http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
28 September
2009
The Supreme Court on Monday quashed terror charges against prominent
human
rights activist Jestina Mukoko and 8 others, illegally abducted and
tortured
by the country's security forces last year. Chief Justice Godfrey
Chidyausiku, flanked by Justice Luke Malaba and Justice Paddington Garwe,
ruled that Mukoko and her co-accused could not be tried now, or in the
future, because their constitutional rights had been violated.
Last
year in December Mukoko was abducted from her Norton home in the early
hours
of the morning, wearing nothing but her night clothes. For weeks
police
claimed they did not have her in custody, only for the then State
Security
Minister, Didymus Mutasa, to admit in court papers that he had
sanctioned
the abductions as a matter of state security. When she finally
appeared in
court she was charged with helping to recruit people for
purposes of
military training in Botswana.
Our Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa
was at the court house and reports
that Mukoko was in tears after the ruling
was passed. She told journalists
it was a 'happy day for me and my family.'
The Zimbabwe Peace Project
director said she would be going home to rest and
thanked everyone who had
supported her during her ordeal. Mukoko also vowed
to continue her activism
work.
Mukoko was freed on bail in May after
almost 6 months in custody. Being a
former ZBC TV presenter she became the
most high profile abductee from the
group. Other activists abducted during
last year's raids included Tsvangirai's
former aide Gandhi Mudzingwa, MDC
director of security Chris Dhlamini,
Broderick Takawira, Mapfumo Garutsa,
Regis Mujeyi, Zacharia Nkomo, Chinoto
Zulu and freelance journalist Andrew
Manyere.
Charges against the group were dubious from the word go and even
governments
in the SADC region admitted there was no evidence to confirm the
alleged
banditry training in Botswana. Over 30 opposition and civil society
activists were abducted from their homes or work places last year, before
being held in secret locations for several weeks. The regime only produced
the activists near Christmas time when the MDC-T put a deadline of 1 January
2009 for them to be freed or brought to court.
________
Comment
from Hope at http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/
It's
incredibly good news for Jestina and also for the other abductees
facing the
same charges.
I am left with a question: if the Supreme Court have
acknowledged that
Jestina Mukoko was abducted, tortured and had her
constitutional rights
violated by state agents, will the state agents who
carried out these
atrocities be publically named and held accountable?
http://www.reuters.com/
Sun Sep 27, 2009 4:14pm
EDT
* Chavez in his element hosting summit
* Proposals
range from soccer to mining
By Frank Jack Daniel and Fabian
Cambero
PORLAMAR, Venezuela, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Anti-imperialist
rhetoric and
ambitious ideas flowed on Sunday at a summit dominated by South
America's
leftist leaders and some of Africa's best-known former
anti-colonial
fighters.
Flanked by the likes of Robert Mugabe from
Zimbabwe and Luiz Inacio Lula
Silva of Brazil, summit host and Venezuela's
socialist leader Hugo Chavez
looked in his element as he heard a plethora of
proposals to promote poor
nations' global clout.
The two-day summit
on Venezuela's sweltering Margarita island, in the
Caribbean, came right
after the U.N. General Assembly and the G-20 summit
and was intended as a
counterpoint to Western dominance of global
institutions.
"We have to
construct a new alliance, discover opportunities and help
ourselves
mutually," Lula said, summing up the central theme of speeches by
the 28
leaders present.
On specifics, Mugabe and Chavez proposed greater
cooperation on exploitation
of resources like mineral and oil.
The
Venezuelan, who sees himself at the forefront of a global
"anti-imperialist"
movement, urged his fellow leaders to form a
"multi-state" corporation for
mining.
"Africa and South America are rich lands, yet their peoples are
poor,
because they have been exploited. Let's not allow them to keep
exploiting
and ransacking our lands. Those riches belong to our people," the
garrulous
Chavez said, giving a mini-speech himself between every speech by
another
leader.
"Let's not waste a day. If we start with just two or
three countries, well
we'll start with those that can."
OLYMPICS FOR
BRAZIL?
Mugabe, a former guerrilla commander in power since independence
from
Britain in 1980, echoed the sentiment, saying Zimbabwe could offer
minerals
and agricultural products for oil and technology.
"In
Africa, greater industrial development has been difficult because of a
reliance on the very powers that colonized us," he said. "They do not want
really to see us industrialized."
Some of the summit participants --
including Mugabe and Chavez -- are
severely criticized by opponents for
abusing rights and democracy at home.
On the sports front, Mugabe
suggested the ASA (South America-Africa) nations
meeting should hold their
own World Cup-style soccer tournament, while Lula
urged support for Brazil's
bid to host the 2016 Olympics.
"The biggest sporting event after the
World Cup cannot be a privilege of
rich nations," said Lula.
The
United States is also bidding for the 2016 Games.
"The International
Olympic Committe's leadership is like the world's
riches -- all concentrated
in Europe which has more delegates than all of
Africa and Latin America,"
Lula said.
While the summit has included plenty of harsh words in general
for the
West's past sins and present indifference to global poverty,
Venezuela
sought to defuse perhaps the most provocative theme to emerge at
Margarita.
On the eve of the summit, its Mining Minister Rodolfo Sanz
said Iran, an
ally of Chavez and in the West's bad books over its nuclear
policy, was
helping Venezuela find uranium in the South American
nation.
But Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez sought to calm the controversy
caused by
that, telling Reuters that Caracas was yet to develop a plan to
exploit its
uranium, and was only working with Russia to develop nuclear
energy for
peaceful uses. "No plan has been determined," he said.
[ID:nN26544037]
Analysts say Venezuela is more than a decade away from
developing nuclear
power.
The leaders were due to sign a final
document later on Sunday covering
cooperation between the two continents,
and urging reform of global bodies
like the United Nations and World Bank to
give poor countries more
influence.
Paying his first visit to the
Americas, Libya's Muammar Gaddafi -- in power
for four decades -- has been
holding court in a tent at the summit hotel and
gave a fiery speech on
Saturday saying a small club of major powers were
still trying to run the
world on their terms. (Additional reporting by Luis
Jaime Acosta in
Porlamar, Enrique Andres Pretel and Kevin Gray in Caracas;
Writing by Andrew
Cawthorne and editing by Anthony Boadle)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
September
28, 2009
Hannah Strange in Caracas
a.. Colonel Gaddafi proposed an
African-Latin American defence alliance
yesterday at an intercontinental
summit hosted by Venezuela.
At the South America-Africa summit on Isla
Margarita in Venezuela, the
Libyan leader joined the host, President Chávez,
in calling for an
"anti-imperialist" front across Africa and Latin
America.
President Mugabe of Zimbabwe and President Zuma of South Africa
were among
almost 30 leaders from across the two continents present as Mr
Chávez sought
to promote his socialist policies abroad, urging a new world
order that
would confront Western dominance.
"The world's powers want
to continue to hold on to their power," said Mr
Gaddafi, who had a white
limousine flown to Venezuela to meet him at the
airport. He then met Mr
Chávez in his trademark Beduin tent by a hotel pool.
"Now we have to fight
to build our own power," he said.
The leaders were to agree a range of
joint projects in areas including
energy, mining and agriculture, with Mr
Gaddafi, in particular, expected to
sign several accords with Mr
Chávez.
Venezuela also stoked the controversy over the Iranian nuclear
programme
with the revelation that it was working with Tehran to exploit its
uranium
deposits.
Rodolfo Sanz, the Mining Minister, said that Iran
was helping Venezuela to
detect resources, raising international suspicions
at a time when voices in
Israel and the United States are accusing Caracas
of helping its ally to
evade sanctions on its nuclear programme.
http://edition.cnn.com/
By Nkepile Mabuse
CNN
HARARE, Zimbabwe
(CNN) -- Zimbabwe's education system is beginning to battle
back from years
of neglect and an exodus of teachers.
But many parents still find it
impossible to pay the U.S. $24 a year fees
and some resort to using chickens
as payment.
The country's education minister in the year-old
power-sharing
administration believes it could be decade before standards
are back up to
Zimbabwe's good past record.
When President Robert
Mugabe took office in 1980, he prioritized education.
His government managed
to lift Zimbabwe's adult literacy rate to one of the
highest on the
continent.
But like everything else Mugabe achieved during his first
decade in power,
he has in the past few years managed to undo.
The
government stopped funding some schools as far back as 1999, and as the
economy crumbled so too did the quality of learning.
According to the
education department, 20,000 teachers have left the country
in the past two
years and half of Zimbabwe's children have not progressed
beyond primary
school.
Many parents today are too poor to send their children to school.
Rural
schools -- where pencils, desks and books are luxuries -- are hardest
hit.
When CNN visited a Mathabisana primary school in Umguza, in the
southwest of
Zimbabwe, headmaster Nonkululeko Ndlovu said that at one point
teachers used
charcoal as a substitute for chalk.
"There are no
textbooks to talk about at the moment because I remember the
last text books
were bought sometime in 2000 or so, when we were still
getting government
grants but now we don't have anything.
"Those text books have reached
their shelf life. An aid organization donated
32 text books which we really
appreciated and we are using those text books
right across the grades,
trying to impart knowledge to the kids."
In a school with 406 children,
that means that almost 13 children have to
share one text book.
"So
what we normally do is write problems on the board and the children
read,
this is what we are doing in a bid to ensure that children learn,"
Ndlovu
adds.
The families of some children are so poor they cannot afford the
reduced
fees of U.S. $2 a year -- only a quarter of the children have the
funds.
Some parents have even resorted to paying fees in chickens and
other life
stock.
Ndlovu said: "When the parents bring a chicken to
sell or to offer as school
levy, teachers sometimes buy it, so if they agree
on the price, the teacher
would get the item, pay the fees, and then if
there is any change, he would
give the parent the change."
Education
Minister David Coltart says he inherited a catastrophic system
when he took
over in February.
"Seven thousand government schools were closed and most
of the 80,000
teachers were on strike. At the head office building there was
no water in
our 18-storey building and the toilets were in a mess. That was
emblematic
of the state of schools," he told CNN.
CNN asked the
headmaster at Mathabisana about the children's concentration
level and
trying to learn under such difficult circumstances. "We have
children who
are excelling even though they are sitting on the floor, so
that is why we
are hoping if things normalize these children may be the best
in the world,"
he said proudly.
Ndlovu is one of the teachers who did not join the
exodus. "In any normal
situation when others go out, definitely others have
to remain. There is no
way we can all of us just go out.
"Those who
are remaining, we are just hoping that things will be better. It
is not
because things are better for us but we just feel we need to teach
these
kids ... to become something in the world."
Zimbabwe's unity government
has managed to get some striking teachers back
into classrooms by offering
them an improved wage of $150 a month, but that
is hardly a living
wage.
"If you can pay your rent, pay your bills here and there and then
you are
able to come back to school. We just do that," Ndlovu
says.
"We cannot all go out and leave Zimbabwe empty without teachers.
Those who
are outside understand that we are playing a significant role
because some
of them left their kids behind. They definitely know they are
being taken
care of, we are teaching them."
The education minister
said he was allocated one-tenth of the budget he
needs to rebuild Zimbabwe's
education system.
He is hoping donors will come to his country's aid.
According to his
estimates, it could take up to 10 years to get Zimbabwe's
education system
to where it was in the early 90's.
And he
understands that he will only be able to achieve this if he can
retain
committed civil servants like Ndlovu.
http://www.zimtelegraph.com/?p=3344
By SARAH
NCUBE
Published: September 28, 2009
HARARE - Urgent investment is needed
to improve the awful infrastructure of
remote rural schools around the
country, a report on education in the
country has said. The Zimbabwe
Telegraph reports.
The report was complied by the first post independence
minister of education
Fay Chung, former legislator Trudy Stevensons and
Sharai Chakanyuka.
It is The Rapid Assessment of Primary and Secondary
Schools and attributes
the infrastructure situation to poverty in rural
areas.
The report said these remote areas are very poor and the majority
cannot
afford to pay levies, which will revive the
infrastructure.
"US$4 levy a term was unaffordable to the majority. Hence
there was no money
whatsoever for repairs," said the report.
This
comes after a national assessment on education was compiled on four
provinces, which had a number of remote schools.
These provinces were
Mashonaland East, Manicaland, Masvingo and Matabeleland
North.
Data
from the four reports obtained through focus group discussions and site
visits indicate the dilapidating condition of the schools especially in
primary schools.
The report said the Rural District Councils, which were
the official
Responsible Authorities, appeared to have lost interest in
these schools and
were not providing any support whatsoever to the
schools.
"Chitsungo Primary School in Mashonaland East had classrooms
without doors
and one without a roof. At Bubi Primary School in Masvingo
classrooms
comprised dilapidated pole and dagga blocks. Ndimimbili Primary
School in
Matabeleland North had had support from UNICEF in 2003 for two new
classrooms, and these were the only ones with furniture and in good
condition. Somakonyane Secondary School in Matabeleland North had six
classrooms, but was only using three. It was surprising to note that a fully
functional primary school, Ndimimbili, with grossly inadequate
infrastructure was a few hundred metres away from a half empty secondary
school with unused classrooms," said the former minister.
The primary
schools visited had very poor teachers' houses.
The teachers said they
did not feel safe as doors could not be locked and
the windows were
broken.
"One teacher at Bubi Primary School was living in a roofless and
doorless
hut. There were no toilets for teachers and pupils in some of the
schools
visited, so they used the bush, creating a health hazard. The two
houses
that were available at Ndimimbili Primary School in Matabeleland
North had
to be shared by several teachers," said the
report.
Teachers at Bubi Secondary School in Masvingo were living in mud
huts and
six male teachers were sharing a single office room.
The
supply of textbooks in both primary and secondary schools is
devastating.
Books had not been purchased since 1999.
In terms of
furniture there was a general lack of equipment such as
blackboards and
chalk.
"In Mashonaland East, teachers had to take their children outside
so that
they could write on the ground. In Matabeleland North, except for
the
furniture provided by UNICEF, classrooms had little or no furniture,
with
pupils sitting on planks set on stones or on the floor. They had no
writing
places," said the minister.
Despite all this parents have
remained interested in the education of their
children, as they have formed
School Development Committees (SDCs).
"In Matabeleland North parents had
eagerly gathered to meet the visiting
team, as they valued the opportunity
to speak to an authority on the
situation of their schools.
However
the parents did not understand what makes a good school as they were
in
constant battle with the teachers.
"In general parents did not understand
the functions of their committee. Nor
did they understand what constituted a
"good" school: they judged a school
to be good if teachers were present, as
apparently there was a high degree
of absenteeism from teachers. Parents
wanted teachers who were frequently
absent to be removed, but they had no
power to do anything about it. There
was apparent antipathy and even open
antagonism between parents and
teachers," said the report.
A
contributing factor to the bad conditions was lack of supervision.
The
ministry said that all the remote schools reported lack of supervision
that
led to the high number of absenteeism and no disciplinary action was
taken
against the absentee staff.
This highlights the neglect of the remote
rural schools and supervision at
the highest level is required.
The
ministry has recommended that more varied forms of supervision must be
devised.
" For example SDCs can be given the responsibility of checking
on teacher
and pupil presence and absenteeism, as this appears to be a very
serious
problem in all these schools," said the report.
Therefore
there is a great need to invest heavily in remote rural schools.
"Substantive
promotions must be made expeditiously, with training programmes
being
instituted for these incumbents. A situation where only 4 out of 70
headships were filled in one district spells neglect and
disaster.
Supervision is essential, as it was apparent that these schools
had been
totally neglected for some years. The traditional forms of
supervision
requiring education officers traveling by car from the district
office on
very difficult roads needs to be adjusted, more varied forms of
supervision
devised," said the Minister.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
28
September 2009
Three Shabanie mine workers who were shot and seriously
injured by police in
Zvishavane on Friday, were dragged to court on Monday
and charged with
public violence.
Taurai Zhou and Simbarashe Mashuku
appeared in court in wheelchairs after
they sustained gunshot wounds to the
legs. Alois Zhou, who was shot in the
hand, was able to walk, according to
their lawyer Tichaona Chivasa.
The three appeared before a Zvishavane
magistrate with 10 other workers who
were arrested during a peaceful
demonstration at the mine complex. They
were all charged with public
violence and released on $10 bail each. They
will be back in court on 21st
October.
Chivasa told SW Radio Africa the charges were laughable and that
there was
no evidence to suggest his clients had committed any
offence.
'These (charges) are baseless allegations. These people are
innocent. They've
been arrested and charged with public violence for
engaging in legal and
peaceful protests. We've seen the police engaging in
illegal and violent
actions, such as shooting and assaulting miners, without
anyone being
arrested,' Chivasa added.
The peaceful sit-in
protest was violently broken up by the police last week
Friday when they
fired teargas at the over 1000 mine workers who had
gathered with their
families. The miners had been staging demonstrations for
the past month over
salary and onwership disputes with management. The mine
workers have not
been paid their salaries for the past nine months.
Mining operations are
still grounded amid reports that the management were
moving door-to-door
ordering workers to report for disciplinary hearings.
'There is a
disturbing trend that began over the weekend, where workers are
being
ordered to report to the mine offices to face disciplinary action.
They are
being charged with absence without official leave. They're also
being
dismissed after the hearings and this is unfair and immoral,' Chivasa
said.
'How can you dismiss a worker who has not been paid for nine
months. Common
sense will tell you these people have been loyal all along
because no other
employee can survice nine months without pay,' Chivasa
added.
Workers at the mine have for years been trying to find out the
status of the
mine, since it was taken over by government from Mutumwa
Mawere, who is now
in exile in South Africa.
In 2004 Mugabe's regime
placed SMM Holdings (Private) limited under the
control of a state appointed
administrator, Arafas Gwarazimba. Defence
Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa is
reportedly involved with activities at the
mine as are other top government
officials.
THE Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, Wellington Chibebe has
said they will
lobby for a commission of inquiry into the shootings. He also
called on the
resignation of the two co-Home Affairs ministers, Kembo Mohadi
(ZANU PF) and
Giles Mutsekwa (MDC-T) for not showing any remorse following
the shootings.
Chibebe said on Saturday; 'We want them to resign because
they are presiding
over anarchy. They should have issued a statement
expressing remorse within
the ministry by now but they have not done
so.'
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
28
September 2009
Zimbabwe's newest independent daily newspaper, Newsday,
will start
publishing on the 1st November, five years after the last daily
folded.
Trevor Ncube, the publisher of the paper, said the NewsDay project,
plus
related operations, are expected to create over 100 jobs with an
investment
totaling US$4 million. Veteran journalist Barnabas Thondlana has
been
appointed as the editor and the paper will be published every day,
except
Sunday.
Ncube is the chairman of the Zimbabwe Independent and the
Standard
newspapers and also the proprietor of M&G Media limited, which
publishes the
Mail and Guardian newspaper in South Africa.
Speaking
at the launch of the paper in Harare on Monday he said legally
there was no
regulatory body that could stop them from publishing. 'There is
no body
right now that can licence Newsday to operate as there is a vacuum
in this
area, but there will be consequences if we start publishing without
permission from government,' Ncube said.
Our Harare correspondent
Simon Muchemwa said Ncube was banking on Robert
Mugabe appointing the
Zimbabwe Media Commissioners as soon as possible, to
enable them to register
Newsday before the start of November.
Interviews for this commission were
held by Parliament's Committee on
Standing Rules and Orders on the 3rd
August and 12 candidates were selected.
In terms of the constitution Mugabe
must now appoint the chairman and 8
eight other members of the Commission
from that list. But Mugabe has been
sitting on the papers since last
month.
Last week, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said he was waiting
for Mugabe
to return from his New York trip to conclude the appointment of
the new ZMC
board. As it stands, there can be no registration of new media
outlets under
present legislation, until the commission is in place.
The
last independent daily, the Daily News, closed in 2004 after falling
foul of
the strict media legislation drafted by the ZANU PF led government.
In 2001
their printing press had been bombed and totally destroyed,
following a
warning from the then information Minister, Jonathan Moyo. He
said it was
only a matter of time before Zimbabweans put a stop to the
newspaper's
'madness.
KEY NOTE ADDRESS AT THE
ZIMBABWE INDEPENDENT/STANDARD NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH -
'NewsDay'
Address by
H.E. Sten Rylander, Ambassador of Sweden to Zimbabwe Monday 28
September
2009
Distinguished Guests here present,
Colleagues and
Friends,
It is an honour and a great pleasure for me to have been asked
to speak at
this historic launch of your new product, which is soon to
emerge on the
Zimbabwean market. Undoubtedly, licensing of NewsDay will mark
the dawn of a
new era, a new Zimbabwe. The last independent daily we
remember folded some
five years ago! So today is a day of joy and
celebration, although you have
not yet reached the final finishing line.
What we can celebrate is the fact
that we hold a first full dummy copy of
NewsDay in our hands this morning.
Colleagues and Friends,
Sweden has
an admired tradition of freedom of the press in the world today
dating back
to the 1766 Freedom of the Press Act. Our current work with
media is
ultimately founded on the rights of the individual: the right to
freedom of
expression, the right to knowledge, the right to transform
knowledge into
action and the right to freedom from poverty. This year our
government made
an important decision to increase even further the focus on
and support to
democracy and freedom of expression. We view today´s new
product launch as
an important signal of information liberalization in
Zimbabwe, and as part
of a strategy to help counter the current knowledge
deficit, which is an
obstacle to poverty alleviation. Together with so many
others we are
interested in how the inclusive government deals with the
media and how the
media covers the progress of the inclusive government, as
this has an impact
on the lives of ordinary people - in Zimbabwe as well as
in the
region.
As I have often said in other fora, Press Freedom is not an alien
concept;
and it is certainly not an imposition by the so-called West. It has
strong
roots in Southern Africa - with one of the best media guidelines
having been
produced in Namibia almost 20 years ago. At the time, I was
Ambassador in
Namibia during the period of Media Institute of Southern
Africa, MISA's
formation and I contributed very actively to its formative
stages. Its birth
came after the UNESCO Windhoek Declaration on Promoting
Independent and
Pluralistic Media in 1991. The African Commission on Human
and People's
Rights has also wedged in with its own Declaration of
Principles on Freedom
of Expression and Information. Despite the adoption of
these commendable
declarations, monopolies continue to exist in some
countries, not least in
Zimbabwe, which still has a single national
broadcaster contrary to the
objectives espoused in its broadcasting laws.
There have also been
documented cases of freedom of the press violations in
most countries in the
region and unfortunately Zimbabwe has not been an
exception.
My government strongly supports the freedom of expression and
the media
worldwide. In Zimbabwe Sweden has provided generous support to
MISA and to
the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ). VMCZ has been
inspired to a
large extent by the very successful experiences of the Media
Council in
Tanzania, which I cooperated with closely during my previous
posting in
Tanzania. The aim of the VMCZ is to establish an effective system
for
professional self-regulation of the media under the strong belief that
self-regulation, rather than state regulation, is the best system for
promoting high standards of professionalism and ethical behavior in the
media. We believe that the VMCZ has the capacity to regulate the work of
journalists; deal with the enforcement of the code of conduct by handling
media complaints and also accreditation of journalists. We also support
various other media initiatives, as well as training of media practitioners.
We align ourselves with all on-going efforts by the international community
and local stakeholders to support the growth and development of a free and
professional media in Zimbabwe.
As the Swedish Embassy we were
pleased to note that at this year's NJAMA
awards, there was a new breed of
independent journalists in Zimbabwe who are
blazing the trail towards press
freedom. NJAMA awards have become an
exciting part of the media calendar and
are an effective way to support the
journalistic world and promote high
standards of journalism in the country.
Dear Friends,
As you may now
all be aware , Sweden currently holds the Presidency of the
European Union,
to be handed over to Spain in January 2009. The Swedish EU
Presidency has an
overall goal which is to lead the EU in a transparent and
efficient manner,
in line with Swedish policy and values, and in the
interest of the EU as a
whole. As part of the agenda during our Presidency
we aim to build democracy
and to further coordinate and strengthen EU in its
external and
developmental policy. As the Swedish Presidency in Zimbabwe we
presently
seek to follow closely the implementation of the Global Political
Agreement
(GPA). And the opening up of the media environment is one of the
key issues
that we are observing in this context. This is also closely
linked to the
resumed dialogue (under Article 8 of the EU-ACP Cotonou
Agreement) between
the EU and the Zimbabwean government aimed at normalised
relations. Clearly,
an open and vibrant media will be important in order to
highlight and
communicate the progress of the inclusive government as the
country moves
towards re-engagement with the international community.
Only two weeks
ago a high-level EU Troika Delegation - lead by the Swedish
Minister for
International Development Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson -
visited Zimbabwe
and had constructive discussions with the three Principals
in the inclusive
government. As we see it it was a good and positive visit -
giving new
momentum to the dialogue process towards re-engagement. Indeed,
we can build
on this visit in order to make progress in the on-going
dialogue efforts.
This positive assessment stands in stark contrast to what
we can read in the
one and only daily newspaper that is there at the moment.
This is how the EU
visit was summarised on prominent page 5 of The Herald
the other
day:
".it was high sounding, but signifying nothing more than provocative
political posturing. - It was nothing but a self-fulfilment and egoistical
trip by a collection of destruction-inspired political forces and
glory-seeking political pretenders in search of mileage to assess the impact
made possible by their equally destruction-inspired offspring - sanctions -
on greatly oppressed and wronged souls of Zimbabwe - Nothing more and
nothing less"
The quote speaks for itself. One can only pity those
who prefer to
concentrate on negatively spinned communication and who fail
to understand
what needs to be done to move forwards in a positive
direction.
Colleagues and Friends,
The international community and
indeed Zimbabweans are closely monitoring
the media environment expecting an
end to the suppression of the free flow
of information as an indicator of
the success of the inclusive government.
Article 19 of the GPA, signed by
the three political parties, recognizes the
importance of the right to
freedom of expression and the role of the media
in a multi-party democracy.
The implementation of the GPA in general and the
adherence to the Article
dealing with media in particular is a litmus test
on the sincerity of the
inclusive government to usher in a new era of unity,
freedom and
work.
The GPA notes that while the provisions of the Broadcasting
Services Act
permit the issuance of licenses, to date no licenses other than
to the
public broadcaster have been issued. We will continue to urge the
government
to urgently open up the airwaves to allow for the operation of
"as many
media houses as possible" to directly quote from the GPA. An
essential first
step could be to open the airwaves for community radio
stations. As Sweden
we support the establishment of community radios; and we
believe that the
absence of community-based radios hinders development and
poverty reduction
efforts. Community Radios could be playing a crucial role
in terms of
informing the ordinary people, especially in rural and marginal
areas, on
the progress of the inclusive government and on other key national
issues
like national healing and the constitutional making process, as well
as the
fight against HIV/AIDS and cholera.
The Parties to the GPA
agreed that the government shall ensure the immediate
processing by the
appropriate authorities of all applications for
re-registration and
registration in terms of both the Broadcasting Services
Act as well as the
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. We
urge the government
to do this and go even further to allow Parliament - in
consultation with
all media players - to discuss these Acts to determine if
they aid media
freedom; and if not, amend or repeal parts of these laws
which are not in
line with the spirit of the inclusive government or in line
with key
regional media declarations. It is important for government to come
up with
legislation that will open up the media landscape and help
facilitate the
implementation of the GPA.
Dear Friends,
During my few years in this
beautiful country, I have learnt that the
cultural basis for a free press is
a 'padare' or 'enkundleni' - a forum for
discussion and debate or dialogue.
In this transitional phase, Zimbabwe's
press should build on this tradition
and move towards the notion of a free
press that is determined and guided by
the public's right to be informed, or
to know.
A few days ago, I was
reflecting on the advantages of independent newspapers
in Zimbabwe. Many
names came to mind, amongst them of course the passionate
Trevor Ncube.
Another name is Geoffrey Nyarota, - the founding editor of
Zimbabwe's first
independent daily publication, The Daily News, in 1999.
Some of you may
recall that the Daily News had, at some point of its
circulation, the
highest readership of 30.6 percent of the total reading
population followed
by the Herald with 28.8 percent.
Some of us here may recall that
Geoffrey's most convincing argument for
independent media was that Africa
should be seen through the eyes of African
reporters - from the viewpoint
that if local journalists were allowed to
report freely to the Western
audiences, their sources and the context of
their stories would be
different. In the same vein, through opening up space
for the media,
Zimbabwe can create transparency, which gives the
international community,
investors and tourists more confidence to give
financial resources to
Zimbabwe and help revive the economy.
There is no doubt that this will go
a long way in marketing Zimbabwe as the
wonderful country that it is and
help in reviving tourism which has an
obvious impact on the economy given
the prospects of the 2010 World Cup next
door in South Africa. The creation
and promotion of a free, truly
independent and highly professional media can
have an enormous impact on
Zimbabwe's development process and economic
growth. The media in Zimbabwe
has the potential to create a more positive
picture of Zimbabwe, which in
turn will attract investors, tourists and the
international community to
assist the country with increased investment,
direct foreign aid and
financial resources.
It is regrettable and
unfortunate that media coverage and access in Zimbabwe
is presently below
fifty percent. There are many areas in the country,
especially rural areas,
where there is no radio or television coverage and
where newspapers do not
reach. It is of course very important for the media
to be accessed by
ordinary Zimbabweans - and I think I know that this is a
challenge that will
be taken on also by NewsDay. Universal access will
ensure that Zimbabweans
are aware of the progress of the inclusive
government and through the media
they can have a voice in the way the
country is governed, thereby
strengthening democracy.
Colleagues and Friends,
As I mentioned before
I keep on reminding my Zimbabwean friends and
colleagues that most of the
media reforms we are calling for are not alien
or imposed by the West. Today
we can rather say that they are derived from
the wisdom of the GPA and are
in line with the key regional declarations on
media freedom. That is why the
government is urged to abide by what was
agreed upon in the
GPA.
Finally, to all control freaks and to those who have been used to
the old
way of controlling and suppressing the flow of information let us
say: don´t
be afraid of media freedom. Try to think outside the old box and
embrace
what is in the long-term interest of the nation. See it as a
positive
challenge that NewsDay is likely to play its independent role by
being the
voice of the New Zimbabwe!
Tatenda, Siyabonga, Twalumba - I
thank you
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Violet Gonda
28 September
2009
Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party have always insisted that the
government's
land reform programme is meant to correct 'historical
imbalances' and give
land to landless black Zimbabweans, through a one man
one farm policy. But
over the last decade productive farms have been taken
from white commercial
farmers and given to a new black elite. This weekend
journalist Peta
Thornycroft also revealed that Robert and Grace Mugabe own
12 farms between
them.
The President is said to have bought one farm
near his rural home in Zvimba,
Mashonaland West but then he went on to grab
five other neighbouring farms.
Grace is said to own six commercial farms,
including Gushungo Dairy Estate
in Mazowe, formerly known as Foyle Farm,
which was the top dairy farm in
Zimbabwe. The farm owner faced a campaign of
violence over many months in
2003 until he was forced to sell his property
at a quarter of its value, and
ultimately he only received 40 percent of
that amount. Russell Goreraza,
Grace's son from her first marriage, manages
the farm.
It has also emerged that Nestlé is Mrs Mugabe's biggest
customer and she is
said to be selling up to a million litres of milk a year
to the
multinational food company. Nestle has said it was left with little
choice
but to buy milk from Gushungo Dairy Estate, because so many other
milk
producers had shut down. It's alleged that Mrs Mugabe uses an unmarked
£100,000 tanker and trailer to deliver milk three times a week to Nestlé's
plant on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Harare.
The Mugabe's
are on a list of targeted sanctions by the European Union but
the Swiss
company is not obliged to comply with the targeted measures
because
Switzerland is not a member of the EU. However, the country has its
own set
of measures against the Mugabes, one of which states it "is
forbidden to
make funds available to persons mentioned, or put them,
directly or
indirectly, at their disposition".
Thornycroft told SW Radio Africa on
Monday that an incredible amount of
money has been spent on Gushongo Dairy
Farm, "And yet, despite this enormous
amount of money and with the latest
German, Swedish and Polish milking
equipment, she still only produces a
fraction of the amount of milk that the
previous farm owner used to
produce.
On June 27th Mrs Mugabe told the state-controlled Herald
newspaper that the
farm had been in a dilapidated state before she became
the new owner, but
Thornycroft said: "It may have looked not posh but it was
extremely
productive. It was a top dairy estate in Zimbabwe and it held its
own in
world records as well. Now it produces about a 6th of what it used to
produce."
Nestle has been criticised by rights groups for helping the
First Lady to
accumulate wealth through the controversial land acquisition
policy that
only benefits a small elite. A number of South Africans were on
Monday
making calls urging the public to boycott Nestle, because its
Zimbabwean
operation is buying milk from a farm controlled by Mrs
Mugabe.
The other five farms owned by the First Lady are:
The
2,500 acre Iron Mask Estate. Grace Mugabe personally ordered the
elderly
owners, John and Eva Matthews to leave, giving them just 48 hours.
Sigaro
Farm taken from Joe Kennedy, a major seed producer;
Gwebi Wood, which had
been bought by Washington Matsaire, the chief
executive of Standard
Chartered Bank's Zimbabwe subsidiary, in 2001;
In December last year, Ben
Hlatshwayo, a high court judge who had evicted
Vernon Nicolle from the
1,445-acre Gwina farm, was in turn forced out by
alleged "unlawful conduct"
on Mrs Mugabe's part, according to court papers
he reportedly
filed;
Mrs Mugabe is also in control of the 1,740-acre Leverdale
farm.
Thornycroft, who has visited the various farms, said sadly it's
been a
takeover of lucrative farms which have now been devastated. She said
Gwina
farm, for example, produced 20% of the country's wheat and was a
massive
tobacco and maize producer but there is no large scale production
taking
place now. "It is really the tragedy of these vibrant sectors, now in
the
hands of amateurs."
Thornycroft confirmed the Mugabes have 12
farms, saying: "They do have.
There may be more that we don't know
about."
Although Robert Mugabe bought the 445ha Highfield Farm near his
rural home,
the other five farms were seized from their white owners. Three
were owned
by the Skea family - Cressydale, John O'Groat and Tankatara - who
were
forced out between 2000 and 2002 and have emigrated to Australia and
New
Zealand. The owners of the other two farms - Clifford and Cressydale -
were
forced out in 2006 and 2008.
Analysts say this is the real
reason there have been delays in allowing an
audit of land ownership, as
required by the GPA, because it will reveal the
multiple farms owned by the
Mugabes and others in the ruling elite.
Meanwhile, the General
Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe
(GAPWUZ) have reported
that over 66,000 farm workers have been made homeless
since February and are
fighting for survival following the new spate of
invasions of white-owned
farms. GAPWUZ said the farms' new 'owners' had
hired the police to force
farm workers and their families off the land. It's
reported most of the
workers were now living rough, by the roadside or in
the mountains, where
they had set up squatter camps.
http://www.busrep.co.za
Workers living on pittance
despite farm producing 6 500 litres a day
September 28, 2009
By Peta
Thornycroft Harare
Mugabe, his wife and a number of other Zanu-PF
insiders are subject to
sanctions by the European Union (EU), the US and
other Western countries.
But Nestlé, the multinational food company, is
not obliged to comply with
the sanctions as its headquarters are in
Switzerland, which is not a member
of the EU.
Mugabe, The Sunday
Independent reported on Sunday, has built a secret
personal farming empire
from at least five white-owned farms where the
owners were forced
out.
Mrs Mugabe's properties total around 4 856 hectares, but her most
important
is Gushungo Dairy Estate, formerly known as Foyle Farm. It is in
Mazowe,
about 48km north of Harare.
Other dairymen, who have also
been forced off their land, say that the
previous white owner of Foyle faced
a campaign of violence over several
months in 2003, until he was forced to
sell his property to the state's
Agricultural Rural Development Authority
(Arda).
The price was set at about a quarter of independent estimates of
the farm's
true worth, they say, and the former owner received only 40
percent of that
amount.
Mrs Mugabe became a regular visitor as soon
as the previous owner departed,
and workers at the property say it is now
her farm, managed by Russell
Goreraza, her son from her first marriage. She
married Mugabe in 1996.
She visits the farm several times a week, along a
new road which is out of
bounds for any vehicles but her fleet, according to
workers at the dairy.
Under her occupation, the farm has become one of the
few in the country to
benefit from investment in recent years and has been
lauded in The Herald,
the state-controlled newspaper.
The dairy
produces 6 500 litres of milk a day, The Herald has said - only
about 35
percent of its output under the previous owner, who produced 6.5
million
litres a year, making it the biggest dairy farm in Zimbabwe.
Her biggest
customer, according to her staff and other figures in the
industry, is
Nestlé Zimbabwe, the local subsidiary of the Swiss company. The
plant, in an
industrial area in Msasa on the outskirts of the capital,
manufactures
powdered milk and cereals for the local market, and for export
to East
African countries.
Grace uses an unmarked tanker and trailer combination
dedicated for her use
to deliver milk three times a week to Nestlé's plant
on an industrial estate
on the outskirts of Harare, according to workers at
the food company.
The dairy's only other customers, according to farm
staff, are personal
callers at the premises, who buy milk for $1 (about
R7.46) a litre.
A spokesman at Nestlé's global headquarters in
Switzerland said that at the
end of last year "we found ourselves operating
in a market where eight of
our 16 contractual suppliers had gone out of
business".
"As a result, in early 2009 the company started purchasing
milk on the open
market from various suppliers on a strictly non-contractual
basis. In
certain instances, the milk available in the market would be from
Gushungo
Dairy Estate."
Such milk would be bought on a "cash on
delivery" basis, he said, adding:
"Nestlé has no direct engagement
whatsoever with this estate."
But when asked to clarify whether it was
bought directly or through a third
party, he said: "We bought Gushungo Dairy
Estate's milk through Dorkin
Dairies until that firm collapsed last
February, then we bought the milk
directly."
Nestlé is not covered by
American or EU sanctions rules, but it has spent
years protecting its
reputation amid other scandals, particularly
allegations over the improper
promotion of formula milk to nursing mothers
in the Third World, which it
denies but which have led to consumer boycotts
in the West.
American
and European officials say that if Nestlé were subject to their
rules, it
would be committing a criminal offence by trading with Mrs Mugabe.
Asked
if despite its exemption from the sanctions measures because of its
Swiss
corporate nationality, it was doing anything wrong by doing business
with
Mrs Mugabe's operation, Nestlé said: "During the recent crisis, Nestlé
has
not considered moving its operations out of the country. By providing
basic
food products to Zimbabwean consumers, Nestlé aims to meet the needs
of the
local population, many of whom are vulnerable and disadvantaged."
The
company's code of conduct, according to its website, states: "We condemn
any
form of bribery and corruption." It also says that Nestlé "supports and
respects the protection of international human rights", and adds that its
suppliers should also adhere to its code.
Asked to explain its
dealings with Mrs Mugabe in that context, it said:
"Nestlé does not provide
any support, financial or otherwise, to the
Gushungo Dairy Estate or to any
political party in Zimbabwe."
Pay and conditions for workers at the dairy
are meagre. A 25-year-old
worker, with a baby to care for, said she cannot
afford to buy its milk at
$1 a litre.
"Do we ever get enough money?
No, I get $40 a month, yet we sell lots and
lots of milk," she said. "We do
get cabbages returned from the market and
25kg of maize meal twice a month,
but there is no electricity in our houses,
only for office staff and
managers.
"Mrs Mugabe is here a lot, but doesn't talk to us, just the
managers."
At a ceremony commissioning new equipment at the Gushungo
dairy in June,
Mugabe referred to the dairy repeatedly as Mrs Mugabe's
"project", saying
she had invested "determination and dedication" to
it".
It's now her project," he said. "I would like to congratulate her.
Today you
see this monument. It is a result of her efforts and
time."
Mrs Mugabe herself told The Herald: "When we came here (farm), it
was in bad
state. I had to work hard to transform it to what it is today. I
went into
dairy farming because he (Mr Mugabe) wanted it. I did it
especially for
him." - Independent Foreign Service
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=23203
September 28,
2009
JOHANNESBURG (Times Live) - What started out as a
legal fight for the return
of businesses confiscated by the state has become
an intriguing exposé of
how President Robert Mugabe runs the
nation.
Court papers in the dispute between SMM Holdings and Justice
Minister
Patrick Chinamasa reveal Mugabe's hidden hand meddling in judicial
matters.
Exiled Zimbabwean businessman Mutumwa Mawere, a director of SMM
who now
lives in South Africa, says in his answering affidavit: "With
respect to His
Excellency, the president of Zimbabwe, I confirm my meeting
with him on 10
May in Pretoria, South Africa."
Mawere was responding
to Chinamasa's assertion that the businessman was not
in talks with the
Zimbabwe government about his predicament.
Mawere had asked the court to
delay the litigation to allow him time to
conclude his talks on the matter
with the Zimbabwe government.
SMM was taken over by the government five
years ago - ostensibly for owing
huge amounts to the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe and other lenders, and on
suspicion that it spirited foreign
currency earnings abroad.
Both allegations have yet to be proved. But
what is becoming clear is that
Mawere was a victim of bad politics and
greed.
At one stage, Mawere sought the help of former South African
president Thabo
Mbeki in his continuing battle to wrest the company back
from the state's
grip.
Mawere says his meeting with Mugabe was a
"follow-up to discussions we had
the previous day at President [Jacob]
Zuma's inauguration".
"The president [Mugabe] requested me to brief him
about the details and
circumstances leading to the reconstruction of SMM
Holdings Private Limited
and related companies, as well as my
specification."
During its reconstruction, SMM was placed in
administration and Mawere was
branded a "specified" individual: someone
barred from doing business in
Zimbabwe.
Court records indicate that
the Justice Minister was opposed to Mawere's
attempts to settle out of
court.
It was Mugabe's favourite banker - Gideon Gono, the controversial
governor
of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe - who let the cat out of the
bag.
In his affidavit, Mawere reproduces text messages from Gono's
Blackberry
phone, which clearly indicate that Mugabe was being kept informed
of all
developments in the case.
Gono told Mawere that Mugabe was not
to blame for his predicament, but other
senior government officials -
including Chinamasa - were.
A SMS message from Gono read: "I'm very clear
now I wasn't [aware], neither
was the prez [Mugabe], of these conflict of
interests.
"Also, perusal of extra documents reveals tht the state was on
shacky ground
frm word go. We neva complained as rbz that smm has failed to
pay! Besides
rbz neva lend 2smm bt to banks hahaha! Dont wori it has been a
long walk.
"U can count me on side. Bcoz it is only just and fais 2 do
so.
"Pse accept an apology frm 4 any distress I may have bn said I caused
tho my
prez and me are now clear wht we seem 2 hve bn up against!
Misrepresentations and malice behind our baks! Gud day."
Gono sums up
the chicanery aptly in a follow-up text in which he says: "It
is evident
that the bylaw is subordinate to the rule of law."
http://www.apanews.net
APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe has received a report compiled by
an
international diamond trade watchdog on alleged human rights abuses
committed by the country's army at a controversial diamond fields to the
east of the country, APA learnt here Monday.
Mine Minister Obert
Mpofu said a ministerial taskforce was currently
studying the report
compiled by the Kimberley Process (KP) which undertook a
fact-finding
mission to Zimbabwe two months ago.
"We have just received the full
report from KP, which we are still studying.
The matters are being handled
by a ministerial taskforce but we will take
actions to abide by KP
recommendations," Mpofu told a weekly newsletter
published by the office of
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
A KP review team was in Zimbabwe in
July and visited the Marange diamond
fields where there have been reports of
human rights violations and illegal
diamond mining and trading
activities.
An interim report produced by the KP review mission soon
after the visit
recommended Zimbabwe's suspension amid allegations of human
rights abuses
committed by the army as well as lack of proper procedures for
the mining of
the Chiadzwa diamonds.
The KP is a joint government,
industry and civil society initiative to stem
the flow of conflict diamonds
- rough diamonds used by rebel movements to
finance wars against legitimate
governments, mainly in Africa.
JN/nm/APA 2009-09-28
A BRAVE Zimbabwean tour guide is presumed dead after plunging 90m into the
Victoria Falls while trying to rescue a tourist, police said. The unnamed man was working for South African tour company, Sunway Safaris,
reports said on Sunday. The man was accompanying several western tourists on the Zambian side of the
world’s largest waterfall. Here, tourists swim dangerously close to the tipping
point of the falls, only prevented from falling by a slippery, submerged lip of
rock. Only the brave attempt a swim in the aptly named Devil’s Pool – and tour
guides are tasked with ensuring their safety. It was in fulfilling this duty that the tragic tour guide dived into the
water to rescue a stranded tourists last Wednesday. A witness told the Sunday Mail: “The tour guide quickly grabbed the tourist’s
hand and successfully pulled him back into the pool but in the process, he
slipped and fell into the gorge down below.” Chief Inspector Chisoni, in charge of the Victoria Falls Police Station
(Zambia), said the tour guide is believed to have driven the tourists from South
Africa. They set up base at the Water Front hotel in Livingstone. Last Wednesday, the tourists visited the Victoria Falls rainforest before a
trip to the Devil’s Pool. Locals say deaths at the site are rare, occurring at the rate of one death
every year. One resident said: “People should just be banned from going near that place
because it is dangerous. On the Zimbabwean side, there are barriers put in
place. That should be done on the Zambian side as well.”
Gambling with life
... A tourist swims on the edge of the Victoria Falls' Devil's
Pool
28/09/2009 00:00:00
by Lindie Whiz
Danger zone ... Devil's
Pool circled
RELATED STORIES
Vic
Falls awakens for World Cup
Stretching their luck
... A tourist, oblivious of the danger, takes a snap of the
falls
Crazy ... A woman
tourist with baby on the edge of the Victoria Falls
gorge
http://www.africanews.com
Posted on Monday 28 September 2009
- 08:20
Ronny Zikhali, AfricaNews reporter in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is likely to be hit by drought this farming season. The
drought
forecast by the Association of World Meteorological Services
department in
Southern Africa in the coming cropping season has become a
cause for concern
not only to farmers themselves but the entire Zimbabwean
nation at large.
Farmers who faced a number of challenges in the
providing of the nation
with adequate food in previous drought years are
looking at mitigation
measures to lessen the adverse impact of El Nino
phenomenon.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union President, Wilson
Nyabonda told Zimbabwe's
sole broadcaster, ZBC News in Harare that since the
local meteorological
office has not yet confirmed a drought caused by the El
Nino in the Pacific
Ocean, farmers should not relax but work hard with
available resources
including investment in irrigation schemes.
Nyabonda said farmers would not be able to do it alone hence government
has
to come in by availing resources to set up irrigation schemes and
construct
additional dams to provide enough water for irrigation.
In addition,
the ZCFU President said farmers should understand rainfall
patterns in their
regions and grow suitable crops.
Zimbabwe experienced the worst drought
in the 1992 to 1993 season which
affected many people especially those
living in the rural areas.
The same drought destroyed the national
cattle herd and left the majority
of smallholder farmers without their
source of draught power.
Experience has it that El Nino induced weather
patterns can either lead to
floods that destroy crops, infrastructure and
kill animals leading to food
shortages as was the case in year 2000 or poor
rainfall which does not last
the whole season.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Simplicious
Chirinda Monday 28 September 2009
HARARE - Zimbabwe civic
society groups say the are increasingly losing
confidence in the
power-sharing government's ability to solve the country's
problems because
of the administration's failure to quicken implementation
of necessary
political reforms.
"The inclusive government is gradually eroding our
confidence in the
arrangement's ability to solve the problems that the
country faces," newly
elected Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CZC) chairman
Jonah Gokova said at the
weekend.
The CZC is a coalition of human and
civic rights groups, churches, women's
groups, labour and student movements
that have campaigned for a peaceful and
democratic settlement of Zimbabwe's
political crisis.
The pressure group said that the solution to Zimbabwe's
problems should not
be left to the three political parties - President
Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF
and the two MDC parties led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and Deputy
Premier Arthur Mutambara - who signed the Global
Political Agreement (GPA)
that gave birth to the unity government in
February.
"Our crisis is a crisis of governance and can not be resolved
by political
engagement alone but through an all inclusive process that
involves all
citizens of Zimbabwe," Gokova told the organisation's annual
general meeting
in Harare.
Zimbabwe's unity government that is seen
as offering the country the best
opportunity in a decade to wriggle out of
economic and political crisis has
done well to stabilise the economy and end
inflation that was estimated at
more than a trillion percent at the height
of the country's economic
meltdown last year.
But analysts remain
doubtful about the administration's long-term
effectiveness, citing unending
squabbles between ZANU PF and MDC as well as
by the coalition government's
inability to secure direct financial support
from rich Western
nations.
Tsvangirai's MDC party accuses Mugabe of flouting the GPA as
shown by the
veteran leader's refusal to rescind his unilateral appointment
of two of his
alleged cronies to the key posts of central bank governor and
attorney
general.
The government has also failed to implement key
reforms such as the
appointment of a new independent media commission and
bringing an end to
assault on political and human rights.
But on the
other hand ZANU PF insists it has done the most to uphold the
power-sharing
deal and instead accuses the MDC of reneging on promises to
campaign for
lifting of Western sanctions on Mugabe and his top allies. -
ZimOnline
When Robert Mugabe gained power in Zimbabwe in 1980, he made strenuous
efforts to reassure the white farming community about its prospects. White
farmers had reason enough to be fearful of him. During the guerrilla war against
white rule in Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was then called, Mr. Mugabe had repeatedly
vowed that "white exploiters" would not be allowed to keep an acre of land. As
one of the most privileged groups in the country, numbering no more than 6,000
in all but owning nearly half of the land area, white farmers had been a
constant target of Mr. Mugabe's wrath. But having won the 1980 election, Mr. Mugabe swiftly changed his tune. White
farmers, he acknowledged, formed the backbone of Zimbabwe's economy, producing a
multitude of crops and commodities using sophisticated techniques and equipment
that were essential to the country's prosperity; they also employed 270,000
people. To win them over, Mr. Mugabe awarded them generous price rises and other
financial incentives and ensured that technical services remained at a high
standard. Though nervous and depressed by the election result, white farmers
soon rebounded. Many became ardent supporters of Mr. Mugabe's regime "Good old
Bob!" they cheered. Mr. Mugabe occasionally made noises about the need for land redistribution,
but for years he paid little attention to the matter, other than to make certain
that his cronies in government—military chiefs, senior politicians and civil
servants—were able to pick up choice properties. As popular discontent over
government mismanagement and corruption grew, however, he turned on white
farmers as the scapegoat for the country's ills, fanning old grievances over
their landholdings. After a humiliating defeat in a referendum in 2000 designed to give him
greater power, Mr. Mugabe took revenge, launching a campaign of terror against
white farmers, whom he accused of supporting his opponents. Across the country,
white farmers were murdered, assaulted and driven from their homes by gangs of
armed youths paid by the government and organized by the military. Hundreds of
farms were left derelict. Commercial agriculture eventually collapsed, leaving
Zimbabwe dependent on foreign food aid to prevent mass starvation. In "The Last Resort," Douglas Rogers, a travel writer born in Zimbabwe but
now based in New York, enters the story at the tail-end of these events. In
2006, after making occasional visits from abroad to his parents' farm in the
hills above Mutare in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, he began to chronicle
their desperate efforts to survive in increasingly hazardous circumstances. Not
only did they live with the constant threat of losing their home; they faced the
daily grind of coping with food shortages, power cuts and a worthless currency.
Mr. Rogers uses their ordeal as a metaphor for the condition of the country. Like many other white farming entrepreneurs, Mr. Rogers's parents had bought
their 730-acre farm after Mr. Mugabe came to power in 1980, obtaining a
government certificate approving the purchase. The farm consisted mainly of
hilly ground and had little agricultural value, so they set out to develop it
into a small tourist resort, stocking it with zebra and antelope and building a
lodge for backpackers, a restaurant, an art gallery and a clutch of cottages.
"Drifters," as the place was called, became a thriving enterprise, mentioned
favorably in foreign travel books. Mr. Mugabe's rampage put an end to all that. Returning to Zimbabwe after an
absence of several years, Mr. Rogers finds that the wildlife has been
slaughtered, the backpackers gone and the cottages occupied by white refugees
forced out of their own homes. The lodge eventually becomes a brothel. By Douglas Rogers Yet still his parents cling on. Initially worn down by worry and fatigue,
they find that the struggle for survival itself gives them strength. "The very
predicament they had found themselves in, the very chaos engulfing them, had
given purpose, reason to live," Mr. Rogers writes. "Every day for the past eight
years they had woken up to plot and plan their survival, and yet, instead of
being crushed by this struggle, beaten down, they had been buoyed by it. In
fighting back they had found a rare energy, passion and lust for life that had
kept them young, active and alive." The snapshots that Mr. Rogers gives of his parents' perilous existence are
vivid enough. And the characters he encounters—a political commissar, a war
veteran working for state security, a black-market currency dealer—are
entertaining. But Mr. Rogers has spent too little time in Zimbabwe to offer more
than fragments of the drama unfolding before him. When the crucial 2008 election
takes place, he opts to stay in New York rather than plunge back into Zimbabwe
once more. He admits: "I was too frightened to go. I didn't have the stomach for
it." From a distance, Mr. Rogers describes how his parents, like many others in
Zimbabwe, rode a wave of pre-election euphoria: Mr. Mugabe was facing a popular
opponent, and it seemed as if the end of his 28-year regime was nigh. But then
the election fails to produce a clear winner, and as the second round of voting
approaches, Mr. Mugabe lets loose a campaign of violence and intimidation to
ensure that he remains in power. Mr. Rogers's parents, as far as we know, remain
in a parlous state, like the country itself. What Mr. Rogers has missed, by
visiting Zimbabwe so intermittently, is the opportunity to provide a fuller and
more graphic account of the nightmare the country still faces. Mr. Meredith is the author of "Mugabe: Power, Plunder and the
Struggle for Zimbabwe" and "The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of
Independence."
Harmony, 309 pages, $24.99
http://nehandaradio.com
Published on: 28th September, 2009
By PHIL
MATIBE
At every African funeral, family fissures are brought to the
forefront by an
uncle. Family members with an axe to grind provide copious
amounts of
alcohol to that loud uncle who is then tasked with the duty of
raising
unsavory issues.
In his drunken stupor, the uncle harangues
in-laws, interjects, jeers and
often makes salacious revelations—usually
regarding the deceased’s debts or
extra-marital affairs. Once the funeral is
over, the uncle sobers up and
invokes plausible deniability by conveniently
blaming sorghum beer for his
diatribe.
Robert Mugabe missed another
golden opportunity—after his decade long of
self- imposed CNN embargo—to
show the world that he is not a delusional
schizophrenic despot. Mugabe used
the CNN platform instead as a pulpit for
hate speech. The truth behind his
land grab is now common knowledge.
Admonishing Zimbabwean whites, maligning
the opposition, blaming the West
for Zimbabwe’s ills, and incessantly
cursing imaginary imperialists is
outmoded rhetoric.
The USA, EU, UK,
Australia, Canada and indeed any nation has the sovereign
right to deny
entry, trade or association with any individual or nation
which these
governments deem threatening to world peace and regional
tranquility.
There exist no economic sanctions against the Republic
of Zimbabwe by any
member of the United Nations. The onus is on Mugabe to
prove to the world
which economic sanctions he refers to. Which UN
resolution or an act of
Congress or Parliament, from which country, imposed
economic sanctions on
the people and Republic of Zimbabwe?
The
International Monetary Fund has released US$409 million dollar to the
Ministry of Finance, President Barack Obama of the U.S. announced a U.S. $73
million aid package when Tsvangirai visited the White House, and Chancellor
Angela Merkel of Germany offered €20 million euros (US$28
million).
Prime Minister Brown followed this up by announcing an increase
in British
aid to £60 million ($100 million), five million pounds ($8
million) of which
is new money for food security and educational supplies
and textbooks.
Australia announced this month that it would also contribute
an extra A$8
million (R51m) in aid to Zimbabwe to fund emergency food
supplies,
agriculture projects and help reinvigorate education.
In
August the World Global Fund donated US$37 million to fight HIV, Malaria
and
Tuberculosis, Botswana gave US$ 70 million and South Africa released 300
million rand (US$31 million or €23 million) for agricultural aid to
Zimbabwe.
Yet at the same time Mugabe’s ministers and his inner
circle are driving
around in German built luxury cars, chatting on 3G smart
phones—what
sanctions?
Mugabe accused Britain and the United States
of seeking to oust him by
imposing economic sanctions; the effects of which
he said were worsened by
years of drought. “The sanctions are unjustified,
illegal … they are meant
for regime change, they are meant to address that
illegal principle.”
Mugabe uses the same sovereign right to admonish
persons with whom he has
political disagreements or opposes ZANU (PF)
policies. Specification of
entrepreneurs and business owners is now the
weapon of choice for
misappropriating private property.
Mugabe
unilaterally pulled Zimbabwe out of the Commonwealth, saying,
“Zimbabwe
quits and quits will be,” likening the Commonwealth to George
Orwell’s
Animal Farm. Only last week Mugabe offended the entire SADC legal
fraternity
by withdrawing a High Court judge, Justice Antonia Guvava, whom
it had
seconded to the legal regional authority in 2005. Through his equally
noxious Minister of Justice Patrick Chinamasa, he described the SADC
Tribunal as “just like someone sitting under a tree” and purporting to be
“dispensing justice”.
The Tribunal is being punished and maligned by
ZANU (PF) for its legal
ruling which would have compelled Mugabe to account
for the multiple farms
he and his light-fingered cronies have amassed under
the guise of righting a
colonial wrong.
Why are travel restrictions,
asset freezes and personal sanctions imposed on
Robert Mugabe and his
associates in the first place? All Mugabe has to do is
to revert to the rule
of law, and his wife Grace will be shopping at Harrods
for
Christmas.
Robert Mugabe needs to urgently refrain from redundant vitriolic
hate
speech, which does nothing to close the Grand Canyon of differences
that
exist between his failed authoritarian decree and democracy. The time
for
hate speech belongs to the archives of cold war geopolitics and stale
colonial history. Zimbabwe needs all the help it can get to extricate
herself from the dire economic quagmire which Mugabe has created through
hatred and archaic policies
Chikomo, shata divi asi rimwe rutivi
rutambire pwere – a small hill must be
difficult to climb on one side, but
the other side must be a playground for
children – even the most evil man
must possess redeeming features – Shona
proverb.
The drought cannot
be blamed for the failure of Zimbabwe’s food production,
drought is a
permanent feature in Southern Africa’s rain pentads and should
be planned
for in the government’s forecasts. Zimbabwe has experienced four
major
droughts (in 1982–1984, 1986–1987, 1991–1992, 1994–1995 and
2002-2003).
During some of these drought years, Zimbabwe produced its
highest yield of
tobacco, flowers and other non food crops for export, which
offset the
importation of food. The government’s Grain Marketing Board (GMB)
even
managed to export grain during two drought years.
Zimbabwe’s population
has risen from just over 7 million at Independence in
1980 to more than 13
million in 2009, yet overall cereal and grain
production has
declined.
The rain patterns of Southern Africa are influenced by the same
weather
system – the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone – ITCZ. Why then are
all our
neighbouring countries expecting bumper grain harvests and Zimbabwe,
in the
middle, blames successive droughts?
Zimbabwe needs a leader
who wages war against poverty and corruption, a
leader who believes in the
rule of law, and a leader willing to sacrifice
all to attain sustainable
prosperity for his countrymen. Instead we have
been given a leader who is
the “drunken uncle,” showing up at important
events to humiliate other
family members and bring shame on the family name.
Phil Matibe – www.madhingabucketboy.com