• African Oppressor
• Pay And Employment Reforms in Civil Service
• JAG Community Communique
• JAG Medical Communique
• JAG Open Letters Forum No. 115
• Mugabe/Tsvangirai court battle set
• DRC deals collapse
• Luxury vehicles chew up New Ziana restructuring budget
• Zimbabweans poorer than in 1985/1975
• Farmers call for devaluation, withhold tobacco
• RBZ probes allocation of agribond funds
• Harare Agricultural Show turned into flea-market
• Leo Mugabe's supporters in post-poll assault
• Govt's winter maize project in disarray
• Midzi steps up bid for fuel deal
• Brain drain gives Murerwa headache
• Little expected from journalists' visit
• Watching the ball
• Let’s identify and slay inflation monster
• Trumpet-blowing not fooling us all
• Bush-man Tony, singing Stan, & Talent-less Taffy
• Accountability or impunity: the search for justice
• Mugabe's warped definition of ruling

The last days may be approaching for Zimbabwe's Marxist dictator, Robert
Mugabe. His 23-year-long authoritarian reign has proven to be one of the
most repressive in African history. In recent years, he has resorted to
seizing private land and businesses from his country's minority group,
fixing elections to maintain his tyrannical rule and ruthlessly suppressing
dissent.

Over the last two decades – first as Prime Minister and now as President –
Mugabe has turned Zimbabwe into a one-party state under his control,
imprisoning his political opposition. Most recently, the police arrested
Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of Zimbabwe’s most prominent democratic
opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Detained in
early June 2003, Tsvangirai now stands accused of treason and faces
execution if found guilty of plotting to "assassinate" Mugabe. The charges
are specious and clearly designed to stifle the democratic forces that have
come to represent a grave threat to the Marxist strongman's government.

This latest repressive act is but one example in a long line of dictatorial
measures characterizing Mugabe’s rule. It was obvious by 2001 that Zimbabwe
was an economic and political basket case.  According to the Associated
Press, Mugabe announced in October of that year he was “abandoning
market-based economic policies and returning to a socialist-style economy.”
He ordered a price freeze on basic foods and warned businesses to comply
with his diktat, or risk seizure of their assets by the government.  Mugabe
forcefully decreed: “Let no one on this front expect mercy. . . . The state
will take over any businesses that are closed…We will reorganize them with
workers and at last that socialism we wanted can start again.”

Thus began a crackdown on the opposition that continues to this day,
including rigged elections in 2002, [1] the seizure of property from white
farmers and landowners, and the dismantling of Zimbabwe’s market reforms.

Due to this cycle of repression, the Bush Administration formally expressed
its dissatisfaction with Mugabe’s government in March 2002.  At that time,
President Bush barred any person who was complicit in Mugabe's misrule from
entering the United States, whether as an immigrant or non-immigrant.  One
year later, on March 7, 2003, the Bush Administration sent a message to
Congress that detailed how the Mugabe government systematically undermined
that nation’s democratic institutions, employing violence and intimidation
to throttle political dissent.

To add to the desperation of the besieged Zimbabwean people, the current
government has engaged in a violent assault on the rule of law that has
thrown the economy into chaos, devastated the nation’s agricultural economy,
and triggered a potentially catastrophic food crisis.

Zimbabwe’s African neighbors, meanwhile, appear loath to act punitively in
response to the brutalities of the Mugabe regime.  In fact, they have
rewarded his tyranny. As the Washington Times reported on Monday, African
leaders actually “rewarded Mugabe with a senior position in the African
Union over the weekend, a move that tacitly condones his tyrannical
 actions.”  Mugabe’s neighbors apparently believe his repression should not
disqualify him from serving as deputy chairman of the African Union,
electing him during its three day summit in Mozambique last weekend.
Ironically, that summit affirmed last weekend that “peace is necessary to
ensure development on the continent,” according to VOA News.   Furthermore,
Africa News noted on July 14, “The AU constitution…supports a peer review
mechanism where leaders…evaluate each other's performances in good
governance and democracy.”  And one of the top evaluators will be Robert
Mugabe. This development would be comical if it did not portend such grave
consequences for the impoverished and embattled people of Zimbabwe and
indeed all of sub-Saharan Africa.

Predictably, Zimbabwean state television trumpeted that Mugabe's appointment
to the African Union post proved “There is greater admiration now for
Zimbabwe than there ever was.” In fact, there is growing consensus that
Mugabe is a thug whose time has passed. Unfortunately, last weekend’s
fateful African Union decision only served to vitiate any authority that it
may have had to pressure him to relinquish control.

Unfortunately, it appears that President Bush’s options vis-à-vis Zimbabwe
may be limited by his own State Department.   In a revealing June 24 op-ed
piece in the New York Times, Secretary of State Colin Powell himself
illustrated the horrors of the Mugabe regime but fell far short of offering
a workable solution to the problem. He wrote:

"If leaders on the continent do not do more to convince President Mugabe to
respect the rule of law and enter into a dialogue with the political
opposition, he and his cronies will drag Zimbabwe down until there is
nothing left to ruin -- and Zimbabwe's implosion will continue to threaten
the stability and prosperity of the region."

Secretary Powell’s recommendation would actually imperil the people of
Zimbabwe and hasten the state’s “implosion” due to the fact that Zimbabwe’s
neighbors seem more interested in accommodating Robert Mugabe than holding
him accountable for his crimes.  Moreover, the Powell approach ignores the
nature of Mugabe's regime.  It is unrealistic to believe that Mugabe can be
“convinced” to honor “the rule of law” when he has tyrannized Zimbabwe for
23 years and launched, in the words of President Bush, a “violent assault”
on the rule of law itself.

However, news reports indicate that a deal may have been struck that would
permit Mugabe to step down as the leader of his party, the ZANU-PF.  The
Independent (London) reported on Tuesday that Mugabe “will relinquish his
leadership of Zimbabwe's ruling party by December, paving the way for his
exit as President and new elections by June 2004.” Provided this event takes
place (the deal is said to be conditional and hence, far from a certainty),
The Independent noted President Bush would deliver an aid package to
Zimbabwe worth billions.  This stratagem is highly problematic. It is highly
unlikely that Mugabe's abdication will be either permanent or benign.  As a
result, billions in aid could be squandered if the dictator returns to power
in the future.

President Bush made the correct prescription for the crisis in Zimbabwe
during a July 9, 2003, press conference with South African President Thabo
Mbeki. Bush dispelled fears that U.S. troops would be overextended if sent
to Liberia, remarkeing that the United States would instead aim to
“re-invigorate the strategy of helping people help themselves.” Bush must
now enforce this prescription by supporting the pro-democracy elements in
Zimbabwe and hastening the dissolution of Robert Mugabe’s bloody regime.

Financial Gazette (Harare)

July 17, 2003
Posted to the web July 17, 2003

Harare

THE advent of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) in 1990
saw the introduction of civil service reforms as one of the major facets of
the reform programme.

Among other things, civil service reforms sought to rationalise the size of
the civil service by shedding off about a quarter of the public service in
order to end up with a leaner and more efficient public service.

Most would agree that when staff rationalisation measures were put in place,
the service unfortunately lost some of the cream in the process. While
numbers may have gone down, the wage bill has continued to increase in
nominal terms simply due to the inflation adjustment exercise that has taken
place year in and out.

It is understood that the recently completed job evaluation exercise that
has seen a significant improvement in the remuneration of civil servants has
been conducted with the same spirit of implementing reforms that will bring
about a more efficient and well rewarded civil service.

This has been one of the long outstanding items on the ESAP/ZIMPREST/MERP
agenda. The job evaluation exercise has helped reduce distortions that have
prevailed in the civil service wages structure and incomes policy for a long
time.

Effectively, the adjustments have improved the real incomes of civil
servants to some extent. This can only be considered a positive development
if such measures are accompanied by serious and more concerted effort to
address enemy number one - INFLATION! Failure to do so simply becomes a zero
sum game and before December 2003, we will be negotiating another round of
salary adjustments.

In view of the prevailing inflationary conditions in the economy, where
inflation has moved from single to triple digit levels, it is only logical
and necessary for such adjustments to take place. Simplified, with bread
costing an average of $ 1 000 a loaf, a domestic worker earning $10 000
month can have a loaf of bread per day for 10 days only in a month (By the
way, there are people who are still paying domestic workers such low
salaries!)

Given that the civil service salary adjustments have gone up by more than
100 percent, one would wish to undertake a simple maths exercise using
figures in the Blue Book. Taking an example of the following scenarios where
salaries are adjusted by 100 percent, 200 percent and 300 percent or
whatever percentage, such increases over a 2003 total civil service wage
bill estimate of $221.6 billion will increase the bill to an estimate of
around $443.2 billion, $664.8 billion and $886.5 billion respectively.

It is therefore hoped that the capital budget, an equally if not more
deserving expenditure item, will be granted a similar boost.

The question being raised by the taxpayers who finance this wage bill is one
of value for money. The taxpayer is over-burdened with not only Pay As You
Earn (PAYE) or corporate tax or whatever form of tax, but inflation tax (of
which civil servants are taxpayers too !). Value for money can only be
granted to the taxpayer if he / she asks for it. So here comes the request
on value for money from the taxpayer.

1. The taxpayer would like to see the Public Service Commission develop into
a strong institution that monitors and implements reforms in the civil
service on a continuous basis. Reforms should not only focus on remuneration
although retrenchment and remuneration can be the starting points. The
positive effects of the efforts made by the Commission should be felt and
acknowledged by the taxpayers. Specific examples of areas that need
attention are as follows:

lSome civil servants are insufficiently productive in that they do not
fulfil the tasks assigned to them or they carry out the assignments with
great delays at high cost. Consequently, some are ineffective and
inefficient. Such a civil service syndrome needs to be tackled before it
becomes endemic;

lAn unsavoury response to low salaries is corruption. While corruption may
be a function of low salaries, among other factors, high pay does not
necessarily guarantee absence of corruption. Corruption is not only a
challenge in Zimbabwe but other developing countries too. Therefore we need
to talk and debate such issues and consider ways to curb this cancer. By
keeping quiet, corruption becomes a way of life. The taxpayer would like to
see measures put in place to address this cancer that is slowly eating away
the reputation of the civil service.

lGraft, bribery and other forms of extortion are widely prevalent and are
becoming contemporary instruments of collecting rents or tributes. Empirical
evidence for this manifests itself as payment of money to "speed up things"
e.g. passport processing, allocation of A2 farms, placement at institutions
of higher learning especially teacher's colleges, high and primary schools,
private high profile creches or day centres, speed money to have files move
rapidly. Speed money is also paid to facilitate clearance of goods and
luggage at airports with customs officials or to facilitate transfer
pricing; speed money to get passport forms that have the required "stamped
number" otherwise the form is unacceptable; payment of illicit
under-valuation of imports, income tax forms, licensing officials e.g. for
liquor licence, shop licences so that inspectors do not enforce laws and
regulations.

The list is endless but this will stir debate and propose solutions to this
cancer that has destroyed other developing countries. So what will make
Zimbabwe immune if we do not confront the challenge head on before it gets
out of hand? This is the question the taxpayer is asking.

lFurther empirical evidence on how the taxpayer is failing to get value for
money is in the area of abuse of state assets e.g. telephones, withdrawal of
working hours as some staff are reported missing in office, teachers not
being on duty or doctors not being in hospitals when required; civil
servants requesting for travel allowances on more mileage than actual
travelled etc

The guilty are afraid and will not like this kind of talk but if the truth
is to be told, this is it. This is what is happening not only in other
countries out there, but here in Zimbabwe too. The taxpayer is now saying,
in addition to the efforts made by the government through the Public Service
Commission I presume, the following reforms may be considered to have the
kind of civil service everybody wishes for:

lCivil servants should display their IDs and employment numbers as is the
case with the Zimbabwe Republic Police.

lConsideration could be made to having a hotline that is managed and
monitored by an autonomous body. The hotline will handle reports,
complaints, compliments and disseminate the information accordingly.

lQuick resolution of complaints and queries is a vital component of the
civil service reform programme.

lImproved information dissemination on pertinent issues is vital to the
taxpayer e.g. what may be simple to some may be but a nightmare to others.
This is exemplified by such processes as accessing government services like
passports, burial orders, death certificates, national IDs , qualifying
criteria for entrance into institutions of higher learning or qualifying
criteria for accessing A2 farms, access to subsidised loans for the mining
and export sectors

"The Registrar of the High Court has told us that Judge President
(Paddington) Garwe has advised that this is the earliest that he can make a
judge available," Coltart said.

"We are disappointed at this further delay of this very important matter but
we have reluctantly accepted the position because at least now a fixed date
for the hearing has been set. We trust that the court and the respondents
will not seek to delay the hearing of the matter any further."

The initial hearing will be for a consecutive period of five days and will
be devoted to what the MDC contends are "serious legal irregularities
perpetrated by the authorities before and during the presidential election".

This will be followed by proceedings on factual issues involved, including
acts of violence and fraudulent conduct of the poll.

"Prior to the hearing all parties have to comply with all the court
requirements so that the trial can go ahead on the date set," Coltart said.

"For instance, it is an essential and very important element of all court
trials that the parties involved must make full disclosure of the documents
which are in their possession relating to the issues involved."

So far Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa
and the Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC) have refused to make full
disclosure.

Mudede has even failed to bring the electoral materials to Harare as
stipulated under the Electoral Act. This is despite the fact that court
orders have been issued to Mudede and Chinamasa for them to comply with the
law.

"This can only raise suspicion in the minds of all reasonable people that
they have things to hide," Coltart said.

Following the defiance of court orders by Mudede and Chinamasa, MDC lawyers
filed an application to have the two struck out as respondents leaving
Mugabe as the only defendant. The application was argued before Justice
Susan Mavangira on April 14, but judgement has not yet been delivered.

A court order was also issued against the ESC, which monitored the poll, to
force it to make proper and full disclosure of the documents in its
possession but the electoral agency defied it.

MDC attorneys reacted by filing another application to have the ESC's
defence struck out as well. However, on the day of the hearing, the ESC made
an application querying the contents of a previous order issued against it
in March. The case was argued before Justice Ann-Marie Gowora on June 6. A
ruling has also not yet been handed down.

In the meantime, the application to strike out the defence of the ESC, which
had been set down before Justice Rita Makarau, has been held in abeyance.

Mudede and Chinamasa recently further fuelled confusion by filing a court
application to be removed as respondents. Justice Antonia Guvava will hear
the case on July 29.

      This week Cosleg director-general Retired Brigadier Sibusiso Moyo said
his outfit was not involved in any commercial activity in the DRC.

      "There is no mining (by Cosleg) taking place there," said Moyo. "Since
our military withdrawal we are not involved in any military or economic
activity.

      "The only activities taking place are those covered by the MOU
(memorandum of understanding) like electricity, trade and investment."

      Asked about charges in United Nations reports that Zimbabwe had mining
interests in the DRC, Moyo said: "That's out. It's just people who do not
know what they are talking about. Zimbabwe was invited to assist the DRC
government to defend its sovereignty, that is all."

      Mines and Minerals Development minister Edward Chindori Chininga
yesterday said his ministry was not involved in any activity in the DRC.

      "As a ministry we do not have any direct involvement either through
ZMDC (Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation) or other institutions," he
said.

      A UN Security Council resolution of January 24 noted with concern that
the plundering of the natural resources in the DRC was one of the main
elements fuelling the conflict in the region. The Security Council demanded
that all states concerned should take immediate steps to end the illegal
activities.

      The last UN-commissioned report on the plunder of DRC resources last
year named Cosleg as one of the companies involved in underhand dealings in
the minerals-rich country. The report names as Cosleg frontmen ZDF commander
General Vitalis Zvinavashe, Colonel Simpson Sikhulile Nyathi (director of
defence policy) and Defence minister Sidney Sekeramayi.

      Zimbabwe's Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa was also mentioned
in the report as the brains behind the Congo trade.

      The Security Council resolution stressed the importance of following
up the independent findings of the panel of investigators regarding the link
between the illegal exploitation of the natural resources of the DRC and the
continuation of the conflict.

      Zimbabwe, through a DRC company known as Socebo, was also linked to a
logging concession the size of England. The government in 2000 also mooted
an ambitious agricultural project involving Arda - the Agricultural Rural
Development Authority. This has not taken off the ground.

      A source in the DRC this week said the ventures had "failed dismally
because Zimbabwe tried to do too many things without the requisite
expertise".

The ambitious New Ziana project, launched by Information minister Jonathan
Moyo to establish an electronic division and revamp the national news agency
as well as Community Newspapers, was allocated $510 million last year.

The purchase of the vehicles and other luxuries for executives has not gone
down well with the workers who are paid between $30 000 and $40 000 a month.

A letter written to New Ziana chief executive officer Munyaradzi Matanyaire
by an accountant in Moyo's ministry, a Ms D Mukoroverwa dated November 22
reads: "New Ziana was allocated $510 million. The allocation includes
salaries, wages and allowances, operations as well as maintenance.

"The salaries, wages and allowances cover the full bid for the whole year
including any increases and or cost of living adjustment/s that may be
awarded. The grant will contribute significantly towards your organisation's
turnaround strategy."

The sources said the board purchased the latest model Nissan Hardbody for
Matanyaire worth over $100 million.

Each of the heads of the electronic, Community Newspapers and news agency
departments have been bought a Mazda B2200 double cab.

Matanyaire's vehicle is awaiting delivery from South Africa. A local dealer,
Nissan Clover Leaf Motors, obtains the latest brands from South Africa.

An official at Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries who refused to be
identified confirmed the purchase of the Mazda B2200 vehicles by New Ziana
at $43 million each.

A source within the New Ziana accounts department said: "We saw the $350
million budget for the purchase of vehicles including others to be purchased
for senior staffers in other departments."

Sources said that electronic division head Happison Muchechetere and Nyasha
Masiwa, the head of the Community Newspapers division, had already taken
possession of their vehicles.

Zimbabwe has seen its standing on the human development index (HDI) drop to
0,496 points in 2001, compared to 0,544 in 1975. The HDI was on 0,626 points
in 1985, the highest since Independence. But it dropped to 0,614 in 1990.

Zimbabwe's HDI ranks it 145th in the 2003 Human Development Report out of
175 nations. It is also one of the worst performers in the Human Poverty
Index (HPI), a multidimensional measure of poverty for developing countries.
The index takes into account survival and knowledge, social exclusion and
lack of economic means. Zimbabwe is ranked 90th out of 94 developing
countries with desert state Niger being ranked last.

The report says 52% of Zimbabweans live below the poverty datum line. Niger
also has the highest human poverty index (HPI) at 61,8%.

The report says 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's HIV/Aids prevalence rate of 34% is one of the
highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

Analysts say the systematic destruction of the agricultural sector will have
compounded the sharp decline in living standards, providing even more
worrying statistics for the current period. Zimbabwe also has a poor
gender-related development index of 0,489, which is ranked among the worst
in the world.

The index measures a country's achievement in building capacity of women to
participate in economic, professional and political decision-making

"The government promised farmers that the exchange rate would be reviewed
after every three months," said Ambrose.

"The review should have been done in May and all along farmers were
delivering their crop to the auction floors in good faith. This review has
not taken place and deliveries to the auction floors have declined," said
Ambrose.

Deliveries of tobacco to the auction floors have fallen from an average of
one million kg daily last year to around 700 000-800 000 kg this year.

Ambrose said farmers, faced with rising production costs, were pressing the
government for a devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar to ensure viability.
Tobacco was the country's biggest foreign currency earner before the start
of farm invasions in 2000.

"Farmers are not happy with the exchange rate of $824 to the US dollar and
want this increased to about $1 600," Ambrose said.

"Inflation has pushed up production costs and most farmers obtained their
inputs on the parallel market at exchange rates of up to $2 500 to the US
dollar."

The Air Cured Tobacco Association (ACTA) is expected at its 33rd annual
congress starting today to urge government to review the tobacco exchange
rate to cushion farmers against spiralling costs of production.

ACTA chief executive David Slack confirmed that tobacco deliveries to
auction floors were at record lows for a range of reasons which included
producers holding back their crop.

"We are very slim on crop receiving," Slack said. "Low deliveries have been
attributed to transport and fuel problems but we can't rule out the need for
devaluation.

"Last year the same thing happened and deliveries only improved after
government introduced the producers' support scheme which put the tobacco
exchange rate at US$1: $199 rate."

Ambrose said the government, which was forced by farmers and mining
companies to devalue the dollar from $55 to the current exchange rate of
$824 to the greenback less than a year ago, was unlikely to give in to fresh
demands for devaluation.

He said farmers were hoping the authorities could be persuaded to agree to a
subsidy if talks on devaluation failed.

Tobacco is Zimbabwe's biggest export and this year the country expects to
sell an estimated 85 million kg.

Meanwhile, tobacco prices on the country's auction floors are firming due to
increased international demand and good quality.

Tobacco Industry Marketing Board general manager Stanley Mutepfa said prices
had firmed from US$1,90 per kg last week to US$2,35 a kg this week.

Zimbabwe is the world's third biggest tobacco producer after Brazil and
China, but output is dropping after most commercial farmers were driven off
their farms by the government.

"We are not aware of specific investigations into FSI Agricom Holdings (Pvt)
Ltd save for the general investigation into the agribonds," said Savala.

"If you need details of any purported investigations then you are advised to
approach the RBZ," he said.

The government raised about $7,2 billion through agribonds to finance
newly-resettled farmers. The agribonds were meant to raise $60 billion but
failed because of uncertainty in the agriculture sector and lack of
government guarantees.

The money was being managed by Syfrets Bank and 15 other financial
institutions.

The move by the RBZ followed concerns raised by President Robert Mugabe to
his supporters at Esidakeni Farm in Umguza on June 19 when he said FSI
Agricom gobbled up about $4 billion from the fund, leaving most of the
intended beneficiaries stranded.

Savala said FSI Agricom supported 29 964 farmers with the funds but refused
to disclose the names of the beneficiaries.

"FSI Agricom, being a private company, is bound by usual client
confidentiality and will not go about publicising individual client
information," said Savala.

Savala said FSI Agricom's out-grower model was based on criteria that have
to do with the ability to produce the crops under consideration.

"It is not based on the status of the applicant or political-party
affiliation, tribe or any such unproductive criteria," Savala said.

The Zimbabwe Independent revealed in April that Philip Chiyangwa, who was
allocated Old Citrus Farm, and Enos Chikowore who got Gombera Ranch in
Mashonaland West, were leasing them to FSI Agricom.

FSI Agricom also confirmed that it had entered contractual agreements with
over 630 A2 farmers to operate their farms.

The RBZ did not respond to questions that were faxed two weeks ago
concerning the investigations

The animals section will be devoid of any activity due to the absence of
cattle and pigs. Animals have been absent from the show for the past two
years as a result of the destruction of the livestock industry by the
government's land reform programme.

Zimbabwe Agricultural Society office manager Robin Taylor confirmed the
absence of cattle at this year's event.

"The show will be from Monday, August 25 to Saturday, August 30," Taylor
said. "A total of 380 exhibitors have booked stands to date. We expect some
500 stand holders. There won't be cattle this year."

Last year 374 exhibitors were at the event, up slightly from 345 the
previous year. In the years before the damaging agrarian reform programme,
the show used to record an average of 600 exhibitors, mainly large companies
and foreign firms.

Sources involved in the planning of the event revealed that small indigenous
entrepreneurs would dominate this year's event as was the case last year.
Out of the 374 exhibitors at last year's show, more than 50% were
flea-market traders as well as food vendors.

Only two international exhibitors attended the show last year: from Iran and
Zambia.

Independent economist John Robertson predicted gloom at the Exhibition Park
next month.

"There is very little to show," said Robertson. "Without livestock, and with
the manufacturing industry recording a further decline, there will be very
few exhibitors. At the same time the cost of running the show will be very
high. The situation will be gloomy," he said.

MDC agriculture spokesman Renson Gasela said the show would be a non-event.

"The situation does not present a conducive atmosphere for the staging of a
successful show," said Gasela. "Every sector of the economy, particularly
commercial farming and manufacturing, has collapsed. This year's edition
will decline in standards from the previous one."

Many players in industry and commerce have either scaled down operations or
virtually closed because of the economic shrinkage. The acute shortage of
foreign currency and price controls saw the closure of more than 400
companies last year.

      Zanu PF sources said Leo Mugabe's supporters - who apparently included
his sons - ganged up to attack Virginia Katyamaedza, a Zanu PF central
committee member, for allegedly switching her loyalty in the middle of the
campaign from the former Zimbabwe Football Association chair to his rival,
Artwell Seremane.

      The sources said Mugabe had given Katyamaedza - who is his mother's
younger sister - a cellular phone and money at the beginning of the campaign
for her to drum up support for him but she later abandoned him.

      The sources said this angered Mugabe after his defeat by Kindness
Paradza, the eventual winner of the heated primary race, and precipitated
the attack.

      "Leo was angered by Katyamenza's shift of support to Seremane and he
dispatched his supporters to recover the cellphone he had given her," a
source said.

      "But she refused to return the phone, saying a lot of other people had
been bribed and Leo's supporters brutally assaulted her. She was taken in an
ambulance to the police where the assailants were later fined."

      Sources said Katyamaedza was also fined because she attacked her
assailants in retaliation in front of the police. The poll was marred by
serious electoral irregularities such as bribery, treating and coercion, it
is claimed.

      "It was one of the most fraudulent elections that I have ever seen," a
senior Zanu PF official said. "You can't even get angry but just laugh about
it. Most of the votes were manufactured in hotels. It was blatant rigging
and corruption. In Chigari district for example, 26 people voted but the
votes during counting ended up being 114 when only 105 people were entitled
to vote."

      Sources said voters were made to write down their names and indicate
who they had voted for. "The-re was no secret ballot. It was
unconstitutional and worse than the old system of queuing behind your
candidate," a source said.

      Zanu PF Mashonaland West provincial chair Philip Chiyangwa confirmed
the clashes but could not give details, saying the issue was under
investigation.

      "I can confirm the incident happened but it would be inappropriate for
me as chairman of the province to comment on a matter which is currently
under investigation," he said. "Mrs Katyamaedza phoned me about it and I now
have evidence that the people who attacked her had been fined by the
police."

      Chiyangwa said the matter was now being handled by the provincial
disciplinary chair John Mafa who is also his deputy.

      "I'm also informed senior party members were paid money to facilitate
the election of certain candidates and that is also under investigation,"
Chiyangwa said. "The matter will certainly be dealt with."

      Contacted for comment Leo Mugabe said he had heard about the incident
but denied accusations that his sons and campaign manager Robert Sikhanyika
were involved in the attack.

      Paradza, former Financial Gazette journalist-turned-politician, romped
to victory with 883 votes. Mugabe won 435 votes, Seremane 273, Douglas
Mombeshora, the brother of late Makonde MP Swithun Mombeshora, 41, while
another candidate, Lahliwe Murefu, garnered only 14.

      Paradza was apparently backed by Chiyangwa, Mugabe was supported by
his mother and MP for Zvimba North, Sabina, while Murefu was supported by
Zanu PF heavyweight and Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo and deputy
Speaker of Parliament Edna Madzongwe.

Masvingo provincial administrator Alfonse Chikurira confirmed that the
government project has been stalled.

"The two companies retained their land," Chikurira said. "Government had to
turn to the Nuanetsi land where we have planted 160 hectares at the moment
and land preparation is still going on."

Anglo American Corporation spokesman Ezra Kanganga said Hippo Valley, an
Anglo subsidiary, had no arrangements to spare any land for government's
winter maize project.

"The winter maize which is being grown at Hippo Valley Estates is to
supplement the food requirements of employees of companies in the Anglo
American Group and their families," said Kanganga.

Triangle Ltd had not responded to written questions from the Independent by
yesterday.

Hippo Valley and Triangle Ltd, two multinational companies growing sugarcane
in the Lowveld, have reutilised the land used to produce the crop last year.

Last year the two companies were forced to grow about 1 600ha of maize on
their sugar cane lands. The total yield of this crop, which reportedly
averaged 2,7 tonnes a hectare under irrigation, was far lower than the
predicted five tonnes a hectare.

It was reported last year that the two companies donated scarce inputs such
as fertiliser, fuel and power to produce the maize crop which was only
enough to feed the nation for a day.

Government ended up producing only 6 000 tonnes from the 1 600 hectares
instead of the minimum 18 000 tonnes it had hoped for.

Last year the government took Zambian president Levi Mwanawasa to the
south-eastern Lowveld to show-off the winter maize crop.

Sources said government has not yet recorded tangible progress on the
Nuanetsi irrigation project, also mooted last year.

Under the project, government has contracted a Chinese company, China
International Water and Electric Corporation, to develop 100 000 hectares of
land in a deal it says will lead to Zimbabwe being restored as southern
Africa's breadbasket.

So far only 260 hectares have been cleared of which 160 hectares are ready
for planting.

The success of the project however depends on the completion of the Tokwe
Mukosi Dam whose completion has been deferred as government does not have
money to pay the contractors.

The Libyans have been in the country for the past three weeks to pursue the
establishment of a joint fuel concern to be named Tamoil-Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd.
The company would be a 50:50 partnership between Tamoil and the National Oil
Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim).

The visit to Zimbabwe by the Libyans followed President Robert Mugabe's
recent trip to Tripoli where he held talks with Muammar Gaddafi over the
fuel crisis. After Mugabe's visit, officials claimed fuel would be coming
"as soon as possible". But shortages have persisted.

Midzi said yesterday negotiations over the deal were still going on.

"Negotiations on the formation of Tamoil-Zimbabwe are still on," he said. "I
don't think it would be fair for me at this time to release any information
on that. But you will get to know very soon."

However, Midzi told parliament last November that Noczim had already entered
a deal with Tamoil.

"I would like to take this opportunity to advise the House that Noczim has
entered a joint partnership, 50:50 with Tamoil to establish Tamoil-Zimbabwe
(Pvt) Ltd," he said.

"This company is to be involved in wholesale procurement and distribution of
fuel to retail outlets which will carry the Tamoil brand."

Midzi confirmed at the time that Noczim would advance state assets as part
of capital outlay in the deal.

"As part of its contribution Noczim will put forward some of its existing
assets such as storage tanks. The proposed arrangement is not different from
the joint venture that existed between Noczim and Total Zimbabwe."

The deadlock over the sale of strategic state assets to the Libyans is at
the centre of the current negotiations. The Libyans want to buy the fuel
pipeline between Mutare and Harare that supplies fuel that comes through
Beira in Mozambique. They also want to acquire storage tanks in Msasa.

The Libyans want to achieve this by buying Noczim's 50% equity in Petrozim,
which is jointly owned by the heavily-indebted parastatal and Lonrho.
Petrozim owns the assets in question.

The Libyans also want to acquire government's 51% stake in the Oil Blending
Enterprises Ltd (Obel), which is a joint venture between government and
Total. Obel is a crucial supplier of lubricants. Government has already sold
the country's major storage tanks in Beitbridge.

Fuel industry sources said government was contemplating compulsory
acquisition of BP/Shell assets in Harare and Gweru - which are also large
facilities - to dispose of them to the Libyans who want to establish a
stranglehold on the market by becoming the major supplier, wholesaler and
retailer of fuel.

The workshop was attended by more than 200 project directors and finance
managers of ACBF-supported projects in Anglophone Africa.

"Zimbabwe is faced with implementation problems because there is a huge and
serious staff turnover in government at the present moment," Murerwa said.

Zimbabweans are resigning from the civil service to venture abroad to
countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, South Africa and
Australia. These nations have stronger currencies when compared to the
Zimbabwe dollar now said to be worth only two cents its 1995 level due to
hyperinflation.

The currency continues to depreciate weekly, sending black market rates
soaring in cities and towns.

Murerwa said because of the staff turnover, projects remained incomplete,
riling donors.

He said this could be a major reason why some donors had developed a
negative attitude towards funding projects in Zimbabwe because there were no
follow-ups.

"In Zimbabwe there is a mixed response to implementation of projects,"
Murerwa said. "There are delays in enforcing agreements and long discussions
on the clarity of some grant conditions. The planning and monitoring staff
are constantly changing jobs leading to confusion because the Finance
ministry, which implements these decisions, receives incomplete
documentation. Sometimes documents just go missing."

He said the Zimbabwean civil service was "very mobile" because of its good
educational qualifications.

"There is sometimes oversight on planning stages and delays in entry into
force of agreements. These appear to be emanating from failure to
effectively discuss clarity."

After the tour the group, which is in Zimbabwe at the invitation of the
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), will produce a documentary to be broadcast
on Russian television.

ZTA marketing and communications director Givemore Chidzidzi said the
tourism promotion body was coordinating the programme.

"Air Zimbabwe is chipping in with air fares, hotels with accommodation and
tour operators with transport," he said.

Chidzidzi said the arrival of the journalists was part of an on-going
dialogue between Zimbabwe and Russia.

Last year print journalists from Russia were in the country on a similar
exercise.

Economist John Robertson while lauding ZTA efforts, said the marketing
thrust should have targeted richer nations.

"Although there are some rich people in Russia, our thrust should have been
around the wealthy markets such as the European and North American markets,"
he said.

He said if the thrust was on wealthy nations, the industry would witness
more tourist inflows.

Robertson said more work needed to be done including tidying up the customs
department and creating a tourism-friendly environment.

He said there was still a long way to go before the tourism industry
recovered.

Last month a delegation from the American Travel Bureau (ATB) lambasted
ZTA's marketing strategy saying it was too shallow to attract international
tourists.

ATB, an American travel agency that helps establish relationships between
travel, business and tourism industry, said there was need for a complete
overhaul of the marketing strategies for the Zimbabwean tourism industry.

"We have had an exceptional experience on fabulous locations," ATB's sales
and marketing vice president Ray Gary told reporters after the tour.

"But the biggest impact above everything else was the people. Those who have
never been here before do not understand what Zimbabwe is."

The slump in tourist arrivals has impacted negatively on tourism revenue.

Receipts from the industry tumbled to US$75,7 million in 2002 from an all

time high of US$201,6 million in 1999.

According to World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), directly and
indirectly the travel and tourism industry constitutes 11% of global gross
domestic product (GDP) (US$3,575 billion) and accounted for 8% of worldwide
employment.

It estimated that by 2010, the travel and tourism economy's contribution is
estimated to grow to 11,6% (US$6,591 billion) of global GDP.

None of that happened. Instead, the roll-call of those arrested grew.
Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa said there was no question of repealing
Posa so long as it represented such a handy weapon for dealing with the MDC.

But none of this deterred the intrepid South African leader. He seemed to
know better. He told the World Economic Forum in Durban last month that the
Zimbabwe crisis would be resolved within a year.

Why should we believe him?

Because this time, we gather, he stands on firmer ground. Mugabe has finally
understood the need to remove the single biggest obstacle to a resolution of
the rapidly-deteriorating Zimbabwe crisis - himself.

He may go as early as December, we have been told by negotiators.

Whether he does or not remains to be seen. But the South Africans believe
they have an unambiguous commitment to "leadership renewal" in Harare. We
just wish they would share it with us! But there are some grounds for
optimisim.

Bush is not likely to have swallowed hook, line and sinker assurances from
Mbeki unless they were backed by his own assessment of the situation in
Harare. He will have been glad to have Mbeki's undertaking. Now he can say
publicly that the South Africans have all this in hand. Mbeki, as Bush's
"point man", will be accountable to the US for whatever progress is - or
isn't - made on the Zimbabwe issue.

This places Mbeki on the spot. It is the price he will pay for Washington's
temporarily lowered voice. But it is a heavy responsibility. He will
actually have to deliver on what he has promised. That's the hard bit.

Mugabe may indeed have agreed to go. Which may take the heat off Olusegun
Obasanjo at the Abuja Chogm in December and even allow Mbeki a Mugabe-free
South African parliamentary poll in April or June. But Zimbabwe's political
problems will be only just beginning.

Mugabe cannot foist his favoured successor on an unwilling party. What is
currently a carefully orchestrated debate is likely to become a messy fight
when the gloves come off. And if he wants any constitutional changes to
smooth the process, that will mean securing the cooperation of the MDC,
something that clearly sticks in the president's throat.

The MDC have a few constitutional changes of their own in mind. They are
unlikely to consent to participation in an election as flawed as the last.
So just when we thought one roadblock had been removed, others will appear.

The Americans will not remain muted for long. Bush's comments in Botswana
suggest they will remain focused on the governance issue. Colin Powell's
article in the New York Times remains the policy template whatever his
detractors may hope.

Mbeki has bought himself at best a couple of months of peace and quiet. But
his assurances to Bush are being kept on the front burner. This isn't going
to go away until Mugabe fulfils his undertaking to Mbeki. That is the ball
we are all watching.

While we understandably focus on political problems, it is necessary to
identify the inflation monster and insist on policies that address the
consequent crisis rather than accepting it as a way of life.

However, there appears to be little discussion on the issue of transitional
justice, on the processes available and appropriate to secure justice for
the victims of gross and systematic human rights violations perpetrated by
state officials or with the acquiescence of the state.

Securing justice, to mean accountability and punishment for perpetrators on
the one hand, and reparations or redress for victims on the other hand, is
not simply a moral imperative. It is a political necessity to combat a
culture of impunity stretching unbroken from colonial times through the
Smith regime and the Gukurahundi violations in Matabeleland and Midlands in
the 1980s to the present wave of organised violence and torture which have
been particularly marked since April 2000. Only true justice will convey the
hard message to present and future generations that perpetrators of
politically-motivated acts of torture and assault will be held accountable
and punished. Equally, only true justice for the victims of such gross human
rights abuses will assuage their feelings for revenge through unlawful
means.

What little discussion there has been concerning transitional justice has
largely been confined to the question of amnesty for perpetrators of gross
human rights violations, notably for President Robert Mugabe himself. While
amnesty may be politically expedient for contesting political parties and
may facilitate a smooth political transition in the name of reconciliation,
it will not deliver truth or justice.

In any event, national amnesties do not protect individuals from
international prosecution either by other states using the principle of
universal jurisdiction or by the recently-established International Criminal
Court. This reflects the requirement under international law that states
have an obligation to ensure reparation for victims of systematic human
rights violations, as so clearly spelt out by the UN Human Rights Committee
in its reference to the torture provision in the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (which Zimbabwe has ratified): "Amnesties are
generally incompatible with the duty of states to investigate such acts; to
guarantee freedom from such acts within their jurisdiction; and to ensure
that they do not occur in the future.

States may not deprive individuals of the right to an effective remedy,
including compensation and such full rehabilitation as may be possible."
This explains why the UN decided to prosecute the notorious Foday Sankoh of
Sierra Leone.

Clearly, if perpetrators of organised violence and torture in Zimbabwe are
to be held accountable for their crimes, and if victims are to receive
redress including restitution, compensation and rehabilitation, a mechanism
that reflects the country's particular circumstances must be established to
achieve this - circumstances that include the nature and extent of the gross
and systematic human rights violations that have taken place, the profile of
the perpetrators from so-called "war veterans", youth militia and political
party supporters through to police and army personnel, and the profile of
the victims themselves, from victims of specific acts of violence and
torture to those who have generally suffered from civil and political
conflict. And the views of all Zimbabweans, not just politicians but
victims, their families and civil society as a whole, must be sought in
determining a national process likely to deliver truth, justice and an end
to impunity for state-sanctioned violence and torture.

However, failure to provide justice at the national level for gross and
systematic human rights violations does not mean that justice shall be
denied. The last 10 years have witnessed remarkable developments in the
machinery of international justice and the application of international
conventional and customary law regarding genocide, war crimes and "crimes
against humanity" where these include torture and other crimes committed
against civilians as part of a widespread or systematic process induced by a
state or government. Such developments in international human rights law
that spring to mind include the establishment of the International Criminal
Court in April 2002, the arrest of General Pinochet in 1998 under the
principle of universal jurisdiction, and the establishment in quick
succession of international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia,
Rwanda, East Timor and Sierra Leone and the subsequent stream of
indictments, trials and convictions under these tribunals.

Not only is torture prohibited in terms of various international treaties,
such as the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention
against Torture, but its prohibition has the status of jus cogens, the
highest status in international law. This status means that states, as
members of the international community responsible for upholding
international law, are obliged to prosecute and punish alleged torturers
regardless of their nationality or where the torture was committed. In terms
of the Convention against Torture parties are required to prosecute alleged
torturers or extradite them to countries that will do so and it was under
this principle of universal jurisdiction that Pinochet was arrested in
Britain and his extradition sought by Spain. And as the Pinochet case
established as an historic precedent, the jus cogens status of torture means
that former heads of state and their officials are no longer immune from
international prosecution for crimes against humanity committed whilst in
power.

Article 27 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court states that no
government official, elected or otherwise, shall be immune or exempt from
"criminal responsibility under this Statute", and Article 29 reflects
international convention in declaring that "the crimes within the
jurisdiction of the court shall not be subject to any statute of
limitation". Whilst Zimbabwe has not ratified the Statute and is therefore
not bound by it, ratification by a future government in Zimbabwe or
jurisdiction through a UN Security Council resolution means that those
responsible for directing, inflicting or condoning torture and like crimes
may well find themselves before the court or must live with this prospect
for the rest of their lives.

To borrow the words of the eminent jurist, Geoffrey Robertson QC, "the
concept of universal jurisdiction for crimes against humanity is the
solution that international law offers to the spectacle of impunity for
tyrants and torturers who cover themselves with domestic immunities,
amnesties and pardons. They can still hide, but in a world where
jurisdiction over their crimes is universal, they cannot run."

Rob Monroe is a civic activist.

Another definition of "ruling" is to simply have the wherewithal, usually
military, but also possibly economic and psychological, to keep the populace
in line. "Ruling" here means being "in power" in the strict controlling,
intimidatory sense. This is the only definition of ruling that matters to
President Mugabe and his regime. Critics, myself included, who point to all
the ways that Mugabe is failing to rule under the first definition are in a
way really missing the point.

We are judging an orange by the standard of an apple. Mugabe does not see
300% inflation, 70% unemployment, lack of fuel and bank notes, donor
dependency and all the other maladies afflicting Zimbabwe as his failure to
rule because his standard and judgement of his success as a ruler are simply
that he is still in power! The fact that he has control over the instruments
of coercion, such as the police, army, militia, propaganda machinery, is not
a means to an end, such as to protect the populace from foreign attack as it
would be under the first definition.

That control is the end in itself, and because he is still able to exercise
it, he is "successful". The only way he could be shown to be unsuccessful is
not by pointing out all the things that can be objectively shown not to be
working, but by no longer being in power. Let me use some recent examples to
show how Mugabe and the rest of his regime speak and act in ways that make
it clear what they have in mind when they think of what successful ruling is
all about.

Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo, one of Mugabe's more lacklustre
henchmen, has "succeeded" at ruling more than Elias Mudzuri, the MDC mayor
of Harare he recently suspended for dubious reasons. In his short time in
office, Mudzuri began to make changes to how council went about its work in
ways many residents had begun to appreciate and comment on. This was a
dangerous precedent for Mugabe and Co because it showed up their
deficiencies over the years.

In one of the few high profile positions of real power occupied by an
opposition official, it also dangerously suggested to the public that even
under very trying conditions, the opposition party could also outperform the
long entrenched ruling party in other areas. It didn't help Mudzuri at all
that he threatened to unearth two decades of Zanu PF corruption at what had
become a cash cow for the ruling party. He had to go, and Chombo rose to the
task of ensuring he did.

Now that Mudzuri has been pushed aside, all the alleged inadequacies Chombo
said he was so worried about on behalf of the residents have not been heard
about again. It is better to let the capital city slide backwards in so many
ways, as long as all have been shown who is really "in charge," meaning with
the instruments to push the other around, not to bring about any positive
changes. That's a classical case of Zanu PF showing how it is "ruling".

The president and the whole state propaganda machinery this past week went
to town about the "confidence" shown in Zimbabwe by the African Union
appointing Mugabe to some vice-chairmanship, one of five routine ones. This
"triumph" is apparently more significant than the fact that in the whole
southern Africa region, despite Zimbabwe having the second most developed
economy, it is shrinking faster than any other, and has the kind of problems
that even a banana republic would be ashamed to be experiencing.

The mere attendance of the meeting, deliciously crowned by chairing some
irrelevant committee, is more a sign of being "in power" than the fact that
he is completely helpless to do anything positive for his country with that
power. Instead of being embarrassed that he was the only president of a
country with no fuel and an insufficient amount of its own bank notes, he
actually revels in his mere presence at the meeting, describing the summit
as the "best ever", which it seems to be every year that he attends, despite
his country being significantly poorer each year.

The state propaganda machinery was particularly delighted that demonstrators
in Senegal and South Africa welcomed visiting US president George W Bush
with some rude placards. It was completely lost on them that it is a sign of
democratic maturity and self-confidence that these two countries did not
feel they had to censor the free expression of their citizens' feelings
about Bush. The same state machinery that loved free expression in those
countries sends its army, armed to the teeth to prevent similar mild
protests here at home. The fact that this is contradictory is neither here
nor there, the point is that "we are in power and have the ability to force
those inconsistencies and double standards on you".

The standard of ruling has sunk so low that all that matters, above any sign
of failure you may care to point at, is whether the regime is still in
control of people, even if it is no longer in control of events. It is
useful to keep this in mind when we complain, actually naively believing we
will be heard, or when we urge the opposition to simply "put aside their
pride for the good of the nation and talk to their tormentors". What a lot
of us hope for when we utter these reasonable sweet-sounding nothings, and
what the regime has in mind, are two completely different things.

Chido Makunike is a Harare-based commentator on social issues.