|
Archived News
24th July 2002
Court halts expulsion of Guardian journalist from Zimbabwe
Zim minister 'jailed' as judge fights back
Not enough political will to tackle Zim’s crisis: Makoni
Zimbabwe faces worst economic crisis UN
Leaders vie for Mugabe’s post
Gwanda food aid corruption
Zimbabwe farm seizures may be jeopardizing drought aid
Nkala charges dropped, blocked
Harare defies contempt of court ruling
Terror hits Zaka
Furious veterans turn on Moyo for TV switch off
War veterans vow to expose Jonathan Moyo
EU set to extend sanctions against Zimbabwe
Internal contradictions
Police impound scarce commodities
Citizens innovative when it comes to naming their children
Mandate of UN expert panel on resource exploitation extended
Zanu PF willing to let Ndebeles starve
Donors' anger at Zimbabwe puts starving people at risk
Zimbabwean opposition politician kills wife
Cricket prepares to move world cup from Zimbabwe
Over the top
Zimbabwe politician confesses to killing his wife
2nd journalist to be tried on Monday in Zimbabwe
EU to tighten Zimbabwe sanctions
Zanu PF militia impose 'curfew' in Buhera
Land-grab deprives 250 000 pupils of education
UN steps up Zim probe
Mugabe's wife hit by fresh sanctions on Zimbabwe elite
Editor wants case to go higher
UK tycoon guilty of manslaughter
An 'emissary of Beelzebub'
Congo and Rwanda reach fragile deal to end conflict
Mugabe embraces famine on behalf of his people
Harare holds its breath
Zimbabwe faces famine if food aid stalled agency
Government by contempt
Congo peace agreement may involve UN
Top
From The Guardian (UK), 18 July
Court halts expulsion of Guardian journalist from Zimbabwe
The Guardian's correspondent in Zimbabwe, Andrew Meldrum, struck a significant blow for press freedom yesterday when he unexpectedly won a courtroom victory postponing his expulsion from the country. The high court in Harare rejected a move by the home affairs minister, John Nkomo, to deport Meldrum. Instead the judge, Justice Anele Matika, asked the supreme court to rule on whether Mr Nkomo's action was constitutional. Meldrum's lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, predicted a supreme court ruling would not be given until next year. Meldrum is, theoretically, free to remain in Zimbabwe until then. Foreign and Zimbabwean journalists supporting Meldrum celebrated outside the courthouse. Meldrum said: "We are exhausted. It has been a real rollercoaster." He planned a quiet celebration at his Harare home. He said: "This is not just for me but for thousands of other permanent residents, in that the court said our rights cannot be taken away by a stroke of the pen." A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We very much welcome this. We think it is encouraging that at least some of the judiciary have the courage to take such a decision."
Ms Mtetwa had argued that it would be unconstitutional to deport Meldrum, a US citizen who has permanent residence status in Zimbabwe and has lived there for 22 years. Justice Matika agreed Meldrum had a case: "I am satisfied that the raising of the constitutional rights of the applicant is not frivolous and I, therefore, refer it to the supreme court." Meldrum was acquitted by a magistrates court on Monday after being charged under a draconian new press law for reporting a story that turned out to be false. In spite of the acquittal, Mr Nkomo immediately served a deportation order on Meldrum. In court yesterday, lawyers for Mr Nkomo's department struggled to provide grounds for the deportation. They eventually claimed Meldrum represented a threat to public order but could not disclose the reason because it would breach national security. Mr Nkomo also insisted: "The applicant is deemed to be an undesirable inhabitant because, among other reasons, he was publishing stories outside the country which were intended to tarnish the image of the country."
Meldrum went to court expecting to be on a flight out of Zimbabwe last night. But he said: "I made a point of not packing my bags. If they threw me out, I was not going to be a willing participant." Police and immigration officers packed the court. Meldrum remains at risk. Supporters of President Robert Mugabe have raided the homes of journalists declared persona non grata by the government. Ms Mtetwa warned: "His residency remains intact. That does not mean they will not come in the night and ignore the court order." Meldrum said: "I hope the government takes the court decision in a positive light and leaves it at that, and does not do something stubborn and wilful." Meldrum's chances of a favourable ruling from the eight-member supreme court appear to be slim. Mr Mugabe has packed the court with sympathetic judges and only one is left with a reputation for independence. Meldrum said: "It is a reprieve, not a complete victory. But it gives me breathing space." The shadow foreign secretary, Michael Ancram, slipped into Zimbabwe yesterday to hold talks with the country's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. Mr Ancram said: "It has proved a horrific eye-opener to see what is happening on the ground in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is a society in fear of intimidation by a government which no longer governs by rule of law but increasingly by force."
Top
From The Star (SA), 17 July
Zim minister 'jailed' as judge fights back
Harare - The High Court in Zimbabwe has sentenced Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa to three months in jail for failing to appear in court to answer charges of contempt of court, state radio said Wednesday. Judge Fergus Blackie convicted the justice minister in absentia of two counts of contempt of court. The minister is out of the country on business, the radio said. The judge, who is set to retire from the judiciary on Thursday, also fined Chinamasa R9 000 for failure by his lawyers to file papers in respect of an arrest warrant issued against the minister when he did not appear in court last month. Chinamasa's lawyers said they would appeal both the conviction and the sentence in the Supreme Court. The charges against Chinamasa followed his strong criticism of a six-month jail sentence imposed on three US missionaries - Gary Blanchard, John Dixon and Joseph Pettijohn - who were convicted of illegal arms possession in 1999. Chinamasa, then Zimbabwe's chief prosecutor, complained that the sentences were too lenient and accused the judges of trivialising the crimes, which carried a maximum life term. The minister said early this month that he would recommend to the country's chief justice that a tribunal be set up to investigate Blackie's conduct, regardless of his imminent retirement. Blackie will be the seventh non-black judge to leave the country's courts since the forced early retirement of Supreme Court Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay in March 2001.
Top
From The Financial Gazette, 18 July
Not enough political will to tackle Zim’s crisis: Makoni
Finance Minister Simba Makoni this week acknowledged that there was not enough political will to implement measures to lift Zimbabwe out of its economic crisis, saying the government had so far not fully and effectively implemented its own recovery blueprint, the Millennium Economic Recovery Programme (MERP). Highlighting widening rifts within the government on how to resolve the crisis, Makoni insisted that a fixed exchange rate, apparently supported by President Robert Mugabe and radicals in the ruling Zanu PF party, was an unworkable policy option. "I think there has not been the extent of political will necessary to make our plans work to full effect," Makoni told the Financial Gazette in an exclusive interview. "We are implementing some plans very effectively but some we have not fully implemented and the result is a sub-optimal outcome," he said.
Makoni, who spoke amid growing speculation that influential Zanu PF politicians were ganging up to oust him from the finance portfolio, said while MERP was a long-term programme the plan was not working fully yet. He gave as an example the failure to normalise relations with key international donors, trading and development partners, which is one of the pillars upon which MERP is built. "Our path is littered with many plans that are not being implemented. What we need most is willingness to implement these plans. And if we had implemented even half of the things proposed under MERP, our country would be somewhere very different from where it is now," the minister said. Zimbabwe’s relations with the international community are strained, with Mugabe and his top lieutenants such as Makoni under targeted sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Switzerland over the government’s controversial land policies and bloated human rights record.
Makoni, a top flight business technocrat before being recalled into the government by Mugabe to plot a survival plan for the crumbling economy, said some of the measures implemented under MERP such as supporting the productive sectors and ensuring that the government lived within its means had achieved some success. He insisted he still had the ear of the government as its finance minister despite the growing crusade against his policies. He dismissed calls by hawkish Information Minister Jonathan Moyo for the government to ban foreign currency bureaux and foreign currency accounts and to centralise the management of all the hard cash in the country. Makoni said only himself as the responsible minister had the prerogative to announce such measures if and when adopted by the government.
Describing his disagreements with Cabinet colleagues over the exchange rate as a major point of departure, Makoni said he would still try to convince the government to change its fixed exchange rate policy. Three weeks ago, Zanu PF’s central committee threw out recommendations by Makoni and central bank governor Leonard Tsumba to devalue the local dollar, opening floodgates for several other Zanu PF chiefs and academics linked to the ruling party to mount a startling attack on the minister and his economic stewardship of Zimbabwe.
Top
From Business Day (SA), 18 July
Zimbabwe faces worst economic crisis UN
Addis Ababa - The forcible occupation of white-owned farms in Zimbabwe had contributed to the deepest economic crisis in the country's history, one which is set to worsen, the United Nations (UN) warned yesterday in a damning report. "Zimbabwe is currently a crumbling economy facing a grave crisis," the UN Economic Commission for Africa said in its annual overview of the economic health of states on the continent. "The land issue is at the heart of Zimbabwe's national economic crisis," it said, adding that President Robert Mugabe's government showed a "tendency for inconsistency. Land redistribution should go hand in hand with good governance to protect output and jobs". "The economy has been contracting since 2000 and the outlook for 2002 shows an increasing incidence of food insecurity, poverty, inflation and worsening balance of payments." Zimbabwe "is facing the worst crisis in its history", said Patrick Esea, the director of the commission's economic, social and political division. The report said the occupation of farms, coupled with poor weather conditions, had led to "the lowest agricultural performance in recent years". In May Zimbabwean Finance Minister Simba Makoni said the country's overall economy shrank by 7,3% in 2002, while the agricultural sector suffered a decline of more than 12%. The commission's report projected negative growth of 5% for 2002 and noted that 75% of the country now lived in poverty. It explained that a sharp decline in exports and inflation had undermined financial stability and prompted dramatic capital flight.
Top
From The Financial Gazette, 18 July
Leaders vie for Mugabe’s post
A fierce power struggle is raging in the ruling Zanu PF ahead of the party’s annual conference in December where senior party officials are expecting President Robert Mugabe to disclose plans to step down before the conclusion of his controversial six-year term. Mugabe, whose re-election in the March presidential poll is being challenged in court by chief political foe Morgan Tsvangirai, is under immense local and international pressure to stage a fresh poll. Zanu PF officials said this week they expected Mugabe to use Zanu PF’s annual conference, likely to be held in his hometown of Mashonaland West province, to spell out his retirement plans after completing his land reforms next month. The government says its land reforms, under which it has seized nearly all white-owned commercial farms since February 2000, are now being wound up. Mugabe has said he will consider retirement after the successful conclusion of the reforms which have resettled thousands of landless blacks. Zanu PF sources say the annual conference might be transformed into a special congress in which the issue of the future leadership of the party could be top of the agenda. "Everyone in the party is expecting President Mugabe to make firm indications about his future: that is his retirement at this year’s annual conference," one Zanu PF central committee member from the Midlands Province told the Financial Gazette. A member of the party’s powerful Politburo organ from Masvingo confirmed this week that two distinct camps competing for power had emerged within the party. These were positioning their own choice of candidates to take over from the 78-year-old Zanu PF strongman, the sole ruler of Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980. Under Zimbabwe’s Constitution, should Mugabe choose to step down before the end of his term, a fresh presidential election has to be conducted.
Party insiders say two prominent camps have emerged behind retired army general Solomon Mujuru and Parliamentary Speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa and both are already engaged in behind-the-scenes manoeuvres to prop up and position potential candidates to replace Mugabe. While Mnangagwa has been heavily tipped to replace Mugabe and is known to be the President’s favoured successor, the powerful Mujuru is said to be backing Finance Minister Simba Makoni to take over as head of state and leader of Zanu PF. Mujuru, a known kingmaker within the party who is equalled in clout only by Mnangagwa, has the support of many senior Politburo members and top politicians from its 10 provinces, including Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, former Home Affairs Minister Dumiso Dabengwa and top Masvingo strategist Eddison Zvobgo. Mujuru and Zvobgo, the Masvingo South legislator, are said to have masterminded the election of Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo to the influential position of party national chairman ahead of Mnangagwa and Thenjiwe Lesabe. Mugabe, who personally wanted Mnangagwa to chair the party, then steamrolled his appointment as Speaker of Parliament and the party’s secretary for administration. Mujuru had successfully lobbied within the Politburo for former speaker Cyril Ndebele to be retained before that result was nullified after Mugabe’s passionate intervention on behalf of Mnangagwa. Other sources say personalities from the two camps, apart from differing on the choice of Mugabe’s successor, had on numerous occasions clashed over each other’s business interests. They said calls for Makoni to be booted out from his ministry for ostensibly failing to manage the economy were part of the grand scheme to elbow him out of the succession race that has spilled into the open.
While Mujuru has been secretly lobbying for Makoni, Mnangagwa has been busy consolidating his power base and grip on party structures by ensuring that many of the provincial chairmen back him and his long-term political ambitions. Mnangagwa’s proteges include Manicaland provincial chairman Mark Madiro, a director of finance when Mnangagwa was the party’s secretary for finance; and Ray Kaukonde, the provincial chairman for Mashonaland East who worked under Mnangagwa when he was the State Security Minister. Midlands chairman July Moyo is related to Mnangagwa while Mashonaland West provincial chairman Philip Chiyangwa and Samuel Mumbengegwi from Masvingo are also closely linked to the Speaker. Frederick Shava, Zanu PF’s head of administration and a close ally of Mnangagwa, has taken over the party’s daily administrative work at its headquarters in Harare. It was not possible this week to get comment from either Mnangagwa or Mujuru on the hotting up succession manoeuvres.
Top
From ZWNEWS, 19 July
Gwanda food aid corruption
Evidence has surfaced of political interference in the delivery of food aid in Matabeleland. Sources allege that a Zanu PF MP, Kembo Mohadi, bullied and threatened NGOs who have been involved in the distribution of food aid in the area. The meeting of the "Gwanda drought relief and food distribution committee" took place on 12 July, and was attended by Mohadi, the local Zanu PF and war veterans chairman, representatives from the GMB, the Gwanda Rural District Council, the Gwanda Municipality, and World Vision and Organisation Help two NGOs. Gwanda is in the Gwanda North constituency, represented by MDC MP Paul Themba Nyathi, but neither he or any other MDC representative were made aware of the meeting. Mohadi is the MP for the neighbouring Beitbridge constituency. The sources say that Mohadi told the NGOs that they were there "at the government’s invitation" and that the government, and not them, was doing the feeding. They were only there because of an agreement between the WFP and UNDP and the "lawfully elected government", and would therefore have to follow government directives. He warned them that they would have to provide a full list of equipment they were using, as the government would be taking it over in due course. He also said that he was a member of a cabinet committee on social services action, and that similar meeting were taking place country-wide. The sources provided a copy of the agenda of the meeting which supported their assertions.
Top
From VOA News, 18 July
Zimbabwe farm seizures may be jeopardizing drought aid
United Nations - Donors pledging emergency drought assistance to southern Africa Thursday have expressed concern about what they consider misguided government policies in the region, that may be worsening the crisis. U.N. officials admit this concern could limit the amount of aid the major donors are willing to give. There are six countries in crisis in southern Africa: Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is Zimbabwe that is causing donors most concern. Of the 13 million people facing starvation in the region, about six million of them live in Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, the government there is engaged in a very controversial land-reform program, which involves seizing and breaking up the farms of white farmers. Donors and U.N. officials agree the land redistribution policy has made a bad situation worse in Zimbabwe. Kenzo Oshima of Japan, the U.N. coordinator for emergency relief, notes that in 1992, during one of the worst food crises to hit the region, Zimbabwe was still a food-surplus country. Today, Zimbabwe is a food-deficit country. "We have noted that there are a number of policy issues affecting the crisis and compounding the crisis," he said. "The fast-track land resettlement program has seriously affected one of the most productive sectors, and is a leading cause of the decline of the economy and a factor that is contributing to the crisis."
U.N. officials say Zimbabwe has other policy flaws, notably in the private sector. The government is said to have a virtual monopoly in the marketing and distribution areas. A Zimbabwean representative told the gathering of donors that the government is trying to make some policy adjustments. But apparently not in the land program. He explained Zimbabwe believes measures to meet drought situations in the longer-term hinge on giving the land back to the people. But it is the present crisis and the possibility that donors will hold back on aid that commands the attention of relief workers. Mr. Oshima says some major donor governments seem to be treading carefully and keep coming back to the so-called issues of governance. "The extent to which the governance-related problems influence a donor decision to provide emergency assistance, I do not know. But I think the process of dialogue has started, including in Zimbabwe," he said. The United Nations has appealed for more than $600 million in emergency aid for southern Africa. This would be used primarily for food shipments. But some of the funds would go toward propping up nutrition, health, water, education and child protection services. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has named James Morris, the director of the World Food Programme, as his special envoy for the humanitarian situation in southern Africa. Mr. Morris will work with African governments to promote a better response to the food emergency. He is also expected to keep in touch with the donors to ensure the aid is used efficiently and going to those most in need.
Top
From ZWNEWS, 19 July
Nkala charges dropped, blocked
Charges against one of those accused by the government of the murder of Cain Nkala, a Matabeleland war veterans leader, have been dropped, and the High Court has temporarily blocked the indictment of three others. The Attorney General dropped charges against Simon Spooner on 16 July, and the High Court has also handed down an interim relief order in favour of Sony Masera, Army Zulu, and Fletcher Dulini-Ncube. All four were accused of the abduction and murder of Nkala in November 2001, and were arrested at the time along with around a dozen others. Spooner spent a month in detention, and Dulini-Ncube, an MDC MP, was denied medical treatment for his diabetes while in custody. Dulini is currently in hospital. The High Court granted the interim relief order in favour of Masera, Zulu and Dulini-Ncube because the prosecution’s papers filed with the Court did not in any way link the three with the murder. In murder cases, preliminary prosecution papers would in normal practice lay out how the State intends to prove its case, with outlines of the evidence to be produced and of how prosecution witnesses will support that evidence. In the trial itself, this evidence would then be tested by examination and cross-examination. However, the papers presented to the Court in this case did not even try to lay out how the prosecution intended to prove its case, and was accordingly rejected by the Court.
The only evidence so far brought has been the testimony of Khatani Sibanda and Sazani Mpofu, two co-accused, who are still in jail. The two were paraded on state-owned TV when Nkala’s body was "discovered" and confessed they had had played a part in his murder. Days later they retracted their confessions, saying they had been forced to make them under police torture. There have been four court orders for their release, the latest one from the Chief Justice, Godfrey Chidyausiku, but all have been ignored. Joyce Mabida, in charge of prisons in Matabeleland, and Michael Nyamukondiwa, the officer-in-charge at Khami Prison, said in court recently that they would ignore court orders for the release of the two until their superiors decided to release them. Nkala’s family, and other Matabeleland war veterans, have also cast doubt on the government’s case. Nkala, they say, was the victim of a power struggle within the war veterans’ organisation, and was killed by his opponents. There were also suggestions that Nkala may have threatened to reveal the involvement of senior Zanu PF functionaries in the abduction and murder of MDC activist Patrick Nabanyama days before the June 2000 parliamentary elections.
Top
From The Financial Times (UK), 19 July
Harare defies contempt of court ruling
Johannesburg - The Zimbabwean government said yesterday it would defy a three-month jail sentence and a Z$50,000 (£595) fine handed down by a judge this week on the country's justice minister. Judge Fergus Blackie found Patrick Chinamasa guilty on two counts of contempt of court relating to his criticism of a court verdict governing the illegal possession of weapons by US citizens in Zimbabwe three years ago. Mr Chinamasa had said the sentence of six-month jail terms was too light. "It is difficult to imagine a more deliberate and contemptuous response to the authority of the [High] Court than Chinamasa's," said Judge Blackie in his judgment. President Robert Mugabe's government responded by saying the hearing was irregular and its verdict should be disregarded. But Mr Chinamasa's legal counsel says he intends appealing against the sentence.
The government has called Judge Blackie a "racist" presiding over a sinister "kangaroo court". It views his verdict as stoking tensions between the government and the judiciary, which have risen since the government supported illegal land invasions of white-owned farm land. Jonathan Moyo, the information minister, said Judge Blackie had embarked on "a personal crusade and has done that in a manner that will erode public confidence in the justice system". The relationship between the government and the judiciary has been fractious. Senior judges believe the government has sought to meddle with the judiciary's independence. Last year, Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay resigned his post after differences with Mr Mugabe over judicial independence. Earlier this week, their differences erupted over a US journalist based in Zimbabwe. The Harare magistrates court acquitted Andrew Meldrum, correspondent for the Guardian newspaper of the UK, on charges of spreading false information under new media laws. Minutes after the verdict, the government issued an order for his deportation within 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Michael Ancram, shadow foreign secretary in London, returning from a one-day fact-finding mission to Harare, said yesterday conditions in Zimbabwe were far worse than he had expected. He warned that the crisis - in which about 6m people are facing severe food shortages - threatened to damage neighbouring South Africa, Botswana and Malawi. Mr Ancram said he would recommend the application of tougher sanctions to the British government, which would bar Mr Mugabe's business associates from travel to the European Union.
Top
From The Daily News, 18 July
Terror hits Zaka
Masvingo - Political violence has hit Zaka district and 15 schools have lost teachers as suspected Zanu PF youths unleashed a reign of terror, beating up teachers they accuse of supporting the MDC, ahead of rural district council elections scheduled for September. Obert Mujuru, the Masvingo regional director of education on Tuesday confirmed the incidents, saying he was worried about the escalating harassment of teachers in the province. Mujuru said: "Parents and teachers should know that education is above politics. Students should be allowed to learn and one has no right to harass civil servants for political reasons." Police in Zaka on Tuesday said they had received reports of harassment of teachers in the district and were still investigating them. About 20 teachers in the district have fled their schools and sought refuge in urban areas. A police officer in Zaka said they were "investigating 15 cases of harassment of teachers but so far, no one had been arrested". The schools include St Joseph, Tongoona, Munjanja, Mutonhori, Muchechetere, Mapanje, Chinorumba, Mutamba, Gunguwo, Madondo, Manjeru, Museki, Nhema and St Anthony’s. Some teachers had their salary payments stopped while others have been summoned to Zanu PF offices at Jerera to explain alleged MDC ties.
Top
From Business Day (SA), 19 July
Furious veterans turn on Moyo for TV switch off
Harare - Zimbabwe’s militant war veterans have threatened to beat up President Robert Mugabe's Information Minister Jonathan Moyo and evict him from office if he does not bring back a private television station in which they have an interest. Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association secretary-general Endy Mhlanga said Moyo had offended the former liberation struggle fighters by switching Joy TV off air. The veterans hold shares in the company that owns Joy TV. The station was removed from the airwaves on May 31 by the state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC). Moyo as information minister holds sway over the ZBC and the veterans said he was definitely behind the decision to terminate Joy TV's operations.
Mhlanga warned that the war veterans, who in 1997 besieged Mugabe at his party headquarters and marched to State House to demand compensation for their war efforts, would deal with the minister if he defied them. "Moyo should switch on that button like last week," Mhlanga said. "We are going to go further and fight him. We think he is an agent working to destroy the party (Zanu PF) from within. We will show him our true colours because the battle lines have been drawn already. Why does he go against the will of the people? He is creating stories to discredit Joy TV. He shut us out from ZBC because he saw that we were making money. He wanted his friends to use the airspace that was ours," said Mhlanga.
The war veterans, who were instrumental in farm invasions and during Mugabe's re-election campaign, said they would hit Moyo if he remained intransigent. "We are giving him a deadline. We don't negotiate, we act. Moyo is not a war veteran, but a sell-out. He is fighting 50 000 war veterans," Mhlanga said. The former combatants accused Moyo of using the state media for political self-advancement and other parochial interests. They said he should stop behaving like the owner of the public media when he was not. "The ZBC and Radio Zimbabwe belong to Zimbabweans. We choose what we want broadcast," he said.
Top
From The Daily News, 18 July
War veterans vow to expose Jonathan Moyo
War veterans entangled in a bitter confrontation with Jonathan Moyo, the Minister of State for Information and Publicity in the President’s Office, over the fate of Joy TV, yesterday said they would go ahead with their demonstration against him today. The veterans said they would confront Moyo on several other issues, including the appointment of disgraced former ZBC chief executive officer, Alum Mpofu. Mpofu resigned after being caught performing a homosexual act at a Harare nightclub on 3 April. He was confirmed as a homosexual by the Gays’ and Lesbians’ Association of Zimbabwe. Endy Mhlanga, the secretary-general of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association, said they were not looking back and had begun mobilising their members for action. He said: "We are going ahead with our demonstration. At the moment, we are mobilising our members for the showdown. As war veterans, we are going to encourage Cabinet ministers to expose him because he has crossed too many paths, yet he is just a junior."
Mhlanga said their executive had applied for police permission to hold a demonstration against Moyo. On Tuesday, the war veterans hammered Moyo for refusing to switch on Joy TV in which they have an 11 percent shareholding through Empowerment Creation, a grouping of indigenous investors. They argued Moyo should not have used the Broadcasting Services Act against them since it came into force when Joy TV was already operational. Mhlanga said the war veterans would tackle Moyo on other issues, including retrenchments of war veterans at ZBC. Mhlanga said: "We were not happy with his appointment. I cannot give you all the details pertaining to other issues but there are many. We are going to lay him bare." But Moyo, in yesterday’s issue of The Herald described the threats by the war veterans as an attempt to extort or blackmail the government. "Anyone who seriously believed they could get a broadcasting licence through extortion, blackmail, intimidation or any other form of thuggery does not deserve to be taken seriously," Moyo was quoted as saying in The Herald.
Top
From SABC News, 19 July
EU set to extend sanctions against Zimbabwe
The European Union (EU) is set to extend "targeted sanctions" against President Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe on Monday, by adding more names to a list of people who are banned from visiting EU states, and whose European-based assets have been frozen, diplomats said. Former colonial power Britain is behind the initiative to have EU foreign ministers decide on adding 20 more names to a list of people in Mugabe's circle, a diplomat close to the case said. Mugabe himself tops the list of those under a foreign travel ban, which was imposed on top officials in the southern African country in February, mainly because of serious pre-electoral violence. However the travel ban has not prevented Mugabe from attending UN-organised functions. His government is also at odds with the United Kingdom over implementation of its policy of land reforms, which entails seizing commercial farms owned mainly by the small white minority for transfer to landless blacks.
"All the signs are that things are going from bad to worse and the question of tightening sanctions thus has to be raised," the diplomat said, asking not to be named. He added that political dialogue in Zimbabwe was at a "total impasse" and cited threats against foreign journalists. Mugabe has also passed tough new media legislation which is currently being tested in the case of US journalist Andrew Meldrum, who was this week acquitted of publishing false information but immediately found himself up against an expulsion order, which he is contesting. Another diplomat confirmed that the EU was "heading towards" an extension of the list of those targeted by a travel ban and a freeze on their overseas bank accounts, but ruled out any other kind of sanctions against Zimbabwe at present. The EU imposed the initial visa restrictions and asset-freezing measures after Harare expelled an EU observer team monitoring preparations for the presidential poll that saw Mugabe returned to power in March. The EU has also imposed a ban on arms sales and military supplies to Zimbabwe.
Top
From ZWNEWS, 20 July
Internal contradictions
By Michael Hartnack
Daily, contradictions mount between the statements and actions of Robert Mugabe’s regime on every major issue, from salvaging the crumbling economy, to food shortages and the seizure of white-owned farms. And the growing political schizophrenia reaches into the ranks of Mugabe’s cabinet, politburo and the central committee of his Zanu PF party. Commercial Farmers' Union president Colin Cloete this week pleaded with Mugabe to end confusion, particularly over public pledges flagrantly disregarded in practice that each farmer would be left with at least one property to sustain production. Meanwhile, Mugabe's self-styled "war veterans" threatened violence against independent journalists who reported factionalism within their militant ranks and Zimbabwe’s contrastingly staid bankers despaired of making sense of policy over exchange rates, interest rates, and state control of the economy. "It is still not too late and we appeal to our state president for an audience," Cloete said, as the United Nations warned of a potential catastrophe worse than the Ethiopian famine in the 1980s. His public appeal was promptly scorned by Mugabe’s propaganda machine and the agriculture ministry.
In one breath officials tell white farmers to grow all the wheat they can, regardless of the looming August 9 eviction deadlines, in the next to get off their 5 000 "former" properties immediately to make way for 354 000 black Zimbabweans. Finance Minister Simba Makoni talks of rebuilding relationships with international financial institutions, while Mugabe and other hardliners say the country has washed its hands of them forever. A year has passed since Makoni's "technocrat" colleague, former banker Nkosana Moyo, quit the Cabinet and fled with is family - prudently faxing his resignation from outside the country. Mugabe on Sunday flew to Cuba, reportedly to plead for financial assistance from President Fidel Castro, while the government mouthpiece, the Herald, continued a spate of attacks on the policies of the Finance Ministry and Reserve Bank.
To many commentators in Zimbabwe, all this reflects growing conflict between the "hawks" who have Mugabe's ear and the pragmatists looking, unblinkered, at the prospect of 7.8 million Zimbabweans (on their own figures) starving to death. Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, Agriculture Minister Joseph Made and Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa are leaders of the "hawks" while Makoni, known to have the sympathy of the South African government, is seen as the principal pragmatist. Farmers report similar divergences in official policy at a lower level, in the provinces, with wide differences between application in areas such as Chinhoyi - where hard-line governor Peter Chanetsa holds sway - and in Gweru - where the notably amenable Cephas Msipha has power - for the moment - to ameliorate decrees. Diplomatic sources say President Thabo Mbeki still hopes Makoni, one time executive secretary of the South African Development Community, will succeed Mugabe, 78, and a build a "new Zanu" -- thereby proving African liberation movements have the capacity for internal reform and a long- term career in power. Moyo, however, is using the state-controlled media to build an image of himself as a likely new vice president when, as expected, Simon Muzenda and Joseph Msika retire.
The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, funded and given impunity by Mugabe over the past two years to ensure his victory in parliamentary and presidential elections, has furiously denied reports it may found a new breakaway party. The militants are reportedly angry over the prosecution of ex-guerrillas for corruption and the alleged failure of Information Minister Moyo to give preferential treatment to a TV company in which they have invested. Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change warned of the incipient menace to the nation from explosive factional violence within ex-guerrilla ranks. The opposition party also cited the growing threat from militia units raised under the aegis of Mugabe's "Youth National Service". Unpaid and unfed, and open to exploitation by local war lords, the units could became another dangerous force for national instability as economic conditions deteriorate in coming months.
As late as February, Made's officials were claiming it would be unnecessary to import food if "hoarded" stocks were seized from white commercial farmers. But five months earlier had Makoni admitted the extent of the problem when he appealed to international donors to fund relief. Current estimates say 1,5m tonnes of grain are needed - with little hope, now, of overcoming the logistical problems of bringing it in time, even if finance is forthcoming. The latitude Mugabe gives Moyo appals potential donors. This week the Information Minister took it upon himself to pre-empt Makoni's functions and demand a ban on all private dealing in foreign currency and an overhaul of Reserve Bank policy. Mugabe, aligned with the "hawks," appeared to have Makoni in mind when on July 25 last year he chided ministers: "If some of you are getting weak-kneed...if you do not have a spine, please tell us and we will say goodbye in a friendly way." That same day, Makoni told the BBC: "It would be foolish to deny what is evident to everybody in broad daylight - our economy is in crisis." To many, Makoni resembles a neglected son waiting by the deathbed of an irascible parent in the desperate hope he will inherit sufficient of the family estate to salvage it. Moyo, however, believes he is the legatee.
Top
From The Daily News, 19 July
Police impound scarce commodities
Harare police are on the warpath, confiscating basic commodities that are in short supply and being sold at very high prices by vendors. There are serious shortages of maize-meal, sugar, salt and cooking oil country-wide but vendors always have the commodities in abundance. The police recently started impounding all basic commodities being sold at exorbitant prices by the vendors. But some vendors interviewed this week claimed they had bought the goods they planned to resell from the policemen. A vendor calling herself Ndomene said the police were confiscating the commodities for their personal use. The police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said: "I don't have any comments on that." A 2kg packet of white sugar ranges from $270 to $350 while a 750ml bottle of cooking oil is sold for $400 on the black market.
The war against vendors has been waged at Mbare Musika, Kuwadzana 4 and Machipisa shopping centres in Highfield. In addition to losing their commodities to the police, those arrested pay a spot fine of $500 each. But this has not completely destroyed the parallel market. The vendors are always on the alert, looking out for the police. They now display one item per commodity on tables, while the rest are kept in their "warehouses". Denis Ngwenya, a vendor at Machipisa shopping centre said they had resorted to hiding some their goods so that the police would only seize those displayed. The vendors admitted they were selling the goods illegally at high prices but blamed the government for the current economic situation. Bernard Madziyire of Kuwadzana 4 said: "I am an unemployed driver and I can only survive by selling these scarce commodities."
The vendors buy 25 litre containers of cooking oil and re-package it into 750 ml bottles. Tawonga Nemawura of Highfield said not everyone could afford the 25-litre containers of cooking oil that were available. The vendors felt Olivine Industries, the manufacturers of cooking oil, were to blame for making only large gallons containers of cooking oil available on the market. Nemawura said he even started selling cooking oil before the shortages, and that vendors were actually making life easier for those who could not afford the big containers. On overcharging, John Sharara of Kambuzuma said: "We are getting the commodities from other second parties who can obtain them from the manufacturers, so we also add our own mark-ups."
Top
From The Daily News, 19 July
Citizens innovative when it comes to naming their children
When it comes to naming their children and pets, Zimbabweans have always excelled in producing some innovative, if not downright bizarre names. As former subjects of the British, Zimbabweans were subjected to a strong English influence which saw many people aping habits which reflect an Anglo-Saxon colonial past. Some English phrases or utterances have been converted and translated into names, some of them so ticklish that they have left many people embarrassed to say their names aloud in public.
Women accused by their partners of being unfaithful tend to give their children names which attempt to exonerate them of infidelity, like Innocent or Godknows. A University of Zimbabwe student revealed that he knew a person called Only-A. The name was created after the father, expecting his wife to bear him a son said in disappointment: "It's only a girl." From that expression, Only-A was given to the child as a name. A Daily News staffer and a former teacher, had a pupil in his class called "I doubt". The name came about after the man alleged to have fathered the child expressed his doubts as to whether he was the real father of the child. Another colleague revealed that somewhere in the heart of Domboshava is a person called Up-and-Down. Other names which must make their bearers embarrassed to reveal them in public include variations like, Wastingtime, Temptation, Sexmore, Delight, Try-things, Hatred, Hapanyengwi, Thanks, Freshmind and Grow-and-See, a literal translation of the Shona name, Kurauone. In Gweru there is a person named Mthakathi by his parents. Mthakathi is is iNdebele for a sorcerer; in Shona he would be called Muroyi.
Professor Gordon Chavunduka, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe, said during his tenure there, some students were obviously traumatised by their first names. "The students became jittery and unsettled every time their names were called out aloud because they knew their colleagues would laugh at them." He said the situation was even more traumatic on graduation day when thousands of students and parents gathered at the campus. One graduand's name that still rings a bell among many Zimbabweans is the memorable Panofamunhumashokoanowanda. Chavunduka said traditionally, children were given names reflecting prevailing situations in a family, the community or the country. He said some names echoed interpersonal relations among members of the community. Chavunduka said he believed a name like Ndaitimukadzi could be traced to a family unhappy with its daughter-in-law, while people who gave their dogs names like Munonetsa would be trying to send messages to their neighbours that they were troublesome. He warned parents against coming up with negative names as they tended to mould the characters of their children.
The shaping of characters can be best explained by surnames which have shaped the professions and characters of some Zimbabweans. Zenzo Nsimbi, the Zimbabwean High Commissioner to Botswana, was at one time the Deputy Minister of Mines, under which the iron and steel company, Ziscosteel, falls. The head of the Cold Storage Company in Bulawayo, which deals with the cattle is Ngoni Chinogaramombe, which when literally translated, means a place where cattle are kept. Recently, a policeman whose surname is Mapurisa (Policemen) was quoted in the media commenting on the crime situation in Mashonaland East. A man with the surname Tadyanemhandu, recently misled The Daily News with a story that turned out to be a figment of his imagination. The name means supping with the enemy and the paper did just that, as his story created all manner of problems for the newspaper. Others who seem to have been moulded by their surnames include a soldier whose family name is Murongazvombo, which means one who arranges weapons, and a man called Mbavha (Thief), who was jailed for theft. And then there was former deputy minister, Alexio Mudzingwa, who was fired from government in 1986. Mudzingwa means a person who is chased away.
Young Zimbabwean couples, most of them saddled with negative-sounding names like Muchaneta, Mhlupheki, Do-It, Hardlife, Topsoil, Too Late, Square, Setfree, Doesn't-Matter, Thousand, Tryagain, Chenhamo and Norest, have gone on a crusade to come up with positive indigenous names for their children. These include names like Nyasha, Tadiwa, Sibahle, Tanaka, Siphosethu, Tinotenda, Panashe and Munashe. Phathisa Nyathi, an educationist and traditionalist based in Bulawayo, said culturally, names were given on the basis of circumstances surrounding the birth of children. "A couple can name its child Dubekile or Mhlupheki, which roughly means we are suffering. That is not to say they want the child to suffer. It only means that child was born at a time when they were going through difficult times." He said as a result, children born during the government's dissident repression in the Midlands and Matabeleland were given names like Gukurahundi or Mbulawa, which means murder victim. He said it was important for parents to choose names which would not make their children objects of ridicule. "Some names with negative messages could possibly mould the character of people while others have the potential to embarrass children." The founder of Amakhosi Theatre Productions, Cont Mhlanga, said names were used to record history or events. He said he was a product of childhood sweethearts who met at school and proceeded to name him Continueloving.
But not all children succumb to the types of names they are given by their parents. Among the graduands capped by President Mugabe in 1991, was a young man with the name Kurimakwaramba (we have failed to cultivate) but he defied his name and graduated with a degree in agriculture. In Chegutu, a student named Zero has defied the negative implications of his name and is one of the best pupils in his class. During their sojourns overseas before independence, some Zimbabweans had to shorten cumbersome names to accommodate problems encountered by their hosts. Cumbersome names like Chenhamo or Chenjerai were shortened to "Chen", Kubvoruno to "Kubi", Mandirasa to "Mandy" and Sijabuliso to "Sij". And a quick browse of the official Hansard reveals interesting "indigenous" names for some of Zimbabwe's former and current ministers. Minus their Christian names would it not be interesting to hear of Defence Minister, Tigere Sekeramayi, Speaker of the House, Dambudzo Mnangagwa, Transport and Communications Minister Tachiona Mombeshora or Foreign Affairs Minister Gorerazvo Mudenge and former minister Marwirakuwa Shamuyarira? It would sound equally unfamiliar to hear of Mines and Energy Minister, Taruza Chindori-Chininga or Zimbabwe's High Commissioner to Australia, Lubalendlu Chitauro, and Zimbabwean High Commissioner to Zambia, Ginyilitshe Ndabazekaya Mathema.
A combination of some first names and surnames end up being complete expressions or instructions. Police discovered that one of the protesters caught in a police swoop on rioters was called Tizayi Jakuchichi, which translates into an instruction to run away from disturbances. But if names of people and pets are meant to reflect people's feelings at particular times, would there be any prizes for guessing why one Chitungwiza man calls his pet Jonathan?
Top
From IRIN (UN), 19 July
Mandate of UN expert panel on resource exploitation extended
The mandate of the United Nations expert panel investigating the exploitation of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been extended until 31 October. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended the extension to the Security Council. He said that while the panel was expected to submit a report at the conclusion of its current mandate, it needed additional time to complete its work in order to receive completed questionnaires sent to the relevant countries involved, and also to corroborate evidence. The six-member panel's mandate was previously extended for six months in February. It issued a preliminary report in May. Prior reports were issued in November and May 2001. A number of countries have been implicated in the findings of the panel - particularly Rwanda and Uganda - since it began its work in September 2000. A separate investigation, headed by Justice David Porter, was established in Uganda in May 2001, in response to the panel's findings. The second UN report, published in November 2001, cleared the Ugandan Government of any wrongdoing, but accused General James Kazini and several Ugandan army officers of gaining personal wealth from mining operations in the DRC. The commission is ongoing and is scheduled to hand over its findings in August. The Belgian Senate established a further commission of inquiry in November 2001 - for an initial period of six months, renewable once - to investigate the alleged involvement of Belgian and non-Belgian companies in the illegal trade of natural resources of the DRC, and to explore measures to halt such activities from fuelling war in the region.
Top
From The Zimbabwe Standard, 21 July
Zanu PF willing to let Ndebeles starve
Bulawayo - A senior government official has warned Matabeleland residents that Zanu PF is willing to let thousands of people in that region starve, unless they stop supporting the opposition MDC. This stark warning was delivered by deputy foreign affairs minister, Abednico Ncube, when he addressed villagers last Saturday at Nkashe growth point in the arid Gwanda North district. The villagers had thronged to the growth point to buy maize from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB). Zimbabwe is currently facing an acute shortage of maize, the country's staple diet, following government-inspired disruptions to commercial farming since February 2000. As a result, hundreds of thousands of impoverished villagers are now relying on food handouts from the donor community which are being channelled through government sources but Ncube, the MP for Gwanda South, warned them that government was considering a freeze on food aid to people opposed to Zanu PF. "As long as you value the government of the day you will not starve, but we do not want people who vote for colonialists and then come to us when they want food. You cannot vote for the MDC and expect Zanu PF to help you," Ncube told a hungry crowd. He added: "Maize is in abundance but very soon it will be available only to those who dump the opposition and work with Zanu PF. The party will start feeding its children before turning to those of MDC." Launching a blistering attack on Gwanda North MP, Paul Themba Nyathi, Ncube said the MDC legislator had nothing to offer his constituents. "What has he done for you since you voted for him? How can you say you have an MP who stays in Harare? I am the MP for Gwanda South but I realised that you people are desperate for help. That is why I came here with these trucks to feed you. This shows I still forgive you despite your persistent support for the MDC," said Ncube.
Turning to council elections scheduled for September, the deputy minister stressed: "You have to vote for Zanu PF candidates in the next council elections before government starts rethinking your entitlement to this food aid. One can only get help from where he or she deserves to get it," he said. Shortly after his address, Ncube went into a fit of rage when he realised that The Standard was part of the crowd he was addressing. "What are you doing here? I don't talk to the independent press. If you write anything negative about this address I will deal with you personally," he said. However, villagers who talked to The Standard expressed disapproval of Ncube's behaviour. "He is a fool. He cannot remember that we saw more than just threats for supporting Zapu in the early 80s. Our political loyalty is our business and if he thinks he is more menacing than the Fifth Brigade he will have to reread the history of this place. He should try to consult Enos Nkala and Mark Dube if he is to learn what kind of suffering we went through," said an irate villager. Nkala, the Gukurahundi era defence minister, roamed the villages threatening people who opposed Zanu PF and ordering a few live public demonstrations of what the ruling party did to 'traitors'. Dube, the former provincial governor of Matabeleland South, made similar rounds and would order the beating and arrest of anyone who did not appear to be singing the Zanu PF one party song which almost became the anthem during that time. Council elections for Gwanda district are due in September and Zanu PF which has been whitewashed by MDC in Matabeleland elections is seeking a change in political fortunes this time around.
Top
From The Sunday Times (SA), 21 July
Donors' anger at Zimbabwe puts starving people at risk
New York - Food aid for an estimated 12.8 million people in Southern Africa facing starvation is in jeopardy after international donors, angered by the political crisis in Zimbabwe, raised concerns about giving money to countries seen as undemocratic. UN leaders this week called on international donors to give $611-million (about R6.1-billion) to help aid agencies provide food to people affected by chronic shortages in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia. Zimbabwe, with its rapidly declining economy, will be at the centre of the crisis with more than six million people facing starvation in the next 12 months. The UN said $285-million would be needed to feed those in danger of starvation in Zimbabwe alone. UN under-secretary for humanitarian affairs Kenzo Oshima said more than half the people facing starvation were children. Last October, Zimbabwe asked donors for $83.6-million in food aid, but received only $41.7-million.
"A number of donor representatives have raised concerns about governance issues, including in Zimbabwe. I think a dialogue has started to resolve those governance issues [in Zimbabwe]," Oshima said. Only four donor countries - Sweden, Canada, Germany and the US - pledged to assist the effort on Thursday, but did not disclose how much they would give. Richard Lee, a spokesman for the World Food Programme who had been visiting the region, said people were on the "very edge". He said some people had for months been eating banana roots, wild fruits and maize husks, which had no nutritional value but filled them up. In his report, Oshima lambasted Zimbabwe's land resettlement programme, saying it was a leading cause of the economic chaos. In a speech at the UN this week, however, July Moyo, Zimbabwe's Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, lauded the programme and said it would continue.
Cornia Pretorius reports that the president of the South African Democratic Teachers' Union has called on children, parents and teachers to help the millions of people facing starvation. "We know what is happening in Zimbabwe - that children can't go to school because they fear hunger," Sadtu president Willy Madisha said. He said those who could afford it would be asked to contribute food. "We will ask our 232 000 members to coordinate the effort at school level and to encourage children, parents and the community to contribute and let people [in the region] live."
Top
From VOA News, 20 July
Zimbabwean opposition politician kills wife
Harare - A prominent member of Zimbabwe's parliament is expected to confess to the fatal stabbing of his wife that occurred during a domestic dispute. Learnmore Jongwe represents the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, the MDC, in parliament. A lawyer said Saturday that as soon as he locates the head of the homicide squad, Mr. Jongwe would hand himself over to the police for prosecution. Learnmore Jongwe, a lawyer by profession, was the second youngest member of the MDC's parliamentary team. The MDC was only nine-months old when Mr. Jongwe was elected to parliament in June 2000 at the age of 23. Last year he married his wife, Rutendo, a final-year law student. A spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change said the tragedy was a domestic affair, and had nothing to do with politics. The spokesman said Mr. Jongwe confirmed by telephone that he had stabbed his wife in a fit of jealousy. The lawyer representing Mr. Jongwe said his client wants to give himself up to a senior policeman and will confess to the killing. Mr. Jongwe is known as an articulate spokesman for the MDC, and has, like his parliamentary colleagues, been under intense pressure for the past two years. More than 150 MDC leaders and supporters have been killed, and only a handful of those cases have been prosecuted. The state press reported the killing of Mr. Jongwe's wife on Saturday and said her death confirmed that the MDC was an organization "with a violent streak."
Top
From The Sunday Telegraph (UK), 21 July
Cricket prepares to move world cup from Zimbabwe
Emergency plans to move cricket world cup games from Zimbabwe to South Africa will be discussed this week by Commonwealth sports ministers at a meeting in Britain. The world ruling cricket body, the International Cricket Council, is planning to hold the world cup in Zimbabwe, Kenya and South Africa next February but ministers fear that the games in Zimbabwe could be disrupted by violence. The country remains in turmoil with President Robert Mugabe - who was re-elected in March despite alleged vote-rigging - cracking down on the opposition and seizing white-owned farms. There are also widespread food shortages. Richard Caborn, the sports minister, has organised an all-day conference of sports ministers from Commonwealth countries in a Manchester hotel on Wednesday, the eve of the Commonwealth Games. He confirmed to The Telegraph that moves to switch the world cup from Zimbabwe would be raised in "the margins" of the conference. "There are concerns for the safety of the teams in the world cup next year and it will be discussed," he said.
Sports ministers from the main cricketing countries - including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the West Indies - will be attending the conference. Officials in South Africa said that contingency plans were already being made for three extra grounds to be used for the world cup. Tension has increased in Zimbabwe since President Mugabe announced a deadline of August 10 for white farmers to cease work and leave their farms. There are concerns at Westminster that allowing the world cup to continue in Zimbabwe would give the Mugabe regime a powerful propaganda boost by lending it international approval at a time when it is suspended from the Commonwealth. Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, will be challenged in the Commons to say whether he would support a boycott of the world cup in Zimbabwe. Alan Duncan, the shadow foreign affairs minister, has tabled a Commons question to the Foreign Secretary asking what discussions he has had about the issue and whether he would make moving the world cup from Zimbabwe part of his policy of sanctions against President Mugabe.
Michael Ancram, the shadow foreign secretary, said that the Government should give support to a review of the ICC decision to hold the world cup in Zimbabwe. Mr Ancram, who last week defied restrictions in Zimbabwe by carrying out a short trip to see opposition leaders in the country, said he had discovered that ordinary black Zimbabweans wanted to continue to enjoy sport. "We don't want to impose sanctions which hit ordinary Zimbabweans. That would be counterproductive, but we do need to look at this," he said. Mr Ancram said that the Conservatives supported pressure to get President Mugabe to stand down and hold fresh elections. Dr Ali Bacher, the head of the United Cricket Board in South Africa, is keen to avoid the matches in Zimbabwe being called off. As the head of the organising committee for the world cup competition, he does not want to see the sporting event disrupted. Tickets have already gone on sale in South Africa, but they are not on sale in Zimbabwe. That is seen as further evidence that the Zimbabwe matches will be cancelled. Don MacKinnon, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, will be at the conference, which also will discuss anti-doping measures and the role of sport in lifting areas out of poverty. The sports ministers will also discuss the question of sexism in sport, following The Telegraph's story last week about ministerial concern over the Open golf being staged at Muirfield, a men-only club. "We will be discussing the need to open the doors of sport to more women," Mr Caborn said.
Top
Comment from The Zimbabwe Standard, 21 July
Over the top
Hail to the chief
Farmers in a troubled central African country were dismayed to learn this week that their leaders went on bended knees to congratulate the most equal of all comrades on an electoral victory a few months ago. Until now, the farming leaders had kept their congratulatory visit a secret. Still, farmers who have endured years of terror and tyranny at the hands of the most equal of all comrades' deadly Talibob Brigades said they were shocked, horrified, appalled, disgusted, outraged and sickened by the move. (Thesauruses are much in use in the troubled central African nation as people run out of words to describe their government's despicable, grotesque, sinister and cynical abuse of power.) One apoplectic farmer told Over The Top that farming leaders needed their heads read. How the hell can they have congratulated him? He fumed. It's like thanking him for destroying our businesses, murdering our fellow farmers and making our workers homeless.
Meanwhile, a prominent farmer and enthusiastic member of the More Drink Coming party said that he had heard that farmers in the troubled central African state were soon to rename their organisation the Confused Farmers Union in recognition of the fact that they seem not to have noticed who has been killing their members, burning their workers' houses down and raping women on the farms. Either that or they are stoned, he said, in which case perhaps we should call them the Cannabis Farmers Union. In a related development, a former political leader from the days when the troubled, central African country was just as troubled but not quite as broke, phoned and said that farming leaders were running around like headless chickens, indicating that perhaps their organisation should be called the Chicken Farmers Union. Still, another farmer, now working for the minimum wage as a petrol pump attendant in Perth, Australia, pointed out in a reverse charges call that there was no point in renaming the farmers' organisation when there were no farmers left.
But farming leaders seemed surprised by the furore they had caused by admitting they had offered earnest congratulations to the most equal of all comrades. It seemed the right thing to do at the time, said one insider. After all, there was a chance it would have some indefinable beneficial effect at some stage in the future. The move has also upset farmers' allies in untroubled European and North American countries where ministers have said farmers in the troubled central African country are on their own, blaming their inability to stand up and fight for themselves for the withdrawal of future support. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the troubled central African country's opposition, which has fought a longer and harder battle than the farmers' organisation, said it was disgusted but not surprised by the move.
In a state of confused surprise, farming leaders asked what all the fuss was about, saying that it was all a matter of perspective and that they were doing their best under difficult conditions. They said it seemed wise to offer congratulations to the most equal of all comrades at a time when the rest of the world, and most people in the troubled central African country, were roundly condemning him for staging a violent and rigged election. They said that all the criticism of the most equal of all comrades must have left him feeling a bit lonely and isolated, which was something they could empathise with given that so many of their members were feeling lonely and isolated in dole queues around the world.
Top
From VOA News, 21 July
Zimbabwe politician confesses to killing his wife
Harare - Learnmore Jongwe, a member of Zimbabwe's parliament and a key spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, handed himself over to police Sunday and confessed to the fatal stabbing of his wife. Morgan Tsvangirai, president of the Movement for Democratic Change, the MDC, has expressed sorrow at the death of Mr. Jongwe's wife, Rutendo. Mr. Tsvangirai said the party condemned all forms of violence, whether domestic or public. He said he hoped the police would take appropriate action to ensure justice was done. Mr. Jongwe, a lawyer by training, left Harare on Friday after stabbing his wife of a few months, and went to the rural areas where his family lives. He told his lawyer by telephone that he would turn himself in to the police. He arrived with his lawyer at Harare's central police station, and made a statement admitting he stabbed his wife, whom he accused of being unfaithful. Mr. Jongwe's lawyer said police were surprised when they arrived at the police station, and added that his client was both remorseful and disturbed. He said Mr. Jongwe would spend the night in prison and would be taken to court to face charges on Monday. He said that since Mr. Jongwe had surrendered voluntarily to the police he hoped his client would be granted bail. Learnmore Jongwe, 25, became the best known face of the Movement for Democratic Change during the run-up to Zimbabwe's presidential elections in March. In front of the media he was a forceful critic of ruling party violence against his own party.
Top
From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 22 July
2nd journalist to be tried on Monday in Zimbabwe
Harare - A Zimbabwean journalist with a private daily is due to appear in court Monday to face trial under the country's tough new media law, his lawyer Lawrence Chibwe said. Lloyd Mudiwa of Zimbabwe's sole independent daily, The Daily News, becomes the second journalist to be tried under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), after US journalist Andrew Meldrum, who was acquitted last Monday. Mudiwa is to appear before a magistrate court facing charges of publishing falsehoods and abusing journalistic privileges, similar charges to those that Meldrum faced. The charges against Mudiwa arise from a story, which has since proved false, that the Daily News broke in April alleging that a woman had been beheaded in front of her children by Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party militia. The paper later retracted the story and offered an apology to President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF, after it was found that the chief source of the story, a man claiming to be the dead woman's husband, fabricated the incident.
Mudiwa's hearing was supposed to have opened June 20, but the state prosecutor Thabani Mpofu sought a postponement to allow him to try Mudiwa along with his editor-in-chief Geoff Nyarota. But Chibwe said Nyarota had by Friday not yet received a summons to appear in court with Mudiwa on Monday. Mudiwa was arrested on April 30 along with another journalist from the Daily News, but the court later tossed out charges against his colleague. They were released from police custody two days later pending the trial to open on Monday. The press law under which the journalists are being charged was enacted just days after President Mugabe's controversial re-election in March. Journalists found guilty under the law face up to two years in prison or a 100 000 Zimbabwe dollar fine. Since the law took effect on March 15, 12 journalists have been arrested - some of them more than once.
Top
From BBC News, 22 July
EU to tighten Zimbabwe sanctions
Zimbabwe's senior business leaders and their spouses are expected to be banned from Europe under new sanctions. The European Union (EU) imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on a number of the country's leaders before the Zimbabwean elections in March. But there has been criticism that the sanctions are not working. The EU took the measures after the head of its elections observer team was expelled from the country in a row over election violence. At the moment, President Robert Mugabe and 19 senior government and military officials are banned from travelling to the EU, and have had assets held in the EU frozen. EU foreign ministers on Monday will consider extending the ban. Socialist Euro MP Glenys Kinnock told the BBC World Service's World Today programme: "The situation in Zimbabwe has gone from bad to worse and now is the time to strengthen our position. We need to target the elite, to make it difficult for them to come to Europe for shopping trips and meetings. We need to include the whole cabinet and their spouses - as many of them as we can identify."
President Mugabe himself broke the travel ban last month, visiting Rome for a United Nations-sponsored food conference. But EU diplomats argue that wider economic sanctions just are not an option - suspending aid, they say, would hurt exactly the people they are trying to protect. Zimbabwe's Home Affairs Minister, John Nkomo, told the World Today, that political violence was not increasing in Zimbabwe. "As a sovereign state we must be allowed to govern ourselves. "There are human rights in Zimbabwe - we are going through a period of transition from when there were no human rights for black people in Zimbabwe." He added: "We do not need to go shopping in Europe. Zimbabwe has many shops and people can go shopping in Zimbabwe. What is Europe anyway? There are other parts of the world."
Top
From The Zimbabwe Independent, 19 July
Zanu PF militia impose 'curfew' in Buhera
Zanu PF militia have embarked on a terror campaign in the Buhera North constituency ahead of council elections scheduled for September, the Zimbabwe Independent heard this week. The terror has been unleashed to coerce opposition supporters to rally behind the ruling party. MDC provincial secretary for information and publicity in Manicaland, Pishai Muchauraya, confirmed the terror campaign. Buhera North is the home area of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Muchauraya said Zanu PF militia clad in police uniforms and purporting to be members of the police were beating up people suspected of supporting the MDC in the constituency. "These militia move with a list of all people who support the MDC. They get their lists from kraal heads," he said. "There is a virtual curfew unilaterally declared by these militia from 5pm to 5am."
The terror campaign is said to have spread to Mutare South where the militia have also declared another dusk-to-dawn curfew at Berzel Bridge. "In Chipinge South we had scheduled a meeting for the MDC in preparation for council election, but we were surprised to receive a letter from the officer-in-charge in Chipinge banning us from holding our meeting," said Muchauraya. He said a number of cases had gone unreported to the police because victims were not sure who the real police officers were. He said the MDC provincial offices in Mutare had received numerous complaints from people in Buhera who were being brutalised by the militia. Police spokesman Andrew Phiri said he had received one report of political violence in Manicaland. "We have so far received only one case of arson from Dorowa from Stewart Makwiti who reported that his house was burnt down. "Makwiti said his house was burnt because he was accused of being an MDC supporter. No-one has been arrested as yet as investigations are continuing," Phiri said.
Top
From The Zimbabwe Standard, 21 July
Land-grab deprives 250 000 pupils of education
More than 500 schools in formerly white owned farms have been shut down, throwing the future of over 250 000 children of farm workers into jeopardy, The Standard has learnt. As government continues to implement its chaotic land seizure exercise, more and more schools which were run by white commercial farmers are being closed as marauding Zanu PF supporters and war veterans take over the farms. According to a spokesperson of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), the future of the children who were getting education at the farm schools is gloomy as it is clear that neither the new owners nor the government has the capability and capacity to run the schools. Already, the embattled Mugabe regime is grappling with a food crisis, among a host of economic and social woes, leaving the government with no money to support the schools. Government schools have not been spared either, as they reel under lack of textbooks, teaching staff and other problems.
"More than 500 schools were closed abruptly as invaders besieged farms across the country. Thousands of children who attended farm schools have nowhere to go," said the spokesperson. The situation is made even worse by the fact that virtually all the farm workers' families will have no means of livelihood following the loss of their employers. About 200 000 of the deprived children are still at primary school level, which most commercial farmers provided. Many of the farm workers were immigrants from SADC countries such as Malawi and Mozambique, who left their countries decades ago in search of work. Efforts to get comment from the ministry of education failed because officials at the head office repeatedly said that the minister was busy. The permanent secretary, Thompson Tsodzo, was said to be on leave. From The Zimbabwe Independent, 19 July GMB officials arrested
Police in Matabeleland North have arrested 30 officials for allegedly abusing food aid for personal gain. The officials obtained the maize for distribution to hungry villagers from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB). Some of those involved have appeared in court. The arrested suspects include GMB officials, war veterans, councillors and District Development Fund (DDF) officials. A source in Bulawayo said the arrests could just be the tip of an iceberg. This would confirm claims by humanitarian food organisations and donor agencies that food distribution had been politicised and diverted to feed Zanu PF supporters, the source said. The food scandal allegations surfaced amid reports that DDF truck drivers at the Bulawayo depot had been suspended pending investigations into allegations that they were demanding payment for food deliveries to drought relief recipients.
The 30 suspects are believed to be part of a team of government workers operating in cahoots with war veterans and Zanu PF councillors in diverting food relief meant for starving families in Matabeleland North. Most of those arrested were operating in the drought-ravaged districts of Binga, Bubi-Umguza and Tsholotsho. A DDF official in Bulawayo refused to comment on the suspension of the truck drivers and referred all questions to the provincial governor, Obert Mpofu, who was not available for comment. Five of the accused war veterans from Tsholotsho appeared in court on Tuesday and were remanded in custody after they failed to raise $20 000 each in bail. A police spokesman confirmed the arrests and said some of the suspects had already appeared in court. "It is true that police arrested some officials involved in a food scam and some of them have appeared in court. Others are yet to appear," said the police spokesman.
According to information gathered by the Zimbabwe Independent, the 30 arrested were diverting truckloads of drought relief maize meant for starving villagers and selling it at inflated prices on the black market. Some of the maize was sold along political lines. Under the government drought relief scheme, maize is officially sold at $500 for a 50kg bag but the officials are said to have been selling it for as much as $1 500 a bag. "War veterans took advantage of the fact that they are overseeing the distribution of drought relief in the districts and they charge as much as $1 500 for a 50kg bag of maize," said the source. "The war veterans are running thriving businesses from their homes and one can buy maize and other scarce goods at very exorbitant prices but if one is a known Zanu PF supporter one can buy the food cheaper," said the source.
Top
From The Zimbabwe Independent, 19 July
UN steps up Zim probe
The United Nations panel of experts investigating the plunder of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) mineral resources is deepening its probe on Zimbabwe. Diplomatic sources said the UN team - which last year blamed Rwanda and Uganda for pillage in the DRC - is now digging deeper into the scramble for DRC mineral wealth. The initial five-member group led by former Ivorian Energy minister Safiatou Ba-N'Daw admitted failure with its Zimbabwe probe in April 2001. However, a technical advisor to the current UN panel, which has more experienced experts, was in the country last week to intensify investigations into the complex Zimbabwean network of military-controlled companies operating in the DRC. The UN team, which is trying to uncover wide scale and systematic looting in the DRC, is expected to release its report in two months. Zimbabwe was last year accused of trying to chop down vast DRC rainforests in a US$300 million deal.
Sources said controversial South African businessman and diamond dealer Niko Shefer, who featured prominently during the rush for DRC mineral concessions, was at the centre of the probe. Information at hand indicates Shefer, former chair and chief executive of Greater Diamond Company (Liberia) Ltd which was linked to the "blood diamond" trade in Sierra Leone and Liberia, met Zimbabwean and DRC military and political leaders over diamond mining deals. Shefer is said to have met the late DRC President Laurent Kabila, his cabinet secretary Kalal Lukani, leading Zimbabwean politicians, senior defence force commanders, and retired Major-General John Dauramanzi in December 1999 and January 2000. Their discussions, sources said, revolved around mining activities.
Companies involved in mining exploration at the time included Comiex, which represented Kabila and his immediate circle of political and military advisors, Osleg which stood for Zimbabwean military interests, and Cosleg which was a joint venture between Comiex and Osleg. Another enterprise linked to the network was the Mineral Business Company (MBC) established to extract diamonds, gold, copper-cobalt and other strategic minerals. Sources said MBC was initially financed by Cosleg although it later failed to raise the required capital. Kabila, in consultation with Zimbabwean defence force commanders and Dauramanzi, sources said, offered Shefer 50% of MBC's business in return for the capital. About US$30 million was needed. Shefer, also former chief executive of the collapsed Tandan International Holdings (Pty) Ltd, was supposed to use a Zimbabwean company, Thorntree Industries (Pvt) Ltd, as a corporate vehicle for his investment.
Efforts to get comment from Dauramanzi were unsuccessful. However, Shefer - who was convicted for fraud in 1989 - denied these claims. In an interview from Johannesburg last week, Shefer said he was not involved in diamond deals. "I was not involved because I don't deal in diamonds," he said. "I was only invited during the launch of MBC in Kinshasa about two years ago." Asked whether he met Zimbabwean leaders, Shefer said: "I have never met them in my life. But I have met this retired old man, Dauramanzi for tea at Meikles Hotel." Sources said Shefer's Tandan Group helped to train Zimbabwean military officers to grade and evaluate diamonds in January 2000. Shefer, who was born in Ecuador and holds Israeli and South African passports and speaks six languages, confirmed linking army officers to the Diamond and Gold Exchange in Johannesburg for training. "I introduced them to the School of Diamonds and gave them contact telephone numbers," he said. "Whatever happened after that I don't know." However, ZDF spokesman Mbonisi Gatsheni yesterday said: "The Ministry of Defence and ZDF have no records of officers sent to South Africa for that training." But sources said about 24 officers, mostly majors, both retired and serving, were trained as diamond buyers in teams of six each. "The first two-week course ended during the third week of January 2000 and the following one was held on January 24," a source said. "They were expected to cut 5 000 carats a month, which meant that 30 000 carats a month could be achieved when the first batch was deployed to work. The officers were paid military-scale salaries."
Top
From The Independent (UK), 23 July
Mugabe's wife hit by fresh sanctions on Zimbabwe elite
Brussels - A Europe-wide travel ban and asset freeze was imposed on 52 more members of the Zimbabwean ruling party - including Grace Mugabe, the wife of President Robert Mugabe - in protest at the government's crackdown on the independent press, the judiciary and opposition officials. Under pressure from Britain and Germany, EU ministers extended sanctions to cover all cabinet ministers, deputy ministers and members of the ruling Zanu PF politburo. Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, described the decision as proof "the world is not going to ignore the callous behaviour of the Zimbabwean regime", and dismissed suggestions the sanctions had been ineffective. They had, he added "created a sense of isolation among those responsible for the dire situation in Zimbabwe". Chris Patten, the European commissioner for external relations, said it was "appalling that, when people are starving in Zimbabwe, their leaders are going around the world spending a lot of money". The new sanctions were "bad news for Harrods", he said.
Under the measures agreed yesterday, even ministers responsible for culture and the disabled will be banned from travelling in the EU, and will have any assets held in Europe frozen. Mr Mugabe and 19 of his closest colleagues had already been subject to the ban, imposed in February when the government in Harare obstructed the work of EU election monitors. Yesterday's decision means that 72 people are now be affected. Glenys Kinnock, the Labour MEP, said the decision "will stop Grace Mugabe going on her shopping trips in the face of catastrophic poverty blighting the people of Zimbabwe". Since Mr Mugabe was returned to power, in a poll that opposition politicians claim was rigged, respect for human rights in Zimbabwe has deteriorated further. Land seizures from white farmers have helped drive a country with a once strong agricultural sector to the brink of starvation.
Jugen Chrobog, Germany's deputy foreign minister, said that while there were food crises across much of southern Africa because of bad harvests and poor weather, Zimbabwe was an exception. "The government of Mr Mugabe leads the country into a catastrophe" because of corruption and economic mismanagement, he argued. Mr Straw said one important factor in winning support for yesterday's decision was a recent speech by Abednico Ncube, Zimbabwe's deputy foreign minister, which made clear food aid would not be made available to opposition supporters. "We do not want people who vote for colonialists and then come to us when they want food", Mr Ncube was quoted as saying, "You cannot vote for the [opposition] Movement for Democratic Change and expect Zanu PF to help you." That prompted Mr Straw to claim the Mugabe regime was "willing, literally, to let people starve unless they vote for a corrupt and bankrupt regime, to keep it in power".
Critics remain unconvinced by the effectiveness of the sanctions, despite signs they are causing some inconvenience - in particular to the Zimbabwean Foreign Minister, Stan Mudenge, who was denied a visa to attend his daughter's wedding in Germany. There are exemptions for ministers attending international meetings and, earlier this year, Mr Mugabe took part in a UN-sponsored conference in Rome. Zimbabwe is also likely to be allowed to send a minister to a meeting between the EU and south African nations in Copenhagen on 7-8 November. But the EU has ruled out full economic sanctions. A British Red Cross mission issued a bleak report at the weekend of famine, Aids, corruption and lack of medicines in the country.
Top
From News24 (SA), 22 July
Editor wants case to go higher
Harare - The Monday trial of a reporter and the editor of Zimbabwe's only privately owned daily newspaper was adjourned to Wednesday after the paper's lawyers applied to have the case referred to the Supreme Court. Daily News reporter Lloyd Mudiwa and his editor Geoff Nyarota face charges of publishing a false story under the country's tough new media laws. Their case follows the acquittal last week of the American correspondent of a British newspaper on similar charges. Magistrate Sandra Nhau said on Monday she needed time to consider the application and would rule on Wednesday whether the case should be heard in the lower magistrate's court or should be referred to the Supreme Court. Mudiwa and Nyarota's lawyer argued that the trial should be heard in the Supreme Court as it dealt with constitutional matters such as freedom of expression and protection of the law.
The charges against Mudiwa stem from a story the Daily News published in April, alleging that President Robert Mugabe's supporters beheaded a woman in a rural district last year. The paper has since said the beheading story was false and apologised to Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party. Last week a magistrate found Andrew Meldrum, the Zimbabwe correspondent for Britain's Guardian newspaper, not guilty after his paper carried the beheading story, saying he had not originated the story and had tried to verify it. The government issued a deportation order against Meldrum immediately after the judgment, but the country's High Court then suspended his expulsion. Mudiwa faces a fine of up to Z$100 000 or a maximum two years in jail if convicted. Critics say the new media laws passed by Mugabe's government this year severely curtail press freedom but the government says they aim to introduce "ethical behaviour" in the media.
Top
From Associated Press, 22 July
UK tycoon guilty of manslaughter
London - A property tycoon was convicted Monday of manslaughter for hiring two hit men who brutally murdered his business rival. After eight days of deliberations, a jury at London's Old Bailey court decided that although Nicholas van Hoogstraten, 57, had wanted his business rival harmed, he had not planned to have him killed. Therefore, the jury found him innocent of murder, but guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter - defined as homicide without malice or premeditation. Nevertheless, Van Hoogstraten, who has a long criminal record and was portrayed by prosecutors as a ruthless businessman, could be jailed for life when he is sentenced Oct. 2 after a psychiatric screening. His conviction was connected with the 1999 killing of Mohammed Sabir Raja, 62, a Pakistani-born property developer and business competitor. Raja, a father of six, was slain at his home outside London by two men who stabbed him, then shot him in the head and stomach.
At the time of the killing, Raja had begun civil court proceedings against van Hoogstraten for alleged fraud. Last week, the two hit men, Robert Knapp and David Croke, were convicted of murdering Raja. Following Monday's verdict, Raja's 41-year-old son, Amjad, said of van Hoogstraten: "He has destroyed our family and has taken away from us a wonderful father who would have done anything for his children." Van Hoogstraten denied having anything to do with Raja's killing and ridiculed the prosecution's statement that he had paid the two men to commit the crime. But prosecutors told the jury that van Hoogstraten had met Knapp in prison years earlier and used him as an enforcer. Police testified that van Hoogstraten believed he was above the law and that before the killing allegedly had told Amjad Raja, "Your dad is a maggot. He does not know what I am. We pick thorns who are a pain, and we break them."
Van Hoogstraten, who according to press reports has an estimated wealth of $315 million to $785 million, built his fortune through global mining and property holdings. He was listed 595th in the 2002 Sunday Times Rich List, above pop stars Sting and Rod Stewart. Van Hoogstraten has many residences, including homes in the United States, France, Zimbabwe and the West Indies, and a mansion in southern England. However, before wealth brought van Hoogstraten a veneer of respectability, he had been convicted for violence, intimidation and dishonesty in several cases, prosecutors told the court. When he was 12, a court found him guilty of stealing a typewriter. Four years later, he was given two years' probation for being an accessory to a burglary. Later, he was fined for using obscene language to a police officer, jailed for four years for arranging a hand grenade attack on the home of a business associate and the man's family, and jailed for handling stolen goods. Speaking after Monday's verdict, Detective Inspector Andy Sladen said: "My experience of Mr. van Hoogstraten is of a person of extreme arrogance. He thought he was above the law. Today's verdict shows he is not."
Top
From BBC News, 22 July
An 'emissary of Beelzebub'
As millionaire property developer Nicholas van Hoogstraten is found guilty of the manslaughter of a business associate, BBC News Online looks at his business practices and private life.
Nicholas van Hoogstraten has been branded a "bully" and an "emissary of Beelzebub" by judges in the past. His list of previous convictions includes ordering a grenade attack on the home of a business associate, a Jewish clergyman who he claimed owed him money. For that he spent four years in Wormwood Scrubs in the 1960s, but he happily admits his business practices have not always been strictly within the law. He says he has done "all sorts of things one shouldn't strictly do". "I exact retribution - I try to make the punishment fit the crime," he once said. To demonstrate, he tells the story of how he dealt with a business associate in Africa he had fallen out with. He said the man would "get a nasty shock" involving a gun. Van Hoogstraten hit the headlines most recently during an ugly spat with ramblers. The argument was over a public footpath through the grounds of the enormous mansion he is building near Uckfield in East Sussex. Called Hamilton Palace, after Bermuda's capital, it is vainglorious, neo-classical, with a copper-dome. It is estimated to have cost £40m so far and is reportedly the most expensive private house built in Britain for a century. It is bigger than Buckingham Palace and has Louis XV furniture, a Holbein painting, a 600ft art gallery and a mausoleum designed to hold van Hoogstraten's body for 5,000 years. The walls are three feet thick because he said he wanted to "make the building last forever". Van Hoogstraten deliberately blocked the footpath on his estate to the anger of the Ramblers Association, whose members he dubbed "riffraff", "perverts", "flashers", "the dirty mac brigade" and "the great unwashed". An official at the local council, which was supposed to enforce the right of way, said his officers were "scared to death" of the businessman.
Never afraid of a fight, he has described taking on a nun at school. She "tried to whack me with a chair-leg once - I grabbed it and hit her and she never tried again". He was born in 1946 in Shoreham, East Sussex, as plain Nicholas Marcel Hoogstraten - the "van" was added later. He no longer speaks to his own mother who he describes as "a miserable cow". He is, however, a fan of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who he once described as "100% decent and incorruptible". He holds vast fortunes in the African country and once said: "I don't believe in democracy, I believe in rule by the fittest." He began his business empire by buying property in the Bahamas. With the profits he moved on to the British housing market, buying six properties in Notting Hill, London, before moving on to Brighton. By the time he was 22, he was reputed to have had 350 properties in Sussex alone and to have become Britain's youngest millionaire.
But he also gained a sinister reputation and was accused of using strong-arm tactics against tenants of slum properties which he bought cheaply for redevelopment. In the 1980s, as the housing market boomed, he prospered, acquiring more than 2,000 properties. By the 1990s he had sold 90% of them, making massive profits and investing in other areas, including global mining. Ten years ago, when a fire broke out at one of his properties in Brighton, he described the five people who died in the blaze as "lowlife, drug dealers, drug takers and queers - scum". His outspoken and frequently bizarre views include that American President John F Kennedy was "on an ego trip" when he was assassinated and Diana, Princess of Wales, had "made a mockery of the Royal family". To van Hoogstraten his tenants are "filth", while people who live in council houses are "worthless and lazy". His misanthropy is legendary and he once said: "The only purpose in creating great wealth like mine is to separate oneself from the riffraff." He has also said he believes that "the whole purpose of having money is to put yourself on a pedestal". He has five children - four sons and a daughter - by three different mothers. But they should not expect total financial security from their father, who has said he does not believe in inherited wealth. "I will leave my children a few million so they won't starve. But I have seen people who think the world owes them a living. I believe everyone should do something useful," he said.
Top
From The Guardian (UK), 23 July
Congo and Rwanda reach fragile deal to end conflict
Kigali to pull out troops in return for dismantling of Hutu militia
Johannesburg - Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo reached a tentative agreement yesterday to end years of war that have claimed millions of civilian lives. The deal, announced in South Africa after five days of talks there, requires Rwanda to pull its troops out of eastern Congo in return for the government in Kinshasa disarming and dismantling the extremist Hutu militia - the "interahamwe" - which led the genocide of Rwanda's Tutsis eight years ago. But it was not clear last night whether the dispersal of the interahamwe would have to come before Rwanda pulled out the estimated 20,000 soldiers it has in Congo. Previously, Kigali insisted that it would not leave Congo until the threat from the interahamwe on its borders was neutralised. The mediator, South Africa's deputy president, Jacob Zuma, was evasive. He said that "an understanding has been reached" but declined to elaborate until the Rwandan and Congolese presidents had approved the deal. The Rwandan representative at the talks, Patrick Mazimhaka, said he was encouraged but did not predict an immediate end to the war. "We have no doubt that if we can diligently execute this broad agreement we shall bring to an end this conflict that has been engulfing our countries for several years sooner rather than later," he said.
The UN estimates that more than 2m people have died in Congo because of the conflict, mostly civilians killed by starvation and disease. In some regions, whole towns have lived in a perpetual state of terror for years, with women subjected to repeated mass rape by combatants, along with indiscriminate killings and severe food shortages. The conflict has its roots in the 1994 genocide, which prompted the victorious Tutsi-dominated government in Rwanda to invade the former Zaire twice in pursuit of the interahamwe. The Hutu militia continued to raid Rwanda and murder Tutsis for years after the genocide. The first invasion in 1996 led to the overthrow of Zaire's long-time dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko. The second invasion, two years later, came after the man the Rwandans put into power in Kinshasa, Laurent Kabila, shunned Kigali and failed to deal with the interahamwe. After Kabila was assassinated last year, his son, Joseph, became president.
In April, most of the belligerents in Congo reached a peace agreement, including Uganda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and various Congolese rebel groups. But rebels backed by Rwanda, the Congolese Rally for Democracy, consistently refused to sign the deal and Kigali failed to fulfil its pledge to withdraw its troops because it accused Kinshasa of continuing to arm and train the interahamwe. But Rwanda has been under growing pressure to honour earlier promises to pull out of Congo. The time may be ripe as the threat from the interahamwe is greatly diminished and the Rwandan intervention is proving a quagmire for Kigali, militarily and diplomatically. The huge civilian death toll in Congo and the mass looting of its mineral wealth have been considerable embarrassments to the Rwandans. And while the invasions and years of occupation have helped bring a kind of stability to Rwanda, the turmoil continues in Congo. Last week, Rwandan troops and their Congolese rebel allies were fighting the Banyamulenge Tutsis whom Kigali formerly claimed it was defending from the interahamwe.
Top
From The Times (UK), 24 July
Mugabe embraces famine on behalf of his people
Harare - The danger of widespread famine and death in Zimbabwe increased yesterday as President Mugabe rejected appeals by the United Nations to reverse his Government’s disastrous policies on land redistribution. Speaking at the annual State Opening of Parliament, Mr Mugabe hailed the scheme "an unparalleled success", saying that almost half of about 5,000 white-owned commercial farms had been transferred to blacks. The Government would ensure that "no one takes advantage of our stomachs to get to the soul of our sovereignty", he said. "Yes, we need food assistance from governments of goodwill, but we certainly abhor sinister interests which seek surreptitiously to advance themselves under cover of humanitarian assistance. We reject any attempt to use the present drought relief effort to smuggle in failed and inappropriate International Monetary Fund policies . . . as neo-colonial manipulation under the guise of globalisation."
His remarks were seen as a direct attack on a UN appeal launched last Friday to raise £180 million, mostly for 1.5 million tonnes of food, to avert what experts say may be one of Africa’s worst disasters. The UN said that Mr Mugabe’s campaign to seize white-owned land had "seriously affected one of the most productive sectors of the economy and is a leading cause of the current crisis". It urged the restoration of the rule of law on white-owned farms and the removal of illegal squatters. Mr Mugabe maintains that the farm seizures are the only way to ensure that landless blacks have access to land, but the programme has brought commercial farming to a halt and left the country with a two-million-tonne grain deficit this year. The UN cited the state-run Grain Marketing Board’s rigid monopoly of grain imports and trade inside the country, and price controls on basic commodities that force farmers and traders to sell their produce well below market prices. Measures to cut inflation, now at 114 per cent, had to be taken. The currency, officially fixed at £1 to Z$85 but trading on the parallel market at £1 to Z$1,000, had to be liberalised. Mr Mugabe responded: "Devaluation can only be advocated by saboteurs and enemies." The remark was an attack on Simba Makoni, his Finance Minister and the only member of his Cabinet bold enough to criticise him. Mr Makoni recommended devaluation this month.
Six million people, half of Zimbabwe’s population, are at risk of starvation and death and the UN appeal said: "There is a serious risk of famine and loss of life in the coming months." The Zimbabwean crisis was not a traditional emergency, it said. Drought and the HIV/Aids epidemic had contributed, but "policy choices are at the heart of the problem". Mr Mugabe denied blame, saying that the country’s problems had been caused by "continual British machinations and the consequences of the drought". Within minutes of the start of his speech, the Movement for Democratic Change, which holds 57 of the 120 seats in Parliament, walked out. Its MPs refuse to recognise Mr Mugabe’s right to address Parliament after presidential elections in March that were rejected by most of the world as fraudulent and violent. Outside, a cavalry and infantry parade became a grim affair as Zimbabwean Air Force helicopters hovered, watching for a promised demonstration by a pro-democracy group, and hundreds of police blocked the streets. The crowd of spectators, mostly supporters of his ruling Zanu PF party, was among the smallest since independence 22 years ago.
Top
From News24 (SA), 23 July
Harare holds its breath
Harare - Military helicopters hovered over the capital and police in riot gear patrolled the streets on Tuesday, as Zimbabwean authorities tried to stave off anti-government protests ahead of the opening of parliament. Police blocked the main roads into Harare and the government called for people to stay away from the protests, organised to accompany the first parliamentary sitting since March's disputed presidential election. The increasingly authoritarian government of President Robert Mugabe launched a campaign to squash dissent in the run-up to the election. He was declared the victor, but the opposition said the vote was rigged and many international and domestic observers said it was deeply flawed.
The main organiser of the protests, Lovemore Madhuku, was arrested on Monday and held overnight by the police before being released. Madhuku heads the National Constitutional Assembly, an umbrella group of trades unions, churches and human rights groups who have demanded a sweeping overhaul of laws that have helped sustaining Mugabe's 22 year rule. The group said in a statement the demonstration would proceed as planned and that efforts to block it violated constitutional rights of free expression and assembly. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change, which rejects Mugabe's victory, plans to boycott the ceremonial procession that traditionally precedes 78-year-old Mugabe's policy speech. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa has warned legislators their pay may be withheld for staying away from the ceremony.
Streets in downtown Harare were blocked off early on Tuesday to all traffic and police conducted searches of vehicles coming into the city in a bid to deter protesters. Police said they had refused requested permission for the demonstration. Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena told state media permits were not granted because the planned protests would "occasion public disorder" during Mugabe's scheduled drive to parliament in a ceremonial procession. According to tradition, Mugabe will drive in a vintage Rolls Royce accompanied by soldiers on horseback and will be saluted by a fly-by of jet fighters. Government officials said legislation that proposes giving Mugabe the power to ban trade unions deemed hostile to the government would be debated in the new session. The ruling Zanu PF party has stymied opposition attempts to impeach Mugabe for a state-sanctioned campaign of violence by ruling party militants targeted at opposition activists and white farmers.
Information Minister Jonathan Moyo on Tuesday dismissed as "trivial and irrelevant" Monday's decision by the European Union to widen its travel ban on senior Zimbabwean officials to punish Mugabe's government for its human rights abuses and economic policies. In the last two years, Mugabe's policies have pushed the country toward famine and economic and political chaos. In another development on Tuesday, one of Zimbabwe's most distinguished novelists and poets, Chenjerai Hove, told the independent Daily News he had fled to Paris after being harassed by the authorities. "You live for 24 hours in fear," said the award-winning author. "The threats were becoming unbearable. People were phoning my house saying I would disappear."
Top
From Reuters, 23 July
Zimbabwe faces famine if food aid stalled agency
Harare - Zimbabwe could have a famine on its hands by September if President Robert Mugabe's government delays a decision on whether to accept genetically modified food aid, a senior American aid official said Tuesday. Roger Winter, an assistant administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, said Zimbabwe had "expressed concerns" over genetically modified foods, limiting the amount of food the agency can bring in to help feed thousands of needy people. "We do not have other products ... in the volumes and within the time frames that are necessary to keep the food pipeline full," Winter told journalists in Harare. "Famine and food-related deaths are not pretty. I argue that they are certain in this case if there is not an adequate food pipeline. You are going to start in all likelihood seeing serious impacts of at least a localized nature as soon as September," he said.
Zimbabwe, facing its worst political and economic crisis in 22 years of independence, is at the center of a devastating food shortage sweeping across southern Africa, including Malawi, Zambia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique. In June the United States said it gave Zimbabwe 8,500 tons of maize but a further 10,000 tons was rejected because it did not have a certificate saying it had not been genetically modified. A senior agricultural official said it was standard government procedure. Winter said other aid groups did not have the capacity to fill the gap that would be left by a rejection of U.S. food supplies, which he said accounted for 50 percent of the total international aid effort. "The volumes that the U.S. is offering to supply cannot be made up for by any other country or group. As of right now, most traditional humanitarian donors for this kind of emergency have yet to step up to the plate," Winter said.
The United States, through the U.N. World Food Program, has to date distributed 42,930 tons of food aid mainly in the southern parts of the country mostly hit by shortages. Aid agencies say 4 million to 6 million Zimbabweans need food aid this year, part of a wider food crisis threatening nearly 13 million people in the six southern African countries. Once the bread basket of the southern African region, Zimbabwe now needs food aid after drought and the invasion of white-owned farms since February 2000 slashed staple maize output. The government says the shortage of maize, the country's staple crop, is due solely to a drought that has hit small-scale black farmers who produce 70 percent of national output. The government has also blamed dwindling food supplies on its political opponents and foreign interests, who it says want to punish Mugabe for seizing white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to landless blacks. The government, following up the invasion of hundreds of white-owned farms in the past two years, has ordered nearly 3,000 farmers to stop farming and in June gave them a 45-day deadline which expires in mid-August to quit their farmhouses.
Top
Comment from ZWNEWS, 24 July< |
