| The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe - may peace, truth and justice prevail. |
HARARE (Reuters) - A Zimbabwe ruling party committee,
spearheading debate on
who should succeed President Robert Mugabe when he
retires, has been
disbanded for causing party divisions, reports a
state-owned daily.
But political analysts said the committee has probably
been dissolved
because Mugabe wants to manage the debate after the death of
one of his two
deputy presidents.
Earlier this year the Mugabe, 79,
who has ruled for 23 years, encouraged
members of his ZANU-PF party to begin
debating who should succeed him as
leader, sparking speculation he planned to
quit well before his six-year
term ends in 2008.
Zimbabwe's Herald
newspaper reported on Saturday that "a committee formed by
some senior
ZANU-PF politburo members to discuss the succession issue has
been disbanded
after it emerged that its activities were causing divisions
in the
party."
"The Herald understands that the committee had not been
sanctioned by the
presidency, which resulted in party members questioning its
mandate and
composition," it said.
Political analysts said disbanding
the committee was an indication that
Mugabe wants to tightly control debate
over his possible successor,
especially after the death last week of his
long-serving deputy president
Simon Muzenda.
"I think this is an
indicator that he wants to manage the debate in a way
that does not threaten
the cohesion of his party, and undermine the
government," Professor Heneri
Dzinotyiwei of the University of Zimbabwe told
Reuters.
"I don't think
it's an indicator that he has changed his mind on the issue,"
he
said.
The Herald did not say who was in the committee.
But private
media reports suggested recently that a five-member ZANU-PF
group, including
some cabinet ministers, was garnering party members' views
on the succession
issue.
Senior ZANU-PF officials were unavailable for comment, but the
Herald quoted
ZANU-PF national chairman John Nkomo as saying the succession
issue should
not be discussed clandestinely but through "relevant party
forums."
Mugabe's choice of new deputy could be a pointer of who he wants
to
eventually succeed him as president.
Zimbabwe has plunged deeper
into crisis since Mugabe's re-election last year
was condemned as fraudulent
by some Western governments.
The President's main rival, Morgan
Tsvangirai, has gone to court to
challenge Mugabe's victory.
Mugabe,
the country's sole ruler since its independence from Britain in
1980, says
Zimbabwe's crisis-hit economy is the result of sabotage by
domestic and
Western opponents of his campaign to seize white-owned farms
for
redistribution to landless blacks.
News24
Media freedom victory in Zim
27/09/2003 18:38 -
(SA)
Harare - The top court in Zimbabwe has struck down a section of
the
country's controversial broadcasting law that gave the information
minister
the power to license would-be broadcasters, a newspaper said on
Saturday.
The law, which was passed in 2000, is seen by rights activists
here as part
of a raft of recent laws that are inhibiting freedom of
expression and
assembly.
The state-controlled Herald newspaper said
the court struck down Section 6
of the Broadcasting Services Act, which gives
the minister the authority to
license broadcasters.
"I, accordingly,
hold the view that Section 6 of the Act is unconstitutional
because it
totally subordinates the regulatory authority to the minister in
the process
of granting broadcasting licenses," Chief Justice Godfrey
Chidyausiku was
quoted as saying in his ruling.
Media freedom here has been in the
spotlight since the recent forced closure
of the country's only private
daily, the Daily News, after the Supreme Court
ruled the paper was operating
illegally.
The ruling on the broadcasting law was made after Capital
Radio, a private
station that was closed down by armed police in 2000,
applied to the Supreme
Court to have sections of the law declared
unconstitutional.
The radio station filed its application after the
government's Broadcasting
Authority refused to license it.
Business Day
Mugabe calls for united agenda in
Zimbabwe
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Harare
Correspondent
ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe yesterday departed
briefly from his usual
searing vitriol aimed at the opposition, the Movement
for Democratic Change,
saying the ruling Zanu (PF) and the MDC must work
together for peace.
On Monday, Mugabe had lashed out at the MDC for being
"puppets" of the UK
government.
Addressing mourners in Harare at the
funeral of Vice-President Simon
Muzenda, who died on Saturday after a long
illness, Mugabe said Zanu (PF)
and the MDC must work together and forge a
unity of purpose in their
political agendas.
The two parties are
engaged in selective, secretive talks in a bid to find a
solution of the
political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe. Formal talks
between them are
expected to start towards the end of this month or early
next
month.
Mugabe paid tribute to the MDC leaders and MPs for attending
Muzenda's
funeral, saying that it showed the opposition leadership had "grown
up". He
said there was a need for unity and co-operation among Zimbabweans,
although
he insisted on Zanu (PF)'s terms.
In a reference to the MDC
on Monday, Mugabe warned that "puppets" would not
rule Zimbabwe. He has
always claimed the MDC is a front set up by the
British to seize power from
him.
Meanwhile, in London, Britain's opposition Conservative Party
demanded
yesterday that the government use its influence to bar Mugabe from
a
European Union meeting in Rome next month.
But Britain's Foreign
Office said the African Caribbean Pacific-EU meeting,
scheduled for October
11-15, was not for heads of government and Mugabe had
made no bid to
attend.
Michael Ancram, the Conservatives' foreign affairs spokesman,
said he had
learned from sources in Zimbabwe that Mugabe planned to attend a
meeting of
fellow African leaders that has been organised by the EU's
Italian
presidency. With Sapa-AP
JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
justice@telco.co.zw with "For Open Letter
Forum" in the subject
line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1: Suggestion
Dear J.A.G.
I am sure all displaced farmers feel the
same way as we do. Not only have
we lost our homes and livelihood, but we
have lost our very close farming
community which has always been such a
special and important part of Zim,
farm life, and to which each one of us has
"belonged".
Not only our own area, but we have lost contact with friends
and
acquaintances in other farming areas. So many of these farming friends
are
now scattered all over the world and living in the towns, trying to
survive
and start a new life. All of us probably keep in touch with a few of
our
closer friends, but have lost contact with a whole lot more from
other
areas.
I was just wondering therefore if JAG could not also send
out by these
means another heading called "Contact"? in which people can
write in
briefly with their new addresses, and saying where and what they are
doing.
We have spoken to so many different people doing different things,
and
others still in shock wondering what to do and how to go about things.
Some
have "made" it, some are battling, but perhaps if ideas and suggestions
are
shared, it may help for them to not make the same mistakes. To feel
you
still "belong" somewhere, and can share with people who understand, to
be
able to say "Oh remember so and so, I see he is now in Australia
(doing
whatever) lets contact him and see how he went about it" etc
In
this way at least we can all help each other and become a rather
"large,
worldwide" (ex) farming community again. I don't think it should be a
"when
we ", situation, as we all know we have to blend in with other
lifestyles,
but just a "contact" and help situation, as it used to be in all
the
farming communities.
Briefly, to start the ball rolling. We were
farming in Centenary, and were
probably one of the first invaded in Feb.
2000. Our area gave us amazing
help and support, but we have been off
Mavuradona for almost 2 and bit
years, and have moved 3 times since. The
usual "survival" routine, selling
equipment doing odd things to survive and
for the past year and a half have
been going down to Inhassoro in Mozambique
"caretaking " 3 holiday home
property's on the coast for Zimbabwe syndicates.
Trying to buy a plot of
land there with another farming family to develop and
sell. Lease a small
house in Milton Park.
We are no experts in the
field, but have been observing how to go about
things for quite a time, and
also watching others making expensive
mistakes. So should any one be
interested in any thing similar in Moz, we
are happy to help and suggest
ideas. Please contact us on 792418 or cell
091 305002, tad@zol.co.zw,or at no 29 Van Praagh Ave,
Milton Park.
Yours, Chris and Dawn
Pohl
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
2: A Personal Account
Dear all,
After reading the letter about the
old lady, I felt calm enough (finally),
to report on a personal account with
our famous "law enforcement" officers.
Three weeks ago, my husband aged
54, recovering from a recent heart attack,
(white - and it shows as his hair
and beard are snow white), was driving
along Fourth Street when the famous
entourage's sirens sounded. As usual,
he, together with the rest of the
traffic, pulled over to the side of the
road. After the motorcade had
passed, he began to proceed, flanked on
either side by two black drivers,
travelling in the same direction. A
young policeman ignored the black
drivers and walked toward my husband,
cocked his AK47 rifle at him, asking,
"what do you think you are doing? you
dirty F@#**!! white piece of dirt!!!?
To which my husband responded, "the
motorcade has passed, so I am
proceeding". Well, the abuse continued from
the foul-mouthed, obviously
Youth-brigade-trained "little person". "What
are you still doing in our
country you old white piece of s@#*$ - go back
to
Britain or I will kill you right now - do you hear me???". My
husband
responded that he was not from Britain, to which the "little person"
set
his rifle aside, put his hand through the driver's window in an attempt
to
punch my husband. Fortunately, my husband blocked the blow by lifting
his
hand.
An older policeman, obviously one from the "old school",
came up to my
husband's vehicle and asked the "little person" what he thought
he was
doing - the driver had done nothing wrong and he should allow my
husband to
proceed, which he did. Needless to say that my husband was
severely shaken
up and extremely lucky to escape with his life and
un-injured!
I thank God each day that I was not in the car with my
husband at the time,
as we would both have been shot, because I would have
got out of the car
and told the twerp to put his gun down and then knocked
the living
daylights out of him. My husband, too, thanks God I wasn't there,
as the
idiot, whose eyes were bloodshot and filled with unadulterated hatred,
was
younger than our youngest son, aged 21!
How much further are they
going to go? This is our country too and the
fact that this incident took
place in a suburban area, in brought daylight
brings to mind the question of
what would happen in the
dark.
C.S.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
3: Open Letters Forum No. 150 dated 24 September
Sirs
I comment on
the (often vicious) responses to the contributions to Mr
Kinnaird's letters.
We are all certainly playing into the hands of the
enemy! (Incidentally, if
your conscience is clear, then why don't you sign
your name?).
How
many of you out there still buy vegetables from the
local
supermarket/cafe?
Those of you who do, have any of you wondered
where those vegetables have
come from? The chances are they are stolen
property, harvested via remote
control by the New Farmer, whose main job is
running the bank where you
keep your money; or managing the insurance company
where you insure your
property; or tending to patients in the hospital where
you go when you are
ill; or dispensing drugs at the pharmacy where you buy
your medicine; or
owning that service station where you are buying fuel at
black market
rates; or managing that department store where you buy clothes
for your
family; or owning that salon where your wife goes to cheer herself
up; or
running the law firm which is fighting for you to get back the farm
where
you used to grow vegetables......
As one anonymous author said
"take a close look at some of the people with
whom you have done business."
And grow your own vegetables!
Carol
O'Neill-Williams
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - September 26,
2003
Email: justice@telco.co.zw;
justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To
all out there
I hope this warms your hearts and touches your
souls.
Read and enjoy.
Words by Vicki Silvers.
Follow your DESTINY,
wherever it leads you.
There comes a time in your life when you realize
that if you stand still,
you will remain at this point forever. You realize
that if you fall and
stay down, life will pass you by.... Life's
circumstances are not always
what you might wish them to be. The pattern of
life does not necessarily go
as you plan. Beyond any understanding, you may
at times be led in different
directions that you never imagined, dreamed, or
designed. Yet if you had
never put any effort into choosing a path, or tried
to carry out your
dream, then perhaps you would have no direction at
all.
Rather than wondering about or questioning the direction your life
has
taken, accept the fact that there is a path before you now. Shake off
the
"why's" and "what if's" and rid yourself of confusion. Whatever was ~
is
in the past. Whatever is ~ is what's important.
The past is a brief
reflection. The future is yet to be realized. Today is
here.
Walk your
path one step at a time ~ with courage, faith, and determination.
Keep your
head up, and cast your dreams to the stars. Soon your steps will
become firm,
and your footing will be solid again. A path that you never
imagined will
become the most comfortable direction you could have ever
hoped to
follow.
Keep your belief in yourself and walk into your new journey. You
will find
it magnificent, spectacular, and beyond your wildest
imaginings.
Hope you enjoyed these words as much as I did.
with
love to all out there,
Vonda Jelliman.
News24
Mugabe is going nowhere
01/12/2002 22:16 -
(SA)
Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's successor will not
be named
until 2006, the state-run Sunday Mail said in an apparent bid to
quash
speculation the 78-year-old longtime leader could be
replaced.
Nathan Shamuyarira, information secretary in Mugabe's ruling
Zimbabwe
African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF), was quoted by
the paper
as saying the issue would be discussed at a party congress in
2006.
The paper said the news had "scuppered frenzied speculation" in the
private
media that a Zanu-PF conference due later this month would name a
candidate
to contest the next presidential election in 2008.
The
private press regularly speculates on possible successors to Mugabe, who
has
held power in this southern African nation since 1980, first as
prime
minister and later as president.
This year he won a new six-year
term in a hard-fought election against
Morgan Tsvangirai, 50, of the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC). Western
observers said the poll was not free or
fair. - Sapa-AFP
Ananova
Government against Zimbabwe tour
A government
official has told the ECB they are not in favour of England's
tour to
Zimbabwe next year.
Lord MacLaurin, chairman of national team sponsors
Vodafone, has already
voiced his displeasure about touring the African
country gripped by
humanitarian crisis.
MacLaurin does not want the
telecommunications company's image tarnished by
supporting a tour hosted by
Robert Mugabe's regime nor does he believe it
will be good for the English
game.
And it appears the Government is of a similar
opinion.
"Essentially our position has not changed," a spokesman for the
Department
of Culture, Media and Sport told The Guardian.
"Ministers
made it clear before the World Cup that they did not want an
England cricket
team to play in Zimbabwe and nothing has changed on the
ground to alter that
view.
"The tour is still a long way away but if things remain the same in
Zimbabwe
we would suggest that the team does not tour."
Story
filed: 08:02 Saturday 27th September 2003
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE
SECURITY COMMUNIQUE - September 27,
2003
Email: justice@telco.co.zw;
justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Many
thanks to all those who sent in the human rights abuse returns for
farmers
and farm workers. A reminder to those who are still to respond,
please let
us have those reports. They are vital for our
accountability
database.
Please supply full names of perpetrators if
possible and any background
information e.g. related to who?, where
employed?, etc. If possible send
photographs of any injuries/damages
incurred and please pass the original
request for information to anyone you
know who does not receive JAG emails.
Kind regards
Kerry
Kay
Below is a statement from The African Civil Society Consultation
on
Zimbabwe calling on the Commonwealth to continue the suspension on
Zimbabwe
as a result of ongoing human rights abuses: STATEMENT TO THE
COMMONWEALTH
September 18, 2003
The participants in the African
Civil Society Consultation on Zimbabwe, who
met in Gaborone, Botswana, on
August 5 and 6, 2003, today call upon the
Commonwealth states to ensure the
continued suspension of Zimbabwe from the
Commonwealth. Zimbabwe should
remain suspended from this institution until
it complies fully with the
principles contained in the Harare Declaration
of 1991 and takes concrete
steps to restore the rule of law, to respect
human rights and to hold
perpetrators of human rights violations
accountable.
We, the
participants in the African Civil Society Consultation on Zimbabwe,
represent
over thirty civil society groups from Zimbabwe, Botswana, South
Africa,
Namibia, Malawi, Zambia and Kenya. Following a two-day meeting
held in
Botswana, on August 5 and 6, 2003, we issued a Concluding
Statement,
condemning the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe
and calling
for urgent action to address this crisis.
In light of the upcoming
meeting of Commonwealth Heads of State and
Government, to be held in Nigeria
in December 2003, we reiterate our
condemnation of the situation in Zimbabwe
and call upon the Commonwealth to
continue its suspension of
Zimbabwe.
Widespread violations of international human rights standards
are being
committed in Zimbabwe and until these violations are ended,
Zimbabwe
remains in contravention of the principles contained in the
Harare
Declaration of 1991. Moreover, Zimbabwe has failed to comply with
the
recommendations of the Commonwealth Observer Group, issued on March
15,
2002. Following the recommendations of the Commonwealth Observer
Group,
Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth on March 19, 2002. Since
that
time, the government of Zimbabwe has not made any significant efforts
to
improve the human rights situation or to come into compliance with
the
Harare Declaration and Commonwealth Observer Group
recommendations.
Indeed, the situation in Zimbabwe has steadily
deteriorated. Violations of
basic human rights are endemic throughout the
country, including torture,
denial of food, arbitrary detention, attacks on
human rights defenders,
muzzling of the independent press, systematic
violence against women, and
the forceful indoctrination and abuse of youth
through a government youth
training programme.
We therefore urge the
Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, meeting in New
York on September 27,
to examine the situation in Zimbabwe and recommend
that Zimbabwe remain
suspended from the Commonwealth until such time as the
government brings an
end to the human rights and humanitarian crisis and
restores the rule of
law. Rumours of political talks between the
government and opposition
parties are not sufficient to justify the lifting
of Zimbabwe's suspension,
but rather real improvements in the human rights
situation in the country
must be demonstrated.