News Items - 2/3/4 May
MDC Support Centre
Newsletter 1st May 2000
Violence
The political scene in Zimbabwe in the last two weeks has taken
on a different, but not unexpected turn. The violence is undoubtedly a response
to the open successes the MDC has had in many areas, especially in the farming
community. Invasions on our rights to freedom of speech, expression, association
and movement are all part the plan to constrain us.
It is absolutely imperative that political activity continues.
However the level of activity and overtones will vary from area to area,
depending on the level of confidence, intimidation, security, and personal
conviction.
Do not discourage political activists who have the conviction
and compulsion to continue campaigning in spite of the dangers involved. If
people have the courage, encourage and assist them. Give them as much support as
you are able to. Pass on pamphlets and tee shirts. Assist with transport. If
your support group can afford to buy a used pickup for use by the constituency
co-ordinators, then please do so. It may be more appropriate to hire transport
for campaigning purposes. Ask the constituency co-ordinators to help find people
who will hire out their vehicles for this purpose. Consider hiring commuter
omnibuses for campaigning.
Check on authenticity of constituency co-ordinators and
prospective candidates with the party secretariat at 127B Fife Ave, and it is
best to find out in person.
Please pass on all information on intimidation and violence to
MDC’s Legal Affairs Secretariat. In the first instance fax the details to D.
Coltart at 09 61885 or e-mail at <coltart@telconet.co.zw>, and also to
<amani@acacia.samara.co> and
<dimike@pci.co.zw>. For this to be
of any use in assessing the overall effect of intimidation, reports must be as
detailed as possible.
Fundraising
One serious side effect of the recent political intimidation
has been the almost abrupt stop of donations of funds. This is having a
disastrous affect on the election campaign. The post-proclamation media and
rally campaign will have to be curtailed if further funds do not come in. We
cannot fight this campaign with our hands tied, and if we do not have the
where-with-all to fight the election we are going to be dead in the water, We
appeal to all supporters to make energetic efforts to raise money. The MDC Trust
Fund is the source that is funding the campaign on a national level. Identity of
donors direct to this fund through Price Waterhouse Coopers is
confidential . The address is P O Box MP 374, Mt. Pleasant, Harare, Further
confidentiality is provided by making cash donations directly to PWC at their
offices in Arundel Park, Harare. Please contact the Support Centre for any other
information.
External fundraising has also lost momentum and we appeal for
help. Foreign donations can be made as follows:
UK: Account name: MDC Trust UK, National Westminster Bank,
City of London Branch,
No 1 Princess St, London EC2R8TB, Account No: 71070397, Sort
Code: 52-00-00.
Rep of South Africa: ZIMSA Trust, Cape of Good Hope Bank, P
O Box 2125, Cape Town 8000, Account No: 9325388, Branch No: 1000909.
Hot line
The Support Centre now has a hot line to receive reports of
violence and intimidation and is open around the clock. The purpose of this is
to initially record the event and to pass the information on to the media for
coverage. Please do not use this phone line for queries. The MDC HOT LINE is 091
240919.
Candidates
Most of the candidates have now been identified and agreed upon
by the Party, but for security reasons it is unlikely that the names of the full
team will be announced until after proclamation day. Once these have been
announced, candidates are going to need all the support they can get.
Reflection
We are going through a period where our courage and commitment
is being tested. Fear of the known and unknown is the weapon being used against
us. There are many strategies to deal with this. Assess your own security
situation calmly and make plans ahead of time to deal with the possibilities.
Avoid negative talk and negative people. Surround yourselves with people of
similar sympathies. You will find strength, confidence and enthusiasm in
numbers. We have to be positive, both in thought and action. If you need someone
to talk to, phone the Support Centre on 091 367151, or the hotline after
hours.
We have this chance, now, to bring about a democracy that we
have not yet known in this country. But it will take courage. We all knew it was
going to get worse before it gets better. This is a period of intense trial but
one thing is certain, we will overcome.
Everyone can continue the campaign by engaging people they know
and trust, on a one-on-one basis or in small groups. Your vote is your secret,
you do not have to tell anyone and no one will ever know. Keep it next to your
heart and use it on polling day.
Keep up the momentum!
Regards,
MDC Support
Centre
8th Floor, Gold Bridge
Eastgate
Harare
Zimbabwe
Chinja
Maitiro / Maitiro Chinja
A MESSAGE OF HOPE FOR
ZIMBABWE
Zimbabwe is passing through the darkest chapter of its
history in the run up to the 2000 elections. The economy, which has been
battered by inept ZANU(PF) rule and corruption over the last few years, may well
melt down in the next few weeks. There is no foreign currency. Factories and
other businesses are laying people off. And now to compound all the pre-existing
problems ZANU(PF) has engineered massive pre-electoral disturbances, violence,
murder and general mayhem centered on the land problem in an effort to divert
attention away from the disastrous state of the economy and to intimidate the
growing numbers of those who support the Movement for Democratic Change. It is
now clear that there is a Third Force, crafted by Mugabe and his cronies which
is designed to intimidate the electorate into either not voting at all, or
voting for ZANU(PF).
The result has been the dramatic loss of confidence in
the future by the electorate. Minorities fear that ethnic cleansing could begin
shortly. There is a real fear that the Police at best have looked the other way
recently and at worst have acted as accomplices to murder. As a result farmers
have left their land and hundreds are so unsettled by what is going on that they
have packed their suitcases (to enable a quick exit) and are making plans to
emigrate in the short to medium term.
In view of all that is happening can there be any hope
for the future or is Zimbabwe sentenced to an inevitable slide into total
anarchy? I believe that there are six reasons why there is still a lot of hope
for Zimbabwe.
1. The violence is a consequence of
ZANU(PF)'s fear of losing the election
I am not surprised by the events of the last few weeks,
indeed months ago I warned that we had a long, hard and rocky election road to
travel on. When there was euphoria over the Referendum result I warned that
ZANU(PF) would fight dirty. Those of us who lived through the Gukurahundi in
Matebeleland know the true nature of this beast and the lengths Mugabe will go
to achieve a political objective.
Ironically the increased verocity of the violence is
in itself a source of hope because the increase , both in "quality" and
quantity, is an indication that ZANU(PF) is increasingly frightened of losing
the election. I believe that the violence has been deliberately notched up over
the last few weeks. When the farms were first invaded the thinking was clearly
that invasions alone would deter farmers and labour from backing the MDC. As we
know they did not and if anything support for the MDC grew. The violence was
then taken up a notch (beatings and humiliation of farmers started and farms
were laid under seige) but that didn't work and the MDC continued to spread. A
nightmare scenario was being created for ZANU(PF): it knew that it had lost the
towns but was counting on winning the rural areas and securing a majority - with
this development it faced losing outright. Hence in the last two weeks we have
seen violence being taken up one more notch with the murder and torture of
farmers. The point is simple: whilst the increase in violence is appalling we
need to remember that it would not have happened had ZANU(PF) felt secure. That
the violence continues now against farm workers and communal villagers is an
indication that ZANU(PF) itself knows it can still lose the
election and in that there is hope, ironic as it is.
2. The MDC horse has already
bolted
Had the vicious campaign of violence commenced 6 weeks
ago there would be little comfort in making the first point mentioned above.
There is no doubt that whilst 6 weeks ago the vast majority of Zimbabweans
were fed up with ZANU(PF) rule, they did not know that there was a viable
alternative in the form of the MDC. I recall that during the time of the
Referendum I received reports from several rural areas to the effect that the
there was no MDC name or election symbol recognition in those areas. From the
same areas after the Easter break I have now received reports of widespread MDC
name and symbol recognition. What is more, the same reports detail the
establishment of MDC structures and that there is huge support for the MDC in
these remote areas. Discussions with my colleagues elsewhere indicate a similar
phenomenon throughout Zimbabwe. Perhaps even more significantly there are now
widespread reports of rural and poor people countrywide stating,in the face of
violence, that they now know how to vote and are simply waiting for election
day.
The point is that whilst ZANU(PF) is slamming the
stable door shut through violence, intimidation, abuse of the rule of law and
devious "legal" measures, it is too late: the MDC horse has already bolted. And
lest people think that intimidation will ultimately still win the day I should
mention the following. Firstly, one must remember that in Matebeleland in the
1980s the people did not succumb to much greater intimidation by the 5 Brigade.
Despite near genocide and boasting ,in the media, of a huge swing to ZANU(PF),
it did not win a single seat in the 1985 election in Matebeleland. Secondly,
the intimidation strategy is not winning support for ZANU(PF) - it is only
creating more enemies for itself. Thirdly, a critical mass of political opinion
has now been achieved - there is now a clear understanding amongst the
overwhelming majority of Zimbabweans as to what the problems are and what is
needed to solve them - and history in the form of the 1972 Pierce Commission,
the 1979 election, the 1980 election (and even the 1985 election as it played
out in Matebeleland) show what happens when a consensus emerges in the
electorate. A new consensus has emerged, namely that change is needed and that
the MDC offers the only way forward. If anything the ZANU(PF) engineered
violence will have rammed that point across.
3. The penny has finally dropped in the
international community's mind
For years many of us in the human rights community and
in the opposition have been speaking about the real nature of this tyrannical
regime. Most of our cries have fallen on deaf ears. I can vividly recall
arguing in the Sate Department in Washington in 1992 that pressure should be
applied on the World Bank not to support the economic structural adjustment
programme unless meaningful steps were taken to enhance democracy; I was laughed
off. In the same year I wrote in the Financial Gazette that unless economic
liberalisation was accompanied by political liberalisation ESAP would fail. The
international community and even local business were not
interested.
Even when the so called "land demonstrations" began the
international media did not at first understand what it was all about. But the
penny has finally dropped in the minds of the international community that this
is a tyrannical regime that is determined to stay in power at any cost and which
will cause immense damage to the region if not reigned in. In the last two weeks
there has been a marked change in the way the international media has
interpreted what is going on. That in turn is having a massive influence on
domestic opinion in the region and in the West. That opinion is in turn now
dominating how the problem is to be tackled politically. The point is that there
is now massive antipathy towards the Mugabe regime and increasing sympathy for
those trying to do something about the problem within Zimbabwe.
That has never been the case before. At worst there
was, in the past, indifference to what was happening in Zimbabwe. At best there
was abysmal misunderstanding. Now there is understanding and outrage in the
international community, evidenced by the huge press contingent (the largest in
any single country since the Gulf War) now resident in Zimbabwe. And whilst that
contigent may grow tired and decline in number the problems of Zimbabwe will
never again be treated in the same way they were prior to this
crisis.
What has emerged in the course of the past week is that
there is now a consensus between South Africa and nations in the EU as to what
needs to be done in Zimbabwe. Whilst the ZANU(PF) controlled media portrayed the
Victoria Falls summit as a triumph for Mugabe the lie to that was given in 3
ways. Firstly, it was strange that Mugabe, as the host and the senior
"statesman", did not speak at the post meeting press conference regarding issues
that concerned him ie Zimbabwe. Secondly, if the meeting was such a triumph,
then why was he so very glum at the conference? Indeed Mugabe was visibly angry
at the meeting and I thought at the time it was because he had had the Riot Act
read to him. Thirdly, we now know that he did in fact have the Riot Act read to
him and that the quid pro quo for Southern African support for land reform was
in the form of undertakings from him to hold free and fair elections, to invite
international observers and to get the ZANU(PF) thugs off the farms. President
Mbeki has now cancelled his State visit to Zimbabwe (a fact confirmed to me in
Harare on the 28th April by a senior South African diplomat) - he will now only
come to open Trade Fair, an undertaking he felt he should honour.
On Friday the 28th I met three High Commissioners from
1st world Commonwealth countries, the Ambassador of one of the leading EU
countries, senior representatives from the United States Government and, as
stated above, a senior ranking South African diplomat. I was astonished by the
change in attitude towards the ZANU)PF) regime - suffice it to say that all
referred to it as a corrupt, totalitarian government. They all had a clear
understanding that if the current violence continues the elections will not be
free and fair. All were desperately concerned about what is going on and
listened intently to what the MDC believes should be done. All were keen to help
in the run up to the elections and I think all will send observers and provide
whatever resources are needed to assist in making the elections as fair as
possible in the circumstances.
The point is that we are no longer alone. There is
enormous international goodwill out there; Governments the world over are
determined not to let ZANU(PF) get away with murder as it has in the past.
Importantly the same Governments have a profound understanding now about the
true nature of this regime and that the land invasions are about suppression of
opposition rather than about land. They will not let the wool be pulled over
their eyes any longer.
4. ZANU(PF) is increasingly
divided
It is increasingly apparent that the ZANU(PF) election
campaign is being spearheaded by the President himself and the likes of Hitler
Hunzvi and that there are many in ZANU(PF) who are not at all
happy with this turn of events. We know that in the week before the murders of
farmers happened a majority in cabinet resolved to get the ZANU(PF) thugs off
the farms - that is why Vice President Msika issued the statement he did
ordering them off, only to be rebuffed by Mugabe on his return from Cuba. It is
no coincidence that it was Minister Dabengwa who a few weeks earlier had made
the same call as Msika - he, like Msika, is a former ZAPU member who was not
responsible for the gross human rights abuses perpetrated against the people of
Matebeleland in the 1980s. This week it was revealed in the London Times that
Perence Shiri, the commander of the 5 Brigade in 1983 at the hight of the
Gukurahundi, is co-ordinating the invasion of farms and the accompanying
violence. That fact will only make the likes of Dabengwa and other doves in
cabinet even more alarmed. They know that there will be life after a defeat at
the polls(that they will not face prosecution for crimes against humanity) and
they do not want to get sucked into massive human rights abuses on the scale of
what happened in the 1980s. Mugabe and Shiri on the other hand have nothing to
lose.
Parliament dissolved by operation of the Constitution
(it cannot be reconvened) on the 11th April and it is increasingly clear that
the Mugabe is determined to rule by Presidential decree. The advice this weekend
that he will use the Presidential Powers Act to amend the Land Acquisition Act
is evidence of that. But the very use of Presidential decrees at this juncture
will alarm many within ZANU(PF) who believe that the Mugabe has too much power
as it is. The use of this decree will almost inevitably result in an even more
serious Constitutional crisis than we face at present. The sense of unease
within ZANU(PF) can only grow.
Even the army in recent weeks has shown that it is not
prepared to follow ZANU(PF) blindly. The statement of Colonel Diye, the Army
spokesman, on the 11th April, that the army will respect a democratic change in
government, is highly significant. The previously held assumption that the army
was just a branch of ZANU(PF) no longer holds good. The statement in itself
reveals that not all in the army are happy with what is happening.
Thinking people in ZANU(PF) know that Mugabe's actions
are devastating the economy, an economy that they will have to deal with if the
strategy works and ZANU(PF) is returned to power. They are also bright enough to
know that they will have to heal the damage without international support, which
they know will not be forthcoming in the event that the international community
deems ZANU(PF) to have won by foul means, as will be the case if the current
strategy continues. As the economy continues its freefall the divisions within
ZANU(PF) can only grow. The only question is how long the sane people within
ZANU(PF) will stay on board ship. Not all are prepared to destroy the country
simply to avoid Truth and Justice Commissions and anti corruption enquiries
(which is undoubtedly what is driving Mugabe et al to stay in power whatever the
cost).
The point is that ZANU(PF) is simply not the same
monolith it was. It is seriously divided against itself and as the economy melts
down over the next few weeks its cracks will grow wider and wider.
5. We are in the
majority
Despite all the violence and intimidation the fact
remains that the overwhelming majority of Zimbabweans want change and are
increasingly angry about the cynical exploitation of the land issue by Mugabe
over the last few weeks. The findings of the Helen Suzman Foundation prior to
the Referendum (including the finding that the most important issue in the minds
of over 80% of the population is the state of the economy) simply will not go
away. Intimidated people may not speak openly about what concerns them but their
concerns do not vanish. If anything people are even more concerned now about the
state of the economy and blame Mugabe even more for its failure. The link
between Mugabe's irresponsible behaviour and the quickening collapse of the
economy is now more apparent than ever before. In the other words the number of
people who blame Mugabe and co for the disastrous state of the economy have
grown dramatically since the Referendum.
And in one of the greatest ironies of the campaign
Mugabe, Hunzvi and Professor Moyo have done more than anyone else to promote the
MDC as a viable alternative. During the $50 million Constitutional Commission's
"Yes Campaign" in the run up to the Referendum Professor Moyo was at pains to
establish a link between the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and the MDC,
referring to it as the NCA/MDC alliance. The NCA is of course in truth an
umbrella body representing many different political parties, churches and NGOs.
However Professor Moyo's own propaganda fixed in the mind of the electorate that
the NCA and the MDC were one and the same and as a result the MDC got virtually
all the credit for the Referendum victory (among political parties that is).
Since the Referendum Mugabe, Hunzvi and Moyo have directed all their venom
towards the MDC and whilst MDC rallies are never covered on the ZBC the attacks
on it, to the exclusion of all other opposition parties, are covered every day.
As a result ZANU(PF) has itself unwittingly promoted the MDC as the only force
opposed to it which is capable of bringing change. In other words the vast
majority of Zimbabweans now feel that only the MDC has the will or the ability
to satisfy their desires for fundamental change.
The point is that the dissatisfaction felt by an
overwhelming majority of Zimbabweans has if anything grown in recent weeks and
that majority has coalesced around the MDC. The concerns will not go away, the
fact they are felt by a majority of Zimbabweans will not go away and the fact
that ZANU(PF) is held responsible will not go away no matter what violence is
rained on the Zimbabwean electorate. If the majority of Zimbabweans agreed with
the violence and Mugabe's tactics then we would be in trouble as a Nation.
However there is massive hope in the reality that it is only a tiny, rabid and,
increasingly, deranged minority which is directing the current
mayhem.
6. There is ancient wisdom which provides
hope
The prophet Isaiah nearly three thousand years ago
wrote of the consequences faced by political leaders when they violate God's
most fundamental principles of governance. Isaiah 1:21-23 describes a corrupt
and unjust regime very similar to that experienced by Zimbabwe - a regime that
is ruled by murderers, rebels, companions of thieves, people who love bribes and
chase after gifts, people who do not defend the cause of the fatherless and who
have no compassion for the cause of widows.
In Isaiah 1:31 it is written:
"The mighty man will become tinder and
his work a spark;
both will burn together,
with no one to quench the fire."
That is the inevitable consequence for all rulers who
fall into the category mentioned above. History is replete with many examples of
despotic leaders who have eventually been undone not, ironically, by the works
of others but by their own works. This century alone we have the striking
example of Hitler who built up a powerful regime only to destroy it all by
invading Poland and Russia. And in Zimbabwe it is Mugabe's deployment of troops
into the Congo, Mugabe's corruption, Mugabe's disrespect for the rule of law
which have acted as the spark. He, once a mighty man, is now merely tinder and
ZANU(PF) just a shell.
Further along in Isaiah (40:23-24) it is
written:
"He brings princes to naught and reduces the
rulers of this world to nothing.
No sooner are they
planted, no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take
root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps
them away like chaff."
I have no doubt that what is happening in Zimbabwe
today is the whirlwind of change. Whilst it is terrifying being in the middle
of this whirlwind we need to remind ourselves that it will not last for ever and
positive change will result. In other words the process of what
is unfolding in Zimbabwe will not stop and will move to its inevitable
conclusion no matter what Machiavellian schemes are devised by the corrupt
ruling elite in Zimbabwe.
THE WAY AHEAD
In sounding an optimistic note I must stress that I
still anticipate that violence and abuse of human rights will continue and
possibly even increase as ZANU(PF) becomes increasingly desperate. After all
ZANU(PF) has nothing else to offer the electorate and if it gives up on its
violent campaign it will most certainly lose the election by a wide margin.
Mugabe knows this very well and for this reason will keep intimidating the
electorate right up to the time of the election. What then are we to
do?
Martin Luther King, the great American civil rights
activist in the 1960s, provides guidance:
"When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil
men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind.
Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust
status quo, good men must seek to bring into being
a real
order of justice."
That is the task facing all of us. I have no doubt that
the international community will continue to do its bit: international pressure
is mounting on ZANU(PF) all the time. It is up to Zimbabweans however to play
their part as well. They can do so in the following ways.
I am appalled by the rumours flying around Zimbabwe.
Whilst I have no doubt that some have been started by the CIO to induce a sense
of panic, especially amongst minorities, many are spread by otherwise
responsible people who take no steps to verify the rumour before spreading it
further and who, frankly, should know better. It is critically important that
those who are committed to democratic change do not fall for this particularly
insidious tactic. In essence do not start or spread rumours.
I am appalled by reports of people packing their bags
and making hasty plans to emigrate. Whilst I understand the sense of panic, the
sense that there is no one to turn to, the sense that one cannot even turn to
the Police for assistance, the sense that Zimbabwe is spiralling out of control,
I believe that now, more than ever, is the time for calm and resolute behaviour
which recognises the fact that our fears are shared by the vast majority of
Zimbabweans. If the panic was based on an understanding that the majority were
happy with events then there would be cause for packing bags and getting the
first flight out. But this is not the case. If anything this a test of the
commitment of minority races and black professionals (the two groups of people
most likely to flee) to Zimbabwe and to fellow Zimbabweans. The vast majority of
Zimbabweans simply cannot flee and that includes the aged, widows and the poor.
Are we just going to abandon all these people? And if altruism is not a
compelling enough argument are we going to give up all that has been built up
simply because we have been held to ransom by a few thugs for a few months? No -
Zimbabwe is too precious a country to abandon in this way and, what is more, we
are far too close to marvellous and profound democratic change to give up the
fight at this juncture.
To quote Martin Luther King again:
"Freedom has always been an expensive thing. History
is fit testimony to the fact that freedom is rarely
gained without sacrifice and
self-denial."
Zimbabweans! Stand firm and remain determined to play
your role in achieving democratic change!
Yours sincerely,
David Coltart
Secretary for Legal Affairs
Movement for Democratic Change
1st May 2000
Commonwealth turns fury
on Zimbabwe
By David Blair in Harare and Christopher
Lockwood, Diplomatic Editor
Telegraph - Wednesday 3
May 2000
BRITAIN last night secured a harsh
condemnation of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth, which ordered Don McKinnon, its
Secretary-General, to fly to Harare and deliver the rebuke in person to
President Mugabe.
Although the foreign ministers of the eight-member
Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group declined to consider sanctions seriously,
their message will come as a blow to Mr Mugabe. The ministers expressed "deep
concerns", citing "the ongoing violence, loss of life, illegal occupations of
property, failure to uphold the rule of law and political intimidation in the
run up to Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections".
The group also resolved to send observers to monitor the
elections. The unusually strident criticism of one of the Commonwealth's key
members was welcomed by Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary. He said: "The object
for us is to make clear that it is not just Britain expressing some form of
post-colonial imperialism towards Zimbabwe as Robert Mugabe would have his
people believe."
Mr McKinnon did not disclose when he intended to visit
Harare, but Mr Cook said he expected the visit "imminently". Zimbabwe has
insisted that it is outside the CMAG process and Mr Mugabe will today launch his
Zanu-PF party's manifesto for the forthcoming general election, promising
"revolutionary change".
In 42 pages of hysterical prose, Mr Mugabe pledges to
continue the present economic policies, though these have led to inflation of
50.8 percent and unemployment over 50 per cent. "Globalisation is another
unacceptable face of imperialism and neocolonialism", it says, promising to
"reintroduce price controls on basic foodstuffs and commodities".
The opposition is blamed for all the pre-election
violence and dismissed as "cowards trying their luck, plagiarists, sell-outs,
shameless opportunists and merchants of confusion". The manifesto adds that more
than 12 million acres of land will be taken from white farmers without
compensation and given to "our people". The vote must be held before August, but
mid-June is seen as Mr Mugabe's preferred choice.
Despite the truce between the Commercial Farmers' Union
and Chenjerai "Hitler" Hunzvi, the leader of the squatters, white farms were
swept by renewed violence yesterday.
In the Karoi area, 120 miles north-west of Harare, four
more properties were invaded. When a Karoi farmer, who had already conceded half
of his property to armed squatters, refused to sign over all of his land, he was
told by a police officer: "If you don't hand over your whole farm, I will leave
these people to deal with you."
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change is already
reeling from Zanu-PF's violent intimidation campaign, which has left at least 16
people dead within the past month. Another MDC supporter was murdered on Monday.
Matthew Pfebve, an activist in Mount Darwin, 60 miles north-east of Harare, was
abducted by a mob of 50 men along with four other known MDC supporters.
Obed Zilwa, a South African photographer arrested on
suspicion of last week's bomb blast at a newspaper office in Harare was released
yesterday by Zimbabwean officials.
Commonwealth Secretary-General's Statement on Zimbabwe
The
Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr Don McKinnon, today issued the following
statement:
I was
surprised to read a newspaper report regarding the situation in Zimbabwe which
is purportedly based on an interview I gave to The Dominion newspaper in New
Zealand. I have been quoted completely out of context. In fact, I suggested
during the interview that while any loss of life was unfortunate, the kind of
outrage shown at the killing of white farmers in Zimbabwe had not been matched
by similar concern over the deaths of large numbers of black Africans in places
like Rwanda and Congo. I also indicated that tension on the eve of an election
is a common occurrence anywhere and is not peculiar to Zimbabwe. In no way did I
mean to suggest that volatile politics is confined to countries in Africa.
Democracy,
human rights and the rule of law are core values of the Commonwealth. Their
violation is a matter of concern, wherever it occurs, and the Commonwealth is
not about to walk away from these principles.
On Zimbabwe, I
have been in touch directly with President Mugabe and a number of other African
leaders. I will be meeting today with the Zimbabwe delegation currently visiting
the UK. We continue to monitor the situation closely and I have repeatedly
expressed my view that the recent tensions do not create an atmosphere conducive
to free and fair elections. I have offered Commonwealth technical assistance and
Commonwealth observers for the elections, and would wish to remain firmly
engaged.
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/htm/info/info/press/0028.htm
Issued by the Information and Public Affairs
Division,
Commonwealth Secretariat,
Marlborough House,
Pall
Mall,
London SW1Y 5HX,
Britain.
Tel: 0171-839 3411;
Fax: 0171:839
9081;
Telex: 27678
00/28 2 May 2000
With young minds
at stake, teachers become targets for Mugabe
By Peter Foster in
Harare
SURROUNDED by pictures drawn by his pupils and wearing a
bright, knitted cardigan, the deputy head teacher of a Harare primary school
seems an unlikely enemy of the state.
But across Zimbabwe teachers are finding themselves the target of
intimidation as President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party fights to cling
to power. Newspapers have carried regular reports of teachers being beaten and
threatened by activists who accuse them of encouraging support for the main
opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change.
One secondary school teacher from Madziwa, north-east of Harare, told how 60
youths wearing Zanu-PF T-shirts had beaten him with iron bars and whips. At
least two other schools in Mashonaland suspended classes after raids by Zanu-PF
supporters.
The teachers' traditional position as polling agents during elections and
educators of the disaffected young explains why Mr Mugabe sees them as a threat.
At a Zanu-PF rally last week, Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Justice Minister, accused
teachers of polluting the minds of the young. As he is the former head of
Zimbabwe's Central Intelligence Organisation and was in charge of suppressing
opposition to Mr Mugabe in Matabeleland in the Eighties, the attack carried a
particular weight.
Less threatening, but equally potent, according to the teacher, are attempts
to man the polling stations with Zanu-PF sympathisers. He said the ruling party
was doing everything in its power to create an atmosphere of fear. He said: "The
majority of people - 99 per cent - are angry with the government. They have had
enough of the corruption and the stealing, but the officials will do anything to
keep their privileges.
"The teachers are not political. I have no card belonging to a political
party. As teachers we only have an obligation to the truth and our students."
Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the MDC, has complained that electoral
officials are being stacked in the government's favour. The teacher said: "I
have been a polling supervisor before but it is up to the registrar-general
whether to request my assistance. He can call up whoever he likes.
"If they [Zanu-PF] control the polling stations then no one will have
confidence that there will be a free and fair election." The country has agreed
to independent international observers but, as one political analyst said
yesterday, results of Zimbabwe's elections are often determined long before
polling day.
Mugabe: Farm Occupations Won't
End
The Associated Press - May 3 2000 3:23PM
ET
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Occupations of white-owned farms by black
squatters won't end until much of the land is available for resettlement,
President Robert Mugabe said Wednesday in a fiery speech launching his party's
election campaign.
The 76-year-old Mugabe slammed former colonial ruler Britain, told other
countries to butt out of Zimbabwe's affairs and warned that the land takeovers
that began in February could escalate if there is ``resistance.''
Hundreds of Mugabe supporters cheered and danced as he arrived at a downtown
Harare hotel to help launch his ruling ZANU-PF party's campaign promising
economic growth, social justice through wealth redistribution, democracy, peace,
stability, the rule of law and national autonomy in domestic and foreign
affairs.
Neither Mugabe nor a 62-page platform booklet offered details on how those
goals would be achieved. Mugabe, Zimbabwe's only ruler since the former colony
of Rhodesia won independence in 1980, has not yet called a date for
parliamentary elections, expected to be held in coming months.
Instead of focusing on his party's platform, Mugabe spoke glowingly of the
takeovers of more than 1,000 white-owned farms by squatters purportedly led by
veterans of Zimbabwe's independence war. One-third of Zimbabwe's fertile land is
owned by 4,000 whites.
Mugabe said 841 farms must be made available for resettlement before the
squatters leave any of the seized farms. That number was a reference to the 841
white farmers who went to court to oppose his November 1997 order for some 1,500
white farmers to give up their farms. The 841 won their court cases and kept the
farms.
He also said the country needs half of the 30 million acres of white-owned
land to resettle half a million landless families.
Land takeovers would be carried out in a just and humanitarian way, Mugabe
said, with white farmers allowed to keep a certain amount.
``If there is going to be resistance, then we might go much further,'' he
said. ``We just want our land and will take it in whatever way is feasible.''
Mugabe called Britain - which has criticized the government's handling of the
land takeovers - ``an enemy.'' No nation should involve itself in Zimbabwe's
affairs, he said.
``We won't allow them to determine our destiny. We determine it ourselves,''
he said. ``We have fought for it. We can still fight for it.''
Mugabe accused the opposition Movement for Democratic Change of inciting
violence. At least 17 people - including white farmers and MDC supporters - have
died in political violence in recent weeks. There have been no reports of Mugabe
supporters being killed.
Elias Pfvebe, a member of the MDC national executive, said Wednesday that his
brother, Matthew, 50, was killed in an attack by ruling party militants Monday
evening. Four villagers, three of them opposition supporters, were still missing
after the attack, said Pfvebe, a candidate for Parliament.
The independent newspaper The Daily News reported Wednesday that ruling party
supporters killed three other MDC members in separate incidents in recent days
in Mvurwi, 50 miles north of Harare.
The ZANU-PF platform said a resettlement program would place about 500,000
families on 12.4 million acres of land, which would increase national employment
by 30 percent in the agriculture sector and by 18 percent in related sectors.
Previous election platforms have been similar, but few of the goals have been
realized.
Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge, meanwhile, rejected criticism from the
Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on Zimbabwe's handling of the land
takeovers. Mudenge said the crisis was caused by ``Britain's refusal to honor
its colonial obligation to have a fair land redistribution.''
Britain has offered millions of dollars for redistribution if the occupations
are ended, the rule of law restored and free and fair elections are
held.
Mugabe, Cook Rachet Up Zimbabwe
Conflict
Reuters - May 3
2000 12:59PM ET
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe brushed aside
Commonwealth condemnation Wednesday and reaffirmed his support for the illegal
invasion by liberation war veterans of white-owned farms.
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook responded with an immediate embargo on
arms and military equipment deliveries to the former colony.
Declaring Britain his country's enemy, Mugabe defied escalating domestic and
foreign pressure and said the crisis would not end until half the farmlands
owned by whites had been redistributed to black peasants.
``When the farmers say 'yes, you can have these (lands)' and in physical
terms they are acquired, I think the war veterans then might start the exercise
of retreating.''
He said whites critical of the land grab could leave.
Cook told parliament Britain would refuse all new export license applications
for arms and military equipment to Zimbabwe, including spare parts for
British-made Hawk jets.
He also suspended the supply of 450 Land Rovers to the Zimbabwean police.
``I am sorry to say that the events of the past two weeks and President
Mugabe's inflammatory speech earlier today suggest the government of Zimbabwe is
interested in the issue of land reform only to create a condition of crisis in
which it can secure its re-election,'' he said.
MUGABE SPEECH HORRIFIES WHITES, OPPOSITION
White farmers and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change reacted with
horror to Mugabe's hard-line address.
``Mugabe's sharp critical tone shows that he wants to win elections at any
cost, even if that cost is to destroy the nation,'' said David Coltart, legal
affairs secretary of the MDC, which could offer a real challenge in elections
expected in June.
Chenjerai Hunzvi, head of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans'
Association, said his men would stay on the farms.
``We are on the land, we are not retreating. The president backs our
position. What else do you want me to tell you?'' said Hunzvi, who stood on the
same stage as Mugabe during the speech.
The eight-nation Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on Tuesday condemned
``the ongoing violence, loss of life, illegal occupations of property, failure
to uphold the rule of law and political intimidation'' in the run-up to the
elections.
At least 18 people have died in 10 weeks of land invasions and political
violence. The latest killing occurred Monday when an MDC supporter was beaten to
death by suspected ZANU-PF followers.
But Mugabe rejected the Commonwealth criticism, telling war veterans and
party supporters he was the champion of democracy and justice in Zimbabwe.
``Let no one ever think that we will call upon the war veterans to withdraw.
They need the land to backtrack to.
MUGABE WANTS 12 MILLION HECTARES FROM WHITES
``What we are saying is we need half of the 12 million hectares (30 million
acres) in white farmers' hands,'' he said at the launch a party manifesto for
elections expected in June.
``There are 20,000 opportunities Britain has provided for their citizens.
They are free to leave and we may assist them by showing various ways to leave
the territory,'' Mugabe added.
His uncompromising address caused an immediate three-cent fall in the value
of the rand in neighboring South Africa, where fears of a spillover of unrest
from Zimbabwe have pushed the currency to record lows.
The South African government declined immediate comment on Mugabe's speech.
War veterans, some of whom fought alongside Mugabe in the 1970s for the
independence of the former Rhodesia, have invaded hundreds of white-owned farms
and are accused of launching a terror campaign against black farm workers and
opposition supporters.
Despite a promise by Hunzvi to end the violence and allow farms to operate,
there are daily reports of new invasions and intimidation of farm workers.
About 600 veterans rallied outside Harare's High Court on Tuesday as Hunzvi
appeared on fraud charges related to medical claims for injuries sustained
during the liberation war.
He was back in court in the fraud case Wednesday and was expected to meet
another judge to explain what steps he had taken to end farm invasions, twice
declared illegal.
If the court is not satisfied, he will be sentenced for contempt of court
Friday.
Robertson on Zimbabwe: Economy
Comment
Bloomberg News -
May 3 2000 12:41PM
Harare, Zimbabwe, May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Following are comments by John
Robertson, head of Robertson Economics, on plans by Zimbabwe's government to
seize half of Zimbabwe's white-owned farm land:
On the impact on agricultural production:
``It will be very difficult to sustain production although a number of
farmers have land that they are not fully using. This would place the entire
economy at risk.
``There would be a very messy transition period. I suspect that a great many
of the farmers would leave the country and they will take with them very
valuable skills, leaving this country at a loss.
``The land would be absorbed into the communal system, where land is
allocated to people rather than sold and as such (new) farmers would not have
the backing of the banks. The land would fairly quickly revert to peasant
agriculture. Commercial farms produce about eight (metric) tons of maize (corn)
per hectare compared to 1 ton in communal areas.''
``There would probably be displacement of as many farm workers as the number
of people resettled. The net effect on Zimbabwe's black population would be
negative.''
On the impact on Zimbabwean banks:
``If there was no compensation (farmer's) outstanding debt would be hard for
the banks to sustain. If the government was not going to pay compensation the
farmers would walk away.
S Africa Rand Weakens on Euro, Zimbabwe; Bonds
Fall
Bloomberg News - May
3 2000 12:25PM
Johannesburg, May 3 (Bloomberg) -- The South African rand weakened after the
euro suffered its biggest one-day drop against the dollar and comments by
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe discouraged investment in the region, traders
said. Bonds fell.
The rand fell to as low as 6.848 per dollar from 6.770 late yesterday. The
currency's record low of 6.875 per dollar was reached last week. The rand
recently traded at 6.843 per dollar.
The decline came as Europe's common currency tumbled to an all-time low of
88.98 U.S. cents, damaging confidence in the rand, which has moved in tandem
with the euro in recent weeks. Europe is South Africa's biggest trading partner.
The rand's weakness was further exacerbated by Mugabe, who said Zimbabwe's
government would take half of the country's white- owned farmland, according to
Agence France-Presse. He vowed not to force the removal of the people who have
invaded more than 1,000 farms since February.
``The rand will continue to weaken unless the situation in Zimbabwe
improves,'' said Carsten Hils, head of foreign exchange at Standard Americas
Inc. in New York. ``But that's not in sight.''
The weaker rand also hurt bonds, with the R150 due 2005 falling as much as
3/8 to 93 1/8, pushing its yield up as many as 13 basis points to 14 percent.
The R150 recently yielded 13.98 percent. The R153 due 2010 fell as much as 3/4
to 91 1/2, pushing its yield up as many as 14 basis points to 14.60 percent. The
R153 recently yielded 14.58 percent.
The situation in Zimbabwe has ``affected foreign confidence,'' said Nick
Shearn, head of bond trading at Deutsche Bank in South Africa. ``This is not
going to go away.''
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe has hurt the rand by leading to speculation that white farmers in
South Africa could also eventually be forced off land, as a result of grievances
stemming from policies that were in place before the onset of democracy in the
country. While many analysts say such an event is much less likely to take place
in South Africa, given demographic, economic and political differences between
the neighbors, foreign investors now see other regions as safer places to put
their money.
Some traders said the extent of the rand's decline against the dollar was
limited, given the persistent weakness of the euro.
``With the way the euro's gone, the rand's held up pretty well,'' said Herb
Wulff, a currency trader at Absa.
Still, with the prospect of further interest rate increases in the U.S.
promising to increase the value of American assets, South African assets have
lost much of their allure.
``There's no real reason to buy this market right now, given all the
uncertainty,'' said Shearn.
Blair says Mandela backs UK Zimbabwe
policy
Reuters - May 3 2000 9:18AM
ET
LONDON (Reuters) - South Africa's Nelson Mandela backed Britain's policy
toward Zimbabwe's land grab crisis during a meeting with Prime Minister Tony
Blair, Blair's spokesman said Wednesday.
Blair used his hour of talks with the former South African president to
outline his Zimbabwe policy and concerns about violence which has left at least
18 people dead.
``Nelson Mandela said he supported our approach and said he believed dialogue
with Zimbabwe should continue and that (South African) President Thabo Mbeki had
a key role to play in contact with Harare,'' Blair's spokesman said.
Mandela and South African officials were not immediately available to give
their assessment of the meeting.
In London Tuesday Commonwealth ministers expressed deep concern about the
violence, farm occupations and political intimidation in Zimbabwe.
But as Blair and Mandela talked, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe brushed
aside the Commonwealth's criticism. He said he would not order self-styled war
veterans to end their occupation of hundreds of white farms and told whites they
were free to leave Zimbabwe.
South Africa's government has had private discussions with Mugabe about
ending pre-election violence against the opposition, white farmers and illegal
occupation of farms.
Blair's office said he did not ask Mandela to personally intervene, stressing
that both leaders believed Mbeki was the best point of contact with Harare.
``Nelson Mandela said he thought Thabo Mbeki had a role to play and he
supported continued diplomatic links and dialogue,'' Blair's spokesman added.
Zimbabwe's Mugabe Says Whites Free to
Go
Reuters - May 3 2000
6:49AM ET
HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe Wednesday
rejected international diplomatic pressure and said he would not order
self-styled war veterans off hundreds of white farms occupied in two months of a
deepening land crisis.
``Let no one ever think that we will call upon the war veterans to withdraw.
They need the land to backtrack to,'' Mugabe said.
``What we are saying is we need half of the 12 million hectares in white
farmers' hands,'' Mugabe told several hundred party supporters at the unveiling
of his party's manifesto for elections expected in June.
Mugabe, 76 and in power for 20 years, challenged the white farmers to take up
a British offer and leave his southern African nation.
``There are 20,000 opportunities Britain has provided for their citizens.
They are free to leave and we may assist them by showing various ways to leave
the territory,'' Mugabe added.
Ruling party supporters slay brother of Zimbabwean opposition candidate
May 3, 2000
Web posted at: 12:58 p.m. EDT (1958 GMT)
HARARE,
Zimbabwe (CNN) -- Supporters of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF
party attacked and killed the brother of an opposition candidate for Parliament,
the candidate said on Wednesday.
Elias Pfebve, a top official of the Movement for Democratic Change, said his
50-year-old brother Matthew died Monday evening when about 400 ruling party
supporters attacked the village of Nyakatondo, where he lives. Elias Pfebve was
in Harare at the time of the attack.
"They've been targeting my family since the beginning of the year," he said.
Mugabe's party, which has ruled Zimbabwe since it achieved independence from
Britain in 1980 and dropped its colonial name of Rhodesia, is considered more
vulnerable that ever before in the upcoming elections, which must be held by
August. The 76-year-old Mugabe does not stand for re-election until 2002.
Opposition leaders have accused Mugabe of orchestrating the occupations of
thousands of white-owned farms by self-described veterans of his country's war
for independence to further ZANU-PF's chances in the election.
Death toll rises
The militants charged into the village wielding axes, hoes and iron bars in
the attack in which Matthew Pfebve was killed. Elias Pfebve said his mother and
father were hospitalized after the attack and three other opposition supporters
along with another villager are still missing.
Three other MDC supporters have been killed in recent days in Mvurwi, 75
kilometers (50 miles) north of Harare, according to the independent newspaper
The Daily News.
With the four most recent deaths, at least 17 people have been killed in
political violence since February, when Zimbabwean voters rejected a new
constitution that would have given Mugabe broad powers, including the power to
seize without compensation white-owned land for redistribution to landless black
families.
When the new constitution was defeated, Parliament passed a law allowing the
seizure of the farms anyway, and groups of self-styled veterans of Zimbabwe's
1970s war for independence began occupying the farms.
Squatters begin to sell land
Thousands of squatters have taken over more than 1,000 farms, and have begun
demanding transport, food and fuel from the farmers. Some have begun to
advertise parcels of the land for sale.
"The demands ... are accompanied by threats, sometimes veiled, of damage to
property or violence," said the Commercial Farmers Union in a statement. "If the
demands are not met, the invaders are tending to help themselves anyway."
Zimbabwe police have made no move to evict the squatters despite being
ordered to do so by Zimbabwe's High Court.
Chenjerai Hunzvi, leader of the war veterans, has been held in contempt of
court for failing to call for an end to the violence.
Mugabe stays the course
International criticism of the occupations and Mugabe's refusal to end them
has been steady. Britain, Zimbabwe's former colonial master, is refusing to
deliver aid until the occupations are over.
A ministerial action group of the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 54
nations worldwide, said on Tuesday that it was concerned with "the ongoing
violence, loss of life, illegal occupations of property, failure to uphold the
rule of law and political intimidation" now going on in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe, however, has been undeterred, urging the white farmers to take
Britain up on its offer of sanctuary..
"Let no one ever think that we will call upon the war veterans to withdraw,"
Mugabe said on Wednesday. " ... (The white farmers) are free to leave and we may
assist them by showing various ways to leave the country."
Mugabe also scoffed at British efforts to force the end of the occupations,
saying he had no lessons on justice or morality to learn from them.
"We can't learn the rule of law from the British because they never
introduced it here. We introduced it," Mugabe said. "They can't be our teachers
of democracy because we introduce democracy in this country."
Corespondent Stephanie Halasz,The Associated Press and Reuters contributed
to this report.
Mbeki Calls for an End to ZIMBABWE'S
Violence
Lusaka (Post of Zambia, May 3, 2000) - South
African President Thabo Mbeki has called for an end to violence and the on-going
land invasions in Zimbabwe. Mbeki confirmed for the first time that Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe had agreed in talks in Victoria Falls 10 days ago that
violence should end and that thousands of liberation war veterans occupying
hundreds of white-owned farms should leave.
He said the issue that they have been concerned
about is what to do to make sure that the land question in Zimbabwe was
addressed in a way that would benefit all Zimbabweans, black and white.
Meanwhile, Mbeki has also called on the World
Bank, the European Union and the British Government to meet their 1998 promise
to fund land reform in Zimbabwe.
He said he was coming under pressure from whites
who fear the Zimbabwe land crisis could spill over into South Africa to condemn
Mugabe's handling of the issue. The Zimbabwe crisis has hit foreign investor
confidence in South Africa, pushing the rand to record lows and threatening
investments growing slowly on the back of South Africa's consistently
conservative post-apartheid fiscal policies.
Copyright 2000 Post of Zambia. Distributed via
Africa News Online.
Mugabe Lashes out at Critics at Home and
Abroad
HARARE, May 3 (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe lashed out on Wednesday at critics at home and abroad and said he
would not order self-styled war veterans off hundreds of white farms occupied in
two months of a deepening land crisis.
Here are the main quotes from a speech lasting
over two hours:
"Let no one ever think that we will call upon
the war veterans to withdraw unless that which they seek has been obtained,"
Mugabe told several hundred party supporters at the unveiling of his party's
manifesto for elections expected in June.
On the white farmers, a tough-talking Mugabe
said:
"The 20,000 the British would want to give the
opportunity to quit the country are free to make their choice. They are free to
make their choice and we can also assist by showing them the various ways they
can leave the territory."
On the war veterans occupying hundreds of
white-owned farms, Mugabe acknowledged their right to the occupations:
"The action by the war veterans was their own
initiative. It took us by surprise. Pleasantly, I might add," Mugabe said.
"They (veterans) have been saying to the
farmers, you want us to back track. We back track to what place?, Back to the
communal areas? Of course, there is no place for us. So give us farms to back
track to," he said. "What we are saying is we need half of the 12 million
hectares in white farmers' hands."
Mugabe said the land crisis would end only when
white-owned farms earmarked by the government for black resettlement, a move
resisted by farmers in the courts, had been handed over.
"When the farmers say yes, you can have these,
and in physical terms they are acquired, I think the war veterans then might
start the exercise of retreating."
On compensation for land seized by his
government, Mugabe stressed there would be no compensation unless Britain
provided funds for land reform.
"No compensation unless Britain makes funds
available. Land will come to the people whether the British like it or not. We
will take it," Mugabe said to loud applause.
On relations with former colonial power Britain,
he had this to say: "We want good relations with Britain, but the Britain of
today is a hostile Britain and we would rather be on our own than have a hostile
friend. A hostile friend is an enemy."
"The British government says it has no further
colonial responsibility over Zimbabwe. That is what the Blair government said
upon assumption of power. But every day they are talking about Zimbabwe. Trying
to direct our affairs. Talking to various countries seeking sanctions. No
sanctions of whatever nature can make us desist from our quest for our land.
Give us the land and we will create the wealth of our people," Mugabe said.
Reacting to the Commonwealth's statement on
Tuesday that it was "deeply concerned" over the land crisis, Mugabe said: "They
have expressed their concern. What concern? We just want our land and will take
it the way we know how. What can they do?"
Mugabe ended his speech with a clenched fist
raised in the air and shouting: "Down with British imperialism and neo-
colonialism."
Copyright 1999 Reuters.All
rights reserved.
Britain Tightens up Export Controls on Zimbabwe
LONDON, May 3 (Reuters) - Britain's Foreign Secretary Robin Cook announced
on Wednesday he was tightening up export controls on Zimbabwe, condemning
President Robert Mugabe for creating a "condition of crisis."
Cook stepped up British condemnation of the violence and land-grabbing in
Zimbabwe in a statement to parliament, spelling out new measures to increase
pressure on the southern African country.
From Wednesday, Britain will refuse all new export licence applications for
arms and military equipment to Zimbabwe, including spare parts for British-made
Hawk jets.
Britain is "urgently reviewing all existing export licences." In addition,
the government has suspended a programme to supply Land Rovers to the Zimbabwean
police. A remaining 450 vehicles will not be delivered until the police show
determination to restore rule of law, he said.
"I am sorry to say that the events of the past two weeks and President
Mugabe's inflammatory speech earlier today suggest the government of Zimbabwe is
interested in the issue of land reform only to create a condition of crisis in
which it can secure its re-election," said Cook.
Zimbabwe Scoffs at Commonwealth Criticism
HARARE (May 3) XINHUA - Zimbabwean Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge on
Wednesday scoffed at the Commonwealth's criticism, saying " silence is golden"
for the Commonwealth.
An eight-nation Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) voiced
concerns on Tuesday over "the ongoing violence, loss of life, illegal
occupations of property, failure to uphold the rule of law and political
intimidation" in the run-up to the elections.
The minister told reporters here that the CMAG, which monitors human rights
and democracy in Commonwealth states and comprises ministers from eight nations,
acted out of its terms of reference when it discussed the Zimbabwe situation
which was not on its agenda.
"I am tempted to advise my friends in the CMAG that, for goodness sake, if
you have run out of things to say remember silence is golden," he said.
CMGA Chairman and Botswana's Foreign Minister Momphati Merafine said in a
statement after a meeting in London on Tuesday that ministers had voiced concern
about violence in Zimbabwe.
He said the ministers were concerned with the loss of life, illegal
occupations of property, failure to uphold the rule of law and political
intimidation.
Mudenge said, "CMGA has chosen to evade addressing the root cause of the
present situation in Zimbabwe which is the refusal by Britain to honor its
colonial obligation on fair distribution of land."
Zimbabwe has been rocked by political violence in the run up to
parliamentary elections originally scheduled for April.
The violence also occurred at white-owned commercial farms that were
invaded by war veterans calling for quick land redistribution.
Mudenge said the exact date for Zimbabwe's fifth parliamentary elections
would be set after the Delimitation Commission finished drawing up new
constituencies.
The commission had indicated it needed at least three months from late
April to finish its work.
Copyright XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
Mugabe Lambastes West Media for Unfair Coverage of
Zimbabwe
HARARE (May 3) XINHUA - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe Wednesday
castigated west news power houses for unfair coverage of Zimbabwe, particularly
on the sensitive and emotive land issue.
Mugabe, who was launching his ruling Zanu-pf party's manifesto with the
theme of "Land is the economy and the economy is land", said the foreign press
supported white commercial farmers who owned vast tracts of fertile farm land
than the landless majority.
"And you think the fight will be won on the CNN or BBC... the fight will be
won here. Our people know us better and we will serve the interest of our
people," he said.
He said the Cable News Network and the British Broadcasting Corporation
were interested in giving extensive coverage to the deaths of white farmers than
blacks who were also victims of violence perpetrated by the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change.
He said there was a vicious campaign by these news power houses to
discredit and have the international community apply sanctions on Zimbabwe.
He also castigated the South African press for trying to strain relations
between Harare and Pretoria.
Mugabe said his government supported war veterans and there was no way it
could let the police to bar them from occupying the farms.
The war veterans have occupied about 1,000 white farms since February.
Mugabe said they would only leave the farms after 841 farms have been
acquired for resettling thousands of landless peasants.
Copyright XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
Mandela "Backing Britain" Over Zimbabwe: Downing Street
T
LONDON (May 3) XINHUA - South Africa's Nelson Mandela has told British
Prime Minister Tony Blair that he backs Britain's policy over Zimbabwe's land
reform, Blair's spokesman said on Wednesday.
The spokesman said the talks between Mandela and Blair was held when
Mandela came to London to be made an Honorary Queen's Counsel -- an award
usually given to academic lawyers in recognition of their work.
The former South African president was also quoted as saying that his
successor, Thabo Mbeki, had a key role to play in contact with Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe.
"Nelson Mandela said he supported our approach and said he believed
dialogue with Zimbabwe should continue and that President Thabo Mbeki had a key
role to play in contact with Harare," the spokesman said.
Blair used his hour of talks to outline his Zimbabwe policy and expressed
concerns over violence which has left at least 18 people dead. The two also
talked about the peace process in the central African country of Burundi, he
said.
Mandela is to be honored at a ceremony in the House of Lords on Wednesday.
Queen Elizabeth has given her permission for Mandela to receive the honor as a
special tribute to his role as a reconciler in post-apartheid South Africa.
Copyright XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
ZIMBABWE'S Situation Negatively Affects Trade Fair
HARARE (May 3) XINHUA - South African companies have withdrawn from this
year's Zimbabwe International Trade Fair due to the negative publicity Zimbabwe
is receiving in the neighboring country.
Henning Visser, spokesman for Montana International Trading Company, which
coordinates the participation of South African companies at the fair, told the
Zimbabwe News Agency Wednesday that only one company is exhibiting.
"A number of companies cancelled their visit to the fair at the last minute
because Zimbabwe is receiving very negative publicity in the country, " he said.
This is the single most painful blow to the fair's organizers and the
government as South African companies had led the numbers and even the quality
of exhibits at the annual fair since democracy came to that country in 1994.
For the past two years, the South Africans had been occupying an entire
hall, the size of a half football pitch and after last year's fair, exhibitors
from Zimbabwe's largest trading partner had promised to come back en masse.
More unfortunate is that this year South African companies were supposed to
still the show, what with their president Thabo Mbeki officially opening the
showcase on Friday.
"I told them that their country's president is going to open the fair, but
this did not make a difference as they were not keen to participate, " said
Visser.
British and Scottish companies are also for the fourth year running not
taking part in the fair, despite being Zimbabwe's key trading partners.
The British are fighting the Zimbabwean government over its land policies
and until this is resolved, they vowed to marginalize it economically.
Copyright XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
S.African President Calls for Peaceful Settlement of
Zimbabwean Land Crisis
JOHANNESBURG (May 1) XINHUA - South African President Thabo Mbeki said on
Monday that the land crisis in Zimbabwe could only be brought to an end by
peaceful means.
If the land question in Zimbabwe was not addressed in a peaceful,
systematic way involving all Zimbabweans, the problem would not go away, Mbeki
said at a meeting with business people in Mabopane, north of Pretoria.
He said he doubted whether condemning his Zimbabwean counterpart Robert
Mugabe would solve that country's land redistribution problem.
Condemning Mugabe would not solve a problem in Zimbabwe caused by
colonization, Mbeki said.
Mbeki said his meeting with Mugabe and other presidents of the region in
Zimbabwean resort of Victoria Falls on April 21 focused on how to address the
problem in Zimbabwe to the benefit of black and white Zimbabweans instead of
seeking solidarity with Mugabe, as press reports said.
Mbeki said they had agreed that there should be an end to the violence in
Zimbabwe and that a way should be found to ensure that land occupation by the
war veterans should be brought to an end.
They had also agreed that the implementation of an agreement between
Zimbabwe and donors including Britain, the World Bank and the European Union on
how to handle the land redistribution should be ensured, Mbeki said.
"Whatever happens in Zimbabwe, we must ensure that the process takes into
account countries in the rest of the region," he said.
Britain said it would not honor its promise to fund Zimbabwe's resettlement
program until the Zimbabwean government ordered the veterans of independence war
to withdraw from white-owned commercial farms they had been occupying since
February.
Copyright XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
Zimbabwe Veterans Make New Attacks on Farmworkers
HARARE, May 1 (Reuters) - Fresh attacks on black farmworkers in Zimbabwe by
self-styled war veterans were reported on Monday despite a call by the veterans'
leader to stop the violence.
About 200 veterans swooped on four farms in the Mvurwi area, northeast of
Harare, beat farmworkers and forced them to sing songs praising President Robert
Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party, a spokesman for a local farm support group told
Reuters.
In another incident near the central town of Zvishavane, a farmworker and
two guards carrying the payroll for a local farm were ambushed by suspected
veterans, the spokesman said.
The driver was assaulted but managed to drive away with the money. The
guards were chased into the bush. "We are concerned about the safety of the two
guards," the spokesman said.
Veterans' leader Chenjerai Hunzvi urged his supporters on Friday to end
violence on white-owned farms, saying they would continue to occupy land but
should not interfere with farming.
"I don't hold much hope about the promises of peace. My farm manager has
had death threats. He doesn't sleep here anymore. He has left the farm," said
one white farmer, who did not want to be named, in the Marondera area, southeast
of Harare.
A Reuters correspondent on Monday visited five deserted farms in the area
where the few remaining farmhands said acts of intimidation were continuing.
"Sometimes we think it's better that we give Mugabe another 20 years in
power. I have seen what war can do and I don't want another war situation," a
farmhand said.
At least 14 people -- farmers, farm workers and opposition supporters --
have been killed in the past two months since militant government supporters
began invading hundreds of white-owned farms on land they say was stolen by
British colonists in the former Rhodesia.
Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) said on Monday that attacks on farmworkers were disrupting the harvesting
of key crops.
"Farmworkers cannot do their job because veterans are intimidating them.
Mugabe's people have banned tobacco and stopped the preparation for the wheat
crop. Maize is lying on farms when it should be harvested," Tsvangirai told
about 3,000 supporters at a May Day rally near Harare.
In some areas there is an uneasy truce between the veterans and farmworkers
who are working the abandoned farms.
On the Lonely Park dairy farm, 30 km (19 miles) southeast of Harare, the
beating of farmworkers has stopped but the intimidation continues with farmhands
and their families regularly subjected to lectures vilifying the opposition and
white landowners.
May Day Sees Marches, Clashes, Calls for Peace
LONDON, May 1 (Reuters) - May Day saw demonstrations and scattered violence
around the world and crowds protested against the government in strifetorn
Zimbabwe, despite unions' warnings to workers to stay off the streets.
Some 3,000 massed outside Harare to hear Zimbabwe's main opposition party,
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), urge them to work to defeat President
Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party in elections expected later in May.
"Workers have nothing to show for 20 years of independence and Mugabe
cannot possibly change that in another year or two," MDC President Morgan
Tsvangirai said.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, also critical of Mugabe, earlier
urged workers to stay at home, "think deeply, and pray for peace."
It was the first time May Day rallies had been cancelled since Zimbabwe won
independence from Britain in 1980.
Fourteen people have been killed in occupations of white-owned farms by
pro-government groups and political violence in recent weeks.
The partly state-owned Herald newspaper accused unions of playing politics
instead of looking after workers' interests.
Hundreds of Serb workers gathered in central Belgrade to call for Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic to go.
"On this traditional workers' day it is the moment to awaken and say a
decisive 'no' to the regime of Slobodan Milosevic," said Branislav Canak, the
president of the non-government United Trade Union Nezavisnost (Independence).
Sixteen police and 25 protesters were injured in May Day violence in
Germany. Neo-Nazis fought anti-fascist protesters in Berlin and in Hamburg
leftist protesters threw stones at banks, broke shop windows and set fire to
cars after midnight.
In the Polish city of Krakow, several were hurt and 14 young anarchists
detained after clashing with police when they marched on a jail where one of
their comrades was held. In Gdansk, skinheads threw eggs full of red paint at
leftist marchers. In Warsaw, leftists hurled eggs at anti-communist hecklers.
Sporadic violence flared in London as protesters sacked a McDonald's
restaurant and threw bottles towards Prime Minister Tony Blair's residence.
Earlier, protesters planted flowers and seeds in "guerrilla gardening" to add
more green to the capital.
RUSSIAN MARCHERS MOURN COMMUNISM
In Russia, where for decades May Day was marked by colossal workers'
marches choreographed by the communist state, tens of thousands joined rallies.
But protests were smaller than previous post-Soviet gatherings.
"We were all free and happy then," pensioner Dina Gulicheva said of the
Soviet era. "These democrats have taken everything away from me."
Some 7,000 mostly elderly Bulgarians, many of them supporters of the
largely ex-communist Socialist Party, rallied in Sofia to protest against
poverty and what they called the corruption of the centre-right government.
Tens of thousands of Turks took to the streets for protests largely
directed against the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Turkey late last year won a three-year $4 billion loan from the IMF to
support an economic reform and anti-inflation programme. One of its conditions
is rapid privatisation.
"IMF: This nation is not for sale," ran one huge red and yellow banner
carried in Istanbul.
Thousands demonstrated peacefully in Indonesia, some against economic
policies imposed by the IMF.
In the Sumatran city of Medan, 10,000 gathered peacefully. But across the
city, police opened fire on students, killing two and injuring more than 20,
during an operation to free five colleagues taken hostage in violence unrelated
to May Day.
CHINESE GET WEEK'S HOLIDAY
Mass pilgrimages to tourist spots marked May Day in China after the
government declared the whole week a holiday, in a move intended to stimulate
consumer spending.
Tens of thousands of protesters marched in Morocco demanding government
action to create jobs and better working conditions.
A few dozen people chanted "people before profit" outside the Chicago Board
of Trade and in New York there was a heavy police presence in anticipation of a
noon May Day protest.
Pope John Paul, in a May Day mass, said: "Globalisation of finance, of the
economy, of commerce and of work should never be allowed to violate the dignity
and centrality of the human person or the democracy of peoples." He urged rich
countries to cut Third World debt.
In Slovakia, hundreds of supporters of former Prime Minister Vladimir
Meciar protested against criminal investigations launched against him as well as
high unemployment.
About 500 Lebanese workers marched through the streets of Beirut, demanding
better pay, job security and priority for Lebanese over foreign workers, amid
economic recession.
LET'S Grab the Land and Live in Poverty
Harare (The East African, April 30, 2000) - The daily spectacle on
international TV of drunken Zimbabwean war veterans, their hangers-on, and other
goons of Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF wielding hoes, machetes and sticks while
murdering white farmers is, to understate it, extremely embarrassing for many an
African.
This is the kind of African stereotype which white racists must surely
think was made in heaven.
The white man arrives in Africa, finds healthy bush where the "natives" are
hunting squirrels and civet cats, seizes it and turns it into rich farms. Mugabe
goes to the bush to fight a guerrilla war to kick out the British colonialists
and to give his people back their land and freedom.
He takes power all right, but gives land first to himself and his cronies.
The people remain wretched. And they are not free either, because when they try
to say they don't like Mugabe's corrupt ways, he sends in his boys and they beat
up the protesters and kill a few for good measure.
Then one day the poor Zimbabweans wake up, hungry, barefoot, and landless.
They can't touch Mugabe's land. In any case, the new Zanu-PF farmers' yield is
not as bountiful as that of the white Zimbabweans.
So, with a little prompting from Mugabe, they set upon the white-owned
farms. Most likely, the veterans will run down the farms. The water systems will
break down, the food storage will go to waste, they will slaughter and roast the
farm animals in camp-fires over the next few months, then the farms will become
barren.
Fate is a cruel mistress. Another severe drought might visit Zimbabwe in
the years to come. If Mugabe is still president then, he could very easily find
himself begging for food for the poor people in the country, most of them former
veterans on confiscated farms. Who knows, some of the very farmers who are being
run off the land in Zimbabwe now could be the ones selling grain to feed the
same hungry fellows who chased them off the land.
I do sympathise with the millions of poor landless black Zimbabweans, and
think it is unfair that 4,000 white-owned farms should comprise a third of
Zimbabwe's productive farmland.
However, I think if "our" people are to steal the land back, at least they
need to do it with some style. Following the law and court rulings on the land
issue, is one way of doing that. In these matters, it always helps not to depart
too far from common sense. You don't have to be a Nobel prize-winning
agricultural scientist to figure out that those down-and-out squatters and
veterans who are grabbing the white-owned farms in Zimbabwe cannot make good
farmers.
Unless the intention is to let them grab plots on which to build their
huts, it is hard to see the commercial sense in supporting these seizures.
Therein then lies the real problem. Land fragmentation in many parts of Africa
is as big a problem as landlessness. The landless have no land and live in
poverty. But the fragmented land owners have little plots of exhausted soil
which yield nothing and they are too poor.
On this matter, few leaders are clearer than President Yoweri Museveni. He
has some unkind words on land fragmentation, and frequently tells crowds (when
it is not election time, as it is now) that there is no future being peasants
eking a living from their small gardens in the villages.
Sensible governments educate their people. Then they push through policies
which encourage the modernisation of agriculture and the creation of jobs in the
towns. It's much better to be a truck driver on someone's farm earning $100 a
month, or a clerk in a small factory in town earning $120 a month, than to be a
landed peasant in the village, queuing up for food handouts at the local World
Food Programme feeding centre.
By Charles Onyango-Obbo
Copyright 2000 The East African.
Zimbabwe Opposition Party Rallies outside Harare
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Nearly 2,000 supporters of Zimbabwe's main
opposition party gathered at a rally today, a day after one party supporter was
attacked outside a police station.
Speakers at the Movement for Democratic Change rally in the Harare suburb
of Kuwadzana called President Robert Mugabe a thief who would never willingly
give up power.
The opposition accuses Mugabe of organizing often-violent occupations of
white-owned farms, reputedly led by veterans of Zimbabwe's independence war, to
boost dwindling support for his ZANU-PF party ahead of parliamentary elections.
Elections must be held by August.
Police have mostly stood by and taken no action since black squatters began
their occupation of hundreds of white-owned farms in February. At least 13
people have died in political violence in recent weeks.
An MDC supporter was attacked Sunday outside the police station in
Budiriro, near the site of today's rally, said Morgen Sithole, a party
organizing secretary. The victim's injuries were not known, he said.
In a rare intervention on Sunday, police arrested the leader of a group
occupying a white-owned farm after the squatters beat up farm workers, white
farmers said. The squatters' attack, which left 11 hospitalized, took place
Saturday night in Mutepatepa, 60 miles north of Harare.
Also Sunday, veteran leader Chenjerai Hunzvi said he would travel around
the country to cool the standoff and ensure that planting on the farms could
begin within three days.
With worries high over the crisis' effect on the economy, Hunzvi urged
farmers to bring their harvested tobacco -- Zimbabwe's biggest export -- to
auction. The auction season began Wednesday, but sales have been dismal.
Despite Hunzvi's talk of ending the violence, there is no sign the land
seizures will end.
Mugabe says the farm takeovers are justified because one-third of the
productive farmland in this southeast African country is owned by 4,000 whites,
many of them descendants of British colonial-era settlers. The opposition party
says the government is using the unresolved land issue to intimidate anti-Mugabe
voters.
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