Daily News
Feature
Are people ready for an all-inclusive
encounter?
3/11/2003 10:54:29 AM (GMT +2)
By Jack
Zaba
For a long time now many of the struggling people of our
embattled
country have been calling for a Zimbabwean Prometheus who would
dare to
steal the Zanu PF gods' fire and bring the flame of peace and
prosperity to
the nation.
Many have called for one man who has
already established his political
base, Morgan Tsvangirai, to transform
himself into a real hero of the people
by leading the people en masse, to
drive away a certain octogenarian who
still fools himself that he is the
messiah of the people, out of the State
House.
Zimbabwe is an
erudite nation, and its people are really conscious of
their plight.
They know who is behind the lack of food, who causes them to be
flogged and
harangued by certain uniformed men who call themselves a
professional police
force.
Our people are aware of who the author of our current
predicament is.
The citizens of this country are always ready to
proffer solutions
that lead to the amelioration of our pathetic state of
affairs.
So this country is an embodiment of virtue and
valour.
After having concurred that the present occupant of the
presidential
seat rigged himself into power, they gave the "losers" time to
coalesce and
re-strategise.
It has been a year now since the
historic rigging of election by our
dear "comrades" in Zanu PF.
The election was the people's hope of ending oligarchy, tyranny
or
dictatorship, but
it failed dismally.
The people's
aspirations fizzled into thin air.
The country plunged further into
more severe manifestations of
dictatorship stemming from the birth of
obnoxious pieces of legislation like
the Public Order and Security Act and
the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act.
The
people faced retribution for daring to give Tsvangirai more than a
million
votes.
Now the citizenry has realised that elections only serve to
give
plastic legitimacy to a dictator's stolen power.
There is
now need to refocus and devise more sophisticated but
effective means of
dealing with our dictator.
The people's minds were then filled with
the need for collective
action in the form of civil disobedience, mass
protests or general
confrontation with President Mugabe. They suggested
Tsvangirai should lead
the pack and give his blessing to mass
action.
So I have heard that it is now becoming a reality that mass
action is
imminent.
But I am sceptical of the sincerity of those who
are calling for the
mass action.
Are they ready to face the vicious
bull called Mugabe? Wasn't it a
call from people
who just think they
will be spectators as the gravy train glides
through?
Do they
know what mass action really entails, especially when dealing
with ruthless
dictators like our own President?
In short, the issue of civil unrest
within a dictatorship entails a
people's preparedness to lose limb or
life.
The impetus to any mass uprising is the general readiness to
lose what
one has jobs, cars, wives, husbands, wealth, education in pursuit
of freedom
which is valuable as the sole way to live
prosperously.
As long as you dread the sight of the sophisticated
armoury of this
regime being exhibited by our morally prostituted police
force, then you are
not ready.
There is a need for mass action
and the numbers are there, as well as
the grand strategies, but I don't know
if our people, including the police
and soldiers, are ready to lose their
jobs now in search of a better future
tomorrow.
Are the hungry
students in our tertiary institutions ready to lose or
temporarily stop their
education now and deal with the greatest impediment
to prosperity
Mugabe?
This is the psyche that needs to engulf the people, that
of
self-sacrifice now, in trying to save the future and
posterity.
If we believe Tsvangirai is the man, then get prepared
to be with him
when he chooses first to sacrifice his life by calling for
mass action.
It should be a known fact that life would be lost, as
much as it was
lost during the liberation war, but that is no excuse for one
to avoid being
part of the historical fight against Mugabe's
tyranny.
It happened in Indonesia and Suharto was dumped.
Just recently Venezuelans protested with remarkable success. Even on
our
own
continent Ravalomanana and his determined supporters
deposed
Ratsiraka.
So mass action is a possible solution, but it
only needs the right
ingredient a determined people. Those who despise fear,
those who take fear
as an inexcusable infirmity should lead the
struggle.
The leadership can be there but without the people it
will be a
typical case of fish out of water.
The people are the
vital cog of any revolution, as they fight for the
general good.
We
need a well-calculated move. Let us give Tsvangirai et al more time
to map
out efficacious strategies. Just be ready to be there when the time
comes,
it's an all-inclusive encounter. I will be there too.
Daily News
Mugabe must be tried
3/11/2003 11:09:11 AM (GMT
+2)
By Brian Mangwende Chief Reporter
THE International Bar
Association (IBA) has called on the International
Criminal Court (ICC) to
prosecute President Mugabe for serious violations of
international
humanitarian law, including torturing innocent citizens.
The association said
this in a statement released last Thursday.
Earlier, the Human Rights Trust
of Southern Africa warned the police against
gross human rights abuses,
including torture, or risk international
prosecution.
The Zimbabwe
Human Rights Association (ZimRights) yesterday welcomed the
call, saying it
should be given the support it deserved.
Despite their well-documented
torture of citizens, the Zimbabwe Republic
Police continued to participate in
United Nations peace-keeping missions.
More than 10 opposition MDC MPs
and over a 1 000 people perceived to be
Mugabe's opponents have been tortured
by the police.
The latest victim is Job Sikhala, the MP for St Mary's
(MDC), tortured in
police custody on allegations of attempting to remove the
government through
unconstitutional means. He was arrested for allegedly
burning a public
transport bus in furtherance of subversion.
The IBA
addressed its call to state parties of the ICC, each of whom has
the
authority to request that prosecution be initiated against Mugabe and
his
government.
"No single act would more accurately reflect the
purpose and importance of
the ICC than to have Mugabe as the first individual
tried by the new court,"
said Mark Ellis, IBA's executive
director.
"Fortunately for the international community and for those who
have suffered
under Mugabe's policies, the existence of the ICC means that,
if found
guilty, Mugabe will not escape being held accountable for his
actions."
Ellis said there was sufficient evidence to justify the
investigation into
the atrocities and crimes that Mugabe had committed and
continued to commit
against humanity.
The crimes were defined as acts
that were part of a widespread or systematic
attack against any civilian
population, including murder, torture,
imprisonment or other inhumane acts of
a similar nature, intentionally
causing great suffering.
Evidence and
reports were emerging almost daily in support of these claims
from Zimbabwe,
where threats, beatings, and torture appeared to be
systematically directed
at those groups who stood outside, or criticised,
Zanu PF, the IBA
said.
The association said Mugabe's rhetoric increasingly defined those
who did
not actively support him as traitors, and many of the actions of the
police
and the militia appeared to be motivated by such rhetoric.
The
ICC came into existence on 1 July 2002 as the first permanent court
ever
established to investigate and try individuals for the most
serious
violations of international humanitarian law, including
crimes
againsthumanity. ZimRights national chairman Arnold Tsunga said: "It
does
not matter whether he is the President or not. Crimes against humanity
are a
serious offence and, if need be, a person can be prosecuted by
the
international community."
Last December, a United States judge,
Victor Marrero entered a final
judgment of US$71 million (about $3,9 billion)
against Zanu PF for torturing
and killing opposition party
members.
Marrero ordered Zanu PF to compensate six MDC supporters whose
relatives
where killed or tortured during the 2000 parliamentary election
campaign.
The claimants include Adela Chiminya, whose husband, Tichaona,
was murdered
at Murambinda growth point, MDC candidate for Bindura, Elliot
Pfebve, whose
brother, Matthew, was dragged from his home and killed by a
Zanu PF mob in
Mashonaland Central, and the widow of slain commercial farmer,
David
Stevens.
More than 10 commercial farmers were killed during the
farm invasions which
began in February 2000, while thousands of farm workers
throughout the
country were assaulted and made homeless.
While it is
evident that acts of human right abuse continue in the country,
South African
President Thabo Mbeki and his Nigerian counterpart, Olusegun
Obasanjo,
believe Mugabe is repentant and that Zimbabwe is returning to the
rule of
law.
The two leaders have urged the Commonwealth to lift Zimbabwe's
suspension
from the Commonwealth Councils, but Australian Prime Minister John
Howard
has resisted the move, saying Mugabe does not warrant a reprieve.
Daily News
Leader Page
Africa reneges on its
commitment to Nepad
3/11/2003 11:00:37 AM (GMT
+2)
The executive order issued by President George W Bush
last Saturday to
freeze the assets of President Mugabe and 76 of his top
lieutenants seems an
indication of earnest resolve by Washington to bring
about change in
Zimbabwe.
In a very terse statement, Bush said
he had decided to declare a
national emergency "with respect to the unusual
and extraordinary threat to
the foreign policy interests of the United States
posed by the actions and
policies of certain individuals who have formulated,
implemented or
supported policies that have undermined Zimbabwe's democratic
institutions".
While this position is similar to the European
Union's and Britain's,
it ironically differs from that of African leaders
meeting in Abuja,
Nigeria, over the weekend.
The Abuja meeting,
intended to look at the year-old New Partnership
for Africa's Development
(Nepad), attracted only seven of the 23 heads of
state expected to attend it.
The rest were represented by their Foreign
Ministers, a clear indication of
the scant importance attached to the
meeting by most African
leaders.
President Olusegun Obasanjo, the host, left out Zimbabwe
in a list of
countries where he said Nepad was working.
He said
Nepad had redoubled its efforts in the search for peace in the
Democratic
Republic of Congo, Burundi, the Sudan and Cote d'Ivoire.
That
Zimbabwe is missing from Obasanjo's list underscores his view
that Zimbabwe's
predicament is not an issue that Nepad should address.
Nepad, whose
success will depend to a large extent on finance from the
industrialised
countries such as the USA, Britain, Germany, France and
Japan, aims at
ensuring that its leaders are committed to good governance
and
democracy.
Nepad operates on the premise that only when there is
good governance
will economic development take place in Africa.
The failure by the Abuja meeting to reprimand errant leaders like
Mugabe
suggests that Nepad endorses the lawlessness that obtains in
Zimbabwe
today.
The meeting thus sanctioned the unconscionable
view of Obasanjo and
his South African counterpart, Thabo Mbeki, that Mugabe
is doing a splendid
job of running Zimbabwe.
If the African
leaders see anything irregular in the Mugabe government
's running of the
country, then they have chosen to ignore it completely,
thereby supporting
corruption at the highest level.
Alternatively, for some reason,
they are afflicted by an African
disease that stops them from pointing out
gaping holes in a friend's shirt.
The fact is Nepad will not rescue
Africa from its economic and
political quagmire because it is failing to
address the issues of
corruption, human rights abuse and lack of good
governance so prevalent in
most African countries.
The peer
review system, under which any countries not conforming to
the Nepad
provisions would be punished economically, was given little
attention in
Abuja.
Clearly, most of the leaders attending the conference,
being
themselves latent despots, would rather not be probed too closely by
their
colleagues.
It must be assumed the rich nations will keep
their purses tied to
their waists because Africa has failed to honour the
letter and spirit of
Nepad it has reneged on its commitment to the
plan.
Bush ordered all the interests and properties owned by Mugabe
and his
close circle in the United States to be frozen and barred US citizens
from
doing business with them.
Bush said he had taken his hard-line
stand because Mugabe's
administration had destroyed Zimbabwe's economy
through the ill-planned land
reform programme, a fact which only a die-hard
Zanu PF supporter would
dispute.
The American leader also
accused Mugabe of gross human rights abuse
and of introducing repressive laws
against opposition political parties and
the independent Press.
For the new sanctions to be felt, it is important for the Bush
administration
to put in place a foolproof system to monitor the entire
operation so that it
is not circumvented, as has happened in the past.
Daily News
Commuters threaten to take law into own
hands
3/11/2003 11:15:25 AM (GMT +2)
By Precious
Shumba
HARARE commuters have threatened to take the law into their
own hands
when dealing with commuter omnibus drivers and conductors who
are
over-charging them by nearly 200 percent without government
approval.
The government's gazetted fares range between $50 and
$80, and have
not yet changed.
The recent fare increases are a
direct result of the increase in fuel
prices by about 100 percent announced
last week.
The price of petrol increased from $74,47 a litre to
$145,20 while the
price of diesel went up from $66,39 to $119,43 a
litre.
In separate interviews with commuters in Harare last week,
tempers
flared as they spoke emotionally about their
desperation.
On average, Harare commuters fork out $300 a day to
commute to and
from work
Rural transport operators almost doubled
fares following the fuel
price increases.
It now costs $5 500
one way from Harare-Bulawayo, up from $3 000.
Travellers between Harare and
Mutare now have to part with $3 400, up from
$2 000.
The fare
from the capital to Masvingo was now $3 600, up from $2 000.
Fortunate Muzende, 43, of Glen View, yesterday said the police had
failed to
protect commuters from continued abuse by transport operators.
She said
the government remained silent on the crisis.
Muzende said: "The
government is insensitive to our plight and it has
failed to deliver us from
these thieves. We have now lost all trust in the
government."
She said transport operators were charging $150 from Glen View to
Simon
Mazorodzore Road in the industrial area before they were charged
another $150
from there to the city centre.
Muzende, a hairdresser, said before
the recent fare rises, commuters
from Budiriro, Glen View, Glen Norah,
Hatcliffe and Mufakose paid $70 for a
single trip to town by bus but paid
$100 for the same trip on commuter
omnibuses.
At times, she said
they paid $150 from Glen View to Machipisa where
they would pay another $200
to the city centre.
"We don't mind paying $150 from home to town,"
she said. "We are
suffering because our earnings are very low. Children need
food. We are now
working for transport. We have to pay rentals and
electricity. The stress is
too much for us and our patience will soon run
out. We have told the police
to take action against these transporters but
they have not acted."
John Murewa, 29, of Budiriro, said the
transport problems had been
compounded by the impending by-elections in
Kuwadzana and Highfield.
Buses from the Zimbabwe United Passenger
Company have increased
services in the two areas.
The transport
problems faced by commuters in Harare have been worsened
by the deepening
fuel crisis in Zimbabwe.
Thousands of commuters have on most
occasions been left stranded after
work because of the transport
crisis.
Of late commuters have had to endure getting wet because of
the rains
as they wait in long, winding transport queues.
Daily News
Mutare folk give Tsvangirai rousing welcome
3/11/2003 6:59:53 AM (GMT +2)
From Farai Makotsi in
Mutare
MORGAN Tsvangirai, the MDC president, on Sunday embarked on
an
impromptu tour of Dangamvura, Chikanga and Sakubva suburbs in
Mutare,
drawing cheers and applause from enthusiastic residents.
The MDC leader, who made no speeches but patiently answered questions
from
residents eager to know "the way forward", was in Mutare on
a
"meet-the-people" tour.
He came a day after police cancelled,
at the last minute, an MDC rally
that was planned for Saturday in Sakubva
ostensibly because they feared the
main speaker, Harare East MP Tendai Biti
would incite the crowd.
"For how long are we to suffer like this?"
shouted one woman, a fruit
and vegetable vendor, as she tried hard to shake
Tsvangirai's hand at the
main bus terminus in Sakubva.
"There is no
sadza (staple food), cooking oil and sugar even if you
stand in a queue the
whole day. For how long, please for how long?" she
asked.
In
Gweru, thousands of MDC supporters on Saturday braved the heavy
downpour to
voice their support for the planned nationwide mass action.
"We all
have to be ready for it if we want our voices to be heard,"
said
Tsvangirai.
He said the protests were aimed at expressing discontent
with the
unbearable socio-economic and political environment.
Tsvangirai conducted similar meetings with the people of Kadoma
and
Kwekwe.
His security personnel, meanwhile, had a tough task
handling the
swelling crowd as Tsvangirai made his way to the arcade at TM
Sakubva
shopping complex in Mutare.
As the motorcade sped off,
someone muttered to no-one in particular:
"OK, he can shake as many hands as
he wants. But we're Zanu PF. We're in
power and in no hurry to give it
up."
Next, it was Murahwa Flats in the OTS Section of Sakubva, one
of the
most run down and poor neighbourhoods in Mutare. Again, the reception
here
was ecstatic with hundreds of people, mostly women, clogging the
narrow
streets, singing songs in praise of the visitor.
Tsvangirai's tour, which began in Dangamvura, later took in Yeovil
and
Chikanga suburbs before heading back to the southern sections of
Sakubva.
On hand as tour guides, were Giles Mutsekwa, the MP for
Mutare North,
and Innocent Gonese, MP for Mutare Central both senior MDC
members.
Daily News
Bulawayo council evicts prison staff
3/11/2003 6:56:49 AM (GMT +2)
From Sandra Mujokoro in
Bulawayo
THE Bulawayo City Council has ordered the Zimbabwe Prison
Service
(ZPS) staff occupying 32 apartments at Thokozani Flats in Mzilikazi
to
vacate the premises
on retirement or move out to make room for
tenants sharing
accommodation in surrounding blocks.
The ZPS
applied for the flats in 1967 and its staff have been staying
there since.
However, last year council resolved to evict ZPS staff from the
flats to make
way for families sharing rooms in the surrounding flats as the
city's
accommodation crisis worsens.
The ZPS appealed against this
decision and said the centralisation of
staff at the flats had been effective
as it was easier to mobilise them for
emergencies at Bulawayo
Prison.
In a letter to the council, the ZPS said by living together
as a team,
officers were easy to mobilise and continued to function as a
team.
"Thokhozani Flats are at a strategic point in relation to
Bulawayo
Prison by virtue of their proximity to the prison, the courts that
we
service and some of the hospitals which admit dangerous criminals from
time
to time." read part of their letter.
Isaiah Magagula, the
director of housing and community services, said
council arrived at their
decision after considering all the issues raised by
the ZPS.
He
said it was agreed that all employees worked from various suburbs
in the city
soldiers had even serviced and built their own houses in many
different
suburbs countrywide.
"Tied accommodation through government policy had
been abolished and
there were no grounds for appeal by the prison service."
he said.
Alderman David Ndlovu said he had received information to
the effect
that some of the flats were being sublet at exorbitant rentals. He
said
council would investigate the issue.
A full council meeting
resolved that they would stand by their
decision to evict ZPS staff from the
flats.
Daily News
Villagers flee Zanu PF terror
3/11/2003
6:56:21 AM (GMT +2)
By Precious Shumba
ABOUT 10
villagers from Buhera South fled their homes following Zanu
PF incited
violence. They have since sought refuge at the ZimRights offices
in Harare
where they are seeking legal assistance.
Zanu PF youths allegedly
mounted attacks on the villagers from their
bases.
Arnold Tsunga,
the ZimRights chairman, confirmed yesterday they had
received victims of
political violence from Buhera and Cashel Valley in
Chimanimani.
He said the victims had sought refuge in Harare.
Tsunga said in Cashel
Valley, about 53 people, 21 of them school
children were displaced by the
massive violence, perpetrated by Zanu PF
supporters since last week. He said
violence against the opposition has been
intense in Manicaland since 16
November last year.
He said the political situation in Chipinge,
Chimanimani and Buhera
was of "extreme concern to ZimRights".
He
urged the authorities in Manicaland to preach tolerance and help
enforce the
rule of law so that peace could prevail.
He could not give figures
of affected people, saying the magnitude of
the violence and destabilisation
in the province remained high.
Nathan Shamuyarira, the Zanu PF
national secretary for information and
publicity dismissed the reports as
"untrue" and not worth commenting on.
But Tsunga said: "properties
were burnt when violence erupted in
Buhera last week. Political violence has
gone on from 2000 and Buhera has
not known peace since. People can't be
integrated into normal life.
"Until government ensures that there
is tolerance towards opposition
supporters, it's unlikely that we will
witness peace in that area."
He said villagers in Chimanimani and
Chipinge were being driven away
from land they were settled on soon after
independence.
The White House
Executive Order: Blocking Property Of Persons Undermining
Democratic
Processes Or Institutions In Zimbabwe
By the
authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws
of the
United States of America, including the International Emergency
Economic
Powers Act (50U.S.C.1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National
Emergencies
Act(50U.S.C.1601 et seq.), and section301 of title3, United
States Code,
I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of
America, have
determined that the actions and policies of certainmembers of
the Government
of Zimbabwe and other persons to undermine Zimbabwe's
democratic processes
or institutions, contributing to the deliberate
breakdown in the rule of law
in Zimbabwe, to politically motivated violence
and intimidation in that
country, and to political and economic instability
in the southern African
region, constitute an unusual and extraordinary
threat to the foreign policy
of the United States, and I hereby declare a
national emergency to deal with
that threat.
I hereby
order:
Section1. Except to the extent provided in section203(b) of
IEEPA
(50U.S.C.1702(b)), and in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses
that
may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any
contract
entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective
date of
this order, all property and interests in property of the following
persons
that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United
States,
or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of
United
States persons, including their overseas branches, are blocked and may
not
be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt
in:
(a) the persons listed in the Annex to this order; and
(b) any
person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation
with the
Secretary of State, to be owned or controlled by, or acting or
purporting to
act directly or indirectly for or on behalf of, any of the
persons listed
intheAnnex to this order.
Sec. 2. (a) Any transaction or dealing by a
United States person or within
the United States in property or interests in
property blocked pursuant to
this order is prohibited, including but not
limited to the making or
receiving of any contribution of funds, goods, or
services to or for the
benefit of any person listed in the Annex to this
order or who is the
subject of a determination under subsection1(b) of this
order.
(b) Any transaction by a United States person or within the United
States
that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or
attempts
to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is
prohibited.
(c) Any conspiracy formed to violate the prohibitions set
forth in this
order is prohibited.
Sec. 3. For the purposes of this
order:
(a) The term "person" means an individual or entity;
(b)
The term "entity" means a partnership, association, trust, joint
venture,
corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization; and
(c) The term
"United States person" means any United States citizen,
permanent resident
alien, entity organized under the laws of the United
States or any
jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign
branches), or any
person intheUnited States.
Sec. 4. The Secretary of the Treasury, in
consultation withthe Secretary of
State, is hereby authorized to take such
actions, including the promulgation
of rules and regulations, and to employ
all powers granted to me by IEEPA,
as may be necessary to carry out the
purposes of this order. The Secretary
of the Treasury may redelegate any of
these functions to other officers and
agencies of the United States
Government. All agencies of the United States
Government are hereby directed
to take all appropriate measures within their
authority to carry out the
provisions of this order.
Sec. 5. This order is not intended to create,
nor does itcreate, any right,
benefit, or privilege, substantive
orprocedural, enforceable at law by a
party against the United States, its
agencies, officers, employees, or any
otherperson.
Sec. 6. (a) This
order is effective at 12:01eastern standard time on March7,
2003;
and
(b) This order shall be transmitted to the Congress and published in
the
Federal Register.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE
HOUSE,
March 6, 2003.
ANNEX
1. Robert Gabriel MUGABE
[President of Zimbabwe, born 21 Feb. 1924]
2. Flora BUKA [Minister of
State for Land Reform, born 25 Feb. 1968]
3. George CHARAMBA [Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of Information, born 4
Apr. 1963]
4. Fortune
CHARUMBIRA [Deputy Minister for Local Government, Public Works,
and National
Housing, born 10 June 1962]
5. Aeneas CHIGWEDERE [Minister of Education,
Sports and Culture, born 25
Nov. 1939]
6. Augustine CHIHURI [Police
Commissioner, born 10 Mar. 1953]
7. Enos CHIKOWORE [Politburo Secretary
for Land and Resettlement, born 17
July 1942]
8. Patrick CHINAMASA
[Minister of Justice, born 25 Jan. 1947]
9. Edward CHINDORI-CHININGA
[Minister of Mines, born 14 Mar. 1955]
10. Constantine CHIWENGA [Lt.
Gen., Commander of the Army, born 25 Aug.
1956]
11. Willard CHIWEWE
[Senior Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, born 19
Mar. 1949]
12.
Ignatius CHOMBO [Minister of Local Government, born 1 Aug. 1952]
13.
Dumiso DABENGWA [Politburo Senior Committee Member, born 6 Dec. 1939]
14.
Nicholas GOCHE [Minister of State for National Security, born 1
Aug.
1946]
15. Rugare GUMBO [Deputy Minister for Home Affairs, born 8
Mar. 1940]
16. Richard HOVE [Politburo Secretary for Economic Affairs,
born 23 Sept.
1939]
17. David KARIMANZIRA [Politburo Secretary for
Finance, born 25 May 1947]
18. Saviour KASUKUWERE [Deputy-Secretary for
Youth Affairs, born 23 Oct.
1970]
19. Christopher KURUNERI [Deputy
Minister, Finance and Economic Development,
born 4 Apr. 1949]
20.
Thenjiwe LESABE [Politburo Secretary for Women's Affairs, born 5
Jan.
1933]
21. Jaison MACHAYA [Deputy Minister for Mines and Mining
Development, born
13 June 1952]
22. Joseph MADE [Minister of
Agriculture, born 21 Nov. 1954]
23. Edna MADZONGWE [Deputy-Secretary for
Production and Labor, born 11 July
1943]
24. Shuvai MAHOFA [Deputy
Minister for Youth Development, Gender and
Employment Creation, born 4 Apr.
1941]
25. Joshua MALINGA [Deputy-Secretary for Disabled and
Disadvantaged, born 28
Apr. 1944]
26. Paul MANGWANA [Minister of State
for State Enterprises and Parastatals,
born 10 Aug. 1961]
27. Witness
MANGWENDE [Minister of Transport and Communications, born 15
Aug.
1946]
28. Elliot MANYIKA [Minister of Youth Development, born 30 July
1955]
29. Kenneth MANYONDA [Deputy Minister for Industry and
International Trade,
born 10 Aug. 1934]
30. Reuben MARUMAHOKO [Deputy
Minister for Energy and Power Development,
born 4 Apr. 1948]
31.
Angeline MASUKU [Politburo Secretary for Disabled and Disadvantaged
Person's
Welfare, born 14 Oct. 1936]
32. Sithokozile MATHUTHU [Deputy-Secretary
for Transport and Social Welfare]
33. Amos Bernard Muvenga MIDZI
[Minister for Energy and Development, born 4
July 1952]
34. Emmerson
MNANGAGWA [Parliamentary Speaker, born 15 Sept. 1946]
35. Kembo MOHADI
[Minister of Home Affairs, born 15 Nov. 1949]
36. Swithun MOMBESHORA
[Minister of Higher Education, born 20 Aug. 1945]
37. Jonathan MOYO
[Minister of Information, born 12 Jan. 1957]
38. July MOYO [Minister of
Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare, born 7
May 1950]
39. Simon
Khaya MOYO [Deputy-Secretary for Legal Affairs, born 1945]
40. Obert
MPOFU [Deputy-Secretary for National Security, born 12 Oct. 1951]
41.
Joseph MSIKA [Vice President, born 6 Dec. 1923]
42. Olivia MUCHENA
[Minister of State for Science and Technology
Development, born 18 Aug.
1946]
43. Opah MUCHINGURI [Politburo Secretary for Gender and Culture,
born 14
Dec. 1958]
44. Stan MUDENGE [Minister of Foreign Affairs, born
17 Dec. 1948]
45. Grace MUGABE [born 23 July 1965]
46. Sabina
MUGABE [Politburo Senior Committee Member, born 14 Oct. 1934]
47. Joyce
MUJURU [Minister of Rural Resources and Water, born 15 Apr. 1955]
48.
Solomon MUJURU [Politburo Senior Committee Member, born 1 May 1949]
49.
Samuel MUMBENGEGWI [Minister of Industry and International Trade, born
20
July 1945]
50. Herbert MURERWA [Minister of Finance, born 31 July
1941]
51. Christopher MUSHOHWE [Deputy Minister, Transport and
Communications,
born 6 Feb. 1954]
52. Didymus MUTASA [Politburo
Secretary for External Relations, born 27 July
1935]
53. Kenneth
MUTIWEKUZIVA [Deputy Minister for Small and Medium Enterprise
Development,
born 27 May 1948]
54. Simon Vengesai MUZENDA [Vice President, born 28
Oct. 1922]
55. Tsitsi MUZENDA [Politburo Senior Committee Member, born 28
Aug. 1922]
56. Elisha MUZONZINI [Director of the Central Intelligence
Organization,
born 24 June 1957]
57. Abedinico NCUBE [Deputy Minister,
Foreign Affairs, born 13 March 1954]
58. Naison NDLOVU [Politburo
Secretary for Production and Labor, born 22
Oct. 1930]
59. Sikhanyiso
NDLOVU [Deputy-Secretary for Commissariat, born 20 Sept.
1949]
60.
Francis NHEMA [Minister of Environment and Tourism, born 17 Apr.
1959]
61. John NKOMO [Minister of State for Special Affairs, born 22 Aug.
1934]
62. Stephen NKOMO [Politburo Senior Committee Member, born 3 Oct.
1926]
63. Sithembiso NYONI [Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises
Development,
born 20 Sept. 1949]
64. David PARIRENYATWA [Minister of
Health and Child Welfare, born 2 Aug.
1950]
65. Selina POTE
[Deputy-Secretary for Gender and Culture]
66. Tinos RUSERE [Deputy
Minister for Rural Resources and Water Development,
born 10 May
1945]
67. Stanley SAKUPWANYA [Deputy-Secretary for Health and Child
Welfare]
68. Sidney SEKERAMAYI [Minister of Defense, born 30 Mar.
1944]
69. Nathan SHAMUYARIRA [Politburo Secretary for Information and
Publicity,
born 29 Sept. 1928]
70. Perence SHIRI [Air Marshal (Air
Force), born 11 Jan. 1955]
71. Isaiah SHUMBA [Deputy Minister, Education,
Sports and Culture, born 3
Jan. 1949]
72. Absolom SIKOSANA [Politburo
Secretary for Youth Affairs]
73. Solomon TAWENGWA [Deputy-Secretary for
Finance, born 15 June 1940]
74. Josiah TUNGAMIRAI [Politburo Secretary
for Empowerment and
Indigenization, born 8 Oct. 1948]
75. Charles
UTETE [Cabinet Secretary, born 30 Oct. 1938]
76. Paradzai ZIMONDI
[Prisons chief, born 4 Mar. 1947]
77. Vitalis ZVINAVASHE [General,
Commander of Zimbabwe Defense Forces, born
27 Sept.
1943]
Note: The bracketed identifying information with respect to
each person
listed in this Annex reflects information currently available and
is
provided solely to facilitate compliance with this order. Each
individual
listed in this Annex remains subject to the prohibitions of this
order
notwithstanding any change in title, position, or affiliation.
SABC
Zimbabweans must get act together: Pahad
March 10, 2003, 23:15
Zimbabweans should get their act
together to help find solutions
for the problems in their country, Aziz
Pahad, the South African Deputy
Foreign Affairs Minister said
today.
"Zimbabweans across the political spectrum have to
begin to
analyse the crisis in which they are, both politically and
economically,"
Pahad said in Pretoria. They should give leadership which the
rest of the
world could support.
Pahad told reporters
South Africa remained "seized" with
Zimbabwe's problems. Instability in that
country would have serious
consequences for South Africa.
"There is an unreal debate about quiet diplomacy and aggressive
diplomacy.
What we need is a solution."
This could be done through
organisations such the Commonwealth,
the Southern African Development
Community, and the African Union. "Most
importantly, the Zimbabweans must get
their act together," Pahad said.
He said he doubted whether
new sanctions imposed against
Zimbabwe by the US would contribute to the
solution.
George W. Bush, the US President announced economic
sanctions on
Friday against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and 76 other
officials.
Pahad said earlier US travel restrictions against
Zimbabweans
had not achieved much.
"We now want to see
what these new sanctions are going to
achieve. If this is the route some
countries want to go that is their
decision. We want to find solutions,"
Pahad said. - Sapa
Liberty - Letter to Network Africa
This morning, Priscill Misihairabwi-Mushonga MP for
Glenora, was interviewed by one of your staff reporters who displayed a total
lack of understanding of the situation that has developed in this great Country.
Your interviewer basically accused Priscila of being a trouble maker. It is
recommended that you aquaint yourselves with POSA . to wit :-
For all practical purposes, the police only
have to be notified of a political gathering, public gathering held by a
political party or organisation or a public gathering to discuss political
matters.
You have received eyewitness accounts of what took
place in Bulawayo of both the Valentines Day walk and more horrendously last
Saturdays International Womens Day. Notification under POSA was not required for
either event. However, the police were advised of the Valentines Day walk and
permission was granted in writing and withdrawn verbally three hours later. This
in itself was not a legal action by the police. Interpretation is totally biased
by a partisan force. It is on record how many opposition rallies have been
disallowed, where by comparison, the ruling party do not appear to have such
problems.
Laws have to be Just! Is it really necessary to
remind people like your reporters living in a democratic environment who may
have probably forgotten or never even new what it is like to live under laws
generally accepted as being worse than the Smith or Apartheid regimes.
So again I ask of Mbeki, Obasanjo and other defenders of the Mugabe regime who are
stating that the situation has improved and preach
"Zimbabweans must sort out their own
problems", please
tell us how this can be achieved with out a return to the rule of law and
democracy?
Until Mbeki and
Obasanjo are prepared to TRUTHFULLY answer the question above, the rhetoric in
terms of NEPAD for the monitoring of regional countries and subsequent
condemnation of policies detrimental to human rights and good governance has
proven once again a farce in Africa.
Mike Lander - Bulawayo
Robert Mugabe is a Knight Commander of the
Order of Bath
SOKWANELE - ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - ZVAKWANA
Just a small section from Hansard on the debate. More available upon
request. Time to lobby.
Mike
House of Lords Debate on Zimbabwe : 5 March
2003
Lord Howell of Guildford: I suggested in
that debate that we should extend sanctions to spouses. I suggested that we
should eliminate some of the travel loopholes - this was before Mr Mugabe went
to Paris - and that if the criterion was to allow movement only where treaties
oblige countries to let people in, we should seek to ensure that those treaties
were rigorously adhered to and that there were no wriggles round them. I
suggested that we should resist deals such as that which, subsequent to that
debate, allowed Mugabe and his wife into Paris, as my noble friend Lord Astor
reminded us. That let her go on her spending spree while children were dying of
starvation in Zimbabwe. I cannot think of a sicker contrast.
I read in the papers this morning - they are usually
inaccurate - that Mr Mugabe has the KCB. Does he in fact have it? International
Who's Who makes no mention of it. If he has, could the Minister please
urge those who deal with such things that he be stripped of it as soon as
possible?
[From later in the debate:
Lord Howell of Guildford: My Lords, as the
noble Baroness is coming to the end of her speech and there is still a little
time, will she confirm whether, as reported in this morning's newspapers, Robert Mugabe is a Knight Commander of the Order Bath? And
is she really going to say nothing about the UN panel and all its
revelations?
Baroness Amos: My Lords, I am happy to pick up
on those points. Yes, Robert Mugabe does have that honour;
he was awarded it in 1994.]
I recommended in that debate that, over and above what we
were already doing, we freeze all assets of companies that were bankrolling
Mugabe; many of them were mentioned in the UN report. I also said that we should
publish a dossier of suspected torturers and that we should extend the embargoed
goods list because it appears that Mr Mugabe has an endless supply of black
Mercedes cars. Perhaps I have missed something, but in the four months since
then, I have heard not a squeak. I am not aware that any of those things have
been done. I have heard no subsequent reports from the UN panel with its
devastating exposé.
JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
justice@telco.co.zw with "For Open Letter
Forum" in the subject
line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1: Cherad Made
While I appreciate your efforts, trying to keep up the
good spirit and some
sense of humour, I felt somehow embarrassed by the Open
Letter Forum No.40
or 41, which basically consisted of an advert and three
rather silly jokes,
one of them even a "below the belt" reminder of how
little the "brits" like
the "krauts". I don't think this kind of cheering up
is of any good.
Your Vision Communiqué the next day, with Ben Freeth's
"Prerequisite for
Development" on the contrary does, in my humble opinion,
exactly the right
thing: it explores a possible way forward, explains in some
reasonable
amount of detail how that could be achieved, with the existing
structures
of chiefs and headmen ... To show a realistically possible way and
to
communicate it widely, is much more likely to bear fruit: it
gives
confidence to realize that there are some good guys around with
sound
ideas, and it also contributes to build up an increasingly
well-founded
kind of COMMON sense / vision of what THE PEOPLE realistically
can and
might want to achieve, and how, along which lines.
Also the
two contributions in the Open Letter Forum No.42 were quite
delightful, in a
more general, "state of mind" way - although the last
sentence, "If there is
a meaning in life at all, then there must be a
meaning in suffering", is a
bit over the top. Life simply is, and there is
ample to learn from it, isn't
that enough? In my opinion, suffering is
rather a "natural part" of it, a
"necessary evil" like physical pain,
indicating that something is wrong. Well
intended, intelligent behaviour
can avoid most suffering or pain. But if pain
or suffering occur, we are
forced to change: things, circumstances,
ourselves, such that the suffering
or pain is eased and in future avoided:
BECAUSE we have learned, changed,
developed, into something more meaningful.
Life's "real" meaning is far
beyond that ...
In the present situation,
I feel it is crucial that some basic common
sense, based on observation,
reasoning, qualified and quantified
suggestions is established. The NCA has
been very brave fighting on its
front, JAG has made valuable contributions,
and many organisations in civic
society - ZimRights, Amani Trust, other
members of the Human Rights Forum,
WOZA and others - are doing their best
too. The independent media,
including Harare North based SW Radio Africa play
their part in keeping us
somehow informed, and some individuals dare to speak
out, like H.Olonga and
A. Flower (chapeau!) - while the main opposition party
appear to be somehow
exhausted and in slumber ... For the overall situation,
all these
contributors are like pieces of a puzzle, which have to do their
part and
must find together to build a picture of how Zimbabwe shall be
organized
and managed. Once THE PEOPLE realise, that this is actually
happening, the
wind of change is likely to start blowing
again.
Although the Pillaging & Pocketing Front is still in command,
there are
signs of them increasingly facing problems of sustainability too.
The
foreign currency situation is so desperate that even the theft rate of
1:55
- crucial to sustain the PF's shopping sprees - is now being eroded,
and
even Tsumba can't print as much as His Master requests to finance the
PF
supporters through inflation: printing money is getting too expensive!
The
prisons are already as overcrowded as before the amnesties, and due to
the
overall grievances of His peaceful people, the discontent with the
Resident
continues to rise. He won't forever be able to finance this flood
out of
His supporting thugs' ranks.
Zimbabwe is approaching a critical
situation. In the towns, some are
becoming more daring: demonstrations are
still the exception, but
apparently on the rise, even some church leaders
have joined in. A couple
of days ago, some slogan chanting youths were
driving around His Residence
on their way to an opposition rally they dared
to intend to take part in.
Of course, they were arrested and beaten up, but
imagine: right at His
doorsteps ... and the prisons are full already ... The
judiciary also isn't
as "patriotic" as they were supposed to be, at least
until now. Trying to
teach Paradza a lesson only showed that most of the High
Court judges
openly dissent to such attempts of domestication by public
accommodation.
Meanwhile the PFront is trying to expand their GBS system to
cover the
whole country. Not only for food control, but apparently to regain
control
over the towns: Chinos into Parliament! The Resident knows to have
lost the
free vote of THE PEOPLE. Relying on WV's, ZRP's and increasingly the
GB's,
with the Army as a backup force in case of emergency, he tries to stay
in
control: never ever ever ...
Things will increasingly come to the
point now, whether we like it or not.
In order to survive, we must be
careful, but also learn to overcome our
fear, to face the realities of life,
to stand upright, speak out and
organize ourselves. A beating and a night in
jail isn't exactly the kind of
short holiday we'd like to enjoy, but others
suffered worse, and in the
end: they can't beat up and jail 60% of the
population or 80% of the people
in town, certainly not for long. If the will
of the people shall prevail,
this will must show up and manifest itself,
which needs some courage and
determination from everyone, and some visible
leadership too. Both are
still in short supply, although there are signs of
hope.
It is in our interest to focus on such signs, to actively nurture
and
support these positive ideas and the people who pursue them. It
simply
isn't good enough to just hang on and "suffer". Until now, and in the
end:
we basically get what we deserve.
With unbroken
spirit
Cherad
Made
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ON
THE LIGHTER SIDE:
A rather cynical but funny joke . . .
Last month
a survey was conducted in countries across the world by the
United Nations.
The question was: "Please give your honest opinion about
possible solutions
to the shortage of food in the rest of the world."
The survey was an
utter failure
- In Africa, nobody understood the word 'food'
- In Eastern
Europe nobody understood the word 'honest'
- In Western Europe nobody
understood the word 'shortage'
- In China nobody understood the word
'opinion'
- In the Middle East nobody understood the word 'solution'
- In
South America nobody understood the word 'please'
- In the USA nobody
understood the words 'the rest of the
world'
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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for Agriculture mailing list
To subscribe/unsubscribe: Please write to jag-list-admin@mango.zw
From The National Post (Canada), 8
March
Canada's international 'man of
infamy'
Ari Ben-Menashe: Star witness in Zimbabwe treason trial called
'delusional'
He may be the most controversial Canadian on the planet. He is
involved in court cases at home and abroad. His life reads like a political
thriller. His enemies are legion. Who is Ari Ben-Menashe? Brian Hutchinson
reports from Montreal.
Around this period, Damiron says, "strange things began to
happen." Investigators from Scotland Yard came calling. They were following up a
complaint of criminal deception, made by Mohammed al-Fayed, owner of Britain's
toney department store Harrod's. Al-Fayed, is, of course, father of the late
Dodi al-Fayed, who died in a car crash along with Diana, the Princess of Wales,
in 1997. According to his complaint, al-Fayed was approached by Ben-Menashe, who
suggested he had information linking Dodi's and Diana's deaths to the Mossad.
Al-Fayed alleged Ben-Menashe wanted US$750,000 for the information. To hear
Ben-Menashe tell it, al-Fayed approached him. "We had two meetings," he says.
"Al-Fayed was interested in a consultancy arrangement. We said no. He had
theories about Israelis and Lady Diana. We saw how crazy he was and we dropped
him. He made a complaint and the British police were compelled to come to
Canada. There was nothing to the case. We received a letter from [the police]
apologizing for everything." I asked Ben-Menashe to show me the letter. "I don't
know where it is," he told me. Olivier Damiron started receiving angry calls
from Carlington's customers. "They were complaining that their goods had not
been delivered. I was told by Ari to tell people that there had been a delay. I
was to stall them.... Something was obviously wrong." More lawsuits piled up.
Yerevani Alragats OJSC, an Armenian company, filed a statement of claim in
Quebec, alleging Carlington had failed to come through with a large shipment of
Canadian wheat. Yerevani Alragats wanted its US$150,000 deposit back, which, it
seemed, was no longer being held in trust. According to Damiron, all the
deposits collected by Carlington ended up in private bank accounts controlled by
Ben-Menashe and Legault. "My clients rushed into this deal," admits Yerevani
Alragats' lawyer, Haytoug Chamlian. "They were seduced by what they considered a
very advantageous contract offered by Carlington." The case goes to trial next
October.
In January, 2000, a Scottish company enlisted Carlington's
services. Merchant International Limited wanted to sell 12,500 tonnes of rice to
Ghana; Ben-Menashe promised to source the product in Myanmar, and to ship it to
Africa. A US$262,500 deposit was forwarded to a bank account in Montreal, to be
kept in trust. The rice never appeared. When Merchant International demanded the
return of its deposit, Damiron claims he was told to buy a few cups of rice from
a Montreal shop and to send it along to the customer's office in Edinburgh.
This, says Damiron, in a court affidavit, was "falsely represented as being a
sample of rice from Myanmar which would be shipped to Ghana." The matter was
settled out of court; however, there are other cases still outstanding. When
Carlington filed for bankruptcy in December, 2001, it cited almost $9-million in
liabilities, including a $7.9-million claim by an African bank that financed a
failed maize deal between Zambia and Ben-Menashe's company. Damiron was fired.
"I started giving Ari a lot of attitude," he says. "I refused to obey orders."
Ben-Menashe has another explanation. "Olivier was a disgruntled employee."
Ben-Menashe has his own troubles with the authorities. Last summer, Montreal
police arrested him and charged him with assault, following complaints from his
wife, Haya Chetrit, and his mother-in-law, Bracha Chetrit. He was also charged
with uttering threats. He has been bounced from the mansion he bought in
Westmount, an affluent Montreal suburb. He and his wife separated and are
heading for a divorce. The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
has finally "cut off its relationship" with Ari Ben-Menashe, says department
spokesman Reynald Doiron. This was after more "suspicion was shed on
Carlington." It is not, however, up to Canada to investigate the firm's alleged
frauds, he adds. "Carlington performed its activities outside the country,"
Doiron insists. "It's up to other countries [to prosecute]."
And so Ben-Menashe continues to operate, as president of
Dickens & Madson (Canada) Inc. It was in this capacity, in late 2001, that
he agreed to work for Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe, ostensibly to brighten
the country's image overseas before the country's March, 2002, presidential
election. One of Ben-Menashe's first acts was to sign a US$100,000 political
consulting contract with Morgan Tsvangirai, Mugabe's chief political opponent.
It was an obvious conflict of interest, but Tsvangirai was kept in the dark. He
did not know that the glib Canadian consultant was also working for Mugabe, at
four times the rate. Ben-Menashe admits he planned to videotape Tsvangirai
plotting to kill his opponent Mugabe. "We were just collecting evidence for the
government," he has testified. On Dec. 4, 2001, they met at the Dickens &
Madson office in Montreal. Legault was there as well. Ben-Menashe secretly taped
the encounter. The tape allegedly captures Tsvangirai talking with Ben-Menashe
about "eliminating" Mugabe. A transcript of the meeting, entered into evidence
in Zimbabwe, demonstrates that Ben-Menashe raised the notion of "eliminating"
the ageing dictator. What he meant is unclear. Violence and murder were never
discussed. Tsvangirai seemed preoccupied with talking about a "transitional
government" and Zimbabwe's constitution. At one point in the meeting,
Ben-Menashe's secretary arrived with a cake. "It is my fiftieth birthday today,"
he told Tsvangirai. "Happy birthday, Tsvangirai. I am 50 years." "Hmm, happy
birthday, Ari," Tsvangirai replied. When the tape surfaced, Tsvangirai and his
two colleagues were arrested and charged with treason. Two weeks later, Mugabe
won a sham presidential election. The events caused international outrage, but
in Canada, there was barely a ripple, although a Canadian citizen had played an
instrumental role in the outcome, by keeping Tsvangirai out of the election.
The RCMP looked at Ben-Menashe's evidence, decided there was
nothing to suggest Tsvangirai was plotting a murder and suspended their
investigation. The Canadian Alliance's Keith Martin has been calling on the RCMP
to share the results of its investigation with Tsvangirai's defence team. If
convicted, Tsvangirai and his co-accused face the possibility of hanging.
"Canada cannot allow an innocent man to be put to death based on the false
testimony of a Canadian," Martin said, in a letter to the superintendent of the
RCMP's economic crime branch, sent on Feb. 13. Martin has received only vague
assurances from Bill Graham, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, that Canada is
monitoring Tsvangirai's trial. Martin has also received a couple of nasty
letters from Ben-Menashe himself, calling him a "racist" for questioning
Zimbabwe's electoral process. Ben-Menashe returned to Harare this week, to
complete his testimony. It has taken a toll, he admits. He has had several
shouting matches with Tsvangirai's defence lawyer, George Bizos. According to
local reports, he has also caused trouble at his hotel, where a cook was
suspended after failing to deliver a chicken stew to Ben-Menashe's room in less
than five minutes. Regardless of the trial's outcome, he says, he will continue
to work for Mugabe, whom he plainly adores. "We will renew our contract," vows
Ben-Menashe. "Politically, we have done a lot of work with them and it will soon
bear some fruit. We have drawn tremendous attention to the country. We have
heard from many potential investors." The Russians, says Ben-Menashe, "are very
interested" in doing business with Dickens & Madson, and its client Mugabe.
Dispatch Online
Editorial Opinion, Zimbabwe Column
Michael Hartnack in Harare, March 11, 2003
"Propaganda Playing Tricks with Memory"
ONE of the drawbacks of being a journalist, studying history or taking even a
mildly informed interest in national affairs, is overhearing conversations in
public places where people reveal exasperating ignorance about even the quite
recent past.
Sometimes weary newspaper sub-editors get telephoned late at night to
adjudicate arguments whether the Duke of Edinburgh was British prime minister
when Bill Clinton had a love affair with Marilyn Monroe.
The vast majority of the world's people get on fine without recalling what
regimes rose and fell in 1989-1992, just as they don't bother where Laos or
Paraguay are until someone they know gets killed there.
Especially for young people, seven years ago is a long time, and when public
media confidently assert what happened then, many may accept that version.
It is amazing how resilient the bulk of Zimbabweans have been in the face of
years of "saturation hate speech". However, it seems to be making some inroads,
particularly among the young and rural people who know the price of disbelief
may be denial of a place in the queue for maize meal.
Friends tell me that even in opposition urban strongholds, propaganda
sometimes shows its effect when liquor flows. People mouth the facile cliches
they have heard time and again from the official media.
Since the beginning of the month there has been a major shift in the Zanu(PF)
misinformation onslaught with the merciful cessation of the jingle, broadcast
every 15-20 minutes on state radio for the past six months, that civil war has
come against whites "who have barbed wire tails".
One or more of the singers has reportedly joined the mass exodus to Britain
and South Africa -- despite proudly telling 12 million remaining fellow
countrymen and women that "Our land is our prosperity" and "Now, we have the
land".
The new thrust, ordered by Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, shows the
government has given up trying to catch the public imagination with weed-choked
fields, and the ethnic cleansing of their former owners. It now recognises the
hardships that preoccupy many families' every waking minute.
Its object is to get people to blame anyone but the government by creating
the fiction that Zimbabwe has been under seven years of "sanctions". The
following is an extract from an editorial last week in the state-controlled
Herald, which closely follows the wording of the 49-page National Economic
Recovery Programme, released the next day: "Before the advent of British
hostilities against the ruling Zanu(PF) government towards the end of 1997, our
international relations were fine and major economic indicators were showing
signs of good health.
"Inflation was running at a manageable 15 percent, the Zimbabwean dollar was
trading at around 11,4 to the American greenback while unemployment was around
30 percent.
"Enter the Tony Blair Labour government with its bullyboy tactics and
expansionist policies, and all hell broke loose.
"The economy was ruthlessly shaken, the country's politics thrown into
turmoil and a new civic (sic) society created to cause mayhem, all in a bid to
remove the Zanu(PF) government from power ... a significant number of
Zimbabweans were made to lose confidence in their own country.
"Mr Blair cannot simply walk away from the mess he has created in Zimbabwe."
A whole sucession of whopping lies are contained in this summary.
Trouble broke out for Zanu(PF) in 1997 because ex-guerillas learned that R80m
(at contemporary exchange rates) had been given to the elite for non-existent
"war disabilities". Mugabe then blew R1bn giving all self-styled "ex-combatants"
gratuities, thus causing a crash in the currency. Simultaneously, he embarked on
his five-year Congo adventure in search of new sources of economic patronage,
causing the Bretton Woods institutions to freeze further loans.
The suggestion that civil society was created overnight by the Blair
government in 1997 with the aim of overthrowing Mugabe is, ironically, less than
fair to Mugabe himself. He deserves credit for his decision in 1990 to end the
25-year state of emergency, for his mass education programme which saw 3,8
million children getting access at least to basic literacy skills, and the 1982
Legal Age of Majority Act which emancipated women. Western donor agencies and
churches merely provided the framework for the rise of organised support groups.
The one bright spot in 1997-1998 was the agreement Mugabe reached on a new
programme of land reform drawn up by the Union Nations Development Programme, to
be funded by Britain and others. Mugabe only launched his fast-track land reform
or "third Chimurenga (civil war) against whites" after losing the February 2000
constitutional referendum. Blair who, alleges Mugabe, intervened to defend
whites had no cause to do so in 1997.
Yet friends tell me children, particularly, are swayed by the note of
fanatical conviction in the voices of Mugabe and Moyo.
Economists do not take the 10-point National Economic Recovery Programme
seriously since it is founded on the fundamental falsehood that we have "an
economy distorted by political pressure" from abroad.
The economy was ruined by political vandalism at home, they retort. Lifting
import duty on foodstuffs and music equipment will do nothing while inflation
runs at 208 percent, wiping out pensions and savings.
No one has any confidence to invest in anything except short-term
consumption.
When you hear of 82-year-old Father Nilus O'Donovan, with Alzheimer's
disease, being found wandering near State House at 2am, with his face caked with
blood after being beaten by the Presidential Guard on his walk home from Mass,
you understand why businessmen won't invest and talented Zimbabweans emigrate.
Ten judges issued a statement protesting there was an unavoidable impression
their colleague, Benjamin Paradza, was arrested at his chambers in an attempt to
victimise him for rulings against the government.
Paradza condemned Chief Justice Godfrey Chiyausiku and Paddington Garwe,
judge president of the High Court, for their failure to prevent intimidation of
the judiciary in its hour of crisis.
Meanwhile the government postures as the fearless upholder of the rights of
ordinary citizens against corruption and exploitation, manipulated -- horror of
horrors -- from abroad. The tone of pious self-righteousness stuns many
newcomers to Zimbabwe.
It would be worthwhile for South African senior school or university
students, as an exercise, to draw up hypothetical plans in which an imaginary
authoritarian government in South Africa tried to exploit popular ignorance to,
for example, transform Nelson Mandela from the deservedly loved figure he is
today into a bogeyman or a monster.
The pupils should imagine the gradual, systematic manipulation of public
opinion. First, a programme of half-truths highlighting incidents of corruption
and human rights abuses when Mandela was president, falsely implying there was
an unexpectedly high incidence in the prevailing conditions. After a few months,
a fresh campaign to suggest he "must have known about them". Then another, to
create the lie he did nothing to stop them. Then a further lie, that he condoned
them. Then a further lie, that he encouraged them, pursuing a sinister "secret
agenda". Footage of his amazing triumph -- the World Cup Rugby final with
thousands of white men shouting "Mandela, Mandela" -- might be broadcast nightly
to "prove" he was for many years working to defend only white interests.
Readers will, I hope, forgive me if the mere suggestion of this scenario
causes offence. It is meant as the gravest warning how South Africa's
internationally acclaimed "Madiba miracle" might be stood on its head by
propagandists pushing lie after lie until the truth is turned through 180
degrees.
What amazes us in Zimbabwe is that not just callow teenagers and elderly
rural folk, who are exposed exclusively to our state media, and not just
desperate people in bread queues are taken in by each fresh Zanu(PF) invention.
We hear supposedly informed and deep-thinking members of the South African elite
coming out with them.
A member of the ANC, Dumisani Makhaye, said in a speech whose text was
released by Sapa that the British had admitted they failed to honour promises on
land reform they made at the 1980 Lancaster House conference. They have made no
such admission. Makhaye said violence stemmed from land hunger. It doesn't.
Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the Zimbabwean government had
admitted it "made mistakes" in implementing fast-track land reform, and was
correcting them. We have seen no such confession, nor any corrective action.
Inventing lies is easiest when there are people eager to swallow them.
Present Tense Magazine
UN Notebook
By Michael Littlejohns
© Present
Tense Magazine
Mugabe, Africa's Saddam, is one more bar to
unity
NITED NATIONS --Saddam Hussein is not the only national president
for whom
most people have just two words: Get lost. There's also Robert
Mugabe, the
dictator of Zimbabwe, who, like Saddam in Iraq, has been his
country's
ruination. Also like the Iraqi despot, Mugabe has managed to divide
the UN
and several other international bodies on how best to deal with
him.
As Security Council members wrangled over the question whether to
give Iraq
one final chance to come clean with its weapons of mass
destruction, the
odds heavily favored the early launch of US military action
-- with the
political, humanitarian and economic consequences still quite
unpredictable,
whatever the usual suspects on the right and left of punditry
may want to
believe. Will another gulf war sound a death knell for the UN in
retaliation
for its failure to end the crisis peacefully? Many of its critics
would like
that.
As for Mugabe, the future of the Commonwealth, a
useful multiracial
organization comprising the United Kingdom and its former
colonies and some
other states that have had close ties to London, is at
stake, according to
several estimates.
"The Commonwealth's very
purpose is being called into question," says the
International Crisis Group,
which has just come out with a new analysis of
the Zimbabwe situation and its
effect on international unity, such as it is.
"Though the principles upon
which it [the Commonwealth] is based are being
flouted," says ICG, "leading
members South Africa and Nigeria are arguing,
against all the evidence, that
Zimbabwe's suspension [of membership] should
be lifted because the situation
has improved."
South Africa and Nigeria are powerhouses in Africa and by
setting the tone,
as the ICG puts it, they have hampered relevant regional
and continental
organizations that might otherwise have agreed to engage
meaningfully with
Mugabe and his excesses. These have been exacerbated by
famine, economic
collapse and the consequences of the forced seizure of white
farmers' lands,
an emotive issue in Africa.
Unlikely as it might first
appear, the Zimbabwe problem has also divided the
European Union. This
followed President Jacques Chirac's defiance of
EU-imposed sanctions on the
country and his public embrace of Mugabe in
Paris, at a French-organized
conference of African leaders. Some of them
were reported to have threatened
not to come unless they could be sure
Mugabe was invited and would be allowed
in, regardless of an EU ban.
Preoccupied with Iraq, and with one more
bone to pick with a recalcitrant
Chirac, the US has invoked sanctions against
Mugabe and other top Zimbabwe
officials. But, according to the ICG's
assessment, "the US remains a weak
actor, able to implement a promised asset
freeze component in its own
targeted sanctions regime only after nearly a
year's delay, because of
internal midlevel policy disagreements."
The
international community's inaction deprives it of a chance to influence
what
increasingly appears to be the onset of a serious succession battle
within
Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe Africa National Union-Patriotic Front
party
(ZANU-PF), says ICG. Reports that a deal was in the works to remove
Mugabe,
alas, have yet to come to a positive result.
"New efforts to
coordinate both African and wide international eforts are
called for, with a
practical focus on restarting -- ideally, under new
sponsorship -- the
negotiations between ZANU-PF and the Movement for
Deemocratic Change (MDC)
opposition that South Africa and Nigeria fitfully
facilitated and then
abandoned in the first half of 2002," the ICG analysts
advise. Martti
Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland and one-time high
UN official, is
chairman of ICG; Gareth Evans, former foreign minister of
Australia, is the
president.
Addressing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and James Morris,
the new head of
the World Food Program, ICG urges the creation of a UN
monitoring mission to
ensure the fair distribution of food in Zimbabwe. ICG
also proposes that
instead of free distributions of food, a lot of which is
simply grabbed off
by Mugabe loyalists, a food-for-work program be
established, "in order to
protect rural livelihoods and reduce food aid
dependency."
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe government should "stop politicizing
food aid
delivery through the Grain Marketing Board, including channeling
commercial
deliveries toward ZANU-PF supporters and away from MDC
followers."
Also, "halt the use of war veterans, youth militias, police
and others in
attacking opposition supporters and civil society
representatives."
Troika's Stance Hailed
The Herald (Harare)
March 11,
2003
Posted to the web March 11, 2003
Harare
THE SADC Council
of Ministers yesterday backed the position taken by the
majority members of
the Commonwealth troika to lift Zimbabwe's suspension
from the 54-member
grouping of mostly former British colonies.
At their meeting in Luanda,
Angola, the ministers reflected on the
imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe by
some Western countries and
organisations, at the instigation of
Britain.
"In this regard, Sadc Council expressed support and solidarity
with the
position taken by the majority members of the Commonwealth troika
to
discontinue Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth when it expires
on
19 March 2003.
"Council also expressed satisfaction to the Sadc
chairperson, Sadc troika
and the chairperson of the Sadc Organ (on Politics,
Defence and Security)
for their efforts and wish them to continue in order to
find an early
solution to the problems facing Zimbabwe," the ministers said
in a
statement.
The Sadc ministers' position is the latest in a series
of diplomatic
victories by Harare over the past few months.
These
began with a split in the Commonwealth troika, with the majority of
members
supporting the lifting of Zimbabwe's suspension from the club.
Two
members of the troika, Nigerian President General Olusegun Obasanjo and
South
African President Mr Thabo Mbeki, said Harare should now be readmitted
into
the club.
The troika, which suspended Zimbabwe from the club last year,
was due to
meet this month to review the situation, but Gen Obasanjo and Mr
Mbeki said
they believed the meeting was unnecessary and that Zimbabwe should
be
re-admitted to the Commonwealth.
Gen Obasanjo wrote to Australian
Prime Minister Mr John Howard who is the
other member of the troika,
detailing the progress made by Harare in
addressing the issues that led to
the suspension.
However, the Australian Prime Minister is frantically
trying to have the
suspension maintained despite him not having the mandate
to do so.
Efforts to isolate Zimbabwe suffered a further blow last month
when French
President Jacques Chirac invited President Mugabe to attend
the
France-Africa Summit in Paris. Mr Chirac held a one-on-one meeting with
Cde
Mugabe during which he offered to mediate in resolving the stand-off
between
Zimbabwe and Britain.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has
admitted that his policies on Zimbabwe
are wrong. Mr Blair confided in Mr
Mbeki during their meeting in London last
month that the Zimbabwe Government
was right but that he had no way of
admitting that in public.
The
Non-Aligned Movement leaders at the end of their summit in Kuala
Lumpur,
Malaysia, condemned the illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by
the
European Union, the United States and the white Commonwealth and called
for
their lifting.
"The Sadc Council of Ministers decision is a
direct, very clear and strong
message to George Bush that Africa, especially
Sadc, stands with Zimbabwe
because the Zimbabwean cause is just," said a Sadc
diplomat based in Luanda.
He was referring to a renewal of so-called
targeted sanctions and freezing
of assets allegedly belonging to President
Mugabe and 76 Zanu-PF and
Government officials by US President George Bush
last Friday. The Government
and Zanu-PF have on numerous occasions denied
that they own assets outside
the country and have challenged anyone who finds
them to donate them to
charity.
"The Sadc position is not new because
the regional body has supported
Zimbabwe all along," said a political analyst
in Harare.
"What is new and significant about this statement is that not
only does it
endorse the stance taken by Presidents Mbeki and Obasanjo
against Howard,
but it also echoes the recent resolution by the NAM summit in
Malaysia
calling on the EU, the US and the white Commonwealth to end the
illegal
sanctions on Zimbabwe."
At the home front, the Government has
been working together with business
and labour in the Tripartite Negotiating
Forum to revive the economy. This h
as resulted in the formulation of the New
Economic Revival Programme, some
of whose measures are already being
implemented and are bearing fruit.
|EU's Calls Against Zim Baseless:French Envoy
The Herald
(Harare)
March 11, 2003
Posted to the web March 11,
2003
Harare
FRENCH ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Didier Ferrand
yesterday said calls by some
European Union countries for his country to
desist dialoguing with the
Government because of alleged human rights abuses
and lack of democracy were
baseless.
In an interview after launching
the la Francophonie in Harare, Mr Ferrand
said France would continue
discussions with Zimbabwe in its bid to find
solutions to the current
problems affecting the country.
He said his country had always
supported political and cultural dialogue
within and outside
Zimbabwe.
On sentiments from some EU-member countries that accused France
of
associating with dictators after President Jacques Chirac invited
President
Mugabe to the Franco-Africa summit last month, Mr Ferrand said no
country
had formally objected to the invitation extended to Zimbabwe to
warrant such
criticism.
"That's rubbish, it's just propaganda. No
country formally came forward and
said it did not want us to invite President
Mugabe."
He said France had always respected the cultural norms of other
countries
and would strive to actively promote human rights and democracy
among its
members.
"It supports national efforts, co-ordinates efforts
in international
conferences on human rights, encourages parliamentary
co-operation and
provides monitoring of elections.
"The Francophone
also supports peace and participates in mediation efforts.
It promotes
cultural diversity and dialogue between civilisations in this
world," said Mr
Ferrand.
He said President Chirac's offer to mediate in trying to thaw
relations
between Harare and London was part of his country's tradition of
promoting
dialogue among nations.
President Chirac recently offered to
mediate between Zimbabwe and Britain to
mend relations between Harare and
London.
He attracted the wrath of EU countries, particularly Britain,
when he
invited President Mugabe to attend the Franco-Africa summit in Paris
with
other African leaders last month.
The EU imposed travel bans on
President Mugabe and some senior Cabinet and
ruling Zanu-PF party
officials.
However, cracks seem to have emerged within the EU itself with
some
countries openly advocating dialogue with the Zimbabwean Government
instead
of isolation.
Even British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair
recently admitted that his
country's policy towards Zimbabwe had been wrong
and accepted the offer by
the French President to mediate in trying to
improve relations between
Zimbabwe and Britain.
45 Marooned in Kariba
The Herald (Harare)
March 11,
2003
Posted to the web March 11, 2003
From Ruth Butaumocha in Kariba,
Isdore Guvamombe i
Harare
AT least 45 people were marooned over the
weekend at Gunguwe in the
Msampakaruma area of Kariba and many were forced to
climb up trees and roof
tops as rivers in the area were suddenly
flooded.
The Air Force of Zimbabwe airlifted 26 people while others had
taken risks
and managed to reach safe parts on their
own.
Roads and bridges were submerged in water as the rains
continued to pound
the area.
The affected area is under Chief
Musampakanwa.
Floods induced by tropical Cyclone Japhet have ravaged
low-lying areas of
the country in the last week leaving at least eight people
dead and crops
and infrastructure worth millions of dollars
destroyed.
Kariba MP Cde Isaac Mackenzie said more than 20 000 people in
the Gachekache
and Makandi areas urgently needed food.
"At the moment
the food is in Siakobvu in Kariba where international
non-governmental
organisations are operating from and it is not possible to
get food to
affected communities because some roads and bridges have been
submerged," he
said.
He appealed to well wishers to assist with clothes, food and
transport to
enable food to be moved quickly to the affected
people.
By late yesterday water levels continued to rise and there are
growing fears
that the floods may soon spread to affect other
areas.
Save the Children co-ordinator Mr Chris McIvor said up to 50
people were
affected and the relief agency will today distribute more than 30
kits of
relief packages to people in the Msampakaruma area.
The relief
packages comprise five blankets, cooking utensils, water
buckets,
purification tablets, soap, plastic sheets, maize meal, beans and
cooking
oil.
"These are available at our warehouse in Siakobvu and we
will ship the food
to the affected people today," he said. "We will
distribute as much as
possible once we get more details about the situation
on the ground."
In Masvingo, police have recovered three of the seven
bodies of people swept
away by flooded rivers last week when Cyclone
Japhet-induced rains lashed
the province.
With the cyclone now gone
and the rivers subsiding, the police have since
launched a search for the
four bodies, which are still missing.
At least 23 people were rescued
after being marooned last week in separate
incidents throughout Masvingo
Province.
Masvingo police spokesman Inspector Learn Ncube yesterday said
police had
recovered the bodies of Tambudzai Dende (7) Grace Mapindani (22)
and Alice
Maubabvu (28).
Tambudzai was swept away when she tried to
cross the flooded Marusara River
in Zaka while coming from school. Her body
was recovered about 8 km down the
river. Alice was swept away by the flooded
Nyahunda River and her body was
recovered some one kilometre
downstream.
Grace died when a truck she was travelling in with her
husband was swept off
a low bridge on Tokwe River in Chivi on
Friday.
Her body was found in the car while her husband's body has not
yet been
recovered.
Also in Masvingo, a Cyanide weir at Renco Mine was
reported to have burst
and Government mining experts are putting measures to
neutralise the effects
of the deadly chemical.
At Rupangwana in
Chiredzi, six houses collapsed due to heavy rains and wind,
which hit the
area.
In Bikita, eight families have been affected by the rising water
levels of
Matezva Dam. They have since been evacuated and accommodated at
Bikita
Minerals.
In Chiredzi, 10 families were marooned on an island
on Samu River near Samu
School at Malipati.
Police have sent a
sub-aqua unit to carry out a rescue operation.
Five families were trapped
near Changami Dam in Mwenezi.
The area is not accessible and rescue teams
are battling to access the area.
The dam is reported to have given in and
is the source of water supplies at
Neshuro.
A number of huts were
destroyed in Mulelezi and Sarahuru areas and the area
is still
unaccessible.
The Chiredzi district Civil Protection Unit is requesting
helicopters to
carry out rescue operations in areas like Malipati, Gezani and
Sengwe where
communication has been disrupted by trees which destroyed
telecommunications
lines.
In Seke, a village within Stillfontein Farm
near Featherstone has been
submerged.
In Manicaland, several roads
were damaged and certain portions were now
impassable.
The roads
include the Chisumbanje-Chipinge road, Chinyamukwakwa -Chipinge
road,
Chikodo-Chibuwe road, Manzvire - Mariya road and the Chiriga, Daisy
Hill
-Muziliswi road.
DDF is now in the process of assessing the damage with a
view of sourcing
money to carry out repair works.
The heavy rains
floored mature maize crop and winds in Chipinge district and
affected areas
included Chikore, Ngaone, Mt Selinda, Tamandai and other
resettlement
areas.
Communication and power lines, which were affected by the cyclone,
have
since been restored in Chimanimani and Chipinge.
Some villagers
were marooned on either sides of the Mswazi River and
teachers and students
are unable to travel to four schools in the area.
Some roads and bridges
were damaged along the Tanganda-Chiredzi road,
Mariya-Binya road,
Chimusamba-Chinyamukwakwa road and the Mahenye road.
Children who attend
Maparadze Primary School are not attending lessons due
to floods in the area
while another road, which leads to Becorn Hill Primary
School, is also
inaccessible due to a flooded low-lying bridge.
The maize and cotton
crops were washed away in Mahenye, Chivunze and
Chipinge South leading up to
Birchenough Bridge.
People in the area need food assistance as about 170
hectares of planted
land was washed away.
In the Midlands province,
the spilling of the Mundi-Mataga Dam has blocked
the Donga-Mataga
road.
Floods have also affected the operations of two schools in the
Mberengwa
district.
The Met Office says the heavy rains would continue
to fall and a gradual
reduction in moisture in the west and south is expected
to take place later
this week.
"We no longer have any cyclone," said
Mr Joel Chabata of the Met Office.
"Cyclone Japhet is gone. It weakened on
Wednesday last week."
He said when Cyclone Japhet came, there was a lot
of moisture and this was
bringing rains to most parts in the
country.
"We still expect cloudy conditions to prevail until Wednesday,"
he said.
"From Wednesday we could start having more
sunshine."
North-west areas of the country would from Wednesday continue
to experience
cloudy conditions with afternoon showers while areas in the
south west would
be clear with little activity.
The highest rainfall
was recorded in Mashonaland Central and West, Harare
and Marondera West areas
over the weekend and the lowest was recorded in the
western parts of the
country.
There was significant rainfall over central and southern
Mozambique,
south-central and eastern Zimbabwe, northern South Africa,
northern Namibia
and most of Angola and Zambia.
In lower Muzarabani
districts, floods killed two people and destroyed crops,
livestock and
infrastructure worth millions of dollars.
The floods have worsened the
food security position of people in the area
and most were now relying on
hand-outs from food relief agencies.
Business Day
Gold regains its glitter for Zimbabwean
mines
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Industrial
Correspondent
THE Zimbabwean government has rewritten the rules for gold
producers
operating in that country, giving the beleaguered industry a new
lease on
life.
Until recently, gold producers were paid about $100/oz
by the Zimbabwean
Reserve Bank, less than the cost of mining the gold and far
lower than the
spot gold price, which is currently about 354/oz.
But
from March 1, after extensive negotiations between the government,
gold
producers and the Zimbabwean Chamber of Mines, producers will be paid
the
spot gold price, subject to certain conditions.
Greg Hunter,
commercial manager of Mzi Khumalo's Metallon Corporation, said
yesterday that
under the previous system, "gold production in the country
(was) dying a
rapid death".
Metallon, an active lobbyist in the talks, is responsible
for about 45% of
Zimbabwe's gold production and generates about 10% of the
country's foreign
exchange.
Under the new dispensation, half of gold
producers' earnings are to be held
in a foreign currency account controlled
by the government. The balance of
the funds will be paid to the gold producer
in Zimbabwean dollars.
Gold companies may use the funds in their foreign
currency account for
purposes that carry the blessing of the Zimbabwean
government. If the funds
are not used within a certain period, they are
converted to Zimbabwean
dollars at a rate of Z800 to the dollar.
"The
situation now is not ideal, but certainly a huge improvement over
the
previous dispensation," Hunter said.
Despite the improvements to
the conditions in which gold miners operate,
other SA firms are being choked
by the deteriorating economy. PPC has halted
cement production and sales in
Zimbabwe because diesel and coal supplies
have dried up.
Conditions
for the business, which PPC acquired last year, are
Continued on Page
2
New lease on life for mines
"extremely difficult, politically
and economically", said PPC group chief
operating officer John Blackbeard.
Fortunately, the company was able to
bring forward a planned maintenance
outage to coincide with the forced
production stoppage.
The company
hoped to obtain some relief in terms of coal and diesel supplies
following a
meeting with the trade minister and other high-profile
government
officials.
The SA cement company had also raised with government
officials the need for
an increase in the cement price, which has been
regulated since November
2001.
The business, where a voluntary staff
retrenchment programme has been
implemented, is expected to report an
operating loss for 2003. But
Blackbeard said the investment had been
strategic and was expected to
contribute to profits in the medium to longer
term.
Platinum companies, meanwhile, have not been feeling the pinch.
Platinum
producers negotiated concessions with the Zimbabwean government two
to three
years ago when the country introduced incentives to revive platinum
mining.
David Brown of Impala Platinum, a large shareholder in Zimplats,
said
yesterday Zimplats had "no complaints" and the firm was consistently
able to
meet its growth targets. One of the main concessions was for platinum
firms
to be allowed to import fuel directly.
ZIMBABWE: Amnesty calls for rigorous action by Commonwealth
JOHANNESBURG,
11 March (IRIN) - Amnesty International has called on the Commonwealth to take
"rigorous action" against Zimbabwe's "repressive" regime.
Amnesty said
supporters and officials of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
the independent media, church leaders and human rights defenders continue to be
subjected to harassment, arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment by the Zimbabwean
authorities.
Noting that Monday 10 March was Commonwealth Day, Amnesty
urged the Commonwealth to "clearly signal to the government of Zimbabwe that
these acts are in clear violation of the human rights principles enshrined in
the 1991 Harare Commonwealth Declaration".
The rights group added that
"since the start of 2003, politically motivated violence has intensified largely
linked to state efforts to silence dissent prior to scheduled World Cup cricket
matches and in the run up to parliamentary by-elections in Kuwadzana and
Highfield, two high density suburbs outside of Harare".
With
parliamentary by-elections scheduled to take place on 29-30 March, "MDC members
of parliament, opposition officials and supporters are being subjected to
intimidation, arbitrary arrest and torture by government authorities and
militia," Amnesty alleged.
The rights group listed several such
incidents: "On 2 March, up to 72 MDC supporters were arrested on their way back
from a rally addressed by MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai, in Harare. They were
taken to several police stations where they were assaulted and beaten by police
before they were later released.
"On the same day, Nelson Chamisa, the
MDC candidate for Kuwadzana, was arrested by the police along with 10 MDC
supporters, while distributing pamphlets ahead of the parliamentary by-elections
in Kuwadzana. All were released on the same day but were prevented by police
from carrying out door-to-door canvassing."
While on 28 February, 23
church leaders were arrested by the police when they tried to deliver a petition
to the police calling for an end to police violations of human rights. They were
released after several hours without being charged.
"The Commonwealth
should send a strong and clear message that the worsening situation in Zimbabwe
cannot be ignored and that the Zimbabwean authorities should not allow human
rights to be violated with impunity.
The Commonwealth should take all
necessary steps to ensure that the Zimbabwean authorities live up to their
responsibilities under the Harare Commonwealth Declaration," Amnesty
added.
[ENDS]
IRIN-SA
Tel: +27 11 880-4633
Fax: +27 11
447-5472
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za
Letter written in response to the article posted yesterday about Mugabe being a Knight Commander of the Order of Bath......
"My husband and I are mystified that there appears to be such a deafening silence on the part of Zimbabweans or former-Zimbabweans living in South Africa. There must be thousands. I am surprised that they seem unable to rally together to campaign against the ANC view – march etc. on behalf of those who are being brutally silenced. There is a desperate cry going up and in desperation the call is for old men such as Nelson Mandela 84 yrs and Desmond Tutu 71 yrs to dust off their toyi toyi shoes and get into the trenches. We should not have to rely on old men, however, worthy. Where are the young men and women – the future Nobel prize winners? - I am looking specifically at those in SA, it is legal to march here and to write letter to the press. It’s sad that you don’t seem to be getting support from this side of the border."
Writer's name withheld for protection