Leaders of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) will today meet South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) in Pretoria to discuss Zimbabwe's worsening political and economic crisis, the Financial Gazette has established. MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai, his deputy Gibson Sibanda and secretary-general Welshman Ncube left Harare yesterday for South Africa at the invitation of the powerful Confederation of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). Tsvangirai is expected to address a meeting of the executive committee of COSATU, a member of the tripartite alliance that governs South Africa which also includes the ANC and the Communist Party. Tsvangirai, sources said, would brief the COSATU leadership about political developments and the labour unrest in Zimbabwe. The trio is also scheduled to hold talks with ANC vice president Jacob Zuma, national chairman Patrick Mosioua Lekota and the party's secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe
Tsvangirai said his meeting with the ANC leaders would centre on the crisis in Zimbabwe and what the South African government could do to avert a total collapse of its northern neighbour. He said it was clear to the ANC that the importance of stability in Zimbabwe to South Africa was beyond President Robert Mugabe or the MDC. "We will take the opportunity to give them a frank assessment of the situation in Zimbabwe and what role the ANC government can play in solving the crisis as an influential regional power," Tsvangirai told the Financial Gazette yesterday. He said his party would discuss the land reform issue, the breakdown of law and order and the decline of the political and economic situation in Zimbabwe, among others.
South African President Thabo Mbeki, who has recently said events in Zimbabwe were worrisome and likely to spill over into his country, has been blamed internationally for not taking a tough line on Mugabe. The South African business community though has already expressed fears that Zimbabwe's political and economic problems will create an influx of economic refugees who will flood that country. The MDC's talks in South Africa come after the party has made representations to the European Union (EU) and the British and American governments about the deteriorating political situation in Zimbabwe.
The EU has given Mugabe a 60-day deadline to restore the rule of law, implement a transparent land reform plan, guarantee the independence of the judiciary and the media and create conditions that allow for the staging of a free and fair presidential election or risk punishment. The American legislature is also considering the Zimbabwe Democracy Act, which calls for smart or targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe government officials and politicians, including Mugabe, accused of promoting lawlessness and violence.
Top
From The Financial Gazette, 26 July
Plot to rig Bindura vote
More than 4 000 Zanu PF activists have been clandestinely moved from neighbouring areas into Bindura to beef up support for the ruling party's candidate Elliot Manyika who is pitted against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)'s Elliot Pfebve in a by-election this weekend. The illegal scheme to shore up Manyika's support is part of a wider survival plan recently hatched by Zanu PF and designed to ensure that the ruling party wins all upcoming parliamentary by-elections and local government polls, well-placed sources said this week. Under the scheme, alleged to be involving the Registrar-General's Office and run with the aid of the spy Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), carefully selected Zanu PF activists residing in areas surrounding a particular constituency where a by-election is scheduled are deployed in that constituency as elections approach. The ZANU PF supporters are formally registered on the voters' roll of that constituency as residents in the newly resettled areas under the government's on-going fast-track land resettlement programme.
Zanu PF national chairman and Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo, who controls the Registrar-General's Office, however this week dismissed the vote-rigging allegations as baseless. "That is nonsense. These are just diversionary tactics by people who know they will lose to Zanu PF," Nkomo said. MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube said his party was aware of the illegal scheme to beef up support for Zanu PF in Bindura and in other constituencies where by-elections are due to be held later this year. "We are in the process of carrying out our own exercise to expose the whole scam before we take appropriate legal action," Ncube told the Financial Gazette.
Manyika and Pfebve battle it out in the weekend by-election to replace the late ruling party legislator Border Gezi, who died in a car crash in May. The secret plan was put into full swing after Zanu PF's Joseph Chademana lost the mayoral election in Masvingo to the MDC's Alois Chaimiti, the sources said. In Bulawayo, where a mayoral election initially set for last month is due to take place on September 8 and 9, thousands of Zanu PF activists mostly from Bubi-Umguza and Nyamandlovu have allegedly been added onto the Bulawayo voters' roll to beef up support for party candidate George Mlilo. In Makoni West constituency, where another parliamentary by-election is going to held, the governing party has registered its followers residing in neighbouring constituencies such as Mutare and Makoni East on the Makoni West voters' roll.
In Bindura, a total 4 740 new names that were not on the voters' roll used in the June general election appear on the fresh roll prepared by Mudede's office for the weekend by-election. According to the sources, Mudede's officers told a pre-election meeting attended by both Pfebve and Manyika that of the new names, 2 404 were people who had not registered to vote last June but had now decided to register for the by-election. The remaining 2 336, the officials explained, were people who had moved from neighbouring areas under the fast-track land resettlement scheme and were now resident in the constituency. The MDC's Pfebve lost by about 2 000 votes to the late Gezi last year.
An examination of the new voters' roll for Bindura though shows names of some people now residing in that constituency but known to reside in neighbouring constituencies. Some names also appear to have been entered twice on the roll. For example, one Karira Mukwari with ID number 45-061090V is entered on the roll as a resident of Chiwaridzo Farm which is in Bindura, although she is also listed as living at Dick Farm in the Mount Darwin South constituency. Another voter, Charles Chihuri, is a resident of Madziwa in Shamva, although his name now appears on the Bindura voters' roll. The name of another voter, Front Mabika, appears on the new roll twice. Manyika was reportedly out campaigning and could not be reached for comment on the matter yesterday.
Under Zimbabwe's electoral law, Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede oversees the preparation of voters' rolls for elections, the actual voting, the counting of votes and also declares the winner. But civic rights bodies and opposition political parties have accused Mudede, who was appointed by President Robert Mugabe, of favouring Zanu PF, a charge he denies. The pending by-elections and local government polls have become critical for both Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai ahead of a crunch presidential race between the two men due next year.
Top
From News24 (SA), 25 July
Mugabe wants 'real men' in govt
Harare - In scathing criticism of a government minister who quit because of concerns about increasingly repressive policies, embattled President Robert Mugabe has declared he will keep only "real men" in his government, not spineless cowards. The likes of former Trade and Industry Minister Commerce Minister Nkosana Moyo, who quit the government in May, were not wanted in his government, Mugabe said on Tuesday during a function marking the official opening of Parliament. Only journalists working for state media were allowed to cover the event, which was reported on Wednesday in the state-run Herald newspaper.
In his first public criticism of Moyo's resignation, Mugabe said he did not want to work "with cowards with no spine". Moyo, a former banker, left the country to join his family in South Africa in May, saying he was exasperated by lawlessness and attacks on farms and businesses in the agriculture-based economy by ruling party militants. He had also expressed frustration over his failure to rein in ruinous policies of his government colleagues that caused acute shortages of hard currency and gasoline and dried up aid and investment.
Mugabe said Moyo "grew cold feet." "I do not want ministers who are in the habit of running away. I want those I can call amadoda sibili, ' - real men in the local Shona language - ' people with spine," Mugabe said. "Our revolution ... was not fought by cowards. If some of you are getting weak-kneed, tell us and we will continue with the struggle," he said. Moyo and Finance Minister Simba Makoni were appointed after Mugabe's ruling party won a narrow majority in parliamentary elections in June, 2000. They were seen as technocrats brought into the 19-member cabinet to tackle the worst economic crisis since independence from British rule in 1980. Makoni, who remains at his post, has acknowledged the nation faces an acute crisis.
Top
From The Times (UK), 26 July
Mugabe dismisses talk of collapse
Harare - Faced with the ruination of his country, President Mugabe has declared that Zimbabwe's economy cannot collapse and scorned forecasts of famine by his own Government. Any chance that he might resign was dashed with grandiloquence: "No matter what force you have, this is my territory and that which is mine I cling (to) unto death." Mr Mugabe's theatrical performance before ruling party MPs included an apparent veiled threat to Simba Makoni, the Finance Minister and perhaps the only figure left in the Cabinet with whom the outside world believes it can talk. Mr Mugabe said that he wanted "real men" in his Cabinet, not "weak-kneed cowards. If you do not have a spine please tell us and we will say goodbye." Mr Makoni is the only minister known to be challenging Mr Mugabe over economic policy. Zimbabwe was undergoing hardships, Mr Mugabe admitted, yet "the economy is not collapsing. But listen to the British; it's as if we have been a failure," he said. Inflation is forecast to reach 100 per cent this year, and Mr Makoni has admitted that the Government has asked Western governments to help avert wheat shortages. Hospitals have no hard currency to pay for vital imported items.
Top
From The Daily News, 25 July
Lawyers dismiss Mugabe
Two prominent Harare lawyers said President Mugabe yesterday erred when he told Parliament that the Supreme Court early this month issued a landmark judgment allowing the government to compulsorily acquire land without a proper land reform programme. Advocate Adrian de Bourbon said the President was wrong to conclude that government could go ahead with the land reform programme without a proper plan. He said: "I disagree with the President. The Supreme Court made it clear that the temporary interdict allowing the government to resettle people without a proper programme would run until the end of June. Thereafter, they had to produce a workable plan." In fact, de Bourbon said, Joseph Made, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, had applied to the Supreme Court for the interdict to be extended to November.
Welshman Ncube, a constitutional lawyer, said: "Essentially, the grace period for government to acquire land without a proper plan has expired. The impression given in the President's speech is that the interdict will apply in the future, which is wrong." Officially opening the second session of the Fifth Parliament yesterday, Mugabe said the Supreme Court made a landmark judgment in which the government was not obliged to produce a defined land reform programme. Mugabe said: "At the beginning of this month, the Supreme Court made a landmark judgment which should speed up the process of land acquisition and thus paving the way for more rapid resettlement. Relying on different reasons, it ruled that there was no legal basis for the Administrative Court to demand the existence of a land reform policy framework before it could confirm or reject government acquisition orders."
But in the Supreme Court's July judgment, the Acting Chief Justice, Godfrey Chidyausiku, failed to enlist the support of his four colleagues when he said a land reform programme was not a prerequisite for the compulsory acquisition of land. The Supreme Court, in an earlier judgment in December last year, gave the government until 1 July this year to come up with a workable land reform programme. This month's ruling followed an appeal by Made against the decision of the Administrative Court in May not to determine the applications for confirmation made of the acquisition orders of two farms belonging to Demetrios Nicholas Paliouras and Claire Kit Wiggil.
Ncube said to date, the government had no proper land reform programme "unless it is still locked up in some minister's drawer". Four Supreme Court judges, except Nicholas McNally, ruled that Made had the power to acquire land for resettlement from December last year until 1 July 2001. But Justices McNally, Simbarashe Muchechetere, Wilson Sandura and Mohammed Ebrahim disagreed with Chidyausiku that the existence of a comprehensive land reform programme was not a prerequisite in the compulsory acquisition of land. The four judges believed it was necessary for the government to show that a proper land reform programme existed. Two of the judges, Muchechetere and Ebrahim, said: "In the circumstances, it is our view that as from 2 July 2001, the State is obliged with the full terms of the interdict sought by the Commercial Farmers' Union, but in the meantime, it has not been precluded from proceeding with its land reform exercise."
In his speech, Mugabe said the Organisation of African Unity, now the African Union (AU), was unanimous that Britain had a colonial responsibility for land to return to Zimbabweans. He said the AU has set up a committee of seven countries to represent it at any forum Zimbabwe's land issue was discussed. There was tight security outside Parliament Building as Mugabe arrived to open the session. About 50 members of the Zanu PF youth brigade joined the police guarding the building as the President arrived.
Top
From Business Day (SA), 26 July
Mugabe to Resurrect Restrictive Media Laws
Johannesburg - Opening parliament, Mugabe acknowledged publicly for the first time that his country's economy is in crisis, but blamed it on colonial rule and promised unspecified remedial measures. This prompted a cynical response from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Party leader Morgan Tsvangirai said the remarks showed Mugabe was "out of touch with reality".
Mugabe declared that the controversial Public Order and Security Bill which stirred a storm of controversy a few years ago because of its repressive nature and a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Bill would soon be introduced. Given that Zimbabwe's legislature now has a respectable opposition presence, the bills are expected to face tough resistance, setting the scene for a round of confrontation politics ahead of next year's presidential lections. Harare also named a panel of experts, dominated by pro-government academics, to advise it on media law reforms, including ways of regulating the profession. The panel, which excluded independent journalists, is expected to look at the editorial policies and funding of media houses.
The panel comes just days after the shakeup of the editorial management of state media and the expulsion earlier this year of foreign journalists from the country. The Public Order and Security Bill was introduced in 1997 and debated for years. Civic organisations and lawyers forced government to remove draconian provisions from the bill, but Mugabe refused to sign it, claiming it was not tight enough for the maintenance of law and order. He apparently prefers the repressive, colonial-era Law and Order (Maintenance) Act. Mugabe also defended his controversial land seizure programme: "Our position on the land issue is now understood by the majority of the international community, who now accept it as just and reasonable."
Top
From The Daily News, 25 July
Bvudzijena dismisses Herald story on violence in Bindura
Wayne Bvudzijena, the police spokesman, has said the story on the violence in Bindura published in yesterday's issue of the government-controlled Herald newspaper was inaccurate. Bvudzijena denied that a Datsun 140Y belonging to Zanu PF was burnt in the violence. The Herald story quoted the police as saying the car belonged to Zanu PF. In fact, the car belonged to Dr Tichaona Mudzingwa, the MDC's secretary for health. "If you listened to me last night on ZBC's news hour," said Bvudzijena, "I said the Datsun 140Y belongs to the MDC. I don't know where The Herald got their information from. But they are free to do their own investigations."
Learnmore Jongwe, the MDC's spokesman, also denied telling The Herald that his party's supporters only retaliated when cornered by Zanu PF members. "At no stage did I say that," said Jongwe. "That was mischief on the part of either the reporter or the editor." The reporter, who was not at the scene of the incident, accused The Daily News of twisting the facts to suit the MDC. Bvudzijena said: "I never said the Zanu PF supporters were attacked. I said they were threatened and they retreated to their base. That might have provoked their colleagues. That is the result of preliminary police investigations. That is what happened, according to the information I received from the police in Mashonaland Central. I was not there myself."
The 13, and not nine, motor vehicle MDC convoy met a few Zanu PF supporters travelling in a white Nissan Hardbody truck with a government registration plate, number GLL 6238, at a police roadblock along the Bindura-Manhenga Road. The MDC members were suddenly attacked by Zanu PF youths at Chiveso village, about one-and-a-half kilometres from Bindura, later. The MDC said the attack on the convoy in which the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai was travelling, was a "clear attempt" to kill him. Tsvangirai's motorcade was attacked in Chiveso village on Sunday by suspected Zanu PF supporters. There was an exchange of gunfire and several people were injured. The attack occurred barely a week before the by-election set for the weekend.
According to news agency reports, the police said earlier that gunshots were fired on both sides, but could not say what sparked the exchange of fire. The incident was the latest in a violence-marred campaign for the 28 and 29 July by-election. Tsvangirai was in Bindura to help the MDC candidate Elliot Pfebve campaign for the seat, which he lost in the election last year after months of bloody intimidation, during which his brother was killed. The by-election was called after Zanu PF's Border Gezi, died in a car accident.
Top
Comment from The New York Times, 25 July
The Travails of Zimbabwe
All of southern Africa has an interest in seeing a free and fair election next year in Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe seems prepared to reduce his once hopeful nation to violent ruin in a desperate bid to cling to power. Washington and its friends in the region and beyond need to take steps now that will make possible a level playing field throughout the campaign. Mr. Mugabe, who has been in power for 21 years since he led Zimbabwe to independence from white rule in what had been Rhodesia, will be seeking a fifth term in April 2002. He has allowed violent attacks on the independent press, the courts and white-owned factories and farms. Nearly 50 farmers, farm workers and opposition activists, black and white, have been killed in the past year and a half.
To its credit, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change remains dedicated to constitutional procedures. Its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has called on the outside world to send observers now to begin monitoring the campaign. Western nations and their African friends should find a way to respond to his plea. They should insist on the establishment of an independent electoral commission and on the ability of the independent media to operate unhindered.
Zimbabwe's political turmoil has already exacted a terrible cost. Joblessness approaches 60 percent, inflation is close to 70 percent, and the health care system is collapsing in the face of one of the world's worst AIDS epidemics. Most multilateral aid has already been suspended. Secretary of State Colin Powell, on his trip to Africa in May, set the right tone when he forthrightly called on Mr. Mugabe to "submit to the law and the will of the people" in a free and fair election. There is bipartisan support in Congress for legislation that would condition any resumption of aid on fair elections, restoration of the rule of law, a demonstrated commitment to a lawful land reform program and withdrawal from the war in Congo.
Washington needs to follow through in the coming months, working closely with South Africa and other regional democracies whose own economies and political stability are closely tied to Zimbabwe. The fact that Zimbabwe has journalists who risk bombing and torture, judges who risk beatings and opposition activists who risk jail and murder is evidence of the enormous courage of Zimbabweans who want to rid their country of an obsolete tyranny. They will need the scrutiny of the outside world if they are to stick to their strategy of constitutional change.
Top
From The Financial Mail (SA), 20 July
ANC brains slug it out over Zanu and the MDC
Key ANC intellectuals have gone head to head to lobby for different approaches to the crisis in Zimbabwe.
MP Pallo Jordan favours the path of "quiet diplomacy", belittling debates in SA as "much ado about Zimbabwe", while ANC-aligned businessman Moeletsi Mbeki says the situation in SA's northern neighbour poses "the greatest threat to national security our young democracy has yet faced". Mbeki outlines several polar options SA can take: "We could prop up the Zimbabwean economy and ask others to do the same in the hope that Zanu-PF will in the meantime beat the population and the opposition into quiet submission." Or: "We could help the opposition to resist intimidation in the hope that this will persuade Zanu-PF to respect democratic processes and therefore hold free and fair elections and accept their outcome."
The debate, in the latest edition of the ANC journal Umrabulo, is the most public signal of differences within the ruling party on what has become one of its most important foreign affairs challenges. President Thabo Mbeki appears to have been swayed by the tougher, more principled options voiced in his ranks and by the demands of realpolitik. Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was party to a swashbuckling resolution at the Organisation of African Unity summit last week, which gave Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's land policies the green light and failed to object to the manifest rights abuses by the State.
Reports said Mbeki worked hard to scotch the resolution, and got it toned down to an anodyne statement saying it was important for land talks between the UK and its former colony to continue. The President realised the damage the Ministers' resolution would have on the African Union's first road-show at the G8 meeting in Genoa this week.
In complete contrast with ANC establishment views on Zimbabwe, Moeletsi Mbeki writes: "In its misguided drive to stay in power whatever the wishes of the people, Zanu-PF has decided it will stop at nothing." He says the racialising of an economic crisis poses a security threat to SA - the campaign against white landowners was the start of a target-and-neutralise mission against various strata of Zimbabwean society. White farmers, then black farmworkers and the black urban working class have already been singled out as problematic groups. Why not the Ndebele next, "for no other reason other than that they are Ndebele".
He says the only reason the Matabeleland murders of the Eighties did not result in mass migration to SA was apartheid-era border controls. "This is no longer the case. Huge African population movements across SA borders are feasible." This, he argues, is the security threat to the ANC, and perhaps the moral threat too. "The ANC's founding principle is nonracism and opposition to ethnic politics," Moeletsi Mbeki reminds his comrades. Whereas the ANC leadership has sought, on occasion, to paint the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as johnny-come-latelies, he points out that senior cadres from Zipra (Zanu-PF's military wing) have joined the opposition MDC, and that its leadership is comprised of seasoned trade union leaders.
In the previous edition of Umrabulo, the writer "Denga" (a pen-name once used by Joe Slovo, but which now floats among senior ANC leaders) said the MDC reflected an "impatience born of inexperience in revolutionary struggle" and "has played into the hands of the recidivists: the Rhodies both within Zimbabwe and in influential positions in SA and Britain." But whereas the ANC once refused to meet the MDC, the pace of engagement has increased. ANC sources suggest the party is trying to export the idea of a government of national unity to Zimbabwe. The balance of power in Zimbabwe is delicate. Denga argues that while a "significant section" of Zanu-PF has used its position for enrichment, the party still has a democratic, revolutionary heart, and can be saved.
Jordan reveals in his paper that he has, thus far, led party thinking on Zimbabwe. Treating Mugabe's government as despotic is wrong, he says: "Whatever its faults, the government led by Zanu-PF is a government elected by the majority of Zimbabweans in inclusive, nonracial elections." SA's decision to exercise quiet diplomacy has kept the doors of dialogue open. "As far as we know, not a single land seizure has been halted and not one life saved by the sound and fury emitted by Bush and Blair," says Jordan. "Diplomacy is about shaping and influencing the context in which another government makes its decisions."
Top
From The Zimbabwe Standard, 22 July
$100 000 for presidential voters roll
Most Zimbabweans could fail to access the voters' roll for next year's presidential election because of the astronomical fees being charged by government for a copy of the roll. According to the latest Government Gazette, which was released on Friday, those intending to access the roll will have to fork out $100 000 for a copy. "Copies of the printed roll for the presidential voters roll may be obtained from the offices of the registrar-general upon a payment of a fee of a hundred thousand dollars," reads the gazette.
Voters rolls for Harare, Bulawayo and Chitungwiza will cost $20 000, while those for Gweru, Mutare, Kwekwe, Masvingo and Redcliff will each be going for $15 000. Voters rolls for Kadoma, Chegutu, Gwanda, Victoria Falls, Bindura and Kariba will cost $10 000 each. The minister of justice, legal and parliamentary affairs, Patrick Chinamasa, could not be reached for comment yesterday. The MDC, however, condemned government over the high cost of the voters roll. MDC election director, Paul Themba Nyathi, said the high fees were calculated at restricting the voters roll to a few people.
"In a normal democracy, the voters roll is a constitutional entitlement. However, in a flawed democracy like ours, the government goes out of its way to deny the electorate its democratic rights. The amount being charged for the presidential voters roll is designed to restrict access to the voters roll. We wonder why government wants to do this. It shows that there is something wrong with the voters roll. The MDC will make sure the people of Zimbabwe are not denied their democratic rights by finding a way for people to access that voters roll," said Nyathi.
Nyathi said government had not charged for a presidential voters' roll in the past and was doing so now because of the serious challenge posed by Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC candidate for the presidential election. "Democracy is expensive but the taxpayer has already paid for democracy so why should they be charged for it. You cannot try to cover cost of a democracy by charging the people. They pay for that through the taxes collected by government," said Nyathi.
Over the years, a number of people have failed to vote because of a defective voters rolls. While others fail to find their names on the rolls, some have found their names registered with the wrong constituency or their names misspelt. In fact, the voters roll has been at the centre of Zanu PF's rigging mechanism. Last week, members of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, meeting in Victoria Falls, expressed to the registrar-general Tobaiwa Mudede, their concern over the state of the voters roll and the need for a free and fair elections.
Top
From The Cape Argus (SA), 21 July
US mayor may be flattering Mugabe 'for gain'
Harare - The enthusiastic public support which Andrew Young, a former United States ambassador to the United Nations and the first black mayor of Atlanta, is giving to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's controversial land grab may be motivated by ambition to win a lucrative contract to lobby for Zimbabwe in the US. Young, who on Friday visited Mugabe for the second time in barely two months, has publicly hailed Mugabe for handling the land question in Zimbabwe better than the way the "British were handling the Northern Ireland problem". Young has called Mugabe a more legitimate head of state than President George Bush, who won the US presidential election in controversial circumstances.
Many analysts have dismissed Young's praise singing as part of an effort to win over a lucrative contract to spruce up Zimbabwe's battered image abroad. The contract, worth a reported R20 million, was awarded to a public relations consultancy owned by Herman Cohen, former US assistant secretary of state for Africa, late last year. However, sources say Mugabe is disenchanted with Cohen's failure to help sell Zimbabwe's land policies to US congressmen and to block the passage of the controversial Zimbabwe Democracy Bill, which seeks to impose travel sanctions on Mugabe and his officials for human rights abuses. The controversial bill has since been approved by a US senate foreign relations committee and is now due to be presented to the full senate.
Analysts said statements attributed to Young by state media reports yesterday all confirmed suspicions that Young was trying to win over the business from Mugabe. The state owned Herald newspaper said Young had told Mugabe to take a lead in articulating his land policies to the international community, and not to leave this important task to "third parties". Analysts interpreted this as a veiled attack on Cohen's firm and a direct bid for the lucrative contract by Young, who is said to be willing to negotiate direct meetings between Mugabe and US congressmen. Young has also offered to help mobilise investment for Zimbabwe through a Southern Africa Development Fund which he chairs.
It could not be established at the time of going to press whether it is possible for the Zimbabwe government to unilaterally terminate its contract with Cohen and give it to someone else. When news of Mugabe's deal with Cohen was published last year it drew widespread condemnation from Zimbabweans who felt that the Zimbabwean president was wasting resources needed to import scarce fuel and electricity.
Top
From The Daily News, 23 July
Police inspector says war veterans assaulted villagers
Inspector Ngonidzashe Zvinawauya, the officer-in-charge for crime at Mberengwa police station, on Friday told the High Court war veterans assaulted and forced villagers in Mberengwa to occupy farms in the district in the run-up to last June's parliamentary election. Zvinawauya was testifying before Justice Ben Hlatshwayo in an election petition in which Mfandaidza Hove of the MDC is challenging the victory of Joram Gumbo, the Zanu PF chief whip, in Mberengwa West.
Zvinawauya, brought to the court by Gumbo, denied knowledge of the political affiliation of the war veterans. He said: "I am aware of people being forced from their homes by ex-combatants to go and invade the farms. People told us they were assaulted and taken to Texas Ranch against their will. We arrested the war veterans in all the cases reported to us," he said. Under cross-examination by Hove's lawyer, Selby Hwacha, Zvinawauya said the victims did not disclose their political affiliation when they reported the incidents of violence against them. "The political affiliation of people was not part and parcel of what happened, but people were forced by war veterans to occupy the land," he said.
But Hwacha accused Zvinawauya of fearing to testify against Gumbo and Zanu PF by refusing to say the victims of violence in the farms were MDC officials, taken onto the farms and tortured by war veterans led by Wilson Kufa Chitoro, alias Biggie Chitoro. Zvinawauya told the court the land occupation was a government policy and the duty of the police was to maintain law and order on the occupied farms. He brought to the court four axes and a teargas canister he recovered from MDC supporters who had been abducted and beaten up by war veterans. "The youths had some injuries which indicated they were assaulted," he said.
He told the court he had to negotiate with the war veterans before the youths were released. Zvinawauya said the MDC youths were taken to the farm after the war veterans allegedly found the weapons in a vehicle belonging to Sekai Holland, the MDC candidate for Mberengwa East. He said Holland's vehicle was burnt. "I do not know the owners of the weapons," he said. The hearing continues today when Chitoro, the district war veterans' chairman, is expected to testify. Chitoro is in Zvishavane prison on allegations of murdering Fainos Kufazvineyi Zhou, an MDC supporter, at Texas Ranch last year.
Top
From The Zimbabwe Standard, 22 July
Churches rap Zanu PF
Nation crying for a principled and prophetic leadership
Victoria Falls - Government leaders, in a bid to prolong their stay in power, have plunged the country into de facto warfare, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) has said. The ZCC, which has a membership of 20 churches - mainly from the Protestant movement - nine associate members and two observers, had been criticised for being docile while the government exterminated the rule of law. But last week's retreat in Victoria Falls marked the beginning of a hardline stance against the Robert Mugabe regime, which it accused of reducing the country to ashes.
Heads of church denominations meeting here said the country was facing a leadership crisis resulting in the breakdown of its political, social and economic facets. The country's populace has also been reduced to a state of destitution through economic mismanagement, the churches said. "The situation is no better in the political sphere, where violence, rape, and intimidation seem to have become the rule of the day. Many parts of the country have been plunged into a de facto state of warfare, often at the instigation of the very leaders who are supposed to defend the lives and rights of the people."
"Land reform, universally agreed upon as a matter of utmost urgency, has been twisted into a fast-track to further the self-aggrandisement of the chefs and the misery for the masses. What should have improved the lot of every Zimbabwean is now viewed as irrevocably partisan, and is associated with disorder, violence, and displacement," said the church leaders in a communique. The clergymen said the current economic recession pointed to a leadership crisis in the country. "Our economy, formerly one of the strongest in the region, is in tatters. Production levels have dropped drastically, unemployment has soared to new levels, prices of basic necessities go up almost every week, and our health and education systems have deteriorated to new lows."
"Collectively, all of this has left the average Zimbabwean on the verge of utter destitution and hopelessness. All of this points to a very obvious deficiency in the leadership and governance of our country. Those who have been entrusted with authority have abused it. The various arms of the state have become rotten with corruption, nepotism and political self-interest. The law has become a farce, used only to further the interests of a selected few," said the ZCC.
The church leaders summoned to its retreat four cabinet ministers; Jonathan Moyo (information and publicity), Patrick Chinamasa (justice legal and parliamentary affairs), John Nkomo (home affairs minister and Zanu PF chairman) and Joseph Made (lands and agriculture) to explain the country's current problems. The church leaders were frank when voicing their concerns to the politicians, prompting Nkomo to erupt into a fit of rage after a delegate told him that Zanu PF should stop "privatising" the liberation war as most Zimbabweans, including non Zanu PF supporters, had participated in the struggle. "I am 66 and someone tries to lecture me. I won't take that," said a furious Nkomo.
Chinamasa refused to give assurances that government would provide the mechanisms to stop violence but said the country was on the brink of a war because of the land invasions. He said violence was the necessary tool of any revolution. Moyo dismissed the churches' claims of a leadership crisis saying the assertion was a concept borrowed from the World Bank which in 1989 said Africa's problems were the result of a leadership crisis.
Said the church leaders: "People are becoming frustrated and desperate, they do not see that they have anything to lose. As the crisis deepens, they are less likely to heed calls for peace. In this prospect, our nation as a whole is crying for principled and prophetic leadership." "We need leaders who can animate our desire for good governance and prosperous lives. We need individuals and groups who are not afraid to stand up to evil of the sort we are facing today, and who will not choose the wide road of corruption, self interest and greed. We need the guidance of people who will promote the basic rights and dignity of all Zimbabweans, and who can lead us away from this darkness into a better, more peaceful future," said the ZCC.
Top
From The Zimbabwe Independent, 20 July
Gaddafi pledges $50m to Zanu PF
President Robert Mugabe last week managed to extract US$900 000 ($50 million) for his re-election campaign next year from Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, it emerged yesterday. Gaddafi was in Zimbabwe on a two-day state visit. Zanu PF sources said Gaddafi, who came to Zimbabwe by road from the Organisation of African Unity summit in Lusaka, Zambia, made the financial advance to the ruling party after a request by Mugabe. "Gaddafi gave an assurance to President Mugabe that he would inject about US$900 000 to the party for the presidential campaigns," a senior party source said. "He wants our party to win the election. We are expecting the money anytime now."
Gaddafi recently donated 29 Cherokee Jeeps to Zanu PF for the presidential election. It is understood the cars, initially thought to have been sourced from Egypt, have already been distributed to key Zanu PF campaigners, including self-styled war veterans leader, Joseph Chinotimba. Insiders said the financial deal would not be made public as it was most certainly illegal in terms of the amended Political Parties (Finance) Act, which prohibits foreign funding of political parties.
Although Zanu PF engineered the law, its functionaries are traversing the world scrounging for funds for the crucial poll. The party's secretary for external affairs, Didymus Mutasa, and Information chief, Nathan Shamuyarira, are understood to be leading the foreign fundraising campaign. The two have either already been to or are travelling to China to look for funds. Mutasa yesterday said he had not travelled to China. He said he was not going there because the new legislation forbade foreign funding of parties. "It's not true that we are looking for money from outside," he said. China has in the past been one of Zanu PF's major financiers alongside a host of other foreign donors. Shamuyarira, who sources said might have already been to China, was not available for comment.
Sources said Gaddafi agreed to bail out Zanu PF, which is reeling from a serious financial crisis, when he offered Zimbabwe a US$360 million fuel lifeline to ease a crisis which has gripped the country since December 1999. Gaddafi last year gave Zimbabwe a US$100 million line of credit for fuel imports. Zanu PF, which, alongside the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) recently got about $51 million from Treasury, needs huge sums of money to oil its massive election machinery. The war veterans, who are now effectively led by the militant Chinotimba after the death of Chenjerai Hunzvi, need a slush fund. The Zanu PF-sponsored Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions, student unions, civic groups, and other party front organisations, are also lining up for campaign funds.
Gaddafi's rescue package came as The People's Daily of China, on July 13 2001, reported that Beijing had provided Zimbabwe with a US$3,6 million loan for development projects. "The Chinese government on Thursday provided an interest-free loan of 30 million yuan (about 3,6 million US dollars) to the Zimbabwean government," the paper said. "According to an agreement signed here between the two governments, the loan will be utilised within a period of five years starting from September 1, 2001 to August 31, 2006." The loan should be used to implement economic and technical co-operation projects in Zimbabwe. The money would be repaid by the Zimbabwean government in tranches after a period of 10 years starting from September 1, 2011 to August 31, 2021. Chris Kuruneri, the deputy Finance minister, represented Zimbabwe at the signing ceremony.
Top
From IRIN (UN), 20 July
Donors may help avert food crisis
As the Zimbabwe government slowly begins to face the reality that in six months time the country could run out of food, UNDP told IRIN that donors might support a UN-administered food aid initiative. "A food aid project in which UNDP is the sole distributor in Zimbabwe could be the sort of solution that international donors would consider," Mkuleko Hikwa of UNDP in Harare said. A recent WFP/FAO report on Zimbabwe estimated that the country would need to import 579,000 mts of grain to avoid a major food crisis in coming months. The report highlighted the fact that due to the substantial decline in gold production and the tobacco harvest, and the lack of foreign currency earnings, the government's ability to import maize is extremely limited.
Experts said that shortages would begin to be felt in the first half of 2002. A government admission two weeks ago that it may have to ask for food aid was rapidly followed by an announcement that an inter-ministerial food security task force would be established to address the looming crisis. But UNDP said that no special request for food aid had been received from President Robert Mugabe's government or from any other organisation. "We're still talking to the government and we're facilitating negotiations between them and donor countries and organisations," Hikwa told IRIN.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) last week called for food aid to be administered by NGOs and not by the government, who could use it politically in the run-up to next year's presidential elections. "We know ZANU-PF has been using food relief for political purposes," said MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai at a press conference. "If you want food relief you buy a ZANU-PF card." But some analysts told IRIN that keeping the government out of administering and distributing food aid nationwide would be impossible. "There's no reason to suppose the government will not play the food card in next year's election, but whether that would de decisive remains to be seen," one economist said.
The WFP/FAO report suggests that bilateral food aid may be the answer to Zimbabwe's woes - to help ensure an adequate grain supply at affordable prices in deficit areas, both rural and urban. Denmark, one of many countries that has reduced aid to the country in protest at government policy may part-fund the programme to help to avert a crisis. "We would be willing to look at a request for food aid," Dan Frederiksen, head of the Southern African section of the Danish foreign ministry told IRIN. But diplomats contacted by IRIN said that although donors were keen to help, there was a reluctance to come to the rescue. "If push comes to shove we'll fund aid, but most donors believe this situation could have been avoided. Mugabe has vilified us, yet he wants us to avert a crisis of his own making," one diplomat said.
Top
From The Star (SA), 20 July
Zim farmer arrested for 'inciting violence'
Harare - One of Zimbabwe's most prominent farmers was arrested and detained in jail for allegedly inciting public violence against people illegally occupying his land, his lawyer said on Friday. Jim Sinclair, 63, a former president of the Commercial Farmers Union and the Cattle Producers Association, denied the charge before a magistrate in the farming centre of Norton, about 40km south-west of Harare, and was freed on bail. The charge, carrying a possible penalty of imprisonment, is likely to escalate racial tensions between the nation's 50 000 whites and supporters of the government's land seizure programme.
Lawyer Richard Wood said in a statement the charge stemmed from a June 12 incident in which ruling party militants occupying Sinclair's property were chased off, apparently by inhabitants of an adjoining peasant farming area who torched 12 of the militant's makeshift huts. Sinclair, who also served on the management boards of the state abattoir enterprise, the Cold Storage Commission, the Forestry Commission and the government's railroad company, "emphatically denied any involvement in the incident".
He was held in a bare police cell on Thursday night, in midwinter in Zimbabwe, with 13 prisoners who were given seven blankets to share. State prosecutors opposed bail on Friday, arguing Sinclair could interfere with witnesses and had been a fugitive from justice. Amid death threats after the June 12 violence, Sinclair evacuated his farm but was easy to contact in Harare, where he is regarded as a high profile figure in agriculture and business, the statement said. Sinclair was "such a prominent citizen with so much to lose it would be highly unlikely that he would incite violence or avoid his trial by absenting himself," it said.
Sinclair had told colleagues privately people from the neighbouring peasant area of Mhondoro were angered militants occupying his land disrupted farm production and assistance he gave nearby peasant farmers. His arrest came nearly a week after a white farmer in eastern Zimbabwe was arrested for the alleged murder of an illegal occupier on his land. Lawyers for Philip Bezuidenhout, 51, lodged an application in the Harare High Court on Friday for him to be freed on bail. A magistrate in the eastern city of Mutare ordered Bezuidenhout held in custody until July 31 on allegations he deliberately drove his truck at Phibian Mapenzautswa, who had claimed a plot of land on his tobacco and cereals farm.
Lawyer Chris Ndlovu said no date had been set for the bail hearing. Bezuidenhout was not charged with murder when he appeared before magistrate Hosiah Mujaya on Wednesday. Bezuidenhout says he was driving home past a group of ruling party militants and farm occupiers when Mapenzautswa stepped into the road and he hit him. Faced by angry mobs, he drove to the police station to report the accident, but he was arrested. Ndlovu, who is black, has said militants chased him from the scene of Mapenzautswa's death, berating him for "wanting to defend a farmer who had killed a black man".
If Bezuidenhout is charged with murder, he would be the first white farmer accused of killing in retaliation against black settlers who have seized land since March 2000. Ruling party militants have occupied 1 700 farms, demanding they be nationalised and given to landless blacks. Eight white farmers have been killed in the violent campaign. The government has targeted about 4 500 farms - about 95 percent of farms owned by whites - for confiscation without compensation. It has ignored six court rulings ordering the removal of illegal occupiers.
Top
From The Financial Gazette, 19 July
Moyo off to SA to undo Moyo's gaffe
The government has quickly dispatched Labour Minister July Moyo to Pretoria to mend fences with the powerful Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and retract a scathing attack on the union made by Information Minister Jonathan Moyo. Jonathan Moyo, in a typical outburst, blasted COSATU earlier this month for supporting the two-day stayaway organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). Jonathan Moyo said by supporting the ZCTU strike, COSATU demonstrated beyond doubt "that its rhetoric about the need to respect and uphold the rule of law was hollow, opportunistic and anti-African".
Senior government sources said July Moyo had been sent to apologise to COSATU, retract Jonathan Moyo's statement and to explain the labour problems in Zimbabwe. It is understood that Jonathan Moyo's attack on COSATU has caused discomfort between the ruling Zanu PF party and South Africa's African National Congress (ANC). COSATU is a crucial member of the ANC's tripartite arrangement that includes the labour movement, the Communist Party of South Africa and the ANC. July Moyo, who left for South Africa on Tuesday, was also expected to meet the South African government to articulate the labour problems in Zimbabwe.
COSATU's communications officer Moloto Mothapo confirmed yesterday that his union was due to meet July Moyo. "At this time we cannot divulge the whole agenda but we will raise the concerns on the labour unrest in Zimbabwe among other important issues," Mothapo told the Financial Gazette from Johannesburg by telephone. According to sources, Vice President Simon Muzenda is not happy with Jonathan Moyo's attack on COSATU which he believes could lead to political fallout with South African President Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki is currently one of President Robert Mugabe's staunchest supporters and is leading efforts to improve Zimbabwe's frosty relations with Britain. COSATU fully backed the ZCTU stayaway and said Mugabe "is terrorising the economy and the ordinary Zimbabwean citizens". Meanwhile the government has agreed to meet the ZCTU to discuss the 70 percent fuel price hike imposed by the government last month. ZCTU secretary-general Wellington Chibhebhe said this week the two sides would meet tomorrow but the union is not backing down on its demand to have the price increase reversed.
Top
From News24 (SA), 19 July
Govt hopes to avert strike
Pretoria - Zimbabwean Labour Minister July Moyo on Thursday said he hoped that the next round of negotiations between the government, labour and business would avert another national strike in the country. The talks would probably start sometime next week, he told reporters here during a visit to South Africa. The issue of fuel price increases would be on the agenda, Moyo confirmed. He was confident that the government would be able to give a satisfactory explanation about this to the tri-partite negotiating forum.
Zimbabwe's fuel purchases were clearly defined, he said. "It is easy to explain." In the social contract concluded in the forum the ground rules had already been laid regarding "inescapable" price increases like that of fuel, Moyo said. "We all agreed that even if we end up restraining prices and cause a deficit, that would come back and hurt the economy. That is a no-winner for anybody - neither the workers nor business or government. "We have agreed in the tri-partite negotiating forum that where there were inescapable price increases these should be explained."
Following a two-day national stayaway earlier this month, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has threatened indefinite strike action in a bid to force the government to rescind the 70 percent fuel price increase. However, the union federation insisted that the talks lead to a reversal in the fuel price increases effected last month, Agence France Presse reported. Moyo said he welcomed the ZCTU's decision to opt for dialogue, rather than threats of another stayaway. "We hope the discussions will avert any attempt to go for another national strike because nobody wins... Workers end up losing pay, the economy suffers even more."
Top
From The Cape Argus (SA), 19 July
Zim strikes fuel-exchange deal with Libya
Harare - Zimbabwe's government has struck a $360-million deal under which it will source fuel from Libya in exchange for exporting products to the North African country, the private-run Financial Gazette newspaper reported on Thursday. The paper quoted unnamed senior government sources as saying the deal was brokered between President Robert Mugabe and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who left the country on Saturday after a two-day visit. "The deal will guarantee fuel supplies to Zimbabwe for at least a year, and is renewable, which means this could be the end of the country's fuel problems," one official said.
State media reported last week that Gaddafi discussed with Mugabe the possibility of Libya providing petroleum products to ease a crippling fuel shortage Zimbabwe has suffered for the past 19 months. Last year Libya gave Zimbabwe a $100-million financial package. "Once we conclude these talks we will know what to expect from Libya," the official Herald newspaper quoted Mugabe as saying. Details of the talks have not been released.
Fuel supplies have been erratic since December 1999 after state-owned procurement firm National Oil Company of Zimbabwe had its credit lines cut over a Z$9-billion debt which has since more than doubled. On Thursday the Financial Gazette said the latest funding would be released in quarterly tranches of $90-million and that Harare will in turn export local products to Libya to finance the fuel purchases. The Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe, in which the government retains a 20 percent stake, would act as the financial adviser in the deal, but the Finance Gazette said the bank's manager Gideon Gono had declined to comment on the deal. Government officials were not available for comment on Thursday.
Earlier this month, industry was crippled by a two-day national strike called by labour unions to protest a 70 percent fuel price hike the oil body said was necessary to offset increased procurement costs. The main Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions has threatened an indefinite strike if the government refuses to reverse the steep increases, which have sent public transport costs soaring. Zimbabweans are already struggling with rising cost of living as the economy undergoes a recession now in its third year, and which many blame on government mismanagement. The country's problems have been worsened by the suspension of aid by donors mainly over Mugabe's controversial drive to seize farms for redistribution to blacks without paying compensation.
Top
From The Financial Gazette, 19 July
Last ditch effort to solve Zim's land standoff
The United Nations, the European Commission and the World Bank are planning a combined mission to Zimbabwe next month in one very last bid by the international community to try to talk Harare off its controversial land reforms and stave off punitive economic sanctions, it was learnt this week. Diplomatic sources told the Financial Gazette that the mission would once more seek to convince President Robert Mugabe and his government to go back to a land reform and resettlement plan agreed with the international donors in September 1998. Harare has since discarded that plan in favour of its own fast-track land reforms, which have been judged illegal by Zimbabwe's highest court and are blamed for disrupting agriculture and contributing to food shortages expected later this year.
"We are very anxious to find the right and amicable way to help the government return to land resettlement and reforms based on the principles agreed to between itself and donors in 1998," one Western diplomat said. The international delegation would also seek to establish facts and figures regarding the implementation of the government's fast-track land reform plan under which the government claims to have resettled 104 000 families on 3.5 million hectares of land. The actual dates when the mission will jet into Harare next month are still to be agreed between the international bodies and Zimbabwean authorities, according to the sources.
The combined mission comes to Zimbabwe just as the United States government is expediting legislation to impose sanctions on the government over its land seizures while a 60-day deadline imposed by the European Union on Harare to halt its land reforms or face tougher measures is fast approaching. Under its plan, the government is seizing nearly 50 percent of Zimbabwe's prime land comprising 12 million hectares without paying any compensation for the land but improvements made on it. The international community wants full compensation paid to farm owners, many of whom bought the land after Zimbabwe's independence in 1980.
Mugabe says former Zimbabwe's colonial power Britain and not his government should pay the white farmers for the land which he argues was originally confiscated by British colonial authorities from blacks. Britain funded land reforms in Zimbabwe but withdrew its support when it said the plan was being abused by government cronies and not aiding Zimbabwe's poor. Mugabe and his government have further offended the international community by backing an illegal and violent seizure of white farms by government supporters and self-styled veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s war of independence.
The Commonwealth is also working on a separate mission to Zimbabwe designed by Nigeria and Kenya and also aimed at breaking the deadlock between Zimbabwe and Britain over the funding of the land plan. The diplomats said if Harare did not make good this last olive branch from the international community, the government should be under no illusions that tough sanctions will be imposed on it before the end of the year. The diplomats stress that the sanctions will only target government officials, many of whom are publicly backing violence against political opponents, and not Zimbabweans. For example if the US sanctions are finally approved, they will specifically bar Mugabe, his Cabinet members and security and defence chiefs from travelling to the US. Washington wants Europe to take similar measures against the government.
Top
From The Daily News, 18 July
Ministers threaten students with death
Masvingo - Two cabinet ministers last week threatened students and college authorities in Masvingo with dismissal or even death if they supported opposition parties ahead of the 2002 presidential election. Stan Mudenge, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Samuel Mumbengegwi, the Minister of Education, Sports and Culture, said they were concerned at the students and their principals' support for the opposition parties. The ministers met student leaders and principals from Masvingo, Bondolfi and Morgenster teacher training colleges, Masvingo Technical College and Mushagashe Vocational Training College.
According to the minutes of the meeting held at Bondolfi Mission last Friday, the ministers said the only way teachers and students could guarantee their safety was to support Zanu PF. Mudenge said: "You are going to lose your jobs if you support opposition political parties in the presidential election. As civil servants, you have to be loyal to the government of the day. You can even be killed for supporting the opposition and no one would guarantee your safety." Mumbengegwi, the Zanu PF chairman for Masvingo province, said he was troubled by reports that some teachers supported the MDC. Mumbengegwi said: "We cannot continue to pay our enemies. People have to know which side of their bread is buttered." A college official who refused to be named said: "The aim of the meeting was to intimidate student leaders and members of staff."
The ministers' threats come after the transfer last month of more than 100 teachers from Masvingo Urban to rural schools for allegedly supporting the MDC in the run-up to the Masvingo mayoral election. The MDC's Alois Chaimiti beat Zanu PF's Jacob Chademana by more than 2 000 votes to become Masvingo's executive mayor. The Masvingo regional director of education, Obert Mujuru, yesterday confirmed the transfers but refused to give details. Aeneas Chigwedere, the Deputy Minister of Education, Sports and Culture, last month said his ministry would not provide security to teachers affected by violence perpetrated by war veterans and Zanu PF supporters for supporting the opposition.
Top
From The Financial Gazette, 19 July
Govt seeks legal channel to extend land seizures
The government, bogged down by legal and financial problems in implementing its fast-track land reforms, is now seeking a Supreme Court order to extend the seizure of white-owned commercial farms until the end of the year, it was established this week. The commercial farms, hundreds of which are being seized every fortnight, are meant to resettle millions of landless blacks under the reforms, already declared illegal by Zimbabwe's highest court, that are spearheaded by the ruling Zanu PF party. Party supporters and veterans from its 1970s war of independence have settled on many of the illegally acquired commercial farms to press for speedier resettlement. The internationally condemned exercise has triggered countrywide lawlessness as police continue to turn a blind eye to crimes committed by Zanu PF supporters on the farms during the occupations.
In court papers submitted this week, the government wants a Supreme Court interdict issued last December proclaiming July 1 this year as the deadline for acquiring more land for resettlement to be extended to the beginning of November. The Supreme Court ruling had ordered the government to stop acquiring more land for resettlement by the beginning of this month and that by that date, the state should have produced a workable land reform plan and re-established law and order on farms. Lands Minister Joseph Made, Local Government's Ignatius Chombo and Rural Resources Minister Joyce Mujuru are the applicants on behalf of the government of the urgent chamber application filed on Monday seeking to extend the deadline.
The government argues that if the matter is not heard as a matter of urgency, the land acquisition exercise and the whole land reform and resettlement programme might be adversely affected. The farmers' organisation, the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) which has been cited as the respondent, still has to react to the application that is set to be heard next week. CFU lawyers Coghlan, Welsh & Guest confirmed in a letter to the Registrar of the Supreme Court that the government's application had been referred to their clients and counsel. "You will appreciate that the record is substantial and that the matters involved in this application are of enormous consequence to Zimbabwe as a whole and to many farm owners and hundreds of thousands more people who work on the farms," the lawyers' letter reads.
The CFU has been under pressure from the government to drop all litigation on the land issue as a pre-condition for opening dialogue on land reform. Last year's Supreme Court interdict prohibited government ministers responsible for the resettlement programme from taking any further steps in the acquisition of land after July 1 this year. In its ruling then, the Supreme Court said there was no land reform programme in Zimbabwe as envisaged in the Constitution. The government now says it has already seized more than 2 500 farms measuring more than 3.5 million hectares on which 104 000 families had been resettled. It has also listed another 2 500 commercial farms which it intends to acquire for further resettlement under the fast-track programme. In its new application, the government argues that it has since fulfilled conditions set by the Supreme Court prior to the July 1 deadline and that the land reform programme is now in place and the rule of law restored on commercial farms.
Top
From ZWNEWS, 18 July
Mugabe's Family: Ties of Blood and Clan Bring Plum Jobs and Contracts
By a Special Correspondent
Over two decades in office President Robert Mugabe has proved himself a family man. He has diverted plum political jobs and state-funded contracts not only to his favourite nephews and nieces, but throughout a network of extended families belonging to his Gushongo clan. Where there's power and privilege, there, too, are relatives and clansmen of 77-year-old Mugabe: a hugely wealthy businessmen, a former head of the state-run radio and TV, government ministers; the boss of the national football association; top civil servants, members of Parliament.
The best-known beneficiaries are the president's favourite sister, Sabina Mugabe, and her children. Since independence in 1980, Sabina Mugabe has been the member of parliament for the Mugabe family's home area Zvimba, about 80 kilometres north-west of Harare. She is also secretary for finance in the ruling Zanu PF party's influential Women's League. All of Sabina's children, except one, use her maiden surname.
Her eldest son, Innocent Mugabe, was director of the state's feared Central Intelligence Organisation until his death in June after unspecified surgery. Sabina's second son, Leo Mugabe, is probably the most prominent Mugabe relative to amass huge wealth since independence. He is owner and chief executive of Integrated Engineering Group, a construction and telecommunications consortium. IEG has been awarded contracts running into billions of dollars to construct public buildings and facilities, often ahead of far more experienced construction companies. Its biggest coup came in 1996 when, in association with the Cyprus-based Air Harbour Technologies, IEG won the contract to build the recently commissioned Harare International Airport terminal. The company's tender was fourth behind bids from established international airport building companies. Leo's other interests include Joy Television, and chairmanship of the Zimbabwe Football Association. Critics in the soccer fraternity say he is inept and blame him for the decline of the national team. Leo's brother Patrick Zhuwawo, the only one among Sabina's children who does not use the Mugabe name, manages IEG businesses.
Other families who have benefited from the Mugabe tie include:
Ushewokunze
This family is related to Mugabe through his mother, Bona, who was a strong influence on him. Mugabe appointed two Ushewokunze uncles, now both dead, as ministers in his Zanu PF government. Herbert Ushewokunze held various cabinet posts and was also political commissar, a vital job in Zanu PF's communist-style politburo. However, Herbert, a medical doctor, was one of the few Mugabe relatives who could claim to have risen through merit. A veteran nationalist , he was in exile in Mozambique during the 1970s war which ended white-minority rule. Unlike other relatives, he clashed with Mugabe in government. But although he was demoted several times, he was never really dropped. At the time of his death in 1995, he was the chairman of the influential Harare Zanu PF provincial executive committee. Christopher Ushewokunze who lectured at the University of Zimbabwe, was an advisor to Mugabe on industry and business affairs, and Minister of Commerce and Industry.
Chikerema
Another family related to Mugabe through his mother. Chikerema uncles and cousins have benefited from the tie - although their relations have not always been rosy. James Dambaza Chikerema was a rival of Mugabe in the nationalist movement of the early 60s. However, in 1999 Mugabe appointed Chikerema to a Constitutional Commission designed further to entrench his rule and thwart calls for a more democratic constitution. The commission's constitution was rejected in a referendum in February 2000. Charles Chikerema, James' brother, edited the government-run Sunday Mail, and when he died in 1998 was in charge of its daily stablemate, The Herald. In 1997, Simba Makoni, current Finance Minister and then chief executive of Zimpapers (Pvt.) Ltd., tried to sack Chikerema - and instead got fired himself on Mugabe's instructions.
Mushayakarara
The relationship dates to earlier generations and Mugabe, in accordance with African custom, regards the current Mushayakararas as his nieces and nephews. Elisha Mushayakarara, a former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, is now the chief executive of the state financial services group Financial Holdings (Finhold). The group owns Zimbabwe's fourth largest bank, the Zimbabwe Banking Corporation. Lupi Mushayakarara, sister to Elisha, is an occasional critic of the Mugabe government but appears to have benefited from the family tie. In 1999 she quit the National Constitutional Assembly, a coalition of civic bodies campaigning for a new and democratic constitution, after Mugabe gave her a job on his Constitutional Commission.
Mapondera
Brothers John and Hosea Mapondera and their sister Esnath Mapondera have also enjoyed the fruits of old and entwining relationships with the Mugabe family. Hosea is a former director-general of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, and John and Esnath sits on the boards of various government-owned companies.
Chiyangwa
A scion of this family which belongs to Mugabe's Gushungo clan is Philip Chiyangwa, a former member of Ian Smith's Rhodesian army, and now the self-styled champion of black economic empowerment. Chiyangwa, who has direct access to Mugabe, has lucrative business interests in Zimbabwe and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is also Zanu PF chairman in Mashonaland West, Mugabe's home province.
Mutero
Members of this family also enjoy the status of Mugabe nephews and nieces. Betty Mutero sits on the boards of several companies.
Top
From International Crisis Group, 13 July
Zimbabwe in Crisis: Finding a Way Forward
Executive Summary and Recommendation
Zimbabwe is in a state of free fall. It is embroiled in the worst political and economic crisis of its twenty-year history as an independent state. The crisis has negatively affected virtually every aspect of the country and every segment of the population. It has exacerbated racial and ethnic tensions, severely torn the country's social fabric, caused fundamental damage to its once-strong economy, dramatically increased the suffering of Zimbabwe's people, accelerated a damaging brain drain, and increased the use of state-sponsored violence, the perpetrators of which operate with impunity. An HIV/AIDS epidemic only adds to the catastrophe. Significant post-independence achievements in racial reconciliation, economic growth, and development of state institutions have already been severely eroded. Zimbabwe, which after independence was one of Africa's best hopes for establishing a healthy democracy and prosperous economy, is now descending into a cycle of poverty and repression.
The crisis has not only been an unmitigated disaster for Zimbabwe. Erosion in the value of the South African currency and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is blamed on events in Zimbabwe. Neighbouring Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi have also been hurt economically by the drop in investor interest. Zimbabwe's involvement in the Congo war in August 1998, driven by Mugabe's ambition both to assert his leadership in the region and to gain access to the Congo's resources, has externalised the country's internal problems. As Zimbabwe's troubles intensify, they increasingly will destabilise the entire southern African region.
And the high profile nature of the assault on what has been an internationally linked private sector is having negative repercussions on perceptions of the investment potential for the entire continent. Responsibility lies with President Robert Mugabe's government, which has mismanaged the economy, institutionalised state violence, and moved further toward autocratic rule. When the people of Zimbabwe began organising to change the government through democratic means, the ruling party, Zanu PF responded with widespread and systematic violence and intimidation.
In a remarkable irony, the actions taken by the government are based on the very same laws - still on the books - Ian Smith's white minority regime used to repress opposition in the 1970s. The law now being used to prosecute opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is the same law under which Mugabe and his comrades were imprisoned during their liberation struggle. Confronted with plummeting popularity and a diverse coalition seeking fundamental reforms, the Zanu PF leadership appears willing to do anything to stay in power. Using war veterans, police, army, and other Zanu PF supporters to suppress violently all opponents, the party's only objective is to maintain its hold on power. Robert Mugabe has institutionalised an authoritarian system in Zimbabwe that is aimed at ensuring Zanu PF controls the keys to the doors of power even if it means the entire house may burn to the ground.
Since the end of the 90s, a political opposition, based on the transformation of the trade union movement, has been growing in response to the mismanagement of the economy and the country. Civil society groups, a new political opposition party, and a well educated, entrepreneurial population have combined to form a significant coalition to challenge the government's authoritarian rule directly. The southern African region and the broader international community must refocus their efforts in support of positive change in Zimbabwe.
After analysing the causes of the crisis, this report sketches a strategy for change not unlike that undertaken by the international community in Yugoslavia. Regional states, the Commonwealth, the EU and the U.S. should seek to persuade Mugabe to allow the scheduled presidential election in 2002 to be conducted freely and fairly, set clear conditions as to what a free and fair election means, and offer assistance to civil society and pro-change groups to help level the political playing field. The international community should also work to resolve and help finance the solution for the land issue proposed by the UNDP, to neutralise its potential for misuse as an election issue. If Mugabe will not permit free and fair elections, the international community should apply sanctions that impact on the political leadership - a freeze on personal funds and travel restrictions - but not on the general population, and the Commonwealth should suspend Zimbabwe.
Recommendations to the Government of Zimbabwe
1. Permit free and fair elections in 2002 in which the Zimbabwean people will have the opportunity to express their will.
2. As indispensable preconditions for such free and fair elections:
a. permit the opposition to have access to such open and transparent assistance as the international community wishes to provide and it wants to accept;
b. license private, independent electronic media;
c. permit electronic and print media to operate unhindered;
d. establish an independent electoral commission;
e. reorganise voter registration rolls;
and f. accept international monitoring both before and during the elections.
To the Secretary General of the United Nations
3. Appoint a special envoy to assist the Zimbabwean government conduct free and fair elections and to keep the Security Council informed.
To the Government of South Africa and the other Governments of the Region
4. Emphasise publicly and privately to President Mugabe that regional stability, as well as the protection of his reputation before history as a great leader of African independence, requires the holding of free and fair elections in Zimbabwe in 2002.
To International Financial Institutions and Donor Governments generally
5. Immediately resume negotiations with the Zimbabwean government on land reform. If agreement is reached on the basis of the consensus at the 1998 donors conference, establish a Trust Fund - as recommended by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in October 2000 - in order to finance fast track land reform before the 2002 elections.
6. Establish a Trust Fund for job creation and reconstruction of the Zimbabwean economy, the proceeds of which will be disbursed only after determination that the elections have been free and fair.
7. Maintain and fully monitor the present moratorium on balance of payments support to Zimbabwe and on any aid not directly related to basic human needs, until free and fair elections have been held.
To the Commonwealth and its member states and the European Union and its member states, and the United States
8. Focus on the 2002 elections as the decisive opportunity for Zimbabwe to obtain an accurate reflection of the will of its people and return to the rule of law.
9. Communicate to President Mugabe, in public and private, support for the conditions required for the conduct of free and fair elections (as in recommendation 2 above) and be prepared to bear a share of the costs involved (e.g., by providing technical assistance on the conduct and implementation of elections).
10. Make it known that there will be no international objection if domestic arrangements are reached that include provision for an honourable retirement with immunity from prosecution for President Mugabe.
11. Assist moderate opposition forces so they can compete with Zanu PF on a level playing field in free and fair elections by providing training and related support for parties, media and civil society.
12. Provide, to the extent desired by recipients, increased development and possibly financial and technical assistance through local civil society organisations in areas where moderate opposition forces have elected MPs or control local government.
13. Provide to moderate opposition parties and civil society organisations, to the extent they desire, limited institutional support such as office and transport and communications equipment.
14. If the conditions for free and fair elections are not met, governments where Zanu PF officials and their families have important holdings should:
a. freeze those assets;
b. impose travel restrictions on the most senior and responsible Zimbabwean government officials and their families;
and c. request endorsement of these measures by the UN Security Council.
15. If the conditions for free and fair elections are not met, the Commonwealth should move to suspend Zimbabwe's membership
Harare/Brussels, 13 July 2001
From ZWNEWS : The International Crisis Group (ICG) is a private, multinational organisation committed to strengthening the capacity of the international community to anticipate, understand and act to prevent and contain conflict. Chairman : Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland; Vice Chairman : Stephen Solarz, former US Congressman; President : Gareth Evans, former Foreign Minister of Australia. The other ICG board members comprise a long and distinguished list of international statesmen and former national leaders.
Top
From The Daily News, 16 July
Court hears Gumbo sanctioned beatings
Joram Gumbo, the Zanu PF chief whip and MP for Mberengwa West ordered war veterans and Zanu PF supporters to beat MDC followers in the run-up to last year's parliamentary election, the High Court heard on Friday. Melvin Sibanda, the MDC's security officer for Marirazhombe ward in Mberengwa West, told Justice Ben Hlatshwayo that Gumbo ordered his supporters to assault him and Josephine Ngwenya in June last year. He was testifying in a petition hearing in which Mfandaidza Hove, of the MDC is challenging Gumbo's victory in last year's parliamentary election.
Sibanda said: "I was on my way to Zvishavane after collecting a car engine from my rural home when Zanu PF supporters blocked the road at Murezu. They ordered me out of the car." Gumbo was addressing a rally at Murezu, the court heard. "We were taken to Gumbo who told the youths to take us behind a building and assault us," Sibanda said. He said Wilson Kufa Chitoro, alias Biggie Chitoro, the chairman of the war veterans' association in Mberengwa joined the youths in assaulting the two. Chitoro is currently remanded in a Zvishavane prison facing charges of murdering Fainos Kufazvineyi Zhou.
Sibanda told the court that he was later released but was told not to address any MDC rallies. He told Justice Hlatshwayo he was chased by a policeman he identified as Mahuni at Mberengwa Police Station when he tried to report the matter. He said: "When I told him that I was assaulted by Chitoro and Zanu PF supporters in the presence of Gumbo, Mahuni said Ndebeles were a problem because in the past their ancestors had taken away their cattle." Gumbo's lawyer, Terrence Hussein, denied the allegations and accused Sibanda of trying to mislead the court in order to persuade the judge to nullify the election result. The hearing continues next week.
Top
From The Zimbabwe Standard, 15 July
Magistrate Attacked for Convicting Party Cadres
Hundreds of Zanu PF supporters on Wednesday night besieged Bindura magistrate Feyi Gweshero Tito's house after he jailed Chief Chiweshe's brother, Ephraim, and 16 other Zanu PF supporters to three years in jail for political violence. The mob sang revolutionary songs and demonstrated at the magistrate's home where they forced Tito's wife to accept the post of treasurer of the youth wing. The magistrate's wife initially refused to take up the post, but was forced to accept "since offers from the party cannot be rejected".
Chief Chiweshe and his brother are believed to have been at the forefront of Zanu PF's violent campaign in Mashonaland Central's Bindura constituency ahead of the parliamentary by-election at the end of this month. The election pits Zanu PF's Elliot Manyika against Elliot Pfebve of the Movement for Democratic Change. Chiweshe and the other Zanu PF criminals were jailed for three years after terrorising MDC members in Mutsakanyi village. The 17 pleaded guilty saying they had been promised land by their base commander after the acts of terror. On 5 May, the group marched through Mutsakanyi village, in Centenary, and assaulted villagers whom they suspected to be opposition supporters.
The state, in its outline, said the ruling party supporters moved around the village demanding Zanu PF cards from villagers and assaulting those that failed to produce the cards. Chiweshe and his colleagues also destroyed maize granaries while chanting Zanu PF slogans. Ten of the ruling party supporters were arrested in Bindura after assaulting teachers at Uronga South Primary school. The supporters, who were waiting to be resettled at Beaconhill Farm in the constituency on 28 June, resolved to evict teachers suspected of selling MDC cards at the school. They chanted revolutionary slogans and ordered teachers to leave classes and parade at the school play centre. Nine teachers were instructed to produce MDC cards which they were allegedly selling, but they failed to do so.
They went on to demand Zanu PF cards and only three of the teachers produced the cards. The rest of the teachers were ordered to lie down on their stomachs and assaulted with clenched fists, logs and sjamboks. The conviction of the youths came as Manyika has been given 10 days to respond to a civil lawsuit by Kefas Madzongera, who is claiming $1 million from the governor who allegedly severely assaulted him with an iron bar. Madzongera's lawyer, Gabriel Shumba of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, said his client was left for dead in early June after being assaulted by Manyika.
Shumba said on 3 June, Manyika with the help of Zanu PF youths dragged Madzongera from Manyopora Nightclub in Bindura and demanded to know why Madzongera had failed to renounce his MDC membership. "My client is suing Manyika for the physical harm and trauma occasioned on him by the attempted murder. He has also been displaced and can no longer undertake his normal duties that give him income," said Shumba. "This matter also touches on the greater part of the populace. People are being displaced from their homes and wantonly brutalised with the connivance of the police. It is a case which impacts on the democratic persuasion of the country. It is unfortunate that we can only pursue this case in the civil case since the police is not willing to place criminal charges against Manyika," said Shumba. Meanwhile, Manyika has instructed all civil servants in Bindura to gather at Bindura Primary School on Tuesday afternoon for a meeting whose agenda was not specified.
Top
From The Sunday Telegraph (UK), 15 July
Mugabe regime squeals at Animal Farm success
The exploits of Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer in Animal Farm have been gripping readers of Zimbabwe's most popular newspaper as they revel in its striking parallels with the autocratic President Robert Mugabe. The Daily News, the biggest selling independent newspaper, has criticised Mr Mugabe and suffered two bomb attacks and numerous violent demonstrations. Yet its serialisation of Animal Farm, in which George Orwell sought to parody the communism which swept Russia and was spreading to Europe, has marked its most effective attack on his government.
Kingston's bookshop, the largest in Harare, sold out of copies of Orwell's book within days of the serialisation beginning last month. In the daily instalments Napoleon, the greedy and brutal pig who leads the revolution, is depicted in the black thick-rimmed spectacles favoured by Mr Mugabe. Geoffrey Nyarota, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, who has infuriated the government once again, said: "Animal Farm is not only relevant but pertinent to Zimbabwe. The animals in the book won independence by working together. But in due course some became drunk with power."
Any tale about a farmer being driven off his land bears obvious comparison with events in Zimbabwe, where Mr Mugabe's followers have occupied almost 1,700 white-owned farms. Orwell's story ends with the pigs running Manor Farm in their own interests and proving ruthless oppressors of the other animals. To many Zimbabweans, Mr Mugabe's words and behaviour seem almost modelled on those of the pigs. For the president's critics, the analogies do not need explaining: just as Napoleon turns on Snowball, once his fellow revolutionary, and drives him off the farm, Mr Mugabe turned on Joshua Nkomo, the late nationalist leader, and forced him into exile in Britain in 1983. Only after agreeing to the dissolution of his Zapu Party was Mr Nkomo rehabilitated.
Napoleon ordered celebrations to mark his birthday. Mr Mugabe, 77, has established a youth brigade called the 21st February Movement that fetes him every year. Orwell's pigs were ordered to chant "Long live Comrade Napoleon". Mr Mugabe's followers greet him with cries of "Forward with Comrade Mugabe". Mr Mugabe's followers also bear comparison with Orwell's characters. Squealer, the faithful lackey and propagandist for Napoleon, always ready to propound a logical contradiction, is strikingly similar to Prof Jonathan Moyo, the information minister.
The Daily News has been demonised by Prof Moyo as a "British-sponsored" newspaper bent on overthrowing Mr Mugabe. Since an anti-tank mine destroyed its press on January 28, only 60,000 copies have been produced each day. Before the attack, believed to have been perpetrated by the Zimbabwean army, at least 100,000 copies were sold. The serialisation of Animal Farm has made the Daily News even more villainous in the regime's eyes. Yet comparison between Mr Mugabe and Napoleon fails on one point. Orwell writes that Napoleon's speeches are invariably "short and to the point".
Top
From The Zimbabwe Standard, 15 July
Colleagues killed my husband - Chitepo
Victoria Chitepo, widow of the late national hero, Herbert Chitepo, has for the first time publicly acknowledged that her husband was killed by his associates in the liberation war. Chitepo was commenting on contents of The Story of my Life, a book written by the late vice-president, Joshua Nkomo. The book has never been readily available in Zimbabwe and was only briefly serialised in The Herald. In the book, Nkomo alleges that Chitepo was killed by his colleagues.
The serialisation of Nkomo's book, highly critical of President Mugabe, in the state-owned newspapers was prematurely brought to an end two weeks ago. In an interview with The Standard on Thursday, Chitepo said she did not want to make a big issue out of her husband's death but confirmed he was murdered by his liberation war comrades. Chitepo, who was the Zanu PF chairman, was killed by a car bomb in Zambia in 1975. Ever since, Zanu PF officials have consistently blamed Rhodesian security agents for Chitepo's death.
A report produced by a commission of inquiry into Chitepo's death has never been made public in Zimbabwe. The inquiry was instituted by the Zambian government at the height of the liberation war. Commenting on the late vice-president Joshua Nkomo's statement that Chitepo was killed by his allies, the national hero's widow said it was public knowledge that her husband's murderers had gone scot free. In his controversial book, Nkomo said Chitepo was murdered by his colleagues in the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (Zanla). Wrote Nkomo: "From Salisbury, the capital of Southern Rhodesia were . . . Herbert Chitepo, who became a brilliant lawyer - having been my friend, he later became my great adversary, until he was murdered by his own associates in Zambia in 1975."
His widow confirmed Nkomo's version of events: "I don't have anything new to add to this issue. What has been said by Nkomo is not new. It is public knowledge and I cannot add anything new. The people who killed my husband have never been held accountable for their action. So talking about it will not open a new chapter. In fact, your paper has done very well to highlight this issue and to question why the people who killed my husband are still free men."
It is widely believed that Chitepo was murdered in the course of a power struggle by close Zanu PF allies. Soon after his death, the Kenneth Kaunda-led Zambian government detained the Zanla leadership over Chitepo's death after they had aroused suspicion by leaving Zambia soon after Chitepo's burial. In an interview with The Standard in 1999, when visiting Nkomo's grave, Kaunda said the actions of the Zanla leadership on the aftermath of Chitepo's death had caused suspicion. He expressed surprise that the Zanla leadership had not bothered to investigate Chitepo's death.
"Chitepo was a committed leader. And some day we will talk about how he died. It is one blot in the history, a sad reflection of the whole liberation of this region. Some of the Zanla leadership left Zambia soon after the burial. I didn't expect them to leave immediately...this was their death. It was our death too, and it required all of us to work together on it," said Kaunda. Although Kaunda refused to name the Zanla leaders who had made the suspiciously early departure, he alluded to problems within Zanla forces which had led to "some sad developments".
Top
Gaddafi supports Mugabe with call to expel whites
The Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi offered aid and comfort to Zimbabwe's increasingly isolated regime yesterday and demanded the expulsion of white "colonisers" from Africa. Mr Gaddafi had attended a summit of the Organisation of African Unity in Lusaka, the Zambian capital, where he outlined his vision of a united Africa. He then drove 350 miles to Harare to visit Mr Mugabe. In his journey he stopped in Karoi, a town surrounded by white-owned farms, most of which have been occupied by squatters. He told a crowd that whites should pay compensation for colonising Africa. He said: "We want them to pay. Europe must not deny us payment and compensation." After reaching the town of Chinhoyi, where the entire local economy is dependent on the nearby white-owned farms, Mr Gaddafi declared that all whites must leave Africa. He said: "Everyone who came as a coloniser must go back where he came from."
Throughout his progress through Zimbabwe, Mr Gaddafi was greeted by carefully regimented crowds of supporters of Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party. When he reached Harare crowds lined the streets and the official press hailed the visit of "Comrade" Gaddafi. Mr Mugabe's overriding objective when he met his Libyan counterpart yesterday was to secure emergency fuel supplies to ease the shortage that has paralysed Zimbabwe since December 1999. During several visits to Libya last year, Mr Mugabe made the same request to no avail. But The Herald, Zimbabwe's official daily, reported that Libya was expected to offer supplies.
Zimbabwean police and security officers fired shots at the home of a leading opposition official, a spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change said yesterday. Sekai Holland, the MDC's secretary for international affairs, said an unmarked car chased her through Harare to her home and three shots were fired when police tried to enter the house without a search warrant. Three people at her home said police officers beat them while they were being questioned.
Top
From The New York Times, 12 July
Zimbabwe leader wants charges dropped
Harare - An attorney for Zimbabwe's most powerful opposition leader argued Thursday that charges brought against his client were designed to cripple his chances at the presidency. The lawyer for Morgan Tsvangirai, leader for Movement for Democratic Change Party, urged the Supreme Court to drop the charges of incitement to terrorism, sabotage and violence his client faces on constitutional grounds. The law under which Tsvangirai was charged is archaic, and had not been applied in the two decades since Zimbabwe's independence, said Chris Andersen, the lawyer.
Tsvangirai, the strongest challenger to President Robert Mugabe's 21-year-rule, was charged with inciting terrorism after he warned Mugabe at a rally that if he did not step down ``we will remove you violently.'' The charges carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. If convicted, Tsvangirai could also be barred from running in presidential elections early next year. His High Court trial has been postponed to allow the Supreme Court to determine if the charges are constitutional. The law used to charge Tsvangirai was enacted in the 1960s to help the white minority rulers of the former colony of Rhodesia suppress black nationalist opponents, including Mugabe. Andersen argued the law now violates the free expression guarantees provided in the democratic constitution adopted after independence in 1980.
State prosecutor Nathaniel Sibanda, however, said the security laws were still needed to protect elections and other democratic institutions from assault. Tsvangirai, a former trade union leader, helped form the main opposition party in September 1999 in order to challenge the ruling party's tight grip on power in a country sliding into economic chaos. The labor-backed party won 57 of the 120 elected seats in parliamentary elections last year. Mugabe had controlled all but three seats in the previous parliament. A Supreme Court decision is expected in the next few weeks.
Top
From The Cape Argus (SA), 12 July
Zim pupils take to the streets over fees hike
Harare - Riot police used truncheons to break up a group of 400 Zimbabwean pupils who were protesting a massive increase in school fees announced earlier on Thursday in the state-run Herald newspaper. The students marched through downtown Harare, singing and waving green tree branches, and ripping apart copies of the Herald. They marched past the parliament building and then went on to a plaza in front of the education ministry, where riot police pushed the crowd away and beat students with truncheons. The pupils were protesting a massive increase in school fees, which the Herald announced would rise by as much as 40-fold. The increases, which will go into effect next month, follow two months of rumbling protests by students against the government over inadequate allowances.
Top
From The Independent (UK), 12 July
African leaders drop attack on UK's Zimbabwe policy
An annual summit of African leaders expunged criticism of Britain's policy over Zimbabwe from its final declaration yesterday in a face-saving move that also served to humiliate President Robert Mugabe. Lobbying by South Africa, Nigeria and other "modern" members of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was due to result in a mild declaration on Zimbabwe at the closing session in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, last night. It replaced a draft resolution by foreign ministers which, on Sunday, had expressed "concern" at moves by Britain "to mobilise European and North American countries to isolate and vilify Zimbabwe".
Ahead of the closing session, the South African President, Thabo Mbeki, said: "The declaration says that Britain and Zimbabwe need to get together and continue to search for a solution (over the redistribution of land). That supersedes the ministerial draft." The scrapping of the anti-British declaration, which had been unanimously adopted by the OAU's council of ministers, saved it from ridicule as it prepares to relaunch itself as the African Union (AU). President Mbeki is among presidents who want the AU - the brainchild of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi - to shed the OAU's image as a dictators' club, tolerant of corruption and coups. President Mbeki believes Africa should shed colonial allegiances and hang-ups and speak with one voice as an equal among other world lobbies such as the European Union. President Mugabe, on the other hand, expects an endorsement against former colonial powers such as Britain.
Hours before the final declaration, the 77-year-old had stated that the anti-British draft "enhances our solidarity with our African brothers". The OAU said in its final declaration that the Lusaka summit "reaffirmed that the land issue is central to ensuring durable peace, stability and economic development in Zimbabwe". The organisation reiterated its demand "for Britain to honour its colonial obligation" to fund land settlement. The summit called on Britain "to co-operate fully and enter into dialogue with the government of Zimbabwe with the purpose of finding a final solution to this colonial legacy".
Britain says it stopped funding Zimbabwean land resettlement schemes because corruption meant the poor were not benefiting. In 1998, an international donors' conference worked out a new approach, which the Zimbabwe government never implemented. Ahead of parliamentary elections last year in Zimbabwe in which the ruling party faced its first serious opposition challenge since 1980, President Mugabe put the land issue at the centre of his campaign. He promised to empower black Zimbabweans economically by giving them white-owned farms. He faces a presidential election next spring.
Top
From The Daily News (SA), 11 July
Britain cautions OAU against backing Mugabe
Lusaka - Britain has cautioned African leaders meeting in Lusaka for the last Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit that backing Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in his land dispute with London could undermine Western financial support for their ambitious African recovery plan. A British government source issued the caution in response to a resolution of the OAU Council of Ministers on Sunday which put the blame on Britain for the arbitrary seizure of commercial white farms. "We feel, depending on the way the leaders decide to pursue the issue, it may be negative on other important and progressive programmes the continent wants to embark on," the source said.
South African government officials, concerned about deterring investors by appearing to buck the rule of law, have tried to distance Pretoria from the resolution. Department of Foreign Affairs representative Ronnie Mamoepa said the fact that the OAU council of ministers had agreed to appoint a committee to help Zimbabwe deal with land reform showed that the OAU was not happy with land redistribution in its present form. However, South Africa is on record as supporting the Zimbabwe resolution. Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma attended the council of ministers' meeting and the Zimbabwe resolution was reported to have been adopted "unanimously". The resolution says the OAU committee made up of South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Cameroon, Kenya, and Zambia will promote international understanding of Zimbabwe's land reforms, and secure support for them.
Top
From The Financial Gazette, 12 July
27 MDC officials arrested
At least 27 officials and activists of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were arrested in Bindura and Kwekwe yesterday in what is emerging to be an organised police crackdown on the opposition party in all major urban centres ahead of three parliamentary by-elections and the crunch presidential ballot. The arrests came hard on the heels of weekend police raids on the offices of the MDC in Harare and Bulawayo, where other activists were detained for questioning
In Bindura, 16 MDC supporters were held yesterday and two campaign vehicles belonging to opposition party candidate Elliot Pfebve seized in the town as the police intensified attacks on the MDC ahead of a by-election there in two weeks' time. Pfebve is challenging Mashonaland Central governor Elliot Manyika for the Bindura parliamentary seat, declared vacant after the car crash death of Youth Affairs Minister Border Gezi two months ago. Pfebve said late yesterday he was still trying to negotiate the release of his supporters and cars from Bindura Police Station. He said police claimed to have seen his vehicles in the Chiveso area of Bindura, where Zanu PF supporters had allegedly been injured in political violence on Tuesday night. The MDC politician rejected the police charge. "They are desperate. They are cooking all kinds of stories to get a pretext of detaining our supporters. No amount of intimidation will win them the election," he said in a telephone interview from Bindura Police Station. The officer in charge of the station, Solomon Pswarayi, refused to be interviewed on the phone and referred all questions to his superiors who could not be reached for comment.
In Kwekwe, a group of 60 police officers and members of the government's spy Central Intelligence Organisation swooped on the MDC offices there early in the day and arrested 11 party officials. MDC's information secretary Learnmore Jongwe said the security agents, moving in their now familiar British-made Defender Land Rover cars, searched his party's offices without an official search warrant, which is illegal. Police in Kwekwe refused to comment on the arrests when contacted by this newspaper. Those arrested in Kwekwe include the MDC's Midlands provincial chairman Evans Ruzvidzo, his deputy Isaac Muzimba, provincial secretary Edgar Sithole, treasurer Lameck Muyambi and regional coordinator Sylvester Majekuza. Jongwe said the MDC had yet to establish why the 11 had been detained. They were still in police custody at the time of going to print.
MDC's secretary-general Welshman Ncube condemned the arrests and accused Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri, a member of the ruling Zanu PF party, of unashamed partisanship. Earlier this week Chihuri threatened to sack all senior police officers he accused of backing the MDC, which emerged from the shadows last year to nearly topple President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF, in power since independence from Britain two decades ago. MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai is expected to challenge Mugabe in the presidential ballot, which must be held by April next year, in a contest analysts see as a one-sided show because of the dramatic loss of political support by Mugabe.
Meanwhile, MDC's national youth chairman Nelson Chamisa said yesterday his department had embarked on a campaign to discourage all Zimbabwean youths from participating in the government's proposed National Youth Service (NYS). He charged that the project, to take off shortly, was aimed at preparing Zanu PF youths to intimidate opponents nationwide ahead of the by-elections and presidential poll. "The youth service is in fact an experimental pilot project aimed at preparing the youths to unleash a reign of terror against Zanu PF opponents ahead of the by-elections and next year's presidential elections. We won't have anything to do with it, "Chamisa said. The government says the NYS is aimed at instilling discipline and patriotism among youths, whose employment in state institutions will now depend on whether they have done their youth service stint.
Top
From News24 (SA), 12 July
Labour leader quizzed
Harare - Police on Wednesday questioned Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary-general Wellington Chibebe in connection with last week's national strike, which the government had declared illegal, the labor leader said. "They questioned me in connection with the stayaway and the violence that occurred," Chibebe said. "They wanted to know the role of the ZCTU in organising the stayaways." Chibebe was questioned for two hours by police about possible violations of the colonial-era Law and Order Maintenance Act (LOMA), routinely used by the government to crack down on political dissidents. He was released without charge, although police could decide to press charges later.
"The ZCTU is not clear of the police actions, but according to the two police officers, they intend building a relationship with the labour centre," the group said in a statement. "But the question lies on the type of relationship, which is not clear. Earlier on the government had declared the mass action illegal." ZCTU, a powerful umbrella group of labor unions, organised the July 3-4 strike, which succeeded in forcing Zimbabwe to a standstill. The unions called the general strike to demand fuel price cuts after the government last month declared an overnight increase of about 70 percent.
Government has yet to respond to workers' demands, and the ZCTU said on Friday it would launch an open-ended stayaway if the government did not rescind the price hike. The strike cost Zimbabwe's economy up to $9.1 million, according to the state-run Herald newspaper. For the last three months, the ZCTU has faced a sometimes violent challenge from militant liberation war veterans who have occupied white-owned farms here since February 2000. Led by the firebrand war vet leader Joseph Chinotimba, the pro-government veterans have formed a rival labor grouping, the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU), and launched raids on urban businesses since April. So far, none of the ZCTU's affiliate unions have switched to the war vets' group, whose labor relations tactics have included extortion, intimidation and beating of business owners. The rivalry stems from Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's effort to win back urban voters before the presidential election due early next year, in which he is likely to face a stiff challenge from Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change.
Top
From The Daily News, 10 July
MDC member's widow tells High Court of horrifying torture details
The High Court yesterday heard horrifying stories of how alleged Zanu PF supporters in Mberengwa West tortured an MDC member's wife, forcing her to drink their urine. Mavis Tapera, whose husband Fainos Kufazvinei Zhou of the MDC died after a severe beating by Zanu PF supporters, told High Court judge Justice Ben Hlatshwayo that suspected Zanu PF supporters ordered her to drink her urine and forced an iron rod into her private parts before they
