News24
Zim has conscription plans
03/05/2005 15:01 -
(SA)
Harare - The government said on Tuesday it plans to make its
controversial
national service programme mandatory for students at all
educational
institutions from primary schools to universities.
State
radio said deputy youth minister Savior Kasukuwere toured a training
camp
for youth militia and said the government is determined to introduce
national service that would give all Zimbabwean youths "proper
orientation."
Human rights groups, opposition politicians and some
Western governments
accuse the government's youth militia, known as the
"green bombers" because
of their military style uniforms, of being at the
forefront of political
violence and intimidation directed at opponents of
President Robert Mugabe.
According to the latest figures, 11 000 youths
between the ages of 15 and 20
have passed through training depots around the
country since 2001.
Graduates are given preference in state employment
and in admission to
tertiary institutions, such as teachers'
colleges.
"There is need to introduce aspects of national service in all
schools from
primary to tertiary and university level," Kasukuwere was
quoted saying.
His ministry had resolved to merge national youth service
programmes,
teaching patriotism and ideological orientation, with skills
training at
service centres.
Deserters from the programme have told
church-organised press conferences in
South Africa of indoctrination and
abuse of female recruits at centres.
In last year's national budget $38m
was allocated to the youth ministry.
CNN
Zimbabwe parks overrun with elephants
Government trying to sell
thousands of surplus pachyderms
Tuesday, May 3, 2005 Posted: 9:03 AM EDT
(1303 GMT)
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Zimbabwe's Parks and Wildlife
Authority is looking
for private buyers for thousands of elephants because
its game reserves are
too crowded.
Notices inviting tenders for
purchase of the live elephants were published
in the government controlled
daily, The Herald, on Tuesday. State radio said
the elephants are not for
export but for wildlife farming by local farmers.
It said they would be
taken from areas where there were "excessive
concentrations."
A Parks
Authority official told the radio station it aimed to encourage
recipients
of 5,000 formerly white-owned farms "to venture into wildlife
production."
He said game sanctuaries that cover a fifth of the
country could only carry
45,000 elephants without environmental damage, but
there are 80,000 to
100,000 elephants in the reserves.
Would-be
elephant buyers will have to pay 1 million Zimbabwe dollars
(US$164) just
for a tender form, and must prove they have sufficient land.
The average
size of larger commercial units allocated to recipients of
President Robert
Mugabe's controversial "fast track" land redistribution is
600 acres (250
hectares), but experts say each elephant needs a grazing and
browsing range
of approximately one square mile (2.6 square kilometers).
Prospective
owners also have to prove they are able to move the 2-ton to
5-ton
pachyderms safely to their new homes -- a process involving the hire
of
specialist veterinary surgeons, drug darting teams and large teams of
laborers, as well as low-loading trucks and special crates.
The
advertisements gave no guidelines for prices but at the last auction for
trophy elephants in Zimbabwean state-owned safari hunting areas, bull
elephants fetched US$22,950 to $25,400 each.
Trophy elephants are
ones that are raised for shooting by wealthy tourists
who pay a small
fortune to hunt the animals and then keep the head.
The closing date for
tenders is May 27. The total number of elephants to be
auctioned was not
disclosed.
After years of controversy, Zimbabwe in 1999 obtained
permission from the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES) to sell
limited and strictly monitored supplies of ivory to
Japan.
However, it has so far held back from culling its annual
500-elephant quota,
in deference to vocal international animal welfare
lobbyists. Kenya led
opposition to any resumed trade in elephant products,
including ivory, meat
and hides, saying this encouraged smuggling by
poaching syndicates.
Wildlife experts, who asked not to be named,
rejected South African media
reports last month of widespread killing of
animals by the Parks Authority
to supply hungry tribespeople. They said less
than 100 elephants were shot
to supply rangers' routine "meat quota" before
the April 18 Independence
celebrations.
Some of the notoriously
coarse-grained and indigestible elephant meat was
given as a goodwill
gesture to rural people in areas bordering reserves, in
a bid to discourage
poaching of rare species such as roan antelope and
nyala.
IOL
Zimbabwe must allow foreign aid in, says UN
May 03 2005
at 06:51PM
By Peter Apps
Johannesburg - Zimbabwe must
allow a massive United Nations
humanitarian food aid operation or many may
die as 5.5 million people face
serious food shortages after a regional
drought, the United Nations agency
Unicef said on Tuesday.
UN
food agencies cut back operations in 2004 after President Robert
Mugabe said
the country had more than enough food, but reports of shortages
have
continued and aid workers say drought across southern Africa has all
but
destroyed the 2005 harvest.
"I would be very surprised if the
government didn't take a different
line this year," UN children's agency
Unicef southern and east Africa
regional co-ordinator Per Engebak told
Reuters. "It's quite clear that what
we're seeing this year affects almost
the entire region."
Food was a major issue in Zimbabwe's recent
parliamentary election,
won by Mugabe's Zanu-PF party but widely criticised
by western nations as
not free and unfair, with the opposition demanding the
government appeal for
aid.
Some aid workers and observers have
accused Mugabe's government of
destroying Zimbabwe's farming sector with
chaotic and violent seizures of
white-owned farms for landless
blacks.
Neighbouring Zambia, Mozambique and Botswana have also seen
staple
maize crops seriously damaged by drought, while the HIV pandemic has
left
many farmers dead or sick and unable to farm.
Zimbabwe's
government has only allowed the UN World Food Programme to
continue targeted
feeding programmes reaching just under a million people,
mainly Aids orphans
and other at-risk groups. Agencies say they have long
hoped to be allowed to
enlarge their operations, but with little joy.
In a telephone
interview, Engebak said people would likely starve to
death if the
government did not allow in UN assessment missions and then
food
aid.
"If the international community, backed and supported by the
UN, is
not in a position to effectively help to mitigate the effects we will
be
allowing scenes of that nature," he said. "Absolutely," he said, asked if
that meant people might die.
Last week, Zimbabwe's state media
reported the government-run Grain
Marketing Board would buy 1.2 million
tonnes of maize for the country after
Mugabe admitted publicly the country
faced shortages but promised no one
would starve.
The
opposition Movement for Democratic Change says the country lacks
the foreign
exchange for such a purchase, and South African traders say
Zimbabwe has
defaulted on past purchases.
In March, Public Service and Social
Welfare Minister Paul Mwanga told
Reuters Zimbabwe would seek donor
assistance only if food needs exceeded the
budget the government had set
aside.
A Postmortem.
Its now one month since the elections in Zimbabwe and I
thought a quiet
reflective post mortem might be timely. One has so little
time to give the
overall picture some thought when we are in the thick of
things, so this
might be instructive.
Seven months ago the MDC
leadership decided to suspend participation in
local elections. (It's only
been 7 months!!) This was just after the Mugabe
regime had announced that
they would hold elections in March 2005 and then
celebrate 25 years of
independence in April. At that stage they were quite
confident that they
could win a two-thirds majority and gain acceptance from
the international
community for a new Zanu PF led government. The consensus
among the
diplomatic community was not very different - they were saying to
MDC leaders
that if they were not careful, Zanu PF would regain the
initiative in
international and regional affairs.
On the down side we lost a number of
parliamentary and local government
seats during the 5 months when Zanu
basically had the field to themselves.
But while this was going on we secured
a number of major achievements. We
focused attention on the conditions under
which the next general elections
were to be held. This exposed all the
shortcomings in the Zanu PF platform
for acceptance and ensured that this
issue remained center stage the whole
time.
On the domestic front we
quietly set about rebuilding our Party structures
in all those areas where
Zanu PF had tried over the previous 4 years to
exclude the MDC. We also set
about preparing for the March elections - we
drafted a manifesto and got it
accepted by the Party. We started candidate
selection and developed a
campaign strategy and campaign materials. We
overcame the restrictions
imposed on the printing industry, which
effectively denied us access to
printing capacity in the commercial sphere,
by installing our own equipment.
We built up our finances in preparation for
the campaign.
The
suspension also had the added benefit in that it intensified the
struggle for
power inside Zanu PF. This eventually emerged in the form of a
clear schism
in their ranks between the new generation of Zanu PF leaders
and the old
guard. This culminated in the Tsholotsho meeting and the
subsequent split in
Zanu and the expulsion of a number of leaders.
The chaos in Zanu PF and
the consequential bickering led to a delay in the
election by two weeks and
even then when the date was finally fixed, Zanu
still had to select a large
number of candidates and was poorly prepared for
the bruising political
struggle ahead.
To my mind there is little doubt that the MDC won this
campaign hands down.
It was better prepared, its campaign was slick and
professional and I
thought it was the best yet. We well knew that the
election would not be won
or lost in the campaign but in the manner in which
the actual vote was taken
and counted and then announced. None of which was
under the control of the
MDC in any way. From start to finish the election
was run by Zanu PF
loyalists and the military or security
services.
Our own forecast was that we had 33 safe seats and 17 possible
wins. An
estimate that proved all too accurate. It was based purely on our
own
estimate of which constituencies Zanu PF would abandon to their own
devices
and where the MDC was overwhelmingly strong.
With so much
attention focused on the election - both by the media and the
international
community, it was always a reality that any rigging would be
exposed and the
results of the election rejected by serious observers. This
proved to be the
case and no sooner had the sound of Zanu "victory"
celebrations died down
(after 30 minutes or so - they were so muted) the
major western States
rejected the outcome as being rigged in favor of Zanu
PF. The media also, by
and large, said that this election was not free or
fair and that the playing
field had been tilted in favor of Zanu from day
one. Even Mr. Mbeki was
forced to hold back his endorsement of the outcome
when it finally came to
that point in the SA Parliamentary debate.
The question now arises as to
what to do after the election. I said in the
days that followed March 31 that
Mugabe was in the same position as a rugby
fullback who finds himself on the
field with the ball in his hands and the
entire front line bearing down on
him with the intention of doing him real
harm if they catch him with the
ball! I said that these forwards included
tighter sanctions by the
international community, increased regional
isolation and the domestic
problems of fuel, food and the collapse of the
economy. The one element in
Zimbabwe that he cannot intimidate or cower, is
the economy.
This has
proved to be the case - made worse by the fact that the Mugabe
regime has
foolishly spent up to half a billion US dollars on arms and
aircraft in
recent months. It now has little in reserve to fight off these
domestic
nightmares.
So now, having gained their goal of a two thirds majority in
the House - at
great cost to themselves, they must deal with an angry
international
community which is planning more sanctions and isolation and is
threatening
aid flows to the continent in retaliation for what they see as
complicity
with the electoral fraud in Zimbabwe. The international community
also
recognizes this as a real threat to democratic principles throughout
the
world.
They must also now deal with the crisis created by Mugabe's
own
intransigence on the issue of food aid and the near collapse of the
Zimbabwe
economy. Zanu PF is not made up of idiots - there are a few of
those, but
most are well educated and experienced people. They know that if
they move
towards extending Mugabe's term to 2010 or tightening the grip on
power of
the aging oligarchy in the Politburo that this would ignite an
already
explosive situation in the country. The army is on full alert and
armed
roadblocks have been erected across the country and are operating for
24
hours a day. They are nervous and know full well that the ice under
their
feet is very thin and the water below, extremely cold.
As for us
in the MDC - we are just quietly raising the temperature.
Eddie
Cross
Bulawayo, May 2nd 2005
Boston Globe
In Zimbabwe, AIDS care done on the cheap
By John Donnelly, Globe Staff | May 3, 2005
HARARE, Zimbabwe --
Some of those who fight AIDS in southern Africa
have a name for Zimbabwe:
the ''hole in the doughnut." In the region with
the highest HIV infection
rates in the world, they explain, all the
countries except Zimbabwe are
beginning to receive heaps of donor money and
putting significant numbers of
people on AIDS treatment.
A World Bank analysis last year found
that Zimbabwe receives $4 in
donor support for each person infected with
HIV, compared to $187 per
infected person in neighboring
Zambia.
The reason is simple: Donors fear the government of
President Robert
Mugabe would either steal some of the AIDS money or divert
it for political
ends.
But the results here, according to
numerous interviews during two
trips over the last two months, have not been
all dire. One major AIDS
prevention program, for instance, has expanded
nationwide with little
funding, thanks to initiatives started by the
country's health
administrators and workers. That program is designed to
prevent the
transmission of HIV from mother to child during
birth.
''The effort to prevent mother-to-child infection was
developed in
large part by health workers themselves, which is very
encouraging amid all
the crises here," said Geoff Foster, a pediatrician and
AIDS researcher in
the eastern city of Mutare.
Agnes Mahomva,
the government coordinator of the program, said it is
in 800 of the
country's 1,183 hospitals and clinics, likely the most
extensive national
program in Africa. She said 265 of those health
facilities offer full
services, including rapid HIV tests.
''We decided to move with the
capacity that we have," Mahomva said in
an interview in her office earlier
this month. ''We've been working
flat-out, and the expansion was so rapid,
moving like a veld fire."
Yet, she said, the country's problems are
beginning to erode those
gains.
In 2002, according to
government figures, 35 percent of women testing
positive for HIV and their
babies received a single dose of nevirapine --
which dramatically lowers
the transmission of the virus -- during and after
birth. In 2003, the figure
jumped to 56 percent of the HIV-positive women,
but last year it fell to an
estimated 46 percent.
In recent weeks, Mahomva investigated the
decline and discovered that
many health workers trained to give the medicine
and test for HIV had left
the country in the past year. ''In one area, we
don't have a trainer
anymore," she said. ''The last one is going to
Botswana."
The flight of health workers stems from the ongoing
political and
economic troubles in Zimbabwe, which only a decade ago had one
of Africa's
best health and education programs. In 2000, Mugabe won an
election that
international observers called deeply flawed, and he ordered
many of his
supporters to seize hundreds of white-owned farms. As a result,
most major
foreign investment in the country ended and the country's
agricultural
output was crippled.
While causes of death in
Africa are extremely difficult to estimate because
of a lack of good
research, the United Nations believes about 2,800 people
die each week of
AIDS in Zimbabwe.
Only about 9,000 people now receive antiretroviral
treatment, which can
greatly extend the life of someone infected with the
deadly virus. The UN
estimates one-quarter of the population aged 15 to 49
is infected, or
roughly 1.8 million people. Of those, an estimated 295,000
may need
treatment.
Money is the major reason most are not getting
help.
The US government, by far the largest donor, this year allocated
$25 million
for HIV/AIDS programs in Zimbabwe, including $1.6 million for
the program to
prevent mother-child transmission. US officials said they
have not found any
instances of misspending, including money that goes
directly to the Ministry
of Health.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria, recently assured
that Zimbabwe has instituted the
proper safeguards, last month released $10
million in grant funding that had
been on hold since 2002. Zimbabwe's was
the 68th and last grant to be funded
from that year.
''It would have been easy to provide money to Zimbabwe
much earlier so we
can feel better," said Global Fund spokesman Jon Liden in
a telephone
interview from Geneva. ''But that doesn't necessarily mean that
money will
be translated into money that helps people on the ground. . . .
Now we
believe the proper safeguards are in place."
Last year, Liden
said, Zimbabwe submitted a request for $300 million in
grants, but a
technical review panel rejected it, finding that the country
could not
effectively oversee that much money.
To fill the gap in the meantime, a
handful of US-based non-governmental
groups have been illegally smuggling in
thousands of doses of antiretroviral
drugs to clinics.
Officials at
one clinic confirmed they had received batches of the drug
nevirapine from
the New Mexico chapter of the National AIDS Brigade, an AIDS
activist group.
They traded some of the nevirapine to another clinic in
exchange for other
antiretroviral drugs to put together triple-combination
therapies for
treatment. One clinic worker, who asked not to be identified,
said such
smuggling and drug trading were part of an extensive underground
effort to
treat people with AIDS.
Prisca Nyakutombwa, an AIDS activist in Harare,
said she knew of several
such situations where activists were forced to work
beneath the government's
radar. ''We are suffering because of our
government," said Nyakutombwa, who
has been living with HIV since
1986.
But in Glendale, about 50 miles north of Harare, the government is
starting
its first rural treatment program at Howard Hospital. Paul Thistle,
the
Canadian doctor in charge, said he has 160 people on antiretroviral
drugs,
and hopes to have 200 by the end of the year. He estimates that 5,000
people
need the drugs in his district alone.
One receiving treatment
is Tambudzai Chigwida, 30, who had given birth three
months earlier to a
son, Isheunesu, which means, ''The Lord is with us."
Both mother and son are
still at the hospital -- the mother weighing 77
pounds, her boy less than 4
pounds. Both have slowly gained weight.
As the mother gently pulled her
son from an incubator, Thistle said of the
baby, ''He's a
survivor."
The doctor's hope is that the mother, now on AIDS drugs, is
one as well.
John Donnelly can be reached at donnelly@globe.com
MDC
PRESS
3
May 2005
PRESS
FREEDOM AT ITS LOWEST LEVEL IN
ZIMBABWE
Today, on
‘World Press Freedom Day’ the MDC congratulates the thousands of brave
journalists worldwide who continue to stand up to oppressive regimes and
courageously expose their criminal failings, at great personal risk. We also
salute the tremendous progress made to advance media freedom around the
world.
In
Zimbabwe
repressive media laws have resulted in the closure of four independent papers.
Journalists live in constant fear of arrest. They are often scared to write the
truth for fear of incurring the wrath of a Government with a consistent track
record of punishing those expressing views at variance with its own.
The
absence of a free press in Zimbabwe is
indicative of the poor standards of democratic governance that exist in the
country.
As many
countries today celebrate the impressive gains made with regards to media
freedoms, we in Zimbabwe are
forced to soberly reflect on the losses we have incurred over the past few
years. Press freedom in Zimbabwe is at its
lowest level.
In the
recent parliamentary elections in
Zimbabwe the lack
of a free press meant that voters were unable to access the wide variety of
information necessary to make an informed choice at the ballot box.
The MDC is
however slightly encouraged by recent comments made by the new information
minister, Tichaona Jokonya,
who appears to be less hostile towards the independent media than his
predecessor. The Minister now needs to follow-up his rhetoric with action. If he
really is committed to a more permissive media environment then he must take
immediate steps to allow all closed newspapers to re-open unconditionally.
Paul
Themba Nyathi
Secretary
for Information and Publicity
IOL
SA 'spy' being held for questioning in Harare
May 03
2005 at 02:23PM
Harare - The South African "spy" who was
apprehended in Zimbabwe last
year was not under arrest but was being held
for "questioning", it was
reported on Tuesday.
Zimbabwe's
director of public prosecutions in the office of the
attorney general,
Joseph Musakwa, said the 48-year-old man was a witness,
contradicting
earlier reports which claimed he was a top spy in an espionage
network.
"He (the South African) is a witness and is still
giving testimony.
Why would a witness be under arrest?" Musakwa said in an
interview with that
country's Sunday Mirror newspaper.
On
December 15 several prominent Zimbabweans were arrested and charged
including Philip Chiyangwa (Zanu-PF's provincial chairperson), Godfrey
Dzvairo (Zimbabwe's designated ambassador to Mozambique), Tendai
Matambanadzo (a banker) and Itai Marchi (Zanu-PF director of foreign
affairs).
Kenny Karidza, security director of Zanu-PF,
was also questioned.
The men were later charged with
espionage.
The South African "witness" was allegedly lured to
Zimbabwe by that
country's central intelligence organisation (CIO), where he
was apprehended
and he allegedly later gave the CIO information that led to
the arrest of
the other five.
In a trial that took place in
camera, Dzvairo was sentenced to six
years in prison and Matambanadzo and
Marchi to five years each. Chiyangwa
was temporarily released but could be
charged again later.
Erasmus Moyo, a Zimbabwean diplomat in Geneve,
was also allegedly
implicated by the five, disappeared from an airport in
Switzerland shortly
before he could be extradited to Zimbabwe.
Karidza has since objected to the admissibility of certain of the
evidence
against him.
Musakwa said a trial within a trial was now taking
place before any of
the espionage charges could be dealt with, the online
news service said.
The men allegedly sold political and economic
information about
Zimbabwe. Chiyangwa allegedly received up to R65 000 a
month from his South
African handler.
The five apparently also
sold some of the top secret decisions taken
by Zanu-PF's inner
circle.
The man has only been identified as "Andrew Brown". -
Sapa
Business in Africa
Switzerland, Turkey to import Zimbabwean
cotton
Published: 03-MAY-05
A Zimbabwean agricultural
retailer has clinched two deals worth $20 million
to export cotton to
Switzerland and Turkey. Afaras Gwaradzimba, head of FSI
Agricom, said Swiss
importers wanted up to 10,000 tonnes of cotton, while
those from Turkey were
looking for between 20,000 and 22,000 tonnes.
Zimbabwe is a big cotton
producer, and its crop is reputed to be of the
finest quality in the
world.
But production has dropped this year because of drought, and
Gwaradzimba
said fulfilment of the two foreign orders would depend on FSI
Agricom
securing the crop from farmers. Last year, Zimbabwe earned $150
million from
cotton exports.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
MDC activist murdered
The Daily Mirror
Reporter
issue date :2005-May-04
SUSPECTED Zanu PF supporters
allegedly murdered Moffat Ebrahim, the MDC
chairperson for Ward 6 in
Kasimhure Village near Karoi last Friday, police
said yesterday.
On
Monday the police confirmed arresting two people in connection with the
alleged murder, adding that they suspected that it was politically
motivated.
MDC Mashonaland West spokesperson, Biggie Haurobi, alleged on
Monday that
war veterans and Zanu PF supporters had fatally assaulted
Ebrahim.
Haurobi, who also contested in the March 31 parliamentary polls and
lost the
Hurungwe East seat to Zanu PF's Reuben Marumahoko, said Ebrahim
(55) left
his home late in the afternoon on Thursday to attend a relative's
funeral in
Kariba but was allegedly kidnapped and assaulted by suspected
Zanu PF
supporters.
"Moffat left his home to attend his brother-in-law's
funeral in Kariba on
Thursday around 4 pm. He was, however, kidnapped by
some Zanu PF supporters
and was taken to the home of a war veteran (name
given) where he was
assaulted and left for dead," Haurobi
said.
Confirming the murder, police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Wayne
Bvudzijena said Ebrahim was assaulted after he torched a house belonging to
a Zanu PF supporter in a neighbouring village.
"The facts are that Moffat
Ebrahim of Plot 2 in Kasimhure Village went to
Plot 3 at Travos Farm at
around 1am in the company of four other unknown
people and set on fire a
house in which three people were sleeping knowing
fully well that the
occupants were Zanu PF supporters.
"The plot is owned by Elphas Gora, who was
alerted by his wife Tendai
Chikopa when the house was burning, and they
managed to rescue the two other
people who were also in the house,"
Bvudzijena said. He added that Gora woke
up other villagers who gave chase
to the five arsonists but only managed to
apprehend Ebrahim, who they
assaulted, resulting in his death.
"We have managed to arrest two people in
connection with the murder, but we
are still looking for the others who were
involved," he said, adding the
police suspected the issue was politically
motivated.
Haurobi denied Moffat was involved in any act of arson, saying he
had in
fact been under siege from Zanu PF supporters. He added that there
had been
attempts to expel him from the community last month after some Zanu
PF
supporters petitioned the village head.
Zanu PF acting provincial
chairman, John Mafa, professed ignorance of the
matter. He said, however,
that his party condemned acts of violence.
"I am not aware of that incident.
But as a party we have always spoken
against violence and President Mugabe
has also spoken against such behaviour
and urged police to arrest anyone
found on the wrong side of the law," he
said.
MDC national spokesperson
Paul Themba Nyathi said it was disheartening
people continue to be assaulted
by Zanu PF thugs.
"It is sad that we are continuing to receive more and more
reports of
assaults of innocent civilians by some Zanu PF criminals, " he
said.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Zvinavashe charged with illegal forex
dealing
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date
:2005-May-04
WILLIAM Zvinavashe, who was arrested last Friday, is being
charged with
illegally dealing in foreign currency connected to his
unsuccessful bid to
acquire Turnpike Properties just outside
Harare.
Police confirmed the controversial businessman's case was related to
his
attempt in November 2002 to buy the property from the Greebes
family.
"He is being charged with dealing in foreign currency
in
connection with the
Turnpike Properties," police spokesperson Jessie Banda
said yesterday.
Zvinavashe lost Turnpike Service Station and a nearby
lakeside house, among
others, after a sale agreement he had entered into
with Kenneth Greebe and
his wife, Sheila, turned sour.
This was after the
Greebes complained that Zvinavashe
had grabbed the then disputed properties
despite failing
to make the required payment.
Banda said apart from
issuing a cheque which was later dishonoured by a
UK-based bank, Zvinavashe
had deposited 6 000 pounds (about Z$72million)
into Greebe's South African
account for the properties for which 1million
Rands (Z$43billion) was
charged.
Banda said Greebe had also been charged and fined $15 million for
also
dealing in foreign currency illegally.
From then on, Zvinavashe
claimed he had fully paid for the properties.
According to filed High Court
papers, Zvinavashe offered to buy the property
claiming he had external
funds in Mozambique and the United Kingdom he had
generated
from business
deals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
High Court judge Susan
Mavangira in her judgment, dated 10 June 2004,
ordered the properties revert
to the Greebes, saying Zvinavashe had failed
to provide proof of
payment.
The judge also ruled the sale agreement Zvinavashe and Greebe had
entered
into was illegal.
Its illegality stemmed from the fact that it
violated the Exchange Control
Regulations Act as no prior authority was
obtained by either party to pay
for property outside the
country.
According to Section 11 of the Act, no Zimbabwean resident
is
permitted to pay or obliged to make payments outside the country without
the
consent
of relevant authorities.
The law also bars transactions in a
foreign currency account.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
'MIC not serving interests of
journalists'
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date
:2005-May-04
ZIMBABWEAN journalists commemorated World Press Freedom Day
yesterday
against the background of closures of four newspaper titles since
the
promulgation of Access to Information and Protection Act (AIPPA, the
Zimbabwe Journalists for Human Rights (ZJHR), has said.
The affected
papers are the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe's (ANZ)
publications The
Daily News, its sister paper The Daily News on Sunday, The
Tribune and The
Weekly Times.
The ANZ titles were banned in 2003 after the Supreme Court
ruled that their
publisher was operating illegally after refusing to
register with the Media
and Information Commission (MIC).
The media
house challenged the constitutionality of the superior court
ruling barring
it from operating in Zimbabwe without the blessing of the
MIC.
The
Tribune's licence was cancelled last year on grounds it had not notified
the
MIC, media regulating body, on changes in its shareholding, while The
Weekly
Times was also suspended for allegedly breaching its publishing
licence.
"We cannot celebrate when there are four newspapers closed. What
we want is
a self-regulatory body in the mould of the Law Society of
Zimbabwe where
every media organisation including the government is
represented," ZJHR
chairperson Pedzisayi Ruhanya said, adding the MIC was
not serving
journalists interests at all.
He called on government to
repeal sections of AIPPA that made it illegal for
journalist to practice
without accreditation. Sports Writers Association of
Zimbabwe (SWAZ)
secretary, Simba Rushwaya, condemned the harassment and poor
remuneration of
scribes.
He said: "Journalists in Zimbabwe are grossly underpaid exposing
them to
corrupt tendencies that undermines their impartiality and
objectivity.
"The continued harassment of scribes during the discharge of
their duty is
also a cause for concern as we commemorate this day."
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
GMB accused of political persecution
The
Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-May-04
Allegations of political
persecutions continue to haunt the Grain Marketing
Board as another manager
resigns citing harassment due to his links with
sacked Midlands Regional
Manager, Goodwill Shiri.
Patrick Kokera Shumba, the grain ulility's acting
deport manager in Gweru
claims he called it quits after harassment due to
his association with
Shiri, a losing candidate in Mberengwa West Zanu PF
primaries as well as
parliamentary polls, in which he ran as an
independent.
Shiri, who lost both races to the former Minister of State for
State
Enterprises and Parastatals Rugare Gumbo was axed on allegations that
he
abused the quasi- government organisation in an attempt to win
votes.
Shiri denies the allegations and alleges that he was being punished
for
daring to challenge Gumbo in the polls.
In an inteview with The daily
Mirror Shumba said: " I have submitted my
resignation letter. It should
reach head office soon. I was being harassed
after the Shiri issue.
"They
even wanted to transfere me."
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Power cuts to continue
The Daily Mirror
Reporter
issue date :2005-May-04
POWER cuts that have hit the country
are set to continue for another month
as Zesa Holdings is yet to import
spares to repair a generator that broke
down at Hwange Power Station two
weeks ago.
In an interview with The Daily Mirror yesterday, Zesa Holdings
corporate
affairs manager Obert Nyatanga said spares for the Hwange
generator were
expected in the country in a month.
"We will get the spare
parts in four weeks time. They will be there (power
cuts), but very limited
ones," said Nyatanga. He added that the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe (RBZ) had
allocated Zesa funds to import the spares, but could
not give
figures.
Zimbabwe was hit by power supply interruptions mid-last month after
the
breakdown of three generators - one at Hwange and two others at Kariba -
and
a transmission failure to access supplies from Snell, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC) power utility. The imports and generators at
Kariba have since been restored.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
ZRP to launch Vision 2008
The Daily Mirror
Reporter
issue date :2005-May-04
THE Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is
set to launch a new concept, Vision
2008 in line with the country's economic
turnaround programme outlined by
the central bank last year.
Police
Commissioner Augustine Chihuri said the vision required uniformed
forces to
play an effective role in ensuring that efforts by the monetary
authorities
to revive the economy succeeded through the provision of sound
and stringent
policing strategies.
"We have a new vision as the Zimbabwe Republic Police
and the new vision has
been dubbed Vision 2008. This is a vision that seeks
to complement economic
turnaround efforts by the central bank," Chihuri
said-Mirror Reporter
High Bills Irk Harare Residents
The Herald (Harare)
May 2,
2005
Posted to the web May 2, 2005
Harare
SOME Harare residents
have complained over high rate and tariff increases in
their bills, which
have seen some households getting statements as high as
$1 million as
council starts effecting changes in line with last year's
fourth quarter
fiscal budget.
Council started implementing rate, supplementary and
tariffs charges for the
last quarter of 2004 on April 1 after approval from
Government.
Residents who spoke to The Herald said the increases were too
steep for the
ordinary person, a situation that will further affect
council's revenue
collection especially in high-density areas.
"I
don't know where I will get the money to settle the bill because the
money I
get at the end of the month is too little to sustain my family and
pay bills
as high as these," said Mr Taurai Shamba of Warren Park.
Ironically,
council will start implementing its 2005 financial budget in
June which will
see further increases in rates, supplementary and tariff
charges.
The
residents also complained over the resolution by council to charge
backyard
shacks and other structures on households around the city saying
they
contributed to the huge bills.
"Council cannot charge structures that are
helping in the sustenance of life
in most high-density areas. People make a
living from these backyard shacks
and structures," said one Glen View
resident.
Some landlords have constructed backyard structures in a bid to
raise income
through rentals and revenue through tuck shops and other
activities.
Harare public relations manager Mr Leslie Gwindi said council
adopted the
resolution after the realisation that some structures were a
hazard and had
to be destroyed while those that did not pose a threat to
human life had to
be levied for the services rendered.
"This
arrangement is more relevant for commercial structures and as for the
residential structures, we will charge them for the service they get from
council," said Mr Gwindi.
Council is now charging refuse collection,
sewerage and other fees
separately per each family on a household, a
situation that will further
worsen the plight of lodgers as landlords tend
to pass on the costs to them.
Residents of Harare have enjoyed six months
of paying lower charges
following a freeze on rate increases imposed by
Government last year.
Obasanjo Hails Saraki's Zimbabwean Farmers' Initiative
This Day
(Lagos)
May 2, 2005
Posted to the web May 3,
2005
Lagos
President Olusegun Obasanjo has commended Kwara State
Governor, Dr. Bukola
Saraki, on his Zimbabwean Farmers initiative, saying
Nigeria would gain a
lot from the project.
Speaking on Sunday night
during the monthly Presidential Chat on the network
service of Nigerian
Television Authority (NTA) tagged: "The President
speaks," Obasanjo
expressed Federal Governmentís commitment to ensure the
success of the
commercial farming project.
The project, according to him, would benefit
the country in the long run
because the Zimbabwean farmers would transfer
their expertise to the local
farmers and increase their
yields.
Apparently defending the invitation of the white farmers by
Saraki, the
President said the few farmers coming from Zimbabwe would not
impose any
burden on the country, describing it as an investment which would
benefit
not only Kwarans but the entire citizens of Nigeria.
He said
he invited the white farmers to Abuja for a private audience at the
wake of
their invitation, having realised the expected benefits derivable
from the
project and assured Saraki of his support to realise the objectives
for
which the project was initiated.
Speaking in the same vein with the
President, the governor said the decision
of the state government to invite
the Zimbabwean farmers was in the interest
of the country, the state and
Shonga, the host community where they would
farm.
The governor
disclosed that his visit to the farm last week to interact with
the farmers
was a revealing one, as between 700 and 1,000 youths of the area
have been
employed and now earning a minimum of N6,000 as a means of
livelihood.
Saraki said the white farmers, even though their houses
have not been
completed, are now living in the tents constructed on the farm
which
demonstrates their commitment to the project, apart from creating
employment
to the generality of unemployed youths in the area.
On the
claims by critics that the white farmers have been invited to take
away
lands in Shonga, Saraki said "there are 15 farmers coming to farm at
Shonga,
how can they take away what belong to over 30,000 inhabitants of the
area?"
"We have only invited them to come and assist us to develop
our fertile land
that have been lying idle and to assist our local farmers
to be able to
improve their yields per tone," Saraki said.
Comment from The Cape Times (SA), 2 May, 2005
Dictators' weapons of
choice switch from military coup to stuffed ballot box
By Peter
Fabricius
The African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West
African States
(Ecowas) have incurred a responsibility to resolve the crisis
in the sliver
of a West African nation, Togo. Togo is descending into chaos
after the
electoral authorities declared that acting president Faure
Gnassingbe, son
of the late president, had won the recent elections - and
then opposition
leader Emmanuel Akitani Bob cried foul and declared himself
the real winner.
His supporters took to the streets and chaos ensued.
Ecowas, which sent
observers to the poll, said that there had been some
rigging, but not enough
to change the outcome. It and the AU condemned Bob
for unilaterally
declaring himself the winner. This was quite evidently
irresponsible of Bob,
who also turned down an invitation from Nigerian
President Olusegun Obasanjo
and Faure to join a government of national
unity. But if Bob is behaving
badly (no, not that Bob), you can't heap all
the blame on him. Who could
really believe that Faure Gnassingbe had
conducted a free and fair election?
This is, after all, the son and heir of
Eyadema, the long-time military
dictator who metamorphosed into a civilian
democrat by manipulating
elections for years. And the champion of the
shadowy military men who pull
the strings. The democratic process simply
lacks credibility in Togo - as it
does elsewhere in Africa - and that is a
reality which those with influence
on the country will have to address. The
question is how; the AU, Ecowas and
the international community as a whole
are all over-stretched in West
Africa. They are battling to keep the lid on
the cauldron in Ivory Coast,
just two countries to the west. Liberia and
Sierra Leone are just emerging
shakily from years of chaos.
But
the AU and Ecowas have incurred a responsibility in Togo which goes
beyond
their normal duties. When Faure tried to bypass the constitution
after his
father died earlier this year, and simply take over the country
without
elections, the AU and Ecowas stepped in and insisted he remain on
the
constitutional path. They exerted considerable diplomatic and other
pressure
and eventually Faure complied, agreeing to hold elections. For this
the AU
and Ecowas received critical acclaim and many flattering comparisons
with
the failure of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to
exert
comparable pressure on Zimbabwe. Now Ecowas finds itself in a rather
similar
situation to SADC, both having given their approval to regional
elections
which the opposition and outside observers in each case condemned
as fatally
flawed. So perhaps Ecowas was no better after all than SADC?
Perhaps.
Perhaps in both cases we have reached the end of the African tether
when it
comes to enforcing democracy on the continent. The charter of the
African
Union holds its members to respect for democracy and human rights as
a
whole. It may, therefore, act to enforce any breach of them. But in
practice
the AU and its sub-regional bodies seem to define their
interference rights
the same way as the old Organisation for African Unity
did. And that is that
they may interfere only in the case of an
unconstitutional change of power.
That is what Faure attempted the first
time. But not the second time. This
time he merely crooked the books, or so
it seems. In other words, he got
smart and learned to play the game by the
rules - not the universal rules
but the AU rules. So it seems. Both Zimbabwe
and Togo seem to illustrate
that in the evolution of democracy in Africa,
the tyrant's weapons of choice
have evolved from the military coup to the
stuffed ballot box. If the AU and
Ecowas wish to change that perception,
they need to be absolutely sure that
the election was fair. And, having
insisted on the electoral route in the
first place, they have incurred a
responsibility to ensure that it does not
lead to chaos
Crush Cattle Rustlers Ruthlessly
The Herald
(Harare)
EDITORIAL
May 3, 2005
Posted to the web May 3,
2005
Harare
THE comprehensive restocking exercise pursued by the
Government is now
bearing fruit as witnessed by the modest increase in the
national herd over
the last two years.
At the just-ended Zimbabwe
International Trade Fair in Bulawayo, farmers
expressed gratitude at the
return of livestock displays.
Animal exhibits resumed at the trade fair
after three years of absence owing
to outbreaks of the foot-and-mouth
disease and anthrax.
Figures released by the Veterinary Services
Department recently show that
the country's national herd has slightly
increased from five million in 2002
to 5,3 million in
2003.
Preliminary figures for 2004, which exclude cattle in Chiredzi,
Gutu,
Masvingo and Kwekwe, all major cattle producing areas, indicate a
total of
5,2 million cattle in the country.
This is indeed good news
as far as the restocking exercise is concerned
which is also being
spearheaded by the Agricultural Development Bank of
Zimbabwe
(Agribank).
The Government's $50 billion livestock scheme is already
benefiting both the
A1 (small-scale) and A2 (large-scale) resettlement
models.
Agribank is also funding the establishment of infrastructure as
well as
working capital for stockfeeds and veterinary
inputs.
However, this good effort is being frustrated by cattle thieves.
Recent
reports that cattle rustling is on the increase ought to be cause for
great
concern to both the farmers and the authorities.
Never a week
passes without reading about arrests and convictions of cattle
rustlers.
The actual number of stolen cattle obviously should exceed
the figures given
by owners of large cattle herds since small-scale and
communal farmers must
also be losing beasts to these marauding
thieves.
These thefts have a ripple effect that is bound to be felt
later.
Already, there is a shortage of beef; and where it is available,
it is
unaffordable because of the high price.
We all know that
Zimbabwe's cattle herd was decimated during periodic
droughts in the 1980s
and 1990s, hence the Government's move to put in place
various programmes to
finance restocking by livestock farmers.
But add to that the thefts and
ever-escalating prices of stockfeeds.
As if that was not enough, farmers
are now forced by circumstances to employ
guards on farms to safeguard their
livestock.
The extra costs from all these activities will have to be
passed on to
consumers. And with the consumers already groaning under the
burden of
skyrocketing prices, beef will be out of reach for
many.
Now with one of the causes of such high prices being thefts, we
urge the
authorities to be ruthless with cattle rustlers.
We have
pointed out in the past that cattle are an invaluable source of
income
because they provide draught power for most of the communal people.
They
also earn foreign currency for the country through beef exports.
It is
disturbing that the country has recorded an increase in stock theft
cases at
a time when the nation is consolidating its land reform.
It is also in
this context that we urge the Government to speed up the
review of the new
stock theft Act to correct anomalies that have been
observed in the
sentencing structure.
According to the Director of Public Prosecutions,
courts have suspended
mandatory jail sentences prescribed under the new Act
because of some
irregularities which need to be rectified.
Once this
is corrected, the responsible authorities should effectively deal
with these
thieves.
Shift to Commercial Production, ZFU Urges Communal Farmers
The
Herald (Harare)
May 3, 2005
Posted to the web May 3,
2005
Bulawayo
THE Zimbabwe Farmers' Union (ZFU) has urged communal
farmers to move away
from subsistence farming to commercial production to
help the country regain
its status as the breadbasket of Southern
Africa.
The union's vice president responsible for livestock, Cde Abdul
Nyathi, said
the ZFU would soon embark on an outreach programme targeting
small-scale
farmers in the new resettlement and communal areas with the aim
of educating
them on the need to commercialise their operations.
He
said this would ensure adequate food reserves for the country in addition
to
improving the economic well-being of the farmers.
"This month we will be
embarking on an outreach programme to educate farmers
on the need to move
away from subsistence farming to commercial production,
which is a major
component of the Government's land reform programme," Cde
Nyathi
said.
"Various stakeholders in the agricultural industry, including the
Cold
Storage Company (CSC) and extension workers, will take part in the
outreach
programme.
"We want to demonstrate to the farmers that they
have the capability to
produce at the same scale as the white former
commercial farmers and even do
better to ensure the country's food
security."
Cde Nyathi, who also sits on the CSC loans committee, said the
Government -
through the CSC Livestock Supply Scheme - would widen its scope
of
beneficiaries to ensure that small-scale farmers contribute to the
rebuilding of the country's national herd.
A total of 264 farmers
benefited from the $10 billion loan scheme, which was
divided into two
categories, one for feeders and the other for breeders.
The feeder scheme
is a short-term programme targeted at both new and
established commercial
farmers running for four to six months, during which
time the cattle are
either pen-fed 100 percent or receive a ration of
supplementary feed and
then let out to graze.
The breeder scheme is long-term and runs for three
to five years.
During this period, cattle or heifers are expected to
produce offspring,
which remain with the farmer, and when the loaned cattle
reach the end of
their productive lives, they are returned to CSC
abattoirs.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) this year allocated the CSC
$350 billion
to continue the rebuilding programme, which, Cde Nyathi said,
would be
inclusive of all the farmers.
"The major objective is to see
to it that our farmers are commercially
viable. In that regard, the CSC
scheme will now target all farmers - from
the communal areas to those who
were resettled under the A2 (commercial)
model and the large-scale farmers,"
he said.
"We hope the RBZ will release the funds soon so that we can
start working on
the disbursements. With the support of all stakeholders,
the CSC will regain
its status within a very short period of
time."
The country's national herd has declined over the years owing to
successive
droughts and now stands at around five million.
Meanwhile,
in July the CSC will introduce an anti-stock theft award to help
in the
fight against the growing incidence of rustling, which was recently
described by President Mugabe as a threat to the national
economy.
CSC spokesperson Mrs Patience Madambi said the national award
would be for
anti-stock theft units throughout the country to bolster their
resolve to
fight the menace.
New Zimbabwe
Kwaito star Zola slams Mugabe
By Showbiz
Reporter
Last updated: 05/03/2005 09:31:08
SOUTH African kwaito star Zola
has wade into a political storm after telling
fans during a live concert in
London: "Robert Mugabe doesn't deserve to be
your President."
The
kwaito star interrupted his live show at London's Stratford Rex on
Sunday
night and asked if there were any Zimbabweans in the club.
He then
dedicated a song to the "suffering" Zimbabweans driven into exile by
Mugabe's regime.
"We share in your suffering, this is a special
dedication to all
Zimbabweans," Zola said to wild cheers from the
crowd.
Zola, real name Bonginkosi Dlamini, was recently voted by the
public as
South Africa's Artist of the Year at the Sama
Awards.
Talking to New Zimbabwe.com, Zola said he was shocked and
disappointed at
how many Zimbabweans had been forced to leave the country
for South Africa,
Britain and other countries.
"It is a fact
Zimbabweans have been working in South Africa from a long time
ago, mainly
in the diamond mines. But the level of intensified migration
away from
Zimbabwe is quite simply staggering.
"Mugabe has destroyed that country,
and it troubles me deeply. Sometimes you
wish you had a solution to a
people's crisis, like the one you have," said
Zola.
Interestingly,
Zola's comments came soon after a staunch supporter of
Mugabe's policies
Simon "Chopper" Chimbetu had just finished his
performance. Chimbetu missed
Zola's comments as he had already disappered
into the drssing
rooms.
While many artists are scared to make their feelings on social and
political
developments known, Zola has carved a career campaigning for the
poor.
In 2003, he expanded his horizons in showbiz and launched a
television
programme, Zola 7, in which he travels around the country helping
young
people fulfill their dreams. It's gained such popularity that he now
travels
to the rest of Africa too.
His acting roles have included the
notorious gangster Papa Action in Yizo
Yizo 2. He and Moshidi Motshegwa are
the hottest things in Zola Maseko's
movie Drum, which releases next month.
In the movie he plays a menacing
Sof'town gangster called
Koortboy.
His latest album Bhambatha has sold over 120 000 copies and he
recently
scooped the prestigious 2005 Sama award for Artist of Year. "I
dedicate this
award to the little hands and little feet that never had sex
but died of
sexual transmitted diseases," he said in his acceptance
speech.