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Archived News
3rd June 2003
Tsvangirai speech to G8 - May 27, 2003
MDC call for mass action next week
MDC says court order invalid
ZIC media release
Monday's news from Harare
MDC claims victory in strike
Canada to deport Alexander Legault
Zimbabwe govt vows to 'crush' protests
Demonstrations may test army's loyalty to Mugabe
SA will not act on 'demonising' of Mugabe in media
Zanu PF seeks successor
Backing the wrong horse
Zimbabwe gears up for political showdown
Zimbabwe opposition takes a tougher stand
Speculation surfaces again over possible Mugabe retirement
Southern Africa food shortages not yet over - WFP
Farmer held hostage
British churchmen back Mugabe
Zimbabwe opposition calls out the people
Police in Zimbabwe break up opposition prayer meeting
Armed police run riot in Harare
High Court shifts ruling on privilege certificate validity
Women beaten by riot police at Harare prayer vigil
Zimbabwe runs out of blood
Police put on high alert
Zim printing more money
Mugabenomics: Zimbabwe's fast track to economic ruin
Judge upholds gag on CIO
Church's media blackout on Ncube visit
Zimbabwe braced for violence at mass rallies
Zim police chief quits Interpol post
Calm before the storm
Zim/Libya in Noczim assets dispute
Meldrum's lawyer to sue Air Zim
Panic-buying grips Zimbabwe
Tsvangirai must tell his followers to stay at home or face arrest
Mugabe faces revolt in city of desperate and dishonest
Govt to open up fuel sector
Tsvangirai held ahead of marches
'Defining' showdown looms
Zimbabwe vows to crush demonstrations
34 arrested in mass protests clampdown
Zim's banking chief quits
The fire this time
Mugabe cracks down with bullets, teargas and arrests
115 arrested in police clampdown on protests
Zimbabwe arrests opposition leader
Riot cops drive protesters off Harare streets
Zimbabwe: A tattered economy
The people's loud and clear voice
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From The Daily News, 27 May
Canada to deport Alexander Legault
Staff Reporter
Alexander Legault, a Canadian-based political consultant who had been listed as one of the prosecution's witnesses in the ongoing treason trial of three leaders of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is due to be deported from Canada on Friday to face trial in the United States on fraud charges amounting to at least US$20 million (Z$16,4 billion), it has been established. Legault doubles as vice-president and chief finance officer of Dickens and Madson, a Canadian political consultancy headed by Ari Ben-Menashe, the principal prosecution's witness in the trial of MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai, secretary-general Welshman Ncube and Renson Gasela, the opposition party's shadow minister of agriculture. According to correspondence between the opposition leaders' lawyers and an attorney appointed in Canada to assist the defence with investigations, an enforcement officer with Canada's Department of Immigration met with Legault on 2 April 2003 to discuss Legault's impending deportation. "The (Canadian) government has bought him a plane ticket to New Orleans. The American authorities will be waiting for him when he gets there," said a letter from the Canadian attorney, read out last week in the High Court by South African advocate George Bizos, the head of the defence team. "He is wanted on fraud charges totalling $7 million in the State of Louisiana and on $13 million in the State of Florida."
Legault, believed to have been living in Montreal for the past 21 years, was in the original list of 11 State witness - four of them foreigners - who were to testify in the high profile case. He was dropped at the start of the trial in February when he failed to travel to Harare "because of ill health". Ben-Menashe has claimed that Tsvangirai requested Dickens and Madson to assist in the assassination of President Robert Mugabe and the overthrow of the ZANU PF government. Tsvangirai and his co-accused deny the charges. Legault attended and took part in discussions during the 4 December 2001 meeting at the Dickens and Madson headquarters in Montreal, where Tsvangirai allegedly requested assistance in the murder and coup conspiracy. The head of the Central Intelligence Organisation, retired army Brigadier Happyton Bonyongwe, said during cross-examination last week he was not aware of Legault's impending deportation. Efforts to contact Canadian authorities in Harare and Ottawa were unsuccessful yesterday. The MDC leaders' treason trial continues tomorrow.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 27 May
Zimbabwe govt vows to 'crush' protests
The government of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has warned that it will crush anti-government street demonstrations being organised by the opposition. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change is planning "a week of democracy marches" starting June 2. "We are ready to crush any demonstrations which will lead to the destruction of property or is a threat to national security," Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi told the state-run daily Chronicle. "If the demonstrations are peaceful, then they can go ahead. But if they are violent, we will not stand by and watch," he was quoted as saying. Pro-government veterans of the country's war of liberation last week warned that they would clamp-down on any opposition demonstrations using "military force." War veterans leader Patrick Nyaruwata said the former guerrillas will be "using our own military experience" against the MDC organised protests, in a way that has "never been seen before in Zimbabwe." "The consequences of any mass action will be grave. We will co-ordinate with the state agents to fight you (MDC) off," he warned according to press reports. But MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said he and his supporters must be prepared to be arrested and to make a mark. The MDC organised in March a two-day national strike that was largely followed. Last month, the labour movement which gave birth to the MDC advised people to stock up on food ahead of the mass action, but many have been unable to withdraw the money from their accounts to do so because banks have run out of cash.
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From Business Day (SA), 27 May
Demonstrations may test army's loyalty to Mugabe
Four days of prayers begin in Zimbabwe today as a prelude to a week of demonstrations starting on Monday, called for by the main opposition party the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), in its boldest move so far against the rule of President Robert Mugabe. With a pledge by Mugabe and war veterans to crush the demonstrations, which are also supported by civil society groups and trade unions, next week could see a violent showdown that may test the loyalty of the security forces to Mugabe's Zanu PF party. Next week's action will also mark a significant shift in strategy for the opposition, which up to now has confined itself to organising two stayaways in an attempt to force Zanu PF to the negotiating table. Mugabe has said he has instructed law enforcement agents to deal ruthlessly with "mischief-makers". And militant war veterans, who are aligned to the Zimbabwean government, said last week that they would not allow the mass action to take place. "This time, using our military experience, we will mobilise against them," Mugabe warned. "I do not want to mince my words. The consequences for any mass action will be grave." The ex-combatants said they would put their 55000 members on alert throughout the country to combat the MDC mass action.
MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi said the party had, for the first time, called for demonstrations, which the party intended to be peaceful, because two previous stayaways had not brought about a shift in the position of the government on negotiations. Mugabe has refused to enter into talks with the MDC until it drops its court challenge to last year's presidential elections. "We have to change tactics to increase pressure on the regime and make it to stop feeling comfortable in power when it is destroying the country," Themba Nyathi said. Police spokesman Insp Andrew Phiri declined to comment yesterday, however, police in the past have taken action against protesters. Themba Nyathi appealed to the security forces to disobey orders that did not "accept that Zimbabweans have a right to demonstrate".
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From Business Day (SA), 27 May
SA will not act on 'demonising' of Mugabe in media
State reaffirms its commitment to a free press
SA had no intention of acting against its press, accused by the Zimbabwean government of "demonising" President Robert Mugabe, President Thabo Mbeki's spokesman said yesterday. Bheki Khumalo, commenting on a letter to SA's government from Zimbabwean Information Minister Jonathan Moyo which charged the media in SA with demonising Mugabe, said government would not interfere with constitutional provisions safeguarding the freedom of the press. "SA has laws that govern the freedom of the press and we have no intention of interfering with that," Khumalo said. "Equally, we reserve our own right to respond if the media criticism is unfair or inaccurate. Sometimes we are criticised and lampooned in ways that we do not like but we respect the right of the media to do this. We fundamentally support the right of people to criticise. Our law allows people to write what they like."
In a letter published at the weekend in Zimbabwe's Sunday Mail newspaper, Moyo, whose office crafted tough laws governing the press in Zimbabwe, charged that SA's Sunday Times newspaper "has been at the forefront of demonising the president (Mugabe), the government and people of Zimbabwe". The aim was "to divide Zimbabweans and South Africans", the Sunday Mail quoted Moyo's letter as saying. "I should state categorically that we believe in media freedom as one of the pillars of democracy, yet we are clear that this freedom is not a licence for vested interests to insult and demonise a head of state," Moyo wrote. Khumalo acknowledged receipt of the letter from Moyo. "Protocol determines that minister Pahad (Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad, also responsible for information) will reply to his Zimbabwean counterpart and we cannot comment on what that response will be," he said. Relations between Zimbabwe and SA have remained close, despite western pressure on Mbeki to revise his policy of "quiet diplomacy" towards the country's northern neighbour. Zimbabwe's treatment of the media shot into the spotlight earlier this month after US reporter Andrew Meldrum who had lived in Zimbabwe for 23 years was deported. He had been reporting for Britain's Guardian newspaper.
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From The Daily News, 27 May
Zanu PF seeks successor
By Sydney Masamvu Assistant Editor
The ruling Zanu PF will hold provincial congresses around the country in the next six months to ascertain from party supporters who they want to succeed President Robert Mugabe as Zanu PF president, The Daily News has established. It also emerged that ruling party members were split between former finance minister Simba Makoni and Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa as potential successors for Mugabe. Both Makoni and Mnangagwa have been named in the past year as likely candidates to replace Mugabe. However, the speaker of Parliament told the High Court this month that he had no presidential ambitions. Preparations for the provincial congresses come after Mugabe at a gathering in Mount Darwin last week openly encouraged succession debate within his party, for the second time this year. Mugabe also indicated during an interview on State television conducted a few days after the 18 April Independence Day holiday that his potential successors within the party should openly declare their intentions to encourage debate.
Zanu PF secretary for information and publicity Nathan Shamuyarira told The Daily News that the debate on Mugabe's successor would start within the provincial structures of the party and would continue at the Zanu PF annual congress. Zanu PF has 10 provincial structures countrywide. The party normally holds its annual congress in December. "Debate within Zanu PF itself will start from the provinces and central committee, before reaching the Politburo and the annual congress," Shamuyarira said. "The President has said this is an all inclusive debate and everyone is free to participate without any fear." He however would not discuss the behind-the-scenes campaign by potential candidates, which ruling party insiders say has already begun. Zanu PF officials said if the choice of the provinces was used to determine the selection of a potential successor to Mugabe, Mnangagwa would have the upper hand. However, the officials said the majority of Zanu PF's Politburo and central committee, key organs in the ruling party's decision making process, were backing Makoni, who they believe has a "solid appeal to voters". They said the feeling within the party was that Makoni's appeal for the electorate would enable the ruling party to defeat the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in any election. The former finance minister is also said to have "a good rapport with the international community", which would be important for Zimbabwe's economic future.
Foreign investors and multilateral agencies have suspended support for Zimbabwe and it is believed Makoni could help to unlock the billions of dollars worth of support that is crucial for the revival of the country's economy. "The contest is between Mnangagwa and Makoni," said a Zanu PF Politburo member from Mashonaland Central province, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Mnangagwa has the leaders of the provincial executives on his side, but one does not know the extent of their influence in this process. On the other hand, a majority of central committee and Politburo members, who are mandated with endorsing or vetoing key decisions, are rallying behind Makoni." "If the debate comes to the central and Politburo level, it is Makoni all the way. We have been consulting informally and Makoni seems to be an outright choice given the way the politics is unfolding in Zimbabwe and the influence of the international arena," the Politburo member added. Since leaving the Cabinet last year, Makoni has refused to comment on his political future.
Meanwhile, Zanu PF insiders yesterday said when Mnangagwa assumed the party' s secretary for administration portfolio, he immediately embarked on an exercise to restructure the provincial executive leadership to ensure that people who would support his candidature were at the helm. During the process, he also purged those who did not back his candidature for the party 's national chairmanship, eventually won by Special Affairs Minister John Nkomo. Mnangagwa has the support of Midlands chairman July Moyo, who is related to him, as well as that of Mark Madiro, provincial chairman of Manicaland. Madiro was director of finance at Zanu PF when Mnangagwa was the secretary for finance in the Politburo, party insiders said. They said Mnangagwa also enjoyed the support of the Masvingo province through Vice-President Simon Muzenda. Mashonaland West province is headed by Phillip Chiyangwa, who is linked to the Mnangagwa camp, as is Elliot Manyika, who heads Mashonaland Central province. Suspended Bulawayo provincial chairman Jabulani Sibanda is also linked to the Mnangagwa camp. The three Matabeleland provinces as well as Mashonaland East are understood to be backing Makoni, who ruling party officials say has the support of Zanu PF stalwarts such as retired army general Solomon Mujuru, John Nkomo, Dumiso Dabengwa and Edisson Zvobgo. Harare province is considered a swing vote.
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Comment from ZWNEWS
Backing the wrong horse
By Michael Hartnack
Robert Mugabe broke new ground last week by declaring - at last - he would welcome an open debate on who will succeed him. The topic was previously taboo on the Zanu PF agenda, and it was declared that Mugabe would remain in power until he completes his present term in 2008. This is still, technically, the official position. "Some leaders are consulting traditional healers and ancestral spirits in search of charms," Mugabe announced at a rally in the remote Tsakare area near Mount Darwin, 200 km north of the capital. He can only have been quoting reports he gets from Central Intelligence Organisation spying on his own supposedly most trusted aides. He repeated the remarks the next day at another rural rally, and lashed out at young black professionals and business people who "work against the government" although their livelihoods are at its financial mercy.
Throughout his 23-year rule Mugabe has made frequent claims to the authority of the ancestral spirits. And new legislation reinforces the perks and prerogatives of chiefs on a scale undreamed of by reactionary district commissioners in the days of white-minority rule. Tribal leaders now enjoy sweeping powers to arrest and expel "disloyal troublemakers." It all underlines how out of touch he and his cronies are with a new generation of Zimbabweans who listen to rap music and are fans of Cuba Gooding Jnr. Mugabe's repeated charge today is that supporters of Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change are "totemless" aliens who have broken with their ancestral culture. This, however, is the essence of the sociological revolution Tsvangirai and his ilk represent. A veteran trades unionist with no elitist ancestry pretensions, he is as far removed from Mugabe in spirit as the Scottish socialist Kier Hardie was from Bonnie Prince Charlie. South Africa's African National Congress is way off beam when it equates the MDC with Mozambique's former Renamo rebels, mostly rural people who under Portuguese rule were classified as "non-assimilado" -unassimilated into modern legal norms.
The MDC draws its core support from a new black lower middle class who watch television, who have relatives in the 3-million strong Zimbabwean diaspora, but are too poor to own businesses, which make them hostages to Mugabe's patronage system. They are to be met every day in queues where they express themselves forcefully, but are of course unheard by the elite, who have another source of supply. As the economy and the Zimbabwean currency continue to plunge - inflation in April reached 269,2 percent - we are moving into a vicious apartheid that will cleave this society from top to bottom, one section having a source of supply ruled by the US dollar, the other by the Zimbabwean dollar. Special shops and filling stations, operated on concessions by members of Mugabe's elite, are making everything from imported lamb and butter to petrol available to a privileged few who can pay in foreign exchange. The US dollar last week fluctuated between one to Zimbabwe $1 500 and Zimbabwe $2 300. Meanwhile a woman primary school teacher, earning Zimbabwe $56 385 a month, is hard put to pay Zimbabwe $10 000 for a packet of modern "feminine requisites", which have to be imported since the local factory closed.
Such people care nothing for mumbo-jumbo about charms and spirits. Most are, in any case, members of the main line Christian churches. Mugabe and Zanu PF will be unable to eliminate them unless (God and the ANC forbid) they adopt the Killing Fields genocidal tactics of the Khmer Rouge. The issue is not, therefore, about Tsvangirai's individual character, the influence of the dwindling number of whites or the British and American governments. Which is why those South Africans who back Zanu PF are putting their money on a foundering horse. By telling us how his lieutenants still dabble with charms and spirits, Mugabe reveals not only the atmosphere of paranoia he has created around himself, but how his elite has failed to modernise its thinking.
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From The Washington Post, 27 May
Zimbabwe gears up for political showdown
By Angus Shaw, Associated Press
Harare - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader drew new political battle lines Tuesday in a showdown to oust embattled President Robert Mugabe, announcing he would not be part of any power-sharing government with the ruling party. Morgan Tsvangirai, hardening the stand of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said if Mugabe was to leave office, the ruling party should be left to run the country for 90 days before new democratic presidential elections were held. The proposal for a power-sharing agreement had been raised over the last few months by various intermediaries. Mugabe, 79, has been under pressure to retire as the nation faces its worst economic crisis since he became its first black leader after the southern African country won independence in 1980. The proposal for a power-sharing government was mooted earlier this year by intermediaries reportedly acting for senior officials of the ruling party and the military. It gained currency as Mugabe invited his supporters to discuss the succession for leadership of the ruling Zanu PF party openly for the first time. Discussion of a possible successor to Mugabe had in the past, been repeatedly postponed. Mugabe has not commented publicly on the proposal, but has repeatedly said that he would not leave office without assurances that the Zanu PF would remain in control.
Tsvangirai said the nation's constitution clearly provided for an acting president, most likely from the ruling party, to take over for three months ahead of fresh elections once the incumbent vacated office. Tsvangirai told a meeting of diplomats representing the Group of Eight countries Tuesday, that his party wanted dialogue with Mugabe but "will not be part of any negotiation process which simply seeks to incorporate us as junior partners into the structures of illegitimate power dominated by Mugabe and his cronies." Such a power-sharing arrangement, he said, "will only serve to expand that illegitimacy and ultimately sanitize the Mugabe regime." Tsvangirai has called on people nationwide to hold demonstrations on Sunday to "prepare for the final push" against Mugabe. Such protests are illegal in Zimbabwe. Britain, Zimbabwe's former colonial power, the European Union, the United States and independent observer groups rejected the results Mugabe's re-election last year as fraudulent and swayed by political intimidation and vote rigging.
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From Business Day (SA), 28 May
Zimbabwe opposition takes a tougher stand
Ahead of expected demonstrations in Zimbabwe next week, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is taking a tougher line on transitional arrangements, and has given a warning to SA and Nigeria on their mediation efforts. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said yesterday even if President Robert Mugabe retired, his party would not accept a successor from his Zanu PF party until the next elections in 2006. In a speech to Harare-based ambassadors from the Group of Eight industrialised nations on how the party sees the way forward, Tsvangirai said there should be an election within 90 days of Mugabe's exit, as provided for in the constitution. This is the first time the MDC has made its position clear on the succession, having previously not stipulated the period of a transitional arrangement. The MDC's explicit position on a post-Mugabe future comes days before planned mass protests scheduled for next week. Tsvangirai's position on the way forward, and his appeal for broader international involvement, also came ahead of this weekend's G-8 summit in Evian, which will be attended by a number of African leaders, including President Thabo Mbeki. With the worsening situation in Zimbabwe and the G-8 scheduled to discuss the promotion of democracy worldwide, it is possible the group may make an oblique reference to developments in the country.
In other remarks, Tsvangirai called for broader international efforts to resolve the country's political crisis, in addition to those of SA, Malawi and Nigeria. While Tsvangirai said he welcomed the efforts of the African countries, he warned against using the G-8 meeting to market the New Partnership for Africa's Development to the G-8 rather than focus efforts on solving the crisis in Zimbabwe. "It would be a tragedy if efforts to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis were routinely linked to the calendar of multilateral summits and are then allowed to wither after each summit," he said. Since a hint last month that he may consider retirement before his term expires in 2006, there have been no further indications on the issue from Mugabe. Tsvangirai said that while an interim or acting president, "logically from the ruling party", would take over after Mugabe's retirement, there was "a cast iron constitutional provision" that polls should then be held within 90 days. The issue of a constitutional amendment to allow a transitional arrangement was thus moot.
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From VOA News, 27 May
Speculation surfaces again over possible Mugabe retirement
Tendai Maphosa
There is much speculation in Zimbabwe about whether and when President Robert Mugabe might retire. The president has said his party should begin to discuss who might be the its next leader. President Mugabe began the speculation by announcing on the country's 23rd independence anniversary in April that he was ready to consider leaving office someday. Then last week, he encouraged open debate on his successor within the ruling Zanu PF party. But Mr. Mugabe has not said when he might retire. He is 79 years old, and has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. His Ministry of Information says he will stay in office until the end of his current term in 2008. But if Mr. Mugabe wants to leave office sooner, the Zimbabwe constitution is very clear on the procedure. "Under the constitution, if the president steps down, immediately one of the vice presidents must take over as acting president for a maximum of three months," explained Lovemore Madhuku, University of Zimbabwe law lecturer and constitutional expert. "Within that three-month period there must be arrangements for fresh elections to elect a new president. So you must have a new president within 90 days of the president resigning or retiring."
Mr. Madhuku said the only way the ruling party can avoid elections is by changing the constitution. But the party does not have the required two-thirds majority in parliament to do so. "I think we should stress here that most of the discussions taking place around the succession issue are not taking into account what the constitution of the country says," said Mr. Madhuku. "I think the argument by the current president is that he was legally elected and he has to serve until 2008. And should he decide to step down before 2008 then you must follow the constitution which would require that a new president be elected, not that there be a transitional government." Mr. Madhuku added that Mr. Mugabe is not likely to leave office and force an early election with the opposition apparently very popular among the people, and severe economic problems and food shortages further eroding support for his party. The opposition and most foreign governments already accuse Mr. Mugabe of winning last year's election only through fraud and intimidation.
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From Reuters AlertNet, 27 May
Southern Africa food shortages not yet over - WFP
Rome - A massive influx of food aid has averted wide-scale starvation in six southern African countries, but the humanitarian crisis is far from over, particularly in Zimbabwe, the United Nations food aid agency said on Tuesday. "We're still in the throes of a crisis but, by distributing over half-a-million tonnes of food aid to 9.75 million people over the past 10 months, we have averted large-scale starvation," said Judith Lewis of the World Food Programme. Asked if the worst of the food shortages was over, Lewis, WFP's regional director for southern Africa, said in an interview on the agency's web site millions were still at risk. "Some 15 million people are still at risk. It's a staggering figure, representing over 25 percent of the total population in the six affected countries." Food shortages in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe were caused by a mix of drought, floods, economic and political mismanagement, and were aggravated by HIV/AIDS. Lewis, who recently visited Lesotho, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia, said the agency would be focusing more on Zimbabwe, where more than 50 percent of its roughly 12 million people still need aid. "Unfortunately, the outlook for this year's harvest is poor, so it is likely that millions of Zimbabweans will continue to need food aid in the coming year," she said on www.wfp.org.
Lewis said there had been an improvement in Malawi as the government had replenished its strategic grain reserve. Malawi's deputy agriculture minister Henry Mussa said on Monday the country faced a 38,000 tonne maize deficit this year, but the shortfall would be met from a strategic stockpile of more than 200,000 tonnes. "But I am still concerned for the poorest families, because I don't think there is any way that they will be able to afford to buy food even at subsidised prices," Lewis said. She said Zambia would still need food aid, adding: "The harvest will hopefully be better than last year, but in the southern province, large numbers of livestock have died." Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa was reported by a local newspaper last week as saying the distribution of food aid had been banned in all by the southern areas because the country was past the period of hunger. He said it was prudent to protect the interest of farmers by banning free distribution of relief maize in urban areas in order not to distort local maize prices. An early frost in Lesotho has devastated crops in some areas, Lewis said. "Most of the poorer farmers have not been able to afford a second planting," she added. Lewis said high HIV/AIDS infection rates were deepening the food crisis as much farm work was not getting done. "In many of the areas we visited, the lands just weren't getting planted, as the people didn't have the energy to work, let alone obtain seeds and fertilisers," she said. "Unless effective measures are taken to reverse it, the disease will continue to sow the seeds of future food crises in southern Africa," she added.
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From The Daily News, 27 May
Farmer held hostage
From Zerubabel Mudzingwa in Gweru
Ruling Zanu PF supporters are holding a Kadoma farmer and his family hostage at their Impalavale farm and have barred them from harvesting their maize and wheat crops, The Daily News has established. The farmer, Piet Rorke, and his family have been held hostage by the militants since Sunday afternoon. Officials at Battlefields Police Station near the farm declined to comment on the matter yesterday, referring questions to their superiors at Kadoma Police District Headquarters, where the telephones were not being answered. Rorke's neighbour, Jan Jelliman, told The Daily News that the police had ignored several distress calls from the farmer. Rorke and his family were reportedly barred from leaving their home on Sunday afternoon, after they declined to hand over their farm to people who occupied it last year. The farm is one of 56 Mashonaland West properties spared from compulsory acquisition by the government following a High Court order issued in August last year. High Court judge Justice Benjamin Paradza granted the order after the government conceded that the compulsory acquisition orders it had issued on the farms were invalid and of no effect.
Rorke told this newspaper over the phone yesterday that his house was completely surrounded by the militants and his family was under siege. His family comprises his wife, daughter and two other relatives. Sources close to the matter said the farmer was barred from harvesting his maize and wheat crops two weeks ago and ordered to vacate the property immediately. The ruling party supporters subsequently harvested the crop and allegedly shared it among themselves. Mashonaland West governor Peter Chanetsa and the police are said to have visited the farm on Thursday last week, but failed to break the impasse between the two parties after the militants turned violent. Chanetsa was unreachable on his mobile phone yesterday. Jelliman said he had also lost 300 hectares of barley worth $200 million and irrigation equipment worth $300 million during a similar raid at his farm last month. "They also set my grass-thatched home on fire in January in a bid to drive me out of the property," he said.
Meanwhile, Movement for Democratic Change shadow agriculture minister Renson Gasela yesterday described the incident at Impalavale farm as proof of worsening lawlessness in Zimbabwe, despite denials by the government that there is little law and order in the country. "How could the government claim that there is rule of law when the police turn a blind eye to settlers who are harvesting where they did not sow?" he said. The government has taken over most white-owned farms under its land reform programme, which commentators say has been taken advantage of by ruling party supporters who have settled themselves illegally on several properties. The instability caused by the haphazard land resettlement exercise has combined with drought to cut Zimbabwe's food production by more than 50 percent in the past year. The resulting food shortages have left close to eight million Zimbabweans in need of emergency food aid. The government has however been unable to import adequate relief food supplies because of Zimbabwe's severe hard cash crisis.
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Comment from The Spectator (UK), 24 May
British churchmen back Mugabe
Peter Oborne on the refusal of Anglican and Catholic bishops to denounce tyranny in Zimbabwe
It is remarkable for Britain to be visited by a saint. But that was surely our good fortune last week, when Pius Ncube, the Archbishop of Bulawayo, passed through London. This gentle and soft-spoken former goatherd is a man of great holiness. In a country where churchmen have kept quiet, Ncube has consistently spoken out with extraordinary courage and firmness against the near-genocide that Robert Mugabe is visiting upon the Zimbabwean people. Week after week, from the pulpit of Bulawayo Cathedral, Ncube uses his sermons to make a Christian protest against the torture, intimidation, rape, murders and forced starvation that are part of the daily rigours of Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF regime. When the Australian cricket team came to Bulawayo to play in the cricket World Cup, inevitably it was Ncube who led the protest from within the ground. The response from Mugabe has been predictable. Ncube has been subject to death threats, abuse and threatening visits from the authorities. His phone is tapped, and he is followed everywhere by secret police. He is painted as an ogre figure in the government-controlled press. Every action he takes is wilfully misinterpreted. When he made a pastoral visit to Khami Prison in his diocese, the Bulawayo Chronicle claimed that afterwards there was a 'surprising increase in homosexual pornography' at the penitentiary. His stand is made more extraordinary by the contrast with the inertia of most Zimbabwean churchmen. Though there are some distinguished individual exceptions, the baleful fact remains that both the Anglican and the Roman Catholic churches have preferred either to remain silent or to work within the Zanu PF framework. Indeed, some of the most prominent churchmen do not merely bite their tongues; they are active cheerleaders of Robert Mugabe.
One notable case in point is Nolbert Kunonga, the Anglican Bishop of Harare. It is not simply that Kunonga has refused to condemn the outrages of Zanu-PF Zimbabwe. He uses his pulpit to praise Mugabe. In January last year, Kunonga took over a prayer meeting in Harare and used it as a forum to promote Mugabe's land-reform policy. On another notorious occasion, the bishop made the astounding and impious assertion that Mugabe was more godly than he was. He endorsed Mugabe ahead of the presidential election in March last year. Then, once the election was won - though only through the use of the most brutal and murderous intimidation - he attended Mugabe's inauguration ceremony. There he informed guests that the election result represented God' s will. He dismissed Mugabe's critics as 'little voices shouting at a passing elephant'. Kunonga's sycophancy towards the Zimbabwean despot affronted several of his fellow clergy. But he knew how to deal with their protests. He recently secured a court order banning more than a dozen churchwardens and members of the congregation from worshipping at the cathedral after they complained noisily about his pro-Mugabe sermons. Last April the United States added Kunonga to the list of corrupt public officials and villainous policemen who are banned from travelling to the United States. It is one thing to remain quiet about Kunonga in Harare, where it takes real courage to speak out against the Zanu PF regime. The bigger mystery is the silence from Lambeth Palace. To be fair, pressure has been brought behind the scenes. In the wake of the US ban, George Carey wrote a private letter to Bishop Nolbert in which he declared, 'I am more than a little concerned of [sic] how less than circumspect you have been about your affiliation with the regime you appear so keen to support.' But neither George Carey nor his successor Rowan Williams have publicly condemned the Harare prelate. Piers McGrandle of the Tablet asked Lambeth Palace back in February whether it planned to distance itself from the Bishop of Harare. He was informed that 'there are no plans to issue a statement for the time being'. The private excuse from Lambeth Palace seems to be that work is being done behind closed doors to bring the wretched Kunonga into line. Some say that they do not want to demoralise Zimbabwean Anglicans; others try to claim that the Archbishop of Canterbury has no powers to act. Neither defence counts for much. The Carey letter was written more than a year ago, and it is plain that his policy of private persuasion has failed to work.
Sadly, the Roman Catholic Church is just as timorous as the Anglican. Robert Mugabe's second marriage to his wife Gracie was officiated by Archbishop Patrick Chakaipa, head of the Roman Catholic Church in Zimbabwe. Chakaipa's attendance caused offence in some strait-laced Zimbabwean circles, since the President had enjoyed an adulterous relationship with Gracie before the death of his first wife, and two children were born out of wedlock. Other churchmen feared that by sanctioning the Mugabe marriage, the Church was condoning the regime and undermining its own prophetic role. Chakaipa remained on good terms with Mugabe. When the archbishop died three weeks ago, the President sought to declare him a 'national hero'. Pius Ncube spoke out against this move, declaring that 'national hero status is political and the archbishop was not a politician'. In the end, Chakaipa was laid to rest at Chishawasha, a Roman Catholic mission. Robert Mugabe gave an oration at the funeral. Pius Ncube approached him during the Peace and shook his hand 'just to show that I have nothing personal against him'. Ncube is an astonishing man, fighting a private battle against despotism and murder that has unmistakable echoes of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's lonely crusade against Nazism during the second world war. Bonhoeffer was executed just before the end of the war; Ncube is running the same kind of risk. Like Bonhoeffer, Ncube is estranged not just from the ruling regime but from much of the Church that he serves, since its leading members have preferred to collaborate with the regime. But none of us in Britain has the moral right to condemn the churchmen on the ground in Zimbabwe, any more than we have the right to condemn the Protestant pastors in wartime Germany who cheered on Hitler. We cannot imagine the perils they are under or the compromises they are forced to make; nor do we know the little acts of human goodness they still perform. This exemption cannot be made, however, for the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in London. Our bishops do not live under daily threat of arrest, torture and mutilation. They are not followed by the secret police. But our churches, too, are mesmerised by Mugabe, and afraid to speak against him, as the shameful story of the archbishop's visit to Britain last week demonstrates.
When the Zimbabwe Democracy Trust, the vigorous US-based group which fights for freedom and human rights in Zimbabwe, proposed that Pius Ncube should visit London, the news was greeted with dismay. The Catholic bishops did not show delight and gratification at the chance to give moral support to a fellow Christian in his lonely battle against terror. Incredibly, it seems that Ncube was asked to reconsider his plan. At the time of the Bishops' Conference, during Low Week after Easter, the Catholic establishment looked set to block the Ncube visit. It is still unclear why Westminster Cathedral felt so uneasy about Ncube, though sources say that David Konstant, the Bishop of Leeds who has responsibility for international affairs, came under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church in Zimbabwe. There are also intriguing suggestions that No. 10 Downing Street, which has close links with Westminster Cathedral, was putting steady pressure on the Catholic Church to play down the event. Moves to block the visit altogether were stymied at a party given by the Bishops' Conference on 29 April, when the shadow foreign secretary, Michael Ancram, a prominent Catholic, made it known that he would cause a public fuss if Ncube was stopped. In the end, a deal of sorts was hammered out. Ncube would come to Britain, but a publicity ban would be put on the visit. The Zimbabwe Democracy Trust had been planning to make the most of its illustrious visitor, with interviews tentatively planned on Breakfast with Frost, Newsnight, Channel 4, etc. Some had even been formally booked. They were cancelled. In the end, the Catholic Church, rather than celebrating their remarkable guest, and sending the message of support back to Zimbabwe, hustled him through Britain as if he were an escaped convict. The British government treated him with equal distance. Attempts for a meeting with Tony Blair- normally ready to join forces with any transient pop-star or footballer - were rebuffed. This week Ncube travelled to Washington, where he has been granted a series of high-profile meetings with senior administration officials, including the secretary of state Colin Powell. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster and Primate of All England, has got off to a shaky start. But the Ncube episode will put a permanent stain on his term of office. He has just one comfort. His Church of England counterpart, Rowan Williams, has behaved just as shamefully by allowing the Anglican Bishop of Harare to rant unchecked on behalf of Robert Mugabe. The behaviour of both archbishops, and both churches, is incomprehensible. They are sanctifying evil.
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From The Guardian (UK), 29 May
Zimbabwe opposition calls out the people
Andrew Meldrum
The Zimbabwean opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, increases the pressure on President Robert Mugabe today by calling for a five-day national strike and urging the people to take to the streets. "Rise up in your millions and take part in nationwide peaceful protest marches for democracy and good governance to encourage Zanu PF [the government party] to take dialogue seriously," he says in an advertisement published in the Daily News today. Mass public protest is a new strategy for the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and it is not certain that the marches will succeed. The Mugabe regime has shown it is not afraid to call out the police and army to break up public demonstrations critical of the government. Public anger at the shortage of food, fuel, electricity and even bank notes has risen to a new peak this week, convincing the MDC to bring forward the strike. It had originally planned to hold it in mid-June. The stoppage is expected to be a significant vote of no confidence in the Mugabe regime.
The MDC has already closed the country down twice, with two national strikes lasting two days and three days in March and April. "The strike will be a success, there is no question about that," a Zimbabwean journalist said. "It is crunch time for the government. Everybody is angry. No one can get fuel. No one can get cash, because the country has run out of currency. No one can afford even basic food. People are hungry. We have electricity blackouts at any time. And everyone knows who is wrong. They blame the government." Inflation has hit 260% according to official statistics, and many economists say it is even higher. Workers have not been fully paid for the past two weeks because the banks are short of notes. The government does not have the foreign currency to import ink and paper to print more of the increasingly worthless Zimbabwe dollar. But even the rapidly growing public fury does not guarantee that the MDC will succeed in mobilising a huge protest. The police and army have shown that they will use rifles and tear gas against even a small protest. It is difficult to concentrate a large number of people in the centre of Harare because most of the capital's population lives in townships up to 20 miles away.
"It is difficult to say if the call for mass action will succeed," said a lawyer. "The anger of the people is palpable, you can feel it. But so far no one has held a mass public protest and people are afraid of being mowed down by the police and army. But there is an increasing sense of desperation amongst many people that they have nothing to lose, and that will make it dangerous for the Mugabe regime." Even if this effort to orchestrate a mass protest does not succeed, it could pave the way for future action which could topple the regime, in the same way that the former Serb president Slobodan Milosevic was forced to leave office in Belgrade. The police and army have armoured personnel carriers with water cannon. Some also have machine guns. They were bought from Israel last year. But the burgeoning crisis has weakened the confidence and morale of the security forces.
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From Associated Press, 28 May
Police in Zimbabwe break up opposition prayer meeting
By Angus Shaw, Associated Press Writer
Harare - Police brandishing riot sticks broke up an opposition-organized prayer meeting Wednesday, scattering hundreds of people, most of them women, in a main shopping precinct in downtown Harare. The "prayer for action" meeting was the second of daily street services called by the Movement for Democratic Change Tuesday through Friday ahead of anti-government demonstrations planned next week. Police did not intervene at Tuesday's prayers and hymn singing in Harare's First Street pedestrian mall, but the state media warned Wednesday further prayer meetings were politically motivated and were illegal under Zimbabwe's strict security laws requiring police authority for political gatherings. Several hundred women, some with babies strapped on their backs, gathered in the mall Wednesday and waved open hands, an opposition salute symbolizing its campaign for democratic reform, as they sang and chanted prayers. Police charged the gathering. Onlookers jeered as police beat with riot sticks an unidentified man dragged from the crowd. Three women leaders of the gathering were arrested. Lines of people waiting at bank teller machines fled as protesters hurled objects at a police truck speeding through the mall.
Witnesses said police also broke up a meeting of striking workers and engineers of the state power utility outside its downtown offices Wednesday. That followed the arrests of 105 striking bank employees Tuesday outside their head Harare head office. They were released after paying small fines for behavior likely to cause a breach of the peace, the Zimbabwe Bankers Union said. Both the bank and power utility workers are demanding inflation related pay increases. Zimbabwe is facing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1980 with record inflation of 269 percent and acute shortages of hard currency, gasoline, medicines and other essential imports and food. Banks have only small supplies of the local currency after the state central bank said it did not have the hard currency to import special paper and security materials to print Zimbabwe dollar bills. Soiled used notes in small denominations that would normally be destroyed are being redistributed, bank executives said. Executives said banks were being forced to approach cash-rich supermarkets, stores and business to retrieve money the central bank would normally supply. Some businesses were charging an additional levy of between 3 and 5 percent for Zimbabwe cash.
Shortages of cash were also worsened by hoarding ahead of uncertainty posed by planned opposition demonstrations, strikes and anti-government "mass action" and money held by motorists in fuel lines outside gas stations. Drivers in a 300-vehicle three-day "hope" line for gas deliveries hold an estimated combined total of 6 million Zimbabwe dollars in cash in hopes of filling their tanks. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told supporters Sunday in Harare "democracy marches" were being planned throughout the country and urged them to "prepare for the final push" against President Robert Mugabe and his government scheduled to begin June 2. Demonstrations without police approval are illegal under Zimbabwe's stringent security laws. Opposition fliers distributed before Wednesday's prayer meeting said Mugabe's repressive government "has lost all love and fear of God" and likened Zimbabweans living in misery to the Biblical Israelites in Egypt who sought spiritual inner strength to confront forces of evil. "The MDC calls upon Zimbabweans to dedicate this final phase of our nonviolent struggle to participate in daily prayer meetings and share in this demonstration of faith and action."
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From The Daily News, 29 May
Armed police run riot in Harare
Staff Reporters
Armed riot police yesterday stormed into the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA)'s Workington Power Station and beat up workers holding a meeting on the premises. Riot police yesterday also broke up a lunch-hour prayer meeting called by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). They arrested three women while others were assaulted in the First Street Mall in Harare. In Workington, over 70 striking ZESA workers sustained serious injuries after they were beaten up and others were injured in the stampede that followed the arrival of the armed policemen. Shepherd Mandizvidza, the ZESA spokesman, however professed ignorance of the police action. But he said: "Personally, I think the police are well positioned to justify why they took that decision." Mandizvidza said ZESA's position on the strike remained the same. He said according to the Labour Court order issued on 23 May, the workers should have returned to work while their representatives and management negotiated. Some workers had returned to work "under protest" after their strike was declared illegal at the end of last week. They met in Harare yesterday to discuss the Labour Court ruling. In separate interviews yesterday, the disgruntled workers said the meeting began early in the morning and they resolved to continue on a go-slow because management was reluctant to address their grievances. "It was just as we rounded up our meeting that two policemen arrived at our workplace and demanded to address us," one of the workers who were beaten said. "The workers dispersed and started jeering at the policemen. We told them to go away and advise our management that we needed them to address us." The workers said when the police realised that they were not making any progress, they drove off. The two officers allegedly returned later accompanied by about 15 armed riot policemen who forcibly opened the gates to the premises and charged towards the gathered workers who were waiting for management to address them.
The police were still battling to contain the angry workers who were demanding that the police leave their premises when The Daily News visited the scene. About eight armed police officers with tear-gas canisters and batons were standing guard at the front gate at Workington Power Station. Wayne Bvudzijena, the police spokesman, was unavailable for comment yesterday. But Ian Munjoma, the secretary-general of the electricity workers ' union, said: "The police came to the ZESA premises, locked the main gate at the transport yard and threw tear-gas canisters at the locked-in workers. They severely assaulted them because they had nowhere to escape to. That's cruelty of the highest order because there is no way physically dealing with striking workers is allowed in the Labour Relations Act. It was wrong for the management to call in riot police to attack genuine workers." He said workers would today meet with the ZESA management to continue negotiations. Meanwhile, the three women arrested after police broke up a lunch-hour prayer meeting in Harare were still detained at Harare Central Police Station by late yesterday afternoon. The meeting was held in response to a call by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who on Sunday urged Zimbabweans to embark on a week of prayer before the start of anti-government protests next Monday. The arrested women were part of a group of over 2 000 people from different denominations who had gathered for the prayers before riot police broke up the meeting and started assaulting them. The Daily News could not establish what charges the three were facing as Press officers at the Harare Central Police Station and the Police General Headquarters refused to comment. A reverend organising the prayers said despite yesterday's arrests and assaults, other prayer meetings would go ahead as planned.
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From The Financial Gazette, 29 May
High Court shifts ruling on privilege certificate validity
Cyril Zenda, Senior Reporter
The High Court yesterday postponed to today the ruling on the validity of a certificate of privilege blocking a key witness in the treason trial of three MDC leaders from divulging information on covet operations of the local spy agency. Judge President Justice Paddington Garwe, who is presiding over the trial, did not give reasons for postponing ruling on the matter. The certificate issued last week by State Security Minister, Nicholas Goche, is meant to gag Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) director-general Happyton Bonyongwe, from disclosing to the court activities of the agency. Bonyongwe is the State's key witness in the treason trial of MDC president, Morgan Tsvangirai, the party's secretary-general, Welshman Ncube and its agriculture secretary, Renson Gasela. If convicted, the MDC officials face a possible death penalty. In issuing the certificate, Goche argued that divulging information on CIO's operations compromises the country's security.
The defense team is interested in documents such as invoices, letters and receipts, which were exchanged between the government and Dickens and Madson. It is also keen on knowing the services Zimbabwe got from the Canadian-based political consultancy firm, for which it was to be paid over US$1 million. Bonyongwe refused to give a break down of the services and the money paid to the consulting firm. He said some of it was used to pay CIO's covert operations adding that the agency was not legally required to account for the money. The defense team, headed by George Bizos is adamant that in the absence of full information on CIO's role, it would argue that the money was paid for Dickens and Madson to manufacture some 'evidence' and to secure the conviction of MDC leaders. At the beginning of the trial in February this year, Goche issued a similar certificate stopping the key witness in the trial, Ari Ben-Menashe, from revealing details of his firm's contract with the government. Justice Garwe declared that the certificate, which was used to protect what Goche called "classified" information was invalid. Dickens and Madson, headed by Ben-Menashe, exposed the alleged plot by the MDC leadership to assassinate President Mugabe ahead of last year's presidential poll.
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From The Times (UK), 29 May
Women beaten by riot police at Harare prayer vigil
From Michael Hartnack in Harare
Riot police broke up a prayer meeting organised by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) yesterday, beating women with batons and chasing opposition supporters through crowds of office workers and shoppers. More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered in the centre of the capital ahead of the start next Monday of "mass action" aimed at forcing the resignation of President Mugabe after 23 years of rule. Prayer meetings were called by opposition officials, despite threats by security forces and war veterans' leaders that the protests next week would be crushed using military tactics. As Zimbabwe's financial crisis deepened, commercial banks were confirmed to be buying local currency on the black market - a development that economists believe to be a first in world financial history. Businesses and individuals were also hoarding notes. "It is probably unprecedented and a manifestation of the absurdities we are living in," John Robertson, a financial consultant, said. "The next move will be to a barter situation." The indefinite mass action called by Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, is likely to lead to a nationwide economic shutdown - the third in three months. Prayer vigils yesterday marked the first phase of Mr Tsvangirai's plan to mobilise Zimbabweans for "a final push" to force Mr Mugabe, 79, from office. However, war veterans' leaders have given warning that their 55,000 members will adopt military tactics to crush any street protests. Police have also said that they will suppress any demonstrations aimed at removing the regime. "Using our military experience, we will mobilise against you, the consequences will be grave," Patrick Nyaruwata, the war veterans' chairman, said. Human rights organisations say that more than 200 opposition supporters have been killed in three years of unrest since Mr Mugabe lost a constitutional referendum in February 2000.
Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank is failing to meet demand for currency as inflation soars above the officially recognised 269 per cent. The bank lacks foreign currency to import the necessary paper and inks and is paying Z$800 to print the Z$500 largest denomination note. A £20 million minting of coins commissioned by Mr Mugabe a year ago has been rendered useless since Zimbabwean coins - the highest denomination is Z$5 - are virtually worthless. All pay telephones have been disconnected. One bank official, who asked not to be named for fear of prosecution, confirmed that they were paying a 3 per cent premium for large deposits of notes as frustrated customers tried to make withdrawals. At month-end paydays last week, many banks limited withdrawals to Z$20,000 - sufficient to buy 40 loaves of bread or 20 litres of under-the-counter petrol. Most filling stations have had no supplies for over a fortnight, despite reports of a new deal between Mr Mugabe and Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader. Mr Robertson said that Zimbabweans were reluctant to deposit their money with banks because the Government was artificially keeping interest rates 250 per cent below inflation "and it is such a hassle getting it out again...Everyone in a stationary petrol queue is hanging on to notes in the hope of buying a few litres somewhere, or seeing something else like bread they can get for cash." There were not enough US dollar or South African rand notes in the country to circulate freely as a substitute. "In any case, you are always looking over your shoulder to see who is watching, who is going to come and confiscate it from you because what you are doing is illegal," he said.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 28 May
Zimbabwe runs out of blood
Harare - A shortage of blood and its by-products has hit Zimbabwe, the country's blood bank said on Wednesday. The lack of the vital health product has been precipitated by mass strike actions and scarce fuel and foreign exchange, the National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS) said. Blood, essential in surgical operations, for haemophiliacs and for transfusions after major accidents, is the latest product to join the list of shortages in the southern African country. Among the basics in short supply so far has been petroleum-based fuels, electricity and bank notes. Zimbabwe's opposition blames the shortages on economic mismanagement, while President Robert Mugabe says they are a result of a Western plot to topple him. The NBTS said persistent fuel shortages had adversely affected its blood collection activities, as have the nationwide anti-government work stoppages staged in recent months.
NBTS mobile units normally move to schools, factories and commercial offices collecting blood from donors, but the lack of fuel and work boycotts have impacted negatively on the collection. The combination of shortages and strikes "has led to shortages and intermittent supply of blood and blood components to hospitals nationwide", the NBTS said in a statement on Wednesday. "The foreign currency shortage has put severe and enormous pressure on NBTS, as the import of essential plasma derivatives is no longer possible," it said. Plasma is essential for transfusion to haemophiliacs and is imported because the country does not have the technology to extract it from donated blood. A spokesperson for the NBTS said everything that is imported, including test kits and anti-D, administered to Rhesus-negative mothers shortly after giving birth, were in short supply. The blood bank said donors were also feeling compromised because the traditional "donor comforts" or refreshments given to them after donating blood were not readily available.
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From The Daily News, 30 May
Police put on high alert
By Farai Mutsaka Chief Reporter
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has summoned all officers on leave to return to their bases by 4pm today as the government prepares to face down week-long mass protests called by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) from Monday. Senior police officials yesterday said they had been put on high alert ahead of the protests, dubbed the "final push" by the MDC as it seeks to pressure President Robert Mugabe to resign over charges of economic and political mismanagement. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, however said they had been ordered to use "minimal force" against the demonstrators to avoid international condemnation of the government's handling of the protests. A senior policemen in Mashonaland West told The Daily News: "Everyone has been ordered to be at their respective police stations by 4pm tomorrow and everyone should be in riot gear. All strategic places will be heavily guarded. We won't use force though." Griffiths Mpofu, the Deputy Police Commissioner who was said to be in charge of the security plan, yesterday would not discuss the police's strategy for the mass action. "No comment," he said. "These are security plans you are asking me about. In fact, you know there is a commissioner of police, phone him." Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri was said to be out of the office yesterday.
ZRP officials said they had been ordered not to shoot and to use minimum force while the army, also placed on high alert, would not play an immediate role in dealing with the planned protests. The sources said all strategic national areas such as government offices and fuel stations catering for State security vehicles would be heavily guarded because of fears that opposition party activists could tamper with them to immobilise the police force. The police sources told The Daily News that provincial Joint Operations Command (JOC) heads were given strict orders to ensure that the protests did not turn violent. They said violence during the demonstrations would be used by the MDC and foreign countries to justify international intervention. The JOC comprises senior officers from the police, the army and the spy Central Intelligence Organisation. It co-ordinates security strategies, especially when the security of the country is under threat. Police officers said a radio message dispatched to all stations on Wednesday night indicated that unknown quantities of dynamite had been stolen from Renco Mine in Masvingo. The sources said the ZRP feared these could be used as explosives against strategic national points.
While the police officers were ordered to use minimum force, they would be armed in case the situation got out of hand, the sources said. Army officials said although they would be on standby, the army would not take an immediate active part in security measures, but would intervene if the protests intensified. "The provincial JOCs have been told that we should make no show of force because the MDC wants to use the 'Sharpeville massacres trick' to get international sympathy and possibly foreign intervention," a senior police officer in Harare said. Apartheid-era police in South Africa killed 69 people and injured many others when they opened fire on unarmed demonstrators in the township of Sharpeville in 1960. The United States' State Department on Wednesday warned the Zimbabwean government against using strong-arm tactics against the demonstrators, although it did not say how Washington would react if security forces resorted to violence to crush the protests. In the past week, the government, the army and veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s war of independence have warned in dire terms that they will take action should the protests turn violent.
Police officials said yesterday they had been told to set up roadblocks to control the movement of people into the centres of cities and towns throughout the country. They had orders not to indiscriminately fire teargas but to mount roadblocks where intensive searches, including body searches, would take place. "We have information that they (MDC) would want to use the slightest opportunity to cause chaos, get people injured and killed in the melee and blame the State for it. The objective is to attract foreign interest in the whole matter," one official said. However, MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube said: "The police are supposed to be a professional and apolitical body, but here we have a situation where the police are speaking Zanu PF language. "What the police should be saying is that they respect the right of the MDC to hold a peaceful demonstration and we will be there to ensure that they exercise that right without being molested. On our part, we will do everything to ensure that the demonstration is peaceful." The opposition party says it is planning peaceful demonstrations to press Mugabe to step down before the expiry of his term in 2008. The demonstrations could include marches to Mugabe's State House residence and his Munhumutapa offices, both in the capital Harare.
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From News24 (SA), 29 May
Zim printing more money
Harare - The head of Zimbabwe's central bank said on Thursday the country is printing money "at full capacity" in an urgent bid to alleviate chronic cash shortages gripping the southern African nation. Leonard Tsumba, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, told a press conference that his bank is due to inject Z$24bn into the economy by mid-June. But soaring inflation rates mean the problem is likely to persist, he said. Shortages of bank notes are currently crippling operations in business and industry. Hundreds of people again queued on Thursday in central Harare in a bid to withdraw cash from banks. Banks have limited cash withdrawals, amid reports a black market has arisen for the local currency. Tsumba said the situation was "abnormal". But he said that while measures were being taken to inject fresh cash into the economy, the problem was likely to remain given Zimbabwe's soaring inflation rates. Inflation in Zimbabwe is now 269% and rising. "What we're trying to do is guard against unnecessary panic," Tsumba said. He pleaded with people and businesses to bank their cash. Many have been hoarding cash amid fears they will not be able to access it. Cash shortages first surfaced after a mass stayaway last month and new protests are planned for next week. "An economy that operates on cash alone is a retrogressive economy," Tsumba said. He urged people to use cheques and credit cards more. A new 1 000 Zimbabwe dollar note is to be introduced in November, the banking official said.
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Comment from Business Day (SA), 30 May
Mugabenomics: Zimbabwe's fast track to economic ruin
By Jethro Goko, Deputy Editor
Nothing typifies Harare's way of doing things more than the hilarious interview that talk show radio 702 recently had with one of President Robert Mugabe's most trusted lieutenants, which the station occasionally replays to my utter glee. In the interview, bubbly early morning host John Robbie asks Nathan Shamuyarira a politburo member of the ruling Zanu PF and former senior cabinet minister what Harare is doing to resolve Zimbabwe's worsening political and economic crisis. In his sleepy baritone voice, Shamuyarira asks "What crisis?", à la one of those television creatures from outer space. All of the irrepressible Robbie's subsequent efforts to elicit some comprehensible response on Zimbabwe's much-publicised food, fuel and foreign exchange crises are met with an emotionless and depressingly disinterested "no". It is staggering wonderful journalistic work. However, to those who know how Mugabe and Zanu PF operate, there is nothing particularly noteworthy about Shamuyarira's replies. This is the ruling party's way of doing things, the way that has brought Zimbabwe to its knees: a cold world where nothing means anything, so to speak.
A bizarre story, which was an ominous pointer to the economic disaster that has befallen Zimbabwe, did the rounds in Harare at independence in 1980, when Mugabe was appointed prime minister. The new team of officials at the finance ministry made up of some of the finest economists the country has ever produced decided to develop a very comprehensive fact sheet, to be delivered to the crown prince every day to tell him about the state of the economy. Just a few months after the fact sheet was introduced, there was a hitch in its preparation one day and someone was dispatched to the prime minister's office to apologise for the delay. To the surprise and horror of the adviser, the private secretary told him not to worry because the prime minister never read the fact sheet anyway, as he did not consider it particularly necessary. As one of the advisers who claims to have been around then puts it: "It was like working for a mechanic who does not believe in checking oil in the car." So, not surprisingly, Zimbabwe's economy is on the verge of collapse.
With an inflation rate probably nearer 500% than the official figure of 300%, prices are shooting up daily, making Zimbabwe possibly the world's fastest-documented contracting economy all thanks to Uncle Bob, who has always seemingly been bent on defying even the most basic laws of economics. Take for example his legendary dismissal of his finance ministers (the last one to taste his wrath was the literate but timid Simba Makoni, now tragically being touted as a presidential hopeful) and his passionate belief that the law of supply and demand does not apply to Zimbabwe. If anything is in short supply, Mugabe imposes price controls. The absurdity of Mugabenomics reached its zenith in the late 1980s when former cabinet minister Maurice Nyagumbo the liberation hero who had been incarcerated in prison the longest (20 years) by white minority leader Ian Smith committed suicide (or was he done in) after he could not understand why he was being humiliated in public for helping an agricultural co-operative to acquire a vehicle and selling it for above prescribed prices.
One of the principal pillars of Mugabenomics, of course, is his apparent belief that a country cannot go broke. Under this misguided approach, he has used fixed assets to pay for recurrent expenditure: to the extent that he has even mortgaged land in his desperate attempts to get fuel from the Libyans - the same land that he says he is so keen to see get into the hands of ordinary Zimbabweans. Many Zimbabweans trace the beginning of their economic problems to payments made by Mugabe to war veterans in 1997, which cost the fiscus billions of unbudgeted Zimbabwe dollars. This launched the now official policy of printing paper money, which has fuelled inflation. Then there was the devastating blow dealt to the economy a year later, in 1998, when Mugabe greedily and expediently decided to get enmeshed in the Congo war. Although this war benefited many of his cronies as they looted the Congo's resources it proved to be a misadventure of monumental proportions; the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Zimbabwe has never been the same since then.
But why am I writing about all this? I am gatvol with Mugabe's apologists, who keep harping on about the cause of the crisis as essentially the unintended, but consistent, consequences of the dear leader's good intentions for his nation. What claptrap. If there is any consistency in Mugabe's policies, it is that they have been founded on arrogance, incompetence and an inexplicable callousness that should not be associated with a man who had the opportunity to be revered as one of Africa's greatest sons.
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From The Daily News, 30 May
Judge upholds gag on CIO
Court Reporter
Judge President Paddington Garwe yesterday upheld a ministerial certificate issued by State Security Minister Nicholas Goche barring defence lawyers in the treason trial of three top opposition leaders from questioning Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) chief Happyton Bonyongwe on transactions between the CIO and a company headed by Ari Ben-Menashe, principal State witness in the case. Garwe, however, said that the defence could cross-examine Bonyongwe on any other matters outside the parameters of the minister's certificate. The judge ruled that the information requested by defence lawyers "related to State security issues" and that there was no need for the court to "go behind" Goche's certificate to determine the validity of the minister's claim of privilege. He said even in cases where accused persons were facing serious charges, "the courts have to remain alive to the fact that there are matters that no government would like to reveal in an open court. The clandestine activities of security organisations of various countries are not matters for public disclosure in an open court".
South African advocate George Bizos, leading a team of lawyers defending opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, his secretary-general Welshman Ncube and MDC legislator Renson Gasela who are facing charges of plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe had demanded that the court disregard Goche's certificate. The three deny the charges. The certificate bars Bonyongwe from producing, as demanded by Bizos and his team, invoices and receipts relating to the payment by the Zimbabwean government of US$30 000 (Z$24,7 million) for the production of a video-tape allegedly showing three MDC leaders plotting Mugabe's murder. Bonyongwe had told the court he could not produce the documents requested by the defence since they had been destroyed because according to the CIO's internal regulations, such documents had to be destroyed three months after they are received. Asked by defence lawyers to produce a copy of the regulations that provided for the destruction of the documents and the identities of the people who authorised their destruction, Bonyongwe said disclosing the information would prejudice State security.
Goche intervened by invoking the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act and issuing the certificate to prevent the defence from cross-examining Bonyongwe on what he said was "information relating to the covert account of the Department of State Security which is classified 'Top Secret'. Goche said: "The disclosure being sought has the potential of grievously undermining and compromising the very existence of the (State Security) Department. The requested disclosure would, even if done in camera, seriously prejudice the State's national security interests." Bizos protested at the issuing of the ministerial certificate, accusing Goche of abusing the court process. He said the minister's action impinged on the accused persons' right to a fair trial as enshrined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe. In a related case, Garwe threw out an application by the defence to grant a new order to compel Ben-Menashe to disclose the whereabouts of US$97 000 paid by the MDC to his company. The MDC paid the money before the government hired Ben-Menashe in January 2002, ostensibly to spruce up its battered image abroad.
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From The Catholic Herald (UK), 30 May
Church's media blackout on Ncube visit
Outspoken Zimbabwe archbishop says Church officials made him agree to stay silent about human rights abuses and political violence on visit to England
By Simon Caldwell
The most outspoken Catholic cleric in Zimbabwe was subject to a media blackout during his first visit to England - at the insistence of Church officials in Britain. Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo, who has won international praise for his prophetic condemnation of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, visited London and concelebrated Mass in Westminster Cathedral on Sunday May 11. He spoke to non-governmental organisations working in his country the day after and held meetings with Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Bishop David Konstant of Leeds, chairman of the bishops' department for international affairs, and Bishop John Rawsthorne of Hallam, chairman of Cafod, the overseas development agency of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. But he did not give any interviews to the Press or broadcast media and none was made aware of his visit. Archbishop Ncube later flew to the United States, where last week he enjoyed a higher profile even though he said he wished his visit to remain low key while South Africa, Nigeria and Malawi attempted to broker a deal between Mr Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. In Washington DC, Archbishop Ncube was praised publicly by Secretary of State Colin Powell and spoke openly of the plight of the people of his country in an interview in The Washington Times. Almost at the same time, the Pope criticised Mr Mugabe's violent land reform programme during a meeting with Kelebert Nkomani, Zimbabwe's Ambassador to the Holy See. John Paul II said: "It is an error to think that any real benefit or success will come simply by expropriating large landholdings, dividing them into smaller production units and distributing them to others ... [land reform] should be in full accord with national policies and those of national bodies."
On his return to Zimbabwe, Archbishop Ncube said his visit to Britain was kept out of the public eye because the Catholic bishops, "under the auspices of Cafod", feared that his "role as a mediator for peace" would be compromised if he publicly criticised President Mugabe, who views Britain as his biggest enemy. He said he was told that if he spoke to the Press about the human rights situation in Zimbabwe, it might cause a further deterioration in his "already strained" relationship with Mr Mugabe, a situation which could put his life at risk. Archbishop Ncube told The Catholic Herald that he was happy to abide by the publicity ban. An article in The Spectator of May 24 had earlier alleged that the "Catholic establishment" wanted to block altogether the visit of Archbishop Ncube but Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Ancram, a Catholic, made it known at a Church party in London on April 29, the week of the Low Week meetings, that he would cause a public fuss if Archbishop Ncube were stopped. Bishop Konstant this week vehemently denied the allegations made by Peter Oborne, the author of the piece. "This is absolute nonsense, period," said the bishop. "There was no press ban. It is very straightforward. The article is not true. It is really quite extraordinary how they [The Spectator] were able to, if you like, twist a perfectly straightforward matter in the way that they have done."
Bishop Konstant said he had "no idea" why no media were notified about the archbishop's visit. Archbishop Ncube, however, told a group of NGOs on May 12 that the two-hour briefing he gave them on the situation in Zimbabwe was "100 per cent off the record" because of an agreement he had with the English and Welsh bishops. Matthew Heard of the Catholic Institute for International Relations, who was at the meeting, said the ban surprised him because only a month earlier Archbishop Ncube joined the other eight Catholic bishops of the country in signing a Lenten pastoral letter which explicitly condemned the "frightening" corruption, lawlessness, food shortages and the abuses of power committed by the regime. Mr Heard said: "We were more or less expecting him to comment along that line. I believe he didn't say too much when he was in Westminster Cathedral as well."
After the Mass in Westminster, Ncube was twice applauded by the congregation when cathedral administrator Fr Mark Langham thanked him for his visit and hailed him a "heroic and outspoken defender of human rights in Zimbabwe". The archbishop told the congregation: "I ask you to continue to pray for Zimbabwe. It is a very difficult situation when leaders who started out being very exemplary all of a sudden forget people. There is widespread starvation. Thanks to Cafod and the World Food Programme half a million starving people are receiving food. But conditions are difficult. There are 100 per cent price increases every week. We hope these difficulties will be overcome by God's mercy." The day after, on Monday May 12, Tim Livesey, a spokesman for the Cardinal who is on secondment from 10 Downing Street, explained his failure to inform The Catholic Herald of the archbishop's visit by saying he had been "unaware" that Ncube was coming. But some sources suggested however that Mr Livesey and Joachim Van Halosz, another of the Cardinal's press officers, had liaised regularly with the Zimbabwe Democratic Trust in the run up to the visit. Archbishop Ncube's outspoken stance against the political violence of the Zanu-PF party has led to his arrest by Mugabe's police. He is followed, his phone is tapped and has been subject to abuse, death threats and intimidating visits from members of the security forces. Yet he continues to campaign against "violence, hunger and hardship", leading protests at the Queen's Sports Club stadium in Bulawayo ahead of a World Cup cricket match there in March. Neither Cafod director Julian Filochowski nor a spokesman for the Cardinal would comment.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 31 May
Zimbabwe braced for violence at mass rallies
Harare - "Pray for us tonight. Pray for us next week," said a man in his early 40s in Harare yesterday. "We will go to the streets, and maybe they will kill us. But there is no difference between being dead as we are already, and being shot by the police or army on Monday."The man is one of thousands who will risk brutal treatment by the security forces when they gather next week for a mass demonstration against President Robert Mugabe. The protests are illegal under draconian new security laws, and Patrick Chinamasa, Mr Mugabe's justice minister, said participants will be committing high treason. He said: "The clear intention behind such threatened actions is to effect a coup d'etat against the legitimately elected government of Zimbabwe." Thousands are expected at rallies across the country after Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, urged people to "rise up in your millions" to force Mr Mugabe to the negotiating table. Mr Tsvangirai rallied his supporters last night in the face of threats from the security forces to crush the protests under the slightest provocation. "Nothing will deter us from this action," he said. "Without risk there are no opportunities. There's no riskier business than to allow this country to collapse." But he added: "The potential of this degenerating into shooting cannot be underestimated."
As soldiers and riot police deployed across the country, MDC activists and middle class supporters were making gas masks to protect civilians from the riot police's South African-made tear-gas. The Zimbabwe Defence Forces are believed to have handed out weapons to many so-called war veterans and members of the militia known as the Green Bombers. Political analysts believe that the by-product of the call for millions to go out on to the streets will be a national strike, larger and longer than any before it, as Zimbabwe's dispossessed, unemployed and hungry vent their anger at the country's collapse. "If there are many out on the streets, we may have a bloodbath," said Brian Kagoro, a human rights lawyer. "If the people are too scared and don't show up on the streets, or run away after the first shots, there will anyway be a massive stayaway. "We are not sure of the national psyche. People are really fed up, but none of us knows how far they will go, and it will be the poor who will, once again, take the pain. The regime is preparing its response by giving gangsters guns. We are used to the riot police, but not the army, and so the situation is unpredictable.The MDC have called this a final push, but maybe that is an overloaded message. This is certainly the beginning of the end, and the MDC has had the courage to go for this, but we don't know what the costs or the gains will be." Scores of heavily-armed members of the Zimbabwe National Army and riot police moved into a poor township close to Bulawayo last night. A well-placed source said: "There has been a full deployment of all the security forces in Zimbabwe as of today."
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From AFP, 30 May
Zim police chief quits Interpol post
The head of the Zimbabwean police force has resigned an honorary position at the international police agency Interpol after criticism that the appointment was an endorsement of the regime of President Robert Mugabe, the agency said on Friday. Augustine Chihuri informed Interpol President Jesus Espigares Mira in a letter dated May 28 that he would step aside as honorary vice president of Interpol's executive committee because of the continuing controversy over the title and to avoid politicising the agency, it said. "Chihuri has done the correct thing. The appointment was not meant to endorse the actions of the Zimbabwe Republic Police or Mr Chihuri's work as Commissioner," Espigares Mira said. Earlier this month, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw attacked the appointment, saying it was "an insult to the people who have suffered at the hands of the Zimbabwean police and other state security apparatus in that country." Like others of Mugabe's close associates, Chihuri is subject to a European Union and United States travel ban because of allegations of vote-rigging and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. He served on Interpol's executive committee for six years from 1996, and on stepping down received the honorary position for a three year term in accordance with standard Interpol practice. Interpol's secretary-general Ronald K. Noble said he regretted that a Zimbabwe police (ZRP) spokesman had interpreted the appointment as a sign of support for the actions of the force. "That statement was inaccurate. The fact that a ZRP spokesperson attempted to use Interpol to fight off political criticism has caused Interpol to be unfairly and unnecessarily attacked," he said. Interpol was founded in 1923 to enhance police cooperation and with 181 members is now the largest international police organization in the world.
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Comment from The Mail & Guardian (SA), 30 May
Calm before the storm
Jean-Jacques Cornish
The diplomatic quiet three weeks after the African troika's visit to Harare is seen by Zimbabwe watchers as the calm before the storm. "If we were not sure that Zimbabwe is into its endgame, you would be hearing a lot more disappointment," said a Western ambassador. "There is nothing worse than being let down after having your hopes raised - worse still after raising the expectation in your capital. Remember the aftermath of the Rubicon speech in South Africa. Luckily for presidents Thabo Mbeki, Olusegun Obasanjo and Bakili Muluzi, events in Zimbabwe seem to have overtaken their initiative. Perhaps they will claim sometime in the future that they caused this change. They will have to do something like that because they certainly did lead us to expect some movement soon." There was overt criticism of the troika this week from Zambia's Deputy Finance Minister, Mbita Chitala, who reportedly told journalists the presidents were not putting enough pressure on the Zanu PF government to adopt policies that would revive the economy. Chitala's interest is obvious. Zimbabwe's slide into oblivion is hurting the whole region.
Like a lock forward under pressure, President Robert Mugabe sought the support of the pack at Obasanjo's inauguration as African Union leader in Abuja this week. Diplomats here insist that he will not be made excessively comfortable. "His fellow presidents will ask when he is going," said a European envoy from Harare. "They could not get an answer from him when he was here three weeks ago, but Mugabe has been talking about leaving ever since then. South Africa and Nigeria will be particularly concerned over who will succeed [him]. They want him either to name someone or to have the party do so. I think they realise, as we do, that if he doesn't move quickly, events will overtake him." Professor Tony Hawkins told a security seminar at Pretoria University this week that "Zimbabwe is on the edge of the volcano. One push could bring the government down within months, if not weeks."
Western diplomats say opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai looks increasingly like the man most likely to achieve this. Tsvangirai greatly impressed G8 ambassadors whom he met in Harare this week. "Tsvangirai was organised, motivated and determined, which he clearly was not a year ago," said one of the envoys. "He was excessively concerned then about the welfare of his followers - and probably overestimated the repressive capacity of the government forces." Tsvangirai, having repeatedly demonstrated his ability to bring the country to a standstill, is now rejecting any talks about entering into a government with Mugabe. He told the ambassador in Harare that Mugabe simply had to negotiate his exit. "We don't know if South Africa has prepared for this eventuality," said a veteran diplomat in Pretoria. "We are all very sensitive to the notion of African solutions to African problems. We expect to be reminded of this after the presidents' meeting in Abuja. But African solutions are as fraught and fallible as any others - we only have to look at the Democratic Republic of Congo to see this. We would like to see a speedy solution in Zimbabwe. Estimates of economic recovery time after a change of government there range from two to five years, so we have no time to play with. We believe South Africa will inevitably continue to exert enormous influence across the Limpopo river. That is why we are pleased that the Harare meeting at least served to improve relations between Mbeki and Tsvangirai."
Developments in the Commonwealth further reflected the conviction that Mugabe is on his way out. After a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) - the body that Mbeki helped set up to address problem areas within the club of former British colonies - Zimbabwe's suspension was extended until the Commonwealth heads of government summit in December. Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon acknowledged that this went against the express wishes of Mbeki and Obasanjo, who had wanted the suspension to end in April. They did not even want to discuss the matter with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who had joined them in imposing the suspension a year earlier. Australia kept the pressure on by presenting CMAG with a dossier of human rights violations in Zimbabwe. "The broad view is that Zimbabwe's suspension should be sustained," said McKinnon. "This did not meet with everyone's best wish. But it is the best decision we could get. We don't want to see the Commonwealth divided over this." A Commonwealth high commissioner added: "Given that Zimbabwe has, over the years probably been the most divisive issue that the Commonwealth has had to deal with, we wonder how the secretary general can say this. The answer is that like many of us he does not believe Mugabe will be at the Commonwealth summit in December."
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 30 May
Zim/Libya in Noczim assets dispute
Vincent Kahiya/Mthulisi Mathuthu
Sharp differences have emerged between Zimbabwe and Libya over the real value of National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) assets and those of its sister company Petrozim after the two countries failed to agree on the results of three different valuation exercises carried out last year. The valuations were carried out to facilitate the acquisition of Zimbabwean assets by Libya as part of the two countries' trade agreement. Government sources this week said the Libyan business delegation currently in the country was keen to see a quick resolution of the impasse which threatens to scuttle any fuel supply deal. The composition of the Libyan delegation has raised eyebrows as it does not consist of technocrats who are usually a key component of such missions. Sources said there could be an attempt to solve the problem at the political level which would give the Libyans leverage.
Officials from Noczim and Petrozim, industry sources said, have been resisting attempts to sell off the assets cheaply. The transfer of the petro-chemical industry assets are key to the launch of a joint venture company, Tamoil-Zimbabwe, which the government announced had been formed last year. The company intends to trade in retail and wholesale of fuel. Information to hand shows that last year the Libyans contracted an Italian company to carry out an asset audit on Noczim and Petrozim, while the government through the valuation department in the Ministry of Local Government and National Housing carried out its own assessment. Noczim also contracted estate agents and property valuators CB Richard Ellis to do a similar exercise. Sources said the results from the valuation exercise were so disparate that negotiations on the transfer of assets collapsed at the end of last year, which is partly the reason Libya stopped supplying fuel to Zimbabwe.
The audit carried out by the Italian company put the replacement value of Noczim assets at US$90 million and that of Petrozim at US$62 million. Petrozim facilities which include the Mutare to Harare pipeline and storage facilities were built at a cost of US$85 million nine years ago. Richard Ellis on the other hand put the total replacement value of Noczim assets at $21,3 billion and that of Petrozim at US$253 million. The government valued the Noczim assets at $2,13 billion and those of Petrozim at $626 million. The government figures were lower than those from the two valuations as the state valuators used a rate of US$1 to $55 while Richard Ellis used the prevailing black market rate at the time. The Italians on the other hand did not take into account the value of the land owned by the two organisations. The failure by the parties to agree stalled negotiations and another audit to address the Libyan concerns should have been carried out by the end of the month. This has however not been done. The execution of that audit now hangs in the balance as the Libyans are believed to be impatient and would like the deal concluded as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, a Libyan company, Mansour Investments, is preparing to build a hotel and a shoe manufacturing company in Zimbabwe as part of government's open door policy towards the North Africans who provide fuel. Led by one Rajab Mansour, the Libyans are also said to be interested in setting up a shoe manufacturing company with a local company in Bulawayo's Kelvin North industrial area. A source told the Independent that the Libyans were originally meant to co-finance a hotel project with the Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG) in Kariba but later opted for a solo project because RTG is also already involved with Libyan Arab Africa Investment Company which has acquired a 14% stake in the group. Libyan Ambassador Mohhamed Azzabi confirmed yesterday that a delegation of Libyan investors came to Zimbabwe a fortnight ago and consulted with local business people on the investments but he declined to disclose the names of the local players. "All I know is that they have already hired local and international companies to do feasibility studies for them. They have already started their projects but they have left for South Africa, Zambia and Malawi," said Azzabi. A Libyan source said Libyan Arab Africa Investment Company representatives were also expected in the country soon to explore investment opportunities in plastic manufacturing, cold storage and water bottling. This follows last year's reports that unspecified Libyans were eyeing the country's biggest platinum producer, the Hartley Mine owned by Zimbabwe Platinum Mines (Zimplats) as part of the oil barter deal.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 30 May
Meldrum's lawyer to sue Air Zim
Mthulisi Mathuthu
Deported journalist Andrew Meldrum's lawyers, Kantor & Immerman have threatened to sue Air Zimbabwe and its employees for knowingly disobeying a High Court order not to fly the Guardian correspondent out of the country two weeks ago. In a letter to the Air Zimbabwe chief executive officer on Wednesday Meldrum's lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa gave the corporation up to today (May 30) to provide "cogent reasons" why it had disregarded the court order or face legal proceedings. She argues that a party who knowingly aids or abets the disobedience of a court order is liable to contempt proceedings. "It is our client's intention to bring contempt proceedings against yourselves for the role you played in knowingly and wilfully facilitating what was clearly a planned and coordinated breach of court orders," she said. "Unless you therefore revert to us with any cogent reasons why your corporation acted as it did, which reversion must reach us by end of business on 30 May, 2003, we shall proceed with the contempt proceedings."
Mtetwa also threatened to report Air Zimbabwe to the International Air Transport Association "for whatever action that organisation might deem necessary". Mtetwa argued that Air Zimbabwe proceeded to fly Meldrum out of the country despite the fact that a High Court order barring it from doing so had been served on it. She said all precautions had been taken to ensure that a copy of the order was served on the airport manager, a Ms M Simboti who was informed of the consequences of ignoring it. She said it was later agreed with Air Zimbabwe senior public affairs manager David Mwenga that the order would be communicated to the Air Zimbabwe legal advisor or the CEO. According to Mtetwa, the order was also served on the check-in clerks who were also advised of the consequences of ignoring the order. The first clerk refused to identify himself or to accept the order. He also denied that Meldrum was on the Air Zimbabwe flight that was scheduled to leave at 21:10hrs that night. Two other clerks referred the matter to their manager. Meldrum was, on May 16, seized by immigration officers and police at the immigration offices in Linquenda House and bundled into a waiting vehicle which took him to the airport from where he was later deported. Meldrum is accused of breaching the terms of his residence permit which he has denied.
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From BBC News, 31 May
Panic-buying grips Zimbabwe
Zimbabweans are panic-buying in preparation for next week's opposition street protests designed to drive President Robert Mugabe from power. Soldiers are patrolling populous areas of the capital Harare, reportedly to discourage people from taking part. The leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, has urged Zimbabweans to "rise up in your millions". The government has pledged to crush the protests which it describes as a coup attempt and has put security forces on high alert. In the capital Harare, shoppers stocked up on essentials while thousands queued up at banks to withdraw cash. Police have set up roadblocks on major routes leading into the city centre. One resident of the low-income suburb of Mabvuku, in eastern Harare, told the AFP news agency that police were moving around beer halls telling people to go home. An unnamed MDC official said the army "is trying to intimidate people by going into high-density suburbs in their trucks, with guns". "It's to scare people so people won't come out of their homes."
The ruling Zanu PF party's chief spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira has said the time has come for a showdown with the MDC and that they must be "confronted and taught a lesson". However, the opposition says it will press on with the week of "democracy marches". Mr Tsvangirai was quoted in the privately-owned Daily News as saying "no threats of whatever magnitude" would deter the MDC. The official Herald newspaper reported on Saturday that the state-owned bus company had gone to the high court to try to block the protests, saying that some of its buses had been torched in previous MDC demonstrations. The MDC organised one of the biggest demonstrations against President Mugabe two months ago. However, it is not clear if ordinary Zimbabweans will want to be involved, given the harsh treatment meted out to protesters last time. Zimbabwe is in a severe economic crisis, with record inflation and unemployment, and shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency. President Mugabe, in power since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980, blames the crisis on opponents of his seizures of land from the tiny white minority for redistribution among landless blacks. Zimbabwe is under sanctions from the Commonwealth over the land seizures and alleged vote-rigging by the ruling party.
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From CNN, 31 May
Tsvangirai must tell his followers to stay at home or face arrest
Harare - Zimbabwe's police got a high court interdict on Saturday ordering opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to call off street protests next week or face arrest. The order was issued by High Court Judge Ben Hlatshwayo after the police filed an urgent application in which they claimed the planned protests would undermine law and order and challenged the country's constitutional democracy. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Friday it would press ahead next week with protests against President Robert Mugabe and warned that militant government supporters could turn the demonstrations bloody. Chief Inspector Andrew Phiri confirmed police had got a provisional order from the court outlawing the protests. "It is declared that the respondents (MDC and Tsvangirai) have acted unlawfully in calling for demonstrations intended to oust a legitimately elected president. Accordingly it is ordered that the respondents be indicted from organizing, urging or suggesting, or setting up the demonstrations intended to remove the lawfully elected president and government," the order said. The order gave the MDC the right to argue its own case.
MDC legislator and lawyer David Coltart complained that they had received the order only at the time police served it but they intended to appeal against it on Sunday. "The MDC is not organizing violent protests, but peaceful protests," Tsvangirai spokesman William Bango said. Earlier, thousands of people jammed supermarkets and banks around Zimbabwe to stock up for the protests designed to drive President Robert Mugabe from power. The MDC is demanding Mugabe's resignation, accusing him of mismanaging the economy. Mugabe, 79, denies the charge. The government has put its security forces on full alert, deployed troops in some restive townships and set up roadblocks. "The time has come for a showdown with the MDC. They must be confronted and taught a lesson," the ruling Zanu PF party's chief spokesman, Nathan Shamuyarira, said. Zimbabwe is in a severe economic crisis, with record inflation and unemployment, and shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency. Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, blames the crisis on opponents of his seizures of land from the tiny white minority for redistribution among landless blacks.
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From The Observer (UK), 1 June
Mugabe faces revolt in city of desperate and dishonest
One the eve of a week of protest Our Special Correspondent in Harare reports from a country facing collapse of a dictatorship
Tomorrow is D-Day for Zimbabwe - the beginning of 'the final push', organised by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). It is to be a week of marches and strikes intended to unseat President Robert Mugabe after 23 years in power and to reverse what was widely seen as his fraudulent electoral victory in March last year. Although they are trying to keep routes and details secret until the last minute, opposition organisers talk of marching on his residence, State House, and demanding that he make a 'national statement of surrender'. After more than a year of fruitless attempts at brokering an 'exit package' for the besieged Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the MDC, is now taking the country on a more volatile route, albeit reluctantly. 'We cannot allow Mugabe to destroy the country while we watch,' he said.
All last week the opposition-supporting press has been carrying full-page ads announcing the action. Stencilled signs have appeared on Harare's walls and curbs: 'Zvakwana!', they read. 'Enough!' The Government has replied by warning marchers that their action, which it called 'a British-sponsored plan to subvert a democratically elected government', is 'tantamount to a coup', which will be put down ruthlessly. ZTV, a mouthpiece of Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party, said that 'security agents have been put on high alert' and all police leave cancelled. A party spokesman appeared to relish the coming confrontation: 'The time has come for a showdown with the MDC. Their activities can no longer be tolerated.' Businesses who heed the opposition call to close their doors for the week are also threatened. 'They close the shop on Monday,' promised a senior Minister. 'They close the shop for good.' And so the battle lines are drawn. Mugabe jetted back into Harare on Friday morning to face the gathering storm. He was fresh from the victory rituals of Nigeria's President Olesegun Obasanjo, whose own election was also criticised as irregular. Obasanjo's role as one of a troika of Commonwealth interlocutors trying to persuade Mugabe to stand down voluntarily is now compromised. Last week the two men cosied up on a sofa and held hands for the cameras.
Mugabe returned to a city beset with severe shortages of many foods, intermittent electricity and water, in a country with 70 per cent unemployment, hyperinflation and an approaching famine. From the tinted windows of his bulletproof Mercedes he would have seen the feral children sniffing glue and begging on street corners; the drivers camping out in fuel queues that extend for miles outside empty petrol stations. And in the faces of the threadbare populace he would know that few support him. Notwithstanding various attempts to rig the vote here in the last elections, Harare was a clean sweep for the opposition. There is little doubt that this country is in the terminal stages of kleptocratic freefall. A tiny, corrupt elite (by no means all black) - called the Kompressor Class here for the model of Mercedes they tend to favour - are the sole beneficiaries of what is now the world's fastest-shrinking economy. But bad as conditions are for the povo, the people, are they desperate enough to risk dying on the streets to bring change? This is the challenge faced by the opposition.
The paradox is that as one of the wealthiest countries in Africa, with a robust infrastructure and a large middle class, Zimbabwe is taking longer to destroy. Even those middle classes, however - especially those on fixed incomes - are now laid low, sinking into an impoverished gentility. Take the swimming pool, that ubiquitous symbol of social status in a hot climate: there are far fewer of them now. Pool-cleaning chemicals are either unavailable or so expensive that many middle-class families have given up. One company does a brisk business converting swimming pools into ornamental fishponds. They put in potted reeds and lilies, some hydroponic weed cover and garnish it all with fish. Mains water is so erratic that many people do a regular run, filling buckets from the pond to top up the lavatory cisterns. For the diehard gin and tonic set, worse news: tonic has been unavailable for weeks. And power cuts play havoc with First World style. 'What did Africa use for light before candles?' goes one joke. 'Electricity.' Other startling signs of middle-class demise: white men walking. And women; pensioners with frugal shopping bags and well-dressed black office workers too. Not strolling a few blocks but yomping miles in a widely spaced city not designed for the long-distance pedestrian.
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