Movement For Democratic Change
Weekly Briefing Note
12 January 2004
For Further Information Please Contact:
Nkanyiso Maqeda, MDC Director of Information: 0263 91 248 570
James Littleton: 00 27 727 310 554
"These incidents [recent attacks on MDC supporters] demonstrate beyond doubt that despite claims by Zanu PF and the Mugabe regime that there is peace in Zimbabwe, lawlessness still prevails as the law enforcement agents have become part of the instruments for lawlessness and violence," said Paul Themba Nyathi (5 January 2004)
Political Violence/Intimidation
"The year 2003 saw a continuation, and indeed, an acceleration, of the deterioration of access by the public to justice, the effectiveness of the administration of justice, observance of human rights and public confidence in the effectiveness of mechanisms for the prevention and redress of human rights violations," said Sternford Moyo – President, Law Society of Zimbabwe
Political Violence Continues 2004 has got off to an ominous start. The first week of the new year has been characterised by acts of grotesque violence by Zanu PF supporters, determined to purge certain areas of MDC supporters. It appears that Zanu PF is bent upon continuing it cycle of violence, a factor which underlines the party’s indifference to the suffering of the majority of their compatriots.
Last Sunday MDC supporter Alexander Chigiga died after being brutally assaulted by Zanu PF supporters. His wife and young son were also attacked and are currently in hospital recovering from their injuries. The attack on Chigiga and his family was part of an organised assault on MDC supporters by Zanu PF in Shamva. Ruben Manyika, who suffered serious head injuries, reported that "…the Zanu PF supporters, led by Kangi, are saying that they were given instructions by their leaders to drive MDC supporters out of Shamva. Night raids on homes of suspected opposition supporters have become common."
The home of Simon Dick, an MDC councillor in Zvishavane, was recently burned to the ground following a petrol bomb attack by Zanu PF youths.
On December 27, Patrick Kombayi, the former mayor of Gweru, survived a grenade attack on his house. Elsewhere in Gweru, two men in their eighties suspected of being sympathetic towards the MDC, have been forced to flee into hiding, whilst a local headman called Sikombingo is still missing after being abducted by Zanu PF youth last weekend.
Journalists Arrested
Last Friday, police arrested the editor of the weekly ‘Independent’ newspaper and two of his staff on the spurious grounds of ‘criminal defamation’ against the president. The three were accused of publishing a falsehood in relation to an article that alleged that Mugabe had commandeered an Air Zimbabwe plane for the purposes of his visit to the Far East leaving hundreds of passengers stranded in Harare.
Doctors Threatened
Striking doctors were last week threatened with arrest by the new Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence forces, General Constantine Chiwenga. Such a development underlines the extent to which the democratic space has been closed down in Zimbabwe. In any functioning democracy a doctors’ strike would be handled by the Minister of Health, however, in Mugabe’s ‘democratic’ Zimbabwe it appears that the Minister of Health defers to the head of the armed forces when it comes to dealing to strike action.
Political Violence: Cumulative Totals – 1 Jan 03 – 31 October 03
Assault – 337
Murder – 9
Freedom of Exp/Assoc – 721
Political Discrim/Int – 426
Torture – 488
Unlawful Arrest
Court Order Disobeyed Yet Again
Last Friday the publishers of the Daily News won their fourth court ruling ordering the government to allow them to resume publication following the ban in September. In his ruling, Judge Tendai Uchena ordered the government to ‘cease interfering with the operations of the paper and to vacate it premises’. Despite this ruling, the police have demonstrated their contempt for the judicial process by refusing to vacate the premises of the Daily News.
Cell Phone Company Under Threat?
Zimbabwe’s state controlled media recently ran a story claiming that the government was planning to revoke the operating licence of Econet, Zimbabwe’s largest cellular telephone operator. Given Zanu PF’s fear, and fervent dislike of the concept of freedom of speech and an individual’s right to receive and impart information, it would come as no surprise if the regime made moves to reduce people’s channels of communication with the outside world in an attempt to minimise the exposure of its criminal failings to the international community.
Church Leaders Speak Out
Church leaders in South Africa recently called on the South African government to condemn the ongoing violation of human rights in Zimbabwe. They also urged Christians to stand up and protest as they did over apartheid.
Economy
Inflation Hits 620% Recent figures released by the state controlled Central Statistical Office revealed that Zimbabwe’s annual inflation rate has soared to 620%. A chronic shortage of foreign currency and a widening budget deficit increases the likelihood of the inflation rate exceeding 1,000% before the end of the year. Until Zanu PF takes steps to address the political crisis in Zimbabwe the economic situation will continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate.
Zimbabwe’s Plunge
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Zimbabwe now tops the list of the world’s poorest performing economies. Official figures released in November’s budget gave decline in Gross Domestic Product in 2003 as 13.2% and predicted shrinkage of 8.5% in 2004.
Crisis in Banking Sector
The stability of Zimbabwe’s banking sector is in serious doubt following the refusal by a number of major companies to accept cheques from 6 banks that have been suspended from the country’s settlement system for interbank debt due to concerns that they could not pay other banks. This followed an announcement last month by the new governor of the Reserve Bank, Gideon Gono, that he would cease baling out troubled banks with inadequate liquidity. The announcement immediately sparked interest rate hikes, and, over the past four weeks interest rates have, on average, risen from 150% to 450%.
General News
Humanitarian Crisis
The Famine Early Warning System has reported that whilst the number of people in rural areas requiring food assistance from October to December 2003 was 4.1 million, it will rise to 5.1 million from January to March of 2004. In addition to this, an estimated 1.1 million urban dwellers will be in need of food aid this year.
According to the WFP, food handouts in Zimbabwe were halved in December as the agency faced a chronic shortage of funds. Last June the WFP issued an urgent appeal for US$311 to cover food assistance in Zimbabwe however it ended up with a shortfall of US$161.
Zanu PF Exposed Again
Zanu PF MPs, Olivia Muchena and Shuvai Mahofa have threatened to stop donors from distributing food relief in their constituencies as villagers no longer attend party meetings and rallies.
Death From Malnutrition
Authorities in Bulawayo last week reported that 65 people, most of them children under the age of five, have died of malnutrition and other hunger-related causes over the past five months.
Education Follows Health Into Decline
The collapse of Zimbabwe’s health sector has been well documented over the past twelve months. Now it seems that education is destined for a decline of similar proportions. A recent study conducted by UNICEF estimated the number of school dropouts to be 10% and increasing. Such figures make for depressing reading given the huge expansion of education in Zimbabwe since independence. Up until afew years ago Zimbabwe had one of the best education systems in Africa. Now, as a result of chronic underinvestment and gross economic mismanagement Zimbabwe’s education system is a pale shadow of its former self. On average school fees for this year have gone up 400% and are scheduled to continue to rise, forcing more and more parents to withdrawal their children from school. Mugabe’s failed policies threaten the hopes and aspirations of a whole generation.
Zimbabwe’s Wildlife Being Decimated
The political and socio-economic crisis threatens much of Zimbabwe’s precious wildlife with extinction. Numerous stories have been published of animals being poached or caught in crude snares. The latest indication of the scale of the destruction of Zimbabwe’s wildlife were news reports of hundreds of wild elephants wading across the Zambezi to escape marauding hunters. The destruction of Zimbabwe by Zanu PF has left no stone un-turned. Only those entrenched in the ruling elite are immune to the systematic destruction that is taking place. It is hoped that 2004 will bring an end to the ills visited on Zimbabwe by Zanu PF and will be the year in which the tide finally turns.
END
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