Zim Online
Wed 4 January
2006
HARARE - An outbreak of cholera in south-eastern Zimbabwe that
began
just days before Christmas has so far claimed at least 14 lives, in
yet
another example of mounting humanitarian problems in the southern
African
country.
Health officials, who did not want to be named
because they are not
authorised to speak to the press, told ZimOnline that a
further 100 cases of
cholera had also been reported during the same period
in Chikomba district,
which is much closer to the capital,
Harare.
Chikomba is about 150km south-east of Harare while Buhera
where people
died of cholera is more than 200km further south-east of the
capital.
"A combination of shortages of drugs and the fact that
some of the
people in Buhera who were infected with the disease simply chose
not to go
for treatment might have contributed to the high number of
deaths," said a
senior official at Mutare general hospital that services
Buhera district.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa
last night confirmed the latest
outbreak of cholera that appears more
widespread than previous occurrences
of the highly contagious disease. But
he said only seven people and not 14
had been confirmed to have died
specifically due to cholera.
Parirenyatwa said: "In fact only seven
people have had deaths directly
caused by cholera in that area (Buhera) . .
. our ministry has since moved
in and the situation is now under
control."
The Health Minister, who also confirmed the cases of
cholera in
Chikomba, blamed dirty floodwaters from the rains that have fell
across much
of Zimbabwe in recent weeks for contaminating unprotected wells
and other
sources of drinking water in rural areas such as the two districts
of
Chikomba and Buhera.
Cholera, a gastrointestinal disease
that human beings contract mainly
through drinking contaminated water, was
almost eradicated in Zimbabwe. But
the disease is on the resurgence,
alongside malnutrition-related illnesses
such as kwashiorkor, as Zimbabwe's
health system and social infrastructure
crumbles after six years of a severe
economic recession.
Collapsing drinking water and sewerage
reticulation systems have
raised the risk of outbreaks of cholera and
typhoid in Harare and other
urban centres, while long-running food shortages
have seen a rise in
malnutrition in Zimbabwe.
Critics blame
Zimbabwe's humanitarian and economic crisis on
repression and wrong economic
polices by President Robert Mugabe,
particularly his controversial seizure
of productive farms from white
farmers that destabilised the mainstay
agricultural sector and slashed food
production by about 60
percent.
The veteran President denies ruining Zimbabwe and instead
claims the
country's economic problems are because of sabotage by Western
governments
opposed to his seizure of land from whites for redistribution to
blacks. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 4 January 2006
HARARE - Twenty-two year old Simbarashe
Gumbo stashes wads of cash in
the boot of his white Toyota Corolla as he
clandestinely conducts his
"business" at Roadport bus terminus, a busy
rendezvous for Harare's illegal
foreign currency dealers.
Gumbo
and the rest of his fellow dealers appear not to give a damn
about the
police who are deployed at the terminus to stamp out illegal trade
in
foreign currency. Police or no police, it is business as usual for these
daring forex traders.
Gumbo has also established an intricate
network of clients ranging
from Harare's well-to-do black entrepreneurs to
the few white businessmen
still in Harare who sometimes come asking for
amounts as much as US$5 000.
But while the rest of Zimbabweans are
battling to put food on the
table, Gumbo and a few other foreign currency
dealers in Harare pray that
President Robert Mugabe, accused by his critics
of ruining the country's
economy, remains solidly at the helm for the
foreseeable future.
In this chaotic dog-eat-dog economic
environment, Gumbo and many
others have found economic
prosperity.
"I do not support ZANU PF (Mugabe's ruling party). In
fact, I do not
even know most of these top government officials and I have
never gone to a
polling station to vote but I want the situation to remain
like this as that
is the only way that I am guaranteed of survival," says
Gumbo.
Zimbabwe is grappling a severe economic crisis that has seen
inflation, described by Mugabe as the country's "enemy number one", shooting
beyond 500 percent. Prices of basic commodities are constantly on the
rise.
Food, fuel and essential medicines are also in critical short
supply
because there is no hard cash to pay foreign suppliers.
Mugabe denies ruining the country's economy blaming the crisis on
sabotage
by Britain and its Western allies whom he says were unhappy over
his seizure
of white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks five
years
ago.
For someone who spent four long years searching for formal
employment,
Gumbo wonders where he would be if the economic situation had
remained
stable in Zimbabwe.
The majority of Zimbabweans are
living beyond the poverty datum line
as 70 percent of the country's labour
force are jobless after thousands of
factories shut down owing to the tough
economic environment.
Gumbo is among the few in Harare who have
mastered the art of survival
in a very tough environment. What he does on
the streets, dubbed
"kukorokoza" in street lingo, has seen him successfully
put food on his
family's table.
The few who are still working
in Zimbabwe can hardly survive on their
pitiable salaries of about Z$3
million (about US$33) a month. Most have been
forced to engage in "petty
trade" selling anything from home-made peanut
butter to chickens to
supplement their diminishing incomes.
Corruption has also thrived
in this tough environment where even acts
of kindness like helping someone
push-start his vehicle triggers wild
demands of "mari yecoca-cola" (small
money to buy Coca-Cola).
The economic crisis worsened last year
after Mugabe sanctioned the
demolition of thousands of houses and backyard
shacks in a campaign he said
was necessary to restore order in cities and
towns and smash a burgeoning
foreign currency parallel market.
The United Nations, human rights groups and churches all criticised
the
clean-up operation calling it a violation of the rights of the poor. But
Mugabe angrily rejected the criticism denying that there was a crisis in the
country.
The veteran Zimbabwean leader has also denied in the
past that
Zimbabweans were starving saying the country had "heaps and heaps"
of
potatoes.
But for those watching this soap opera unravel in
Harare, what these
foreign currency dealers are doing translates to milking
a dying cow.
That some people actually feel that Mugabe should
continue in power to
facilitate the further milking of the dry adder only
goes to show the extent
to which some are willing to go in the worship of
self. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 4 January 2006
BULAWAYO - At least 25 disabled
families evicted during last year's
clean-up exercise had a shock New Year's
present when they were served with
eviction notices to vacate their
temporary facilities at the Jairos Jiri
offices in Bulawayo.
The families told ZimOnline yesterday that they were two weeks ago
served
with eviction notices by the Jairos Jiri Association, a group that
helps the
disabled in Zimbabwe, to vacate the offices where they were
staying by 1
January 2006.
"They hand delivered the letters to us and told us
that we should
start packing our bags and leave. They did not tell us where
to go saying we
should be the ones telling them our next
destinations.
"This is inhuman. We have been paying rent to the
association for our
stay here where we have been crammed up in five rooms,"
said one of the
evicted who declined to be named.
Another
resident, Jealous Moyo said: "We now do not know what to do
with this
because these people have threatened to forcibly evict us from
their
premises anytime from now. The governor is not forthcoming and the
association is showing no signs of relenting from its position.
"We are now looking for well wishers to accommodate us."
Jairos
Jiri Association could not be reached for comment on the matter
last
night.
The families said they had even approached Bulawayo resident
governor
Cain Mathema for assistance but the governor allegedly told them to
go to
their rural homes.
Contacted for comment last night,
Mathema said: "I understood their
problem but there is nothing I can do with
that, I have nowhere to put them.
I am trying to beg the association to give
them a grace period but that will
only be temporary and they will still have
to go somewhere.
"I cannot interfere with the operations of Jairos
Jiri because I am
not a board member there," he said.
At least
700 000 people were rendered homeless last year after
President Robert
Mugabe ordered the demolition of thousands of houses and
backyard shacks in
towns and cities in a campaign he said was necessary to
restore order and
smash the illegal foreign currency parallel market.
Another 2.4
million people were also directly affected by the clean-up
exercise,
according to a damning United Nations report. - ZimOnline
[ This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 3
Jan 2006 (IRIN) - The African Commission on Human and
People's Rights
(ACHPR), an African Union (AU) institution, has adopted a
resolution
strongly denouncing Zimbabwe's human rights practices.
"This will exert a
lot of pressure on Zimbabwe - this is the first time such
a significant
body, so close to African heads of state, observes and
condemns such
defiance of human rights compliance," Arnold Tsunga, Director
of the
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, told IRIN.
The ACHPR resolution,
passed at a meeting in Gambia in early December 2005,
would test African
leaders' "capacity and political will to deal with
African problems", Tsunga
remarked.
"This gives the AU heads of state an opportunity to show they have
the
ability and are committed to deal with such issues."
The earliest
possible date for AU heads of state to adopt the resolution is
at their next
meeting, scheduled for the end of January or early February
2006.
"Zimbabwe is expected to comply with international treaties,
and if there is
no voluntary compliance it is up to other [AU] member states
to use their
political muscle to ensure that it does. Political and economic
sanctions
could then follow and Zimbabwe would become a pariah state,"
Tsunga warned.
He stressed that the resolution, based on findings by an
independent expert
group appointed by the AU heads of state, "already
vindicates civil society
groups working on human rights in Zimbabwe. It
shows that what we are doing
is not in vain and gives human rights defenders
a tool, a benchmark, to
measure the government's performance on human rights
issues."
The ACHPR also expressed concern over the estimated 700,000
people affected
by the Zimbabwe government's controversial two-month-long
urban cleanup
campaign, Operation Murambatsvina ('drive out filth' in the
local Shona
language), which began in May 2005.
"Because the
responsibility for Operation Murambatsvina lies with the
highest office,
president Mugabe, it won't be possible for anyone to demand
accountability,"
Tsunga alleged.
Bahame Tom Nyanduga, an ACHPR representative and Special
Rapporteur
Responsible for Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Internally Displaced
Persons in
Africa, attempted to gauge the impact of the operation in July
last year,
but had to leave the country without completing his mission after
his visit
was described by Zimbabwe's official media as "unprocedural"
because
diplomatic protocol had reportedly not been followed.
Mail and Guardian
Johannesburg, South Africa
03
January 2006 05:00
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for
Democratic Change will have a
new president by February next year following
the incumbent leader's failure
to uphold its Constitution and values,
Zimbabwe's state-runHerald quoted a
senior party official as saying on
Tuesday.
Secretary General professor Welshman Ncube said
ousted party
leader Morgan Tsvangirai had turned himself into a dictator who
had
abandoned people's aspirations.
He was addressing a
pro-senate faction provincial congress for
Harare, Mashonaland West and
Mashonaland Central provinces in Mount Pleasant
on
Monday.
"We shall choose another president next year whose
credentials
are not questionable because the MDC cannot die because of [Mr]
Tsvangirai,"
said Ncube, who is also leader of the pro-Senate
faction.
"We are not in the habit of creating dictators and
that is why
we were opposed to Tsvangirai who wanted to turn himself into a
52-year old
dictator.
"He rejected the outcome of the
national council who voted for
participation in the Senate
elections."
The party, which has been ripped into two camps,
is currently
conducting parallel congresses, according to the
Herald.
It said Tsvangirai's anti-senate faction had also
been
conducting parallel provincial congresses.
Both
factions now have parallel structures, national council and
national
disciplinary committees. - I-Net Bridge
Business Day
(Johannesburg)
December 23, 2005
Posted to the web January 3,
2006
Dumisani Muleya
Johannesburg
SMUGGLERS in Zimbabwe have
spirited out minerals worth more than $100m to
buyers in SA and abroad, says
the country's mines ministry.
Zimbabwean Deputy Mines Minister Tinos
Rusere said this week in the capital,
Harare, that an investigation had so
far unearthed rampant smuggling of
minerals by at least five small and
medium-sized operators. He did not name
them.
The government launched
a crackdown recently on the mining sector in a bid
to stem smuggling and
illicit trade in minerals, as well as fraud such as
under-invoicing -- or
concealing the quantity of minerals sold.
"Preliminary investigations
have revealed minerals worth more than $100m
have been illegally exported
since the beginning of this year," Rusere said.
"This scandal has been
unearthed by our team, which we dispatched to
scrutinise operations of
various mines, and as of now five mines have been
found to be
involved."
Smuggling has undermined Zimbabwe's already compromised
ability to earn
foreign currency. Shortages of foreign currency have in turn
caused
shortages of fuel, power, spares, food and basic
commodities.
Two gold mining companies in Midlands province and three
producers of
diamonds, magnetise and ferrochrome were caught during the
crackdown, the
ministry said.
The Great Dyke belt, where most of
Zimbabwe's minerals deposits lie, runs
through Midlands Shallow mining
.
Illicit trade in minerals is concentrated mostly in the area where the
largest platinum, diamonds and chrome deposits are found.
The
Midlands cities of Gweru and Kwekwe are the hubs for gold panning and
illicit trade, although the practices are widespread across the
country.
Zimbabwe produces a wide range of base metals, platinum group
metals,
industrial metal and energy minerals.
It produces minerals
such as platinum, gold, diamonds, black granite, coal,
chromate, cobalt,
graphite, iron ore, lithium minerals and magnesite.
More than a dozen
mines have closed in the past five years because of the
shortage of foreign
currency, a lack of capital investment and spares, and
viability
problems.
However, the government has been trying to reopen closed mines
to revive the
economy. Mining contributes 4% to gross domestic product in
Zimbabwe.
By Lance
Guma
03 January 2006
Government last week Thursday
suspended Chitungwiza Mayor Misheck
Shoko over allegations of misconduct and
maladministration. He becomes the
third opposition Mayor to be removed from
office despite being elected by
the residents of Chitungwiza. Shoko has had
to endure relentless
victimization and arrests and described the move as a
victory for
corruption. The move has sparked an angry response from the
opposition.
The government has been accused of strangling the
resources of urban
councils in the country with a view to crippling
essential services, so as
to blame the opposition for failing to manage city
affairs. Elected
officials are then replaced by hand picked commissioners
who run the council
on behalf of government. MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa
says the government
has failed to make inroads via the electoral route in
the cities and was
determined to subvert the will of the
residents.
Local government Minister Ignatius Chombo justified
Shoko's suspension
by saying it was necessary to stem a steep decline in
services in
Chitungwiza. What he neglected to say was that the endemic power
cuts, water
shortages, non-collection of garbage and burst sewage pipes that
have come
to symbolize Chitungwiza, are actually beyond the control of the
council
given fuel and cash shortages. Chamisa laid the blame squarely on
central
government saying what was now needed was a commission to run
Zimbabwe not
individual urban cities.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
By Tichaona Sibanda
03 January 2006
Activists from the militant Zimbabwe Action Support Group have been
warned
by the Pretoria government that they would be dealt with sternly if
they use
South Africa as a springboard to destabilise Zimbabwe.
Officials
from the Home Affairs ministry and officers from the
Intelligence and
Immigration services summoned the top leadership of the
ZASG to Pretoria
last week where the riot act was read to them.
Rodgers Mudarikwa,
spokesman for the popular ZASG, said the Pretoria
government is falsely
accusing them of recruiting people from Zimbabwe and
sending them for
military training inside South Africa.
The group has in the last
three months helped many Zimbabweans fleeing
political persecution apply for
refugee status in South Africa.
Of concern to the South Africans is
that the constitution of the ZASG
includes a mandate to remove Robert Mugabe
from power at all costs.
'They were concerned about the wording in
our constitution and as such
they warned us they will come down on us like a
hammer if we did anything to
try and destabilise Zimbabwe from South African
soil,' said Mudarikwa, who
denied however that his group had any plans for
destabilising Zimbabwe.
The South African intelligence community
apparently became suspicious
about the group in the last three months as
ZASG managed to help over a
hundred Zimbabweans process their asylum
applications.
But Mudarikwa said: 'Part of what we do here, as
enshrined in our
constitution, is to help genuine asylum seekers, people
running away from
political persecution, to apply for refugee status. But
officials here saw
it as a covert operation to recruit people from Zimbabwe
and send them for
military training'.
Activists from the ZASG
are now under constant surveillance and
authorities in South Africa have
also stopped them from helping people
process their asylum
applications.
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
Catholic Information Service for
Africa (Nairobi)
COLUMN
January 3, 2006
Posted to the web January
3, 2006
Following is a New Year reflection by Jesuit Communications
regarding the
political situation in the southern African nation.
The
prisoners in a police cell are certainly united. They all use the same
bucket, eat the same 'chikafu' (food), suffer the same insults, feel the
same hardships and yet share the same hope of regaining their freedom. But
that is not the unity we mean.
In recent days, Zimbabwe has been fed
with propaganda about Unity, meaning
the Unity Accord signed on 22 December
1987 between the ruling party and its
rival, ad nauseam. Even the dead had
to be brought back to (electronic) life
on the TV screen to sing the same
'Unity' tune: Joshua Nkomo especially,
Simon Muzenda and Canaan
Banana.
(Do we no longer respect the dead and their eternal peace? They,
of course,
are defenceless and cannot protest about how their recorded words
and images
are being taken out of context and manipulated.)
Unity
without freedom is a sham. True unity is based on the free, unforced
agreement of the united. The fusion of two political parties may or may not
be appropriate. It is not national unity.
The unity of a people is
expressed and realized in a constitutional state to
which all can subscribe,
in a constitution which has the support in its
essential parts of all
citizens, in the acceptance of a Bill of Rights
guaranteeing equality before
the law for all, based on a firm belief in the
inalienable dignity and worth
of every person, of every woman, man and
child.
Christmas which we
celebrated just now gives us the ultimate reason why
every person must be
respected as of infinite worth and dignity: if God, as
we Christians
believe, became Man and accepted our human condition, the same
in all things
as us humans except for our sinfulness, then every human being
has been
given infinite value as a son or daughter of God the Father and a
brother or
sister of Christ, the Son.
The constant manipulation of our (admittedly
inadequate) constitution for
short-term political gains and the
unwillingness of government to allow the
people to write their own
constitution show complete lack of respect for the
people.
What the
'Unity' propagandists have not been telling us is that it was also
in 1987
that the executive presidency, then introduced, was given
uncontrollable
powers. This has alienated the majority from this state.
There is division
in fundamentals, not unity.
We did not find unity in 1987. We are still
to find it in a constitutional
agreement sometime in the future. May the
year 2006 bring us nearer to that
day.
Zimbabwe Standard
(Harare)
December 24, 2005
Posted to the web January 3,
2006
Our Staff
MORE than 100 people living with HIV and Aids
and orphans in Harare's
Sunningdale suburb had their food packs confiscated
recently by senior Zanu
PF officials and supporters.
Sunningdale
falls under Harare South Constituency.
The people living with HIV and
Aids say they were accused of being
supporters of the Movement for
Democratic Change, who were not supposed to
benefit from any government
initiatives.
The incident happened just as organisations fighting the
spread of HIV and
Aids were completing a petition to President Robert Mugabe
urging him to
ensure his government treats the HIV and Aids pandemic
seriously.
The food packs comprised maize-meal, mahewu/amahewu, peanut
butter, and
other groceries which had been sent to the area by the National
Aids Council
as part of its efforts to cushion people living with HIV and
Aids.
Some of the people who lost their food to the Zanu PF supporters
include
orphans whose parents died of HIV and Aids related diseases and some
elderly
citizens.
NAC has in the past been accused of succumbing to
the demands of the ruling
party in politicising AIDS funds by ensuring that
they flow towards the
coffers of the ruling party.
Speaking on
condition they were not named, members of the Thembinkosi
Support Group
based in Sunningdale said the NAC was supposed to deliver food
to
them.
"Officials at the NAC offices said they did not have fuel to
deliver food to
Sunningdale and urged us to find our own transport. Senior
Zanu PF officials
then went and grabbed the food and distributed the food
packs to their
supporters and used the occasion to urge people to vote for
Zanu PF
candidate, Vivian Mwashita in the Senate election," said a resident
living
with HIV and Aids in Sunningdale. Mwashita went on to win in the 26
November
Senate elections.
The people living with HIV and Aids said
they had lodged a complaint with
NAC, through their co-ordinator, only
identified as Chigondo.
Madeline Dube, the NAC communications manager,
said: "I am not aware of the
incident; I would need to check before I get
back to you."
Elliot Manyika, the Zanu PF national commissar said the
allegations were
mere gossip.
"Why do you listen to gossip? Does your
newspaper rely on gossip and
rumours?"
When The Standard pointed out
that it had spoken to the victims, Manyika
retorted: "That cannot happen
because the government introduced the AIDS
Levy."
UN Integrated Regional
Information Networks
January 3, 2006
Posted to the web January 3,
2006
Johannesburg
Zimbabwe has failed to meet the World Health
Organization (WHO) target of
providing anti-AIDS drugs to at least 120,000
HIV-positive people by the end
of 2005, local newspaper The Daily Mirror
reported on Tuesday.
The lack of adequate foreign currency to purchase
medicines and the low
numbers of people being tested for the virus prevented
the country from even
reaching its own target of 55,000 people receiving the
life-prolonging
medication by the end of 2005.
WHO and UNAIDS have
estimated that around 295,000 Zimbabweans living with
HIV/AIDS are in need
of antiretrovirals (ARVs) and the '3 by '5 target was
set at having 145,000
people on treatment by the end of December.
According to Owen Mugurungi,
head of the HIV/AIDS and TB unit in the
Ministry of Health and Child
Welfare, 17,500 people were taking ARVs in
August 2005.
The WHO '3 by
5' campaign aimed to put three million people in the
developing world on
treatment by 2005.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views
of the United Nations ]
By Tichaona
Sibanda
03 January 2006
The chairman of the MDC in the UK,
Washington Ali, said on Tuesday all
branches will have a crucial meeting on
Sunday in Birmingham to examine
events that have rocked the party in the
last two months.
He disclosed that many party activists in the UK
were fed up with what
was happening to the party back home and that they
wanted all the problems
sorted out during the congress, set for the end of
February.
Ali pointed out that the MDC in the UK was not supporting
any faction,
but was in fact, throwing its full weight behind the recognised
leader of
the party, Morgan Tsvangirai.
Ali added; 'There is
only one MDC in Zimbabwe, these other people
claiming to be MDC are a group
of individuals trying to destroy the party. I
want to be honest with you
because I call a spade a spade.these people, I
will not use the word faction
because we don't recognise any factions in the
party, are just a destructive
group of people out to destroy the MDC.'
The Birmingham meeting is
expected to draw up a plan to chart the way
forward in trying to resolve the
split.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the
United Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 3 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - Heavy rainfall and
flooding in southern
Africa over the past few days has claimed eight lives
in Mozambique and left
thousands homeless in Malawi.
"Incessant
rainfall and lightning across the country claimed two lives in
the central
Sofala province, four in the northern Zambezia [province] and
another two in
the southern Gaza province in the past few days," a spokesman
for
Mozambique's National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC), Rogerio
Manguele, told IRIN on Tuesday.
In an ironic twist of fate, the
drought-ravaged Nsanje district in southern
Malawi experienced its worst
flooding in almost half a century. At least
2,000 people were displaced as
the river Ruo burst its banks to flood six
villages, district commissioner
Toby Solomon told IRIN.
"The Ruo flows into the river Shire and when it
burst its banks it forced
the Shire to change its direction, making it flow
into settlements," he
explained.
"The people had no food because of
the drought - now the floods have
destroyed maize, millet and sorghum crops
along the banks of the rivers. At
least 457 hectares of land are under
water. People are still being rescued
with the help of boats and canoes,"
Solomon added.
In neighbouring Mozambique around 1,600 affected families
in the
northeastern province of Nampula have been forced to seek refuge in
schools,
said INGC's Manguele. In the Dondo and Nhamatanda districts of
Sofala over a
hundred families living on the flood plains of the river
Pungue have been
left homeless, while at least 500 farmers have lost their
crops.
According to the INGC, water levels in most of the rivers have
stabilised,
but heavy rain in neighbouring Zimbabwe and Malawi could cause
serious
flooding, particularly along the Zambezi, Southern Africa's longest
river,
which flows through western Angola, western and southern Zambia and
into
Lake Kariba, then across northern Zimbabwe and central
Mozambique.
News agencies quoting Zimbabwean health authorities reported
on Tuesday that
the torrential rains have led to a cholera outbreak in
southeastern
Zimbabwe, killing seven people.
Harare has also suffered
hundreds of dysentery cases this rainy season,
brought on by collapsing
sanitation services and mounting heaps of garbage,
according to Associated
Press.
In southern Malawi heavy rain continued to pelt Nsanje, causing
flooding not
only along the Shire, which Malawi shares with Mozambique, but
in other
rivers like Nyamazire and Lalanje in the north of the district. "We
need
food, drinking water and tents urgently and as the rains continue we
will
also require medicines to prevent the outbreak of waterborne diseases
like
cholera," said Solomon.
Malawi Red Cross spokesman Francis
Musasa told IRIN that the organisation
was assessing the situation and would
make an appeal for help soon. Food aid
agencies have estimated that nearly
five million people in Malawi will need
food assistance through to April
2006 as a result of the drought.
Cricinfo staff
January 3,
2006
Senior officials in Zimbabwe met last week to discuss the crisis
threatening
the future of the game in the country.
Aeneas Chigwedere,
the sports minister, held talks with Gibson Mashingaidze,
the chairman of
the Sport and Recreation Commission, last Thursday. The
minister had been
criticised in some quarters for not acting on a SRC report
which slammed
Zimbabwe Cricket and called for changes in the senior
management.
Neither party was willing to reveal what had been
discussed, but a spokesman
for Chigwedere said that a statement would be
issued shortly.
It is widely speculated that the existing board will be
replaced with an
interim executive which will run the game until the next
AGM in August.
© Cricinfo
Africast
HARARE,
January 03 -- The Zimbabwe government has decided to extend the life
of its
temporary bank notes by another six months as the government works on
introducing a new currency, state radio reported yesterday.
Two years
ago Zimbabwe introduced a temporary form of currency called
"bearer cheques"
to ease chronic cash shortages that hit the country as a
result of
spiralling inflation.
"The Ministry of Finance has announced that the
expiry date of Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe bearers' cheques, which was
postponed to 31 December 2005 by the
Finance Act has once again been
postponed to June 30 next year," the radio
report said.
Initially
designed as a stop gap measure, Zimbabweans have grown used to the
bank
bills that come in denominations of Z$20 000, Z$10 000 and Z$5 000 (25,
12
and six US cents). But their value has been severely eroded by inflation,
now at 502%.
Those wanting to make big purchases frequently have to
hand over bags of
money while customers are seen wheeling out suitcases full
of money from
their banks.
Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono has
promised to introduce a new permanent
currency this year. But economists
have warned it is futile to introduce a
new currency until inflation is
brought down.
Gono says aims to reduce inflation to around 80% by the end
of 2006. - Sapa
BBC
By Patrick Smith
Africa
Confidential editor
The political news coming out of Africa this year
has got worse as the
economic news has improved.
After a decade of
triumphs for Africa's democrats - the ending of apartheid
in South Africa,
the ousting of Congolese tyrant Mobutu Sese Seko and free
multiparty
elections in Ghana, Kenya and Senegal - several regimes have
reverted to
violent repression and election-rigging to cling to power.
Despite this,
African economies are growing on average at 5 per cent a year,
better than
they have since the 1970s, say the IMF and the World Bank.
National incomes
may be rising but so is social inequality, fuelling
political
tensions.
The UN's Human Development index says incomes per head are
stagnating and
life expectancy rates are falling.
The fruits of higher
growth are not going on social development.
Security rules
That raises
more awkward questions as 2005, which UK Prime Minister Tony
Blair had said
would be the year of Africa, draws to a close.
The campaigners in Africa and
the West who called for more aid, less debt
and fairer trade for Africa and
bolstered British government efforts to
negotiate a better deal for Africa
from the rich countries' G8 club have won
important concessions.
But in
most states, regime security trumps the development imperative.
More than
30 African states have abandoned single party rule in favour of
some variety
of multiparty elections since 1990 but now the wind is blowing
back.
After Ethiopia's disputed national elections in May, government
forces shot
more than 80 people dead and arrested 8,000 more after clashes
with
oppositionists in Addis Ababa.
In Tanzania, the ruling Chama Cha
Mapinduzi was accused of rigging an
election victory on the volatile islands
of Zanzibar in October.
And in neighbouring Uganda, President Yoweri
Museveni, in power for two
decades, persuaded parliament to allow him to a
third elected term, then
presided over the arrest of leading opposition
candidate Dr Kizza Besigye.
Tyrants unchecked
This embarrasses Britain's
Africa enthusiasts: Ethiopia's Meles and
Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa
were appointed to British Prime Minister
Tony Blair's Africa Commission, and
Britain is the leading aid giver to the
Museveni regime in Uganda.
More
importantly, it's a reversion to political relativism in Africa which
tolerated the worst tyrants and kleptocrats on the principle that every
regime has something to hide.
The list goes on.
This year Gabon's
President Omar Bongo, in power since 1967 won another
seven-year term;
Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore, ally of warlord
Charles Taylor,
circumvented the constitution to get another five-year term;
Ivory Coast's
Laurent Gbagbo unilaterally postponed elections which were to
signal the end
of the country's civil war; and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe
bludgeoned and
starved the opposition Movement for Democratic Change into
defeat.
Not
all the blame should go to the incumbents.
Many opposition movements are weak
and divided.
And Western governments' indignation is highly selective:
oil-rich states
such as Angola and Equatorial Guinea escape censure while
resource-poor
states are pilloried.
Sad end
But the biggest tests are
in Africa's own institutions.
The African Union, set up in 2002, has been a
huge improvement on the old
Organisation for African Unity, known as the
dictator's trade union.
The AU has adopted a credible development plan known
as Nepad, and
introduced a revolutionary system of peer review under which
member states'
commitments to democracy and human rights are measured by
independent
monitors.
The AU sent 5,000 African peacekeepers to the
Darfur region where Sudan's
Islamist regime has been accused in several
high-level UN reports of mass
murder and ethnic cleansing, as well as
training and arming ethnic militias.
Although the Sudan government failed
to block the deployment of AU troops in
Darfur, it has persuaded the AU to
hold its summit in Khartoum next month
(January) to dampen growing
criticism.
The UN Security Council has referred Darfur to the International
Criminal
Court in the Hague.
Several senior Sudanese officials, including
President Omar al-Bashir, are
under investigation but they refuse to
recognise the ICC's jurisdiction.
Allowing Khartoum to host the AU summit and
President Bashir to chair it
blatantly contradicts the AU's avowed
democratic ethos, Sudan oppositionists
and human rights campaigners
say.
For many, Mr Bashir's leadership of the AU will resurrect the dog days
of
the OAU when it elected Uganda's Idi Amin as chairman while he organised
the
massacre of thousands of his fellow Ugandans.
A sad end to the year
of Africa.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Jan-04
IN a
new turn of events, the MDC pro-Senate faction says the ruling Zanu PF
government can only be ousted from power through elections, adding that
those who advocate for a confrontational approach were fooling
themselves.
The MDC had since its formation in 1999 been engaging a
two-pronged approach
to unseat Zanu PF - elections and mass actions -
without success.
But MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube last Friday told
over 600
pro-Senate supporters in Mt Pleasant after the restructuring of
Mashonaland
West, Mashonaland Central and Harare provincial executives that
the only
route to power were polls.
"There is no other way of removing
(President) Robert Mugabe except through
elections. Anyone who tells you
the other way is cheating you. Even if Zanu
PF says there is an election for
a toilet caretaker we will participate,"
Ncube said.
He admitted that the
opposition party tactics had failed since the 2000
parliamentary polls to
remove the ruling party from power.
"In 2000 we were given a mandate by the
people to remove President Robert
Mugabe. We are going back to congress in
February, but he is still there.
You have an obligation to report that we
have failed to remove him. We have
to report (even if) we say he stole the
elections," Ncube added.
The MDC came close to unseating Zanu PF from power
in the 2000 general
elections when it garnered 57 seats against the ruling
party's 62, but since
then its fortunes through the ballot have waned and in
last year's
parliamentary polls, the opposition party won only 41
seats.
The party also tried street protests and stayaways, but failed to oust
the
ruling party.
In October last year the MDC split into two camps over
participation in the
November Senate polls - the anti-Senate faction being
led by Morgan
Tsvangirai and the pro-Senate team commanded by vice president
Gibson
Sibanda and Welshman Ncube.
Tsvangirai's camp recently intimated
that it would engage in mass action to
oust the Zanu PF government.
On
December 20 last year, Tsvangirai told diplomats in Harare that the MDC's
major task was to continue "to survive as (a) democratic fighting force
mobilising the people in an incessant struggle" against the
government.
He added: "We are under no illusions about the task before us. It
is going
to be a long and arduous journey with supreme sacrifices if need
be, but one
which must be travelled and overcome."
A few days later, the
MDC's anti-Senate faction spokesperson Nelson Chamisa
said the MDC would
this year engage in mass action to dislodge Zanu PF from
power.
"There
will be mass arrests, injuries and agony. But that is the price we
should be
prepared to pay for our freedom because next year we are going to
be as
confrontational as we have never been before," Chamisa said.
Besides the
recent utterances on mass action, the MDC had since its
formation in
September 1999 been pushing for a violent ouster of the
government without
success.
In May 1 2000, Tsvangirai told a Workers' Day Celebrations at Rufaro
Stadium
in the capital that "Mugabe must go peacefully or we will remove him
violently."
He was charged with treason for the utterances, but the State
withdrew the
allegations before plea last year.
When Tsvangirai lost the
2002 presidential election to President Mugabe by
over 400 000 votes, the
MDC called for what they branded a "final push",
which would entail marching
to State House to oust the Head of State.
The final push however failed to
yield desired results.
At the same rally, Ncube, turning to squabbling
between the two MDC factions
said the party must forget about Tsvangirai and
concentrate on getting into
power.
"If we continue thinking about them
(anti-Senate faction) we would be
wasting our time. Let us finish them
between now and February and forget
about them. We need to focus on getting
into power in the next five years,"
Ncube added.
The two MDC factions
have been conducting separate provincial restructuring
exercises in the past
month ahead of the party's congress next month.
The pro-Senate faction
finished its restructuring exercise last week, while
the anti-Senate faction
is left with the Matabeleland provinces.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The
Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Jan-04
SOME residents of Old
Tafara high-density suburb in Harare have gone for two
months without
electricity after oil in one of the transformers was stolen.
The oil, which
is used as a lubricant in the power converters, is yet to be
replaced.
Besides the darkness, the residents have also gone without
water during the
same period.
Alice Banda who resides close to the local
district offices, said life was
increasingly becoming unbearable due to the
power blackout and lack of
water.
"We have gone for two months now
without electricity and water. We have
resorted to buying firewood for
cooking which is stretching our limited
financial resources," she
said.
The residents now have pay about $80 000 for firewood just enough to
prepare
at least two meals a day.
Banda lamented that the current
scenario was unhealthy particularly for
families with little children who
are susceptible.
"Imagine how the mothers are coping. They have to wake up
early to fetch
water and firewood. This is besides the other house chores
they have to
attend to. We no longer have time to relax because we are
either up and
about looking for water or fetching firewood," said Tafadzwa
Gumbo another
resident.
She urged Zesa Holdings to attend to their
problems urgently.
Zesa spokesperson James Maridadi acknowledged the problem,
which he
attributed to the irreparable damage done to one of the
transformers when
oil was drained.
"One of the transformers in the area
had its oil drained and as a result it
was damaged irreparably,"
hesaid.
"We, however, are going to replace it in the next few days as part of
our
programme to replace damaged transformers in Harare and
Chitungwiza."
Chitungwiza was plunged into darkness last week after its
transformers were
struck by lightning.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily
Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Jan-04
A NEWLY resettled farmer and
arms dealer Douglas Thomas suspected to be part
of a car-jacking syndicate,
has been arrested. He was brought to court on
charges of armed robbery and
car theft involving nearly $1 billion last
week.
Thomas (50), his
accomplices Nicholas Chihwai (34) and Elliot Sandi (40),
were arrested on
December 4 on allegations of belonging to a ring of armed
car thieves. The
gang currently in custody at Harare Remand Prison, would
allegedly strip
vehicles of their parts for sale.
Their trial is set for January 9 and 10 at
the Harare Magistrates' Court.
Thomas, represented by Ariel Kamupira of
Kamupira and Associates, has since
approached the High Court seeking bail.
Hearing on the bail application has
been set for tomorrow. Anna Kahari for
the State alleges that on October 13
last year, the trio was offered
transport along Samora Machel Avenue in
Harare to Eastlea.
On the way,
the suspected robbers purported to drop off near a car sales
point. When the
car stopped, one of them allegedly produced a gun, pointed
it at the
complainant whom they ordered to surrender the ignition keys. They
pushed
him out and sped away in his $500 million car. They also stole his
mobile
phone and $3,5 million. The gang reportedly drove to Thomas' farm in
Macheke
where they stripped it of spares which they later sold and shared
the
proceeds.
On an unknown date in October, Chihwai allegedly stole a Mazda
B1600 truck
and drove to Thomas' farm. It was also stripped of
parts.
Chihwai later asked Thomas for a gun to use in another armed robbery,
the
State further alleged.
Chihwai and Sandi drove towards Munhenga Farm
in Goromonzi on October 17
where they stopped a Zupco bus.
At gunpoint,
they allegedly robbed its crew of $8 300 000, ticket machine
and bus keys.
The crew was left stranded at the scene.
On October 19, at around 9pm, the
trio using the same modus operandi
allegedly robbed Takavadiyi Newton
Chimbani of his Nissan PG 720, 200 litres
of diesel and a bagful of clothes.
They returned to Harare using the stolen
Nissan valued at $212 million.A
week earlier, Chihwai and Thomas allegedly
stole Rudo Mauppa's Mazda B1600
worth $170 million parked at Avondale
Shopping Centre in Harare.
They
allegedly drove Mauppa's car to the Macheke farm and stripped it of
parts
also. About three weeks later, Mauppa's car engine and four wheels
were
allegedly recovered fitted on Thomas' car. The vehicle's registration
number
plate was reportedly found in a toilet at the farm
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily
Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Jan-04
THREE 25-year-old policemen
and two accomplices were last week nabbed for
allegedly robbing 410 litres
of diesel from illegal dealers at gunpoint and
extorting from them over $27
million.
Malvin Mlilo of Braeside Police Station, David Nyabanga of
Waterfalls Police
Station, Charles Benza of Waterfalls Police Station, and
accomplices, Jonas
Matereka (36) and Sylvester Mutindindi Nhamoigere have
appeared before
Chitungwiza magistrate Patience Ururu, charged with two
counts of armed
robbery, theft and two counts of extortion.
They were
remanded in custody to January 12 2006 and advised to apply for
bail at the
High Court.
The State represented Jameson Enesi alleges that the gang first
approached
Tapiwanashe Muganyi (27) on November 29 late at night along the
Harare-Masvingo Road.
Muganyi had parked his Mercedes Benz intending to
buy fuel from illegal fuel
dealers when the five allegedly arrived driving a
Toyota Corolla armed with
an FN Rifle.
Enesi alleged that one of them
pointed the gun at Tapiwanashe and demanded
25 litres of diesel and $6
million cash, which they were given.
On December 2, it is alleged, they again
arrested the same complainant on
the same road after he bought 210 litres of
diesel.
They allegedly confiscated the 210 litres and extorted $15 million
from the
man in return for his freedom. He allegedly gave them the diesel
and money
and left. On December 22 the five allegedly robbed at gunpoint
Cosmas
Masukuma of Hatfield at Mhuru Business Centre, Beatrice, at around
2am of
150 litres diesel.
On the same day the gang allegedly set a trap
and arrested illegal fuel
dealers, Misheck Eliah, Moses Mangoma and Lloyd
Mhondiwa who were based at
Mhuru Business Centre and demanded $3,2 million
in return for their freedom.
During the Christmas holiday, the gang
allegedly struck again along the
Harare-Masvingo Road and arrested Tazvitya
Kahuni (35) for illegally dealing
in fuel after they found him draining
diesel from his truck.
Kahuni reportedly intended to sell the diesel to a
commuter omnibus driver.
They accused Kahuni of illegally dealing in fuel
and confiscated 25 litres
of diesel before extorting $3 million
cash.
However, their complainants recorded their car's registration numbers
and
alerted the police who then arrested them the following day at a
police
roadblock while on their way to Mhuru Business Centre.
Maxwell
Mavhunga is representing the policemen while Matereka is expected to
apply
for bail at the High Court next Wednesday.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily
Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Jan-04
THE Harare City Council has
embarked on a re-valuation and assessment of all
non-residential and
residential properties within its boundaries as it
updates its General
Valuation Roll (GVR) to determine the open market value
of the
properties.
The move is meant to redistribute the burden of rates by making
property
owners pay tariffs that are in tandem with the value of their
properties.In
a statement yesterday, the city council said they had already
sent out
questionnaires to property owners in the city, which have to be
returned to
the local authority by the end of this month.
"The City of
Harare is currently carrying out a revaluation of
non-residential properties
and assessment of residential properties within
the city boundary with a
view to updating the current GVR. The purpose is to
re-distribute the rates
burden in an equitable manner," read the statement.
"The information required
in the questionnaire would be handled in strict
confidence and shall not be
revealed to any third party or used for any
other purposes, but to enable
the valuation officer to determine the open
market value and assign rating
units to the properties as accurately as
possible."
In its 2006 budget,
the council said the re-valuation of properties in the
city would go a long
in improving revenue generation.
The city carried out similar exercises in
the 1970 and mid-1990s.
The statement stated that it was an offence for
property owners to withhold
information to the valuation officer in terms of
the Urban Councils Act.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
From Our
Correspondent in Bulawayo
issue date :2006-Jan-04
THE livestock and
grazing conditions in Matebeleland South have
significantly improved
following rains that fell throughout the country in
the past two
months.
Matabeleland South provincial chief livestock production and
development
officer, Simangaliphi Ngwabi yesterday said: "The grazing and
livestock
conditions in most parts of the province have improved
significantly save
for Beitbridge where they are still experiencing problems
with grazing
pastures."
She said cattle in the province had developed
minor complications after
consuming contaminated green pasture, which can
cause livestock diarrhoea.
"It's normal that when animals and even people
change diet, they are bound
to experience some digestive problems. Most of
the cattle in the province
were used to dry grass and shrubs due to the
drought," said Ngwabi.
Prior to the rains, most cattle in the province were
adversely affected by
the drought with Esibomvu, and Guyu communal lands in
Gwanda being the
hardest hit.
Some families in both areas lost cattle as
well as draught power to the
drought, which at its peak threatened to derail
government's national herd
re-stocking exercise.
Most farmers in the
province either relocated or reduce the size of their
animals in a bid to
save their cattle.Most of the province's livestock water
sources had dried
up.
Ngwabi advised farmers to regularly dose and dip their animals during
this
rainy season.
"Usually rains bring a lot of ticks and diseases to
animals. I advise
farmers to at least dip their cattle twice a month,"
Ngwabi said.
This item posted yesterday was very much out of date - please ignore it.