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Archived News
24th September 2002
Intense pressure on MDC
Zimbabwe’s silent, selective starvation
Mugabe's Speech An Attempt To Conceal The Violent Reality and Hypocrisy of His Land Agenda
Attack On Vop Is An Attack On Freedom Of Speech
The Zimbabwe Crisis And The Way Forward, Remarks by Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai
Class of 79
White farmer jailed for 15 years for killing black settler in Zimbabwe
The real victims of land seizures
Devaluation is dead ... long live parallel market
Zimbabwe speeds up farmer evictions
Mugabe snubs Howard
Govt to ship maize via Namibia
Government evicts resettled villagers to pave way for Shiri
Chinamasas extend land holdings
Fuel talks dogged by investment rule
Mugabe reroutes AirZim flight
Leaders plan crisis talks with Mugabe
Zimbabwe should not be left to SA to sort out
Walking the tightrope between life and death
Libyans eye Hartley Mine
Hundreds to withdraw from school following eviction
DDF lacks capacity to service resettled farmers
Famine stalks Mat South
Zim judges 'being intimidated'
750,000 farmers destitute
Mudede can't stem passport queues
Africa blasts SA for Nepad dominance
Bank of England orders asset freeze on 'war cabinet'
Clinging to hope
Mugabe snubs trio of leaders
Mugabe snubs Commonwealth talks
Silence over whether Mugabe is to go to Abuja
Diplomatic gaffe
Church leaders charged again
Mugabe escapes new sanctions
Zimbabwe Mid-Term Review
Howard invited to Zimbabwe
SA being hurt by silence on Zimbabwe
Hungry Zambians loot rejected GM food
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From ZWNEWS, 18 September
Class of 79
The European Commission on Monday announced an extension of the list of individuals subject to targeted sanctions. The European Council of Ministers decided last week to extend the list to 79 persons, to reflect the recent cabinet reshuffle by President Mugabe. The list of persons previously subject to the ban previously stood at 72. The full list of persons is as below:
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1643/2002 of 13 September 2002 amending, for the third time, Council Regulation (EC) No 310/2002 concerning certain restrictive measures in respect of Zimbabwe
List of persons, entities and bodies referred to in Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 310/2002
1. Mugabe, Robert Gabriel President, born 21.2.1924, Kutama; 2. Buka, Flora Minister of State for Land Reform Programme (former Minister of State in Vice President Muzenda's Office), born 25.2.1968; 3. Charamba, George Information Minister's Permanent Secretary and Spokesman; 4. Charumbira, Fortune Deputy Minister for Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, born 10.6.1962; 5. Chigwedere, Aeneas Education, Sports and Culture Minister, born 25.11.1939; 6. Chihuri, Augustine Commissioner (Police), born 10.3.1953; 7. Chikowore, Enos Secretary for Land and Resettlement, born 1936; 8. Chinamasa, Patrick Justice Minister, born 25.1.1947; 9. Chindori-Chininga, Edward Mines and Energy Minister, born 14.3.1955; 10. Chiwenga, Constantine Lt Gen (Army), born 25.8.1956; 11. Chiwewe, Willard Ministry of Foreign Affairs Senior Secretary, born 19.3.1949; 12. Chombo, Ignatius Local Govt Minister, born 1.8.1952; 13. Dabengwa, Dumiso Senior Committee Member, born 1939; 14. Goche, Nicholas Security Minister, born 1.8.1946; 15. Gumbo, Rugare Deputy Minister, Home Affairs, born 8.3.1940; 16. Hove, Richard Secretary for Economic Affairs, born 1935; 17. Karimanzira, David Secretary for Finance, born 25.5.1947; 18. Kasukuwere, Saviour Deputy-Secretary for Youth Affairs, born 23.10.1970; 19. Kuruneri, Christopher Deputy Minister, Finance and Economic Development, born 4.4.1949; 20. Lesabe, Thenjiwe Secretary for Women's Affairs, born 1933; 21. Machaya, Jaison Deputy Minister for Mines and Mining Development, born 13.6.1952; 22. Made, Joseph Agricultural Minister, born 21.11.1954; 23. Madzongwe, Edna Deputy-Secretary for Production and Labour, born 11.7.1943; 24. Mahofa, Shuvai Deputy Minister for Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation, born 4.4.1941; 25. Makoni, Simbarashe Minister of Finance, born 22.3.1950; 26. Malinga, Joshua Politburo Deputy Secretary, Deputy-Secretary for Disabled and Disadvantaged, born 28.4.1944; 27. Mangwana, Paul Minister of State for Enterprises and Parastatals (former Deputy Minister, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs), born 10.8.1961; 28. Mangwende, Witness Minister for Transport and Communications (former Deputy-Secretary for Administration), born 15.10.1946; 29. Manyika, Elliot Youth Minister, born 30.7.1955; 30. Manyonda, Kenneth Deputy Minister for Industry and International Trade, born 10.8.1934; 31. Marumahoko, Reuben Deputy Minister for Energy and Power Development, born 4.4.1948; 32. Masuku, Angeline Politburo Secretary, Secretary for Disabled and Disadvantaged Person's Welfare, born 14.10.1936; 33. Mathuthu, T Deputy-Secretary for Transport and Social Welfare; 34. Midzi, Amos Bernard Muvenga Minister for Energy and Power Development, born 4.7.1952; 35. Mnangagwa, Emmerson Parliamentary Speaker, born 15.9.1946; 36. Mobeshora, Swithun Transport and Communications Minister, born 20.8.1945; 37. Mohadi, Kembo Minister for Home Affairs (former Deputy Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing), born 15.11.1949; 38. Moyo, Jonathan Information Minister, born 12.1.1957; 39. Moyo, July Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, born 7.5.1950; 40. Moyo, Simon Khaya Deputy-Secretary for Legal Affairs, born 1945; 41. Mpofu, Obert Deputy-Secretary for National Security, born 12.10.1951; 42. Msika, Joseph Vice President, born 6.12.1923; 43. Muchena, Olivia Minister of State for Information and Publicity (former Minister of State in Vice-President Msika's Office), born 18.8.1946; 44. Muchinguri, Oppah Secretary for Gender and Culture, born 14.12.1958; 45. Mudenge, Stan Foreign Minister, born 17.12.1941, Zimutu Reserve; 46. Mugabe, Grace Spouse of Robert Mugabe, born 23.7.1965; 47. Mugabe, Sabina Politburo Senior Committee Member, born 14.10.1934; 48. Mujuru, Joyce Minister for Rural Resources and Water, born 15.4.1955; 49. Mujuru, Solomon Senior Committee Member, born 1949; 50. Mumbengegwi, Samuel Higher Education and Technology Minister, born 23.10.1942; 51. Murerwa, Herbert Minister for Finance and Economic Development (former Minister for Industry and International Trade), born 31.7.1941; 52. Mushohwe, Christopher Deputy Minister, Transport and Communications, born 6.2.1954; 53. Mutasa, Didymus Secretary for External Relations, born 27.7.1935; 54. Mutiwekuziva, Kenneth Deputy Minister, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, born 27.5.1948; 55. Muzenda, Simon Vengesai Vice-President, born 28.10.1922; 56. Muzenda, Tsitsi Politburo Senior Committee Member, born 28.10.1922; 57. Muzonzini, Elisha Brig. (Intelligence), born 24.6.1957; 58. Ncube, Abedinico Deputy Minister, Foreign Affairs, born 13.10.1954; 59. Ndlovu, Naison Secretary for Production and Labour, born 22.10.1930; 60. Ndlovu, Sikhanyiso Deputy-Secretary for Commissariat, born 20.9.1949; 61. Nhema, Francis Environment and Tourism Minister, born 17.4.1959; 62. Nkomo, John Special Affairs in the President's Office (former Home Affairs Minister), born 22.8.1934; 63. Nkomo, Stephen Senior Committee Member, born 1925; 64. Nyoni, Sithembiso Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises Development (former Minister of State, Informal Sector), born 20.9.1949; 65. Parirenyatwa, David Minister, Health and Child Welfare (former Deputy Minister), born 2.8.1950; 66. Pote, S M Deputy-Secretary for Gender and Culture; 67. Rusere, Tinos Deputy Minister for Rural Resources and Water Development, born 10.5.1945; 68. Sakupwanya, Stanley Deputy-Secretary for Health and Child Welfare; 69. Sekeramayi, Sidney Defence Minister, born 30.3.1944; 70. Shamuyarira, Nathan Secretary for Information and Publicity, born 29.9.1928; 71. Shiri, Perence Air Marshal (Air Force), born 1.11.1955; 72. Shumba, Isaiah Deputy Minister, Education, Sports and Culture, born 3.1.1949; 73. Sikhosana, Absolom Politburo Secretary, Secretary for Youth Affairs; 74. Stamps, Timothy Health and Child Welfare Minister, born 15.10.1936; 75. Tawengwa, Solomon Politburo Deputy Secretary, Deputy-Secretary for Finance, born 15.6.1940; 76. Tungamirai, Josiah Secretary for Employment and Indigenisation, born 8.10.1948; 77. Utete, Charles Cabinet Secretary, born 30.10.1938; 78. Zimonte, Paradzai Prisons chief; 79. Zvinavashe, Vitalis General (CDS), born 1943.
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From Associated Press, 17 September
White farmer jailed for 15 years for killing black settler in Zimbabwe
By Angus Shaw
Harare - A white farmer convicted of murder for running over a black settler occupying part of his land was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison. The farmer, Philip Bezuidenhout, was the second person convicted of murder in more than two years of political violence that has left about 200 people dead. Most of the violence has been blamed on the black squatters and the ruling party. Bezuidenhout, 52, pleaded innocent to murdering Fabian Mapenzauswa, saying he accidentally ran over the man with his truck in July 2001 in the eastern district of Odzi, 150 miles east of Harare. Mapenzauswa was one of thousands of blacks who occupied white-owned farm land over the last two years, demanding the government seize the land and marking out plots for themselves. High Court Judge Ben Hlatshwayo convicted Bezuidenhout of murder Monday.
In sentencing Bezuidenhout on Tuesday, Hlatshwayo said he did not impose the death penalty because Bezuidenhout was affected by "agitation and anguish" when he drove his truck at the settler after the government seized his farm under its land redistribution program. "This court is not bound to impose a death sentence and in the circumstances considers it inappropriate to do so," Hlatshwayo said. "(Bezuidenhout) must consider himself very lucky." Bezuidenhout appeared in court Tuesday barefoot in prison garb and in handcuffs. He was not allowed to confer with his family, but gestured to them before the sentence was announced, drawing a finger across his throat in expectation of receiving a death sentence. Zimbabwe has been wracked by more than two years of political and economic turmoil, marked by a violent crackdown against the opposition and government efforts to seize 5,000 white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks.
The only other person convicted of murder was a black militant sentenced to death for killing a policeman sent to investigate violence on a white-owned farm in early 2000. The sentence is under appeal. Since then, 11 white farmers and nearly 200 blacks, mostly opposition supporters, have been killed. A so-called ruling party "warlord" accused of a string of assaults and killings in the Mberengwa district of southern Zimbabwe was released from custody last year on grounds there was a lack of evidence against him, according to human rights groups. Prosecutors, citing inadequate witness statements, also dropped murder charges against militants accused in the March 2000 shooting death of David Stevens, the first white farmer killed during the land seizures. Independent human rights groups have repeatedly accused the government and police of ignoring reports of violence and rights violations and enforcing what they call "selective justice" against critics and opponents of President Robert Mugabe's regime. Efforts to reach police spokesman Tuesday were unsuccessful. Attorney Eric Matinenga said prosecutors failed to show the farmer planned to kill the settler and even if he had driven carelessly no "moral guilt" had been proven in the case and a fine would have been justified. In one recent case, a truck driver convicted of careless driving in the deaths of three people was fined $3.
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From The Guardian (UK), 18 September
The real victims of land seizures
Mugabe neglects plight of thousands of evicted farm workers
Andrew Meldrum in Harare
The worst victims of Robert Mugabe's land seizures are not the few thousand white farming families being evicted from their farms. Those suffering the most are the hundreds of thousands of black farm workers who are losing their jobs, being thrown out of their homes, often violently, and who will make up an enormous new landless class. As Zimbabwe's parliament yesterday considered new legislation to speed up the seizure of white-owned land, Mr Mugabe's ministers made no mention of the growing crisis of homeless black farm workers and their families. But trade unions, aid agencies and human rights groups are very concerned about their rapidly worsening plight.
James Sani, 26, has been homeless since March 15 when he was thrown off the farm where he worked in the northern Marondera area. He and other workers on Chipesa farm had been badly beaten by Mr Mugabe's supporters on several occasions. After Mr Mugabe won the disputed presidential elections in March the farm workers were attacked with even greater ferocity by a large group armed with iron bars, clubs and rocks. "They were beating everybody," Mr Sani says. "People got broken arms and legs and fractured skulls. We ran away. We could see them set fire to our homes and destroy all our belongings. They killed our goats and cattle. We were forced to sleep in the open, with no clothes, no pots and pans, no belongings." Mr Sani is one of the lucky ones. He, his wife and young daughter have found shelter in a small, tented camp for evicted farm workers. But the camp, south of Harare, and the few others like it across the country are housing only a few thousand people and are dwarfed by the huge numbers in need of assistance. "We are happy to be in this place," Mr Sani says, proudly showing the rows of tents and the makeshift nursery school. "But this is just temporary. I want to start a new life, to find a job or to get somewhere to farm, but things are very difficult."
About 150,000 labourers have been evicted from seized farms, and when their families are included that figure grows to 780,000, according to a new survey by the Zimbabwe Community Development Trust (ZCDT). "The numbers are mind-boggling," says Canon Timothy Neil, director of the ZCDT. "According to our survey only 35,000 farm workers had some form of alternative place to live, either on a resettlement scheme or a family home to return to. The overwhelming number had nowhere to go, and on average they had sufficient food for only 54 days. In two months we are going to see this huge group going hungry. It is frightening." The ZCDT survey also shows that more than 10,000 orphans and 14,000 elderly people who had lived on the farms will now be homeless. "These are the most vulnerable," Canon Neil said. "Across the country, there are people living by the side of the road and moving to the outskirts of towns. It is a shifting, roaming population that needs assistance." The ZCDT is distributing blankets and food. Another group, the Farm Community Trust, is providing food for 80,000 children in central Zimbabwe, and the Farm Orphan Support Trust is helping children in the eastern part of the country. The Mugabe government has largely ignored the plight of the farm workers. Despite assurances that the workers will be allocated land, very few have been accepted for resettlement. The government did insist that workers be paid "termination packages" by the white farmers being thrown off their land. In the Raffingora area, 125 miles north-west of Harare, farm workers have been paid Z$500,000 to Z$800,000 (£5,600 to £8,900). These are unimaginable riches to the workers. "It is like Christmas. People are buying things like mad, shoes, bicycles and fancy biscuits," one local resident said. "But much of the money is being squandered on booze and women. I saw a worker offer a girl Z$3,000 for a kiss! These pay packages will not last long. They cannot make up for a lost job or a lost home."
International aid organisations are beginning to respond to the crisis, but they are hampered by the government's attitude that the farm workers are supporters of the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change and therefore not entitled to new land or assistance. The ZCDT leased land in northern Zimbabwe in August to give plots to 160 ex- farm families. But as 17 workers dug trenches for latrines, they were arrested, jailed and eventually charged with "undergoing training to become terrorists". Another problem for the farm workers is that most have recently lost their Zimbabwean citizenship because their parents were born in foreign countries. Most farm workers' parents came from Malawi and Mozambique and according to a new law they were classified as "permanent residents" in Zimbabwe instead of full citizens. Wireless Chipoka, 74, is a plucky, enterprising man who had worked on a large farm since 1955. He rose to become head foreman and had planned to retire on the farm. "I was beaten by the war veterans," he says, showing a scar on his head, "and they chased us away. Now we are struggling and we don't know what to do. I would like to do farming. I am still strong. But my parents were born in Malawi and the government says I cannot get land."
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From Business Day (SA), 16 September
Devaluation is dead ... long live parallel market
By Dumisani Muleya
Brisk currency trade in Fifth Street, Bulawayo, reflects unofficial economic reality
Driving slowly along Fifth Street in Zimbabwe's city of Bulawayo, one is confronted by a sea of women clad in sparkling white clothes and jostling for attention. "Do you need foreign currency or local money?", most of them ask. It becomes clear you are in a thriving foreign exchange black market. The Bulawayo foreign currency parallel market dubbed by locals the City of Kings Wall Street is one of the largest and oldest black markets in Zimbabwe. Bulawayo is called the City of Kings as it was founded in the 1840s by prominent Ndebele King Mzilikazi Khumalo. Former finance minister Simba Makoni once called the parallel market the "World Bank of Bulawayo". It boomed after the Zimbabwean dollar plunged on November 12 1997, a day now known as Black Friday in the market. The Fifth Street market in Bulawayo is always flooded with foreign exchange despite the money being in short supply in the formal markets. Banks are dry and bureaux d'echanges are closing down as they can no longer survive trading at the official exchange rates. But illegal markets are thriving. Zimbabwe has seen a sharp decline in exports in recent years, as well as the withdrawal of aid, and dwindling foreign direct investment. Total exports have dropped by about 67% from 1999 to last year. This has had a devastating effect on the economy. Although government insists on fixed exchange rates $1 to Z$55, R1 to Z$5 and £1 to Z$83 dealers in the black market say this is extraordinary fiction. Nozipho Ndlovu, one of the Bulawayo traders, says: "The last time the rand was trading at the official rate at this place was in 1997 after Black Friday. So anyone who tells us you can get a rand with five Zimbabwean dollars is living in the past."
Despite official pretence, the reality on the ground is frightening. The buying price for the rand in the parallel market is Z$60 while the selling price is Z$65. The greenback is bought at Z$690 and sold for Z$700 while the pound is bought for about Z$980 and sold for Z$1000. Speculators in the volatile parallel market love every moment of the dramatic depreciation of the Zimbabwean currency. "What we do is we buy and sell foreign currency and make our profit from the different margins between the purchasing and offering prices. Since we have a lot of foreign currency we gain much in the short term if the Zimbabwe dollar crashes," says another trader Mavis Mahlangu. "Most of our clients are tourists and local travellers, especially cross-border traders who buy goods from SA and Botswana for resale." Dealers say they also make money by buying SA rands and crossing the borders to SA and Botswana to buy US dollars or pounds, later resold at higher margins back home. This speculative behaviour is prevalent among the elite who cross into neighbouring Zambia with large quantities of local currency to buy US dollars for resale on Zimbabwe's parallel market. Those with connections with banks, especially the business executives and politicians, buy the little foreign currency available in banks at the official rate and then resell it in the black market, becoming instant millionaires. "Some senior Reserve Bank Zimbabwe officials once phoned us demanding $50 000," said a banker in Harare. "They claimed they were travelling to the Far East on government business but we later established they did not go anywhere. Instead, they had sold the foreign currency in the parallel market and made millions." Cabinet ministers, government officials and successful businessmen, some of whom own bureaux d'echanges which at times also fuel the parallel market stand accused of driving that market for self-enrichment. The Bulawayo market, for example, is linked to top business magnates in the city.
But the Fifth Street market in Bulawayo is also just a microcosm of a wider scenario in the country. Despite overwhelming evidence of the booming black market in foreign exchange, President Robert Mugabe has refused to recognise the existence of a parallel market and devalue the currency in line with inflation differentials. Opening parliament recently, Mugabe attacked those advocating devaluation such as Makoni and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Leonard Tsumba. He said: "Devaluation is sinister and can only be advocated by our saboteurs and enemies of this government. Devaluation is thus dead!" University of Zimbabwe professor of business studies, Tony Hawkins, said the statement by Mugabe proved he was getting increasingly detached from reality. "It was a statement of propaganda rather than the reality," Hawkins said. "The reality is that far from being dead, devaluation is alive and well. In fact, it is booming. It's fiction to pretend he would not devalue when a majority of transactions in the economy are done at black market rates."
There is confusion in the formal Zimbabwean foreign exchange market. Various economic sectors mining, farming and manufacturing operate with different foreign exchange rate regimes. The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and other business organisations say the exchange rate needs to be realigned to bridge the gap between the official and black market exchange rate. "Zimbabwe's exchange rate is overvalued by more than 180% in light of the skyrocketing inflation rate," the chamber told government in a recent policy advisory paper. "We would like to highlight that the policy of linking the exchange rate movements to inflation differentials with the major trading partners, the purchasing power parity concept introduced last year by government, has not been adhered to. This has been a major factor in the eroding export competitiveness of the economy, translating into foreign exchange shortages." Mugabe, an economist by training, knows why a foreign exchange underworld has emerged but is afraid of the results of biting the economic bullet. Devaluation could lead to sharp price increases, and thus social and political instability. However, until the Zimbabwean authorities act on the ailing currency, fortunes will be made and lost on Bulawayo's informal Wall Street.
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From BBC News, 18 September
Zimbabwe speeds up farmer evictions
Zimbabwe's parliament has adopted new legislation making it easier to evict white farmers. The new law will force farmers to leave their land within a week of being served eviction notices, rather than the 90-day deadline previously in place. Many farmers had used the 90 days to appeal against their eviction orders, many of which were subsequently annulled by the High Court. Under the new law, these cancelled eviction orders can be reissued. Zimbabwe's opposition has called the amendments to the land laws unconstitutional, saying they effectively deny farmers the protection of the courts. The BBC's Hilary Andersson in Johannesburg says the legislation is a major setback for farmers and a victory for President Robert Mugabe in his attempt to redistribute the country's farmland to black Zimbabweans. The fight for land in Zimbabwe has now moved into a critical stage, she says.
Another measure passed by parliament, which is dominated by Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF party, sharply increases the fines payable by farmers who resist eviction orders. The fine is now 100,000 Zimbabwe dollars - a five-fold increase on the previous figure. Most of the 2,900 farmers ordered to quit have defied the orders, and many have now had charges laid against them by the police. Correspondents say the government is frustrated by its inability to legally take possession of the farms. Mr Mugabe had promised his supporters that his "land revolution" would be completed by the end of last month. The United States and Britain say that some of the land which has been seized has been given to Mr Mugabe's political associates and military leaders, instead of the landless blacks he has promised to help. Zimbabwe is currently facing a severe food crisis, with up to six million people - half the population needing aid. Aid agencies and Mr Mugabe critics say this has been worsened by the disruption to agriculture caused by his land reform programme. He denies this, saying that 70% of food crops are grown by black farmers and that poor rains caused the failed harvests.
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From The Advertiser (Australia), 19 September
Mugabe snubs Howard
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has ignored an invitation to meet Prime Minister John Howard in Nigeria next week. Mr Howard is due to meet Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and South African President Thabo Mbeki in Nigeria on Monday to consider sanctions against Zimbabwe. Today he said Mugabe had also been invited to the meeting, but had failed to respond. The African leader has so far ignored international pressure to reform Zimbabwe's economy and political processes after electoral corruption and human rights abuses. White farmers have been driven off their farms by so-called war of independence veterans, leading to greatly reduced rural produce and fears of famine. Mr Howard said he did not want to create false expectations about what might be achieved at Monday's meeting. "I don't want to raise hopes that we can do anything magical about it, but I have a responsibility in relation to the Commonwealth," he told 2GB. "I think Zimbabwe has just thumbed its nose at Commonwealth opinion, it's thumbed its nose at world opinion." Mr Howard said the Commonwealth's main concern with Zimbabwe was a corrupt election earlier this year, and he said his responsibility was to get Mugabe to respond to those concerns. "If he doesn't, then obviously there are some responses as far as Commonwealth membership is concerned," he said. "We have invited him to attend our meeting and I've had no response to that yet. He's a completely unpredictable person, but he has been invited to attend and whether he attends or not is a matter for him." Mr Howard and his Nigerian and South African counterparts were chosen by the Commonwealth to decide its response to the Zimbabwe situation and earlier this year had the nation suspended from the international body.
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From The Financial Gazette, 19 September
Govt to ship maize via Namibia
Staff Reporter
The government plans to move some of its imported maize through Walvis Bay in Namibia, citing logistical problems and congestion at South African and Mozambican ports which it says are delaying the shipment of maize to starving Zimbabweans. But officials in the shipping industry said moving grain through Walvis Bay was not only uneconomic but almost impossible as the Namibian port did not even have the capacity to handle large shipments. The government on Monday dispatched officials from the state-run Grain Marketing Board and the ministries of agriculture and transport to Namibia to explore the possibility of using Walvis Bay. "There are a lot of logistical problems we are facing in Mozambique and South Africa which have caused us problems in maize imports," a Ministry of Agriculture official told the Financial Gazette. "We hope to ease the shipment problems by bringing in some of the maize through Walvis Bay, hence the need to send officials to explore that possibility."
Unofficial figures show that the government has so far imported up to 500 000 tonnes of maize but it was not possible to establish this week if all the maize has landed in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is facing unprecedented food shortages blamed on chaotic land reforms, bad planning and a drought that has hit five other southern African nations. The country needs urgent food imports to feed six million people, mostly villagers. An official at South African-owned Spoornet railways in Harare said Walvis Bay had no bulk handling facilities to handle large quantities of grain. But most importantly, the official noted, there were very few bulk wagons between Walvis Bay and Windhoek to move the maize, meaning that Zimbabwe would have to move its own wagons, which it does not have, from Bulawayo to Walvis Bay. The other option was to use the road, but only a limited amount of cargo could be moved at a time this way. "The way I personally see it is that Walvis Bay has many constraints because it is small," the official said, preferring not to be named. "You might need to use road, which is still very far but then you cannot carry that grain in bulk but in small amounts, which is a minus when you want to move it speedily to starving people." While South Africa's ports of Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and East London are very far, there is Durban and Richard's Bay and Mozambique's Maputo and Beira, all of which have a railway network and bulk handling facilities and are easily accessible. This makes it easier to move grain by rail straight to silos in Bulawayo, Chinhoyi, Rutenga, Mutare and Harare, where it is bagged and distributed.
Renson Gasela, a former GMB chief executive and now opposition MDC MP, said Zimbabwe had not fully explored its options in using Durban, Richard's Bay, Maputo and Beira, adding that Walvis Bay was not geared for large volumes of goods. Gasela said in 1992, when Zimbabwe also needed large amounts of maize following another drought, the government had even mooted moving maize through the Tazara railway line from Tanzania through Zambia because Walvis Bay could not handle the large maize imports. "This (proposed use of Walvis Bay) is madness and totally uneconomic. How do you move the maize by road?" Gasela asked. "Walvis Bay is a small port compared to Durban, Beira and Maputo which are nearer and have not been fully explored. Ten years ago, the GMB was able to move much more maize using only part of the very same system that the government now says is congested." The chairman of the national taskforce on drought relief, Nicholas Goche, was quoted by state radio earlier this week as saying the government had secured one million tonnes of maize and 50 000 tonnes of wheat and suggested that some of it would be shipped via Namibia. He did not say when or where the grain was bought and how much it cost.
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From The Daily News, 18 September
Government evicts resettled villagers to pave way for Shiri
Staff Reporter
Traditional leaders from Svosve communal lands in Marondera who have been living at Eirene Farm for the past three years have accused the government of forcibly relocating them from the farm to pave way for Air Marshal Perence Shiri, the Commander of the Airforce of Zimbabwe. Denias Machingura, a village head from Chief Svosve’s area who had settled with about 42 families at the farm, said he feared their removal would adversely affect their agricultural operations for the 2002/2003 season. "We had grown about 42 hectares of wheat as a village at Eirene Farm," he said. "The unexpected relocation of people will mean that we will abandon our tobacco crop. We have been relocated to Mapuranga Farm which was a cattle ranch." Yesterday, the settlers were busy building some pole-and-mud and huts at Mapuranga Farm. Their property was heaped in the open, covered with plastic and grass. Tempers nearly flared as they narrated their plight to The Daily News. Machingura said they thought the government would give them time to start their new farming season peacefully but that was not the case.
Machingura said: "Who will compensate us for the brick houses we built at Eirene Farm? Is it Shiri? Or is it the government? Nothing has been explained to us except force from the government officials. We have been threatened for telling the truth here by people who think they own us. They have forced themselves on our lives saying we should accommodate senior army, Central Intelligence Organisation and police officers for our security. They are busy enriching themselves." Machingura said their forced relocation to Mapuranga Farm by Christopher Chingosho, the provincial administrator (PA) for Mashonaland East, was an insult to the Svosve people who spearheaded land invasions in 1999 before war veterans and Zanu PF supporters led the illegal occupation of farms in 2000. He said Mapuranga Farm was owned by a farmer only identified as Vrystaat and was specifically for cattle ranching. The soils, Machingura said, were unsuitable for crop production. Machingura said the government had reduced them to "animals by moving us to places where there is no drinking water and shelter". Other traditional leaders, among them Edward Jera, Musekiwa Chakanongwa, Musimbe Bhebhe, and Abel and Wilfred Marimo, said they were called to the PA’s office in Marondera about two weeks ago where Chingosho told them that they had to be relocated because Eirene Farm now belonged to Shiri. The leaders said the volatile meeting was attended by Shiri, Constantine Chiwenga, the Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, Chief Enock Svosve and other government officials including Chingosho, who addressed them.
Meanwhile, settlers at the nearby Bonchana, Yutkik and Mushangwe farms yesterday were bitter with the government’s latest move to relocate them, saying it would backfire due to the deepening rift between them and the army top brass. Settlers at Mushangwe Farm said they had been warned to prepare for relocation because Chiwenga was now the new owner. The traditional leaders said the government misled villagers by pegging the farm under the A1 resettlement model when it knew that the farms would be allocated to senior government officials who wanted the farmhouses and the farm equipment. Yesterday the settlers, who invaded the farm at the height of the illegal farm invasions in 2000, accused the government of using them following its controversial victory in the March presidential election. The village heads said the government only wanted the masses to forcibly evict white commercial farmers so that it could allocate prime land to senior army, police and government officials.
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From ZWNEWS, 19 September
Chinamasas extend land holdings
Mrs Monica Chinamasa, wife of the Minister of Justice, Patrick Chinamasa, has joined the growing list of prominent personalities taking farms intended for resettlement of landless peasants, the farmers' group Justice for Agriculture said yesterday. Mrs Chinamasa arrived at Rockland Farm in the Marondera area on Friday last week, armed with a letter signed by the District Administrator which allocated her 432 ha of the property, including the homestead, all other buildings, and the most productive fields. She insisted to the owner, Peter Baker, that she be allowed to move onto the property immediately. The farm has only received a preliminary Section 5 notice of acquisition, and no Section 8 order has been issued. Patrick Chinamasa recently threatened to sue South Africa's Business Day newspaper for publishing an article in which it stated that the Minister had been allocated Lot 1 of Mirror 2 farm in Chipinge, as well as land on Nyamazura 1 farm in Mutare. P and M Chinamasa were allocated a 99-year lease on 257 ha of Nyamazura 1 farm in Mutare in 1998. Their names appear on the so-called Dongo List a list issued by the government in response to a parliamentary question by then MP Margaret Dongo. The Dongo List shows details from the government’s own records of land allocated to "VIP" beneficiaries of previous land redistribution exercises. Minister Chinamasa’s sister also recently expressed interest in a farm in the Hurungwe area.
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From The Financial Gazette, 19 September
Fuel talks dogged by investment rule
By Joseph Ngwawi Business News Editor
Zimbabwe’s skewed exchange rate and the country's stringent foreign investment regulations almost cost Harare its major source of fuel as Libya demanded more concessions in the oil-for-investments deal, the Financial Gazette established this week. Authoritative government sources revealed this week that one of the sticky issues at last week's Tripoli meeting between Libya and Zimbabwe was the relaxation of Harare's foreign investment rules and greater concessions for the North Africans, who have apparently accumulated several billions of local dollars since the two states entered into a fuel-for-investments deal in August 2001. The sources said the Libyans were concerned at the limited investment opportunities for the huge amount of Zimbabwe dollars they have accumulated in the past year. Zimbabwean law limits the amount of foreign investment in any local firm to 40 percent of the share capital and foreigners who want to take up more than that threshold must apply for exchange control approval from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Libyan firms have so far taken up significant stakes in several Zimbabwean firms, including the Jewel Bank and the Rainbow Tourism Group. "The Libyans were also worried about the exchange rate they would use when converting some of the (local) money into hard currency," said one source who attended the Tripoli meeting at which the US$360 million fuel deal was renewed. Libya came to the aid of Zimbabwe last year through the deal under which the North Africans provided fuel in exchange for Zimbabwean goods and shareholding in some firms. A clause in the initial agreement between the two countries stipulated that the Zimbabwe dollars convert to foreign currency if not used within a few months. It was however not possible to establish this week how much the Libyans have accumulated in local currency and what proportion had already been converted into US dollars. The Financial Gazette was also not able this week to get a comment from Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa, who signed the renewed fuel deal last week on behalf of Zimbabwe, or from Energy
and Power Development Minister Amos Midzi.
Zimbabwe's exchange rate is officially pegged at 55 against the US greenback compared to between 640 and 670 to the American unit on the parallel market where most of the hard cash is traded. The Libyans managed to squeeze additional concessions from Zimbabwe last week by widening the areas of cooperation. Besides the oil, tourism and financial sectors, the Libyans were offered stakes in mining, a move that would allow the North Africans to enter into joint ventures with Zimbabwean firms and revive collapsed gold mines. About 50 gold mines have closed in the past two years due to the deteriorating economic climate. Zimbabwe would export beef, fruit and tobacco to Libya.
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From The Financial Gazette, 19 September
Mugabe reroutes AirZim flight
Staff Reporter
President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday diverted a Harare-bound Air Zimbabwe plane from London to pick him and his entourage from Casablanca, Morocco, where he had gone for a private visit. The diverted flight, which was supposed to arrive in Harare at 6:30 am, was delayed for four hours and only arrived at the Harare International Airport at 10:30 am. Some irritated passengers who spoke to this newspaper said they had missed their business appointments because of the delay and insisted that Air Zimbabwe should have informed them in advance of such a development. But an Air Zimbabwe spokesman yesterday said although the flight had been diverted and delayed, the passengers had been informed in advance. This is not the first time that Mugabe has diverted Air Zimbabwe flights to accommodate his schedules, which have at times left passengers stranded. Last December, Air Zimbabwe passengers were twice left stranded within a week after flights had been diverted to carry the President and his party in Spain, where he had sought specialist eye treatment.
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From The Age (Australia), 20 September
Leaders plan crisis talks with Mugabe
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe will hold talks in Nigeria next week with a three-nation Commonwealth group charged with monitoring the crisis in his country. The three-day talks in Abuja from Monday will involve the Commonwealth troika of Australia, Nigeria and South Africa, junior Foreign Minister Dubem Onyia said. The troika comprises South African President Thabo Mbeki, Nigerian head of state Olusegun Obasanjo and Australian Prime Minister John Howard. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will also attend. Zimbabwe's crisis deepened this year when Mr Mugabe ordered 2900 commercial farmers to quit their land without compensation, under a controversial scheme to seize white-owned farms and hand them over to the largely landless black majority. An estimated six million people, nearly half the population, are short of food because of drought and disruption to farms. The troika, set up at a Commonwealth summit in Australia this year, decided in March to suspend Zimbabwe from the councils of the Commonwealth for 12 months. Mr Mugabe's government agreed at talks in Abuja a year ago to stop forceful farm seizures in return for support from former colonial ruler Britain to win international assistance to fund orderly land reform. Britain and Zimbabwe have since accused each other of not playing their part. Mr Mugabe has hardened his policy on the land issue after his controversial re-election.
In Harare, a former judge who was detained last week has now been accused of having an affair with a white woman he cleared of theft. Detained incommunicado and then charged with judicial impropriety, former High Court judge Fergus Blackie, 65, one of the longest serving judges in Zimbabwe, retired in July. His last act was to sentence in absentia Patrick Chinamasa, the Justice Minister, to three months for contempt of court. Mr Chinamasa was enraged and responded by calling Judge Blackie a "Rhodesian racist". Judge Blackie was accused of upholding the appeal of Tara White, a white woman, who had been jailed for a year for theft. Lawyers for Judge Blackie and Ms White say the two had never met. They were both remanded until mid-November and released on minimal bail.
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Comment from Business Day (SA), 19 September
Zimbabwe should not be left to SA to sort out
By Kevin Wakeford
In my travels across SA I am asked time and again about the situation in Zimbabwe and its effect on SA. Somehow this nation state, with an economy smaller than Durban's and representing less than 3% of SA's foreign trade, has managed to upset the apple cart for the international community. There are also those who silently believe SA's future will play itself out on a similar basis. For those, Zimbabwe has become a microcosmic snippet of things to come in SA. This type of rationale smacks of Afro-pessimism and a fatalistic analysis of life in Africa. The truth is that SA has an entirely different socio-economic and political landscape. Our economic policies and outcomes are entirely different from those in Zimbabwe. SA has exemplary credit and investment ratings and internationally benchmarked fiscal and monetary policies. Zimbabwe's interest are nearly 60%, inflation exceeds 120% and foreign reserves are depleted the unofficial black market value of the Zimbabwe dollar is about Z$500 to Z$600 to the US dollar. SA's fledgling constitutional democracy has enshrined the sanctity of the individual and our political system is configured as one of the most progressive liberal democracies in the world virtually to a fault. Zimbabwe at best represents a quasi-democracy, at worst an authoritarian gerontocracy.
There has also been an expectation of SA, and in particular our president, to "sort out" the Zimbabwean situation. Many have questioned "silent diplomacy", with some likening it to complicity. This assumption is unfounded and untrue. There is plenty of evidence to the contrary. In fact, the state-controlled media in Zimbabwe has attempted to portray President Thabo Mbeki as an "agent of the West". Although there is no truth underlying the propaganda, it does indicate that tension is rising between the two leaders. The reason is obvious: SA government's position is diametrically opposite to that of Zimbabwe's on how to tackle the crisis in that country. It is also obvious that SA foreign policy makers are looking beyond Zimbabwe when grappling with the problems of Africa. The establishment of the African Union (AU) and the launch of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) require a circumspect approach when dealing with conflicts and civil strife. SA has to be extremely careful, given its economic hegemony, not to fall prey to Zimbabwe's claims that it is the new bullyboy and imperial platform in Africa. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe knows full well that the emerging framework of Nepad will challenge some of his current actions and policies in terms of accepted democratic principles, the rule of law and respect for human and property rights. Nepad and the AU require support and "buy-in" from all African states to create an environment for peace, stability, democratisation, investment and growth. The peer review system and built-in accountability mechanisms within the Nepad framework deserve a chance to beef up the credibility of joint action and co-responsibility.
Obviously some national sovereignty (as in the EU) will be sacrificed for the greater good. To achieve this, one needs to ensure that progressive states such as SA and, for that matter, any other states do not dominate the AU. Such an outcome will collapse multilateral influence. I am convinced that building multilateral capacity and accountability has been Mbeki's single-minded imperative and focus. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe's dissident behaviour has flourished during this process. I think it goes without saying that it should not be left to SA alone to sort out Zimbabwe's situation. It must be dealt with multilaterally rather than through a bilateral foreign policy approach. Although SA could deal with the situation single-handedly, it would undermine Nepad's goals. It is quite obvious that the Zimbabwean situation cannot be allowed to continue. The gross abuse of human rights, the pending collapse of the economy, the prostitution of the fundamental tenets of democracy and the flagrant disregard for the rule of law, all challenge the founding principles of the AU and Nepad. In this context Zimbabwe has literally become a rogue state. It is high time the AU and even other international agencies treat the country as such. The options open to them are abundant.
Wakeford is SA Chamber of Business CEO
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Comment from Focus (Helen Suzman Foundation - SA), September 2002
Walking the tightrope between life and death
Patrick Laurence, editor of Focus, examines the extent to which African governments are culpable for the food crisis that looms over the sub-continent
The launch of the African Union (AU) in Durban, amid sumptuous banquets, extravagant pageantry and grandiloquent oratory, coincided with a growing chorus of concern from international aid agencies over the food crisis in Southern Africa, manifest most vividly by photographs of skeletally thin children. While politicians engaged in debate about the precise form of the AU, the location of its envisaged Pan-African parliament and the extent to which it should be empowered to intervene in the affairs of member states, the Johannesburg office of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) was anxiously assessing the amount of food aid needed to avert disaster. Opened in June, shortly before the formal inauguration of the AU in early July, the WFP's Johannesburg office was established to serve as a logistical centre for the inflow of food aid to the stricken region. At the time the WFP calculated that it needed nearly $US 510 million or 1 million tons of food to assist the estimated 10,2 million people who were "at risk of starvation". It anticipated, however, that the number of people in dire need of food would rise to 11 million by September-October and peak at nearly 13 million by March next year. But even those figures "could rise", the WFP warned, if the pending planting season in October-November did not produce a better crop than the present one.
The executive director of the WFP, James Morris, specifically drew attention to the food shortages in Southern Africa in an open letter, dated 9 July 2002, to the AU at its founding conference. He noted that the threat of famine in Southern Africa a decade ago in 1992 had been successfully countered by a combined relief operation involving the UN, members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and major donor countries, including the United States and members of the European Union. He noted, too, that the food crisis of 1992 "marked the first official co-operation by the apartheid regime in South Africa with its neighbours" in a major humanitarian operation. Whether Morris mentioned the participation of the "apartheid regime" to shame African states into contributing more decisively to the food relief programme is not clear. But he was unequivocal about the need for greater support from African states. "I cannot emphasise enough that the WFP very much needs donors beyond the United States and the European Union and soon," he said. "It is a dangerous business to rely so heavily on only a few donors." Then came his challenging question: "What better symbol is there of African unity than one African state reaching out to help another in time of need?" A press statement issued by Morris two days later left no doubt that the situation was urgent. "Throughout the region people are walking a thin tightrope between life and death," he said. He added a sombre corollary: "(It) may soon lead to a catastrophe".
The AU and what might be loosely labelled its development arm, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), thus faced a major challenge before they had time to find their feet. The challenge served as a litmus test against which the rhetorical flourishes about African solidarity and fraternity, and the accompanying commitment to good governance on the continent, would be measured in the not too distant future. The challenge could magnify before the end of the year. From mid-2002 meteorologists warned of the possible return of El Nino, the climatic phenomenon that ushered in the prolonged drought of 1992. The Johannesburg office of the WFP was aware of the danger when Focus went to press. It was in constant contact with meteorologists and was attempting to include the El Nino factor in its calculations. "We plan for the worst and hope for the best," Luis Clemens of the WFP remarked.
The crisis gripped at least six countries in Southern Africa: Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho. If Angola were included the tally would be seven. The full impact of Angola's devastating civil war was becoming apparent as aid agencies began to assess the situation in areas formerly controlled by Unita rebels after the signing of a peace treaty. The treaty was a sequel to the killing of the Unita leader, Jonas Savimbi, in a shoot-out with government forces in February 2002. Oxfam summarised the situation thus: "Peace in Angola has revealed a hitherto largely invisible humanitarian crisis in the zones previously controlled by Unita and (it) also requires a massive international response". Only three Southern African countries were not threatened directly by the crisis: South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, though two of the "horsemen of the apocalypse", hunger and pestilence (in the form of HIV/Aids), were seldom far from the shanty or hut door in the poorer areas of even these relatively prosperous countries.
But the crisis that raised the spectre of famine over Southern Africa in 2002 differed from the threatened calamity of 1992 referred to by Morris. Where the present crisis was generated by a combination of factors, the 1992 had a single cause, abnormally low rainfall. As Judith Lewis, WFP regional director for South and East Africa, observed in an interview with Focus, the cause of the 1992 crisis could be delineated in three words, "Drought, drought and drought". The present potentially disastrous situation had multiple causes, however. They include below average harvests, due to drought, in combination in several countries with, ironically, flooding. The flooding often impeded either planting or harvesting depending on whether it came before or after the drought. The resultant low levels of production often came in the wake of two or three years of meagre harvests, meaning that there was little or no surplus capacity to cope with the latest failure. Lewis remarked of Zimbabwe, "Commercial production is 59 per cent down from last year's bad year". A similar situation prevailed in several of the affected countries.
Additional causes of the dire plight that threatened millions of people across Southern Africa included the general poverty of several countries (Lesotho, one of the poorest countries in the world, comes to mind), "high and chronic levels of malnutrition" and, of course, the highest prevalence of HIV/Aids in the world. As Oxfam recorded in a briefing paper: "The causes of the food crisis are complex and vary from country to country. But in different proportions they reflect a mixture of poverty and vulnerability, bad weather...bad advice from donors and economic collapse. High rates of HIV/Aids and (a range of debilitating diseases) have further sapped people's ability to cope". On the impact of HIV/Aids, Oxfam observed that recent data pointed to levels of 30 per cent or more in the most productive age group (15-49) in several areas of the stricken countries. A direct result of the high prevalence rate was the increasing dependence of sick people on smaller numbers of able-bodied and healthy workers. Oxfam added in its analysis of the crisis: "In Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, it is common for grandparents to be caring for ten or more children, due to Aids-related deaths".
There was another cause, however, one that pointed to varying degrees of government culpability for the crisis in most, if not all, of the affected countries. It was referred to as "misgovernment" by the WFP, as "poor governance" by Oxfam, and, more obliquely, as "biases that protect the interests of elites" by the United Nations Development Programme. There was a corollary these observations: whether caused by negligence, greed or prejudice, governmental sins of omission and commission aggravated the food crisis. The clearest case of government responsibility was in Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF government adopted land policies that disrupted and even halted agricultural production across wide swathes of the country. It did so by either turning a blind eye to the seizure of farms from productive (white) farmers by self-styled "war veterans" or by itself expropriating the farms, putatively for the benefit of the landless peasantry but often to fulfil the manorial ambitions of Zanu PF barons. Not content with that destructive intervention, it then ordered the few white commercial farmers still in possession of their farms to cease all farming activities.
As the WFP stated in a fact paper: "The decrease in the area planted (by commercial farmers) had a significant adverse impact on national food production. Commercial farming operations were disrupted by the ongoing land reform activities and widespread illegal invasions". It noted, too, that the near depletion of foreign exchange reserves (due to Mugabe's profligate and ill-advised policies) meant that the government did not possess the funds necessary to import grain for near starving people. Private sector imports of food and international food aid were the only viable options for meeting the food deficiency. Even there, however, government policies impeded the inflow of food supplies. Government imposed price controls meant that the selling price was set below the cost of importation. It therefore acted as a disincentive to entrepreneurs to import grain. Ongoing reports that the Zanu PF government was withholding food aid from political opponents compounded the problem still further. Suspicions that aid was manipulated to benefit the Mugabe government did not encourage donors whose aim was to provide humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe. When Mugabe was not accusing Britain of being behind the food shortage, he blamed the crisis on drought. But as Ed Osborne, a former secretary of agriculture in Zimbabwe, noted in a letter to Business Day, Zimbabwe had planned ahead during better days to meet the contingency of drought by a dam-building programme to sustain irrigation farming. For that reason the WFP's Lewis commented during the interview with Focus, "Water is not the issue in Zimbabwe". The European Council undoubtedly had Zimbabwe in mind when it expressed deep concern that "certain political decisions" had "contributed to a further deterioration of the already alarming humanitarian situation". But the Zimbabwe government did not have a monopoly on unwise political decisions.
In Malawi the government, in an apparently irrational act, sold its entire strategic grain reserve last year, thereby depriving itself of what Lewis described as a viable safety net. The decision was made when there were already early warnings of an impending food shortage. As the WFP observed, the 2002 harvest was estimated to be "10 per cent less than last year's poor harvest". The International Monetary Fund was accused of imprudently advising the Malawi government to sell the reserve because of the high cost of maintaining it, an allegation that it denied. The debate about who was responsible for the decision was overshadowed, as Oxfam noted, by a wider two-pronged question, as yet unanswered. Who benefited from the sale and what happened to the money? In Zambia, as in several of the affected countries, there was little or no effective contingency planning for drought. The assumption appeared to be that there would be another season of "rain-fed" production. Past experience of drought appeared to be a minor consideration. There were reports, too, of genetically modified maize lying idle in warehouses on the orders of politicians while people hovered on the brink of starvation. It should be noted, however, that the new minister of agriculture, disturbed by the food crisis, pledged to provide sufficient funding to maintain strategic food reserves in future. In the meantime, however, there was still the unanswered question of whether donor money was siphoned off for self-enrichment by government officials during the two-term presidency of Frederick Chiluba. By rescinding a decree granting Chiluba immunity from prosecution, President Levy Mwanawasa, who came to power in January, cleared the way for that question to be interrogated in court.
In Swaziland there was King Mswati's decision to purchase a R50m jet aircraft for his personal use, and without parliamentary approval, while nearly a fifth of his subjects were threatened with starvation. It was reminiscent of the indulgent extravagance of Louis XV1 in 18th century France. In the mountainous kingdom of Lesotho poverty long preceded the present drought. "Even in years of reasonable harvest and stable prices," the WFP noted in its account of Lesotho's food crisis, "some two-thirds of households are estimated to live below the poverty line and nearly half are classified as destitute". Even so, successive Lesotho governments could not evade total responsibility for, in the phraseology of the USAID development agency, "the poor soil management that has led to serious environmental degradation". In Angola the death of Savimbi and the end of the civil war disclosed, as recorded earlier, terrible scenes of devastation, suffering and poverty in areas that had been occupied by Unita. But it simultaneously deprived the MPLA government of President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos of the excuse it had used for years for the paucity of development in areas under its control. The reason offered by the Angolan government for the poverty of its citizens was that funds derived from the oilfields and diamond mines had to be diverted to finance the war effort against Unita. It served to explain why international aid agencies were feeding a estimated 1 million destitute Angolans. But, as Global Witness noted at the time, there were suspicions that money was being channelled into the pockets of corrupt officials. The finger pointing did not exempt the presidential couple, Jose Dos Santos and his wife Ana, a businesswoman who had a stake in one of Angola's biggest diamond mines. President Dos Santos and his wife were once described by a diplomat as "a handsome couple, elegantly and expensively dressed, looking for all the world as though they're living in southern California". The plight of the poor in Angola and the extent of their hunger could be the product of corruption in government ranks as much as the need to finance the war against Savimbi.
Lewis was warm in her praise for the Southern African Development Community and the South African government (and its disaster management task force) for their co-operation with, and logistical support of, the WFP relief operation. "We are looking to the SADC in terms of policy correction," she said, referring to the need for Southern African governments to develop policies that guarantee food security in the decades ahead by taking account
of the recurring dangers of drought and flooding. For the SADC, whose member states are components of the AU, to succeed, however, it would have to address the problem of "misgovernment" with greater rigour than it did in the face of strong evidence of governmental abuse of power and chicanery in Zimbabwe during the election campaign leading to the March 2002 presidential election. If the defunct Organisation of African Unity was a trade union of political leaders bound by an agreement not to criticise one another, as Uganda's Yoweri Museveni once remarked, the AU and SADC have yet to establish that they are any better.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 20 September
Libyans eye Hartley Mine
Blessing Zulu
The Libyans are eyeing the country's biggest platinum producer, the Hartley Platinum Mine, opened by Australia's BHP in Selous but now owned by Zimbabwe Platinum Mines (Zimplats), as part of their oil barter deal. The Zimbabwe Independent has learnt that this was raised in Tripoli last week where a US$360 million oil deal was renewed by President Robert Mugabe and his Libyan counterpart, Muammar Gaddafi. The Libyans, who are owed US$60 million by Zimbabwe for fuel deliveries, are now calling the shots due to Zimbabwe's lack of creditworthiness. Authoritative sources said this week the Libyans had shown keen interest in securing a stake in the mine, a flagship investment before its Australian owners pulled out two years ago. "Zimbabwe is believed to have one of the largest platinum reserves in the world and the Libyans apparently want a stake in them," said a source in the mining sector. "They also want to enter into joint ventures with Zimbabwean firms to engage in new mineral explorations as envisaged under the oil deal."
The source said it was, however, not clear how the Libyans would acquire the stake in Zimplats. "The Libyans and South African bank Absa are partners in the Jewel Bank, with a 14% and 25% shareholding respectively, and Absa holds a 15% stake in Zimplats. There is talk of a share swap," the source said. However, market analysts said the likelihood of this happening was slim as South African platinum miner Implats (36%) and Absa have 51% management control in Zimplats they would not be keen to forego. The source said the most likely option open for the Libyans was through the National Investment Trust (NIT) which was struggling to raise funds required for a 15% stake - or 13,25 million shares - in Zimplats. "NIT was offered the shareholding last year and is struggling to raise the money," said the source. "This is the avenue the Libyans will most likely take, with some indigenous people as fronts."
NIT chairman Dr Mthuli Ncube confessed ignorance on the deal, saying they were busy raising the required funding for the stake. "We have commissioned six banks, led by Trust Bank Holdings, to raise the US$12 million required for the stake," Ncube said. Platinum is generating a lot of interest in the world and is set to be Zimbabwe's major foreign currency earner ahead of gold and tobacco by the end of 2004. Mines and Mineral Development minister Edward Chindori-Chininga said he was aware that the issue of mines had been discussed in Tripoli but said he doubted that BHP had been singled out. "I am not sure since I was not part of the delegation," he said. "I understand George Charamba is issuing a statement on that matter and you can call him for more information." Efforts to get a comment from Charamba were not successful as he was said to be attending a series of meetings. The Libyans have to date acquired a 14% stake in the Rainbow Tourism Group, vast tracts of prime land whose identity government is keeping under lock and key, and barter deals with a number of businessmen. It is also eyeing stakes in the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe's fuel storage tanks in Msasa and Mabvuku, and the pipeline from Mozambique.
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From The Daily News, 20 September
Hundreds to withdraw from school following eviction
Staff Reporter
Hundreds of primary school children from Igava and Mashangwe schools in Chief Svosve’s area near Marondera will have to withdraw from their schools after their families were forcibly relocated from their new settlements by the government. Settlers at Eirene Farm, formerly owned by Hamish Charters, on Tuesday said their forced relocation meant their 200 children attending school at Igava and Mashangwe would be withdrawn. Air Marshall Perence Shiri, the commander of the Airforce of Zimbabwe has taken over the farm. The Svosve people who have been on the farm for the past three years are bitter with the government which they accuse of fooling them into believing they were now the new owners of Eirene Farm under the A1 resettlement model. They said the government had reserved the farm for senior government officials who wanted the farm-houses and farming equipment. Christopher Chingosho, the Mashonaland East provincial administrator, could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. His secretary said he was out of his office. Shiri has repeatedly said he has every right to own land in Zimbabwe and is not ashamed to be associated with the soil of this country.
For the past two weeks, government lorries have been transporting the settlers to Mapuranga Farm, about 30km away, where they are erecting new pole and mud huts for shelter. Cornelius Mandiringa, who relocated from Eirene Farm said: "We cannot imagine our young children having to walk 30km to school. The unplanned relocation simply means the government does not want us to send our children to school." He said until the government built schools for their children at Mapuranga farm, they would not let them across rivers and bushes to school. Mapuranga farm, designed for cattle ranching, was formerly owned by a man identified by the settlers only as Vrystaat. Moses Hombarume, 38, said the government should have considered the future of the settlers’ children before forcing the Svosve people to relocate to Mapuranga. Most of the people who settled at Eirene Farm came from Mupazvirirwo, Nyamunyamu, Muchakata, Delta communal lands and Villages 37, 33, 34, and 16 at the height of the land occupations. The headmaster at Mashangwe Primary School was not at available when The Daily News visited on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the settlers said the government’s actions had the potential to destroy Zanu PF if it failed to live up to their expectations. The settlers, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation by the government, said they had run out of patience and would not be fooled in future elections. They said their life at Mapuranga would be unbearable considering there was no grinding mill. The only grinding mill they could use was at Eirene Farm. "The people are drinking water from the same dam that Vrystaat’s animals used," one of the elders said. "Because the government is treating us like animals, we will behave like animals in future elections. Our spirits will fight for us."
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 20 September
DDF lacks capacity to service resettled farmers
Blessing Zulu
The District Development Fund (DDF) does not have the capacity to service resettled farmers, throwing President Robert Mugabe's much-vaunted land reform exercise into disarray. According to a United Nations humanitarian report, capacity at DDF was far short of the requirements. "Only 50% of the tractor fleet is operational," the UN report said. "Most model A1 farmers do not have animal draught power, and in some provinces foot-and-mouth disease has incapacitated most of the oxen used in the communal areas." The report raised concern at the slow uptake of farms by beneficiaries of the A2 model. "A2 model uptake has been low and hence land preparation is not proceeding rapidly," the report said. "Concerted efforts by relevant stakeholders is urgently required to improve the tillage programme since the season is fast running out for land preparations, especially in the agro-ecological regions 1, 2 and 3, which have heavy red and black soils that could be difficult to work once the rains have set in." An agricultural expert said the new farmers were also likely to face an uphill task in harvesting wheat and subsequently preparing the land for other crops. "It promises to be a financial nightmare for the new farmers because to hire one combine harvester alone costs $40 000," said the expert.
He said the money set aside for agricultural implements was not enough. "The government has set aside $8 billion for inputs and this will cover only 15% of the area normally grown," he said. "This at most will cover only one hectare per farmer and what will happen to all those with 10 or 15 hectares?" In the model A2 only half of the 54 000 proposed plots are understood to have been demarcated and just 20% of the pegged plots taken-up. In Mashonaland West province, which used to produce an estimated 40% of the country's major crops such as the staple maize, tobacco and wheat, vast fields lie idle with no land preparation taking place despite the fact planting is now due. Makonde Rural District Council assistant administrator Dan Zvobgo told the Zimbabwe Independent recently that land preparation in the district was being hampered by the unavailability of draught power. "We only have 10 tractors running in the whole district and these will not get to all farmers in time for the planting season, reducing the intended hectarage under crop," Zvobgo said. He said the DDF has now resorted to hiring tractors from private individuals to offset the shortage.
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From The Financial Gazette, 19 September
Famine stalks Mat South
From Njabulo Ncube Bulawayo Bureau Chief
Tshelanyemba, Matabeleland South - It's about 9 am on a windy Saturday morning at Tshelanyemba Business Centre, about 200 kms southwest of Bulawayo. Sithembile Ndlovu, an old woman of 81, leans against the wall of one of the derelict rural shops in this dirt poor and drought-sapped village of Matabeleland South. She gazes at the standstill queue of about 2 000 peasants who have braved the windy conditions to try to buy a small packet of the staple maize meal from the state-run Grain Marketing Board (GMB). Looking frail and clad in a tattered overcoat and cheap rubber boots, she says she has been in the queue since 6 am. Word had apparently gone out earlier in the week that GMB officials would be in the area to sell the maize today. She says the food crisis in her village has reached alarming proportions because rains have failed here in the past two years. She claims she has not had a decent meal for days and that the free mealie-meal and beans being distributed by the World Food Programme (WFP) and other non-governmental agencies has been erratic and inadequate.
Gogo (grandmother) MaNdlovu, as other villagers call her, says were it not for the benevolence of her children who work in South Africa's Johannesburg, she would be eating porridge pounded from roots of a common tree here known as Umthobi. "We were told that GMB officials are coming today to sell grain. We have nothing in our granaries except for a bucketful of meal-mealie that we got from the food relief agencies mid-last month," MaNdlovu says, her hands trembling probably because of a combination of hunger and age. During bountiful years, she used to have three meals a day - breakfast, lunch and supper. The breakfast could consist of maize porridge, a cup of tea and a loaf of bread. Lunch and supper would normally be sadza (maize meal) and meat, supplemented by fresh vegetables. Those days are gone now. She can't afford to kill one of her five cows as these are her only wealth left. "We hope these people (GMB) come because the food we get from these relief agencies is not enough," she says. "Not many of us here can afford a decent meal. The shops are empty, as you can see for yourself, and our hope now lies on these government people who are said to be coming today," she says, pointing to the dusty and rugged road leading to the village. She continues: "The grain might come but another problem is that we are poor villagers. We have no money to buy this grain. The government should just give us for free. The WFP is giving us for free so why not our government?" Waving two $500 bills, she adds: "This money that I have was sent by my daughter who is working in South Africa."
About 2 000 villagers thronged the rural business centre here last Saturday morning and patiently waited for the GMB officials to show up so the visibly hungry villagers could buy the government grain at $550 per 50 kilogrammes. The villagers are part of about six million Zimbabweans or half the population - who are threatened by hunger caused by a harsh drought and the government's chaotic land reforms which have disrupted farming in the agro-based economy. A tour of the shops showed nothing but empty shelves. Storekeepers said they had not had any deliveries of mealie-meal, bread and cooking oil, among other basic commodities, in the past six months. The villagers' relatives in towns such as Beltway, about 200 kms away, were reported to have also stopped sending groceries due to Zimbabwe's economic crisis. Several youths said they were seriously thinking of illegally crossing the border into neighbouring Botswana and South Africa to look for jobs. "I am following my uncle down south," said Themba Sithole, 21, standing by the veranda of a bottle store here. "I can't just sit around and starve to death. I am going." Sithole said the 13.8 kilogrammes of mealie-meal given to him by the WFP mid-last moth had been exhausted and said children were now suffering from malnutrition.
Government officials here agreed, but gave no figures of the children affected. Edward Ndlovu, a self-declared war veteran and village headman, mistook this reporter for a GMB official, telling me: "When are your people coming? Last week you people said you are coming and you did not keep your word. We will take this matter to President Mugabe because you GMB people want to starve people from Matabeleland. Go and phone your people. People have no grain." I pulled him aside and told him the purpose of my visit. He then said: "You must report positively so that food is brought to my village. People see us wearing fresh clothes and don't believe that some of the old people here are surviving on tree roots." He said no one had so far died from hunger. Lovemore Moyo, the opposition MDC legislator for the area, complained in a separate interview that his supporters were being denied the chance to buy food by ruling Zanu PF officials. They were also being denied free food from the WFP. "The world is being lied to that everyone is being allowed food," he charged. But Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, Zanu PF's deputy commissar, denied the charge. "These MDC people cry like babies. They always complain when staring defeat. The government is not denying anyone food. These are lies," he said. When this reporter left the village just after 3 pm, the GMB officials had still not arrived, signalling another long and anxious wait for the villagers. "They (GMB) are going to come because last week they were in Gwanda. Villagers there bought the grain. If they don't come today, they might come tomorrow,"said another villager, Gloria Ndou, still in the standstill queue at the business centre.
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From News24 (SA), 20 September
Zim judges 'being intimidated'
Johannesburg - South Africa's chief justice says Zimbabwe's arrest of retired judge Fergus Blackie was designed to intimidate other judges and threatens the independence of the judiciary. Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson said: "The allegations made against him... did not warrant his arrest at his home in the early hours of the morning and his subsequent detention for a number of days before being released on bail. Whether this was the intention or not, the perception created by this high-handed and disproportionate action is that its purpose was not only to humiliate the former judge, but also to intimidate others. The independence of the judiciary is a core value of any democratic society. The way that the matter has been dealt with by the Zimbabwe police threatens that independence and is deplorable." Blackie, who retired in July and was arrested a week ago, had drawn fierce criticism from the government earlier this year when he sentenced Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa to three months in jail for criticising the high court. The sentence was overturned, and the government threatened to investigate Blackie for "gross abuse of judicial office". Blackie was granted bail on Monday after being arrested on charges of wrongly setting aside a one-year jail sentence against a woman charged with stealing money from her employer. Blackie was the seventh white judge to leave the country's courts since the forced early retirement of the supreme court chief justice in March 2001. Only one white judge remains on the Bench.
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From VOA News, 21 September
750,000 farmers destitute
The Zimbabwe pressure group, Justice for Agriculture, estimates that about 750,000 people who lived and worked on Zimbabwe's formerly white-owned farms are now destitute. The end of commercial agriculture has produced a massive humanitarian crisis. Justice for Agriculture admits it is hard to arrive at solid statistics, but with only about 400 white farmers remaining on their land, it means that more than 4,000 other white-run farms are now closed down and their work forces dispersed. Before President Robert Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms two and a half years ago, about two million farm workers and their families were supported. Almost all of them lost their jobs and their homes as farm invasions and work stoppages were ordered by the ruling Zanu PF Party. Many primary schools in the commercial farming areas, supported by farmers, have closed down. Most of the farmers forced to abandon their properties without compensation fully paid off their workforce. However, two non-governmental organizations have estimated that most benefits paid to the workers are now running out. The General and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe says few of the dispossessed farm workers are likely to ever work again. Unemployment in Zimbabwe as a whole currently runs at more than 70 percent. Inflation now stands at 135 percent. Almost all farm workers on the confiscated white-owned farms were forced to leave. Statistics released by the government show that only about 10 percent of former farm workers are beneficiaries of the land reform program.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 20 September
Mudede can't stem passport queues
Blessing Zulu/Loughty Dube
The hike in passport fees has not deterred Zimbabweans desperate to escape economic hardships from queuing for hours to secure travel documents. Demand has outstripped supply causing chaos at Makombe Building, home of Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede's office. When the increase in fees was announced earlier this month the official press claimed it would ease the congestion. On Wednesday thousands of people jostled for positions in the queue to get their much-sought-after passport. A kilometre-long line snaked from the government complex entrance along Harare Street, into Herbert Chitepo Avenue and then into Leopold Takawira Street as far as the Girls High School entrance. With unemployment hovering at around 70%, people interviewed said they wanted to leave the country to seek employment elsewhere. "There is no employment to talk of in Zimbabwe and ever since I was retrenched in 2000 I have not been able to get another job," said Maxwell Munemo, who was part of the long queue. Most people had slept in the queue and those who came at around 3am found it already winding its way around the neighbouring streets. "I asked for a day off from work to try and process my passport," said Rosemary Mano. "The country has gone to the dogs and we have no choice except to seek for greener pastures in the UK." Amos Mundawarara, a street kid, said the chaos at the Registrar-General's Office was a financial windfall. "We sleep in the queue every night and sell our positions for $1 500 to those not keen to spend the whole night waiting," said Mundawarara. Ordinary passports for adults and children under 12 years now cost $1 500 and $700 respectively, up from $600 and $300. The executive passport processed within 24 hours now costs $30 000 for adults and $15 000 for children.
Meanwhile, police in Bulawayo have arrested two policemen and several government registry officers implicated in a birth records scam in the city. The two policemen based at the Bulawayo Central police station were arrested early this week after it emerged they were part of a syndicate that involved government registry officers, hospital clerks and police officers. The policemen join eight other suspects arrested last week in connection with the birth certificates scam. In the scam hospital clerks and government registry officers solicited thousands of dollars from people in need of birth confirmation records that they then used to obtain long birth certificates needed to acquire a travel document. Some of the people who paid for the birth confirmation records were foreigners who wanted to use these to acquire national identity cards and subsequently passports. Other beneficiaries of the scam are believed to be locals deported from the United Kingdom and other European countries who wanted to assume false identities to enable them to return to those countries. Bulawayo police spokesperson Smile Dube confirmed the arrests of the policemen and the government registry officers and said police have widened investigations into the matter. "Police are still investigating the scam and measures are being taken to see that more people who could have been involved are investigated," said Dube.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 22 September
Africa blasts SA for Nepad dominance
Resentment spills out at UN meeting of foreign ministers
Justice Malala: New York
Resentment about South Africa's leading role in the New Partnership for Africa's Development spilt into the open this week when African foreign ministers launched a bitter attack on SA Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. At a meeting of the African ministers held at the United Nations in New York, the foreign ministers and members of the newly launched African Union's secretariat lambasted South Africa and Nigeria for dominating the Nepad process. They also questioned why the African Union had been launched in South Africa instead of Addis Ababa, where the now-defunct Organisation of African Unity was based. The extraordinary attack - witnessed by more than 30 ministers, ambassadors to the UN and senior diplomats from Africa - was led by Amara Essy, the interim president of the African Union, who apparently claimed that he was not being kept up to speed with developments on Nepad. Essy also claimed that there were rumours among diplomats that the economic recovery programme had become the sole property of President Thabo Mbeki and Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo. The two men have been the main protagonists and spokesmen for Nepad.
Diplomats at the meeting said Essy also said that he found it increasingly difficult to raise money for the African Union because he was told by donors that they contributed or intended to contribute to the Nepad initiative. Dlamini-Zuma apparently fought back against the allegations, saying that the Nepad initiative was an African initiative that had to be supported by all parties. Essy confirmed this week that there had been a debate at the meeting, but pledged his allegiance to Nepad and said "the success of Nepad will be the success of the AU". He would not go into detail about the meeting, but said he did have some concerns about some of the processes in Nepad. "Maybe we are moving too fast . We haven't had time to harmonise everything we are doing and to popularise the programme among member states," Essy said. "These days the international arena is full of meetings and maybe we have not taken time, maybe three years, to harmonise the programme among ourselves."
Some of the African foreign ministers, he said, also suggested that perhaps the following day's debate, which had been prepared to allow African presidents to brief the world on progress on Nepad, be postponed "until we can discuss things among ourselves". The debate did, however, take place and the UN adopted a declaration pledging support for Nepad. Essy told the Sunday Times that the European Union, for example, had taken decades to build whereas the African Union had taken only a few years. He said it was important that Nepad "bring everyone inside the boat" and, because of the swiftness of the programme, some foreign ministers and ambassadors had felt that they were not part of the process. He insisted that he did not oppose Nepad. "I have no reservations on Nepad. We had to have a programme for Africa and Nepad is inside the AU. The success of Nepad will be the success of AU," he said.
Essy said that, although there might be perceptions that some leaders were leading Nepad and leaving African Union officials and the continent behind, he believed in Mbeki's efforts to forge ahead with Nepad. "The fact is that South Africa does need Nepad to succeed. The aim of Mbeki is to help Southern Africa and Africa," he said. Testifying before the US House of Representatives' subcommittee on Africa this week, a former assistant administrator for Africa at the US Agency for International Development, Vivian Lowery Derryck, said: "South Africa will have to be very careful not to dominate the process, lest collaboration give way to a feeling that national interests will predominate [over] regional solidarity. The fact that South Africa's regional investment arm, the IDC, is featured on the Nepad website is not a good omen in this respect." No comment could be obtained from Dlamini-Zuma's office at the time of going to press.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 20 September
Bank of England orders asset freeze on 'war cabinet'
Vincent Kahiya
The Bank of England has instructed British banks to freeze all assets held by the newly-appointed members of President Mugabe's "war cabinet" who have just been added to the targeted sanctions list. The move by the UK central bank follows the European Commission's extension of targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe to include members of the war cabinet, new deputy ministers and senior party officials passed over in the original list. The sanctions include the freezing of assets held by those targeted and a travel ban. In a statement, the Bank of England said: "On behalf of HM Treasury (the bank) therefore announces that all funds, other financial assets and economic resources belonging to the persons listed…must be frozen. No funds, other financial assets and economic resources are to be made available directly or indirectly to, or for the benefit of, them. Financial institutions must check whether they maintain any account for the individuals named and, if so, they should freeze the accounts and report the accounts and amounts frozen to the Bank of England." The European Council imposed sanctions against individual members of the Government of Zimbabwe and persons associated with them on February 21. The list was first extended on July 25 and last week's extension, which added 15 more names, was the third. There are now 79 names on the composite list. The list, in which Mugabe holds pole position, now includes the whole of cabinet, the Zanu PF politburo, service chiefs, First Lady Grace Mugabe and other senior party functionaries. Also included on the new list are Mugabe's sister Sabina who is the MP for Zvimba South and politburo members Tsitsi Muzenda, Angeline Masuku and former Harare executive mayor Solomon Tawengwa.
The government has often scoffed at the targeted sanctions as a non-event but was quick to condemn the deportation from London of Joshua Malinga, politburo deputy secretary for the disabled and disadvantaged last month. Speaking at the burial of former Finance minister Bernard Chidzero at Heroes' Acre, Mugabe said Zimbabwe would not be moved by the sanctions. "Let Europe's list grow by another 50, another 100, another thousand, another million. But we shall not budge, we shall not be deterred on this one question. The land is ours. We are not an extension of Britain," Mugabe told mourners. Observers said this and other statements by Zanu PF officials have suggested that the sanctions have hit a nerve. Apart from the EU countries, the United States has also imposed targeted sanctions on Mugabe and a number of his officials but has declined to publish the names.
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Comment from ZWNEWS, 22 September
Clinging to hope
By Michael Hartnack
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has renewed warnings against violent opposition - what he termed "adventurism" - to Robert Mugabe's regime. And according to an independently run opinion survey, most Zimbabweans agree with Tsvangirai, and are still clinging to the hope that, amid worsening repression, economic hardship and acute food shortages, somehow Mugabe will be persuaded or forced to stand down. The survey by the Mass Public Opinion Institute, headed by Professor Masipula Sithole of the University of Zimbabwe, found that 56,9 percent of the 1 768 Zimbabweans questioned are against boycotts and strike action. "A majority favoured dialogue and not confrontation as a way of solving the nation's problems," said the institute report. "An impressive 65,6 percent say President Mugabe must make known his reitrement plans now -- this is on question where there is agreement in all provinces , even those provinces that are considered overwhelmingly Zanu PF," said the report. It said a "high percentage" in all the country's 10 provinces wanted a rerun of last March's presidential elections - widely regarded as rigged.
With state-of-the-art security police video cameras recording his every word, Tsvangirai told a recent public meeting at a Harare hotel that the "momentum for mass action was being generated by the regime's actions" through "deliberate destruction of the people's means of sustenance." But Tsvangirai and other speakers warned against militant action which might give Mugabe's security forces an excuse for even more brutal crackdowns. "This doesn't call for adventurism. The temptation must be resisted at all costs," said Tsvangirai. "It must not be a knee-jerk reaction giving the Mugabe regime excuses for more brutality." He added that although he feared "the path to freedom is still littered with skeletons and splashed with blood…casualties on Zimbabwe citizens must be avoided or minimised." Tsvangirai deplored the possibility of a popular mass uprising, and his urgings of restraint reflected fears in the MDC that Mugabe's dreaded security police plan "pseudo terrorist" operations which would be blamed on the MDC and provide an excuse for a roundup of party members and sympathizers. The party's justice spokesman, David Coltart, said in an interview that the MDC took seriously the reports of state plans for provocative attacks. He believed "pseudo dissidents" were responsible for much of the terror in Matabeleland in the 1980s, giving the security forces a pretext to crush opposition. Tsvangirai said if current MDC tactics failed, the party would seek new strategies for "peaceful struggle," but he would not discuss this on a public platform. "We have acted as a restraining force on the people, but now we have reached the stage where it may no longer be possible to keep the lid on," he warned Mugabe. "The people can't take it any longer. Your bullets cannot stop the tide of change."
The state-run media reported the MDC meeting - with true-to-form gross distortions. For example, Tsvangirai said the Mugabe regime was deliberately pursuing "a strategy to reduce the majority of the population economically to the level of Stone Age scavengers, available for manipulation and abuse." The state-controlled media reported that he had called black Zimbabweans "Stone Age savages,'' and The Herald and ZBC followed up by canvassing bogus opinion on how people felt about this grotesque distortion. The capacity meeting erupted in thunderous applause when a member of the audience asked why Tsvangirai had not declared himself president last March, since it was apparent to all that he had won the election. "There are two sides to this," he responded, as the security men's camera whirred. "I believe we could have done that successfully but it is not just a question of ejecting the president. It is not a question of power (but) of building a political culture that you can put your confidence in." Reginald Matshaba-Hove of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, speaking on the same platform, urged Tsvangirai to seek election to Parliament in a constituency where MDC support is unquestionably overwhelming. Then his leadership would become a matter of record in Hansard and could be exerted through parliamentary groups internationally, and help the MDC to "re-engage with the international community."
Meanwhile, Mugabe flew off (accompanied, as ever, by his chic young wife) to attack Britain, the United States and the developed world at the United Nations in New York, telling the General Assembly, "We refuse to be an extension of Europe." It was another display, following his appearance at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, of the "Africanist" emotions that Mugabe arouses - and that South Africa's leaders appear fearful of publicly rejecting. As Deputy President Jacob Zuma put it to Parliament in Cape Town, "We can't go to Zimbabwe and tell the Zimbabweans to do this and don't do that. It's not our duty." However, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad put his finger on the problem when he said the South African government is trying to persuade Mugabe to sign an investment protection agreement. "We are very keen that this agreement gets signed very quickly because it does give South African investors some form of legal protection. But in the end it depends when you have signed the agreement whether they really implement it." Crucial phrases for South Africa and Zimbabwe: "some form of legal protection" and "whether they will implement it."
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From The Australian, 23 September
Mugabe snubs trio of leaders
By Dave Clark in Abuja
The leaders of Australia, Nigeria and South Africa have gathered for talks on the crisis in Zimbabwe - but a furious President Robert Mugabe has ruled out attending. Australian Prime Minister John Howard got off his plane in Abuja, Nigeria, to be met with the news that the Zimbabwean leader had changed his mind about joining the meeting. Commonwealth officials said the event - at which Howard will discuss tightening Commonwealth sanctions with Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo and South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki would continue as planned. "The situation in Zimbabwe is very important. The situation cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely," Obasanjo said after a meeting with Howard at his official Abuja residence, Aso Rock. Obasanjo said the "troika" - appointed by the Commonwealth to tackle Zimbabwe - was most concerned about the "humanitarian issues" arising from Mugabe's policy of throwing white farmers off their land and from a catastrophic drought that has brought millions to the brink of starvation.
Diplomatic sources said the troika members were annoyed by Mugabe's no-show. Obasanjo, who has invested a great deal of personal political capital in the troika process and in reigning in Mugabe, played down his anger but admitted he would have preferred to see the Zimbabwean leader face-to-face. "Disappointment would not be the right word," he said. "If he were to have been here it would have made our job easier, because he would have given us first hand information on the situation in Zimbabwe." In Harare, officials were unrepentant. In a newspaper interview Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe's Minister of State for Information and Publicity, derided the meeting as "a monumental waste of time". The troika suspended Zimbabwe's membership of the Commonwealth's ruling structures in March after a violent, disputed election and amid a violent campaign to evict commercial farmers, mainly whites, and seize their land. Now, six months into the 12 month suspension, the panel will consider stepping up the pressure on a leader many believe has abused his electorate and brutalised both white farmers and the black opposition.
Under the current suspension, Zimbabwe is barred from Commonwealth heads of government meetings and ministerial meetings such as the foreign ministers' meeting at the United Nations earlier this month. Now it could face full suspension from the body, something that has only happened once before, to Nigeria while it was under military rule. If suspended, Zimbabwe would miss out on Commonwealth technical assistance for its development, would not be able to appoint officials to the Commonwealth secretariat and would miss the Commonwealth Games. Diplomatic sources said today that nothing had been decided, but that full suspension would be an option on the table. Howard was not forthcoming on the likely results of the meeting before planned talks with Mbeki. "We have a responsibility to discharge the mandate given to us by the Commonwealth, but I would not want to be speculative," he said. Last week Howard said he did not expect the troika's concerns to make much of an impression on Mugabe, who has remained defiant in the face of world opinion. "Zimbabwe has been in total defiance of Commonwealth opinion," he said.
Mugabe's decision to snub the meeting, at which he was slated to have a one-hour private meeting with the three leaders, has been interpreted as a sign of his anger at the limited terms of reference of the meeting. "He wanted to talk about the background to the farm invasions, to explain himself," said one Commonwealth official. "But when he saw what we planned to talk about he realised that wasn't going to be it." Howard sent Mugabe a letter confirming his invitation, but also laying out in stark terms the issues he would have to address.
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From BBC News, 22 September
Mugabe snubs Commonwealth talks
Zimbabwe's President, Robert Mugabe, has decided to boycott talks about his country's suspension from the Commonwealth, apparently because he objected to the tone of his invitation. Mr Mugabe had, until the last minute, been expected to attend Monday's meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to review Zimbabwe's response to its exclusion from the organisation. But in a phone call to the Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr Mugabe said he objected to the invitation letter from Australian Prime Minister John Howard. "Mugabe said the invitation gave the impression that he was going to be court-martialled in Abuja," a Nigerian official told Reuters news agency. The BBC's Dan Issacs in Abuja says the boycott is a major blow to the Commonwealth. Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth in March, following Mr Mugabe's disputed re-election, and the Abuja meeting was to review what measures he had taken to avoid further sanctions. Commonwealth officials say Mr Mugabe had been prepared for talks on land reform, but was not prepared to be lectured on political reform and human rights. The meeting will go ahead despite Mr Mugabe's absence and will be chaired by Mr Obasanjo and attended by Mr Howard and the South African President, Thabo Mbeki. Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon is also due to be present. The Commonwealth panel aims to bring pressure to bear on Zimbabwe over the disputed election and the policy of violently evicting white farmers as part of Mr Mugabe's land redistribution programme. Possible measures include the extension of the one-year suspension from the Commonwealth or even expulsion.
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From SABC News, 22 September
Silence over whether Mugabe is to go to Abuja
With a day to go before a powerful Commonwealth committee is to hold a crucial meeting in Nigeria to discuss the situation in Zimbabwe, it is still not clear whether President Robert Mugabe will attend. Mugabe had been invited by John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister, who is the chairperson of the Commonwealth "troika" on Zimbabwe, to be in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, tomorrow. However, this afternoon the Australian said the 78-year-old leader had yet to respond. Western diplomats say Mugabe faces the likelihood of an escalation of measures to isolate his government, and cite full expulsion from the Commonwealth and the possibility of sanctions over his campaign of violent suppression of his opponents and critics. In Harare today, the government refused to shed any light on whether Mugabe had any plans to join Howard and the other members of the troika, Olusegun Obasanjo, the Nigerian president, and Thabo Mbeki, the South African President. "That is an idle question with no relevance to the issues at hand," Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe's Information Minister, was quoted as saying in the state-controlled Sunday Mail. "Maybe you should ask that coward called Howard who seems to thrive in indulging in irrelevancies. If there is going to be a meeting it must be used to put an end to British trickery and racist games."
The regime has been suspended from the Commonwealth for a year, while the European Union, the United States and Switzerland have imposed targeted sanctions that ban members of Mugabe's elite from travelling to and investing in their countries. Observers expressed surprise that Mugabe had even cast any doubt over whether he would be in Nigeria, as he has not once in the last two-and-a-half years of growing international isolation missed an opportunity to take the international stage to defend his regime's actions and to launch vitriolic attacks on the British government. In the last two months Mugabe has used both the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg and the United Nations General Assembly to declare himself the victim of "colonial" treachery by Western governments. "It's not clear what game he's playing now with Abuja but it would be completely out of character for him to miss a chance to use a high level diplomatic opportunity like this to fight for his cause," said a Western diplomat. "If he doesn't go, it will signal that he believes he's beaten in the Commonwealth."
Zimbabwe's suspension from the "club" of mostly former British colonies and dominions came after its election observer mission decided that Mugabe had won presidential elections in March through fraud and violence. The decision was taken by the troika, established before the elections to take action on behalf of the rest of the Commonwealth. The suspension was regarded as one of severest blows to Harare as the bulk of the Commonwealth's members were Third World and African states. Tomorrow the troika is expected to discuss Harare's adherence to the "Abuja agreement" struck in September last year in which Mugabe's government promised it would end lawless seizures of white-owned land and restore the rule of law. Western diplomats, human rights agencies and lawyers groups said that Mugabe had completely ignored the agreement and that lawlessness, violence and scorn for the law had accelerated alarmingly. Most of the country's white farmers have been illegally forced off their farms in the last two months while police have regularly ignored court orders. Human rights agencies say ruling party militia attacks on the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have continued unabated. The Abuja meeting comes four days after Arthur Chaskalson, the South African Chief Justice, made the unprecedented move of accusing Zimbabwean authorities of "deplorable" conduct that "threatens the independence of the judiciary" of Zimbabwe after police last week arrested a retired judge at dawn and held him in a squalid police cell for three nights.
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From The Herald, 23 September
Diplomatic gaffe
Herald Reporter
President Mugabe was not invited to today’s Commonwealth troika meeting in Abuja to discuss the issue of Zimbabwe, it emerged yesterday. Officials at the Commonwealth London headquarters confirmed yesterday that there was a "major diplomatic foul-up" in the manner the President was invited. "President Mugabe is not attending the meeting because the bottom line is that he was not invited," the officials said. The officials said the idea of having a meeting in Abuja was initially mooted when Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Mugabe met on the sidelines of the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa early this month. The two leaders held a one on one meeting on the morning of September 2, the day Cde Mugabe addressed the summit. According to the officials, President Mugabe left the hall where the summit proceedings were taking place just before Namibian President Sam Nujoma began his address to meet President Obasanjo. He returned to the hall near the end of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s speech. "It (the Abuja meeting) was mooted there and agreed in principle," the officials said.
Nigerian government officials told The Herald yesterday that the idea of the meeting was mooted against the background of a cordial exchange. They described President Mugabe as having been very open to the idea and having insisted on that the troika would have to be prepared for "a big fight and to be told some home truths". The issue was expected to be finalised in New York where the two leaders and the South African President Thabo Mbeki attended the UN General Assembly. The issue of the invitation of President Mugabe was supposed to come up in New York following the splashing of the Abuja meeting by the South African media. However, The Herald could not establish whether that was done although diplomatic sources said it was expected that the official formal invitation would come from Nigeria as the host country. "But for reasons that are not clear, that did not happen," the sources said.
It is understood that the Commonwealth secretary-general Mr Don McKinnon, who is a former Foreign Minister of New Zealand, is said to have advised the Nigerians that the invitation would have to come from the Australian Prime Minister Mr John Howard in his capacity as the chairman of the Commonwealth through the grouping’s office. "But again that did not happen. Instead Mr Howard with the apparent connivance of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, put an unsigned invitation on the internet," the sources said. While Government officials confirmed having downloaded a copy of the unsigned invitation from the internet, they say that no invitation was passed on to the President because it would have been a breach of protocol to pass such a thing. Government sources described Mr Howard’s unsigned invitation that was splashed on the internet as "arrogant, racist, undiplomatic, crude and rude". "Nobody expected the President to attend just because the so-called invitation was on the internet," said an irate Government official.
Contacted for comment, the Minister of Information and Publicity Professor Jonathan Moyo confirmed that there had been no invitation. "No serious person expected us to be part of that kind of a circus. The whole thing stinks of an orchestrated media event designed to insult the President and demonise Zimbabwe at the behest of Britain with Australia playing the role of a cheer leader. ""John Howard should disabuse himself of the folly that he can treat Africans the same way he treats Aborigines," said Prof Moyo. A political analyst said: "Let’s hope Nigeria and South Africa will use the meeting to reign in John Howard and that the white Commonwealth should treat the non-white members with respect and dignity." Prof Moyo had yesterday said the meeting would be "a monumental waste of time" if it failed to advance the spirit of the "real" Abuja that acknowledged the land issue as the core of the problems in Zimbabwe. The troika comprising Presidents Obasanjo and Mbeki and Prime Minister Howard suspended Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth for a year in March. Mr Howard arrived in Nigeria yesterday while it was not clear last night whether President Mbeki will attend the meeting.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 22 September
Church leaders charged again
By Cynthia Mahwite
Bulawayo - Ten Bulawayo church leaders who were arrested while praying for their detained colleague, Father Noel Scott, of the Anglican church, on the pavement of the central Police station in February, are to be charged again under the infamous Public Order and Security Act (POSA), it has emerged. The ten - Graham Shaw, Kevin O’Doherty, Peter Botright, Ron Marillier, Trevor Leonard, Palany Rojah, Davi Marolong, Barry Dickenson, John Stakesby Lewis and his wife Joan - had their charges earlier dismissed due to the prosecution’s failure to build a case against them. However, last week, they received fresh summons ordering them to appear in court on Wednesday. Shaw, who is a pastor with the Methodist church, confirmed to The Standard that they were set to face charges under POSA. "We have been issued with fresh summons and are required to appear in court on 25 September this year," he said. If convicted of the alleged offence, the church leaders face a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment or $50 000 fine, or both.
A month before the hotly disputed presidential elections, police using the discredited POSA, denied Christians permission to hold a traditional prayer procession in the city. Police also arrested Father Scott who was organising the prayer session and detained him at the central police station. Worried about his safety, 10 church |
