AG wants MDC activists to nail colleagues

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=17384

June 4, 2009

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - Three members of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), part of a
group abducted by state security agents in and around Harare last October,
were on Tuesday abducted again from their homes in Mashonaland West province's
Banket area.

Terry Musona, Lloyd Tarumbwa and Fani Tembo were later released after being
ordered to attend court Monday to testify against fellow MDC activists who
are due to stand trial for allegedly seeking the overthrow of President
Robert Mugabe last year.

The MDC says the three were taken to the Attorney General's office in
Harare.

"At the AG's office," the MDC said in a statement Tuesday, "the three were
ordered to testify as State witnesses when the trial of other MDC activists
kicks off on Monday.

"They were ordered to testify against their colleagues in accordance with
the instructions that they were given by the police or risk facing serious
unspecified consequences."

The three are among the initial group of 32 MDC and human rights activists
including a couple who were jailed along with their two-year old child
between October and December last year.

Following weeks of anxiety and intense denial about their whereabouts by
police, the abducted persons were finally produced in December to face
charges of trying to overthrow Mugabe through acts of banditry, terrorism,
insurgency and sabotage.

They deny the charges.

Musona, Tembo and Tarumbwa were released in February without any charges
being brought against them. The police are now using them as witnesses
against their colleagues.

Tembo is a councillor for Ward 22, Zvimba South and MDC district organizing
secretary while Tarumbwa is a coordinator for the party in the same ward.
Musona is the MDC Mashonaland West provincial vice secretary.

MDC lawyers have prepared an urgent High Court application to stop the State
from using them as witnesses on charges which the party says are trumped up.

While the police are yet to account for the remaining abductees, 16 of them
including former ZBC TV newscaster and now Zimbabwe Peace Project director,
Jestina Mukoko, have since been indicted to stand trial in the High Court
starting on Monday.

Concilia Chinanzvavana, Fidelis Chiramba, Violet Mupfuranhewe and Collen
Mutemagawu will be first to be tried on Monday, June 8.

The trial of Gandhi Mudzingwa, now a principal director in Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai's office, MDC director of security Kisimusi Dhlamini,
freelance photojournalist Shadreck Andrisson Manyere will begin on June 29.

The three together with Chinoto Zulu, Zacharia Nkomo, Rejis Mujeye and
Mapfumo Garutsa, are facing five counts of terrorist bombings at two Harare
police stations, on a railway line and on a bridge near the town of Norton
between August and November last year.

Jestina Mukoko, Boderick Takawira, Emmanuel Chinzvavana, Audrey Zimbudzana
and Peata Kaseke will stand trial on July 13.

All the accused persons are now out of custody after a harrowing experience
in remand prison where they had been detained for months.

State agents are said to have forced them to confess to committing the
alleged crimes on camera.

The MDC is agitated by the Attorney General's resolve to proceed with the
trial of its activists, saying they are being punished for their political
affiliation.

Polls neither free nor fair: ZESN

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Andrew Moyo Thursday 04 June 2009

HARARE - - A Zimbabwean elections watchdog said on Tuesday last year's
harmonised elections were conducted in conditions of intimidation, violence
and lacking transparency, contrary to a declaration by the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) that the elections were peaceful.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) said the declaration in a
report last week by the government run ZEC claiming that last year's bloody
presidential election run-off was held in a "generally peaceful" environment
was flawed as a lot of issues affecting proper electoral management were
overlooked.

Responding to the ZEC report, ZESN chronicled a cluster of manipulations
made by President Robert Mugabe's administration, including violence, which
swayed the voting patterns.

"There were countless reports of alleged state sponsored acts of violence
throughout the country with victims that reported cases of violence being
locked up by the police and being exposed to violence in police detention,"
the ZESN said.

"There was a systematic targeting of civic groups such as ZESN involved in
elections with negative publicity clearly calculated and intended to malign
reputation ahead of any assessment which may be made. This was particularly
prevalent in the state print media," ZESN reported, adding it lost one of
its staffers in the violence.

It said that ZEC lost control of the accreditation process and instead of
inviting observers for the polls, it waited for the government to carry out
this invitation process.

"ZEC was not totally in control of the accreditation process as the
Commission had to wait for the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs to invite observers for accreditation hence the delays.

"There was evident lack of press freedom and an independent media. There was
rampant use of hate language by the state media, both electronic and print
in the June 2008 election. There were reports of denials by the state media
to flight adverts of one of the contestants in the presidential run-off,"
added ZESN.

The election watchdog said a more palatable approach would be for the
electoral calendar to be clearly spelt out in the legislative framework, and
for the responsibility for setting election dates to lie solely with the
Electoral Commission, not with the President, who was one of the
contestants.

It added that there were reports of potential candidates allegedly being
barred from accessing nomination centres some of which were barricaded by
youth militia and in extreme cases potential candidates either had their
papers stolen or were abducted only to be released after the closure of the
nomination court.

"ZEC does not explain the drastic decline in the number of observers during
the presidential run-off," the ZESN said, adding that for the presidential
run-off invitations to observe were received only a week before election
day, making it impossible for observers to travel for accreditation at the
two centres.

"The secrecy of the postal voting was reportedly compromised and video
footage of such compromise was made public and yet no explanations are given
by ZEC. Further there is no mention of any efforts by the Commission to
investigate these allegations, nor recommendations for reform of the manner
in which postal ballots are administered," said ZESN.

There was complete information blackout on presidential results for five
weeks yet previous elections had results being announced within 24 hours
after the closing of polls, added the report.

It said a national command centre set up to run the elections was quickly
disbanded with no explanation and it was not made public where activities
around verification of results were being conducted.

In addition, the courts did not make timely rulings on a number of issues
and disputes regarding the elections such as disputes over voters' roll.

"While there was improvements over past elections, the pre-election
environment continues to fall short of the minimum conditions outlined in
the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections," added
ZESN.

In its report covering the period between the harmonised elections of March
29 2008 and the run-off of June 27 last year, the ZEC said it was satisfied
that it "conducted the first and second elections efficiently, freely,
fairly, transparently and in accordance with the law".

This is despite well documented reports by human rights organisations and
the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC which claimed that at least 200 of its
supporters were killed, 10 000 families displaced and several thousands
others injured in the countdown to the run-off by state security agents,
ZANU PF militia and war veterans.

The international community and regional countries did not recognise Mugabe's
victory in the bloody run-off, prompting the African Union (AU) to order
formation of an inclusive government made up of Mugabe, Tsvangirai and a
smaller formation of the MDC.

The AU asked Southern African Development Community (SADC) to facilitate
dialogue between the three Zimbabwe political parties, which culminated in
the signing last September of global political agreement and the formation
of the inclusive government in February this year. - ZimOnline

Constitution making on track: Minister

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Simplicious Chirinda Thursday 04 June 2009

HARARE - Constitutional Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga says the government
will be able to deliver a new constitution for the country within the
timeframe agreed under a power-sharing agreement that gave birth to
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's unity
government.

"We are going to meet the time frames, so far there is nothing which causes
me alarm that we will not meet the deadline," said Matinenga who was
speaking at a constitutional debate in Harare on Tuesday night.

"The constitution will be crafted within the framework of the agreement. We
feel we need to deliver a people centred constitution and that should be
done now."

Under the Southern African Development Community (SADC) brokered agreement,
ZANU PF and the two MDC parties are supposed to craft a new constitution for
the country within 18 months.

Zimbabwe is currently governed under the 1979 Constitution agreed at the
Lancaster House talks in London.

The Constitution has been amended 19 times since the country's independence
in 1980 and critics say the changes have only helped to entrench Mugabe and
ZANU PF's stranglehold on power.

Some civic groups such as the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) are opposed to the parliamentary
led process and have vowed to oppose whatever outcome of the process.

Other civic and church groups from the southern regions of the country want
the new constitution to ensure devolution of power to provinces and
protection of minority rights.

A special parliamentary committee comprising members from Mugabe's ZANU PF
party and the two former opposition MDC formations will oversee the drafting
of the country's new constitution.

The draft constitution shall be put before the electorate in a referendum
expected in July next year and if approved by Zimbabweans will then be
brought before Parliament for enactment.

Once a new constitution is in place, the power-sharing government is
expected to then call fresh parliamentary, presidential and local government
elections. - ZimOnline

Opposition blunders keeping Mugabe in power

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Jethro Mpofu Thursday 04 June 2009

OPINION: The important project of liberating Zimbabwe from the dictatorship
of President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party is as interesting as it is
necessary.

It is full of telling lessons for the student of politics who has an
interest in the workings of dictatorships and the strategies of those who
seek to oppose and unseat them.

It must embarrass all people who respect democracy in the world, especially
the political opposition in Zimbabwe that despite the many mass graves of
Gukurahundi, the ruins of Murambatswina, a collapsed education and health
delivery system, an economy on life support and a starved population of hard
working Zimbabweans, Mugabe remains at state house and answers to the title
of his Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.

There is no need for research. Mugabe's secret of longevity at state house
and in the presidency of Zimbabwe is after all not a secret at all but it is
there for everyone to see.

The political opposition in Zimbabwe has worked overtime in creating
political penalty kicks that have kept Mugabe scoring his way back to the
leadership of the country.

I must insist at this juncture that I am writing in good faith as a
Zimbabwean political activist and a student of politics and leadership in
Africa. I have just finished reading Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor
Gideon Gono's revealing book, "Zimbabwe's Casino Economy, Extraordinary
Measures for Extraordinary Challenges".

Well, dear readers, the man and his career's beginnings are spectacularly
humble. To ascend from cleaning toilet chambers to occupying the office that
governs a country's central bank is a real grass to grace story.

In the book, Gono professes "fierce loyalty" to Mugabe as his "principal".
He expresses shock that under the creator's sun there are people who dream
or imagine that one day he might "betray" his principal and play good ball
in helping to unseat Mugabe.

The principal and prefect relationship between Mugabe and Gono is presented
by Gono in the grammar and idiom of "professionalism" and "ethics" of
fidelity.

The Americans, the British and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party are named as those who have expected Gono to "become an instrument of
regime change", an expectation that the governor has found "incredulous" at
best and at worst "insulting".

The book leaves one with no iota of doubt that Gono is a Mugabe loyalist
beyond repair.

With clearly labelled diagrams, Gono exposes how the American government
tried to get him to desert Mugabe by offering him a senior job as the vice
president of the World Bank in Washington or at the African Development Bank
in Tunisia.

Both offers he politely turned down because he says "I am not one to jump
ship, no matter what . . . "

It is a well written book and I personally respect the honesty and clarity
where Gono does not hide behind any finger but comes out and declares that
it is a waste of time and energy for any one to try and get him to
contribute anything in the struggle against Mugabe.

He also admits that "10 percent" of the survival of the regime is owed to
him and his "team" at RBZ. It is the "economic gymnastics" that him and his
team invoked which helped the regime survive the sanctions and defy all
expectations and prophecies that the regime was about to collapse.

Gono announces that he learnt this fierce from his humble climbing from the
office of a toilet cleaner, through being a student by correspondence at
Rapid Results College, a messenger at National Breweries, promoted to an
accounts clerk at the same company, and then promoted to a senior accounts
clerk, until he ended up at the CBZ bank, the University of Zimbabwe Council
and then Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe where he still is today.

Gono's book makes painful reading. I will not smuggle myself into the
already fierce debate of what Gono did and what he did not do or what should
be done with him.

I will concentrate on the painful observation of how some of Zimbabwe's best
brains have always been found at the unfortunate service of the dictatorship
in Harare and why we the democratic forces of Zimbabwe have always allowed
it to be so.

The question is where do we fail to attract these personalities away from
Mugabe and ZANU PF loyalism?

As I write there is more blame directed at Gono for rescuing Mugabe and ZANU
PF from collapse than there is opposition and strategising against Mugabe's
rule.

My fear is that come the next elections, where I bet Mugabe will once again
be the presidential candidate for ZANU PF, there will be two or more other
presidential candidates from the opposition and Mugabe will romp into
victory, sentencing Zimbabweans to more painful years of his punitive rule.

In my humble opinion, the whole hullabaloo about "Gono and Tomana must go"
is necessary but I think it is a slight concentration on the opportunistic
infections and not the disease itself.

It is OK when you have malaria to put on warm clothing to ease the shivering
but warmth does not cure malaria. One needs doses of Norolon!

The rude question that is confronting us in Zimbabwe is why and how Mugabe
is still able to appoint and disappoint people to and from important
national offices in Zimbabwe?

The many tonnes of bricks of blame on Gono and Attorney General Johannes
Tomana's small shoulders are alright, but the challenge we must not try to
escape is why Mugabe is still so powerful and what must be done?

The pain that I feel when I take stock and observe how Gono as RBZ Governor
rescued the dictatorship is the pain that one will feel when he finds a
green mamba on his lawn and strikes it several times on its body, and then
Gono comes and applies betadine on it and carefully and clinically bandages
it, resuscitating it from the intensive care unit and releases it back to
your garden!

Every time the dictatorship in Harare is threatened, there will come
somebody or some bodies that we will later blame for rescuing it and we tend
to resent these personalities more than we resent the dictatorship itself.

The gist of my argument is that to wage a war on Mugabe's prefects and
appointees might be a worthwhile exercise, but I think it is largely an
exercise in futility because as long as Mugabe continues being allowed to
return to state house as president of Zimbabwe, he will always remain able
to choose some of Zimbabwe's best brains to his service and to his rescue
and the survival of the regime.

My suggestion is that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara must bare their bosoms to the swords of blame for
Mugabe's stay in the presidency of Zimbabwe.

I believe that the MDC more than Gono helped Mugabe stay and ZANU PF remain
in the leadership of our country.

All the sins of Mugabe's prefects and appointees collected together do not
weigh half the weight of the blunder that the MDC did in ever imagining that
they will unseat Mugabe by contesting him as two "different" political
parties. The MDC literally rescued Mugabe by donating unexpected victory to
him.

Without apologising for Gono, Tomana or any of Mugabe's loyalists and
appointees I would like to suggest that it is mostly the paralysis of
strategic activity on the part of the opposition in Zimbabwe that continues
to insulate Mugabe from due ouster.

I believe that Mugabe's appointees are just the recipients of blows intended
for the gods.

The strategists, schemers and the plotters in the MDC, I suggest that they
adopt it as homework from now on to attract away from ZANU PF and Mugabe,
some of Zimbabwe's talents to the service of the new Zimbabwe that is long
overdue.

It is also one of the chief blunders of the opposition in Zimbabwe to invest
too much trust in institutions that are interested in their own interests in
Zimbabwe and not the democratisation of our country and the respect for
human life, human rights, law and order.

The United States (US) and Britain are global economic and political players
we cannot wish away for our own survival. We have to find very strategic
ways of working with them, bearing in mind that more than half of Mugabe's
work in destroying Zimbabwe was done with their protection if not under the
comfort of their quiet diplomacy.

From Gukurahundi up to ESAP, it is no rumour but a fact that Mugabe was a
man of special British and US moments. As long as he secured their economic
interests in Zimbabwe, he could slaughter people like goats at Christmas and
there was not going to be censure or sanctions against him, targeted or
untargeted.

Jethro Mpofu is a Research Fellow at Mount Carmel University, specialising
in political communication and strategic leadership. He writes from Mbabane,
Swaziland. He is contactable at bayethej@yahoo.com -- ZimOnline

Journos challenge govt over accreditation

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Patricia Mpofu Thursday 04 June 2009

HARARE - - Four Zimbabwean journalists have launched a court bid to block a
ministerial order requiring reporters to be accredited to cover a regional
summit taking place in the country, in a case certain to expose divisions
within the country's unity government.

In an urgent application filed Wednesday, freelance journalists Stanley
Gama, Valentine Maponga, Stanley Kwenda and Jealous Mawarire, want the High
Court to declare the order that they be accredited or registered with Media
and Information Commission (MIC) illegal because the commission no longer
exists at law.

The journalists, who say they are not able to cover the summit because they
do not have the "valid MIC accreditation cards" demanded by the ministry,
cited Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as one of the respondents -- setting
him up on collision course with pro-President Robert Mugabe hardliners at
the information ministry who favour keeping the media shackled.

Tsvangirai said about two weeks ago that journalists needed not worry about
accreditation to carry out their work because a host of legal changes since
last year had made the MIC - the body that used to accredit journalists -
invalid

Journalists would need to be accredited or registered with the new Zimbabwe
Media Commission (ZMC), which Parliament is in the process of setting up,
once that body was in place, Tsvangirai said.

But the information ministry immediately issued a statement that journalists
needed to hold accreditation cards from the old MIC in order to carry out
their work and in particular to cover the ongoing Common Market for East and
Southern Africa (COMESA) summit - a requirement the journalists want the
court to find unlawful.

Mugabe loyalist Webster Shamu and the President's hawkish press secretary
George Charamba head the information ministry.

In the application filed in chambers the journalists argue that the MIC was
abolished in January 2008 after amendments to the dreaded Access to
Information and Privacy Act (AIPPA) and therefore the body was a nullity
with no legal power to require any journalist to be accredited with it to
cover the COMESA summit or any news event.

The amendments to APPIA replaced the MIC with a new the Zimbabwe Media
Commission (ZMC), which the government never set up. But a constitutional
amendment agreed by Zimbabwe's three main political parties during
power-sharing talks last year and enacted on February 19 provided for the
formation of the ZMC. Parliament has begun the process to establish the
body.

"Any powers relating to accreditation, inter alia, have therefore been
transferred from the first ZMC to the current ZMC .. as such the minister
continues to have no powers to make regulations, orders or issue notices in
relation to accreditation of journalists," Gama said in his founding
affidavit to court.

"The minister cannot purport to exercise regulatory powers unless and until
he is provided with written authorization of such delegation from the ZMC
this has not been done, either by the first ZMC (which was never
constituted), or the current ZMC, which is yet to be constituted in terms of
the law," he added.

The state was yet to file responding papers to the journalists' application
yesterday. No date has yet been set for hearing of the matter.

But prominent human rights lawyer Selby Hwacha representing the journalists
pleaded with the court to treat the matter with urgency because the COMESA
heads of state and government summit was due to take place from 7-8 June,
2009.

"This is a major event which is of national, regional and international
interest and significance. The applicants, as practicing freelance
journalists, have an essential role to play in ensuring that information
surrounding this major event is brought into the public domain," Hawcha said
in papers filed with the court.

The lawyer said Shamu and Charamba, through their misinterpretation of laws
relating to media and freedom of expression were wrongly and arbitrarily
seeking to prevent the exercise of the journalists' rights, as well as the
free and uninhibited flow of information relating to an event of major
public interest.

Shamu and Charamba are cited as first and second respondent respectively
while the defunct MIC's former chairman Tafataona Mahoso is third
respondent.

Tsvangirai -- who according to court papers is named in the application
because as PM he is responsible for the executive arm of the government,
including the proper implementation of both law and policy - is fourth
respondent. ZimOnline.

Swedish officials to assess political situation

http://www.herald.co.zw

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Herald Reporter

Two senior Swedish officials arrived in Harare yesterday to assess the
political situation in the country as Stockholm prepares to assume the
rotating presidency of the European Union.

Sweden's director-general responsible for International Development
Co-operation, Mr Jan Knutsson, arrived in the country for talks with Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and other senior Government officials during the
three-day visit.

Mr Knutsson, accompanied by the head of Southern, Eastern and Central
African section, Mr Pereric Hogberg, will also meet Foreign Affairs Minister
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Finance Minister Tendai Biti and Constitutional and
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga.

Speaking to The Herald soon after arrival at the Harare International
Airport, Mr Knutsson said he was on a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe.

"There is an inclusive Government, something that we view as a very positive
development for the country," he said.

Asked if his country would consider lifting sanctions against Zimbabwe, Mr
Knutsson said: "We have not yet reached that stage, but what we are doing is
to assess the political development in the country, and the implementation
of the Global Political Agreement signed by the three principals."

He said PM Tsvangirai was expected to visit Stockholm later this month where
he would brief the Swedish government on developments in Zimbabwe.

"We also expect him to make representations to our government when he
comes," he said.

Mr Knutsson was welcomed at the airport by the Swedish Ambassador to
Zimbabwe Mr Sten Rylander and Head of Division for United States and Europe
in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Ngoni Sengwe.

Sweden is expected to take over the rotating presidency of the EU on July 1.

Discussions between the two countries are also expected to explore areas of
co-operation.

The visit by the Swedish delegation follows that of the French State
Secretary in charge of Foreign Trade, Mrs Anne-Marie Idrac last week as
hopes of resumption of normal relations with the EU continue to rise.

The stand-off was sparked by Britain's unwillingness to honour its
obligation to fund Zimbabwe's land reform under the Lancaster House
Agreement of 1979.

Mrs Idrac met PM Tsvangirai and Minister Biti and also confirmed a French
invitation for the PM to that country.

Norway also recently dispatched a high-level delegation to Zimbabwe to open
dialogue with Harare.

Sweden has been one of the hard-liners along with Britain on the EU's policy
on Zimbabwe and it is hoped the visit will help mend relations.

Swaziland to help Zimbabwe recover

 

04 June, 2009 10:00:00 By Musa Ndlangamandla

 

His Majesty King Mswati III being welcomed by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe in Harare yesterday. The King is on a state visit and will also attend the COMESA Heads of State Summit

HIS Majesty King Mswati III has assured the world that the Government of Swaziland is studying Zimbabwe’s Recovery Programme with the view to identify key areas where the former can assist in the latter’s rehabilitation strategy.

An announcement will be made soon on areas of cooperation.
His Majesty also expressed his keenness to have a Joint Bilateral Cooperation Agreement signed between the Kingdom of Swaziland and Zimbabwe for cooperation in such areas as trade, sports, cultural exchange programmes and tourism.
His Majesty made the remarks yesterday in Harare, Zimbabwe where he is currently on a State visit. He is accompanied by Inkhosikati Make LaGija.
His Majesty emphasised that there could be no prosperity in the Southern African region if one of its own, such as Zimbabwe still faced some difficulties.
“It is for this reason that the region is doing everything within its power to assist this great country. My government is currently considering the programme to determine where we can be of support. We are also looking at how best we can enhance our trading relations with Zimbabwe in an effort to stimulate our economic development,’ the King said.
His Majesty added that the two countries needed the agreements to be used as a leverage for development.
“I look forward to the establishment of a Joint Bilateral Cooperation Agreement where our two countries can cooperate in health, the fight against HIV and AIDS, in sports, culture and tourism development to name just a few. Such programmes can be a catalyst in the development of our two countries,’ he said.
The King noted that for any country’s progress to be assured, there was the strong need for peace and cooperation between the government and people.
He expressed his confidence that the people of Zimbabwe were willing, able and eager to support the inclusive government as it pushes key priority areas for success.
“As Swazi nation we are aware that one of the key functions of government is to create an environment for the private sector to flourish and also to provide safety and security in the land we live in.
“This is the mammoth task that is before the inclusive government and requires patience from all levels of society,” he said.

 

 

S. Africa's Zuma Says Region Will Help Zimbabwe To Next Elections

http://www.voanews.com

     

      By Ntungamili Nkomo
      Washington
      03 June 2009

South African President Jacob Zuma, currently chairman of the Southern
African Development Community, said Wednesday that the regional grouping
will continue to support Zimbabwe's unity government until free and fair
elections can be held in the country.

In a state of the union address that focused mainly on South Africa's
economic situation, Mr. Zuma urged "all peace-loving countries of the world"
to support the unity government in Harare to help it repair an economy
devastated by a decade of neglect.

He noted that Zimbabwe's political, economic and social crisis has had a
negative impact on the entire region. South Africa has had to absorb
millions of Zimbabwean refugees, who continue to flock over the border
despite the "all-inclusive" government at home.

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, meanwhile, told a summit of the
Common Market for Southern and Eastern Africa in progress this week in in
Victoria Falls that the unity government's formation had laid the foundation
for economic recovery.

But SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Salamao said the organization hasn't
decided whether to hold yet another a special summit to help resolve the
"outstanding issues" troubling the government - chief among which are the
tenure of Gideon Gono as governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and
Johannes Tomana as attorney general.

Tsvangirai's formation of the Movement for Democratic Change insists that
Gono, who was reappointed late last year by President Robert Mugabe after
the signature of a power-sharing agreement but before the formation of the
government, and Tomana, named around the same time, must be replaced.

Gono has acknowledged raiding private bank accounts at the central bank to
fund Mr. Mugabe's previous government, and Tomana has been accused of
playing fast and loose with the law to harass members of Mr. Tsvangirai's
party, civic activists and rights defenders.

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told reporter Ntungamili Nkomo of VOA's Studio
7 for Zimbabwe that the party wants a SADC summit as soon as possible.

Political analyst Rejoyce Ngwenya said he is confident that SADC, under Mr.
Zuma's leadership, will help resolve the intra-government tensions in

Hoteliers reconsider 2010 rates

http://www.herald.co.zw

Thursday, June 04, 2009

By Isdore Guvamombe

MARKETING directors from hotels met in Harare yesterday to reconsider their
pricing regime after a deal offered by Fifa to occupy 80 percent of their
rooms for the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament, flopped last week.

Yesterday's meeting came after the regulating authority, the Zimbabwe
Tourism Authority remonstrating against what it termed "ridiculous pricing
demands" of up to US$3 000 per night that led to Fifa turning its back on
Zimbabwe and signing a counter deal with Botswana.

Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe president Mr Lewis Chasakara yesterday
said ZTA chief executive Mr Karikoga Kaseke "had every reason to go mad over
the pricing given the figures that were being thrown around."

Mr Chasakara said the new figures would not be anywhere near US$1 000 per
night.

He said the problem was that Match Events - the official Fifa accommodation
company - had met with junior officials instead of having a meeting at
corporate level.

"Mr Kaseke is our regulator and had every reason to go mad at the figures.

"He is a very reasonable man and he reacted on information given to him. He
has every reason to go mad.

"Yes, the guys from Match Events came through but met our guys at grassroots
and they wanted 80 percent of our rooms. They should have met us at
corporate level and we would have given them reasonable figures because we
are reasonable people,'' said Mr Chasakara.

He said HAZ now wants to seal a deal that is good for both the industry and
the country.

"This is a commercial deal and we want to have the best deal. We want a deal
that is good for both the country and the industry.

"As I speak to you our marketing directors are meeting in Harare.

"I can assure you that figures will not be anywhere nearer US$1 000,'' said
Mr Chasakara.

The problem with Match Events, said Mr Chasakara, is that they are acting
like a travel agent that will put a mark up on whatever price we agree with
them.

"The signing with Botswana is a marketing gimmick meant to put pressure on
us. Botswana has no rooms.

"Match is going to make money out of it. They want 40 000 to 60 000 rooms
over the entire World Cup period, not at once.

"We now want to look at the offer from a point of bed and breakfast or from
other inclusions such as tours etc.

"Basically, we will cut a commercial deal that is good for us and our
country,'' he said.

Air Zimbabwe to retrench 420 workers

http://www.herald.co.zw

Thursday, June 04, 2009

CASH-STRAPPED national carrier Air Zimbabwe intends to retrench 420 workers
within the next 12 months owing to viability challenges and the global
economic recession that has also severely affected airlines worldwide.

Air Zim chief executive Dr Peter Chikumba on Tuesday said the move, which
would see all departments affected, was necessitated by the need to keep the
company afloat given the various challenges it was facing.

Some of the challenges included undercapitalisation, a huge debt, poor load
factors and foreign currency shortages.

"The airline is presently in the intensive care unit.

"We are battling for survival and cannot afford to maintain the current
number of employees," he added.

The national carrier has 1 500 employees but Chikumba said under the present
harsh conditions, the company could not even afford to employ more than 800
workers.

The retrenchment exercise was expected to trim down the airline's staff
complement to 1 080.

Visa Waiver ''Encumbering'' Zimbabwean Trade

http://www.ipsnews.net/

Stanley Kwenda

HARARE, Jun 3 (IPS) - The South African government's removal of visa
requirements for Zimbabweans in April was aimed at easing entry for people
still reeling from the crisis in Zimbabwe. But, for Alice Kakwindi, Grace
Chimhosva and other cross-border traders, entering South Africa has
subsequently turned into a nightmare.

On the two occasions that they have visited South Africa's border town of
Musina since the relaxation of visa requirements, they spent on average 16
hours trying to clear their goods at the Beitbridge border post. Previously
it took them no more than four hours to go through both immigration and
customs formalities.

''The process is now very slow. We arrived at one a.m. It's 12 pm the next
day and we are still here,'' Kakwindi told IPS. The two traders make a
living from buying and selling whatever goods are in short supply in
Zimbabwe's capital of Harare.

Zimbabwe and South Africa's governments signed an agreement last month
dropping visa requirements for Zimbabwean passport holders travelling into
South Africa. The agreement allows Zimbabweans entry into South Africa on a
90 day pass and permits them to seek employment.

The move is seen as a major move towards the free movement of people in the
sub-region.

Since then, business at the Beitbridge border post, the busiest in the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, has almost come to a
standstill because of the vastly increased numbers of Zimbabweans now
visiting South Africa.

South African border authorities say Zimbabweans entering South Africa has
more than doubled from 3,000 to 7,000 a day. But the biggest problem is on
the Zimbabwean side of the border where travellers are spending on average
10 hours waiting to cross the border.

Although many Zimbabweans are grateful for the lifting of visa restrictions,
they feel the move should have been facilitated with the boosting of human
resources at the entry points. ''The problem is that the move was not backed
by an increase in the number of people working at the border,'' Kakwindi
pointed out.

The Beitbridge border post now resembles a big automobile market as long and
winding queues of vehicles and people seeking to go through customs
clearance have become a common feature. The queues stretch for more than a
kilometre and move at a snail's pace.

Many travellers blame the slow pace of business at the border to new
measures introduced by the Zimbabwean coalition government. The measures are
aimed at plugging incidences of smuggling of goods into the country without
payment of duty.

''Such searches are meant to protect fiscal revenue, public health and
safety, among others," Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) legal and
corporate services commissioner Faith Jambwa told IPS. She added that the
physical inspection of goods was a routine part in the clearing of goods
that are being imported or exported.

As a result of this new policy, ZIMRA conducts searches on every person
crossing into Zimbabwe.

''A lot of people have been smuggling goods into the country without paying
duty. They hide their goods under seats in the buses. It is because of such
people that this policy has been introduced,'' said a ZIMRA duty supervisor
who asked not to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the
media.

The ZIMRA officers take about one hour to search through a single bus
crossing the border. He added that border operations have also been affected
by a lack of stationery that runs out as a result of the dramatic swelling
of traveller volumes. ''We often run out of stationery such as clearing and
declaration forms,'' the ZIMRA official told IPS.

Custom and immigration officials at the post complained about being
short-staffed to handle searches of all vehicles in compliance with the
strict check-up procedures ordered by the new government.

During IPS's visit to the border post, emotions ran high as uncooperative,
angry and delayed motorists clash with customs officials.

Zimbabweans attempting to cross into South Africa using their national
identity cards made the situation worse. Despite the waiver on visas, the
charge for obtaining a passport is still too high for many ordinary
Zimbabweans. A regular passport cost 310 dollars, a figure beyond the reach
of many in a country where civil servants subsist on a 100 dollar salary
monthly.

To make matters worse, operations on the Zimbabwean side of the border are
yet to be computerised.

But for Kakwindi and Chimhosva all this means that they now have to reduce
the number of occasions that they travel to Musina to purchase goods for
resale. ''We used to travel twice a month to buy goods for resale but we now
dread the border delays. Every time I feel my health is affected by the
sleepless nights at the border,'' Kakwindi told IPS.

Zimbabwe's co-minister of home affairs, Kembo Mohadi, acknowledged the
delays at the border. ''There are delays but these are being addressed by
the increase in staff to meet the growth in people now travelling after the
visa waiver,'' Mohadi told IPS. (END/2009)

Curbing the activities of political parasites

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=17356

June 3, 2009
John Robertson

EVERYBODY who has picked up the gist of Zimbabwe's 100-Day Plan is hoping it
will work. It sets such praiseworthy targets and its sentiments are so
easily turned into inspiring pictures of reachable benefits. But the
pictures are fragile. The simple question: "Who will supply the resources?"
has already shattered most of them.

The whole thing is that fragile because, despite being called a Plan, it is
not a Plan. To become a plan, it needs to identify strategies, and these
need to show, not only a list of what needs doing, but also how each will be
done and how the responsibilities for seeing them through will be placed
into the most responsible and capable hands. But because of the political
risks, the severely discouraging nature of Zimbabwe's recent history demands
that these should be different hands.

Potential investors cannot make that happen, donor countries and aid
organisations cannot think in those terms and the development agencies, such
as the World Bank and IMF, have very specific mandates that do not include
regime change. Efforts to sustain the pressures for change therefore have to
be made by Zimbabweans.

However, not all Zimbabweans are pulling in the same direction. Some do not
want to relinquish privileges, some do not want to become accountable for
past conduct and the rest still hope to qualify for the unearned advantages
and benefits that enriched the first lot.

But when government had the power to impose foreign earnings surrender
requirements on exporters and could happily release this money at
preferential exchange rates to senior politicians, it had considerable
leverage. This disappeared completely with the disappearance of the Zimbabwe
dollar.

Those still in hope that Zanu-PF will hatch the right schemes and scams to
recover this leverage have yet to realise the depths of the party's
failures. Their continued support is often because they have so readily
believed the fiction that Zanu-PF's policies would have all been gloriously
successful if only unsympathetic western countries had not conjured up
"illegal economic sanctions" and "illegal regime-change conspiracies".

The continuing absence of independent radio, TV and daily newspapers is the
main reason why the population seldom hears more factual accounts of the
reasons for Zimbabwe's decline. MDC promised to restore Press freedom and
open competition for the hearts and minds of Zimbabweans, but no useful
steps have yet been taken. Why?

To be worthy of the name, a Plan would also have to show how actual progress
would be made towards placing the distinctly different business challenges
into equally responsible and capable hands. By contrast, this would call,
not for new hands, but for the hands of those whose proven successful track
records set them apart. In fact, their considerable successes over many
years seemed to become the principal reason why Zanu-PF wanted to
dis-empower them, capture their assets and close them down.

From all the Zanu-PF statements, it is clear that, just as they do not want
political influence to be taken from them, they also do not want to see
economic influence returned to the people who they have already
dispossessed, or any rescue attempt for those they are still lining up for
the forced transfers of 51 percent of the shares in their businesses.

If these fundamental objectives qualify to be described as a Plan, it
amounts to a plan to prevent recovery rather than promote it. If this is the
case, the strategies chosen have been selected to deliver failure.

In response, the strategies of all other Zimbabweans will have to be
selected to defeat that objective. Inflows of money would certainly help,
but Zanu-PF is still standing in the receiving line. As Zimbabwe has
disqualified itself from receiving the support of development and aid
organisations as well as donor countries because of Zanu-PF's failures,
their continuing demands to be treated with respect that they squandered
years ago has become the principal barrier.

Most potential contributors have shown willingness to work through the
Government of National Unity and have offered assurances that they will do
so as soon as their basic requirements are met. These are the return of the
Rule of Law, an end to all forms of political violence, the restoration of
civil rights as well as property rights and the de-politicisation of the
judiciary and security forces.

A point made ad nauseam by Zanu-PF is that the country can never return to
its pre-Land Reform state. Even those who hope to see all agricultural
property returned to the market know that when it is, life as it was before
will never be fully restored. But Zanu-PF needs to wake up to the fact that
political changes of an equally penetrating nature have taken place and will
ensure that they too can never recover what they had before.

Their official as well as private conduct has been often characterised as
parasitic, like the ticks on a dog. But so efficient had they become at
living off, or consuming the substance of the State, they forced Zimbabwe
into a protracted decline. To pursue the analogy, the ticks became bigger
than the dog.

Saving such a dog might call for blood transfusions and strenuous efforts to
get rid of the ticks. Zimbabwe started receiving very small transfusions of
US dollars and South African Rands as its own currency moved towards, then
reached inevitable collapse. Since then, much bigger transfusions have been
desperately needed, but to return to the dog analogy, a vet would withhold
these until the evidence showed they will not be consumed by the ticks.

Every vet in the world would advise that no dog should be expected to rid
itself of its own ticks, but they would all happily advise on ways that
could make the dog and its general surroundings inhospitable to ticks.

Sadly, it would appear that little can be done to curb the activities of
political parasites. Naming them in lists of people considered deserving of
targeted sanctions seems to be as far as external authorities think they can
go.

Perhaps they need to seek advice from a vet.

Police foil bid to smuggle 2,3kg diamonds

http://www.herald.co.zw

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Herald Reporter

A Lebanese man was arrested at the Harare International Airport on Monday
after he attempted to smuggle 2,3kg of unpolished diamonds.

Ali Karbala (23), who is unemployed and a former student at Speciss College
in Harare, was arrested after police trailed him from his Gunhill house to
the airport.

This was after detectives from the CID Minerals Unit were tipped off that
Karbala was in possession of the diamonds.

The detectives put his house under surveillance before trailing him to the
airport, where they searched his luggage and found the diamonds wrapped in
carbon paper, along with a digital scale and some magnifying lenses.

Further investigations revealed that the diamonds were destined for Lebanon.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Andrew Phiri confirmed the arrest and
said investigations were still in progress.

"Investigations are in progress to establish syndicates linked to the
accused person who we believe are in and around Harare," said Supt Phiri.

He said Karbala was still in custody and assisting police with
investigations.

He is expected to appear in court soon facing charges under the Precious
Stones Act for unlawful possession of diamonds.

Supt Phiri said minerals, drugs and ivory continue to be smuggled out of the
country, especially through the airport.

He said for the past few years, the CID Minerals Unit had been targeting
mines, buyers and dealers in the country but were now switching their
attention to exit and entry points.

"We have ivory that is ending up in China since the points of exit and entry
are being used to smuggle goods and minerals to markets outside Zimbabwe,"
said Supt Phiri.

He said there was also laxity on the part of some security agents deployed
to man these entry and exit points.

Arbitrary arrests must stop

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

4 June 2009

On Monday this week a Harare magistrate removed prominent lawyer Alex
Muchadehama from remand. It was quite clear to the magistrate that the
lawyer had not committed any offence.
This comes on the heels of the acquittal of another prominent lawyer, now
minister of constitutional affairs, Eric Matinenga. He had spent weeks in a
filthy and congested cell in Buhera and Rusape.

Magistrates, prosecutors and a court clerk have also spent time behind bars
recently - not accused of any criminal activity, not charged with corruption
or any other offence. Their crime? - doing their job properly.
These lawyers join countless other Zimbabweans who have been unjustly locked
up in the most inhuman conditions, in a prison system that the Zanu (PF)
minister of justice himself has admitted is broke and responsible for the
death of hundreds of prisoners through malnutrition and preventable
diseases.

It is appalling that the police continue to be used a political tool of Zanu
(PF) in this manner - arresting people willy-nilly on the orders of senior
politicians and self-confessed Zanu (PF) officials in police uniform at
police HQ.
It is nonsense for the police to make a song and dance about launching a
police service charter. What is needed is a change of behaviour - from the
top downwards. The people of Zimbabwe want action - not fancy documents
stuck to police station walls. For as long as innocent individuals continue
to be arrested and thrown into prison simply for doing their jobs or
engaging in legitimate political activities, the police force remains a wing
of Zanu (PF) and nothing else.
While the police are busy arresting innocent civilians, they demonstrate
their bias by turning a blind eye to on-going political violence -
perpetrated by Zanu (PF) supporters. Not only are there more than 200
political murder cases unresolved, where the murderers are known and walking
free, but Zanu supporters continue to rampage with immunity through
communities known to support the MDC.
If the police force generally is serious about reforming itself through the
re-launch of its charter, we urge them to start obeying the law themselves.
It is time for them to do their job properly. That is the only way they are
going to earn the respect of the people of Zimbabwean once again

JAG open letter forum - No. 635 - Dated 3rd  June 2009

Email: jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw

Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM - No..zw with "For Open Letter
Forum" in the subject line.

********

The following letters  are in response to this one published earlier by JAG:

5. Dear Jag

The Future is closer than you think

Firstly it is terrible that what has happened to the WHITE farmers in
Zimbabwe, but what I find hard to understand is why the WHITE farmers
who have lost the battle for the land to blacks persist in finding
fairness and justice in this land called Africa. Most of you WHITES
have British passports (you are so dedicated to Zim not sure why you
hold on to the British passport), why do you stay on in Zimbabwe.

I read your arguments of farm invasions saying millions of dollars will
be lost if the invasions continue so I ask is it about the money, is it
about the loss of a life style of privilege? All the WHITES are not
wanted in Zimbabwe and soon the blacks will have you all out, but how can
you all not fail to see that, why do you persist and continue to fight
this losing battle. I know perhaps Morgan promised some hope, but now
surely you can see his true colours shining with his Zanu speak of no
problems on the land.

So maybe one of you's will shed some light on this matter for what do I
know I am just a lowly Goffal (oh they call us goffals cause we got the
sh*te in us).

Why don't you just leave I know if I knew who my WHITE father was I
would be on the next plane or train out of here. At least most of yous
had at least 20 years of bliss in Zimbabwe, while us Goffals had nothing,
we lost all rights in 1980 and slowly we are becoming extinct.

Clinton
********

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1. CONFLICT IN AGRICULTURE IN ZIMBABWE - Ben Freeth

2. Born and bred and on a Zim (Green mamba) passport

3. Misconception from Clinton

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Dear JAG,

CONFLICT IN AGRICULTURE IN ZIMBABWE - a national disaster; but how
do we sort it out?

It is time that the land reform programme in Zimbabwe over the last 10
years is recognised as a national disaster.  It continues to sink the
country's people in a picture of terrible woe and the story of woe
will continue so long as the problems associated with the land reform
programme are not sorted out.

In its unstated aim, the land reform programme has been extremely
effective.  It has been a period of political power mongering where
adherents to the ruling Party have been given the land so that the ruling
party can control the people.  A quarter of the Zimbabwe population lived
on "white owned" land.  By taking the white owned land those
people have now been "controlled" and the ruling party has
been able to retain power by its much feared severe intimidation tactics.

The fact that the land has all been occupied on a "jambanja"
basis by ruling party militia, outside the rule of law where none of the
owners received eviction orders from courts and  compensation for what
they lost, appears immaterial.

The cost to the country and its people though has been a story of
terrible tragedy.  Commercial agriculture has all but been destroyed and
the land reform programme can only be looked at as a national disaster in
terms of what it has caused:

.   Total agricultural production has more than halved.

.   National average incomes have dropped by two thirds in a decade.

.   There has been an 80 percent decline in living standards.

.   Unemployment runs at up to 90 percent in Zimbabwe now.

.   More than half the population need food aid from outside the country
and Zimbabwe has become the most food dependant country in the world.

.   Inflation rates were higher than any country in history until the
currency collapsed altogether.

As a result of the economic demise due to the chaotic land reform
programme and the abandonment of the rule of law:

.  The number of doctors fell to 16 per 100,000 people.

.   27 percent of children under the age of 5 now record stunted growth
and 13 percent of children die before the age of 5 - the highest
mortality rate in the whole of sub Saharan Africa.

.  Life expectancy fell by a full 20 years to the lowest of any country
on earth from 55 years in 1998 to 35 years in 2004.

It is no surprise that over a quarter of the population has fled Zimbabwe
and lives elsewhere.

But how can Zimbabweans untangle the chaos that the land reform programme
has created?  How can we become a productive nation once again where the
people are employed and are fed; the children are schooled and health
care is possible?

All the way through history the institution of property rights has been
fundamental to creating solutions to agriculturally impoverished
nations.  Zimbabwe has huge agricultural potential.  Most of its
potential has never been realised due to the lack of property rights
throughout the communal areas; but through the places where there were
property rights, Zimbabwe was enabled to take its place as the only
country in post independent Africa besides South Africa to be a net food
exporter up until property rights began to be destroyed.

The most disturbing trend of the new Unity Government is that property
rights continue to be destroyed with the lack of respect for the rule of
law and the reluctance of police to follow court orders or the Government
to adhere to judgements in International courts like the SADC Tribunal.

Almost every remaining white commercial farmer in Zimbabwe is either
being prosecuted in the courts for still being on the land or is facing
an invasion by connected ZANU PF people at the current time.  In my own
district of Chegutu invaders continue to reap crops they never sowed,
assault farm workers, and kick the white owners and their workers out of
their homes, all with impunity.  The Unity Government is well aware of
this but they are so far turning a blind eye and letting it all continue.

History shows how as one country after the next has thrown off the
authoritarian yoke where property rights were taken away by the State;
those countries begin to rise from the ruins.  It doesn't matter
whether it was Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, the countries of
Eastern Europe and Russia or elsewhere.in the end property rights
have come back.  Those with the title deeds, the owners, have been given
their properties back or been able to sell them to someone who wants them
enough to pay for them and make the land productive once again.

In Zimbabwe the issue of property rights and the conflict in agriculture
will follow us and continue to create problems for us until it is dealt
with.

Hunger and poverty will remain with us until a dynamic dispensation comes
into place that grapples with the issue of property rights and recognises
that you can dispossess people without paying them for what you are
dispossessing them of.

The dynamic dispensation that wants to bring Zimbabwe out from its
national disaster needs to either:

1.   Pay the owners whose properties, homes and businesses have been
taken from them and make that land available for serious farmers to
purchase.  The more serious the farmer the more he will be prepared to
pay and the more he will need to produce to make his investment pay for
itself.

Or:

2.   Tell the owner that the Government can not find the money to pay him
and then let the owner decide whether he wants to go back and farm
his property or whether he wants to sell his property to someone else who
will make it productive once more.

For Government the choice should be simple.  At the same time as doing
one or other of these two things it needs to be bringing property rights
into the communal and bona fide resettlement areas that have never
enjoined property rights in the past.  The people there will only then be
able to benefit from being able to use those rights to raise finance and
develop their areas as they should be developed.  Hundreds of thousands
of irrigable hectares of land remain unproductive in the communal areas
at the current time because nobody has been willing to empower the people
by giving them property rights.

But if the current Government continues to run away from making any
choices regarding the conflict in agriculture and the cause of the
national disaster that continues to stalk through the land through the
lack of respect for property rights, the people will continue to pay for
the Governments short sightedness by remaining hungry and poor.  We will
continue to live in a country of woe and disaster with the begging bowl
stretched out to the world to try to alleviate some of what the people
suffer; and never have any real hope of solving the suffering of our
people with any kind of long term solution.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Dear Jag,

I would like to respond to the mail yesterday from Clinton, and in
response would like to outline the following points:

The whites currently here, were born here, have lived all our lives here
and will stay here.

Most of us do not have British passports and the laws pertaining to
obtaining one of these, were changed years ago, by the British
Government. A friend of mine, who recently applied to visit his parents
in the UK at Christmas, (His parents are there only on a 5 year working
visa), was turned down. Can't even visit his folks. The reason?
They said he was going to remain in the UK. What about the 3 million
illegal's in the UK currently.

Talk about money and privileges' ???.  We talk about money,
directly related to incomes received by the government of Zimbabwe
through the exportation of agricultural produce. (Used to be a billion us
dollar income).

What did this income provide???????????.  Jobs, food, clothing, industry,
taxes, development, investment, It provided governmental income to
provide services to the people-Road maintenance and development,
Electricity, water supply, rural electrification and development, sewage
control, housing, transportation and the rest.

Trust me, you do not just arrive on a farm and get privileges' and
rich. That can take anywhere up to 20 years to achieve. It is a business,
like any other business. You borrow money, formulate a business plan and
cash flow, implement it and pray to god, that you get the rains and yield
you forecasted.

Because if you do not, you fail. Hundreds (If not thousands), of
individuals tried farming as a business, and went bust. Banks would
foreclose and your goods went on auction, whilst you then attempted to
get a job somewhere.  Just like any other business. No money comes easy,
and hard work and honesty amongst a whole lot of other criteria, are what
are needed.

You might not believe it, but we do love our fellow Zimbabweans of
all race and colour. (Excluding the Bad ones).  We feel for their
hardship and suffering and would love normality to return here, so that
everyone can live a normal life.

Zimbabwe is a beautiful country and has wonderful people to compliment
it, why don't you try and start believing this and doing something
about it, by just showing some pride in Zimbabwe and some concern. We
will all get this place up and running, but we will not, if there is no
one to believe in it.

If I was you, I would go to the ends of the earth to find out who my
father was and hold him to task. I certainly, would never abandon my
offspring, no matter the circumstances.

Regards

Born and bred and on a Zim (Green mamba) passport

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. DEAR JAG

What a lot of misinformation and misconception from Clinton, no doubt
held by others.

1/ All WHITE farmers DO NOT have British passports.  Many WHITES do not
hold anything other than a Zimbabwe passport, their ancestors having been
here for four generations.  No other country will take them.  You have to
be young, suitably qualified and have some financial resources to go to
any other country.

2/ It is not just WHITE farmers who have lost their land.  There are a
number of BLACK farmers who have lost land and investment too.

And many BLACKS who have been dispossessed of everything if they worked
on farms.  Many have been dispossessed of their very lives.

3/ No one is a "mistake".  Mixed race people are a part of Zimbabwe,
Clinton.

4/ Mankind descended from Adam, but became so wicked that God wiped them
all out with a universal flood (evidence of which does exist globally,
geologically and in oral tradition) He saved Noah and his sons as the
only righteous men left.

We therefore ALL descend from NOAH.

Bushman paintings exist all along the African north and east coast, and
similar paintings exist in France.

So we are ALL cousins.

So GET OVER IT and GET ON WITH PUTTING THIS COUNTRY RIGHT.

LAW & ORDER

JUSTICE

HUMAN RIGHTS

PROPERTY RIGHTS

LOVE GOD

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF

FORGIVE SO THAT GOD MAY FORGIVE YOU

These are the foundations of civilisation.

No one can prosper or succeed with stolen goods or unrighteous life
principles or behaviour.

REPENTANCE means more than being sorry.  It means turning right around.
"Aah sorry" won't be good enough on the Judgement Day.

Yours sincerely

Sally Bown