The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cde Stan Mudenge, yesterday said it was regrettable that CMAG had succumbed to British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook's illegal demand that the committee should send a team to investigate Zimbabwe.
He said this was part of the British-inspired anti-Zimbabwe posture and by agreeing to send a mission to Zimbabwe, CMAG had acted unprocedurally and completely out of its terms of reference.
CMAG, the Clubs' watchdog put in place to oversee member compliance to the Harare Declaration, Millbrook Declaration and the Millbrook Action Programme, is entitled to investigate governments that come into power through unconstitutional means, such as military coups.
Countries that have been under the scrutiny of CMAG are Pakistan and Nigeria, until the latter’s recent reinstatement into the Club.
The Club is also against interference in internal matters of member states and for this reason, shot down an attempt to widen the scope of CMAG to include other issues during the last Common-wealth Heads of Government Meeting in Durban in November 1999.
"This is outrageous. There is no provision in the rules of Chogm to discuss the internal affairs of a member state which has not violated the Harare Declaration, except at the member's own request.
"While the Government of Zimbabwe is happy to receive any foreign minister from the Commonwealth, and any other part of the world for that matter wishing to visit our country, it will not comply with the British diktat," said Cde Mudenge, who is the former chairman of the committee.
CMAG discussed the situation in Zimbabwe at its meeting in London yesterday and resolved to send a three-member team to Zimbabwe comprising foreign ministers from Nigeria, Australia and Barbados to investigate concerns on the judiciary and the media.
Zimbabwe is not and has never been on the CMAG agenda and the issue of Zimbabwe was only raised under the any other business part of the agenda, said Cde Mudenge.
"The ministers request the full co-operation of the Government of Zimbabwe so that this mission can take place as soon as possible, in order that they can prepare for and advise the forthcoming meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government accordingly," read the statement issued at the end of the CMAG meeting.
Cde Mudenge said there was a study on the need to expand the scope of CMAG, which was being carried out by South Africa and will be presented to the next Chogm meeting, and before its adoption, any such mission was uncalled for.
"Instead of dispatching emissaries to Harare, CMAG should send its mission to London to persuade the British government to honour its commitment under the Lancaster House Agreement to help with the funding of the land resettlement programme in Zimbabwe.
"Land is the crisis in Zimbabwe. But it is a British-created crisis. This is so because Britain has reneged on its commitments. That is what CMAG should be investigating and not attempting to make a villain of the victim.
"That colonial issue is affecting our national life and until it is resolved, we ask our Commonwealth friends not to be dragged into the conflict.
"Zimbabwe therefore calls upon the Commonwealth member states to bring CMAG back on rail so that it operates within its mandate for the greater good of the membership of the Commonwealth."
Cde Mudenge said the Club could use the "good offices" of the secretary general to engage the Zimbabwe Government on any matter. "We are currently engaged in consultation with the office of the secretary general over the land issue. I am not dealing with the subject of the matter here. All I am saying is that complying with this request would be tantamount to following an illegal request. CMAG has gone off the rail and it is the duty of other members to bring it back on track."
Institutions failing to comply with the new regulation will be de-registered and closed, the Minister of Education, Sport and Culture, Cde Samuel Mumbengegwi, said yesterday.
He said the localisation of examinations was necessary in creating a national identity.
A number of schools were resisting the localisation of Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations insisting that they would have their students sitting for both local and external exams.
Governments invested heavily in education to ensure that school curriculums and examinations were designed to teach and inculcate values of those nations.
In August last year the Government said at least $100 million would be spent in localising A Level exams including the training of markers.
"Prior to this localisation, our curriculum and examinations were an appendage of the British system of education as espoused by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate," the minister told a Press conference in Harare.
"Many parents have already approached Government on why their children should be subjected to a foreign examination when most children write Zimsec (Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council) examinations. The answer is that no school shall offer any foreign examination. I have called the leaders of these errant schools to my office and directed them to desist from their intentions with immediate effect."
Zimsec was set up by an Act of Parliament which offered examinations at Ordinary and Advanced levels, which all Zimbabwean schools would be required to write.
Cde Mumbengegwi said it had come to his ministry's attention that some 30 schools intended to have children sitting for the local examination and another one from a British board called International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE).
The minister called the Press conference to allay anxieties among some parents whose children were "subjected to emotional and psychological stress" as they prepared for IGCSE.
He said in compliance with the rule of law, all schools would be required to offer curricula and examinations determined by the Secretary for Education as prescribed by the Education Act.
He said there was no need to panic over the localisation of examinations as this would not compromise standards.
Responding to questions after the briefing, Cde Mumbengegwi said the Govern-ment would regulate and control school fees and levies to keep them within the reach of most families. Some schools in the country had set up high fees seen by most people as a way of discriminating against certain sections of society.
"We will soon make decisions, some fees are criminally high, the quality of education is not determined by high fees," he said.
From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 22 March
Farmers refuse to back Mugabe land seizures
Zimbabwe's white farmers headed off a damaging split within their ranks yesterday by rejecting a proposal that would have seen them accepting President Mugabe's land seizure plan. The decision by the CFU could spark a furious reaction from the government, which has already broken off all contact with its leadership and accused landowners of conniving with the British Government to oust Mr Mugabe. Yet the CFU reaffirmed its "absolute commitment" to land reform and a negotiated settlement with the government.
More than 650 farmers attended a special congress at Art Farm, 10 miles north of Harare, to consider an initiative drafted by Nick Swanepoel, who was president of the CFU until 1999. Under this plan, the farmers would sack their current leaders and accept "without hesitation" Mr Mugabe's target of seizing two thirds of their land. In return, the government would restore law and order and end the violent land invasions, which have seen the occupation of almost 1,700 properties by squatters and claimed eight lives.
The initiative threatened to split the CFU and extraordinary steps were taken to maintain a united front. Knowing he faced defeat, Mr Swanepoel agreed to withdraw his proposals during a special council meeting on Tuesday. When he rose to address the congress, he made no specific reference to the plan and no vote was taken. Instead of removing their leaders, the farmers unanimously re-elected Tim Henwood, president of the CFU, and repeated that the first step for any settlement was the restoration of law and order by the government. One farmer in the audience said: "Swanepoel was forced to bring back his horns. He took a big knock today." The CFU, which has always accepted that land must be redistributed to poor blacks, will now send a negotiating team for talks with the government.
From The CFU, 21 MarchCommercial farmers "absolutely committed" to urgent dialogue and land reform
At the CFU's Special Congress today, commercial farmers reconfirmed their "absolute commitment" to urgent dialogue with Government, without pre-conditions, and to assisting in the successful, orderly implementation of land reform. Over 200 delegates and 450 other farmer members attended the Special Congress in Harare.
A statement by the CFU President, Mr Tim Henwood, said the Special Congress was called in the face of renewed pressure to resolve the way forward regarding land reform. Former CFU president, Mr Nick Swanepoel, who has recently publicly suggested various alternative solutions, was an invited guest speaker at the Special Congress. During the proceedings, Mr Swanepoel, in his capacity as Co-Chairman of the Land Taskforce of the National Economic Consultative Forum, was asked to work with a special farmers' team in facilitating dialogue with Government.
During the Congress, the CFU presented a comprehensive new strategy, which reflected progressive thinking and which the consultative team would wish to discuss with Government. Delegates strongly endorsed the new proposals, expressing unity of purpose and support for the CFU's pragmatic new thinking and vision. To this end, the CFU wishes and pledges to work with Government to resolve the current situation and to be part of the solution.
From The Financial Gazette, 22 March
Mudenge misled UNDP on fast-track land reform
The government has told UNDP administrator Mark Malloch Brown that it has so far carried out its fast-track land reforms with full regard and commitment to Zimbabwe's laws, which is not true. In a letter dated March 13 2001, a copy of which the Financial Gazette has, Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge told Malloch Brown that the fast-track plan - ruled illegal by Zimbabwe's Supreme Court - had always been guided by the commitment to the rule of law.
Mudenge was responding to proposals made to President Robert Mugabe last December by the UNDP chief that Harare implements a just and transparent land reform programme that could win the support of international aid donors and help break the impasse over the vexed land question. Malloch Brown was acting on behalf of UN secretary-general Kofi Annan and also in consultation with Nigerian and South African presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Thabo Mbeki. In paragraph 16 of his letter of reply to Malloch Brown Mudenge claims: "Government wishes to reiterate that it is committed to ensuring that the current reform programme is implemented with urgency and in accordance with the provisions of Zimbabwean law. The fast-track programme has been implemented so far with this commitment as the fundamental guiding principle."
Mudenge could not be reached for comment yesterday on his misleading claims. But in mid-December last year, Zimbabwe's highest court of law, the Supreme Court, ruled that the fast-track land reform and resettlement plan was not in accordance with the Constitution. The full bench of the Supreme Court ordered the government to stop redistributing land under the scheme and gave it up to July 1 this year to come up with a proper and lawful land plan. The ruling sparked a serious clash between the judiciary and the executive which eventually led to the forced resignation of Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay.
Mugabe and the government insist that the land issue is not a matter for the courts to interpret and have rejected all court rulings over the illegality of the land reforms or the seizure of farms by ruling ZANU PF supporters. Only last week Mugabe stunned a delegation from the International Bar Association by telling it that his government upheld the rule of law but did not believe that the courts could decide on the dispute on the land ownership. The violence, lawlessness and the invasion of commercial farms by government supporters, which Mugabe and his government have allowed to accompany the fast- track land reform plan, have led to the alienation of Zimbabwe by its key donors and trading partners. Up to seven white landowners have been killed and several thousand farm workers displaced during the illegal farm seizures.
Deserted by the international community because of its failure to uphold the rule of law, Zimbabwe is on the verge of collapse, weighed down by a grinding economic crisis that manifests itself in shortages of hard cash, fuel and power. The government's response to Malloch Brown's initiative had been billed as the last hope of winning back international support for Zimbabwe. But Western diplomats in Harare yesterday dismissed Mudenge's letter as insufficient and said it alone would not help unlock billions of dollars worth of aid being withheld by various donor countries and institutions.
They said as well as the untrue claims by Mudenge that the government is following the law in implementing the fast-track land plan, the government had deliberately taken its time to respond to Malloch Brown, giving the impression that it did not care about the international effort to help it. Besides, said one senior diplomat, "this letter or any other letter for that matter will not be of much use unless the government moves on the ground to order war veterans and ZANU PF supporters off the farms in full compliance with the court orders." The diplomat said the government had to halt its fast-track programme as ordered by the Supreme Court and ensure that it had a proper and lawful programme that could be supported by donors by July.
In his response to Malloch Brown, Mudenge says the government will agree to a technical team being set up within the UNDP's Harare office to help the government in capacity building, planning and land reform. But Mudenge insists the government will not allow such a team to "restart the current (fast-track) programme, but only to enhance its capacity to deliver land to the landless poor. The objectives, targets and time frame of the current programme would have to be respected and maintained."
Repeating standard government propaganda, Mudenge blames unfulfilled promises of support by donors, coupled with what he says are delaying tactics played through the courts by white commercial farmers for stalling the land reforms. He claims the government was forced to abandon the process agreed with donors at the Harare land conference of September 1998 by impatient land-hungry peasants. "It is the conviction of the Zimbabwe government that had the donor community responded timeously with the required resources to implement the agreement reached at the 1998 conference and had the commercial farmers not resorted to dilatory tactics aimed at frustrating that land resettlement programme, we would have made significant progress on the matter," he says. "In the light of growing tension and restiveness in the countryside over demands for land, the government had to take bold and decisive steps to proceed to resolve the issue the way it could."
But Mudenge admits a point the government has always sought to downplay - that its present programme is overly hasty and could destroy the key agricultural sector because it does not adequately provide for inputs and the training of the new farmers. "Because of the government's limited resources and the speed with which resettlement took place, many of the resettled farmers find themselves in dire need of infrastructural and social facilities," he says, appealing to the UN and other donor agencies for aid.
From The Daily News, 21 March
MDC witnesses now targets of terror
Witnesses in the election petitions filed by the MDC in the High Court are now targets of terror. The MDC is challenging results of last June's parliamentary election in 41 constituencies. Zimbabwe has experienced sustained political violence, mainly carried out by war veterans and Zanu PF supporters, since February last year, says the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. The violence, mainly perpetrated against supporters of the MDC, has now been turned onto witnesses in the High Court petitions.
It was now imperative, said the NGO for the government to intervene to ensure peaceful political competition in time for the Presidential election due next year. "Most of the human rights abuses were reported after the hearings into the petitions by MDC candidates challenging results in 41 constituencies opened last month," reads the NGO's February report, released last week. "Several people were targeted when they returned home after testifying in the petitions." Witnesses were being targeted in Karoi, Chiredzi and Mount Darwin. It was important for the government to restore the rule of law and lay criminal charges against all the perpetrators, the NGO said.
The Human Rights Forum, a grouping of nine NGOs advocating for the observance of human rights, said MDC supporters were mostly targets of the organised violence and torture. Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC president, addressing a Press conference yesterday, said witnesses in petitions were attacked in Chikomba, Shamva, Chiredzi and Buhera. "Sixteen people running away from violence in their home areas approached the MDC offices in Harare for help on Monday alone," he said. He accused the government of training militias and issuing them army and police uniforms to make it difficult to distinguish them from the true soldiers and policemen. The MDC, said Tsvangirai, was looking up to the government and the police to protect victims of violence.
The forum's report reads: "This violence, which has mainly implicated Zanu PF supporters, was clearly meant to fix those who testified and to prevent potential witnesses from giving evidence. Most of them were forced out of their homes. They have moved in with family or friends elsewhere in the country. President Mugabe's pardon of people convicted of politically- motivated crimes last year is already having negative effects," said the NGO. "War veterans and Zanu PF supporters seem to believe they have the right to infringe on other people's rights without being held responsible or accountable to the law. The police take little action to protect victims from aggressors." The victims, said the NGO, tended not to report to the police for fear of reprisals. Although all political crimes were not covered by the pardon, the police showed little intention of acting on the reported matters.
From The Glasgow Herald (UK), 22 March
Zimbabwe MP tells of attack on farm
Roy Bennett wasn't at his coffee farm in Zimbabwe when it was invaded by men calling themselves war veterans. They attacked the workers, trashed his family's possessions, and terrified his wife so much that she lost the baby she was expecting. Mr Bennett is scarcely an old colonial figure as he bought his farm in 1993. An MP for the opposition party, the MDC, he was at the parliament in Edinburgh yesterday with Sekai Holland, a founder member of the MDC and its secretary for international relations.
They met presiding officer Sir David Steel, and Roseanna Cunningham, the SNP's justice spokeswoman. Mr Bennett and Mrs Holland say they are on a government death list but Mr Bennett believes he is higher up, because as a white farmer and an opposition MP, who was elected in a constituency which is 99.9% black, he symbolises all that president Robert Mugabe hates most. Mrs Holland says both she and Mr Bennett will not flee: "We will die in Zimbabwe if necessary, fighting for human rights."
From The Star (SA), 22 March
Zimbabwe sanctuary for ex-dictator Mengistu
Harare - Zimbabwe's government has granted Mengistu Haile Mariam and seven other members of his clan permanent residence status in Zimbabwe. This is despite long-standing calls for the extradition of the former Ethiopian dictator to face trial for atrocities committed during his 17-year rule. Mengistu's new status means that he and his family members can no longer be issued with deportation orders from Zimbabwe unless they commit serious criminal offences in that country. A senior official at the Ethiopian embassy in Harare said yesterday her government still desperately wanted Mengistu to stand trial in Ethiopia.
From The Star (SA), 21 March
Retreating troops boost DRC's peace hopes
Kinshasa - Belligerents in the complex war in the DRC are pulling back from front-line positions as required by the peace process, the UN observer mission MONUC said on Wednesday. "The disengagement from all the fronts is a reality," MONUC official Juan Pekmes told a press briefing, adding: "Everyone is showing great willingness to move, and they are moving."
The pullback, begun last Thursday under an accord reached in December, will see forces from Rwanda and Uganda, backing DRC rebels, and from Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia, backing Kinshasa, retreat 15 kilometres from about 100 front-line positions. The conflict, which erupted in August 1998 and has been dubbed "Africa's world war", has divided the vast central African country roughly in half. The disengagement along the front line, which extends about 2 400 kilometres, is scheduled to be completed by March 29.The December accord followed up on a ceasefire agreement signed by all the warring parties in mid-1999. MONUC said on Sunday that UN peacekeepers would be deployed in rebel-held parts of the east of the DRC on Thursday.
Fundraiser Evening – Insiza Development Initiative
You are cordially invited to a fundraising dinner on behalf of the Insiza Development initiative.
What is the Insiza Development Initiative?
It is a Project being overseen by the Hon. George Ndlovu, M.P. for Insiza. The aim is to raise funds for community-based projects in the Insiza area.As we all know, the people in the rural areas are in dire need of assistance during these hard times. Please support this very worthwhile cause! Let’s build Zimbabwe by helping our people to help themselves!
Venue:
Bulawayo Rainbow HotelDate:
30th March, 2001Time:
19:00 hrs till LateCatering
: 3-Course Buffet with both Traditional and International DishesCash Bar
Entertainment:
Traditional Choir and a DiscoTickets:
Available from Shop 32, Bulawayo Centre,from Mrs Z. Sibanda, Cell No. 091-312110
From The Times (UK), 21 March
Commonwealth and Harare in row over 'abuses'
Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth were locked in a bitter public dispute last night after Harare refused to co-operate with a high-level team planning to investigate abuses by President Mugabe's regime. The diplomatic clash flared after the eight-member Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, meeting in London, instructed the three Foreign Ministers from Australia, Barbados and Nigeria to travel to Harare immediately to register in person its concerns to the Harare Government.
"The ministers were concerned that problems continue and noted especially recent reports of intimidation of the judiciary and the media," the group said. They will report to the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Brisbane in October, where further action could be taken. Within hours of the decision being relayed to Harare, the Mugabe Government hit back, condemning the move as outrageous. "This is an unprocedural request. They have no mandate for the mission they want to send," Stan Mudenge, the Foreign Minister, said. "We will not participate in illegality." The refusal left it unclear whether the factfinding group would go ahead with the trip or if the mission would have to be aborted.
Earlier, Mompati Merafhe, the Foreign Minister of Botswana, said that Zimbabwe would provoke a strong reaction if it had "crossed the red line" and broken the organisation's standards on human rights and good governance set out in the Harare Declaration. Since last year's meeting of the ministerial group, the situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated sharply, with 40 people killed in political violence. The country's Chief Justice was forced from office and Zimbabwe's independent press has been under attack. Foreign correspondents have been expelled and the printing press of the main independent newspaper destroyed in a bomb attack.
Although the Commonwealth has few serious options other than to condemn Zimbabwe and possibly even suspend its membership, the hardening attitude represents a serious diplomatic blow to President Mugabe. This time last year he portrayed the invasion of white-owned farms by black activists as a post-colonial struggle against Britain, the former imperial power. His argument held some weight, particularly among other African states that have experienced land reform problems of their own. Since then, the Foreign Office has worked hard to avoid being drawn into a head-on confrontation with Zimbabwe.
Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, said that yesterday's decision had been taken unanimously. "President Mugabe can no longer go on pretending that the only person criticising him is Robin Cook and the British Government," he said. In particular, the central question of land reform is being dealt with by the UNDP, which has drawn up its own solution to the problem, broadly in line with Britain's.
A Zimbabwe ministers' delegation returned from South Africa yesterday after two days of talks that produced no apparent offer from the Government of President Mbeki to bail its northern neighbour out of its economic emergency, especially relief from the fuel shortage. Riot police tried to control chaotic fuel queues in Harare yesterday.
From The Commonwealth, 20 March
Statement on Zimbabwe
Ministers used the occasion of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration (CMAG) meeting to discuss the situation in Zimbabwe. They recalled that at their thirteenth meeting in May 2000, Ministers had expressed concerns over a number of issues in the run-up to Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections. The Ministers were concerned that problems continue, and noted especially recent reports of intimidation of the judiciary and the media. They recalled and affirmed the principles embodied in the Commonwealth Harare Declaration to which all Commonwealth members have pledged their commitment.
Conscious of the importance of the Commonwealth being fully engaged and having accurate information on the situation in Zimbabwe, and in the spirit of co-operation and dialogue which are features of the Commonwealth association, the Ministers decided that a Commonwealth Ministerial Mission should visit Zimbabwe. The Mission would conduct consultations with the Zimbabwe Government, convey its concerns and offer any appropriate Commonwealth assistance. The Mission would consist of the Foreign Ministers of Barbados, Australia, and Nigeria. Ministers request the full co-operation of the Government of Zimbabwe so that this Mission can take place as soon as possible, in order that they can prepare for and advise the forthcoming meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government accordingly. They request the Secretary-General to undertake the necessary preparations.
From The Farmer (Zimb), 19 March
A sinister fairy tale?
"SINISTER" is strong language for a diplomat, but that's how a British Foreign Office official described a plan to solve Zimbabwe's land invasion crisis. Allegedly the brain child of businessman John Bredenkamp - and allegedly backed by the Americans - the plan would see most farmers lose about one third of their land to the Zimbabwean government, and no doubt to the invaders. Mr Nick Swanepoel, a former CFU president, is also agitating for the plan. It is alleged that Mr Bredenkamp paid for advertisements taken out in two Zimbabwean dailies last week, under the auspices of the State controlled National Economic Consultative Forum's Land Task Force. The advertisements were "signed" by Mr Swanepoel, though the CFU denies prior knowledge of the NECF's decision to advertise, despite the fact that the union is officially a part of the Land Task Force.
But American backing is highly improbable (and denied), even with a new and naďve administration. The US government, and especially a new US government, is unlikely to invite international opprobrium by siding with Mr Mugabe's régime in Zimbabwe. France and Belgium aside, Zimbabwe has no credible friends, so the last thing Mr Bush wants to do is break ranks by embracing someone with increasingly fascistic tendencies. That's why the same British diplomat who described the alleged plan as sinister also said it seemed "fanciful" - which makes it sound like a fairy tale.
That might leave Messrs Swanepoel and Bredenkamp's little plan up the proverbial creek, if they are indeed its architects. And that's also why the alleged American backing has to be alleged. It's implausible that a signatory to the 1998 donors' conference on land would suddenly turn a blind eye to lawlessness, let alone implement an absurd new resettlement plan that sees commercial agriculture, according to British reports, providing all the inputs, from land preparation to seed, for resettled farmers.
But Mr Bredenkamp has his followers. He also has, one hears alleged, closer links to ZANU-PF than most businessmen. That's enough to make most farmers sceptical - and it's certainly enough to make the rest of Zimbabwe squeal with indignation - because apart from a shrinking clique within the ruling party, and another shrinking clique within the war veterans' organisation, Zimbabweans want a return to the rule of law before resettlement is discussed.
The truth of the matter is hidden behind hysteria. Threatening death and destruction if the union's presidential trio - and its director - aren't replaced with "acceptable" faces, agriculture will be driven into the ground by the State, say those opposed to the union's leaders. People will die in their droves, claim the appeasers. And the creaky old State propaganda machine, under the laughable leadership of Professor Jonathan Moyo, tells a disbelieving nation that CFU intransigence is to blame for the nation's woes.
But that's simply not true. In fact, Mr Bredenkamp's whole initiative, if the British Press is to be believed, is based on "fanciful" claims and his relationship with the ruling party and Zimbabwe's ageing president. Whether that makes it self-serving or not is open to conjecture. It certainly makes it unpalatable to most farmers - and to the overwhelming majority of Zimbabweans who don't want to see organised agriculture sell the country down the river.
Still, the pro-appeasement lobby plays into the hands of a panic-stricken public. Playing on stereotypes that went out the window in the 1950s, one lobbyist exonerated Mr Mugabe by claiming, fatuously, that the "African mentality" means that a chief can do as he chooses, from rape to murder - and that Mr Mugabe, as the ultimate "chief", is unassailable. Well, Zimbabwean farmers are African too, but this sort of inaccurate and racist labelling only serves to make farmers appear anachronistic and unworthy. And for the record, no Shona chief, any more than any Celtic one, has been able to rape and murder his own people at will.
But that's a digression. The point is that farmers, unlike government, enjoy the moral high ground - at least on the issue of lawlessness. Yes, errors have been made in the past, but few, if any, by the present farming leadership.
ZANU-PF is as anxious as the farming community to end the crisis. The party realises that it has crippled itself and the country. It knows, because its shrieking response to bad publicity provides proof, that Zimbabwe has joined the league of pariah nations. So now it wants a face-saving escape mechanism to extricate itself from this mess - and that's where Mr Bredenkamp's alleged proposal is supposed come in. There is no merit in saving face this late in the day. There is a moral way to end the crisis and an immoral way to end it - and farmers will benefit in the long term by taking the moral route. But the immediate future will be difficult. ZANU-PF will probably fulminate and unleash violence if the current leadership is given a mandate - and it may well decide to ban or "de-list" the CFU.
So… farmers face an agonising decision. But in the long term, Zimbabweans will reward those who stand tall in the face of tyranny and terror - and for farmers seeking long term tenure and security, appeasement will prove a very sad disappointment. Nor should it be forgotten that farmers are not, very definitely not, alone anymore. The country's trade union movement has given government a large and unpalatable raspberry, while the judiciary is bracing itself for an onslaught. The independent Press has refused to be kowtowed while people from Chitungwiza to Chiredzi are dealing with beatings that the ruling party admits to doling out. Besides, the party, like the government, is broke and cannot afford to sustain its terror tactics forever.
Put bluntly, it's a matter of trust. Leaders of organised agriculture; well, those in office, have done little or nothing unworthy of trust over the last 12 months. They may have wavered (and who wouldn't have?) but they've certainly never shown the sort of craven cowardice their commercial counterparts have shown. The same can't be said of the ruling party - and whether it can be said of Mr John Bredenkamp is for farmers to decide. Certainly the British seem to have made up their minds. They've said his plan would be "sinister" - but doubt it even exists.
From The Natal Mercury (SA), 20 March
IMF gives Zimbabwe the cold shoulder
Harare - An IMF delegation visiting Zimbabwe would not recommend an emergency rescue package for President Robert Mugabe's government, officials said on Monday. Zimbabwean Finance Minister Simba Makoni had requested emergency aid from the IMF, but officials who met the IMF delegation, led by its assistant director for Africa, Paulo Neuhaus, said this would not materialise judging from the mood of the IMF officials. "The chances of these talks resulting in an emergency aid package are nil," said a Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe official who has met the officials. "Their view is that Zimbabwe is not showing any signs of improvement and the government has not relented in pursuing bad economic policies."
Makoni, upon whom Zimbabweans had pinned hopes of convincing the IMF to bankroll Zimbabwe's beleaguered economy, has since his appointment last year fought to get the Bretton Woods institution back into Zimbabwe. He has also asked the IMF to agree to a shadow programme for Zimbabwe. But officials said there was no likelihood that the IMF would agree to such a programme.
From The Daily News, 20 March
ZRP promotes more than 300 war veterans
The Zimbabwe Republic Police has promoted more than 300 war veterans to ranks of sergeant and assistant inspector, a move that has dampened morale within the force. A total of about 419 officers were promoted, according to police internal correspondence made available to The Daily News by disgruntled officers who fear that professionalism in the force is being compromised for political ends. "Some of the war veterans promoted cannot even write their own names properly. They cannot compile reports or even prepare dockets without assistance. It's a shame. Many professional officers were overlooked, especially here at Harare Central," said one officer.
The promotions are effective immediately. Promotions for the rank of inspector and above were expected soon, said the officers The officers who spoke to The Daily News at the Harare Central Police Station said the move was in preparation for the forthcoming presidential election due by April next year. "The aim is for all police posts to be led by war veterans by the time the election is held. There are fears from above that the force has been infiltrated by opposition parties, especially the MDC, and, hence, the need to clean it up," said the officers.
Just before Christmas last year, police sent out radio messages to all posts for officers to submit their names and indicate whether they were ex-combatants or not. Said the radio signal, published in The Daily News: "All members-in-charge and police officers are directed to submit information pertaining to skills that were acquired. Members are also to indicate if they are war veterans and their ex-combatant numbers." Wayne Bvudzijena, the police spokesman, could not be reached yesterday, but there has been a purge of senior police officers in the force in recent weeks, with some being accused of supporting the opposition MDC.
From The Independent (UK), 21 March
Wonder ore that pays for Congo's cruel war
An obscure mineral which looks like worthless black mud is emerging as one of the most essential ingredients in modern living, and in African warfare. After diamonds, gold and oil, "col-tan'', short for columbite-tantalite, a rare ore containing tantalum, has joined the rogues' gallery of African subsoil resources fuelling wars on the ground.
Col-tan is a crucial element in the manufacture of mobile phones, Playstations, or any item that needs a capacitor to maintain the electric charge of a computer microchip. It is extracted by peasants scrabbling with shovels and plastic bags on hillsides in the eastern DRC. But its price has rocketed with rising industrial demand for tantalum. Difficulties in sourcing the ore led to a world shortage of PlayStation2 platforms last year.
Col-tan got its name 200 years ago because the search for it is tantalising. This rare ore, rather than diamonds or gold, has kept the Rwandan war machine ticking in the 30 months of the bloody turbulence in the DRC. Since the Rwandan-led Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) launched its challenge against the late Laurent-Desire Kabila in August 1998, tantalum's value has doubled, again and again and again. For years its price was $30 a pound. In December that soared to $210 but settled around $155. Along with Western Australia, the eastern part of the DRC has some of the richest col-tan deposits in the world, so the rebels have declared a monopoly on exports.
Tantalum is only the latest treasure to come out of the former Zaire, source of the uranium that was used in the Hiroshima bomb, and of "Incomparable'', a 400-carat diamond which in 1988 attracted the highest price bid for a single gem. The fabled riches of the DRC explain why six foreign countries are engaged in war there. The Kabila camp's allies, Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia have been granted offshore oil concessions, as well as diamond mines, cobalt and rare timber. Zimbabwean top brass have reportedly exported African Grey parrots from the DRC.
The rebels' supporters - Rwanda and Uganda - also want to be paid, and they are, typically in diamonds, timber, coffee, gold and, now, tantalum. Uganda, which backs rebels in DRC's main gold region, Bunia, has no sizeable reserves of the metal of its own. But since the DRC war began, it has registered as a gold exporter. Rwanda's support for the RCD may have cost it almost nothing, thanks to tantalum and the diamond-trading the group controls in Kisangani. The rebel president, Adolphe Onusumba, justified the business, saying: "I mean - we are at war. We need to maintain the soldiers. We need to pay for services." Another RCD official, Bizima Karaha, said: "At least around here, people look for col-tan more than for the gold and the diamonds. Everybody was saying, 'Col-tan this, columbite-tantalite that. Tantalum!' Before I saw it, I expected to see something extremely wonderful. It is just mud."