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Harare - Another Zimbabwe High Court judge has resigned from the bench, the third to do so since May, the state-run Herald reported on Wednesday. Michael Gillespie, who has been High Court judge for the past five years, tendered his resignation to President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday and will effectively cease work at the end of August. In his resignation letter quoted by the daily, Gillespie did not give reasons for his departure, but said: "I very deeply regret the circumstances which constrain me to conclude that I can no longer hold this office." Two other high court judges, justices James Devittie and Esmael Chatikobo, resigned in May and June respectively. In March, Zimbabwe's most senior judge, Supreme Court chief justice Anthony Gubbay, offered to take early retirement following run-ins with the government over verdicts against forcible seizures of white-owned land for redistribution to poor blacks. All three High Court judges have run afoul of government authorities in one way or another.

The Herald said Gillespie made comments ahead of last year's parliamentary elections, suggesting that losing candidates could seek legal nullification of the electoral results on grounds of campaign violence. Just before his resignation, Devittie nullified results in three constituencies, including one lost by Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democractic Change (MDC). Chatikobo came under verbal attack last year from Information Minister Jonathan Moyo when he ordered police to return all equipment they had seized from the country's first private radio, Capital Radio. The radio had gone on air following a Supreme court ruling that ended the monopoly of the state broadcaster, but police immediately raided it and shut it down. In February this year, Chatikobo angered the authorities again when he issued an order delaying the deportation of two foreign correspondents, Joseph Winter of the BBC and Mercedes Sayagues of the Mail & Guardian of South Africa.

The High Court in Harare yesterday granted bail to Odzi farmer, Philip Bezuidenhout. Bezuidenhout, 51, faces a charge of murder after he allegedly struck and killed Febian Mapenzauswa, 31, on 15 July with his vehicle. Mapenzauswa had just been resettled on Bezuidenhout's Tara Farm in Odzi. Justice Michael Gillespie ordered the farmer to deposit $10 000 bail and provide the registrar of the High Court with surety of $50 000. He said Bezuidenhout, remanded on his initial appearance on 18 July at the Magistrates' Courts in Mutare in custody to Wednesday, would, prior to his release on bail, advise the registrar and the investigating officer in writing of his new residential address. He would live there after his release until the end of his trial.

The State represented by Chengetai Gwatidzo, of the Attorney-General's Office, had opposed bail, saying Bezuidenhout's life was in danger since the situation at his farm was still tense with tempers still high. He said there was a fear that Bezuidenhout might abscond or interfere with State witnesses because of the seriousness of the charge. Gillespie directed the farmer to report at the Harare Central police station every Friday and not to interfere with witnesses whose names might appear on a list to be supplied by the investigating officer. Bezuidenhout, who was not in court, was represented by Advocate Richard Phillips of Advocates Chambers instructed by Chris Ndlovu of Gonese and Ndlovu. Phillips successfully argued that his client's life was not in danger as he had safe alternative residential addresses.

The government will restrict people to voting within the constituencies they are registered in next year’s presidential election, The Standard has learnt. Tobaiwa Mudede, the registrar-general, announced this when he addressed a Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) retreat held in the resort town of Victoria Falls, recently. "The country would constitute one big constituency because this is a presidential election, not a parliamentary one. However, this does not mean people will be allowed to vote from any constituency in the country. No, people will be restricted to their constituencies. You can only vote in the constituency in which you have been registered," said Mudede.

"Mudede’s statement immediately drew sharp criticism from bishops at the retreat. "We are afraid that the system will result in a lot of people failing to exercise their right to choose the next president," said one bishop. It has also been criticised by the opposition MDC and civic organisations who believe it could enhance vote rigging. Unlike parliamentary elections, a presidential election is determined by absolute numbers, with the person securing the highest votes winning the election. This renders the confinement of voters to their constituencies irrelevant as all votes will be pooled. Although no specific dates have been set yet, the presidential election is likely to be conducted in April 2002. Zanu PF’s Robert Mugabe faces MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, who threatens to end the president’s 21-year stranglehold on power. Mudede’s office has for long been accused of facilitating ruling party victories by rigging votes, an accusation that Mudede has strongly denied.

MDC election director, Paul Themba Nyathi, said the system was designed to promote violence and ensure a Zanu PF victory. Zanu PF thugs, said Nyathi, would unleash violence in targeted MDC strongholds and push people out of the constituencies. As a result, these people would not be able to vote, giving Zanu PF an edge over the MDC. "So many internally displaced people will not be able to vote. The system is meant to promote violence. Violence would be targeted at MDC strongholds where people will flee from their constituencies and won’t be able to vote. It is a Zanu PF strategy to empty whole constituencies perceived to be MDC strongholds. The truth is that we are in a system that is totalitarian and does not promote democracy. At every turn the system attempts to deny citizens their rights," said Nyathi. "If Mudede wanted to discourage violence he would have allowed people to vote from any constituency in the country. This would allow those displaced by violence to exercise their right to vote elsewhere. But as I said, these people are always looking for ways to rig the elections," he added.

Mudede said the system was meant to ensure a smooth and efficient running of elections. "We are restricting people to their constituencies so that the election will be run efficiently. We are not going to announce the winner of the election basing on the result of one constituency. We will only announce the winner after we have received results from all the constituencies. You should know that Zimbabwe has one of the best electoral systems in the world. We are always sending officers from my office to other countries in Europe, Asia and within Africa," said Mudede.

Political commentator and Transparency International chairman, John Makumbe, echoed Nyathi’s sentiments that the system of restricting people to their constituencies was devised to rig elections. "It is likely to disenfranchise everybody who is not in their constituency. It is, of course, illegal to disenfranchise potential voters. This means Zanu PF will rig all over the country. You don’t know where they will poll the majority of their non-existent voters. This is the best way to rig an election," said Makumbe. He said Mudede should have used the Adult Universal Suffrage provision whereby people would not have to register to enable them to vote but can vote upon producing acceptable identification. The system was used during last year’s referendum in which the government’s defective draft constitution was rejected by the majority of voters. "It would have been the best approach to the election but then rigging would be very difficult. They tried that system during the referendum and lost. They won’t risk losing again so they would rather use a system they are comfortable with," said Makumbe.

The spokesman for the Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu) Phillip Pasirayi, said over 280 000 students would be affected by the system. "Most students register at their colleges, so if colleges are to be closed during the election, then students will lose their suffrage right. This is a presidential election and people should be allowed to vote from any constituency. For such a large constituency (students) to be disadvantaged is not healthy for democracy. This system has to be revised," said Pasirayi.

The South African Council of Churches (SACC) has said the Zimbabwean government has run out of ideas and has no capacity to solve the country’s problems. In an interview with The Standard at the Zimbabwe Council of Churches annual retreat in Victoria Falls last week, Dr Molefe Tsele, secretary-general of the 22-million strong SACC, castigated the Mugabe regime for being arrogant and lacking interest in solving the country’s problems. Tsele said he was disappointed by most government ministers who addressed the meeting. Ministers who addressed the retreat included: state publicity and information minister, Jonathan Moyo; John Nkomo, home affairs; Patrick Chinamasa, justice legal and parliamentary affairs and agriculture minister, Joseph Made, whose speech was delivered on his behalf by Moyo.

Said Tsele: "Zimbabwe is in a tragedy. A tragedy because people who are supposed to be protecting innocent citizens from death are promoting death themselves. They no longer have a heart. They are prepared to look aside when their fellow citizens are dying. I followed closely when the ministers were talking, and I did not see them giving tangible solutions to Zimbabwe’s problems. What I saw was an attempt to justify their shortcomings without really offering solutions. It appears no-one has really identified what Zimbabwe’s core problems are. The capacity to solve Zimbabwe’s problem does not lie in these ministers".

"All the ministers who came to the retreat refused to condemn violence nor commit themselves to ending it," said Tsele "What was missing from your ministers was an unequivocal commitment to stop the lawlessness that has reduced Zimbabwe’s standing on the international map. What came out was tolerance of what is happening. The government is not being apologetic for the mayhem being caused by its supporters and this could lead Zimbabwe into a deeper crisis. The situation here is quite regrettable."

Tsele, however, pinpointed Chinamasa as the most disappointing of the ministers. During his presentation, Chinamasa refused to condemn violence nor commit that government would act on political violence. Instead, Chinamasa promised the clergymen more violence saying it was a necessary tool for revolution. Zanu PF has branded its chaotic land reform programme the "Third Chimurenga". Chinamasa alleged that the country was on the verge of a war should the land issue remain unresolved. "The moment the person responsible for administering the law becomes very tolerant to the behaviour of law breakers, then you really have a tragedy. Chinamasa seems to be sympathising with those responsible for promoting lawlessness. I was disappointed by his statements. Those are not words that are supposed to come from the mouth of a justice minister. When he made those utterances, I thought that there was something terribly wrong with him," said Tsele.

He said the SACC fully supported the local churches’ hard line stance on Mugabe. The ZCC attacked Mugabe’s government for plunging the country into de facto warfare and reducing the country’s once thriving economy to ashes, all in a bid to stay in power. The churches pointed to a leadership crisis in Zimbabwe. "We support the ZCC for its stance against misrule and we have no apologies for that. We don’t expect these people (government) to voluntarily see logic but at one point they will be forced to. I have no doubt that ultimately the will of the people of Zimbabwe will prevail. You may delay it, but it is inevitable. One day Zimbabweans will have their legitimate representatives," said Tsele.

The Zimbabwe ruling Zanu PF party, led by President Robert Mugabe, has won a by-election which is seen a key test of political opinion in the country. Elliot Manyika of the ruling Zanu PF) won the election with 15,864 ballots, beating Elliot Pfebve of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), who won 9,456 votes. Sunday's election in the northeastern rural constituency of Bindura, 56km (35 miles) north of the capital, Harare, was to replace Border Gezi, a late close aide to President Mugabe and a former minister.

The BBC's southern Africa correspondent, Rageh Omaar, says the result is a huge boost to the Zanu-PF, which will interpret the victory as a vindication of its policy of forcible redistribution of white farmers' land. But he says that the opposition are bound to accuse the party of political intimidation in the run-up to the election. The election campaign had been marred by violence and tension, with the MDC candidate being detained and questioned by police on Sunday over charges by the authorities of illegal campaigning.

Mr Manyika, a provincial governor and former diplomat, won the election by a greater margin than his predecessor Mr Gezi, who died in a car crash in April, achieved in last year's general election. Mr Gezi won 13,329 votes, last year, compared to Mr Pfebve's 11,257. Polling for the by-election attracted 61% of the electorate - a higher turnout than in last year's general election, despite the pre-poll tension. MDC candidate Eliot Pfebve was picked up along with about 15 of his supporters by police on Sunday. They were all released after several hours. The MDC said its cars were stoned and shot at.

Zanu-PF has won all three of the by-elections held since the June 2000 parliamentary elections. All the election campaigns have been marked by similar violence. This by-election comes only eight months before Mr Mugabe faces the next presidential elections in April, and is taking place amid a grave economic crisis. Inflation and unemployment are very high and Zimbabwe will need to import at least 500,000 tonnes of grain to avert food shortages by the end of the year.

Harare - Nineteen Zanu PF farm invaders at Chishaku Farm in Mvuma, central Zimbabwe, were last Friday convicted of armed robbery, housebreaking and theft and sentenced to effective jail terms ranging from one to three years. This is the first prosecution of farm invaders in 16 months. Elsewhere bands of rowdy and lawless invaders remain littered across the country, disrupting farm operations as a way of trying to push white commercial farmers out of their land. Shadreck Thomas, who led the invasions on Andrea Scheepers's farm in November last year, was convicted of five counts involving public violence and sentenced to an effective three-year jail term while others were jailed for one year for housebreaking and theft. Initially, the group comprised 27 farm invaders, but five of them were acquitted for lack of evidence, while the sixth was freed because he was a juvenile who the court described as having been driven by mob psychology. The court heard that on November 21 last year, the invaders, led by their youth leader Thomas, met at the nearby Impala Ranch and connived to assault and rob the owner of Chishaku Farm for uprooting their wooden pegs on his farm. The invaders occupied the farm in February last year at the height of the farm invasions and subdivided it into several plots using wooden pegs. Scheepers and his family have since abandoned the farm. The invaders ransacked the farmhouse and stole household goods worth about R48 000.

THE US$1 million pledged by Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, to Zanu PF to bolster President Mugabe’s campaign for next year’s presidential election is illegal under the Political Parties (Finance) Act. The Libyan leader, who was in Zimbabwe two weeks ago, pledged well over US$900 000 in campaign funds, in addition to an extra US$360 million to end Zimbabwe’s current fuel crisis. The controversial Political Parties (Finance) Act passed earlier this year at the instigation of Zanu PF legislators prohibits foreign funding for political parties.

Reads part of the act: "No political party or candidate shall accept any foreign donation, whether directly from the donor or indirectly through a third person. ...any donation accepted by a member of a political party shall be deemed to have been accepted by the political party unless the member wilfully fails to disclose such donation to the political party ..." The act also bans the soliciting of donations by foreigners for political parties. Under the act, it is a criminal offence to accept or solicit for political party funding and the guilty are liable to a fine of up to $100 000 while donations are forfeited to the State.

Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) secretary for legal affairs, David Coltart, said if Zanu PF accepted Gaddafi’s donation it would be breaking a law it had masterminded. Said Coltart: "This is yet another example of Zanu PF’s hypocrisy. They pass a law which we said was directed at undermining the MDC. They had never worried about foreign funding before and their intention all along was to undermine the MDC. They are now breaking their own law. What we now have is a selective application of the law. But this is not surprising just like if you are not aligned to Zanu PF and you are murdered, they won’t prosecute. Likewise if Zanu PF receives foreign funding, the AG won’t prosecute." On what the MDC would do to block donations to Zanu PF, Coltart said the MDC was powerless as it would only take the attorney-general to prosecute. He was, however, dismissive of gains from foreign donations saying: "They (Zanu PF) can receive as much money as they want from despots like Gaddafi. But the people of Zimbabwe can’t be bought."

Contacted for comment, Zanu PF secretary for legal affairs, Patrick Chinamasa, professed ignorance over Gaddafi’s pledge, contrary to news widely reported in the national and international media when the pledge was made. "I am not aware of any such pledge. It would be illegal because of the act. Where did you hear of the donation?" said Chinamasa, who is also the minister of justice, legal and parliamentary affairs. The party’s deputy secretary for finance, Solomon Tawengwa, also said he was not aware of the donation by Gaddafi: "I am not involved in it, I really don’t know about that money."

During Gaddafi’s visit, whose purpose was not clear, he addressed several rallies on behalf of Zanu PF and pleased the party by uttering the familiar racist rhetoric. At a dinner hosted by President Mugabe, the Libyan leader said Africa should rid itself of all whites as it belonged to "Africans". "The liberation battle is not finished yet until all whites leave. When they leave, they must leave the land and all the property because this is our property and they took it by force. What was taken by force you should get by force," said Gaddafi referring to the government’s land grab exercise.

Responding to Gaddafi’s recent visit to Zimbabwe and overtures to other countries within the continent, the US State Department last week said it was concerned at Gaddafi’s attempts to become Africa’s sponsor. Reported the BBC last week, the department said: "As well as providing nearly $1 million to the ruling party for its campaign, he (Gaddafi) has approved a $360 million oil deal that will end Zimbabwe’s current fuel crisis at a stroke." Apart from the grand gesture to Zimbabwe, Gaddafi, who is being hailed as the founding father of the recently formed African Union, has offered fuel to Ghana to end its shortfall. In recent weeks, Gaddafi has sent envoys to Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast and he is also involved in a peace initiative to end the war in Sudan. Last week the US Congress passed bills extending sanctions against Libya and Iran by another five years.

Zimbabwean police detained the opposition candidate in a fiercely contested by-election for more than two hours on Sunday, the second day of a poll marred by widespread violence during months of campaigning. The vote to replace the late MP Border Gezi, who was a close aide of President Robert Mugabe, is widely considered a preview of presidential polls due in nine months. State media have described the weekend polling as peaceful, but the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said police detained its candidate Elliot Pfebve for more than two hours on Sunday, while its supporters suffered beatings and kidnappings the day before.

Police officials were not reachable for comment on Pfebve's detention or on the alleged beatings of MDC supporters. Pfebve's aides, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that riot police arrested him and 16 supporters for singing party slogans while driving to visit polling stations, after the campaign period ended on Friday. After holding Pfebve for more than two hours, police told him they had no case to file, Pfebve's aides said. "Saying it's unfair would be an understatement," MDC spokesperson Learnmore Jongwe said. "We are in the middle of the election, you hold him for two hours, and you don't give him an opportunity to visit the polling stations, you round up his polling agents, and you say you are giving a free and fair election."

On the first day of polling on Saturday, Jongwe said 21 youths were kidnapped while at least four others were severely beaten with axes, spears, iron bars and sticks in rural parts of Bindura constituency, about 60km north of the capital Harare. MDC reported the incidents to Bindura police, who refused to open a docket in the case, Jongwe added. "The youths who have been kidnapped are believed to have been taken to a Zanu-PF torture camp," he said. One MDC official in Bindura, Joseph Mashinya, said that he and another man were assessing voter turnout when their truck had a flat tyre. Six people then surrounded the truck and began beating both men with sticks and iron bars, Mashinya said. The assault lasted about three hours, he said, adding that the group of attackers grew to more than 30 before the two were left with their injuries. "We were severely beaten about the head," Mashinya said. The two managed to drive the truck to a main road, where friends found them and took Mashinya to a government hospital for treatment.

The voting on Saturday and Sunday came after months of campaigning that was also marred by violence. Police have set roadblocks on roads leading into Bindura, and on the mostly dirt country roads within the constituency. The election is the latest test for Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party, pitted against the two-year-old MDC, which is expected to give him a tough challenge in presidential polls due in April. Pfebve lost his race in the June 2000 parliamentary elections, after a bloody campaign of intimidation that mainly targeted opposition supporters around the country. Pfebve's brother was killed before the June 2000 parliamentary elections, in what he believes was a case of mistaken identity. Pfebve is also one of five people who sued Mugabe for $400-million (about R3,28-billion) in a US court for alleged human rights abuses against political enemies during the 2000 poll. Mugabe's Zanu-PF is fielding provincial governor Elliot Manyika as its candidate. Election results are not expected until Monday.

Bindura - Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change ran a gauntlet of violence, kidnappings and arrests at the weekend as the ruling Zanu PF party fought to ensure victory in a critical by-election. Elliot Pfebve, 32, the MDC’s candidate, was arrested yesterday by heavily armed paramilitary police as he toured polling stations on the second day of voting in Bindura, about 60 miles north of Harare. He was released without charge after three hours. There was no word on 21 MDC campaigners arrested on Saturday. On Saturday three MDC supporters were taken to hospital after being assaulted by militias linked to President Mugabe’s war veterans. Workers queuing at a mobile polling station on a white-owned farm were attacked, and also on Saturday three MDC polling agents were arrested. The action came after surprisingly heavy polling. Low polls in closely contested areas in Zimbabwe are seen as evidence of successful intimidation. A high turnout is regarded as a sign of defiance. Bindura, in Zanu PF’s heartland, may hold the key to presidential elections due next March. With urban areas and much of the Ndebele-speaking country under MDC control, Mr Mugabe cannot have his fortress in the Shona-speaking region breached. A result is expected this evening.

Harare - Zimbabwe will not devalue its dollar from the current rate of 55 to the greenback, Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo, has told the state-run Sunday Mail newspaper. "It has to be made clear that devaluation is not on the agenda and is not a solution to the problem," Moyo said. The government has maintained the official rate at 55 to one since October, while rates on the parallel market have soared to 185 to one because of the country's crippling shortage of foreign currency. "A host of measures will now be taken to rein in the parallel market," Moyo said. Finance Minister Simba Makoni has repeatedly said Zimbabwe's currency is overvalued at the official rate. "It is not realistic and sustainable for us to maintain the rate where it is," Makoni told journalists at a news conference earlier this month. Exporters have also urged the government to devalue the Zimbabwean dollar, saying their businesses cannot survive because they are required to convert their earnings at the official rate while they import at the parallel rate since banks have no foreign currency to sell.

Zimbabwe is mired in its worst-ever economic crisis, which business leaders at the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) congress last week said was inextricably tied to the 18-month political crisis. But Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday denied that his nation was on the verge of economic collapse, despite inflation and unemployment rates of more than 60% and a critical shortage of foreign currency. Makoni and independent economists have blamed the crisis on Zimbabwe's decision to award hefty, unbudgeted gratuities to war veterans in 1997; to acquire farms without compensating their white owners; and to deploy one-third of its armed forces in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Popular discontent over the government's economic policies manifested itself earlier this month with a widely observed two-day stayaway that brought Zimbabwe to a standstill. That protest was over the latest fuel price hike of 70%, which immediately sent transport fares soaring and threatened to drive inflation even higher.

President Robert Mugabe’s cash-strapped government has awarded almost $1 billion in unbudgeted funds to war veterans following a 25% increment on their tax free monthly gratuities, The Standard has established. The announcement of the increments, backdated to January this year, was tucked inside a statutory instrument (239 of 2001) on pension reviews published in the Government Gazette, two weeks ago. Each of the 55 000 war veterans had their monthly allowance hiked by $1 375, backdated to January. This translates to an unbudgeted expenditure of $907,5 million during the current fiscal year which ends in December, although the budget for the next year will be presented in October.

Before the adjustment which was effected last week, each war veteran was earning $5 500 per month. This has now shot to $6 875. Public service, labour and social welfare minister, July Moyo, authorised the hikes together with finance and economic development minister, Simba Makoni. The increments will be paid from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Part of the statutory instrument reads "...any disability or war veteran pension which was payable immediately before or which first became payable on the effective date, shall with effect from the date be increased by 25% (effective date means 1 January 2001)."

Contacted for comment, the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) secretary-general, Andy Mhlanga, confirmed the upward adjustment for war veterans’ gratuities. "I can confirm that the increments were implemented last week. We had been pushing for that review since the beginning of the year and we are glad that it was finally accepted," said Mhlanga. "The comrades are happy with this move and we shall rally behind President Mugabe and the party for it is the one which is looking after our welfare." War veterans, Zanu PF’s major support group in next year’s presidential election, are currently spearheading a government-sponsored violent farm grab campaign meant to win the hearts and souls of long suffering Zimbabweans.

The payment of $50 000 gratuities to each of the 55 000 war veterans, four years ago, sent the Zimbabwe dollar tumbling to a then all time low against major currencies on what came to be known as "Black Friday" in November 1998. That expenditure withdrew an unbudgeted for $4 billion from the country’s coffers. The tax free lump sum of $50 000 was to be followed by $2 000 monthly payments which were increased in 1999 to $5 500. Apart from the gratuities, war veterans also receive an annual education allowance of $20 000, free medical attention at government hospitals, and burial allowance of $5 500 when a family member dies. They are also entitled to 20% of the land acquired by the government under the fast track land resettlement programme.

Harare - Britain's new ambassador to Zimbabwe has told President Robert Mugabe that respect for human rights should be discussed along with the government's controversial land reform scheme, the embassy said on Friday. British High Commissioner Brian Donnelly held his first meeting with Mugabe on Thursday at State House when he presented his credentials as Britain’s new ambassador, an embassy statement said. Donnelly "reiterated Prime Minister Tony Blair's wish to work together for a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Zimbabwe in which all Zimbabweans would feel they had an equitable stake in the country's future," the statement said.

Mugabe explained the history of the land issue in Zimbabwe, which for the last 18 months has turned into a violent campaign by government supporters to occupy white-owned farms. "The high commissioner also explained why the British government believed that the rule of law, respect for human rights, independence of the judiciary, and media freedom, including access for international media, should also be discussed," the statement said.

The state-run Herald newspaper said that Donnelly told Mugabe that "Britain wants to have good relations with Zimbabwe". "We want to work together with Zimbabwe to achieve stability and prosperity. We also hope that in the near future we can go back to the friendly relationship we enjoyed in the past," the paper quoted Donnelly as saying. Donnelly met Mugabe the same day that the Herald newspaper reported the government's decision to no longer accredit journalists from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to Zimbabwe. Britain has spearheaded criticism of Muagbe's government for its crackdown on the opposition, the media and the judiciary. The privately owned Daily News reported on Friday that it was denied access to State House to cover the meeting, while state media were allowed to enter. Donnelly was previously ambassador to Belgrade from 1997 to 2000.

Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has appointed three new judges seen as stalwarts of the ruling party to the Supreme Court, reports said on Friday. Some slam the move as an attempt to influence the judiciary. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said that the additional judges were needed to handle litigation by white farmers "who are contesting and indeed frustrating the government's land reform programme", in a statement quoted by the state-run Herald newspaper.

White farmers, through the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU), have already won a Supreme Court ruling declaring the violence-wracked land reforms unconstitutional, and individual farmers continue to press claims to retain their farms. Chinamasa did not say when the new judges - Misheck Cheda, Vernanda Ziyambi and Luke Malaba - would take the bench. Under Zimbabwean law, Mugabe has unrestricted powers to appoint judges or to expand the size of the bench. His appointments are reviewed only by the Judicial Services Commission, which is also filled with Mugabe appointees.

"The real reason for the new appointments is an attempt to further Zanu-ise the judiciary in this country," said Tendai Biti, a leading constitutional lawyer and an MP from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). He was referring to Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party. "Fortunately the men and women who have been appointed are men and women of integrity," Biti said. "The intended subordination of the Supreme Court through the appointment of judges who are perceived as sympathetic to the Mugabe regime is not going to succeed."

International legal groups have criticised the government for making threats against judges and their families earlier this year. Former chief justice Anthony Gubbay went into early retirement after Chinamasa reportedly told him the government could no longer guarantee his safety. He was replaced with a judge widely seen as pro-government. Gubbay and other judges came under heightened pressure after the government suffered a series of defeats at the Supreme Court, including rulings which ended the government monopoly on broadcasting, invalidated its land reform scheme, and allowed the opposition to bring legal challenges to its electoral losses.

Mugabe's government has pushed through new legislation to counter some of those rulings and ignored others. The court's new composition casts doubt on how any future legal challenges would be decided. The MDC has won four of its 37 electoral petitions and lost four others. Both sides have appealed their losses to the Supreme Court. Would-be private broadcasters have also vowed to challenge a new broadcasting law before the court, saying the law sidestepped last year's Supreme Court decision on the airwaves by imposing too many restrictions on broadcasters. The court is also due to return to its ruling on land reforms. It had ordered the police to evict thousands of occupiers from white-owned farms and told the government to craft a legal land reform programme by July 1. The deadline has passed without any apparent action.

Fresh squabbles are emerging between Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth over the mandate of the foreign ministers’ team appointed to resolve the London-Harare political stand-off, the Zimbabwe Independent has established. Diplomatic sources said differences are resurfacing over the terms of reference of the committee which is expected to visit Zimbabwe and compile a report before the Brisbane Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) in October. Harare wants the seven-member team - which comprises ministers from Britain, Australia, South Africa, Kenya, Jamaica, Nigeria and Zimbabwe itself - to deal with the land issue only.

President Mugabe this week confirmed his government’s narrow agenda on the issue when he opened the second session of the Fifth Parliament. Mugabe claimed the Commonwealth team has been "tasked to visit Zimbabwe on a fact-finding mission on land". This is not in fact the case. The committee was set up specifically to look at wider issues of governance. The president, who has been struggling to restrict the committee’s scope of investigation for political purposes, said it was expected that it would "help put the land issue in perspective and point to a way forward on this very important matter".

Harare is gloating over the appointment by the newly-formed African Union of another seven-member committee - which comprises South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Zambia - to defend Zimbabwe’s land reform programme in international fora. "The one critical area presenting stiff but urgent political and legislative challenges is that of land reform," Mugabe said on Tuesday. "Our position on the land issue is now well-understood by the majority of the international community who now accept it as just and reasonable."

Authorities have drawn comfort from a statement by Organisation of African Union (OAU) foreign ministers, who took pot shots at London over Zimbabwe’s catalogue of problems. But their resolution was subsequently revised by heads of state who showed a marked reluctance to be drawn into the dispute between Harare and London. Some Commonwealth members, particularly Britain, Australia and South Africa, are insisting that the committee representing the group of mostly former British colonies be given room to also probe abuses in human rights, the rule of law, democracy and governance issues. Mugabe claims these issues are "peripheral" or "extraneous".

South African President Thabo Mbeki last week told the G8 summit in Genoa, Italy, where he presented the New Africa Initiative – incorporating the Africa Millennium Recovery Plan - that the Commonwealth team will examine various issues in addition to land. Responding to a statement of the G8 foreign ministers, which said the Zimbabwe crisis was spawning instability in the region, Mbeki said: "Yes, indeed. In fact, we are in the process at the moment of establishing a Commonwealth committee of foreign ministers to deal with these issues, and Zimbabwe has agreed to that," he said.

Mbeki said the committee would also look into whether Zimbabwe was capable of holding a free and fair election next year when Mugabe runs for a fifth term which will see him, if he wins, extending his 21 years in office by another six years. "What is needed is to assist the Zimbabweans to make sure that those elections are indeed free and fair," Mbeki said. "I don’t think it’s a question of demanding it of them, but of assisting them if we can to make them that way." British High Commission political secretary Richard Lindsay told the Zimbabwe Independent two weeks ago that London wants the Commonwealth to examine the land issue and various other problems connected to it. He suggested that land redistribution would not be meaningful in the midst of economic ruin and lawlessness. But with Mugabe continuing to insist that all national problems, besides land, were red- herrings, it is doubtful if the Commonwealth team will want to proceed with its mission.

Andrew Young, the former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, has strongly condemned the prevailing violence in Zimbabwe, spearheaded by war veterans, saying it bears the seeds of its own destruction. Young was addressing guests at a recent business breakfast meeting in Harare, whose theme was "Overcoming Zimbabwe's economic challenges and the land issue". The meeting was hosted jointly by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and Zimbabwe Newspapers (Zimpapers), both State-owned.

"Violence has to be the last resort, if at all, and if we're going to achieve peace, prosperity and freedom that we hope for, we're going to have to do so in a climate that totally minimises violence," he said. Young said he had seen people in Zimbabwe living peacefully on land that had been taken away from them illegally in the past. He condemned killing and violence of any sort, both of which he said were avoidable. "Killing and violence are unnecessary. We should become more aggressive in pursuit of our goals without violence. As a politician, I know that you can't buy, bribe or intimidate people away from the polls. People are not dumb; they will not be intimidated or humiliated and with the privacy of the voting booth, they have their own opportunity for judgment and they will exercise that opportunity for judgment according to the appeals made to them and for them by those who they know and trust," Young said.

On vote-buying, the African-American politician cited elections in Haiti where politicians poured large sums of money and used the vicious Ton Ton Macoutes - an underground intelligence militia created by Haitian dictator Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier - to beat up people. Papa Doc, in power from 1957 to 1971 when he died, ruled Haiti with an iron fist and maintained the Ton Ton Macoutes as a large and vicious guard. His son, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc", took over in 1971 and ruled up to 1986 when he was deposed and fled into exile He said: "They were the most vicious people in the Western hemisphere. Yet, when the elections were held, the people who had been beaten into submission voted for a penniless priest, Jean-Betrand Aristide, for whom they had love and respect."

Young said he had always advised President Mugabe whenever he visited the US that it was important for Zimbabwe to maintain good relations with the international community. He said Zimbabwe's economy was not stable but had the potential of making a positive turn-around. He urged Zimbabweans to be tolerant and to help build a strong and vibrant nation that would be an example to the rest of Africa. The breakfast meeting was attended by a wide spectrum of the Zimbabwean businesspeople including Enoch Kamushinda, a leading banker and chairman of Zimpapers, Phillip Chiyangwa, the MP for Chinhoyi and a proponent for the indigenisation of the economy, and Nigel Chanakira, chief executive of Kingdom Financial Holdings.

The Zimbabwe Government has suspended all accreditation of BBC correspondents in the country, accusing the corporation of "distortions and misrepresentation". Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said he objected to a television report by Africa correspondent Rageh Omaar about a speech by President Mugabe earlier this week. The BBC says it stands by the report. In a letter sent to the BBC, Mr Moyo said the report was at variance with what President Mugabe had said about the land issue, and was distorted to "give a false impression that there is no rule of law in Zimbabwe". The letter said: "Your reporter clearly used the words that the president 'vowed to continue with the forcible acquisition' (of land), yet these words were nowhere in the president's speech." It went on: "There is a world of difference between 'forcible acquisition' and 'lawful acquisition'". Mr Moyo said his ministry "has suspended all accreditation of BBC correspondents in Zimbabwe pending agreement, if at all possible, on ethical and professional code of conduct."

A BBC spokesman said: "We are disappointed with the decision. We will certainly be discussing the situation with the Zimbabwean Government to try to resolve it as soon as possible. Rageh Omaar's report had also carried a frank interview with the country's finance minister, Simba Makoni, in which he gave a gloomy assessment of the Zimbabwean economy. He admitted in the report that there were major economic problems, that tourism had virtually collapsed and that manufacturing was suffering lots of closures". In February this year another BBC correspondent Joseph Winter and a South African journalist were expelled by the Zimbabwean authorities. No officially reason was given but Joseph Winter fled with his family in the middle of the night. Just last month the correspondent for the Daily Telegraph had to leave after the government refused to renew his work permit. The government is accused of cracking down on the media ahead of presidential elections next year.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s embattled government is talking tough in the face of rising international pressure, but political analysts said its senior members are showing signs of worry over their future. Many are taking seriously threats of sanctions against Harare and want to lie low to distance themselves from Mugabe’s controversial record, they said. In private, government officials are praying for a way to avert ruinous sanctions from the West, the analysts added. Zimbabwe is in deep political and economic crisis after a violent campaign last year by self-styled independence war veterans to seize land and crush the opposition. It is grappling with a fuel shortfall, a hard currency crisis and looming food shortages which threaten to spark street protests. In a report published at the weekend, a Brussels-based think-tank said Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF party elite should face targeted personal sanctions if he did not allow free and fair presidential elections early next year.

The International Crisis Group said the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and other key global players should coordinate policy towards Zimbabwe to prevent it from collapse. It called for a strategy similar to one adopted by the West towards Yugoslavia, which would include imposing travel restrictions and freezing assets held overseas by Mugabe, his family and senior aides. "There is a sense of panic when you talk to some of these people," said Emmanuel Magade, a political commentator and law lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe. "It’s dawning on some of them that the world mood has changed and things could get pretty tough," Magade said. The US Senate Sub-committee on African Affairs last week approved the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Act proposing sanctions against Zimbabwe, Mugabe, his political associates and their families, and passed it to the House of Representatives. Information Minister Jonathan Moyo has said attempts to impose sanctions against Harare have already failed. But reflecting the government’s worries this week, he said sanctions were supported by those "actively and openly advocating the use of dirty tricks" against Zimbabwe.

Solomon Nkiwane, a political science professor at the University of Zimbabwe, said many Zimbabwean officials were worried about targeted sanctions because their wealth is abroad, where their families also live. "For all their rhetoric, some of these people will be so vulnerable," he said. "The best way for some of them is to negotiate, but some are also worried that abandoning their current strategy could lead to loss of power." Over the years many top Zimbabwe officials have sought help in sending their children to schools in Europe, America and Canada and some have homes there, Western diplomats said. "The stance that the international community is taking is producing some noticeable movement from the Zimbabwean side," one European diplomat said. "But we don’t know whether it will produce the results that the international community is looking for, for the benefit of all Zimbabweans," the diplomat said.

In the past year Mugabe has taken a hard line but analysts said lately he seems to be giving way to diplomacy. Only last month he said Harare was ready for talks with Britain on land reform but would not succumb to threats of economic sanctions. Former colonial power Britain has been a fierce critic of Zimbabwe’s controversial drive to seize white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks. Mugabe has accused London of trying to mobilise sanctions against his government. But he has accepted proposed talks with a Commonwealth ministerial team to try and break the deadlock over land. Mugabe has been counting on African support on the issue, but fellow African leaders watered down a resolution critical of Britain at a regional summit in Zambia earlier this month. Many political analysts believe Mugabe’s Zanu PF would have lost last June’s parliamentary elections to the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change had its supporters not resorted to violence. At least 31 people were killed before the polls, which were fought on the state of the recession-hit economy. Many say riots are possible over food shortages due to erratic rains and lost production caused by the farm invasions.

Serious bread shortages could be on the horizon in Zimbabwe following the decision by some large milling companies to ration flour supplies to bakers, the Financial Gazette learnt yesterday. Milling and baking industry sources said supplies had been cut by between 15 and 40 percent because of shortages of locally grown wheat and the high cost of importing supplies to meet the shortfall and avert food shortages. Escalating wheat costs prompted millers to raise flour prices by about 30 percent on Monday, which will result in a 15 to 20 percent bread price hike, possibly next week.

"Currently one miller (Blue Ribbon) is rationing flour," National Bakers Association chairman Mark Prior said. "The largest miller (National Foods) is currently considering rationing but has yet to introduce rationing of flour. The major reason for the introduction of rationing is the shortage of wheat supplies in the country. Not all the millers are affected, but the major mill has a shortage of stock."

There was no immediate comment from Ian Kind, managing director of National Foods, which has about 50 percent of the local market. Although Prior yesterday said rationing was imminent at the company, industry sources said National Foods had in fact begun rationing on Monday. George Chinsen, managing director of Blue Ribbon Foods, confirmed that his firm had begun rationing flour and had not been taking on any new customers in the past three months. "The difficulty that we all have is that the season's wheat crop is only coming in October and we are running out of local wheat supplies," he said. "This has been compounded by the fact that we can't get foreign currency to import wheat and we are getting foreign currency at over $200 to the US dollar on the parallel market."

Industry executives said the government's decision not to assist the private sector with wheat imports, forcing millers to resort to the parallel market, would continually force flour prices up in the next few months, resulting in "astronomical" bread prices at a time when consumers could be facing serious shortages. Bakers said bread shortages were inevitable if flour rationing by large millers continued because smaller millers could not meet the shortfall left by bigger companies.

"The smaller mills have just sufficient (stocks) to see them through to the next harvest at current off-take levels. They cannot accommodate new customers or increased off-take," Prior said. Bread shortages and high prices could trigger social unrest similar to food riots that hit Zimbabwe three years ago when food prices skyrocketed. "That (possibility of unrest) is extremely likely because what is happening now is much more serious than what we had a couple of years ago," said economic consultant John Robertson. "Then we had the money to import. You can buy your way out of a situation if you have the money, but when you have run out of money you have no options. The government, assisted by Dr Made (Agricultural Minister), were persuaded not to take seriously the suggestion that there would be food shortages and now they are seeing the result of that."