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Archived News
27th May 2003
New mass action campaign to start in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe suspension upheld
Nigeria wants Zimbabwe Commonwealth ban lifted
Zimbabwe crisis frustrates Downer
Zim admits treason tape discrepancies
CIO to investigate Ben-Menashe fraud
Zim turmoil costs SA R15bn
Mbeki, the apologist
State destroyed evidence of payment to Ben-Menashe
Zimbabwe 'unbearable,' cleric says
CIO probes Makoni's links with Tsvangirai
Food 'monetization' aims to reach urban poor
MCC turn a blind eye to protests armbands
Zimbabwe minister moves to block treason evidence
Mugabe urges open debate over successor
'Sudden flurry' of illegal Zim arrests
Lording it up
Exiled Zimbabweans urge an end to Mugabe rule
Concerns over winter wheat
War vets vow to crush mass action
Fuel import hopes dashed
Govt dispatches SOS delegation as. - Fuel woes deepen
Lawyer wants Meldrum back
Banks brace for worse cash crisis
Zimbabwe's banks run out of money
Mugabe's wife blows R100 000
SA press on thin ice
Zimbabwe will plead for food aid
Tsvangirai makes new demands in poll appeal
Chronicle website hacked
Zim must pray
Uncertainty surrounds succession debate
The race is on to take over from Mugabe
Zimbabweans pay bribes to withdraw cash
Resettled areas in a state of disaster
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From Business Day (SA), 21 May
Zimbabwe suspension upheld
Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group praises Pakistan for its reforms
London - Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth remained in place yesterday following a meeting of the Ministerial Action Group. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said after a meeting of the group in London yesterday that Robert Mugabe should step down as president of Zimbabwe to help the country pull out of its political, economic and social crises. "I think it would help if Mugabe stepped down," he said. Australia has been pushing the deeply divided 54-member Commonwealth to institute tougher sanctions against Zimbabwe since Mugabe's re-election last year in polls widely condemned as rigged. Mugabe's regime has been suspended from the ministerial councils of the Commonwealth since March 2002. Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon said the "broad middle-ground" was to sustain the suspension of Zimbabwe until the next Commonwealth heads of government meeting in December. McKinnon did not say what the group's reaction was to a torture report on Zimbabwe that he had said earlier Australia would table at the meeting.
While the organisation remained divided on Zimbabwe, it was unanimous in praising reforms in Pakistan. The group, however, decided to postpone a decision on restoring Pakistan's membership, which was suspended after a military coup in 1999. A Commonwealth source had said earlier that it was possible the ministerial meeting in London "could recommend a change of status for Pakistan". The ministers said in a joint statement that they "welcomed the progress made by Pakistan in the establishment of democratic institutions, including the election of the national assembly, the senate and provincial assemblies, and the formation of democratic governments at the national and provincial levels". They also welcomed "the positive measures taken for women's representation in the parliament, the representation of minorities and the determination to enhance public accountability and end corruption".
Gen Pervez Musharraf, now Pakistan's president, prompted an international outcry when he seized power and deposed the elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup over three years ago. Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri told McKinnon two weeks ago that "it was for the Commonwealth to do the right thing for Pakistan now" following October elections that led to the induction of a civilian government headed by Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali. Pakistan's suspension applies to the top-level ministerial councils of the Commonwealth. It has not been expelled from the 54member group of former British colonies as a whole. The Ministerial Action Group includes foreign ministers of Australia, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Botswana, India, Malta, Nigeria and Samoa.
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From CNN, 20 May
Nigeria wants Zimbabwe Commonwealth ban lifted
London - Nigeria said on Tuesday it would campaign for Zimbabwe's early readmission to the 54-nation Commonwealth and accused President Robert Mugabe's critics of trying to patronize and blackmail Africa. Foreign Minister Sule Lamido told Reuters in an interview his country, which hosts a summit meeting of Commonwealth leaders in December, had always opposed Zimbabwe's suspension from the group of mainly former British colonies. The 12-month ban, imposed in March 2002 in protest at alleged election-rigging and the seizure of white-owned farms for landless blacks, was later extended until the December summit in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. But the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe has split the Commonwealth, which groups 1.7 billion people around the world, with several African countries angered by what they say is a Western agenda to "punish" Mugabe. "The government of Nigeria does not believe in the suspension of Zimbabwe because we don't think it's the best way to get it out of its problem," Lamido said after a meeting of Commonwealth ministers in London.
Lamido said Nigeria and South Africa, two countries in a troika set up to pilot the Commonwealth's Zimbabwe policy, had reluctantly accepted last year there was a consensus across the organization for Zimbabwe's suspension. He said his government would try to persuade Australia -- the third troika member and a vocal campaigner for tougher steps against Zimbabwe -- to reverse the move before the Abuja summit. "The troika will still remain engaged and between now and (December) anything can develop...I'm optimistic," he said. Mugabe, 79, has ruled his southern African country since independence from Britain in 1980. London accuses him of leading Zimbabwe to economic disaster and a collapse in the rule of law. "Mugabe loves Zimbabwe. Mugabe fought for Zimbabwe," Lamido said. "I find people are so patronizing about their concern for the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe. It should be seen from the perspective of the African people." He dismissed as "blackmail" warnings from rich nations that investors would be scared away from business in the world's poorest continent unless African countries put pressure on Zimbabwe to reform. "There are 54 independent sovereign countries in Africa and you can't take Zimbabwe as a parameter for all of us," he said. "We have our problems. We are saying understand us, then appreciate us. Stop patronizing us."
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From The Age (Australia), 21 May
Zimbabwe crisis frustrates Downer
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer expressed frustration with the Commonwealth after a top-level meeting again failed to take action on Zimbabwe. Mr Downer said the 54-nation body had failed to make a difference in Zimbabwe, where 7.5 million people were starving. But he said there was no point in imposing sanctions on the troubled African nation, saying they would make no difference. "You're reaching a point where any sanctions are going to be pointless because President (Robert) Mugabe has taken his own sanctions against his own party. "The economy has completely collapsed," Mr Downer told journalists after the latest Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting in London. "There are now queues for fuel which can last for up to two days because Zimbabwe can't afford to import sufficient fuel. Zimbabwe's reached a point - with an inflation rate of 220 per cent - that it can't any longer afford to import the ink and the paper to print bank notes. It's reached a point where seven and a half million people in Zimbabwe are now suffering from food shortages." He said sanctions, particularly economic sanctions, weren't going to make any difference. "In the end the neighbouring countries are going to be absolutely crucial in putting more pressure on the governing party Zanu PF to fix up this problem." Australia has pressed for tough action against President Mugabe and Mr Downer circulated a dossier of evidence alleging brutality by his regime. However, in the face of continuing support for Mr Mugabe from African nations in the Commonwealth, Mr Downer's hands were tied. "There is a division of view in the Commonwealth about what more could be done," he said. "You can't act in a multilateral institution like the Commonwealth unless everyone agrees. Everyone has a veto. The Commonwealth is effective in a number of different ways but it hasn't been effective in solving the problem of Zimbabwe."
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From iafrica.com (SA), 21 May
Zim admits treason tape discrepancies
The head of Zimbabwe's secret intelligence service on Tuesday admitted that there were "discrepancies" in the fees his organisation paid for a secretly recorded video tape allegedly showing the leader of the opposition plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe. Head of the Central Intelligence Organisation Brig. Happyton Bonyongwe, said the spy agency did not investigate the informant who provided the tape and did not know the informant's partner was wanted in the United States for fraud. He was testifying at the treason trial of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and two aides. Bonyongwe said he did not seek the help of Canadian authorities or inform them of a plan by Ari Ben Menashe, a Montreal-based political consultant, to video a meeting with the Zimbabwe opposition leader in December 2001. He said Ben Menashe was in Zimbabwe two weeks before the meeting and asked for money to pay recording costs. Ben Menashe was given US$30 000 for hiring equipment and other expenses, he told the Harare High Court.
South African attorney George Bizos, heading a team of defence lawyers, said state witnesses, including the maker of the video, already testified that Ben Menashe paid US$5000 to have the recording made. Ben Menashe himself testified that all the US$30 000 went to the firm that made the video and he got nothing from that payment. "Yes, there are discrepancies. Fraud is a very strong word I am not going to indulge in. We will look into this matter," said Bonyongwe. The state case against Tsvangirai, party secretary-general Welshman Ncube and MDC official Renson Gasela hinges on the video tape. They deny the charges, saying Ben Menashe was secretly on the government payroll and framed them. The three could face the death penalty if convicted. Defence lawyers say that nowhere in the grainy, muffled video does Tsvangirai mention an illegal conspiracy or the murder of Mugabe. Bonyongwe said he did not know Ben Menashe's partner, Alexander Legault, was facing extradition to the US in connection with US$7-million and US$13-million fraud in Louisiana and Florida. He said he did not want to involve Interpol or foreign police services in the investigation into the assassination plot or send his own agents to help Ben Menashe. "Ben Menashe was going to secure the evidence and deliver it to us. The more people involved in a delicate operation like this, the more the chance it will be compromised," he said.
Bizos has repeatedly described Ben Menashe as a liar and fraudster. He said defence lawyers found it astonishing the spy agency gave Ben Menashe's firm more than US$600 000 without checking his or Legault's bona fides or seeking official assistance from other security or police agencies on the alleged assassination plot. Attorney Chris Andersen, also appearing for Tsvangirai, protested to Judge Paddington Garwe on Tuesday that police guards at the courthouse gates seized confidential documents being brought to lawyers in the building by an opposition official. The documents were returned to defence lawyers after witnesses saw them being photocopied, he said. Police denied making photocopies, saying the nearest copier was not working. "This is wholly unacceptable. It affects one of the most basic rights of client-attorney privilege," Andersen said.
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From The Daily News, 21 May
CIO to investigate Ben-Menashe fraud
Court Reporter
Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) boss Happyton Bonyongwe promised under cross-examination yesterday to investigate defence claims that Ari Ben-Menashe, the star witness in the trial of three senior opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) officials, could have defrauded the government of US$25 000 (Z$20,6 million). South African advocate George Bizos, who is representing the MDC officials, alleged in the High Court that Ben-Menashe inflated the costs of producing video evidence of an alleged plot by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and two of his senior officials to assassinate President Robert Mugabe and overthrow the Zanu PF government. Ben-Menashe claimed that Tsvangirai requested Dickens and Madson, a political lobby firm of which he is head, to assist in the murder and coup conspiracy. He alerted a senior defence forces officer about the alleged assassination plot several months after he had approached the same officer selling military aircraft. The tape allegedly documents a meeting at the Royal Automobile Club in London, attended by Tsvangirai, MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube and Renson Gasela, the opposition party's shadow minister of agriculture. On 23 November 2001, Ben-Menashe flew from his Canada base to deliver an audio-tape, transcript and diskette that he claimed contained vital evidence of the MDC leaders' plan. He promised to procure further evidence in the form of a video-tape of his meeting with Tsvangirai on 4 December 2001, and asked for a US$30 000 fee.
Bizos said according to evidence by Ben-Menashe's assistant, Tara Thomas, the firm secured quotations ranging from US$2 000 and US$3 000 for the production of the video-tape. Bernard Schober, a Canadian security consultant who gave evidence in the trial, said the most it would cost to produce the tape was US$5 000, suggesting that Ben-Menashe may have pocketed the remaining US$25 000. Asked if the CIO would investigate the allegations of potential fraud, Bonyongwe said the State security agency would "look into it". He however said: "There is a discrepancy, but this business of using words like 'defraud' to describe the actions of other people, I am not going to indulge in." Bonyongwe also said investigations were in progress to track down a mysterious figure who chaired a meeting at the Dickens and Madson headquarters, which was attended by Tsvangirai and officials from the consultancy. Bizos charged yesterday that the audio-tape of the London meeting may have been tampered with to make it inaudible. He said a transcript compiled from the tape by a government transcriber was "vastly poorer" and contained less detail than an earlier version compiled by Thomas and Elizabeth Boutin, her colleague at Dickens and Madson. He said the tape would be more useful to the defence than it would be to the prosecution because it did not contain any evidence of the alleged plot. The trial continues today.
From ZWNEWS : Do you know the "mysterious figure", known as "Edward Simms", who chaired the meeting which was taped by Dickens & Madson? We have an artist's impression of this man, done by viewing the poor quality evidence tape, where his face is almost impossible to see consistently on any single frame. Follow this link to view the pictures.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 20 May
Zim turmoil costs SA R15bn
The ongoing political and economic turmoil in Zimbabwe has cost South Africa a massive R15-billion in the three years up to the end of 2002, says Tradek economist Mike Schussler. In work done for the Zimbabwe Research Initiative (ZRI) he also found that the crisis had cost the Southern African Development Community (SADC) a total of R18-billion. The ZRI is a non-governmental organisation arguing for change in Zimbabwe. Its chairperson, Shepherd Shonhiwa, a Zimbabwean expatriate, is chief executive of Tepco, a black economic empowerment oil company. "These are conservative figures," he added when presenting his findings at a briefing in Johannesburg. "The R15-billion loss to the South African economy translates into a total GDP (Gross Domestic Product) loss of 1,3%. Put differently, the South African economy (or GDP) would have been around 1,3% larger by the end of 2002 if it were not for the crisis in Zimbabwe for the last three years," Schussler said. "This equals just over 0,4% extra growth per year in GDP for the South African economy."
Schussler said the rand would also have been around 3,3% stronger than presently and the consumer price inflation excluding mortgages (CPIX) would have been 1.2% lower than the 11,2% in March. The SA Reserve Bank (SARB) uses the CPIX to determine its inflation target which has been set at between 3 and 6% for this year. The economist said that this, in turn, would have meant a prime interest rate 0,7% lower than the present 17%. Zimbabwe in 2002 cost South Africa's "real economy" R9 017-billion -- comprising R6 014-billion in goods not exported to what was once South Africa's sixth largest trading partner; R2 088-billion in services not rendered; R180-million for tourists who failed to arrive, R270-million in lost foreign direct investment and R465-million for unpaid goods and services rendered. Schussler said the last figure included non-payment for fuel and electricity.
Using a complicated formula Schussler calculated the effect of Zimbabwe on the "financial economy" - typically the value of the rand, inflation and interest rates - as R6-billion, making the overall, conservative total R15-billion. The economist also warned that the economic situation in Zimbabwe was so dire that it would take more than a few months or a new government to recover once a turn-around started. The economy there was still shrinking and inflation was spiralling with some expecting it to break the 500% level this year. In comparison, South Africa's CPIX inflation index stood at 11,2% in March, the most recent month for which data was available. Although Zimbabwe was no longer one of South Africa's top 10 export partners, the country was still not isolated from an economic implosion in its northern neighbour, Schussler cautioned. An implosion could wipe 7% off the value of the currency, trading at R7,81 to the dollar on Tuesday afternoon. On the other hand, a more stable Zimbabwe would mean a more stable rand.
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Comment from the Mail & Guardian (SA), 19 May
Mbeki, the apologist
Brian Raftopoulos
It appears that President Thabo Mbeki's recent letter on Zimbabwe is designed to achieve two major objectives. Firstly to stay close to Mugabe as the negotiations on a way out of the Zimbabwe crisis proceed; and secondly to use the politics of Zimbabwe to attack his opponents on both the left and the right in South Africa. However, in attempting to deal with these issues, Mbeki has underlined the problematic nature of both his interpretation of the Zimbabwean situation, and the role of South Africa in defining the way out of the crisis. On the president's analysis of the post-independence history of Zimbabwe, it is clear that he has presented what amounts to an apologist account of the 23-year rule of Zanu PF. One can certainly agree with his position on the enormous strides made by the Zimbabwean government through its social expenditure programme in the first decade of independence, and the unsustainability of such expenditure without substantial changes to the economy. However, Mbeki's assertion that the mistakes in economic policy made by the Mugabe government were basically the result of a benevolent elite, committed to the poor, which nevertheless failed to understand "harsh economic reality" is, to say the least, ill-conceived.
No discussion of the post-1980 period that fails to discuss the increasingly selfish interests of the ruling elite, as well as the destructive effects of the structural adjustment programme of the 1990s, is likely to do justice to an understanding of the Zanu PF era. Moreover it is inconceivable that an analysis of this period should exclude the increasing authoritarian nature of the state and massive abuse of human rights that has characterised Zanu-PF rule, both during the tragedy in Matabeleland in the 1980s, and in the post 2000 period. Evidence concerning these abuses is available in abundance, and they have little to do with the needs of a benevolent state trying to maintain "law and order" in the face of economic factors beyond its control. Instead they relate to a state whose legitimacy has been decreasing since the 1980s, to a significant extent because of its undemocratic style of government, and as a result has had to rely largely on the use of force to remain in power.
It is true, as Mbeki asserts, that people make history in conditions not of their own choosing, and that the processes that human beings set in motion lead to destinations they "may not have sought". This premise, however, cannot absolve us as actors in our society from seeking accountability from those in our midst who have had most influence over the course of events that we are forced to deal with. This is particularly the case when the consequences of their actions have had fatal effects on large numbers of people. Generalisations about historical processes do not remove responsibility over historical agency, and special pleading for a particular regime because of the difficult constraints it faces will not suffice either. There have been too many of both kinds of arguments in the Zimbabwean case and the victims are sinking beneath a deluge of such rationalisations.South Africa has an important role to play in helping to bring pressure on the Mugabe regime to return to meaningful dialogue.
It is likely that the recent visit of presidents Mbeki, Olusegun Obasanjo and Bakili Muluzi to Zimbabwe has once again proved that Mugabe is likely to toy with them as long as he can. Under such conditions Mbeki may continue to feel that it is better to keep Mugabe's confidence through continued shows of support. This strategy has already proved extremely costly, and unless there is a decisive shift in applying more pressure on Mugabe in the very near future, Mbeki and other African leaders may soon find their influence severely decreased.
Brian Raftopoulos is an associate professor at the University of Zimbabwe
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From The Daily News, 22 May
State destroyed evidence of payment to Ben-Menashe
Court Reporter
Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) boss Happyton Bonyongwe revealed yesterday that the State security agency destroyed documents relating to the payment of US$30 000 to the government's star witness, Ari Ben-Menashe, for the production of a video-tape forming the basis of treason charges against top leaders of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Bonyongwe said receipts and invoices from the transaction between the Zimbabwe government and Ben-Menashe were destroyed three months after they were received. He said the destruction of the documents was part of State security regulations. Bonyongwe made the revelations after George Bizos, the South African advocate leading the defence team in the trial, demanded receipts and invoices for the money paid to Ben-Menashe, a copy of the regulations which provided for the destruction of the documents and the identities of the people who destroyed the papers. The CIO boss refused to produce the copy of the regulations which authorised the destruction of the documents, claiming State security privilege. He would also not reveal the names of the people who destroyed the papers or those of the people who authorised them to do so. The court took an early adjournment after acting Attorney-General Bharat Patel asked for leave to consult the Minister of State Security, Nicholas Goche, on whether Bonyongwe should be questioned on details of the government's dealings with Ben-Menashe, which Bonyongwe said were privileged.
"We will argue that the monies were paid for services rendered and for the production of evidence in an attempt to secure a conviction," Bizos said, referring to the US$30 000 paid to Ben-Menashe to video-tape a meeting at the headquarters of his consultancy firm, Dickens & Madson, attended by the MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Ben-Menashe claimed that at the meeting Tsvangirai requested Dickens & Madson's aid in the murder of President Mugabe and the staging of a coup to topple the ZANU PF government. Tsvangirai and his co-accused Welshman Ncube, the MDC's secretary-general, and Renson Gasela, the party's shadow minister for agriculture, have denied the charges. "The motive of Mr Ben-Menashe (for producing the tape) has been articulated by him saying it was for the love of the people of Zimbabwe," Bizos said. "We don't have to accept the say-so of Mr Ben-Menashe. We have to investigate why the money was paid. We hope the Attorney-General and the minister will not issue another certificate to prevent us from questioning the witness on how and why the money was paid." In February, Goche issued a certificate barring defence lawyers from cross-examining Ben-Menashe on his consultancy contract with the Zimbabwe government. Goche argued that disclosure of details of the contract would "prejudicially affect the security of the State". The trial continues today.
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From The Washington Times, 22 May
Zimbabwe 'unbearable,' cleric says
By David R. Sands
Zimbabwe's economic and social crisis has become "unbearable" under President Robert Mugabe and the regime faces a crisis in the very near future, a leading Catholic prelate and one of the country's most outspoken human rights campaigners said yesterday. "Life is terrible, unbearable in Zimbabwe right now," said Pius Ncube, archbishop of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second-largest city, in an interview during a trip to Washington this week to meet with senior U.S. officials and humanitarian groups. Archbishop Ncube, who has clashed repeatedly with Mr. Mugabe for his public condemnations of government policies, said he was optimistic about the future of Zimbabwe if only because "the situation can hardly go on much longer as it is." "Even Mugabe must realize that," said the bishop. "Things in our country can hardly get worse." The U.S. government has echoed many of the archbishop's criticisms of the Mugabe government, condemning the regime for suppressing political liberties, mismanaging the economy, failing to deal with a food crisis and the spread of AIDS, and adopting a coercive land-reform program that has driven most the country's productive white farmers off their land. Mark Bellamy, principal deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs, said the Bush administration was determined to maintain "targeted sanctions" on Mr. Mugabe and his top aides until a deal is struck on new elections paving the way out for the 79-year-old Mr. Mugabe. The United States and the European Union "must not yield to appeals to restart official aid," Mr. Bellamy said. "We must make it clear we will only assist Zimbabwe when it is on the road to political recovery."
With South Africa, Nigeria and Malawi trying to engineer a compromise between Mr. Mugabe and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the beleaguered Zimbabwean opposition movement, Archbishop Ncube said he was trying to keep a low profile during his Washington visit. But he was given meetings with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and with officials from the National Security Agency during his stay. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Tuesday's meeting with Mr. Powell was designed to "thank the archbishop for his principled stance in favor of human rights and the rule of law in Zimbabwe." Mr. Bellamy, who joined the archbishop at a forum on Zimbabwe yesterday at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, was critical of Zimbabwe's neighbors, in particular regional power South Africa, for failing to apply more pressure on Mr. Mugabe to step down. "We have not gotten very far in this crisis because some of the main actors, notably South Africa, have been apathetic at best," he said. Mr. Mugabe, who helped the country achieve independence from Britain in 1980, has slammed his critics as "colonialists." He defended the land-distribution program as necessary to redress past injustices. A widely disputed election last year, a regional famine, and mounting clashes between the government and the MDC have left Zimbabwe's economy in tatters. Unemployment is at 60 percent and inflation is running at 500 percent annually. Archbishop Ncube noted that the Zimbabwean dollar was on a par with the U.S. dollar a decade ago. Today, a bottle of Coke costs 1,000 Zimbabwean dollars on the streets of Harare, the capital. "My heart simply bleeds for my country," he said. "And I am only telling you 1 percent of the problems we face."
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From The Daily News, 22 May
CIO probes Makoni's links with Tsvangirai
By Sydney Masamvu Assistant Editor
The Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), Zimbabwe's spy agency, is probing alleged links with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of former finance minister Simba Makoni, widely touted as a possible successor to President Robert Mugabe, it was established yesterday. The investigations were stepped up this week after disclosures that MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was spotted by CIO agents on Monday evening paying a private visit to Makoni's Harare residence to offer his condolences following the death of Makoni's son in South Africa last week. Makoni's 23-year-old son, Tonderai, a student at the University of Cape Town, was buried in Harare on Saturday. South African media reports claim that he committed suicide, but the Makoni family has not commented on his death. CIO officials yesterday said their agents had trailed Tsvangirai's motorcade from the High Court after his treason court case had adjourned and monitored his talks with Makoni, who was thrown out of the government last year after repeatedly calling for a devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar. Mugabe and his inner-circle ministers publicly rebuked Makoni, 53, for his stance.
Tsvangirai confirmed yesterday that he visited Makoni's residence on Monday as an ordinary citizen to pay his condolences. Like any Zimbabwean, he said, he was free to attend any event of his choice. Intelligence officials said their investigations would also cover alleged fund-raising activities of Makoni's wife on behalf of the MDC prior to her husband's appointment as finance minister in July 2000. Reports have suggested that she was then the fund-raising chairperson of the Harare chapter of the women's league of the opposition party. She could not be reached for comment up to late last night. The CIO is understood to have placed Makoni under surveillance to monitor his meetings and contacts, especially Harare-based diplomats, since he quit the government in a huff. "There is an investigation going on over Makoni's perceived links with the MDC," a senior CIO official told The Daily News yesterday. Predictably, the official preferred not to be named.
"We have information that Tsvangirai indeed visited Makoni's residence and we accept this was because of the bereavement, which is within our culture," the official said. "It is important to note that Tsvangirai, as the leader of the opposition in Zimbabwe, has never attended any State occasion, let alone a funeral for any top official within (the ruling) Zanu PF. From an intelligence gathering perspective, we do not lose sight of the whole picture," the official said. He added that "it is important to distil and analyse Tsvangirai's private visit to Makoni and not to dismiss it as a routine visit to pay condolences because there is a history and pattern which we are following". State Security Minister Nicholas Goche, who runs the CIO, refused to comment on the issue yesterday, saying his ministry's operations were confidential. "I don't want to comment on any issue. Are you saying I should always tell newspapers how we perform and carry out our functions?"
Makoni, seen as a moderate in a party dominated by hard-liners who want to tough it out during Zimbabwe's present economic and political crisis, has long been mentioned as a possible successor to Mugabe, who is under increasing international pressure to quit before the end of his term in 2008. The former finance minister was axed from the government after Mugabe himself branded as economic saboteurs any Zimbabweans calling for the devaluation of the dollar. Ironically, the government later devalued the dollar after Makoni's enforced exit from the Cabinet, highlighting Harare's desperate quest to mobilise scarce foreign exchange needed for critical imports of fuel and food, both in short supply in crisis-sapped Zimbabwe. Since his departure from the government, Makoni - still a member of Zanu PF' s supreme Politburo organ - has also been calling for reconciliation talks between the MDC and the governing party.
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From IRIN (UN), 21 May
Food 'monetization' aims to reach urban poor
Johannesburg - Deliveries of food relief in Zimbabwe have almost exclusively focused on rural communities, bypassing the needs of the urban poor. Providing aid to towns is complicated by the difficulty of properly targeting the food-insecure, and the logistics of distribution, relief workers say. As a result, urban households in Zimbabwe have been largely left on their own to struggle with the impact of severe food shortages and spiralling black market prices. An initiative by the Consortium for the Southern Africa Food Emergency (C-SAFE), which still awaits funding, seeks to increase the access of poor urban households to affordable food supplies by using the market - rather than food handouts. C-SAFE, made up of the NGOs World Vision, CARE and Catholic Relief Services, is proposing a three-month pilot programme in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo to sell 15,000 mt of US Agency for International Development (USAID)-supplied sorghum through small-scale traders. An added bonus is that profits from the sales would be ploughed back into development projects.
Maize and wheat are Zimbabwe's staple foods, but their importation and domestic marketing is under the monopoly of the state-run Grain Marketing Board (GMB). Confronted by the country's food crisis, fuel shortages and administrative problems, GMB has been unable to come even close to meeting the demand, humanitarian officials say. In urban areas, price controls - the government's answer to rising prices - have further distorted the market, with basic commodities being re-directed onto the more expensive parallel market. But despite escalating prices - Zimbabwe's inflation rate last month jumped by 41 points to reach 269 percent - the lack of availability of maize and wheat remains a more significant problem. "We aim to target the poor by using a market mechanism. Sorghum [a less preferred commodity] is the [food] option to pre-select those desperate enough to buy," Steve Goudswaard, C-SAFE project manager in South Africa, told IRIN. Sorghum is more freely marketed than maize or wheat, although the government did impose a price freeze on the grain last year. C-SAFE would need to work with the Ministry of Commerce and local authorities to determine its price, Walter Middleton of World Vision explained.
According to the C-SAFE proposal, with funding secured, imported sorghum would be milled and bagged in Zimbabwe. From there, supplies would be directed to street corner grocers as another tool for targeting poorer households. Credit facilities and an auction system for tender bids could be used creatively to help ensure the participation of small-scale traders. "This innovative and untested approach is inevitably risky. Assumptions about such things as the effectiveness of sorghum as a self-targeting commodity, the capacity/willingness of private sector agents to participate, and government cooperation/approval, all require testing," a project assessment report noted. "In addition, the availability of resources (particularly sorghum) that are currently available for this intervention are quite limited." Bulawayo was selected as the pilot city for the project because of consumer familiarity with sorghum, the acuteness of the food shortage in the drought-hit region and the available milling capacity. At the ration rate of 10 kilos per person per month, the planned importation of 15,000 mt of sorghum for Bulawayo would feed 500,000 people for three months, Middleton calculated. If successful, the scheme would be replicated in other cities, he added.
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From The Guardian (UK), 22 May
MCC turn a blind eye to protests armbands
Paul Kelso
Stewards at Lord's will not stop protesters with black armbands from attending the opening day of the Test series against Zimbabwe today. Groups opposed to Robert Mugabe's government have vowed to stage demonstrations outside the ground and there are concerns that some people may mount pitch invasions to make their point. The MCC, who own Lord's, refused a request from organisers to allow them to display an anti-Mugabe banner inside the ground, but in a statement the club came close to encouraging spectators to don armbands in an echo of the protest by Andy Flower and Henry Olonga during the World Cup. "The board [of the MCC] noted that the ground regulations contain nothing to prevent spectators following the examples of Henry Olonga and Andy Flower by wearing armbands to the match." Members of the Stop the Tour 2003 campaign, a joint initiative between Zimbabwean exiles and the gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, will hand out armbands before the start of play. The prospect of a significant number of spectators wearing them at the start of an international summer is an embarrassing one for the England and Wales Cricket Board, which has consistently rebuffed criticism of Zimbabwe's visit saying that it does not make political decisions.
The Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar will miss the one-day international against England at Old Trafford on June 17 after being banned for two matches by the International Cricket Council for ball tampering during the victory over New Zealand in Sri Lanka on Tuesday. He was also fined 75% of his match fee after the referee Gundappa Viswanath reviewed video evidence which showed Shoaib scratching the ball during the one-day tri-series match. The ICC has also ordered a review into the behaviour of the Australian players during their recent series in the West Indies, particularly the fourth Test in Antigua. Indeed, the council's chief executive Malcolm Speed even went as far as to single out the experienced umpires David Shepherd and Venkat, who stood in Antigua, and stressed that he thought they should have taken further action during the ill-tempered contest.
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From Reuters, 22 May
Zimbabwe minister moves to block treason evidence
Harare - Zimbabwe's government on Thursday argued against a judicial probe into its contacts with the main state witness in the treason trial of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai saying it would compromise national security. Tsvangirai and two other senior members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) face possible death sentences if convicted of treason for allegedly plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe. State Security Minister Nicholas Goche sent a ministerial certificate to the High Court saying information on a contract and payments to the prime witness against Tsvangirai was ''classified under covert operations'' and could not be disclosed. Defense lawyer George Bizos said the government's attempt to block the information was ''completely unjustified'' and it was difficult to see how state security could be compromised.
Brigadier Happyton Bonyongwe, director general of the Central Intelligence Organisation, said on Wednesday CIO operatives had destroyed certain invoices detailing government payments to Canadian public relations consultant Ari Ben-Menashe. But he declined to say why the evidence was destroyed. The state's case rests on a videotape of a meeting in Canada between Ben-Menashe and Tsvangirai, who allegedly discussed Mugabe's ''elimination.'' Ben-Menashe has testified that Tsvangirai sought his help in the alleged plot but he has admitted he taped the meeting solely to get evidence for the government. He denied entrapping Tsvangirai. Bizos asked the court to reject the certificate and accused the government of trying to suppress information crucial to a fair trial. ''There is no basis for issuing the certificate...It is an abuse of the legal process and your Lordship must not accept it,'' he said. High Court Judge Paddington Garwe adjourned the trial to next Wednesday to decide on the matter.
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From SABC News, 22 May
Mugabe urges open debate over successor
Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean President, has encouraged his ruling Zanu PF party to openly discuss his successor, adding to speculation that he might be considering retirement. The veteran leader, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, first hinted last month that he was ready to relinquish power and meet the main opposition over a deepening political and economic crisis if it recognised his disputed re-election. "The issue of my successor must be debated openly although I would urge you not to allow it to create divisions within the party," Mugabe told about 7 000 party supporters at Tsakare village in Mt. Darwin, 150 km northeast of Harare. "I am well aware that there are people keen on the position and some have even consulted traditional healers to enhance their chances, but I want to warn them that a successor can only be chosen by the people," he said in the local Shona language.
Mugabe's government has dismissed a report in the private Daily News last week that the international community was preparing an economic package for crisis-ridden Zimbabwe, which hinges on his resigning before the end of the year. The report came a week after the leaders of South Africa, Nigeria and Malawi met Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, in a bid to resolve the country's problems of spiralling prices, shortages, low employment and unrest. The talks added to speculation that Mugabe (79) may be ready to retire after 23 years in power. However, earlier Mugabe vowed that Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which he accuses of being a puppet of Western nations, would only rule in the southern African state "over our dead bodies". The MDC has launched a court challenge against Mugabe's election in March last year six-year term. Western countries and the Commonwealth condemned the poll as fraudulent. Mugabe accuses the West of sabotaging Zimbabwe's economy as punishment for the government's seizure of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to landless blacks.
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From The Cape Argus (SA), 22 May
'Sudden flurry' of illegal Zim arrests
Illegal arrests and detentions as well as political violence rose sharply in Zimbabwe last month, an independent human rights group said yesterday. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum, an alliance of 13 independent rights and civic groups, said it had received evidence of 278 cases of arrest without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing followed by detention without charges being laid. In the first three months of the year, there were 370 illegal arrests and detentions, the forum said. In a statement yesterday it said "organised violence and torture" accompanied two parliamentary by-elections won by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Violence was also unleashed in reprisal for anti-government strikes from March 18 to 19 and March 23 to 25, the group said. The report said that after the second strike, residents of Harare and the eastern city of Mutare reported state agents assaulting them indiscriminately. Soldiers rounded them up and beat them because they were seen "roaming around" and were not at work, the statement said. "In other cases, incidents have reportedly occurred on the mere suspicion that one belongs to a political party which the assailant doesn't support," it said. Documented cases of torture soared from 12 in the previous three months to 79 in April. Politically motivated assaults rose from 61 in the first quarter to 80 in April alone, it said. An unknown number of cases of political violence were not reported to rights groups. All five reported cases of politically motivated rape this year had occurred in April, the forum said. An opposition activist died in April after being assaulted by police.
At a meeting of foreign ministers of the Commonwealth in London on Tuesday, Australia called for an extension of Zimbabwe's suspension from the committee on grounds of its "horrific" human rights record. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Tuesday that Australian diplomats in Harare were reporting that the situation in Zimbabwe had deteriorated in recent weeks. At least 500 opposition supporters were arrested for organising a campaign of strikes and passive resistance in March and April to demand democratic reforms. About 250 MDC members landed up in hospital after suffering beatings and torture in reprisals after one of the anti-government strikes. Australian diplomats had seen "what was clearly the result of several vicious beatings by army personnel, including beatings with sticks wrapped in barbed wire", Downer said in a report to the London meeting.
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From ZWNEWS, 23 May
Lording it up
Blowing whistles, singing and chanting, Zimbabwean exiles on Thursday staged noisy demonstrations against Robert Mugabe's regime outside the Zimbabwe High Commission and Lords' cricket ground in north London as play began in the first match of the England-Zimbabwe Test series. Dozens of demonstrators packed the open top of a double-decker bus which travelled under overcast skies from the High Commission through central London to Lords. The buss was draped with banners declaring, "`End Murder Rape and Torture in Zimbabwe," and Mugabe's portrait stared grimly from the back of the bus above the caption: "Wanted Robert Mugabe, Patron of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, for murder, rape and torture. Reward offered: Freedom of the people of Zimbabwe." Many pedestrians waved and clapped as the bus passed. At Lords, the bus circled streets adjoining the ground, while other groups of demonstrators held banners, and handed out black armbands to spectators at the entrance gates. The armbands, in mourning for the death of democracy in Zimbabwe, reflected the protest by Zimbabwean cricketers Andy Flower and Henry Olonga during World Cup matches in February. Neither man remains in the Zimbabwe team.
At the High Commission, protestor Ephraim Tapa handed in a letter saying that the demonstrators had been forced from their homeland by state-sponsored political violence. "Our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters and friends fought for years to establish a free Zimbabwe where people enjoyed equal rights and protection under the rule of law," said the letter addressed to High Commissioner Simbarashe Mumbengegwi - of whom there was no sign. "Your regime has systematically stolen our basic and hard earned democratic rights." The demonstrators sang "Nkosi sikelel iAfrica," chanted ``chinja'' (change) and gave the open-palm sign of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change as Tapa delivered the letter.
The main group of demonstrators dissociated themselves from another protest, the Stop The Tour campaign led by Australian-born activist Peter Tatchell, who has long dogged Mugabe and who said his group did not see why they should "show restraint". Protests inside the ground were banned, and one woman was escorted off the pitch after walking on with a banner saying "Bowl out killer Mugabe". Tatchell said the woman was arrested. Washington Ali, an organiser of the main protest, said Zimbabwean exiles did not support pitch invasions or other attempts to disrupt the match. "This is a day for Zimbabweans to draw the world's attention to the crisis afflicting our country. It is not a day for headline-grabbing stunts by individuals," said Ali. "The protest is intended as a show of solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are suffering back home."
SCORE: Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field. England were 184-3 after 59 overs when bad light stopped play. England captain Nasser Hussain was out for 19, caught by Douglas Hondo off Travis Friend's first ball shortly before play ended. Opener Michael Vaughan was bowled by Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak for eight, and Marcus Treschothick by caught by Ervine off the bowling of Andy Blignaut for 59.
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From The Natal Mercury (SA), 22 may
Exiled Zimbabweans urge an end to Mugabe rule
By Basildon Peta and Sapa-AP
Pretoria - In an unusual protest, a group of exiled Zimbabweans in South Africa stormed African and European embassies in Pretoria on Wednesday and delivered petitions demanding stronger action against President Robert Mugabe from world governments. The rowdy group of more than 100 Zimbabweans was crammed in a double-decker bus with an open roof. The group moved from one embassy to another under heavy South African police guard. The protesters had originally planned to invade the premises of mainly African embassies to sing and chant revolutionary songs before dropping their petitions. However, they were kept at bay by heavily armed policemen. The policemen let the protesters sing and chant outside the premises before delivering the petitions to staff at the gates. The petitions were accepted everywhere except at the Zimbabwe embassy, where the protesters threw a copy in the face of ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo.
Jay Jay Sibanda, a spokesperson for the protesters, said they had been forced to resort to this method because the Zimbabwean ambassador had demonstrated his "foolishness" by refusing to accept a "legitimate petition". This petition carried a message to Mugabe that he was no longer wanted by exiled Zimbabweans and he "must go". The petition delivered at other embassies said every freedom-loving government in the world had an obligation to bring about change in Zimbabwe. The petition claimed that 1 500 Zimbabweans were arriving in South Africa every day fleeing from "brutal torture and hunger at the hands of the Mugabe regime". A third petition urged the Malaysian government to stop providing what was called a safe haven for money stolen from Zimbabwe. The petitioners also carried huge placards denouncing African leaders and Mugabe. One read: "African leaders where is your courage? Tell Mugabe to go." Sibanda, the president of an organisation representing exiled Zimbabweans, said this was the first in a series of demonstrations.
Meanwhile, former Zimbabwe fast bowler Henry Olonga, who wore a black armband at the World Cup to protest against the "death of democracy" in his country, has urged demonstrators not to disrupt the Test series in England. Olonga will be at the opening Test starting at Lord's on Thursday as a commentator for British television. Protest groups plan to picket Lord's and have threatened to disrupt the match.
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From IRIN (UN), 22 May
Concerns over winter wheat
Johannesburg - Prospects are looking grim for Zimbabwe's winter wheat harvest with many farmers unable to plant or tend their crops following equipment theft and foreign currency and fuel shortages. Last year the country produced 230,000 mt of wheat - over 100,000 mt down from the previous year - but indications this year are for a vastly reduced crop of winter wheat and barley, Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) President Colin Cloete told IRIN on Thursday. He said theft of irrigation equipment, transformers and electricity cables was rife, to the extent that the government had banned aluminium exports in a bid to stop the stealing. Zimbabwe's wheat is grown under full irrigation in winter, with most of the water coming from private and state dams and some boreholes. Production in the past has accounted for about two-thirds of the national demand of 400,000 mt. Cloete said farmers have had to overcome chronic diesel and fertiliser shortages brought on by the foreign exchange crisis. The minutes of a CFU meeting last week said farmers were told the country's fuel situation was one of "hand to mouth" and fuel company representatives were unable to give farmers any meaningful advice.
Two large fertiliser companies reported they had zero stocks, their product was sold soon after manufacture and back-order lists were lengthy. This was due to the lack of foreign exchange to import ingredients required to manufacture fertiliser, reduced power supplies and transport constraints. Monitored prices also meant manufacturers could not recoup their production costs. "Supplies of fertiliser for the winter cereal crops are very short because of these factors. Even if prices come right there will no extra product," the CFU report said. Cloete added that slow tobacco sales were also quelling hopes of a boost to the country's foreign exchange supplies. As an alternative to scarce maize, many Zimbabwean consumers have substituted bread as a staple. "It there's no wheat, we'll just have to go without bread. We are really concerned this year," Cloete said. The last Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) report said cereals like maize, wheat, millet and sorghum remained in critically short supply in the major markets throughout the country for much of April 2003. A food supply mission is in the final stages of assessing Zimbabwe's cereal production for 2002/3 but early indications are that overall production will be lower than last year.
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From The Daily News, 23 May
War vets vow to crush mass action
Farai Mutsaka, Chief Reporter
Veterans of Zimbabwe's war of liberation yesterday warned that they would use "military force" against anti-government protesters next month, in what analysts have described as an attempt to cow the populace in the run-up to mass demonstrations planned by the opposition and civic groups. Officials within the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and civic society have indicated that they are planning combined mass protests that are scheduled for the middle of June. Patrick Nyaruwata, the chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association (ZNLWVA), told journalists in Harare that his organisation would use force to stop the street protests. "We have stood aside and observed you (the MDC) for too long and this time we will not. This time, using our own military experience, we will mobilise against you. I do not mince my words. The consequences for any mass action will be grave," he said. "We will co-ordinate with the state security agents to fight you off. Remember most top security agents in defence, the police and the CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation) are war veterans, and we will be co-ordinating with them," he added. State Security Minister Nicholas Goche, under whose control the CIO falls, declined to comment on the war veterans' leader's threats."Why do you want me to comment on that? I have no comment. I won't assist you," he said, before switching off his mobile phone. Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, under whose ministry the war veterans fall, also said he could not comment on the matter. "I have been out of Harare. I cannot comment on things that I did not personally hear, I'm sorry," he told The Daily News. Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi could not be reached for comment last night. Officials of the ZNLWVA at the Press conference would yesterday not provide details on what "military force" they planned to use against Zimbabweans who might participate in the demonstrations next month.
But ZNLWVA secretary-general Endy Mhlanga told The Daily News that it was common knowledge that MDC youths would be armed during street protests, adding that his organisation had a plan to deal with them. "Ian Smith (former Rhodesian prime minister) was armed to the teeth, but we defeated him. We are prepared to fight again using all the experience we garnered during the war to defend the ordinary people from this unlawful violence," Mhlanga said. He added: "We have a plan in place and we will deal with them in a very decisive way. Everything has been put in place. We will use the same tactics we used during the farm invasions and during the war to crush the demonstrations. "We have been mobilising our 55 000 members throughout the country, starting in Harare, and we have been telling them to be prepared to risk their lives once again and assist militarily for the final battle to defend our sovereignty." The war veterans played a critical role in the invasion of white-owned farms, which began in 2000 and caused massive instability in the agricultural sector, the backbone of Zimbabwe's economy. Several white farmers and farm workers were killed during the invasions that have led to the displacement of thousands of farm workers, most of who are now destitute. Commentators said the war veterans' threats were part of attempts to discourage public participation in the proposed mass action, which is expected to include marches on President Robert Mugabe's State House residence and Munhumutapa offices. The public overwhelmingly supported calls for a mass job stayaway called by the MDC in March and another organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions last month.
MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube yesterday said the war veterans' threats were an attempt to intimidate the public from responding in a similar fashion to the proposed mass action, which the opposition party says is the "final push" to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis. He denied that the MDC was arming supporters, saying: "It is patently false that the MDC is arming anyone. We have no soldiers to arm and we have not trained anybody in any form of combat. "This is clearly calculated to intimidate the people of Zimbabwe from undertaking peaceful mass action to free themselves from this rogue regime. We are not afraid and the people should not be afraid. We decline this invitation to engage in any form of violence. They can shoot us if they want, but we will be unarmed."
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 23 May
Fuel import hopes dashed
Blessing Zulu
Zimbabwe's bid to import fuel from Angola has hit a brick wall due to the ongoing forex crisis. Sources in the Energy ministry said Zimbabwe had nothing to offer the Angolans and this had stalled talks. "There is nothing in place at the moment," said the source. "The country has nothing with which to entice the Angolans," he said. Exports to Angola have been in decline due to the country's economic meltdown. Figures compiled by Zimtrade show that before the land reform programme Zimbabwe exported a wide range of agricultural commodities which included tobacco, meat, sugar, dairy products, fruit, tea, coffee and livestock. Other products on the export list included soap, electrical products, printed books and pharmaceuticals. Most of these products are now in short supply in the country. Zimbabwe is in its fourth year of recession.
Energy minister Amos Midzi referred all questions relating to the Angolan deal to his permanent secretary, Justin Mupamhanga. "My permanent secretary is dealing with that issue and you can ask him for details on the progress." Mupamhanga was however, not available for comment. Earlier this month Minister of Industry and Trade Samuel Mumbengegwi told a local newspaper that the country was looking at alternative export products to strike a deal with the Angolans. "We are thinking of importing fuel products from Angola to ease fuel problems in the country," said Mumbengegwi. "The fact that we invited the Angolan prime minister, Mr Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, to officially open the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, is not sentimental," Mumbengegwi said without elaborating.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 23 May
Govt dispatches SOS delegation as. - Fuel woes deepen
Staff Writer
Government is today expected to dispatch a high-powered delegation to South Africa, Angola and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in search of fuel as the crisis which has gripped the country for four years refuses to go away. Official sources said the delegation comprising government, banking and National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) officials was expected to leave this morning for South Africa before proceeding to Angola and the UAE where it hopes to clinch new fuel deals to ease the deepening crisis. Yesterday Energy and Power Development minister Amos Midzi was locked in a critical meeting at Parliament Building with all senior Noczim managers under the auspices of the secretive National Security Council. The agency supposedly deals with issues of national importance. Midzi could not comment as he said he was in the meeting.
Sources said fuel prices could be increased last night. But recently the parastatal was blocked by government from increasing the prices of fuel to $650 per litre for petrol and $340 per litre for diesel. Currently petrol costs $450 per litre, while diesel is pegged at $200. The new search for fuel follows visits this week to Zambia, Mozambique, and Tanzania by Noczim officials in a bid to ease the country's crippling fuel crisis. Government recently failed to secure fuel from Saudi Arabia in addition to earlier efforts to get supplies from Sudan, Nigeria, Iran and Angola where they now want to make a second attempt. But last night the trip hung in the balance due to cost constraints. Zimbabwe is currently relying on erratic fuel supplies from private importers and small-scale dealers. Fuel queues have virtually disappeared due to lack of supplies. Zimbabwe owes suppliers up to US$300 million.
"We are intensifying our efforts to find fuel from wherever we can to find fuel from wherever we can find it," a Noczim source said yesterday. "Now we are going all out to save this desperate situation." Noczim, reeling under an over-$21 billion debt, is unable to ensure adequate supplies due to the forex crisis. Last week the company invaded the black market in search of foreign exchange. Sources said it used $20 billion to raise foreign currency ahead of its accelerated fuel-hunting expedition. The money was raised by Trustfin, which has been mandated to raise $60 billion for the parastatal. It is understood Noczim bought foreign exchange at a rate of US$1:$2 300 and as a result only managed to raise US$8,7 million which will buy a week's supply at normal consumption levels.
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From News24 (SA), 23 May
Lawyer wants Meldrum back
Harare - A lawyer representing US journalist Andrew Meldrum, who was expelled from Zimbabwe last week, said Friday she was pursuing efforts to allow him to return to the country, where he had lived and worked for 23 years. Lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said she filed papers on the government of President Robert Mugabe this week, after it had defied a High Court order staying Meldrum's deportation. Zimbabwe's immigration authorities put Meldrum on a plane to London last Friday night, despite the High Court order. "Until they return him they will be in contempt of court," Mtetwa said on Friday. "We filed further papers in which we incorporated the fact that as long as they don't produce him in court, they are in contempt of court," she told AFP. Meldrum, who works for The Guardian daily and its sister weekly paper, The Observer, was based in Zimbabwe for 23 years and had been granted residency in the southern African country. Immigration officials last week declared him a prohibited immigrant. Last year Meldrum was served with a deportation order moments after a magistrate court acquitted him on charges of publishing a false story, brought under a controversial media law enacted by Mugabe after he was re-elected last year. The High Court barred that deportation to give him time to challenge it in the Supreme Court. He became the sixth foreign correspondent forced to leave Zimbabwe since 2001.
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From The Financial Gazette, 22 May
Banks brace for worse cash crisis
Staff Reporter
Banks were this week bracing for a more serious shortage of cash after the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) reportedly failed to meet daily cash requirements by banks to meet civil servants salary pay-outs, Financial Gazette sources said. Financial institutions most affected by the cash squeeze were building societies, from which many civil servants receive their salaries. A banking sector source said the gravity of the situation was highlighted by the RBZ failure this week to give the Central African Building Society (CABS) its cash requirements to meet an estimated $200 million bill for salary payments and other withdrawals during the week. CABS had only received $30 million, the source said. CABS, the country's largest building society, is the biggest holder of civil servants' accounts because of its low minimum cash balances on personal accounts. "We expect the situation to worsen across the entire banking sector and strain the Zimswitch facility. Most account holders will have to seek funds from other banks because their own banks will be dry," a market watcher said.
Zimswitch is an inter-bank system that allows the banking public to use Automated Teller Machines (ATM) of other banks besides their own. The Zimswitch facility has got 10 member banks, including CABS and two other building societies, Beverly and Intermarket. The shortage of money this week also prompted a number of commercial banks to restrict over-the-counter withdrawals by members of the public to a maximum of $50 000. "All building societies are not getting enough cash from the RBZ. At least commercial banks can complement their requirements with cash received from corporates who sometimes bring a lot more than the banks' requirements but they too are facing serous liquidity problems," a source said. Kevin Terry, the chairman of Zimswitch said that the facility was no longer as user friendly as it was meant to be because of the shortage of cash. "It is true that some banks are now restricting the use of Zimswitch but it is not fair to blame building societies alone," he said "There is a degree of some truth that more building society clients use Zimswitch but it is not fair to blame building societies for the whole situation," a builiding society manager said.
Some commercial banks have temporarily restricted use of their ATM facilities to their customers to avoid the cash squeeze, saying they will only re-open the system when the situation improves. Since the beginning of this year the country has been experiencing a critical shortage of high denominated value especially the $500 notes because of the failure by the central bank to pay its dues to supplies of the "special" paper money from a Germany based supplier. Currently most banks are increasingly distributing $100 notes and $50 notes due to the shortage of higher $ 500 note. Due to the loss of purchasing power of the country's currency the central bank is set to introduce a $1 000 note.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 25 May
Zimbabwe's banks run out of money
Long queues of people waited outside banks on Saturday in central Harare amid fears of more strikes and reports banks were limiting cash withdrawals. There were many people waiting outside cash machines in Harare's main First Street and surrounding areas. A three-day stay-away last month left banks and customers struggling for cash and the situation appears to have worsened since, with state media reporting that the central bank no longer has the necessary foreign currency to print new notes. Fuelling the anxiety, the state-owned Herald newspaper on Saturday reported that cash shortages had resurfaced at "most banks in Harare". "Now we can't even get our money when we need it," the paper quoted one would-be customer, Godwill Munyimi, as saying. The paper said customers were only being allowed to withdraw a maximum of up to 20 000 Zimbabwe dollars. Zimbabweans are struggling under shortages of many basic goods, including foodstuffs and fuel, while inflation has now topped 269%. Monday is a public holiday in Zimbabwe and there have been reports there could be more protest stay-aways soon, although the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has set no definite date. Meanwhile, last week the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) advised people to stock up on provisions and to keep money aside for a possible indefinite job stay-away.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 25 May 2003
Mugabe's wife blows R100 000
Michael Schmidt
Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe lived up to her reputation as a big spender on a recent trip to South Africa, where she spent almost R100 000 in just five days. The wife of President Robert Mugabe shelled out R99 604.42 at South African stores between February 3 and February 6 - including R51 000 for a dinner service imported from Britain. VAT refund documents in the possession of the Sunday Times show that Mugabe splurged on food, clothing, pharmaceuticals and hardware. VAT refund is an incentive to encourage tourists to spend more money in South Africa. The minimum amount that can be claimed is R250. A VAT refund administrator official, who asked not to be identified, confirmed the processing of Mugabe's claim and said that she had submitted several claims. According to the claim submitted to the VAT Refund Administrator at the Johannesburg International Airport on behalf of "Mugabe G, c/o Zimbabwean High Commission, 792 Merton Ave, Arcadia, Pretoria" on March 13, Zimbabwe's first lady was claiming refunds for spending:
R51 860 on the dinner set; R3 443.75 at Pick 'n Pay; R2 415.05 at Edgars; R1 192 at Truworths; R9 245 at Bianchi Fashions; R2 586.85 at Woolworths; R6 175 at Desch for Men; and R16 159.07 at Buchel Hardware in Pretoria.
Mugabe was issued with a $672.97 (R5 042.88) refund on May 9 for goods totalling R43 099.12. However, the administrator refused to refund Mugabe for the dinner service from Sandton City store David Daniel because the receipt did not include Mugabe's full address. Store owner Greg Isaac refused to comment on Friday, saying: "I don't think it is fair for us to discuss the private purchases of our clients." Another receipt that failed the test was one from a nameless store on February 5 for a shirt costing R2 200. The refused invoices were sent, along with the refund cheque, to Zimbabwe's first lady.
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From News24 (SA), 25 May
SA press on thin ice
Harare - The Zimbabwe government has lodged a complaint with South Africa over what it says is the "demonisation" of President Robert Mugabe by the South African press. The paper said that Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, whose office crafted tough laws governing the media in Zimbabwe, had written to complain over a recent column in the Sunday Times which was "insulting and wholly unacceptable." "The newspaper has been at the forefront of demonising the president, the government and people of Zimbabwe and seeking to divide Zimbabweans and South Africans for a long time now," the paper quoted Moyo's letter as saying. Zimbabwe's treatment of the media and journalists shot into the spotlight again earlier this month after US reporter Andrew Meldrum, who had lived here for 23 years, was deported. "I should state categorically that we believe in media freedom as one of the pillars of democracy yet we are clear that this freedom is not a licence for vested interests to insult and demonise a head of state," Moyo wrote.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 25 May 2003
Zimbabwe will plead for food aid
Ranjeni Munusamy
The Zimbabwean government is to make a formal request to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to extend emergency assistance to millions of its citizens facing starvation. WFP deputy executive director Sheila Sisulu said the results of a crop assessment, to be released next week by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation and the WFP, will reveal the extent of the food crisis in the region. The WFP is running its biggest relief project in Southern Africa, with assistance being rendered to Malawi, Zambia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Sisulu met with Zimbabwe's Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, July Moyo, and officials from the departments of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs in Zimbabwe this week. "All of them were very clear that they were going to make a request for assistance to the WFP," Sisulu said. "The extent of the request will be indicated to us in the coming week. We will all be watching those figures to determine the extent of food assistance that is going to be required all round, specifically in Zimbabwe." She said the WFP had been preparing to move out of Zimbabwe as its emergency intervention period ended in June.
Zimbabwe has the largest number of people requiring assistance, with an estimated 7.2 million people facing hunger due to drought and crop shortages. The high prevalence of HIV/Aids is exacerbating the problem. Sisulu said the WFP gave assistance to the most vulnerable people. In March, during the height of the relief programme, the organisation provided food aid to five million Zimbabweans. "We averted a crisis in the region. If the international community had not come to the rescue at the time that it did, we could have had a serious crisis," she said, adding that although there had been rain in some areas in dire need, it had not broken the drought.
The WFP is also providing relief in Ethiopia, which is facing a severe drought, and in Eritrea and other areas in the Horn of Africa. It is also planning to increase its activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ivory Coast, where civil conflict has sparked a humanitarian crisis. Politics had a negative impact on people's safety and security, Sisulu said. "If asked whether this is the case more so in Africa, I would have to say yes." Since the end of the war in Iraq the WFP has resumed operations in that country, using the former government's distribution infrastructure to provide food aid. "The former government of Iraq had a very good distribution system as a large percentage of the population was dependent on food supplies. The war has destabilised this but we are now restoring the network," Sisulu said. She returns to the WFP's headquarters in Rome this week after spending time with her family in South Africa following the death of her father-in-law, Walter Sisulu.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 23 May
Tsvangirai makes new demands in poll appeal
Blessing Zulu
The saga surrounding Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai's contentious electoral petition has taken a new twist as he now wants all High Court judges who benefited from the land reform exercise to recuse themselves from the hearing. Tsvangirai last year challenged President Mugabe's victory in last year's presidential election. The case has not been heard and the opposition leader has filed an urgent High Court application to secure a date for the hearing. The court papers cite Justice Ben Hlatshwayo as having accepted a farm. Tsvangirai said Hlatshwayo should not hear the petition. He is however not the only judge to have benefited from the resettlement exercise. This week the High Court asked the plaintiffs, Tsvangirai and the MDC, and the respondents, President Mugabe, the Registrar General, the Minister of Justice and the Registrar of the High Court among others, to file heads of argument on whether Hlatshwayo should recuse himself. The High Court is expected to make a ruling next Friday.
Tsvangirai, in his supplementary affidavit, said judges who benefited from the land resettlement exercise were bound to be biased. "In relation to the presiding judges at the Election Petition," said Tsvangirai, "I should indicate at this stage that I understand that some of the judges of this Honourable Court have been offered and have accepted farms by the First Respondent (Mugabe) in his alleged position as the Acquiring Authority in the Land Acquisition Act." He added: "I therefore hereby give notice that I will object to any judge who benefited from these unlawful acts of the first respondent from presiding over the election petition because of those judges' obvious bias in favour of and indebtedness to the first respondent. These farms have allegedly been compulsorily acquired and allocated by the acquiring authority in terms of the recent so-called land reform programme. This so-called programme has in fact been highly corrupt and has caused incalculable damage to the social and economic structure of this country," he said.
The MDC leader said he did not regard Mugabe as head of state. "As is abundantly clear from the election petition, I do not accept that Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the lawful President of Zimbabwe. Accordingly, I do not accept that he is the lawful acquiring authority in terms of the Land Acquisition Act with the lawful power of disposing of land in terms of that Act." In his application, Tsvangirai said he was the actual winner of the presidential election. He said he and the majority of Zimbabweans were cheated out of victory. On April 12 last year, Tsvangirai filed an election petition in the High Court challenging the outcome of the presidential election. There have been delays in setting down the case. Tsvangirai has averred that the Registrar of the High Court has failed to comply with earlier court rulings to have the case set down. "I also respectfully submit that because of the delay in the commencement of the election petition, I am being severely prejudiced in that every day I am being denied my true and legal right to be the president of this country which I should have been since March 2002," Tsvangirai said.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 25 May
Chronicle website hacked
By Loughty Dube
Bulawayo - Management at the government's Chronicle newspaper has ordered Internet service provider, M-Web, to investigate how a hacker broke into its website and posted 'unpalatable' stories that denigrated or criticised President Robert Mugabe. Stories critical of Mugabe were posted in Tuesday's online edition of The Chronicle after a hacker gained access to its website. Some of the stories published online read 'Mbeki too soft with Mugabe', 'Mugabe lives large in South Africa'-in reference to the Zimbabwean leader's last trip to South Africa where he attended the burial of veteran South African nationalist, Walter Sisulu. The other story headlines read 'Mugabe's future under scrutiny', 'Indefinite mass job stayaway on the cards', 'Writing on the wall for Mugabe', while the lead online story was entitled 'Mugabe must go'. All the stories that were used in the website were lifted from The Standard, The Daily News, Financial Gazette, South Africa's Sunday Times and some international news agencies. The Chronicle, in its Friday issue, stated that M-Web had said the origin of the hacker was tracked to the United Kingdom. It has also emerged that the paper's former sub-editors are now under investigation. M-Web said the hacker first tempered with the paper's website at about 11.00am on Tuesday and allegedly used a foreign web browser and an Internet protocol address masking programme to conceal his identity. However sources at Zimpapers said senior management wanted former sub-editors and other senior editorial staff also to be put under investigation. "The person who inserted the stories into our website is someone who has the website's passwords and access codes. Former sub-editors should be placed under investigation also because they know the password and the access codes to the website," said an insider at The Chronicle.
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From News24 (SA), 25 May
Zim must pray
Harare - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Sunday told his supporters to prepare themselves with prayers ahead of "democracy marches" due to begin in just over a week. Addressing thousands of supporters at a rally in Highfield, the home suburb of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, Tsvangirai said there would be "a week of democracy and democracy marches" beginning on June 2. Many here had been waiting for Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to name a date for the next stage of protest "mass action" against the government. Two strikes held in the last two months have been widely followed here amid growing economic hardships. But war veterans loyal to Mugabe have threatened to clamp down on any mass action. As supporters cheered in the afternoon sun, Tsvangirai said on Sunday he was not afraid. "We must be prepared to be arrested. We must be prepared to make a mark." "I'm ready if they want to arrest me," he added. Tsvangirai and two party officials are already on trial for treason for allegedly plotting to assassinate Mugabe, a charge he denies.
Private prayer was needed this week ahead of the demonstrations, the opposition leader said. "It is preparation," Tsvangirai said, speaking in the local Shona language. Sunday was billed as a National Day of Prayer in Zimbabwe. He told his supporters they would have to be disciplined. The government has accused the MDC of being a "violent" party after buses were petrol-bombed during an opposition-led strike in March. "If I say march, you should march," Tsvangirai said. He also said ruling party officials wanted to know what was going to happen to them if the opposition party came into power. "There are some Zanu-PF people coming to me and saying 'What are you going to do with us if you come into power'," Tsvangirai said. He said some Zanu PF members had approached him telling him to "do something". He did not elaborate further.
Meanwhile the party claimed that police "besieged" the MDC headquarters in central Harare shortly after the rally. "The police are after women who they chased as they returned from a successful rally addressed by the MDC president and several senior party officials at Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield," the party's information department said. "It appears the police will not move away until the women come out," it added. The party also claimed that 12 MDC supporters were arrested after an opposition rally in Chitungwiza, Harare's satellite town on Saturday and were still in custody on Sunday. There is growing unrest in Zimbabwe, amid shortages of food, fuel and banknotes. Inflation has now reached 269% and is likely to rise still further.
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From The Sunday Mirror, 25 May
Uncertainty surrounds succession debate
By Tawanda Majoni
There is uncertainty and hesitation in Zanu PF over how to proceed with debate on the succession of President Robert Mugabe, the Sunday Mirror has learnt. Mugabe last month indicated that he would welcome an open debate on who should succeed him in a televised interview to mark the country's 23rd Independence anniversary. He reiterated the statement last week at the two star rallies he has held as part of his countrywide tour to explain the task of the land review committee among other developmental and humanitarian concerns. "You must debate succession. We want to be true and open to each other and discuss as a united people," he told thousands of Zanu PF supporters at Tsakare business centre in the Mashonaland central town of Mt Darwin, a traditional Zanu PF bastion. Party supporters at Wenimbi in Marondera, the capital of Mashonaland east province, also heard the President encourage open debate on his successor. Mugabe has repeatedly warned against tribalising the succession debate as that would cause a split in the party.
A Zanu PF central committee member, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear how the succession issue should be debated. "The voiced commitment to an open succession debate is welcome. However, people are choosing to tread carefully as it is not clear how that should be done," said the source. He said there was no clarity on what forums should be used to discuss the issue, adding that Mugabe had not made it clear as to whether he intended to retire before or at the expiry of his current term of office. The President was re-elected last year in an election whose results the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is challenging in the High Court. In accordance with the current constitution, Mugabe is expected to step down in 2008. "The general feeling in the party at the moment is that no-one wants to be seen to be openly ambitious or to be interpreted as being used by certain people harbouring presidential ambitions. I think there is inertia, given the fact that the subject of succession has all along been viewed as taboo," said the source. The Zanu PF information and publicity chief, Nathan Shamuyarira dismissed the possibility of an organised system to tackle Mugabe's succession. "That is not an issue at all. Do you expect us to form an organisation to debate the succession of the President?" said Shamuyarira. He said, in line with the party's constitution, members would select Mugabe's successor at the next congress, an event that comes after every five years, with the last having been held in 1999. Giving his own interpretation of what Mugabe said when he encouraged debate on succession, Shamuyarira said the President had extended the invitation to the whole nation and not just Zanu PF members. Analysts however maintain that the invitation was made to ruling party members, as Mugabe clearly stated that the succession debate should be handled without jeorpadising unity within the party.
Patrick Nyaruwata, the national chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association (ZNLWVA), itself a Zanu PF vanguard, vowed that his organisation would openly deliberate on Mugabe's succession. "Since the President has opened the debate, we will talk about the issue without fear. We will express our views about those who have been touted as having intentions to take over the presidency," said Nyaruwata. He suggested that various platforms should be used to debate, among which must be party conferences and congresses as well as the politburo. Nyaruwata added that the war veterans movement would constantly engage Mugabe, who is their patron, in making recommendations of possible successors. At a politburo meeting held early this year, another central committee member, who is reported to belong to one succession camp, reportedly openly told Mugabe to tell the party and the nation his plans on retirement. In a thinly veiled attack on Mugabe, Nyaruwata said his organisation would welcome a successor who would have demonstrated the intention to kick-start the ailing economy by re-engaging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. "The leader should have a fresh perspective on how to turn around the economy, while at the same time improving relations with the international community," he said. "In addition, he should genuinely respect war veterans and should demonstrate a long history of support for the struggle for independence in Zimbabwe."
The media has been awash with reports of plans for Mugabe's exit from power. In January this year, there were reports that Mugabe had agreed to a process of handing over power to a transitional government that would involve the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Mugabe and the ruling party dismissed such plans. The recent announcements by the President encouraging open discourse on succession are widely seen as an indication that Mugabe is prepared to go any time, as long as he is convinced that his departure would not cause mayhem in the ruling party. Camps have reportedly been formed within the party as presidential aspirants jostle to claim pole position in the race to succeed Mugabe. Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zanu PF's national secretary for administration is believed to be leading one camp while retired army general, Solomon Mujuru is said to be leading a contending camp, to which defence minister Sydney Sekeramayi, Air Marshall Perence Shiri and army commander, Lieutenant-General Constantine Chiwenga are said to be aligned.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 25 May
The race is on to take over from Mugabe
Zanu PF heavyweights jostle for power but they're too scared to come out in the open
Sunday Times Foreign Desk
Officially, Robert Mugabe may still be in charge of Zimbabwe, but his lieutenants look increasingly ready to assume the presidency of this crisis-ridden country. Political heavyweights in Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF are already looking beyond Mugabe's tenure of office and consolidating their positions for a takeover when he finally retires. Zanu PF sources said this week that Mugabe's lieutenants were intensifying their efforts in the escalating battle for ascendancy. "Our understanding in the party is that Mugabe has now decided to retire, but he is becoming vocal about his succession debate because of internal power struggles and growing tension," a senior Zanu PF member said. "By denouncing those lobbying to position themselves for power, he is trying to ensure that the situation does not become unmanageable in the end."
Reports of heightening Zanu PF power struggles resurfaced this week in the wake of Mugabe's latest condemnation of senior party officials over their clandestine bids to succeed him. Addressing thousands of supporters at a rally on Thursday in Mount Darwin, about 160km northeast of Harare, Mugabe said people were free to openly discuss his succession, but party functionaries should stop covert campaigns to take over. Mugabe said he was aware that some of his party's top officials were seeking divine intervention to succeed him. "I am aware of what is happening. Some top leaders are consulting ancestral spirits and traditional healers to enhance their political fortunes," he said. "But it's not about ancestral spirits, it's about unity and people's wishes." Last month Mugabe, for the first time, declared his succession debate open, but denounced party leaders who organised themselves along "ethnic and personal lines". He also indicated that his retirement could be near.
Retired army general Solomon Mujuru, Zanu PF secretary for administration and Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa, and Information Minister Jonathan Moyo are leading the fight for Mugabe's throne. Political analyst Ibbo Mandaza, who is closely linked with Zanu PF, said Mugabe's statements on his succession indicated that he was about to retire. He added that it would be helpful if Mugabe laid out the rules for choosing his successor. As long as there was no official debate on the issue "speculation, anxiety and even division will persist", Mandaza said. Although Mugabe claims he has no problem with leaders who declare their presidential ambitions, he has in the past sidelined those who have shown that they want to succeed him. One such example was Zanu-PF maverick Eddison Zvobgo, at one time seen as the most likely Mugabe successor, who was sidelined for stating that he wanted Mugabe's job. Mandaza, a former senior civil servant, said that without official endorsement, Mugabe's potential successors in the ruling party would not come out in the open.
As if to confirm this, Zanu PF chairman John Nkomo, also considered a potential Mugabe successor, refused to talk about the issue when contacted about it. The secretary-general of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Welshman Ncube, said Mugabe's remarks indicated he was getting increasingly paranoid about developments within his party. "He should simply say he wants to resign so that the country can move on. He is the biggest stumbling block to progress," Ncube said. Mandaza, claiming that the next president would come from Zanu PF and not the MDC, said the succession race was wide open. He named Mnangagwa in Midlands province, Nkomo and former Home Affairs Minister Dumiso Dabengwa in Matabeleland, Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo in Mashonaland West, former Finance Minister Simba Makoni in Manicaland and Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge in Masvingo as potential successors. He said Moyo, despite his posturing, was "too low in the ranks" to be a candidate.
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From The Sunday Independent (SA), 25 May
Zimbabweans pay bribes to withdraw cash
By Basildon Peta
Embattled Zimbabweans, who queue for nearly everything, say they have to pay bribes to bank officials to withdraw their own money because of a shortage of bank notes. Cheque books are also hard to come by. State media reports said recently the cash crisis had been caused by the shortage of foreign currency to import paper required to print the banknotes. But the Zimbabwe government also blamed illegal foreign exchange dealers whom it said were hoarding Z$100-billion worth of banknotes. An official with a commercial bank, who requested anonymity, said: "Sometimes the printers tell us that they don't have ink, or paper or even electricity due to power rationing. So they delay printing the cheque books and it's entirely beyond our control." Zimbabwean banks have begun rejecting larger cash withdrawals exceeding Z$50 000 in a bid to avert the shortages. "You now have to pay money to get your own money from a bank," said an employee with a local NGO. "We have experienced bizarre situations before but this is more than that. I had to pay a bribe of Z$5 000 to withdraw Z$50 000. It's totally unacceptable." Companies and individuals who have to withdraw huge sums of money to pay weekly minimum wages are also hard hit.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has said it will introduce Z$1 000 notes to reduce printing costs and for the convenience of Zimbabweans. Zimbabweans have to carry large stashes of cash in the boots of their cars as the increasingly worthless currency cannot buy much. The highest cash denominator in Zimbabwe is a Z$500 note. But these have somehow disappeared from circulation and mostly Z$100 notes are being used. The central bank said the Z$1 000 note would be introduced towards the end of the year. Zimbabwe's Financial Gazette said the central bank this week failed to remit Z$200-million to the Central African Building Society for the payment of civil servants' salaries. The building society had received only Z$30-million. Many civil servants get paid through building societies because of the low minimum balance requirements for account holders. The situation is expected to get worse in this week when more public servants and other workers line up at the banks to draw their pay.
Some economists have speculated that the central bank could be withholding money deliberately as part of its efforts to cripple the black market where most of the foreign currency trade has been taking place. The Zimbabwe dollar took a heavy knock this week after the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority and the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe went on a buying spree on the black market to raise money for electricity and fuel imports. A United States dollar was fetching Z$2 500 this week, up from about Z$1 300 last week.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 25 May
Resettled areas in a state of disaster
By our own Staff
In what could be an admission of the failure of the much-touted land reforms to alleviate food shortages, President Robert Mugabe has declared a state of disaster in all resettlement areas. In a government gazette released on Friday, Mugabe noted that there was widespread food insecurity and the risk of water shortages, not only in the resettlement areas, but in communal and urban areas as well. He also declared a state of disaster in Matabeleland South where livestock were vulnerable to the effects of drought. The declaration paves way for funds to be harnessed and channelled to the areas, and for donors to assist the affected people but it is feared that very little money would be raised because the government is broke and many donors have fled from Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe plunged into turmoil after government-backed farm invasions led by so-called war veterans destroyed the commercial agriculture sector from 2000. Widely condemned, both at home and internationally, the fast-track land reform exercise that followed spelt doom to the country's prospects as rich farm lands were grabbed by Zanu PF cronies with little or no farming experience.
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