Dear Farmers,
LOSS CLAIM DOCUMENT URGENCY
At JAG's request a
proposal has been tabled with a consortium of
valuators. Farmers are
strongly advised, especially in the light of
on-farm pressure, to complete
the loss claim documents with the utmost
URGENCY. A team of JAG persons will
facilitate the imputing of the loss
claim document information onto a
database. The option for valuations by
JAG ($25,000.00), or a commercial
valuator option via the consortium, is
an individual farmer's perogative.
The commercial option involves
registration ($20,000.00) followed by a
quantitative assessment and
recording via another database questionnaire and
a farm visit ($30,000.00
total of $50,000.00). This will include storage on
their up and running
database, externalization and storage outside. Full
valuation and
representation in court later will be on a success fee
basis.
Please call at the JAG offices at 17 Phillips Avenue, Belgravia,
Harare to
collect a loss claim form if you have not already done so. You can
also
request a copy via email.
HIGH COURT SUCCESS
The
representative urgent action on behalf of 10 farmers on remand under
harsh
bail terms brought by Ray Passaportus in the High Court and funded
by CFU was
successful in the High Court on Monday afternoon. The written
hand down was
still not available yesterday, Tuesday afternoon. Delay
tactics? Those
affected farmers under similar harsh bail condition terms
are advised to act
collectively through a shared lawyer to represent them
in the applicable
magistrate's court to alter existing bail terms on bail
receipts to $5,000.00
- $10,000.00 bail, no bail conditions ie. can return
to farm unencumbered.
Those farmers must ensure they return to court on
the remand
date.
THE JAG TEAM
SITREP 12/09/02
Following the Ministry
of Agriculture deadline for many farmers nationwide
to vacate their farms by
12 noon on Sunday "regardless", a number of
arrests and several incidents
were observed throughout the country. The
main focus of these operations was
in Mashonaland Central, although there
are reports coming in from other
areas.
Karoi
Two farms were surrounded by the farm labour and
local war veterans, who
were demanding SI6 severance packages. In both cases,
no Section 8 had
been issued, so the farmers were under no obligation to
leave. On both
farms there were several armed men, some with automatic
shotguns, and one
man (Patrick Muponga, an ex-army colonel) with an FN
automatic rifle. On
Renroc farm (owned by Ian Cochran), stones were thrown
and several shots
were fired as Ian attempted to force his way through from
one house on the
homestead to the main house. Ian was also armed, and fired
warning shots
in response. Nobody was injured in this incident. Several
farmers who
attempted to make their way onto the farm to rescue the family
were also
fired upon, and a bullet passed through the windscreen of one
vehicle.
On the neighbouring farm, the household remained in the
homestead, and
over the period of the afternoon, eleven shotgun blasts were
fired at the
house. Again, nobody was injured in this process. In both
cases, the
Karoi police was exceedingly slow to react, at first refusing to
go to the
farms, and then eventually appearing some two to three hours after
the
initial request was made.
On the farm of Chris Shepherd, a Karoi
pig farmer, the settlers put the
pigs out of the sties on Tuesday. The pigs
were locked out of the sties,
and were not fed or watered for the full day.
The following day, when the
first few pigs started dying, the farm labour
stepped in. They asserted
that the settlers' actions were violating the
welfare of the labourers,
and returned the pigs to their sties, despite
threats to their persons
from the settlers. Chris Shepherd has no Section 8,
and intends to keep
farming.
Centenary
8 farmers were arrested
on Monday evening by the ZRP, and held overnight
on charges of contravening
the terms of their Section 8. The arrested
farmers include Guy Dollar, Rob
Masterson, Neil McTavish, Bertie Palmer,
Rob Webb and Viv Steyn. They were
brought to court on Tuesday afternoon
(10/09/02), and were all released on
bail. The bail conditions allowed
them back onto the farms, and they have all
since returned.
Concession
Six farmers were arrested and taken to
Concession Police station by the
local ZRP, supposedly for contravening their
Section 8 orders. The farmers
included Dave and Pat Wakefield, Ian and Jan
King, Frank Miller and
Anthony Staunton. In all cases they had either not
received a Section 8,
or had legally challenged the order and had it
overturned in
Administrative Court, and hence could not be in violation of
such an
order. They were held for a short while at the police station, and
then
released in the evening with no
charges.
_______________________________________________
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Agriculture mailing list
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News24
Family under fire, horse burnt
Harare - President Robert
Mugabe's militias in northern Zimbabwe have
stepped up their attempts to
drive a white farmer off his land, opening fire
on the family for the second
day in a row and apparently burning a horse to
death, say
neighbours.
The horse apparently was trapped in its stable on the
Karoi-district farm,
about 200km north of Harare. Neighbours said the animal
had 90% burns and
had to be destroyed.
Earlier in the afternoon, Ian
Cochrane (43) and his wife, Jo, fled when they
were confronted by about 60
people. Up to 30 shots were fired, first in the
air and then at them, by
eight men armed with shotguns, said neighbour Alan
Parsons. The couple were
not injured.
The use of firearms by war veterans and squatters against
white farmers has
been relatively uncommon since the illegal state-driven
invasion of white
land began in February 2000.
However, several of the
13 white farmers murdered since then have died from
gunfire, some of them in
military-style assaults or ambushes by armed
"veterans" and members of
Mugabe's secret police.
Mugabe claims that whites continue to own most of
the arable land, and has
implemented forced evictions of white farmers from
about 3 000 properties
and turned the land over to landless
peasants.
Outspoken member of community
Hundreds of thousands of
workers employed by the farmers, however, have been
displaced and many
Zimbabweans are starving because of lagging
food
production.
Cochrane's farm has not been listed for takeover, but
he is regarded as an
outspoken member of his community who has confronted
police and demanded
they act against lawless ruling-party
militias.
The recent attacks are regarded as a bid to force him to
flee.
Parsons said the crowd also surrounded the home of Cochrane's
mother, Thea
(67), screaming at her, while some of them forced their way into
a cottage
belonging to Cochrane's sister, and looted it.
Armed police
arrived after the crowd had left, but refused to leave an armed
guard to
protect the family, including Cochrane's two young children. No
attempt was
made to chase after the crowd.
On Tuesday, Cochrane had to fire into the
air and into the ground to keep
the crowd from storming his
homestead.
Burnt horse was stumbling about
"I don't believe they
will stop until they have removed ...Ian Cochrane,"
said Parsons. "If what
happened in the past two days is anything to go by, I
don't believe they will
stop at anything."
Parsons said the burnt horse was discovered by
Cochrane after the crowd had
left.
"When we found it, it was still in
the stable, stumbling all over the place,
in great anxiety. It had 90% burns,
its back was completely burnt, its eyes
were burnt, the back of its legs were
burnt.
"We had to destroy it," he said.
He said it was apparent
that some of the crowd had carried bales of hay into
the stable and set light
to them there. "It was deliberate. Those burns
could only have come from
throwing burning straw at it," said Parsons. -
Sapa-DPA
BBC
Thursday, 12
September, 2002, 13:22 GMT 14:22 UK
Zimbabwe to speed up farmer evictions
White farmers have had two years of intense
pressure
The Zimbabwe Government plans to change the law, making it
easier and quicker to evict white farmers, state media has reported.
The new legislation would be introduced soon, according to the Herald
newspaper, widely seen as a government mouthpiece.
Zimbabwe's land reform
- 1890-1980: Black peasants were moved to less fertile areas during the
colonial era
- 2000: 4,000 whites own 70% of prime land
- March 2000: 'War veterans' occupy white-owned farms
- 2000-2002: Several white farmers and black workers killed during
violence
- 9 August 2002: 3,000 white farmers ordered to leave their homes
- September 2002: 2,500 farmers defy evictions
This follows the refusal of many white farmers to comply with a
government deadline to leave their farms by 9 August.
Many have filed legal challenges and the High Court has ruled that many
eviction orders were invalid because the government had failed to notify banks,
to which many farms are mortgaged.
Fines for not complying with eviction orders will be increased from 20,000
Zimbabwe dollars to 100,000 Z$ ($1,800), the Herald says.
The paper also quoted Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa as saying that he
will be trying to reduce the time farmers have to leave their farms from 90 to
five days after they are served with an eviction order.
Some 2,900 of Zimbabwe's 4,000 white farmers were told to leave their land
last month.
But lobby group Justice for Agriculture (Jag) says that 2,500 have remained.
Some 300 of them have been arrested by the police, according to Reuters news
agency.
Frustrated
Correspondents say the government is frustrated by its inability to legally
take possession of white-owned farms.
President Robert Mugabe has promised his supporters that his "land
revolution" would be completed by the end of last month.
Up to half the population needs food
aid
When speaking to international audiences, Mr Mugabe says that white farmers
will be allowed to keep one farm each.
But many farmers say they only own one property and this has been earmarked
for seizure.
When addressing his supporters, Mr Mugabe says that 95% of white-owned land
will be taken and given to blacks.
The United States and Britain say that some of the land which has been seized
has been given to Mr Mugabe's political associates and military leaders, instead
of the landless blacks he has promised to help.
Zimbabwe is currently facing a severe food crisis, with up to six million
people - half the population needing aid.
Aid agencies and Mr Mugabe critics say this has been worsened by the
disruption to agriculture caused by his land reform programme.
He denies this, saying that 70% of food crops are grown by black farmers and
that poor rains caused the failed harvests.
ZIMBABWE: Malnutrition worsening
JOHANNESBURG, 12 September (IRIN) -
Malnutrition rates are increasing at an alarming rate in Zimbabwe, the UN
Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday.
"All the assessments show that
it is actually getting worse, as we move away from the harvest season towards
the new planting season ... things have got worse," UNICEF Representative in
Harare, Festo Kavishe, told IRIN.
Figures from a joint assessment
conducted in August by the Zimbabwe National Vulnerability Assessment Committee,
the World Food Programme, and UNICEF showed that wasting rates have increased
from 6.4 percent to 7.1 percent, underweight rates from 20.4 percent to 24.4
percent, while stunting rose from 33 percent to 43.2 percent.
UNICEF was
set to provide vital nutritional support for 129,000 young children and women
who are pregnant or breast-feeding in Zimbabwe. A convoy of trucks recently
brought in 360 mt of UNIMIX, a supplementary food for children, from South
Africa.
Kavishe said the UNIMIX could be used to make a porridge and was
"mainly composed of soya and maize fortified with several micronutrients, which
includes multi-vitamins and minerals," to provide a nutritional boost to
recipients.
"The consignment is the first in a number of procurements
which will eventually bring the total to 1,200 mt. The funding for the US
$700,000 programme has been provided by UNICEF and ECHO [European Commission -
Humanitarian Aid Office]," UNICEF said in a statement.
Zimbabwe has the
highest number of people at risk from a humanitarian crisis that affects six
countries in Southern Africa. An estimated six million Zimbabweans need aid as a
result of severe food shortages, poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
"The
supplementary feeding programme is due to start on Monday 16 [September] and
will target five districts in the north east of the country. It is expected to
last three months. UNICEF will closely monitor and evaluate its feeding
programme together with other UN agencies, donors, government counterparts and
NGOs," the agency said.
Community health workers were being trained to
make the UNIMIX porridge, which is given as part of a planned nutritional
programme to children under five and women who are in particular need of dietary
supplements.
"The workers will be educated on the need to use safe water
sources and to keep accurate weight records of beneficiaries," UNICEF
noted.
"We are seeing a frightening and rapid deterioration in the
condition of many children. We are trying to provide a timely and relevant
response to save children from severe damage if not death," Kavishe said.
UNICEF has appealed for more than US $26 million to assist emergency
programmes in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho and
Swaziland.
In July, the agency appealed for US $8 million for Zimbabwe.
So far, it has received just US $1.2 million, Kavishe said.
"We've
requested close to US $4.5 million for nutrition [programmes] alone and received
about US $900,000 so far," he added.
[ENDS]
IRIN-SA
Tel: +27
11 880-4633
Fax: +27 11 447-5472
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za
IOL
New laws to aid Mugabe's land grab
September 12 2002
at 11:17AM
Harare - President Robert Mugabe's government is to
rush new laws through
Zimbabwe's Parliament that will make it easier to seize
white-owned land.
It would increase the penalty for farmers who disobeyed
eviction orders, the
country's state press reported on Thursday.
The
Herald said Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa notified Parliament
on
Wednesday that he would introduce a bill that would remove
legal
requirements that had slowed down the process of land
seizures.
A drive last month to force over 3 000 farmers off their
property was only
partially successful because state officials bungled the
orders and were
overturned by the courts.
Most of the 3 000
eviction orders issued last month were nullified
Last week Chinamasa admitted
there had "not been full compliance" with the
issue of 90-day eviction
orders. However, he warned that "no farmer should
take any comfort from
failure or oversight by government officials" because
he would introduce laws
that remove the legal protection for property
owners.
The Herald said
Chinamasa gave notice he would ask Parliament to lift legal
requirements to
allow his proposed amendments be discussed first by
ministerial committees
and by his legal committee.
The current law obliges the government to
reissue eviction orders which give
the farmers affected another 90 days in
which to wind up their affairs.
The new law would give the farmer with a
reissued order only five days, the
Herald said.
Most of the 3 000
eviction orders issued last month were nullified by a high
court order which
ruled that they had to be served on both the owner and any
financial
institution holding a bond on the property at the same time.
In terms of
Chinamasa's proposed amendments, the government would be able to
serve them
on the financial institution at any time.
The current law said the
government had to prove in court that the land it
wanted to seize was
"suitable for agricultural resettlement". The amendments
would do away with
the clause.
The amendments would also increase the fine for
non-compliance with an
eviction order from ZIM$20 000 (about R2&nspb;200)
to ZIM$100 000 (about R11
000).
The government has said it intends
seizing 11-million hectares of land and
claims it would leave the commercial
farming sector of 4 500 families with
200 000 hectares. - Sapa
Scammers Latch Onto Zimbabwe Misery
ITWeb
(Johannesburg)
September 12, 2002
Posted to the web September 12,
2002
Alastair Otter, Itweb Journalist
Johannesburg
With police
hot on the trail of Nigerian 419 scammers, fraudsters are
changing tack. A
new scam e-mail claims to be from the secretary of the
Commercial Farmers'
Union (CFU) of Zimbabwe looking to "redistribute" $46
million that has been
saved from "black looters".
In the e-mail, someone identifying himself as
CFU secretary Max Crawford,
writes that the CFU's Harare head office was
attacked and burnt down.
Fortunately, however, the $46 million cash
stockpiled in the strongroom was
saved by the CFU secretariat who took the
liberty of storing the money on
the union's property rather than risk it
being seized by the government if
it was deposited into a bank
account.
Now Crawford claims to be looking for "a viable business
venture" in Europe.
"Once I can get your commitment and sincerity of
investing this fund on our
behalf then I would proceed to get the funds
freighted to Europe, where you
would be required to pick it up for investment
for us," he writes.
Typical of the 419 scam, the letter assures that the
process is 100% legal
and risk-free. It promises that those who assist with
the transfer of funds
will be "adequately compensated".
But Crawford
warns that all correspondence will have to be via e-mail "as
most phone lines
of white farmers are bugged by the government". To reply,
however, victims
are requested to mail not Crawford himself, but rather
William Hamilton ESQ,
who has two e-mail addresses, one at eircom.net and
one at
lycos.com.
"I expect 100% confidentiality and your prompt response to
this mail so as
to proceed," concludes Crawford
Digital Freedom Network Hosts Online Meeting with Andrew Meldrum
The
Guardian Journalist Jailed Earlier This Year Will Discuss Press
Conditions
in Zimbabwe
When: Thursday, September 19, 2002 from 1:00 to 2:00 PM New
York Time
(5:00 - 6:00 PM GMT)
Where: On Digital Freedom Network's
(DFN) Web site,
http://dfn.org/chat
Andrew Meldrum,
Zimbabwe correspondent for the British daily the
Guardian, will share his
thoughts on the country's current social and
political climate under
President Robert Mugabe in an online
interview with DFN.
In May, Mr.
Meldrum was arrested for publishing a "falsehood" in the
Guardian and
charged under the Access to Information and Privacy Act.
Mr. Meldrum, who
has spent the past 22 years in Zimbabwe and also
acts as chairman of the
Foreign Correspondents' Association, was
acquitted in July, but was
immediately ordered to leave the country.
The orders were subsequently
rescinded by the High Court in Harare.
In January, the Zimbabwean
Parliament passed the Access to
Information and Privacy Bill. The law
imposes numerous restrictions
on the media and was considered
unconstitutional by some members of
Mugabe's own party. Since this time,
examples of foreign journalists
who have been prosecuted and harassed
continue to proliferate. Most
recently, Agence France Presse (AFP) foreign
correspondent Griffin
Shea was denied a work permit on September 7 and now
plans to leave
Zimbabwe for Johannesburg, South Africa.
The online
interview will take place in DFN's chat room. No
registration is required
and anyone may attend the moderated forum,
which will be conducted in
English, to ask questions.
For those unable to attend the chat, questions
for Mr. Meldrum can be
sent to DFN using our Web form at http://dfn.org/chat/info/ask-
meldrum.htm.
The
online meeting will be accessible to anyone running a Java-
enabled Web
browser or an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client
application.
# #
#
The Digital Freedom Network (DFN) is an international organization
that develops and promotes the use of Internet technology for human
rights activism. DFN designs online campaigns, makes technical
information more readily available to activists, and provides an
online
voice to those prohibited from expressing themselves. DFN's
web site is http://dfn.org.
FinGaz
To hell with populist politics
Sydney
Masamvu
9/12/02 1:33:37 AM (GMT +2)
LAST Friday afternoon,
I was in Mutare. I passed through Dangamvura
shopping mall on the way to my
rural home. The purpose of my stopover at the
shopping centre was to grab a
few groceries for my parents.
The challenge was to see whether I
would manage to get bread, cooking
oil, mealie- meal and salt. Unfortunately
I could not find any of these
essential commodities. There was no sign of
them on any supermarket shelf.
As I was milling around in the
shopping centre, a lorry stacked with
10-kilogramme bags of mealie meal,
which were to be delivered to a local
supermarket, came into
sight.
Pandemonium broke out in Dangamvura township, with women of
all
shapes, sizes and age running out of their homes to queue for the
staple
meal.
It was a heart-rending and saddening experience to
see women urging
their young children to run fast and queue while they
followed behind, also
running. In short, people were running for dear
life.
I was face to face with starvation.
Just 20
minutes before I reached the shopping centre, I had visited my
uncle in
Dangamvura township. Upon my arrival, I bumped into a neighbour of
my uncle's
who was begging for a portion of mealie meal so that he could
prepare a meal
for the evening.
So you can imagine the kind of desperation on the
faces and in the
hearts of the people who had been galvanised into action by
the sight of the
mealie meal delivery lorry.
Thousands of people
thronged the supermarket in an attempt to grab
just one bag of mealie meal.
Some were shouting that they would make do with
any type and amount of mealie
meal as long as it was available.
The situation is even more
critical in outlying areas, including my
own rural home area, where people
are sometimes forced to sleep on empty
stomachs, save for a plain cup of
tea.
With a crisis of this magnitude developing in Mutare,
Agriculture
Minister Joseph Made recently had the gall to tell the world that
Zimbabwe
was not going to accept genetically modified (GMO)) food aid, most
of which
is being donated by the United States of America.
He
said during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg: "
Zimbabwe will not accept genetically modified food
aid...There is nothing to
discuss with (US officials)...You cannot use the
Zimbabwe population as
guinea pigs.
"You cannot talk of the morality of the America
position. They always
carry double standards when it comes to the developing
world...There is no
way we can bring that material into Zimbabwe, which is a
very clean
environment."
When Made was saying this, obviously
with the concurrence of Mugabe,
people in Mutare, like millions of others in
many areas of Zimbabwe, were
having to make do without mealie
meal.
Mugabe and Made should know that they can politic only up to
a point.
You cannot play politics with people's lives and reject food because
it is
coming from America just because you hate that country and its
leadership.
That is an intolerable act. In any country, starving
people would
dismiss a leader who puts power before politics.
This is about life, Mr President. Stop the circus. Let us not see
politics
where there is no politics. Let us see starvation for what it is
and get food
aid to save the starving people of Zimbabwe.
To hell with populist
politicians when people are starving to death.
To hell with populist politics
when people are on a daily basis failing to
gather the raw materials to eke
out even a simple meal.
To hell with populist leaders when children
have to abandon their
playing to queue for mealie meal.
The
problem with ZANU PF politicians is that when they reach oratory
orgasm at
international conferences, they tend to overlook the real needs
and suffering
of the common man in Zimbabwe and concentrate on politicking.
That
was the problem with Made's statement.
Barely two days after the
end of the Earth Summit, we were told with
the approval of Mugabe that GMO
maize would now be allowed into the country
after all.
I wonder
what had changed in 48 hours to warrant this dramatic U-turn.
What
happened to all that stern talk about not allowing Zimbabweans to
be used as
guinea pigs by the Americans?
Indeed, we may ask what has happened
to the contempt for the double
standards of America?
What has
happened to the need to protect Zimbabwe's clean environment
at the expense
of starving people?
Mr President, starving Zimbabweans want food
aid, whether it comes
from Bush or the "gay gangster" Blair.
The
sooner you appreciate that, the better for your continued stay in
the power
that you cherish so much.
In the meantime, to hell with your
populist politics when people are
starving to death.
FinGaz
Comment
Which way now Bob's
country?
9/12/02 2:16:10 AM (GMT +2)
AT the stroke
of a pen, President Robert Mugabe last week dramatically
made an about-turn
on his government's refusal to accept genetically
modified (GMO) maize
donated by the United States.
No doubt his decision will be
welcomed by millions of Zimbabweans who,
in the words of visiting United
Nations' special envoy James Morris, have
had to eat tree roots and donkey
meat to survive in the face of the
country's worst famine.
Mugabe's decision, made only days after Agriculture Minister Joseph
Made
banned the importation of GMO maize because he claimed it would
turn
Zimbabweans into guinea pigs for US farm experiments, shows at least
three
important things.
First, it shows that Mugabe runs the
government solo, deciding solely
on his own what has to be done, when, how
and by whom, clearly making his
large Cabinet irrelevant.
Second, the U-turn underlines the confusion that runs through the
bloated
administration, with ministers such as Made merely echoing their
master's
real or imagined voice on crucial issues that affect the country.
At times the puppets second-guess him only to find that he has
retreated,
leaving them in the proverbial lurch, as the GMO maize case
graphically
illustrates.
Third, it shows that for all his inimical actions
which have brought
Zimbabwe to its bended knees, Mugabe can indeed swallow
his pride and climb
down from his high pedestal when confronted by painful
reality.
The main lesson emanating from this episode is that Mugabe
still has
the capacity to right the wrongs which he has singularly brought on
Zimbabwe
just to remain in power.
Although time is running out
for him to act in the same way he has
backtracked now, we urge him
to:
a.. stop his violent land reforms which will only
worsen Zimbabwe's
famine and kill agriculture, the locomotive of an already
distressed
economy, and to start anew a properly planned, legal, transparent,
fair and
broad-based agrarian reform;
b.. stop the
senseless mass evictions of farmers in the middle of a
new farming season
that could be more crucial than most given the impending
El Nino. Zimbabwe
needs to harness the expertise and farm produce of these
veterans of the land
for the national good;
c.. stop his militant mobs of
so-called war veterans from
persecuting real or perceived opposition
supporters;
d.. disband the hated militia also wreaking havoc
on innocents
across the nation;
e.. stage fresh
presidential elections under international
supervision and a new and
democratic constitution to guarantee durable
peace, stability and prosperity
of Zimbabwe; and
f.. embrace workable economic reforms which
are supported by the
international community not only to pull the economy
back from total
collapse but to free the entrepreneurial spirit of all who
live and work in
Zimbabwe.
The catalogue of what Mugabe
needs to right is too long, but he can
make a fresh though late start by
vigorously tackling these key issues which
have hobbled his presidency and,
unfortunately, the country itself.
Although he warned farmers the
other week that they were running out
of time to give up their properties,
the truth is that it is him who is
running out of time to willingly correct
his many wrongs which have ruined
one of Africa's most promising
countries.
He either does this in the mould of his rare boldness
shown in the GMO
fiasco or he prepares to go immediately because Zimbabweans
have had enough.
FinGaz
Has our judgment become this bad or we've become this
irresponsible?
Masipula Sithole
9/12/02 1:32:16 AM (GMT
+2)
IT is now 12 months since the most devastating drought to hit
this
country in living memory was announced by the scientific community while
our
government was in denial.
Until about February 2002, the
minister responsible for feeding this
nation, Joseph Made, was falsely
assuring us no one would starve. At one
point the minister even took a joy
ride over what he thought were maize
fields in order to visually allay our
fears of starvation. He was vividly
shown doing this in the national
media.
We continued this self-deceit until the starvation hitting
the
countryside was hard to conceal. It was then that we ended the
self-denial
and admitted a substantial number of our people (half the
population) were
starving.
But in admitting that we were
experiencing a drought we found comfort
in the fact that the whole of the
southern Africa region - not just
Zimbabwe - was experiencing the devastating
drought.
Misery loves company, they say. So, it wasn't Zimbabwe
alone, as if
that should console us.
In May or thereabout, the
Americans offered us genetically altered
grain to feed our starving people.
Our characteristic impulse was to reject
the offer while some in the region
accepted it. As late as at the Earth
Summit in Johannesburg our flamboyant
and well-fed minister of agriculture
was adamant in his refusal of
genetically altered grain from the United
States.
Then a few
days ago, President Robert Mugabe, after meeting James
Morris, United Nations
special envoy for humanitarian aid in southern
Africa, announced that the
government would now accept the genetically
modified grain. This was five
long months after the offer was first made.
One wonders how many
people would have been saved from starvation had
the grain been accepted in
May when the offer was originally made. What did
Morris say to the President
that finally convinced him (Mugabe) that he
didn't already know?
Did it have to take a foreigner, Morris, to finally convince us that
we are
in a sorry state; that our own people here are starving?
Or that is
not the point. The point is that we have fallen victim to
bad judgment, or
indeed we our leaders have become highly irresponsible.
This is not
the only issue that our impaired judgment should be of
concern. There is the
issue of our artificially overvalued dollar that
remains at Z$55 to the
United States unit.
Common sense has persistently told us to
devalue our dollar. But we
pig-headedly refuse even as we know full well that
some day we will be
forced by circumstances to devalue, like we have been
forced by
circumstances to accept the genetically altered grain.
But by then we would be worse off than we would have been had we
devalued the
dollar at the time we should have - that is before even Simba
Makoni told us
to.
Most of our injuries are self-inflicted. Even the lone fight
against
the international community we are presently engaged in. Common sense
tells
us we will lose this war, but we soldier on as if there is a prize
for
insanity.
We know only too well that for us there is no
alternative to the
Bretton Woods institutions if we hope to get our economy
moving again. Yet
we excite ourselves with phrases and slogans like "ESAP is
dead" when it is
us who are dying.
We are busy going east when
we know full well that this journey will
lead us west because the east itself
is going west. The shorter way to the
west from where we are is going
directly west. Why are we doing the
ridiculous?
Now there is
this reluctance to embrace the New Partnership for
Africa's Development when
others are embracing it until the law of common
sense forces us
to.
The question that arises is: why do we take so long to
respond
correctly to common sense? Put differently: why are we so resistant
to
common sense?
Now we are driving the people to the wall where
their only escape is
revolt. This too the law of common sense teaches us.
But, for some silly
reason, we think the people will not revolt.
Has our judgment become this bad or have we become this irresponsible?
I
think both.
a.. Professor Masipula Sithole is a lecturer
of political science at
the University of Zimbabwe and director of the
Harare-based Mass Public
Opinion.
FinGaz
Lack of mavericks in ZANU PF tragic for Zim
Marko Phiri
9/12/02 1:30:58 AM (GMT +2)
THE tragedy that
has befallen Zimbabwe as the economic and political
crisis marches on without
any signs of fatigue is one that could be
attributed to a phenomenon that has
marked how business is conducted here
and elsewhere in Africa.
It is very simple really for ruling party parliamentarians and its
foot
soldiers from the women's league to the youth militias - all they have
to do
to prove their allegiance is echo the sentiments of their
president.
Never mind that it is the kind of behaviour that would
have them
twisting the ears of their own toddler sons and
daughters.
Those who question the wisdom of the party's "elect"
only prove
nothing but that they support the opposition, and by natural
consequence
fall out of favour with the rest of the faithfuls.
Silence has thus not only emerged from the ranks of the ordinary
people but
effectively from those taking part in the gladiatorial politics
where all
calls for reason appear to be numbed as soon as one decides they
are
to
become ruling party activists.
But for them it is not
silence because they fear reprisals, but
silence because they firmly believe
there is nothing to complain about.
There has not been much
criticism of government policies from within
the ranks as all party "cadres"
are expected to endorse party policies,
never mind that they defy all what
these individuals in the privacy of their
thoughts stand for or believe
in.
Simply, ruling party officials are not divided for
example along left or right wing such that it depicts
a true picture of
democracy at play unlike a situation like that in
Zimbabwe were all
supposedly think alike as if they were programmed
automatons.
Thus one has to imagine for example what would become of American
politics if
all Democrats were to think alike, and the same for Republicans.
In
Zimbabwe, ZANU PF officials and party supporters are all
dyed-in-wool
leftwingers. For those politicians who made it into parliament
through a ZANU
PF ticket what it has meant is that they fulfil the party
manifestos - no
matter how far removed from the ordinary people's reality,
they are simply
endorsed without question.
The fate of those officials who decided
to make some noise and
criticise "their" party has been all too predictable
since the party came
into power in 1980.
"Mavericks" who
attempted to be "outspoken" lost favour with the party
gurus and as per
tradition were overlooked in appointments to higher
offices.
Edgar "Twoboy" Tekere knows it. He was expelled from Cabinet back in
the
1980s for daring to question the prime minister and standing up to
bad
governance.
Some simply disappeared from the political arena
after their attempts
to bring sanity where it appeared to be deliberately
hounded out of their
collective psyche were met with resistance.
Others even left this earth under circumstances which many observers
firmly
believed where not the doings of the hand of God.
Perhaps what has
made Zimbabwe go down to this depth is precisely the
absence of men and women
within the ruling party who could have stood up to
the party's
flawed economic policies and Robert Mugabe's dictatorial streak and
told the
party's gurus that history was not going to judge them kindly.
It
is a downright farce that amid a clique of men and women who when
addressed
always have their names prefixed by some title of learning, all
can be found
without having the slightest disapproval of the turn the
country took when
the mayhem in the farms began some three years ago.
Yet because
African politics has since the
coming of independence been guided by
the indefatigable spirit of
feathering one's nest, criticising one's source
of that kind of life has
never been the
smartest thing one could
do.
But for Zimbabwe's post-independence politics, and especially
after
the merger of the country's two main
political parties,
PF-ZAPU and ZANU PF, with the signing of the Unity
Accord in 1987, there
emerged some independent thinkers who became the
ruling party's
gadflies.
But theirs remained a lonely fight considering the odds.
They
attempted to make the merged party accountable and became champions of
good
governance.
The leading light was no doubt the late
Sydney
Malunga, then Member of Parliament for Makokoba.
He
was ex-ZAPU and had in the 1980s gone through the ZANU PF torture
machine on
allegations that he and other Zapu officials where funding the
activities of
dissidents who had inspired the wrath of the Fifth Brigade
killings in
Matebeleland.
Here was a man who many believed to be some kind of
daredevil, a mere
backbencher but who made his presence felt both in
parliament and therefore
in the ruling party itself.
When he
died in a road accident in August 1994, not many, especially
from
Matabeleland, were too eager to accept that his death had not been via
human
agency.
The country had lost one who could stand up to the party
from within
its ranks. He was presumably the most outspoken MP against the
status quo
the country ever had. And him coming from Matabeleland could as
well have
made him unpopular within the party as it could be said he was
still ZAPU at
heart.
But who could blame him when the story
since independence has been one
of deliberate marginalisation of Matabeleland
by central government on
issues of development.
For him to have
harboured those loyalties to the "swallowed" ZAPU
therefore meant deliberate
efforts to put the region back into the agenda of
national development. But
still that could have been an unfair analysis
given that as MP, he was
obligated to push the cause of his constituency and
if that meant bringing
the question of the region's push to the periphery of
government priorities,
that link then
became inevitable.
He was a man who stood
up to bullies. The Daily Gazette of September 6
1994 quoted James Chikerema
commenting on the death Malunga: "He was a
fearless speaker who spoke without
fear of consequence or reaction from the
party (ZANU
PF). It is for
this reason that he was just an MP and
not a Cabinet member or even a
deputy minister."
In an obituary in the Financial Gazette of
September 1 1994, Jonathan
Moyo asked: "Why for example was Malunga
not
made a Cabinet minister? Was it because he was too
honest
to be part of the gang? In any event, the
choice of Cabinet ministers
is the prerogative of the president."
Not much has changed since
then.
Then of course there was firebrand Margaret Dongo who took
abuse from
some of her male parliamentary colleagues simply because she was a
woman and
who spoke out against bad government policies.
Seeing
that she was not getting anywhere working from within, she
formed her own
political party - the Zimbabwe Union of Democrats - and thus
sealed her
political fate.
She stood for election in the June 2000 legislative
elections, but
unfortunately for her that was the year of the Movement for
Democratic
Change. She lost her Harare East seat and it is very unlikely she
was going
to win it had she contested under the banner of the ZANU PF
considering the
strength of the MDC in urban constituencies across the
country.
Parliament had again lost one of the truly valiant
daughters who could
stand up to bad governance.
From the two
sides of the gender spectrum, one could readily cite
these two, Malunga and
Dongo, among the few politicians who belonged to the
ruling party but could
pass for independent MPs by their stance for
accountable
governance.
While Western democracy has been known for ruling
parties that are
home to men and women who could pass for opposition
officials, it has bred
an atmosphere that encourages accountability and
dictates that the president
does not act on his whims on the sole strength
that his suicidal thoughts
will in fact become official government policy
which party representatives
in the house will not dare bring to
question.
The absence of that kind of politics is
presently
being painfully felt in Zimbabwe.
Another person
worthy of mention is Lazarus Nzarayebani, one time
Mutare South MP who died
in March last year.
He was one, alongside Dzikamayi Mavhaire
(famous for telling Robert
Mugabe it was time to take a bow) who made
attempts to make parliament
lively through questioning policies formulated by
the party.
Nzarayebani's contribution was perhaps aptly summarised
by former ZANU
PF parliamentary chief whip Moses Mvenge who commented on the
ex-MP's death:
"He was among the first group of parliamentarians to be vocal
in Parliament.
He openly tried to tell President Mugabe that the country was
taking a wrong
political and economic direction."
The country
could use his talents today.
a.. Marko Phiri is a student of
journalism
FinGaz
Zimbabwe faces IMF expulsion
By Joseph Ngwawi
Business News Editor
9/12/02 2:04:11 AM (GMT +2)
ZIMBABWE
risks having its voting and other rights withdrawn by the
International
Monetary Fund (IMF) which this week was expected to deliberate
on the fate of
the southern African country, already cut off from receiving
any technical
aid from the Bretton Woods institution over Harare's failure
to settle
overdue financial obligations.
The IMF executive board was
scheduled to meet in Washington yesterday
to discuss Zimbabwe as the
September 13 deadline approached for Harare to
satisfy conditions imposed on
June 13 when the IMF suspended technical aid
to the country.
"The next board meeting is scheduled for tomorrow at which Zimbabwe
will be
discussed," IMF resident representative to Zimbabwe Gilbert Johnson
told the
Financial Gazette on Tuesday.
The IMF operates on the basis of
quotas, which are awarded to members
based on each country's economic
significance.
The quotas also reflect the amount of money a member
can borrow from
the Fund and determine a country's voting rights, with the
United States
allowed to access more IMF resources than any other
country.
Zimbabwe's quota is about 353.4 special drawing rights
(SDRs), which
translates to 3 784 votes or 0.17 percent of the total number
of votes.
Withdrawal of voting rights means Zimbabwe would not be
able to vote
on key decisions relating to IMF business.
The IMF
board adopted a declaration of non-cooperation on June 13
regarding
Zimbabwe's overdue financial obligations to the Fund and suspended
the
provision of technical assistance to the country.
The declaration
is one of the remedial measures taken by the Bretton
Woods institution to
encourage member countries to pursue economic policies
that would enable them
to settle their overdue commitments.
Latest figures from the IMF
show that Zimbabwe's arrears at the Fund
have ballooned from about US$132
million on June 12 to more than US$135
million at the end of
July.
Zimbabwe first incurred arrears to the IMF in February 2001
and the
country was declared ineligible to use IMF general resources on
September 24
2001.
It was also removed from the list of
countries eligible to borrow
under the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth
Facility.
At the time of the suspension of technical aid, the IMF
told the
government to make full and prompt settlement of its overdue
financial
commitments, giving it three months to do this or risk having its
voting
rights withdrawn.
The IMF executive board also ordered
Zimbabwe to adopt an economic
adjustment programme to enable it to restore
economic and financial
stability.
Analysts this week warned that
Zimbabwe's virtual expulsion from the
IMF would effectively condemn Harare to
the doldrums in the face of acute
shortages of foreign currency to buy fuel
and import essential raw
materials.
"It looks like we have run
out of time to make good our position at
the IMF, particularly at a time we
desperately need assistance to stabilise
the situation on the forex market,"
independent economist John Robertson
said.
A commercial bank
economist said: "I don't think we have been paying
our dues to the IMF,
especially when we are struggling to purchase fuel and
other essential
imports."
Zimbabwe has experienced intermittent fuel shortages
since 1999, which
are blamed on the shortage of hard cash to pay for
supplies.
President Robert Mugabe was in Libya this week to
negotiate the
extension of a US$360 million fuel deal with Tripoli, which
expires next
month. State radio said the deal had been extended for another
year, but
gave no details.
The analysts said Zimbabwe's chances
of receiving favourable treatment
at the IMF's board meeting had been
scuttled by Mugabe's dismissal of Simba
Makoni as finance minister last
month.
Makoni, Zimbabwe's finance minister for the past two years
and was
seen as the only remaining pragmatist in a Cabinet of
anti-Western
hardliners, was replaced by his predecessor, Herbert
Murerwa.
The analysts said Makoni's sacking showed that Mugabe had
effectively
turned his back on economic reforms and wanted to concentrate on
socialist
policies, which have brought the economy to its knees.
FinGaz
The interview you never heard
Gwinyai
Dziwa
9/12/02 1:02:52 AM (GMT +2)
MICHIGAN-Gwinyai the
journalist interviewed Gwinyai Dziwa the
socio-political analyst recently in
Michigan about the situation in
Zimbabwe. Here are excerpts of the one-hour
interview.
Gwinyai the journalist (GJ): Thank you for allowing us
to talk to you
one on one. It took us three years to get this interview. We
were always
told that you are very busy. Now we hope you are going to shed
light on a
number of issues in your life as a writer and the Zimbabwean
situation.
Gwinyai Dziwa the analyst (GA): Thanks for inviting me
for an
interview.
GJ: How did you become a writer?
GA: Well it developed naturally. I had the desire to express certain
things
that I noticed.
GJ: What's your philosophy in life
really?
GA: Well, my guiding philosophy is that do unto others, as
you would
want them do unto you.
GJ: Do you have any role model
in life?
GA: (laughing) My grandfather has always been my role
model. He was
also a great raconteur. He firmly believed that serious human
development
can only take place when peace and justice prevail.
GJ: Did any of your white American friends ever ask you about the
tension
between whites and blacks in Zimbabwe?
GA: Yes and I was frank with
them. The reality is that the forefathers
of the white farmers in Zimbabwe
were intolerant and greedy. But the other
reality is that most of the
contemporary white farmers in Zimbabwe are true
Zimbabweans by birth and some
can speak Shona just as good as Murombedzi
Kuchera or Tafataona Mahoso.
Therefore they must be treated as our cousins.
More so, they have contributed
immensely to our agro-based economy through
food production, employment
creation and foreign currency accumulation.
Probably excess and underused
land needs fair redistribution rather than the
violence we have witnessed
across the country.
GJ: We understand you heavily condemned the
violence on farms. In fact
you likened violent war veterans to "coves who
flushed all traces of human
integrity into the toilet, then in self-abasement
traipsed from one farm to
the other causing untold mayhem on humans and
property" in the
government-controlled Sunday Mail?
GA: Yes I
did.
GJ: How did you manage to do that in the Sunday
Mail?
GA: Well, I was trying to exercise freedom of speech and also
they
published it because they knew it was the truth.
GJ: So
what do you think about the isolation of President Mugabe? How
has that
happened? Why has Mugabe's popularity waned, a man who was a hero?
GA: The truth is that Mugabe has to appreciate what the people of
Zimbabwe
and his ancestors have done for him over the years. I blame the
people for
the crisis. First, people made Mugabe what he is today because
they did not
give a constitutional limit to the number of terms an
individual can serve as
a president, which is the worst blunder of all time
in modern political
dispensation. This is because it compromises one of the
basic tenets of
democracy-change! On 18 April 1999 I mentioned in the
government-controlled
Sunday Mail that if Mugabe has become a dictator "it
is people who have given
the president those excessive powers through the
Presidential Powers Act. I
am aware that the president did not draft the
constitution, but his acolytes
did."
GJ: You wrote that in the Sunday Mail too? Where was the
professor
when that appeared in the Sunday Mail and what's the way
forward?
GA: I think the professor admired my courage secretly, but
said
nothing. Like I advised before President Mugabe should
retire.
But he should not retire because other nations want him to
but because
he is very old. If he really wanted the country to be led by
someone with
war credentials he should have allowed young people such as
Sydney
Sekeramayi to contest presidential elections after his ten years in
office.
The problem is that Mugabe is being misled by his close aides who
view him
as their meal ticket. Some people can not make it without him so
they would
rather see him die in office. In addition, he may be afraid of
harassment
after leaving office, but he is willing to give up. He is tired
and needs
peace of mind.
GJ: Can you tell us your views on
globalisation since Mugabe's
apologists link globalisation to Western
imperialism?
GA: The truth is that there is clear division between
those who want
to spread the ideology of capitalism against those that preach
socialism.
That's why some people complain that globalisation is
imperialism.
It's not about the spread of Western civilisation as
such because
those who dislike western imperialism send their kids to Europe
and America
for education and fly to Europe to buy Gucci shoes and Armani
suits.
They import customised vehicles from Germany and speak in
English
everyday! When they get sick they seek treatment in Europe, ignoring
their
local doctors. They seem to contradict themselves.
Anyway,
my own model of globalisation is fusion of cultures,
technology sharing and
economic co-operation motivated by love, compassion
and tolerance rather than
hegemonic motives. This is exactly how I responded
to a question directed to
me by a professor at Brown University after I had
delivered a public lecture
in 2001.
a.. Gwinyai Dziwa is a Zimbabwean writer based
in Michigan in the
United States of America.
FinGaz
EU thrusts Zim crisis at SADC summit
By Nqobile
Nyathi Assistant Editor
9/12/02 3:22:04 AM (GMT +2)
THE
European Union (EU) is planning to place Zimbabwe on the agenda of
its
November meeting with foreign ministers of the Southern Africa
Development
Community (SADC), which analysts this week said had emerged as
the weak link
in international attempts to resolve the Zimbabwean crisis.
The EU,
which has slapped smart sanctions against President Robert
Mugabe and his top
hierarchy, has identified SADC countries, especially
regional powerhouse
South Africa, as the most crucial element in attempts to
restore the rule of
law in Zimbabwe.
"The (European) Commission believes that SADC has
a leading role to
play in the resolution of the increasingly serious Zimbabwe
crisis," said EU
external affairs commissioner Chris Patten.
"The union will seek to ensure enhanced dialogue with SADC, in
particular
during the forthcoming ministerial conference in Copenhagen in
November. It
is planned to raise the issue of Zimbabwe as a specific point
on the
agenda."
European Union parliamentarians, who last Thursday passed
a resolution
calling for tougher EU, SADC and international action against
the Zimbabwe
government, say the Copenhagen meeting will be a test of the
15-member EU's
seriousness in assisting in the resolution of the Zimbabwe
crisis.
Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge is one of 72
government and
ruling ZANU PF officials barred from entering EU states and
European
parliamentarians say his presence at the meeting could undermine
the
effectiveness of the targeted international sanctions.
Analysts this week noted that the Copenhagen meeting was not the
first
attempt by the EU to engage SADC states in dialogue over Zimbabwe, but
said
the country's placement on the meeting's agenda would lend more
prominence
to attempts to rope the region into taking a tougher stance
against Mugabe.
European Member of Parliament Geoffrey Van Orden
told the Financial
Gazette: "There was a high-level troika that went to
southern Africa - to
Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia (earlier this year)
but it was
ineffective.
"There wasn't a clear message that they
put over and people were left
with the feeling that they were not that robust
in what they were demanding
and the whole thing was pointless. It (SADC
effort) will certainly have a
high profile on the (November meeting) agenda
in ways that it hasn't
before."
The analysts said SADC countries
had emerged as the weak link in
international efforts to resolve the Zimbabwe
crisis and plans to place the
crisis on the agenda of the Copenhagen meeting
could be an indication that
the EU was ready to apply more pressure on the
region to act.
Southern African countries have come under fire for
failing to
strongly condemn alleged electoral fraud in Zimbabwe's March
presidential
election, political violence, attacks on the independent Press
and human
rights abuses.
Some countries in the region have also
expressed support for the
Zimbabwean govern-ment's haphazard land reforms,
which have jeopardised
agricultural production at more than 90 percent of the
country's 4 500
commercial farms.
The programme has slashed food
production by more than 60 percent and
contributed to serious food shortages
that are being compounded by a drought
threatening to trigger a humanitarian
crisis in the region.
"African countries are the weakest link at
the moment and we feel that
they, especially South Africa, are the key," Van
Orden said.
Commentators said the EU could use the Cotonou
agreement to bring the
region on board. The agreement, which governs economic
relations between the
EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries,
gives prominence to
democracy and good governance, values analysts say the
Zimbabwean government
has abandoned.
University of Zimbabwe
political science lecturer Elphas
Mukonowe-shuro told the Financial Gazette:
"In the Cotonou agreement, there
are agreed values between the EU and ACP
countries, which include SADC.
"These shared values are democracy,
good governance and observation of
human rights and the EU can try to ensure
that SADC engages in efforts to
maintain these fundamental shared
values."
On their part, the SADC states could use peer pressure to
ensure that
the Zimbabwe government upheld the values that would improve the
country's
tarnished image and that of the region.
The region,
especially South Africa, can effectively apply this
pressure because
Zimbabwe's battered economy is heavily dependent on its
goodwill, the
analysts said.
Zimbabwe, battling severe foreign currency
shortages, depressed
investor sentiment and has lost international
balance-of-payments aid, is
importing much of its power from the
region.
Patten said: "We in the commission will contribute to
support any peer
pressure that heads of state in Africa, and southern Africa
in particular,
may put on the Zimbabwe government to respect the essential
elements of the
Cotonou agreement such as on human rights, the rule of law
and democracy."
Failure by the region to adopt a tough stance
against Zimbabwe is
expected to contribute to the worsening of the country's
problems, which
could spill over into its neighbours in the form of refugees
fleeing
repression, violence and hunger or in declining direct foreign
investment.
The Zimbabwean crisis has already knocked foreign
investment in
southern Africa and threatens the New Partnership for Africa's
Development
(NEPAD), an initiative launched by South Africa, Algeria and
Nigeria on
behalf of the new African Union to boost economic growth on the
continent.
Kevin Wakeford, chief executive of the South African
Chamber of
Business, said the Zimbabwean crisis was jeopardising the
founding
principles of NEPAD.
"The African Union, in conjunction
with the SADC, should urgently
assess the Zimbabwean situation and come up
with a pragmatic and sustainable
plan to deal with the situation there," he
said.
Mukonoweshuro added: "It's not altruistic for the SADC
countries to
resolve the Zimbabwean crisis, it will be in their own interest
because the
crisis has regional ramifications and they would want to ensure
that it
doesn't progress any further. It's in their own self interest."
FinGaz
Rejection of GMO maize a smokescreen
By Abel
Mutsakani News Editor
9/12/02 3:16:55 AM (GMT +2)
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's dramatic acceptance of genetically modified
(GMO)
food aid after staunchly refusing it has exposed his political
grandstanding
aimed at brow-beating the West into accepting his
pre-conditions, political
analysts said this week.
They said Mugabe had made the U-turn after
realising that the powerful
West would leave him to his devices in the face
of stark famine threatening
six million Zimbabweans, or half the
population.
Mugabe, under siege at home and abroad for his misrule,
had
unsuccessfully tried to use the plight of the hungry as a weapon in
a
self-proclaimed fight against the international community but the trick
had
come unstuck.
Brian Raftopoulos, an associate professor at
the Institute of
Development Studies at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), told
the Financial
Gazette:
"The government just wanted political
mileage out of it, especially as
the World Summit on Sustainable Development
was happening.
"But after the grandstanding was over, there was a
realisation that
the severe food crisis was still there and it needed a
rather urgent
solution."
Anglican priest Tim Neill, who heads
the Zimbabwe Community
Development Trust (ZCDT), concurred.
"The
GMO food issue was just a smokescreen. A cunning Mugabe picked on
the issue
knowing that world opinion was not unanimous on it."
The ZCDT
provides food and shelter mostly to farm workers displaced by
the
government's current chaotic and violent land reforms.
Neill said
his agency was seeking food donations to feed about 6 000
families of farm
workers who could face starvation unless the aid comes.
Barley 48
hours after Agriculture Minister Joseph Made rejected GMO
food on the
sidelines of the Earth Summit in Johannesburg because he claimed
Zimbabweans
could be used as "guinea pigs", Mugabe emerged from talks last
week with
United Nations envoy James Morris to announce that Zimbabwe would
take the
GMO maize after all.
More than 100 000 tonnes of food aid raised by
the World Food
Programme (WFP), the United States and other international
donors had
remained blocked by Harare's insistence that it be certified as
GMO-free.
Following Mugabe's U-turn, Morris said the WFP would now
ship 55 000
tonnes of food a month, up from 10 000, into
Zimbabwe.
Mugabe did not give any reason why his government was
changing its
position. But he said government scientists would quarantine the
food and
carry out tests on it before it is milled and distributed to the
hungry.
Food experts however say Zimbabwe does not have any
expertise or
equipment to carry out in-depth analysis or tests on GMO food,
which has
been eaten in the US for the past eight years without any
problems.
UZ political science professor Masipula Sithole said:
"Had the
government accepted the food aid when it was first offered, it would
have
spared those without food much pain and suffering."
GMO-produced relief food was first offered to Zimbabwe about two
months
ago.
Although Harare initially accepted about 20 000 tonnes of food
aid
from the US that was believed to include gene-altered maize, it
blocked
several other offers of such aid from international donors, including
the
WFP.
Other southern African countries facing hunger, most
notably Zambia,
had also been reluctant to take GMO food from
donors.
About 13 million people in southern Africa face starvation
because of
poor rains last season.
Food experts and aid agencies
say the hunger is worst in Zimbabwe
after Mugabe's controversial and often
violent campaign to seize land from
minority but large-scale producing white
farmers further reduced food
production.
Noting that Mugabe's
land reforms had virtually killed the mainstay
agriculture sector and the
economy, that the government had persistently
denied last year that Zimbabwe
faced severe food shortages and now the GMO
food, Sithole asked:
"One wonders whether our officials are in the right frame or state of
mind to
govern the country."
Even as the food crisis is fast deteriorating,
the government has
ordered 2 900 of the country's 4 000 large-scale farmers
to vacate their
land or face jail.
Mugabe says his land reforms
aim to right an immoral land ownership
scheme inherited from British colonial
system which left 70 percent of the
country's best arable land in the hands
of a few whites while five million
blacks were cramped on infertile and rocky
land.
But critics say apart from ruining what was once one of
Africa's best
farming industries, the reforms are only benefiting his cronies
and
supporters of his ruling ZANU PF party
FinGaz
Politically motivated murders, abductions decline:
ZHRF
Staff Reporter
9/12/02 3:12:13 AM (GMT
+2)
THE Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum (ZHRF) this week reported a
decline in
cases of politically motivated murder, unlawful detention, arrest
and
abduction in August, but said incidents of political intimidation had
more
than doubled last month.
Statistics from the forum, which
groups non-governmental agencies
handling human rights, show that cases of
murder fell from two in July to
only one last month, while incidents of
unlawful arrest and detention
declined from three each to zero in the same
period.
There were no reports of attempted murder and abduction in
August,
compared to two and one report respectively in July. No incidents
of
politically motivated disappearances were reported in July or August
while
14 torture cases and only two death threats were documented from July 1
to
August 31.
"In comparison to July violence reports, reports
of murder, attempted
murder, unlawful detention, unlawful arrest and
abduction have declined in
the month of August while cases of political
intimidation are increasing in
some parts of the country," the forum said in
its latest monthly report on
political violence.
According to
the report, while there was a dramatic drop in cases of
arson and malicious
damage to property from 205 in July to six last month,
cases of political
intimidation and discrimination rose from 17 to 35 in the
same
period.
Reports of politically motivated assaults also increased to
23 in
August from 14 the month before.
The ZHRF attributed most
of the violence reported to state security
agents.
"The Press
and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum have received a large
number of reports
on human rights and political violations allegedly
perpetrated by uniformed
officials, with the greatest prevalence being
reported in Manicaland," it
said.
"Soldiers have been reportedly spearheading violence in
Manicaland.
"Examples include the 10 soldiers who severely
assaulted bus
conductors at Nyakamete in Manicaland province and the
uniformed officials
who assaulted security guards at Charleswood Farm in
Manicaland.
"Specifically, in Chimanimani, CIO (Central
Intelligence Organisation)
agents, police officers and soldiers are meting
out a reign of terror,
assaulting civilians with baton sticks, sjamboks,
booted feet and open
hands. Victims of political violence are allegedly being
taken to prison
cells in the area, which the victims claim now serve as
torture centres. "
Political violence, primarily blamed on ruling
ZANU PF supporters, has
plagued Zimbabwe since the run-up to the June 2000
general elections.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), whose members
have been the main victims, says violence has
intensified prior to this
month's district council elections and most of its
candidates have withdrawn
from the polls as a result.
According
to the ZHRF figures, at least 58 people were killed and 1
053 tortured in
political violence between January and August 31 this year
which the
government has in the past dismissed as fabrications by the
independent Press
and the MDC to gain international sympathy
From SABC News, 12
September
Zimbabwe farmer comes under fire,
horse burnt alive
President Robert Mugabe's militias in
northern Zimbabwe stepped up their attempts to drive a white farmer off his land
yesterday, opening fire on the family for the second day in a row, neighbours
said. A horse was also trapped alive in its stable on a farm in the Karoi
district 200 km north of Harare and appeared to have been burnt alive
deliberately, they said. The animal suffered 90 degree burns and had to be
destroyed. Earlier in the afternoon, farmer Ian Cochrane (43), and his wife, Jo,
fled when they were confronted by a mob of about 60 people. Up to 30 shots were
fired, first in the air and then at them, by eight men armed with shotguns, said
neighbour Alan Parsons. Neither was injured. The use
of firearms by war veterans and squatters against white farmers has been
relatively uncommon since the illegal state-driven invasion of white land began
in February 2000. However, several of the 13 white farmers murdered since then
have died in gunfire, some of them in full military-style assaults or ambushes
by heavily armed "veterans" and members of Mugabe's secret police.
Mugabe charges that whites continue to own
the majority of arable land in this southern African country, and has
implemented forced evictions of white farmers from about 3000 properties and
turned over the land to landless peasants. Hundreds of thousands of black farm
workers employed by the farmers, however, have been displaced and many
Zimbabweans are starving because of lagging food production. Cochrane's farm has not been listed for eviction, but he is
regarded as an outspoken member of his community who has confronted police and
demanded they act against lawless ruling party militias. The recent attacks are
regarded as an attempt to force him to flee. The mob also surrounded the home of
Cochrane's mother, Thea Cochrane (67), screaming at her, while some of them
forced their way into a cottage next door belonging to Cochrane's sister and
looted it, Parsons said. Armed police arrived at the scene after the mob had
left, but refused to leave an armed guard to protect the family, who include the
couple's two young children. No attempt was made to pursue the mob.
SENSELESS AND BRUTAL KILLING
Meryl and Addmore left for the farming area of
Karoi early this morning. This follows a plea from a farmer in this area who
has been under siege since the week-end. He reported a heartrending story
- yesterday afternoon a group of 8 invaders led
the family's favourite horse into a small enclosure, surrounded it with bales of
hay and then set fire to the hay, causing the most terrifying and agonising
death to the beautiful animal who had trustingly followed the group as it was
led away to be killed in this most senseless and horrifying manner.
FinGaz
WB, IMF poverty-cutting plan needs work
9/12/02 2:05:47 AM (GMT +2)
WASHINGTON - A poverty-reduction
programme where the world's poorest
countries craft their own self-help
plans, aided by the World Bank (WB), the
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and non-governmental organisations, has
helped but could stand improvement, a
joint bank and IMF report found.
And because of the challenges the
programme faces, as more countries
create their own Poverty Reduction
Strategy Papers (PRSPs), the pace of
improvements may slow, the report
said.
"While there has been progress, there remains substantial
scope for
improvement," said the report, which was written for presentation
at the
IMF/World Bank annual meetings at the end of this month. The document,
a
copy of which was obtained by Reuters, may be changed before it is
discussed
by the shareholders at the meetings.
The
country-produced papers - the product of an idea launched in
September 1999 -
are intended to work alongside the lowest cost lending
projects as well as
the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC)
debt relief
programme.
They are designed to factor in a country's views of how
to fix its
problems and are seen as a radical new approach to cutting
poverty.
The papers are put together by a country with help from
NGOs, the bank
and fund, and set out a three-year plan for how the country
will cut
poverty.
The bank, which has faced calls to be more
frank in its assessments of
poverty programmes, called the report
honest.
"The whole point of this report is to look at what more
needs to be
done and to press our shareholders and clients for further action
in a
number of a key areas," said Caroline Anstey, spokeswoman for the
bank.
She also noted that in the last six months, the number of
these papers
put together has doubled. - Reuter
FinGaz
WFP to substitute wheat for maize in
Zambia?
9/12/02 1:09:32 AM (GMT +2)
LUSAKA - The
World Food Programme this week said it would consider
substituting wheat for
maize in aid given to hunger-stricken Zambia, in
response to the country's
objections to genetically-modified (GM) food.
"Since wheat is non
GM, we are looking at it and exploring ways of
providing it to starving
people," WFP executive director James Morris told
reporters.
Morris is also UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy for
the
humanitarian crisis in Southern Africa, where aid workers say up to
13
million people in six countries - including Zambia - face
famine.
Zambia has repeatedly rejected genetically modified food,
mainly from
the United States, out of concerns over its safety and the
environmental
consequences of GM grains being planted.
Malawi
and Zimbabwe have also expressed concerns over the issue,
although Morris
said last week in Harare that Zimbabwe had dropped its
objections to GM crops
in a step which may encourage other countries in the
region to follow
suit.
Milled GM grain has been more widely accepted because it
cannot be
planted.
Morris said that Zambia had initially
proposed that rice be
substituted for maize, but that this would be too
expensive. If the wheat
substitution was successful, the WFP might extend
that effort to other
countries in the region, he said.
Zambia
would in the next two days send a team of scientists to Europe
to study GM
investigations to reach a basis upon which it could either
continue to reject
GM food or accept it, Morris added.
He repeated that the food
crisis was worsened by the spreading
HIV-AIDS epidemic in the region - which
was also draining financial
resources - and urged international donors to
step up their support.
"This crisis is not just a crisis of food,
but it is a crisis of
HIV/AIDS, a crisis of the weather and government
management by politicians,"
Morris said.
Very little of a US$611
million appeal for southern Africa had been
released by various donors, he
added.
-Reuter
Comment from
ZWNews
Environmental
disaster
By Michael Hartnack
For Western nations – and South Africa - the World Summit on
Sustainable Development in Johannesburg was a diplomatic disaster. For Zimbabwe,
the gathering, where power and posturing defeated scientific fact and even
common sense, represented a conservation disaster – underlined by Robert
Mugabe’s tirade. From Harare, the applause for Mugabe sounded like the death
rattle of 7.8 million people at risk of starvation, the crash of forests felled
for firewood, the moan of sand-laden wind among dry weeds. Mugabe was applauded
for inflicting upon the summit a series of stunning untruths or self-deceptions
which translate in Zimbabwe, quite simply, into shortages of bread, maize meal,
cooking oil, petrol, into derelict farmlands and homeless ex-farmworkers. "The
poor have given us a mandate to govern them," Mugabe told the summit. Given? Is
that why it was necessary to terrorise the country with teenage "war veterans",
trash farms, stuff ballot boxes, bar thousands from voting? Every white is
entitled to at least one farm but some own up to 35. "These are figures I am not
just getting out of my mind, they are real figures," he declared. In reality,
more than 2 000 single-property owners are being evicted, and no one - except
members of Mugabe’s own elite - has farms to the extent he claimed. "We have not
asked for one square inch of Europe. So (Prime Minister Tony) Blair, keep your
England and I will keep my Zimbabwe." Mugabe has in effect annexed a fair sized
European city - there are 10 times as many black Zimbabwean economic refugees in
Britain as there are whites in Zimbabwe, quite apart from the 2,4 million
Zimbabweans living in South Africa. "We are threatening no one…we wish no harm
to anyone." As Mugabe uttered those words, 17 labourers were arrested while
digging pit latrines at a refuge for displaced workers, on preposterous charges
of "undergoing terrorist training." We must expect an orgy of repression in the
wake of Mugabe's Johannesburg triumph - for that is how he sees it. Whites who
dare disagree may remain only as jailed felons. Black dissenters are "puppets,
traitors".
Even the most casual observer in Zimbabwe can see that Mugabe’s
assertions that his regime seeks to protect the environment for present and
future generations are patently untrue. In an open letter to Mugabe coinciding
with the summit, Zimbabwe-born ecologist Allan Savory, who lauded the Zimbabwe
leader in the early years after 1980 independence, finally revealed 22 years of
fruitless behind-the-scenes dealings with him on environmental issues.
Reflecting painful disenchantment, Savory protested at the "path with tragic
consequences" on which he said Mugabe has set Zimbabwe. The ecologist, now based
in Albuquerque, New Mexico, urged Mugabe "to reverse our most serious problem –
desertification"; not "act as a short sighted politician". If Mugabe notices the
letter, it is likely to be with a fleeting, derisive giggle. As a member of
Parliament in Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front party, Savory crossed swords with
fellow white legislators. On environmental issues, he advocated acceptance of
his entire Holistic Resource Management approach. Savory's political views have
varied, supporting first the Rhodesian Front and then Mugabe. But many of his
pronouncements on ecological issues remain extremely relevant.
Mugabe has been barnstorming round the country urging his
supporters to seize irrigation equipment from fleeing whites, and promising a
massive programme of dam-construction to free them forever from the threat of
drought and famine. Back in 1970, Savory, now 68, warned that vanished
civilisations wasted vast labour and resources thinking irrigation works would
meet their exploding agricultural needs. These works quickly became worthless,
silted-up malarial death traps as catchments were destroyed by bad pastoral and
cultivation practices, and once-reliable river flow became erratic in
consequence. In his open letter to Mugabe, Savory revealed how in 1984 "I
informed you I had finally discovered a way to reverse the land degradation…I
requested your government have the matter fully investigated as most officials
in Zimbabwe opposed my views - you agreed to my request, saying: ‘We have no
more serious problem than our rising population and deteriorating land’ (your
exact words)." Savory said he eventually wrote to Mugabe "in desperation" in
April 1994, saying the ability to reverse land deterioration was being held up
by civil service inertia, and adding that millions might by now have been
resettled "without displacing a single farmer, disrupting our economy, or
causing massive unemployment." What Savory may now realise is that Mugabe and
his associates were never interested in resolving environmental problems: they
wanted to exploit them to gain and retain power. Thus it still is today.
