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Archived News
8th June 2004
Govt in massive maize imports...amidst claims of bumper harvest this season
Experts: Only fraction of Zimbabwean wheat planted
Farmers in court for staying put
Deputy mayor evicted
New deputy mayor suspended
Nedcor's Zimbabwe bank deal in doubt
Visa scams proliferate as Zimbabweans seek to flee
PCB having second thoughts about hosting Zimbabwe in October
Zimbabwe faces record food shortage
Zimbabwe - FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission
Adios Zim, says Mawere
Mugabe introduces new curbs on internet
Driver protest causes traffic jam at Beitbridge
No domestic invite to Zimbabwe claims SA board
Mbeki urged to play Zimbabwe mediator
'Get tough'
Zim holds babies until parents cough up
Provision of Aids drugs fragmented
To hell with art
Zimbabwe hospitals criticized for keeping babies, mothers until bills are paid
Zanu PF youths aid nuns in farm seizure
Nkomo cracks whip
Mugabe's gambit ends in stalemate
Zimbabwe rebels abandon struggle
Inside Mugabe's forex scam
Treger probe steers clear of party chefs
Moyo angers Zanu PF old guard
Nuns in front line of Mugabe campaign to drive the last whites from Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe secretly imports maize
Mugabe's banker to visit UK for funds
New wave of repression seen in Zimbabwe by-election
Zimbabwe's political crisis: whose problem?
Chipinge MDC members flee homes after attack
Question 1: Can Zimbabwe afford exams?
It's a close shave for Kibaki, Museveni, Mugabe in Kampala
Zim plans massive land nationalisation
Harare court blow to farmers
Clinics in three provinces do not have safe water
Who is afraid of John Nkomo?
Heavyweights to discuss Zim's future in Dubai
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From The Daily Mirror, 2 June
Govt in massive maize imports...amidst claims of bumper harvest this season
Godfrey Mutsago,Takunda Maodza and Innocent Chofamba Sithole
In a development that has ruptured official statements claiming a bumper harvest this season, emerging reports indicate that government is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on maize imports with the assistance of US-based companies. London-based newsletter, Africa Confidential reports that government has secured the assistance of two US companies Sentry Financial International and Dimon Incorporated in the massive food imports in which the officially denied maize-for-tobacco swaps are alleged to feature prominently. Dimon is the world’s second-largest tobacco leaf trader and is quoted on the New York Stock Exchange. The newsletter claims that some 400 000 tonnes of maize were transported from South Africa to Zimbabwe between April and May this year and that this figure included government imports. A letter from a prominent local bank (name supplied), dated November 15 2003, addressed to the state-owned Grain Marketing Board (GMB) acting chief executive officer Colonel Samuel Muvhuti, reveals Sentry International’s offer of credit worth US$700 million, to fund Zimbabwe’s imports of food and other goods. "The bank is pleased to extend to you an offer of US$80 million for the importation of grains," the letter reads, explaining that Sentry International is arranging finance with "security being provided by tobacco merchants" as part of the US$700 million credit line.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Muvhuti confirmed that the country was importing food, contrary to assertions that more food would "choke" the nation. "Yes we are importing maize. Government, in fact, has gone into a deal with the United States company (Sentry International) to source food for us and the food is intended to feed the nation during the time farmers would be harvesting," Muvhuti said. However, the GMB boss claimed that government was only using US$46 million (Z$243.8 billion) for the grain imports, contrary to figures claimed in the report. "Whoever made the report did not have a full report. That report is malicious and mischievous as the figures alone tell an anti-Zimbabwe stance. I can confirm that the deal was worth about US$46 million. The picture the authors of the document are giving is to try to show that Zimbabwe has failed to produce enough food especially after the land reform," he said. Muvhuti added that Sentry International would buy food from ideal countries where it would be cheaper for Zimbabwe. "It is up to Sentry to decide the countries from which to buy food. Hopefully they are looking for food in countries like Argentina and South Africa," said Muvhuti.
The government has officially announced that the country is set for a bumper harvest this season, and optimistic estimates by agriculture and rural development minister, Joseph Made hover above 2.3 million tonnes of maize. President Robert Mugabe in his recent interview with the British Sky News also said the country would produce the estimated 2.3 million tonnes, thereby ruling out the need for food relief. "We are producing it this year, definitely. Our estimates are there and they are showing us we will have enough food for the country and with a surplus," he said. Made last night said he was tied up and could therefore not take any questions while his permanent secretary, Ngoni Masoka requested questions in writing. During the first three months of this year, extension workers with the Department of Agriculture, Research and Extension (AREX), working in conjunction with the Central Statistics Office (CSO) carried out crop surveys in all districts. However, their estimates have been disputed by other stakeholders in the agriculture sector who predict an 800 000 tonne deficit. The government has already told the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) that its relief efforts would no longer be necessary, drawing sharp concerns from UNDP resident representative, Victor Angelo who openly doubted the country’s capacity to achieve food self-sufficiency this season.
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From VOA News, 1 June
Experts: Only fraction of Zimbabwean wheat planted
Zimbabwe's wheat-planting season has ended, but because of delays in the processing of loans for seed and fertilizer by the government's land bank, experts say only a fraction of the acreage has been planted. Crop forecasters say they have no idea how much wheat has been planted this year, but express doubt whether it will be more than last winter or a quarter of the country's needs. About 90-percent of Zimbabwe's wheat crop, which needs irrigation in the country's dry winter months, was traditionally grown by white commercial farmers. Following the eviction of most of them over the last four years, the land is now in the hands of the so-called new farmers. The Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers' Union, which largely represents new farmers, says many of its members did not get loans from the government's Agribank in time for planting winter wheat. The organization says the land bank has failed to process applications for loans in time. Agribank was one of about half a dozen Zimbabwe banks that were unable to honor checks earlier this year. However, the bank says it has restructured and the government has injected enough money for it to finance production of most cereal crops in future. Statistics published in state-controlled media report Zimbabwe harvested 220,000 tons of wheat last winter, but grain traders and importers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, say the actual figure is less than half of that. President Robert Mugabe has said Zimbabwe harvested enough wheat last winter to feed itself and will not need to depend on food donations or imports for the foreseeable future. During the past two years, international food donations fed as many as 5.5 million people in Zimbabwe or nearly one-half of the country's population.
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From The Mercury (SA), 2 June
Farmers in court for staying put
By Basildon Peta
Twenty-three white cattle ranchers have reportedly appeared in a court in the southern Zimbabwean town of Mwenezi for allegedly refusing to vacate properties which have been designated for compulsory seizure. Although Zimbabwean land seizure laws purport to spare areas that are not suitable for agriculture, such as cattle ranches, the 23 had been told they had to leave their properties. They refused to move. Zimbabwe recently passed a new law requiring farmers to leave their properties once notices to seize them have been published in the government gazette. The fiercely contested law has since been passed by parliament and will wipe away the small band of remaining white farmers. Fewer than 600 white farmers remain in Zimbabwe from an initial total of 4 500. State media reports said that the farmers appeared before magistrate Timeon Makunde after they were arrested for allegedly contravening section 9(1) of the Land Acquisition Amendment Act, which required them to vacate their land. Under the Act, farmers are required to vacate their properties within 90 days of receiving notification. The 23 were remanded to July 15 on $10 000 bail each. The state-owned Herald said: "They are still at the farms to this day and their property, including cattle, is still there in defiance of the order for them to leave."
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From SW Radio Africa, 1 June
Deputy mayor evicted
Harare city MDC councillors Monday night defied a government directive and conducted elections to elect a new deputy mayor of the City. The Councillors unanimously elected the ward 17 councillor representing Harare north, Dr Christopher Mushonga, as the deputy mayor taking over from Sekesayi Makwavarara. Makwavara walked out of the meeting before the elections were held. However there was drama at the Town House in Harare Tuesday when heavily armed riot police stormed and forcibly evicted the new deputy Mayor from his office. Dr Mushonga was led away from his new office by the riot police who also manhandled and beat up his lawyer.
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From The Daily Mirror, 2 June
New deputy mayor suspended
Nkululeko Sibanda
Barely 24 hours after being elected into office, new Harare deputy mayor Christopher Mushonga has been suspended from performing any council business by local government, public works and national housing minister, Ignatius Chombo. The suspension letter was handed to Mushonga yesterday afternoon, but gave no specific reasons for his suspension. Mushonga was elected deputy mayor on Monday evening by at least 28 councillors after the then acting Mayor, Councillor Sekesai Makwavarara walked out on the councillors following the moving of the motion to elect a deputy mayor for the city. In an interview yesterday, Mushonga said that he was first forcibly evicted from his office by heavily armed riot police officers, allegedly at the instruction of minister Chombo. "I sensed trouble early in the afternoon (yesterday) when a contingent of armed riot police forcefully ejected me from the office upon an instruction by minister Chombo and Harare governor, Witness Mangwende. This was followed by a letter that was delivered to me at 4.30 pm that notified me that I was among several other councillors that had been suspended by the minister. He did not specify why he had suspended us, but only said that he was investigating a number of issues," said Mushonga. He however said that he felt there was no reason the minister suspended them after councillors elected him in a lawful meeting that was called by the former acting mayor Makwavarara. Added Mushonga: "This is a clear testimony that in all these cases of council turmoil, there was a ploy by Chombo and Mangwende to protect Makwavarara. "However, it should be known that we as council will tomorrow (today) go back to court to seek an interdict that would bar the minister from further interfering in council affairs. "We will also seek to nullify the suspension by the minister so that business can continue as normal." However, Chombo was not available for comment yesterday as his mobile phone went unanswered well into the better part of the evening and neither was Governor Mangwende.
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From Business Day (SA), 2 June
Nedcor's Zimbabwe bank deal in doubt
By Stephen Gunnion and Dumisani Muleya
Nedcor's planned expansion in Zimbabwe may have hit a snag with confusion emerging over whether talks with embattled Trust Bank are over or not. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has confirmed that negotiations between the two had collapsed, saying Trust bank was technically insolvent. Nedcor, on the other hand said yesterday it had still to complete a due-diligence investigation into the Zimbabwean bank. A due-diligence investigation is normal in any merger or takeover situation, and requires a thorough inspection of a targeted company's financial position. Nedcor said Old Mutual Zimbabwe would be meeting the reserve bank shortly. "We haven't made a statement either way," said Nedcor spokesman Don Bowden. But the reserve bank said the proposed amalgamation, which would have created one of the Zimbabwe's largest banks, "may not materialise as we had all envisaged". "As part of the options for a longterm solution to Trust's liquidity, corporate governance and risk management challenges, the reserve bank was well aware of the negotiations," it said. "Whilst these negotiations were nearing conclusion, we have been advised that, regrettably, a merger between Trust and MBCA (Merchant Bank of Central Africa) may not materialise." If the deal succeeded, Trust would have been merged into MBCA, which is owned by Old Mutual through Nedcor's retail banking arm, Nedbank. Old Mutual owns 53% of Nedcor. When Nedcor announced it was in negotiations with Trust Bank last month it said it was an "opportune time for a merger like this". Trust Bank's share has plunged in the past few days, losing lost about half its value on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange due to a negative market reaction to the speculation that negotiations had collapsed. Trust Bank recently received Z$230bn from the reserve bank's troubled banks fund to save its collapsing operations. But the loan has now ballooned to Z$645bn. Coupled with hundreds of billions of almost unrecoverable loans owed to the bank, the institution has been rendered practically bankrupt.
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From eAfrica (SA), 2 June
Visa scams proliferate as Zimbabweans seek to flee
Angela Makamure
Harare - Evelyn Mudzongachiso represents the last link in one of Zimbabwe's many chains of modern misery. The worse things get under President Robert Mugabe's deepening repression, the more people are attempting to leave the country. As more people try to get exit visas, foreign embassies tighten their requirements. The harder it becomes to get a visa, the greater the demand for bribes. 'I am a teacher by profession and I am getting nothing, so why should I be patriotic to a system which is not grateful to what I'm offering?' said Mudzongachiso, a resident of a suburb outside Gweru in central Zimbabwe. 'Why should I continue suffering like this? It is more convenient to pay [a bribe] than spend four or more days queuing just to be let down.' Interviews with people outside the British and South African missions in Harare suggest a system of coordinated corruption in which police officers monitoring the queues act as middlemen for embassy employees, allegedly taking kickbacks for the officials inside and later sharing the spoils. People who pay the bribes gain faster service. Those who don't may wait for days and then have their applications denied. The going price for help in acquiring a visa to South Africa is $180, according to Mudzongachiso and others, while the fee outside the British High Commission can be more than four times as much - prohibitive sums for most Zimbabweans.
British and South African officials deny any corruption in their offices. But 12 police officers and five army officers were arrested after police conducted a raid in January at the British High Commission in Harare in an effort to curb visa-related scams. 'This is a clear symptom of deep-seated problems in Zimbabwe,' said Love Madhuku, a professor at the University of Zimbabwe. 'Police officers are being forced to ask for bribes because they have been taught to be corrupt by the present regime.' Monitoring the exodus from Zimbabwe is problematic because most people leave illegally. It is estimated that more than 479,000 Zimbabweans have officially emigrated since 1997 to seek work in South Africa, Botswana, Britain and the US. They represent a fraction of the total number estimated to have left the country in recent years. According to sources within the South African embassy in Harare, more than 20,000 Zimbabweans apply for visas every month. Roughly 2,500 more jump the fences at the Beit Bridge border crossing. The British High Commission in Harare, which received 1,700 applications in January alone, now accepts only 25 a day. In 2001, relatively early in the present crisis, the Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) surveyed 900 Zimbabwe professionals, most of whom were black. Nearly 70% said they were committed to emigrating within five years, citing deep dissatisfaction with inflation, rising taxation, scarcity of goods, declining salaries, deteriorating medical services and declining education and economic opportunities for their children. Inflation peaked late last year at 600%. Eight in 10 working-age Zimbabweans cannot find a job.
The government has applied new restrictive measures in an attempt to stem the drain. Recipient countries have also tightened visa requirements. The South African embassy now charges about $150, the British about $65. Applicants must also provide a number of other supporting documents, including a letter of invitation from a resident of the recipient country, bank statements for the visitor and host and such proofs of residence. 'With the new requirements in place you can see no one can afford that,' said Tendai Mudzingwa, a cross-border trader. 'Some of us go to these countries on business and I have to go there almost every month. We have families to feed and with these problems bedevilling us, we are prepared to part with our money in order to get visas.' SAMP found that tighter emigration policies tend only to deepen the desire to leave. Higher hurdles, combined with deepening poverty, have also created more opportunities for graft. 'People are suffering because there is a governance crisis in this country,' said Roy Bennett, an opposition member of parliament for Chimanimani in the Eastern Manicaland Province. 'Everyone is trying to survive.' But with no end in sight to the crisis, people seem undeterred. As Chido Makunike, a political analyst, observed recently: 'For most, the decision to go to the UK … is a response to seeing more and more of the doors to improving one's station in life at home closed off.'
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From The News (Pakistan), 2 June
PCB having second thoughts about hosting Zimbabwe in October
By Waheed Khan
Karachi - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is now having second thoughts about hosting a depleted Zimbabwe side in October this year and will discuss this issue during the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting this month in London. PCB chief executive Rameez Raja said that the Zimbabwe issue was one of the main items on the agenda of the ICC executive board meeting on June 27. "Obviously everyone is concerned with the situation in Zimbabwe and what the future holds for them. I think guidelines for Zimbabwe cricket are going to be discussed at the ICC meeting and even on the sidelines," he added. Rameez said so far the Board had not directly contacted the Zimbabwe Cricket Union on the issue of the October tour. "But we are waiting and watching. We have some other options in mind that we will put forward to the ICC board this month if the crisis in Zimbabwe cricket is not resolved," he stated. Sources in the board confirmed that the PCB was now reluctant to host Zimbabwe for a test series in October and wanted to cancel the tour. "The PCB officials are going to London for the ICC meeting armed with two options. They have gone through the ICC’s ten year programme and found out that West Indies, Sri Lanka and England are three teams which are free in October this year," one source said. While the PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan leaves for London on June 17th, Rameez will follow on June 21st. "Since the PCB has to organize a certain number of international matches at home every season as per commitments with its television rights holder and sponsors it is considering the option of organizing a triangular or quadrangular one-day competition in place of a full series against Zimbabwe in October," the source disclosed.
The source said that PCB was also willing to play a separate one-day series with Zimbabwe in October and than organize the triangular or quadrangular with Zimbabwe and other teams. "But the PCB is certainly not keen on playing a test series against a depleted Zimbabwe side and will ask the ICC to reschedule the test series instead of playing against a second string side. The PCB is even willing to have no international cricket in October and concentrate on its first class programme with all the main players participating," the source informed. The ICC recently pressurized the Zimbabwe cricket union to cancel a test series against Australia and only play one-dayers. Zimbabwe’s convenor of selectors, Steve Mangongo, however has asked for the Zimbabwe team to be given more time to prove it can still live up to Test status. Mangongo, who has been instrumental in the development of the current captain, Tatenda Taibu, believes that in two to three years, the side will be able to compete on an equal footing once again. "We should be given a two or three-year grace period with all the necessary support from the ICC so we can sustain ourselves," Mangongo told BBC Sport. "We should be allowed to continue with our Test programme, but at the same time have more games for the A team. By then, things would have stabilised and the youngsters would be able to hold their own, and then it would be fair to judge us." Zimbabwe’s Test status is to be addressed at an ICC board meeting. The clamour for suspension is growing louder by the day, with big names such as Steve Waugh and Nasser Hussain having adding their opinions on the matter. "It would be retrogressive to kick Zimbabwe out of Test cricket - [the game] needs more countries playing, not fewer," said Mangongo, adding that he hoped that the dispute with the 15 white rebel cricketers would soon be resolved. "I hope that some of them will come back, we still need them for the good of the game, and I believe that some will return to Zimbabwe cricket."
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 3 June
Zimbabwe faces record food shortage
Harare - Despite official claims that Zimbabwe can feed itself, the country grew less food this season than in any in modern times and needs more than a million tonnes of grain to keep the population alive. Statistics released yesterday by the United Nations show that Zimbabwe's shortfall will be more than last year, when donors had to provide food for up to 5.5 million people, nearly half the population. In his first interview with British journalists for four years, President Robert Mugabe told Sky News two weeks ago that Zimbabwe needed neither to import food, nor donors to provide funds for food. Over the past four years Mr Mugabe has destroyed the economy and food production by ordering his supporters to evict, often violently, more than 3,000 white commercial farmers and many thousands of their workers. Mr Mugabe told the UN to stop its annual assessment of Zimbabwe's crops last month. But before three teams from the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Food Programme left the country, some assessors largely completed their work. "The mission estimated that total food production this year would be even lower than last year's 980,000 tonnes," the UN said. Zimbabwe needs 2.1 million tonnes of maize every year to feed itself, according to the UN.
In his interview Mr Mugabe endorsed earlier claims that Zimbabwe had grown a record harvest of 2.3 million tonnes this year. But this figure is discounted by all independent experts. A diplomat said yesterday the Zimbabwean government was "now engaged in a war about crop statistics". Mr Mugabe, keen to show African leaders that his land grab was successful, claimed that Zimbabwe would produce a surplus this year, but the government has admitted it has been secretly importing grain for several weeks. Mr Mugabe told Sky News that the World Food Programme should feed hungry people elsewhere in the world. "Why foist this food upon us?" he asked. "We don't want to be choked, we have enough. The whites who were here were mere actor farmers, ill-educated, and we brought in a system which is much more enlightened than the system they had." The FAO said yesterday that the causes of the dramatic drop in food production were a "further decline of large-scale commercial farms, the impact of the HIV/Aids pandemic, shortages of quality seeds, and the high local cost of fertiliser" as well as erratic rainfall. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said yesterday: "The UN's estimate is close to what we predicted and we will run out of food in about October. Mugabe wants to cover up the food deficit and will use it as we get close to elections." Mr Mugabe said last week that parliamentary elections would be held next March.
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From FAO (UN), 19 May
Zimbabwe - FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission
Harvesting of the main season crops planted in November-December 2003 is underway. A joint FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission was in the country for part of the planned period. Based on the mission’s visits to three main provinces, observations along the travel routes and interviews with informants at local level, the mission estimated that total food production this year would be even lower than last year’s 980 000 tonnes. The overall food deficit (import requirement) could be over 1 million tonnes. Final estimates would be provided by FAO and WFP in the first half of June. The decline in production is attributed to delayed and erratic rainfall, shortages of quality seeds, the high local cost of fertilizer, shortages of draught animal power and tractors, a further decline in the utilization of large-scale commercial farms, and the impact of HIV/AIDS pandemic. At the beginning of the agricultural season in October very few farmers were able to plant maize due to insufficient and scattered showers. The ensuing dry spell destroyed many first plantings. Effectively, rains started throughout much of the country in late December-early January, pushing back maize and sorghum start-of-season in many areas. In recent years, domestic cereal production has covered less than half of the country’ s domestic requirements. Escalating inflation, currently on the order of 600 percent per annum, is further eroding purchasing power, thus greatly limiting access to food for the most vulnerable groups. WFP’s monthly food distribution data under the current Emergency Operation (EMOP) shows that a total of 314 357 tonnes of food was distributed from July 2003 to April 2004, with a planned distribution of 10 000 tonnes for May-June. The number of beneficiaries peaked in March 2004 at 4.4 million.
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From The Financial Mail, 3 June
Adios Zim, says Mawere
Hama Saburi
Mutumwa Mawere, the businessman whose relationship with key Zanu PF politicians is probably the worst kept secret in local business, is playing hard ball with the country's authorities who he has dared to revoke his Zimbabwean citizenship if convinced that he broke the law. "Regarding my dual citizenship, I have stated before that I am a true African, blind to any borders and I will take any of the 53 citizenships in Africa without blinking," said Mawere, who has already admitted to holding a South African and a Zimbabwean passport. Zimbabwe's laws do not have provision for dual citizenship. "I can hold citizenship in sister countries in the African Union and if this is not acceptable to Zimbabwe, then I cannot see myself renouncing my birthright, but the authorities are free to withdraw it," a defiant Mawere, who feels that the government does not have a compelling case against him, said yesterday. Top of the Zimbabwean police's wanted list on allegations of milking the country of a record $300 billion, Mawere, a pillar of the Zimbabwean business establishment, just came short of saying he will not be coming back to Zimbabwe any time soon. Police in Harare say they wish to question Mawere on allegations of prejudicing the state of more than $300 billion through failure to submit foreign currency declaration forms and externalisation of foreign currency. His stance however means that Mawere would have to have the stomach for protracted and costly battles in the courts where he would have to fight against extradition to Zimbabwe. He has already appeared before a South African court for an initial hearing and was granted bail of 50 000 rands after Zimbabwean authorities requested his extradition. The businessman is set to appear before the Randburg magistrate's court on June 29 when his extradition case will be heard.
The net closed in on Mawere under the government's ongoing anti-graft drive which the authorities have said they will take to its full expression. Critics however remain sceptical, insisting that it would require a leap of faith to believe that the government is now committed to rooting out corruption. Instead, they have put it down to the bizarre, subtle but bitter infighting in the ruling Zanu PF over President Robert Mugabe's successor. "When you are targeting a shareholder, then it would be the first time in the history of corporate civilisation that accountability is misplaced. If you are being targeted and naturally you are not privy to the agenda that informs the targeting, then it will be unwise to go into the lion's den," said the panicky and shaken acquisitive entrepreneur whose business interests straddle across the economy. I am not resident in Zimbabwe. I have no standing to be accountable under the laws that apply to Zimbabwean residence. I have never run away and I have no intention of running away from anything. I am in South Africa, not because I am avoiding Zimbabwe, but because this is where I live," he said. Mawere's stance comes as it emerged that the businessman, who was arrested in South Africa on Tuesday last week at the request of the Zimbabwean authorities, is still to pay off T & N, which sold him Shabanie & Mashaba Mines (SMM) on the strength of a government guarantee. T & N still holds the share certificates until such a time Mawere has fully paid for the company. The beleaguered businessman confirmed this yesterday. "It has never been fully paid for. At a time when Zimbabwe does not have foreign currency, I took the decision to grow the business rather than externalise payments. But we have agreed with T & N that it will be unwise to make any payments at this juncture in Zimbabwe's challenging development process. T & N is not complaining, but what is important is that the assets have been domesticated without any dividend outflows," he said. Mawere, who had of late assumed an unrivalled profile, first came to prominence in 1996 when he acquired SMM in a headline-grabbing deal. His hitherto unknown deal-making prowess and negotiating dexterity saw him take over the country' sole asbestos producer without paying a dime in what was then described as a victory for financial engineering.
Sceptics did not however give him credit for the acquisition of the mines as it came at a time when some eccentric businessmen were known to do the equivalent of holding guns to company owners' heads to force them to sell their businesses under the guise of black economic empowerment. Instead, the sceptics attributed Mawere's perceived success in business to sufficient backing from an influential politician who is now clutching at straws to serve his faltering political career. The politician's personal banker has since been specified and is said to be in the United Kingdom "seeking medical attention". Observers said with the latest twist to the controversy surrounding the ownership of SMM and with Mawere determined to cling on to his South African citizenship to escape the corruption dragnet, the businessman faced the spectre of losing his grip over an empire comprising of companies well in excess of 20. They said his octopus-like interests could end up being confiscated by the state should Mawere continue ducking and diving requests to extradite him to Zimbabwe, where he is likely to be arrested under the controversial Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Amendment to the Criminal Procedures and Evidence Act. Mawere's business empire, which is spread over almost all the important sectors of the economy, includes SMM, Africa Associated Mines, General Beltings, Steelnet, Turnall, Fidelity Life, ZimRe Holdings, Nicoz Diamond, CFI Holdings, First Banking Corporation, Ukubambana Kubatana Investments, FSI Holdings, Textbook Sales, Tube & Pipe, Firstel and Hastt Zimbabwe.
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From The Guardian (UK), 3 June
Mugabe introduces new curbs on internet
Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria
Robert Mugabe was yesterday accused of attempting to censor Zimbabwe's email traffic after his government ordered service providers to stop any correspondence that the regime deemed "malicious". A new contract, which must be signed for the companies to have access to telephone lines, states that the "use of the network for anti-national activities" will be regarded as "an offence punishable under Zimbabwe law". The service providers have been told to promptly report the senders of offensive messages to the government. The firms regard this as an impossible task. This is the second time Mr Mugabe's government has tried vet the free flow of information on the internet. Two years ago parliament passed a telecommunications act which required all internet service providers to allow state agents to monitor the email correspondence of any subscriber. The law also forbade the service providers from informing clients that their emails were being read by state officials. However, in March this year the supreme court ruled that those clauses of the telecommunications law were unconstitutional. "The government was frustrated by the supreme court judgment, but not prepared to give up," said a newspaper executive. "Now they are attempting to smuggle those same clauses in under the guise of a new contract. It is typical of the Mugabe government, particularly the minister of information, Jonathan Moyo, to trample on individual rights to curtail freedom of the press." The Zimbabwe Internet Service Providers Association (Zispa) said it has asked the government to clarify its requirements in the new contracts.
"It's impossible," said one internet server. "It is just not feasible to expect us to look at each and every email message that passes through our system. The volume of traffic makes that impossible. And how would we be able to judge what the government finds objectionable? It would make us the internet police instead of the internet providers." The new contract calls on servers to turn in to government officials the details of subscribers sending messages that contain anything from obscenity to anti-government activities. "It's ludicrous to think we can operate on that scale. I just don't think this was carefully thought out before they sent it out," said the head of one of Zimbabwe's service providers. He said he hoped negotiations with the government would sort out the problems. "If talks do not succeed, I am prepared to close down before I agree to spy on my clients," he said. The internet is one of the few communications channels left in Zimbabwe that individuals and groups opposed to Mr Mugabe's government can use to spread their opinions. The government controls all radio and television broadcasts and all daily newspapers. It has already closed the country's most popular daily newspaper, arresting 75 journalists and editors in the process. A handful of privately-owned weekly newspapers are under considerable pressure. Several anti-government newsletters circulate widely through Zimbabwe on the internet. But in November, 14 people were arrested for circulating an email calling for protests to oust Mr Mugabe. Zimbabwe is second only to South Africa in Africa in the development of its internet and email networks, with 12 large-scale internet service providers. It is estimated to have more than 100,000 registered users. Mr Mugabe's attitude to the internet was reflected in a speech he made to a UN telecommunications conference in Rome, when he described the internet as a tool used by "a few countries ... in quest of global dominance and hegemony".
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From SABC News, 2 June
Driver protest causes traffic jam at Beitbridge
Traffic came to a standstill at the Beitbridge border post yesterday after trucks were unable to cross to Zimbabwe due to a protest by Zimbabwean truck drivers. The drivers were protesting against delays in processing of custom and excise payments in Zimbabwe. Officials from the South African Revenue Service say South Africa has no control over the situation, but they are doing their best to assist. The back-up of trucks was four kilometres long yesterday morning and most were carrying perishable goods. Most had received clearance to cross days ago, but were still there due to an alleged parking shortage on the Zimbabwe side of the border.
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From cricinfo (UK), 3 June
No domestic invite to Zimbabwe claims SA board
Telford Vice in Johannesburg
The South African board (UCBSA) has scrambled to clarify a claim attributed to its president, Ray Mali, that it had agreed that Zimbabwe's national team should play in South Africa's domestic competitions. The East London Daily Dispatch reported on Wednesday that Mali had made the claim in an interview with the newspaper. "Mali said that his board and that of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, as well as the International Cricket Council (ICC), have been in touch with each other over the last four weeks over the crisis that is threatening Zimbabwe's international Test team status," the paper reported. "Mali said in order to assist young cricketers in Zimbabwe, his board felt that the Zimbabwean national team should be entered in the South African domestic competition as a separate team. The UCB has full consensus about that," Mali was quoted as saying in a South African Press Association version of the report. But by Wednesday afternoon that was no longer the case, if it had ever been. "[UCBSA chief executive] Gerald Majola has clarified a statement attributed to ... Mali regarding the possible inclusion of the Zimbabwe cricket team in the South African domestic competitions," said a UCB statement. "I have spoken with the president today, and he confirmed that the general council of the UCB has given him a mandate to offer assistance in seeking a solution to the current problems facing Zimbabwe cricket," Majola said. "There has definitely not been a decision taken to invite the Zimbabwe national team to participate in any of our domestic competitions." The release said Mali and his Australian, Indian and Zimbabwean counterparts would "discuss the Zimbabwe situation" at a meeting in Dubai on June 10. The ICC will discuss Zimbabwe's Test status on June 27.
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From Business Day (SA), 4 June
Mbeki urged to play Zimbabwe mediator
Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane yesterday said President Thabo Mbeki should upgrade his involvement in the talks between Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change to that of facilitator. With pressure on Mbeki to follow through on his promises last year that there would be a peaceful solution to Zimbabwe's political crisis by this year, Ndungane said SA's president had a window of opportunity in which to make a difference ahead of Zimbabwe's elections next year. Despite his earlier commitment , Mbeki has not addressed the issue during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Maputo, Mozambique. Mbeki should take a more prominent role in facilitating the discussions because the election was imminent, Ndungane said. Speaking at the forum, Ndungane said he had spoken to both Zanu PF leader President Robert Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai about this issue, and he said both had agreed that negotiation was the only solution to the current impasse. He also said that these discussions should result in a set of agreed benchmarks that could be used to assess whether Zimbabwe's election next year would indeed be free and fair. These benchmarks, he said, should include a free press and a proper election-monitoring body to oversee the process. The credibility of next year's election would be a key concern, given the condemnation from various election-monitoring groups after 2002's presidential election, he said. International Monetary Fund (IMF) deputy director for Africa, Siddharth Tiwari, said during discussions yesterday that he saw Zimbabwe's progress as being linked to political dialogue. Ndungane said Zimbabwe's problems included the racially loaded land issue, human rights concerns and the country's political process.
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From The Guardian (SA), 3 June
'Get tough'
Critics are saying South Africa should increase the pressure on Robert Mugabe, reports Andrew Meldrum
South African president Thabo Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy" towards Zimbabwe is in shambles after Robert Mugabe's categorical rejection of negotiations with the opposition in a rare interview last week. As leader of Zimbabwe's giant neighbour, with its critical economic links, essential supplies of electricity and a history of influence, Mr Mbeki ought to have some leverage with Mr Mugabe's government and South Africa has led the international community's efforts to find a resolution to Zimbabwe's deepening political, economic and humanitarian crisis. But the failure of the Mr Mbeki's strategy leaves fellow African states, the European Union, Britain and the United States bereft of an effective policy to improve the situation. One year ago US president George Bush, while visiting South Africa, called Mr Mbeki his "point man" on Zimbabwe. Mr Bush and Mr Mbeki stated confidently that by June 2004 the Pretoria government would have brokered negotiations between Mr Mugabe and the Zimbabwean opposition that would pave the way for Zimbabwe to return to democracy and halt the country's disastrous economic collapse.
Mr Mugabe scuppered that plan, however, with the deadline arriving this week. "I don't see why we should talk about negotiations," Mr Mugabe told Sky News. He asserted that Zimbabwe's current situation was "the normal way of running a democratic system". Mr Mugabe repeated that he intended to serve out his current term until 2008, when he will be 86. In the wake of Mr Mugabe's statements, the South African government admitted it was not planning to come up with a new alternative to its "softly, softly" approach. "We have no other alternative to quiet diplomacy so we will continue with quiet diplomacy. Whatever else diplomacy is there?" said South Africa's deputy minister of foreign affairs Aziz Pahad. Diplomats, analysts and Zimbabwe's opposition insist that South Africa has many options to encourage an improvement in the Zimbabwean situation. In 1978, South Africa, under pressure from the United States, pushed the Rhodesian leader Ian Smith to enter negotiations that eventually led to the birth of majority-ruled Zimbabwe in 1980.
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) criticises the South African government's current policy. "We have said over and over again that Mugabe is not interested in serious dialogue," said Welshman Ncube, the secretary-general of the MDC. "Now that it has come from the horse's mouth we hope the South Africans will stop shielding Mugabe from international pressure on the pretext of non-existent dialogue." He added: "The Mbeki government should be willing to put pressure on the Zimbabwean government to return to democratic traditions. It is not doing that. It should, for instance, stop protecting the Mugabe regime at international meetings." He pointed out how, at the meeting last month of the United Nations Commission for Human Rights, South Africa led the African countries in voting against any measure being taken against Zimbabwe's growing dossier of human rights abuses. South African officials said they were protecting Zimbabwe from unfair criticism from the European Union. The Mbeki government's resolute refusal to make any condemnation of documented evidence of police torture and violence and rapes by Mugabe's youth militia amounts to condoning it, say critics. Similarly, Mr Mbeki acted as Mr Mugabe's protector in the Commonwealth, repeatedly trying to shield Zimbabwe from suspension. Now that Mr Mugabe has pulled out of the Commonwealth, Mr Mbeki has not taken action to help open dialogue between Zimbabwe and the organisation.
Some critics say South Africa could use its supply of 20% of Zimbabwe's electricity to put pressure on Mr Mugabe to adhere to the same standards of democratic elections as South Africa and other neighbouring states. Zimbabwe's opposition has been bludgeoned by blatant state violence and vote rigging. Desperately needed food rations have been withheld from opposition supporters. Many MDC leaders say they do not want to participate in any further elections under the current system which is completely controlled and manipulated by the Mugabe government. "More than 350 of our supporters have been killed in election violence over the past few years," said one MDC member of parliament. "Zimbabwe's electoral system is rigged. We have no freedom of assembly or freedom of the press. Why should we participate in such unfair elections? Our participation only gives legitimacy to the entire repressive system." Without more persuasive diplomacy from South Africa, Zimbabwean civic leaders said they would be forced to resort to anti-government demonstrations inside Zimbabwe, which they warned could be bloody. "We cannot count on the South African government for support. We cannot count on other African governments," said the leader of a Zimbabwean human rights organisation. "We can only win back our rights by confrontation in Zimbabwe and we will need to sacrifice. It is a frightening situation."
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From AFP, 3 June
Zim holds babies until parents cough up
Harare - Zimbabwe's largest state hospital is refusing to discharge 28 newborns and their mothers until they pay their bill, the hospital director was quoted as saying. "Yes, I can confirm that there were 28 mothers who had not paid anything and we could not let them go when they owe us some money," Chris Tapfumaneyi, the superintendent of Harare Central Hospital told the state-owned Herald newspaper. He said the hospital had been forced to take these measures as it was owed millions of dollars by patients and was now unable to provide basic services and drugs due to a cash crunch. "The hospital has been failing to do a lot of things because some patients deliberately do not want to pay, so we have put in place restrictive measures," he said. Tapfumaneyi said the hospital had been unable to buy essential drugs, laboratory equipment, linen and owed millions of dollars to the country's blood transfusion centre. Zimbabwe's health system has collapsed in recent years due to several factors including the economic crisis and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Zimbabwe has one of the highest AIDS rates in the world with about 3,000 people dying each week. Poor salaries for government medical staff has led to an exodus of doctors and nurses to Britain, Canada, the United States and neighbouring South Africa. The health ministry says that the number of women dying from pregnancy-related complications in Zimbabwe has nearly trebled over the past decade from 253 to more than 700 per 100,000 pregnant women. Health and child welfare ministry secretary Elizabeth Xaba said most of the deaths have been due to poverty, HIV/AIDS, shortages of qualified health personnel, poor health facilities and a lack of medicines and equipment.
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From IPS, 3 June
Provision of Aids drugs fragmented
Wilson Johwa
Bulawayo - It wasn't an instance where absence made the heart grow fonder. A three-day regional conference on improving access to AIDS treatments held in Zimbabwe's capital - Harare - in March, failed to attract a single government representative from the host country. About 150 delegates from elsewhere in the region attended the summit, which took place under the theme 'Scaling up Access to Treatment in Southern Africa: A Way Forward' - and was convened by the South Africa-based Pan African HIV/AIDS Treatment Action Movement (PATAM), a non-governmental organisation (NGO). In the absence of the health ministry's permanent secretary, the conference was eventually opened by local cleric Trevor Manhanga, who drily remarked, "any government in Africa that does not make HIV/AIDS a priority must be voted out." A month after the meeting, Zimbabwean authorities began distributing ARVs in a pilot programme based in the country's two biggest cities: Harare, and Bulawayo in southern Zimbabwe. However, officials still appear nonchalant in the face of the AIDS pandemic, and the need to provide treatment for it. This is despite the fact that official statistics put HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe at 24.6 percent, which means about two million of the country's 12 million people are infected with the virus. Although government declared HIV/AIDS a national emergency two years ago, enquiries from independent journalists or non-governmental organisations concerning the disease are usually ignored. When authorities do respond to written questions their answers are often too general to be of much use.
Believe Dhliwayo, Co-ordinator of Zimbabwe Activists for HIV and AIDS, an NGO, says the never-ending red tape proves the disease is not considered a priority among politicians, "and that's something that's very worrying." He adds that although there are a few "very selective" donor-driven or research-based ARV programmes across the country, no more than 2,000 Zimbabweans are taking the anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) that prolong the lives of those with AIDS. Dhliwayo's concerns are echoed by model Tendai Westerhoff, a local celebrity who is living with AIDS. "They write in the newspaper the drugs are available. I went to Harare Hospital personally, and there were no drugs," she told IPS. According to a source who preferred not to be named, only 11 people at the Harare pilot site have received ARVs to date. Government has indicated that it plans to place half of the estimated 520,000 citizens in need of ARVs on medication by the end of 2005. The project is supposed to be partly funded by the proceeds of an AIDS levy: since 1999, 2.4 percent has been deducted monthly from the salary of every formally-employed Zimbabwean to fund this levy.
While treatment might be negligible in Harare, Bulawayo appears to be faring better, thanks largely to the Spanish chapter of Medecins San Frontieres (MSF, an international NGO also known as Doctors Without Borders), which is assisting with the pilot programme. MSF's head representative in Zimbabwe, Alexandre Boon, says by the end of last month, at least 127 of the city's residents had received free ARVs from the NGO and the Ministry of Health. A further 650 people had registered to receive the drugs, while 300 more had made appointments for registration at Mpilo Hospital, the site of the project. Bulawayo has a population of 800,000. MSF calculates that about 25 percent of the adult population, or 130,000 residents, are HIV-positive - and that 10 percent of these require ARVs. The organisation has committed itself to treating 1,500 Bulawayo residents within five years. "We have drugs to start 180 patients (and) more drugs are coming," says Boon. Apart from the Health Ministry and MSF, three American donors - including the Centre for Disease Control - are also participating in the pilot programme. Other ARV initiatives include a government project to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV at four clinics in Bulawayo. Efforts to prevent this transmission are also about to be expanded with assistance from the United Kingdom-based John Snow International foundation. In addition, the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society is on the verge of starting up its own ARV programme. "We have to start small to make sure we can sustain the programme," Secretary-General Emma Kundishora told IPS. "Once someone is on anti-retrovirals, it's for life." However, this diverse array of projects prompts Boon to urge caution. "It would be much better for the various parties to come through a central structure than to start small programmes here and there," he says.
Government's reported intention to recover some of the treatment costs from patients has also frayed tempers. A circular sent to various state health centres says patients on ARVs should be prepared to pay 50,000 Zimbabwe dollars (about 10 U.S. dollars) per month. This comes at a time when a shrinking economy has impoverished most Zimbabweans. Four years since the start of a violent land reform programme and disputed elections in 2000 and 2002, investor confidence in the country has all but vanished. Inflation is presently sitting at 600 percent while unemployment stands at over 70 percent. A woman who wished only to be identified as Constance told IPS that she had just started taking ARVs - but that she might have reconsidered this move had she known that payment could be demanded. "You need to eat a lot when taking those drugs," she said. "I want to live. I will find the money for the pills. But what of food? I'm a widow and have no working child to look after me."
A member of PATAM's steering committee, Matilda Moyo, says they believe most of the ARVs which are currently being provided have been donated, and are earmarked for free distribution. As parliamentary elections are due in nine months, there is also the feeling in some quarters that government might see it as imprudent to start charging for treatment just yet. PATAM is seeking an audience with the Minister of Health and Child Welfare to discuss this matter - as well as its concerns about the representation in national bodies of people living with AIDS, and other AIDS groups. The organisation is also planning a protest during the National AIDS Conference, scheduled for June 15-18. Companies in Zimbabwe, many of which are many battling financially, have also been slow in responding to the pandemic. Diamond multinational De Beers is one exception to this rule, however. As part of the company's HIV/AIDS programme, DeBeers Zimbabwe provides free ARVs to employees and a single life partner. In other rare instances where the drugs are provided, the stigma attached to AIDS continues to take its toll. Winfrida Mahere, a nurse who runs a health centre for two large companies, Phoenix Consolidated and the Apex Corporation, says fear is preventing workers from taking advantage of the firms' in-house HIV/AIDS programmes. "They deny even when they have all the symptoms," she says. "Because of this we can't start them on ARVs. The starting point is disclosure."
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 4 June
To hell with art
By Mike van Graan
Robert Mugabe’s cupboard is bursting with "been-there-done-that" T-shirts. He’s done pretty much everything by now. He’s done the courts. He’s done the media. He’s done sport. He’s even done Archbishop Desmond Tutu. So it was only a matter of time before the champion of "your-vote-is-my-vote" democracy realised that he didn’t have a "been there. Done [in] the arts!" T-shirt. (This is probably one time when it’s a good thing for the arts to occupy the nether-nether land of the political agenda.) Raisedon Baya won the National Arts Merit Award for scriptwriting in Zimbabwe last year. His play, Super Patriots and Morons, had been touring our northern neighbour and international venues for more than a year. Set in a fictitious African country, the piece deals with some of the major contemporary issues facing Zimbabweans. But after it was performed at the Harare International Festival of the Arts a couple of months ago, the censorship board decided that the play could be interpreted as a comment on Zimbabwe and, accordingly, the board banned all further performances as these would "disturb the peace" in the country.
One can only wonder when it will ban all future performances by Mugabe since, clearly his record-breaking, one-man impersonation of a dictator with a pessimistic Afro, appears to be the greatest threat to peace in Zimbabwe. But such is the nature of fascist politics. Ban the symptom. Ignore the cause. (The censorship board might also have taken umbrage at the title of the play, Super Patriots and Morons, which could have been a direct reference to it.) We have a lot to be grateful for down south. For one, we don’t have a censorship board any longer. Ours has been dumped in the dustbin of history along with the total onslaught, compulsory conscription and bald politicians with hats. Here, we only have the National Arts Council, which tells award-winning playwrights to rewrite their scripts to be more politically correct before they can be considered for funding. And we only have minister-appointed chairpersons of publicly funded entities who may be super or morons, but who might consider it their patriotic duty to protect the political status quo against any challenge, real or imagined.
And here, we don’t ban plays after they have been performed at a national arts festival; we just don’t give them money — or give them money so late — so that they can’t perform at the festival in the first place. Baya’s play had been touring for more than a year before the censorship board saw it and decided to ban it. If it had banned it 12 months earlier, who knows? Peace could have broken out in Zimbabwe a lot sooner. But this is the problem with officials. They get appointed to be in charge of a particular area, but they simply never get to see the plays or see the exhibitions or read the books for which they are responsible. The same, I’m pleased to report, cannot be said of our National Arts Council. It will meet for three days in mid-June to consider applications for funding, and applicants for funding for the festival will know whether they have National Arts Council support on June 15. A fortnight later, the full board will again meet for three days in Grahamstown. It will have all its expenses paid to meet at the festival, and perhaps even take in a few shows. Moral of the story? If you want to participate in the National Arts Festival and need funding from the National Arts Council to do so, it would be better for you to serve on the National Arts Council than to apply to it. The National Arts Council board is off to Grahamstown. The artists can (still) go to hell.
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From VOA News, 4 June
Zimbabwe hospitals criticized for keeping babies, mothers until bills are paid
Harare - Zimbabwean officials have reacted angrily to news reports that leading hospitals are detaining newborn babies and their mothers until they pay their bills. This method of bill collection has been going on in Zimbabwe for some time. The minister of health, Dr. David Parirenyatwa, told the state-controlled newspaper The Herald that his ministry has not gone into the legality of the custom but in no way condones the practice. He was reacting to a story in the same paper which said 28 newborn babies with their mothers were being detained at Harare Central Hospital until their hospital bills were settled. Hospital superintendent Dr. Chris Tapfumaneyi defended the detentions saying the hospital could not just let the women go without settling their bills. He said the hospital is owed millions of dollars by some patients who simply disappear after being discharged. It was reported that, following the ministry's intervention, the hospital had ordered the release of the women being held for non-payment. However Dr. Tapfumaneyi could not be reached for comment. Another doctor who works at the hospital said the unorthodox practice of holding patients for payment is not new. The doctor, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity, said it is also not unusual for hospitals to demand payment from relatives of the dead before they can claim the body. The doctor said hospital officials can use their discretion if patients or their relatives claim they cannot pay. At independence in 1980, Zimbabwe introduced free health care for low-income patients but as the country's economy deteriorated in recent years, hospitals began to insist that everybody had to pay.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 4 June
Zanu PF youths aid nuns in farm seizure
Munyaradzi Wasosa
In a new dimension to land reform, three nuns, working with Zanu PF youths, have occupied Malabar Farm in Darwendale, the Zimbabwe Independent has been told. Spearheading the invasion are the Little Children of the Blessed Lady (LCBL) Order superior-general Sister Helen Maminimini, regional superior Sr Electa Mubaiwa, a "farmer nun" only identified as Sr Notvurgo, and Zvimba district lands officer Stanford Katonha. Malabar Farm is a sub-division of the original Hunyani Estates and is now owned by Les Harvey who is leasing it to Sagar Farming (Pvt) Ltd whose directors are Arthur and Ansy Swales. In an interview this week, Arthur Swales said: "On May 3, Katonha and the nuns visited us and said we had 24 hours to vacate the farm to make way for them. We explained to Katonha and the nuns that Minister Joseph Made did not register the Section 8 order (of the Land Acquisition Act) timeously with the (administrative) court and therefore it was ineffective." A Section 8 notice is an acquisition order that government serves on the owner of a farm being acquired subject to the service of a Section 5 preliminary notice (of intention to acquire the farm). In terms of Section 7 of the Act, the Agriculture minister has to apply to the Administrative Court for confirmation of the acquisition within 30 days after service of a Section 8 order. Failure to do so renders the acquisition defective and invalid. Made served the Section 8 acquisition order on December 1 last year but did not file an application in the Administrative Court within the 30-day period. Sagar is thus still the legal lessee of the farm despite it having been listed for compulsory acquisition in August last year. The new owners of an acquired farm are required by law to present a Letter of Offer with a ministerial approval to occupy the farm. The nuns failed on several occasions to produce it.
Swales said Katonha issued a threat to the farm workers to leave. "Katonha addressed our 80 workers and demanded that they leave immediately as the nuns were prepared to retain only four workers," Swales said. Five LCBL employees illegally living in the farm compound have been fencing off the invaded land using wire allegedly stolen from the main perimeter fence. The 874ha farm produces tobacco on contract for Tobacco Sales Ltd and seed maize for Seed Co. Swales said Katonha, working closely with the nuns, allegedly invited about 30 Zanu PF youths to invade the farm around midnight on May 15. The youths are said to have rounded up the farm workers and made them chant Zanu PF slogans. Sr Notvurgo, who expressed an interest in Sagar's farm equipment, demanded two tractors, irrigation equipment and other farm implements, Swale said. The equipment is bonded to Barclays Bank under a notarial bond drawn up by legal practitioners Scanlen & Holderness as security for seasonal financing to the company. According to the Land Acquisition Act, Sagar is entitled to remove any or all of its moveable assets. The company has managed to relocate most of its irrigation equipment to a safer place for security reasons. The youths told the Independent that Katonha instructed them not to allow Sagar to remove any more equipment. The Independent visited the farm this week and saw the youths who have raised the national flag close to the farmhouse. The paper heard that the nuns have targeted the farm since 2002. In November 2002, Swales was accosted by a group of six LCBL nuns led by Maminimini, asking for land alongside the Manyame River. Swales prepared 10 hectares for them in the interests of co-existence. They subsequently demanded more land.
The Independent has in its possession a copy of a letter signed by Maminimini to Swales declaring the nuns' intention to occupy the farm. In the letter, dated February 9 2003, Maminimini admitted she lacked farming skills despite their intentions to diversify into commercial agriculture. "Since we lack farming expertise, and Sister Electa and myself are already too busy with administration in the congregation, we have decided to form a board of directors to help us run the farm efficiently," Maminimini said. She even asked Swales to join the board, because "you are a very experienced farmer on the spot". According to the letter, Maminimini sought to keep the new farming venture secret from her board. "The three of us, Sr Electa, yourself and me will continue to deal with matters regarding ownership or handing over of more land (because) the (LCBL) board does not discuss that," Maminimini said in the letter. Swales said the nuns' action was irregular. "We do not want to interfere with the government's land reform programme," Swales said. "It's just that it is not being done in a regular and legal manner." He said the nuns forced him to give them more land last year. "In March 2003 Maminimini declared the nuns' commercial farming interests and demanded title deeds to the farm," Swales said. "Under extreme duress, we agreed to let them use a further 20 hectares of arable land. The nuns clapped their hands and thanked the Lord for 'their farm' and assured us that they would never allow Malabar to be issued with a Section 8 order." Meanwhile the youths camped on the farm are now demanding a share of the farm's spoils "for our projects". In an interview, Maminimini admitted LCBL's involvement and pleaded with this paper not to reveal their complicity. "We do not want this story to be mentioned or published because it will tarnish our good image," Maminimini said. She claimed that the nuns were solving the issue with Sagar. "We are sorting out the issue by ourselves," she said. "If you respect us just leave us alone." Quizzed if their invasion had the church's approval, Maminimini declined to comment and refused to answer further questions.
In an interview yesterday, Bulawayo Archbishop Pius Ncube expressed shock at the nuns' actions. "This is news to me, and it definitely was not with the blessing of the church," Ncube said. "If a nun, a priest or even a bishop steals, it's definitely wrong because it's against God's law," Ncube said. Sagar wrote to the Minister of Special Affairs in the President's office Responsible for Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement, John Nkomo, in February asking to stay on the farm until the expiry of Sagar's contract with TSL on October 31. This would facilitate the grading and marketing of the current tobacco and seed maize crop to best advantage. Nkomo is yet to respond. About 80 000 kg of tobacco valued at over US$160 000 is expected to be realised from sales to TSL, while 120 tonnes of strategically essential seed maize is expected to be harvested. Katonha, who did not deny his involvement in the invasion, declined to comment. "I will not discuss that issue with you because it's not possible for me to do that," he said.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 4 June
Nkomo cracks whip
Dumisani Muleya
Ruling Zanu PF political heavyweights are seething over what they see as rampant indiscipline by ambitious newcomers amid an escalating succession struggle in the party. Official sources said yesterday that Zanu PF bigwigs were infuriated by growing "rogue politics" permeating party structures ahead of a critical congress in December. The issue of indiscipline and intensifying infighting was discussed at a long Zanu PF politburo meeting on Wednesday which lasted late into the evening. A senior politburo member close to the meeting said Zanu PF spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira, who last week appeared to come under fire in the government press from his deputy Jonathan Moyo over President Robert Mugabe's Sky News television interview, tabled a document by party chair John Nkomo on the issue. "Shamuyarira tabled Nkomo's document and it was discussed. Almost everyone in the party is worried about this infighting but the party has resolved to deal with the issue once and for all," the official said. "There is pending but unspecified action that will be taken against power-hungry individuals creating confusion by attacking senior party members."
Shaumuyarira could not be found for comment. "He is not in, phone tomorrow morning," a secretary in his office said. Sources said Zanu PF officials indicated during the politburo meeting that ambitious individuals were now overreaching themselves by attacking or defying superiors, including Vice-President Joseph Msika. Ugandan researcher David Nyekorach-Matsanga, who was instrumental in organising the Sky interview, last week circulated an e-mail statement accusing Moyo of being "over-ambitious and flying too high". Matsanga attacked Moyo in vitriolic terms after he was barred from entering Zimbabwe. He said Moyo was a "ranting and shallow-minded propagandist who has sapped the moral authority of the president".
Nkomo's document on discord in the ruling party was partly reflected in his weekly column in the Zanu PF mouthpiece, The Voice, last Sunday. It complains about indiscipline and personal attacks by officials against each other. "Differences of perception, which may lead to differences of opinion, are sometimes inevitable. However, these must, within the revolutionary establishment that our party is, be aired procedurally through the organs of the party," Nkomo said. "It should never be the case, even when aspiring candidates are jockeying for positions at whatever rank within the party and its leadership, that we deploy verbal or other arsenals against each other." Msika yesterday said he could not comment on the issue as it was Nkomo's responsibility. Asked about attacks on senior party members such as war veterans leader Joseph Chinotimba's remarks about Nkomo on land allocation on Monday, Msika said: "We are going to deal with them. They are now losing direction.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 4 June
Mugabe's gambit ends in stalemate
Rory Carroll
Bulawayo - Headline writers called it his endgame. Robert Mugabe was bunkered in his mansion while opponents shut down the country with a general strike dubbed "the final push". Soldiers placed steel barrels outside the presidential gates in case of mobs, but there was nothing they could do to protect Zimbabwe’s leader from a crumbling economy. After 23 years in power, it seemed the liberation hero had run out of road. Inflation was galloping towards 1 000%, there was no petrol, no ink for banknotes, no good news except fantasies peddled in the state media. Mugabe could rely on his militias and security forces to crack opposition heads, but that tactic lasts only so long. That was 12 months ago. Today the tempest has abated. The economy is still ruined and Mugabe reviled, but he is more secure in power than ever. The opposition is so cowed there is talk of a snap general election. An authoritarian regime that seemed to totter has regained the initiative: not quite the endgame that was envisioned.
"The problem is that two-thirds of the people have never known any leader other than Mugabe. Though he’s bad, they tend to sort of excuse him," said Pius Ncube, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo and a leading government critic. "The opposition has been sidelined. Its spirits are low. It just doesn’t know what to do." It is a grim stalemate. Unemployment is about 60%, inflation is in triple digits, schools struggle to pay staff and hospital patients die for want of basic treatment. But the government has averted total economic collapse with emergency measures that propped up banks, partly mollified the International Monetary Fund and generated foreign currency to buy oil. It can still pay the security forces and fly the president’s entourage in three helicopters. In Bulawayo shops were well stocked recently and there were no queues at petrol stations. Street lights worked, courtesy of South African electricity, and restaurants served steaks and ice cream. Farmers were completing a harvest blessed with late rains.
The apparent normality masks desperation. Families wait on remittances from children who have fled to Bots-wana and South Africa in the hope of scrounging work. Those who stay at home have limited options. "Like some company, mister?" asked a girl by a roadside, one of the multiplying numbers of prostitutes chasing fewer customers with a disposable income. During a break at Ngwalongwalo primary school, 1 000 pupils played in the sunshine, but staff painted a bleak picture. Three-quarters of the pupils are Aids orphans and extended families cannot feed the extra mouths, said Sikhul Ngulube, a teacher. Agriculture Minister Joseph Made claimed Zimbabwe was again a breadbasket for the region after a bumper corn harvest. "The land reform has boosted agricultural production." But the archbishop scorned that as propaganda: a United Nations crop survey team was kicked out recently in case it revealed Zimbabwe will again fail to feed itself, he said. "The government is planning to use food as a leverage for votes."
If a year ago the nation was on the cusp of revolt, now it is on its knees. After shutting down much of the country during last June’s general strike, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) lost momentum. "The South Africans, the United States, the British, everyone told us, okay, you’ ve proved your point, now do some conciliatory things," said David Coltart, an MDC MP. "We did, and we have gained nothing." While the opposition fiddled with an olive branch, the government closed The Daily News, silencing the most important independent media organisation - to leave state propaganda unchallenged. A series of criminal charges against MDC leaders has drained the party, leaving it without direction and motivation. "The opposition is floundering," said one analyst. Supporters blame opposition defeat in by-elections on intimidation and rigging, but see no way to break the trend in parliamentary elections due next year. "Zanu PF thinks the MDC is exhausted. And they’re right," said Eddie Cross, a member of the national executive.
Mugabe has bought breathing space, but not solved his problems. He is 80 years old, his health suspect, his rule widely deemed illegitimate and his party deeply divided. Zanu PF is eating itself. Heavyweights such as Emmerson Mnangagwa, Chris Kuruneri and Philip Chiyangwa have been snared in an anti-corruption drive that is pitting factions against each other in the run-up to December’s party conference. Unless the president finds a successor around which the party can unite, he cannot step down for fear of spending his retirement behind bars. It is an uncomfortable position, but Mugabe has his consolations. Across much of Africa he is a hero for seizing white-owned farms and sticking a finger in the eye of former colonial master, Britain. Many in the crowd gathered in Pretoria in April for the inauguration of South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki gave the Zimbabwean visitor a standing ovation. "He represents, to the average African ... dignity and self-determination," wrote Christine Qunta in South Africa’s Business Day. Last month the state broadcaster, ZBC, the only channel that is available to most Zimbabweans, lavished attention on the abuse of Iraqi prisoners and the eroding popularity of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. It was sweet viewing for Mugabe. Now it is the turn of the British prime minister - once cast as his nemesis - to face international odium for human rights abuses and hear chatter about endgames.
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From Reuters, 5 June
Zimbabwe rebels abandon struggle
Zimbabwe's rebels have abandoned their bitter struggle with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU). "My clients want to move on," the players' lawyer, Chris Venturas, said. "They talked about it and decided it is time to disband and fly north. I think there is a very remote chance that they will play for Zimbabwe again." Zimbabwe have been forced to pick a second-string team since April 2 when 15 white players made themselves unavailable over what they see as racially driven selection policies. Their stand was sparked by Heath Streak's removal from the captaincy after he questioned the composition of the selection panel. The inexperienced Zimbabwe team has since lost 10 consecutive matches to Sri Lanka and Australia and the dispute also led to last month's Test series with Australia being called off over concerns about Zimbabwe's Test playing status. The ZCU fired the players for the stand they took and the rebels asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) on May 20 to form a dispute resolution committee to arbitrate.
Mr Venturas said his clients had yet to receive a response from the ICC. "We gave the ICC seven days to get back to us and we haven't heard anything," he said."We have to assume that nothing is happening, or even if it is it's too late for my clients. They want to move on." The ICC's corporate affairs manager, Brendan McClements, told Reuters from London that the process had not moved forward because the ZCU was fighting the formation of the dispute resolution committee. "A panel has not been formed at this stage because the ZCU is disputing whether that system has any jurisdiction," Mr McClements said. "We have said to the ZCU we think it does and the players have said to us they think it does. The ZCU do not concur and there is additional legal advice being sought on that issue. That advice has gone to the players, but Chris is right in that a panel has not been convened at this time, primarily because the ZCU are fighting it and saying it wouldn't have any authority." Asked if the rebels' withdrawal from the fight ended the dispute resolution process, Mr McClements said: "The next stage is to get the additional legal advice."
A statement signed by 13 of the rebels and released on Friday said they took their original action "in solidarity with our national captain, Heath Streak, who was unlawfully dismissed, as well as in protest at the unfair and discriminatory employment practices perpetrated against us by individuals of the ZCU". The rebels alleged that ZCU officials committed transgressions, including interfering with the selection process and making threats to try to ensure teams included more black players. "It was our hope that meaningful dialogue and negotiation would address our problems with the ZCU," the statement said. "Long hours in meetings with them were spent trying to achieve our goal to safeguard the future of Zimbabwe cricket. For the record, our actions have never been racially or politically motivated. In fact, through our years of service and dedication we feel we have been an example of a successful and multi-racial team. Despite some perceptions, we have proven time and time again that Zimbabweans of all colours can work together and achieve excellence as shown in our last two World Cups." The statement was signed by Streak, Grant Flower, Stuart Carlisle, Craig Wishart, Trevor Gripper, Andy Blignaut, Gary Brent, Travis Friend, Sean Ervine, Ray Price, Barney Rodgers, Neil Ferreria and Richard Simms. Several rebels have made arrangements to play elsewhere, while an unofficial tour by them as a team has also been mooted. Pace bowler Streak will play for Warwickshire, while Blignaut has been signed by Tasmania and fellow all rounder Ervine has moved to Perth and will also play for Hampshire. Batsmen Gripper and Flower will play club cricket in England.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 6 June
Inside Mugabe's forex scam
Black-market dollars funded extravagant overseas trips by politicians and businessmen
Bonny Schoonakker and Sunday Times Foreign Desk
Gideon Gono, now the governor of Zimbabwe's reserve bank, personally raised thousands of US dollars to fund first lady Grace Mugabe's foreign shopping sprees when he was chief executive of one of the country's largest commercial banks. Gono's role as financier of the extravagant spending trips is exposed in a list of so-called "parallel market" deals carried out by the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (now known as Jewel Bank) in defiance of laws that Gono is now sworn to uphold. The Sunday Times, which has the list, has established that scores of politicians, including Zanu PF bigwigs, and business people benefited from the deals, at a time when Zimbabwe's currency was in free fall. The black market was used to obtain cheap dollars which were then sold at much higher official market prices or used to fund overseas shopping sprees. Among the more notable transactions in a list of 1 250 deals over a five-month period is one on January 11 2002 in favour of "Mrs G M (Cash FX)". According to a former CBZ official, this was one of six parallel market deals conducted on behalf of the Mugabes during the period concerned. The list also records R5.2-million raised on behalf of jailed former Finance Minister Chris Kuruneri, in a February 2002 deal that is the subject of fraud and corruption charges which he now faces. The names of businesswoman Jane Mutasa, recently charged for corruption and forex fraud, and Chinhoyi MP Philip Chiyangwa, out on Z$5-million bail and facing similar charges, also occur frequently.
According to the CBZ employee, Gono personally issued and authorised the order to raise US$100 000 on behalf of Grace Mugabe on January 11 2002. The cash "was invariably collected by one of Mugabe's aides in a leather briefcase", he said. "The cash was delivered to Gideon Gono's office and booked to Gono's special account, which was basically his slush fund. These illegal transactions required by the Mugabes, his family and his officials were booked to this account." The official said the money was used to finance a trip to London, including a visit to Harrods, in the four weeks following the transaction. The explosion of the "parallel market" is cited as one the key reasons behind the collapse of the Zimbabwean currency, to Z$6 000 to the US dollar from Z$10 to the US dollar within a few years. Although the CBZ obtained most of the money on the black market, criminal prosecution is unlikely because Gono declared an amnesty for such deals less than three weeks after his appointment as governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Jewel Bank's biggest single shareholder is the SA financial services group Absa, which owns 26%. The Zimbabwean government owns 20% and the Libyan government, whose sales of oil to Zimbabwe are financed by the bank, also owns a significant stake. CBZ was also the bank officially responsible for raising money for the president's foreign travels and for financing grain and fuel imports.
This week a senior member at Absa said he was unaware of any illegal activity at CBZ during Gono's tenure. However, the senior CBZ official said that parallel market deals, and the profits made on them, were hidden from the bank's auditors, KPMG, which were given only "limited exposure to the bank's accounts". "The Mugabes would receive the cash or have the funds transferred with Gono's full knowledge and authority and never with the 'direct' approval of the reserve bank," he said. Contacted for comment, Gono did not deny raising money for the Mugabes during his tenure at CBZ, but said, through a spokesman, that "issues relating to banks and their clients were confidential". In any case, the issue should not arise because all banks had received amnesty from Gono for illegal forex deals done before December 1 last year, when he became reserve bank governor. Louis von Zeuner, Absa group executive director responsible for Jewel Bank, said Absa was "quite satisfied with its current position. lthough we are extremely fortunate to have an MD of the calibre of Nyasha Makuvise, the bank's current CE, we have no doubt that the good work was started under the leadership of Dr Gono. External audit reports, financial performance as well as reports from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe confirm this."
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 4 June
Treger probe steers clear of party chefs
Vincent Kahiya
Senior Zanu PF politicians sit on the Treger Holdings board which was responsible for authorising foreign currency transactions for which the company's subsidiary, Treger Industries, is now being prosecuted. The Zimbabwe Independent has also learnt that Anti-Corruption and Anti-Monopolies minister Didymus Mutasa is a former director of Treger Holdings. Records at the companies registry show that Zanu PF secretary for administration Emmerson Mnangagwa and secretary for finance David Karimanzira sit on the Treger Holdings board by virtue of Zanu PF's shareholding in the company. Karimanzira, who heads the committee currently investigating ruling-party companies, replaced Mutasa on the Treger's board. Police two weeks ago arrested 13 board members of Treger Industries on allegations of externalising $39 billion in foreign currency. They recorded warned and cautioned statements before they were released. The politicians' role in Treger Holdings could however escape public scrutiny as police have now decided to prosecute Treger Industries, the corporate entity, and not its directors. Contacted about his role yesterday, Karimanzira would only say: "I've no comment on that." Mutasa confirmed that he "used to attend board meetings at Treger Holdings".
The change in the target of prosecution followed submissions by Treger's lawyer, Jonathan Samkange, who argued that the directors of Treger Industries executed decisions by the holding company whose directors should be charged instead. That could have entailed charging senior Zanu PF officials as well. On Monday Samkange began negotiations with police officers investigating the case over who should be charged with externalising foreign currency. Samkange argued that the police could not charge directors of a subsidiary company but only those of the holding company who made policy decisions. He said, alternatively, the police could charge the subsidiary company and not its directors. The second option prevailed. Samkange yesterday confirmed that police would charge the company and not the 13 directors. "Yes, they will now charge the company and not the 13 they originally arrested," said Samkange. "If they wanted to charge directors, they should have gone for the directors of the holding company because they are the ones who make decisions." Observers believe the change of approach will protect senior Zanu PF officials from investigation. Quizzing Karimanzira would have been embarrassing as he is the chairman of the committee set up to investigate the goings-on in companies owned by Zanu PF. Regarding Zanu PF's collective responsibility in the Treger Holdings case, Mutasa said it was up to the police to effect arrests if they felt that a crime had been committed. "The decision to arrest rests with the police," said Mutasa yesterday. "It is up to the police to decide who to arrest."
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 6 June
Moyo angers Zanu PF old guard
Foreign Desk
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's propaganda chief Jonathan Moyo has run into trouble with Zanu PF's top leaders for attacking the old guard in an escalating power struggle. Information Minister Moyo and the issue of in-fighting dominated a heated debate at the Zanu PF's lengthy politburo meeting on Wednesday. The battle for power is mounting ahead of Zanu's crucial December congress after Mugabe announced he will not seek re-election in 2008. Moyo infuriated Zanu PF heavyweights by attacking ruling party spokesman and Mugabe confidante Nathan Shamuyarira for arranging Mugabe's recent interview with Sky News television. Moyo - who wants to be the only presidential gatekeeper - claimed it was better to use the "national media" than the "colonial and imperialist" press to promote Zimbabwe's interests. His allegation that the Sky News crew comprised "British intelligence officers masquerading as journalists" and that their questions were either "very crude or very stupid" was seen as an unwitting attack on Mugabe. This angered senior Zanu PF members who now see Moyo as overreaching himself. One senior member who attended the meeting said party bigwigs "strongly protested" against Moyo and Chinotimba's behaviour. "[Retired] General [Solomon] Mujuru was the most vocal in condemning the attacks against senior members. He said that trigger-happy newcomers should be reined in to prevent chaos in the party," the Zanu PF official said. "There is pending but unspecified action that will be taken against them." Mujuru is said to have warned Mugabe that, after finishing with all other senior party members, ambitious rookies would target the president himself.
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From The Independent on Sunday (UK), 6 June
Nuns in front line of Mugabe campaign to drive the last whites from Zimbabwe
By Anne Wynne
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo has condemned an invasion of a white-owned farm led by two nuns, amid a fresh upsurge of violence against Zimbabwe's white farmers. At least 13 properties have been invaded in the past fortnight and several farmers have suffered beatings. Arthur and Ansy Swales, who grow maize in the Banket district, 60 miles north of Harare, said they had first been approached in 2002 by nuns from the Little Children of the Blessed Lady order, led by Sister Helen Maminimini and Sister Notvurgo, about using some land to grow vegetables. The couple donated around 90 acres and helped the sisters prepare it, but said the nuns grew increasingly aggressive, demanding expensive equipment and more and more land. Then last month the nuns gave the Swales 24 hours to leave the farm. The couple refused. Eleven days later a group of youths from President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party arrived at midnight. "They went and woke up all the workers, and made them run and sing government songs," said Mrs Swales. "They forced the guards to open the barn gates so they could get to the equipment. We called the police, but they didn't arrive for 14 hours." When they finally did, they said that the occupation was illegal and that the youths must go. Most have now left, but a group of about six to eight remain, squatting in some empty workers' houses, said Mrs Swales. "They tell us we can't move anything without their permission. We put all our capital into buying this machinery."
Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo condemned the nuns' actions, saying: "It definitely was not with the blessing of the Church ... If a nun, a priest or even a bishop steals, it's definitely wrong, because it's against God's law." But the ruling Zanu-PF is being accused of launching a campaign in the rural areas to drive all whites out of Zimbabwe by the end of the year. More than 3,000 white farmers have been driven off the land since Mr Mugabe's policy of redistribution by force began four years ago, and the Commercial Farmers' Union estimates only 300 of the remaining 600 farmers are active. Two weeks ago Anthony Bodington, a farm manager, and three black game wardens were abducted during an anti-poaching patrol in the Save Valley Conservancy, a wildlife sanctuary 300 miles south of Harare. They told police a group of 50 "war veterans" systematically tortured them for 13 hours. "As the attackers tired, others would come to take their place," Mr Bodington said. Two of the wardens suffered fractured arms and a third had a broken collarbone. As the only white, Mr Bodington was singled out for vicious treatment. His elbows were fractured and punctured to prevent him raising his hands to protect his face, and doctors fear he may be permanently disabled.
The latest victim of the renewed violence is a British grandmother, Pat Campbell, 62, who was beaten by a "security guard" wielding a stick and an AK47 rifle last week when she attempted to feed her cattle on her farm, 90 miles north of Harare. The farm has been allocated by the government to Lieutenant General Phillip Sibanda, commander of the Zimbabwe National Army and a former UN peacekeeper. "We heard [the guard] attacking our employees in the barn, and my son ran to stop him, shouting 'Run, run,' to his workers," Mrs Campbell said. "I ran to open the gate so our truck could drive through, and he began to beat me with the stick, threatening to kill me." She believes only the action of her son, who drove over to her and then rammed the gates until they burst, saved her from serious injury or death. Mrs Campbell said the "security guard" had three times threatened to shoot her, but his employer refused to take any action. "Where can I go?" she asked. "I was born in Scotland, but this is my home. My husband, a son and my grandson are buried here; I have 200 cattle on the farm, and workers who depend on me."
Michael Clark, regional head of the CFU, believes the increase in violence against his members, after a period of relative calm, could be linked to forthcoming elections. "This was very methodical, calculated cruelty," he said. "We know there are camps where the Green Bombers [soldiers notorious for their brutality] and the youth brigades are trained in torture, but these assailants were not part of any formal organisation." The farm seizures have crippled food production in Zimbabwe, leaving 5.5 million people dependent on food aid last year. Last week the Famine Early Warning System Network, a US-funded agency, predicted conditions would be even worse this year, calling the situation an "emergency". But Mr Mugabe recently told a television interviewer that there were other countries that needed food aid more than Zimbabwe. "We are not hungry. It should go to hungrier people, hungrier countries than ourselves," he said. "Why foist this food upon us? We don't want to be choked."
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From The Cape Argus (SA), 5 June
Zimbabwe secretly imports maize
Up to 400 000 tons of maize - some of it from South Africa - have been secretly imported into Zimbabwe over the past few months as the government stocks up on food for distribution ahead of parliamentary elections next March. Official sources said the imports would be used to make up the shortfall in this year's harvest and ensure donors are kept out of food distribution efforts. This would enable Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government to apply food as the key weapon to win the two-thirds majority it badly needs in parliament to change the constitution. Key donors that helped Zimbabwe at the height of its food problems had hitherto refused to give the government any opportunity to use food as a political weapon. The Zimbabwe government stands accused of misleading the world about its anticipated harvests this season. It claims it will harvest 2.4 million tons of maize, exceeding the country's annual requirements of about 1.8 million to two million tons. A United Nations crop assessment team that wanted to verify the government's claims was kicked out of the country two weeks ago. But the sources said at least 400 000 tons of maize had already been imported and deposited at selected silos run by state owned Grain Marketing Board. The sources say the maize is from South Africa, Zambia and the Americas.
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From The Guardian (UK), 7 June
Mugabe's banker to visit UK for funds
Scheme to channel cash through state bank
The head of the Zimbabwean central bank is due in Britain later this week to raise funds for the state's depleted coffers, despite a travel ban which prevents Robert Mugabe and other leading politicians entering the country, the Guardian has learned. Gideon Gono, previously Robert Mugabe's personal banker, is due to address a group of Zimbabweans in Birmingham on Thursday to encourage them to send money home to their families through government channels, according to Zimbabweans invited to the meeting. He plans other meetings in Luton, London and Glasgow. EU sanctions prevent President Robert Mugabe and 98 named officials travelling to or holding financial assets in any EU country, but Mr Gono is not among those barred. Since taking over the reserve bank in January he has introduced several schemes that credited with slowing down the collapse of Zimbabwe's economy. But he is not free of scandal. The South African Sunday Times claimed yesterday that he had carried out hundreds of illegal currency deals, including several which had paid for lavish shopping sprees by Mrs Grace Mugabe. He admitted that before going to the reserve bank he had acted as Mr Mugabe's personal banker. In Britain he will try to persuade the estimated 400,000 Zimbabweans to send money home through official channels rather than the private channels they prefer because the official exchange rate has been unrealistically low. Mr Gono has introduced a system which offers a competitive exchange rate. If he succeeds in tapping into the remittances it will bring a hefty amount of urgently needed foreign currency to the state reserves. He has already urged Zimbabweans in the US to do the same, in a speech in Dallas.
Lady Amos, leader of the House of Lords, said recently that Mr Gono was free to travel to Britain because he was not regarded as a key member of Mr Mugabe's government. "As I understand it, the governor of the reserve bank is not on the exclusion list because he is not playing a leading role in the Zanu PF politburo or in the government," she told the House of Lords on May 25. She confirmed that she was "aware that the government of Zimbabwe are seeking to reach out to the diaspora and seeking to get them to send remittances back to the country through formal channels", adding: "I cannot comment on the use that they will make of that." Analysts in Zimbabwe said that Lady Amos was mistaken in suggesting that Mr Gono was not a key policy maker for the regime. "Gideon Gono is the most significant maker of financial policies in Zimbabwe today," said a Harare economist who would not be named. "His decisions have become more influential than the minister of finance. It is outrageous that Gono is being allowed into Britain on what is essentially a fund-raising trip for the Mugabe regime. We thought that was what the EU sanctions were supposed to prevent." The opposition Movement for Democratic Change said it was dismayed by the visit. "These are the same Zimbabweans who have been disenfranchised by the Mugabe government, which has prevented them from voting. "We fear the government will use the funds gathered through this campaign to fund Zanu PF's election campaign in March next year."
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From The New York Times, 7 June
New wave of repression seen in Zimbabwe by-election
By Michael Wines
Lupane - Like scores of opposition politicians in Zimbabwe, David Mpala knew violence firsthand. As he campaigned for this region's seat in Parliament in 2000, 40 government supporters clubbed him so soundly that he was permanently scarred. In 2002, 18 thugs dragged him into the bush, beat him and stabbed him in the back. Mr. Mpala, 48, died in February, and the government held an election last month to fill his seat. This time, government critics say, it was democracy that got mugged. In what many here see as a dry run for Zimbabwe's national elections next March, President Robert G. Mugabe's party, Zanu PF, went to extraordinary lengths three weeks ago to guarantee a win in Lupane. Independent election observers, journalists and opposition politicians reported a government campaign of beatings, arrests, bribery, fraud and intimidation in April and May, intended, they say, to keep supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change away from the polls and to press citizens to vote for Mr. Mugabe's party. Lupane district has long reviled Mr. Mugabe's government, in part because his troops killed thousands of the local Ndebele people 25 years ago as his party consolidated its grip on Zimbabwe. But when vote-tallying ended on May 17, the governing party's candidate had collected 10,069 votes; the Movement for Democratic Change candidate, 9,186.
"What I'm experiencing now is hopelessness," Morgan Komichi, 40, chief of the Movement's operations in Matebeleland North Province, which includes Lupane, said in an interview. "Zanu PF has been building a dictatorship for a long time." Mr. Komichi speaks from experience. He has been arrested six times, most recently on May 11 while he was coordinating the opposition's parliamentary campaign in Lupane. He said he spent two days in a jail cell with 23 other opposition figures before being released without explanation. Mr. Mugabe's government is not known for indulging its critics. But with parliamentary elections on the horizon - crucial because they are almost certainly the last of his 24 years as Zimbabwe's autocrat - a new campaign of repression appears to be gaining momentum. Its goal is to neutralize any outside force that might sway the choice of his successor, in part by casting black Zimbabwe as the target of forces bent on its destruction. Zanu PF won a majority of seats in Parliament in the last national election, in 2002. But most independent observers said that the balloting was rigged and that the Movement for Democratic Change, the only opposition party, would have won a fair election.
In recent weeks, the government has closed one of the nation's few remaining independent newspapers and has labeled foreign journalists as terrorists. It has stepped up harassment of opposition politicians and civil-society leaders. Last month, the human-rights group Amnesty International cited four separate instances of beatings and detentions of activists in one week in late April. Last month, the government expelled United Nations experts who were assessing the national corn harvest, widely judged to have been a failure for the third straight year. It proposed to censor all e-mail for anti-state provocations, and shut down private schools it has called racist white preserves. Iden Wetherell, the white editor of the weekly Zimbabwe Independent, said he and his newspaper had received vague threats of government retaliation in recent weeks for their criticism of official policy. "There's no doubt in my mind that Mugabe is preparing his party, leading his party into a quite serious offensive against the opposition and civil society which is designed to bring about total victory in 2005," he said by telephone from Harare, the capital. "If you look at the pattern of things since the 2000 referendum," he said, "you will see that this country is constantly being taken to the brink of anarchy as a political strategy to motivate the ruling party's supporters, to suggest a serious threat to the country; that the opposition is in league with external forces to bring down the regime."
Lovemore Madhuku, a lawyer who heads the National Constitutional Assembly, was among 80 people arrested on May 15 in Gweru, in central Zimbabwe, as the organization - an amalgam of human rights, political, religious and student groups - sought to hold a meeting on constitutional reform. Police officers fired tear gas and beat conferees with nightsticks to break up the meeting, which they said was illegal. "In the last one or two months, we've seen continuing evidence of the grip of this regime on power," Mr. Madhuku said in a telephone interview from Harare. "The regime here is closing, completely closing, all avenues of people expressing themselves." In recent months, Mr. Mugabe has increasingly lashed out at real and potential critics. The United States and Britain, which have imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in reaction to its human-rights record, have been frequent targets, as have global institutions. Last month, Mr. Mugabe denounced the International Monetary Fund, to which Zimbabwe is in arrears on $290 million in loans, as "awful" and untrustworthy.
Although the United Nations estimated this year that two-thirds of Zimbabweans had no ready access to food - the worst record in Africa - Mr. Mugabe has proclaimed the nation self-sufficient. Analysts have estimated that this year's corn harvest would total from 700,000 to one million tons - half the nation's needs. But Zimbabwe officials insist that the corn harvest will total 2.4 million tons, the largest in decades. "We are not hungry," Mr. Mugabe said in an interview with Sky Television, the British network, last month. "Why foist this food upon us? We don't want to be choked. We have enough." Some human rights monitors, like Amnesty International, have said they believe that Zimbabwe's refusal of further international aid is a prelude to the use of food as a bargaining tool to win support for the governing party in the elections next year. Last month's events in Lupane district hardly dispel that notion. Mr. Komichi said that as voters lined up on May 15 at the Lupane Business Center, the ramshackle commercial hub in Lupane village, they were greeted by stacked sacks of corn and government supporters handing out coupons to potential supporters. He and others say the Lupane election was marred by official fraud and manipulation. Starting in late March, the government bused in members of its feared Green Bombers youth militia to register as voters. The militia members were then dispersed throughout the province to wage a strong-arm campaign to get out the vote for the government candidate.
As part of a nationwide campaign to build local support, the government has awarded the nation's influential traditional elders monthly salaries of 1.5 million Zimbabwean dollars - about $450 at current rates - and Mazda pickup trucks. The independent Zimbabwe Election Support Network reported that the elders and their subordinates, who control patronage and property in most villages, stood vigil at Lupane polling places last month, ostentatiously ticking off the names of villagers who arrived to vote. "They're threatened by a simple thing: 'If you don't vote Zanu PF, we will know it,' " Mr. Komichi said. "And you will be chased away from your village, your home." On May 11, four days before the election, Mr. Komichi and other opposition workers were jailed after government supporters attacked young men putting up posters about a speech by the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai. Many were not freed until May 13, after the speech, which, like most opposition rallies, was ringed by Zanu PF trucks and activists wearing party T-shirts. Mr. Komichi, a member of the opposition party since it was formed in 1999, said he was running some risk by complaining to a foreigner about the election irregularities. He added that after a half-dozen arrests and a beating, he did not mind. "I am committed,'' he said. "I am a politician. I have to be known. I am not violating any law by speaking. I am actually following the Constitution of my nation."
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Comment from The Zimbabwe Standard, 6 June
Zimbabwe's political crisis: whose problem?
Everjoice Win
"MDC's woes deepen" ran one headline. "Is the MDC heading for oblivion?" asked another. Analyst after analyst has looked at the recent political developments in Zimbabwe and sought to cast this as the problem facing one opposition political party. In the part of town that I inhabit, the refrain I hear is, "saka iyo MDC yacho zvapasina zvairi kuita? Manje vachaita sei?" I vacillate between shouting at these people and shrugging my shoulders in exasperation. Where does one begin? I got my answer recently while talking to a good friend who works in the private sector. Over the last few years she told me that she has nothing to do with politics. That she thinks all this stuff is nonsense and all she wants is to be left in peace. So as long as she did her work quietly, kept her head down, and could feed her family, then there was nothing to get worked up about. On May 5 her two children were locked out of their private school by the State. She called me in complete shock and anger; "What is wrong with these people? What do they think they are doing?" I listened to her hyper-ventilate for over 15 minutes. Then she asked, "they cant do this can they?" I smiled into the phone and said very coldly, "yes sweetie they can and they just have. Deal with it". So, the MDC has lost a few by-elections. My prediction is they will lose a few more, if trends are anything to go by. Everything tells me that in 2005, the Zanu PF think tank whoever is in it, will literally sit down and decide exactly how many seats to give the MDC in the next parliament. I predict that if MDC gets 15 seats they will be really really lucky. There I have said it, so deal with it! I worry about Zimbabweans who seem to think that the MDC is some kind of Messiah, or that Morgan Tsvangirai is a Moses who will take them across the Red Sea in a blaze of glory while Zanu PF gets buried in the waters. No such miracle has happened and it's not likely to happen. I wonder what planet the political analysts who kept telling us that Lupane and Zengeza were "a litmus test"? Test of what? If it was a test of who had more brute force than the other, yes. If it was a test of how many tricks the ruling party still has up its sleeve and to what lengths they will go to win any election - I again agree. If we ever needed any proof of any of those issues we now have it.
The recent by-elections were simply a demonstration of how determined the ruling party is to stay in power. The by elections were also an indicator of just how little structural change has happened to our political and governance system since 1980. These events have demonstrated that the changes needed in Zimbabwe are much more far reaching and deeper than we the populace care to understand. As my friend Tawanda likes to say, "vanhu havasi kuona kwatiri kuenda ava!" (people don't quite understand the amount of struggle that is needed). Equally we don't seem to see where we are coming from. We are coming from, and are still, stuck in decades of oppression and fear. We are a people cowed into silence and docility by the brutal force that we have |
