The Zimbabwe Situation

By Caroline Hooper-Box

South African and Zimbabwean church leaders have condemned the South African
government and other African leaders for their silence on the state-backed
human rights violations in Zimbabwe, and have called for international
solidarity to dismantle the national youth service training programme.

Speaking at the launch of a report detailing youth militia training and
activities in Zimbabwe, the church leaders said the youth programme was a
paramilitary operation used by the ruling Zanu-PF party "to maintain their
hold on power by whatever means necessary, including torture, rape, murder
and arson".

The report describes the use of the militias to carry forward the Zanu-PF
political agenda in everything from manipulating election results to
controlling the food distribution process to the party's advantage.

'We condemn our political leadership for being quiet about this'
It was compiled using interviews with former militia members, victims of
militia torture, state-controlled and independent media reports, militia
camp training materials, and reports by international and Zimbabwean human
rights groups.

Popularly known as "Green Bombers", the militia - clad in trademark green
fatigues and red or green berets - have become a common and fearsome sight.

The Sunday Independent reported in March that hundreds of these youths,
tired of being beaten and starved by their handlers, were fleeing to South
Africa. Those interviewed said they underwent rigorous physical fitness
programmes, weapons training, and political indoctrination in camps
officially called national youth training centres.

Speaking in Johannesburg last week, South African Catholic Bishop Kevin
Dowling said the human rights violations committed by the youth militia
"cannot be maintained and justified by the SADC region and by our South
African government in particular. We condemn our political leadership for be
ing quiet about this".

Last month southern African leaders called on the Western countries to lift
sanctions against Zimbabwe. Earlier this year South African foreign minister
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said South Africa would never criticise the
Zimbabwean government.

Dowling said the Solidarity Peace Trust - a grouping of churches led by
Zimbabwean Archbishop Pius Ncube and South African Anglican Bishop Rubin
Phillip - challenged "governments and all those who are supporting in any
way an absolutely inconceivable abuse of human rights and crimes against
humanity" to bring down an unjust regime.

Ncube said pressure should be brought to bare on African leaders and on
Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe to "stop this abuse and killing by young
people". Between 30 000 and 50 000 young people had been trained, he said.

"The SADC and African Union should insist that these things stop so that our
young people, whose lives are being stolen by politicians, are again free."

In February this year Mugabe invited Cape Town Anglican Archbishop
Njongonkulu Ndungane to mediate between Zanu-PF and the opposition MDC,
after the crisis engendered by last year's flawed presidential election.

Ndungane at the time said the invitation "opened a new window of hope". But
the mediation initiative has failed, Ncube said, shot down by hardliners in
the ruling party.

     By Basildon Peta

      Conservationists in Zimbabwe are rallying international support to
protest against the latest bizarre move by President Robert Mugabe's
regime - an order to shoot thousands of buffalo at private conservancies "to
contain foot-and-mouth disease".

      The conservationists say the order is not only "stupid", but it would
also kill off the little that is left of Zimbabwe's tourism sector which has
shrunk to 15 percent since the disturbances in the country began in 2000.

      Officials from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife
Management started descending on private game parks this week, telling
owners that the government had decided to destroy all buffalo on private
land to eliminate the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

            'Any sensible government would replace these fences rather than
resort to the outrageous move'
      Wilfried Pabst, who owns the Save Valley Conservancy, said his workers
had been informed that foot-and-mouth had cost Zimbabwe its beef markets in
Europe.

      Said Pabst, a German national and key investor in Zimbabwe's tourism:
"What is happening in Zimbabwe makes the Chinese cultural revolution in the
1960s look like a picnic."

      Alternatively, Pabst said, the national parks officials had indicated
that all the buffalo in the private game parks could be seized and moved
into the government's national parks to control their movements.

      But this too was not an option as fences at most national game parks
were destroyed at the height of farm invasions last year, leaving the
buffalo in the parks to roam freely and mix with cattle in villages.

      Environment and tourism minister Francis Nhema made an impassioned
plea last year for land invaders to spare the national game parks in which
thousands of animals have been killed. One of Zimbabwe's biggest game parks,
Gonarezhou, was invaded and a large chunk of its perimeter fence was
destroyed by the land invaders last year.

      "Any sensible government would replace these fences rather than resort
to the outrageous move of killing animals," said Pabst.

      Dr Salmon Joubert, the retired executive director of the Kruger
National Park who is doing some consultancy work in Zimbabwe, said: "This
decision (to kill buffalo), as I have been informed, ranks as one of the
most futile and bizarre moves that anyone can imagine. It does not meet
realistic practical demands and it won't help them (the government) achieve
their goals."

      Apart from the buffalo, many other cloven-hoofed animals such as
impala and kudu are carriers of foot-and-mouth. Zimbabwe would therefore
have to exterminate all these animals to achieve its goals.

      Efforts to get comment from Nhema failed.

      But junior government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity
said they thought the cabinet's decision may have been prompted by the
failure of private game owners to maintain good fencing to contain their
animals and control movement.

      Pabst dismissed the charge saying the lawless destruction of fences on
both private and national game parks in Zimbabwe by government supporters
had been well documented. After destruction the fences were used to make
snares to kill animals. He said he had recovered more than 30 000 snares on
his property and lost more than 10 000 animals.

      "There is total lawlessness here and no one can continue putting up
fences only for them to be destroyed the next day. If the government
restores law and order I will be happy to re-install all the fences
destroyed by the war veterans," he said.

      Jonny Rodrigues, the chairman of Zimbabwe's Conservation Task force,
said there was a small number of animals left in Zimbabwe after the
government allowed conservancies to be invaded and occupied. "Unless we have
a change of government, it seems we are powerless to stop this tragedy which
is unfolding daily. There is very little wildlife left here now." -
Independent Foreign Service

Zimbabwe's Minister of Youth, Gender and Employment Creation, Border Gezi,
established the National Youth Service after the 2000 parliamentary
elections. Among the official objectives were to:

Develop vocational skills

Reduce teenage pregnancies

Reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS

Reduce alcohol and substance abuse

Promote gender equality and equity

"We were told not to think. We were told we couldn't do anything until we
received orders from the top." Former youth militia member

Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party initially used the youth militia as a
strategic election weapon in the run-up to the 2002 presidential elections.
The poll was won by the incumbent, Robert Mugabe, who has ruled the nation
since independence in 1980. International observers described the election
as "not free or fair". The youth militia's success in intimidating the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change or MDC has led to their further
deployment in the country. 150 youth militia camps have been established
throughout the country, many of them in areas where there is strong support
for the MDC. Up until recently, most recruits were single mothers, girls,
street kids and orphans. "That sounds very appropriate and kind," says an
anonymous human rights worker, "because these are the very parts of society
that are most disadvantaged and poorest. They are also the ones who have the
least defence, who don't have relatives, who don't have family who are going
to complain when they are brutalised in the camps."

The recruits, both male and female, from 10 to 30 years of age, undergo
"orientation" during their six months of training. According to the
Solidarity Peace Trust report, "all training materials have consisted
exclusively of Zanu PF campaign materials and political speeches. This
material is crudely racist and vilifies the MDC." John, a 25-year-old youth
militia defector, was taught, for instance, that "whites came into the
country in the 19th century and robbed King Lobengula of his riches. They
seized the land and they let wild animals roam so they could start their
safari operations. When hunters came, the Zimbabwean government and people
did not benefit from the royalties. So we were taught it was good for
Zimbabweans to seize land from the whites."

The recruits undergo rigorous vigorous physical training, says Debbie, a
21-year-old former member. "We woke up at 3:30 in the morning and had to run
20 kilometres. Afterwards we had to sing the national anthem and we learned
slogans about President Robert Mugabe. Then we had to do 200 press-ups.
Those who couldn't were beaten." When the youth militia finish the training,
they are sent out on operations. The six months of training turn many of
them into very angry young people. "We had a very negative view of
everything," says John. "We wanted to take revenge because we had been
treated so badly in the camp. Whenever we had a smile on our face there,
we'd be punished and tortured. We wanted to vent our anger on people,
particularly those who were powerless."

Many youth militia members find solace and courage in alcohol or marijuana.
"We got the money from the raids we carried out," says John. "We'd smoke and
drink in the evening. During the day we would go out into the community.
Informers would tell us that so-and-so is badmouthing the youth militia.
We'd be forced to go and attack. At times we even did it when we were sober.
We just got into the habit." In Debbie's camp, 1000 children and young
people slept together. "The boys and commanders constantly raped the girls,"
she says. "I was raped every night. Girls who cried were beaten. I went to
the desk commander to complain, but he beat me too." Many girls and young
women suffer the same fate. A third of Zimbabwe's adult population carries
the HIV virus. The figures are probably even higher in the youth militia
camps.

Debbie became pregnant in the camp. Later she discovered that she was HIV
positive. She still doesn't know whether her 11-month-old daughter also
carries the virus. When she thinks back on her 7 months in the youth militia
camp, she says, "I cry. I think about dying. These people should be
punished, but they won't arrest these people. I filed a complaint to the
police, but the commander simply bribed the policeman." The youth militia -
better known among ordinary Zimbabweans as Taliban or Green Bombers, because
of their uniforms - know they can act with impunity. "When we beat people up
and they called the police," says John, "they would take us aside. They
would tell us to say that we had been provoked. And then the police would
encourage us to beat the people up even more. We realised that we were free
to do whatever we wanted."

It is difficult to fathom the random violence which the Zimbabwean
government has unleashed on its own people. Victims speak of being attacked
even in broad daylight because the youth militia suspect them of backing the
Movement for Democratic Change, MDC. Even months later, they still seem
dazed, unable to understand how their own government could attack, beat and
torture ordinary people like themselves. It's not only MDC supporters who
are threatened. As a youth militia member put it, "sometimes we attack
people because we don't like the way they look".

Thomas, his wife and eight children used to live in Kamativi in western
Zimbabwe. In 2002, the government decided to establish the biggest youth
militia training camp there. The town was divided in two, and half the
residents were evicted. "In late 2002, Zanu PF officials gave my name and
the names of other people to the youth militia because we weren't attending
ruling party meetings. In January 2003, the youth militia came to my house
and told me to leave the house immediately. They said a war veteran wanted
my house, even though he already has two other houses in the country. I
tried to plead with them, but the decision was final. I was given 24 hours
to leave. They told me I had to take all my belongings or they would throw
everything out of the house. I didn't have a cent on me, so we had to leave
our home with only the clothes on our backs. Together with 7 or 8 other
families, who had also been evicted, we found some alternative accommodation
a few kilometres down the road. On June 13 at 11 p.m., the youth militia
returned. They had just attended a Zanu PF rally in a nearby town and on
their way back to Kamativi, they stopped at our place. They broke down all
the doors. Everyone was dragged out, taken to an open space and we were made
to lie down. They started hitting us at random with sticks and belts. They
said we had been holding meetings with the local MDC MP, which was not true.
Everybody was beaten, even my children. It lasted for about an hour.
Everyone was crying. I was crying. My wife's jaw and several of my ribs were
broken. We left our homes and spent that night together around a bonfire.
The next day, we all went to another town. Then, on July 14, we were
attacked again. Exactly the same thing happened: they broke the doors of our
homes down, rounded everyone up and started beating people again. Everyone
ran off in different directions. Now my 8 children are scattered all over
the country. I really don't know what's going to happen now. I haven't been
able to join bits and pieces yet. I have no income. I have nothing left.
These youth militia are cruel. They're very, very cruel. I wish somebody
greater than myself would crush them. We can't do anything. We can't fight
Mugabe. That's the truth about it."

Ignatious Chaitezvi was employed by the Zimbabwe Republic Police from 1999
to January 2002. His problems began in January 2001. "I and four of my
colleagues were assigned to guard the MDC offices in our town. We were seen
by CIO [Central Intelligence Organisation] agents. In December 2001, we were
called in by the provincial police head. He asked us why we were at the MDC
offices. We told him that our superior had assigned us to guard the
building. He told us we weren't supposed to be there. Then he asked us to
resign. The CIO had told him that we had to resign immediately. We tried to
explain that we had just been following orders, but no one wanted to listen.
The pressure continued to increase and on January 6th, 2002, we were forced
out. On March 10th [on the eve of the disputed presidential elections], we
were called back by the police. We thought we were going to receive our
pension, but we were given envelopes with ballot papers inside. We were
asked to put an X. It was obvious where to put the X. In front of our former
superior, we put an X in front of the Zanu PF. Then we were asked to go.
When voting day came, we went to vote again. Former colleagues saw us and
they asked, 'why are you voting again?' I answered, 'I'm different from you
now. You have to abide by your superiors' orders, but I would rather vote
for the candidate of my own choice.' A few days later I left for the rural
areas because I had no money and couldn't pay the rent. On October 17th, I
came back to the city to look for work. The next day, as I was coming home
from the shops, I was attacked by 5 youth militia. They started assaulting
me, accusing me of selling them out to the MDC. They said, 'you know
everything about the government. We want to kill you'. They beat me. There
were too many of them for me to retaliate. There were two police officers,
former colleagues, near the scene, but they couldn't do anything. They were
too afraid of the youth militia because they control everything.

"I finally managed to escape and walked back home. When I was about to reach
my house, I was hit in the neck by a stick. I fell down. The youth militia
had followed me. They started beating me again with sjamboks and sticks. And
then they hit me with an axe. They were aiming for the back of my skull, but
I turned, so they hit my eye. I lost my eye, but I think it's God who did
that for me. It's better to lose an eye than your life. I pretended I was
dead and then they ran away. I finally got to the hospital, where I thought
they would treat me. But they just registered me and left me there for five
days. [Editor: MDC supporters are regularly denied medical treatment.]
Finally I got a hold of my brother who's a doctor on the other side of the
country. He treated me and I went back to my rural home. In June 2003, I
went back to the city. The same five youth militiamen attacked me again.
They said, 'this time we want to kill you'. They had knives and tried to
stab me in the heart. I blocked the knife with my hand. Then they tried to
stab me again and they pierced my other hand. I fought their leader and when
he was down, I managed to run away. "Five of us were dismissed from the poli
ce force. My colleague, my best friend, is now crippled. His legs were cut
off by the same type of guys, militias. Another colleague was beaten to
death. The other two received threats and ran away to the U.K. Fortunately
their family is rich. I ran away from home and came here to Johannesburg. I
had to leave my wife and children back in Zimbabwe. My wife is not working
nor am I. This is painful. They are suffering. I am the father of those
kids. I was working. I am a man. I am educated, but now I have nothing. I
don't know what to do. I can't go back to Zimbabwe because my life is in
danger."

Nairobi - As was probably true of the Moi regime, when you have been in
power for so long, you may no longer imagine yourself out of it. For you
forget that your protracted stay was a result of political fraud. You come
to think of your manipulations of the electoral machine as the natural order
of things. An election defeat may prove shocking. Following the historic
defeat of Dr Robert Mugabe's party in local polls on Wednesday, a central
spokesman for the ruling Zanu PF party has admitted as much. Said
Information minister Jonathan Moyo: "It was a rude wake-up call... The
writing was on the wall, but somehow we did not read it." The frankness is
refreshing from a government for so long associated with prevarications.
Indeed, Harare is to be commended for allowing, for a change, a relatively
free ballot and for not tampering with the counting.

This is one thing we can say for Mr Moi. A time came when any elaborate
rigging of the vote-machine would almost certainly have landed Kenya into
prolonged bloodshed. President Moi's party was defeated, handed over power
willingly and with dignity, and thus saved the country the kind of civil war
that has torn asunder so many similarly situated African countries. We agree
that the international rapporteurs of the Zimbabwe conflict are party to the
conflict and, therefore, cannot be detached chroniclers of it. The cinch is
that the British media exaggerate things against Dr Mugabe to whip up world
opinion in Britain's favour. Certain usually disinterested observers affirm,
nevertheless, that the Mugabe regime has become too regimented and too
undermined to serve popular needs any more. Hence the urgent need for it to
call it a day. That is the lesson we hope it has learnt from the "wake-up
call" - to conduct the freest possible General Election and get out of it
defeated.

      WHATEVER means Mugabe used to become the leader of Zanu PF and
ultimately, of Zimbabwe, his degrees in violence must have been pivotal to
that achievement.

      Along the way since our independence in 1980, Mugabe was preoccupied
with the fortification of his political power at the expense of serving the
nation. He learnt to control the electronic media; he learnt to be the
minister of everything. He also learnt to create an atmosphere of patronage
to his party, Zanu PF. The army and the police force who are national
institutions, and are supposed to serve the nation have been heavily
politicised.

      Mugabe is therefore a proud owner of a partisan army and police force.
He has also learnt to amend the constitution as many times as he wishes all
in favour of himself and his cronies. Above all, Mugabe has learnt to be the
law unto himself.

      Since 2000 when the people of Zimbabwe rejected the partisan draft
constitution in a referendum, we have received a severe backlash from Zanu
PF under Mugabe for rejecting his ideas. At his disposal, Mugabe has the
army, police force, the war veterans and the rogue Zanu PF youth to carry
out his orders.

      Faced with an embarrassing defeat in 2000 parliament elections, Mugabe
made one of his biggest political blunders by launching his chaotic land
redistribution exercise. It was an off target short although it was meant to
resuscitate his waning popularity. The results of that disastrous move are
now very clear for all who care to see.

      Top army, CIO, police force, governors, ministers and many other civil
servants took advantage of this blunder and are now proud owners of many
farms against Zanu PFÕs policy of one-man-one farm. It was corruption at its
best if you ask me. By allowing corruption to flourish within the Zanu PF
corridors, Mugabe was pressing hard his self destructive button. Everyone
who amassed wealth through the corrupt means presented by Mugabe, is happy
to see him stay put. They will tell us ÒRambai makashingaÓ.

      Indeed, Gushungo has surrounded himself with a team of sycophants,
praise-singers and yes-men who constantly fall over each other in front of
Mugabe to show how loyal they are, but not to the country but to him as an
individual. The likes of Jonathan Moyo, Joseph Made, Patrick Chinamasa,
Joseph Chinotimba and a host of Zanu PF hangersÐon. All these people are
beneficiaries of our crisis as a country.

      For these reasons, Mugabe is now a sacrificial lamb who is being told
to stay where he is by these greedy people, who benefit from his
mismanagement of both politics and the economy. We are where we are because
of Zanu PFÕs complete failure to recognise the basic principles of good
governance.

      Castigating MDC leaders, Morgan Tsvangirai in particular, as an front
for the west, using the Zanunised electronic media, will neither save
matters nor kickÐstart our collapsed economy.

      To Mugabe, I say, you still have time to repent. Do not be sacrificed
by those who use you for their selfish reasons. After having assured the
three church leaders of your desire to commit yourself to talks with the
MDC, why did you let Chinamasa give contradictory statements? And your
statements on the HeroesÕ Day, if anything, poured cold water on the long
overdue talks.

      Indeed, if there is any repentance to be made, it is Zanu PF and
Mugabe in particular should repent and say they were wrong yesterday by
destroying our once glorious country to the heap of rubbish it is today.

      AS Zimbabwe experiences one of the worst economic recessions in the
world, one of the issues identified by many commentators is that the country
is not generating enough foreign currency.

      Exporters have either been blamed for externalising this commodity or
been urged to do more to bring more of this required hard currency.

      It is my conviction that exporters in this country are doing their bit
to bring in foreign currency. I say this because of the following
observations:

      ¥ Brand new cars of top class makes is a sign that this country still
has the capacity to import luxuries. Remember, this country does not
manufacture cars Ð it only assembles a limited number of models.

      ¥ The government still has the capacity to buy brand new cars for the
armed forces, police and ministers. Where is the hard currency coming from?
I donÕt want to believe that the government is dealing on the black market.

      ¥ The country is ÔawashÕ with cellphones. I am still to learn of a
place in Zimbabwe where these are manufactured.

      ¥ The country can still afford to send delegations to conferences
around the world irrespective of benefits derived.

      ¥ The countryÕs economic system is computerising fast. The country is
not a manufacturer of computers, so how are the computers coming in?

      I can go on but the few examples given above indicate that this
country is generating more foreign currency than some neighbouring countries
which have stable economies.

      Perhaps it is how the hard currency is used that is causing all the
problems. Does the government care how the foreign currency is used? Who is
supposed to monitor the use of foreign currency? Is it proper to blame
others for problems we have created as a sovereign State?

      I believe a truly sovereign stateÕ should be able to solve its foreign
currency problems without pointing fingers. The problem is ours led by the
present day government with its strange policies dictated solely by
political gains.

      THE trouncing of the ruling party by the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change party (MDC) in the recent elections presents yet another
opportunity for Zanu PF to pause, take stock of what it means and the
direction in which they are taking this country.

      Make no mistake. The ruling party was well and truly trounced; they
should not have the gall to pretend otherwise. Instead, we strongly feel
that it is time for Zanu PF to calmly reflect on it, to make a serious
historical and critical analysis of the Zimbabwean society as it is now and
to draw the necessary conclusions and lessons for the future.

      How is it that a party whose political tradition is steeped in the
revolutionary and democratic culture of Zimbabwe, and whose legitimacy was
not in doubt in 1980, could fail to read the signs of the fast-changing
times? For indeed it is a far cry from the euphoria that greeted its coming
to power in April 1980. Popular disaffection is now translating into big
losses in every election since the February 2000 referendum.

      Save for the areas where MDC candidates were barred from registering
by the ruling party militia and thugs, Zanu PF took a severe battering.
Political intimidation and violence once again ruled the day in areas such
as Marondera, Kwekwe, Bindura, Karoi and Kadoma and it was hardly surprising
that Zanu PF won in these areas.

      It is not in the medium and long-term interest of Zanu PF to be seen
to be intimidating opposition candidates into not registering for the
electoral process. Those who intend to govern can only do so through the
consent of the people. Political legitimacy can only be achieved through a
transparent, free and fair electoral process. And that is why Zimbabweans
struggled for national liberation since the 1890s until independence was
achieved in 1980.

      It was never for Zanu PF to rule in perpetuity. There is a crying
need — and responsibility — for Zanu PF to understand the reasons for its
rejection by the voters rather than burying their heads in the sands each
time defeat stares them in the face. And, in opposition, Zanu PF can examine
what went wrong, renew and rejuvenate itself and come back to fight another
day.

      For it is only when a party is in opposition that it can have the time
to reflect and rebuild its political machine. When this happens, a tradition
of true democracy of in-and-out-of-power would have been truly established
in Zimbabwe. To win stability is much more important than winning elections.

      Democracy is a work in progress and men and women of goodwill in Zanu
PF can help in this whole process by not only acknowledging the successes of
the ruling party in some areas but also acknowledging its grand failures in
others. This is the only way to strengthen the democratic process in the
country.

      Zanu PF is now paying the price for the destruction of the country. It
is tragically underestimating the dissatisfaction and enormous suffering in
a

      country where a family of six needs $181 000 worth of groceries each
month but the minimum wage is $47 000 a month. There is popular discontent —
the urban-rural divide, wedged by Zanu PF for political expediency,
notwithstanding.

      Repression and despair is at the very heart of all the Zanu PF
politics in Zimbabwe at the moment. And it is suicidal for President Mugabe
and his lieutenants to remain, or give the impression of remaining, in
dangerous ignorance of what is going on in the country. We should indeed ask
the ruling party whether the freedom that Zimbabweans fought for was a
freedom for a small clique to rule forever and benefit from this chaos and
the freedom of the rest of us to suffer along?

      As long as Zanu PF remains defiant and refuses to acknowledge its
mistakes and do something to correct them, the MDC bulldozer will be
unstoppable. In an important way, this development in democracy should augur
well for the people of Zimbabwe. Whether few people bothered to vote is
neither here nor there. The opposition won and that is very significant.

      In fact, it is a worldwide trend that fewer and fewer people are
turning out to vote in elections. For some reason, there is now a tendency
to withdraw from politics. Zimbabwe is not alone in this although it has to
be acknowledged that given the crisis that has engulfed this country, which
has seen people queuing for long hours for—of all things—their hard earned
cash, it is only when people exercise their democratic right to vote that a
reversal of this downward spiral can be effected.

      Be that as it may, it is heartening to see that democracy in Zimbabwe
is evolving quite rapidly—thanks to the formidable challenge to Zanu PF by
MDC. Monopoly of power by one party leads to complacency and arrogance and
is dangerous to the well being of the country in the long run.

      So, in reality, the profound crisis which the ruling party and the
country as a whole is undergoing may yet prove to be a blessing in disguise.

Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
Monday August 18^th – Sunday August 24^th 2003
Media weekly update 2003-33

CONTENTS

1. ROCKET SCIENCE PROPAGANDA?
2. VOODOO ECONOMICS
3. ‘UNDENTING’ ZIMBABWE’S IMAGE

1. Rocket science propaganda?

DURING the week Information Minister Jonathan Moyo revealed through The Herald (21/8) and ZTV (21/8, 8pm) that he intends to expand his propaganda campaign to continental proportions with the help of satellite communications. Reportedly, Moyo and his Tanzanian counterpart signed an “agreement to co-operate in the media field”, which would see the two set up a 24-hour satellite news channel. ZTV quoted Moyo as saying the station will help in telling the “true African story”. Moyo did not clarify what he meant, but in the past the government’s spin doctor and the media he controls have narrowly defined such issues as the ‘African story’ from a ZANU-PF point of view while dismissing all other interpretations as neo-colonialist and pro-Western.

Meanwhile, there was some improvement in the coverage of this weekend’s local government elections, as well as the Makonde and Harare Central by-elections set for August 30-31. For example, this week the Press carried 20 stories compared to the 15 they carried the previous week. Thirteen of the stories were carried in the private Press and the rest in the government-controlled Press.
Only the private Press reported on politically motivated violence related to the polls. It carried three stories in which it recorded about five incidents of violence, allegedly by ZANU PF activists against MDC supporters and a ZANU PF councillor for Mutare’s ward five, who is standing as an independent. None of this was reported in the government-controlled Press.
In fact, five of the seven stories the government Press carried on the polls were on ZANU PF election campaigns while the rest were on government’s defence of the use of mobile polling stations and a court case in which Chegutu MDC candidates are challenging their forced exclusion from registering for the polls by alleged ZANU PF supporters.

Two of the 13 stories the private Press carried were on election irregularities, four on both the MDC and ZANU PF election campaigns and the rest on other related issues, such as the petition by the MDC’s Chegutu candidates and ZANU PF’s politicisation of relief food ahead of the polls.
ZTV carried 11 stories on the elections and all were about ZANU-PF campaign activities. Similarly, Radio Zimbabwe had 10 reports on the elections and all were on the ruling party’s activities. This was also the case with 3FM, which carried eight pro-ZANU PF stories.
Notably, Studio 7 did not cover the elections.

2. Voodoo economics

GOVERNMENT’S recent announcement of a $672 billion supplementary budget – premised once more on similar illusory economic fundamentals as the original one – clearly demonstrated why Zimbabwe’s ailing economy would remain in the intensive care unit.
Symptoms of such voodoo economics, as epitomised by galloping inflation, now officially 399.5 percent, and acute commodity shortages continued to dominate news reports. The Press carried about 156 stories on such issues and other related developments, 83 of which featured in the government-controlled Press and the rest in the private Press. However, most of the stories failed to translate into well-informed analyses that enlightened readers about the sad economic realities besieging the country. For example, none of the 83 stories the government-controlled Press carried ever investigated or queried the ruling ZANU PF’s complicity in Zimbabwe’s accelerated plunge towards economic meltdown. They either diverted readers’ attention from government’s shortcomings by blaming others, The Herald and Chronicle (20/8), or swamped them with government’s so-called successes in its fight against the current economic adversities (The Herald, 21/8), which the government controlled media now describe as “challenges”.
In fact, the government-controlled Press’ determination to shield government from public scrutiny manifested itself in the way it uncritically reported Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa’s supplementary budget presentation. Its five stories on the issue failed to question the economic relevance of the budget, especially when it was presented under a highly inflationary environment characterised by the fickle exchange rate of the Zimbabwe dollar against its US counterpart.

Such was the government-controlled media’s penchant for political correctness that The Sunday Mail (24/8) and ZBC (24/8, 1pm) reported about how the controversial National Youth Service Programme, viewed by government opponents as ZANU PF’s indoctrination nerve centre, had received “a major boost” after Murerwa allocated it an additional $1.5 billion under the supplementary budget.

However, in a rare display of professionalism, ZBC sought alternative viewpoints on the budget. For example, ZTV (22/08, 8pm) quoted an economic analyst, Farai Zizhou, as saying the budget would worsen inflation saying “The Minister (Herbert Murerwa) has talked about the need to take measures that will contain inflation but then with a rising budget deficit it is difficult for the economy to actually attain any lower inflation.” Another economist, Andy Hodges, was quoted, on the station’s 6pm bulletin of the same day, as saying “ the supplementary budget deals with consumptive spending…it’s all about salary increases…it really isn’t a supplementary (budget) to stimulate the economy.”
But then, ZTV swamped these rarely candid observations with reports that gave the impression that the budget was the right tonic for the economy.

The Herald and Chronicle (23/8) appeared equally clueless. They seemed obsessed with celebrating a “major boost” for Zimbabwe’s contentious land reforms, which was allotted $45 billion in the budget to finance crop inputs and livestock production. The papers and ZBC did not question how government would finance the supplementary budget, as did Studio 7 (21/08).
Moreover, the government-controlled media were silent on what exchange rate the supplementary budget was based on considering that it was hyper-inflation and a new exchange rate introduced last February under government’s National Economic Revival Programme that made nonsense of the original budget and required the submission of the supplementary one.

The private media hardly performed any better. For example, the private Press only carried five stories on the budget; three of which were carried in The Daily News (21, 22 and 23/8) while The Zimbabwe Independent (22/8) and The Weekend Tribune (23/8) each carried a single story.

However, unlike the government-controlled Press, the three papers were critical of the budget. For example, The Daily News (23/8) quoted University of Zimbabwe business studies lecturer Anthony Hawkins as saying it was difficult to take the supplementary budget “seriously” because it did not make sense to “increase the budget deficit” when “inflation is a problem”. He dismissed Murerwa’s prediction that agriculture would recover by 2.3 percent this year by noting that the minister had earlier “claimed that inflation will be 96 percent by the end of this year”. Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce official James Johwa was also quoted in the same story rebutting Murerwa’s agricultural forecast as “a big lie”, as “we have messed up the land reform (and) there is no agriculture to talk about”, while economist John Robertson believed that a political solution was the only way out of the economic crisis. MDC’s shadow finance minister Tendai Biti had no kind words for the government’s supplementary budget either. The Zimbabwe Independent quoted him dismissing it as “a criminal budget that is meant to legitimise government’s fiscal indiscipline”, adding “they (government) have found a proper way to strip state assets before their exit”.

Churning out sanitised reports about government’s supplementary budget was not the only professional sin committed by the government-controlled media. They also attempted to stifle the facts behind Zimbabwe’s worsening cash shortage and food insecurity. Thus, ZTV (19/08 8pm), The Herald (20, 21/8) and Chronicle (20/8) became preoccupied with unquestioningly endorsing observations, especially by ZANU PF MPs Victor Chitongo and David Chapfika, that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) was the sole author of the current cash shortage. They deliberately ignored the fact that a failure by the RBZ automatically translated into a flop by government because the central bank was not autonomous as it worked under the jurisdiction of the finance ministry.
However, The Zimbabwe Independent and Studio 7 (20/8) quoted Johwa duly making the connection. He was quoted in The Zimbabwe Independent as saying government was only “passing the buck on the cash crisis because they are trying to exonerate themselves from their economic mismanagement”.

If the government-controlled media was not blaming the RBZ, it was setting up more smokescreens for government’s incompetence by blaming certain sections of society, such as “detractors of the government” (ZTV, 23/08 8pm & 3FM, 23/08 1pm) and cross-border traders, who were accused of externalising large sums of money (The Herald 18/8).These claims however, seemed to contradict those by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority public relations officer Priscilla Sadomba who told The Sunday Mail (24/8) that there was a slow response to the government’s August 24 deadline waiving restrictions on Zimbabweans returning externalised local currency.
To buttress the notion that people hoarding money were the cause of the shortages, the government-controlled Press ran four reports of the police arresting individuals in possession of millions of dollars.

Meanwhile, the issue of travellers’ cheques (TCs) continued to receive a fair share of critical analysis from both sections of the media. In an unusual show of unity, all media generally agreed the TCs would not be an effective solution to the cash crisis. However, there was no such concurrence between the two over the reasons bedevilling food shortages in the country. While the private media attributed Zimbabwe’s food shortages to government’s ill-devised policies, the government media was relentless in its partisanship. For example, they all failed to explore the ruinous consequences of government plans to politicise food aid by demanding that international relief agencies surrender their food distribution role to village headmen, a topic raised by The Daily News (19/8). Social Welfare Minister July Moyo reportedly issued the directive, a contradiction of President Mugabe’s assurance last year to World Food Programme director James Morris that his government would not interfere in NGOs’ food aid distribution.

The government-controlled media also ignored the resultant threats by the international food aid donors that they would stop distributing food to Zimbabwe’s starving masses if government insisted they abdicate distribution to headmen, who are on the government payroll (Studio 7, 20/8 and The Daily News, 22/8). Nor was there any attempt to find out how the order would affect Zimbabwe’s 5.5 million hungry people. Instead, the Chronicle (20/8) tried to blame such disastrous policies on MDC “political upstarts…and the gutter Press”, that it said, “are taking the government to task on its policy that NGOs should work hand in glove with local authorities…in the distribution of food”.
The blame game intensified towards the end of the week with The Manica Post (22/8) reporting that traditional leaders in Mutare had attacked NGOs for sidelining them and politicising food aid in favour of the MDC. But no evidence was provided to support this claim.

3. ‘Undenting’ Zimbabwe’s image

THE government-controlled media’s role as a public relations organ for the authorities was evident in the way it suppressed socio-political stories with the potential to further dent the public image of the ZANU PF government. As a result, their audiences remained uninformed on the extent to which government’s decisions - sometimes with the complicity of fellow African governments - have contributed to the deteriorating political situation in the country.

While the private media was not inhibited by such political leanings, their stories on the issue lacked a holistic approach, relying more on the events themselves rather than on the processes. For example, although The Daily News (20, 21/8) and The Zimbabwe Independent (22/8) blew the whistle on how African countries appear reluctant to act decisively to solve Zimbabwe’s political crisis, they failed to fully relate these events in the context of seemingly wider conspiracies to protect ZANU PF’s image at the expense of ordinary Zimbabweans.
At least The Zimbabwe Independent story, Commission blocks damning Zim report, noted that the refusal by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to release the report of its human rights probe into the country was meant to protect Mugabe’s image ahead of a Commonwealth Summit to be held in Nigeria in December. It also observed that previous reports on Zimbabwe’s poor human rights record by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch “have been rejected by African states who accuse the two of Western bias”.

The government-controlled Press, on the other hand, remained silent over these allegations. Eight of the nine stories it carried merely glossed over the deep political crisis in the country by trying to promote a sense of normality. So determined was the government Press to sell this idea to its readers that it carried four stories, The Herald (19, 20, 22/8), on how government and the MDC-dominated Harare City Council had resolved to work together. But nowhere in the reports were the councillors ever quoted confirming that the root of their disagreement with government had indeed been eradicated.

Besides papering over the uneasy political situation through propaganda disguised as news, the government-controlled Press also tried to stifle other voices that described different situations. The Herald (23/8) carried a personal tirade against Australian Prime Minister John Howard for calling Mugabe an “unelected despot”, while The Sunday Mail (24/8) appeared relieved that the Zimbabwe Medical Association (ZIMA) had refused to amend its constitution to incorporate a doctors’ human rights watchdog, the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR). ZADHR, which the paper accused of “having a political agenda to demonise the Zimbabwe government” and of being a creation of Britain “was allegedly formed to prepare a dossier meant to document false accusations of human rights abuses by the government …”
In fact, this was an echo of an earlier ZTV (20/8, 8pm) report on ZADHR. ZTV actually allocated 11 minutes and 25seconds, or 57 percent of its bulletin (excluding business, sport and weather) to the issue. It dismissed the doctors’ organisation as a “clique of doctors” including “some former white commercial farmers”, whose objective was to “dent the image of Zimbabwe” as it had a “political agenda against government. ” Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa was quoted alleging: “ It would appear that their intention is to raise funds from gullible donor communities outside the country who have been fed on propaganda that there are human rights abuses in this country…the human rights abuses do not exist.”

However, the private media continued to unearth evidence that exposed this fallacy. For example, Studio 7 (20/8) reported that, “ eight people have died this year in politically motivated violence,” adding that, “freedom of expression is virtually non-existent.” And the private Press carried 16 stories on the erosion of basic human rights and other related issues.
Even some ZANU PF MPs seemed fed up with the deteriorating situation. The Weekend Tribune (24/8) reported ZANU PF legislators Victor Chitongo and Charles Majange criticizing the country’s state of affairs during a parliamentary session. Chitongo reportedly took government to task over the introduction of travellers’ cheques, while Majange rebuked government against “adopting a confrontational attitude with Western countries” such as Britain and America.
The government media suffocated this although they covered the same parliamentary event.
Ends.

The MEDIA UPDATE was produced and circulated by the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, 15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4 703702, E-mail: monitors@mmpz.org.zw; monitors@mweb.co.zw

Feel free to write to MMPZ. We may not able to respond to everything but we will look at each message. For previous MMPZ reports, and more information about the Project, please visit our website at http://www.mmpz.org.zw

A British diplomat is scheduled to play cricket against the Zimbabwean
national team today just months after England controversially abandoned
their World Cup game there, it emerged last night.

The irony of a British government official playing against Zimbabwe in
Harare will not be lost on the England cricket team. The Government had said
at the time that any game would be seen as support for disgraced Zimbabwean
President, Robert Mugabe, and eventually the team refused to play.

At the time, the then International Development Secretary, Clare Short, said
playing matches in Zimbabwe would be seen as an endorsement of the
tyrannical regime. In December last year, Tony Blair backed calls for
England to boycott the cricket World Cup matches in Zimbabwe. A spokesman
for the Prime Minister said: "We feel it would be better if the England team
did not go, but this is a decision that can only be taken by the cricket
authorities."

In January, the Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, said after a meeting with
the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB): "This is not the Government's
decision. It's the ECB's decision, but we think it would be inappropriate to
play the game in Zimbabwe."

Five members of the British High Commission and the Department for
International Development were initially reported to be listed for the
charity match.

Butthe Foreign Office played down the British involvement in the game
yesterday, saying that just one player was a possible contender for a
charity team organised by the wife of the Pakistani High Commissioner.

The FO spokesman confirmed that the match in Harare today would be played
against the Zimbabwean national team, but stressed that if the man was
chosen, he would be playing in a private capacity and did not represent the
High Commission.

The spokesman refused to say whether the FO would use any pressure to ensure
the British man did not play.

Peter Tatchell, the gay rights campaigner who once attempted to arrest
Robert Mugabe on charges of torture, described the decision to play as
"odd".

Johannesburg - Hospitals in Africa are deteriorating with regards to both
their scope and quality of health care, according to a report scheduled for
discussion by the regional commission of the World Health Organisation on
Tuesday.

Hospitals continue to experience shortages of medical equipment, essential
medicines and consumables, says the report, which was compiled for the
five-day meeting in Johannesburg.

"In addition, negative attitudes, unprofessional behaviour and high turnover
of health care practitioners have compromised service provision.

"This has led to provision of care far below expected standards resulting in
client dissatisfaction, increasing mortality rates, hospital-acquired
infections and other side-effect conditions," the document says.

"In many countries, senior public officials and the rich members of society
demonstrate their lack of trust in public hospitals by seeking medical care
in private hospitals or outside the country."

The number of hospital beds is inadequate in many countries, and inequitably
distributed between rural and urban areas, with availability ranging from
0.9 to 2.9 beds per 1 000 people.

"Lack of national health infrastructure development planning and irrational
interference in the location of hospitals account for this situation."

Countries often invest in new sophisticated diagnostic health technologies
without considering the recurrent cost implications, the report states.

"Funding for hospitals presents a dilemma as they generally consume a
greater portion of ministry of health budgets (sometimes more than 70% of
the total).

"Absolute and relative inadequacy of human resources has also led to decline
in hospital performance."

The availability of health workers like physicians range from four to 56 per
100 000 of the population in different areas.

The number of people involved in pre-service or in-service training to
become health professionals has increased considerably, but the condition of
hospitals have declined drastically.

"The result is that hospitals do not undertake their training role
satisfactorily."

Although new health infrastructures have been developed, most countries
still have dilapidated structures - with beds, medical equipment and
vehicles often in disrepair.

"Some hospitals have inadequate water, sanitation and waste disposal
facilities and are therefore hazardous to both health workers and patients,"
the document states.

"Current funding from governments is far below the real needs of hospitals,
and this is made worse by unreliable government budgetary funds and the long
delay in providing such funds."

As a result, patients are required to make out-of-pocket payments, and there
are no exemption mechanisms to protect the poor.

Most hospitals have underdeveloped information systems and research
activities.

"In some cases clinical trials are carried out without adequate ethical
consideration or consent from the participants. Some hospitals are
participating in operational research activities but often do not plan and
budget for them."

In many instances the research is not relevant to the health concerns, and
national authorities do not co-ordinate research results for future policy
purposes, the report states.

It recommends that countries increase their funding for health, and
hospitals in particular.

"Countries should resist embarking on prestigious investment projects and
reflect more on the viability, usefulness, equity and sustainability of
investments."

Regarding staff, the report says: "Policy-makers should consider offering
flexible modes of practice such as allowing health workers in the public
sector to engage in part-time private practice, research or training, and
compensating health workers based on work done rather than fixed salaries."

It also calls for staff development programmes with particular focus on
compassionate behaviour towards patients.

Hospitals should have incentive and motivation systems and establish a
conducive working environment, the document recommends.