The Times
March 24, 2007
The graveyards of Zimbabwe are the only places blossoming
under Robert
Mugabe's evil gaze
Martin Fletcher in Harare
Teksure and
Silibaziso Gumbo weep as they tell their story from the safety
of a walled
church compound in the township of Mbare in southern Harare.
Their house was
torn down when President Mugabe launched Operation
Murambatsvina (Drive Out
Trash) in 2005 to raze slum areas that were
opposition
strongholds.
Mr Mugabe then banned street vendors, destroying Teksure's
livelihood. He no
longer dares to sell groundnuts because, like his
six-year-old daughter
Sarudzai, he has Aids and cannot run from the police.
The family lives in a
tiny shelter fashioned from plastic and corrugated
iron, and lacking any
sanitation, on a patch of wasteland.
Sarudzai
desperately needs sustenance but her parents can give her little
more than a
daily bowl of sadza - the maize-meal porridge on which millions
of people in
this desperate nation now survive. They have tried traditional
African
medicines without success. They have taken her to the hospital five
times,
but are turned away for lack of money. They went to the social
welfare
office, but it had no paper to type up a hospital referral.
"Obviously she
will die. It's heartbeaking. It's so painful," says Teksure.
Despite her
suffering, this tragic little girl turns and waves goodbye to us
as she
leaves.
Sarudzai's fate mirrors that of her country. The beauty of both
has been
corrupted by something evil. In Zimbabwe's case that evil takes the
form of
an octogenarian with outsize glasses who has destroyed a country
that was
once the envy of Africa.
At first sight Harare still appears
a modern, prosperous city. Potholes are
appearing in the roads, verges are
uncut and some traffic lights no longer
work, but lush suburbs of
affluent-looking homes radiate out from the city
centre's shimmering
high-rise office blocks and there are expensive cars on
its broad avenues.
It is an illusion. Zimbabwe is like a tree whose trunk
has been hollowed out
by termites, leaving only a shell.
The world's highest inflation rate -
officially 1,700 per cent but actually
higher - has rendered the currency,
salaries and pensions almost worthless.
In the mid1970s £1 bought
aproximately one Zimbabwean dollar: yesterday it
was buying 38,000 - or 38
million had Mr Mugabe not recently lopped three
noughts off; £100 gets you a
wad of notes the size of a small brick. There
are new SUVs and Mercedes on
the roads only because saving is pointless: you
invest in anything that
holds its value, so even cars have become a form of
currency.
The
economy is shrinking faster than any on the planet. Life expectancy has
fallen one year for each year since independence in 1980, and is now the
lowest in the world at 37. More than a fifth of the population has left the
country - a rate of exodus that exceeds Iraq's. Eighty per cent are
unemployed, meaning more Zimbabweans now have jobs abroad than at home.
There are reckoned to be 4,000 more deaths than births each week.
The
grim statistics roll on. Agricultural production has halved since Mr
Mugabe's thugs began seizing white farms in 2000. Commercial production of
maize has fallen from 810,000 tonnes to barely 200,000. More than 350,000
black agricultural workers have lost their jobs. Industry is operating at 28
per cent of its capacity.
Hunger stalks a land that used to be
Africa's breadbasket. More than four
fifths of Zimbabweans live on less than
£1 a day, and two fifths are
suffering from malnutrition. Many survive only
on remittances from relatives
abroad. These amount to somewhere between
£12.5 to £50 million a month, but
unfortunately they help the Government as
well by damping down popular anger
and providing hard currency.
Aids
is rampant. The official rate is about 20 per cent, but a senior doctor
in
Bulawayo, the second city, said it was 80 per cent in some rural areas
and
90 per cent in some military barracks. The disease kills 3,500 a week,
and a
quarter of Zimbabwe's children - more than a million - are Aids
orphans.
The human suffering behind those figures is everywhere
apparent: in the
gaunt faces, in the rows of freshly dug graves in the
Luvere cemetery in
Bulawayo, in the pathetic piles of produce women hawk
beside the empty
highways, in the lines of people walking or hitch-hiking
into cities because
bus fares now exceed their wages. Some work for food or
fuel, not money.
From country roads you see great tracts of farmland
reverting to nature, or
parched fields of shrivelled maize. The corridors of
Agriculture House, the
grand headquarters of the Commercial Farmers Union,
are almost sepulchral.
More than 3,000 farmers used to attend the CFU's
annual conference. Last
year fewer than 100 did. The 500 or so whites still
farming - of an original
4,500 - are still battling eviction, though Mr
Mugabe has unwittingly
highlighted just how critical they are to Zimbabwe's
economy.
The Bulawayo doctor said that the country's health service was
facing a
"desperate crisis". People could no longer afford to visit
hospitals where
items as basic as intravenous fluids were almost
unobtainable. Eighty per
cent of newly qualified doctors left immediately to
work abroad, and
standards were plummeting as the Government rushed to
replace them. "I
fluctuate between wanting to throw in the towel and
thinking that if I do it
will be even worse," the doctor
said.
Paupers' burials in mass graves are becoming increasingly common.
In Mbare a
broken young man named Leroy Manyonda told us, in barely a
whisper, how he
could not afford to bury his wife when she died of
meningitis, so he fled
with his two-year-old daughter. They lived on the
streets until his daughter
died of dysentery. He buried her in woodland by
night.
Oskar Wermter, a German Jesuit priest in Harare, says the
destitute are
taking dying relatives to hospitals under false names, and
failing to
collect bodies from mortuaries. That is remarkable because "in
traditional
African culture not to bury your relatives properly is monstrous
and exposes
you to enormous danger because the unburied person becomes an
avenging
spirit".
Also in Mbare, Agnes James, 38, told us how she
lost her house in Operation
Murambatsvina and her husband died of
tuberculosis. She now sells her body
for Z$10,000 (less than 30p) a time to
feed her two children. Many clients
refuse to wear condoms. Some do not pay.
She is ashamed, and terrified of
Aids, but says: "There is nothing I can
do." A pretty 16-year-old orphan
named Tatenda Banda said she was selling
herself to six men a day for the
same price.
In Hatcliffe Extension,
another township razed by Operation Murambatsvina, I
met a 75-year-old man
who had lost four of his six children to Aids. He and
his wife were raising
11 grandchildren in a one-room shelter. They slept on
hard earth, ate one
meal a day and survived on handouts.
Just when we thought we could find
nothing worse, we were taken to a vast,
stinking rubbish dump outside
Bulawayo where hundreds of people scavenge for
food and rags. They live in
makeshift shelters in the surrounding bush and
get water from a stream. John
Ncube, 55, is one of the skeletal inhabitants
of that hellish, fly-infested
place. He is raising four children in a
shelter made from asbestos sheets
recovered from the dump. He scours the
dump for bottles, which he sells for
Z$100 - a fraction of a penny. He finds
a bottle every couple of days. His
best find, he told us, was the filthy,
ragged T-shirt he was
wearing.
It is not only black Zimbabweans who are suffering. Whites
without access to
foreign currency are also being reduced to poverty. One
afternoon a
14-year-old girl named Kristy and her 11-year-old brother, Ray,
walked up
the drive of our Harare guesthouse. They were begging. Their
family had been
thrown out of their flat because they could not afford the
rent.
Another afternoon we drove about 40 miles out of Harare to a remote
agricultural college to meet Dirk Buitendag and his wife, Maxi, so crippled
with arthritis that she can barely walk.
For more than 40 years Mr
Buitendag ran a 930-hectare farm that employed
nearly 200 people and was a
model of its kind. He abandoned it in July 2002
after five attacks by Mr
Mugabe's war veterans. "We decided our lives were
not worth a farm," he
said. The Buitendags gave their two sons their foreign
currency so they
could emigrate. They believed they could survive on their
pension and
savings, but both were consumed by inflation.
Mr Buitendag once went back
to his farm to find the house stripped bare,
barns sold for scrap, trees
felled and fields abandoned. "It's
heartbreaking. They have destroyed
everything."
Now, at 78, he has gone back to work as the college's
stockman. He earns
Z$460,000 before tax - less than £7.50 - but the job
comes with a tiny house
and use of a vehicle. They use friends' cast-off
furniture and rely on
remittances from their sons for food. Their only
indulgence is an occasional
glass of whisky.
Mrs Buitendag needs a
spinal operation costing Z$16 million, and her husband
has turned to the
Farm Families Trust, which helps about 50 destitute former
farmers. "It's
the first time in my life we have ever accepted charity," he
said. "We were
well off once, but now we are beggars."
Life and death
85%
probability of dying between 15 and 60
12% probability of dying before
the age of 5
£23.50 annual government health spending per
person
180,000 Aids-related deaths a year
160,000 children with
HIV
1.1 million Aids orphans
8% of HIV-positive people receiving
antiretroviral treatment
Sources: UN, WHO
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
23
March 2007
Zimbabwean security officials on Friday shut down
the offices of the
Combined Harare Residents Association, sources in the
civic organization
said.
CHRA spokesman Precious Shumba said dozens
of plain-clothes police
surrounded the group's offices in downtown Harare.
The group staged a
demonstration Tuesday at the offices of the non-elected
commission that
governs Harare, and he said since then members have been
receiving
threatening phone calls and visits from police.
Shumba told
reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that
security
officials warned of further trouble if civic activists continued
their
activities.
International Herald Tribune
The Associated
PressPublished: March 23, 2007
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa:
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe dismissed
claims Friday that his rule was
in its last throes while a longtime critic
renewed calls for a peaceful
campaign to oust him.
Vice President Joyce Mujuru and South African
Deputy President Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcuka, meanwhile, met in what was
described as a private visit.
It followed a threat by the Zimbabwean
government to clamp down on
reporters, telling foreign correspondents not to
engage in peddling false
stories on security issues.
Addressing a
convention of the ruling ZANU-PF's women's league and youth
members in
Harare, Mugabe dismissed claims that his people and forces were
no longer
loyal, state television reported.
He said that those that are
power-hungry in the party must be patient and
that the future of leadership
of the country would decided by Zimbabweans,
it reported.
Mugabe, 83,
who has ruled Zimbabwe for 27 years since independence, is under
increasing
pressure to step down. Tensions are said to be rising in his
party over his
succession, which could topple him faster than street battles
with a
reinvigorated and determined political opposition.
The report also said
Mugabe dismissed opposition claims that he and his
government were on their
final push, saying that at his age and with his
experience he could not be
pushed.
"The opposition is always calling for change, change, change. I
am not pink.
I don't want a pink nose. I can't change. I don't want to be
European. I
want to be African," he said.
Mugabe said the west was
supporting the opposition in the use of violence to
re-colonize Zimbabwe,
the report said.
"They want our gold, our platinum, our land. These are
ours forever," he
said. "I will stand and fight for our rights of
sovereignty. We fought for
our country to be free. These resources will
remain ours forever. Let this
be understood to those in
London."
Mugabe said police used minimum force to stop the March 11
meeting in which
opposition activists were allegedly assaulted by police and
warned political
leaders "if you are a violent man you will meet more
violence from the
police."
South Africa's foreign affairs spokesman
Ronnie Mamoepa said the visit
between Mujuru and Mlambo-Ngcuka was a private
one, the South African Press
Association reported.
"The vice
president of Zimbabwe is on a private visit to South Africa and
therefore it
is not on an official diary," he said.
A local television station, e.tv,
showed footage of Mujuru at the plush
Westcliff Hotel in Johannesburg. She
declined to answer a reporter's
questions.
Mujuru and her husband,
the powerful former army commander Gen. Solomon
Mujuru, are leaders of one
of the factions vying for succession in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe's choice of
Mujuru as one of two vice presidents was seen as favoring
her faction, but
there has been a chill in relations as the debate in the
party
intensifies.
Earlier, Zimbabwean Catholic archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius
Ncube, repeated a
call for street protests he had made a day earlier in an
appearance before a
gathering of clerics, pro-democracy activists and
diplomats in Harare.
"This dictator must be brought down right now,"
Ncube said at a meeting of
the Solidarity Peace Trust, headed by church
leaders and working for human
rights in Zimbabwe. "If we can get 30,000 on
the streets then Mugabe will
come down. I am ready to lead it. But my wish
is to avoid violence."
Ncube has long been an ardent critic of Mugabe but
efforts by him in the
past to rally Zimbabweans have not led to mass
protests. His latest comments
come at a time when the opposition appears
particularly determined.
Arthur Mutambara, leader of a Zimbabwean
opposition faction, told a trade
union meeting in Johannesburg that events
of the last few weeks had unified
the opposition and supported calls for
further protests in Zimbabwe.
"We are going to drive Mugabe out of power
through collaboration and working
together." Mutambara
said.
Meanwhile, foreign reporters were told to beware of authorities and
avoid
opposition politicians, state radio and television reported
Friday.
The Zimbabwean media singled out the U.S. network CNN for what it
called
biased reports on political unrest and on the alleged assault and
torture
earlier this month of opposition leaders, including Morgan
Tsvangirai,
leader of the main Movement for Democratic
Change.
Earlier this week, Zimbabwe's ambassador to the United States was
interviewed on CNN. Machivenyika Mapuranga said a ban on allowing CNN
reporters into Zimbabwe would continue, saying the broadcaster and the
British Broadcasting Corp. "champion the imperialist interests of the
British and the Americans." CNN anchor Michael Holmes responded: "Reporting
the comments of other governments is not acting on their behalf; it's
reporting."
In a statement, the Information Ministry said CNN's
editorial policy "echoed
the United States government's policy of regime
change in Zimbabwe."
Both state television and radio have harshly
criticized CNN's Africa
correspondent, Jeff Koinange, now doing most of his
reporting on Zimbabwe
from outside the country.
"Sadly, CNN has
embedded itself within such a treacherous imperialist policy
... it can no
longer validate its claim to be a trusted source of accurate
and balanced
news opinion," the statement said.
Four foreign journalists have been
expelled under sweeping media laws
enforced since 2003. The British
Broadcasting Corp. is officially banned.
Scores of independent local
journalists have been assaulted or arrested and
jailed under the media
laws.
___
Associated Press Writer Brandon Reed contributed to this
report
VOA
By Carole Gombakomba
Washington
23
March 2007
Some staff at Zimbabwe government hospitals in
Harare and Bulawayo have gone
on strike again. Sources said supporting staff
at Parirenyatwa Hospital,
Harare, stopped work this week over salaries - the
lowest paid earn Z$40,000
(US$2) a month.
Derek Mangoya, who
represents junior residents at United Bulawayo Hospital,
said junior and
senior residents, nurses, and other staff walked off the job
Thursday when
their pay slips indicated that their salaries had been cut in
half.
Harare Hospital sources said some residents received as little
as Z$17,000
while others received up to Z$700,000 - still less than the
settlement
reached last month of a strike by residents that lasted for 10
weeks,
crippling the state health system.
Hospital Doctors
Association President Kudakwashe Nyamutukwa said more than
100 junior and
senior residents at Parirenyatwa were not paid at all this
month, prompting
some to stay home.Many of those still on the job have
launched a work
slowdown.
Nyamutukwa told reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7
for Zimbabwe
that conditions in government hospitals are now chaotic because
there has
been no explanation from the government as to why payrolls were
disrupted.
Fahamu
(Oxford)
OPINION
March 22, 2007
Posted to the web March 23,
2007
Sokwanele
Sokwanele present a moving and shocking account
of last week's brutal attack
on Zimbabwean pro-democracy activists, the
'Save Zimbabwe Campaign', by
Mugabe's government forces.
A week ago,
Zimbabwean pro democracy activists, campaigners, political
leaders and
supporters tried to attend a rally in Harare, organised by the
Save Zimbabwe
Campaign. Their purpose was to come together and collectively,
peacefully,
protest against the terrible conditions in Zimbabwe. The
government's forces
were lying in wait for them.
Riot police surrounded the venue and
many of those trying to attend were
arrested en masse. Gift Tandare, a young
NCA and MDC activist was killed,
shot by the police, whilst running to
escape. Those taken to Machipisa were
viciously tortured and many suffered
serious injuries. In fact, the attacks
were so brutal and callous, that
those being beaten struggled to comprehend
the enormity of what was actually
taking place. Tendai Biti, who witnessed
the attack on Morgan Tsvangirai,
described the experience as 'like being in
an old bad violent movie,
surreal, but where you find that you are one of
the
actors'.
International audiences learned of all these atrocities within a
relatively
short space of time, the news spreading like wildfire through the
international media; images and interviews prompting analyses, comment and
endless interpretation. By the time the news - our news - filtered through
Zimbabwe, it was already 'old news' in neighbouring countries and abroad.
Zimbabweans held hostage by Robert Mugabe's repressive AIPPA laws (Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act) struggled for information and
updates.
Tracey Chapman famously informed us in song that 'Talkin'
about a revolution
sounds like whisper". Zimbabweans could add that 'talking
about a revolution
looks like an sms message'. The first message I received
from Harare read
'mass arrests @ rally. 1 killed. lots beaten by police. v v
bad. r u ok
where u r?' It was the first of many sms messages that day. The
details of
our collective experience filtered down slowly via texts, emails,
and phone
calls from concerned family and friends in the diaspora who have
blissful
access to extensive information.
Those involved with, or on
the fringes of, activist work benefit from a
network of trusted friends who
freely share their information among
themselves. Those outside the network,
occupied with the daily business of
trying to survive in Zimbabwe, exchange
the information they have in guarded
language - eager to find out more, but
careful or fearful of whom they can
trust. The majority of people in
Zimbabwe do not have the luxury of an
internet connection or a cell phone,
and they rely on second or third hand
information, constantly re-cycled and
checked. On their way to work they
walk pas newspaper billboards
broadcasting disinformation and blatant lies.
If they are lucky enough to
have a radio, the state controlled media brings
more of the same to their
ears.
On Monday 12 March, the day after the torture and assaults, The
Chronicle's
headline was 'Mugabe ready to stand in 2008 poll'. On Tuesday,
as the news
started to trickle down, the headline changed to 'State warns
MDC against
lawlessness'. The article emotively and deceptively informed its
readers:
'Tsvangirai and Mutambara were actually commanding (hooligans)
using
children as shields". Wednesday's headline: "Suspected cop killer
appears in
court.'
On Thursday, the propaganda machine kicked in with
an article titled 'Govt
warns MDC on violence'. A lengthy article consisting
mostly of quotes by
Zanu PF Minister of Information and Publicity,
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, ducked all
mention of torture by deftly sweeping it under
a sentence that described the
police action as an 'appropriate response from
officers of law and order'.
The images of Morgan Tsvangirai with a swollen
battered face, so widely
circulated in the international media, have still
not been seen by the
majority of people in our country. But by Thursday, a
tiny minority of
Zimbabweans with DSTV subscriptions had seen the footage
and images on their
screens of the government's barbarity - most notably in
the 24 hour news
programmes (BBC World, Sky News and CNN International) -
and the detailed
descriptions will have started filtering down. Note the
channels that
horrified Dr Ndlovu the most; note too how any condemnation of
violence and
brutality is re-written in the Zanu PF lexicon to be an
'unconditional
statement of support' for the opposition:
'Government
has noted with utter dismay the unconditional statements of
support to the
violent MDC by a number of western governments, including
those of Britain,
America and New Zealand. It also notes the role played by
big western media
networks, led by the British Broadcasting Corporation and
Cable News
Network, in seeking to absolve and whitewash the MDC from obvious
and
inescapable blame of public violence.'
Information threatens Mugabe. Days
after the attacks, Grace Kwinje and Sekai
Holland were prevented from
leaving the country to receive specialist
medical attention on the spurious
grounds that they required a letter from
the ministry of health granting
permission to leave Zimbabwe; Arthur
Mutambara was arrested while trying to
leave Zimbabwe to visit his wife in
South Africa. Violence was shamelessly
used to stop Nelson Chamisa from
attending an EU-ACP meeting in Brussels -
he was viciously attacked at
Harare International Airport by men with iron
bars.
This is the Zanu PF regime's way of silencing their voices. Kept
within the
country, their first hand accounts of torture and brutality can
be moderated
by limited access to the international media. Outside the
country, the press
would be queuing up to interview and speak to
them.
The fight for information is key to the looming non-violent
revolution in
Zimbabwe. A colleague described how she had watched the BBC
News footage
with all her friends and associates assembled together. The
footage
concluded with a statement by one of the opposition leaders that
Zimbabweans
were angry and ready to take action. There was silence in the
room until
someone said, 'I'm ready, but how?'
'How' to get the
message of the revolution to the people is one of the
biggest challenges
facing the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, how to synchronously
organise and
mobilise a nation from within an information vacuum.
Information will also
help ensure a non-violent revolution; chaos is
Mugabe's friend and his
excuse. Ordinary Zimbabwean can help too. The
message to them is to be less
careful, to share information more freely. If
you have not signed up to
mailing lists delivering information by email,
then do so now. Share with
others. Print out articles and images and leave
them in a public toilet as
reading matter for the next occupier of the
cubicle.
Think about how
we can collectively fill the silence with sound.
Zimbabweans are ready.
The initial shock at the brutality is wearing off and
has been replaced with
outrage and anger at the regime's vicious tactics.
Perhaps the single most
important outcome from the recent events are the
strong messages of unity
emanating from the opposition movement. Morgan
Tsvangirai has
said:
'They [...] brutalised my flesh. But they will never break my
spirit. I will
soldier on until Zimbabwe is free" and Arthur Mutumbara has
said: "I can
assure Robert Mugabe that this is the end game. We are going to
do it by
democratic means, by being beaten up and by being arrested - but we
are
going to do it.'
Unified messages like these reinvigorate hope
and bolster flagging spirits.
The excessive violence was designed to instil
fear in the population and to
intimidate the opposition leaders. But by
being so extreme, Robert Mugabe
also revealed his fragile position, and for
the first time looked weakened.
Rather than being his usual despotic self,
using dirty tactics to stay
one-step ahead, Mugabe looks increasingly like a
crazed dictator cornered
and fighting his last fight. He is a man surrounded
by battles and by
enemies he has created for himself. They are coming at him
from within his
own party, from the opposition, from Zimbabwe's civil
society, and from the
international community; but, his biggest enemy is the
economy.
People who are struggling to survive, talk openly and endlessly
about their
daily battle to feed, educate and care for their families.
People who are
careful about 'talkin about a revolution' are less careful
about talking
about the internal succession battle within the Zanu PF party.
We are
looking for someone to be accountable for our misery. The combination
of
poverty, Zanu PF conflicts and outrage at the torture inflicted on our
leaders has left ordinary Zimbabweans feeling a little more
emboldened.
Mugabe is famous for once saying: 'absolute power is when a
man is starving
and you are the only one able to give him food'. But what
happens to the
person holding the reins of power when the food runs out and
the cupboard is
bare?
Mugabe is on the brink of finding
out.
* Sowkwanele - This is Zimbabwe is a Civil Action Support
Group based in
Zimbabwe. In order to protect themselves under the repressive
brutal regime
of Robert Mugabe they have to remain annoymous.
http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/
*
Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at
www.pambazuka.org
http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/
New Vision, Uganda
Friday, 23rd March,
2007
John Nagenda
UGANDA'S No1 COLUMNIST...
INFORMED, CONTROVERSIAL AND PROVOCATIVE
Surely the best news out of
Africa this week is that there seem to be
tangible signs that Zimbabwe
president Robert Mugabe, 83, seems at long last
to be approaching the end of
his bloody reign.
It might prove yet another mirage, of which there have
been too many, but
along the principle of a trickle of water growing into a
mighty wave far
from its source, this might suggest that the Mugabe edifice
will soon crash
to the ground.
Even if it took, say, another whole
year, the sweetness would not be
significantly less. Starting some years
ago, this column became engrossed at
what had happened to Comrade Mugabe. He
had, more than two decades before,
first come to public prominence (during
the times of Sithole, Muzorewa,
Nkomo; to say nothing of the dreadful
Smith).
It did not take long realising that here was the man destined to
carry the
torch forward; as indeed he was. Never mind that Smith had said
that Black
Rule would never happen in hundreds (or was it thousands?) of
years, if
ever. He had not learnt never to say never!
Mugabe started
off well; in fact more than that. And then rumours started
filtering through
of dreadful things happening to his competitor Nkomo's
Bulawayo stronghold,
headed by North Korean "trainers". For a time it was
easier, more
politically expedient, to dismiss them as propaganda.
I was chilled to
the marrow, sometime in '79, on my first visit to India
(with my brother
Stephen) to be told by a couple of Zimbabwean girl students
(one a niece of
Muzorewa's) that these rumours were deadly true. In the
years that followed
this became increasingly clear, reaching the crescendo
we are now
witnessing.
About four years ago I wrote that Mugabe was a disgrace to
his family, his
country, Africa and the Black world. On another occasion,
that God in his
wisdom should do the right thing (by calling him to his
better chambers),
thus saving Zimbabwe from total catastrophe. Is this now
coming about in the
nick of time?
In the end I became bored, as I am
sure my readers also, at repeating
myself. But when you see a leader of the
Opposition, Morgan Tsvangirai, and
countless others, beaten to a pulp by
Mugabean forces; worst of all when you
see a woman leader, 64-year old Sekai
Holland, savaged into a destroyed mass
in a hospital bed, then it is time to
risk boring again.
Incidentally, I hope investigations being carried out
on the alleged
battering of a Uganda lawyer at the High Court in the famous
"stand-off"
recently, will, if true, result in the strong punishment of
those
responsible, if convicted. The lawyer one day, poor Ms Holland the
next! I
regret not having come out strongly enough last week regarding the
High
Court violence, no matter the capital being earned out of the incident
by a
combination of the usual suspects!
Usually I would, rightly,
snort and sneer at those who flee into the apron
strings of the Mighty
Donors, but in the case of the Zimbabwe ex Army
Commander currently
cultivating them vigorously, I will close an eye.
Reports say it has made
President Mugabe, for the first time in a long
period, lose his sleep at
what this spells to his continued stay in State
House. Halleluiah (Praise
the Lord)!
I am crossing my fingers to believe it is not already too late
for him to do
the right thing even at this latest of hours. He should
abdicate, gaining
fantastically comfortable exile in, say, DR ("Dear")
Congo, or South Africa;
thus perhaps minimising the tornado headed his
way.
He took risks as a true freedom fighter, which he was, for the good
of
Zimbabwe (and Africa); let him do the same again, in the same cause.
Failing
which, may God's avenging fires consume him.
*****************
Call me heartless but I couldn't help clapping at the fate
of the South
African ex Minister of Health. There are strong questions in
her country how
she was able to jump the queue to have an operation for her
Hepatitis A
disease. This is the woman who in her pomp, during her country's
backward
period of doing little for Aids sufferers, suggested a cure of
aubergine
cooked in garlic. How brainless!
I really hope she follows,
Aids or not, her own sage (pun intended) menu,
and not waste time on
operations! We started with the best news out of
Africa, here's arguably the
worst.
Wednesday's Vision carried the heart-churning headline: CABINET
GIVES AWAY
MABIRA. Even if not already signed, the likelihood is that
cabinet will
again cave in. (Incidentally, who bags the felled forest
money?!)
Setting aside technical procrastination, or even word-games,
this game is
nearly over. But awful though that is, and catastrophic as it
might prove,
the worst nightmare is that it is being done without the
deepest research
necessary. This foolhardy approach is like basing a science
on a whim.
Waiting for the absolutely crucial research, widely available
worldwide,
would not stop the Sugar Barons turning our revered forests into
their sugar
(pun intended); if the research showed it to be
propitious.
Why has cabinet not made allowances for this; what is its
fear? Where is the
sense in cutting down ancient forests and planting brand
new ones; are we
kidding?
Uganda is embarking on a terrifying journey
shrouded in mystery, and
possibly posing the greatest of lasting dangers.
Ask the Sahara Desert! Only
parliament now stands between us and
people-imposed catastrophe. Parliament
must turn it down.
The United States and human rights NGOs have sought to raise international
awareness of the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan and spur international
action to address the situation. This effort is warranted but should not
distract from the ongoing crisis in Zimbabwe, which has also caused great
suffering and a large refugee population. In a ruthless, seven-year campaign to maintain political power, President
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has targeted his opponents for abuse, legal
harassment, and economic punishment. At the same time, he has used his authority
to reward allies and elicit support from the police, the military, and other key
groups. These policies have resulted in a precipitous economic decline,
political repression, and humanitarian crisis rivaling that in Darfur. Recent
attacks on opposition party leaders have drawn worldwide attention. The United States should strengthen its
existing sanctions on Zimbabwe and press other nations and international
organizations to ratchet up pressure on Mugabe and his supporters. History of a Crisis Spurred by a decades-long civil war and economic sanctions, the government of
Rhodesia accepted a series of agreements in 1979 that led to the establishment
of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe, one of the leaders of the Zimbabwean
independence effort, became Zimbabwe's first prime minister in 1980 and
president in 1987. He has been the country's sole leader since it gained
independence. In its first decade, Zimbabwe achieved steady economic growth while pursuing
efforts to recover from the civil war and provide education, health care, and
other governmental services. But by the mid-1990s, inflation, unemployment, and
growing political repression led to discontent, protests, and the formation of
the first major opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), in
1999. The MDC achieved its first major victory when its campaign managed to
defeat a constitutional amendment that would have "legalized the president's
continued rule, made government officials immune from prosecution, and allowed
uncompensated seizure of white-owned land for redistribution to black
farmers."[1] The MDC capitalized on this victory by winning nearly half
the seats of parliament in the 2000 election despite numerous efforts by
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party to influence the election in its favor. Stung by the first substantial challenge to his power in 20 years of ruling
Zimbabwe, Mugabe has employed increasingly brutal tactics to intimidate and
undermine the political opposition. According to the State Department 2006 Human
Rights Report: The ruling party's dominant control and manipulation of the political process
through intimidation and corruption effectively negated the right of citizens to
change their government. Unlawful killings and politically motivated kidnappings
occurred. The state sanctioned the use of excessive force and torture, and
security forces tortured members of the opposition, union leaders, and civil
society activists…. Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained
journalists, demonstrators, and religious leaders; lengthy pretrial detention
was a problem. Executive influence and interference in the judiciary were
problems. The government continued to forcibly evict citizens and to demolish
homes. The government continued to use repressive laws to suppress freedom of
speech, press, assembly, movement, association, and academic freedom. Government
corruption and impunity remained widespread. High ranking government officials
made numerous public threats of violence against demonstrators.[2] According to the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, there were 368 incidents of
torture from January through November 2006, over 500 politically motivated
assaults, and 11 politically motivated abductions/kidnappings.[3] Other, specific examples of political repression include
these: Despite international criticism, the political attacks continued. Mugabe
responded to foreign critics by telling them to "go hang" and threatened to
throw Western ambassadors out of the country for interfering in its internal
affairs.[12] These latest incidents of repression follow years of mismanagement by
Mugabe's government that have left the country in crisis. Economic Collapse When Mugabe assumed leadership of Zimbabwe in 1980, he inherited
well-developed manufacturing and mining sectors, a competitive agricultural
sector, a thriving tourist industry, and sound infrastructure. The country has
rich mineral deposits of asbestos, chromite, coal, copper, diamonds and other
gems, gold, iron ore, nickel, and platinum. To solidify his hold on power,
Mugabe has pursued a number of policies over the past decade that have crippled
the Zimbabwean economy. Seizures and Redistribution of Farmland. Considered the
breadbasket of Africa only a decade ago, Zimbabwe is now unable to feed itself
and regularly appeals to international programs for food aid. Zimbabwe's
agricultural success resulted from its modern, large-scale commercial farms.
These farms were largely owned by white Zimbabweans, many of whom supported the
MDC. Beginning in 2000, Mugabe's administration began forcibly seizing
commercial farms owned by white Zimbabweans. The stated aims of this program was
to redistribute land to black Zimbabweans, but most of the land ended up in the
hands of Mugabe's supporters. According to the Department of State, Implementation of the government's ongoing redistribution of expropriated,
white owned, commercial farms substantially favored the ruling party elite and
continued to lack transparency. Top ruling party officials continued to hand
pick multiple farms and register them in the names of family members to evade
the government's one farm policy. The government continued to allow individuals
aligned with top officials to seize land not designated for
acquisition. The land redistribution program has effectively destroyed Zimbabwe's
commercial agriculture sector. Large farms were broken up into smaller, less
profitable plots and given to individuals with little experience in farming.
Production plummeted. Production of tobacco, previously the largest export crop,
fell from 2 million kilograms in 2000 to 60,000 kilograms in 2006.[13] Production of corn, the country's primary grain, has
fallen sharply since 2000, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that
Zimbabwe will produce just 850,000 tons of corn this year, less than half of its
domestic needs.[14] Irresponsible Monetary Policy and Rampant Inflation. Inflation
has exceeded 1,000 percent since April 2006, and the country now has the highest
rate of inflation in the world. In March 2007, Zimbabwe's inflation rate rose to
1,729 percent,[15] and the International Monetary Fund predicts it will top
4,000 percent by the end of the year.[16] Inflation has impoverished the working population, whose
wages have not kept pace with the rising costs of basic necessities like food,
cooking oil, and clothing. Doctors and nurses have been on strike seeking a pay
raise of nearly 9,000 percent. Teachers staged a work slowdown despite a raise
of 300 percent in January and succeeded in winning a 400 percent raise in
February.[17] Some workers find that their daily wages are taken up by
bus fare to and from work.[18] Yet, as noted by The Daily Telegraph, "It
takes only a few weeks for the value of every pay rise given to civil servants
to be wiped out. But the bankrupt regime can only cover the cost of further wage
rises by printing money—which fuels inflation still further and creates pressure
for yet more pay increases."[19] Local governments cannot meet budgets or provide basic
services, and with prices soaring, businesses are unable to afford raw
materials. Disastrous Economic Policies. Zimbabwe maintains an official exchange
rate of Z$250 to US$1, but the unofficial exchange market trades at Z$7,000 to
the US$1 or even lower.[20] Zimbabwe's government ran a deficit of 43 percent of GDP
in 2006, and the economy shrunk by over 7 percent in 2005.[21] The government maintains subsidies and price controls
for key commodities, including gasoline, bread, agricultural seeds, fertilizer,
and other basic goods, and for favored sectors of the economy.[22] The government recently announced that all prices are to
be frozen from March 1 to June 30 and that anyone raising prices will be
arrested and punished.[23] As a result of these policies, Zimbabwe has experienced
persistent shortages of foreign exchange, fuel, and food. Black markets, which
can evade the price restrictions, have flourished. In addition, Mugabe has seized or encouraged his supporters to impede
businesses owned by political opponents and threatened to nationalize entire
sectors of the economy without compensation. This process is already underway.
In 2006, Mugabe announced that the government intended to expropriate 51 percent
of all mines without providing any compensation. In an effort to clamp down on
private mining, the government arrested as many as 20,000 miners in late 2006
and early 2007.[24] Most recently, Mugabe announced plans for the government
to take control of Zimbabwe's diamond mines.[25] Land expropriation, obviation of property rights, and unrealistic price
controls and exchange rates have led the economy to contract every year since
1998 and by 34 percent overall between 1998 and 2005 in constant terms.[26] Per-capita GDP has fallen by 38 percent over that
period, from $675 to $422.[27] An estimated 30 percent of Zimbabwe's population lived
in poverty in 1999; today, over 80 percent are believed to live in poverty.[28] Direct foreign investment is non-existent, and the
unemployment rate exceeds 80 percent.[29] Humanitarian Disaster.Mugabe's economic and political policies have
had a dire effect on the people of his country. Most immediately, the government
land redistribution program has devastated agricultural production, and
Zimbabwe, which once exported food crops, is now dependent on international food
assistance to avoid starvation. Five million Zimbabweans received food
assistance in the first quarter of 2006.[30] According to the U.S. Agency for International
Development, "In November 2006, more than 3,000 [metric tons] of food was
distributed to at least 500,000 people [by the World Food Programme and its
partners]…. The Zimbabwe vulnerability assessment estimates that about 1.4
million rural people will not have sufficient entitlements with which to access
adequate food during the peak hunger period…."[31] UNICEF estimates that up to 2 million people are
vulnerable to starvation.[32] Worse, numerous sources report that food aid is being
distributed by the Mugabe government to reward supporters and punish those who
support the opposition. The government's Operation Murambatsvina demolition of informal housing and
markets directly rendered 700,000 urban Zimbabweans homeless or unemployed.
Fully 70 percent of the urban population may have lost shelter or employment. In
addition, over 2 million (more than 15 percent of Zimbabwe's population) are
believed to have been indirectly affected from loss of customers, employees, or
markets.[33] The government told those affected to "return to their
rural origins," even though most had no such home to which they could return.
Indeed, many had initially become homeless when the government sanctioned the
seizure of commercial farms.[34] Reports indicate that forced eviction continued into
December 2006. Zimbabwe, which once had one of the best health care systems in Africa, now
has the world's lowest life expectancy at less than 37 years—a drastic fall from
the life expectancy of 62 years in 1990.[35] An estimated 42,000 women died from childbirth in
Zimbabwe in 2006, over 40 times the figure in the mid-1990s.[36] According to UNICEF, one in four children are orphans.[37] Zimbabwe also has a significant HIV/AIDS problem; the
disease infects an estimated 18 percent of the population. Most Zimbabweans are
unable to afford medical care or are unable to obtain medicines due to the lack
of foreign exchange, strikes by doctors and nurses, and shrinking incomes. In addition, the lack of resources has forced the government to abandon vital
public services. Power is erratic in parts of the country due to strikes over
pay and an inability to maintain generators. Harare's sewage treatment plant
broke down in January 2007, causing 50 percent of the city's raw sewage to be
dumped into the main reservoir. As a result, cases of cholera are rising.[38] Perhaps most telling is the fact that over 3 million Zimbabweans—a quarter of
Zimbabwe's entire population and a majority of the working age population—have
chosen to flee the country for neighboring South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and
Mozambique.[39] This refugee population is equivalent to the number that
have fled the Darfur region of Sudan and is actually much higher as a percentage
of the population. It has also imposed a substantial burden on the other
countries in the region. Botswana has built a fence along the border in order to
stem the flow of Zimbabweans and tightened border checks on people seeking to
enter Botswana.[40] South Africa has been struggling to cope with an
estimated 3 million Zimbabweans believed to be in the country and deported an
average of 12,000 Zimbabweans per month in 2006.[41] Recommendations The situation in Zimbabwe ranks among the world's worst government-created
humanitarian disasters. Tragically for the Zimbabweans still in the country and
those who have been forced to flee, the world has failed to give the situation
as much attention as it has to other crises. As noted by the Financial
Times: The persistence of the crisis has dulled international senses to the looming
danger that it could yet get far worse. South African and other regional leaders
remain reluctant to weigh into issues that Mr Mugabe has cleverly manipulated
around race. And there are signs in Europe of weakening resolve to isolate his
regime. The United Nations has itself dropped attempts at promoting a more
orderly post-Mugabe transition. It is time to end the hand-wringing and start
constructing incentives for change.[42] Recent media attention following the assault and arrest of opposition party
leaders has shaken this complacency and focused the world's attention on
Zimbabwe. The U.S. should take advantage of this moment to increase pressure on
Mugabe. Strengthen and Expand U.S. Sanctions. The U.S. has been strongly
critical of the Mugabe regime. For instance, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
called Zimbabwe an "outpost of tyranny" during her confirmation hearing before
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.[43] The U.S. has suspended all non-humanitarian aid to
Zimbabwe in response to Mugabe's repressive policies, but the U.S. does provide
food aid and disaster relief, HIV/AIDS funds, and assistance for democracy
promotion.[44] It is a legitimate question whether these funds can
achieve their objective while Mugabe is in power—a key example being the
allegations of politicized distribution of food aid. The U.S. should reconsider
all assistance to Zimbabwe that is open to manipulation or distribution by the
government. The U.S. has also imposed targeted sanctions against top Zimbabwean officials
and "those who formulate, implement, or benefit from policies that undermine or
injure Zimbabwe's democratic institutions or impede the transition to a
multi-party democracy" since 2002 and prohibits the sale of military items and
services to Zimbabwe.[45] Since 2003, the U.S. has added to the list of Zimbabwean
individuals and entities whose assets owned or held in the U.S. are frozen by
executive order; currently the list includes 128 individuals and 33 entities.[46] President Bush extended these sanctions and restrictions
for a year on March 1, 2007, explaining: I took this action to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the
foreign policy of the United States constituted by the actions and policies of
certain members of the Government of Zimbabwe and other persons to undermine
Zimbabwe's democratic processes or institutions. These actions have contributed
to the deliberate breakdown in the rule of law in Zimbabwe, politically
motivated violence and intimidation, and political and economic instability in
the southern African region.[47] Following the crackdown on MDC leaders, State Department spokesman Tom Casey
indicated that the U.S. was considering additional sanctions. One way to enhance
the targeted sanctions would be to apply the travel ban, which currently extends
only to spouses, to the families of Mugabe and others subject to existing
sanctions and to extend the restrictions to more individuals in the Zimbabwean
government. Another option is to adjust current sanctions, which permit U.S.
importers and exporters to trade with Zimbabwe on most goods, to prohibit trade
with Zimbabwe on selected items that benefit Mugabe, his associates, or his
policies. Unilateral trade sanctions are usually ineffective but can send an
important political signal. Push for Stronger International Sanctions. Although the
European Union has a travel ban and asset freeze in place on 125 Zimbabweans,
Britain has announced that it plans to urge other EU members to adopt stronger
sanctions on the Mugabe regime. According to Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett,
"The Zimbabwean Government's continued brutal treatment of the opposition and
recent actions show its total disregard for international law and the will of
the international community…. We must look urgently at ramping up the pressure
on these individuals."[48] The U.S. should support this effort. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have suspended lending to
Zimbabwe for non-payment of arrears. The U.S. should oppose any effort to
reinstate Zimbabwe as long as Mugabe remains in power. The U.S. and the U.K. should also seek travel restrictions and other
sanctions on Mugabe and his supporters in the United Nations Security Council.
South Africa, which currently serves as president of the Security Council,
rejected the possibility of considering the situation in Zimbabwe in the
Security Council. According to the South African Ambassador to the United
Nations Dumisani Khumalo, "We truly regret what's happening in Zimbabwe, but
it's not the matter that belongs to the Security Council."[49] But the U.K. takes over the presidency in April and the
U.S. assumes the presidency in May. Both countries should use this position to
place the situation in Zimbabwe on the Council's agenda.[50] British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett announced on March 14 that the
U.K. wants "the United Nations Human Rights Council to look into the situation
in Zimbabwe urgently, and will be pushing for this in the coming days."[51] Hopefully, such action will take the form of a
resolution condemning the government's abuses or a special session focusing on
the situation in Zimbabwe. Such an action would signal that, despite its
profoundly disappointing performance thus far, the Human Rights Council can
overcome its weaknesses to address human rights crises.[52] The U.S. should support efforts to have the U.N. Human
Rights Council take up the human rights violations occurring in Zimbabwe. Press African Nations to Condemn Mugabe. Mugabe has been under
severe criticism for years, mostly from Western countries, for mismanagement of
his country's economy and human rights violations. However, this pressure has
had little effect without support from Zimbabwe's neighbors. Indeed, Mugabe
routinely rejects such criticism as "imperialist" or "colonial" intervention in
Zimbabwe's affairs—a message that resonates in Africa. Criticism also has had little influence in the United Nations, which is
dominated by regional voting blocks and groups like the Non-Aligned Movement and
the G-77. These groups often act to protect their members from scrutiny. Even
countries from Latin America and Asia are unlikely to support resolutions
condemning Mugabe or Zimbabwe unless some African countries sign on. Support
from African nations, which usually support one another in international forums,
is critical if proposals to apply pressure from the United Nations and other
international institutions are to move forward. Without support from some
African countries, efforts to condemn Zimbabwe in the U.N. General Assembly's
Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), the Human Rights Council,
and other international bodies will likely fail. In the past, African nations have demonstrated little interest in confronting
Mugabe, who enjoys continent-wide respect as an elder statesman. The African
approach is best illustrated by South Africa's "quiet diplomacy" initiative
aimed at resolving the problems in Zimbabwe through negotiations and dialogue
between the MDC and the government. South Africa continues to champion this
initiative despite its ineffectiveness. There are signs, however, that patience
among African nations is eroding after the latest crackdowns. In reaction to the
arrests and beatings of MDC leaders, South Africa urged the "Zimbabwean
government to ensure that the rule of law including respect for rights of all
Zimbabweans and leaders of various political parties is respected."[53] Ghanaian President John Kufuor, who holds the rotating
chairmanship of the African Union, was more critical, calling the situation in
Zimbabwe "very embarrassing" and stating that the African Union was doing all it
could to help.[54] The U.S. should work with individual African nations and the African Union to
prevent reflexive support for Zimbabwe and help them recognize the necessity of
holding Mugabe and his supporters accountable for the suffering of
Zimbabweans. Prepare for a Post-Mugabe Transition.President Mugabe's current term
in office expires in 2008. Mugabe is reluctant to leave office and recently
proposed extending his current term to 2010 or even running for another six-year
term in 2008. However, support for Mugabe in Zimbabwe and within his own party
is declining rapidly, and several influential ZANU-PF party officials are
jockeying for the presidency.[55] There are indications of unrest among the broader
population and within the armed forces, the police, and ZANU-PF. This raises the
possibility of Mugabe's ouster.[56] Even if Mugabe is able to remain in office, he is an
elderly man of more than 80 years and will eventually expire. While the end of Mugabe's reign is long overdue, it will be no guarantee that
his successor will prove more willing to support multi-party democracy or
abandon the repressive economic and political policies that have led Zimbabwe
into its current crisis. Mugabe's ouster or death could precipitate a chaotic
period of instability with dire consequences for Southern Africa. The U.S. needs
to have a plan in place to assist the transition of Zimbabwe to the post-Mugabe
era. The first principle of such a strategy is a public statement that the U.S.
will not recognize any successor to Mugabe unless he or she is the choice of the
Zimbabwean people in a free and fair democratic election that permits
participation by citizens living outside of the country. Any transition
authority promising to facilitate such elections should be granted limited time
to accomplish this goal, and the removal of sanctions and restrictions should be
made contingent upon following through with steps toward a free election and the
adoption of economic reforms necessary to alleviate the crisis. The U.S. should
offer to assist this process financially and logistically. The U.S. should
appropriate funds now so that they are available when needed to address
instability in Zimbabwe and assist in the process of reintegrating refugees. It
should also enter into discussions with Zimbabwe's neighbors to develop a
coordinated strategy. Conclusion For nearly a decade, President Robert Mugabe has abused his authority to
maintain his brutal stranglehold on power. He has bankrupted and ruined one of
the most robust economies in sub-Saharan Africa. Political and economic
repression under Mugabe have precipitated a humanitarian crisis that rivals the
genocide in Darfur. While the United States has adopted targeted sanctions and
pressed for the U.N. and the African Union to confront the ongoing crisis,
little progress has been made. But now attacks on opposition party leaders have focused international
attention on the situation. The U.S. should seize this opportunity to strengthen
sanctions against Zimbabwe, press for condemnation of the situation in Zimbabwe
by the United Nations and the African Union, and achieve the adoption of
international sanctions targeted at Mugabe and his political supporters in the
Security Council. The U.S. should also begin to develop a plan to assist the
transition of Zimbabwe to the post-Mugabe era to minimize the chaos and negative
consequences for the region and the people of Zimbabwe. Brett D.
Schaefer is Jay Kingham Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs in the
Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, a division of the Kathryn and Shelby
Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies, at The Heritage
Foundation. [1] Lauren Ploch, "Zimbabwe:
Current Issues and U.S. Policy," CRS Report for Congress, March 13, 2007,
summary and pp. 1–2. [2] "Zimbabwe," Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices 2006, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor,
U.S. Department of State, March 6, 2007, at www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78765.htm. [3] Ploch, p.
15. [4] Ibid., pp.
3–6. [5] Ibid., pp.
15–20. [6] Tony Hawkins, "Mugabe bans
political rallies after clash," The Financial Times, February 22, 2007,
p. 5. [7] Amnesty International,
"Zimbabwe: Calls for investigation into killing of activist and release of
peaceful protestors," Press Release, March 12, 2007, at http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR460012007. [8] Michael Wines, "50
Protesters Hospitalized in Zimbabwe After Beatings," The New York Times,
March 14, 2007, p. A8. [9] Basildon Peta, "Injured
Tsvangirai vows to fight on for change in Zimbabwe," The Independent,
March 14, 2007, at http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2355972.ece. [10] Tony Hawkins, "US warns
Mugabe over clampdown on opposition," The Financial Times, March 14,
2007, p. 7. [11] "Secretary-General Urges
Release of Detained, Beaten Zimbabwe Opposition Leaders," Secretary-General
Document SG/SM/10908, U.N. Department of Public Information, March 12, 2007, at
www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/sgsm10908.doc.htm. [12] "Mugabe tells critics to
‘go hang,'" BBC News, March 15, 2007, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6454827.stm,
and "Zimbabwe summons, threatens to expel Western envoys," Reuters, March 19,
2007. [13] Andrew Meldrum, "Zimbabwe
is broke and hungry," The Guardian, March 1, 2007, p.
20. [14] "Key facts about
Zimbabwe's crisis," Reuters, at www.zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=1944&cat=2. [15] World News Digest,
"Zimbabwe annual inflation hits 1,729%," The Financial Times, March 10,
2007, p. 8. [16] Meldrum, "Zimbabwe is
broke and hungry." [17] Michael Wines, "Zimbabwe:
Teachers End Strike After Pay Deal," The New York Times, February 24,
2007, p. 6. [18] Michael Wines, "As
Inflation Soars, Zimbabwe Economy Plunges," The New York Times, February
7, 2007, p. A1. [19] Peta Thornycroft,
"Zimbabwe on the brink of total collapse," The Daily Telegraph, February
9, 2007, p. 19. [20] Meldrum, "Zimbabwe is
broke and hungry." [21] Tony Hawkins, "Zimbabwe
reveals budget deficit of 43% of GDP," Financial Times, December 1 2006,
and Word Bank, World
Development Indicators Online. Data are in constant U.S.
dollars. [22]Tim Kane, Kim R. Holmes,
and Mary Anastasia O'Grady, 2007 Index of Economic Freedom (Washington,
D.C.: The Heritage Foundation and Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 2007), p.
398. [23] Wines, "As Inflation
Soars, Zimbabwe Economy Plunges." [24] Peta Thornycroft, "Miners
arrested as Mugabe eyes goldfields," The Daily Telegraph, January 10,
2007, p.13. [25] Bloomberg News, "Zimbabwe:
Takeover of Diamond Mines," New York Times, February 22, 2007, p.
C15. [26] World Development
Indicators Online. Data are in constant 2000 U.S. dollars. [27] Ibid. [28] Andrew Meldrum, "Zimbabwe
heads for economic meltdown," The Guardian, February 7, 2007, p.
19. [29] Ploch, summary and p.
2. [30] Ibid., p.
20. [31] U.S. Agency for
International Development, "Zimbabwe: Food Security Update," Famine Early
Warning Systems Network, January 2007, at www.fews.net/centers/innerSections.aspx?f=zw&pageID=monthliesDoc&m=1002281. [32] Meldrum, "Zimbabwe is
broke and hungry." [33] Ploch, pp.
15–20. [34] Ibid., pp.
15–20. [35] "Key facts about
Zimbabwe's crisis," Reuters, March 14, 2007, at www.zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=1944&cat=2. [36] James Kirchick, "A Real
Refugee Problem," The New York Sun, February 26, 2007,
at [37] Meldrum, "Zimbabwe is
broke and hungry." [38] Meldrum, "Zimbabwe heads
for economic meltdown." [39] Reuters, "Key facts about
Zimbabwe's crisis." [40] Reuters, "Botswana
tightens border after Zimbabwe tension," March 19, 2007, at www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19488886.htm. [41] Ploch, summary and p.
34. [42] Editorial, "Crunch in
Zimbabwe," Financial Times, February 14 2007, p. 14. [43] Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, "Opening Remarks by Secretary of State-Designate Dr.
Condoleezza Rice," Senate Foreign Relations Committee, January 18, 2005, at
www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2005/40991.htm. [44] Ploch, summary and pp.
29-30. [45] President George W. Bush,
"Zimbabwe Proclamation," The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, March
4, 2002, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=61821. [46] President George W. Bush,
"Executive Order: Blocking Property of Additional Persons Undermining Democratic
Process or Institutions in Zimbabwe," The White House, Office of the Press
Secretary, November 23, 2005, at www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051123-4.html.
Annex available at www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/legal/eo/13391.pdf. [47] President George W. Bush,
"Notice: Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Zimbabwe," The
White House, Office of the Press Secretary, March 1, 2007, at www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/03/20070301-2.html. [48] Foreign Secretary Margaret
Beckett, "Beckett Condemns Opposition Treatment in Zimbabwe," U.K. Foreign and
Commonwealth Office, March 14, 2007, at www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Frontpagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c= [49] "Zimbabwe crisis haunts SA
in New York," SABC News, March 14, 2007, at www.sabcnews.co.za/africa/southern_africa/0,2172,145390,00.html. [50] ZimNews, "Zimbabwe crisis
haunts SA in New York," March 15, 2007, at www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=16245. [51] Foreign Secretary Margaret
Beckett, "Beckett Condemns Opposition Treatment in Zimbabwe." [52] See Brett D. Schaefer,
"The U.N. Human Rights Council Does Not Merit U.S. Membership," Heritage
Foundation WebMemo No. 1392, March 12, 2007, at www.heritage.org/Research/WorldwideFreedom/wm1392.cfm. [53] South African Government
Information, "South African government on the current situation in Zimbabwe,"
South African Department of Foreign Affairs, March 13, 2007, at www.info.gov.za/speeches/2007/07031409451001.htm. [54] Associated Press, "African
Union chairman calls situation in Zimbabwe ‘embarrassing'," March 14, 2007, at
www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/15/europe/EU-GEN-Zimbabwe-World-View.php. [55] Ploch, pp.
9–10. [56] "Zimbabwe bishop ready to
face guns," CNN, March 22, 2007, at www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/03/22/zimbabwe.thursday/index.html.
Page&cid=1007029391638&a=KArticle&aid=1173561419745.
The Herald, UK
EDITORIAL COMMENT March 23
2007
Is Zimbabwe ripe for revolution on the model that swept
autocracy from power
in the post-Soviet bloc countries of eastern Europe?
This is the hope of
Pius Ncube, the Archbishop of Bulawayo who calls on
Zimbabweans to take to
the streets and force Robert Mugabe, the embattled
president, to step down
with immediate effect so that free and fair
elections can be held. At
present, the hope appears sadly pious, despite
some promising developments.
Mr Mugabe's power base within the ruling
Zanu-PF party has been undermined,
and the army and security forces he
depends upon to stay in power must
subsist on a monthly pay packet that
lasts only a couple of days. Do they
have the stomach to go on defending
brutally the indefensible?
At least they have a wage. Most Zimbabweans
are out of work and hungry. The
country has the highest inflation rate in
the world: 1400%. The former bread
basket of Africa has, itself, become a
basket case. The strategy Archbishop
Ncube advocates is bold and contingent
on mass, peaceful protest gaining
sufficient momentum to cause the security
apparatus to stand aside,
hastening Mr Mugabe's toppling. A sprightly
83-year-old, he says he will run
again for President in next year's poll
(that would be another election to
rig).
The strategy is brave, given
the thuggishness of Mr Mugabe's forces. Not
even respected opposition
politicians are safe from the boot and the baton.
Archbishop Ncube's plea is
probably born of frustration. Zimbabwe teeters on
the brink of collapse, yet
the man responsible clings to power. The
archbishop is right to say the
situation cannot be allowed to continue. But
the opposition is divided and
impoverished. If a green, red and gold
revolution (the main colours of
Zimbabwe's flag) is an unrealistic option,
what is realistic and achievable?
Mr Mugabe exploits a reputation as
liberator of southern Africa to quell
criticism from his neighbours, notably
South Africa, face of the vibrant,
forward-looking continent. But Mr Mugabe
has shown that, having secured
power and the backing of the security forces,
a leader can behave with
impunity, even as his country collapses and his
people suffer depredations
on a scale shocking by African standards. Is this
the standard to set for
the continent, the message to send out to the wider
world? If President
Mbeki of South Africa thinks not, he should use his
influence to force the
tyrant's departure.
IPS news
Moyiga
Nduru
JOHANNESBURG, Mar 23 (IPS) - Zimbabwe's outspoken Catholic
archbishop, Pius
Ncube, has volunteered to lead peaceful, mass protests to
remove President
Robert Mugabe from power, as Cardinal Jaime Sin did to
unseat dictator
Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines more than two decades
ago.
Sin made headlines around the world in 1986 after calling on a
million
people to form barricades to protect 300 army rebels against the
advancing
tanks of Marcos.
"If we can get 30,000 people in the
streets, Mugabe will go down," Ncube
told a briefing on Zimbabwe that took
place in South Africa's commercial hub
of Johannesburg, Friday. "I am
prepared to lead the people against Mugabe.
Like in the Philippines, our
security forces will side with us if we are
courageous."
The
83-year-old Zimbabwean leader has been in office since his country
gained
independence from Britain in 1980.
Rights groups hold him responsible for
the death of up to 20,000 civilians
at the hands of security forces in
Matabeleland, southern Zimbabwe, during
the 1980s -- a campaign that
government conducted under the pretext of
putting down a
rebellion.
More recently Mugabe has been on a collision course with the
country's
leading opposition group, the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC).
Parliamentary and presidential elections held over the past few years
have
been marred by irregularities and human rights abuses, even as
authorities
clamped down on media freedom.
A controversial land
redistribution programme has contributed to economic
decline in Zimbabwe,
which currently has the world's highest inflation rate
(official figures
indicate it is about 1,700 percent). Widespread hunger has
become the
norm.
"Right now some 2,000 people are dying in Zimbabwe every day. They
die of
AIDS and of malnutrition," Tendai Biti, an opposition member of
parliament
in Zimbabwe, said at the briefing in response to a question by
IPS.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS puts adult HIV
prevalence in
Zimbabwe at just over 20 percent. Anti-retroviral drugs that
prolong the
lives of those who have contracted HIV are scarce.
"Life
expectancy in Zimbabwe is now 35 years.Eighty percent of Zimbabweans
live
below the poverty line of one dollar a day. An average family affords
only
one meal a day," Biti added, as Ncube chipped in to note: "Our church
clinics say a lot of (people) die of malnutrition. The doctors are not there
and the nurses have taken off (for posts overseas)."
Hundreds are
said to have been killed in the political violence that has
wracked Zimbabwe
since 2000, when the ruling Zimbabwe African National
Union-Patriotic Front
faced its first credible challenge at the polls, from
the MDC. The latest
victim is Gift Tandare, a pro-democracy activist who
died Mar. 11 when
police shot him during a prayer meeting organised by the
opposition in the
capital -- Harare.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was beaten during the
gathering by police, who
reportedly fractured his skull. The abuse meted out
to the opposition leader
and other activists elicited global
condemnation.
"I was present when Tsvangirai and other opposition leaders
were assaulted
for one-and-a-half hour at Machipisa police station in
Harare. I've watched
a lot of movies but nothing prepared me for such
brutality. It seemed
surreal," Biti recounted.
Police have since
refused to release Tandare's body to his relatives.
Instead they fired live
ammunition at a group of mourners, injuring two
people -- one severely, in
his left ankle. Video footage of the two patients
lying in hospital was
shown at the briefing; in the film, it was noted that
amputation was being
discussed for the mourner shot in the ankle.
Following the beatings of
the opposition leader and supporters, Mugabe told
his critics to "go hang".
He also noted that "police have a right to bash"
opponents, a comment that
drew fire from Ncube.
"Police have no right to 'bash' anyone under any
law in Zimbabwe, or in
terms of any international conventions we are
signatory to. We note that the
state culture of impunity, which emanates
from the highest office in the
land, is generating a more general culture of
violence," the cleric said.
"When a government allows impunity to its
uniformed forces -- when police
officers who torture and murder are not
brought to justice, and are in fact
told they have a right to do this -- it
is tragically predictable that
people's patience will run out. And, as anger
and desperation rise,
vigilante-style violence will rise," Ncube
added.
"Reprisals have already taken place with a bus of mourners being
vandalised,
and three policewomen being tragically injured in their beds by
petrol
bombs. In Bulawayo (Zimbabwe's second largest city) an alleged
attempt to
derail a passenger train was thankfully
unsuccessful."
Ncube appealed to Zimbabwean authorities to end impunity
amongst the armed
forces immediately, and prosecute those who violate the
rights of citizens.
Furthermore, "The government should allow the
citizens of Zimbabwe to hold
peaceful gatherings and should restore to them
their constitutional rights
to do so. The government should refrain from
inciting its supporters to
violence, as should all citizens of Zimbabwe," he
said.
"Zimbabweans are angrier now than they have been before. And I'm
ready to
lead them, in a non-violent mass action to get rid of Mugabe. This
dictator
must be brought down."
Nicholas Karonda, a Zimbabwean church
minister and human rights activist
based in South Africa, has criticised the
deafening silence on abuses in
Zimbabwe that is evident across much of
Africa.
"We have heard some voices from South Africa, Ghana, Botswana and
Zambia.
Although they came late, they are better than never," he told
IPS.
A relatively low key approach to the Zimbabwean crisis is being
maintained
by economically-powerful South Africa -- widely viewed as playing
a key role
in the fortunes of its northern neighbour.
However,
Pretoria's policy of "quiet diplomacy" in respect of Zimbabwe came
under
heavy criticism Friday.
"The quiet diplomacy has manifestly failed," said
South African Bishop Kevin
Dowling, who chaired the briefing.
Noted
Ncube: "South Africa can't be hypocritical when it's hosting about
three
million Zimbabweans who have fled Mugabe's tyrannical rule. People
have
died; people have been eaten by crocodiles while trying to cross the
border
to reach South Africa."
"Some young people come here and find no one they
know, and sell themselves.
They catch AIDS and die. I have buried many
myself whose bodies were
returned to Zimbabwe."
Joyce Dube of the
Johannesburg-based Southern African Women's Institute of
Migration Affairs,
a non-governmental organisation, told IPS that the
grouping receives between
50 and 200 Zimbabwean newcomers everyday.
"These figures only account for
those who come to us to seek assistance.
Other organisations also receive
refugees from Zimbabwe every day," she
said. (END/2007)
Globe and Mail, Canada
EDDY ISANGO
Associated Press
KINSHASA,
Congo - The head of Congo's army said in a nationally televised
address
Friday that security forces had regained control of the capital
after two
days of intense fighting against the militia of a former warlord
who lost
last year's presidential runoff.
Lt. Gen. Sungilanga Kisempia said order
had been restored in Kinshasa and
that Jean-Pierre Bemba's army had fled,
according to the broadcast on
state-run RTNC television. He urged members of
the militia to turn
themselves in at the headquarters of the U.N. mission in
Congo, saying that
if they don't, "We will pursue them to the very
end."
Mr. Bemba, who sought refuge inside the South African embassy,
accused the
government of starting the violence and said he had asked his
men to stand
down, but that he no longer commands them. "I am not in
control," he told
the British Broadcasting Corp.
Congo's chief
prosecutor has issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of
high
treason.
"He has caused serious infractions by organizing a militia and
by ordering
looting... his actions amount to high treason and we will pursue
him
wherever he is," Tsaimanga Mukenda said, adding he would ask parliament
to
strip Bemba of his immunity as a newly elected senator.
Sporadic
gunfire could still be heard in the capital late Friday, but the
intensity
had significantly decreased from earlier in the day when mortar
rounds sent
buildings up in flames, including a nearby oil refinery.
Hospital
officials said at least 12 people were killed and as many as 47
wounded in
two days of fighting between security forces and Mr. Bemba's
personal guard,
believed to number in the thousands.
An Italian citizen was among the
wounded, the Italian Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry gave no details
about the man, but the Italian news agency ANSA
said he was struck by a
bullet.
Mr. Bemba came in second in last year's presidential election,
the country's
first in more than 40 years. After losing the run-off, he
promised to
disband his army, but has repeatedly missed deadlines to do so,
most
recently last week.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo
welcomed the return of order to the
capital, but said it regretted the use
of force to resolve the situation.
"The immediate losses and damage are
plainly evident," the mission said in a
statement.
More than 90
members of Mr. Bemba's army had turned themselves in at the
U.N. base in the
capital, according to an official with the mission who
asked not to be named
because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The army had seized two
of Mr. Bemba's three residences in the capital, the
governor of Kinshasa,
Andre Kimbuta, said Friday.
The street fighting erupted Thursday near Mr.
Bemba's home and appeared to
ease by Thursday night, only to resume
Friday.
During the height of the fighting, mortar rounds landed as far as
2½ miles
away in Brazzaville, the capital of the neighbouring Republic of
Congo,
damaging the home of the defense minister, said government spokesman
Alain
Akouala. In Kinshasa, the Spanish Embassy was hit and thick black
smoke
poured out of a damaged oil refinery.
Embassies had begun
making plans to evacuate foreign nationals after the
Zimbabwe Embassy was
looted. The European Union called on factions in
Kinshasa to settle their
differences through dialogue - and to ensure
civilians were not caught up in
the violence.
"The international community, and the European Union in
particular, will not
allow democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a
major success for the
entire African continent, to be compromised," EU
foreign policy chief Javier
Solana added in the statement issued in
Brussels.
This week's fighting is the first in the capital since Congo
installed
Joseph Kabila as president on Dec. 6, making him the nation's
first freely
elected president since 1960.
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
23 March
2007
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions took issue Friday
with a report in the
state-controlled Herald newspaper that said business,
labor and government
had united behind a "Zimbabwe First" campaign to
promote socio-economic
stability.
The Herald said the economic
partners agreed to join forces in the campaign
during a meeting in the
eastern city of Mutare organized by the United
Nations International Labor
Organization and the U.N. Development Program.
The ZCTU said that the
session was merely a workshop unsuited to coming to
such
agreements.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions Secretary General
Wellington Chibebe told
reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that he believed
the Herald story was intended to divert attention
from his union's April 3-4
stay-away action.
Zim Online
Saturday 24 March 2007
By
Batsirai Muranje
HARARE - Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) party
youth wing on Friday said it would press ahead with
public rallies to drum
up support ahead of presidential and parliamentary
elections next year
despite a police ban on all public
gatherings.
The chairman of the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC Youth Assembly,
Thamsanqa
Mahlangu, told journalists in Harare that the youth movement would
defy the
police ban because it was illegal and a violation of basic police
freedoms.
"The MDC Youth Assembly will not be cowed by threats of
violence. We vow to
continue holding our rallies and meetings across the
country," said
Mahlangu, at a Press conference also addressed by leaders of
the Zimbabwe
National Students Union (ZINASU).
"It is clear that the
banning of meetings, rallies and demonstrations are
unconstitutional because
they are against our basic freedoms of assembly,
movement and speech,"
Mahlangu added.
The MDC youth leader said the opposition was also
pressing for next year's
elections - whose date and timing remains hugely
uncertain- to be held under
a new constitution that would ensure a free and
fair contest.
While the presidential poll is due around March next year
when President
Robert Mugabe's term expires it was thrown into doubt after
the veteran
President said he wanted it moved to 2010 so it could be held
together with
elections for Parliament to save on administrative
costs.
But opposition from within his own ruling ZANU PF party forced
Mugabe to
backtrack on the plan to postpone the poll and he has now said he
will stand
in 2008 when the country holds joint elections for president and
Parliament
at a date he is still to announce.
ZINASU President
Promise Mkhwananzi said the students deplored police
brutality against
opposition leaders who were beaten up and tortured two
weeks ago after
attempting to organise anti-government protests.
The ZINASU leader said
students would push for an end to the deteriorating
political and economic
crisis which he said had led to a fall in standards
and learning conditions
at public schools and tertiary institutions that
have to struggle for
resources. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Saturday 24 March 2007
By Thabani Mlilo
HARARE -
The Zimbabwean government has ordered a full-scale probe into last
week's
alleged rape of a ruling ZANU PF legislator saying the rape could
have a
chilling effect on rural party supporters.
Mudzi West legislator,
Acqueline Katsande, was last Saturday gang raped by
two armed robbers who
later stole household property worth about millions of
dollars in her home
in Mudzi district.
In a memo entitled, "Implications of alleged rape and
robbery of Mudzi West
MP," dated March 20, Home Affairs Minister Kembo
Mohadi ordered Police
Commissioner Augustine Chihuri to fully probe the
matter.
Mohadi said the police should stop "treating the matter as just
an act of
barbarism" adding that the Office of the President was seriously
concerned
over the malicious incident.
"It is imperative to treat
this matter meticulously and desist from treating
it as just an act of pure
barbarism as this could be the works of enemies of
the state who have upped
their orgy of violence on perceived supporters of
the
government.
"Failure to bring the culprits to book would have a domino
effect on
supporters of the ruling party as this would be perceived as an
act of
vulnerability on those manning our strongholds (MPs).
"It is
against this background that you should launch a full scale
investigation
into this matter and keep this office fully advised on the
progress of your
investigations," read part of the one and a half page memo.
The memo was
copied to Deputy Commissioner Crime, Innocent Matibiri, police
national
spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena and to Officer Commanding Mashonaland
East
province.
Bvudzijena refused to comment on the matter when contacted for
comment on
the matter on Friday. - ZimOnline
The Herald
Zinwa justified their
takeover of the water supply for greater Harare quite
early on, fixing up
the treatment plants, cleaning out accumulated muck and
generally fixing up
the supply system.
Over the last few months, there have been ever fewer
water cuts and even the
residents of the far eastern suburbs - Manresa,
Tafara and Mabvuku - began
to hope that perhaps continuous water supplies
from their taps was not some
sort of pipe dream.
But, come a crisis,
almost any crisis, and Zinwa seems to be at a loss.
There is simply no clear
thought, no plan, or rather, since we know that
plans do exist, no thought
of implementing a disaster plan. The first
reaction of Zinwa staff is to
keep deathly quiet why all the reservoirs run
dry, in the hope that no one
will notice.
Of course very soon, considering the small size of some
outlying reservoirs,
people do notice that their taps are dry and they start
complaining.
These complaints start in the first dry suburb, usually
Manresa or Tafara,
the highest suburbs in Harare, and then grow to a flood
as an ever larger
area of the eastern, north eastern and finally the
northern and north-west
suburbs dry up.
So Zinwa switches to the
second mode. It looks for someone to blame, anyone,
although Zesa Holdings
are convenient and, to be honest, are quite often a
contributor to the
mess.
But, as the Deputy Minister of Water and Infrastructural
Development, Cde
Walter Mzembi, said yesterday, residents do not care who is
to blame, they
just want water from their taps.
And some suburbs in
Harare have had no water since Monday and now face days
more of shortages as
the water authority starts refilling reservoirs. But in
other suburbs,
pressure is so high, and water flows so continuous, that
people can water
their lawns all day.
Any organisation, especially an essential service
like Zinwa, must make
plans for the day when things go wrong. And when that
day comes, as it will,
it must immediately implement these plans.
The
present crisis was an excellent case study. The electricity line to
Morton
Jaffrey Water Works went down. These things happen. Zesa patched in
an
alternative feed, but this could only supply enough power for three of
the
six pumps.
Zesa then had to find the fault and fix the fault. It may have
done at least
part of this work far more slowly than desirable, but it was
working on the
problem.
Zinwa should have - as soon as it established
that the crisis would last
more than a few hours, a period it could use its
reservoir system to
cushion - taken the people of Harare and Chitungwiza
into its confidence.
Warnings could have been issued almost immediately
over radio and
television, backed by more detailed explanations the
following day in the
press.
These warnings would carefully state that
the area was getting only half its
water and would appeal to all, to use
water carefully and sparingly. People
would be asked not to water gardens or
wash cars, for example.
At the same time the old rationing scheme so
carefully worked out, and
successfully implemented, when Zinwa and the City
of Harare shared
distribution would be brought into effect.
This
plan, so simple and reasonable, divided suburbs into two groups and
then cut
supplies for up to 24 hours to each group on alternate days. Most
households, given a little warning, can cope with a 24-hour cut. Containers
can be quickly filled, laundry postponed and the family will sail through
the day with no serious problem.
If the crisis was worse and that
scheme could not cope, it would be easy to
cut the supply to the group that
was getting a full day's supply to just a
few hours, enough time to arrange
a batch of showers and refill containers,
but saving a lot more water since
no one would wash cars, water lawns or see
water disappear through
underground leaks.
Zinwa neither gave warnings nor managed the crisis. We
hope that they will
now learn the lesson and that the team led by Cde Mzembi
will insist that
Zinwa and Zesa experts draw up suitable crisis plans and be
ready to
implement these the moment trouble arises.