JOHANNESBURG - The crisis in Zimbabwe over demands by landless blacks
for white-owned farms has moved to the cities with the deployment of government
troops to urban opposition strongholds, says opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Mr. Tsvangirai, whose Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
formally challenged June election results in 28 districts yesterday, told
business leaders during an appearance in Johannesburg that his party would
aggressively confront President Robert Mugabe's government in court and in
parliament.
"We are going to . . . tear [the government's program]
apart. At every stage we will exploit opportunities" to challenge the ruling
party over tenders, procedures and governance, he said.
His remarks
Tuesday came as at least 230 white farmers quit working and businessmen in a
provincial town shut down stores in the country's biggest action so far to
protest a breakdown in law and order, farm union officials said.
The
rising urban tension is focused in the capital, Harare, where parliament opened
last week with thousands of opposition supporters chanting anti-government
slogans in the streets.
The ruling Zimbabwe African National
Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) "has to go through some culture shock. If we can
make the government accountable, we will have made a very significant impact,"
Mr. Tsvangirai said in Johannesburg.
He told The Washington Times later
that he had received conciliatory back-channel communications from business
officials connected with the ruling party. But he added that he was not sure
whether they represented the views of Mr. Mugabe or merely concerned
businesses.
"It may be because their businesses are suffering and they
know they can't get going unless we compromise," Mr. Tsvangirai said.
In
another possible sign of conciliation, a ZANU-PF official yesterday called on
black squatters now occupying hundreds of white-owned farms to stop disrupting
farm operations.
The seizures are of deep concern in South Africa, where
a poll released yesterday showed that 70 percent of whites and 51 percent of
blacks believe similar farm invasions are possible. Only 28 percent of the 1,000
people surveyed found the prospect unlikely.
The survey also found that
76 percent of whites and 57 percent of blacks blamed Mr. Mugabe for the
invasions, saying he had not managed land reform properly.
Yesterday was
the deadline for filing court actions to overturn last month's parliamentary
elections in which Mr. Tsvangirai's MDC stunned the ruling party by winning 57
of 120 seats despite widespread violence and political intimidation.
The
party's legal chief, David Coltart, said the MDC had filed challenges in 28
voting districts, in addition to seven races that were challenged
earlier.
The first court-ordered recounts are already under way in two
constituencies, where MDC lawyers said they have found evidence of massive
double voting.
The MDC would have to win 19 of its challenges to secure
a majority in the 150-seat parliament, which includes 30 unelected members
appointed by Mr. Mugabe.
"There is a massive amount of evidence. Most
cases it is evidence of political intimidation. These will all go to full-blown
trials," Mr. Coltart said.
The state-owned Herald newspaper, meanwhile,
reported that civilians had filed at least 21 criminal charges against army
troops in Harare's densely populated townships that voted overwhelmingly for the
MDC.
Soldiers and police have been used to break up public gatherings,
opposition victory celebrations and crowds outside nightclubs.
The
troops have been deployed since shortly after the election results were
announced June 26, but anger and fear surrounding their presence has grown since
Mr. Mugabe was heckled at the opening of parliament.
At the time, he
angrily replied that he would not hesitate to use the apparatus of state
security in response to insults to state and national leaders.
"There
have been confirmed reports of soldiers and police beating up civilians. Those .
. . appear to be vigilante groups or unauthorized groups within the military,"
said Tony Reeler, head of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum.
London, July 27 (Bloomberg) -- Civil rights groups and labor unions in Zimbabwe are considering calling a national strike next week in protest against growing lawlessness in which government opponents have been attacked and as many as 1,650 mainly white- owned farms occupied by armed squatters, the Financial Times reported. The protest follows a week in which commercial farmers have shut down operations to persuade President Robert Mugabe to order an end to the land invasions. The largest stoppage, which affected 300 farms in the tobacco farming area of Karoi in northern Zimbabwe, is due to end today with the Commercial Farmers Union saying police have agreed to three of four conditions for a return to work, the FT said.
Mugabe's government, which was returned to power in a closely fought election last month, has done little to discourage land invasions in order to focus attention on the country's unequal land distribution.
(Financial Times, 7/27 p.10)
HARARE, (Jul. 26) IPS - Zimbabwe's main opposition party, which narrowly lost last month's parliamentary elections, has applied to the nation's High Court to anull results from 37 constituencies which it lost to the ruling party, citing massive electoral irregularities.
Today was the last day to file a complaint with the High Court.
The Electoral Act says that any challenges must be filed within 30 days after the election results have been announced.
The ruling ZANU-PF is expected to oppose the application.
But secretary general of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Welshman Ncube, said his party has a strong chance of winning in the 37 constituencies if a new vote is ordered.
In one such constituency, Mazowe East, in which the MDC is challenging the results, it was alleged that dead people and people from different constituencies had voted.
Shepherd Mushonga, the MDC's candidate in the constituency, claimed that some people had voted twice, prompting the High Court to order a recount which was conducted yesterday.
Well before the final count, Mushonga lodged an application with High Court saying there was enough evidence of irregularities to call for an anullment.
Former minister of information Chen Chimutengwende, who won the election, had initially opposed the recount, insisting the voting was free and fair.
Chimutengwende won 18,824 votes to Mushonga's 7,473.
"There were unacceptable levels of intimidation in these constituencies," says Ncube. "There was obvious cheating."
Zimbabwe's first black chief justice of the Supreme Court also said the parliamentary elections were not free and fair.
Retired chief justice Enoch Dumbutshena said people in rural areas had voted for the ruling party because they feared for their lives if the ruling candidates lost those constituencies.
Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections, held last month, have been roundly condemned by international observers and human rights as seriously flawed. Attacks on opposition members left 32 people dead and hundreds injured prior to the vote.
The ruling ZANU-PF party has been in power since the country attained independence in 1980.
Political analysts claim that in the absence of such violence and intimidation, the opposition MDC would have won.
The ruling ZANU-PF party won 62 out of the 120 elected seats. The MDC won 57 and another small party won one seat.
"In this past election, I have never seen a party that has conducted such brutal reaction on its own people, killing people just because they belong to an opposition party and not only that, brutalizing the teachers and schools being closed and so forth," says Dumbutshena. "It had a tremendous effect on the morale of the people, especially those in rural areas."
Intimidation appears to still be occurring even after the elections. In the capital of Harare, residents say they are living in fear after the Zimbabwean army deployed its members in what the police have called "flash points" to suppress lawlessness.
The operation is widely viewed as retribution by the government against Harare residents who voted for the MDC. The ruling party failed to win any seat in the urban areas.
Citizens say they have been slapped, kicked and beaten with the butts of rifles. In some suburbs, beer drinkers now have to go home early, just after dusk, for fear of meeting the patrols.
While people wait for the outcome of the court applications, the economy continues to take a beating. Economists have said foreign aid is unlikely to resume this year as the biggest donors are waiting to see how allegations of campaign violence and ballot- rigging are resolved.
A confident Learnmore Jongwe, MDC spokesperson, told IPS his party has gathered substantial evidence of electoral fraud in some constituencies.
Jongwe says the MDC has video evidence of harassment and the burning of its supporters' homes, and it wants the court to nullify results in the affected areas and call for fresh polls.
Copyright (c) IPS-Inter Press Service.
HARARE, July 24 (Reuters) - Zimbabwean industrialists on Thursday urged President Robert Mugabe's government to devalue the local dollar, saying such a move would ease a foreign currency shortage that threatened businesses with collapse.
"The problem of foreign currency shortage has hit industry hard, resulting in some businesses collapsing or being pushed to the verge of collapse," Callisto Jokonya told delegates to the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries' annual congress.
"Most have adopted survival strategies such as a shorter working week," added Jokonya, president of the CZI branch in Mashonaland province.
The Zimbabwe dollar has been artificially held at around 38 to the U.S. unit since commercial banks adopted a fixed rate exchange policy in January 1999.
The unit was trading at over 60 against the U.S. dollar in a parallel grey market on Thursday.
Delegates told the conference that the artificially strong currency had undermined the country's export competitiveness.
"The ultimate solution lies in the adjustment of the exchange rate and the achievement of macro-economic stability," Jokonya said.
The southern African country is in the throes of its worst economic crisis in decades, with inflation at 60 percent and lending rates at around 70 percent. Western diplomats have said for months that a devaluation of the Zimbabwe unit is a key condition for a resumption of talks on suspended foreign aid. Commercial farmers complain the rate means they are unable to earn enough to cover their costs.
The government earlier this month rejected a devaluation on the grounds that it posed a serious threat to the economy.
Trade and Industry Minister Nkosana Moyo told the CZI meeting on Thursday that a devaluation would also make servicing the government's external debt more expensive.
Instead, businesses should take advantage of regional trade agreements expected to come on stream later in the year, he said.
These include the Southern African Development Community Trade Protocol and the Common Market for East and Southern African Free Trade Area. The latter envisages free trade within the next decade.
Moyo said the manufacturing sector had an average growth rate of 0.2 percent between 1985 and 1999, and its contribution to gross domestic product had fallen to 15 percent from 25 percent in the 1980s. "Clearly for an economy which is supposed to have an export-led growth strategy, we need to do better than this," Moyo said.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (PANA) (Panafrican News Agency, July 26, 2000) - Zimbabwe's white farmers, besieged by renewed forcible occupations of their properties by independence war veterans demanding land reform, Wednesday applied to the High Court for President Robert Mugabe's trial for his role in the farm seizures.
The Zimbabwean leader has given support to the war veterans in their actions, which have led to a shut down of operations at white-owned farms in several parts of the country in the last two weeks.
But the Commercial Farmers Union, which mainly represents the interests of the white farmers, said it would withdraw the lawsuit against Mugabe if he immediately intervened and ordered the war veterans to leave the farms.
It also named police commissioner Augustine Chihuri and war veterans' leader Chenjerai Hunzvi as other respondents in the case, which political analysts said was a legal test case as the Zimbabwean leader enjoys constitutional immunity from prosecution while in office.
Chihuri is being accused of not enforcing the rule of law, and Hunzvi of leading the farm occupations, which had increased in the past two weeks.
In its court application, the Commercial Farmers Union said Mugabe had been cited as a respondent "because of the material role that he has played in the persistence of the farm invasions."
The government wants to take half of the 12 million hectares, constituting 70 percent of the country's arable land, which Zimbabwe's 4,500 white farmers own for redistribution to landless blacks.
It has also said Britain, the country's former colonial power, should pay for the confiscated farms as agreed in an independence deal 20 years ago, a demand London has rejected.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (PANA) (Panafrican News Agency, July 26, 2000) - Two opposition party candidates Wednesday petitioned Zimbabwe's High Court to nullify June's parliamentary election results in constituencies won by President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party.
Shepherd Mushonga of the Movement for Democratic Change or MDC said a re- count of ballot papers for Mazoe East constituency Tuesday, ordered by the High Court earlier, had unearthed serious electoral irregularities to warrant the nullification of the result.
He polled 7,473 votes against 18,824 for the ruling party's Chen Chimutengwende, a former minister of information. President Mugabe dropped Chimutengwende in a post-election cabinet shake-up.
The MDC, which won 57 seats to ZANU-PF's 62 in the 24-25 June election, has said it would contest the poll results in 28 constituencies before the 30-day deadline lapses Thursday.
The leader of the party, Morgan Tsvangirai, also filed an application in the High Court Wednesday challenging the election results in the Buhera South constituency where he lost by more than 2,000 votes to the ruling party's Kenneth Manyonda.
He is arguing that pre-election violence against his party's members by ZANU- PF supporters cost him the election, and also wants the court to order a re- count of the votes.
In a re-count of ballot papers for the Mazoe East constituency Tuesday, dead people were discovered to have voted, while others voted twice.
A ZANU-PF candidate, breaking party policy, also filed an application Wednesday in the High Court seeking a nullification of election results in Seke constituency where he lost to the MDC.
Phineas Chihota said more than 4,000 of his supporters were turned away from polling booths, which cost him the election to Bennie Tumbare-Mutasa who got 10,821 votes compared to 9,236 that he garnered.
The High Court can nullify the election results and order a re-run.
by Rangarirai Shoko
Lusaka (Post of Zambia, July 26, 2000) - We are fighting mighty forces but we're not daunted, said Zimbabwean High Commissioner to Zambia Tirivafi John Kangai yesterday. Commenting on the United States' Zimbabwe Democracy Act 2000 Bill, High Commissioner Kangai said the land in Zimbabwe belonged to indigenous Zimbabweans and it had to be retaken from the Whites who forcefully grabbed it in the early days of colonisation.
"Western powers don't like political parties which brought independence to the continent to continue in power, they want puppet government's which don't appreciate African nationalism," High Commissioner Kangai said.
He accused the West of having funded Zimbabwe's main opposition MDC in last month's parliamentary elections.
"Their idea is to have government which plays to their tune and doesn't threaten their interests," High Commissioner Kangai said. "Nothing will stop us from ensuring that the land problem was solved and had it not been for the Whites' adamancy, this issue would have been resolved in the 1960s."
He said the Zimbabwe Democracy Act 2000 Bill was a baby of unscrupulous co-ordination between Britain and the United States.
High Commissioner Kangai said both Britain and the United States had corporate interests in Zimbabwe and as such would do anything to frustrate the Robert Mugabe led ZANU-PF government so that the electorate chooses an alternative party during any given elections.
He said the United States was influenced after consistent lobbying by Britain to have all major Western proper, Scandinavian and other influential donors withhold aid to Zimbabwe.
"That Act was drafted long before the elections and therefore whatever it contains does not have anything to do with the outcome of the elections or the clashes arising of land disputes. It was premeditated and would still have been effected anyway," High Commissioner Kangai said.
The Bill, among others, seeks to prohibit aid or debt relief to Zimbabwe as well as opposing assistance from international financial institutions to which the United States is a member.
These include the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
High Commissioner Kangai accused the Western media of bias and unprofessionalism following what he termed as their "war-like approach" on Zimbabwe.
He said he once had respect for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) but his position was now different following its subjectivity.
"Even BBC was total war but it's because the British enlisted the support of the Western media, both in the U.K and the U.S." he said.
High Commissioner Kangai said many "spanners" had been thrown into the way of the ruling ZANU-PF by the West to manipulate the opinion of Zimbabwean voters but this would be resisted.
He cited the fuel shortages and food price increases as some of the ways in which this was to be effected.
By Douglas Hampande
London (Amnesty International, July 26, 2000) - Violent attacks and death threats against members and supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party following the 25 June parliamentary election in Zimbabwe are continuing, Amnesty International said today.
Amnesty International is particularly concerned by reports of soldiers beating civilians in suburbs of Harare and Kwekwe because they live in areas where people voted for the opposition. Death threats have reportedly been made by high ranking ruling party officials against Bulawayo South MDC Member of Parliament (MP) David Coltart and others.
In light of the pre-election violence, during which at least 30 MDC members were killed, Amnesty International takes these threats seriously. In Kwekwe, an MDC ward chairperson -- Mutyanda Mandishona -- was beaten to death on 28 June.
In the period leading up to the election, the MDC MP for Kwekwe, Blessing Chebundo, was severely intimidated and his house totally destroyed by fire. Similarly, his campaign manager, Abraham Mtshena, had his family beaten and his house destroyed by fire.
One of his sons suffered from burns and had to be hospitalized. All these cases have been reported to the police, who to Amnesty International's knowledge has yet to take any action.
On 28 June, three days after the elections, Edwin Mushoriwa, the MDC MP for the Harare constituency of Dzivarasekwa, and MDC supporters were beaten by members of the army. At a rally authorized by the police, around 100 MDC supporters were celebrating their election victory when a truckload of soldiers arrived and beat them with rifle butts.
At least five MDC supporters were hospitalised. These cases are part of a disturbing pattern of violence and intimidation against real and perceived government opponents in the post-election period.
The security forces are reportedly involved in some of the violent incidents and intimidation. "Recent moves by the opposition to contest some of the election results may lead to more violence by government supporters.
Thousands of Amnesty International members are writing to the government of Zimbabwe appealing for protection of opposition supporters and members," the organization said. Amnesty International is calling on the Minister of Defense to investigate reports of soldiers beating civilians and to bring perpetrators to justice.
For further information, contact Amnesty International, 1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ,+44-71-413-5500 ,+44-71-956-1157. Email: amnesty@amnesty.org. Web: http://www.amnesty.org/. You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting Amnesty International and this footer remain intact.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (PANA) (Panafrican News Agency, July 26, 2000) - Two opposition party candidates Wednesday petitioned Zimbabwe's High Court to nullify June's parliamentary election results in constituencies won by President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party.
Shepherd Mushonga of the Movement for Democratic Change or MDC said a re- count of ballot papers for Mazoe East constituency Tuesday, ordered by the High Court earlier, had unearthed serious electoral irregularities to warrant the nullification of the result.
He polled 7,473 votes against 18,824 for the ruling party's Chen Chimutengwende, a former minister of information. President Mugabe dropped Chimutengwende in a post-election cabinet shake-up.
The MDC, which won 57 seats to ZANU-PF's 62 in the 24-25 June election, has said it would contest the poll results in 28 constituencies before the 30-day deadline lapses Thursday.
The leader of the party, Morgan Tsvangirai, also filed an application in the High Court Wednesday challenging the election results in the Buhera South constituency where he lost by more than 2,000 votes to the ruling party's Kenneth Manyonda.
He is arguing that pre-election violence against his party's members by ZANU- PF supporters cost him the election, and also wants the court to order a re- count of the votes.
In a re-count of ballot papers for the Mazoe East constituency Tuesday, dead people were discovered to have voted, while others voted twice.
A ZANU-PF candidate, breaking party policy, also filed an application Wednesday in the High Court seeking a nullification of election results in Seke constituency where he lost to the MDC.
Phineas Chihota said more than 4,000 of his supporters were turned away from polling booths, which cost him the election to Bennie Tumbare-Mutasa who got 10,821 votes compared to 9,236 that he garnered.
The High Court can nullify the election results and order a re-run.
by Rangarirai Shoko
| COMMANDED
by a handful of warlords, squatters on Zimbabwe's white farms are defying government
calls for restraint and confronting President Robert Mugabe with
the dilemma of how to control the mobs he has unleashed.
The invaders, who occupy 1,100 properties, have ignored official appeals for them to allow routine work to resume on the farms. Police have been unable to curb daily violence, aimed mainly at black labourers. Since the farm invasions began in February - with Mr Mugabe's support - thousands of people have taken advantage of the suspension of law and order to grab white land and profit from petty crime. Although they claim to be veterans of the war against white rule and declare loyalty to the president, they are beyond the control of the authorities. The farmers are planning a national strike next week to demand the restoration of order, which could be joined by industrial firms and trade unions. Warlords have seized control over many areas. Around Mazowe, 30 miles north of Harare, squatters are led by shadowy figures known as Comrade Zimbabwe and Comrade Top-ten. They single out farms for invasion and allocate captured land to their followers, often demanding payment. Comrade Zimbabwe told one farmer: "You can tell Mugabe that I am the government. I do not take orders from him, he takes orders from me. I am the law. It just shows what happens when you unleash a mob. You find it impossible to rein them in again." Worse still, many of the warlords have access to firearms, which landowners suspect were supplied by the government's Central Intelligence Organisation. Agnes Rusike, who commands the squatters around Norton, south west of Harare, was seen carrying an AK-47 assault rifle last week. Bursts of automatic gunfire are frequently heard from squatter camps at the nearby Parklands farm. Another figure who has earned notoriety is Thomas Majuru, who commands the invasions around Mvurwi, north of Harare. A dozen warlords have been placed above the law and their defiance of the government has become increasingly open. One farmer said: "Every leader I've spoken to has said, 'Who is Mugabe, we don't listen to Mugabe, we are the government, we are in control, this is our land.' This thing has been out of control for months now." Even Chenjerai "Hitler" Hunzvi, leader of the war veterans, who claims to have started the land invasions, is treated with contempt by many squatters. The Commercial Farmers' Union estimates the invaders to number no more than 12,000 and believes that a combined army and police operation could easily evict them. Yet Mr Mugabe has repeatedly pledged he will "never" deploy the armed forces against "our people who have settled on the farms". Appeals for restraint will have no effect and despairing farmers see a national strike as their last hope to end the crisis. At least 50 landowners around Macheke and Virginia closed down at 6am yesterday, ending all preparation for next year's tobacco crop, the mainstay of Zimbabwe's crisis-hit economy |