Zimbabwe faces food riots after massive rise in
price of maize By Angus Shaw in Harare 12 July 2003
Zimbabwe
braced itself for an increase of at least a 500 per cent in the price of
maize meal yesterday after the government appeared to abandon its price
freeze.
In 1998 a 25 per cent rise in maize meal - the staple diet for
Zimbabweans - sparked food riots and led the government to impose price
controls backed by subsidies.
Milling company and food store
executives said the price would rise from Z$100 (7p) a kilogram to
Z$630.
The state-run Grain Marketing Board, which has a monopoly on grain
sales, announced massive increases in the price of cereals on 3 July. The
price of maize rose from Z$9,600 a ton to Z$211,756. Similar increases for
wheat led to a fourfold increase in the price of a loaf of bread this
week.
Official inflation has soared to more than 300 per cent,
unemployment is estimated at 70 per cent and a black market in food and fuel,
where inflation is 600 per cent, is thriving.
The state-controlled
Herald newspaper said the Grain Marketing Board had no alternative to the
increases. "It would be impossible to keep the retail prices of maize meal,
flour and bread at prices affordable by the majority of ordinary people," it
said in an editorial. Past price-fixing of goods led to shortages in shops
and intense black market trading in the scarce foods, it added.
MAPUTO,
Mozambique -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has told Africa's leaders it
was up to them to end the devastating armed conflicts raging across their
continent, Associated Press reported. "The UN and the rest of the
international community can appoint envoys, urge negotiations and
spend billions of dollars on peacekeeping missions, but none of this will
solve conflicts, if the political will and capacity do not exist here, in
Africa," he told African heads of state gathered in Mozambique for the
African Union's annual summit.
Annan, a Ghanaian, pointed to
Mozambique's peaceful transition after 16 years of civil war as one of the
great African success stories. But "heartbreaking" conflicts continue in
Liberia and Congo, he said, and the African Union needs to come up with a
strategy for resolving them. The second annual summit of the continental body
coincides with U.S. President George W. Bush visit to Africa. Bush, who was
in Botswana on Thursday, has said the United States was committed to helping
end conflicts in Liberia and chaos in Zimbabwe. However, discussion of
Zimbabwe was muted at the heads of state summit here. South African President
Thabo Mbeki, outgoing head of the African Union, conspicuously left his
neighboring country off a list of troubled nations that included Sudan,
Madagascar and Ivory Coast.
Zimbabwe has been plunged into economic and
political chaos, with inflation at over 300 percent, unemployment at 70
percent and severe food and fuel shortages. In a speech to his fellow
leaders, Mbeki said conflict resolution was a top priority for the union.
"Since the union came into being, it has been seized with efforts to resolve
a number of conflicts and cases of instability across the continent," he
said. Mbeki came under fire Wednesday for saying Zimbabwe's opposition was
negotiating with President Robert Mugabe's ruling party, which opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai immediately denied. A South African official later
said the two sides were not holding talks, but were working to find common
points for discussion. Meanwhile, Mbeki welcomed Madagascar's president, Marc
Ravalomanana, to the summit. He had previously been excluded from the union
amid a controversy over his ascent to power.
Though the nation's
courts said he won 2001 elections, Ravalomanana's predecessor refused to
leave office, leading to a low-level civil war that Ravalomanana eventually
won. Mbeki said a year after the union's creation, the organization's goal of
a peaceful and stable continent could only be achieved with the signing,
ratification and creation of several continental bodies, including a Pan
African Parliament, a court and a security council. Mbeki warned his
colleagues that they must make a greater effort to include ordinary citizens
and civic organizations in the body, the successor to the slow moving
Organization of African Unity.
Marauding War Veterans Wipe
Out Zimbabwe's Wildlife
SAVE VALLEY, Zimbabwe, July 11,
2003 (ENS) - The message fixed to a tree in the game reserve is stark: "Farm
No 3. Dealers in Death." It was put there by Zimbabwe's
so-called war veterans to intimidate white landowners on the 850,000 acre
Save Valley Conservancy near the border with
Mozambique.
The war veterans, unleashed by President
Robert Mugabe to seize farms owned by whites, are not only killing people,
they are slaughtering animals on an unprecedented
scale.
Already, they have forced out the owners and
poached every animal on at least three of the 22 huge ranches that make up
the conservancy. Now, they are pouring onto neighboring ranches and
repeating the process.
The poaching is
indiscriminate, and no animal is spared. The main targets are antelope,
wildebeests and zebras, but lions, elephants, rhinos, leopards, buffalos and
giraffes have all been killed by the poachers and their
snares.
Wildlife experts say that unless urgent action
is taken to stop the slaughter, the conservancy's entire stock of wildlife
will be destroyed within three years.
The pattern is
being repeated on game reserves across the country with wildlife losses of
more than 70 percent reported in many areas. In the neighboring Bubiana
conservancy, four of the 10 ranches have been seized and cleared of wildlife.
Barberton Lodge has lost more than 400 animals to poachers in the past three
years, including 71 zebras, 63 kudu antelope and four giraffes. Fourteen
black rhinos, a critically endangered species, have been caught in snares,
each requiring extensive surgery to save their
lives.
The state owned national parks have also been
targeted by poachers. Four rhinos have been killed in Hwange National Park.
Nationally over the past three years, an estimated 100 black rhinos have
been slaughtered for their horns, which can fetch up to
$90,000.
One ranch displayed row after row of
skeletons, kept for research purposes, that belonged to animals killed by the
poachers' snares.
The privately owned commercial
reserves are being hit hardest. Invaders seize the land, which is largely
unsuitable for farming. Desperate for food, the veterans lay metal traps to
catch animals to eat or to sell to others.
"A couple
of years ago, this area was teeming with wildlife. Now you can walk around
all day and not see a single animal," said Mike Clark, chairman of the
Commercial Farmers Union in Masvingo province.
A ranch
owner, who declined to be identified, said, "They see wildlife as meat on
legs. We know there are food shortages, but they are using the land reform
program as an excuse for out-and-out theft, and they won't leave until there
is nothing left."
The penalty for killing wildlife is
usually a fine of 5,000 Zimbabwe dollars (less than $6) or "community
service," which can mean weeding the court's garden or washing the
magistrate's car.
{This report on Zimbabwe wildlife is
published in cooperation with Save the Rhino.}
AIDS Activists To Bush: Don't Forget Zimbabwe Joe De
Capua Washington 11 Jul 2003, 12:21 UTC
UNAIDS
estimates two point three million people in Zimbabwe are infected with HIV,
the AIDS virus. Of that, 240-thousand are orphans. In addition, UNAIDS says
500 people a day in Zimbabwe are dying of the disease.
President Bush’s
tour of Africa does not include Zimbabwe, which has brought reaction from
AIDS activists in that country. They are calling on President Bush not to
ignore their country because of the current political problems.
The
group, Zimbabwe Activists on HIV & AIDS, praises Mr. Bush’s
15-billion dollar Aids initiative. But Zimbabwe is not listed as being one of
the beneficiaries, despite ad adult HIV infection rate of
34-percent. Tapiwanashe Kujinga is spokesperson for the group. From Harare,
he spoke to English to Africa Joe De Capua about his group, issued a
statement on president bush’s AIDS policy.
Mr. Kujinga says Mr. Bush’s
emphasis on Zimbabwe is political because of the policies of President
Mugabe. He says Mr. Bush “left out the most important issue which is the
HIV/AIDS pandemic that is wreaking havoc in Zimbabwe.” He asks, “Why are we
being left out? We cannot be punished on the HIV/AIDS issue at the same time
as a political issue.” He says the Clinton Foundation, founded by former US
President Clinton, is also “not focusing on Zimbabwe.”
He says those
infected and affected by the disease “have borne the brunt of the current
economic and political challenges.” He says during difficult times, stigma
and discrimination against those who are HIV positive worsen. He describes
the situation as “hostile.”
Mr. Kujinga says the health infrastructure
needs to be restored and antiretroviral drugs be made readily available
Herald Reporter The
Presidential Land Review Committee has expressed concern over
Commercial Farmers Union president Mr Colin Cloete for "playing cheap
politics" on the land reform.
The committee was responding to a report
in yesterday’s Daily News quoting Mr Cloete as castigating the land reform
programme.
"Any land reform on the scale and urgency that the Government
of Zimbabwe found itself embarking upon could not take place without
upsetting the status quo," the committee said.
Mr Cloete was quoted as
saying the eviction of white farmers would effectively kill commercial
farming in the country.
He was allegedly speaking at a meeting with the
committee.
"The Chairman of the Presidential Land Review Committee wishes
to make it clear that the meeting with Mr Cloete had been held at the
persistent request of Mr Cloete," the committee said.
"Dr Utete asked
why, if Mr Cloete’s intentions were to reach accommodation with Government,
his organisation was in the courts over the land acquisition."
The
committee said the CFU had, upon invitation, appeared before it on June 11
where Mr Cloete and his colleagues gave evidence on the land reform.
But
Mr Cloete later came alone to make further submissions saying he
had preferred not to make the submissions in the open forum of the committee
for fear of being misconstrued politically.
"Mr Cloete castigated the
implementation of the land reform as ‘bad business ’ and asserted that the
land beneficiaries ‘lacked skills’ and would need 15 to 20 years to develop
the necessary expertise," said the committee.
"He said the land
acquisition was not over ‘by any means’ and might ‘take years’ because of the
compensation and litigation issues.
"Mr Cloete said some $700 billion was
going to be needed to get agriculture back on the 2001 levels. In addition,
he had met with the British and the European Union and was certain that no
money would be made available to Zimbabwe until practical solutions were
found."
Dr Utete asked Mr Cloete how he could profess that he had no
political agenda and yet had pronounced himself so much vehemently
politically.
"Dr Utete drew Mr Cloete’s attention to the contradiction
over his stated desire to seek an accommodation with the Government on the
land issue whilst he had only recently stated on national television that his
organisation had accepted an alleged offer of vast amounts of money from the
United Nations Develop-ment Programme and other donors to finance white
commercial farmers taking up farming in neighbouring countries," said the
committee.
"Dr Utete concluded by reiterating the committee’s mandate and
directing Mr Cloete to take his concerns to Government for their possible
consideration.
"It is against this background that the Chairman of the
Presidential Land Review Committee was revulsed by Mr Cloete’s effort at
playing cheap politics as reflected in the newspaper referred to above."
By Nomsa Nkala A
FORCE to reckon with in the country’s politics, silent-giant Cde
Dumiso Dabengwa might just make a major comeback to frontline
politics.
He is among ruling party heavyweights whose names are being
proffered for the presidential seat.
But he says he would only
consider succeeding President Mugabe, if approached.
"I will consider
that (presidential succession) when it comes. . If I’m approached on the
matter I will consider it. I’m still in the politburo of the party so I have
not totally left politics."
The 64-year-old former Home Affairs Minister
left mainstream politics in 2000 after losing his parliamentary seat to
MDC.
Once a powerful public servant for over a decade, Cde Dabengwa has
gone back to farming and running his businesses.
Modest in many ways,
those not aware of his immense contribution to the liberation of Zimbabwe
might not detect the resilience that pulled him through the Herculean days of
the struggle.
His time is now divided between farming and business, which
mainly involves working on the Matebelaland Zambezi Water
Project.
Clad in Khaki smart casual, Cde Dabengwa exhibited a sense
of self-contentment during this interview.
His office is
humbly-decorated with nothing resembling his previous status.
"I enjoy
very much what I do now . . . I’m very happy," he said.
Whatever his
destiny in politics, Cde Dabengwa will forever remain a recognised figure in
the history of this country.
His upbringing was fairly stable.
He
was born in Tsholotsho where his father was an agricultural instructor at the
then Tsholotsho School of Agriculture.
When the family moved to
Mzingwane, he began his education at Matshetshe Primary School before
proceeding to Ngwenya Mission.
He completed his primary education at
Cyrene Mission, junior certificate at Ngwenya School and in 1957 graduated
with matrics at Tegwane Mission.
In 1957 he taught at Cyrene and one of
the prominent students in his class was the late Lookout Masuku.
"He
was among the very few in that class who were younger than me, the majority
of the students I taught were older."
The following year, he left
teaching to join the Bulawayo City Council as a clerk in the welfare
department.
"My job entailed giving permits to relatives of the ANC
political detainees who were at Khami Maximum Prison. That is when I noticed
that the regime had to be dealt with.
"This was the regime that
stopped people from expressing their political ideas. At the time ANC was
non-violent, they were holding meetings and expressing their opinion on how
they were being governed."
In 1960 Cde Dabengwa left council to join
Barclays Bank as a clerk.
"It was during this year that the NDP (National
Democratic Party) was formed. I was among the first youths to join the party
and form a youth wing.
"The following year when we had riots in
Bulawayo I addressed a meeting at which I attacked the police for having
instigated the riots by banning our meetings and then using teargas to break
the meetings.
"I then said the people were justified to stone the police
in retaliation for their actions.
"I was later arrested and charged
with three counts under the Law and Order Maintenance Act for making what
were seen as subversive statements.
"After I was charged, the deputy
commissioner of police told me that if I resigned from my post in the NDP
executive and only remained as a mere member, then the charges against me
would be withdrawn.
"He also told me that my bank manager was very
disturbed by my arrest because the bank was planning to send me to the United
Kingdom and on my return I was to become the first black manager of Barclays
Bank. So I was told to resign so that I didn't miss on this
opportunity.
"I refused his advice absolutely and preferred to go to
court."
Cde Dabengwa subsequently went to trial, was convicted and
sentenced to six months imprisonment for each charge.
However, the
sentence was ordered to run concurrently and he was to serve a third of
it.
"While in prison I organised a demonstration in protest against the
food which was being given to black inmates. The following day the
prison superintendent forcibly moved me to cells where white prisoners were
being held at Grey Street Prison. That is where I met Cde Enos Nkala who
was staying in those cells."
Cde Dabengwa served an effective four
months after being given a two-month remission for good
conduct.
"While in prison NDP was banned and Zapu formed. So on my
release I found that I had been elected to my same position as secretary of
youth wing in Zapu.
"When Zapu was banned we decided to go
underground. I was amongst the youths who were instructed to go underground
and avoid restrictions so as to be able to mobilise more youths for the
resistance against the regime.
"However, towards the end of the
restriction period I was arrested and restricted at Gwatemba Native Purchase
area where my parents were farming. My restriction covered a radius of two
kilometres from our homestead.
"During this period I used to cycle out to
meet other youths outside my restriction area and one day on my return I
found the police at my homestead.
"They asked me where I had been and
I told them that I spent the day at a nearby river fishing. Fortunately a few
weeks later our restrictions were lifted."
In 1963 a caretaker council
in Bulawayo was formed.
"Under that we started seriously considering
going outside the country for training. Dr Joshua Nkomo (who was the leader
of Zapu) had formed a special affairs department headed by Cde James
Chikerema.
"Under that department we were the first youths recruited to
go out for training. I went for training in 1963, spent the rest of the year
in Zambia then Soviet Union. We returned in 1965 and then formed ourselves
into the military wing of Zapu under the leadership of Chikerema.
"Our
first operations were in 1965 and the military developed then on up to 1969
when we had a split.''
After Independence Cde Dabengwa became the Zipra
chief of Intelligence and later secretary of the war council.
"I
participated in all the negotiations with the British in Geneva, Cyprus and
finally Lancaster House. I led the Zipra army at the
Cease-fire Commission.
"I thereafter participated in the integration
of all armed forces in the country to form the Zimbabwe Defence
Forces.
"At the end of this exercise in 1981 I retired and went into a
business joint venture with other colleagues. We formed a company called
Limpopo Undertakings which was to be involved in establishing a transport
company and then import and export trading.
"But in 1982 I was among
those who were arrested for treason after arms caches were said to have been
discovered in two Zipra farms.
"We went through trial and were found not
guilty. But I was kept in detention and only released in 1986 after spending
four years and 10 months in prison.
"On my release I found that the
unity talks were on and I was asked to assist in the unity campaign which I
did until the Unity Accord was signed in December 1987.
"After the
Unity Accord I formed my own company Duze Enterprises and later established
Mat Tools and Forging on a joint venture with a Swedish Company.
"In 1990
there were parliamentary elections and I won the Nkulumane parliamentary
seat. That same year I was appointed deputy minister of Home Affairs, became
Minister in 1992 until my retirement in 2000.
"I retired because I lost
my seat to MDC. I was not bitter when I lost my seat because the people had
made their choice. I wanted to be in Government only with the consent of the
people.''
Cde Dabengwa is now a farmer and spends half of his time
working on the Matebelaland Zambezi Water Project.
"I spend 50 percent
of my time on this project. It was started by the people of this region after
they realised that they would never develop under the threat of constant
drought. In 1991 I was appointed to be the project's chairman and work on its
implementation.
"After the project was approved by Government in 1997 I
had the challenge to fund raise for it and that is what I have been involved
with to this stage.''
His views on Zimbabwe opposition party: "MDC was
formed under very unfortunate circumstances and therefore it is an
unfortunate organisation. I say so because it is formed by people who in the
first place felt frustrated and merely seized the opportunity of an economic
crisis to elevate themselves into positions of power. They are backed by
foreign forces who reneged on assisting Zimbabwe to resolve its land
problem.
"We need a home-grown indigenous political party which would
play an objective role in the development of the country not a negative role
to ruin the country that they later want to govern.
"We need a party
that will tell us 'this is where you are making a mistake and lets do it this
way', not one that says in order for us to get into power we need to first
destroy the country.''
Cde Dabengwa is married with five children. He met
his wife towards the end of the liberation struggle and were married at
Independence.
His ambition: "Right now it's fulfilling the implementation
of the (Zambezi Water) project.''
There must be something in the water in Texas
that makes great punters. The Washington Redskins' Sammy Baugh, who
learned to punt at TCU, still holds the record for career average (45.3 yards)
in the National Football League. Sammy can be glad George W. Bush, a Texan
despite his soft years at Yale, does not compete in the NFL. His punting is
spectacular: booming yardage, great hang time. George W. punted first to
the Supreme Court. He watered down his solicitor general's brief defending the
14th Amendment's guarantee of racial equality in the law, and then, after Sandra
Day O'Connor suspended the Constitution for 25 years to accommodate affirmative
action, he punted again, praising the decision, which slapped down even the
watered brief, as a victory for his administration. "Today's decision
seek a careful balance between the goal of campus diversity and the fundamental
principle of equal treatment under the law," he said of Grutter v. Bollinger.
(Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida and more linebacker than punter, said what
his brother should have: "The Supreme Court ... acknowledges that race-conscious
college-admissions policies are ultimately at odds with the guarantee of equal
protection under the law. Instead of striking down these policies on this basis,
the court allowed their limited use, but suggested their eventual demise. ... We
remain committed to diversity in Florida, but believe it must be achieved in
ways that comply with the Constitution's purpose. ... ") A few days
later, when someone asked George W. what he thought about marriage and whether
to preserve it in the form that has served civilization fairly well for
thousands of years, he boomed another one downfield, this time to the lawyers.
Marriage means what most Americans think it means, a union of a man and woman,
he said, but he wouldn't do anything to promote his convictions, such as putting
protection of marriage in the Constitution. "Let's let the lawyers look at it,"
he said. (Finding a way to avoid responsibility is what lawyers are paid to do,
after all.) When someone asked him whether he intended to follow through
on proposals to overturn Bill Clinton's dispatch of women to the front line of
battle, the prez got off a punt that would have turned Sammy Baugh's maroon
jersey bright green with envy. "I will take guidance from the United States
military," he said. "Our commanders will make those decisions. The configuration
of our force and who ought to be fighting where, that's going to be up to the
generals. That's how we run our business here in the White House. We set the
strategy and we rely upon our military to make the judgments necessary to
achieve the strategy." (The Founding Fathers were so 18th century, putting the
commander in chief in charge of policy.) Now the president is in Africa,
a trip the snide, the cynical and the skeptical are saying was designed by Karl
Rove to cast George W. as the Great White Father on the eve of Campaign '04. The
president made noises about nation building, or at least regime change, for
Liberia just before leaving Washington, and when he got amongst the regimes that
need changing, it was time to punt again. What's good for Liberia is not
necessarily good for Zimbabwe, though his own secretary of state has been
describing Robert Mugabe as "ruthless and violent." Writing in the New
York Times, Colin Powell accused Mr. Mugabe of political violence, vote rigging,
economic mismanagement, unchecked corruption and the seizure of farmland to give
to his cronies: "In the long run, President Mugabe and his minions will lose,
dragging their soiled record behind them into obscurity. But how long will it
take? How many good Zimbabweans will have to lose their jobs, their homes or
even their lives before President Mugabe's violent misrule runs its course?"
But to the dismay of the brutally repressed opposition in Zimbabwe (and
black folk nearly all), the master of Prairie Chapel Ranch punted, this time to
President Thabo Mbeki, who is missing more than a vowel in his surname. Mr. Bush
said President Mbeki, who cheerfully fronts for the apologists for the regime in
Zimbabwe, is "the point man" for reform. "He believes he's making good
progress," George W. said of his host. "I don't have any intention of
second-guessing his tactics. We want the same outcome." We can only hope
that this was the excess of good manners for which the Bushes, father and son,
are well-known. There is no evidence at all that President Mbeki wants anything
but to allow Robert Mugabe to continue his rapacious regime of murder, massacre
and mismanagement. A man who arrived in Africa with a gift of $15 billion to
fight the AIDS pandemic shouldn't be bashful about telling his hosts to shape up
if they want to share the booty. If you're going to punt with field position
like that, you might as well play soccer.