NATIONAL ECONOMIC CONSULTATIVE
FORUM
CFU President, Colin Cloete attended a meeting
of the NECF Task Force yesterday afternoon, where the call was once again for
increased production. All major stakeholders were invited, and representatives
from the banking sector, input manufacturers, agricultural unions and
technocrats were present.
Focus was on identifying the hindrances and
factors which are limiting an increase in production and thus threatening food
security and foreign exchange earnings.
This year’s winter wheat crop and next season’s
tobacco crop were singled out as priorities which must be stimulated in order to
ensure maximum production.
Although there was a lot of debate on the
subject, we believe the core of the problem is still land tenure and law and
order on the ground. Being of a political nature, these issues were not
addressed at all. Until they are addressed, and satisfactorily concluded,
production will not improve.
A new structure, known as the Zimbabwe
Agricultural Council, was presented by John Mapondera. Still at the planning
stage, this council would be an apex body comprising all stakeholders, which
would advocate and lobby for agriculture as a whole. The concept received a luke
warm response from the meeting, in favour of more urgent matters at hand. This
is a clear indication of the crisis management approach being taken by many
stakeholders, with little commitment to longer term policy-making.
The CFU remains firmly committed to its three
main principles of security of land tenure, law and order and viability. We
believe that by attending meetings such as the NECF, the BLF (Business Leaders
Forum) and the TNF (Tripartite Negotiating Forum), we are ensuring not only that
our voice is heard, but that we are also participating in the national interest.
_________________________________
Commercial Farmers' Union of
Zimbabwe
P O Box WGT 390
Westgate
Harare
Tel: 04-309800
Fax:
04-309873
_________________________________
ABC News
National Strike Cripples Zimbabwe Economy
National Strike
Shuts Down Businesses, Disrupts Transportation for a Second
Day in
Zimbabwe
The Associated Press
HARARE, Zimbabwe March 19
-
A national strike called to protest Zimbabwe's
increasingly
authoritarian government shut down businesses and disrupted
transportation
services across the country for a second day
Wednesday.
After violence in Harare a day earlier, police
reinforcements were
deployed in Bulawayo, the second largest city, where
shops and banks were
closed, state radio reported. Factory owners in Harare
reported fewer
workers showing up at their jobs Wednesday.
"Those who have made it say the buses are harder to get today. Some
have
walked to work," said Amos Chimedza, a furniture factory supervisor in
the
Southerton industrial district.
He said with about 60 percent
absenteeism, many businesses sent
workers home and closed their
gates.
"We can't operate like this. It's as quiet as a Sunday
around here,"
said Chimedza.
The government has yet to comment
on the strike action.
The two-day strike, which began Tuesday, and
a series of
demonstrations in outlying townships were called by the main
opposition
Movement for Democratic Change to protest alleged government
repression and
acute shortages of food and gasoline.
In
clandestinely distributed flyers, the opposition called for
peaceful protests
carried out with "utmost discipline".
"People must demand change
through action if we are to survive in
these trying times," the flyers
said.
Two buses and a truck were torched by rioters in Harare
Tuesday,
police said. Officers fired tear gas in eastern Harare, where gangs
of
youths hurled stones at passing cars and attempted to block
streets
surrounding a bus station.
A van of the state Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corp. was damaged in a
stoning attack and a bakery truck was
intercepted and looted.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said
detectives were investigating
what he described as "ringleaders who are
paying youths to participate in
illegal activities."
Army units
were deployed in some neighborhoods of Harare. They imposed
an informal
curfew in one district, telling people to keep off the streets.
The
response to the call for "mass action" was the largest since
President Robert
Mugabe was re-elected last year. The election was denounced
by the opposition
after international observers reported intimidation and
vote
rigging.
The opposition hoped the action would paralyze the economy
and force
Mugabe to step down ahead of new internationally supervised
elections, said
spokesman, Paul Themba Nyathi
Instability began
to spread in Zimbabwe three years ago after the
government launched an often
violent campaign to confiscate 95 percent of
white-owned farmland as part of
its land reform program.
Herewith the names of some companies / shops
still open at 1pm. today.
Mabelreign.......
Strathaven...........
Sherwood Service
Station Spar
Mabelreign Meat
Market Better Days Bottle
store
Mabelreign
Butchery Expert Hair Care
Dalmor
Videos Strathaven Bottle
store
Moonrise Motor
Spares Midrange Electronics
Stortford
Superette Smokey Blues and
Jazz
Adorable
Kids Sports Bar
Sherwood Golf course
Crusty Loaf
bakery.
Mabelreign
Spar
La Coupe Hairstylists
Avondale
............
Belvedere Trading
Debonaires
Shades Ahead
Kings
Montague BP service station
Bata
Da Guidos
Scoop
Promobile
IB Coffee
Bar Fingers Hair
Clinic
Wimpy
Leisure Centre Video.
Rainbow Video
Angela's
Avondale Chinese
Chicken Hut
Anti-Government Demonstrations Gain Momentum
South African Press
Association (Johannesburg)
March 18, 2003
Posted to the web March 18,
2003
Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters and anti-government
activists
erected roadblocks Tuesday as opposition calls for nationwide
demonstrations
against the Zimbabwean government gained momentum, witnesses
said.
In other unrest, witnesses said a bus of the state transport
company was
torched in southern Harare. Some factories on the outskirts of
the city
closed their gates after workers failed to
arrive.
National protests were called by the opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change in full page newspaper advertisements and fliers
distributed across
the capital.
Opposition officials said millions of
fliers were printed though police
seized many in a raid on a Harare print
shop last week.
The advertisements and fliers said called for an end of
state repression,
economic mismanagement and corruption that they say has led
to over half the
population of some 13 million in danger of
starvation.
"We can only take so much and no more. When a people lose
their dignity
through despair, injustice, hunger and oppression, they have to
resort to
desperate measures to survive," said one
advertisement.
Commuter bus services and traffic from Harare's townships
and suburbs were
disrupted. Protesters built makeshift barricades of rocks
and wooden poles
while a military helicopter swooped over the city
center.
There were no immediate reports of arrests or
injuries.
Residents of the eastern Harare township of Mabvuku said police
fired tear
gas when protesters converged on a bus station and blocked the
surrounding
streets.
A decision to launch nationwide protests was made
last week, said opposition
spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi.
Protests
would continue Wednesday and into the future, said Nyathi. The
opposition
hopes the action will bring business to a halt in the country.
The
protests come exactly a year after presidential elections gave
President
Robert Mugabe, the only ruler since the southern African country
won
independence in 1980, another six-year term.
Opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai narrowly lost the race which was
denounced by independent
election observers as swayed by political violence,
intimidation and vote
rigging.
The country began to destabilize three years ago when the
government
launched an often violent campaign to confiscate 95 percent of
farmland
owned by white farmers as part of its land reform
program.
Disruptions in the agriculture-based economy and erratic rains
slashed
harvests of corn, the staple food, and tobacco, the main hard
currency
earner, plunging a hunger and economic crisis.
The opposition
accuses the government of stifling its activities through
violence, police
torture, intimidation and stringent security and
media
laws.
Sapa-AP
Ananova
Explosions in Zimbabwe as strike cripples
economy
Police in Zimbabwe say there have been a series of explosions in
the town of
Kadom as a national strike shut down businesses for a second
day.
Thirty-three people, including an opposition politician, have been
arrested
in connection with the blasts outside food shops.
Explosives
have also been found on a road bridge, near the town but they
have been
disabled by bomb disposal experts.
The strike has been called by
opposition party Movement for Democratic
Change, in protest at Robert
Mugabe's government.
Spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi, dismissed police
claims the opposition is
responsible for the explosions, saying: "Our
protests have been peaceful. If
there were explosives they must have come
from government sources."
The opposition is scheduled to release a
statement on whether to continue
the protests for a third day.
Army
units have been deployed in some neighborhoods of Harare and imposed
an
informal curfew in one district, telling people to keep off the
streets.
Police reinforcements were deployed in Bulawayo, the second
largest city in
the country, where shops and banks were closed.
Major
supermarkets and many other stores in Bulawayo did not open because
people
did not show up for work, store owners said. Factory owners in the
capital,
Harare, have reported fewer workers showing up.
The government has yet to
comment on the strike action, which began on
Tuesday to protest about
government repression and acute shortages of food
and gasoline.
©
Associated Press
Reuters
19 Mar 2003 16:24
Zimbabwe police on guard as
strike enters day
two
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(By Stella Mapenzauswa
HARARE, March 19 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe police
kept their grip on
Harare's black townships on Wednesday, firing into the air
to disperse a
crowd on the second day of an opposition strike marred by mob
violence.
Explosions, clashes and mass arrests have marked the
two-day
nationwide strike called by the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change
(MDC). It is the biggest protest in more than two years against
President
Robert Mugabe's 23-year rule.
Most factories in the
capital's industrial zone stayed shut although
small groups of people waited
for scarce transport into the main commercial
district.
Witnesses said police fired warning shots early on Wednesday to
disperse a
crowd in one township, but there were no reports of injuries.
Police could
not immediately confirm the report.
In a statement, police said
explosions damaged three shops and a bar
in the central town of Kadoma on
Tuesday, while in the nearby Eiffel Flats,
two explosive devices destroyed a
supermarket and damaged a bridge.
"Thirty-three people were
arrested in Kadoma including Austin
Mupandawana, the MDC member of
parliament," the statement said.
Critics at home and abroad accuse
Mugabe's administration of human
rights abuses, rigging his re-election a
year ago and causing mass hunger by
seizing farms owned by the white minority
for distribution to landless
blacks.
Half of Zimbabwe's 14
million people face food shortages which Mugabe
blames solely on drought. He
accuses whites and former colonial power
Britain of sabotaging the economy
over land seizures he says are designed to
redress a colonial
injustice.
State media dismissed the strike as a flop, saying only
white-owned
companies were closed. But the MDC hailed it as a success, saying
the second
city of Bulawayo, an opposition stronghold southwest of Harare,
had largely
shut down.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai called the
strike "a big victory against
this tyranny and all its forces of oppression"
and said the opposition would
soon call for further protests.
"This action has demonstrated beyond any doubt that we the people of
Zimbabwe
have no fear and will take concrete steps to reclaim our power,"
Tsvangirai
said in a statement.
The government says the strike is illegal and
police had warned they
would deal ruthlessly with any violence.
Harare police said they arrested 63 people on Tuesday after mobs
stoned
motorists and blocked roads before officers moved in, backed by
army
helicopters and armoured cars.
The detainees included 12
alleged MDC supporters suspected of torching
a state-owned bus in Harare.
Police said a bus carrying pre-school children
was also burnt in Chitungwiza,
35 km (20 miles) from Harare, but the
children escaped unhurt.
The privately-owned Daily News, openly critical of Mugabe, said in
an
editorial that the strike's success signalled "a national desire for
action
to force the government to change the way it is running the
country."
"(But) after the mass stay-away, it is back to the long
queues for
fuel and food, poverty and hunger," the paper said.
The 54-nation Commonwealth, split along racial lines over Mugabe,
has
extended Zimbabwe's year-long suspension until December when the group
of
mainly former British colonies will meet in Nigeria. The suspension was
due
to expire on Wednesday.
The Herald
Thugs blow up shops, bridges
Herald
Reporters
SUSPECTED MDC youths allegedly detonated dynamite and explosives on
shops
and bridges in Kadoma, causing damage worth over $11 million early
on
Tuesday morning in violence related to the opposition-sponsored mass
action.
Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said the
youths
were instructed by their leaders to place dynamite to destroy
bridges,
supermarkets, shops and vital installations to cripple any legal and
normal
activities in the town.
They allegedly placed spikes and stones
on the roads to curtail the movement
of traffic.
Asst Com Bvudzijena
said 33 people - including the Member of Parliament for
Kadoma Central Mr
Austin Mupandawana and a councillor - were arrested in
connection with the
violence related to the mass action.
"In Eiffel Flats, explosives were
set at three points at a supermarket. They
did not explode.
"The
gangsters went on to stone windowpanes and damaged part of the
stock.
Estimated damage to property is worth $6 million.
"At another
supermarket in Eiffel Flats, explosives were set at three points
behind the
supermarket and exploded, damaging a freezer and five
windowpanes. Estimated
damage to property is $4 million.
"Explosives were set on two sides of a
narrow bridge along the Eiffel
Flats-Mhondoro Road. One exploded causing
minor damage. The other explosives
did not explode and were recovered," said
Asst Com Bvudzijena.
Explosives also damaged two supermarkets in
Rimuka.
The damage, which is estimated at $200 000, left big holes at
the
supermarkets.
An explosive placed at a tuckshop in Rimuka
exploded, causing one side of
the wall to collapse.
The damage is
estimated at $700 000, the police spokesman said.
A dynamite placed at
another tuckshop in Rimuka failed to explode and was
recovered.
Asst
Com Bvudzijena said at yet another tuckshop, explosives were set on the
wall
and they exploded causing the side of the wall to collapse.
This caused
moderate damages estimated at $500 000.
He also said explosives were set
near Ingezi beerhalls and exploded, causing
damages to the
windows.
Asst Com Bvudzijena said there was calm in Harare yesterday,
after buses
were burnt and cars stoned at the beginning of the mass protest
on Tuesday.
The only incident of note was the burning of a commuter bus
in Budiriro 4 by
a group of 10 suspected MDC youths in the
afternoon.
Most large supermarkets, departmental stores, industries and
banks remained
closed for the second day in Harare.
However, a survey
in the capital's suburbs showed there was peace and the
police were on
alert.
Asst Com Bvudzijena said the MDC was paying youths at least $5 000
each to
engage in terrorist activities.
"Some of the leaders have been
arrested and we would like to assure members
of the public that the police
are on top of the situation and that they
should not fear to go about their
daily activities," he said.
Harare was hit by transport problems as many
omnibus operators suspended
their services.
Asst Com Bvudzijena said
there was a possibility that owners of the buses
were being paid to stop
plying routes in the city.
Harare residents who had gone to Mbare Musika
for business were stranded, as
there were no buses to take them
home.
They were resorting to hiring pushcarts to carry their goods to
suburbs as
far away as Budiriro.
"We have been waiting for transport
for more than five hours, but nothing
has come," said a Budiriro
resident.
In most suburbs, the stranded residents jostled for the few
Zimbabwe United
Passengers' Company buses that were plying the city
routes.
Few rural buses were also seen plying their usual routes from
Mbare Musika.
At least two buses and a truck were burnt and reduced to
shells by suspected
MDC youths in Harare on Tuesday.
"Our bosses
instructed us to park buses at garages since they were afraid
that the
situation would deteriorate and get out of control," a Mhunga bus
conductor
said.
But many schools were open in the capital and they had normal
lessons as
teachers and students attended.
Asst Comm Bvudzijena said
the situation was quiet yesterday in most
provinces, with very few
skirmishes.
At least 13 people were arrested in Bulawayo for various
offences related to
the mass protest.
The only incident of note in the
city yesterday was the recovery of a 1 000
metre long sealing tape inscribed
with MDC slogans which police suspected to
have been used to seal off Luveve
Road.
In Chinhoyi businesses and workers ignored the mass action as banks
and
shops were open and the situation calm, our correspondent
reported.
Police and the army were closely monitoring the situation and
quelled
threats of trouble at a filling station where fuel was
available.
The MDC said it resorted to the mass action to protest against
President
Mugabe.
The protest was expected to last for two days
beginning on Tuesday.
Asst Com Bvudzijena said police were still
compiling figures of those
arrested throughout the country in connection with
the protest.
At least 53 people were arrested in Harare alone on Tuesday
for various
offences related to the protest.
VOA
Violence, Arrests On Day 2 of Zimbabwe Strike
VOA News
19 Mar
2003, 17:41 UTC
Zimbabwe's nationwide strike has spread to virtually
every shop, factory and
supermarket in the nation's two largest cities -
Harare and Bulawayo.
Police say under 200 people have been arrested since
the strike began
Tuesday. The political opposition says two of its lawmakers
have been
detained.
Violence flared Wednesday with police reporting
that home-made bombs damaged
two supermarkets outside the capital. Several
buses were set on fire. A
policeman, Wayne Bvudzijena, also said an explosion
superficially damaged a
bridge near Kadoma.
On Tuesday, crowds erected
barricades and torched several buses. Police
fired tear gas to disperse
anti-government protesters in the suburbs of
Harare.
It is illegal in
Zimbabwe for workers to go on strike, or to encourage them
to do so. It is
also illegal for businesses to close for political reasons.
The
opposition Movement for Democratic Change organized the massive work
stoppage
to protest the policies of President Robert Mugabe. It is the
largest and
most successful public challenge to the president since his
controversial
re-election a year ago.
Zimbabwe has been in a political and economic
crisis since the vote. The
poll was widely condemned as fraudulent. The
nation is also suffering from
food and fuel shortages, and record-high
inflation.
Daily News
Leader Page
Better planning needed
3/19/2003 1:59:20 PM (GMT +2)
The success of the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC)-organised mass
stayaway, which began yesterday
and is expected to continue today, is
indicative of a national desire for
action to force the government to change
the way it is running the
country.
The critical food shortages and the worsening
violence and
lawlessness - coupled with the runaway inflation which is
predicted to hit
500 percent by year-end - have pushed people against the
wall. They are fed
up with standing in endless queues every day and of being
beaten up or
harassed by the police and youths from the Border Gezi national
youth
training centre. They want political change now so that they can lead
better
lives. But whether or not the mass stayaway is the best strategy to
bring
about positive change remains a topic of intense public
debate.
What is not debatable is that the latest stayaway, like the
previous
ones, was not properly planned and co-ordinated. Granted, the
organisers
face a government that enjoys unbridled monopoly of national
resources like
the public media, control of the police and the army. It
remains crucial
that a lot of time be spent on planning.
The
lack of a clear strategy and poor planning often results in
half-measures. It
is vital that word about the mass stayaway should be
communicated from the
top to the bottom nationwide. There must be an
understanding of what should
be done next after such an exercise because
there is a high expectation of
immediate change among the people. When such
change fails to take place, they
might conclude that it was a futile
exercise.
The mass stayaway
aims at forcing the government to take stock of
itself and accept that change
is inevitable. In 1997, President Mugabe and
his team had a rude shock when
their most loyal supporters, the war
veterans, demanded their pound of flesh,
by way of land and money as
compensation for their role in the country's
liberation.
They told Mugabe in no uncertain terms at the National
Heroes' Acre
and the Zanu PF headquarters in Harare that if they failed to
get what they
wanted, they would take the law into their hands and virtually
make the
country ungovernable. Mugabe read the message and bowed to the war
veterans'
demands. Later, he would not lift a finger as they rampaged through
the
commercial farms owned mainly by whites.
What followed was a
haphazard grabbing of land, ostensibly for handing
over to landless peasants.
The reality is that most of the beneficiaries
have been Zanu PF fat cats, who
are already wallowing in ill-gotten wealth.
The granting of gratuities and
monthly allowances to the war veterans
sparked the decline of the value of
the Zimbabwe dollar, from which it has
never really recovered.
But Mugabe and his government were forced to recognise that the war
veterans
would not back down until their demands were met. Unfortunately,
this is the
only language Zanu PF understands. The MDC, the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade
Unions, the National Constitutional Assembly and other
organisations involved
in the stayaway must be honest with themselves when
they assess the effect of
their collective action.
They must realise that for the majority of
people in Zimbabwe, the
mass stayaway will not by itself bring about an end
of their suffering.
After the mass stayaway, it is back to the long queues
for fuel and food,
poverty and hunger. There have been several mass stayaways
since 1998 and
none of them have led to anything positive. After every
stayaway, the
organisers should go back to the drawing board and assess their
action
conscientiously, so that future stayaways are better-organised and
can
enhance their chances of achieving their objectives.
Daily News
Paralysed
3/19/2003 1:57:26 PM (GMT
+2)
Staff Reporters
BUSINESS was brought to a
virtual standstill in the major cities as
the nation heeded the opposition
MDC's call for a protest mass action to
press President Mugabe and his
government to confront the worsening economic
situation and stop the violence
against dissenting voices.
In Harare, Bulawayo, Kadoma,
Masvingo and Chitungwiza, many stayed at
home, resulting in most businesses,
including banks, supermarkets and
factories, and some schools to shut for the
day. Paul Themba Nyathi, the MDC
spokesman, was cautious in his response on
whether the mass action had been
a success.
He said: "There is still
tomorrow (today) and work is being done on
the ground to ensure it succeeds.
This is only a test run. We are learning
as we go along."
Nathan
Shamuyarira, the ruling Zanu PF spokesman, refused to comment,
saying: "What
comment do you want? You are the ones organising the mass
action. Get a
comment from Morgan Tsvangirai."
Tsvangirai is the MDC president.
However, it was business as usual in
Gweru, Kwekwe, Zvishavane and Mutare. In
Harare, the mass action turned
violent with two policemen and several other
passengers narrowly escaping
death when a State-owned Zupco bus they were
travelling in was petrol-bombed
along Chiremba Road in Hatfield. The bus was
extensively burnt. Police on
the scene blamed the attack on MDC
activists.
In Mabvuku, at least three commuter omnibuses were
stoned at a rank.
In Glen View, there were running battles between the
police, accompanied by
soldiers, and residents. In Chitungwiza, a number of
teachers failed to
report for duty because they could not get transport to
get to work.
Students and pupils at Zengeza 2 High, Zengeza 4 High, Mberi and
Tangenhamo
primary schools were sent back home early after their teachers
failed to
turn up.
The police and army cordoned off the Ximex
Mall in Angwa Street,
Harare, in the afternoon following a bomb scare. In
Bulawayo, dozens of
Nkulumane, Sizinda and Tshabalala residents barricaded
roads leading into
the city with burning tyres and boulders as early as 5am.
The barricades
were immediately cleared by the police who maintained a heavy
presence in
the city. In the city's industrial areas, more than 90 percent of
the firms
were closed. The police forced businesses in the city to open. Ten
people
were arrested and charged under the Public Order and Security Act
for
organising the stayaway. They were granted bail of $2 000 each and
remanded
to 3 April. A man was arrested after head-butting two police
officers. There
was a major police deployment in the city centre and
high-density suburbs as
the police moved in to curb the protest.
In Kadoma, Austin Mupandawana, the MP for Kadoma Central (MDC), and
about 100
MDC youths were arrested yesterday morning following clashes with
the riot
police. Most businesses in President Mugabe's home province of
Mashonaland
West were closed as the riot police were involved in running
battles with
people they suspected to be convening illegal meetings. In
Masvingo, most
shops did not open for business.
At least 15 people were arrested,
including Silas Mangono, the MP for
Masvingo Central (MDC). Mangono and
Jobert Mudzumwe, an MDC national
executive member, were bundled into a police
vehicle at about 5am as they
joined party youths marching through Mucheke
high-density suburb chanting
party slogans and blowing whistles. The two and
other MDC activists were
still in police custody by yesterday afternoon.
Daily News
Court stops minister's bid to seize
property
3/19/2003 2:06:42 PM (GMT +2)
From Chris
Gande in Bulawayo
THE High Court in Bulawayo has ordered Abednico
Ncube, the Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs, not to enter Todd's Hotel and
Guest House,
which he tried to seize in the guise of the land reform
programme.
Justice Nicholas Ndou, granting the provisional
order, said Ncube must
not enter the premises or contact the applicant's
workers whether in his
personal capacity or through an agent. Kingworthy
Investment, which owns the
property, made the court application following
what the company cited as
constant harassment by Ncube. Ncube tried to take
over the hotel, petrol
service station and guest house including the land
where the property is
located. His argument was that the property was on a
piece of designated
land. When Kingworthy refused to hand over the property,
Ncube ordered them
to pay a monthly rental of $50 000 to him.
Ncube's lawyers wrote a letter to Kingsworthy Investment advising them
that
they should vacate the property.
Ncube was listed as the first
respondent, and Joseph Made, the
Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural
Resettlement, as the second
respondent. Attached to the court application was
an affidavit that contains
details of the alleged harassment of the
property's owner and workers. The
affidavit said three people claiming to be
war veterans sent by Ncube, went
to the hotel on 13 September, and gave the
staff an order to vacate the
premises by 30 September. The notice required
the respondents to state why
the interdict should not be served against
Ncube, the first respondent.
The Herald
Trains nearly collide head-on in Kadoma
Herald
Reporter
TWO passenger trains travelling in opposite directions were nearly
involved
in a head-on collision near Kadoma on Sunday as they were on the
same track.
The Bulawayo and Harare-bound trains narrowly missed a head
on collision.
The drivers managed to stop the trains on realising that they
were on the
same track, a short distance away from Kadoma.
The trains
were supposed to shunt in Kadoma where there are many
rail-tracks. But the
Bulawayo train had already passed through Kadoma.
"Thank God the drivers
quickly realised that they were on the same track and
managed to bring the
trains to a halt otherwise it could have been another
disaster as both trains
had a lot of people on board," said a passenger, who
refused to identify
himself.
This comes hardly two months after the Dete train disaster where
a goods
train collided with a passenger train, resulting in the death of at
least 50
lives.
Poor communication has been blamed for the Dete train
tragedy.
Were it not for the quick reaction by the drivers, the Kadoma
incident could
have been the fifth train disaster in less than five
months.
Officials at the National Railways of Zimbabwe headquarters in
Bulawayo
could not comment when contacted by telephone, preferring that
questions be
forwarded to them in writing.
"Can you please put the
questions on paper so that we can respond as we do
not answer questions on
the phone," said the secretary to the public
relations officer, who refused
to identify herself.
The Herald
State to train gender focal persons
Herald
Reporter
THE Government intends to train 300 people as gender focal persons
to serve
in Government ministries and parastatals.
The Minister of
Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation Cde Elliot
Manyika
announced this at the official opening of a training programme of
gender
desks at the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration and
Management
yesterday.
He said the main objective of the training programme was to
equip the 300
gender desks, who have been nominated from different ministries
and
parastatals, with the skills and capacity to help facilitate gender
equality
in various organisations and sectors.
"This training is very
important considering the fact that Zimbabwe still
has high levels of gender
imbalances, a rather undesirable position
considering the fact that the
country is among the African countries with
high literacy levels.
"The
existing inequalities show that women need to be accorded the
opportunity to
participate at all levels from the family, community and
national level," Cde
Manyika said.
He said the training of the 300 gender focal persons
demonstrated the
Government's commitment to addressing the issue of gender
imbalances.
"To facilitate the mainstreaming of gender across all sectors
the Government
has in consultation with stakeholders put in place a national
gender policy,
which provides the guidelines and institutional framework for
attaining
gender equity and equality," he said.
He also called on
other sectors to help in the implementation, monitoring
and evaluation of the
national gender policy.
Cde Manyika urged the gender focal persons to
produce action plans to guide
the integration of gender perspectives into
their organisations' operations.
"You will be playing an important role
in the production of sectoral data,
which will enable the gender department
to compile country reports. I hope
that after you receive the appropriate
orientation and training, the
mainstreaming of gender will be done in a more
effective manner at all
times," he said.
He pledged his ministry's
support and guidance, through the gender
department at all times.
"The
Government remains fully committed to gender equity and equality and
will
continue its efforts to create an enabling environment for
the
institutionalisation of gender in Zimbabwe," Cde Manyika said.
Daily News
Chiwenga assaults lawyer
3/19/2003 2:09:26
PM (GMT +2)
By Brian Mangwende Chief Reporter
Jocelyn Chiwenga, the wife of the army commander,
Lieutenant-General
Constantine Chiwenga, yesterday joined the police in
assaulting Gugulethu
Moyo, the Corporate Affairs Director of Associated
Newspapers of Zimbabwe
(ANZ).
ANZ are the publishers of
The Daily News. Also participating in the
assault was Kelvin Chadenyika, the
former assistant coach of Darryn T
Football Club. It could not be ascertained
yesterday whether Chadenyika is a
police officer or not. The incident
occurred at Glen View Police Station
where Moyo had gone to secure the
release of Philimon Bulawayo, a
photographer with The Daily News. Bulawayo
was arrested and severely
assaulted while covering the mass action called by
the opposition MDC. The
incident was witnessed by this reporter, and fellow
Daily News photographer
Aaron Ufumeli.
Chadenyika frequents the
offices of The Daily News where he brings
news tips to the paper's sports
department. The officer-in-charge and his
team watched as Chiwenga assaulted
Moyo and later ordered the police to lock
her up. It could not be immediately
established in what capacity Chiwenga
was at the police station.
Chadenyika hurled obscenities at Moyo while questioning her on why she
was
representing people perceived to be against the government.
Chadenyika
shouted: "Who are you? Who are you representing? Do you have the
money to
pay for all these criminals? What is your business here?" As soon as
Moyo
identified herself as a lawyer, Chadenyika slapped her on the head
and
threatened to assault Alec Muchadehama, another lawyer who had
accompanied
Moyo to the police station.
But Moyo insisted that she
had done nothing wrong and was only doing
her job.
This angered
Chiwenga, who started assaulting Moyo, twisting her arm
and slapping her in
the face. Chiwenga shouted: "So what if you are a
lawyer? You want to
encourage anarchy in this country. You want to represent
our enemies."
Chiwenga and Chadenyika then proceeded to assault Moyo before
she was
detained at the police station. Bulawayo, Moyo and Muchadehama were
later
transferred to Harare Central Police Station, where Muchadehama was
released
without charge. About 200 people arrested and severely assaulted by
the
police for allegedly participating in the mass action were also detained
at
Glen View Police Station. Interviewed at the police station,
Bulawayo,
looking in extreme pain, said: "All I did was witness an incident
in which
people were being ordered to roll on the tarmac by the riot
police.
"When the police noticed that I was carrying a camera, they
pounced on
me and severely beat me up." Bulawayo sustained bruises all over
his body
and was having difficulties breathing. At the police station, those
arrested
were made to roll back and forth on the concrete floor while being
assaulted
by the police. Sam Sipepa Nkomo, the ANZ Executive Chairman, said:
"We will
take legal action against any policeman or any other identified
person in
their personal capacities, who assaulted or will assault our staff.
As a
former detainee, I witnessed this kind of barbarism during the time we
were
fighting against Ian Smith, but I never imagined that I would witness
this
in an independent Zimbabwe."
Daily News
Mutare council to come up with mission
statement
3/19/2003 2:07:55 PM (GMT +2)
From Our
Correspondent in Mutare
MORGEN Chawawa, the Mutare town clerk, has
said the city council will
soon engage a consultant to prepare the city's
mission statement and vision,
in line with the new requirements of the
Ministry of Local Government,
Public Works and National
Housing.
Chawawa told a recent full council meeting that
the ministry had
mandated all local authorities to draft mission statements
and visions for
their respective councils. He said: "At the Urban Councils'
Association of
Zimbabwe meeting held last month in Victoria Falls, the
ministry expressed
great concern at the manner in which local authorities
were being run."
Chawawa said the ministry wanted a strategic plan
from all urban
council departments as it was not happy with the "haphazard"
planning by
most local authorities. Mutare City Council was expected to come
up with its
mission statement by the end of next month. "The Ministry of
Local
Government Public Works and National Housing will use the document to
rate
the performance of local authorities," Chawawa said.
Virginia Pinto, Ward 12 councillor in Florida, dismissed the idea as
totally
unnecessary. "What local authorities require is not that piece of
paper. We
need resources to implement projects, " Pinto said. Kenneth
Saruchera, Ward
11 councillor said the idea would allow respective local
authorities to draft
"home-grown" mission statements which would be
reflective of local needs.
"The local authority will have an opportunity to
prepare a strategic plan
that is responsive to the needs of Mutare,"
Saruchera said. "It will enable
the parent ministry to have something to
refer to when monitoring development
projects in the city."
Daily News
Ex-PTC workers demand benefits
3/19/2003
2:07:11 PM (GMT +2)
Staff Reporter
OVER 1 000
former workers of the disbanded Posts and
Telecommunications Corporation
(PTC) have still not received part of their
terminal benefits since leaving
the parastatal in 2000 despite a High Court
ruling ordering PTC to award the
workers the remaining amount.
Emmanuel Kasaki, the chairman
of the former workers yesterday said
about 1 300 workers went on voluntary
retirement on 1 January 2000 and each
worker was entitled to an average of
$950 000 as outstanding payment.
Douglas Chinawa, a lawyer representing the
workers said they took the matter
to the High Court and Supreme Court, which
ruled in favour of the workers
but the former PTC management resolved to
disregard both court orders. "The
PTC was directed to pay the workers, who
retired, with effect from 1 January
2000, under a voluntary retirement scheme
introduced by the corporation, the
salaries due to them between 1 October and
December 1999," Chinawa said.
Kasaki said the affected workers were mainly
from the postal and
telecommunications sectors.
"It's pathetic
that we are being dumped like this when most of us
worked for the PTC for
over 20 years," Kasaki said. He said as a result of
the commercialisation of
the PTC, it was the responsibility of both Tel One
and Zimpost to see that
the outstanding monies were paid to the workers.
Colin Welbsi, the public
relations officer for Tel One said he was unable to
comment on the issue and
referred the matter to the acting managing director
of Tel One, Humpton
Mhlanga who was said to be out of office.
Group Calls for Election Free of Violence
Business Day
(Johannesburg)
March 19, 2003
Posted to the web March 19,
2003
Dumisani Muleya
Harare
The Zimbabwe Election Support
Network (ZESN) has urged the ruling Zanu (PF)
and the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) to stop violence in
the run-up to parliamentary
by-elections next week.
The group, comprised of civic organisations which
monitor elections, said
the culture of intolerance and violence in Zimbabwe
has now reached
unbearable levels.
"ZESN unreservedly calls for an
immediate end to violent campaigns and urges
all contesting parties to
tolerate divergent views and opinions.
"We also call on the relevant law
enforcement agencies to exercise their
functions in a nonpartisan and
diligent way.
"It is very inappropriate for politicians to continue being
silent whilst
people are being beaten and even losing lives in these violent
campaigns,"
the group said.
The ZESN call came after violent clashes
between Zanu (PF) and the MDC
during campaigns over the weekend in
Harare.
The two parties are battling it out for the Kuwadzana and
Highfield
constituencies. Elections are due on March 29 to 30.
Two
more by-elections are due in Zengeza and Harare Central after MDC
MPs
resigned for different reasons.
Confrontation between the parties
during the weekend started after they
clashed over a venue for a campaign
rally.
Police spokesman Bothwell Mugariri said the rallies were scheduled
for the
same venue at different times.
Police fired tear-gas and used
baton sticks to disperse the crowds.
BBC
Tiny Rowland's ambitious plans saddled
the firm with heavy debts |
Lonrho Africa, once one of the continent's most powerful and
wide-reaching business empires, has decided to desert Africa for more profitable
ventures elsewhere.
Chairman Bernard Asher said in a statement that the
firm would sell its remaining assets in Africa this year to seek opportunities
with "good investment returns and more secure operating conditions than prevail
in much of Africa today".
The news came as the firm reported its annual
results, which already include a long list of diverse African assets that had
been, or were in the process of being, sold.
A spokeswoman for the firm declined to comment on
Lonrho's decision to leave Africa but said the sell-off was in line with the
firm's debt reduction strategy.
Lonrho Africa was orignially an unprofitable mining
firm in Zimbabwe. It was turned into a multibillion dollar conglomerate spanning
more than 60 countries by the late business tycoon, Tiny Rowland.
UK focus
The extent of the influence exerted in Africa by Mr
Rowland and Lonrho became highly controversial in the 1970s.
Former British prime minister Sir Edward Heath
described him as "the unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism".
Mr Rowland's expansive ambitions also saddled the
firm with a heavy debt burden, eventually leading to his ousting from the
boardroom in 1993.
The company's mining operations were then demerged,
with Lonrho Africa taking on the rest of the group's original portfolio.
The firm's assets included a construction business in
Zimbabwe, timber in Kenya, hotels in Ghana, distribution networks in Nigeria,
farming services in Malawi and a large portfolio of property throughout the
country.
Asset sales made during the last financial year
helped Lonrho return to an operating profit and more than halve its net debt.
The firm, once of paramount importance in the world
of African business, says it will now concentrate its efforts on the
UK.
Daily News
Noczim remains sole fuel importer
3/19/2003
1:42:32 PM (GMT +2)
By Chris Mhike Business
Reporter
The National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) remains the
sole
importer of fuel despite the shortages that have left the economy
bleeding.
This effectively implies a delay in the policy announced by
President Mugabe
in November last year, that oil companies would be allowed
to import their
own fuel.
The move also delays the
revision of fuel prices, in line with
government's stated intention to bring
the prices to realistic and viable
levels. Through Statutory Instrument 97 of
2003 published in last Friday's
Government Gazette, the Ministry of Industry
and International Trade issued
a Control of Goods (Petroleum Products Prices)
Order. Noczim was the only
entity cited as empowered to import and sell
petroleum products to all oil
companies.
The order repeated the
new retail price levels announced three weeks
ago by Amos Midzi, the Minister
of Energy and Power Development. The order
included prices at which Noczim
could sell petroleum products to oil
companies. The prices at which the oil
companies could sell the products to
the public were also
outlined.
The maximum price at which Noczim could sell diesel to
oil companies
was $97,50 a litre. In such transactions, unleaded fuel would
cost $149,79 a
litre while leaded petrol would cost $119,90. Oil companies
would have to
pay $47,38 a litre for illuminating paraffin intended for sale
to retail
customers. But if the product was intended for sale to bulk
customers, the
price would be $160,12 a litre.
The wholesale
price for Jet A1 was $200,06 a litre. The maximum price
at which any oil
company could sell motor-fuel to petroleum product outlets
would be as
follows: Fuel stations would buy diesel at $109,40 a litre,
unleaded petrol
at $166,50 a litre and leaded petrol at $135,20 a litre.
Illuminating
paraffin intended for sale to customers would be sold to oil
companies at
$53,78, while that intended for sale to bulk customers would
cost $116,29 a
litre. Noczim would sell Jet A1 to fuel 1stations at $220,29
a litre.