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Archived News
4th February 2003
Foreigners to be deported
2 US journalists detained in Zimbabwe
US travel warning puts the heat on Zimbabwe
Defence lawyers accuse witness in Nkala case of lying
SA institute accused of trying to oust Mugabe
France and Mugabe: déjà vu - all over again
Tear-gas used to break up Zimbabwe meeting
Zimbabwe city official arrested
Mugabe the problem guest
World Cup braced for battles
Mugabe set to step into Hunzvi’s shoes as leader of war veterans
Al Shanfari resigns
Churches express strong opposition to 'food policy'
Is Zimbabwe on the brink of genocide?
African food shortages ending everywhere except in Zimbabwe
Botswana buckles under illegal immigrant influx
WFP assessment of Zimbabwean migrants in RSA’s Limpopo Province
30 abducted, tortured by police MDC
Official seeks closure of Zimbabwe paper
England dismay at Harare go-ahead
Trains collide in Zimbabwe, killing 30
EU still deadlocked on Zim
Mugabe invites archbishop to mediate
Treason trial of Zimbabwe opposition leader set for Monday
Herald fabricated comments says envoy
Coming out of the closet
SA is implicitly standing surety for Zimbabwe
40 die in Zimbabwe train crash
Leader’s plea to halt Zimbabwe torture
Commission collects data on rights abuses
ECB in court over Harare match
Mugabe ordered Airzim engineers back
Mugabe rival faces treason charges
Zimbabwe treason trial begins
Tsvangirai on trial as Zanu PF squabbles
Signalman arrested after Zim’s worst train crash
Mugabe ready to soften restrictions Mbeki
Tsvangirai trial opens in chaos
Is this Mugabe's new diplomacy?
Top SA lawyer arrives to defend MDC leader
Legal chiefs who turn the law to Mugabe's advantage
Journos barred from Zim treason trial
1.5m 'ghosts' voted in Zim election - census
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From News24 (SA), 28 January
Foreigners to be deported
Harare - Five foreign church aid workers arrested last week in Zimbabwe on suspicion of being undercover journalists were on Tuesday ordered to leave the country, a member of the group said. "We are checking out of the hotel and we are going to Harare and being deported ... we are being escorted by immigration (officials)," Kathleen Kastilahn, said from the small mining town of Zvishavane in southern Zimbabwe. The five - two Germans, a Finn, an American and a Kenyan - were picked up by police on Friday along with a local journalist working for the independent daily in Zvishavane, in the drought-hit south of the country. They are due to leave the country on Wednesday. Police on Monday charged them under the country's stringent media law for operating without accreditation, although the group said it was in Zimbabwe for a field trip organised by the Lutheran World Federation, a church-based aid agency. Foreign journalists are required to apply for accreditation with the government at least a month before their intended trip to Zimbabwe. The local journalist, Fanuel Jongwe, has not yet been accredited although he submitted his application last year before the deadline for deadline for submissions expired. Only Jongwe appeared in court. "They have been allowed to go without any formal charges being laid against them," said Gugulethu Moyo, a lawyer for the local journalist accompanying the group. The Zimbabwe government, international and local aid agencies are currently distributing emergency food aid to some of the estimated eight million of Zimbabwe's 11.6 million people threatened by famine.
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From The Washington Post, 28 January
2 US journalists detained in Zimbabwe
By Angus Shaw, Associated Press writer
Harare - Two American reporters and a local news photographer covering Zimbabwe's food shortages were detained by police for seven hours Tuesday and denied access to a lawyer and telephones. Dina Kraft of The Associated Press, Jason Beaubien, Africa correspondent for National Public Radio, and Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, a Zimbabwean freelance photographer on assignment for AP, were taken into custody after visiting the state Grain Marketing Board depot in the western city of Bulawayo. A Bulawayo city councilman from the main opposition party, Charles Mpofu, and his assistant who were showing the journalists around town also were detained. Police said the three journalists were accused of unauthorized entry and taking photographs at the depot, which they said is a restricted security area. No formal charges were filed. The journalists said they were not aware it was restricted and that they were allowed in by depot security officials. They also said they were seeking to interview officials at the marketing board.
The depot was the scene of rioting last month when ruling party militants reportedly interfered with a food line. About 30 people were arrested after clashes involving the militants, people lined up to buy corn meal and police. The journalists were leaving the depot when they were stopped by police officers and board officials. While the three were being questioned there, the reporters were able to unobtrusively make brief cell phone calls to AP's office in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare. They were then taken to the nearby Western Commonage police station for further questioning. While there, they were not allowed to call the U.S. Embassy, lawyers or colleagues. Nkoluleku Fuzwayo, a lawyer contacted by AP, said he was refused permission to enter the police station and talk to the journalists until they were released. Police inspected the reporters' notebooks and photocopied some pages. The journalists said they had not taken notes at the depot after being told officials were not allowed to speak with reporters.
The government recently has cracked down on journalists. Fourteen local journalists have been arrested in the past year on charges of violating strict new media laws. Only one has been tried and was acquitted. Foreign journalists must have government accreditation before entering Zimbabwe, although such credentials are routinely denied. Many journalists, though, have entered on tourist visas, evaded detection and reported on the country's deepening economic and political crisis. But Kraft and Beaubien, who are both based in Johannesburg, had been given Zimbabwe government press accreditation for their visit. They arrived in Zimbabwe on Thursday in a press group accompanying a fact-finding mission by James Morris, head of the World Food Program. The U.N. agency is providing emergency food for some of the 6.7 million Zimbabweans, at least half the population, facing famine. Aid groups have blamed the crisis on erratic rains and chaos in the agriculture sector caused by the government's seizure of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to blacks.
Though Morris left Saturday, Kraft and Beaubien were granted a week's government license to report on Zimbabwe. Also on Tuesday, five foreign Lutheran church workers who were detained over the weekend on suspicion of violating media laws were handed over to immigration authorities for likely deportation, their lawyer said. The group, including an American, a Finn, a Kenyan and two Germans, had been under house arrest at their hotel in the mining village of Zvishavane, 250 miles south of Harare. They did not appear in court and were not charged, lawyer Romualdo Mavedzenge said. The church workers arrived in Zimbabwe on Friday and had planned to write reports on church assistance to AIDS and hunger victims and development work in western Zimbabwe. State radio said police accused them of being foreign journalists working in Zimbabwe without government accreditation, an offense punishable by up to two years in jail. The radio said the group entered Zimbabwe on tourist visas, which the group denied. One of them, Kathleen Kastilahn, 56, of Chicago, said they showed business visas when they arrived in Harare.
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From Business Day (SA), 29 January
US travel warning puts the heat on Zimbabwe
International Affairs Editor
In a move set to step up the pressure on Zimbabwe ahead of the controversial World Cup cricket matches in that country, the US state department has warned Americans to stay away from Zimbabwe because of the heightened security risk. Diplomats said yesterday the US travel warning would raise the stakes for the International Cricket Council, meeting tomorrow with the English cricket body on the matter of Zimbabwe. English cricket players have said that they would rather not play their scheduled match in Harare. The US travel warning says: "Zimbabwe is in the midst of political, economic and humanitarian crises with serious implications for the security situation in the country." The travel warning also advises US citizens "to take those measures they deem appropriate to ensure their well being, including consideration of departure from the country". A spokesman for the British high commission in Pretoria said: "The actual substance of what the US is saying is very similar to what we and the Australians are saying. We are telling people to exercise caution, but the Americans appear to have gone one step further in asking their citizens to consider leaving," he said. But Britain had not placed Zimbabwe in the category in which the advice was to avoid all but essential business travel. Last year the risk of travel in Zim babwe was underscored by the shooting at a roadblock of a US citizen. Meanwhile, five foreign Lutheran church workers, detained on suspicion of violating Zimbabwe's strict media laws, were handed over to immigration authorities yesterday for probable deportation, said their lawyer, Romualdo Mavedzenge. The group, an American, a Finn, a Kenyan and two Germans were held under house arrest at their hotel in the mining village of Zvishavane, 400km south of Harare since Saturday. They did not appear in court.
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From The Daily News, 28 January
Defence lawyers accuse witness in Nkala case of lying
Staff Reporter
Lawyers representing six suspects in the Cain Nkala murder trial, said yesterday Bryne Bonda, 20, a nephew to one of the accused persons, had either been bribed by the police or was unduly influenced by the political nature of the case. On Friday Bonda said a pair of shoes and their laces recovered by the police were the ones which he gave to his uncle, Sazini Mpofu, one of the accused. Advocate Erick Morris, while cross-examining Bonda, however, said although the pair of shoes recovered by the police were worn out, Bonda had told the court that he had given his uncle relatively new shoes only two and a half weeks earlier. Morris said Bonda, despite his evidence, did not hesitate to say the old shoes were the same pair which had been recovered by the police. Bonda is a nephew of Sazini Mpofu, charged along with Khethani Sibanda, Remember Moyo, the MP for Lobengula-Magwegwe, Fletcher Dulini-Ncube, the MDC national director of security, Sonny Nicholas Masera, and Army Zulu, with the murder of Bulawayo war veteran leader Nkala in November 2001.
Morris said: "The shoes now had holes in the heels of the sole, marks on the uppers probably caused by oil paint and amateurish repairs, and despite these differences you had no hesitation to say they were the same. When did you write-off the $2 400 that Mpofu owed you for an earlier pair of shoes you bought for him? Was it in return for the 30 pieces of silver that the police gave you?" Testifying earlier, Bonda gave evidence which might have incriminated Mpofu. He said a pair of shoes and their laces recovered by the police where the ones which he gave to Sazini Mpofu, his uncle. But under cross-examination yesterday, he agreed the shoe-laces produced in court could just have been similar to the ones on the shoes he gave Mpofu. But, he maintained the shoes were the same. It has not yet been revealed in court where the shoes and laces were recovered.
Advocate Happias Zhou, another defence lawyer, said Bonda was aware of the politically-charged environment while he was at Nkulumane Police Station and this might have influenced him to incriminate his uncle. Advocate Edith Mushore said Bonda knew of his uncle’s widely-publicised arrest and told the police what they wanted to hear so they could quickly release him. She pointed out Bonda’s failure to inform the police that the shoes they had recovered were not the ones he had given to Mpofu as they were worn out. The police, she said, failed to conduct a proper identification parade since they had showed Bonda only one pair of shoes. The trial before Justice Sandra Mungwira, continues today with the State calling its fourth witness.
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From The Cape Times (SA), 28 January
SA institute accused of trying to oust Mugabe
By Basildon Peta
Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's government has accused Greg Mills, director of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) , of "plotting" to topple President Robert Mugabe. In a long article in its main mouthpiece - The Herald - and on news bulletins of the state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, the government claimed on Monday that the SAIIA had held a secret meeting with businessmen and diplomats in December 2002 to "mobilise efforts to remove" Mugabe from power. Dismissing the reports, Mills said on Monday that the meeting had been an open one. It had been attended by invited diplomats, analysts, academics and business people to discuss the crisis in Zimbabwe. It had been no different from other meetings convened by the SAIIA on Zimbabwe. "Zimbabwe's government is trying to shoot the messenger in the age-old hope that this will deflect attention from the real cause of the crisis in the country."
The Herald said the meeting had been attended by the British High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, Brian Donnelly. It has repeatedly accused Donnelly of planning to topple Mugabe. Donnelly's spokesperson confirmed that he had been at the meeting, but said there had been nothing sinister about it. Other diplomats had also attended. The Herald claimed the participants had agreed past initiatives to remove Mugabe had failed and that there was a need to come up with new strategies to undermine and make the Zimbabwe government unpopular. It claimed Mills had told participants one way of removing Mugabe was to instigate division in the ruling Zanu PF. Denying the claims, Mills said: "Our role is to provide a forum for debate on issues of importance. We regard Zimbabwe in a serious light, given the problems that instability in that country poses for the Southern African Development Community region." Zimbabwe's government attacked Mills earlier this month after he had made public details of Mugabe's shopping spree in Singapore.
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Comment from ZWNEWS, 29 January
France and Mugabe: déjà vu - all over again
By Michael Hartnack
As Robert Mugabe cosies up to France, and France cosies up to Mugabe, there’ s a sense of déjà vu - all over again. During Ian Smith’s white-minority Rhodesian regime, the French almost outdid Portugal and apartheid South Africa as breakers of U.N. mandatory sanctions imposed from 1965 to 1979. There’s a double irony in France insisting on inviting Mugabe to French-African summit on Feb.19, effectively acting as a bridgehead for him within the European Union whose travel ban on Zimbabwe leaders and their cronies comes up for renewal Feb. 18. If Zimbabwe were an ex-French territory, Les Paras would likely have given Mugabe and his wife, Grace, the "coup de grace" three years ago when he began seizing white-owned farms and stepped up repression of political opponents. A French-brokered deal with rebels in the Ivory Coast which prompted violent demonstrations in Abidjan this week including torching the French Embassy is the latest example of France’s hands on, send-in-the-troops approach to its former African colonies. France says it is inviting Mugabe to discuss "human rights". During the era of sanctions against Smith’s Rhodesia, France also went through the diplomatic motions, closing its consulate in the then-Salisbury in 1970. Otherwise it was pretty much business as usual. Frenchmen from Mauritius and Madagascar settled in Rhodesia, bringing special expertise in sugar production. Some were killed on their farms by guerrillas. French veterans of the Algerian and Vietnam Wars joined the Rhodesian army. French Alouette III helicopters, continually re-supplied with spares through shady middlemen, were the mainstay of Rhodesian anti-insurgency operations and Rhodesian pilots trained on supersonic Dassault Mirage jets in South Africa.
Citroens and Renaults, assembled inside the country, suddenly appeared on the streets in place of British makes. Smith rode around in an unobtrusive convoy of two Peugeot 404s, escorted by four bodyguards, while the same model replaced British-made Austin Westminsters. French fabrics were on sale in the expensive department stores. In the late 1960s, new season Beaujolais wine was available. The telephone book advertised "official agents for the French aircraft industry", headed by Wing Commander Roy Simmonds, an ultra right-wing member of Parliament for Smith’s Rhodesian Front. Despite pious denials, it was clear a powerful element in the French establishment was seeking to transfer Rhodesia to its economic sphere of influence from that of Britain. Similarly, France’s attitude to Mugabe gives the impression that a longtime policy toward Third World countries is in force: favour our businessmen and your human rights record won’t be a problem.
At the Feb. 19 summit expect a massive propaganda offensive as Mugabe struts his stuff before the Great Nation. Apart from shopping, always a favourite activity, Mugabe will use his Paris trip to ram down the throats of his people the message that the world has now accepted as a fait accompli his stolen 2002 presidential election, his seizure of the white farms, his terror tactics against opponents. This has been the theme of the state-controlled media during the past week with visits by Nigerian foreign minister Sule Lamido and South Africa's Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. In public, the pair merely said that relations were cordial and they brought confidential messages from presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Thabo Mbeki. With Australian Prime Minister John Howard, the two presidents form the "troika" due to review Zimbabwe’s year-long suspension from Commonwealth councils imposed after the election last March. Mugabe appears supremely confident of the outcome calling Howard during a visit to Lusaka January 14 "the product of genetically modified criminals bent on eliminating Aborigines.’’ In other words, it does not matter what racist abuse he employs Mugabe trusts his friends will always chortle behind their hands and back him up.
Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said France, South Africa and Nigeria bore a heavy responsibility for buttressing Mugabe's regime. "The people being starved to death are not white; the majority of victims of the killing machine are not white; those who languish in jail and are subjected to daily torture and inhuman conditions are not white; those in the rural areas are not white," he said. While Lamido and Zuma guarded their tongues before the media, both were seen being feted on successive nights at Amanzi, the most expensive restaurant in Highlands, Harare. Diners saw them exuberantly enjoying the company of Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge, Agriculture Minister Joseph Made and Mugabe's propaganda chief Jonathan Moyo, who recently called South Africans "filthy and uncouth". There were about 10 people in each dining party. Amanzi bills usually come to at least Zimbabwe $10 000 a head - which represents 400kg of mealie meal at the controlled price or about 60kg on the black market operated by ruling party fat cats who receive preferential supplies. Let us hope the wine was not French, at prices running into five figures.
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From SABC News, 29 January
Tear-gas used to break up Zimbabwe meeting
Zimbabwean police fired tear-gas to break up a meeting called by Harare's opposition mayor today and civic groups warned of nationwide protests against President Robert Mugabe during the cricket World Cup next month. Police cordoned off the offices of Harare mayor Elias Mudzuri and barred people from entering for a meeting to discuss water shortages, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said. "They then fired tear-gas at the residents and indiscriminately assaulted all the people including those who were simply passing by," the MDC said in a statement. Mudzuri was elected MDC mayor of Harare last March in council elections held alongside presidential polls that the MDC and some Western governments say were rigged by Mugabe to ensure his re-election. Police arrested Mudzuri earlier this month for holding an illegal meeting without the approval required under tough new laws the MDC says are aimed at stifling democracy.
The incident at Mudzuri's office comes amid a growing controversy over the six World Cup matches to be played in Zimbabwe next month. The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) a coalition of church and student groups, rights organisations and political parties said it planned nation wide pro-democracy protests during the World Cup. "The aim is not to disrupt the cricket World Cup, but with or without the cricket games the programme will go on," Douglas Mwonzora, an NCA spokesperson, told reporters. "If the games are disrupted as (a result) of our programme then that is regrettable, but we are not going to suspend our programme," he added.
Australia's cricketers said today they were increasingly worried about playing in Zimbabwe, while the English team has requested to pull out of their match against the home nation in Harare on February 13. Zimbabwe is grappling with its worst economic crisis fuelled by record unemployment and severe food shortages since Mugabe came to power on independence from Britain in 1980. Previous NCA protests have mostly flopped with critics blaming poor organisation and co-ordination with the MDC. Police have accused the opposition of planning civil unrest ahead of the World Cup matches in order to force a change of venue. The MDC has denied the accusation.
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From VOA News, 29 January
Zimbabwe city official arrested
Tendai Maphosa
Harare - A city councillor in Zimbabwe's capital Harare, was arrested Wednesday, as police used tear gas to disperse a crowd at city hall. The crowd, estimated in the hundreds, had gathered to hear a speech by Mayor Elias Mudzuri, who is a member of an opposition political party. Trouble started when city councillor Michael Laban protested to police, who were preventing people from getting into city hall to hear the address by Mayor Mudzuri. Though some had managed to get into the meeting, the police kept hundreds of others outside. The mayor, a member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, was speaking about city problems, such as chronic water shortages. When police handcuffed Mr. Laban, the crowd started booing and a bottle was thrown in their direction. The police responded by firing tear gas canisters into the crowd, chasing people as they fled and hitting some of them with batons. The violence lasted about a half an hour. Mr. Laban was taken into custody. There is no word of his whereabouts.
Like Mr. Mudzuri, Mr. Laban is a member of the Movement for Democratic Change. He was elected councillor in March 2002, in the same election that brought Mayor Mudzuri into city hall. Harare is an opposition stronghold. In the March elections, the Movement for Democratic Change won 44 of the city's 45 wards. The opposition also controls Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city. The government of President Robert Mugabe has made no secret of its irritation that the opposition controls the country's two biggest cities. Mayor Mudzuri was jailed for two days earlier this month, for holding a meeting in a Harare township. Police say they arrested him because he didn't have permission to hold the meeting. The mayor argues that he does not need permission to meet with the people who elected him. A police spokesperson says the mayor is using the meetings to further the agenda of the Movement for Democratic Change.
From ZWNEWS - If you would like to see a selection of photographs of the break-up of yesterday's Town House meeting by the riot police, please let us know. They will be sent as a .jpg attachment to an email message - total size 210 Kb, or approximately four times the size of the average daily ZWNEWS.
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From News24 (SA), 29 January
Mugabe the problem guest
Lisbon - Portugal says it is in favour of putting off a European Union-Africa summit, which it is set to host in April, because of the debate about whether or not Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe should be allowed to attend. Portuguese foreign minister Antonio Martins da Cruz told journalists at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels he had "the clearest signs" that if Mugabe came to the Lisbon summit several European leaders would stay away, reported the Lusa news agency. At the same time, many African heads of state had indicated they would boycott the summit if the Zimbabwean president did not attend, he added. As a result, Da Cruz said he backed the postponement of the summit for "the time necessary" to await conditions that would be more likely to lead to a successful event. "It doesn't make sense to hurt dialogue with Africa," he said. The 15-member EU imposed a visa ban on the Zimbabwean leadership last February when violence flared in the run-up to a presidential poll widely condemned as rigged. In theory, the sanctions should be renewed on February 18, maintaining a travel ban on Mugabe and about 70 other senior Zimbabwean officials.
But, French President Jacques Chirac clouded the matter by extending an invitation to Mugabe last week, arguing that his presence at the February 20-21 Franco-Africa summit would help promote democracy, justice and human rights in Zimbabwe. Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain reportedly said they would not attend the Lisbon summit if Mugabe was allowed to attend. But several African states, including Nigeria and Sudan, have rallied behind the Mugabe regime, and threatened to boycott the EU-Africa summit unless Mugabe is there, too. Talks at the EU-Africa summit, which has been tentatively set for April 4 and 5, are expected to focus on ways to boost trade between the two regions, the fight against poverty and Aids, as well as debt relief. The gathering is intended to be a follow-up to the first summit of EU and African countries held in Cairo in 2000, which hosted leaders from 67 nations. The EU is Africa's biggest foreign-aid donor.
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From The Guardian (UK), 30 January
World Cup braced for battles
Andrew Meldrum in Harare
The prospect that protests at World Cup matches in Zimbabwe will be violently suppressed by police became a near certainty yesterday after two groups opposed to Robert Mugabe's regime vowed to demonstrate during England's fixture in Harare and every game involving the hosts. The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and a new underground group, Organised Resistance, yesterday vowed to stage public protests at all Zimbabwe's matches. But police insisted they would deal with any demonstrations "firmly" and keep all protesters away from grounds. Under Zimbabwe's draconian Public Order and Security Act, police can ban any public demonstration of more than two people. The police have been increasingly brutal, arresting numerous civic leaders without charge, and in the past two weeks there has been documented evidence of police torturing at least 10 people, including two members of parliament and a lawyer.
Organised Resistance yesterday promised to disrupt the tournament seriously and said it "will engage in a variety of civil disobedience campaigns. These will be targeted at players, officials, fans, the grounds, sponsors and supporting businesses." The group claimed responsibility for the letters distributed last week to England's players in Australia telling them that they would be responsible for any violence inflicted on peaceful demonstrators during matches. The letters are credited with influencing the England team's statement on Monday that they did not want to play in Zimbabwe. Organised Resistance also criticised the International Cricket Council for relying on police for security. "The ICC have been naive in enlisting . . . armed and brutal members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police force to provide 'security' at . . . venues in Zimbabwe," it said. "This is a recipe for disaster and we believe it will have tragic consequences. The ZRP are hated in Zimbabwe and are known as perpetrators of violence and injustice rather than as protectors of our people." The group also praised England's players for asking for their match here to be moved to South Africa. "We commend the England team for articulating their concern for ordinary Zimbabweans who are likely to get caught in the crossfire during protests at the World Cup," it said.
The hitherto unknown organisation said it was operating in secrecy because of rising police repression and torture of activists in recent weeks. The NCA is a more open group which has campaigned against the regime in recent months. Its chairman Lovemore Madhuku said yesterday: "It is our belief that the Mugabe regime is not fit to play host to any international tournament . . . It is not our concern whether the cricket is played without any disturbances or not. Our concern is the people of Zimbabwe and the realisation of their dream to see people drive constitutional reform." Madhuku's organisation has staged several anti-government protests in recent months which have resulted in numerous arrests and beatings. Yesterday police used tear gas to disrupt a public meeting held by Harare's mayor in the city centre. Meanwhile, two more opposition supporters accused police of using electric-shock torture. The pair, both from Harare's Kuwadzana township, have been admitted to hospital for treatment. The explosive situation is at odds with the Mugabe government's assurances that everything has returned to normal.
Organised Resistance said it had formed "to restore democracy and peace to our country". It added that it opposed any World Cup matches in the country because "the event will legitimise an illegitimate and brutal dictatorship. This has already occurred with the ICC engaging organs of the Mugabe regime, being the ministry of education and sport, the army and the police force. "The ICC's behaviour clearly indicates they believe Mugabe's regime is legitimate and worth dialoguing with . . . The Mugabe regime will use the World Cup as a smokescreen to detract from the humanitarian crisis that Zimbabwe is engulfed in. "The Mugabe regime must be attacked from all fronts in an effort to remind Mugabe that his behaviour will not be tolerated."
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From Business Day (SA), 30 January
Mugabe set to step into Hunzvi’s shoes as leader of war veterans
Harare Correspondent
President Robert Mugabe is set to replace the late Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association chair Hitler Hunzvi as the leader of the militant former combatants' group next month. The association's acting chair, Patrick Nyaruwata, said Mugabe would assume the leadership of the organisation, which was at the forefront of farm invasions and the ruling Zanu PF's election campaigns in the past two years, at the group's congress next month. Mugabe is currently the patron of the organisation. His new role at the helm of the unrestrained populist and radical group will give him a direct grip over the structures of the organisation that underpins his rule. Nyaruwata said the group's constitution would be amended at the congress to allow Mugabe to become the chair without contest. He said only people with liberation struggle credentials were allowed to lead the "revolutionary" group. "We want to make it clear that any person not associated with the liberation struggle will not lead us," Nyaruwata said. He said the war veterans had also decided to make the late vice-president, Joshua Nkomo, the patron of the association posthumously. He said Nkomo, popularly known as "Father Zimbabwe", deserved the honour because of his major contribution to the struggle. Meanwhile, police in Zimbabwe fired teargas to disperse hundreds of residents of the capital who gathered outside city hall yesterday for a meeting with the mayor, witnesses said. The meeting had been called to discuss critical water problems dogging the capital, according to a notice circulated on Monday. A witness said that several people had been arrested. The city's mayor, Elias Mudzuri, who belongs to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, was arrested two weeks ago along with 21 councillors and senior municipal workers for allegedly holding a meeting in a Harare suburb without police authorisation.
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From ZWNEWS, 30 January
Al Shanfari resigns
Thamer Al Shanfari has resigned as the chairman of Oryx Natural Resources, the Cayman registered company, further to the findings of the UN Security Council report on the Exploitation of Natural Resources in the DRC. The UN report alleged that Oryx formed part of a "Zimbabwean criminal elite" that were involved in conflict diamonds in the DRC. Al Shanfari has been replaced as chairperson by Dr. Issa Al Kawari, a London based Arab businessman, who i t is said manages the finances of the former Emir of Qatar, who now lives in exile. Dr. Al Kawari is a major shareholder of Oryx Natural Resources.
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From The African Church Information Service, 29 January
Churches express strong opposition to 'food policy'
Herman Kasili
Harare - Zimbabwean church leaders are opposed to President Robert Mugabe's food distribution programme. In series of statements released here over last month, Bulawayo church leaders, churches in Manicaland and Harare, pastors and clergy expressed concern over the government's partisan attitude in distributing food to starving Zimbabweans. The reactions followed Archbishop Pius Ncube's outburst last November, when he spoken out against politicised food and land distribution by Mugabe's government. Archbishop Ncube is the Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo. The churches condemned the government for being partisan in distributing food supplies to the needy. They said they would not tolerate the government's discrimination in the distribution of food. The clergy criticised the government's orchestrated campaigns of violence, intimidation and torture, that added to the already suffering people. They called upon the government to repent and change its attitude, saying "hi-jacking food supplies, hindering the work of NGO' and other concerned bodies in feeding the hungry only increased the suffering of the people".
The church leaders from various faiths including Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists and Evangelicals, in a show of 'Christian Solidarity', said the situation they were facing on the ground was extremely serious and demanded urgent resolution as famine stalked the land. They accused President Mugabe for being responsible for frustrating efforts by churches and NGOs to provide help. "Efforts of churches, NGOs and other concerned bodies to feed
the hungry are greatly undermined in many areas by a callous and deliberate policy of rewarding or punishing voters according to their political affiliation," said one statement. The church leaders noted with concern that the Zimbabwe national crisis had continued to deteriorate and that future peace and prosperity were at stake. They also condemned government institutions like the public media, who were being used to promote hatred and violence in favour of Zimbabwe ruling party supporters. One of the statements said the youth were being trained to embrace brutality and violence. They called upon the immediate closure of such training programmes in the country, and the halting of all politically motivated violence.
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From ZWNEWS, 30 January
Is Zimbabwe on the brink of genocide?
Genocide is a scary word. It is something that the mind shies away from, something that people are afraid to contemplate even in the abstract, because it is so horrific that we will not believe it. And it is perhaps for this reason that the genocide of Jews in WWII was carried out for so long before it was fully comprehended, and why the Interahamwe managed to kill 800 000 Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994 before the international community reacted. The truth is that at least the latter could have been prevented, and that all the indicators were there for the international community to see what was happening. But they did not react, partly because they just could not believe that it was happening, or could happen.
When reports of killings and mass human rights violations reach the international community, the first response is always cautious. The first demand is for verification, whilst the second is usually conservative under-reaction. The machinery for dealing with mass human rights violations is inherently conservative, and this inevitably produces a significant time lag in responding to such situations. There seems to be a reluctance to accept that people can really be slaughtering one another without provocation and that civilians are being subjected to a steady and relentless elimination process.
But the sad truth is that people are indeed capable of mass slaughter, and hence it is all the more necessary to be ready to respond quickly where the indicators are present in order to prevent excessive deaths. And Zimbabwe, recently assessed as one of the most oppressive states in the world, seems primed for just such a situation. This may seem a ridiculous claim when there have been comparatively few deaths so far from the conflict of the past three years, but it is less the deaths to date than the insidious pattern of organised violence and torture that leads to the concern about a potential genocide.
ZWNEWS has commissioned a report by an independent human rights consultant on this subject. If you would like to read the full report, please let us know. It will be sent as a Word attachment to an email message - total size 118 Kb, or a little over twice the size of the average daily ZWNEWS.
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From The New York Times, 31 January
African food shortages ending everywhere except in Zimbabwe
By Rachel L. Swarns
Johannesburg, Jan 30 - The United Nations says the number of hungry people is rising in Zimbabwe even as food shortages ease in other parts of southern Africa. A huge food distribution program in this region, whose agriculture has been battered by drought and floods, has prevented mass starvation, the United Nations says. Bad weather has dampened hopes for a quick recovery in Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho, but officials predict good harvests in Malawi and Zambia in coming months. The World Food Program believes the worst is over for most countries and plans to start reducing its presence here in June. Officials remain disheartened, however, by the worsening situation in Zimbabwe, where inadequate rainfall and poor government policies have left growing numbers hungry. The United Nations reported this month that the number of people in need of emergency food aid in Zimbabwe had jumped to 7.2 million in December, up from about 6.7 million in August. "A serious humanitarian disaster has been averted," James Morris, head of the World Food Program, said this week after touring the region for seven days. "Food has been put in place over the last several months in such a way that mass starvation and death has not occurred. We're seeing significant progress in Malawi and Zambia. We don't have that same optimism in Zimbabwe."
Zimbabwe's government has evicted almost all the white commercial farmers and handed their land to blacks in an effort to win popular support and to rectify historic inequalities in land ownership. The legacy of British colonialism was that a tiny white minority owned more than half of the fertile land. The production of corn — the country's staple food — plunged by nearly 70 percent last year, the United Nations says. People wait in long lines for bread and cornmeal. The hungry include nearly a million current and former commercial farm workers who are struggling to survive without jobs. Western governments have accused officials of using food as a weapon. Officials say the government is only allowing its supporters to buy cheap government grain while opposition supporters go hungry. A few incidents of politicization occurred last year in the distribution of relief aid, but the United Nations said those problems were rare and isolated. Problems with the government's own supply of food are believed to be more widespread.
The United Nations has offered to monitor the government's distribution of its own food to verify the government's claims that it is impartial. Most political analysts doubt that President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe will agree to independent scrutiny, but Mr. Morris said the president did not reject the idea. "I raised this issue with President Mugabe," Mr. Morris said. "It seemed to me there was some interest in continuing the conversation. My sense is that they're terribly concerned about their image." Zimbabwe's government, which says it is doing all it can, has struggled to import grain because of severe shortages of foreign currency in the collapsing economy. But a recent survey by relief agencies raised questions about whether the government was buying enough food to ease the crisis. It showed that 40 percent of communities visited for the survey said grain was not available or was rarely available from government distribution sites.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 30 January
Botswana buckles under illegal immigrant influx
Gaborone - Illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe have become a major problem in neighbouring Botswana, where detention centres are filled to capacity and about 1 600 Zimbabweans are repatriated every month, officials said on Thursday. "We are seriously losing our battle to deal with this problem. This is the worst immigration problem we have ever seen in this country," said chief immigration officer Roy Sekgororwane. He said detention centres for illegal immigrants were filled to capacity, and although about 1 600 Zimbabweans were repatriated every month, he believed a "great number" of them remained behind. In addition to the illegal flow of immigrants, about 125 000 Zimbabweans enter Botswana legally every month, according to an estimate made last week. But many fail to return to Zimbabwe when their travel permits expire, Sekgororwane said. They remain in the country to work, mostly as farm labourers and domestic workers. Botswana and South Africa are the most prosperous nations in the region and are prime destinations for illegal immigrants. Zimbabweans are fleeing their country, which has been hard-hit by political instability and food shortages exacerbated by a serious drought in the southern African region. "We really need support to deal with this because the strategies that we have used in the past seem to be not working," he said. "We are now repatriating two truckloads of illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe every day, and this costs the government a lot of money." Most Zimbabweans cross into Botswana at the northern border post of Ramokgwebana, but many illegally sneak across the 500-kilometre fenced border at ungazetted points. There are five border posts between the two countries. Botswana opposition parties have called on President Festus Mogae and his Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe to convene an urgent meeting to discuss the influx of illegal immigrants. "What has happened is that, to some of them (Zimbabweans), it is like a joke. They just drop their things upon repatriation and come back," Sekgororwane said.
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From WFP, 31 December 2002
WFP assessment of Zimbabwean migrants in RSA’s Limpopo Province
Dates: 29-31 December 2002
Place: Limpopo Province border zone
Classified info: no
Main findings/conclusions of mission/conference/seminar:
The majority of migrants are young Zimbabweans of mostly employable age (18-30) although Home Affairs staff on the South African side report that there has been a marked increase in arrests of "border jumpers" in the 11 18 years cohort.
Most migrants came from towns, and the primary reason cited for their crossing into South Africa was economic - a search for employment - fleeing a Zimbabwe where jobs are scarce and food short.
Because of deportations and persistent attempts by deportees to enter South Africa, short- and medium-term trends are not clear, although local farmers report increases in numbers coming from Zimbabwe to look for work on their farms over the past year.
Deportations of Zimbabweans illegally in South Africa are often circular, i.e., a person deported today will attempt re-entry tomorrow. The Army, which patrols the border zone and arrests illegals it encounters, and the Police, which arrests illegals deeper in the interior, as well as personnel of the Ministry of Home Affairs, broadly acknowledge that deportations are a small fraction of those actually crossing. Most months see in the order of 1,000 local deportees.
Local respondents claim that hundreds of people illegally cross the border daily. The border is porous, allowing people to cross at many points, and especially further west towards the Botswana border where there is no border fencing installed. The economic migrants issue has already become tri-national, as reliable observers report that Zimbabweans are attempting entry into South Africa via Botswana in large numbers.
Economic migrants without family or social links in South Africa often find their condition deteriorating rapidly, so that many end up as beggars or as criminals.
Some of these migrants have come long distances on foot, and upon arrival in South Africa, may go several days without food. Local residents recount that some of this number are fainting from hunger on doorsteps 115 km from the border, in the area of the town of Louis Trichardt. Security guards and fellow migrants at the municipal dump in Louis Trichardt report scores to hundreds of Zimbabwean migrants clandestinely resident at the dump and its vicinity, scavenging recyclable materials and consuming still-edible food items they may come across.
An estimated 50,000 Zimbabweans, both men and women, are currently employed on first-line farms along the South African side of the border. However, with South Africa planning on instituting a minimum-wage rates of 650 Rand/month for all residents to go into effect in March 2003, with a fine of 40,000 Rand for employment of illegal aliens, and with a tightening of immigration allowances also scheduled at that time, farmers acknowledge that they will have to down-staff.
The implication of the further deterioration of the Zimbabwe economy combined with the prospect of another drought is an increased flow of economic migrants from Zimbabwe into South Africa. In anticipation of possible influxes from the north, South African authorities are increasing patrols along their side of the border.
Expectations on the South African side are that when Zimbabweans households realize, toward February and March, that their harvest will again fail, numbers seeking to cross the border will dramatically increase.
Existing South African and Zimbabwean border administrative support capabilities (immigration and customs) would be strained in the event of a large-scale movement south. Formal staging areas in Zimbabwe are not large enough to accommodate any significant numbers, either on foot or via vehicle.
Beitbridge would quickly develop into major choke point for southbound traffic, which could force the allocation of portions of the northbound bridge capability both vehicular and pedestrian to relieve the congestion. This would quickly and severely reduce the effectiveness of this route as a logistics line of communication (LOC) for movement of food and other relief items from South Africa into Zimbabwe. In the absence of a massive, coordinated, and efficient forward-movement transportation operation, the large, flat areas adjacent to the Beitbridge on the South African side could end up becoming a de-facto refugee camp.
The continuing drought increases the probability that the Limpopo river, still utterly dry at the time of the mission, will not fill this year. Individuals attempting to "border jump" will seek alternative crossing sites along it. This in turn will further complicate efforts to channel migrants away from the border, and into areas where support/transportation resources are available.
Important lessons for RIACSO:
Three scenarios are possible:
The numbers seeking to cross into South Africa do not increase significantly, but due to a lack of food at home, the condition of people on arrival is low.
Numbers not only increase substantially, but entire households, including young children, will move. This will severely tax South African authorities, since detention capacity now is limited to city jails and the Lindela Detention Camp in Gauteng Province.
Numbers increase dramatically, and because of fuel shortages, most walk for days before reaching the border. The condition of the young and elderly is particularly acute. Rather than permitting passage across the border, South African authorities fortify the troops and police presence, rendering the border relatively impermeable. Such a situation would require humanitarian intervention on the Zimbabwean side, with the establishment of formal camps and feeding centers.
Suggestions for RIACSO/inter-agency follow up actions:
The Mission recommends that ODJ/OCHA contact Dr. Mandele, the South African Home Affairs official charged with refugee affairs, to clarify what may be possible to accomplish on the South African side were Scenario 2 or 3 to occur.
(RIACSO is the UN Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Support Office)
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From The Daily News, 30 January
30 abducted, tortured by police MDC
Staff Reporter
About 30 MDC members have been abducted and taken to several police stations outside Harare where they are being subjected to inhuman treatment by the police and the Central Intelligence Organisation since the imposition of an unofficial curfew in Kuwadzana, says Paul Themba Nyathi, the MDC's spokesman. The MDC and the Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust (Zimcet), a non-governmental organisation, yesterday castigated the police for imposing the unofficial curfew in Kuwadzana. As a result of transport problems, many people were failing to beat the curfew deadline, resulting in many being assaulted by Zanu PF youths and armed policemen, they said. The unofficial curfew followed the death of a Zanu PF supporter, Tonderayi Mangwiro, two weeks ago in a bomb attack in Kuwadzana. "Despite denials by Wayne Bvudzijena, the police spokesman, to the effect that police are working with Zanu PF surrogate forces such as the war veterans in subjecting opposition members to routine and systematic torture, there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary," Nyathi said.
Fanuel Tsvangirayi, the MDC chairperson for Ward 38 in the constituency, was released from Goromonzi Police Station on Monday where he was being held since his abduction on 20 January together with Gift Marongedze, another party member. "My assailants tied bricks to my testicles and connected live electric wires to my toes to force me to disclose MDC plans for the by-election," Tsvangirayi said. Nyathi said the police did not press any charges against Tsvangirayi. "An independent commission must be set up to investigate torture cases," he said. Sarayi Mapfumo said her husband, Jeremiah Mapfumo, was abducted on Wednesday last week on allegations his company vehicle was used in the bombing incident. Mapfumo was released from Harare Central Police Station on Monday. The police at Kuwadzana Police Station said they were not handling violence cases but were referring them to the law and order section at Harare Central Police Station. "We arrest everyone who has committed an offence, especially at the moment when political violence has erupted in Kuwadzana," said a police officer who answered the telephone. Jestina Mukoko, the Zimcet public relations officer, said the freedoms of movement, expression and association were being denied the Kuwadzana residents in broad daylight. She said she feared the violence would spread to Highfield where another by-election is to be held soon.
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From The Washington Post, 30 January
Official seeks closure of Zimbabwe paper
By Angus Shaw, Associated Press writer
Harare - The information minister told Zimbabwe's Supreme Court that the country's only independent daily newspaper is illegal and should be punished for flouting stringent media laws, court officials said Thursday. The Daily News has refused to register with the government as required by the laws, the minister, Jonathan Moyo, said in a sworn statement to the court, the officials said. Moyo is the architect of the media laws, which critics say are aimed at stifling criticism of the government. The Daily News admits refusing to register and has asked the court to strike down the law, saying it violates rights to free expression and association. The court has not scheduled a hearing. Moyo said until courts or Parliament repealed the media act it should be obeyed. He asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the newspaper's application and force it to comply or shut down, the officials said.
Authorities have cracked down on independent journalists in recent months. Police have arrested 14 local independent journalists, including several from The Daily News, mainly on charges of publishing "falsehoods" that carry a penalty of up to two years in jail. The only journalist to be tried so far was acquitted. The new laws also require foreign journalists to apply for government approval before coming to Zimbabwe. The government routinely denies the requests. No action has been taken against journalists working for state-controlled media. On Monday, Japanese Ambassador Tsuneshige Iiyama said he had not made remarks attributed to him in the state Herald newspaper criticizing the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. The paper is closely controlled by Moyo. Parts of the article were "totally fabricated," the ambassador said in a letter to Herald editor Pikirayi Deketeke. Iiyama also said Moyo had raised "Zimbabwe's bad image."
And last week James Morris, the U.N. special envoy to the southern African hunger crisis, complained the Herald fabricated a remark attributed to him praising Zimbabwe's often-violent seizures of white-owned commercial farms. Morris protested a second time after claiming his first protest letter was published in the paper with key words edited out to change the meaning. Three journalists, two of them Americans with government press accreditation, were detained by police for seven hours Tuesday and denied telephone calls and access to a lawyer. On Wednesday, five foreign Lutheran church workers were deported after being accused of being undercover journalists trying to gather information on aid projects to help the Lutheran World Federation raise funds.
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From The Guardian (UK), 31 January
England dismay at Harare go-ahead
Paul Kelso
The England squad last night expressed its "significant disappointment" after the International Cricket Council ruled that their controversial World Cup match in Zimbabwe should go ahead as scheduled. The players' representatives, the Professional Cricketers' Association, will today meet with lawyers to examine the legal ramifications of the game proceeding in Harare next month, including the question of whether the ICC has a duty of care to the squad. Yesterday the ICC executive board confirmed for the second time in a week that the February 13 game should take place, leaving Nasser Hussain's squad with the central role in deciding the row that has divided English cricket. If the England and Wales Cricket Board is unable to persuade the World Cup technical committee to move the match after it assumes responsibility for decision-making on Sunday, the players will be left with an onerous choice. They can ignore the "grave reservations" they expressed earlier this week and play, or defy their employers and their contracts by refusing.
The 13-member ICC board met by teleconference yesterday to consider an independent assessment of security arrangements in Zimbabwe from the risk analysts Kroll Associates. Kroll's report endorsed the tournament security plan, giving the ECB chairman David Morgan little hope of winning support for a motion to reschedule the match. After deciding not to seek a move yesterday the ECB's attention will now shift to lobbying the six members of the technical committee. In the light of the Kroll findings, however, hope of a tidy resolution to this crisis is fading. Neither was the ECB's cause helped by the executive board's reaction to a New Zealand request to shift their match against Kenya from Nairobi. Despite claiming to have evidence of a credible threat to the safety of the players, the New Zealand board was heavily defeated in a motion to move the match. Even Australia, a presumed ally of England and New Zealand on the question of player security, opposed it. England joined New Zealand in supporting the motion and Holland abstained.
Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the ICC and a member of the technical committee, confirmed that England will be able to present a case for shifting their match on safety and security grounds. But his assessment of the Kroll report as "categorical" in its endorsement of existing security arrangements indicates the scale of the task. Faced with a losing battle yesterday - ECB sources said there was "implacable and overwhelming" support for the report's conclusions - Morgan focused on the need for the ICC to take collective responsibility for the consequences of staging the match in Harare, and urged them to keep security under review. The ECB is convinced that the match will be a focus for protests against Robert Mugabe's government, and that a violent reaction from the authorities is likely to greet them. Morgan told the ICC board: "If there are significant security and safety problems, it will blight the whole 2003 World Cup with an indelible stain. If, in the next few days and weeks, there is a discernible deterioration in safety and security surrounding particular matches then decisions must be urgently reviewed and, if necessary, matches moved."
Australia and Holland joined the ECB in raising concerns over security, but Morgan did not press for a motion. "Given there was no request for any games to be moved from Zimbabwe, the board was not called on to make a decision," said Speed. Displaying the pragmatism that has characterised his approach to this bruising row, Speed said that while Zimbabwe is one of many "dangerous places" in the world, the players would be adequately protected. "It's not as if they are backpackers going on their holidays," he said. "These are cricketers who are used to the highest levels of security and that will happen."
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From Associated Press, 1 February
Trains collide in Zimbabwe, killing 30
Harare - Two trains collided in northwestern Zimbabwe early Saturday, killing at least 30 people, state radio reported. A southbound freight train collided with a passenger train near the coal mining center of Hwange, about 190 miles from the provincial capital of Bulawayo. The passenger train was headed to the northwestern resort town of Victoria Falls. The radio report said 30 bodies were recovered from the wreckage. It said "many more" passengers were injured and were being ferried to a hospital at the Hwange coal mine. The crash occurred at about 3 a.m., but rescuers were still trying to free people trapped in the cars. Transport Minister Witness Mangwende was traveling to the crash site to head investigations into the cause. The railroad in western Zimbabwe is the main line to mineral-rich neighbors Zambia and Congo. Hwange is the railhead for Zimbabwe's biggest coal mine. The state railroad company recently has been hit by shortages of imported spare parts and maintenance equipment.
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From News24 (SA), 31 January
EU still deadlocked on Zim
Brussels - The European Union failed again on Thursday to agree an extension of sanctions against Zimbabwe amid a row sparked by a French invitation to President Robert Mugabe. But a senior diplomat said the bloc still hopes to reach an accord before the current sanctions regime runs out on February 18, just before the Zimbabwe leader's planned Paris trip. "The discussion has been put off until next week," said a source close to the EU's Greek presidency," adding, "there is a climate favourable to reaching a solution." Ambassadors have been tasked with seeking a compromise after EU foreign ministers failed to resolve the issue earlier this week. Paris upset Britain and other EU members strongly critical of Zimbabwe by inviting the controversial leader to a summit. The 15-member EU imposed a visa ban against the Zimbabwean leadership last February, as violence flared in the run-up to a presidential poll widely condemned as rigged. In theory the ban should be renewed on February 18.
A British diplomat played down the significance of Thursday's failure to reach an agreement. "I'm sure the discussion will continue and we have until February 18 to resolve this. It's important to get it resolved by then," he said. The talks remained blocked on extending sanctions but at the same time allowing waivers, so Mugabe or other Zimbabwean officials can travel to the Franco-African summit next month and an EU-Africa summit in Lisbon in April. The new Greek proposal would allow an automatic waiver of the travel ban in the case of meetings in the EU organised by the UN or other international organizations whose headquarters are in the Union. Another type of waiver would be allowed with the backing of a qualified majority vote of EU member states, for meetings such as the Paris or Lisbon meetings, diplomats said. "Everyone agrees that we must urgently solve the three questions," said the Greek presidency source. "The ambassadors considered that more time was needed to discuss the issue."
Diplomats said that agreement had notably been blocked by Portugal. Keen for the Lisbon meeting to go ahead, Portugal proposed a further easing of the rules for granting waivers Thursday, but the proposal was rejected, the diplomats said. The Portuguese ambassador was due to consult his government before a new meeting on the issue next Wednesday, a diplomat said, although adding that he was eventually confident of a solution. Portuguese Foreign Minister Antonio Martins da Cruz said on Tuesday he favoured postponing the Lisbon meeting if the Mugabe issue was not resolved, saying it was clear that several EU leaders would stay away if the Zimbabwe leader turned up. The Greek source added that the problem was also "more general... We also have to see how we use the tool of sanctions as part of the EU's global foreign policy." Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden have so far opposed French President Jacques Chirac's invitation to Mugabe to attend the Franco-African summit in Paris on February 20-21. Amid the diplomatic horse-trading, Mugabe may yet be allowed to travel to Paris, diplomats say, although Sweden in particular remains reluctant. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday that Mugabe's government is a threat to everyone in Zimbabwe and Britain is doing everything possible to ostracise its former colony.
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From IOL (SA), 31 January
Mugabe invites archbishop to mediate
By Erika de Beer
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has invited the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Njongonkulu Ndungane to play a mediating role - possibly between Britain and Zimbabwe - to resolve that country's economic and political problems. Ndungane returned to South Africa on Friday after meeting Mugabe in Harare. "I'm very hopeful... it opens a new window," Ndungane said at Johannesburg International Airport en route from Zimbabwe to Cape Town, where he is based. He was accompanied by SA Council of Churches general secretary Molefe Tsele. "The fact that we were invited to get involved in the negotiations is a step in the right direction," the archbishop said. "According to me, the problems of Zimbabwe are not insurmountable," Ndungane said. Mugabe had told them that in his view, the root cause of the current problems was the fact that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had reneged on certain agreements regarding compensation for land used for reform that his predecessors, Margaret Thatcher and John Major, had made. "I can't verify that," Ndungane said. Because Mugabe cited Britain, Ndungane said, his first step would be to contact his British counterpart, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to convey the president's views to him.
Ndungane would also seek a meeting with South African President Thabo Mbeki to discuss the matter with him. "What we want to do is to get in touch with all the stakeholders." Tsele said the food shortage in Zimbabwe was the reason they went to see Mugabe in the first place. Ndungane said: "We have been inundated with letters requesting us to do something about Zimbabwe." Although Zimbabwe was not in his jurisdiction, he decided to go there to, for a start, listen to what Mugabe had to say. "The first thing I decided to do was to meet the president, to hear from the horse's mouth, so to speak." Mugabe had granted them a two-and-a-half hour audience. During the meeting, they raised the question of the political control over food aid, Tsele said. Mugabe had told them the World Food Programme had recently established a structure including 12 non-governmental organisations to monitor the situation. "There is a sensitivity that where people are hungry... it is immoral to withhold food." He believed the structure could work, Tsele said.
He and Ndungane had also asked ministers of the church on the ground to inform of any instances where people in need of food aid were asked to produce a party membership card first. So far, reports of such instances were just hear-say, Tsele said. Mugabe was very relaxed during their meeting, he said. "He does not deny there is a problem." Mugabe had also said he was open to a diversity of political parties in his country, Ndungane said. The archbishop said he would eventually meet all the different stakeholders in an effort to move towards a peaceful, stable Zimbabwe. "Watch this space as it unfolds." To solve the problems, would require creative, open minds, Ndungane said. "My belief is that if we as South Africa could solve our problems, Zimbabwe can do so too."
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From VOA News, 1 February
Treason trial of Zimbabwe opposition leader set for Monday
The treason trial of Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is set to begin on Monday. Mr. Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, denies charges that he and his colleagues plotted to assassinate President Robert Mugabe. He told VOA earlier Friday he is not worried by the upcoming trial. The government says it has a tape of Mr. Tsvangirai making plans to have President Mugabe killed. The opposition leader is to appear in Zimbabwe's high court Monday with the secretary general of his party, Welshman Ncube, and shadow minister of agriculture, Renson Gasela. Morgan Tsvangirai ran against President Robert Mugabe in last year's election. Mr. Mugabe, who has ruled the country since 1978, won the vote. The election was widely condemned by Zimbabwe's opposition and western nations as fraudulent.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 31 January
Herald fabricated comments says envoy
Staff Writer
Hardly a week after World Food Programme executive director James Morris accused the Herald of lying about his comments during his visit to Zimbabwe, the Japanese ambassador has raised concerns over being misquoted by the same newspaper. In a letter to Herald editor Pikirai Deketeke, also copied to all diplomatic missions and international organisations accredited to Zimbabwe, Japanese envoy Tsuneshinge Iiyama said the government-controlled daily fabricated remarks attributed to him in an article it published on Monday headlined "Japan slams Tsvangirai's stance". He said he was shocked by the Herald's fictitious report. "I was stunned," Iiyama said. "Parts of the article are totally fabricated, and other parts do not reflect my statements accurately at all. "In fact, I never uttered a single word about Mr Tsvangirai during my talk with Professor Moyo, nor did I mention Mr Tsvangirai to the mass media following this meeting," he said. Iiyama said he told the Herald that "we need to have some positive development on the ground. No country can live in isolation." He said he never told the Herald: "We don't think there is any reason for the international community to focus its attention on Zimbabwe".
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From Africa Confidential, 24 January
Coming out of the closet
The first plan may have failed, but finding an exit route for Comrade Mugabe is now political centre-stage
The architects of the soft-landing plan for President Robert Gabriel Mugabe are frustrated. Their efforts have produced the opposite effect to that intended: Mugabe is now less inclined to negotiate a retirement than he was six months ago. Not only have Colonel Lionel Dyck and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai exposed the scheme, the public naming of parliamentary Speaker Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa and the Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, General Vitalis Gava Zvinavashe (AC Vol 43 No 23), as its authors has made them targets of Mugabe's considerable wrath. Enraged that he wasn't informed about the advanced state of the negotiations several meetings with South African President Thabo Mbeki and intermediaries in Britain Mugabe has interpreted Mnangagwa's and Zvinavashe's scheme as tantamount to treason. Mugabe's attack-dog, Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, told the state-owned daily The Herald that the Mnangagwa plan amounted to a coup d'état.
Mnangagwa and Zvinavashe are both Karanga, the most numerous of Zimbabwe's ethnic groups as is the Movement for Democratic Change leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. Now Mugabe is said to regard the soft-landing plan as a Karanga plot to oust him. He implicates Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge and High Commissioner to London Samuel Mbengegwi, both Karanga and both, in Mugabe's view, having kept him out of the loop. In particular, Mugabe regards Mbengegwi as soft on his arch-enemies, Britain and its Prime Minister, Tony Blair. One element of the plan was that Mnangagwa and his business backers would persuade Britain and the European Union to drop sanctions against Zimbabwe if Mugabe retired and fresh elections were held.
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Comment The Star (SA), 31 January
SA is implicitly standing surety for Zimbabwe
By Peter Fabricius
South Africa is assuming huge responsibilities in Africa. We are managing very complex peace negotiations in the DRC and Burundi. With 700 troops already in Burundi, and several in the DRC, it seems we will be sending many more to Burundi next week. They have a dangerous mission: to police a very fragile ceasefire. But perhaps the biggest responsibility we are assuming is in Zimbabwe, where we are becoming, it seems, the guarantor of Mugabe's ultimate good behaviour. SA is in effect standing surety for Zimbabwe by leading an African effort to block the extension of both Commonwealth and European Union sanctions against that country when they come up for renewal. By rallying Africa to stand four-square with Zimbabwe, SA is effectively forcing the EU and the Commonwealth to make a hard choice between punishing Zimbabwe and estranging Africa.
In Brussels this week, we saw the EU baulk at that decision. EU foreign ministers failed to reach a decision whether to renew the sanctions against Zimbabwe. France wants Mugabe to attend a Franco-African summit in Paris the day after the ban against him travelling to Europe falls away under current sanctions. But Britain and some other EU countries want to extend the sanctions. A compromise was devised whereby France would have agreed to extend the sanctions if it were allowed to waive them just once to allow Mugabe to attend the Paris summit. However Portugal reportedly opposed the compromise because if the travel ban is extended, Mugabe will not be able to attend a Europe-Africa summit which it is hosting in Lisbon. And if Mugabe can't come, then the other African leaders will boycott. It is extraordinary how supposedly mature European countries allow their little summits, which are mostly hot air, to override a principled stance against Zimbabwe, which might just produce results if it is maintained consistently and for some time.
Zimbabwe and SA will both, no doubt, have derived much comfort from dividing Europe in this way. But SA should be cautious. Its opposition to punishing Mugabe imposes upon it a burden to effect change in Zimbabwe by non-coercive means. SA has assumed that burden by trying to mediate a reconciliation between the ruling Zanu PF party and the opposition MDC. This has borne no fruit yet, although there have been recent signs of some possible movement. But, according to some reports, the SA government believes the way to break the impasse is through Britain first assuming its "colonial responsibilities" in Zimbabwe. These reports suggest that when President Mbeki meets British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London tomorrow, he will try to persuade him to put up British money to finance Mugabe's land reform programme - in exchange for some deal whereby Mugabe steps down and the MDC gets some sort of role in government. Whether such a plan exists is by no means clear.
But official sources suggest Blair is unlikely to be amenable to lifting sanctions - let alone funding chaotic land reform - when Mugabe has done nothing since sanctions were imposed to deserve such relief. The SA approach to Zimbabwe seems to be informed by an underlying determinist philosophy best expressed by the ANC's general secretary Kgalema Motlanthe. He said Mugabe's fault was not that he had cared too little for his country but that he had cared too much. Mugabe spent too much on social benefits like health and education for his people in the '80s. That drove the country into debt, which forced the government to adopt an IMF structural adjustment plan in exchange for financial support. That undermined the economy, which provoked an uprising of opposition forces, which threatened Mugabe's hold on power, which "forced" him to crack down on the opposition, etc. This is the tortured logic of denial - denial of any responsibility by the Mugabes of this world for their own behaviour. Until our Zimbabwe policy - and our Africa policy - accepts that leaders are primarily responsible for their country's predicaments, it cannot succeed. Confounding Europe is a short-term benefit. In the long term, as the ones implicitly standing surety for Mugabe and Zanu PF, we lose if they don't come right. That is something we should be thinking about as we watch Europe squirm.
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From BBC News, 2 February
40 die in Zimbabwe train crash
At least 40 people have been killed and about 60 others injured in a train crash in western Zimbabwe, according to the authorities. A passenger train collided with a goods train carrying inflammable material near the town of Dete, on a railway line linking the southern city of Bulawayo to the western resort of Victoria Falls. Reports from the scene said a fierce fire broke out, and some of the dead were burnt beyond recognition. State radio said 30 bodies had been recovered from the wreckage, and many more passengers were being ferried to hospital facilities at the nearby town of Hwange. Hours after the crash at 0300 local time, rescuers were still trying to free people trapped in the mangled wreckage, and there were fears that the death toll would rise. Zimbabwe's Transport Minister Witness Mangwende - who visited the scene of the crash - blamed the accident on human error. Mr Mangwende said a mistake in track signals had sent the two trains onto the same track. President Robert Mugabe sent his condolences to the relatives of the dead.
The passenger train was believed to have carried 1,100 people in 13 coaches, 11 of which were destroyed in the crash, which was apparently head-on. The BBC's Hilary Andersson says passenger trains in Zimbabwe have become increasingly overcrowded in recent months due to severe fuel shortages. She says the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has found it difficult to import spare parts and maintenance equipment for its railway system recently, because of the lack of hard currency in the country. Saturday's accident is the latest in a string of crashes involving trains in Zimbabwe. Last month, five people were killed and more than 100 injured when a goods train ploughed into a bus in Harare. Last October, 22 people were injured when a passenger train on its way to Victoria Falls derailed near Hwange after colliding with an elephant. Our correspondent says the latest incident will not make it any easier for Zimbabwe to improve its image as a safe and attractive tourist destination prior to the Cricket World Cup, which starts later this month.
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From The Observer (UK), 2 February
Leader’s plea to halt Zimbabwe torture
On the eve of his treason trial, Morgan Tsvangirai, the head of Zimbabwe's opposition, tells Andrew Meldrum that the world must now intervene to save his country
Faces lit up and people scurried to shake hands or just get close to Zimbabwe's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, when he went for an unexpected walkabout in Harare's Budiriro township. The scruffy vegetable market was briefly transformed. 'Mr President, you are our true leader,' said a beaming vendor. Others chanted: 'We are hungry, we are hungry.' Tsvangirai responded, 'I know, I understand. We are going through hard times.' This week will be especially tough for Tsvangirai, who goes on trial tomorrow for his alleged involvement in an assassination attempt on Zimbabwe's tyrannical leader, Robert Mugabe. In an exclusive interview with The Observer, Tsvangirai declared this weekend that his country was now facing a 'torture emergency'. 'The UN should send its special rapporteur; the Commonwealth should investigate. This is a universal appeal to all international bodies, government and human rights organisations to investigate what is going on here. In the name of human rights, it must stop.' Tsvangirai bitterly attacked France and Portugal for inviting Mugabe to summits in their capitals in defiance of European Union sanctions, charging that they will be 'toasting with goblets of the blood of innocent women and children'.
In the marketplace on Friday, the support for Tsvangirai was tangible, even from a young man who came up in a T-shirt emblazoned with the emblem of Zanu PF, Mugabe's ruling party. 'What's this?' said Tsvangirai in a jocular tone. 'It's just a T-shirt,' said the man, shaking hands and smiling. 'I have to have something to wear.' Some told Tsvangirai how brave he was to stand up to Mugabe. Others said: 'Where have you been? We need you!' Within a few minutes Tsvangirai got back in his truck and was off to visit other markets as well as the endless queues - fuel queues, bus queues and food queues - that define Zimbabwe today. They were lightning visits, designed to avoid Zimbabwe's police, who have used draconian security laws to disperse meetings that Tsvangirai was scheduled to address. After keeping a relatively low profile since the March presidential elections, which he narrowly lost to Mugabe amid widespread charges of state violence and voting fraud, Tsvangirai is reinvigorated and taking the offensive against the government. Tsvangirai is enthusiastically received wherever he goes and the whistle-stop walkabouts are marked by cheers, joking and a lack of the menace and thuggish threats that are the hallmarks of Mugabe's Zanu PF. It has been many years since Mugabe has ventured out to meet the public. Tsvangirai, 51, appeared relaxed and cheerful, but he has many challenges to face, not least tomorrow. He has dismissed the charges as 'trumped-up allegations, part of a campaign of spurious charges against our party's leaders to try to derail us. We are confident these charges will not hold up in court'. In the past few weeks, 10 supporters of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have been arrested, including three MPs and a lawyer. They allege that they were tortured by police, including beatings, clubbing and electric shocks to the genitals. Their charges are supported by independent medical examinations.
In January, Zimbabwe was rocked by the news that two of Mugabe's top deputies allegedly approached Tsvangirai to see if he would join in a transitional government if they could convince Mugabe to take early retirement. The news established Tsvangirai as a key player in any negotiations to resolve Zimbabwe's ongoing crisis. 'Anyone who wants to find a solution must come to the MDC because we have the allegiance of the people,' Tsvangirai said. 'Mugabe may have the power and the position, but he is totally lacking in democratic legitimacy. People are looking to the MDC because it stands up for democracy and speaks up for the issues that affect everyone. Zanu PF knows the time for testing the waters is fast running out. Negotiations to resolve the economic crisis must take place now, or very soon. 'The economic realities are very evident. The government is insolvent and the situation is totally unsustainable. When people are going hungry, we are clearly at the wall. The peoples' suffering must stop. That is the key.' Mugabe's government estimates that eight million of the country's 12 million people are threatened with starvation. 'The government alone cannot deal with the magnitude of the food shortages, yet it wants to control food for political reasons,' Tsvangirai said. 'There is evidence that food is being steered away from the areas of MDC support. Buhera [Tsvangirai's home area] and Binga have been starved of any food from the state Grain Marketing Board. 'It is only because of the intervention of international non-governmental organisations that there has not been serious loss of life. And the fuel shortage makes things worse. There is no diesel to transport food.'
South Africa and Nigeria both sent Cabinet Ministers to Zimbabwe in January who publicly supported Mugabe and did not meet Tsvangirai or any other MDC member. Tsvangirai denounced South Africa and Nigeria for supporting Mugabe rather than mediating between all sides. 'We in the MDC recognise the role of South Africa in helping to point the way forward for us. South Africa has the historical precedent of always being part of the solution for this country. Our concern is over the strategy the Mbeki government has employed. We question whether it can serve as an honest broker. 'We believe they have compromised themselves by openly supporting Zanu PF. This support started with the March elections, but it is now more robust. The Labour Minister visited here and loudly supported Zanu PF, the Foreign Minister, too. And at the ACP meeting, South Africa supported Mugabe. So it is natural for us to distrust them.' Tsvangirai spelled out what he believes is necessary to return the troubled country to democracy. 'The first thing is that Mugabe has got to go. Mugabe's arrogance and defiance is becoming a national liability,' he said. 'Let's recognise that Zanu PF, although it is part of the problem, is also part of the solution. It must be involved in the transitional authority that we are proposing. The elections must be conducted according to the standards of the Southern African Development Community [SADC - the group of 15 southern African nations].'
African countries have developed their own standards for democratic elections and these must be adhered to, Tsvangirai said. 'To allow democracy to function freely is the only way out. 'We recognise that Mbeki needs a solution to Zimbabwe's crisis, too. If there is anything we can do to bridge the gap of misunderstanding with South Africa, then we will try it. But they must deal with us honestly and fairly. 'South Africa has gone through a commendable process of changing governments using national healing and reconciliation, fully democratic elections, the creation of a legitimate constitution that gives power to the people. We can learn from all those steps.' The next few months are crucial, he said. 'There are many events that are coming up: the Commonwealth decision in March whether to expel Zimbabwe or maintain its suspension; Nigerian president Obasanjo will visit here in February; EU heads of state will meet with their ACP partners soon; the UN is to consider Zimbabwe. What the international community should say is "We want to help". 'The international community should not think this is just between two political parties; they must help the whole nation. To do that they must consult with all the civic organisations in the space between the parties. All stakeholders should be consulted; only then can we move forward together.'
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 31 January
Commission collects data on rights abuses
Blessing Zulu
There may be a glimmer of hope for Zimbabwe's ever-growing list of victims of politically-motivated human rights abuses, the Zimbabwe Independent has learnt. The London-based Accountability Commission - Zimbabwe project, an organisation launched recently, has started to gather information on human rights violations with a view to setting up a special court to try perpetrators of violence. Rwanda and Sierra Leone have similar courts. The commission wants to see justice meted out to those found guilty of crimes of torture and violence, which have been allowed to go unpunished. The commission comprises local and international human rights lawyers. "The great strides being made towards universal jurisdiction mean the closing of loopholes for flagrant abusers of human rights is around the corner," said David Banks, speaking in London on behalf of the commission. The commission is appealing to witnesses to come forward with details of incidents of politically-motivated murder, torture, rape and beatings. It then aims to prepare dossiers with a view to opening dockets. "We are building up files of evidence, person by person, on the illegal activities that individuals have been involved in but where no charges have been brought in the present environment of impunity," said Banks. "We also hope to develop as detailed knowledge of their personal details and crimes that have been committed. The Accountability Commission is a results-driven organisation. Our mandate is to build up evidence against individuals instead of institutions or state bodies. In the past there has been a tendency for perpetrators to hide behind their employers," he said. "Following the South African experience, the Accountability Commission does not believe a Truth and Reconciliation approach should be seen as a blueprint for Zimbabwe," Banks said. "In order for the justice system to be resuscitated people need to see that criminals are made to pay the price for their deeds."
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From The Observer (UK), 2 February
ECB in court over Harare match
Denis Campbell
England's controversial World Cup match in Zimbabwe could yet be halted if the High Court in London declares that the players' employers are acting illegally in sending Nasser Hussain's side to Harare against their wishes. The bitter row over the 13 February fixture will move from Lord's to The Strand in the next few days when Labour MP Derek Wyatt asks the High Court to declare that the England and Wales Cricket Board have flouted their own rules over the affair. Wyatt, the MP for Sittingbourne and North Sheppey, will petition the High Court for a judicial review of the ECB's behaviour, arguing that they are in breach of their duty, enshrined in clause four of their own constitution, 'to uphold and enhance the traditions and spirit of the game of cricket'. Wyatt has received a legal opinion from a Queen's Counsel advising that the ECB may well be in breach of that obligation because, although they sympathise with the players' opposition to appearing in the Zimbabwean capital next week, they are still backing the International Cricket Council's insistence that England must travel because it is safe to play the match.
'Nasser Hussain and the rest of the players clearly do not want to play this match in Zimbabwe, yet at the moment the ECB are still helping to force them to do something their consciences find repugnant,' said Wyatt. 'I believe the ECB's stance is contrary to their duty to uphold the spirit of the game and believe there is a very good chance the judge will agree. 'If the players want to play the match elsewhere, surely forcing them to play in Zimbabwe violates the sport's true spirit, which is all about fairness, honesty and integrity,' said Wyatt, who played rugby union for England. A judicial review is a speedy legal process, and the court should hand down its judgement by the end of the week. Through their representative, Richard Bevan of the Professional Cricketers' Association, the England squad made clear last week that they do not want the match in Harare to go ahead, and asked for it to be switched to South Africa. But the ECB, fearful that they could be fined heavily by the ICC if England refused to play in Zimbabwe, have until now toed the ICC's line.
This week will be crucial in deciding if the match does occur. Tomorrow, any decision on whether it proceeds passes from the ICC's ruling 10-man board to the World Cup tournament committee, headed by Dr Ali Bacher of South Africa, who are less susceptible to the factionalism of world cricket politics. They may yet move the game, as England want. Bevan further increased the pressure on the ECB and ICC yesterday by hinting that Hussain and his team-mates may follow the example of New Zealand, who have refused to fulfil their match in Kenya in case they become a terrorist target. The PCA are also demanding 'full access' to the Kroll Report, the assessment of the security situation in Zimbabwe upon which the ICC last week maintained it was safe for World Cup games to proceed in Robert Mugabe's country. The study warned that 'extensive disruptions of the matches are planned by elements in the opposition MDC party'. Bevan says players, officials, fans and Zimbabwean citizens could be at risk if matches proceeded. South Africa, who expect to reach the final of the World Cup, were thrashed by one of their provincial sides in a warm-up match in Cape Town yesterday. They were bowled out for 155 in 39.5 overs by Western Province, Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener in particular struggling to force the ball off the square. Jacques Kallis contributed an entertaining 17 off seven balls. Western Province won by seven wickets with 9.5 overs of this 40- overs-a-side match to spare, Neil Johnson striking 71 off 53 balls.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 31 January
Mugabe ordered Airzim engineers back
Blessing Zulu
President Robert Mugabe personally intervened to have fired Air Zimbabwe engineers reinstated following an embarrassing delay in South Africa, the Zimbabwe Independent has learnt. Authoritative sources at the national airline said the president ordered the immediate reinstatement of the 140 engineers following a long delay in South Africa after his trip to the Far East. "The president could not be fetched by charter-IB737 when he returned from his holiday," said an airline source. "This caused considerable irritation and embarrassment." The reinstatement of the workers flies in the face of a managerial decision not to replace the workers as the airline only has four operational planes. Sources said Mugabe was stuck in Johannesburg for six hours as the Air Zimbabwe plane due to transport him from Johannesburg to Harare developed a technical fault in Mauritius. The plane was supposed to arrive in Harare from Mauritius at 3am on Monday, January 13, but only landed at around 5am. The plane was further delayed for about four hours in Zimbabwe for VIP configurations which were done by hired South African technical engineers who could not complete the job on time, said the source.
"The president's chief of protocol, Sam Kajese, informed Mugabe that the delay was caused by the unavailability of engineers who had been fired by Air Zimbabwe management," said the source. "On his return Mugabe immediately summoned the Minister of Transport, Witness Mangwende with instructions to recall the fired workers and give them everything they wanted." The source said Mangwende then instructed his permanent secretary, Retired Colonel Christian Katsande, to meet the engineers. "Katsande personally imposed the deal at Chapman Golf Club and the management was taken aback by the sudden twist of events and had no choice but to accept the workers they had fired," the source said.
The Independent revealed in November that the national carrier was violating safety regulations, jeopardising the safety of passengers in the process. Documents availed to the Independent showed that standards at the national airline had fallen since engineers went on strike in September demanding a salary hike. The strikers were subsequently dismissed by management. The strike revolved around demands for monthly salaries of between $200 000 and $430 000, depending on grades with effect from January 1. Following Katsande's intervention the workers were paid their money from September plus a bonus and a 45% increase awarded to other workers. Meanwhile, the Independent has learnt that the presidential party paid US$45 000 for excess luggage in Singapore before embarking for Johannesburg. Following their arrival in Johannesburg, airline sources said this week, the presidential luggage would not fit on the Boeing 737 to Harare, forcing another consignment to follow later in the evening on a Boeing 767.
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From BBC News, 3 February
Mugabe rival faces treason charges
Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and two senior party colleagues go on trial on Monday on treason charges over an alleged plot to kill President Robert Mugabe. Mr Tsvangirai, 50-year-old leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and his two associates have denied the allegations. The MDC leader said the charges were fabricated by the authorities to try to remove him from the political scene. The opposition claims the charges have been brought as a retribution against Mr Tsvangirai, who was the only serious contender to Mr Mugabe during last March's presidential elections. Mr Mugabe won the elections, but there have been allegations of widespread voter rigging and intimidation. If found guilty, Mr Tsvangirai faces a possible death penalty. Mr Tsvangirai's deputy, Welshman Ncube, and another senior MDC member, Renson Gasela, were also charged with treason. Mr Tsvangirai says the charges, based on a videotape which purports to show him discussing the assassination of Mr Mugabe with a political consultant, were fabricated.
The allegations against Mr Tsvangirai were made by a Canadian political consultancy, Dickens and Madson, headed by former Israeli intelligence officer and Mugabe lobbyist Ari Ben-Menashe. On the videotape, repeatedly broadcast on Zimbabwean state television, Mr Tsvangirai is shown allegedly discussing ways of eliminating Mr Mugabe with consultants. But there have been suggestions the videotape was heavily edited. Mr Tsvangirai will be represented by well-known South African attorney George Bizos, who defended Nelson Mandela nearly 40 years ago. The trial at the colonial style courthouse in the capital, Harare, comes a week before the first of six World Cup cricket matches are scheduled to be played in Zimbabwe. Several countries - including Britain and Australia - have expressed concerns over whether the tournament should be held in the country, gripped by political unrest and acute economic crisis. The trial also comes a month after media reports claimed that Mr Tsvangirai had been approached by senior members of the ruling Zanu PF party over a plan to oust Mr Mugabe. Zanu PF have denied the existence of any secret deal with the opposition.
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From The Guardian (UK), 3 February
Zimbabwe treason trial begins
Andrew Meldrum in Harare
The treason trial of the Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is to open today, but it is President Robert Mugabe's government and the country's legal system that is expected to come under international scrutiny. Mr Tsvangirai and two senior officials of his Movement for Democratic Change are charged with plotting to have Mr Mugabe assassinated. Mr Tsvangirai has dismissed the allegations as "trumped-up charges, fabrications designed to discredit the MDC". Mr Tsvangirai said he is working to end Mr Mugabe's rule, but strictly through democratic means. With inflation at 200%, two-thirds of the country's 12 million people threatened with starvation, crippling shortages of fuel and other essential items, most Zimbabweans may be inclined to believe Mr Tsvangirai. The three accused will be defended by a team headed by the renowned South African anti-apartheid lawyer George Bizos. The government accuses Mr Tsvangirai of hiring a Canadian political consultancy firm to assassinate Mr Mugabe. That company, Dickens and Madson, is on record as being employed by Mr Mugabe's government, so the defence will argue that any evidence it provides is highly suspect. The state's chief witness will be the company's director Ari Ben-Menashe, a former Israeli Mossad agent described by Time magazine as a "veteran spinner of stunning-if-true-but yarns". Accusing his opposition of treason is not a new tactic for Mr Mugabe. In 1982 he charged the rival nationalist leader Joshua Nkomo and officials of his Zapu party with plotting to topple him. They were acquitted, but were imprisoned for seven years without charges. In 1996 another opposition leader, the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole, also alleged a frame-up after being convicted of plotting to kill Mr Mugabe.
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From Business Day (SA), 3 February
Tsvangirai on trial as Zanu PF squabbles
Jonathan Katzenellenbogen
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and two senior party colleagues go on trial this morning on allegations of plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe, amid growing signs of disharmony within Zanu PF. Tsvangirai, together with MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube and the party's shadow agriculture minister Renson Gasela, face the death penalty if convicted of treason on the basis of a videocassette purportedly showing him discussing Mugabe's assassination with consultants in Canada. Following the unusual recent criticism of Mugabe's government by defence forces commander, Gen Vitalis Zvinavashe, it has emerged that two retired senior military men told Mugabe a fortnight ago to resolve the country's biting economic crisis urgently, and to come out clearly over his retirement plans and the issue of his successor. Former army commander, retired Gen Solomon Mujuru and former Air Force head, Josiah Tungamirai, apparently put the country's worsening political and economic crisis squarely on the shoulders of Mugabe and other senior Zanu PF officials, including vice-presidents Joseph Msika and Simon Muzenda.
A well-placed source said yesterday Mugabe had indicated to the two men that he was happy to leave as long as Zanu PF members agreed on his successor. It is widely accepted that Mujuru and Tungamirai are against Mugabe's personal choice as successor Emmerson Mnangagwa the speaker of parliament and third-in-line in the ruling party hierarchy. Efforts to get comment from Mugabe's office last night were futile. In the week ahead, diplomatic activity over Zimbabwe will take on a new intensity. At his weekend meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Thabo Mbeki is believed to have hinted at impending positive developments in Harare. Mbeki said he did not believe the sanctions against Mugabe's government in Zimbabwe were working. The Commonwealth suspended Zimbabwe last year from its decision-making councils for a year after presidential poll that monitors say were rigged. And while Zimbabwe is not the focus of today's African Union summit in Ethiopia, the gathering could provide an opportunity for talks on the resolution of the crisis.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 3 February
Signalman arrested after Zim’s worst train crash
Angus Shaw
Harare - The death toll in the head-on collision between a packed passenger train and a freight train in northwestern Zimbabwe rose to 46, police said on Sunday. A railway worker who might have given a wrong signal was arrested and tested for alcohol, media reports said. Rudo Muchemenyi of the western Matabeleand province police department told state television four more bodies were retrieved during Sunday from the train wreckage. Police had reported 42 people killed in the crash on Saturday and 64 injured, many seriously. All the dead were found in the charred wreckage that was gutted by fire. Only 11 of the dead have been positively identified, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation said in its nightly news The transport ministry blamed the crash on human error. State television reported the signals on that stretch of rail line - the busiest in the country -- had been reported faulty since November. It said the state railroad company, troubled by shortages of equipment, also reported outages of electrically powered signals across the country, forcing some signalers to revert to handing written information cards to train crews on their scheduled stops.
Both locomotive crews died instantly when the trains collided on a curve in the track near the coal mining center of Hwange, about 300 kilometres from the western city of Bulawayo. At the time of the accident, the freight train was at full throttle, while the passenger train was picking up speed after a recent stop, the state Sunday Mail reported. The newspaper said a trackside signal official was arrested and his blood alcohol level was tested. The results of the test were not immediately known. Normally one of the trains would have been diverted on to a side track, while the other continued on the single track line. Hwange is the railway centre for Zimbabwe's largest coal mine. Fire destroyed 11 of the economy passenger cars -- most of them old cars, paneled and fitted with wood - leaving some of the dead burned beyond recognition, media reported. Many of the train cars were mangled. The Sunday Mail, reporting from the scene, said rescue workers feared more bodies were still trapped beneath the twisted wreckage. It reported that an unspecified number of foreign tourists were aboard the train but that all escaped unhurt.
Police said it was believed some passengers were carrying cans of gasoline on the train, state television reported. Acute shortages of fuel have led to black marketeering and hoarding of gas in jerry cans. The southbound freight train was carrying flammable liquid. Passenger trains in Zimbabwe have become increasingly crowded in recent months as acute fuel shortages forced many commuter buses, taxis and private cars off the roads. Muchemenyi, the police official, said passengers headed for Zambia on the main line to Zimbabwe's northern neighbor and mineral-rich Congo, often carry fuel from Bulawayo for resale across the border at large profits. Zimbabwe's government fixes gasoline prices, so the cost is about a tenth of that in neighbouring countries. Saturday's crash forced the closure of the rail line between Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. A crash in the same area in 2000 killed 16 people and one in 1983 killed 37 people. A train derailed near Hwange last year after hitting an elephant, injuring 22 people. Zimbabwe's economic crisis and its devastating shortage of hard currency have made it nearly impossible for the state railroad company to import spare parts and maintenance equipment for its locomotives and freight cars.
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From The Star (SA), 3 February
Mugabe ready to soften restrictions Mbeki
Peter Fabricius
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is to introduce legislation to increase press and political freedoms in his country. This is the message President Thabo Mbeki gave British Prime Minister Tony Blair during a six-hour meeting on Saturday at Chequers, Blair's weekend residence outside London. It is not known how Blair responded to the information. Mbeki told journalists after the meeting that he believed Mugabe would announce legislative changes in the next few weeks. These would increase freedom of political activity and soften the controversial media law which came into effect last year, and which gives Mugabe's government almost total control over the media. The law forces all journalists to register with the government, allowing it to refuse to register media critics. Mbeki told Blair that SA cabinet ministers who have visited Harare recently learnt of Mugabe's plans to ease the political restrictions. However, some observers believe Mugabe's moves will merely be a ploy to pre-empt the reimposition of Commonwealth and European Union sanctions when these come up for renewal in the next few weeks. It is understood that apart from these expected legislative changes, no plan to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis was discussed. There had been some speculation that the two leaders might discuss a plan for Mugabe to step down in favour of a government of national unity. However, as Mbeki and Blair mostly met without advisers or notetakers, it is not certain exactly what they talked about. The two met for four hours alone and were then joined by their closest advisers for two hours of lunch.
Iraq was also prominent in the discussions, especially as Blair had just returned from intense consultations in Washington with US President George W Bush. Mbeki told journalists that he had told Blair he believed a war in Iraq could still be avoided. To this end he would soon be sending Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad to Baghdad to urge the Iraqi government to comply more pro-actively with the UN weapons inspectors looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In a Sky News interview, Mbeki said he was unhappy about the role Britain had played in the Iraqi standoff, noting that many in SA shared "a concern about an approach which seems to say there must be a war". Mbeki's spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said the weapons inspectors had complained last week of a lack of pro-active co-operation from the Iraqi government, and so getting them to provide such co-operation was a key to preventing war. Mbeki also told journalists he believed Blair was committed to international peace and that he recognised that a war against Iraq would need international support. Mbeki was meeting Blair not only as SA president but also as chairperson of the Non-Aligned Movement, representing most of the developing world, and as chair of the African Union which represents the 53 nations of Africa. British officials had also stressed before the meeting that Blair would want to reach these constituencies through Mbeki, as part of his effort to drum up international support for military action against Iraq if it did not co-operate with the weapons inspectors. It is understood that Blair had stressed to Mbeki that he believed that the UN security council would need to pass another resolution to approve war against Iraq. This is a major point of difference between Blair and Bush, who believes that another security council resolution is not absolutely necessary. Blair and Mbeki also discussed other conflict areas in Africa where SA is involved in peacemaking efforts, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Ivory Coast. They also discussed the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), which Blair has enthusiastically supported, and agreed that concrete action to implement Nepad's development agen |
