Party delegations head to Maputo for SADC Troika summit

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
4 November 2009

On Thursday Zimbabwe's political stand-off will be tabled before a SADC
Troika summit in Maputo, Mozambique.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his delegation, that includes
negotiators to the inter-party talks, left Harare Wednesday morning, flying
to Maputo via Johannesburg. Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara and his
negotiators also left Harare for Maputo on Wednesday.

Robert Mugabe is expected to fly direct to Maputo either late Wednesday
evening or early Thursday morning.

After intense and wide ranging consultations around the region there are
reports suggesting the Troika summit will try to force the three party
principals to comply to comply with the spirit and the intent of the Global
Political Agreement. Whether SADC will indeed try to make Mugabe stick to
his side of the bargain, remains to be seen

A communiqué issued over the weekend, after a SADC Troika ministerial team
completed its two day fact finding mission in Harare, recommended that the
parties should also re-engage in dialogue in order to find a lasting
solution to the outstanding issues towards the full implementation of the
GPA. The latest crisis was triggered by the MDC's boycott of cabinet and
council of ministers meetings three weeks ago.

Speaking ahead of the summit Tendai Biti, Secretary-General of the MDC-T,
said they were hopeful SADC will do the right thing by ensuring that the
country's political parties comply fully with the provisions of the SADC
Communiqué of 27 January 2009 and the GPA.

In an interview in the Prime Minister's weekly Newsletter Biti said they
cannot spend nine months still trying to deal with the same issues, such as
the appointment of the Attorney-General and the Governor of the Reserve
Bank, appointment of ambassadors and the distribution of provincial
governors.

'We are encouraged that the SADC team listened to the issues we were making.
What is essential is to be able to stand up to the truth and in this case
the truth is not a fantastic construction. It is just directing that parties
comply with the things they agreed to,' Biti said.

The SADC summit communiqué of January specifically mentioned that the
appointments of the Reserve Bank Governor and the Attorney General would be
dealt with by the inclusive government after its formation.

     A political analyst told us it was worth noting that all three parties
are heading to Maputo having agreed in meetings with the Troika team to
attend to all outstanding issues.

The impasse between Tsvangirai and Mugabe has seen a new surge in violent
attacks and abductions against MDC supporters and top officials from the
civil society organizations.

In the latest case, Gertrude Hambira, the Secretary-General of the General
Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe, narrowly avoided
abduction by suspected state security agents Tuesday night. It's believed
Hambira was not been harmed in the attack.

Human rights defenders have called on the SADC leaders to exert pressure on
Mugabe and his secret police and militia, to cease their harassment of
officials from civic society organizations.

Calls for African observers to monitor violence in Zimbabwe

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/

Africa News
Nov 4, 2009, 14:20 GMT

Johannesburg - Southern African leaders preparing for yet another round of
crisis talks on Zimbabwe were urged Wednesday to immediately send observers
to the country to investigate reports of fresh political violence.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai have
been summoned by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to
Mozambique's capital Maputo to discuss a way out of their three-week
impasse.

The latest initiative by the regional political bloc comes a week after a
SADC team of ministers met with the rivals in Zimbabwe last week but failed
to end the deadlock.

Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which has been in
government with Mugabe's Zanu-PF since February, is boycotting cabinet
meetings over Zanu-PF's refusal to to fully share power and implement
reforms.

Several human rights organizations have warned the country risks slipping
back into the violence that characterized last year's presidential election.

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) on Wednesday called
for the immediate deployment of a delegation to monitor the situation.

The Johannesburg-based democracy-building foundation said it had reports of
'increasing military build-up in Zimbabwe, particularly in the Mashonaland
provinces'. Elsewhere, the MDC has reported several cases recently of its
members being intimidated by police and arbitrarily detained.

OSISA also called for the deployment of a 'comprehensive, standing presence
of SADC' to be stationed in Zimbabwe until a new constitution had been
passed, and free and fair presidential and legislative elections held.

Such a mission should be complemented by a Western-backed fund for
education, health care, water sanitation and food, OSISA recommended.

Ultimately, if SADC did not ensure the full implementation of the
power-sharing deal that it brokered, 'there is the real prospect of a return
to crisis and more suffering for Zimbabweans,' Sisonke Msimang, OSISA
executive director said.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and a United Nations expert on
torture have all expressed similar concerns.

Manfred Nowak, UN rapporteur on torture, was barred by Zimbabwean
authorities last week from entering the country on a fact-finding mission.

MDC Expecting SADC To Do The "Right Thing"

http://www.radiovop.com

     
      Harare, November 04, 2009 - The Morgan Tsvangirai Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) is expecting nothing short of "doing the right
thing" at Thursday's Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting
on Zimbabwe in Maputo, Mozambique.

      The MDC secretary general and Finance Minister Tendai Biti, said in
the Prime Minister's Newsletter published on his website: "To do the right
thing is to ensure that Zimbabwean political parties now comply fully with
the provisions of the SADC Communiqué of 27 January 2009 and the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) that was executed and signed on 15 September 2008.
We cannot spend nine months still arrested by the same issues. We need to
move forward and if this GPA is to have credibility and legitimacy those
issues have to be liquidated."

      The SADC Troika Ministers from Swaziland, Mozambique and Zambia were
in the country last week to try and map a way forward for Zimbabwe following
MDC's boycott of the inclusive government, citing lack of progress. The
Prime Minister and MDC leader went on a regional tour to explain his party's
decision and to seek for SADC's intervention. President Robert Mugabe has
dismissed the move and threatened to replace MDC ministers as well as go
ahead with cabinet meetings.

      Biti was confident SADC would resolve the political impasse, saying:
"The Zimbabwean solution and the Zimbabwean experiment is the progeny of
African leaders, the progeny of SADC itself. And surely everyone must be
alive to the implications of this African solution unravelling and
unravelling in such a period of time. So the integrity and honour of
Africans is at stake and Africans are obliged to do the decent thing, that
is, standing up to insanity, standing up to dictatorship and idiocy, and I
hope that this will happen."

      "The second thing is that people of Zimbabwe have been suffering for a
very long time. This experiment had given them some hope and therefore it
must be preserved but within decency and objectivity, which simply means
complying with the things that we have agreed to."

      "Thirdly, the multiplier effect of the collapse of this thing is too
drastic to contemplate particularly from the point of view of SADC. What it
will simply mean is that we will see another orgy of violence; we will see
another orgy of invasion by Zimbabweans of neighbouring countries. So there
are moral, political and social costs to the collapse of this thing. In
short SADC must do everything to preserve this thing because they do not
have plan B or plan C."

      Biti said his party's announcement to boycott the unity government had
dampened investor confidence but added that although they were not attending
cabinet meetings work was continuing. He was currently in the process of
crafting the 2010 budget but said he was aware he will not be in a position
to present it if the politcal impasse is not solved

      He also described his efforts of trying to revive Zimbabwe's ailing
economy as "swimming in sewer". "It's tough. We have got the ideas, we are
hardworking and we are honest and those are three essential ingredients," he
said. He added it will take Zimbabwe 10 years to achieve the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP)  that the country had in 1996 and this was at a cost of
anything between US$15 and US$45 billion.

      The MDC has accused Zanu PF of derailing the GPA process by refusing
to implement some of the agreed things such as appointment of governors,
reversing the appointments of the Attorney General and Reserve Bank Governor
as well as swearing in MDC treasurer general and deputy minister of
Agriculture designate who is facing terrorism charges.

      However Mugabe accuses MDC of not ending the Western sanctions on
Zimbabwe, saying these were causing economic misery.

Zim diamond ban 'unlikely' as gov argues lack of evidence

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
04 November 2009

The government's delegation to the annual meeting of the Kimberley Process
(the regulatory body tasked with ending the global trade in conflict
diamonds) has argued there is insufficient evidence to support claims of
human rights abuses at the Chiadzwa diamond fields, prompting fears that a
hoped-for ban on Zimbabwe's diamonds is unlikely.

The government delegation, led by Mines Minister Obert Mpofu, arrived in
Namibia this week armed with denials about the ongoing abuses at the
Chiadzwa diamond fields. The denials were not surprising, as Mpofu and other
government officials have all previously said reports about rights
violations at the diamond fields are fabrications. Mpofu this week also
verbally threatened NGOs, as well as a Kimberley Process delegation that was
in Zimbabwe recently, for reporting on the abuses, calling them 'deranged
and requiring psychological examination'. It is now also understood that a
so called 'lack of evidence' about the abuses will lead to a feared lack of
action from the Kimberley Process.

During the regulatory body's mission to Zimbabwe more than four months ago
to investigate the reports of rights abuses, the team met with a key
witness, Newman Chiadzwa. Chiadzwa offered up testimonies and eye witness
accounts of beatings, torture and even murders at the hands of the military
controlling the diamond fields. He even detailed how he had been arrested
and harassed before the Kimberley Process delegation's visit and as a result
was invited as a key witness to the annual meeting in Namibia.

But in recent weeks a confusing side-story of Newman Chiadzwa's involvement
in illicit smuggling at the diamond fields has led to him, conveniently for
the government, retracting his statements. He reportedly said in a letter
that he had lied to the Kimberley Process to deliberately force a ban,
allegedly for the illicit diamond trade in the country to be allowed to
boom. The government delegation to Namibia has since argued there is no
evidence to support the reports of rights abuses, and NGOs and other groups
gathered in Namibia are now concerned a trade ban is 'unlikely'.

But Farai Maguwu from the Mutare based Centre for Research and Development
(CRD), which has done extensive investigations into the rights abuses at the
diamond fields, has said there is extensive evidence to show that the
reports of abuse in Chiadzwa are true. He was speaking from Namibia where he
travelled with other rights groups to provide an update about the situation
in Chiadzwa. Maguwu explained how he has faced increasing threats and
intimidation from government officials in Namibia for providing the evidence
he has, saying his "presence at the meeting has not gone down very well with
some officials."

The CRD has documented and compiled evidence of abuse at the diamond fields
since the government sanctioned 'operation hakudzokwi' (you will not return)
was launched there almost a year ago. More than 200 civilians were murdered
in the campaign, and hundreds more were beaten and abused. The CRD has
described how listening to the victims narrate their nightmares "is as
terrible as listening to survivors of the holocaust."

The group also recently spoke to 20 women survivors of the attacks, all of
them informal traders in the diamond fields, who gave 'chilling but similar
accounts' of gross human rights abuses they suffered at the hands of state
security agents. Of the 20 women interviewed, 12 confessed to having been
raped either by soldiers or were forced by soldiers to have unprotected sex
with diamond panners at gunpoint. All of them were first beaten severely
with iron bars and gun butts to disorient them and break any resistance.
After the beatings the women complied with orders given by the soldiers. Two
of the victims went for HIV tests after being raped and they tested
positive. Some didn't go for HIV tests after being raped

Meanwhile the pressure from human rights groups and NGOs across the world is
building on the Kimberley Process to ban Zimbabwe from international diamond
trade. A decision is expected from the regulatory body on Thursday,
prompting an online petition to be widely circulated across the world
calling for a ban. The petition, by online petition group Avaaz, explains
how diamond jewellery as a traditional expression of love, is financing and
profiting Robert Mugabe's 'vicious political militia'.

"All diamond producing countries know that their profits are dependent on
the brand reputation of diamonds, and that increasing awareness of 'blood
diamonds' threatens that brand. A massive global petition will show them
that the diamond-buying public is demanding action," the petition reads.

24 HOURS LEFT TO ACT: Ban Zimbabwe Blood Diamonds – AVAAZ Petition

Zimbabwe to escape censure over abuses in diamond mines

Report: Suspend Zimbabwe over diamond smuggling

Nov 4, 12:13 PM EST

By DONNA BRYSON
Associated Press Writer

JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- Investigators for the world's diamond control body say
Zimbabwe should be suspended because its security forces are raping women,
killing illegal miners and smuggling gems out of a diamond field in the
troubled country's east.

Human rights groups have made similar accusations, but the charges carry
particular weight coming from Kimberley Process investigators who visited
Zimbabwe in June and July. Their recommendations are in a confidential
report obtained by The Associated Press Wednesday.

Zimbabwean authorities have repeatedly denied such charges, including in
statements to Kimberley Process investigators and officials. The
investigators said they found evidence contradicting the official account,
and that information provided by Zimbabwean authorities "was false, and
likely intentionally so."

The report was presented to Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
officials, who were expected to decide this week on what to do about the
southern African country. Their investigators recommended that Zimbabwe
either be suspended or voluntarily suspend itself until it has met minimum
standards for remaining part of the process.

The Kimberley Process was established in 2002 in an attempt to stem the flow
of "blood diamonds" - gems sold to fund fighting across Africa. Participants
must certify the origins of the diamonds being traded. Suspension could
result in buyers shunning Zimbabwe's diamonds.

While the rough gems flowing from Zimbabwe's Marange field do not fit the
strict Kimberley definition of conflict diamonds, the investigators said the
lawlessness in the area would make it easy for traffickers to bring in such
gems from other countries and then export them as Zimbabwean.

"Lawlessness, particularly when combined with violence and largely overseen
by government entities, should not be the hallmark of any system ... deemed
to be compliant" with the Kimberley process, the investigators added.

The investigators interviewed witnesses, victims and survivors of victims.

While illegal miners often fled when team members approached, seven told of
working for soldiers who allowed them to keep only 10 percent of the
proceeds of any diamonds recovered.

"Each one of these illegal miners reported seeing people killed and the
numbers they cited ranged from one to seven," the report said. "This group
also told members of the team that they observed extreme violence against
illegal miners" by soldiers using rifles, dogs, batons and tear gas.

The report said women "reported that, while under the custody of the
security forces, they were raped repeatedly by military officers and that
they have been forced to engage in sex with illegal miners. One victim told
the team that she tested HIV positive after she had been forced to have sex
with two men and then raped by a military officer."

The investigators said it was "credible" that syndicates operated by police
and soldiers have been smuggling rough diamonds out of Marange since at
least 2008, and likely since formal production began in 2007.

"The team concludes that the government of Zimbabwe authorities are aware of
these syndicates and ongoing smuggling operations and have permitted them to
continue," the report said.

London-based Global Witness, a human rights groups that tracks how Africa's
mineral wealth is misused, has complained that the Kimberley Process has so
far failed to address smuggling, money laundering and human rights abuses in
Marange.

Human Rights Watch called last week for Zimbabwe to be suspended from the
Kimberley Process. The international rights watchdog has said repeatedly
that Zimbabwean soldiers are smuggling diamonds and killing and beating
civilians to consolidate a hold on Marange that benefits the ZANU-PF party
of longtime President Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe entered into a coalition with his rival Morgan Tsvangirai in
February, but Tsvangirai this month suspended his participation, accusing
Mugabe of continuing human rights abuses and undermining the unity
agreement. According to Kimberley process officials, Zimbabwe exported
nearly 800,000 carats of diamonds from three fields, including Marange, last
year. Zimbabwe has no diamond processing facilities, so exports only rough
gems.

Zimbabwe Delegation to Kimberly Meeting in Namibia Said to Threaten NGOs

http://www.voanews.com

     

      By Sandra Nyaira
      Washington
      03 November 2009

Representatives of Zimbabwean non-governmental organizations attending a
Kimberly Process Certification Scheme meeting in Namibia scrutinizing the
country's management of a diamond field in the east of the country where
human rights abuses and smuggling have been reported said Tuesday they were
threatened by a state delegation.

NGO sources lobbying the Kimberly Process for action against Zimbabwe said
they were threatened with unspecified action by Zimbabwe Mines Minister
Obert Mpofu, who is heading a team of 29 seeking to avoid imposition of a
ban on the sale of Zimbabwean diamonds.

The minister was said to have been incensed at the presence in Windhoek of
representatives of Zimbabwean NGOs urging imposition of the ban on
Zimbabwean diamond exports over human rights and other violations in the
Marange field of Manicaland province.

NGO sources said the government team in particular targeted Mutare-based
activist Farai Maguwu, at one point physically manhandling him.

The Canadian delegation issued a statement critical of the Zimbabwean
minister and calling on the Zimbabwean government to allow activists to work
unhindered, sources said.

Studio Seven was unable to reach Maguwu, who sources said left the meeting,
or Mpofu.

For perspective, VOA Studio 7 reporter Sandra Nyaira turned to Manicaland
parliamentarian Pishai Muchauraya of the Movement for Democratic Change
formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been deeply involved
in the Marange crisis.

The Zimbabwe case has been referred to the Kimberly Process's participatory
committee chaired by India, which was to render a decision on Thursday.

Sources said China and Russia were surprisingly in support of Zimbabwe's
suspension while South Africa, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo
opposed the action.

The Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition has issued a statement saying
Zimbabwe has failed to meet international standards set forth by the
Kimberly Process and should be suspended from importing and exporting rough
diamonds.

The NGO coalition, whose members include Global Witness, Partnership Africa
Canada and Green Advocates of Liberia, was calling on Kimberly Process
member countries to act on the allegations of human rights abuses within the
Zimbabwean diamond industry.

The Kimberly Process administers mechanisms intended to ensure that diamonds
do not fund conflicts and are not mined under conditions that violate human
rights. Its 48 participants represent 74 countries with the European
Community counting as a single participant.

"Since the discovery in 2006 of significant alluvial diamond deposits in
Marange, eastern Zimbabwe, controls over the diamond sector have been
nonexistent and communities in and around the diamond fields have borne the
brunt of a series of brutal measures to restore state control over the
area," declared a statement issued by Global Witness.

"The authorities have failed to stop the military from carrying out abuses
and profiting from the illicit trade in diamonds, effectively condoning -
and perhaps even encouraging - the looting and attendant violence against
civilians," Global Witness said.

The Civil Society Coalition highlights the need for KP reforms including
binding human rights provisions for Kimberly Process members; faster
Kimberly decision-making to facilitate swift action; formation of an
independent statistical and research analysis unit; and ensuring that
diamond profits are at least partly used to promote development initiatives.

A Kimberly Process review mission went to Zimbabwe in July and found that
Harare was not meeting Kimberly standards. Its recommendation that Zimbabwe
not be allowed to import or export diamonds under the Kimberly process
"until such time as a KP team determines that minimum standards have been
met" was harshly criticized by Mpofu.

Human Rights Watch reported in June that the Zimbabwean military had killed
more than 200 unauthorized diamond diggers in Marange in late 2008 and was
profiting from the diamond trade. The group said last week that such abuses
and diamond smuggling continue.

The Zimbabwean government continues denied any killings by the military in
Marange.

Zimbabwean civil leaders call for action as ZANU-PF goes on rampage

http://www.businessday.co.za

     
      SAPA  Published: 2009/11/04 03:24:17 PM

Zimbabwean civil society leaders are calling for immediate and decisive
action to implement a SADC brokered global political agreement (GPA), and
halt political violence.

"Since the disengagement two weeks ago of Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change from contact with Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF within the
government of national unity, there has been widespread political violence
and intimidation," Sydney Chisi, spokesman for the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition told reporters in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

"There have also been reports of abductions of youth who are again being
detained in Zanu-PF training camps... preparing them to perpetrate violent
acts against enemies." He said civil society organisations condemned the
current violence and the notion that "land is only land when it is owned by
blacks".

"These abductions are orchestrated to revitalise the environment of
intimidation in Zimbabwe... the pillars of oppression are beginning to be
visible... it is a ticking time bomb." He was speaking ahead of Thursday's
Southern African Development Community troika meeting in Maputo.

"It will worsen if no action is taken... social services are in shambles,
hunger and cholera remain constant threats to millions of people, and the
outward migration into neighbouring countries of desperate Zimbabweans
continues unabated." Human rights activist Kerry Kay said the migration of
Zimbabweans into South Africa, if not seen to, would affect the 2010 Soccer
World Cup.

"It is going to impact on neighbouring countries... President Zuma has big
things to take into consideration. We don't want xenophobic attacks to occur
once again during the World Cup." Chisi hoped SADC knew what was supposed to
be done regarding the GPA.

"SADC leaders in 2009 committed to finding a lasting solution to the
implementation of the Zimbabwe GPA... 10 months later Zimbabwe is at a
critical and dangerous juncture and requires swift and effective
intervention by regional leaders... civil society leaders call on the SADC
to work with Zimbabwe's three main political parties to urgently resolve the
present government paralysis to ensure that the GPA is fully implemented,
and help the long nightmare of the suffering people in Zimbabwe."

Zim 'abductors' flee

http://news.iafrica.com/

Article By: Micel Schnehage
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:34
There are claims of another attempted abduction of a high-profile rights
activist in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare.

Gertrude Hambira's flight from Johannesburg was delayed on Tuesday and was
not home when her would-be abductors allegedly ransacked the house on
Wednesday morning.

Hambira is known for her work in assisting around 400 000 farm workers
displaced during massive land grabs in Zimbabwe.

She is also the Secretary General of the General Agriculture and Plantation
Workers Union.

It is alleged three men, one armed with a pistol, broke into her Harare
house on Wednesday morning.

Her husband, George said the men confronted him in the main bedroom
demanding to know where his wife was.

He said his wife was on her way back from a trip to Johannesburg and was not
home.

The men then ransacked the house and fled when the alarm went off.

Zim has no money for food production

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Charles Tembo Wednesday 04 November 2009

HARARE - Zimbabwe's cash strapped government has managed to raise only
US$5.7 million out of $48 million it had planned to use to fund agricultural
production this season, the ministry of agriculture said on Tuesday.

In the first official confirmation that the 2009/2010 farming season that
began last week will again go to waste, agricultural permanent secretary
Ngoni Masoka also said that the country had managed to acquire less than
half of the amount of fertilizer required by farmers.

"Only US$5.7 million out of a total provision of US$48 million having been
released as at 30 September 2009," Masoka told Parliament's portfolio
committee on agriculture.

The lack of funds had crippled efforts to mobilise resources and inputs to
ensure increased food output to end hunger that has stalked Zimbabwe for the
past 10 years, according to Masoka.

He said: "A total of 1 200 000 tonnes of fertiliser were required for the
2009/2010 season. To date only 44 percent has been mobilised through private
sector partnerships and donor assistance, leaving a huge gap which will
adversely impact on productivity."

President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's coalition
government has made revival of food production to end hunger a key priority.
But the administration's failure to raise cash from donors has hampered its
ability to resuscitate agriculture or other key sectors of the economy.

Farm invasions that have continued despite promises by the unity government
to restore law and order in the agricultural sector will also hit hard
efforts to increase food production.

For example, the majority of the country's few remaining white commercial
farmers - traditionally the biggest producers -- last week said they were
unable to plant crops due to ongoing disturbances on farms.

Once a regional breadbasket, Zimbabwe has largely survived on food handouts
from international relief agencies for the past decade because Mugabe failed
to provide inputs and other support to black villagers to maintain
production on white farms they were allocated under the veteran leader's
controversial land redistribution programme.

Erratic rains and a devastating recession that hampered the economy's
capacity to produce fertilizers, seeds and other farm inputs also
contributed to food shortages. - ZimOnline.

Food Distribution Contested in Eastern Zimbabwe Province by ZANU-PF Militants

http://www.voanews.com

     

      By Jonga Kandemiiri
      Washington
      03 November 2009

Youth militia and war veterans in Zimbabwe's Manicaland province have
threatened to disrupt distribution of food aid if non-governmental
organizations continue to pass out food without members of the former ruling
ZANU-PF party being present, sources said.

They said newly-elected ZANU-PF Youth League Secretary for External Affairs
Joshua Sako told a council meeting in Chimanimani that his party must be
involved in aid distribution.

In Makoni Central district war veterans are said to have threatened
organizations helping the needy if they do not involve members of ZANU-PF in
their operations.

Director Forbes Matonga of Christian Care, a distribution agent for the
United Nations World Food Program, told VOA Studio 7 reporter Jonga
Kandemiiri that despite the pressure from ZANU-PF, his organization would
not interrupt its distribution operations.

Warthog grounds Air Zimbabwe flight

http://www.javno.com/en-world/warthog-grounds-air-zimbabwe-flight_280305

The plane had 34 passengers who were going to Bulawayo but fortunately they
are all safe as no-one was injured.

Published: November 03, 2009 20:35h

An Air Zimbabwe flight was forced to make an emergency stop at Harare
International airport on Tuesday after it hit a warthog on the runway, the
company's CEO said.

- Unfortunately our plane which was going to Bulawayo hit a warthog on the
runway and was forced to make an emergency brakes - stop, Peter Chikumba,
Air Zimbabwe CEO told AFP.

- The plane had 34 passengers who were going to Bulawayo but fortunately
they are all safe as no-one was injured. -

The Chinese-made MA 60 aircraft hit the animal while taxiing down the runway
minutes after the departure of Democratic Republic of Congo leader Joseph
Kabila, who was in Harare for talks with the country's unity government.

A passenger onboard the 1715 GMT flight told AFP that the plane skidded off
the runway after it hit the warthog, a commonly found wild pig with
distinctive protruding tusks.

- The passengers were all evacuated but some of us are scared and
traumatised over the whole incident. The plane is damaged as it skidded off
the runway and headed toward the bushes. -

Zimbabwe Banks Try to Rebuild Trust

http://www.voanews.com

     

      By Ish Mafundikwa
      Harare
      03 November 2009

Zimbabwe's banks are slowly trying to rebuild the trust they lost during the
past few years due to Zimbabwe's economic crisis. The banks are at various
stages of offering normal services.

This time last year Zimbabweans spent hours every day trying to get money,
which did not buy much from the banks. Rampant inflation quickly reduced
their money to worthless pieces of paper, which even beggars would not
accept.

The government could not print money fast enough and often banks ran out of
money. After spending hours waiting in line, their customers would go home
empty-handed and not happy. The government's "borrowing" from foreign
currency accounts without consulting the account holders also made people
wary of banks.

But since the government made the U.S. dollar the official currency, or
dollarized as they say here earlier this year, things are changing. The
lines have disappeared and customers are more or less guaranteed they will
get their money when they need it.

Barclays Bank has operated in Zimbabwe for 97 years. They were not spared
the problems of the past few years. Valeta Mthimkhulu, the Head of Corporate
Affairs for the bank in Zimbabwe, tells VOA things are slowly but surely
returning to normal. She notes there is a steady increase in deposits.

"That for us is a signal that there is a growing level of confidence in
terms of trusting the financial system," she said. "Obviously it is a
journey it is going take a bit of a while, but there has been a noted
improvement."

And to make things even better for its customers Barclays has introduced a
local debit card. This can be used for cash withdrawals from 36 of the
bank's 78 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across Zimbabwe. Other banks are
already issuing cards that can be used in and outside Zimbabwe, while some
are still working on getting their ATMs working again, and long forgotten
services such as using plastic money in shops are being revived.

In the past few years the only way visitors to this country could get money
from banks was over the counter. This is now changing with Barclays ATMs now
accepting international cards.

"At the moment that is only for Visa cards, so we are noticing a lot of
activity from tourists withdrawing money from our ATMs using their
international Visa cards," she added.

Other banks are also working towards making this possible and they are
hoping to be ready by the time the soccer World Cup happens in South Africa
next year. Zimbabwe, like other countries in the region, is hoping to
benefit from an overflow of the thousands of tourists who are expected for
the soccer showcase.

Donors uneasy about Mugabe's threat

Photo: IRIN

President Robert Mugabe

HARARE, 4 November 2009 (IRIN) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's threat to appoint interim ministers to plug the gap left by the "disengagement" of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) from the unity government could lead to a review of donor funding, a highly placed official from a major donor country told IRIN.

"We are still monitoring developments. No decision has been made to appoint acting ministers, but that would certainly send a wrong message, and could get donors who want the situation in Zimbabwe to improve to review their financial commitments to the inclusive government," said the official, who declined to be identified.

The Global Political Agreement (GPA), signed in September 2008, paved the way for the formation of the unity government in February 2009. "When the Global Political Agreement was signed ... we said at the time that we would be looking out to see if the GPA was fully implemented," the official noted.

Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister and MDC leader, withdrew from attending cabinet meetings on 16 October 2009 over Mugabe's procrastination in swearing in provincial governors, while alleging that MDC members and officials faced constant harassment.

The MDC also believes that the continued stay in office of the attorney general and the Reserve Bank Governor - self-admitted allies of Mugabe - is in contravention of the GPA.

After the MDC's disengagement, information minister Webster Shamu said "His Excellency [Mugabe] may have to consider appointing ministers in an acting capacity to key ministries, for the sake of a successful agricultural season and general economic turnaround."

The passage of the unity government has been far from smooth, but the MDC's disengagement represents the most serious breakdown in relations between the partners in the fledgling unity government and its attempt to haul Zimbabwe out of the economic abyss in which nearly 7 million people relied on donor food aid in the first quarter of 2009.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) organ on politics, defence and security will meet on 5 November in Maputo, capital of Mozambique, to discuss developments in Zimbabwe.

Firstly, appointing acting ministers would be illegal and unconstitutional; doing so would be killing the GPA

The organ's troika of members is comprised of Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, Zambian President Rupiah Banda, and sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch, King Mswati III. SADC chairman Joseph Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has already visited Zimbabwe to try to resolve the impasse.

Zimbabwe's finance portfolio has also been the object of an ongoing turf war between the MDC and Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. "Firstly, appointing acting ministers would be illegal and unconstitutional; doing so would be killing the GPA," Finance Minister Tendai Biti told IRIN.

"It would amount to a violation of the Global Political Agreement, which created the transitional inclusive government. It has to be understood that the MDC has only disengaged from ZANU-PF, and not government work. We are all going to our offices to work," he said.

Government work continues  

"Nothing has changed in terms of how we do business; we are coming up with frameworks of introducing good governance and accountability to avoid abuse of funds. The money is stored in a multi-donor basket fund, and there has to be consultation and agreement on how it is spent."

Prof Arthur Mutambara, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of a breakaway MDC faction, told IRIN that Tsvangirai's decision to boycott cabinet could prove counterproductive.

"If decisions are made in cabinet, even if others have boycotted the meeting, they will be binding," he said. "So, what we have been doing is to fight against bad decisions, while acting as the peace-builder between Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe."

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