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Archived News
16th March 2004
Morgan Tsvangirai national address
MDC V-P Sibanda to UNCHR in geneva
Zimbabwe halts 'dogs of war' odyssey
Harare accuses ex-SAS man of links to detained 'mercenaries'
Mercenaries 'came to collect guns in Zim'
Zimbabwe journalists accused of being mercenaries
Zimbabwe crisis hinders Beira development corridor
Zimbabwe accuses West over "mercenary" plot
Malabo imbroglio
Moyo threatens SA media with legal action
Harare bourse hangover
Bulawayo's Old Men of Jazz
Rent-a-coup: Who's who
Mercenary intrigue spotlights West Africa's oil curse
Zengeza violence
$2.5 billion robbery
Plots and plotters
Zanu PF militia lay seige on Zengeza ahead of poll
The police just don't want us to talk
When Mugabe travels in Zim
NMB bosses ready to sing
Zimbabwe says 'mercenaries' will be charged
Mercenaries: State exposed
Did Africa coup begin in Chelsea?
Police demand details of MDC members
Ex-fighters' group alleges plot to rig 2005 polls
Forex auction system hurts
Zimbabwe's inflation rate slows to 602.5%
Intermarket closure could mean no pay for some civil servants
Zimbabwe settles on charge for mercenaries
Playing with Fire
Zanu PF forcing teachers to join party
Zesn urged to endorse election boycott
The new buzz-word
Mercenary suspects photographed, fingerprinted
Processing of 'mercenaries' drags on
MDC ready to fight Moyo in Tsholotsho
Opposition official arrested
BNC to blame for nickel loss in South Africa
Sauce for the goose...
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From The Times (UK), 10 March
Zimbabwe halts 'dogs of war' odyssey
By Michael Dynes and Jan Raath
A cargo plane seized at Harare airport with 64 burly men on board was last night at the centre of a peculiarly African storm of claim and counter-claim verging on the comical. First Equatorial Guinea claimed that the ageing Boeing 727-100 had been flying mercenaries from South Africa to topple its Government. Then the flight operators said that it had been flying experts to the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo to provide security and other support services to mining companies. Finally Kembo Wohabi, the Zimbabwean Minister of Home Affairs, stepped forward to claim that the men were planning to aid a Congo rebel group and had stopped in Harare to buy arms. Whatever the truth, President Mugabe’s beleaguered regime was taking no risks and placed the Zimbabwe Army on full alert. The saga began when the Zimbabwean authorities detained the aircraft late on Sunday and said that it had declared a false cargo and crew. Mr Wohabi claimed that on board there were 20 South Africans, 18 Namibians, 23 Angolans, two Congolese and one Zimbabwean. Their baggage, displayed on Zimbabwean state television, included a rubber dinghy, sleeping bags, satellite phones, knives, bolt-cutters, hammers, camouflage uniforms and Mace, which could be "used by commandos on specialised missions". However, there were no firearms, ammunition or explosives of any sort.
Zimbabwe put its army on alert, apparently fearing an attempt to overthrow Mr Mugabe, and South African diplomats were summoned to the Foreign Ministry, which demanded an explanation. Yesterday another African Government stepped forward to claim that it had been the target of the alleged mercenaries. Equatorial Guinea, a tiny West African nation that is sub-Saharan Africa’s third-largest oil producer, said that it had arrested an advance guard to the men being held in Harare. "Some 15 mercenaries have been arrested here, connected with that plane in Zimbabwe. They were the advance party of that group," Agustn Nse Nfumu, the Information Minister of the former Spanish colony, said. He added that the 15 suspects included black and white South Africans, a German, and citizens of Kazakhstan and Armenia. South African newspapers quoted intelligence sources as confirming that the aircraft had been on its way to Equatorial Guinea. The idea of a coup in Equatorial Guinea is not implausible. Tensions have been simmering between members of President Mbasogo’s family, who hold most of the top jobs in the country, fuelling speculation from exiled opposition leaders that a change of leadership is imminent.
Yet then the South African operator of the aircraft, which was bought a week ago from an American company, intervened. Logo Logistics mocked the idea that the men were mercenaries. "They are contracted to provide a range of services to mining clients, including logistics, support services, asset and human security and communications," it said. "We can make it clear that we have no current or intended business in Zimbabwe and certainly no illegal intentions against its Government and people." Charles Burrow, a senior executive, conceded that most of the men had military training, but said they had been going to Congo and had stopped in Zimbabwe to pick up mining equipment, where it was cheap. Witnesses who saw the aircraft being loaded before it left South Africa confirmed that the equipment seemed ill-suited to insurrection. "It’s certainly not the type of stuff I would like to start a war with," one said. Under South Africa’s 1998 Foreign Military Assistance Act, it is illegal for South African citizens to offer military services to other countries without the prior approval of Pretoria. The offence is punishable by up to ten years in jail.
In Zimbabwe, Mr Wohabi said that the aircraft had declared only seven passengers, not 64, and that the men were linked to the British SAS and Executive Outcomes, a notorious South African mercenary group founded by an apartheid-era specialist in disinformation. Mr Wohabi said that the aircraft had been met by an "advance party" of two men, who had come to Zimbabwe to buy arms and ammunition. Initially they said the weapons were to support a rebel operation in Congo, " but later changed their story to say they wanted to protect a mining company there". Last night aviation authorities were still trying to establish the aircraft’s route. After leaving Johannesburg, apparently it stopped at a small airport called Wonderboom to collect equipment, then at another airport, Polokwane, to pick up the men, before flying north to Harare. The aircraft’s registration number is assigned to an American company, Dodson Aviation Inc, helping to fan conspiracy theories of the alleged mercenary plot. Mr Mugabe has accused Britain and the United States of plotting his downfall. US officials strenuously denied any involvement and Dodson said that it had sold the aircraft to the South African company just a week ago, not long enough to re-register ownership. Contemporary mercenaries are a far cry from those of their heyday, after the independence of the former Belgian Congo, when freelance fighters such as Bob Denard, of France, Black Jack Schramme, of Belgium, and Mad Mike Hoare, of Britain, rampaged through post-colonial Africa’s troublespots with impunity (Michael Dynes writes).
The renegades have been replaced by businessmen offering "professional and confidential military advisory services to legitimate governments" for multimillion-pound fees. The practice was outlawed in South Africa five years ago. South African police are preparing criminal cases against scores of mercenaries hired to fight in foreign wars in the first prosecutions under the new law. "Mercenarism is not only forbidden by our Constitution, it is a scourge," Kader Asmal, head of the South African National Conventional Arms Control Committee, said. Mercenaries have been cropping up with increasing frequency across Africa. South African mercenaries joined French and Bulgarian personnel in Ivory Coast in 2002, and mercenaries reportedly operated in Liberia, Guinea Bissau, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 10 March
Harare accuses ex-SAS man of links to detained 'mercenaries'
By Tim Butcher in Johannesburg and Peta Thornycroft in Harare
Zimbabwe yesterday accused a former SAS officer from Britain of being involved with an aircraft detained at Harare airport allegedly carrying military equipment and 64 "suspected mercenaries". Kembo Mohadi, Zimbabwe's home affairs minister, alleged that Simon Mann, a former SAS officer living in Cape Town, where he is in the security business, had travelled earlier to Zimbabwe and went to Harare airport to meet the aircraft. But when the authorities searched the aircraft it was found to have filed an incorrect passenger list and to be carrying what Mr Mohadi described as "military materiel". While there is no suggestion of any attempt to destabilise Robert Mugabe's regime the incident will be treated as a PR coup by his government and an acute embarrassment for Britain. Mr Mugabe has repeatedly said MI6 and British security services are operating in Zimbabwe. Although Mr Mann has long been retired from the British Army he remains connected with the world of security consultants. It is not known whether he was detained, although Mr Mohadi said the 64 "suspected mercenaries" were led by a "known mercenary", Simon Witherspoon, a white South African.
Mr Mohadi claimed that of the 64 men from the seized aircraft 20 were South Africans, 18 Namibians, 23 Angolans, two Congolese and one a Zimbabwean using a South African passport. The ultimate destination of the aircraft remained unclear last night, although the tiny oil-rich African country of Equatorial Guinea yesterday said it had arrested 15 suspected mercenaries which it claimed were connected with the 64-strong group. But another version was that the men were part of a security company contracted to provide perimeter security for mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and had stopped in Zimbabwe for supplies. Agustin Nse Nfumu, information minister in Equatorial Guinea, said the 15 were an advance party for the group arrested on Sunday night when a US-registered charter plane was impounded at Harare International Airport. Rumours have been circulating in Malabo, capital of the former Spanish colony, about an imminent coup and Mr Nfumu alleged that the men were part of a plot to remove President Teodoro Obiang. He has been in power since a bloody coup in 1979. Control of Equatorial Guinea has become more important in the last decade since vast oil reserves were found in its off-shore waters. It is the third largest producer of oil in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and Angola, producing 350,000 barrels a day.
While there was no independent confirmation of the claims, a diplomatic source in America gave them some credence, saying the aircraft landed in Zimbabwe to collect weapons produced by Zimbabwe Defence Industries. ZDI is run by Tshinga Dube, a close associate of President Mugabe, and is one of several Zimbabwean companies which are the subject of strict economic sanctions by the United States. The source said an apparent breakdown in communication among the elite who run Harare airport led to the aircraft being impounded once an irregularity was found in its manifest. Mr Nfumu said the 15 detainees included white South Africans, black South Africans of Angolan origin, a German and others from Kazakhstan and Armenia who had been in Equatorial Guinea since December. "Some 15 mercenaries have been arrested here . . . and it was connected with that plane in Zimbabwe," he said. "They were the advance party of that group."
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 10 March
Mercenaries 'came to collect guns in Zim'
Harare - An aircraft seized by the Zimbabwe government on Sunday was carrying men believed to be linked to a South African mercenary company and to the elite British Special Air Services regiment, the Zimbabwe government said on Tuesday night. It indicated the group had come to collect weapons bought in Zimbabwe. Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi said on state television that on board the flight were 20 South Africans, 32 Angolans, 18 Namibians, two from the Democratic Republic of Congo and a Zimbabwean with a South African passport. The spokesperson for the group appeared to be Simon Witherspoon, "a known South African mercenary who has operated in various countries in Africa, including Côte d'Ivoire," he said. Witherspoon had served in the South African defence forces until 1989 and then joined Executive Outcomes, he said. He did not elaborate on their alleged connection to the British special forces regiment. When the aircraft landed at Harare International airport, its captain had said the plane contained no cargo and only seven passengers, he said. "Contrary to the information... 64 male adults were found on the plane," he said.
The aircraft was met by an "advance party" of three men. Mohadi named one of them as Simon Mann. He said Mann and another he named as Nicholas du Toit had arrived in Zimbabwe earlier and stated they wanted to buy arms there to sponsor an armed rebel group in Angola. "But they later changed their story (to) that they wanted to protect a mining concern in the DRC." A spokesperson for the British-based company, Logo Logistics, that owns the aircraft said earlier in London today that the group was on its way to do demining work in the DRC. Mohadi said that Zimbabwe did not appear to be the group's final destination. Meanwhile, the government of Equatorial Guinea announced on Tuesday that the aircraft impounded in Zimbabwe was carrying mercenaries employed to assassinate the president of Equatorial Guinea, SABC radio news reported on Tuesday. On Tuesday the Information Minister of Equatorial Guinea, Agustin Nse Nfumu, said his government had detained 15 suspected mercenaries, and declared they were an "advance party" for the group of 64 on board the impounded aircraft. He said the leader of the group, a white South African called "Mick", had confessed to a plot to kill the president.
However, Logo Logistics, in a statement sent to Sapa, said that "contrary to some reports" the people on board the aircraft were in transit to the DRC. "They are contracted to provide a range of services to mining clients, including logistics, support services, asset and human security, and communications". What had been described as "military" items on board were in fact equipment such as boots, pipe-bending and wire-cutting tools, the firm declared. Some of the contractors on board were South African citizens, the company said. Its statement was not sourced to an individual, giving merely an e-mail address and a telephone contact number in the United Kingdom. The only reply was an electronic message. Rumours have since abounded about the occupants, destination, and ownership of the aircraft. The US government denied that it was a US aircraft and some sources stated it was registered in South Africa. On Tuesday South Africa's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the cargo plane was not registered in South Africa. "Our investigation shows that this aircraft is not registered or even provisionally registered in South Africa. The "N" indicates that this is a US-registered aircraft," said CAA spokesperson Moses Seate.
Logo Logistics said the aircraft was leased from an asset management company Systems Design. "It is newly purchased, so it's still on the US register. There is no other link with the US." The CAA also confirmed that the Boeing 727-100 departed from Polokwane International Airport on Sunday. Whether it flew directly to Zimbabwe was not known, the agency said. Logo said its equipment was normally acquired in South Africa. It did not give details on the flight path of the aircraft before it entered Zimbabwean air space. "We can make it clear that we have no current or intended business in Zimbabwe and certainly no illegal intentions against its government and people." The company said it was aware of the political sensitivities of the Zimbabwean government. "However, we assume that, once the Zimbabwean authorities have completed their work, it (our aircraft) can swiftly return to use." Logo Logistics said their first concern was the welfare of the contractors. "They and their families have had an extremely distressing time. It is our intention that they return to their homes for a few days to recuperate before recommencing work."
South Africa's foreign affairs department said it had since Sunday been in close contact with Zimbabwean envoy Jerry Ndou. "Should the allegations that those South Africans on board are involved in mercenary activities prove true, this would amount to a serious breach of the Foreign Military Assistance Act," the department said on Monday night. Logo Logistics denied their contractors had broken any South African laws. "We appreciate that the South African government may wish to debrief its citizens on their return from their ordeal, but that is a different matter." The company's website states that it has so far operated in African countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, Congo, Angola, Zambia and Mozambique. "Common key attributes" found in staff in its service include "discretion, political sensitivity,(and) military experience". Services offered by Logo Logistics include "risk intelligence and assessment, support helicopter operations, service support in harsh environments, (and) rough field and parachute air re-supply". South African foreign affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said on Tuesday night his department was not yet in a position to give further comment on the matter.
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From Reuters, 9 March
Zimbabwe journalists accused of being mercenaries
Harare - Zimbabwe's government Tuesday accused some Zimbabwean journalists of working as ``mercenaries'' for what it called a U.S. and British-backed plot to destroy the country, and warned it would deal with them. President Robert Mugabe's government has maintained severe pressure on the media in the last two years with a set of tough media laws in the face of a political and economic crisis. In a strongly worded statement, Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said a number of Zimbabwean journalists had found ``the promise of dirty American money'' too tempting and were destroying Zimbabwe from within. He praised Zimbabwe's state-owned newspaper group Zimpapers, which recently fired three journalists for working without permission for Voice of America radio. "Mercenaries of any kind, whether carrying the sword or the pen, must and will be exposed, and will suffer the full consequences of the law,'' Moyo said. Zimbabwe detained an aging American cargo plane and its burly white passengers on Sunday, arresting 64 South Africans and others on board the aircraft as ``suspected mercenaries.'' The plane's Britain-based operator said the men were security guards going to work at mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the same statement Moyo said the government -- which has launched an anti-corruption drive that has seen the arrest of prominent ruling party officials -- would launch a probe into the foreign currency dealings of journalists. President Robert Mugabe's government accuses the private media of leading a propaganda campaign by opponents of its policy of seizing white-owned farms for landless blacks. President Bush Friday imposed economic sanctions on Mugabe and 76 other high-ranking government officials, accusing them of undermining democracy in the impoverished southern African country. Bush, following the lead of the European Union, issued an executive order freezing their assets and barring Americans from transactions or dealings with them. Zimbabwean officials say the new sanctions are part of a well-coordinated attack on Mugabe by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, angry over Mugabe's seizures of white-owned farms in Zimbabwe, a former British colony.
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From Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique, 9 March
Zimbabwe crisis hinders Beira development corridor
Beira - Mozambican Transport Minister Tomas Salomao has told AIM in Beira that there is no lack of will on the part of the Mozambican government to press ahead with the project for the Beira Development Corridor, along the line of rail from Beira to Zimbabwe. He said that the government remains committed in its efforts to implement the Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) along the corridor as quickly as possible. Salomao said that negotiations begun with international partners interested in the project, and particularly with Zimbabwe, are continuing at a good pace. But it is the situation in Zimbabwe that is precisely the problem. Salomao admitted that, for as long as political and economic crisis continues in Zimbabwe, the country regarded as Mozambique's main counterpart in the project, it will be difficult to implement the Beira Development Corridor. He added that there is good will among foreign investors and donors towards the project - but they will only release funds for the corridor once political and economic stability is guaranteed in Zimbabwe. "They've already told us - if you want to advance with the project with the current situation in Zimbabwe, we will not make the necessary money available", he said.
The problem is that Beira port and the railway to Zimbabwe were built in order to serve what was then the British colony of Southern Rhodesia. Without Zimbabwean trade, there is a severe slump in activities along the Beira Corridor, and the harsh reality is that the Zimbabwean economic crisis has severely hit the country's ability to trade with the rest of the world. The idea of transforming transport corridors into development corridors was launched about ten years ago. Significant steps have been made in two of the corridors, the Maputo Development Corridor in the south, and the Nacala Development Corridor in the north. That leaves Beira - but because of the Zimbabwean crisis it has so far proved impossible to hold the planned international conference to launch the Beira Development Corridor. A series of dates have been proposed, but the Mozambican government has always felt obliged to postpone the event. Apart from Zimbabwe and Mozambique itself the Beira Development Corridor SDI could be of benefit to three other landlocked SADC (Southern African Development Community) countries - Malawi, Zambia and Botswana. Its economic impact could even extend to Lumumbashi, in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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From Reuters, 10 March
Zimbabwe accuses West over "mercenary" plot
By Cris Chinaka and David Clarke
Harare/Dakar - Zimbabwe has threatened to execute some 60 suspected mercenaries detained this week and accused U.S., British and Spanish spy agencies of involvement in a plot to topple Equatorial Guinea's government. Equatorial Guinea, which has arrested what it called an advance party of 15 mercenaries, said on Wednesday "enemy powers" and multinational companies had been plotting against the small oil-producing central African state. The two countries, some 2,000 miles apart, have put their security forces on high alert since Zimbabwe seized a Boeing 727 carrying about 60 men, most of them South Africans, Angolans and Namibians, both white and black, on Sunday. Associates of the men say they are innocent mine guards swept up in a bizarre misunderstanding. "They are going to face the severest punishment available in our statutes, including capital punishment. We will give them all the rights they are entitled to," Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge told reporters. "They were aided by the British secret service, that is MI6, (the) American Central Intelligence Agency and the Spanish secret service," Zimbabwe's Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi told a news conference.
Mohadi, whose country has been bitterly at odds in recent years with Washington and former European colonial powers, said Equatorial Guinea's police and army heads had gone along with the plot against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. The CIA declined to comment on Zimbabwe's spying charge, but U.S. officials denied the allegation. "There was no U.S. interest or involvement in such a plot," said one U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Spain also denied involvement in any plot in the former Spanish colony. A British Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "I have no information on whether any security services were involved at all. But we certainly wouldn't comment on our security services anyway." Zimbawe state television showed a cargo of what it called "military material" aboard the seized plane. The gear included camouflage uniforms, sleeping bags, compasses and wire cutters but no guns. Mohadi said the men expected to pick up arms and ammunition from state-owned Zimbabwe Defence Industries, but did not elaborate. Officials said the suspected mercenaries had travelled from South Africa and the tiny Atlantic archipelago of Sao Tome and Principe, a former Portuguese colony.
On Tuesday, Obiang, who seized power from his uncle in 1979, said foreign countries and multinational companies had conspired to replace him with an exiled politician living in Spain. Severo Moto, who heads what he calls a government-in-exile in Madrid, said on Wednesday he was not involved in any plot but Obiang had to go, by force if needed. "The people have the legitimacy to get rid of the tyrant," Moto told Reuters in a telephone interview. Officials said one of the suspected mercenaries had confessed to acting for a Lebanese businessman close to Moto. Moto was exiled to Spain for plotting a coup in his homeland, where Frederick Forsyth wrote a classic 1970s tale of mercenary skullduggery, "The Dogs of War". Obiang thanked South Africa and Angola for warning him of a plot but did not identify any of the countries or companies allegedly behind it. Equatorial Guinea has been rounding up African foreigners since Saturday amid tensions within Obiang's clan, dominant in a nation of just half a million.
The seized plane's operator, based in Britain's Channel Islands, said it had been flying security men from South Africa to guard mines in Democratic Republic of Congo. It declined to name the customers it was acting for. Zimbabwe said it had also arrested a man identified as Simon Mann, a former member of Britain's Special Air Service, and two others who had been at Harare airport to meet the Boeing 727. Obiang has been wooed by Western oil firms. Last year his country pumped 350,000 barrels per day, ranking third in sub-Saharan Africa behind Nigeria and Angola. The oil wealth has been unevenly shared, critics say. Human rights groups accuse Obiang of jailing and torturing opponents. Officials said Justice Minister Ruben Maye Nsue Mangue and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Esono had left to visit South Africa, Angola and Zimbabwe, but gave no details.
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From Africa Confidential (UK), 10 March
Malabo imbroglio
South African mercenaries are detained in Bioko and Zimbabwe en route to Malabo to oust President Obiang - but at whose instigation?
The foiled plot to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and replace him with opposition leader Severo Moto Nsa ranks as one of the most farcical military adventures in Africa's long history of coup-making. It may also embarrass the governments of Spain and South Africa as questions are asked about how the plotters were able to organise their plan with apparent impunity. Africa Confidential has learned that both the arrests of 15 ex-South African and other soldiers in Bioko, following the seizure of a United States-registered plane in Zimbabwe, and the arrests of a further 64 ex-South African soldiers on 6 March were part of a mismanaged plot to overthrow President Obiang and install Spanish-based opposition leader Severo Moto. Moto, who was involved in a separate, failed mercenary-led conspiracy in 1997, has vigorously denied the charge.
The 15 mercenaries arrested in Bioko were mainly South Africans, but their number also included some Kazakh and Armenian nationals and one German. The mercenaries' leader, a white South African who called himself 'Nick' , said he had been contacted by a man with a British accent named Craig, who reportedly had an American passport. The coup plotters who flew into Harare Airport on Sunday appear to have been duped by some Zimbabwean military officers, led by Colonel Tshinga Dube, Director of Zimbabwe Defence Industries. Last week some of the ringleaders flew into Harare to meet Col. Dube and paid US$180,00 for a consignment of AK-47s, mortars and 30,000 rounds of ammunition. But when the main team of mercenaries flew into Harare on 7 March in a Boeing 727-100, registered to US-based Dodson Aviation Inc., they were all arrested and the plane was seized. Dodson say that the plane had recently been sold to Logo Logistics, a private security company, based in the British Virgin Islands. Africa Confidential has obtained copies of an 'investor agreement' between Logo Logistics and the Lebanon-based Asian Trade and Investment Group SAL, which was alleged to have commissioned the overthrow of President Obiang, according to military sources in South Africa.
Equatorial Guinea Information Minister Agustin Nze Nfumu has accused London-based businessman Ely Calil of helping to organise and finance the coup attempt. Nze Nfumu called Calil the 'Godfather of Severo Moto'. But Calil told Africa Confidential that he had no links to Asian Trade and Investment Group and no connection to the coup plot. However, Calil did concede that he was a friend of opposition leader Severo Moto, the supposed beneficiary of the plot, and had given 'modest' financial support in recent years. The unmasking of the coup plot may also embarrass Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, who has had several meetings with Moto recently, and was said by military sources to have been aware of the plot. Aznar is due to stand down ahead of national elections in the next few weeks. The affair will also be a test case for South Africa's anti-mercenary legislation, given that much of the planning for the coup happened there and that most of the mercenaries were former South African soldiers. President Obiang will doubtless try to use the failed coup to his advantage. His position has seemed to weaken in recent months, with the succession battle heating up and rifts developing within the country's tiny ruling clique. The latest blow to Obiang came late last month when he visited Washington D.C. in an attempt to resolve problems with his government's account at Riggs Bank. Obiang is the sole signatory on that account, which had a balance of more than US$600 million. The account has recently been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and an official at Riggs Bank has been interrogated by US agents.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 10 March
Moyo threatens SA media with legal action
Harare - Zimbabwe has threatened legal action against foreign media organisations and their local correspondents -- including Mail & Guardian -- saying some of them are "mercenaries" working to topple the regime of President Robert Mugabe. "Mercenaries of any kind, whether carrying the sword or the pen, must and will be exposed, and they will suffer the full consequences of the law," Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said in a statement released late on Tuesday. "Over the last four years or so ... a number of [local] journalists have found the promise of dirty American money too tempting and irresistible, at the expense of their own country," it said. "Concrete evidence in this regard has been coming up in recent months and it is mounting," the statement said. It added that "no media organisation, certainly not Zimpapers [a state-owned media group], will be forced to employ [United States President George] Bush's or [British Prime Minister Tony] Blair's media mercenaries whose mission is to destroy Zimbabwe from within. That will just not happen."
Moyo also accused some journalists and their foreign employers of "flagrant violation of exchange control law and regulations", alleging they are keeping foreign currency outside the country for work done in Zimbabwe. "Some of the journalists involved are foreign correspondents who regularly report for news organisations such as CNN, the BBC, SABC, Daily Telegraph, The Times of London, Guardian, among many more, while others are stringers for or regular contributors to newspapers such as Sunday Times, the Mail and Guardian, The Star and the Business Day in South Africa. And yet others work for wire services such as Reuters, Agence France [Presse]. "As nobody is above the law, and given the serious implications of this widespread and continuing illegal practice on the country's economy, the department [of information] has brought the matter to the attention of the relevant authorities and agencies ... for appropriate legal action will be taken," he said.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 10 March
Harare bourse hangover
Ciaran Ryan
The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) is reeling from a hyperinflation hangover. Having doubled on the back of an official inflation rate approaching 700% throughout last year, it has fallen 30% so far this year and is accelerating downwards. This is what happens when hyperinflation grips an economy. Those with cash are spending it as fast as they can because tomorrow it will be worthless. The market capitalisation of the ZSE’s 75 companies hit a record Z$5-trillion (R125-million) mark in January, fuelled by a bidding frenzy among inflation-fatigued investors. Foreign investors deserted the ZSE two years ago as the country was plunged into a political and economic crisis, but local investors have taken up the slack in a desperate effort to preserve what wealth they have. The value of shares traded shot up 371% last year to Z$650-billion (R13-million), but not all of this was inflationary. The number of shares traded increased by 41% as Zimbabweans ran out of alternatives to protect their wealth. Now some shares on the ZSE are so cheap they cost less than toffees, according to one Zimbabwean newspaper. Insurance company Zimnat’s shares trade for between Z$5 and Z$6, while a toffee costs between Z$100 and Z$150 on Harare’s streets. Fidelity, another insurance company, trades for Z$7.
The country’s banking sector has stumbled into a liquidity crisis, and for a brief period in December money market rates shot above 1 000%. Several Zimbabwean banks had entered into speculative lending using relatively cheap money provided by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. This also accounts, in part, for last year’s boom in equity prices on the ZSE: Zimbabweans were able to borrow cheap money to speculate on the stock market. The ZSE has captured a substantial chunk of the country’s savings after the Reserve Bank’s decision in February 2002 to drop interest rates. Rates have fallen from 700% to 200%. In December the Reserve Bank introduced a new monetary policy to curb inflation, strengthen the Zimbabwean dollar and restore confidence in the financial sector. Banks are now required to keep 10 times more reserves, or Z$500-million, with the central bank. This has halted the speculation bubble that drove the financial sector.
For all the talk of economic collapse, most companies on the exchange are profitable, says ZSE CEO Emmanuel Munyukwi. "If you can run a company profitably in Zimbabwe, you can run a company anywhere in the world. Managers have to make sure they have enough fuel for their fleets and foreign currency to purchase essential imported supplies." Foreign currency earners such as the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe and Miekles Africa, which owns supermarkets, hotels and the Cape Grace hotel in Cape Town, were partly hedged against the Zimbabwean dollar’s collapse over the past two years. The gold sector, however, is facing its worst-ever crisis, according to the Harare-based Financial Gazette. Despite a soaring gold price, mines are making less than Z$25 an ounce as working costs shot up 40% in US-dollar terms last year. Munyukwi says that Zimbabwean managers are schooled in hard times, having survived a succession of crises going back to the bush war. But the latest crisis, like the ZSE, has broken all previous records. Like their South African counterparts, many Zimbabwean businessmen are now complaining of an appreciating currency. In January the government introduced a parallel market for the Zimbabwean dollar. The parallel rate for the US dollar has fallen to Z$4 000 from Z$6 500 late last year, helping to bring imported inflation under control.
Zimbabwean exporters are allowed to keep half their foreign currency earnings but must surrender the other half to the Reserve Bank. The bank purchases 25% of the foreign currency at Z$824 per US dollar, and the other 25% is made available to the market via auction. Businesses complain that the fixed rate of Z$824 amounts to daylight robbery by the government, and many say they can no longer continue exporting if it remains in place. Even the auction rate bears the hallmarks of a fixed exchange rate. "It’s a bidder’s market," says one Zimbabwean businessman. "The Reserve Bank puts a cap on the auction rate." These are all short-term fixes contrived by the government to paper over its most serious economic crisis in two decades. But unlike the post-independence crisis, when whites reportedly swapped luxury houses for colour TV sets they could ship across the border to South Africa, this time asset prices are holding their ground against the inflationary monster. The Financial Gazette says long-term stabilisation of the exchange rate depends on "policies that encourage the export sector, re-engagement with the international community and attracting foreign direct investment".
Additional reporting by Ngoni Chanakira
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From IPS, 10 March
Bulawayo's Old Men of Jazz
Wilson Johwa
Bulawayo - A white-suited quartet slides onto a small stage in Bulawayo, southern Zimbabwe. There’s a flash of a smile before the grey-haired men step forward, their songs matching the rhythm of their feet. The Cool Crooners are on their way to charming another audience. The group doesn’t have age on its side like other international blues outfits Boyz to Men, to name just one. All four of the Crooners are older than 50, and the most senior member of the group is approaching 70. But, seeing them live is as much, if not more, of a treat for the residents of Zimbabwe’s second largest city which doesn’t have much of a music industry. New releases from neighboring South Africa are the songs most frequently heard here. Zimbabwe’ s most promising artists also aspire to live in South Africa, where fame is more likely to be followed by fortune. The group specializes in the jazz that emerged in black urban areas or townships in the 1950s: music that their manager, Jackie Cahi, describes as a "fifties marriage of South African jazz, American blues and kwela." (Kwela is the name given to a type of music dominated by the sounds of the penny-whistle. It developed in the South African township of Soweto, in Johannesburg, during the 1940s and 50s.)
The story of the Cool Crooners begins in the streets and shebeens (bars) of Bulawayo’s oldest township, Makokoba, almost half a century ago. It was there, amidst the racial segregation of the then Rhodesia, that the men indulged their fancy for beer and conversation. Music was a natural and necessary accompaniment to their discussions. The Crooners were formed by the members of earlier groups, such as the Cool 4 and the Golden Rhythm Crooners. "We started during the fifties, the early fifties, and then carried on. But as the others fell out, through death, those remaining came together and formed the Cool Crooners," explains band member Abel Sithole, 68. Modest success in the 1950s was overshadowed by the upheaval of Zimbabwe ’s liberation war and the excitement of independence in 1980. But in 1992, the surviving members of the original groups joined forces again. Cahi, initially a fan, says she started working with them in 2001. A French filmmaker who was also a friend of hers made a film about the group called "Blue Sky". It led to the recording of the Crooners’ first album, similarly titled. Now they are getting ready to record their second, a seven-track compilation that will be distributed by Sony Epic. "We are going to record it in France, this new album," Sithole says.
The Crooners have performed at numerous shows and festivals. Since 2001, they have toured the United States, France, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Botswana and South Africa. Another visit to the U.S. is planned for later this year, and they also hope to do a more extensive tour of Africa. While on the road, the quartet is usually backed by French musicians who, says Cahi, give its music a different, richer feel. "For me it’s special that their music is still alive," she says. "It’s helping to inspire youngsters." Cahi sees the group "carrying on for a few more years". She told IPS that before the Crooners go on stage they look frail and that a casual observer might almost expect them to nod off in the middle of one of their numbers. "But when they get on, it’s dynamite," she adds. "That keeps them young. It’s like a soccer match, an hour-and-a-half." Nonetheless, the singers aren’t completely impervious to their advancing years. Sithole says they realise that time doesn’t stand still, which is why they’re thinking about introducing new blood. The youngest member of the Crooners, 53-year-old Eric Juba, has been tasked with scouting for talent. Already, 75-year-old Ben ‘Pula-Pulane’ Gumbo, who is unwell, has been replaced by Timothy Sikhane formerly of the Golden Rhythm Crooners. Omega Sibanda, the proprietor of a recently re-opened jazz club in Bulawayo, believes the Crooners are the best of a handful of surviving jazz groups in the city. He says the Crooners are handicapped by not having a permanent backing group of their own and ruefully adds that he also finds them unreliable: "They just don’t turn up. It’s like dealing with three year olds sometimes. But when they come, they are wonderful. People love them."
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 12 March
Rent-a-coup: Who's who
Sam Sole and Stefaans Brümmer
The men behind the alleged Equatorial Guinea coup plot represent a who’s who of South Africa’s mercenary market - but key players also have links to the American and British security establishments. In Harare, where 67 suspected mercenaries were arrested last Sunday, Zimbabwean Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi claimed later in the week that Britain’s MI6 intelligence service, the United States’s CIA and the Spanish secret service had been involved. This, Mohadi said, had been confessed by Simon Mann, one of the mission’s principal planners. Mann was arrested in Harare alongside his "troops", who had arrived separately by Boeing 727 from South Africa. Mohadi ’s claim should be taken with a pinch of salt, as the Zimbabwean government has made a habit of implicating the United Kingdom and the US in latter-day colonial plots. But it is intriguing that both Mann and his alleged principal co-conspirator, Nic du Toit, do have direct or indirect links with the security establishments in these countries.
Mann, a former British special forces soldier who has been resident in Cape Town and who is known for his association with disbanded South African mercenary company Executive Outcomes, was earlier a senior member of Sandline International, a private military firm which has been regarded as close to the UK security establishment. Du Toit was arrested with 14 cohorts earlier on Sunday in Equatorial Guinea. On Wednesday he "confessed" on national television that the plan had been to remove the West African country’s President, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, from power to make way for exiled opposition leader Severo Moto Nsa. The latter has denied his involvement. Du Toit is a director of Miltary Technical Services (MTS), a Pretoria company whose founder, Tai Minnaar, worked for the CIA in the 1970s and seems to have retained contact with the organisation until his mysterious death in 2001.
The Mail & Guardian has obtained more information putting Mann and du Toit at the centre of the alleged plot. Mann’s offshore company, Logo Logistics, co-ordinated the operation. Logo is understood to have signed contracts in recent months with Du Toit’s MTS, and with a close corporation of which Du Toit is the only director, Triple Option Trading 610. Logo, which has, via a UK spokesperson, denied the coup plot, saying the men were en route to fulfil a mining security contract in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has the profile of a mercenary company. Its website reportedly advertises its services as including "risk intelligence and assessment, support helicopter operations, service support in harsh environments, rough field and parachute air re-supply". MTS’s role in this operation, according to the M&G’s information, was to supply "trained professionals". Various reports have put Mann, Du Toit and an unidentified third individual at the scene of earlier negotiations for arms in Harare. Their shopping list, presented to Colonel Tshinga Dube, the head of the parastatal Zimbabwe Defence Industries, allegedly included AK-47s and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammnunition.
The Boeing and alleged mercenaries’ stopover in Harare, en route to Equatorial Guinea, appears to have been to collect the arms, for which $180 000 had allegedly already been paid when the men were arrested. The bulk of the alleged mercenaries are South Africans, Namibians and Angolans, and many of them are said to be former 32-Battalion members — the multinational mercenary force used by the former South African Defence Force during the apartheid era war in Namibia and Angola. Members of this battalion also formed the backbone of Executive Outcomes during its adventures in Angola in the mid-1990s and other African and Third World hotspots. Here are some of the key players:
Simon Mann
Mann has a long association with private military companies, including the trailblazer in the genre, South Africa’s Executive Outcomes. Zimbabwe’s Mohadi claims Mann was promised a cash payment of £1-million and oil exploitation rights in Equatorial Guinea for his part in arranging a coup against President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Mann was one of the founders of Sandline International, a London-based private military company that worked closely with Executive Outcomes, the company formed in 1989 by former apartheid special forces operatives. Executive Outcomes and later Sandline played a key role in major private military interventions, first in Angola in support of the MPLA government against Jonas Savimbi’s Unita rebels and later in Sierra Leone, in the latter case allegedly with the tacit support of the British security services.
Mann’s background made him the perfect intermediary for the negotiation and conduct of private operations in support of British military, diplomatic or commercial interests. A member of a prominent British brewing family, he attended Eton before joining the Scots Guards and later the elite Special Air Service. After leaving the SAS Mann specialised in computer security systems. In the early 1990s Mann linked up with another ex-military man, Anthony Buckingham, who had oil interests. The Angolan government reportedly approached Canadian company Ranger Oil, with which Buckingham was involved, to help protect the country’s oil installations. That led to the comprehensive contract Executive Outcomes clinched to shore up the MPLA government and turned the tide against Savimbi’s rebels.
Nic du Toit
Du Toit is understood to be a former SADF special forces operator, who later also worked for Executive Outcomes. According to a 1999 paper by researcher Kareen Pech, Military Technical Services (MTS), the company represented by Du Toit in the alleged coup plot, was set up in 1989 under retired Major-General Tai Minnaar to procure Soviet-issue helicopters and provide private military support services. Pech wrote: "Although some companies, like MTS, have the same business interests, cross shareholdings and even shared personnel, Executive Outcomes directors denied that they were associated with these companies." Minnaar died in mysterious circumstances - allegedly due to poisoning - in September 2001. His attempt to export to the US a so-called stockpile of biological warfare agents, developed under apartheid South Africa’s chemical-biological warfare programme, was revealed by the M&G in 2002. That attempt was made in conjunction with two former CIA operators and with the knowledge of the FBI — which apparently blew the plan and shopped Minnaar before it could be carried out.
Niel Steyl
Steyl was the pilot of the Boeing stopped in Harare, and is under arrest there. More is known about his brother, Crause Steyl, who has also been implicated - by documentary evidence suggesting that his company, an air ambulance service, was at least an intended partner. Crause Steyl denies he had anything to do with the operation. He headed the Executive Outcomes air operation during the mid-1990s and became friendly at the time with Mann. Both were active in the Executive Outcomes contract to shore up the Angolan government. The M&G understands that a contract was finalised in January in terms of which Triple A Aviation Services, Crause Steyl’s company based in the Free State town of Bethlehem, would have provided "aviation services" to Mann’s company Logo Logistics. Triple A trades as Air Ambulance Africa. Steyl this week confirmed that Mann had approached him last year with a proposal. "He said it would be like Angola again." But Steyl denies he acceded. "I live in a small community. Everyone knows me and I do very good work."
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From Reuters, 11 March
Mercenary intrigue spotlights West Africa's oil curse
Johannesburg - Oil should have brought wealth and development to bitterly poor West Africa, but instead it has fueled wars, coup plots and even mercenary intrigue. Equatorial Guinea, an oil producer on the Atlantic coast, this week arrested what it called an advance party of 15 mercenaries, saying ``enemy powers'' and multinational companies had been plotting against the tiny state. Two thousand miles away, Zimbabwe threatened to execute some 60 suspected mercenaries who authorities said had been on their way to Equatorial Guinea to join the plot. Harare has accused U.S., British and Spanish spy agencies of involvement in the alleged plot that could have been straight out of a Frederick Forsyth bestseller. In Forsyth's novel ``The Dogs of War'' it was the discovery of platinum riches in a remote African country that attracted an army of ruthless mercenaries. In West Africa, it is oil. The region is increasingly important to the United States as it seeks to reduce dependence on Middle East supplies, and Washington keeps close watch as governments rise and fall.
The facts are often as murky as the state finances of some oil-rich African states, but analysts say one thing is certain: "black gold'' can often attract trouble. "Oil has historically been a cause of coups and conflicts in the region. It does bring out the worst in people," said Teju Akande, an analyst with UK-based oil consultancy Wood Mackenzie. "We are talking about countries that historically have been very poor and oil is seen as fast money," Akande said. The plot story swirling around Equatorial Guinea - sub-Saharan Africa's third largest oil producer - follows a coup attempt last year on West Africa's Sao Tome islands, which are expecting a gush of cash from crude. The region's giant and sub-Saharan Africa's biggest oil producer, Nigeria, has seen its fair share of coups and military takeovers since independence in 1960 -- with oil wealth the prize for the big men who seized the reins of power. Angola, the region's number two oil churner, suffered decades of civil war fueled by petrol and diamond dollars. "Oil wasn't the cause of Angola's conflict but it gave the state the resources to fight for a long time," said Keith Campbell, director of South African-based political consultancy Executive Research Associates.
Oil can also equip a state with the means to thwart coups - though this usually means it has spent far too much on guns and not nearly enough on its population. While oil has enriched a corrupt elite, it has stoked tensions with the have-nots. "When you have big revenues coming in you can tighten your grip on power, as in Angola," said one UK-based oil analyst. Regardless of risk or controversy, major international oil companies cannot resist the lure of West Africa. And it has also become a region of strategic importance to the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer. In recent weeks U.S. generals have been criss-crossing the region on a mission they say is to seek ways of securing the unstable area against "international terrorism." Regional analysts say they cannot rule out U.S. military action in the future to secure the flow of West African oil to U.S. markets to ease reliance on the volatile Middle East.
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From ZWNEWS, 12 March
Zengeza violence
Violence in the Zengeza constituency, where a by-election for the vacant parliamentary seat is due to be held at the end of this month, continued this week. On Tuesday, three MDC members who were distributing leaflets in Unit K in Zengeza were attacked by Zanu PF militia. The militia trailed the activists for some time, before driving towards them in an attempt to run them over. Mrs Kerina Benhure, and two other opposition supporters whose names are unknown, were injured. On Wednesday. three houses belonging to opposition supporters, including that of the James Makore, the MDC candidate in the Zengeza by-election, were stoned by Zanu PF militia. The militia, travelling in trucks, invaded the residences, beating up people and destroying property. Personal property and household goods were stolen, window panes were shattered, and roofing was destroyed. The houses of the two houses neighbouring Makore's house were also attacked. An MDC member, Enock Mukudu, was abducted, and had to be ransomed with a payment of Z$30 000. Before being released, he was stabbed in his arm by his abductors. No arrests have been made.
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From The Financial Gazette, 11 march
$2.5 billion robbery
Nelson Banya
Forty tonnes of nickel worth $2.5 billion destined for South Africa from Bindura Nickel Mine ( BNC) disappeared into thin air last week in what is now increasingly feared to be a well orchestrated racket organised from Zimbabwe. In what could only be described as a series of startling events in the bizarre goings-on in the scandal-prone mining industry, two haulage trucks carrying the commodity were simultaneously hijacked in South Africa in circumstances similar to those surrounding the recent disappearance in that country of a multi-billion dollar platinum consignment belonging to Zimbabwe Platinum Mines. Officials at the leading nickel producer BNC and the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ), which is responsible for the marketing of most minerals, confirmed that nickel worth US$600 000 vanished without trace early this month. They could however only give scant information on the mystery, which police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said he was not aware of.
This, one of the biggest heists in the mining industry, which makes one of the single largest sectoral contributions to the country's foreign currency earnings, is the second robbery of Zimbabwean mineral exports to South Africa inside five months. A similar case involving the hijacking of Makwiro Platinum Mines' 56 tonnes of platinum converter matte happened in Rustenburg, South Africa, on October 15 2003. The platinum matte was en route to Impala Platinum Holdings' refining facilities. BNC chief executive officer Leonard Chimimba told The Financial Gazette yesterday that two containers, each carrying 20 tonnes of the metal, were hijacked in South Africa last week. He, however, refused to comment further on the likely implications of this loss on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-quoted mining concern and instead referred all questions to Onesimo Moyo, general manager and chief executive officer of the MMCZ. "All I can say to you is that I have heard the reports, but I am waiting for a report from the producer (BNC). The corporation only negotiates for the contracts and the producer organises the transportation to the buyers, so I cannot say much before I get a detailed report," Moyo said.
Impeccable sources said one of the companies contracted to transport the nickel was Chris Freight and sources at the company also confirmed the development, but company officials remained tight-lipped on the issue. It could not be established if the cargo was insured by the time of going to press. It had been however suggested by industry sources but not denied by both BNC and MMCZ, who did not seem to want to take responsibility for the missing nickel, that the consignment was at worst uninsured and at best under-insured. The Financial Gazette also understands that two truck drivers whose names could not be established at the time of going to print were initially believed to be held at Alberton Police Station in Durban, South Africa. The South Africa Police however asked for the identity of the individuals before they could confirm whether they were in custody. BNC was previously owned by global resource giant Anglo American Corporation (AAC) before it was sold off to Mwana Africa, a consortium of African businessmen that took Anglo's 53 percent interest in a US$8 million deal in 2002. The nickel miner operates three mines, a smelter and refinery facilities. The Trojan mine in Bindura has an expected life of 14 years, while the Shangani and Madziwa mines have lives of five years and two years respectively. The fourth mine, Epoch, closed down in 1998.
Meanwhile, the latest development has brought to the fore questions over the MMCZ's capacity to handle the marketing of most precious minerals in the country as it emerged that some companies' rights to market their own minerals have been revoked and given up to MMCZ. It is understood that the country's leading asbestos mining house, Shabanie Mashava Mines was advised by the MMCZ that the corporation would be resuming marketing asbestos. SMM was given the exception to market its own asbestos in 1998 but former Mines and Minerals Development Minister Edward Chindori-Chininga is reported to have written to the mining company in January announcing that the waiver would be removed with effect from April 1 2004. Questions have been raised over the capacity of MMCZ to market asbestos, which has been the subject of a concerted hostile lobby in South Africa and Australia, to up to 55 countries worldwide.
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From The Star (SA), 12 March
Plots and plotters
By The Editor
The plot, as they say, thickens. We refer, of course, to Africa's latest encounter with mercenaries. By yesterday, Cameroon had been added to the list of possible destinations. But one could also have chosen the Democratic Republic of Congo or Burundi. And equally, the intention of those aboard the Boeing was not agreed upon by everybody. All indications are, however, that mercenaries were set on destabilising Equatorial Guinea. Although given that country's history, that would not have been a great achievement. There are several points to be made regarding both the plane now impounded in Harare - with its 60-plus "passengers" - and the 15 "mercenaries" being held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea's capital. The last thing Africa needs is a bunch of mercenaries running (or flying around) the continent. It is to discourage this kind of action that South Africa passed the Foreign Military Assistance Act. Therefore, from our perspective, it is possible that a crime has taken place. But the ironies abound. First among these is that it is being claimed South Africa knew about the plot to topple President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea and tipped off his government. If that is so, why was the Boeing allowed to depart from Wonderboom Airport? Now both Mbasogo and various Zimbabwe politicians are jumping up and down with indignation. Mbasogo is that paragon of democratic virtue who came to power through a coup in 1979. He ousted his uncle, whom he later executed. In Harare, there is another leader who sees himself as fit to govern for ever. We do not for a moment buy into the claim by the plane's owner that those on board were security guards en route to various mining operations in the DRC. The evidence that we are talking mercenaries is overwhelming. The law must now take its course, but the talk in Harare of executions is dangerous in the extreme. That country may welcome this heaven-sent diversion from its own internal problems, but another travesty is the last thing required in our neck of the woods.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 12 March
Zanu PF militia lay seige on Zengeza ahead of poll
Augustine Mukaro
Zanu PF has launched a terror campaign ahead of the Zengeza by-election. The Zimbabwe Independent this week heard that four torture bases have been set up. Zengeza constituency by-elections are due on March 27 and 28. The seat fell vacant after Tafadzwa Musekiwa went into exile in the United Kingdom and later resigned. Musekiwa went into exile in 2002 claiming that the ruling Zanu PF party was after his life. Four candidates are vying for the seat: long-time Zanu PF cadre Christopher Chigumba, James Makore (MDC), Tendai Chakanyuka (Nagg) and Gideon Chinogureyi of Zanu Ndonga. Speaking to the Independent yesterday, Makore said Zanu PF had intensified its dirty campaign by attacking and torturing his supporters. "Zanu PF has already established four bases in the constituency," Makore said. "The bases are at Zengeza 4 creche, Zengeza 4 shops (popularly known as Pagomba), in Unit H and Unit D. Zanu PF youths and supporters camped at these bases descend on suspected opposition supporters during the night, beat them up and destroy their property."
Makore said he had reported some of the cases to the police who had promised to investigate. "Some of the incidents are very nasty. Some victims have sustained serious injuries such as broken arms. Most of these cases have been reported to the police," he said. Makore said there were rumours that the ruling party was setting up more bases in the constituency to cow the opposition before the poll. MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi said on Wednesday more that 100 Zanu PF militias stoned three houses belonging to members of the opposition in Zengeza, including that of Makore. "Zanu PF mobs moving in trucks attacked the three houses at around 1430hrs on Wednesday, destroying property valued at millions of dollars and beating up everybody they met near Makore's house," Nyathi said. "They shattered window-panes and asbestos sheets of Makore's house before proceeding to attack two houses belonging his neighbours." Nyathi said the Zanu PF youths abducted an MDC youth, Enock Mukudu, who was forced to surrender $30 000 to secure his release but not before he was stabbed on his left arm as well as sustaining a deep cut above his right eye.
Over the weekend Zanu PF militias invaded the Chitungwiza tennis court where the MDC was preparing to hold a rally. The rally, at which MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was expected to launch his party's campaign for the Zengeza constitu-ency, was called off for security reasons. Nyathi said ruling party militia attacked MDC party members who had been preparing the venue, seriously damaging two vehicles. Six people were reportedly injured in the attack with equipment worth millions of dollars looted. The MDC said the militia then moved around the area in vehicles attacking anyone seen travelling towards the venue of the rally. The Electoral Supervisory Commission has however tried to break the cycle of violence by bringing the contesting parties to a round table and agreeing on conflict management measures.
"After noting complaints that have been raised about the existence of bases and safe houses, party representatives agreed that each party would have one command centre that would be known to all and accessible by the ESC and the police," ESC said. "In an effort to stem the use of force and violence during night campaigns, parties agreed that there would be no campaigning at night. Campaigning will take place between 0600hrs and 1700hrs." With only a week before the polls, the Zengeza seat is already showing signs of becoming the most furiously contested after 2002 presidential election. Zanu PF desperately wants to win the seat to prove that the opposition is fast losing support. The MDC on the other hand cannot afford to lose if it wants to maintain its credibility and grip on the urban electorate. In the 2000 parliamentary election Zanu PF was relegated to a rural party after the MDC won almost all urban constituencies.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 12 March
The police just don't want us to talk
Wilson Johwa
Bulawayo - With few obvious hassles, a local pressure group, Bulawayo Agenda, kicked off a string of public meetings late last year. Twenty-nine gatherings, held as part of its "township series", provided residents of townships with a rare platform to speak out on issues of concern. Recurring complaints included poverty, the hijacking of food aid by ruling party functionaries and rising transport fares that were forcing commuters to walk long distances daily. Although most expected the absence of official interference to end, particularly after the grievances repeatedly pointed towards mis-governance, organisers admit they were caught off guard when police turned down their application for an evening meeting last Thursday. Under the Public Order and Security Act (Posa), the police have to approve a public meeting in advance. Last week officers simply said they no longer allow public meetings after 5pm. Gorden Moyo, coordinator of Bulawayo Agenda, says by insisting that meetings are held during the day, authorities plan to minimise attendance. After all, people can’t leave work. "It’s tantamount to incapacitating us," he adds. "The police’s motive is people should not attend these meetings; they should not voice - or hear - other views."
Bulawayo Agenda is not the only organisation at the receiving end of the new police directive. Tabitha Khumalo of the constitutional change pressure group, the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), says the organisation applied for permission to hold a public meeting on February 26. Police turned down this request too, citing the new regulation. "They just don’t want us to talk," Khumalo says, adding: "We are telling people the country’s problems stem from the Constitution." The NCA - which includes civic organisations, unions and churches - maintains it is self-defeating for Zimbabweans to participate in another election before a new constitution is in place. It maintains the outcome of future elections is pre-determined, thanks to a skewed electoral playing field that allows the ruling party to dominate. Moyo adds that, when combined with the closure of the independent newspaper, The Daily News, the meeting ban is part of a wider strategy to stem debate ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections. "The police are trying to gag us," he says. The organisation believes participation leads to democracy and is gearing up for more "debate, discussion and dialogue" in Bulawayo and the two Matabeleland towns of Gwanda and Hwange.
In the meantime, Bulawayo Agenda rescheduled its cancelled Thursday meeting for Saturday afternoon. The topic - "Is the government’s anti-corruption crusade a genuine policy or a mere political calculation?" - remains unchanged. But chairperson Peter Khumalo is not excited. "When you choose the time for a meeting you’re considering the audience. Usually people are ready towards the end of the week because they want to relax, to chat." On weekends, however, he says most people are away. When contacted for an explanation, provincial police spokesperson Inspector Smile Dube referred questions to his superior, who was not available. Inspector Shepherd Phiri, of the police’s national press office, says deciding who can hold a public meeting, and when, is at the discretion of the officer commanding an area.
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From The Mail &Guardian (SA), 12 March
When Mugabe travels in Zim
Mail & Guardian Reporter
It is a spectacularly entertaining sight, but, while it may resemble the grotesque extravagances of a Hollywood set, there's nothing fictional about it. Although it is two decades since he took office, President Robert Mugabe's security still takes Zimbabweans by surprise. When Mugabe travels all traffic comes to a stand-still. Motorists, rudely forced off the road by speeding motorcyclists, watch in stunned awe as the presidential cavalcade speeds past. If the motorcade is meant to frighten then it succeeds, even if only because of its size and overbearing bodyguards' use of brute force. When the president is moving around Harare he is usually accompanied by no fewer than nine vehicles including four police bikes, an ambulance and, at times, an additional top-of-the-range Mercedes. The cavalcade can get twice as big, particularly when Mugabe's travelling outside the capital, when larger crowds increase the perceived security threat. Typically the motorcade consists of several Mercedes Benz vehicles, half of which are likely to be unmarked. Anonymous security personnel occasionally shove automatic rifles beyond the luxury cars' tinted windows. Clearly modesty and discretion are the least of their concerns. The mainstay of the motorcade is two open Land Cruiser trucks. Each transport about a dozen helmeted men, brandishing an assortment of heavy weapons. Machine guns gleaming in the sun, the men often hang onto the trucks as if they're ready to swing into action. It is a sight unlikely to leave even the most lion-hearted observer untouched.
The president's own ride, a new US$2,5-million custom-built Mercedes Benz, arrived in the country in April 2002, just before the presidential election that the 80-year-old is accused of stealing through intimidation, violence and rigging. The vehicle's importation from Germany (at a time when Zimbabweans needed food aid and the country was battling severe foreign currency shortages) met with whispered disapproval. The purchase was made shortly before the European Union slapped targeted sanctions on the former freedom fighter and his close associates. Apart from its ample security features, the five tonne limo serves as a mobile office that offers the president luxuries including access to the Internet. So far, however, there's no evidence that the president spends any of his time on the road exploring the world wide web. Cyberspace may be less thrilling than the actual world he inhabits. At the December World Summit on the Information Society, in Geneva, Mugabe accused the Western media of using new technology for espionage to weaken the Third World.
A local security expert says Mugabe's lavish motorcade is not inconsistent with security practice in dictatorships. "Go to Libya and you'll see the same thing. If you'd been to Pakistan during Zia's time it was similar," he adds. "I understand Saddam [Hussein] was the same as was [Nikolai] Ceausescu." A MP with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Giles Mutsekwa, contends that Mugabe's motorcade is so large because the president is preparing himself for the possibility that, fed up with his oppressive rule, Zimbabweans might do the unthinkable. "This is what Mugabe is readying himself for," notes Mutsekwa, who is also the MDC's secretary for defence. "It's not normal for someone who claims to have been democratically elected not to want anyone near him." Officially, however, justification for Mugabe's seemingly excessive security could be that he, while prime minister, survived three assassination attempts. Curiously, the president has a history of accusing political foes of plotting to assassinate him.
In 1982 Mugabe charged the rival nationalist leader, Joshua Nkomo, and other Zapu party officials of plotting to topple him. Although acquitted they were imprisoned for seven years without being charged. In December 1997 another opposition leader, Ndabaningi Sithole, was convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment for conspiring to assassinate the president. He was accused in 1995of plotting to blow up the motorcade with a claymore mine. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai currently faces two treason trials for allegedly plotting on two separate occasions to eliminate Mugabe . The charges against the MDC leadership are based on a disputed Australian TV documentary, broadcast in February last year, where it appears the opposition was planning to have Mugabe assassinated. In a meeting with Canadian consultants, Tsvangirai is said to have discussed how to proceed "after the head of state has been eliminated." The MDC, on the other hand, claims the video footage is based on a trap, set by the Mugabe regime under the supervision of a government lobbyist and former Israeli secret service officer, Ari ben-Menashe. Since June Tsvangirai has also faced another treason charge for allegedly backing a violent overthrow of the government when he called for a five-day national strike.
It is therefore not unreasonable that Mugabe's security personnel could justify the extravagant motorcade as a necessary assassination-deterrent. But that explanation may not assuage the concerns of many Zimbabweans, who marvel at the fact that the motorcade does not, for example, reflect the erratic fuel supply that has resulted from foreign exchange shortages that some attribute to the president's mismanagement. He, however, has blamed it, in part, on the West. "We have never noticed Mugabe minimise himself on fuel," says Mutsekwa. "You can imagine how much fuel that motorcade gobbles." The presidential limo alone guzzles about 45 litres per 100km. Mutsekwa says his party believes in more reasonable security for the president. "We'd go for a motorcade that is purely ceremonial as opposed to fortifying your head of state." According to Professor Mike Hough, the director of the Institute for Strategic Studies at the University of Pretoria, VIPs face many obvious threats, such as kidnapping. "In the case of Zimbabwe, the reactions to possible threats seem, however, to verge on hysteria."
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 12 March
NMB bosses ready to sing
Staff Writer
NMB Bank directors wanted by police on charges of externalising foreign currency have threatened to reveal the foreign currency deals they and other banks conducted with government departments and the central bank on the black market. At the height of forex shortages government and parastatals sourced foreign currency on the illegal parallel market to purchase grain and fuel. Foreign currency was also bought at the parallel rate to pay for electricity imports. The four directors - Julius Makoni, James Mushore, Otto Chekeche and Francis Zimuto - have said they will not return to Zimbabwe to be subjected to the current legal regime where they can be detained for long periods without trial. The four left the country a fortnight ago. In an interview this week Makoni, who was managing director of the bank, said they were prepared to sing if their "persecution" continued. "For professional reasons we would not like to give details of the transactions that took place," said Makoni. "But if we are persecuted the way we are being treated now, we are prepared to reveal the details," said Makoni. This comes amid revelations that the Zimbabwe government has not started extradition proceedings to bring back from Britain the four directors to face trial. In written responses to the Zimbabwe Independent this week, the British embassy said it had not been contacted about the extradition of the four men. "We have not been contacted by the government of Zimbabwe or Interpol about this case," said British embassy spokesperson Sophie Honey. Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena yesterday said extradition proceedings would only start after police had ascertained the exact location of the suspects. "We cannot start the extradition process until we know the exact location of the suspects. We are still trying to find out exactly where they are," he said. The Independent this week also heard that government would formally complain against the British government for allegedly facilitating the escape of the directors by providing them with fast-track visas. The embassy could not provide details on whether or not the four directors got express visas. "All visa applications are considered in accordance with UK immigration rules. We do not comment on individual applications," said Honey. Diplomatic sources this week said the British government would not extradite the directors who would likely be treated as asylum seekers.
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From The Times (UK), 13 March
Zimbabwe says 'mercenaries' will be charged
By Cris Chinaka
The 67 alleged mercenaries held by Zimbabwe and accused of plotting a coup in the oil-rich West African state of Equatorial Guinea will appear in court on Monday, when they will be formally charged with subversion, their lawyer said yesterday. The group was arrested at Harare international airport on Sunday night and the Boeing 727 carrying them was impounded following a surveillance operation mounted by Zimbabwean and South African intelligence agencies. Equatorial Guinea detained 15 other men accused of being an advance party. Zimbabwean officials claim an advance group of three visited their country in February and were lured into a "sting" operation to buy a $118,000 (£65,750) consignment of AK47 assault rifles, mortars and ammunition from Zimbabwe Defence Industries, the state-owned arms manufacturer. The lawyer representing the alleged mercenaries said they had committed no crime in Zimbabwe. Shortly before he entered the lice-infested Chikurubi central prison on Harare’s eastern outskirts to interview his clients, he said the only charge he knew of was for minor violations of immigration laws.
But Kembo Mohadi, Zimbabwe’s Home Affairs Minister, said the charges included "destabilising an independent and sovereign government". Stanislaus Mudenge, Zimbabwe’s Foreign Minister, said on Thursday that the "mercenaries" would "face the severest punishment available to our statutes, including capital punishment". However, Jonathan Samkange, the lawyer appointed on Thursday by an unknown sponsor, claimed that the Zimbabwean Government could not charge them as long as any alleged conspiracy was directed against a government outside Zimbabwe. Mr Samkange said his clients had been dealing with "a legitimate company". When the aircraft landed in Harare on Sunday, they were expecting to load a consignment of arms and uniforms onto the aircraft. The US Government said yesterday it had protested to Zimbabwe over the "outlandish and inaccurate" accusations that the CIA had helped to organise the alleged insurrection bid. Mr Mohadi also claimed that MI6 was involved. Britain has declined to comment on the allegations. Pretoria confirmed earlier this week that President Mbeki had alerted Teodoro Mbasango, the President of Equatorial Guinea, to a possible coup attempt and that Zimbabwe’s secret police and military intelligence, with support from South Africa, had the advance party "under constant surveillance". The aircraft’s operator said that it was flying the men to the Democratic Republic of Congo to provide security for mining operations.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 14 March
Mercenaries: State exposed
By Kumbirai Mafunda
The 67 suspected mercenaries arrested on Sunday amid great State media hype can only be charged with very light offences in a development that seriously exposes the Zanu PF government's apparent lack of understanding of its own laws, it emerged yesterday. Addressing diplomats in Harare last week, a highly-charged foreign affairs Minister Stan Mudenge said the alleged mercenaries had committed a very serious offence and could therefore face capital punishment if found guilty of being mercenaries. "They are going to face the severest punishment available in our statutes, including capital punishment," said Mudenge. But it became clear yesterday that the State could not charge the alleged coup plotters for a crime they were going to commit in Equatorial Guinea, thousands of kilometres away. Among the 67 are 23 Angolans, 20 South Africans,18 Namibians, two Congolese and one Zimbabwean with a South African passport. Sources said the government, realising it did not have "enough teeth", was now considering to have the 67 extradited to South Africa where they could be tried under the Foreign Military Assistance Act. The Act prohibits South Africans from being involved in mercenary activities.
Acting Attorney-General Bharat Patel confirmed to The Standard yesterday that it was impossible for the State to charge the alleged coup plotters for mercenary related activities. "No Š We don't have any legislation on mercenaries," said Patel last night. He said the 67 men will tomorrow appear at the Harare Magistrates' Courts where they will be charged for contravening the Immigration Act and Firearms Act. Patel added that a further offence relating to the forgery and use of unauthorised travel documents would be laid against the group. Harare lawyer Jonathan Samkange of Byron Venturas and Partners who is representing the alleged coup plotters also confirmed to The Standard yesterday that his clients were not worried by talk of them facing capital punishment. Samkange is instructed by two senior South African lawyers, Advocate Joubert and Awyn Griebenow who arrived in the country late last week. Joubert is familiar with Zimbabwean laws after having once represented the late war veterans' leader Chenjerai Hunzvi in a fraud case involving War Victims' compensation Fund some years ago.
Yesterday, Samkange, accompanied by the South African lawyers, visited the alleged coup plotters at Chikurubi Maximum Prison where they are detained. To gain access to his clients Samkange said he was escorted by police into the prison premises that are heavily guarded. "They have not been ill-treated, they are happy and were even saying they are being given too much food in jail," he said. "They are also saying they were not on a mission of war but to carry out mining activities," he said. Samkange witnessed a search for offensive weapons in the property of the detainees which was impounded at the Harare International Airport. However, he said only cellphones were common among the group's belongings which also included pocket knives. Earlier on Friday, Samkange together with the defence team from South Africa made a thorough inspection of the impounded Boeing 727-100 aircraft detained at Manyame Airbase. He said army officers were barring vehicles with foreign registration number plates from entering the tightly-guarded premises. He said he had to be escorted by the army to gain entry into the airbase.
One of the South African lawyers Griebenow said he would like to have his clients tried in his country under Pretoria's laws. "We would like these people extradited and tried in South Africa," he said. South Africa's Ambassador to Zimbabwe Jeremiah Ndou said yesterday Pretoria had not applied for the extradition of its nationals who are part of the group so that they could be tried in South Africa. "We haven't applied for extradition. If these people are involved in any criminal activity in Zimbabwe, they must face the laws of this country," said Ndou. The alleged mercenaries were arrested last Sunday and authorities say they were on their way to Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea to stage a military coup against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Equitaorial Guinea is said to be also holding 15 suspected mercenaries with a South African Nick du Toit presented as the mercenaries' leader. Du Toit, 48, is reportedly a former member of a South African reconnaissance unit. Pretoria said the incident has caused much embarrassment to its government.
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From The Observer (UK), 14 March
Did Africa coup begin in Chelsea?
Antony Barnett and Patrick Smith on the failed putsch in Equatorial Guinea
A tycoon who lives in a mansion off the Kings Road in Chelsea has emerged at the centre of accusations over an alleged coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. In a remarkable tale of bizarre twists, millionaire Ely Calil, who once advised Lord Archer, has been accused of financing an operation to hire foreign mercenaries to overthrow the government of the oil-rich West African country. The Information Minister of Equatorial Guinea has alleged Calil arranged to pay Old Etonian and former SAS soldier, Simon Mann, $5m to hire a group of mercenaries to oust the ailing President Obiang. In the 1980s Mann founded Executive Outcomes, one of the world's most successful mercenary outfits, which was involved in controversial operations in Sierra Leone and Angola. Calil has been accused of hiring Mann to help his friend Severo Moto, the exiled Equatorial Guinean politician now living in Spain who harbours ambitions to return as President. It is alleged that, had the coup been successful, its backers, including Calil, would be given oil concessions in the tiny state that is now producing more 250,000 barrels a day.
Calil has hired Margaret Thatcher's favourite PR guru Lord Bell to rebut the alleged claims against him, which he says are an elaborate set-up. The allegations will be an unwelcome spotlight on Calil's commercial activities. The Lebanese-born millionaire, now a British citizen, made his fortune in oil trading with Nigeria. In June 2002, he was arrested by French police in connection with the payments of illegal commissions by a subsidiary of the French oil giant Elf-Aquitaine to the Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha. Calil was later released on appeal, although the payments are still under investigation. After the arrest in Zimbabwe last week of 60 mercenaries - who now face possible death sentences for their alleged involvement in the coup - Equatorial Guinea Information Minister Agustin Nze Nfumu claimed the plot was financed by Calil. This was given credence by a former South African Special Forces commander, Nick du Toit, who worked with Mann. Du Toit was arrested on Tuesday with 14 others in Equatorial Guinea and accused of helping in the plot. He has now turned state witness and on Thursday night he went on state television to denounce Calil and Moto.
South African sources say the genesis of the plot lay in a series of meetings in London between Calil and Mann in early January. On the agenda was the situation in Equatorial Guinea, which they agreed looked increasingly unstable as the struggle to succeed the ailing Obiang heated up. The choices looked grim: Obiang would die and be replaced by his favourite son, Teodorin, widely seen as dangerously unstable; there were be a battle for power within the country's tiny ruling clan; or there would be an externally financed putsch. Calil and Mann, say Du Toit and his colleagues in South Africa favoured the third option. Like all other allegations levelled against him, Calil has denied this version of events. Yet since Equatorial Guinea started producing oil five years ago, Calil has cultivated a relationship with Moto. Should the Obiang regime fall, Moto is the most credible replacement.
On 15 November, 2003, Mann's British Virgin Island's company Logo Logistics signed an agreement with a group of Lebanese investors in the Asian Trading and Investment Group SAL. Mann's associates insist Asian Trading is linked to Calil and was used to channel funds for the overthrow of Obiang. Calil denies any such association or knowledge of Asian Trading's activities. Under the terms of the deal - seen by The Observer - the Lebanese investors were to provide Mann's company with $5m for 'mining, fishing, aviation and commercial security projects in West Africa'. Mann also signed an agreement with Du Toit on 1 December, which guaranteed financing from Logo Logistics of up to $2 million for 'unspecified projects'. Yet like much in Africa's history of coups, the truth is hard to ascertain. The Observer has learnt that Du Toit, who has made the allegations against Calil and Moto, himself set up a company in December 2003 - Triple Option Trading - that was half-owned by three senior members of Equatorial Guinea's ruling political elite. One theory is that Du Toit was used by the government to infiltrate the plot.
In late January, Du Toit flew to Johannesburg to brief Mann. Joining in the discussions was Charles Burrows and a senior executive of Logo Logistics, now run by Mann. Burrows rubbished the coup accusations, saying the mercenaries were hired as security for a mining operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Supporting this claim is that the equipment on the cargo plane seized in Zimbabwe contained little military equipment. But it has now been suggested that, in February, Mann had flown to Harare to discuss a consignment of arms with officers of the state-owned Zimbabwe Defence Industries. Sources close to Mann reported that the list given to Zimbabwe included AK47s, pistols, ammunition and mortars. Mann is alleged to have made contact with Zimbabwe Defence Industries, through two intermediaries, one of whom was arrested in Harare. The plan was for the arms to be delivered on 19 or 20 February to the airstrip at Kolwezi in Congo, under the control of a local rebel leader. There a plane would crossload the weapons from Harare, refuel and fly on to Equatorial Guinea. But on the appointed day neither rebel leader nor fuel turned up.
On 6 March, Mann went to Zimbabwe from the Democratic Republic of Congo, accompanied by two South Africans. It is claimed their task was to prepare the way for a group of soldiers from South Africa. On Sunday, 7 March, Logo Logistics' Boeing 727 was made ready. Captain Neil Steyl and co-pilot Hendrick Hamman took off at 4pm with 65 soldiers on board. On board were two packages of cash: one of $30,000 for fuel and landing fees and the other of $100,000 to be used inside Equatorial Guinea. Landing in Harare, Steyl taxied to the military wing, where everyone on board was arrested. The Obiang regime announced the arrest of 15 mercenaries led by Du Toit. On Tuesday, Obiang went on television to accuse Moto of plotting the coup. By Thursday night, Du Toit confessed on television. He looked relaxed for someone who might face execution. He later phoned his wife in South Africa telling her to expect him back by the weekend.
Patrick Smith is editor of Africa Confidential
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 12 March
Police demand details of MDC members
Loughty Dube
The opposition MDC has alleged that police are harassing its officials and members in Bulawayo by demanding personal information pertaining to their political history and details of the party's grassroots membership. MDC information and publicity officer for Bulawayo province Victor Moyo said officers from the Law and Order Section were visiting the party's district and ward leaders in the city demanding that they give information about themselves and other members. "The police have been intimidating our members and forcing them to divulge sensitive information about themselves and about other members in the party," Moyo said. He said Pumula South councillor Rodger Sibanda was visited twice at his home last week. "Police visited Sibanda and asked him to fill in a form outlining his political history. He refused but they returned later and forced him to provide the details together with information on other party members," Moyo said. Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena promised to comment later on the allegations but had not done so at the time of going to press. Allegations of harassment of MDC councillors come a few days after the release of results of a survey of 50 of the MDC's 59 MPs conducted by the Johannesburg-based Zimbabwe Institute. The survey revealed that almost all opposition MPs have been terrorised through violence, intimidation and arrest. The report further stated that 90% of the MPs had been jailed while 42% had been physically assaulted. Moyo said another MDC councillor, Angilacala Ndlovu, was ordered to give information on the party's structures at branch and district levels. "The action by the police is abhorrent. We are not sure for what purpose the police want to use the information they are collecting or whether they are being used by Zanu PF ahead of elections next year. "What the police are doing is intimidating our members ahead of the 2005 parliamentary election and we are saying there should be a stop to that," he said.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 14 March
Ex-fighters' group alleges plot to rig 2005 polls
By our own Staff
Bulawayo - The Zimbabwe Liberators' Peace Initiative (ZLPI), a grouping of former freedom fighters, has exposed what it says is an attempt by Zanu PF to rig the forthcoming 2005 parliamentary elections in rural areas by increasing the number of headmen in charge of villages and using youth militia as neighbourhood watch-men. The allegations, contained in a summary report of a voter education exercise conducted by the organisation in Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces in the last three months, states that the reason for increasing the number of village headmen is to increase surveillance of villagers. This would make it difficult for opposition parties to campaign in those areas. ZLPI says under the new plan being introduced by the government, each village will further be broken down into small units so as to increase the number of kraalheads, to be presided over by a paramount chief. Each of the kraal heads would work with a minimum of five neighbourhood committees drawn from the national service youth training camps. The ZLPI says each member of the youth trainees, now commonly called "Green Bombers", would then be assigned to monitor five to eight homes ensuring that every home is accounted for.
ZLPI President Max Mnkandla says his organisation has been following events in Gokwe South that is currently being used as a pilot project by Zanu PF. "In Nkana ward in Gokwe South the number of headmen has been increased from three to seven and "Green Bombers" are being assigned to monitor villagers under the pretext that they are neighbourhood watch-men. However, the purpose of all this is to ensure that the opposition has no chance of establishing grassroots support as the people and visitors to the area are constantly being monitored by the youths," said Mkandla. He said under the system government guarantees compliance through paying the chiefs and the headmen well. "The Zanu PF campaign machinery is now in full throttle in the rural areas as the chiefs are now paid huge salaries," said Mkandla. The ZLPI said Zanu PF's purpose of increasing the number of kraal heads and headmen was to sway political support in its favour.
"Each kraal head has an average of 40 homes/villagers, each kraal head has a minimum, of five neighbourhoods drawn from Green Bomber camps at political level. Each member is assigned to a surveillance of five to eight homes/villages, so every home/village will be accounted for. The paramount chief would be supervising his head-men through the chief; these traditional leaders will actually be swaying political support for the government. It is planned to start the campaign at grassroots level where every kraal/head is expected to ensure that all 40 homes/villages and occupants vote for the ruling party," reads the report. Traditional leaders have in the past campaigned openly for Zanu PF while in some instances they have chased away any people accused of supporting the opposition from their villages.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 12 March
Forex auction system hurts
Ngoni Chanakira
While some firms are busy toasting the success of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's (RBZ) foreign currency auction system, others are cursing it, accusing the system of retarding progress. "The system is hurting some companies but others are benefiting from it," said Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Antony Mandiwanza. "It is two sides of the same coin and it really depends on whether you are an importer or an exporter." The CZI, the country's largest and most powerful business grouping, recommended the foreign currency auction system to RBZ governor Gideon Gono who introduced it on January 12. Mandiwanza, who is chief executive officer of Dairibord Zimbabwe Ltd, told businessdigest in an interview that the popular tendency nowadays was to "cry and cry without coming up with solutions to problems". He said the auction system had unlocked substantial amounts of hard cash hanging speculatively outside the formal system.
Zimplow chairman Oliver Chidawu blasted the system saying it had "adversely affected export viability". Chidawu, who sits on several boards, said the net effect of the foreign currency auction system had been the halving of Zimbabwe dollar export revenues. Auction rates have hovered between $4 000 and $4 200 against the United States greenback. On Monday the auction rate stood at $4 205,03 to the US dollar. On the parallel market however some companies are buying the currency at between $5 500 and $6 000 because it is not readily available on the auction floor. "The recently introduced forex auction has adversely affected export viability," Chidawu told shareholders in his report for the period ending December 31. "The net effect has been the halving of Zimbabwe dollar export revenue. With the decline in local market activity, Zimplow was forced to rely on exports to survive. Now Zimplow faces an uncertain future." He said major Zimbabwe customers had also been affected by the new monetary policy and were finding it difficult to liquidate their debts to Zimplow. "The future is a question mark," Chidawu said. "These factors have combined to adversely affect cash flows. It is therefore felt that to declare a dividend in these unpredictable circumstances would be unwise." Zimplow exports to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola.
Cafca chairman and prominent lawyer Honour Mkushi, who also chairs Standard Chartered Bank of Zimbabwe, had unkind words for the RBZ's auction system. "Given reasonable economic, fiscal and monetary policies, the company had set targets to significantly increase exports and to reinforce or increase our position as a major player in the region," Mkushi told shareholders in his report. "However, the negative impact of the new monetary policy on the group's exports activities owing to the current official surrender rate on export proceeds has led to the suspension of export orders." Mkushi, whose group is a major producer of cables, said while the new monetary policy had "noble objectives", changes particularly reduction of inflation, were not going to "happen overnight". Interfresh Holdings chairman Lysias Sibanda in his report said while trading conditions for his company were not ideal, especially with respect to "export viability and returns based on current auction rates", management was confident of its ability to operate within its core skills and exploit opportunities as they arose. Sibanda is chief executive officer of Kingdom Financial Holdings Ltd.
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From Business Day (SA), 13 March
Zimbabwe's inflation rate slows to 602.5%
Harare - Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate slowed slightly to 602.5% in February from 622.8% in January, official figures showed. The drop in consumer prices is the first this year, a year that the central bank is certain inflation will drop to below 200%. The decline in inflation figures, cited by state television "has been largely due to the drop in non-food inflation". Despite the drop the rate remains one of the highest in the world, translating to almost three times the January 2003 rate of 208.1%. The government in November last year predicted the southern African country's inflation rate would hit 700% in the first three months of this year before climbing down. Zimbabwe has in recent years been in the throes of political, economic and social instability.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard,14 March
Intermarket closure could mean no pay for some civil servants
By our own Staff
Several thousands of civil servants countrywide might fail to get their salaries in time this month following the closure of Intermarket Building Society together with two other subsidiaries of Intermarket Holdings yesterday. Also seriously affected are ordinary depositors, mostly poor Zimbabweans, who constitute the bulk of the building society's client base. Intermarket Holdings' subsidiaries - Intermarket Building Society, the Discount House and the Banking Corporation - have all been placed under the curatorship of Ngoni Kudenga of Kudenga and Company Chartered Accountants. Most of the bank's employees and depositors were yesterday morning shell-shocked to find all of the bank's branches countrywide shut with the message, "Closed by the order of the Reserve Bank." The Standard is reliably informed that the government's Salaries Service Bureau (SSB) had already deposited salaries for some civil servants into the beleaguered bank last week. Sources said among the civil servants that are likely to be affected include teachers, soldiers, police, nurses and those who work in other government departments. Soldiers are getting paid on Tuesday this week.
An Intermarket employee, who turned up for work together with several others, said he only learnt of the closure on arrival at his workplace. "When we left yesterday we were never told about the closure, I think it was announced later in the evening. "I feel sorry for civil servants who are supposed to be getting their salaries next week. From what I have seen it means they will have to wait for some time," said the employee. were kept alive by a message that flickered at the bank's Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). The message read, "Sorry, I am being serviced, I will be back in a few minutes." The depositors milled around the ATM hoping that the machines might begin to dispense cash. Some even tried to insert their cards despite the message, a sign of their desperation. At the bank's First Street branch, about 15 people were gathered outside its entrance sharing their miseries. "If we don't get our money from this bank, we will get it from Gono because the message says it was closed by the order of the Reserve Bank," said a customer who identified himself as Gerald.
Tendai Marinda said he has been a victim of the banking crisis for the second time now. "I used to have an account with FNBS (First National Building Society) and now it's Intermarket, I don't know whether my money with Trust Bank is still safe. It appears all the indigenous banks are going under," lamented Marinda. The crippling crisis in the financial sector was apparently triggered by mess at the collapsed ENG Asset Management firm which reportedly lost billions of depositors' funds. Financial institutions which have been directly exposed to the "ENG financial flu" include Trust Banking Corporation, Century Bank and Metropolitan Bank and First Mutual Insurance group.
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From Business Day (SA), 15 March
Zimbabwe settles on charge for mercenaries
Harare - Zimbabwean police charged 60 suspected mercenaries yesterday who have been detained in the country with attempting to purchase firearms without a certificate, their lawyer said. The 60 were among a group of some 67 men arrested by Zimbabwean authorities a week ago when their cargo plane landed at Harare International Airport. The Zimbabwean government said they were on their way to the small west African country of Equatorial Guinea to stage a coup. "Sixty people have been charged with attempting to purchase firearms without a firearms certificate," said Jonathan Samkange, a lawyer for the group. They were also charged with breaching immigration laws, he told AFP. Samkange added: "My clients deny the allegations." He said all 67 men on board the Boeing 727-100 would eventually be charged under the same law, while three other men, who came to meet them at the airport, would be charged with purchasing the weapons without a certificate. Samkange named the three men as Simon Mann, Lawrence Horn and Malani Moyo.
He said that Mann - who would probably be charged today - claimed to have an agreement signed with the state-owned Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI) to purchase weapons including AK 47s, grenades, rocket launchers and ammunition. "How is it unlawful where there is an agreement?" said Samkange. He said the passengers on board the plane said they had been hired in South Africa as security guards for a government-owned diamond mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The claim was repeated last week by British-based Logo Logistics, which operated the plane at the time of it being impounded. Zimbabwe Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi however, said last week the men were on their way to oil-rich Equatorial Guinea to join other coup plotters planning to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema and replace him with exiled opposition figure Severo Moto Nsa. Some 15 men were recently arrested in Equatorial Guinea's island capital of Malabo and were being suspected of being an advance party for the Zimbabwean group, allegedly planning to end Obiang's 25-year rule.
Mohadi said the Zimbabwean group was backed by US, British and Spanish agents, but this has been vehemently denied by the three countries. Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge had said the men, if found guilty could face the death penalty. Acting Zimbabwean Attorney General Bharat Patel, the top government lawyer, was quoted by the private Harare-based Standard newspaper as saying it was impossible for the state to charge the alleged coup plotters with mercenary-related activities. "We don't have any legislation on mercenaries," he told the paper. Meanwhile a South African weekend paper published the list of names of the 70 men suspected to have been involved in the alleged plot. The Afrikaans Sunday paper Rapport said 28 of the men were Namibian, 24 Angolan, 13 South African, three from the Democratic Republic of Congo, one was from Britain and one was Zimbabwean.
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From ZWNEWS, 15 March
Playing with Fire
A recent survey, Playing with Fire, of opposition MPs, and unsuccessful opposition candidates for parliamentary seats, illustrates, in microcosm, the government's sustained attack on dissent in Zimbabwe over the last four years. 50 elected MPs, and 28 unsuccessful candidates, were asked to detail their experiences since the parliamentary elections in 2000. The 78 individuals reported a total of 616 instances of human rights violations against themselves or those close to them. More than 90 per cent of MPs reported violations that had directly affected their own person, such as attempted murder, torture, assault, arrest, or illegal detention. 24 per cent reported surviving murder attempts, and in some instances, MPs reported surviving several such attempts. 42 per cent of MPs reported being personally physically assaulted and 16 per cent reported torture. Torture included electro-shock torture, being stripped naked and whipped, being beaten on the soles of the feet. In some instances such torture is reported as having taken place in police custody. Such persecution was not confined to the 78 individuals themselves. 44 per cent reported their homes vandalised, and in six per cent of these cases this meant the total loss of home and property through arson. 48 percent reported vehicles vandalised and 14 per cent reported businesses vandalised. In some cases the loss was total. More than 60 per cent reported attacks and/or threats involving their immediate family. Actual violence against family members was reported by 22 per cent of MP's families. In one instance a candidate’s brother was beaten to death with iron bars and in another instance an unsuccessful candidate from 2000 was himself beaten to death in 2002. MPs were most likely to report members of the police, the CIO, or the army as the perpetrator. This report shows how relatively high-profile individuals were and are treated by state agencies. For less well-known opposition figures - councillors and party organisers - and for ordinary voters suspected of opposition sympathies, conditions are likely to have been worse.
If you would like to read 'Playing with Fire', please let us know. It will be sent as a Word attachment to an email message - approximately 15 times the size of the average daily ZWNEWS.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard,14 March
Zanu PF forcing teachers to join party
By Henry Makiwa
Chivi - Zanu PF youths here are forcing primary and secondary teachers in rural Masvingo to form political branches at their schools to show their allegiance to the ruling party, The Standard has established. The youths, under instruction from local Zanu PF leaders, say they began the coercive drive with the aim of "reorientating teachers" back into the Zanu PF fold. Teachers are generally perceived to be opposition party sympathisers. Sources say the ruling party's latest strategy is meant to outmanoeuvre the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for next March. "At our school the Zanu PF youths came on February 26 and abruptly stopped lessons saying they had an urgent and very important meeting," said a teacher in Chivi. "Most of the schools here in Chivi district have received these surprise visits from local Zanu PF youths during the last month. They come in the company of a rural councillor who stresses the necessity of teachers to set up branches, especially if we are to be safe next year," said the teacher. "They said they know some of us support the MDC and accuse us of boasting that we are learned. We have also been told to contribute some money to the party's campaign," he said.
Some schools where Zanu PF teachers' branches have already been set up in Chivi, Masvingo Governor Josaya Hungwe's home area, include Berejena High School, Daramombe and Chiwanza Secondary schools, as well as primary schools at Run'ai and Mandiva. "We understand that Hungwe himself may be harbouring parliamentary ambitions next year hence all this premature campaigning," said another teacher who requested anonymity. They believe that teachers have so much influence in the rural communities and may sway the electorate's perceptions. That's why they want to be so hard on us," she said. Efforts to get comment from Hungwe were unsuccessful. Raymond Majongwe, the General Secretary of the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe, said the union had "made efforts" to engage the Ministry of Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation as well as legislators in "politically volatile areas" to discuss the safety of teachers. "It is rather unfortunate that teachers always fall victim to the politics of the day, but this is based upon the realisation of politicians that they (teachers) are critical elements in any event of political transition," Majongwe told The Standard yesterday. "We have received reports of political harassment and intimidation from so many areas, including Matabeleland and Masvingo provinces as well as G |
