19 March 2001
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 naïve 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.
Brian Latham
Editor- The Farmer
Donors dump deal
Summer wheat in offing
AIDS council dissolution
political
War vets derail ploughing matches
Government takes over CSC's debt
THERE will be no support for any land deal in Zimbabwe other than the UNDP - Mark Malloch Brown deal, The Farmer can reveal. Diplomats said they would not consider funding the sort of deal allegedly being proposed by Mr John Bredenkamp and Mr Nick Swanepoel - a deal the British have described as "sinister and fanciful". Any public relations exercise to promote an alternative deal would be stillborn, diplomats suggested, because donors refuse to consider the land problem in isolation. The general break down in the rule of law, threats to the judiciary, attempts to stifle the independent Press and violence in townships, on farms and in rural areas would have to be addressed simultaneously.
But even then, said diplomats, it would be the UNDP's plan or nothing. Alternative plans submitted by splinter groups would never be considered. Zimbabwe's Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) last week expressed surprise at advertisements carried in two national dailies calling for a "new team" to facilitate a negotiated settlement to the land crisis. The advertisements, carried under the auspices of the State established National Economic Consultative Forum's Land Task Force and signed by Mr Nick Swanepoel as co-chairman, are alleged to have been paid for by Mr John Bredenkamp, a wealthy Zimbabwean businessman said to have close links to President Mugabe's ZANU-PF.
A senior CFU insider said that Bredenkamp visited the union's president, Mr Tim Henwood, on Wednesday last week. It was at this meeting that Bredenkamp told Henwood about the advertisements which were to be placed in the national Press.
But the CFU, an active member of the NECF's Land Task Force, was unaware that the advertisements had ever been discussed. "They came as a complete surprise," said one senior staffer. "We would have known because we have people on that committee."
Still, despite the NECF advert, which calls for a massive PR effort to raise funds in the UK and USA to compensate farmers for their land, both governments were emphatic no money would be forthcoming for the initiative. "The British government is committed to land reform,' said Mr Richard Lindsay at the British High Commission in Harare, "but the only story we're prepared to discuss is the Malloch Brown initiative."
And Heather Lippitt at the American Embassy had the same to say. "We've not been involved in this initiative in any way," she told The Farmer. "Rumours suggesting the US government has supported the initiative are false. The only initiative the US government will discuss is the Malloch Brown one, and we would not be involved in any secret deal."
Lindsay went on to say, "The UNDP is the only show in town," adding that there could be no support if there was no rule of law across the board.
Throughout Zimbabwe's donor and diplomatic community last week there was consensus that the so-called Bredenkamp-Swanepoel initiative would gain no support. Diplomats regretted an initiative that dealt with agriculture in isolation, ignoring the threat to the judiciary, the Press and bypassing violence in communal and high density areas. They also stressed that only the UNDP initiative, with its basis in the 1998 donors' agreement, would be discussed - now or in the future.
But even Zimbabwe's own agriculture minister, Dr Joseph Made has dismissed the plan. He is quoted by the State-controlled Herald as saying it is a plan to "hoodwink the government."
And sources within the government controlled Zimbabwe Newspapers Group say that Professor Jonathan Moyo has stepped up his campaign to discredit the CFU - and its leadership. Reporters were urged to obtain a copy of a Probe Market report commissioned by the CFU to assess public attitudes to the union. The report is confidential and the private property of the farmers' union, said one staff member.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a member of the union's council claimed that this was not the first time Mr Swanepoel had made a bid to change the leadership of the CFU. At last year's September annual congress, Mr Swanepoel is alleged to have supported a bid by Mr Johnnie Heyns to oust Mr William Hughes, Vice President for Regions. Mr Heyns eventually withdrew his bid after an "intense" council meeting. Heyns and Swanepoel, and Mr Peter Henderson, had earlier been appointed to a task force to negotiate with Dr "Hitler" Hunzvi and so-called war veterans invading the country's farms. The negotiations proved fruitless.
What a banker
The current bid to change the leadership began about six weeks ago, said one union insider, alleging that members of the now disbanded Task Force began lobbying farmers and leaders of commerce and industry for support. Mr Greg Brackenridge, chairman of Zimbabwe's bankers' association is also said to have lobbied for new leadership and a new approach.
At the same time, rumours of a planned "night of the long knives" began to circulate in farming circles. It was alleged that if CFU members did not change their leaders - and dismiss their director, Mr David Hasluck - between 300 and 600 farmers would be murdered by the State's shadowy Central Intelligence Organisation and self-styled war veterans.
But if farmers did change their leaders, it was rumoured, the police would begin to remove invaders from the country's farms. It was also rumoured that the Americans were amenable to the initiative and would help pay compensation for land lost to the scheme - an accusation the Americans deny hotly.
Speaking at a farmers' meeting in the Mashonaland West district of Trelawney recently, the CFU's president, Mr Tim Henwood, would not be drawn into debate about the sources of the rumours. But he did say that he believed those who had, understandably, been drawn into believing them were "probably embarrassed" now that they understood the true position. Mr Henwood told farmers at the meeting that Mr Swanepoel had approached the union's trustees who had been alarmed by his message. The trustees in turn asked Mr Henwood if he would allow Messrs Swanepoel and Brackenridge to address council. It was then that the so-called "splinter group" wanting a change of leadership suggested that progress would not be made without Henwood's resignation. After heated debate it was decided that no decision could be made undemocratically because only the membership could vote on a change of leadership.
It was decided that a special congress of the CFU, set for this week, would be called. Farmers will meet to decide on their leadership - and on the merits of the Bredenkamp - Swanepoel initiative. Most farmers said they would give the existing Henwood-led leadership a mandate to run its normal course of office, which ends in August this year. "We're damned if we do and damned if we don't," said one farmer, "so we have to do what's morally right." Another farmer asked, "If the judiciary, the Press, the trade unions and the people in the townships have refused to buckle to ZANU-PF's violent tactics, how can we?
THE introduction of wheat seed varieties that are suitable to summer conditions is expected to attract more small scale and communal farmers to grow the crop.
The news of summer wheat was received with great interest among farmers and guests at the Seed Co field day held at its Rattray Arnold Research Station.
The growing, hitherto, of winter wheat, has largely been a preserve of large-scale commercial farmers who could afford to put up irrigation equipment and the complex management practices required for the crop. But with the introduction of the two new summer wheat crop varieties, Sahai and W8/2000, by the breeding company, those who could not afford to grow the crop on small-scale basis without irrigation can now do so.
The new varieties, which are favourable to summer conditions, could be grown without the use of electricity to drive irrigation pumps. Escalating electricity power costs are believed to be threatening to push many wheat farmers out of business.
According to Seed co wheat breeder, Mr Ephraim Havazvidi, the communal farmers, could now grow wheat for subsistence purposes and because the crop is rich in protein, it is seen as a very important part of their diet especially in view of the escalating costs of wheat products such as bread.
Mr Havazvidi said the new wheat seed varieties would be introduced on the market next summer. He said the W8/2000 could be best planted after early-reaped crops such as tobacco under a commercial set up. He said the variety was very stable in terms of falling numbers and that it was resistant to powdery mildew and other diseases.
AIDS council dissolution political
THE dissolution this week of the National AIDS Council board responsible for the administration of the AIDS levy has been described as a political decision aimed at getting rid of those of its members perceived to be supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The council, which administers millions of dollars of taxpayers' money collected as AIDS Levy, was suddenly dissolved by the Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Timothy Stamps, under unclear circumstances. Dr Stamps claimed in parliament that the council was not properly constituted.
One of the members of the dissolved council and Commercial Farmers' Union AIDS project manager, Mrs Kerry Kay, confirmed that no clear reasons had been given for the decision.
She did not agree with Dr Stamp's assertion that the board was not properly constituted. "The reason being given is that it was not properly constituted is not correct. The board is correctly constituted. I am bitterly disappointed because as board members' ours was voluntary commitment."
She insisted the board had been handling large amounts of taxpayers' money in a transparent and accountable manner.
Mrs Kay hoped she would be reappointed once the new board was constituted. She has been linked to the AIDS awareness campaign for the past 10 years and represented the agriculture sector on the National AIDS Council board.
War vets derail ploughing matches
ZIMBABWE's National Ploughing Association, responsible for organising ploughing competitions to promote good land tillage, says it has been forced to scale down on ploughing competitions to prepare for the world-ploughing contest scheduled for September in Denmark.
The association said in a statement it had been forced to call off all matches prior to the normal ploughing match season and had to scale down on local competitions because of continued harassment and intimidation by so called war veterans on the farms.
Like many other associations, said the statement, 'The National Ploughing Association has not escaped the diabolical harassment and intimidation that has accompanied the farm invasions and squatting which started a year ago".
What has irked the ploughmen most is that some of the land invaders were only too eager to take over plots already ploughed and marked out disregarding the purpose for which the land was being prepared.
According to the NPAZ statement, failure to send a team to the world contest, traditionally selected from winners in local contests from the previous year, will be the fourth time this has happened since 1963. Other times were when, for political reasons, members were not allowed to plough in Yugoslavia (1969) Finland (1974) Sweden (1976) and the Netherlands in 1977.
Meanwhile, a recent meeting of the NPAZ executive resolved to continue promoting good land tillage through ploughing matches in various districts." It is the feeling that we must carry on at all costs. The benefits far outweigh the disadvantages when it comes to good land tillage," the association said in its statement.
Dates have been set, with the last match, which will consist of 12 ploughmen from previous matches, competing for the top four places, two of whom will plough in Denmark later this year, and the other two in Switzerland in 2002.
According to the NPAZ, a recent innovation to the World Ploughing Contest is the introduction of the reversible plough. By 2005, at least one competitor from each competing country will have to use this plough. In most countries the reversible plough is replacing the conventional (one-way) plough. The reversible ploughman has to set at least four mould boards, coulters and skimmers; two in each direction with accuracy to ensure all four slices are alike.
Although the reversible plough lays all the slices in the same direction, there has to be an opening split and start, a finish and ins and outs, but no crown or finishing furrow as with the conventional round-and-round ploughing in lands. "These new techniques have to be mastered. Consequently, the educative role of ploughing competitions challenges reversibles to maintain the highest standard of craftsmanship with the oldest and most everlasting tool of agriculture," said the NPAZ statement
To this end, four Zimbabwean ploughmen have imported from Norway new "state of the art" reversible ploughs and these will be on display at forthcoming matches on the following dates.
Selous on the 31st March on Pilmuir Farm.
Chinhoyi on the 7th April on Mtunzi Farm.
Wedza on the 5th May on Corby Farm.
Wenimbi on the 12th May on Irene Farm.
Should any areas wish to try holding a match, they should contact the NPAZ chairman, Mr Alistair Davies. He is in a position to provide all the relevant information.
Government takes over CSC's debt
THE government has taken over the Cold Storage Company's (CSC) debt of over $5 billion as the parastatal gears itself for privatisation.
The CSC has been reeling under mounting debt plunging it into the economic quagmire that most of the other State run companies find themselves in. The debt, company officials said was affecting efficiency resulting its failure to operate viably.
Speaking at the presentation of the CSC cattle producer of the year award, the CSC executive chairman, Mr William Mudekunye, said CSC was constrained by past deficits, which made it difficult to raise enough working capital to operate effectively.
"I am pleased that government has officially taken over the CSC debt with effect from 31 January 2001. This is a welcome move, as it will now enable the company to operate viably.
Meanwhile Mr Alan York of ER York and Company from the Chinhoyi region was named the CSC Commercial Producer for 2000 . He would be presented with two air tickets to the International Cattle exposition. The runner up was Mr Tony Lubber of Milverton Estates. Mr Lubber has previously been the producer of the year for three years in a row before being beaten by Mr York. The CSC Communal Producer for 2000 is Mr Mafiosi Cheda of Matebeleland South province. He was presented with three heifers and $6000.
Army intervenes to rein - in errant war veterans
EU to probe Mugabe’s assets
IPG sets tough terms on fuel
Candid Comment
Muckraker
Trudy's Diary
Zimbabwe this Week.
This weekend we are going to the Matopos to work through our Education and Health policies for the time (soon) when we will be in power. We will be sitting a short distance from the graves of Cecil Rhodes and Mzilikazi (the first King of the Ndebele) and I wonder if somehow their spirits will influence the meetings! Rhodes was a rogue and was totally loyal to the idea of the British Empire to which he devoted his life. He pursued his visions with a ruthlessness that would have done Al Capone proud. But all the same, what a man of his time!! He spent only 23 years in Africa; died when he was 48 years old and started with a small stock of capital provided by a maiden Aunt. His achievements were legendary; he took possession of a million square miles of Africa for the Empire, built and paid for the construction of thousands of kilometers of railways and telegraph systems. He became Prime Minister of the Cape and started some 70 companies in his lifetime, two of which are amongst the largest companies in the world a hundred years later. And he did it all with no computers, jet airplanes or e-mail and never in the best of health – astonishing.
Mzilikazi was no less an outstanding figure – not quite of the stature of Chaka, founder of the Zulu nation, but still the founder of the Ndebele nation in Zimbabwe. Arriving in the early 1800’s with about 15 000 men, Mzilikazi built up this small nucleus into a fighting force that dominated the whole of central Africa. It was because of his marauding armies that Queen Victoria created the Protectorates that became Botswana and Zambia. When I was a boy growing up in Matebeleland I can remember men who took part in the raids – as far north as Malawi and deep into Botswana and Zambia. They were eventually only defeated by the superior technology of the Rhodes settlers. Mzilikazi's successor, Lobengula was driven out of Matebeleland and died with his devoted Mbizo regiment near the Victoria Falls. It was the descendants of these men amongst men who buried Rhodes and Mzilikazi in the Matopos hills with the royal Ndebele salute – never again used at such an event.
We may not like these guys and what they did, but my goodness, they were giants in the time that they lived – big even in a global context. Other great leaders, Kruger, Smuts, Nkomo, Sithole and now Mandela, followed them. Men who made a difference to the outcome of the history of their time. Can we do the same? I am sure we can, history will judge. Mugabe will be remembered, not for his efforts to free his people or his achievements during the first few years of power. He will be remembered for the Matebele massacres in the mid 80’s, as he sought to crush the independent Ndebele spirit, for staying on too long and brutalizing the people of his country in an effort to stay in power. He will also be remembered as the man who impoverished a whole generation.
As we seek to make the history of our years we must not forget that we all have a history – warts and all. We cannot ignore the past, but we can learn from it and try to avoid the mistakes made before our time. And so, the MDC, the newest political movement in Africa, takes time out in a deeply historical setting, to ponder what to do next. I find some significance in this and hope that we will be able to make progress on the path towards a new start for our people.
The Zanu PF spin doctors are doing everything they can to persuade the world that they are acting lawfully in their pursuit of land reform, that they have done all they can to correct their financial mismanagement and that their presence in the Congo is a contribution to continental security and peace. This was not a good week on all fronts.
The International Bar Association sent a team here of eminent jurists and they were not fooled. They saw a wide range of people and ended up telling the President that they did not like or approve of what they had seen. Then the farmers, beaten and bludgeoned by Zanu for over a year, met in a special Congress and stood their ground. They adopted just the right stance – no compromise on their civil and legal rights at citizens and investors, acceptance of the need for reform and a clear statement that they would work with the government to get the job done in the shortest time possible but only on an agreed and lawful basis.
In our view this was exactly what was needed – they kept the high ground, gave away nothing in terms of their basic rights but reiterated their oft-stated willingness to work out a solution with the other stakeholders. Then the IMF and the World Bank left the country and made a statement that they will talk to the Zimbabwe government in May again. No progress made at all but some advice on what was needed. Makoni was complimented on his efforts to keep the budget on course – not for long though by our calculations and even then, mainly at the expense of the civil service. And then finally, grudgingly, the GMB started to say we might need food imports! After denying this and overstating their stock position and the likely out turn of the 2001 crop, they now admit we need wheat and maize.
Then in the Congo, growing signs that the conflict is being worked out in some way, obviously the change of leadership and the effective take over by Angola as the real power on the ground in that area of the continent has made the difference. A sense that Zimbabwe is losing ground and influence in the country and that we will probably be able to end our intervention fairly soon and withdraw with nothing to show for three years of effort and expense. Even so that will be a great relief of those of us who have paid for this foolish excursion.
Here at home we have just been through the worst period of fuel shortages. Harare has virtually been out of fuel and in the rest of the country we have had a total stock out of diesel. This coupled to the report of the Jurists and the farmers principled position creates the ideal background for the meeting now scheduled with Mbeki. The two day session between a team of four Ministers from Zimbabwe and South Africa on Sunday and Monday was obviously very tough – that was clear from the SA Minister of Finances statement after the meeting and the silence of our own team. All good omens. Let’s repeat what we want from the meeting between the two leaders: -
All we want as a nation is the opportunity to vote freely and without coercion for the person we want to be President in April 2002. If Mbeki can deliver the minimum conditions required for this, he will have done a great service to Zimbabwe and to the region as a whole. If we as a nation then go to the polls and elect a new leader (whoever that might be) democratically and this is followed by a lawful transfer of power, we will be contributing to making a reality the vision of a new Africa which our continental leaders have enunciated in the past year. If he fails the opposite will be true.
Eddie Cross
23rd March 2001.
Please note that this note is personal and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Movement for Democratic Change.
URGENT APPEAL
MDC Support (Southern Region)
This office has been asked by the Trustees of the Patrick Nabanyama Trust Fund to source funds for a Precast Concrete Wall and a cell phone for the Nabanyama family.
The ten alleged perpetrators identified at the end of this document have been released on bail and are reported to freely roam pass the Nabanyama house, thus creating further trauma for the Nabanyama family merely through their presence - an act of intimidation in itself.
There are no telephone lines in the area resulting in a feeling of isolation and exposure. The Nabanyama family continue to suffer. The provision of a wall and phone will provide a sense of security.
These requirements have been costed at $50,000.00. Any contribution to alleviate the continued suffering of the Nabanyama family will be greatly appreciated.
Donation Details
Within Zimbabwe:
Donations to the Patrick Nabanyama Trust Fund - within Zimbabwe - may be made in two ways:By Post:
Donations for the Patrick Nabanyama Trust Fund should be directed to the Matilda Trust, PO Box 9400, Hillside, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (where they will be receipted), ORDirect Bank Deposit:
Barclays Bank - Account No. 1996379, Main Street Branch (No. 2307), Bulawayo. For foreign transfers, the Barclays (Zimbabwe) SWIFT address is BARCZWHXAXXX.For accounting and audit purposes, it would be appreciated if Matilda Trust, PO Box 9400, Hillside, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, could be advised - via the address given above - of any donations made direct to the Bank Account, so that they may be receipted and acknowledged.
Cheques:
These should be made payable to "Matilda Trust". To be sure that it is correctly allocated, please write clearly "PATRICK NABANYAMA TRUST" on the back of the cheque.International:
Donations from international sources should be sent to:BSMG Worldwide
110 St. Martin’s Lane
Covent Garden
London WC2N 4RG
U.K.
Cheques:
should be made payable to "BSMG Worldwide". To be sure that it is correctly allocated, please write clearly "PATRICK NABANYAMA TRUST" on the back of the cheque.Patrick Nabanyama
Born in September 1947. Went missing on Monday 19 June 2000. Presumed dead.
Who was Patrick?
Patrick Nabamyama was a Zimbabwean citizen. He lived in Nketa, Bulawayo and was married to Patricia. They have nine children aged 2 to 23. At the time of his disappearance, Patrick was working as a general worker at Nketa Tavern in Bulawayo. He had worked there for nine years.
Conscientious, honest, kind-hearted, and well-respected in his community, Patrick was tired of seeing his family and neighbours suffering under the violence and corruption of the Zanu-PF Government. He wanted change.
Patrick decided to join the newly-formed MDC and soon became an active member, spreading the word of change in Zimbabwe. He was a Polling Officer for the MDC at the Parliamentary Elections 2000 and worked relentlessly for David Coltart MP in his Bulawayo South Constituency. Patrick soon earned the respect he deserved from his political colleagues and was well-liked by all.
The period leading up to the June elections were a time of great stress and concern for all, especially for those brave enough to stand up and declare their belief in a change of government. Such brave people were subjected to intense intimidation, death threats and assaults. Patrick was no exception.
What happened to Patrick?
One week before the elections Patrick’s life was threatened by war veterans who saw that he was leading a successful campaign on behalf of the MDC. These threats were reported to the Police.
At 4 am on the 17 June the Nabanyama Family woke up to find that their house had been daubed with paint and the initials ‘MDC’. Feeling insecure, they decided to leave their Nketa home and stay with relatives. They returned to their home on Monday 19 June, feeling safe in the knowledge that the assaults usually took place at night. They were wrong.
Around 4 pm on Monday 19 June, three men, whose identities are now known to the police, called at their house asking for Patrick. The men persuaded Patrick to go outside the house, whereupon a large number of war veterans and Zanu-PF supporters appeared from nearby and started pushing Patrick around. The family stood by helplessly and watched as Patrick was then thrown into the back of a pick-up truck, handcuffed and driven away.
He has never been seen again.
Where is Patrick now?
It is known that Patrick was driven from his house and taken to the war veterans HQ in Entumbane. It is believed that while there he was tortured and killed. His body has probably been dumped somewhere. There have been several reports and searches made to locate his body - without success. His whereabouts are still a mystery.
Why Patrick?
There were many deaths before, during, and after the June elections. None of these deaths have been fully investigated by the police, despite the identities of the perpetrators being known. Yet Patrick’s disappearance, amongst the multitide of other acts of violence, has captured the hearts of the local and international public, as it typifies the heartless and brutal campaign orchestrated by the Zimbabwe Government this year.
Patrick’s case is the only one where there is no actual body, thus enabling the known perpetrators to be charged only with the offence of kidnapping.
Regrettably, this offence falls within the recent Clemency Order granted by President Mugabe ( see further under Impunity in Zimbabwe). Effectively this means that the killers will not be held accountable for their crime unless his body is found, which would make it a charge of murder. Under these circumstances the Nabanyama Family cannot begin to heal their emotional wounds, nor can they seek any redress for their loss.
Update : On 21 December 2000, two of the ten men suspected of the abduction of Patrick Nabanyama walked free from court where they had appeared charged with the kidnapping of a second person, Welcome Makama. The prosecutor withdrew these second charges against them in line with the Presidential Clemency Order.
Update : On 22 January 2001, The Daily News reported that the docket relating to Patrick’s case, which had been sent to the Attorney General’s Office in June 2000 for a decision on whether or not to prosecute the accused, had gone missing. Lawyers were reported as saying that without the docket the case would become ‘a non-event’.
The ten accused - Cain Nkala (the Bulawayo provincial chairman of Chenjerai Hunzvi’s war veteran faction); Jackson Ncube; Ephraim Moyo; Frackson Ndlovu; Aleck Moyo; Stanley Ncube; Ngoni Dube; Julius Sibanda; Howard Ncube; and Simon Rwazi - have been remanded on five occasions.
From The Zimbabwe Independent, 23 March
IPG sets tough terms on fuel
The government of Zimbabwe this week acceded to demands by Kuwaiti fuel supplier, Independent Petroleum Group (IPG) which has set strict guidelines for the beleaguered Harare authorities in future business dealings. The government announced that fuel was on its way immediately after the meeting with IPG officials where Zimbabwe was accused of taking unilateral decisions detrimental to the relationship between the two parties.
Zimbabwe's contrition comes as more information emerged this week about the government's heist of IPG fuel last month. Documents made available to the Independent show that Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander General Vitalis Zvinavashe ordered the breaking of the seals and the pumping of fuel which Zimbabwe had not paid for. The government has since the publication of the story on the fuel "grab" last week by the Independent been trying to pour cold water on the allegations. In parliament on Wednesday Mines and Energy minister Sydney Sekeramayi told the House during a question and answer session that Zimbabwe had moved the fuel from Beira because the commodity was occupying too much space there. "It was then requested that the product that was destined for Harare be moved elsewhere and the only logical place to put it was at Feruka Depot," Sekeramayi said.
However, documents at hand show that IPG was not amused by the behaviour of the Zimbabweans and wrote a strong letter of complaint. The documents also show that the unauthorised release of fuel was not just an isolated case but recurred even after a formal complaint by IPG and an undertaking by Zimbabwe that it would not happen again. In a letter dated February 17 to Sekeramayi, IPG managing director Jasem Al Musallam remonstrated with the minister over Zimbabwe's failure to uphold an agreement that fuel would not be moved without IPG's consent. "This comes as a grave occurrence and undermines all efforts we have been undertaking with your goodselves," said Al Musallam. "Another disconcerting point is that whilst we tried to reach the various parties concerned in Noczim, no one was available to explain what happened," he said.
He continued: "We are puzzled that in spite of these assurances unilateral action is still being taken violating what was agreed upon. We cannot tolerate such irresponsible action and this issue needs to be addressed immediately." According to a daily stock record sheet by commodity auditors SGS dated February 17 the discharging of the fuel was done by a Mr Mhandu on the instruction of General Zvinavashe who is chairman of the fuel taskforce.
Al Musallam's letter and subsequent correspondence from IPG, sources said, set the tone for the meeting this week. The letters indicate that since the unauthorised release of the fuel relations have been fraught between the government and IPG which last week refused to release fuel despite appeals by Noczim boss Webster Muriritirwa. "To date we have done a lot of business together to let us suffer shortages the way the country is experiencing at the moment...," said Muriritirwa in a letter to IPG on March 13. "The country is currently in a very serious fuel shortage and all our hopes are hinged on your sincere assistance and understanding," he said.
But IPG was unmoved by the appeal. In its response IPG accused Noczim of failing to honour its commitments to pay for fuel and service the debt which at the time stood at US$50,9 million. IPG demanded that its Zimbabwe dollar account be raised to reflect an exchange rate of $85 to US$1. The account currently has US$40 million. IPG also asked Zimbabwe to come up with a payment schedule to service the US$50,9 million debt. These issues formed the basis of Wednesday's meeting in which Zimbabwe pledged to service the debt and not make unilateral decisions with regards to payments and release of fuel.
Sources close to the meeting said IPG took a tough stance on the government's arbitrary removal of fuel from holding tanks without the supplier's approval. Sources privy to the details of the meeting said the Zimbabwe delegation agreed to increase the Zimbabwe dollar account and to put in place a payment schedule to service the debt and reduce the Kuwaiti company's exposure to about US$30 million. The Zimbabweans also made an undertaking that they would no longer take unilateral action in the release of fuel and rescheduling debt payments.
The sources said Zimbabwe had shown some commitment by putting cash on the table during the meeting. Zimbabwe is said to have managed to pay for all the fuel that had been sitting in holding tanks at Feruka and diesel which had been illegally discharged into the Feruka to Harare pipeline. The sources said Noczim has also purchased 10 million litres of fuel from the stocks held at Beira. Diesel started to trickle through the Msasa holding tanks yesterday while petrol started moving from Feruka by road.
From The Star (SA), 22 March
IMF must show Zim the money, not SA - Mbeki
President Thabo Mbeki said on Thursday that South Africa would not give Zimbabwe financial assistance to heal its economic woes and that support should instead come from the world community. "The economy of Zimbabwe won't be supported for its recovery by us. You need the IMF and the World Bank to be involved," Mbeki told a delegation of the South African National Editors' Forum in Pretoria.
He said his approach to Zimbabwe's escalating political crisis and deepening two-year-old economic recession had been to offer constructive support and to keep communications open. "It is clear there are some problems in Zimbabwe - problems of the economy, problems around land reform, problems with regard to the political situation in the country," he said. He said the skewed distribution of land in the former Rhodesia would have to be addressed, but without conflict and with international support. "There should be no occupation of farms," he said in a reference to the occupation or seizure of more than 1 000 white owned farms by black self-styled veterans of the country's liberation war.
Inflation in Zimbabwe is running at close to 70 percent, with unemployment over 60 percent and rising, critical shortages of fuel and looming shortages of staple foods. Mbeki has come under fire at home and abroad for his gentle diplomacy towards Zimbabwe, where about 30 people died and hundreds were hurt in the run-up to parliamentary elections last year. He has refused publicly to denounce Zimbabwe's President, Robert Mugabe, who is seeking re-election after 21 years in power.
But over the past year, Mbeki has discussed the country's problems privately with Zimbabwean government and opposition leaders. Ministers from the two countries met in Pretoria on Sunday and Monday to review areas of co-operation. "We are sending a team to Zimbabwe from our agriculture department in the next week to see what we can contribute to make sure that you have a smooth, non-conflictual process of land redistribution," Mbeki said. "The thing we don't want to have happen is the collapse of Zimbabwe. It wouldn't help them and it wouldn't help us.... We would have to deal with any radical worsening of the situation in Zimbabwe," he said. Mbeki told parliament recently he would meet Mugabe soon to discuss his concerns, but no date for the meeting has been announced.
From The Independent (UK), 23 March
Mugabe sacks editors of state-run newspapers
The Zimbabwe government has sacked the editors of the country's two largest state-controlled newspapers, intensifying a campaign to gag the media ahead of presidential elections next year. The government-controlled publisher did not explain why Ray Mungosi, the editor of the pro-government Herald newspaper, and Funny Mushava, editor of the Sunday Mail, had been forced out of their jobs on Wednesday. But their firings follow the sacking 10 days ago of Tommy Sithole, the chairman of Zimbabwe Newspapers, which publishes the two titles and four others, after he refused to implement a government directive to fire editors perceived to be critical of government policy.
Two months ago, supporters of President Robert Mugabe bombed the presses of the independent Daily News in a bid to silence opposition media. Mr Mungoshi and Mr Mushava, who refused to comment yesterday, were appointed to the pro-government newspapers eight months ago. They succeeded editors who were also fired for not toeing the government line. "The board of directors of Zimbabwe Newspapers has announced the appointment of Pikirayi Deketeke as editor of The Herald and William Chikoto as editor of the Sunday Mail from today," the government-controlled publisher said.
Mr Sithole has been replaced as head of Zimbabwe newspapers by prominent Zanu-PF supporter and businessman Enock Kamushinda. The Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) condemned what it called the "unjustifiable changes in editorship" which it said had affected the stability of Zimpapers and was a form of harassment against journalists.
Also yesterday, the government summoned Commonwealth diplomats in Harare to denounce plans for a ministerial fact-finding visit to Zimbabwe, accusing the British government of stopping at nothing to "topple" President Robert Mugabe. Describing Mr Blair's government as "racist", Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge told the 20 diplomats that the decision by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to send the mission - comprising of the foreign ministers from Nigeria, Barbados and Australia - was "illegal". Relations between Britain and its former southern African colony soured after Mr Mugabe's supporters started a campaign to seize white-owned farms in February last year. Mr Mugabe justifies the seizures, which have been declared unlawful by Zimbabwe's highest court, on the grounds that they correct imbalances caused by "colonial settler robbery".
Zimbabwe has granted permanent residence to former Ethiopian strongman Mengistu Haile Mariam, who fled to the southern African country a decade ago, government officials said yesterday. Ethiopia warned that the decision could sour relations between the two countries.
From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 23 March
Mugabe ban on British exams, but not for sons
Harare - Zimbabwe's government stepped up its campaign to erase every trace of the colonial era yesterday by banning British exams from the country's schools. Children from almost every Commonwealth country in Africa follow the O- and A-level curricula specified by the Cambridge Examinations Board. But from next year state school pupils in Zimbabwe will be forced to sit locally administered exams.
Samuel Mumbengegwi, the Education Minister, vowed to close any school that failed to comply with the directive. He told The Herald, the official daily: "Many parents have already approached the government on why their children should be subjected to a foreign examination. The answer is that no school shall offer any foreign examination. I have called the leaders of errant schools to my office and directed them to desist from their intentions with immediate effect."
After 21 years of independence, most Zimbabwean schools remain steeped in British tradition. Classes are conducted in English, children recite Shakespeare by rote, O-levels are taken because GCSEs are scornfully regarded as being too easy and old-fashioned uniforms are worn, often complete with straw hats. O-levels are marked by the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council, whose staff are trained by British exam boards. A-level papers are sent to Britain for grading.
Zimbabwe has a thriving collection of private schools, and teachers doubt whether the government has the legal power to force these establishments to drop foreign exams. Modelled on British public schools from the 19th century, they are favoured by the black elite. President Mugabe has chosen a deeply traditional education for his own children. His son Bellarmine goes to the Heritage School, where 75 per cent of teachers are white. Another son, Robert, attends Hartmann House, a distinguished Catholic prep school; and his daughter, Bona, is enrolled at the Dominican Convent School. None of these is likely to drop the British exams.
Yesterday the Foreign Ministry accused Britain of racism and of plotting to oust the president. A statement said: "What is known for sure is the determination by the Labour Government to depose or cause the deposition of President Mugabe. Current efforts seem to be directed at interfering with the political process in Zimbabwe for that purpose." Mr Mugabe's sense of isolation has been worsened by the collapse of Zimbabwe's economy and the breakdown in relations with the World Bank and the IMF. Both ended support for his government in 1999 after economic targets were missed. An IMF assessment team left Harare yesterday without making any offer to resume assistance. Its statement demanded "stronger and more balanced policies".
From The Guardian (UK), 22 March
Disloyal citizens face persecution
Those who oppose Mugabe's government may lose their jobs or even their lives.
Acting chief Nembire's letter was chillingly frank. There are four teachers in his area, and he doesn't like their politics. He wants them out; not just out of his schools but the area under his responsibility. The reply from Zimbabwe's education ministry was equally sinister. It agreed that the teachers should go. Amid the high profile murders of white farmers and the nightly attacks on opposition supporters in Harare's townships, a quieter purge is underway of ordinary Zimbabweans who want rid of President Robert Mugabe's government.
Some opposition supporters are fired from the police and civil service. Others suddenly find it hard to buy traders licences or to keep their jobs as municipal bus drivers. In chief Nembire's fiefdom it is teachers who are the target. The chief's at times ungrammatical letter to the education ministry is a revealing account of why he wants rid of the four teachers. He is, he says, a member of the ruling Zanu-PF while the teachers are allegedly in contact with a local opposition leader, an R Shanya, who was a target for the ruling party's thugs during last years parliamentary elections.
"We have face serious problems with teachers of Nembire school through political activities at our area which is not good to us," the chief writes. "Even myself, I am Zanu PF member. I don't want any party to my area. Our MP, Kasukuwere S, told us to hand over our case to minister Gezi to assist us to remove dangerous teachers. They are in connection with R Shanya who was beaten by Zany PF [at the] time of elections." The chief's letter says that the district administrator, the highest government post in the area, told him to "take action to get them away". Perhaps most sinister, chief Nembire asks to be put in touch with Chenjerai "Hitler" Hunzvi, the leader of the war veterans who have violently occupied white-owned farms, killed farmers, murdered their workers and attacked the government's opponents.
"We are leaving in fear through political affairs caused by Shanya and his friends," the chief writes. It hardly seems likely given the nightly attacks by government thugs on opposition supporters in Harare's townships and across the country. Soldiers, police, "war veterans" and an increasingly significant criminal element are let loose on areas identified as strongholds of anti-government dissent. "Minister, I don't want to see this teachers. They should leave my school," the chief concludes.
The education ministry's director of schools, LC Bowora, raises no objections. "You are advised that the ministry's position is that teachers who are not wanted within their employment environment, for whatever reason, should be assisted to transfer to other areas," he wrote. Chief Nembire was free to sack the four teachers. Every other opposition supporter in his area got the message. Anything but total loyalty to Robert Mugabe will cost you your job if you work for the state. And it may even cost you your life.
From New Vision (Uganda), 22 March
Total DRC Exit to Delay - Kategaya
Stockholm - The full withdrawal of Ugandan troops from the DRC will not be possible until there is unity and stability in the country, Ugandan foreign minister Eriya Kategaya said Wednesday. "We would not have any reason to maintain troops in the DRC if the country was stable and under control," Kategaya told a news conference after a meeting with his Swedish counterpart, Anna Lindh, whose country currently holds the six-month rotating European Union presidency. He added that the situation in the DRC is not just one of internal politics of relevance only to Kinshasa, as it has broader consequences for neighbouring countries. "The situation affects the whole region," Kategaya said. "Uganda's neighbours, the DRC and Sudan, are faced with serious problems."
A troop pullback from front-line positions by all belligerents in the complex war in the DRC began last Thursday under an accord reached in December. The retreat 15 kilometres (nine miles) from about 100 front-line positions by forces is the first phase of a complete withdrawal. Kategaya said seven battalions or some 4,000 soldiers - more than half of the forces Uganda had committed to the DRC - had been redeployed from the front lines. He said on Tuesday, a battalion of Rwandan soldiers, almost 800 men, had been repatriated by plane from the DRC to Kigali. Rwanda and Uganda are the principal backers of rebels who launched a rebellion in 1998.
From Internews (Tanzania), 22 March
Soldiers Return Home From DRC
Kigali - Another contingent of Rwandan troops withdrawing from the DRC arrived in the capital Kigali on Tuesday. The first group left the DRC on 15 February after Rwanda and Uganda officially announced that they would pull out of the country in phases. President Paul Kagame at the Kanombe Airport received the battalion, which had been stationed in Kipuzi inside the DRC. About 60 soldiers arrived by plane while 1,600 others arrived on foot from North Katanga. Rwanda has started to pull back troops from frontline positions in the Congo in compliance with the Lusaka peace accord to restore peace in the Central African republic.
Speaking to journalists at the airport, Kagame said that the withdrawal was aimed at ensuring that the accord, signed in Lusaka, Zambia, last year, was implemented as agreed to by the warring parties. "We agreed that all the parties in the conflict would withdraw 15 km [from their positions inside the DRC]. But my troops withdrew by another 200 km," Kagame added. However, he said that some of the troops would remain at the new fallback positions until the other parties in the conflict demonstrated "sufficient good will" towards fulfilling the accord. The Rwandan leader said that a complete withdrawal of his troops depends on the response of the other parties in the conflict. Uganda has said it will withdraw more troops from the DRC this week.
Rwanda sent troops into the Congo in 1996 to fight elements of the former Rwandan Army (FAR) and the Interahamwe, militiamen allied to the then ruling Movement for National Development and Democracy (MRND), who fled into the DRC after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Kagame said that the objective of sending troops into the DRC had been achieved. Moreover, he added, the government was finding it difficult to sustain the troops in the DRC. "Our objective was to ensure that they [the Interahamwe and former FAR officials] do not attack Rwanda. I think this objective has been largely achieved," Kagame said.
Initially, Rwandan and Ugandan forces supported the late President Laurent Kabila to take over the DRC from Mobutu Sese Seko, with the tacit understanding that he, in turn, would help them disarm and arrest the militia and FAR soldiers. However, Kabila later fell out with Rwanda and Uganda and allegedly armed not only the FAR and the Interahamwe but also the Burundi rebel group FDD and the Congolese Mayi Mayi resistance. Kabila invited Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia into the DRC to fight what he termed the "occupation of DRC territory" by Rwanda and Uganda. Kabila was assassinated in January. His son, Joseph Kabila, took over and has reiterated his commitment to the implementation of the Lusaka accord, prompting the latest withdrawal of both Ugandan and Rwanda troops.
The soldiers who returned on Tuesday are some of several thousands expected back home in the near future. Colonel Karake Karenzi, the commander of the Northern Katanga region, told Internews at the weekend that other battalions were expected to arrive on foot, covering a distance of about 500 km to the shores of Lake Tanganyika, where they will then be collected by boat.
Kagame said he was hopeful that the United Nations would expand its peacekeeping operation in the Congo to facilitate the proper implementation of the accord. However, he expressed concern about the small number of UN troops on the ground. He said he was happy that the UN has promised to deploy more troops in the DRC. "What remains to be done is something that can be dealt with in the framework of the [Lusaka peace] accord, because there is the issue of disarmament," Kagame said. He said he was confident that the Security Council would advice the UN force in Congo (MONUC) on how to proceed with the disarmament. Asked about the government's plans for the returning troops, Kagame said a number of soldiers would be demobilized although the government was facing serious financial problems. "Those who can go back to school will go back to school, for those who are able to work we will assist them to get work and be reintegrated into the society," Kagame said.
Do you know...
…that 250 000 commercial farm workers live with their families on the three thousand farms that Zanu PF is trying to confiscate from commercial farmers?
…that these farm workers earn about $500 million a month?
…that 850 000 of their children go to schools on those farms?
…that if the 250 000 farm workers lose their jobs, they will lose their incomes and their housing, and their children will lose their schools?
…that more than a million people will have to move from the farms, and many will have nowhere to go?
…that as $500 million a month disappears from the market place, traders and manufacturers all around the country will be forced to retrench many more thousands of people from their jobs in the towns?
…that many other businesses will shrink or collapse, and among them will be banks, transport companies, insurance companies, equipment suppliers and engineers as well as manufacturers and retailers?
…that many thousands more people will lose their jobs because the commercial farmers will no longer be buying inputs worth about $2 000 million a month? Specialised businesses that employ tens of thousands of other people have supplied these, and most will have to close down.
…that when they have no incomes to pay rents or school fees, most of the town people who lose their jobs will have to go back to their homes in the communal lands?
…that most of their children will have no chance of continuing in the already over-crowded rural schools and might lose all prospect of a better life?
…that although Zimbabwe might have produced enough food for next year, many families will have no money with which to buy it?
…that the money we receive from exporting many commercial crops pays for most of our fuel as well as most of our industrial materials, machines and spare parts? When these exports stop, most industries will stop and our transport services will be crippled.
…that our children might soon have no job prospects, no training prospects and no future outside impoverished peasant farming?
…that even the war veterans will soon be overcome by the poverty that surrounds them?
Zanu PF's policies are a Fast Track to calamity, disaster, chaos and misery. The policies have every prospect of failing, taking with them the livelihoods and dignity of millions of people.
Is this what we want?
We have every possible reason to do all that we can to ensure that the current land reform policies are not brought into operation.