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Archived News
2nd December 2003
Daily News decision delayed as judge quits the case
Zimbabwe not invited to Commonwealth - Nigeria
Obasanjo yet to invite President
Zimbabwe cancels all 14 gold concessions
In Botswana, border turns electric
Obasanjo gets it right on Mugabe
Zimbabwean soldiers were 'forced to rig Mugabe poll'
SADC to meet over Mugabe's rejection
Mbeki upbeat on political solution for Zim
MDC rejects notion of overthrowing Mugabe
Nurses' strike closes state hospital wards
Mining group hid links with Zimbabwe army, court told
Kadi for top Commonwealth post
Sri Lanka bids to oust Commonwealth chief
Bid to heal SADC rift over Zimbabwe
Tsvangirai questioned by police
Harare priest takes on the Bishop
Air Zim hopes forex will make it fly
Amnesty to hold silent vigil in support of Daily News
A portrait of the comrade as an angry man
We may quit the Commonwealth for good, says defiant Mugabe
Please don't ban Zim - SADC
Canada warns Zimbabwe to tend its own problems
Pro-Mugabe armed forces chief named
Cops break up farmers' meeting
Govt sets up new housing fund
Additional EC funds to secure WFP pipeline
Critical need for non-food aid
Shots fired in Zim poll - MDC
Paper's appeal goes ahead
Judgment in ANZ case reserved
Gagged
Zimbabweans fear Mugabe's fury
Chefs caught in gold licence blitz
One man's view
Zimbabwe by-election to wrap up after ruling party accused of intimidation
No black-white split over Mugabe
Commonwealth: to be or not to be
‘Bush degree’ brings Mugabe face to face with reality
No rest for the wicked, no peace for the dead
Zanu PF wins by-election
Tsvangirai back in court
Mugabe exit off agenda at Zimbabwe party congress
Mugabe's heavy hand gets heavier
Snubbing Zim 'not easy' - Obasanjo
SA not opposing Commonwealth chief - Pahad
Allies fail to rally around Mugabe
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From Business Day (SA), 26 November
Daily News decision delayed as judge quits the case
Harare - A Zimbabwean judge who was set to hear an application by the independent Daily News on whether it should be allowed to publish recused himself from the case yesterday after a report said he had discussed his predetermined verdict with a member of the public. Administrative court Judge Michael Majuru quit the case after a report in the state-run Herald alleged that he had told a friend that he would rule in favour of the Daily News, a staunch critic of President Robert Mugabe. The Daily News, the country's most popular newspaper and the only alternative to state-run dailies The Herald and The Chronicle, was closed down in September by armed police after the Supreme Court ruled it was operating illegally because it was not registered with the state's media commission. Majuru said the story in the Herald indicated the Media and Information Commission felt it would not get a fair hearing if he presided over the case. "I think it's only prudent and fair in the interest of justice that I recuse myself in this matter," he told the administrative court, which was due to begin hearing the Daily News application yesterday to rule on whether it should be allowed to resume publication.
Majuru said he would ask another judge to preside over the matter. The new judge was going to need time to study the submissions made by both sides in the case and set a new date for the hearing. A decision on the whether the Daily News is allowed to resume publishing will be known only after that hearing. On October 24, Majuru ordered that the media commission issue a licence to the Daily News by November 30, failing which the paper would be deemed to have been registered. That decision was set aside when the commission appealed against the ruling, but the Daily News went back to the administrative court to have it enforced. The October ruling ordering that the Daily News be accredited with the media commission was seen as a victory for the paper, which published a comeback edition a day later. But police again shut down the paper on October 25, saying it was not yet registered. It has not been published since.
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From Reuters, 25 November
Zimbabwe not invited to Commonwealth - Nigeria
Ota, Nigeria - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said on Tuesday Zimbabwe was not invited to a Commonwealth summit in Nigeria next month because Harare had not made sufficient progress in talks with the opposition. Zimbabwe was suspended from the group of mainly former British colonies after charges that President Robert Mugabe rigged his re-election last year. Key members Britain and Australia have been determined to keep Mugabe away from the December 5-8 heads of government meeting, while several African members have tried to keep him in the group. "We will not have an invitation (for Zimbabwe). If there is no invitation, they will not come," Obasanjo told foreign journalists at his farm near Lagos. Diplomats saw Obasanjo's visit to Zimbabwe last week as a last-ditch effort to avert a split of the 54-member Commonwealth along racial lines. "I visited Zimbabwe last week to appraise myself of the current situation"' said Obasanjo. "I've seen the situation and I think the way they are going, it should be a short period before Zimbabwe can come into the mainstream."
Although Obasanjo is a long-time ally of Mugabe, he appears to have had little success in his bid to broker talks between Mugabe and his opponents, a key demand of the Commonwealth. Obasanjo said the two sides were talking to each other, but "probably not as much as one might hope." "A few months ago, Nigeria was hoping that there would have been some progress in Zimbabwe, but there has been no meaningful progress," said Alex Vines, head of the Africa programme at London's Royal Institute of International Affairs. "In the end, Nigeria has had to be pragmatic." Obasanjo said he hoped 52 nations would attend the summit. Pakistan has also been suspended from the organisation, since General Pervez Musharraf came to power in a 1999 coup. Obasanjo said he did not want Zimbabwe to become the main issue of the meeting. Instead he wanted it to focus on trade issues between rich and poor nations, left unresolved by failed World Trade Organisation discussions in Mexico in September.
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From The Herald, 26 November
Obasanjo yet to invite President
Herald Reporter
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo reiterated yesterday that he was still to invite President Mugabe to the next week's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting scheduled for Abuja. News agency reports said the Nigerian leader told reporters at a relaxed gathering in the gardens of his farmhouse just outside the small town of Otta, in south-western Nigeria that he had visited Harare last week to assess the situation in Zimbabwe. "It was important that I should have acquainted myself with the current situation in Zimbabwe so that Zimbabwe does not become the issue at the summit," said President Obasanjo. Zimbabweans, he said, had been "reaching out to themselves, but perhaps not quite as much as one would wish." After his meeting with President Mugabe last week, President Obasanjo did not rule out the possibility of inviting his Zimbabwean counterpart to Commonwealth summit, despite fierce opposition, mainly from white Commonwealth countries. "I am consulting," the Nigerian leader said then, when asked whether Zimbabwe would attend. President Mugabe said Zimbabwe’s suspension from the Commonwealth expired in March and the country was entitled to attend the Abuja summit. "We look forward to attending the Abuja CHOGM. As far as we are concerned, and even as we were placed under sanctions which expired in March ... there is no case really for Zimbabwe to answer," Cde Mugabe said.
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From Business Day (SA), 26 November
Zimbabwe cancels all 14 gold concessions
Bulawayo Correspondent
The Zimbabwean government has cancelled all 14 gold concessions issued to gold buyers countrywide last year, accusing concession holders of failing to remit all gold received to the central bank. The latest development comes amid reports that the country is losing an estimated Z$15bn weekly to smugglers taking the precious metal out the country. Buyers are obliged to sell all gold directly to Zimbabwe's central bank, at about half the price they would receive on the international market. The gold concessions system was introduced by the mines and mining development ministry last year in an effort to improve the supply of gold to Fidelity Printers and Refiners, a wholly owned subsidiary of the central bank tasked with managing the country's gold reserve and printing currency. Under the system, gold miners and panners sell all their gold to the concession holders, who in turn remit the mineral to the central bank at a profit.
However, Mines and Mining Development Minister Edward ChindoriChininga said yesterday the government had, with immediate effect, withdrawn the concession holder's buying licences, as the central bank had received only 15kg of gold since the system's inception. "All the concessions have been cancelled with immediate effect, because we are not seeing the benefit of continuing with this system," he said. "We were expecting at least 500kg of gold, but we have only received 15kg, which indicates that the concession holders are diverting gold meant for the central bank to the illegal gold market," said Chindori-Chininga. The companies whose permits were withdrawn include Shipford Investments, trading as Golden Kopje Mine, which had a concession to buy gold in most parts of Mashonaland West province. Others are Gold Mining and Minerals Development Trust, with five concessions in Mazowe, Shamva, Mudzi, Mutare and Filabusi; Needgate Investments, which had the sole authority to purchase gold in Chegutu; and Temba Transport, trading as Golden Syndicate, which had the right to buy gold in Kwekwe. Also having their permits withdrawn were Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, which had concessions in Gweru, and Oleaster Investments (Gwanda), Rynwald Trading (Zvishavane) and SAD (Masvingo).
It was not immediately clear whether three concessions held by government-controlled Gold Mining and Minerals Development Trust would be affected by the latest move to cancel licences. Other concessions are held in the gold belts of Matabeleland North and South, where illegal gold panning activities are rife in most districts. The illegal activities are fuelled by the spread between the government's gold price of Z$38 000 an ounce and the black market's price of more than Z$50 000/oz. Chindori-Chininga said the government was in the process of tightening gold production and movement in the country, by deploying police units to mines and arresting illegal gold panners. He said members of the police gold squad would be deployed to areas where former concessionaires were operating to ensure that the companies complied. "What is even more worrying is the fact that we advanced at least Z$500m to assist the respective companies to kickstart their operations," said ChindoriChininga.
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From The Baltimore Sun (US), 25 November
In Botswana, border turns electric
Fence: But no barrier may be too great to hold back surge of illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe
By John Murphy. Sun Foreign Staff
Matsiloje, Botswana - Residents of this village along the border with Zimbabwe were quite pleased when Botswana's government began erecting a 10-foot-high electrified fence to separate the two countries. Officially, the fence is to keep out livestock from Zimbabwe suspected of carrying foot-and-mouth disease. But the villagers are hoping the fence, which will snake across 300 miles of desert scrub, will do more: block the path of thousands of illegal immigrants who are fleeing the political and economic turmoil in Zimbabwe. Now that the electric fence is nearly complete, villagers wonder whether it will deliver a shock powerful enough to stop the Zimbabweans, whom they blame for Botswana's rising number of thefts, rapes and other crimes. "We still don't know whether it will work. The generator is very weak," said Simon Lephalo, a member of the local council in this acacia shaded village of 1,200 people. In the shimmering desert heat, Zimbabweans plod from house to house in border towns begging to wash cars, mow lawns, weed gardens and perform odd jobs, anything for a hot meal or a handful of change. At night they disappear, sleeping in the dry reeds along the banks of the Tati River, bedding down in the desert, taking refuge in bus stops or crowding into tiny rented shelters. No fence may be high enough or threatening enough to hold back the rising tide of illegal immigrants, authorities in Botswana say. There are too many reasons for Zimbabweans to leave. Nearly half of Zimbabwe's population of 12.5 million people is facing starvation this year, and 80 percent of the population is without work and living in poverty. There are shortages of fuel, bread, and cooking oil and other staples. The country's doctors have been on strike since October demanding raises to keep pace with an annual inflation rate of 450 percent.
Zimbabwe's hardships are the legacy of President Robert G. Mugabe, the former guerrilla fighter who brought an end to white minority rule in 1980. Twenty years later, facing mounting opposition to his poor management of the economy, Mugabe launched a racially charged, chaotic and often-violent program of seizing white-owned farms for landless black peasants, crippling the country's agriculture-based economy. Mugabe won re-election last year after a vote marred by charges of intimidation and fraud. A long-lasting drought, meanwhile, left millions of Zimbabweans hungry and dependent on government food aid that critics say is often denied to Mugabe's opponents. But Zimbabwe's problems do not stop at its borders. Like the echoes from a distant explosion, the political and economic upheavals of Zimbabwe are being felt across the region, especially in Botswana and South Africa. South Africa remains the top destination for Zimbabweans, but the immigrants' impact is greater in Botswana, a sparsely populated country of 1.7 million people. Each new economic or humanitarian disaster in Zimbabwe triggers a fresh wave of human misery spilling into Botswana.
Flooding the country are Zimbabweans such as 22-year-old Themma Tlou. A mother of two, Tlou lived on a white-owned commercial farm where her father worked until government-backed militias seized the land and forced them to flee in 2000. Out of work and out of food, Tlou left her children with her parents and paid a guide $5 to escort her across the border into Botswana. Under the cover of night she slipped through a tear in the fence and started walking to Francistown, an industrial center of 100,000 less than an hour's drive from the border. She had no money, just a jacket and hat to wear at night and a modest dream of earning the equivalent of $50 to take home. But her dreams were short-lived. Early the next morning, Botswana police patrolling the border arrested her. She was brought to the Center for Illegal Immigrants, a sprawling brick complex outside Francistown that houses hundreds of immigrants awaiting deportation. They are given three meals a day, a blanket to sleep on and a ride to the Zimbabwe border. Some Zimbabweans are so flattered by the treatment they beg to stay at the compound. In Zimbabwe, they say, they will only suffer. "All of the industries have closed. We don't have work," says Tlou, waiting to be deported. Edmora Banda, a surprisingly cheerful 20-year-old who is well-known among immigration officials, was also waiting to be deported - for the eighth time. On his most recent stay, he found a job at a brick-making factory in Francistown, earning 20 pula, about $5 a day, a fraction of what a Botswana citizen would demand but a fortune in Zimbabwe, where he earned $10 a month as a gardener. He has sent his savings back home to support his parents, two brothers and three sisters. When authorities deport him again to Zimbabwe, he'll do just as he has done in the past. "By tomorrow afternoon, I will be back," he promises.
From the Zimbabwe side of the fence, Botswana beckons like a promised land. As the world's largest producer of gem diamonds, Botswana has one of the fastest-growing economies. Combined with a government that embraces multiparty democracy, exercises prudent fiscal policies and polices corruption, Botswana has become a darling of the West, a model for other African nations to follow. No one knows how many illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe live here, but authorities estimate at least 1 million. So far this year, more than 36,000 Zimbabweans have been deported. Those who elude authorities perform the backbreaking jobs that the Batswana, as the people of Botswana are known, consider beneath them. If the immigrants die, their deaths often go unnoticed. Earlier this year, the Francistown government buried the unclaimed bodies of a dozen Zimbabwean illegal immigrants. By September, the mortuaries were again clogged with Zimbabwean bodies. Although Botswana's economy has come to depend on them for cheap labor, Zimbabweans are largely viewed here as a nuisance, responsible for the sharp rise in prostitution, theft, rape and murder. "Zimbabweans are hated so much. It's as if you are something stinking," says Nomsa Mdlozu, a reporter who covers immigration issues for Francistown's newspaper, The Voice. "Zimbabweans are hard workers especially when it comes to construction. But the Batswana ignore their existence." Batswana forget, she says, that just 20 years ago when their country was still very poor, thousands of Batswana sought work in Zimbabwe, once considered the breadbasket of Africa.
Police say there is no evidence that Zimbabweans are any more responsible for crime than Batswana. Yet police have won support for stepped-up raids on Zimbabweans, rounding them up by the hundreds at village taxi stands, at factories and in their hide-outs in the desert. Zimbabweans are also the target of a growing vigilante movement in Botswana. In Francistown, police recently rushed to rescue a Zimbabwean from an angry mob that had accused him of stealing a purse. In Tlokweng near Botswana's capital, Gaborone, the chief called for the expulsion of Zimbabweans from his village, arguing that they were responsible for escalating crime rates. This year, Botswana's government amended its laws so foreigners could be tried in tribal courts, where chiefs may mete out humiliating sentences such as public lashings. In Matsiloje, Chief Seleka Paul Moipolai has no doubt that Zimbabweans are guilty of stealing food, cattle, clothing and other items from his village, but he adds that he is sympathetic to the Zimbabweans' suffering. "When we ask them why they come here, they say they are starving," he says.
A survey by the Southern African Migration Project found that a majority of Batswana support having an electrified border fence to control illegal immigrants. In the eyes of many Batswana, the animal control fence is a convenient obstacle for humans as well as cattle. To the Zimbabwean government, it is an insult. Zimbabwe's High Commissioner to Botswana balked at the project, comparing it to the security wall that Israel is building in the West Bank to control the movements of Palestinians. Botswana has been one of the few African nations to openly criticize Mugabe's land reform, and the fence has further cooled relations. Zimbabwean officials, meanwhile, say they are baffled by the numbers fleeing their country. "I don't know why anyone from one country would go to another country," George Charamba, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe President's Office, says in a telephone interview from Harare. But Emmanuel Madzongwe, a 34-year-old musician who was arrested jumping the border this month in hopes of earning some money playing his guitar in Botswana, had an answer for his government. "There's nothing to do in Zimbabwe," he says, waiting to be deported in a windowless truck to his homeland. "People don't have money for entertainment. Any money they have, they spend on food."
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Comment from Mmegi (Botswana), 26 November
Obasanjo gets it right on Mugabe
Editor
The decision by Nigerian President Olesugun Obasanjo not to invite Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to the Commonwealth Summit is a good example of what good friends do. A good friend that makes tough decisions for the good of everyone is a friend indeed. We trust that in making the decision not to invite Mugabe, Obasanjo weighed the odds. Already the leaders of Britain and Australia were opposed to Mugabe’s presence at the Commonwealth Summit. Indeed he also had to consider SADC’s leaders’ view which has always been that the sub-region should pursue "silent diplomacy" to deal with Zimbabwe. Obasanjo must have realized that silent diplomacy has failed in Zimbabwe’s case. It must have been a tough decision indeed for Obasanjo. As the host, he had the discretion to invite Mugabe. He chose not to. This we say, is a wise decision even though it may not be popular with the advocates of silent diplomacy and African brotherhood. Perhaps SADC leaders need the same boldness in dealing with Mugabe.
It would be strange if President Festus Mogae and his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki still hope that the Zimbabwean situation would return to normal with the current developments in the country. Strange because the developments in Zimbabwe have resulted in thousands of economic refugees fleeing to Botswana and South Africa. Did Obasanjo make his decision - which is a public reprimand of Mugabe - because his country is very far from Zimbabwe? We want to believe he did it because he is aware that inviting Mugabe for the Commonwealth meet will send the wrong signals. Furthermore Mugabe’s presence in Nigeria would only harden his dictatorial tendencies. We wish therefore to urge SADC and in particular Mogae and Mbeki to emulate Obasanjo’s boldness in dealing with Mugabe. The time for silent diplomacy is passed. SADC does not need another civil war. And we in Botswana particularly anxiously await the return of normalcy to Zimbabwe. And normalcy can only return when Mugabe starts to behave himself or quits.
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From The Independent (UK), 27 November
Zimbabwean soldiers were 'forced to rig Mugabe poll'
By Basildon Peta, Southern Africa correspondent
Two former Zimbabwean army officers said yesterday that they helped to rig President Robert Mugabe's re-election last year by stuffing ballot boxes with thousands of false postal votes. They said that they were forced to fake thousands of ballots in the names of soldiers serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as for many fictitious voters. Herbert Ndlovu, 43, and Primrose Tshuma, 42, made the claims at a press conference in Johannesburg. The officers fled to South Africa after being tortured and beaten in army barracks. They said that they had been accused of switching allegiances to the opposition party in Zimbabwe, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The officers said that they decided to talk of their experiences to alert the world to the way the Zimbabwean regime was abusing state security to maintain power. They said morale had collapsed in the army, though they did not believe a military coup was possible. They produced army identity documents and medical records, which they said showed they had been tortured. According to the officers, soldiers stuffed the ballot boxes with the falsified postal votes well before the presidential election in March 2002.
Mr Ndlovu said that he was summoned to the headquarters of the Zimbabwe National Army's 4th Brigade in Masvingo in April 2002 and instructed by superiors to "work" on postal votes. When he arrived soldiers were already filling in ballot papers in support of Mr Mugabe. "I was ordered to do the same , placing the X next to President Mugabe's name," he said. "I filled in hundreds of ballot papers. There were too many to count, maybe thousands." He said that he had worked with five others, who were also filling in ballot papers. He said the ballots were later put in boxes and transported to the capital, Harare. The two former officers said that they had filled in postal votes in Mr Mugabe's favour on behalf of many Zimbabwean soldiers serving in the DRC - as well as filling in many more ballots on behalf of fictitious voters. While the soldiers said that they did not know what happened at other army barracks around the country, their story corroborates allegations of ballot stuffing, which have been published in independent newspapers in Zimbabwe.
The reports suggested that the army had filled ballot boxes with about 500,000 ballot papers to help Mr Mugabe to win re-election with a majority of about 400,000 votes over Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the MDC. The MDC has argued that the lack of a proper electoral roll and the absence of official election observers last year left ample scope for vote rigging. The High Court has not yet passed judgment on Mr Tsvangirai's application challenging the results of the presidential election on the basis that it was rigged. The former officers said that they had fallen foul of their superiors, who accused them of being loyal to the MDC. They said that they had been tortured by "our own comrades with whom we fought shoulder to shoulder" in Zimbabwe's war of liberation, which began in the 1960s and finished in 1980. At times, they said, they were tortured with electric shocks, detained in disused lavatories and forced to eat their own vomit. They said that every time they cried in pain or shouted for help, mops soaked in urine from a dirty toilet were forced into their mouths to keep them quiet. Asked why they had obeyed illegal orders to rig the elections, Ms Tshuma said: "In Zimbabwe, the terms for a soldier are strict. You have to obey orders." The consequences of not obeying orders were too drastic to contemplate, they told the press conference.
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From Business Day (SA), 27 November
SADC to meet over Mugabe's rejection
Body wants to adopt a regional position over Zimbabwe's exclusion from next Commonwealth summit
International Affairs Editor
An emergency meeting of regional foreign ministers tomorrow in Maseru is expected to reject an expected Zimbabwean attempt to persuade southern African Commonwealth members to boycott the heads of government meeting in Nigeria early next month. The meeting of the Southern African Development Community has been called by Lesotho to adopt a regional position on Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo's decision not to invite Zimbabwe to the Commonwealth meeting. While the expected decision could be seen as a rebuff to Mugabe, it would have been a clear diplomatic snub if Lesotho had not called this meeting at all and not sought SADC policy on the issue. That a meeting is being called at all gives Zimbabwe the dignity of a hearing. It is widely regarded as likely that only Zimbabwe's staunchest ally, Namibia, will support the Zimbabwean call for a boycott of the Commonwealth meeting, but no other meetings.
Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party said yesterday it expected some African members of the 54-nation Commonwealth to boycott the heads of government meeting to protest against the decision not to invite Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and show their solidarity with the leader. One option for the SADC would be for the foreign ministers to support Obasanjo on the basis that he has already consulted widely on the matter and that Commonwealth protocol is not to invite countries that have been suspended. The SADC has a policy of not attending meetings with the European Union (EU) or accepting development aid if Zimbabwe is excluded by the EU's smart sanctions. Last year, African parliamentarians walked out of a meeting with their European counterparts after Zimbabwe was excluded, and an African-European summit was put off because Mugabe was not allowed to attend by the Europeans. The meeting is being held in Maseru as Lesotho currently chairs the SADC's Organ on Politics, Defence, Security and Co-operation.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark yesterday welcomed Nigeria's decision not to invite Mugabe to the Commonwealth meeting. Clark said it would have been "difficult" to have discussions about engaging Zimbabwe with the Commonwealth had Mugabe been present at the heads of government meeting in Abuja. Zimbabwe was suspended from the ruling councils of the 54-nation Commonwealth, made up of mainly former British colonies, in March last year after Mugabe was re-elected in a poll which many international observers said was marked by violence and ballot-rigging. "Indeed, the outrage would be if he did turn up because suspension from the councils of the Commonwealth has to mean something," Clark said. "The suspension goes up until and including the summit and then the Commonwealth leaders' meeting has to decide where from here not a straightforward issue. "I think that people will be looking for Mugabe to just engage with the Commonwealth. What people find hard to understand is that Zimbabwe simply will not engage with those who are trying to help it find a way back."
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From The Star (SA), 27 November
Mbeki upbeat on political solution for Zim
By Jeremy Michaels. Political Bureau
South Africa, the United States and Britain are on standby to help Zimbabwe's economic recovery as soon as a political settlement is found, according to President Thabo Mbeki. And in another development, some ANC MPs yesterday applauded Paul Themba Nyathi, information secretary of the Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), drawing pronounced frowns from other ANC MPs. Answering MPs' questions in the National Assembly yesterday, Mbeki said his government had held discussions with the Zimbabwean government regarding the escalating economic crisis in that country, but thought it was best to allow them to find a political solution first. "We've been talking to the leadership of Zimbabwe, both the ruling party and the opposition, for a very, very long time," Mbeki said in reply to a question about what South Africa was doing to assist the Zimbabwean people. The aim of the discussions was "generally to encourage them to find solutions to their problems ... and we're convinced that progress is being made".
However, Mbeki said there were "some problems that have not been resolved" in informal talks between the two sides, but South Africa would continue to engage both sides as well as civil society organisations. "We had discussed in the past what sorts of interventions were necessary to address the economic challenges," Mbeki said. However, "it seems that it was important that we sort out these political matters first before we engage these other issues. "But we are ready to re-engage the Zimbabwean government specifically on the matter that regards the economic recovery in that country. We have also been maintaining close contact with the British and the US governments on this particular matter. We'll be able to move on this as soon as we can - it depends on the movement that is achieved with regard to the political situation."
Earlier in the day, Nyathi made an impassioned plea for South African solidarity with the plight of Zimbabwe's suffering people, prompting applause from some ANC MPs while others appeared bemused by the open display of apparent sympathy with the MDC official. Addressing the portfolio committee on foreign affairs, Nyathi painted a picture of desperation amid food shortages, soaring inflation - which, according to government figures, was currently at 500% and would reach 700% early next year - a crackdown on media freedom, a ruling party which was clinging to power by intimidating ordinary Zimbabweans, a chaotic land redistribution programme, and a judiciary that had lost its independence. "I hope you have time to think about the ordinary men and women who go to bed hungry and the thousands who have been tortured," Nyathi said. Regarding external pressure on the Zimbabwean government, he said: "Neighbours should speak with clearer voices."
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From Business Day (SA), 26 November
MDC rejects notion of overthrowing Mugabe
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has rejected any notion of a violent overthrow "Georgia-style" of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF regime. Briefing the National Assembly's foreign affairs committee today, MDC Secretary for Information and Publicity, Paul Themba Nyathi said the MDC was not "intent on overthrowing the Mugabe regime". "That would not achieve our objectives of a democratic Zimbabwe. We would like to see an outcome in Zimbabwe where the people of Zimbabwe have the final say on who governs the country through a free and fair election," he said. Free and fair elections could only come about as a result of negotiations, which would usher in a new dispensation in Zimbabwe. "And that's what all the pressures that we exert on the regime are designed to achieve."
The MDC realised there could not be a solution to the Zimbabwean crisis without the two major political parties getting around a table and narrowing their differences and finding some form of accommodation. Although no formal talks were currently underway between the two parties, back-stage efforts were being made to bring them together. Nyathi also referred to those questioning the MDC's commitment to dialogue "when we embark from time to time on what we refer to as mass action". "We don't mind if other people accuse us of acting in bad faith; as long as those people are not South Africans. Because South Africans have a history of rolling mass action as they continued to talk on the sides... we have learnt a few of those lessons from our brothers and sisters in South Africa. (This) assisted them in promoting their struggle, and we see no reason why similar tactics cannot help us promote our own struggle," he said.
Some South Africans saw Mugabe as a hero, "because he rails against imperialism, and so forth and so on". They should think about the ordinary men, women and children who "go to bed hungry because of Mugabe's policies... the hundreds and thousands of Zimbabweans who have been tortured, maimed." "There is nothing revolutionary about torturing, being tyrannical, against your own people. These are all excuses for failed states and bad governance." The issue in Zimbabwe was not about land, about black and white, or about revolution that "has been completed by somebody". "The issue is about bad governance; the issue is about a party that refuses to subject itself to basic democratic processes. It's about a party that refuses to contemplate the possibility of losing power... that considers (its role in the liberation struggle) an entitlement to perpetual rule." Those who participated actively in the liberation struggle knew this was a distortion of the struggle. "We never fought to cling to power, we never fought to destroy our country and use our participation in the liberation struggle as an excuse for bad governance," Nyathi said.
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From IOL (SA), 26 November
Nurses' strike closes state hospital wards
Harare - A crippling nurses' strike shut down wards at some state hospitals on Wednesday, forcing staff to send hundreds of patients home, hospital officials said. The government assigned military nurses and doctors to handle emergency cases, state radio reported. At least one death has been linked to a series of work stoppages at state hospitals in recent weeks as doctors and nurses demand pay hikes of up to 8 000 percent to keep pace with the country's runaway inflation. A woman who was turned away from a Harare emergency room after a beating by her husband died the next day, according to court records. Her husband, a fruit vendor, was charged with murder in the November 15 domestic dispute. Some 20 000 striking nurses returned to their wards earlier this month, following appeals by Health Minister David Parirenyatwa and the promise of a pay review that is still dragging on. Zimbabwe is facing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1980, with 70 percent unemployment and acute shortages of food, gasoline and medicine. Official inflation is running at 526 percent, one of the highest levels in the world. Critics blame Zimbabwe's economic woes on mismanagement by President Robert Mugabe's government, rampant corruption and the seizure of thousands of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to impoverished blacks. Medical staff, including junior doctors who earn as little as Z$400 000 Zimbabwean (about $80 or less than R1 000) a month, are not the only ones on strike. Mail service ground to a halt for most of November because of a postal workers' strike. Phone technician walkouts frequently leave connections jammed in the overburdened telephone network, while intermittent stoppages by air traffic controllers delay flights. "What we are seeing is a nation in decay," said Lovemore Matombo, head of the country's main labor federation. "The strikes should not surprise us. There is no way out until there is improved governance." Lower paid employees could no longer afford to get to work because of spiralling transportation costs, he said. "To stay at home (on strike), it's hallelujah, a little money saved," Matombo said.
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From The Independent (UK), 27 November
Mining group hid links with Zimbabwe army, court told
By Terry Kirby, Chief Reporter
A mining company concealed the involvement of the Zimbabwean government in an operation to mine diamonds in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, the High Court was told yesterday. The Independent went to court to force Oryx Natural Resources to disclose crucial documentation, which Desmond Browne QC, for the newspaper, claimed would show the mining firm was involved in an act of "commercial piracy". Oryx, named in a report by a United Nations expert panel last year as acting as a front for the Zimbabwean army's substantial interest in the mine, has brought an action for libel against The Independent over an article published last November following the UN report. At the start of the two-day hearing, Mr Browne told Mr Justice Eady: "The whole venture was clothed in public deceit. The Zimbabwean government was party to an attempt to conceal an act of commercial piracy and Oryx were a willing partner to that concealment." The potential profits could be seen from Oryx's claim that the mine could eventually provide 10 per cent of the world's diamonds. Mr Browne said that in 1998, the Congolese government offered the Zimbabwean defence forces (ZDF) the mining concession in return for help during its civil war. The ZDF approached Oryx, which set up a joint venture called Oryx Zimcon with a ZDF company called Osleg, of which the ZDF commander, General Vitalis Zviniavashe, and the country's Defence Secretary, Job Whabira, were directors.
Mr Browne said that although Oryx sought to represent Osleg as a joint Congolese-Zimbabwean company, it was "exclusively an emanation of the ZDF" and that Oryx.Zimcon was "a deniable entity". However, plans for Oryx to float on London's financial markets in May 2000 were abandoned after City regulators warned of the "utter unacceptability of a London listing for a company involved with the Zimbabwean military in the exploitation of diamonds in a conflict zone", he told the court. Mr Browne said an attempt was made to conceal the ZDF involvement and, at meetings later that year, Osleg's shares in the mining company, Sengamines, were transferred to Oryx to act in its place. Despite this, Oryx appointed General Zvinivashe and a ZDF brigadier as directors of Sengamines. Over the next two years, both men attended company meetings, a situation which Mr Browne described as "bizarre". Oryx said their involvement with the ZDF ended in December 2000, said Mr Browne, but in May 2002 General Zviniavashe spoke at a meeting of the Congolese and Zimbabwean governments of an "equitable redistribution of Sengamines shares between the two countries". It was inconceivable, said Mr Browne, for Oryx to claim that documents relating to these meetings, such as share transfers, registers and minutes, could not be produced. Statements supplied by the company's in-house solicitor were misleading and selective, but even he concluded their absence was "unsatisfactory and inconclusive", said Mr Browne.
Mr Browne argued that the level of documentary evidence would be insufficient to satisfy high-profile investors such as the former Emir of Qatar, his adviser Dr Issa Al Kawari and the Libyan government, let alone Oryx's auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers. Responding, Richard Rampton QC said that because the allegations were untrue and the events had never happened, it was not surprising the relevant documents could not be found. He said a number of documents had been disclosed and "excitable and overheated" misreading had led the defendants to jump to the wrong conclusions. "If we are the villains that has been suggested, then these documents would have been buried or shredded a long time ago," he said. Oryx has demanded that the newspaper's source material be disclosed. Last year Oryx received £500,000 from the BBC over an untrue allegation that a shareholder was linked to al-Qai'da. The judge, also Mr Justice Eady, awarded some costs against the company, criticising it for failing to fulfil its legal obligations of disclosure.
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From The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka), 28 November
Kadi for top Commonwealth post
By Ranjith Ananda Jayasinghe
The President and the Prime Minister have agreed to nominate former Foreign Minister and PA MP, Lakshman Kadirgamar to run for the post of Secretary General of the Commonwealth, informed sources said. The present Secretary General, Don McKinnon, former New Zealand Foreign Minister, will complete his tenure of office in three weeks. Although Mr. McKinnon had wanted to continue for a second term, several African countries had opposed the move. The support of Britain is vital in appointing the Commonwealth Secretary General and President Kumaratunga had informed British Premier Tony Blair on Wednesday that Mr. Kadirgamar would be nominated, the sources said. The approval of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been obtained after discussion, prior to informing Premier Tony Blair, they added. The Commonwealth has a membership of 51 countries and the Secretary General's post comes second only to the post of the UN Secretary General. During the time of President Premadasa, the name of Presidential Secretary K.H.J. Wijedasa was to be proposed, but the PA government which assumed power in 1994 did not approve the nomination. Diplomatic circles say international attention would be drawn towards Sri Lanka since Mr. Kadirgamar is coming forward as the Commonwealth Secretary General and Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando is to run for the post of UN Secretary General. It is of special significance that both are former and present Foreign Ministers, both are President's Counsels, and both are old boys of Oxford University. It is believed that as Mr. Kadirgamar was a President of the Oxford Students Union, it would be an added qualification. This is the first time ever that both major political parties have agreed to nominate two candidates to the most powerful posts in world organizations, sources pointed out.
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From Reuters, 27 November
Sri Lanka bids to oust Commonwealth chief
By Nicholas Kotch
Johannesburg - Sri Lanka has named a candidate to challenge Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon for a new term in a move that could rock next month's summit of the 54-member group, diplomats said on Thursday. The December 5-8 summit in Nigeria has already been overshadowed by debate over the exclusion of Zimbabwe, and one diplomat linked Sri Lanka's move to that controversy. New Zealand's McKinnon has led a group of mainly white Commonwealth members including Britain and Australia in seeking to maintain sanctions on Zimbabwe, suspended from the group last year after charges that President Robert Mugabe rigged his re-election. Several African Commonwealth members have sought to have Zimbabwe re-admitted - although these efforts failed this week when the summit's host, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, said Mugabe would not get an invitation. McKinnon had been expected to easily secure a second four-year term at the Abuja meeting. But on Thursday a diplomatic source in Abuja said Sri Lanka had sprung a surprise challenge by naming former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar as an alternate candidate. A Commonwealth diplomat in South Africa close to the developments said he knew of Kadirgamar's candidacy. "The information you have is correct. His name is being put forward," the diplomat told Reuters, asking not to be named. No comment was immediately available from the London-based Commonwealth, whose members are mostly former British colonies.
The diplomatic source in Abuja said Kadirgamar's candidacy was apparently backed by South Africa, which has clashed with Britain and other Western governments over the proper approach to Zimbabwe. "The Sri Lankans have sent letters to governments promoting his candidature. We believe South Africa is behind it," the source said. "This is Zimbabwe, once again coming to the fore, and causing quite a bit of havoc." South African President Thabo Mbeki's spokesman had no immediate comment on the Sri Lankan move but played down media reports that some African states could boycott the summit. "Boycott of the Abuja meeting is categorically out of the question," spokesman Bheki Khumalo said. Speaking specifically about South Africa, he said: "We are going there to engage with the issues, however difficult or controversial they might be. We do not subscribe to the idea of a boycott." Mozambican Foreign Minister Leonardo Simao told Reuters at regional talks in Pretoria his country would continue to back McKinnon for a new term."We don't know about another candidate yet. They have not contacted us, but we are very supportive of Don McKinnon. We think he has done a great job and we would be supporting him in Abuja," said Simao, whose country, a former Portuguese colony, is a late entrant to the Commonwealth club.
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From The Star (SA), 28 November
Bid to heal SADC rift over Zimbabwe
By Peter Fabricius, Foreign Editor
Senior officials from South Africa, Mozambique and Lesotho are meeting in Lesotho to try to patch up widening divisions between the countries of Southern Africa over the Zimbabwe crisis. They are trying to forge a common regional position on Zimbabwe ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Nigeria next week. Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad was expected to represent SA at today's meeting of the troika of the Organ for Politics, Defence and Security of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has not been invited to CHOGM because his country was suspended from the Commonwealth over the alleged rigging of his re-election in March 2002. His strongest ally, Namibian President Sam Nujoma, is believed to want all the SADC countries to boycott CHOGM in sympathy with him. At the other end of the spectrum is Botswana, which chairs the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group that recently endorsed the suspension of Zimbabwe and has publicly criticised Mugabe.
Some South African officials said yesterday there was a danger that Namibia and others might boycott CHOGM but that it was unlikely that SADC as a whole would do so. "But it's a difficult decision," one said. Another official agreed that a SADC-wide boycott was unlikely but said the Lesotho meeting might offer Mugabe a consolation prize of a statement supportive of Zimbabwe. Most SADC countries would not risk destroying the Commonwealth by boycotting CHOGM - although they have in the past refused to attend summits from which Zimbabwe has been excluded. In April this year, a planned summit of the European Union and African Union leaders was postponed indefinitely because the EU would not invite Mugabe - who is under a travel ban to the EU. AU leaders refused to attend if Mugabe could not.
Apart from the issue of Mugabe's non-participation in CHOGM, today's troika meeting in Lesotho would also have to decide what position the SADC countries should take on Zimbabwe at CHOGM. Heated debate is likely at CHOGM - mainly on racial lines - on the question of whether Zimbabwe should be readmitted to the Commonwealth. SA and most SADC and other African countries have taken the position that Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth for only one year and so should have been re-admitted in March this year. But Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand take the position that Zimbabwe was suspended because of violations against the Commonwealth's principles of democracy and respect for human rights. They argue that Zimbabwe is still violating these principles and cannot be readmitted until it stops doing so.
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From AFP, 27 November
Tsvangirai questioned by police
Harare - Police in Zimbabwe on Thursday questioned opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai at a police station in the politically tense city of Kadoma, his spokesperson said. William Bango told AFP that Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), had been questioned at a police station for around two hours about an alleged assault that took place in the town. Tsvangirai was later released without charge, Bango said. "They (the police) questioned him in a normal way. After that, they said he could go," Bango told AFP by telephone from the city. Bango said a man had gone to the police station earlier claiming to have been assaulted by an MDC supporter "at a place that Tsvangirai had passed through." "We were told by the police before we left town that we were needed at the police station," the spokesperson said. "We didn't witness the assault ourselves." Police were not immediately available when contacted for comment. Political tensions are rising in Kadoma ahead of a by-election due at the weekend, pitting MDC supporters against those of the ruling Zanu PF. On Thursday, Tsvangirai had been meeting constituents in the city, located about 140km south-west of Harare, drumming up support for the MDC candidate, Charles Mpandawana. The by-election is taking place after the previous legislator, who was also an MDC member, died in August.
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From The Church Times (UK), 28 November
Harare priest takes on the Bishop
By Pat Ashworth
A priest in Harare has charged the Bishop of Harare, the Rt Revd Nolbert Kunonga, with victimising him. His accusation is likely to force the Archbishop of the Province of Central Africa to act. The Bishop is an apologist for President Mugabe. His flagrant breaches of the canons, and his attempts to transfer all power to himself, have led to many calls for an inquiry into his behaviour. The priest who claims he has been victimised, the Revd Joseph Makunga, is now bringing matters to a head in the diocese by making a list of serious allegations against the Bishop. Enough priests and lay communicants have now signed Mr Makunga’s list to require the Archbishop, Dr Bernard Malango, and Dean of the Province of Central Africa to bring the Bishop before an ecclesiastical court.
Mr Makunga, who is Rector of St Peter’s, Harare, an examining chaplain to the Bishop, and a lecturer at Bishop Gaul Theological College, was summarily suspended by the Bishop in August for "canonical disobedience". He has set out his allegations in two letters to the Chancellor of the diocese, Robert Stumbles, and is prepared to back their content in a court of law. The charges date from the time of the presidential elections in 2002, when Mr Makunga alleges that the Bishop tried to enlist his help in a plot to have churchwardens and councillors at Harare Cathedral and St Luke’s, Harare, killed by war veterans. Other allegations involve a request from the Bishop for the transfer of $200,000 from a trust fund at All Saints’, Kadoma, into his discretionary account. Mr Makunga concludes his first letter to Mr Stumbles with the words: "I am not sure whether or not Canonical Obedience entails [sic] a priest to co-operate with the Bishop in murdering the flock, misappropriating funds, eliminating members of the Church he deems ‘not my guys’, and preaching what he [the Bishop] prefers to be preached by a priest every Sunday."
Mr Makunga’s second submission charts the process by which the Bishop unilaterally removed him from office. He was suspended after asking the Bishop, in front of the churchwardens, to state clearly what crime he had committed. Mr Makunga declares in the letters his confidence that God will intervene in "the mess the diocese of Harare has been plunged into". Cathedral churchwardens and councillors, whom the Bishop took to a secular court last year after they protested at his open support for President Mugabe, have appealed to Dr Malango, the Archbishop. But in response to the most recent plea for intervention, the Archbishop directed his Provincial Secretary, the Revd Martin Mgeni, to answer: "Please note that the issue at the cathedral is a domestic issue." Mr Stumbles, who alerted members of the diocesan synod in September to the Bishop’s attempts to amend the diocese’s acts and regulations in his favour, said in a letter: "It remains to be seen how swiftly the Dean and the Archbishop of the Province act to convene an impartial, just and fair court to hear the charges." At the time of going to press, Dr Malango had not responded to a request for comment made by the Church Times on Monday.
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From Reuters, 27 November
Air Zim hopes forex will make it fly
Harare - Zimbabwe's national airline will begin charging international and regional fares in foreign currency as President Robert Mugabe's government seeks to revive state enterprises facing collapse, the official Herald newspaper said on Thursday. Air Zimbabwe is one of several cash-strapped government-controlled companies operating below capacity due to a lack of hard currency to buy imported raw materials as the country grapples with its worst economic crisis in decades. "Air Zimbabwe has been granted permission to reintroduce charges in foreign currency on its regional and international flights. This would enable the airline to charge the same fares as other airlines in the region," the Herald said, citing the airline's chief executive Rambai Chingwena. The newspaper said the policy reflected the government's commitment to ensure state firms operated "viably". It did not say when the policy would come into force and Air Zimbabwe officials were not immediately available for comment. Analysts said Air Zimbabwe might find it hard to put the policy into practice given the severe shortage of foreign currency in the country and the fact that most of the airline's passengers are locally-based Zimbabweans.
Last week Finance and Economic Development Minister Herbert Murerwa singled out uneconomic pricing and mismanagement as two of the biggest scourges of state enterprises, many of which are saddled with billions of dollars in debt. Public and private firms wanting to buy imports have to pay Z$6 000 for every US dollar on the thriving black market, but their export earnings are converted at the official rate of only 824 local dollars to each greenback. Mugabe's government has ignored calls for a devaluation, saying this would further fuel the black market. The southern African country is in the throes of its worst crisis since independence from Britain in 1980, manifesting itself in shortages of foreign currency, fuel and food, unemployment of over 70 percent and rampaging inflation, which may hit 700 percent early next year. Critics point to 23 years of misrule by Mugabe, but the veteran leader argues the economy is a victim of sabotage by his opponents, out to punish him for his forcible redistribution of white-owned commercial farms among landless blacks.
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From The Daily News Online Edition, 26 November
Amnesty to hold silent vigil in support of Daily News
The Chelsea branch of Amnesty International in the United Kingdom will this weekend hold a silent vigil in support of The Daily News, closed down in September for failing to comply with Zimbabwe's controversial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). The vigil is scheduled for Saturday, November 29. According to a statement issued in London by the Commonwealth Press Union, the vigil is being held to protest against "the suppression of freedom of speech in Zimbabwe". It will begin at 11 am at Zimbabwe House, located at Number 429, The Strand in London. Participants in the vigil are expected to bring a piece of white cloth, to be used as a symbolic gag. The Daily News and the Daily News on Sunday were shut down in September because their parent company, Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), would not register with the government-appointed Media and Information Commission as required by AIPPA. The publishing group challenged the constitutionality of some sections of AIPPA in the Supreme Court, which however ruled that it could not hear the challenge until ANZ first registered with the MIC. The MIC subsequently denied the company registration, but the Administrative Court ruled that ANZ should be awarded a licence. The MIC has appealed the decision.
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Comment from The Namibian, 27 November
A portrait of the comrade as an angry man
Tee Ngugi
For quite a while after the departure of Colonel Muammar Gadhafi, no famous person came to visit our village. The rainy season came and went. Then, to our great excitement, Comrade RG Mugabe arrived to take up residence in a house at the edge of our village. He, like the Colonel before him, wanted to take advantage of the peace and tranquillity of the village to figure out how to deal with the latest imperialist onslaught on his country. Old Nyati warned us not to disturb the Comrade, but he needn't have. The Comrade was practically unapproachable. Whenever anyone passed by his house and called out, "Good morning, Comrade," the president of Zimbabwe, without even looking up from whatever he was doing, would grunt something incomprehensible in return. Even when walking in the village - one hand navigating a walking stick, the other resting on his back - the Comrade would maintain an angry scowl on his face. We soon learned, as suggested by his whole attitude, that he had a quick temper. Once, the Comrade was passing by the shop when he overheard a woman shouting to the shopkeeper, "We want more MDC". Without warning, the Comrade raised his walking stick and was about to clobber the poor woman's ample buttocks, when a quick-thinking man intervened, explaining to the irate president that MDC in the village referred to multi-dietary cereal, which was very nutritious for pregnant women and babies. So we left our distinguished visitor alone and observed him from the corners of our eyes.
One day, Old Nyati sent me to take the Comrade some special herbal tea he had requested. I found the Comrade sitting on the verandah watching the evening receding into night. "Good evening, Comrade," I said, "here's a package for you". The president took delivery of the package while - to my great surprise - inviting me to stay for a cup of tea. "Let's see if it's any good," he said. So we sat there in silence, sipping herbal tea. Then suddenly, the Comrade mumbled something. "Excuse me, Comrade?" "This MDC," said the Comrade, "they can't rule". "You think they are incompetent?" I offered. "Yes," said Mugabe, "but worse, Morgan is overweight". "How can he talk of creating a lean government when he himself is overweight?" asked the Comrade. "I tell you, young fellow, that is a contradiction in terms". As he talked, the angry scowl on his face was replaced by an intense animation. I was encouraged by this transformation. "Comrade," I called, "what do you think of the war on terrorism?" "Ah, it's all a creation of Blair to divert our attention from the real menace - global gay gangsterism. So do not tell me about Osama and his terror network, what about Blair and his global network of gay gangsterism?" The president warmed to the subject. "I am ready to lead the war against this global menace," he declared.
"Comrade, are you angered by the Commonwealth's behaviour towards you?" "Oh please, me angered by that ... by... by those blubbering idiots," shouted the Comrade, banging the table. "After all , there is no wealth to share, it is just a ploy for White commonwealth nations to exploit and control us". The Comrade was in his element, gesticulating with his hands for emphasis. "So," I said, "the Commonwealth is just using your land reform as an excuse"... "It is all very clear," cut in the president. "Tony Blair wants to re-colonise Zimbabwe using his network of gay gangsterism, the Commonwealth, the MDC and the White farmers. I call it the unholy alliance". "You think Obasanjo is being used?" "I have no problem with O'ga Obasanjo. But the O'ga better slow down on the palm wine. It is distorting his better judgment". "What about Mbeki who is part of the Troika investigating you?" "Comrade Mbeki is a clear-headed man when he is not smoking that pipe." "I blame the pipe. I suspect he was taught how to smoke it by Blair when he was a student in England back then," said the Comrade thoughtfully. There were so many things I wanted to ask the Comrade - about Kabila, about the retirement of Daniel arap Moi, about the AU, etc, but the night had grown in stature, and it was time for me to leave. "I wish you a very good night, Comrade," I said and stepped out into the night.
Tee Ngugi is a lecturer and a political and cultural commentator based in Windhoek. The views expressed in this column are his own
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From The Guardian (UK), 29 November
We may quit the Commonwealth for good, says defiant Mugabe
Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe threatened yesterday to quit the Commonwealth for good in what is being seen as an attempt to divide the body on racial lines. In a speech at the funeral of an activist in his ruling party, Mr Mugabe said: "If our sovereignty is what we have to lose to be readmitted into the Commonwealth, well we will say goodbye to the Commonwealth, and perhaps the time has now come to say so." His threat followed the continued refusal to allow Zimbabwe back into the 54-nation group which holds a heads of government meeting in Nigeria next week. Zimbabwe was suspended last year after evidence emerged of vote-rigging and state violence in Mr Mugabe's re-election campaign. Last week President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria told Mr Mugabe that, because of the suspension, he would not be welcome in Abuja - despite the latter's stated claim that he would be invited.
On Thursday, in what appears to be a Mugabe-inspired ploy, it was revealed that there was now a backstairs campaign to unseat the Commonwealth secretary-general Don McKinnon. After considerable manoeuvring Zimbabwe has convinced Sri Lanka to nominate its former foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, to replace Mr McKinnon, who had been unopposed in seeking a second four-year term. Diplomatic sources in Pretoria say South Africa is backing the Sri Lankan bid. The move is widely seen by Commonwealth diplomats as an attempt by Mr Mugabe and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa to strike back at Mr McKinnon for having maintained Zimbabwe's suspension. "It is Mugabe's sour grapes. If he cannot be in the Commonwealth, he wants to be the one to divide it," said a diplomat in Harare. Commonwealth sources say Mr McKinnon has considerable support among the membership, and that the Sri Lankan move - although long rumoured - has been announced late in the day.
Since Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth Mr Mugabe has refused to make the reforms required for readmission. These include ending state violence against the opposition, halting repression of the press and reforming the electoral system. Mr Obasanjo flew to Harare last week in an attempt to reach a compromise, but he found Mr Mugabe refusing to give way. When the Nigerian leader made clear that his host was not invited to the Abuja summit, Mr Mugabe accused him of listening too much to the "white racists" in the Commonwealth, such as Britain, Australia and Canada. Mr Mugabe accuses the white Commonwealth of pursuing a vendetta because of his seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution to loyalists of his Zanu PF party. Yesterday he displayed the racial rhetoric he hopes will garner support from other African Commonwealth countries, despite his government's abuses of its own black citizens. "Is it the African solidarity and sovereignty, the solidarity of those who are non-whites, or ... the power of the few whites in the Commonwealth that should dominate the view of the Commonwealth?" he asked. Mr Mugabe lashed out at what he called the "apologe tic" stance that some African countries had taken by failing to support his government. "Those of this view allow the neo-colonialists and neo-imperialists to drive us to apologise for representing and pursuing our interests; for being ourselves," he said.
The Commonwealth chairman, Australia's prime minister John Howard, has called Mr Mugabe an "unelected despot" over his human rights abuses. Yesterday the Zimbabwean leader hit back, saying Mr Howard was "genetically modified because of the criminal ancestry he derives from" - a reference to Australia's history as a penal colony. Zimbabwean critics of Mr Mugabe accused him of hollow grandstanding. "His ego has been severely hurt and he is just trying to get revenge," said John Makumbe, coordinator of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition. "If he asks African leaders to choose between him and Obasanjo, he shouldn't be surprised if they choose Obasanjo." Zimbabwe faces its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1980, with inflation of 526% and acute shortages of staple foods, petrol, medicines and other essential goods.
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From News24 (SA), 28 November
Please don't ban Zim - SADC
Pretoria - Southern African foreign ministers agreed Friday to urge Commonwealth members not to isolate Zimbabwe, but stopped short of calling for it to be invited to next week's Commonwealth summit in Nigeria, a diplomat told AFP. Lesotho high commissioner (ambassador) to South Africa Mosuoe Moteane told AFP the agreement came at a three-hour meeting in Pretoria of the organ on politics, defence and security of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC). Represented were Lesotho, current chair of the organ, Mozambique and South Africa, members of the organ's troika, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth, a 54-member grouping of former British colonies, in March last year following a presidential election that some international observer groups said was marred by violence, intimidation and major electoral flaws. This week Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is due to host the December 5-9 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the capital Abuja, said President Robert Mugabe had not been invited. The ministers who met in Pretoria urged the Harare government to talk with civil society and the opposition, Moteane said. "After some debate the troika of the organ took a common position that SADC should lobby other members of the Commonwealth to request them not to isolate Zimbabwe but to persuade the government of Zimbabwe to engage in constructive dialogue with stakeholders in that country, including civil society and opposition parties."
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From Reuters, 29 November
Canada warns Zimbabwe to tend its own problems
Ottawa - The Canadian government bluntly told Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe yesterday that he should tend his own country's difficulties rather than attacking "white" members of the Commonwealth. "Mr Mugabe is trying to defend his position. I presume he must feel pretty vulnerable, and it strikes me that he's attacking others when he really should be attacking the problems of Zimbabwe," a senior Canadian official said. The official was briefing reporters ahead of Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien's departure for next week's summit of the 54-member Commonwealth, from which both Zimbabwe and Pakistan are suspended. In remarks in Harare on Friday, Mugabe accused the "white" section of the Commonwealth, which includes Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, of leading an attack on Zimbabwe. "Is it the African solidarity and sovereignty, the solidarity of those who are non-whites, or is (it) the strength, the power of the few whites in the Commonwealth that should dominate the view of the Commonwealth?" he asked. The Commonwealth, whose members are mostly former British colonies, suspended Zimbabwe last year after Mugabe claimed victory in an election that both the opposition and Western groups said was rigged.
Mugabe said yesterday that perhaps it was now time to leave the Commonwealth. "I think we would be terribly disappointed if Zimbabwe took that position (of leaving)," the senior Canadian official told reporters in Ottawa. The official said the group was "a very nice club to be in" and noted how countries that had been suspended were now in a position to host a summit like Nigeria, host of the December 5-8 meeting. "It's really a source of pride," she said, adding the hope that the Commonwealth would some day be able to welcome Zimbabwe back in. But she said Canada would press strenuously for the continued suspension of Zimbabwe, which has not been invited to the meeting in Nigeria. "We're concerned about the situation in Zimbabwe and we're concerned about the lack of progress," she said. Canada will also push for the reappointment of New Zealand's Don McKinnon as the organisation's secretary-general, despite the last-minute nomination of a candidate by Sri Lanka, its Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. Kadirgamar was seen as a possible alternative for any members who might favour a softer approach on Zimbabwe, but the Canadian official said she had not sensed much support for the new candidate.
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From SABC News, 29 November
Pro-Mugabe armed forces chief named
Zimbabwe has replaced its retiring armed forces chief with another veteran of the liberation war and staunch ally of Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean President. Constantine Guveya Chiwenga, promoted to the role from army chief, was involved in rallying soldiers behind Mugabe's 2002 re-election and seizing land from a white commercial farmer under Mugabe's land reform programme, according to local independent newspapers. Most of Zimbabwe's military top brass are veterans of the 1970s war against white minority rule who are fiercely loyal to Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party. The government said earlier this month that Vitalis Zvinavashe, an independence war hero, would retire in December after nearly a decade in office at the helm of the army, air force and police force. "Lt. General Constantine Guveya Chiwenga has been promoted to the rank of General and has been appointed as Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces" effective January 1, 2004, the information ministry said in a statement yesterday. Zvinavashe, Chiwenga and Perence Shiri, an air force commander, stirred controversy before elections last year by saying the security forces would never allow "anyone opposed to the ideals of the... liberation war" to come to power, local media said - an apparent reference to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe denies rigging the presidential elections, which Western governments criticised as flawed.
Local independent media reported that Chiwenga embarked on a campaign based on army barracks to garner support for Mugabe ahead of the 2002 polls - a move critics said compromised the army's professionalism. Chiwenga and his wife Jocelyn were also at the centre of a row last year when a white commercial farmer accused them of illegally seizing his farm during a government-sanctioned land grab and selling horticultural produce from the property to a British supermarket chain. Government sources said earlier this month that Zvinavashe's successor would probably be Shiri, a tough soldier who led a crack brigade, which crushed an armed rebellion in Matabeleland in the 1980s. However, some political analysts said Mugabe might prefer Chiwengwa in order to avoid alienating ruling Zanu-PF officials from Matabeleland, still bitter over the crackdown in which human rights groups say about 20 000 civilians died. In its statement, the information ministry said Shiri's term of office as head of the air force would be extended for 12 months from January. It said Philip Sibanda, who headed the United Nations peacekeeping force in Angola during that country's civil war, would be promoted to Lieutenant General and take over from Chiwenga as army commander.
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From News24 (SA), 28 November
Cops break up farmers' meeting
Harare - Police broke up a meeting of displaced white farmers and detained at least four of their leaders for questioning, the group's lawyer said on Friday. More than 100 white farmers gathered at an agricultural research institute north of Harare to discuss legal implications of the government's seizure of thousands of white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks. Police accused organisers of convening a public meeting without notifying them - an offence punishable by up to six months in jail under strict security laws - according to their lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa. Those at the meeting were ordered to disperse, witnesses said. The meeting was organised by Justice for Agriculture, an association of farmers thrown off their property under the controversial land programme. The group is demanding that the government pay them realistic compensation or return their land. The head of the group, John Worsely-Worswick, was held for questioning at Harare's main police station along with three other officials and a prominent lawyer, said Mtetwa. Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena declined to comment on the arrests, saying he was awaiting details from provincial police officers. The farm seizures have crippled Zimbabwe's agriculture-based economy, leaving the country with acute shortages of food, petrol, medicine and other imports. The World Food Programme estimates more than 5.5 million people - almost half the population - will need food aid to avert famine in coming months. Many prime farms seized by the government went to ruling-party leaders. Others lie idle because of shortages of fertiliser, seeds and plowing equipment. The state's District Development Fund said on Friday that 13 000 functioning tractors remained in the country. At least 40 000 were needed for plowing ahead of upcoming rains, the fund said, but many had been destroyed during the often-violent land seizures since February 2002.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 28 November
Govt sets up new housing fund
Vincent Kahiya
The government has set up a Civil Service Housing Fund to help public servants acquire accommodation. But there are fears the scheme could be plundered by greedy officials, as happened in the past. In 1995 the government set up a "Pay for Your House Scheme" for the same purpose but funds were diverted to build luxurious houses for senior officials. First Lady Grace Mugabe benefited from the fund and built a large property in Borrowdale dubbed Gracelands. The programme was suspended in 1999 after it ran out of funds - leaving flats and housing units incomplete. A memorandum to MPs, tabled in parliament last week, set out the constitution of the new fund "as established on 30 October 2003". The constitution says the secretary for Finance, together with his counterparts in other ministries, will administer the fund. Each ministry will have its own account. The fund will be used to buy land, construct housing units, purchase houses and pay mortgages. The Public Service Association (PSA), which represents the majority of government workers, on Wednesday professed ignorance of the existence of the fund. PSA executive secretary Charles Chiviru said any fund created to benefit civil servants must be administered in a transparent manner. "It should be done in a transparent manner," said Chiviru. "We as the Public Service Association were not consulted. We do not know anything about this." The constitution of the housing fund said its major source of income shall be "monies which may be appropriated by legislature for the purpose of the fund". Government sources this week said there were plans to directly collect monies from civil servants on a monthly basis or to introduce a housing tax that would to be paid by all workers.
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From IRIN (UN), 26 November
Additional EC funds to secure WFP pipeline
Johannesburg - The European Commission (EC) has announced that it will make available some US $8 million in additional funding for World Food Programme (WFP) aid efforts in Zimbabwe. The EC had already pledged about $28 million towards the Regional Emergency Operation (EMOP) appeal launched in July 2003. The money was made available "specifically to procure and distribute maize to the people of Zimbabwe". "The EC has now agreed to allocate a further €7 million (about $8 million). These commitments from the EC's food security budget line go a long way to secure the WFP food pipeline well into 2004," the EC said. According to assessments by aid agencies, about half Zimbabwe's population, some 5.5 million, is in need of food aid. In an interview with IRIN earlier this month WFP country director Kevin Farrell said the agency "faces severe pipeline problems in the early months of 2004". "At the moment, we have only sufficient maize until January, and there are also shortages of other key commodities, such as vegetable oil, pulses and corn-soya blend (CSB)," he said. Farrell warned then that "without new contributions, WFP will be forced to cut back on its distributions next year - leaving millions of people with reduced rations, or no rations at all".
The EC said its latest contribution "brings the total European Union contribution to the 2003/04 EMOP (UK, Ireland, Italy, and the Netherlands have also made pledges) to over €51 million (about $58 million) representing about 48 percent of total donor pledges to date to the WFP pipeline," the EC said. There had been some concern earlier this year that the EC would withdraw some of its funding for the crisis in Zimbabwe. "In committing these funds the European Commission recognises that the food security situation in Zimbabwe remains critical and that without the direct intervention of the international community, a significant proportion of the Zimbabwean population are at serious risk," the EC said. The donor community also expected the government of Zimbabwe to "play its part in filling the estimated import gap of 1.28 million tonnes of cereal during the marketing year 2003/04". The EC Delegation in Harare noted that "the success of any aid intervention will require a spirit of cooperation, openness and understanding between the international community and the government of Zimbabwe. In this regard it is crucial that the WFP Memorandum of Understanding, which incorporates the EU principles in regard to the distribution of humanitarian aid, is strictly complied with".
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From IRIN (UN), 27 November
Critical need for non-food aid
Johannesburg - While food aid needs remain critical in Zimbabwe, aid agencies are desperately trying to focus more attention on the collapsing health system and a lack of adequate social safety nets. In its latest Southern Africa appeal, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted that "with crumbling health services, the region has experienced a general decline in health [and] human development, and an increase in morbidity and mortality rates". Of the six countries included in the appeal, Zimbabwe is the most in need of both food and non-food aid. Agencies estimate that some 5.5 million people, or half the country's population, need food assistance. The rapid economic decline - the government projects that inflation will reach 700 percent next year - coupled with the impact of HIV/AIDS has eroded the coping ability of many previously stable households. "People's ability to withstand shocks has been weakened. Zimbabweans continue to face a particularly severe humanitarian crisis. Nearly half of the population has had their livelihoods eroded by severe macroeconomic decline and precarious food security," OCHA said. Thus, support for social services in the areas of water, health and education, capacity building and other activities for strengthening the safety net were needed to "protect the lives and future of children and a growing number of [HIV/AIDS] orphans".
UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Zimbabwe, J. Victor Angelo, emphasised the need for health and social sector support. "We are saving the mother by giving her food ... but then she dies when she goes to a hospital that has no drugs!" Yet the Consolidated Appeal for Zimbabwe, launched in July 2003, for US $114 million in non-food aid, has been only 4 percent funded. A holistic approach to the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe was needed urgently. "A country needs more than just food to prosper. For example, the maternal mortality ratio, which was 283 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1994, had reached 695 [per 100,000] in 1999. Even now, the rate continues to increase," said a UN Development Programme spokeswoman. The Consolidated Appeal for Zimbabwe 2003/04 noted that "the rapid and continued decline in the government's capacity to support national food security and sustain life-saving social services will need to be urgently addressed by humanitarian agencies in 2003/04". However, a lack of funding for non-food aid has hamstrung efforts to deliver in this regard. In terms of food aid, the World Food Programme's (WFP) US $311 million regional emergency operation for six countries, including Zimbabwe, is currently 45 percent funded. The WFP in Zimbabwe has warned that food stocks could run out in January, leaving millions of beneficiaries without the rations they depend on.
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From News24 (SA), 29 November
Shots fired in Zim poll - MDC
Harare - Zimbabwe ruling party supporters fired shots on Saturday to scare off opposition supporters at a polling station on the first day of a by-election in Kadoma, the opposition claimed. Charles Mpandawana, the Movement for Democratic Change candidate, said war veterans loyal to the ruling Zanu-PF had also "sealed off" Kanyemba polling station. "War veterans in Zanu-PF vehicles have barred the road to Kanyemba polling station. They fired two shots in the air to scare our supporters away," said Mpandawana. There were no reports of injuries at the polling station, located on a farm on the outskirts of the town. Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena could not confirm shots had been fired outside the polling station. "We haven't received that report," he said. The by-election in the central mining and agricultural town is being seen as a test of strength between the MDC and President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF. Mpandawana is contesting the election to fill the post left vacant by his late father, Austin Mpandawana, also of the MDC. But, Tichafa Mutema of Zanu PF is trying to wrest the seat away from the MDC.
Earlier, the head of the official electoral supervisory commission (ESC) said Kadoma polling stations had opened on schedule. He said queues, albeit short ones, had formed outside polling stations before voting started. More than 45 000 people are registered to vote in Kadoma, located about 140km southwest of Harare, said Bvuma. The opposition candidate also claimed that groups of Zanu PF supporters had gathered outside at least nine of the 22 polling stations to write down the names of people who voted and, at two polling stations, feed voters. He said in some cases the Zanu PF supporters, who wore party T-shirts or displayed the party flag, were within 100m of the polling stations, contrary to regulations. Asked if he had noticed any such irregularities during his rounds of polling stations on Saturday, the electoral commission's Bvuma said: "Not where I have gone. "What I've observed is that polling is going on well," he said. Bvudzijena said there would be an increased police presence in the town during the by-election. The by-election comes at a crucial time for Zimbabwe, with a key Commonwealth summit due to be held next week likely to deliberate on the country's readmittance to the 54-member grouping.
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From News24 (SA), 29 November
Paper's appeal goes ahead
Harare - A judge in Zimbabwe on Saturday refused to rule in favour of the state to have a case by the Daily News, which is fighting for its right to resume publishing, dismissed, the paper's legal adviser said. Lawyers for the paper, the country's most popular daily and the only alternative to the state-run Herald and Chronicle, had sought the enforcement of an earlier court ruling allowing it to continue publishing. But earlier this week a government lawyer applied to have the case dismissed. He argued that the court did not have the authority to enforce the favourable court order. "He (Judge Selo Nare) ruled that the court has jurisdiction," Gugulethu Moyo said. She said the judge then proceeded to hear the Daily News case, but res erved judgment to an unspecified time. The Daily News is a fierce critic of President Robert Mugabe's government. It was shut down by armed police in September after the Supreme Court ruled it was operating illegally by not being registered with a state-appointed media commission.
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From The Daily News Online Edition, 29 November
Judgment in ANZ case reserved
Administrative Court judge Selo Nare today indefinitely reserved judgment in the case in which Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) is seeking an order allowing it to publish pending an appeal at the Supreme Court. The application follows an appeal by the Media and Information Commission (MIC) to the Supreme Court to suspend an order granted by the Administrative Court allowing the ANZ to resume operations by 30 November. ANZ are the publishers of The Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday. Nare said he would hand down the judgment "in the very near future." He said the justice system in the country was being affected by the financial position of the government. "I do not have a typist, mine was loaned to the High Court. So I have to rely on the High Court which is heavily understaffed," said Nare, before the court session adjourned. "Had I been here, say Tuesday, last week I could have made sure that you have the judgment before 30 November." Nare took over the case after the Administrative Court judge Michael Majuru recused himself following a story published in the government-owned Herald accusing him of bias towards ANZ.
Eric Matinenga, representing ANZ, said the MIC would not suffer any prejudice if ANZ's titles were allowed to publish pending the Supreme Court's determination. "In fact it is the ANZ which is suffering economically," he told the court. "Moreover, denial of a licence to ANZ deprives about one million readers of their right to information which is enshrined in the Constitution. It must also be borne in mind that ANZ was not denied a licence on the premise that the contents of its newspapers were injurious to the readership of Zimbabwe." But Johannes Tomana for the MIC said ANZ would only be allowed to publish if the MIC’s appeal to the Supreme Court had no chances of success. "Given that MIC's chances of winning its case (in the Supreme Court) are real, there is no reason why ANZ should be allowed to publish," said Tomana. "Citizens of Zimbabwe have a right to information yes, but that should be in accordance with the laws of the country. If they are really being deprived of information as ANZ would like to suggest, they could have shown that by way of demonstrations. But nothing of that sort has so far happened." In its heads of argument the MIC argued that the Administrative Court erred in passing its judgment as it acted as a review court by calling for the dissolution of the MIC board. The Administrative Court had ruled that the MIC board was improperly constituted. It said a new board should be appointed and grant ANZ a licence by the 30th of November.
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From ZWNEWS, 30 November
Gagged
Their mouths gagged with white cloths, Zimbabweans gathered outside their country’s High Commission in London on Saturday in a silent, symbolic protest against the banning of their country’s only independent daily newspaper, The Daily News. Protestors carried news bills with the masthead of the Daily News, and its slogan "Telling it like it is". The rest was blank. "I know how scared people are to express any criticism of the government," said Zimbabwe-born Diana Morant, a member of Amnesty International UK who organised the protest. "Journalists are targeted by the police and security services in order to prevent exposure of horrific human rights violations including torture of government critics." The Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday, robust critics of Robert Mugabe’s regime, were shut down in September under draconian laws aimed at muzzling press freedom and increasing the stranglehold of the regime’s mouthpieces, state-run newspapers and the state-controlled television and radio. A judge last month ordered a state-appointed commission to give the papers’ publishers, the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, an operating licence. The commission has appealed this ruling. Meanwhile, the judge due to hear an appeal by the Daily News against the shutdown stepped down Nov. 25 after the state-run Herald newspaper accused him of bias.
The London protest came as Mugabe railed against a decision to exclude him from the two-yearly meeting of Commonwealth leaders in Abuja, Nigeria Dec. 5-8. Mugabe had hoped to wangle an invitation with the support of African nations. But his southern African neighbours, including South Africa which has supported Mugabe despite violent land grabs and elections widely regarded as rigged, last week simply appealed to the Commonwealth not to isolate Mugabe, and stopped short of demanding he be invited. Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth councils last year on grounds of vote-rigging and violence in Mugabe’s re-election campaign. The demonstrators on Saturday ranged from veteran protestors to some recent victims of state-sponsored violence who have fled Zimbabwe. Rose Benton, who has lived in Britain for many years, and her husband Denis are part of a regular Saturday protest outside the Zimbabwe High Commission on The Strand in central London. "This is my 60th week here," said Mrs. Benton as, in drizzling rain, she set up a stall draped with banners in the colours of the Zimbabwe flag, and bearing protests against violence, rape and starvation. Another demonstrator, who asked to be identified only as Chipo, arrived in Britain a few months ago. She is still traumatized. Mugabe’s Green Bomber militia broke into her house in Chitungwiza on the outskirts of Harare. They gagged and blindfolded Chipo and her husband, beat them, and one then declared, "We are not finished. You are going to see what we do with people who don’t support Zanu PF." "Then two men raped me," said Chipo. She has not seen her husband since the attack. "I just hope they don’t kill my husband," said Chipo.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 30 November
Zimbabweans fear Mugabe's fury
Increased repression predicted after snub by Commonwealth
Sunday Times Foreign Desk
Zimbabweans should brace for intensified repression in the wake of President Robert Mugabe's exclusion from the Commonwealth meeting in Nigeria later this week, a political analyst has warned. Professor Brian Raftopolous, of the University of Zimbabwe's Institute for Development Studies, said Mugabe would be vengeful after the snub. "In the short- to medium-term, I see him hardening his stance and stepping up repression in a bid to consolidate his position. He is very disappointed with his exclusion from the Commonwealth and that his African allies have not protested." Zimbabwe has been suspended from the group of former British colonies since March last year following a presidential election marred by violence, intimidation and electoral flaws. Raftopolous, who is also chairman of Crisis in Zimbabwe, a coalition of civic groups campaigning for democratic reforms, said Mugabe's recent crackdown on trade unions was evidence of his political direction. Mugabe's regime last week crushed Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions demonstrations against the country's economic crisis and arrested protest leaders, including 350 activists. The crackdown left unions bruised and weakened.
A truculent Mugabe has threatened to pull his country out of the 54-state organisation altogether. He said on state radio: "If our sovereignty is what we have to lose to be readmitted into the Commonwealth, well, we will say goodbye to the Commonwealth, and perhaps the time has now come to say so." He said Zimbabwe valued its membership of the African Union, the Southern African Development Community and the UN because they treated it as an equal. "We expect no less from the Commonwealth if it merits our membership, if its claim to be a club of equals is to be sustained. And I want to see whether that principle of equal membership shall be sustained as we proceed to the next session of Chogm [the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting]." He attacked African countries that "are apologetic about being nationalists; fear to be Africans; hesitate to express solidarity with us and dread to play keeper to another African brother". "They allow neo-colonialists and neo-imperialists to drive us to apologise for representing and pursuing our interests, for being ourselves," he said.
In reaction to Mugabe's comments, Zimbabwe's National Constitutional Assembly chairman and civic activist Lovemore Madhuku said: "It's a dangerous development. If he withdraws from the Commonwealth he will attack his opponents while resisting being held accountable. What he is saying is that he sees nothing wrong with what he has been doing and would rather pull out than change to gain readmission. This means continued human rights abuses and political violence." Madhuku said Mugabe could be dealt with only through "internal popular resistance and defiance". Opposition Movement for Democratic Change MP Tendai Biti said Mugabe would just continue "attacking us and violating human rights on a massive scale". However, South Africa's Institute for Security Studies director, Jackie Cilliers , said Mugabe's threats were a "storm in a teacup".
Mugabe said his country's continued suspension was the work of the "white Commonwealth" - particularly Britain and Australia - which have voiced objections to the country's land reform programme. "Is it the strength and power of the few whites in the Commonwealth that should dominate the view of the Commonwealth?" Mugabe asked, singling out Australian Prime Minister John Howard - who, along with the heads of Nigeria and South Africa, is on a Commonwealth troika on Zimbabwe - as one of those allegedly with a vendetta against his country. They tell me he's one of those genetically modified because of the criminal ancestry he derives from," Mugabe said, adding that "criminals were banished to Australia and New Zealand by the British". Howard and Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, of New Zealand, were instrumental in deciding to maintain Zimbabwe's suspension beyond its expiry after a year in March.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 28 November
Chefs caught in gold licence blitz
Blessing Zulu
Zanu PF chefs are among directors of companies whose gold-buying licences were cancelled by government last week after they failed to deliver stipulated amounts to the Reserve Bank, the Zimbabwe Independent has established. Documents in the possession of this paper indicate that Zanu PF bigwigs were among those affected when government cancelled 14 gold concessions awarded to nine companies. Government abruptly cancelled the 14 gold concessions last week, alleging the companies were involved in illegal trade of the precious mineral. Police have been fighting running battles with illegal gold panners said to be undermining infrastructure in the Midlands town of Kwekwe. Those who lost licences include Midlands governor Cephas Msipa, a director of Rynawald Trading with a concession in Zvishavane, McDonald Chapfika, a commodity broker with close links to the army and Zanu PF, and the Gold Mining and Minerals Development Trust formed by the Reserve Bank and headed by businessman Nhlanhla Masuku.
Senior Mines and Minerals Development officials this week said there were many politicians involved in the "game", hence difficulties in controlling illegal trading in gold. Msipa yesterday refused to comment on the matter, referring all questions to his son, Christopher. "My son is directly running that company and you can talk to him," he said. Efforts to get comment from Christopher Msipa were unsuccessful. Msipa's co-directors are listed as Christopher Zwelithini Msipa, James Dzimbiri, Archford Dzimbiri, and principal officer Patience Saungweme. Macdonald Chapfika, younger brother of Zanu PF MP for Mutoko North, David Chapfika, was also caught in the licence blitz. Chapfika is the director of Needgate Investments. Chapfika confirmed to the Independent that he was the director of Needgate Investments and said they were "shocked" by government's actions. "Yes I am the director of Needgate and Msipa is the director of Rynawald Trading," he said. "We are compiling a report for government and we cannot pre-empt its contents. But we are shocked by what the government did," Chapfika said. Chapfika's co-directors at Needgate are Ottilia Masunda, Netsai Mugadza and Paul Simbarashe Chimbodza.
Nhlanhla Masuku is the chairman of Gold Mining and Minerals Development Trust which has five concessions in Mazowe, Shamva, Mudzi, Mutare and Filabusi. Masuku told the Independent that some companies had gone to court, but he would not take that route. "The whole thing does not make sense to us," he said. "We will respond through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Finance who set us up," he said. Masuku denied that the minister had given them any money. "I am not aware of the $500 million that the Minister of Mines purports to have given us," Masuku said. The Independent has it on good authority that the trust had delivered a paltry six kg of gold to the Reserve Bank in eight months. The other companies hit are Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, Oleaster Investments Pvt Ltd, trading as Golden Syndicate, SAD Pvt Ltd, and Shipford Investments trading as Golden Kopje.
The firms were licenced in March this year and the government splashed out $500 million to assist them. They were required to surrender 150 kg of gold a month to the Reserve Bank's Fidelity Printers and Refineries but are believed to have delivered only 39,2 kg in the seven months from April. On a monthly remittance of 150 kg they should have delivered 1 050 kg by the time the licences were cancelled. Mines minister Edward Chindori-Chininga described the output as "very worrying". In an interview yesterday Chindori-Chininga said the cancellation of the concessions was final. "That is a decision that has been made by government and the trust is going to be restructured," he said. He said two days after the cancellations the concessionaires delivered 90kg of gold. "It just shows that some of them were now trading on the parallel market instead of delivering the gold to us," he said. President of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation Nixon Misi told a local daily that the banned concessionaires were fuelling the parallel market. Misi said they bought gold at $28 000 and sold it for $65 000. The country is said to be losing 70% of its gold to smugglers. Sources said most of the affected companies were contemplating going to court to get their licences back.
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From ZWNEWS, 30 November
One man's view
Book review
The Battle for Zimbabwe: The Final Countdown - Geoff Hill
"People get the government they deserve", goes the old adage. Its author was being cynical, but was nevertheless wrong. It is impossible to imagine what heinous misdemeanours could have been committed by the ordinary people of the land between the Limpopo and the Zambezi, that could justify the governments that have held successive - though ultimately temporary - sway, for almost 150 years. And it is important to view the current Zimbabwe crisis from the longer perspective, for it then becomes clear that it is not the people, but the elite, who have got the government they desire. Recent books on Zimbabwe have tended to concentrate on the events of the last four years, and, in particular, on the central personality - Mugabe - who dominates whatever view one takes of Zimbabwe's woes. These other books - one thinks of David Blair's Degrees in Violence, Martin Meredith's Mugabe, and Cathy Buckle's two volumes of personal reportage - are no less valuable for their emphasis on relatively recent events, and on Mugabe himself. Blair and Buckle in particular give the immediacy and detail that comes from personal experience - an attribute sometimes lost amid the day-to-day chronology of power politics and economic collapse that has so fascinated the world since February 2000.
Geoff Hill, Africa correspondent for the Washington Times, has just published an account which takes the longer view, but which is also interspersed with personal experience. Brought up in southern Africa, and a reporter from there for much of the last twenty years, he puts the current struggle for power in Zimbabwe into the historical context; from the Shona empire of the middle ages, through Zulu politics under Shaka in the mid 19th century, to the present day, and in a speculative last chapter, beyond. For those who wish more detailed analysis of the various eras of Zimbabwean history, there are other sources. But as a one-volume package, Hill's book serves admirably. It is well written, and the combination of the historical view with personal reporting proves a compelling mix. Journalism may be the first draft of history, but the final draft, of course, is never settled. Hill's account is essentially personal. There have been, and will be, other personal accounts, and the deep divide of opinion over cause and effect in contemporary Zimbabwean politics will provide fertile ground for many a doctoral dissertation over coming decades. His final chapter, on the implications of Zimbabwe for South Africa, is one man's view. But despite the horrific subject matter, Hill has written a cautiously optimistic book. Nothing is ever inevitable, but his thesis could be summed up as being: The world has changed, and the days of the African autocracy are numbered. One can only hope his sub-title - The Final Countdown - is accurate
The Battle for Zimbabwe: The Final Countdown by Geoff Hill is published by Zebra Press. ISBN: 1-86872-652-5
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From AFP, 30 November
Zimbabwe by-election to wrap up after ruling party accused of intimidation
Harare - Voting in a by-election in Zimbabwe entered its second and final day, after ruling party supporters were accused of firing weapons to scare opposition voters. The by-election in the central town of Kadoma has been seen as a test of strength between the ruling Zanu PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Voting was reported to be quiet on Sunday. "It's certainly quieter than yesterday (Saturday)," MDC candidate Charles Mpandawana told AFP by telephone from the town, some 140 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Harare. "It paints a better picture." The state-run Sunday Mail reported that by close of voting on Saturday 11,226 people out of more than 45,000 registered voters had cast their ballots. The paper attributed Saturday's low turnout to people spending time searching for water after the town ran dry in the morning. Zimbabweans are anxiously awaiting summer rains after two years of poor rains contributing to severe food shortages that threaten more than half of the southern African country's 11.6 million people.
Mpandawana is contesting the election to fill the post left vacant by the death in August of his father, Austin Mpandawana, also of the MDC. But Tichafa Mutema of Zanu PF is looking to wrest the seat away from the opposition party. On Saturday, Mpandawana claimed that veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s liberation war loyal to Zanu PF had blocked off a polling station and fired their weapons to scare away opposition voters. But Thomas Bvuma, the spokesman of the official Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC), denied the charge. "There was no violence or shooting," Bvuma told AFP by telephone from the town on Sunday. He said the by-election, which is due to end at 7:00 pm (1700 GMT), had been "calm and peaceful". The Kadoma by-election is the latest in a series of parliamentary by-elections that have been held in Zimbabwe in recent months after seats fell vacant mainly through the deaths, or ill-health of the incumbents.
It comes at a crucial time for Zimbabwe, with a Commonwealth summit due to be held from Wednesday in the Nigerian capital Abuja likely to deliberate on Harare's readmittance to the councils of the 54-member grouping. Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth councils in March last year after some international observers said a presidential election that returned Mugabe to power was marred by violence, intimidation and electoral flaws. Mugabe, who has not been invited to the summit, said Friday it might be time for Zimbabwe to "say goodbye" to the Commonwealth rather than bow to pressure he says is being imposed by its white members. The MDC stormed onto the Zimbabwean political scene in parliamentary elections in 2000, clinching 57 out of 120 contested seats. The ruling party won 62, and it still holds the majority. Meanwhile Mugabe's Zanu PF is gearing up for its annual conference to be held next weekend in the southern city of Masvingo. The 79-year-old leader is expected to announce a new vice president after the death of Vice President Simon Muzenda in September.
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From The Star (SA), 1 December
No black-white split over Mugabe
London - Commonwealth secretary- general Don McKinnon has denied that the issue of Zimbabwe was threatening to open up a chasm between the so-called "white Commonwealth" and African members. "I have talked with pretty well all the African leaders on this issue," he said yesterday. "They all are very sympathetic to what has to be done, but there is really quite a wide variety of views on how it should be done. So you can't split Africa from the rest, although some would wish to do that. I think there's probably about four different views in Africa on the way forward (on Zimbabwe)," the former New Zealand foreign minister told Sky News. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has not been invited to a Commonwealth summit this week in Abuja, Nigeria, which will play host to 52 world leaders and Britain's Queen Elizabeth. Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth councils in March last year after a presidential election which many outside observers said was marred by ballot-rigging and intimidation.
Since then, leading Commonwealth members have disagreed sharply over the issue, with Nigeria and South Africa seeking to encourage reforms by inviting Zimbabwe back into the fold and Australia urging its full expulsion. Against this backdrop, the Commonwealth has been "shut out" of Zimbabwe, said McKinnon. "We tried to send a ministerial mission. I tried to send special envoys. But it was pretty clear that Zimbabwe was on a course, that they just didn't want the Commonwealth to be involved at all," he said. The collection of 54 nations - former British dominions, colonies, dependencies and other territories, plu |
