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Farmer and workers beaten
Harare - War veterans
allegedly assaulted a farmer and two of his workers on
a Mashonda farm in
southern Harare on Friday, the Commercial Farmers Union
reported on
Saturday.
Spokesperson Jenni Williams said the farmer, Charlie Brans, was
allegedly
attacked by 20 war veterans while sitting in his office.
He
was beaten across the back and face with a heavy chain and had to
receive
medical treatment.
His assailants then broke his office
windows and doors before going to the
farm village. Two of Bran's workers
were then beaten, and a beer hall and a
hut burnt down.
After the
incident a neighbour arrived on the scene with three
policemen.
Sorry
Williams said while they were investigating the
situation, a local leader
arrived with some war veterans, including two who
reportedly took part in
the attack.
The leader made the alleged
attackers apologise to Bran but they were not
arrested.
Williams said
19 white farmers were illegally evicted from their farms in
Mashonaland East
since Zimbabwe's presidential poll.
She said although such incidents were
reported to police their response was
exceptionally slow.
The main
areas affected by the looting and evictions are Beatrice,
Marondera, Wedza
and Featherstone districts in Mashonaland East.
Telegraph
'We were the sex slaves of Mugabe's men'
By Brian Latham and
Philip Sherwell in Harare
(Filed: 31/03/2002)
THE terror began at
eight in the evening and lasted until dawn for Felicia
Matamure. In tears,
the young trainee teacher described last week how she
was captured by
government youth militia in north-eastern Zimbabwe and
dragged to their camp
near Mt Darwin.
There she was gagged and gang-raped by a gang of 10 young
men high on drink
and drugs in a horrifying night of sexual abuse and
beatings. "They tied my
legs and arms to poles," the distraught 23-year-old
told The Telegraph from
a safe house in Harare. "The men took turns to rape
me while the others
watched and sang liberation songs."
Felicia was
untied at dawn, but threatened with death if she fled the camp.
Undaunted,
she escaped the next night and tried to report the case to the
police, only
to be turned away. "They were not interested," she said. "The
war vets and
the militia are above the law."
She said there were dozens of other
abducted women at the former school that
has been turned into a militia camp.
Some were made to wash and cook, others
were forced to sleep with the
gang-leaders. Most were too scared to flee
because of the retribution that
their family or village would face.
Lilian Nzirawa's ordeal was just as
appalling: the militia forced her into
their camp, ripped off her dress and
slashed her underwear with knives.
"I was tied, gagged and blindfolded
while they raped me," she recalled.
After about an hour, her abductors
removed the blindfold, but took it in
turns to rape her again as their
comrades cheered and sang revolutionary
songs.
With tears rolling down
her face, Lilian, in her early twenties, said she
recognised some of her
assailants as local men from her home area near
Bindura, 60 miles north of
Harare. "All I want is justice and all I can do
is cry," she said
softly.
Both Felicia and Lilian are now in hiding but risked their lives
to reveal
the horrors they endured; their names have been changed at their
request.
Their revelations come as the militia and war veterans indulge in a
new wave
of political violence.
After resorting to rampant electoral
fraud in this month's election,
President Mugabe is desperate to ensure that
the MDC can never again mount
such a strong political challenge to his
regime. Across the country,
opposition activists have been attacked, forced
to pay heavy "fines",
hounded from their homes and - in at least six cases
since the election -
killed by Zanu-PF mobs.
White farmers are also
being targeted: in Zanu-PF's Mashonaland strongholds,
dozens have been forced
from their homes in revenge for backing for the MDC,
while Terry Ford was
shot dead on his farm at Norton.
It is local black MDC activists who are
bearing the brunt of the
anti-opposition crackdown, however. Laina Marowa,
Tsanangurai Marowa and
Dorcas Maneni fled into the bush in the eastern
Manicaland province after
serving as MDC polling agents. Mobs had turned up
outside their houses and
local Zanu-PF leaders had ordered them to pay
"fines" of almost £50, a small
fortune in rural areas.
Across the
country, the MDC estimates that 1,200 of its election agents are
on the run
and there are countless reports of abuse at militia torture
camps.
Photographs obtained by The Telegraph reveal that new recruits are
still
being trained in the Bindura area, 100 miles north of Harare.
Sexual
assault has also been used as part of this new strategy of terror:
one
15-year-old girl was repeatedly raped by youth militia shortly after
the
election because they could not find her parents, both MDC
activists.
According to Dewa Mavhinga, a research officer with the
Zimbabwe Women
Lawyers' Association (ZWLA), there are more than 1,000 female
sex slaves
being held in 56 militia camps.
"These militia are now in
celebration mode," he said. "They act like they're
unafraid of
anything."
The victims fall into three categories. "Some are promised
money," he said.
"Others go in because they're ordered to and they're too
frightened to
disobey. The last group are taken into the camps as punishment
for
supporting the opposition MDC."
The fear that they will be
discovered and killed by their former tormentors
is common among escaped sex
slaves, according to Mr Mavhinga. "They have
been told that they will be
hunted down and killed by the militia and the
war veterans," he
said.
Even once they have escaped, the stigma attached to rape in rural
areas
means that women's suffering continues. "They can't just admit they've
been
raped because they fear their husbands will not have anything more to
do
with them," said Mr Mavhinga.
Felicia confirmed the problem as she
broke down in tears and explained that
she was married with a small child.
"My husband works in South Africa. When
I escaped I wanted to phone and tell
him but I just couldn't do it. By the
time I spoke to him, he had heard. When
he answered the phone, he just said:
'I know'. That was it."
Asked if
she will ever see her husband again, Felicia smiled sadly and shook
her head.
"I don't think so," she said.
Zimbabwe farmers demand government protection
Zimbabwe's 4,000
white farmers have demanded government protection to stop
premature evictions
and looting of their belongings and land.
The farmers have reported an
upsurge in violence, evictions, and looting of
their property after Robert
Mugabe's victory in disputed presidential
elections.
The union
representing the farmers said they fear the violence was part of a
campaign
of retribution against them by Mugabe.
He who accuses whites of
supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change in the
election.
Since the election on March 9-11, 19 farmers have been
illegally evicted and
there have been 31 cases of looting in the Mashonaland
East province
southeast of Harare, one of eight rural provinces.
At
least 2,000 farm workers have been driven from their homes and jobs in
the
corn and tobacco province.
White farmers became targets of violence two
years ago when armed militants
loyal to Mugabe began occupying their farms
with tacit government approval.
The militants demanded the farms be
seized and distributed to the country's
millions of landless blacks. Whites
make up less than one percent of the
Zimbabwe's population but own most of
its farmland.
Critics say Mugabe has used the land issue to garner
support and deflect
attention from the country's crumbling economy. Despite
promises to
redistribute the land to poor blacks, many of the farms have been
given to
loyal lawmakers and confidantes of Mugabe.
In the latest
attack on a white farmer, Charlie Brans, a man in his 50s, was
beaten with a
chain on Friday on his farm near Beatrice, 35 miles south of
Harare. Mr Brans
received emergency treatment for wounds on his back after a
group of about 20
ruling party militants stormed his farm office, smashing
windows and doors,
the union said.
Story filed: 17:39 Sunday 31st March 2002
MSNBC
Mugabe celebrates victory with warning to
rivals
HARARE, March 31 — Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on
Sunday celebrated
his controversial re-election with a warning to rivals that
he will deal
with protests against his government with an iron
fist.
In a clip broadcast by Zimbabwe state television, Mugabe
told
hundreds of guests at a victory party at his Zvimba rural home, 100 km
(65
miles) northwest of Harare, there was no question of a re-run of the
March
9-11 presidential poll, which critics say he won
fraudulently.
''The people made their choice...and that choice must be
respected.
We will not brook any protests, any attempt to cause problems,''
he said, in
a speech which alternated between the local Shona language and
English.
''This is a post-election period and no nonsense will be
tolerated.
Those who want to rebel and to cause lawlessness will be beaten to
the
ground like they have never been beaten,'' he said.
Mugabe was
cheered by his supporters as he made the threat at a party
which was attended
by Zimbabwe's Defence Forces chief General Vitalis
Zvinavashe.
NEW
PHASE
''If they (the opposition) think we will be soft, that's gone.
We are
in a new phase, a new chapter and we have a very firm government,
very
firm,'' he said.
Mugabe said he had large national support and
the opposition
supporters in the capital Harare and the second city Bulawayo
were behaving
like islanders with no idea of what was going on around
them.
''They are better advised to carry on with life than pretend
they
represent a national programme,'' he said.
In a preliminary
report on the presidential poll last Tuesday, the
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) charged Mugabe had only
beaten its leader Morgan
Tsvangirai after inflating voter turnout in rural
areas, stuffing ballot
boxes and locking out voters in the opposition's
urban strongholds.
Tsvangirai has branded Mugabe's victory ''daylight robbery'' and has
spurned
suggestions from southern African leaders that he should join a
government of
national unity.
Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth for a
year on March 19
after the group's election observers accused Mugabe of
electoral fraud.
The Zimbabwean government dismisses the fraud
accusations, saying
they are being pushed by Western powers who want to see
Mugabe ousted
because he is seizing white-owned farms for landless
blacks.
Mugabe's governing ZANU-PF party on Wednesday ruled out a
re-run of
the presidential election, saying the poll had been conducted in
''a free
and fair manner.''
The party's top politburo said Mugabe
-- Zimbabwe's ruler since the
former Rhodesia gained independence from
Britain in 1980 -- had been legally
elected for a six-year term and ZANU-PF
''will not tolerate the talk and
whisper in subversive circles about a re-run
of the presidential election.''
Zim Standard
Patriotism and loyalty
Sunday Opinion By H
Makoni
Most African leaders, among them die-hard dictators, have often
justified
their continued grip on power by arguing that they were duly
elected through
the "one person, one vote" system and that therefore there
was no need to
question their style of government. Some even go further and
try to convince
the rest of the world that Africa has its own type of
democracy, quite
different from the way it is perceived by the rest of the
world!
According to these leaders, the murder, plundering of the
economy,
corruption, inefficiency in the public sector, misinformation of
the
electorate, suppression of opposing views and elimination of opponents
are
all supposed to be our brand of democracy.
Is it any wonder
therefore that the majority, if not all, of the so-called
independent and
democratic SADC and OAU countries do not see anything wrong
with the way the
Zimbabwe government has been behaving towards its people
since
2000?
Without going into the intricate details of what constitutes a
democratic
society, allow me to dwell on this often abused phenomenon of "one
person,
one vote" and the attendant sovereignty that derives from such a
system.
In my opinion, no nation in Africa (or indeed anywhere else), can
claim to
be democratic and sovereign if the process through which that nation
was
born, does not take into consideration some of the basic tenets that
are
supposed to accompany this process.
Of paramount importance, is
the need to educate the electorate on what they
should not only expect, but
demand, from those they put into power through
their votes.
People
should be made aware of what their responsibilities are towards
their
government, and equally, what they should expect in return. If a
government
that is voted into power does not respect those who sustain the
economy of a
country through payment of taxes and other forms of
contributions, and
instead prefers to value some individuals' loyalty to the
party, then that
government does not deserve to be in power.
If people
are not free to change their minds on any party that they might
have voted
for before, then there is no point in holding elections. If
people are herded
like cattle to attend political meetings or rallies, then
whatever comes out
of these people at the ballot box is bound to reflect the
same fear that was
instilled in them in the first place. If people are
forced to attend
"reorientation classes" in some absurd and entirely foreign
doctrine that
does not identify with our own backgrounds, again, when they
cast their vote,
they are merely expressing the wishes and views of their
'mentors' and not
their own.
Which brings in the issue of foreign 'observers', whose role
is supposed to
be that of adjudicators during elections. Do these observers
play any
meaningful role, especially considering that they come only a few
days
before the elections and in some cases, as happened in this country,
they
are from countries perceived to be friendly to the ruling
party?
In any event, what will these people observe in such a short
period of time?
Is this not like a prison inspector coming to inspect the
conditions under
which prisoners are kept after four years, at which time the
poor souls
might be in in such a state that they cannot say how they have
been treated
over that period, or they may have been thoroughly subjected to
such
physical and mental torture that they are beyond repair. In the presence
of
the guards, everything will appear normal to the inspector and he is
bound
to go back to his superiors with the wrong impression.
While I
agree that these 'observers' cannot be a permanent feature in
foreign
countries, I however feel that the approach they should adopt should
be one
of studying the political culture prevailing in the country and of
particular
importance, watch out for any signs of fear and uneasiness among
the people.
This task would require psychologists-cum-politicians, and not
ordinary
people.
They should also observe the type of rhetoric and language
used,
particularly by the ruling party, because this is the one that can make
any
election free, that is, if it is not afraid of something. They have all
the
security apparatus and public funds at their disposal, and therefore,
are
the ones most likely to influence the vote one way or other. They can
also
carry out their threats in the knowledge that they have the backing
of
"security" agents at their disposal.
Opposition parties may try to
cause trouble, but the effectiveness of such a
campaign strategy will not
result in flawed election results, because the
effect of the terror campaign
is minimal.
How many so-called "democratic republics" in Africa came into
power through
the vote? Have people once asked themselves what is so
sovereign about being
oppressed and denied a voice?
What is supposed
to be the top priority of any country with more than 3/4 of
its citizens
living below the poverty datum line? Is it the formation of a
huge army that
is purported to 'safeguard' the interests of the people and
defend it from
imaginary enemies? Or is it the amassing of deadly weapons
and luxury cars
for the leaders that makes the people proud of their
country?
After
the elections are over, do the leaders ever consult the people on any
crucial
decisions they take, or when they change a constitution? How many
black
governments conduct referendums during their terms of office to gouge
public
opinion of themselves and their style of government? Are members
of
parliament really relevant in a country where leaders claim to be more
equal
than those who voted them into power, and in situations where loyalty
to a
party is considered to be patriotism? Why do most, if not all leaders
prefer
to have their "savings" in the so-called former colonial countries
instead
of their own?
Why do they expect the people to be patriotic
when they themselves do not
lead by example? Why do they send their children
to schools outside the
country and expect ours to endure all the hardships of
a poorly run
educational system? How many ministers are ever fired for
corruption or
outright inefficiency? Or, alternatively, how many are
honourable enough to
resign with an apology to the nation? Indeed there are
more questions than
answers.
It is only when the electorate is aware
of what constitutes a good
government, that Africa can start to earn the
respect of the rest of the
world. Presently, the developed world does not
have much respect for our
governments, not because of colonial hangovers as
we are continually
reminded, but because they have studied the way our
leaders govern us and
they know that we are not yet serious about developing
our economies.
Loyalty to the country should come before loyalty to a
political party or
government that comes and goes. This is an important area
of democracy and
patriotism that the electorate needs to be made aware
of.
Many governments, particularly in Africa, feel threatened by an
enlightened
electorate, hence the reluctance by most of these to educate the
people
about good governance. They will continue to hold elections every five
or
six years just to hoodwink the people and the rest of the world
into
believing that they are practising democracy.
Unfortunately, most
of us in Africa will never experience what it means to
be independent and
democratic for a long time to come unless and until we
learn to insist on a
high calibre of people we put into power. We should all
know that it suits
them to have an ignorant, docile and poverty-stricken
electorate and if the
majority of the people are poor, the better their
prospects of remaining in
power and continuing to give promises that are
never fulfilled.
In my
view, a government that comes or remains in power through a mandate
derived
from an uneducated, misinformed and intimidated electorate is not
legitimate
and therefore cannot lay claim to sovereignty.
It is only when the
electorate is free to vote and elect a government of its
choice, without
undue influence, intimidation, deliberate misinformation and
with clear
objectives that we can say we have reached the level of political
maturity
that we should strive to attain, as well as match those systems
obtaining in
other truly democratic countries.
In the final analysis, can we say our
leaders and governments are legitimate
when voters go into elections under
fear and ignorance of what is expected
of them except putting an "X" on an
otherwise useless piece of paper?
Judging by the above, how many
governments can really say they are worthy of
being called independent,
democratic and sovereign in Africa?
Zim Standard
No more aid from Germany
By Kumbirai
Mafunda
GERMANY is to freeze aid to Zimbabwe following President Mugabe's
disputed
victory in the 9-10 March presidential elections, The Standard has
learnt.
Wieczorek-Zeul, the German minister of Economic Development,
was recently
quoted by a German newspaper as saying his country would review
all aid
programmes to Zimbabwe following the re-election of Mugabe. Zeul said
only
programmes for the combating of Aids and the relief of poverty would
be
continued.
Germany's deputy ambassador to Zimbabwe, Werner Koehler,
confirmed these
latest developments. "We are in the process of reviewing all
existing aid.
Since 2000, we have frozen government cooperation. We have
increased
assistance to non-governmental organisations. There has been no
money coming
in since 2000," said Koehler."
He said before its
decision to freeze aid, his country had taken into
account the Zimbabwean
government's departure from the criteria underlying
the rules of German
development cooperation worldwide, criteria such as
respect for human rights
and the rule of law, active participation of the
people in the political
process, commitment to a market-oriented economy and
to development-oriented
policies.
"Shortcomings in these areas have led to considerable reduction
in official
German-Zimbabwe development cooperation. We are phasing out a bit
faster,"
said Koehler.
On existing projects which are currently under
implementation, Koehler said
his country doesn't want to leave behind a
country in ruins. "We don't want
to pull out of a project we have already
started."
The deputy ambassador said the cut back on aid would not affect
funding for
programmes of a non-governmental nature. "All the new money that
has come
has been channelled to NGOs. It is the state-to- state cooperation
that is
going to be affected," said Koehler.
He said basic health
programmes, humanitarian and food aid could remain
unaffected if an agreement
was reached. Over 600 000 people face mass
starvation in Zimbabwe.
The
German move comes in the wake of reports this week that the country
was
expected to lose more than $4 billion in development aid this year
following
moves by major donors and trading partners to sever ties with
Harare after
the country's defective presidential poll. Those severing all
assistance to
Mugabe include Norway, Japan, Canada and
Denmark.
Germany's programmes in Zimbabwe include: the Programs for
Biomass Energy
Conservation (PROBEC); the World Peace Service which supports
grassroots
initiatives in the building up of a sustainable and productive
environment;
the German Development Service which provides funds for the
promotion of
NGOs and for micro projects. There are other programmes
including those run
by foundations such as Friedrich Nauman and Friedrich
Ebert Stiftung.
Mugabe's fraudulent victory has been condemned by the
international
community and described internally as a massive fraud. The
Commonwealth
observer team led by former Nigerian president Abdusalam
Abubakaar, produced
a damning report on the conduct of the elections. The
Commonwealth, a body
comprising mainly former British colonies has now
suspended the southern
African country from the Commonwealth.
Soon
after the presidential poll, the European Union parliament announced
that it
had rejected President Mugabe's victory and appealed to the
international
community to do likewise.
Zim Standard
Life couldn't be better for Mozambican runners
By our
own Staff
CHICUALACUALA-Five years ago, Ferenando watched helplessly as
Zimbabwean
police impounded his treasured bags of used clothing (mazitye) and
locked
him up in a filthy cell at a station in Chiredzi, the agricultural
capital
of the south-eastern Lowveld.
He joined several other
Mozambican nationals who had been arrested for
illegally entering Zimbabwe to
sell their wares. Life in their own country,
ravaged by years of bitter civil
war between the Frelimo government and the
Mozambican National Resistance
army (MNR), had become so unbearable that
they decided they could not just
sit around doing nothing.
Their survival came to depend on trips into
Zimbabwe where used clothing was
in great demand. But the Zimbabwean police,
eager to stem the entry of the
despised Mozambican, known locally as
makarushu-proved to be a hindrance as
they harassed them constantly and
confiscated their goods forcing
faint-hearted people such as Ferendando to
give up these lucrative trips.
But all that is history. He's back in
business, thanks to the presidential
election.
Ferenando, like
thousands other Mozambicans, is now assured of entry into
Zimbabwe as and
when he wants. Three weeks before the elections, word
reached his village
which is close to the Sango border post that anyone not
in possession of a
Zimbabwean national identity card could get one easily so
long as he was
prepared to vote for President Robert Mugabe.
So Ferenando quickly
crossed into Zimbabwe where in the Sengwe communal area
he and his three
brothers and sisters, who are domestic workers, easily
acquired birth
certificates and national identity cards.
As part of the deal, the three
stayed with relatives at Mabalauta in
Chiredzi South constituency until
election day when they took part in the
crucial election.
"This
election was important because we had been told that we would lose our
newly
acquired Zimbabwean citizenship if president Mugabe lost the election
to
Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC. So we were duty-bound to give our
benefactor,
Mugabe, the extra vote he needed to ward off the challenge,"
recalls
Ferenando who is now a common feature at Sango border post, some
250km from
Chiredzi town.
He now goes up and down the two countries conducting business
without fear
of harassment by Zimbabwean police.
This and similar
stories are the kind a visitor to the south eastern part of
Zimbabwe is
likely to hear from people who, only a few years ago, were
regarded as aliens
in a country in which they had formerly been despised as
hoarders of scarce
commodities.
The Mozambicans who survive on the sale of goods in Zimbabwe
are making a
killing in the country as they bring in that hard-to-find US
dollar and
trade it on the black market. They then buy goods to sell back
home.
"It is no secret here that many makarashu obtained Zimbabwean
identity cards
and voted in the presidential election. Some of them are
stalwarts of
Frelimo and needed no persuasion to vote for Mugabe.
"In
fact, we cannot blame them because it was a deal which benefited all
the
parties," said a villager at Malipati Secondary School.
Detained Journalist Freed In Zimbabwe
Ananova
Sunday March 31, 2002 8:42
PM
A Daily Telegraph journalist being held in Zimbabwe under a new
security law
has now been released.
Peta Thornycroft was arrested last
week under the new Public Order Security
Act and led to believe she had been
charged with "publishing false
statements prejudicial to the
state".
She was later charged with the lesser offence of possessing a car
with an
incorrect number plate and was held under allegations that she had
worked
illegally as a journalist.
She has now been freed after a High
Court in Zimbabwe ordered her release.
A Daily Telegraph spokesman said:
"We have confirmation that she has been
released and is spending the night
with her family in Harare."
He added that the news had come from the
paper's Africa correspondent, Tim
Butcher, who has been monitoring the
situation from over the border in South
Africa, but no further details were
immediately available.
Staff at the paper had earlier expressed concern
that despite the High Court
directive Mrs Thornycroft might not be released
immediately.
A spokesman said: "The release has been ordered, there is no
doubt about
that, but there is sometimes a gap between what is ordered and
what actually
happens.
"She was originally told she had violated the
Public Order Security Act but
they (her lawyers) built a case undermining
that, so they then invoked the
new media law called the Access to Information
and Protection of Privacy Act
saying she hadn't registered her work as a
journalist."
He added: "But details of the Act have only just been
announced and it takes
three months before it fully comes into force, so it
was rather a weak case.
It did not take a judge long when the case came
before him to decide she
should not be held in custody."
Guardian
Reporter In Zimbabwe Ordered Freed
Sunday March 31, 2002
6:20 PM
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - A High Court judge on Sunday ordered
police to free
a British newspaper reporter being held on the charge of
violating
Zimbabwe's severe new media laws.
Judge Mohammed Adam said
he found no reason for the detention of Peta
Thornycroft, 57, a correspondent
for the Daily Telegraph and two South
African newspapers.
``There were
never any grounds for her arrest. The accusations she is not
entitled to work
as a journalist are absolute nonsense,'' Adam said in his
ruling.
It
was not immediately clear when the journalist would be
released.
Thornycroft was arrested Wednesday in Chimanimani, 300 miles
southeast of
Harare, her lawyer Tapiwanashe Kujinga said. She was
investigating reports
of reprisal violence by ruling party militants against
opposition supporters
following presidential elections earlier this
month.
President Robert Mugabe was declared the winner in the widely
criticized
election being marred by political intimidation, violence, and
vote rigging.
Thornycroft had been warned she could not work as a
journalist without
proper government accreditation. Working without state
accreditation was
made illegal under the sweeping Access to Information Act
signed passed in
February.
She was the first journalist arrested under
the media act that has been
criticized as a government tool to muzzle the
independent media.
Thornycroft, a British-born Zimbabwe citizen, had some
30 years of
experience as a reporter and under the media laws had not yet
been
officially required to seek official government accreditation by the
state
media commission.
As part of its crackdown on the independent
media, Mugabe's government also
threatened to prosecute Geoff Nyarota, the
editor of the country's only
private daily newspaper, on a story his paper
ran about a presidential
election run-off.
Information Minister
Jonathan Moyo wrote Nyarota asking him to correct what
Moyo termed
``deliberate falsehoods'' or face legal action under the new
media
laws.
The Daily News reported last week that the African
Caribbean
Pacific-European Union Joint Assembly in Cape Town had passed a
resolution
calling for a fresh election.
Jailed journalist 'is tired of Zimbabwe'
By Brian Latham in Harare
(Filed:
31/03/2002)
THE lawyer acting for Peta Thornycroft, the Telegraph's
jailed Zimbabwe
correspondent, said yesterday that he was submitting papers
demanding her
release. Tapiwanashe Kuchinga said he was "mustering all the
hope he could"
that Thornycroft would be released today.
"I've asked
Tendai Biti [a trial lawyer and the opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change's shadow foreign minister] to make an urgent application
to the High
Court in Harare," said Mr Kuchinga.
Thornycroft, 57, speaking from a
police cell in Zimbabwe's eastern border
city of Mutare yesterday, said that
she was "bored and very tired" and that
prison conditions were "absolutely
abysmal".
Thornycroft has been charged under Zimbabwe's new draconian
media law - the
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. She was
arrested last
week in the south-eastern district of
Chimanimani.
Thornycroft tripped in her cell last night, injuring her
foot and knee.
"There's no light in here," she said, adding that she had
otherwise been
well-treated "with one or two exceptions".
Angola's
armed forces and the Unita rebel movement signed a ceasefire pact
yesterday
with the aim of ending a 27-year-old civil war, the Portuguese
news agency
Lusa reported. Government troops killed Unita's long-time rebel
leader Jonas
Savimbi last month, raising hopes for an end to the fighting.
News24
'We could not ignore the observers' - Obasanjo
Lagos -
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo has admitted he was reluctant
to
suspend Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth but said the grouping's report on
the
country's March elections had been "impossible to ignore," Sunday
papers
reported.
Obasanjo, speaking on local radio Saturday, charged
that many minds had been
made up on Zimbabwe before the controversial March
9-11 election was held.
Referring to a Commonwealth summit in early
March, just ahead of the
Zimbabwe vote, Obasanjo said: "Before we went to
Australia, many heads of
state of Commonwealth nations had made up their
minds on Zimbabwe."
"I warned the prime minister of Australia (John
Howard) before the meetings
that their position was capable of dividing the
Commonwealth and that was
when he slowed down," Obasanjo added.
After
the elections, the Nigerian government initially said they had been
flawed
but basically "legitimate".
However, Commonwealth observers headed by
former Nigerian military ruler
Abdulsalami Abubakar issued a damning report
on the elections saying they
were conducted in an atmosphere of fear and
intimidation and did not reflect
the free will of the people.
Days
later, a "troika" formed of Howard, Obasanjo and South African
President
Thabo Mbeki agreed to suspend Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth for
a
year.
"Unfortunately, the Commonwealth Monitoring Group returned a
verdict which
we could not ignore," Obasanjo said.
The comments are
among the first Obasanjo has made publicly on the Zimbabwe
issue, which has
proved embarrassing for African leaders.
At the London press conference
where Zimbabwe's suspension was announced,
both Obasanjo and Mbeki declined
to speak to reporters.
Zim Standard
Trouble in ZRP
By our own Staff
A FURORE
has erupted within the police force following the exclusion of some
police
officers from promotions effected last week, despite their
involvement in
campaigns for President Mugabe in the recent
presidential
election.
Police sources told The Standard last week that
the promotions had led to
serious discontent within the force with some
officers, including war
veterans, feeling that they had been
shortchanged.
According to the sources, a number of police officers had
anticipated
rewards for their campaigns for President Mugabe in the 9 and 10
March
election which Mugabe won under highly controversial circumstances.
During
the run-up to the 2000 parliamentary election as well as the
recent
presidential election, the police force was turned into a virtual Zanu
PF
wing, harassing opposition supporters and officials at will and forcing
the
MDC to cancel several rallies.
The new draconian Public Order and
Security Act, gave the police the power
to stop meetings and
rallies.
"The promotions have left a sour taste in the mouth. Most of us
who
campaigned for Mugabe did not benefit and it is unfair. Mugabe won
the
election and naturally we expect our efforts to be recognised. Some of
us
were at the forefront of the campaign and we cannot be treated like
junk.
What is disappointing is that there are people who we know did not
campaign
for a single day, but were promoted. They were sitting in their
offices
while we were out there in the field. It is not fair," complained
one
policeman who did not benefit from the largess.
The Standard
understands some officers, mainly war veterans, took the issue
up with police
commissioner, Augustine Chihuri. It was not, however, clear
at the time of
going to press how Chihuri had reacted to their complaints.
Police
spokesman, Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena, is believed to
have been
left out of the promotions, much to the surprise of
his
colleagues.
According to sources, war veterans in the force
expected to be automatically
promoted following interviews which they
regarded as a mere formality : "The
members of the interview board did not
ask us much and we were interviewed
in our vernacular languages to make
things easier.
When contacted for comment, Assistant Commissioner Wayne
Bvudzijena had this
to say: "In any promotion exercise, there are those who
are promoted while
others are left out. We cannot promote the whole
organisation. You should
know that we do not deal with politics. We deal with
crime."
An email received....
Dear friends around the world, many of you
have
asked for an update on the
situation here in Zimbabwe. We
have
been deliberately trying to keep a low
profile. Avoiding even watching
the
news helps us to manage the
stress. The farm situation seems
unchanged. I have
no news on the Baileys who
were being kept hostage in
their
home. They too are trying to play things down in
an attempt to let
the
situation cool down. Our area near Gweru
is relatively quiet, but many
other farming areas
continue to be subjected to
ongoing violence and
lawlessness. It
seems that the authorities here are adept at
ignoring
world opinion, court
rulings and even the will of
the
majority.
Food is critically short. One can still buy
meat,
bread, milk, flour etc if you
have the financial means, but
the
mass of people who need maise meal to survive
cannot find it to buy!
The people
of Zimbabwe are a peace
loving and gentle people. They have
accepted the
rigged outcome of the
elections and seem resigned to
a
hopeless future. We hope that the world doesn't
mistake this lack of
'mass
objection' as a sign of legitimacy for
the elections.
The
latest personal headache for many is having to
apply for a new
birth
certificate. I spent the day in Bulawayo
to get mine. If one of your
parents was born
anywhere outside of Zimbabwe, it
seems that the
authorities are
denying renewal of passports etc. This is
unconstitutional
and can be fought in
court, but who has the resources
to pay lawyers ?
After my day spent in lines
queing for papers, many asked me "
So Chris,
what do you think is
going to happen here now? Will we make it?
Will
Zimbabwe survive? Will we be
here to see democracy
triumph?" I
didn't have an answer, so I turned to
the Lord and prayed: " Lord,
you've
gotta help me! What do I tell
everyone? What do YOU think? What is going
to
happen here in Zim? Is there a
future for peace-loving people?"
Then
I turned to our daily bible reading called
'Daily Light' and read
the
passage for the evening. WOW! Talk
about a rhema of God's word! He
truely spoke to me
through those scriptures.
Let me share some of
them:
1 Cor 10:13 "God is Faithful!"
1 Peter 4:19 "So then, those who
suffer according
to God's will should commit
themselves to their
faithful
Creator and continue to do good."
2 Cor 1:20 "For no matter how
many promises God
has made they are all 'Yes' in
Christ."
And so we
continue to trust Him! We continue to
believe that the prayers of
God's
people around the world
WILL prevail and that righteousness and
justice
WILL be established in Zimbabwe
soon.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Chris.
Zim Standard
Zapu calls for election re-run
By Loughty
Dube
BULAWAYO-Opposition political party, Zapu, has added its voice to
the
growing calls for a re-run of the disputed presidential elections. It
is
advocating the creation of a transitional government to see the
country
through fresh elections conducted under the auspices of the United
Nations
(UN).
In a strongly-worded statement released last week, Zapu
said it regarded
President Mugabe as a mere pretender to the
throne.
"People of Zimbabwe refuse to recognise the legitimacy of
Mugabe's
presidency which he clings to in spite of and despite the people,"
reads
part of the statement which further asserts that within the
ever-declining
Zanu PF membership structures, Mugabe continued to be assisted
only by "his
cronies and criminal elements such as war vets, youth brigades
and corrupt
women's league members."
Zapu said it welcomed the support
given by the international community to
the long-suffering people of
Zimbabwe, belated though it was.
"The stand taken by the EU, US and now
the Commonwealth is a positive move
and is in solidarity with the Zimbabwean
masses."
Zapu took a swipe at the OAU and Sadc for endorsing Mugabe's
victory, saying
the organisations had taken the view that Mugabe's oppression
of the masses
of Zimbabwe was a democratic dispensation to Zimbabweans in the
African
context.
"The attempt by the African leaders, surprisingly led
by South African
president Thabo Mbeki, and the ANC, to redefine democracy to
encompass
floggings, hangings, executions and genocide as essential elements
of
democracy in the African context, is most shameful to say the
least.
"The lowering of the democratic standards to accommodate, protect
and
legitimise African dictators should be resisted by all democratic
and
progressive forces in Africa and worldwide," the party said.
The
statement goes on to say that the 9 and 10 March presidential election
was
fundamentally flawed.
It said the United Nations or a body delegated by
it should supervise the
electoral process including the process of voter
registration and the
compilation of the voters' roll as it had done in
Cambodia.
The main opposition political party, the Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC), citing electoral irregularities, has also called for
a re-run of the
polls.
The United States and Britain have unreservedly
condemned the presidential
polls saying they were flawed.
Zim Standard
Chiyangwa fumes at US ban
By Chengetai
Zvauya
CHINHOYI member of parliament, Philip Chiyangwa, has attacked the
United
States government for imposing targeted sanctions on himself and his
Zanu PF
colleagues.
"Why are they interested in Chiyangwa? I do not
need anybody to tell me
which country I should or should not visit. Is
America our God? To hell with
them. All Zanu PF members will take appropriate
action against this move as
we have not committed any crime. We will respond
very soon.
"We are going to take steps to match their actions, steps
against the
American, British and Swiss nationals working here. We are busy
consulting
others so we can chart the way forward," he told The
Standard.
"My journeys are confined to countries in Africa. I have banned
myself from
other countries in the past five years. They will never see me
landing on
their soil."
Chiyangwa flatly denied that he had recently
been denied an entry visa into
Australia.
"I have heard this rumour
are making the rounds in town and it is not true.
These are malicious
allegations by people who want to tarnish my name and
image. You can find out
from the Australian high commission whether I have
applied for a
visa.
"I have never visited Australia in my life, let alone made attempts
to get a
visa from their offices."
Chiyangwa is on a list of
businessmen and individuals targeted for personal
sanctions by the US
government for allegedly benefiting from their links
with a corrupt Zanu PF
administration which has abandoned the rule of law,
perpetrated human rights
abuses, and stolen the recent presidential
election.
Meanwhile, an
Embassy spokesman in Harare yesterday said the US government
has not and will
not divulge the names of persons subject to travel
restrictions.
"We
are attempting to notify the individuals affected. We strongly advise
those
who believe they may be affected by travel restrictions to make
an
appointment to meet with a US Embassy counselor official prior to
departing
for the US. The embassy telephone numbers are 250593/4, 703169,
703378 and
703478."
Zim Standard
Zanu PF officials owe Council $300m
By Chengetai
Zvauya
NEWLY elected Harare mayor, Elias Mudzuri, has promised to carry
out an
audit of senior Zanu PF officials who were not paying rates during
the
tenure of the government-appointed Chana-kira commission.
Mudzuri
said this amid revelations that top Zanu PF officials alone owed the
city
council money amounting to approximately $300 million. The amount is
owing
from rates on their residential and business premises.
Altogether, Harare
ratepayers owe the city council close to $800 million in
unpaid
bills.
Mudzuri told The Standard that the Council was seeking legal
advice on the
recovery of the money.
"We are in the process of
recovering the money. Government and some Zanu PF
members top the list of our
worst debtors and it is an issue that the new
councillors are working
on."
"The problem is that the debts have not been serviced for a long
time and we
do not know how this has been allowed to continue.
"I do
not want our political opponents to see this as a political move, but
is a
duty entrusted upon us by the residents of Harare. We want everyone to
pay
their dues to the Council."
The City Council has legal authority to cut
water supplies at any property
at which monthly instalments are not paid.
Should the rates still go unpaid,
the Council has the right to auction the
property to recover the money.
Since assuming office, Mudzuri has clashed
with the minister of local
government public works and national housing,
Ignatius Chombo, over the
termination of the jobs of 300 workers believed to
have been employed
through political patronage.
Chombo created an
impasse in the council of 45 MDC members when he decided
to rescind the
action on the dismissed workers.
Zim Standard
Libya recruits Zimbabwean teachers
By Chengetai
Zvauya
LIBYA has embarked on a massive drive to recruit Zimbabwean
teachers to
teach English in Libya.
The Standard is informed that a
number of qualified teachers have left for
Libya where they will be paid in
United States dollars.
The teachers will be required to teach English at
nursery and primary school
level with expenses being paid by the Libyan
government which is also
providing them with accommodation.
"As part
of the deal, the teachers are expected to convert to Islam and to
study the
Koran. They will also undergo a three-month course in Arabic to
enable them
to communicate effectively," said a reliable source.
With the
introduction of English in Libyan schools, government officials no
longer
have to spend money sending their children abroad to study
the
language.
Libyan ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mahmound Yousef Azzabi,
refused to discuss
the matter when approached for comment.
"I do not
want to discuss our government policies with newspapers,"
Azzabi
said.
The Zanu PF government has good cordial relations with
Libya, which has been
instrumental in bailing Zimbabwe out of an acute fuel
crisis by extending to
it a US$360 million credit facility. In return,
Zimbabwe has given Libya
shares in a number of government affiliated
companies, as well as land in
prime farming regions.
Zim Standard
ZBC chief caught in compromising act
By our own
Staff
THERE was drama at Tipperary's restaurant in the early hours of
Thursday
morning when an alert security guard arrested Allum Mpofu, the
chief
executive of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), claiming that
he
had spotted Mpofu in a compromising position with another man in a
corridor
at the club.
This resulted in Mpofu being briefly detained at
the Harare restaurant on
Friday. He was released after explaining the
incident to the guards, but not
before a few harsh words had been rained on
him by patrons at the club.
Mpofu told the guard that he had been
mistaken in his belief that he was
attempting to have an intimate
relationship with another man. At first the
guard remained impervious to his
pleas for release and his insistence that
as the chief executive of the ZBC,
he could not possibly be involved in
anything so scandalous.
The crowd
that had gathered around the two were unconvinced by his
explanation and
demanded that instant justice be meted out to Mpofu and his
partner. Irate
women began shouting obscenities at him.
Eventually, the guard released
him.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Mpofu said such things were to be
expected
at beer drinking places.
"Wherever people drink beer there
are bound to be such problems. But look, I
am out of town right now. Maybe we
should meet and talk about it," said
Mpofu.
The owner of Tipperary's, Jeff
Mbalekwa, confirmed that Mpofu was at the
club on Wenesday night but denied
knowledge of the incident.
"I am not aware of the incident yet. Let me
phone my workers so they can
give me details," he said. However, efforts to
obtain further comment from
him yesterday, were fruitless as his mobile phone
had been switched off.
President Mugabe, who sanctioned Mpofu's
appointment, is on record as
describing homosexuals as "worse than pigs and
dogs."
Zim Standard
Mugabe's new cabinet
As speculation mounts on the
composition of President Mugabe's new
cabinet-which might even have been
announced by the time The Standard is
published-we take this opportunity to
look at the calibre and suitability of
the present team.
Many
observers have correctly pointed out that the vast majority of the
present
cabinet members are long past their sell-by dates, and should have
been
either dismissed, retired, or should have resigned on their own many
years
ago as they no longer have anything positive to offer to government or
to
taxpayers. But of course Mugabe is said to have a soft spot for his
slavish
loyalists, never mind their thieving and corrupt ways. And of course
he knows
that excluding them from government would be to condemn them to
poverty and
suffering, unemployable elsewhere.
Starting with the vice-presidents, it
is not a matter of debate that veteran
politicians Simon Muzenda and Joseph
Msika ought to bow out gracefully, if
not only because of age and
health-related problems, but also out of the
realisation that they now have
no contribution to make in the dynamic
politics of the new millenium, where
the reasons for which they joined the
liberation struggle are no longer
issues. Possible successors whose names
have been bandied about include
Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa,
and Home Affairs minister, John
Nkomo.
John Nkomo we have a serious problem with. Once a competent,
principled and
respected politician, Nkomo's ratings have in the last few
years taken a
dramatic nosedive, particularly with his tenure at home
affairs, where a
once-disciplined and fairly professional police force has
been reduced to a
vicious, lawless, and brutal militia of the ruling party.
People going about
their normal business are harassed and brutalised
indiscriminately, officers
and resources of the ZRP are abused on ZanuPF
business, and criminals are
having a field day in the knowledge that there is
no law enforcement to talk
about.
Not only does Nkomo do nothing about
this state of affairs, but instead he
had made statements which appear to
condone the mayhem.
In our opinion, John Nkomo is eminently unsuitable to
occupy the office of
vice-president of Zimbabwe. If the intention is to
balance the tribal
equation between Shonas and Ndebeles, we would instead
suggest other
candidates such as Dumiso Dabengwa, Stephen Nkomo-health
permitting-or
Cephas Msipa, not Ndebele but a long-standing Zapu
member.
There is the group composed of write-offs who are a complete
liability to
the government and people of Zimbabwe, and who should never have
been put
into any position of public responsibility, but who find themselves
in lofty
positions because of Mugabe's grace. Take people like Elliot
Manyika, Sam
Mumbengegwi, Sithe-mbiso Nyoni and the obscure Florence Buka.
What on earth
can they be expected to contribute to Zimbabwe? In fact, it is
cruel of
Mugabe to appoint them to positions of responsibility when he knows
their
serious intellectual limitations. It is like taking a farm tractor
driver
and asking him to fly a Boeing 767 from Harare to
London.
Admittedly, there are some fairly steady performers in Mugabe's
government,
but some of them have overstayed. These are the
middle-of-the-roaders,
well-educated, who know right from wrong, but are
spineless to take a firm
position and speak publicly on national issues. They
include Sidney
Sekeramayi, July Moyo, Edward Chindori-Chininga, Nicholas
Goche, and Herbert
Murerwa.
Simba Makoni and Francis Nhema find
themselves in a class of their own,
eternal optimists doing their best within
the constraints of working in a
fascist government.
As for the trio of
Jonathan Moyo, Patrick Chinamasa, and Stan Mudenge, these
are simply
political ladies-of-the-night and nothing more need be said
about
them.
This is our assessment of Mugabe's present team. We hope
it can be of some
assistance as the president makes his appointments.
Zim Standard
War vets' madness to remove Rhodes' grave
By our own
Staff
BULAWAYO-Residents of Bulawayo have described as "madness" plans by
war
veterans to exhume the remains of Cecil John Rhodes which lie peacefully
on
the Matopos, some 40 kilometres southwest of the city.
They object
to the location of the grave-atop the Malindidzimu Shrine,
(resting place of
Ndebele spirits). This is a controversial subject, started
some years ago and
eventually abandoned by the late Warlord Chakaredza, the
self-appointed
leader of Sangano Munhumutapa.
Chakaredza met with stiff resistance from
traditional elders, politicians
and business people when he threatened to
have Rhodes' remains removed from
the Matopos and dumped into the Zambezi
river if Britain, the former
colonial master, did not make arrangements to
have them reburied overseas.
Just last week, war veterans secretary for
projects, Andrew Ndlovu, who led
a group of youths in a terror campaign
against white commercial farmers in
Matabeleland province suspected of being
MDC sympathisers, said he would see
to it that the remains of Rhodes, the
architect of colonialism, were removed
from the Matopos and sent to
Britain.
Said Ndlovu: "We cannot find peace when we are keeping a white
demon in our
midst. It is the very core of our problems. His grave should be
returned to
the British or we will just destroy it. This is not a place for
criminals
like Rhodes who took away our forefathers' cattle and plundered
our
resources."
He added that his association wanted to see the
320-hectare Rhodes Matopos
Estate which encompasses Matopos National Park and
Matopos Research Station,
designated so it could be occupied by landless
people.
But several unimpressed residents of Bulawayo said the war
veterans, whose
invasions of white-owned commercial farms had worsened the
plight of many in
the country, once the breadbasket of southern Africa, had
to be stopped
before they completely destroyed the country.
"These
people are more concerned with whipping up anti-colonialist sentiment
in the
country than anything else. They don't even realise the immense
contribution
of Rhodes' grave to the ailing economy," said a distraught
travel
consultant.
Every year, thousands of tourists visit Matopos to see the
grave of the
grand imperialist who fell in love with "the grandeur and
loneliness of the
Matopos in south Rhodesia", bringing in the much needed
foreign currency.
Should the rowdy war veterans carry out their threats,
the hundreds of
people employed by firms which derive business from
tourism-related
activities in and around the Matopos, stand to be
affected.
Sibo Ndebele, an unemployed youth, said anyone wishing to
remove Rhodes'
grave should be considered a saboteur and
terrorist.
"Zanu PF likes to call MDC supporters terrorists, but I think
people who
want to destroy silent money-spinning graves which are protected
under the
country's laws, are the real terrorists. It never ceases to amaze
me how
some people are bent on doing foolish things just for the sake
of
perpetuating Mugabe's stranglehold on this country. There are better
things
to do than this," said Ndebele.
An official of the Department
of National Museums and Monuments said
removing the grave would be illegal as
it was located on a private estate.
No New Economic Recovery Plan
Zimbabwe
Standard (Harare)
March 31, 2002
Posted
to the web March 31, 2002
Our Own Staff
THE Zimbabwean government will not adopt a new economic
recovery plan despite the current economic crisis, but will instead adjust the
already existing Millennium Economic Recovery Programme (MERP).
The minister of finance and economic development, Dr Simba
Makoni, said the government was going to stick to the millennium recovery
programme it adopted in 2000 to revive the economy that continues to
deteriorate, with inflation at an all time high of 116%.
Said Makoni: "People should not expect a new economic plan,
but we are going to adjust some sections of the existing millennium recovery
programme. We will adjust it sufficiently in order for the country to benefit
financially.
"The millennium recovery programme is not a government
programme, but a national programme. We will stick to it until there is need for
a new economic recovery plan."
The government's Millennium Economic Recovery Programme aims
to revive the the economy that has failed to rise after the dollar fell against
major currencies in August 1998.
Commenting on the government's position, Oliver Davidson, an
economic consultant, told Standard Business that the decision was good as
continuously changing policies would not yield anything for the country.
"For a country to progress people need to identify the areas
that need to be adjusted and act on them immediately, basing on the present
situation.
Policies should only be abandoned when they prove to be a
complete failure, like the Economical Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP)
which did more harm than good. It only existed on paper. Commercialisation and
privatisation of public enterprises are critical components of the Millennium
recovery programme."
Analysts have called for a focused economic policy that will
see Zimbabwe regaining its status of being the bread basket of southern Africa.
The escalating prices of goods and services in the country, an unemployment rate
of over 60%, and escalating retrenchments and company closures have combined to
erode the quality of life of citizens. The current drought is set to aggravate
the situation.
State Fails to Attract International Investors
Zimbabwe
Standard (Harare)
March 31, 2002
Posted
to the web March 31, 2002
Paul Nyakazeya
THE minister of finance and economic development, Simba
Makoni, has admitted that the government is failing to attract international
investors.
Responding to a question on whether his ministry was doing
any thing to attract foreign investors, some of whom have been fleeing the
country due the farm invasions which started in February 2000 and the breakdown
of the rule of law, Makoni said government has been holding talks with a number
of potential international investors but they have not been forthcoming.
Said Makoni: "We have never stopped seeking investors for
the good of our country. We have been holding a number of discussions, but the
international community has not been forthcoming. If there are no results, it
does not mean were are not talking with potential investors."
At the World Economic Forum held in January in America,
Makoni failed to attract investors. The investors said Zimbabwe was not a good
place for investing because of the violence and the break down of the rule of
law that the country experienced towards the presidential elections in
March.
Zimbabwe is expected to lose more than $4 billion in
development aid this year following steps by major donors and trading partners
to sever ties with Harare after the country's deeply flawed presidential
elections.
"Because of this we are revising the 2002 budget in order to
re-prioritise expenditure. My expectation is that by mid April, at the latest,
we would have finished with the revision," Makoni said.
Makoni said Zimbabwe last paid its foreign debts in full in
October 1999. Zimbabwe is expected to pay more than Z$5.7 billion (US$102
million) to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this year to enhance its
chances of winning back crucial economic aid from the Bretton Woods
institution.
President Mugabe has reportedly been slipping out of the
country to woo investors in the Middle East to economically crippled Zimbabwe.
In January he went to Thailand, where he failed to meet Thai Prime minister
Thaksin Shinawatra. He has also been making numerous trips to Malaysia. But to
no avail. More than 400 companies linked to the agriculture sector have close
down due to the fast track resettlement programme. More companies have
reportedly been cutting down manpower while some relocated to neighbouring
countries.
From The Sunday Times (SA), 31
March
SA observers split over poll
report
Conflict among members of the South African Observer Mission to
Zimbabwe is hampering the finalisation of the report on that country's election.
This week, a heated meeting to discuss the final report ended inconclusively,
with some members refusing to accept the word "legitimate" to describe the
Zimbabwean election. Members of the mission told the Sunday Times that they
wanted a total reworking of the report, which they say was drafted two days
before the election and did not take the input of members into account. The
version that was subsequently made public was a slight adaptation of the draft.
The draft almost threw the mission into disarray when some members threatened to
leave Zimbabwe in protest against what they saw as prejudging of the elections.
The report was supposed to be based on daily submissions from members of the
team but discarded all claims of violence, mainly against members of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
Following this week's deadlock, the authors have been told to
rework the document and include terminology that will be acceptable to all
members of the mission. A member of the team, Dumisani Hlophe, said: "Some of us
are not comfortable with the term 'legitimate'. It is too loaded. I would have
preferred something that took into account that the conditions that prevailed at
the time were not ideal." The initial report is said to have been drafted on the
Thursday before the March 9 , 10 and 11 elections by an "editorial committee"
led by Eddie Maloka of the Africa Institute and Technikon North-West head
Professor Itumeleng Mosala. Members of the mission, including representatives of
the Congress of South African Trade Unions, questioned the validity of the
report.
In a heated meeting, key members of the team are said to have
threatened to dump the mission when it became evident that the report was very
close to legitimising the election process. "We were actually stunned by such a
hastened act. We even asked what the point of staying further would be since we
had already taken a position on the election," one election observer said. Most
observers and members of the executive apparently did not see the report until
the pronouncements a day after the elections. "We did not meet as a collective
to deliberate on our experiences and to decide on the pronouncement. Even the
interim statement was not distributed to us," said Unisa academic Iqbal
Jhazbhay. But they were overruled after the committee obtained the backing of
the head of the mission, retired diplomat Sam Motsuenyane. Initially, the report
was supposed to have been submitted to President Thabo Mbeki. But Mbeki's
spokesman, Bheki Khumalo, said: "There was no advance report given to the
presidency. The President only got to know the content when he met Motsuenyane
days after the elections."