VOA
By
Tendai Maphosa
Harare
02 January 2006
A
government spokesman has dismissed as spurious a call to have President
Robert Mugabe brought before the International Criminal Court for abuse of
human rights and breach of international law.
Mr. Mugabe's press
secretary, George Charamba, told the local weekly The
Sunday Mirror that the
call for indictment was an attempt to tarnish the
image of the president and
the country.
Mr. Charamba was reacting to the call by Mark Ellis, the
executive director
of the London-based International Bar Association, in an
article for The
International Herald Tribune newspaper. In his article, Mr.
Ellis said the
U.N. Security Council should exercise, what he called, its
wide
discretionary powers to brand Mr. Mugabe an ongoing threat to the peace
and
security of the region and authorize the International Criminal Court
(ICC)
to investigate the president and his regime.
The International
Criminal Court was created by the United Nations to
promote the rule of law
around the world.
But Mr. Charamba said Zimbabwe is not a signatory to
the statute that
created the ICC and is therefore not legally bound by its
dictates.
Mr. Charamba described the International Bar Association as
part of a raft
of bodies that are trying to place pressure on the Zimbabwe
government in
the hope that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
will soon
witness a revival in the southern Africa country.
The
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is currently wracked by internal
divisions over how to challenge Mr. Mugabe's regime.
Among the
charges Mr. Ellis says the Zimbabwean leader must answer for are
last year's
demolition of unauthorized residential structures and informal
businesses.
A report by U.N. special envoy Anna Tibaijuka in the aftermath
of the forced
evictions said the removals had affected 700,000 Zimbabweans
directly and
thousands of others indirectly.
Mr. Ellis also referred to what he
described as overwhelming evidence that
Mugabe's government has committed
other crimes against humanity, including
imprisonment, rape, abduction, and
torture.
Zimbabwe is facing its worst economic and political crisis since
independence in 1980. Mr. Mugabe accuses the West, led by former colonial
power Britain, of demonizing his rule in order to secure regime change.
According to the president this is punishment for the land reform program he
launched in 2000.
The often-violent exercise saw the majority of
4,500 white commercial
farmers losing their land for the resettlement of
landless blacks. But the
president has admitted that the program has not
been a resounding success as
some of his allies helped themselves to more
than one farm.
Zim Online
Tue
3 January 2006
HARARE - The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has
failed to pay
over 45 000 civil servants for their services during the
controversial
senate election won by President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF
party.
The civil servants, who were engaged as polling officers for
the
November 26 election, are still to be paid their allowances two months
after
the poll.
Contacted for comment, ZEC chairperson Justice
George Chiweshe
confirmed the matter but said it was due to administrative
problems within
his commission which is in charge of running elections in
Zimbabwe.
Chiweshe said: "We had thousands of
officers for the senatorial
election and this made administration a
nightmare. Most of them must have
been paid by now but I need to verify with
the accounts department.
"We were depositing their money into their
(bank) accounts and I think
this is also were the problems arose," Chiweshe
said.
But an official with ZEC said no one had been paid because
there was
no money.
"No one has been paid yet. There is no
money," he said.
"They (ZEC officials) have been telling people to
check their accounts
but this is just to buy time," he added.
The leader of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change party
Morgan Tsvangirai last year argued against the reintroduction of the senate
saying it was a waste of resources for a country in which four million
people were in need of food aid.
But Mugabe, whose government
is grappling a severe economic crisis,
used his party's majority in
Parliament to push for the introduction of the
66-member upper chamber which
critics say he will use to solve his party's
succession politics. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Tue 3 January 2006
HARARE - Joseph Rendo, a 27-year old
University of Zimbabwe graduate,
hops from street to street selling anything
that he can lay his hands on.
Rendo, who last year quit his
post-graduate studies in Agricultural
Economics to join the rough life
wheeling and dealing on Harare's streets,
says he does not have any regrets
despite the shameful tag of a "university
dropout."
Rendo now
drives around town in his beaming Honda Ballade, fully
cognisant of the huge
strides that he has made over the past year.
"When I look at
myself, I feel happy that I made the right choice. It
doesn't pay to be a
university graduate anymore and this street life has
given me more
satisfaction," he says.
"I blame myself for having wasted four
years at university. I should
have become a "dealer" from the onset. It is
sad that Zimbabwe is a country
that discourages education," he
says.
Rendo is among hundreds of bright students in Zimbabwe who
have been
forced to quit their studies in order to eke a living on the
streets. With
80 percent of Zimbabwe's labour force out of formal
employment, the vast
majority of Zimbabweans are surviving on the
streets.
To them education is no longer the gateway to
success.
"Quite frankly and speaking from experience, education has
become a
stumbling block to becoming rich or just being self-sustainable.
Most of
the people who went to school are struggling to cope while some of
us on the
streets are making it big.
"It would have taken me
another 10 years to drive a car had I pursued
my academic interests," says
Rendo.
Zimbabwe is grappling a severe economic crisis which has
seen food,
medicines and fuel all in critical short supply because the
country does
not have foreign currency to import the
commodities.
The economic crisis, many blame on President Robert
Mugabe's
mismanagement, has also seen a host of companies being forced to
shut down
throwing thousands of workers onto the streets. The World Bank
says Zimbabwe's
economic decline is unprecedented for a country not at
war.
But it is not just university students who are quitting their
studies.
Even those in primary schools say they would also rather spend the
day
involved in petty trade than sit in class.
Eleven-year old
Tarisai Jere of Mbare says she spends her day in bread
queues as a means of
earning some cash.
"I join the queue several times a day. Many
adults find it loathsome
to join bread queues so they wait in the shop and I
sell the bread to them
at an inflated price before we even get to the
counters. This way I earn
money without even spending a cent."
Asked if she couldn't secure a better future by attending school,
Tarisai
retorts with sarcasm well beyond her age: "My brother is a secondary
school
teacher yet he is always borrowing money from me. So tell me, who is
better
off?"
To their credit, authorities in the Zimbabwe government admit
that
they are facing a crisis on the education front because of the huge
numbers
of school dropouts. Zimbabwe's education system revered as one of
the best
in sub-Saharan Africa, has collapsed due to years of neglect and
under-funding.
"It is true dropouts are increasing in schools.
Yes, a lot of kids are
opting to spend the day hawking and dealing in scarce
commodities on
streets.
"We need a programme to conscientise
society that nothing beats
education," Education Minister Aeneas Chigwedere
said in a rare admission to
ZimOnline.
Raymond Majongwe of the
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ)
blamed Mugabe's government for
ruining Zimbabwe's education sector.
"When we were growing up, we
knew that the only way out of poverty was
through hard work at school. That
way we could choose careers and earn a
decent living. Today, it is those
who have never been to school who drive
nice cars and can afford decent
lifestyles.
"Take teachers and nurses, for example, even doctors,
the money they
earn a month is what an illegal fuel dealer makes in an
hour. Many educated
people have left their jobs to join street dealers,"
said Majongwe.
Former University of Zimbabwe vice-chancellor Gordon
Chavhunduka says
the current scenario spells doom for the country's
future.
"We have a dangerous situation where education has ceased
being a
gateway to a better life. Educated people have become the
poorest.
"But what is more dangerous is that if this economy gets
back on its
tracks one day and everything functions normally, then we are
going to have
hordes and hordes of youths, with no skills at all other than
those of
street dealing.
"They would lose their source of
livelihood and will be of no use in a
normal and formal economy. They will
become a menace to society," he
said. - ZimOnline
TCMnet
[January 02, 2006]
(Comtex Environment Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)HARARE, Jan
2, 2006 (Xinhua
via COMTEX) -- Zimbabwe's oil industry is waiting
for
government to set a deadline for the phasing out of leaded
petrol before it
can start to officially import the
environmentally friendly unleaded petrol,
an official said on
Monday.
The official said the importation of
unleaded petrol would
depend on the capacity of regional suppliers to provide
consistent
supplies of the commodity. Zimbabwe gets most of its fuel
from
South Africa and Mozambique.
"We want to move to unleaded petrol
because that is the
worldwide direction," the official said. "But we have to
do it in
a very organized manner and we are working closely with
the
government."
The official said the oil industry would have to wait
until
South Africa and Mozambique were in a position to provide
adequate
supplies to the country. At the moment, the industry
imports
unleaded petrol on a small-scale to cater for cars that only
use
that type of petrol.
"As an industry, we have not officially
started importing
unleaded petrol," he said. The official expressed hope
that, by
June, the country would be starting the transition to
unleaded
petrol.
South Africa is said to be at advanced stages of
phasing out
leaded petrol. Recently, the country experienced disruptions
in
fuel supplies as companies were cleaning up tanks and ensuring
that
they comply with the requirements of the new type of fuel.
Zimbabwe and
many African countries still use leaded petrol, which has the
disadvantage
of causing air pollution, though it is
cheap.
Strategy Page
Items About Areas
That Could Break Out Into War
January 2, 2006: To say Zimbabwe's
political and economic condition
continues to deteriorate doesn't do justice
to the word deteriorate. The
destruction of Zimbabwe's productive
agricultural sector wrought by dictator
Robert Mugabe's policies removed a
key source of foreign currency (ie,
exported food and agricultural products)
has reduced most of the population
to poverty. Now Zimbabwe has no hard
currency to pay for essential imports,
like oil. African and western sources
report that in Zimbabwe gasoline
cannot be bought legally by private
citizens-- it is only available on the
black market. One estimate of annual
inflation (December 2004 to November
2005) in Zimbabwe was 500 percent.
Two-thirds of the adult working age
population is unemployed. It is hard to
arrive at an accurate figure for
inflation since the Zimbabwean currency is
regarded as worthless and much of
the economy is based on barter. One of the
saddest stories of 2005 --and it
received very little coverage, other than a
few stories in June 2005 and a
handful in December-- was Mugabe's attack on
"illegal houses" (alleged
squatters). The houses Mugabe's supporters removed
were for the most part
located in areas where the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
party is strong. The "counter-squatter" operation
had the name "Operation
Murambatsvina" (a Shona phrase, one translation is
"drive out the trash"--
an opposition website translates it as "clean out
the filth."), It's
estimated that 700,000 people were left homeless. (One
source said that
ultimately 2.4 million people suffered from the
"operation.") The MDC and
other opposition groups claim that several hundred
thousand small businesses
were also destroyed. That's a huge claim, but in
sub-Saharan Africa many
businesses in urban areas are "mom and pop" stands
selling food, crafts, and
various supplies in front of the family home or
shanty. The ZImbabwean
government subsequently began a "reconstruction
program" called "Operation
Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle." The government source
said this is Shona and Ndebele
for "live well," and claimed that 5000 new
houses have been built. But few
of the displaced have the cash to pay for
them. Apparently the program
requires the family pay a "deposit" for the new
home-- the requirements
aren't quite clear. Very few of the destroyed houses
have been replaced,
though the government says more houses will be built.
Still, this looks like
a political ploy --an attempt to quiet critics in the
"international
community."
Mugabe's opponents now describe
his regime as a military dictatorship-- and
that's a pretty accurate
assessment. Zimbabwean publisher (and Mugabe
opponent) Trevor Ncube even
supplies the names of the men he says are
running Zimbabwe:: Registrar
General Tobaiwa Mudede, Immigration Director
Elasto Mugwadi and Army
Commander Constantine Chiwengwa. One of Mugabe's key
henchmen, Air Marshal
Perence Shiri, is believed to be dying of an
AIDS-related condition. The
thinking is that Shiri's death will weaken the
Mugabe government. There's no
indication that this is the case. Mugabe and
his supporters control the
guns. If civil war does break out, Mugabe's
dominant Shona tribe will
provide the core of the "pro-government" force.
The civil war would quickly
become something of a tribal war, with Shona
fighting Ndebele. And right now
the Ndebele are starving, broke and unarmed.
For a dictator, it is the
perfect police state. For Mugabe's subject's, it
is hell on
earth.
Prensa Latina - Latin American News Agency (CUBA)
Harare, Jan 2 (Prensa Latina) President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has
told
UK Ambassador Brian Donnelly either to desist supporting the opposition
MDC
party (Movement for Democratic Change) or face expulsion from the
country.
In his news statements, Mugabe declared that the British
diplomat must stop
helping the MDC organize illegal and violent
demonstrations or he must leave
Zimbabwe.
Mugabe, 81, has
been democratically elected by the people for the last 25
years to govern
the ex British colony.
Among his programs is an ongoing
expropriation of large, unused estates and
ranches owned by whites.
Zim Daily
Monday, January 02
2006 @ 10:30 AM GMT
Contributed by: makushalondon
By Makusha Mugabe
The Morgan Tsvangirai-led faction of the
Zimbabwean opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is emerging the
stronger of the two
sides following completion of the seventh of its
provincial congresses. The
congress was held for the traditional ruling
party stronghold of Mashonaland
Central Province at Shamva and attended by
500 delegates.
MDC presidential spokesman, William Bango,
said the Mashonaland
Central districts, wards and branches from rural
Mukumbura in the Dande
Valley, to the Provincial Capital Bindura and other
rural communities in
Mazowe East & West, Guruve North and South,
Mushumbi Pools, and Mt Darwin
had all sent delegates. Despite having the
sympathetic ear of the
government-controlled Press The Herald and a news
website, newzimbabwe.com,
the faction led by law professor Welshman Ncube
has not reported any
activity except to say that they are also preparing for
a congress in
February.
"A new leadership was
elected in readiness for our national
Congress, which means after, Harare,
Chitungwiza, Mashonaland East,
Manicaland, Midlands South and Masvingo we
have now got Mash Central ready
for congress, " he said.
While some leaders were retained, others were also replaced,
with Harare
retaining Morgan Femai as chairman while Chitungwiza is now led
by John
Magaya of St Marys, Mashonaland East by Theresa Makone of Hwedza;
Manicaland
by Roy Bennett of Chimanimani; Midlands South by Sicino Dube of
Mberengwa
West; and Masvingo by retained Peter Marima of Devure, Bikita
East.
After the Masholaland Central congress Morgan
Tsvangirai was off
to Bulawayo for preparatory meetings where he was told
that Matebeleland,
the assumed stronghold of the tribal based factions which
spit from the MDC,
was ready to deal the rebels a cruel
blow.
"The people are determined to rescue the party from the
current
turbulence and confront the source of our problems, represented by
the
Mugabe dictatorship," said Bango adding that a political renewal and
leadership re-generation process was in progress.
Led by
the national chairman, Isaac Matongo various committees
were working on
various aspects of the leadership structures, re-examining
the constitution
and reviewing current structures and party programmes.
Bango
also confirmed that Trudy Stevenson was part of the
suspended group together
with Gibson Sibanda and Welsman Ncube whose
disciplinary committee hearing
was held at the Quality International Hotel
with Mr Jacob Mafume from the
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights,
prosecuting.
Stevenson
who has been claiming that she was never suspended
from the MDC was properly
served with the papers, through her lawyers,
convicted and told she could
appeal - an offer she has not taken up, said
Bango.
"Once
an accused person notifies the disciplinary committee that
they have
retained the services of a lawyer to assist them, it is only
professional
and orderly that the committee deals with them through that
route.
"Stevenson knows the mood on the ground,
especially in her
constituency. She is simply playing games, which
unfortunately won't help
her or her case," said Bango. Apparently she has
been circulating documents
in which she remains defiant and contemptuous of
the MDC leadership, which
Bango said reflected a failure to read the
political mood in Zimbabwe today.
Her naivete is reflected in
her belief that she is a political
powerhouse, commanding a huge personal
political following. It remains to be
seen whether all those people who
voted her into office did so because of
her own personal, political acumen
and clout, or whether she would be taught
the same lesson that Munyaradzi
Gwisai was taught in in Highfield and Silas
Mangono was taught in Masvingo
Central.
Zim Daily
Monday,
January 02 2006 @ 10:31 AM GMT
Contributed by:
correspondent
The ruling Zanu PF party has opened full scale
investigations on
President Robert Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba amid
stunning
revelations that he was part of the kingpins who masterminded the
foiled
Tsholotsho palace coup. The investigation, prompted by shock
disclosures
made by sacked Information chief Jonathan Moyo last week week,
could see
Mugabe's reckless wordsmith being sacked or severely censured if
found
guilty.
Vice President Joseph Msika confirmed to
zimdaily in an
exclusive interview last week that the ruling party was
probing Charamba but
was quick to point out that he will be accorded a
chance to defend himself.
"As you are aware, that was an illegal meeting
aimed at making illegal
leadership changes," Msika told zimdaily "Everyone
involved in that meeting
has to face disciplinary action because it amounted
to a coup detat. But we
will summon him to hear his side of the story before
making any decision."
Msika said the ruling party will have to corroborate
all the evidence
advanced against Charamba.
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique
(Maputo)
January 2, 2006
Posted to the web January 2,
2006
Maputo
At least 13 people died in the torrential rains that
hit the districts of
Dondo and Buzi, in the central Mozambican province of
Sofala, last week,
according to a report on Radio Mozambique.
Eight
of these victims were struck by lightning, while five drowned in the
floods
caused by the storms.
The rains cut off Buzi district from the rest of
the country for several
days. It was impossible for any vehicle to drive the
70 kilometres from Buzi
town to Tica on the main Beira-Zimbabwe
highway.
The heavy rains also caused severe damage in Nampula, Manica,
Tete and Gaza
provinces. The destruction of houses built of flimsy materials
has left
thousands of poor families homeless.
In the country's second
largest city, Beira, the rains inundated several low
lying neighbourhoods,
forced hundreds of families to seek refuge in
relatives' homes, or in
churches or schools.