From ZWNEWS, 18 September
Class of 79
The European Commission on Monday announced an extension of the
list of individuals subject to targeted sanctions. The European Council of
Ministers decided last week to extend the list to 79 persons, to reflect the
recent cabinet reshuffle by President Mugabe. The list of persons
previously subject to the ban previously stood at 72. The full list of
persons is as below:
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1643/2002 of 13 September 2002
amending, for the third time, Council Regulation (EC) No 310/2002 concerning
certain restrictive measures in respect of Zimbabwe
List of persons, entities and bodies referred to in Article 2 of
Council Regulation (EC) No 310/2002
1. Mugabe, Robert Gabriel President, born 21.2.1924, Kutama; 2.
Buka, Flora Minister of State for Land Reform Programme (former Minister of
State in Vice President Muzenda's Office), born 25.2.1968; 3. Charamba, George
Information Minister's Permanent Secretary and Spokesman; 4. Charumbira, Fortune
Deputy Minister for Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, born
10.6.1962; 5. Chigwedere, Aeneas Education, Sports and Culture Minister, born
25.11.1939; 6. Chihuri, Augustine Commissioner (Police), born 10.3.1953; 7.
Chikowore, Enos Secretary for Land and Resettlement, born 1936; 8. Chinamasa,
Patrick Justice Minister, born 25.1.1947; 9. Chindori-Chininga, Edward Mines and
Energy Minister, born 14.3.1955; 10. Chiwenga, Constantine Lt Gen (Army), born
25.8.1956; 11. Chiwewe, Willard Ministry of Foreign Affairs Senior Secretary,
born 19.3.1949; 12. Chombo, Ignatius Local Govt Minister, born 1.8.1952; 13.
Dabengwa, Dumiso Senior Committee Member, born 1939; 14. Goche, Nicholas
Security Minister, born 1.8.1946; 15. Gumbo, Rugare Deputy Minister, Home
Affairs, born 8.3.1940; 16. Hove, Richard Secretary for Economic Affairs, born
1935; 17. Karimanzira, David Secretary for Finance, born 25.5.1947; 18.
Kasukuwere, Saviour Deputy-Secretary for Youth Affairs, born 23.10.1970; 19.
Kuruneri, Christopher Deputy Minister, Finance and Economic Development, born
4.4.1949; 20. Lesabe, Thenjiwe Secretary for Women's Affairs, born 1933; 21.
Machaya, Jaison Deputy Minister for Mines and Mining Development, born
13.6.1952; 22. Made, Joseph Agricultural Minister, born 21.11.1954; 23.
Madzongwe, Edna Deputy-Secretary for Production and Labour, born 11.7.1943; 24.
Mahofa, Shuvai Deputy Minister for Youth Development, Gender and Employment
Creation, born 4.4.1941; 25. Makoni, Simbarashe Minister of Finance, born
22.3.1950; 26. Malinga, Joshua Politburo Deputy Secretary, Deputy-Secretary for
Disabled and Disadvantaged, born 28.4.1944; 27. Mangwana, Paul Minister of State
for Enterprises and Parastatals (former Deputy Minister, Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs), born 10.8.1961; 28. Mangwende, Witness Minister for
Transport and Communications (former Deputy-Secretary for Administration), born
15.10.1946; 29. Manyika, Elliot Youth Minister, born 30.7.1955; 30. Manyonda,
Kenneth Deputy Minister for Industry and International Trade, born 10.8.1934;
31. Marumahoko, Reuben Deputy Minister for Energy and Power Development, born
4.4.1948; 32. Masuku, Angeline Politburo Secretary, Secretary for Disabled and
Disadvantaged Person's Welfare, born 14.10.1936; 33. Mathuthu, T
Deputy-Secretary for Transport and Social Welfare; 34. Midzi, Amos Bernard
Muvenga Minister for Energy and Power Development, born 4.7.1952; 35. Mnangagwa,
Emmerson Parliamentary Speaker, born 15.9.1946; 36. Mobeshora, Swithun Transport
and Communications Minister, born 20.8.1945; 37. Mohadi, Kembo Minister for Home
Affairs (former Deputy Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National
Housing), born 15.11.1949; 38. Moyo, Jonathan Information Minister, born
12.1.1957; 39. Moyo, July Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister,
born 7.5.1950; 40. Moyo, Simon Khaya Deputy-Secretary for Legal Affairs, born
1945; 41. Mpofu, Obert Deputy-Secretary for National Security, born 12.10.1951;
42. Msika, Joseph Vice President, born 6.12.1923; 43. Muchena, Olivia Minister
of State for Information and Publicity (former Minister of State in
Vice-President Msika's Office), born 18.8.1946; 44. Muchinguri, Oppah Secretary
for Gender and Culture, born 14.12.1958; 45. Mudenge, Stan Foreign Minister,
born 17.12.1941, Zimutu Reserve; 46. Mugabe, Grace Spouse of Robert Mugabe, born
23.7.1965; 47. Mugabe, Sabina Politburo Senior Committee Member, born
14.10.1934; 48. Mujuru, Joyce Minister for Rural Resources and Water, born
15.4.1955; 49. Mujuru, Solomon Senior Committee Member, born 1949; 50.
Mumbengegwi, Samuel Higher Education and Technology Minister, born 23.10.1942;
51. Murerwa, Herbert Minister for Finance and Economic Development (former
Minister for Industry and International Trade), born 31.7.1941; 52. Mushohwe,
Christopher Deputy Minister, Transport and Communications, born 6.2.1954; 53.
Mutasa, Didymus Secretary for External Relations, born 27.7.1935; 54.
Mutiwekuziva, Kenneth Deputy Minister, Small and Medium Enterprises Development,
born 27.5.1948; 55. Muzenda, Simon Vengesai Vice-President, born 28.10.1922; 56.
Muzenda, Tsitsi Politburo Senior Committee Member, born 28.10.1922; 57.
Muzonzini, Elisha Brig. (Intelligence), born 24.6.1957; 58. Ncube, Abedinico
Deputy Minister, Foreign Affairs, born 13.10.1954; 59. Ndlovu, Naison Secretary
for Production and Labour, born 22.10.1930; 60. Ndlovu, Sikhanyiso
Deputy-Secretary for Commissariat, born 20.9.1949; 61. Nhema, Francis
Environment and Tourism Minister, born 17.4.1959; 62. Nkomo, John Special
Affairs in the President's Office (former Home Affairs Minister), born
22.8.1934; 63. Nkomo, Stephen Senior Committee Member, born 1925; 64. Nyoni,
Sithembiso Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises Development (former Minister
of State, Informal Sector), born 20.9.1949; 65. Parirenyatwa, David Minister,
Health and Child Welfare (former Deputy Minister), born 2.8.1950; 66. Pote, S M
Deputy-Secretary for Gender and Culture; 67. Rusere, Tinos Deputy Minister for
Rural Resources and Water Development, born 10.5.1945; 68. Sakupwanya, Stanley
Deputy-Secretary for Health and Child Welfare; 69. Sekeramayi, Sidney Defence
Minister, born 30.3.1944; 70. Shamuyarira, Nathan Secretary for Information and
Publicity, born 29.9.1928; 71. Shiri, Perence Air Marshal (Air Force), born
1.11.1955; 72. Shumba, Isaiah Deputy Minister, Education, Sports and Culture,
born 3.1.1949; 73. Sikhosana, Absolom Politburo Secretary, Secretary for Youth
Affairs; 74. Stamps, Timothy Health and Child Welfare Minister, born 15.10.1936;
75. Tawengwa, Solomon Politburo Deputy Secretary, Deputy-Secretary for Finance,
born 15.6.1940; 76. Tungamirai, Josiah Secretary for Employment and
Indigenisation, born 8.10.1948; 77. Utete, Charles Cabinet Secretary, born
30.10.1938; 78. Zimonte, Paradzai Prisons chief; 79. Zvinavashe, Vitalis General
(CDS), born 1943.
From The Guardian (UK), 18 September
The real victims of land seizures
Mugabe neglects plight of thousands of
evicted farm workers
Andrew Meldrum in Harare
The worst victims of Robert Mugabe's land
seizures are not the few thousand white farming families being evicted from
their farms. Those suffering the most are the hundreds of thousands of black
farm workers who are losing their jobs, being thrown out of their homes, often
violently, and who will make up an enormous new landless class. As Zimbabwe's
parliament yesterday considered new legislation to speed up the seizure of
white-owned land, Mr Mugabe's ministers made no mention of the growing crisis of
homeless black farm workers and their families. But trade unions, aid agencies
and human rights groups are very concerned about their rapidly worsening
plight.
James Sani, 26, has been homeless since
March 15 when he was thrown off the farm where he worked in the northern
Marondera area. He and other workers on Chipesa farm had been badly beaten by Mr
Mugabe's supporters on several occasions. After Mr Mugabe won the disputed
presidential elections in March the farm workers were attacked with even greater
ferocity by a large group armed with iron bars, clubs and rocks. "They were
beating everybody," Mr Sani says. "People got broken arms and legs and fractured
skulls. We ran away. We could see them set fire to our homes and destroy all our
belongings. They killed our goats and cattle. We were forced to sleep in the
open, with no clothes, no pots and pans, no belongings." Mr Sani is one of the
lucky ones. He, his wife and young daughter have found shelter in a small,
tented camp for evicted farm workers. But the camp, south of Harare, and the few
others like it across the country are housing only a few thousand people and are
dwarfed by the huge numbers in need of assistance. "We are happy to be in this
place," Mr Sani says, proudly showing the rows of tents and the makeshift
nursery school. "But this is just temporary. I want to start a new life, to find
a job or to get somewhere to farm, but things are very difficult."
About 150,000 labourers have been evicted
from seized farms, and when their families are included that figure grows to
780,000, according to a new survey by the Zimbabwe Community Development Trust
(ZCDT). "The numbers are mind-boggling," says Canon Timothy Neil, director of
the ZCDT. "According to our survey only 35,000 farm workers had some form of
alternative place to live, either on a resettlement scheme or a family home to
return to. The overwhelming number had nowhere to go, and on average they had
sufficient food for only 54 days. In two months we are going to see this huge
group going hungry. It is frightening." The ZCDT survey also shows that more
than 10,000 orphans and 14,000 elderly people who had lived on the farms will
now be homeless. "These are the most vulnerable," Canon Neil said. "Across the
country, there are people living by the side of the road and moving to the
outskirts of towns. It is a shifting, roaming population that needs assistance."
The ZCDT is distributing blankets and food. Another group, the Farm Community
Trust, is providing food for 80,000 children in central Zimbabwe, and the Farm
Orphan Support Trust is helping children in the eastern part of the country.
The Mugabe government has largely ignored the plight
of the farm workers. Despite assurances that the workers will be allocated land,
very few have been accepted for resettlement. The government did insist that
workers be paid "termination packages" by the white farmers being thrown off
their land. In the Raffingora area, 125 miles north-west of Harare, farm workers
have been paid Z$500,000 to Z$800,000 (£5,600 to £8,900). These are unimaginable
riches to the workers. "It is like Christmas. People are buying things like mad,
shoes, bicycles and fancy biscuits," one local resident said. "But much of the
money is being squandered on booze and women. I saw a worker offer a girl
Z$3,000 for a kiss! These pay packages will not last long. They cannot make up
for a lost job or a lost home."
International aid organisations are
beginning to respond to the crisis, but they are hampered by the government's
attitude that the farm workers are supporters of the opposition party, the
Movement for Democratic Change and therefore not entitled to new land or
assistance. The ZCDT leased land in northern Zimbabwe in August to give plots to
160 ex- farm families. But as 17 workers dug trenches for latrines, they were
arrested, jailed and eventually charged with "undergoing training to become
terrorists". Another problem for the farm workers is that most have recently
lost their Zimbabwean citizenship because their parents were born in foreign
countries. Most farm workers' parents came from Malawi and Mozambique and
according to a new law they were classified as "permanent residents" in Zimbabwe
instead of full citizens. Wireless Chipoka, 74, is a plucky, enterprising man
who had worked on a large farm since 1955. He rose to become head foreman and
had planned to retire on the farm. "I was beaten by the war veterans," he says,
showing a scar on his head, "and they chased us away. Now we are struggling and
we don't know what to do. I would like to do farming. I am still strong. But my
parents were born in Malawi and the government says I cannot get
land."
MSNBC
Jurists concerned at judge's arrest in
Zimbabwe
GENEVA, Sept. 18 - The International Commission
of Jurists (ICJ) expressed
deep concern on Wednesday at the arrest of a
retired judge in Zimbabwe on
charges of corruption and obstructing
justice.
The Geneva-based body said that
the charging of white former High
Court Judge Fergus Blackie, who has been
released on bail after spending
last weekend in jail, marked a ''further and
serious erosion in the rule of
law in
Zimbabwe.''
''The context and
circumstances of the arrest strongly point to a
political motive in the
government's actions,'' the ICJ said in a statement,
registering its ''deep
concern.''
Blackie, who clashed with the
government of President Robert Mugabe
when he ordered the arrest of the
justice minister earlier this year, is
accused of irregularly overturning a
white woman's conviction for fraud
last
May.
The former judge, who was
released on $180 bail on Monday, faces a
mandatory jail term if
convicted.
The ICJ, a non-governmental
organisation composed of some 45 jurists
and legal experts, said that it
feared that the judge's case would
''dissuade other judges from exercising
independence when their decisions
might run contrary to government
policy.''
Blackie, 65, who was appointed
a judge two years before Zimbabwe's
independence in 1980, has been pilloried
in the official media as a racist,
something he
denies.
Mugabe clashed with the
judiciary after the country's Supreme Court
ruled against his seizures of
white-owned farms for landless blacks, earning
a strongly worded reprimand
from the United Nations special rapporteur for
the independence of judges and
lawyers.
Sunday Times (SA)
SA farmer appears in Zimbabwe
court
By Marleen Smith
Free State farmer Crawford von Abo
appeared in court in Zimbabwe today on a
charge of contravening that
country's Land Acquisition Act, said Andries
Botha, Democratic Alliance
spokesman on rural safety.
Botha, who attended the court sitting in
Mwenezi in the Zimbabwean Lowveld,
said Von Abo appeared along with 14 other
accused, nine of whom are South
African citizens.
Their cases were
postponed until 15 November, permitting them to return to
their Zimbabwean
farms in the Mwenezi area in the meantime, Botha said.
He slammed the
South African government for showing no sign of assistance to
the South
African accused.
"The South African government sent no official
representative to witness or
assist with this morning's court
proceedings.
"It has come to light that the South African High
Commissioner in Zimbabwe
is currently surveying the extent to which South
African citizens are
exposed to Zimbabwe's land redistribution
programme.
"It is not clear to the DA why such a survey is being carried
out, given
Deputy President Jacob Zuma's statement in Parliament last week
that the
government cannot intervene in Zimbabwe," Botha said after the
Mwenezi
hearing.
Von Abo was arrested on August 19 by armed Zimbabwean
militia on his farm
Fauna in the Zimbabwean lowveld, along with farm manager
Willem Klopper.
They were accused of contravening president Robert Mugabe's
land reform
legislation by refusing to leave the farm.
Von Abo
insisted that Fauna was earlier taken off the so-called Section 8
list,
marking white Zimbabwean farmers for eviction.
He earlier said that he
expected of the South African government to protect
his property rights in
Zimbabwe. He saw this as part of his civil rights as
a South African
citizen.
SA farmer appears in Zimbabwe court
By Marleen
Smith
Free State farmer Crawford von Abo appeared in court in Zimbabwe
today on a
charge of contravening that country's Land Acquisition Act, said
Andries
Botha, Democratic Alliance spokesman on rural safety.
Botha,
who attended the court sitting in Mwenezi in the Zimbabwean Lowveld,
said Von
Abo appeared along with 14 other accused, nine of whom are South
African
citizens.
Their cases were postponed until 15 November, permitting them
to return to
their Zimbabwean farms in the Mwenezi area in the meantime,
Botha said.
He slammed the South African government for showing no sign
of assistance to
the South African accused.
"The South African
government sent no official representative to witness or
assist with this
morning's court proceedings.
"It has come to light that the South African
High Commissioner in Zimbabwe
is currently surveying the extent to which
South African citizens are
exposed to Zimbabwe's land redistribution
programme.
"It is not clear to the DA why such a survey is being carried
out, given
Deputy President Jacob Zuma's statement in Parliament last week
that the
government cannot intervene in Zimbabwe," Botha said after the
Mwenezi
hearing.
Von Abo was arrested on August 19 by armed Zimbabwean
militia on his farm
Fauna in the Zimbabwean lowveld, along with farm manager
Willem Klopper.
They were accused of contravening president Robert Mugabe's
land reform
legislation by refusing to leave the farm.
Von Abo
insisted that Fauna was earlier taken off the so-called Section 8
list,
marking white Zimbabwean farmers for eviction.
He earlier said that he
expected of the South African government to protect
his property rights in
Zimbabwe. He saw this as part of his civil rights as
a South African
citizen.
Von Abo, also a Zimbabwean resident, owned extensive
agricultural properties
in the Zimbabwean lowveld and the Mazoe Valley to the
north, and employed
more than 1000 Zimbabwean workers.
Practically all
of this land, except Fauna, have been lost since the start
of Mugabe's land
reform program.
He started farming in Zimbabwe 50 years ago.
In
South Africa, he is a well-known grain farmer and a former chairman of
the
now defunct Maize Board.
Sapa
Von Abo, also a Zimbabwean
resident, owned extensive agricultural properties
in the Zimbabwean lowveld
and the Mazoe Valley to the north, and employed
more than 1000 Zimbabwean
workers.
Practically all of this land, except Fauna, have been lost since
the start
of Mugabe's land reform program.
He started farming in
Zimbabwe 50 years ago.
In South Africa, he is a well-known grain farmer
and a former chairman of
the now defunct Maize
Board.
Sapa
IOL
'Mugabe's men took my
sister'
September 18 2002 at
07:45AM
By Tony Weaver
The Bowen family of Table View in
Cape Town spent Tuesday night in a state
of anguish, not knowing the fate of
their sister and her two children, aged
one and three, after Zimbabwean
police arrested Sonnette Kotze, 29, on
Tuesday morning.
Sonnette's
distraught sister, Zelda Bowen, 27 said they had been unable to
get through
to Sonnette's husband, Japie, to find out about her fate.
Bowen could not
ascertain whether the two children, Corne, 1, and Riaan, 3,
were being held
with their mother.
Bowen said although the Kotze farm at Chipinge had
been earmarked for
seizure, the family had made a deal to hand over a large
portion of the
land, while being allowed to stay on the farm.
Her
parents Hester and Hannes Rom, who are with her in Table View,
farmed
south-west of Harare for 54 years, but their farm was seized in March,
and
they moved to Cape Town.
Bowen related an incident three weeks ago
when Sonnette and Japie went to a
game lodge near Chiredzi. "As they were
leaving, she asked the guard at the
gate where she could get rid of Corne's
disposable nappy. The guard told her
to give it to him and he would dispose
of it."
On Tuesday morning, police arrived at the Kotzes farm and told
Sonnette to
accompany them to the charge office.
She was charged with
crimen injuria. The guard at the lodge alleged she had
told him to "take the
nappy and eat the crap", said Bowen. "The situation is
so sensitive at the
moment that she would never have said something like
that."
Attempts
by the Cape Times to get through to Japie Kotze on Tuesday night
were
unsuccessful.
Business Report
Mugabe's next stop may be
mines
Independent Foreign Service
September 18 2002 at 08:07AM
Harare - Zimbabwe's mines and leading industries are likely to be
invaded
next, according to a leading Zimbabwean analyst.
Speaking at a
meeting of the country's Mass Public Opinion Institute, Brian
Raftopoulos
from the University of Zimbabwe's Institute of Development
Studies said that
as the country's economy shrinks, war vets were likely to
look at other
choice targets away from the thousands of farms they had
seized
already.
"As the economy shrinks further and as the government discovers
that the
land alone is not the economy, and the economy is not the land
alone,
industry faces a very real danger of being invaded the same way farms
have
been taken over," he said, adding that Zimbabwe's
economy could not
grow.
"It can only contract further and that will likely push government
to the
limit, into the invasion of factories and mines."
Last year
chanting war veterans, led by a Harare municipal worker, Joseph
Chinoitomba,
raided city businesses extorting millions from
terrified
managers.
Chinoitomba's mob, often armed with crowbars, even
invaded a private
hospital and a German non-governmental organisation's
office in the
Zimbabwean capital, demanding millions of dollars on behalf of
alleged
victims of unfair labour practices.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions economist Godfrey Kanyenze said
Raftopoulos was right. "Industry is
under threat from the current situation.
Companies have been forced to close
either as a direct result of
intimidation or indirectly as a result of the
economic pressures on
business."
When Zanu-PF made the statement about
the land and the economy, it was
playing a political gimmick, romanticising
the land issue.
In June this year, following Robert Mugabe's contested
presidential victory
at the polls, the Zimbabwean president threatened to
seize companies,
claiming many white-owned businesses were sabotaging the
country's economy.
And despite backing down over last year's company
invasions, Mugabe and his
hardline lieutenants have threatened to seize
white-owned businesses on
several occasions since farm invasions began in
February 2000. - Independent
Foreign Service
Zimbabwean court sets aside eviction orders of seven
farmers
Xinhuanet 2002-09-19
03:16:23
HARARE, Sept. 18 (Xinhuanet)
-- The Zimbabwean High Court set
aside here on Wednesday eviction orders
effected on seven white commercial
farmers to vacate their property in
accordance with the Land Acquisition and
Amendment
Act.
The act gave the farmers 90-day notice
to vacate their property to
pave way for the resettled farmers under the
government's land
re-distribution
program.
Justice Ben Hlatshwayo accepted
the contention by the farmers that
a farm that is mortgaged or bonded can not
be acquired for resettlement if
the state has not properly informed the
financial institution involved.
State
lawyer, Nelson Mutsonziwa of the Attorney General's office
conceded that the
state did not follow the right procedure when it served
the farmers with
preliminary notices.
Justice Hlatshwayo ruled that the
Ministry of Lands, Agriculture
and Rural Resettlement should have served the
financial institutions
involved with the preliminary notices of intention to
acquire the farms for
resettlement.
The
ruling by the judge means that the state will have to startthe
process of
serving the parties if it is still interested in acquiring
the
farms.
The case by the farmers is
among several cases in which farmers
have successfully challenged the
eviction orders on technical grounds.
The
ruling also comes at a time when parliament is
amending
theact.
Under the proposed
amendments of the bill, the period of noticeto
vacate land in the case of an
order that is re-issued after 90 days shall be
seven days.
Enditem
Globe and Mail, Canada
Zimbabwe takes extra powers to evict
farmers
Reuters News
Agency
Harare - Zimbabwe's ruling
ZANU-PF party pushed a bill through
parliament on Wednesday giving it power
to evict within days white farmers
accused of using legal loopholes to hang
on to land targeted for
redistribution to
blacks.
President Robert Mugabe's party
used its comfortable majority in the
150-seat parliament to pass the Land
Acquisition Amendment Bill, modifying a
10-year-old
law.
The amendments will allow the
government to re-issue any eviction
notices previously rendered invalid by
the High Court. Farmers who are
reissued with such an order after the expiry
of the initial 90-day notice
will have seven days to vacate the
land.
The bill also raises the fine for
resisting an eviction order to
Z$100,000 (about $2,800 Canadian) from
Z$20,000.
Mr. Mugabe ordered 2,900
commercial farmers to quit their land without
compensation by Aug. 8 under a
controversial programme to seize white-owned
farms and hand them over to the
largely landless black majority. But some
2,500 farmers have defied the
initial orders, and police have charged more
than 300 of them, says the
farmers' group Justice for Agriculture.
Last month the High Court ruled in a judgment in favour of a white
farmer
that his mortgaged farm could not be taken for resettlement because
the state
had not properly informed the mortgage lender. Since that ruling,
the High
Court has also cancelled about 60 other eviction orders for
different
reasons.
Zimbabwe has been in crisis since
pro-government militants began
invading white-owned farms in early 2000. Mr.
Mugabe, in power since the
former Rhodesia gained independence from Britain
in 1980, says his land
drive is aimed at correcting colonial injustice, which
left 70 per cent of
the country's best land in the hands of white
farmers.
JAG SITREP 18th September 2002
ERRATA
The
Kockotts did not abandon their farm as reported yesterday. Andy and
Sharon
Kockott managed to withdraw from their homestead yesterday with
the
assistance of the Tengwe Farmers Association chairman and the local
police
MIC, after being barricaded in since Thursday 12 September. The last
24
hours were spent without electricity and water, which had been cut
off.
They withdrew leaving the homestead and all the farm buildings locked,
and
everything on the farm
intact.
_______________________________________________
Justice for
Agriculture mailing list
To subscribe/unsubscribe: Please write to
jag-list-admin@mango.zw
Sydney Morning Herald
Mugabe moves to close white farmers'
last legal loophole
September 19 2002
White farmers
accused of using legal loopholes to stay on land targeted for
redistribution
to blacks will be given seven days to leave under a bill
before the
Zimbabwean parliament.
The Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, tabled
the bill on Tuesday and
parliament was due to suspend its normal debating
procedures yesterday to
consider the proposed changes.
The bill's
proposed amendments to the land acquisition laws will allow the
Government to
reissue any eviction notices previously rendered invalid by
the High
Court.
The bill says farmers who are reissued with an eviction order
after the
expiry of the initial 90-day notice will have only seven days to
vacate the
land. It will also raise the fine for resisting an eviction order
to
$Z100,000 ($3400) from $Z20,000.
President Robert Mugabe ordered
2900 commercial farmers to leave their land
without compensation by August 8
under a controversial program to seize
white-owned farms and hand them over
to the largely landless black majority.
But about 2500 farmers have
defied the initial orders, and police have
charged more than 300 of them, a
farmers' group, Justice for Agriculture,
says.
Last month the High
Court ruled in favour of a white farmer, finding that
his mortgaged farm
could not be taken for resettlement because the state had
not properly
informed the mortgage lender.
Since that ruling, the High Court has also
cancelled about 60 other eviction
orders for different
reasons.
Industry officials had said the mortgage ruling could pave the
way for
similar court appeals by farmers, but the government notice said
the
amendments would overcome this legal loophole.
Mr Mugabe says his
land drive is aimed at correcting British colonial
injustice, which left 70
per cent of the country's best land in the hands of
white farmers after
independence in 1980. The white farmers say they support
land reforms but are
opposed to the Government's metho
SADC police chiefs sign common code of conduct in
Zimbabwe
Xinhuanet 2002-09-18
14:45:34
HARARE, Sept. 18 (Xinhuanet) --
Southern Africa Development
Community (SADC) police chiefs have signed the
common code of conduct in the
city of Victoria Falls, under which no police
official shall inflict,
instigate, or tolerate any act or other cruel,
inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment to any person.
¡¡¡¡
Speaking at a Southern African
Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation
Organization (SARPCCO) conference in
Victoria Falls Tuesday, head of the
SARPCCO secretariat Frank Msuthu said "We
areall agreed that we want to see
suspects and criminals dealt with in almost
the same manner throughout the
region."
He added that the idea to come up with the document was in
linewith the
region's vision to work together in the fight against
crime.
In signing the document, the SADC
police chiefs recognized
thatethical standards, particularly human rights
norms, were an important
tool in the professional of police forces everywhere
andin SARPCCO member
countries.
On
human rights, the chiefs said that in the performance of their
duties, police
officials should respect and protect human dignity and
maintain and uphold
all human rights for all persons.
"Police
officials shall treat all persons fairly and equally and
avoid any form of
discrimination," they said.
The code allows
police to use force but only when "strictly
necessary and to the extent
required for the performance of their duties
adhering to national legislation
and practices."
They are required to
ensure protection of health of persons in
their custody and secure medical
attention where needed.
The SADC police
chiefs agreed that police officials should respect
and uphold the rule of law
and the new code of conduct andbehave in a
"trustworthy manner" to avoid any
conduct that might compromise integrity.
Police
officials shall not commit or attempt to commit any actsof
corruption or
abuse of power, according to the
code.
Individual police organizations from
the 12-member grouping will
be required to enforce the code of conduct and
punish defiantofficers.
Police chiefs or
their representatives who assented to the codeare
from Angola, Botswana,
Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique,Namibia, South
Africa, Swaziland,
Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
It was said
that Angola and Mozambique had initially been
reluctant to sign the code,
saying they were not happy with the translations
made on the document from
English to Portuguese. Enditem
IOL
Howard hints at firmer action over
Zimbabwe
September 17 2002 at
07:43PM
By Linsey Arkley and Basildon Peta
Australian
Prime Minister John Howard, who chairs the Commonwealth's troika
on Zimbabwe,
has dismissed Zimbabwe as "totalitarian" and given a strong
indication that
he supported expelling it from the organisation.
Zimbabwe's main civic
groups have urged the troika, which meets in Nigeria
this weekend, to expel
Zimbabwe as President Robert Mugabe's crackdown on
his opponents has not
abated.
President Thabo Mbeki and Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo
are also
part of the troika, which was mandated by the Commonwealth to act
on
Zimbabwe after the group's observer mission declared that Zimbabwe's
March
presidential election was not free and fair.
The troika has so
far suspended Zimbabwe from the councils of the
Commonwealth, but it agreed
to meet in Abuja this weekend to consider
further action against
Zimbabwe.
Obasanjo was reported to have said he was confident President
Robert Mugabe
would also attend the meeting so he could be
quizzed.
But the civic groups said the troika might as well disband if it
was not
prepared to act firmly against Mugabe's government.
Howard
told a meeting of Australian MPs in Canberra that it was important
that the
Commonwealth be consistent and expel Zimbabwe as it had done with
Pakistan
and Fiji.
He said there had been no developments recently to suggest that
Mugabe was
responsive to international pressure so
far.
Business Day
Zimbabwe's chaos 'threat to Africa
plan'
One of South Africa's largest companies yesterday
warned that the unchecked
political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe was
undermining the continent's
international credibility.
In a rare public
display of growing private sector impatience with regional
governments'
failure to tackle the leadership in Harare, Paul Kruger,
chairman of the
Sasol fuels group, said in his annual statement to
shareholders that the
''chaotic and embarrassing'' events in Zimbabwe posed
a major threat to the
New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), a
plan to promote democracy
and good governance.
"The despotic conduct of that country's leadership
and the anarchy and abuse
of human rights appear to go on unabated, thereby
tarnishing the image of
the entire continent," he said.
The sizeable
assets held by South African companies in Zimbabwe have
suffered as a result
of the country's economic decline. President Robert
Mugabe's suppression of
political opposition and a controversial land reform
programme's flouting of
the law have accelerated the collapse in investor
confidence.
Sasol's
warning came a day after South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki
showcased Nepad
at the UN General Assembly in New York. World leaders
welcomed the plan as an
African-led development initiative. But Colin
Powell, US secretary of state,
singled out Zimbabwe as a blot on the
continent's development
record.
"Countries that fail to live up to Nepad's commitment will
suffer. Zimbabwe'
s economic decline is a warning about the dangers of
ignoring the linkage
between good policies and human development,'' Mr Powell
said.
South African companies are likely to be some of the main
beneficiaries of
Nepad, and have thrown their support behind a plan that
relies heavily on
private sector investment. Companies like Sasol, SABMiller,
the brewing
group, miner Anglo American and telecommunications group MTN,
have
widespread African investments.
Sasol also vented a frustration
shared by many South African business
leaders that the South African
government has not done more to safeguard
Zimbabwe's investment potential.
Sasol used to supply Zimbabwe with fuel,
but Harare has turned to Libya to
meet its oil needs in a barter for
agricultural products.
"The
so-called quiet diplomacy pursued by the South African government has
had no
material effect on the appalling occurrences in Zimbabwe," Mr
Kruger
said.
The Zimbabwean economy is forecast to shrink by 11 per
cent this year, while
more than 6m Zimbabweans face severe food shortages.
Zimbabwe was South
Africa's largest trading partner, but over the past two
years it has slipped
to third place behind Mozambique.
Financial
Times
Daily News
Land Bill to be
fast-tracked
9/18/02 9:03:07 AM
(GMT +2)
Staff
Reporter
THE Land Acquisition Amendment
Bill, which seeks to increase fines for
commercial farmers who resist
eviction and to validate preliminary
acquisition orders, is set to be brought
before Parliament today.
Patrick
Chinamasa, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs,
yesterday said he would suspend the Standing Orders and Rules for
the Bill to
be fast-tracked through the House. The Bill was yesterday
referred to the
Parliamentary Legal Committee. The proposed amendments to
the Land
Acquisition Act come in the wake of delays in the government's
chaotic land
reform programme, after a number of commercial farmers
successfully
challenged parts of the law in the High Court. The Bill is
expected to amend
sections of the Act and relieve the acquiring authority of
the need to prove
that rural land is suitable for resettlement, as well as
increase the fine
for non-compliance with Section 8 eviction orders from $20
000 to $100
000.
The period of notice to vacate the
land in the case of an order that
is re-issued after 90 days from the date of
issue of the invalid order shall
be seven days from the date of service of
the re-issued order. Meanwhile,
Parliament received non-adverse reports on
the Patents Amendment Bill, the
Masvingo State University Bill, the Value
Added Tax Bill, and all statutory
instruments published in the Government
Gazette in July.
Daily News
MDC says Mugabe's
invitation to Abuja fundamentally
wrong
9/18/02 9:11:44 AM (GMT
+2)
Staff
Reporter
THE MDC has questioned the wisdom
of the invitation extended to
President Mugabe by the Commonwealth troika to
the Abuja meeting which is
scheduled for early next
week.
The invitation by President
Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, President
Olesugun Obasanjo of Nigeria and
Australian Prime Minister John Howard, has
been described by the MDC as
fundamentally wrong because it is unlikely to
contribute to the resolution of
the crisis in the country. Professor
Welshman Ncube, the MDC
secretary-general said: "While we have no doubt that
the meeting has been
necessitated by the Commonwealth's desire to find a
permanent and lasting
solution to the Zimbabwean crisis, the invitation of
Mugabe to the meeting to
hear endless Zanu PF lies on the situation in
Zimbabwe without extending the
same invitation to the opposition and civil
society is extremely worrying."
Ncube said the crisis in Zimbabwe could not
be resolved without the
engagement of all parties or at least hearing
them
out.
"We trust that the
Commonwealth troika has not been hoodwinked by
Mugabe's machinations which
were on display at both the World Summit on
Sustainable Development held in
South Africa and the 57th Session the United
Nations General Assembly held in
New York last week," Ncube said. He said
there was need for the troika to
instead invite the opposition and civil
society to the Abuja
meeting.
Daily News
Government evicts
resettled villagers to pave way for
Shiri
9/18/02 9:10:14 AM (GMT
+2)
Staff
Reporter
TRADITIONAL leaders from Svosve
communal lands in Marondera who have
have been living at Eirene Farm for the
past three years have accused the
government of forcibly relocating them from
the farm to pave way for Air
Marshal Perence Shiri, the Commander of the
Airforce of Zimbabwe.
Denias
Machingura, a village head from Chief Svosve's area who had
settled with
about 42 families at the farm, said he feared their removal
would adversely
affect their agricultural operations for the 2002/2003
season. "We had grown
about 42 hectares of wheat as a village at Eirene
Farm," he said. "The
unexpected relocation of people will mean that we will
abandon our tobacco
crop. We have been relocated to Mapuranga Farm which was
a cattle ranch."
Yesterday, the settlers were busy building some
pole-and-mud and huts at
Mapuranga Farm. Their property was heaped in the
open, covered with plastic
and grass.
Tempers nearly flared as they
narrated their plight to The Daily News.
Machingura said they thought the
government would give them time to start
their new farming season peacefully
but that was not the case. Machingura
said: "Who will compensate us for the
brick houses we built at Eirene Farm?
Is it Shiri? Or is it the government?
Nothing has been explained to us
except force from the government officials."
"We have been threatened for
telling the truth here by people who think they
own us. "They have forced
themselves on our lives saying we should
accommodate senior army, Central
Intelligence Organisation and police
officers for our security. They are
busy enriching
themselves."
Machingura said their forced
relocation to Mapuranga Farm by
Christopher Chingosho, the provincial
administrator (PA) for Mashonaland
East, was an insult to the Svosve people
who spearheaded land invasions in
1999 before war veterans and Zanu PF
supporters led the illegal occupation
of farms in
2000.
He said Mapuranga Farm was owned by
a farmer only identified as
Vrystaat and was specifically for cattle
ranching. The soils, Machingura
said, were unsuitable for crop production.
Machingura said the government
had reduced them to "animals by moving us to
places where there is no
drinking water and shelter". Other traditional
leaders among them Edward
Jera, Musekiwa Chakanongwa, Musimbe Bhebhe, and
Abel and Wilfred Marimo,
said they were called to the PA's office in
Marondera about two weeks ago
where Chingosho told them that they had to be
relocated because Eirene Farm
now belonged to Shiri. The leaders said the
volatile meeting was attended by
Shiri, Constantine Chiwenga, the Commander
of the Zimbabwe National Army,
Chief Enock Svosve and other government
officials including Chingosho, who
addressed
them.
Meanwhile, settlers at the nearby
Bonchana, Yutkik and Mushangwe farms
yesterday were bitter with the
government's latest move to relocate them,
saying it would backfire due to
the deepening rift between them and the army
top brass. Settlers at Mushangwe
Farm said they had been warned to prepare
for relocation because Chiwenga was
now the new owner. The traditional
leaders said the government misled
villagers by pegging the farm under the
A1 resettlement model when it knew
that the farms would be allocated to
senior government officials who wanted
the farmhouses and the farm
equipment. Yesterday the settlers, who invaded
the farm at the height of the
illegal farm invasions in 2000, accused the
government of using them
following its controversial victory in the March
presidential election. The
village heads said the government only wanted the
masses to forcibly evict
white commercial farmers so that it could allocate
prime land to senior
army, police and government
officials.
Daily News
MDC activists
arrested for campaigning in
Guruve
9/18/02 9:17:23 AM (GMT
+2)
Staff
Reporter
ABOUT 23 MDC activists in Guruve
South, including two aspiring
councillors, were last week on Thursday
arrested by the police for
reportedly campaigning for their candidates in the
forthcoming rural
district council elections scheduled for 28-29
September.
Henry Chimbiri, the
provincial spokesman for the MDC in Mashonaland
Central, said the 23 party
activists were arrested in Guruve following
attacks by Zanu PF youths in the
area. He said among those arrested was
Muhamba Munyambara and Jaison
Karikoga, the candidates for Wards 9 and 10
respectively. Some of the
arrested are Vengai Kanyoka, Samuel Munyambare,
Spider Chitumba, Makomborero
Kazai, Tapiwa Kabengere, Ranganayi Murimo,
Lixon Mwanza, Tapfumanei Muzhona,
Godfrey Mwazenge, Anyway Freddie and
several others. Chimbiri said the
arrested activists were taken to Bindura
Police Station where they were
reportedly still being held by
Thursday
afternoon.
A police spokesman
who identified himself as Inspector Nyakurimwa at
the Bindura Police Station,
denied any knowledge of the arrested MDC
supporters. Nyakurimwa said: "I do
not have any information related to that
incident. "The MDC spokesman
insisted their members were arrested under
unclear circumstances. "Guruve
South has become a dangerous place to live
in," Chimbiri said. "So-called war
veterans and Zanu PF youths have launched
a campaign to flush out MDC
supporters and nominees before elections." He
said due to violence and
unorthodox campaign practices by the ruling party
when the nomination court
sat, only eight out of a possible 15 MDC
candidateswere nominated to contest
the lection. He said: "We fear for their
lives but we are not stopping our
campaigns.
The police are getting
instructions from the so-called war veterans
and Zanu PF youths to arrest our
members who are brave enough to stand in
the elections." Tapera Macheka, the
MDC provincial chairman in Mashonaland
Central, said their members were being
ill-treated at the Bindura police
holding cells where they have been denied
food since their arrest. "Our
lawyer is now handling the matter. We hope they
will be released very soon,"
said Macheka.
Daily News
Leader Page
Election appeals must be treated with
urgency
9/18/02 8:46:26 AM (GMT
+2)
The reluctance of the
Judiciary to treat political disputes and
challenges as urgent matters has
let the people down.
After the 2000
parliamentary election, results in 37 constituencies
were challenged by the
opposition, citing widespread
irregularities.
The courts refused to
treat the matters as urgent, resulting in a long
wait and a protracted
process that hastened polarisation in our society and
delayed the
reconciliation and healing of fractured
communities.
Some petitioners withdrew
their challenges when they realised vital
clues, evidence and even witnesses
were no longer available because of the
delays. The few cases which were
heard by the High Court are still pending
following counter-challenges to the
Supreme Court by the losers.
Such delays
have a shattering effect on communities and individuals,
given the volatile
political climate in the rural areas.
After the flawed presidential election, two initiatives emerged as a
way for
the nation to move forward. South Africa and Nigeria's effort to
mediate was
scuttled by Zanu PF which showed no interest in a lasting
solution to the
impasse.
Zanu PF tried to push the MDC to
stall a possible legal challenge and
confer legitimacy to the flawed election
result.
The MDC was keen to prove that
Zanu PF had stolen the election and
must accept an internationally supervised
rerun.
On realising the futility of talks,
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai filed
papers a day before the deadline with the
High Court. President Mugabe duly
responded and the matter is still to be
heard - five months after the event.
Since
then, Zimbabwe continues to bleed.
The
government behaves as if we are still in the middle of an
election
campaign.
The battle lines have
never been more sharply drawn, with thousands
denied food and government
services on the suspicion that they sympathise
with the
opposition.
Those being punished have
flatly refused to be crushed, maintaining
their resistance to accept Mugabe
as their leader.
That has made it
impossible for Mugabe to consolidate his
controversial
victory.
The failure of the foreign-mediated
attempts to make the government
see the need for a speedy return to a normal
society, exacerbated by
persistent delays and the seemingly casual attitude
within the Judiciary,
are a major blow to the people's
aspirations.
Our courts must move quickly
to resolve the differences because of the
effect of the polarisation on
ordinary people's lives.
Take the case of
Buhera North MP Kenneth Manyonda.
The High
Court ruled that he was not duly elected.
He appealed against the ruling, which is his right. The court, as in
other
cases, is in no hurry to hear the appeal.
But, in the meantime, Mugabe appoints Manyonda as a deputy minister.
That
puts the people of Buhera North in a quandary. Manyonda's supporters
feel
that his loss of the case was of no
consequence.
Those who voted against him
and look forward to a new Supreme Court
result of the appeal feel slighted.
Mugabe's actions perpetuate divisions in
rural communities and make healing
and reconciliation impossible.
Where are
we going as a nation in crisis?
The MDC
could have banked on the threat of mass action in the urban
areas. But that
plan has since fallen apart, according to the results of the
latest Mass
Public Opinion Institute survey.
Mugabe is
certainly on the run as evidenced by the increase in
repressive measures his
government has put in place, a vicious information
war which seems to be
driving more people away from Zanu PF, and an
international squeeze, forcing
him to plead for legitimacy whenever he gets
a chance to address a gathering
outside Zimbabwe.
The MDC says it is
neither in retreat nor in a state of paralysis. It
claims the real struggle
has just begun, but does not state how.
Meanwhile, the stand-off remains and the people
suffer.
The Judiciary has let people
down.
The hearings must be speeded up to
let the majority know of their fate
or assist them in starting a new way of
life.
MSNBC
Zimbabwe's Mugabe due in Nigeria for crisis
talks
ABUJA, Sept. 18 — Zimbabwe's President Robert
Mugabe will hold talks in Nigeria next week with a three-nation Commonwealth
group charged with monitoring the crisis in his country, a Nigerian official
said on Wednesday.
British Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw was also expected at the three-day talks in Abuja from
Monday involving the Commonwealth troika of Australia, Nigeria and South Africa,
Junior foreign minister Dubem Onyia told Reuters.
The troika comprises South African
President Thabo Mbeki, Nigerian head of state Olusegun Obasanjo and Australian
Prime Minister John Howard. It was not clear whether Mugabe and Straw would join
the Commonwealth group's discussions together.
Zimbabwe's crisis deepened earlier this
year when Mugabe ordered 2,900 commercial farmers to quit their land without
compensation under a controversial scheme to seize white-owned farms and hand
them over to the largely landless black majority.
An estimated six million people, nearly
half the population, are short of food because of disruption to farms and
drought.
The troika, set up at a
Commonwealth summit in Australia earlier this year, decided in March to suspend
Zimbabwe from the councils of the Commonwealth for 12 months. Howard announced
details on Saturday of next week's Abuja meeting.
''Zimbabwe has been quite indifferent
to the requests properly made of her by the Commonwealth and we want to talk
about what might further be done in relation to that,'' Howard said.
Onyia said the meeting aimed to ''come
up with a peaceful resolution without any side losing in the matter.''
Mugabe's government agreed at talks in
Abuja a year ago to stop forceful farm seizures in return for support from
former colonial ruler Britain to win international assistance to fund orderly
land reform in the southern African nation.
Both Britain and Zimbabwe have since
accused each other of not playing their part after the Abuja agreement.
Mugabe has hardened his policy on the
land issue since the Commonwealth suspended Zimbabwe following his controversial
re-election in bitterly disputed presidential polls.
Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party pushed
a bill through parliament on Wednesday giving it power to evict within days
white farmers accused of using legal loopholes to hang on to land targeted for
redistribution to blacks.
Letter to the
Times
Zimbabwe pensions
From Mrs Elaine
Kriedemann
Sir, It is not only black people and white farmers who
are suffering through Mugabe’s madness.
Thousands of pensioners scattered
throughout South Africa and the rest of the world, who have faithfully served
Zimbabwe and contributed to pension funds for many years, have not been paid
since December.
The Zimbabwean banks say that they have insufficient foreign
currency to remit our pensions.
Our pensions were guaranteed by the
Lancaster House agreement (Hansard, March 5, 2002, col 208W) but we now face a
bleak future.
Yours faithfully,
ELAINE KRIEDEMANN,
PO Box
675,
Howick 3290, South Africa.
September 17.
http://www.theage.com.au/letters/index.htmlNext, Zimbabwe?
Intense diplomatic
pressure from world and regional leaders forced Saddam
to back down, thus
significantly reducing the likelihood of the deaths of
hundreds of thousands
of civilians in Iraq.
Will similar pressure now be applied to Zimbabwe's
Robert Mugabe, whose
genocidal policies imperil the lives of even greater
numbers of innocents
in his own, and neighbouring countries?
I doubt it.
Zimbabwe has no oil, and its long-suffering masses no voice on
Capitol
Hill.
Nick Russell, Warranwood
LETTERS
Letters to the
Editor
THE WASHINGTON
TIMES
-----------------------------------------------------------
Zimbabwe
chart-topper: 'Old Macdonald had a farm, that
Mugabe stole'
I am
curious to know whether the article "Mrs. Mugabe joins
Zimbabwe land grab"
(Page One, Thursday) made the Zimbabwean
ambassador to Washington, Simbi
Mubako, feel uncomfortable.
He also recently became the proud new owner of a
farm - a
1,200-hectare (2,964-acre) spread in Mashonaland West
province
called Remainder of Between the Rivers. It formerly
belonged to 50-year-old
Adrian Wilkinson. The farm once
produced wheat, seed maize, soybeans and
tobacco and
employed 140 men and women. Mr. Wilkinson and his wife
were
barricaded into their home and severely intimidated by
ruling-party
militants. They were then forced to leave after
Mr. Mubako's brother informed
them that their farm was no
longer theirs.
ANNABEL
HUGHES
Executive director
Zimbabwe Democracy
Trust
London
.
The Washington Times is to
be commended for exposing the
atrocities taking place in Zimbabwe at the
hands of the
Mugabe regime. Just this week, the U.S. Department of
State,
to its credit, reminded the world that the elections in
Zimbabwe
were fraudulent and that the United States does not
recognize Robert Mugabe
as the legitimate leader of this
much-suffering country. The large-scale
theft of productive
Zimbabwean farms by high-ranking government officials;
Mr.
Mugabe's political cronies; and his wife, Grace, represents
not only a
blatant disregard for the rule of law, but also
an astonishingly destructive
policy in a country careering
toward famine.
Until this year, Zimbabwe
was a food exporter. Now the
United States is shipping corn to it on
"humanitarian
grounds." This food aid surely will prop up Mr. Mugabe
and,
worse, will be used to reward his followers and punish the
starving
opposition. One wonders how happy U.S. taxpayers
would be if they realized
that they are being called upon to
bail out this despotic regime from its own
disastrous
actions.
EWEN M. WILSON
Falls
Church