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Archived News
6th May 2003
Leaders on mission to make Mugabe quit
Mbeki won't be 'effecting regime change' in Zim
Mugabe suspends opposition mayor
GMB eases restrictions on grain sales
Villagers accuse heads of politicising food aid
South African envoy hands out food parcels, from a limousine
Teasing friend and foe
Knives out for Mugabe as party loyalty fades
Harare scorns speculation Mugabe to quit
Evidence of Zim vote rigging 'available'
Zimbabwean rumours - Reading tea leaves by candlelight
Muted Zimbabwe tip-toe into town
Reporter barred
How the army hijacked Zimbabwe poll
Harare mayor in hiding as he defies "illegal" suspension order
Murerwa in bid to break Brussels blockade
Inebriated Zimbabwean diplomat booked
UN should intervene in Zim
Zimbabwe's fuel supplies dry up
Embattled Mugabe back in the hot spot
Mugabe defies plea by African leaders to quit
Fuel crisis deepens
Zimbabwe's petrol thieves add fuel to the fire
Bid to probe Chombo sparked Mudzuri ouster
Police bury torture victim in secret as mourners watch from the long grass
Politics force Zimbabwe to ask boys to do men's work
Mbeki leads new peace initiative in Zimbabwe
African presidents to visit Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe talks suffer setback after 'agents' jibe
Soldier's family denied burial order
Leave Zimbabwe's cricketers alone: Mugabe is the villain
Troika urges Mugabe to negotiate
Mugabe blocks talks
Zim meeting 'went well', says Tsvangirai
African leaders help Zimbabwe take a small but tangible step to ease crisis
Police force Mudzuri out of Town House
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From The Guardian (UK), 1 May
Leaders on mission to make Mugabe quit
Andrew Meldrum in Harare and Rory Carroll in Johannesburg
Two of Africa's most powerful leaders, Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo, are to press President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to retire in an attempt to break the country's deepening economic and humanitarian crisis. The South African and Nigerian presidents will fly to Harare on Monday, along with President Bakili Muluzi of Malawi, to urge Mr Mugabe to step down after 23 years in power, according to sources close to Mr Mbeki's office. A successor would then be appointed from Mr Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party to head a transitional government sharing power with the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change until elections could be held. In addition to holding talks with Mr Mugabe, the three African presidents are planning to meet the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, to discuss reviving negotiations between the two parties.
Zimbabwe's economic meltdown has become so acute that both sides may make concessions that were unthinkable only a few months ago, according to Pretoria. Two-thirds of the country's 12 million-strong population are now subsisting on international food relief in a country that was once called "the breadbasket of Africa". There is unlikely to be a public rebuke for Mr Mugabe. According to high-level sources, Mr Mbeki will not broach the so-called "exit strategy" for his retirement nor will he use as a lever South Africa's supply of electricity to Zimbabwe. Mr Mugabe wants assurances that he will be granted immunity from prosecution for alleged human rights abuses. It is expected that the presidents will hail Mr Mugabe as a leader of Africa in public, while urging him to quit in private. Mr Mbeki is understood to be willing to ease Mr Mugabe out of office because the prolonged Zimbabwean crisis has largely scuppered international support for the New Economic Partnership for African Development, particularly from the western powers. Under Nepad, African countries are expected to encourage good governance and economic management in return for increased development assistance.
Mr Mugabe fuelled speculation about his possible retirement in a rare interview on state television last Sunday, in which he suggested that he might be prepared to step down now that he has achieved his goal of redistributing Zimbabwe's land. But on Tuesday, his information minister, Jonathan Moyo, strenuously denied that there was any retirement plan. Mr Tsvangirai added to feverish speculation over Mr Mugabe's fate when he stated yesterday his support for "serious and sincere dialogue" between the two parties to resolve Zimbabwe's problems. He went on to set conditions for negotiations, including a halt to all state-sponsored violence and the repeal of repressive laws against public meetings and the press.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 30 April
Mbeki won't be 'effecting regime change' in Zim
The presidency has rejected reports that President Thabo Mbeki intends urging Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to step down when he visits Harare next week. "We strongly reject the notion that the president can go to another country to effect a regime change there," presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said in Pretoria. "It is up to Mr Mugabe to deal with such issues." Mbeki is to hold talks with Mugabe as well as Zimbabwean opposition parties on Monday. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Malawian counterpart Bakili Muluzi will also attend. Khumalo said: "The president's visit forms part of ongoing South African efforts to assist the people of Zimbabwe in the challenge of reconstructing their country." There has been widespread speculation that the 79-year-old Mugabe might leave office after he hinted in an interview last week that he was "getting to a stage" where retirement might be possible. Information minister Jonathan Moyo reportedly denied on Tuesday that Mugabe would bow out before his six-year term ended in 2008.
Earlier on Wednesday, Zimbabwe's main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, said that his party is willing to hold discussions with the ruling party to pave the way for Mugabe to leave power "smoothly". The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader said his party has mapped out a way "to ensure a smooth exit" for Mugabe from power and to ensure that the southern African country moves to a "post-Mugabe era". "The only way to resolve the current crisis... is through a process of serious and sincere dialogue between the MDC and Zanu PF," Tsvangirai said in a statement. Relations between the government and the MDC are at a low point following a national strike last week over massive petrol price increases and the suspension of Harare's opposition mayor on Tuesday. "The MDC has five key points to ensure that this country moves to a position of post-Mugabe era," Tsvangirai said in separate comments to reporters. He said that his party's solutions to Zimbabwe's current economic and political crises emphasised negotiation, but insisted talks had to take place in a "peaceful environment". "Without dialogue, without negotiation this country is doomed," Tsvangirai told reporters at a press conference held ahead of May Day celebrations on Thursday. He said the "way forward" for the country's workers - who form a key constituency of the MDC - also included national efforts at confidence-building in the country's democracy and engaging international support. Tsvangirai lost a presidential election to Mugabe in 2002, and is due to petition the result in court.
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From The Times (UK), 1 May
Mugabe suspends opposition mayor
From Jan Raath in Harare
The Government of President Mugabe announced yesterday that it had suspended Elias Mudzuri, the popular Mayor of the opposition-controlled city council of Harare, after just a year in office. Ignatius Chombo, the Local Government Minister, accused Mr Mudzuri of corruption, abuse of power and of failing to deliver services to residents. Observers said it was more likely that the prospect of the Mayor being praised by a delegation of German councillors that had inspired the suspension. The order was issued shortly before Mr Mudzuri was to host a reception in his mayoral residence for a delegation from Munich, led by its deputy mayor, Hep Monatzeder. Mr Chombo, like the rest of Mr Mugabe's Cabinet, is banned from visiting Britain, the European Union and the United States as part of sanctions against leading figures in the Government. Munich is twinned with Harare, but it withdrew from the relationship nearly three years ago in protest against the campaign of repression against Mr Mugabe's opponents. Herr Monatzeder said that he and his delegation were astonished and demanded that the decision be reversed immediately. He said that Mr Mudzuri had been "working hard to turn around the situation in Harare, which has deteriorated during years of previous mismanagement" - when the council was controlled by Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF party. Relations were restored last year, when the MDC swept the board in council elections in Harare, winning all but one of 44 seats. "The allegations are completely fraudulent," Mike Davies, spokesman for the Combined Harare Residents' Association, said. "It has nothing to do with the well- being of the city. It was the German visit that did it." Since he was elected Mr Mudzuri has been kept in police cells for a weekend without charge, trapped inside his office by mobs of ruling party youths and threatened with death.
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From IRIN (UN), 28 April
GMB eases restrictions on grain sales
New regulations will benefit communal farmers
Johannesburg - The Zimbabwe government will allow individuals to sell limited quantities of grain throughout the country, relaxing restrictions that make its Grain Marketing Board (GMB) the sole buyer and seller of grain, state media reported. Permits obtainable from GMB depots will allow the movement of from 150 kg to 10 mt of grain countrywide, acting chief executive officer of the GMB, retired lieutenant-colonel Samuel Muvhuti said. In addition, up to 150 kg of grain can be sold throughout the country without a permit and communal farmers can sell small quantities of grain in rural areas. "There has been an outcry that the GMB could be overdoing its grain monitoring exercise, particularly at roadblocks," Muvhuti said. "People with just a bucket or a maximum of three bags of maize can move their grain without the approval from our Loss Control Department." The police would be informed of the changes and farmers were encouraged to report policemen who confiscate the smaller quantities, or larger quantities moved with a permit. He said the government was more concerned with the illegal export of its heavily subsided grain than its movement within the country.
Zimbabwe is in the throes of critical food shortages due to a combination of drought, economic crisis and a land reform programme that severely disrupted commercial production, leaving almost half the population in need of food aid. NGO's have repeatedly urged the GMB to relax its controls on the national grain supply and allow free movement of grain, also from outside the country, to alleviate shortages. "We are doing this in an effort to make sure that the little we have is equitably distributed amongst our people. We also want to build our strategic reserve," Muvhuti said. A Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) spokesman told IRIN on Monday that allowing the free movement of less than 150 kg of grain would allow people like urban dwellers harvesting a few bags from a small vacant plot to send food to family in another area. Communal farmers would also benefit by being able to move small amounts of their surplus for selling, instead of taking it to the GMB as required.
However, for commercial farmers it would mean a tightening of control. "[commercial] Farmers are still not allowed to sell freely. They are contracted to grow large quantities for stock feed or other purposes and now have to deliver directly to the company they have the contract with, instead of going via the GMB. If farmers produce extra grain above the contracted amount, they are still forced to take it to the GMB and cannot sell it privately," the CFU spokesman said. "The GMB will monitor the contract deliveries and farmers will still only be paid the government stipulated price." A recently released report, "Relief and Recovery in Zimbabwe", by the Training and Research Support Centre (TARSC), analysed GMB deliveries in January 2003. It noted that national deliveries of price-controlled food by the GMB had run into difficulties in 49 percent of districts. The problems facing the GMB's inability to maintain supplies were reportedly due to fuel and transport problems, and the government's lack of access to foreign currency - all factors compounding the GMB's low reserves.
Quoting December figures from the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee, the TARSC report noted that only 14 percent of households said they were able to afford the uncontrolled "parallel" market rates for grain. "Importing adequate supplies and making national food imports accessible to poor households at community level are thus the most important immediate and urgent gaps to address in food security," the TARSC report said. Timothy Neill, a spokesman for the National NGO Food Security Network (FOSENET) told IRIN that the decision to allow freer movement of grain was a step in the right direction. "The more things are freed the better. There should be no restrictions, as these create artificial shortages, particularly in urban areas where people have had food confiscated, and where the government has used food as a political weapon. "The whole control of grain is very much a smokescreen for corrupt practices, and increasing freedom means reducing the levels of corruption," he said.
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From The Daily News, 1 May, 2003
Villagers accuse heads of politicising food aid
Staff Reporter
Villagers from Hurungwe East on Tuesday criticised village heads for politicising the government's input scheme prior to the start of the agricultural season. Such actions, they said, seriously affected crop production. The villagers were speaking during interviews at Dunga Primary School in Hurungwe where the World Food Programme (WFP) was distributing grain donated to Zimbabwe by the South African government as part of its response to the country's food crisis. The WFP grain was distributed through Goal, an Irish organisation. In Hurungwe, 231 086 people from 53 298 households have benefited from the programme. Eris Chuni from Matewesamwa village in Chief Kazangara's area, said the village heads became active Zanu PF functionaries during their selection of people to secure inputs through the Grain Marketing Board. "The village heads removed people's names from their lists of beneficiaries," he said. "They only wrote a few names of people who were known Zanu PF supporters and the rest were accused of being late." Sodias Mutobvu, Ward 9 councillor for Hurungwe Rural District Council, said the impact of the delayed input distribution was being felt in the area. He said people got their inputs late but denied there were any political considerations. Mutobvu said the WFP should continue feeding people in the area because very few people managed to harvest enough crops.
Tineri Chiputire of Chiwanhike village said she was struggling to make a living owing to poor yields caused by the drought and the interference of the village heads in the compilation of lists of beneficiaries under the scheme. She said her eight children were being forced to do piece jobs on nearby farms when four of them were supposed to be in school. Only those who were considered close to Zanu PF and the village heads got seed and fertiliser. Meanwhile, Luis Clemens, the WFP public affairs officer said the organisation would reduce its food distribution throughout the country due to the ongoing harvests and assessments to establish government's capacity to feed its own people. The organisation has been feeding Zimbabweans in 40 districts since February last year. Clemens said the Food Agriculture Organisation was carrying out two exercises in food assessment vulnerability.
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From The Star (SA), 1 May
South African envoy hands out food parcels, from a limousine
By Brian Latham
Hurungwe, Zimbabwe - Ten South African parliamentarians visiting Zimbabwe ahead of South Africa's communal land reform bill say they will learn from Zimbabwe's mistakes. The Portfolio Committee on Land and Agriculture, led by ANC MP Neo Masitela, said they could learn from "the good and the bad" in Zimbabwe. But the team, which contains one MP from each main opposition party, yesterday deviated from its study of Zimbabwe's land crisis for a propaganda visit to a World Food Programme feeding project. As about 5 000 hungry villagers sat in the dust, the MPs waited patiently with them for South African High Commissioner to Zimbabwe Jeremiah Ndou to arrive. His Mercedes limousine made heavy going on deeply rutted and corrugated roads, forcing a local NGO employee to fetch Ndou, who left his car to follow at a more sedate pace. The eventual arrival of the Mercedes led to hushed accusations of insensitivity as it slid silently into the shade in clear view of thousands of impoverished and starving villagers waiting for food handouts in bags marked "Gift of South Africa". There were clear divisions about what the parliamentary committee hoped to achieve in Zimbabwe. "I'm boiling. We're supposed to be studying the land issue, not wasting our time looking at food aid," said one committee member.
Pan African Congress leader Stanley Mogoba said South Africa could not afford "to carry Zimbabwe". "This problem in Zimbabwe is nothing like the problem we have in South Africa. It's already an overwhelming burden for us to be carrying Zimbabwe when our problem is even larger," Mogoba said. Still, SA could learn from Zimbabwe's mistakes. "We don't want to drive any single group from the land in our country, but we have to sit down and talk about it with all stakeholders, including the farmers," he said. "We know that land isn't productive by itself. You have to train farmers, to give them inputs and implements. They need knowledge. The whole idea is not to reduce the food basket, but to increase it. This is a tragedy," he said, looking at the villagers waiting quietly in the baking sun. Mogoba said he believed the South African government was criticising President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF. "I think it's there, it's just not loud enough." Democratic Alliance MP Andries Botha lashed out at the Mugabe regime, saying his visit to Zimbabwe had left him even more critical.
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Comment from The Financial Mail (SA), 25 April
Teasing friend and foe
By Tony Hawkins, Harare
Mugabe unlikely to retire under present party, economic strains
Robert Mugabe's call for "open debate" rather than clandestine intrigue over his successor has sparked media speculation that the 79-year-old president of Zimbabwe is getting ready to step down. On Monday, he told a TV interviewer: "Now that the land is back to its rightful owners, people can retire." But if Mugabe were to step down there would have to be fresh elections that would pit a popular opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, against a Zanu PF candidate. With land resettlement now acknowledged to be a shambles (one informed estimate is that 75% of the resettled area will not produce crops this season), inflation at 228% and heading for 400% by year-end, severe shortages of food, fuel and electricity, and the steep deterioration in public health and education, a Zanu PF candidate would have a mountain to climb at the polls. Vote-rigging and intimidation "won" the poll for Mugabe a year ago, but since then the economic and social situation has worsened. Mugabe's reference to a clandestine organisation of tribal and personal factions within Zanu PF highlights another reality that suggests the wily old politician is teasing friend and foe alike about his retirement intentions.
Unless ill health dictates it, Mugabe, whose term expires in 2008, is unlikely to go soon. His timing will depend on the party uniting behind a successor and the economy improving . The omens are not good on either score. There is no clear-cut successor as Zanu PF leader. Indeed, there is a real possibility that if Mugabe were to step down, the party would fragment into at least two factions. The frontrunner and heir presumptive is Emmerson Mnangagwa (57), who holds key positions in both the central committee and Zanu PF's top decision-making body, the politburo. Unlike his main rivals, he has impeccable liberation credentials, having joined the struggle in 1963. But he is not a popular figure. Three years ago he lost his parliamentary seat to the Movement for Democratic Change. His many opponents in the party have nicknamed him Uhuru, after Uhuru Kenyatta, who was handpicked by ex-president Daniel arap Moi to contest the recent presidential election in Kenya, which he lost heavily. He is unacceptable internationally, too, because of his close links to Mugabe. He was one of 54 individuals cited in the UN panel report on the plunder of the Democratic Republic of Congo during Zimbabwe's military involvement there. Speculation is he will soon be elevated to one of the two vice-presidential posts.
His main rival is probably ex-general Solomon Mujuru, though more as king-maker than actual candidate. Mujuru, with the backing of some senior army officers, is said to favour former finance minister Simba Makoni, whom Pretoria also backs. But Makoni has no constituency and even less chance of winning a fair poll than Mnangagwa. A third faction includes extremists such as information minister Jonathan Moyo, agricultural minister Joseph Made and justice minister Patrick Chinamasa. Economic and social pressures will continue to intensify. Last Wednesday the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions launched a three-day national stay away, primarily against last week's 210% petrol price hike. The fuel price subsidy will add another Z$115bn (US$14m) to the budget deficit, taking it to 17% of GDP. Add in food price subsidies of at least Z$250bn (12% of GDP) and the budget deficit comes close to 30% of GDP. Because such subsidies are simply unmanageable, economists expect big food, fuel and electricity price hikes over the next few months. These will push inflation towards 400%, they say, and the Zimbabwe dollar rate will slide further from the current Z$824/US$ to around Z$2 000 by Christmas. It will be a brave president indeed who will step down and expect his successor to win an election in such circumstances.
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From The Guardian (UK), 2 May
Knives out for Mugabe as party loyalty fades
Power struggle brews within Zanu PF amid growing dismay over Zimbabwe's collapse
Andrew Meldrum in Harare
Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, is battling against a whispering campaign within his Zanu PF party begun by some of his deputies and lieutenants vying to succeed him. The Guardian revealed yesterday that Mr Mugabe faced unprecedented pressure from fellow African leaders to retire, and the presidents of South Africa and Nigeria, Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo, were due in Harare on Monday to urge him to end his 23-year rule. But even as the 79-year-old leader struggles with Zimbabwe's severe famine, fuel and power shortages, economic collapse and international criticism, he is also confronted by growing pressure from ambitious officials in his own party. Interviews with senior members of Zanu PF show that substantial elements of the party think it is time for Mr Mugabe to go. But it is bitterly divided over who should succeed him and remains at a loss for a strategy for pulling the country out of its most severe economic freefall and famine ever. "The party is fully aware they have lost the population," a former Zanu PF member of parliament said. "Cabinet ministers and party officials sit over beers and admit the party has failed the country. But when Mugabe comes into the room they all sit up and tell the president what he wants to hear. They are all afraid." They fear that Mr Mugabe will cut them out of the party's inner circle of wealth and power. They are also afraid of Mr Mugabe's revenge. Some cabinet ministers privately say they are unhappy with the situation but are frightened of violent retribution if they resign.
"Zanu PF is not just a political party, it is a liberation movement that fought a bitter and bloody war to gain power," said Wilfred Mhanda, a prominent war veteran, now director of the Zimbabwe Liberators Platform, a group critical of Mr Mugabe. "That violent struggle 30 years ago shaped Robert Mugabe and many others in the party. They are committed to keeping power, not to democracy. They are not afraid to spill blood now to keep power." Mr Mugabe's use of the army, police, war veterans and youth militia frightens many people, but he cannot intimidate an economy back to prosperity or win back popularity. "There are several in Zanu PF who have been waiting for years to succeed Mugabe and now they fear they are losing their chance," said a former ambassador. "They fear Mugabe will drag the party down with him and they won't have a chance of power. That is why they want Mugabe to step down now." The most prominent faction became public in January when the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, revealed that he had been approached by the parliamentary speaker, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and the chief of staff of the armed forces, General Vitalis Zvinavashe, who asked him if he would join a "transitional government" if they got Mr Mugabe to retire. Mr Mnangagwa, a former defence minister, is widely considered to be Mr Mugabe's likely successor. "They are powerful men, but their weakness is that they are not popular," said a Zanu PF MP. "Mnangagwa cannot even win an election within the party, not to mention a parliamentary seat. How could he lead the nation?" Party leaders can rattle off other factions vying to succeed Mr Mugabe, but virtually all of the various challengers are devoid of any new economic policies to reverse Zimbabwe's decline.
The one Zanu PF contender who is an exception is Simba Makoni, a former finance minister. He has spoken out for rational economic policies and avoided associating with the more lawless side of the party. He told the Guardian that Zimbabwe's daunting problems demanded a national effort in which all Zimbabwean parties and civic organisations worked together. "We are faced with a crisis, both economic and social, that calls for a national effort that cuts across party lines," Mr Makoni said. "The governing party and the opposition party must work together, with civil society and professional bodies. Only that way can we mobilise all our resources to find a way out of this crisis. We need to get Zimbabweans to work together again." Mr Makoni's statements are earth-shaking, particularly coming from within Mr Mugabe's often belligerent ruling party. "It is a hallmark of democracy that the different political parties can work together. Anyone who suggests that our problems can be solved by an exclusively partisan approach from any one party is suggesting a path that will be longer and more painful," said Mr Makoni. "And to work with our regional and international partners would also be beneficial." A Zanu PF member of parliament said: "Moderates within Zanu PF are comfortable with Makoni and even the general public likes him. He is not tainted by corruption. But he does not have a proven constituency, he does not have an elected seat." Another party member said: "Makoni is outside the inner circle but he could well come to power with a bit of support from South Africa." South Africa's economic pressure and President Mbeki are the most decisive factors influencing Mr Mugabe. "South Africa's key strategy in dealing with Zimbabwe is to try to get Zanu PF to make an internal change in leadership. If they finish up the land redistribution, that could allow Mugabe to retire as a hero and get a successor," said Ivor Jenkins, director of the International Democratic Alternative for South Africa. He said Mr Makoni appeared to have "the least baggage in terms of allegations of corruption and human rights abuses".
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From The Financial Times (UK), 1 May
Harare scorns speculation Mugabe to quit
By Tony Hawkins in Harare
Zimbabwe has dismissed speculation that a visit by three African leaders next week will focus on a retirement deal for President Robert Mugabe in the search to resolve the country's political and economic crisis. Thabo Mbeki, South African president, is scheduled to hold talks on Monday in Harare, where he is due to be joined by Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo and Malawi's Bakili Muluzi. Jonathan Moyo, Mr Mugabe's loyal information minister, described talk of an exit package for the 79-year-old president as wishful thinking. He said the three leaders were coming to the country "in the context of their protracted mediation efforts between Britain and Zimbabwe". Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said he was willing to discuss exit arrangements for Mr Mugabe. But the party, while backing the principle of a transitional administration leading to internationally supervised elections, made it clear that Mr Tsvangirai would oppose South African proposals for an interim government dominated by the ruling Zanu PF party. In a speech on Wednesday, Mr Tsvangirai set out tough conditions that government officials rejected as "completely unacceptable". His demands included an immediate end to "all forms of state-sponsored violence", disbandment of Zanu PF youth militias and repeal of "repressive and anti- democratic legislation" such as public order and media acts. Mr Tsvangirai also refused to withdraw the court action challenging the legality of Mr Mugabe's 2002 re-election. "The election challenge will fall away only when Mugabe publicly commits himself to an early exit plan," an MDC spokesman said. Plans for a meeting between Mr Mbeki and Mr Tsvangirai have been called into doubt by the opposition leader's criticism of the South African and Nigerian presidents, who have been members of the "troika" of Commonwealth leaders dealing with Zimbabwe. He accused the two presidents of "shielding" Mr Mugabe against international censure and said they were not "honest brokers". Even if Mr Mbeki can secure Mr Mugabe's retirement and get the MDC to soften its stance, three problems remain, according to political analysts. First, Zanu PF has no agreed successor to Mr Mugabe. South Africa's favourite is Simba Makoni, former finance minister, but he has little party support. Second, there is recognition within Zanu PF that even if it could agree on a candidate, his chances of beating Morgan Tsvangirai in free elections would be very slim. Third, many in the opposition are determined to resist any amnesty for Mr Mugabe and his associates, which South Africa says must be part of an exit package.
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From The Natal Mercury (SA), 2 May
Evidence of Zim vote rigging 'available'
Harare - Evidence that the Zimbabwean defence force played a commanding role in the running of the presidential election in March last year - which is forbidden by the constitution - will be presented when the opposition's challenge of the results comes to court. Two letters marked "secret" obtained by the Independent Foreign Service reveal that five days before President Robert Mugabe went to the polls, loyal members of his army took control of a centre set up to drive elections and, more importantly, to collate the results. This week copies of the letters were made available to the Independent Foreign Service in London. Their authenticity has not been challenged by the Zimbabwe National Army, to whom they were read. Army spokesperson Amoth Chingombe said this week: "The letters are routine and are connected with security provided before each and every election." Sources say the court challenge by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, which has been repeatedly delayed and for which no date has yet been set, is at the heart of ongoing efforts by some African leaders to persuade Mugabe to retire. President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigerian and President Mbeki are due to visit Harare next week. The letters are the first indication of how widely and deeply the electoral process, normally run by civilians, was hijacked by security forces to ensure Mugabe's "victory". On a letterhead from the office of the commander of the army, Lieutenant-General Constantine Chiwenga wrote on March 4, 2002: "The forthcoming elections require the establishment of a national command centre to be in control of the situation before, during and after the election. It is therefore proposed that Major-General EAC Chimonyo be appointed the commander of the centre and Air Vice Marshal R Mhlanga be appointed the chief of staff operations." The letter stated that the staff for this centre would be drawn from the army, the airforce, the police and the Central Intelligence Organisation.
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Comment from The Economist (UK), 1 May
Zimbabwean rumours - Reading tea leaves by candlelight
Is Robert Mugabe really planning to retire?
Workers arrived at a factory in Harare at 7am, donned their protective goggles and overalls, and started the production line humming. Three hours later, without warning, the electricity was cut off, and every cog and motor clunked to a halt. The power stayed off for four hours. By the standards of say, Nigeria, a four-hour blackout is no big deal. But Zimbabweans are used to uninterrupted electricity, so they find such things disconcerting. Also, unlike Nigerian industrialists, they rarely have back-up generators. It is as good a symbol as any of Zimbabwe's decline. In the past five years, as President Robert Mugabe has pursued ever-more radical economic policies, such as seizing private property, printing stacks of money and seeking to dictate prices, Zimbabwe has steadily de-industrialised. Shortages are common, of everything from bread to car parts, so it was only a matter of time before electricity joined the list. The state power company, ZESA, has not paid for the power it imports, so suppliers in neighbouring countries are finally cutting off the juice.
The more optimistic Zimbabweans are wondering, however, if the increasingly frequent blackouts might have a silver lining. Zimbabwe imports 35% of its power from Mozambique, Congo and South Africa. The first two countries are much too poor to subsidise Mr Mugabe, and have responded to Zimbabwe's non-payment of its bills by reducing the amount they supply. South Africa, however, is richer, and has a president, Thabo Mbeki, who is anxious to not to precipitate chaos in Zimbabwe. So the South African state electricity firm, which supplies 15% of Zimbabwe's requirements, has so far kept on supplying, despite an unpaid bill of $115m. But what if South Africa were to use electricity as a tool to persuade Mr Mugabe to give up the other sort of power? Mr Mbeki could probably topple Mr Mugabe with the flick of a switch, but he prefers diplomacy. Next week, with the presidents of Nigeria and Malawi, he is to pay Mr Mugabe a visit, in the hope of "encouraging dialogue" between Zimbabwe's ruling party, Zanu PF, and the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The MDC hopes that the visiting heads of state will discuss Mr Mugabe's retirement, and the holding of a fresh, internationally-supervised election to supersede last year's rigged one.
Mr Mbeki's spokesman denied it, telling Reuters, a news agency, that "It is not for the president of South Africa to go to another sovereign country and tell the leader to step down." But many Zimbabweans think that something is afoot. Mr Mugabe encouraged such speculation this week with a cryptic remark on state television. He seemed to say that now that he had redistributed white-owned farm land to blacks, his work was done. His exact words were: "It was mainly the land issue actually that needed to be addressed before getting to a stage where we say fine, we have settled this matter and people can retire." His information minister insisted, however, that Mr Mugabe had every intention of staying in office until his term expires in 2008. The MDC says it is ready for talks with the government, although it is wary of being co-opted, as the last serious opposition movement was. Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, said he was willing to give the visiting presidents a chance to mediate, so long as they remain impartial. In the past, they have tended to side with the regime and scorn the MDC, so neither Mr Tsvangirai nor his supporters trust them. In recent weeks, Mr Mugabe has faced increased pressure at home. A three-day strike last week brought cities to a halt. A two-day strike last month was equally avidly observed. The MDC's latest campaign of newspaper advertisements shows photographs of torture victims' gruesome injuries and the slogan "Change demands action", which is also scrawled on township walls. But there have been no large demonstrations, because potential demonstrators fear ending up with their picture in the papers.
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From The Guardian (UK), 2 May
Muted Zimbabwe tip-toe into town
Tour turns the spotlight on Mugabe, writes Mike Selvey
The cricketing representatives of a murderous regime arrived in England yesterday morning for a tour that should never be taking place. However, the fact that they are here may well serve further to highlight the human-rights violations inflicted on the people of Zimbabwe by the patron of its cricket board, Robert Mugabe. Hours after their arrival at Gatwick airport the chairman of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, Peter Chingoka, a longstanding and respected administrator who despite the stated apolitical nature of his organisation must be under immense pressure from his government, attempted to distance his players from controversy. He cited hypocrisy on the part of those who choose to single out cricketers from other Zimbabwean sports teams and individuals, and those who fail to recognise that many British companies continue to trade in that country. But it carried no conviction. Sport and politics, politics and sport, oil and water. It is the same old mantra.
Controversy there certainly is, and it will not disappear when the cricket starts. Zimbabwe's presence here, and England's bewildering commitment to a reciprocal tour next year, shows both moral redundancy and avarice on the part of the England and Wales Cricket Board. It is barely a couple of months since, amid much acrimony and to general scorn, they instructed the England side not to fulfil a World Cup fixture in Harare, citing not ethical reasons as a number of players would have liked, but those of safety after receiving a threatening letter from a dissident group calling itself the Sons and Daughters of Zimbabwe. The ECB does not seem to have acquired a conscience since and reports do not suggest that Zimbabwe has become more secure since the World Cup. Perhaps they are hoping the Sons and Daughters will resurrect themselves with another get-out clause when the time comes. As there has been no suggestion that the International Cricket Council has placed pressure on the ECB to fulfil these commitments as a means of retaining the integrity of its Test match championship, this has to be about money alone. Failure to play the World Cup match could cost the board several millions of pounds - money that will be cut from budgets right through the system - and although there were contingencies in place, cancellation of this tour would have pared the income yet further.
The ECB has an obligation to all levels of the game here, but does not appear to have given undue thought to any possible alternatives. "It upsets me when people say we are putting money before morality," protested the ECB chief executive Tim Lamb yesterday. "I think there are double standards here. It is unfair for cricket to have to make political decisions. We don't think the Zimbabwe cricketers are any more the henchmen of Robert Mugabe than the England players are the foot soldiers of Tony Blair. They are representing their country at cricket." Who said life is fair, though; it certainly is not in Zimbabwe. Cricketers, like most other people, are capable of making political decisions and may even have done so in the local elections yesterday. They can, if they have the moral and physical courage of the former Zimbabwean cricketers Andy Flower and Henry Olonga - whose black-armband protest during their own first World Cup game effectively ended their international careers - even make the boldest of statements, although that is not likely to be repeated in the coming weeks by either side.
Zimbabwe are a weakened side anyway with the departure of Flower in particular and despite Chingoka's assertion to the contrary, rumours persist that the side has been chosen to contain no one who will rock the political boat. Olonga's appeal yesterday that his fellow countrymen should use the platform of an England tour to speak out as did he and Flower will certainly fall on deaf ears. "It is not correct that our players have been told not to comment on things," said Chingoka, when asked on the rumours that anyone who speaks out of turn will be expelled from the tour. "But we do encourage the players to concentrate on the cricket." Instead the protests will come from the periphery. There was strong security but no trouble at Lord's where the team's hierarchy held its first press conference at midday. Outside the ground, where significant police had mustered, protest was restricted to the activist Peter Tatchell, a handful of others and banners reading No Cricket While Mugabe Kills and Latest Score: Zimbawe 3,409 Tortured, 260 Killed.
From small beginnings though, something more significant may grow, starting, if not at Edgbaston tomorrow, where the tourists play a one-day warm-up game against British Universities, then probably at Worcester a week today when they begin their fixtures proper, and in an itinerary that includes the first Test at Lord's starting on May 22. For the captain Heath Streak and his team, life on and off the field may not be so quiet again.
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From ZWNEWS, 2 May
Reporter barred
A reporter from SW Radio Africa was yesterday barred from the press conference held by the Zimbabwe Cricket team on their arrival in Britain. Georgina Godwin, a presenter from the independent station, which broadcasts to Zimbabwe from Britain, was refused entry by security staff at Lord's Cricket Ground, despite having pre-arranged with ECB officials that she could attend the press briefing. Despite having a letter from her editor, her NUJ membership details, and having applied for ECB accreditation, Godwin was only allowed to ask questions of ZCU chief Peter Chingoka after the actual briefing had ended. Chingoka was brought to the Lord's gate by ECB officials. " In my interview with Chingoka, he predictably said that sport and politics are separate, I ended by quoting the great cricket writer, CLR James, who said 'What do they know of cricket, who only cricket know'. His reply.....'No comment'," said Godwin yesterday. Godwin and her colleagues at SW Radio Africa, all Zimbabwean citizens, were banned from returning home last November by the Zimbabwe government.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 3 May
How the army hijacked Zimbabwe poll
Letters reveal how the military guaranteed Mugabe a return to power in last year's election.
Harare - Zimbabwe's security forces covertly took control of the presidential election machinery five days before President Robert Mugabe's victory last year, according to secret letters obtained by The Telegraph. The letters, the authenticity of which has not been questioned, are the first concrete evidence of how completely Zimbabwe's electoral process, normally run by civilians, was hijacked by the security forces to ensure Mr Mugabe's victory in March last year. The two letters, which were described by a Zimbabwean army spokesman as "routine", form part of a supreme court challenge to the validity of Mr Mugabe's re-election mounted by Morgan Tsvangirai, his defeated opponent from the Movement for Democratic Change. The Commonwealth condemned the election, although most African observer teams gave Mr Mugabe's victory a clean bill of health. Yet none would have known that the contest was largely under the control of senior military officers whose loyalty to Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF party was unquestioned. They were placed in charge of a "national command centre" in the capital, Harare. This became the headquarters of the electoral machinery and the location from which all results were announced. Control of the centre gave the military control of the collation and publication of results from around the country. This crucial organisation was declared off-limits to Mr Tsvangirai's election agents and journalists from the independent or foreign press.
Using official notepaper, Lt Gen Constantine Chiwenga, the army commander, wrote a letter marked "Secret" on March 4, 2002. It said: "The forthcoming Presidential Elections require the establishment of a National Command Centre to be in control of the situation before during and after the election. It is therefore proposed that Major-General E A C Chimonyo be appointed the Commander of the Centre and Air Vice Marshal R Mhlanga be appointed the Chief of Staff Operations. "The staff for this Centre would be drawn from the ZNA [Zimbabwe National Army], AFZ [Air Force of Zimbabwe], ZRP [Zimbabwe Republic Police] and CIO [Central Intelligence Organisation]. Details on the manning levels and concept of operations of this centre are to be worked out by the Commander as soon as a go ahead is given. It is against this background that we seek your concurrance (sic) and further guidance." The following day, Gen Vitalis Zvinavashe, the defence forces' commander, issued a four-point reply. He agreed to Gen Chiwenga's staffing request "so that the NCC [National Command Centre] is firm and functional as soon as is practical". This letter was copied to Sydney Sekeramayi, the defence minister, a long-standing Mugabe loyalist.
Maj Gen Amoth Chingombe, an army spokesman, did not question the authenticity of the correspondence. He said: "The letters are routine and are connected with security provided before each and every election." Under Section 113 of Zimbabwe's constitution, elections are supposedly handled by the Public Service Commission, from which members of the security forces are explicitly excluded. When the election was held, it was known that Brig Douglas Nyikayaramba was running the National Command Centre. He ostensibly retired from the army shortly before votes were cast. But a few months after Mr Mugabe's re-election, he was back in his job. Brig Nyikayaramba was also given a formerly white-owned farm in Nyabira district, about 40 miles north of Harare. Air Vice-Marshal Mhlanga, one of the duo named to lead the command centre, later turned up as a key witness for the prosecution in the treason trial launched against Mr Tsvangirai and two MDC colleagues. Informed sources believe that the budget for the "extraordinarily" well-equipped command centre came from the "murky" reserves of the defence ministry. Among those running the centre were eight colonels, 17 majors, six captains and more than 40 NCOs. All their names appear on lists obtained by Mr Tsvangirai's lawyers. In many cases, the final results of the presidential election were never announced at constituency level, in accordance with normal procedures. Instead, the results were transmitted to the national command centre in Harare and then read out on television by Tobaiwa Mudede, the registrar-general. Mr Mudede also received a farm in Nyabira district last year. Hundreds of officers from the security forces were given formerly white-owned land soon after the election.
Mr Tsvangirai's lawyers are challenging all of these alleged breaches of the rules governing national elections. They have been ready to go to court for more than six months but no date has been set for a hearing. This challenge is at the heart of recent efforts by some African leaders to persuade Mr Mugabe, 79, to retire. Two weeks ago, he said he would hold talks with Mr Tsvangirai if the opposition leader recognised the legitimacy of his election victory. Both President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria are due to visit Zimbabwe next week. Mr Mugabe has again let it be known that any talk of his retirement is predicated on ending the court challenge and allowing him an honourable exit. "He does not want to retire labelled a cheat," said a source in the ruling party. "Not only will the army's role emerge in court but the crooked and massively inflated voters' roll." Both Mr Obasanjo and Mr Mbeki have urged Mr Tsvangirai to drop his court challenge. They believe that this would pave the way for Mr Mugabe to be eased out of power in a negotiated solution to Zimbabwe's deepening political crisis.
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From DPA, 2 May
Harare mayor in hiding as he defies "illegal" suspension order
Harare - The popular opposition mayor of Zimbabwe's capital city, Elias Mudzuri, went into hiding from police Friday as authorities tried to enforce a controversial order to suspend him from office, lawyers said. While the search continued, senior police officers visited the deputy mayor to try and force her to take over Mudzuri's office, but she also defied them. "The mayor has gone into hiding and cannot be contacted," said advocate Edith Mushore. "His attorney has informed police she can bring him in, but only after they say what charge they want him on. "They haven't specified any charges. They don't have anything to charge him with," she said. Earlier in the day, she said, local government minister Ignatius Chombo abandoned an application to the high court here to force Mudzuri to formally leave office, shortly before the application was due to be heard, she said. "They thought they would be able to get an order if we didn't contest it, but when they heard we were opposing it, they abandoned it," she said. "They knew they couldn't stand it up."
A storm erupted after Tuesday when the government delivered an order suspending Mudzuri from office with immediate effect, accusing him of corruption, abuse of office and of failing to deliver services to Harare's residents. Observers say the government has been severely embarrassed in its bid to force out the mayor only days before the presidents of South Africa, Nigeria and Malawi are due to visit the capital for critical talks to try and resolve the country's crisis. Since he was elected last year, Mudzuri has won the hearts of the capital's residents for his attempts to rehabilitate the city after decades of decay under the corrupt and inept administration under President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party. Mudzuri overwhelmingly won the mayoral elections as the candidate of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, but since then has suffered constant interference from the government which blocked his projects, barring him from borrowing capital finance and even refusing him foreign currency to import water purification chemicals for the city's water supply. He was arrested and kept in filthy police cells for four days in January -for addressing a ratepayers' meeting.
Mudzuri has defied this week's suspension order, and carried out civic functions during the week. The suspension order also told deputy mayor Sekesai Makwavarara to take over Mudzuri's role, but she also ignored authorities. She confirmed she had been visited Friday by two senior police officers who attempted to intimidate her into moving into his office. "They said they wanted to know how safe I am,'' she said. They also tried to get the key to his office from the council secretary and asked why Makwavarara was "not operating out of the mayor's office,'' she said. "They cannot push me," she said. "I know where I stand." Advocate Mushore said the suspension was illegal. "The state cannot just suspend the mayor. It has to conduct an inquiry and hold a referendum among the ratepayers who elected him, to see whether or not they believe he has failed to deliver. The government did neither of those." She would challenge the government's suspension order in court on Monday, she said.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 2 May
Murerwa in bid to break Brussels blockade
Mthulisi Mathuthu
Confrontation is looming within the European Union (EU)/African Caribbean Parliamentary Assembly over Finance minister Herbert Murerwa's attempts to attend a meeting on development scheduled for Brussels in mid-May. This comes six months after the collapse of an EU/ACP parliamentary assembly meeting in the Belgian capital when some ACP nations protested the exclusion of Zimbabwean ministers, Paul Mangwana and Chris Kuruneri, from the gathering. Murerwa, who is on the EU travel ban list together with many other associates of President Robert Mugabe, was this week reportedly seeking a waiver from the EU restrictions to attend the meeting on May 16. The Brussels meeting would be attended by finance ministers from EU/ACP countries. Murerwa's efforts to circumvent the travel ban has led to protests from some EU quarters and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which is lobbying the EU to deny him entry. Murerwa is expected to be accompanied by Mangwana and another government official at the meeting. While the Belgian ambassador to Harare, Benedicte Frankinet, said she had not received any visa applications from the Zimbabwean government, sources insisted the officials were seeking to travel to Brussels. It is understood Murerwa was recently in the United States to attend an IMF meeting along with Reserve Bank governor Leonard Tsumba.
The MDC says it is improper to host Mugabe's representatives against a background of a recent wave of torture and arbitrary arrests of civil society activists and opposition party leaders. In a statement, MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube said the EU/ACP countries should bar Zimbabwean ministers. Ncube said the ministers should be banned from the meeting because President Mugabe's regime breached the Cotonou Agreement by relentlessly pursuing a policy of repression and torture. "The EU and ACP ministers must acknowledge their moral responsibility by ensuring that the draconian and decaying Mugabe regime is not given any form of resuscitation in international forums," he said. "A waiver for banned ministers would simply serve to inject gratuitous confidence into the regime." Ncube said the recent mass stayaways called by the MDC and the ZCTU had "unequivocally demonstrated the deep unpopularity" of the Mugabe regime and "the insatiable desire for political change" in Zimbabwe. The banning of Zimbabwean ministers last year from entering an EU/ACP meeting in Brussels led to the cancellation of the gathering which was to discuss Zimbabwe, Nepad and Ivory Coast amongst many other issues. Some ACP nations like Ghana, Botswana and Senegal supported the EU's refusal to allow Zimbabwean ministers into the meeting, saying Zimbabwe was throwing spanners into their development plans. They said the country should end political repression. Since that time there have been further calls on the EU to tighten screws on Harare for continued abuses of human rights.
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From The Times of India, 3 May
Inebriated Zimbabwean diplomat booked
New Delhi - A police picket in Vasant Vihar intercepted a diplomat's car, and found a woman in a state of undress in the back seat, on Friday. The police said R Willard M Matondirotya, a counsellor with Zimbabwe High Commission at Poorvi Marg, Vasant Vihar, was driving the car in an inebriated state. He reportedly abused the police control room (PCR) staff. The police said the woman, a second-year law student in Delhi University, is from Nagaland. Joint commissioner of police Satish Chandra said: "The car was intercepted after a long chase, begining from Chanakyapuri area at about 3.45 am. A PCR van in Chanakyapuri was informed at 3.45 am that a car had escaped after getting involved in an accident." "The diplomat was first asked by the PCR van to stop in Chanakyapuri area, but he sped away. But the staff at the police picket Vasant Vihar managed to stop the car by putting up barricades on the road," Chandra said. When the car was stopped, the woman was found seated in the rear seat with her clothes strewn everywhere. The woman, under the influence of alcohol, refused to reply to police questioning. "On repeated questioning, the woman she said she knew the diplomat personally," an official said. The accused later disclosed his identity through his diplomatic ID card. "He refused to answer any questions or undertake any medical examination. He was later allowed to go," he said.
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From News24 (SA), 2 May
UN should intervene in Zim
Johannesburg - Amnesty International called on the United Nations on Friday to intervene in Zimbabwe to resolve that country's political crisis and curb human rights violations. Amnesty International's southern African spokesperson Samkelo Mokhine said the UN should take a much more active role in Zimbabwe and he appealed to the Zimbabwean government to invite the UN's special envoys on freedom of opinion and expression to visit the country. "The UN has a vital role to play in publicly condemning the government of Zimbabwe for the country's spiralling human rights crisis. We are calling on the UN because the African Union president Thabo Mbeki recently said AU has not taken a position on Zimbabwe and SADC also has not been vocal in terms of condemning Zimbabwe," he said. Mokhine was speaking in Braamfontein at the release of Amnesty International's report on Zimbabwe under the theme "Zimbabwe Rights Under Siege". The report examined how provisions of the national laws had been used by the Zimbabwean government to suppress and violate the internationally-recognised rights of freedom of expression, association and assembly.
He said the international human rights pressure group was deeply concerned that the government of Zimbabwe was using the law to intimidate, arbitrarily arrest, torture, and attack political opponents and curtail the work of the independent media. "New laws have been introduced and existing laws amended to shield the government from mounting domestic and international scrutiny. Opposition officials and supporters, human rights activists, trade unions, students, teachers, lawyers and court officials are some of those who have been singled out for attack," he said. Mokhine said the most contentious pieces of legislation included the Broadcasting Services Act, the Public Order and Security Act and the Access of Information and protection of Privacy Act. "The Zimbabwean government should repeal or amend legislation which violates internationally recognised rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly and which contravenes international and national law. It should also end the political misuse of the police and ensure that police officers abide by the highest standards of professionalism and respect of human rights," he said.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 2 May
Zimbabwe's fuel supplies dry up
Dumisani Muleya
Zimbabwe is lurching towards an unprecedented fuel crisis as government is increasingly unable to pay suppliers who are now demanding hard cash before delivery to avoid further exposure to mounting debts. Official sources yesterday said Zimbabwe is nearly dry and would not get fuel in the next couple of weeks unless government finds significant amounts of foreign currency to import. The little fuel Noczim has was last week directed to Bulawayo so Zimbabwe International Trade Fair delegates didn't have to walk. The Reserve Bank's external payments committee is failing to provide enough foreign currency to critical sectors of the economy as defined in the prioritisation of external payments guidelines. Fuel, electricity, grain and drugs are the main import priorities for Zimbabwe. Sources said the country has not received fuel since last week due to the worsening foreign currency crisis. Suppliers are also understood to be refusing to bring in fuel even in the small quantities government would be able to pay for. Zimbabwe needs US$40 million a month for fuel. "The situation is getting worse," an industry source said. "We are now facing the prospect of a completely dry situation. The truth of the matter is that we have failed to pay and now suppliers are demanding money in hand up front."
Sources said the last fuel consignment of 439 000 litres which arrived last week was diverted from Mutare to Bulawayo for the Trade Fair. The diversion of fuel followed a plea to President Robert Mugabe by ZITF general manager Graham Rowe and the trade showcase's chair Mthuli Ncube. It is thought the last consignment of fuel from Kuwait was not even paid for directly by government. Sources said Barclays Bank could have used their offshore account in Jersey in the Channel Islands - a banking hub - to pay for the fuel. Despite government's attacks on banks following last week's stayaway, the local financial institutions have been helping in securing fuel. Banks that have bailed out government include the Jewel Bank, NMB, ABC, and Trust Bank. As the fuel situation worsens, Noczim is currently scrounging for $60 billion to import fuel. Sources said the state company is now finding it difficult to borrow because of its reputation for corruption and debt. Apart from that, government guarantees for Noczim are no longer acceptable to many financial institutions. Government recently tried to reduce Noczim's debt by $6,7 billion to revamp its image but the debt went up again. It now stands at $21,6 billion. This situation has rendered Noczim almost totally uncreditworthy.
Zimbabwe has of late been getting its supplies from Kuwait and small suppliers in South Africa, Botswana, and Nigeria. But Kuwait's Independent Petroleum Group is reluctant to continue supplying Zimbabwe with fuel because it is reportedly owed over US$70 million. Sources said the Libyans have effectively stopped supplying because of non-payment. They said Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi now considers Zimbabwe "a dangerous credit risk" because of its virtual bankruptcy and growing political uncertainty. Zimbabwe owes Libya more than US$170 million for fuel because it has been buying at a premium. By June last year, Zimbabwe owed fuel suppliers US$106,2 million. The total debt is now said to have more than doubled. "Things are not working for us," a Noczim source said. "We have been using a South African third party, who is known to (businessman) Phillip Chiyangwa to secure fuel but that deal has also collapsed. Now we are left on our own."
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 4 May
Embattled Mugabe back in the hot spot
Sunday Times Foreign Desk
Johannesburg - Beleaguered President Robert Mugabe meets South Africa's Thabo Mbeki, Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo and Malawi's Bakili Muluzi tomorrow for talks that have been described as crucial in determining a solution to Zimbabwe's worsening crisis. For Mugabe, the talks come at a time when he is battling a growing whispering campaign within his Zanu PF party that it is time for him to step down. The talks also follow a call on Zimbabwe's neighbours by the US for them to step up pressure on him to hand power over to a transitional government and pave the way for new elections. The fact that Mbeki will also meet Mugabe's chief opponent, Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, in what has been reported as an attempt to foster dialogue between the MDC and Zanu PF, signals a change in Pretoria's attitude towards the MDC. The MDC and other key Zimbabwean constituencies have had little, if any, contact with the South African government.
But Harare has moved to play down the importance of the talks, saying the visit by Mbeki, Obasanjo and Muluzi is just for the leaders to "update themselves" on developments in Zimbabwe. In a statement, the government said that "any speculative reports on 'transitional government', 'transitional arrangements', an 'exit plan' or 'exile' are at best wishful and at worst an undemocratic insult to the people of Zimbabwe". Earlier this week, Mbeki's spokesman, Bheki Khumalo, said the talks would not dwell on Mugabe's succession. "The meeting is going to focus on ...encouraging dialogue between Zanu-PF and the MDC," he told Reuters. A political analyst at the University of Zimbabwe's Institute of Development Studies, Brian Raftopoulos, said the trio would be under immense pressure to prove that they were not on a mission to whitewash Zimbabwe's crisis and rescue Mugabe. He said Mbeki, Obasanjo and Muluzi were aware that their collective credibility was on the line. "I think this time they would be on a different mission altogether," Raftopoulos said. "They realise their credibility is at stake and that pressure is on them to find a way out of this crisis."
Meanwhile, the head of the Commonwealth admitted this week that his efforts to pressure Zimbabwe into adopting reforms had failed. He blamed resistance from Mugabe's government. The 54-nation grouping of mainly former British colonies has suspended Zimbabwe until December in a protest against alleged election-rigging and the seizure of white-owned farms. But Zimbabwe has not responded to appeals for reform and the Commonwealth says the internal situation has worsened since the suspension was first imposed in March last year. "It's a classic case where we have failed," Commonwealth secretary-general Don McKinnon told Reuters. The question of Zimbabwe's suspension has split the Commonwealth, which only reluctantly agreed in March to extend the sanctions until a summit of leaders in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, in December. Tsvangirai said the MDC was ready for talks with Mugabe on Zimbabwe's deepening crisis, but also warned of more protests against Mugabe's rule. His party's willingness to talk should not be taken as "a sign of capitulation" - it still planned a "final push" to drive Mugabe from power.
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From The Sunday Times (UK), 4 May
Mugabe defies plea by African leaders to quit
RW Johnson, Cape Town
Tomorrow's mission to Harare by three African heads of government who will urge Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's embattled president, to stand down seems certain to end in failure. Diplomats said Mugabe would either reject the proposal from Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Bakili Muluzi of Malawi or would set conditions that were impossible to fulfil. Mugabe has already indicated that he will brook no compromise unless the opposition Movement for Democratic Change first recognises him as president. The MDC has refused to accept his re-election last year and is challenging the result in Zimbabwe's supreme court. He is also said to want immunity from prosecution and security guarantees that the MDC is likely to reject. "Given what's going on in this country - the complete lack of fuel, inflation over 200%, very little food, the state's inability to pay its electricity bills and huge popular discontent - you might think the forces pushing Mugabe out were irresistible," said one Commonwealth diplomat. "But Mugabe is the immovable object."
Mbeki is the moving force behind the mission. He has been made increasingly anxious by the depth of popular support for the last two mass stay-aways from work in Zimbabwe and the possibility that the Mugabe regime could crumble into chaos. The fixed point in Mbeki's attitude has been that the ruling Zanu PF party - the brother liberation movement of the African National Congress - must stay in power, if necessary with a new leader and in coalition with the MDC. Mbeki's failure to get Commonwealth sanctions against Mugabe lifted, his own high commissioner's reports on human rights atrocities against MDC supporters and the fact that Zimbabwe now owes more than £70m to South Africa for electricity have all played a part in his decision to seek a new government under the former finance minister, Simba Makoni, one of the few leading members of Zanu PF to command international respect. Paul Nyathi, an MDC spokesman, said his party could not accept the conditions demanded by Mugabe. His security demands, which would probably include keeping a portion of the presidential guard, were unrealistic, said Nyathi. "You just have to see how he lives now - in a huge fortress protected by a special presidential guard, with guns always drawn - to understand what that means," he added. "Not only has Mugabe had tens of thousands of people tortured and killed but he's doing it right this minute. He seems to think you can go on doing that while you simultaneously ask for immunity."
Any initiative to replace Mugabe has to overcome other problems, too. First, Zanu PF is badly split. As Mugabe's reign of terror has intensified, a group of cabinet extremists, including the information minister, Jonathan Moyo, have become entrenched. They know they cannot survive the president's departure and it was no accident that when Mugabe let slip on television last week the notion that he might, on certain conditions, be willing to go, this was quickly denied by Moyo. Second, the two most powerful Zanu-PF factions are led by the former secret police bosses Emmerson Mnangagwa and Sydney Sekeremai. They, too, have much to lose. Third, Makoni is no longer an MP and has little real support. And finally, the constitution makes no provision for one president to succeed another without an election, and it is admitted even by Zanu officials that Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, would easily win a free ballot. "Mugabe has steered Zanu into pretty much the same position as the Nazis in the latter days of Hitler," said one western diplomat. "By the end you only have the Führer and if he goes down, so does the whole ship. If Mbeki really wanted to swap Mugabe for someone else in Zanu PF, the time for that was two or three years back. There's no hope now."
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From The Daily News, 3 May
Fuel crisis deepens
Takaitei Bote And Chris Goko
The government is desperately trying to put together an arrangement in which it can use proceeds from the sale of tobacco to pay for fuel, which has almost run out. Officials at the Ministry of Energy and Power Development and the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) have sold the idea to a number of fuel suppliers in a bid to give relief to local industry. The Jewel Bank, formerly the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe, is understood to be advising Noczim and the ministry. "Our biggest problem is that the volumes of the tobacco crop coming through the three auction floors has been disappointing to say the least," a source said. Noczim chief executive officer Webster Muriritirwa referred all questions to the ministry. Muriritirwa said: "Get in touch with the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, that is where statements are issued."
The fuel situation remained critical yesterday despite price increases effected last month. Supplies have been erratic for the past five years due to a crippling shortage of foreign currency. Amos Midzi, the Energy and Power Development Minister, said he was hoping that the situation would improve soon. "We are expecting an improvement in the fuel supply situation later this week," Midzi said when contacted for comment on Tuesday. About 439 000 litres of fuel arrived in the country last week. The consignment was diverted to Bulawayo where the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) is taking place. The diversion followed a plea to President Mugabe by Graham Rowe, the ZITF general manager, and Mthuli Ncube, the ZITF chairman. The diversion was done to ensure that visitors to the fair were not stranded. Only about three tankers carrying 35 000 litres of fuel were dispatched to Gweru and Kwekwe early this week, while two delivered to Masvingo.
Supplies that have trickled in so far are virtually a drop in the ocean for a country that consumes 67 million litres of fuel a month. The fuel crisis has worsened because Noczim is bankrupt and has no funds to purchase foreign currency. Noczim has been labelled uncreditworthy because it owes external suppliers in excess of $21,6 billion. The parastatal is on the market seeking to raise $60 billion for importing fuel. Zimbabwe has of late been getting supplies from Kuwait, South Africa, Botswana and Nigeria. These countries were now asking for cash up-front before making any fuel deliveries. Libya has effectively stopped supplying fuel because of non-payment. Zimbabwe owes Libya more than US$170 million (Z$140 080 billion) for fuel purchased at a premium. The fuel crisis bedevilling the country has paralysed commerce and industry leading to companies scaling down operations or closing down completely. About 350 firms have closed shop since December, throwing more than 350 000 workers onto the streets.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 4 May
Zimbabwe's petrol thieves add fuel to the fire
Dingilizwe Ntuli
"Please make sure you do not leave any valuables in your car." This is a sign found in many public parking places. But in Zimbabwe the equivalent sign may soon read: "Make sure you drain all the petrol from your car." Thieves are now targeting fuel rather than cars and there is a greater chance of finding a car empty than missing. Motorists have resorted to draining the fuel from their cars before going to bed. Petrol in Zimbabwe has increased from Z145.20 (about R16.50) a litre to Z450 (R51), while diesel has risen from Z68 (R7.70c) to Z200 (R22.70). While many of Zimbabwe's garages are on the verge of running dry, a fuel boom has emerged in Harare's townships. This probably explains why there has not been a significant drop in traffic on the roads, despite reported acute fuel shortages. But in Harare's townships every fifth person you meet can direct you to a house where you can fill up your tank. There are no queues, but petrol costs about five times more than the official price. At any given time, containers holding up to 800 litres of diesel and petrol can be found at these mini-service-station houses, especially in Highfield, Glen View, Glen Norah, Mbare and Mufakose townships. There is no rationing as long as you are willing to pay Z1 200 (R136) a litre for petrol. Diesel costs Z1 000 (R114). As the fuel is stored in containers ranging from 20 litres to 200 litres in size, the minimum a motorist can buy is 20 litres at a cost of Z24 000 (R2 700) for petrol and Z20 000 (R2 270) for diesel. Fuel has become such big business in the underground market that many people have abandoned other trades to deal in fuel. It is believed they get fuel from garage owners who want to circumvent government price controls. Another means is to steal from cars.
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From The Daily News, 3 May
Bid to probe Chombo sparked Mudzuri ouster
By Brian Mangwende, Chief Reporter
This week's suspension of Harare's executive mayor, Engineer Elias Mudzuri, which has angered many residents, could have been triggered by an investigation he was about to launch into circumstances surrounding the status of land acquired by Ignatius Chombo, the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing. In March 1996, Chombo reportedly acquired the land along Highland Glen Road in the plush suburb of Umwinsdale, Harare, through the then Department of Physical Planning for about $70 000. A source said the land known as "Subdivision K of Nthaba" and measuring almost 2 hectares, was pegged at a cost of about $250 000 at that time. "At first he occupied 1,7 hectares of that open land that has been an open space and free for residents for the past 20 years," the source said. "Later he incorporated the remaining 0,3 hectares." Mudzuri yesterday said: "I was in the process of investigating Chombo on that and other various other issues of corruption involving council officials. I am being victimised because I know who and the areas to investigate. So in order to protect corruption, Chombo says he has suspended me, but I am not accepting that. There is more to my so called suspension and at the moment I am gathering evidence on how he acquired that land and other issues. I was clamping down on serious crimes at the city council and Chombo says he has suspended me. As a matter of fact, it is Chombo who should be investigated and not the mayor. I am still the Mayor of Harare and will only leave office before my term expires if the residents ask me to do so, not Chombo."
Mudzuri said he had written several letters to Chombo complaining about corruption and also that the council needed a supplementary budget of $68 billion to run the affairs of the city properly. Workers at the site confirmed Chombo owned that land, but said they did not know how he acquired it. Efforts to get comment from Chombo proved fruitless yesterday as he was said to be attending the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo. He diverted his mobile phone calls to his office in Harare. Although, he allegedly bought the property in 1996, no major developments have taken place. Meanwhile, Mudzuri alleged that the police were hunting him down at the trade fair and as a result he was forced to flee the grounds prematurely before the official opening yesterday. "I was tipped-off that the police were looking for me," Mudzuri said. "A number of council officials from Harare and Bulawayo were harassed by the police who were inquiring about my whereabouts. I have since left the venue, but cannot disclose my location." He dismissed as rubbish, Chombo's claims that he was seen wearing the mayoral regalia at the trade fair in Bulawayo.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 3 May
Police bury torture victim in secret as mourners watch from the long grass
The first known secret burial of an arrested Zimbabwe opposition activist
From the cover of the bleached long grass, a small group of mourners watched a friend being buried on the horizon at a desolate cemetery south of Harare. The mourners could not get closer, as beyond the mounds of red earth bordering lines of waiting graves in the Seke South cemetery were soldiers and policemen. They would be the ones to lower Tonderai Machiridza, 32, to his last resting place. To the south of the cemetery, more soldiers were lurking in the bush. To the west another group of battle-ready men hung about. Riot police and soldiers had collected Mr Machiridza's body from the mortuary at the government hospital that afternoon to bury it - without family, friends or mourners. There was to be no ceremony, traditional or Christian. A spokesman for a funeral parlour near the cemetery and around the corner from a row of lean-to coffin-makers' shops confirmed that his company had been assigned to handle the burial. "It is out of our hands," he said. "The police are taking the body from the mortuary and they are going to bury the deceased."
The dead man's friends crouching in the bush were triumphant to have got close to what the government had decided should be a secret burial. They had run several miles through dusty streets from the home where a vigil was meant to have taken place. They were survivors of a raid the night before when soldiers swarmed through the house, "beating, shouting and swearing at" grieving and angry people who had gathered to vent their sorrow shrouded in blankets on the floor. In the pandemonium some escaped over the barbed wire above the concrete security wall. Dried lines of blood at the top of the wall had been left by many legs snagged on the wire. Among those who escaped was Mr Machiridza's pregnant wife Lidia, 27, and their two children. More than 50 mourners, including the dead man's mother, Mary, were taken to cells at the nearby St Mary's police station. They were to be held for the rest of the day because Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, was due to speak over the coffin of one of his most energetic local organisers.
Mr Tsvangirai was due to tell the crowd of the barbarism of Mr Machiridza's death, of how he had been picked up with three colleagues 10 days earlier, allegedly tortured and taken to a government hospital where he was chained to the bed and left without treatment. Friends rescued him and took him to a private clinic, where he was admitted to intensive care. But he had already lost too much blood to survive. The MDC said that the night before the planned burial relatives took Mr Machiridza's body to the home of the policeman who, they said, was the main torturer. A police spokesmen said that was why mourners were arrested. The hall where Mr Tsvangirai was due to speak was sealed off and police set up road blocks at the main entrances to the township. Then, with the help of the army, they buried the activist on a clear autumn afternoon. Police said two officers would be charged with the murder of the activist but did not give their names.
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Comment from The Sunday Times (UK), 4 May
Politics force Zimbabwe to ask boys to do men's work
David Gower
Without Andy Flower and Henry Olonga the tourists will struggle, and Robert Mugabe's odious regime is to blame
Andy Flower is in England playing cricket. Sadly, not for his native Zimbabwe, but for Essex. Flower is one of the best batsmen in the world, but, along with fast bowler Henry Olonga, he is paying a heavy price for his World Cup protest against Robert Mugabe's regime. The two are in exile, unlikely to represent their country again or even to be allowed to return home. While Flower is playing county cricket, Olonga is turning out for club side Lashings as their former teammates begin a tour of England. I hope that the Zimbabwe touring party has a happy, successful visit, but I cannot see it working out that way. The protests when they arrived last week were low- key, but the team is destined to be embroiled in a political discussion for the next couple of months. However much they try to isolate themselves from it, they will also be reminded every time they take the field that their best player, the one man on whom they have relied for runs, will be absent for largely moral - and therefore by default, political - reasons.
The chairman of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU), Peter Chingoka, a man whose hard work and good humour have done much for Zimbabwean cricket, was at pains to distance himself and his team from the politics of his country. Sadly, it just doesn't work, however much he, Tim Lamb or the rest of us would like it to. I was adamant that England's cricketers should not set foot in Zimbabwe during the World Cup, both to recognise the appalling civil rights and humanitarian situation in the country and to prevent the Mugabe regime from enjoying the luxury of pretending that all was well there. Given that nothing has changed and that it seems the regime has taken advantage of the world's preoccupation with Iraq to crack down even further, I have serious misgivings about continued sporting relations with Zimbabwe. But I like the captain, Heath Streak, Chingoka and the whole concept of Zimbabwean cricket. It would be unfair if Zimbabwean cricket were cut off from the rest of the world. All who love that country must keep alive the hope that the political situation might change. If Mugabe goes and Zimbabwe can rediscover itself, its cricket would benefit. The least we can do is encourage Chingoka. Yet we know he cannot be completely divorced from his country's politics. He said last week: "Cricket is a truly integrated and multi-racial sport", something that cannot be said about the country as a whole. Yet even in the sport there are limits. Selection is influenced by colour, with differences of opinion in the committee leading to the resignation of Andy Pycroft during the World Cup. Before that, there were three white selectors and three black. Speaking to former national captain and coach David Houghton during the latter stages of the cup, it seemed there were no plans to fill the vacancy and restore the balance. Tatenda Taibu is a talented wicketkeeper and useful batsman and just 19 years old. He is also vice-captain. It is a position to which he would no doubt have been elevated in normal circumstances some years down the line, but don't tell me that his is not a political appointment.
At least the team's presence will allow the surrounding protests to continue to highlight the political problems in Zimbabwe. Even so, if we look on that as a plus, the whole thing will rear its head again next year when the same moral arguments will apply when it comes to deciding if England should tour Zimbabwe. The Zimbabweans will struggle over the next couple of months without Flower and Olonga, with a squad short on talent. Much more of this, and, despite all the work being done there to promote the game, and the 80 full-time coaches at the forefront of the ZCU's efforts to improve standards, there will be cries to have the country's international playing status reviewed. The men from Zimbabwe have come here with dreams. To play at Lord's will be special, but even the previous, more experienced team admitted to being overawed by cricket's headquarters. The story of Vusimuzi Sibanda is a nice one. Picked on the ZCU scholarship scheme, he was given a chance to go to Churchill High School in Harare, learnt the game well there and now plays for Takashinga CC, for whom he "likes to bat at three or four". At 19, he has a first-class average, in the limited sphere of Zimbabwean cricket, of 20.57 with the bat and 24.60 with the ball. We would love to see such a man produce some Boy's Own stuff at Lord's, but somehow I cannot see it happening.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 5 May
Mbeki leads new peace initiative in Zimbabwe
By Tim Butcher in Johannesburg
President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa leads a new international effort today to solve the crisis in Zimbabwe, but diplomats said he is unlikely to exert pressure for President Robert Mugabe to step down. South African officials promised that today's meeting in Harare between the two presidents would be a "defining moment" in the resolution of a crisis that has turned Zimbabwe into a pariah state notorious for human rights abuses and economic chaos. But most diplomats said Mr Mbeki's refusal to back the removal of Mr Mugabe would mean significant change was unlikely. Mr Mbeki will arrive in Harare today as will the newly re-elected president Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and President Bakili Muluzi of Malawi. The South African government, stung by international criticism of its unwillingness to criticise the Mugabe regime, has been leaking stories for more than a week to local journalists, suggesting that Mr Mbeki will get tough with Mr Mugabe. Picking up on reports suggesting that Mr Mugabe might be willing to retire, some in the South African government said Mr Mbeki would demand his departure. That would in theory pave the way for a transitional government involving the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and the ruling Zanu PF, followed by fresh elections that most observers believe the MDC would win.
But diplomats think there is no real willingness on the part of Mr Mugabe to stand down and that Mr Mbeki will modify his position before today's discussions, simply seeking a reopening of talks between Zanu PF and the MDC. "Mr Mbeki knows that his international standing has been damaged by his handling of Zimbabwe and he simply wants to look tough," one diplomat said. "But the proof of the pudding will come when we see if Mr Mugabe remains in power. At this stage there do not appear to be any grounds for thinking he will go." With Zimbabwe in the grip of its worst fuel crisis and an unprecedented economic slump, this is not the first time complex scenarios about the demise of the Mugabe regime have been published. In January, Zimbabwe's independent press reported a detailed plan for Mr Mugabe to stand down in favour of a Zanu PF loyalist. That did not happen, raising yet more doubts about the willingness of Mr Mbeki to tackle his most serious foreign policy issue. Human rights abuses worsen daily in Zimbabwe, with the Mugabe regime angered by the relative effectiveness of last month's national strike organised by the MDC. As Britain stays on the sidelines, the United States is stepping up diplomatic pressure for a solution and is sending Walter Kansteiner, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, to the region next week. But America will take little heed of the opposition activists' dream scenario - that Washington will capitalise on its victory in Iraq and threaten force against Mr Mugabe.
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From Associated Press, 5 May
African presidents to visit Zimbabwe
By Angus Shaw
Harare - The presidents of South Africa, Nigeria and Malawi headed to Zimbabwe on Monday for meetings with President Robert Mugabe and his critics in a bid to resolve a political deadlock that has virtually destroyed Zimbabwe's economy. The visit by Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Bakili Muluzi of Malawi take on added significance since it comes ahead of a trip to southern Africa by U.S. State Department's top Africa official, Walter Kansteiner. Kansteiner's visit next week is widely viewed as an effort to win backing for U.S. calls for political reform in Zimbabwe. The three presidents are scheduled to hold separate meetings with Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Mugabe, 79, who led the nation to independence in 1980, narrowly defeated Tsvangirai in presidential elections last year that independent observers said were deeply flawed. The opposition, along with Britain, the European Union and the United States, have refused to accept the results, saying voting was rigged and influenced by violence and intimidation mainly against opposition supporters. Worried about the violence in Zimbabwe, triggered in part by Mugabe's program to confiscate farms owned by white farmers and give them to landless blacks, regional leaders decided to begin a dialogue, which has so far not made any headway.
While the opposition has criticized regional leaders for not doing enough to push Mugabe out and end widespread human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, Mugabe loyalists are watching it suspiciously. Regional leaders had been partisan in recognizing Mugabe's re-election amid political violence last year and have shielded him from international censure. The Sunday Mail, a pro-government newspaper, questioned if the three presidents were going to be in Zimbabwe as "African brothers" or to act as agents of Britain, the former colonial ruler, and the United States, to force Mugabe to step down. Quoting an unnamed analyst, a practice often used to air the views of Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, the newspaper said Mugabe's Zanu PF party had the credentials to rule while the opposition was "a British creation." "The British government has realized it cannot remove President Mugabe from power using all other covert means and they are now trying to eat their way into Zanu PF by talking about this transition and exit plan," the newspaper said. Tsvangirai said last week he viewed the new mediation efforts by Mbeki, Obasanjo and Muluzi with "suspicion and anxiety." But he welcomed any initiative that could get Mugabe to the negotiating table. Talks between the MDC and Mugabe's party over his re-election, mediated by Nigeria and South Africa, ended in a stalemate last year. Mugabe said last month a condition of his meeting with Tsvangirai was that the opposition recognize his re-election and drop a court case challenging the result. Mugabe describes the opposition as "neocolonialist extensions of Britain" and "agents of imperialism" nurtured by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and white farmers, the descendants of British colonial-era settlers.
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From The Times (UK), 5 May
Zimbabwe talks suffer setback after 'agents' jibe
From Jan Raath in Harare and Michael Dynes in Johannesburg
Prospects for a rapid solution to the escalating crisis in Zimbabwe received a setback yesterday after a state-owned newspaper denounced the delegation of three African presidents arriving in Harare today as British "agents". President Mugabe also indicated that he would spurn talks with Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), amid a new diplomatic initiative designed to haul the former British colony out of its worst political and economic crisis since independence in 1980. The visit is made ahead of a trip to southern Africa by the US State Department's top Africa official, Walter Kansteiner, which is widely viewed as an effort to win backing for US calls for political reform in Zimbabwe. The Sunday Mail questioned whether the three presidents were going to be in Zimbabwe as "African brothers; to help or act as agents in efforts by Britain, the former colonial ruler, and the United States to force Mugabe to step down". In an astonishing gaffe, it declared that the three presidents, including President Mbeki of South Africa and President Obasanjo of Nigeria, the two most powerful figures in Africa, were not to be trusted as they could be "British agents" coming to "play British games".
Mr Mbeki, Mr Obasanjo and President Muluzi of Malawi are expected to meet Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai today in an attempt to persuade them to negotiate a path away from Zimbabwe's impending economic and political catastrophe. While he ruled out "regime change", Mr Mbeki said last week that the key issue was to bring Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai to the negotiating table, but he gave no further details of the talks' agenda. Diplomats say that there is a growing consensus between African and Western countries that the key issue is to find some way for Mr Mugabe, 79, who is in his 24th year of power, to step down and make way for free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections held under international supervision. Regional analysts say that the talks today hold the same significance as the intervention by neighbouring black states in 1979, which forced Mr Mugabe to go to Lancaster House in London for negotiations with white-ruled Rhodesia that led to elections and independence in 1980.
But Mr Mugabe's refusal to participate in an African-sponsored settlement could finally turn Mr Mbeki and Mr Obasanjo, who have hitherto bent over backwards to support the former Zimbabwean liberation leader, against him. For the past three years, Mr Mugabe has portrayed the mounting economic crisis in Zimbabwe as the result of a British "war" against the Government. Last week the Sunday Mail dismissed reports that he might step down before his term of office expires in 2008 as "wishful thinking". Mr Tsvangirai said last week that "the only way" to resolve the crisis was through "serious and sincere dialogue between the MDC and Zanu PF". The MDC has insisted on "a peaceful political environment" as a precondition for talks, including the restoration of the rule of law, the repeal of repressive laws and the disbanding of ruling party militias. The talks would have to lead to the establishment of a transitional government and elections within three months of Mr Mugabe resigning, according to the Constitution. The MDC has offered two new concessions in the past week. Party sources said that it would be willing to drop its high court challenge to presidential elections that returned Mr Mugabe to power last year if he gave a "cast-iron commitment" to resign soon. It was also willing to discuss a "dignified exit" for Mr Mugabe.
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From The Daily News, 5 May
Soldier's family denied burial order
Staff Reporter
Relatives of the late Christopher Muzvuru, who died in Basra, Iraq, in March while serving in the British Army, are failing to get a burial order as officials from the Registrar-General's Office are said to be refusing to process the papers. Muzvuru's body arrived from the United Kingdom last week and his body was supposed to be buried at the Muzvuru Farm in Mushagashe, Masvingo province, last Friday. However, mourners who had gathered at the farm in anticipation of the funeral are said to have been told to leave as the family had been unable to obtain the burial order. One of the relatives, who refused to be named, said youths being trained at the nearby Mushagashe Training Centre under the National Service Youth Training Programme had also been deployed in the area. "The youths were barring people from attending the funeral," he said, adding that Muzvuru's body was lying at a funeral parlour in Harare. The family was not aware when the burial order would be granted. Efforts to get a comment from Tobaiwa Mudede, the Registrar-General, were unsuccessful.
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Comment from The Daily Telegraph, 5 May
Leave Zimbabwe's cricketers alone: Mugabe is the villain
By Graham Boynton
With the arrival of Zimbabwe's cricket team in England last week has come a flurry of editorials denouncing the tour and everyone involved. Suddenly, after months of complete silence, Zimbabwe is back in the news again. At the centre of the ruckus is a charming, mild-mannered young man by the name of Heath Streak. He is the Zimbabwean cricket captain and, if you were to listen to his appeals for his team to be left alone to get on with the game, you might think he is an apologist for the Mugabe regime. Nothing could be further from the truth. I know the Streak family well - I was at school and played cricket with Heath's father, Dennis, and have watched in despair as their family farm in Matabeleland has been carved up and occupied by Mugabe's thugs. Dennis was also thrown in jail last year along with other local farmers, but has emerged to retain a tenuous grip on a small unoccupied section of his farmlands. Young Heath Streak will be required to employ a great deal of his natural charm to get through this tour. For as the situation in Zimbabwe continues to deteriorate - as it does daily now - there will be increasing pressure in the coming weeks to abandon it.
The opposition political party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is opposed to the tour because, as Paul Themba Nyathi, its Secretary for Information and Publicity, told me this weekend, normal sporting relations between the two countries suggest that things are normal in Zimbabwe "and they are clearly nothing of the kind at the moment". Streak himself has attracted some criticism from the MDC, which feels that he should have stood with the now former Zimbabwean cricketers, Andy Flower and Henry Olongo, when they held their black armband protest "to mourn the death of democracy in our beloved Zimbabwe" during the Cricket World Cup. Mugabe's opponents might not regard this tour as a good thing, but they cannot deny that it is proving to be useful in refocusing the attention of international media on the county's problems. Over the past two months, while the world has been concentrating on events in Iraq, Mugabe has launched a massive, sustained attack on opposition activists inside Zimbabwe in an attempt to crush the MDC once and for all. So confident was he that international attention was elsewhere that he made his intentions quite clear, declaring publicly in late March: "Let the MDC and its leaders be warned that those who play with fire will not only be burnt, but will be consumed by that fire." Since then the army, the police and the youth militia - the notorious Green Bombers - have gone after everyone they could identify as an opposition activist, from Members of Parliament, through to party workers and ordinary supporters.
Just in the past few weeks, more than 500 people have been arrested, including 11 MPs, and more than 250 have been hospitalised after sustained beatings, torture and rape. Among those arrested were Paul Themba Nyathi and Gibson Sibanda, the MDC's vice-president. It is the equivalent of throwing Oliver Letwin and Theresa May in the Tower for arguing with the Prime Minister. While all this has been going on, Zimbabwe's mismanaged economy has all but ground to a halt. There is very little food, and almost no food production now or in the foreseeable future, mainly because the hundreds of Mugabe cronies who have been handed once fully functioning farms have not bothered to do any farming over the past year. In fact, very few of the new landowners - mainly politicians, generals and civil servants - have taken the time to pay even cursory visits to their farms. Without foreign currency the country cannot buy fuel and Mugabe's recent announcements of price increases adding up to 300 per cent have merely exacerbated the problem. A one-way bus journey between the two main cities of Bulawayo and Harare on the barely functioning national bus service now costs Z$15,000, more than most Zimbabweans earn in a month.
The only thing that is keeping Mugabe's government limping from one week to the next is his powerful southern neighbour's largesse. Almost all the country's fuel supplies are coming through South Africa and 90 per cent of its electricity requirements are being provided by Escom, the national electricity supply commission. This cannot go on indefinitely, however, and there is increasing pressure on Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, to get Mugabe to pay his electricity bill - now estimated to be running at US$6 million - or to discontinue services. Today, Mbeki and Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo arrive in Harare to hold more talks with Mugabe, and, most significantly, for the first time to hold a formal meeting with the MDC president, Morgan Tsvangirai. Until now, Mbeki has refused to engage the MDC, insisting that Mugabe and his Zanu PF party is the legitimate government. However, as The Daily Telegraph revealed this weekend, documents have now come to hand supporting MDC claims that last year's elections were rigged and, if the legal challenge to the legitimacy of the Mugabe government makes it to the High Court in Harare, such documentary evidence could prove embarrassing to President Mbeki, who has himself declared the 2002 elections free and fair in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
It is quite conceivable that this visit of two of Africa's Big Men is the beginning of the endgame of Mugabe's ruinous rule over Zimbabwe. They will no doubt attempt to persuade him to take a dignified exit and also attempt to persuade Tsvangirai to make some concessions to allow such a retreat to take place. One thing is certain - Mugabe's defiant statement last week that he would not be retiring imminently and that he would be seeing his presidential term to completion in 2008 has a distinctly hollow ring. Even with the support of the Big Men, it is hard to see him lasting the year. Meanwhile, back in the British summer, it might be appropriate to go easy on the 28-year-old fast bowler leading the Zimbabwean team through our green and pleasant land. The tour is really a sideshow, for the real drama is being played out in Africa, and, after all, for the past three years the government ministers we pay to attend to these matters have hardly done any more than Heath Streak to get rid of Africa's top tyrant.
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From The Guardian (UK), 6 May
Troika urges Mugabe to negotiate
Andrew Meldrum in Harare
In a move hailed as the first step towards solving Zimbabwe's deepening crisis, President Robert Mugabe came under concerted pressure from three African leaders to begin negotiations with the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Bakili Muluzi of Malawi met Mr Mugabe for two hours yesterday to encourage his ruling Zanu PF party to hold talks with the MDC. After meeting Mr Mugabe, the leaders met the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, for 90 minutes. "The three presidents agreed with me that Zimbabwe is in a dire state," said Mr Tsvangirai. "We agreed that we have to work out a solution. The fundamental issue is that the MDC and Zanu PF must get down and talk." The inter-party negotiations would aim to establish a transitional period in which Mr Mugabe would retire and an interim government including both parties would be installed to pave the way for new, free and fair elections according to international standards, say African diplomats close to the talks.
However, Mr Mugabe has not welcomed the pressure from his fellow African leaders. The state-owned Sunday Mail newspaper questioned whether the presidents were coming "as African brothers or as agents of the British government". Speaking after the talks, Mr Obasanjo said: "It appears as if this country is sitting on a keg of gunpowder. That might be an exaggeration, but things are definitely bad." Mr Mugabe stuck to his demand that before any talks the MDC had to drop its legal challenge to his 2002 re-election, which the Commonwealth dismissed as rigged. "The MDC said they don't recognise me alongside the British, the Americans and the Europeans. Does the MDC now say they recognise me? That is the issue," he told reporters. "If they do, well, that means that the action now in court has to be withdrawn and we start talking." Mr Tsvangirai has stated that the MDC is not willing to abandon its case. The court case, alleging widespread state-sponsored violence and vote-rigging, is the opposition party's only legal recourse. Mr Tsvangirai has put forward his own conditions to the inter-party talks. He said that all state-sponsored violence and torture against MDC supporters must stop and that the repressive Public Order and Security Act and the anti-press laws must be repealed.
"It may be a halting step but this is none the less the first step in the movement towards a democratic government," said Iden Wetherell, the editor of the Zimbabwe Independent. "It may be a protracted and messy process, but it has now begun. The visit of the three leaders represents a significant chink in the hitherto solid armour of African solidarity protecting Mugabe." John Makumbe, the chairman of the Zimbabwe in Crisis Coalition, was cautious. "I believe Mugabe has a few more tricks left up his sleeve," he said. "The process has begun but I fear there will be... more blood spilled before Mugabe actually steps down." The visiting leaders were welcomed by about 300 female MDC supporters who gathered in the centre of the capital, Harare. Jubilantly singing and dancing, they waved placards saying: "Please advise Mugabe to step down", "Tell Mugabe to go now" and "Women are being tortured". Armed police charged the crowd and dragged away about 10 women, including some with babies. But the action did not dampen the protesters' spirits. "They can arrest us, but they cannot stop us," said one woman after fleeing police.
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From The Times (UK), 6 May
Mugabe blocks talks
From Jan Raath in Harare
An initiative by three African leaders to bring President Mugabe to the negotiating table with Zimbabwe's pro-democracy Opposition was blocked yesterday at the very first step. After more than two hours with President Mbeki of South Africa and President Muluzi of Malawi and Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria's President-elect, Mr Mugabe declared that he was willing to negotiate with Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). However, the MDC would first have to recognise his legitimacy to govern the country by dropping its court challenge to his controversial victory in presidential elections last year, he said. The MDC is applying for the election result to be overturned because of the ruling Zanu PF's campaign of violence, fraud and manipulation of the electoral process. Most Western governments and the Commonwealth ruled that the election was not free and fair. Mr Obasanjo said that the three Presidents were delighted that Mr Mugabe was anxious to talk with the MDC. However, in a reference to Mr Mugabe's demand that the MDC drop its legal challenge, he said: "There is a little point which we can work out. We will work on it as quickly as possible." A statement from the MDC later did not mention the blockage. It said that the three leaders had stated that there was a "pressing need for Zimbabweans to open dialogue" to deal with the country's crisis. Mr Tsvangirai told them that the MDC was "ready for unconditional dialogue and was ready any time, anywhere to engage in such dialogue". Mr Mugabe's obduracy appears to have undone a long, carefully planned international diplomatic strategy. Widespread expectations that Mr Mbeki and Mr Obasanjo would finally be blunt with him have evaporated. The Harare meeting was a major test for the leaders of Africa's two most powerful countries and it appears that they were easily pushed aside by Mr Mugabe, diplomats said. The regime gave no sign yesterday it was sensitive to the presence of the three leaders. Outside the hotel where they met Mr Tsvangirai, police dispersed a group of 30 MDC demonstrators and arrested ten of them. Mr Mbeki and Mr Obasanjo brokered talks between the MDC and Zanu PF a year ago, but they fell apart after five weeks over Zanu PF's refusal to continue unless the MDC dropped the court case. MDC officials confirmed that the party would drop the case, but only after Mr Mugabe gave a "cast-iron guarantee" that he would resign soon.
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From IOL (SA), 5 May
Zim meeting 'went well', says Tsvangirai
Harare - A delegation of African leaders met on Monday with Zimbabwe's president and its opposition leader in an urgent round of shuttle diplomacy aimed at ending the political crisis that has plunged the southern African nation into chaos and driven it to the brink of economic collapse. South African President Thabo Mbeki, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Malawian President Bakili Muluzi held closed-door talks for two hours at State House with President Robert Mugabe, whose increasingly authoritarian rule has been blamed for causing the crisis. The visiting presidents returned to their hotel without comment and met for one-and-a-half hours with Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. "It went well," Tsvangirai said after the meeting. "The fundamental issue is, as a matter of urgency, (the ruling) Zanu PF and the MDC must sit down and discuss. That's what they will take up." Muluzi and Obasanjo then headed back to State House for a further round of talks with Mugabe, while M |
