More streets protests in Zimbabwe

Zim Online

Wednesday 20 September 2006

HARARE - Zimbabwe's National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) civic alliance
will today stage street protests in Harare and other major cities against
alleged police torture of trade union leaders last week, ZimOnline has
learnt.

The NCA is a coalition of Zimbabwe's churches, civic and human rights
bodies, women's organisations, opposition political parties, the student and
labour movements campaigning for a new and democratic constitution for the
country.

NCA chairman Lovemore Madhuku told ZimOnline that anger was seething among
alliance members over police brutality but said for strategic reasons, he
could not disclose the groups' protest plans today.

"We are not happy with the way the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
leadership was brutally attacked (by the police)," said Madhuku. "There is
anger out there but I cannot confirm when exactly the demonstrations will
take place," he added.

NCA insiders said alliance leaders were not letting out the exact time
protests will kick off in order to surprise the police, who are expected to
again mount a similarly massive security operation as last week when they
thwarted ZCTU-led worker protests.

But they said more than 300 NCA activists were expected to march across
Harare while almost similar numbers of protestors were expected in the
cities of Bulawayo, Gweru, Mutare, Masvingo and Kadoma.

Dozens of top ZCTU leaders and some officials of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party were arrested by the police in Harare last
Wednesday as they prepared to lead lunchtime protests by workers against
worsening economic hardships.

The protests fizzled out after the arrests and the police allegedly went on
to severely assault and torture the detained ZCTU and MDC officials about 30
of who are still nursing various injuries including broken arms, legs and
ribs.

ZCTU secretary general Wellington Chibebe, who was the worst injured during
the alleged assault by the police, is still admitted in hospital where he is
receiving treatment for severe injuries to the head, a broken arm and
fingers.

However the NCA, ZCTU and MDC, who all hold President Robert Mugabe directly
responsible for Zimbabwe's long running political and economic crisis, say
beatings and torture will not silence them, promising more protests to force
the veteran leader to fix the economy and embrace democracy.

Mugabe, who denies ruining his country's economy, says he will not allow
street protests against his government, boasting last month that security
forces would "pull the trigger" on protesters.

Political tensions remain high in Zimbabwe as the southern African nation
grapples with an economic meltdown characterised by the world's highest
inflation at 1 204.6 percent, skyrocketing unemployment, shortages of
foreign currency, food, fuel and power and increasing poverty levels. -
ZimOnline

Harare still has long way to go to mend ties with IMF

Zim Online

                 Wednesday 20 September 2006

      HARARE - Prospects of Zimbabwe resuming normal relations with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) are growing dimmer by the day as President
Robert Mugabe's government pursues policies at tangent with agreed
macroeconomic targets, analysts told ZimOnline.

      They said it was even looking highly unlikely that the IMF will be
going ahead with an Article 14 consultative mission to Harare next month and
itself a routine information gathering mission that would not mean
resumption of financial assistance to the troubled southern African nation.

      The official Herald newspaper had at the weekend speculated that an
IMF team would be in the country in October to assess the country's progress
in implementing an economic turnaround programme.

      "That team will not be coming any time soon from what we gather," said
consultant economist John Robertson.

      Added an economist with a commercial bank: "The issue is about
convergence of policies and already the IMF has set the tone by indicating
that all is not well with regards to the economic management of Zimbabwe."

      The IMF last week condemned the continued performance of quasi-fiscal
operations by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), which it said was
hindering the country's fight against runaway inflation.

      Implying that Zimbabwe has two finance ministries, IMF deputy director
for the African department Siddharth Tiwari said one of the things that
Harare needed to do was to streamline economic management processes,
particularly how the fiscal policy is administered.

      "Quasi-fiscal deficits in the central bank are fairly large and there
is a need to reduce the size of these deficits to levels that are conducive
to development," he said.

      But RBZ governor Gideon Gono has insisted the central bank will carry
on performing quasi-fiscal functions, saying he and "others charged with the
responsibility to plan, implement and monitor government and economic
programmes" could not stand by and watch while people suffer.

      Referring to an impending water crisis in Harare, the RBZ chief
promised to print more money to enable the Harare City Council and the
Zimbabwe National Water Authority to procure water treatment chemicals.

      "I believe there are a number of things we can do such as to stop
printing money and curb government spending if we are win the support of our
partners," said economic commentator Eric Bloch.

      The RBZ, accused of fueling inflation by printing money to finance its
quasi-fiscal activities, has in the past few years also dolled out large
sums of money to farmers and loss-making state companies.

      The IMF cut aid to Zimbabwe in October 1999 following differences with
Mugabe over fiscal policy and other governance issues.

      The once-buoyant southern African economy has since then been on a
free-fall, with the world's highest inflation rate of 1 204.6 percent in
August and a weak exchange rate.

      The IMF's Tiwari also said the economic meltdown that has seen
Zimbabwe short of food, fuel, electricity, essential medicines and every
other basic commodity, called for deeper macroeconomic reforms and would not
be resolved by an injection of funds.

       "I would like to note that there is substantial goodwill on the part
of the international community to help Zimbabwe, but the first step has to
be taken by the authorities," said Tiwari.

      Exchange market reforms are also an important pre-requisite, as are
improvements in the business climate and the rule of law, the IMF official
noted.

      Zimbabwe currently operates a dual exchange rate policy, with the
official rate administered by the RBZ and another parallel market rate where
most of the trade takes place.

      "You can do all of the above and if you do not convince the private
sector it is not going to work," said Tiwari.

      Zimbabwe's economic crisis rapidly worsened in 2000 after Mugabe
embarked on a controversial programme to expropriate land from whites for
redistribution to landless blacks. The Zimbabwean leader refused to pay
compensation for the land, only accepting to reimburse the farmers for
infrastructure on the properties.

      The land reforms plunged the mainstay agriculture sector into deep
recession, with food production declining by about 60 percent to leave the
country dependent on aid from relief agencies.

      Foreign investors pulled out en masse fearful because of lack of
guarantees their investments could be safe in Zimbabwe, while the southern
African country's traditional development partners and donors in the West
withheld support in protest over gross human rights violations during Mugabe's
chaotic and often violent land reforms.

      The Harare administration has responded by seeking to strengthen
economic ties with the East in particular China, which last week agreed to
provide US$200 million to boost agriculture this season.

      But economic experts say more money - much more than China can
provide - is required to lift up Zimbabwe's economy from the mire. -
ZimOnline

Negative growth to keep forex reserves at 12-day cover

Zim Online

                 Wednesday 20 September 2006

      HARARE - Zimbabwe's foreign currency reserves are seen remaining
precariously low for the foreseeable future as the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) projects that troubled nation is one of only four African
countries to experience negative growth in 2007.

      In its latest African Regional Economic Outlook report, the IMF
estimates that Zimbabwe's foreign exchange reserves would remain at 12 days
cover of imports of goods and services. The comfortable level is at least
three months cover.

      The southern African country has experienced critical shortages of
hard cash since a seven-year-old economic and political crisis started in
2000.

      The foreign currency crunch has spawned crippling shortages of fuel,
food and severely affected the country's creditworthiness. It has
consistently failed to pay foreign debts, resulting in its blacklisting by
the IMF and other multilateral financial institutions over arrears.

      The IMF warned that Zimbabwe would join Lesotho, Seychelles and
Swaziland as the only sub-Saharan African countries expected to register
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth below two percent in 2007.

      The economies of oil-importing countries are projected to grow at a
rate of 4.6 percent, led by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique,
and Tanzania - all growing by at least 7 percent.

      Growth in South Africa is expected to converge toward the potential
growth rate of 4 percent.

      Average growth for sub-Saharan Africa is however projected to
accelerate to 5.9 percent in 2007 on the back of rising petroleum output in
oil-producing countries

      Output growth in oil-exporting countries is forecast to increase
sharply, from 5.6 to 10.1 percent, as new oil fields come on stream in
Angola and Equatorial Guinea.

      Growth is projected to more than double to 31 percent in Angola, and
to rise to over 9 percent in Equatorial Guinea.

      "For the region as a whole, excluding Zimbabwe, inflation is projected
to decline to about 6 percent," projects the Bretton Woods institutions.

      In the same report, the IMF warned that if Zimbabwe maintained the
same economic policies, inflation "can be expected to accelerate to above 4
000 percent" next
      year.

      Average inflation in regional economic powerhouse South Africa is
projected at almost 5.7 percent in 2007.

      Zimbabwe's economic crisis has had a contagion effect on the southern
African sub-region, with the country's hyperinflationary environment pushing
the regional inflation figure to more than 23 percent for 2005.

      The regional inflation average would have been 10.8 percent had the
Zimbabwe rate not been included, according to a recent report by the
Southern African Development Community. - ZimOnline

Swedish envoy criticises Harare over assault of labour leaders

Zim Online

                 Wednesday 20 September 2006

      HARARE - Sweden's top diplomat in Harare, Sten Rylander, yesterday
condemned last week's assault and severe injury of Zimbabwe labour leaders
while in police custody, calling it a "flagrant violation of human rights."

      Dozens of Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) leaders and
opposition officials were severely assaulted by the police after they were
arrested last Wednesday while attempting to stage street protests over
worsening economic conditions in the country.

      ZCTU secretary general Wellington Chibebe, who sustained the severest
injuries during the attack, is still confined to his hospital bed in Harare.

      In a statement to the media, Rylander said President Robert Mugabe's
government should stop attacking labour and the political opposition and
instead work towards dialogue to resolve contentious national issues.

      "The brutal assault on Chibebe and other ZCTU leaders on 13 September
2006 is a flagrant violation of basic human rights. Furthermore, it is
unfitting in an era when we are supposed to build bridges and find ways and
means to bring back Zimbabwe to normal," Rylander said.

      The Swedish ambassador, who later visited Chibebe in hospital, has in
the past provoked the ire of the Zimbabwean government after sharply
criticising some of its controversial policies.

      "Like so many other international partners, we urge the government of
Zimbabwe to pursue dialogue and sustainable reforms based on national
consensus," Rylander said.

      The United States, Britain and international human rights groups have
also criticised the attacks which the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum has said
present clear evidence of "both widespread and systematic" torture in the
southern African country.

      Torture is outlawed in Zimbabwe. But state security agents are accused
of targeting government opponents for torture, a charge Harare denies. -
ZimOnline

Zim police 'overzealous' in monitoring prices

IOL

          September 19 2006 at 01:04PM

      Harare - Police in the Zimbabwean capital Harare arrested three more
company executives for hiking prices without government consent but a judge
has said the police are being overzealous, it was reported on Tuesday.

      Those arrested were from fertiliser manufacturers Windmill and
Zimbabwe Fertiliser Company and Circle Cement, the state-controlled Herald
reported.

      The arrests bring to six the number of top executives arrested for
illegally hiking prices since last Friday as President Robert Mugabe's
government battles another round of shock price increases.

      Meanwhile, Harare judge Paradzai Garufu has lambasted the police for
detaining officials from a major bakery and a plastic packaging company for
more than 30 hours at the weekend, the Herald said.

      Garufu said the police were overzealous and should not have detained
Lobels Bakery operations director Lemmy Chikomo and Saltrama Plastics
managing director Edward Madza.

      Madza's lawyer complained that the arresting police officers behaved
like a raging bull in a china shop, the Herald reported.

      The prices of basics like bread, milk, maize meal, sugar and cooking
oil shot up at the end of last week as annual inflation peaked at 1 204.6
percent, rousing the fury of the authorities.

      Retailers and wholesalers are not allowed to increase the price of
many commodities without permission from the Ministry of Industry and
International Trade.

      Some shops this week temporarily reversed the bread price hikes but
there are now fears of bread shortages. Bakers complain that the price of
inputs has risen substantially and they will go out of business if they are
not allowed to charge the new prices.

      Surveillance teams have been deployed countrywide to check shop prices
and more arrests are expected, said the Herald. - Sapa-dpa

Zimbabwe's inflation figures 'doctored'-analyst

      By Tichaona Sibanda
      19 September 2006

      A political analyst says that Robert Mugabe's regime has all along
been lying about the state of the country's economy..

      Bekithemba Mhlanga, a UK based political and social analyst said
inflation figures released by the government in the last couple of months
were certainly 'doctored' and do not tally with what is happening on the
ground.

      'The figures were not entirely correct and this evidently shows the
government has been living a lie the last six-seven years,' he said.

      His comments come a day after the International Monetary Fund warned
the country's yearly inflation could average 4 000 percent in 2007 as long
as the regime continue on it's current economic path.

      The Bretton Woods institution said the country's inflation rate, which
is currently pegged at 1 204.6 percent for August, could range between 4 000
and 6 000 percent next year unless there is a fundamental shift in the
economic management style.

      The IMF statement added that the main drivers of inflation would
remain the quasi-fiscal activities of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe that have
resulted in high money supply growth as well as a poor exchange rate policy.

      'If you look at it this way Gono is on a weekly basis coming up with
billions or trillions of dollars of facilities for all kinds of sectors. But
these facilities are not being backed up by any real productivity in the
country or being backed up by any gold reserves. So its true when the IMF
blames the inflation on the quasi-fiscal activities of the Reserve bank,'
Mhlanga said.

      Other economists have warned that there is no way of avoiding the IMF
projection of 4000 to 6000 percent inflation and Mhlanga agreed, explaining
that what it would mean 'is the country going over the tipping point.'

      SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

No Support for Struggling New Farmers

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

September 19, 2006
Posted to the web September 19, 2006

Harare

The government's withdrawal of free agricultural inputs for new farmers is
certain to affect food production adversely, analysts are warning.

Farmers who were allocated land under the fast-track land reform programme
that began in 2000 have received fertilisers and seed for the past three
years, for which they could pay after the harvest, but last month the
agriculture ministry announced that it had stopped the "free" inputs scheme.

"Government cannot do everything for the farmers and we are saying, 'let the
farmers have the initiative'," the ministry's permanent secretary, Simon
Pazvakavambwa, told a parliamentary committee.

Denford Chimbwanda, chairman of the Grain and Cereal Producers Association
(GCPA), told IRIN that while farmers should not look to government for
permanent subsidies, completely withdrawing support was "disastrous".

"The decision to discontinue loaning out inputs is going to seriously
compromise our preparations and production targets. The withdrawal of
support should have come in phases, and I foresee the majority of farmers
reducing the size of land they will be tilling this season," he said.

Most agricultural inputs are imported and have become all but unaffordable
for many farmers, who are suffering the combined effects of Zimbabwe's
steadily deteriorating economy and last season's low yields after widespread
shortages of chemicals, fertilisers and seed.

Fertiliser companies have hiked prices by almost 100 percent, citing a 300
percent increase in transportation costs of the basic ingredients in
fertiliser. A 50kg bag of ammonium nitrate, used for growing maize, doubled
in price to Z$4,400 (US$17.60), while the average price on the parallel
market has reached Z$5,000 ($US20).

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe announced recently that it had secured a US$490
million loan for purchasing agricultural equipment, inputs and fuel, with
part of it to be disbursed to banks for loans, although the move has not
impressed farmers, who say the money has come too late.

The multimillion dollar loan would provide finance to companies that
manufacture or import inputs and equipment, such as tractors and irrigation
equipment, but not for farmers' immediate planting requirements.

"While the government should be applauded for managing to obtain the money,
the difference that could make might be minimal because of ill timing,"
Chimbwanda said. "The process of obtaining money from the banks takes a long
time and, while farmers might need cash to replace worn-out equipment now,
it might not be possible for them to get finance before the rains start
falling."

Terence Makuyana, 45, who has a 50ha plot about 80km north of the capital,
Harare, said even if the banks had finance for loans, farmers like him would
find it difficult to access it.

"I have not been able to obtain a loan from the banks, because all the time
I approach them, they say they need me to demonstrate that I have the
required experience as a farmer and have a proven record of success ... this
is my third year into farming ... [but the banks] are demanding proof of
ownership of property like a house and a car, which I don't have," he told
IRIN.

Most of the farmers who benefited from the compulsory acquisition of land
from about 4,000 white farmers have not received the promised 99-year leases
that can be used as collateral to guarantee bank loans.

"The process of giving farmers leases is complicated, because it cannot be
done without the land being properly surveyed, and that requires money and
manpower that the government does not have," Renson Gasela, former
agricultural secretary of the opposition party, Movement for Democratic
Change, told IRIN. "The situation has been made worse by the fact that most
of the farms have been subdivided into small plots, and providing title
deeds for them might be a headache."

Agricultural analyst Sam Moyo said new farmers lacked sufficient knowledge
of how to apply for loans, while the banks "lack the capacity to deal with
the increased numbers of new farmers".

"Apparently, these banks have scaled down on loaning out to farmers since
the new farmers came on board," he told IRIN.

Makuyana, who grows maize and groundnuts, said the combination of last
year's poor harvests, despite good rains during the farming season, and the
withdrawal of free inputs this year might force him to reduce his target by
half.

He has struggled to feed his family. "I am yet to repay the government for
the inputs I received last year because I did not realise much money from
the sale of my produce owing to poor harvests," said Makuyana. "I used the
little money that I got to buy an extra beast for draught power, because the
District Development Fund (DDF) is no longer assisting us with tractors."

The DDF provides technical support to farmers, but more than half its fleet
has been grounded because the government does not have sufficient funds to
purchase spare parts and fuel.

Zimbabwe's government insists that about 1.8 million tonnes of maize were
harvested - just short of the annual cereal requirement - but independent
analysts estimate that 800,000 tonnes at most were produced.

Agriculture minister Joseph Made has said Zimbabwe was importing grain to
boost national reserves.

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]

Internet shuts down after gov't fails to pay the bill .....

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

JOHANNESBURG, 19 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - Government failure to pay a US$700,000
bill to a satellite company has brought Zimbabwe's internet services to a
virtual standstill, further isolating a country grappling with food
shortages, chronic unemployment and the world's highest inflation rate.

Internet users in Zimbabwe have complained of long delays in sending and
receiving emails, painfully slow browsing speeds and problems connecting to
many websites since Intelsat severed a satellite link that provided about
three-quarters of the bandwidth used by the state-owned communications firm,
TelOne.

The country's biggest internet service provider, MWeb Zimbabwe, issued a
statement apologising to subscribers for the delays, but said it did not
know when TelOne would settle its debt to Intelsat, one of the world's
biggest communications companies, to have the satellite link restored.

"This is catastrophic, as all legal internet service providers (ISPs)
utilise TelOne for their outgoing bandwidth to the worldwide web as well as
for email traffic. Thus, all such ISPs have [been], and are being, affected
by this downtime. In short, this ... is causing an almost collapse of the
internet in Zimbabwe," the MWeb statement said.

A spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Internet Service Providers Association
(ZISPA), an independent body representing all ISPs in the country, said they
were working with the government and TelOne to resume normal internet
services.

"We have been trying to find out for three weeks what the problem is, and
TelOne finally told us it was a problem of payment," the ZISPA spokesperson
said. "Now we are trying to find out what the plan is to get the problem
resolved, but so far there has been very little movement in that direction."

TelOne declined to answer questions posed via telephone and email.

The breakdown in internet services coincides with fierce debate over
Zimbabwe's proposed Interception of Communications Bill 2006, which would
allow the government to monitor all internet communications, including
email, web browsing, instant messaging and financial transactions.

President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party government has either
instituted or revived a raft of media legislation that has led to the
closure of numerous newspapers, trials of journalists and the expulsion of
foreign correspondents. The new legislation being discussed in parliament
would allow interception of all forms of private communications, including
fixed-line and cellular phone calls.

The bill would also force internet service providers to buy surveillance
equipment at a cost of about US$1 million per provider, a stipulation that
could force many to shut down in an economic environment where hard currency
is scarce.

Zimbabwe has reportedly acquired electronic censorship and surveillance
systems from China, which the rights organisation, Human Rights Watch, said
in a report was the world's most advanced "system of internet censorship and
surveillance, popularly known as the 'Great Firewall'".

"We are very concerned about this proposed legislation because of the lack
of judicial involvement and oversight, the potential loss of privacy in
communications, as well as the costs and technical difficulties involved in
meeting the requirements of the Bill," ZISPA said in a statement.

"As a result, ZISPA has prepared a submission to the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on Transport and Communications, requesting that the Bill be
withdrawn, pending further consultations and an examination of similar
legislation and its implementation in other countries."

...... Telecoms Showcase Opens Tomorrow

The Herald (Harare)

September 19, 2006
Posted to the web September 19, 2006

Harare

THE Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz)
is facilitating the Zimbabwe Telecommunications 2006 Conference (Zimtel)
which starts tomorrow at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC)
in pursuit of efforts to reform and develop the telecommunications sector.

The exhibition-cum-conference's objective is to bring to the fore urgent
issues of interest and concern to telecommunications regulators, operators,
service providers, telephone users and stakeholders.

Specialist exhibition and conference organisers USK International is hosting
the exhibition, launched in 1996 at a time of strained relations between the
Government and the private sector over the deregulation of the
telecommunications sector, then monopolised by the Posts and
Telecommunications Corporation.

USK International managing director Mr Nhlanhla Masuku said Zimtel provides
the much needed forum for dialogue among all key stakeholders in the sector.

"Zimtel 2005 was a success with an attendance of telecommunication providers
in electronics and power engineering, telephone and data connectivity,
cellular services, internet access, PABXs and telephone systems," said Mr
Masuku.

The conference was suspended in 2000 following a wave of negative publicity
triggered by the land reform programme.

Mr Masuku said an exhibitors' forum would form part of the conference
programme to facilitate dialogue between technology suppliers and key
players in the telecoms sector.

"We learnt a lot from last year's exhibition and conference and anticipate
covering much ground and finding solutions to prevailing problems that
players in the sector are facing," said Mr Masuku.

Zimbabwe has one fixed line telephone operator (TelOne) and three mobile
phone networks -- NetOne, Econet and Telecel.

TeleAcess, which had been granted a licence by Potraz to run the country's
second fixed line network, had its licence revoked last year after failing
to roll out its network.

Cost of Living Continues to Rise

The Herald (Harare)

September 18, 2006
Posted to the web September 19, 2006

Jeffrey Gogo
Harare

THE cost of living continues to rise higher with data just released from the
Central Statistical Office (CSO) showing a sharp 18,11 percent increase in
the Total Consumption Poverty Line (TCPL) to $100 000 for a family of five
people.

This means, on an individual basis, one required at least $20 061 during the
month of August to purchase food and non-food products if they were not to
be regarded as poor.

In essence, the data means that most Zimbabweans live inside the poverty
bracket, as reflected in low income levels.

The Herald Business estimates that 85 percent of the total workforce in the
country are within this bracket. Low-tier workers are worse off, as most of
them earn less than

$25 000 per month.

Only middle and top management, whose salaries range between $350 000 and
$1,2 million per month, are excluded from this "poverty club" .

A Human Resources Management Practice Report released earlier this year by a
Harare-based consultancy firm, Organisational Excellence Consultants, says
the gulf between executive and shopfloor salaries has widened by more than
125 000 percent over the last year alone.

The firm says a reasonable gap should be somewhere between 40 percent and
120 percent.

But the CSO figures, announced last Friday, showed that the level of poverty
in Zimbabwe continued to deepen vis-à-vis spiralling inflation, which rose
to 1 204 percent at the end of August.

And yet, most wage negotiations have either been stalled or were effectively
ineffective, as most companies had been reluctant to adjust salaries by
wider margins averaging about 150 percent versus annual inflation, which
rose by over 200 percent last month.

The CSO reported that the Food Poverty Line (FPL) for an average five
persons rose to $31 948 in August, up 15 percent from the previous month.

Per person, the FPL stood at $6 390 over the July figure of $5 566, which
means an individual required that much to purchase food items only, and for
them to escape the "poverty club".

The poverty lines vary from province to province, the CSO said, just as
prices differ from place to place. The TCPL for an average household in
August ranged from $81 034 in Manicaland province to $115 236 in
Matabeleland South.

The FPL represents the minimum consumption expenditure necessary to ensure
that each household member can (if all expenditures were devoted to food)
consume a minimum food basket representing 2 100 kilo calories.

An individual whose total consumption expenditure does not exceed the food
poverty line is deemed to be very poor.

The TCPL is derived by computing the non-food consumption expenditures of
poor households whose consumption expenditures were just equal to the FPL.

Bread scarce as Zimbabwe targets bakers

IOL

          September 19 2006 at 01:05AM

      Harare - Long-suffering Zimbabweans hunted for bread in shops on
Monday during a government clampdown against bakers accused of overcharging.

      Also on Monday, most international email and Internet services neared
collapse after the state communications company failed to pay its hard
currency satellite charges and the nation's key Intelsat link was cut off.

      Stores reported a halt to bread deliveries on Monday after the arrest
of three food company executives by police acting for trade ministry price
inspectors.

      The executives, one from Harare's biggest private bakery, were accused
of hiking prices on bread and dairy goods in defiance of
government-controlled pricing.

      The price of a regular loaf of bread rose by 30 percent on Friday to
ZIM$330, the fifth increase this year.

      Bakers insisted that the flour shortages and soaring costs of
ingredients, transport and packaging in the ailing economy forced them to
exceed the government's fixed price to continue production.

      Price inspectors ordered stores to reduce the bread price on Monday
and deliveries dried up, store managers said.

      The independent Internet Service Providers Association, meanwhile,
apologised to customers for a drastic reduction in browsing speeds and long
delays in email deliveries on Monday. It said Zimbabwe's biggest
international link through Intelsat, controlled by the state communications
company, TelOne, was shut down until debts of at least $700 000 in service
charges were paid off.

      The Internet association said the country's main service providers
reported a drop of up to 90 percent in the volume of electronic traffic in
the past week because of the Intelsat shutdown.

      The state company TelOne acknowledged receiving a final demand for
payment of its satellite arrears last month and asked the central bank to
provide hard currency which has so far not been allocated.

      "This is catastrophic as all legal Internet Service Providers utilise
TelOne for their outgoing bandwidth to the World Wide Web as well as for
email traffic. Thus all such ISPs have and are being affected by this
downtime. In short, this is causing an almost collapse of the Internet in
Zimbabwe," said Mweb, the country's biggest provider, in a circular to
subscribers.

      Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence in
1980, with acute shortages of food, hard currency, gasoline and essential
imports. Official annual inflation is a record 1 204 percent, the highest in
the world. - Sapa-AP

President in New York for UN General Assembly

The Herald

From Itai Musengeyi at the UNITED NATIONS in New Y

PRESIDENT Mugabe is now in New York City to attend the 61st United Nations
General Assembly, which opens at the world body's headquarters today.

The UN Headquarters site is officially international territory, not part of
the United States.

Cde Mugabe and his delegation arrived here on Sunday and were met at John F.
Kennedy International Airport by Zimbabwe's Ambassador to the US Mr
Machivenyika Mapuranga and officials from Zimbabwe's Mission to the UN in
New York.

The President is among nearly 90 leaders expected to address the General
Assembly.

The Zimbabwean delegation flew into New York from Havana, Cuba, where it
attended the 14th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit and the 13th Group of 15
(G15) Summit. G15, which has since expanded to 17 but retained its name,
comprises developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America

The President is being accompanied by the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe,
Foreign Affairs Minister Cde Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and other senior
Government officials.

Zimbabwe's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Ambassador
Boniface Chidyausiku, and the Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva
and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Mr Chitsaka Chipaziwa, were also in
Cuba for the NAM and G15 summits. Ambassador Chidyausiku handles NAM issues
while Ambassador Chipaziwa deals with the G15 which seeks to promote
co-operation between member-states and bodies such as the WTO, which
develops ground rules for international commerce and mediates in trade
disputes through, among other measures, regulating tariffs.

The NAM summit expressed disappointment at the outcome of the 2005 UN World
Summit, saying it did not take into account the concerns and interests of
developing countries - especially on development, official development
assistance and trade.

However, the leaders said in spite of failing to thrash out these issues,
the 2005 World Summit served as a basis to move forward the process of
strengthening the UN to meet existing and emerging threats to economic and
social development, peace and security and human rights.

The NAM summit said the UN reform must be transparent and inclusive.

"The voice of every member state must be heard and respected during the
reform process irrespective of the contributions made to the budget of the
organisation," the leaders said in their declaration.

NAM also bemoaned the disappearance of multilateralism, which has been
replaced by unilateralism.

The nearly 90 leaders, dozens of foreign ministers and diplomats expected to
attend the 61st General Assembly session will focus on the UN's unfinished
reforms, including the highly contentious issue of expanding the Security
Council, the world body's most powerful organ by virtue of the fact that it
has the mandate to make decisions which other member governments must carry
out under the UN Charter unlike other organs of the organisation which can
only make recommendations. This makes its veto-wielding five permanent
members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -
inordinately potent and influential.

Iran's nuclear programme will also feature prominently in discussions.

The session comes at a time the UN has secured a ceasefire in Lebanon, is
endeavouring to revive the Middle East peace process and pressing Sudan to
allow its peacekeepers into the war-torn Darfur region of the country.

At last year's World Summit, UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan urged global
leaders to respond to mounting criticism of the organisation and restore its
credibility by adopting broad reforms needed for nations to act together to
tackle poverty, terrorism and conflict.

l Meanwhile, Vice President Joice Mujuru is the Acting President in the
absence of President Mugabe.

In a statement yesterday, Information and Publicity principal Press
secretary Mr Regis Chikowore said Cde Mujuru would be Acting President
beginning yesterday.

U.S. Labor Protests Mugabe Attacks on Workers in Zimbabwe

18 September 2006

Trade unionists rally outside embassy calling for end to violence

By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer

  

Riot police keep an eye on detained protesters after their arrest in Harare, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2006. Police sealed off several main streets and the central square in the Zimbabwe capital Wednesday to head off a protest march called by the main labor federation. (© AP Images)

Washington -- More than 50 trade unionists marched outside the Zimbabwean Embassy in Washington September 18 to protest recent attacks against members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) by the government of President Robert Mugabe.

The Americans were protesting the September 14 action by Zimbabwean security forces, who broke up a peaceful demonstration by 250 ZCTU members demanding openness in government and better wages.  A number of senior labor officials were beaten severely and arrested after they protested economic mismanagement by Mugabe that has led to a staggering 1,000 percent inflation rate and joblessness of more than 50 percent.

Chanting, "Stop the beatings, stop the torture," and "ZCTU, American workers support you," members of AFL-CIO, a major U.S. labor organization, marched in front of the Zimbabwean Embassy carrying placards that read "Promote workers' rights worldwide" and "Mugabe: Free unionists."

Barbara Shailor, an AFL-CIO program officer, said: "It is very important that we come here today because this is the day Mugabe is coming to New York to attend the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly.  And we need to tell the embassy that we will not stand for the violation of trade union rights in Zimbabwe."

As a result of the September 14 attacks, Shailor said, ZCTU General Secretary Wellington Chibebe has "severe cuts to his head, three broken bones and severe bruises."  ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo, has "a broken arm," and First Vice President Lucia Matibenga has "scratch marks all over her back.  Her neck is swollen and her eardrums were damaged."  All three also were taken into custody.

"What these people have gone through must not go unnoticed as Mugabe moves about the streets of New York," Shailor said.

David Claxton, an officer with the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), read out a number of demands for Mugabe, including investigation of the September 14 attacks, medical care for all those injured, protection of the right of labor to organize and "active government engagement with the ZCTU to resolve the economic crisis" in Zimbabwe.

Tony Baker, another CBTU member, told the crowd: "Almost 20 years ago, CBTU led a demonstration to the South African Embassy" protesting apartheid.  "There is nothing different about South Africa then and Zimbabwe now.  The only difference was that [South Africa] was a white regime oppressing black workers and this [Zimbabwe] is a black regime oppressing black workers."

David Dorn, director of international programs for the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), said, "We are here because this suppression of labor in Zimbabwe has just gone on far too long.

"Our organization has been working with the teachers' union in Zimbabwe for a number of years now, actually with help from the State Department.  But the problem is people are suffering so much it's hard to sustain an education program in a country where people are scrabbling just to get by from day to day."

The United States has condemned the attacks. "The U.S. government condemns the Mugabe government's suppression of planned marches by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.  Over 100 individuals were arrested, including senior union leaders, and some were severely beaten as part of the effort to prevent the marches from taking place,” U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said September 15.

"The government's actions against those wishing to protest on behalf of greater democracy, better wages and access to treatment for AIDS sufferers is another example of its denial of the basic rights of its citizens.  We call for the immediate release of those detained and access to medical treatment for those who were injured," he said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Police berated over arrests of company directors

Zimbabwejournalists.com

      By a Correspondent

      HARARE - THREE directors from Zimbabwe 's largest milk supplier
Dairibord, bread maker Lobels and Saltrama Plastics, arrested over the
weekend for increasing the prices of their goods without government
approval, have been freed.

      Dairibord chief Benson Samudzimu was arrested Friday morning after the
wholesale price of milk went up from Zd$185 to Zd$250. Lobels operations
director Lemmy Chikomo was arrested Saturday afternoon after the company
raised the price of bread from Zd$200 to Zd$335 per a loaf. The managing
director of Saltrama Plastics Edward Madza was also picked up the same day.

      Yesterday a Harare magistrate, Paradzai Garufu, berated the police for
unlawfully detaining the company directors who spent the weekend in police
cells in Mbare.

      Garufu ruled the police were "overzealous" in arresting them. He said
the police was not supposed to have detained them as they allegedly
"committed the offence in the best interest of their companies".

      Don Moyo, representing Madza, told the court police behaved like a
"raging bull in a china shop" when they unlawfully arrested and detained his
client at the weekend "for simply being a Saltrama director".

      Prosecutor Norman Tsarwe even suggested a training workshop on legal
issues for police officers in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's once respected police
force has been disintegrating over the years with many officers joining the
long trek to greener pastures outside the country while others join the
private sector. A shortage of resources has seen human rights and legal
courses drying up within the Zimbabwe Republic Police.

      Madza was cleared of the charges since he was not charged in his
personal capacity, while Saltrama Plastics pleaded guilty to contravening a
section of the price control regulations. It was not made clear what
products Saltrama had allegedly hiked without government approval. Sentenced
would be handed down today.

      Lobels Bakery, which was represented by Advocate Eric Matinenga, had
its application for refusal of remand dismissed. Garufu remanded the company
to 2 October.

Zimbabwe's farmland laid to waste

From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 18 September

Waiting to board a delayed plane back to Harare last week a group of several
former Zimbabwe commercial farmers met up again for the first time since
they were all brutally evicted from their homes and farms in the last six
years. One, who has moved to neighbouring Zambia and is farming there among
scores of other displaced white Zimbabwean farmers, visited his former home
about 30 miles south east of Harare a few days earlier. He went there for
sentimental reasons to see what had happened since he was forced off in
2002. He took pictures with his mobile phone. Nothing much had changed
except that it was desolate, unkempt. No farming appeared to have taken
place on the 2,000 once-productive acres since they were forced off. The
homestead was still locked up, no one had moved in. The only mysterious
change was why, with all that land, the tennis court had been dug up for a
scruffy vegetable garden. Many of the farm workers were still there. During
the run-up to when they were forced to flee, the family were locked up in
their house and surrounded by militants. Their farm workers had sided with
former veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war, having been promised untold
riches. Last week the workers greeted the farmer warmly, and begged him to
return, saying they had no work, and were desperate. Sadly, the farmer
explained, that was impossible. The new "owner" of the farm is a senior
policeman who lives in second city Bulawayo, a five-hour drive away. He only
goes there for the occasional weekend.

Red Cross bosses in fresh scandal after Zanu PF donation

New Zimbabwe

By Lebo Nkatazo
Last updated: 09/19/2006 08:36:15
TWO Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) officials have donated US$5000 to the
ruling Zanu PF party, two weeks after we revealed the aid organisation had
been taken over by the government in a covert operation.

The donation -- a contribution towards the holding of the Zanu PF annual
people's conference -- was made by Emma Kundishora and the organisation's
president, Edmore Shamhu, a New Zimbabwe.com investigation has revealed.

The Zanu PF conference is set for the first two weeks of December, according
to Zanu PF spokesman,
Nathan Shamuyarira.

New Zimbabwe.com was told Monday that the decision by the Red Cross top
brass to deliver the organisation to Zanu PF had alarmed donors.

The organisation's headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and other donors
have demanded an explanation from the organisation or face a cessation of
funding, sources said.

Zanu PF successfully executed a clandestine take-over of the Red Cross by
planting army officers and party activists in key jobs, while elbowing out
workers resisting the take-over.

Last week, we told how Shamhu had seized several donated trucks and motor
cycles which were now being used for Zanu PF's campaign activities in
Mashonaland Central province where the Red Cross president is a high ranking
party functionary.

Shamhu, a school teacher, and Kundishora, a former Ministry of Health
official, also used Red Cross money to pay the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority
(ZIMRA) duty for other vehicles donated to Zanu PF, New Zimbabwe.com was
told.

The vehicles are already being used to campaign for the ruling party ahead
of the local government elections whose date has not been set. The cars are
being kept at the house of a Bindura businessman and a Zanu PF supporter
only identified as Nyongani.

Shamhu and Kundishora have spearheaded the stripping of assets from the
ZRCS. Simultaneously, they have appointed officials from the army, the
Central Intelligence Organisation, Zanu PF supporters and relatives to top
jobs in the organisation.

Reliable sources at the organisation's treasury department said Kundishora
and Shamhu have been awarding themselves and cronies international trips
which were emptying the Zimbabwe Red Cross's Foreign Currency Account held
with Standard Chartered Bank.

It is part of that foreign currency which the chefs have donated to the
ruling party as the trips were part of their fundraising efforts for the
ruling party, sources revealed.

Kundishora returned from Germany on Friday last week on one of her regular
foreign jaunts.

The US$5000 donation by the Red Cross top brass, made through one of
Kundishora's relatives, identified as Nyasha Kuwamba early last week, was
handed over to Zanu PF officials in Mashonaland East. Goromonzi High
School -- venue for the Zanu PF annual gathering -- is in the same province.

The Red Cross's traditional donors include Denmark which funds about 50
percent of the organisation's activities while the EU and the United Kingdom
also
fund the organisation's other programmes.

The funded programmes include care and treatment for children orphaned by
the HIV and Aids pandemic, vulnerable groups like child-headed families and
the
elderly and the provision of water and sanitation facilities in rural areas.

They also meet the educational requirements of the orphans, which the
Zimbabwean government is not able to meet under its Basic Education
Assistance Module, BEAM.

A source said: "We are not surprised that the secretary general is using her
niece as a link with Zanu PF because Nyasha used to work for the Financial
Gazette newspaper. We have all read the Mediagate reports linking the
newspaper to the CIO. It's too much of a coincidence."

Now, donors have reacted to New Zimbabwe.com's investigation and demanded
answers.

"Kundishora took a day off last week after officials from Geneva demanded a
full commission of inquiry into the operations of the Red Cross or risk the
loss of funding," a source revealed.

"The donors are especially keen to know why some employees were fired,
demoted or transferred under a pretext of restructuring. The funding
partners want to know why Shamhu, Kundishora and other senior members of
staff helped themselves to assets belonging to the Red Cross, including
shopping vouchers and awarding themselves top of the range cell phones when
they are supposed to serve the poor."

The Zimbabwe government has been accused of failing to cater for the needs
of tens of thousands of orphans and vulnerable groups. Aid agencies say the
loss of funding for humanitarian work would be a big blow to the poor while
those responsible for destroying the organisation could always move on to
other jobs.

New Zimbabwe.com sought comment from Kundishora on Monday, but she had not
yet responded to our written questions late in the day.

Mugabe lying to himself

Zimbabwejournalists.com

      By Julius Sai Mutyambizi-Dewa

      After the so-called crushing of the ZCTU protests last week and the
mass arrests and near murder that followed; surely ZANU PF could be lying to
themselves if they say the mass action was not a success. Like in the past
there are so many positives that have emerged from this from all the madness
with which ZANU PF confronted this latest action by the people.

      I am totally against the near murder of our leaders in Zimbabwe but
for the first time in the history of this new revolution we are now seeing a
leadership so prepared in confronting the regime. And look at a government
that is so prepared to embarrass itself by fighting against the defenceless.

      It is also ironic that they chose to do so at a time when their
President, Robert Mugabe was attending the Non Aligned Movement Summit in
Cuba. One will see the preparedness of ZANU PF not only to butcher its own
people but to move away from the very core principles of NAM which are to
promote the sustenance of peace: through the acquisition of freedom for all!
What Zimbabwe shamelessly did was first to show that they will deny that
freedom to their citizens and secondly make sure that the form of peace they
will be given will be "silence". Yet like I said there is a clear show that
this has strengthened the resolve of the oppressed masses even further, and
now Zimbabweans all over the world are more determined to liberate
themselves than the oppressor is determined to oppress them.

      Not that we have never protested before, no. Not that we have never
seen the wanton beating of people and mass arrests; no. I for one have been
beaten up, arrested, and messed up in several ways in these protests; and so
are the comrades that I can single out; Patson Muzuwa who is now here in the
UK, Innocent Mupara, Nkululekho Sibanda, Dhewa Mavhima, Tendai
Mutyambizi-Dewa, Crispen Kulinji, Tom Tawanda Spicer, Durani Rapozo, Elliot
Pfebve etc all currently in the UK and departed comrades who died from the
sword of the enemy again through these mass actions such as Tonderai
Machiridza, Edward Mukwasi, Appleby Kokoba; Ropafadzo, Talent Mabika,
Tichaona Chiminya, Effildah Pfebve, Trymore Midzi etc.

      But in the past it wasn't the leaders who were at the front, it was
others and so at that time because of what was happening around us, and the
reluctance of the leadership to be in front, some decided they had to leave
since they thought the leadership didn't believe in the struggle they were
telling us about. But things change, some of them very fast. We now seem to
have a positive leadership; very proactive in the struggle and so ZANU PF
has been shaken to the apex of its madness; left, right and centre they can
show the full nakedness of their decadent political ideologies; not only the
thighs, not only the pants but of course the full view of the genitals too!
It's not the zip that is down anymore, the pants are down as well!

      The thing is Zimbabweans have been too long in the queue and no amount
of force can be used to turn them away at the gate, they are demanding their
freedom and they are doing it with a force never shown before. There is a
sudden resurgence of the spirit of Zimbabwe, that realisation that we are
our own liberators and now there is no turning back. Events last week in
Zimbabwe followed positive events in the UK for example were the MDC
External Province of the UK successfully held a Congress to elect a new
leadership. This is unparalleled in the history of Zimbabwe, not even ZANU
and ZAPU during the liberation struggle managed to have such vibrant
structures in Europe! This is a clear sign that the struggle we are fighting
is inheritable; it is capable of a legacy and the legatees are there in the
Diaspora.

      A cause that is inheritable is not capable of defeat and this is why
the inheritable cause that was the First Chimurenga or Umvukela became the
fire that the Second Chimurenga was and that fire was never extinguished.
The same goes for the ANC, formed in 1912, it was five years before the
birth of its most popular hero Nelson Mandela in 1917. Needless to say the
struggle would later identify with him fifty years on with the Rivonia
Trials in 1962 and the miracle that his story became with his ascendancy to
be the first black President of South Africa in 1994.

      Robert Mugabe on Wednesday didn't even use his regular police forces
to crush what he thought was dissent; he didn't even have the power to
summon them because they too are fed up with a decadent rhetoric that roams
houseless in the battle for hearts and minds. He used an equally decadent
product, the Youth Militia or Green Bombers who have been taught to rape
their own mothers and sisters shamelessly in broad daylight. They had the
temerity of kicking an elderly and defenceless woman such as Mai Lucia
Matibenga.

      That Mugabe has resorted to that kind of behaviour is of course not
good for an octogenarian but nevertheless shows the desperation that the
government back home is in. They think the incidents will frighten people to
back down. By nearly murdering Matombo, Chibhebhe, Matibenga, Raymond
Majongwe, Thabitha Khumalo etc they are trying to sound the same for Morgan
Tsvangirai, Isaac Matongo, Thokozani Khupe and the other MDC leaders since
they have all promised to lead from the front. They are trying to say that
they too will face ZANU PF's full wrath.

      They are thinking that if they kill those people then the fire is
extinguished. No, the fire is not extinguished by removing the flame! You
have to extinguish the source of the fire. For if you do not do that only
one fan is enough to rekindle it. The struggle for Zimbabwe is now capable
of re-kindling itself; there are legatees all over ready to take over even
if the current crop of leadership is disappeared. There are several young
activists both in Zimbabwe and in the Diaspora: Remember Moyo, Harris
Nyatsanza, Lynnette Mhlanga, Wellington Chibhanguza, Linder Mtimbanyoka,
Alois Phiri, Yeukai Taruvinga, Tendai Mutyambizi-Dewa, Vincent and Jameson
Mashakada, Innocent Kanjedzana etc all of these young people are a
generation of leaders who may not even be 30 years of age and they are
capable of assuming leadership if all of us are killed in the struggle and
because the retirement age is sixty-five; they each have more than
thirty-five years to carry on the fight on behalf of us.

      Mugabe is panicking because people power is being unleashed onto him.
He can not withstand anymore and he has begun repeating the same mistakes
that put him in the place he is today; the disproportionate use of force. I
can recount them: the Gukurahundi massacres of the 1980s which was the
disproportionate application of force against twenty-two military renegades
whose main purpose was to protest against unequal treatment in the army. The
right thing would have been to call for a military commission to investigate
these allegations but his reaction: the demotion and eventual dismissal of
all senior army officers who were ex-members of ZIPRA, the sacking of all
serving PF-ZAPU cabinet ministers and the dissolution of the government of
national unity; the mass arrests of all leaders of ZAPU; the unleashing of
Gukurahundi in Matabeleland followed by the atrocities there. Result; ever
unhealing suspicion between Ndebele and Shona in Zimbabwe, ever-present
tension in Ndebele and Shona relations in Zimbabwe; Matabeleland politically
became a no go area for anything Robert Mugabe and talk of an Ndebele
homeland became a stark necessity. Mistake number one for Robert Mugabe.

      Mistake number two; so-called Unity Accord in 1987. Failed to cease
the opportunity for political posturing and make Joshua Nkomo the first post
Unity President; instead Nkomo was just a senior minister. Result the Unity
was a stillborn baby. Mistake three; after a successful campaign to end
apartheid in South Africa and to stop the civil wars in Mozambique and
Angola; he failed to cease the opportunity and resign. Result; the emergence
of a Nelson Mandela whose style of leadership would be revolutionary and
would change the very concept of leadership in the entire world. Mugabe was
overshadowed.

      Mistake number four; at ZANU PF Congress in 1999, he failed to read
the changing times and make John Nkomo the president of ZANU PF and possibly
Zimbabwe. Nkomo then was riding the crest as a no-nonsense minister having
fired corrupt mayors and under-performing governors as the Minister for
Local Government. Such leadership renewal would have neutralised the then
new political party MDC.

      Mistake number five; used violence against MDC supporters in 2000. The
party was still young and not a real threat but people begun to sympathise
with it. As a result the ZANU PF approach negated it in the eyes of
traditional supporters who then went in droves to MDC in protest. As a
result MDC won 57 seats, by far better than even the predictions of its
leaders who had thought MDC would manage between 20-40 seats.

      Mistake number Six, he ignored advice even from the likes of Chenjerai
Hunzvi and Border Gezi after the 2000 parliamentary elections that violence
against the opposition should cease as it was time for nation-building.
Violence continued at the instigation of Robert Mugabe; commercial
agriculture was destroyed and the country slid further into chaos. Mistake
number seven, he refused to allow international observers to observe the
2002 Presidential Elections. Anyone who has monitored elections before knows
that EU Election observers and any other international observers are really
useless as they in fact do not monitor anything. They will always come to
the verdict that elections were free and fair even where rigging is there
for everyone to see. This is why Ugandan and Nigerian elections received the
free and fair verdicts even though local independent observers were stating
otherwise. Mugabe himself knows how the West rushed to congratulate him for
winning freely and fairly in the 1996 Presidential elections where he
contested against himself after the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole and Bishop
Muzorewa had pulled out citing an unfair playing field.

      The recent mistake has of course been Operation Murambatsvina which
has turned virtually every living Zimbabwean against Robert Mugabe. All the
Robert Mugabe mistakes have been the disproportionate response to very
simple things and each time he does that he creates more enemies. It is now
clear that pain is being used as a method of intimidation. But just as is
happening in Matabeleland where the sons and daughters of those killed have
decided to carry on with the struggle and are demanding even more than what
the generation before them was demanding; then the people of Matabeleland
and the Midlands were demanding to be taken as people, for Mugabe to stop
subjecting them to a police state; such simple things. He thought he
silenced them by unleashing Gukurahundi on that generation.

      The current generation has evolved and are demanding even more; they
are demanding the birth of the nation of Mthwakazi; thanks to Mugabe they
have been radicalised and not softened. The same for the other crop of
activists; the current generation of opponents are demanding free and fair
elections, democracy, dignity for their women and right to work and
sustainable pay and worker rights for their workers. Mugabe is beating them
out of these legitimate demands. But the next generation sees their leaders
being humiliated; they are being radicalised and will not stop at demanding
the above, no. They will demand the death of Robert Mugabe and his cronies.
The next generation is being radicalized and their anger will not stop with
Thabo Mbeki's diplomacy, no! Their anger will be absolute, reverberating
across the world and not even the sweet tongue of the UN Secretary General
would stop them. They may only be stopped by the intervention of the UN blue
berets.

      Aluta Continua!

      Julius Sai Mutyambizi-Dewa is a PhD in International Law candidate at
Manchester Metropolitan University. He was recently elected as the Secretary
General Of MDC UK External Province. He writes in his personal capacity.

All Not Well At Bata

The Herald (Harare)

September 18, 2006
Posted to the web September 18, 2006

Midlands Bureau
Harare

SCORES of Bata Company workers in Gweru were sent back home for three
consecutive days last week as a chronic shortage of critical raw materials
hit the country's largest shoe manufacturing firm.

It is understood that the situation was so bad that management was
considering introducing short working hours to avoid paying idle labour.

"Lately, the company has been making frantic efforts to make available raw
materials, especially rubber, but they have not been successful.

"There is general talk that short working hours might be introduced as a
cost-cutting measure," said a member of the workers' committee, who declined
to be identified.

He said from Wednesday last week, employees reported for duty in the morning
to check if the situation had improved, but at around midday each day they
were told to go back home after nothing had materialised.

Contacted for comment, the company's managing director, Mr Edwin Duthie,
confirmed the situation at his factory, describing it as "extremely
critical".

He said the company had reached a stage where it was running out of crucial
raw materials daily, making it "live from hand to mouth".

"Approximately 500 workers were sent home for three successive days due to a
shortage of rubber. The rubber has since arrived and we will commence work
again on Monday (today).

"However, the rubber received is only sufficient for 10 days' production and
then we will be back to square one.

"We are trying to solve this situation by increasing our exports and
canvassing the banks," he said.

Mr Duthie was, however, pessimistic about the company's chances of turning
around the situation soon.

"I cannot see this situation normalising in the near future as the whole of
the manufacturing sector is facing dire shortages of foreign currency to
purchase raw materials," he said.

Mr Duthie said besides rubber, the company was also short of tannery
chemicals and fillers for the rubber manufacturing process, a scenario that
he said was also adversely affecting the company's production capacity that
has since dropped to 40 percent.

He said although Bata was working closely with local suppliers to alleviate
the situation, they too found themselves in the same position as his company
when it came to getting foreign currency to import materials for the
manufacture of their products.

"The reason for the shortage has nothing to do with our ability to sell our
products as our stores are now critically short of finished products. We are
selling what we produce to the last pair and for the last six months or so
we have been unable to produce our Sandak plastic brand of shoes and thongs.

"What is disturbing is that we are now buying thongs which are imported into
the country through a third party when we could make them for half the
price," he said.

Mr Duthie said that they were considering the feasibility of introducing a
short working week as the company could not continue incurring a substantial
salary bill in a situation "not of our own making".

"We are currently discussing in our works council the need to work a short
week when we run out of chemicals to maintain production.

"However, we do hope that this will only be a temporary situation as we are
continually working extremely hard to source the foreign currency to keep
our factory at its current production capacity," he said.

Some senior management personnel also revealed that the company had informed
Midlands Resident Minister and Provincial Governor Cde Cephas Msipa of the
situation with a view to getting his support when they apply for Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe's assistance with foreign currency.

"They approached me sometime back with regard to that issue and I will be
meeting them again."

"They have some serious problems that need urgent attention and I will be
discussing those issues with them during the meeting," said Cde Msipa.

Cameraperson granted bail, to appear in court in October

Zimbabwejournalists.com

      By a Correspondent

      HARARE - Mike Saburi, the freelance cameraperson arrested together
with leaders of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) ahead of
planned nationwide demonstrations last week, is expected in the courts on 3
October after being granted bail at the magistrates court.

      Harare Magistrate Olivia Mariga granted Saburi bail of Zd$20 000 when
he appeared in court on initial remand on charges of contravening Section 37
(1) (b) Chapter 9: 23 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act),
which deals with conduct likely to breach public peace.

      Also arrested with him were ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo and 28
other accused persons. They are nursing their injuries in hospital and some
at home as they await trial. The ZCTU leaders have said they will not be
deterred from embarking on similar protest actions in the future because of
the brutal attacks that befell them last Wednesday. The National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) said today it would hold demonstrations later
this week in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Kadoma and Masvingo.

      Saburi was arrested on 13 September while filming armed riot police as
they descended on the trade union leaders at the meeting point for the
protest marches in Harare's central business district.

      The court heard how the police brutally assaulted the ZCTU leadership
and the other accused persons, some of whom wore slings and had bandaged
arms when they appeared in court. ZCTU Secretary-General Wellington
Chibhebhe did not appear in court with the others as he is in hospital with
multiple head injuries.

      The assaults were so brutal that one of the accused, Lucia Matibenga,
the vice-president of the ZCTU, is feared to have shattered her eardrum
during the ordeal.

      The defence team, led by Aleck Muchadehama, told the magistrate that
some of the accused had been held at Matapi Police Station, in cells
condemned as inhuman and degrading by the Supreme Court, and made to walk
through raw sewage as they were brutally assaulted one-by-one by the police
and other unidentified persons.

      They were also denied food and blankets during their detention in the
unlit, bug-infested cells. Defence lawyers had to seek an urgent High Court
order for them to get medical attention, which the police continuously
denied them despite requests from their lawyers.

      Magistrate Mariga ordered the police to produce and submit a report on
the alleged assaults after the defence said the perpetrators of the brutal
assaults should be arrested and Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri should
give a full report to the court at the next remand hearing on what
transpired.

      Section 37 deals with participation in a gathering with the intention
of breaching public peace. The offence carries a fine of Z$ 2,000 (approx.
$US8).

      On 13 September, armed riot police sealed off Harare's CBD and
arrested Matombo, Chibhebhe and Matibenga, along with Grace Kwinje, a senior
opposition MDC official, and Raymond Majongwe, the president of the
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), among others.

      The planned marches, which were slated for 12:30 p.m. until 2 p.m.
(local time), had been called to demand minimum wages and salaries
commensurate with the Poverty Datum Line (PDL), a reduction in income tax to
a maximum of 30 percent and an end to taxation of workers' salaries below
the PDL.

      Heavily armed police patrolled the CBD and sealed off roads leading to
the Munhumutapa Building, which houses the offices of the president and
cabinet and the parliament building. The security cordon followed a dire
warning by President Robert Mugabe that the government would ruthlessly deal
with any planned mass actions and demonstrations.

Zimbabwe gold output falls

Business Report

September 19, 2006

Gold output in Zimbabwe had fallen 36 percent in July from a year earlier to
686.9 kilograms compared with 1 070kg a year ago due to a shortage of
electricity and high production costs, David Matyanga, an economist at the
Chamber of Mines, said yesterday. - Bloomberg

Police quiz Zimbabwe unionists over wage protests

Reuters

      Tue Sep 19, 2006 5:54 PM GMT

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe police interrogated two labour union officials
on Tuesday over protest marches which were crushed by the government last
week, the union said.

The Zimbabwe Confederation of Trade Unions (ZCTU) said its deputy secretary
general Japhet Moyo and another official from an affiliated union were
interrogated by police on their return from abroad. Moyo was detained for
two hours at Harare airport.

Both were subsequently released, a ZCTU official said.

Lawyers told a Harare court last Friday that a dozen members of the ZCTU
were tortured and some had limbs broken while in police custody after an
attempted protest against poor wages.

All those detained were released on Friday pending trial on October 3 on
charges of violating Zimbabwe's strict security laws.

"It seems the paranoia afflicting the government keeps increasing every day.
The Zimbabwean government will stop at nothing in its bid to prevent trade
unionists from exposing its weaknesses and failure," the ZCTU said in a
statement.

"He (Moyo) was accused of having organised the ZCTU protests and then going
away out of the country to spread lies."

Police were not immediately available for comment.

The ZCTU says protests are necessary to highlight the plight of workers hit
hard by an economic recession, which is marked by the world's highest
inflation as well as shortages of foreign currency, food, fuel and deepening
poverty.

President Robert Mugabe says the ZCTU has an opposition political agenda and
denies charges he has run down a once-promising country. Instead, he blames
the West for sabotaging the economy over his seizures of white-owned farms
to resettle landless blacks.

Military police arrest Air Force of Zimbabwe team for losing

Zimbabwejournalists.com

      By Dennis Rekayi

      MUTARE - Military police last Saturday stormed a football pitch and
arrested the entire Blue Swallows soccer team after the Air Force of
Zimbabwe Division One outfit suffered an embarrassing home defeat.

      Blue Swallows were thrashed 1 - 5 by ambitious Mutare-based Eastern
Region division one team at a soccer match played at Manyame Air Base near
the Harare International Airport.

      The heavy defeat did not go down well with the Air Force of Zimbabwe
authorities who immediately summoned the feared military police to arrest
all the players and their technical team.

      The Air Force of Zimbabwe is under the command of Perence Shiri, known
to be a no-nonsense person.

      Ironically, Buffaloes, another team run by the army, suffered a more
embarrassing defeat at the hands of Chitungwiza but no action was taken
against the players and the technical staff.

      Buffaloes lost 0 -5 to Chitungwiza, which is coached by former
Warriors and Dynamos player, Callitos Pasuwa.

      Officials from both the Air Force and the Zimbabwe Football
Association (ZIFA) said there was drama after the match when military police
details stormed the ground and ordered all the players and technical staff
to remain behind because they were under arrest.

      Airforce sources said the players and technical staff members were
detained and later assigned to do derogatory duties at the cantonment camp
that included singing and chanting as they took their punishment.

      The sources said the Air Force authorities were particularly irked by
the fact that Blue Swallows beat Eastern Lions 1 - 0 at Sakubva Stadium
during the first half of the season.

      "There was commotion," said a ZIFA official who opted not to be named.
"The players were told to remain on the field of play after the game. They
were arrested and detained thereafter."

      The Air Force team still has an opportunity to win promotion into the
elite Premier Soccer League (PSL) should they win their remaining nine
matches and at the same time hope the seven teams above them lose all their
remaining games.

      The former PSL side has so far accumulated 51 points from 31 games and
can end with 78 points if they win all their remaining games.

      While Air Force of Zimbabwe chefs were angered by the Saturday defeat
Mutare soccer fans were in a celebratory mood as prospects of watching
premier league action next season became more and more real.

      Eastern Lions, an ambitious Mutare-based outfit which is powered by
business tycoon, Lazarus Mungwari, brightened their chances of winning the
sole ticket to play in the elite league next season

      The Mutare side is coached by former Warriors coach, Brenna Msiska.

      The team lies on second position with 65 points from 30 games but with
a game in hand. The Mutare team faces Kiglon Bird, log leaders, at Sakubva
Stadium in a potentially explosive encounter that may determine the course
of the league. Kiglon currently lead Eastern Lions by just three points.

Media Warned Against Criticising State

The Herald (Harare)

September 18, 2006
Posted to the web September 19, 2006

George Maponga
Masvingo

The Acting Minister of Information and Publicity Cde Munyaradzi Paul
Mangwana has warned some sections of the media to desist from criticising
the Government just to make money for their publications from negative
stories.

Cde Mangwana said there were some journalists who were in the habit of
writing negative stories about Zimbabwe in return for dirty money.

He said the media had a crucial role to play in nation building and was
therefore bound to be ethical and uphold high professional standards.

In his address to journalists at the Masvingo Press Club, Cde Mangwana said
there was need for a shared vision between the Government and the media if
the country was to prosper.

"Let us develop a common and shared vision and as the Government we are
ready to start building bridges with the media but not with those who have
the habit of unnecessarily criticising the Government. A journalist has to
be someone who is ethical, and a person of virtue who reports factually.

"It is, however, unfortunate that there are some journalists who are
prepared to destroy their own economy for the selfish needs of their owners.
There are some media practitioners who have an agenda to portray in bad
light whatever the Government is doing but the media can play a big role in
national development through conscientising the public about such programmes
as the National Economic Development Priority Programme (NEDPP)," said Cde
Mangwana.

He castigated some journalists who were writing negative stories about the
Government on online publications at a time when the Government was fighting
with some foreign forces that wanted to compromise the country's
sovereignty.

The Minister defended the Government's regulation of the media, which he
said was a strategic sector that could not be allowed to live in a vacuum.

Journalists were also advised to desist from an inclination to criticise
laws such as AIPPA with Cde Mangwana saying most of the media practitioners
had not even read the law to find out what it says and seeks to achieve.

The Minister said he was even ready to convene a workshop with journalists
to discuss on the pros and cons of AIPPA pointing out that like all other
laws, there could not be a law which was wholly perfect.

Turning to the shrinking media industry and the low remuneration in the
media industry, Cde Mangwana said he sympathised with the journalists but
stressed that there could not be investment in the sector when the whole
economy was not performing well owing partly to lack of investment caused by
bad reports from the very same media.

"Very few of you journalists can ever dream of buying a car owing to poor
remuneration and I sympathise with you on that one. As Government we are
worried by the low level of employment in the sector also but there can not
be any investment in the media sector when the whole economy is not doing
well. How can investors come when the very media are writing about a dying
economy everyday?" asked Cde Mangwana.

The Minister was responding to concerns by ZUJ President Matthew Takaona who
expressed concern that Zimbabwe had over the past decade experienced a
phenomenal growth in the number of journalism training institutions yet the
media industry was shrinking.

Takaona also revealed that ZUJ wanted to establish a Voluntary Media
Complaints Council before the end of this year to which Cde Mangwana
responded saying that while the idea was noble it was imperative for ZUJ to
prioritise the issue of remuneration for scribes.

Earlier on, Cde Mangwana had also attended an annual speech and prize giving
day at Chidyamakono Secondary School in Chivi where he reaffirmed the
Government's commitment to make sure that everyone had access to education.

He said the Government deserved praise for the massive investment in the
education sector which resulted in most rural areas now having both primary
and secondary schools, a thing he said was rare during the racist colonial
regime. The Minister, who also did temporary teaching at the school in 1981,
said the Government had played a pivotal role in making sure that most
Zimbabweans had access to education through a deliberate policy of building
secondary schools in rural areas.

Speaking at the same event, the Minister of State for Indigenisation and
Empowerment Cde Samuel Mumbengegwi, who is also the Chivi-Mwenezi
constituency Senator, challenged the present generation to continue with the
spirit to improving education in the next quarter century. He said the past
twenty-five years saw a major improvement in the Zimbabwean education sector
and it was therefore incumbent upon the present and future generations to
keep up that legacy.

The speech and prize giving day at Chidyamakono was also attended by top
officials in the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture in Masvingo and
the Member of the House of Assembly for the area, Cde Enita Maziriri

Water Crisis Being Managed Unfairly

The Herald (Harare)

EDITORIAL
September 19, 2006
Posted to the web September 19, 2006

Harare

THE present water crisis in Harare was avoidable, is being managed unfairly,
and once again highlights the need for a properly managed way of delivering
essential services to the capital city and its satellite towns.

It was avoidable because the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) must
have known that it was running short of chemicals and the City of Harare
must have known it was receiving less water.

And nothing was done until the crisis was upon us, and appeals were made
through the Press, which attracted the attention of Vice President Joseph
Msika, who ordered the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to investigate and do
something.

RBZ moved very fast. It found out, typically in this sort of panic, that
Zinwa and others were claiming they needed far larger sums than they
actually did require to get working again.

The crisis has been managed unfairly.

The eastern and north-eastern suburbs have once again borne the brunt of
water shortages.

Whenever clean water is short, the areas at the end of the chain, basically
those fed directly or indirectly from the giant Letombo reservoir and pump
station, go without unless active steps are taken.

These active steps are simple. Others on the direct offtake from the Warren
pump station are cut off for a few hours and their water is diverted east.
Zinwa and the city have managed this before, switching off a block of
suburbs each day to ensure that the pain of shortages is shared, instead of
most getting a 24-hour supply and the rest getting nothing for days on end.

But as usual with water crises in the capital, the need for some sort of
proper planning and control becomes crucial.

Everyone thought that switching the processing of water from the City of
Harare to Zinwa would solve the problem. It did, for a few months. Now Zinwa
is seen to be little or no better than the city was.

We see the same vagueness in figures, the same willingness to blame someone
else, the same secrecy, the same complacency until the crisis is upon us.

The present crisis hit with no warning to residents to reduce consumption
and the figures aired in public were found by the RBZ to be more than double
the true precise requirements.

It cannot be beyond the ingenuity of man for Zinwa and the local authorities
it supplies in the Harare metropolitan area to devise a system that actually
works.

Zinwa's credibility started going downhill in the middle of the year when it
announced it was increasing water charges tenfold and would open its own
banking halls, after setting up an incredibly expensive system of billing
consumers directly.

No explanation was given for that tenfold increase, no breakdown of costs,
no budget. We had nothing except the demand, and the Government quite
rightly stopped that dead.

Perhaps a lot of money would be used to pay for the massive database, the
battalions of meter readers, the companies of cashiers and the high salaries
of "consumer services managers" and their fancy cars as Zinwa did its own
billing. The Government had to stop that too.

The City of Harare's credibility, already low, was not raised by its
unilateral announcement that it would add a 50 percent mark-up on water. No
figures on how much it costs to distribute water were given. Presumably, by
adding water charges to rates, billing and collection costs are minimal.

We agree that water charges probably do need to be raised to pay for
chemicals, staff costs and the like. But we, like every other consumer, want
to see figures and plans. And, regrettably after the mid-year and the latest
over-estimates of costs, we would like some independent expert to cast his
eye over them before we accept them as true.

From Zinwa's side, we need to know three figures, and their impact on the
wholesale price of treated water.

These are the actual cost of processing a cubic metre of water, including
the four chemicals; the staff costs; and extras such as electricity. All
water has to be sold for more than that price. That element of a price
equation could be adjusted monthly if necessary.

In addition, we need to know a maintenance cost, to keep existing plant
functioning. This can be generated from historical records and adjusted for
inflation.

Finally, we need to see a sensible, and debatable, budget for expansion of
supplies. Here consumers, the local authorities and the Government can all
have some input.

Arbitrary arrests

Grab them by the balls

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

      By Farai Mheni

      When one stomach is hungry the rumble can echo in others. When one
fire is lit its' flames can fly in the wind to give birth to a hundred more
fires. Resistance is fertile. Contagious. Chirwere che toyi toyi.

      ..........................................................................................................................................................

      They removed the zeros but not the zeal for freedom. Voodoo economics
minus three zeros still leaves us with another three zeros and is still Very
Dangerous to Ordinary people. So begins a wave of resistance where the povo
aim to remove more than nothing. Power and Profit: public enemy number one.
Power is in the hands of a few, profits roll in to their deep pockets. So
the week of the 11 th of September brings more than visions of towers
falling but also a vision of the slow fall of the ZANU (PF) regime. Saturday
9 th September had seen 500 residents take to the streets of Harare
demonstrating against poor service delivery. On Monday 11 th September
hundreds of WOZA women descended on Town House in Harare to vent their anger
against Council. Tuesday saw hundreds of residents deliver objection letters
at Town House objecting to Council Commission Chair Makwavarara's corrupt
purchase of a Council house. Wednesday was a day of baton sticks and
brutality as the regime tried to silence the thousands of workers who wanted
to demonstrate against the poverty that is life in Zimbabwe . Nonetheless
over a hundred WOZA women took to the streets in Bulawayo while the Uhuru
Network received a high-level South African youth delegation that was
promptly deported by hordes of CIO operatives. The deportation of the
delegation - comprising left-leaning groups such as the Young Communist
League, SASCO and other youth groups - shows once more that ZANU (PF) talks
left but acts right. Many fires are being lit. The powers-that-shouldn't-be
are shaking. Because when resistance becomes decentralised and regular it is
more difficult to deal with. Because when the spirit of toyi toyi spreads
the chefs quiver.

      .....................................................................................................................................................

      'Pamberi ne Vagari!' 'Pasi ne Kaunzuru!' 'Torai Simba Renyu Vagari!'
Placards screamed. The wave of resistance came to a crest of creativity at
the end of the week as the Uhuru Network took over the streets Pama Stones,
Highfields, in their second round of Uhuru Street Soccer Battles. Uhuru, a
network of community youth fighting for social justice, organised the
guerilla soccer event on Saturday 16 th where two mock teams of Vagari
(Residents) played versus Kaunzuru (Council). The dusty street became a
battleground of ideas as passers by began cheering for Vagari with the
commentator urging on Vagari to deal with the cheating, corrupt Kaunzuru
team. 'Vagari vanofanira kuhwina. They are the strongest. Kaunzuru ino gona
kubirira chete!' shouted Cde Banjo, the subversive commentator. While the
teams played Uhuru comrades distributed fliers to over 250 spectators and
passers-by. 'Ndiani Achakunda? Who Will Win? We are being beaten by Council
with these unfair water rates and supplementary charges. Let us come
together as residents and win!' read the fliers. This all part of Uhuru's
Campaign For Accessible Social Services for All which demands accessible
social services and community participation in decision-making. The game
ended with Vagari victorious over Kaunzuru as the Vagari players came
forward to collect their Uhuru Street Soccer Battle shields. 'We don't need
to be scared to do these kind of events. This is truth. This is struggle!'
commented Cde General after the game.

      .............................................................................................................................................................

      'Uhuru Sasa! Freedom Now!' was the chant that signalled the end of the
day as Uhuru comrades and others made their way from the Soccer Battles to
the Toyi Toyi Slam. Organised by Uhuru's Toyi Toyi Arts Kollektive, the Toyi
Toyi Slam is a monthly event that aims to create a freedom space for
underground, radical Hip Hop, Poetry and Theatre. With the Book cafe as the
venue the venue was soon filled with underground MCs and poets ripping the
microphone with revolutionary rhymes. The crowd were soon singing along to
the Ghetto Projekts chorus 'Chimurenga Chiri Mberi, Uya Mweya Toyi!' The
spirit of toyi toyi lives. And it's contagious.

      The Uhuru Caravan continues to the Zimbabwe Social Forum (28-30
September, Harare ), the Southern Africa Social Forum (October, Malawi ) and
the World Social Forum (January '07, Kenya ). Also look out for Uhuru Street
Soccer Battles in a township near you!

      For more info contact: 091 929 231, 091 764 494

      Email : uhuru_network@hotmail.com

Mike Davies' response to article by Trudy Stevenson

-----

Colleagues

The following response by myself was written in August for The Independent
but not published. I circulate it now to stimulate debate on this important
issue.

------- Original Message -------
From    : gardener@zol.co.zw[mailto:gardener@zol.co.zw]
Sent    : 8/22/2006 2:29:20 PM
To      : vincent@zimind.mweb.co.zw
Cc      :
Subject : FW: Mike Davies' response to article by Trudy Stevenson

  Trudy Stevenson has made an important contribution to a nascent debate
that needs to take place within the democratic movement in Zimbabwe. (Civil
society threatened by political 'incest'  Independent 18 August)
While there are those who say we should not wash our dirty laundry in
public, I believe there is no better place for a healthy debate than in the
public arena.

Trudy has done more than observe the development of civil society - she has
been and remains an active and committed participant. Indeed her allegiance
since the split in the MDC is well-known and based on her commitment to her
principles and perceptions. She is an honest and important participant but
this must not blind us to her own political role.

Her potted history of the growth of civics does not do justice to the
efforts of  those Zimbabweans who want to hold their elected officials to
account. She portrays civil society as a battleground for opportunists and
other political animals seeking to maximise their personal advantage. This
may be true in a few cases but it is far from an accurate portrait of the
general reality. Civics represent a diverse range of interests and this is
only to be expected. In itself, there is nothing wrong with such a
situation. The problem arises with those who are duplicitous and keep their
agendas hidden.  We can only deal with this through peer accountability and
healthy vigorous debate. Unfortunately we live in an intolerant polarised
society that does not encourage such a dialectic. Those who think outside
the box or hold unpopular or awkward views are castigated and ostracised.
The failure of civics to condemn the manipulation of the NCA constitution is
a case in point. The general silence by civics on the split in the MDC or
the attack on Trudy all point to a moral crisis that hopefully will be
addressed. The truth is that civics are occupied by ordinary people who have
all the foibles and weaknesses of  ordinary people. Civics have always been
based upon interest groups and it is hard to imagine that they would exist
without such interests.

Trudy omits entirely the fact that the Movement for Democratic Change was
created by civics, spearheaded by the unions and the NCA,  to contest
directly for political power in the 2000 elections. She herself was our
delegate to the National Working People’s Convention and we wholeheartedly
endorsed the creation of the Movement. As a Movement, the MDC embraced a
diversity of opinions and agendas. Bringing together black Trotskyites and
white capitalists, it was a broad church that promised to provide a vehicle
for meaningful change. Unfortunately for various, mostly venal and mundane,
reasons, the Movement rapidly became the Party and dissenting voices were
silenced. The split in 2005 was just one more, entirely expected re-ordering
of the MDC. The failure of the political party route to deliver change
continues to demoralise many Zimbabweans and demobilise activists. The
current quest for some sort of broad front must be encouraged. As I have
consistently maintained, our present struggle is not for this or that
ideology but to establish a country in which we can engage in such
ideological contestations, free from intimidation and fear.

As a founder member of the MDC, CHRA maintained a sometimes difficult
relationship with those who were active in both organisations. While we
appealed for non-partisanship, we could never be sure of where people’s
primary allegiances lay; with the residents’ movement or with the pursuit of
political power. We are well aware that some individuals have used our
organisation as an entry point for their political ambitions. Indeed our
former chairman actively sought to be the MDC mayoral candidate in the 2002
elections in Harare plunging CHRA into a crisis when Eng Elias Mudzuri was
elected, a crisis which took several months to overcome through a dogged
persistence in our non-partisan principles.

Since early 2003 it became clear that CHRA needed to address this problem
through structural reform. Trudy is aware of our efforts to carry out these
reforms even if she casts aspersions upon our efforts (“…ostensibly changed
its constitution…”). The anomalies she mentions arise from the slow
implementation  of our constitutional provisions due to numerous
constraints.  I assure Trudy and our members that those who continue to hold
office in both CHRA and any political party will be held to account.

Foremost of the constraints responsible for the supposed incestuous
relationship she mentions is the simple lack of human resources. In 2003
Herbert Murewa stated that 30% of Zimbabweans (or 70% of  adults) no longer
lived or worked in Zimbabwe. This statistic certainly hasn’t improved in the
last three years. The truth is that Zimbabwe has suffered a massive
population drain because of the policies of the regime. As such, we do not
have the luxury of drawing upon the skills of wide number of people. CHRA
relies on volunteerism: we can only draw upon the skills of those who come
forward to offer their services. Activists are thin on the ground: most
Zimbabweans seem more concerned with finding their personal coping
strategies rather than engaging in seemingly futile social responses. This
is the fault of the MDC and civil society who fail to offer a convincing
alternative to the regime. Trudy is well aware of the difficulties we face
in mobilising our citizens for any form of action whether rates boycotts or
street demonstrations.  This is no excuse for the glaring deficit of
transparency, accountability or democracy we see in civil society but it is
a reality. Unless we as leaders actively promote and develop the
participation of our citizens in the pursuit of social responses to our
crisis, we will continue to fail to enthuse ordinary Zimbabweans with our
vision of the future.

Trudy’s contribution resonates with understandable bitterness given her
experiences allegedly at the hands of erstwhile colleagues but it offers
little in the way of constructive criticism beyond a broad appeal to save
our civics from inbreeding!. She portrays us as self-serving perverts
engaging in some sort of proto-sexual activity: a metaphor that is both
vulgar and unconstructive.

Let us engage in an open healthy debate although I suspect the result will
be yet more polarisation between players in the democratic movement.
Zimbabwe is an immature society undergoing massive changes; it has always
been intolerant and parochial and I have my doubts that a constructive
debate is possible but we must try for the health of our struggle and
ultimately our society. Let us guard however at throwing the baby out with
the bath water.

Mike Davies
Chairperson
Combined Harare Residents Association

I write this article in my personal capacity and the views expressed herein
may or may not reflect CHRA official policies.