Zim Online
Fri 10 March 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe's fractitious
opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) party yesterday vowed to
keep the pressure on President Robert
Mugabe despite a stern warning by the
government that its leader Morgan
Tsvangirai and other top officials could
be "physically eliminated".
In a statement, spokesman Nelson
Chamisa said a Wednesday threat by
State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa to
eliminate MDC leaders was
confirmation to Tsvangirai's statement to
Harare-based foreign diplomats two
months ago that Mugabe's government was
plotting to assassinate him and
cripple the opposition.
Chamisa
- who spoke as armed security agents ransacked the homes of
two senior MDC
officials in the eastern Mutare city looking for evidence
linking the
officials to an arms cache unearthed earlier this week - said
Mugabe's
government was attempting to threaten Tsvangirai and his supporters
into
abandoning the struggle for democracy.
He said:
"Mutasa provided the world with the proof that he is prepared
to engage in
ZANU PF-inspired thuggery and revert to state-sponsored
banditry to quell
any attempt to remove the government. Mutasa is
threatening death to
President Tsvangirai and all perceived enemies of this
regime .. (but) we
will not yield to threats or any undue pressure."
Security agents
earlier this week arrested MDC legislator for Mutare
North Giles Mutsekwa
and the opposition party's treasurer in Manicaland
province Brian James
saying the two were linked to an arms cache found on
Tuesday at the home of
a former member of the white settler army before
independence, Peter
Hitschmann.
The government claims that the two MDC officials, who
have been in
detention since their arrest on Tuesday and Wednesday, were
working with a
shadowy group calling itself the Zimbabwe Freedom Movement
(ZFM) which seeks
to remove Mugabe through unconstitutional
means.
Little is known about the ZFM that announced its existence
at a press
conference in London about three years ago that was largely
ignored by the
media.
Speaking after the discovery of the arms
and the arresting of the two
MDC officials Mutasa, who is in charge of the
government's feared spy
Central Intelligence Organisation, said the
government would "physically
eliminate" Tsvangirai and his officials
accusing them of wanting to
illegally overthrow Mugabe.
But the
MDC has denied links with the ZFM or Hitschmann who was found
with the
weapons saying the former soldier was in fact a member of the
police's
special constabulary auxiliary unit.
Chamisa yesterday said the
government also wanted to use the weapons
discovery to arrest prominent
figures of Tsvangirai's faction of the MDC and
scuttle its congress which
the opposition leader hopes to use to galvanise
his supporters for what he
has said shall be a programme of popular
resistance against Mugabe and his
ruling ZANU PF party.
The congress is schedule to take place on
March 17 and 18.
The MDC split into two rival camps after
Tsvangirai differed with
other senior leaders over whether to participate in
last November's
controversial senate election. Tsvangirai opposed
participation saying the
election would be rigged by the
government.
But his deputy Gibson Sibanda and secretary general
Welshman Ncube and
other senior leaders wanted to contest saying boycotting
would be to
surrender political space to Mugabe and ZANU PF. Sibanda, Ncube
and their
supporters have since appointed prominent academic, Arthur
Mutambara, to
lead their faction which also calls itself the
MDC.
Meanwhile, the police have been granted permission by the
courts to
keep Mutsekwa, James and other MDC officials in detention beyond
the 48
hours allowed under the law before a suspect must be brought to
court.
Sources said the police were hoping to bring the MDC
officials to
court either tomorrow or on Monday. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 10 March
2006
HARARE - The United States Department of State has listed
Zimbabwe
among the worst dictatorships in the world that trample on human
rights and
whose rulers are accountable to no one.
In its 2005
Human Rights Country Report made available to ZimOnline on
Thursday, the
Department grouped Zimbabwe among some of the world's most
notorious
dictatorships such as the reclusive communist state of North
Korea, Burma,
Iran, Cuba, Belarus and China.
"In Zimbabwe, the government
maintained a steady assault on human
dignity and basic freedoms, tightening
its hold on civil society and human
rights NGOs and manipulating the March
parliamentary elections," the
Department said.
But officials in
Harare rejected criticism from the US saying the
world's sole superpower was
itself guilty of trampling on the rights of
weaker nations and of the black
section of its population.
Zimbabwe State Security Minister Didymus
Mutasa said Washington had
caused an illegal war in Iraq and continued
unlawfully occupying that
country. The Zimbabwean official also accused
President George W Bush of
having "looked aside while blacks were being
swept to death" by Hurricane
Katrina in New Orleans.
Zimbabwe
rejects criticism of its controversial policies by the US and
other Western
nations that it accuses of mounting a global campaign to
demonise it as
punishment for seizing land from white farmers for
redistribution to
landless blacks.
The US, European Union, Switzerland, Australia and
New Zealand have
imposed targeted sanctions against President Robert Mugabe
and his officials
for allegedly stealing elections, failure to uphold human
rights, the rule
of law and also seizing privately white-owned farms without
paying
compensation.
The State Department said the Harare
government has continued to defy
pressure on it to embrace democracy and has
instead continued persecuting
political opponents and forcibly shutting down
critical newspapers.
It said: "The Zimbabwean government arrested
persons who criticised
President (Robert) Mugabe, harassed and arbitrarily
detained journalists,
closed independent newspapers, forcibly dispersed
demonstrators, and
arrested and detained opposition leaders and their
supporters."
The Department also criticised Mugabe's government for
amending
Zimbabwe's Constitution to virtually nationalise all farmland by
banning
citizens from contesting in court the seizure of their property by
the
state.
Washington said Harare's controversial urban
clean-up campaign last
year had further weakened and strained Zimbabwe's
limping economy.
At least 700 000 people were left without homes
and means of
livelihood after the government demolished shantytowns,
informal business
kiosks in an urban renewal drive that Mugabe said was
necessary to smash
crime and restore the beauty of Zimbabwe's cities and
towns.
Another 2.4 million people were said to have been indirectly
affected
by the slum clearing exercise, according to a report by the United
Nations.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of a severe economic crisis that
has spawned
shortages of food, fuel, electricity, essential medical, drugs
and just
about every basic survival commodity.
Critics blame
the crisis on repression and wrong policies by Mugabe,
especially his farm
seizure programme that destabilised the mainstay
agricultural sector causing
a 60 percent drop in food production.
Mugabe, in power since
Zimbabwe's independence from Britain 25 years
ago denies ruining the
country's economy and instead blames its problems on
sabotage by Western
nations opposed to his seizure of land from whites for
redistribution to
landless blacks. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 10 March 2006
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe's
chief press secretary, George
Charamba, has directed state media editors to
black out former student
activist and now an opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party
leader Arthur Mutambara, ZimOnline has
learnt.
Charamba, who has been accused before of interfering with
editorial
affairs at the government newspapers and at the Zimbabwe
Broadcasting
Corporation, is said to have instructed that Mutambara be
mentioned only
when it was extremely necessary to do so such as when he dies
or is
arrested.
Mutambara, a radical student leader during his
days at the University
of Zimbabwe, was two weeks ago elected president of a
faction of the MDC
opposed to founding leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
"Mutambara is history. We were told not to write
anything about him
unless it is extremely necessary such as when he is
arrested or dead," said
a senior journalist at the Herald newspaper, which
is the country's largest
daily paper and the flagship of the government's
vast Zimbabwe Newspapers
group.
The journalist, who did not
want to be named for fear of
victimisation, said the order to black out
Mutambara was communicated to
Herald reporters at a meeting held at the
paper's Harare offices last
Monday.
The instruction has in the
last few days also been communicated to
journalists at other state papers
and at the ZBH.
According to the Herald journalist before
Charamba's latest
instruction, Mutambara and his camp of the MDC had been
treated in a
generally "friendly manner" by state media and also given
better coverage
than the opposition faction led by Tsvangirai.
"This (Charamba's order) marks a shift in government policy because
Mutambara and his camp have of late been a darling of the government and
ZANU PF. We were printing all statements from their information and
publicity department without even asking questions."
Charamba
was not immediately available for comment on the matter as he
was
unreachable on his mobile phone for the better part of yesterday while
his
secretary maintained that he was out of the office on government
business.
The government media, known for demonising opposition
leaders who it
regularly refers to as agents of the West, had relatively
appeared less
hostile to the faction of the MDC that was led by secretary
general Welshman
Ncube and vice-president Gibson Sibanda before the election
of Mutambara.
But Mutambara's vow during his acceptance speech when
he was elected
that he would fight with every "tooth, claw and nail" to
remove Mugabe and
his ruling ZANU PF party from power appeared to have
forced a review of how
his camp is treated by the government media. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 10 March 2006
HARARE - Fugitive Zimbabwe High Court
Judge Benjamin Paradza was on
Thursday sentenced in absentia to three years
in jail following his
conviction earlier this year on two counts of
corruption.
Justice Simpson Mutambanengwe suspended one year of the
sentence for a
period of five years on condition that the run-away judge
does not commit a
similar offence during the suspension.
Mutambanengwe, a retired Zimbabwe High Court judge and now a member of
the
Namibian Supreme Court bench who was specially appointed to hear
Paradza's
case, said the fugitive judge's involvement in corruption had
tarnished the
image of his colleagues.
He said: "He was a judge looked upon to
set an example of integrity
and incorruptibility but by his conduct he has
brought the whole judges in
Zimbabwe into disrepute. He did what he did for
personal gain. A prison
sentence is the only penalty that will send a
warning to like-minded members
of the bench."
Paradza skipped
bail while awaiting sentence after his January
conviction on two counts of
attempting to defeat the course of justice by
coaxing two judges to release
a passport of his business partner who was
facing murder
charges.
The judge's business partner, Russell Labuschagne, was at
the time on
bail after his arrest for murdering an alleged fish-poacher at
his fish farm
in Zimbabwe's northern Binga district. Labuschagne, whose
passport had been
seized by the state as part of his bail conditions, was
subsequently jailed
for 15 years for the murder.
Paradza wanted
the passport released so Labuschagne could travel
overseas to scout for
hunting business with the judge standing to gain U$60
000 from the
business.
The disgraced Paradza is said to be hiding in the United
Kingdom.
His lawyers yesterday said they had no instructions from
him to appeal
against the sentence.
Paradza is the first
serving Zimbabwean judge to be convicted of crime
and he is also the first
accused in the country since independence 25 years
ago to be sentenced in
absentia.
Zimbabwe's Constitution and the Criminal Procedures and
Evidence Act
accord an accused the right to be present before sentencing and
to make
submissions in mitigation.
But Mutambanengwe earlier
this week ruled that Paradza had forfeited
that right by fleeing from
justice. - ZimOnline
Cape Argus
March 9, 2006
Ten people, including a
prominent white former opposition MP and a
sitting MP, have been arrested in
Zimbabwe after police said they had
uncovered an arms cache, a state
newspaper reports today.
The prominent opposition activists include
former MP Roy Bennett, who
served eight months in jail after parliament
found him guilty of pushing the
justice minister to the floor during a
heated debate on the land issue
during 2004, the government mouthpiece the
Herald reported.
MP Giles Mutseyekwa of the Movement for Democratic
Change opposition
group, who is the party's shadow defence minister, was
also arrested after
police said they had found the weapons in the eastern
city of Mutare on
Tuesday.
"Our investigations are still
continuing, with police following some
of the possible leads," senior
assistant police commissioner Ronald
Muderedzwa was quoted as saying by the
Herald.
On the day of the alleged find, security agents arrested a
man
identified as Mike Peter Hitschmann, whom they described as a member of
a
shadowy organisation called the Zimbabwe Freedom Movement
(ZFM).
Investigators said Hitschmann had claimed to have been
working with
former members of the Rhodesian forces now serving in
Zimbabwe's military.
State TV alleged the ZFM had arms stashed at
locations around the
country and planned to overthrow President Robert
Mugabe's government.
State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa
threatened to physically
"eliminate" political opponents seeking to
overthrow the government after
the discovery.
Police also
arrested Brian James, MDC treasurer for Manicaland
province, youth chairman
Knowledge Nyamhuka and opposition activist Thando
Sibanda as the probe into
the arms find continued.
The MDC has denied any links to Hitschmann and
says he is a member of
the police reserves. - Sapa-AFP, Reuters
IOL
March 09
2006 at 04:10PM
Harare - Lawyers for a group of men arrested after
the discovery of an
arms cache in Zimbabwe's eastern city of Mutare were on
Thursday still
waiting for access to their clients, one of the lawyers
said.
"We're still waiting to get access to the accused," said
Tafadzwa
Mugabe.
Mugabe and his team travelled to Mutare from
Harare on Wednesday
following news of the arrests.
The lawyer
said it was not immediately clear how many people had been
arrested.
"We can't really say who's there and who's not," he
said.
The state-controlled Herald newspaper reported Thursday that
a total
of 10 men had been arrested, including former opposition legislator
Roy
Bennett. But state radio says only six have been
arrested.
Bennett's wife, Heather, said that as of
Thursday morning her husband
had not been arrested.
"He hasn't
been arrested," Heather Bennett said in a telephone
interview. "He's in a
meeting with his lawyers."
Those known to be in custody are Michael
Peter Hitschmann, at whose
home in Mutare's Tiger Kloof suburb the arms were
found; Brian James, a
local treasurer for the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC);
Thando Sibanda, an MDC activist and Knowledge
Nyamhuka, the MDC provincial
youth chairman.
MDC legislator
Giles Mutsekwa was also arrested on Wednesday in Harare
and has been
transferred to Mutare, reports said. More arrests appear
likely.
A police spokesperson said the men were linked to a
shadowy group
called the Zimbabwe Freedom Movement, which he alleged was the
military wing
of the MDC.
"Their objectives among with others
are to institute regime change in
Zimbabwe and to reverse the land reform
programme gains to create a
conducive environment for alleged democratic
processes for Zimbabwe; to
identify and eliminate high-profile targets of
the state," spokesman Ronald
Muderedzwa told state radio.
But
an opposition spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa, has denied the party
has any
links with a person or group wanting to bring about change in
Zimbabwe
"through the barrel of the gun." - Sapa-dpa
By Lance
Guma
09 March 2006
Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell
has distanced himself from the
Zimbabwe Freedom Movement (ZFM), a group he
initially represented as
spokesperson in 2003. The ZFM was an organisation
that many observers felt
did not actually exist and was part of a publicity
charade. But the
government is now saying the group is implicated in the
'discovery' of arms
of war in Mutare. Several opposition figures have since
been arrested on the
pretext they are involved in the planned use of these
weapons.
Tatchell, a radical campaigner who was once assaulted by
Robert Mugabe's
bodyguards after trying to effect a citizens arrest, says he
only helped the
group launch their statement to the media but had since cut
off contact with
them. He accused the government of deliberately trying to
resurrect an old
conspiracy theory so as to undermine the opposition. When
the ZFM launched
itself in 2003 the government dismissed the group as
non-existent but
Tatchell says they can't turn around and acknowledge their
existence when it
suits them.
He says the majority of
Zimbabweans are aware the MDC is a
peace-loving opposition and will not be
fooled by the latest gimmick.
Pressed on whether the launch of the ZFM
itself was a publicity stunt on his
part, Tatchell denied this was the case.
He believes he has been a
consistent critic of Mugabe and would not need to
resort to such tactics.
The group, which he says is based in Zimbabwe,
approached him for help in
distributing their statement and he made it clear
to them this would be a
'one-off' involvement on his part.
Tatchell says Zimbabweans are the best people to solve their own
problems
and as a foreigner he could not set out his own agenda for
resolving the
country's crisis.
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
The
Herald (Harare)
March 9, 2006
Posted to the web March 9,
2006
Caesar Zvayi And Cletus Mushanawani
Mutare
TOP MDC
officials -- including Mutare North MP Giles Mutsekwa and former
Chimanimani
MP Roy Bennett -- were arrested yesterday over the arms cache
found in
Mutare.
Mutsekwa is MDC shadow minister for defence.
MDC
Manicaland provincial treasurer Brian James, a white farmer whose name
was
not given and another suspect were among those arrested.
Ex-Rhodesian
soldier Peter Hitschmann, who was arrested in Mutare on Monday,
reportedly
implicated the three, all of whom have links with the former
Rhodesian
forces.
Mutsekwa, Bennett and James are aligned to the Morgan
Tsvangirai-led MDC
faction.
Hitschmann was arrested together with the
MDC Manicaland provincial youth
chairman Knowledge Nyamhuka, who has had
several brushes with the law in the
past.
Another MDC activist,
Thando Sibanda, was arrested when police picked up
Hitschmann, who was under
surveillance for the past year.
Officer Commanding Manicaland Province
Senior Assistant Commissioner Ronald
Muderedzwa said police had arrested six
other people in connection with the
arms cache.
"Our investigations
are continuing with police following some of the
possible leads. I am not in
a position to disclose their names for security
reasons. We will leave no
stone unturned to bring to book all saboteurs," he
said.
Snr Asst
Comm Muderedzwa said the suspects were linked to the so-called
Zimbabwe
Freedom Movement, a shadowy group of ex-Rhodesians.
The group claims to
have members within the law enforcement agencies, and
drawn from
ex-Rhodesians and war veterans.
The cabal is alleged to have come up with
a list of targeted individuals
whom it wanted to eliminate and consequently
cause confusion and mayhem in
the country.
Snr Asst Comm Muderedzwa
said police were investigating the group's claims
that it had other bases in
Masvingo, Gweru and Bulawayo. Mutare had been
used as the group's
headquarters.
A high-powered 600cc motorbike -- registration number
43CD90 -- was
discovered hidden at Hitschmann's home.
43CD is the
number of the Italian Embassy in Harare, and police believe
Hitschmann used
the motorbike with diplomatic plates to ease his movements
to and from
Chimoio in Mozambique, where the so-called Zimbabwe Freedom
Movement has a
bank account.
There was no one at the embassy who could comment
yesterday.
Police discovered two fresh elephant tusks at Hitschmann's
home. He was
active in the wildlife movement, working at Cecil Kop Park in
Mutare, where
he was employed by the Zimbabwe Wildlife Society. It is
suspected that he
could have abused his position to poach game
elsewhere.
Yesterday Hitschmann refused to comment, saying he was too
tired after the
intensive interrogation he had gone through over the past
two days.
"I am not in a position to give details right now. It is all in
the report
that I have written for the police. If you come tomorrow when I
am fresh, I
can talk to you, not now," he said before closing his eyes as if
to
dramatise his fatigue.
Asked for comment, the Minister of State
for National Security, Cde Didymus
Mutasa, yesterday said investigations had
reached an advanced stage and the
results would soon be made
public.
The minister noted with concern the destabilisation intrigues of
some former
Rhodesians who were working in cahoots with some misguided
elements in
Zimbabwe, warning those intent on assuming power through
undemocratic and
unlawful means that they would face the full wrath of the
law.
"It is only Zimbabweans who can determine their political destiny
through a
sound electoral processes.
"So those still pledging their
allegiance to Ian Smith and his stooges
should note that the whole issue of
stocking arms for subversive and
destabilising purposes is a wasted effort
as this country has the means and
capacity to defend itself from enemies
both internal and external," said Cde
Mutasa.
The cache -- recovered
at 33 Arcadia Road, Tiger's Kloof, in Mutare --
included:
l one AK47
assault rifle with a folding butt;
l four FN rifles;
l seven Uzi
carbines;
l four Lee Enfield .303 rifles with telescopic sights;
l
11 shotguns;
l six CZ pistols;
l four revolvers;
l a
Siemens radio communication system, including a base station and
hand-held
radios;
l thousands of rounds of ammunition;
l tearsmoke
canisters; and
l 20 flares.
Hitschmann was arrested on Monday at
Nando's Chicken takeaway in the company
of Sibanda, an MDC activist who is
also a former member of the police
special constabulary, and Nyamhuka, the
MDC provincial youth chairman for
Manicaland.
Hitschmann is believed
to have recruited former members of the Rhodesian
army and police force --
some of whom are senior members of the MDC and
former MPs -- to work towards
the opposition party's agenda of illegal
regime change in
Zimbabwe.
Some of those reportedly recruited are ex-Rhodesian servicemen
who are still
serving in the army and the police.
Police suspect that
the so-called Zimbabwe Freedom Movement intended to
target for elimination
the remaining white farmers, top Zanu-PF and
Government officials, and
business leaders to lend credence to opposition
claims that Zimbabwe was a
failed state where anarchy reigned supreme, in
the hope of bringing about
foreign intervention and consequent illegal
regime change.
Police
also suspect that the group had planned to justify its existence to
the
donor community by destabilising the 21st February Movement celebrations
held in Mutare's Sakubva Stadium on February 25, by throwing teargas
canisters and grenades into the venue.
From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 9 March
While most of the world's tourists have been giving President
Robert
Mugabe's Zimbabwe a miss for the last five years, nothing stops the
hunters.
About 300 operators flooded into Harare last week from America,
Britain,
South Africa, Spain and Zimbabwe for the government's annual
auction of
hunting concessions. They dress tough - lots of khaki and heavy
studded
belts. They also drive tough - the car park outside the hotel was
full of
bush-coloured 4 x 4s and Land Rovers with platforms and banks of
spot lights
for night shooting. Some of the men are so tough they drank beer
at morning
tea time, perhaps to brace themselves for having to put in bids
in billions
of dollars. Zimbabwe dollars of course. The Zimbabwe government
won't allow
any purchases of anything to be even quoted in foreign currency
- something
to do with sovereignty. Desired Liaison Auctioneers, who
conducted the
sales, were pleased with the outcome and hope by the end of
this week to
have concluded purchases of all hunts for the coming season. In
the first
round they took US$1.9 million or Z$155 billion at the official
exchange
rate. They sold a lion for a hunt in the Zambezi Valley for
US$40,000.
ccording to local hunters only Americans want to shoot African
cats - lions,
leopards and cheetahs. Locals don't want to shoot Zimbabwe's
cats as there
are so few left. Most in-the-know locals say that the Zimbabwe
government's
Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, which runs the hunts,
tries to do a
good job in the face of extraordinary economic hardships. The
sale was
conducted in the Harare Sheraton, which from the end of this month
has to be
renamed as the "Sheraton" licence has expired and there is no
foreign
currency to renew it.
Cape Argus
March 9, 2006
Zimbabwe's central bank
governor has asked the government not to hike
power tariffs by 560 percent
in one go, saying the move would wreak havoc on
firms already struggling to
survive in a moribund economy.
Gideon Gono told the government in a
memorandum received by AFP
yesterday that the hike which was recommended by
the cabinet should be
cascaded with quarterly increases of 95 percent and a
final increase of 70
percent.
"The proposal seeks to preserve
the decision already taken by cabinet,
at the same time supporting the
economy's overall objective to vigorously
fight inflation through
containment of precipitous cost escalations to
producers and consumers,"
Gono said.
"The phased framework will have a more favourable
signalling effect,
than would be the case if we move on the basis of the
big-bang approach
which front-loads the realignment factor by 560 percent on
one go," he said.
Zimbabwe's inflation rate is currently 613.2
percent but Gono has
warned that it could peak to 800 percent in March
before receding to below
500 percent in June and dwindling to a double-digit
figure in 2007.
Its once-model economy has been on a downturn
for the past five years,
characterised by runaway inflation and shortages of
foreign currency and
basic commodities.
Gono said if the 560
percent was imposed in a single shot, it would
have a "devastating effect"
on other parastatals and major firms.
He warned that the
"shock-therapy way would drive into extinction ...
centre-pivot companies
... and major mining houses".
The southern African country's power
utility, Zimbabwe Electricity
Authority last hiked tariffs in 2003. Power
outages are rampant across the
country.
Zimbabwe generates 65
percent of its power from hydro and thermal
generation whilst 35 percent is
imported from South Africa, the Democratic
Republic of Congo and
Mozambique.- Sapa-AFP
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
09 March 2006
The new leader of Zimbabwe's
pro-senate faction of the MDC, Professor
Arthur Mutambara, was interviewed
on South African television Thursday. His
appearance on the independent etv
network was well-received by analysts in
South Africa. Some said he may have
more appeal to the international
community, as an intellectual equal to both
President Thabo Mbeki and Robert
Mugabe. But intellect does not necessarily
make for a good leader and it
remains to be seen how Mutambara will deal
with the Zimbabwean crisis and
ZANU-PF, which has managed to hold onto power
for nearly 3 decades. Mugabe
came to power as a respected leader worldwide
but has managed to destroy
Zimbabwe in a short period of time.
Tim Hughes of The South African Institute of International Affairs
said that
on television Mutambara came off as being confident, intelligent
and
pragmatic. He said: "I think what is interesting is that he has accepted
the
de facto situation in Zimbabwe that land reform, however brutal, has
taken
place, that Zimbabwe's economy is practically in free fall, and that
the
senate is a fact of life too. So he has adopted a very pragmatic
position as
well." Hughes added that Mutambara appears to be a clear thinker
who offers
an alternative for the opposition in Zimbabwe.
Hughes believes
Mutambara has the potential to attract disaffected
ZANU-PF supporters and
members of the politburo and cabinet. He said: "We
need not think about the
opposition as a given vote that has simply been
divided. There are of course
ZANU-PF votes to be collected in any election."
Hughes further explained
that Mutambara's credibility could be attractive to
the inner circle of
ZANU-PF, including the central committee, politburo,
those that are
disaffected with ZANU-PF and Mugabe's leadership. He gave
Emmerson Mnangagwa
as an example. As for rumours that Mutambara is a CIO
plant working for the
government to destabilise the opposition, Hughes said
so far there is
nothing he has done or said to indicate any such
possibilities. The etv
interview did not deal with this issue.
And as for the next step in
this recent saga in the opposition, Hughes
said: "What remains to be seen is
the degree to which the professor has
political savvy, and the degree to
which he can withstand the type of
pressure that is going to be brought to
bear against him by ZANU-PF, the
security forces and the intelligence
operatives as well. It is going to be
considerable."
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe
news
The Herald (Harare)
March
9, 2006
Posted to the web March 9, 2006
Martin
Kadzere
Harare
GOVERNMENT is inviting the corporate world to finance
contract farming for
this season's winter wheat programme as the country
seeks to boost
production of the cereal crop.
Agriculture Minister Dr
Joseph Made yesterday said corporates willing to
contract farmers should
check with the Ministry of State for National
Security, Lands, Land Reform
and Resettlement to ensure whoever they
intended to contract was on a
secured piece of land.
However, he said although they were opening the
door to private sector
participation, wheat remained a controlled
product.
"Wheat remains a controlled product besides the dispensation we
are giving
them and companies should fully fund the production until
harvesting," Dr
Made said.
The corporate world, he said, would be
required to disclose the price which
they would be offering to the farmers
under their contracts.
"We expect them to bring in their profits and not
monies from the Reserve
Bank's productive funds."
Under the new
arrangement, companies would also be required to regularly
provide
information on the status of the crop to the ministry and the Grain
Marketing Board from planting to harvesting.
"After harvesting they
(companies) must give information to the ministry
regarding where their crop
is stored. This will avoid smuggling."
Agriculture analysts say the route
taken by the Government would go a long
way in enhancing production and
increased competition.
"It is a brilliant idea," University of Zimbabwe
soil and science professor
Sheunesu Mupepereki said.
"It will help to
reduce the black market and shortages as companies will be
able to contact
farmers who will produce their requirements.
"It's a good
recommendation," noted another, "but Government should not
completely pull
out agriculture finance facilities.
Dr Made, however, said Government
would continue providing fuel, seed and
essential chemicals to enhance
production.
Although winter wheat has been a top priority for Government,
targets might
be difficult to meet owing to an acute shortage of tillage
services.
An official with the District Development Fund said only 312
tractors were
functioning out of the 1 000 required to offer effective
tillage services
countrywide.
Wheat supplies have been erratic in
recent years causing the price of bread
to rise to over $66 000 two weeks
ago. Earlier this week bakers were
pressing for a further increase, which
would see a loaf costing as much as
$90 000.
As a result declining
productivity, Government has had to import the
shortfall at considerable
expense to the fiscus.
The Reserve Bank is currently mobilising about
US$170 million for the 110
000ha earmarked for winter wheat production this
year.
The Zimbabwe Farmers' Union says if the 110 000ha was fully
utilised, the
country would be in a position to produce about 500 000 tonnes
of wheat
compared to 350 000 tonnes delivered last year.
Zimbabwe
requires 400 000 tonnes of wheat to meet national consumption
needs.
The Herald
(Harare)
March 9, 2006
Posted to the web March 9,
2006
Harare
ZIMBABWE still lacks adequate resources, capacity and
effective awareness
mechanisms for proper waste management, a situation that
has become a cause
for concern in the urban areas, Environment and Tourism
Minister, Cde
Francis Nhema said yesterday.
Cde Nhema was speaking
during the launch of the National Waste Management
Strategy Draft held on
the Africa Environment Day commemorations.
He said there were many
mechanisms that could be employed to deal with
various types of waste
management although this has been hampered by several
factors, which include
lack of awareness on simple disposal methods that
could be effected at
household level.
Cde Nhema said lack of attention and focus on waste
management has
particularly affected residents in the urban areas who have
been exposed to
an unhealthy environment which have seen many succumb to
diarrhoeal
diseases.
The problem of waste management, which dominated
Harare's priority list last
year, saw the city fathers setting aside over
$20 billion to improve the
outlook of the main market, which had become an
eyesore. "The Harare City
Council can not manage the work load on their own
without the participation
of communities, the private sector and the civic
organisations, which are an
important facet in making people conscious of
the need to help deal with
waste at household or community level," Cde Nhema
said.
He said his ministry saw the need to come up with a strategy
document after
noticing that there was no holistic approach towards the
matter.
"There is need for a holistic approach because waste management
cuts across
the three pillars of sustainable development, namely the
environment, social
and economic," he said.
Cde Nhema said after
identifying the challenges, an investigation on how
waste was being managed
in Harare alone revealed that about 166 000 tonnes
of waste is generated
annually.
Only 48 000 tonnes is collected annually while the rest is
normally left to
pose a health hazard or burnt in a reckless manner that
further pollutes the
air.
"It is important to note that it was due to
lack of resources that saw the
city fathers battling to collect refuse. They
had only 12 garbage collection
trucks instead of 60 that could have made the
task done properly. There had
also not thought of engaging the ratepayers on
other means they could employ
to help the situation. "
Cde Nhema said
if enough attention was paid on waste management at household
level, 72
percent of the 166 000 tonnes of waste could have been either
recycled,
reused or composted.
"If the private sector had also been involved by
ensuring those who
manufacture products that would finally litter the city
are made responsible
for their waste, the bulk of the waste could have been
processed into other
products."
He said this would in a big way help
the City of Harare manage waste, an
obligation he said should not be left to
them alone if the city is to meet
its socio-economic and environmental
needs.
"The science, technology and research institutions also have a big
role to
play in waste management as some of the waste could be dealt with
technologically to release usable energy or come up with certain types of
manure," Cde Nhema said.
He said science and technology institutions
in some countries such as
Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa that ventured
into this area of
development have realised immense benefits.
Metals Place
9 March 2006
Mining companies are to sit down in Harare with
Zimbabwe's mining minister
Amos Midzi on March 13 in an attempt to find a
compromise over the
controversial new government ownership plans that many
fear may kill the
industry.
Government officials rocked mining
companies when it announced plans for a
new bill that would see the state
take over 51% control of all mining
operations without a cent changing
hands. 25% would be obtained on a
so-called "free interest" or
non-contributory basis and the remaining 26%
would be paid by future
dividends. "We are not going to give up and are
unlikely to do so while
there is still room for discussion," said Greg
Sebborn, the chief executive
officer of Zimplats, one of the country's
largest mining
investors.
Sebborn also confirmed that his company's investments, backed
by South
African-based Impala Platinum, were covered by two specific
agreements. The
first was drawn up in the mid-1990s when Zimplats invested
in the Hartley
Platinum Project, and the second came in 2000 when Implats
invested in the
Zimbabwean operations. Both agreements had government
signatures and the
latter held the signature of the South African Reserve
Bank, he said.
"There is a lot we can do as a company if these agreements
are breached, but
we would not like to discuss that right now. All we can
say is that we hope
these agreements are honoured," said Sebborn.
The
Zimbawean Chamber of Mines will also be at the talks on Monday to
present
the mining industry's objections to the proposed new bill. David
Mungari,
the COM President, said from Harare: "Frankly, we think there are
many
improvements needed in these proposals and we have to talk some more."
Asked
about the agreements protecting investors, Mungari said: "This is one
of the
things we need to have clarified for us on Monday. We would like to
think
that these agreements would be honoured." Economists fear that the
proposals
could deter investors from sinking their money in mining in
Zimbabwe and
that some projects could be put on hold.
Zimplats confirmed today that
its $70 million project to create new
underground portals at its Ngezi site
is carrying on regardless of the
furore in Harare. But Sebborn admitted that
the company would think very
hard about a proposed expansion of production
in May from 85,000 to 145,000
oz/year. The parent company, Implats,
estimates that there is 160 million oz
of platinum in the ground in
Zimbabwe, enough to support an operation for
more than half a century. The
Zimbabwean minister for mining was unavailable
for comment.
March 9, 2006
By George Nyathi
Bulawayo (AND) The
recently launched Patriotic Union of Matabeleland
(PUMA) says it will push
government into establishing what it called a Truth
and Reconciliation
Commission (TRC) over the 1987 Matabeleland and Midlands
atrocities
committed by the Fifth Brigade.
According to documents availed to
AND Network, the political party
said that there was need for the
establishment of the TRC as this would help
come up with a real picture of
what transpired then as a move to bring peace
between the victims and the
perpetrators.
In the documents, the party said there were
conflicting figures of the
numbers of the people who died, hence the
establishment of the TRC would
assist government in determining the extent
of the atrocities. "We believe
that there is need to set up the commission
where the perpetrators and the
victims would come together and seek to pave
the way forward.
We believe that this is a platform where the
healing process would
actually start and there would be peace in the
region," read part of the
document. PUMA added that it believed thousands of
people, especially
children born at independence in 1980 were failing to
access identity cards
and other important particulars as these required full
information about
both parents to the child.
We have hundreds
of thousands of students roaming the streets because
they do not have birth
certificates and other important documents. We
believe that the commission
would then have the task of establishing the
whereabouts of some of these
children's parents so that they are able to get
these requisite documents,"
added the documents.
AND ZIMBABWE.