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Archived News
13th May 2003
SA upbeat about MDC, Zanu PF crisis talks
Opposition hopeful despite failure of mission to Harare
Mugabe charges on despite 'cool it' pleas
Council defies Chombo
Squaring the circle
Carrots and sticks
Zimbabwe court waters down media restrictions
Mugabe government defies court, cracks down on press
Eight opposition members arrested outside Mugabe's house
Tsvangirai invited to Malawi talks as Harare mission stalls
Thriving city becomes the capital of chaos and misrule
Reporter willing to face questions, says lawyer
Zimbabwe must have 'road-map' to legitimacy, says US
There is hope for Zimbabwe, but only if Mugabe goes
FSI property invaded by Mnangagwa opponents
Libyans on mission to revive stalled talks
Harare officials give Guardian executives 24 hours to leave
MDC vows to bring Harare to a standstill
Tsvangirai wants trial postponed so he can meet Muluzi
Mbeki: Zim's future bleak
Zimbabwe opposition leader continues to challenge election results
Zimbabwe economy teeters on brink
Zimbabwe govt urged to make speedy food aid appeal
Zim cops arrest 46 at Mother's Day march
Police disrupt Mother's Day March in Bulawayo
Parallel market rates plunge to all-time low
Zanu PF chefs grab land funds
Mugabe: liberator and looter
Tensions mount as Zim treason trial resumes
Fuel crisis hits Air Zim
Zimbabwe crisis, Iraq will be focus of talks
Smoke signals from Pretoria
Police corruption allegations in Zim treason trial
Dose of deja vu in Zimbabwe impasse
Nature of Mugabe's exit will be a test of SA resolve
Elections, not arm-twisting
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From Business Day (SA), 7 May
SA upbeat about MDC, Zanu PF crisis talks
International Affairs Editor
Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was upbeat yesterday about efforts to bring the antagonists in Zimbabwe's political crisis to the negotiating table, dismissing continuing verbal sparring between them as "opening lines in negotiations". After Monday's shuttle diplomacy in Harare by three African presidents, President Robert Mugabe continued to insist that he would not speak to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) unless it accepted him as the legitimate president of Zimbabwe. The MDC continued to reject this notion, saying it would press ahead with its plans for mass protests. Dlamini-Zuma said in Pretoria, after meeting her Swedish counterpart, Anna Lindh, that Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF and the MDC "are ready to start the dialogue". "Everybody has their opening lines in negotiations. That can be overcome. I am sure, (that the talks will take place)," Dlamini-Zuma said.
President Thabo Mbeki and his counterparts from Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, and Malawi, Bakili Muluzi, flew to Harare on Monday in an urgent bid to mediate in the crisis. And, in a significant departure from previous efforts, they met MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. It is not yet clear what follow-up steps the three presidents will take, but it could take the form of a series of separate follow-up meetings with Mugabe and Tsvangirai in the coming weeks. In signs there may have been some unusually tough talking to Mugabe, Muluzi told the BBC World Service that "we didn't just go there for a cup of tea. We were very serious". He said he told Mugabe that a "bad economy is bad politics". African leaders who have met Mugabe in the past about the crisis have on the whole been very cautious in their rhetoric after the meetings. Tsvangirai has said his party was "ready for unconditional dialogue".
However MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi said yesterday "that means unconditional on both sides". "When Mugabe talks about recognising him, that's a pre-condition. There is no way we are going to consider that," he said. The MDC also warned that the new round of diplomacy begun by the three African presidents would not stop the party's planned campaign of "mass action" against Mugabe. "The MDC hopes and trusts that Zanu PF will summon sufficient courage to put the interests of the country above its partisan quest to retain power," Nyathi said. Despite Dlamini-Zuma's optimism, there were other signs that there is a long way to go to narrow the gap between Mugabe and the MDC. The state-controlled Herald newspaper reported that US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Walter Kansteiner would meet British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in Botswana next week, with "regime change" on the agenda. This was seen by some as an attempt by Mugabe's government to create the illusion of an international conspiracy to remove him, thereby undermining attempts to get Zanu PF and the MDC back to the negotiating table. The meeting between Kansteiner and Straw is unlikely to happen as Kansteiner is in Botswana this week and returns to the US on Friday. Straw will visit SA only next week, after Kansteiner has left.
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From The Financial Times (UK), 7 May
Opposition hopeful despite failure of mission to Harare
By Tony Hawkins in Harare
Opposition politicians in Zimbabwe voiced hope yesterday that the involvement of African leaders could reinforce US and British efforts to resolve the country's political and economic crisis. Their comments followed Monday's visit by three African presidents, South Africa's Thabo Mbeki, Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo and Malawi's Bakili Muluzi. They expected pressure on Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwe president, to be ratcheted up during talks in southern Africa this week and next by Walter Kansteiner, US assistant secretary of state for Africa, and Jack Straw, British foreign secretary. Mr Straw is due to take part next week in a joint UK-South Africa forum. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main Zimbabwe opposition, Movement for Democratic Change, yesterday met Harare-based diplomats to explain his party's refusal to drop its court case against Mr Mugabe's disputed re- election victory in March 2002. Mr Mugabe has set abandonment of the case as a precondition for resuming inter-party talks, which were broken off last year. An MDC spokesman said there was "no way" his party would bow to President Mugabe's demand that it drops its legal challenge. Despite this uncompromising stand - which, on the surface, would put paid to the African presidents' initiative to revive inter-party dialogue - opposition officials said Monday's talks were not a waste of time. They believed Mr Mbeki and Mr Muluzi left the talks with a far better appreciation of the situation, and said they had the clear impression that Mr Muluzi, in particular, had lost confidence in the Zimbabwe government. The suggestion that the MDC should abandon its legal challenge was barely discussed, they added. However, prospects for moving the dialogue forward would depend on Mr Mbeki using his clout to force Mr Mugabe to drop his precondition, they said. People close to the talks said the South African president expressed concern at Zimbabwe's accelerating economic meltdown.
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From The Star (SA), 7 May
Mugabe charges on despite 'cool it' pleas
By Basildon Peta and Brian Latham
A visit by three peacemaking presidents has provided no let-up in Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's siege of terror against his opponents. As he met with presidents Thabo Mbeki, Olusegun Obasanjo and Bakili Muluzi, police forcibly removed Harare executive mayor Elias Mudzuri from his home and office. At a summit in Harare, Mbeki, Nigerian President Obasanjo and Malawian leader Muluzi shuttled between Mugabe's State House and the 14th floor of the city's Sheraton Hotel to speak with Movement for Democratic Change head Morgan Tsvangirai. The trio of presidents described the talks as good. But after the talks it emerged that 79-year-old Mugabe had demanded that the MDC recognise him as the country's legitimate leader and drop an electoral challenge against him, currently awaiting a hearing in the High Court. MDC spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi said: "No way are we ever going to consider that, because there's no relation between the political process and the legal action." The MDC warned that the stalled negotiations would not stop the party's planned mass action. The party also scotched speculation that the talks to end Zimbabwe's crisis had made headway.
While this was going on, riot police raided Harare City Council office premises and confiscated the keys to Mudzuri's official residence. They took the action against Mudzuri because he had defied his suspension from office last week by Ignatius Chombo, the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing. The Combined Harare Residents' Association, a civic group representing the interests of ratepayers, is to challenge Mudzuri's suspension. His lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, said there was no basis for the suspension. Mtetwa said the legislation under which Chombo suspended Mudzuri required that there be reasonable grounds for the suspension, but Chombo had failed to list these. "In our view, you have failed to properly comply with provisions of the law, with the result that the purported suspension is null, void and of no effect." Mtetwa said Chombo had misconceived his powers as set out in the act, "in addition to failing to understand the very clear differences between council powers and the functions of the mayor". Mtetwa said Chombo's ministry had refused to grant the council authority to borrow money for capital projects, resulting in its failing to discharge its duties appropriately.
Fuel shortages in Zimbabwe have worsened in recent weeks, while the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority has been plunging industrial sites into unproductive silence on a daily basis. Yesterday, Harare lurched through a four-hour power cut that saw thousands sitting idle waiting for lights, machines and computers to power up.
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From The Daily News, 7 May
Council defies Chombo
Staff Reporter
A defiant Harare City Council has resolved to ignore Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo's suspension of Executive Mayor Elias Mudzuri, who it said would continue to receive his salary and benefits. Chombo suspended Mudzuri last Tuesday, citing alleged incompetence, and ordered that his salary and benefits be stopped, although he could retain his official car and continue to live in the mayoral mansion. In a statement issued yesterday, the Harare City Council said Mudzuri, who was overwhelmingly elected in March last year, would continue to be mayor unless residents of the capital city rejected him. The council said: "We shall continue to discharge our respective duties with His Honour the Executive Mayor and shall accordingly disregard the purported suspension as it is of no moment or consequence to His Honour's office." It was not possible to ascertain from Mudzuri yesterday whether he would continue with his council duties, but his deputy, Sekesai Makwavarara, said the mayor had reported for work at Town House in the morning. She said Mudzuri had made plans before his suspension to go on leave from Thursday this week. Makwavarara referred all further questions to Mudzuri.
The city council said in its statement: "We note, with utter dismay, that the minister was operating under a serious misapprehension of the relevant Act. For the record, a mayor assumes office strictly to pursue and implement resolutions of council. The duties can, therefore, not be divorced from the activities of council. In fact, they are dovetailed. The suspension of a mayor ipso facto (by that very fact) means a suspension of the entire council." The council said Mudzuri's suspension was "baseless, irrational, fallacious and malicious". It said: "The withdrawal of the misplaced, ill-timed and ill-conceived court application is a vindication of the foregoing." Chombo last Friday withdrew a High Court application to bar Mudzuri from performing his duties. He filed the application after he heard that Mudzuri was seen in Bulawayo during the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, wearing his mayoral regalia.
The council said: "As far as council is concerned, a mayor works in conjunction with council in the enforcement and implementation of council resolutions and policies. We, therefore, do not recognise the purported suspension of our duly elected mayor." The council said Chombo's decision was not surprising when looked at from a historical perspective and "clearly demonstrates that extraneous considerations entered the fray. The decision-making process is, therefore, fraught with maladies". "We would also like the minister to note that the deputy mayor assumes the duties of mayor in his absence as provided for by Section 52 of the Act." When he suspended Mudzuri, Chombo gave the deputy mayor a letter appointing her acting mayor, which he is not required to do by the Urban Councils Act. Mudzuri went into hiding during the trade fair in Bulawayo last week when he heard the police were hunting for him. He was back at work at Town House on Monday morning, but was forced out by armed riot police.
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From ZWNEWS, 7 May
Squaring the circle
Not that long ago, Bosnia gave rise to a macabre joke. A leading international human rights lawyer put it thus: "When someone kills a man, he is put in prison. When someone kills twenty people, he is declared mentally insane. But when someone kills 200,000 people, he is invited to Geneva for peace negotiations". The "Sarajevo joke" cuts to the core of the Zimbabwe crisis - how to satisfy the legitimate rights to justice for the victims of violence, while immunity from prosecution for the perpetrators is a central sticking point in the current, painful transition to democratic rule. In the best of all possible worlds, there would be both transition and justice. But just how far is it acceptable to trade justice for transition? Who, if anyone, should get immunity, if it brings an end to the political morass? Who should decide who gets immunity, if the trade-off is unavoidable? If you would like to read a discussion paper on these questions, published yesterday by Tony Reeler of Idasa, the South African based think-tank, please let us know. It will be sent as a Word attachment to an email message - total size 100 Kb.
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Comment from ZWNEWS, 7 May
Carrots and sticks
By Michael Hartnack
The latest mission by the South African and Nigerian presidents to Harare appears to have yielded them Robert Mugabe's favourite award: "The Order of the Dangling Carrot.'' After Mugabe's 45 years in politics, from organiser of mob violence to state president, his methods are only too well known to Zimbabweans. The US State Department's Walter Kansteiner, making excursions to Africa from his base in Washington 12 000km away, has also seen through Mugabe's methods. Not so, it seems South Africa's Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. They still cling to illusions - which Mugabe takes great pains to foster - that round after round of talks and "fact finding visits" may produce a compromise and relieve them of responsibility for giving him past tacit encouragement. Ahead of Mbeki and Olusegun, yet another South African delegation came to study "land reform" - as if the thousands of derelict hectares, the empty supermarket shelves and the continuing exodus of Zimbabwean economic refugees did not speak for themselves. Over a year ago, in February 2002, Mbeki mouthed platitudes about the "tremendous progress" made by Mugabe and expressed confidence that remaining problems "can be resolved within Africa's conflict resolution mechanisms.'' And if that didn't satisfy the West then their concern was "not for democracy but control", Mbeki declared.
Some commentators believe the success of the April 23-25 national strike, called by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions, has weakened Mugabe's resolve and made the country ripe for reform. Last week's summary (and illegal) removal of Harare's elected opposition mayor, on trumped up charges of abuse of office, does not suggest a regime eager to negotiate, or even open to reason. In talks that never get anywhere, Mugabe keeps the carrot dangling with the consummate art of the born showman and salesman. Ultimately, however, all his opponents' efforts to placate him merely place them at the mercy of the stick, which is then ruthlessly applied. Those who do not know Mugabe are agog with the latest hint, put out in an interview broadcast here on April 21, that he might at last be prepared to consider going into retirement peacefully, thus breaking the political logjam of the last five disastrous years. Describing the seizure of 5 000 white owned farms as his "greatest achievement", he said: "We are getting to a stage where we shall say 'Ah, we have settled the matter and people can retire'." Mugabe's royal "we" reflects his thinking - he is the only Zimbabwean entitled to have an opinion, and he speaks for all. His latest trick is to make Mbeki and Obasanjo believe that all they have to do is pressure Morgan Tsvangirai's opposition Movement for Democratic Change to accept the legitimacy of the blatantly rigged 2002 presidential elections, drop their legal action, throw away their volumes of irrefutable evidence, and guarantee Mugabe a blissful retirement. And then Mugabe will go; the rampages by his war veterans and "green bomber" youth militia, with all the harm they are doing to NEPAD and the economy of the continent, will then stop; there will be new, free and fair Zimbabwean elections, producing a president with whom Pretoria - and Abuja - can work.
However, those who know Mugabe know that if Tsvangirai succumbs to Mbeki-Obasanjo pressure to sign away his moral and legal right to the presidency and the bringing to book of all those responsible for murders, rapes, beatings and arson attacks, Mugabe will deem these concessions to be insufficient. Quite simply, Mugabe plans to hang on until the term ends 2008, offering only cosmetic changes. He declared in the April 21 interview he will hang on to right of veto over matters of "principle". He will do this by remaining head of the ruling party, by delegating power to mere figureheads. Mugabe's means of terror will be left intact, ready to be unleashed as they were in 2000 - under the guise of agitation for land reform. Mugabe is counting on the despair of ordinary Zimbabwean voters for any real prospect of reform. Mugabe's talk at independence anniversary celebrations about the importance of unity and maintaining Zimbabwe's sovereignty at all costs translates that he will never accept any member of any ethnic minority, or any political opponent except as a temporary, insecure, junior partner in any business arrangement - a landless share cropper. These are the "principles" over which Mugabe aims to retain right of veto, just as he and his family aim to retain control over the means of terror until 2008 and beyond. Mbeki and Obasanjo must face this fact squarely.
Obasanjo, returning from a visit to Pretoria earlier this year, indicated he and Mbeki are eager to see Mugabe retire. The retirement issue is, however, secondary until Mbeki and Obasanjo can get the Means of Terror out of the hands of the Mugabe coterie - better still, irreversibly eradicated from Zimbabwean society. The looting of Baghdad and other Iraqi cities should have brought home how urgent this is. Despite dire shortages of all staples from petrol to bread, there is little danger ordinary Zimbabweans will take to the streets and fight Mugabe's security forces with their bare hands. It is not lack of courage, but the knowledge violence will merely breed another generation of barbarians, that holds Zimbabweans back. We have too many already, bred by Mugabe. No, the danger for Zimbabwe, the region and Africa is that Mugabe's barbarian warlords, long imbued with a culture of impunity, will turn from their present extortion rackets and black marketeering to open looting of stores, of filling stations, wholesalers, fuel depots, public institutions and private homes. From the criminals' point of view, it is a small step from plundering farms while police protest "this is a political matter, we cannot interfere" - to seizing the goods in the central business district of Harare. These are the carrots they see, and Mbeki and Obasanjo must ask themselves where the stick will be, and who will have to wield it, when these warlords move to seize them.
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From The Independent (UK), 8 May
Zimbabwe court waters down media restrictions
By Angus Shaw in Harare
The nation's highest court threw out a section of Zimbabwe's stringent media laws yesterday, saying it violated journalists' constitutional right to freedom of expression. Supreme Court Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku overturned the clause outlawing the publication of "falsehoods", which the law said abused journalistic privilege. The clause held journalists responsible for incorrect information that was published. State attorneys did not oppose the appeal by the independent Daily News of charges against its former editor, Geoff Nyarota, and reporter Lloyd Mudiwa that they falsely published a story alleging an opposition supporter was beheaded during political violence. The journalists faced up to two years in jail under Zimbabwe's media laws, known as the Access to Information Act. The Act has been criticised by independent lawyers and human rights groups as a tool to stifle criticism of President Robert Mugabe's government. Gugulethu Moyo, the newspaper's lawyer, said yesterday's ruling was "a small victory". She said: "The entire legislation should be condemned." She said state attorneys did not oppose the constitutional challenge on the falsehoods clause, saying amendments on it were being considered anyway. But an adjacent clause, making falsification or fabrication of information an offence by journalists, remained. Unlike the one struck down, it required the state to prove the journalists intentionally published a falsehood. Yesterday's ruling was the first on a constitutional challenge to the media laws. Several others by media organisations are pending. At least 16 journalists have been arrested and charged with violating the media laws since they were passed before presidential elections last year. No state media journalists have been charged. Three journalists have been expelled from the country over the past two years and only a handful of foreign reporters has been granted visas to enter Zimbabwe.
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From DPA, 7 May
Mugabe government defies court, cracks down on press
Harare - President Robert Mugabe's government cracked down on the press Wednesday hours after the supreme court struck down a notorious section of press-gag laws that made it a crime, punishable by up to two years in jail, to publish a "falsehood." Andrew Meldrum, 51, correspondent in Harare for the London Guardian newspaper, was in hiding Wednesday night after immigration officers attempted to arrest and possibly deport him, according to his lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa. She said four plainclothes officers drove to the gate of Meldrum's house at about 7.30 pm and demanded to see him. They waited outside the gate until Mtetwa came. "They demanded to see him, but they refused to say why," she said. "He was not there and so they left after a while, promising to come back with reinforcements." Two hours later, they had still not returned. She expected to be in touch with Meldrum later. "If they want to see him, they have to tell me what for," she said. Earlier Wednesday, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku declared that a section of the "Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act" under which more than 60 journalists have been arrested since it was promulgated in February last year, was contravened by the constitution.
Meldrum was acquitted in August of "publishing a falsehood" and authorities tried immediately to have him deported but failed. He is an American citizen who has lived in Zimbabwe for over 20 years and holds a permanent residence permit, which gives him the same rights as a citizen. He challenged the deportation order in court the same day and it was referred to the supreme court as the judge in the case suspended the order. The suspension still stands pending a supreme court ruling, but after 10 months, the matter has yet to be heard. The challenge ruled on Wednesday by the supreme court was brought by Geoff Nyarota, former editor of the independent Daily News, and reporter Lloyd Mudiwa who were arrested with Meldrum in May last year over a report that ruling party vigilantes had hacked off the head of an MDC supporter. It was later established that the newspaper had been lied to by a confidence trickster trying to embezzle funeral expenses out of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. The Daily News apologized for the error, but Mudiwa and Nyarota, as well as Andrew Meldrum, correspondent here for the London Guardian newspaper who also wrote the report, were arrested and charged with "publishing a falsehood."
In Meldrum's case the magistrate ruled that the law was unconstitutional because it made it an offence to publish a "falsehood," even if it was the result of a genuine mistake. Nyarota and Mudiwa's lawyers made the same argument in the supreme court, and state lawyers did not oppose the two journalists' application. However, lawyers point out that that there are still two other sections that allows the government to prosecute journalists for "falsifying or fabricating information." The law also gives the state a sweeping variety of other powers to jail journalists, newspapers and publishers, to severely restrict their ability to work, to close them down, seize their property and impose massive fines on them. "It's a small step," said Gugulethu Moyo, the Daily News' legal adviser. "The whole legislation should be condemned." The chief justice's ruling Wednesday was the first decision made on a series of applications to the supreme court calling for the law to be scrapped. The law was drafted by controversial information minister Jonathan Moyo, the architect of Mugabe's propaganda war against his opponents, and has been denounced by press freedom organisations all over the world as one of the most repressive pieces of press law in the world. Under Moyo's control, no radio or television stations other than the state-owned propaganda media are allowed to operate and there is a comprehensive ban on visiting foreign correspondents entering the country. The Daily News has been bombed twice, once having its entire printing press destroyed within hours of Moyo declaring that the newspaper was "a threat to national security."
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From SABC News, 7 May
Eight opposition members arrested outside Mugabe's house
Eight members of a small opposition party in Zimbabwe have been arrested outside president Robert Mugabe's official residence, the party said. Rabson Maserema, spokesperson for the National Alliance for Good Governance, said the eight, who carried placards calling for Mugabe to step down, were bundled into police trucks just metres away from the gate to State House. "On approaching the boom to state House, they were cornered and bundled into two police trucks," he said. "The theme of the message was that the president should step down because we have suffered enough under a corrupt and insensitive Zanu PF government," he said. Critics and opposition blame President Mugabe for Zimbabwe's deepening economic crisis. Police were not immediately available to confirm the arrests of the opposition activists.
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From The Cape Argus (SA), 7 May
Tsvangirai invited to Malawi talks as Harare mission stalls
Malawian President Bakili Muluzi said he had invited Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to Blantyre for talks as the MDC reiterated its refusal to recognise the legitimacy of President Robert Mugabe. Muluzi was in Harare on Monday with President Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian leader Olusegun Obasanjo for talks with Mugabe and Tsvangirai. Their attempts to broker dialogue between the two failed after Tsvangirai rejected Mugabe's condition that the Movement for Democratic Change had to recognise him as the legitimate ruler. Muluzi said in Blantyre that he had been backed by Mbeki and Obasanjo to continue dialogue with Tsvangirai. He would invite him to Malawi soon. It is not clear whether the authorities in Zimbabwe will allow Tsvangirai to undertake the trip. They seized his passport in February last year after accusing him of plotting to kill Mugabe. He has not been allowed to undertake foreign travel since then.
The MDC yesterday repeated its rejection of Mugabe's demands that it recognise the legitimacy of his disputed re-election last year before opening negotiations on the political and economic crisis. MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi said the opposition would not drop a court challenge to Mugabe's election victory. Mugabe insisted on Monday there would be no talks unless the lawsuit challenging his legitimacy was dropped. "There is no way we are going to consider that," Nyathi said. But Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said yesterday both sides were "ready to start dialogue". "Everybody has their opening lines in negotiations. That can be overcome," she said. Nyathi said the opposition wanted "unconditional dialogue" with Mugabe and his ruling Zanu PF party. "We have a legal and constitutional right of recourse to the courts if we are not happy with the outcome of the election," he said. Nyathi said the court case would only fall away if a political settlement was reached through dialogue first. "Mugabe is putting the cart before the horse. There's no relationship between the political process and the legal process." Nyathi said African leaders needed to continue diplomacy to get Mugabe to negotiate. Until there was progress in that direction, the opposition would continue its campaign of protests, strikes and passive resistance.
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From The Guardian (UK), 8 May
Thriving city becomes the capital of chaos and misrule
Harare's citizens at the mercy of food and fuel shortages and brutal police
Andrew Meldrum
In Harare these days you never know where you are going to end up when you take a taxi. A dozen passengers crammed into a taxi van recently complained angrily among themselves about Zimbabwe's high inflation, critical fuel shortages and the police who shoved them when they were stopped at roadblocks. When one man tried to defend the police, a woman retorted: "The police are just Mugabe's dogs." The rest of the passengers cheered. When the taxi stopped, the man jumped out and ran to some nearby police officers. He identified himself as an off-duty policeman and ordered them to arrest the passengers. They were jailed overnight and charged for insulting police, a crime under the Public Order and Security Act. For many months horror stories have been emerging from Zimbabwe about the suffering inflicted by President Robert Mugabe. Newspapers have been filled with accounts of political corruption, rapes and beatings. But behind these stories lie the daily hardships felt by the capital's 1.7 million people. What was once a thriving city has descended into a place of empty supermarkets, petrol queues and blackouts.
In the past week the longstanding fuel shortages have taken a turn for the worse. Hundreds of vehicles spend entire days and nights in fuel queues in Harare. "We used to laugh at Zambians because of all the shortages they had. Now they are laughing at us because it is much worse here," said a salesman. "We never thought it would get this bad." A few months ago Mr Mugabe's motorcade of more than 20 vehicles, including two trucks full of armed soldiers, passed a fuel queue on Samora Machel Avenue in downtown Harare. The president was met by jeers and hoots of derision. Some people threw empty cans. The soldiers later returned and beat up many of those in the queue. A law has also been passed declaring it illegal to make derogatory comments or gestures to the presidential motorcade. Harare's new mayor, Elias Mudzuri, tried to improve city services; garbage collections were organised and crews sent out to fill potholes. But Mr Mudzuri, elected by nearly 80% of Harare's voters, belongs to the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Last week the Mugabe government sacked him, accusing him of incompetence and corruption. Mr Mudzuri has been barred from his office and has gone into hiding after receiving threats.
At first glance, the supermarket in central Harare appears well-stocked and busy. But on closer inspection, rows and rows of toilet paper are displayed. "That is where there should be salt and that is where there should be sugar, but those items are out of stock so they put up toilet paper," said Idah Mandaza. "And mealie meal [maize meal, Zimbabwe's staple food] and cooking oil and soap, they have all been replaced with toilet paper. But we can't eat loo paper. Either basic things are not available or I can't afford them. I never thought it would come to this." For Mrs Mandaza, Zimbabwe's inflation of 228% and 12% decline in GDP are not dry economic statistics. They are the harsh facts of life that she, her family and everyone in Zimbabwe grapple with daily. Mrs Mandaza, 53, is proud of her job as the assistant production manager in a Harare factory. But by the time she pays for travel to and from work and her rent for a small two-roomed house, more than half of her salary is gone. "I'm lucky, I have two sons and they both have jobs. But I still must be very careful when I shop. I support my mother and my sister, plus I help my brothers in the rural areas. There is just not enough money," she said.
Zimbabwe's once thriving middle-class is struggling to get by, but the poor are desperate. Growing numbers are begging and rummaging through rubbish bins. The disparity in wealth has widened after two years of economic crisis. "In 40 years working as a doctor, I have never seen so many cases of malnutrition, particularly among children," said a general practitioner. "It used to be that I would only see signs of kwashiorkor [a form of malnutrition caused by inadequate protein intake] in children from the rural areas. Now I see it in city children." The United Nations estimates that nearly 1 million urban Zimbabweans do not have enough food. In total, more than 7 million of the country's 12 million people are threatened with starvation, according to the government. Just a few years ago Zimbabwe was extolled as the breadbasket of Africa for all the surplus food it exported. An unruly commotion erupts in the supermarket as people rush to the bakery section where bread is put on the shelves. After a few minutes of shoving and grabbing, the bread is gone. One woman was knocked down in the scuffle. There used to be a similar rush when milk and other fresh dairy products were delivered. But for two weeks there have not been any milk deliveries. A dairy farm that supplied 40% of Harare's milk has been overrun by Mr Mugabe's supporters, according to local newspaper reports. The supermarket no longer puts its rare deliveries of maize meal or other scarce items on sale in the store. After some mini-riots in which shelves were knocked down, the scarce goods are sold at the back of the store where deliveries are made. People queue there for hours.
Zimbabwe's once respected police are now widely feared for arbitrary arrests, beatings and torture. In the past two months 10 high-profile Zimbabweans, including three members of parliament and one lawyer, have accused police of torturing them with electric shocks. Medical examinations have confirmed injuries consistent with their harrowing accounts. Most were released without charges. Last month more than 250 opposition supporters were forced to go into hospital after men dressed in army uniforms raided their homes and beat them. But not everyone is gloomy and depressed. "The worse things get, the sooner we will have a change," said one motorist queueing for fuel. "The more angry people get, the sooner they will press Mugabe to go." He pointed to the visit to Harare on Monday of South Africa's president Thabo Mbeki and his Nigerian equivalent Olusegun Obasanjo. "Do you think they came to congratulate Mugabe on doing such a good job? No, they came to tell Mugabe he must go. The pressure is mounting and change is in the air. I can feel it."
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From The Guardian (UK), 9 May
Reporter willing to face questions, says lawyer
Steven Morris
Lawyers acting for the Guardian's Zimbabwe correspondent, Andrew Meldrum, insisted yesterday he was willing to be interviewed by bona fide officials following proper procedures. Meldrum's legal team suspect immigration officials intended to deport him when they turned up in force at his home after dark on Wednesday night. They have tried to contact the immigration authorities to find out why they wanted to speak with Meldrum, an American citizen, but have so far been unable to do so. Meldrum's lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, said: "He remains willing to answer questions to bona fide officials provided they follow proper legal procedure which requires that they state their inquiry upfront." Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian's editor, said: "We are extremely concerned about the intentions of the Zimbabwean immigration authorities in pursuing our journalist Andrew Meldrum. We can only conclude that this is an attempt to intimidate Andrew and undermine the operation of a free press in Zimbabwe, something the international community should condemn in the strongest terms." He has written to the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, the US ambassador, William Farish, and international press organisations urging them to intervene.
According to Ms Mtetwa, a convoy of at least three vehicles arrived at Meldrum's home at 8pm. He was not present. When the officials were asked why they were there they said Meldrum was "wanted for questioning". They refused to say what the questioning was about. The immigration officials left to get reinforcements. Ms Mtetwa said the visit to Meldrum's home was similar to previous cases "where nighttime visits by large numbers of officers invariably led to arrest, detention and deportation". She has written to the immigration authorities confirming Meldrum's willingness to be interviewed at the immigration offices in Harare in working hours, once he is told what the questioning is about. The Zimbabwean authorities have been attempting to imprison and deport Meldrum for more than a year. Last July the high court in Harare rejected a move by the government of President Robert Mugabe to have him deported. The previous week a magistrates court acquitted Meldrum of charges brought under a new press law which threatened to punish journalists writing "falsehoods". Shortly before Meldrum's house was visited by immigration authorities on Wednesday, Zimbabwe's supreme court struck down key sections of the law under which Meldrum had been prosecuted. Three journalists have been expelled from the country over the past two years. Meldrum is one of the last international journalists reporting from inside Zimbabwe. He holds permanent resident status, having covered the country for the Guardian for 22 years.
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From The Independent (UK), 9 May
Zimbabwe must have 'road-map' to legitimacy, says US
By Basildon Peta, Southern Africa Correspondent
The American envoy for Africa called for a "road-map" to achieve "regime legitimacy" in Zimbabwe yesterday, which would inevitably mean the departure of President Robert Mugabe from office. In a telephone interview with The Independent, the Assistant Secretary of State, Walter Kansteiner, who is in Botswana, said that Washington hoped the latest initiative by African leaders to intervene in the Zimbabwe crisis would produce a blueprint for the future. This would shape a transitional process leading to a new government which would respond to the needs of Zimbabweans. Mr Kansteiner said "regime change" was not the phrase he would use to describe his government's policy on Zimbabwe but "regime legitimacy". "Regime legitimacy is what everyone is striving for. Can and will and how do the people of Zimbabwe have their voice heard? How do the governing institutions in Zimbabwe reflect legitimacy in the eyes of the Zimbabwe people," he said. In an article published in South Africa yesterday, the widely respected national director of the South African Institute of International Affairs, Greg Mills, said there was no hope for Zimbabwe unless President Mugabe goes. He said the departure of Mr Mugabe could perhaps be the real start of the so-called African Renaissance. Asked whether he agreed with such a sentiment, Mr Kansteiner said: "I think the people of Zimbabwe need a government which is responsive to their needs and suffering. If that happens, that would be a good day indeed." The presidents of South Africa, Nigeria and Malawi, Thabo Mbeki, Olusegun Obasanjo and Bakili Muluzi visited Zimbabwe this week for talks with Mr Mugabe and his main adversary Morgan Tsvangirai. But their plan to set the stage for the retirement of the 79-year-old president hit a snag when they failed to broker a dialogue between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change. Mr Mugabe demanded full recognition by Mr Tsvangirai before talking to him. Mr Tsvangirai refused, saying he would not recognise someone who "stole" an election.
The three African leaders, however, vowed to continue with their efforts to bring the two to the negotiating table. Mr Kansteiner said the US government fully backed their initiative but was not involved in it. "Our role comes in once the people of Zimbabwe and the regional leaders have mapped out a course," he said. "Where we can assist is with technical assistance, in preparation for an electoral process. We can assist on reconstruction and re-development. We have resources not only financial resources but also technical expertise. I think that's the big role that we can eventually play," he said. However Mr Kansteiner's use of the term "road-map" has parallels with plans for peace between Israel and the Palestinians backed by the US, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. The model involves the successful sidelining of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in favour of a new Prime Minister, Mahmoud Abbas. The Independent reported last week that America, Britain and South Africa had voiced their preference for the former Zimbabwean finance minister, Simba Makoni, as a suitable interim figure to take over from Mr Mugabe. On the eve of their arrival in Zimbabwe, Mr Mbeki and his colleagues were attacked in President Mugabe's tightly controlled state media which suggested they were visiting Zimbabwe as "agents" of the British and US governments. Mr Kansteiner said the crisis in Zimbabwe was not sustainable: the economic, humanitarian and civil liberties crises had all converged into a major political crisis needing an urgent solution. He noted that it was important that the three African presidents had met both Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai. The transitional process required agreement from the two leaders, he said. Many Zimbabweans have been quoted as calling for President George Bush to invade the country and topple their leader as he did in Iraq. Mr Kansteiner ruled out such a prospect.
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Comment from Business Day (SA), 8 May
There is hope for Zimbabwe, but only if Mugabe goes
Greg Mills and Tim Hughes
Mbeki must not flinch from the opportunity to exercise his considerable strengths of negotiation and persuasion
There are two distinct futures for Zimbabwe. One is with President Robert Mugabe remaining in power, a bleak prospect promising much of the same as in the past decade: an imploding economy and worsening human rights. It is no future at all. The other is more promising, and requires a new leadership. Zimbabwe faces huge economic and social challenges as a result of Zanu PF's misrule including 200% inflation and 75% unemployment. In the best-case scenario, rebuilding the Zimbabwean economy will be the task of a generation and will not attract the bloated billions pouring into Iraq and Afghanistan. But at least a new president and administration would offer the commodity most Zimbabweans now crave: hope. Programmatically, it would also offer the prospect of improved governance, including the restoration of the rule of law and an accountable polity. For Zimbabweans, a new, credible, popularly elected and accountable government would go a long way to restoring their faith in democracy and would rekindle national pride, rather than shame and fear. Most importantly, a new government, with the backing and support of the international community, could set about the immediate task of putting food in the bellies of the 6 million Zimbabweans currently living on a knife-edge of hunger. The regional dividend of a new and legitimate government in Harare is incalculable. It would not only present the Southern African Development Community region with a further fillip after the Angolan and Democratic Republic of Congo successes, but also turn the political tide in favour of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad). These two scenarios should not be breaking news to anyone.
The real question has, however, been to get from Mugabe's rule to something more acceptable, and what new leadership might look like and mean for Zanu PF without Mugabe. The latter concern, combined with the party's own insecurities in consolidating its rule from liberation movement to political party and a visceral fear of being seen to be doing the bidding of the west, apparently have been the main reasons behind the reluctance of the African National Congress to move publicly and decisively in removing Mugabe. It was not as if there were no alternatives between quiet diplomacy or invasion, as Pretoria has claimed since 2000. The range of policy options from more public pressure, engagement with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), public and private sanctions, to more martial responses has been on public offer for those opting to investigate. Yet with talk of Mugabe's departure now imminent, it would seem Pretoria has bitten the bullet in finally moving publicly on Harare. There are many advantages to doing so, far outweighing the domestic costs of being seen to be acting on behalf of the US or UK governments. Critically, such action signals the end of the complacency that has cost Nepad greatly in terms of negative international perceptions. Mugabe's continued misrule has flown in the face of Nepad's promises about good governance, democracy and Africa.
Should Mbeki be successful in devising an acceptable exit strategy for his Zimbabwean counterpart, there will also be some dividends in terms of reducing the levels of suspicion and mistrust following Pretoria's utterances on the Iraqi intervention. But the principal benefit will be to Zimbabweans themselves a fact too often lost on those who have preferred to portray this as a racial conflict or one between Zimbabwe and its formal colonial master, Britain. Six-million Zimbabweans more than half the population face food shortages this year, and many could die as a result. The critical fall in agricultural output in the former breadbasket of the region is a direct result of Mugabe's so-called land redistribution programme. The currency has collapsed, with a wide gap persisting between official and unofficial exchange rates. The depth of the fiscal crisis is borne out by the fact that this year's deficit is estimated at half of the $2bn expenditure budgeted. In the longer term, Zimbabwe's recovery will require large-scale international financial and technical aid. Given the right conditions of good governance, democracy and respect for human rights and the rule of law, the parlous economic situation could, in time, be reversed.
In the absence of overwhelming domestic and international pressure that would lead to forced regime change, the obstacles to Mugabe's removal should not be underestimated. He is a highly intelligent and skilled survival politician, and a redoubtable negotiator. Mugabe will no doubt attempt to buy time and play presidents Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo along while he does so. This makes drafting and publishing a Zimbabwe road map and timeline for transition all the more important. SA will also have to rebuild relations with the MDC, especially the leadership of Morgan Tsvangirai, as such relations have become defined by animosity and perceptions that a partisan Pretoria favours Zanu PF. Now is the time for Mbeki to exercise his considerable strengths of negotiation and persuasion the type of strengths that spared SA a frightful civil war in KwaZulu-Natal in the run-up to the 1994 elections. Mbeki now has both history and the international community on his side. It is not the time to lose nerve and flinch. There are simply no downsides perceived or otherwise for Pretoria in engineering the removal of Mugabe. Nepad will benefit, and the image of the continent will improve. Most importantly, when Mugabe departs office, it will be a great day for Zimbabwe and perhaps the real start of the African renaissance.
Dr Mills and Hughes are respectively the national director and the parliamentary research fellow at the SA Institute of International Affairs, based at the University of the Witwatersrand.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 9 May
FSI property invaded by Mnangagwa opponents
Augustine Mukaro/Dumisani Muleya
President Robert Mugabe's succession battle is assuming new dimensions with reports that retired army general Solomon Mujuru could be moving to block Mugabe's anointed heir Emmerson Mnangagwa who has been positioning himself for a take-over. It is claimed that Mujuru has hired war veterans and youths in the Mashonaland East province to occupy Ruware Farm in Marondera, bought by FSI Agricom from commercial farmers Glen Johnson and Arthur Knight last year. FSI is linked to business magnate Mutumwa Mawere who is said to be an ally of Mnangagwa. Mawere however this week denied any political links. "I am not a part functionary," he said. "I am not an office-bearer in the party. I am not part of that story because FSI is a legally-registered body. If the company is sued, I will not be in court," said Mawere. Sources said war veterans linked to a group associated with Mujuru occupied the FSI farm in a bid to frustrate what are seen as supporters of the Mnangagwa camp. FSI managing director Ivan Savala described the occupation of Ruware farm as "politically-motivated" although he would not say who exactly was behind it. "The purchase of Ruware and eight other farms bought by FSI was done above board with all concerned parties approving it," Savala said. "Ruware farm was not even contested or listed for acquisition when we bought it. In fact it had a certificate of no interest when we entered into agreement with the previous owners," he said. Savala said when the purchase was concluded last May, the provincial leadership including governor David Karimanzira approved it. But this week, when FSI approached Karimanzira and the District Administrator to evict the occupiers, the governor demanded to see the transfer documents for the property.
Savala said this was surprising since Karimanzira was privy to the circumstances surrounding the sale of the farm. "It's ridiculous for anyone to demand our purchase documents and doubt our genuineness now," he said. "We will only release the documents, even to the governor, when we get clarification as to who needs them. This is a private investment and we have the right to protect it," he said. Savala said Karimanzira, who is linked to the Mujuru camp, has also been forced into questioning the developments he had been privy to from the outset. "The governor was not forthcoming with information as to who is querying our purchase of the farms," Savala said. "We would not give him the purchase documents before he tells us the source of dissatisfaction," he said. Savala said Mashonaland East war veterans' leader Wilfred Marimo had told FSI that he was instructed by his superiors to invade the farm. "Marimo told us it was an instruction from above but did not give specific details," Savala said. "He said he would remove the people anytime when his superiors were satisfied with the set-up. Marimo is actually supplying the over a hundred people invading Ruware farm with food and other basic needs," he said. Highly-placed sources said FSI yesterday was in the process of acquiring a peace order against the invaders. "Police have agreed to help us remove the invaders once we bring the peace order document," an FSI director said.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 9 May
Libyans on mission to revive stalled talks
Vincent Kahiya
Libyan investors are coming to Zimbabwe at the end of the month to re-open stalled negotiations on the acquisition of assets here, including the strategic Mutare to Harare fuel pipeline, the Zimbabwe Independent can reveal. Government sources this week said officials from oil conglomerate Tamoil together with other Libyan investors were edgy after President Mugabe's Independence Day interview when he hinted at his retirement. "They would like to secure assets as soon as possible to protect themselves against any eventuality," a source said. Apart from interest in the petro-chemical industry the Libyans have expressed interest in agro-processing, the hospitality industry and banking. But the prize assets with strategic importance to the North Africans are the pipeline and holding tanks in Mabvuku. The Libyans would like to take control of the assets to further their influence in the local fuel industry through a joint venture company with Noczim called Tamoil-Zimbabwe.
Negotiations between the Libyans and government over the fuel handling facilities stalled in December after the two parties failed to agree on the value of the assets. Government negotiators called for a proper audit of the assets before any deals could be signed. This resulted in Tamoil cancelling credit facilities thereby cutting off supplies to Zimbabwe. Since the beginning of the year, Zimbabwe has been importing fuel from Kuwait in an over-the-counter arrangement. Government sources this week said the Libyans would this time around have their Zimbabwean counterparts at a disadvantage. Supplies have over the past two weeks reduced to a trickle with Harare totally dry last weekend as Noczim failed to raise foreign currency. "The Libyans can dangle goodies in the face of government - like a line of credit - and the pipeline is gone," an industry source said. The source said this could guarantee supplies in the short term but there was the clear and present danger of the Libyans building an empire and killing off competition. "If they take over the pipeline, it's very likely that the pipeline will only be used to transport Libyan fuel."
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From The Guardian (UK), 10 May
Harare officials give Guardian executives 24 hours to leave
Owen Boycott
Two Guardian executives, who had flown to Harare to make representations on behalf of the newspaper's Zimbabwe correspondent, Andrew Meldrum, were yesterday ordered to leave within 24 hours. Shaun Williams, director of corporate affairs, and Siobhain Butterworth, head of legal affairs, were told by immigration officials that their 30-day visas had been revoked because they had not sought prior permission from the home minister before entering the country to discuss a sensitive issue. They were also told that they had filled in their visa applications incorrectly. The decision followed discussions earlier in the day at which the chief immigration officer, Elasto Mugwadi, agreed to meet Meldrum's lawyers on Monday. Government officials say Meldrum is "wanted for questioning". The two Guardian executives flew to Zimbabwe because they suspect the authorities are attempting to deport Meldrum. They had been told they could attend the Monday meeting. It was not clear if the immigration officials were aware of the agreed meeting.
On Wednesday, after dark, a column of four cars of immigration officers arrived unannounced at Meldrum's home. He was not there. Beatrice Mtetwa, his lawyer, said such night-time approaches "invariably led to arrest, detention and deportation". Letters have been sent to the immigration service confirming Meldrum's willingness to be interviewed in working hours at its Harare offices, once he is told what the questioning is about. Yesterday Meldrum, 51, an American citizen and one of the last international journalists in Zimbabwe, attended a party at the EU ambassador's residence in Harare. He has reported from Zimbabwe for 22 years. Last year he was one of the first journalists prosecuted under new media laws; a Harare magistrate acquitted him of allegations that he published false information about Zimbabwe. The law has been criticised by civil rights groups as an attempt to stifle criticism of President Robert Mugabe's government. Meldrum said yesterday: "The government thinks that, by trying to intimidate or deport me, or prevent me from working, they will also prevent other journalists who are doing great work." Mr Williams said last night that he and Ms Butterworth had filled in their visa applications correctly and declared the purpose of their visit.
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From The Daily News, 10 May
MDC vows to bring Harare to a standstill
Staff Reporter
The MDC yesterday warned that it would bring business to a halt in Harare if Elias Mudzuri, the suspended executive mayor, was not allowed to resume work on Monday. Gabriel Chaibva, the MDC shadow minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, told journalists at a Press briefing that he had instructed the mayor to report for duty as usual on Monday morning. Mudzuri has been on sick leave since Thursday. Chaibva said: "Let them bring the riot police to Town House. We will bring business in Harare to a complete halt. We are not making a mere threat. This is for real." Chaibva said the party was not worried about the economic repercussions of disruption of business in the country as it had the capacity to resuscitate the economy in a "post-Mugabe era". On Thursday night the council held a special meeting and resolved to advise the police that the ban they imposed on consultative meetings with residents at Town House "is unreasonable as it is the council's duty to consult with residents, ratepayers and stakeholders on civic matters". The police on Wednesday banned further meetings after residents at the weekly meeting advocated demonstrations in support of Mudzuri. Chaibva alleged that Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo was trying to protect the financial interests of several companies and officials the council is investigating for alleged theft and corruption. He said: "The cow has been stopped from giving milk." Chaibva said Chombo was sitting on a report on theft and corruption that was unravelled in the Chegutu Municipality by his own officials and was instead concentrating on Harare. Meanwhile, Chombo yesterday filed an urgent chamber application in the High Court seeking to bar Mudzuri from performing his duties, and the council from working with him. Chombo said the matter is urgent because Mudzuri's "behaviour greatly embarrasses myself, the government and all the law-abiding citizens of Zimbabwe".
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 9 May
Tsvangirai wants trial postponed so he can meet Muluzi
Harare - Lawyers for opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Friday they were trying to secure his passport, confiscated by the state last year, to allow him to travel to Malawi next week. The Movement for Democratic Change leader wants to meet Malawian President Bakili Muluzi over the stalemate do discuss the stalemate in talks with President Robert Mugabe's government. Tsvangirai was approached by Muluzi the day after he visited Zimbabwe with South African president Thabo Mbekei and Nigerian president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo in an attempt to bring the MDC and Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party to negotiations aimed at ending the country's crisis. However, he can only go if he gets back his passport, confiscated since last year when he was indicted for trial on charges of plotting to assassinate Mugabe. Tsvangirai's attorney, Innocent Chagonda, said on Friday he was applying to the high court for the release of the passport. The application would include Welshman Ncube, secretary-general of Tsvangirai's opposition Movement for Democratic Change, who is a co-accused in his trial, and party vice-president Gibson Sibanda, facing charges of helping to organise a national strike in March last month. The MDC wants the two officials to accompany Tsvangirai to Malawi, but they also had their passports seized after criminal proceedings were opened against them.
William Bango, Tsvangirai's representative, said the pro-democracy leader had been invited by the Malawi high commissioner in Harare on Tuesday, the day after the three African leaders' visit. Expectations that the three would lean on the 79-year-old Mugabe to relinquish his 23-year grip on power evaporated when he said he would not talk to Tsvangirai unless he withdrew the MDC's court challenge to Mugabe's widely disputed victory in presidential elections last year. Chagonda said the meeting with Muluzi in Lilongwe was provisionally scheduled for Friday next week, and Tsvangirai planned to leave Zimbabwe on Thursday. Tsvangirai's treason trial resumes on Monday, and Chagonda said he would apply for the hearing to be postponed on Thursday and Friday to allow Tsvangirai and Ncube to travel to Malawi. The two, as well as MDC agriculture secretary Renson Gasela, have pleaded not guilty but face the death penalty if convicted.
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From News24 (SA), 9 May
Mbeki: Zim's future bleak
Cape Town - The longer Zimbabwe's problems remain unresolved, the more entrenched poverty will become, and the greater the degree of social instability, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. Writing in the African National Congress' online publication, ANC Today, he said it would take pain and sacrifice on the part of Zimbabweans to end the economic crisis in that country. Mbeki added that, contrary to what some in South Africa claimed, the crisis did not originate from the desperate actions of a reckless political leadership. "It arose from a genuine concern to meet the needs of the black poor, without taking into account the harsh economic reality that, in the end, we must pay for what we consume." Mbeki - commenting just days after he and the presidents of Nigeria and Malawi held talks with Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and the opposition's Morgan Tsvangirai to help resolve the crisis - said social instability would rise as the poor tried to respond to the pains of hunger.
The more protracted this instability, the greater would be the polarisation and generalised social and political conflict in Zimbabwe. "To respond to this, the state will inevitably have to emphasise issues of law and order, even as it has ever fewer means to address the needs of the people. As it responds in this manner, the less it will have the possibility to address anything else other than the issue of law and order. "The more it does this, the greater will be the degree of the absence of order and stability." This was not because of demonic people in the Zimbabwean capital "harbouring evil hearts". To come out of the crisis, the people of Zimbabwe would have to make serious sacrifices, as demonstrated by the recent sharp increase in fuel prices as the government reduced the unaffordable fuel subsidy.
Mbeki said he remained convinced the people of Zimbabwe had to decide their own future. "Our own experience as a movement (the ANC) tells us unequivocally, that no lasting solution to the challenges that face Zimbabwe can be found, unless that solution comes from the people of Zimbabwe themselves. "It tells us that no Zimbabweans with any pride in their country, and respect for themselves, will accept that another should determine their destiny." South Africa would never treat Zimbabwe as its tenth province. This country would continue to encourage the ruling Zanu PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to negotiate a common response to Zimbabwe's challenges, as was done earlier this week. "We were pleased and inspired that the leadership of Zimbabwe itself holds the same view. Accordingly, we hope that all obstacles to the resumption of the dialogue between Zanu PF and the MDC, if any exist, will be removed, so that the talks can begin," he said.
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From VOA News, 9 May
Zimbabwe opposition leader continues to challenge election results
Harare - Zimbabwe's opposition leader has gone to court to try and force authorities to move forward with his legal challenge to President Robert Mugabe's election victory a year ago. Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday filed papers in the High Court demanding that his legal challenge to the 2002 presidential elections begin. The presidential election took place in March of last year. The opposition said the election was seriously flawed and, as the law required, filed a legal challenge 90 days after the results were announced. In his petition on Friday, Mr. Tsvangirai accuses state lawyers of failing to comply with court rules. He says, among other things, the state still refuses to provide ballot papers and boxes from the disputed election. He also says a pre-trial conference held last September did not lead to a trial date and no judge has yet been assigned to the case. Mr. Tsvangirai says all of these breaches of procedure are illegal. Last week, Mr. Mugabe and the presidents of three African countries asked Mr. Tsvangirai to drop his election challenge to facilitate peace talk between the ruling ZANU-PF and the opposition party. Mr. Mugabe said he would not talk to Mr. Tsvangirai unless he took the step. But the opposition leader responded that he would not withdraw the challenge unless an infrastructure was agreed for a transitional authority leading to fresh elections in Zimbabwe. In his petition Mr. Tsvangirai, who lost the election by 15 percent of the vote, said he would object to a judge presiding over the case who was also a beneficiary of Zimbabwe's controversial land reform program. Mr. Tsvangirai said any judge who had been given a farm by Mr. Mugabe's administration would be biased against him. One of the beneficiaries of Mr. Mugabe's land reform program is the second most important legal figure in Zimbabwe, the president of the High Court, Judge Paddington Garwe. He would normally hear a case of this importance. If Mr. Tsvangirai's application is granted, the trial will have to begin seven days later.
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From CNN, 9 May
Zimbabwe economy teeters on brink
Harare (AP) - Zimbabwe lurched closer to economic collapse Friday as banks ran out of money, fuel and power shortages worsened, factories slowed production and pay phones were scrapped because calls have become too expensive for coins. The central bank was not able to print money because the heavily indebted government failed to give it enough hard currency to import special paper, ink and security seals, state radio reported Friday. Shortages of the largest denomination, the 500 Zimbabwe dollar bill, left banks without enough cash for regular withdrawals. A box of matches costs 15 Zimbabwe dollars, or two U.S. cents at the official exchange rate of 800 Zimbabwe dollars to the U.S. dollar. The black market rate is 1,400-1. "We have reached an extremely serious situation. If it continues like this, the economy will soon come to a complete standstill," said James Jowa, chief economist at the independent Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce. Acute shortages of gasoline have worsened, with vehicles lined up outside empty gas stations for as long as three days. Some vehicles are abandoned by owners in what drivers call "hope" lines.
Industries and businesses report growing absenteeism by staff who can't get transportation to work. It simply isn't available, says the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries. "The number of man-hours lost as a result is incalculable. Man-hours also lost as a result of workers spending many hours in fuel queues is mind-boggling," said Farai Zizhou, acting head of the confederation. Industrial production is estimated to be 60 percent below capacity as Zimbabwe faces its worst economic crisis since independence in 1980. Inflation has soared to a record 228 percent this year and unemployment is nearly 70 percent. Production has been further hurt by regular power outages, known as "load shedding," by the state electricity utility since April 20. Some factories have been without power for six hours a day. The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority announced last month that supplies of power imported from the Congo and neighboring Mozambique, Zambia and South Africa were being reduced because Zimbabwe failed to pay for imports in foreign currency. Energy Minister Amos Midzi told state television Thursday that regional power suppliers classified Zimbabwe as "an unreliable customer" and reserved the right to shut off power at short notice. Zimbabwe imports 35 percent of its power requirements.
Many stores and offices in downtown Harare closed Tuesday during a six-hour power outage that jammed elevators and cashpoints, shut down refrigerators and froze computers at firms without back-up power. Zimbabwe's coal-fired and hydroelectric generating stations have been hit by breakdowns and shortages of spare parts and equipment. Acute food shortages have been blamed on erratic rains and the often violent confiscation of thousands of white-owned commercial farms since 2000. The state telephone company says it has begun ripping out its pay phones. It said in a statement last week that the largest coin - 5 Zimbabwe dollars - was far too low in value for spiraling call charges. The company said it was trying to set up computerized "phone shops" and public card phones but warned "this will depend on the availability of foreign currency." Jowa, the chamber of commerce economist, said not much of that was in sight. Foreign aid, investment and loans dried up in protest at political violence, state-orchestrated human rights abuses and disputed presidential elections last year that independent observers said were rigged. Foreign funding accounted for nearly half the hard currency inflows. The rest came from tobacco harvests, tourism and mining, all now sharply depleted. "The government is broke. There's no chance at all of recovery without a political settlement and support from the international community," Jowa said.
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From Reuters, 9 May
Zimbabwe govt urged to make speedy food aid appeal
By Stella Mapenzauswa
Harare - Zimbabwe may lose out on vital donor assistance if President Robert Mugabe's government does not recognise the extent of current shortages and appeal for more food aid soon, donor organisations said on Friday. Drought and disruption to agriculture caused by seizures of white-owned farms for landless blacks has left half the country's 14 million people facing food shortages. But donor officials said the government had underestimated the problem. "We have a problem in the sense that there are discordant figures given by the government itself and by what we see on the ground," said Francesca Mosca, head of a delegation from the European Commission. If we don't have evidence that there is a need and if there is no appeal from the government it will be very difficult for us to pledge more food since there are also competing emergencies like the Horn of Africa and Iraq," she told Reuters on the sidelines of a donations ceremony in the capital Harare.
Last month, the U.S.-based Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) said the country expected a reduced 561,180 tonnes cereal gap for the 2003/04 consumption year but that food security would worsen in drought-prone southern districts. Industry officials had previously estimated maize output of at least 414,100 tonnes from the 2002/03 (Nov/March) cropping season, down 20 percent from the previous year. Mosca said the European Union remained committed to offering aid despite frosty relations with Mugabe's government - mainly over the land reforms and Mugabe's controversial re-election last year, which triggered travel sanctions on his ruling elite. Mugabe denies that mismanagement has left a once thriving economy in shambles, with acute foreign currency and fuel shortages. Plan International, one of the non-governmental organisations distributing food aid in the country, warned that current estimates of maize output from the just-ended 2002/03 cropping season could have been inflated by basing calculations on area planted rather than actual harvest. "Some people believe there are harvests somewhere but when you go on the ground you don't see these harvests. We have had the opportunity to actually do more recent assessments and what we know is, on the ground, people are suffering," Edson Mugore, project manager at Plan International, told Reuters. "I think the worst is yet to come, particularly if you look at the period from July up to the next harvest. The situation in Zimbabwe will be worse," Mugore added.
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From IOL (SA), 10 May
Zim cops arrest 46 at Mother's Day march
Harare - Forty-six women were arrested on Saturday in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo during a peaceful but unsanctioned march marking Mother's Day, their lawyer said. The women were charged under the Miscellaneous Offences Act and were likely to be released after paying fines of ZIM$3 000 (R26) each, Perpetua Dube said. "We are trying to pay fines for everybody," she said late on Saturday. Those arrested included prominent rights activist Jenni Williams. Dube told AFP that many of those arrested had not been taken part in a march, organised by rights group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), but were simply bystanders. WOZA organised twin marches in Bulawayo and the capital Harare to highlight the plight of mothers struggling under Zimbabwe's economic hardships. Earlier, an AFP reporter speaking to Williams by telephone heard her tell a policeman: "You want to lock us up... The women's struggle will be a big struggle."The police, who had not given the go-ahead for the march as required under Zimbabwe's strict security laws, were not available for comment. Dube said civil suits would be prepared for those bystanders who were arrested. A march organised simultaneously in the capital Harare had been given police clearance. Around 100 women gathered in the capital's central Africa Unity Square outside parliament and held a peaceful two-hour demonstration. Holding bunches of roses and placards denouncing hatred and violence, the women, some wearing WOZA headscarves with the slogan "Enough is enough" sang, danced and listened to a woman preach from the Bible.
The southern African country has been wracked by political tension and economic hardship for the past three years. Inflation is currently at 228 percent and food shortages have affected millions of people. WOZA said it was holding the twin marches ahead of Mother's Day on Sunday "in honour of Zimbabwean mothers facing the brunt of the current hardships. "Fifty-six percent of Zimbabwe's population are women. "Traditionally it is the mother who must provide sustenance despite a meagre budget," the organisation said in a statement. "Our children are hungry, our men are angry and we can no longer comfort them," it added. The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) condemned the arrests. "The decision by the Zimbabwean authorities to arrest women for observing a day which is commemorated by millions of other women world wide demonstrates the repressive regime's insensitivity to gender issues," MDC spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi said. More than 50 women were arrested when the women's organisation held similar marches in Harare and Bulawayo to mark Valentine's Day in February.
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From Zvakwana, 10 May
Police disrupt Mother's Day March in Bulawayo
By Mary Ndlovu
Today is the day before Mother's Day. Zimbabwean women, organised by WOZA, chose this Saturday morning to take to the streets to register our concern as mothers about the high levels of violence, poverty and desperation in our country. We would carry our brooms and sweep the streets as a symbolic gesture demonstrating the need to sweep the country clean of hatred, lies, cruelty and greed. In Bulawayo our notification to the police of our intention to sweep the streets was met with an abrupt "Your application is not approved" and a suggestion that we could visit them to discuss the matter further. When Jenni williams went for further "discussion" she was lectured and threatened by one Matyatya, the writer of the letter. At a meeting later the women were determined to continue with our action in spite of the threats and clear danger of being arrested or worse.
At 10 this morning, women gathered in front of the City Hall. We carried our brooms and wore scarves with the WOZA logo. Unfortunately many came late so when the march started off about 10:10 we were only around fifty. Others joined as we proceeded along Leopold Takawira singing. We were led by Jenni Williams and Mabel Ngwenya who carried a WOZA banner at the front of the procession. By the time we reached Jason Moyo, 1 1/2 blocks away, our numbers had swelled, but as we mingled with Saturday morning shoppers, it was difficult to estimate the numbers. We stopped at the intersection to sweep around the edges of the street, singing and ululating. The marshals called us on to continue the march. Then I noticed a police landrover and riot police getting out. I couldn't see what happened, but saw Jenni and Mabel and others in the back of it - it was open. Passers by - and there were many - were surprised. But there appeared to be no violence. After getting several women into the land rover, other police officers moved around trying to round up the rest of the marchers, and then herded them on foot back the block to Central Police Station. Many of us just disappeared into the crowd. There was no resistance.
Back at the police station some late comers had gathered outside to try to see what was going on. We were not sure at all how many had been arrested. We then moved off to a collecting point where we could try to collect names. In the process two more women who had not even participated in the march were arrested. We were able to put together 20 names, including Jenni, Mabel Ngwenya of Zimrights, Gaby Watson and an Indian lady by the name of Patricia Fernandes who was doing her shopping with her husband and somehow got into the herd. Later we learned that Jenni and three others were taken to Nkulumane Police Station and had been told they would be in the cells until Monday. After the lawyers got involved in the case it then took several hours before we learned that 46 were being charged under the Miscellaneous Offences Act with blocking the pavement, and being fined $3,000. By the early evening women were being released in small groups. Just another Mothers' Day in Bulawayo. Won't it be good when we can celebrate Mothers' Day along with the rest of the world instead of in the police cells.
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From The Daily News, 10 May
Parallel market rates plunge to all-time low
Business Reporter
Exchange rates on Zimbabwe's parallel market for foreign currency plunged to eight-month lows of $1 700 against the United States dollar because of increased demand for hard cash, according to forex dealers. The dealers said the rates had been stable at between $1 200 and $1 300 against the American greenback since November, when the government announced tough new exchange control measures. However, the rates depreciated this week against increased demand from the country's energy utilities, the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority. The two parastatals jointly require more than US$240 million (Z$198 billion) to urgently finance fuel and electricity imports. Analysts said the Zimbabwe dollar could slip further because of continuing foreign currency shortages, which have not improved despite the opening of the tobacco auction floors at the end of April. Tobacco output has fallen because of drought, input shortages and instability in the agricultural sector caused by a controversial government land reform programme. Farmers have delivered few bales of tobacco to the auction floors because of the acute shortage of fuel. Others are still grading their crop after planting late.
Foreign currency dealers said confidence in the local currency had also been knocked by the failure of Zimbabwe's main political parties, the ruling Zanu PF and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to commit themselves to dialogue on the country's political and economic crises. Attempts by regional leaders to facilitate the resumption of talks between the two parties failed, with neither seeming to be willing to climb down from the tough public stance they have adopted. "There is nothing on the group suggesting the local currency could pick up. All we are seeing and getting are negative signals that can't help anything," a Harare analyst said. Nesbert Tinarwo, chairman of the association that represents bureaux de change associations that were banned by the government in November, said the closure of the bureaux had worsened hard cash shortages. He said forex dealers were no longer able to tap into other sources of foreign currency, such as cross-border traders and the diplomatic community. Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa banned bureaux de change in November, accusing them of contributing to foreign currency leakages.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 9 May
Zanu PF chefs grab land funds
Augustine Mukaro
Top Zanu PF officials including the two vice-presidents, Simon Muzenda and Joseph Msika, have benefited from funds from the Irrigation Rehabilitation Programme designed to resuscitate irrigation on A2 farms last year, the Zimbabwe Independent can reveal. Irrigation equipment worth millions of dollars was either looted or vandalised during the farm grab which started in 2000. Government last year announced a $1,2 billion package to rehabilitate the equipment and Zanu PF senior politicians have topped the list of beneficiaries. Documents to hand show that of the $1,2 billion availed, ruling party cronies received over $873 million. There are fears that some of the public funds may not be recovered as has been the case with other such facilities where officials have refused to pay back loans. The funds were made available at the same time as the tillage and restocking programme funds.
Msika received $8,4 million while Muzenda got $4,3 million under the programme, according to Arda (Agricultural and Rural Development Authority) documents. This is not the first time Zanu PF chefs have jumped on the gravy train. In 1997 a High Court case revealed that senior officials diverted funds meant to build houses for middle-income civil servants. In 1998 party officials were also implicated in the looting of the War Victims Compensation Fund. The Zanu PF "who's who" list has also featured in the tally of those accused of unfairly benefiting from the District Development Fund borehole project which saw drilling equipment diverted to private properties. Some of the beneficiaries of the latest scheme include Youth Development minister Elliot Manyika who received $10 million, Finance minister Herbert Murerwa who received $6,2 million, Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa $910 000, and Zanu PF MPs Webster Shamu and Didymus Mutasa who received $6 million and $7 million respectively. War veterans' leaders who also benefited include Chris Pasipamire ($5 million) and controversial municipal official Joseph Chinotimba ($6,5 million). Also listed were defence chief Vitalis Zvinavashe, who received $8,8 million, police commissioner Augustine Chihuri who secured $13,2 million, and the controversial Joceylin Chiwenga who got $3,2 million.
Government sources this week said there was no systematic assessment of would-be beneficiaries. The sources said the agreement with beneficiaries stipulated that beneficiaries should produce two crops per annum. The farmers are expected to repay their loans through a stop order system when they deliver their crops to the Grain Marketing Board. The sources said some of the money was not paid directly to farmers but to suppliers. President Robert Mugabe's nephew Leo doubled as beneficiary in his individual capacity and as service provider through his company Stewart & Lloyds. He received $7 million under the rehabilitation fund and his company generated business worth $60 million from the scheme. Investigations have revealed that 685 farmers benefited from the scheme with the majority of them having links to the ruling party in one way or the other. At the time of going to press Arda, which distributed the money, had not responded to written questions.
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From The Observer (UK), 11 May
Mugabe: liberator and looter
Africa is shrugging off a generation of leaders who have reduced their people to penury, says Ken Wiwa
How the world turns: while African leaders try to broker a political deal, protests are planned at cricket matches in London. An embattled but defiant African government circles the wagons against public opinion and pressure from the international community. Is it really only 11 years since the end of apartheid? It is doubly ironic in a week when Walter Sisulu died, following hard on the heels of the conviction of Winnie Mandela, that the crisis in Zimbabwe suggests that history might have turned a full revolution. Margaret Thatcher once famously suggested that anyone anticipating the end of white rule in South Africa was living in cloud-cuckoo-land. Yet the despatches from Zimbabwe over the past year sound like reports from a land in the clouds: while President Mugabe bends the constitution to suit his purpose, the bottom is falling out of the Zimbabwean economy. Inflation stands at an eye-watering 228 per cent, unemployment is nearly 70 per cent, and the nation is battling acute shortages of hard currency, food, gasoline, medicines and other imports. And as the situation in his own country deteriorates, President Mugabe continues to rage against Britain and categorises opponents to his government, including Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), as imperialist stooges.
Mugabe's rhetoric is emotive and evocative, a platform that once propelled him inexorably to power on a tide of anti-colonialism. And Mugabe himself is a potent symbol of this anti-colonialism, the last of a generation of leaders to emerge from Africa's independence struggles. The President of Zimbabwe is a survivor, robust and fit for his 79 years, he allegedly runs five miles a day. But time has run out for Robert Mugabe. The future of Zimbabwe must be configured without the man who has ruled the country for more than 20 years. His failure to come to terms with his political mortality and make provision for a life after office is typical of his generation of African leaders, who have almost without exception clung to power beyond their shelf life. In Africa, elders retain an influence and reverence that increases with age, but the gerontocratic aspect of African politics is on trial in Zimbabwe. Last year Kenya's former president, Daniel Arap Moi, was forced to retire. Although Moi was able to earn himself a nice stipend in retirement, he couldn't deliver the presidency to his chosen successor, Uhuru Kenyatta. And this is the sticking point for Mugabe, who is adamant that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC will not succeed him. The future of Zimbabwe seems to have become personalised in the struggle between Tsvangirai and Mugabe in much the same way that Israeli-Palestinian relations are symbolised by the animosity between Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon.
Although it is clear that Mugabe would rather die than see Tsvangirai in power, I would imagine that in Zimbabwe's power dynamics, Mugabe's clique in the ruling Zanu PF party, who are desperate to cling on to the trappings and privileges of office, represent even more of an obstacle than their leader. Efforts to broker a deal by the presidents of South Africa, Nigeria and Malawi have so far not been successful but resolving the impasse may only be a matter of hammering out the fine print of a power-sharing arrangement between the MDC and Zanu PF. The battered economy and people of Zimbabwe need this sooner rather than later. The ramifications of any political deal will reverberate beyond Zimbabwe. It wasn't so long ago that the Zimbabwe issue was described by the G8 as a litmus test of Nepad's (the New Economic Partnership for African Development) commitment to good governance. Having staked their fortunes to Nepad, President Mbeki of South Africa and to a lesser extent President Obasanjo of Nigeria are committed to proving the Nepad mantra that African solutions to African problems can resolve this crisis. And while a successful resolution of the Zimbabwe crisis will go a long way to easing investor fears, and perhaps force the G8 to come up with real cash for Nepad, the crisis in Zimbabwe should remind us that many African countries have yet to come to terms with the legacy of colonialism.
It is instructive that the land issue was the trigger for the crisis in Zimbabwe. Mugabe was able to exploit the simmering and centuries, old resentments over land, resentments that characterise the political landscape in many African countries. South Africa has an impending land issue of its own but in Nigeria the crisis is already at hand: the infamous land use decree of 1978 which vests all land and resources in the hands of the federal government is at the crux of Nigeria's political dysfunctions. The land issue speaks to the enduring colonial legacy that drew seemingly arbitrary lines across Africa to satisfy the economic agendas of the colonial powers. Africa is still configured along those economic agendas, agendas that cut across the cultural, historical, social, economic and intellectual interests of the continent. The crisis in Zimbabwe illustrates how a continent rich in natural resources, in ecological, social and intellectual capital is being systematically pillaged by leaders, looters and lenders. For me the most depressing statistic in the Zimbabwe affair is the estimate suggesting that as many as 60 per cent of the country's trained professional class - engineers, accountants, lawyers and doctors - have left.
Ken Wiwa is a leading specialist on African affairs and research fellow at the University of Toronto
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From IOL (SA), 12 May
Tensions mount as Zim treason trial resumes
Harare - The trial of Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was set to resume in Harare on Monday against a background of widening political and economic tensions in the southern African country. Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has been charged with plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe ahead of last year's presidential elections, which Mugabe won. Tsvangirai denies the charges, alleging he was framed by Mugabe's government. If convicted of treason, he faces the death penalty. "It (the trial) is going to resume tomorrow," Tsvangirai's lawyer Innocent Chagonda told AFP on Sunday. The high-profile trial of Tsvangirai began amid a blaze of publicity in February and was adjourned nearly eight weeks later in March, when Harare's High Court went into recess. Two other top MDC officials stand accused with Tsvangirai: Welshman Ncube, the party's secretary general and Renson Gasela, the shadow agriculture minister. Expected to testify on Monday for the prosecution was one of the policemen involved in investigating the alleged treason plot - the fifth of 11 state witnesses. The state's main witness, Canada-based political consultant Ari Ben Menashe, has already testified.
The treason charges arise from a barely audible video tape of a meeting Tsvangirai held with Ben Menashe in Montreal in December 2001. Ben Menashe alleged that Tsvangirai had asked him at that meeting for assistance to "eliminate" 79-year old Mugabe. But Tsvangirai's lawyers allege that the consultant deliberately tried to entrap the opposition leader. Tensions between the MDC and Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party have increased in the last two months. The MDC staged a widely-followed two-day strike in March to protest alleged misgovernance, and then supported a second stayaway called by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) last month. That strike was called to protest a hike in petrol prices of more than 200 percent. Tsvangirai and the MDC have warned there will be further strikes. The MDC has been placing full-page advertisements in the private press stating: "The will of the people shall prevail". The opposition leader has also however said he is willing to meet with Mugabe and the ruling party to chart a way out of Zimbabwe's current political problems. Last week, three African leaders - Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Bakili Muluzi of Malawi - came to Harare for talks with Mugabe and Tsvangirai in a bid to break the political deadlock.
Mugabe appeared shortly after the talks to say that Tsvangirai must accept him as president before any inter-party talks could resume, something the opposition leader is unlikely to do. The 51-year old former trade union leader has refused to accept Mugabe's victory in the March 2002 presidential polls, and will challenge it in court. This week the MDC filed an urgent court application to force the High Court to set a date for the long-awaited election petition. At a rally Sunday in the country's second city of Bulawayo, attended by an estimated 20 000 people, Tsvangirai urged thousands of party supporters to take to the streets in support of his demand for a re-run of last year's presidential poll. "What the MDC wants to do is for people to go on the streets in numbers. And if we go on the streets (President Robert) Mugabe will know it's over for him," Tsvangirai said. He did not set a date for the protest. "The dates for the mass action will be announced soon," he said.
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From The Daily News, 12 May
Fuel crisis hits Air Zim
By Columbus Mavhunga
Air Zimbabwe, one of whose planes had to make an emergency landing to refuel in Lusaka, Zambia, yesterday morning, has only three days' supply of Jet A1 fuel left. The national airline might have to ground some of its planes if it does not receive deliveries by Wednesday. Air Zimbabwe spokesman David Mwenga told The Daily News that the airline's fuel stocks were running low. He, however, denied that the plane that made an emergency stop-over in Lusaka yesterday, delaying passengers, had run out of fuel. Mwenga said the Harare-bound flight, UM767 from London, had been diverted to Lusaka to refuel to enable it to fly to Johannesburg. He said Air Zimbabwe had opted to refuel in Lusaka to conserve the low stocks in Harare. "You have to understand that we are facing severe fuel shortages in this country. But it is absolutely not true that the plane had run out of fuel," he said. "We wanted to use the same plane to go to Johannesburg. But since we did not have enough Jet A1 here, it had to divert its route to Lusaka for refuelling."
Zimbabwe is facing a severe shortage of liquid fuel, stemming from a serious foreign currency squeeze that has adversely affected the country's industry and commerce. The crisis has also crippled the public transport system. The government, in a desperate move, has asked banks to source foreign currency from the parallel market at whatever rate to ease the worsening crisis. Mwenga said the national airliner, which is already operating below capacity because of a decline in international and domestic travellers, had enough stocks of Jet A1 fuel to last between two and three days. The Air Zimbabwe spokesman said the parastatal had no indication as of yesterday when it might next receive supplies. "We have enough stocks for two to three days. Fuel companies would be in a position to say when the next deliveries of Jet A1 will come," Mwenga said. He said there was little the airline could do once stocks ran out but to wait for deliveries.
Meanwhile, passengers on Flight UM767 yesterday said they had been delayed by about two hours in the Zambian capital while the plane refuelled. The plane, which left London at 1930 hours on Saturday, was scheduled to land at Harare International Airport at 0630hours. However, it arrived about two hours late after the diversion to Lusaka . Frustrated passengers who were on the flight yesterday said the pilot had told them that the plane would not reach its destination unless it refuelled in Zambia. "The pilot said the landing was unavoidable as the plane had run out of fuel," said a passenger who phoned The Daily News and identified himself only as Robert. "It was a very risky decision which the pilot made to take off at Gatwick International Airport when he really knew that there was not enough fuel to take the plane to its destination. What if Zambian authorities had refused to refuel that plane? We would be still stuck in Lusaka." But Mwenga said British aviation authorities would not have allowed the plane to depart London if it did not have enough fuel to reach Harare. He said the airline was very much aware that it had inconvenienced passengers and their waiting relatives and friends. "But they must not get down to tarnish the image of Air Zimbabwe by saying we risked the passengers' lives," he said. "While we delayed these people by about two hours, only a mad pilot with about 200 passengers aboard would take off if there were not enough fuel stocks in the tank. "It is normal in the aviation industry that planes divert routes and make stop-overs to refuel. But it has been a long time since we diverted any flight."
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From Business Day (SA), 12 May
Zimbabwe crisis, Iraq will be focus of talks
International Affairs Editor
The crisis in Zimbabwe and the post-Iraq war role of multilateralism are likely to form much of the focus of talks between British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma this week. Straw arrives in SA tomorrow for a two-day visit along with UK Education Minister Stephen Twigg and Environment Minister Michael Meacher. UK officials are stressing that the talks will not be bogged down by differences between the UK and SA on their approach to Zimbabwe, and will cover a range of other issues, including peace efforts in the Great Lakes region, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) and the recently unveiled road map for peace in the Middle East. SA continues to resist publicly the idea supported by the UK that increased pressure on Harare is required to resolve the crisis. In a signal that President Thabo Mbeki is intent on quashing speculation that pressure is about to be applied to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, he stressed in his weekly letter on the African National Congress (ANC) website that Zimbabweans should determine their own future, and the country's problems were not the result "of a reckless political leadership".
The meeting will mark the first time in-depth talks have been held between the two ministers, but come at a time of speculation in London that Straw may soon leave the foreign secretary post to become chancellor of the exchequer in a soon to be announced cabinet reshuffle. SA and UK officials say the talks were arranged earlier this year, prior to the Iraq war, at a meeting between Mbeki and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in the UK. The talks come less than a month ahead of a Group of Eight meeting in Evian, France, at which the leaders of the advanced industrial countries will be looking at what has been achieved under the auspices of Nepad since last year's meeting. Last month, Valerie Amos, the UK's top minister for Africa, warned African countries that the situation in Zimbabwe was making it increasingly difficult to promote Nepad. She said the "lowkey" pressure being brought to bear on Harare by African countries was "bedevilling" developed countries' relations with Africa. In a public address on Iraq, multilateralism and the international rule of law, Straw is expected to seek common ground with SA on an enhanced role for the United Nations. The trip presents a chance to ease strains that arose over Iraq as well as over the foreign office warning last year on the risk to British nationals from global terrorism in SA. Straw will also attend a memorial service for deceased ANC stalwart Walter Sisulu and pay the president a courtesy visit.
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Comment from ZWNEWS, 12 May
Smoke signals from Pretoria
Last Friday, in his regular contribution to ANC Today, Thabo Mbeki warned of a vicious circle in Zimbabwe. "The longer the problems of Zimbabwe remain unresolved, the more entrenched poverty will become. The longer this persists, the greater will be the degree of social instability, as the poor try to respond to the pains of hunger. The more protracted this instability, the greater will be the degree of polarisation and generalised social and political conflict. To respond to this, the state will inevitably have to emphasise issues of law and order, even as it has ever fewer means to address the needs of the people. As it responds in this manner, the less will it have the possibility to address anything else other than the issue of law and order. The more it does this, the greater will be the degree of the absence of order and stability." So far, so old hat - but an improvement on his previous statements on the "progress" being made in Zimbabwe. Or is it?
For another view of the thinking in Pretoria, one could do worse than reading the Johannesburg Sunday Times, which has, by repute, an excellent relationship with the South African President's Office. Yesterday, in a week when South African political news has been dominated by the death of Walter Sisulu, the paper carried no less than three articles speculating on Mugabe's successor. In a long commentary entitled Saving Zimbabwe: Mission Impossible, the paper painted a picture of a weary and worried Robert Mugabe, rocking back and forth in his chair while his aides looked on in silence. The trio of African presidents had left the marquee in which he was sitting in the grounds of State House, where they had all just eaten lunch. "After years of denial, Mugabe has finally conceded that his country is in the midst of a growing crisis - economic and otherwise," the paper asserts. After a brief tour through Zanu PF contenders for the leadership - Makoni, Mnangagwa and Moyo - the article then goes on to rubbish Zimbabwe's opposition party, the MDC, as faction-riven, inexperienced, and - startlingly - with no mass support. Please. Even the rigged election results gave almost half the country's votes to the MDC.
A second article discusses more fully the suitability of the MDC as a governing party. The paper quotes - of all people - Jonathan Moyo saying that the "the average MDC MP is a disaster and the only change they could bring is to take us to the pre-Stone Age era. While a handful of them are promising, the majority of them are the antithesis of change and competence. In fact, they just need to go back to school." With enemies like that, who needs friends? Ibbo Mandaza - hardly without a vested interest - is also allowed his quota of column inches to cast doubt on the opposition party's competence. "I don't think the MDC would be able to run the government on its own as it is," he says. "They have a lot of intellectuals around them, but suffer a serious lack of people with managerial experience." As if the current ministerial incumbents have demonstrated their capacity to manage even the proverbial brewery party.
A third article then examines five presidential contenders in more detail. Again, Morgan Tsvangirai and the opposition are slated. Tsvangirai, the article declaims, is "unsophisticated", "the least qualified" candidate, and with "no understanding of, or interest in, African politics". Simba Makoni? His chances of filling Mugabe' s shoes are "about as good as Ian Smith's". Sydney Sekeremayi? "Simply too bland for president...not a man capable of original leadership." Jonathan Moyo? "An infant in the realpolitik of Harare, who will have reached his sell-by date the moment Mugabe leaves office. He couldn't command enough votes for a mayoral position, let alone the presidency." And who does this writer favour as the strongest contender? Speaker of parliament, Emmerson Mnangagwa. "An exceptionally calculating man who intimately understands the nature of power," he writes. "A man who has a reputation in the West for getting things done and keeping the troops in line." While acknowledging Mnangagwa's lack of support within his own party, the writer counters that he has connections with "big money". And his reputation as a war criminal? "Any immunity Mugabe negotiates for himself before quitting office will include his most faithful lieutenants - and Mnangagwa certainly fits this category," the writer concludes. The writer of this third article? Newton Kanhema - once with a reputation for cutting investigative journalism, but most recently seen as Nairobi correspondent for the state-controlled Sunday Mail.
Having virtually disappeared from sight since the story broke of his push for power at the beginning of the year, Mnangagwa's name has now resurfaced, only days after Mbeki led the trio of presidents to Harare. Remember also Mnangagwa's enthusiastic welcome at the ANC conference in Cape Town last December. In his ANC Today contribution, Mbeki said: "Our own experience as a movement tells us unequivocally, that no lasting solution to the challenges that face Zimbabwe can be found, unless that solution comes from the people of Zimbabwe themselves. It tells us that no Zimbabweans with any pride in their country, and respect for themselves, will accept that another should determine their destiny. South Africa would never treat Zimbabwe as its tenth province." In this game of smoke and mirrors, which is the smoke signal, and which is the mirror?
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 12 May
Police corruption allegations in Zim treason trial
Harare - South African lawyer George Bizos, defending Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in a treason trial, has claimed police tried to cover up for a key state witness. Bizos alleged that police had suppressed a transcript of an audiotape made by Ari Ben-Menashe, the chief state witness. The tape of a meeting between Tsvangirai and Ben-Menashe had been presented as a key piece of evidence in the trial. Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has been charged with plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe ahead of last year's presidential elections, which Mugabe won. MDC secretary general Welshman Ncube and shadow agriculture minister, Renson Gasela have also been charged. The three opposition officials face the death penalty if convicted of treason. Their trial resumed on Monday after being adjourned more than a month ago. Five state witnesses have already testified in the trial, including Ben-Menashe. The state's evidence hinges on transcripts of tapes made at meetings between Ben-Menashe and Tsvangirai in London and Montreal. The tapes have proved to be almost inaudible.
In his cross-examination of police assistant commissioner Moses Magandi, Bizos accused the investigator and his colleagues of suppressing a document "that would have proved that Ben-Menashe was lying". "You allowed him to mislead the people of Zimbabwe... and the world at large," he said. The document he was referring to was a transcript of an audiotape made at the London meeting. Ben-Menashe claimed that the tape showed Tsvangirai asking for help to eliminate Mugabe, but Bizos said the transcript of the tape clearly showed this was not the case. Earlier, Magandi said the police had not used the transcript of the London meeting because they could not make "head or tail of it". He said that the investigating team felt that Ben-Menashe would clarify the issues contained on the tape at the trial. The treason trial resumed against a background of widening political and economic tensions in the southern African country. Tensions between the MDC and Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party have increased in the last two months. The MDC has refused to recognise Mugabe's election victory last year, and in March called for a widely-followed two-day strike to protest alleged misgovernance. Tsvangirai and the MDC have warned there will be further strikes. The MDC has taken out full-page advertisements in the private press stating: "The will of the people shall prevail."
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Comment from Business Day (SA), 13 May
Dose of deja vu in Zimbabwe impasse
Steve Friedman
Events in Zimbabwe are beginning to seem familiar to those with a sense of our country's recent history.
Comparing Zimbabwe's present with our past as we began to negotiate democracy offends some because it implies moral similarity between legalised racism and the Zanu PF government led by Robert Mugabe. However, if we put the moral debate aside - apartheid was worse, but that is no comfort to a worker beaten up for backing the opposition - we do find strategic parallels. If these are understood, commentators, our government, and Zimbabwe's opposition may be better able to understand the process and help it. The key common element is stalemate. In both cases, an undemocratic government faces popular resistance but is in no danger of overthrow. (Those who claim Zanu PF was "democratically elected" must explain where else they would tolerate an election in which government monopolised control of the process, preventing any opposition check on it). It faces rising costs of maintaining its rule but controls public administration and is a strong presence in society. In both, the ruling party was split between reformers and "hardliners". In both, serious negotiation was impossible un |
