Twenty-one years ago, Robert Mugabe saw Zimbabwe's defining moment. His people had been subjected to Portuguese slave traders, British colonialists who raped their land of precious resources, South African farmers who suppressed their voices and countless "peace talks" that led to nowhere. By April 1980, his people were ready for change and voted overwhelmingly for his ZANU party, making him leader. Zimbabwe became independent, and blacks were no longer subjected to white rule. Today, Zimbabwe is waiting for another moment.
     Mr. Mugabe, referred to as the Old Man of Africa, is now disempowering the very same people. Those who formerly supported him are deserting him, and those he considers threats to his power are being murdered or charged with terrorism. Consider Morgan Tsvangirai. Despite the fact that the person who had previously seriously challenged Mr. Mugabe for the presidency of the country -- the Rev. Ndonga Sithole -- had been arrested and charged with plotting to kill the prime minister, Mr. Tsvangirai is hoping to overthrow the president in elections in April 2002. But today he, too, will face the Zimbabwe Supreme Court on charges of state terrorism and inciting violence. If convicted, this could conveniently put Mr. Mugabe's main competition behind bars just in time for the election and keep him there for life. Interestingly, in a gesture of desperation, Mr. Tsvangirai was charged with a law dating back to the era of white-ruled Rhodesia, a law used to silence black dissent and nationalism in the 1960s and 1970s. All Mr. Tsvangirai had said was that Mr. Mugabe should go peacefully, or he would be removed violently.
      Discontent has grown as the economy has rapidly deteriorated, and Mr. Mugabe has implemented a policy of settling war veterans from the time of the uprising for independence on land formerly owned by white people. It is estimated that 7.4 million acres have forcibly been taken, settling 100,000 such veterans, and Mr. Mugabe wants to settle another 300,000 by the end of the year.
      As Mr. Tsvangirai sees it, though, empowerment is about jobs, not about land liberation. Since the land confiscation started, agricultural production has been disrupted, causing a food shortage. He hopes to focus on land and economic reform policy. He would rearrange the budget, too, focusing funds on health concerns, rather than defense, which Mr. Mugabe has used to fight his own domestic battles. This would help fight the growing HIV/AIDS crisis, which is killing 2,000 people a week there.
      But before he can do any of that, he has to be sure that Mr. Mugabe will allow free and fair elections -- something unlikely without international monitors. "It is crucial that that election be run in a manner which is legitimate and which will give the people of Zimbabwe an opportunity to express themselves to their own leadership . . . but we can't do it alone," Mr. Tsvangirai said in an interview at The Washington Times. "We need the assistance and support both of the regional governments and the international community."
      For people who have had their voices silenced, a little monitoring doesn't seem too much to ask. Mr. Mugabe should know that the international community is already watching as Zimbabwe prepares for another defining moment.

• Under siege in Avondale - ZWNEWS
• Expel whites, says Gaddafi - DTel
• Last chances for hands in the till - I - People's Daily
• Last chances for hands in the till - II - ZimInd
• Court puts land grab on hold - NMercury
• Another talk show banned - Times of India

Under siege in Avondale

By Jim Holland

At about 11 am this morning, my wife Sekai Holland was driving from Harare city centre to our home in Avondale after completing preparations to go to Mberengwa in the afternoon, when her driver noticed that an unmarked white Land Rover Defender had done a U-turn as they passed it, and that it appeared to be following them. He thought it was vehicle that is being used by Chinotimba, a leading Zanu PF thug, so he increased speed and tried to get away, but the vehicle kept chasing them. After a circuitous route they finally drove up our street blowing the horn and our security guard opened the gate, let them in and then tried to shut it again to block the Land Rover that was close behind. I heard the commotion and went to the front door of the house to see what was going on. At that point I heard a shot being fired. I saw the Land Rover at the gate, and it seemed to have a full load of about eight people in it, with one of them pointing a pistol towards the house. Our security guard was lying on the ground and it appeared that he had been shot.

Sekai and her driver managed to get inside the house and we then locked all doors and windows. We heard further shots outside the house and then unidentified people started banging on the doors and windows demanding that we come outside. I assumed at that stage that it was an assassination squad so we ignored their demands and kept under cover. I phoned the local police and asked a friend to contact all the journalists and other relevant contacts she had to say that our lives were being threatened. Outside I could see that several MDC personnel who had been in the vehicle with Sekai were being held on the ground at gunpoint by three men in plain clothes armed with pistols. I feared the worst.

While we waited the gunmen circled the house, peering into windows and shouting for us to come out. Finally, one of them - for the first time - announced that they were police, and that they wanted us to open up so that they could interview the driver of my wife's vehicle. As he didn't let us see his identity card, or explain why he wanted to interview the driver, we refused.

After what seemed like an hour the local police arrived - on foot, as they said that they had no transport. We then had a "dialogue" through one of the barred windows of the house. They told us that the gunmen were from the CID and that we should talk to them. I refused to discuss anything unless one of them let me inspect his Identity card. After much heated argument he finally agreed. He then claimed that they had been looking for a gang of hijackers who were travelling around in a blue Rustler pickup and that our vehicle looked suspicious. I pointed out that it was a white Mazda B1800 that bore no similarity whatsoever to a blue Rustler. He said "but they keep changing vehicles . . ."

My wife then joined us at the window to listen to what the gunmen had to say. When they said they were from the CID car theft division, Sekai pointed out that the vehicle she had been driving in had in fact been stolen for nine months by a ZRP police officer who now lives in London. She showed them a photograph of the thief that had been obtained by MDC security. She said that she had been harassed for the past week because of her election challenge which comes up in court on 28 July. She also pointed out that last year a group of men armed with AK47 rifles had also invaded our house with a similar excuse about investigating her car. That had been an hour before she was due to meet with Don McKinnon - the Commonwealth Secretary-General - who was visiting Harare at the time.

The leader of the gunmen (now holding a vicious-looking spike in his hand) initially denied firing any shots, but eventually said that it was necessary in order to stop Sekai's vehicle. He admitted that at no stage during the chase or before the shots were fired had they identified themselves as being police. He said anyone being followed by a white Defender ought to know that it was a police vehicle and ought to stop! (I did point out the absurdity of this, saying that we had once owned a white Land Rover ourselves, and that in these days of hijackings the last thing you would want to do would be to stop to talk to a vehicle full of men who were clearly following you with ill intent.)

Eventually quite a crowd of people had gathered, including employees from a security company, various journalists, an MDC MP and other MDC security personnel. Only at that point did I feel it was safe for us to go outside and talk to the alleged "police". They kept excusing their behaviour by saying they were just following a suspicious vehicle which had refused to stop. They wanted to know if it had been stolen, and if the people in it were involved in hijackings. They gave no explanation for their failure to identify themselves until the local police arrived, no explanation for shooting at a house with ordinary civilians and children around.

Finally the gunmen left, denying that this was political harassment. Only at that stage could I talk to the people who had been held at gunpoint. They said they had been chased by the "police" who fired pistols and then punched and kicked them once they had surrendered. One had handcuffs put on him that were painfully tight and injured his wrists. Others had bruises and lacerations. As everyone was leaving, one of the journalists pointed to a hole in our front window which I had not noticed before. We went inside and found broken glass and the slug from the bullet which had been fired from the Land Rover at the gate. It had fortunately missed our security guard by inches and smashed into the window at head height - but clearly the "police" had been shooting to kill.

We appreciate all the messages of support we have received from Zimbabwe and all over the world. The MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai and other party members and friends came to visit us to express their solidarity.

Hunzvi, the national chairman of the war veterans’ association and MP for Chikomba constituency, died at the beginning of June and was declared a national hero.
Yesterday, Endy Mhlanga, the managing director of Zexcom and secretary-general of the war veterans’ association, said he took the vehicles for repair so that they could be used to generate income for the company.
The vehicles include five lorries, a Mercedes Benz vehicle, a Peugeot 306, two Mazda Twin Cab trucks and a Mazda 323.
Some war veterans immediately expressed their disapproval, saying Mhlanga was behaving as if Zexcom was his personal company. They described his move as arbitrary and high-handed.
However, Mhlanga said: “As the Zexcom managing director, I decided to take the lorries for repair at a Chinese company in Avondale, called Wallang Zimbabwe. After the repairs, the lorries will be contracted to various organisations to generate money for the company.”
He said other vehicles had been taken to a place of safety until the board decided on their fate.
But the war veterans’ taskforce, formed by Zexcom shareholders to investigate the maladministration at the company, is reportedly unhappy with the action.
Zivai Mboko, the secretary, said Mhlanga should stop operating Zexcom as his own company.
Mboko said: “Let him keep the vehicles for now, but I assure you that by 26 July the story could be different.”
He refused to elaborate.
Mboko added: “Without finances from the company, they would not be able to sustain themselves.
That’s why they are clinging onto power.”
But Mhlanga dismissed Mboko as “being overzealous”.
He said: “Who is Mboko to speak to me in that manner? Is it because Hunzvi is dead? Why should he discuss company secrets in newspapers?”
Zexcom is currently under provisional judicial management ordered by the High Court following allegations of gross financial mismanagement.

This week the government announced that it would no longer allow banks and other financial institutions to disburse the indigenisation facility. Instead, three ministries will be involved in the exercise.
The role of the government is to create an environment that promotes the growth of enterprises. That role, however, does not include government interference as proposed in the case of disbursement of the $1 billion fund.
Three government ministries - Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation; Industry and International Trade; and Labour, Public Service and Social Welfare - will now handle disbursement of the fund.
However, it is common cause the Ministry of Youth Development is being used for the sole purpose of advancing the interests of the ruling party, Zanu PF. It has been the most active in liberally disbursing funds whenever there is an election pending - the Marondera West and Bikita West by-elections and the Masvingo mayoral race.
What the government has done this time is to extend its voter catchment area. This time industry is being courted in the hope that it will feel obliged to support the government. If industries support the government, then by extension workers in those industries will be beholden to the government.
This is the rationale behind the idea of bringing the Ministry of Industry and International Trade into the disbursement of the fund. One of the reasons why everyone is dissatisfied with the status quo but the captains of industry do not lift a finger is because they are beneficiaries of the system. Now they will have greater cause to feel grateful to the government.
Disbursement of the fund under the Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Social Welfare is intended to continue the patronage Zanu PF exercised over the Social Dimensions Fund. The beneficiaries were largely those recommended by the Zanu PF structures. This is outright vote-buying.
This particular strategy has been applied to farmers: convince the farmers to support Zanu PF and you have convinced their workers.
The War Victims Compensation Fund, the Social Dimensions Fund, the District Development Fund for boreholes and the pay-for-your house scheme were pillaged and plundered by people connected to the ruling party, Zanu PF.
It is argued there is some disquiet about the manner banks and financial institutions disbursed the 1997 World Bank $800 million fund intended to benefit small- and medium-scale businesses, but the same people expressing such views are aware they would not qualify if they approached banks because they have no credit rating. Roger Boka’s bank collapsed because he lent too much money to applicants who either did not qualify for or who were unwilling to repay the loans. They will be the same people who lobbied the government to ensure banks and financial institutions had no role in the disbursement of the $1 billion fund.
If a system does not work, the solution is not to scrap it totally. The normal process is to evaluate its performance and weaknesses and then improve and implement them. It is a process.
The World Bank facility took longer to disburse because the proposals and applicants in the majority of cases were not serious business propositions. A lot of those who failed know they will not access the fund if the same vetting mechanisms were employed. That is why there has been strong lobbying for a change.
But there is also another reason why the government would want to undertake disbursement of the fund: the government does not have resources for the 2002 Presidential election and the $1 billion is going to come in handy. The whole disbursement could be put put on “fast-track” by the ministries concerned, in time for recipients of funds to make generous donations to the Zanu PF election campaign.
Banks, especially, indigenous banks and finance houses, should protest vigorously because the same government which claims to support their efforts is now subverting their enterprise. The simple fact is that the government does not have the capacity and expertise of banks and financial institutions in vetting project proposals for businesses.
But this government, like a magician, is a master at creating impressions.
These proposals are vote-buying disguised as support for small- and medium-scale businesses.

In a letter dated 5 July 2001, Bill Jordan, the ICFTU general secretary, said the unions supported the two-day stayaway staged by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) last week.
The letter reads in part: “The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions unequivocally condemns persistent state-sponsored violence against trade union members in Zimbabwe.
“We also wish to register our strongest protest at the deteriorating trade union and human rights situation, as well as the economic, social and political crisis, which continues to take a heavy toll on the majority of the people.”
On Wednesday, police arrested Wellington Chibhebhe, the ZCTU secretary-general, and interrogated him over last week’s stayaway. About 90 percent of the workers stayed away from their jobs, at a cost economists put at about $6 billion.
Chibhebhe was released after more than two hours of interrogation by the police’s law and order section.
“The ICFTU fully supports its affiliate, the ZCTU, in the successful stayaway action it has held against the massive fuel price hike and your government’s economic policy,” Jordan said.
“We are particularly concerned about the police intimidation of workers during the stayaway, the unnecessary deployment of the army in urban areas, and the continuing suppression of the right to organise, freedom of expression and the freedom of information, which is sorely undermining democracy in your country.”
He said the ICFTU would continue to monitor the situation and rally international support for the ZCTU.
Andrew Kailembo, the general secretary of the African Regional Chapter of the ICFTU, on Wednesday wrote another letter to Mugabe, condemning Chibhebhe’s arrest.
His letter reads in part: “The denial of the workers’ right to withhold their labour is a serious violation of internationally accepted labour standards and your government has an obligation to respect these rights by virtue of your membership of the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation.”
The Confederation of South African Trade Unions, a political ally of the ruling African National Congress led by President Thabo Mbeki, has also supported the ZCTU stayaway.

Tekere, who once held the third most influential post in the ruling party before he was kicked out more than a decade ago, is understood to command considerable respect among many ex-combatants.
Asked for comment, Tekere last night said: “I have no comment at the moment.
I have just arrived from Harare and need to read the story in The Eastern Star first.”
But one influential war veteran leader said: “Tekere is likely to be the next war veterans’ national leader.”
The Eastern Star, The Daily News’ sister paper, yesterday reported that
Tekere was being courted to succeed Chenjerai Hunzvi, the national chairman of the war veterans’ association, who died early last month .
But some senior Zanu PF officials are reportedly working frantically to thwart any possibility of the no-holds-barred, acid-tongued Tekere taking over the leadership of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association.
“This will definitely be blocked by those at the top,” said one Zanu PF official, without elaborating.
Tekere faces a formidable challenge from those who have declared an interest in the post.
Among them are Joseph Chinotimba, the Harare provincial chairman of the association, Patrick Nyaruwata, the acting national chairman, Andrew Ndlovu, the secretary for projects, and Endy Mhlanga, the secretary-general.
Tekere, who unsuccessfully challenged Mugabe for the Presidency a decade ago after he formed the Zimbabwe Unity Movement party, is a patron of the war veterans’ association in Manicaland.
Zanu PF and war veteran insiders said those likely to block Tekere from the war veterans’ leadership were top ruling party officials, fearful that the tough-talking former Zanu PF stalwart could ruffle Mugabe’s feathers ahead of next year’s crucial Presidential poll.
Robert Gumbo, the Manicaland chairman of the war veterans’ association, professed ignorance over moves to draft Tekere for the post.
He, however, said the matter was likely to come up at a meeting scheduled for today in Mutare, where ex-combatants in the province will choose candidates to contest national positions at the end of the next month or early September.

The Libyan leader was later in the day mobbed by curious members of the public when he took an impromptu walk-about in Harare’s plush Eastgate shopping mall.
The security-conscious Gaddafi, dressed in white robes wrapped over with a brown scarf and donning a matching keffiyeh (headdress), greeted people as he walked around surrounded by bodyguards.
His bodyguards had a hard time in restraining members of the public who jostled to shake his hand and pose with him for photographs.
He even barred one of his aides from holding back the crowd pushing to take a glimpse of the man who has spearheaded the formation of the African Union to replace Kwame Nkrumah’s brainchild, the Organisation of African Unity.
Gaddafi’s security guards, who include the famous heavily-built woman Aiyasha, quickly whisked their leader into a waiting vehicle to drive away.
The headstrong Gaddafi immediately rose and punched the air with his fist -Zanu PF style.
Earlier, he visited the Heroes' Acre, where he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
On his way from Lusaka, Zambia, by road on Thursday, Gaddafi had his security guards in a bind when mingle freely with the crowd at a golf course in Chinhoyi.
Later the same day, traffic ground to a halt for more than an hour along Second Street, Lomagundi Road and adjoining roads when Gaddafi drove into Harare with his full convoy at the end of his 450km road journey. His movements were shrouded in secrecy and even the State media was kept in the dark.
Gaddafi is expected to leave the country this morning.