The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
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Inflation in Zimbabwe surges to 365%
By Tony Hawkins in Harare
Published: July 16 2003 18:49 | Last Updated:
July 16 2003 18:49
Fresh evidence that Zimbabwe's economic
crisis is running out of
control came on Wedneday as inflation surged to
365.4 per cent in June from
300 per cent in May.
Many
economists were surprised at the huge increase in the official Life expectancy is now estimated at 35 years JOHANNESBURG, - Soaring inflation, acute food shortages and a
decline in foreign investment are seen as some of the factors contributing to
Zimbabwe's slip in this year's human development rankings.
figures
because it comes before the government had been forced to announce
sharply
higher prices for food and fuel. Producer prices paid to farmers for
wheat
and maize were increased in March but these rises have still to be
passed on
to the consumer.
"When that happens," said a bank economist, "we
will see inflation
over 400 per cent and it could reach 750 per cent by
Christmas."
The inflation figure was disclosed as government
officials admitted
that they had still not submitted a formal food aid appeal
to the World Food
Programme. WFP sources say they are providing food aid to
1.5m Zimbabweans,
with the figure expected to increase to 1.8m August. But
the United Nations
agency's Zimbabwe budget will be exhausted by the end of
next month.
The WFP estimates that 5.5m Zimbabweans - 47 per cent
of the
population - will require food aid by January 2004.
"But
we cannot even launch an appeal to donors until we get a formal
request from
the Zimbabwe government," a WFP official said.
Lancaster Museka,
Zimbabwe's secretary for social welfare, said an
official appeal would be
sent to the WFP this week.
The cabinet, which met on Tuesday, was
due to agree a figure for the
appeal. But against a background of sharp
disagreement among ministers over
the severity of the shortage, it remains
unclear whether a figure was
agreed.
Some hardline ministers at
the forefront of President Robert Mugabe's
"fast track" land resettlement
programme refuse to admit that the maize crop
will be only 800,000 tonnes, 1m
tonnes short of normal consumption
requirements, according to consensus
forecasts.
Zimbabwe will need to import up to 1.3m tonnes of grain
over the next
year.
As Harare does not have the foreign currency
to finance such imports,
it will have to rely heavily on the donor community.
But western diplomats
warn that other countries, such as Afghanistan and
Iraq, are ahead of
Zimbabwe in the queue for assistance, while donors'
irritation at the
government's failure to respond until so late will not help
Zimbabwe's case.
JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
justice@telco.co.zw with "For Open Letter
Forum" in the subject
line.
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Letter
1:
J.T. Taylor Esq.,
CPA Chairman,
Matabeleland.
My dear
Tim,
Whilst in Kwazulu Natal recently I met a lady whose father and
husband have
probably been members of the Association that you purport to
lead for over
fifty years. Presently she no longer resides in this
country.
Since returning home I have been advised that the lady concerned
was
actually physically beaten by some illegal settlers on her farm. Her
simple
but humbling remark to me was - "Surely a Union is a Union - if one
member
is affected and the Union does nothing then you no longer have a
Union."
Naturally, I could only agree.
You now hold the position that
was held by the late Martin Olds, and it
seems that your mandate pro rata has
been whittled down to about 15% of
what Martin had. Naturally you are
entitled to your own personal point of
view as per the quote from Voltaire.
However I feel that some of your
associates of what purports to be an
Association, and those of what
purports to be a Union could possibly need a
gentle reminder that they are
supposed to be elected leaders, to serve.
Martin is no longer here to
speak, so perhaps I ought to ask some questions
that he may well have asked
had he been here.
A searching question for
your leaders at Congress will be to ask them whom
they think they represent.
The 100% of the 15%? Or the 15% of the 100%? Or
the 100%? A survey asking the
100% (3291 farmers) who they felt was having
a Piggyback Ride, and who was
giving it, and then who ought to pay for it
could well be a great revelation
for us all. After that, you could ask them
if they were enjoying the
Perceived Piggyback Ride or wanted a New Pig to
ride. The reason being that
in terms of Riders - some went to market, some
stayed at home, some got roast
beef but 85% got none - and can't find their
way home. Finally, should the
next leader of CFU come from the 85% or the
15% in terms of being truly
representative?
Yours faithfully,
J.L.R. pp Martin
Olds.
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Letter
2:
Zimbabwe - Plea for Our Country
I am an ordinary Zimbabwean and
I feel compelled to write to my
compatriots, not tomorrow nor the next day
but now !!
I came to this beautiful country in the late '70's from a
farming family in
Australia to find a land of real hope, one that was happy
and prosperous
despite the conditions that prevailed at the time. It was
everything I had
dreamed of and it wasn't long before I made a life long
commitment. That
commitment is reinforced by events today.
What really
impressed me, after I had arrived with a pack on my back,
walking over Beit
Bridge, was the quality of it's people of all races,
their spirit,
enterprise, work ethic, moral values and respect for their
fellow countrymen
and the rule of law. It's beauty startled me, it's
sporting courage and proud
tradition amazed me and I fell in love with the
country I now proudly call my
home. The red ball sunsets, the cry of a fish
eagle, vistas of kopje, msasa
in spring, the mopani veld all evoke emotion
every time I experience them. I
am overwhelmed by what has been built in
little over a hundred years . I
swell with pride when we, almost
incredibly, perform at the highest level on
the world stage, be it the
Chelsea Flower Show, Cricket, Ballroom Dancing,
Athletics, Tennis, Tobacco,
Football, Engineering, Textiles...I could go on
forever.
I know and believe that Zimbabwe will prosper and re-establish
it's
rightful position as the jewel of Africa, if not the world. It is up to
us
to determine when that will happen. That is, all of us.
Remember,
it is not our country that is to blame but simply the
situation that we have
all allowed, in one way or another, to develop to
the point where we find
ourselves today. Don't judge Zimbabwe unfairly !
Judge it as it should be and
will be when it is healed and back to good
health (As you would your friend)
providing everything that you would ever
want in terms of quality of life and
expectation. Zimbabwe has served us
all so well and it is simply a Rolls
Royce being driven by a bunch of
irresponsible, unlicensed thugs.
It
is up to us to be winners and not losers and strive for what is ours. We
will
overcome our problems and realize the true extent to which our country
will
benefit us all. The prize it too great to give up. We are at the edge
now and
must keep pushing and the monument to evil will topple into the
abyss below
where it belongs crushed never to arise again. To stop now
would mean giving
away everything that we hold dear, giving up an exciting
future to be built
on solid values where hard work, honesty and fighting
spirit is rewarded. To
stop now would be tantamount to stripping the honour
from those before who
fought for this country in so many different ways.
It would dishonour
those that have died recently in the quest to secure a
future filled with
aspirations that we all share - a future that will
penalize those that do
wrong and protect those who uphold the system. We
must accept the challenge
to succeed in what we feel so deeply about.
Don't give up on your country
now!
Don't make hasty judgements at a time of absolute abnormality. It is
not
the time to make a decision about one's future when thought is clouded
by
emotion and negative thinking. Don't make a mistake that you will
regret.
There will be a resolution. Bring it forward by making a stand
for yourself
and those less able than you are - the elderly, the uneducated
and
exploited, the poor, those brutalized by lawlessness, the children who
are
our future. Don't abandoned your responsibilities. We can and WILL
win!!
Zimbabwe has a rich and proud heritage. We are renowned for our
fighting
spirit. Don't forsake it ! We must respect those that have built our
land,
some of whom remain as senior citizens dependent on the commitment
of
subsequent generations.
What are needed now are people of courage
and determination, people who
uphold real principles for which they are
prepared to fight.
This is not an endless vision but one that is clearly
set ahead of us in
the not too distant future. We must dig deep and be
resolute in our
determination to win and gladly accept the prize that awaits
us. The prize
that is each one of us secure in the knowledge that the country
we love
will be expressing openly the values, ideals and standards we uphold
in
every aspect of life. There is light at the end of the tunnel and it is
up
to each and every one of us to choose whether that light will
beam
strongly. We have a choice to determine if that light is there or not
and
we have to believe it is if we are to win this struggle, the most
critical
episode in our country's history.
Neither I, nor my family,
are going anywhere. I belong and, like others,
must solve the problems that
we all helped create, largely through apathy
and lack of principle when it
came to standing up for what is right and
condemning what was wrong. That's
history. It is the future that counts now
and it is up to us, not "the
others" to do our bit. Don't relent, don't
concede, don't wilt under
pressure. We will win this battle, a battle of
wills, together.
Simon
Spooner
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Letter
3: Ben Freeth
"Wheat Shortages Continue"
I was recently shocked to
read in an IRIN (U.N.) report on the 4th July
entitled "wheat shortages
continue" that the reason amounted solely to the
shortages of inputs. A CFU
economist was quoted as saying "the agricultural
sector is operating at only
30 percent of capacity because the ZESA
authority is unable to meet power
demands."
Why hide the truth and the root cause of the problem? The
reason why wheat
shortages continue is because competent experienced farm
owners and farm
workers have been evicted from their houses and farms by the
state.
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All
letters published on the Open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
Tue, 15 Jul 2003
ZIMBABWE: Economic revival
programme struggles to do the job
IRINnews
Africa
Soaring inflation, acute food
shortages and a decline in foreign investment are seen as some of the factors
contributing to Zimbabwe's slip in this year's human development rankings.
WFP
©
PlusNews
According to
the UN Human Development Report 2003, Zimbabwe dropped to 145th position from
128th place achieved in 2002. The country was one of the worst performers among
developing countries.
The human development index is a composite measure
of average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development: a long
and healthy life, education and a decent standard of living.
Life
expectancy at birth in Zimbabwe is now estimated at 35 years for the period 2000
to 2005, as compared to 61 years in 1990. Moreover, the country has one of the
highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates (34 percent) in sub-Saharan
Africa.
Observers have noted that since 1996 the country has undergone
"accelerated deterioration in the socio-economic situation".
The
government is struggling to cope with an inflation rate of 300 percent, while 70
percent of the labour force is unemployed.
"There has been a downward
economic trend in the last 7 years, but one of the main reasons for the sharp
decline in recent years is the land reform programme. Effectively, by
appropriating 4,500 farms, the government closed down 4,500 big businesses that
provided employment for thousands of people," independent economist John
Robertson told IRIN.
To halt the deterioration in the economy, the
government launched the National Economic Revival Programme (NERP) in February
2003.
But Robertson said while NERP acknowledged some of the challenges
facing the government, the programme "failed to provide a
solution".
"Although the programme broadened economic policy
decision-making to include government, the private sector and labour, there has
yet to emerge a workable answer to the myriad of problems facing Zimbabweans,"
Robertson said.
Reuters
16 Jul 2003 01:26:00 GMT
World Vision Zimbabwe
maintains nutritional status of the
vulnerable
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
World
Vision International
Website: http://www.wvi.org
The interventions by World
Vision Zimbabwe in the form of general food aid
and child supplementary
feeding programme has contributed positively to the
general maintenance of
the nutritional status of communities.
Findings of a recent survey by
World Vision Zimbabwe have indicated that the
Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM)
rate is 3.1 down from 4.1 recorded during a
study held last year while acute
severe malnutrition was at 0.5.
The study was conducted in Bulilimamangwe
and Beitbridge districts and of
World Vision's Area Development Programmes
(ADP) to assess the nutritional
status of children aged 6 to 59
months.
Despite the fact that the GAM rates were below the 5 percent
threshold, the
risk levels of the population in question required that
targeted
supplementary interventions be put in place.
The most
vulnerable category is children under the age of five since food
availability
has not improved significantly because of rainfall failure
this
year.
World Vision Zimbabwe is carrying out a general food aid
project and a child
supplementary feeding programme (CSFP) under its
interventions.
The child supplementary feeding programming is targeting
92 638 under fives
in 14 ADPs and will run parallel to the general food aid
in all areas
benefiting from the general food distribution.
The study
also showed that orphaned children were more likely to become
malnourished.
It was immediately recommended that during the CSFP special
focus should be
given to this category.
The report also pointed out that the organisation
should start long-term
programmes to alleviate nutrition problems. These
programmes should include
projects encouraging the production and consumption
of micronutrient rich
foods, food processing, preservation and food storage
programmes related to
HIV/AIDS.
The survey also recommended a holistic
approach in the fight against
malnutrition as food shortages continue to dog
most communities as a result
of crop failure.
53.2 percent of
households interviewed said they did not harvest anything at
all this season
while 42 percent said they harvested less than the previous
year and the food
was not going to last for more than two months.
Africa Needs Tough Love
By George B.N. Ayittey
Wall Street Journal | July
15, 2003
Just before President Bush left for Africa, the U.N. warned
that at current
rates it would take black Africa 150 years to reach the
minimum development
targets. Growth rates are negative on a continent
littered with collapsed
states.
Africa needs help but that help is not
measured quantitatively by the size
of aid packages or promises. When
President Clinton visited Africa in 1998,
his caravan was chock-full of
promises and new initiatives. By contrast, the
Bush trip offered substance
and form: a $15 billion Emergency AIDS Relief
package, 20% directed at
prevention, and a $5 billion Millennium Challenge
Account in aid to
developing countries that demonstrate results in better
governance. President
Bush correctly recognized that what Africa needs is
straight talk, tough
love. Short of recolonization, there's only so much he
can do to help unless
Africa's leadership is willing to get serious about
tackling its innumerable
woes.
Africa's begging bowl is punched with holes. What comes in as
foreign aid
and investment ultimately leaks away. Foreign aid and investment
into Africa
amount to $18 billion annually. But current accounts are always
in deficit
and capital flight out of Africa exceeds $15 billion a year. Wars
cost $10
billion a year in weapons, damage to infrastructure and social
carnage. In
1991 alone, says the U.N., $200 billion was siphoned out of
Africa by ruling
gangsters and briefcase bandits. For Nigeria, the World Bank
estimates that
$250 billion flowed into government coffers between 1970-2000,
but much of
that leaked away. And Zimbabwe's economic collapse had caused
more than $37
billion worth of damage to South Africa and neighboring
countries. It defies
common sense to pour more water into a leaky bucket. But
African leaders are
simply not interested in plugging the holes.
On
his trip, President Bush correctly resisted calls for the insertion of
U.S.
troops in Liberia. The U.S. can help with the provision of military
transport
to West African forces. And Secretary of State Colin Powell has
stated
clearly that southern African leaders must do more to resolve the
crisis in
Zimbabwe. Such straight talk has already started producing
some
results.
Two days before Mr. Bush left Africa, the Economic
Community of West African
States announced it will take the immediate leading
role of sending into
Liberia a force of 1,000-1,500. What took them so long?
Equally important
was Kofi Annan's statement at the African Union's summit in
Mozambique: "The
U.N. 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."
However, far more was achieved
by President Bush on AIDS than can be
measured in dollar terms. When the
epidemic first erupted, African leaders
were in denial. Many were reluctant
to talk publicly about the disease and
prevention. Only a few countries have
made serious efforts to confront AIDS:
Senegal, Ghana and Uganda. Most
disappointing has been the failure of South
Africa to provide leadership in
the campaign against AIDS -- despite its 10%
infection rate and its
first-rate health-care systems.
President Bush's straight talk on AIDS
will prompt African leaders to speak
more openly about the pandemic. But just
as Africa takes one step forward,
it takes three giant steps back. On July
11, a day before President Bush
left for the U.S., Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe
was elected the new African
Union vice-chairman. Imagine! Now, it will take
Africa more than 200 years
to attain minimum indices of development. And
President Bush cannot be
blamed for that.
Mr. Ayittey, professor of
economics at American University in Washington, is
the author of "Africa
Unchained: the Blueprint for Development," out from
St. Martin's Press this
fall.
Chewing the Fat
Moneyweb (Johannesburg)
July 14,
2003
Posted to the web July 16, 2003
Jamie
Carr
Johannesburg
So farewell then, Chief Dubya, and a thousand
salaams for dropping in.
Given the eagerness with which the presidential
visit was awaited, both by
anti-American protesters and by those who have
better things to do than to
fart against thunder, the reality was a little
disappointing. After an
excellent start, with our esteemed Foreign Minister
freezing her dreads off
on the tarmac of Waterkloof airbase, there was little
of excitement to
report.
It was all buddy buddy, slaps on the back
sort of stuff, with arguments
ignored as the platitudes were rolled out. The
reaction of the international
press was worth a peep, with the majority of
comment focusing on the MDC's
allegations that President Mbeki had served up
a whacking great pork pie on
Zimbabwe.
Dubya was busy praising Mbeki's
role as point man on the Zimbabwean debacle,
while Mbeki was enthralling the
press corps with tales of how splendidly
dialogue between the MDC and Zanu PF
was progressing.
The lovefest was spoiled by a manifestly peeved Morgan
Tsvangirai, who
pointed out that the two sides hadn't exchanged a word for
over a year, and
that Mbeki's comments were designed to buy time for the
"beleaguered
illegitimate Mugabe regime." Some of the UK broadsheets were
happy to accuse
Mbeki straight up of dishing a tissue of lies on the subject,
and this is
not going to help our President's already blighted image back in
the lair of
the former colonial oppressor.
The New York Times
preferred to concentrate on the amount of cash President
Bush was promising
to dish out to help with the AIDS crisis. This must
present President Mbeki
with something of a conundrum, if indeed he still
believes that the disease
is a figment of big pharma's dollar driven
imagination. On the one hand, he
would hardly want to look ungrateful when
he's being offered a few billion
Georgie Washingtons, on the other he's
probably thinking to himself that the
moolah could be put to far better use
upgrading the Presidential jet to
something a bit more like Airforce One.
Meanwhile Pravda ignored the issue
altogether, preferring to concentrate as
usual on the plight of innocent (and
decidedly photogenic) Russian girls
lured to work as masseuses in the
fleshpots of Turkey.
The big question of the day was what made lunch
over-run by the best part of
an hour. Given Dubya's conversion to the arcane
ways of the Goddess Valvita,
it is unlikely to have been him tucking into the
Presidential Chardonnay. It
also seems highly improbable that the President
of the United Cricket Board
would have cracked the nod to a lunch for a
rounders-playing nation, and
while sources close to the lunch suggest that
the delay may have had
something to do with a misplaced pudding, I prefer to
imagine something
altogether more Bacchic.
Given the state of general
pottiness back at home, it's not surprising that
Bush should have chosen to
whip up a posse and go off on tour. The land of
the free seems to be have
become the land of the free to blame somebody else
for your problems,
describe yourself as a victim and sue the well-tailored
pinstripe off the
nearest big pocket you can find. The spirit of Oprah
stalks the courts, and
the latest industry to feel the heat is big food.
The first attempt by a
couple of gargantuan teenagers to sue McDonalds may
have been thrown out of
court, but their case has been amended and refiled
and it appears to be
getting some serious notice. Kraft, a food industry
giant and the maker of
Oreo cookies amongst other nutritious comestibles,
announced last week that
it was going to cut down the size of portions in
single serving packages,
attempt to develop healthier products and stop
pushing the junk in
schools.
In the land of the "eat until you explode" buffet, this may be a
little
ineffectual, but the legal angle is going to offer some excellent
spectator
sport. Before you know what's going on, there will be class action
sharks
leering at everybody on TV ads giving it the old "Are you the size of
a
Chevrolet Suburban? Dial 0800 LARD ARSE and turn those pounds into
prizes."
The Star
$10bn for Zim only if Mugabe goes
July 16,
2003
Robert Mugabe will relinquish leadership of Zimbabwe's ruling
party,
paving the way for his exit as president and new elections by June
2004,
Thabo Mbeki has told George Bush.
United States President
Bush has in turn pledged a reconstruction
package for Zimbabwe worth up to
$10-billion (R75-billion) over an
unspecified timeframe, if Mugabe goes and a
new leader takes over.
The deal, linking the departure of Mugabe to
a massive aid package for
Zimbabwe, was discussed by the two leaders during
their private meeting in
Pretoria last week.
Important
differences remain: the US is anxious to make the money
conditional on the
emergence of a new leader chosen by the Zimbabwe people
in an election rather
than an anointed successor from the ranks of the
ruling party.
South African President Mbeki, by contrast, is not a supporter of the
main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change, and is open to a
successor
emerging from the ruling party.
But agreement that
Mugabe must go is a critical breakthrough in
efforts to end Zimbabwe's
political crisis.
Mbeki's assurance to Bush is believed to be based on
a personal
promise extracted from Mugabe.
Evidence that Mugabe
has promised to quit his party post in December
is emerging from within the
ruling party where distinct factions are already
vying to succeed him. -
Independent Foreign Service
The Herald
Hospital operates without water
From Bulawayo
Bureau
TSHOLOTSHO District Hospital, one of the biggest health centres
in
Matabeleland North, has been operating without water for two
weeks,
threatening the institution’s health delivery system.
According
to sources at the institution, the situation was so critical that
patients
were being asked to bring water in containers because the
institution was now
relying on a nearby borehole.
They said water that was being fetched from
the boreholes was used by
patients who have been admitted at the institution
and by medical staff in
their day-to-day activities at the
hospital.
"The situation is so bad and there are fears that there might
be a disease
outbreak. You can imagine how it’s like operating in a health
institution
without water,’’ said a nurse who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
She said Tsholotsho Hospital attends to more than 200 patients
a day, making
the situation even more difficult, especially in the toilets,
which were now
emitting a putrid stench.
"Though patients are being
asked to bring in water, not all of them do so
and the water that is being
fetched from the borehole is not adequate to
cater for the whole
institution.
"Tsholotsho hospital is a big institution which needs
running water and if
it continues like this, we are likely to have a disease
outbreak,’’ she
said.
Matabeleland North provincial medical director,
Dr Gibson Mhlanga, said the
institution was facing water problems because of
the strike by Zimbabwe
National Water Authority workers.
"Ever since
people from Zinwa went on strike, Tsholotsho Hospital has been
experiencing
water problems.
"It’s unfortunate that there is nothing we can do because
the problem is not
coming from us, but we hope that they will resume their
duties so that the
problem can be rectified,’’ he said.
Zinwa
employees have been on strike for almost two weeks demanding a 300
percent
cost of living adjustment.
From Business Day (SA), 16 July
Threat to kick Harare mayor out of official residence
Harare Correspondent
The row between
the Zimbabwe government and the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) over the
suspension of opposition Harare mayor Elias Mudzuri
escalated yesterday with
authorities threatening to use force to evict the
mayor from his official
residence. President Robert Mugabe's government
warned that Mudzuri should
vacate the mayoral mansion or risk being kicked
out unceremoniously. Local
government deputy minister Chief Fortune
Charumbira said, "The issue is
whether he wants to leave the house
ceremoniously or not. The order given to
him to leave the house was legal."
Mudzuri, popularly elected by an
overwhelming majority last year, was
suspended in April on allegations of
misconduct and defying government
directives. Government last week gave the
mayor , who was arrested twice for
reporting to his offices, a 48-hour
ultimatum to vacate the mayoral villa.
It also demanded his official vehicle
back. However, Mudzuri has defied the
order. Charumbira said Mudzuri's
complaints that the notice of eviction
given to him by government was too
short for him to arrange alternative
accommodation was immaterial. "If he
wanted more time, he could have
approached the ministry with a formal request
rather than sit there and
dream," Charumbira said.
Meanwhile an
opposition British MP yesterday accused Prime Minister Tony
Blair's
government of "catastrophic failure" in tackling Zimbabwe's
political and
economic crisis. Tory legislator for Henley Boris Johnson said
London had
completely failed to resolve the crisis whose regional collateral
damage was
disastrous. "The government has oscillated between apathy and the
kind of
megaphone diplomacy that simply plays into Mugabe's hands," Johnson
said.
However, junior Foreign Office Minister Chris Mullin said it would
be
"absolute folly" for the UK to act unilaterally against Zimbabwe. London
has
always insisted that it had to pursue a multilateral initiative to
resolve
the crisis. Johnson said that Mugabe had been significantly weakened
and was
"desperate" for a way out of power. "I don't think it is any longer
good
enough for the British government to say that it is powerless and
that
anything it does simply makes matters worse," he said. "It is time for
us to
re-engage for the good of Zimbabwe and the suffering people of
that
country."
Mail and Guardian
Botswana sends 26 000 Zimbabweans back
home
Gaborone
16 July 2003 14:26
With the
economic crisis in neighboring Zimbabwe deepening, Botswana
announced
Wednesday it had deported 26 717 Zimbabweans who were illegally
living in the
country last year.
Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans have fled over their
country's borders into
South Africa, Mozambique and Botswana over the last
three years to escape
chaos in their homeland.
Zimbabwe is suffering
its worst political and economic crisis ever, with an
estimated 70%
unemployment, inflation of more than 300% and a simmering
hunger crisis. A
black market in food and fuel, where inflation is as high
as 600%,
is
thriving.
The UN World Food Programme estimates food shortages will
leave 5,5-million
out of about 12-million Zimbabweans in need of emergency
food aid this year.
A rash of politically motivated violence has been
blamed on ruling party
militants loyal to President Robert Mugabe, human
rights groups say.
The illegal immigrants caught in Botswana and sent
home often say they were
searching for jobs, said Chief Immigration Officer
Roy Sekgororoane.
Botswana's authorities routinely conducts border
patrols and holds raids
throughout the country to find the illegal Zimbabwean
immigrants,
Sekgororoane said. - Sapa-AP
The Herald
Foot and mouth hits export zone
Herald
Reporter
THERE has been an outbreak of foot and mouth disease on two farms
south of
Harare and the Government has launched investigations to establish
the
disease’s origin and the number of farms affected, the Minister of
Lands,
Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, Dr Joseph Made, said
yesterday.
He said this is the first outbreak of the disease to be
reported in the
export zone of Mashonaland provinces since 1989.
"A
further clinical foot-and-mouth disease has been detected in a dairy herd
on
Dunnie Farm and reports of infection have also been received from
two
adjacent farms in Harare South, namely Gilston Farm and Boronia Farm,"
said
Dr Made.
It is suspected that the outbreak in Harare South is
linked to previous
outbreaks in Masvingo province through illegal cattle
movement.
"The affected farms are adjacent to Harare South cattle pens.
Investigations
are ongoing to determine whether public auction cattle sales
were involved
in any way in these outbreaks and to establish the source of
the infection.
"However, investigations are in progress to establish the
source. Follow-up
investigations on movements from the affected farms are
also in progress,"
he said.
Dr Made said Mashonaland West, Mashonaland
Central and Mashona-land East
provinces have been put under quarantine
pending completion of
investigations. However, cattle would be permitted for
immediate slaughter
under veterinary supervision.
An emergency meeting
was held between officials from his ministry and those
from the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe to discuss the long outstanding problem of
availability of
foreign currency for the procurement of vaccines from the
Botswana Vaccine
Institute.
The ministry had made an urgent appeal for US$2 million (about
$1,6 billion
at the official exchange rate) but the RBZ has allocated an
initial amount
of US$700 000 ($576 million) that would be paid immediately. A
further
US$300 000 ($247 million) would be released next week and the central
bank
has undertaken to make further allocations of foreign currency in order
to
ensure continuity of the vaccine supply.
Dr Made said dairy
farmers, Dairibord Zimbabwe and the Department of
Veterinary Services had met
to facilitate and support activities, increase
surveillance and control the
disease.
The overall work in containing the outbreak would be facilitated
by the
Government allocating fuel, vehicles and their maintenance and
repair.
Further emphasis would be put on a constant allocation of foreign
currency,
the minister said.
A national taskforce comprising the
Department of Veterinary Services,
farmers' unions, the Cold Storage Company,
Colcom, Dairibord Zimbabwe
Limited, auctioneers, the police and local
government officials has been set
up. It is scheduled to meet on July 24 to
review progress in the control of
the disease.
"As is international
practice, the principal director of veterinary services
will notify the OIE
(world organisation for animal health) on this further
outbreak. Over the
years, support has been sought from the international
community through Sadc,
the EU, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) and
the OIE and further
appeals to assist us enhance our capacity to fight
foot-and-mouth disease
will be made," said Dr Made.
An outbreak of the disease, which affects
the hooves and mouths of cattle,
was reported in Chivi last month. The
disease was last year reported in
parts of Manicaland and Masvingo following
cattle-buffalo contacts in the
Save Wildlife Conservancy.
Previously,
foot-and-disease outbreaks have occurred in Lupane, Nyamandhlovu
and
Beitbridge districts in Matabeleland North and South
provinces
respectively.
MSNBC
Tsvangirai must answer treason charges-prosecutors
By Stella
Mapenzauswa
HARARE, July 16 — State prosecutors argued on Wednesday
against calls for
the treason case against Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai to be
dropped, saying he must answer charges he plotted to kill
President Robert
Mugabe.
Tsvangirai and two senior colleagues in
the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) could face death sentences if
convicted of plotting to
assassinate Mugabe in 2001 amid Zimbabwe's worst
political and economic
crisis in decades.
All three have pleaded
not guilty and their lawyers have asked the
High Court to dismiss the
charges, saying the state has failed to present a
solid case.
On
Wednesday however, chief prosecutor Bharat Patel said the state
had shown
sufficient evidence that the MDC defendants had discussed seeking
the support
of the army for a post-Mugabe transitional government.
''Any act or
intention contemplating... any change of a head of state
outside the
provisions of the constitution is treasonous or unlawful,''
Patel
said.
''The evidence as presented establishes more than a prima facie
case
for the accused to be placed on their defence (in court)... There is
no
legal basis upon which the application for a discharge can be
granted,''
Patel said.
The state's case hinges on a videotape of a
meeting in Montreal
between Tsvangirai and political consultant Ari
Ben-Menashe which allegedly
discussed Mugabe's ''elimination.''
Ben-Menashe, described by the defence as unreliable, has admitted he
taped
the meeting to get evidence for the government -- with which he later
signed
a political lobbying contract.
But he denies entrapping Tsvangirai,
whose MDC represents the most
potent challenge to Mugabe's rule since
independence from Britain in 1980.
Tsvangirai is free on bail. He
faces a second treason charge, based
on government allegations that he tried
to instigate the overthrow of
Mugabe's government through mass protests
staged by the MDC last month.
The MDC and several Western countries
accuse Mugabe of rigging his
re-election in 2002 and blame his government for
chronic food and fuel
shortages and inflation running at 300
percent.
Mugabe says the MDC is a stooge of Western powers and insists
the
economy has been sabotaged by his opponents in retaliation for his
seizure
of white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks.
African Leaders Condemn Takeover in Sao Tome and Principe and Support
Menzes
allAfrica.com
July 16, 2003
Posted to the web
July 16, 2003
Tamela Hultman
Abuja
African presidents across
the continent have spoken out strongly today in
support of President Fradique
de Menezes, following an army takeover in his
island nation of Sao Tome and
Principe.
"We condemn such actions in the strongest terms possible,"
Nigerian
President Olusegan Obasanjo declared, appearing with Menezes at his
side at
an international conference in the Nigerian capital Abuja. The coup
attempt
"will not be tolerated," said Obasanjo, a former military ruler who
won a
second term as his country's elected president in April.
The
sentiment was endorsed by all of the dozen or so heads and state
and
government in attendance at the meeting, a plenary of the 6th Leon
Sullivan
Summit, which was opened on Saturday by President George W.
Bush.
"I want to join my voice with that of President Obasanjo in
condemning the
encroachment on the constitutional government," said Ghana's
President John
Kufuor, who is current chairman of the Economic Community of
West African
States (Ecowas). "All of Africa and its well-wishers must
prevail on the
encroachers to desist," he said.
Both Kufuor and
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, another plenary
participant. "We cannot
accept this," Wade said, ending with a warning to
the rebels to surrender and
a pledge to Menezes that he would be able to
return home this
week.
Earlier today, Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, the new
chairperson of
the African Union, told reporters in Maputo that he condemned
to coup in Sao
Tome and demanded "quick restoration of constitutional
legality". Other
leaders taking part in the Abuja meeting, including
Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe
and Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, expressed
similar sentiments.
The Rev. Andrew Young, a former U.S. ambassador to
the United Nations and
Atlanta mayor who is chairing the summit, attributed
the trouble to the
large petroleum deposits recently discovered in the
nation's territorial
waters. "I don't know what happened in Sao Tome, but I
know nothing happened
until someone announced there was plenty of oil," he
said.
The speech by Menezes drew the loudest sustained ovation from the
warmly
supportive crowd. He said when he got the word about the coup, he
thought he
shouldn't take part in the conference. But Obasanjo prevailed on
him, he
said, to personally make the case for support of democracy and rule
of law.
"Africa cannot achieve prosperity with bad governments, with
repressive
regimes, with corrupt officials, with failed states - and also
with coup
d'etats," he said in Portuguese-accented English. It was the second
time in
less than a month that the leader of one of Africa's smallest nations
had
brought audiences to their feet at a high-level international
meeting.
Speaking in Washington on June 27, at the U.S-African Business
Summit on a
program with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Menezes said
he had
promised his people that his country would avoid "the curse of oil,"
where
resource-rich developing nations fare worse than poorer ones. "I will
not
fail them," he said. "We also cannot fail the millions of other
Africans
yearning for a better life for themselves and for their children.
"
Government to Set Up National Anti-Retroviral Drugs Scheme
The
Herald (Harare)
July 16, 2003
Posted to the web July 16,
2003
Harare
THE Government would by the end of the year have
embarked on a national
programme for anti-retroviral drugs which is expected
to result in many
people living with HIV and Aids accessing treatment, the
Minister of Health
and Child Welfare, Dr David Parirenyatwa, has
said.
He said the Government was working on the development of training
materials
for health workers.
The World Health Organisation
and other partners supported the Government in
this initiative and the
subsequent training of health workers, the minister
said.
He said this
in a speech read on his behalf by the ministry's permanent
secretary Dr
Elizabeth Xaba at a workshop on increasing access to care and
treatment for
People Living With HIV and Aids (PLWHA) in Harare last week.
Dr
Parirenyatwa said he was optimistic that the decreasing costs of ARVs
would
result in a lot of people benefiting from the drugs.
"The rapidly
decreasing costs of ARVs will make anti-retroviral therapy
accessible to an
increasing number of PLWHA.
"This combined with increasing financial
support from the international
organisations and partners such as the Global
Fund for HIV/Aids,
Tuberculosis and Malaria are positive moves to increasing
access to care and
treatment for PLWAs," said Dr Parirenyatwa.
The
cost of ARV therapy in most countries surveyed by WHO last year had
dropped
to around US$300 per patient a year, down from US$10 000 about a
decade
ago.
Dr Parirenyatwa said an estimated 2,3 million people were infected
while
over 70 000 people were living with Aids in Zimbabwe.
Over 70
percent of all hospital admissions in the country, he said, were
occupied by
patients with HIV/Aids related conditions.
"Health facilities are failing
to cope with the high demand and therefore it
is important that in planning
for increasing access to care and treatment
that we look at home-based care
as part of the continuum of care," he said.
WHO regional director for
Africa Dr Ebrahim Samba challenged east and
southern African countries to
provide treatment to 1,4 million PLWHA if the
global target of 3 million
PLWHAs on anti-retroviral treatment by 2005 is to
be met.
"This calls
for every country in the sub region to target a minimum of 50
percent of its
population with HIV/Aids who need treatment to be on ART
(anti-retroviral
treatment) by 2005," he said.
Dr Samba said the scaling up of
anti-retroviral treatment would call for the
strengthening of existing
partnerships and the development of new ones.
This would include
collaboration between governments and multilateral and
bilateral partners,
the private sector, networks of PLWHAs and civil
society.
"It will
also demand an urgent call for increasing anti-retroviral
treatment, literacy
of the populations, and improving knowledge and skills
of health workers and
care givers," said Dr Samba.
He, however, expressed concern over the high
mobility and attrition rate
among health workers that resulted in most health
facilities in the region
being inadequately staffed.
"This is a trend
that has to be halted as it will only be possible to
achieve these goals if
there are well-trained health workers to provide the
care and treatment
services needed by these patients," he said.
Sadc heads of State and
governments, including President Mugabe, early this
month reaffirmed their
commitment to increase access to affordable essential
medicines, including
anti-retroviral treatments, and related technologies,
using funds from their
national budgets.
ZBC
President Mugabe in Nigeria for Sullivan summit
17 July
2003
President Robert Mugabe is in the Nigerian capital Abuja for the
6th
African-African-American summit.
Cde Mugabe who arrived in Nigeria
on Tuesday, was met at Abuja International
Airport by Zimbabwe's High
Commissioner to Nigeria, Katsho Dube and senior
Nigerian government
officials.
The president is accompanied by the First Lady, Cde Grace
Mugabe, deputy
Foreign Affairs Minister Cde Abednigo Ncube and other senior
government
officials.
The sixth African- African American summit in
Abuja will focus on
sustainable development efforts in Africa including
business trade and
investment, education and HIV/Aids.
The summit is
now known as the Sullivan summit following the death of the
founder Leon
Sullivan in April 2001.
It will be chaired by former US ambassador to the
United Nations, Andrew
Young.
Many ask quite where are we right now, where are we going if anywhere and precisely what has changed..nothing?
As we might except, events are now overtaking reality and this sense is definitely clouding our perception of where we are right now.
Add to this a good dose of negativity, shooting ourselves in the foot and the results of the immense onslaught that we are all enduring, we can understand just why we feel the way we do, weary and downtrodden. And yet, if we look from beyond the forest, we CAN see the trees!
So often when we evaluate ourselves as individuals we do not do justice to whom we are and what we have achieved. How do we measure our progress? The way to conduct this assessment is simply to look backwards and consider where we were at a certain time and remember quite what were our prospects , our views, predictions and visualization of the future. Human beings are generally negative and it has been established that over 90% of our fears are not realised.
In 1994 South Africans were asked ten questions about their future and these were designed to be related to the statistical interpretation of where they would be by the turn of the century along with their fears and some aspirations. The vast majority predicted doom and gloom. Those same ten questions were evaluated in year 2000 and none of those fears were realised at all and South Africa, in essence, is not the place that South Africans predicted it would be.
Back to Zim. Lets go back to the new year. There were suggestions that we had run out of steam and that the long hard battle that was fought to raise the profile of our beleaguered country, had run into trouble and that the monster regime had successfully steered world opinion away from the fledgling opposition and its brave struggle. Those patriotic and unselfish Zimbos that had forwarded millions of e-mails to addresses from the US President to the House of Commons, from Amnesty Int. to friends abroad. had all contributed far more than they believed and yet had we failed. It seemed like it and RGM had sold himself and the justification for ethnic cleansing and oppression to silence the militant and terrorist opposition. Notorious legislation, reminiscent of the communist east, descend upon us to snuff out the remaining life left in the MDC and we saw our world and the ability we had to exercise our frail muscles, close around us. But our leadership said, we soldier on "evil will never triumph" etc. Had we faith? Some fell by the way side and others mustered their remaining courage and stamina and pressed on believing that we would prevail against all odds and that freedom was worth fighting for. Had the west and the democratic world abandoned us? We saw the regional political leadership compromise their principles at conferences and the South Africans seemed determined to turn a blind eye and even suggest support for the murderous outfit that they called a legitimate government. It so became apparent that South Africa was the key role player and yet they were showing how they ignored racist thug rule, how little they cared for human rights and everything they supposedly fought against just over a decade earlier. How could they be so hypocritical and how could they ignore the plight of fellow Africans. Rightly, we felt totally betrayed and, to make it worse, the democracies told us that it was up to South Africa! But they did ignore our pleas and said we must solve our own problems whilst they themselves asked for international help in seeking change in South Africa. Nothing seemed to be going well and personal sanctions, a weapon we were thrilled about, failed as the French sold their souls and so on.
Then came the cricket..... led by those young enough that some of us could consider them our sons, and the tide was turned. We won the publicity battle and the true plight of Zim and its traumatised people was almost too embarrassing to notice. But the world did! Slowly but surely we crawled our way back onto the international stage despite the looming Gulf War and so on. How could we possibly maintain our presence? We despaired when we did not feature as a headlines on the BBC but were we being negative in a world of 220 or so countries vying for a slot on a half hour world bulletin. Was all the hard work reaping its benefit? How many out there beyond were beginning to see that this was a serious issue and the MDC had a case, as a government in waiting. It was now a serious alternative that would work with principle to right the wrongs of irresponsible African leadership and show the rest of the world that every route to somewhere does have a corner and that the seemingly the impossible can happen. The very principles to which the democratic movement aspired, were definitely those that would form the foundation of a brand new society that would ensure that Africa can succeed after all. The Americans and the Brits, supported by the EU and the antipodeans, stood by us and the Commonwealth maintained suspension against all odds and the wishes of the suspect Mbeki who was now beginning to scare those that were keeping South Africa under the spotlight in terms of the example of the democratic African success story.
The black and white
armband crusade continued and gained momentum and even carried us through the
Iraq war and we steadily gained recognition as a theatre of the world that,
after all, did deserve the attention of the democracies. Every news bulletin we
now read or listen to refers to the"dictatorship" the "state sponsored violence"
etc. We had achieved our objective and establish Zimbabwe as a nation under
siege from its own government. The detentions, torture and repression was
stepped up and highlighted by the worlds most respected human rights watch dogs
and everything seemed now to playing right into our hands. The momentum was now
with us and our campaign for justice was being sustained by external forces as
well as our own and we no longer felt abandoned. Now it was just a case of
“when and how” and not “if and maybe”. We have come so far in such a short
time. We have a leadership with international creditability that can administer
this country and restore it to good health and we have the support of the
world's only super power who have now put their cards firmly on the table....for
us! We have achieved and we have attained the goal we fought for in terms of
classifying Zimbabwe as a genuine hospital case that needs urgent surgery
despite being turned away bleeding and disease stricken previously. We have now
come of age when we no longer have to spend so much effort explaining what our
problems are what we are up against and how we believe we can achieve peace and
prosperity again.
There have been
question marks over the suitability of Tsvangirai as a leader, and there have been claims that he has no
experience, however he has shown the people of this country and the world at
large, just how convincing he is. Nelson
Mandela said that one does not qualify for presidency until a jail sentence is
served. However, there is more to the
MDC leader than meets the eye and in every theatre of participation he has won
the respect of others. He has grown in
stature, and proven qualification for accepting responsibility to lead this
nation out of the desert. The president
in waiting will prove his worth to his people in the not too distant
future.
We have our highs and
lows, and our rollercoaster of emotion and perception, and the recent stayaway,
illustrated this. However, in final
analysis it proved beyond doubt who controls Zimbabwe and it met with an
unbelievably successful public relations coup internationally. This one event has further united the diverse
groups of Zimbabwe, and illustrated to the rest of the world that we have the
will, the courage and the conviction to justify the international community,
weighing in with their support.
We are now in the home straight and the finish line is now coming into focus. The objective is no longer a question of blind faith but one of reality as we all see the writing on the wall particularly when our opponents openly concede that their fate is more than likely going to be decided by the very people from whom they have stolen, the people for whom they have made life a misery and those who have had their families broken apart through the many aspects of trauma that have prevailed and so on. Mbeki has ineffect conceided the presidential elections were seriously flawed and RGM is on has virtually said he will step down. Who would have thought of this six months. This dog is to have its day after all, and they must answer for their crimes against humanity, and are now asking, what of our future, what will happen when law and order is restored, can we reconcile ourselves with our masters in waiting? The boot is shifting to the other foot and whilst the rest of us have to cope with the dramatics of daily economics and survival, there is now an antidote and we can feel it in our veins as the balance of power shifts ever so convincingly and inexorably
The tide has turned. We have come a long, long way from our infancy as a people who dared to confront the evil that will become known as one of the most horrendous and despicable regimes of this century. All the waiting and the pain; is it now going to be worth it? But we have to push on home now and complete the victory which will be ours.
Sokwanele