TIME
A machete attack on an
MDC MP betrays the growing tensions in the effort to
beat President Robert
Mugabe
By MEGAN LINDOW
Saturday, Jul 8,
2006
Trudy Stevenson is by no means the first Member of Parliament from
Zimbabwe's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (mdc), to
suffer political violence. Stevenson and four colleagues were leaving a
political gathering outside Harare earlier this month when, they say, they
were attacked by about 40 youths wielding sticks, stones and a machete. "I
knew they wanted to kill me," Stevenson later told a London Times reporter
from her hospital bed, while recovering from head injuries, a broken arm and
multiple bruises. "They kept hitting my head with rocks. I could feel the
blood running down my neck."
Normally in Zimbabwe, such violence is
blamed on supporters of President
Robert Mugabe. But Stevenson insists that
she recognized some of her
assailants as belonging to a rival faction of her
own mdc party. The
incident has added an ugly new dimension to the
infighting that has lately
plagued the opposition, perhaps weakening it to
the point of collapse.
Stevenson is one of several high-ranking party
officials who broke ties with
founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai late last
year, citing autocratic leanings
and a growing tendency for violence by his
supporters.
Tsvangirai promptly condemned the attack on Stevenson, and
promised to expel
anyone found to be responsible. His detractors in the mdc
and Mugabe's
ruling zanu-pf party both seized on the incident to claim he
has brutal
ambitions. Stevenson said she was attacked because she had been
working in
an area known to be a Tsvangirai stronghold.
But Roy
Bennett, a former M.P. with close ties to Tsvangirai who is
currently trying
to seek asylum in South Africa gave a different
explanation. He told Time
that members of zanu-pf had infiltrated the mdc
and orchestrated both the
attack on Stevenson and the split within the party
in order to undermine the
opposition. "We believe they orchestrated the
attack on Trudy to make it
look like it was us," he said. Bennett said that
the mdc had launched an
independent investigation into the attack, and
remained committed to
resolving differences within the party peacefully.
Even so, to some
observers the incident suggests how the mdc, which has
renounced violence,
has been corroded by Mugabe's rule. "The attack confirms
that all
Zimbabweans are victims of a political culture of violence," says
University
of Zimbabwe political scientist John Makumbe. "This should be a
wake-up call
for both factions. We are now eating each other instead of
focusing on the
real crisis in this country."
With zanu-pf itself riven by political
infighting and economic meltdown, and
some analysts predicting that Mugabe's
rule will collapse before the end of
the year, the turmoil within the mdc
raises further questions about
Zimbabwe's prospects for future stability. "I
hope the two sides will come
back together in the end, but in the short term
I don't see that happening,"
says journalist Andrew Meldrum, author of a
recent memoir on Zimbabwe. "At
this point it's the Zimbabwean people who are
the losers, because they are
looking for an effective opposition against
Robert Mugabe, and they don't
have that."
Zim Standard
BY
WALTER MARWIZI & CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
MEDIATION efforts
by former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa
over a dispute between Zimbabwe
and Britain are doomed to fail and may be a
ploy by President Robert Mugabe
to buy time, it emerged yesterday.
After stubbornly spurning
advice to engage the international
community for some years, Mugabe made a
dramatic policy shift, telling
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan
last week that he wanted his
dispute with Britain resolved through a
mediator.
Annan was due to visit Zimbabwe on a fact-finding
mission on the
widely condemned "Operation
Murambatsvina".
Annan, who met Mugabe on the sidelines of a
Seventh African
Union Summit in Banjul, the Gambia, said he had decided to
cancel his visit
because: "We both agreed that he (Mkapa) should be given
the time and space
to do his work."
This effectively let
Mugabe off the hook. Annan's visit would
have, once again, put under the
international spotlight the plight of
hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans
who are living in the open after their
houses were destroyed in the clean up
operation in May last year.
It could have been yet another
major embarrassment for Mugabe
who had promised the world that his
government would build houses for the
victims.
Analysts
were last week quick to say that, apart from preventing
Annan from seeing
the humanitarian catastrophe in Zimbabwe, the Mkapa
initiative could only
benefit Mugabe whose term of office expires in less
than two years. Mkapa's
diplomatic manoeuvres would take months, giving
Mugabe much-needed breathing
space, they said.
Brian Raftopoulos, a former professor of
political science at
the Institute of Development Studies at the University
of Zimbabwe, now
heading the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation in
Cape Town, said
Mugabe might be making calculated
manoeuvres.
"Kofi Annan is a lame duck. Mugabe knows that his
term in office
ends at the end of this year," he told
IPS.
Raftopoulos said the former Tanzanian president would
also not
be an impartial intermediator. "Mkapa is an ally of Mugabe. He will
not be
an effective mediator but an effective messenger of Mugabe
internationally,"
noted Raftopoulos.
But University of
Zimbabwe political scientist, Eldred
Masunungure, said Mugabe was now
desperate for any forms of talks that can
prevent the "dormant uprising"
that could unseat him from power.
He said Mugabe - singled
out as the architect of the people's
misery - has taken "a conciliatory
approach" with almost everyone because he
is fast-losing control of the
country as the economic crisis worsens.
"Mkapa would be
assisted by the state of the economy to persuade
Mugabe to shift from his
ruinous policies. The economy is Mugabe's soft
belly," Masunungure
said.
Keen to be seen to be addressing the Zimbabwean crisis,
Mugabe
has not only invited Mkapa to mediate but has also roped in
churches.
"They may come together one day to persuade Mugabe
to see
commonsense," he said.
Masunungure believes
Mkapa's mandate was not limited to thawing
the frosty relations between
Harare and London but also encompassing talks
with the European Union, which
imposed smart sanctions on Mugabe and his
cronies. EU diplomats were not
immediately available for comment but Britain
also announced that it was not
interested in the so-called mediation
efforts.
A senior
British diplomat last week poured cold water on Mkapa's
intended moves
saying there was no bilateral dispute between the two
countries.
This made it meaningless for anyone to engage
in mediation
efforts, Gillian Dare, the first secretary in charge of
political and public
diplomacy, at the British Embassy in Harare said. "This
is not a bilateral
dispute, so no mediation is required between Britain and
Zimbabwe," Dare
said.
She added: "No-one will be able to
help, unless President Mugabe's
policy evolves in different and sustainable
direction."
Zim Standard
By Foster
Dongozi
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's bid to control churches
was dealt a
severe blow last week when one of his praise-singers, Bishop
Peter Nemapare,
was kicked out of office at a bi-annual assembly of the
Zimbabwe Council of
Churches held in Harare on Wednesday.
Nemapare was the president of the ZCC, an umbrella body of
traditional
churches.
He was voted out by more than 55 bishops and heads
of
denominations that attended the meeting as delegates.
He had not served his full term of office.
According to
insiders who attended the meeting he was accused of
working in collusion
with the ruling party to avail Christians to Zanu PF.
Nemapare is the bishop of the African Methodist church in
Bulawayo.
Matabeleland Anglican Church Bishop, Wilson
Sitshebo, replaced
him.
The atmosphere was so highly
charged that although Nemapare
tried to contest for the posts of deputy
president, treasurer and committee
member, delegates snubbed
him.
Delegates were particularly annoyed that Nemapare and
ZCC
secretary general Denson Mafinyane were captured on television making
statements declaring their support for Zanu PF.
The
government stands accused of committing gross human rights
violations
including genocide, destroying people's homes in the middle of
winter and
electoral fraud.
Nemapare and Mafinyane were part of a group
of church leaders
who laughed uncontrollably when Mugabe made comments about
Bulawayo Catholic
Archbishop Pius Ncube.
Mafinyane
survived the purge during the week because he is
employed by the ZCC
although calls for his ouster have started.
The ZCC together
with the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference
and the Evangelical Fellowship
of Zimbabwe met Mugabe at State House where
it was agreed that the National
Day of Prayer held every year on May 25
would be scrapped and replaced with
the Zanu PF-backed Zimbabwe National Day
of Prayer.
The
Zanu PF commissariat and information departments played key
roles in
preparing for the prayers where the President warned church leaders
that
they would be dealt with "viciously" if they strayed into the political
arena.
After Nemapare, attention could now focus on the
Evangelical
Fellowship of Zimbabwe, led by Bishop Trevor Manhanga, which
will also hold
its bi-annual assembly in November to choose a new
leadership.
Manhanga and Nemapare were summoned by Harare and
Chitungwiza-based pastors to explain who had mandated them to speak to
Mugabe.
Contacted for comment Nemapare confirmed that he
was no longer
the president of the ZCC. "Yes I am no longer the president. I
have serviced
the council for quite a number of years. My term had expired
and I contested
the elections and lost."
Zim Standard
By
Nqobani Ndlovu
BULAWAYO - Authorities at the National
University of Science and
Technology (NUST) have slapped students who took
part in February
demonstrations against fee increases with fines of between
$30 and $50
million each.
Scores of protesting NUST
students who were dragged to a
disciplinary hearing have been given up to
the end of July to settle the
fines.
NUST students,
demonstrating against fee increases in February,
destroyed property worth
billions of dollars at the institution's
administration
block.
Beloved Chiweshe, the NUST Student Representative
Council (SRC)
president, confirmed that they had been slapped with fines of
between $30
and $50 million for taking part in
demonstrations.
Chiweshe said: "All of us dragged to the
disciplinary hearing
have been told to pay admission of guilt fines imposed
by the college."
Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU)
president, Promise
Mkwananzi, also confirmed that their colleagues had been
slapped with fines
for demonstrating against fee
increases.
Mkwananzi urged students not to pay the fines
noting that they
would drag NUST to court over the fines.
"As ZINASU we condemn that. We are saying that the students
should not pay
these ridiculous fines," Mkwananzi said.
"First they (fines)
are illegal as the disciplinary committee
was not properly constituted. We
will challenge that in the courts," he
said.
NUST
Director of Information and Publicity, Felix Moyo,
professed ignorance on
the fines slapped on students by the disciplinary
committee when contacted
for comment.
"Whoever released that information must be one
of the students
that were brought for disciplinary hearing," Moyo
said.
He added: "I was not part of the disciplinary committee
but as
soon as I get the official information on Tuesday during the
management
meeting, I will be able to talk about it."
Moyo could not disclose the number of students dragged to the
disciplinary
hearing as "initially it was a group but some were vetted out
after they
proved their innocence".
An increase in tuition fees sparked
a wave of demonstrations at
tertiary institutions in the country early this
year.
Most students were arrested and dragged to court for
taking part
in the demonstrations. Twenty-four students were arrested at
NUST.
Efforts to obtain comment from the Minister of Higher
and
Tertiary Education, Dr Stan Mudenge, on the unprecedented move by the
college authorities were fruitless.
But recently he said
the students should
Zim Standard
BY
Caiphas Chimhete
SECURITY FORCES closed Beitbridge Border
Post for nearly one and
half days when President Robert Mugabe visited the
town recently.
Mugabe was touring development
projects.
No vehicles were allowed near the border post by
Wednesday
afternoon although Mugabe only arrived in the small town the
following day.
Soldiers, who roamed the town even before
Mugabe's arrival,
restricted movement of people and vehicles to the dusty
locations of the
town, a gateway to South Africa.
A car
dealer who had gone to pay duty for his imported vehicle
said he arrived at
the border on Wednesday in the afternoon but was only
attended to late on
Friday.
"It was closed for the better part of Wednesday and
for the
whole of Thursday because the President was there. For a person like
me, it's
a great inconvenience because I could not do any business for two
days,"
said the dealer, who requested anonymity for fear of
victimisation.
Analysts said the closure of the country's
largest border
delayed visitors, imports and exports as well as prejudiced
Zimbabwe of
billions of dollars worthy of business.
Independent economic analyst, John Robertson, estimates that
border
generates about US$100 million worth of business a day for the
country.
"The closure could just have delayed some
imports or exports.
But if there were perishable goods such as horticultural
products then that's
where can talk of serious losses," Robertson
said.
Officials from the Horticultural Promotion Council
refused to
release loss statistics as a direct result of the closure of the
border. The
country's horticultural products are exported via South Africa
by road then
airlifted to markets such as Holland.
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) spokesperson, Priscilla
Sadomba, could
not be reached for comment.
The closure of the border is
contrary to the idea of promoting
trade and developmental projects, which
Mugabe said were being done under
the instigation of the National Economic
Development Priority Programme
(NEDPP).
The government
said it had launched the Beitbridge Town
Re-development Programme where it
made a huge injection in investment.
Zim Standard
BY
OUR STAFF
YET another veteran of Zimbabwe's liberation
struggle accused of
trying to block the ascendancy of Robert Mugabe to the
leadership of Zanu in
Mozambique over 30 years ago died three weeks ago and
was buried without any
honours.
Zimbabwe honours its
luminaries by declaring them heroes of the
liberation struggle. They are
buried at the Heroes' Acre.
But Crispen Mandizvidza, another
veteran nationalist from
Masvingo province, was buried at his farm, Binga
Estates, in Mvuma three
weeks ago.
Mandizvidza was
detained for 10 years at Sikombela and Hwa-Hwa
prisons together with Mugabe,
Edgar Tekere, Enos Nkala and the late Vice
President Simon
Muzenda.
Together with other veteran nationalists, Dzinashe
Machingura,
the late Henry Hamadziripi, Mukudzei Mudzi and Rugare Gumbo were
labelled
coup plotters in the 70s and thrown into the
pits.
The group composed largely Karanga-speaking politicians
were
accused of rebelling against the leadership of
Mugabe.
Left to rot in the infamous pits after being
sentenced to death,
the group was saved following the intervention of the
late Samora Machel,
the former president of Mozambique.
After independence, Mandizvidza maintained a low profile but
took an active
interest in Zanu PF affairs during the 90s in Masvingo. He
worked with the
late Muzenda, Eddison Zvobgo and other Masvingo politicians.
Thereafter he
again maintained a low profile until his death three weeks
ago.
His death received a total black out from the public
media and
Zanu PF. This was in spite of the fact that senior Zanu PF and
government
officials were aware of his death.
Masvingo
governor, Willard Chiwewe, Stan Mudenge, Higher and
Tertiary minister,
Samuel Mumbengegwi Zanu PF provincial chairperson, Gumbo
and Mandizvidza's
long time ally during the struggle were at the funeral.
At
his burial, Mumbengegwi, Zanu PF Masvingo provincial
chairperson, was booed
by the mourners when he tried to downplay the
blackout by the
party.
Mumbengegwi said they was no difference in a hero
being buried
at his home or at Heroes' Acre.
Mourners
felt Mandizvidza deserved hero status but had been
sidelined the way many
other Masvingo politicians had been denied the
honours.
Femias Chakabuda, a prominent Masvingo politician said: "There
was a
deliberate attempt not to report about his death, contribution and
role he
played in the national Press. It is our view that some selected
national
heroes and heroines like Mandizvidza, Samuel Munodawafa, Henry
Hamadziripi
and Sheba Tavagwisa Gava, the first Zanu woman commander who
trained Joice
Mujuru, vice president of the country have been buried by
their personal
friends and relatives at their rural homes in a country they
sacrificed
their lives. One day history will reveal the volumes of the lies
we tell our
people."
Mandizvidza's friends who attended the burial
included Solomon
Marembo, Patrick Kombayi, Machingura and MDC official, Dr
Mudzingwa.
Zim Standard
BY
OUR STAFF
BULAWAYO - The trial of a Gwanda man in
Matabeleland South who
allegedly insulted President Robert Mugabe failed to
take off last Monday
because the presiding magistrate was
unavailable.
Bassanio Chikwiriri was set to appear before
Gwanda provincial
magistrate, Douglas Zvenyika, to answer charges of
allegedly making
derogatory statements about President
Mugabe.
Chikwiriri was also set to face charges of accusing
President
Mugabe of causing the worsening economic crisis in the
country.
The case has been postponed to 18 July. Chikwiriri
was arrested
in October last year and last appeared in court on 29 May this
year. He is
out on free bail.
Thomson Mabhikwa of
Mabhikwa, Likhwa and Nyathi Legal
Practitioners confirmed that the case had
been pushed to 18 July.
Zim Standard
By our staff
BULAWAYO - Inyathi Hunters, owned by former
Governor for
Matabeleland North and ex-Zanu PF provincial chairman, Jacob
Mudenda, has
been hauled before the courts on charges of fraud for allegedly
tampering
with hunting documents leading to the killing of a
lion.
Mudenda's company, represented by Richard Ndove of
Marondedze
and Partners, pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud when the
firm appeared
for a trial recently before Hwange magistrate Ellen
Munamate.
The State, represented by Clifford Nkomo, alleges
that Shamrock
Holdings, trading as Inyathi Hunters, was granted authority on
24 October
2005 by the Department of Parks and Wildlife Management to hunt
at Katsetse
Lot A in Matabeleland North.
The State claims
that between 24 October and 26 November 2005,
the company inserted the words
'Kusile Rural District Council (KRDC)' on its
Tourism Return (TR) 2 Form,
meaning that it had the authority to extend its
hunting safari to KRDC
farms.
Inyathi Hunters tendered the TR2 Form, issued by the
Tourism
Section of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe through a commercial bank
and Parks
Department, to Eisteron Ncube, a secretary of Chimwara Farm in
Gwayi,
alleges the State.
Ncube, says the State, was led
to believe that the TR2 Form was
genuine and as a result, allowed Inyathi
Hunters to hunt wild animals at
Chimwara Farm.
"Using the
forged document," the State alleges, "Inyathi Hunters
killed a male lion at
the farm," resulting in suspicions by the management
of the farm that the
company was illegally hunting lions since the hunting
of such animals was
banned two years ago.
A report was made to the police leading
to the arrest of the
directors of the company.
Zim Standard
CHIPINGE - Refugees in Zimbabwe last week boycotted the
World
Refugees' Day celebrations held at Tongogara Refugee Camp accusing the
United Nations' refugee agency of neglecting their
welfare.
Out of about 2 500 refugees staying at the camp only
about 200,
mostly children, attended the celebrations which were graced by
Cabinet
Ministers, senior government officials and officials from the
refugee
agency, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees
(UNHCR).
The refugees are mostly from troubled countries such
as Rwanda,
Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and
Ethiopia.
They allege the UNHCR office in Harare had failed
to provide
them with adequate blankets during this winter period and that
they do no
have sufficient food.
Esther Kiragu, the UNHCR
protection officer in Zimbabwe, said at
times her office fails to cope with
the needs of the foreign nationals.
"At times we do not have
it all," Kiragu said when asked to
comment on the refugees'
complaints.
The refugees alleged the UNHCR always provide
plenty of
foodstuffs during the annual World Refugees' Day celebrations but
at the
same time fail to cater for their basic everyday
needs.
"We have boycotted the celebrations because we have
not been
given blankets yet it is very cold here," said a 28-year-old man
from
Rwanda.
Another refugee from the DRC said: "Food is
just not enough so
what is there for us to celebrate when we are
starving?"
Minister of Public Service, Nicholas Goche,
Manicaland Governor
Tinaye Chigudu, Morris Sakabuya, Deputy Minister of
Local Government and
Isaac Mukaro, the commissioner for refugees in Zimbabwe
attended the
function.
This is not the first time
refugees stationed at Tongogara
Refugee Camp have rebelled against
authorities. Three years ago armed police
were called in to intervene and
quell disturbances sparked by refugees from
the DRC who wanted their Rwandan
counterparts removed from the camp accusing
them of having had participated
in the 1994 genocide which left about a
million Rwandans of Tutsi origin and
politically moderate Hutus dead after
100 days of
bloodshed.
Zimbabwe is home to about 11 000 refugees. Most of
them are in
urban centres.
Zim Standard
In this Question and Answer (Q & A) with The
Standard News
Editor, Walter Marwizi, Daniel Shumba, the Interim President
of the United
People's Party (UPP), gives an insight into the challenges
confronting his
party and the options at his disposal. He also hints that it
could be time
for someone to lead the troubled
TeleAccess.
WM - What has been the outcome of UPP's
membership drive so far
and do you see the UPP being able to topple Zanu PF
in general elections?
DS - The UPP has been and will continue
to build party
structures countrywide. This is a party-building process and
must be
undertaken all the time.
The UPP has had a
massive response countrywide. Zimbabweans have
been waiting to find a party
that understands the people's needs and has an
effective strategy of
defeating Zanu PF.
We do not intend to topple Zanu PF, Zanu
PF has long toppled
itself and therefore simply needs a credible exit from
government.
WM - What are the chances of UPP gaining
political ground given
the existence of an uneven playing
field?
DS - The playing field has never been level nor do
past events
give us an expectation of a fair electoral process.
Therefore,
the choices are simple, either you remain captive or
you
liberate yourselves. Zanu PF has been effective in turning Zimbabweans
into
poor people easy to manipulate, dominate and
overwhelm.
The UPP is committed to bringing true freedom and
stop this
national and democratic decay. Other opposition parties are giving
Zanu PF
an excuse for unleashing the security forces on ordinary Zimbabweans
or an
over-dependence on externally driven political
programmes.
Let us not use undemocratic means to try and
remove an
undemocratic party.
WM - Since UPP's entry
in the political arena, what gains has it
achieved and what are the
challenges?
DS - The UPP has been preoccupied with the
party building
exercise. We have now got a countrywide representation. Our
launch was on 24
June 2006 when broad party milestones were
set.
The challenge is to save the country from further decay
and
bring hope to the whole country, in the face of Zanu PF's propaganda,
threats and other forms of victimisation.
WM - How is
the UPP surviving, who funds it?
DS - The Political Parties
Finance Act is deliberately designed
to re-enforce Zanu PF's dominancy over
other political parties and to ensure
that no new political party would be
able to financially sustain itself. In
this regard, the founders of the UPP,
members, well wishers (friends of UPP)
and corporates will support the
party's critical requirements in a legal and
discreet manner. As UPP's
support base grows so will its resources.
WM - Turning to
your company, TeleAccess, there are concerns
that the telecommunications
project could suffer a stillbirth because of the
Postal and
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ)'s decision to
cancel its
licence. Could the coincidence be political?
DS -
TeleAccess struggled to be awarded the licence having been
granted authority
to operate in 2000. The licence was only granted in 2003
after four years of
incurring high pre-operating overheads. By the end of
2003 when the
Regulatory Authority complied with some of the requirements of
the licence
the exchange rate had moved from 57 to over 4 000 to the USD.
Foreign exchange remained immovable; inflation shot-up and many
fundamentals
changed leading to the delays. When we started making progress
the so-called
cancellation was done. This is the same time that UPP'S
preparations were
taking place after the so-called Tsholotsho meeting. The
nation can draw its
own inferences.
WM - Your entry into politics has been
heavily criticised
workers from TeleAccess. They say it's illogical for a
man to venture into
politics when his workers are starving. How is it
possible that workers have
gone unpaid yet you have managed to fund the
UPP?
DS - I was in politics long before even getting in
to business,
I also do not get approvals from employees as to what I need to
undertake.
Whatever I have financed or funded, I have not used TeleAccess
money. It is
a fact, that I have been using my own funds in the
business.
The funding of UPP is not a matter for TeleAccess
employees to
be concerned about. It's not part of their conditions of
service. The
company, not Daniel Shumba, pays the employees. The company is
not
operational yet and is fighting to restore its position and prepare for
service. Delays in paying salaries are being experienced and the company is
working at number options to resolve this issue. The plight of the workers
is a major concern for us.
WM - There are reports you
have not set foot on Kopje Plaza
office fearing the wrath of angry workers.
Does it mean that you have
abandoned TeleAccess? Does the company have any
future under your
leadership?
DS - I am on leave, but
still engaged in resolving the
outstanding issues at the company. I should
be back in the office at the end
of August.
The companies
is working at launching service and soon after,
re-structure and appoint a
new CEO, while I take up new responsibilities.
We have very
good employees who are committed to making sure
that TeleAccess operates,
however, there are others who are being used by
external forces to try and
undermine the business and myself. Why they are
still with the company is a
wonder. You do not burn a house while seating
inside
it.
WM - What processes are you undertaking to get this
important
project going?
DS - The TeleAccess matter
is now in court and we therefore
cannot comment on the legal processes or
any prospects, save to say the
equipment acquisition process and rollout is
continuing. Announcements will
be made as soon as the switch-on date has
been established.
Zim Standard
By our
staff
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is reportedly eyeing a
controlling
stake in Globe and Phoenix Mine in a desperate bid to improve
Zimbabwe's
dwindling foreign currency reserves, Standardbusiness can
reveal.
Sources told this paper that the Kwekwe-based gold
mine was one
of the projects that the Central Bank was eyeing with monetary
authorities
already having begun talks with unnamed horticultural producers
for possible
acquisitions.
"The RBZ is doing feasibility
studies at the mine at the moment.
They have been working there
for
three months now and should do a geological study soon to
evaluate resources and infrastructure at the mine," said the
source.
Globe and Phoenix mine was closed two years ago and
the RBZ is
looking to revive it after concluding talks with its former
owner, Lee
Johns.
Zimbabwe's foreign currency inflows
declined by 0.46 % in 2005
to US$1,70 billion from US$1,70 the previous year
while gold production is
reported to have dropped by 33 % in production to 2
864,6 kilograms.
The RBZ, sources said was hoping to rescue
the declines under
the guise of the ambitious National Economic Development
Programme, which
seeks to raise by US$2,5 billion the end of
July.
Analysts said that the central bank was out of its
jurisdiction
but admitted that "necessity had become the mother of
invention".
"We all know the role of the central bank and
it's to regulate
financial institution. Mining gold is non-core and that's
something that
should get their fingers burnt but we all have to admit that
the situation
is desperate," said the economist who declined to be
named.
"They are not getting what they think the country
should be
getting from the mining sector and feel no one is more capable of
harnessing
the mineral resource than them and we are desperate for foreign
currency,"
he said.
RBZ PRO, Tonderai Mukeredzi, was
still to respond to questions
from this paper.
Zim Standard
BY GIBBS DUBE
BULAWAYO -
businessman, locked in a land dispute with Zanu PF
chairman and Speaker of
Parliament John Nkomo, has appeared before a Hwange
magistrate facing
charges of illegally hunting wildlife worth $123 million
and if convicted
faces up to 12 years in jail.
Langton Masunda (41), granted
$2 million bail, was not asked to
plead to six charges of contravening
provisions of the Parks and Wildlife
Act when he appeared before Ailene
Madzorera for an initial remand.
If found guilty of illegally
hunting a baboon worth $3 million,
two buffalo ($20 million), elephant ($60
million), sable ($20 million) and
zebra ($20 million) at the disputed Lugo
Ranch owned by Nkomo, he may be
jailed for a period not exceeding two years
on each charge.
Masunda may be alternatively fined not less
than $2 million for
each count or face both imprisonment and fine, according
to provisions of
the Parks and Wildlife Act.
The State,
represented by Sifelumusa Fuzane, claims that on six
occasions between April
and May this year, Masunda allegedly hired three
professional hunters John
Marira, Elliot Nobula and Andrea Trivella to hunt
various animal species at
Lugo Ranch.
The three, allegedly instructed by Masunda,
hunted and killed
six animals at the ranch without permits from the
Department of Parks and
Wildlife Management thereby contravening Section 38
(1)(a) as read with
Section 2 of the Wildlife and Parks Act (Chap:20:14),
claims the State.
Acting on a tip off, alleges the State,
Nkomo's employees
informed the police leading to his
arrest.
Meanwhile, Masunda whose farm was repossessed by
government last
week, has filed an urgent chamber application at the High
Court seeking the
reversal of Minister of State for National Security, Lands
and Land Reform
and Resettlement Didymus Mutasa's decision to evict him from
Volunteer Farms
in Gwayi, Matabeleland North.
According
to his lawyer, Vonai Majoko of Majoko and Majoko Legal
Practitioners, his
client is also seeking an urgent hearing of the matter as
Masunda allegedly
expects trophy hunters from Italy who have already paid
US$34 000 for a
hunting safari.
Masunda and Nkomo have, over the last two
years, been locked in
a dispute over the ownership of Jijima Lodge - sited
on Lugo Ranch owned by
the Zanu PF chairman.
Zim Standard
BY VALENTINE MAPONGA
ZIMBABWE'S
police force is not adequately equipped to fight
crime, an enquiry by a
Parliamentary Committee into the operations of police
stations around the
country has concluded.
Presenting its report to Parliament
recently, the Portfolio
Committee on Defence and Home Affairs said there was
a massive shortage of
resources at police stations
visited.
This, said the committee, compromised the ability of
the police
to react promptly to criminal incidents.
As
part of its inquiry, the committee visited Matapi, Highlands,
Marondera,
Rusape, Mutare, Masvingo, Gweru and Harare Central Police
stations.
The report notes that there is a shortage of
transport at most
police stations and at times victims are told to come and
pick up police
officers so that they can investigate
crimes.
The Committee also expressed concern over
deteriorating
conditions of service and poor remuneration that has led to an
acute
shortage of manpower in the police force.
"At times
the situation has been so bad that staff have been
known to be officers by
day and vendors by night. You cannot expect a poorly
paid officer to
investigate a high profile corruption case without being
tempted," said one
member of the Committee.
In terms of manpower shortages,
Gweru Central Police Station was
one of those hardest hit. It had 175
officers out of the required 300 needed
to maintain law and order in the
province.
It also emerged that police officers had not been
given new
uniforms over past two years and some were going to work wearing
torn
uniforms, resulting in loss of confidence.
The
Committee also discovered that there was a serious shortage
of accommodation
with married police officers at Gweru Police Station being
accommodated in
former horse stables.
In Harare, it was established that some
of the officers had been
victims to "Murambatsvina". "They conducted the
Operation and at the end of
the day they found themselves going back to
those people whose structures
they had destroyed to seek accommodation," the
report points out.
In some instances the Committee discovered
that police stations
were operating without basic stationery, such as pens.
Matapi Police
Station, according to the report, did not have its own
typewriters or
computers.
"The one typewriter which was
being used was said to belong to
an individual, who had loaned it to the
station. Stationery was also in
short supply," reads part of the
report.
During the committee's proceedings and site visits,
it was also
established that conditions of holding cells at police stations
were below
standard and "unsatisfactory".
Zim Standard
BY VALENTINE MAPONGA
DEPUTY
Minister of Information and Publicity, Bright Matonga,
has a penchant for
attracting controversy. He allegedly harvested and sold
200 tonnes of Soya
beans belonging to a white commercial farmer in Chegutu.
Speaking to The Standard last week Tom Beattie the previous sole
owner of
Chigwell Estates said the deputy minister who was allocated part of
the farm
allegedly harvested 300 tonnes of Soya beans and sold about 200
tonnes to
the Grain Marketing depot in Chegutu.
"I had planted about
140 hectares of Soya beans and the deputy
minister just came and harvested
the crop. We wrote a letter to the GMB's
Chegutu depot and advised them not
to pay the deputy minister (Matonga)
because the ownership of the produce
was in dispute," said Beattie.
However, according to Beattie,
Matonga allegedly evaded the GMB
officials at Chegutu and went straight to
Samuel Muvuti, the acting chief
executive officer of the GMB, to facilitate
the payment.
"He was finally paid and we have to challenge it
through the
courts. His workers have been causing a lot of problems at the
farm from day
one," he said.
A tonne of Soya beans is
selling for more than $65 million and
this means Matonga might have received
over $10 billion from the proceeds.
Matonga last week could
neither confirm nor deny the allegations
but accused The Standard of trying
to destroy his career. "Asi maakungo
specializa naizvozvo zvangu, every week
vakomana? Surely it can't be every
week," he said promising to get back for
further explanations. He did not.
Beattie said he recently
wrote to Minister of Lands, Land Reform
and Resettlement, Didymus Mutasa,
complaining about the situation at the
farm as a result of the "attitude of
Matonga's employees".
"The situation at the Estate is
becoming progressively volatile.
All my staff have been threatened and told
to vacate their houses," wrote
Beattie in a letter which was also copied to
a number of Zanu PF officials.
He also states in his letter
that deputy minister Matonga had
taken over irrigation pipes and had
declined to return them. "I require
these excess pipes for my winter wheat
irrigation. I am appealing to your
office to help facilitate the return of
these pipes."
There have been a lot of problems at Chigwell
Estate, since
Matonga moved on to take part of the farm after he
successfully obtained an
offer letter from the ministry of Lands, Land
Reform and Resettlement.
Recently, according to Beattie,
Matonga's workers forcibly
evicted more than 60 families from staff houses
at the farm. Most of those
evicted were working for Beattie and were only
given 12 hours to vacate
their houses. Matonga's workers have also, on
several occasions, defied
court orders at the farm. A few weeks ago they
prevented the messenger of
court from collecting farming equipment belonging
to Beattie.
Meanwhile more than 100 families at Lionsvale
farm in Chegutu,
who say they were evicted from their homes by Matonga, are
now living in
tobacco barns.
According to Edward Dzeka,
the Mashonaland West organising
secretary for General Agriculture Plantation
Workers Union of Zimbabwe
(GAPWUZ) the families are packed in barns with 10
families sharing one
structure.
Agricultural union
officials say the situation is unhygienic and
deprives the families of
privacy. For many of the families life is
unbearable during this cold
winter.
Dzeka said the issue has been handed over to Zimbabwe
Lawyers
for Human Rights. When contacted for comment the Legal aid group
said it is
awaiting a full list of names of those affected to make a formal
application
to the courts.
Zim Standard
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
BULAWAYO - Most
companies and industries in Zimbabwe are
violating laws governing their
operations, because they are only interested
in making profits, the National
Social Security Authority (NSSA) has said.
The authority said
about 75% of industries and companies in the
country are not implementing
health and safety management standards for the
benefit of their
employees.
Speaking at a health and Safety Workshop recently,
Stanley
Muchemedzi of NSSA, said: "From our research, we found out that at
least 75%
of local companies in the formal and informal sector are not
implementing
the (OHSMS) Occupational Health and Safety Management
Standards."
"Most of the companies are after making profits
and this has
resulted in high injuries and fatalities at workplaces over the
past few
years."
Muchemedzi added: "That is why we are
calling on companies to
have internal OHSMS at their workplaces in order to
comply with the law
without inspections."
The health and
safety regulatory authority says failure to
conform to laws and regulations
governing the running of companies has
manifested itself in the high number
of injuries and fatalities being
recorded at workplaces.
Operations of factories and other related industries are
governed by the
Factories and Works Act, which attracts heavy penalties if
not implemented
for the health and safety of workers.
NSSA Occupational
Health Services director, Benjamin Mutetwa,
says 8 247 injuries and 82
fatalities were recorded last year compared to
131 deaths and 10 227
injuries recorded in 2004.
Most of the fatalities were
recorded in the mining sector. In
the first quarter of this year, at least 1
935 injuries and 22 deaths were
recorded compared to 2 290 injuries and 31
deaths during the same period
last year.
Zim Standard
By
Deborah-Fay Ndlovu
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe (pictured) has
declined to sign a
special grant allowing Lowenbrau, an Australian company,
rights to mine
uranium in Kanyemba.
Presidential
spokesperson, George Charamba said last week that
the government would only
give "preferential" treatment to countries that
have been friendly to
Zimbabwe.
"The issue here is who is well disposed to others.
No country is
foolish enough to arm its opponents. Countries which have
declared their
hostility to us have no reason to expect preferential
treatment from us,"
Charamba said.
While he denied that
President Mugabe had refused to give
approval to the Lowenbrau grant,
Charamba said Zimbabwe is "not inclined to
sign" it.
The
spokesperson said Amos Midzi, the Minister of Mines and
Mining Development,
could not have signed the grant because it required
clearance from the
Cabinet first. However this paper has it on good
authority that Midzi rushed
to sign the Special Grant (No 10/05 HM) after
The Standard published a story
that he was dragging his feet on giving
approval for major
projects.
"The President cannot sign a non-existent
agreement. Of course,
Australia is hostile. I actually wonder why we would
give them the grant,"
he said.
Lowenbrau has been
battling for the grant since last November
when it won the approval of the
Mining Affairs Board. It had to contend with
Midzi who was a hurdle to the
endeavour but finally relented in April. The
company could just walk away
empty-handed again after it lost its bid with
State
House.
Lowenbrau was formed as a partnership between Omega
Corp
Limited, an Australian company with 70 % shareholding and locals who
include
Robert Zhuwao, Roderick Mlauzi, Nkono Chikosi and Charles Matezu.
The mining
concern planned to invest US$5 million for initial
exploration.
Sources told Standardbusiness last week that the
special grant
was returned unsigned from the State House after President
Mugabe said he
would only cater for "friendly nations".
When pressed to comment on the impact of such a decision on
investment,
Charamba said: "An investor is any one with capital and our
preference is
for those with capital. In our search for investors we do not
surrender
national interests but balance."
Midzi refused to comment on
the issue saying he would release a
statement.
"I will be
issuing a statement on that issue," he told
Standardbusiness.
Zim Standard
BY OUR STAFF
THE Chamber of
Mines has said high production costs and an
unfriendly exchange rate will
see gold production declining to 11 175
kilogrammes this
year.
In a motivational letter for the review of the gold
support
price and retention levels for gold producers the Chamber said the
2006 gold
production represents a decline of 2 847.73kg as compared to 2005
figures.
The letter was copied to Mines and Mining
Development permanent
secretary Thabani Ndlovu, Finance permanent secretary
Willard Manungo,
Economic Development permanent secretary Andrew Bvumbe and
Chamber of Mines
executive committee members.
The Chamber
said: "Gold production volume has been declining
since 1999. Production for
the first four months of 2006 at 3 725.25kg is
32.14% lower than that of the
same period last year."
"Production for April at 822.19kg is
the lowest record for the
year to date. In contrast, average production for
the first four months of
2005 was 1 372.39kg."
The
Chamber said that the decline in gold production spelt doom
for the gold
mining sector.
"While the Chamber of Mines has repeatedly
advised the relevant
authorities of the need to liberalise gold trading
arrangements in line with
other exporters, these calls have not received any
consideration and
production had continued to fall," the Chamber
said.
The Chamber said that the fixed exchange rate and the
static
gold price of $2.5 million per gramme had been a handicap on revenue
notwithstanding the robust performance of gold on the international
markets.
The Chamber said: "Since 1 January 2006 salaries and
wages have
gone up by 238.35%, electricity has gone up by 280.25%, spares
and machinery
have gone up by 350%, and services have gone up by about 148%.
This has
resulted in a 265% overall increase in production
costs."
The Chamber said the costs come against a background
of revenues
having increased by 92.3% for producers who opt to be paid
wholly in
Zimbabwe dollars, based on support price, and by 44.78% for those
on the
US$/Z$ revenue split.
"Gold being a reserve asset
and strategic mineral should ideally
have more favourable conditions than
other exporters to incentivise
increased production. Because of the lower
retention levels at 40%, gold
producers are struggling to meet import
requirements to sustain business,"
the chamber said.
"While the Z$ revenue from the 60% of value of gold lodged is
sufficient to
cover Z$ costs, producers are not able to build sufficient
resources for
replacement of capital equipment."
Zim Standard
Comment
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe does not understand why
residents of the
country's urban areas do not like his ruling party or why
they prefer the
opposition.
Two recent developments offer
cogent reasons for the rejection
of Zanu PF.
When Dr
Tichaona Jokonya, the Minister of Information and
Publicity, who died at the
beginning of this month, was due for burial, Zanu
PF committed two errors
that explain why urban dwellers vote against the
ruling
party.
Two engines of the informal trade in Harare - Mbare
Musika and
Mupedzanhamo - were ordered closed. This is despite the fact that
the loss
of a day's business can mean the difference between success and
failure to
provide for the immediate needs of a family during these hard
times.
Applicants for a market stall at the two sites must
produce a
ruling party membership card. There is no room for non-ruling
party members.
Zanu PF only wants its members to be able to support their
families, even if
they are surrounded by a mass of starving
Zimbabweans.
The second development is that people were asked
to be at the
"usual" pick-up points as early as 5.30AM in the biting winter
cold for
something that was going to take place at 11AM. Obviously such
times were
thought up and arrived at by bureaucrats, who are so removed from
the
hardships that the ordinary majority Zimbabweans encounter daily in
their
lives.
If the times for the pick-up points were set
at a more
reasonable hour, say 8AM people would have come in their hundreds
and there
would have been no need for closure of the Mbare Musika and
Mupedzanhamo
markets. More people would have found their way to the National
Heroes'
Acre.
The third example that offers an
explanation why residents in
cities have turned against Zanu PF is that
everyone in the capital city
agrees that Sekesai Makwavarara, the
chairperson of the commission running
the affairs of Harare, has been an
unparalleled human disaster ever to
blight the capital. Even members of the
ruling party in Harare are unable to
find explanations for her continued
tenure at the helm of the capital city.
But the Minister of
Local Government, Public Works and Urban
Development, Ignatious Chombo,
decided to reappoint her and her fellow
commissioners, "for a job well
done!" But the minister can't enumerate
Makwavarara's achievements at Town
House ever since she has been there.
What is evident to
Harare ratepayers is that Makwavarara has
presided over a worsening decline
in refuse collection, which has given rise
to cholera outbreaks that have
claimed more lives than at any one point in
the history of the city.
Makwavarara has presided over neglect of street
lighting, earning Harare the
title of the Dark City. Makwavarara has
presided over an escalation in burst
water pipes, which apart from costing
council vast amounts has transformed
the capital into a trench city because
of lack of commitment to see through
tasks undertaken by workers at the
Department of Works. It is during her
tenure that Harare lost its status as
Sunshine City.
Cases of overflowing sewage have reached unprecedented levels,
with scores
of houses ring-fenced by effluent.
Yet Chombo is convinced:
"So far we have done what we think is
the best for the
city..."
Someone needs to explain because it is this kind of
arrogance
and total disregard of ratepayers' concerns that explain why urban
residents
reject the ruling party.
Zim Standard
Sunday opinion By Phillip Pasirai
IN 2004 a national think
tank was held under the auspices of the
Crisis Coalition which among other
things sought to reflect on the impact of
the sanctions imposed against Zanu
PF and to dissect, elaborate and proffer
recommendations on the role of the
international community regarding the
Zimbabwean crisis.
The think tank was attended by various people from a diverse
section of the
Zimbabwean society including representatives from the
academia, the
diplomatic community, churches, students, civic leaders and
political party
spokespersons. There was no representative from government
and the ruling
party as they turned down invitations extended to them.
As is
also true of the mainstream media, there was no consensus
at the Crisis
Coalition think tank deliberations whether or not the
sanctions against Zanu
PF should be lifted. Professor Heneri Dzinotyiwei,
who presented a paper
entitled The Impact of Sanctions and Role of the
International Community in
the Zimbabwean Crisis at the same meeting,
asserted that sanctions are
having an unintended negative impact as they are
affecting the ordinary
Zimbabwean than they do to Zanu PF members, who are
the
targets.
Through this article I want to dispel the myths that
has largely
emanated from government that the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe
are economic
sanctions and illegal as they were not discussed and imposed by
the United
Nations. I also locate this debate within the context of the
latest
overtures by members of the clergy who have launched a campaign
programme
meant to have the sanctions lifted.
The
sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe are smart sanctions targeted
at members of the
ruling Zanu PF party.
Contrary to what we have always been
told through State
propaganda outlets that the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe
are illegal; these
sanctions have been imposed on the ruling elite and not
ordinary
Zimbabweans. It is to the discretion of members of the European
Union or the
countries that have imposed the sanctions such as the United
States to
define their international relations in a manner that does not
seem to
compromise their values or in this case seem to endorse barbarism,
chicanery, vote-rigging and the atrocities that the Zanu PF government has
been associated with.
Through sanctions, the
international community defines the
boundaries of that community and the
bounds of what is acceptable behaviour.
The reason why it is wrong to call
for the lifting of sanctions imposed on
Zanu PF at this juncture is that
such a move could be misconstrued to mean
that the ruling party is reforming
and now prepared to embrace democracy. As
long as human rights violations
continue at such an alarming level, it does
not make much sense to lift
sanctions against members of the ruling elite.
If anything the sanctions
against Zanu PF must be further tightened to force
Zanu PF to embrace
democratic values and respect the rule of law.
The sanctions
imposed on Zimbabwe are not economic sanctions but
smart or targeted
sanctions that have a specific objective or target, in
this case to force
Zanu PF to embrace democracy.
The international community has
sought to assist Zimbabwe
recover from her current crisis through imposing
targeted sanctions which
include a travel ban against the ruling elite. The
idea of smart or targeted
sanctions as argued by international law expert,
Antonio Cassese (2003) is
meant to avoid having the sanctions affect
unintended people as blanket
sanctions would do. Smart sanctions are
carefully designed and they in most
cases include a travel ban, a freezing
of assets held in foreign lands and a
ban or boycott of selected businesses
linked to those that are meant to feel
the pinch of the
sanctions.
On the other hand, economic sanctions normally
entail
restrictions on commercial relations with a target country such as
trade,
investment and other cross-border activities. Sanctions imposed on
Zimbabwe
do not fit this category because they are not blanket sanctions
imposed
against Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe continues to export its agricultural
products
such as beef and tobacco to the EU.
In order to
understand the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe and
their consequences, it is
best to analyse them through an incisive piece
written by Adeno Addis (2003)
"Economic Sanctions and the Problem of Evil",
Human Rights Quarterly Vol.
25. Addis cogently argues that sanctions "are a
means through which the
international community or any sanctioning community
imagines itself because
they are instruments of behaviour modification".
Apart from
this instrumentalist or behaviouralist perspective,
sanctions are also
imposed in order to define the boundaries of the
sanctioning community and
to disassociate itself from "the evil other". This
is called the
identitarian perspective.
When the EU slapped the Zimbabwean
government with sanctions,
targeting President Robert Mugabe and a coterie
of those that surround him,
the US followed suit and targeting those "who
formulate, implement, or
benefit from policies that undermine or injure
Zimbabwe's democratic
institutions or impede the transition to a multi-party
democracy."
In other words, the sanctioning community is
defining its values
and at the same time using sanctions as an instrument to
effect change in
the formulation and implementation of
policy.
The paradox with the smart sanctions imposed on
Zimbabwe is that
instead of hurting Mugabe and his cronies they are hurting
the ordinary
people, the majority now living below the poverty datum line
(PDL).But the
fact that the smart sanctions have not led to the anticipated
behaviour
change on the part of the ruling regime, is no sufficient
justification to
campaign for the removal of those
sanctions.
It is in this light that the members of the clergy
who are
campaigning for the removal of sanctions against Zanu PF are
ill-informed.
Addis underscores the same point arguing that it could be a
mistake to
assume that sanctions do not serve any meaningful purpose if they
do not
lead to immediate behaviour change.
As long as the
government of Zimbabwe continues on its
self-destructive path and being the
main instigator of human rights abuses,
denying people their electoral
rights, there is no justification to campaign
for the lifting of the
sanctions.
The sanctions against the rouge Zanu PF regime
should only be
suspended when airwaves have been opened; newspapers that
were shut down are
allowed to operate; electoral rights are respected;
democratically-elected
opposition mayors are unconditionally reinstated and
above all a new
constitution is put in place.
This is the
message that our men-of-cloth who met Mugabe
recently should have told
him.
Zim Standard
Sundayview By Tom Odhiambo
AFRICAN
Union must get serious about the Horn of Africa and the
rest of the
continent. The founding fathers of the Organisation of African
Unity (OAU)
eager to protect their newfound powers and privileges saddled
the continent
with problem that will take centuries to resolve.
The
organisation's reluctance to "interfere in the internal
affairs" of a member
state is at the root of much of the civil strife and
conflicts in Africa.
The political and social instability in the Horn of
Africa provides the
starkest example of how this self-serving clause in the
OAU's founding
charter has been a curse to the continent. Somalia has
provided political
scientists with the perfect data to theorise about "a
modern government-less
state".
Post Mohammed Siad Barre Somalia has defied all kinds
of
interventions from the UN, the AU and the Intergovernmental Authority on
Development (IGAD) a grouping of six eastern African countries, which
spearhead the much celebrated Somalia Reconciliation Process that resulted
in the formation of some kind of a government. However that government
cannot relocate to Mogadishu, the traditional capital city of Somalia,
because it is under the control of warlords and their
militia.
Now there has emerged Somalia Islamists intending to
impose
Islamic law and rule not only over the city but the country too.
Added to
the mix is Al Qaeda. Also in the mix is the rumoured involvement of
Eritrea
promoting Ethiopian rebels. Which brings us to the Eritrea/Ethiopia
conflict; a simmering jostling over a dry and barren peace of land which
camouflages the true source and nature of the conflict.
Eritrea definitely fears Ethiopia's big-brother attitude and
rightly so. On
the other hand Ethiopia is unhappy at having been left
without access to the
Red Sea anymore. However, the completely insensible
wars between the two
countries have spawned hundreds of refugees in the
region, been the cause of
hunger and starvation in the two countries and
consumed resources that would
otherwise have been employed to spur
development. All this for nationalistic
pride! The AU wrings its hands in
impotence and sublets responsibility to
the UN. The AU and UN continue to be
pacific towards the Sudan government
and the murderous militia in the Darfur
region whilst thousands of women are
raped thousands of men killed and
thousands of children
orphaned.
The political instability in these countries
has spread to their
neighbours. Chad accuses Sudan of sponsoring rebels who
in the past few
months have attempted to overthrow Idriss Deby. Some of the
Lord's
Resistance Army guerrillas who have made northern Uganda ungovernable
and a
humanitarian disaster still operate from Southern Sudan whilst others
have
now shifted to the Democratic Republic of Congo - a volatile country on
its
own.
A majority of the weapons used in criminal
activities in Nairobi
are sourced from Somalia. Al Qaeda operatives in East
Africa either arrive
or leave via Somalia. All these and the AU continue to
behave like "sweet
mama" pacifying its recalcitrant and delinquent children.
It is time the AU
walked the talk. What are such organs of the AU like the
Pan-African
Parliament, the Executive Council or even the Peace and Security
Council
for?
In the preamble to Protocol Relating to the
Establishment of the
Peace and Security Council of the African Union, there
are such declarations
as: concerned about the continued prevalence armed
conflicts in Africa and
the fact that no single internal factor has
contributed more to the
socio-economic decline on the continent and the
suffering of the civilian
population than the scourge of conflict within and
between states; concerned
also by the fact that conflicts have forced
millions of our people,
including women and children, into a drifting life
as refugees and
internally displace persons, deprived of their means of
livelihood, human
dignity and hope . the heads of state agreed to set up the
Peace and
Security Council that shall be supported by the Commission, a
Panel of the
Wise, a Continental Early Warning System, an African Standby
Force and a
Special Fund.
All these would help to promote
peace which would lead to
economic development and progress. But how comes
the AU is incapable of
realizing such noble objectives? The inertia at the
AU is leading to the
suffering and deaths of millions of Africans annually.
It is time someone at
the AU headquarters and within its structures got
serious about addressing
civil strife on the continent; especially in the
Horn of Africa which has
not enjoyed peace since the decade of the 60s
(Eritrean People's Liberation
Front fought the Ethiopian government for 30
years till the 1990s). As
matters stand now, even South Africa which has
been expending huge amounts
of resources on peacekeeping on the continent
will reach a point of
exhaustion. Africa's reliance on United Nations and
its several humanitarian
organizations and its former colonizers is indeed
worrying.
I would like to see an AU that issues
ultimatums to Sudan,
Somalia or Eritrea/Ethiopia the way NATO did in the
former Yugoslavia. This
can be done via the UN and other powers including
America, the European
Union, RUSSIA, China and Middle East countries such as
Yemen, Saudi Arabia
and Iran - since some of these recalcitrant regimes have
support from such
states. Trade embargoes, bans on arms supply, and freezing
of accounts held
in foreign countries would force some of these countries to
rethink their
actions. Otherwise, the whole of eastern Africa and the Great
Lakes region
will not know peace; the regions will never experience economic
growth and
development and will perpetually experience political
instability.
The African Union cannot afford anymore to
procrastinate over
institutionalizing democracy in Africa. It is one thing
to proclaim that
African problems have to be resolved using African
solutions but another
thing to put such pronouncements into practice; but
Africans must start to
try out homemade solutions if we are to arrest the
perpetual state of crisis
that haunts most of the
continent.
The AU must realize that the main losers in this
drama of
continuous conflicts are the millions of civilians, who as the
organization
itself acknowledges in the founding document for the Peace and
Security
Council, have become stateless, homeless and
futureless!
Tom Odhiambo, PhD, Researcher, Wits Institute
for Social and
Economic Research, University of the
Witwatersrand.
MDC Women's Assembly condemns barbaric
attack
THE MDC Women's Assembly is deeply shocked by the
shameful,
dastardly and barbaric attack by thugs on Trudy Stevenson MP for
Harare
North; Simangele Manyere, the Provincial Treasurer for Harare; and
the
Provincial Organising Secretary, Councillor Linus
Mushonga.
We are disappointed that the principles that gave
rise to the
formation of the MDC which among other things were to create a
platform for
the articulation of issues associated with gender equity and
the fight
against gender violence, have now been discarded and some leaders
in the
opposition are now taking this opportunity to gain personal glory
instead of
fighting to defend the rights of the vulnerable
groups.
MDC Women's Assembly calls upon all legislators
especially women
parliamentarians who belong to the Tsvangirai group to
resign, as they no
longer have the moral authority to claim to be fighting
for the rights of
women.
Women leaders in the group that
Tsvangirai purports to lead must
also resign as they have failed to defend
the rights of the women. They have
all along been aware of the barbaric acts
committed by these thugs and were
even defensive of the militia created
after the National Council expelled
them.
Condoning this
barbaric act is like Mai Joice Mujuru, the Vice
President, leading a party
that is notorious for violating the rights of
vulnerable groups such as
woman and children but has not openly voiced her
condemnation of the inhuman
acts perpetrated on these groups.
On our part we reiterate
our commitment to democratic values and
principles of unity in diversity,
right to free association and tolerance to
divergent views. We have adopted
a zero tolerance to intimidation and
violence in all its forms, overt or
covert.
Hilda Sibanda
Chairperson of
the MDC Women's Assembly
-------------
A case of the have reaping where they did not
sow
I am a regular reader of your newspaper. I was shocked
by
the Chikore farm saga in Masvingo.
My letter is
directed at Dr Stan Mudenge: Let us reap
where we sowed. I know money is
scarce that end of the world so much so that
I could help if need
be.
But let the unemployed cadres reap their crops and
then
let them leave the farm. Don't bring misfortune on the whole clan. God
has
already smiled on you imagine a tax-free salary, company car, house,
driver,
bodyguards, businesses, a farm and, of course, many
others.
You have had the best of Zimbabwe. Would you
not wish all
this wealth on the poor people at Mahoto? The next time you are
on your
stop-over ask them what they had for breakfast because whoever
encourages
you to hold your electorate by the collar does not want you in
office next
time.
You could gain respect by
allowing the former freedom
fighters to reap what they sowed then throw them
away where they belong, or
alternatively reap the anger of the masses.
Forewarned is forearmed.
Muzukuru
Mawedzere
Nottingham
United
Kingdom
--------------
Anyone counting on 'lame
duck' Annan was dreaming
ANYBODY who thought that Kofi
Annan, the United Nations
Secretary-General, would ever make one iota of
difference to the Zimbabwe
situation must have been
hallucinating.
To many, Annan is considered to be a
lame duck, which is
well-past, his sell-by date. After his "too many years
in power" it is hard
to itemise any successes of his on the back of a
postage stamp. His
failures, including Rwanda Genocide and the Darfur crisis
are too numerous
to tabulate.
Much like a typical
despotic African country, the UN is a
dysfunctional organisation. It is
corrupt, ineffective, and incompetent. It
cannot even understand or apply
its own charters. Most of its member states
do not even have democratically
elected leaders, yet they expect "democratic
rights" at the
UN.
The UN seems to specialise in employing the
otherwise
unemployable. To survive, it specialises in leeching off the
wealthy
civilised nations of the West. It begs money and aid from these same
nations
to support other tyrannical and failed states in the world -
typically in
Africa. Hypocritically they frequently criticise civilised
nations yet
remain silent or supportive of pariah
states.
One of the few successes that the UN has had is
the
extension of a culture of begging and dependency. Why should any
deadbeat
state provide healthcare and grow crops whilst the UN is around to
shore
them up?
There is reasonable justification to
the allegation that
the UN actually aids and abets the propagation of
bad-governance and evil
around the world.
As one
wise UN diplomat recently noted: "If 30% of the UN
buildings (upper floors)
were removed, nobody would know the difference."
In
many quarters one can expect celebrations at the year
end when Annan leaves
office.
Unless fabricated, his legacy will not be
good.
Kevin Blunt
Bloemfontein
South Africa
--------
Sabelo's defence of Mugabe blind and
insensitive
I write in response to the letter, which
appeared in
The Standard of 25 June 2006, written by Sabelo, who claims to
be a student
at Fort Hare University in South
Africa.
Sabelo seems to be grateful for himself
for
obtaining a scholarship from President Robert Mugabe's Presidential
Scholarship programme. Sabelo was overwhelmed by the scholarship such that
he went on to praise Mugabe to the extent of describing him as
"caring".
I was moved by Sabelo's praise antics.
If the
President is as caring as Sabelo suggests, why would a caring person
have
embarked on "Operation Murambatsvina", which saw the destruction of
hundreds
of thousands of houses belonging to the disadvantaged in our
society?
If he was as caring as Sabelo suggests,
he would
have embarked on "Operation Garikai" before unleashing
"Murambatsvina".
Where in the world have you ever seen birth preceding or
taking place before
conception?
Most students
at schools but with ambitions of
proceeding to university dropped out
because of this unplanned
"Murambatsvina". I like to think Sabelo is quite
insensitive because he even
went to the extent of wishing to have 24 hours
with "His Excellency" because
I wonder what Sabelo would be discussing with
a man who is behind the social
and economic rot of our
country.
I would like to ask Sabelo when he left
Zimbabwe for
South Africa. I believe when he left inflation stood at a high
of 650%. I
therefore think he should visit Mugabe not to praise him but to
ask him why
inflation is now at 1 500%.
One
big favour when you meet Mugabe: Kindly ask him
to step down. I am a Form VI
student and my parents are struggling to pay my
school fees. The future is
bleak for most of us. How can we manage
university fees that are now pegged
at $150 million? And yet Sabelo believes
Mugabe to be
caring!
Sabelo, your letter was an insult to a
lot of
students who are trying to come to terms with the injustices of
school and
college fees. Your letter demonstrated all the arrogance of all
those
privileged to live in glass houses while the rest of us on whom you
pour
scorn wallow in abject poverty.
M A
N
Gweru
-----------
Zimpost workers query termination of
deal
AS Zimpost employees, we would appreciate
it
if this letter is published for the benefit of readers and in the hope
that
the responsible government officials will respond. We do not mean to
offend
anyone but have chosen this form of appeal to show how committed we
are to
the success of our company and Zimbabweans in
general.
In October 2005, Zimpost entered a
strategic
alliance with Econet Wireless. The alliance entailed the sale of
Top up
/Subscription cards at all post offices and Sim Packs at selected
offices as
advised by Econet.
This
alliance was further extended to include
the installation of YourFone phone
shops at all post offices where there was
network coverage and where this
was not in competition with TeOne phone
shops with two pilot sites at
Epworth and Highfield post offices.
Up
until the cancellation of the deal in March
this year, Zimpost had received
$40 billion from Econet in sales commission
and the projections indicated
that Zimpost was going to receive billions a
week in sales commission alone
by May this year.
This projection was
arrived at after the
extension of the deal for Zimpost to move from being a
retailer to a
distributor of Econet products. Retailers were going to make
their orders
from Zimpost outlets and because the Zimpost wide network
coverage, it made
a lot of business sense. The Zimpost core business - that
of letters is on
the decline due to electronic substitution and
competition.
But then enter the scourge of
Zimbabwe -
politics. The hierarchy at Zimpost were called to the parent
ministry at the
end of March this year and advised in no uncertain terms
that the alliance
between Zimpost and Econet had to be cancelled forth with,
sadly on the
flimsy allegation that the majority Econet shareholder was a
suspected
opposition MDC supporter.
There was no way a parastatal could do
business with the MDC, was the
allegation the Zimpost hierarchy was told.
As workers, what we know is that Econet is a
company quoted on the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange and has emerged as a major
telecommunications outfit in
Botswana, Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius,
New Zealand, Nigeria, South
Africa and the United Kingdom.
The
following is our plea to influential
officials in government: Econet is
providing great service to this nation by
providing communication services
to the population. As workers, we
understand that the total number of
subscribers on the three cellular
network providers, including TeOne is less
than one million. It means
therefore, that the market is highly
under-serviced.
The impact of the loss of
Econet business on
Zimpost is that the company sustained deficits in April
($36 b) and May ($16
b) although the company had posted surpluses between
January and March 2006.
Zimpost operates as
a commercial company that
should be self-sustaining and receives no
subsidies from the government. As
a result of the deficits, Zimpost
management deferred refurbishment of
targeted offices and the purchase of
capital items until the cash flow
situation improved. This is obviously to
the disadvantage of the company.
The same activities will have to be carried
out in future at a very high
cost because of the spiralling inflation and
interest rates.
The Zimpost board is
blaming management for
failing to generate enough revenue but they forget
that the government
cancelled the strategic alliance with Econet. Any
sensible person will agree
that the government's decision was wrong because
it was based on ill-advice.
The painful
truth is that the restriction on
dealing with Econet only applies to
Ministry of Transport because other
government-owned entities have
relationships with the same company that the
ministry says should not
partner Zimpost.
If all in government share
the same policy,
then it should apply equally to all other government
entities that deal with
Econet for the sake of
transparency.
The Herald and The Sunday
Mail rake in
billions of dollars through advertising from Econet's full-page
advertisements. ZBH in turn racks in billions through radio and television
advertising revenue from Econet.
The
National Social Security Authority has
gone to court to force Kingdom
Stockbrokers to release trillions of dollars
worth of Econet shares that it
says it is entitled to. The same Econet pays
taxes to the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority, while it has also donated toll-free
lines to police stations.
Whoever advised the ministry got it all
wrong.
The fact that Zimpost, a government
company
that was making losses, could enter into a partnership with an
inspired
organisation like Econet demonstrates how much the management at
Zimpost had
transformed the company so much so that it was able to attract
successful
companies like Econet.
Zimpost's achievements had by far surpassed
the performances of other State
enterprises such as ZBH, ZESA, Zinwa and
Ziscosteel.
We appeal to the
responsible authorities to
withdraw the directive cancelling the alliance
between Zimpost and Econet.
Concerned
employees
Causeway
Harare
---------------
Tertiary education fee hikes
counter-productive
THE beginning of 2006
saw massive hikes of
tertiary education fees to unprecedented
levels.
The exorbitant increases are not
only
counter-productive but also contradict the government's mission of
making
education not only a priority but a basic human
right.
Negating government policy on
education, the
sudden increases in tertiary fees will force students from
poor backgrounds
to withdraw from their
studies.
Although the government
increased the intake
of students in 1980, there will be a sharp decline by
2010. The current
trend has seen eligibility to enter a tertiary institution
being based on
the financial well-being of students rather than on
merit.
To any rational person, this
scenario is
counter-revolutionary, considering the number of less qualified
students who
enrol at these institutions at the expense of very bright
students who fail
to get a chance because of their poor
backgrounds.
The above scenario is likely
to compromise
the standards of education, which seem to replicate the
colonial system in
which African education was devalued in the hope that a
docile, servile and
subservient black population would be the
outcome.
The only difference between the
two systems
is that while colonial education aimed at perpetuating unequal
distribution
of skills along racial lines, the current system promotes
disparities on the
grounds of class because there is denial of accessibility
to education of
the poor yet the rationale for taking up the armed struggle
was total
removal of such imbalances, among other
things.
Writing about colonial education
Dr Henry
Moyana and Dr Misheck Sibanda noted thus: "In a dictatorship or
oppressive
society, education policy desires to produce meek submissive and
dependent
citizens whose docility can prolong the life of
dictatorship."
Can one be found likening
the current system
to the one described above? I wonder. But in my view the
current system of
education is a clear replica of the colonial system which
was dual in
nature. The dual system of education was inherited to eliminate
the
possibility of economic competition between the top brass and the less
fortunate people on the other hand.
It is common knowledge that education policy
should seek to produce
responsible citizens, capable of independent thought
and whose work ethic is
assimilated in such a way that they can make
meaningful contributions to
national development.
Shepherd
Mararike
Mbizo
Kwekwe
Saturday 8th July 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
It
has been a very sad week for Zimbabwe. After two months of hints,
whispers
and promises, yet another opportunity to help Zimbabwe has come to
nothing.
They were all there at the AU meeting in the Gambia, all Africa's
Big Men.
They were joined by the leaders of Iran and Venezuela and UN
Secretary
General Kofi Anan was there too. Between them all, however, none
was able to
step forward with empathy, compassion and courage to speak out
and stand up
for ordinary men, women and children of Zimbabwe.
Just a few months from
the end of his term of office, and despite having
agreed to be a mediator
for Zimbabwe, Kofi Anan went back on his word at the
last moment. A few
weeks ago South African President Thabo Mbeki also backed
away from standing
up for his next door neighbours. Mbeki, christened by
America as the Point
Man on Zimbabwe, and after years of exceedingly Quiet
Diplomacy, said he was
looking forward to Kofi Anan taking the lead in
assisting Zimbabwe. Now,
tragically, it is all over before it even began.
UN Secretary General
Kofi Anan, speaking from Gambia, neatly passed the buck
on to ex Tanzanian
President Benjamin Mkapa. He said: "I told him (Mugabe) I
was committed to
helping Zimbabwe and the people of Zimbabwe and would
support the work of
the mediator." Kofi Anan had the chance to show real and
heroic leadership
as his term of office comes to an end but he chose
otherwise. Anan concluded
by saying: "We both agreed that he (Mkapa) should
be given the time and
space to do his work." It is beyond belief that Anan
could talk about time
and space six years into Zimbabwe's crisis. It was
Anan's own office that
said 700 000 homes were destroyed and two and half
million people lost their
livelihoods just a year ago in the Zimbabwe
government's Operation
Murambatsvina.
There is no time left in Zimbabwe - that is plain for
everyone to see. Eight
out of every ten people here are unemployed; we have
the lowest life
expectancy and the highest inflation rate in the world. Four
hundred and
eighty people die in Zimbabwe every single day from AIDS. This
figure is the
bare minimum and to my knowledge is now at least a year out of
date. It does
not include needless deaths from inadequate food, shelter or
medical care.
There is no space left in Zimbabwe either - emotions are at
breaking point,
frustration and anger is uppermost and democracy is being
taught with
sticks, stones, machetes and fists. This week we heard with
shock that five
members of the Mutambara led faction of the MDC had been
brutally attacked
by a mob. Four people were hurt, worst of all 61 year old
MP Trudy Stevenson
who was left with a deep gash to the back of her head,
broken arm bones and
a fractured cheek bone.
What hope is there for
Zimbabwe when the Big Men keep stepping back and
saying Not On My
Watch.
Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy.
From The Herald, 7 July
News Editor
Judge President Paddington Garwe has
been promoted to the Supreme Court and
was sworn in yesterday by President
Mugabe while Justice Rita Makarau takes
over as head of the High Court.
Justice Garwe becomes the seventh judge on
the Supreme Court bench. He took
his oath of loyalty and judicial oath
before President Mugabe at State House
yesterday. Present at the occasion
were Justice Garwe's family; the Minister
of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs, Cde Patrick Chinamasa; Chief
Secretary to the
President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda; Secretary for
Justice Mr David
Mangota; Secretary for Information Mr George Charamba;
Chief Justice Godfrey
Chidyausiku; Justice Makarau; the Commissioner of
Prisons, Major General
Paradzai Zimondi; Supreme and High Court judges,
chief magistrate Mr Herbert
Mandeya and other senior Government officials.
Justice Garwe holds an LLB
degree from the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and
joined Government service as
a magisterial assistant before his promotion to
magistrate in 1979. He
worked in Karoi and Chinhoyi before being promoted to
provincial magistrate
in the Midlands in 1983. The following year he was
promoted to regional
magistrate of the western division based in Bulawayo
and became chief
magistrate in 1989. Justice Garwe was later appointed
Secretary for Justice,
Legal and Parliamentary Affairs before becoming a
High Court judge. He
became Judge President upon the elevation of Chief
Justice Chidyausiku.
As judge president, Justice Makarau takes charge
of the administration of
the High Court in addition to her duties as a
judicial officer. She did not
have to be sworn in because her appointment is
an administrative post and
one does not take an oath for such a post. She
joined the High Court bench
in 2000. Prior to her appointment, Justice
Makarau worked as a lecturer in
the Faculty of Law at the UZ. She was a
member of the Law Development
Commission, a senior partner at Makarau and
Gowora Legal Practitioners and
non constituency Member of Parliament serving
on the Parliamentary Legal
Committee. She is a founder member of the
Zimbabwe Women Lawyers'
Association and a member of the International
Association of Women Judges
and International Association of Women Lawyers.
Justice Makarau is also the
chairperson of the Council for Legal Education,
a member of the High Court
Rules Committee, chairperson of Msasa Project
Trust, deputy chairperson
Women and Aids Support Network, patron of Justice
for Children Trust and
deputy chairperson of Zimbabwe Women Judges'
Association.
Cde Chinamasa said the Government would continue to
identify suitable and
experienced lawyers for appointment to the High Court.
He said presently
there was room for three to four more judges because there
was a shortage at
the Harare and Bulawayo High Courts. Cde Chinamasa said he
was happy with
staffing levels at the Labour Court but was concerned about
failure to
secure courts. He said in Gweru the Labour Court was operating
from
unsuitable places because they could not find a place to rent or buy.
Cde
Chinamasa said his ministry would continue to fight for the improvement
of
conditions of service for judges.
Washington Times
TODAY'S
EDITORIAL
July 8, 2006
Here's an unexpectedly telling window
into poor governance in the Third
World: the Egyptian or Chadian diplomat
who racks up hundreds of parking
tickets. As the Web site danieldrezner.com
reports, two American economists
recently discovered in New York City ticket
records from 1997 to 2002
demonstrating that diplomats from the world's most
corrupt governments also
tend to be the likeliest to scoff at New York's
parking rules. If ever there
were social-scientific evidence that bad
behavior in government may be a
state of mind, not just a set of bad
incentives or institutions, this is it.
As Washingtonians and New Yorkers
know, diplomatic immunity shields
foreign officials from things like costly
parking tickets for blocking fire
hydrants or traffic lanes. Diplomats are
free to disregard the rules as they
see fit: They face no real repercussions
for breaking them. To economists
Ray Fisman of Columbia University and
Edward Miguel of the University of
California this was a golden opportunity.
Ticket records, they posited, are
a good laboratory to watch world
diplomats' behavior in a single
environment. With no incentive to follow the
rules, the numbers should
reveal a thing or two about the behavior -- the
"culture," if you will -- of
a government.
Diplomats from African and
Middle Eastern countries dominate the list of
repeat offenders. Of the 20
worst scofflaw missions, 17 represented
countries in those regions. Kuwaitis
were by far the worst, with an average
of 246 tickets per diplomat over five
years. Egyptians and Chadians were
second- and third-worst with 140 and 124,
respectively. Zimbabwe, Nigeria
and Sudan were also top-20 offenders (The
three countries outside the
regions were No. 5 Bulgaria, No. 7 Albania and
No. 20 Serbia and
Montenegro). With a few exceptions, these countries occupy
the lower ranks
of Transparency International's 2005 International
Corruption Perceptions
Index, a leading world benchmark for disreputable
government.
Interestingly, the most rule-observant diplomats tended to
hail from
democratic countries in other parts of the world. Twenty-two
countries,
including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Colombia,
Israel, Japan and
Sweden, did not incur a single recorded ticket in New York
during the period
of study. Italy, Spain and France were notable exceptions.
Their respective
totals of 15, 13 and six tickets per diplomat place them in
the middle with
countries like Libya, the Philippines and Rwanda.
It's a good bet that cavalier attitudes in New York City bear some
relation
to political disarray at home when it's the same officials or their
friends
pulling the levers. At the very least, disregard for the law by the
powerful
is an attitude -- one which manifests itself even in places like
parking
records.
Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the
subject
line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1
Dear JAG,
DAMAGES SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
The latest Damages
Survey Questionnaire (see attached) was sent out by Jag a
few months ago. The
response from the Karoi and Tengwe communities has been
poor. We feel it is
essential for all who believe in their rights to
compensation and restitution
should fill in this essential Damages
Questionnaire and remain
involved.
It only takes half an hour and needs to be filled in to the
best of your
knowledge and you will be surprised at how easy it is.
We
need to quantify our Damages Losses and use this information for
future
initiatives including African Union meetings, lobbying and advocacy
of
foreign governments and their respective donor agencies as well as being
in
a position to bring a legal case.
As we do not have everyone's
addresses we ask that you pass this chain on to
your ex neighbours and
friends and/or send us their addresses so that we can
compile an address list
from replies.
We urge everyone to participate in this very important
initiative. Not just
the Karoi Farming Community.
Best
Regards
Chris Shepherd and Ian
Cochrane
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
2
Dear JAG,
Walking on Water.
Eddie Cross's letter really
struck a cord - he could have been writing about
ourselves.
Just
before Easter we were evicted from our farm and homes - three
families - in a
matter of hours. Everything happened so quickly. Our
house was first. To
have people swarm in, grab your furniture and dump it
outside unceremoniously
is quite a shock to the system.
These things are happening today, may not
be possible, and sound like
fiction. By the time the second and third homes
were under attack we were
more organised and had friends and family who
rallied around to help us.
Also the fact that they were asked to wait outside
and that, we will do our
own packing. At the third home things turned a bit
nasty and we were under
verbal attack. I retaliated, but my daughter came
to my side and said Mom
"lets go". To literally have the carpet pulled out
from under your feet,
after 50 years of hard work.!! Nothing was handed to
us on a plate ...
The fact is that the order was totally illegal and that
we had until the 8th
May to appeal against the eviction, but they would not
allow us to read that
far and wanting to prove a point. It just so happened
(God is Good) that a
friend had just gone down South for a couple of months
and offered his home.
To have fourteen adults and children crowded in one
place, although the
house was roomy and could contain us, it did have its
moments. And then to
have people wandering around asking the same question,
"Have you seen - do
you know where I can find". How is any one to know
where everything and
anything is, just that we are safe and together really
mattered. Of course
there were the questions, why Lord, what have we done,
and what is it that
you want"? As it happened during the school holidays
the children were
involved. They were a tremendous help and I think because
the adults kept
strong (at times) they were able to cope for a
while
Legal action was taken and of course this took its time. Finally
we
received a Provisional Order to move back - but for how long? To have
to
pick up the pieces, to decide what you want to keep, and what options
are
open to you. Just today I was wondering, "What on earth are we still
doing
here". It is obvious that they do not want us here. Just to see
the
desecration, theft and general break down of everything is not a
pretty
sight, and as the eldest son said "There is no life left in the
place"
So now what. Can only wait on God to show us what/where he wants
us to be.
I can assure you about one thing though, it has brought us down
from our
high pedestal and showed us what really matters in life .........and
also to
know, that all those responsible will have to answer for their
actions, one
day!!
Patsy
Oosthuysen
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
3
Dear JAG,
In my opinion, the CFU are showing total naivety in
even trying to collude
with the government - do you not know they are devious
and just playing for
time, kicking for touch when it suits them and basically
playing games with
everybody, while doing what they know best - dividing and
ruling? What has
happened has happened and for the time being is out of our
control. In the
meantime, those who have supped with the devil during the
past traumatic
six-or-so years will go down with the devil when the time
comes. Do not deal
with gangsters; rather wait for the new order, which is
not long in coming.
Cheers, have a good day. Stu
Taylor
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
4 (Tongue and Cheek)
Dear Jag,
Has John Tiffin checked with
Plumtree, these guys are probably still
there!!!
Just joking, Ex
Umtali
Rusty
Markham
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
THANKS FROM THE JAG TEAM
Many thanks to all those who have completed their Damages Survey Forms and returned them to this office it is much appreciated by the JAG Trustee’s. For those of you having difficulties with this Survey please contact the JAG office on telephone no 799410 or email direct to request a more user friendly electronic version or for advice and help. For those farmers who never received the forms, likewise please request through email from the JAG office. For those farmers not on email, hard copy versions are available through the JAG office for collection.
The collection and compilation of data from the Survey has started and is going well. We would like to press on with this Survey initiative for advocacy and lobbying purposes as soon as possible, we are beginning to generate reports and we need to get a good percentage return from you to improve our credibility and statistical base for extrapolation purposes.
Please send a few moments filling the Survey Form in this week if you have not already done so.
Thank you all
The JAG Team
-------------------------------------------------
The questionnaire attached to this
letter is a very important document.
This is a
questionnaire on the experiences of farmers and their workers, and is the first
stage of a three-stage research process being undertaken by JAG. The data from
this questionnaire will be supplemented by some interviews with people who are
available in Zimbabwe. This stage of the research process aims at being able to
give a complete overview of what has happened for farmers and farm workers over
the past 5 years. It is the simple story of what happened, and is similar to the
kinds of research studies done recently on Operation
Murambatsvina.
The second stage will involve the
compilation of a dossier for submission to various human rights bodies in the
world. After receiving back your completed questionnaire, JAG’s lawyers will reconfigure your submissions
into the form of an affidavit. This
affidavit will be returned to you, for you to attach your signature in the
presence of a lawyer, who will then attach his/her stamp and signature.
These affidavits will be used by
JAG as supporting evidence when we present our demands for compensation for
damages to various international human rights bodies.
The final stage is the ongoing
completion and compilation of the Loss Claims Document, which will aim at the
longer term and the possibility of a compensation/restitution process for the
loss of land and damages.
Nothing in this questionnaire is
meant to contradict or supplant the Loss Claims Document, and it is only meant
for advocacy and lobbying purposes only.
All the findings
from this first stage will be compiled into a detailed report on the experiences
of farmers and their workers. The report will be as widely circulated as
possible so that all relevant bodies and parties are aware of the extent of the
damages and losses incurred by farmers and their workers over the past 5 years.
All names and farm identities will be protected and held in the strictest
confidence.
Please read the
instructions for completing this questionnaire. We do not believe that it is a
very difficult questionnaire, and we have tried to keep it as simple as we can
without losing important material. It does not ask for the detail of your
experiences – not because we believe that these are not important, but because
it would make the questionnaire into a Loss Claims Document, which is designed
to follow this initiative.
With your support this is a
challenge we will win. This is the first
stage in the battle in the war for justice and
restitution
Instructions for completing this
Questionnaire.
Firstly, remember this is a survey
and not a loss document, so you merely give answers to the best of your memory.
You do not need to refer to any documents or records that you
have.
Secondly, just rely on the best
memory that you have about events and losses and amounts of
money.
Thirdly, when it comes to
estimating damages in money, just work with the best “ball-park” US$ figures of
the value at the time that things were stolen or lost or whatever. Use your
memory as best that you can and do not try to go to records. This is what will
be done in the Loss Claims Document, and any views that you express in this
questionnaire will not conflict or invalidate statements that you make in the
Loss Claims Document.
Personal
information:
If you wish all this information to
be confidential or anonymous, please leave blank the sections relating to your
name and the name of your farm. This
information will be kept confidential anyway.
Section
1:
This section deals with the human
rights violations experienced by you, and your family. It is meant to get
statistical information about the events, and is not meant to be a human rights
report in the sense of the details of what happened to you. This will enable us
to compare the experiences of the farmers with similar experiences of other
victim groups in Zimbabwe over the same
time period.
Section
2:
This section deals with the human
rights violations experienced by your employees. It is meant to get statistical
information about the events, and is not meant to be a human rights report in
the sense of the details of what happened to them. This will enable us to
compare the experiences of farm workers with similar experiences of other victim
groups in Zimbabwe over the same time period.
Section
3:
This section deals with the various
ways in which you attempted to get the support of the courts and the law
enforcement agencies in dealing with various illegalities. Again, it is an
attempt to get a statistical overview of what happened and not a human rights
report. This will leave out many very important personal details about your
experience, but these details will be compiled later in the Loss Claims
Document.
Section
4:
This section deals with the losses
and damages that you incurred. As indicated above, you should rely on your
memory and not see this as requiring either the detail or the exactness required
in the Loss Claims Document. Here we are trying to get an economic estimate of
the damages as a whole, but only an estimate, as the full details of the losses
and the damages will emerge in due course from the Loss Claims Document.
Remember, as we said in the
covering letter, we are primarily trying to tell the story of the experiences of
farmers and farm workers over the past 5 years. The information will fill in the
gaps in the international community and public’s knowledge of what happened, and
tell the most complete story of what happened.
QUESTIONNAIRE ON THE EXPERIENCES OF
COMMERCIAL FARMERS AND FARM WORKERS.
|
Date: |
|
|
Name: |
|
|
Age: |
|
|
Nationality: |
|
|
ID
Number: |
|
|
Address: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Telephone
Numbers: |
|
|
Cellphone
Numbers: |
|
|
|
YES |
NO |
|
Were you forced to renounce your
previous Zimbabwe citizenship? |
|
|
|
Name of
farm: |
|
|
Province: |
|
|
District |
|
|
|
YES |
NO |
|
Are you still living on the
farm? |
|
|
|
What number of full-time employees
did you have? |
|
|
What number of part-time employees
did you have? |
|
|
What number of employees family
members lived on the farm? |
|
|
|
YES |
NO |
|
Do you know who currently occupies
your farm? |
|
|
|
Was this person directly involved in
any actions involved in taking over your farm or in evicting
you? |
|
|
1.
Personal:
1.1
Have you or any of your family
experienced any of the following?
|
|
YES |
No
of people affected |
|
Murder |
|
|
|
Assault |
|
|
|
Torture |
|
|
|
Rape |
|
|
|
Unlawful arrest [arrest without a
charge] |
|
|
|
Unlawful detention [detention longer
than 48 hours] |
|
|
|
Abduction or
kidnapping |
|
|
|
Disappearance |
|
|
|
Death
threats |
|
|
|
Forced attendance at political
meetings |
|
|
|
Political
intimidation |
|
|
|
Held
hostage |
|
|
|
Forced to join ZanuPF or make
contributions to ZanuPF |
|
|
|
Had pet animals killed or
maimed |
|
|
|
Deliberate killing or maiming of
wildlife |
|
|
|
Displacement |
|
|
1.2
Perpetrators:
Were any of the following involved
in the above?
|
|
YES |
No
of people involved |
|
Police |
|
|
|
Uniformed
Branch |
|
|
|
Riot
Squad |
|
|
|
Support
Unit |
|
|
|
CID |
|
|
|
PISI |
|
|
|
Army |
|
|
|
CIO |
|
|
|
War
Veteran Youth
Militia |
|
|
|
ZanuPF
member |
|
|
|
Farm
employee |
|
|
|
Member of
Parliament |
|
|
|
Provincial
Governor |
|
|
|
Provincial
Administrator |
|
|
|
District
Administrator |
|
|
|
Member of President’s
Office |
|
|
|
Other
[specify] |
|
|
1.3
Do you
know the names of any of the perpetrators?
2.
Workers:
2.1
Have any of your employees or their
families experienced any of the following?
|
|
YES |
No
of people affected |
|
Murder |
|
|
|
Assault |
|
|
|
Torture |
|
|
|
Rape |
|
|
|
Unlawful arrest [arrest without a
charge] |
|
|
|
Unlawful detention [detention longer
than 48 hours] |
|
|
|
Abduction or
kidnapping |
|
|
|
Disappearance |
|
|
|
Death
threats |
|
|
|
Forced attendance at political
meetings |
|
|
|
Political
intimidation |
|
|
|
Held
hostage |
|
|
|
Forced to join ZanuPF or make
contributions to ZanuPF |
|
|
|
Young persons forced to join ZanuPF
Youth |
|
|
|
Denied food relief if not member of
ZanuPF |
|
|
|
Specific intimidation of workers in
authority on the farm |
|
|
|
Displacement |
|
|
2.2.
Perpetrators:
|
|
YES |
No
of people involved |
|
Police |
|
|
|
Uniformed
Branch |
|
|
|
Riot
Squad |
|
|
|
Support
Unit |
|
|
|
CID |
|
|
|
PISI |
|
|
|
Army |
|
|
|
CIO |
|
|
|
War
Veteran Youth
Militia |
|
|
|
ZanuPF
member |
|
|
|
Farm
employee |
|
|
|
Member of
Parliament |
|
|
|
Provincial
Governor |
|
|
|
Provincial
Administrator |
|
|
|
District
Administrator |
|
|
|
Member of President’s
Office |
|
|
|
Other[specify] |
|
|
2.3
Do you know the names of any of
the perpetrators?
3. Legal
actions:
|
|
YES |
NO |
|
Did you object to the designation of
your farm? |
|
|
|
Did you contest your designation in
the Administrative court? |
|
|
|
Date that legal challenge
made |
|
|
|
YES |
NO |
|
Did you acquiesce or concede under
duress to the acquisition of part or the whole of your
farm? |
|
|
|
Were you forcibly evicted from your
farm? |
|
|
|
|
YES |
NO | |
|
Did you ever obtain a court order to
continue using your farm free from interference? |
|
| |
|
Date of court
order(s) |
|
| |
|
Number of court
order(s) |
|
| |
|
How much in US$ have you spent on
legal fees and lawyers? |
|
| |
|
|
YES |
NO | |
|
Did you ever try to get the police
to enforce a court order? |
|
| |
|
Number of
times |
|
| |
|
|
YES |
NO | |
|
Was it
successful? |
|
| |
|
|
YES |
NO | |
|
Did you ever try to get the police
to stop violence or intimidation against yourself or your
workers? |
|
| |
|
Number of
times |
|
| |
|
|
YES |
NO | |
|
Were the police ever
helpful? |
|
| |
|
Number of
times |
|
| |
|
|
YES |
NO |
|
Did you ever see the police
intimidated themselves? |
|
|
|
Were sympathetic or professional
policemen transferred away or removed from duties? |
|
|
4. Damages
suffered:
4.1
Farm
owner:
|
Loss of
property |
Value in
US$ |
|
Estimate in US$ the value of all
moveable property stolen, or damaged
beyond repair by illegal actions.
Include forced sales due to extortion. |
|
|
Loss of property from
burnings |
Value in
US$ |
|
Estimate in US$ the value of all
immovable and moveable property burned completely or damaged beyond repair by
illegal actions. |
|
|
Loss of
livestock |
Value in
US$ |
|
Estimate in US$ the value of all
livestock stolen or killed illegally. |
|
|
Crops |
Value in
US$ |
|
Estimate in US$ the value of all
crops stolen or destroyed. |
|
|
Loss of
earnings |
Value in
US$ |
|
Estimate in US$ the amount of total
income lost in the time that you have been unable to conduct normal farming
operations. |
|
NOTE: This should be purely
profits before tax and should be based on the last full and
unaffected farming year. It should also include anticipated increases in profits
were you able to have continued farming.
|
Costs of medical
treatment |
Value in
US$ |
|
Estimate in US$ the amount of
medical expenses incurred by your family or your workers from injuries due to
violence. |
|
4.2 Farm
workers:
|
|
YES |
Number |
|
Were any of your employees forced to
renounce their citizenship? |
|
|
|
Redundancy
pay |
Value in
US$ |
|
How much in US$ did you pay out to
your former employees when you had to leave your farm? |
|
|
Wages
lost |
Value in
US$ |
|
Estimate the total amount of wages
in US$ that your full-time and part-time employees have lost since you had to
discontinue farming. |
|
Note: This should be based on the last full
farming year.
|
|
YES |
NO |
|
Did your employees lose their homes
due to illegal destruction or burning? |
|
|
|
Did your employees lose property due
to theft or extortion? |
|
|
|
Social amenities
Lost |
YES |
NO |
| Did you provide any of the following for your workers? |
|
|
|
Solid structure housing
[brick] |
|
|
|
Toilet
facilities |
|
|
|
Piped
water |
|
|
|
Electricity and/or lights |
|
|
|
Vegetable
gardens |
|
|
|
Farm
store |
|
|
|
Creche |
|
|
|
Orphanage or orphan
care |
|
|
|
Adult
education |
|
|
|
Sponsored
sport |
|
|
|
Social benefits
Lost |
YES |
NO |
How many
pupils? | ||
|
Did you provide a school on your
farm? |
|
|
| ||
|
Did you subsidise children attending
another school if you had no school on your farm? |
|
|
| ||
|
Has the school been
downsized? |
|
|
| ||
|
Has the school been
closed? |
|
|
| ||
|
Social Benefits
Lost |
YES |
How much in US$ did the school cost
per year? |
| ||
|
Did you have a school on your
farm? |
|
|
| ||
|
Social Benefits
Lost |
YES |
How much in US$ did the clinic &
medical cost per year? |
| ||
|
Did you have a clinic & medical
care on your farm? |
|
|
| ||
|
|
|
How much in US$ did this cost per
year? |
| ||
|
Did you provide AIDS awareness
training/teaching on your farm? |
|
|
| ||
|
Deaths |
Number
died |
| |||
|
Do you know how many of your former
employees have died since losing their jobs on the
farm? |
|
| |||
|
Do you know how many direct family
members of your former employees have died since losing their jobs on the
farm? |
|
| |||