so Zanu PF feels threatened by our open hand – not surprising! The party is sinking. They see enemies everywhere, the press, judiciary, civil servants, police force and now even Ministers of religion. Such is the behaviour of a panicking party.
What is it with our symbol that makes them shake in the knees? The answer is simple. They have a fist for a symbol. That fist is not coincidental. They use a fist for a symbol because they are a violent party. They are brutal and seek support through force and intimidation:
Thousands of people perished in the Midlands and Matabeleland in the early 1980s. Their crime being that they belonged to PF Zapu.
Zum supporters were subjected to terror in the run-up to the 1990 general elections and the Zum candidate for Gweru urban Patrick Kombayi was shot at point blank range for daring to challenge their vice-president Simon Muzenda. The culprit was pardoned by none other than President Robert Mugabe who has done the same for the 2000 election criminals.
Over 40 MDC supporters have died since 2000. Thousands have had their homes burnt, their limbs broken and their homes raided in the night for the simple reason that they support the Movement for Democratic Change. Zanu PF does not subscribe to the modern principles of democracy, which centre on dialogue and persuasion.
Not only is Zanu PF a violent party, it is also corrupt! Owing to the party’s lack of transparency they have to clench the fist to hide the blood in their hand and their underhand dealings. The fist is hiding something and we surely would like to know what it is!
The MDC open hand, which is making many a desperate Zanu leader nervous, represents openness and transparency. We have nothing to hide. The five fingers signify the five priority areas of the MDC. These are restoring economic growth, tackling land redistribution, fighting corruption, rewriting people’s constitution and delivering social services to the people.
The open hand also signifies the spirit of liberty, peace and joy that awaits the citizens of this country with the advent of an MDC administration.
Rather than threaten the people of Zimbabwe as the Zanu PF fist does our open hand is welcoming. It calls for peace. We carry no weapons but we promote the ideals of peaceful democracy. In addition it illustrates that each one of us has the power to change the current political status quo in Zimbabwe. We have the power in our hand and we can exercise it when we vote in the presidential elections.
It is shameful that Zanu PF MPs who have run out of ideas on how to solve the economic mess they have created and to address real problems of job losses, fuel shortage and starvation which is threatening the whole population have opted instead to waste valuable time by seeking to ban our symbol. One needs to ask: Does banning the MDC symbol address problems of the fuel shortage and bring more food to people’s tables?
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MDC ON MONDAY 26th MARCH 2001
Now Zimbabwe is posing as a
champion of democracy of the DRC. We are persuaded to ask: for whose benefit is
the war in the first place?
We are not talking of individual deals and all
the diamond mines that ZanuPF cronies have been promised. We need answers as to
how the country as awhole will benefit from that war. There has been utmost
secrecy andnon-disclosure on the part of the Zanu PF government on salient
issuesabout our intervention in the DRC. What will ordinary people have to
showfor our country's three years of engagement in this war?
There are
some facts we know. Families have lost their fathers -breadwinners at that.
Others have lost their beloved sons and daughters we are with them in their
grief. We share their sorrow and cry the sametears they cry. The level of
arrogance and insensitivity shown by the ZanuPF government heightens our anger.
To this day we still do not know howmany of our sons and daughters lost their
lives in the battle front. Why is that a secret?
We need to know the
economic impact of the war and the multiplier effectin the economy. Last year
alone we heard that the government was spendingat least one billion a month in
the first six months of the year. We wantto know what the total expenditure in
the war has been.
On 29 August 2000 Finance Minister Simba Makoni told
Parliament that $260million was spent on the war in 1998, $3,9 billion in 1999,
and $6 billionin the first half of 2000. These figures were viewed with
scepticism, asmany believe that as much as US$1 million a day is being spent to
sustainthis war. It goes without saying that while the rest of the population
isstarving, losing their jobs, and the fuel crisis threatens even more jobs,the
government continues to pour more resources into the DRC for thebenefit of a few
individuals.
Most importantly, we would like to know the value of the
economic benefitfrom the war. Surely no material gain can justify such a high
expenditureboth in human lives and capital resources. Are the fruits of the
warcoming to Zimbabwe, or to individuals? Will ordinary soldiers' efforts,their
sweat and blood bear fruit to their families and children and allordinary
Zimbabweans, or are these soldiers just sacrificial lambs tofatten the stomach's
of the few?
We demand answers as to what equity and property rights,
title deeds andinterests have been acquired by the Zimbabwean government in
mines, farmsand other interests in the DRC.
Section 96 of the constitution of Zimbabwe clearly states that
theZimbabwe Defence Forces shall be used only for the purposes of
defendingZimbabwe. The intervention in the DRC war was clearly illegal if
weconsider that parliament did not approve the deployment. The fact thatMugabe
willingly sent troops to the DRC without Parliamentary approvalillustrates his
total disregard for Parliament.
The MDC undertakes that under its
government there will be responsibleassignment of our forces, bearing in mind
the urgent need to prioritiesour expenditure. These shall remain those that
benefit the country as awhole, such as health, education and agriculture.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MDC Support (Southern
Region), Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phone: +26391241156
/ 7 or +26391244699
E-mail : mdcmatsup@gatorzw.com OR 241157@ecoweb.co.zw
Fundraising
Details:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MDC SUPPORT (Southern Region) FUND -
Make cheques payable to Matilda Trust, and send to P.O. Box 9400, Hillside,
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (clearly endorsed "Support ") or deposit into Barclays Bank,
Main Street Branch (2307), Bulawayo - account number 1996379.
For
transparency and accountability, please advise this office of deposits to enable
us to receipt accordingly.
VICTIMS OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE FUND - as above, but
clearly endorse cheques for "Victims Fund"
SOUTH AFRICA - One of the Party’s
approved Fundraisers is Laurel Zurnamer, who is contactable on +27214473570 or
on cellphone
+27832921407.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VISIT THE MDC
WEBSITE AT www.mdczimbabwe.com !! ALSO
LOOK IN AT the (all-new) ZimNews website at www.zwnews.com and the ZimToday website at www.zimtoday.com for news, views and
pertinent information! To subscribe to the MDC central mailing list, EITHER sign
up via the MDC website's Home page, OR send a blank e-mail to mdcmail-subscribe@listbot.com.
FOR UP-TO-DATE INTERNATIONAL PRESS INFORMATION on the situation in Zimbabwe,
subscribe to ZimNews at ironhorse@onetel.net.uk
Fundraiser Evening – Insiza Development Initiative
You are cordially invited to a fundraising dinner on behalf of the Insiza Development initiative.
What is the Insiza Development Initiative?
It is a Project being overseen by the Hon. George Ndlovu, M.P. for Insiza. The aim is to raise funds for community-based projects in the Insiza area.As we all know, the people in the rural areas are in dire need of assistance during these hard times. Please support this very worthwhile cause! Let’s build Zimbabwe by helping our people to help themselves!
Venue:
Bulawayo Rainbow HotelDate:
30th March, 2001Time:
19:00 hrs till LateCatering
: 3-Course Buffet with both Traditional and International DishesCash Bar
Entertainment:
Traditional Choir and a DiscoTickets:
Available from Shop 32, Bulawayo Centre,from Mrs Z. Sibanda, Cell No. 091-312110
From The Daily News, 26 March
Residents defy threats to attend Tsvangirai's rally
More than 15 000 Chitungwiza residents defied the intimidation and the beatings of the past few weeks by pro-Zanu PF militias, as well as the heavy presence of riot policemen to attend a rally addressed by the MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai was in Chitungwiza to officially open a flea market at Huruyadzo Shopping Centre. The market should have been opened on Sunday, 4 March but the ceremony was disrupted after armed riot police descended on the venue and beat up hundreds of St Mary's residents who had converged at the shopping centre to witness the event.
The centre is the hub of social and political activity in the suburb. The MDC was forced to abandon the function while the police announced that it had immediately placed a ban on all MDC meetings in Chitungwiza. After an urgent application filed by Job Sikhala, the MDC MP for St Mary's, the High Court nullified the ban, saying it violated freedom of expression and association. Residents of Chitungwiza including Sikhala, his pregnant wife and the family's maid, have been harassed and beaten-up by riot police and armed militia in army uniform since the beginning of the year. The armed militia have stormed nightclubs in Chitungwiza, an MDC stronghold, beating up patrons for voting for the opposition party in last year's parliamentary election.
Yesterday, residents of St Mary's turned out in their thousands to witness the official opening of the flea market by Tsvangirai. Addressing the crowd, estimated at more than 15 000, Tsvangirai said President Mugabe had resorted to forcing the people to vote for Zanu PF because he had nothing new to offer. "They can take our freedom, but they can never take away our dignity as a people," said Tsvangirai. He said those who wanted to rejoin the ruling Zanu PF were free to do so because the MDC did not force people to join the party, in the first place. Of late Zanu PF has been parading on television people alleged to be defecting from the MDC. The MDC has dismissed the defections as being stage-managed to hoodwink the people into believing that the opposition party was losing its popularity. Tsvangirai said Zanu PF was digging its own political grave by harassing and beating innocent people. He said the opening of the $500 000 flea market was a clear demonstration of the MDC's determination to bring development, prosperity and peace to the people of Zimbabwe. The project was initiated by Sikhala.
From Business Day (SA), 27 March
Eskom keen on troubled Zesa
As Zimbabwe continues to battle to cope with critical power shortages, Eskom, SA's power utility, has said it is still keen to participate in any partial privatisation of Zimbabwe's Zesa, particularly as Zesa is now up to date with the payments on its debt with Eskom. Dolly Mokgatle, executive director of Eskom's transmission group said last week that Zimbabwe was moving ahead with a privatisation programme for Zesa, although this could still take some time. Mokgatle said Zesa was expected to have settled its entire debt, estimated at R126m, with Eskom in the coming days. A portion of these funds had been placed in an escrow account in Zimbabwe and could be used by Eskom for feasibility studies and other purposes ahead of Zesa's future privatisation, she said. Eskom transmission manager Peter O'Connor said Zesa still had to be structured in such a way that investors would be interested in taking a stake, but it had committed itself to greater private sector involvement.
Among the options that Zimbabwe could embark on are offering an equity stake in Zesa, it could sell off or get partners for some of its power stations, or it could unbundle Zesa and sell stakes in its generation, transmission or distribution divisions. O'Connor said that Eskom was keen to participate and this would probably be done through Eskom Enterprises, a wholly owned subsidiary of the SA utility. There have been some industry concerns about the impact of high risk investments in Africa on Eskom's credit rating. Ratings group Standard & Poor's has given Eskom a stable local currency rating of A- and a foreign currency rating of BBB- which is closely linked to SA's sovereign rating. S&P's London-based Infrastructure Finance Ratings associate Jan Plantagie said yesterday that Zesa's debt with Eskom was a comparatively small amount. The fact that Eskom had managed to get any repayment of the debt that Zimbabwean utility originally owed was a positive sign, he said. Plantagie said that Eskom had made it clear that any acquisitions into Africa would be done through its wholly owned subsidiary, Eskom Enterprises.
From The Wall Street Journal (US), 26 March
Australia Zimbabwe Platinum Gives Go Ahead On Ngezi Mine
Sydney - Zimbabwe Platinum Mines Ltd. of Australia said Monday it will proceed with the development of the Ngezi open cast platinum mining project on the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe.Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. equity participation has been secured, as has project debt funding by Absa Bank Ltd., subject to shareholder approval, the company said in a statement. The Zimbabwean government also has given its support to the project, providing Zimbabwe Platinum Mines with the necessary approvals, it said. The South African Reserve Bank has approved the investment and debt funding.
Zimbabwe Platinum Mines, or Zimplats as it
is commonly known, said Impala has agreed to buy from Zimplats a 30% interest in
the Ngezi mine and the Hartley Platinum joint venture company for US$30 million.
Absa has committed to project debt funding of up to US$30 million on terms that
include political risk insurance. Zimplats and Impala Refining Services also
have an agreement in which Impala Refining will buy from Zimplats the smelter
matte containing the platinum group metals, gold, nickel and copper, which will
be produced from the Ngezi open cast mine ore.
Also under the agreement,
Zimplat's 51% stake holder, Delta Gold Ltd., will sell a 30% stake in Zimplats
to Impala and ABSA, reducing its stake to 21%. The share sale will be made at
A$1.25 a share for a total sale price of A$33.1 million. Ngezi is expected to
cost US$50 million to develop and first production is targeted for early 2002.
Ngezi is expected to produce 100,000 ounces of platinum and a further 100,000
ounces of other platinum group metals or gold a year over a 20 year period.
Zimplats plans to truck ore from Ngezi for processing at the existing Hartley
facilities at Selous 75 kilometers away.
Briefing reporters, Zimplats Director Peter Vanderspuy said the size of the project could be doubled after three years. Such an expansion would make it feasible to construct a processing plant on site and lead to the development of further platinum resources to feed the Hartley processing operations. While Impala and ABSA have stakes in only the initial Ngezi development, Vanderspuy said Impala would be the "obvious" candidate to be invited to participate in any Ngezi expansion and other developments in the area. Zimplat's total resources in the Great Dyke area that includes Ngezi and Hartley amounts to 316 million ounces of platinum group metals. "Impala and ABSA are both very highly regarded in their respective activities and they are demonstrating their commitment to support Zimplats in becoming an important new and independent producer of platinum group metals, based on the world's second largest resource of these metals," Zimplats Managing Director Roy Pitchford said in a statement.
From The Times (UK), 27 March
Mugabe moves to stamp out dual nationality
PRESIDENT Mugabe took the first legal steps yesterday to compel Britons living in Zimbabwe with dual citizenship to choose one nationality or the other. It could force thousands to leave the country. A Bill to amend the citizenship law in Zimbabwe, published yesterday, will oblige British subjects either to become Zimbabweans or to relinquish their British citizenship and apply for permanent residence to a Government now openly hostile to Britain.
About 26,000 Britons live in Zimbabwe and a large proportion are believed to have dual nationality. Although dual citizenship has been technically illegal since independence in 1980, until now the Zimbabwean authorities have turned a blind eye. Ian Smith, the former Rhodesian leader, is one of the best-known figures who will be forced to make a choice. Others will include senior members of the judiciary, the Civil Service and the business and farming communities. Among those whose citizenship is being investigated is that of the Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay, who was born in Manchester and who legally holds both Zimbabwean and British passports. Earlier this month the Chief Justice bowed to implicit threats of violence and resigned.
The move by the Zimbabwean Government has placed the Foreign Office in London in a difficult position because it recognises that many countries around the world, including the United States, also ban dual citizenship. The decision by Harare to enforce the dual nationality law is seen as another illustration of Mr Mugabe's toughening approach towards British passport-holders. In the past, all Zimbabwean nationals who also held foreign passports had to renounce their foreign citizenship, but this law required the renunciation to be made only to the Zimbabwean authorities and not to the foreign government. Britons renounced their British citizenship and handed in their passports to the Zimbabwean citizenship office, which then passed them to the British High Commission. However, the renunciation in Zimbabwean law had no effect in British law and the High Commission gave the passports back to their owners.
British diplomatic sources said those who decided to drop their British nationality had the right to change their mind at a later date. If the law is passed, it means that those dual citizens who opt for British citizenship - possibly several thousand people, mostly whites who are opposed to Mr Mugabe's rule - will lose the right to vote in presidential elections due next year. Another Bill published yesterday seeks to outlaw Zimbabwean political parties from receiving financial or material support from abroad, a move aimed at stifling foreign funding for the opposition MDC. The MDC is known to receive a large proportion of its financial backing from abroad.
From The Daily News, 26 March
Commonwealth insists on sending fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (Cmag), which was threatened from coming to Zimbabwe, remains defiantly determined to visit the country and investigate reports of intimidation of the Judiciary and the media and the collapse of the rule of law. Daniel Woolford, the public affairs officer of the eight-member Cmag, said: "All hope of the fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe has not been abandoned. Don McKinnon, the secretary-general, has written a detailed letter to President Mugabe, stating the background to the whole exercise. We are awaiting a response from Mr Mugabe, but in the meantime plans to visit Zimbabwe are still intact." Woolford was speaking from London in an interview with The Daily News over the weekend.
Professor Jonathan Moyo, the Minister of State for Information and Publicity in the President's Office, immediately denied knowledge of the Cmag's letter to Mugabe. "That is a blatant lie. We have not received any correspondence from them. They made a Press statement about a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe and we expressed our position through Stan Mudenge, the Foreign Affairs Minister," said Moyo. "If they want to volunteer information to The Daily News, why don't they volunteer the letter as well," Moyo said when contacted for comment yesterday. "I am fed up with these false claims," he said. Woolford declined to disclose the contents of the letter to Mugabe for diplomatic reasons.
The mission to Zimbabwe consists of Foreign Ministers of Barbados, Australia and Nigeria. Mudenge, a former chairman of the committee, maintained his stance that Cmag was not welcome to Zimbabwe and declared the proposed visit illegal. He said Cmag had no mandate over Zimbabwe. "Zimbabwe is not part of their mandate. We are clearing up issues with the UNDP first, then we can look at a possibility of a Commonwealth mission to come," said Mudenge. Mudenge said South Africa was carrying out a study to expand the scope of Cmag, findings which would be tabled at the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Brisbane (Chogm), Australia in October. "Instead of dispatching emissaries to Harare, Cmag should send its mission to London to persuade the British government to honour its commitment under the Lancaster House Agreement to help with the funding of the land resettlement programme in Zimbabwe," he said. Mudenge urged Commonwealth member states to bring Cmag back on track so that it operates within its mandate.
Speaking to the Voice of America on Friday, McKinnon said Mudenge's response was not the end of the chapter. McKinnon said: "I never see that as the End of a chapter in any way and we'll persevere. Zimbabwe is still a member of the family and we accept them as that." Conceding that the announcement to send a mission to Zimbabwe "probably puts a little strain" on relationships, the secretary-general, however, said no consideration had been given to suspend Harare from the Commonwealth. "It hasn't reached that stage. Suspension is the sort of thing that happens very automatically when a military regime takes over from a duly elected government." He said the mission to Zimbabwe was crucial as the Commonwealth ministers would be in a better position to brief Chogm leaders in Brisbane.
From The Financial Times, 27 March
Kabila, Mugabe discuss ties
Harare - In his first official state visit since taking office two months ago, Congolese President Joseph Kabila on Monday held talks with Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president and his closest ally. The two were accompanied by their foreign ministers and government ministers and officials from the security, economic, agricultural and tourism ministries. Officials said the talks had focused on the peace process in the DRC, the progress of disengagement of the warring parties and economic co-operation. Mr Kabila will on Tuesday meet business leaders and then address the Zimbabwe parliament. At least some of the opposition MDC members are likely to boycott the address.
Mr Mugabe's involvement in the Congo war is hugely unpopular in Zimbabwe and the high-profile nature of the visit, including the address to parliament, underlines the government's disregard for public opinion. In an effort to counter this, government officials are at pains to stress the potential economic and financial benefits to be secured from cementing the alliance with Congo. At present, Zimbabwe's economic links with the country are marginal but Harare is determined to derive some benefit from its lengthy and costly involvement in the conflict.
Highlighting the gap between Zimbabwe's worsening economic crisis and the government's political ambitions, including the Congo alliance, Zimbabwe's foreign currency market subsided into gridlock yesterday following last week's decision by three big foreign banks - Barclays, Standard Chartered and South Africa's Stanbic - to withdraw from the parallel market. Their move followed threats of sanctions - including the possible loss of their banking licences - by Simba Makoni, finance minister, who subsequently gave similar warnings to locally-owned banks. But bankers said the local banks had ignored the minister and were continuing to operate in the parallel market. The Zimbabwe dollar is trading in the parallel market at about Z$115 to the US dollar - more than double the official rate of Z$55. Orders for foreign currency at the official rate are building up from the state-owned National Oil Company and other state-owned companies.
From The Guardian (UK), 27 March
Troops pull back in Congo
Harare - President Joseph Kabila of the DRC flew to Zimbabwe yesterday for talks with his main military backer, Robert Mugabe, as the major belligerents begin to implement a peace accord to end central Africa's two-and-a-half year war. The UN says Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia have all met a commitment to pull back nearly 10 miles at about 100 key locations along the 1,500-mile frontline in Congo. The various forces are scheduled to disengage completely along the front by Thursday.
But a number of obstacles remain to the peace plan, including persuading foreign forces to withdraw from Congo altogether, establishing political talks between the government and rebels, and whether a transitional administration should replace Mr Kabila's rule. Mr Kabila has shown more willing than his murdered father, Laurent, to end the war and has permitted the deployment of the first UN peacekeepers. But few believe he is in full control of his government, and there are powerful elements in his regime opposed to talks with Congolese rebel groups until their Rwandan and Ugandan backers pull troops out. There are also questions about whether any of the foreign leaders involved, including Mr Mugabe, is really interested in seeing Kinshasa reassert its authority. They all have strong financial incentives to keep a foot in Congo. Today, Mr Kabila will address Zimbabwe's parliament, only the second foreign leader to do so since independence. But behind the scenes, it is likely to be Mr Mugabe who lays down the conditions for finally ending the war.
From The Financial Times (UK), 28 March
Kabila praises Zimbabwe's help
Harare - Addressing a poorly-attended session of the Zimbabwe parliament on Tuesday Congolese president Joseph Kabila heaped fulsome praise on Zimbabwe and President Robert Mugabe for "coming to the rescue" of his country. He said Zimbabwe's August 1998 military intervention in the DRC was an act of solidarity on the part of Africans. By its actions, Zimbabwe had "reinforced" SADC, the OAU and the UN, he said, demonstrating "that no-one can violate international law without incurring an appropriate response".
Mr Kabila's address was boycotted by the opposition MDC whose 40 MPs in an assembly of 150 members, refused to attend on the grounds that the president of Congo is not an elected president. The MDC is also keenly aware that Zimbabwe's military involvement in Congo is hugely unpopular. The Congolese leader spoke optimistically about the prospects for peace emphasising, however, that the "allied forces" from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola, would not withdraw until the invaders from Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda had left the country.
Mr Kabila's address coincided with an announcement that a foreign company, Tremalt, whose domicile is not identified, has set up a joint venture with the government-owned mining company Gecamines to mine cobalt and copper in Katanga province. The statement says the Congo government would receive 68 per cent of the profits of the new venture. Three members of Tremalt will be on the board of the new joint venture company including Zimbabwean businessmen John Bredenkamp and Colin Blythe-Wood. Mr Bredenkamp, a one-time supporter of the Ian Smith government in the former Rhodesia, came to prominence in the 1970s as a sanctions-breaker. He subsequently switched sides to support the Mugabe government.
From The Star (SA), 28 March
Mugabe to persist with DRC military support
Harare - DRC President Joseph Kabila left Harare on Tuesday as his Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe vowed to continue military aid to the war-wracked DRC until it regains its territorial integrity. "Our support will continue until we are certain that the territorial integrity of the Congo has been restored," Mugabe told a news conference before seeing off Kabila at Harare airport.
Kabila concluded a two-day official visit to Zimbabwe on Tuesday with a special address to parliament, which was boycotted by the country's main opposition, the MDC. The DRC's new leader expressed his appreciation of Zimbabwe's military assistance to the DRC government, despite the economic difficulties facing the country. The opposition say the DRC war, which broke out in August 1998, has sucked Zimbabwe's economy dry. Zimbabwe - which deployed about 12 000 troops or about one-third of its army to the DRC - spent $200-million in the first two years of its military intervention there, according to Zimbabwean Finance Minister Simba Makoni. Angola and Namibia also contributed troops to back the Kinshasa regime against rebels supported by Rwanda and Uganda.
Mugabe expressed satisfaction at a troop disengagement scheme that began in the DRC two weeks ago. "Generally the situation is now calm. We hope the calmness will continue and will transform itself into a real peace process that will see ... the aggression end," he said. Kabila said at the news conference: "I don't believe the Congo will ever be divided into different countries. "Our people up to now have demonstrated their willingness and their love to see Congo united as one and only one country," he said. The war in the DRC saw the country divided roughly in half, with rebels controlling much of the north and east.
From The Natal Mercury (SA), 28 March
Zim opposition boycotts Kabila's speech
Harare - Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the MDC, boycotted an address by President Joseph Kabila, the leader of the DRC, in the Zimbabwean parliament on Tuesday, saying he should not have been put on the same pedestal as Nelson Mandela. All 56 members of the MDC in the 150-member chamber were absent when Kabila spoke. He told parliament his military allies, Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia, would leave the DRC only when Rwanda and Uganda, who were backing rebels fighting him, had done so. This caused some concern as it has not been agreed in negotiations among the warring parties.
MDC foreign affairs spokesperson Tendai Biti said his party had boycotted Kabila's address because it felt it was mischievous for the ruling Zanu-PF party to put him on the same pedestal as Mandela, the only other head of state afforded the honour of addressing Zimbabwe's parliament since independence in 1980. The boycott was also in solidarity with suffering Zimbabweans who had to do without fuel while the country spent about R40 million a month to fund the DRC war. The government called the MDC's boycott "stupid".
From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 28 March
Thanks for millions, Kabila tells Zimbabwe
Harare - President Joseph Kabila of the DRC made a state visit to Harare yesterday. Locals saw a 35-vehicle motorcade sweeping past empty petrol stations bearing two presidents - one, at 29, Africa's youngest, the other, at 77, old enough to be his grandfather. Kabila was there to thank President Robert Mugabe for sending 11,000 troops to fight on the side of Laurent Kabila, his assassinated father, in Congo's civil war. Without this intervention, and that of Angola and Namibia, rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda would have defeated government forces in 1998.
Mr Kabila's visit was designed to show gratitude and persuade sceptical Zimbabweans of the case for war. Critics blame the campaign, which costs about £20 million a month, for crippling Zimbabwe's economy and causing its acute fuel shortage. When Mr Kabila addressed a special session of parliament, he may have noticed that half the seats were empty. The opposition MDC did not attend. Mr Kabila's audience consisted entirely of MPs from the ruling Zanu-PF party, 36 of whom are in court for alleged electoral offences. Mr Kabila paid tribute to Mr Mugabe for rescuing his father and said: "The people of the Congo will never forget this honourable deed." He demanded the immediate withdrawal of Ugandan and Rwandan troops from the eastern half of his country.
From Business Day (SA), 28 March
Deal on Blue Train is likely
Bulawayo - Spoornet, SA's rail parastatal, and the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) have agreed to review prohibitive haulage and excursion rates for the famous Blue Train, currently making losses on its Pretoria-Victoria Falls route. The luxurious Blue Train was to axe the Pretoria-Victoria Falls run started six years ago due to viability problems. Haulage and excursion costs levied on international tourists by Zimbabwe were 30% higher than those charged by Botswana and SA. It was the impending withdrawal of the famous train, which led to the one-day meeting between Spoornet and the NRZ this week. Both parties, citing a strong business relationship, agreed to reach a decision on reducing losses on the rates by April 10.
Meanwhile, the NRZ and the tourism sector are expected to lobby the Zimbabwe government and other stakeholders to keep the Blue Train on track. NRZ GM, Sam Zumbika, said the meeting reconfirmed the continuation of the Blue Train, while reduced rates and costs were being worked on. The increase in costs has been attributed in part to the fluctuation of the Zimbabwe dollar-rand exchange rate. Between 1999 and 2000 there was a 55% jump in rates which meant the Blue Train was not breaking even. "This is a demonstration of faith in the future of the business we are running," Zumbika said. "So we are both prepared to absorb the amount of stress for now in order to provide for the security for the industry."
The NRZ said it had committed itself to recover haulage costs at the rate of R4,73 per vehicle hauled per kilometre. It is this rate that was set for final review next month. The Blue Train which has to pay international tourist rates for its 28 staff during the Zimbabwe excursion, pulls 19 vehicles with a total capacity of 76 passengers who pay upmarket rates for what is billed a true African experience. Spoornet CEO, Zandile Jakavula, said the Blue Train offered the opportunity to showcase Africa's tourism highlights. Jakavula lamented the steep costs of running the Blue train particularly on the Pretoria-Victoria Falls route. "As a business person I became concerned I was running this as a Father Christmas in that we were losing about R262 000 every time we take the Blue train to Zimbabwe," Jakavula said. "Instead of just taking off the train we thought it wise and necessary in the spirit of a business relationship to meet to discuss and find a solution."
The Blue Train operates 10 trains, at an average of one train a month. Jakavula admitted economic and political problems in Africa have scared away potential customers. However, the popularity of the SA to Zimbabwe route continued to attract tourists curious to experience the dazzle of the sights from Pretoria to Victoria Falls. On average the route attracted up to 60% train capacity. "That is why, together with the NRZ, we thought it would send the wrong message to the world if we were to withdraw such an asset," said Jakavula, confident the Blue Train would not be affected by Zimbabwe's current fuel crisis. The NRZ, hit by the country's chronic fuel shortage, was by last week running 50% capacity on its freight lines. It had to ground eight of its 10 passenger trains for three days. But the situation has improved and passenger services are back. Freight services were expected to resume soon, the NRZ spokesman said, depending on the availability of diesel.
From The Guardian (UK), 27 March
Tuckshops targeted by Mugabe's men
They may sound like a relic of Zimbabwe's colonial past, but the ramshackle general stores are crucial to Harare's economy. Now they are under attack.
After targeting wealthy white farmers, Zimbabwe's rulers have now declared war on the little 'tuck shop'. Harare's unelected council - or commission, as it is called - has launched a blitz against the wooden and corrugated iron structures scattered along roadsides and throughout the city's poorer districts. The commission says that they are illegal. The tuck shop owners say that they have no other means of survival, and suspect a mixture of political vengeance and ruthless business interests are behind the destruction.
The 'tuck shop' name might derive from the days of British rule, but in Zimbabwe they are very different from the ones frequented by Billy Bunter and generations of English public school boys. In Harare, tuck shops are a source of groceries, clothing, even furniture for those who cannot afford supermarket prices or to travel the long distances from townships to shopping centres. In turn, they provide a means for the growing army of Zimbabweans driven out of work by Robert Mugabe's disastrous land and economic policies - unemployment now stands at 60% - to eke out a living.
So the owners were understandably horrified when council workers descended on hundreds of rickety tuck shops and began destroying them earlier this month. "They are punishing those of us who are already suffering," said Esther Mlambo, the owner of a tuck shop selling groceries. "They came and destroyed my tuck shop and now I have to try and sell beside the road but I cannot put out all my stocks and the rains are very bad at the moment. We are poor. Why do they pick on us?"
Many of the owners see a political motivation behind the destruction. They believe that the commission is punishing Harare's poor for their overwhelmingly support of the opposition in last year's parliamentary election, which the government only just won - even with a campaign of widespread intimidation, killings and violent attacks on its opponents. All 19 of the capital's seats went to the opposition MDC. It has also not gone unnoticed that some of Harare's commissioners own large supermarkets in the areas where the tuck shops were razed, fuelling suspicions that they wanted rid of rivals for customers.
The traders have their own organisation, the Zimbabwe Tuckshop Association, which protested vigorously to the government. The association's president, Shacky Mukwakwami, accused the commission of breaching an agreement that tuck shops could operate in designated areas, and the destruction was finally put on hold. In a different era, Harare's councillors would have found it hard to defend the attack on the tuck shops. Few of the city's residents object to them.
But Zimbabwe's capital is no longer governed by elected representatives. After the city council was dissolved in 1998 for alleged mismanagement, the government appointed what was supposed to be an interim commission to run Harare. However, the ruling Zanu-PF party is now so unpopular that it dare not hold another city council election. The appointed commissioners, who are answerable to no one but the ruling party's leadership, have made themselves even more unpopular with increased rates, higher charges for burial services when funerals are ever more frequent and financially burdensome on many families because of Aids, and a doubling of hospital fees.
But, while costs have gone up, services have deteriorated, with parts of the city left without water for days on end and rubbish uncollected. The city's residents association is now threatening a rates boycott while Zimbabwe's consumer council said Harare's commission is worse even than the corrupt council that went before it. "Judging by its draconian actions, this is a failed commission that only knows how to hike charges while giving pathetic service to residents," it said.
Editorial from The Daily News, 27 March
The world should know what is happening here
ALL citizens anxious for the return of the rule of law should welcome with brass band parades any individual or agency coming to Zimbabwe to find out the extent of the lawlessness surrounding us. The whole world needs to know that the so-called war veterans are running this country, effectively.
They engineered the crisis in the judiciary, which culminated in the forced retirement of Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay. They publicly threatened to physically harm the Supreme Court judges if they did not resign. BR>They staged noisy demonstrations outside the offices of The Daily News before its printing press was bombed in January. They have beaten up journalists of the independent press. They virtually run the state broadcasting network, with their leader, Chenjerai Hunzvi, able to appear on television as and when he wishes. They have closed down government offices, local council offices, clinics, hospitals and, it now seems, creches.
The world must know that the government of Zimbabwe, notwithstanding its robust protests, is lamentably unable to deal with the lawlessness unleashed on the country by the so-called war veterans. In truth, the people are virtually at their mercy. And who are they? These are people who make the outrageous claim that they fought for the independence of this country, but are now about to destroy all the vestiges of the pride and dignity that the people felt on that day on 18 April when the Union Jack was lowered and the new flag of Zimbabwe was hoisted in its place.
They are about to drag through the mud of infamy the proud name of the true liberators who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of their compatriots. And all because a party which has destroyed the economy of this country has become so desperate to hang on to power it is cynically willing to let a group of people do its dirty work for it, to kill and maim innocent, unarmed citizens because they believe there is an alternative to Zanu PF and the failure it symbolises.
If the Commonwealth, the United Nations, the European Union, the United States Congress, the British Parliament or the Organisation of African Unity wish to send fact-finding teams here the people ought to welcome them. The government itself ought to welcome them because it is a lie that everything is running smoothly. There is only chaos if a group of people, without any legal status, can dismiss council workers from their jobs, teachers from schools or order the arrest of innocent citizens on unproven charges.
The Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Ignatius Chombo, challenged in Parliament to explain how war veterans could close down council offices, declared boldly that they were not allowed to do this under the law. But then he suggested, with monumental and shameless lameness, that some of the offices were being closed "by the people", outraged by the alleged shoddy performance of the councils. This is a load of rubbish. Chombo and all of us know that he and his colleagues in government, including President Mugabe, are so frightened of the war veterans, all they have done since February last year, when these so-called heroes launched their lawlessness on the farms, was to issue empty statements calling on them to behave themselves.
How many times, for instance, has Vice-President Joseph Msika publicly rebuked the war veterans? And how many times have they blithely ignored him? So far, incidentally, we have not once heard Mugabe himself publicly rebuking the war veterans for any of the lawlessness they have committed since February last year. As soon as he defied the High Court orders requiring them to move out of the farms they had illegally occupied, he signed a blank cheque for them and may have signed the death warrant of his own political career in the process.
Zanu PF owes its victory in the 2000 election to the war veterans. The strong suspicion persists that the 35 or more people who died in the election campaign were killed by the war veterans or on their orders. For this reason, Mugabe and his party feel obligated to the war veterans. If the Zanu PF plan is to use their terror and murder tactics in the run-up to the 2002 presidential election as now seems obvious then the world definitely needs to know what the opposition will be up against. And the violence this time may not be one-sided, for most people feel they have had it up to here with the so-called war veterans. Enough is enough, they feel.