The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
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BBC
 
Friday, 22 November, 2002, 17:36 GMT
Party test for Zimbabwe civil servants
A grandmother feeds donated bread to her family in Zimbabwe
Zanu-PF is accused of denying aid to opposition supporters
By Lewis Machipisa
BBC correspondent in Harare
Zimbabwe's government is looking at ways in which it can ensure that only "patriotic Zimbabweans" work for the civil service.

According to the country's Public Service Commission, anyone working for or wanting to join the civil service will be tested on their level of loyalty to the ruling Zanu-PF party.

Perspective entrants who fail the test will not be employed. Those who are already employed could be dismissed.

This latest move adds to criticism already levelled at the Zimbabwean Government, which has recently been in the news for denying food aid to starving opposition supporters.

Half the country's population is currently in need of urgent help.

Stringent criteria

According to Ray Ndhlukula, Secretary of the Public Service Commission, there are too many people working in the civil service who are not committed to the ruling party and government.

President Robert Mugabe
President Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has already been heavily criticised
This, said Mr Ndhlukula, cannot continue - hence the new stringent tests beginning next year.

Mr July Moyo, Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, is already said to have submitted proposals to the government to introduce measures to assess the suitability of those wanting to join the civil service.

The same measures for joining are also likely to apply for promotion purposes.

Details of how the assessment will be conducted have not yet been given.

But for the estimated 160,000 civil servants, including teachers and nurses, it may be prudent to buy a ruling party card and start practising the party slogans to remain employed.

Recalling names of senior Zanu-PF officials may be an added advantage.

'Political witch-hunt'

The new measures have not gone down well with the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), or some civil servants.

Two government workers told the BBC the new measures would fail as they would simply fake support for the ruling party.

According to Pauline Mpariwa, the MDC's Secretary for Labour and Social Security, the move is merely a political witch-hunt exercise, aimed at getting rid of opposition supporters.

Ms Mpariwa said civil servants must be loyal to the nation and not to a political party.

The government has also recently introduced a national service for youths.

From next year, no student will be allowed into government tertiary colleges before undergoing a six-month training exercise which critics say is little less than military training.

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Zim Independent

Letters

The case for JAG

JAG came onto the scene after a major fallout within the CFU council. JAG's
position was that to continue seeking consensus through dialogue with an
unreceptive government was pointless. Therefore JAG was formed to represent
the interests of dispossessed farmers by fighting for justice and
restitution through the courts.

After coming into being, the founding members were quick to realise that to
be effective, JAG had to be much more than a debt-collecting agency for
evicted white farmers.


When JAG took stock of its position it realised it had to dialogue with, and
appeal to, a wide range of Zimbabwean society. The old formula pursued by
the CFU and ZTA of engaging the government was an exhausted option. A new
mindset and perspective needed to come into play, one free of arrogance and
of colonial guilt.


We must recognise that the freehold ownership of land does have an emotional
and colonial resonance in the minds of many old members in our society. This
linking of land ownership with racial dominance is being used by Zanu PF in
pursuit of its own scurrilous objectives. It is part of JAG's wider focus to
engage in dialogue with the modern-thinking democratic section of Zimbabwean
civic society in order to dispel this outdated concept. We wish to put
forward our views and receive their views on the need for a thriving,
broad-based vision for agriculture - to discuss the importance of
agriculture as a prime component of a modern and prosperous economy. The
principle and practice of agriculture based on freehold title is for the
benefit of all Zimbabweans.


To this end, JAG has been accepted as a member of the Crisis Coalition and
is a signatory to the Freedom Charter. By so doing we have publicly
committed ourselves to support the commitment to freedom, democracy and
accountable governance.


Our core business still remains the revival and restructuring of
agriculture, but we present our case against a background of national
interest and in a morally reputable way.


The setting up of a computerised data base to record the losses of
individual farmers will be of great assistance when the time comes for any
new government to present its case to the IMF and World Bank.


JAG is also in the business of marketing hope. It is our belief that when
democracy and good governance come into being, evicted farmers will be
encouraged and assisted to return to their farms. The task of rebuilding the
Zimbabwean economy will require faith and enduring courage. But JAG will not
enter dialogue with the present vicious and repressive government for
sectoral advantage.


Bruce Gemmill,

Harare.
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Zim Independent - Eric Bloch Column

Economic collapse now inevitable
THE Zimbabwean economy has been languishing at death's door for some
considerable time, it becoming progressively weaker and weaker. The tragedy
has been that none was willing to give it the care and attention necessary
to restore it to wellbeing. It has, over the five years since late 1997,
become increasingly frail and debilitated, its very evident ill-health
failing to motivate any remedial attention from those who could and should
have been concerned at its devastating condition and the potential
catastrophic consequences upon those dependent upon the economy. Instead of
nursing the economy back to strength, they afflicted and burdened it with
ever greater ills.

So severe was the economy's decline that all Zimbabweans anxiously awaited
the presentation of the 2003 budget, hoping against hope that government
would, albeit belatedly, recognise that urgent admission of the economy into
intensive care was vital and that, following such admission, the economy
must be diligently ministered to, and nurtured, until it was again fit, and
able to support all reliant upon it.

As the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Herbert Murerwa
commenced his Budget Statement to a packed parliament on November 14, not
only was his every word listened to by every parliamentarian, but in almost
every corner of Zimbabwe the populace had its attention glued to radios or
television sets in order to hear that which would decree either moves
towards economic recovery, or a further disastrous collapse of the few
remaining prospects of a return to well-being.

And, as the Budget Statement commenced, hopes were momentarily raised, for
almost immediately the minister demonstrated awareness of his patient's
distressed condition, and the need to address it. Within seconds he recorded
that "The country is facing severe socio-economic difficulties. Their
magnitude requires urgent corrective action to avert further deterioration."
He highlighted the massive challenges to the survival of the economy, saying
that in response to those challenges "measures aimed at bringing about the
necessary macro-economic stability, increased economic production and
exporting will be critical".

Having evaluated the symptoms of shortages of basic commodities, frequent
price adjustments, low foreign exchange availability, huge macro-economic
imbalances, high inflation levels, declining savings, investment and output,
and escalating fiscal deficits, he accurately interpreted those symptoms in
order to arrive at a diagnosis that Zimbabwe was afflicted with a cascading
economic decline. Then he considered how that decline could be halted, and
how the symptoms could be treated.

In doing so, he very correctly noted that the required treatments would
necessarily have to be administered by a specialist physician and not a
general practitioner, saying that "the private sector has to resume its role
as the main engine of economic growth". At this stage, most who were
anxiously listening to every word began to hope that the greatest health
hurdle had been overcome, for not only was the disease recognised, but so
too was the identification of who should treat it.

What at that stage was not realised was that rendition of the critically
needed treatment would not be forthcoming, for whilst demonstrating his
awareness that the private sector should necessarily be the principal engine
of economic growth, he immediately thereafter derailed the engine by
removing the tracks.

In fairness, one must assume that, in the light of his long-proven very
considerable intellect and substantial knowledge of the fundamentals of
economics and of fiscal considerations, his actions in removing the rails
upon which the engine of recovery had to move must have been at the dictates
of his superiors and colleagues who have repeatedly evidenced adherence to
destructive economic policies and disregard for realities. Be that as it may
be, he did displace those rails, the first of which is the need for
international acceptability, founded upon international judgemental norms
instead of those which Zimbabwe may see fit to deem acceptable.

He said that he had "to dispel negative perceptions that Zimbabwe does not
adequately guarantee property rights - critical for confidence and private
investment the world over". Then he said that "government recognises that
Zimbabwe is an integral part of the global economy and has always respected
internationally recognised rules which govern property rights."

This evoked guffaws of disbelief, derisive laughter from opposition benches,
which were repeated when he compounded the unbelievable by saying that "we
will continue to ensure that property rights are respected", qualifying that
statement by adding "in accordance with the laws of Zimbabwe". That
qualification is a contradiction of the earlier reference to
"internationally recognised rules". Over 4 000 commercial farmers can give
undeniable evidence rebutting any allegation of respect for property rights.

However, most catastrophic of all was the announcement that corporate
foreign currency accounts can no longer exist. With immediate effect,
exporters have to surrender 50% of all export revenues to the Reserve Bank,
converted at the official rates which give no recognition to effective
inflation over the past two years of 347%, the exchange rates having been
fixed since August 2000, and the consumer price index upon which the
inflation rate is based having risen from 527,7 in September 2000 to 2 357,7
in September this year. Exporters cannot price competitively when such
hyperinflation prevails, and have only survived as a result of exchange
gains realised in the parallel market.

In addition, the remaining 50% of export proceeds must also be surrendered
to the Reserve Bank, to be held to the order of the exporter, but only being
released for usage related to an as yet unspecified priority list. Thus, the
parallel market is dead, and the result will be the death of most export
operations (unless incentives still to be announced by the Reserve Bank will
be of a nature and extent to compensate fully for the loss of parallel
market exchange rate premiums). Furthermore, all enterprises reliant upon
imports of a nature that will not qualify under the priorities list will
also face demise.

The collapse of most export operations will exacerbate the lack of foreign
exchange which already severely constrains the economy and imposes intense
hardships upon most Zimbabweans. (The good news is that Zimbabwe will no
longer have petrol queues; the bad news is that Zimbabwe will no longer have
petrol!). The massively reduced inflows of foreign exchange will affect all
sectors of society, impacting upon transport, energy, health delivery
resources, production of essential commodities and so forth.

They will stimulate the established black market which thrives in an
environment of shortages, thereby fuelling inflation even further. (There is
a marked disparity between inflation projections for 2003 of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and of government as stated in the Budget
Statement. The former projection is 522,2%, whilst the latter is 96,1%. Both
projections will undoubtedly be wrong, but all indications are that,
unfortunately, the IMF projection is likely to be closer to the mark).

With almost all enterprises, whether exporters or import-reliant, condemned
to closure or liquidation, the present unemployment of over 70% of the
population will worsen sharply, reducing consumer spending power
substantially, thereby forcing the failure of yet more businesses.
Government revenues from direct and indirect taxes must fall significantly
from projected levels, whilst its expenditures will soar due to high
inflation. It will be driven to heavy borrowings, funded by Reserve Bank
printing of money, which will force inflation still higher.

Economic death is now inevitable unless either government matches its new
measures with simultaneous, meaningful currency devaluation, followed by
further exchange rate adjustments in synergy with inflation, or provides
exporters with incentives equating to such devaluations. Watch this column
for further negatives in this year's disastrous Budget Statement!
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Daily News

      Moyo accused of covering up plight of farm workers

      11/22/02 9:01:53 AM (GMT +2)


      Staff Reporter

      JUSTICE for Agriculture (JAG) has vehemently objected to a statement
by the Minister of State for Information and Publicity in the President's
Office, Jonathan Moyo, that there were no displaced farm workers in the
country. Moyo's statement was published in the government mouthpiece, The
Herald, on 19 November.



      A spokesperson for JAG said in a statement yesterday that Moyo was
either misinformed, or was deceiving the public to cover up the devastating
effect of the government's chaotic land redistribution exercise. "Since its
formation in June 2002, Justice for Agriculture has been actively involved
with like-minded organisations in alleviating the impact the land
redistribution exercise has had on tens of thousands of farm labourers who
have lost their jobs and homes in the free-for-all land grab", the JAG
spokesmen said. "One only has to look at the increased number of homeless
people in the towns, or take a short drive into the countryside to see that
a great number of former farm labourers are now destitute." JAG said there
were 4 100 commercial farms operating in Zimbabwe at the beginning of 2000,
but today, there were no more than 700, and most were running at a
considerably reduced capacity.

      There was a deficit of 3 400 farms whose workers were no longer able
to earn a living as before, estimated to be about 200 000 in all. Their
entire families had been deprived of a source of income. JAG said: "These
people form part of the 6,7 million people in dire need of food assistance
in Zimbabwe, since they are usually dependent on the evicted farmers for the
provision of food. A large portion of the remainder of starving or seriously
hungry people are those who were encouraged to settle on farms, but have not
been given the necessary inputs over the last year to grow food for
themselves over the last year as promised by government."

      In terms of physical displacement, there could be as many as 200 000
people and their dependants forced to leave the farms and find an
alternative place to stay. Some had been able to return to their traditional
homes, but a large number had either forfeited this right by their continued
absence, or did not have communal homes to return to. In particular, farm
workers of foreign descent, historically marginalised by the government,
were left without any possibility of finding a home or employment. This was
noticeable on the ground - many regions had reported there was a steady flow
of people drifting into the area looking for a place to stay.

      JAG said it felt compelled to comment on Moyo's statement because it
was concerned for the former workers. "If the government refuses to
acknowledge their existence, despite the overwhelming evidence available,
then how are we and other concerned groups able to advocate for relief and
assistance to these innocent victims of the land programme?" the
spokesperson said.
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Zim Independent

Lack of good governance cause of Zim's deepening crisis - Mogae
Blessing Zulu
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has come under fire from his Botswana counterpart,
Festus Mogae, denting claims that all African leaders are behind his
policies that have led the nation into an unprecedented crisis. Mogae was
speaking in an interview with the London-based African Business magazine.



Mogae said the crisis Zimbabwe was facing was difficult to solve because it
represented a drought of good governance.


"It is (a) drought of good governance that is much more difficult because
you have neighbours like Zimbabwe," Mogae said in the November issue.


"We try to engage them. We are not the United Kingdom, we are not the United
States, we are not the European Union. We are just their neighbour. There
are 14 million of them, there are less than two million of us.


"We say if we were you this is the way we would have done it and it would be
preferable if there was less controversy about land reform which we
support," he said.


Mogae said the crisis in Zimbabwe had created problems for his country.

"We have a lot of illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe," he said. "There are
also those who are authorised to come here officially. Some of them are
teachers, builders and nurses. We constructed some security fences,
enclosures to hold the illegal immigrants. Journalists came, photographed
them and said there are concentration camps in Botswana!" said Mogae.


"We tried to explain these were not. These are just waiting places where,
while we make arrangements with the authorities on the other side, we can
look after them. What can we do? This is a humanitarian crisis. We are
trying to handle it as humanely as possible. But within the limits of our
capacity, of our resources. We have no choice," said Mogae.


Commenting on the trouble in the Democratic Republic of Congo, West Africa
and southern Africa's drought, Mogae said this could be overcome.

"Drought is not something entirely new, it frequently visits southern
Africa," he said. "Possibly next year, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and
Mozambique will continue to be severely affected and experience food
shortages. But with the generous assistance of the international community
we should be able to survive."


Mogae also took a swipe at Mugabe's ally Sam Nujoma of Namibia on his views
on Europe. Nujoma at the World Summit on Sustainable Development caused a
stir when he said Europe should "stop lecturing Africans and acting like
colonialists".


"I do not think the majority of people share President Nujoma's views, or
style or rhetoric because I think the majority see the EU as a model to be
imitated," Mogae said. "But the idea is that we try to look at the way they
have been doing it. But then, they are very rich and powerful and we are
poor and small, fragmented states."
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Daily News

      Gap between rich, poor continues to widen

      11/22/02 8:08:02 AM (GMT +2)


      By Colleen Gwari Business Reporter

      DRIVING along major roads in the northern suburbs one sees such huge,
spacious houses, that first-time visitors might be forgiven for mistaking
Harare's affluent suburbs for Hollywood in California, United States of
America.



      Regrettably, the multi-million-dollar houses have turned the former
farming community into Glen Lorne, Borrowdale Brooke, the Grange and
Chishawasha Hills. While the emerging rich and powerful class of indigenous
Zimbabweans is building multi-million-dollar, luxurious houses, their
colleagues, relatives and comrades-in-arms are living in poverty and squalor
in Chitungwiza, Epworth, Hatcliffe, Mbare and Mufakose.

      Life in these high-density areas is miserable, with the majority of
households grappling with food shortages, blocked sewer pipes and of late,
transport blues. The gap between the rich and poor in Zimbabwe continues to
widen, with the emergent affluent class living in the lap of luxury. The
sharp contrast between the rich and poor has been described by many analysts
as a threat to stability. Prices for houses in most low-density suburbs
range from anything above $20 million to $900 million.

      A snap survey conducted by The Daily News Business Desk showed that
while the country was hit by a severe shortage of foreign currency, most
building materials for houses in the northern suburbs are imported. Edison
Muvingi, a property valuer and manager, said it was disheartening to note
that events over the past few years had created a huge gap between the
classes in Zimbabwe. The gap, he said, was continuously widening much to the
detriment of the country's economic stability. "There is no longer any
middle class to talk about in Zimbabwe. Either you are rich or poor. There
is no middle class any more," Muvingi said.

      He said although foreign currency was generally a national problem,
many still had easy access to the scarce resource. Muvingi said: "In any
crisis, there are those who seize opportunities to make money. That is
exactly what has happened in Zimbabwe." A new bourgeois class has emerged at
a time when the economy is collapsing. Rumbidzai Makwehe, a consultant with
the Westwinds Realty echoed Muvingi's sentiments. He, however, said the
country's urban by-laws were far too harsh for the ordinary man.

      She said the majority poor did not have access to cheap, but decent
accommodation because of the non-existence of a clearly defined policy
framework to cater for them. However, some economic analysts and political
commentators said poor governance and misconstrued policies had led to a
situation where the rich could afford to manipulate and exploit the poor and
disadvantaged at any level. The high-density areas were overcrowded and
squalid, with deteriorating and inadequate services, while the northern
suburbs represented opulence at the highest level. Overcrowded and squalid
conditions in the high-density suburbs made the areas vulnerable to
outbreaks of diseases such as malaria, cholera, dysentery and of late, the
HIV/Aids pandemic.
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Daily News

      Farmers nabbed for mbanje crop

      11/22/02 8:46:06 AM (GMT +2)


      From Our Correspondent in Bulawayo

      POLICE in Nkayi have recovered more than 1 000 mbanje plants
cultivated by new farmers at two newly-resettled farms. One of them, with
900 plants on his field, was arrested on Saturday and was expected to appear
in court yesterday.

      Another farmer, who cultivated 136 plants of the drug in his field, is
reported to be on the run. According to police reports, the plants were
discovered after a tip-off from members of the public, following reports
that a man was seen selling processed mbanje.

      Two kilogrammes of the drug were recovered by the police from one of
the farmers.

      The plants at both fields reportedly measured more than one-and-a-half
metres. The government, under its controversial and chaotic land reform
programme, allocated thousands of farms formerly owned by white commercial
farmers to allegedly landless blacks.
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Daily News

      Mugabe using same tactics as Shaka

      11/22/02 8:20:23 AM (GMT +2)


      By Eddie Cross

      I AM just back from a trip of about 1 200 kilometres around Zimbabwe.
Everywhere I went I saw the empty skulls left by a people driven off their
land. Farm homes without windows, windows without curtains, gardens
overgrown and dying, staff quarters empty and lifeless. Crop lands idle and
overgrown with weeds. Farm equipment rusting in broken-down sheds, hungry
cattle without water, vultures having endless feasts.

      It reminded me of the mfecane of the Transvaal highveld in the early
part of the 19th century in South Africa. The greatest Zulu leader in
history, Shaka, often termed the Napoleon of African history, was
responsible for it.

      Out of a tiny minority of only 2 000 people, he crafted the Zulu
nation - crushing and absorbing into the ranks of his impis (regiments), the
youth of the tribes to the north and south of his home and completely
destroying the tribal peoples of the interior. Only three groups - the
Tswana of what is now Botswana, the Suthu of what is now Lesotho and the
Dhlamini clan in what is now Swaziland, halted his ambitions.

      His genius lay in a few simple military rules - when a boy reached the
age of 15 he joined an impi.

      Experienced and successful warriors, who passed on to their young
wards the knowledge they had accumulated in numerous raids on other tribes,
led the impi. Their reward was that they kept most of what they took by
force, and although all cattle belonged to Shaka, they were allowed to use
the cattle for their own ends.

      When Shaka felt they had proved their manhood, the youths were given
the right to choose girls, to marry and set up their own homes. They were
given land and the use of cattle to enable them to become established. Their
bondage to Shaka was life-long.

      They were utterly ruthless and it must have been quite a sight to see
an impi on a mission "running in unison, their feet thundering out in rhythm
on the dry African veld". When I was a boy growing up in the eastern parts
of the Matopo Hills, some of the older men in the villages still wore the
ring in their hair to signify their status as ndunas (officers) in the Zulu
war machine.

      In the case of the people I lived amongst, it was an offshoot of the
Zulu empire the Ndebele of southern Zimbabwe who had come to Zimbabwe in
about 1820 after completing the mfecane (forced migration) on the highveld
of South Africa.

      What Shaka had ordered was that the people of the highveld be
destroyed so that they could never again threaten the hegemony of the Zulu
nation in the Natal coastlands.

      At his order, the impis of the Zulu clans moved up into what are today
the Transvaal and the Free State and they murdered every man, woman and
child they could find.

      They drove their cattle and other assets back to the Zulu heartland as
gifts for Shaka and his senior chiefs. Only selected women were kept alive
to be taken as wives upon return, at Shaka's pleasure. The system was
ruthless and self-perpetuating as long as the Zulus could hold together and
enforce discipline. Its success made the Zulus the dominant social, economic
and political force in southern Africa. Its tentacles spread as far north as
Tanzania and Malawi, as far south as the growing influence of the white man
would permit. At the start of the 19th century, the Afrikaner Boers started
the Great Trek northwards - eventually stopping in Chimanimani in eastern
Zimbabwe.

      When their wagons crested the escarpments that sheltered the
hinterland across the Vaal and Orange rivers, they found nothing but empty
kraals and dry skulls.

      At a recent meeting in Pretoria with their South African counterparts,
the Zimbabwe Minister of Foreign Affairs told his South African hosts that
the "land reform process is over in Zimbabwe" and the State would not be
taking any more land from white farmers. He then appealed to the South
Africans to help them get compensation for the displaced farmers.

      In fact, there is little left now on the highveld of Zimbabwe where
the bulk of the country's 4 000 commercial farmers once lived. Perhaps some
15 percent remain - shell-shocked and cowed, ready to run at the slightest
hint that "they" are coming back.

      Like the tribes of the hinterland in South Africa, there was no help
in the face of overwhelming force, no rule of law to shield them from the
loss of everything they owned and held dear. One interpretation of the word
mfecane is "forced migration" or pogrom. Can anyone deny that President
Mugabe has done to the white farmers and the people who worked for them,
just what Shaka did to the tribal peoples of the South African highveld? He
has done this at the start of the 21st century, 200 years after Shaka, 50
years after the formation of the United Nations and the Declaration of Human
Rights. Twenty-two years after the signing of an agreement and the
introduction of a negotiated Constitution designed to prevent these sorts of
excesses.

      Now just to round off the exercise we hear the government is uplifting
thousands of farm workers and their families and dumping them without food
or shelter near the Mozambique border in the north and east. It's forced
migration or another mfecane.

      What Shaka did not know at the time was that he was opening up the way
for a new empire to become established on the highveld, an Afrikaner empire
with superior weapons and great personal courage and determination.

      What he also did not know was that under the feet of his impis lay the
richest mineral beds in the world and that one day in the paths cleared by
the Zulu warriors, new warriors would ride. Just as ruthless and cunning,
using money as their weapon and trading their rights for privilege across
the globe. Smuts, Rhodes, Beit, Oppenheimer, were men who would influence
world affairs for another 150 years.

      Perhaps in the same way, a new nation is growing up in Zimbabwe, its
path cleared by the ruthless and cruel actions of another African tyrant,
      Mugabe. The principles he is using are the same, the effects similar,
the objective identical. Perhaps the outcome too, will be similar - a new
nation will rise up in place of that being destroyed and it will be better,
richer and more permanent than the fragile hegemony that Shaka thought would
last forever.

      Tyranny never survives its perpetrators - one day, one day soon,
Mugabe will be swept aside by the very forces that he seeks to control. Then
we will get the chance to build a better life for everyone that remains on
the highveld in Zimbabwe. The highveld in our case is not geographical; it's
based on principle. The principle of a nation founded on the rule of law, of
a Constitution to which our people hold universal allegiance as the highest
law in the land.
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Zim Independent

Zanu PF bid to oust Tsumba fails
Godfrey Marawanyika
A BID to oust Reserve Bank governor Leonard Tsumba by senior Zanu PF
officials has failed with the announcement this week that the respected
economist will see out his term at the central bank.

Observers however believe his reprieve will not spare other advocates of
fiscal prudence such as Finance minister Herbert Murerwa from being targeted
by ruling party hawks.


Tsumba has been at the centre of a campaign by Zanu PF MPs to remove him
from the helm for his alleged failure to rein-in the rising parallel market
and adopt populist economic measures.


In ruling party circles, Tsumba is seen as a soul mate of former Finance
minister Simba Makoni who was forced out in a mini-reshuffle in August after
President Mugabe denounced devaluation.


There has been speculation for the past six months that Tsumba was set to
retire at the end of November. But central bank spokesman Ignatius Mabasa
said yesterday that Tsumba would remain in office until July next year.


"Dr Tsumba will be the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe until the
end of July next year," said Mabasa. "Only the president can ask him to step
down but, constitutionally, he will be in office until mid next year."


Ministry of Finance officials had earlier confirmed the governor would see
out his term.


"Although he is unpopular in ruling-party circles, he will be the governor
until July next year," said a central bank source. "During the past six
months there have been calls to have him ousted as happened to Makoni but it
is unlikely this will happen."


The source said although the governor this week announced a bland new
monetary policy, this was in conflict with his liberal outlook which was the
same as Makoni's. Both believed devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar was
needed to tame the rampant foreign exchange parallel market.


It is thought that Murerwa shares this view as do most senior officials in
the RBZ and Finance ministry. The hawks around Mugabe however support a
fixed exchange rate and price controls.


Tsumba's survival is credited both to his flexibility in the face of
political pressure and Mugabe's need to retain a respected manager at the
RBZ.

In his address to parliament in August, President Mugabe labelled those
advocating devaluation "enemies of the state", a remark which preceded
Makoni's departure.


This week Tsumba unveiled the new monetary policy framework against a
backdrop of rapidly deteriorating fundamentals blamed on Mugabe's policies.


The crippling foreign currency shortages have forced the Zimbabwe dollar to
depreciate dramatically to about 1 500 against the US dollar on the parallel
market at a time when the official rate is $55 to US$1.
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Zim Independent

CIO's operations under spotlight
Dumisani Muleya

THE creaky Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) needs to be reformed and
modernised when a new director-general takes over to enhance its
professionalism and democratic accountability, analysts have said.

This follows media reports that Zimbabwe ambassador to the United Nations,
Tichaona Jokonya, could replace Brigadier Elisha Muzonzini who was recently
appointed high commissioner to Kenya.

Commentators said it was imperative for the CIO, which despite being a
publicly-funded national security agency, continues to function like a
private mafia, to undergo an overhaul.

National Constitutional Assembly chair Lovemore Madhuku said the CIO needs
reconstruction to comply with current democratic and human rights demands.

"It must be held accountable because it is funded by taxpayers," he said.
"In other countries there are strict controls on how national security
organisations operate. Their activities are secret only to the extent that
it would be necessary in the interests of state security."

Parliaments in other countries audit intelligence operations. In South
Africa an intelligence committee in the lower House calls security chiefs to
account on policy and procedural failures to prevent them from "classifying"
their errors and incompetence like doctors who usually bury their mistakes.

The United States has a Select Committee on Intelligence in the Senate
headed by Bob Graham. Russia also introduced a parliamentary select
committee to oversee the activities of the former Committee for State
Security (KGB), which was split into six divisions after the Soviet collapse
in 1991.

Protecting human rights is now the first duty of security and intelligence
services of the post-Soviet state. Security agencies are under new legal
checks and balances to enhance accountability. This is a dramatic break with
the KGB's totalitarian past.

Madhuku said the CIO budget, which is kept secret, needs auditing to avoid
abuse of public funds. Its operations also have to be reviewed, he said.

Analysts say the CIO also needsto boost its operational capacityand sharpen
its intelligence-gathering methods to effectively protect the country's
interests, instead of being preoccupied with tracking down the president's
critics and political opponents.

James Bamford, author of The Puzzle Palace and Body of Secrets, says
intelligence networks need constant modification to be effective.

"Today, spy operations are conducted in sterile clean rooms by physicists
and mathematicians examining pixels and dissecting algorithms as compared to
the period during the Cold War when a spy's only weapons were wit and guile,
deceit and treachery," he said.

There has been a sea of criticism in public and private quarters about the
CIO culture of brutality, which is difficult to distinguish from the
operations of the ruling Zanu PF.

Opposition Movement for Democratic Change secretary for defence Major Giles
Mutsekwa said the CIO has to be transformed into a refined national security
organisation.

"As it is, the organisation is backward in terms of modern security
philosophy and outlook," Mutsekwa said. "It is purely another arm of the
ruling party designed to benefit none other than Zanu PF and that is why it
operates like a private army."

Mutsekwa said there must be public debate on CIO reform.

"State security must be changed from the way the present government defines
it," he said. "National security should not be the concern of a party clique
but an issue of national interest. Citizens are entitled to protection by
their security agencies against aggression by whomever, but in this country
people are often victims of their security agencies."

It is beyond reasonable doubt that most people see the CIO as an instrument
of repression and not a national safety bureau. The organisation is widely
seen as an apparatus for enforcing official terror and coercion. Its
association with Zanu PF - which pretends to be the only embodiment and
articulation of national interests, sovereignty and patriotism - has further
discredited its image.

Analysts believe the CIO is doomed to remain as a tool of tyranny and a
liability to the nation until it is run by a professional who is not hostage
to parochial political agendas.

Commenting on the need for improved efficiency at the United States' Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) after last year's September 11 terrorist attacks,
senior intelligence research analyst with the Federation of American
Scientists, Steven Aftergood, said quality leadership and professionalism at
security organisations were critical.

"An effective intelligence agency needs to be run by a person who is
independent, competent, experienced, worldly and wise, and not inclined to
kiss the president's ass!"Aftergood said bureaucracy within security
agencies was counterproductive.

"When you are a bureaucracy, you get a whole set of bureaucratic
pathologies," he said. "You start developing a certain mindset that makes it
harder to perceive new, unexpected data, and you inadvertently encourage
conformity among staffers, making it more difficult to think outside the box
to solve problems."

The CIO remains ossified despite efforts to streamline its structures. At
the helm of the organisation there is the responsible minister, followed by
the director-general, deputy director-general, and directors of six branches
and their ancillary divisions.

The six major branches are: Internal, which has counter-intelligence or
counter-subversion and serious crime units; External with its analysis and
liaison units; Security with a Close Security Unit (CSU) and another known
as GPSI - Government Protection Security Inspectorate; Economics with policy
planning and analysis; and Administration with personnel, training, finance,
resource management, transport and other services. There is also the
Director-General's pool, which is seen as a dumping ground for wooden
officers.

Menard Muzariri heads the Internal Branch, Andrew Maringa the External, Thom
as John Meke Administration, Justin Mupamhanga Economics, Tobias Chaunoita
Director-General's Pool, and Simbi Tonde the CSU.

Some of the divisional heads of the CIO, which has about 3 000 officers, at
times report directly to Mugabe. Immediately under the directors are
deputy-directors, assistant directors, provincial intelligence officers,
district intelligence officers, senior intelligence officers, senior
assistant intelligence officers and ordinary-level intelligence officers.

Insiders say the rigid CIO structure entrenches an unreconstructed
bureaucracy largely staffed with presidential toadies. Critics say the CIO's
capabilities are undermined by its leaders' zeal to pander to presidential
whims at the expense of the public interest.

An ex-CIA agent and author Philip Agee, in his book titled CIA Diary, said
the US security agency often bungled missions because "the agency neither
makes decisions on policy nor acts on its own account". He described the CIA
as "an instrument of the president" and blamed some of its failures
precisely on that.

Another intelligence expert, Mark Zapezauer, in his book, The CIA's Greatest
Hits, said loading intelligence networks with presidential flunkies was
risky because "they (agents) sometimes distort intelligence to justify their
own goals and this disinformation leads to dangerous illusions among
policymakers".

The CIA's experiences are instructive. The agency was founded on the best of
intentions - to battle the Soviet Empire during the Cold War. For over 50
years, hundreds of officers in America's premier intelligence agency engaged
in espionage that was both risky and mysterious, in the name of national
security.

But the real CIA, as revealed in veteran journalist Joseph Trento's
eye-opening book, The Secret History of the CIA, was an organisation haunted
from the very beginning by missed opportunities, internal rivalries and
Soviet moles.

Trento peels away the shroud of secrecy and uncovers the murky underworld of
double and triple agents, of divided loyalties and tortured souls and of
high-stake operations that played out on virtually every continent. For over
a decade the author conducted countless interviews with legendary spymasters
and pored through top-secret files to compile an engrossing history, rich
with colourful characters and chilling intrigue. This has sparked debate on
the need for greater CIA accountability. In Zimbabwe, officials discourage
such research and debate.

Analysts however, say transforming an agency like the CIO which is
entrenched in Zanu PF party politics may not be easy. The Russian experience
provides the best example on how downright partisan and corrupt security
agencies are difficult to reform.

When Mikhail Gorbachev launched his perestroika - reform of state
institutions - and with it glasnost or openness, the KGB, which according to
its former chief Oleg Kalugin frustrated democracy by being "everywhere and
in everything", was not spared. But there was alarming and violent
resistance to the plan as officers clung to their Chekist traditions.

The Cheka, founded by Felix Dzerzhinzky, was the Bolsheviks' first
counter-revolutionary agency. It was succeeded by the NKVD, MVD, OGPU and
the KGB and had its notorious headquarters at the Lubianka. Hundreds of
thousands of Soviet citizens fell victim to the plots and purges of their
country's secret service as it fulfilled Stalin's increasingly paranoid
agenda in the 1930s and 40s. Dzerzhinsky's statue in Lubianka Square was
pulled down shortly after Boris Yeltsin's succession to the Russian
leadership.

As the liberation war in Zimbabwe picked up pace, senior intelligence
officers are on record as having warned Ian Smith that his regime could not
indefinitely contain the insurgency. A political solution was essential,
they argued. But others told the rebel leader what he wanted to hear - that
Rhodesia was winning.

"We are seeing a repetition of that phenomenon," an analyst said this week.
"Senior officers hoping for promotion reinforce the regime's worldview
instead of acquainting it with current realities. Jokonya is unlikely to
break that mould."

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Daily News

      Chamisa warns militia of non-violent confrontation

      11/22/02 8:50:34 AM (GMT +2)


      By Precious Shumba

      NELSON Chamisa, the MDC national youth chairman has warned Zanu PF's
youth brigade and all the ruling party supporters masquerading as monitors
and controllers of food queues in most Harare suburbs, to prepare for a
non-violent confrontation with MDC youths. He said the MDC had put in place
a mechanism to ensure that Harare residents had unrestricted access to food
because hunger knew no political bounds.



      "Zanu PF has promoted lawlessness in Zimbabwe. As a movement that is
honest and for the people, we have moved in to deal with the hooligans in
that minority party," Chamisa said in an interview. "Zanu PF invited this
chaos into Harare," he said. "The police have failed to protect citizens
against the militia's intimidation and harassment. Instead, they have
celebrated this thuggery, failing to maintain peace and order. They have
incited disorder and chaos at maize-meal queues."

      Chamisa spoke as concern mounted on the politicisation of the food
distribution among Zimbabweans, the MDC, churches, civic organisations and
the international community. He said under a functional democracy, the
government had a duty to provide food for its citizens, regardless of their
political affiliation.

      "This is no longer the case." he said. "State institutions have failed
to stop this chaotic distribution of maize-meal, where Zanu PF has the
monopoly. Our youths have stopped this madness in some areas where only
card-carrying Zanu PF people are allowed to buy food." Chamisa said: "We are
Zimbabweans first before we belong to political parties. Zanu PF cards are
being used as a pass to get food. It is just the same as in the Smith
regime, where people used to produce passes to move, and the pass laws in
apartheid South Africa. If a ruling party asks you to produce a party card,
it is simply asking you to produce a pass to life."

      But Zanu PF has maintained that food was being distributed to all
Zimbabweans, irrespective of their political affiliation. Chamisa said the
State media had tried unsuccessfully to cover up for this unfair
politicisation of food distribution. He said President Mugabe condoned
lawlessness because there was a total breakdown of order everywhere in the
country.

      He said the MDC position remained absolute - Mugabe's rule was
illegitimate. Chamisa said Mugabe viewed Zimbabweans on the basis of the
regions they came from and which political party they belonged to.
Commenting on the recent incident in which Elias Mudzuri, the Executive
Mayor of Harare, was barred from entering a community hall in Hatfield,
Chamisa said they would ensure Mudzuri's security was guaranteed in Harare.

      He said: "The mayor was elected by Harare residents. The democratic
youths of this city will protect Mudzuri from any further attacks. We will
not remain idle."

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Daily News

Tourism Tumbles in Zimbabwe



Business Day (Johannesburg)

November 22, 2002
Posted to the web November 22, 2002

Dumisani Muleya
Johannesburg

ZIMBABWE's once-thriving tourism sector is facing a further dramatic tumble
due to the current national emergency, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA)
has said.

In its latest report, ZTA said tourism is declining at an alarming rate.
Tourist arrivals in Zimbabwe from the country's largest foreign markets, the
UK and Ireland, dropped 51% while those from the second biggest market, US
and Canada, fell by 42% over the past year.

Arrivals from Australia, New Zealand and others in the region declined by
36%, while German visitor numbers dropped 17%. Overall, there was a 43% drop
in tourist arrivals from Europe and America.

The number of holidaymakers from SA and Botswana fell by 1%, while the
number from Zambia Zimbabwe's biggest regional source market nosedived by
78%. There was an average 38% drop in African tourist arrivals.

This resulted in tourist receipts falling from US124,7m to US81,4m, which in
turn has worsened Zimbabwe's foreign currency crisis.

"Tourism has experienced rapid growth since the country gained independence
in 1980," ZTA said. "During the decade 1989-99, tourist arrivals grew at an
average rate of 17,5% whilst tourism receipts increased at an average annual
rate of 18% in US dollar terms and 25% in Zimbabwe dollar terms."

But the situation has changed. ZTA said: "The prevailing economic, social,
and political environment has seen the sector experiencing the worst
performance since independence. The country has experienced an 11% drop in
tourist arrivals between 19992000 and a 38% drop in receipts within the same
period."

"Since the beginning of 2001, there has been a significant increase of 14%
in arrivals from regional markets, but these are low spenders and the impact
of this increase to foreign currency generation has been minimum."

Increased arrivals were recorded from Mozambique, East Africa and Asia. The
Netherlands was the only European country from which the flow of tourists
increased, by 7%. But the total national tourist arrivals decline was 38%.

Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa admitted, during his national budget
presentation to parliament, that the tourism sector was currently depressed
and would further tumble in tandem with the continued economic decline.
Zimbabwe's economy is expected to contract 11,9% this year and shrivel 7,2%
next year.

Officials are hoping the solar eclipse on December 4 will attract enough
visitors to provide a lift.
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Daily News

      Drought to scuttle rebuilding of national herd

      11/22/02 8:25:41 AM (GMT +2)


      From Our Correspondent in Bulawayo

      COMMUNAL and commercial cattle producers have warned that rebuilding
the national herd will be difficult if the country experiences another
drought,while poor veterinary services will make the situation worse.

      In interviews, communal farmers in the Filabusi,, Gwanda, Beitbridge
and Matobo districts said the water and pasture situation had become very
critical in their areas.

      While the Department of Meteorological Services says that the
percentage of mean rainfall received so far is being maintained at above 80
in most areas, Filabusi, Gwanda, Beitbridge and Matobo are some of the
isolated areas which have not received significant rains The central
districts have received more than 200 percent of their mean so far.

      The department has warned this year that the country would receive
normal to above normal rains during the first half of the season, October to
December 2002, while there are chances of receiving normal rainfall biased
towards below normal during the second half of the season, January to March
2003.

      Poor rains in the second half of the season are associated with the El
Nino phenomenon. The farmers said they feared that even the few beasts that
would survive the drought were likely to succumb to diseases because of a
breakdown of the national animal health care services, and the
unaffordability of the basic animal vaccines to communal farmers.

      The Department of Veterinary Services, is currently crippled by
foreign currency shortages and is unable to service some of the areas it has
assisted over the years.

      Carlton Bhebhe, of Silozwi in the Matopos, said he feared his cattle
would be dead by end of December if the cattle did not receive proper
veterinary services.

      He said: "Hunger is not the only problem our cattle are facing. What
will complicate our efforts to rebuild our herd is that for the past two
years, there has been no dipping of cattle in the communal areas.

      "The reason behind this is that there are no chemicals at the
Department of Veterinary Services. Our already malnourished cattle are dying
of various tick-related diseases."

      At Silalabuhwa irrigation scheme in Filabusi, farmers are feeding
their cattle on wheat stalks from the failed winter crop project. About 35
percent of the wheat produced in the country was spoilt by rains as farmers
failed to harvest in time. Beitbridge and Gwanda are also experiencing
dipping problems.

      Enos Nkala, a large scale commercial cattle producer and former Zanu
PF cabinet minister, admitted that the communal herd had dwindled due the
government failure to provide animal health care and extension services.

      Nkala said: "I cannot see the animals surviving. They are weak from
hunger and are diseased from the muddy water they drink."

      The commercial cattle herd is said to have dwindled from 1,3 million a
year ago to 400 000 due to destocking while the communal herd is said to be
less than five million, down from five million a year ago.

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Daily News

      Registrar-General's Office raises service fees

      11/22/02 8:15:54 AM (GMT +2)


      By Chris Mhike Business Reporter

      ZIMBABWEANS, already burdened with the high costs of basic goods and
services will have to brace for more expenses at the Registrar-General
Office.



      In Statutory Instrument (SI 294 of 2002) called the Citizenship
(Amendment) Regulations, 2002 (No.14) released this week, the Ministry of
Home Affairs set citizenship-related service charges at between $25 and $100
000, depending on the nature of the service required. Citizens would now be
required to pay the Central Registry Office, $25 a page to photocopy any
document. Central Registry would also charge $100 to search for a set of
records. For each certificate issued for the confirmation of citizenship
(Citizenship Status Certificate), the applicant will have to fork out $500
while to register as a citizen by descent will set one back by $7 500.

      People who renounced Zimbabwean citizenship and wish to acquire a
certificate confirming the status will be charged $5 000 for the service.
Fees for the restoration of citizenship will be much higher. The fee for
restoration of citizenship by descent will be $30 000, and $85 000 will be
charged for the restoration of citizenship other than by descent. The most
expensive service, attracting a $100 000 fee, will be the initial
registration as a foreigner, applying for permanent residence while not
Zimbabwean by descent. The Home Affairs ministry also introduced fees in the
Births and Deaths registration section.

      Under the Birth and Deaths Registration (General) (Amendment)
Regulations (SI 296 of 2002) the same charges as in the citizenship category
will apply for photocopying and search of records services. That is, $25 a
copy and $100 to search for records. The initial issue of a full birth
certificate will cost $200, while $500 will be charged for the issue of an
urgent birth certificate. However, no fee shall be payable for a birth
certificate issued to a six-year-old child or one who is younger. An initial
death certificate, or a certified copy of an entry of a birth certificate or
death certificate, that is a full birth or death certificate, will cost
$200. The government will charge $150 for an extract from an entry relating
to a birth or death, and for a certificate not provided elsewhere outside
the central registry office.

      The Registrar-General will charge $500 to correct or alter an error on
a document, or for a change of surname. Re-registration (for legitimation
purposes) will attract a $300 fee while a whopping $15 000 will be charged
for any authentication service. The only free service under SI 296/ 2002 is
for the correction of an error originating from the department of Births and
Deaths Registration. Only two months ago, passport fees were increased by
more than 100 percent. The dubious justification advanced by the
Registrar-General's Office for the massive increases then, was that the move
would ease congestion at the office.

      The second and more credible justification was that the increases
would cushion the office from ever-increasing production costs. The
announcement of these service charges comes at a time when Zimbabweans are
grappling to cope with the high costs of living in a hyper-inflationary
environment. Last week, Dr Herbert Murerwa, the Minister of Finance and
Economic Development, allocated $1,2 billion for operations at the
Registrar-General's Office. Murerwa said: "I propose to allocate $1,2
billion to the Registrar General's Department to enable them to acquire
equipment and other accessories necessary to clear the current backlog on
the demand for public documents." He said the allocation would also support
decentralisation to enable issuing of birth certificates at health delivery
institutions.
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Zim Independent

CIO budget balloons
Mthulisi Mathuthu
IN what analysts see as the government's resolve to tighten its grip on
power, the recently unveiled budget increased the vote for the Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO) from $3,6 billion to $5 billion. Part of the
CIO's expenditure is not subject to audit by the Comptroller and
Auditor-General.


According to the 2003 budget presented last week by Minister of Finance
Herbert Murerwa, the Special Services in the President's Office, under which
the CIO falls, had by September this year exhausted nearly 98% of their
allocation of $3,6 billion. They will get $5 billion in 2003.


Lack of supervision on spending resulted in the CIO spending millions on the
construction of "safe houses" all over Harare three years ago, a development
which forced then deputy director Lovemore Mukandi to skip the country to
escape parliamentary investigations. He is reportedly in Canada.


The CIO has degenerated from a security agency committed to the nation's
safety through intelligencegathering to a Zanu PF terror tool targeted at
imagined enemies of the state.


Last month the Comptroller and Auditor General's report said the President's
Office owed Treasury $380 million. The President's Office was accused of
ignoring Treasury's instructions and liberally gobbling up public funds
through travel allowances and unclear "advances".


This comes at a time when the CIO is reportedly undergoing a restructuring
exercise aimed at modernising the creaky bureau linked to a number of murky
activities in the country.


In the 2003 budget, presented last week, the government also announced hefty
increases in the allocations of the Ministries of Defence and Home Affairs
leading to speculation that it was mainly concerned with its security and
stifling growing dissent.


The Ministry of Defence received 13,2% while the Home Affairs got 8,5% of
the $783 billion budget.


The army, the CIO and the police are seen in Zimbabwe as part of President
Mugabe's repressive machinery and are occasionally linked to the abuse of
human rights and other questionable activities.
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Daily News

      Gezi youths destroy Daily News copies in Masvingo

      11/22/02 8:32:45 AM (GMT +2)


      From Our Correspondent in Masvingo

      Hordes of Zanu PF youths on Tuesday went on the rampage and beat up
members of the public before destroying copies of The Daily News in Masvingo
city.

      The youths, clad in national service uniform, visited most selling
points, including newspaper agencies and confiscated copies of the paper,
claiming it was bent on tarnishing the government's image.

      Some members of the public who had bought the paper were beaten up and
forced to tear up their copies as the youths launched a fresh campaign
against the newspaper.

      Copies worth nearly $51 000 were destroyed during the campaign, an
official from the distribution department of the paper said. The youths said
they had been instructed by a senior Zanu PF official in Masvingo to destroy
the copies. The police stood by as copies of the paper were torn up.

      No one was arrested in connection with the destruction. One vendor,
Justice Seremba, said he was ordered to destroy copies of the papers but
refused. Seremba said: "They came to my selling point and ordered me to
either tear up or burn the copies of The Daily News that I was selling. I
refused, and that is when they started to destroy the copies."

      Last year Zanu PF youths lit a bonfire of copies of the paper after
they had been allegedly ordered to do so by the provincial governor, Josaya
Hungwe, and the Zanu PF Masvingo provincial chairman, Samuel Mumbengegwi.

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Sent: Thursday, November 21, 2002 10:17 PM


The following was sent to the Belgian Prime Minister, after reading the
report in the Daily newspaper.

Sir,
The decision by your country to allow Zimbabwe ministers to visit is
abysmal.  Their human rights record is as bad as Hitler's. See the report
below.  I trust that you will see sense in isolating Mugabe and his neo-nazi
colleagues.  It is sad that such vileness can be allowed by supposedly
civilised European nations - who only the other day banned a Byelorussian
delegation.

Andrew Hall,
Christian Watch,
United Kingdom.


Euro-MPs attack Belgium over Zimbabwean ministers

11/21/02 8:24:57 AM (GMT  2)



BRUSSELS - Members of the European Parliament attacked Belgium yesterday for
allowing two Zimbabwean ministers to attend a conference in Brussels next
week and threatened to keep them out of the conference venue.

"The decision violates an EU-wide travel ban on important Zimbabwean
government members agreed by the EU . . . in response to the appalling human
rights situation in Zimbabwe," the head of the parliament's biggest grouping
said in a statement.

Hans-Gert Poettering, chairman of the centre-right European People's Party
(EPP), criticised the granting of entry visas to Chris Kuruneri, the Deputy
Minister of Finance and Economic Development, and Paul Mangwana, the
Minister of State Enterprises and Parastatals.

Poettering said the EPP would ensure they "are denied access to the European
Parliament premises". EU Parliament president Pat Cox has said the two
ministers may be barred from the legislature's building, where lawmakers
from the EU and the African, Pacific and Caribbean (ACP) group are due to
meet from 25 to 28 November. Belgium defended its decision to allow the
ministers to attend the conference despite an EU-wide ban on visits by
senior government officials from Zimbabwe.

The EU slapped the travel ban on President Mugabe and many of his top
officials earlier this year over allegations of human rights violations and
election rigging.

The Belgian Foreign Ministry said the Zimbabweans had immunity from the ban
under a so-called "seat agreement" with the ACP states, mainly former
colonies of EU members. This allows blacklisted officials to attend certain
international gatherings. For example, the United States allows politicians
normally forbidden to visit the country to attend sessions of the United
Nations in New York.

"There are exceptions to the EU common position on visas for ministers
attending international meetings of international institutions or
organisations," Belgian Foreign Ministry spokesman Patrick Herman said.

He said that other EU countries had no qualms about the visit and that the
Zimbabwean ministers would be allowed to enter only Belgium.
The dispute follows a decision by the EU to bar Belarus's President
Alexander Lukashenko and seven of his ministers from EU territory because of
Minsk's human rights record.

Portugal opted out of that ban because of the EU's recent decision, under
British pressure, to prevent Zimbabwe taking part in a planned meeting of EU
and southern African ministers in Copenhagen.

As a result, the meeting was switched to Maputo, Mozambique. - Reuter
Embargo immediate: November 22 2002

CHAOS OVER TRAVEL BAN "WEAKENS EU CREDIBILITY"
Savezimbabwe.com

EU travel bans against members of the Zimbabwe government must not be broken
again by member states issuing visas, or the EU's ability to put credible international
pressure on the Mugabe regime will be irreparably damaged, according to the "Save
Zimbabwe" campaign.

Four Zimbabwean representatives, including Enterprise minister Paul Mangwana
and Economic Development minister Christopher Kuruneri were to attend the Parliamentary
Assembly of the EU-ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) Group in Brussels on
25-28 November after being issued visas by the Belgium government. Their ban
was re-instated at the eleventh hour by the EU-ACP governing body, the Council
of Presidents.

According to the "Save Zimbabwe" campaign, this incident has offered hope to
the Mugabe regime that international pressure against it, so strong over recent
months, is weakening. A spokesman for the campaign commented:

"The fact that Belgium issued visas to two Zimbabwe government ministers in the
face of an EU travel ban against them will only serve to strengthen Mugabe's
resolve to hold on to power

"United, continuous international pressure against human rights abuses and collapse
of the rule of law is the only way to bring the restoration of democracy and
stability to Zimbabwe.

"This incident has made the EU's common stand against the policies of the Zimbabwe
government seem weak, and the EU's ability act as a credible vehicle for international
pressure even more so.

"The EU must insist that its members uphold its decisions, if it is to be heard
on the world stage. The people of Zimbabwe need it to do so."

ENDS
IOL

Mugabe allies moot boycott of EU meeting

      November 22 2002 at 01:23PM



Brussels - The world's poorest nations convened for emergency talks in
Brussels on Friday on whether to boycott a meeting with EU lawmakers next
week because of a ban on two Zimbabwean ministers.

Officials from the 78-nation African, Pacific and Caribbean (ACP) group of
nations met after the European Parliament decided late on Thursday to ban
access to its Brussels premises to the Zimbabweans.

The European Union has a visa ban in place against the leadership of the
African country but Belgium allowed the ministers to enter the country,
arguing the meeting was an international one and so beyond EU jurisdiction.

Zimbabwe's Minister of State for State Enterprises Paul Mangwana and Deputy
Minister for Finance and Economic Development Christopher Kuruneri are
already in Brussels and slated to attend the meeting from Monday to
Thursday.

But European deputies insisted that the visa ban must also cover the ACP-EU
meeting, sparking an angry response from the grouping.

"The attitude of the European Parliament is unacceptable," said a Haitian
ACP spokesperson, Hegel Goutier.

Another source close to the ACP said a boycott of next week's meeting "would
appear logical".

The 15-nation EU in February imposed a visa ban on President Robert Mugabe
and 19 other Zimbabwean leaders to protest at a crackdown on the political
opposition.

The list was extended in July to another 52 Mugabe associates, including his
wife Grace, and the EU also froze any assets the individuals may hold in
Europe.

Belgian foreign ministry spokesperson Patrick Herman said Brussels had no
desire to give visas to the two Zimbabwean ministers but had done so "to
meet legal obligations".

Mugabe travelled to New York for a UN conference on children in May despite
a similar United States travel restriction. He was also allowed to attend
the World Food Summit in Rome in June despite the EU ban because it was a
UN-organised event.

The Belgian spokesperson said next week's Brussels meeting fell into a
similar bracket.

The Cotonou agreement that set up an aid and trade pact between the EU and
the ACP - mostly former colonies of European countries - left nations free
to choose their delegates for joint meetings, said Herman. - Sapa-AFP
SABC




----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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            SA backs access for Zimbabwean pair to EU-ACP meeting
            November 22, 2002, 20:45



                  The EU has imposed a visa ban on Mugabe and 71 of his
officials and associates

            The South African Parliamentary delegation to an African,
Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP)-European Union (EU) joint parliamentary
assembly in Brussels has come out strongly in support of a demand that two
Zimbabwean ministers be allowed to attend.

            Earlier in the day, the 78-member ACP and the assembly's
co-president, Adrien Houngbedji called on European parliamentarians to agree
to the admission of the Zimbabwean delegation to the premises of the
European Parliament for the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA). The ACP-EU
assembly is scheduled to take place from Monday to Thursday next week in
Brussels. The European Parliament decided late yesterday to bar the
Zimbabweans from its Brussels premises.

            "The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly is, as its name
indicates, a joint body operating according to rules providing for joint
decision making," the South African MPs said in a statement issued on their
behalf. "This includes joint decision making on any proposal to exclude any
delegation, or member of a delegation."

            "The JPA is also a multilateral body implying that the host of
any of its meetings has to create conditions for participation by all
members of the JPA.

            "There is thus a fundamental principle at stake and the South
African delegation is strongly opposed to attempts by the European
parliamentarians unilaterally to exclude certain members of the Zimbabwean
Delegation."

            If the European parliamentarians would not receive all members
of the assembly in the precinct of the European Parliament, they should
provide an alternative venue, the South Africans said. According to reports,
the ACP would hold talks tomorrow with the EU before deciding whether to
boycott the JPA.

            The EU has a visa ban in place against the leadership of
Zimbabwe but Belgium allowed the ministers to enter the country, arguing the
meeting was an international one and so beyond EU jurisdiction. Zimbabwe's
Minister of State for State Enterprises Paul Mangwana and Deputy Minister
for Finance and Economic Development Christopher Kuruneri are already in
Brussels to attend the four-day session. - Sapa

The Times

Letters to the Editor

            November 22, 2002

            British and EU action on Zimbabwe
            From Mr Geoffrey Van Orden, MEP for the Eastern Region
(Conservative)



            Sir, The British Government seems to be in a hopeless quandary
over the Zimbabwe issue. Publicly it is expressing its opposition to Mugabe
and all his works, while in the diplomatic corridors it is accepting a
policy of appeasement. Baroness Amos (letter, November 15) claims that the
Government is "working hard diplomatically to ensure that there is a united
international response to the appalling situation in Zimbabwe". With what
result? Mugabe continues to thumb his nose at the international community.
            The latest bone of contention is the Parliamentary Assembly of
the EU-ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) Group due to take place in
Brussels on November 25-28. The ACP Group is effectively an EU offshoot
which serves as a conduit for EU aid programmes. Four Zimbabwean
representatives have been invited to the Parliamentary Assembly, including
two ministers who feature on the EU's banned list - the Enterprise Minister,
Paul Mangwana, and the Finance and Economic Development Minister,
Christopher Kuruneri.

            A month ago I raised this whole matter with the Foreign
Secretary. Mr Straw replied that the EU only lifted its travel ban when
there was an "international legal obligation". The basis for the
relationship between the EU and ACP is the Cotonou Agreement, which lays
down that "respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of
law, which underpin the ACP-EU Partnership shall . . . constitute the
essential elements of this Agreement". This should override all other
considerations. Mangwana and Kuruneri and their henchmen have no right to be
in Brussels this month.

            The EU is having no impact on Mugabe because there is lack of
will. I am afraid the British Government must bear its share of
responsibility for this. Meanwhile, I am calling on Members of the European
Parliament to boycott meetings of the EU-ACP Parliamentary Assembly attended
by banned Zimbabwean ministers.

            Yours sincerely,
            GEOFFREY VAN ORDEN
            (Conservative Spokesman on Human Rights; Group of the European
People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats),
            88 Rectory Lane,
            Chelmsford CM1 1RF.
            gvanorden@europarl.eu.int
            November 16.


            From Mrs Meg Gale

            Sir, Unlike Baroness Amos, I found Vanora Bennett's article on
Zimbabwe (Thunderer, November 11) timely and apposite.

            Responses from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office since August
to my representations for tougher action against Zimbabwe have resulted in
standard letters which promote the same reliance on a diplomatic solution as
that expressed by Baroness Amos. How much longer must Zimbabweans suffer
violence, intimidation, lawlessness? How long does it take a man, woman or
child to starve? Diplomacy may be the right way, but it must be tougher and
pursued with much greater urgency.

            Yours faithfully,
            MEG GALE,
                     Reading, Berkshire RG4 7AX.
            November 18.
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Zim Independent

SA probes Zim role in smuggling racket
Loughty Dube
SOUTH African police are investigating the possibility that Harare is being
used as a transit corridor for perlemoen that is smuggled into the country
in light aircraft en-route to lucrative markets in the Far East.

South African police instituted investigations into the matter after a South
African pilot Tony Robinson died when the light aircraft he was flying
crashed in Limpopo province near the Zimbabwe border.Investigators found
that the plane was carrying 800kg of frozen perlemoen raising fears there
was massive smuggling of the ocean produce from the Cape to destinations in
Hong Kong and China through Zimbabwe.


Police Superintendent Ronel Otto, quoted in the South African press, said
Robinson was hired to transport the frozen perlemoens from Swaziland to
Harare.


Perlemoen, also known as abalone, is an edible mollusc with an ear-shaped
shell lined with mother-of-pearl. According to South African press reports
it sells for R1 000 or more per kg in the Far East market.


South African police said the evidence gathered indicated that to avoid
customs inspections at ports and major airports, smugglers were transporting
the illegal Cape perlemoen by road to Swaziland. The smugglers then hired
light aircraft to fly the cargo to Harare where it was put on flights
connecting to Hong Kong.


However, Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) chief executive officer
Karikoga Kaseke shot down the reports and said Zimbabwe has no connecting
flights to Asia.


"These allegations have no substance but are meant to tarnish Harare because
South Africa is the one with direct flights to Asia," said Kaseke. "It would
be difficult to smuggle perlemoens to Europe and then to Asia."


However, customs officials said it was easier to clear consignments in
transit compared to those for a single destination.South African police have
intensified the tracking down of the smugglers with the arrest last week of
three Cape Town men while they were loading perlemoen into a light aircraft
destined for Harare.The three appeared in court last Thursday and were
denied bail.Otto said there were two other incidents that involved smuggling
of perlemoen by light aircraft that was destined for Harare International
airport.


Press reports from South Africa said police arrested a pilot after his plane
developed engine problems and made a forced landing at Hoedspruit in
Mpumalanga. Ninety boxes containing 890kg of perlemoen worth R3 million were
found on the aircraft.The aircraft captain Aaron Dlamini confirmed the plane
was hired by a private company to deliver the cargo to Harare.

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Anti-Torture Group Closes Following Threats of Arrest



UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

November 22, 2002
Posted to the web November 22, 2002

Johannesburg

Amani Trust, the prominent anti-torture group, has temporarily suspended its
work in Zimbabwe following threats against it in a state-controlled
newspaper and the country's parliament.

"We are in consultation with our lawyers over the current impasse. We will
continue to dispute the government's claims that the Trust is an illegal
organisation. However, in light of the seriousness of the threats made
against us in parliament recently, we have decided to cease operations,"
Amani Trust director Tony Reeler told IRIN on Friday.

Welfare Minister July Moyo alleged in parliament that the Trust was in
breach of the country's laws because it was not registered under the Private
Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Act.

But Reeler said the Harare-based Trust had been operating in Zimbabwe since
1993 as a legitimate organisation and had registered its constitution with
the Deeds Registry Office. He said a recent regulation to the PVO Act, which
called for organisations to re-register was "unconstitutional".

Observers said the NGO had been singled out by the government for its
reports on allegations of torture following the disputed March presidential
elections.

Reeler said that he had hoped the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum, to which
Amani belonged, would continue to report on politically motivated violence
and torture.

Meanwhile, the Danish NGO Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) on Wednesday
launched a scathing report alleging that the ruling ZANU-PF was using food
as a political weapon.

"The political abuse of food is the most serious and widespread human rights
violation in Zimbabwe at this time. We conclude that in the last four months
[August-November], manipulation of food was directly related to elections.
The threat of being deliberately starved by the government if the opposition
won votes, was used to profoundly influence vulnerable rural voters in
recent elections in Zimbabwe," said the PHR report.

Local and international NGOs have in recent months reported on abuses in the
distribution of food through the state-owned Grain Marketing Board. In
October the World Food Programme (WFP) temporarily suspended deliveries of
aid in Insiza district citing political interference ahead of a by-election
there.

The WFP reported that ZANU-PF activists had seized 3 mt of maize being
distributed by the Organisation of Rural Associations for Progress (ORAP)
and had distributed it solely to ZANU-PF supporters, "in an unauthorised
manner".

Investigations by PHR carried out mainly in Matabeleland province in
southern Zimbabwe alleged that the government was selling grain to chosen
retailers, who are known to be ZANU-PF supporters. The report said
retailers, in turn, have their own lists of people they will allow to buy
food.

The report charged that the government was deliberately maintaining a
situation where there was too little food in the country, by controlling all
sales and imports.

"Too little food is serving a dual purpose; it allows political control
through controlling who accesses food and it facilitates the creation of a
ZANU-PF dominated black market, thus enriching the ZANU-PF hierarchy," the
report alleged.
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United Press International

Kampala principles hold hope for Africa
By Christian Bourge
UPI Think Tank Correspondent
From the Think Tanks & Research Desk
Published 11/21/2002 10:45 PM


WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A set of principles defining the norms of civil
society in Africa that were developed after the Cold War could hold the key
to the future of democracy and social order on the troubled continent,
according to analysts at a recent think tank policy forum.


Howard Wolpe, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International
Center for Scholars, said the so-called Kampala principles are important
because they demonstrate Africa's progress toward democratization,
integrated security policy and sustainable development.


"What is so significant about the Kampala document is what it envisions, and
that its development comes not from outside the continent but has indigenous
roots and directions," Wolpe said Wednesday during a forum at Johns Hopkins
University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, known
as SAIS.


The forum examined the book "A Strategic Vision for Africa: The Kampala
Movement," co-written by William Zartman, director of the Conflict
Management Program at SAIS and Francis Deng, SAIS research professor and
director of the SAIS Center for Displacement Studies. The book was recently
published by the Brookings Institution Press.


The book explores the development and possible impact of the Kampala
movement, which arose out of meetings organized in 1989 by Olusegun
Obasanjo, then the Nigerian head of state and now Nigeria's democratically
elected president. Those meetings eventually lead to the development of the
Kampala principles for workable political and economic development across
Africa, and a push by supporters for a new leadership organization to
replace the Organization for African Unity.


The Kampala principles laid out democratic and economic norms to be used as
a means to ensure individual security, democratic stability and respect for
individual rights, as well as development and cooperation between African
nations.


Although those who wrote the principles in the early 1990s envisioned them
as the ideals that would drive Africa in the coming years, the Kampala
principles have as yet not become the continent's guiding principles.


According to Zartman and Deng, the principles have not been adopted by any
multinational African development organization, and to some extent have even
been marginalized through the work of a coalition of leaders from Sudan and
Libya who view them as a threat to their control at home.


But supporters of the principles believe they represent the socio-political
norms that will eventually come to dominate African development. At the
forum, Zartman said that the principles of social stability, development and
cooperation should be studied because they represent what forward-thinking
Africans believe their continent is capable of.


He said that even if the principles have yet to be adopted by a pan-national
African group or integrated into the political norms of many countries, they
nevertheless can guide those seeking to improve their nations.


"I recommend the Kampala document itself (be read) because it is an
extraordinary piece of writing and it comes out of Africa, written by
Africans," said Zartman. "They also do provide standards by which leaders
can be held accountable, even if we don't have enforcement capabilities in
this part of the anarchistic world."


Chester Crocker, Schlesinger professor of strategic studies at Georgetown
University, said the Kampala movement is about building an indigenous
African state system. He added that it is important to recognize that this
is a long term fight between forces fighting to keep the status quo and
those seeking improvement and change.


"The fact is that this state system is a work in process, and a key issue in
any state system is who writes the rules," said Crocker. "Africa continues
to be a region -- and it is by no means the only one -- where this is a
fight between the forces of evil and the forces of constructive political
initiatives."


He added that in many places is Africa there is an active debate between
those who want to improve their nations and political processes, and those
that want to use the countries as a means to gain wealth at the expense of
the population.


Pauline H. Baker, president of the Fund for Peace, said that one of the most
important facets of the Kampala principles is that they underscore the
international community's move away from accepting sovereignty as a shield
for the kinds of abuses of power prevalent in Africa.


There is "growing acceptance of the norm of sovereignty as responsibility,"
Baker, whose non-profit group promotes methods for conflict resolution
around the world, said at the forum.


"You can accept or reject the particular norms and principles (of the
Kampala movement) but all of these evolved from this central premise that
leadership can no longer be unaccountable in Africa," she said. "Africa came
up with this notion of accountability that is now on the table."


According to Wolpe, viable groups have sprung up in countries including
Kenya, South Africa and Senegal to promote civil society and government
following the principles of the Kampala document.


He also noted that despite the political unrest in Zimbabwe and the fighting
there over control of white-owned farmland, Zimbabwe is an embryonic
democratic society. Even under the tyrannical rule of President Robert
Mugabe, there is opposition and dissent that would have been unheard of 10
or 15 years ago.


Despite her belief that support for institutions of norms and civil society
has taken hold in many parts of Africa, Baker said the failure of the
Kampala movement to incite the kind of strong public support garnered by the
anti-apartheid and anti-colonial movements demonstrates that public support
for such ideals is still limited in Africa.


She said this may be because the Kampala movement has developed in a period
of African history when its ideas are unlikely to take hold.


"It is probably ahead of its time, like the League of Nations was ahead of
its time," she said. "I think it is a precursor for something that will come
in the future, like the League of Nations was a precursor to the United
Nations."
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