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Archived News
31st December 2003
Letter from the ZIC to the Press
From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 24 December
Presidency hits back at critics on Zimbabwe
Misrepresentation of SA government's dealings with MDC serves a political agenda
Hopes for quick Zimbabwe political negotiations disappear
Zim govt cracks down on phone company
Ntombizodwa Sibanda passes away
Listening with one ear open
Pensioners hurt by record inflation
Rise in drop out rate feared over school fees hike
Botswana is right on Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth
Church leaders stand firm on Zim abuses
Suspected ebola case reported in Zimbabwe
Year of decision for the man cradling Zimbabwe's hopes
Zim calls on SA help in Ebola scare
Zimbabwe fears first fatal ebola virus case
Time is running out for SA's quiet diplomacy
The latest refugees from Mugabe's lawless Zimbabwe - hundreds of elephants
Zambia on alert after Ebola virus death
No need to panic over Ebola, says expert
Zimbabwe's largest cell phone company may lose license
Moving stories: Strive Masiyiwa
Zim beef on verge of extinction
Gloomier times ahead
WHO: Lab Tests Rule Out Ebola in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's state workers get 250% pay hike
Hunger stalks Zimbabwe as crisis worsens
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Food donors blame government - Daily Telegraph Mbeki's office calls churchmen liars - Business Day 'Persistent and blatant falsehoods' - Business Day No talks: Chinamasa on holiday - VOA
From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 24 December
Mugabe is blamed as UN slashes food aid
Harare - The World Food Programme has slashed by half food handouts to Zimbabwe's starving millions because President Robert Mugabe's government failed to alert donors to the scale of the disaster. The WFP, a United Nations agency, said it had cut rations since the beginning of the month to ensure it could feed more than five million people, about half the population, until the harvest in May. The agency said it had not raised enough money to buy the necessary supplies. The WFP's appeal went out six weeks late in the middle of the year because the Zimbabwe government had not quantified its needs until it was too late to get the long "food chain" moving, according to donors in Harare yesterday. Foreign food suppliers were also showing fatigue at what most see as a "man made crisis". Zimbabwe was once southern Africa's "bread basket" with huge and efficient farms producing surpluses for sale abroad. But since Mr Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms in 2000, production has tumbled, leaving millions without food.
Even the United Nations, reluctant to criticise President Robert Mugabe's administration, has admitted that the government's confiscation of 90 per cent of productive land from white farmers had been a major cause of the crisis. "When the government finally got its act together, and said how much it needed, we also discovered we would have to fund all food imports without any contribution from the Zimbabwe government," said an executive of a major donor agency yesterday. The government also tried to interfere with the donor community's long established rules by insisting that its own officials oversee the distribution of donated food. The government finally backed down, although donors say they are still worried that as parliamentary elections draw close, probably later next year, the government may try to launch another bid to hijack food distribution. Kevin Farrell, country director of WFP, said: "The worst months will be January [to] April, before the harvest. Our food stocks are very, very fragile and even if more donor money arrives, it takes time to get the food here." He said the WFP was worried about people in the dry south of Zimbabwe, in the Matabeleland province, and in the far north, where few crops grow, even in the best of times.
Zimbabwe used to grow more than 1.8 million tons of grain to feed its people and their livestock. This summer, the fourth since President Mugabe confiscated most white-owned farms, the harvest is predicted to be down to a third of normal production, the lowest in more than 50 years. The US, Britain and the European Union provide more than 90 per cent of funds used to feed Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe police have arrested two men in connection with the murder of an Australian accountant, Philip Laing, 51, who died last Friday after being forced to drink acid. Two of Mr Laing's clerks who were similarly attacked on a British owned tea estates are still gravely ill in hospital, with internal and external acid burns.
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From Business Day (SA), 24 December
Presidency hits back at critics on Zimbabwe
Chikane hits at stinging criticism of quiet diplomacy from church leaders
Stung by criticism of its policy on Zimbabwe from leading clergymen at the weekend, the presidency went on the offensive yesterday, defending President Thabo Mbeki's record and questioning the clergymen's motives. The defence of Mbeki's much-criticised policy of "quiet diplomacy" by his director-general, Frank Chikane, comes amid attempts by Mbeki to get talks going between Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF and the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Mbeki is under pressure to show dividends from his approach, and while there is no deadline for a settlement, the US and other Group of Eight countries have signalled that SA has until about the middle of next year to prove that its policy works. If it fails, SA could suffer a severe loss of international goodwill.
Chikane's comments, in an article in Business Day today, also show that the presidency is keen to show its credentials as an honest broker by underscoring the contacts it has had with the MDC. Dismissing claims that Mbeki had met MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai for the first time last week, Chikane said the South African government had been in regular contact with the MDC for almost three years. He said the African National Congress maintained more frequent contact with the MDC than with Zanu PF since last year's Zimbabwean presidential election, meeting almost monthly. But the spokesman for the group of church leaders, Methodist Bishop Paul Verryn, pointed out yesterday that the leaders had made no reference to contact, or the lack thereof, between the South African government and the MDC. The church leaders' criticism had dealt mainly with "disgraceful bureaucratic ineptitude" in the home affairs department, where officials sought bribes from asylum seekers, and the issue of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.
Chikane, who is a churchman himself, said the weekend statement by Johannesburg church leaders was "most puzzling". He criticised "the false charge that has been made that we have not spoken out about what has been described as the issue of human rights in Zimbabwe". He accused the church leaders of spreading "blatant untruths" and of having "particular political agendas" that were not in the interests of Zimbabwe. "It is most distressing that the Johannesburg religious leaders chose to attack the South African government on the basis of information that has not been tested. Unfortunately, elements of untruth in their statements tend to club them together with political self-seekers," Chikane said. He said that despite having claimed to have appraised "senior government officials" of misdeeds in the home affairs department, "they have not bothered to provide the authorities with the information they claim to have". The statement by Johannesburg church leaders followed a broadside by Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, which is understood to have irked the presidency. Tutu said SA's stance raised the question of what would stop SA from lapsing into undemocratic practices if it was indifferent to what was happening north of its border.
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Comment from Business Day (SA), 24 December
Misrepresentation of SA government's dealings with MDC serves a political agenda
Frank Chikane
Some in our country persist in communicating the fabrication that our government has not been in contact with Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The blatant untruth has been told that last week President Thabo Mbeki met MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai for the first time. The president has met Tsvangirai a number of times. In addition, our government has been in regular contact with the MDC for almost three years. The last of these contacts in SA took place a few days before the recent Commonwealth meeting in Nigeria. As a result of this meeting, and as has happened on other occasions in the past, Mbeki agreed to take up with President Robert Mugabe, as a matter of urgency, various matters raised by the MDC delegation. Before Zimbabwe's presidential elections last year, Mbeki asked the secretary-general of the African National Congress (ANC), Kgalema Motlanthe, to meet the leaders of Zanu PF and the MDC, to encourage them to work together to ensure that the elections were free and fair.
The ruling party, the ANC, has maintained more frequent contact with the MDC than with Zanu PF. Since Zimbabwe's presidential elections, these have been on an almost monthly basis. Our government and the ANC have worked for some time to encourage the leaders of these parties to enter into serious negotiations. This necessitates that we should be in contact with both political parties. The approach is supported by the MDC, the Zimbabwean Christian leaders and South African national religious leaders. Last year's negotiations came about precisely as a result of these contacts, as did the informal talks that Mbeki mentioned during President George Bush's visit in July, which were confirmed last week by both Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
The pursuit of particular political agendas, and not Zimbabwe's interests, explains why some insist on communicating the persistent and blatant falsehood about the issue of contact between the MDC and us. The same can be said about the false charge that has been made that we have not spoken out about what has been described as the issue of human rights in Zimbabwe. Our president and government have spoken on this matter many times, both privately and publicly. In 2000 alone, the president addressed these issues at a press conference at Victoria Falls in the presence of Mugabe; in his May 4 address to the nation; in his speech at the Zimbabwe Trade Fair the next day; and when the president opened the Cape Town Convention of the South African Chamber of Commerce in October. Since then, government has, through the ministers and foreign affairs department, issued a number of statements on these matters.
The recent statement of the Johannesburg religious leaders criticising our government is therefore most puzzling. These leaders are aware that Mbeki made a detailed presentation on Zimbabwe to the National Religious Leaders Forum, which the president meets at least twice a year. Johannesburg's religious leaders accuse our home affairs department of slowing down applications of Zimbabwean refugees and mishandling Zimbabweans, allegedly because of corruption. They go on to say that "senior government authorities" have been appraised of the alleged misdeeds at home affairs. For their part, regrettably, they have not bothered to provide these senior government authorities with the information they claim to have. Nor have they used the channels of communication that have been established between national religious leaders and government. Neither is the local United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office aware of this information.
Since 1994, 148134 people have sought asylum in our country. Of these, more than 24000 came from the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 12000 each came from Pakistan and Nigeria. There were more than 11000 Somalis; more than 4000 Senegalese and Tanzanians each; more than 2000 Ugandans; and almost as many from Rwanda. Zimbabwean asylum seekers amounted to slightly more than 1500. The majority have been in SA for more than three years. They have Zimbabwean passports, which they use to go home often. The overwhelming majority of applicants say they want to stay here because of better economic conditions. Only 15 appeals for asylum have been received during the current financial year, of which 10 are still being processed. Currently there are more than 1000 Zimbabweans at the Lindela Detention Centre, used to hold illegal immigrants. As happens regularly at this time of the year, the majority came to the centre on their own, requesting that our government transport them free of charge back to Zimbabwe.
It is not surprising that those with a political mission should resort to fabrications to achieve their goals. It is most distressing that Johannesburg's religious leaders opted to attack the South African government on the basis of information that has not been tested. Unfortunately, elements of untruth in their statements tend to club them together with these political self-seekers.
Chikane is director-general in the presidency
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From VOA News, 23 December
Hopes for quick Zimbabwe political negotiations disappear
Hopes for negotiations between Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change before the end of the year have evaporated, as even preparatory talks failed to take place. Zanu PF's main negotiator, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa has reportedly gone on vacation for the Christmas and New Year holidays. MDC Secretary General Welshman Ncube, the opposition's main negotiator, said Tuesday there is, therefore, no possibility of any contact between the two sides this year. The expectation that Zanu PF and the opposition may start talking again soon was kindled by South African President Thabo Mbeki. He said during his visit to Harare last week that he was looking forward to some political progress in Zimbabwe later this month. President Mugabe himself said publicly after the meeting that talks between the two parties were necessary. The ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition party have had only sporadic contact since formal negotiations between them broke down last year. For several years, Zimbabwe has been mired in a political and economic crisis. Unemployment exceeds 70 percent, inflation is expected to hit 600 percent early next year, and half of the population depends for food on donations.
Govt guns for Masiyiwa - M&G Zodwa Sibanda Listening with one ear open - ZWNEWS
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 24 December
Zim govt cracks down on phone company
Harare - The Zimbabwe government is investigating the country's biggest private mobile phone company and could withdraw its operating licence for alleged "subversive activities", the state-run Herald newspaper reported on Wednesday. The paper said this followed a year-long probe into the foreign currency dealings of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, the proceeds of which the paper claimed were "used to finance subversive activities to undermine the Zimbabwe government". Officials from Econet were not immediately available to comment on the Herald report. Econet's founder and major shareholder, Strive Masiyiwa, is also the publisher of The Daily News, Zimbabwe's only independent daily that was shut down by armed police in September for operating without registration. Masiyiwa is regularly accused by state media of harbouring presidential ambitions, and also of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. According to the Herald report, Econet had allegedly been receiving payment in foreign currency for calls made into the country, but the money was not remitted in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is critically short of foreign currency needed to import food, fuel and medicines. Apart from Econet Wireless, Telecel Zimbabwe operates a network, as does the state-run Net One.
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From ZWNEWS, 26 December
Ntombizodwa Sibanda passes away
Zodwa Sibanda
Ntombizodwa Sibanda, the wife of MDC vice-president Gibson Sibanda, passed away at the Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo on Christmas Eve. She had been suffering from stomach cancer. Born in 1946, she was part of the struggle for Zimbabwe's independence. She was detained, alongside her husband, for a year in 1977 by the Smith government. After independence in the mid-1980s, she was again detained, this time by the Mugabe government, for six months on suspicion of "political subversion". Her more recent involvement in peaceful demonstrations also lead to her detention by police on numerous occasions. She was responsible in recent years for the formation of the Spouse's Association, which supports opposition legislators in their work, and also chaired that body. She is survived by her husband and four children.
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Comment from ZWNEWS, 26 December
Listening with one ear open
The extraordinary events that have followed the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting deserve very serious consideration. In particular, the position adopted by the South African President needs to be clearly understood, and the misinformation contained in his letter to the ANC corrected. The same goes for the defence offered by Aziz Pahad.
President Mbeki makes a number of assertions in his letter that cannot go unchallenged. The first of these is extremely serious and relates to the results of the Presidential Election. It should be borne in mind that the mandate given to the Troika by the Coolum CHOGM followed a detailed statement from the Commonwealth Ministers Action Group in January 2002, exhorting the Zimbabwe government to ensure that the forthcoming presidential election meet the criteria of being free and fair. CMAG requested that the Zimbabwe government take a number of steps to ensure this:
An immediate end to violence and intimidation and that the police and army refrain from party political statements and activities
All parties in the election be allowed to campaign freely without intimidation or fear of recrimination
The people of Zimbabwe be able to make an unfettered and informed choice in the elections, inter alia through full access to information from the media.
CMAG also indicated that failure to ensure a free and fair election would result in action being taken under the Harare Declaration and the Millbrook programme. Furthermore, this statement of CMAG followed a number of previous adverse comments by CMAG, as well as an adverse report on the previous parliamentary elections in 2000. So it is dissimulating in the extreme for President Mbeki to insinuate that the Coolum mandate to the Troika did not have a long history. Rather, the mandate followed a long period of concern about Zimbabwe, and included the abject failure of the Abuja Agreement.
President Mbeki makes much of the apparent contradictions between the Commonwealth Observer Group’s report and that of the official South African observers, but makes no comment on the fact that the conclusion reached by the South African observer group was solely that of the ANC, and was wholly repudiated by the members from other South African parties. This piece of obfuscation is continued by Aziz Pahad. It is thus worth citing the views of the other South African parties in the observer mission so that we remain clear about the acceptability of the presidential election:
The minority parties, represented by the DP, IFP, NNP, ACDP, UCDP and PAC, and after carefully considering the facts in the report, came to the conclusion that they could not endorse the elections as being genuinely free and fair, for the following reasons:
The existence of "no-go" areas disadvantaged many thousands of voters from exercising their democratic rights
Wide-spread allegations of acts of violence intimidated large sections of the population and denied them their basic human rights
Allegations that the police were guilty of gross dereliction of duty by acting in a partisan manner
The legal-constitutional framework gave the ruling party an unfair advantage and placed constraints on the voting process that led to some voters being disenfranchised
Section 158 of the Electoral Act gave the president of Zimbabwe extraordinary powers
Failure to announce polling stations and to make the voters’ roll a public document seven days before polling day, contravened the Electoral Act
Failure to gazette the extension of the voter registration contravened the Electoral Act
The constitution of Zimbabwe makes provision for freedom of speech, movement and association. These rights were severely compromised by sections of the Electoral Act, the General Laws Amendment Act and the Public Order Security Act
Opposition parties were effectively denied access to public media
The last-minute amendments to the Electoral Act created confusion in the minds of the electorate
The reduction of polling stations in urban areas such as Harare and Chitungwiza created unacceptable conditions and denied a significant number of people the right to vote
All the above resulted in a situation in which it is not possible to describe the elections as being free and fair and representing the will of the people.
So much for there being a contradiction between the Commonwealth Observer Group and the South African observers. The clash of views is as much between the ANC and other South African parties as it is between the ANC and the Commonwealth Observer Group.
Mbeki goes on to comment that the Zimbabwe government has never been given an opportunity to deal with the conclusions of the Commonwealth Observer Group, which again misses the point completely. The mandate given to the Troika explicitly required that the Zimbabwe government engage with the Commonwealth through the office of the Secretary-General, and, as the Troika stated: "The Committee mandated the Commonwealth Secretary-General to engage with the Government of Zimbabwe to ensure that the specific recommendations from the Commonwealth Observer Group Report, notably on the management of future elections, in Zimbabwe are implemented". This the Zimbabwe Government steadfastly refused to do, and undoubtedly this failure would have been contained in the report given to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting by the Secretary-General. The failure of the Zimbabwe Government to honour its commitment to the Harare Declaration and the Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme would have been a point of serious consideration. The suspension may have been unpalatable to both Mbeki and Mugabe, but was explicitly requested by all other Zimbabwean groupings. The MDC, the ZCTU and the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition had all called for continued suspension, and thus we are entitled to ask on whose behalf Mbeki and SADC were acting in challenging the CHOGM decision. It would appear to be Zanu PF alone, and hence the credentials for South Africa and SADC being non-partisan are now deeply questionable.
Mbeki next deals with the issue of the land, and whilst he is accurate in the sequence of events, he sidesteps entirely the whole problem of the violence, illegality, and the devastating humanitarian consequences of the Zimbabwe government’s land grab. Aziz Pahad rightly points out that the South African government has raised concerns about the legality and the manner of the Zimbabwe land grab, but tellingly makes no reference to South African government statements about the gross human rights violations that have been committed in Zimbabwe over the past three years. It these human rights violations as much as the land grab that have led to the concerns of the Commonwealth, and the statements of CMAG, the Commonwealth Observer Group, and the minority parties in the South African Observer Mission all make this point. But the point is that this is again raising a partial truth. It is a matter of public record that all Zimbabweans agree on the need for land reform, and Mbeki and SADC know this very well. So it is disturbing to hear the South African President and his Deputy Foreign Minister repeat the old Zanu PF litany. Once again Zimbabweans are entitled to question the motives of the South African Government, and in the context of the CHOGM debacle, to ask which Zimbabweans he seeks to assist. From the perspective of many Zimbabweans, we may take less exception with Alister Sparks’ analysis than Aziz Pahad.
But, most disturbing of all, is the subtle way in which Mbeki seeks to de-link fraudulent elections and gross human rights violations. His suggestion that the gross human rights violations occurring in Zimbabwe have been spun out of proportion by a Western alliance in order to effect regime change is outrageous in the light of all the evidence that has accrued over the past three years. When all the evidence suggests a deliberate campaign of politicide in defense of maintaining political power, it is insulting in the extreme to all Zimbabweans for the South African President to insinuate that the response to these allegations is a cynical inflation by Western nations to effect regime change. It is more dangerous to deflate allegations of gross human rights violations than to inflate them, as the world has learned to its cost in Rwanda. The South African Government has yet to match the concerns of the wider international community with similar statements of concern, and now Mbeki even suggests that the allegations of gross human rights violations are merely the stories told by the former oppressors in order to vilify the "heroes of the liberation struggle". We know that we are advised not to take Mbeki "literally", but we cannot take him seriously if he seeks to mislead. If Mbeki and SADC wish to be the arbiters of a Zimbabwean future, then it behoves them to listen to all sides. And when the South African President claims that Zimbabweans must solve their own problems, he needs to reflect all opinions equally in order to foster any possible solution. To be an honest broker, he must give an ear to all sides of the problem, and, when he does this, he will not be led into the ridiculous posturing that has followed CHOGM. He would do well to take Ngugi ’s advice, and not sit on the back of Zimbabwe.
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From IRIN (UN), 26 December
Pensioners hurt by record inflation
Harare - As the official inflation rate hits a record 620 percent, all Zimbabweans are feeling the pinch, but it is the country's pensioners that are especially hard-pressed. "Ten years ago pensioners lived relatively comfortably on the money they were receiving. But the situation now is pathetic. The pittance they get can hardly see them through a day, what with the ever-increasing price of basic commodities and the attendant shortages," economist John Robertson told IRIN. The government-run Central Statistical Office (CSO) has calculated year-on-year inflation for November 2003 at an all-time high of 619.5 percent, a substantial leap from the previous month's 526 percent. But other economists warn that real inflation could be more than 1,000 percent, as the CSO does not take account of the fact that consumers access most of their commodities on the black market, where prices are far higher than the government's fixed rate.
Most pensioners receive no more than Z$15,000 a month, with some getting as little as Z$2,000. But a standard loaf of bread costs Z$3,000, while five-litres of cooking sell for Z$12,000. The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe says a family of six needs at least Z$400,000 a month just for a basic food basket. "Some of these pensioners live in the rural areas and are supposed to travel to the cities to receive their money every month. However, due to high transport costs, the money they use on a single trip far outstrips what they receive, and it would not be surprising to discover that a significant number of them have since stopped collecting their money," said Robertson. For the past three years Zimbabweans have endured shortages, from foreign currency to food, to fuel and even bank notes. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has labelled the country as having the fastest shrinking economy in the world, with GDP having fallen by 40 percent since 1999. The Fund has criticised the government's policy choices, including its fast-track land redistribution programme, price controls and the maintenance of a fixed exchange rate. It recently began procedures for the country's expulsion over non-payment of arrears.
Sixty-year-old Dickson Muchena told IRIN that since he retired as a primary school teacher a decade ago, he has been struggling to make ends meet. "It's a joke for anyone to suggest that I can live off my pension, which is only $5,000. When I retired, I managed to buy a house with my terminal payout. I also bought a small car, but I sold it three years ago in order to meet my medical expenses since I am suffering from hypertension. That money is of course now all gone and I am finding it very difficult to buy my drugs," he said. Three of his six children are married, but are poorly paid and find it difficult to offer much financial support. Two of his daughters are divorced and are now staying with him, together with his 55-year-old crippled wife. Between them, the two daughters have four children, three of whom are in primary school. "My daughters try to eke out a living by selling vegetables, but they hardly get anything from that since they face stiff competition from other vendors. I therefore have to do my best to help them and until two months ago, I was employed part-time as a proof reader by a media house. I decided to quit because of my advanced age and poor health," said Muchena.
With the income from proof-reading, Muchena was able to pay his grandchildren's' school fees. With that extra money no longer available, the children might be forced to drop out, especially as school fees are to be hiked in January by an average 1,000 percent. Muchena has already sublet two rooms of his five-room house in order to cover some of the bills. His tenants pay him Zim $10,000 each month, which does not stretch very far at all, and his family live on just one meal a day. Maria Samson, a 50-year-old widow who retired from the Harare City Council a year ago, is still waiting for her pension payout. "My money is taking too long in coming and despite several visits to my former employer and NSSA [National Social Security Association] I have not made much progress. What worries me is that as the prices of rise everyday, that money will be useless when I start receiving it," she explained. But Samson is more fortunate than many others. Her two children now live in the United Kingdom, along with an estimated 500,000 other Zimbabweans who have fled the economic hardships, and occasionally they send her British pounds which she converts on the black market. "But I do not have to wait for my children to send me money. I am keeping poultry at my house, where I have also opened a tuck shop from where I sell a range of commodities ranging from salt through to second-hand clothes. Health permitting, I might also engage in cross-border trade," said Samson.
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From IRIN (UN), 24 December
Rise in drop out rate feared over school fees hike
Harare - When Zimbabwe's new school year begins next month, some parents are going to be forced to choose which of their children to educate as a result of a hike in school fees of between 200 to 2,000 percent. Inevitably girls are likely to be pulled out of class first, threatening Zimbabwe's impressive strides towards gender parity in school enrolment. Livingstone Sinyoro has four children currently in secondary school in the capital, Harare. With the fees' hike he cannot afford to educate all of them, and two will have to drop out. "The two girls will not be going to school next year since they can read and write. They can be married, so I better try to send the boys," Sinyoro told IRIN. "It's the girls who are often the first ones to drop out, either because they are forced into earlier marriages because it's the best economic option for a family, or they become involved in high-risk behaviour to seek money on the streets," UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Information Officer Shantha Bloemen explained. The government pays only a portion of the running costs of public schools. The shortfall is covered by funds or levies that are raised by school governing councils. Parents serving on these bodies, at the more than 6,000 government schools across the country, have been meeting this week to discuss next year's fees. The school authorities say that, with an inflation rate of over 600 percent, there is no alternative but to ask parents to pay more.
One secondary school in Mbare, a high-density suburb of Harare, is set to increase its fees from Z$5,000 to Z$15,000 in January. The school serves a largely working class community, with as many as 80 percent of parents currently unemployed. At Oriel Boys High School, which caters for children from middle-income families, fees are to rise from Z$200,000 to Z$1 million. "I have three children, one at Oriel Boys High School and two at St Dominic, which means I need $20,000 (US $24) a day for transport and other allowances, plus fees. This is bad news," said frustrated parent, Tedious Ndoro, a civil servant. He told IRIN it would be difficult for him to send all three children to school. Education Minister Aenias Chigwedere has blamed "unscrupulous" schools rather than the economy for the rise in fees. He told the official Herald newspaper that his department did not have the funds to increase its subsidies to the schools to help offset the hike. A UNICEF report this month said that the school drop out rate, currently at 10 percent, was likely to rise in January with the new school year. Until three years ago, when the economic and humanitarian crisis began to bite, Zimbabwe had enviable education record and a literacy of between 80 and 90 percent.
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Comment from Mmegi (Botswana), 18 December
Botswana is right on Zimbabwe
We must give credit where it is due. Botswana must be congratulated for refusing to go with the excitable SADC crowd in Lesotho last week. At long last we have stood our ground and decided what our stand is. It is commendable that when others are still agonising unnecessarily over Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth, we are involved in no such reactionary behaviour. For that SADC crowd that gathered in Lesotho last week is a bunch of reactionaries that want to throw Africa's democratic march into reverse gear. These SADC states rolled with the punches at the Commonwealth meeting at Abuja Nigeria, and then went to Lesotho to challenge and disown what was basically a corporate decision to extend the suspension of Zimbabwe from the organisation. If they spoke in Abuja, we barely heard them. Why they should wait until Lesotho to make their voices is a mystery when they had the forum in Abuja.
In any case the Commonwealth decision could not have been sanctioned by racists with "dismissive, intolerant and rigid attitude" without the copious support from "accommodating, tolerant and flexible" non-racists. And anyway Robert Mugabe, the man the SADC crowd in Lesotho was rooting for is not one to listen to good old wise counsel even from friends. He is a man more comfortable being egged on by never see evil soul mates even when he is headed for the mouth of a very hungry crocodile in the Zambezi River. Botswana's decision to publicly break ranks with SADC countries who are more adept at pussy-footing over the Zimbabwe problem should be a welcome relief to those who think that Mugabe should be told a few home truths by his African brothers.
We want to believe that Botswana's choice to go with the Commonwealth decision to extend Zimbabwe's decision despite its misgivings should send a clear message to Mugabe. This is especially so taken that one of Mugabe's perceived "supporters" Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo refused to invite him to the Commonwealth Summit. It is such actions that would make the Harare dictator realise that he is fast running out of sympathizers even in Africa. The time to handle Mugabe with kid gloves is gone because the man has been playing hardball even with friends. Once again Botswana must be congratulated for deciding not to join up with a cheering crowd that only helps to massage the bloated ego of an unrepentant dictator.
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Comment from The Daily Champion (Nigeria), 22 December
Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth
Lagos - Zimbabwe's withdrawal from the Commonwealth, on December 7, followed the refusal of the organisation to end that country's suspension from the body. In March last year, the Commonwealth had cited Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe's election-rigging and persecution of dissidents to suspend the country from the group. In the heat of the electoral campaigns last year, the opposition presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, was restricted by a new law from campaigning openly, and his supporters labelled dissidents and hounded. Independent journalism was banned, and journalists Mugabe disliked barred from practising in the country. Mugabe's army chief warned that he would never let Tsvangirai become president. For the same reasons of election-rigging and violation of human rights by the Mugabe government, the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) had imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe.
At the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), in Abuja, the organisation refused to terminate Zimbabwe's suspension, insisting that Mugabe's government was yet to shun its oppressiveness and embrace democratic means. The evidence is there. In September, barely three months to the CHOGM, Zimbabwean police shut down the country's only independent daily. By a new law, known as Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which demands, among others, licensing of journalists and prohibitive registration fees for private newspapers, President Mugabe has permanently kept out independent journalism. During the recent CHOGM, the Zimbabwe's opposition, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), showed in Abuja grisly video clips of its members being hounded and brutalised by Mugabe's government. Almost simultaneously, President Mugabe threatened to use "some measures of force" against his opponents. The continued hounding, and hurling into detention, of members of Zimbabwe's opposition cannot rightly be dismissed as a common fate of dissidents on the African continent.
The situation is bound to worsen still with Zimbabwe's expulsion, on December 3, by the IMF. The expulsion was prompted by the government's unwillingness to take steps to revive Zimbabwe's economy that has shrunk by 40 per cent since 1999, and reduce the current inflation of 526 per cent and large dependence of the population on foreign food aid. President Mugabe and his supporters claim that Zimbabwe is being unfairly treated by white members of the Commonwealth who are opposed to its controversial land reform programme. So far, by the redistribution of the farmlands, or the wholesale transfer of them from white farmers to black Zimbabweans, the farm-lands have become less productive in the hands of farmers who lack the skill and equipment. The solution should be gradual, phasal transfer of the farmlands.
Zimbabwe's pull out of the Commonwealth follows the example of apartheid-era South Africa, which quit the organisation in 1961 rather than dismantle the oppressive apartheid regime. Pakistan, though still suspended from the Commonwealth because of its military regime, has not withdrawn from the organisation. With the restoration of democracy in Fiji and Nigeria, the countries once suspended for mounting coup and hanging dissidents respectively, have returned to the Commonwealth. President Mugabe should be persuaded to take necessary steps to return his country to the Commonwealth. As long as Zimbabwe stays out of the Commonwealth, the US and the EU are likely to retain their sanctions, which are having adverse effects on the country's economy. Because Zimbabwe is out of the Commonwealth, members of the organisation may no longer be able to exercise peer pressure on Mugabe. Even then, Zimbabwe remains member of other relevant international organisations, such as the South African Development Community (SADC), African Union etc.
Leaders of these organisations should persuade Mugabe to retrace his steps. President Olusegun Obasanjo's report to the recent CHOGM on his efforts at reconciling the differences between the Zimbabwe's government and opposition raises the hope of fresh elections in Zimbabwe. This will reduce President' Mugabe's term of office, and probably open up the political space. Anti-democratic arm-twisting, manipulation of the ballot and constitution for the purpose of sit-tightism is totally anachronistic in the post-cold-war world, where popular pressure for change has swept away one-party dictatorship and compelled truly multi-party elections in a number of countries. Again, if President Mugabe is no longer confident of being voted into power in a free and fair election, it may well mean the calculation of Zimbabweans that he has nothing more to contribute to the growth and development of their country, after his 23 years in power. The most honourable way out for Mugabe is to toe the line of Sedar Senghor, Julius Nyerere and a few others - all who left power honourably at the peak of their achievements. To keep Zimbabwe out of the Commonwealth is, by extension, to deny it benefits of other international organisations. In today's world a country can ill-afford to be treated as a pariah state.
Church leaders stand firm on Zim abuses - Saturday Star Suspected ebola case in Vic Falls - M&G Year of decision - Observer
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From The Saturday Star (SA), 27 December
Church leaders stand firm on Zim abuses
By Siphiwe Mpye
Despite strong condemnation from the Presidency, Johannesburg religious leaders have declared that they will not back down from the fight to highlight human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. In a statement released this week, the leaders, representing various denominations, noted with "concern" a statement released by Reverend Frank Chikane, the director-general in the Presidency, denouncing the group's position on human rights abuses taking place in Zimbabwe. He was reacting to the statement issued last weekend. A member of the religious leaders' collective has also told Saturday Star that, as a fellow man of the cloth, Chikane's strong language was "saddening" and "puzzling" to his peers. In the original statement, the church leadership - which included Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist church leaders in Johannesburg - said that "to remain silent any longer renders us complicit in the brutality being visited by Zimbabwean authorities on their own citizens". The statement described the horrendous torture exacted on those seen not to support Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's regime and also spoke of alleged corruption and ineptitude in the South African department of home affairs, which compounds Zimbabwean refugees' difficulty in finding asylum in this country.
Chikane responded strongly to the statement this week, unleashing a broadside at those who criticise President Thabo Mbeki's diplomatic stance on our neighbour and those who maintain that the government is silent on human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.Chikane charged that the religious leaders had resorted to "fabrications and clubbing together with political self-seekers in order to achieve their goals". In an article in the Citizen, Chikane, referring to the corruption allegations against the home affairs department, said the religious leaders had not provided the "information they claim to have". Chikane said that Mbeki had in the past spoken out about human rights in Mugabe's presence.In their Christmas Day counter-punch to Chikane, the leaders re-iterated their stance on human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, saying they would not remain silent in the face of these "atrocities". They stated that through Chikane, the Presidency had unfairly used the group's first statement as a departure point to address allegations levelled against the Presidency's approach to the Zimbabwe crisis. They said they were aware of work being done by the Presidency in addressing Zimbabwe's woes and were therefore careful not to mention political figures in last week's statement.
The Anglican church's Right Reverend Peter Lee said he had been "saddened" by Chikane's words. "He used strong and inappropriate language. To be called fabricators was very distressing, especially coming from a fellow member of the clergy. His was a broadside prompted by our statement but had very little to do with its contents." Lee added that it was sad that in his statement, Chikane had not mentioned anything about the torture happening in Zimbabwe. On the issue of communication between religious leaders and the government, Lee said they remained open for discussions, but added that their frequency needed to be increased in order for them to yield significant results. Although Lee would not be drawn into a position on Mbeki's so-called "quiet diplomacy" approach, the opposition to this stance is implicit in both statements released by the religious leaders.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 28 December
Suspected ebola case reported in Zimbabwe
A suspected case of deadly ebola fever has been reported in Zimbabwe's prime resort of Victoria Falls, state media said on Sunday. The Sunday Mail quoted the health minister and a senior medical official confirming that a trader from Angola had died at the main hospital in the northwestern town on Christmas Day from a suspected ebola infection. Specimen samples have been taken and sent to a laboratory in South Africa for tests. "At the moment it is only a suspected case and we will only know the cause of the death when we get laboratory tests results from South Africa," Health Minister David Parirenyatwa said. Gibson Mhlanga, a provincial doctor, told the daily: "The man from Angola was admitted on Wednesday ... [and] died on Christmas Day." Doctors immediately isolated him to prevent the spread of the disease after he displayed symptoms consistent with the highly contagious fever. The deceased, a cross-border trader, reportedly arrived in Zimbabwe from Angola through Namibia and Botswana. Ebola is spread through direct contact with body fluids of an infected person. An ebola outbreak in recent months left 29 dead in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is to the north of Angola. An epidemic in 2001 in the same region claimed more than 100 lives. Ebola is thought to be contracted by humans when they eat the flesh of infected animals.
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From The Observer (UK), 28 December
Year of decision for the man cradling Zimbabwe's hopes
Ahead of a crucial 12 months, the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is upbeat about replacing Mugabe, as he tells Rory Carroll in Harare
Directions to the rendezvous will be given at the last minute, says the voice at the other end of the line, lest the secret police are listening. In these days of fuel shortages it is just a 15-minute drive from central Harare to the suburb where five polite young men, acting as sentinels, open the gates leading to a pink house. Standing at the door of his study, a one-room cottage in the garden, is Morgan Tsvangirai, would-be President of Zimbabwe and nemesis of Robert Mugabe. He looks like his newspaper photographs: a bit crumpled, smiling and frowning at the same time. A pumping handshake and he drops into an armchair, keen to discuss the fate of his country. What happens next - continued stalemate, a bloody uprising, a negotiated handover of power, fresh elections - hinges largely on him and the opposition group he leads, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The coming year, most analysts agree, is make-or-break. If Tsvangirai gets it right, Zimbabwe will have a 'soft landing' from 23 years of Mugabe rule. If he gets it wrong, the country may go the way of Congo and pay in chaos and bloodshed, or choke in the tightened grip of the ruling Zanu PF party. Tsvangirai knows it is his big test. The 51-year-old knows many doubt he is up to the job, that maybe his personality and leadership skills are no match for the daunting task ahead, that he makes too many mistakes. Rubbish, his supporters say. It is Tsvangirai who forged the MDC from a trade union base into a national movement and has withstood huge pressure to pose the most serious challenge Mugabe has known. The MDC holds nearly half of the 120 elected seats in parliament, controls the councils of nearly all the country's urban areas, and, according to most independent observers, would have won the 2002 presidential election had it been fair.
Despite the vote-rigging, violence and muzzling of independent media, the party is intact and respected. 'Morgan still commands a great degree of popular support and affection,' says one Western diplomat. But a growing number of critics say that this is not enough. People grow hungry, poor and destitute while the President's cronies loot farms and state assets with no sign of a backlash. Tsvangirai and his aides are accused of staying at home while sending supporters onto the streets to be beaten up. Some MDC activists complain of lost momentum, fatigue and disillusionment. Sitting in the armchair, dressed in navy slacks and an African print shirt, Tsvangirai listens and shakes his head. 'Totally unjustified. You can't have the leaders on the streets when nobody is there behind them,' he says. Six months ago the nation heeded his call for a week-long general strike but declined to throng streets patrolled by the police, soldiers and Zanu PF thugs. 'It's easier for people to take the soft option and stay at home - and that's disappointing.' If they saw Tsvangirai and other leaders on the streets, might they not join them? They might, he concedes, but the leaders might also be arrested, decapitating the movement with barely an independent press left to report it.
Some observers think the risk justified. In his guerrilla days, Mugabe was incarcerated and his movement continued, so why not the MDC? 'The tragedy of the MDC is they want to behave like gentlemen when they're in a war situation. They should make it impossible for Zanu, make noise, sing,' said Sam Nkomo, head of Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, the group which published the Daily News, a feisty critic that the regime closed earlier this year. Nobody calls Tsvangirai a coward. He has been thrown into prison, been beaten unconscious and almost hurled from a 10-storey window. Now he is on trial for treason and could be executed. But critics say the movement's morale and cohesion will falter unless it is bolder. Asked about being a martyr if necessary, Tsvangirai, a father of six, dodges the question. Pressed, he says: 'Yes, I think I'd be prepared to lay down my own life.' What he does not add, though some aides do, is that the streets are not filling with critics. 'Maybe we're still not desperate enough,' sighed one disillusioned MDC activist. That thesis may soon be tested. Tsvangirai promised to create a 'broad alliance' with other pro-democracy organisations to 'intensify the pressure' on the regime in 2004. He declines to elaborate on tactics, but says the 79-year-old despot is on his way out, comparing him to Jim Jones, the cult leader who led a mass poisoning in the South American jungle in 1978. 'If a man wants to commit suicide, you can't stop him.'
Tsvangirai left school early to work in a textile mill, then a mine, before working his way up the trade union movement. He never went to university - one of the reasons Mugabe, who reportedly has at least six degrees, is so disdainful. Sometimes depicted as a firebrand who shoots from the hip, at one point in the interview he grows so animated he leaps to his feet, almost shouting. But Tsvangirai stays on-message, carefully wording, for example, his criticism of South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki. Many in the MDC despair that Mbeki, the one power broker with leverage over his wayward neighbour, cossets Mugabe. But Tsvangirai merely says the South African has been 'misled' and 'must be very disappointed' at Mugabe's broken promises to ease repression. Another fraught issue is whether the MDC is secretly negotiating with Zanu PF. Opposition supporters in particular have been confused by contradictory signals from both sides. 'There are no talks. People must not misunderstand proximity contacts as talks. There have been no substantive talks,' says Tsvangirai. Since the crackdown Zimbabweans seldom hear his voice or read his words, but if they did they may be surprised at how upbeat the opposition leader seems.
Ebola unconfirmed - Star The last thing we need - Daily Telegraph Last chance for quiet diplomacy? - Business Day Even the elephants - Guardian
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From The Star (SA), 29 December
Zim calls on SA help in Ebola scare
By Jillian Green
Zimbabwean health officials have requested help from South African microbiologists to investigate a suspected Ebola virus case at Victoria Falls. But a virologist at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg, Dr Lucille Bloemberg, said the institute had yet to receive any specimens. The institute would be responsible for determining whether the specimens carried the virus. "Although details are very sketchy at present, on the information available to us, this does not sound like the Ebola virus. "If and when the specimens arrive, then we will do the tests. Until then we should not make a huge issue out of this," Bloemberg said. Media reports quoted Zimbabwean Health Minister David Parirenyatwa as saying that an Angolan cross-border trader had died of Ebola fever. Parirenyatwa said he had asked South African laboratories to help confirm the suspected virus, and specimens had been sent to be assessed. The trader had crossed into Zimbabwe after travelling from Angola through Namibia and Botswana. He was admitted to Victoria Falls government hospital on Christmas Eve and died the following day, hospital authorities told the state-controlled Sunday Mail.
Parirenyatwa stressed that the case was still only suspected, not confirmed. Efforts had been made to isolate the victim, and hospital staff had been put on alert for possible subsidiary infections. The alert puts extra pressure on Zimbabwe's health system, which is already on the point of paralysis due to a two-month strike by junior doctors and nurses, protesting against pay and conditions. Understaffed and ill-equipped wards are also flooded with patients suffering from HIV-related conditions. Ebola, spread by contact with body fluids, is mostly fatal and there is, as yet, no cure. Earlier this year, the disease claimed the lives of dozens in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Symptoms include high temperature, bleeding and liquefaction of internal body organs. The disease is believed to originate among apes in equatorial forests and may be spread to humans by the bushmeat trade.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 29 December
Zimbabwe fears first fatal ebola virus case
Harare - Zimbabwe reported its first suspected case of the deadly ebola virus yesterday. The death, in Victoria Falls, the country's top tourist resort, came as the health system collapses, with five people dying of rabies and anthrax in the past week. The victim was identified by a government-controlled newspaper yesterday as an Angolan trader who recently visited several countries in southern Africa. He was sent to an isolation hospital once he was identified as a potential ebola sufferer and samples have been sent to South Africa for testing. Results will not be known until later this week. Ebola, one of the deadliest viruses in existence, is highly contagious. It causes intense fever, internal and external bleeding and the collapse of internal organs. It kills about 90 per cent of those it infects and there is no known cure.
The suspected case could not come at a worse time for Zimbabwe's failing health service, another victim of President Robert Mugabe's misrule. With the economy falling apart and inflation rocketing, most government doctors and many nurses have been on strike for several weeks seeking pay rises of up to 11,000 per cent. The agricultural sector, which underpinned the economy and earned 40 per cent of foreign exchange, was thrown into turmoil in 2000 after Mr Mugabe announced his "fast-track land reform programme" and began seizing white commercial farms. In the past week, at least five people and more than 60 head of cattle have died of rabies and anthrax in areas where the diseases had not been seen for many years. Huge packs of hungry dogs, which have not been vaccinated against rabies, can be seen in many of the former commercial farming areas, which have been chaotically resettled. "New" farmers say they have increased the numbers of dogs they keep for "protection" but former farmers say the packs are used to hunt depleted wildlife.
Health professionals say there is no rabies vaccine for humans in Zimbabwe and, even if it was available, it is too expensive for most bitten by infected dogs. Dr Stuart Hargreaves, the government's principal director of veterinary services, said yesterday: "There has been a dramatic increase in the movement of people and animals in the last few years, which makes it difficult to control some diseases we used to manage quite well." He also acknowledged that thousands of miles of Zimbabwe's most important cattle fences had been broken or stolen during the destruction of the country's agriculture industry, hampering efforts to control animal movements. Zimbabwe exported beef to the European Union until foot and mouth disease appeared following land invasions. Now many of the 58 abattoirs registered with the government's veterinary services are no longer operating. An unknown number of people have also died or are suffering from cholera, which has now become a semi-permanent hazard in several urban areas as well as Zimbabwe's second most important tourist resort, Lake Kariba, which borders Zambia. The Harare city council is restricting water to many suburbs because it says it has run out of foreign currency to buy chemicals to purify supplies.
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From Business Day (SA), 29 December
Time is running out for SA's quiet diplomacy
Jonathan Katzenellenbogen
Growing pressure on Pretoria to show how it can mediate end to Zimbabwe's crisis
South African churches and trade unions have recently made clear their intense displeasure over SA's policy of quiet diplomacy towards Zimbabwe. Church leaders have gone so far as to say the policy raises questions about government's morality. The Group of Eight (G-8) industrial countries could also soon show dissatisfaction over the policy, after having given it some time, and many African and developing nations are not prepared to show solidarity on the issue any more. In the next few weeks quiet diplomacy could be given its last chance by the international community, now that Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF has dropped preconditions for talks with the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). However, if there is no distinct progress at the talks, all bets will be off and the pressure will be on Pretoria to step in and broker a deal.
SA's government could find itself severely at odds with the church and its trade union allies on a vital policy in an election year if there is not success in brokering a deal, or no shift to a tougher stance on Zimbabwe. And the postapartheid stock of international goodwill and diplomatic credibility could be at stake next year if there are attempts to buy time for quiet diplomacy. Time is no longer on President Thabo Mbeki's side. Buying time in Zimbabwe in the hope of a settlement makes the future there look increasingly messy. There is talk of civil uprising, coups d'état, and warlordism. The country faces long-term economic damage, and famine looms. Although time is not on his side, Mbeki has reduced diplomatic tools at his disposal to bring about a settlement. Having stridently protested against Zimbabwe's continued exclusion from the Commonwealth, and having stood next to President Robert Mugabe at Harare airport earlier this month, Mbeki cannot easily abandon quiet diplomacy for graduated pressure. That would involve rhetoric and forthright condemnations of human rights abuses and the stolen election, followed by "smart sanctions" to restrict the travel and business of the ruling Zanu PF elite.
As Mugabe is likely to understand that SA's policy cannot be easily abandoned, threats to bring in graduated pressure could lack credibility. If Mugabe is convinced it is now or never for a deal that entails his resignation and ultimately a free and fair election, the answer has to be yes, the policy is working. But quiet diplomacy has always widened Mugabe's options to say no to talks, no to early retirement, and no to an early election. He may want to buy time with talks and try to go for the end of his term in 2008, while ensuring his successor can lead the party and win an election. What can be done within the confines of quiet diplomacy is limited. But Mugabe can be warned that SA is paying a high cost for its policy. And SA can also work hard to re-establish its honest broker position with the MDC. It is very probably on the basis that plans would be in place for a successor to Mugabe by the time of the Zanu PF party conference earlier this month, that the G-8 gave SA time for its policy to work. But the conference has come and gone with no sign of an apparent successor.
In mid-June, at the World Economic Forum's southern African summit in Durban, Mbeki kindled hope there would be a settlement in Zimbabwe within a year. And on his visit to SA in July, US President George Bush said he accepted SA was the "point man" on Zimbabwe. Judging from an article by US Secretary of State Colin Powell in the New York Times a few days ahead of the visit, the inclination of the US administration was to push SA far harder on Zimbabwe. That the US and G-8 have not recently issued public criticism over SA's stance is an indication they accept, for now, that SA is doing its best. But what if by next June there is no progress? Should this be the case it is hard to list or quantify what may be lost for SA, but overall good relations with the G-8 could be in jeopardy. A great deal stems from SA's overall good relations internationally, partly predicated on SA's role as a stabilising force in the region. SA has an easy opening in G-8 capitals, which has allowed it to gain valuable endorsements of its continental recovery plan, the New Partnership for Africa's Development.
Now a diminishing number of African and developing countries openly favour SA's policy of quiet diplomacy towards Zimbabwe, and are unwilling to waste diplomatic capital by speaking out in its favour. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Commonwealth heads of government chairman, rejected Mozambican President Joacquim Chissano's accusation that the decision to continue Zimbabwe's suspension was "undemocratic". And apart from the statement from Southern African Development Community members challenging the decision, there was silence from developing countries on the issue. However, it is domestic sources of pressure on the policy from the church, the trade unions, and potentially the Communist Party that government may find most troubling. Former Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu and Johannesburg church leaders have issued a stinging rebuke to government. Trade union federation Cosatu is also outraged, saying it stands ready to blockade the SA-Zimbabwe border if asked to do so by unions in Zimbabwe. While the African National Congress is certain to win the election, disagreement within the tripartite alliance could keep voters away from the polls. SA's quiet diplomacy policy on Zimbabwe is under more domestic and international pressure than ever before and the pressure has only just begun in earnest.
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From The Guardian (UK), 29 December
The latest refugees from Mugabe's lawless Zimbabwe - hundreds of elephants
Michael Durham in Mosi-o-Tunya National Park, Zambia
Wildlife experts in Zambia fear flight from poachers is damaging crops and property
Hundreds of wild elephants are the latest refugees from violence and disorder in Robert Mugabe's crisis-torn Zimbabwe. The animals are fleeing the country by wading across the Zambezi river to escape being shot or trapped by so-called "war veterans" and illegal hunters. Game wardens in Zambia say record numbers of elephants are crossing the Zambezi, which forms the border between the two countries, to avoid being poached by armed gangs in Zimbabwe. "Elephants are quite intelligent and can communicate. They know they are safer on this side of the river," said one game warden. The exodus is an indication of the devastation facing wildlife in Zimbabwe, where animals are said to be at risk of indiscriminate slaughter in reserves and former privately owned game parks. With the breakdown of law and order, animals of all kinds are reportedly being poached on a massive scale for ivory and even for food. At Mosi-o-Tunya National Park, on the Zambian side of the Zambezi river near Victoria Falls, elephants are crossing the river daily. Wildlife experts say the movement is much larger than the normal seasonal emigration and is causing a serious problem for Zambian authorities. There are so many elephants trapped in a small area that serious damage is being caused to the environment. About 200 elephants are thought to be living in the small national park, close to the city of Livingstone, an area more used to a population of about 50. The elephants are stripping the bush of foliage and knocking down trees, and there are conflicts between the wild elephants and farmers. Elephants killed two local villagers in the park this year.
Marianthy Noble, Zambia representative of the UK-based David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, said: "Lawlessness in Zimbabwe is definitely a factor in driving more elephants into Zambia and causing a problem here. If an elephant is shot, others will leave the area for safety. Elephants can communicate over up to seven miles - and they never forget. Until recently Zimbabwe had an excellent record for wildlife conservation and some of the best game parks in the world. But with land redistribution, some of the best game parks have been settled or invaded by people with no experience of wildlife management at all. Game is being systematically wiped out by local people shooting and setting snares. It's lawlessness." According to reports, game hunters from South Africa are taking advantage of the breakdown in law and order to buy hunting licences in the former conservancies, allowing them to shoot anything that moves. In other cases, villagers are reported to be killing wildlife "for fun". Zimbabweans living on the Zambia side of the border are cagey about discussing wildlife in Zimbabwe for fear of repercussions for relatives and business associates still inside the country. However, Andy, a white Zimbabwean working for a Zambia safari lodge, said: "Everybody knows there is illegal hunting in Zimbabwe on a massive scale. Wildlife is being wiped out. That is why the elephants are coming across. "In some areas, there are so many snares set that animals caught in them are just being left to rot. National parks are issuing illegal hunting licences without knowing how much game there is." Another safari lodge employee near Victoria Falls said: "There are certainly more elephants arriving. From time to time, we have heard shooting at night from the Zimbabwe side. There is only one explanation - poaching."
The head of the Zambian Wildlife Authority (Zawa), Hapenga Kabeta, said he had been assured that Zimbabwean wildlife authorities were implementing "appropriate wildlife management" and providing good leadership in conservation issues. He blamed the exodus on drought and overpopulation. He said reports on the internet that up to 80% of Zimbabwe's wild elephants had been slaughtered were without foundation. However, he acknowledged there might be a problem on Zimbabwe's private game parks, where land redistribution meant new owners "may not have the skills" and wildlife could be at risk. Experts acknowledge that the influx of elephants into the tiny Mosi-o-Tunya park is presenting a problem for Zambian authorities. The park is hemmed in by houses and farms and smallholders have blamed the elephants for damage to fruit trees and property. Simasiku Pumulo, who farms 200 hectares of maize, millet, vegetables and fruit in the Sinde co-operative on the edge of Livingstone, said wild elephants regularly visited his land to eat what they could find. "Sometimes they come at night and break down the trees just across from the front door. It is terrifying, you cannot go out," he said. "The elephants destroy the maize and dig up vegetables... If you plant five acres of maize, the elephants usually eat four of them. To put so much work into growing food for the elephants is very annoying - I believe they should be culled." Park authorities are considering how to solve the problem without resorting to a cull, which would be unpopular with wildlife experts and tourists. Under present Zambian law, elephants cannot be shot - although the government will reintroduce hunting next year. One possible solution is to open up an elephant "corridor" to encourage the animals to migrate 124 miles north to a larger national park at Kafue, where elephants are in short supply.
Zambia on Ebola alert - AP 'No need to panic' - IOL Econet license in jeopardy - VOA Shooting the messenger - BBC National herd faces extinction - Sunday Independent Gloomier times - IPS
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From Associated Press, 29 December
Zambia on alert after Ebola virus death
Lusaka - Zambian border officials were placed on alert after authorities in neighboring Zimbabwe announced that an Angolan trader may have died of the highly contagious and deadly Ebola virus, health officials said Monday. A team of Zambian health officials traveled to the Zimbabwe border town of Victoria Falls Monday, where the man died, to seek further information about the case, said Dr. Victor Mukonka, spokesman for the Central Board of Health. The Angolan man, who had traveled to Zimbabwe via Namibia and Botswana, was admitted to a Victoria Falls hospital on Wednesday with possible symptoms of the hemorrhagic fever. He was isolated and died Thursday, according to Zimbabwe news reports. Samples from the victim were being sent to a South African laboratory for testing. "Maybe it may turn out not to be Ebola at all," Mukonka said. "But we cannot take chances in cases of this nature." Health officials in other neighboring countries said they were watching developments, but did not immediately announce precautionary measures.
Ebola, one of the world's deadliest viral diseases, causes extensive internal bleeding and rapid death in up to 90 percent of those infected. Doctors at the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases said the chances of an Ebola outbreak in southern Africa were low and urged calm. Dr. Lucille Blumberg told the South African Press Association said doctors in Zimbabwe would be sending the institute a specimen for analysis within the next 24 hours. "There is no need to panic or cancel trips," Blumberg said. "The clinical details are very sketchy - it could be malaria or another infection," she said. "Ebola is low on our list of possibilities as it has not been seen so far south, but we have to exclude it." Ebola has killed more than 1,000 people since the virus was first identified in 1976 in western Sudan and in a region of Congo, according to the World Health Organization. A current outbreak in a remote part of Republic of Congo has killed at least 29 people, according to WHO.
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From IOL (SA), 29 December
No need to panic over Ebola, says expert
The risk of the deadly Ebola virus being found in the remains of a man who died in a hospital in Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls was quite low, and people should not panic, a microbiologist involved with the investigation said on Monday. This follows media reports that Zimbabwean health officials had asked a South African laboratory for help investigating the death of a cross border trader in a hospital in the resort town on Christmas Day. The trader had reportedly travelled through Angola, Namibia and Botswana before seeking treatment at the hospital on Christmas Eve. "We have spoken to doctors in Zimbabwe and they will send us a specimen for analysis sometime today or tomorrow," said Dr Lucille Blumberg, of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases. "That kind of specimen is very difficult to send through ordinary transport so we are making arrangements, but we should receive it in the next 24 hours." The Johannesburg-based high security laboratory is often called upon to assist African countries with viral haemorrhagic investigations and receives samples from all over the continent. "The clinical details are very sketchy - it could be malaria or another infection. Ebola is low on our list of possibilities as it has not been seen so far south but we have to exclude it," she said. "Someone raised it as a possibility and because it is not clear where he has been it is important to exclude it. There is no need to panic or cancel trips. The chances are low," she added.
According to the World Health Organisation, Ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF) was first identified in a western equatorial province of Sudan and in a nearby region of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1976. It is one of the most virulent viral diseases known to humankind, causing death in 50 to 90 percent of all clinically ill cases. The source of the virus appears to be in the jungles of Africa and Asia, with several different forms being identified. It is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or semen of infected people and has also occurred from handling ill or dead infected chimpanzees. The incubation period is between two to 21 days and symptoms include the sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, limited kidney and liver functions, and internal and external bleeding, the WHO information sheet said. It added that no specific treatment or vaccine exists and suspected cases should be isolated from other patients with strict barrier nursing techniques practised. Blumberg said that the laboratory should have a first result within 48 hours of conducting the first analysis.
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From VOA News, 29 December
Zimbabwe's largest cell phone company may lose license
Harare - Zimbabwe's state controlled media says the government is planning to withdraw the operating license of the largest cellular telephone operator, accusing the company of subversive activities." The majority shareholder of the Econet cellular network is also the chairman of the company which owns Zimbabwe's Daily News, the only independent daily newspaper in Zimbabwe. The government-controlled Herald newspaper, quoting unnamed sources, reported on Christmas that Econet has broken the law by failing to remit foreign currency earnings from incoming international telephone calls. It said Econet's profits were being used to finance subversive activities to undermine the Zimbabwe government. One of the so-called subversive activities identified by The Herald was the publication of one edition of The Daily News in Nigeria, during the summit of Commonwealth countries, from which Zimbabwe is suspended. The newspaper was printed by a prominent Nigerian daily newspaper, This Day, and carried reports critical of President Robert Mugabe's rule.
Econet was founded in 1998, after its chief executive officer, Strive Masiyiwa, won a four-year court battle to win a license. Since then Mr. Masiyiwa has expanded his investment in cellular networks in several other countries, including Nigeria. When the Daily News ran into financial trouble last year, Mr. Masiyiwa baled it out, and became its largest shareholder. The Daily News has been a frequent critic of President Robert Mugabe's government, exposing its many human rights abuses. It also published articles exposing serious irregularities in the presidential elections in March 2003, which gave Mr. Mugabe a further six years in power. The Daily News was closed down for operating without a license, but appealed, and shortly before Christmas, the courts gave it permission to resume publication. But police have prevented workers from producing the newspaper. Mr. Masiyiwa, who now lives in South Africa said Monday he did not believe there was a government probe into the Econet network. He said his company operated fully within the law.
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From BBC News, 29 December
Moving stories: Strive Masiyiwa
BBC World Service's The World Today programme is asking migrants who have been successful in their adopted countries how they got to the top of their field. Strive Masiyiwa is publisher of Zimbabwe's Daily News, a paper critical of President Robert Mugabe, and the CEO of telecommunications group Econet Wireless International. He is a Zimbabwean national who lives in South Africa.
"I trained in the United Kingdom - I obtained a degree there in electronics and power engineering. So when I left university I went into telecommunications. I worked briefly in the United Kingdom and then moved back to Zimbabwe, because it was a newly-independent country, and it was my home. But I left almost four years ago. I am also the publisher of the Daily News, Zimbabwe's only independent newspaper. The government recently shut down the paper. So that might give you an idea of the nature of our relationship with the government in Zimbabwe. They don't appreciate that you don't shoot the messenger. We reflect what is happening in society. To shut down the newspaper does not take away the problems which we've been reflecting. We're constantly having running battles with the government. I decided that I was better off moving to South Africa. I also felt that if I was there, it would be easier for me to develop the vision that I had for providing telecommunications in Africa. I still have hope for Zimbabwe, although I still cannot go back, which leaves me with a deep sense of sadness. It's an increasingly sad situation, and my prayer is that sooner rather than later we will begin to see some changes which will improve the lives of the people. I keep a very close tab on what's going on in Zimbabwe. Some of my closest family and friends are there. I'm sure anyone in my position would rather have achieved what they've achieved at home. But in the era that I was born and raised, that was not possible. So I just have to accept that reality, that my circumstances as an individual would probably not be quite what they are if I had stayed in Zimbabwe."
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From The Sunday Independent (SA), 28 December
Zim beef on verge of extinction
By Fred Bridgland
Zimbabwe's commercial beef cattle herd, which until three-and-a-half years ago earned more than R14-billion annually from exports, is on the verge of extinction as a result of the country's political upheavals. The national herd, bred over a period of 110 years for survival in Zimbabwe's harsh conditions, stood at 1,4 million animals in 2000 when President Robert Mugabe launched his farm invasion strategy. The invasions initially benefited landless peasants. But they, in turn, were removed from properties when government ministers and their relatives, judges, diplomats and pro-government journalists began laying claim to farms. "By the middle of this year only 210 000 beef cattle survived. At the last count there were fewer than 125 000 animals, but the number will be lower by now," Paul D'Hotman, chief executive of the Harare-based Cattle Producers' Association, said on Friday. "The entire national herd is on the road to extinction and the whole gene pool is being wiped out."
The looming disappearance of one of Zimbabwe's most valuable assets is the most dramatic illustration yet of the meltdown that is occurring in a country with the world's highest inflation rate (620 percent) and the fastest-declining economy. Dirk Odendaal was one of Zimbabwe's top beef farmers until last year when he was given 48 hours to quit his 2 015 hectare farm and homestead with his herd of 1 200 pedigree cross Brahmin-Charolet cattle that he had bred over 22 years. "It was impossible to get such a large number of animals off the farm in that time," he said. "It was heartbreaking." Odendaal, whose farm, Condor "A", lies 250km south of Harare in Masvingo province, said that in the first few hours many of his cattle were stolen as peasant settlers opened gates and broke down fences. "There was a complete breakdown of law and order and no police backup. Thieves were coming from all over."
Odendaal, who bought his farm in 1981, one year after Zimbabwe achieved independence, said about 300 of his cattle were stolen. He managed to remove others to a neighbouring property and began selling them for slaughter. "Together with other farmers ordered off their land, I began going to the abattoirs and auctions to convert my animals into cash." He estimates that in Masvingo only about 1 000 beef cattle survive out of the 54 000 still in the province less than 12 months ago. The now homeless Odendaal is camped with his last 100 beasts on a small property that has been lent to him. He intends selling most of the animals, but prices are down 40 percent since last week. "I'm not a viable unit anymore," said 55-year-old Odendaal, married with three sons. "But I'm determined to stay here. I'm a Zimbabwean. I was born and grew up here, and my mother was born here in 1918."
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From IPS, 29 December
Gloomier times ahead
Chris Anold Msipa
Harare - The future has never been as uncertain for Zimbabwe as it is now. Ever rising food prices, shortages of basic needs, strikes in vital public services and hate speeches have now become the way of life. "Just like the war days," remarked Mbuya Rukai Zikonyauswa from the western district of Hurungwe, after President Robert Mugabe's 2003 address to his ruling Zanu PF party. Zikonyauswa, whose generation had been subjected to similar hate speeches and political slogans during Zimbabwe's liberation war of the 1970s, watched the proceedings on television. Zanu PF delegates had met early December for their annual conference in the southeastern town of Masvingo. The meeting was preceded by speculation that Mugabe, in office since independence from Britain in 1980, would announce his retirement from active politics. Instead the 79-year-old former guerrilla leader dropped a bombshell when he addressed the gathering: "Thank you for affirming the leadership and sending a message to those amongst us who might think that time has come for change. "Until the people say so, I know I have a duty, a mandate from the people. And I must make good that mandate."
Political commentators say the government's use of the hate speeches and slogans would thwart hopes for talks with the opposition. Welshman Ncube, Secretary General of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said Mugabe was acting like any other dictator. "No tyrant has ever accepted that he is going down or is finished. They all say they are in full control, even when they are on the run or about to go into exile," he said. Ncube described 2003 as the worst year in Zimbabwe's history. He said it was the year characterised by the suffering of the masses, the systematic expulsion of foreign journalists, the closure of the country's only independent daily newspaper, the 'Daily News' in September, the arrests and torture of opposition, trade unionists, and rights campaigners. He said Zimbabwe's economy also suffered as inflation skyrocketed over 400 percent, one of the highest in the world. Factories closed down and many workers lost their jobs, he added.
Even so, Ncube said, the future holds hope because human rights activists and the opposition, though crippled, are still vibrant. The Commonwealth, the European Union and Southern African countries like Botswana and Mauritius have also made it clear they do not accept dictatorship. Early this month the Commonwealth, an organisation of 54 independent states which were formerly parts of the British Empire - established to encourage trade and friendly relations among its members - suspended Zimbabwe indefinitely. Zimbabwe reacted by withdrawing its membership from the association. Nonetheless, Ncube said Zanu PF and Mugabe have acknowledged, for the first time, publicly that there was need for political dialogue, a development, which he said, shows there was light at the end of the tunnel. "The darkest hour is nearest to dawn," he said. University of Zimbabwe Lecturer David Mungoshi said the times ahead would be tough, and would require the cooperation of every citizen if Zimbabwe was to overcome its problems. He said consumer boycotts - like the one witnessed in the cost of bread towards the end of 2003, when bakers were forced to reduce the retail prices of thei r commodities - would determine market prices.
Another problem facing the government are strikes. Nurses and doctors have for the past three months been on strike demanding better salaries and working conditions. Other ministries also face similar problems as employees complain of poor pay in the face of worsening cost of living. President Mugabe has pledged to apply tough measures to ease their problems. He said once the rains fall, the agricultural sector would boost the economy and everyone would be happy. Critics said Mugabe's decision to withdraw the country's membership from the Commonwealth and his chaotic land reform programme, which war veterans forced him to embark on three years ago, would block any possible improvements in the economy. They said no donors or investors would come as long as Mugabe maintained his negative stance, and that agriculture would take a long time to pick, as the newly resettled farmers lack experience and inputs.
The World Food Programme (WFP) recently cut by 50 percent its food aid to six southern African countries, including Zimbabwe. The WFP had appealed for up to 311 million dollars to feed 15 million people in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which was to get at least two-thirds of the money. The WFP is said to have received only about 150 million dollars from donors. Deputy Finance Minister Chris Kuruneri said the number of Zimbabweans in need of food aid has risen from six million to eight million. There are widespread fears that thousands of children will drop out of school this year as a result of high fees being charged by school authorities. Hope to end Zimbabwe's woes had until December been based on Mugabe's retirement and talks between Zanu PF and the MDC. But Mugabe is not about to leave office, while the political dialogue remains a behind-the-scene affair. South African President Thabo Mbeki remains the only African leader frantically trying to help break the impasse between Harare and the opposition. Political commentators say Mbeki's efforts are unlikely to bear any fruit as long as Mugabe remains in office. Zimbabwe plunged into its current crises after the government in 2000 encouraged the violent seizure of land from 4,500 white farmers for resettlement of landless black peasants. However, the land issue is now facing a new twist amid reports of multiple ownership of properties by senior politicians and government officials.
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From Associated Press, 30 December
WHO: Lab Tests Rule Out Ebola in Zimbabwe
Angus Shaw
Johannesburg - Laboratory tests have ruled out the possibility that an Angolan trader died of the feared Ebola virus in neighboring Zimbabwe, the U.N. health agency said Tuesday. The South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases tested samples sent by Zimbabwe on Tuesday, World Health Organization spokesman Dr. Welile Shashas said. "To the immense relief of everyone, this was not Ebola" or a similar hemorrhagic fever, he said. Zimbabwe health authorities announced over the weekend that an Angolan national who died in the resort town of Victoria Falls on Christmas day had exhibited symptoms consistent with Ebola. The announcement touched off fears the highly contagious disease could spread from the continent's equatorial regions to southern Africa for the first time. Health officials in neighboring Botswana, Namibia and Zambia have been on alert since the weekend. The actual cause of death remains to be determined. But confirmation that it was not Ebola has allowed emergency health teams gathered at Victoria Falls to lift quarantine restrictions imposed on staff who tended to the patient, Shashas said. Ebola, one of the world's deadliest viral diseases, causes extensive internal bleeding and rapid death in up to 90 percent of those infected. The virus has killed more than 1,000 people since it was first identified in 1976 in western Sudan and in a region of Congo. An outbreak in a remote part of Republic of Congo has killed at least 29 people so far, according to WHO.
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From AFP, 31 December
Zimbabwe's state workers get 250% pay hike
Harare - Zimbabwe's government is to increase the salaries of its 140,000 workers by 250% from next month, a cabinet minister has announced. But the workers, who have been demanding a 600% pay hike to match inflation levels which last month stood officially at 619.5 percent, immediately rejected the offer announced by the government. Independent economists believe the real inflation in the southern African country could well exceed 1,000%. Both the government and the workers' union said they had reached a deadlock after months of pay negotiations and would resort to arbitration. The government said it would meanwhile proceed to pay the 250 percent increases while awaiting the outcome of the arbitration. "Cognisant of its overall social responsibility to its employees, the government has resolved to implement a salary increment of 250% across the board whilst the process of arbitration is taking place," said John Nkomo, acting labour minister, in a statement cited in the state-run Herald daily. The Public Service Association (PSA) says the figure is not sufficient. "We cannot accept the 250%," PSA secretary general Charles Chiviru said. "We feel the figure is far too inadequate in terms of cushioning workers in 2004," he said. The workers' transport and housing allowances will also be reviewed. The government will pay transport allowances ranging between 88,550 and 560,000 Zimbabwe dollars per month, while housing allowances have been raised 100%. The government and the workers union have been discussing the new pay proposals for the past four months, according to labour leaders. Workers initially demanded a 1,200% pay hike while the government was prepared to pay 75%, according to Chiviru. After months of negotiations the workers halved their demands to 600% while the government settled for 250%. Doctors and nurses at government-run hospitals have been on strike for two months demanding pay hikes of up to 8,000%.
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From The Financial Times (UK), 31 December
Hunger stalks Zimbabwe as crisis worsens
By John Reed
Zimbabwe's hungry season has arrived with this month's onset of fitful summer rains. In Bimha, a village about 140km south of Harare, rural dwellers clad in their Sunday best unloaded sacks of European Union-donated maize next to a shop front advertising coffins for sale. The United Nations World Food Programme, which co-ordinated the distribution, gives priority to groups such as the terminally ill, single-parent families and what it calls "child-headed households" - minors orphaned by HIV/Aids who are raising their siblings. Lois, a 10-year-old with her six-year-old sister in tow, was among the people collecting rations in Bimha this month. Her father died in 2000 and her mother this year, bequeathing the girls a vegetable garden from which they eke sustenance. The WFP is targeting 4m of the most vulnerable Zimbabweans for food aid, but estimates that up to 5.5m need help. The C-Safe consortium, grouping the Care, Catholic Relief Services and World Vision charities, is feeding another 400,000 people, but will increase numbers in the months preceding the southern hemisphere's harvest.
Zimbabwe's plight is not unusual for Africa, where the WFP also runs large feeding programmes in Ethiopia and Angola. But it marks a sharp setback for a country that once boasted some of the continent's best social services and grew enough crops in most years to feed its neighbours. Now it is feeding up to 45 per cent of the 12m population at some point of the year, compared with about 20 per cent of Ethiopia's 66m people. Angela Tseriwa, queuing for rations, recalled her region's bumper harvests of pumpkins and cereals in years past. "We never thought this would be happening," she said. President Robert Mugabe has blamed the food crisis on drought. Three years of poor rainfall in southern Africa have taken a heavy toll on Zimbabwe and its neighbours, with this year's harvest 85 per cent below normal in Bimha's district of Chikomba. Yet whereas food production is rebounding in countries such as Zambia, Zimbabwe's shortages are worsening. The state's Grain Marketing Board, once an important artery for food distribution, is nearly bankrupt because of Zimbabwe's economic crisis, making maize scarce and expensive.
The government's land reform programme, under which more than 4,000 commercial farms have been seized since 2000, has contributed to the collapse in food production. Despite government pledges to assist them, many of those settled on the land lack the seed, machinery, draught animals or knowhow to grow crops. Hunger is spreading to urban areas, with poor city dwellers cutting meat from their diets and reducing from three meals a day to two or one. Compounding the problems caused by government policies, illnesses related to HIV/Aids - the infection rate is an estimated one in three adults - kill about 3,000 Zimbabweans a week. The disease has put thousands of rural orphans in relatives' care and rendered some farmers too weak to work. Clophas Mahaingahawe, a chronically ill farmer collecting food rations in Bimha, said he was "not energetic enough" to plant or plough, and missed last year's harvest. In Zimbabwe, the WFP gives adults corn-soya blend because it is nutritious and easily digested by sick people. But the WFP has had to halve its monthly allotments of maize from 10kg to 5kg per head this month due to a shortfall in donations.
Donors led by the US and the European Commission's EuropeAid have pledged $98.7m (€79m, £55.6m) for Zimbabwe this year, or half the $197m the WFP is seeking. One UN official, requesting anonymity, warns of a "major pipeline break" for food aid next year if donations do not resume. Foreign countries' fatigue with Zimbabwe's worsening political crisis - and its impact on the food supply - may be to blame. In September the government issued a directive on non-government organisations that gave local councillors a leading role in deciding who would get food aid. The UN and NGOs later negotiated a memo of understanding with the state which they claim precludes political interference in food distribution. But aid officials privately acknowledge that the incident, coupled with Zimbabwe's seemingly intractable political stalemate, may have deterred some donors. "This is a government-made crisis, and [Mugabe's] recalcitrance is not endearing him to the international community," said one.
Quote unquote
"I am the Hitler of the time. This Hitler has only one objective, justice for his own people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people, and their right to their resources. If that is Hitler, then let me be a Hitler tenfold. Ten times, that is what we stand for" - Robert Mugabe
"I don't know, I can't remember" - treason trial witness Ari ben Menashe
"It was an act of mischief on your part to have reproduced that story, for there was definitely no report to leak since it does not exist" - unnamed government on the land audit report
"That woman is trouble, beat her!" - Jocelyn Chiwenga, ordering police to beat Daily News lawyer Gugulethu Moyo
"I have always had a nagging feeling that for all their propensity to liberal values and civilised norms, these people are dirty. In fact, they are filthy and recklessly uncouth and actually barbaric" - Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, after his shopping spree in South Africa was exposed
"I feel very sorry for the staff of the Daily News" - Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, after refusing The Daily News a publishing licence
"We are not going to be going around the African continent removing governments." - SA President Thabo Mbeki
"My brother, comrade Mugabe, and his Zanu PF must realise the world is changing in the direction of democracy. Laws that don't benefit the people should be scrapped" - Malawi’s Bakili Muluzi in December before CHOGM
"If leaders on the continent do not do more to convince President Robert Mugabe to respect the rule of law and enter into a dialogue with the political opposition, he and his cronies will drag Zimbabwe down until there is nothing left to ruin" - United States Secretary of State Colin Powell
"There are others who are apologetic about our nationalism….those who fear to be complete Africans, hesitate to express solidarity with us" - Robert Mugabe, after a lack of support for him at CHOGM
"I am sad that we South Africans declared that the last elections in Zimbabwe, though not free were yet legitimate. That is distressing semantic games" - Archbishop Desmond Tutu
"My heart simply bleeds for my country" - Archbishop Pius Ncube
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