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Archived News
28th September 2004
Zimbabwe imports 100 000 tonnes of maize
Zimbabwe mayor clashes with government over malnutrition deaths
Human rights activists to face trial next month
Bogus first lady arrested in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe media trial criticized
Africa 'worse off than in colonial times'
RBZ staff attack Gono
Ten dead following police misuse of tear gas
Zimbabwe denies reports of food shortage
Zimbabwe says it needs no international food aid
Women march against the NGO Bill
Mugabe summons Chihuri
Mbeki prods Mugabe to engage MDC
Police chase 200 families out of Zimbabwe farm
Govt intensifies farm evictions
Amnesty International says ten dead in Zimbabwe tear gas attack
Massive fuel scandal unearthed at Noczim
Journalists arrested over Tsvangirai treason verdict
I'll fly to Zim daily - Mbeki
Zanu PF militia invades centre for the disabled
AirZim planes dangerous
Zimbabwe tourism figures plummet
Trust Bank closed
Zim, IMF ties suffer further strain
SA back on Zim beat
For Zimbabwe, time to listen
England plan to leave stars at home
Now Mugabe expels farm invaders
Government seizes company-owned farms
Trust Bank clients fail to access funds
Moyo sells his grubby SA mansion for a song
Mugabe's online nightmare
England in tour mutiny threat
Plot to oust Ndabeni-Ncube
Government keeps UN agencies guessing on food security
War veterans stop Chipinge retailers from selling maize
No cash at banks
Poll delay 'treachery' says Zimbabwe media
Government militia to guard chiefs
Flintoff and Strauss close to withdrawing from tour
Zimbabwe capital faces cholera threat as water supplies run dry
Police caught napping as protesters take to the streets against draft law
More settlers evicted from commercial farms
Mixing politics with food
Selectors must be left alone to pick squads
The last Straw
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From Zim Online (SA), 22 September
Zimbabwe imports 100 000 tonnes of maize
Harare - Zimbabwe has in the last month imported about 100 000 tonnes of maize through Zambia, Zim Online has established. Well placed sources at the government's Grain Marketing Board said the State-run parastatal had in the last two months successfully negotiated with grain authorities in Zambia and Malawi to supply it with maize. "Money was made available to the board by government for these imports and about 100 000 tonnes have already come. More supplies will be coming in the following weeks," said an official of the board who did not want to be named. The chief executive officer of the government's grain utility, Samuel Muvuti confirmed this development. But he insisted the maize coming in now was part of orders placed with foreign suppliers last year and that the board had not made any fresh orders for maize. Muvuti said: "We have said it over and over again that we are not importing any maize. Any maize coming through or which is still to be delivered because we are yet to pay for it was ordered last year. I can't give the quantity that is either coming in or yet to be delivered." Zambia and Malawi from where the maize is coming from were not exporting maize last year because they had not produced enough for themselves. Sources said the decision to import maize was taken because of growing fears within the government that maize production from last season was going to fall far short of the 1.8 million tonnes Zimbabwe requires for consumption and for strategic reserves up to the next harvest in March.
President Robert Mugabe in August told international food agencies to take their help elsewhere because Zimbabwe had produced enough to feed itself. The government claims farmers will deliver 2.4 million tonnes of maize to its grain board. A survey by the government and the World Food Programme earlier this year to establish the number of people needing food aid was called off as it was felt no longer necessary in light of an expected bumper harvest. But Muvuti last week told Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Lands and Agriculture that his board had only collected 298 000 tonnes of maize or just about two months' supply since deliveries began around April this year.The board, which buys the bulk of maize from farmers between April and October, should by this time have taken in more than double the quantity of maize it says it is holding. Parliament ordered a probe into the country's food situation following conflicting reports with the government saying there was enough maize to feed the country while the United Nations and other international food aid groups said about 2.5 million Zimbabweans would still require assistance despite better harvests than the previous season. The parliamentary committee is going to table its findings on Zimbabwe's food situation in the House when it resumes next month. Zimbabwe, which was once a net food exporter, has grappled with severe food shortages for the last three years mainly because of the chaotic government land reforms that destabilised the key agriculture sector.
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From VOA News, 21 September
Zimbabwe mayor clashes with government over malnutrition deaths
Harare - The mayor of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city, has provoked angry reactions from the national government by publishing statistics indicating the number of people who have died of malnutrition in his city. The mayor vows he will continue to publish the figures. City officials say twelve people died of malnutrition in Bulawayo in July and, as has become his custom, Mayor Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube went public with the figures. This was not well received by the national government. Information Minister Jonathan Moyo has threatened to take unspecified "drastic actions" against the Bulawayo city council. The state controlled weekly newspaper, Sunday News, accuses Mr. Ndabeni-Ncube of spreading false information that contradicts the government's claim that the 2004 grain harvest is enough to feed the nation while. The World Food Program and other donor groups dispute the government's claim.
The mayor, who belongs to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, also disagrees with the government's assessment, and he denies charges that his council is pursuing a hidden agenda. "They should congratulate us very much that we really do our job properly," he said. "We are doing this, by the way, on behalf of the country of Zimbabwe, the government of Zimbabwe. The city of Bulawayo is a government arm and we are doing exactly what is expected of us. If somebody is not happy about our publication it's just unfortunate." Food is readily available in urban areas throughout Zimbabwe. But Mr. Ndabeni-Ncube says many people can not afford to buy it because of increasing poverty. "It's basically an economic issue, in the land of plenty there are pockets of people who really are hit hard in terms of failing to get food. Hence the malnutrition," said Mr. Ndabeni-Ncube. Bulawayo's director of health Dr. Zanele Hwalima says malnutrition is on the increase, but it's nothing new in Bulawayo or Zimbabwe. She says besides limited access to food, the AIDS pandemic is worsening the situation. Most of those who die of malnutrition are in the under-five age group.
"It will probably also be related to the weaning practices; the child has just been breastfed and they are moving to the adult food so there may not be sufficient food. The foods may not be kept very clean so the children are getting diarrhea illnesses, so the majority of them are dying," explained Dr. Hwalima. A U.N. agency spokesperson, speaking to VOA on condition of anonymity, says while malnutrition may be on the increase in Zimbabwe, the figures are not yet a cause for alarm. The spokesperson said malnutrition is widespread in Africa and is worse in some countries, pointing out that while in some cases a shortage of food is a factor, chronic poverty is the major cause. The official says the government is, with the support of UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, recruiting people to monitor nutrition trends throughout the country. This, she says, will ensure that instead of the usual disaster interventions, a program can be put in place to deal with the problem on a permanent basis. The U.N. official also says that both types of malnutrition, acute and chronic can be treated, but most people cannot identify the early signs and therefore seek help too late. A World Food Program spokesperson, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the agency is providing supplementary feeding to at least 600,000 children nationwide. Seventy-thousand of them are in Harare and Bulawayo.
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From Zim Online (SA), 22 September
Human rights activists to face trial next month
Harare - Amnesty International official, Obert Chinhamo, and another local human rights activist arrested earlier this month for allegedly breaching Zimbabwe's Miscellaneous Offences Act will face trial next month after state prosecutors late on Monday requested more time to prepare their case. Chinhamo and Masanko Maruwacha of the Non Violent Action for Social Change group were last month arrested at Porta Farm squatter camp about 20 kilometers west of Harare. They were at the camp to check reports that armed police had raided the camp and set several houses on fire in a bid to force the squatters to obey government orders to leave the camp. Lawyer Aleck Muchadehama, who is representing the two activists, yesterday told ZimOnline: "The trial was again postponed (from Monday) to October 20, as the state indicated that they were not ready for trial." Meanwhile, Harare Town clerk Nomutsa Chideya on Monday night issued notices of eviction to the 8 000 residents of Porta Farm. Muchadehama, also representing the squatters, said they would challenge the eviction notices in court. High Court Judge Susan Mavangira two weeks ago issued a provisional order barring the authorities from evicting the squatters. Porta Farm was set up by the government in 1991 when it rounded up street people in Harare and squatters at Churu farm adjacent to the capital and put them at Porta saying it would find a better place to permanently resettle them.
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From Sapa, 21 September
Bogus first lady arrested in Zimbabwe
Harare - A young Harare woman was arrested for allegedly pretending to be President Robert Mugabe's wife, Grace, and ordering a hospital to enrol herself and a friend on a nursing course, reports said on Tuesday. A Harare magistrate heard that 23-year-old Rosemary Chakacha telephoned the matron at Harare central hospital on Thursday last week and introduced herself as the 40-year-old first lady, according to the state-controlled daily Herald newspaper. She told the matron to expect two young women giving her real name and her friends and instructed her to enrol them on a nursing course. After the matron took their details and told them they would be contacted when a vacancy occurred, Chigwaza left. She again telephoned as Mrs Mugabe and became furious that the two had not been instantly accepted, and threatened the matron. She was caught when hospital authorities telephoned Mugabe's residence to check if Mrs Mugabe had made the calls. State prosecutor Ndabazinhle Moyo said that Chakacha's impersonation created the impression that the first lady uses her status as such to gain favours for the benefit of others. Chigwaza was charged with fraud and was granted bail of about R150. She is to appear again on October 1.
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From VOA News, 21 September
Zimbabwe media trial criticized
Harare - A former judge of South Africa's highest court has criticized the trial of four directors of Zimbabwe's banned Daily News newspaper, which ended Monday with their acquittal for lack of evidence. The former Constitutional Court Judge was asked to observe their trial by the International Bar Association in London. The International Bar Association's report says it was "objectionable" that the four directors of the company that owns The Daily News were even charged. It says the circumstances surrounding the charges against the four was also objectionable. The Association says the Zimbabwe police behaved disgracefully during the controversy over the publication license for The Daily News. Police closed the newspaper on government orders a year ago, and mostly ignored court orders to allow it to re-open. The report says that the accused, who went on trial in July, were more victims than perpetrators of unlawful conduct. They were charged with publishing The Daily News without a license.
The former South African judge who wrote the report, Johan Kriegler, says new media legislation in Zimbabwe followed the formation of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in 1999, the first political party to threaten the 19-year one-party rule of Zanu PF. He says the new law was "probably, principally aimed" at the The Daily News and its Sunday edition, which began publishing five years ago, and quickly outsold state-controlled newspapers. The Daily News was the only non-government daily paper and was critical of President Robert Mugabe's administration. The law, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, requires that all journalists and publishers be licensed with the state-appointed Media and Information Commission, or face up to two years in prison. Judge Kriegler records that the two newspapers at first did not apply for registration, instead launching an unsuccessful legal challenge, claiming that the media law violated freedom of speech, which is enshrined in the Zimbabwe constitution. The judge said the trial of the newspaper executives reminded him of similar events during the apartheid years in South Africa, when many charges were "conceived in injustice." Judge Kriegler writes that although the conduct of the trial appeared fair, this "semblance of justice," as he called it, was in fact not "justice itself." The Daily News, which published its last edition nearly a year ago, is still waiting for a final decision from the Supreme Court on its legal status.
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From The Mercury (SA), 22 September
Africa 'worse off than in colonial times'
Sipho Khumalo
Africa is worse off now than it was during the era of colonialism because its political elite are plundering its resources and stashing money in Swiss banks instead of investing it in their own countries. These comments were made on Tuesday by Moeletsi Mbeki, Chairperson of the South African Institute of International Affairs, and brother of the president. In his address to the Durban branch of SAIIA, on the theme Africa: Quo Vadis?, Mbeki said Africa was experiencing a downward spiral, with its people worse off than they had been during the time of colonialism. Whereas colonialists had developed the continent, planted crops, built roads and cities, the era of uhuru had been characterised by capital flight as the elite pocketed money and took it outside their countries. Among them were the late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha. The money Abacha had plundered had been discovered in Switzerland. Mbeki said the continent was also facing the problem of being unable to generate savings, with sub-Saharan Africa getting poorer and poorer every year. "This is one of the depressing features of Africa," he said.
Mbeki said that while China had lifted more than 400 000 people above the poverty line in the past 20 years, Nigeria had pushed more than 90 million people below the poverty line. "The average African is poorer (now) than during the age of colonialism. In the 1960s African elites/rulers, instead of focusing on development, took surplus for their own enormous entourages of civil servants without ploughing anything back into the country," he said. He said the continent's cash crops, like cocoa and tobacco, were heavily exploited by the state-run marketing boards with farmers getting little in return. What should South Africa do about this? "It should revisit issues and stop putting out fires in Darfur until we address this fundamental problem of power relations between producers and controllers of political power," Mbeki said. On Zimbabwe, he said South Africa should intervene on the side of democracy and not back Zanu PF. "Our intervention should be to support democracy and not tolerate use of violence, torture and rigging of elections and, if necessary, we should support the opposition," he said.
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From The Daily News Online Edition, 22 September
RBZ staff attack Gono
Harare - The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has been rocked by allegations of corruption with reports that the Governor, Gideon Gono has been personally recruiting staff without advertising vacant positions. Sources at the central bank allege that Gono, who has dismissed a number of staff members under some restructuring exercise at the bank since he took over the reins at the end last year has fallen victim to corrupt tendencies and was now recruiting relatives and friends to key positions in the bank. The sources said what is most disturbing was that some of the people getting top and influential positions did not have proper qualifications for the jobs. There are also allegations that those brought by the governor were getting salaries which were higher than their counterparts who were recruited by the human resources department or who joined the bank before Gono. Although efforts to get comment from Gono were fruitless yesterday, the Daily News Online was able to ascertain that there were some RBZ staffers who were getting their salaries through a chartered accountancy firm.
"It's these guys who were brought here by the new governor who are getting very high salaries and we do not know why the situation is like this. Perhaps it is meant to frustrate us out of the institution," said one source. The source said under normal circumstances, the human resources department was responsible for the recruitment of staff even if some people were recommended by top management. "But this has not happened. People have been fired and we have seen their positions occupied without the proper channels of advertising the posts are done," said another source. There have been reports in the Press that Gono, who has been largely credited for bringing some order in the financial sector was not clean after all. Some of the allegations against him are that while he was at the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe, Gono flouted the foreign exchange controls by raising forex on the black market for the First Lady Grace Mugabe's overseas shopping trips. It has also been reported that Gono has some properties in Johannesburg and Australia yet the anti-corruption crusade has not touched him.
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From Amnesty International, 22 September
Ten dead following police misuse of tear gas
New York - Amnesty International is calling for a full and independent inquiry into the deaths of at least ten people, since 2 September 2004, at Porta Farm, an informal settlement on the outskirts of Harare. On 2 September, riot police, "war veterans" and members of the youth "militia" reportedly went to Porta Farm to forcibly evict some 10,000 people, many of whom have been living there since 1991. The police were acting in defiance of a court order prohibiting the eviction. According to eye-witness testimony, the police fired tear gas directly into the homes of the Porta Farm residents. One resident of Porta Farm, a man who had been ill with tuberculosis, is reported to have died on 2 September, shortly after being exposed to the tear gas. A young child died the following day. By Sunday 19 September eight more Porta Farm residents had died. Residents claim that all those who died, several of whom were reported to have pre-existing illnesses, had been exposed to the tear gas. Amongst the dead are a mother and her five-month old son, who were in their home when police fired tear gas into the building. Hundreds of residents have complained of chest and stomach pains, nose bleeding and other ill-effects since the tear gas incident. Doctors who examined some of the Porta Farm residents, following the events of 2 September, believe that those most seriously affected by the tear gas were particularly vulnerable due to pre-existing illnesses such as tuberculosis.
Amnesty International is appalled by the excessive use of force by the Zimbabwe Republic Police, and deeply concerned by the deaths at Porta Farm. "Firing tear gas into a confined space is completely contrary to international human rights standards on the use of force by law enforcement officials because of the danger posed to those exposed," the organization said. Amnesty International is also concerned by the attempt to forcibly evict the residents of Porta Farm. Forced evictions - a term used internationally to describe evictions carried out without due process - violate human rights. They violate Zimbabwe's obligations under international human rights treaties to which it is a party. Forced evictions undermine the right to adequate housing and subject people to arbitrary or unlawful interference with their privacy, family or home. "The Government of Zimbabwe has an obligation to provide access to adequate housing for all people within its jurisdiction. Any resettlement of the residents of Porta Farm must ensure that their civil, political, social and economic rights are upheld," Amnesty International said. "The authorities must ensure that all those affected by the police use of tear gas are properly examined and provided with any medical care they may need," the organization added.
In 1991 thousands of people living in informal settlements around Harare were moved, by the government, to Porta Farm, as a temporary measure in anticipation of being permanently resettled. More than a decade later the majority remain at Porta Farm. In July 2004 the Porta Farm residents were allegedly told they would be relocated to other farms. However, the residents were subsequently threatened with death by "war veterans" if they moved to the proposed locations. On 31 August 2004 they obtained a court order staying their eviction from Porta Farm for 10 days, while the matter was investigated further. Tear gas can be lethal if used in confined spaces. It can also cause people to panic and stampede, which is often where the most serious injuries and fatalities occur. Amnesty International has documented misuse of tear gas by police in Zimbabwe for several years, including incidents at the University of Zimbabwe in 1995 and 2001. Amnesty International has examined some of the tear gas canisters used by the police on 2 September at Porta Farm to determine the suppliers. Many of the canisters carried the initials "PW", while some were marked "ZW". Canisters with these initials were also fired into university student residences by the Zimbabwe Republic Police in November 2001.
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From The Associated Press, 22 September
Zimbabwe denies reports of food shortage
Angus Shaw
Harare - Zimbabwe's government on Wednesday dismissed reports of dozens of deaths linked to malnutrition as lies peddled by detractors and insisted the nation has more food than it needs. Health officials in Bulawayo, the nation's second largest city, have reported at least 162 deaths related to malnutrition this year. Information Minister Jonathan Moyo accused the regional council's health director, Dr. Zanele Hwalima, of "doctoring lies" meant to cause alarm and despondency. The Bulawayo council, which is controlled by the opposition, is the only local council in Zimbabwe that routinely compiles data on food shortages and malnutrition. Zimbabwe, once a regional breadbasket, was plunged into political and economic turmoil when President Robert Mugabe's government began seizing thousands of white owned farms for redistribution to blacks in 2000. Inflation is running at 314 percent, the highest rate in the world. The often-violent land reform program, combined with erratic rains, have crippled the nation's agriculture-based economy. The government argues redistribution is needed to correct colonial-era injustices and has not affected food production. The United Nations estimates the expected total harvest this year to reach 1 million tons of grain, about half the country's needs. Last year, nearly half of Zimbabwe's 12.5 million people needed food aid. A U.N.-led assessment group estimates that as many as 5 million Zimbabweans will need help again before the next harvest in March.
Moyo suggested in an interview with the state Herald newspaper that even if there was malnutrition in Zimbabwe it wouldn't amount to a serious health problem. "Malnutrition is just ... a case of not having a balanced diet. ... People in the USA are fat because they eat too many burgers. That's malnutrition," Moyo said. He disputed the low U.N. harvest forecast and said the country will produce a record 2.4 million tons of grain this year, well in excess of the annual consumption of at least 1.8 million tons, mostly of the corn staple. "There is no food crisis in Zimbabwe," Moyo said. But Samuel Mavuti, the head of the state Grain Marketing Board told a panel of lawmakers this month that Zimbabwe had just 298,000 tons of the main corn staple. He said the board, which is the sole legal distributor of grain, expected total deliveries to its depots of only 750,000 tons by March next year. On Monday, the U.S.-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network, a food security monitoring group, warned the grain delivered so far to the state marketing board already fell short of basic needs. "The quantity of grain collected by the GMB as of mid-August is insufficient to meet the needs in urban centers and rural areas with deficit production," it said. While the corn meal staple was still generally available in stores, many poor households could no longer afford it, the group said. "Hyperinflation, high rates of unemployment and low wages contribute to food insecurity in urban areas," its report said.
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From VOA News, 22 September
Zimbabwe says it needs no international food aid
Harare - The Zimbabwe Government has now officially informed Western donors that it has had a bumper harvest and will need no food aid for the foreseeable future. A letter from the welfare ministry has been delivered to donor agencies telling them that Zimbabwe grew 2.4 million tons of maize last summer. A letter addressed to donor organizations, dated August 26 and signed by welfare minister Paul Mangwana, has now sealed the doors to any intervention by non-governmental organizations in addressing the shortage of food in many parts of Zimbabwe. In its latest monthly report, The Famine Early Warning Systems Network, a long-trusted food security monitoring group across the region, said scarcity of food is emerging in a growing number of rural areas in Zimbabwe and more and more urban people can not afford to buy food from the shops. It says it is not sure how much grain is in storage at the Grain Marketing Board because those statistics are no longer freely available.
The figure of 2.4 million tons of maize for last summer's harvest can not be accurate, according to crop analysts referring to data collected over the last 30 years, as well as estimates of the harvest by the United Nations and other groups. The government's figure indicates a larger harvest than in any previous season, even when the agricultural sector was in its best shape. Now about 80 percent of Zimbabwe's best land is unused, following the resettlement of new farmers onto former commercial farms over the past four years. Most of them have neither the financing nor the farming skills to grow more than a few bags of maize. Information minister Jonathan Moyo is reported in the Wednesday edition of the government-controlled Herald newspaper, as saying that no food imports are necessary, or planned, because Zimbabwe has produced 2.4 million tons. But according to information released to the state media recently, the government's Grain Marketing Board, the only legal grain trader in Zimbabwe, has less than 300 000 tons in stock. Mr. Moyo says farmers are keeping grain at home this year. Statistics from previous years indicate grain farmers have traditionally held on to some stocks for home consumption, but sold the rest to generate cash for items like school fees and essential items.
The United Nations World Food Program announced recently it had reduced its staff in Zimbabwe by nearly half. Its operations were geared to feed more than five million people, or nearly half the population, at the peak of food shortages during the last three years. The government says if people do need food aid, it will do the job itself, from its own homegrown stocks. But well-placed sources close to food distribution agencies say the government does not have the resources or infrastructure to deliver food if another food crisis happens, which they say could be in December. Additionally, non-governmental organizations say it will take several months for the World Food Program to raise donor funds and become fully operational again, if the food runs out.
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From IRIN (UN), 22 September
Women march against the NGO Bill
Bulawayo - About 50 members of the rights group, Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), have embarked on a 440 km march to the capital, Harare, to protest a proposed bill that will regulate NGOs. The drum-beating, whistle-blowing activists began the march on Sunday in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city. They are expected to reach the capital on 4 October and will assemble outside parliament to present a petition against the controversial bill. "What we are basically saying is that we are diametrically opposed to the proposed bill, because, should it find its way through parliament, it will mean suffering to many women and children. Of course, there are many risks that include being arrested on the way and being attacked by wild animals as we sleep in the open at night, but we are absolutely undaunted," WOZA spokeswoman Jenny Williams told IRIN from Gweru City, some 200 km north of Bulawayo. The protesters, aged between 20 and 60, intend to "be a physical and spiritual presence outside the parliament when it opens on 4 October and hope to convince the conscience of the legislators against the bill," Williams said. "The NGO Bill, if passed in its current form, will have struck at the lives and very survival of women and their families. Most of the women are beneficiaries of donor food and have HIV/AIDS orphans that they care for. This walk symbolises a defending of the kindness of the donor community, and a way of saying how much their help has meant to Zimbabweans," said WOZA in an additional statement.
The proposed bill, which replaces the Private Voluntary Organisations Act, requires all NGOs to register with a government-appointed regulatory council, similar to the controversial Media and Information Commission, and disclose details of their programmes and funding. NGOs without registration licenses will be shut down, and officials who continue their activities illegally could face up to six months in prison. Organisations involved in charity work, disbursing humanitarian assistance, the provision of funds for legal aid, animal welfare, environmental issues and the promotion of human rights are all covered in the bill. The proposed legislation also seeks to ban foreign NGOs concerned principally with "issues of governance", and deny registration to NGOs receiving foreign funding for "promotion and protection of human rights and political governance issues". The authorities have countered that the draft bill is meant to regulate the operations of NGOs for national security reasons.
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From The Daily News Online Edition, 23 September
Mugabe summons Chihuri
Harare - Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri has been summoned by President Robert Mugabe over reports that he is involved in corrupt dealings that have cost the country billions of dollars. The Daily News Online understands that President Mugabe was upset after getting reports that the man he has entrusted with the mandate to ensure law and order and to weed out corruption was himself allegedly involved in the rot. Presidential spokesperson, George Charamba could not be reached for comment over the matter as his mobile phone was unreachable but sources within the police force confirmed that Chihuri has been summoned to State House over corruption. Although full details of what transpired at State House could not be established, Daily News Online has it on good authority that the head of state was upset with Chihuri. Chihuri has served his mandatory two terms as police chief and since then Mugabe has been extending his contract yearly. Sources in the police could however not confirm whether Chihuri was under investigation or whether he could face arrest in the current government crackdown on corruption. Top government officials and ruling party officials such as James Makamba and Finance Minister, Chris Kuruneri were arrested earlier this year for alleged corruption. Makamba is out of prison while Kuruneri remains locked in prison.
Unconfirmed reports say the police chief who is supposed to lead the anti-graft crusade which started late year has been frustrating efforts to bring out some of the people and companies which have been siphoning foreign currency out of the country because he was also allegedly involved. Recently Chihuri is alleged to have dismissed a fellow senior police officer who had stumbled on information implicating him in a car theft scam. Chihuri was once dragged to the courts in the early nineties on charges of corruption involving cars while some of his colleagues who have since left the force appeared on various charges such as poaching and theft. Critics have questioned Mugabe's decision in appointing an accused person to such a sensitive office. Chihuri, whose Chimurenga name is Comrade Chocha was among the group of freedom fighters who rebelled against Mugabe in 1978 and were arrested for more than two years in an underground prison in Mozambique. They were only released a few days before the 1980 elections after the intervention of the United Nations and the British government. The 77 member group, called Vashandi, included such people as Dzinashe Machingura (Wilfred Mhanda), Rugare Gumbo (now a cabinet minister), Happison Muchechetere (Harry Tanganeropa), the late Jones Jichidza (Sebastian Musabayana) and Victor Maunde and Gwarada (Poyter Kaseke). Chihuri joined the police force in 1981 and worked his way up until he became Police Commissioner in 1990.
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From Zim Online (SA), 23 September
Mbeki prods Mugabe to engage MDC
New York - South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki yesterday met President Robert Mugabe in New York as the South African leader pursues his "behind the scenes campaign" to help find a solution to the Zimbabwe crisis. Full details of the meeting, held on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly session which opened yesterday, were not released but ZimOnline is reliably informed that Mbeki again tried to persuade Mugabe to re-start stalled dialogue with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). "The President (Mbeki) is of the view that there is no other alternative to dialogue in Zimbabwe. As long as both the MDC and Zanu PF remain at loggerheads and refuse to acknowledge the urgent need for dialogue, the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe will continue to unravel," said a senior South African official travelling with Mbeki. "As far as I know the President (Mbeki) has repeated this stance in his meeting today with President Mugabe. As you know this has been his behind the scenes campaign in recent times. There is little else that the President (Mbeki) can do because Zimbabwe is a sovereign country. He can only encourage dialogue as he sees no other way out for Zimbabwe".
But South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, said yesterday that Mbeki's behind the scenes approach on Zimbabwe had failed dismally and it was high time it was changed. It said a more public approach on Zimbabwe is now needed. Mbeki met an MDC delegation led by the party's secretary general Welshman Ncube last weekend. The meeting was one of many that Mbeki has held with the opposition in recent times to try and resuscitate dialogue between the ruling Zanu PF party and the MDC. He has also met Zanu PF representatives on several occasions but his efforts to nudge the two parties into dialogue have so far failed. Mbeki called the latest meeting with the MDC after the opposition party decided to suspend participation in all elections in Zimbabwe until Mugabe's government complies with the recently introduced Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) norms and standards on free and fair elections.
South African officials say Mbeki fears that an MDC pull-out from next March's parliamentary elections will plunge Zimbabwe into crisis and worsen an already untenable situation in South Africa's northern neighbour. The MDC has already threatened mass protests if Mugabe remains intransigent. Ncube said his party urged Mbeki to appoint an envoy to help spur dialogue between the two parties. It remains unclear whether or not Mbeki will consider that option. If he does, it seems likely that such an envoy would embark on a futile mission. Zim Online understands that the ruling Zanu PF Politburo has resolved not to engage the MDC in any renewed talks ahead of the parliamentary elections. The ruling party has adopted a "take it or leave it approach" and wants the MDC to adopt the electoral reforms that it has decided to introduce unilaterally because they "are in the MDC's own interests". The MDC argues that the reforms, which include the setting up of an "independent" electoral commission and one day polling, do not go far enough.
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From SABC News, 23 September
Police chase 200 families out of Zimbabwe farm
Over 200 families who are recent beneficiaries of Zimbabwe's land grabs are stranded outside Harare after police and the army chased them away from their homes to pave way for new unidentified owners. It is a new twist to the country's four-year land reform programme, where the government is evicting people that had settled themselves during the height of invasions. They were removed from 21 farms in Zimbabwe's Mashonaland West province. The only signs of life at Inkomo farm are torched huts, broken pots and empty cattle pens. The settlers had to abandon everything when the army and police forced them off the ranch and torched their homes. They had led the invasion of the farm in 2000 with the blessings of the political leadership. They say they were never forewarned or given time to pack their goods. Wilbert Chimbudzi, a settler at Inkomo farm, says he was the first to invade the farm and now he does not understand why this is happening or how the government could treat them like this. Police say they are doing what they were told to do by their superiors.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 24 September
Govt intensifies farm evictions
Augustine Mukaro
Government has intensified the eviction of squatters who invaded white-owned commercial farms starting in 2000 in a bid to restore order in the agricultural sector. Analysts said government had undermined its desire to rectify skewed colonial land ownership patterns through partisan politics, greed and subliminal racial hatred. They said land reform had destroyed a sector government itself touts as the backbone of the economy through haphazard occupations by people who have little aptitude for farming or have no resources to embark on commercial production. In some cases, formerly productive farms have been turned into dustbowls, the analysts say. In the past few weeks government has evicted hundreds of so-called model A1 farmers. Most of them were left stranded after soldiers and police last week and earlier this week set their homes ablaze on an estimated 21 farms along the Harare-Chinhoyi highway.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International reports that at least 10 people have died at Porta Farm outside Harare in the past three weeks as a result of what it alleges was the misuse of teargas by police during the eviction of squatters. Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena yesterday denied the reports. "Amnesty International is calling for a full and independent inquiry into the deaths of at least 10 people since September 2 at Porta Farm," Amnesty said in a statement yesterday. Bvudzijena said: "They (Amnesty International) must give us the names instead of merely claiming that people died. If the people died at hospital there must be a hospital report. The law in this country bars anyone from burying the dead without a police report. We haven't received reports that there is anyone who died at home." Amnesty said those who died of exposure to teargas had pre-existing illnesses. It said on September 2 riot police, war veterans and Zanu PF militia went to Porta Farm to evict about 10 000 squatters where teargas was used.
A visit by the Zimbabwe Independent to five farms in Mashonaland West - Little England, Inkomo, Newlands, Kingswood and Sotibury - on Wednesday revealed that the evicted families were still stranded in the open along the highway. In interviews with the Independent, the farmers, the majority of whom seized the properties from white commercial farmers in 2000, blamed government for encouraging farm invasions as "legitimate demonstrations by land-hungry people". One farmer, Goodwill Zimbizi, said they were sleeping in the open and still expected government to allocate them land elsewhere. "Since Thursday last week, we have been visiting Murombedzi district offices to find a solution to this crisis," Zimbizi said. "Land officers have asked us to register our names and are promising that we will be allocated land elsewhere soon," he said. "Even if we get the land now, there is no way we will make a meaningful contribution to production this season considering the time needed to settle down and prepare the land," he said. Zimbizi expressed fears that the evicted families, especially children, could contract diseases because there was no clean water or sanitary facilities on their roadside settlement.
When the land invasions began in earnest in 2000, government promised peasants that it would send land experts to properly plan settlements on occupied farms. They were warned, though, not to erect "permanent" structures. Bvudzijena on Tuesday told the Independent that the peasants were being evicted because they had settled illegally and had been given advance notices that they would be moved. Local Government minister Ignatious Chombo was last week reported saying the evictions were necessary to pave way for A2 farmers with resources to utilise the land on a commercial basis. Chombo said the government would find alternative land for the evicted families. There were reports this week that the crackdown had spread to Banket, Karoi, Chinhoyi, Mhangura and Doma in Mashonaland West province and in Lower Gweru in the Midlands province. The farmers said government had used them. "We are convinced that government is now evicting us from the farms to pave way for Zanu PF officials," said Gilbert Karima, sitting on an eviction notice in the Mhangura area.
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From VOA News, 23 September
Amnesty International says ten dead in Zimbabwe tear gas attack
Medical personnel in Zimbabwe have confirmed an Amnesty International report, issued in London, that 10 people died after they were tear gassed at a shanty town on the outskirts of the capital earlier this month. The people were forcibly evicted from their homes of 13 years on Porta Farm, because the government says it needs the land. Amnesty International has called for a full and independent inquiry into the deaths of at least 10 people at Porta Farm. The deaths were confirmed Thursday by human rights monitors and medical personnel in Harare, who said tear gas had been fired into confined spaces during a raid on the squatter settlement on September 2nd. Residents told human rights monitors that tear gas was fired directly into some homes. Amnesty International says that riot police, people describing themselves as veterans of Zimbabwe's war for independence and youth members of the ruling Zanu PF, went to evict 10-thousand people at Porta Farm. At the time of the evictions, the police confirmed they used tear gas against some of the residents of the settlement, because, according to the police, municipal workers were attacked.
Since then doctors in both the public and private sector have treated some of the former residents. One doctor, who does not wish to be named, confirmed that 10 people he and his colleagues examined died from illnesses caused by tear gas. He says that among the dead was a mother and her five year old child, as well as another infant. Doctors say some of the dead were already in fragile health when the attack occurred and exposure to tear gas proved fatal. Some of the residents are still unwell and the doctors do not rule out that more may die. Earlier this month the Harare High Court ordered that the evictions of the Porta Farm residents cease, because an existing court ruling allowing them to remain was still in effect. From the road, the sprawling settlement, appears to have been all but destroyed. Most of the roofs on homes and the school are missing. Amnesty International, which sent investigators into Porta Farm, says Zimbabwe has broken international human rights treaties it has signed to desist from forced evictions without due process of law. It has also called on the government to provide medical care for those still suffering the aftereffects of tear gas. Neither the police nor welfare officials have responded to reporters' questions, following the Amnesty International report.
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From The Financial Gazette, 23 September
Massive fuel scandal unearthed at Noczim
A stinking scam involving the diversion of subsidised fuel from the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) for resale by privately-owned underground companies has been unearthed at the corruption-ridden fuel procurer. While the authorities are still trying to get to the bottom of the underhand dealings, sources told The Financial Gazette this week that NOCZIM could have lost hundreds of billions of dollars that have been silting up the pockets of perpetrators of the crime. Indications are that staff at NOCZIM, tasked with the distribution of fuel to government departments following the liberalisation of the sector at the height of the fuel crisis last year, connived with private players in the industry to divert the product from its intended beneficiaries. Information at hand reveals that staff at the parastatal are generating fake invoices purporting to relate to transactions with parastatals or local government bodies. The fuel is then released to the oil firms for on-selling at about $2 850 per litre, higher than the $1 650 per litre charged on fuel for parastatals.
NOCZIM personnel then pocket the difference while a bank cheque drawn in favour of the national fuel company pays in the balance. It therefore means that instead of fuel being routed through to government departments and providers of essential services, it is finding its way into the black market or to private players who are supposed to import the product. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), which recently prodded the government to probe NOCZIM in light of the parastatal's failure to import fuel despite being allocated foreign currency by the central bank, is reported to be pressing for a full-scale audit of the distribution of fuel.
Details of one such transaction, executed on August 13 and documents of which were leaked to this newspaper, entailed NOCZIM generating an invoice for 20 000 litres, which was supposed to be delivered to Hurungwe Rural District Council in Mashonaland West. The firm then paid a knocked down price of $33 million for the consignment, which had a market value of about $70 million at current pump prices. In this transaction the NOCZIM proforma invoice number was 19081, loading order number 59575 and delivery note number 161336. The registration number for the truck that delivered the consignment was 805-379 L while registration for the trailer was 839-617B. The loading bay supervisor was an R Mufandaedza. Joram Misheck Moyo, the Hurungwe Council chief executive, yesterday said they had no knowledge of the fuel.
Sources said the practice, suspected to involve leading politicians, was widespread and had deprived government-related companies, departments and farmers of fuel supplies, which were diverted to private firms. The government has retained an unpopular official exchange rate of $824 to the United States dollar to enable the state to make crucial imports, among them fuel, at a hugely subsidised rate. However, the dual exchange rate system has created rent-seeking opportunities that have, in turn, fuelled corruption. The state fuel procurement firm buys the greenback at $824, 15 percent of its true market value. The RBZ has, in the past nine months, doled out about US$120 million to NOCZIM for fuel imports while private oil firms received about US$113 million from the central bank's foreign currency auctions.
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From Zim Online (SA), 24 September
Journalists arrested over Tsvangirai treason verdict
Harare - Police yesterday arrested Zimbabwe Independent editor, Vincent Kahiya, the paper's general manager and a reporter and charged them with breaching state press laws. The three were arrested over a story carried by their paper on July 30 alleging that High Court Judge President Paddington Garwe had sought to convict opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of treason without consulting his assessors. Under court rules, Garwe must consult the two assessors with whom he presided over the trial of Tsvangirai on charges that he plotted to kill President Robert Mugabe. Kahiya, reporter Augustine Mukaro and the paper's general manager, Raphael Khumalo, were released later in the afternoon after being charged under Section 80 (c) of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Journalists convicted under the section, which prohibits abuse of "journalistic privilege" through publication of falsehoods, are liable to a fine of Z$200 000 or a jail term of two years or both. Kahiya and his colleagues were ordered to report at Harare central police station next Tuesday.
The Zimbabwe Independent carried the article in question several days after ZimOnline broke the story after authenticating it with its sources at the High Court. This is the second time since January that police have arrested journalists at the paper, which is one of only three independent publications still operating in Zimbabwe. The country's only privately-owned and biggest daily newspaper, the Daily News, and two other papers were shut down by the state for breaching its harsh Press laws. Former Zimbabwe Independent editor, Iden Wetherell, Kahiya, the then news editor and reporters Dumisani Muleya and Itai Dzamara were arrested in January after publishing a story alleging that Mugabe and his wife had grabbed an Air Zimbabwe plane for a private holiday in the Far East. At least 100 journalists, the majority from the private media, have been arrested for allegedly breaching government Press laws. None of the journalists have been convicted. The Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa condemned yesterday's arrest of the Zimbabwe Independent staffers.
Meanwhile the High Court yesterday announced that it will deliver judgment in the Tsvangirai treason case on October 15, two years after the opposition leader was charged with plotting to assassinate Mugabe during the run-up to the 2002 presidential election. If convicted, Tsvangirai could be sentenced to death, but can appeal against Garwe's judgment at the Supreme Court. The state based its case against Tsvangirai on a barely audible video provided by Canadian-based political consultant Ari Ben-Menashe. The grainy video, first aired on an Australian television channel, was purportedly a recording by Menashe of a meeting with Tsvangirai where the opposition leader sought help to kill Mugabe. Menashe, who is wanted in the United States for fraud, admitted in court that he was on the payroll of the Zimbabwe government.
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From The Cape Argus (SA), 23 September
I'll fly to Zim daily - Mbeki
By Angela Quintal
South Africa is willing to step up contact with President Robert Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, even daily if necessary, President Thabo Mbeki said yesterday. In an interview with the Cape Argus in New York, Mbeki confirmed that the MDC had asked him at the weekend to appoint an envoy to help spur on dialogue between the two sides. The MDC also briefed Mbeki on its decision to boycott next year's parliamentary election until the ruling Zanu PF abided by a regional election protocol. On Monday, Mbeki met Mugabe on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, two days after his meeting with the MDC. On whether he would appoint a special envoy, Mbeki said the MDC had said a long time ago that South Africa should act as a formal facilitator. "Our own view was that it was not really necessary." This was because South Africa was in regular contact with both sides. "We are able to discuss with both sides, fully, freely, everything. They have been able to engage each other. And when they thought it was necessary for us to convey a message, we have done so with both sides."
South Africa had not believed there was a need for the type of formal engagement requested by the MDC. "It is true that the MDC is of the view that we need to become a bit more directly involved. Not so much (as a) facilitator, but in a sense asking both of them every day how far have they have gone, rather than (doing so) once a week." Mbeki said that could be done. "Certainly we would be able to interact with them daily. There would not be any problem from our point of view with regards to that. That's essentially what they were requesting. "We said, 'Fine'. We will engage them with greater regularity if they think that is necessary ..." Mbeki was at pains to point out that South Africa would not fulfil a mediator or facilitator role. "It's a role that we have been playing up to now." On whether Mugabe had agreed, Mbeki said: "He has no problem. There has never been any problem. If necessary I can phone him every day, I can travel to Harare every day. It's not a problem if there is a need for that kind of engagement ..."
Earlier in the day, Mugabe was applauded in the General Assembly when he again attacked the United States and Britain and said they had no moral authority to lecture anyone, let alone be the torch-bearers of human rights. He said the world was being coerced to accept and believe a new political-cum-religious doctrine, "that there is but one political god, namely George W Bush, and Tony Blair is his prophet". Mugabe again accused Blair and the MDC of orchestrating a regime change, when it was the people of Zimbabwe who had the right through the ballot to make and break governments. He said next year's elections would be held in accordance with Zimbabwe's laws and the recently adopted SADC election protocol. Zimbabwe would welcome observers whose "sole and undivided" purpose was to observe the process and not meddle in Zimbabwe's politics. "We do not need any lessons from (EU president) the Netherlands and its imperialist allies in the EU," he said. While Mugabe was being applauded, several anti-Mugabe protesters gathered outside the UN headquarters for a demonstration. The Zimbabwean issue was also discussed when Mbeki met British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, as well as Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes yesterday. Portugal wants the EU-AU summit to finally take place. It was scrapped last year, after a row over Mugabe's participation. Mugabe is under EU smart sanctions, but Portugal believes the Zimbabwean leader should be allowed to attend the summit. Mbeki left New York for South Africa last night.
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From Zim Online (SA), 24 September
Zanu PF militia invades centre for the disabled
Bulwayo - Recruits from the government's controversial National Youth Service training programme have moved into one of Zimbabwe's biggest rehabilitation centres, the Jairos Jiri Association for Rehabilitation of the Disabled in Bulawayo. The youths, accused of torturing and maiming opposition supporters, moved into Jairos Jiri two weeks ago from their camp at Ntabazinduna on Bulawayo's north-eastern boundary. An official at the centre, Joseph Rusike, told ZimOnline they had reluctantly accepted the youths after Youth Minister, Ambrose Mutinhiri, requested them to do so. Rusike said: "It has come when elections are around the corner. It's possible that people could think another camp has been established. We pray that nothing happens." About 78 youths are staying at the centre. The youths have been accused by churches and human rights organisations of operating torture camps especially in rural areas where they torture and rape suspected supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party. The government denies the youths commit human rights violations saying the youth training programme is meant to inculcate patriotism and good behaviour in the youngsters.
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From The Daily Mirror, 24 September
AirZim planes dangerous
Clemence Manyukwe
Air Zimbabwe aircraft pose a potential risk to passengers' lives, as they have outlived their life span, a senior government official said yesterday. Margaret Sangarwe, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, said this when she appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Tourism to answer questions on her ministry's budget performance for the period up to June this year. "They (Air Zimbabwe) do not have aircraft. All their aircraft have gone beyond their lifetime and they are becoming a risk to security," said Sangarwe. Sangarwe's revelations came amid problems being encountered in efforts to turn the country into a tourist destination of choice. She said no matter how much the country was marketed abroad, there was always a negative impact exerted by lack of direct flights from some regions of the world. The chairman of the committee, Nkayi Member of Parliament Abedinico Bhebhe, expressed concern that South Africa seemed to be benefiting more bringing tourists to Victoria Falls. Bhebhe urged that something has to be done for the country to benefit more from its tourist resources. He alleged that South Africa was now using the country's main tourist attraction to lure tourists to resorts in its own country.
Sangarwe said the matter was a burning issue, but ruled out stopping South African Airways, which makes 14 flights a week into Victoria Falls from the destination. This was because Air Zimbabwe was authorised to fly into Cape Town, but had stopped on its own due to lack of planes. Kenya and British Airways, Sangarwe said, also had flights into Victoria Falls from the destination. He said one way to ensure that the tourists brought by the South Africans extended their stay in the country was to lure them to other resorts, but the problem was that there was no direct flight from Victoria Falls to other areas such as Kariba. She said although the country was benefiting from the "Go East" policy, there was need to assess "whether we are benefiting, by increased receipts through the increased inflows". Sangarwe also said transport problems were discouraging tourists, and gave an example of the Chinese who had to go through South Africa, which was expensive. The permanent secretary, however, said the decline in tourist arrivals in the country had been a blessing in disguise as it opened the eyes of the tourism industry to the potential of domestic tourists who had been neglected in the past. She, however, regretted that Zimbabweans did not have a culture of "holidaying". "We do not have a culture of holidaying, the culture is just not in us. In Europe a couple can work to raise money for travelling," she said.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 24 September
Zimbabwe tourism figures plummet
Harare - The number of foreign tourists visiting Zimbabwe dropped by 36% in the first half of this year compared to the same time in 2003, the country's tourism promotion body said on Thursday. The figures by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) said the number of visitors dropped from 1,3-million in the first six months of last year to 827 245 this year. Zimbabwe has launched a campaign to attract tourists from China and other Asian countries after arrivals from its traditional European and other Western markets slumped in recent years due to the political upheaval in the southern African country. The figures, released to the Ziana news agency, said most tourists came from South Africa, with some 255 975 visitors, followed by Mozambique with 186 759. Most overseas visitors came from the United States, said the ZTA, with around 23 300 or 15% of the total figure. There were 13 892 visitors from Britain, representing 13%, while China, which Zimbabwe had been eyeing, was placed third with 11 584 or seven percent of tourists. The number of arrivals from China represented a 245% increase over the same period last year. At its peak in the 1990s, tourism - notably to the spectacular northwestern Victoria Falls and the game reserves - brought in about 12,5% of Zimbabwe's gross domestic product (GDP) and employed 4,5% of the labour force. But tourists have been staying away from Zimbabwe since an economic and political crisis began four years ago. The government blames the slump in tourism on negative reporting by international media, tarnishing Zimbabwe's image.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 24 September
Trust Bank closed
Staff Writers
Trust Bank Ltd, a subsidiary of Trust Holdings Ltd, was yesterday placed under curatorship for six months by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) because of persisting liquidity problems. Trust becomes the fourth commercial bank to be placed under curatorship this year. Intermarket, Barbican and Royal have met the same fate. The RBZ has appointed Peter Bailey of KPMG Chartered Accountants (Zimbabwe) as the curator. This comes barely seven days before the September 30 RBZ deadline for banks to raise their minimum paid-up share capital to $10 billion. Trust has over the past year been baled out by the central bank enabling it to remain afloat. At the time of its closure yesterday, the bank owed the RBZ about $1,4 trillion, an amount equal to the country's domestic debt. Problems at Trust came to a head on Wednesday when board chairman, Tichaendepi Masaya, was booted out at the bank's emergency general meeting. "The RBZ took this action after determining that the various turnaround strategies and measures that Trust Bank had pursued failed to address the liquidity and solvency challenges the bank has been facing since the last quarter of 2003," the RBZ said in a statement yesterday. It said notwithstanding the assistance granted to Trust under the Troubled Banks Fund, liquidity challenges persisted. Mergers failed to materialise whilst the bank's shareholders were unable to recapitalise the bank. The RBZ said one of the consequences of placing Trust under a curator was that the "institution of all legal proceedings and the execution of writs, warrants and summons is now stayed". This means that the bank will be closed for the next six months. The latest development comes hard on the heels of the extension of curatorship for Barbican and Intermarket by the central bank this week. On Tuesday RBZ governor Gideon Gono told a parliamentary enquiry that nine financial institutions might not be able to meet their capitalisation requirements.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 24 September
Zim, IMF ties suffer further strain
Shakeman Mugari
Relations between Zimbabwe and the Bretton Woods institutions are likely to be further strained after President Robert Mugabe apparently declined to meet the new Inter-national Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director, Rodrigo de Rato, recently. Mugabe was due to meet with the new IMF chief on the sidelines of the African Union meeting in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou on September 8. However, the Zimbabwean delegation failed to confirm the meeting whilst the IMF team waited. It is not clear who had suggested the meeting but it is understood that Mugabe had agreed in principle to meet De Rato. "The call to confirm the meeting from the Zimbabwe side did not come through and as a result the meeting did not take place as scheduled," IMF spokesman David Hawley was quoted as telling Bloomberg news agency. This is likely to complicate relations between the IMF and Zimbabwe which are already frosty. Mugabe has shown deep resentment towards the Bretton Woods institution despite efforts by Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono to mend relations with it and other multilateral organisations.
Mugabe lashed out at the IMF, accusing it of telling lies about Zimbabwe, in his speech to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. "We plead with the IMF to stop its strange political mouthings, lies and fabrication about our situation," Mugabe said. "Our own regional organisations know the truth about Zimbabwe." The attack came barely a week after the IMF released a damning report on Zimbabwe's economic situation. It raised grave concern over Zimbabwe's "sharp economic decline". The report blasted Zimbabwe for not putting concrete measures in place to curb the economic slide. It said the current confusion surrounding land reform was a threat to property rights and eroded investor confidence. "More broadly, staff stressed the importance of addressing the issue of property rights in a way that would resolve investor confidence including observing commitments under bilateral agreements," the report said. It said Zimbabwe needed sound economic policies, strengthening of the rule of law, addressing governance issues and reducing corruption if it was to restore international support.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 24 September
SA back on Zim beat
Godwin Gandu
President Thabo Mbeki is making renewed efforts to rescue Zimbabwe from further political turmoil. His latest attempts were triggered after the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) decided to suspend participation in the country's elections in March next year until the government complies with Southern African Development Community (SADC) benchmarks for democratic elections. Mbeki, accompanied by Reverend Frank Chikane, his legal adviser Mojanku Gumbi and the Director General of Foreign Affairs Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba met an MDC delegation comprising vice-president Gibson Sibanda, secretary general Welshman Ncube and deputy secretary general Gift Chimanikire at the Union Buildings in Pretoria last Saturday. Sources who attended the two-hour long talks told the Mail & Guardian that Mbeki felt that the MDC's move would deepen the political crisis in the country. He also expressed concern about President Robert Mugabe's continued defiance of calls to open political space in Zimbabwe. "He could not understand why Zanu PF was refusing to play ball. The NGO bill, harassment of civic organisations and the banning of newspapers was of concern to Mbeki," the sources said.
Mbeki nonetheless put it to the MDC that its withdrawal from the elections would derail progress, a statement that baffled the MDC delegation. In their opinion there hasn't been any progress. But, the sources said that it was apparent that Mbeki was still determined to engage Mugabe. Speaking after Mbeki met Mugabe on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo confirmed that the South African president had indicated that he would increase his interactions with the MDC and Zanu PF. However, Brian Raftopolous, of Zimbabwe University's Institute of Development Studies, doubts that the meeting will yield much: "Zanu PF [is] simply not interested. They don't need talks; they don't think it's necessary." The Zanu PF campaign machinery is already in top gear. Its structures are being revamped countrywide to wage a "vigorous campaign" dubbed "A war against Blair".
Mugabe is introducing electoral reforms in line with the SADC guidelines to try and improve his standing with the body's leaders. Already Zanu PF has indicated that all parties contesting the election will be granted access to radio and television on the state broadcaster. Opposition parties have slammed this development as "attempts to hoodwink the world" and said that access was "dependent on the benevolence of Zanu PF". Despite its withdrawal, said Raftopolous, "They [the MDC] are still making preparations to participate. Strategically, it is the correct move." The MDC will have to depend on global pressure to force Mugabe to open up more democratic space. "They could act as an extra-parliamentary force and build a new popular momentum, going back to its roots. Engage trade unionists and a new popular front will have to re-emerge, but it will be difficult. They have a greater presence as a legitimate national force ... that they are agents of imperialists has found a hearing in some quarters of Africa ... to others it's a genuine opposition," said Raftopolous.
The MDC's boycott of the election has left its supporters in a quandary. According to Ncube, the decision was taken unanimously by the party's national executive who was "not prepared to dignify a flawed electoral process". "The fundamental principle is whether the people of Zimbabwe have their freedom or not. If they [Zanu PF] want to have the 150 seats, they can have them. They will definitely know the people of Zimbabwe did not elect them," said Ncube. Concerns have been raised that the MDC decision was "hurried" without proper consultation. A member of its youth wing, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said its withdrawal "will not pay any political dividends" and would take them "out of the political picture, particularly [out of ] Parliament. "It will be difficult for the public to judge our effectiveness," he said. But Raftopolous believes the decision was "understandable [given that] there have been continued threats on the opposition and civic organisations".
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From The Financial Mail (SA), 17 September
For Zimbabwe, time to listen
Morgan Tsvangirai sees Mozambique's Joaquim Chissano as an acceptable broker of talks with Robert Mugabe
By Jenny Cargill
Returning to my country of exile, Zimbabwe, after 15 years, the words of Beyers Naudé resonated. I was there to show our film, Memories of Rain, in which he participated. I had heard his comments many times before, but only then did I feel the full impact of his profundity: "I deliberately set aside time to listen . . ." A couple of days later he died, and I reflected on what his world view means to the unfolding crisis across our border. First, I have no doubt, Beyers Naudé would have listened to all parties, and second, his commitment to justice, peace and tolerance would have underpinned his understanding of Zimbabwe and the basis on which to find a solution. But it is just this that appears absent from the Zimbabwe discourse. The debate has been driven by gut reaction, with Robert Mugabe resurrecting the sentiments of sovereignty, liberation politics and longstanding colonial grievances. By so doing, he has created inertia in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in dealing with the crisis decisively.
The impression therefore is one of African governments being prepared to watch the breakdown of the rule of law and the free fall of an economy without critical or principled engagement. As a result, Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) appears isolated from the African political arena. The MDC claims a paid-up membership of 2,6m and control of nearly all the urban councils (which is being stripped away by administrative fiat). Its members are harassed, detained and tortured. Laws are being passed to curtail the operations of "troublesome" NGOs. I had the opportunity to discuss with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai why it is so difficult for his party to get an adequate hearing among governments of the region. After all, there is greater political synergy between the ANC and the MDC than between the ANC and Zanu PF. Tsvangirai talks of having to stand by universal principles of democracy and human rights if Africa wants to be respected globally. The defensive citing by many states of Africa's right to choose its own way has resulted in Africa positioning itself according to the "lowest common denominator", Tsvangirai says. SA's political construct, however, is based on the same universal principles that Tsvangirai refers to, and which are absent under Zanu.
The rule of law and justice must be the first requirement of normalising Zimbabwe, Tsvangirai says. This too was a key element of SA's political transformation. The MDC heads a broad alliance of opposition groups. Yet such diverse support has triggered condemnation of the MDC for being foreign- and/or white-controlled. Too often the crisis is dismissed as a justified assault on white economic dominance. Yet the struggle against apartheid rested on a similar broad alliance, rooted in nonracialism. A crucial difference between the MDC and the ANC is the MDC's policy of nonviolence to effect change. Tsvangirai says it is uncompromisingly committed to civic rather than violent action. The MDC has earned little credit for this. SA's policy of "quiet diplomacy" is said to be in recognition of the need to steer Zimbabwe clear of a path of violent political change. But in the absence of any visible results, the continuance of the policy has favoured Mugabe only, allowing for an escalation in state violence.
The SADC electoral charter offers a lever for change through peaceful means. However, it is difficult to imagine this taking place without a peace broker. SA and Thabo Mbeki tend to be seen as the obvious choice, but Tsvangirai disagrees. The person has to be acceptable to both sides as an honest broker, he says. The SADC leadership troika offers possibilities: new chairman Paul Berenger of Mauritius has set a different tone, backed by Botswana's Festus Mogae. But it is unlikely that either would secure Mugabe's support. The third, Mozambique's Joaquim Chissano, probably would. Tsvangirai believes they could work with him. With parliamentary elections due next March, there is a renewed focus on Zimbabwe, and there will be a repositioning of political forces. But it is difficult to imagine that repositioning resulting in a positive outcome without a direct intervention to broker a more stable environment. That could come from SADC, but more likely from individual leaders. However such intervention manifests itself, it would be worth bearing in mind Naudé's legacy: the importance of creating the space to listen, ensuring that expectations and fears are heard and elevating principles rather than political expediency to guide solutions.
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From The Daily Mail (UK), 25 September
England plan to leave stars at home
By Mike Dickson
England's cricket authorities are considering the surprise withdrawal of several senior players from their controversial one-day tour of Zimbabwe this autumn. Paceman Steve Harmison has already declared himself unavailable for the tour and more players may also be absent for a trip which continues to dog English cricket. As England prepare for today's ICC Champions Trophy Final against the West Indies, major discussions are still going on behind the scenes about the make-up of the squad that will travel to southern Africa. Andrew Flintoff has been widely expected to join Harmison in refusing to go, but he might now be one of several players stood down as much for cricketing reasons as anything else. Ashley Giles and Marcus Trescothick could also be among the group told to save their energies for the arduous tour of South Africa that follows, which will feature five Test matches in barely seven weeks. The pair are among those to have agreed - extremely reluctantly - to tour Zimbabwe, but would be delighted if the selectors took the decision out of their hands.
Although the Zimbabwe team at the Champions Trophy played above themselves last week, seeing their obvious weakness first-hand raised questions in some quarters about whether England would not be better served by giving some fringe players a taste of international cricket. The issue is likely to have been discussed when the selectors met this week, but their hands could be tied by the hierarchy at Lord's. England and Wales Cricket Board chairman David Morgan is always anxious not to offend the other cricketing nations, who may not be impressed by an under-strength team travelling to Zimbabwe. However, the International Cricket Council is now pre-occupied with bigger issues over touring, such as Australia threatening to pull out of their upcoming tour against India unless television contract matters are sorted out to their satisfaction. England are likely to finally announce the make-up of their Zimbabwe squad early next week.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 26 September
Now Mugabe expels farm invaders
Zimbabwe's chaotic land reform programme comes full circle as so-called settlers are themselves violently evicted from farms
Sunday Times Foreign Desk
Tafireyi Matondo sits on a drum along the Chirundu highway, surrounded by his wife, Chiedza, grimy children and their personal possessions in the ruins of a gutted hut. Glum and despairing, the 67-year-old war veteran battles to make sense of the actions of the last couple of weeks. "It was alarming," he recalls. "Soldiers and police came and evicted us military-style. They used tear gas, beat us up, set our houses on fire, rained missiles and sparked something like an inferno. We are sitting here in the open, we have nothing to eat, nothing to drink and we don't know where to go. There is no one to help us." It was an end Matondo never envisaged when he and other war veterans violently invaded the farm Inkomo, north of Harare, about four years ago. Then, he believed the government's promises: that the land they had brutally wrested was now theirs, and their rights to it would be protected. But last week, in a new twist to Zimbabwe's controversial land reform programme, President Robert Mugabe's regime embarked on a new phase of evictions: that of the war veterans and settlers who had taken over once-vibrant commercial farms, usually those owned by whites.
In a show of force by police, more than 200 settler families, as they are known, were moved off at least 20 farms which include Little England, which last year was the subject of a dispute between Mugabe's relatives and villagers. Domestic animals such as cattle, goats and sheep were reportedly stolen as their owners were booted out of their huts well before dawn, while other animals, such as dogs, were killed. Huts on farms between the towns of Norton and Banket are reported to have been torched and international human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, said this week that at least 10 people were killed in the eviction from Porta farm. Police denied the killings. By Wednesday this week burning and looting had spread from 30km north of Harare and was approaching Doma and Mhangura, more than 100km away. Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said the evictions were to ensure that farm land that was seized would be properly used. He said a land audit had shown that seized farms were mostly lying fallow and had been reduced to dustbowls by settlers who had no resources and lacked aptitude to till the land. Made insisted the evictions would continue - even as the realisation that things have come full circle seeps into the consciousness of the settlers.
Said Mudara Takawira, who was among thousands left stranded along the Chirundu highway: "The government is now evicting us from the farms because it has used us to vote it in, in previous elections. We know this is a political issue. The government wants to be seen as if it is rectifying problems associated with the land-reform programme and we are being used as the scapegoats." He said there was also a growing belief among settlers that they were being evicted so Zanu PF politicians could get the farms. But this realisation means little to the wives of the settlers who once again find themselves without homes - and without hope. "We are appealing to the government to show mercy," said Chiedza Matondo. "We have grandchildren, some as young as 10, and we don't know what to do."
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From Zim Online (SA), 26 September
Government seizes company-owned farms
Harare - The government yesterday gave six companies and estate firms 90 days to give up more than one million hectares of land in a fresh campaign to seize corporate-owned land. The conglomerates were issued with Section 8 Orders, which under the government's Land Acquisition Act gives management and staff three months to wind up operations and leave the properties. A list published in yesterday's government gazette showed that the state was compulsorily acquiring subdivision E of Arlington estate, measuring 530 255 hectares. The land is owned by cement manufacturing giant, Portland Cement. The state also listed for seizure Lot 2 of Saturday Retreat estate, measuring 22 077 hectares, the remainder of Cerney Township, measuring 46 233 hectares, and New Cennety Township 2, measuring 63,8 hectares. The three properties are owned by Crest Breeders, which in turn is owned by CFI Holdings, a company in which embattled business mogul and former Zanu PF ally, Mutumwa Mawere, has a major stake. The government has in the last three weeks seized Mawere's multi-million dollar asbestos mines and other ventures after falling out with the businessman. The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed Mashonaland Holdings is set to lose Eyrecourt farm and Acorn Estates to the state, while the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association, which brings together the country's mostly white large-scale tobacco growers will have to give up its 605 809 hectare farm on the outskirts of Harare. Cigarette maker, Rothmans will also have to surrender to the state 100 313 hectares of land in Lochinvar, just outside Harare city centre.
The government did not give reasons why it was now turning on corporate-owned farms most of which are productive commercial ventures or were being reserved for expansion purposes. When the government launched its chaotic and often violent programme to seize white-owned land for redistribution to blacks in 2000, it said it was not going to take land owned by agro-based companies, plantation and estate firms and churches. The government last month appeared to backtrack on its word when it seized land owned by Mhangura Copper Mines and another farm owned by Buffalo Range Properties. The government has also issued a Section 8 Order on Mkwasine Estate, a sugar-growing estate jointly owned by South Africa's Anglo American Corporation and Tongaat Hullet. Other companies that have also lost land to the government in the last month include Zimbabwe's sole fertiliser manufacturing company, Sable Chemicals. The Wattle Company, which produces wattle trees used by Zimbabwe's sole paper making company, Mutare Board and Paper, to manufacture paper had some of its plantations also gazetted for acquisition. Executives at some of the firms, who did not want to be named, said the seizure of their land had forced them to scale down operations on the farms because of uncertainty. "Some of the companies have literally closed shop while others are working out plans to move away to safe warehouses equipment on the farms some of which was financed through loans," said one executive. Under state land acquisition laws, owners are not allowed to remove equipment from a farm once the government has issued a Section 8 Order on the property. Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe lost billions of dollars worth of equipment invested at Kondozi Farm in Manicaland province, when the farm was taken over by the state's Agricultural and Rural Development Authority earlier this year.
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From The Daily Mirror, 25 September
Trust Bank clients fail to access funds
Daily Mirror reporter
Grace Mudiwa of Greendale, Harare, yesterday morning left her home and went to Trust Towers, the headquarters of Trust Bank, hoping that news of the bank's closure had just been another nightmare. After having heard on Thursday evening that her bank had been placed under curatorship, she still hoped that she would access her salary yesterday. That was not to be, and she joined hundreds of other Trust Bank account holders who will have to wait for the next six months, or until conditions set for the bank have been relaxed, before she can withdraw her salary. "We had just got paid on Wednesday and l was preparing to go and withdraw some of my money, but when l heard that the bank had been closed during the 8 pm news, my heart skipped a beat," she said. Yesterday morning, she joined scores of other account holders who had hoped for a miracle, just in case the bank opened for business. Instead, a notice was pasted on the bank's glass doors, telling clients that the bank had been closed by order of the Reserve Bank. Trust Bank becomes the fifth financial institution this year - after Intermarket Discount House, Intermarket Banking Corporation, Royal Bank and Barbican Bank - to be placed under the management of a curator after the RBZ determined that they were financially unstable. First National Building Society has also been under the management of a curator for nearly two years. "l heard the rumours that the bank was about to be closed early in the evening but when l rushed to the bank, the central bank notice was already stuck on the windows," Brighton Matori said.
With one of the best marketed and best designed corporate brands in the financial services industry, and certainly in the country, many people never imagined that Trust Bank would one day be placed under curatorship. Problems started in late 2003 when the bank was caught up in the liquidity crunch that gripped the financial services sector. By January, allegations of shady dealings, that involved speculative investments in vehicles and bricks surfaced. Heads rolled, with group chief executive officer William Nyemba and executive directors Chris Goromonzi and Nyevero Hlupo being forced to resign. The move was meant to be part of the troubled bank's clean-up campaign as directed by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ). To get the commercial bank back on its feet, the RBZ through the Troubled Bank Fund, provided liquidity support. Of the $208 billion liquidity gap support and $60 billion statutory reserve support sourced from the central bank (making it a total of $268 billion), only $83 billion has been repaid so far. The amount, however, excludes interest charged on the loans, now believed to be beyond $1 trillion. And when the bank's shareholders booted their chairman, Dr Tichaendepi Masaya, out of office on Wednesday, little did they know that the RBZ had other plans for them. Addressing a Parliamentary portfolio committee early this week, RBZ governor Dr Gideon Gono warned that nine banks would face the chop for failing to meet the central bank's requirements. So far it is one down, eight to go.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 26 September
Moyo sells his grubby SA mansion for a song
Penny Sukhraj
The South African luxury house of Zimbabwe's controversial Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo, has been auctioned for R1.5-million - a low price for the Johannesburg suburb of Saxonwold. Last year Moyo told lawyers, acting on behalf of the Talunoza family trust, in whose name the property was registered, to "get rid of the house" after he fell into arrears on bond repayments to Nedbank. This week, the property's new owner, Dr Adam Habib, executive director of the Democracy and Governance Research Programme at the Human Sciences Research Council, confirmed the sale. Moyo had not lived in the house for four years, and kept a caretaker on the property. However, the property looked run-down by the time of the auction in November last year and was sold at a price considered a bargain for one of Johannesburg's upmarket northern suburbs. Moyo bought the house while working as a visiting professor at Wits University in 1998. At the time, he paid R875 000 for the 1 976m˛ house in the suburb of Saxonwold, where monthly rents are estimated to be between R20 000 and R30 000. However, Moyo left a legacy of unpaid bills. Habib could not take proper ownership of the house because Moyo owed the Johannesburg City Council about R60 000 in municipal rates. He also owed more than R48 000 for electricity and water. "My lawyers had to send notice to lawyers acting for Moyo, saying that if he did not pay the outstanding amount within a stipulated time, we would pull out of the deal," said Habib. The bills were finally settled in May, at which point Habib could move in with his family. "When we got here, we found that many of the electrical and water facilities were not working. The sewage was overflowing. The garden had not been watered and was overgrown with weeds. And the pool was black," he said. Habib has spent about R300 000 repairing the eight-room house, which has a double garage, a large modern kitchen, Oregon pine floors, two lounges and four bathrooms. "The place was filthy. We had to get people in here to strip everything and scrub and clean it. "We drained the pool, scrubbed it out and then refilled it. We've taken out carpets and sanded the original wooden floors. We also stripped the doors and restored their original wood," he said.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 26 September
Mugabe's online nightmare
Matthew Buckland
When South African mainstream media were covering the banning and demise of Zimbabwe's biggest independent daily paper, the Daily News, what wasn't widely reported was that the title continued publishing from outside Zimbabwe's borders via another medium: the internet. The Daily News had cleverly registered a website address, http://www.daily-news.co.za/, in neighbouring South Africa and kept churning out the news in the absence of its print product. So while Zimbabwean police moved into the Daily News offices to shut down printing presses and confiscate computers, there was not a single thing they could do about a website registered and located in a foreign country with free press laws. Perhaps the South African media should have made more fuss about the Daily News website. For example, it may have ever so slightly dented the Zimbabwean government's victory if SABC or e.tv news reports on the Daily News demise were accompanied by a reference to the rise and continued presence of the website, together with the web address for viewers to visit and support. Following the Daily News example, another Zimbabwean website has now burst onto the scene. Zimonline, at http://www.zimonline.co.za/, is another website for Zimbabweans in Zimbabwe and it too is registered and published from South Africa - beyond the clutches of the Zimbabwean government. Unlike the Daily News it is an exclusively online publication without a newspaper to back it. The website has a small army of dedicated journalists based in Harare and Johannesburg to keep the news ticking over on a daily basis. The ".co.za" domain address means that Zimbabwe's energetic editor-in-chief, Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, can do absolutely nothing about these sites. He can vent, scream, shout and spout his usual vitriol, but he cannot close Zimonline or the Daily News website. The sites fall under South Africa's free press laws, and that's where it ends.
Zimonline spokesperson and human rights lawyer Daniel Molokela says most of his site's readership is from Zimbabwe, even though the site is based in South Africa. He says the site has been "overwhelmed", attracting a big readership that is showing a "thirst" for independent news. And the website appears to be quite successful at breaking the news too. Molokela says that some big South African titles such as Thisday, The Star, Sunday Independent and Pretoria News have carried stories that Zimonline first broke. The Zimonline and Daily News examples show the power of websites in championing freedom of speech in oppressive environments, and the special role they can play in the face of government censorship. Oppressive governments haven't known quite what to do with the internet up until now because it's not as simple to control as other media. In many ways websites are the ultimate tools of democracy and freedom of expression. Almost anyone can publish easily and quickly, and at a fraction of the cost of television, radio or print. Websites are a way of combating not only political censorship, but censorship caused by financial constraints. But the reason we have yet to see a major clampdown on the internet by authoritarian regimes on this continent is probably because it is still largely a tool of the elite: restricted to universities, corporations and the wealthy. It has yet to pose a threat worth worrying about in Africa, unlike China where internet use is more widespread and authorities have tried to restrict the free flow of information in cyberspace. The Zimbabwean government's recent moves to force internet service providers in the country to monitor customers' e-mails and report "objectionable, obscene, unauthorised" material shows a greater awareness of the danger the internet poses. Regretfully, this unwanted attention may be a sign of things to come from certain autocratic African regimes.
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From The Mail on Sunday (UK), 26 September
England in tour mutiny threat
Vaughan's new row over Zimbabwe
By Peter Hayter
English cricket's glorious summer is in danger of ending in a bitter dispute involving players, selectors and management over the controversial tour of Zimbabwe. Steve Harmison's withdrawal from the tour last weekend led to a stand-up row between the fats bowler and captain Michael Vaughan, and tomorrow all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is expected to follow suit and declare himself unavailable for the one-day series in November. While England's impressive run was halted at the Oval yesterday - the West Indies winning the ICC Champions Trophy Final by two wickets - the refusal of England and Wales Cricket Board chairman to allow coach Duncan Fletcher to rest key players from the squad threatens a further breakdown in relations. Vaughan and Fletcher believe the crisis could be avoided if the ECB accept the need for senior players to stand down after their exertions of the past two years and before a programme that includes a five-Test tour of South Africa and next summer's Ashes campaign. Fletcher has made a final plea to Morgan to relent, but if the board refuse to budge, even more player withdrawals are expected from the 14-man squad, which is due to be announced on Tuesday.
The team spirit on which England have built their recent success has already been unsettled by Vaughan and Harmison's confrontation last Saturday. Celebrations after their victory over Sri Lanka went flat when Harmison informed his skipper that news of his withdrawal was about to break. Prior to Harmison's decision, Vaughan had passed on to his players the ECB line that they had no choice but to tour for fear of ICC sanctions. In that context, Vaughan urged his colleagues to make themselves available for reasons of collective unity. But the Durham bowler's decision blew a huge hole in any notion of team solidarity and Vaughan, upset that the side's focus on beating Australia in last Tuesday's semi-final might have been distracted, openly berated him. 'Harmy kicked a hole in the dam and raised the possibility of division within the camp,' said one team insider. Apart from moral concerns over a tour most players are privately opposed to, Fletcher and his management team would prefer to allow the players some well-earned time off, particularly given the poor standard of the current Zimbabwe side. But with Morgan anxious not to irritate his ICC counterparts by being seen to sanction and understrength squad, the selectors have been told to pick their best players.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 26 September
Plot to oust Ndabeni-Ncube
By Loughty Dube
Bulawayo - The Zanu PF government has allegedly hatched a plan to oust the elected MDC executive mayor for Bulawayo, Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube, from office over allegations that he is making up malnutrition figures in the city to discredit the government, The Standard has learnt. Last week, the Minister of State for Information, Professor Jonathan Moyo, threatened Ndabeni-Ncube, accusing him of "falsifying" malnutrition figures and giving them to the independent media to discredit the government. Councillors who spoke to The Standard last week said they were aware that the government was hatching plans to accuse Ndabeni-Ncube over a host of allegations, paving the way for his arrest and ultimate suspension from office. The councillors said they were aware of their colleagues who were provoking the mayor in council meetings in a bid to get him to react in a violent manner. Some of these councillors were said to be in direct communication with the Minister of Local Government, Dr Ignatious Chombo. "Zanu PF is using millions of dollars to lure councillors to the party and we are aware that there are councillors who appear to be falling into the trap," said one councillor.
Ndabeni-Ncube has on several occasions clashed with the city's former deputy mayor, Charles Mpofu, during council meetings. Mpofu defected from Zanu PF and was elected councillor on an MDC ticket. The mayor also exchanged harsh words with Ward 28 councillor, Stars Mathe. during a full council meeting. Zanu PF currently has a single councillor, Ernest Msipa, in the 29 strong council, who was elected unopposed after the MDC pulled out of all elections early this month. MDC spokesperson for Bulawayo, Victor Moyo, said his party was aware of the plot to oust Ndabeni-Ncube from his position and replace him with a pro-Zanu PF acting mayor. He said the latest attempt to implicate the mayor in unethical practices would not succeed since council had documented material to support cases of deaths from hunger in the city. Ndabeni-Ncube confirmed the existence of a plot to remove him from office. "I know I have ruffled many feathers by disclosing the deaths of people due to malnutrition and they want me out of the way." Moyo last week lashed out at Ndabeni-Ncube and Dr Zanele Hwalima the city's health services director and said his ministry would deal with journalists who write stories about people dying from malnutrition.
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From The Daily News Online Edition, 26 September
Government keeps UN agencies guessing on food security
The government has kept the United Nations agencies in Zimbabwe guessing over the gravity of the food security situation in the country despite widespread reports that several children under five years have died of malnutrition in Matabeleland provinces. Authoritative sources within the UN in Zimbabwe and South Africa told The Daily News Online yesterday that the reports emerging from the Bulawayo City Council's Health Department, though not yet authenticated by the UN agencies in Zimbabwe, indicated beyond doubt that the said deaths were linked to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The sources said they have unsuccessfully sought the government's approval to carry out a nutritional survey to gauge the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the food shortages. A senior UN source said: "We have been trying to follow up with them what the rest of the Matabeleland province is experiencing but without much success. It is evident that you cannot separate the deaths of under-five children from the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The UN agencies, including the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Food Programme (WFP), have asked for a nutrition survey in Bulawayo but approvals have not been forthcoming.
"The Bulawayo City Council is under the control of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the government does not offer any assistance to the council. The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare needs to approve the nutrition survey but they have been hindering progress in that respect. The UN agencies need to get the real truth and statistics." The official said in such sensitive matters UN agencies usually discuss these issues with all stakeholders like the Health Ministry, WFP and councilors and afterwards the survey would be launched. But Makena Walker, the WFP public affairs officer in Zimbabwe yesterday said the WFP was feeding about 600 000 primary school children and other vulnerable groups. Walker said: "We are assisting vulnerable groups as agreed with the government. The people getting assistance include those on the home-based care with HIV/AIDS and supplementary feeding children." The food situation in Zimbabwe has remained unclear with reports of massive maize movement to Masvingo and Matabeleland provinces from other provinces with surplus food.
Another senior official with a UN agency said the Zanu PF government was using food to lure voters ahead of next March's parliamentary election which the ruling party has vowed to post a two-thirds majority win at all costs. The practice, the official said, was rife in Lupane and Tsholotshlo where Zanu PF is believed to be campaigning vigorously to regain the seats, held by the MDC. "The maize movement started about two months ago but they have increased the amounts in the past two weeks where a 50 kilogramme of maize is being sold at subsidized prices of $30 000 in the hardest hit areas," the source said. "The same quantity is being sold at $50 000 in the areas of Mashonaland and Manicaland provinces where people produced better harvests to last them until November this year. We do not know as yet where the surplus would come from to feed millions of Zimbabweans after November." The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) recently told a parliamentary committee that it has only received 298 000 tonnes of maize from farmers and it was insufficient to feed the nation. President Robert Mugabe early this year predicted that the country would produce a bumper harvest of 2.4 million tonnes and did not require food assistance from donor agencies.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 26 September
War veterans stop Chipinge retailers from selling maize
By our own Staff
War veterans and Zanu PF youths have banned retailers in Chipinge South from selling maize meal to villagers, The Standard has learnt. The ban means villagers can only buy maize meal from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), where they are asked to produce ruling party membership cards. Villagers who spoke to The Standard last week said they were finding life difficult because they were forced to buy Zanu PF membership cards in order to access food at GMB depots, where the maize meal is sold in bulk. In some cases, the maize meal is sold to villagers, at inflated prices, by Zanu PF youths, who have easy access to the GMB. According to the villagers, the practice is rampant in areas such as Chibuwe, Rimbi, Kondo and Mariya, where firms such as N Richards & Company, Reapers (Pvt) Limited and other smaller retailers have been banned from selling maize meal. "We used buy to 5kg maize meal for $6 300 from N Richards but now we cannot. If you go to the GMB, you have to buy in bulk but we don't have the money," said Sofia Mhlanga of Rimbi Business Centre, about 30 kilometres from Chipangayi, where the nearest GMB depot is located. The villagers said they preferred buying maize meal in smaller quantities because they could not afford bulk purchases. The GMB can only sell a minimum of 50kg bag of maize for $32 900 to individuals "subject to approval by the depot manager", said a GMB official in Harare.
Chris Dube, who also hails from Rimbi but works in Harare, said it was disheartening that Zanu PF, was using food to force starving villagers into submission. "At times, Porusingazi brings maize meal at the centre to sell it to Zanu PF party card-holders only. Now that some retailers have been banned from operating in the areas, people are going to starve," said Dube. Enock Porusingazi, a long-standing aspirant for the Chipinge South seat, said he was only involved in the transportation of maize to selected points from the GMB but does not distribute it to the communities. He refuted allegations that villagers were being forced to buy Zanu PF cards to secure maize. "The selling is done by local councillors and drought relief committee members not Zanu PF youths," said Porusingazi. is political rivals, he claimed, were making the allegations. He will be contesting against Catherine Chirimambowa in the Zanu PF primaries next month.
An official with N Richards & Company in Chiredzi last week confirmed the firm had been prevented from selling maize meal in Chipinge South. He said for the past month the company had not been delivering maize meal to Chipinge South after Zanu PF youths threatened company officials. "The issue looks political. However, the MP for Chipinge South (Wilson Kumbula) came here on Wednesday and appealed to us. He said that people in his constituency were suffering, so we are likely to resume supplies any time from now," said the company official. Kumbula, Zanu legislator for Chipinge South, confirmed meeting officials from N Richards over the issue. He said Zanu PF officials, who have easy access to the GMB, were denying food to opposition supporters, including those from his party. "I have invited the companies back because people are suffering. Porusingazi was given a contract to transport food from the GMB to surrounding communities, but he is distributing it to Zanu PF supporters only," fumed Kumbula. Kumbula alleged that after collecting the maize from GMB, Porusingazi would then distribute it to Zanu PF youths, who would in turn sell at inflated prices. "As a result, the youths are driving away retailers in the constituency in order to avoid competition," said the MP. Reapers (Pvt) Limited chief executive officer, Basel Nyabadza, however denied they had been banned. He said they had stopped due shortage of maize meal for sale.
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From The Daily Mirror, 27 September
No cash at banks
Daily Mirror reporter
Most Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in Harare ran out of cash at the weekend, as panicking depositors stormed financial houses to withdraw their savings, amid reports that at least eight banks will be closed by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) on Thursday, for failing to meet the central bank's capital adequacy requirements. A survey carried out in the city centre yesterday showed scores of the banking public forming long queues to withdraw their savings as uncertainty in the banking sector increased. Security guards at the ATMs confirmed that there had been an unusually high number of people withdrawing cash as confidence by depositors in the banking sector declined following the placing of Trust Bank under curatorship. A security guard manning the ATMs of a building society in the First Street mall said the cash dispensers had not been giving out cash for some time, while lengthy queues were evident at outlets that had cash. "The situation in the banking sector is not encouraging and I just have to withdraw my salary before anything happens to my hard-earned money," said Memory Mutewera, a civil servant from Kambuzuma.
At least three banks along First Street mall had run out of cash while long queues were a common feature at other banks in the city centre. The security guards said most clients were thronging the ATMs withdrawing the maximum amounts of cash allowed. One bank with two ATMs at Karigamombe Centre had run out of cash by 2 pm. "The first ATM ran out of cash around 11 am. When other clients heard that the bank's other ATM along First Street had also run out of money, most of them rushed to withdraw their cash from the second ATM at Karigamombe Centre," said the guard. At least five banks, some of th |
