The Zimbabwe Situation

      "The international community now refers to emerging Asian countries as
well and does not only include the Western countries. The Chinese are happy
with Zimbabwe and they are willing to support this country," said
Mumbengegwi, seemingly oblivious of the fact that the look-east policy
adopted by the government a couple of years ago has, at most, brought mixed
results and at worst, nothing.

      Mumbengegwi’s statement underlines the extent to which government
ministers are so out of tune at a time when they should be singing from the
same song sheet. It comes within a week of calls by Finance and Economic
Development Minister Herbert Murerwa to engage the IMF and the World Bank,
which slammed the door on the country in 1995 after their patience ran thin
over Zimbabwe’s stop-go implementation of the failed economic reform
programme.

      Two senior World Bank officials on the continent visited Harare last
week and held consultative meetings with government officials, including
Murerwa, as well as captains of industry and commerce.

      John Nkomo, the Minister of Special Affairs in the President’s Office,
also told the National Economic Consultative Forum meeting in Harare
recently that Zimbabwe needed to re-engage the Bretton Woods institutions.

      "Zimbabwe’s sovereignty is not for bargaining, but we are ready to
engage in mutually beneficial relations with the outside world in the
capacity of a free and sovereign nation, governed by its laws and national
constitution," Nkomo said.

      The Finance Ministry permanent secretary, Nick Ncube, among other
senior government officials, also attended the meeting addressed by
Mumbengegwi.

      The IMF withdrew crucial balance-of-payments support in 1999, citing
economic mismanagement and other governance issues.

      Major donors, taking their cue from the Bretton Woods institutions,
have also cut off aid to Zimbabwe.

      China, with the world’s largest population of 1.3 billion, is one of
the world’s fastest growing economies and is expected to outstrip Germany
and Britain in growth in the coming years.

      Chris Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to China, aided Mumbengegwi’s
assault, saying the West, including the United Kingdom and the United
States, were essentially interested in exploiting Zimbabwe and not
developing it.

      "Any trade relations with the West are not the same as those with the
East. The West has a colonial mentality of exploitation. Relationships that
started with rape are very difficult to turn into a happy marriage whereas
with China the business relationship will be complementary," said
Mutsvangwa.

      "China has more than US$400 billion in foreign currency reserves,
which represent the second highest in the world after the United States and
Zimbabwe can receive foreign direct investments from China if it works
closely with that country."

      Observers, however, said government should have an organised and
agreed line which every minister should toe.

      "We should have a government position that is consistent because
whatever ministers say affects trade and it affects economic growth and
investment into the country," said Jonathan Kadzura, an economic comentator.

      "The government should also learn to engage the whole world, not just
a section of the world. The international community also wants to buy our
products and there is no way we can engage one section while ignoring the
other," Kadzura said.

      Whereas the ruling ZANU PF party’s annual conference in December this
year is expected to be dominated by the issue of succession, particularly
the replacement of the late Vice-President Simon Muzenda, the MDC leadership
will steer their conference into debating the decline in the national
economy, the health delivery system and restoration of the rule of law.

      Paul Themba-Nyathi, the MDC national spokesman, said although December
was one of the months tentatively pencilled for the conference, "the likely
date will be in February".

      He said the party had failed to hold its annual conference last year
because of "concrete activities" like mass actions to protest the
deteriorating economic situation and the outcome of the 2002 Presidential
election controversially won by President Robert Mugabe.

      "Party members would be briefed at the annual conference on progress
in planned talks with the ruling ZANU PF party and would be requested to
adopt new ‘policy positions’," Nyathi said, without being specific.

      "Obviously, we will do some soul-searching. We’ll review why we did
not retain the Insiza seat, even though we know the dice was loaded against
us," Nyathi, said.

      However, he said, there would be no blame-game at the conference and
the expectation was that "no heads would roll".

      "We don’t want to be weakening the party, but we want to strengthen
it. I believe we work as a team and no one should be blamed for any negative
developments during the year," Nyathi said.

      Nyathi said the challenge for the MDC leadership was to convince
members that the prospect of regime change was close to being achieved, as
pressure was building up against ZANU PF both from within and outside the
country because of the deepening economic crisis.

      "There is a saying that before day breaks, its gets darker. This is
the message we will try to put across to our members in the face of an
intensifying economic crisis," said Nyathi.

      The MDC has been waging a fierce battle against President Mugabe’s
government, which it accuses of running down the country into its present
crisis characterised by food, fuel and foreign currency shortages.

      The MDC also accuses President Mugabe of having stolen its leader
Morgan Tsvangirai’s victory in the 2002 Presidential election, in which the
ZANU PF leader won by over 400 000 votes.

      The MDC alleges the poll was rigged, voters intimidated and its
candidate denied the platform to campaign.

      11/21/2003 9:41:10 AM (GMT +2)

      THE adage, it never rains but pours, holds true for Zimbabwe. There
has, for some time now, been general disillusionment among Zimbabweans
frustrated by deprivation as the economy precariously sits on shifting
sands.

      As if the economic blizzard is not enough, another deep well of
disenchantment has since cratered. This time on the educational front, which
is going through a deep-seated crisis as 2003 proves to be a low point for
the country’s increasingly discredited secondary school examination system.
There has been unprecedented confusion with students reportedly studying
wrong set books, while others are said to have received results of subjects
they did not sit for. Sometimes examination papers are known to have been
leaked and worse still, results of these examinations are unnecessarily
delayed. The most frightening reality is that, what has so far emerged
publicly concerning the examinations debacle could just be but the
proverbial tip of the iceberg. The bigger picture could, for all we know, be
pretty bad. And the mind boggles as to how this can possibly happen. Is this
the best we can do? If so, then God help us!

      Nothing can be more telling or conclusively prove the ineptitude of
those running our education system than this bungling. And we can only
imagine how frustrating this can be to the multitude of affected pupils in
the face of a sorry tale of unrealised ambitions by scores of other
school-leavers who have since been condemned to permanent unemployment!

      What about the hard-pressed peasant parents practising the
back-breaking subsistence agriculture just to afford their children what
they consider a life-time meal ticket — education? Indeed this is a shining
example of the terrifying swift decline in standards in this very important
sector, at one time touted as the best in Africa, hence the need to restore
integrity and credibility into the education system. The shaken public
confidence in the local examination system, which is administered by the
much-maligned Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (ZIMSEC), seems to give
credence to claims that Zimbabwe made a tactical mistake when it switched
from the internationally-acclaimed Cambridge examinations and localised the
Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations. With the latest developments,
which represent a problem situation, calls for "back to Cambridge" could
only justifiably intensify because this is an issue of legitimate public
concern that is crying out for urgent attention.

      But having said that, we sincerely hope that we are not going to see
the appointment of yet another fact-finding team, commission of inquiry or
committee to look into the problems bedevilling the country’s examinations
system. We have already had enough of these committees, which are in
themselves emblematic of everything wrong with the way the government runs
the country’s affairs. In any case, previous such commissions have been
nothing more than a sheer waste of time and resources.

      It is now time to act to correct something that could turn out to be a
mistake of historic proportions. Much as a lot of Cabinet ministers have,
over the years, gotten away with incompetence, under-performance and
downright ineptitude because of what government calls collective
responsibility, the mess in the examination system should be placed squarely
on the shoulders of the Ministry of Education, which seems to be in serious
need of a crash course in learning how to loosen up without necessarily
losing control.

      Those running our education system have been on notice to perform but
they have failed the nation dismally. Yet they don’t seem to care, maybe
because their children get educated outside the country as they have access
to hard cash even in the face of the biting forex crunch. Heads must
therefore roll. And since a fish rots from the head, the axe should fall on
the head of the ministry first — Minister Aeneas Chigwedere, once a great
teacher but now seemingly out of his depth.

      11/21/2003 7:53:04 AM (GMT +2)

      THE Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) yesterday took a swipe at the
government, accusing it of failing to address national issues in the 2004
National Budget presented by Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa yesterday.

      MDC’s secretary for Economic Affairs, Tendai Biti, said apart from
inadequately addressing the issues at stake such as runaway inflation, the
exchange rate and negative interest rates, the budget was "populist and
laced with dishonesty and hypocrisy".

      "The severity of the crisis is such that there was some hope of new
ideas," Biti, the legislator for Harare East said.

      "But sadly, the budget statement provides no evidence of any sort of
change on the government side.

      "On the pivotal macro-economic management issues in the current
crisis, the budget statement failed to make clear any position.

      "Decisions on these crucial areas are (handed over to) the Reserve
Bank Governor’s monetary policy statement which is promised by mid
December."

      11/21/2003 7:54:09 AM (GMT +2)

      THE government, confronted by shrinking foreign currency receipts and
a dollar that is falling off the cliff, yesterday announced that it has
finalised plans to mobilise funds from non-resident Zimbabweans.

      Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa said an announcement would soon be
made by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) on how the latest scheme to
bolster the country’s drying foreign currency coffers would be run.
"Government, through the central bank, has put in place institutional
structures and implementation modalities to mobilise foreign currency from
non-resident Zimbabweans through the formal financial system.

      "Plans for its implementation are at an advanced stage and will be
disclosed in the governor’s statement," Murerwa said.

      This is not the first time that the government has mooted plans to tap
funds from the Zimbabwean population in the diaspora. Analysts have
expressed scepticism at the applicability of the proposal. It still remains
unclear whether the government would adjust the exchange rate to make it
worthwhile for Zimbabweans in the diaspora to channel their funds into the
official market.

      The government has stuck to a pegged exchange rate policy since 1998
and the rate is currently $824 to the greenback, while the thriving parallel
market quotes the local currency at $6000 to US$1. The government was
expected to further devalue the local currency, in line with an undertaking
made to the business community in February, but has been recalcitrant on the
matter ever since the devaluation at the beginning of the year.

      With much of the hard currency readily available on the informal
market, the RBZ is currently reporting average inflows of less than US$5
million monthly. The massive brain drain caused by high levels of
unemployment, coupled with rapid economic decline, has seen hundreds of
locals going to seek employment in the United Kingdom, the United States and
neighbouring South Africa, among other countries.

      The non-resident population remits substantial amounts of hard
currency back home, largely through unofficial channels.

      11/21/2003 9:43:51 AM (GMT +2)

      EDITOR — It took the ZANU PF government a cool two weeks to decide
what honour they should bestow on the late Reverend Canaan Banana.

      His crime — the sodomy conviction in the 1990s. But the vexing
question is, if it is "a matter of principle" how many of the so-called
heroes buried at the shrine killed, maimed, raped and committed other
heinous crimes in the name of ZANU PF and the government, were declared
national heroes?

      The truth is the grey-haired men in the ZANU PF politburo are abusing
everyone in this country, are vindictive, won’t forgive and like the Mafia,
will mercilessly follow a declared enemy of ZANU PF even to the grave. They
have even privatised national institutions like the Heroes Acre.

      One day "as a matter of principle" the people of this country will
have the chance to judge who is a hero and not in ZANU PF.

11/21/2003 9:40:16 AM (GMT +2)

AS we approach the 2005 parliamentary election, there is still
enormous hope for our country, which has been teetering on the verge of
complete collapse for some time now.

      But the question is, is Zimbabwe a democracy? Few conceptual issues in
political science have been subjected to closer or more prolific scrutiny in
recent years than this problem of "what democracy is — and is not".

      The idea of democracy has become so closely identified with elections
that we are in danger of forgetting that the modern history of
representative election is as much a tale of authoritarian manipulations by
the Zimbabwean regime as it is a saga of democratic triumphs for the
opposition and civil society.

      In the first half of the year 2000, great political changes swept
across Zimbabwe. Opposition candidates began to consistently win legislative
seats. These unexpected changes raised hopes that our country, long known
for political failure, was about to turn a corner.

      But in Zimbabwe, electoral politics have proven disappointing as
corruption, abuse of power and economic crises continue to plague the
nation. There is little vertical accountability despite the regular
elections. Electoral fraud is common and violence against the opposition
goes unpunished. Civil society and the press are repressed, further
insulating the government from public scrutiny. Democracy however requires
not only free, fair and competitive elections, but also the freedoms that
make them truly meaningful such as freedom of expression, alternative
sources of information and institutions to ensure that "winners" depend on
the vote and preference of citizens.

      But vexing questions remain. What constitutes a "fair, honest and free
election"? How can we know that parties have had a fair chance to campaign
and that voters around the country have been enabled to exercise their will
freely? How can we know that the reported results accurately reflect the
votes that were cast?

      First, the ZANU PF regime, cornered, scared and frightened than
before, conducts regular multi-party elections but fails to meet the
substantive test or does so only ambiguously. Secondly, with heightened
international expectations and standards of electoral democracy including
the rise of international expectations and standards for electoral
democracy; including the rise of international election observing, there is
closer international scrutiny of individual countries holding elections.

      Zimbabwe under ZANU PF is an electoral authoritarian regime, given the
massive fraud in the 2000, 2002 and other elections thereafter. We say so
because the country lacks an arena of contestation sufficiently open, free
and fair so that the brutal party can readily be removed from power if it is
no longer preferred by a plurality of the people.

      While an opposition victory is not impossible in a hybrid regime like
ours, it requires a high level of opposition mobilisation, unity, skill and
heroism far beyond what would normally be required for victory in a
democracy. Often, too, it requires international observations and
intervention to pre-empt and prevent or to expose the electoral
manipulations and fraud of the scared ZANU PF regime.

      And Zimbabwe today fits the model of a hegemonic party system in which
a relatively institutionalised ruling party monopolises the political arena
using coercion, patronage, media control and brutal laws to deny other
political parties any real chance of competing for power.

      The distinction between electoral democracy and electoral
authoritarianism turns crucially on the freedom, fairness and meaningfulness
of elections, in the ability of opposition parties and candidates to
campaign and in the casting and counting of the vote.

      Why do we say so? Elections can only be said to be "free" when the
legal barriers to entry into the political arena are low. And freedom to
campaign requires some considerable freedom of speech, movement, assembly
and association in political life.

      How many opposition candidates and supporters must be killed or
arrested before one discerns a blatantly undemocratic pattern. In this
country, election related killings have a long history and have risen to
alarming levels from the year 2000 — corruption, criminality, murder and
kidnappings heavily taint the electoral process, but we know that political
violence has been the tool used by ZANU PF extensively to punish, terrorise
and demoralise the opposition.

      Therefore, ZANU PF has not been able to meet the "minimum" criteria
for democracy. Elections can only be said to be fair when they are
administered by a neutral authority and when the electoral administration is
sufficiently competent and resourceful to take specific precautions against
fraud and also when the police, military and courts treat competing
candidates impartially throughout the process, when contenders all have
access to the public media and when electoral rules do not systematically
disadvantage the opposition, when independent monitoring of the voting and
vote counting is allowed at all locations, when the secrecy of the ballot is
protected; when the procedures for organising and counting the vote are
transparent and known to all and when there are clear and impartial
procedures for resolving complaints and disputes.

      Electoral authoritarian regimes like ZANU PF do not practice democracy
but resort regularly to naked repression. By organising periodic elections,
ZANU PF tries to obtain at least a semblance of democratic legitimacy,
hoping to satisfy internal and external actors.

      And at the same time by placing the elections under tight
authoritarian control, they try to cement their continued hold on power.

      ZANU PF’s dream is to reap the fruits of electoral legitimacy without
running the risks of democratic uncertainty. Balancing between electoral
control and electoral credibility, they situate themselves in a nebulous
zone of structural ambivalence. Democracy cannot simply be present or
absent. ZANU PF is plainly undemocratic.

      Elections are a necessary but not a sufficient condition for modern
democracy. ZANU PF always manages to "get elections right" but fails to
institutionalise other vital dimensions of democratic constitutionalism such
as the rule of law, political accountability and public deliberation.

      In the common phrasing, elections must be "free and fair" in order to
pass as democratic. Under electoral democracy, contests comply with minimal
democratic norms and, under electoral authoritaniasm like ZANU PF, they do
not.

      Instead, the ZANU PF regime hold some sort of elections. Some are
shams that nobody can take seriously and others are occasions of struggle
than nobody can ignore.

        .. Frank Matandi-rotya is the MDC shadow MP for Chikomba
constituency.

Fragmentation of the people’s resistance

11/21/2003 9:42:01 AM (GMT +2)

AFTER the "No" vote of February 2000, there appears to be no common agenda within the pro-democracy movement.

Real and imagined methodological differences have plagued efforts to create a "popular front" and rally the pent-up forces of the angry Zimbabwean masses to meaningful and directional opposition to the ZANU PF hegemony.

What is, in fact, happening is that the pro-democracy movement is beginning to be completely fragmented and people are now talking sectional politics. I would rather like to believe that this was foreseen long ago by the ZANU PF party and that it is, in fact, part of the programme.

The unnecessary sectional particularism of the various pro-democracy political organisations in Zimbabwe tend to keep them apart, yet there is an exceptionally powerful and overriding reason why they should act together. It may be said that on the broader political front, opposition political leaders and civic leaders alike have not shown any overt signs of new thinking after the referendum; nor were the signs of disenchantment with the incumbent regime given a chance to crystallise into a positive approach. In fact, ZANU PF is now less in danger of collapse than it was in 2000. The fragmented, isolated and uncoordinated efforts by various political groups have failed to make the desired impact. Our refusal to club together and create a popular front has been the regime’s major ally to date.

The "No" vote carried the day basically because the progressive movement was united and presented a common action front in the guise of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA).

There was no proper consensus as to the modus operandi in the post-referendum period. This was partly due to the totally unpredictable political development that succeeded the "No" vote, that is, the farm invasions that enjoyed varying interpretations.

People would have expected the government to embark on an acceptable constitutional reform process that addressed the pertinent questions that led to the "No" vote; but alas, by some perverted logic, the "No" vote was interpreted by the government to mean a "Yes" vote for the Lancaster House Constitution. (I think it must now be called the ZANU PF constitution because the current document is now radically different from the original one.)

The "No" vote gave a psychological advantage to the opposition and the entire pro-democracy movement ahead of the June 2000 general elections and this advantage could have been better utilised had we remained united and focused. After the referendum, the MDC became more concerned with the pending parliamentary elections and paid less attention to the constitutional question which basically intended to level the political playing field to their advantage. The belief was that the MDC would win against all odds. I believe it is just here where we find the seeds of the fragmentation of the people’s resistance.

The NCA and other civic groups, on the other hand, insisted on constitutional reform before elections could be held, but because the MDC, which is one of the major member organisations of the NCA, progressively distanced themselves from the latter, the struggle was inevitably compromised.

A compromise stance was adopted and the pro-democracy movement started advocating for "minimum standards" for free and fair elections. This was not vigorously pursued and elections were held under the current constitution and ZANU PF won with a simple parliamentary majority which was supplemented by the President’s constitutional power to appoint 30 MPs by special procedure. A battle lost.

The consoling thing was that there was another battle looming — the Presidential election, which was widely believed to be the "big one".

The MDC did not realise how much the current constitution was a disadvantage to them in the parliamentary elections. In their naivety, they failed to utilise the time between June 2000 and March 2002 to level the playing field through more militant demands for constitutional review. Again the belief was that the MDC would win against all odds.

Just before the Presidential elections, President Mugabe used his powers to issue statutory instruments which substantially changed the electoral law regime to his advantage. The elections came and President Mugabe won in controversial circumstances. Another battle lost.

A few months before the elections, some pro-democracy organisations, in their weak coalitions, adopted an alternative plan to be implemented in the event that President Mugabe rigged the elections. The alternative plan was that people will express their resentment in the streets, factories, industries, classrooms and even supermarkets and beerhalls. Before the final results were even announced, it was clear that the election was rigged and instead of implementing the alternative plan, Tsvangirai came out on television urging the restless masses to "remain calm"!

As a result, the alternative plan was not implemented, partly because there was no consensus within the pro-democracy movement as to both its desirability and feasibility. It was also partly because it was advocated for, firstly, by people who never saw the need to implement it "because Mugabe will lose even if he rigs" and, secondly, by people who never believed in it in the first place. Paralysis gripped the nation in the immediate post-presidential election period. More than a year later, the MDC embarked on its ill-fated "final push" which raised serious questions about the party’s organisational capacity and mobilisation stategies. Yet another battle lost.

After the Presidential election, the MDC adopted the re-run agenda coupled with a court challenge to the results of the election. Today, the re-run agenda has died a natural death as it has become clear that no such event will take place. Yet another battle lost.

Realising the death of the re-run agenda, the MDC now emphasises dialogue with ZANU PF as the only viable way to extricate ourselves from the current socio-political and economic crisis. Already we can see that dialogue is being stifled and we are on the verge of losing yet another battle. I just hope we won’t lose the war.

So what next? That is the question. Wait for the next general elections? Under the current constitution and electoral law regime? Oh, please! This is not to ridicule the MDC or to underplay efforts by other civic groups, but simply to demonstrate how false and artificial methodological differences are fragmenting the pro-democracy movement, resulting in loss of crucial political battles to the establishment.

Perceived differences as to procedural issues on how best to deal with the crisis have generated lethal inter-group suspicions and tensions in the progressive movement, and worse still, utter confusion and uncertainty in the people, who don’t seem to know who to listen to anymore. This has shifted the focus from essentials of the struggles to ill-defined philosophical concepts which are both largely irrelevant and vaguely understood by the people.

Just who can be said to be representative of the opinion and aspirations of the masses of Zimbabwean people struggling against the ZANU PF hegemony? Is it the MDC, NCA, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, ZCTU, ZINASU, ZimRIGHTS, ZimCET, ZESN, Zimbabwean Liberators Platform, Transparency International etcetera; is it all of the above? or none of the above? With all due respect, it would appear that some of these organisations’ real concern is to keep themselves going as a group rather than being useful.

In this sort of set-up one sees a perfect example of how the people’s resistance is being fragmented and stifled. Therefore, some opposition leaders and civic leaders are in the ultimate analysis, as guilty of the arrest of political progress as their ZANU PF counterparts for it is from some of them that the theory of gradualism emanates and this is what keeps the masses confused and always hoping that God will step down from heaven to solve their problems. One can rightly say the crisis in this country is in more than one way, a "Crisis of leadership" on both political divides.

A lot of time and energy is spend by leaders of the pro-democracy movement in maintaining artificial methodological differences and in proving that their particular theory is the correct one, thereby being basically dishonest to themselves and to the struggle; to their counterparts and to the masses who are called upon to have faith in such people.

The fact that we have differences of approach should not be allowed to cloud the issue. We have a responsibility not only to ourselves but also to the society from which we spring. No-one else will ever take the challenge up until we, of our own accord, accept the inevitable fact that ultimately the leadership of the masses in this country rests with us. If the current set-up continues, I predict that a time will come when this will prove very costly, not only in terms of money, but also in terms of the story we are trying to sell.

The progressive movement must re-constitute, re-organise, re-invogorate and rejuvenate itself by the creation of a popular front. It is very possible for us to come up with a co-ordinated common action front for the attainment of particular objectives while at the same time remaining structurally autonomous as independent groups, organisationally and even ideologically.

Those of us who advocate for a popular front seek to channel the pent-up forces of the angry Zimbabwean masses to meaningful and directional opposition. We want to ensure a singularity of purpose in the minds of the Zimbabwean people and to make possible total involvement of the masses in a struggle essentially theirs.

The overall analysis, based on the Hegelian theory of dialectic materialism, is as follows: that since the thesis is ZANU PF hegemony there can only be one valid antithesis, that is, a solid block/unity of pro-democrary forces to counterbalance the scale. If Zimbabwe is going to be a democratic country where the ruling party, opposition political parties and civic organisations co-exist in harmony without fear of group exploitation, it is only when these two opposites have interplayed and produced a viable synthesis of ideas and a modus vivendi. We can never wage any struggle successfully without offering a strong counter-point to the ZANU PF hegemony that permeates our society so effectively.

What we should always look at is that:

We are oppressed by the same system
That we are oppressed to varying degrees is a deliberate design to stratify us, not only socio-politically but also in terms of aspirations.
Therefore it is to be expected that in terms of the government’s plan there must be inter-group suspicion and tension within the pro-democracy movement, and if we are committed to the problem of emancipation to the same degree, it is part of our duty to bring to the attention of the masses of our people the deliberateness of the ZANU PF government’s subjugation scheme.

The criterion that must guide all of us is commitment.

      11/21/2003 9:43:03 AM (GMT +2)

      THE report reveals that out of 134 452 recipients allocated land, only
93 800 have taken up the allocated land. One wonders where the figure of 300
000, as persistently claimed by part of the press, is coming from.

      Whereas the take-up is 97 percent in the A1 sector, a paltry 66
percent among the A2 farmers have taken up possession, and a much lower
number are actually making any attempt to physically farm the allocated
properties, resulting in large tracks of Zimbabwe’s best land now lying idle
for the third year.

      Obviously, some people applied for a farm as they believed it would
all be for "mahara"( free of charge) without actually wanting to invest as
much as a dollar of their own money, or to be involved in the tedious task
it is to go farming.

      In my opinion, the main damper on the enthusiasm among many A2
farmers, however, is a total lack of security of tenure. No bank in the
country is willing to accept a letter of offer signed by Joseph Made for as
long as the government has not been able to secure the title deed over the
property.

      According to international law, a title deed overrules any other
document, even if such document is signed by somebody as prominent as the
president of the country. This has recently come to light in Eastern Europe,
where the new communistic rulers in the late 40s often chased the big
farmers off their farms and other registered property and fast-tracked
landless workers onto their property.

      By the fall of the Iron Curtain, and in order to regain recognition by
the international finance community, it now became necessary for those
countries to offer all confiscated properties back to the title deed
holders, or their estates.

      With this situation in mind, it might not be surprising that very few
of the new A2 farmers have been willing to provide security in their posh
town houses, or other valuable property. However, the whole idea in
selecting people with financial means for the A2 sector was that they would
be self financing or have adequate security to approach the private banking
sector and not rely, like the poor A1 farmers, entirely on government aid
and hand- outs.

      In the case of hundreds of commercial farmers still holding on to
their title deeds, but are finding it too risky to plough a few hundred
million Z$ into a new crop for as long as there is imminent danger that some
kind of chefs, in most cases with dubious papers and credentials, but still
exhibiting enough political clout, to chase them off the property, and
"liberate" your standing crop.

      If Zimbabwe is not going to lose this valuable element of human
resources, of proven dedicated and capable farmers, of which the majority
were born here, speaks the local language fluently and are carrying a
Zimbabwe passport, this situation must be redressed as a matter of urgency.

      Many have already gone to neighbouring countries to help revitalise
their agricultural industry. If we want to keep the remaining +- 1 000
experienced commercial and agricultural businessmen here to make their
contribution in turning the tide around again, it is time to act speedily.

      I will now turn to the key note in the report, a semi-autonomous Land
Board, (LB).

      If the right calibre of dedicated professional people, able to keep
cheap party policy and personal interest of any group or individuals out of
the decision making process, are appointed to the board and will merely be
guided by the long time benefit for Zimbabwe and her people, the LB will, in
my opinion, be able to solve the land question within a framework that
basically will be favourable to all Zimbabweans, them being genuine A1 and
A2 farmers, communal and small-scale farmers, agricultural business people,
bankers, all the workers in the country and, not least, the consuming
housewife, because Zimbabwe’s prime land again will be utilised to its best
potential for food production, resulting in shops and markets again being
full to the brim of locally produced commodities at an affordable price.

      Further, if the LB is going to be totally apolitical and transparent,
it will undoubtly become a big hit with the international donor community,
enabling it to bring the whole agricultural industry, and thereby the
national economy, back on a sound footing within the next two years.

      Zimbabwe’s total area is 39 million hectares and out of this, I am
estimating some 25 percent or 10 million hectares being prime land suited
for commercial farming. Our population stands at 13 million, leaving each of
us with a meagre 0,75 hectares if we went along with the philosophy that the
land belongs to all of us, and each and every one must get his fair share.

      Such a move would, however, aggravate the food supply situation and
leave most of the town folks starving. The first task of the LB will,
therefore, be to identify all viable land in the country.

      The next step will be to create a formula under which the LB will
become the legal owner of such land, enabling them to lease it out to
prospective farmers who are able to utilise such land to its best potential
and who are prepared to pay a market related rent to the board. The LB will
actually be fulfilling the role of custodian of the people of Zimbabwe, the
rightful owners of the land and, as such, be obliged to get the best
possible return from such land, both in terms of food security for the
people and a meaningful return in the form of a market-related rent, of
which the revenue must be ploughed back to the poor and less privileged
people. Such sentiments will go down well with the donor community as we are
talking both about food security and poverty alleviation, and as it further
will lead to a tremendous increase in export revenue, enabling us to service
and pay back the loans being granted.

      It is my vision that we would by channelling the land-rent back to the
people through the Rural District Councils (RDCs) and would, by doing so, be
killing two birds with one stone.

      The RDCs have, during the later years, become an absolute farce,
without any funding to carry out any of the social, medical and educational
responsibilities they originally were designed to take care of.

      If allocated a reasonable chunk of the revenue from the LB, they would
again be able to provide the rural folks with a reasonable service and
regain the autonomy from central government they were supposed to have at
their formation.

      It is also my belief that the idea, seen from a traditional and
cultural angle, would be acceptable to the rural folks as any entrepreneur
doing successful business on their forefathers’ land has only got the right
to do so for a limited period of time, and that some of the rural children,
when they have developed the skills and capital to undertake such a project,
would be able to take over a fair share of the land for the next lease
period.

      A market-related rent of 5-10 percent, depending on how much of the
infrastructure is being leased or supplied by the tenant farmer, calculated
on expected revenue from the farm in a normal year would, however, put a
stop to anybody wanting to take up a lease if he is not certain in his mind
that he is going to farm the property to its full potentials.

      The very kingpin such a scheme will be pivoting around is going to be
the lease-contract. It must be absolutely clear — a legal instrument
formulated in a way it can be registered with the Deeds Office as legal
tenure in the period of time for which it is granted. A period of 49 years,
being the norm in Mozambique, sounds fine for most, whereas anything shorter
than a normal farming stint of say 30 years would be totally unacceptable.

      To get this right first time, input from the legal and financial
sector will be paramount, and also from the potential lessees, them being
either individual farmers or corporate agricultural business. In my opinion,
the majority of the commercial farmers now sitting on the fence, clinging on
to their title deeds, would be willing to exchange such title for a properly
constituted lease-contract in order to go back to proper farming here in
Zimbabwe instead of starting afresh leasing a farm in neighbouring
countries.

      For the genuine A2 farmer who more often than not only possesses a
letter of allocation, it would be very attractive to get a legally
constituted lease from the LB and thereby be able to source finance for
infrastructual development such as curing facilities, water development,
greenhouses, milking parlours and not at least, up-to-date professional
consultancy through the LB.

      With regard to the person who has only acquired farms for recreational
or investment purposes but otherwise has no intention of utilising this
prime land to its potential, I am afraid, and most Zimbabwean farmers agree,
that with its limited area of prime land, Zimbabwe cannot afford that sort
of extravagance and such investors will have to find land not classified for
commercial agriculture.

      The brief of an interim committee

      So where do we go from here? Are we, the stakeholders, supposed to
keep on sitting on the fence scratching our back until the politicians have
sorted out their mess and agreed amongst themselves on a new leader for the
ruling party, to wait for the two major parties to come to talking terms
with each other, in order to regain international credibility?

      People are starving; the economy is declining by some 14 percent pr
annum, and most of Zimbabwe’s prime land is not being tilled. The time to
avoid another disaster for the 2003/4 season is now long past and the time
to secure inputs for 2004/ 5 will soon be running out.

      So in order to have the administrative machinery ready as soon as the
political jig-saw puzzle eventually falls in place, I humbly ask you,
Honourable Minister and newly appointed chairman for the Land Steering
Committee, Mr John Nkomo, to act as we are many who feel that you must be
the right man to get the ball rolling.

      Please consider as a matter of urgency the appointment of an
apolitical interim board for the semi-autonomous Land Board, composed of
highly professional people with practical experience in one or more of the
subjects that will be within the area of the LB’s jurisdiction for a period
of three to four months, with the following tasks:

      A). To identify all prime land in Zimbabwe suitable for commercial
farming

      B). By consultation with all the stakeholders, to work out the
framework under which such land will become the legal property of the LB

      C). By consultation with stakeholders and the legal fraternity to work
out a watertight lease-contract protecting the interest of both the lessee
and lessor, and being acceptable to the banking sector as collateral.

      D). Make recommendations how to calculate, charge and collect a market
related rent in order to avoid people leasing any land, or more land than
they have got the capacity to utilise to its full capacity.

      E): Make recommendations how the revenue collected from such land rent
will be benefit unfortunate Zimbabweans not able to take up commercial land.
Should it be distributed through the Rural District Council, Social Welfare
or what?

      F). Make contact with the main donor agencies, possibly starting with
the UNDP and get their input on how and under which circumstances they would
be able and willing to contribute with a meaningful participation in the
form of financing, human resources or other inputs.

      G) To make recommendations on the guidelines in selecting the new
tenant farmers.

      This could be like opening a can of worms, as the criteria are
numerous and we are treading on very emotional ground. Just a few of them
here: Educational standard, practical experience, credit worthiness, age,
citizenship, will the one-farmer, one-farm policy still apply, and further
will an applicant have to take up residence on the farm, or will employment
of a resident manager with the laid down qualifications suffice?

In my opinion, does a question recently raised in the press by legal
professional Peter Kawonde illustrate the complicity of the task: Will a
qualified young agriculturist have preference in his/her own right, for a
professional judge, living in town, wanting to employ the said agriculturist
as a manager?

Imports, food aid cut cereal deficit by 7%

      Zhean Gwaze
      11/21/2003 9:38:08 AM (GMT +2)

      THE government’s commercial imports and food aid have reduced the
total cereal gap for the 2003/04 marketing season by seven percent, the
USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) for the Southern
Africa Development Community has said.

      The gap fell from about 736 559 metric tonnes to about 685 000 metric
tonnes between mid-September and mid-October 2003.

      "Total cereal imports from mid-September to mid-October 2003 are
estimated to be just 53 000 metric tonnes. Planned cereal food aid imports
for the period up to mid-November are less than 20 000 metric tonnes. These
cereal imports reduce the cereal gap for the 2003/04 marketing year by only
seven percent to about 685 000 metric tonnes," the FEWSNET said.

      The food security situation for the remainder of the current marketing
year (until March 2004) is going to remain critical unless the government
and humanitarian agencies are able to increase their food imports and
improve the local transportation of food to needy communities, the early
warning unit said.

      However, the government’s ability to procure more food abroad is
limited by the country’s poor export performance, especially in agriculture.

      This year tobacco failed to reach the $100 million kgs target due to a
poor crop and support price and this further dampened prospects of an
increase in foreign currency inflows.

      Donor agencies like the World Food Programme are suffering from a poor
resource pipeline that can only sustain targeted feeding programmes, and not
general distribution, until December 2003.

      According to FEWSNET, about 200 000 metric tonnes of the 2002/03
agricultural season’s estimated production of just over 800 000 metric
tonnes had been delivered to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) about
mid-October.

      Reports in the state-owned media said that in Mashonaland West
province, about 100 000 tonnes of maize is lying idle because farmers cannot
transport it to the GMB.

      Reports from small-scale farmers throughout the country also indicate
that several hectares of wheat out of the 40 000 hectares planted for the
winter crop have not been harvested due to a shortage of equipment and
diesel.

      This development also further compounds the issue of cereal shortages,
as rains will affect the crop.

      FEWSNET also noted that the food crisis is being worsened by runaway
inflation, reduced employment opportunities and low incomes.

      "As the 2002/03 agricultural season’s meagre harvest is being
consumed, many more households are without food and the price of maize on
the parallel market has increased significantly, whenever it is available."

      11/21/2003 9:46:33 AM (GMT +2)

      MORE than a week ago, I stumbled on the ZTV Programme FACE THE NATION
on which the Minister of Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation
was being interviewed on the subject of the controversial National Youth
Service Training Programme.

      Thinking that the minister would take advantage of the interview to
respond to the many troubling questions that have been raised and allay the
fears that have been expressed over the long-term ramifications of the
scheme, I settled down to watch.

      But — no prizes for guessing — I was inevitably disappointed. Host
Masimba Musarira asked one or two important questions but failed to press
the minister for specifics after Manyika gave the usual stock answers
describing the initiative as a way to "teach youths about our history and
where we came from".

      When Musarira asked why it had only become imperative to embark on the
programme now and not at independence, the minister did a verbal tango,
which allowed him to get away with evasive party mantras about patriotism
etc.

      Manyika boasted that 13 000 youths had so far graduated from training
centres and were involved in various projects. I thought he made an
interesting revelation when he said: "We can account for 99 percent of our
graduates."

      This was in response to a question about the nationwide perception
that the "Green Bombers", as these youths are notoriously known, were
responsible for various heinous acts that have caused anguish in different
parts of Zimbabwe.

      Predictably, Musarira once again did not probe to establish what had
happened to the one percent of the graduates that were not accounted for.
One percent of 13 000 is quite a significant figure considering the kind of
atrocities these youths have been accused of perpetrating throughout the
country. Manyika should not have been allowed to wriggle out without
explaining why any of the youths cannot be accounted for in a programme that
is supposed to be so noble, well thought out and carefully implemented. I
smell a rat.

      Despite Manyika’s attempt to paint a glowing picture, reports
indicating that all is not well with this misnamed programme persist.

      A Sunday paper, The Standard, published a story in its issue of
October 12 indicating that the chickens may be coming home to roost much
sooner than feared with respect to this human time bomb.

      The paper reported that the National Youth Service Training Programme
was being blamed for an upsurge in cases of sexually transmitted diseases at
the Kamativi Training Centre in Matabeleland North. The Standard quoted an
official from Manyika’s Ministry as saying that drug and alcohol abuse was
rampant at the centre.

      "These youths need to be counselled when they leave this centre. They
have been subjected to a life of drugs and have been trained to be killers,"
he said. Despite Manyika’s preference to bury his head in the sand, there is
no doubt that by teaching these young people to lead a life of reckless
disregard for the rights of others, drug abuse, debauchery and lawless
militancy, the government is concocting a lethal cocktail of future
troubles.

      Apart from being unconcerned about how this group of anti-social young
people will be rehabilitated once sanity is restored in this land, I bet
Manyika has never considered the ramifications of having alleged rapists on
the government payroll in this era of AIDS.

      It would be catastrophic enough if the harvest of death to be reaped
down the road were limited to the marauding youths themselves. But even as
we speak, HIV is spreading silently among countless of their victims. What
kind of national service is this, I would like to know?

      One of Manyika’s favourite defences of the "Green Bombers" is to argue
that Zimbabwe is not the first country to have such a set-up. What he
neglects to say is that national youth service programmes like the one we
have in this country are a euphemism for violent militias recruited mostly
to suppress dissent in dictatorial environments.

      Mao Tse Tung had his Red Guards during his Cultural Revolution, Hitler
set up the SS (Schutz-Staffel), a paramilitary organisation within the Nazi
party providing Hitler’s bodyguard and concentration camp guards. Kamuzu
Banda had the Young Pioneers to buttress his tyranny after he had declared
himself Life President and turned Malawi into a police state.

      The fact is that youth militias have rarely metamorphosed into a
permanent, positive force in society beyond the reign of the usually
authoritarian regime they serve.

      In fact, they are one of the first evils to go once a new political
dispensation comes into force.

      China no longer has Red Guards and European men now in their 70s are
still haunted and still trying to live down the shame of their involvement
in Hitler’s SS during the holocaust. The young Pioneers faded into history
with the end of Kamuzu Banda’s dictatorship.

      In Spain, the Movimiento, dictator Francisco Franco’s principal
instrument for the control of political thought, had to be dismantled when
King Juan Carlos ascended to the throne in 1977 and set about establishing
democratic rule.

      I could quote countless other examples but the ones cited above
demonstrate beyond doubt the transient nature of militias.

      What should concern Manyika and the rest of his colleagues in
government is whether extending their hold on power that little bit longer
justifies the catastrophe they are setting in motion through the
exploitation of these young people.

      Some churches and civic organisations have called for the dismantling
of the National Youth Service Programme so that rehabilitation of the
participants can begin now. That these calls have fallen on deaf ears is a
tragedy in itself.

The lines for basic foodstuffs and bank notes have disappeared in Zimbabwe,
at least for the time being, after the government took emergency measures.
But, the lines of people wanting to leave the crisis-ridden country are
getting longer.
At the British High Commission in Harare, an official says more than 100
visa applications are processed daily. Two thirds of the visa requests are
granted.

So many Zimbabweans have moved to London that they have started calling it
Harare-North.

The British government responded to the increased number of Zimbabweans
wanting to go to Britain by introducing a visa regime in 2002.

For many of the would-be emigrants, economics was the main motivation, as
they tried to flee the country's deepening economic crisis. But for many
others, the government's policies toward the press, the political opposition
and human rights activists led them to seek political asylum.

The British government charged that some of those leaving Zimbabwe under the
guise of seeking political asylum were actually trying to move to Britain
for economic reasons.

Zimbabweans are also heading to other destinations.

Many try to go to South Africa. But the legal process has gotten more
difficult, with tightened visa procedures, including a requirement that the
applicant have a sufficient amount of South African currency, which is very
hard to get in Zimbabwe.

But the visa regulations mean little to thousands of Zimbabweans who risk
life and limb by wading across the crocodile-infested Limpopo River, which
forms the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe. The illegal immigrants
end up working on farms, or doing other badly paid menial jobs in South
Africa.

The South African Department of Home Affairs told the online news service
CNS News that the police arrest about 300 illegal Zimbabwean immigrants
every day.

Another popular destination is Botswana, where Zimbabweans do not need a
visa for short-term entry. Thousands are abusing the privilege by
overstaying the dates on their entry stamps to look for work. Many just walk
across the border. According to the London-based newsletter ZW-News report,
the Botswana immigration department says 125,000 Zimbabweans cross into
Botswana every month.

The Botswana government is putting up an electrified fence along the border.
The fence is seen as an attempt to contain the 'border jumpers,' as the
illegal immigrants are known.

But the Botswana government says it is more worried about another kind of
'border jumper' from Zimbabwe. The government says the fence is designed to
prevent Zimbabwean animals from crossing the border, and potentially
infecting its herds with foot and mouth disease. There have been some
outbreaks of the disease on the Zimbabwean side of the border, and beef is
one of Botswana's biggest foreign currency earners.

Financial Gazette (Harare)

November 21, 2003
Posted to the web November 21, 2003

Givemore Nyanhi
Harare

ANOTHER severe cash crisis is looming and is expected to hit the country by
Christmas this year as government fails to douse the flames of runaway
inflation, analysts said this week.

Speaking at a labour relations briefing organised by the Institute of
Personnel Management of Zimbabwe (IPMZ) John Robertson, an economic
consultant, said that when prices double, the amount of cash in circulation
should also double to offset any shortages in money supply.

"There was about $100 billion in circulation in June this year, prices
doubled in September and cash circulation did not double to offset any
shortages, prices are more likely to double this December and again there
are no major plans to address the shortages," Robertson said.

Robertson said: "In 1997, consumer prices doubled after 44 months; in 2000,
they doubled after 16 months and in 2002, doubled after seven months. This
shows a steady decline in the value of the Zimbabwe dollar."

John Makumbe, Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) chairman, speaking
at a separate conference held by the corruption watchdog in Harare last
week, said that asset stripping by people in power would go on eroding the
economy of this country if an independent anti-corruption commission was not
set up.

"With the parallel market booming and with the people in power responsible
for the nation's welfare benefiting from the system, it is very clear that
the cash crisis will return to haunt us by Christmas," he said.

Makumbe said the forced land reform programme had effectively led to assets
loosing their original value.

Zimbabwe is still recovering from the effects of the cash shortages that hit
the country for over three months charac-terised by an acute shortage of
bank notes and long winding queues that brought most businesses to a halt.

      LABOUR and civic leaders released from police detention yesterday are
expected to meet today to discuss their future course of action, according
to Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary general Wellington
Chibhebhe.

      More than 80 heads of civic and labour organisations were arrested on
Tuesday for planning mass demonstrations to protest high taxation, worsening
poverty and human rights abuses.

      Chibhebhe said the organisations would meet to determine if they could
proceed with their mass protests, which were thwarted by the police early
this week.

      A Harare magistrate yesterday freed some of the protesters on free
bail.

      ZCTU officials said their release was delayed by confusion within the
police and state attorneys about what charges to bring against them.

      Some members of the group were told on Wednesday they would be charged
with the lesser offence of obstructing traffic in downtown Harare.

Financial Gazette (Harare)

November 21, 2003
Posted to the web November 21, 2003

Givemore Nyanhi
Harare

ZIMBABWE'S young Internet café industry continues to grow even under tight
economic conditions as more people turn to the Internet, the cheapest means
of communication.

"Most of our patrons are teachers, nurses and people looking for greener
pastures abroad as the cost of living becomes too expensive in the country,"
said a worker for a leading Internet café in the city centre. In Harare
alone, the numbers of Internet service cafés has shot up incredibly over the
past two years.

Internet provides the easiest and cheapest way of communicating between
Zimbabweans in the country and their relatives who have fled Zimbabwe's
worsening political and economic morass as the telephone and postal charges
become unaffordable.

Harare boasts of over 20 thriving Internet cafés, and others hidden in the
backrooms of most buildings, that are making brisk business everyday with
the prospect of more cafés opening soon.

Some of the major cyber cafés in the city centre include Quick n' Easy,
InTouch, DC Africa, Telco and the state operated ComOne.

"It is easy to tell that the rise in Internet use has a lot to do with the
mass exodus of locals leaving for greener pastures. The easiest way of
keeping in touch is through the Internet and it will remain like this for so
long as the unstable economic and political situation degenerates," said one
Quick n' Easy worker.

Last year, Zimbabwe was recorded among the top 11 countries with substantial
Internet usage with more than 35 000 dial-up Internet subscribers who have
accounts with the country's more than five internet service providers
(ISPs). Some of these Internet service providers are Africaonline, Ecoweb,
Telconet, Zimbabwe Online, Zimweb and ComOne.

The charge for sending or receiving an electronic message swings between $10
and $30 a minute and all cafés allow subscribers to spend a minimum of 10
minutes while an international call costs around $500 per minute.

Some cafés have come up with customer friendly packages that allow
subscribers to become members if they pay for more than 10 hours in advance
and then enjoy special discount rates and more surfing time.

Quick n' Easy Internet café with three cafes in and around the city centre
is tightlipped about its operations but it is reliably understood that the
hugely successful company is owned by a consortium of businessmen with
connections in South Africa.

However, experts in the field revealed that although cafés were enjoying
brisk business, the country was unlikely to go on experiencing new entrants
since the current economic regime was becoming highly restrictive as the
costs of computers skyrocket.

A new computer now costs around $4 million and the prices fluctuate on a
daily basis.

Zimbabwe Internet Service Providers Association (ZISPA) chairman Shadreck
Nkala said in terms of public access to the Internet, Zimbabwe was far ahead
of South Africa.

" Zimbabwe only lags behind South Africa because their telecommunications
network is bigger than ours, hence more companies subscribe to the Internet
while in Zimbabwe the figure is less," Nkala said.

He said, however, on the public sphere, there was more public Internet use
relying on the small number of Internet service providers. "There has been a
very dramatic upsurge in the number of public Internet users and the trend
is likely to keep on rising," he said.

There are over four million Internet users in Africa, with the bulk of them,
over 60 percent, found in Zimbabwe and South Africa alone while North Africa
accounts for more than 250 000, and the reminder in the other 50 countries
on the continent.

Financial Gazette (Harare)

November 21, 2003
Posted to the web November 21, 2003

Zhean Gwaze
Harare

ZIMBABWE'S agricultural sector is expected to decline by as much as 50
percent next year unless stability is restored to the industry, which forms
the country's economic backbone.

Agriculture accounts for 40 percent of Zimbabwe's economy and provides at
least 60 percent of the inputs used in the manufacturing sector.

The government has made it clear that it does not have sufficient funds to
finance the 2003/04 agricultural season, brewing a cloud of uncertainty
despite predictions of a favourable rain season by the Meteorological
Srevice.

New and old farmers are still struggling to acquire seed, fertiliser and
fuel, one month after the beginning of the cropping season.

Economic analysts and farmers' representatives have urged the government to
come up with strategic policies to turn around the sector before it faces
total collapse.

"There are prospects that the sector will fall by that margin because there
is no fuel, seed and fertiliser to enable farming to commence this year,"
said economic consultant John Robertson.

"Instead the government has been giving out $200 000 to A1 and A2 model
farmers to procure inputs which are not available. Eventually, the farmers
will convert the money to personal use and the vicious circle of poverty
continues. It all adds up to absolute disaster."

Receipts from tobacco, which were meant to breathe new life into the
country's foreign currency situation, have plummeted by 51 percent compared
to last year.

Tobacco, which is geared for the manufactured international leaf market, has
been Zimbabwe's single largest export earner, contributing a third of the
nation's annual foreign exchange receipts.

But already the 2002/2003 tobacco season ended on a low key with a total 81
million kgs of the flue-cured crop valued at about US$183 million (about
$151.5) being sold at the auction floors compared to about double the
previous season.

Commercial Farmers' Union president Douglas Taylor-Freeme added:
"Agriculture is no longer producing meaningful exports and very soon other
sectors will outdo its performance."

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network has warned that the country would
produce less than 66 percent of its food requirements of 1.2 million metric
tonnes due to input shortages.

Fertiliser companies have issued a joint statement that they will not be
able to meet demand because of shortage of foreign currency to procure raw
materials.

The country's wheat production has declined to less than 150 000 tonnes
against a national requirement of 400 000 tonnes. The land reform programme
caused the demand for fertiliser to shoot up from 400 000 tonnes to one
million.

The government, which is faced with the task of importing adequate medical
drugs, needs to import in excess of 30 000 tonnes of seed to augment local
supplies. Seed costs about US$2 000 a tonne.

"The farmers will produce one of the worst crops. Those who manage to
harvest will not enjoy the fruits of their labour as the crop will be
stolen," Robertson warned.

The national herd is also said to have dwindled from 5.1 million in 1998 to
250 000 this year due to drought, foot-and-mouth disease, shortages of stock
feeds and loss of stock by most farmers due to the land reform programme.

Officials from the Cattle Producers' Association said that most farmers
could not afford to restock because they could not afford to buy stock
feeds, which were pegged at about $750 000 per tonne and cost up to $2
million to import.

Zimbabwe, a key exporter of beef to the lucrative European Union market, has
since stopped exporting beef to the economic bloc and regional countries
because of the prevalence of the deadly foot-and-mouth disease.

The country is still exporting limited beef to the Democratic Republic of
the Congo although the export figures are not clear.

Indigenous Commercial Farmers' Union president Davidson Mugabe said it was
imperative for the government to put in place policies that would ensure
viability to both farmers and co-industry players.

"The agricultural sector should be handled in a holistic manner. The
government should come up with policies that ensure that every player in the
sector is satisfied while at the same time production is being maximised,"
said Mugabe.

The cotton industry, which earned US$150 million in foreign exchange
receipts last year, is faced with collapse as the government dithers in
placing measures to safeguard the interests of major players in the sector.

The Cotton Company of Zimbabwe and FSI Agricom applied to the government to
place a regulatory framework for the industry to curb against side
marketing.

Lands and Agriculture Minister Joseph Made has not responded, a move that is
bound to reduce the number of cotton producers as the major players have
threatened to withdraw funding.

Made was not immediately available for comment.

Another economist said: "We will struggle to get through this year, and we
will continue experiencing scarcities in essential imports due to shortages
of foreign currency."

Farmers unions' presidents said they were looking forward to an early
announcement of an increased support price when Finance Minister Herbert
Murerwa presents the 2004 budget on November 20.

"The immediate review of the support price will return faith among growers
and confidence among investors," one farmers' union leader said.

"The government should put experienced farmers back on the land because
issuing agri-bonds that are not being bought does not add value to the
sector," one economist said.

Agri-bonds are money market instruments being used by the government to
raise money for resettled farmers.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe may or may not have squeezed his way into
the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) set for Abuja, Nigeria,
early next month after talks with Chogm host President Olusegun Obasanjo
this week.

But his attendance is irrelevant to the real struggle going on inside the
country, say Mugabe watchers.

A day after Obasanjo’s visit, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
and its civic partners took to the streets to protest continued human rights
abuses and the deteriorating economic situation — one that has seen
inflation rise to 525% (see story below), unemployment to 80% and a foreign
currency crisis that has led to a clampdown on illegal forex and gold
dealers but without netting sufficient forex resources for fuel and other
requirements. A paltry $2-million worth of forex is said to have been
received in early November, while about 40% of the gold being produced is
currently coming in.

The demonstration led to more than 400 arrests, including those of top ZCTU
and civic group leaders who were charged with violating the notorious Public
Order and Security Act, which seeks to stifle perceived anti-Mugabe protests
by requiring that they receive police sanction. There were reports of
beatings by police during the arrests and these, the ZCTU said, demonstrated
the continuing internal crisis.
Said Colin Gwiyo, the deputy secretary general of the ZCTU: “The demo takes
our message further. Abuja is not a big issue. With or without Obasanjo,
human rights are being violated. Whatever happens, the situation is here,
now.”

The ZCTU has called for a two-day strike on November 21 and 22 to demand the
release of those arrested. The start of the strike will coincide with
Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa’s Budget speech.

More protests are planned for Human Rights Day on December 10, when the
crisis is expected to have worsened. The protesters are also expected to
target the National Youth Service Programme believed to be churning out
youths responsible for much of the election violence.

Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth for a year after Mugabe’s March
2002 presidential election victory, dubbed fraudulent by the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the Commonwealth and Western
nations, but largely endorsed by Asian and African countries.

The suspension has remained in place because of reports of continued human
rights abuses such as those reportedly perpetrated against demonstrators
this week. However, Mugabe still views Zimbabwe’s suspension as “a racist
plot” cooked up by the white Commonwealth because of his seizure of
white-owned farm land.
Mugabe’s attendance at Chogm is still far from certain, however.

Although he confidently informed the state media “we look forward to
attending Chogm, Abuja”, Obasanjo was more circumspect. After talks with
Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai he announced that he would seek
wider consultation before a decision could be taken on Zimbabwe’s
attendance.

Professor Heneri Dzinotyiwei of the University of Zimbabwe said: “It’s not
obvious, really, that he [Mugabe] will be invited. It’s still very much
hanging in the air, but [President Thabo] Mbeki and Obasanjo would wish for
Zimbabwe’s problems to be settled internally rather than externally.” He
added that it would be to the MDC’s advantage to focus on the internal
crisis.

MDC party spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi said Mugabe’s attendance at Chogm
was of “no consequence”, that the real struggle the MDC was concerned with
was “for the people of Zimbabwe” and the “piles and piles of applications”
it was receiving daily were testimony to the party’s growing popularity
among the people.
He said the MDC was continuing as before and nothing had changed. “Mugabe’s
attendance is not the issue [the issue is] rather the inflation, the
unemployment, the fact that one in three have no access to anti-retrovirals
and the government’s failure to provide maize seed. These are the issues of
immediate concern, not Abuja, which is 6 000km away,” he said, adding that
his party had in no way been weakened by the Obasanjo visit.

The state-owned Herald newspaper reported that Obasanjo had in talks with
Mugabe mentioned that he had witnessed a “changed, mellow” Tsvangirai.
However, when contacted for comment, Tsvangirai denied that he was softening
towards the idea of a government of national unity and insisted that the MDC
would continue as before with its court challenge: “How can there be a
government of national unity when we have not negotiated?” he asked.

The MDC’s court petition against Mugabe’s 2002 election victory began on
November 3, but was temporarily put on hold the following day to give the
judge time to study the initial submissions.

David Coltart, the MDC secretary for legal affairs, believes that it was
placed before the courts “overwhelming arguments. There is no other peaceful
lawful action at our disposal. As we’ve said in the past, if there’s
meaningful progress, we will consider suspending the court proceedings, and
if the discussions yield a final agreement which is irreversible and
endorsed by the international community”. — Africa Media Online