Continuing concerns over Mugabe's insistence that he is in charge

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Violet Gonda
26 March 2009

Robert Mugabe spoke to a visiting Norwegian envoy on Wednesday about the
progress of the inclusive government. He said: "At the moment, we feel in
partnership with those who have joined the Government. It is smoothly
running. It is now in our rhythm. It's like tradition. we no longer have an
opposition and we are working together towards the same goals we have set as
a government."

He also went on to appeal for international financial help, but insisted it
must have no strings attached.

Observers have commented on how worrying Mugabe's statements are. As far as
he is concerned, nothing had changed, as he's managed to get rid of the
irritating opposition.

The only thing that has changed is that after years of food shortages, goods
are returning to shop shelves and prices of basic commodities are beginning
to fall, but the basic infrastructure remains broken.

Journalist Jan Raath reported this week, saying: "The sense of optimism is
alive, but after the repeated violent destruction of expectations of the
past decade people have also learnt to recognise the fragility of their
hope. It's like walking into a pool of delicious, cool water, while knowing
that broken glass lies on the bottom."

Exactly a year has gone by since the disputed March elections (which many
feel the MDC convincingly won) and some months have elapsed since the
agreement leading to the power sharing government, but there is an on-going
avoidance of key policy reform issues.  Land reform and tenure, repressive
legislation, a transitional justice mechanism and constitutional reform
still remain as just some of the major outstanding issues.

The political leaders in the coalition government are still stuck on
appointments and a display of unity and togetherness, while human rights
abuses continue.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti made a passionate appeal to the international
community to pump in aid to avoid the collapse of this fragile government,
warning of anarchy if it fails.

Threats of this may have been evident Thursday with reports from the
Zimbabwe Observer website that soldiers and police officers engaged in fist
fights in the capital city.  The report said that uniformed forces were
waiting for the arrival of their foreign currency salary allowances at a
local bank in Harare and that desperate civil servants invaded Biti's office
after they failed to withdraw their US$100 salaries, using their vouchers at
Agribank. It went on to say that the Finance Minister went to the Bank to
try and resolve the problem. We were unable to get through to anyone to
clarify this story.

Many observers say the energy Biti is expending in trying to persuade the
international community to provide massive funds is wasted, because Mugabe
just takes to his podium, insults these same nations and ensures Zimbabwe
remains trapped in the crisis he has created.

Furthermore, calling for international investment and engagement when the
foundation of the Zimbabwean economy- the agricultural sector - is still
being pillaged and violently invaded, is a complete waste of time.

 A number of critics have said that the greatest block to any recovery plan
is Mugabe's belligerence and the MDC obsession with appeasement.

Father Oscar Wermter, a Jesuit Priest who works with the poor in Harare's
Mbare suburb, says many victims of Mugabe regime's disastrous policies are
crying out for out for vengeance, as they continue to suffer. He gives an
example of 90 year old James Banda, a victim of operation Murambatsvina, who
lost everything that he had ever worked.

"It is an outrageous injustice which cries to high heaven for vengeance that
a good worker whose labour has sustained our economy for so long should end
up as a beggar, having to ask for charity, as if he had never done a day's
work. His work record is such that he deserves a carefree retirement,"
Father Wermter said.

Police chief terrorises farmer

http://www.zimeye.org/?p=3446

By Moses Muchemwa

Published: March 25, 2009

Chiredzi  - Police Officer Commanding Matabeleland North Senior Assistant
Commissioner Edmore Veterai has terrorized prominent white farmers in
Chiredzi regardless of government calls to halt farm invasions.

Veterai, a staunch Zanu-PF member, has grabbed a farm belonging to Digby and
Jessie Nesbitt Nesbitt in the Lowveld.

According to a letter written to the South African Ambassador to Zimbabwe,
Professor Mlungisi Makhalima by the Nesbitt's neighbour, Peter Henning,
Veterai moved all the furniture and ordered his workers to severely assault
farm staff members.

The farm workers were assaulted by hired thugs using knobkerries belonging
to Veterai, according to Henning.

"The Nesbitts, who have been away in South Africa, returned to their
homestead on Monday after court, and discovered that Veterai had trashed
their house. There are many items missing and valuables such as photographs,
paintings and other items of great value were crammed into Digby's study at
the home. Veterai had violently scattered the staff and also seized the farm
equipment etc," said Henning.

"As I write, Digby is presently at the ZRP Station in Chiredzi reporting the
matter. It is doubtful if there is much the ZRP there can or want to do to
assist him. As written to you previously, Veterai being a very senior
policeman, intimidates the local police to his whim, even though the Station
is not his precinct nor is it situate in his Province."

"The Nesbitts are appealing to you for urgent protection, that you contact
the Zimbabwe Government Authorities, with whom you have recently
ere-established a platform, to ensure that Veterai's activities cease
immediately."

Veterai invaded the Nesbitt's farm in January 2008 and has occupied part of
their house together with his armed guards since then, frequently
persecuting the Nesbitts.

Digby has appeared in court in Chiredzi facing charges of occupies "State
land illegally".

Veterai has acquired a "forged offer letter," he is using to terrorize the
Nesbitts.
(ZimEye, Zimbabwe)

Open letter to Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai from commercial farmer Ben Freeth

26 March 2009

Prime Minister to open Stakeholder Forum Frida

http://www.swradioafrica.com

y
By Staff reporter
26 March 2009
Stakeholders from civil society, the business community, employment sector,
plus gender and development partners, are to have a consultative forum with
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and cabinet ministers on Friday.
The Prime Minister's office issued a statement saying:" The one-day workshop
will afford the Inclusive Government the opportunity to hear the views and
concerns of ordinary Zimbabweans regarding; economic stability, food
security, restoration of basic services, guaranteeing of rights and freedoms
and improving international relations."
The outcome from this consultative forum will feed into discussions that
will take place at a ministerial cabinet retreat, to be held in the first
week of April.

Mugabe bodyguards robbed at gun point

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Thursday, 26 March 2009

Masvingo (ZimEye) - President Robert Mugabe's security aides were
robbed at gun point by a daring armed robber who got away with their vehicle
and goods valued at US$10 000.
Masvingo acting provincial police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector
Tinaye Matake, confirmed the incident yesterday and revealed that George
Ndeya (38) robbed four members of the notorious CentralIntelligence Officers
(CIOs) at Bhuka business centre, near Masvingotown.
The quartet was travelling in a car marked Gushungo Holdings, a
companybelieved to be owned by Mugabe and were coming from South Africa.
Matake said an AK47 totting Ndeya robbed the four, who had parked at
adistance from the shopping centre, before driving away with farmchemicals,
equipment and irrigation material.
Matake added that Ndeya later dumped the car at Exor Garage, on the
outskirts of Masvingo town.
The police spokesman said Ndeya, was shot dead in a shoot-out with the
police.
"He was involved in a shoot-out with police, and, like somebody
whothey knew was dangerous as he was armed, they had to do it first,"Matake
said.

Zimbabwe reduces Cahora Bassa power bill

http://www.iol.co.za

 

    March 26 2009 at 03:16PM

Maputo - Zimbabwe has managed to reduce its unpaid electricity bills to
Mozambique from $12 million to $3 million, according to media reports on
Thursday.

"Zimbabwe has been paying with difficulties, but the payments are
satisfactory," chairman of the board of national electricity utility
Electricidade de Mozambique Manuel Cuambe, told state-controlled Televisao
de Mozambique.

Zimbabwe buys electricity from Mozambique's Cahora Bassa hydro-electric dam
on the Zambezi River. Over the past 10 years it had failed to pay its debts
on time due to its prolonged financial and political crisis. - Sapa

Zambia and Namibia face worst floods in 40 years

http://www.reuters.com

Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:06pm EDT

By Frank Nyakairu

LUSAKA, March 25 (Reuters AlertNet) - Zambia and Namibia face their worst
floods in at least 40 years as rains swell the Zambezi River to record
levels, destroying crops and swamping whole villages, disaster officials and
aid workers said on Wednesday.

Zambia has put its air force on standby to airlift people to safety and
Namibia has declared a state of emergency in flood-hit areas as waterways
burst their banks in the narrow Caprivi Strip between Zambia and Botswana.

Some 400,000 people have been affected on both sides of Namibia's border
with Angola alone, the international Red Cross movement said, adding that
the number was likely to rise.

"We've heard some incredible stories," Matthew Cochrane, a spokesman for the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC),
said by telephone from the town of Katima Mulilo in the Caprivi Strip.

"Communities totally cut off by rising water, and quickly. Crocodile
attacks, hippo attacks, snake bites. These are some of the risks people
face. Then there's the more mundane risks: malarial and diarrhoeal diseases,
and just the lack of food."

In some villages, 70 to 80 percent of food stocks had been wiped out,
Cochrane said.

"It's a real sense that it's bad but it's getting much worse," he added.
"The water is already approaching 8 metres (26 feet) and it will surpass
that in coming days."

Data from Namibia's Hydrological Service showed river levels along the
Kavango River at their highest since 1963. Those in the Upper Zambezi River
were at peaks not seen since 1969 and rising.

The official death toll in Namibia is 92 but aid workers said it would
almost certainly be much higher.

In Zambia, water levels in some districts were higher than they had been
since 1969, threatening crops ahead of the critical summer growing season.

"We are asking people to leave low land for higher lands because the waters
are increasing fast," said Dominiciano Mulenga, national coordinator of the
Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit.

He said the road linking Zambia and Zimbabwe was damaged, cutting off
Shang'ombo district from the rest of the country.

The Southern Province of Zambia is the worst hit, with more than 20,000
households affected and 5,000 houses destroyed, the Swiss branch of relief
group Action by Churches Together said.

Hydrological experts played down fears the rising waters could overwhelm the
Kariba dam on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, creating a regional
catastrophe for countries downstream including Mozambique and Malawi.

But Peter Rees-Gildea, the IFRC's head of operations in Geneva, said the
organisation was keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Izilda, which was
heading for Mozambique's east coast.

In January, rains in Malawi and Zambia caused flooding in Mozambique that
killed 45 people and left 285,000 homeless, the worst floods to hit the
country since 2000-2001 when 700 people died and half a million lost their
homes. (Writing and extra reporting by Tim Large in London; Editing by
Charles Dick)

Rotten Row Courts in a Mess

http://www.herald.co.zw/

Daniel Nemukuyu

26 March 2009

Harare - IF it was not for God's enduring mercy and undying love for his
people, the Harare Magistrates' Courts could have been the first to be hit
hard by the recent cholera outbreak.

It is no small miracle that no cholera cases have yet been recorded at the
institution that is now extremely filthy and an eyesore in the Sunshine
City.

It is common knowledge that cleanliness is next to godliness, but it really
boggles the mind and creates doubt in many of little faith how God's
presence is evident at such an "undeserving" place.

The condition of the institution leaves a lot to be desired. It has become
unhealthy and a potential hotbed for a serious cholera outbreak.

It is absolutely unbelievable that the institution was spared by the
outbreak that claimed over 3 000 people nationwide and resulted in several
other thousands being hospitalised.

Most toilets in the building are dysfunctional and pools comprising a
mixture of leaking water and urine are common on the floors while litter
floats on top.

As a court reporter who spends most of his working days at the complex, I
cannot recall the last time I saw anyone cleaning the toilets and trying to
come up with a date would be tantamount to perjury.

It has become quite easy to identify a person coming from the toilet by the
wet footprints in the dingy corridors of the once imposing Rotten Row
Building.

Those who cannot stand stepping into the pools now prefer to relieve
themselves from the doors, worsening the situation.

The filthy condition of the toilets is only conducive for those with safety
shoes and gumboots and it would be strange indeed to see magistrates,
prosecutors, lawyers and other court officials trying to find a matching
pair of gumboots for their designer suits simply to answer the call of
nature.

Ironically, Court Number Three (plea court) among other courtrooms, daily
orders not less than five convicts to perform community service at various
institutions in and out of Harare.

However, sources at the courts revealed that there were no chemicals, brooms
or protective clothing, resulting in many offenders being assigned to other
jobs.

"In terms of the law, it is not proper to instruct those on community
service to clean toilets without protection. There are no chemicals, brooms,
gloves and gumboots for their use," said a court official who spoke on
condition of anonymity.

Those assigned to work at the courts end up cleaning the offices, cutting
grass and sweeping the courtyard; it is extremely rare to find them wearing
the boots and carrying brooms and buckets to the toilets.

The heavy stench from the toilets is so offensive witnesses prefer to wait
well outside the building.

Unfortunately, at times such unfortunate individuals -- who are in essence
victims of circumstances beyond their control -- are issued with warrants of
arrest for failing to turn up to testify after being called thrice from
outside the courtroom by an orderly.

Ms Nyarai Dutch of Kambuzuma, who was visiting a friend at the complex,
registered her displeasure over the putrid smell emanating from the ablution
blocks.

"This is terrible. I wonder how people spend the day here. I cannot afford
to spend an hour exposed to these conditions. This is actually torture," she
said.

If witnesses who only come to testify once in a while or mere visitors
complain of the conditions, how about the court officials who spend no less
than eight hours a day and 48 hours a week at the premises?

The lucky ones take a walk into the city centre, but the voiceless and the
suspects waiting to be taken to remand prison do not enjoy such a luxury.

In courtrooms adjacent to the toilets, like Court Number Six (remand court),
the stench filters into the rooms during sessions, upsetting the occupants.

The worst affected are the "newcomers", but for the regulars like court
officials and journalists (and habitual criminals), it appears they are
slowly getting used to the state of affairs.

Once upon a time Government-employed janitors used to clean the toilets and
ensured things were kept in order at all State institutions.

In the recent past, Government has hired private cleaners but somehow this
initiative has been shortlived.

One such private contractor, Hygienic Cleaning Services, withdrew its
services in November last year for unknown reasons and it seems that since
then no one has taken over this very important task.

So who is to blame for this deplorable state of affairs?

Well, this is no time for the blame game, instead, stakeholders should come
together and collectively find a solution to the problem.

Rotten Row Building is not reserved for court officials; anyone can find
themselves there.

Many people from all over the country at different times set their foot on
the court premises for various reasons.

Some go there as witnesses, accused persons, complainants, lawyers,
investigating officers, sympathisers, couples seeking marriage licences and
in various other capacities.

As responsible citizens, everyone should play their part before pointing
fingers at the Government.

We should all practise basic hygiene and desist from continually using the
non-working toilets.

We should learn to use the few functional ones responsibly.

Some just deliberately mess the floors and toilet basins for no justifiable
reason and this only serves to exacerbate the situation.

Responsible authorities should not approach this problem as armchair
administrators, but should get right down to the bottom of the problem and
come up with long-lasting solutions.

We should not sit on our backs and watch the situation getting worse.

The problems do not end there.

To make matters worse, the courts went without water for almost two weeks
from the end of February until March 10 this year, forcing the courts to
open only up to midday everyday.

Although water is regarded as a basic requirement for life, surprisingly,
people at the courts had to live without it.

During this period, court officials could be seen flocking to the city
centre to access sanitation facilities and to find drinking water during
working hours, a situation that contributed to long delays in the justice
delivery system.

And surely, the Lord's mercy endures.

If it was not for the rains that we received in abundance this season,
anyone would be forgiven for thinking that the court's windows were tinted
black and brown because of the thick layers of grime covering them.

No one cleans the windows.

The once beautiful fountains and ponds at the centre of the circular
building have now been reduced to mosquito-breeding places during the rainy
season.

Hats off to lawyers who continuously donate bulbs to the regional clerk of
court's office to ensure the rooms where important records are kept are well
lit.

Most offices, courtrooms, toilets and corridors have been without lights for
years, making it difficult to conclude high-profile court cases that often
spill into the evening.
Bins are not emptied. Full bins are ignored in the building until litter
starts falling back onto the floor, thereby defeating the whole purpose of
cleaning the premises.

The Rotten Row architecture is something to marvel at and it should be
maintained to restore its original beauty.

Mutambara Speaks Out On Banned Foreign Media And Sanctions

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Thursday, 26 March 2009
Harare- ONE Zimbabwe's two vice prime ministers and key party to
Zimbabwe's infant tripartite government of national unity, Professor Arthur
Mutambara on Wednesday threw ice cold spanners in the works of President
Robert Mugabe dictatorship when he announced that the country will
immediately allow back in to the country the foreign media.

The controversial politician from the smaller formation of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), promised he was to
immediately facilitate the return of the big foreign media and singled
houses such the BBC, CNN and ITN which are all banned from operating from
Zimbabwe.
Local correspondents of all foreign media operate illegally under a
wide range of repressive legislation such as the draconian Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), Public Order and Security
Act (POSA) and the Broadcasting Act which has seen them detained, tortured
and imprisoned for operating "illegally" if they are not "registered" with
the government's Media Information Commission.
The Commission is well known for its links with President Mugabe's spy
agency, the Central Intelligence Organisation.
Prof Mutambara said the new government would reverse the old order
where the State determined who should report and how. "No government has the
right to control how it should be reported, by whom and from where," he said
adding that while Zimbabwe had external sanctions; its leadership had to
remove internal sanctions they imposed on themselves through their misrule.
Prof Mutambara's broad shot will not only litmus test President Mugabe's
commitment to ending dictatorship but will begin actualizing a new
democratic political dispensation.
The former Massachusetts Institute of Technology robotics engineering
professor had no kind words for Zimbabwe's present junta's iron fist rule.
"We want to re-brand Zimbabwe, but what are we known for? How are we
perceived by the rest of the world? "We are known for violence, farm
invasion, disregard for the rule of law, electoral fraud, cholera, an
unheard of rocket propelled inflation, gigantic corruption and mafia style
abductions and kidnappings of journalists, human rights activists and anyone
seeking their democratic space," he said amid applause from the large turn
out that included Vice President Joyce Mujuru, one of President Mugabe's key
allies.
Prof Mutambara said Zimbabwe needs a complete paradigm shift in the
manner in which it runs its affairs.
"You cannot re-brand for instance tourism to just start this economy
instance without first re-branding Zimbabwe first.  To re-brand a country,
you must first have a product."You must be known for something and have
triggers for delivery but not certainly what Zimbabwe is presently known
for. You must be perceived for the right things for you to be attractive,
and then you can sell.
"You then have to go beyond and build love marks which will then
market loyalty for your product," he told the country tourism stakeholders
citing Coca Cola and Mercedes Benz which he told them has branding equity of
65% and US$22 billion on their balance sheets respectively.
In another fora, in Parliament Mutambara hit out at western
governments describing as "ignorant and arrogant" a decision by US President
Barrack Obama to extend targeted sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and
his allies.
In his maiden speech, Mutambara criticised western governments for
imposing and extending targeted travel sanctions against President Robert
Mugabe and his lieutenants in spite of the establishment of a government of
national unity (GNU) between ZANU(PF) and the two MDC leaders.
"We understand why the US, Britain, and the EU are sceptical to remove
the sanctions. But we are determined as the three political parties to make
this agreement (Global Political Agreement) work. Please do not give us
conditions like (such as) we are waiting for progress. If we don't get
balance of payments support and humanitarian assistance this government will
collapse. Don't patronize us. So we are saying remove any type of sanctions
you have imposed on our people. You are undermining the Prime Minister. You
are undermining the efforts of Zimbabweans. Mr Obama has extended sanctions
to our country by one year. That decision was based on ignorance and
arrogance," Mutambara said.
Obama extended U.S. sanctions that target Zimbabwe's longtime ruler
President Mugabe and others linked to him for another year at the beginning
of this month, saying some people are continuing to undermine the country's
democratic processes.
Although both Mugabe and Tsvangirai have asked the US and the European
Union to lift the sanctions to help the country pull itself out of its
man-made economic crisis, both Washington and Brussels have ruled out any
early lifting of targeted sanctions against Mugabe and his close associates
until there is more progress on democratic reforms and human rights.
The EU and the US first imposed sanctions targeting scores of people
and companies linked to President Mugabe with travel bans and asset freezes
in 2002 and 2003 respectively to protest human rights violations in Zimbabwe
and President Mugabe's dictatorial rule.

RadioVop Online

Zimbabwe wants tourists back

From Associated Press, 26 March

Harare - Zimbabwe's coalition government urged the world to weigh changes
wrought by the new administration and help attract tourists back to its
world-renowned nature reserves and resorts. Income from tourism, a key
hard-currency earner, dropped sharply during years of political and economic
turmoil. In travel advisories, most Western nations warned their nationals
last year to avoid traveling to Zimbabwe as political violence surged
surrounding disputed national elections. President Robert Mugabe and
longtime opposition leader Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai formed a unity
government in February after months of political wrangling. Vice President
Joyce Mujuru, told politicians, business leaders and tourism operators at a
tourism meeting at the main convention center in Harare, appealed to Western
nations to lift travel warnings. "Let us all publicly and emphatically
condemn violence of whatever form and jointly celebrate achievements of the
new political dispensation," she told politicians, business leaders and
tourism operators. As the new government grappled to revive the shattered
economy, Mujuru said it was time for all Zimbabweans "to take serious
introspection to see to it that whatever we say and do does not contribute
to the negative perceptions" the country suffered abroad. "We are here now,
through our inclusive voice, asking the international community to please
remove the travel warnings," she added.

The country's economic collapse saw the highest inflation in the world and
chronic shortages of hard currency, food, gasoline and most basic goods. No
records of tourist arrivals were available during the upheavals. Mujuru, a
Mugabe loyalist, said the country's needed more international flights,
upgrading of public utilities and improvements in telephone and internet
systems, that are near collapse. She said daily power and water outages and
deteriorating roads and highways deterred visitors. "Our visitors do not
need to go through the stress of failing to catch a bath in the morning or
narrowly missing accidents" on the roads, most potholed and with drivers'
vision obscured by uncut grass at corners and turnings. "Lest we forget,
potential tourists have alternative holiday destinations," she said. Among
Zimbabwe's main tourist attractions are the Victoria Falls, a World Heritage
site in northwestern Zimbabwe, and Hwange National Park, the nation's
biggest nature preserve covering 14,000 square kilometers and the habitat of
prolific elephant herds. Tsvangirai is scheduled to close the tourism
meeting today. He returned home on Tuesday after spending a week
recuperating in South Africa after the death of his wife in a car crash in
which he was slightly injured. His official Web site said he will not fully
resume his official duties until April l

Daily cholera update and alerts, 25 Mar 2009

 Full_Report (pdf* format - 146.8 Kbytes)

* Please note that daily information collection is a challenge due to communication and staff constraints. On-going data cleaning may result in an increase or decrease in the numbers. Any change will then be explained.

** Daily information on new deaths should not imply that these deaths occurred in cases reported that day. Therefore daily CFRs >100% may occasionally result

A. Highlights of the day:

- 235 Cases and 5 deaths added today (in comparison with 181 cases and 25 deaths yesterday)

- 56.7% of the districts affected have reported today 34 out of 60 affected districts)

- 91.9 % of districts reported to be affected (57 districts out of 62)

- Cumulative Institutional Case Fatality Rate 1.7%

- Daily Institutional CFR = 0.86%

- New cases and deaths for Mt Darwin (11 added cases and 12 added deaths) and Rushinga's 7 deaths (community) were erroneously recorded and reported in yesterday's report.

Some Zimbabweans see only more pain as prices fall

http://uk.reuters.com

Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:14am GMT

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

HARARE (Reuters) - Food is returning to store shelves in Zimbabwe and prices
falling after years rocketing higher -- but the end of the black market
leaves some Zimbabweans with little to cheer about.

For people like Beatrice Kurwa, a 25-year-old primary school teacher in
Highfield township, the signs of returning economic stability are welcome
but without informal earnings, she now has only $100 (69 pounds) a month.

"I am happy to walk into a shop and buy what I want but now I have to live
on my allowance and it has become even harder to survive because I have no
other source of income," Kurwa said.

Goods have flooded back after the government's decision to abandon the
worthless local dollar -- destroyed by inflation that officially topped 230
million percent -- and to let Zimbabweans use foreign currency.

The change has raised hopes that the new unity government of President
Robert Mugabe and old enemy Morgan Tsvangirai can revive the ruined state.

But it also means Kurwa can no longer generate extra cash by crossing the
border to South Africa to buy maize meal, cooking oil and flour to sell on
the black market. The long queues for basic goods are gone.

In U.S. dollar terms, prices fell 3.1 percent in February and 2.3 percent in
January -- the first time inflation had been negative since mid-2005 -- 
according to official statistics.

Prices of bread, maize meal, sugar and cooking oil have fallen by half since
December and further falls are expected now that there is an incentive for
industries to raise production.

"Things had gone way out of control but now there is no longer room for
speculation and every dollar really counts," John Robertson, a consultant
economist said.

The enterprising are even finding some value in the Zimbabwe dollar,
although it is impossible to spend in shops. Bills denominated for as much
as Z$100 trillion can sell for up to $20 to the few foreign tourists.

DONORS VITAL

But long term recovery requires major foreign investment. The government is
seeking $5 billion.

Winning that, however, depends on Western donors being satisfied that a
democratic government is in place and that economic reforms are being
implemented to reverse a decade-long collapse which Mugabe's critics blame
on his policies.

Mugabe, who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, has always
said Western sanctions ruined Zimbabwe.

The International Monetary Fund made clear on Wednesday that it would only
provide financial help once Zimbabwe clears nearly $90 million in arrears
and implements sound policies.

"Until the Western governments, who are the main IMF shareholders, change
their attitude, there is no money coming our way any time soon," said Tony
Hawkins, a professor of business studies at the University of Zimbabwe.

"They want to see who is really in control and an issue that comes to mind
is that the government says it will not tolerate land invasions and yet they
are still continuing."

The seizure of white-owned farms to give to poor black Zimbabweans has been
a cornerstone of Mugabe's policies, but his opponents say they have
destroyed the agriculture sector that was once the backbone of the economy.

Unemployment is over 90 percent and some three million Zimbabweans have fled
abroad in search of work.

Security guard Allen Mangena, 34, is happy that basic services such as water
and garbage collection are slowly being restored as authorities collect
rates in foreign currency.

But the pressure on him has eased little with his monthly salary of $50
divided between paying for rent, food, bills and supporting his aged parents
in the countryside.

"There are times when I have gone to bed without a meal. You can not borrow
from anyone in this economic environment, money has really become scarce,"
he said.

MISA-Zimbabwe Alert: Journalists charged with defamation

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Thursday, 26 March 2009
Chronicle staffers charged with defamation
The editor of The Chronicle Brezhnev Malaba and reporter Nduduzo
Tshuma were on 17 March 2009 made to sign a warned and cautioned statement
by police in Bulawayo following publication of a story by the
state-controlled regional daily newspaper alleging police involvement in a
maize scandal.

Tshuma and Malaba are facing criminal defamation charges as well as
breaching sections of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act which
deals with the publication of falsehoods arising from an article published
in The Chronicle in January 2009 that alleged that some senior police
officials were involved in a Grain Marketing Board (GMB) maize scandal in
which tonnes of maize was sold on the black market and in neighbouring
Zambia.
Tshuma told MISA-Zimbabwe on 26 March 2009 that they have not heard
from the police since then but hinted on the reluctance of the state to
prosecute as there is no complainant in the matter.
MISA-Zimbabwe position
The questioning of the two journalists runs against the grain of the
Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed by Zanu PF and the two Movement for
Democratic Change formations which culminated in the formation of the
inclusive government. Article 19 of the GPA recognises the importance of the
right to freedom of expression and the role played by a free media in a
multi-party democracy.
MISA-Zimbabwe urges the relevant authorities to ensure that
journalists conduct their lawful professional duties without being harassed,
arrested, threatened or intimidated.
MISA

Infighting Rocks MDC

http://www.radiovop.com


BULAWAYO, March 26 2009 -  Infighting has rocked the Morgan Tsvangirai
led Movement for Democratic Change faction in Bulawayo province with the
latest beating up of Secretary for Security Alick Gumede and his subsequent
suspension.

Gumede was assaulted at the party offices by a group of party youths
in the presence of senator Martson Hlalo. Police said they were
investigating the matter in which Gumede suffered a broken neck. Party
supporters in the Pelandaba Mpopoma constituency and neighbouring areas,
blame the party leadership in the province for trying to get rid of people
who formed the party structures in Bulawayo.

Gumede said he was attacked after a meeting organised to restructure
the party's security organ in the province and when he objected to some
suggestions, everyone in the room ganged up and assaulted him, and later on
threw him onto the pavement at night when he was unconscious.

"I was beaten up and left for dead at the party offices. What saddens
me is that some people who are now in the forefront were afraid of
mobilising poeple for Tsvangirai. Even MP Sandla (Khumalo) never allowed us
to hold a meeting at his house saying he was afraid of Zanu PF people, but
he is also ganging up against me when all meetings were held at my house
from 1999 up until recently and I know he is being influenced by some people
from Mzilikazi (where Hlalo is senator))," he said.

MDC supporters spoken to claimed that the party had been infliltrated
by Zanu PF people who were buying membership cards so that their children
could benefit and get scholarships to study abroad, at the expense of people
who have been toiling with the party since its formation.

"Party cards are being sold for R100 and to people who are joining the
party now and we know that those people are not MDC at heart. Where were
they when we were being beaten up and arrested for supporting Tsvangirai?,"
said one woman, who refused to be named for fear of victimisation.

Meanwhile in Chimanimani there have been reports that a Zanu PF party
official has been misleading MDC supporters in the  area by telling them
that Zanu (PF) and the opposition have now merged under the inclusive
government.

Addressing villagers who had gathered to receive fertilizer at
Biriwiri growth point this week, Mary Gaba, Zanu (PF) losing councillor in
last year's March harmonized elections is said to have told the gathering
that under the Global Political Agreement signed by the three political
parties, the two MDC political parties had now merged with Zanu (PF).

"Gama was booed and heckled by the villagers when she claimed during
the meeting that MDC is now under Zanu (PF). Gaba further claimed that MDC
is no longer in existence and urged MDC supporters in the area to join Zanu
(PF)," 'said Samuel Chikangaise an MDC supporter who attended the meeting.

During the meeting, headman Willie Chanhuhwa who is also a well known
Zanu (PF) supporter in the area, urged all villagers to support Zanu (PF). "
You have heard it from our councillor that MDC is no longer there. All those
people who have been supporting this party should now come back home (Zanu
(PF)."

The Zanu (PF) Secretary for Legal Affairs Emmerson Mnangagwa has also
been accused of misleading the public about the GPA.

Addressing the Masvingo Zanu (PF) political leadership recently,
Mnangagwa openly boasted that Zanu (PF) was firmly in control of the
government and claimed that MDC were junior partners in government.

Deputy Prime Minister's mother dies

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Violet Gonda
26 March 2009

Catherine Mabhiza, the mother of Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe, died
on Thursday morning from injuries she sustained in a road accident last
month.

A statement by the MDC said Mrs Mabhiza died "at Arcadia Hospital in
Pretoria, South Africa where she had gone for treatment following a fatal
car accident along the Harare-Bulawayo Road on 10 February 2009, which
killed the Vice President's aide, Timond Dube."

She had been traveling from Bulawayo to Harare to attend her daughter's
swearing in as Deputy Prime Minister in the inclusive government.

The death of the Deputy Prime Minister's mother follows that of Amai Susan
Tsvangirai who also died in car crash on the 6th March. Prime Minister
Tsvangirai, who sustained head and neck injuries, flew back to Harare on
Tuesday, from South Africa where he had gone to recuperate.

The roads in Zimbabwe are extremely poor, but the odds of having the Prime
Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister involved in car crashes that have
fatalities, over the same period, has given rise to much suspicion,
especially as ZANU PF stands accused of eliminating numerous opponents
through car crashes in the past.

Mrs Mabhiza is expected to be buried in Bulawayo on Sunday.

Has Zimbabwe's Runaway Inflation Finally Been Tamed?

 

By a TIME correspondent inside Zimbabwe Thursday, Mar. 26, 2009

The Zimbabwean government's dollarization program has stopped inflation and made food prices more constant

Philimon Bulawayo / Reuters

 

Seated on a wooden chair inside his dilapidated shack in the Harare township of Mbare, primary school teacher Moses Majuru, 40, is both anxious and excited about the week ahead. Life has become a bit easier recently thanks to the Zimbabwean government's decision on Jan. 29 to abandon the Zimbabwean dollar for a raft of foreign currencies, including the U.S. dollar and the South African rand. "I am earning in real money. It feels good," says Majuru. "I can now put food on the table and feed my family." A smile spreads across his face.

The decision to "dollarize" Zimbabwe's economy, one of the first acts of the new unity government (including erstwhile enemies President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai), has brought a small amount of stability to the economically ruined country. All civil servants now earn a monthly salary of U.S. $100, while shops and banks accept dollars and rands. (See pictures of Mugabe's reign.)

The move to dump the Zimbabwe dollar has also stemmed the country's runaway inflation. This week the government announced that prices were 0.8% lower in January after years of multidigit increases. The last official measure of inflation, in July last year, put it at 231 million percent. (See pictures of money being printed.)

The change is more than welcome. Prices now stay constant for days — a novel concept in a country where shop owners had until recently recalculated prices twice a day. "This allowance, though not enough, sees me through the month," says Majuru. "I can plan what my salary can and cannot buy since prices have stabilized. I could not do that when our dollar was the official currency."

But not everyone is happy. Street vendors and people in the massive black market have been hit as business shoppers are turning to the formal sector for the first time in years. Competition has increased as well. Shops have suddenly started stocking goods that were previously unavailable. The goods range from basic commodities such as corn, sugar, soap, salt and bread to furniture, which Zimbabweans have had to travel to neighboring countries to buy. "Dollarization has thrown me out of business. No one buys from me. People now buy from shops and authorized dealers," says Tavonga Munjeri, who sells credit cards for cell phones. (See pictures of political tension in Zimbabwe.)

Zimbabwe is facing its worst economic crisis since independence almost three decades ago. On top of its abandoned, worthless currency, the once prosperous agricultural economy is bankrupt. The country's new Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, announced on Wednesday that Harare has a monthly expenditure of about $100 million but can raise only $20 million a month. The government estimates that an average family of five requires about $550 a month, far more than what most people earn. (See pictures of Zimbabweans voting.)

International institutions and Western governments have said they will assist Harare if the new government meets certain demands. "IMF staff stand ready to continue to assist the authorities through policy advice," the fund said in a statement on Wednesday, after its team finished a two-week visit to the poverty-stricken country. But "technical and financial assistance from the IMF will depend on establishing a track record of sound policy implementation, donor support and a resolution of overdue financial obligations to official creditors, including the IMF." Zimbabwe owes the IMF and other institutions more than $1 billion.

Southern African artists in Zimbabwe freedom concert

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Lance Guma
26 March 2009

Leading Southern African artists from South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana and
Zimbabwe will this Sunday feature in a concert demanding freedom for
Zimbabwe. The concert, to be held at the Bassline venue in Johannesburg,
will feature artists Zubz, Thandiswa, Napo Masheane, Kwani Experience from
South Africa and Comrade Fatso, Chirikure Chirikure and solo guitarist Steve
Makoni from Zimbabwe. The show has been dubbed 'Make Some Noise: A concert
For Freedom In Zimbabwe' and has been organized by Magamba, the Cultural
Activist Network, Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum and LNM Entertainment.

A press release from the organizers says; 'The people of Zimbabwe are crying
out for a new constitution, freedom of expression and for their social,
economic and human rights. Zimbabwe is in real need of regional solidarity
at a time when a shaky unity government is ill-equipped and lacking will to
address these issues.' The feeling amongst participants is that SADC is
watching in complicit silence while opposition activists are abducted and
thousands of people die from curable diseases like cholera. The organizers
say they want to build regional solidarity around the Zimbabwean crisis.

The date of the concert has also been set to coincide symbolically with last
year's election victory by the MDC in the 29 March harmonized elections.
'The event is expected to have big media reach and a tangible effect in
developing real solidarity. Major media organisations will be invited to
film the event and a press conference will be held in advance. Buses will be
provided to transport hundreds of Zimbabwean asylum seekers and other exiles
from their neighbourhoods.' This will be the fourth 'Make Some Noise Concert'
to date.

SABC TV3: Special Assignment - Zimbabwean Prisons "HELL HOLE"

SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT BROADCAST: 31 MARCH 2009 -  “HELL HOLE”

This Tuesday at 9.30pm SABC TV3's investigative programme Special Assignment takes you into Zimbabwe’s prisons - which have become virtual death traps for prisoners.

This exclusive, never before been seen video images, were captured following an intensive three month investigation into the Zimbabwean prison system.

The officials filmed day-to-day events inside prison on hidden cameras. The result is a grim picture of a huge humanitarian crisis within the penal system.

Inside we meet a man who is half way through his two year sentence for housebreaking…and it seem unlikely that he will make if out of there. The camera follows him around as he shuffles from his cell to a room where he receives a bowl of sadza-a thick porridge made from maize meal. Like many others he is also suffering from pellagra-a deficiency disease caused by a lack of vitamin B3 and proteins.

According to a report by the Zimbabwean Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the offender (ZACRO), at least 20 prisoners are dying each day across the country’s 55 institutions.

Some of the prisoners featured in the programme have already died and others, like the man mentioned earlier, are on the brink of death.   

“Hell Hole” was produced by Executive Producer Johann Abrahams and Godknows Nare.

For further information or interviews contact:

Johann Abrahams (Executive Producer)    Tel:  +27 11 – 714-7946

Khadija Bradlow (Story Editor)                      Tel:  +27 11 – 714-6758

Or email: truth@sabc.co.za

Zimbabwe's great diamond rush brutally suppressed by Robert Mugabe's regime

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

When diamonds were found in a field near his parents' farm in Zimbabwe,
Douglas Rogers watched as everyone from goat-herders to government officials
piled in to line their pockets.

Last Updated: 5:41PM GMT 26 Mar 2009

As the boom turned to tragedy, he followed the fortunes of a dealer called
Fatso.

On a bright morning in September 2007, a seven-ton truck pulled up at my
parents' game farm and backpacker lodge in a remote valley in the eastern
mountains of Zimbabwe. Piled high on the back of the truck were crates upon
crates of a precious substance that had run out in the country in mid-2007
and that a desperate, depressed population needed more than ever: beer.

There to off-load the cargo was Tendai Simbabure, a soft-spoken 28-year-old
man to whom my parents, in a last-ditch resort to drum up business at their
lodge, Drifters - their only source of income in Zimbabwe's flailing voodoo
economy - had recently leased the property. My parents realised something
odd was up when the telephone in their house on the hills started ringing
off the hook: 'We hear you have beer,' callers would say. 'Is this really
true?' My parents hadn't had calls about the lodge in years.

Once a major stop on the Cape-to-Cairo backpacker trail, written up in the
pages of the Lonely Planet guide, since the collapse of tourism that
followed Robert Mugabe's violent invasion of white-owned farms in 2000,
Drifters had become an informal brothel - a sanctuary in the bush where
government-connected fat cats, the only people in the country with any
money, brought prostitutes, mistresses and second wives.

Now, though, the demographic that converged there was different: black men
and women in their twenties and thirties - a generation younger than the fat
cats. Mr Simbabure was charging five times the usual price for a beer and
even more for food, and yet the new clientele happily ponied up thick bricks
of Zimbabwean dollars, as much as Z$100 million at a time - a fortune in a
country where eight in 10 people were unemployed and inflation was 70,000
per cent. (Within a year it would reach 231 million per cent.) On the lawns
in front of the lodge, a fleet of Mercedes, BMWs, Opels and neat little
Nissan Suns - one with the personalised numberplate 007 - made the property
resemble an open-air car showroom.

My parents looked on in wonder: where did these people get the money?
Zimbabwe was already on its knees - and this was six months before the reign
of terror President Mugabe would unleash on the country in the aftermath of
the disputed March 2008 elections when it appeared, tantalisingly briefly,
that he was about to lose his 28-year grip on power.

It was that Christmas, on the eve of my latest visit to my parents' farm
from my home in Brooklyn, New York, that my father discovered the truth
about his property. He phoned a contact he had in the Zimbabwe National
Army, a staff sergeant who has helped protect him over the past four years
from 'war veterans' and ruling party officials out to claim his land - one
of the last white-owned farms left in the country. He asked the soldier
about getting a security team to run patrols in the area - armed bandits
were rampant, property was being stolen. Could the soldier get some good men
together? They could base themselves in his lodge.

The soldier considered the request, then turned my father down. 'Mr Rogers,'
he said, 'the young people who come to drink at your place - they do not
want my police friends watching them.'

'Why is that?' my father asked.

'Mr Rogers,' he said, 'the people who frequent your place are diamond
dealers. Illegal diamond dealers.'

It was in September 2006 that a 25-acre field of alluvial gem and industrial
diamonds was discovered in Marange, a dusty rural area 15 miles over the
hills from my parents' farm, and 30 miles from Mutare, Zimbabwe's third
city. The field was licensed to Africa Consolidated Resources, a
British-based mining company, when the diamonds were discovered, but three
months later the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation revoked
the licence and seized the property for itself.

A fence was erected around the field and heavily armed soldiers and police
were sent in to guard it. The mining company took the government to court;
they are still contesting the case today. The Zimbabwe of 2007, however, was
a far cry from that of 2000, when the invasions of white farms began - then,
the country at least resembled a functional state. Now it was bankrupt;
people were starving and desperate. There was no way a mere fence in a
remote area patrolled by poorly paid soldiers and police would keep out the
masses.

So began the Great Marange Diamond Rush. Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans
converged on Eastern Zimbabwe in 2007 and 2008 to dig for diamonds, among
them teachers, nurses, bus drivers, goat-herders, schoolchildren and street
kids. Known in Shona slang as gwejas, the women as gwejelines, the diggers
hid in the bush during the day and burrowed under the fence at night, and
from dusk to dawn sifted the dirt for the precious stone that might change
their lives for ever.

News of the find spread around the world and soon buyers from Belgium,
Lebanon, Israel, Botswana, South Africa and China descended on Mutare. They
laid low in hotels and guesthouses since, as foreigners, they were easy for
intelligence agents to spot. Indeed, in April 2007, after Gideon Gono, the
country's Reserve Bank governor, admitted that Zimbabwe had lost US$400
million worth of diamonds smuggled out of Marange in nine months, soldiers
and secret policemen were sent out to make arrests. 'We must protect the
nation's riches from crooks and scoundrels,' one minister said.

But a fish rots from the head: in March 2007 William Nhara, an official in
Mugabe's office, was arrested at Harare's airport with a Lebanese associate
in possession of 10,700 carats of diamonds. Soldiers sent in to guard the
field, meanwhile, made merry with the loot. A newspaper quoted an officer
saying, 'You don't stand in a pool of water and go thirsty.'

But the real engine of the trade were the diamond dealers: young black
middlemen from Mutare who, before the find, were making a living fencing
black-market sugar, soap and cooking oil on Mutare's backstreets to people
such as my
parents. Now, every day, they drove the 30 miles from Mutare to Marange -
'the dawn run' - bribed their way through security checkpoints, purchased
stones from those dusty, dishevelled gwejas, then raced back to sell them to
the foreign buyers at their hideouts in town. And they became wildly rich
overnight.

Pockets bulging with fat wads of American dollars - Usas they called them -
young men and women who were black-market street traders one minute, were
suddenly buying houses, cars and flat-screen televisions the next. There was
an almost lurid democratic justice to it all: they splurged on imported
food, booze and designer clothes - the kind of luxuries they had watched the
fat cats gorge themselves on for years. And so it was that during the great
beer shortage of 2007, they discovered my parents' secluded backpacker lodge
and made it their playground, their hideout. Drifters had reinvented itself
again.

It wasn't hard to meet a dealer there: you just had to walk into the bar.
The lodge is a rustic, double-storey brick, timber and thatch structure. The
bar is on the top floor. One night soon after Christmas I took a corner
stool next to a tall thirty­something black man in a red Liverpool FC shirt.
He had on brand new Timberlands the size of cement slabs, and a Fidel
Castro-style military cap worn jauntily to the side like Joe DiMaggio. There
were about 20 customers inside, drinking beer, smoking cheap cigarettes, and
talking loudly over a hip-hop DVD playing on the new television that Tendai
Simbabure had installed. Kanye West was singing Diamonds from Sierra Leone.

Soccer Shirt introduced himself to me as 'Fatso' and his friend, a drunk
stocky guy on the next stool, his head on the counter, as 'No Matter'.
'Nothing matters to him!' Fatso laughed. When he saw my notebook he asked if
I was a writer, and I told him I was writing a book about my parents' farm.

'So if you are a writer, have you seen a film called Blood Diamond ?' he
asked.

'Of course. I liked it. DiCaprio did a great Zimbabwean accent.'

He shrugged. 'Maybe, but he knew f*** all about diamonds.'

'How's that?'

'Because I have a much better film to write.'

Then he took my notebook and scribbled six words on the back page: Filthy
Way to Riches in Marange. I knew then that he was an ngoda - a diamond
dealer.

A former timber company employee, Fatso lost his job in 2005, and got into
the diamond trade soon after the stones were discovered. He was lucky: he
was born in Marange - 'I herded goats there as a boy' - and his parents
still lived there, which meant he could get past the tight security cordons
on the road to the fields by saying he was visiting family. He formed a
four-man syndicate with No Matter and two other friends, and they taught
themselves about the business. 'I started buying stones from gwejas, sifting
through everything I could get hold of. I watched the buyers - Jewish guys,
Lebanese, Belgians. I saw how they looked at a stone. Every day I learnt.'

Now he spoke like a geologist: about flaws, cut, cloud, clarity, light,
weight. He said he could tell how many carats were in a stone with the naked
eye: 'I don't need a loupe.' He wanted to work for a mining company or
become a licensed dealer
one day, which is what usually happens around the world when 'artisans' -
illegal traders like him - converge on a newly discovered field. Sadly, that
is unlikely to happen in Zimbabwe. A legitimate company such as ACR would
usually employ gwejas and dealers such as Fatso, and in doing so stop the
illegal trade. Instead the Zimbabwe government illegally occupies the
Marange field and it is too ill-equipped and corrupt to mine it properly.

Eighty per cent of Marange diamonds are industrials - low-grade stones used
in industry, as opposed to gems - but every month or so Fatso got hold of a
gem. He paid on average US$50 a carat to the gwejas, and got twice that,
sometimes more, from buyers. 'The most I sold a stone for was US$75,000 for
a 24-carat to a Lebanese guy,' he told me. 'It's still way below market
price but it made us guys very rich.' He smiled as he remembered the sale
and then clinked bottles with No Matter, who briefly found reserves of
strength to raise his head from the counter. 'Zhulas!' they toasted.

I asked what a zhulas was and suddenly the lights went out. The barman, a
young employee of Simbabure's named Wilbur, started lighting candles set in
empty beer bottles on the counter. It is one of the certainties in Zimbabwe
that the power will fail: the country's power stations are crumbling and its
technicians have fled the country along with three million other
Zimbabweans - a quarter of the population. Candles are always at the ready.

Fatso took one, held it just below the counter, and tapped my arm, and for
the first time I saw that he held, just above the flame, a tiny off-white
stone. 'A zhulas is a gem, my brother,' he whispered. 'A pure gem. Clear and
clean. No flaws.' He twirled it and it glinted in the candlelight. 'Stones -
that's our game.'

He agreed to take me to the diamond field and introduce me to the rest of
his team - 'the most feared syndicate in town' - and I met up with him in
Mutare one morning early in the New Year. Hemmed in a narrow valley beneath
towering granite peaks along the Mozambique border, Mutare is Zimbabwe's
most beautiful city. Or at least it used to be.

I was born here, like my mother before me, but I have watched its inexorable
decline in the past eight years: the streets are potholed, the pavements
cracked, supermarket shelves deserted. Parking meters have been beheaded,
not for the worthless coins inside them, but to smelt the metal and sell to
traders in Mozambique and on to China. Metals are a prized commodity.
Aluminium street signs have been ripped away, too: they make for good coffin
handles. It is estimated that one
in six Zimbabweans is HIV positive. And yet, something remarkable had
happened since my last visit to Mutare a year earlier: business boomed!
Commercial activity had simply moved from shops and offices on to the
streets and car-parks. Most of it was illegal - fuelled by the diamond
trade.

I met Fatso on Herbert Chitepo Road, Mutare's main street. He was in a
battered Isuzu pick-up truck. I asked him why he didn't have a Mercedes Benz
or a BMW. 'I do,' he shrugged. 'I just got this today. When I go out to the
fields, if I hear of
a good stone and I don't have enough cash on me, I will swap it for a
truck.' This was apparently common practice. 'A lot of goat-herders in
Marange are driving my cars,' he chuckled.

Indeed, stories of how diamonds had changed the lives of the rural residents
of Marange were as remarkable as Fatso's tale. Brick houses were springing
up beside mud huts, and men who had only ever ridden donkey carts returned
to their villages in Toyota twin cabs. Peasants tramped the bush with the
latest Nokia mobile phones: phone camera flashes were used to identify real
gems from fool's diamonds. There were ugly side effects, too: alcoholism and
prostitution were rampant, knife fights between gwejas common.

Fatso drove me around and I got a surreal glimpse into my former home town.
Turning left at the Central Police Station he hooted at four uniformed
policemen crossing the road. They ran over like eager puppies and he
distributed wads of Zimbabwean dollars.

'Friends of mine,' he smiled. 'I know all the cops. I keep them happy.'

We rounded the block and parked outside the Dairy Den, an ice-cream parlour
where my sisters and I used to drink strawberry shakes after school. It was
no longer a hangout for schoolchildren: in the parking bays were the same
sleek cars that come to my parents' lodge. Ragged street kids washed the
vehicles while their owners, as many as 30 young dealers in baseball caps
and baggy jeans, spoke on mobile phones. I watched Fatso receive papers for
his truck from a man who pulled up in a white Mercedes 300SL. The driver
didn't step out of the car. 'That is the Baron,' another dealer whispered to
me. 'He was just a street kid two years ago, selling bread. Now he is the
biggest dealer in town.'

I wanted to find out how big a dealer Fatso really was, and so I asked him
how much foreign currency he had on him. It was illegal to hold foreign
currency in Zimbabwe at the time, and the state prosecuted those who did.
(The US dollar was finally made legal tender last September.) He casually
pulled out a thick brick of US$100 notes. 'Today I have about US$4,000,' he
shrugged.

The last time I had seen so much money was in the office of Miss Moneypenny,
the name my father gives to his black-market money dealer, a middle-aged
white woman in town with whom he trades the small amount of South African
currency he has outside the country for Zimbabwe dollars. Dealing is a way
of life in Zimbabwe, the only way to survive.

We made our way to a fuel station on the outskirts of town. Two girls sat
smoking cigarettes in a shiny SUV in front of us. One had a towering Macy
Gray afro and gold-hoop earrings, the other a shaved head and Jackie O
sunglasses. They looked like supermodels - or assassins. 'A rival
syndicate,' Fatso muttered. 'Those chicks are good.' A tall, light-skinned
black man in a leather jacket stood by the diesel pump. 'That man is a
diamond buyer,' Fatso said. 'I've never see him before but I can tell by the
way he looks and moves and dresses that he's not a Zimbabwean. See that cell
phone and leather jacket? He's a buyer. Maybe from Botswana.'

I asked Fatso what a buyer did with a stone after he bought it. Marange
diamonds are not considered blood diamonds (smuggled out of war zones and
sold to fund more arms), and the Kimberley Process (the industry's warranty
system that tries to ensure only clean stones enter the global market) has
given Zimbabwe a clean bill of health, but there is no way to legally
license a stone bought from the likes of Fatso. Fatso laughed. 'Who cares?
As long as he pays me I don't mind if he eats it.'

According to Alastair Ford, the editor of Commodity Watch, a British-based
group of specialist commodities magazines, the most likely thing to happen
is that it passes through several hands in Africa, gets cut in Johannesburg
or Dubai, then ends up in Mumbai, the Middle East, China, or a jewellery
store near you. 'Any reputable diamond dealer will tell you he hasn't got
any non-certified stones, but go into a store and ask to see the
certificates for every one and it won't be long before you hit one that
can't be certified,' Ford says. 'That said, it's only in the West that the
consumer is bothered about the Kimberley Process. Selling illegally mined
stones in the Arab world, India or China is a piece of cake.'

I didn't make it to the field with Fatso. As we were driving off he received
a call from his police contacts at the roadblocks before the fields warning
him that a new team of officers from the Central Intelligence Organisation -
the secret police - had been sent down from Harare. The state was cracking
down on the trade: beating gwejas, arresting dealers. 'I can go in,' he told
me, 'but if they see you, a white guy, they will say you are a buyer. They
can jail you, beat you or make you pay a big bribe.'

I decided to drive out on my own a short while later. The first police
checkpoint was 10 miles south-west of Mutare. No normal police roadblock, it
was rigged up with satellite dishes, electronic sensors and metal detectors.
Dealers such
as Fatso swallow their diamonds or hide them in car tyres, air-con units, or
loaves of bread. The sensors pick up the stones.

'What are you looking for?' I asked a policewoman.

'Diamonds,' she smiled.

'There are diamonds here?'

'Actually, my dear, I can say we are standing on riches.'

She let me through, but I didn't get far. In a rural village 10 miles from
the field a young black kid screamed at me from the roadside: 'Dah-mons!
Dah-mons!' I pulled over to see what he had. He was about to show me his
wares when a dozen other kids, dusty, dishevelled, dressed in rags, leapt
out of the bush and surrounded my car. They shoved open hands filled with
stones through the window imploring me to 'Buy dah-mons! Buy dah-mons!' They
were desperate. The stones looked liked clumps of dead earth or pieces of
rock. I couldn't tell a gem from a pebble. I told them I couldn't buy
anything. They tried to open the car doors. I slammed them shut. I began to
worry that they might tear the clothes off my back when suddenly, as quickly
as they had appeared, they ran off into the bush, like frightened rabbits.

I could see why: hurtling down the road towards me was a white police truck
with six armed officers on the back. Pistols drawn, they pulled alongside me
and ordered me out. 'You are buying diamonds!' one shouted. They began
searching my car, checking the air-con unit, the spare tyre, the seat
lining, my backpack. Finally, after 20 minutes, unable to find anything,
they let me go.

It was only the following day that I realised how lucky I had been. The
staff sergeant, my father's military contact, visited the house and informed
me that two days earlier an undercover policeman had been stoned to death by
diamond dealers in the village I had stopped in, and the police had shot and
killed a dealer in the same incident.

'Would they have put me in jail if they found me with a stone?' I asked

The soldier looked at me as if I was deluded. 'Maybe they will just shoot
you,' he said.

The police and army did begin shooting people soon after my visit. The
disputed March general election led to a presidential run-off three months
later. The campaign turned out to be one of the bloodiest episodes in
Zimbabwe's history. More than 100 activists of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change party were murdered in the run-up. Hundreds of thousands
of MDC supporters beaten, tortured, raped or burned out of their homes. The
MDC pulled out of the contest to avoid a bigger bloodbath.

Having dealt with the political opposition, the regime then turned its
attention to the diamonds. Up until mid-2008 the government had, for the
most part, allowed the illicit trade to continue. It kept the Mutare area
relatively prosperous and the population quiet. But with the economy in even
greater tatters and other sources of revenue rapidly drying up, the Marange
diamonds were seen as easy pickings by the regime.

It was called Operation Hakudzokwi (You Won't Come Back). Planned and
carried out by the Joint Operational Command, the country's top military
commanders, tanks, bulldozers and helicopters were sent into Marange in
October. Soldiers opened fire on gwejas in daylight. Gwejas were mauled by
dogs. Some had their stomachs cut open by soldiers searching for stones. By
December, between 200 and 400 panners had been killed, many of them
teenagers. A favoured method was to mow them down with machine guns from
helicopters as they ran for the hills.

The Marange field is now controlled by the Mugabe regime. Military tents dot
its moonscape and villagers are forced by soldiers to dig for stones. Until
late October I had kept in touch with Fatso by intermittent emails. He told
me No Matter was in jail. The Baron had been arrested, then released for
lack of evidence. But in November all communication with him stopped. I
presumed he was either dead, or in jail.

Then, on January 8 this year, an email popped up in my inbox:

'hie douglas

'it has been quite long when we last communicated and too much has been
happening. soldiers came, i tell you people were killed like flies. there
were choppers, ground force, commando, riot police name it. its now a no go
area. we were in exile and some are still even myself i am not staying in
mutare. actually as i write to you people are at a funeral of one buyer
called Mabota. beaten by the soldiers. all the same the soldiers are mining
with their syndicates.

'i have since started scripting for filth way to riches in marange

'regard

'Fatso'

Douglas Rogers's book 'The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe', will be
published by Crown/Random House in the US in October

The politics of constitution-making in Zimbabwe

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/blog/?p=503

Posted By Alex Magaisa on 26
Mar, 2009 at 5:46 pm

Draft from Kariba

THE waters of Lake Kariba are both beautiful and treacherous.

For much of the year, the land on which it rests is enveloped in a heavy
coat of heat. The sun is the faithful messenger of both a glorious sunrise
and a beautiful sunset.

You sail on the boat and if you are lucky, you might catch some big fish.
Yet you also maintain a watchful eye, for the waters house big beasts and
reptiles, which do not take easily to intruders.

It is a perfect background for reflection. You marvel at this symbol of
progress in a bygone era but you also think about the lives that were
violently transformed when the man-made barrier at Kariba gorge caused the
mighty Zambezi to bulge and form this expansive mass of water.

It is here, unbeknown to the locals, that a group of politicians gathered to
solve their differences. They failed. But they agreed on an important
document - a Draft Constitution of Zimbabwe. They called it the Kariba
Draft.

It is this Kariba Draft, we hear, that will form the basis of the
Parliament-led constitution-making process in Zimbabwe.

Civil Society Protest

Civil Society, led by the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), is up in
arms. At the heart of their protest is that the proposed process is driven
by political elites and fails, therefore, to satisfy what they refer to as a
'people-driven constitution-making process'.

Civil Society is right to raise concern on this matter and for good reason:
it is that Zimbabweans must avoid repeating past errors of taking a
political compromise between feuding adversaries as the founding covenant of
their nation.

A Constitution should ideally outlive present-day politics; indeed, it
should outlive political actors of the day. It is an enduring covenant
between the governors and the governed - not just the present but also
future generations. It is an embodiment of the nation's values, ideals and
aspirations of a nation.

However, if this is to be achieved, the Zimbabwean public ought to be more
vigilant. It is this spirit of vigilance that causes this hand to express
these reflections on this matter.

Elites and the Constitution

First, at the centre of emerging contest between Civil Society and the
Inclusive Government is that the process must not be controlled by elites
but instead, must be 'people-driven'. But this rhetoric appears to me to
conceal more than it reveals.

The bottom-line is that despite the rhetoric, it is in fact the elites who
invariably drive the Constitution-making process. There are two kinds of
elites seeking control of the process - political elites and civil society
elites

Colleagues in Civil Society will contest this characterisation, because no
one who purports to be working with the so-called 'grassroots' wants to be
associated with elitism - a dirty word, it seems.

To be sure, the main drivers of the constitutional reform process, which in
substance emerged more forcefully in the late 1990s, were a group of civil
society elites who gathered to form the NCA when they saw the problem of
monopolisation of Constitutional power by the political elites.

Yet when you listen to politicians, they also lay claim to the status of
being the true representatives of the 'grassroots' by virtue of election to
Parliament. Indeed, reading through the recently announced STERP economic
revival plan, the government makes several references to phrases such as
'people-driven', people-centred' etc, signalling their belief that what they
are doing is for and by the people.

To my mind, the Zimbabwean public needs to understand that they are dealing
with elites on either side of the coin and the battle could become the
proverbial fight between elephants, whilst the grass suffers. The important
thing is to give substance to this rhetoric and for the public to be wary of
all actors.

Refuse Political Compromise

Second, Zimbabwe must eschew the practice and belief that the Constitution
is some kind of political pact between the existing political parties. A
quick perusal of the current version of the Constitution in the aftermath of
Constitutional Amendment No. 19 demonstrates why this is dangerous.

The Constitution has become so mutilated it even states office-bearers by
name ("There shall be a prime minister, which office shall be occupied by
Morgan Tsvangirai"). In other words, strictly speaking, to remove them from
office would require another Constitutional amendment.

Indeed, one of the main shortcomings of the Lancaster House Constitution
adopted at independence in 1980 was that it was a political deal which
sought to accommodate political actors of the time. The compromises which
even maintained racial divide by creating a White Roll and a Common Roll in
elections were divisive, not conducive to common nation-building and
unsustainable in the long run.

This is partly the reason why the Kariba Draft, created in the context of
negotiations between the feuding Zanu PF and the MDCs, does not provide the
right platform for constitution-making.

Scrutiny of the Written Word

Third, a major but understated pitfall in the Constitution-making process is
that at the end of the day a written Constitution bears the hand of the
experts, both political and civil society elites. People are often told that
they will 'write' their own Constitution - they must distinguish this
rhetoric from the reality that the actual writing will be done by experts -
the elites.

To my mind, Civil Society ought to go beyond this veil of 'people writing
their own constitution' by having practical measures on monitoring those who
do the actual drafting. It requires careful scrutiny because just one word
can change the whole meaning of a provision.

Civil Society's role would be to ensure that each part and each provision is
scrutinised to ensure it reflects the agreed resolutions. If not, the public
has to know so that when they exercise their rights at the Referendum, they
make informed decisions.

Referendum and Politics

Fourth, since the ultimate form of control that the people have over the new
Constitution is the Referendum, there is need to make sure a distinction is
drawn between political elections and the Constitution. Civil Society elites'
great challenge is that they will have to compete against the combined
political elite.

Whilst Civil Society is right to claim victory over the 'No' vote in the
2000 Referendum, there is also a credible argument that the vote was also a
political rejection not just of the Constitution but the then Zanu PF-led
government and its kind of politics.

At the time, Civil Society had on its side the fledgling but powerful
political clout and pull provided by the MDC. Civil Society has lost this
powerful political constituency to the Inclusive Government. The risk has to
be that notwithstanding legitimate concerns of Civil Society elites about
the Constitution, voters may be influenced more by political allegiance to
the parties in government.

If it comes to that, the Civil Society elite may find it hard to out-compete
the political elite over the new Constitution. For their part, the people of
Zimbabwe need to make this distinction clear and regard the
constitution-making process as sacrosanct and beyond party politics.

Protecting the Constitution

Finally, it is important to ensure that the Constitution is protected once
adopted. In other words, focus should not simply be about the
constitution-making process but also in relation to its life. If we have
learned anything over the last 29 years, it is that a Constitution that
provides an easy path for amendment is always at the mercy of those who
wield political power.

Surely, if a referendum is necessary for the adoption of the new
Constitution, it follows that any changes to it must be authorised by the
people. Where Parliament can amend the Constitution with ease, there is
virtually nothing to stop politicians from conceding to the demands of the
people simply to get a new Constitution adopted through a Referendum but
then immediately change it to the Kariba Draft or other versions that suit
their political interests.

An added benefit of making sure that the Constitution is amended with the
approval of the people who made it is that our courts of law will become
accustomed to interpret it not simply as the will of Parliament but to
regard it is a sacrosanct document that houses the will of a nation.

The courts will be confident that they can interpret the Constitution
without the spectre of their decisions being reversed by
government-concocted Constitutional reforms as has happened in the past.

What we got from the shores of Kariba may well be a good document. But as
beautiful and treacherous those waters are, it is understandable that Civil
Society views it with caution. Zimbabwe does not need another compromise to
meet the interests of present-day political actors.

The content of the Constitution is as good as the process of making it.
Active participation of the people ensures that the Constitution grows in
the national consciousness.

Civil Society is right to be wary, but it needs to go beyond the amorphous
rhetoric and attend to the practical aspects of constitution-making to
ensure that what emerges is a truly founding document that is securely
safeguarded for generations to come.

Alex Magaisa is based at, Kent Law School, the University of Kent and can be
contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk

Liquidate Zanu PF’s assets

Opinion - Sanctions must remain in place for now

http://www.swradioafrica.com

TANONOKA JOSEPH WHANDE

I am only a humble citizen of Zimbabwe . And, like every Zimbabwean, I do
worry so much about what is happening.

The worry comes from not really accepting that what is happening is real.
The worry is influenced by the realisation that the devil we have always
known is becoming more and more like us. Yet this devil has neither changed
nor does he show signs of a willingness to change.

The fear is that we are us; we cannot run away from ourselves, even though
we notice some anomalies amongst ourselves.

We are stuck with each other.

"The sense of optimism is alive," said journalist Jan Raath, "but after the
repeated violent destruction of expectations of the past decade people have
also learnt to recognise the fragility of their hope."

She adds that it is like walking into a pool of delicious, cool water while
knowing that broken glass lies on the bottom.

And I do appreciate the slow changes and improvements going on but I am not
at all sold on this. Not just yet.

Yes, true, we should give them more time to settle but the bad things that
are being done tend to overwhelm the good ones.

This government still fails to find common ground and remains dangerously
polarised among party lines.

One half of the government continues to invade farms while the other half
criticises that, showing, in the process, that the MDC has no power or
authority yet.

One half of this government continues to raid, abduct and incarcerate
supporters of the other half. They refuse to release them, showing in the
process that the MDC remains powerless to protect people yet it is in
government.

No, the call to lift sanctions only benefits ZANU-PF, which tenaciously
clings to power and continues to refuse relinquishing control. Lifting of
sanctions will tilt the scales way more in ZANU-PF's farvour and further
curtail the work the MDC is trying to do.

Why should sanctions be lifted? So that Mr Tsvangirai can go on foreign
trips accompanied by Mugabe, his insatiable wife and a million hangers on to
milk away whatever little assistance the world wants to give to the people
of Zimbabwe ?

I find it distasteful when the MDC is forced to defend ZANU-PF or Mugabe,
something that ZANU-PF and Mugabe do not do for the MDC.

Sanctions must stay. Repressive laws are still in effect.

Suddenly, all MDC people have diplomatic passports yet for a long time
Tsvangirai, along with a host of other citizens, could not get passports.
But now passports are made available to the MDC so they go around the world
to legitimise Mugabe and asking for money that ZANU-PF is waiting for.

This is beginning to look like a set up to me and, as usual, the so-called
ordinary Zimbabwean will come out the loser.

After the signing of the GPA, MDC members and civil society activists were
abducted, tortured and imprisoned. All, including those on bail, still face
trumped-up charges. At least seven are still missing since their abduction
in October last year, a full month after the signing of the GPA. The media
still remains shackled; sanctions must stay.

The MDC must be regretting that they did not push hard enough for a new
constitution at those endless, notorious and, apparently, fateful talks. Now
they are forced to operate under the same constitution and conditions that
claimed the lives of so many people, of so many newspapers; thank you
Jonathan Moyo.

There are those who wish to repeat the mistakes of the 1980s by placing this
new inclusive government above criticism. They argue that it should be given
a chance to succeed. Those who incessantly criticize it are dismissed as
unhelpful doomsayers.

Shortcomings of the inclusive government must be ignored, they say. Naïve
optimism must prevail. Let bygones be bygones. Mugabe has turned a new leaf.
He now only wants what is best for Zimbabwe . All the international
community must do is give money to this government and all will be well.

Those who doubt this are anti-Zimbabwe.

I doubt all this and I am not anti-Zimbabwe. I am just afraid of dealing
with cheats in ZANU-PF.

I have been abused long enough to read the danger signs.

Instead of embracing this arrangement for their own good, ZANU-PF tries to
sabotage it. Instead of appreciating the few positive signs of life
struggling to come back to normal, ZANU-PF is messing things up at every
opportunity they get.

Instead of working together in this government of national unity, they spend
a lot of time issuing conflicting statements, reprimanding and criticising
each other, leaving us wondering what unity there is to speak of since each
group is pulling in a different direction.

They censure each other over policy they should agree upon in cabinet
meetings leaving the people to support, not an issue being reviewed but a
political party.

The heart of the matter is that the targeted sanctions must remain in force,
especially now that the MDC is still unable to protect the people and the
nation from ZANU-PF.

While we must appreciate the little changes slowly coming into view, we
demand a more rapid move in normalising the political situation. It must not
always be about money.

It must also have something to do with our judiciary, our media laws, our
human and political rights.

It must also have to do with unshackling the people from ZANU-PF imposed
slavery. We demand a new constitution right away and for this government to
let people be free.

Setting people free does not require funds from outside.

We must never lose sight of the fact that this is an imperfect government
born from an imperfect agreement and that nothing beats fresh elections and
a new democratic constitution.

We must scream for that as much as we are screaming for money so that in
case this government of national unity fails, as Mr Biti warned yesterday,
people will have protection to pick up the pieces and struggle along to put
their lives back on track.

The road is still long for this government and the one to come after it, not
to mention for the long-suffering masses who keep being betrayed and abused.

Send me your comments on tano@swradioafrica.com

I am Tanonoka Joseph Whande and that, my fellow Zimbabweans, is the way it
is today, Thursday March 26, 2009 .

Warning

http://www.morningmirror.africanherd.com

My husband and I were last week driving from Jo'burg to BYO on the N1. With
our not-so-new fully loaded car (shopping trip!) and the Zim license plates
we certainly stood out amongst the smart and mostly newish SA cars. That was
what probably attracted the unwanted attention of a dark blue, very new
looking Audi with no license plates. They pulled into the lane next to us
and through their open window showed us a plastic ID with POLICE written in
big letters on it and what looked like an American Sheriffs Star taking up a
third of the space. My husband luckily had his wits about him and refused to
pull over. They then first drove ahead of us and when they realised we were
not going to pull over they fell behind and came up on our side again. This
time shouting: Police, pull over.... Again my husband said no and just kept
on driving.They were two indian guys middle 20ies to early thirties, fairly
long hair, wore black leather jackets and the one on the co-driver seat was
holding a walkie-talkie like the real police do. We then called the police
and asked for their advice since we knew a toll boot was ahead of us. After
listening to tapes ("..if it is a matter of life and death, please press
1...") they were very good and told us they would catch up with us in a few
minutes and would stay with us. Which they did.
We finally met the police (three different cars!) at a service station and
they told us how eager they were to get these guys because it was obviously
not a single incident but seems to be a big problem on that N1 in the
Jo'burg area. They also showed us a real police ID and it looks just like a
real ID with no huge Sheriff Star on it.
So please everyone check the emergency numbers that are displayed along the
N1 and put them into your cell phones. These numbers change as you drive
along but in case of emergency you have to have the one for the area you're
in.
Rita and Fredi Ruf

What about China in Africa? - A debate revisited

http://www.africanpath.com

March 26, 2009 09:34 AMBy
Dr. Henning Melber

On March 12, 2009 I attended a presentation by Dr. Henning Melber, the
Director of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, in Uppsala Sweden. He revisited
the Sino-African relations debate at the Institute for Security &
Development Policy (ISDP). I posted his 2008 debate on "Chinese-African
Relations Today" here.

I observed that this time Dr. Melber was more direct, bold and critical to
both China and the West than he was last year, when he was more cautious.
Revisiting the topic meant looking at the implications of the ongoing global
financial crisis and what effect it may have on Africa. The majority might
lose and so the question is: "What is in it for the African people and not
just their governments?" asked Dr. Melber. Therefore, securing a common
platform on such issues is very important.

Dr. Melber who considers himself "a free speaker", expressed his thoughts
openly and even lodged a scathing attack on the West which for many years,
has seen Africa as its own backyard. He gave an overview of the Sino-African
relations, stressing that historically, the Chinese have been for the
emancipation of Africans; supporting the losers in various political
struggles, and not the winners. The Europeans on the other hand, have a
record of suppression, slavery, and scrambling for Africa's resources, which
they continue to exploit heavily.

The speaker felt that suspicions, aversions and other negative responses had
initially dominated the discourse on Sino-African relations for a period,
but currently there is more calm in the discourse. The fear of the unknown
is common at the beginning of bilateral cooperation but since China changed
its policy and became familiar with issues pertaining to the collaboration,
it's become remarkably good. China slightly improved its policy after being
criticized for supporting the Sudanese government despite the ongoing war in
Darfur. For instance, by supplying more material and personnel than any
other country globally, China has taken center-stage in such issues.

Key Issues

The Chinese have had an indirect presence in Africa through building sports
arenas and the well-known Tazara Railway, which was built to connect
Tanzania and Zambia for the copper trade. This is a great infrastructural
landmark. The Chinese approach is through friendship, politeness and
respect. Their top leaders have traveled to Africa to acknowledge their
friendship in the recent years, something that very few Western leaders have
done, despite having dominated bilateral matters for years with the
Africans. Dr. Melber then referred the audience to Walter Rodney's book
entitled: "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa".

The Chinese leaders do not wag their fingers at African leaders and do
implement the policy of non-interference. China is therefore becoming a
preferable partner in bilateral relations. There was an increase in capital
investments from the West to China in the 1990s. In Africa, the increase was
remarkable through Chinese companies contracted by companies in the West.
There are currently 800 private Chinese companies in 49 African countries.
They have minimum rules and regulations which should not violate the Chinese
government rules. Their government gives security just like those from the
Western countries.

Double-standards are quite visible in the way Westerners regard Sino-African
relations. They criticize them yet do the same. The West was not very strict
when the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre took place and continued trading
with China as usual. Sweden also follows a "value-oriented" policy that is a
Nordic model yet is unethical in some instances, like the suspected bribes
during the sale of Swedish jets to South Africa ten years ago. But economic
interest seems to be heavier than other values and they still trade with
rogue governments.

Former President Mobutu of then Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of
Congo), committed atrocities yet the Belgians, French and the USA traded
with him for many years, at the expense of the Congolese people. Nothing has
been said openly by the West about the conduct of King Mswati III of
Swaziland. Somalia and Somaliland got onto the world map when Somali pirates
began hijacking ships with expensive cargo owned by the West being
transported across the Indian Ocean. There lacks a coherent perspective on
human rights and the West should be criticized as much as China. "Who is the
West to lecture China on moral conduct yet they do the same?" wondered Dr.
Melber.

Rapid Industrialization in China

In 1997, China's trade turnover in Africa was between 5 to 55.5 billion US
dollars, making it the third biggest trade partner after USA and Britain. In
2005, the turnover was USD 105 billion, a volume that was expected in 2010.
India and china are in control of the highest dollar reserves outside USA,
amounting to three trillion US dollars. A high dollar value is good for
their exports. Africa's economy means a lot for China so as to meets its
rising demand for oil, gas and other minerals.

During their recent entry on the continent, the Chinese invested immensely
in Southern Africa, thus reviving the Zambian copper mining industry and
Namibia's diamond industry had a lucrative market in China. However, since
the beginning of the current financial crisis, the mining industry has
plummeted and many mines have closed in Zambia and Namibia. Half of Namibia's
economy is fuelled by diamonds. In the diamond-rich country of Botswana,
things are just as bad because the global demand for diamonds has reduced
drastically due to the deteriorating economy. Diamond owners might instead
sell them for cash, which would affect the country badly, since 80-90% of
its economy depends on it. Growth rates in Africa projected at 7-10% per
annum will be halved.

During the recent "Changes Conference" in Dar-es-Salaam organized jointly
the government of Tanzania and the International Monetary Fund, former UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan said this about the financial crisis: "We could
be facing the economic equivalent of a tsunami". In Angola, which has vast
oil and gas resources, the generated profits are not ploughed back to
elevate the majority of citizens from poverty. Poverty has been reduced in
China, while it is on the rise in Africa. The Sino-African relations might
not have a "trickle down effect" on many Africans after all.

Dr. Melba recalled that during the 2007 World Social Forum (WSF) in Nairobi,
a Chinese civil society delegation attempted to 'lecture' Africans on human
rights and met the wrath of some seasoned Africans, who were quite aware of
the Chinese penetration into petty trade in Africa. They were informed of
how they had entered competition with hawkers by flooding many African
markets with their cheap goods. They were told that their trade methods were
worse the Europeans' because they even brought cheap labor from China, and
do not employ local laborers.

The Chinese have a monolithic policy which is not modeled to deal with
outside matters. On the other hand, the Westerners have a policy of
enhancing democracy. For instance, there are common interactions among
social movements in America, Europe and Africa, while the Chinese do not
interact with the local people when they come to Africa. The unknown is
always threatening and this is why the degree of racism towards the Chinese
in some parts of Africa is extreme. Dr. Melber referred to the textile
industry in Togo is almost collapsing, since the Chinese entered to compete
by selling their cheap clothes. The Togolese refer to them as: "The Chinese
Devils". The Chinese have forged friendly relations with many African
countries, but not the ordinary Africans. Although many aspects of life in
China are still strictly regulated, more Chinese are now able to travel
abroad as tourists, and might gradually understand other cultures.

Commitments

China has big plans for Africa and in the recent past has been offering
massive soft loans and grants. Is this sustainable amidst the current
financial crisis? Will these loans harm Africa? There is an upward spiral in
mineral and oil-rich countries like Angola because of China's demands, yet
there is an imbalance in the trade which involves exploitation of natural
resources like oil and gas at 62% and other minerals at 13%. But Africans
governments must also share the profits widely by improving the
infrastructure.

China is among the top three exporters of arms to Africa and in 2008 was
forced, after worldwide pressure, to recall its "Ship of shame" a term
coined for the ship that had exported massive weapons to Zimbabwe after the
botched presidential elections.

Remarkable policy change has been noted from China in the case of Darfur.
However, more is required. Economic development needs to go hand in hand
with democracy, accountability and human rights. Democracy and participation
in societal values is required in Africa for prosperity.

The European-Chinese-African discourse seeks to reconcile issues and shape
policy even at the European Union level. Is the Chinese presence in Africa
an alternative? So far, China offers more options for Africa but might still
bring "more of the same interest" like the West.