Harare - Zimbabwe's government has struck a $360-million (about R2,9-billion) deal under which it will source fuel from Libya in exchange for exporting products to the North African country, the private-run Financial Gazette newspaper reported on Thursday.

The paper quoted unnamed senior government sources as saying the deal was brokered between President Robert Mugabe and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who left the country on Saturday after a two-day visit.

"The deal will guarantee fuel supplies to Zimbabwe for at least a year, and is renewable, which means this could be the end of the country's fuel problems," one official said.

State media reported last week that Gaddafi discussed with Mugabe the possibility of Libya providing petroleum products to ease a crippling fuel shortage Zimbabwe has suffered for the past 19 months. Last year Libya gave Zimbabwe a $100-million financial package.

Fuel supplies have been erratic

"Once we conclude these talks we will know what to expect from Libya," the official Herald newspaper quoted Mugabe as saying. Details of the talks have not been released.

Fuel supplies have been erratic since December 1999 after state-owned procurement firm National Oil Company of Zimbabwe had its credit lines cut over a Z$9-billion (about R1,3-billion) debt which has since more than doubled.

On Thursday the Financial Gazette said the latest funding would be released in quarterly tranches of $90-million and that Harare will in turn export local products to Libya to finance the fuel purchases.

The Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe, in which the government retains a 20 percent stake, would act as the financial adviser in the deal, but the Finance Gazette said the bank's manager Gideon Gono had declined to comment on the deal.

Government officials were not available for comment on Thursday.

Problems worsened by the suspension of aid

Earlier this month, industry was crippled by a two-day national strike called by labour unions to protest a 70 percent fuel price hike the oil body said was necessary to offset increased procurement costs.

The main Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions has threatened an indefinite strike if the government refuses to reverse the steep increases, which have sent public transport costs soaring.

Zimbabweans are already struggling with rising cost of living as the economy undergoes a recession now in its third year, and which many blame on government mismanagement.

The country's problems have been worsened by the suspension of aid by donors mainly over Mugabe's controversial drive to seize farms for redistribution to blacks without paying compensation. - Reuters

Zimbabwean blasts Young on land crisis
ATLANTA AND THE WORLD
Don Melvin, Moni Basu, Ernie Freda and Keith Graham - Staff
Thursday, July 19, 2001

Former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young has spent decades working on African issues. The high regard in which he is held on the continent is thought to have helped Atlanta win the right to host the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.

But a Zimbabwean newspaper publisher who visited Atlanta last week blasted Young's attempt to mediate an end to that country's land crisis as distinctly unhelpful.

"The way he started it all has cost him a lot of credibility," said Trevor Ncube, the publisher and chief executive of the Zimbabwe Independent and Standard. "He's come across as somebody who's shooting from the hip."

The majority of land in Zimbabwe is owned by white people, who make up only 1 percent of the population. In the past year, veterans of Zimbabwe's war for independence, with the encouragement of President Robert Mugabe, have occupied a number of white-owned farms. And the government has slated more than 5,000 white-owned farms for seizure.

Increasingly vocal critics, including the primarily black political opposition, charge that Mugabe, 77, is inflaming the land issue because he fears losing next April's presidential election.

African leaders worry that turmoil in Zimbabwe could contribute to instability in the region. In June, at the request of Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Young met with Mugabe. After the meeting, Young said that any solution to Zimbabwe's troubles must include Mugabe, because he alone has the credibility to get the war veterans off the land.

But Ncube said Young wasted a chance to be a respected mediator because he "endorsed Robert Mugabe 100 percent," and added that Young seems "ill-informed."

"How he jumps to conclusions is regrettable, to say the least," the publisher said.

Young was traveling in Africa and could not be reached for comment. He will go to Zimbabwe late this week to talk again with Mugabe and with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

But Sika Awoonor, vice president for communications at Goodworks International, Young's company, rejected Ncube's comments as unfounded, and noted that Young was mediating at the request of influential Africans.

"Other African leaders have deposited a certain amount of confidence in him," she said.

From The Star (SA), 18 July

Zim farmer in chains, lawyer kept from court

Harare - Farmer Phillip "Blondie" Bezuidenhout, 51, appeared briefly in a magistrates court in the eastern city of Mutare on Wednesday on charges of murdering a squatter by running him down in his truck. In a two-minute hearing in a court jammed with ruling Zanu-PF party militias, magistrate Hosiah Mujaya remanded Bezuidenhout in custody to appear again in two weeks. No charges were put to him and he was not asked to plead. Bezuidenhout, handcuffed and in leg-irons in the courtroom, was not legally represented. Police had advised his lawyer not to enter the court, legal sources said, in case he was attacked by so-called guerrilla war veterans, despite the presence of scores of police, some armed with service revolvers, in and outside the court.

Lawyer Chris Ndlovu declined to comment, but the sources, who asked not to be named, said: "The war veterans wanted to have a word with him. It was not safe for him." On Saturday Ndlovu had to flee a mob of war veterans when they demanded to know why he was "defending a farmer who killed a black man". The affair is expected to move to the high court in Harare on Thursday where Bezuidenhout plans to ask a judge for bail. Magistrates are barred by Zimbabwean law from granting bail to suspects in murder cases.

Mayhem descended on the small farming district of Old Mutare on the eastern city's outskirts on Saturday last week after Bezuidenhout ran over and killed a squatter in his truck as he passed through a mob allocating themselves plots on his farm, Tara. Families in the area fled as veteran-led mobs ransacked and looted five farmers' homes in revenge for the killing and threatened to plunge the district into chaos. The state-controlled media seized on the incident as a "premeditated Ku Klux Klan-type murder", but Bezuidenhout has apparently told his lawyer that he drove into Fibian Mapenzauswa – who was the financial manager of a major Zimbabwean industrial company – as the man walked out of a crowd milling on the road and into the path of the farmer's vehicle.

Police reacted on Monday by saturating the area with paramilitary police who restored order. Farm union officials said several people had been arrested for looting and stolen property had been recovered. "It's quiet; there've been no problems," Judy Wilson, administrator in the area for the Commercial Farmers' Union, said Wednesday. "Let's hope it stays like that." Residents in the area said police had cleared squatters from Bezuidenhout's farm on Wednesday. Tara is one of about 60 white-owned farms not to have been listed formally for seizure by the government for resettlement. Mapenzauswa was the first squatter to have been killed by a landowner in 18 months of violent harassment of farmers by militias. A total of 28 farm workers and eight farmers have been murdered since the invasions began, but only a handful of arrests and no prosecutions have taken place.

From The Daily News, 18 July

Ministers threaten students with death

Masvingo - Two cabinet ministers last week threatened students and college authorities in Masvingo with dismissal or even death if they supported opposition parties ahead of the 2002 presidential election. Stan Mudenge, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Samuel Mumbengegwi, the Minister of Education, Sports and Culture, said they were concerned at the students and their principals’ support for the opposition parties. The ministers met student leaders and principals from Masvingo, Bondolfi and Morgenster teacher training colleges, Masvingo Technical College and Mushagashe Vocational Training College.

According to the minutes of the meeting held at Bondolfi Mission last Friday, the ministers said the only way teachers and students could guarantee their safety was to support Zanu PF. Mudenge said: "You are going to lose your jobs if you support opposition political parties in the presidential election. As civil servants, you have to be loyal to the government of the day. You can even be killed for supporting the opposition and no one would guarantee your safety." Mumbengegwi, the Zanu PF chairman for Masvingo province, said he was troubled by reports that some teachers supported the MDC. Mumbengegwi said: "We cannot continue to pay our enemies. People have to know which side of their bread is buttered." A college official who refused to be named said: "The aim of the meeting was to intimidate student leaders and members of staff."

The ministers’ threats come after the transfer last month of more than 100 teachers from Masvingo Urban to rural schools for allegedly supporting the MDC in the run-up to the Masvingo mayoral election. The MDC’s Alois Chaimiti beat Zanu PF’s Jacob Chademana by more than 2 000 votes to become Masvingo’s executive mayor. The Masvingo regional director of education, Obert Mujuru, yesterday confirmed the transfers but refused to give details. Aeneas Chigwedere, the Deputy Minister of Education, Sports and Culture, last month said his ministry would not provide security to teachers affected by violence perpetrated by war veterans and Zanu PF supporters for supporting the opposition.

From News24 (SA), 18 July

'Murder' could sink agriculture

Shonhiwa Muzengu

Harare - The death of Febian Mapenzauswa, 31, a prospective settler on Phillip Bezuidenhout's farm in the Odzi commercial farming area near Mutare, has come at an unfortunate time for commercial agriculture in Zimbabwe, white farmers say. Apart from raising emotions and granting the rowdy war veterans and government an excuse to get at the community, Mapenzauswa's death threatens to scuttle the delicate negotiations between the farmers, the UN, Britain and other international agencies on the resolution of the prolonged agrarian reform programme.

"If anything, Mapenzauswa's death has hardened feelings among government officials and war veterans," said Peter Shorayi, an agricultural economist. War veterans immediately ordered all farmers on listed properties off the land and announced that they planned to disregard calls by the government for a peaceful co-existence on occupied farms. Confused farmers are reported to have taken up refuge in nearby towns and cities. Mapenzauswa's death has attracted the ire of war veterans who are now back in large numbers on most commercial farms, directing the looting, intimidation and other acts of brutality among the white farmers, their families and workers.

"We have deployed an additional 2 000 cadres countrywide to monitor the situation," said Andrew Ndlovu, the war veterans director of "projects". "All farms in the Odzi area must be seized," said Nyasha Mupfungaidza, another war veteran. "Like what Muammar Gadaffi said, we have been lenient for such a long time that we have been labelled invaders of our own land." Gadaffi was in Zimbabwe last week and made highly racial and inflammatory statements throughout his speeches at rallies organised for him on occupied farms. Ndlovu said the Odzi incident was a declaration of war by white Zimbabweans. "We are forced to take the law into our hands," he said. "We are prepared to put every farmer on the road and make sure that their next destination is out of this country."

The veterans have the support of the government and widespread anxiety now grips the entire white commercial farming community following a fresh, heightened campaign to purge them from their properties under the guise of resettling landless black peasants. "We, as a community, are in a desperate position," said Neill O'Donovan, a rancher in the Midlands town of Shurugwi. "We have been under a terrible scene since February 2000. No privacy, no security, no life, no support in our country. We have been badly treated and have seen our choices dwindle by the day."

Contrary to government propaganda, Mapenzauswa was a finance manager with a newsprint manufacturing company in Mutare. He was not a landless peasant. He died after he was allegedly run over by Bezuidenhout on Saturday when government officials started pegging plots on Tara Farm, owned by the Bezuidenhout family. The farmer was immediately arrested and is facing a murder charge, which he denies, alleging that Mapenzauswa died in an ordinary car accident. Tara Farm is one of three owned by the Bezuidenhout family. The other farms are Brooksville and Welverdien owned by Fritz and Charles Bezuidenhout. By Tuesday, all the farms were overrun by bands of government supporters.

Since the government lost in the February 2000 referendum for a draft constitution, Zimbabwe has been plunged into a major political campaign, initially targeted at the June parliamentary election, and later extended to the 2002 presidential poll. In these campaigns, white Zimbabweans, particularly commercial farmers, became instant victims because of history and unproven accusations that they supported the opposition. "We and our community and our workers have been subjected to the most unimaginable forms of harassment and brutality ever seen in this country in the last 20 years," adds Muriel Peters, of Wedza/Macheke farming area. "Our crime, it seems, has been the fact that we are descendants of European settlers who came here two centuries ago and colonised this land. I have no other home apart from here."

All along, the government, through the use of ruling party militants and war veterans, occupied commercial farms to cut off the assumed support for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - a young political party that scooped half the votes in June. In the process, the government supporters disrupted agriculture, invoked history to justify violence and polarised race relations in Zimbabwe. Five commercial farmers and 31 opposition supporters died in the melee.

The government proceeded to list all commercial farms as part of its populist effort, resulting in so much confusion and the international positioning of Zimbabwe as a pariah state where the rule of law is non-existent and basic civil liberties are disrespected. Although the land-grab programme was declared illegal several times by the country's courts, the government has persisted in encouraging settlers to move in, threatening the production of agriculture and pushing the country into a food crisis. The winter wheat farming districts of Macheke, Marondera, Mazowe and Beatrice have so far been unable to put much to the ground because of constant disruptions.

A Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) spokesperson said most farmers faced a further dilemma arising from the size of the farm debt. "The debt owed to banks and financial institutions now runs into billions of dollars and unless the government halts its push, the entire financial sector is exposed," said the spokesperson. "Once a farm is listed, everything stops. The banks want their money, our workers' lives are threatened, our own survival is in doubt and the world literally crashes in your face," adds O'Donovan.

Agriculture is Zimbabwe's economic mainstay, but the government does not seem to appreciate that any dislocation of the sector would bring the country to its knees, said Shorayi. "The current overtures involving the UN, Britain, the UNDP and other agencies to break the impasse on the land question were designed to avert a potentially damaging national disaster," he said. A range of diplomatic initiatives are underway to resolve the land problem and resuscitate the economy in light of the pending food shortages expected at the end of the year. Zimbabwe has to import more than 700 000 tonnes of the staple, maize, to meet a shortfall caused by a decline in production and erratic weather patterns last season.

For much of the year, the government refused to accept that the situation was bad, until Finance Minister Simba Makoni told the nation that his budget performance would be severely dented by the reality of food shortages. As a result, the government on Monday classified maize, maize meal, wheat and wheat flour. They are now controlled products and the government's Grain Marketing Board is now the sole buyer, a position threatening the viability of the poultry industry which used to source the maize independently.

Millers and private traders who disregard this new measure will have their stocks or reserves seized by the government and their silos closed. Although the reasons the country faces a shortage are very clear, the government says it suspects commercial farmers of attempting to create false shortages through hoarding. Farmers disagreed. "Maize is a problem for the farmers," said Peters. "It is bulky and difficult to store. No farmer would want to keep it longer than necessary."

Other than watch the hype until the presidential election next year, white commercial farmers have fewer and fewer choices. The government seems determined to vent its anger on this tiny community with the hope of a turn-around in its waning popularity, analysts said on Tuesday. "All this can be traced back to that fateful day in February last year when President Robert Mugabe decided to turn his back on the rule of law, allowing the law of the jungle to take over on the commercial farms," says an editorial comment in the independent Daily News. "He must know his own political future will depend on how soon he can curb this violence."

From The Financial Gazette, 19 July

Govt seeks legal channel to extend land seizures

The government, bogged down by legal and financial problems in implementing its fast-track land reforms, is now seeking a Supreme Court order to extend the seizure of white-owned commercial farms until the end of the year, it was established this week. The commercial farms, hundreds of which are being seized every fortnight, are meant to resettle millions of landless blacks under the reforms, already declared illegal by Zimbabwe’s highest court, that are spearheaded by the ruling Zanu PF party. Party supporters and veterans from its 1970s war of independence have settled on many of the illegally acquired commercial farms to press for speedier resettlement. The internationally condemned exercise has triggered countrywide lawlessness as police continue to turn a blind eye to crimes committed by Zanu PF supporters on the farms during the occupations.

In court papers submitted this week, the government wants a Supreme Court interdict issued last December proclaiming July 1 this year as the deadline for acquiring more land for resettlement to be extended to the beginning of November. The Supreme Court ruling had ordered the government to stop acquiring more land for resettlement by the beginning of this month and that by that date, the state should have produced a workable land reform plan and re-established law and order on farms. Lands Minister Joseph Made, Local Government’s Ignatius Chombo and Rural Resources Minister Joyce Mujuru are the applicants on behalf of the government of the urgent chamber application filed on Monday seeking to extend the deadline.

The government argues that if the matter is not heard as a matter of urgency, the land acquisition exercise and the whole land reform and resettlement programme might be adversely affected. The farmers’ organisation, the Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) which has been cited as the respondent, still has to react to the application that is set to be heard next week. CFU lawyers Coghlan, Welsh & Guest confirmed in a letter to the Registrar of the Supreme Court that the government’s application had been referred to their clients and counsel. "You will appreciate that the record is substantial and that the matters involved in this application are of enormous consequence to Zimbabwe as a whole and to many farm owners and hundreds of thousands more people who work on the farms," the lawyers’ letter reads.

The CFU has been under pressure from the government to drop all litigation on the land issue as a pre-condition for opening dialogue on land reform. Last year’s Supreme Court interdict prohibited government ministers responsible for the resettlement programme from taking any further steps in the acquisition of land after July 1 this year. In its ruling then, the Supreme Court said there was no land reform programme in Zimbabwe as envisaged in the Constitution. The government now says it has already seized more than 2 500 farms measuring more than 3.5 million hectares on which 104 000 families had been resettled. It has also listed another 2 500 commercial farms which it intends to acquire for further resettlement under the fast-track programme. In its new application, the government argues that it has since fulfilled conditions set by the Supreme Court prior to the July 1 deadline and that the land reform programme is now in place and the rule of law restored on commercial farms.

From The New York Times, 17 July

Political climate complicates food shortage in Zimbabwe

Johannesburg - Zimbabwe faces a food shortage in the coming months, and while such shortages are not unknown in the country, this time the reasons behind it - and the ways out of it - are especially complex, aid officials say. Other shortages, such as the one in 1998 when Zimbabwe needed to import about 400,000 metric tons of corn, have not crippled the country, and typically, this year's projected shortfall of 447,000 tons would not have been cause for too much alarm either, officials say. Zimbabwe, however, is hardly the same place it was even a few years ago. With its economy a wreck, the country is in no position to help itself. With its president, Robert Mugabe, the object of scorn in Western capitals because of his suppression of the political opposition and his support of farm seizures, Zimbabwe is isolated from the very countries that would be expected to come to its aid. "In normal circumstances, this should be manageable, but I don't think we're talking of normal circumstances," Elliot Vhurumuku of the Famine Early Warning System Network said in a telephone interview from the capital, Harare.

The shortfall is one result of a confluence of factors: some parts of the country were still struggling this year to recover from major flooding in early 2000, and many, especially in the south and east, endured erratic rainfall patterns. The planting of corn, the country's staple food, has fallen, driven down by the widespread farm invasions sanctioned by the government and further hurt by the crop's declining price. Meanwhile, hard currency, which would ordinarily buy Zimbabwe out of such a poor harvest, is scarce, a result of a big drop-off in tourism and falling production of the country's key exports, tobacco and gold.

Last week, after months of doing little publicly about the problem, Mr. Mugabe assembled a cabinet task force to oversee the Grain Marketing Board, which controls the import and export of corn. While encouraged by the government's acknowledgment of the problem, some international aid officials worry that with presidential elections scheduled for early next year, Zimbabwean political leaders will press too hard to keep the price of corn down and end up doing grave damage to agriculture. Already, some farmers have been switching to more lucrative crops like soybeans and the pepper plant, from which paprika is derived. If the price of corn is held down too much, many more will abandon it, setting up much bigger shortages next year, the officials say.

Donor nations, including the United States, are monitoring the situation, and while aid officials do not expect the West to withhold aid, the political tension is making communication more complicated. The United Nations Development Program, which has been charged with coordinating international efforts in Zimbabwe, is serving as a bridge between Mr. Mugabe's government and the West. It is a delicate task; in declining to be interviewed, United Nations officials explained that the working relationships are simply too fragile to put at risk.

Zimbabwe was one of Africa's more stable countries until last year, when its struggling economy went into a free fall as political turmoil grew. But it is still a long way from the food crises that have struck in Angola, Congo and Sudan. George Heymell, a program adviser for the United Nations World Food Program, said in a telephone interview from regional headquarters in Maputo, Mozambique, "We are not at the point where W.F.P. would have to move in with emergency assistance, and I don't know if we're ever going to get to that point." Still, the agency is not taking chances and is sending in one or two food specialists to help lay the groundwork for any relief effort that might be needed.

Last October, people rioted for three days in the capital and other cities after food prices surged. The country has remained restless. Last week the price of bread was doubled for the second time in two months. With the harvest down from last year, and with the foreign currency needed to import food and other essential goods like fuel in short supply, hunger and frustration could become more widespread. According to two recent reports, one by the Famine Early Warning System and the other by the World Food Program and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Zimbabwe needs between 200,000 and 600,000 tons of corn and other grains, depending on how deeply the country dips into its reserves. Such quantities of food cannot be imported overnight, and that is why, aid officials say, the effort must begin now. "If the moves are taken now," Mr. Vhurumuku said, "there is time to counteract the problem."

Johannesburg - Zimbabwe has seen its maize market halted as the government takes control of trade in grain, while across its borders South African farmers are forging ahead with a top quality maize harvest.

In Zambia the government has launched an appeal for food aid, with the Zambia National Farmers' Union predicting a 2000 to 2001 maize harvest of 490,000 tonnes, some 30 percent less than the previous season.

South African maize futures prices have bucked the normal trend during peak harvesting periods by rising sharply on expectations of higher demand because of shortages in the region.

South Africa is expected to produce 7.04 million tonnes of maize this season versus last year's exceptional 10.1 million tonnes.

Domestic consumption is between seven and eight million tonnes a year, but the country has carryover stocks from last season of about two million tonnes.

July white maize contracts are at 933 rand ($113.5) a tonne, 48 percent higher up on a year ago. White maize is a staple in African diets.

Zimbabwe trade

The privately run Zimbabwe Agricultural Exchange (ZIMACE) said there was no trading on Tuesday after the government introduced new regulations giving a monopoly on all trade in maize and maize meal to the state Grain Marketing Board (GMB).

Officials at the exchange said they were still assessing the government notice to work out its implications on future trade.

The exchange, however, recorded higher bids for maize at 9,000 Zimbabwe dollars ($162.2) a tonne, while offers to sell rose to Z$10,500.

Industry officials have said maize producers are unhappy with the GMB's buying price of Z$7,500 fixed in April, which they said prevents them from recouping their input costs.

ZIMACE said the previous week had been characterised by large trading volumes, reflecting worries over supply after a sharp reduction in 2000/01 output.

The US-based Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) says Zimbabwe will run out of maize by February 2002 if there are no imports to augment domestic supply. The agriculture ministry maintains it still has not assessed a need for imports.

Industry officials say the country will need to import up to 800,000 tonnes of grain.

The government has accused white commercial farms, who produce about 40 percent of the national maize crop, of hoarding grain to create artificial shortages and hiking prices in retaliation for the state's drive to seize white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks.

High quality SA maize

South African maize farmers in the central and western parts of the country are waiting for parts of their crops to dry out, but more than 50 percent has already been harvested nationally.

"The quality of South Africa's maize is superb and the harvesting is generally going very well," said Bully Botma, the chairman of Grain SA, the producers' umbrella body.

OTK, one of the country's largest agricultural companies, said 75 percent of the maize in its area had been delivered, of which more than 90 percent was grade one. The harvest was seen coming to an end within a month, said spokesman At de Lange.

In the key North West province area covered by the North West Co-operative, farmers had reaped about 50 percent of their maize and 92 percent of it was of grade one quality, said co-operative spokesman Gert du Bruyn.

"It has been a pretty mild winter and some maize still has too much moisture. We need frost to dry things out," he said.

In the Free State Co-operative area 80 percent of the maize had been harvested, with 93 percent being grade one, but harvesting had slowed as farmers switched to planting wheat.

"Some of the maize is still a bit wet and farmers are letting it dry out on the land while they plant wheat. We think by mid-August the harvesting will be completed," said co-operative spokesman At Kruger.

Zambia maize output falls

Zambia's maize output is seen sharply down in 2000/2001 (April-March) and the government has launched an urgent appeal for aid for two million people facing severe shortages, industry leaders have said.

The main growers' Zambia National Farmers' Union (ZNFU) said maize production was down by 30 percent in 2000/2001 to 490,000 tonnes.

"We face a severe deficit and we have appraised government of the situation," said ZNFU director John Clayton.

Zambian Vice-President Enock Kavindele issued an urgent appeal for food aid, saying some two million people faced food shortages and his government needed 98,000 tonnes of maize.

ZNFU said that figure referred to peasants who required handouts, but another 150,000 tonnes of maize would have to be imported for the open market.

Kavindele blamed the shortfall on unusual weather, saying some growing areas had received heavier-than-usual rains while others faced a mini-drought.

Poor maize prices for last year's crop had led to some farmers withholding their grain from the market this year as they tried to avoid last year's losses.

ZNFU President Ajay Vashee said the 2001 to 2002 crop would depend on how the government responded to the lack of credit and fertilisers and to marketing problems. - Reuters

In this newly created position, Munyaradzi Hwengwere, currently Presidential spokesman, will be in charge of both radio and television news. This was the position previously held under a different name by long-time broadcaster Anani Maruta, who was tipped to take over even as director-general of the restructured State-run broadcaster during its recent shake-up.
Although senior appointments at ZBC are announced by chairman Gideon Gono, it is an open secret that Moyo appoints whom he wants in the upper echelons of both ZBC and Zimbabwe Newspapers, where there has been a similar shake-up of editors.
Effectively, Moyo exercises greater control over the State broadcaster and the government’s newspaper empire than any of his predecessors, Nathan Shamuyarira, the renowned journalist and Zanu PF’s information supremo, included.
Once a hot favourite of Moyo, Maruta was ditched at the last minute in a surprise move by the minister. For years Maruta had enjoyed a monopoly over assignments close to President Mugabe, both at home and abroad.
But yesterday all that became history.
The new man in charge of news at ZBC, Hwengwere, 32, is the principal Press secretary in the Department of Information and Publicity in the President’s Office. He and permanent secretary, George Charamba, have worked as a closely knit team under Moyo since the former ministry was reduced to a department with the appointment of the new minister. They have churned out State propaganda relentlessly and have waged a vicious campaign to demolish the privately-owned Press. Success has, however, remained elusive.
Hwengwere is a former student of Moyo at the University of Zimbabwe.
Last month, the ZBC appointed Alum Mpofu, another close associate of Moyo, chief executive officer of the corporation. Mpofu is currently employed by the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
Announcing the appointment yesterday, Gono said Hwengwere was the most
suitable person to head Newsnet. Hwengwere, however, does not have any
practical experience in either the broadcast or the print media.
But he holds a Master of Arts degree in Media Studies from the University of Natal, South Africa, a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and Administration and a postgraduate diploma in Media and Communication Studies, both attained at the UZ.
His other previous working experience is confined to short stints as a
strategic planner at Diccomm Advertising Pvt Ltd, a local advertising house, and as an assistant personnel manager at Indarama Gold Mine.
Medelina Dube, 40, a producer and presenter with ZBC’s Radio 4, was
appointed head of radio services. She has 14 years' experience
in broadcasting.
She holds a diploma in journalism.
Jennifer Tanyanyiwa, a chief law officer in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, was appointed to head ZBC's corporate affairs.
Tanyanyiwa, 34, holds a Bachelor of Law degree, a Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) and an advanced diploma in legislative drafting.
Douglas Dhliwayo, current head of television news, will now head the
production services department. Dhliwayo, 45, joined ZBC as a reporter in 1980. He holds certificates in journalism and TV news production.
Mike Chingosho is the new ZBC head of finance and administration.
Previously, Chingosho, 43, worked as group treasury operations head at the Zimbabwe Development Bank, and in various capacities at the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority and Circle Cement. He holds a Bachelor of Accountancy degree and a Master of Business Leadership degree.
Amon Matambo, a computer engineer at ZBC, was appointed head of broadcasting technology.

Stan Mudenge and Samuel Mumbengegwi are reported to have made similar threats at a meeting with student leaders and the principals of a number of colleges in Masvingo early this month.
In case they themselves don’t know it, they sounded absolutely silly
threatening adults with expulsion and even death if they continued to support the opposition. They could have been asked by their audience who they thought they were to make such threats.
But then that would have been unnecessary, as they are both Zanu PF Members of Parliament and cabinet ministers of a government led
by a president who has himself made death threats to his political
opponents.
There have been no reports of the audience¹s reaction to the threats issued by the ministers at Bondolfi Mission, the alma mater of many citizens who have distinguished themselves in a number of fields of human endeavour.
We suspect most of the targets of the threats left the meeting feeling a little annoyed that the two men could believe they were immature enough to be cowed by the threats.
On the other hand, some of them may have felt a little amusement at the spectacle of these two fairly educated men making threats, which they must have known, made them look absolutely silly to their listeners.
Very few voters still believe that whatever they do in the privacy of the ballot box is secretly recorded by hidden cameras- or satellites high up in the sky - to be produced as incriminating and incontrovertible evidence of their betrayal of Zanu PF.
Most now believe firmly that there is no way anybody from the resident, the cabinet ministers, the war veterans to the CIO can know who they voted for, unless the voter decides to tell them. So the vote is still secret and if Zanu PF thugs decide to attack someone on the suspicion that they voted for the opposition, then it can only be on suspicion and in normal circumstances, people are not convicted on suspicion.
But politically, Zimbabwe is not enjoying the most normal
of circumstances. In fact, the politics of this country have contained such an abnormally large dose of violence, free and fair elections at whatever level, by the reckoning of many experts, are not possible for the foreseeable future.
Incidentally, it is ironic that Mudenge and Mumbengegwi repeated a threat made to the voters of Masvingo before the election for the
executive mayor of the town last May. Josaya Hungwe, the provincial governor made a similar threat.
Considering how decisively the people of the town reacted to that threat -by voting for the opposition candidate - one is inclined to wonder if the two men have no regard at all for the lessons of history. Moreover, even going back to the results of both the referendum and the June 2000 election that followed it, a pattern has emerged: most people have become too thick-skinned to be frightened of these threats of death if they vote for the opposition.
Some are either willing to take the risk or are determined that nothing short of a nuclear holocaust will deter them from making their choice. Others may believe that the threats are being perpetrated by a paper tiger, someone who is threatening only in appearance, but is in reality quite ineffectual. Unfortunately, Zanu PF and its war veteran allies have proved recently that they can kill their opponents.
One of the Zanu PF luminaries, Joseph Chinotimba, still faces an attempted murder charge for allegedly shooting an unarmed woman. Other war veterans are appearing in the courts for allegedly killing opposition members during the election campaign for the 2000 election.
Still others, named in a court as the alleged murderers of two opposition activists in Buhera, remain untouched. In other countries, fearless citizens would have brought civil action against the two men.
Without sounding biased in favour of one party or another, we believe the people must always be aware of their constitutional right to make their own free choice. They should not let death threats or threats of any other kind detract them from their determination to exercise their free will.
Only in that way can they help nurture the fledgling democracy Zimbabwe is trying to build from the ashes of a one-party dictatorship which has plunged the country into its present morass of political and economic uncertainty.

Every attempt is made to provide a comprehensive report of ongoing activities in relation to farm invasions, but many incidents are unreported due to communications constraints, fear of reprisals and a general weariness on the part of farmers. Farmers names and in some cases, farm names, are omitted to minimise the risk of reprisal.

NATIONAL REPORT IN BRIEF:
Police at Mhangura decreed that illegal occupiers were allowed to hunt with dogs and to kill game, but refused to put this in writing.
DDF drilling rigs have begun operations in the Raffingora area.
Grazing and timber have been burnt by fires started deliberately by illegal occupiers in the Beatrice area, and owners have been prevented from attending to the fires.
A dairy farmer in the Featherstone area has had three quarters of the farm burnt out and instructed to remove all cattle.
The incident reported to have taken place on Tara Farm was more correctly a vehicle / pedestrian accident on the main Harare - Mutare Road which unfortunately involved Mr Bezuidenhout and an aspiring plot-holder.
REGIONAL REPORTS:

There were no reports received from Matabeleland Region.

Mashonaland Central
Mvurwi - A team planting rhodes grass at Umsengesi was seriously assaulted for refusing to adhere to a work stoppage and illegal occupiers destroyed the tractor fertilizer box being used by the team. Illegal occupiers prevented the owner of Hariana from cutting gum poles since they believe that the farm belongs to them. A brief work stoppage took place on Mwembezi, but the farm owner managed to resolve the situation. Illegal occupiers cut through an electric fence on Wendiri Farm to drive the owner's cattle out of a land of maize stover, which they believe belongs to them.
Mutepatepa - Chumbere, Tarlington and Dundry have been pegged for resettlement. Political intimidation and assaults by Zanu PF Youth League members continues to be widespread in the run up to the Bye-election.

Mashonaland West North
Chinhoyi - Agritex officials have pegged 90 hectares of land on Glenside Farm.
Umboe - The owner of Cotswold Farm reaped his maize and illegal occupiers followed behind the combine to glean the land. Poachers were apprehended for killing a warthog on the farm and taken to the police station. Mhangura police refused to make an arrest, saying illegal occupiers were allowed to hunt with dogs, but refused to put this in writing.
Raffingora - 2 farms in the area have incurred work stoppages. Poachers are hunting wildlife on SS Ranch and the meat is being sold in Harare. Illegal occupiers gathered on Kelston Park to thank the spirits for giving them the land and informed the manager and owner that certain sections on the farm were out of bounds. Incidents of theft, mainly irrigation pipes has increased throughout the area. Large quantities of wood is being cut and removed from farms and sold in Raffingora village. DDF drilling teams have moved into the area to commence drilling.

Mashonaland West South
Norton - The owner of Serui Source and his family remain off the farm, and can only visit the farm under police escort. The provincial task force informed that owner that he must remove all his belongings.
Chegutu - The family grave which was desecrated on Clevedon was investigated with the conclusion being drawn, that the incident was carried out by grave robbers, in search of gold rings or fillings. On Concession Hill the situation is tense after an attempted work stoppage. Labour on the property told illegal occupiers that they will continue working in order to get the wage which they need.
Kadoma - There is a total work stoppage on Milverton and the owner is unable to feed or water 1500 head of cattle in the feed lots.

Mashonaland East
Beatrice - An illegal occupier on Central farm started a fire and prevented the owner from gaining access to the fire to put it out. Police responded and resolved the situation. A centre pivot cable was stolen from Innesfree farm. Illegal occupiers on Maas Plein farm told all farm workers to stop work. Farm workers chose to ignore instructions from the illegal occupiers and continued to work. 400 head of cattle have been moved by the owner of Nebo, as requested by illegal occupiers. The owner is experiencing difficulties finding grazing for his cattle. A charity picnic brunch organised on Goldilands farm was disrupted when illegal occupier Chiramba and 4 others instructed the owner that the meeting was not to take place. The owner's wife collected 3 police constables who defused the situation and the picnic brunch was cancelled.
Featherstone - Illegal occupiers forced farm workers out of the Forestdale farm village. Three quarters of grazing on Nyamazaan farm was burnt by illegal occupiers who also tried to prevent the owner from putting cattle in a paddock. A farm tractor was prevented from cutting grass and illegal occupiers stoned the tractor and used it to demolish the electric fence. Illegal occupiers set fire to areas of Kuruman ‘B’ farm in an effort to clear the land. Due to strong winds the fires went out of control and resulted in about 20 hectares of gum trees and some poles being burnt. Illegal occupiers have given farm workers 1 week to vacate their homes. Farm workers on Phillipsdale were given 8 hours by illegal occupiers to vacate their homes. Illegal occupiers returned and started breaking doors and removing property out of farm workers homes. The situation has temporarily been resolved. A heifer was slaughtered and butchered on Versailes. The owner of Palestine farm who is expecting Spanish hunters to visit Musiamwa camp was told by illegal occupier Charles Gombo that all foreigners are journalists are not allowed on the farm. Charles Gumbo of the CIO, the local magistrate, district clerk and 2 policemen from Chivhu, removed most of the equipment from the camp and dumped it on the side of the road. Signs showing directions to the camp have been destroyed. Illegal occupiers on Hartebeestlaagte farm have been herding cattle onto the road. Illegal occupiers snared an animal on on De La Quellerie, and made threats to the owner that they would take 2 kms of fencing if a gate was not unlocked. Three quarters of Dunkirk farm was burnt by illegal occupiers who informed the owner that all dairy cattle are to be removed off the farm by September. Illegal occupiers instructed the owner to remove all cattle off Nyamazaan farm.
Harare South - An illegal occupier instructed the owner of Garth farm to vacate the farm. The situation was diffused.
Marondera - The pump house roof was partially removed by illegal occupiers on Chipesa farm and the irrigation pump switchgear destroyed. Illegal occupiers instructed the owner of Malabar to stop all work on the farm. They returned a short while afterwards and said as the owner had been so polite, he was allowed to continue work. A different group of illegal occupiers arrived later and instructed the owner to stop all work. About 6 illegal occupiers told the manager of Monora farm to vacate the farm by the end of the week. The group returned the following day and abducted 3 farm workers and took them to Churchill farm were the illegal occupiers were residing. Farm workers were given death threats, but were released when illegal occupiers realised that they could be identified as the killers.
Marondera North - A ZANU PF official instructed the owner of Nyagambe to vacate the farm now that it had been pegged. Work stoppages on Ulva and Cambridge continue.
Macheke / Virginia - Ploughing and arson continue on Royal Visit. The owner of Flint farm received another section 5 notice. The owners of Lowlands and Welcome Home received a 3rd Section 5 for the farms. Pegging is taking place on Whispering Hope. Illegal occupiers are still in the fence of Home Park homestead and the owner has been barricaded out and is forced to stay with relatives.
Wedza - 80 illegal occupiers drove a herd of cattle through the seedbeds on Bolton farm causing extensive damage. Police were collected and took statements. Following, the same group of illegal occupiers were later seen reaping paprika, but they had dispersed by the time the police arrived. Another Eland was poached on Skoonveld. A poacher on Scorror farm has been selling meat to farm workers in the village. A pre-fab house was erected by illegal occupier Prince, on Dudley farm. Illegal occupiers on Rapako are erecting a large fence near the owner's homestead. About 200 illegal occupiers arrived on Hull farm to peg.

Manicaland
Mutare - Illegal occupiers arrived on Tara Farm and started beating up farm workers. The owner's brother called the police who arrived and diffused the situation. The owner of Tara Farm dropped off farm workers to collect mulch from the side of the road, he then proceeded towards Odzi where a crowd of illegal occupiers had gathered on both sides of the road. An on coming fuel tanker approaching the owner, passed him and the farmer pulled out towards the centre of the road to avoid illegal occupiers on the left hand side and a man walked out from behind the tanker into the car. Because of the crowds the farmer proceeded directly to the police station, he was taken to Mutare Central where he was placed in custody. He will be in court this morning. The farmer's brother and family evacuated their home which has been completely ransacked by the illegal occupiers. On a farm next door, illegal occupiers demanded that the owner of Dairy Farm vacate the farm immediately. The owner evacuated with his mother-in-law and illegal occupiers proceeded to ransack the homestead. On Premier Estate the owners were evacuated for their own safety, and are meeting with illegal occupiers. On Green Valley Vineyards the owner has been prevented from leaving the farm. Odzi police reacted and supplied armed security.

Masvingo
Masvingo East & Central - A veld fire was started by illegal occupiers on Fomax Dairy. 800 metres of overhead aluminium cable was stolen, and wood cutting by illegal occupiers is extensive. A kudu was found in a snare on Chidza Farm. A DDF drilling team commenced drilling in a paddock adjacent to the water hydrant on Dromore Farm. Illegal occupiers are burning grazing and instructing the herdsman not to let cattle in some paddocks. There has been an escalation in numbers of illegal occupiers moving onto the farm, chopping down of trees and the erection of huts.
Gutu / Chatsworth - Continued harassment by illegal occupiers to farm owners requesting for the movement of cattle off farms, deforestation and building of huts. Illegal occupiers have stolen all internal fences and are in the process of taking boundary fences on Irvine A. About 2000 blue gum trees have been chopped down. Mr Mubengegwi from the Ministry of Education has moved 2 brahman bulls and 47 heifers onto the farm. Stan Mudenga, Minister of Foreign Affairs moved 29 head of cattle onto Testwood Farm.
Chiredzi - Pegging , poaching with dogs, deforestation, building of huts continue unabated. Section 5’s have been issued to Samba, Bangala, Palm River Ranch and Wasarasara Ranches. DDF tractors are ploughing on Alstar Haven. The owner of Faversham Ranch has been asked by illegal occupiers to remove half of his cattle off the farm. 5 Agritex officials visited the owner of Wasarasara Ranch and informed him that they would be fast tracking the farm. Illegal occupiers started a fire around the safari camp on Bangala Ranch.
Save Conservancy - A large group of illegal occupiers on Angus Ranch are preventing game scouts from patrolling the area and hunters have been turned away. Extensive poaching by illegal occupiers is occurring on Masapas / Levanga farms. On one farm in the area, a rhino was found with a snare around its foot. Poaching, deforestation and movement if illegal occupiers continues unabated.
Mwenezi - 150 cattle, recently had their brands changed and have been moved from the red zone into the Green zone area on Marungudzi Farm. Agritex and DDF officials arrived on Kleinbegin Ranch to peg and found the farm gate locked, which they smashed and proceeded to peg in the vicinity of the homestead. When the owner asked for a letter of authority to peg, Agritex and DDF officials fled. The following day, Agritex and DDF officials returned and found the gate locked and proceed to steal the gate. After replacing the second gate, illegal occupiers proceeded to assault the gate guard. About 8 illegal occupiers approached the owner in his vehicle wielding axes and bemba's shouting at the owner "go back to Britain - we are coming to kill you". The owner reported the incident to the Beit Bridge police who arrived 3 hours later and declined to press charges against the illegal occupiers , as they were acting under orders from the DA. A missing cow was found snared on Quagga Pan B. Illegal occupiers have axed 5 cattle on Merrivale Ranch, over the past few days and are moving cattle out of paddocks and driving them about 6 km's away.
Mateke Hills - A large group of illegal occupiers on Battlefields Ranch have previously been apprehended for poaching. The owner was told by illegal occupiers to remove bulls and calves out of the paddocks.

Midlands
Gweru - Numerous veld fires have been started by illegal occupiers who refuse to help when they get out of control. On one farm, 19 head of cattle were caught in snares over a 7 day period. Pegging of cropping land is ongoing.
Kwe Kwe - Cattle are being caught in snaring nets leading to losses. Armed poaching is on the increase. 2 ranchers have been ordered to move their cattle off, with no alternative grazing available as about 82% of the white commercial farming area has now been designated. Pegging continues on crop farms. In some cases, people are waiting to move on once the present wheat crop has been harvested, which threatens to have a severe impact on future food crop production in the area.

Death threats may be silly but deadly to freedom
7/19/01 8:55:57 AM (GMT +2)

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7/19/01 10:05:54 AM (GMT +2)

ZBC appoints Moyo’s man
7/19/01 9:51:25 AM (GMT +2)