Zim Online
Fri 5
May 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe's poverty datum line last month shot to
Z$41 million
up from the previous month's figure of Z$35 million, according
to the latest
figures released yesterday by the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe
(CCZ).
"The cost of living as depicted by the Consumer Council of
Zimbabwe's
low-income urban earner monthly budget for a family of six has
risen from
$34 995 428.56 in March to $41 096 610.00 reflecting a 17.4
increase
percent," said the state-funded consumer rights body.
The CCZ attributed the increase in the cost of living to last month's
hike
in tuition fees and health costs. The government last month increased
school
fees by more than 1 000 percent with a basic school uniform now
costing
about Z$12.3 million.
"This is a cause for concern as many
low-income earners may not be
able to purchase these basic uniforms for
their children," said the CCZ.
Last week, the government also
announced new salaries for teachers and
soldiers with the lowest paid
soldier getting about $27 million while
teachers will now earn about $33
million, which is far below the basic
consumption line.
Zimbabwe is in its sixth year of a bitter economic recession which has
seen
inflation hitting 913.6 percent, the highest such rate outside a war
zone.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change party
and major
Western governments blame President Robert Mugabe for ruining the
country's
economy which was one of the strongest at independence from
Britain 26 years
ago.
But Mugabe denies the charge blaming the
crisis on sabotage by his
Western enemies after he violently seized land
from whites for
redistribution to landless blacks. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri
5 May 2006
BULAWAYO - At least 29 children died last January in
Zimbabwe's second
largest city of Bulawayo because of malnutrition-related
illnesses, in yet
another example of deepening crisis in a country that was
this week ranked
among the world's top five failed states.
According to statistics compiled by the Bulawayo city council, all in
all
about 34 people died in the city of nearly one million people that is
tucked
at the heart of Zimbabwe's arid southern region, hardest hit by food
shortages affecting the country since 2000.
Bulawayo Executive
Mayor Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube would not be drawn to
discuss in detail the death
figures that were shown to ZimOnline on Thursday
but are expected to be
tabled for discussion at a full council meeting
scheduled for the 10th of
May.
Ndabeni-Ncube however described the figures as alarming and
appealed
to churches and donor groups to help pool resources to prevent
further
deaths due to malnutrition-related
illness.
He said: "The figures are too high for a
single month, they are
disturbing and the situation is too bad and council,
churches and donor
agencies have to pool resources together to support the
poor families who
cannot afford to feed themselves."
Bulawayo
provincial governor Cain Mathema was also not available for
comment when
ZimOnline called his office.
According to the council figures, 14
males and 15 females aged between
zero and four years died in January
because of malnutrition-related diseases
while one adult male aged between
40 and 49 years died in the period under
review.
The other four
deaths were of people aged between five and 14 years,
the table of figures
show.
There are no figures for 2005 apparently after the city
council was
unable to collect data from the government's births and deaths
registry
office but 180 people died in Bulawayo because of
malnutrition-related
illnesses in 2004.
The latest figures of
deaths because of hunger-related illnesses are
certain to rile President
Robert Mugabe's government which insists it is on
top of food shortages and
that no one will die in Zimbabwe because of
hunger.
The
government threatened to fire Ndabeni-Ncube in 2004, accusing him
of lying
and manipulating figures of malnutrition-related deaths to cause
public
alarm and despondency.
Ndabeni-Ncube, who belongs to the splintered
main opposition Movement
for Democratic Change party, is the only mayor who
routinely compiles data
on food shortages and malnutrition-caused
deaths.
Zimbabwe, once touted as a shining beacon and a model
economy for
Black Africa, is fighting its most crippling economic crisis to
date, which
has been worsened by the withdrawal of international support
over policy
differences with Harare such as its forcible seizure of
white-owned
commercial farms for blacks.
Mugabe's failure to
back up new black farmers with inputs support and
skills training saw food
production tumbling by about 60 percent, leaving
former self-sufficient
Zimbabwe dependent on food aid since land seizures
began in
2000.
Hunger, the world's worst economic recession outside a war
zone and a
burgeoning HIV/AIDS pandemic that is killing at least 3 000
Zimbabweans per
week have all combined to leave Zimbabwe with the lowest
life expectancy in
the world, according to the World Health Organisation
(WHO).
In a report released last month, the WHO said life
expectancy for
women in Zimbabwe was down to 34 years while men could expect
to live up to
37 years.
The Foreign Policy magazine and the
Fund for Peace this week ranked
Zimbabwe the world's fifth failed state out
of 148 nations polled, citing
poor governance and endemic corruption as
chief reasons the once prosperous
southern African country had plunged to
become one of the most vulnerable in
the world. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 5 May 2006
HARARE - A standoff
between tobacco farmers and the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) looks set to
derail future prospects of the key crop and
shows bank chief Gideon Gono may
have failed to convince the government that
a weaker currency could help
lift exports, analysts said.
Gono on Thursday branded black
farmers, who benefited from President
Robert Mugabe's government's often
violent land reforms, "cry babies",
upping the tempo in a raging dispute
over better prices as producers of the
once top single foreign currency
earner hold on to their crop.
The RBZ chief vowed not to bend to
the farmers' demands saying their
quest for subsidies (a higher exchange
rate) were "ruinous", describing the
farmers as unthankful after getting
subsidised fuel, electricity and better
interest rates.
But
economic analysts say the central bank has little choice but to
offer
subsidies or further devalue the Zimbabwe dollar, which trades higher
at an
illegal but thriving black market for foreign currency.
Farmers
want the RBZ to weaken the local unit to 180 000 to the United
States
greenback compared to the official 101 195 they are currently getting
for
every greenback. Although tobacco prices are pegged in US dollars,
farmers
are paid in Zimbabwe dollars at the ruling official rate.
"It seems
the governor (Gono) is under pressure from some quarters not
to devalue but
this is in conflict with the rising input costs for farmers,
which makes the
exchange rate incredibly important in this whole equation,"
consultant
economist John Robertson said. "The fact that the exchange rate
has not been
allowed to move freely is the cause of this problem."
Zimbabwe's
exchange rate has been almost static since January after
monetary
authorities put brakes on its slide, fearing this would drive
inflation
higher.
Analysts said although subsidies and a weaker exchange rate
would
drive inflation, giving farmers lower prices would drive them out of
farming
and hit exports.
Tobacco production hit a record 236
million kilogrammes, raking in
more than US$600 million in the 1999/2000
season immediately before the
beginning of the farm invasions. But
production has since fallen
dramatically to a paltry 50 million kilogrammes
expected this season.
Critics point to Mugabe's land seizure drive
for the dramatic fall in
the key sector, arguing that most black farmers who
inherited the tobacco
farms lack commercial farming skills and cannot access
credit from banks
because they do not have title to the land, often
parcelled out on partisan
lines.
"Yes, a weaker exchange rate
and subsidies are inflationary but the
downside of not doing that is that
next year's tobacco crop is at risk,"
James Jowa, an economist with a
Harare-based finance house said.
He added: "If they (RBZ and
government) are happy to see the end of
this sector, then they should not
adjust the rate or offer farmers a
subsidy. The risk is so great that
farmers will not have money to even plant
the crop."
Farmers
are expected to start planting the winter tobacco crop at the
end of this
month while preparations for the summer crop should start in
June with
preparations of seed beds.
The farmers say although they have
received state subsidies, these do
not benefit the majority of the farmers,
forcing them to source their inputs
at higher prices on the black market,
which in turn pushes up their
production costs.
Analysts
however said Gono's fears of pushing inflation, presently at
a world high of
913.6 percent, were misplaced because the greater component
of inflation was
being driven by higher imports as industrial production in
Zimbabwe has
plummeted, forcing the country to rely on expensive imports.
Zimbabwe last year reportedly imported maize worth US$139 million
after a
poor harvest and aid agencies say the country will again this year
produce
less than its national requirements of 1.8 million tonnes.
"We are
importing so much and this is inflationary. We have had
downright
destructive policies and we are now looking at the consequences of
these
policies," said Robertson.
Gono has previously urged the government
to invite back some white
farmers and last month the government invited
members of the Commercial
Farmers' Union to apply for land. More than 200
farmers have since
applied. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 5 May
2006
HARARE - A panel set up by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) on
Thursday
dismissed an appeal by two Zimbabwean banks against the forced
amalgamation
of their financial institutions into the state-owned Zimbabwe
Allied Banking
Group (ZABG).
Royal Bank and Trust Bank, which were
placed under curatorship in 2004 after
facing severe liquidity problems,
were contesting against last year's move
by the RBZ to amalgamate them into
the ZABG formed by the RBZ to take over
assets of collapsed banks.
In
a stinging report released yesterday, the panel, which was chaired by
retired High Court Judge George Smith, dismissed arguments by the troubled
banks that their assets were disposed of unlawfully.
The panel said
the RBZ had no authority to reverse the action by the
curators in selling
the assets of the two banks.
"Thus, if the RBZ were to decide to uphold
the appeals, it could not order
the Curators, on behalf of Trust Bank and
Royal Bank, to resume possession
and ownership of the assets which that were
acquired by ZABG. It cannot
declare the agreement the Curators entered into
with ZABG to be null and
void," the report says.
It said that when
the two banks were placed under curatorship, the actions
of RBZ were not
challenged an indication that the directors of the two banks
were happy with
the intervention.
The panel said: "Obviously the shareholders and other
interested parties
considered that the RBZ had acted properly and
lawfully."
It said the curators acted in the best interest of the bank,
depositors and
creditors by entering into the agreement with
ZABG.
"In our view, the Curators were acting bona fide and in what they
considered
were the best interests of the Banks, their depositors and other
creditors.
"Having regard to the financial position the Banks were in,
the
mismanagement prior to their being placed under curatorship, and the
loss of
public confidence that they had suffered, the conclusion to accept
the
assumption of all liabilities against the transfer of the assets was a
reasonable commercial and administrative decision," the panel
said.
At least five Zimbabwean banks, forced to close down because of
mismanagement and corruption, have been merged into the ZABG in which the
government is the majority shareholder. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 5 May 2006
BULAWAYO - Police in Zimbabwe's second
biggest city of Bulawayo on
Wednesday arrested more than 170 women and
school children for demonstrating
against an increase in tuition fees in
schools and tertiary institutions.
The demonstrators, who belong to
the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)
protest group, have staged similar
demonstrations in cities and towns in the
past over the worsening economic
situation in Zimbabwe.
The women were arrested after they presented
a petition to Bulawayo
provincial governor Cain Mathema demanding that
children who have not paid
the new fees be allowed to attend lessons. They
were still in police custody
last night.
WOZA spokesperson,
Magodonga Mahlangu, speaking on a mobile phone from
Bulawayo Central Police
station holing cells, said they were being detained
in a fence cage in the
courtyard of the police station.
"Police arrested a whole group of
our members and there could be over
150 of us in police holding cells," she
said.
Bulawayo police spokesperson, Inspector Shepherd Sibanda,
confirmed
the arrest of the women.
Under Zimbabwe's tough
security laws, it is an offence punishable by a
two-year jail term to stage
demonstrations without first seeking clearance
from the police.
But the women protesters have often defied the police to stage
demonstrations in the past against President Robert Mugabe's government
despite the arrests. - ZimOnline
Mmegi, Botswana
RYDER
GABATHUSE
Staff Writer
5/4/2006 4:05:57 PM (GMT
+2)
FRANCISTOWN: Police along the border with neighbouring Zimbabwe
say
they will increase their visibility along the border areas to
effectively
combat cross-border crime. With continuous reports of 'Foot and
Mouth
Disease' (FMD) along Botswana's border with Zimbabwe, the move is
expected
to help the already troubled cattle and beef industry. In 2002,
Botswana
reported a case of FMD in Lephaneng, and in 2003 at Matopi, along
the
Matsiloje border and last year it was at Pandamatenga. Last week, the
Department of Animal Health and Production reported a case of FMD in
Bobirwa.
Tshesebe station commander, Superintendent
Mojaboswa Mathitha, told
Mmegi this week that they continue to test new
strategies in an endeavour to
curb crime in the villages that they police.
"Initially, there was a single
crime prevention committee within our area of
policing. When we later did
our introspection, we realised that there was a
need for each of the
villages within our area of jurisdiction to have its
own crime prevention
committee," said Mathitha. Each ward crime prevention
committee has a police
officer attached to it. In the villages of Moroka,
Ramokgwebana and
Jackalas-One, where cases of house breaking and theft were
common, the
introduction of ward crime prevention committees has assisted
greatly as
there was a sudden decline in the cases of house breaking and
theft. One of
the contributing factors to the rise in crime relates to the
departure of
members of the Special Support Group (SSG) who had camps along
the border.
Mathitha said that the army currently patrols the border areas.
To ensure
effective patrols, the police here have working committees with
the Zimbabwe
Republic Police (ZRP) through which they do joint border
patrols. "These
things are helping a lot as even the illegal immigrants are
aware of our
patrols now since we increased our visibility," he said. The
customary and
the magistrate courts are another platform that brings various
government
departments together to strategise on combating crime. The forum
consists of
the departments of Botswana Police, Botswana Defence Force
(BDF), Botswana
Local Police, Botswana Unified Revenue Services, Social
Workers and Court
Clerks. "We come together to fight crime that is prevalent
in this area," he
said, and added that among others, the stakeholders look
at bottlenecks that
prevent departments from delivering and get rid of them.
He explained that
unlike in other border areas, cross-border cattle rustling
was not common
along the areas that fall within his jurisdiction. Instead,
the station
commander's worry is the influx of illegal immigrants. " As
partners, we
have come up with an action plan in which we are targeting
illegal
immigrants. We are targeting those that jump over the border and
those that
enter the country legally and then illegally remain. The
stakeholders are
also targeting those that are employed without proper
documents. In every
quarter, we have set our targets for clean up campaigns
targeting illegals".
Tutume police station commander, Superintendent Stephen
Kebaitse,
acknowledges that his men continue to work very hard in an attempt
to
control movement of illegal immigrants within their area of jurisdiction
that includes the villages of Maitengwe, where Botswana cattle are
frequently smuggled to neighbouring Zimbabwe. He called on Batswana to
desist from harbouring illegal immigrants and using them to steal from
others. "We should revert to our old traditional ways of introducing
foreigners to the village elders like chiefs so that some of the undesirable
elements could not find their way through the society," he appealed. He
stressed that his officers are going to continue screening suspicious
persons, as already the country is going through hardships because of some
of the illegals. Kebaitse warned the immigrants to be on the lookout as his
men are going to do whatever is within their powers to uproot them from the
people that harbour them. "We have started addressing farmers around the
cattle posts and lands so that they also appreciate the provisions of the
law. "We are engaged in the process of reinvigorating the crime prevention
committees to make them more effective so that they can become our first
line of combating crime". One of the things that prompted Botswana police to
address residents along the border villages was to warn people about the
possibility of trampling on grenades and other explosives. The police
suspect that the explosives were used during the Zimbabwe liberation war.
"Batswana should not follow their stolen goods across the border as the
consequences of doing so could be very bad". In Matsiloje, the police
station commander, Superintendent Boifang Tome, said his officers arrest
illegal immigrants every day. He was, however, elated that villagers now
work closely with them and report people that they reasonably believe to be
illegals living among them. "We continue to arrest some and miss others.
When we follow their tracks, they all lead to the border with Zimbabwe,"
explains Tome. He added that the police do everything to show their
presence, but was worried that there are still those that evade arrest. The
police are happy that the presence of the military was really adding value
to their policing around Matsiloje." We mount roadblocks with the military
and it is really bearing fruit now". Matsiloje police are also working hard
to catch the culprits that continue to cut the cordon fence and smuggle
cattle across.
By Tererai Karimakwenda
04 May 2006
Malawi's vice president Cassim Chilumpha was arrested last Friday and
is
being charged with treason in a case that the opposition and critics
believe
is an attempt to dispose of every individual that could embarrass
Robert
Mugabe on his current visit to Malawi. At least 10 other officials
and
activists have been arrested as co-conspirators since Friday. Robert
Mugabe
arrived in Malawi Wednesday under heavy security. Our contacts said
the
streets of Lilongwe were deserted and many roads have been blocked
off.
Civic groups had announced they would demonstrate against
Mugabe when
he came to Malawi to show they are against the human rights
abuses and
oppressive style of government he practices in Zimbabwe. They are
also
opposed to Malawian President Mutharika's plan to rename a major road
after
Mugabe. The protests were due to take place during the renaming
ceremony on
Thursday, but with many organisers now behind bars and heavy
security on the
streets, few doubted much would happen. An activist pointed
to this as an
example of the Mugabe style of government Malawians say they
fear.
Many organisers of the planned demos are among those
currently in
detention charged with treason and conspiring to kill President
Mutharika.
Others were arrested for insulting him at a recent rally in
Lilongwe.
Among the accused in the alleged treason case is Malawi
Democratic
Party (MDP) President Kamlepo Kalua and several members of the
opposition
United Democratic Front (UDF). A prominent businessman named
Yusuf Matumula
was also arrested.
Prominent Malawi human rights
activist Rafiq Hajat told us Thursday
that the timing of the arrests and the
neglect of due process of law have
raised doubts about this alleged plot to
assassinate Mutharika. UDF
President and MP Lucius Banda said the government
seems to be clearing up
strong organisers and activists who might be brave
enough to hold up a
placard denouncing Mugabe during his visit.
Lucius Banda told us Mugabe arrived with a delegation of about 50
people and
was being guarded by a squad of approximately 300-400 police. He
said this
has never happened before. The Malawi Nation, a local newspaper,
reported
that Mugabe was accompanied by his daughter Bona, Foreign Affairs
Minister
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Agricultural Minister Joseph Made, Labour
Minister
Nicholas Goche and Small and Medium Enterprise Minister Stembiso
Nyoni plus
a number of Zanu-PF officials. Mugabe was given keys to the city
of Lilongwe
at a ceremony on Wednesday. Ironically, a local government paper
reported
that "civil society leaders, who recently made a dramatic u-turn on
their
protests against the controversial visit, stayed away from the
function."
This raised suspicion even more that all the arrests since Friday
were aimed
at achieving just that. As of our broadcast, no demonstrations
had been
reported.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
zimbabwejournalists.com
By a Correspondent
PRESIDENT
Robert Mugabe has cut the ribbon on a major road named after
him in
Malawi.
He said local human rights groups who opposed honouring him in
this
way were "working for white masters".
Malawi's President Bingu
wa Mutharika hailed Mr Mugabe as a "true son
of Africa" at a lavish ceremony
surrounded by tight security to deter
protests.
The road from
Malawi to Mozambique used funds from the European Union,
which has put a
travel ban on Mr Mugabe.
The EU and the US have imposed sanctions on Mr
Mugabe and his
associates, saying that elections since 2000 had been marred
by fraud and
violence against the opposition.
On his arrival in
Malawi, President Mugabe said he was following in
the footsteps of great
African "freedom fighters", such as former Malawi
President Kamuzu Banda and
Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah.
Banda was one of the few African leaders to have
good relations with
South Africa's apartheid government and was accused of
widespread human
rights abuses.
"Mugabe is 200% African, he does
not belong in Europe, he is not
British, he is not American," Mr Mugabe said
at the road's naming ceremony.
'True democrat'
Desmond Kaunda,
chairman of the Council for Non-Governmental
Organisations, said Malawi
should not be honouring Mr Mugabe.
"The enjoyment of civil liberties in
Zimbabwe is seriously eroded by
the existence of restrictive legislation...
and the curtailment of civil
liberties," he told Reuters news
agency.
Earlier, President Mutharika praised Mr Mugabe as a "true
democrat".
"How can anybody say Mugabe is a sworn enemy of democracy?"
he asked
"The first known government of national unity in Africa was
initiated
by Robert Mugabe in 1980."
Mr Mutharika's wife, Ethel, is
Zimbabwean.
The BBC's Raphael Tenthani found that most patrons of a bar
on the
Midima Highway had nothing against the road's new name: Robert Mugabe
Highway.
"We need to honour African leaders," one man
said.
"Mugabe needs to be honoured as a freedom fighter," said
another.
'Dictator'
The road, linking Blantyre to Mozambique
and its Indian Ocean ports,
is a route for trade in and out of Malawi and
for foreign food aid.
It was for this reason that the EU funded its
multi-million dollar
expansion.
The BBC's David Bamford says the
renaming after President Mugabe has
created a furore at the EU headquarters
in Brussels as well as among
Malawian organisations.
Opposition
Malawi Democratic Party leader Kamlepo Kalua also said it
would be
inappropriate to honour the Zimbabwean leader personally.
"It would be
a serious oversight to decorate and honour a leader who
is classified as an
outright dictator," he told the Malawian Sunday Times.
"We can't have a
leader who is demolishing people's houses without
giving alternatives, using
the intelligence and the army to arrest political
opponents, honoured
here."
Mr Kalua has since been arrested for his role in an alleged plot
by
Vice-President Cassim Chilumpha to topple President Mutahrika.
The Malawi government says the naming was in gratitude for Zimbabwe's
job
opportunities for Malawian workers.
However, many thousands of farm
workers who have lost their jobs in
Zimbabwe's controversial land reform
programme are of Malawian origin.
Mr Mugabe, in power since 1980, last
year oversaw an urban demolition
campaign in which 700,000 people lost their
homes, according to the United
Nations, and many of those left homeless were
dumped in rural areas.
BBC
Sunday Times, SA
Thursday May 04, 2006
13:53 - (SA)
BLANTYRE - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has called for
bygones to be
bygones between black and white in his country, saying the two
sides had to
live together.
The 82 year-old veteran, scheduled to
open a road named after him in another
southern African country, Malawi,
said that black and white "cannot avoid
each other."
Speaking during
a four-day state visit, Mugabe said: "We declared a policy
of national
reconciliation to push off colonialism much further."
"Many (whites) are
left, including the notorious (former Rhodesian prime
minister) Ian Smith,"
Zimbabwe's long-time leader said at a banquet in his
honour in Malawi's
administrative capital Lilongwe.
Smith led the former Rhodesia from 1964
until independence from Britain in
1980.
"I wonder how many countries
in Europe would be in our situation to have
left Ian Smith, despite many
Zimbabweans (dying) in the liberation
struggle," Mugabe said in his speech,
broadcast on national radio.
"Let bygones be bygones," said Mugabe, set
to open a road named after him
leading from the Malawian commercial capital
Blantyre to the tea-growing
area of Malanje in the
southeast.
Zimbabwean Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said last month
that his country
was ready allow the return of white farmers who were driven
off their farms
under Mugabe's land reform programme.
Made however
denied that the new openness toward white farmers marked an
about-face in
land reform policies that have been widely criticised as a
failure,
triggering an economic meltdown in what was once the breadbasket of
southern
Africa.
Mugabe said the land reform programme had opened opportunities
for many
people including a "big population of Malawians" living in
Zimbabwe.
"We refuse to be recolonised, directly or indirectly," Mugabe
said.
Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika praised Mugabe, calling him a
"true
democrat."
"How can anybody say Mugabe is a sworn enemy of
democracy? The first known
government of national unity in Africa was
initiated by Robert Mugabe in
1980," Mutharika
said.
Sapa-AFP
The Zimbabwean
To the
gullible, it might appear as if the Zimbabwe government has
come to
its sense at last and will now do what is necessary to revive the
collapsed
agricultural sector by bringing back commercial farmers
to work the
land.
While, national security minister Didymus
Mutasa says white farmers
are
Zimbabweans "like everybody else" and
therefore deserve to be given
land,
thugs from his own party are
still evicting farmers from Sebakwe
Conservancy
just outside Kwe
Kwe. Are these not also Zimbabweans - like everybody
else?
This astounding policy U-turn by Zanu (PF) comes in the wake of
successful
negotiations with the Commercial Farmers' Union, whom
many former
commercial
farmers accuse of inertia during the land
invasions and collaboration
since
then. The Union, according to
Mutasa, 'now appreciates the
government's land
policy'.
Mutasa is on record as saying that he does not want to see
a white
person
owning land in Zimbabwe. Although he uses the word
'ownership' rather
loosely, it appears that, under the scheme,
ownership of the land will
remain with the government and nobody, black
nor white, will have
security
of tenure.
While the
CFU's pragmatism in persisting to seek a way forward, where
many
could see no possible way, is commendable, we would sound a note of
caution.
The fact that evictions of commercial farmers continue
to take
place,
while Zanu (PF) persists in pursuing racist
anti-white policies, is
cause
for concern.
Nothing is
being said, however, about the hundreds of thousands of
farm
workers who were displaced during the farm invasions - losing not only
their
jobs but also their homes.
Our sense of justice
and fair play is discomforted by these
'negotiations'.
There is no
talk of compensation, there is no talk of restitution,
there is
no
talk of those beaten and murdered in the process of the 'land
resettlement exercise', there is no talk of the party fatcats who
continue
to enjoy the fruits of ill-gotten gains, and have enriched
themselves
obscenely by asset-stripping farms and estates all over the
country.
When one sups with the devil, one needs a very long
spoon.
zimbabwejournalists.com
By Bill Saidi
IN the
1960s, when the Cold War was the way of the world, a
sensational story broke
out in the Middle East. The foreign correspondent of
a British Sunday
newspaper was reportedly exposed as a spy for Her Majesty's
government. In
Africa, the Dark Continent was slowly receiving The Light of
independence.
One important government politician in a newly-emancipated
state whose
government had proudly taken control over a previously
privately-owned daily
newspaper, told the new crusaders: "You see? It's your
patriotic duty to spy
for your government."
In another newly-independent state, a newspaper
doing a routine
investigation into the shortages of essential drugs in
government hospitals
was told by the inevitable "reliable sources" the
Minister of Health (name
supplied) owned a surgery in one of the
highest-density suburbs which was
literally choking into a coma with
essential drugs.
In another weird story, the editor of an African
newspaper was told a
cabinet minister was being sued for child support by
the mother of his
illegitimate child, sired while he was on overseas duty
for his country, as
a diplomat.
All these stories never saw the
daylight of print. The reasons may
have varied, but "national interests"
were invariably cited as a legitimate
reason for not publishing
them.
Another story concerned the banishment of a white editor from a
presidential briefing of government newspaper editors. The president and the
rest of the editors were black.
That story too did not make it into
any newspaper.
As a belated commemoration of World Press Freedom
Day, we should try
to remember that when a newspaper is described as being
"independent", it is
assumed to be free, first of all, of government
control. Others whose
control would be thoroughly reprehensible to the
purists of what this
independence entails include big business, advertising
empires, religious
sects like the Vapostori, or even mainstream churches
like the Catholic
Church.
The Christian Science Monitor, which is
published in the United
States, remains curiously free of the taint of being
biased in favour of the
church which controls it, largely because its thrust
has always been in
favour of the underdog and the downtrodden. Most
newspapers are inclined to
be in favour of championing the cause of the
underprivileged, although there
are, in Britain, for instance, newspapers
which have traditionally been
associated with the
Conservative
Party. The Tories have had little truck with the poor or
the
underprivileged. However, in Zimbabwe, they will always be associated
with
independence, for it was under the rule of their Iron Lady, Margaret
Thatcher, that the country won its independence.
Today, of course,
even Thatcher must regret deeply having agreed to
grant freedom to a
government which is now so anti-British its president is
banned from
entering the shores of that country.
One reason for the estrangement
between Britain and Zimbabwe is the
crass persecution of the media in the
latter. In Zimbabwe, the difference
between the journalist's and the
politician's perception of good governance
is so stark it is like day and
night.
On 3 May, this was evident in the way the government media
insisted
that everything was fine and dandy as far as the media was
concerned, while
the independent media described it as being the exact
opposite. In the most
basic way, the problems between the politician and the
journalist in
Zimbabwe can be reduced to this: the journalist is underpaid
and overworked
while the politician is underworked and overpaid.
It
is the classic case of an entire fraternity doing a thankless job
for a
society which has benefited enormously from its efforts. Every case of
corruption unearthed by the media has cast the spotlight on the shenanigans
of the politicians, their lust for power and their lust for illicit wealth.
As a result of this, ordinary people began to view politicians - that is all
politicians, including the men and women who took part in the struggle for
independence - as fallible, vulnerable mortals, as weak in the flesh as all
of us are. They too go to the lavatory as we do. They too put on their
trousers one leg after the other or, if they are women.they have no special
formula for doing it either. The struggle for press freedom is thus
basically between
the journalist and the politician. One reason for
this is that in its
role as the "watchdog" of society, the media quite often
annoys the
politician, which is to put it very mildly.
In many
ways, their dogged pursuit of the truth can threaten the
career of a
politician.
If the story of the cabinet minister who ran a surgery
bursting at the
seams with essential drugs while the rest of the country
scrounged for them,
had been published, complete with their name, that would
have ended that
poor fellow's political career. Most people may remember the
Willowgate
scandal only in the context of the part played by Geoff Nyarota
and Davison
Maruziva, and not in the way their work and its consequences
were perceived
by the politicians. President Robert Mugabe, for instance,
seemed genuinely
astonished that Nyarota was disappointed that he had been
"promoted" from an
editor to the group public relations manager of
Zimpapers. "He is getting
more money now," said Mugabe at a press
conference. Mugabe acknowledged that
Nyarota had done a good job "but he
went too
far". It was not entirely clear whether by this he meant
Nyarota had
besmirched the good character of certain good people who had not
played any
role in the scandal, or that he had named people who ought to
have been
ashamed of themselves for being involved in such a dirty scandal
in the
first place.
Before the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act was
introduced, Jonathan Moyo claimed the
intention to bring sanity back into
the media field. Certainly, he will deny
vehemently the allegation that
there was a measure of self-interest in his
design. The independent media
had carried stories of his problems with the
people at the Ford Foundation
in Nairobi and at Witwatersrand University in
South Africa. Even if other
politicians in Zanu PF found this law utterly
indefensible in a democracy,
they nevertheless allowed it to be passed - -
because they are politicians.
Their arch-enemy, the journalists, would have
their guns spiked, their wings
clipped, their voices, if not silenced, then
most certainly reduced by so
many decibels. Eddison Zvobgo - may his soul
rest in peace - did not,
unfortunately continue the crusade against AIPPA
that he had begun when he
threw it back to Moyo because it was not a law fit
for a democratic
Zimbabwe. It may sound like an exaggeration to say that, as
a direct
consequence of the government terrorism of the private media, the
country is
now facing the current political and economic isolation of a
pariah state.
Mugabe is now routinely mentioned in the same breath with Idi
Amin, or
Mengistu Haile Mariam, whom he has sheltered for so long, helping
only to
add to his opprobrium as one of Africa's most undemocratic
leaders.
In Uganda, he is blamed for influencing Yoweri Museveni to
seek and
obtain a third term of office, and to treat the opposition as if it
was a
raiding party from Mars. Although their relationship has grown sour,
there
are those who still believe that Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo was
influenced
by Mugabe to seek a third term as well. Mugabe has had so many
terms of
office it would hardly be surprising if he decided to last until
only his
age stood in the way. In reality, it is Mugabe himself who stands
in the way
of a truly
free media in Zimbabwe. He has remained true
to his Marxist-Leninist
roots. As long as he
remains at the helm of
his party, even as an aging, shadowy king-maker
after he has retired
officially, his hand will still on the tiller as far as
the freedom - or the
lack of it - of the media is concerned. Mugabe is the
quintessential
African politician, characterised by Desmond Tutu as the
"caricature".
Nothing can stand in his way, unless it is more powerful than
he is. As it
is, only people power can overwhelm him. So far, his hands are
firmly on
so many levers, people power can only translate into Zanu PF
power.
Which may be why many people believe the split in the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) was a Godsend for Mugabe and Zanu PF. There is, of
course, the imponderable prospect of an "implosion" in the party as the
succession race heats up.
If, even after that cataclysmic
occurrence Zanu PF remains as solidly
united as it has been, then there will
still be no chance of the journalists
coming into their own and possibly
changing the course of the country's
history for all time. Zanu PF will
continue on its bloody path to a
political and economic abyss.
Echo (Gaborone)
May 4,
2006
Posted to the web May 4, 2006
Gaborone
Media Institute of
Southern Africa (MISA) Botswana, national director,
Modise Maphanyane said
that while two Btv journalists (Beauty Mokoba and
Koketso Seofela) who were
arrested may have acted against the laws of
Zimbabwe, they acted within
journalistic propriety.
'They did break the law, but these are draconian
laws that South Africa
Development Community (SADC) has always approached
with silent diplomacy,'
Maphanyane said.
This silent diplomacy, he
added, has made it possible for media laws in
Zimbabwe to survive. His
preference is that borders should be open to
journalists at all
times.
Mmegi editor, Gideon Nkala, agreed that the journalists were not
in the
wrong. He concurs with Maphanyane that media freedom is being
stifled.
' Seeing that foot and mouth is a serious and big issue here, I
applaud what
they did. The fact that they ought to have registered is a
small
consideration since they entered Zimbabwe through a gazetted point,'
Nkala
said.
The newly appointed director of Broadcasting Services,
Bapasi Mphusu, was in
Francistown to receive the journalists upon their
arrival back home on
Tuesday. The journalists have appeared for mention
before the Plumtree
Magistrate Court where they were granted bail. They are
facing charges of
entering Zimbabwe with 'evasion and practicing journalism
without
accreditation'. Bail was set at Zimbabwean $4m (about P200) for
each.
Mokoba and Seofela were arrested on Sunday while on an official
assignment
pursuing a story on the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the
area.
However, were picked up by Zimbabwean authorities near Matsiloje and
were
detained until their court appearance. Their next court appearance is
scheduled for May 23.
s
May 4, 2006
By
ANDnetwork .com
The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC)
intends to set up three
agromanufacturing plants in conjunction with the
Russian investors, chief
executive Mr Mike Ndudzo has said
yesterday.
This followed some Memorandum of Understandings (MoU's)
signed between
the corporation and Russian firms in 2004.
Agriculture Minister Dr Joseph Made represented the Government of
Zimbabwe
at the signing of the MOUs.
Although Mr Ndudzo could not reveal names
of the Russian investors
involved citing confidentiality, he said the
companies were into foundry,
agroprocessing and cotton bleaching.
A
delegation, which comprised the IDC officials, Ministry of
Agriculture and
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe were in Russia two weeks ago on
a follow up
mission.
"It is now taking shape," said Mr Ndudzo in an interview "and
we have
given ourselves only three months for extra work (to polish
up)."
On its part, IDC was conducting local and regional market study
while
the Russians would inject capital for the projects and bring in the
necessary technology and equipment, IDC chief said.
However, the
implementation will only take its course if the deals get
nod from the
respective shareholders.
During the recent years, the quasi Government
institution diversified
its business portfolio into agro-processing, which
focuses on value chain
from seed variety, production, disease control crop
management, harvesting,
and processing.
Processing potential has
been identified and after the land
distribution exercise, even greater
potential now exists for increased
production.
IDC said it was
willing to partner any investors interested in any
agriculture produce and
value addition with access to regional and
international markets.
Some projects which the company seeks partnerships involves pine
furniture
components in an Export Processing Zone and the Chisumbanje
project to
establish a sugar mill in the Lowveld of Zimbabwe.
IDC is also scouting
a technical partner to set up a plant in the
value addition of
fruits.
Most are consumed as fresh fruit while some are exported. A
large
portion go to waste either through failure to get to intended markets
or
oversupply.
Processing of such fruits was imperative in order to
add value,
according to IDC and a technical partner was sought to cofund the
feasibility study, supply plant and equipment and take equity in the future
venture.
A senior executive, Mr Collin Mutingwende said the group
was also
constructing factory shells and industrial warehouses for investors
to move
it.
Some of partnership deals, which have been struck by
IDC include the
construction of an oil expressing plant in Chitungwiza being
undertaken in
conjunction with Iranian investors.
"We are in the
process of constructing factory shells so companies can
move in and start
businesses. Last year we completed one building in
partnership with an
Iranian company. The factory in Chitungwiza is 95
percent complete and
expected to start running in June.
"Some investors from Midex
International of India will be doing oil
processing in the premises," he
said.
Source : Zimbabwe Chronicle
Reuters
Thu May 4, 2006 5:57 PM GMT
By Manoah Esipisu
SOWETO, South Africa
(Reuters) - Africa's plan to open governments to closer
scrutiny and make
them more accountable is moving slowly due to a manpower
shortage and a
reluctance to punish countries that do not conform, analysts
said on
Thursday.
As South Africa launched its draft self-assessment on Thursday,
joining
Rwanda, Kenya and Ghana, it was increasingly clear that basic
problems such
as crime, unemployment, graft and poor financial management
were dogging the
continental project.
The African Peer Review
Mechanism (APRM) -- under which governments rate
each other's economic
performance and advise on how to improve -- is a core
project of the New
Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the
53-member African Union's
(AU) homegrown economic recovery plan.
The APRM has won acclaim from G8
wealthy nations which have pledged support
for well-run countries. But it
has strong critics in Africa who say it is
being implemented too slowly and
too gingerly to force real change in
poorly-run countries.
Analysts
say countries like Mauritius and Botswana, where corruption is low
and
public finances are well managed, were eager to embrace peer review but
nations like Zimbabwe and Swaziland, which rights groups accuse of trampling
on civil liberties, gave it a wide berth.
"The biggest failure of the
peer review mechanism is that there are no
sanctions for leaders who fail to
fulfil the agreed set of values because it
is voluntary," said economics
professor Chileshe Mulenga of Lusaka's
Institute for Economic and Social
Research.
NO RECORD OF DEMOCRATIC PRACTISE
Analysts also say
countries that wield power in the AU such as Congo
Republic, where the
current AU chair comes from, or longtime AU heavyweight
Libya, have little
or no record of good democratic practise and the APRM is
not pushing them to
change.
"You've to move from a talking shop mentality, presenting candid
reports
that you then immediately shelve. You need to deal with issues of
human
rights with a view to correcting them," said University of Zambia
professor
Bennett Siamwiza.
Other analysts said despite the APRM's
emphasis on rule of law and
transparency, governments were lagging on the
key task of figuring out ways
to improve intra-African trade.
"There
should be a link but it is not there yet partly because of capacity
problems
and also because African governments have not internalised in their
systems
the international trading system," said Professor Gerhard Erasmus of
the
Trade Law Centre at the University of Stellenbosch.
Some 26 countries --
including Angola and Nigeria where international
investors have previously
complained of corruption -- have requested to be
reviewed although others,
such as Namibia, have suggested the APRM may not
be worth it.
Even in
South Africa, the continent's economic powerhouse and the main
political
driver behind NEPAD, problems are mounting.
In Soweto on Thursday, the
government, charities, rights groups and
think-tanks met to discuss South
Africa's APRM self-assessment -- and a
draft report showing that violent
crime, graft, and the country's indirect,
proportional representation
electoral system were of concern.
The report said many South Africans
were concerned that the party list
system "stifles dissent and ensures
accountability to parties rather than
citizens" -- a rare poor mark for a
country widely seen as the continent's
leading democracy.
Mmegi, Botswana
WHITHER BOTSWANA
DAN MOABI
5/4/2006
4:16:34 PM (GMT +2)
This is my belated message of congratulations
to the people of
Zimbabwe on their 26th independence anniversary. I wish I
could congratulate
them on much more than this, but I know that they will be
the first to
understand why I am not in a position to do so. Indeed, they
would have
every justification to be offended if I pretended that there was
more on
which I could congratulate them. For the plain truth is that their
government's ill-advised policies have brought that otherwise richly endowed
country to its knees, and denied its people the opportunity to celebrate any
significant achievements since that historic day in 1980 when they achieved
their liberation.
Looking at Zimbabwe now, it is difficult
to believe that it used to
have a well developed and flourishing economy,
and was also the breadbasket
of this sub- region. The country had achieved
this enviable status despite
the sanctions regime that the international
community had imposed on it in
response to the unilateral declaration of
independence by former Prime
Minister Ian Smith's government. There was,
therefore, every expectation
that genuine independence would bring
considerable relief to Zimbabwe, and
enable the country to perform even
better and grow from strength to
strength. For some time after independence,
this was indeed the case, and
Zimbabwe seemed destined to consolidate its
status as the second economic
powerhouse of southern Africa after South
Africa. However, a period of
serious mismanagement by the liberation
government soon set in, and the
performance of the country's economy
deteriorated considerably ever since,
so that Zimbabwe is now all but a
failed state. In addition, the government
of President Robert Mugabe
embarked on several policies that seriously
violated the human rights of the
people of Zimbabwe. With the economy of the
country rapidly collapsing, and
human rights consistently trampled upon by
the government, many Zimbabweans
were forced to flee their country.
Inevitably, these developments affected
Zimbabwe's neighbouring countries
badly. As Minister Baledzi Gaolathe put it
in a recent speech: "If any
member within SADC has economic or whatever
other problem, all of us are
affected ..." (Mmegi 3 May 2006). This is the
explanation for the large
number of Zimbabweans currently living in this
country illegally. A member
of parliament once estimated the number of such
Zimbabweans to be about half
a million, which may not be farfetched. Given
the high rate of unemployment
in Botswana, and the increase in the crime
rate that this has caused, the
influx of illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe
has compounded these problems.
Add to this the huge cost to Botswana of the
fruitless and numerous
campaigns to repatriate the illegal immigrants, the
enormity of the problems
created in Botswana by the Zimbabwe crisis becomes
quite clear. Similar
problems exist in Zimbabwe's other neighbouring
countries. In view of these
problems, it is disappointing that the SADC
governments have responded to
the Zimbabwe situation in such a casual
manner. Instead of openly
criticising the policies of the government of
President Mugabe, they
generally prefer either to show thinly disguised
support for their
colleague, or to turn a blind eye to his disastrous
policies. The favourite
explanation for these misguided approaches is that
the governments concerned
prefer quiet diplomacy to open criticism in
addressing the Zimbabwe problem.
For his part, Mugabe interprets the timid
strategy of his SADC colleagues as
a demonstration of support for him and
his policies. Those readers who were
around at the time may recall that
'quiet diplomacy' and 'constructive
engagement' were the favourite policies
of the British and the United
States' governments towards the problems of
apartheid South Africa and the
Smith regime in Rhodesia. For their part, the
independent states of southern
Africa roundly condemned these policies, as
well as those of the dangerous
white-minority governments; and this
undoubtedly speeded up the liberation
of these countries. How ironic now,
that the SADC governments are such
passionate supporters of these long
discredited policies of appeasement!
*****
The
standards of hygiene at the Gaborone City Council abattoir are
said to be
way below the norm for such a facility. An economic planner from
the
Ministry of Local Government confirmed this on Btv recently and gave
lack of
funds as the explanation for the high-risk shortcoming. He said the
preparation of the next national budget would be the earliest opportunity
for making another case for upgrading the abattoir. Approval of the project
would, of course, not be guaranteed. Yet it was relatively easy for the
cabinet to approve the purchase of a new and larger presidential jet! This
is wrong, and should be strongly opposed. Hopefully, President Mogae will
reject this decision, which totally ignores the interests of the majority of
the population.
IOL
May 04
2006 at 04:08PM
Lusaka - Zambia's National Farmers Union (ZNFU)
Thursday reassured
anxious white foreign farmers in the wake of stern
statements from President
Levy Mwanawasa's office that government would
investigate those of their
number accused of plotting to remove him and his
ruling party from power.
ZNFU president Guy Robinson in a statement
appealed to commercial
farmers to continue with their normal farming
operations, stating that there
would be no disruption of any kind in their
activities by government.
State House last week accused some rich
white commercial farmers and
safari operators of planning economic sabotage
ahead of Zambia's 2006
tripartite elections by creating artificial food
shortages and influencing
white-owned companies to distort the local crop
market.
The accusations have raised fears of state reprisals
against safari
companies, largely run by white foreign investors, and the
commercial
farming community, which now include hundreds of white farmers
from
neighbouring Zimbabwe and who have contributed 60 percent to the
national
crop output in the last three farming seasons.
The
powerful union said it had carefully studied the correspondence
from State
House to the farmers, and urged white commercial farmers not to
worry or
panic about the security of their investments or their own personal
security
stating that the Mwanawasa government was not against them.
The
named farmers and tour operators were also accused of mobilising
funds for
the opposition Patriotic Front (PF), but they have since denied
the state's
allegations, while the PF described the allegations as 'wildlife
politics'
framing innocent people.
Mwanawasa's office said the information it
received was 'clearly very
serious' as it bordered on economic sabotage and
threatened national
security.
Government was obliged to
investigate reports of suspected illegal
activities among citizens and
corporate bodies and would not down play the
allegations, State House
asserted.
According to State House, the farmers allegedly resolved
to work
against Mwanawasa and unseat him from power, citing the heavy tax
regime on
agriculture inputs and the strong appreciation of the Kwacha - the
local
currency- against major trading currencies.
Both factors
had negatively impacted on the white farming community,
as would a proposed
empowerment bill, said not to be in the interest of
whites in Zambia. -
Sapa-dpa
The Nation, Malawi
Editorial
by Editor, 04 May 2006 -
05:03:01
With the
enthusiasm that government has demonstrated in hosting and
honouring
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, there is a danger that we
could fail to
seize the opportunity to chastise the Zimbabwean leader on a
number of
crucial issues that have made him a virtual pariah in the
community of
respected nations.
The point raised by the Law Society of Malawi that
government should
not spare the whip on this controversial son of Africa-is
very pertinent,
considering that the rule of law and respect for human
rights are the
centrepiece of a democratic culture.
As we said the
other day, the tragedy with Mugabe is that he seems to
revel in the fact
that his record on different facets of his administration
borders on the
atrocious. At a time when one would expect him to take a hard
look at
himself and listen to the voice of reason, he arrogantly and
blithely looks
the other way, peddling some misguided nationalistic mantra
and putting out
an image that he is only a victim of Western machinations.
As the
records amply show, no one has benefited from his empty talk
and disastrous
policies, as evidenced by the load of hardships under which
Zimbabweans are
straining. The people of Zimbabwe, like citizens of any
other country,
deserve a leader who can give them hope that come tomorrow
they will be able
to have a decent meal on the table and go about their
lives without worrying
about who is trailing them.
Which is why we Malawians should avoid
giving Mugabe the impression
that his visit to the country is a triumph of
villainy over the higher good
we all endeavour to achieve. His visit to
Malawi should be a sobering moment
for him so that he returns home a sober
leader, and not the tormentor of the
people of Zimbabwe.
May 4, 2006
By
Andnetwork .com
Johannesburg (AND) The Pan African Parliament -
with its fifth sitting
underway in South Africa - would do well to seriously
take note of a report
released recently which shows that Africa produces the
largest number of
"unstable states".
The Failed States Index
indicates that six of the 10 most vulnerable
states and 11 of the top 20 are
in Africa. As in last year's index, Africa
is in the forefront of producing
the largest number of unstable states.
In 2006, Sudan appears as
the "world's most vulnerable country because
of its poor ratings in the
areas of group grievance and human rights". The
Democratic Republic of the
Congo and the Ivory Coast are on the hot heels of
Sudan. According to the
report, these countries feature prominently because
their governments do not
control huge portions of their territory.
The report uses 12
social, economic, political, and military
indicators and then ranks 148
states in order of their vulnerability to
violent internal conflict and
societal dysfunction.
The drafters of the report - the independent
research agency Fund for
Peace and the Foreign Policy Magazine - are well
within reason when they
declare that: "For all the talk about technology and
globalisation, basic
governance remains a huge challenge for many
states."
While this week's call by the Pan African Parliament on
the African
Union (AU) member states to help speed up the consolidation of
economic
regions is very important, PAP policymakers need to understand the
vulnerabilities and weaknesses that create the conditions for state
failure.
Dropping the number of economic blocks in the continent
will be a
futile exercise if the political conditions are not conducive to
trade and
wealth creation.
As the report puts it: "Elections
might give voice to the
disenfranchised, but they don't necessarily
translate into effective
governance. High oil or commodity prices may fill
government coffers, but
they don't build strong institutions."
By contrast, the Failed States Index report suggests, steps that
capture few
headlines the appointment of independent judges, the development
of a
competent civil service, and the implementation of anti-corruption
campaigns
- are often the key to improving a country's foundations.
However,
the report cautions against regional generalisations, even
for countries in
close proximity to each other. Zimbabwe, which is
struggling under poor
governance and endemic corruption, has seen its
stability ranking fall by
12%, while its neighbouring South Africa
maintained its strong showing.
Nigeria, despite its wealth in resources,
continued to unravel even as
nearby Ghana remained one of the most promising
states in all of West
Africa. Kenya managed to improve despite corruption
scandals and a porous
border with Somalia.
The African countries which are in the list of
the Failed States Index
are: Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory
Coast, Zimbabwe, Chad,
Somalia, Guinea, Liberia, Central African Republic,
Burundi, Yemen, Sierra
Leone, Uganda,
Nigeria, Rwanda, Ethiopia,
Malawi, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Kenya,
Cameroon, Angola,
Togo, Niger,
Guinea-Bissau, Papua New Guinea, Guatemala, Equatorial
Guinea,
Eritrea
Johannesburg - Mahap Msiza
Mail and Guardian
Sarudzayi Zindoga | Harare, Zimbabwe
04 May 2006 09:19
Zimbabwean journalists on Wednesday marched
from a local hotel
in Harare to where the banned Daily News and The Tribune
were formerly
housed to mark World Press Freedom Day.
The
march attracted more than 50 local journalists who first
marched peacefully
to Trustee House, former offices of the Daily News. The
building was bombed
in 2000 when it was the head office of the independent
paper. Less than a
year, later the paper's printing press was also bombed
and, as with the
first bombing, no arrests were made.
Commentators at the time
attributed the bombings -- and the
later banning of the newspaper -- to its
high criticism of the government.
The journalists who joined
Wednesday's march were mostly from
privately owned media houses as well as
former employees of the closed
publications and radio stations. They carried
placards calling on the
government to bring back newspapers such as the
Daily News, The Tribune and
Weekly Times.
At Trustee
House, the journalists observed a minute of silence
before they started
shouting "Mahoso, open the Daily News" -- referring to
Tafataona Mahoso,
head of the government's Media and Information Commission
(MIC).
From there, they marched to Megawatt House where
the Tribune was
housed before being forcibly shut down by the
government.
Zimbabwe's theme for World Press Freedom Day this
year was No to
Statutory Regulation, Yes to Self-Regulation. The chairperson
for the Media
Institute of Southern Africa in Zimbabwe, Thomas Deve, said
that although
the government has agreed to in principle to self-regulation,
it is not what
is happening on the ground.
"In principle
they have conceded to self-regulation," he said,
"but in practice, if you
look at what, for instance, the permanent secretary
for information, George
Charamba, has written in the Herald today, there
still doubt about their
genuineness.
"The Information Minister, [Tichaona] Jokonya,
said he is very
genuine and the deputy minister has also indicated
that."
Deve thinks that the issue of self-regulation is
something the
two ministers will just let go without defending the MIC. He
said
self-regulation is the way forward, however, and journalists will
continue
to lobby for it.
However, Zimbabwe Union of
Journalists (ZUJ) secretary general
Foster Dongozi feels it will be
difficult to achieve self-regulation.
He said: "As far as the
situation stands now, it is difficult to
see which way it is going because
we have witnessed the closure of several
newspapers and of course other
radio stations, while on the other hand
government universities and colleges
continue to churn out thousands of
journalism graduates."
In previous years when such marches took place, police ended up
pouncing on
the marchers, and these actions seemed to have instilled fear
among many
journalists who were keen to participate in Wednesday's
march.
The government has since 2000 been shutting down
independent
publications it deems to be against the current government of
President
Robert Mugabe.
At least six media houses have
been forcibly shut down since the
government's draconian Access to
Information and the Protection of Privacy
Act was enacted in 2001. The
government has absolute control over who may
practise journalism in
Zimbabwe.
Amnesty International (New Zealand) director Ced
Simpson said
Zimbabwe is rated among countries with a poor press-freedom
record. He said
that those Zimbabwean reporters who are game enough to
comment on this
situation may face the might of the law.
"Beyond the globally recognised media agencies reside hundreds
of thousands
of media workers who wonder every day whether their latest
story will land
them in prison," said Simpson.