Zimbabwe's Supreme Court has declared that a private radio station can start operating immediately.
This breaks the current monopoly by the state broadcaster, which is widely seen as being a government mouthpiece.
The minister of information accepted that the legal monopoly was unconstitutional but wanted time to pass new regulations controlling private radio and television stations.
This decision is a major breakthrough for Zimbabwe's private media and for the political opposition.
State monopoly
The state broadcasting monopoly gives the ruling Zanu-PF party a huge advantage in rural areas where privately owned newspapers are not available, and in any case, most people cannot afford to buy them.
They rely for their information on state
radio, which never criticises the government and rarely mentions the opposition.
In recent parliamentary elections Zanu PF won all of its seats in rural
areas.
Free for all
However, lawyers for Capital Radio advised it to start broadcasting as soon
as possible before new regulations were passed.
The information minister wanted time to draft such regulations, but the
Supreme Court said that was not its business.
As the state monopoly has only just been struck down, there is currently no
legal requirement to have a license to broadcast and, in the words of the chief
justice, there is a free for all.
Gerry Jackson, one of the directors of Capital Radio, told the BBC that it
would start operating in three or four weeks time.
The information minister recently stated that those who were fronts for
foreign interests would not be allowed to run radio or television stations in
Zimbabwe.
ZANU PF’s top leadership, fighting to
revive the ruling party’s waning popularity, is unanimous that President Robert
Mugabe should step down from the 2002 presidential election but has not agreed
on his successor, senior party insiders said this week.
ZANU PF Politburo members and others from the party’s central committee,
including parliamentarians, told the Financial Gazette in separate interviews
that they all wanted Mugabe to retire but were not agreed on who should succeed
him.
"We are all in agreement that Mugabe must go. That is no longer an issue," a
member of ZANU PF’s Politburo — the party’s highest policy-making body — told
this newspaper, echoing the views of most of those polled this week.
"The problem that we have at the moment is
who should be Mugabe’s successor. We cannot agree on a candidate," the
official said.
He added: "The biggest problem is to reach a consensus on a successor who has
the support of the party’s membership coun-trywide and the capacity to win the
2002 election."
He, just as all other officials interviewed, prefe-rred not to be named.
Other officials within ZANU PF said there were differences between the
pro-reform wing of the party who want a young leader and the old guard — mainly
from the Politburo — who prefer a successor to come up from within its ranks.
The reform wing is understood to be rallying behind Finance Minister Simba
Makoni while the Politburo has a choice of names such as Masvingo South MP
Eddison Zvobgo; Parlia-mentary Speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa and Home Affairs
Minister John Nkomo.
Party insiders said some within the old guard were arguing that they still
had the capacity to run for the highest office in the land despite calls from
the younger generation for a purge of all of Mugabe’s allies.
A compromise between the two wings has been mentioned. This would involve the
creation of party structures that allow the old guard, while not in charge, to
still have a say in the affairs of the party and Zimbabwe.
The compromise, say the insiders, would centre on a new national constitution
that would return the southern African country to a titular presidency and an
executive prime minister.
The titular presidency, should ZANU PF win the 2002 presidential election,
would be taken by a senior party member likely to be from the old guard while
the premiership would go to a younger politician.
Both ZANU PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) agree on
the need for a new national constitution but differ on the modalities of
crafting one.
The issue of who contests the 2002 presidential election on behalf of ZANU PF
will be tabled for discussion at the party’s special congress to be held in
December, the insiders said.
ZANU PF’s central committee is due to meet in two weeks’ time to fix the date
for the congress.
The party’s publicity and information secretary Nathan Shamuyarira could not
be reached for comment this week while its administration boss Didymus Mutasa
refused to discuss the matter.
The projected congress is also expected to amend ZANU PF’s constitution to
allow for the election of Politburo members and the nomination of any senior
party member to contest the national presidential poll without being necessarily
the leader of ZANU PF.
Politburo members are at present appointed by Mugabe and the party’s
constitution allows only the leader of the party to be nominated to stand for
the presidency of Zimbabwe.
Mugabe has not made the task of choosing his successor easier by refusing to
disclose whether he is going to seek re-election in 2002 or not.
But the 76-year-old politician has been under growing pressure from
lieutenants to retire after the party’s dismal performance in the watershed June
general election.
ZANU PF managed to hang on to power with a slim majority of 62 of the
contested 120 seats. The MDC took 57 seats and ZANU Ndonga won
one.
22 September - HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Ruling party militants opened fire on a group of white farmers and their black workers, stepping up tensions in the seven-month occupation of white-owned farms across Zimbabwe, farmers leaders said Thursday.
No one was hurt in the shooting near the farming town of Featherstone, about 110 kilometers (70 miles) south of Harare. However, two farmers were assaulted and slightly injured in the confrontation Wednesday, said the Commercial Farmers Union, which represents Zimbabwe's 4,000 white commercial farmers.
Since February, militants and mobs of squatters have occupied more than 1,700 white-owned farms.
The union said about 20 farmers aided by workers began demolishing shelters erected by militants and squatters occupying private farms around Featherstone.
But the squatters demanded they stop destroying the shelters.
Farmers and workers dove to the ground when the militants fired rifles, pistols and automatic weapons at them. One shot pierced a pickup truck but missed its occupants, the union said in a statement.
More than 1,000 workers and their employers gathered later outside a district police station demanding the arrest of 12 militant leaders.
No arrests were made. Police refused to give details of the incident.
One white farmer, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said farmers and workers attempted to clear squatter shacks in privately-owned fields that were obstructing the planting of corn and tobacco ahead of seasonal rains around November.
Police had been asked to remove the shacks but failed to take decisive action, he said.
The government has defied two court orders to clear illegal squatters off private land. President Robert Mugabe has described the occupations as a justified protest against unfair land ownership by whites and has begun proceedings to seize thousands of farms.
Officials of the farmers union have appealed to members not to take the law into their own hands, but acknowledge many farmers, backed by their workers, have lost patience after police repeatedly failed to intervene to protect them from intimidation and work stoppages caused by violent occupiers.
The government, however, said Wednesday it would intensify a police operation that has forced hundreds of squatters to leave about 10 white-owned farms, mostly around Harare, in the past week.
Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo, responsible for the police, said illegal settlers will be removed from farms occupied since June 2, when the government announced a "fast track" program to confiscate 3,000 farms for distribution to landless blacks, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported.
The farmers have lodged a suit against the seizures.
"There are too many criminals now on the farms who are inviting people in and selling land to them. No one except central government has the power to allocate land," Nkomo said.
The farmers union said the raids were against squatters on farms not targeted for confiscation.
22 September 2000
In this issue :
Zimbabwe - Concerned Citizens' Initiative (Bulawayo)
VIGIL TODAY FOR PATRICK NABANYAMA - EARLIER START
From The Star (SA), 21 September
Mugabe militants fire on farmers and workers
Harare - Ruling party militants opened fire on a group of farmers and their workers, stepping up tensions in the seven-month occupation of white-owned farms across Zimbabwe, farmers leaders said on Thursday. No one was hurt in the shooting near the farming town of Featherstone, about 110 kilometers south of Harare. However, two farmers were assaulted and slightly injured in the confrontation on Wednesday, said the Commercial Farmers Union, which represents Zimbabwe's 4,000 white commercial farmers. The union said about 20 farmers aided by workers began demolishing shelters erected by militants and squatters occupying private farms around Featherstone. But the squatters demanded they stop destroying the shelters.
Farmers and workers dove to the ground when the militants fired rifles, pistols and automatic weapons at them. One shot pierced a pickup truck but missed its occupants, the union said in a statement. More than 1 000 workers and their employers gathered later outside a district police station demanding the arrest of 12 militant leaders. No arrests were made and police refused to give details of the incident. One white farmer, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said farmers and workers attempted to clear squatter shacks in privately-owned fields that were obstructing the planting of corn and tobacco ahead of seasonal rains around November. Police had been asked to remove the shacks but failed to take decisive action, he said.
Officials of the farmers union have appealed to members not to take the law into their own hands, but acknowledge many farmers, backed by their workers, have lost patience after police repeatedly failed to intervene to protect them from intimidation and work stoppages caused by violent occupiers. The government, however, said on Wednesday it would intensify a police operation that has forced hundreds of squatters to leave about 10 white-owned farms, mostly around Harare, in the past week. Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo, responsible for the police, said illegal squatters will be removed from farms occupied since 2 June, when the government announced a "fast track" program to confiscate 3 000 farms for distribution to landless blacks, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported.
The farmers have lodged a suit against the seizures. "There are too many criminals now on the farms who are inviting people in and selling land to them. No one except central government has the power to allocate land," Nkomo said. The farmers union said the raids were against squatters on farms not targeted for confiscation. Police action was "a positive move toward the restoration of law and order," the union said. "The extent of the commitment by the police to this exercise remains to be seen." "Farm workers, whose livelihoods are directly threatened, are increasingly standing up to the illegal occupiers," it said. Clashes between farm workers and squatters near Harare on Tuesday injured 26 people. Police reported no arrests from those clashes. Two previous orders to police to move against squatters by Nkomo and Vice-President Joseph Msika have been rescinded by Mugabe.
From Business Day (SA), 22 September
Clashes hit land reform programme
HARARE - Zimbabwe's controversial land reform programme has been thrown into further chaos following fresh violent clashes between white farmers and self-styled war veterans. This week's clashes in commercial farming districts just outside Harare and near the town of Featherstone, about 110km south of the capital, degenerated into small gun battles. Fear grew that the crisis may deepen over the weekend. The latest clashes put a damper on emerging international support, including from the United Nations, on Zimbabwe's land reforms.
The shootings came at a time when Zimbabwe's government appeared to be making half-hearted attempts at clamping down on the illegal occupation of white-owned farms. Recent police swoops affected farms invaded only after July 2, when Harare's "fasttrack" land initiative was announced. The CFU said about 20 farmers and workers began demolishing shelters erected by militants and squatters occupying private farms around Featherstone. Farmers and workers dived to the ground when the squatters fired rifles, pistols and automatic weapons at them, according to the union. No arrests were made after more than 1000 workers and their employers gathered later outside a district police station demanding the arrest of 12 militant leaders. CFU officials have appealed to members not to take the law into their own hands, but acknowledge many farmers have lost patience after police repeatedly failed to intervene to protect them from intimidation and work stoppages. In Karoi, west of Harare, veterans have threatened farmers with violence if Featherstone-type actions are replayed there, says a CFU official.
From The Financial Gazette, 21 September
Govt begins eviction of defiant farmers
THE government was this week scheduled to start evicting commercial farmers who were served with 30-day notices to vacate their properties for the accelerated land resettlement exercise but ignored the directives. CFU deputy director Jerry Grant said the first evictions were due to begin yesterday. The government has so far gazetted a list of 2 102 commercial farms for compulsory acquisition under the fast track resettlement programme. Owners of some of these farms had already been issued with 30-day notices to vacate their properties and the first batch of these notices was due to expire this week.
"The first evictions on farms which have been served with these notices are thus scheduled to begin on Wednesday this week," Grant told the Financial Gazette. Grant said most of the affected farmers had chosen to remain on their properties because the 30-day notices issued by the government were not in line with the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act. Grant said under Section 9 of the Land Acquisition Act, the government should have given 90-day notices to most of the affected farmers instead of 30 days. Moreover, most of the farmers issued with the notices to vacate their farms were challenging the seizures of the properties in the courts and it would be improper for the government to evict them. However, the government had indicated it would proceed with the evictions, he said.
Most of the farmers on the 2 102 gazetted farms are challenging the acquisition of their properties in the Administrative Court. Grant said even in those cases in which farm owners had voluntarily agreed to the acquisition of their properties, the government had still not bothered to evaluate these properties properly as required by law. In some instances, the government had also not reached any agreements of sale with farmers not contesting the compulsory seizures of their properties. "Everything is in disarray, the regulations are not being followed," Grant said.
The government has said it would acquire at least 3 000 commercial farms for the fast track resettlement programme. The CFU this week went to court to challenge the acquisition of the farms without compensation as well as the validity of the temporary presidential powers being used to seize the land. Farming industry officials said the evictions of the farmers would further harden the position of banks which have so far refused to finance farmers whose land has been targeted for acquisition. The CFU has said over 2 000 farm owners whose properties have been listed for acquisition will not be advanced seasonal loans by the banks due to lack of security of tenure. The development will drastically scale down production in the commercial farming sector and affect agriculture’s contribution to gross domestic product next year.
From The Financial Gazette, 21 September
Congress to axe Mugabe?
ZANU PF’s top leadership, fighting to revive the ruling party’s waning popularity, is unanimous that President Robert Mugabe should step down from the 2002 presidential election but has not agreed on his successor, senior party insiders said this week. ZANU PF Politburo members and others from the party’s central committee, including parliamentarians, told the Financial Gazette in separate interviews that they all wanted Mugabe to retire but were not agreed on who should succeed him.
"We are all in agreement that Mugabe must go. That is no longer an issue," a member of ZANU PF’s Politburo - the party’s highest policy-making body - told this newspaper, echoing the views of most of those polled this week. "The problem that we have at the moment is who should be Mugabe’s successor. We cannot agree on a candidate," the official said. He added: "The biggest problem is to reach a consensus on a successor who has the support of the party’s membership countrywide and the capacity to win the 2002 election."
He, just as all other officials interviewed, preferred not to be named. Other officials within ZANU PF said there were differences between the pro-reform wing of the party who want a young leader and the old guard - mainly from the Politburo - who prefer a successor to come up from within its ranks. The reform wing is understood to be rallying behind Finance Minister Simba Makoni while the Politburo has a choice of names such as Masvingo South MP Eddison Zvobgo; Parliamentary Speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa and Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo. Party insiders said some within the old guard were arguing that they still had the capacity to run for the highest office in the land despite calls from the younger generation for a purge of all of Mugabe’s allies.
A compromise between the two wings has been mentioned. This would involve the creation of party structures that allow the old guard, while not in charge, to still have a say in the affairs of the party and Zimbabwe. The compromise, say the insiders, would centre on a new national constitution that would return the southern African country to a titular presidency and an executive prime minister. The titular presidency, should ZANU PF win the 2002 presidential election, would be taken by a senior party member likely to be from the old guard while the premiership would go to a younger politician. Both ZANU PF and the opposition MDC agree on the need for a new national constitution but differ on the modalities of crafting one.
The issue of who contests the 2002 presidential election on behalf of ZANU PF will be tabled for discussion at the party’s special congress to be held in December, the insiders said. ZANU PF’s central committee is due to meet in two weeks’ time to fix the date for the congress. The party’s publicity and information secretary Nathan Shamuyarira could not be reached for comment this week while its administration boss Didymus Mutasa refused to discuss the matter.
The projected congress is also expected to amend ZANU PF’s constitution to allow for the election of Politburo members and the nomination of any senior party member to contest the national presidential poll without being necessarily the leader of ZANU PF. Politburo members are at present appointed by Mugabe and the party’s constitution allows only the leader of the party to be nominated to stand for the presidency of Zimbabwe. Mugabe has not made the task of choosing his successor easier by refusing to disclose whether he is going to seek re-election in 2002 or not. But the 76-year-old politician has been under growing pressure from lieutenants to retire after the party’s dismal performance in the watershed June general election.
From Business Day (SA), 22 September
Zimbabwe gets UK help
Minister says money flowing into country shows Britain has not turned its back
PRETORIA - The UK has committed a total of £40m in aid to Zimbabwe's people and this is flowing into the country mainly through civil society organisations, says Peter Hain, the UK's foreign office minister. Hain said in an interview yesterday that the UK government had made £20m available to Zimbabwean citizens through non-governmental organisations and had recently committed a further £20m to combat the plague of HIV/Aids. "This proves the UK is not turning its back on Zimbabwe and its people, but rather on the government's reckless policies regarding the economy and land reform," he said.
Hain said the jury was still out on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's recent announcements on the country's controversial land reform programme. Mugabe has pledged to remove war veterans who have taken over farms not designated for resettlement. The Zimbabwean government conceded this week that it had mistakenly targeted an Anglo American farm, the Hippo Valley sugar estate, for resettlement. Agro-industrial estates were not intended for resettlement, it said, and promised to remove the estate from a list of white-owned properties targeted for seizure.
Hain said the UK's appeal to Zimbabwe was that it return to the principles that were agreed to at the 1998 Harare donor conference. "If this were to happen, Zimbabwe would receive tens of millions of pounds for land reform," he said. Hain warned that should Zimbabwe keep on its current path, it would continue to slide down "a slippery slope into total collapse". Mugabe has vowed to push ahead with a controversial land seizure programme that has seen black Zimbabwean war veterans occupy thousands of white-owned farms. The government has served notice it will acquire more than 2000 of the 3041 white-owned farms earmarked for the resettlement of landless black people.
The US senate recently passed a bill, the Zimbabwe Democracy Act of 2000, which seeks to punish Mugabe's government for failing to curb lawlessness, particularly the violent farm invasions and harassment of opposition supporters. It also urges the president to instruct US directors on the IMF and World Bank's boards to oppose debt cancellation or loans for Zimbabwe, other than for humanitarian or "good governance" purposes. Hain said he was not surprised that donor nations were united in their unwillingness to fund "disastrous policies" in Zimbabwe.
From The Daily News, 21 September
CIO deployed to High Court
THE government has deployed CIO agents at the public entrances at the High Court in Harare in unclear circumstances. High Court employees said the CIO agents were deployed after the MDC filed petitions for the nullification of parliamentary election results in 39 constituencies. Augustine Chikumira, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, yesterday failed to explain the presence of the security agents. "I would not know whether they are CIO members or not. All I can say is that the matter has been raised and I have asked the Registrar, Master of the High Court and other senior officials there to look into the matter," said Chikumira. He said he was waiting to be briefed on the outcome of the investigations.
Staff at the court told The Daily News they were being harassed by the "new security guards". "We are being asked to produce identity cards and sign passes to enter the building," said a High Court employee, who preferred to remain anonymous. "I had to return home for my ID card after they denied me entry into the building where I have been working for the past seven years." When The Daily News went to the building, there was a long queue of people waiting to be searched while others turned back without being attended to. Acting Registrar of the High Court, Nyasha Machakaire, said he was surprised by the sudden change of security guards. "They are not our responsibility. All I know is that they are rotated every two days and have their standing orders," said Machakaire.
Sources said the agents were deployed soon after the MDC applied to the High Court to nullify the results in 39 constituencies. Said the source: "I believe this is a way of trying to intimidate lawyers who are handling the MDC applications." Asked why he thought they were CIO agents, the source said: "I work with these people every day. I recognised two of them." Noel Matsange, a lawyer with Mkinya and Associates, said: "They saw me wearing my gown and in a rush, but they stopped me and told me to wait my turn to be searched. But I forced my way in since I had an urgent matter in court."
Meanwhile, lawyers for the MDC say police officers involved in the raids at the party's offices last week openly admitted they had not found any weapons. MDC officials present during the searches said the police only seized documents. The lawyers and party officials said they were surprised by government claims that arms of war had been discovered at the offices. John Nkomo, the Minister of Home Affairs, told Parliament on Tuesday the police had recovered during the raids grenades, pistols, rifles, tear smoke, pellets and military-type handset radios believed to have originated from Malaysia. But Innocent Chagonda of Atherstone and Cook, a lawyer for the MDC, yesterday said the claims about the presence of arms at the offices were defamatory. Police officers involved in the searches had confirmed they had not found any weapons, he said. The police would not say whether they would show the weapons to the public. Chief Superintendent Wayne Bvudzijena, the police spokesman, said: "It's difficult to say whether they will be paraded or not. As you know, a statement was made by the minister. I cannot say much."
From The Daily News, 21 September
MDC MPs block Bill to commercialise CMED
OPPOSITION MDC parliamentarians last week refused to have the Central Mechanical Equipment Department (CMED) Commercialisation Bill pass through its second reading. MDC MPs said the ruling government wanted to use the Bill to strip national assets before it leaves office. The Bill, steered by the Minister of Transport and Communications, Swithun Mombeshora, would convert the CMED into a non-profit making company registered under section 26 of the Companies Act. Essentially, the company would continue the business of the CMED - providing and operating transport services for the State and providing plant and equipment for the construction of roads, dams, bridges and other infrastructure.
Mombeshora said commercialising the CMED would ensure the company was run along business lines, unlike at present where there was government red tape impeding its smooth running. Commercialising, the minister said, would eliminate incompetency, inefficiency and corruption, as the company would be able to hire and fire staff as and when required. MDC MPs, in opposing the commercialisation of the CMED, said it should remain a government department. Mombeshora insisted transforming the CMED into a company would improve its operations but it would remain a wholly owned government company as opposed to privatisation.
"There is lack of understanding of commercialisation and privatisation by those on the opposite side," Kangai said to a retort of "Uri dofo chairo" You’re a dunderhead) from the MDC's Tendai Biti (Harare East), who was asked to withdraw the remark by the Speaker. Gabriel Chaibva (MDC, Harare South) said the government should solve problems of its own making. The commercialisation of the CMED was proposed by the previous Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, which discovered that the department, steeped in inefficiency, incompetency and corruption, had not submitted audited accounts since 1996. Chaibva, who based his contribution on the Public Accounts Committee reports, said the CMED’s state of indebtedness must be divulged with the government paying up all its dues to the department.
The government at one stage owed the CMED $68 million for services rendered, worsening its financial problems. "The people on the other side are beginning to realise that their days are numbered so they’re stripping the government of its assets so that they can have a pension. We cannot give way to corruption, looting, and inability to manage and supervise. No, Minister, go back and sort out your problems, put the CMED accounts in order and have things moving there," he said. Biti said the government must first provide an assets register and audited accounts of the CMED before the House could consider the Bill.