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Archived News
8th July 2003
MDC welcomes all initiatives to resolve crisis
MDC sees opportunity in Bush visit to Africa
Harare mayor arrested
 Recent ZIC protest meeting in Sydney
Mbeki - We won't intervene in Zimbabwe
2 Zimbabwe journalists arrested on charges of insulting President Mugabe
Judge's freedom welcomed
Focus on effects of fuel shortages on daily lives
Resettled farmers selling fuel allocations
Bush visit said to be 'tough' for Mbeki
Bush, Mbeki clash looms
MDC to ask global leaders to pressurise Mugabe
Top SA lawyer files Tsvangirai's papers on Mugabe's legitimacy
No pay for diplomats
Bulawayo witnesses 43 deaths from malnutrition
Don't be cowed by Bush's visit, says Mugabe
Mugabe evades diplomatic showdown
Judgment reserved in Tsvangirai’s presidential poll petition
Exiled officer tells how Mugabe's thugs took over police force
CIO in clumsy attempt to smear MDC
Zimbabwe capital to ration water as shortage looms
Don't panic...
Zimbabwe's High Court rules on timeframe for Tsvangirai's electoral challenge
Wheat shortages to continue
EU/US mull aid reduction
Criticism of a hero divides blacks
Zimbabwe desperate to solve oil crisis
Bush calls for fresh elections in Zimbabwe
Mugabe warns Bush: Don't dictate
Mugabe gets a bigger paycheque
Mugabe's spokesman in deadly car crash
Zimbabwe steps up criticism of Bush on eve of visit
Mugabe’s tirade masks fear of US
New threats and opportunities redefine US interests in Africa
New farmers' dream turns into nightmare
Streets erupt as Zimbabwe qualify for Nations Cup
Bread shoots to $1 000 a loaf
Mugabe's men evict Mayor of Harare from his office
Tsvangirai's trial drags on
These women call the shots
Rule by hoax and fantasy - from land to bank notes
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From IOL (SA), 2 July
Mbeki - We won't intervene in Zimbabwe
Ocho Rios, Jamaica - President Thabo Mbeki said on that Tuesday he is committed to a peaceful resolution of Zimbabwe's political crisis, but won't pressure the country's embattled leader to hold elections. Mbeki, in Jamaica attending a summit of Caribbean leaders, was responding to comments made last week by United States Secretary of State Colin Powell in a newspaper editorial. Powell had urged South Africa to be more active in ending the political stalemate in Zimbabwe. "It's incorrect really to be saying that we should stand outside the borders of Zimbabwe and decide what the Zimbabweans should do about their own country," Mbeki told reporters in the northern resort town of Ocho Rios. South Africa would continue engaging Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government and the opposition party to reach an agreement and provide some assistance, but won't directly intervene, he said. Asked whether he would push Mugabe to hold elections to insure a peaceful transition of power, Mbeki said "That's their decision. The future of Zimbabwe needs to be decided by the Zimbabweans." In The New York Times editorial published on June 24, Powell called Mugabe's government "a ruthless regime" and implored neighbouring countries, particularly South Africa, to pressure him to compromise with his political opponents. Mbeki said such an action would be "incorrect," adding that if South Africa and another country teamed up to decide policy in the United States, "everybody would lock us up. They'd think we were crazy." Zimbabwe's opposition has accused the 79-year-old Mugabe of targeting Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai in a desperate attempt to cling to power amid crippling political and economic chaos. Zimbabwe is in its worst crisis since independence in 1980, with inflation pegged at 269 percent and unemployment at 70 percent. American President George Bush is expected to discuss Zimbabwe's problems with Mbeki when he makes his first trip to Africa next week.
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From VOA News, 1 July
2 Zimbabwe journalists arrested on charges of insulting President Mugabe
Harare - Zimbabwe's only privately-owned daily newspaper is under fire from the government. Two senior journalists and three executives of the Daily News have been arrested in the last two weeks. On Monday, the chief executive at the Daily News, Sam Nkomo, and his commercial director, Moreblessings Mpofu, were accused by police of publishing advertisements insulting to President Robert Mugabe. The company's lawyer, Gutulethu Moyo, who went to the police station with the two executives, was herself briefly arrested and accused of inciting the public to demonstrate against the government and for refusing to take orders from the police. This is not Miss Moyo's first run-in with the police. Earlier this year she was allegedly assaulted at a police station when she tried to gain the release of a photographer who works for the Daily News. Among those she accuses of assaulting her is the wife of Zimbabwe's army commander. All three executives of the paper are now back at work and will appear in court at some time in the months ahead. Last month, the editor and editor in chief of the Daily News were accused of violating Zimbabwe's media laws by publishing information that allegedly denigrated the image of President Robert Mugabe. They are also back at work and awaiting trial. The Daily News began publishing four years ago and since then almost all its senior staff have been arrested at various times. The founding editor of the paper, Geoff Nyarota, was arrested several times and finally had to flee Zimbabwe. He is now on a scholarship at Harvard University in the United States. Andrew Moyse, director of the Media Monitoring Project in Zimbabwe, said Tuesday the latest arrests were part of the ongoing persecution of Zimbabwe's most popular newspaper. He said the government wanted to silence alternative sources of information. The Zimbabwe government controls all radio and television stations in the country, and until the appearance of the Daily News, it controlled the daily press market too.
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From News24 (SA), 2 July
Judge's freedom welcomed
Johannesburg - The Zimbabwean prosecution authority's withdrawal of corruption charges against a retired judge was welcomed by the South African legal fraternity on Tuesday. "The withdrawal of all charges against Judge (Fergus) Blackie fully vindicates the stance of the South African bar," the General Council of the Bar of SA said in a statement on Tuesday. "We welcome the withdrawal of all the charges by the state prosecutors against Judge Blackie who had been wrongly and maliciously charged with corruption whilst doing his work," the Law Society of South Africa's joint chairs, Susan Abro and Edward Ngubane, said. Associated Press (AP) reported on Monday that Zimbabwean prosecutors had dropped corruption charges against Blackie, 65, who, until he was retired shortly before his arrest, was the last white judge on the Zimbabwean bench. The GCBSA said its member Mike Hellens, SC, had provided pro bono (free of charge) defence for Blackie, as did veteran Zimbabwean human rights lawyer Adrian de Bourbon, SC. "They submitted a written outline of the defence to the prosecuting authorities in advance of Monday's hearing, the scheduled commencement of trial," the BCSA said.
In court on Monday, according to AP, prosecutor Florence Ziyambi told magistrate Virginia Sithole state legal experts had "decided to withdraw the matter before plea". Under Zimbabwean law, this does not amount to a full acquittal, but defence lawyers said the charges were now effectively dead. Blackie was forced last September to spend three nights in police cells after being arrested in a dawn raid on his home. He told the news agency Monday's decision was a "victory for all who believe in the independence of the judiciary". Retired South African appeal court judge John Smallberger attended Blackie's first court appearance as an observer. Smallberger's attendance was an initiative of the SA Bar and the Forum of Advocates, a specialist grouping within the International Bar Association of the referral bars of Australia, England and Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Namibia and South Africa. Seven of Zimbabwe's 30 senior judges resigned or retired between 2001 and 2002 after militants supporting the government of President Robert Mugabe invaded the Supreme Court and threatened to kill opponents of the government's land redistribution programme.
Blackie was accused of being racially biased when he overturned a one-year jail sentence imposed on a white woman convicted of theft. His lawyers said there had been a clerical mix-up in the case. Blackie's arrest came after he imposed a three-month jail sentence on Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa for contempt of the courts in a case involving torture of three United States missionaries. Chinamasa had the sentence annulled after Blackie's retirement, and police have yet to attempt to serve the arrest warrant. Blackie stepped down after 21 years service as a judge, weeks before his detention. Blackie said he would be taking legal advice on a possible civil law suit against the state. He was refunded his Z$10 000. Blackie's case raised international outcry. Abro and Ngubane said the law society had expressed "serious concern and alarm" at the manner in which the Zimbabwean judiciary and lawyers had, over the past three years, been intimidated and persecuted by the Mugabe government. "The (Law Society of SA) says that in order for Zimbabwe to return to normality, the rule of law and the independence of the Judiciary must be restored immediately and assurances given that no undue pressure will be emanating from the government should judges make rulings against the State."
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From IRIN (UN), 1 July
Focus on effects of fuel shortages on daily lives
More than six months since a fuel supply deal collapsed, Libya has once again come to the rescue of President Robert Mugabe by reviving a barter agreement on oil with Zimbabwe. "Experts from the two governments, including Zimbabwe Energy and Power Development Minister (Amos Midzi), met to review the bilateral co-operation path, and the ways to reinforce that cooperation in oil and investment in various economic fields," a joint statement said without giving further details. Libya last year renewed a US $360 million fuel deal with Zimbabwe in exchange for beef, tobacco and sugar but the supply line was cut after Zimbabwe failed to meet its end of the bargain. While the stopgap measure may temporarily alleviate fuel shortages, long-term fuel security is by no means guaranteed. Hardest hit by the fuel shortages are labourers, especially poor households in Zimbabwe's high-density suburbs. Chipo Chikosha is a single mother. Every day she gets up at 3:30 am and by 4 am is on the road, walking a distance of 20 km from the suburb of Glen Norah in the capital, Harare, to the city centre where she works as an office orderly at a law firm. "I cannot afford the fare of Z$300 charged by the commuter omnibuses," she told IRIN. With a salary of Z$50,000 per month, Chipo pays her rent and buys food. Despite a government regulation stipulating that passenger omnibuses may only charge fares of between Z$60 and Z$300 for urban routes, commuters in Harare and Bulawayo have to contend with fares ranging from Z$300 to Z$1,000. The prohibitive fares have meant that highways from residential suburbs into downtown Harare stream with bicycles and pedestrians walking to work every morning and home again in the evenings.
Two years ago the government reduced the import duty and sales tax on bicycles to encourage more people to cycle to work, as passenger vehicles were grounded owing to the chronic shortage of fuel. It now common to see trucks and tractors with trailers transporting people to and from town. The government has tried to ease the problem by introducing urban train services. The train service, dubbed "Freedom Trains", charges government-gazetted fares and was expected to cushion commuters from unscrupulous bus owners who overcharge. However, passengers have raised concerns over safety and complained of overcrowding. An economist with the Zimbabwe Economic Society told IRIN the trains were being run at a loss by the state-owned National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ). "The scheme will put the NRZ into more debt," the economist said. Zimbabwe needs around US $400 million to meet its fuel needs annually. Much of this money used to come from agriculture, especially tobacco, which until 2000 was the country's main foreign currency earner. Prior to 2000, tobacco raised over US $500 million in foreign currency annually. Midway into the 2003 selling season, tobacco has brought in just slightly above US $30 million. Newly resettled farmers are yet to raise their production to pre-2000 levels. Production on the "new farms" has also been stalled by shortages of fuel and inputs. The Zimbabwe Farmers Union, a body of mostly peasant and small-scale farmers, recently made an appeal to the government to have fuel supplied to the new farmers. But while the majority of people have to do without transport, those who control the hugely profitable parallel market in scarce goods and hard currency are enjoying boom times.
A garage owner identified only as Chirasha told IRIN they sell hardly a quarter of their allocations through the pump at the official price of Z$450. "We have customers who are prepared to buy in bulk at Z$1,500 per litre," he said. Chirasha added that after filling only a few cars, petrol attendants tell the remaining customers the pumps are dry. The rest of the fuel is then piped out at night to be stored and sold at unknown destinations. Some fuel dealers are selling fuel in foreign currency at US 75 cents a litre. Newspapers are awash with adverts saying "bulk fuel available". A new scam involves towing clapped-out cars to fuel stations where they are parked until fuel is available. Once the car has been filled, it is immediately towed to a secluded spot and drained. The fuel, bought at Z$450 a litre, is then resold at Z$1,500 to desperate motorists. The police have begun monitoring the situation and a few arrests have been made. Earlier this month the government introduced fuel coupons for commuter taxis and omnibus operators. The move followed an announcement that the state is to ban all vehicles from carrying petrol and diesel in containers, to prevent parallel marketeering. Energy Minister Amos Midzi said most commuter omnibuses were no longer plying their routes. Instead, they were buying fuel at filling stations reserved for them by government order and then re-selling it at profits of up to 500 percent. In June motorists were banned from carrying fuel in containers, in a move to stamp out illegal sales. "If, for example, someone has a funeral, or is a farmer who needs diesel, he has to apply to the ministry to be given permission to carry the fuel to his farm, otherwise he will be arrested," said deputy energy minister Reuben Marumahoko. After several cases where conmen posing as undertakers had presented fake burial documents to buy fuel, petrol attendants on occasion have demanded to see the body in the hearse first, before pumping.
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From The Daily News, 2 July
Resettled farmers selling fuel allocations
Own Correspondent
Masvingo - Farmers resettled under the land resettlement programme in Masvingo are selling their diesel allocations on the black market, which agricultural experts yesterday said could affect the government's winter crop in the Chiredzi and Triangle areas. Industry officials said farmers resettled under the A1 and A2 phases of the land reform programme were selling the diesel they were allocated by the government to assist them in harvesting sugarcane and in planting wheat. The A1 model of the land reforms is for small-scale subsistence farmers and the A2 is for aspiring commercial producers. The Agricultural Research and Extension Services (AREX) allocated 200 000 litres to 661 resettled farmers in Chiredzi and Triangle two weeks ago, in a bid to boost the controversial winter cropping project. Sources said many farmers had resorted to selling the fuel on the black market, where a litre of diesel is selling for $1 500. The sources said some of the farmers had decided that they would harvest very little and were selling their diesel. Provincial AREX officer Nyasha Pambirei said his department was shocked to learn that farmers were not using the diesel to plant or harvest their crops. He said: "We were trying to help the land reform programme but, of course, it is difficult to monitor every farmer on how he uses his allocation. However, our department will work hand in hand with the police to arrest those who are abusing their allocations." Of the 3 000 acres cleared for wheat planting in Masvingo, less than 1 000 acres have been planted because the diesel that was supposed to be used was allegedly diverted by the cash-starved farmers. There are fears that the 700 tonnes of wheat expected to be harvested this year might not be forthcoming if the farmers continue to abuse their allocations. Last year, the resettled farmers harvested less than 400 tonnes of wheat and are expected to harvest even less this year.
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From The Washington Times, 3 July
Bush visit said to be 'tough' for Mbeki
By Geoff Hill
Johannesburg - Tough talk from Washington ahead of a visit to Africa by President Bush next week is creating problems for South African President Thabo Mbeki, whose refusal to speak out on Zimbabwe and other regional crises stands in sharp contrast. Mr. Bush used his speech at the biennial meeting of the Corporate Council on Africa to call for the resignation of Liberian leader Charles Taylor and the establishment of an interim authority in Congo, where human rights groups say more than 3 million people have died in a long-running civil war. Mr. Bush also criticized Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government, which the United States and other Western powers have refused to recognize after fraud-tainted elections last year. Also last week, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell described Mr. Mugabe as a "tyrant" and called on neighboring South Africa to adopt a tougher stance on Zimbabwe. On Monday, it was announced that Mr. Powell will accompany Mr. Bush to South Africa.
A spokesman for Mr. Mbeki's government rejected Mr. Powell's comments and said South Africa would maintain its policy of "quiet diplomacy" toward Harare. A source in Mr. Mbeki's ruling African National Congress told The Washington Times that the government was deeply divided about Mr. Powell's remarks as well as President Bush's upcoming visit, the second to sub-Saharan Africa by a U.S. president in office. President Clinton's was the first. "This is going to be a tough couple of weeks for Mbeki," the source said. "He will have to smile and will no doubt be delighted to be seen hosting the world's most powerful leader, but, behind the scenes, he will need to work hard to hold his party and even his close supporters together. The South Africans see this continent as their own domain, and the comments by Bush and Powell, calling so directly for change in Liberia, Congo and Zimbabwe, have shocked a lot of people who are starting to realize that their own refusal to take tough action on thorny issues, especially Zimbabwe, has created a vacuum, which other countries, like the U.S., are moving to fill."
Nelson Mandela has said he does not expect to meet Mr. Bush after the former South African president opposed U.S.-led war on Iraq. South Africa came out strongly against the war, and recent talk about intervention in Liberia is expected to cause concern in Pretoria. An antiwar coalition of 300 groups has applied to the South African police for permission to mount nationwide protests when Mr. Bush arrives in the country on Tuesday. Mr. Bush's comment that in Zimbabwe "the freedom and dignity of the nation is under assault" is likely to cause the most difficulty in meetings with Mr. Mbeki, who has refused to publicly criticize Mr. Mugabe. Mr. Mugabe's economic policies, including a coercive land-reform program, have led to the fall of the local currency unit from 58 to the U.S. dollar three years ago to 2,700 to the dollar at present. The United Nations estimates that 70 percent of the country's 12 million people live under conditions of famine and that more than 2 million black Zimbabweans have sought refuge in South Africa.
Despite several South African initiatives to encourage Mr. Mugabe, 79, to either step down or enter negotiations with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change, there has been little progress. At the beginning of June, the MDC led a weeklong strike and called for new elections, but the government responded by charging Mr. Tsvangirai with treason and jailing him for two weeks before he was released on bail. Mr. Tsvangirai said in an interview that the presence of the U.S. leader in Africa would help draw international attention to Zimbabwe's plight. In contrast to South Africa's position, the governments of Uganda, Botswana and Senegal - also on Mr. Bush's itinerary - have made clear they do not support Mr. Mugabe or his policies. President Festus Mogae of Botswana repeatedly has called for a return to democracy in Zimbabwe and said in a recent television interview that the country's problems were caused by a "drought of good governance." The U.S. government has indicated that it might be willing to underwrite substantial aid for a recovery program in Zimbabwe if Mr. Mugabe allows internationally supervised elections in which he does not stand as a candidate. But the only South African response to the idea came from Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, who told a local newspaper, "We would like to discuss this with the U.S. and find out what they mean." Mr. Bush also will visit Nigeria, where he will deliver the keynote address at a summit on cooperation between Africa and the United States.
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From The Daily News, 3 July
Bush, Mbeki clash looms
Farai Mutsaka, Chief Reporter
United States President George W Bush is set to clash with his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki over Washington's insistence that South Africa plays a leading role in ensuring the formation of a transitional government in Zimbabwe ahead of fresh elections, a move Mbeki says he is not willing to pursue. Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner have called for President Robert Mugabe's exit from power and the formation of a transitional administration that would organise a fresh presidential election following Mugabe's disputed re-election last year. Bush, who embarks on his first ever African safari from 7 to 12 July, will meet Mbeki in Pretoria where the resolution of Zimbabwe's political stand-off will top their agenda. Bush will also visit Nigeria, Uganda and Botswana. But even before the Pretoria summit begins, signs of a rift on how to end Zimbabwe's political crisis are emerging between Mbeki and Bush, and analysts warn that Mbeki appears determined to play Mugabe's advocate during the talks, a move that could widen their rift on Zimbabwe.
On Tuesday, Kansteiner said the US would discuss South Africa's role in the setting-up of a transitional government and the subsequent holding of a fresh vote in Zimbabwe, a task which Mbeki has said he is not willing to take up. "We, in fact, are encouraged by what we hope is the beginning of a dialogue inside Zimbabwe between the key parties and players (and) that that dialogue will lead to some kind of transitional framework that will enable the people of Zimbabwe to have their voice heard in an election that is internationally monitored and that is free and fair," Kansteiner said. "The South Africans have a very important role to play in that and they are playing it. We want to talk about that and we want to see how we can help." Powell last week and earlier this week indicated that Washington was ready to lead international donors in mobilising economic aid to rescue Zimbabwe, also sapped by an economic meltdown triggered by the political crisis, if Zanu PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) agreed to form a transitional government. Powell urged Mbeki to take a more active role in ending the stalemate between Zanu PF and the MDC, which started "peace" talks last year but then abandoned them.
But Mbeki on Tuesday indicated his unwillingness to take up any role in pressuring Mugabe to agree to resume the talks, opting to continue with his widely condemned quiet diplomacy on Harare. Speaking from Jamaica, where he was attending a summit of Caribbean leaders, Mbeki said he would not pressure Mugabe into holding fresh elections. "It's incorrect really to be saying that we should stand outside the borders of Zimbabwe and decide what the Zimbabweans should do about their own country," he said. Asked whether he would push Mugabe to hold elections to ensure a peaceful transition of power, Mbeki said: "That's their decision. The future of Zimbabwe needs to be decided by the Zimbabweans." Suggesting that calls by the US for him to be more active in resolving Zimbabwe's crisis were misplaced, Mbeki said: "If South Africa and another country teamed up to decide policy in the US, everybody would lock us up. They'd think we were crazy." Political analysts yesterday said it was unlikely that Mbeki would change his soft stance on Mugabe after meeting Bush but would try to convince the US leader that Mugabe was more-or-less ready for some talks. Harare advocate Archibald Gijima, echoing the views of most analysts, said it was unlikely that Bush would convince Mbeki to take a more vigorous approach against Mugabe. "Mbeki is likely to show himself to be independent and as a no-pushover and this will complicate matters. Mbeki's approach to Zimbabwe so far discloses him as a person with a hidden admiration for the wiles of Mugabe, hence his softly-softly approach," he said. "But Bush will ask for a more result-oriented approach, and Mbeki fears to take that approach. They will agree that there are problems in Zimbabwe but Mbeki will try to justify Mugabe's regime. The signs of growing differences are already visible."
The analysts said a cornered Mugabe always gave an indication that he was willing to talk, although he also always did not implement the decisions of such talks, as shown by several summits held on Zimbabwe in the past three years of heightened crisis. "You have only to look at Abuja where agreements reached with the international community were later ignored by Mugabe as he pushed his own agenda to seize land, one of the causes of the current economic crisis," a bank analyst said. He was referring to international talks in the Nigerian capital two years ago which agreed a programme of land reform that needed to be followed by Harare for it to win international financial aid for the reforms. Mugabe later tore up the accord and seized productive land, triggering the country's worst famine. Efforts to get comment yesterday from Mbeki's spokesman Bheki Khumalo on the apparent rift between Washington and Pretoria over the resolution of Zimbabwe's crisis were fruitless. Khumalo was reported by aides to be out of his office. Efforts to contact South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and her spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa were also unsuccessful.
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From Business Day (SA), 2 July
MDC to ask global leaders to pressurise Mugabe
Harare - The main opposition party in Zimbabwe is to send senior members to South Africa and Mozambique to urge international leaders to put pressure on President Robert Mugabe's government to engage in talks, an official said Wednesday. Paul Themba Nyathi, spokesman of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), told AFP his party was sending delegates to South Africa to hopefully meet with US officials during George W. Bush's visit to that country next week. He said a second delegation would travel to the Mozambique capital Maputo to lobby leaders during the African Union summit that begins there on July 4. The MDC spokesman said the party's objective would be "to bring pressure on the Mugabe regime to get to the negotiating table". The MDC wants to hold unconditional talks with Mugabe's government about the various crises gripping the country. But Mugabe has said he will only talk to the opposition party if they recognise his victory in a disputed presidential poll last year, in which MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai put up a stern challenge to his now 23-year hold on power.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of severe food, fuel and currency shortages. Annual inflation is at more than 300% and around 70% of the country's workforce is unemployed. Nyathi said the MDC wanted to address international leaders, journalists and government officials so that they gain an "appreciation and understanding of the situation in Zimbabwe". US Secretary of State Colin Powell has called on Mugabe to leave office. He said the subject of Zimbabwe will be high on the agenda during Bush's July 8-9 visit to South Africa. But a senior ruling party official in Zimbabwe was quoted in Wednesday's edition of the private Daily News as saying that, if the MDC had any problems, it should approach them and not seek foreign intervention. "Our differences are not going to be ironed out in foreign lands," said Didymus Mutasa, the secretary for external affairs in Mugabe's Zanu PF. "Maybe they (the MDC) first want to seek permission from their American handlers," he said. The government consistently accuses the West of supporting the MDC. It accuses the opposition party of working with countries like the US to effect a "regime change" in the southern African nation.
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From The Financial Gazette, 3 July
Top SA lawyer files Tsvangirai's papers on Mugabe's legitimacy
Chief Reporter
A high profile lawyer from Cape Town, South Africa, Advocate Jeremy John Gauntlett, arrived in the country on Tuesday and immediately filed an urgent application in the High Court to compel its Registrar to set a date to hear Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai's challenge to President Robert Mugabe's legitimacy. The application will likely be heard today in chambers by Justice Ben Hlatshwayo. Brian Elliot of Gill, Godlonton and Gerrands will instruct Gauntlett. Earlier attempts this year by Advocate Adrian de Bourbon to have the matter set for hearing hit a snag after the Registrar of the High Court, Jacob Manzunzu, ignored an order by Judge President, Paddington Garwe, compelling him to do so. The election petition was filed over a year ago, but to date no specific date has been set for the hearing. Manzunzu has since resigned from his post. In his application filed in the High Court to register as a legal practitioner in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwean-born Gauntlett, a barrister in England and Wales said: "I have been retained by Morgan Tsvangirai, the president of the Movement for Democratic Change, to represent him in challenging the legality and validity of the presidential election held in Zimbabwe during the period 9 to 11 March 2002 in which Tsvangirai stood as a candidate." But the contents of the new application were not readily available yesterday. In his last application Tsvangirai reiterated that voters were entitled to know whether or not Mugabe won the election freely and fairly. He said the delay only served Mugabe's interest and was detrimental to justice. David Coltart, the MDC's shadow minister of justice, is on record saying the opposition party had agreed that the election petition would be two-pronged. The first phase would be to deal with the legal aspect targeting the Electoral Act and the second to provide the court with oral and physical evidence.
But Mugabe has remained adamant that he is the legitimate President of Zimbabwe and would not be intimidated by Tsvangirai's election petition. In fact, during his address to the nation marking 23 years of independence, Mugabe said he would only talk to Tsvangirai if he recognised him as the President of Zimbabwe and dropped the petition. Since Mugabe's controversial re-election which saw commercial farmers driven off their properties and the almost total collapse of a once vibrant economy, the MDC, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) have embarked on peaceful demonstrations and job stayaways. Recently, Tsvangirai was incarcerated for two weeks on allegations of inciting the nation to turn against a legitimately elected head of state. Meanwhile, the case in which High Court Judge Justice Benjamin Paradza is charged with obstruction of justice has been postponed for hearing to September 15 following a request by Jonathan Samkange, Paradza's lawyer. On Monday Samkange wrote to the Registrar of the Supreme Court: "Due to the fact that Chief Justice Chidyausiku and Justice Cheda have recused themselves from hearing the case, we suggest that you appoint one of the retired judges." Paradza was arrested in his chambers at the High Court for allegedly calling Justice Maphios Cheda in Bulawayo to ask him to handle an application to have Russel Wayne Luschagne's passport released by the court.
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From The Financial Gazette, 3 July
No pay for diplomats
Sunsleey Chamunorwa, Editor-in-Chief
Banks were this week scurrying to beat the deadline set by the government which, in an unusual step meant to help it wriggle out of awkward scrapes, last week directed banks to pay overdue salaries for staff at Zimbabwe's foreign missions in a development that gives a rare glimpse into one of the more bizarre episodes in Zimbabwe's tragicomic history. The government directive, issued through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on June 18 2003, caught most banks by surprise. Although they acknowledged that the government was strapped for hard currency, authoritative banking sources were unanimous that the latest government directive was emblematic of everything wrong with the country's economic direction. Week-long investigations by this paper revealed that although several banks had complied with the June 30 2003 deadline, a handful could not beat the deadline because they did not have the money. This means that Zimbabwean diplomats at some of the country's foreign missions will go without pay, a situation that could prove another deeply embarrassing debacle for the government which observers say is threatened with imploding under its absurdities. Standard Chartered Bank, impeccable banking sources said, was required to pay US$2.2 million to the country's three High Commissions in London, (United Kingdom), Paris (France) and Geneva (Switzerland). "We have fulfilled our obligations and I cannot say anything more than that," said a bank official who spoke on behalf of the bank's chief executive officer, Washington Matsaira, who was said to be out of the country.
The Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe was directed to chip in with US$165 000 for the Zimbabwean High Commission in Havana (Cuba) while banking giant straddling the southern African region, African Banking Corporation, would pay US$663 000 to the country's United Nations mission in New York (United States of America), High Commission in Pretoria (South Africa) and some diplomatic staff in Beira (Mozambique). Trust Bank was asked to pay US$670 000 to Accra (Ghana), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Windhoek (Namibia). New Delhi (India) and Tripoli (Libya) would be accounted for by acceptance house Renaissance Merchant Bank while Barclays Bank would pay US$600 000 to the country's envoys in Washington (United States), Toronto (Canada) and part of the Pretoria mission's requirements as well. Kingdom Bank would pay US$478 615 to Zimbabwean envoys in Stockholm (Sweden), Abuja (Nigeria) and Maputo (Mozambique). It is understood that Stanbic and First Banking Corporation would pay US$600 000 apiece to three High Commissions each. The foreign missions could not be ascertained at the time of going to press. Time Bank is understood to have been asked to pay the least amount of US$50 000 to the country's High Commission in Vienna, Austria. Interfin was spared, sources said, because it had last week provided US$2 million towards the payment of external government commitments. These figures add up to $5.5 billion at the official exchange rate. All bank chief executives refused to comment citing confidentiality and instead referred all questions to the central bank. Efforts to ascertain the sum total of what the government required for this purpose were fruitless as Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge was not available for comment while the ministry's spokesperson, Pavelyn Musaka was attending a workshop in Kadoma.
With the economy mired in recession which has seen the country's foreign missions also feeling the sharp edge of the economic melt-down back home, the government is in a desperate and tough situation that could expose its isolation as probably the only southern African country failing to pay embassy staff alongside renowned banana republics elsewhere. The government had hoped that the current tobacco selling season could uncork a new source of hard currency to pay embassy staff. Tobacco has been traditionally Zimbabwe's premier export earner with the single biggest sectoral contribution to the country's gross domestic product. It has however since lost its glitter. "The payment will be against the 50 percent and tobacco proceeds normally remittable to the Reserve Bank in terms of current Exchange Control directives", the central bank, which controls the country's financial levers, said in its letter to bank chief executives. "With regard to tobacco, however, only 80 percent of the proceeds should be applied towards the embassy payments. The remaining 20 percent will continue to be remitted to the Reserve Bank to go towards the Tobacco Growers Fund. It would, therefore be appreciated, where tobacco lines are available, if draw-downs could be accelerated for purposes of meeting these payments," said the letter signed by Stewart Kufeni, the central bank's director of financial markets. On payment, Kufeni said, the central bank would arrange to credit the individual banks' accounts in the RBZ books with the Zimbabwe dollar equivalent.
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From The Daily News, 3 July
Bulawayo witnesses 43 deaths from malnutrition
Staff reporter
Bulawayo - Forty-three people died in Bulawayo in April alone because of malnutrition, according to an official council report on the health situation in Zimbabwe's second largest city. In March, 36 people died in Bulawayo because of lack of adequate food. The city's director of health services, Rita Dlodlo, said in the report - a copy of which was shown to The Daily News - that most of the deaths were among children in the five to 14-year age group. Deaths due to hunger were also high among people who were 50 years and above, Dlodlo said in the report. Zimbabwe is in the grip of an acute shortage of food after poor rains and chaotic government land reforms combined to cut down food production by more than 50 percent. An acute foreign currency shortage only helped worsen the food crisis with the government unable to pay for food from foreign producers. Only the timely intervention of international food relief organisations saved about eight million Zimbabweans, about half the country's population, from starving to death last year. According to the council report most residents in Bulawayo were now surviving on one meal a day in a bid to save the little stocks of the staple maize they harvested last season. Non-governmental organisations and the government were running supplementary feeding schemes in the city but these had proved inadequate to cover all vulnerable groups. Bulawayo city councillors have also set up additional feeding schemes but these have also been overwhelmed by the number of people needing food assistance. Councillor Stars Mathe said the number of beneficiaries had more than doubled because of the worsening economic conditions in the country. Mathe - who represents Cowdray Park suburb - called on the government to mend relations with the international community in order to attract more help for starving Zimbabweans. He said: "Government should loosen their stance on the international community and allow more organisations to assist with food aid. I am currently feeding more than 1 000 orphans, excluding the terminally ill and other children with both parents and it is stretching our resources."
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From IOL (SA), 4 July
Don't be cowed by Bush's visit, says Mugabe
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Thursday told his supporters not to be cowed by a visit by US President George Bush next week to neighbouring South Africa and Botswana, state television reported. The Zimbabwe government has stepped up criticism of the US government ahead of Bush's visit, accusing it of working with the main opposition party in Zimbabwe to organise a "regime change" in the southern African country. US Secretary of State Colin Powell has called for Mugabe to leave office, and has said that Zimbabwe will feature prominently in Bush's talks with South African President Thabo Mbeki on July 8-9. "When Bush visits (the region) it shouldn't send tremors to your spines. I understand there are shivers in some of our circles," Mugabe told a central committee meeting of his Zanu PF party.
The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) showed Mugabe telling the meeting that Zimbabwe had neither oil nor weapons of mass destruction to warrant US intervention in the country. "Would he (Bush) dare to do to us what he did in Iraq?" Mugabe said in a humorous tone. "Of course not. He knows that the situations are different," the 79-year-old leader told senior party officials. "And anyway we don't have the oil that Iraq does, nor have we the weapons of mass destruction. But we host here close on to 100 000 whites," he said, referring to the white minority. The Zimbabwe government often accuses Western governments of putting the interests of their white "kith and kin" in the country ahead of the black majority. The US government does not recognise Mugabe's victory in presidential elections last year, in which he beat opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai by more than 400 000 votes. At the Zanu PF meeting, Mugabe accused both Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair of being "conspirators against this country".
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 4 July
Mugabe evades diplomatic showdown
Dumisani Muleya
President Robert Mugabe recently avoided an embarrassing diplomatic backlash by the European Union (EU) and its accession countries when he backtracked at the last minute on his threats to expel British High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, Sir Brian Donnelly. High-level sources this week said Mugabe wanted to throw out the crack British diplomat after the recent mass action that closed the country for five consecutive days. Mugabe accused Sir Brian, who before coming to Harare was British ambassador to Belgrade when former Yugoslav dictator Slobodan Milosevic fell from power, of co-ordinating mass action and undermining his rule. Addressing a rally in Nyakomba in Nyanga on June 12, Mugabe warned that Sir Brian would be expelled if he continued interfering in the country's internal affairs. "This guy called Mr Donnelly, if he continues doing it, we will kick him out of this country," Mugabe said.
Sources said Sir Brian's expulsion would have led to the powerful 15-member bloc withdrawing its envoys from Harare in protest. The EU's accession countries - those nations waiting to join the group and mostly former Eastern bloc states - would also have been asked to follow suit. Diplomatic sources said Foreign Affairs minister Stan Mudenge prevented the diplomatic fallout by urging official restraint. "Mugabe wanted to expel Donnelly but we understand Mudenge advised it would be counter-productive to do so," a source said. "The EU countries would have recalled their ambassadors in retaliation." The EU has a common position on Zimbabwe's current political and economic crisis. The group has imposed targeted sanctions and issued a series of statements condemning Mugabe's regime. Denmark, one of the key EU members, last year closed its embassy in Harare in protest against the prevailing situation. Head of the European Commission Delegation, Francesca Mosca, was yesterday unavailable for comment. Mudenge could also not be reached.
Donnelly has been the principal target of Harare's propaganda offensive since his arrival two years ago. Together with his Prime Minister Tony Blair, he has been accused of trying to help the MDC to oust Mugabe from power. But Sir Brian has dismissed the officially contrived diplomatic clash between Harare and Lon-don as a "false fight" and "non-starter". In the latest edition of the Britain & Zimbabwe magazine, Sir Brian says the situation in the country has become untenable. He said there was now "incontestable evidence of the disregard for basic democratic rights and freedoms" in Zimbabwe. "With so many problems besetting Zimbabwe it is hard to know where to begin," he said. "Food, fuel, foreign exchange, are all in desperately short supply. Millions of Zimbabweans are suffering as a result. HIV/Aids, a tragedy in itself, is interacting with the food shortages with devastating effects and threatens the collapse of the health and education sectors, as well as family structures," he said.
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From The Daily News, 4 July
Judgment reserved in Tsvangirai’s presidential poll petition
Court Reporter
High Court judge Ben Hlatshwayo yesterday reserved judgment on an urgent application by Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai for the High Court to set a date for his party’s challenge of President Robert Mugabe’s 2002 re-election. The MDC filed a petition 15 months ago challenging Mugabe’s victory, citing what it termed "massive electoral irregularities and pre-election violence". No date has been set for the hearing. South African senior counsel Jeremy Gauntlet, representing Tsvangirai, said his client had requested a preliminary five-day sitting for a hearing to deal with legal and constitutional issues relating to the MDC’s election challenge, but Jacob Manzunzu, the Registrar of the High Court, had not set a date despite a directive by Judge President Paddington Garwe. The second phase of the hearing would deal with issues relating to allegations of violence in the run-up to and during the 9-11 March 2002 election, the MDC’s lawyers said. Gauntlet said delaying the hearing was tantamount to denying his client his right to justice. '"An election is something which should be heard urgently," Gauntlet said. "Elections are fundamental for the operations of society. Your ruling today is so important. It’s a chance for the courts to establish their independence."
In his response to Tsvangirai’s application, Manzunzu said there had been "too many applications made by the applicant relating to the election petition". "Some interlocutory matters have not been finalised," he said. "As soon as all the interlocutory matters are dealt with and disposed of can I then set the matter down." Manzunzu said Justice Garwe, who is presiding over the treason trial of Tsvangirai and two other top MDC officials, would hear the election petition. He also said it was not possible to set down dates for the presidential election hearing "because there are issues relating to the general election in the year 2000 which have not been resolved". Gauntlet said Manzunzu had given a judicial function to himself when his duty was to set down hearing dates without venturing into the merits or demerits of a case whose hearing is pending. Mugabe’s lawyer, Terrence Hussein, said the judge president’s directive that Manzunzu liaise with a judge to set a date for the hearing did not have the force of law. "The Registrar is saying this matter is not complete," Hussein said. "Therefore, the court hearing cannot be set down." Loice Matanda-Moyo, the director of the civil division in the Attorney-General’s Office, said outstanding issues needed to be finalised before the matter could be set down.
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From The Guardian (UK), 4 July
Exiled officer tells how Mugabe's thugs took over police force
Andrew Meldrum meets refugees who say force has become a partisan gang
Shame and sorrow are evident in the furrowed brow of Taurai Maganda as he describes a murder he witnessed. "One man was picked up because he was wearing an MDC T-shirt. That was all. He was handcuffed and several police kicked with their heavy boots and they beat his head with a rifle butt," said Mr Maganda. "He fell unconscious and died. They said he jumped from a truck." The murder of the supporter of Zimbabwe's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was one of five deaths in custody in just one police district, Mr Maganda said. Such an account of crimes committed by police would be commonplace in the twilight days of Robert Mugabe's hold over Zimbabwe - except that Mr Maganda was a policeman himself. After being accused of being an opposition supporter, he fled to the UK and was granted asylum. "We were ordered to do terrible things," Mr Maganda, aged 29, told the Guardian. "Even here in England, I am still troubled by what I saw and what I had to do."
Mr Maganda - whose name has been changed to protect his family in Zimbabwe - said he was forced to beat people on the soles of their feet and "all over" their bodies. When asked what else he was ordered to do, he hangs his head and shakes it as if trying to rid it of some troubling image. Clearly it will be a long time before he recovers from the trauma. "I don't like to think about those experiences, but I feel better if I talk about them and get them off my chest," he said. He said police were ordered to ignore crimes committed against supporters of the opposition party. Police in his area often planted marijuana and other illegal substances on people in order to arrest them and beat them, he said. Mr Maganda said many other ranking officers had left the force and been replaced by untrained, uneducated, violent loyalists of the ruling Zanu PF party, transforming the force from upholders of the rule of law into a partisan gang of brutal henchmen. The police have killed, maimed and beaten scores of Zimbabweans suspected of no crime except supporting the legal opposition party, according to interviews with police who have recently left the force and some still in service. "They don't take the exams for promotions, as we used to do," he said. "They don't care about crime, all they care about is stamping out the opposition."
Mr Maganda was harassed by the new loyalists on the force, who accused him of supporting the MDC. Soon after cabinet minister Elliott Manyika publicly denounced Mr Maganda, his commanding officer seized his gun. "I could see they were going to frame me for something and arrest me, so I went into hiding," he said. Eventually he made it to Britain and was granted asylum. Mr Maganda's chilling testimony is endorsed by George Chipato, aged 41, an assistant inspector who was in the force for 20 years. "I was forced out because they said I supported the MDC," said Mr Chipato, whose name has also been changed. "More than 200 others of my rank have been forced out. They were replaced by people without qualifications. Officers in charge of stations have low educations. They tell the police not to investigate crimes against MDC supporters." Mr Chipato said that "police in the law and order section at Harare central charge office are torturing people with terrible beatings and electric shocks. This has been going on for some time."
During May's five-day national strike the heavily armed police cooperated with gangs of thugs to thwart peaceful protest marches. Police who object to inflicting violence on innocent civilians are hounded from the force by threats of violence and trumped-up charges against them. In the presidential elections last year, police were forced to cast their ballots for Mr Mugabe while watched by high-ranking officers, according to accounts from insiders. They say many were ordered to vote more than once. The police have become so thoroughly corrupted and aligned to the Mugabe regime that considerable rehabilitation efforts will be needed to return the force to its role of even-handedly upholding the rule of law. The police are so inextricably bound to the ruling party that they would be a serious impediment to free and fair elections, according to political analysts. But increasingly brutal work and poor conditions are creating dissension in the ranks, and some police may refuse to fire on crowds should the population mass in opposition to Mr Mugabe.
The international policing agency Interpol maintains a close relationship with the Zimbabwe police. Interpol is currently building its southern African regional offices in Harare. The Zimbabwean police commissioner Augustine Chihuri has served as Interpol's regional vice-president for several years and was recently awarded a lifetime vice-presidency of the agency. But last month Interpol forced Mr Chihuri to resign the honorary post after it objected to public boasting by police spokesmen that Interpol endorsed the work of Zimbabwean police. That was a first step but much more international pressure is needed to isolate the Zimbabwean force, say civic leaders. "That could be a turning point for the police. It is time the international community distances itself from the Zimbabwean force," said Iden Wetherell, editor of the Zimbabwe Independent. "The police have become increasingly partisan and unprofessional in the execution of their duties." Kate Allen, Amnesty's UK director, said: "Zimbabwean authorities should immediately end the political misuse of the police and ensure that police officers abide by the highest standards of professionalism and respect for human rights. The government should immediately cease all intimidation, arbitrary arrests and torture of political opponents, independent media and human rights activists." Zimbabwean church leaders have also identified the police as a threat. In March Christian ministers marched through Harare, carrying large wooden crosses, to urge the police to stop inflicting violence on the people. They tried to deliver a petition to the police commissioner, but the police responded in characteristic fashion - by throwing the pastors in jail.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 4 July
CIO in clumsy attempt to smear MDC
Staff Writer
In a clumsy attempt to plant a fictitious story in the Zimbabwe Independent, a suspected intelligence operative this week dropped forged documents at the paper's offices purporting to show internal feuding in the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. On Wednesday afternoon a heavy-set man clad in a brown jacket delivered to the Independent reception desk an envelope addressed to the news editor Vincent Kahiya. Kahiya was on his way out at the time the letter was delivered. As Kahiya was driving off he saw the man who delivered the letter driving away in a white Nissan Hard Body truck with a Zanu PF logo on it. The two documents were on MDC letterheads. One of the documents, purportedly written by the party's secretary-general Welshman Ncube to chairman Isaac Matongo, said the MDC "Matabeleland province executive councils" were not happy with perceived tribalism in the party. The other document said Shona-speaking members of the executive had labelled their Ndebele counterparts as docile during the mass action. Ncube yesterday described the letter as "garbage". "It was one of those CIO-generated documents," said Ncube. "I would not write a letter to my chairman because his office is next to mine and I talk to him every day."
Ncube purportedly wrote to Matongo to organise a meeting to iron out the differences. "The allegations are serious and warrant your immediate attention before we brief the president," Ncube's alleged letter to Matongo reads. "However, I am of the opinion that we first summon the executive to Harvest House to discuss the issues raised as these threaten the survival of the party which is already showing cracks and set to crumble following the demise of the 'Final Push' and allegations of misappropriation of funds meant for demonstrators." The letter bore Ncube's signature at the bottom but a close examination of the signature showed that it was cut from a bona fide letter and then pasted on the forged letter before being photocopied. The letter does not have a date. The other document was not signed. The documents also alleged that "Shonas" misappropriated $40 million meant for Matabeleland. It said Ncube would be replaced by his deputy Gift Chimanikire as the party's secretary-general during the party's next executive elections.
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From Reuters, 3 July
Zimbabwe capital to ration water as shortage looms
Harare - Zimbabwe's capital city will start rationing scarce water supplies in a move likely to hit industries already grappling with a harsh economic climate, the official Herald newspaper reported on Thursday. At least 400 companies have ceased operations over the past two years as the southern African country grapples with a severe economic crisis blamed on President Robert Mugabe. The Herald quoted Harare's acting chief engineer Lovemore Mulanda as saying the city council would limit consumers to 13 cubic metres of water a month to sustain dam levels, currently at 60 percent of capacity, the Herald said. ''We are anticipating problems during the hot season when temperatures and evaporation would be high,'' Mulanda told the paper. Council officials were not immediately available for comment on Thursday. Harare's city's water treatment pump, currently operating below capacity due to lack of money for refurbishment, was only pumping about two-thirds the total water needed to supply the capital and neighbouring towns. Water rationing would heighten the woes of firms already struggling with shortages of currency to import raw materials, as well as diesel and electricity to operate machinery. Nearly half of Zimbabwe's 14 million people face food shortages, inflation has shot to 300 percent, one of the highest rates in the world, and unemployment is estimated at above 70 percent and rising as companies close. Mugabe, 79 and in power since independence from Britain in 1980, denies responsibility for the country's economic problems, which he blames on sabotage by local and international opponents angry over his seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks.
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From ZWNEWS, 4 July
Don't panic...
Chinondidyachii Mararike, Zanu PF apologist and regular columnist for the state-owned press, found a bomb in his front garden on the weekend, the Herald reported yesterday. Without quite saying so, the Herald implied that there were political motives behind the find. "He is outspoken in his political views and makes clear his support for Zimbabwe’s land reform programme and of President Mugabe’s anti-imperialist stance," said the Herald. "He has since written to the police demanding an assurance about his safety and that of his family. He also sought an explanation on how such a lethal weapon came to be in his garden." Mr Mararike, who lives in Doncaster in South Yorkshire, said the bomb disposal team had told him that the bomb was big enough to destroy five houses - had it exploded. And the police were not forthcoming with details, adding to the air of conspiracy. "South Yorkshire police, who disposed the bomb (sic), refused to shed details," complained the Herald indignantly. "'It’s not information we can give out to people we do not know,' said a police officer in a telephone interview. 'We do not know you and we are not sure that you are actually a journalist.'"
A spokesperson for the South Yorkshire Constabulary could not have been more helpful to ZWNEWS yesterday. "We have no record of having received an enquiry from a reporter at the Herald. And I do not believe anyone in our press office would speak to any member of the public in that manner. I can confirm that a bomb disposal team was called to an address in Crooks Road, Doncaster at 6:20 last Saturday. A cylinder, 35 cm long and 10 cm in diameter, was removed from that address. The bomb disposal officers were unable to determine whether it was primed or not, so it was taken to open ground where it was destroyed in a controlled explosion." Mr Mararike can now rest easier in his bed. It turns out that the ordnance he unearthed in his garden was of Second World War vintage, and may have been dropped on Doncaster by the Luftwaffe.
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From VOA News, 4 July
Zimbabwe's High Court rules on timeframe for Tsvangirai's electoral challenge
Harare - Zimbabwe's High Court ruled Friday that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai must be given a firm date for his legal challenge to last year's presidential elections. High Court judge Ben Hlatshwayo surprised many legal observers by giving court officials seven working days to set down a date for Mr. Tsvangirai's challenge to the re-election of President Robert Mugabe. The High Court ruling comes 24 hours after Mr. Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, the major opposition group in Zimbabwe, petitioned the court for a date for the trial to begin. His lawyer said in the application that justice delayed was justice denied. As required by law, Mr. Tsvangirai lodged a legal challenge to President Mugabe's election victory within 90 days of the announcement of the results. Since then, there have been many delays, each of which Mr. Tsvangirai has had to challenge in court. The opposition leader lost the presidential elections by 15 percent of the vote, after a campaign marked by violence against the opposition. When his challenge to the election does come to trial, Mr. Tsvangirai is expected to claim that election laws were broken during the run up to the poll, and that the constitution was violated. The leaders of the Movement for Democratic Change said they were pleased by Friday's ruling, and that they expected the court to announce an early date for the challenge.
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From IRIN (UN), 4 July
Wheat shortages to continue
Johannesburg - Shortages of wheat are set to continue in Zimbabwe as preparations for the 2003-2004 planting season have been described by agricultural experts as largely inadequate. The shortages have so far affected millers and bakeries with adverse consequences on food security and employment. Low harvests from the 2002-3 crop have also led to serious bread shortages and a price hike of the commodity. Experts say that only 80,000 mt of wheat will be produced this year, compared to 130 mt in 2002. To encourage wheat growing the government has increased the producer price from Z$70,000 to Z$150,000 a tonne. Farmers, however, say the cost of inputs are still not matched by the recently announced prices. This year shortages of fuel and fertiliser has meant that fewer fields have been planted. Those that can afford it have been forced to turn to the parallel-market. A spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Farmers Union told IRIN that the Ministry of Energy had supplied farmers with fuel but the rations were not enough. Former managing director of the state-run Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and opposition MP, Renson Gasela, said the problems facing wheat farmers cannot be seen in isolation. "We have to look at the fuel problems, the power shortages and how the economy is performing in order to find solutions to the wheat shortages," he told IRIN. Hardest hit was the irrigated crop, which requires electric power to run the pumps. In April, an economist at the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), Kuda Ndoro, said only a quarter of the irrigated wheat crop had been planted due to power shortages. "At the moment industry, including the agriculture sector. is operating at only 30 percent of capacity because the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority is unable to meet power demands. There is no power for irrigation on the farms. If nothing is done to augment supply this will affect the performance of the winter cereals," Ndoro said.
Away from the fields, bread shortages continue in most of Zimbabwe's cities and towns. Until last month when bakers unilaterally increased the price of bread without the consent of the government, bread was found mainly on the parallel market at almost twice the government gazetted price. In May the government pegged the price of a loaf at Z$250. This is a far cry from the Z$350 to Z$500 that is charged on the parallel market. The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe has since January 2003 been urging Zimbabweans to boycott bread which it says is being overcharged by bakers. The Council suggested Zimbabweans consider options such as sweet potatoes. Such a call, however, would have done little to avert the job losses facing thousands in the industry. Tuckshop owners in Harare's high-density suburbs, who rely mostly on selling bread, said business was poor and many had contemplated closing down. Bezel Gandiwa owns a tuckshop in Harare's high-density suburb of Mbare. "The supply of bread has been very erratic. In some cases we have gone for a week without receiving any bread at all," Bezel said. Wheat is the second most important cereal crop consumed in Zimbabwe after maize. The shortages forced the GMB in May to import 62,000 mt at a cost of Z$15 billion, and has made a request for foreign currency to the Reserve Bank to purchase a further 100,000 mt of wheat from Brazil. To cover needs, the import bill could climb to US $55.2 million. But many small-scale bakeries have closed shop already, complaining that they cannot access enough supplies. Large milling and baking companies are equally feeling the pinch with the GMB only supplying a maximum of 6,000 mt per week to Zimbabwe's three big milling companies. Although the government latest economic revival initiative, the National Economic Revival Programme has agriculture as its foundation, farmers say it will not work as long as fuel and foreign currency shortages persist.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 4 July
EU/US mull aid reduction
Augustine Mukaro
The European Union and the United States might reduce humanitarian food assistance to Zimbabwe for the 2003/4 season because the problem is largely man-made, the Zimbabwe Independent has learnt. The European Union, which last year donated 83 million euros towards humanitarian assistance to the country, plans to cut its aid by 50% this year because there are many other places in need of assistance. The US embassy this week said there were also other countries in need. "We would want to continue with our aid but since Zimbabwe is not the only country in need of aid other areas would have to be considered," said US embassy acting public affairs officer, Lucy Hall. Last week EU head of delegation to Zimbabwe Francesca Mosca confirmed that the grouping had slashed its aid to Zimbabwe. "A sum of 42 million euro has been earmarked from the European Commission's budget," Mosca said. "The EU's contribution to Zimbabwe alone, in the previous appeal, amounted to 83 million euros. These funds have been used to procure, transport and distribute almost 150 000 tonnes of food to the most vulnerable sections of the Zimbabwean population, especially the old, the sick and those with no means of support and access to food," she said. Mosca said the programming for the next appeal is on-going and additional fundraising may be made available from emergency reserve funding. "The commitment of additional funding will be done when government makes the official request for assistance," she said.
Mosca said the EU was aware that the crisis in Zimbabwe was also an accumulation of circumstances that would make it last for some time. "Drought, successive poor harvests, collapse of the economy, forced land acquisition, restrictive market access and control have made for a political and humanitarian crisis. The donation likely to be given to Zimbabwe at any given time depends on the projected magnitude of the crisis as it unfolds in the future depending on the projected shortfall from this years harvest," she said. She said the conclusions of crop assessments undertaken suggested that the overall cereal gap or import requirement was in excess of 1,2 million tonnes. "At this point it is estimated that Zimbabwe will need in excess of 600 000 tonnes in the form of food aid," she said. The EU's commitment to the humanitarian crisis in Southern Africa currently stands at 328 million euros. The contribution covers 42% of total needs in the region. This amounts to 272 000 tonnes of food aid as well as non-food humanitarian aid such as seed, fertiliser, vaccines and other essential items. Hall said the government's appeal to other countries would determine levels of assistance. "Though we are not sure of what will be donated at the moment, it would be determined by government's appeal and demands from other areas," Hall said.
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From The New York Times, 5 July
Criticism of a hero divides blacks
By Rachel L. Swarns
Washington - When the TransAfrica Forum decided to speak out last month against Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, for condoning the jailing, beating and killing of black opposition party supporters, it shouldn't have been all that surprising. After all, for decades, TransAfrica, a research and lobbying group based here, has been speaking out on the struggles of Africans on the continent and elsewhere. In the 1980's, for instance, it led the anti-apartheid marches that helped press the American government to change its policy of "constructive engagement" with the white government of South Africa. In the 90's the group protested against the repressive black regimes in Haiti and Nigeria. In this latest action TransAfrica's president and other prominent black Americans from Africa Action, an advocacy group here; Howard University; and church and labor unions wrote a public letter to Mr. Mugabe, assailing what they described as the "increasing intolerant, repressive and violent policies of your government." But the decision to condemn Mr. Mugabe publicly - which was hailed as long overdue in some quarters - has also touched off an outcry among some black intellectuals, activists and Africa watchers. Mr. Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since white rule ended in 1980, is still considered a hero by some African-Americans. And in some e-mail messages and on radio talk shows, the signers of the letter have been described as politically naïve, sellouts and misguided betrayers of Africa's liberation struggle. Angry critics have sent e-mail messages to those who signed the letter, saying in one instance that they "do not represent African-Americans." On a left-leaning radio station in New York City, WBAI-FM, several people have called to complain. "Whatever black Africans in Zimbabwe decide to do," said a caller who identified herself as Missy from Queens, "I think black Africans here, we should join them." The furor has highlighted a long-simmering debate about how to respond to authoritarian leaders in Africa when those leaders happen to be black.
Bill Fletcher Jr., the president of TransAfrica, says black Americans cannot afford to romanticize African leaders if they hope to remain relevant to the struggles on the continent. They must be willing to condemn wrongdoing, he said, even if that means criticizing some revered leaders. When the enemy was evil white people in South Africa, that was easy," Mr. Fletcher said in an interview at his office here. "But when the enemy becomes someone who looks like us, we're very skittish about taking that on. "It's very difficult to accept that a ruling class has emerged in Zimbabwe that is oppressing its own people, but you've got to face the reality," he said. "I felt like we had to speak out." Mr. Fletcher said African-Americans had often been on the right side of history, supporting African leaders who fought against white rule and then worked for their people, including Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Julius K. Nyerere of Tanzania; and Samora Machel of Mozambique, among others. Mr. Mugabe, who expanded access to education and health care, was also praised for more than a decade by Western governments as well as by blacks for building one of Africa's most prosperous nations. But when white governments began to fall away, thorny questions began emerging. In the 70's some blacks quietly questioned whether they should continue supporting Uganda's violent despot, Idi Amin, but decided against criticizing him publicly. In the 80's some Africa watchers made a similar decision about Angola's government, which was dogged by complaints of corruption. In 1996 Carol Moseley Braun, an Illinois Democrat who was a senator then, stirred a furor when she flew to Africa to visit Gen. Sani Abacha, Nigeria's corrupt dictator. By then TransAfrica and other prominent black individuals and organizations had already launched a public campaign to criticize and isolate Nigeria's government, which was detaining and killing its critics. In the criticism of Zimbabwe, Mr. Fletcher was joined by Salih Booker, director of Africa Action; William Lucy, president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists; Horace G. Dawson Jr., director of the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center at Howard University; the Rev. Justice Y. Reeves of the Progressive National Baptist Convention; the coordinating committee of the Black Radical Congress and others. "We view the political repression under way in Zimbabwe as intolerable and in complete contradiction of the values and principles that were both the foundation of your liberation struggle and of our solidarity with that struggle," the group said in its letter to Mr. Mugabe.
Critics complain, however, that Mr. Fletcher and his colleagues are playing down the importance of the ongoing struggle for land in Zimbabwe. They say Mr. Mugabe has been demonized in the West because he decided to seize white-owned farms on land stolen from blacks during British colonial rule. Zimbabwe's tiny white minority - less than 1 percent of the population - owned more than half of the fertile land until the government began seizing most of it in 2000. "I'm not on his side with respect to his repression of the opposition," Ronald Walters, a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland, said of Mr. Mugabe. "But I am on the side of the people who claim there's a justice issue in terms of the land. You can't escape the racial dynamic, and you can't escape the political history." Some critics say the violence in Zimbabwe has mostly occurred between supporters and opponents of land redistribution. They also fear that the Bush administration, which has already signaled that it might intervene in war-torn Liberia, might use the letter from TransAfrica and Africa Action to suggest that prominent black Americans favor an American intervention in Zimbabwe. Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Booker say they would vigorously oppose an American-led military intervention in Zimbabwe. TransAfrica also opposes the idea of sending American troops to Liberia, saying an African peacekeeping force financed by the American government would be preferable. "I'm sympathetic to it," Mr. Walters said of the stance taken by TransAfrica and Africa Action. "But this letter makes them sound like the guys who simply want to beat up on Mugabe just because he took land from some white people." Mark Fancher, who heads the international affairs unit of the National Conference of Black Lawyers, raised similar concerns. He said Mr. Mugabe's critics neglect to note that he still has support among some Zimbabweans, even though he has been widely accused of rigging last year's presidential election. "The one thing nobody disputes is that, whether he won or not, Mugabe got a lot of votes," Mr. Fancher said. "This is an African problem, a Zimbabwean problem. For people who are really disconnected from the day-to-day lives of people in Zimbabwe to reach these kinds of conclusions, we don't feel that's appropriate."
But Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Booker of Africa Action say Mr. Mugabe's supporters are not paying attention to what is happening on the ground. Much of the seized farmland that was intended for the poor has actually ended up in the hands of Mr. Mugabe's friends and political allies. Mr. Mugabe emphasizes the importance of redistributing land now, but during much of the 90's it was not a priority for his government, some of his supporters acknowledge. He focused on the issue, which resonates with many black voters only when it became clear that a powerful black opposition party was threatening his grip on power. And despite rhetoric to the contrary, the majority of victims of political violence in Zimbabwe are not white farmers, the police and human rights groups say. They are mostly ordinary black people who dared to support or vote for the opposition. Moses Mzila-Ndlovu, a senior member of Zimbabwe's opposition party, hailed the statement from TransAfrica and the others as an important step. But he wondered why it took so long for the groups to speak out. Mr. Booker said he, Mr. Fletcher and others had first tried to work behind the scenes, meeting with Zimbabwean diplomats and urging them to respect human rights and to initiate formal talks with the opposition to improve the deteriorating political situation. When that failed, he said, they wrote their letter. "Mugabe was my hero," said Mr. Booker, who worked at TransAfrica in the 80's and helped arrange Mr. Mugabe's first visit to the White House. "He was a liberator, the defiant hero. Zimbabwe was a country where we had a lot invested emotionally and politically." "But we had to ask ourselves: `Who are we in solidarity with in southern Africa? The aging heroes or the new African civil society?' he said. "It's not just about Zimbabwe. We have to be clear who our allies are. We should not be standing shoulder to shoulder with African governments who are abusing their own people. The time had arrived for us to take a public stance."
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 6 July
Zimbabwe desperate to solve oil crisis
Sunday Times Foreign Desk
Despite the reported success of President Robert Mugabe's recent "fuel-foraging" trip to Libya, Zimbabwe remains dry and lurching towards its most serious shortage yet. There were claims from both Mugabe's delegation and the Libyans after last week's visit to Tripoli that fuel would start trickling in "as soon as possible". As Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge confidently put it: "Certainly, there will be fuel coming from Libya very soon." And his Libyan counterpart, Abdul Mohammed, claimed: "The first shipment of oil to Zimbabwe will be dispatched as soon as possible." But Zimbabwe's fuel service stations remain dry, indicating that Libya's Tamoil company has not resumed supplies. It is understood that Libyan and Zimbabwean officials agreed that Harare has first to reduce its $67-million debt to Tamoil and fulfil its obligations in terms of an earlier 360-million deal by resuming supplies of agricultural commodities before oil is supplied. Delivery would also depend on Zimbabwe's ability to resuscitate its financing agreement with the Libyan Arab Bank in terms of the original deal. Harare - which had a 90-million financing facility with this bank - owes it 43-million. Altogether, Zimbabwe owes fuel suppliers more than $100-million. Zimbabwe procures fuel through short- and long-term credit financing and with cash.
Libyan authorities maintain that they still need to acquire Zimbabwean fuel sector-related assets before they can enter into a serious agreement with Mugabe. As a result, a Libyan delegation has been dispatched to Harare to tie up this deal. Before Mugabe visited Libya, there was a meeting between fuel stakeholders, bankers, fuel industry representatives and government officials to discuss the issue of assets. Mugabe was in a dilemma about how to get Tripoli to resume supplies - and thus reverse a fuel crisis that has steadily worsened since 1999 - without auctioning off Zimbabwean assets to Libya. In other desperate "emergency" measures, Zimbabwe has banned the carrying of fuel in containers, like jerry cans, as a way to avoid "fuel wastage". In terms of the ban, a state permit is needed to carry fuel in a container. The ban has been extended to public transport operators. The country's struggle to import fuel has given rise to a thriving black market, which has seen fuel sold locally at up to Z$2 000 a litre - around R10. Some service stations are quoting fuel prices in US currency - usually at 55 US cents a litre. The official price of petrol is Z$450 a litre. Zimbabwe needs 40-million a month to import about 87 000 metric tons of petroleum products. Annually, the country needs $360-million to import enough fuel. In terms of the original agreement with Tamoil, the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe was to pay for the fuel in local currency, deposited into a local clearing account. This money would then be invested locally by the Libyans, and it was anticipated that these investments would offset any debt due to Libya. But the investments made so far cannot pay for fuel supplied.
The Zimbabwean assets that Libya has targeted include the oil pipeline between Harare and the border city of Mutare, which receives oil from Beira in Mozambique. This is the country's chief oil supply line, providing nearly all Zimbabwe's fuel. Tamoil, which used to supply 70% of the country's fuel, wants key assets like these before it will resume fuel supplies. The Libyan firm - 55% owned by a private Dutch consortium and 45% by the Libyan government - is offering $48-million for the pipeline. Zimbabwe wants 100-million for it. Tamoil also wants the huge fuel depots at Msasa in Harare, as well as a 50% stake in Petrozim, which is jointly owned by Noczim and Lonrho. Once it has taken over Noczim's share, the Libyans intend entering into negotiations with Lonrho for complete control of Petrozim. Tamoil also wants to acquire the Zimbabwean government's 51% equity in the major lubricants supplier, Oil Blending Enterprises. TotalFinaElf, from which Zimbabwe is reportedly trying to source fuel, has a 49% stake in the company. Sources said the Libyans are also interested in reviving the derelict Feruka Oil Refinery in Mutare and hope to buy storage tanks there and thus control the most critical oil infrastructure in Zimbabwe. This would leave Mugabe's government powerless in the fuel sector. Harare has already sold off the country's biggest storage tanks, in Beitbridge, to TotalFinaElf, and is wary of any further sales of state assets. Tamoil, meanwhile, wants to establish Tamoil-Zimbabwe Ltd, a 50-50 joint venture with Noczim. It is speculated that the Libyans will buy up Zimbabwean assets through this company.
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From AFP, 5 July
Bush calls for fresh elections in Zimbabwe
Johannesburg - US President George W. Bush called on Friday for South African President Thabo Mbeki to insist on the holding of fresh elections in neighbouring Zimbabwe, beset by political and economic turmoil. In an interview with SABC television filmed at the White House on Friday and broadcast in South Africa in the evening, interviewer Simon Marks asked Bush what more he would like to see Mbeki do on Zimbabwe. "Insist that there be elections. Insist that democracy rule. Insist that the conditions necessary for that country to become prosperous again are in place," replied the president, who will visit Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and Nigeria during a July 7-12 tour of Africa. Bush said he agreed with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who called last month for Zimbabwe's neighbours to play a "stronger and more sustained role", to resolve the crisis and said the time "has come and gone" for President Robert Mugabe and his cronies. Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, was re-elected in March last year in voting condemned by most western observers as rigged and marred by violence. Mbeki's policy toward Zimbabwe has been one of "quiet diplomacy" behind the scenes in a bid to reconcile the government and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
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From News24 (SA), 6 July
Mugabe warns Bush: Don't dictate
Harare - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe warned on Saturday that President George W Bush will be spurned if he tries to dictate how southern African leaders should run their countries when he visits the region in the coming week. "Any dictating to us will never be heeded by any of us in this region," Mugabe told thousands of ruling party supporters at a rally in southern Zimbabwe. If he (Bush) is coming to dictate to us to how we should run our countries, then we will say 'Go back. Go home Yankee'," Mugabe was shown on state television as saying. Bush is due in South Africa on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of a tour of several African countries including Botswana, Uganda, Nigeria and Senegal. On Friday Bush, speaking in an interview in Washington, called on South African President Thabo Mbeki to put pressure on Zimbabwe and the 79-year-old Mugabe to hold fresh elections. The US and Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) rejected Mugabe's victory in presidential elections last year, saying the poll was rigged and marred by violence. Mbeki's policy toward Zimbabwe has been one of quiet diplomacy, which he contends is the most effective way of reconciling the government and the MDC. The opposition in Zimbabwe blames Mugabe's government for political tensions in the country as well as chronic economic and social hardships.
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From Reuters, 5 July
Mugabe gets a bigger paycheque
By Stella Mapenzauswa
Harare - Zimbabwe has raised the salaries of President Robert Mugabe and senior government members by nearly 600 percent - almost double the inflation rate, the official Herald newspaper has reported. The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) condemned the increase and said on Saturday it amounted to tacit acknowledgement by the government that inflation could be much higher than the official figure of 300 percent. "But while Mugabe looks after Mugabe, he is unable to do anything for the ordinary, suffering people of Zimbabwe," MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi told Reuters. Zimbabwe has been hit by a series of strikes for higher pay - the most recent by junior doctors - because of surging consumer inflation, ranked as one of the highest rates in the world. Companies struggling in a harsh business climate have failed to increase wages to match rising costs. Critics say Mugabe has ruined the economy through 23 years of mismanagement, causing chronic food and foreign currency shortages and record unemployment of more than 70 percent.
The Herald said Mugabe's salary would rise to Z$20.2 million a year (about U.S.$11,222 at black market rates or $25,250 at official rates) from Z$3 million. His two deputies would earn Z$18.4 million a year, up from Z$2.7 million. In addition, Mugabe would receive more than two million Zimbabwe dollars in allowances, the Herald said, citing a government gazette notice. A copy of the gazette was not available on Saturday. The Herald said cabinet ministers' salaries would rise to Z$16.5 million from Z$2.4 million. Salary increases were also awarded to members of parliament, some of whom are from the MDC. The Zimbabwe dollar trades at around 1,800 against the U.S. dollar in a thriving black market - more than double the official rate of 800.
Last month, the MDC led a five-day strike against Mugabe's rule that shut down industry and commerce in the capital Harare. The U.S. administration of President George W. Bush has urged African states to step up pressure on Mugabe to allow political change before Zimbabwe was ruined. Nyathi, speaking by telephone, was in South Africa where the MDC has sent a team to lobby senior U.S. officials during Bush's visit to Africa next week. The opposition says another team will travel to an African Union summit in Mozambique next week to ask African leaders to apply more pressure on Mugabe, in power since Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980. Mugabe denies responsibility for the country's economic malaise and blames it on sabotage by local and international opponents angry over his seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 6 July
Mugabe's spokesman in deadly car crash
Sunday Times Foreign Desk
Zimbabwe's Secretary for Information and Publicity in the President's Office, George Charamba, was seriously injured in a road accident, on Wednesday, which claimed the life of his uncle. State media reports said Charamba's uncle, David Muzhingi, died in the accident that occurred about 200km south of Harare, on the Masvingo Road, after one of their car tyres burst. Charamba, President Robert Mugabe's official spokesman, suffered a broken rib. Another uncle, Shadreck Muzhingi, sustained head injuries and bruises on his body, and another passenger broke a leg. Charamba and his relatives were travelling to a funeral when the accident took place. "We were going to Mvuma to buy food for mourners but we suffered a burst rear tyre and the vehicle got out of control," he said. Charamba described the accident as "distressful and horrible". He said that the vehicle had rolled three times and two passengers were thrown out. Charamba and Shadreck were trapped in front of the vehicle but managed to extricate themselves from the mangled wreckage. Muzhingi was lying off the road, bleeding profusely. He was rushed to Driefontein Hospital, a few kilometres outside Mvuma, but died about three hours later. Charamba was admitted to Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare. On Friday, Charamba's secretary said he had been discharged from Parirenyatwa and was receiving treatment from a doctor at home.
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From The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 July
Zimbabwe steps up criticism of Bush on eve of visit
Embattled Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe warned US President George Bush on the eve of his Africa visit that if he was coming to dictate what should happen in Zimbabwe, he should just go home. Addressing a rally of ruling party supporters in the south of the country, Mugabe lashed out against the Bush administration, which has been increasingly critical of his authoritarian rule and has urged Mugabe to work with the opposition to pull Zimbabwe out of its economic and political crisis. "If Mr Bush is coming to seek co-operation, then he is welcome, but if he is coming to dictate what we should do, then we will say: go back home, Yankee," Mugabe was quoted by the state-run Sunday Mail as telling supporters. Mugabe has repeatedly accused Britain, the former colonial power, and the US of backing the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in what he says is a bid to oust him. The opposition blames Mugabe for plunging Zimbabwe into three years of political violence and chaos. They say state-orchestrated human rights violations have only compounded the nation's worst economic crisis since Mugabe led the nation to independence in 1980. Mugabe told supporters in the Chivi district, 350 kilometres south of Harare, on Saturday that Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were responsible for human rights abuses in Iraq, the Sunday Mail reported. He said they should stand before the International Court of Justice on charges of genocide in Iraq. On Thursday, Mugabe acknowledged the US focus on Zimbabwe and Bush's visit to neighbouring South Africa coupled with US economic and diplomatic leverage in the region had made some of his ruling party colleagues jittery. "When Bush visits here it should not send tremors to your nerves ... he would not dare to try what he did to Iraq. He knows the situation is different. After all, we do not have oil here," Mugabe told his Zanu PF party's 125-member central committee. US Secretary of State Colin Powell has called for an end to Mugabe's 23-year rule. Zimbabwe's state-controlled media called Powell an "Uncle Tom", who lied about political and economic conditions in the southern African country.
The Sunday Mail, known as a government mouthpiece, took Powell to task for criticising the Zimbabwe government's program to confiscate thousands of white-owned farms, comparing him and US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who are both black, to "house slaves", who served their masters in the era of slavery in the US. The newspaper said Bush will be "roaming around Africa for the first time since he stole the American election ... in a bid to spread his imperialist wings". US "blood dollars" would be offered in return for pro-Western reforms in Africa for the benefit of corporate interests and to win African support in the fight against terrorism, the newspaper said in an editorial. But Africa should not buckle to US pressure, the paper said. "It really should not, because while Mr Bush has the resources, he doesn't have the brains," the editorial said. Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence, with record inflation of more than 300 per cent, mass unemployment and acute shortages of food, petrol, medicines and other essential imports. A state program to seize thousands of white-owned farms in the name of equitable land redistribution has crippled the agriculture-based economy. Investment and foreign aid has largely come to a halt in protest against human rights abuses and disputed presidential elections last year that gave Mugabe another six-year term in office. Britain, the European Union and the US have refused to recognise the election that independent observers said was swayed by political violence, corruption and vote rigging. Two national anti-government strikes called by the opposition have further dented the economy this year. Last month, opposition-led street protests were crushed by a massive show of force before they could begin.
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From The Times (UK), 7 July
Mugabe’s tirade masks fear of US
From Jan Raath in Harare
President Bush's whistlestop tour does not include Zimbabwe, but he casts a long shadow over the regime of President Mugabe in Harare. At the weekend Mr Mugabe launched a tirade against Mr Bush when he addressed rural supporters at a rally. If Mr Bush had come to "dictate", Mr Mugabe said, "then we will say, ‘go back home, Yankee’." He also urged Mr Bush and Tony Blair to turn themselves in to the International Court of Justice to be tried for "genocide" in Iraq. Despite the rhetoric, diplomatic sources said there had been a sudden revival of "communications" from South Africa to the Zimbabwe Government before Mr Bush’s arrival in Pretoria on Wednesday. "There are meetings going on, to get Mugabe to sit down with the (opposition) MDC," one diplomat said. "Things are happening again." In May Mr Mugabe sank the last initiative from President Mbeki of South Africa and President Obasanjo of Nigeria when he refused to talk to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change until it had dropped its court challenge to the 79-year-old despot’s victory in last year’s rigged presidential elections.
Zimbabwe’s pro-government Sunday Mail yesterday called Mr Bush "the Texan gunslinger" with "no brains" who had come to bribe African leaders so that he could "spread his stinking imperialist wings". There are strong parallels between Mr Bush’s visit and Henry Kissinger’s diplomatic triumph in Pretoria in 1976 when he got John Vorster, the South African President, to turn the screws on Ian Smith in Rhodesia until he agreed to black majority rule. The vituperation from Harare masks real fear that the Bush entourage will persuade Mr Mbeki to abandon his "quiet diplomacy" approach toward Zimbabwe, a policy which, observers say, has given Mr Mugabe licence to continue his abuses. The Bush Administration has made clear repeatedly in recent weeks that resolution of the crisis in Zimbabwe is among its priorities. Last week Mr Bush said that he would "insist" on new elections and the restoration of democracy. Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, said there would be "substantial discussions" with Pretoria to take "a stronger and more sustained role" with Mr Mugabe.
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From The New York Times, 7 July
New threats and opportunities redefine US interests in Africa
By Richard W. Stevenson
Washington - President Bush will leave Monday night for a five-nation tour of Africa, turning to a continent that his administration increasingly sees as a source of both threats and opportunities and no longer one that can be left at the bottom of the foreign policy to-do list. The official focus of the five-day trip - which was originally scheduled for January but was postponed as the president prepared for war with Iraq - is on fighting poverty and disease and promoting democracy. But it has taken on a new cast in recent weeks as Mr. Bush has assertively called for changes of government in Zimbabwe and Liberia and moved to the brink of sending American troops to Liberia as peacekeepers. In his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as president, Mr. Bush will visit Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and Nigeria before returning home on Saturday. Each of those countries is an economic or political success by African standards, and Mr. Bush's presence is intended both to celebrate their progress and to encourage other African nations to continue the struggle toward free elections and free markets.
His trip comes at a time when Africa is looming larger in calculations of American interests. In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the United States is eager to keep poor nations with shaky governments from becoming breeding grounds and safe harbors for terrorists. It sees Africa as the world's last largely untapped market. It holds out hope that Africa's substantial oil reserves could play a larger role in fueling the American economy and perhaps serving as a counterweight to the influence of OPEC. At a time when Mr. Bush is widely viewed, at home and abroad, as focused primarily on projecting American power and defending its interests by military means, administration officials say the president is determined to show another face of his foreign policy. They said the United States should be known as much for battling AIDS, helping villages get clean drinking water, supporting education programs and encouraging the resolution of armed conflicts as for exercising its military power. The president "understands that America is a country that really does have to be committed to values and to making life better for people around the world, that that's what the world looks to America to do," said Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, in a briefing with reporters on Thursday. "It's not just the sword, it's also the olive branch that speaks to those intentions."
It is striking to African leaders and to many analysts in the United States that Mr. Bush, a conservative Republican who won less than 10 percent of the black vote in 2000 and has fought to hold down social welfare spending at home, has pushed this year for large spending increases to fight AIDS in Africa and to help poor nations nurture their economies. They said they saw in Mr. Bush's engagement with Africa the hand of his two senior foreign policy advisers: Ms. Rice and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, the two highest-profile African-Americans in government. Neither Ms. Rice nor Mr. Powell has made a secret of the desire to have Washington play a more active role in a part of the world that American foreign policy long addressed only fitfully or as a pawn in the cold war and to acknowledge more fully the ties between Africa and the United States. "Africa is part of America's history," Ms. Rice said. "Europeans and Africans came to this country together, Africans in chains. And slavery was, of course, America's birth defect. And we've been trying to deal with the consequences of it ever since."
There is still considerable skepticism, in Washington and in Africa, about the depths of Mr. Bush's commitment, diplomats and analysts said. There is concern among some Africa hands that Mr. Bush's interest will wane after he makes the point to the world that he is more than the unilateralist gunslinger he is often, fairly or unfairly, made out to be. With presidential politics increasingly coming to the fore at the White House, there is also grumbling among advocacy groups that the trip is little more than a way for Mr. Bush to flesh out his "compassionate conservative" platform for his re-election race. Even diplomats and analysts who say Mr. Bush's interest appears genuine suggested that it is fair to question whether the trip, by a president who has never relished foreign travel, will be anything more than dutiful. "Is this for real, or is this tourism?" asked Chester A. Crocker, who was assistant secretary of state for Africa in the Reagan administration, at a Brookings Institution symposium on Africa last week. Administration officials say Mr. Bush's commitment is indeed substantial. They point to quiet but promising efforts made by the administration to broker a peace deal in Sudan. They mention the Pentagon's interest in forging closer military ties with friendly nations, and Mr. Bush's call last month to extend what economists say has been one of the most important elements of policy toward Africa, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a trade law that allows many African products to be exported to the United States without duties and quotas. "The president takes seriously Africa, African leaders and the potential of this continent," Ms. Rice said.
There are clearly risks for Mr. Bush, especially as he confronts more directly the problems of countries like Zimbabwe, whose economy is collapsing under the increasingly autocratic rule of President Robert Mugabe. If he sends troops into Liberia as peacekeepers, he will be putting American lives on the line for a nation that has been the site of brutal fighting and the source of considerable instability in the region for years. He would also be reviving the specter of Somalia, where 18 American soldiers died in a failed attempt at peacekeeping in 1993. Somewhat to their own amazement, many advocacy groups that labored for decades to persuade the United States and other wealthy countries to do more for Africa say Mr. Bush appears intent on really making a difference. "This trip needn't be just about tourism because there are the beginnings of an historic change in policy toward Africa, permitted by a Republican Congress, we hope, and led by, extraordinarily enough, a Republican president," said Jamie Drummond, executive director of DATA, a nonprofit group that calls for more assistance for Africa. "That's put us in a fascinating situation." Mr. Drummond said the real test would be whether the president could win from Congress an agreement to finance fully the two programs that are the centerpieces of his Africa policy. One is a five-year, $15 billion plan to fight AIDS in 14 countries, 12 of them in Africa. The other, called the Millennium Challenge Account, is a pledge to channel $10 billion over the next three years to poor countries that can show that they are making nuts-and-bolts progress toward democracy and capitalism.
Budgets for both programs, however, are likely to be cut in the coming week below the levels sought by the White House. Even as Mr. Bush is putting a spotlight on the programs in Africa this week, a House appropriations subcommittee is planning to trim them back, both because of a budget squeeze and because Republicans on the subcommittee said the administration had not gotten either program fully up and running. Asked about the $3 billion for next year sought by legislation creating the AIDS program, Representative Jim Kolbe, Republican of Arizona, the chairman of the subcommittee, said, "We're not really prepared in the first year to spend that vast amount on bilateral programs." Mr. Kolbe said that he was a "big believer" in the Millennium Challenge Account program, but that the administration did not have people and systems in place yet to administer it. "We're not going to be able to do everything in that area, but we're going to do a lot," he said. Ms. Rice said the president would take on his own party over the issue if necessary. "The message to Congress is that the president requested funding at the levels he thought necessary to get the job done," she said. "And we are all of us actively engaging with the Congress to try and get full funding."
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 6 July
New farmers' dream turns into nightmare
By Caiphas Chimhete
Lameck Murengwa is one of the thousands of people in Manicaland province who have benefited from President Robert Mugabe's controversial and chaotic land reform programme. However since last year, the 36-year-old new farmer has not planted any crops on his land because he cannot afford to buy seeds and the essential chemicals including fertiliser. He has also failed to hire a tractor from the District Development Fund (DDF) scheme, so he uses an ox-drawn plough, planting a small portion of the huge tract of land that he was awarded as part of the fast tack land reform programme. "I was planning to start serious farming this season but the government has not given us the seeds. Given the inputs, I will start this winter season," said Murengwa. Such is the predicament of thousands of people who benefited from Mugabe's land reform programme, blamed internally and in the West of having condemned Zimbabwe to being yet another African basket case. Investigations by The Standard have shown that the majority of the new farmers do not have the capacity to produce substantially, seriously compromising the food situation in a country where more than six million people are now surviving on food handouts. Farming experts said the shortage of seeds, fertiliser, diesel and farming machinery has put the country's cereal deficit at critical levels. The continued deterioration of Zimbabwe's economy, the continuing drought and the disruption of agricultural production due to the land reforms compound the problems. A report by a combined mission of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) to Zimbabwe recently estimated a total harvest of 887 061 tonnes for maize and other small grains for the 2002/04 season, barely enough to feed the country for a few months.
Maize output this season alone stood at 802 664 tonnes, 64% lower than last year. The winter wheat forecast stands at 90 000 tonnes, down from last year's 160 000 tonnes. "The reasons for the decline include reduction in both area planted and yield, given that fertiliser availability is seriously constrained. Winter maize is not expected to be of any significance," noted the report. Based on the estimated main season cereal output, projected wheat production and an opening stock of 115 000 tonnes of all cereals, the cereal import requirement for the 2003/04 is estimated at 1,287 million tonnes, of which maize constitutes 980 000 tonnes. "Following on the heels of a collapse of cereal production last year, the cereal output this year is also very low relative to the cereal requirements," said FAO/WFP in the report.
The director of the Indigenous Commercial Farmers' Union (ICFU), John Mautsa, conceded that the shortages of seed and fertiliser will greatly affect the country's cereal output this season. He said the shortages had mainly affected those resettled under the A1 model scheme, the programme that is mostly aimed at villagers and peasants, because they lack financial resources. "Seeds are in short supply because it was a domain of white commercial farmers, and because some of them lost their land in the land reform programme, they stopped producing seed," said the ICFU director. An official with the Commercial Farmers' Union said the lack of the right seed variety for a particular area, poor land preparation and high infestation of weeds have seriously compromised the total cereal output. The government's DDF tractor hire scheme was hijacked, mostly by senior Zanu PF members, leaving many resettled farmers unable to carry out normal land preparations. Despite the problems, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, Joseph Made, has said the country would produce more wheat and maize because people who benefited from the land reform have planted crops. The government claims to have resettled about 54 000 new farmers under the A2 commercial agriculture model while slightly over 200 000 have also been allocated pieces of land under the A1 scheme. As a result of the disruption caused by the land reform programme, which left nearly 400 000 farm workers jobless, Zimbabwe's food production went down by 50% last year.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)'s shadow minister of lands and agriculture, Renson Gasela, said the scarcity of food is set to worsen this year contrary to Made's assertions that yields will be higher. "Last year, the country managed to produce what it did because most commercial farmers were duped into planting maize and wheat before their farms were grabbed by the government," said Gasela, the former Grain Marketing Board general manager. He also said the cost of inputs might have forced most of the new farmers, particularly those under the A1 model, not to plant any substantial portions of their allocated land. "The cost of fertiliser is out of reach for most new farmers. Imagine one would need about $300 000 for one tonne of fertiliser and here were have not talked about the cost of seed, ploughing and chemicals. Where would a communal farmer get that kind of money?" asked Gasela. The fertiliser industry has a capacity to produce 200 000 tonnes, but is operating at 65% capacity due to the shortage of foreign currency, fuel, coal and erratic electricity supplies. Only about 420 000 tonnes of the product were produced out of the required one million last year. The current shortage of food has affected a large part of the country's population, in particular the vulnerable rural population, the urban poor and the former commercial farmers, their workers and the workers' families.
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From SABC News, 7 July
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