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Archived News
24th February 2004
Tsvangirai speech to NCA, Feb 16
Mugabe's new presidential powers - MDC statement
EU renews sanctions against Mugabe regime
Text of EU decision on Mugabe sanctions
Zimbabwe has detention without trial
Zimbabe's Mugabe extends detention period amid protests
Court dismisses ANZ application
Zimbabwe announces election details, no mention of reforms
A blow to media freedom
Mugabe plunders on regardless
Crucial Zimbabwe media hearing delayed
Zimbabwe's fuel shortages resurface
Inflation set to rise to 700 percent
No reaction to Zimbabwe sanctions
Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act an insult to justice: experts
Jail threat fear
MDC's Sibanda walks out of court a free man
Mugabe keeps grip on office, silent on talks
Country "needs to be normalised" before polls - MDC
Council renews targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe
Zim activist held for 'graft'
Heavyweights escape corruption dragnet
Happy birthday Robert Mugabe
Mugabe floats retirement date
Donnelly to quit in July
SABC reporters arrested in Zim - MDC
Another Zimbabwe judge resigns
Women lobby for Mutasa's release
Mugabe's descent into dictatorship
$15b for Heroes Acre
Police probe Mnangagwa
Mugabe celebrates 80th birthday
Villagers turned away from Mugabe Birthday party
Mugabe, 80, tells of murder bid
Are Zim's youths being brainwashed?
Mugabe misses ceremony after chest pains
Tutu slams SA stance on Zim
Zim officials must return land
Bid to tap forex not easy
Daily News future uncertain, people in Zimbabwe 'deserve better', editor says
An empty grain basket?
SA media latch-on to Zim’s clampdown on graft
Daily News lays off staff
An odd trial for treason is winding up in Zimbabwe
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From SAPA, 18 February
Zimbabwe has detention without trial
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has given himself powers of detention that allow his police to hold opponents of his regime in prison for up a month without legal process on charges of "subversion," the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said. The state-owned press reported at the weekend reported that sweeping presidential powers wielded by Mugabe banned judges or magistrates from giving bail to suspects, but only in cases of money-laundering, fraud and illegal foreign currency and gold trading. However, scrutiny of the decree after it became available yesterday revealed that the law also applied to a wide range of offences under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), including "attempting to coerce" the government through boycotts, strikes, civil disobedience or "resistance to the law," said MDC secretary for legal affairs David Coltart. He accused Mugabe of making "a silent declaration of a state of emergency." The laws allow police to keep suspects in prison for a week without having to produce prima facie evidence. If the state is then able to produce evidence, the suspects can be held for another three weeks. "These regulations are nothing less than a Trojan horse which effectively usher in provisions that give the regime state of emergency powers without actually declaring a state of emergency," Coltart said. POSA was used last year to arrest most of the MDC's leadership. None have been brought to trial.
MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube said Mugabe's decree was "a rehash" of 30 day detention laws used by South Africa's apartheid regime and the former white-minority Rhodesian government. Mugabe continued to use them after independence in 1980, during the massacres by his security forces of about 20,000 people in Matabeleland. Human rights studies in the two countries say tens of thousands of people were tortured, assaulted and murdered under detention laws. Mugabe himself spent 10 years in detention under former Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith. The first victim of Mugabe's decree was ruling party central committee member and tycoon James Makamba, charged with dealing illegally in foreign currency, the latest in a string of arrests since January in what the state media describes as an "anti-corruption drive." However, the crackdown is seen by some as a mask for the removal of dissidents within the ruling party. "Corruption is endemic in Zanu PF" said Coltart, citing a sequence of bribery, fraud and embezzlement scandals since soon after independence, none of which have produced a single prosecution. "When we see similar members of Zanu PF arrested, including close relatives of Robert Mugabe, we will know they are serious about corruption," he said. Ncube said the recent arrests of party officials was to "make examples of them" on the pretence of dealing with corruption. "Most likely it is because of the dispute within the party over a successor to Mugabe. This decree is meant for opponents of Mugabe, whether they are inside or outside Zanu PF," he said.
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From VOA News, 17 February
Zimbabe's Mugabe extends detention period amid protests
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has extended for up to a month the detention period for a range of political and economic crimes. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa says the presidential detention decree is aimed at helping police save time and frequent court appearances in connection with a growing number of economic crimes. Much less publicized in the state-controlled media is the fact that the decree affects the much feared Section 5 of Zimbabwe's Security laws, under which hundreds of mostly opposition supporters, officials and activists have been arrested on charges of subverting a constitutional government. Until now, Section 5 political detainees could apply for bail and be freed within 48 hours after arrest. Under the new decree, they can be jailed for up to a month, without being charged and without a bail hearing. Human rights lawyers and academics have condemned the presidential decree as an infringement of basic human rights. One of Zimbabwe's most outspoken human rights lawyers, Lovemore Madhuku, said the new law is unconstitutional because it was not adopted by parliament. Mr. Madhuku, who has been jailed frequently during the past three years, alleges he has been regularly beaten and tortured in police custody. He says the decree opens the door for abuse by police and opponents of the ruling Zanu PF party. Movement for Democratic Change member of parliament, and its secretary for justice, David Coltart, says the decree gives the Zimbabwe government powers equivalent to those in place during a state of emergency, without having to declare one. He said several opposition MDC members are currently in police custody in the second city Bulawayo, charged under Section 5. He said the new law will be used "preventatively or punitively, to detain those who promote peaceful and non-violent civil disobedience." "Given the Zimbabwe government's reputation for torturing its opponents in police custody," he said, the new decree will be used to physically abuse those perceived as enemies of the ruling Zanu PF more effectively, and to deny them timely medical treatment.
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From The Herald, 18 February
Court dismisses ANZ application
Herald Reporter
The High Court has dismissed an urgent chamber application filed by Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe seeking a declaratory order to have its journalists accredited by the Media and Information Commission (MIC). In dismissing the application, Justice Alphas Chitakunye said the matter should go through the normal channels that are used when making applications. "The court is not in a position to sit on this application as an urgent matter but should follow the normal channels," said Justice Chitakunye. The ANZ, publishers of The Daily News and its sister paper, The Daily News on Sunday, has been locked in a legal battle with the MIC since September last year. The newspaper group was ordered to stop publishing when it was found that the company was operating without a licence and its journalists were not accredited as required under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. It refused to register its publications with the MIC and challenged the Act in court arguing that the legislation was unconstitutional.
The newspapers only started publishing in mid-January this year when the High Court granted ANZ relief barring police from their premises until a hearing to determine whether they complied with the Act was heard by the Supreme Court. The matter is set to be heard today in the Supreme Court before Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku. Last month, the Chief Justice agreed with the MIC that the ANZ was operating without a licence, hence, technically, its papers were illegal publications. Journalists at The Daily News recently resolved not to work until they got accreditation from the MIC after the Supreme Court ruled that it was a criminal offence for journalists to practice without accreditation from the regulatory body. The MIC is the authority responsible for regulating and issuing of licences to mass media houses in the country. Mr Johannes Tomana of Muzangaza, Mandaza and Tomana law firm represented the MIC while Mr Mordecai Mahlangu of Gill, Godlonton and Gerrans represented ANZ.
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From VOA, 17 February
Zimbabwe announces election details, no mention of reforms
Zimbabwe's justice minister has, for the first time, announced some details of the next parliamentary elections, which he says will take place early next year. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa announced the timelines for various processes such as voter registration and the setting of constituency boundaries. He did not set the date for the elections, which must be held by June. Zimbabwe's elections are run by an electoral commission appointed by President Robert Mugabe, and there is no independent supervision of any aspect of the process. Mr. Chinamasa, in interviews with state-controlled media, made no mention of any electoral reforms. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has frequently asked for reforms to the electoral process, in accordance with standards set by the Southern African Development Community, of which Zimbabwe is a member. The MDC challenged the results of the 2000 parliamentary elections and 2002 presidential election, and court cases for both polls are ongoing. It charges vote rigging and political violence, among other abuses, and claims neither election was free or fair.
The office of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said, in a written reply to questions from VOA, that it was asked by the ruling Zanu PF party for assistance with running the next parliamentary elections, but this request has since been withdrawn. A senior political scientist at the University of Zimbabwe, John Makumbe, says the ruling party would not allow any meaningful electoral reforms for the next parliamentary elections. He said it would be hopeless for any other party to take part in the elections unless there is a complete overhaul of the Electoral Act and the administration of the process. Mr. Makumbe said without major changes, the coming parliamentary elections will be, what he called, even more of a farce than the last ones were. Amid the charges of massive fraud, Zanu PF narrowly won the last parliamentary elections in June 2000, nine months after the formation of the MDC, the first large opposition party to emerge since independence in 1980.
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Comment from The Mail & Guardian (SA), 13 February
A blow to media freedom
Reyhana Masters-Smith
It angers me when I listen to or read the belligerent and extremely blinkered statements made by South African government officials when questioned about Zimbabwe. It is unforgivable for a well-informed politician such as Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to deal with extremely complex issues within the political landscape of Zimbabwe by dismissing them with a ludicrous statement such as "the British kith and kin factor is frustrating the political crisis in Zimbabwe". It is also tiresome when politicians on both sides of the border constantly accuse the privately owned media of being "puppets" of Western imperialist interests. These accusations are without any basis whatsoever, other than the fact that the stories carried by these media organisations are unpalatable to those in power. Statements like these are so contemptuous of us Zimbabweans, and it is a tired political gimmick that seeks to distract people from the very real issues on the ground.
The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Aippa) is all about control. It is about who gets a licence to publish and who doesn’t. It is about who gets accreditation to practise as a journalist and who doesn’t. It is about facing criminal charges if you practise as a journalist without being accredited. The judgement of the Supreme Court last week, declaring sections of Aippa constitutional, is undoubtedly a death blow to media freedom and the right of the public to access information through a medium of their choice. The heavily criticised section dealing with the publication of false information, and in terms of which many journalists have suffered unlawful arrest and detention, was nullified last year. It was judged to be unconstitutional by the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court in the matter of Lloyd Mudiwa and Geoffrey Nyarota versus the state. It has since been amended and the declaration by the Supreme Court in its latest judgement is purely academic.
From the onset Aippa has been nefariously controversial. Despite repeated calls to involve media players in the formulation of this critical piece of legislation, the drafting of the Bill remained shrouded in secrecy. There are strong suspicions that it was not even drafted in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs as is normal practice. Aippa’s architects in the Information Ministry has convinced the world that this legislation is intended to uphold professional standards in the media and, as cited in the Act, "to provide members of the public with a right of access to records and information held by public bodies". It does not in any way seek to improve the standards of reporting. All this Act seeks to do is to deal with media deemed wayward by the government. But most importantly it curtails access to information, particularly that held by public bodies. President Thabo Mbeki, presumably acting on information he received, has publicly stated that Aippa was being amended to create a more conducive environment. Far from it.
The amendments actually intensify the repressive nature of this piece of legislation by tightening loopholes. Since its enactment on March 15 2002, 76 media practitioners have been charged under Aippa, although to date not one single matter has resulted in a conviction. The media practitioners harassed, intimidated and arrested under Aippa are exclusively from the private and independent media. All the events over the past three years point to one fact. Zanu PF is preparing itself for elections scheduled for next year and it is determined that there will be no alternative voices reporting on the abuse of power by the state and the use of violence by state institutions.
Reyhana Masters-Smith is chairperson of Misa-Zimbabwe. This article was written in her personal capacity
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Comment from The Star (SA), 18 February
Mugabe plunders on regardless
By Barney Mthombothi
Robert Mugabe has just about wrestled everybody to the ground. His critics have run out of gas. They're giving up out of sheer exhaustion. There's an air of unreality about Mugabe and Zimbabwe, just as there's something surreal about our government's Aids policy. People are hurting and dying and yet it's business as usual. Things don't make sense. People tell barefaced lies and get away with it. It makes you want to weep. Everything bar the kitchen sink has been thrown at Mugabe, and he's still standing. All logic or argument is simply like water off a duck's back. He's unmoved by either threats or tears. Maybe George Orwell had Mugabe's Zimbabwe, and not Stalin's Soviet Union, in mind when he wrote Animal Farm. Some animals are more equal than others, indeed. Mugabe is almost winning by default. For him winning is to be left alone to plunder and maim at will. People are simply giving up. It's no use arguing with someone who is deaf to cries of despair. But he is not standing alone. He's jeering at his critics from the comfortable embrace of our president. Thabo Mbeki may be doing a good job by his own reckoning as Mugabe's nanny, but that support wreaks havoc with his international standing. Mbeki was always going to have a bit of an uphill struggle putting his own stamp on the country, coming as he did after the charismatic Nelson Mandela. He had a marvellous start as president, though, exploiting South Africa's reputation for punching above its weight in international affairs. Part of that reputation which got even more powerful countries to take us seriously is as a result of our miraculous transition and a constitution that is firmly anchored on social justice. South Africa is a skunk that became a beacon in the world. That goodwill is now unfortunately being eroded by Mbeki's inexplicable stance on Zimbabwe.
Mbeki had an acquaintance with most Western leaders by the time he came to office. Tony Blair and the Labour Party have always been ideological soulmates of the ANC even in the dark days of apartheid. And four years ago, when George Bush was running for president against Al Gore, Mbeki made a point of flying to Texas to meet him. Bush has never forgotten that gesture, and it has paid off handsomely for Mbeki. So when Mbeki conceived his masterplan to tackle poverty in Africa, especially the South, he found a Western world willing to listen. For the first time the G8 Summit allowed themselves to be addressed by leaders from outside the club. But Zimbabwe has muddied the waters for Mbeki. First to be seen off were the British. Nkosazana Zuma was sent out to bite off Peter Hain's head for leading the charge against Mugabe. The Brits, frightened by charges of racism, backed off. Blair, after facilitating Mbeki's entry into the G8's inner sanctums, was hoping for a quid pro quo from Mbeki on Zimbabwe. Instead, he had Mugabe let loose on him at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg a year ago, lambasting him with a worldwide television audience watching. It was prime-time lynching. Blair, though, was to extract his revenge at the Commonwealth Summit in Abuja, where he effectively lobbied against Zimbabwe's re-admission - a stinging rebuke that had Mbeki roiling with anger.
Bush continued to lambaste Mugabe as someone who stole an election. But Bush's sharp tongue was soon to be blunted. On the lawns of the Union Buildings on his state visit, Bush recoiled at confronting Mbeki on Zimbabwe. On Zimbabwe, he said, he would take a lead from his host. Of course Bush did not buy the Mbeki line. He was simply being polite to a host. Besides, there were much bigger issues on the table than Zimbabwe. There isn't any oil across the Limpopo. So Zimbabwe is not Bush's problem. It is Mbeki's. Along with Aids, it will unfortunately define the Mbeki presidency. It is an albatross that will ruin what would otherwise have been an excellent tenure in office. Last year when it became obvious that Britain and the US were intent on invading Iraq, Mbeki met Blair to argue passionately that the war would lay waste to poor African economies. He was right, although that gloomy scenario thankfully did not eventuate. However, Mbeki refuses to entertain that economic argument when it comes to Zimbabwe. There's no doubt the shambles in Zimbabwe have had a debilitating effect on our economy, far more than we care to admit.
The whole Zimbabwe scenario - the arguments for and against Mugabe - has corrupted and poisoned our politics. Zimbabwe has become the political context for the entire region. We're tarred with the same brush. Mbeki's support for Mugabe has swayed the bulk of black opinion in this country in Mugabe's favour. It has been helped in large measure by the impression that the US and the UK are vociferous in their criticism of Mugabe simply because it is white farmers who are suffering. Add to that the argument as to whether Britain had kept its Lancaster House obligations, and you have an "Amen" chorus behind Mugabe. It may be white farmers who are making the headlines, but the majority of Mugabe's victims are black. They are at the mercy of unnecessary starvation, and that is if they survive Zanu PF thuggery. But we would be compelled to speak up even if the majority of those suffering were white. The ethos enshrined in our constitution speaks of democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights where every citizen is equally protected by law. These are the values we stand for at home and should be reflected in our foreign policy. After all, foreign policy is nothing but an extension of your domestic policy. It is not about supporting your buddies. It is about protecting and advancing your country's interests.
Right now Mugabe is a complete anti-thesis of what this country should be standing for. Supporting Mugabe is tantamount to betraying the interests of this country. What is asked of Mbeki is not much. He is not asked to send troops across the Limpopo. What people want is for him to express his and this country's displeasure at what is happening in Zimbabwe. Mugabe does not appear grateful for the support. He has sought to sabotage every attempt Mbeki has made to appease international opinion. Last year Mbeki told the world Mugabe would scrap the new press restrictions. Instead Mugabe has seen to it that they are tightened and the Daily News is out of business - to the delight of our foreign minister. But Nkosazana Zuma - like Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Aids - is merely doing as she is told, and in the process making an ass of herself. Those in the inside track say she's being groomed to succeed Mbeki. God help us. But in the end it's Zimbabweans themselves who will have to slay the monster in their midst. Their fate is in their own hands. Outsiders can only lend a hand. They cannot lead their revolution for them. Zimbabweans must overcome their fear - the most effective weapon in Mugabe's arsenal. It is a weapon used by repressive regimes with great effect down the ages.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 18 February
Crucial Zimbabwe media hearing delayed
Harare - Court cases expected to determine the future of Zimbabwe's popular anti-government newspaper the Daily News were postponed on Wednesday to next month, lawyers said. "It has been postponed to March 3, by agreement ... when everything will be finalised," Daily News lawyer Mordecai Mahlangu said after the Supreme Court failed to sit as scheduled. Johannes Tomana, a lawyer representing the government, said the postponement was "purely administrative". The Daily News and the government have lodged several legal cases -- with the former seeking to resume operations and the latter wanting the paper permanently banned. The two-week delay means the status of the paper will remain uncertain following its closure last September and short-lived reopening last month. It was closed down by armed police in September last year but resumed publishing on January 22 following a High Court order that forced police to vacate its premises and stop interfering with its operations.
Lawyers for the paper, launched about five years ago, have been shuttling between the country's various courts since then. The September closure was sparked by a Supreme Court ruling that declared the paper was operating illegally because it was not registered with the state-appointed media commission. The media laws have been contested by the independent and foreign media in Zimbabwe, but on February 5 the Supreme Court upheld parts of it as constitutional. The court ruled that it was a criminal offence for any journalist to operate without accreditation from the government-appointed body. Fearing arrest, Daily News journalists refused to continue working for the paper without accreditation and on February 6, the paper vanished from the streets. Since then the journalists have been idling around at their offices, with some staying at home. Some have reportedly quit the paper and sought employment abroad.
The journalists' hopes were dashed on Tuesday when a High Court judge refused to consider an application seeking clarification on what rights they have to continue operating pending the outcome of their application for accreditation. They had wanted the court to urgently declare that they can continue operating based on the law that allows a journalist who has submitted an accreditation application to work awaiting the processing of the application. But Judge Alphas Chitakunye told the paper to follow normal court channels, arguing there was nothing urgent about it. The judge said the paper had thought it was special by refusing to register when the law came into effect in 2002. "Surely that was a gamble they took ...that gamble was not in their interest," the judge said.
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From Business Day (SA), 19 February
Zimbabwe's fuel shortages resurface
Harare - Fuel shortages have resurfaced in Zimbabwe just days after the government introduced a new duty system based on a higher foreign exchange rate, officials said. The majority of petrol outlets suddenly ran dry early this week, catching motorists unaware. The government said duty on imported products, including petroleum-based fuels, would be increased in line with the new foreign exchange rates. "There was a mix-up at the weekend when government decided to use the (new exchange) rate to calculate duty. "This would have meant duty would go up by 450% or 500%," Petroleum Marketers Association of Zimbabwe, Masimba Kambarami, told AFP. But on Tuesday government announced a massive reduction of import duty on all fuels to between zero and five percent from 40% in a bid to maintain fuel prices at prevailing levels. Kambarami, however said the crisis would be temporary arising from the weekend "hiccup". "It will take a bit of time to turn things around," he said. The increase in import duty was not announced in advance, so many fuel importers were not prepared when they arrived at the border at the weekend. Zimbabwe imports its petroleum-based oils mainly from South Africa. "Fuel importers only realised this at the border at the weekend and they did not have lines of credit to pay the new duty," said Kambarami. Zimbabwe has experienced serious fuel shortages since 1999 initially largely blamed on corruption and incompetence at the state-owned oil company and later attributed to a scarcity of foreign exchange. From around Christmas time last year the fuel supplies had improved after government de-regulated the fuel industry and allowed private importers to take part in the trade.
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From IRIN (UN), 18 February
Inflation set to rise to 700 percent
Bulawayo - As Zimbabwe emerges from a three week period of relative currency stability characterised by a drop in the prices of most goods, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has warned that official inflation will rise to 700 percent in March this year before falling steadily for the rest of the year. Addressing a business seminar in the capital Harare late last week, RBZ governor Gideon Gono said projections by the central bank showed that inflation would rise from the current 622.8 per cent to peak at 700 per cent in March. Thereafter it would sink, until reaching a low of 200 percent in December. According to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) last week, inflation rose by 13.7 percent in January, reversing a 21 percent drop in December, the first decline in the country's rocketing cost of living in 18 months. Eric Bloch, an economist who sits on the advisory board of the RBZ, said he believed inflation would continue its steady rise well over the 700 percent mark until July, before progressively falling as a result of the government's new monetary policy to settle at around 400 percent by the end of the year.
This week fuel prices rose and queues returned outside filing stations in major cities, although some analysts dismissed fears that the lines signalled the beginning of yet another round of fuel shortages. Bloch said he believed this week's fuel shortage was a temporary situation caused "mainly by the greed of service station owners" who expected a rise in importation costs in line with a fall in the value of the Zimbabwe dollar in the latest foreign currency auction. "But the government thwarted that by reducing import duties from 40 percent to 5 percent," said Bloch. Foreign currency auction rates rose from Z$3,750 to the US dollar by the end of last week to Z$3,973. Most service stations increased their prices from an average of Z$2,500 to Z$2,600 per litre of petrol last week, to Z$2,900 to Z$3,000 on Monday. Meanwhile, in a bid to bolster its foreign currency reserves, the RBZ has announced ambitious plans to tap the remittances of an estimated 3.4 million Zimbabweans living abroad in Europe, North America and Southern Africa. A team set up by Gono is set to tour key countries to encourage Zimbabweans to repatriate money home through official channels at competitive rates. The RBZ reportedly plans to increase its exchange rates to closer to the black market price currently averaging between Z$4,000 and Z$5,000 to US$.
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From AFP, 18 February
No reaction to Zimbabwe sanctions
From correspondents in Harare
The government and opposition in Zimbabwe said today they would only react to the renewal of European Union sanctions against the leadership of the southern African country when the measures are officially announced. Foreign ministry spokesman Pavelyn Musaka said a reaction today would "pre-empt" the formal announcement expected tomorrow. Opposition spokesman Paul Temba Nyathi of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said: "We are aware of the rumour in the rumour mill but we will only react when the sanctions are officially announced tomorrow." MDC vice president Gibson Sibanda last month travelled to Europe to lobby for the sanctions to be maintained. Led by Britain, the former colonial power in Zimbabwe, ambassadors from the 15 EU member states today agreed to adopt an extended list of 95 Zimbabwean officials - including President Robert Mugabe - who are banned from entering EU countries. They have also agreed to renew an embargo on supplies of arms and military equipment to Harare, a diplomat from the EU's Irish presidency said. The decision is expected to be formally adopted without debate by EU interior and justice ministers tomorrow.
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From The Financial Gazette, 19 February
Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act an insult to justice: experts
Dumisani Ndlela
Legal experts and commentators have piled condemnation on the amendment to the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, saying it violated fundamental individual freedoms in what amounted to an insult to justice. They bemoaned that the measures were taking the country backward in terms of law development and reversing fundamental laws of justice such as the right to innocence until proven guilty. Under the new regulations, the onus has been reversed dramatically, with any individual accused of offences specified in the new measures now being held to be guilty until proven innocent. In other words, critics of the new measures said, the state no longer holds the burden to prove that an accused person is guilty because mere suspicion that an individual had committed an offence now amounted to a conviction. John Makumbe, a political science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe and chairman of Transparency International Zimbabwe, said the new regulations "totally negate the whole fight against corruption". The new regulations, he said, were likely to erode public confidence in a cause that was noble had it been conducted in a manner that upheld human rights. "It's a bad law," said Makumbe. "It's seeking to do the right thing - fighting corruption; but it's violating human rights."
The amendments, brought into being as a sweeping measure by the government to fight graft, widely blamed for the increasing economic woes afflicting the country, were effected through a statutory instrument under section 32 of the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Amendment of Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act) Regulations 2004. Under the new measures, individuals charged with corruption, money laundering and externalisation of foreign currency may be detained for an effective one month without applying for bail, rather than the 48-hour period stipulated by law. Unauthorised dealers of grain, gold and other precious minerals have also been affected by the new measures. A judge or magistrate cannot decline a police request for further detention of a person charged with the specified offences.
David Coltart, a legal practitioner and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) secretary for legal and parliamentary affairs, said the amendment was a brazen attempt by President Mugabe's government to circumvent fundamental rights enshrined in the country's constitution. "The amendment of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act Regulations of 2004 contravenes section 13 and 18 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe in that it removes a person's rights to have a question of his liberty determined by an independent court in a fair hearing within a reasonable time," said Coltart. Coltart likened the new measures to draconian pieces of legislation used by the Ian Smith regime to deny people of their liberties. "The MDC has argued in Parliament that much stronger legislation to tackle corruption is necessary. In particular, we believe the country needs legislation similar to the Hong Kong Bribery Ordinance which forces people in public office to explain why their standards of living may exceed their income. In Zimbabwe, we have become accustomed to Members of Parliament, Cabinet ministers and soldiers who have become multi-millionaires and now have assets which are far more than the incomes they have received over the years," said Coltart.
A prominent Zanu PF member, James Makamba, has already been caught up in the puzzling legal plot unravelled by the latest measures. Makamba, a prominent businessman charged with externalising foreign currency, among other offences, was denied bail by the High Court on Monday after Judge Antonia Guvava dismissed his urgent chamber application on the basis of the new measures, which came into effect on Friday. "The provisions of the regulations clearly state that no court shall admit a person to bail who has been placed in detention in terms of the provisions of the Act," Guvava said. But she made a veiled condemnation of the measures, saying they were unique in that the President had claimed powers of law making, ordinarily vested in the legislature. There have been suggestions that the government avoided taking the amendment through parliament because it risked being condemned by legislators both within the ruling party and in the opposition party. After one of its members Philip Chayangwa - had already had a brush with the law in the government's current drive against corruption, there was no way Zanu PF legislators were going to approve the Bill to amend the law in that manner. As a result, President Robert Mugabe, who has vowed to punish any individuals engaged in corrupt activities, invoked his power especially reserved for emergency situations to promulgate the amendments.
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From The Exeter Express & Echo (UK), 18 February
Jail threat fear
A former Exeter solicitor fears he could face a renewed threat of being jailed in Zimbabwe. City friends of Graham Shaw had been overjoyed when the summons for him and the rest of the 'Bulawayo 10' to appear in court was dropped after they faced prosecution for demonstrating against the regime in Zimbabwe. Mr Shaw faced being jailed for up to 10 years by President Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe - on charges of praying in public. But now one of the protesters has been called back to court with a fresh summons and Mr Shaw said the others were being threatened with the possibility of new charges. In recent years, Zimbabwe has attracted international attention because of its economic crisis and allegations of human rights abuses by the ruling regime. There is also renewed controversy about whether England's cricket team should visit the country on tour. Mr Shaw, who is in his 50s, is a former member of the Mint Methodist Church in Exeter and is now a Methodist minister in Zimbabwe. He and other church leaders were arrested in 2002 while praying outside Bulawayo police station, where a priest was being detained for taking part in a religious event. The state prosecutor has been deciding whether to proceed with a trial against Mr Shaw and his friends, who have become known as the Bulawayo 10. They were being prosecuted under the Public Order and Security Act, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years' imprisonment. Mr Shaw said: "The case against the Bulawayo 10 is still pending. The previous summons was thrown out by the magistrates' court as defective, but prosecution service has just recently issued a fresh summons against one of our number. The case is due to be heard on April 29. "The prosecution talks vaguely about changing the charges against the others involved, but who knows what they will really do?" Mr Shaw added that he was delighted the England cricket team was considering whether to boycott their winter tour to Zimbabwe. The England and Wales Cricket Board is currently deciding whether to cancel the tour on moral grounds.
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From The Financial Gazette, 19 February
MDC's Sibanda walks out of court a free man
Staff Reporter
Bulawayo - Gibson Sibanda, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) vice-president, this week walked out of the regional magistrates' courts a free man after the state withdrew charges against the former trade unionist and his colleagues who were facing charges of attempting to overthrow the government. The charges against Sibanda, Milton Gwetu, the MDC legislator for Mpopoma and other top executives of the main opposition party in Matabeleland were withdrawn before plea on Tuesday. Other top MDC members discharged with Sibanda and Gwetu over the case included Getrude Mthombeni, a national executive member, and Abraham Mdlongwa, the MDC provincial chairperson for Bulawayo. Sibanda and his colleagues were being charged with violating section 5 of the draconian Public Order and Security Act (POSA) by calling and organising last year's mass action. The state had alleged that Sibanda and the MDC executives had on March 1 2003, held a meeting in the party's provincial offices in Bulawayo for the purposes of forming "mass action teams" to allegedly mobilise people to force President Robert Mugabe out of power through crippling demonstrations. Sibanda, the state alleged, further instructed leaders of the "action teams" at the meeting to barricade city roads and force "innocent" members of the public to demonstrate. Judiciary sources said the Attorney-General's Office directed that the charges be withdrawn due to lack of evidence to prosecute. Sibanda, represented by Josphat Tshuma, a lawyer with Webb, Low and Barry, confirmed the withdrawal of the charges. His lawyers also confirmed that the state had withdrawn the charges before plea. Sibanda's lawyers were adamant the state had no case. "The state had no case, there was nothing. It was a sheer waste of time and money. My arrest and that of our other members in the case goes to show the high-handedness of our police. The prosecution could not pin anything on us," said an elated Sibanda. He said it had taken the state almost a year to recognise the folly of trying to pin trumped-up charges against MDC leaders.
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From Business Day (SA) 20 February
Mugabe keeps grip on office, silent on talks
International Affairs Editor
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe yesterday called parliamentary elections for March next year, and said he had no intention of retiring, damping hopes for a start to formal talks on a settlement and early presidential elections. Despite Mugabe's apparent unwillingness to give in to key opposition demand, President Thabo Mbeki's office said there was still a willingness for talks to proceed. In a tour of a seized farm yesterday, Mugabe said the elections would take place in March, three months ahead of the latest allowed by the constitution. Had he mentioned presidential elections, due only in March 2008 under the constitution, it would have sent a firm signal about his willingness to negotiate a settlement to the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The MDC is challenging the disputed March 2002 presidential election in the courts and is insisting that Mugabe should not complete his six-year term. State radio in Zimbabwe reported Mugabe's call for parliamentary elections in March, but no date was given.
Mugabe, who turns 80 tomorrow, said he had no plans to retire from political life and warned that MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai "will never defeat him in parliamentary elections", state radio reported. Mugabe spoke yesterday on a tour of a former white-owned farm northeast of the capital, Harare, one of thousands seized by the government. He promised voters "the consolidation of the land reform programme and the empowerment of the majority of Zimbabweans " if his party was re-elected. That he seemingly has no plans to retire from political life is an indication of how he continues to outfox Mbeki, who has sounded increasingly optimistic about a negotiated political settlement. The Democratic Alliance (DA) said Mugabe's insistence on continuing in politics meant that Mbeki's assurances to world leaders that a settlement in Zimbabwe was imminent were meaningless. The DA said Mbeki had given assurances to US President George Bush last year that Mugabe would be out of office by the year -end.
But Mbeki's spokesman, Bheki Khumalo, said no assurances had been given to Bush about Mugabe's retirement. "The issue of President Mugabe saying he is not retiring is immaterial - what is material to us is that the people of Zimbabwe have indicated a willingness to move toward formal talks and that these talks resume and a solution is found," Khumalo said. Mbeki has set a deadline of June for a settlement. During German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's visit last month, Mbeki said talks between Mugabe's Zanu PF and the MDC were imminent and, earlier this month, he said early parliamentary elections were expected to be called. While the election call has materialised, there is as yet no offer from Zanu PF to open formal negotiations. Earlier this week, the South African Communist Party said in a report based on a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe in December last year that it did not see a willingness by Zanu PF to talk. The MDC says it has been told by the South African high commission in Harare that Mugabe has dropped his precondition for talks that it end its court challenge of the 2002 election result. But it says it has yet to hear from Zanu PF on the matter and that developments on the ground do not show a move toward reconciliation.
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From IRIN (UN), 19 February
Country "needs to be normalised" before polls - MDC
Johannesburg - The Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Thursday the country "needs to be normalised" before elections can be held. MDC spokesman Paul Temba Nyathi was responding to an announcement on state radio that parliamentary elections would be held in March next year. President Robert Mugabe was also quoted as saying he had no plans to retire from politics. Nyathi told IRIN: "The atmosphere in the country is hardly conducive for holding free and fair elections. Has an independent election supervisory body set up by the government? Has the level of intimidation ceased? Do we have a free media - a major requirement for holding democratic elections?" The five-yearly elections would have had to be held before June 2005. In the last elections, in 2000, MDC won 57 of the 120 parliamentary seats. Another 12 members are nominated by the president, 10 seats are reserved for traditional leaders and eight seats are filled by provincial governors, bringing the total number of members in the Zimbabwean parliament to 150.
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From The European Union, 19 February
Council renews targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe
Brussels - The Council today adopted a Common Position and a Regulation amending and extending targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe provided for by Common Position 2003/115/CFSP and Regulation 313/2003, in the light of a continued deterioration in the human rights situation there. Extended for 12 months, the sanctions take the form of an embargo on the sale, supply or transfer of arms and technical advice, assistance or training related to military activities, and an embargo on the sale and supply of equipment that could be used for internal repression in Zimbabwe. They also include a travel ban on persons who engage in serious violations of human rights and of the freedom of opinion, of association and of peaceful assembly in Zimbabwe, and a freezing of their funds, financial assets and economic resources. The list of persons subject to these measures is updated. The aim of the sanctions, adopted in 2002 and extended in 2003, is to encourage those targeted to reject policies that lead to suppression of human rights, of the freedom of expression and of good governance. The Common Position will be published in Official Journal no. L/50 on Friday 20 February, and the Regulation on Tuesday 24 February. The decision was taken by the Council without discussion at its session on Justice and Home Affairs.
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From News24 (SA), 19 February
Zim activist held for 'graft'
Harare - Prominent Zimbabwean businesswoman and women's activist Jane Mutasa and her son Terence have been detained on suspicion of corruption, the latest casualties in President Robert Mugabe's anti-graft blitz. The state-owned Herald said on Thursday that Mutasa, a director in Telecel, Zimbabwe's third largest cellular company, together with her son, were charged with breaching the Exchange Control Act and externalising foreign currency worth more than Z$3bn (about R2,5m). They appeared before a local magistrate's court on Wednesday and were detained under Mugabe's new anti-graft regulations which allow for detention of up to 30 days without trial. Another businessman and a member of the ruling Zanu PF, James Makamba, is facing similar charges of externalising billions of dollars in both local and foreign currency. Makamba, also a director in Telecel, has been in jail since his arrest on Monday and is being detained under the same regulations. Meanwhile, Mugabe repeated his warnings against corrupt leaders. "The time has come for us to deal with the scourge and no stone will be left unturned, no matter what position you hold," Mugabe was quoted as saying during a tour of a farm owned by Bindura businessman Kenneth Musanhi, in central Zimbabwe. The Herald quoted Mugabe as saying he had "declared war against economic saboteurs and those who were amassing wealth through fraudulent means." Another Zanu PF member and legislator, Phillip Chiyangwa, arrested last month and detained for 10 days in jail on corruption charges, is out on bail. During a cabinet reshuffle recently, Mugabe created an anti-corruption ministry headed by party stalwart Didymus Mutasa. Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ), which had bemoaned high corruption levels in this southern African nation, said it was opposed to the anti-graft regulations as they were unconstitutional. The regulations have also been criticised for the same reason by the Zimbabwe Human Rights for Lawyers and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
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From The Financial Gazette, 19 February
Heavyweights escape corruption dragnet
Brian Mangwende
The arrest of Zanu PF lightweights in recent weeks could raise a political storm within the ruling party corridors amid claims that bigwigs in President Robert Mugabe's government are sacrificing their own for cheap political gain. It is being argued that the clampdown on corruption, which could turn out to be Zanu PF's trump card in the 2005 parliamentary election campaign, has basically arraigned before the courts the not so influential members of the party. Zanu PF heavyweights, rumoured to have their hands deep in the till, are still walking freely, raising widespread condemnation. Latest corruption ratings by Transparency International (TI) rank Zimbabwe among the world's worst hit economies. The revelations, ignored in the state media but splashed on the front pages of the independent press, were rejected flatly by government officials, who viewed them as attempts to unseat President Mugabe's regime through whipping up emotions of the restive population. Government officials alleged that TI was working closely with Britain, Zimbabwe's former colonial master, and the United States to tarnish the image of the country. "TI's ratings should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve. How do they rate the countries they would have sampled? Is it not a mere case of perception, and if it is so, who is barred from forming perceptions? Obviously, the people who conducted the survey have never been to Zimbabwe," legislator Philip Chiyangwa was quoted by IRIN as saying then. "Zimbabweans are more respectful of the law than most of the countries that were surveyed by TI, and one tends to wonder why we should continue being bastardised by partisan organisations such as TI," said Chiyangwa, who was ironically the first high-profile politician to be caught up in the anti-corruption blitz.
It, therefore, came as no surprise that despite the numerous proclamations by President Mugabe to deal with the vice, nothing was done until recently when the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) was restructured. The clampdown on corruption began in January this year when the new monetary policy claimed its first casualty - ENG Capital Asset Management. This resulted in the arrest of the two youthful ENG directors Nyasha Watyoka and Gilbert Muponda, rumoured to be fronts of senior politicians, on allegation of prejudicing investors of about $61 billion. Then Zanu PF Mashonaland West province chairman and legislator Chiyangwa was implicated in the same case and arrested after Vice President Joseph Msika publicly condemned the maverick businessman's actions when he threatened to "deal" with one of the investigating officers. Recently, former Zanu PF chairman for Mashonaland Central and prominent businessman James Makamba was arrested over allegations of externalising billions of dollars in foreign currency. Analysts were unanimous this week that the current measures would not bring to book the real culprits whose hands are firmly stuck in the nation's cookie jar. They said the recent arrests were meant to hoodwink the public into believing that Zanu PF was finally determined to bring sanity to an economy once considered the breadbasket of southern Africa, but has fast been reduced to a basket case.
"At the moment they are hunting the hares and not the kudus, who are still walking the streets, while locking up the bugs bunnies who are not costly or dangerous to the party. I don't see them as being genuine," said John Makumbe, the chairman of Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ). "They are chasing the peripheries and not the corruption gurus who have to be arrested to convince the public that they mean what they say. You don't appoint 'opaque' people to deal with corruption. It's not going to wash because the public is smart." The corrupt practices surfaced after the RBZ, the country's financial regulator, cracked the whip on the financial sector, which has seen the axe falling on three Trust Holdings Limited founding directors, William Nyemba, Chris Goromonzi and Nyevero Hlupo who left the bank last month. As the corruption saga unfolded, prominent Harare lawyer Wilson Manase was arrested together with a Harare magistrate Caroline Ann Chigumira and prosecutor Blessmore Gorejena on allegations of irregularly granting bail to a suspect involved in the $7 billion fraud at Trust Bank. They are all currently out of custody on bail. "I am very sceptical about the authenticity of what they are doing," said Makumbe, adding: "I don't see the political will to go the whole mile to fight corruption. A lot of politicking is taking place ahead of the Zanu PF congress in December and the 2005 parliamentary election."
Political commentator and chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Lovemore Madhuku, concurred with Makumbe saying the blitz was not sustainable as the police knew where the buck stops. "It's about factionalism and not a real desire to stamp out corruption," said Madhuku whose organisation has reportedly threatened to disrupt the 2005 parliamentary election if the playing field is not level. "That kind of blitz can only be done by a new government with new individuals for it to be genuine. We have had a culture of corruption with the same people in government for a long time, so I don't see them locking themselves up in jail. The arrest of the small people in Zanu PF means nothing. They should go for the big fish if they are genuine, but I doubt they will, as this would split their party wide open." Madhuku added: "People know who is doing what. Those who have been arrested so far know who is corrupt in Zanu PF. They should even start by arresting those who corruptly acquired multiple farms." Another political analyst, Heneri Dzinotyiwei, said: "The impression being created is that of government's determination to stamp out corruption by picking some of its own members. But those members don't really have the political clout in the bigger arena. Their approach is isolated, non-structured and targeting individuals. The approach has to be impartial so the efforts don't convey the wrong message. "At the moment their haphazard approach is open to people to draw various conclusions. Some may see it as a cover-up while others may say that those arrested belong to a certain faction and need to be educated on who is in charge. The land reform programme was riddled with corruption and some of the people identified were government ministers. What happened to them? Where does the corruption start and end? In African societies, politicians play a major role in corruption so how do culprits bring themselves to book? I don't believe they are sincere," Dzinotyiwei said.
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From The Mail &Guardian (SA), 20 February
Happy birthday Robert Mugabe
Angus Shaw
Harare - President Robert Mugabe, one of Africa's most combative and enduring rulers, shows no sign of mellowing with age as he turns 80 on Saturday. In the days before his birthday, Mugabe spoke mainly of war - war against the alleged efforts of Britain and the United States to topple his regime, and war against "economic saboteurs" at home. Mugabe's fighting talk was accompanied by deepening state repression. Last week, he signed a presidential decree authorising detention without bail for up to four weeks for political and economic offences. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change described the decree - the latest in a growing arsenal of repressive laws - as an undeclared state of emergency.
A slight, fidgety man, whose hands are never still, Mugabe is sub-Saharan Africa's fourth-longest ruling president after Togo's Gnassingbe Eyadema, Gabon's Omar Bongo and Angola's Eduardo dos Santos. Hailed in the 1980s as one of the continent's great statesmen for his attempts to reconcile blacks and whites after more than a decade of fighting, he has since been condemned as a tyrant for rekindling racial hatreds and sacrificing his country's economy in a bid to cling to power. Mugabe led black guerrillas in the campaign against the white-minority Rhodesian government, but sought to allay the fears of the country's tiny white minority when he became Zimbabwe's first black leader after independence from Britain in 1980. Many whites, who had been told by their leaders that Mugabe planned to rape their women and shoot their men, decided to stay after he promised that "there is a place for you in the sun". With the help of their commercial farms, Zimbabwe prospered and developed into a regional breadbasket. Mugabe worked to bolster the nation's health and education systems, making them among the best in Africa.
But the economy soured amid Zimbabwe's costly involvement in The Democratic Republic of Congo's five-year war and revelations of corruption. After voters rejected a constitutional referendum in 2000 that would have consolidated Mugabe's powers, ruling party officials accused white commercial farmers of bankrolling his opponents in the Movement for Democratic Change. Mugabe ordered the seizure of thousands of white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks, touching off more than three years of political violence that has claimed the lives of more than 200 people and hounded tens of thousands of mostly black opposition supporters from their homes. The land seizures, coupled with erratic rains, have crippled the country's agriculture-based economy. Zimbabwe faces record inflation and unemployment, along with acute shortages of food, hard currency, gasoline and other imports.
Mugabe has repeatedly dismissed rumors that his health is failing and calls from within his own party to retire. "The president is as fit as none of his detractors can ever hope to be in their lifetime," his spokesperson, George Charamba, said recently. Mugabe was narrowly re-elected in 2002 in an election that independent observers said was marred by intimidation and vote rigging. He has since stepped up a crackdown against dissent, arresting opposition leaders and waging lengthy legal battles to shut down the country's only independent newspaper. Political analysts say he is unlikely to leave office until he has secured another victory in next year's parliamentary vote and presidential elections in 2008, possibly for a successor of his choice. In a bid to clean up his Zanu-PF party before the elections, Mugabe has announced a new drive to fight top-level corruption. Two senior ruling party officials were arrested earlier this year.
Analysts, however, dismiss the move as political cunning. "It is all being stage-managed. He is not going to touch the really big guys, but punish only the ones he can afford to sacrifice," said John Makumbe, a political scientist at the University of Zimbabwe. The two arrested officials had flaunted lavish lifestyles, buying mansions and expensive cars, as more than 70% of the population languished below the poverty line. But Mugabe's closest and most powerful colleagues have been among the biggest beneficiaries of official graft, Makumbe said. The party's Chinhoyi provincial chairman, Philip Chiyangwa, boasted in the fashion pages of the state Herald newspaper that he owned 500 suits, 800 pairs of shoes and thousands of silk ties - all color-coordinated in a computerised wardrobe. The anti-corruption drive has scared some companies and corporate executives into renewing their allegiance to the ruling party - with several making large contributions to Zanu PF coffers.
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From BBC News, 20 February
Mugabe floats retirement date
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has indicated he will have retired as president in five years. But Mr Mugabe, who turns 80 on Saturday, told state television he would still be active in politics. "In five years, [I will be] here still boxing, writing quite a lot, reading quite a lot and still in politics," he said in the interview. "I won't leave politics but I will have retired obviously," said Mr Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980. Mr Mugabe won another six-year term as president in 2002 in elections which were disputed as fraudulent by the opposition. The European Union, which also considered the result rigged, on Thursday decided to renew sanctions against Zimbabwe for a third year. In the interview to mark his birthday, the president did not say whether he will stand for re-election in the next presidential poll due in 2008. But he has said in the past that he will only step down when his "revolution" is complete, a reference to the redistribution of white-owned land. Mr Mugabe is due to mark his birthday with a party at his birthplace of Kutama village in Zvimba, 80km (50 miles) west of Harare. At least 10 people from each of the country's 10 provinces will attend the party. "It's a national event and not a family affair," Zanu PF spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira told the AFP news agency. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's foreign affairs ministry on Friday described the renewed EU sanctions as "regrettable and sterile". "It is very clear that the... sanctions are designed to hurt the people of Zimbabwe by causing severe pain and misery so that they can turn against their democratically elected government," spokeswoman Pavelyn Musaka said.
From ZWNEWS: If you would like to read details of the EU targeted sanctions measures, as well as the list of individuals to whom they apply, please let us know. They will be sent as a Word attachment to an email message - total size approximately twice that of the average daily ZWNEWS.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 20 February
Donnelly to quit in July
Dumisani Muleya
British ambassador to Zimbabwe, Sir Brian Donnelly, frequently accused of political subversion by government, will be leaving in July, it has been confirmed. Sir Brian is set to leave after completing his stormy three-year tour of duty in a country that has been locked in a major dispute with its former colonial master. London and Harare have been feuding over repression and human rights abuses, as well as the chaotic land reform in Zimbabwe. British embassy spokesperson Sophie Honey said Sir Brian was expected to "move on" after his tenure expired. "The ambassador is due to complete his three-year posting in July and will be expected to move on shortly afterwards," Honey said this week. The crack British diplomat came to Zimbabwe in 2001 from Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia where he served at the height of the 1999 Kosovo war with a difficult assignment to improve prickly relations between London and Harare. No sooner had he settled into his office than he found himself in confrontation with the belligerent regime of Robert Mugabe that had just won a bitterly fought parliamentary election against the newly-formed labour-backed Movement for Democratic Change. Sir Brian, who took over from an equally combative Peter Longworth, became a subject of regular attack in the state media where he was branded an MI6 operative.
Last June, Mugabe threatened him with expulsion claiming he had collaborated with the opposition MDC to organise rolling mass action against government. "We know that the British have been behind it. They are giving them money, we know that," Mugabe said. "This guy called Mr Donnelly (sic), if he continues doing it, we will kick him out of this country." Despite endless official hissing, Sir Brian remained defiant. Last August he said Britain would continue to speak out against oppression and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe regardless of colonial and other forms of blackmail against London. Donnelly said since he came to Zimbabwe the political and economic situation had dramatically deteriorated. "Two years have now passed since I arrived in Zimbabwe. It has been a roller-coaster ride, with plenty of ups and downs and with seatbelts fastened most of the time," he said last August. "Among the ups: prices - of almost everything, the number of people needing food assistance, political violence and polarisation, violations of human rights." Sir Brian said the downs included "economic growth, maize, wheat and tobacco production, fuel supplies, foreign trade and investment, the value of the Zim dollar, standards of healthcare and education, and tolerance. "In short, by almost any measure, Zimbabwe is much worse off now than when I arrived," he said.
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From SAPA-DPA, 21 February
SABC reporters arrested in Zim - MDC
A South African television crew was arrested on Friday by President Robert Mugabe's secret police on an opposition stronghold in south-eastern rural Zimbabwe, the Movement for Democratic Change MP which owns the property said. Roy Bennett, MP for the mountainous Chimanimani constituency, said the two journalists, whom he was able to name only as Frank, a cameraman, and a reporter, Ngcibile, were detained while interviewing workers on his farm about a series of violent attacks about 10 days ago in which one of his workers was shot dead by a soldier. Police could not be contacted for comment. There was no indication why they had been arrested. Bennett said he understood they were still under arrest. "I am scared that they have been beaten up," said Bennett. "These people (Mugabe's secret police) are brutal." He had been trying to alert South African diplomatic officials in Harare. Bennett's farm, Charleswood, has been under virtual siege by ruling party militants, secret police, soldiers and police since he overwhelmingly won the Chimanimani seat for the MDC in parliamentary elections in 2000. State security forces have subjected journalists and opposition figures to constant harassment in Chimanimani with repeated arrests and torture. The MDC reported 10 days ago that a farm worker had been shot dead by troops, other workers were tortured with hot iron bars, a young female worker was raped, the house of the farm manager was fire bombed and cattle were shot dead and maimed with axes as pro- government militias and soldiers went on the rampage. Bennett said the two journalists had been officially accredited by the Zimbabwe government's Media and Information Commission, whose authority is necessary for journalists to practise legally. Squads of soldiers, police and war veteran militiamen are encamped permanently on Bennett's farm despite court orders barring them from entering the property. Bennett, the only white MP in rural Zimbabwe, is known to be popular among the local community of farm labourers and peasant farmers after he introduced a variety of development projects and provided food aid in times of famine, while President Robert Mugabe's government has been accused of ignoring the area.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 20 February
Another Zimbabwe judge resigns
Harare - A Zimbabwean High Court judge, Justice Moses Chinhengo, has resigned without giving reasons, becoming the second judge to leave the bench in a month, the state-owned Herald said on Friday. "Regrettably for reasons entirely personal I have had to tender my resignation," Chinhengo was quoted by the Herald as writing in his resignation letter to President Robert Mugabe. "I hope that in future I will be able to serve Zimbabwe in another capacity as the call of duty may demand," he said. Appointed to the bench by Mugabe in 1996, Chinhengo is expected to leave his post at the end of the month. Last month, judge Michael Majuru at the administrative court quit the judiciary for medical reasons and faxed his resignation from South Africa. Majuru had recused himself from a case last year because he allegedly pre-empted a ruling in favour of the independent paper, The Daily News. He had last November presided over one of the numerous cases involving the independent Daily News, a fierce critic of Mugabe's government, which has appealed several times against government orders that it be shut down. At least eight judges from the High Court and Supreme Court have left the country's judiciary benches since 2001. The former most senior judge, Supreme Court chief justice Anthony Gubbay was forced to retire in March 2001 after he handed down verdicts opposed to forcible seizures of white-owned land for redistribution to blacks under agrarian reforms, which were accelerated by Mugabe.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 20 February
Women lobby for Mutasa's release
Staff Writer
There was intense lobbying yesterday from members of the Zanu PF Women's League and family members for the release of businesswoman and Telecel director Jane Mutasa who was arrested on Wednesday on charges of externalising foreign currency. The Zimbabwe Independent yesterday heard that family members and friends were pursuing a parallel process of appealing to the courts and seeking political intervention to secure the release of Mutasa who was remanded in custody on Wednesday to March 3. She is facing one count of externalising US$2 000. Her son Terrence was also remanded in custody to the same date on charges of externalising US$102 000 and R1,2 million. Family members were yesterday planning to meet Home Affairs minister Kembo Mohadi, Zanu PF secretary for administration Emmerson Mnangagwa, the party's information supremo Nathan Shamuyarira and Justice minister Patrick Chinamansa. Mutasa and another Zanu PF stalwart, James Makamba who is also a director at Telecel, have been detained in terms of Section 32 of the newly promulgated Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Amendment of Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act) regulations. The new regulations allow detention of up to 21 days for persons charged with money laundering, forex externalisation and other crimes related to trade in grain, gold and other precious stones. Meanwhile, Telecel general manager Anthony Carter yesterday said he had not been charged in connection with the forex externalisation saga. "I cannot make a comment because the police are still in investigating," said Carter. "As of today (yesterday) I have not been charged." Asked about his involvement as a signatory to the Telecel offshore FCAs Carter said: "Obviously, I signed the cheques with the authorisation from the board. All I can say is that there were no irregularities with any of our FCA accounts," he said.
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From BBC News, 19 February
Mugabe's descent into dictatorship
By Joseph Winter
As President Robert Mugabe turns 80, he shows no sign of letting go his tight grip on power, even recently talking about his "defeat" of the UK and the United States. If Robert Mugabe stays in power for the full six-year term, he will rule the country until the age of 84. The last thing most octogenarians would want is the onerous task of running a country in economic free-fall and facing international isolation. Many Zimbabweans, and others, are asking why he does not just put his feet up and enjoy his remaining years with his young family. But if nothing else, Mr Mugabe is an extremely proud man. He will only step down when his "revolution" is complete. He says this means the redistribution of white-owned land but he also wants to hand-pick his successor, who must of course come from within the ranks of his Zanu-PF party. This would also ensure a peaceful old age, with no investigation into his time in office. One senior party official told me that the defeat of the government's proposed constitution in February 2000 - which showed the strength of the opposition - had set back Mr Mugabe's retirement by several years. That defeat stirred him into action, transforming him from a relatively relaxed man contemplating his twilight years, into someone desperate to remain at any cost, even willing to destroy the country he had fought to liberate.
The key to understanding Mr Mugabe is the 1970s guerrilla war where he made his name. World opinion saw him as a revolutionary hero, fighting racist white minority rule for the freedom of his people. Since Zimbabwe's independence in 1980 the world has moved on, but his outlook remains the same. The heroic socialist forces of Zanu PF, are still fighting the twin evils of capitalism and colonialism. His opponents, in particular the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), are labelled "sell-outs" to white and foreign interests and, as during the war, this tag has been a death warrant for many MDC supporters. But Mr Mugabe's critics - and these days they are many in a country where he was once an untouchable figure - say that despite his socialist rhetoric, his rule has been one of state capitalism which has not materially benefited ordinary Zimbabweans. The president's political cronies have meanwhile been given prime pieces of formerly white-owned land and lucrative state contracts irrespective of how they perform, and the economy as a whole has suffered.
Harare, a hotbed of political opposition, frequently buzzes with rumours of Mr Mugabe's impending death. While the predictions have always proved premature, the increasing strain of recent years has obviously taken its toll and his once-impeccable presentation now looks a little worn. But he still has remarkable stamina. His second wife, Grace, 37, says that he wakes up at 0400 for his daily exercises. In 1997, she gave birth to their third child, Chatunga. He professes to be a staunch Catholic, and worshippers at Harare's Catholic Cathedral are occasionally swamped by security guards as he turns up for Sunday Mass. However, Mr Mugabe's beliefs did not prevent him from having two children by Grace, then his secretary, while his popular Ghanaian first wife, Sally, was dying from cancer. One of the undoubted achievements of the former teacher's 23 years in power is the expansion of education. Zimbabwe has the highest literacy rate in Africa at 85% of the population. Political scientist Masipula Sithole says that, ironically, by expanding education, the president is "digging his own grave". The young beneficiaries are now able to analyse Zimbabwe's problems for themselves and most blame government corruption and mismanagement for the lack of jobs and rising prices. Having realised his political mistake, Mr Mugabe is now trying to disenfranchise the young, who generally want political change - and jobs.
As many others have found, it is far easier to find ways of sharing the national cake than to make it grow bigger. Professor Tony Hawkins of the University of Zimbabwe sums it up by saying that "whenever economics gets in the way of politics, politics wins every time". But, in his own way, Mr Mugabe is indeed a clever politician. As his fortunes have declined, he has resurrected the nationalist agenda of the 1970s - land redistribution and anti-colonialism. He unleashed his personal militia - the self-styled war veterans - who are using violence and murder as an electoral strategy. It may not be playing by the rules but it is widely believed to have ensured his victory in the 2002 presidential elections, as well as the June 2000 parliamentary poll. The man who fought for one-man, one-vote now insists that potential voters prove their residence with utility bills, which the young, unemployed opposition core is unlikely to have. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said that Mr Mugabe is becoming a cartoon figure of the archetypal African dictator. During the 2002 presidential campaign, he started wearing brightly-coloured shirts, emblazoned with his face - a style copied from many of Africa's notorious rulers. For the preceding 20 years, this conservative man was only seen in public with either a stiff suit and tie or safari suit. One of Mr Mugabe's closest associates, Didymus Mutasa, told me that in Zimbabwean culture, kings are only replaced when they die "and Mugabe is our king". But if Zimbabweans feel they have been cheated at the polls, they may look for an alternative way to remove him.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 20 February
$15b for Heroes Acre
Shakeman Mugari/Blessing Zulu
The North Korean-designed 57-hectare Heroes Acre has run out of graves with reports that only five graves on the original plan - reserved for undisclosed heroes - currently remain. The Zimbabwe Independent has established that the government has awarded a $15 billion tender to construct terraces for 64 more graves in four phases. A local construction firm, Forit Contracting, was awarded the tender by government to extend the national shrine. An official from the company confirmed that they had won the tender. "Hongu (yes) but obviously it's not for the company to talk about. The best people would be the responsible ministry," said the official who refused to be named. The managing director of the company also referred the Independent to Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo. Chombo could not be reached as he was said to be attending a number of meetings. Sources in the Ministry of Local Government said Forit was due to start operations next month. The official said that the site was handed over to the company two weeks ago. Forit is currently carrying out a land survey ahead of the extension. The company won the tender late last year after the ministry declared the extension an urgent matter. So far all architects in the ministry have had to stop other projects to concentrate on the Heroes Acre project. The shortage of graves has been caused by a recent dramatic increase in the numbers of those declared heroes by the ruling Zanu PF. This has resulted in the hurried construction of four more graves which are not part of the original plan. The remains of Norman Zikhali, the last hero to be interred at the shrine, are buried in this area. There are also three mini graves in the sector, belonging to Guy Clutton Brock who was cremated and two whose remains could not be found, Ethan Dube and Edison Sithole.
Former Zanu PF secretary-general and veteran nationalist Edgar Tekere said he doubts the criteria used to bestow hero status. "Some people who are there (at Heroes Acre) are not deserving," Tekere said yesterday. "The criterion used to select them was not truly national. It is a partisan criterion. I once asked if Jairos Jiri was not a hero then who was? We should have a national representative council to select heroes," said Tekere. The Independent has also established there are four reserved graves next to Sally Mugabe's grave. Sources in the ministry said the government was set to construct 64 more graves in four phases. "The first phase will see the construction of 16 at a cost of more than $2 billion. The graves will be constructed on the two original wings, on the West, and East wing," a source said. The final cost is estimated at $15 billion. The Ministries of Local Government and Home Affairs last year approached the State Procurement Board with an urgent tender for the construction of graves. Meanwhile, the Zanu PF politiburo yesterday conferred national hero status on the late Julia Zvobgo, wife of Zanu PF Central Committee member and MP for Masvingo South Eddison Zvobgo. She is a former MP and was active during the liberation war. She died on Monday of cardiac failure.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 22 February
Police probe Mnangagwa
By Caiphas Chimhete
As the net widens in the swoop to bring corrupt officials to book, the police have instituted investigations against the Speaker of Parliament, Emmerson Mnangagwa, over his alleged involvement in the looting of diamonds in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) a few years ago, The Standard has learnt. Reliable sources confirmed the police investigations yesterday saying, as part of their probe, police were on Thursday combing through articles written by The Daily News concerning Mnangagwa's alleged involvement in the DRC natural resources scandal. According to Sam Sipepa Nkomo, chief executive officer of Associated Newspapers Limited, publishers of the The Daily News, the police had indicated special interest in a wide ranging interview the ex-Minister of Justice held in 2001 with Geoff Nyarota, the former editor of paper in which Mnangagwa tried to exonerate himself from any shady diamond deals. Nkomo told The Standard police had requested information on Mnangagwa and that they had told him they were investigating the former Justice Minister.
Said Nkomo, "I can confirm that they came here looking for articles we did on Mnangagwa and the looting of diamonds in the DRC. They told me they were investigating Mnangagwa because I was not going to release the files to them if they had not told me the reason." Nkomo, whose two newspapers, The Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday have been shut down after a protracted legal wrangle with the government's Media and Information Commission over operating licences, said one Superintendent Chivasa of the law and order section at Harare Central Police Station led the investigating team that visited ANZ offices. "I gave them all they needed, ndikati ah huku iya yodya mazai ayo zvino, (The chickens are coming home to roost)" said Sam. In addition to the diamond looting allegations, sources told The Standard, the police were also investigating Mnangagwa's alleged links to the collapsed ENG Asset Management firm, whose two directors are languishing in custody. "They want to close on him from all angles, I do not know whether he will survive this onslaught," said the source.
Efforts to get a comment from Chivasa were unsuccessful yesterday as all calls to the law and order section went unanswered. Contacted for a comment, police spokesperson Andrew Phiri, said: "I don't know anything, I am actually at home, phone Bvudzijena." Assistant police commissioner, Wayne Bvudzijena yesterday, could neither confirm nor deny that they were investigation the Speaker of Parliament. "Okay, phone me later," said Bvudzijena, before switching off his mobile phone after being told the nature of the investigations. Efforts to get Bvudzijena later in the day yesterday proved fruitless as his mobile went unanswered while Mnangagwa, who was in Zvimba for the President's birthday celebrations, could not be contacted. In a wide ranging interview with ZTV's Newsnet programme on Friday, Mugabe said the fight against corruption would not spare anyone regardless of political position. "Well, we do not look at how big people are or their own pretended status in society, we look at what they are from a moral point of view. But once we discover they are rotten we will pursue them. This is the war now," said Mugabe although many people doubt his sincerity in fighting corruption. Many think it is his trump card ahead of the 2005 general elections.
Speculation in some circles was that if Mnangagwa is clean, the investigation could have been instigated by some Zanu PF "heavies" who want him out of the presidential race to pave the way for themselves. "I talked to him (Mnangagwa) yesterday (Friday) he was not hiding but he suspects the investigations are being instigated by those who do not want him to enter the presidential race," said one source. Mnangagwa was implicated in a UN report together with senior DRC, Rwandan, Ugandan and army officials in the alleged plundering of natural resources in the war-torn DRC. The UN report also implicated former Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander, Vitalis Zvinavashe and other key military personnel in alleged natural resources stripping in the vast central African nation. Mnangagwa has since denied any wrongdoing. Police investigations into Mnangagwa's dealings come hot on the heels of sensational arrests of some senior Zanu PF members, notably the party's chairman of Mashonaland West, Philip Chiyangwa, central committee member James Makamba and Jane Mutasa, head of the Indigenous Business Women Organization (IBWO).
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From BBC News, 21 February
Mugabe celebrates 80th birthday
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is celebrating his 80th birthday in his home village with thousands of guests. The event in Kutama, 80km (50 miles) west of Harare, began with a Catholic mass and was followed by a lavish meal. The celebrations come a day after Mr Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980, said he planned to retire as president within the next five years. Zimbabwe is currently gripped by an economic crisis and facing international sanctions. Mr Mugabe won another six-year term as president in 2002 in elections which were disputed as fraudulent by the opposition. The European Union, which also considered the result rigged, this week decided to renew sanctions against Zimbabwe for a third year. At Mr Mugabe's party, which was held in a marquee, lilac and gold balloons grouped together to form the number 80, bobbed in the air. Mr Mugabe blew out candles on a cake, before shaking hands with guests who included political and business leaders. Guests listened to songs by school choirs, martial music by a police band and a series of songs by Zimbabwean gospel singer Fungisai Zvakavapano.
In a speech, Mr Mugabe's second wife Grace said of her husband: "He was well brought up and that is why he has reached this age. "Our children are still young... I pray that God grants him many more years so that he can instil discipline in our children." Mr Mugabe's younger sister Sabina said he was studious even as a child. "He had a high concentration, wanted to read very much. He was very hardworking, he would herd cattle and go to the fields but all the time he carried his books," she told guests. Saturday's edition of the state-owned Herald newspaper carried a 16-page edition about Mr Mugabe and congratulatory messages. In an interview with state television broadcast on Friday, Mr Mugabe said he would still be active in politics. "In five years, [I will be] here still boxing, writing quite a lot, reading quite a lot and still in politics," he said. "I won't leave politics but I will have retired obviously." In the interview to mark his birthday, the president did not say whether he would stand for re-election in the next presidential poll due in 2008. But he has said in the past that he will only step down when his "revolution" is complete, a reference to the redistribution of white-owned land.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 22 February
Villagers turned away from Mugabe Birthday party
By Henry Makiwa
President Mugabe's 80th birthday celebrations held at his home village in Zvimba yesterday proved to be a frustrating disappointment for scores of villagers who turned out in their thousands hoping to partake of the feasting hosted by first lady Grace Mugabe, The Standard can reveal. The visibly distraught villagers from around Kutama area went away on empty bellies after belligerent security personnel who surrounded the president's sprawling rural residence turned them away telling them they were not invited. Keen to avoid a confrontation with some of the uninvited guests who were growing restless, and whose numbers kept swelling, the security personnel told the villagers that a special banquet had been prepared for them at adjoining Kutama college, and not at Mugabe's homestead. Hundreds of invited dignitaries, most clad in suave fashion garments and with their Mercedes Benz cars parked everywhere, were gathered at the homestead. However. it turned out that there was nothing for the villagers at the college where they waited in vain for several hours hoping the promised food would arrive. By lunch time, chaos ensued as the impatient villagers scaled the fence that divides Kutama college and the primary school after rumours filtered around that some food had arrived at the school.
Some of the villagers, realising that there was nothing for them, lamented their predicament: "Mugabe is now proving to be a bad neighbour," said one villager shaking his head bitterly "How can he be feasting with 'foreigners' when we are here outside with nothing to eat." An angry elderly woman chipped in: "I don't think the problem lies with Mugabe. Its his wife. When Grace first came for her wedding with the President there was so much food for everyone - we could not finish it. Now that she has established herself as the first lady, she thinks she can afford to ignore us," she said ominously. Meanwhile The Standard news crew was denied permission to cover the event. "We do not care about the press cards here. Your paper is not invited," said one guard at the main security check point. Efforts to enlist the assistance of George Charamba proved futile as the permanent secretary in the Information ministry disappeared into the party after promising to ensure that The Standard journalists would be allowed in.
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From Associated Press, 21 February
Mugabe, 80, tells of murder bid
Harare - During his lavish 80th birthday celebrations on Saturday, President Robert Mugabe revealed a recent suspected attempt to kill him by putting ground glass in his food. Mugabe, in power since Zimbabwe's 1980 independence from Britain, told the state broadcaster during a special birthday interview a presidential cook had been questioned about the incident. "I do not think it was anything to do with Western imperialism," Mugabe said. "Western imperialism is much more thorough than that. I think it was just some internal thing. Perhaps the cook was not happy. Bits of broken glass found themselves included in a meal. I do not want to say it was deliberate," Mugabe said. "One has to be aware of the machinations of the West but I haven't come to a stage where I fear for my life yet," he said. Switching to Zimbabwe's Shona language, Mugabe said the cook may have been "bewitched" into perpetrating the incident. He did not say whether he was harmed or if it took place at the downtown presidential complex, State House and adjoining Zimbabwe House, or his rural mansion at Kutama, 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of the capital.
Last month Mugabe flew to South Africa amid reports he needed urgent medical attention for vomiting fits. This was vehemently denied by presidential spokesmen. Kutama, birthplace of the former Jesuit-trained mission school teacher, was the scene of celebrations Saturday attended by ruling Zanu PF party dignitaries from throughout the country and its youth league, named the "21st February Movement" in honor of the day. Proceedings began with a Roman Catholic church service. The government controlled daily, The Herald, carried a 12-page supplement of birthday congratulations messages, many from public corporations teetering on the verge of bankruptcy in Zimbabwe's current economic crisis blamed on Mugabe's controversial economic and social policies. Inflation is near 700 percent and 5.1 million Zimbabweans face starvation, according to U.N. agencies. One advertisement was taken by the national airline, which recently failed to pay international creditors. Another was by the prisons department which cannot afford to feed the 28,000 inmates of Zimbabwe's overcrowded jails.
In his birthday interview, Mugabe rejected suggestions he might step down before the end of his current six-year presidential term in 2008. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change has rejected the 2002 poll amid international observers' reports of widespread intimidation and vote rigging. "I have not been in the habit of surrendering at all," he said. "In five years I will be here, still boxing, writing a lot, reading quite a lot, and still in politics. I won't leave politics but I will have retired, obviously," Mugabe said. At a ruling party congress in December when he announced Zimbabwe's exit from the Commonwealth, he silenced debate on a successor. Asked about South African President Thabo Mbeki's announcement that formal talks were under way with the opposition on resolving Zimbabwe's crisis, Mugabe said he was unwilling to speak to "those who are going to seek the end of our enemy, to destroy our economy". MDC secretary general Welshman Ncube confirmed: "Formal negotiations have not started."
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 20 February
Are Zim's youths being brainwashed?
Wilson Johwa
Bulawayo - Deputy Commandant Ndlovu runs one of the camps for Zimbabwe’s national youth training programme -- which he swears is above political allegiances. Yet, quite unaware of the irony, he’s wearing a campaign T-shirt from the last election, which is decorated with face of a ruling-party legislator. On paper, the 90-day programme is meant to instil a "sense of responsible citizenship among the youth". Zimbabweans between the ages of 14 and 30 are prepared for "the world and for work in their country". But since its inception in 2000 and the deployment of the first trainees in December 2001, it has been dogged by a welter of criticism and demands for its disbandment. The main complaint is that it is simply a ruse by the ruling Zanu PF government to brainwash hapless youths, and turn them into a militia for terrorising the opposition. Southern African church groups working under the auspices of the Solidarity Peace Trust point out that the need for national service has never been formally debated in Parliament - and that there is no legislation controlling its implementation. The trust also notes that school leavers are denied access to tertiary training and civil service posts, including those in teaching and nursing, without proof of their having completed the national service.
Bongani (not his real name) was part of a group of 1 000 trainees that graduated in July last year at the Border Gezi Training Centre, named after the deceased Cabinet minister who suggested the programme. He says recruiters from various branches of the government - including the army, air force, police and national parks department - made regular visits to select trainees who could join their ranks. Representatives from nurse and teacher training colleges also selected trainees, some of whom were taken away before they finished the programme. Bongani himself has since joined the army. But he doesn’t have much praise for the youth service. "Most people go there just to build up their lives," he says. "You’ll be desperate for a job. You’ll be having no choice. It’s not that people join whole-heartedly." The 19-year-old describes the training as "half-military" with much emphasis being placed on drills -- although he was not trained to use a gun. Physical exercise and national history formed the biggest components of the programme.
However, Bongani says the teaching of history is selective and seems to exclude unpalatable episodes in Zimbabwe’s past - like the heavy-handed government response to an insurrection that arose in the south soon after independence in 1980. "The bad things they don’t mention," he says. "They don’t talk about the [opposition] MDC [Movement for Democratic Change], but mention that Britain is imposing sanctions and we have to defend our country. The way they talk to you, it’s like they want you to be on their side." From his small office in a secluded former army barracks at Guyu in southern Zimbabwe, Ndlovu maintains that recruits are merely given an understanding of nationhood, culture and gender tolerance - as well as some lessons in post-colonial history that they may not have received at school. This updated syllabus could include the assertion that neighbouring "Botswana is claiming our land up to the Khami Ruins" (just outside Zimbabwe ’s second-largest city of Bulawayo), because Botswana says the landmark was named after Sir Seretse Khama: the country’s last colonial-era prime minister and first post-independence president. Mozambique - chips in Mafunga, Ndlovu’s fellow trainer - sees the land up to the Odzi River in Zimbabwe as its property.
The Solidarity Peace Trust believes that the national youth service programme merely pretends to be a training scheme that imparts useful skills and patriotic values to the youth. "The reality is a paramilitary training programme for Zimbabwe’s youth with the clear aim of inculcating blatantly anti-democratic, racist and xenophobic attitudes," it says. The group has catalogued atrocities allegedly perpetrated by the national service trainees in the run-up to presidential elections in March 2002, and concluded that trainees were used as instruments to maintain Zanu PF’s hold on power by whatever means necessary - including torture, rape, murder and arson. Before the 2002 poll, adds the trust, "militia had been deployed to 146 camps around the country, in close proximity to, or in some cases even sharing, venues for voting". The election was subsequently won by President Robert Mugabe. As a result of these reportedly violent tactics, the national service trainees have become known as "the Zanu PF militia", the "Border Gezis", the "Green Bombers" (because of their uniform) and the "Taliban".
David Munyoro, permanent secretary in the government ministry responsible for the programme, dismisses criticism of bias towards the ruling party, saying only whites could have reason to complain. (Authorities in Zimbabwe are frequently at loggerheads with the country’s minority whites, whom they accuse of funding the opposition and supporting international sanctions.) "For a black person, I’d be surprised," Munyoro says. "What’s wrong with a programme that tries to give you an identity of your country?" He also claims that enlistment is purely voluntary: "We need to design it in such a way that one feels he’s not a man until he’s gone through it." However, in a 70-page report, the Solidarity Peace Trust notes that "the youth militia is now referred to by government as compulsory". Bad publicity, reports of acute food shortages in the training camps, alleged sexual abuse and the ridicule to which trainees are subjected have combined to reduce the attractiveness of the training programme - and it is not clear whether the desired number of recruits is enlisting. Nonetheless, the Solidarity Peace Trust estimates that by the end of 2002, about 9 000 young men and women had passed through training in the five main camps, which are mostly former army barracks. Up to 20 000 youths may have trained in less formal surroundings, often primitive camps at district level. Following the implementation of controversial land reforms four years ago, Zimbabwe has suffered extreme hardships, including food shortages and triple-digit inflation. Earlier this month, it was reported that the European Union would extend the sanctions imposed on Mugabe and other notables in 2002 to protest against human rights abuses and alleged vote-rigging.
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From Reuters, 22 February
Mugabe misses ceremony after chest pains
By Stella Mapenzauswa
Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who turned 80 on Saturday, has missed a state funeral because he has had chest pains since visiting a tobacco farm last week, state television says. There were no further details on the condition of Mugabe, who is one of Africa's longest serving leaders, having ruled for 24 years since independence from Britain in 1980. State officials were not available to comment. The report on Sunday coincided with news that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who is on trial on charges of plotting to kill Mugabe, was attacked by stone-throwing youths on Saturday while travelling by car to his rural home. No one was hurt. Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp (ZBC) said early on Sunday that Mugabe would not attend the funeral of Julia Zvobgo, declared a national hero for her role in Zimbabwe's independence war more than 20 years ago. "President Robert Mugabe will not be attending... he is suffering from chest pains after visiting a tobacco farm in Musanhu, Bindura," it said in a televised address. Addressing thousands of people at birthday celebrations at his rural home on Saturday, Mugabe spoke with a hoarse voice he said was the result of exposure to tobacco dust at the farm during his visit last week. Mugabe has previously dismissed media speculation that his health is failing. A radio news bulletin merely said the Zimbabwean president was "indisposed". Zimbabwe is grappling with its worst economic and political crisis since independence, with unemployment at about 70 percent, inflation at more than 600 percent and acute shortages of food and fuel.
Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said youth militia loyal to Mugabe had thrown stones at his car when it made a brief stop on the way to Buhera, some 220 km (140 miles) southeast of Harare. "Some green bombers (youth militia) threw stones at our cars and we quickly drove away," Tsvangirai told Reuters upon return to Harare on Sunday. "Fortunately no one was injured". Government officials were not available for comment. Police spokesman Andrew Phiri said he was not aware of the incident, widely reported by the media in South Africa. Tsvangirai is on trial for treason, charged with trying to assassinate Mugabe. He denies the charges. In Lusaka late on Saturday, Zimbabwe's Information Minister Jonathan Moyo ruled out face-to-face talks between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, but said the ruling Zanu PF party was ready to talk with the MDC on condition they stopped being "British puppets". "We can only have dialogue with them if they begin to distance themselves from our former colonial masters...we can't engage in dialogue with the MDC to the point of allowing them to remove us from power," Moyo added. On Friday, Mugabe hinted he might retire within five years - his term ends in 2008. An MDC spokesman said another five years under the veteran leader's rule would be too long.
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From News24 (SA), 22 February
Tutu slams SA stance on Zim
Cape Town - Former archbishop Desmond Tutu criticised government's policy on Zimbabwe on Sunday, saying South Africa would have been in trouble if the rest of the world acted the same way against the former apartheid government. "What is happening there (in Zimbabwe) is totally unacceptable," Tutu said in an interview on the BBC programme, Breakfast with Frost, on Sunday. "Government's current approach to Zimbabwe was not delivering any results," Tutu said. "Many people (in Zimbabwe) are looking toward South Africa for help. They are not saying use force. They believe it is possible to bring about change through applying certain economic pressures or threatening with such action," Tutu explained. "Whether it is white or black that transgresses, it is wrong. Abuse remains abuse and the overthrow of the supremacy of the law remains the overthrow of the supremacy of the law, whether you are black or white. This was our view on apartheid. We were not opposed to it because the people who maintained it were white. We opposed it because it was fundamentally evil and unjust. The same must apply to Zimbabwe," Tutu said.
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From News24 (SA), 22 February
Zim officials must return land
Harare - Senior Zimbabwean government officials owning more than one farm should give them up to the state or risk prosecution for "theft," Special Affairs, Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement Minister John Nkomo warned on Sunday. He said one official who owned four properties in the Mashonaland west region had refused to surrender them. "In such cases we will proceed by way of summons," Nkomo told the state-owned Sunday Mail. "That is theft of state property. Some of the land they are refusing to surrender has some infrastructure for which (the) government is to compensate the former white commercial farmers." President Robert Mugabe last year appointed a team to carry out a land audit at the end of his controversial fast-track land resettlement programme. The land audit revealed many senior government officials had allocated more than one farm to themselves. "This is corruption... it becomes a problem when the seniors engage in such activities. Who will the juniors learn from?" Nkomo said. The land issue in Zimbabwe has attracted international condemnation after government jump-started a land resettlement programme following a series of invasions of white-owned commercial farms by veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war. The resettlement programme, coupled with a series of droughts, has resulted in severe food shortages since last year. This year, the World Food Programme has estimated that about five million people in Zimbabwe are in need of food aid. Mugabe has repeatedly warned against corruption among his leaders, saying he will not protect them.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 20 February
Bid to tap forex not easy
Godfrey Marawanyika
Plans to have Zimbabweans living abroad repatriate money through official channels might turn out to be ineffective in the short-term rather than the quick-fix strategy which the central bank is hoping for, unless issues pertaining to an attractive exchange rate are resolved. Analysts said the programme, just like the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) which promises improved political and economic management in return for increased foreign aid and trade, might yield more talk than action if some of the concerns that led to Zimbabweans fleeing the country are not addressed and confidence in the country's political administration restored. The new programme is the brainchild of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ). The last such initiative mooted to lure Zimbabweans to invest back home was coordinated by Africa Investment Ltd led by prominent business tycoon Mutumwa Mawere who was targeting Zimbabweans living in South Africa. Although the drive received much publicity little is known as to its outcome and who benefited from the scheme. This week the lead coordinator of the RBZ drive, chartered accountant and economic analyst Eric Bloch, said he was optimistic that they would get a positive response from Zimbabweans in the diaspora. "We are optimistic that the proposals will be successful," Bloch said. "As a committee we have come up with a set of proposals but we do not have a specific rate on what the applicable rate should be. What we want is people to invest their money through the official channels not at the black market where they risk being duped of their money that would have been sent from abroad." Last week Bloch said there were 3,4 million Zimbabweans living abroad which he hoped would repatriate their money through the official channels. Since 1999 Zimbabweans have been leaving the country in droves as they seek greener pastures and better working conditions.
Some individuals who have been leaving Zimbabwe did so because of political persecution. A bank economist who spoke to businessdigest on condition of anonymity because of the company policy said the Bloch-led initiative appeared to be good on paper, but his main problem would be that of government's perception and why individuals ran away from the country. He said it was also important for citizens to have confidence in the banks, which would be handling their funds. "So far everything appears to be good on paper that Bloch has to convince Zimbabweans outside the country to repatriate their money through official means. But the biggest question that has to be answered is: Is the government prepared on the other hand to address why these people left the country?" the economist asked. "The government should come out in the open over this initiative and guarantee these people that their money will not be tampered with if it is not for immediate consumption just like what they do with individual foreign currency accounts." He said some of the issues that government must be prepared to answer also pertained to the issue of the ability to vote from wherever they would be, but warned that this was not about being patriotic. Zimbabweans have not been allowed to vote through postal ballots as the process has only been limited to embassy personnel and military attachés something Bloch agrees needs changing. "In my personal opinion I think these people should be accorded the right to vote. But this is a constitutional matter which our committee cannot deal with," he said. Although Bloch refused to shed light on what rate the committee was prepared to give Zimbabweans abroad, this paper has it on good authority that it was somewhere between $5 000 and $6 000 against the greenback, but the rate would fluctuate depending on the applicable auction rates prevailing then.
Witness Chinyama, a Harare-based economist with Kingdom Financial Holdings Ltd, said for the scheme to be attractive everything hinged on the issue of the rate offered. "If they can offer alternative rates which are higher than the auction rate the better," he said. "This is because not everyone is getting money from the auction so the question which has to be addressed is where are those that have been denied access to forex getting their money from? Those who are sending their money are mostly doing it to support their relatives so if they get a better rate they are bound to assist. But what should be clear is that not everybody is prepared to invest because people left for different reasons." Under Bloch's committee they have since said that anyone investing in Zimbabwe will not be subjected to double taxation, and their legality of staying in those countries will not be asked.
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From allafrica.com, 23 February
Daily News future uncertain, people in Zimbabwe 'deserve better', editor says
Charles Cobb Jr.
Washington - After a tumultuous five year history, the future of the feisty independent Zimbabwean newspaper |
