without hassle or fear.

The political tension which once divided the country's two main ethnic groups, the Shona and the Ndebele, has almost disappeared. Zimbabwe's civil society is vibrant. A plethora of civic groups deal with issues from gender equality and human rights to job creation and poverty reduction. Zimbabwe's judiciary is as firm and unbowed as it was during the colonial era. There are powerful trade unions and, though the ruling party maintains iron control over broadcasting and routinely rejects licences for independent radio stations, there is a thriving independent press.

The elections have given the country a two-party system with a strong opposition for the first time in its history. Zanu-PF's terminology may have an antiquated feel with its politburo, central committee, and comrades, but a series of government ministers and officials are welcoming the arrival of pluralism. Nathan Shamuyarira, Zanu-PF's secretary for information, expects it to "produce lively debates in parliament". This change of official tone has already had an effect on the state-owned media with unprecedented space suddenly being given to opposition views and criticism of the government.

Few other African states can rival Zimbabwe's natural advantages. It has a tourist potential which is bound to revive as the election images of intimidation fade. This year, too, the dams are full and the country is not going to starve, whatever Peter Hain may gloomily predict. Still, there is a downside.

Zimbabwe faces three major problems, and only one can plausibly be blamed on President Robert Mugabe. It is suffering from the Aids crisis more than almost any other country in Africa. About a quarter of the adult population, both rural and urban, is infected and 1,000 people are dying every week. One key reason for Zimbabwe's vulnerability is the colonial system with its preference for migrant African labour. One of the last great crimes of the racist Ian Smith regime is the town of Chitungwiza, built 20 miles from Harare to keep the workforce well away from the European suburbs. The huge number of men forced to live on their own produces a sex industry and a climate ripe for Aids.

Controlling the disease is not helped by Zimbabwe's second strategic problem. It is an overwhelmingly patriarchal society, where women still curtsey to men. HIV-positive men go home to their villages and soon infect their wives. Only a massive expansion of sex education in schools and a shift in gender relations will have an impact.

The third difficulty is the weakness of the economy in the face of global tendencies, including the ideological havoc caused by the first wave of neo-liberal thinking in the 90s. Zimbabwe began life as an independent state a decade earlier. The massive spending on health and education in the 80s resulted in a high budget deficit, which was not helped by lower than expected foreign investment and poor prices for export commodities. This was not a case of government mismanagement but of adverse factors beyond its control. In 1991 the government accepted an IMF structural adjustment programme which devalued the Zimbabwean dollar, opened the way to more imports, and cut the government deficit by charging for welfare services, including schools and medicine. The infant mortality rate in Harare shot up from 23.6 per 1,000 live births in 1989 to 43.2 in 1992. The economy's liberalisation did not attract the new investment the IMF predicted. In the mid-90s, the IMF and World Bank shifted their emphasis to poverty reduction and sustainability. But in Zimbabwe the damage was done and the Zanu-PF government reacted with a volatile love-hate approach to the international financial institutions. The crisis over white-owned land is the climax of these frustrations. But, as many Zimbabwean NGO experts on land reform point out, the government's plans are dominated by statist thinking. Therein lies Zimbabwe's current tragedy. It is run by a generation of elderly men who have not been able to move on from the liberation struggle. Challenged for power, they fall back on a single issue, and increasingly on racism. The intimidation in the latest elections was the reflex defence of people threatened by loss of power and too inflexible to find ways of achieving consent through dialogue and compromise. But Zimbabwe is in transition to a new generation, a new style of government, and perhaps in two years' time to a president from a new party. Coupled with its many inherent advantages, this is a story of African success.

From Reuters, 11 July

Zimbabwe opposition leader blames riot on police

HARARE - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Tuesday blamed the deaths of 13 soccer fans on "trigger-happy" police who caused a stampede after firing tear gas during a World Cup qualifier against South Africa. Police began an inquiry into the disaster amid growing criticism that they had overreacted when fans hurled cans and bottles on to the pitch after South Africa had taken a 2-0 lead in Sunday's match. "It is the police who are accountable for being trigger-happy and for flagrant violation of people's rights," Tsvangirai was quoted as saying in the Daily News newspaper. The world governing body FIFA announced it was banning international soccer matches at Harare's national stadium until further notice. "We have asked for a complete file on the events surrounding this tragedy. The ban will remain in effect until further notice," FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said in Zurich.

Seven people remain in hospital, four in critical condition. Another death was reported on Monday to add to Sunday's toll of 12. The dead included three boys. Although he did not mention the MDC by name, President Robert Mugabe on Monday pointed an accusing finger at the opposition. "It is quite disturbing to hear that the people who sparked off the disturbances were members of a planted group that had been taking advantage of the huge crowd to sloganeer and exhibit their symbols," Mugabe said. Witnesses said people in the crowd had shouted opposition slogans during the pre-match singing of the national anthem and given the MDC salute.

Tsvangirai said his supporters were not to blame. "That was a normal football match. It was not an MDC platform. The police action itself is the one that was politically motivated," he said. The state-owned Herald newspaper on Tuesday criticised police for firing tear gas instead of arresting those who had hurled missiles on to the pitch. "Our police need to be trained or retrained to use more humane crowd control methods. The starting point is to train the police to respect the sanctity of human life," the newspaper said in a front page editorial.

Home Affairs Minister Dumiso Dabengwa told the newspaper: "I am personally not satisfied with the way the whole situation was handled." Police have promised a thorough probe. "There has already been finger-pointing from various quarters aimed at the ZRP. Let the nation be assured that there is nothing that is going to be swept under the carpet," said chief superintendent Wayne Bvudzijena.

From The Star (SA), 11 July

Teargas was not necessary – soccer boss

Harare - The weekend football crush in Zimbabwe that left at least 13 people dead could have been avoided if police had not overreacted, said officials, survivors and rights organisations on Monday. "The police reacted far too extensively," said Health Minister Timothy Stamps. Police fired teargas at spectators on Sunday afternoon when disgruntled Zimbabwe fans threw bottles and cans on to the National stadium pitch after South Africa scored its second goal of the World Cup-qualifying match. Panicking fans rushed for the narrow exits, trampling 12 people to death and injuring many others in the worst sports tragedy in Zimbabwe history. A 13th victim died in Harare's Parirenyatwa hospital on Tuesday.

"I do not think the tear-gas was necessary - we are going to pay for this heavily," said Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) vice-chairman Vincent Pamire. Survivor Alec Fidesi, who lost his six-year-old son in the tragedy, said: "It's the ZRP to blame because they were not provoked. If they had left people to leave the stadium without firing teargas, nothing would have happened," Fidesi said. Meanwhile, Zifa expressed its sympathy to victims and relatives after an emergency meeting on Tuesday.

From The Star (SA), 11 July

Zimbabwean women trade sex for fish

Harare - Poverty-stricken Zimbabwe women are exchanging sex for fish in the northern town of Kariba, the independent Daily News reported on Tuesday. Women from Harare and other towns are travelling up to fishing camps on Lake Kariba, having sex with fishermen in return for fish, and taking it back to sell in town supermarkets, the paper reported. The paper quoted one woman trader who admitted she was "living in" with a fisherman and said: "I just take my fish to a Harare-bound bus and my husband waits for them in Banket (east of Kariba) where we sell them to big supermarkets." One Kariba resident told the paper: "This immoral lifestyle will see our mortuaries filling up with Aids victims."

From News24, 12 July

Zim fuel contract uproar

Cape Town - A political storm has erupted over Sasol’s contract to supply petrol to Zimbabwe. The fear has been expressed that the South African motorist may have to pay for the petrol if Zimbabwe fails to do so. Sasol confirmed that it recently provided Zimbabwe with 520 000 tons of fuel, worth several million rands, in order to help the country with its acute fuel shortage. The transaction was entered into with the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim).

Sasol denied, however, that the transaction could have a negative effect on South Africans. In light of Noczim’s debt burden of R1.5bn, Sasol insisted upon and obtained guarantees that the petrol would be paid for. Louis Luyt of the Federal Alliance said that if the South African government guaranteed payment for the petrol, then South African motorists and taxpayers would have to bear the brunt of the debt should Zimbabwe default on its payments. The Federal Alliance said that the amount involved is R947m.

Luyt’s spokesperson, Jan Bosman, said in a statement that the government should provide answers to questions regarding the transaction. One question is whether this aid to Zimbabwe will be subsidised by the South African motorist. Another question is whether the government has made the guarantees. He also wants to know whether the government had pressurised Sasol into providing Zimbabwe with petrol. Sasol's communications manager, Alfonso Niemand, said that the petrol is being provided to Zimbabwe in accordance with a normal trade contract. It had taken place in accordance with international market prices and by means of an open tender. The acquisition of guarantees is normal in transactions of this nature, said Niemand.

From The Daily News, 11 July

IMF sets agenda for helping Zimbabwe

THE IMF will only release funds for Zimbabwe’s economic recovery programme once the country gets back to its promised July 1999 schedule. The IMF also ruled that Zimbabwe should make several administrative changes within government, and withdraws troops from the DRC. The IMF last year suspended part of the US$193 million (about Z$7,3 billion) balance of payments support for Zimbabwe’s economic recovery programme, citing the poor macro-economic fundamentals, political uncertainty, as well as failure to stick to the schedule.

Under the Memorandum of Economic Policies, signed on 16 July 1999, between Finance Minister, Dr Herbert Murerwa, and the then IMF managing director, Michel Camdessus, the minister made several promises, the majority of which have not been kept. Murerwa was in Maputo over the weekend trying to meet the new IMF boss, Horst Koehler, who was visiting Mozambique. Zimbabwe was not on the IMF boss’ agenda, and Murerwa flew to Maputo to meet Koehler to present Zimbabwe’s latest rehashed Millennium Economic Recovery Plan as well as brief the organisation about the parliamentary election results. Murerwa was said to be still out of the country when The Daily News sought comment from his office yesterday.

On Sunday, Koehler told the SABC 2 television programme Newsmakers that he intended to send a delegation to Zimbabwe to get "first hand details" about economic progress in the country. Koehler said: "We will be sending a delegation to Zimbabwe to do follow ups on the latest economic situation. It will, however, not just be business as usual when we visit Zimbabwe because they must show us that they are serious about economic recovery." A German national, Koehler is two months in the job and was visiting Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Mozambique and South Africa during a seven-day trip which began on 2 July.

Koehler was particularly interested in how these countries were restructuring their economies. He said Zimbabwe needed to solve its macro-economic fundamentals before receiving further IMF assistance. What has riled the IMF, according to highly placed individuals within the Zimbabwean government, is that Murerwa has come out as a very "weak Finance Minister" who has failed to control the soaring budget deficit, curbing government spending, as well as controlling the excessive spending in the DRC conflict. Zimbabwe is spending close to $300 billion annually in the DRC escapade.

Under the agreement signed by Murerwa and Camdessus, Zimbabwe agreed to reduce inflation to 30 percent by the end of 1999, as well as have an external current account deficit of 6,3 percent of gross domestic product, which, together with additional external financing, would allow gross reserves to increase to 1,6 months of imports by the end of last year. This failed as inflation has soared to more than 70 percent and is hovering between 50 percent and 65 percent at the moment.

Murerwa promised to keep a tight fiscal policy and keep tabs on the civil service wage bill. However, this was not done as civil servants and government ministers had their salaries hiked by more than 50 percent in what was then seen as electioneering by the ruling Zanu PF party. Murerwa promised to alleviate the impact of rising food prices. Food prices have, however, continued to escalate unabated with consumers continuously digging deeper into their pockets. The IMF boss said unless Zimbabwe "sorted itself out", it would not be receiving "what it is asking for.

From The Times (UK), 12 July

West Indies hand Zimbabwe easy passage to Lord's

CANTERBURY (West Indies won toss): Zimbabwe beat West Indies by 70 runs

THE NatWest Series is yet to reach its halfway point but already Zimbabwe are assured of a place in the final. A third successive victory yesterday guaranteed their place at Lord's on July 22 and such has been their superiority over England and West Indies that they will fancy their prospects of ending 11 months of almost continuous cricket with due reward. Even by their own poor one-day form over the past 18 months, West Indies were shocking at the St Lawrence Ground. They dropped six catches and missed a stumping before losing their first five wickets for 40 runs largely through misjudgments. Their two games remaining against England promise to be the closest of the competition.

If more is made of West Indies' deficiencies than Zimbabwe's strengths, then Andy Flower and his colleagues will sleep contentedly. But for how much longer will they be considered underdogs? Once again they batted with a combination of sense and aggression and, at least until Franklyn Rose, Ridley Jacobs and Nixon McLean brought dignity to the score, offered West Indies little to hit. Officials at Kent are unhappy that the ECB announced on the eve of the game that there will be no international cricket at Canterbury next year. However, the crowd of around 5,000 was only half capacity and by taunting Grant Flower over his mode of delivery a small, vocal element let themselves down.

Constant wind and an almost permanently slate-grey sky did not encourage people to pay on the door, and when the sun finally appeared the metaphorical lights had long since dimmed on West Indies. Their pace attack proved docile and Zimbabwe passed 50 in even time, then consolidated in mid-innings before ending with a flourish. Guy Whittall equalled his highest one-day score and Alistair Campbell completed a second, boisterous half-century of the competition. Whittall was dropped on 40, 49 and 80 while Jacobs missed a stumping chance when Campbell had made five. The wicketkeeper also reprieved Murray Goodwin and Andy Flower. Overall, a shoddier fielding performance could hardly be imagined. Jimmy Adams, the West Indies captain, said: "It is getting to the stage where collectively we really need to sit down and ask ourselves where we are going and what needs to be done to change things around."

The first significant partnership saw Neil Johnson attack the new ball and Whittall adopt a supporting role. Ambition got the better of the opening pair when Johnson was run out attempting a third, but such ill-judged moments were few and far between. Whittall earned his rise up the order when Craig Wishart twisted his knee during a game of rugby in practice. He is a good enough player to have recorded a Test double hundred but has spent much of his career as a functional, lower-order all-rounder. He thrived on this opportunity until clubbing to mid-wicket.

As for Campbell, he is a far more confident, decisive batsman than the one who stuttered through the early part of the tour. A slow outfield helped to explain why only 56 of the total of 256 for four arrived in boundaries, but Zimbabwe also forced errors by scampering quick ones and twos. Neither seam nor swing movement could explain West Indies' meek capitulation against the new ball. This was a good pitch and the target far from impossible. However, Sherwin Campbell soon found cover point, Chris Gayle pushed to mid-on and Wavell Hinds presented a return catch to Bryan Strang. Any hopes of a recovery were dispelled in the first two balls of Heath Streak's spell. A misunderstanding between Adams and Brian Lara over a quick single left both men at the same end and Adams, having sacrificed his wicket, could not have unstrapped his pads before Lara, surprised at Streak's extra pace, saw the ball ricochet on to his stumps when he went back to defend.

The only way West Indies and England can finish level with Zimbabwe is if another contest is abandoned or tied. In this case Zimbabwe, who have called up John Rennie to augment their pace bowling, will qualify, having won three games to their opponents' two. The ECB would not have wanted such an issue to be decided so early and Zimbabwe, for all their virtues, are no box-office attraction. It is as well that the final is already sold out.
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