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Archived News
8th February 2005
ABC Report of interview with Zimbabwean refugees in Perth
Teachers and trade unionists living in Zimbabwe face intimidation, violence, AIDS and possible starvation
Mugabe Envisages Alternative World Order Headed by China
Zimbabwean farmers settling in to rural Australia
New Website launched - ZimObserver.com
Cosatu lands in Harare, authorities refuse them entry
Zimbabwe sets parliament polls for March 31
MDC attacks Mugabe over election date
New Attorney General declined to back Tsvangirai treason appeal
Did Mkapa broker Mugabe, Moyo talks?
127 die in prison
Collapses Zim banks reopen amid confusion
Zimbabwe bars South African team
Cosatu, Zim unionists regroup south of the border
Outlook bleak for Zimbabwe elections
Begging to get off the streets
Zimbabwe's new gold rush, 19th century style
State secret agents sniff out journalists stringing for foreign media
Mugabe poll battle ahead as rivals step into the fray
Cosatu, Zim union sneak quick talks
800 000 deceased Zimbabweans still on voters' register
SA praises Zimbabwe poll reforms
Mystery diamond deal
14 die of malnutrition in Bulawayo
MDC activists arrested for 'insulting' deputy minister
Zim election costs soar
Zanu PF has campaign troubles
Embassy staff caught up in espionage net
Farmers uprooted by Mugabe seek new life in Nigeria
I spied on Mugabe for SA
Zim unionists 'home safe'
Zimbabwe says citizens abroad can only vote at home
Workers persuaded MDC to join poll
Zimbabwe opposition blasts 20-fold hike in election fees
Moyo is our man, says Ndonga
Jailed Bennett wants to contest polls
Four years after brutal murder of MDC activists, state security agent remains a free man
Zimbabwe is sabotaging rest of Africa's chances, says Tutu
Zanu PF sacks official over spy allegations
SA police question Zimbabwe operatives
Jonathan Moyo courts journalists with Z$11 million donation
Zimbabwe elections: 'The rulers always win
Zanu PF calls Tutu a 'sellout'
1 400% pay hike for Zim troops
Back Zanu PF or starve, chiefs tell villagers
AU adopts report critical of Mugabe regime's human rights record
With a Z$1m a month tax threshold, Zimbabwe is a paradise lost
Mugabe snuffs Zimbabwe tobacco, fueling Zambia boom
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From SABC News, 2 February
Cosatu lands in Harare, authorities refuse them entry
A Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) delegation has landed in Harare and has been refused entrance to Zimbabwe. Zwelinzima Vavi, the secretary general of Cosatu, who is leading the delegation, says they were met by Zimbabwean officials who made them sign forms acknowledging that they would not be allowed into the country. Vavi earlier said Membathisi Mdladlana, the labour minister, will be to blame if the Zimbabwean government mistreats their delegation in Harare. Mdladlana earlier raised concerns about Cosatu's mission to Zimbabwe, saying he is not convinced that there is a need for Cosatu to visit Zimbabwe, as issues raised by the federation can be handled through the social dialogue provision enshrined in a memorandum of understanding between the two countries. Speaking prior to their departure from the Johannesburg International Airport this morning, Vavi said Mdladlana's statements were unfortunate as they fed into the hostile attitude of the Zimbabwean authorities.
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From SABC News, 1 February
Zimbabwe sets parliament polls for March 31
Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, has set March 31 as the date for the country's closely watched general parliamentary election. The election is expected to test how far Mugabe's government has yielded to international pressure for a fair vote as well as the popularity of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The MDC charges Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party robbed it of victory in the last parliamentary contest in June 2000, and in the presidential poll in 2002 through rigging and a violent campaign against the opposition. Mugabe, who turns 81 later this month and has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980, denies rigging the elections. He says he is being targeted for retribution by Western powers opposed to his policy of seizing white-owned farms to give to landless blacks. Mugabe's party has used its majority in the current parliament to pass a set of legal reforms intended to meet standards set by the 14-member regional grouping Southern African Development Community (SADC) for fair polls. However, the MDC charges the reforms, including the appointment of an independent electoral commission, do not go far enough. The MDC has threatened to boycott the March vote, arguing the prevailing electoral climate favour Zanu PF. Among other things, it accuses authorities of selectively applying security laws banning the holding of rallies without police clearance, saying this has hampered its election campaign. David Coltart, the MDC legal affairs secretary, said the date came as no surprise, but said the opposition still had to meet to formally decide on its participation. "The timing of the elections is irrelevant. We are ready to take on Zanu PF any time. What is important to us is the conditions," he told reporters.
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From Zim Online (SA), 2 February
MDC attacks Mugabe over election date
Harare - Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party yesterday criticised President Robert Mugabe for setting the country's parliamentary election on March 31 saying more time was needed to prepare for a free and fair poll. The opposition party's secretary general Welshman Ncube said the poll date would virtually disable the newly created Zimbabwe Electoral Commission that should run the ballot. The commission headed by pro-Mugabe High Court Judge George Chiweshe was appointed last month. But it neither has staff nor even telephones. "The announcement of the date is a huge non-event as the repressive state machinery which militates against all democratic forces is still very much in place," Ncube said. Ncube and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai have since late last year visited key Southern African Development Community (SADC) and European leaders pleading with them to pressurise Mugabe to reschedule the election to June to allow the country to implement regional principles and standards for democratic elections. The MDC wants far-reaching reforms to overhaul Zimbabwe's electoral laws and systems arguing that electoral changes implemented by the government so far including a new rule on one-day voting, were merely cosmetic. The opposition party has still not formally said whether it will contest the poll. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, which monitors elections in the country, last night also said a free and fair election was impossible in the country without major changes including the repealing of security laws that inhibit the opposition from organising meetings.
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From Zim Online (SA), 2 February
New Attorney General declined to back Tsvangirai treason appeal
Harare - Objections by newly appointed Attorney General (AG) Sobuza Gula-Ndebele and pressure from regional leaders forced the Zimbabwe government to drop an appeal against last year's acquittal of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of treason, it was learnt yesterday. Sources at the AG's office told Zim Online that Gula-Ndebele refused to support the appeal to the Supreme Court against High Court Judge President Paddington Garwe's acquittal of Tsvangirai saying there was little prospect it could succeed. "Gula-Ndebele felt that the appeal had no prospects of success at the Supreme Court," said the source, who did not want to be named. He added: "The state is also under immense pressure from Southern African Development Community leaders to be seen to be opening democratic space and withdrawing the appeal against Tsvangirai was seen as one way of appeasing the region." A withdrawal of application for leave to appeal filed at the Supreme Court earlier this week and signed by the director of public prosecution in the Attorney General's office Joseph Musakwa simply reads: "Please take notice that Applicant (AG) withdraws the application for leave to appeal filed with the Court on November 29 2004."
Musakwa yesterday refused to discuss the reasons why the state had withdrawn the appeal instead referring questions to Gula-Ndebele who could not be reached on his phone. Garwe last October acquitted Tsvangirai of charges that he plotted to assassinate President Robert Mugabe ahead of the 2002 presidential election saying there was no sufficient evidence to link the opposition leader to the alleged crime. Then acting AG and now a High Court judge, Bharat Patel filed an appeal against the judgment the following month. Tsvangirai, who still faces another treason charge for calling anti-government demonstrations in 2003 that the government says were an attempt to overthrow it unconstitutionally, always denied he plotted to kill Mugabe and accused the state of trying to frame him.
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From The East African (Kenya, 31 January
Did Mkapa broker Mugabe, Moyo talks?
Stanley Kamana
Nairobi - Tanzanian and Zimbabwean officials are keeping silent on what transpired during a four-and-a-half-hour tete-a-tete between President Benjamin Mkapa and President Robert Mugabe in State House, Harare on January 22. There is widespread speculation that Mkapa was on a "peace-making" mission to heal rifts in Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF. The Tanzanian leader made a one-day visit to Zimbabwe for what he described to reporters on his return to the country as routine consultations between two "brotherly' countries governed by "sister" parties. However, informed sources both in Harare and Dar es Salaam have told The EastAfrican that President Mkapa flew to the Southern African country to play honest broker between President Mugabe and his erstwhile information minister and propaganda chief, Prof Jonathan Moyo. Prof Moyo was Mugabe's top confidant until last month, when they fell out following allegations by some ministers in Mugabe's Cabinet that Moyo attempted to block Mugabe's appointment of Joyce Mujuru as Zanu PF vice president and the state second vice president. He was subsequently kicked off the party's central committee and its politburo along with his perceived accomplices.
The fact that the two presidents, chose to meet in camera gives credence to the speculation that it was no ordinary consultation. Col (rtd) Nsa Kaisi, President Mkapa's political advisor, told The EastAfrican that since he did not travel with the president to Harare, he could not say for sure what transpired in the closed door meeting. "But I know that the meeting was not an impromptu encounter, he said. Col Kaisi is a former journalist colleague of the President Mkapa. They were both journalists at The Nationalist newspaper. "The Harare discussions had been scheduled to take place in Zanzibar, where President Mugabe was special guest at the 41st anniversary of the Zanzibar Revolution. But they were unable to hold the discussions there, prompting President Mkapa to travel to Harare at a later date," he said. Col Kaisi said both presidents belonged to the Peace and Security Committee of the African Union (AU) and as such, have to consult now and then. He cited President Mkapa's two-day visit to Uganda a week earlier as being part of this scheme of things.
However, the Uganda visit is not difficult to understand since there are peace and security problems both in Uganda and in neighbouring DR Congo and Sudan's Darfur region. The same cannot be said of Zimbabwe, though, whose internal problems have yet to be addressed by the AU. Similarly, the Zimbabwean ambassador to Tanzania, Chippo Zindoga, who travelled to Harare for the Tanzanian president's visit, said that the meeting was a one-on-one talk between the two leaders and it lasted four and half hours. Ms Zindoga said that only the two presidents know what they discussed at State House, Harare. Tanzania's ambassador to Zimbabwe, Brig Gen (rtd) Hashim Mbita, speaking to The EastAfrican from Harare last Thursday, also said the leaders' meeting was a closed-door affair and as a former journalist himself, acknowledged that it is only natural that such meetings arouse speculation. Gen Mbita, who is close to the Zimbabwean ruling clique, having worked with them during the liberation struggle as executive secretary of the Organisation of African Unity Liberation Committee, said no political party worth its name was without problems, be it internal conflicts or minor differences. He was referring to the conflict in Zanu PF. "Take an example of Kenya, he said, "What is happening within the ruling National Rainbow Coalition? These are normal, ordinary things for political parties. So if our leaders chose to discuss the problems in Zanu PF as you are saying, then there is nothing earthshaking about it. That's politics. But what I can tell you categorically is that the presidents met alone and none of us knows what transpired. In fact, they were due to hold these talks in Zanzibar during Revolution Day celebrations, but I think time did not allow it. That is why President Mkapa had to come this way for the talks.
Mr Mbita also referred to the fact that both Zimbabwe and Tanzania will be holding general elections later this year and said that this alone is a reason for consultation between two brotherly countries. The party strife could not have come at a worse time for President Mugabe, who is facing a general election in March this year, even as he faces stiff opposition from other political parties, particularly the Movement for Democratic Change led by former trade union chief Morgan Tsvangirai. President Mkapa is one of the African heads of state who have publicly supported Mugabe's land policies. Sources say that President Mkapa has been worried that an open split in Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party resulting from the demotion or departure of Moyo from its ranks would be disastrous to the party's chances of winning the election. "It would also reflect negatively on the veneer of invincibility that Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) likes to portray, especially when the party has a general election on its hands this year, said a source in Dar es Salaam. The argument goes that since President Mkapa is constitutionally barred from running in the coming elections, CCM can ill-afford a split in a "sister" party, which could set a bad precedent. "President Mkapa must have gone to Harare to avert what looks like a sure split in Zanu PF following Moyo's ouster and subsequent moves to bar him from defending his parliamentary seat of Tsholotsho," said our source, adding: "He must be looking ahead at what might happen here if one of the major contenders fails to get nominated and decides to go it alone." CCM will pick its presidential candidate in April, six months early, in a departure from the usual last-minute nomination.
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From The Daily Mirror, 2 February
127 die in prison
Clemence Manyukwe
A total of 127 prisoners died at Khami Prison in Bulawayo last year alone, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) has said, attributing some of the deaths to overcrowding and poor ventilation. The total number of prison deaths throughout the country was yet to be established, since reports on the situation at other prisons in Harare and Mutare were still being compiled. Statistics on the Khami deaths are carried in a report done by a team of eight prominent Bulawayo lawyers, following a government-sanctioned assessment visit to the penitentiary just outside the city on December 10 last year. The lawyers involved in the assessment included LSZ president Joseph James, Advocate Lucas Nkomo, Greyson Nyoni and Thabiso Sibanda. The appraisal also coincided with commemorations to mark World Human Rights Day, observed on December 10 every year. Speaking by phone from Bulawayo yesterday, James said they were yet to submit the report to the government, as they were awaiting reports from three other prisons. He said other lawyers had assessed a prison in Harare and two others in Mutare.
The 127 Khami deaths were blamed on the fast spread of diseases due to overcrowding. "This overcrowding has a terrible effect on the prisoners, and coupled with reduced ventilation, is the prime reason for the fast spread of diseases, notably tuberculosis. There are 96 recorded cases of TB, 25 cases of scabies and other infections. There are six known cases of Aids. There have been 127 deaths since the last visit," reads part of the lawyers' report. Khami has a holding capacity of 650 inmates, but on the day of the visit it was teeming with 1 167, representing an overcrowding percentage of 85.24. Of the prisoners doing time there, 961 were convicts, while the other 206 were on remand. The report said although convicted prisoners were separated from those on remand, there was no separation regarding age, resulting in juveniles being locked up in cells with hardened criminals. It was critical of the squalid living conditions of prisoners at the corrections centre where a 1.5m x 2.5m cell (3.75 square metres) originally designed for one inmate now holds three, while cells measuring 3m x 3m (nine square metres) take up to 14 prisoners. The problem of overcrowding could be solved if the courts dealt timeously with cases before them, the report suggested.
It was noted that there was a sizeable number of inmates committed for sentence and had stayed for over two years. On a positive note, the lawyers noted that the quantity of food had improved, while health services were being provided. Two doctors visited the prison thrice a week, while nine nurses and a rehabilitation technician were in attendance daily. "The provision of food has improved. The quantity thereof is enough but the quality and nutritional value is suspect. The best meal, according to the inmates, is soft porridge, which is easy to prepare. Of concern are the hours of feeding, the three meals sometimes being squeezed inside four hours," the report said. However, there was no evidence of contact with the outside world, such as newspapers and radios so that prisoners were regularly informed about events taking place around them. In an interview, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa, said he was aware that prisoners were dying, but was not sure of the figures. He attributed most of the deaths to Aids-related illnesses. "In the majority of cases, they die of Aids-related illnesses. Some of them come with the disease, others get infected inside. The disease is not sparing anyone," said Chinamasa. He added that they were embarking on a programme to acquire Anti-Retroviral drugs for the inmates, with the terminally ill earmarked for Presidential pardon. Efforts to get a comment from the prisons spokesperson, Elizabeth Banda, were fruitless yesterday.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 31 January
Collapses Zim banks reopen amid confusion
Three collapsed banks reopened on Monday in Zimbabwe under the aegis of a new umbrella banking group that President Robert Mugabe's government hopes will revive the ailing financial sector. Clients whose money was locked up in the Royal, Barbican and Trust banks - shut down last year - queued up from morning nationwide to withdraw their funds at 22 branches of the new Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group (ZABG). But angry customers complained their money is still locked up. "I came here under the impression that I would be able to access all my money, only to be told I would not be able to get anything above Z$5-million [about R4 800]," Edgar Chidavaenzi, a farmer, said at a ZABG branch in downtown Harare. "I need money to pay for labour and electricity and all my money is still locked up." A ZABG official, who declined to give his name, said account holders in the three collapsed banks will only be able to withdraw a one-off sum of Z$5-million from the ZABG, while the rest of their savings will be turned into shares. "Clients will have shares in ZABG and they can decide whether to sell their shares or not when the bank registers on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. Opening an account is not a means by which to access your money," she said.
The ZABG initially comprises the three banks but other distressed banks are expected to join. Zimbabwe's financial sector was wracked by its worst crisis last year that left seven banks under curatorship and three financial institutions liquidated. "We need money at the moment, not shares in ZABG, and this is confusing now because we thought the purpose was for us to access our funds," said account holder Gilbert Kayaya, walking out of a ZABG branch with a sheaf of forms. "We did not expect all this confusion." The central bank plans to inject Z$2-trillion into the ZABG. Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, who has been tasked with trying to revive the moribund economy, set up the ZABG to help distressed banks. Zimbabwe is trying to revive its tattered economy, which is plagued by high unemployment levels, poverty and the highest inflation rate in the world. The problems stem partly from the country's isolation from its former trade partners in the West after Zimbabwe embarked on its controversial land-reform programme in early 2000. Inflation officially dropped to 132,6% in December from a peak of 622,8% in January last year, and Zimbabwe has managed to arrest the free fall of the local currency, but inflation is still startlingly high at 70%.
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From Reuters, 2 February
Zimbabwe bars South African team
By Cris Chinaka
Harare - Zimbabwe has barred trade union leaders from key ally South Africa who tried to enter the country on a pre-election fact-finding mission, saying they were visitors with a hostile agenda. The delegation from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) - allied to South African President Thabo Mbeki's ruling ANC - returned home vowing to step up pressure for political change in Zimbabwe. President Robert Mugabe's government has been accused of rigging past elections and opposition leaders said limited reforms ahead of March 31 polls favour the ruling Zanu PF. "The Zimbabwean government's action confirms reports that it is contemptuous of human rights and civil liberties," Cosatu said in a statement issued in Johannesburg on Wednesday. "We will not abandon our colleagues in Zimbabwe in their hour of need." Mugabe's government had first threatened to jail the Cosatu delegation but officials said it had opted to deport them from the airport to avoid embarrassing Mbeki, who has resisted calls for a tough line over allegations of political repression by Mugabe. The move nevertheless highlighted tensions between Harare and South Africa ahead of Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections on March 31, which regional leaders have described as an important test of Harare's commitment to democratic reforms. Both Mugabe and Mbeki were in Mozambique on Wednesday for the inauguration of President Armando Guebuza, who succeeded that country's longtime president following peaceful elections in December.
In Harare, Zimbabwean labour leaders waved at their South African counterparts who responded with waves and victory signs from behind the immigration barrier. "Where do you think you are? This is not Africa, this is not Zimbabwe, this is North Korea!" Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) Secretary General Wellington Chibebe shouted jokingly at the South African visitors. ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo said Cosatu's expulsion showed hopes for democratic change in Zimbabwe were remote. "The situation in this country is now self-explanatory. No one needs an explanation of what repression we are facing and what repression we are fighting." Zimbabwe's Labour Minister Paul Mangwana told Reuters the group was denied entry because it had not followed procedure for gaining approval for such a visit. "We do not understand why they did not want to follow protocol, unless they had a hostile agenda," Mangwana said. Mugabe's government expelled a similar Cosatu fact-finding mission last October, saying it was acting in concert with Western countries led by former colonial ruler Britain.
Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which has accused Mugabe of stealing earlier elections, condemned Harare's move as a "deplorable act" and said it proved how repressive the country had become. "The treatment of Cosatu officials should clear up any lingering doubts about the government's position on political tolerance and freedom of association," the MDC said in a statement. Cosatu is an official alliance partner of Mbeki's ruling African National Congress (ANC) but has taken a much tougher line on Zimbabwe than the South African government. Cosatu said on Wednesday it would meet with ZCTU officials in South Africa on Thursday to discuss the way forward. "We are back not as a defeated force," Cosatu Secretary General Zwelenzima Vavi told reporters upon returning to Johannesburg airport. "This serves as an education to millions of South Africans who are not exposed to the truth of what is happening in Zimbabwe." The MDC has yet to decide whether to contest next month's polls, saying it is unclear whether the vote would be either free or fair.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 3 February
Cosatu, Zim unionists regroup south of the border
A delegation of the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) will meet members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions in Limpopo on Thursday. Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said talks would probably get under way at around 9am at the Aventura resort in Tshipise. The Zimbabwean delegation arrived in South Africa late on Wednesday night after crossing into the country at the Beit Bridge border post. Earlier on Wednesday a 20-strong Cosatu delegation were refused entry into the country when it arrived at the immigration counters of the Harare International airport. At the airport each delegate was presented with a deportation order. On their return, Cosatu Secretary General Zwelinzima Vavi described the deportation as "barbaric and illegal," saying that it boded ill for the future of the continent. "Nepad [the New Partnership for Africa's Development] will stand no chance if a government such as Zimbabwe willingly disregards its own laws in this manner," he told reporters. Vavi said the continent would go nowhere if its leaders could act with impunity.
Meanwhile, the Cosatu incident will not affect relations between Zimbabwe and South Africa, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported Zimbabwean Home Affairs minister Kembo Mohadi as saying on Thursday. The previous time Cosatu attempted a similar visit, the delegation was summarily ejected from Zimbabwe. In October last year they flew in to Harare to meet the ZCTU, but were detained at the airport and booted out of the country on a bus in the middle of the night. ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama refused to comment on Cosatu's claim that its deportation from Zimbabwe was illegal. "Whether it is illegal or legal is neither here nor there for us as the ANC. We respect the sovereignty of Zimbabwe," he said. The matter would discussed by the alliance partners in a meeting next week.
Vavi said when the two federations met on Thursday, they would discuss what their next move should be. He mentioned possible future demonstrations and marches on the borders of the country, but said the final decisions would made at the meeting. "We do not require permission from the Minister of Labour to hold discussions with our counterparts," said Vavi, adding that the meeting would serve to demonstrate the differences between the countries. Vavi said it was a statement by South African Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana that gave Zimbabwe the courage to turn Cosatu away. Mdladlana had said the visit was pointless and would seriously undermine his relations with his Zimbabwean counterparts. "We would not have been chucked out if he had not made that statement. It was very unfortunate," Vavi said. Mdladlana could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
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From Sapa, 2 February
Outlook bleak for Zimbabwe elections
A discussion hosted by the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) on Wednesday painted a bleak picture of the possibility of free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. The administration of justice in Zimbabwe was under increasing stress and the Movement for Democratic Change was not allowed to air its views on TV or radio, advocate George Bizos said in a presentation. Wednesday marked the 15th anniversary of the day then-president FW de Klerk announced the unbanning of the African National Congress and the release of Nelson Mandela from Prison, and SAIIA national director Greg Mills compared Zimbabwe's leader's unfavourably to de Klerk. "It is improbable to see the sort of statesmanship we saw 15 years ago, in Zimbabwe," Mills said. Mills was speaking at a discussion on conditions necessary for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.
Independent analyst Dren Nupen said that although Zimbabwe had an electoral commission in place in accordance with Southern African Development Community (SADC) norms and guidelines, it was "stacked" with supporters of the leading Zanu PF party. Mail and Guardian CEO Trevor Ncube also spoke at the discussion. He said Zanu PF was using SADC protocol as a veneer in order to attempt to reverse its illegitimate status. Zanu PF would lose the elections if it adhered to SADC rules all the way, Ncube said. Bizos added that the treatment meted out to the last Cosatu delegation, which was kicked out of the country, did not augur well for the March 31 elections. Mugabe announced the election date on Tuesday, and on Wednesday a second delegation of Cosatu leaders attempted to visit the country unsuccessfully. No representatives for the South African government were present, Mills said, because it thought the moment was "too sensitive" to participate in a public forum.
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From IRIN (UN), 1 February
Begging to get off the streets
Johannesburg - Sarah Mudzingwa does not remember the last time she had a decent meal, and it's been more than three years since she and her three children had a proper roof over their heads. A cardboard shack in an alley off Joubert Park in Johannesburg's city centre was not what she bargained for when she left Zimbabwe looking for a better life in South Africa. A blind single parent, her expectations could arguably have been a little too high but in comparison with Zimbabwe, the past three years have been extremely tough. "Life in Johannesburg has turned into a nightmare for me. I came from Harare hoping for a new life here, but all I've seen is misery and more misery. Being blind makes things even more difficult - I cannot do any other job, so I am trying to survive through begging on the streets, but there are no donations coming," Mudzingwa told IRIN. "I used to live in a disability care centre in Harare. Before the economic crisis we were very well cared for - they even taught us Braille. But hunger set in when the centre ran out of funds in 2001 - services collapsed and many people were forced out to fend for themselves through begging, but begging in Zimbabwe was so hard, so I decided to come here together with my family."
Like other Zimbabweans fleeing the country's economic crisis, Mudzingwa regarded neighbouring South Africa, with its large and sophisticated economy, as the place where a hardworking person, even though disabled, could be given a chance to prosper. Instead, every morning, her 10-year-old daughter leads her and the younger siblings across the streets from Joubert Park to their begging spot 4 km away in Braamfontein. None of her children attend school. An estimated two million Zimbabweans live in South Africa, the majority of them illegal economic migrants dodging the police and immigration authorities. Disabled non-South Africans who need welfare assistance are the worst off: to access services they would be entitled to at home they are often asked to produce asylum seeker or refugee permits. Most of those IRIN spoke to said they did not even know how to go about applying. "As illegal immigrants, we cannot even report crimes against us - we are victims of daily crimes, but going to the police station to report is just like handing oneself over for deportation. Many suffer in silence because they do not have the identity papers; we need help in getting the papers, if they are the only means of gaining access to social services," said one.
Johannesburg-based Zimbabwean civil society organisations have formed a coalition to provide assistance to the most vulnerable, including the disabled. "We have noted with concern the increase in the number of disabled people, mostly women with children, on the streets of Johannesburg. We see it as a result of the collapse of the health and social services departments back at home," said Nkosinathi Tshuma, a humanitarian services officer with Heal Zimbabwe Trust. "We now have a consortium of organisations that look specifically after the humanitarian needs of all displaced Zimbabweans. Through this initiative we hope to assist them by providing food, shelter for the homeless, and basic amenities. We also want to help them gain legal status by assisting them through the process of applying for asylum." Tshuma said disabled people required special attention, and the NGOs plan to set up liaison groups with the relevant South African ministries, allowing them to recommend some cases for special attention once they gain legal status.
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From The Financial Mail, 28 January
Zimbabwe's new gold rush, 19th century style
By Brendan Ryan
Displaced farm workers have founda new livelihood
In Brazil they would be known as garimpeiros but, in Zimbabwe, the hordes of gold miners wielding picks and shovels are called mkorakoza, a Shona word meaning "panner". It's estimated there are more than 1m of them countrywide and they produce in total between 400 kg and 600 kg of gold a month. That means the mkorakoza could account for between 25% and 37% of Zimbabwe's gold output, which was 19,5 t for 2003, according to Gold Fields Mineral Services. Many have been driven into gold panning by Zimbabwe's land grabs, which have forced hundreds of thousands of farm workers off farms. They can find no other way to make a living and, in inflation-racked Zimbabwe, gold mining pays a lot better than most unskilled occupations, even if there were jobs available. A panner can recover around 2 g of gold a day, from which he will make about Z$140 000 (about R140). That's what a Zimbabwean farm labourer makes in a month. The result is a 19th-century-style gold rush as the mkorakoza flood - legally and illegally - on to farms in Zimbabwe's various gold belts. Zimbabwe has extensive gold-bearing zones but the reefs are narrow, geologically complex and erratic in grade, making standard commercial mining operations generally unviable.
The mkorakoza live in tents and "bivvies" made of plastic sheeting or hessian sacks, right next to their mine workings. They get their supplies from - and let their hair down in - shanty towns in the bush near the workings. Apart from the harsh working and living conditions, many risk long-term health problems because they use mercury to form the gold they recover into a crude amalgam for smelting. They are also using technology that dates back to 1886, when gold mining first started on the Witwatersrand. The mkorakoza get their ore crushed by stamp mills. There's still one stamp mill in Johannesburg. It's a national monument on a plinth outside the Chamber of Mines building in Hollard Street. Yet these mills are now being made to order by small engineering firms in Zimbabwe. Stamp mills were replaced in the early 1900s by the vastly more efficient ball mills, which are, with significant enhancements, still standard technology in modern gold recovery plants. According to the Zimbabwean operator who showed me around his property on condition of anonymity, stamp mills "are a son of a bitch to maintain because they vibrate like hell. One worker is dedicated full-time to constantly tightening every nut in sight and knocking bits of metal back into the frame that are being shaken out of it."
The mkorakoza refuse to use ball mills. They prefer stamp mills because they can watch their ore being treated. One miner says: "There's a mukiwa [Shona for white man] in the ball mill stealing our gold." In a way he's right, because some gold is lost as fine particles get trapped in the cracks between the liners of a ball mill. The trapped gold is recovered through clean-up operations when the liners wear down and have to be replaced, which happens every few months. The mkorakoza cannot afford to buy their own stamp mill. These are often owned by the holder of the mining permit for the area being exploited. Frequently, that's a white farmer who has been kicked off his land and has also turned to gold mining to survive. The mkorakoza brings his ore, usually a ton at a time, to be crushed. He then takes the recovered gold-bearing fraction of the ore and concentrates it further through several stages of panning to isolate the heavier gold particles from the lighter waste material.
With high-grade ore it's at this stage that the gold becomes visible as a yellow "tail" in the bottom of the pan, standing out against the dark grey of the remaining dense material. The gold-bearing concentrate is then formed into an amalgam using mercury and crudely smelted to produce a form of "sponge gold", which the mkorakoza sells to Fidelity Printers & Refiners, which buys it on behalf of government. The operator makes his money in two ways. He charges a fee for toll-milling the ore and providing basic services such as a tractor and trailer to haul ore from the workings to the stamp mill. The stamp mill recovers only the coarse gold fraction in the ore. The fine gold fraction is carried through the process by the flow of water but is then trapped in a small slimes dam. That fraction belongs to the operator, who recovers it using the same cyanide process that most modern gold mines use. Depending on grade and geological properties, the mkorakoza recovers 50%-80% of the gold that was contained in his ore. The cyanide tailings treatment process typically yields between 1 g/t and 2 g/t for the operator.
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From Zim Online, 3 February
State secret agents sniff out journalists stringing for foreign media
Harare - The government's secret service Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) is investigating several journalists it accuses of working with foreign media and hostile countries to tarnish Zimbabwe's image abroad. Sources within the CIO yesterday said that a decision to probe the media was taken at a meeting of senior operatives of the agency held in Harare last week. Journalists targeted for investigation are those working for international news agencies such as Reuters, Associated Press and those suspected of working for Zim Online and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the sources said. Zim Online is based in Johannesburg because it cannot operate in Zimbabwe where the government's Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) outlaws robust and independent journalism. Zim Online employs more than 20 journalists based inside Zimbabwe but all working under cover for fear of victimisation by state security agents. The BBC is officially banned in Zimbabwe.
One CIO officer, who did not want to be named, said: "There are journalists who are making a living by selling damaging information to our enemies and it was resolved that they should account for their actions. A probe team involving intelligence officers and guys from law and order (a police department) is already working on that." State Security Minister Nicholas Goche, in charge of the CIO, refused to take questions on the matter saying "issues about intelligence work are not for public consumption." Zimbabwe Union of Journalists secretary general Foster Dongozi condemned the probing of journalists by the secret service saying it was an attempt to intimidate and muzzle the media. "Journalists in Zimbabwe are already under siege and we strongly condemn this latest attempt to further intimidate us," said Dongozi. He added: "As journalists, we are going to mobilise our members and friends of the profession against any further attempts to muzzle us." Zimbabwe is ranked among the most repressive environments for journalists in the world. In the last three years, hundreds of journalists have been arrested and three newspapers including the country's biggest and only independent daily, the Daily News, were shut down by the government.
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From The Times (UK), 4 February
Mugabe poll battle ahead as rivals step into the fray
From Jan Raath in Harare
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change finally decided yesterday to fight parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe next month, despite expected violence, fraud and almost certain defeat. The party voted overwhelmingly to challenge President Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF Party for the third time since 2000, MDC spokesman Paul Nyathi said after a meeting of its national council. "A free and fair election is not possible in Zimbabwe under the present conditions," he said. "It is with a heavy heart that the national council has resolved the MDC will participate." In August last year, the party said it would not contest the election on March 31 until Mr Mugabe produced "a level playing field" and restored the rule of law. It also called for the creation of an independent electoral body and an end to the political violence that has claimed 300 lives and resulted in thousands of people being arrested and tortured. Opinion within the MDC has shifted since August as it realised it risked becoming irrelevant in Zimbabwe's political scene by standing on the sidelines while an unchallenged Zanu PF turned the country into a de facto one-party state.
The election environment has deteriorated further, the MDC claims, with 50,000 members of the notorious Zanu youth militia deployed across the country. The independent press has been all but crushed and the Government has primed its machine of intimidation and rigging through a run of controversial by-elections. "The minute we decide to participate, the violence will begin," said a party national executive member who asked not to be named. MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai said last week: "We are damned if we do, and damned if we don't." The party has also come under sustained pressure from Western and Southern African Governments to fight. The MDC has been pinning its hopes on a treaty on democratic elections signed last August by the leaders of the Southern African Development Community, the 14-member regional alliance. It expected that alliance members would crack down on Zimbabwe and force it to effect the agreement. However, Mr Nyathi "noted with regret" that the alliance had failed to put Mr Mugabe on the spot to demand that he comply with the standards. "Zimbabweans feel betrayed by the region," the MDC said. Mr Mugabe has made what human rights bodies say are cosmetic changes by appointing an "independent" election commission to run elections; he appointed all its members. Other new laws give soldiers a role in the electoral process, threaten to close down all human rights organisations and impose a penalty of up to two years in jail for journalists working without a state licence.
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From The Star (SA), 4 February
Cosatu, Zim union sneak quick talks
ZCTU leaders could face prosecution when they return home
By Moshoeshoe Monare, Karima Brown and Hans Pienaar
Having "sneaked" into South Africa to meet with their Cosatu counterparts, Zimbabwe's trade union leaders were last night playing a game of hide-and-seek with the Zimbabwean authorities to avoid possible prosecution. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) delegates had driven hundreds of kilometres from Harare to Musina in Limpopo yesterday to conclude their scheduled discussions with Cosatu on the political situation in Zimbabwe. The unions were to have met in Zimbabwe, but the Cosatu delegation was expelled shortly after arriving in that country on Wednesday. After the hastily arranged meeting with Cosatu in Musina yesterday, leaders of the ZCTU had to abort their trip home after they were tipped off that they could be arrested when they re-entered their country. The ZCTU feared that if they returned through the same Beit Bridge border post, they were likely to fall into a Zimbabwean Central Intelligence Organisation trap. "So we decided that it was going to be dangerous for them to drive back to Harare," Cosatu's general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, said last night. They therefore will leave at an undisclosed time and from an undisclosed location."
According to Vavi, the unions were thinking of co-ordinating pickets and demonstrations at Zimbabwe's diplomatic offices. Curiously, yesterday's meeting between the union federations was observed throughout the day by eight members of the South African Police Service. "Our primary mission is to be at such gatherings to ensure safety," said an apparently senior police officer, whose name tag read "Maluleke", when asked why they were patrolling a meeting of fewer than 20 people. A defiant ZCTU general secretary, Wellington Chibebe, said the Zimbabwean unionists were not afraid of being prosecuted by authorities in Harare. "You must realise that we have been in and out of prison; we have been subjected to torture, both mental and physical, for quite some time now." "It is a routine exercise we go through in Zimbabwe," Chibebe said. His vice-president, Lucia Matibenga, said they had sneaked into South Africa when border police were "tired and sleepy and didn't check details of our trip". Meanwhile, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said yesterday it would reluctantly take part in parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe on March 31. Commenting on the elections, Chibebe said he did not believe they would be free and fair. "There is no independent electoral commission, as there is in South Africa," he said.
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From Zim Online (SA), 4 February
800 000 deceased Zimbabweans still on voters' register
Harare - The names of 800 000 deceased Zimbabweans still appear on the country's voters' roll among a litany of "chronic errors" that could render an accurate and democratic election in March impossible, research on the key roll has revealed. In addition to the 800 000 names of dead people, another 900 000 people listed on the roll as eligible voters are not known or do not live at the addresses under which their names appear, according to a preliminary report by FreeZim, a local non-governmental organisation that did the research. Established in 2002, FreeZim is an election support group which has carried extensive research on Zimbabwe's shambolic voters' roll. The group has already submitted its report to the newly appointed Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. The commission, headed by High Court Judge and ally of President Robert Mugabe, George Chiweshe, is tasked with running elections in Zimbabwe. Chiweshe, who was appointed only last month and does not have staff or phones as yet, could not be reached for comment on the FreeZim report. The disclosure of gross inaccuracies and irregularities on the voters' roll comes just as the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party rescinded yesterday a decision to boycott the March poll unless the political playing field was levelled.
Detailing some of the massive errors on the voters' roll released by Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede last month, FreeZim, for example, said that in Harare North constituency it had discovered that, 50 percent of the people registered as voters there did not live at the addresses under which their names appear. The group said it had also identified 300 000 names of voters that are duplicated over and over again on several pages of the register. "Over two million of the 5.6 million names registered as voters are suspect - it is obvious that there are chronic errors and the roll is overstated by unrealistic proportions that cannot be ignored," the group concludes in the report dated 23 January 2005. Under Zimbabwe's constituency-based parliamentary election system, voters must prove they reside in a constituency before they can be registered as voters and once so registered, they cannot vote in any other constituency. A voter can be barred from voting if their name or address is wrongly entered on their constituency roll. Human rights groups and election observers have in the past accused Mugabe and Zanu PF of manipulating the voters' roll in addition to using violence and intimidation to win elections. Mugabe and his party deny the charge. Announcing it will be contesting the poll, the MDC said it was doing so only because of pressure from its supporters and insisted that the scales were "more than ever" tilted in favour of Mugabe and his ruling Zanu PF party.
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From The Cape Times (SA), 4 February
SA praises Zimbabwe poll reforms
MDC to take part in election
By Karima Brown, Moshoeshoe Monare, Hans Pienaar and Reuters
Pretoria - South Africa yesterday praised electoral reforms in Zimbabwe as "positive developments" and said it was doing all it could to ensure that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) guidelines on elections were adhered to. However, an SADC team tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe complies with a regional protocol to ensure free and fair elections, has yet to receive permission to visit that country. Expressing his concern over the delay, foreign affairs director-general Ayanda Ntsaluba said he hoped the team would be allowed to proceed soon. "Zimbabwe has not given clearance for the team and we are a bit concerned. However, they have in the past given us the assurance and there is no reason to believe that they will not be consistent now," Ntsaluba said. Zimbabwe's main opposition yesterday lifted its threat to boycott the March parliamentary polls, saying it would take part even though conditions were skewed in favour of Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party. "It is with a heavy heart that the MDC has decided to participate in the elections," MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi told a news conference. "We participate to keep the flames of hope for change alive," he said. Formed in 1999, the MDC says it would have won parliamentary elections held in 2000 and a presidential vote two years later had it not been for electoral fraud and a campaign of violence against its supporters by Zanu PF. The MDC says electoral changes made so far, including the appointment of an independent electoral commission, still fall short of standards set by the SADC.
Earlier yesterday, SA government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe said there were "some positive developments" which gave Pretoria hope that Harare would come "as close as possible" to protocols agreed by the SADC. These included the setting up of an independent electoral commission and access, albeit limited, by the MDC to the state media. The protocols, to which Mugabe is a signatory, were drawn up in Mauritius in August last year and seek to ensure free and fair elections in all member states. In terms of the protocols, the SADC technical team was supposed to visit Zimbabwe at least 90 days before the election, a deadline it has already missed given that the poll will be held on March 31. So far no team from the SADC has visited Zimbabwe and neither has the troika of leaders from South Africa, Lesotho and Namibia. The three-page protocol states that an independent electoral commission must be set up to preside over the election process. It also states that there be free access to the media by all political parties, including the opposition, and that a climate conducive to free and fair elections be created in the run-up to the poll. A voters' roll, to which the MDC should have access, is also supposed to have been drawn up. However, Mugabe has only complied with the protocol calling for regular elections.
The opposition MDC cites the setting up of the electoral commission under the chairmanship of George Chiweshe as proof that the commission is partisan to the ruling Zanu PF. Chiweshe hails from the armed forces where he served as an advocate-general. His detractors say he has no civil legal experience, while it is widely believed that the other four commissioners were hand-picked by Mugabe. The commission has also to date failed to provide a public voters' roll outside of Harare, and has apparently refused to make an electronic voters' roll available. There is, therefore, no independent way of checking duplication on the roll. The MDC had raised these issues with Mbeki, Netshitenzhe told reporters. Commenting on Cosatu's second thwarted attempt to visit Zimbabwe, Netshitenzhe said the South African government would not be side-tracked by a "sideshow" from its efforts to ensure free and fair elections. "If we allowed ourselves to be diverted by sideshows we might lose sight of the ball. It is critical that we work within the structures of the SADC." After a hastily arranged meeting yesterday morning with the Cosatu mission in Musina, leaders of the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) delayed their trip home after apparently being tipped off that they would face arrest on their return. They declined to disclose their departure or to say which route they would use in travelling home. The impromptu meeting was arranged after Cosatu leaders, including secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi and Gwede Mantashe of the National Union of Mine Workers, were turned back from Harare on Wednesday. The ZCTU leadership then drove hundreds of kilometres from Harare to Musina so the two sides could discuss conditions and the status of human rights in Zimbabwe.
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From The Financial Gazette, 3 February
Mystery diamond deal
Dumisani Ndlela
Caymen Islands-incorporated Oryx Natural Resources has taken over a US$2 billion, 800-square-kilometre diamond concession in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) under a mysterious transaction in which original owners are said to have received no payment. The Sengamines diamond concession south of Mbuji Mayi in the DRC was originally owned by a Zimbabwe-incorporated company, Operation Sovereign Legitimacy (Osleg), Comiex and MIBA - the latter two representing the interests of the DRC government. While Osleg has been reported as a Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) company, a three-month investigation by The Financial Gazette revealed that the real owner of the shadowy military company is not the ZDF, but four prominent citizens, two of them key figures in the defence forces during Zimbabwe's military intervention in the diamond-rich country to prop up the late DRC leader Laurent Kabila's regime.
During the investigations, questions on the ownership of Osleg where flatly denied by the individuals associated with the company, while the ZDF refused to entertain the newspaper's questions on the activities of the group and its shareholders. The Financial Gazette also encountered an intricate web of companies representing the interests of either key members of the military or those in the government. The concession was allegedly given to the ZDF as compensation for its participation in the war against insurgents funded by Uganda and Rwanda since the DRC did not have the cash resources to prop up the war. Geoffrey White, a spokesman for Oryx and chief executive officer for African Mining Management Company (AMMCO), told The Financial Gazette that the current ownership structure of Sengamines since January 2003, confirmed by a presidential decree, is 80 percent Oryx and 20 percent MIBA. Osleg, White said in written responses to The Financial Gazette's questions, was no longer a shareholder in Sengamines. "There was no payment by Oryx to Osleg or individuals related to Osleg when the new Sengamines was formed and Osleg departed," White said.
During a follow-up to White's responses, The Financial Gazette spoke to Rob Scott, an executive with the South Africa-based AMMCO headed by White, on telephone. Asked how it had been possible for Oryx to take over the Sengamines concession without paying a cent to the original owners, Scott said the decision had been made at a political level between the governments of Zimbabwe and the DRC. "Originally, Osleg was involved, with Oryx as the major funder (of the Sengamines). The two states decided that they would not be involved (in the Sengamines business) and took a back seat," Scott said. Scott said the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had insisted that states should never be involved in the running of businesses, prompting the decision to have Osleg on the "back seat". Both the DRC's Comiex and Zimbabwe's Osleg were involved in the project through a vehicle called Cosleg, jointly owned by the two companies. Oryx owned 49 percent of Sengamines, Comiex had a 35 percent stake in the large diamond concession, while MIBA held a 16 percent shareholding.
After a foiled listing on the London Stock Exchange in June 2000, Sengamines claimed that it had restructured its equity, and that Oryx owned 49 percent under the new shareholding structure, with Comiex and MIBA owning 35 percent and 16 percent respectively. But a United Nations (UN) panel tasked to investigate the plunder of mineral resources in the DRC in 2000 said in its report that the ZDF, through Osleg, still owned 49 percent of Sengamines that was being claimed by Oryx. "In the course of a meeting held on 1 August 2000, Osleg nominated Oryx to hold its 49 percent interest in Sengamines; 35 percent is held by Comiex-Congo, and 16 percent has been allocated to MIBA," the panel's report to the UN Secretary-General, Koffi Annan, said. The UN panel said this had been done to "disguise the close association between Sengamines and ZDF, and to deceive international investors". Oryx executives vigorously denied the panel's report, challenging it to make the claims at an open forum outside the UN to enable them to challenge the claims in a court of law.
The current restructured Sengamines is therefore the second since the one allegedly undertaken in 2000. Oryx planned a reverse listing through South Africa's Petra Diamonds but its links to President Robert Mugabe's government, and claims that the company was dealing in conflict diamonds, led to the resignation of its British financial adviser Grant Thornton. This immediately scuppered the company's listing on the London bourse. "Oryx assumed the responsibility for the management and financing of the project following the creation of the new Sengamines," White said. "The total development costs of Sengamines have been invested by Oryx Natural Resources, which has invested in the project by way of a repayable, interest bearing, foreign direct investment loan." During its investigations, The Financial Gazette established that four individuals, not the ZDF, were listed as the core owners of Osleg. The four are retired ZDF general Vitalis Zvinavashe; Job Whabira, a former Ministry of Defence permanent secretary recently appointed to the Delimitation Commission ahead of this year's parliamentary election; Onesimo Moyo, the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe general manager; and Isiah Ruzengwe, a former Zimbabwe Mining Development Corpo-ration (ZMDC) general manager.
Zvinavashe, who was commander of the ZDF - which incorporates the Zimbabwe National Army and the Airforce of Zimbabwe - until 2003, presided over the ZDF's military intervention in the DRC to prop up Kabila senior's regime in 1997. Zvinavashe denied when interviewed last November that he had any shareholding in Osleg, maintaining that he was no longer a director in the company as he was "now no longer in the system". "Phone the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and they will tell you who is running that company. I am no longer in the system," said the retired army commander. Asked about his shareholding in the company, he said: "What do you mean? I am not a shareholder. The papers are with the Ministry of Defence." But The Financial Gazette can reveal that the ZDF never officially held the stake since the four individuals own Osleg. The four individuals are also the only listed directors in Osleg, in accordance with Zimbabwe's Companies Act. Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi denied in an interview with The Financial Gazette in October that the ZDF had any commercial interests in the DRC. Moyo also denied that he was a shareholder in Osleg. "I was never a shareholder and I am also no longer a director," Moyo said. Ruzengwe claimed that he did not have any interests in Osleg, saying he had signed a document of incorporation entitling him to a stake in the company as a representative of a mining parastatal, ZMDC, as its head at the time.
According to a document of incorporation shown to The Financial Gazette during its investigations, the four directors own 2 500 shares each in Osleg. A statement of incorporation reads in part: "We, the several persons whose names, addresses and occupations are subscribed, are desirous of being formed into a company in pursuance of this memorandum of association, and we respectively agree to take the number of shares in the capital of the company set opposite our respective names." The ZDF refused to comment on the ownership structure of Osleg. A military spokesman, Squadron Leader Mukotekwa, said in a terse statement responding to The Financial Gazette's questions: "The permanent secretary has said we cannot respond to your questions." Information gathered during the investigation indicates that Oryx was invited by Zimcon (Zimbabwe-Congo), a Zimbabwean military-led diamond company, which was in partnership with the DRC military, to come in as a financier to the Sengamines project. Zimcon either transmuted into Cosleg, the investment vehicle jointly owned by Comiex and Osleg, or was simply replaced by Cosleg.
The ruling party's diversified investment vehicle, the Zimbabwe Development Company (Zidco), then purchased a 0.24 percent stake in Oryx valued at 120 000 pounds in 2000. But White said about Zidco's investment in Oryx: "Zidco is no longer a shareholder on Oryx Natural Resources and has not been one since November 2000." White did not say how Zidco had lost its shareholding in Oryx. He said Oryx had been restructured in July 2004 following a cash-raising exercise to continue the development of the company. "At this restructure, Dr Issa Al Kawari and the office he represents injected further funds into the company to further its development, and in so doing diluted the original shareholders in Oryx. Africa Mining Investments (AMIL), a company 100 percent owned by Dr Issa Al Kawari and the office he represents, during the restructure, took over equity and board control of Oryx. They ceded the management rights of Sengamines to AMIL, who now operates the company," said White.
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From Zim Online (SA), 5 February
14 die of malnutrition in Bulawayo
Bulawayo - At least 14 people, most of them children aged between three and four years died of malnutrition-related illnesses in January compared to four such deaths recorded the previous months, according to a health report released by Bulawayo city council this week. The worst affected was the city's ward 10 which recorded seven deaths, up from three last December. Health experts blame the deaths on poor diet because of food shortages in the city which is located in one of the country's most arid regions. Bulawayo Executive Mayor Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube, who has been threatened with dismissal by the government for disclosing malnutrition-related deaths in the past, refused to comment on the matter yesterday. But one senior medical officer with the city's health services department, who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation, said more children and older people in Bulawayo could die of hunger-related illnesses in coming months if the government or food agencies do not provide emergency food aid to the city. The United States-based Famine Early Warning Network last month said that it expected hunger to peak across Zimbabwe during the first quarter of the year. The Bulawayo medical officer said: "Families are battling to make ends meet and as a result they find it difficult to adequately cater for themselves in terms of food provision. It is therefore a fact that most children are dying of malnutrition, and it is high time the government did something to stop this situation." The government last year ordered international food relief agencies to take their help elsewhere saying the country had harvested enough to feed itself, a claim later proven false by an inquiry ordered by Parliament.
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From Zim Online (SA), 5 February
MDC activists arrested for 'insulting' deputy minister
Gwanda - Thirteen opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party activists were this week arrested and fined Z$25 000 each by the police for allegedly insulting deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Abednico Ncube. MDC publicity secretary for Matabeleland South province, in which Gwanda lies, Edward Mkhosi told Zim Online that the activists were in the area on Wednesday campaigning when they met Ncube who was also canvassing for support. Ncube is the ruling Zanu PF candidate for Gwanda in next month's general election. The MDC activists waved their open palms at Ncube, which the deputy minister claimed was insulting to him because the open palm is a symbol of the opposition party. "Our youths flashed MDC signs (open palms) at Ncube's entourage and we are surprised that doing so is a chargeable offence. We see this as part of a common pattern of intimidation that is gradually returning to the province and country at large," said Mkhosi. Ncube could not be reached for comment on the matter while the police in Gwanda refused to comment on the matter and referred all questions to national police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena, who could not be reached last night.
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From News24 (SA), 4 February
Zim election costs soar
Harare - The Zimbabwe government on Friday significantly increased official charges for parties wishing to run candidates in March 31 parliamentary elections. The main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), criticised the move saying it was an attempt to break the party's election budget and hamper its campaign. A government gazette published on Friday said the deposit charge for a candidate had been increased 20-fold to Z$2m (about R2 200 at the official exchange rate), while the cost of a copy of the voters' register is now $Z10m - 10 times the previous amount. The new charges were "clearly an attempt to exclude our people from taking part in the democratic process," said MDC spokesperson Paul Nyathi. "The MDC is not as well-endowed with resources as a party that helps itself to the contents of the state coffers," Nyathi added in a reference to the ruling Zanu PF party of President Robert Mugabe. Opposition figures on Friday also alleged electoral fraud, saying that ruling party supporters were being brought into an MDC constituency in Harare from rural areas and registered illegally as voters. Both developments occurred within 24 hours of the MDC announcing it had decided to contest the election "under protest", because of the "uneven electoral playing field".
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From News24 (SA), 4 February
Zanu PF has campaign troubles
Harare - Zimbabwe's ruling party has postponed by a week the launch of its election campaign for the March 31 polls due to problems in the selection of candidates, the New Ziana news agency reported on Friday. President Robert Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, was scheduled to speak at a ceremony kicking off the campaign of his governing Zanu PF in Harare on Saturday. "It will not happen on Saturday but next Friday," the news agency quoted Elliot Manyika, the chairman of Zanu PF's elections directorate, as saying. Manyika attributed the postponement to two candidates, who had won primary elections, being dropped due to "irregularities" in the voting process. New Ziana said one of them was facing criminal charges but had not disclosed it to the party. "The two were found to be unsuitable candidates to represent the party," Manyika said, adding: "We need to do the launch with all our candidates so that we show them to the people for them to know who is standing where." New elections of candidates were to take place before the launch of the campaign, Manyika added.
Zanu PF, recently dogged by infighting, has held primary elections to pick most of the 120 candidates for the parliamentary elections. The March 31 polls will be keenly watched as a test of Zimbabwe's commitment to holding free and fair elections after flawed ballots in 2000 and 2002 which fuelled charges of widespread rigging, violence and intimidation. The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party led by former trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai on Thursday said it would contest the elections despite deep misgivings about the fairness of the polls. The party, which had threatened to boycott the elections, said it was participating "under protest" and with a "heavy heart," stressing that conditions were tipped heavily in favour of the ruling party. Manyika meanwhile said Mugabe's party would decimate the MDC. "We are going to win the election," Manyika told New Ziana. "The elections are already finished. We are going to crush the MDC. We are going to thrash them thoroughly."
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From The Daily News Online Edition, 3 February
Embassy staff caught up in espionage net
Johannesburg - Staff at the Zimbabwe Embassy here have been caught up in the espionage case in which a former senior embassy official was recently nabbed on charges of selling state secrets to a South African handler in the country's secret service. Sources at the embassy yesterday told The Daily News Online that members of Zimbabwe's secret service, the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) were at the embassy and questioned staff on their involvement in the activities of Godfrey Dzvairo, the former consular general. They said some of the intelligence officers at the embassy were set to be relieved of their duties or posted elsewhere after it was discovered that they were aware of Dzvairo's activities but did not bother to inform their bosses in Harare. "There is apprehension among the members of staff because they are now under the watchful eye of the CIO. Although we were aware that our movements would be monitored, current surveillance by the CIO is now a bother," said one of the employees who refused to be identified. Activities at the Zimbabwean embassy recently came into the spotlight when Dzvairo, was nabbed by the intelligence agents, together with flamboyant businessman and politician, Phillip Chiyangwa, banking executive, Tendai Matambanadzo, Zanu PF employees, Kenny Karidza and Itai Marchi. The four were nabbed after a South African intelligence officer, arrested in Zimbabwe, spilled the beans, and agreed to talk, resulting in their arrests. The other three, Marchi, Matambanadzo and Dzvairo, have so far been convicted on their own plea, after a magistrate refused their defence that they had pleaded guilty to espionage under duress. Chiyangwa, who is being charged separately, has pleaded not guilty to espionage charges. According to media reports, the agent, who is currently under the custody of intelligence officers in Harare, is alleged to have tried to add on his list of informers, a senior official of the CIO. The move however backfired when he was trapped, resulting in his subsequent arrest.
An official at the embassy, told The Daily News Online that what Dzvairo had done was unacceptable and that some of them were set to suffer as a result of that. The official said although members of the CIO had finished their investigations at the embassy, a witch-hunting process between those who sympathized with Dzvairo and those who did not, was set to start soon. "Everyone trusted Dzvairo, even those who knew that he was involved in some clandestine activities. Even president Mugabe trusted him, hence his promotion and subsequent posting to Mozambique as an ambassador," said the official, adding that recent developments had resulted in the president not trusting young turks within the party and government. "Embassy staff are the highest paid civil servants because even junior officers are paid more than government ministers. We do not understand why Dzvairo decided to trade state information for money because he was living pretty," said the official, adding that the whole incident had embarrassed the government because people had always thought that spies where within the opposition MDC, and not the likes of Chiyangwa and Dzvairo. Efforts to get comment from the Zimbabwean ambassador to South Africa, Simon Khaya Moyo, proved fruitless as he was said to be too busy to respond to media queries. However, Moyo, who has always spoken the loudest whenever issues concerning Zimbabwe's main opposition party, MDC are raised, has remained mum on the issue. On the other hand, the South African government, which has always publicly spoken out against harassment and illegal detention of its nationals, has equally played down the issue, choosing to instead make indirect comments concerning their arrested secret service agent.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 2 February
Farmers uprooted by Mugabe seek new life in Nigeria
Daniel Balint-Kurti
Shonga - Riding through a Nigerian forest on motorbikes, four white Zimbabwean farmers are checking out the land they'll soon settle on, hoping to start a new life here after being chased off their farms by government-backed thugs back home. Uprooted by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's land redistribution programme, scores of farmers have already been welcomed by the country's immediate neighbours for the jobs and economic growth they promise to create. But Nigeria, 4 000km northwest of Zimbabwe, represents a new phase of a budding exodus. The four men visiting Shonga are an advance party for 15 farmers planning to move here next month along with families, 50 black Zimbabwean farmhands and 2 000 cattle. "Everybody is enthusiastic for the project to get going," says Alan Jack (46) whose farm was grabbed five years ago by about 50 youths armed with clubs and machetes. Mugabe has encouraged the land seizures as a means of redressing wealth inequalities rooted in British colonial times. But the policy has been widely criticised for its brutality and has made Zimbabwe, once a food exporter, dependent on food aid to save nearly half its 12,5-million people from starvation. Since 2000, some of the thousands of farmers forced off their land have moved to neighbouring Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.
Few, if any, have moved to West Africa, but governments here - Ghana and Senegal as well as Nigeria - are lining up to host them, according to the farmers. It's an endeavor that requires tact, if only because all these countries bear the legacy of white colonial rule. Zambia has publicly warned its newcomers not to form white "cliques" or set up "elitist" white country clubs, to stay out of politics and not get involved in supporting opposition groups as they did in Zimbabwe. There are also fears in Nigeria that the farmers' arrival will raise unrealistic expectations among the low-income farmers already working in the Shonga area, 322km north of Nigeria's main city, Lagos. But the Nigerian government, which initiated the white migration, remains gung-ho. Olayinka Aje, an aide to the governor of Kwara, Shonga's state, says the farmers could turn the area "into the food basket of the West African sub-region." Jack said he was attracted to Shonga because of good rainfall and firm, deep soil in which "just about any crop will grow". Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with 126-million inhabitants, also offers a huge domestic market. If things go well, more white Zimbabweans could move in next year, he said. Mugabe's government refuses to comment on the farmers' emigration, but continues to insist the land seizures are the way forward. The farmers will hire hundreds of Nigerian workers who, along with the Zimbabwean farmhands, will clear an allotted 14 800ha of trees and towering termite mounds to make way for maize, rice, soybeans, and dairy and poultry farms. Nigerian farmers here tend small plots growing staples such as cassava and corn without machines or fertiliser. The Zimbabweans are offering technical know-how and advice on cost-free techniques for improving yields, such as better crop spacing. The government has promised to fund a 16th farm for training purposes, run by a Zimbabwean farmer.
But people here are wary. Huge state-run projects here usually are gutted by corrupt managers. Near Shonga, combine harvesters corrode in open fields, left over from a project that collapsed in the 1990s. "We have a vision and I am trying to share that faith with the people," says Halina Yahaya, the emir of mainly Muslim Shonga, but "people say we hope we are not being taken for a ride". As well as signing an agreement with the local government, legal owner of Kwara's land, the farmers also needed to negotiate with the emir, who also holds land rights under local custom. The 7 000-plus villagers of the area, who have virtually no health care or primary education, harbour very high expectations. Jibril Muazu, the chief of Ogudu, a village bordering the Zimbabweans' future farmland, wants new roads, electricity, drinking water, hospitals and schools. "If the commercial farmers are going to benefit from our land, these are the ways we should benefit from them," he says. Aje, the governor's aide, insists all these demands will be met by a trust fund financed by a 1% levy on the newcomers' turnover. The four Zimbabweans, constantly joking like old friends, seem undaunted by the challenge of rebuilding a social life far from home. "In Zimbabwe, we did everything together as farmers. We'll just do the same here," Jack said. "There's 15 of us. It's enough to get on in life."
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 6 February
I spied on Mugabe for SA
Rowan Philp and Bonny Schoonakker
Zimbabwe banker tells how SA agent conned him - and then betrayed him
One of three men found guilty of spying on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's inner circle for South African intelligence has told his story from inside a Harare prison. Tendai Matambanadzo, a former bank executive, said he was paid thousands of US dollars by a South African agent operating under the false name of Andrew Brown for information including the names of likely successors to Mugabe and relations with Botswana. He and his fellow spies face up to 20 years in jail after being convicted of espionage by a Harare magistrate. He claimed that "Brown", a South African Secret Service agent, tricked him into believing he was a private risk-management consultant - and claimed that none of the information he sold was a state secret. The Sunday Times has established Brown's true identity, but has been told by a spokesman for the Department of Intelligence, Lorna Daniels, that it is illegal to publish the name. Brown, 48, is a father of three who lives in a suburb east of Pretoria. Approached at their townhouse yesterday, Brown's wife acknowledged that he was being held in Harare. She would only say: "The government is working on it."
Matambanadzo said that all meetings with Brown were one-on-one - there was a never a group meeting, as claimed in previous media reports - and that he met Brown every second month over the next three years, at hotels such as the Zambezi Sun in Victoria Falls. Brown, he said, was always dressed in casual slacks and shirt - "never a suit and tie". The agent became increasingly frustrated at the lack of "real secrets" as the meetings went on. Once, in 2002, he said, Brown drove him to his home near Pretoria where he met his three teenage children. "He doesn't drink [alcohol], so I'd have a Coke - I remember we had tea that time," said Matambanadzo. "We talked about sports, rugby." According to Matambanadzo, this is how Brown operated: "I'd get a call in Harare like this: 'Hi, it's Andrew, I'm in Harare. I'm in this room at the Holiday Inn - when can we meet?' "We'd go into the room. He 'd say, 'Okay, last month I asked you to look at this; what have you got for me?' I'd say, 'Okay, I've prepared a report on land reform and the economy.' I told him my contacts at the party were not willing to divulge anything top secret. He would give me the money - $700 or $800 [US], or R3000 - and I would sign for it." Matambanadzo alleged further: "Then he would say: 'Can I have 500? Can I have 1000?' He said he had personal problems with alimony and child support. I would actually hand money [back] to him."
Matambanadzo and two others, Zanu PF director of external affairs Itai Marchi and diplomat Godfrey Dzvairo, were arrested in December after Brown was seized by Zimbabwean intelligence officers and named them and three others as members of his spy ring. Brown is now being held at an undisclosed location in Zimbabwe and the Sunday Times was unable to put Matambanadzo's claims to him. This week, Matambanadzo - a wealthy banker who played squash with Harare's elite - was the picture of a desperate man. Wearing dirty khaki overalls and suffering from a newly acquired skin disease in Harare Remand Prison, he said: "I admit I took money from [Brown] and made a big mistake, but I did not steal any documents and I gave away no state secrets - and I have been denied the opportunity to defend myself on that basis. For instance, in September last year, I just gave him an analysis to say I think that [retired General Solomon] Mujuru is going to win over the [parliamentary Speaker Emmerson] Mnangagwa camp in the succession to the vice-presidency and [eventually] the presidency." Matambanadzo alleged that Brown had questioned fellow accused Marchi almost exclusively on the succession issue and the make-up of rival "camps" in Zanu PF.
Newly married, Matambanadzo, 42, owns a home in the exclusive Harare suburb of Chisipite as well as two luxury cars. His younger brother is Tich Mataz, the former 5fm DJ and presenter of the SABC's Woza Weekend show. Matambanadzo said Dzvairo - then a consul-general to South Africa - had advised him to meet Brown in Johannesburg in 2001 and consider helping him "as a bit of extra money for me". "He was introduced to us as a consultant who worked for a company in South Africa which did risk profiles of countries in the region," he said. Daniels, the Intelligence spokesman, said the department "would not comment" on Matambanadzo's claims or Brown's status. However, Riaan Labuschagne, a former intelligence officer who had a Zimbabwe spying job similar to Brown's in the 1980s, said he recognised "a classic false-flag operation" from Matambanadzo's account. However, he "seriously doubted" that Matambanadzo did not know he was involved in spying. This week, Matambanadzo admitted that the meetings - if not the information itself - had been secret. Asked if he had known what he was doing was wrong, he replied: "Not really; no." Matambanadzo said he had signed a confession after 11 days in detention in which he admitted giving Brown information. "But there were never any allegations that we stole documents. We broke no law," he said. Selby Hwacha, the attorney representing the three accused, said nothing in their confessions involved a state secret or a stolen document, and therefore "no offence was committed". Mataz said it was "awful" to see his brother manacled during his visits. "I hope the judiciary will be lenient," he said.
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From News24 (SA), 5 February
Zim unionists 'home safe'
Harare - Zimbabwe's main trade union denied reports on Saturday that its top members had gone underground in South Africa after conferring with their South African counterparts who had been deported from Harare for trying to stage a fact-finding mission. "We arrived home safely last night," Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) deputy secretary general Collin Gwiyo said on Saturday. "I was surprised to read in one of the newspapers this morning that we were hiding in South Africa. How can we be hiding in South Africa when we all came back yesterday through the normal legal route?" Zimbabwe's state-run newspaper, The Herald, reported on Saturday that five members of the ZCTU had gone into hiding in South Africa, claiming their lives were in danger back home. The team went to South Africa to hold a meeting with the influential Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Thursday, a day after the Cosatu delegation of fact-finders was immediately deported on arrival.
The first Cosatu team was also unceremoniously kicked out in October. Their aim was to investigate the state of affairs in Zimbabwe ahead of the March 31 parliamentary polls. Zimbabwe, through its official media, has said that Cosatu had a hidden agenda and claimed that South Africa's largest labour union had metamorphosed into a puppet of Western powers and big business. But the official line is that they had not sought the required clearance from Zimbabwean authorities to stage their mission. Zimbabwe's Labour Minister Paul Mangwana has also gone on record as saying that Cosatu should stick to domestic issues and underlined that Zimbabwe "is not a province of South Africa." Both South Africa and Zimbabwe have said the deportation has not affected their relations. But it is an embarrassment for President Thabo Mbeki's government, which is accused by critics of toeing a soft line on Zimbabwe.
ZCTU's Gwiyo said the meeting in South Africa had been fruitful. "One of the objectives of Cosatu's failed fact-finding mission was to see whether or not ZCTU was exaggerating about the situation in Zimbabwe. "They now know that things are not normal and they are clear about the situation. We are living in a police state and our colleagues in Cosatu saw it for themselves." At Thursday's meeting in the Musina, both sides agreed that the March 31 elections should be postponed to ensure that conditions are in place for a free and fair vote. Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change party on Thursday announced that it would participate in the elections even though conditions did not favour a transparent and free vote.
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From Reuters, 5 February
Zimbabwe says citizens abroad can only vote at home
Harare - Zimbabwe's government has opposed a court bid by a group of Zimbabweans living abroad who want to vote in the March elections, saying they can only take part if they come back home, state media reported on Saturday. The six Zimbabweans, based in Britain, filed an urgent application in Zimbabwe's Supreme court on Monday challenging laws that bar them from voting in the March 31 parliamentary poll. Under existing electoral laws only Zimbabweans outside their home constituencies on national duty can cast postal votes - a requirement critics say has disenfranchised more than 3 million people living abroad. Zimbabwe's voters roll has 5.6 million names on it, but it is not clear how many of those people live outside the country. Opposing the application, the attorney general's office said President Robert Mugabe's government would only be in breach of the constitution if it barred its citizens living abroad from returning home to vote in their constituencies. No date has been set for the hearing. Critics say Mugabe's government wants to block Zimbabweans abroad from voting because it fears they will support the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The MDC this week lifted a boycott threat to take part in the polls but said the political climate was still tilted in favour of Mugabe's Zanu PF, which it accuses of rigging parliamentary polls in 2000 and a presidential vote won by Mugabe two years later. Mugabe insists he won fairly and has declared that next month's elections will bury the MDC, a party he says is a puppet of former colonial power Britain.
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From The Star (SA), 5 February
Workers persuaded MDC to join poll
Anti-Mugabe boycott stance was a non-winner, leaders told
Harare - The working-class supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change persuaded the party leadership not to oppose participation in Zimbabwe's general election next month. Until a few weeks ago, some of the MDC's most influential and thoughtful leaders were adamant that the party should not take part. Over the Christmas holidays those "morally" committed to a boycott of the poll - their fundamental objection being the inflated voters' roll - came under intense pressure from supporters to change their minds. This emerged at the MDC's national executive meeting on Wednesday and at a session of its national council on Thursday morning. Tendai Biti, MDC's finance secretary, said: "I hope it is clear that the MDC has reserved its rights about participating. It should be understood we are participating under extreme protest. We know the voters' roll is fraudulent but the pressure from the working class was intense and overwhelming."
On Wednesday the MDC leadership completed investigations into several complaints from disappointed aspiring candidates. If MDC candidates lacked the support of two-thirds of the party officials in their constituencies, they had to submit themselves for election. Most, but not all, of the opposition's sitting MPs have won the right to stand again. Imprisoned MP Roy Bennett was the only one whose name was put forward by his constituency in eastern Zimbabwe, weeks before his November sentencing for having shoved justice minister Patrick Chinamasa in parliament. Bennett's wife, Heather, said this week she was not sure whether her husband would be willing to stand again. He is not excluded from standing because his prison conviction was decided by parliament, not the courts, so technically he has committed no crime. The MDC will have five white candidates, one more than in the 2000 parliamentary poll. Ian Kay - a former dispossessed farmer beaten so badly when the programme of evicting white farmers began in 2000 that he nearly died - is standing in Marondera constituency 90km south-east of Harare. He is standing in the constituency in which he lived before the ethnic purge and will be up against defence minister Sidney Sekeremayi, who won his seat by only 38 votes in 2000.
On the inflated roll of 5,6-million voters, fewer than 10 000 white voters probably remain. MDC justice secretary David Coltart said the members of his "audit" team who began to look at the voters' roll in his Bulawayo constituency yesterday were all arrested. "These youngsters had a letter signed by me asking residents to fill in their details but saying that they were under no obligation to co-operate. We want to find out who is registered, who has been left out, who has moved away from the constituency, because we know the voters' roll is appalling. The police have taken the forms and my laminated letter and told the youths that I needed official permission for this audit, which is not so." The six team members were released late yesterday without charge. Police spokespersons at national headquarters in Harare were not answering their cellphones yesterday. The biggest surprise for political observers in Zimbabwe may be that the MDC has survived to fight another election at all. Insiders say there are some constituencies in Zanu PF's rural strongholds, particularly in Mashonaland West province, where no party structures remain.
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From The Sunday Argus (SA), 6 February
Zimbabwe opposition blasts 20-fold hike in election fees
By Independent Foreign Service
Yesterday Zimbabwe's main opposition party accused President Robert Mugabe's government of trying to subvert democracy through a 20-fold increase in the deposit fees for candidates contesting the March 31 parliamentary polls. "This is a clear attempt to use money to prevent democracy," the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) secretary-general Welshman Ncube told AFP. The government late Friday issued a notice hiking the registration fee for a candidate from 100 000 Zimbabwean dollars to two million dollars. Furthermore, candidates wishing to obtain a copy of the voters' roll will now have to pay one million dollars against 200 000 dollars earlier. The steep hike came 24 hours after the MDC, which had earlier threatened to boycott the elections, said it was contesting with "a heavy heart" despite a very flawed playing field. Ncube also indirectly accused the government of trying to fudge the voters' rolls. "It seems the government is trying to hide something because political parties that cannot afford these exorbitant fees will not be able to access the voters' rolls," he said.
Ncube said the MDC would need to raise 260 million dollars by March 8 to be able to contest in all the 120 constituencies. Under Zimbabwean law, political parties cannot receive foreign funding. The government accuses the MDC of receiving money from overseas but the party denies the allegation. The MDC received 300 million dollars from the government under a law on funding political parties, Ncube said, stressing that the going was much tougher for smaller opposition parties who got less money. "Imagine how much more difficult it is for the smaller parties," he said. Meanwhile, at least 800 000 deceased Zimbabweans are still on the country's voters' roll, which was closed for inspection on Friday, and the Mugabe regime has made no effor t to correct it, says an audit by a Zimbabwean non-government organisation. Although the figure is markedly lower than the 2.4 million previously regarded as being ghost voters, it still presented a perfect opportunity for fraud in the March 31 parliamentary elections, Zimbabwean electoral organisations said.
FreeZim, a non-government organisation involved in electoral issues, said that although nearly half of Zimbabwe's 5.6 million voters were not necessarily "ghost" voters, it insisted that they remained suspect in several respects. Up to 300 000 names of voters are duplicated over and over in different constituencies, while another 900 000 people listed as eligible voters are either not known or do not live at the addresses under which their names appear. In the Harare North constituency, 50% of the voters registered do not live at the addresses under which their names appear. Under Zimbabwe's constituency-based parliamentary system, voters have to prove that they reside in a constituency before they can be registered. Once registered, they cannot vote in any other constituency. FreeZim contends that these major anomalies present major opportunities for fraud. It has submitted its report to the newly launched Zimbabwe Electoral Commission headed by pro-Mugabe High Court judge George Chiweshe. But Chiweshe's commission, which was only appointed last month and still does not have offices, staff or telephones, does not have the capacity to investigate the complaints.
Reginald Matchaba-Hove, chairman of another independent election NGO, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), said the solution would be a new computerised roll with all the necessary links to regularly update it. But the government did not seem eager to accept offers to help upgrade the role. Matchaba-Hove said: "We need a professionally computerised voters' roll which is linked to all the systems in the Registrar- General's office. If somebody dies, the death certificate does not speak to the voters' roll and that is a problem. We need a system whereby as soon as my death certificate is issued, my name gets automatically deleted." Matchaba-Hove said there was simply no time to correct anomalies, which is why the ZESN had been calling for a postponement of the election until June. Mugabe snubbed all such calls and set the election date for March 31.
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From The Sunday Mirror, 6 February
Moyo is our man, says Ndonga
Phillip Chidavaenzi
In yet another twist to Information Minister Jonathan Moyo's political script, lightweight opposition party Zanu, formerly known as Ndonga, is claiming that the spin-doctor cut his political teeth with their party in the 1970s and they were now working towards wooing him back. The party's Information and Publicity Secretary, Reketayi Semwayo, told The Sunday Mirror last week that their attempts so far to meet Moyo - whose future in Zanu PF and in government is hanging in a balance - have hit a brick wall. "We have been trying to meet him but we are being told that he is not in office and has not been coming to work. The last time we contacted his office, we were given his mobile phone number and when we tried to phone him several times, he was not responding," Semwayo said. Asked why they had not tried to woo him back earlier on since he left the party before independence in 1980, Semwayo said they had realised now that Moyo would be more at home within Zanu where they understood him better. "At the moment, we are trying to renew our relationship with him because we have discovered that it is only within our party that he can work because Zanu PF is failing to understand him. We are saying to him, come back to your roots," said Semwayo.
Prior to joining Zanu PF ahead of the watershed 2000 parliamentary polls, Moyo, according to sources, had never been Zanu PF. In his CV submitted to the Zanu PF Elections Directorate that was to consider his suitability for standing on the party's ticket in Tsholotsho, Moyo made a slight reference to his connections with the founder of Zanu Ndonga. "I was raised by my mother who was separated from my father from my birth, and who was very close in the early sixties and mid seventies to the family of the late Reverend (Ndabaningi) Sithole who was at the time the president of Zanu," Moyo wrote in his CV. Moyo, who was reportedly conscripted into the guerrilla movement as the liberation war of the 1970s gathered momentum, left for Zambia in 1973 and later emerged at Mgagao training camp in Tanzania in 1976 before leaving for the University of California in 1978. His travels, according to sources, where through the assistance of the late Sithole, who broke away from the then Zanu after a misunderstanding with the rest of the leadership. Sources also allege that Moyo was the late Sithole's personal assistant during the infamous internal settlement deal that saw the emergence of the short-lived Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.
Moyo's CV - which left out his role in this deal - was described by Zanu PF National Chairman, John Nkomo, as "a pack of lies" that "no one can take seriously". "It (the CV) clearly shows that the man was at pains trying to doctor his profile to meet the criteria set out by the party," Nkomo said. Although Moyo highlighted in his CV that he had "not known any other politics and as a matter of fact... never been part of or associated with any opposition party in post independent Zimbabwe," neither had he been Zanu PF. Moyo remained anti-Zanu PF during his tenure as lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) during which time he penned a chain of vitriolic, articulate and incisive articles lashing out at the government in several independent magazines. He went as far as describing President Mugabe as a man with "an uncanny propensity to shoot himself in the foot (and) has become a national problem which needs containment". Semwayo - who will stand in Chipinge North in the March polls - however said the ball was in Moyo's court to decide whether or not he will return to the party. He said. "We cannot make a judgment for him. It is up to him to return."
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From The Daily Mirror, 7 February
Jailed Bennett wants to contest polls
Daily Mirror reporter
Roy Bennett, the jailed MDC Member of Parliament for Chimanimani, has announced his intention to stand in the forthcoming general elections. Despite having lost his farm, the bulk of his possessions, being exiled from his beloved Chimanimani area and then jailed, Bennett said there was no option but to continue the struggle for a better life, even from prison, for his constituents. His wife, Heather, who met Bennett on Saturday in Mutoko prison, said the lawmaker would stand for election next month. "If the people want him, then he will stand," said Heather. Last October, Bennett was sentenced to a year in prison with labour by the ruling Zanu PF Members of Parliament following an altercation in the House with justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa. Chinamasa had dismissed the five court orders Bennett had been granted to return to his farm and had then insulted Bennett's ancestors. Bennett reacted by pushing him to the floor. Although the Constitution of Zimbabwe prohibits a citizen sentenced to more than six months in jail from standing as an MP, this does not apply to Bennett. His lawyer, Arnold Tsunga, who is also the director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, said: "Bennett was not convicted by a court of law and therefore has every right to stand in the forthcoming elections. The election procedures in Zimbabwe are such that Bennett's nominated election agent can represent him throughout the campaign," Tsunga added.
In Chimanimani, Bennett's decision was greeted with jubilation. His election agent and friend, James Mukwaya, said from the moment Bennett was sent to prison, people in the constituency have been asking whether the burly MP would stand. "The people of Chimanimani only want Roy. No other candidate will do. Roy has proved that he is with them and one of them. They trust him and will follow him always," Mukwaya said. However, Mukwaya claimed that there were signs already that the election process in Chimanimani would not be free and fair. "The last two elections here, in 2000 and 2002, saw massive rigging, violence and intimidation by Zanu PF and this year things look like they will be even worse," said Mukwaya. Bennett's decision to stand does add to the concerns for his welfare felt by his family and friends. Heather Bennett though, was anxious her husband's decision to stand could anger Zanu PF. "In general, Bennett has been treated fairly by the prison authorities but Zanu PF fears his popularity and courage in Chimanimani and they could make things very difficult for him in prison," Heather said. Economist Samuel Undenge will represent Zanu PF in Chimanimani in the March 31 general elections.
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From Zim Online (SA), 4 February
Four years after brutal murder of MDC activists, state security agent remains a free man
Harare - Joseph Mwale, the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) state security operative, accused of masterminding the gruesome murder of two opposition, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) activists during the run-up to the 2000 parliamentary poll, remains a free man despite a court order to have him arrested.Police are aware of his whereabouts but Mwale, although now sporting a heavy beard to disguise his identity, remains a free citizen. The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has condemned the government for deliberately failing to take action against Mwale. Mwale was deployed in Mutoko last year after a High Court judge ordered his arrest. Mwale was based in Chimanimani where, together with Chogugudza, a former Zimbabwe Republic Police officer in charge of that district, made Chimanimani a no-go area for opposition supporters, human rights activists and journalists form the independent media. Mwale is accused of murdering Talent Mabika, an MDC youth activist and Tichaona Chiminya, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai's personal assistant, at Murambinda Growth Point in Buhera. The MDC activists were burnt to death when the vehicle they were travelling in was torched by Mwale and three of his accomplices. They were campaigning for Tsvangirai in Buhera North when they met their deaths. Tsvangirai lost to Kenneth Manyonda, the Deputy Minister of Commerce and International Trade. Manyonda's victory has since been annulled by the High Court on the grounds that it was marred by massive violence and intimidation against MDC supporters. Manyonda is still a parliamentarian because he appealed against the High Court ruling, delivered three years ago. Mwale's accomplices, Trainos Zimunya better known as Kitsiyatota, other Zanu PF activists known as Gwama and Mudzamiri have since been arrested facing murder charges. They are out on Z$5 million bail each which was granted by High Court Justice Bhunu.
However, Mwale remains free although he is widely known to be operating from Mutoko District, some 200km north-east of Harare. Government sources say it was unlikely Mwale could be apprehended soon because he has endeared himself with his superiors in the CIO and in both the ruling party and government. The dreaded operative is popular with the ruling elite after he successfully destabilised Roy Bennett's farming operations at Charleswood Estate. "I can bet you Mwale will not be made accountable soon," said a police officer based in Chimanimani. "That one is a blue "eyed boy for the chefs (senior Zanu PF officials). He worked for them here so tirelessly. Had it not been for him, Bennett could still be at his farm but Mwale made sure he was evicted and that happened." Bennett, the MDC MP for Chimanimani, is one of the most feared politicians by top Zanu PF and government officials. The tough-talking MP is currently serving a 10-month jail term after he assaulted two Cabinet ministers Patrick Chinamasa and Didymus Mutasa during a heated parliamentary session last October. Bennett will represent the MDC in next month's poll while still serving his sentence. The law allows him to stand as he was not convicted by a criminal court. Bennett was convicted and sentenced by a parliamentary committee.
A government source said Mwale was transferred from Chimanimani soon after the court ordered that he be arrested together with his three colleagues. The sources said Mwale may not be arrested soon especially after it was pointed out at a recent Zanu PF provincial co-ordinating committee meeting that the services of Mwale and his three colleagues were crucial in retaining Buhera North. At the same meeting, the sources said, the bail for the other three alleged murderers was raised. Two businessmen, who are active Zanu PF members, Esau Mupfumi and Enock Porusingazi reportedly contributed to pay the bail and have the alleged murderers out. Manyonda reportedly complained during the meeting, held in Mutare, that the continued incarceration of the three would discourage other Zanu PF activists from campaigning "full blast" for the ruling party in next Month's poll. At that time, Manyonda was confident of winning the right to represent his party at the poll. Unfortunately for him, he lost the primaries to an unheralded rural businessman, William Mutomba.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), an organisation of lawyers championing the restoration of human rights in Zimbabwe, says they are disappointed that Mwale continues to be a free man despite committing a serious crime against humanity. ZLHR's director Arnold Tsunga said: "It is extremely disappointing and it tends to send a strong message to the public that when he (Mwale) committed the alleged crime, he was doing so at the insistence or with the acquiescence of the State. Tsvangirai lost to Kenneth Manyonda, the Deputy Minister of Commerce and International Trade. "Effectively, it shows that if you participate in violence against perceived political opponents of the State, then you can do so with impunity," he said.
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From The Sunday Independent (SA), 6 February
Zimbabwe is sabotaging rest of Africa's chances, says Tutu
By Christelle Terreblanche
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has urged African leaders to turn up the volume and act against their errant counterparts. Although he did not target Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe specifically, Tutu said Zimbabwe was making "almost a mockery" of Africa's renewed commitment to good governance and jeopardising the rest of the continent's chances of securing international aid and debt relief. Breaking a two-month-long silence this week after his Nelson Mandela Memorial lecture in late November caused a furore, he said that Zimbabwe was a "huge blot on Africa's record", making it difficult for other African nations to receive help despite the advances made by the African Union and Nepad. In an interview with The Sunday Independent during the week that Cosatu was barred from Zimbabwe, the archbishop was careful not to take on South Africa's policy of quiet diplomacy openly, but he did emphasise the need for African leaders to turn up the volume. Tutu - who a few years ago was a pioneer in advocating a Marshall Pla |
