The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
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hmmmm... difficult to see whether he has his tongue in his cheek or not. B-Ed
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Dear Friends
 
We, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),University of Zimbabwe Branch wish to extend our most profound gratitude for being able to reach you through the Internet. We feel privileged for having an opportunity to draw your attention and enlighten you on our significance in Zimbabwean politics and most importantly on the MDC's policies and programmes of action. The MDC-UZ Branch is the largest single Party Branch in Zimbabwe with a total of more than 8000 registered members. The University of Zimbabwe Branch is nationally more significant than all other MDC Branches in the sense that it constitutes of members from all the 12 Provinces of Zimbabwe. Students in institutions of highest learning like ours also stand as the voice of the voiceless and as advocates of the ordinary Zimbabwean population. As a result, the MDC UZ Branch enjoys special recognition from the MDC National Executive, especially the Youth Desk.
 
As we approach the Zimbabwe 2002 Presidential Elections scheduled for the first quarter of the coming year, the MDC UZ Branch has a comprehensive plan of action that will ensure that Robert Mugabe gets out of power. We intend to mobilise the Zimbabwean community by organising MDC rallies throughout the country. This exercise will also enable us to do "voter education" so that the Nation freely exercise their constitutional right to vote. We will also embark on a massive outreach programme to the rural areas and farms so that we may preach the MDC policies and principles. All these plans will certainly be fulfilled if we manage to get financial assistance from well wishers and MDC sympathisers from all circles. Our primary objective is to see a change of Government from the Mugabe's ZANU PF regime to a Morgan Tsvangirai led democratic Government. We also intend to hold anti-government protests and demonstrations as concerned University students.
 
The ZANU PF Government under the leadership of its iopic ,shortsighted, visionless and irresponsible President-Robert Mugabe has dragged our once beloved country to a standstill. Mugabe has sanctioned lawlessness in the country with self-styled war-veterans illegally invading white-owned commercial farms and looting property from these farms. There is a lot of state-sponsored terror, violence and intimidation being perpetrated on the general populous ahead of the crucial Presidential elections. The government has even gone to the extent of using the National Army and the police to brutalise people and force them to support the ruling ZANU(PF) government and vote for the dictator RG Mugabe.  As a result of this government sponsored violence, many people have already been killed and maimed. The ZANU(PF)
ministers in solidarity with their cruel President are on a looting spree. National assets and resources are being looted at alarming rates, this is accompanied by masterminded corrupt practises in government. No arrests and investigations have been made because the Police Commissioner himself is a puppet of Mugabe who appointed him.  Even the judiciary system in Zimbabwe has been rendered useless by Mugabe who removed impartial and competent judges from the Supreme Court and High Court(eg Chief Justice Gubbay).These have been replaced by Mugabe's puppets. Taxpayer's money is being abused by the ZANU(PF) regime which is channelling the greater chunk of the national budget to the Ministry of Defence (for the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC war)at the expense of collapsing and needy ministries such Health. Basic human rights such as the freedom of association and freedom of expression are being infringed by Mugabe. A clear example is the crackdown on the independent media by state agents who terrorise independent reporters and publishers.
 
The implications and effects of this high level of misrule by ZANU(PF)
and Mugabe has been adverse and drastically negative to the development of Zimbabwe .Notable effects of Mugabe's misrule are the decimation of agriculture and virtual destruction of tourism, with severe knock-on effects throughout the economy. In consequence, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decline in 2000 is estimated at -4,6%.Domestic and foreign investor confidence has collapsed, the balance of payment crisis has resulted in shortages in fuel, electricity and other inputs. Arrears on foreign payments are estimated to reached US $ 900 million by the end of 2000.At least 10% of formal sector jobs have been lost in the last 12 months, putting 135
000 people out of work and thereby impoverishing more than half a million people. Poverty has dramatically increased in both extent and depth. The budget deficit for 2000 was 23% of GDP, Domestic budget-related debt during the year rose from Z$79 billion(37%of GDP) to Z$162 billion(51%of GDP) and inflation was 56% on average. Over US$500 million in private foreign capital has fled the country, along with thousands of skilled Zimbabweans- doctors, teachers, nurses, accountants and engineers. In
1979 there Zimbabwean dollar was worth US 148 cents but today the official market value of one Zim dollar is 0,33US cents. ZANU(PF) cannot halt the economic rot it has created, because the necessary policies would destroy its election platform.
 
Already, our relations with the international community as a country have become sour due to the state sponsored lawlessness and poor governance. The International Monetary Fund(IMF) and the World Bank have withdrawn funding to Zimbabwe. This has caused a marked reduction in foreign currency, making it difficult for the country to import fuel hence the ever hiking fuel prices. Taxation(both income and sales) has been tremendously increased by government making life difficult for both employers and employees.
 
Our health system in Zimbabwe has deteriorated to the extent of collapsing due to negligence, very low budget allocation and prioritisation of foreign war(DRC) funding. Drug shortage in all hospitals is evident because government does not have the forex to import essential drugs. With our country having one of the worst AIDS infection rates in the world, there is virtually no solution in sight for Mugabe in handling this health crisis.
 
Looking at education in Zimbabwe, we have a serious crisis. There is no country in the world that has gone broke because of maximum investment in education. However the world is replete with examples of countries that have become basket cases because of failure to deploy adequate resources in the field of education. Zimbabwe under Mugabe is a poignant example.
 
On behalf of the top MDC leadership, the MDC UZ Branch strongly believes that when we come into power under the leadership of Morgan Tsvangirai next year, there will be restoration of the rule of law stating with the eviction of all illegally settled farm invaders. The current oppressive constitution will also be changed and a more democratic and people driven constitution will be put in place. Good governance with sound economic policies and prioritisation of vital sectors such as health and education will be implemented. Corruption will be uprooted and we will revitalise our international links with the IMF, World Bank and other donors to stabilise the Zimbabwean dollar and reduce inflation.
 
In conclusion , the MDC UZ Branch would like to thank you for taking your time in reading this presentation to you. We hope that you are going to respond to our letter using our e-mail address mdcuzbranch@onebox.com )  Your help in terms of ideas, exchange of information and advice will be greatly appreciated. We will continuously update you on the current politics in our country Zimbabwe if you indicate to us your interest in having correspondence with us.
 
Yours in quest for a new and better Zimbabwean government.
 
SHELTON NHAMOINESU
CHAIRMAN(MDC UZ BRANCH)

 
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BBC

Saturday, 27 October, 2001, 18:35 GMT 19:35 UK
Delegation divided over Zimbabwe
Farmers Mandy and Peter Bibby at their farm in Wezda talk to the Commonwealth delegation
The delegation visited farms during their visit
By the BBC's Southern Africa correspondent, Barnaby Philipps

A group of ministers from Commonwealth countries has called on the Zimbabwean authorities to look into allegations of human rights violations.

Zimbabwe agreed at Abuja
No further occupations of white-owned farms
To restore the rule of law to the process of land reform
To the principle of freedom of expression
To take firm action against violence and intimidation
The Commonwealth delegation has spent the past three days in Zimbabwe, assessing the implementation of a recent agreement on land reform.

Under the terms of that agreement, Zimbabwe promised to end violent invasions of white-owned land, while Britain pledged to help fund a peaceful redistribution of land.

The Commonwealth ministers were deeply divided on what to say at the end of their visit, and eventually came up with a weak declaration.

The ministers, accompanied by the Commonwealth Secretary General, Don McKinnon, had spoken to President Robert Mugabe and opposition politicians.

White farmers say land invasions are continuing
White farmers say land invasions are continuing
They visited farms in an attempt to understand Zimbabwe's land crisis - and heard widely divergent opinions.

The Canadian Secretary of State for Africa, David Kilgour, who was openly critical of the Zimbabwean authorities, told the BBC that his government had almost abandoned the exercise.

He had wanted a greater emphasis on what he perceives as the breakdown of law and order in Zimbabwe. Britain supported his position.

But in public, all parties remain committed to the Abuja agreement on peaceful land reform.

The United Nations Development Programme is now charged with supervising its implementation. A UNDP team is expected in Zimbabwe next month.


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Daily News

War vets attack whites

10/27/01 6:41:47 AM (GMT +2)


By Sandra Nyaira Political Editor

WAR veterans in Mashonaland East yesterday startled visiting Commonwealth
ministers when they openly told them that whites must change their attitudes
or risk trouble.

Their spokesman, Better Choto, said the former fighters will refuse to work
with hostile farmers.

“They must stop abusing us, our government and desist from feeding the media
with lies because this will certainly cause uncertainty to the final,” he
said. “They provoke us.”

Commonwealth foreign ministers from Britain, Canada, Jamaica, Australia,
Kenya and South Africa, led by Nigeria’s Sule Lamido, arrived two days ago
to assess progress made by the government six months down the line following
the signing of the Abuja agreement in Nigeria.

Also in the delegation is Baroness Amos, Britain’s Foreign Affairs Minister
of State, who is the first British minister to visit Zimbabwe in the past
four years following frosty relations between the two countries.

Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, is also in the delegation.

Choto accused the farmers of organising their labour against the former
fighters resulting in clashes which, for instance, left two settlers dead at
Bita Farm where operations have been suspended.

The war veterans and the farmers counter-accused each other in front of the
Commonwealth ministers.

Said Choto: “The whites here have got a problem. They do not want to
co-exist with us. At public meetings they give the impression that they are
talking to fellow human beings, but they do not treat us like that.

They should just leave us peacefully and stop abusing us because the land
belonged to our forefathers.”

There was tension when Peter Bibbi, the owner of Bita Farm, was giving
evidence before the ministers. He said one person had died at the farm due
to injuries sustained during clashes with war veterans in which two settlers
died.

“I appeal to you as the Commonwealth to please let the land committee
reconsider for the sake of the workers. I feel for them. They’re desperate,
they don’t have anything or any homes to go to all the 265 of them. They can
’t find jobs anywhere,” said Bibbi.

He said it was unfortunate that two settlers had died at the farm.
Provincial police boss, Assistant Commissioner Susan Masango, said some
farmers were lying about the situation on the ground, especially about fresh
occupations after the signing of Abuja.

She said the police was not biased against any group and war veterans and
farmers were treated equally. Masango said the farmers were arrogant and
wanted to get attention from the “highest” offices.

The ministers had earlier on visited Barthe Farm in Masvingo.
Meanwhile, McKinnon yesterday said the Commonwealth will not insist on
observing next year’s presidential election if they are not invited by the
Zanu PF government.

In an interview, he said the Commonwealth’s Millbrook Plan of Action on the
Harare Declaration clearly stated that the member country should invite
election observers and monitors without any force being exerted.

The declaration states: “The observation of elections, including
by-elections and local elections, where appropriate, is at the request of
the member member governments concerned”.

“The Commonwealth observed the last elections here in Zimbabwe and we made
some critical comments about them because we were invited,” said McKinnon.

“We hope to be invited to come and observe the election. We go and observe
elections where we have been invited.”

McKinnon’s comments came as the European Union (EU)’s deadline on Zimbabwe
over pre-election observers and election monitors for the crucial poll is
drawing near.

The EU on Monday gave Zimbabwe an ultimatum to accept its pre-election
observers to monitor the period running up to next year’s presidential
election and the election itself, but the government turned down the offer
saying it will not take orders from anyone.

The deadline expires on Monday when the EU Council of Ministers will go into
a meeting to discuss Zimbabwe.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge said the offer was “suspicious” and
the country would not give up its sovereignty by giving in to such demands.

McKinnon refuted allegations by the State media that he is involved in
drumming up support for the opposition MDC and raising funds to ensure the
Zanu PF government is ousted from power.

“I’m not mobilising funds for any political party. Never ever. That is not
my mandate,” he said.

The Herald on Wednesday said McKinnon and the British government had turned
around and were now saying the Abuja agreement on land was not a “legally
binding” document but a political agreement.

McKinnon, the paper said, was apparently interested in supporting the
British group that wanted to remove President Mugabe’s government from power
and ensure the MDC victory in next year’s presidential election.

It said the Commonwealth secretary-general was trying to “re-direct” the
visiting Commonwealth foreign ministers to suit the views of the British,
the Australians and the Canadians.

The paper also alleged McKinnon had drafted a document on the presidential
election and had even set up a date for the polls despite the fact that the
government still has to announce the date for the election.

Said McKinnon: “All that is not true at all. We came here to deal with the
land crisis facing Zimbabwe and I’m not involved with any political party at
all.”

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News24

Zim tobacco production drops

Harare - Zimbabwe's tobacco production dropped with 35.3 million kilos in
2001, to 201.7 million kilos, after last year's record-high crop, the
state-run Herald said on Saturday.

With an average price of 175 Zimbabwe dollars (3.18 US dollars) per kilo,
tobacco sales totalled 35 billion Zimbabwe dollars (630 million US dollars)
when the auction season closed on Friday, producers said.

Prices were higher than 2000, although the crop was smaller, so on the
surface sales rose sharply from last year's total of 395 million US dollars
for 237 million kilos.

But because of Zimbabwe's overvalued currency, officially pegged at 55 to
the greenback compared to about 260 to one on the parallel market, tobacco
farmers have complained that they are in a financial pinch.

The farmers have to import their supplies - such as fertilizer and
equipment - and must source the foreign currency on the parallel rate. When
they sell their crops overseas, the government keeps the foreign currency
and gives the farmers the equivalent amount at the official rate.

Production costs have shot up 140 percent since July 2000, according to
farmers, much higher than the official rate of inflation at 86.3 percent in
September.

Zimbabwe exports 98 percent of its crop, which brings in about one-third of
the country's desperately needed foreign exchange, making it the country's
largest earner.

Zimbabwe is the world's second-largest exporter of tobacco after Brazil, and
is one of the top three producers of quality flue-cured virginia leaf along
with the United States and Brazil. - AFP

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Sydney Morning Herald



Plenty of dirt on Mugabe farm tour

By Peta Thornycroft, Hwedza, Zimbabwe

An attempt by President Robert Mugabe's government to stage-manage a
Commonwealth tour of Zimbabwe's farms backfired when delegates heard graphic
accounts of State-sponsored violence.

At one property the delegates, including Australians Rohan Titus and High
Commissioner Jonathan Brown, heard how white-owned farms continued to be
invaded by so-called war veterans loyal to Mr Mugabe even after the
Government signed an accord last month in which it agreed to stop all
invasions.

At a second farm the Government thought would project a favourable image,
the farmer claimed that officials had warned him not to tell the truth about
how he lost his land.

Angry words were exchanged between government minders and a Canadian
delegate after he was blocked from talking to a group of white farmers not
on the official tour itinerary.

Diplomats said there was "unease" and "clear polarisation" between
Zimbabwean officials and white farmers. One Western diplomat said: "We know
what the Government wanted them to hear but they were left in no doubt the
accord had been violated."

The delegation delayed its departure from Zimbabwe by 12 hours, until
Friday, after long postponements in meetings called with lawyers, churchmen,
journalists and others.

A final communique from the group is expected to condemn Zimbabwe for
failing to live up to the accord.

At the first farm visited by the delegation it was alleged that owner Jannie
Erasmus had been instructed to say he had voluntarily conceded his property
for resettlement. Instead he told of 18 months of horror suffered by
himself, his workers and his pedigree cattle.


At Bita Farm, Pete Bibby said he had conceded one of his two farms for
resettlement and wanted to continue growing crops with his father. But a
week after the agreement, about 50 government supporters arrived at night
and fought with his workers.

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The Guardian

Zimbabwe Talks Focus On Document

Saturday October 27, 2001 5:30 PM


HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - International mediators hoping to salvage a deal to
end political violence and land seizures haggled with unhappy Zimbabwean
officials Saturday over the group's plans to demand respect for free speech
and the law, diplomats said.

The trip was to have ended Friday, but the mediators spent hours discussing
their final statement with Zimbabwean officials and revising the document
into Saturday evening.

``It's been a tense and testing day,'' one diplomat said on condition he not
be identified.

Zimbabwe objected to sections demanding the rule of law be re-established
and asserting the need for open political dialogue and free expression, the
diplomats said.

The talks, led by Nigerian Foreign Minister Sule Lamido and Don McKinnon,
secretary general of the Commonwealth of Britain and its former colonies,
focused on efforts to implement a Zimbabwe peace deal brokered by
Commonwealth ministers Sept. 6 in Abuja, Nigeria.

The meetings were marked by disputes and acrimony since their start
Thursday.

Canada's delegate, state secretary for Latin American and Africa David
Kilgour, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. he questioned Zimbabwe's
efforts to honor the deal.

``It is my view, and I think the view of other ministers here, that there's
virtually no progress ... in areas the government of Zimbabwe agreed to move
on,'' he said.

``There may be a little less violence yet I think even that is open to
question,'' he said.

The Abuja agreement sought to end the violent occupation of white-owned
farms and political violence across the country.

Zimbabwe's farming districts have been convulsed by chaos over the past 18
months, when ruling party militants began often violent occupations of 1,700
white-owned farms, demanding they be redistributed to blacks.

The government has since embarked on a plan to seize 5,000 farms - nearly
all the farms owned by whites - without paying compensation, saying Britain,
the former colonial ruler, must pay the farmers.

Britain and other Western donors have said they will only provide aid for
land redistribution after law and order is restored.

Thousands of farm workers have been forced from their homes by the violence
which has also left nine white farmers dead.

Leaders of the Commercial Farmers Union, representing most of the nation's
4,000 white farmers, were accused by the state media of lying to the
mediators over violence they say has continued unabated on farms since
Zimbabwe signed the Abuja agreement to restore law and order.

The government insists it has moved to implement the deal. Human rights
groups told the mediators Friday that violence and abuses have continued.

Opposition officials accuse the government of using land seizures to garner
support ahead and intimidate opponents ahead of presidential elections
scheduled for next year.

The mediators include officials from Nigeria, Britain, Australia, Canada,
Jamaica, Kenya and South Africa.

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Hindustani Times

Zimbabwe faces C'wealth censure on land crisis
Cris Chinaka (Reuters)
Harare, October 27

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Commonwealth ministers visiting Zimbabwe are likely to censure President
Robert Mugabe's government for doing little to end violent seizures of
white-owned farms, diplomats said on Saturday.
But the ministers, who extended their two-day mission by a day to Saturday,
differed over the tone to adopt in their final communique against a
government that says it has been doing nothing wrong, the diplomats said.

"I think by and large there is a consensus on the fact that the government
of Zimbabwe has so far not done much to fulfil its obligations under the
Abuja agreement, but the hurdle is on how this should be recorded while at
the same time encouraging the Zimbabwean authorities to be more
co-operative," one African diplomat told Reuters.

Seven weeks ago in Abuja, Nigeria, Zimbabwe agreed to end 20 months of
invasions of white-owned farms by black settlers in return for pledges of
financial help from former colonial power Britain to run a just land reform
programme.

Conference sources said the Commonwealth team -- in meetings with farming,
church, civic and opposition groups on Thursday and Friday -- had left the
government isolated on its assertion that it was working to end the land
crisis.

"What has emerged is that the government of Zimbabwe has a different
interpretation from the majority on what is going on on the ground and it
would be ideal to get a strong statement out," one source said.

John Makumbe, a political analyst and one of Mugabe's leading critics, said
the Commonwealth must have no apologies in its assessment.

"The truth is the Abuja agreement has not worked and the government has no
intention of making it work and you cannot go soft in that regard," he said
early on Saturday, after a group of human rights activists met the
Commonwealth team.

On Friday, Canada's secretary of state for Latin America and Africa David
Kilgour told reporters the visiting ministers believed that the government
had little to honour the Abuja agreement.

"It's my view, and I think the view of a number of other ministers here,
that there's been virtually no progress on any of the areas that the
government of Zimbabwe agreed to move on," Kilgour said.

In a deal brokered by Nigeria and overseen by the Commonwealth, which groups
Britain and its former colonies, the Zimbabwe government agreed to put an
end to the land seizures by self-styled veterans of the 1970s war against
white rule.

Critics accuse Mugabe of using the land issue to fend off a challenge to his
rule at elections due by April next year, while his ruling ZANU-PF party
accuses Britain of meddling in its affairs.
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Daily News - Feature

Mudenge breathes fire as Zanu PF prepares for presidential poll

10/27/01 12:00:32 PM (GMT +2)


By Sandra Nyaira Political Editor

THE shine is fast disappearing from President Mugabe’s image.

Of late he has been balancing on a political knife-edge as the MDC leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai, is strongly emerging as the biggest thorn in his flesh
since independence in 1980.

Mugabe will not allow anyone to remind Zimbabweans that the current
government has outlived its usefulness.

If anything, it is the major reason why his Foreign Affairs Minister, Stan
Mudenge, breathed fire and brimstone on Tuesday saying his government would
not allow European Union (EU) pre-election observers into the country.

Zanu PF does not want the observers to monitor the period preceding next
year’s presidential election because the government fears this may give the
electorate the confidence to vote against it without fear of reprisals in
the eagerly awaited poll.

Not only did the EU give Zimbabwe an ultimatum to allow the observers to
monitor the pre-election period, but also the election process itself or
face severe action.

But the government refused to give in, saying as a sovereign state it would
not take orders from quarter.

Civic organisations and political analysts have since slammed Mudenge’s
stance, saying the Zanu PF government knows it will lose next year’s poll
hence its obvious plan to rig the election without fear of being found out
by independent observers.

Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel had announced on Monday he had given
Zimbabwe a week within which to reply.

The question most people are asking is: why does the government not want to
have the international community to observe and assist in the running of the
election?

Mudenge said the offer was “suspicious” and “we won’t surrender our
sovereignty. We will surrender our sovereignty if we start accepting
ultimatums”.

He fears his government may be removed in the same way Slobodan Milosevic of
Yugoslavia was ousted.

Mudenge also charges some EU members are providing funds to the opposition
MDC to topple his government hence any demands from the grouping will not be
tolerated.

He was, however, quick to point out, somewhat sarcastically, that the
government is willing to accept any donations in the form of four-wheel
drive vehicles or computers from the EU if they really want to assist since
the elections “are likely to be held during the rainy season”.

“We are the ones who rule Zimbabwe,” said Mudenge. “If you want to prepare
for the election, then you have to beat us first. You come here to observe
what we would have prepared for ourselves. We know what we need so we will
tell them if they need to assist.”

Civic groups such as the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and the
Crisis in Zimbabwe Group have already threatened to organise mass stayaways
and civic disobedience programmes if the government does not heed the call
by the EU to allow the pre-poll observers into the country.

Says Lovemore Madhuku of the NCA: “It’s obvious that they want to rig the
presidential election through that process in which they use the Electoral
Supervisory Commission.”

Madhuku said it was sad that the government had also decided to ban NCA
monitors claiming they are linked to the MDC, a charge he dismissed as
false.

“This process is two-pronged. Internationally the government will refuse to
allow observers from overseas, while the ESC will refuse local monitors.
This is just to find a way through which to ensure there is no monitoring,”
he said.

“But,” said Madhuku, “we have a solution.
“We need a new constitution and if the government does not agree, then it
will have to agree to a set of minimum conditions for the holding of the
election. International monitors will have to be allowed in or the
government will have to face mass action.”

Madhuku said Zimbabweans should work together as one and ensure the
government meets their demands.

Mass protests, it seems, cannot be avoided if the government does not agree
to the setting up of an independent ESC.

“We should not divorce the issue of the EU from our situation locally,” said
Madhuku, “because the government wants to continue instilling fear in the
people.”

Political commentator Masipula Sithole said: “The reason why the government
does not want to allow the international monitors to come in is because it
has something to hide that is violence and the lawlessness that is
continuing.

“They are burying their heads in the sand to impending problems. It would be
foolish to want to remain blind, it’s foolhardy.”

He dismissed as “nonsense” claims by Mudenge that some EU member countries
are supporting the MDC but Mudenge says he has got the evidence which he is
willing to lay before the EU Council of Ministers.

“That’s nonsense. Libya is supporting the ruling party but people have not
said anything. They just want to hide something,” said Sithole.

The presidential election is due by April next year and, in Tsvangirai,
Mugabe is expected to face his toughest challenge since coming to power in
1980.

John Makumbe of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Group said the government was not
keen on the EU observers because they know the election is going to be
violent and they want to ensure that they are free to rig the election.

“Zanu PF does not want to be scrutinised on how they rig the election. The
rigging usually takes place long before the election itself. They will have
already done the work by the beginning of next year,” said Makumbe.

He said the only answer was to have many monitors from the local civic
communities, “engage in civic disobedience and boycotts of government
programmes and activities”.

Makumbe said pressure must be put on organisations such as the United
Nations, the Southern African Development Community and the African Union to
ensure Zimbabwe is forced into accepting the international monitors and
observers.

“We as the civic society have already started talking about the mass
boycotts and stayaways which should be held between now and December,” he
said.

The civic groups also want the government to create an environment conducive
to peaceful campaigning by all political parties keen to put up candidates
for the poll, write a new constitution and a return to the rule of law.


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Mediators wrangle over declaration on violence, rights violations in
Zimbabwe

The Associated Press



HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) International mediators hoping to salvage a deal to
end political violence and land seizures haggled Saturday with Zimbabwean
officials over the group's plans to demand respect for free speech and the
law, diplomats said.
Ending an eight-hour closed meeting, Nigerian Foreign Minister Sule Lamido
described the talks as "very difficult and very complicated."

"We have made an appeal to the government and its law enforcement
authorities to look into these very serious allegations" of continued
violence and intimidation across the country, he said.

The two-day visit by mediators of the Commonwealth of Britain and its former
territories was to have ended Friday. But they stayed on to discuss their
final statement with Zimbabwean officials and revise the document.

Zimbabwe objected to sections demanding the rule of law be re-established
and asserting the need for open political dialogue and free expression, the
diplomats said.

The talks focused on efforts to implement a Zimbabwe peace deal brokered by
Commonwealth ministers Sept. 6 in Abuja, Nigeria, to end the violent
occupations of white-owned farms and political violence.

The government insists it has moved to restore the rule of law. Human rights
groups told the mediators Friday that violence and abuses have continued.

In their six-page final statement, the mediators said all parties agreed to
pursue efforts to advance the Abuja pact through negotiations monitored by
the international group.

Lamido said the government promised to observe the nation's laws and
constitution in its land nationalization program.

Baroness Valerie Amos of Britain described the talks as highly emotional,
saying the depth of feeling made rational discussions difficult.

Canada's delegate, state secretary for Latin American and Africa David
Kilgour, said Canada believed the government's current land seizures were
unlawful and unconstitutional.

Zimbabwe's farming districts have been convulsed by chaos over the past 18
months, when ruling party militants began often violent occupations of 1,700
white-owned farms, demanding they be redistributed to blacks.

The government has since embarked on a plan to seize 5,000 farms nearly all
the farms owned by whites without paying compensation. Zimbabwe says
Britain, the former colonial ruler, must pay the farmers and the costs of
the resettling landless blacks.

Thousands of farm workers have been forced from their homes by the violence
in which nine white farmers have been killed.

The mediators included officials from Nigeria, Britain, Australia, Canada,
Jamaica, Kenya and South Africa.
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Commonwealth Urges Zimbabwe to Stick to Agreement


By Stella Mapenzauswa
HARARE (Reuters) - Commonwealth ministers on Saturday called on President
Robert Mugabe's government to fully implement an agreement to end Zimbabwe's
deepening land crisis.

In a communique issued after three days of talks to assess Zimbabwe's
adherence to an agreement to end violent seizures of white-owned farms, the
ministerial team also urged cooperation with farmers and dialogue on other
issues confronting the southern African nation.

"It (the ministerial committee) called upon the government of Zimbabwe to
speed up, in particular, the delisting of farms which do not meet the set
criteria and also implement the entire process in accordance with the laws
and the constitution of Zimbabwe," the communique said.

"The committee further urges the government of Zimbabwe and the Commercial
Farmers' Union...to adopt a positive engagement with each other in order to
through these difficult implementation issues."

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, who was part of the team led by
Nigerian Foreign Minister Sule Lamido on the three-day mission, said the
foreign ministers had managed to come up with a compromise document despite
initial disagreements on several issues.


"NO ALTERNATIVE"

"There was a lot of disagreements on a number of facts on the land crisis in
Zimbabwe but there is no alternative other than to take this process
forward," McKinnon told Reuters.

"Everyone agreed on the final draft...it's not to say we didn't have
disagreements with some issues but what you see is what you get," he said.

Mugabe's government agreed seven weeks ago in Abuja to end 20 months of
invasions of white-owned farms by black settlers in return for pledges of
financial help from former colonial power Britain for a fair and orderly
land reform program.

On Friday, the Canadian representative to the mission said the ministers
thought Mugabe's government had done little to honor commitments made in
Abuja.

Sanctions by some nations could be a possibility, David Kilgour, Canada's
secretary of state for Latin America and Africa, told reporters in Ottawa by
telephone from Harare.

Officials of Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party who met the ministers on Friday
denied accusations by farmers and Zimbabwe's opposition that there had even
been an increase in farm invasions in the past few weeks.

Critics accuse Mugabe of using the issue to fend off a challenge to his rule
at elections due by April next year while ZANU-PF accuses Britain of
meddling in its affairs.

The mainly-white Commercial Farmers Union which groups 4,500 farmers says at
least 680 farms have been occupied afresh since the Abuja agreement on
September 6.

The ministers also welcomed next month's planned visit by a U.N. Development
Program technical team to assist with the land reform program and urged
Mugabe's government to cooperate with the team.
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The Independent

Farm invasions have not stopped, ministers told

By Basildon Peta in Harare
27 October 2001
Baroness Amos and other Commonwealth ministers heard first-hand accounts of
illegal farm invasions and intimidation by government supporters as they
toured Zimbabwean farmland on a mission aimed at ensuring that President
Robert Mugabe will comply with a plan to end the land crisis.

At Mr Mugabe's invitation, the ministers were flown to southern Masvingo
province to meet settlers who took up plots on farms under the "fast-track
resettlement programme" – the name the government has given to what others
see as state-sponsored farm invasions.

They then returned to Harare to hold discussions with representatives of
civil society, including war veteran supporters of Mr Mugabe, the main
opposition, and journalists.

But a white farmer who spoke for the community of Wedza, 200km south-east of
Harare, accused the government of failing to meet commitments agreed in the
Nigerian capital, Abuja, in September. Japie Jackson told the ministers at
Bath Farm that the mainly white commercial farmers had been warned not to
tell the truth about the situation, otherwise there would be "severe
consequences".

Under the pact, the government agreed to stop landless blacks taking over
white-owned farms, and Britain pledged to help fund a fair and just land
reform programme.

But according to the Commercial Farmers Union, which groups 4,500 farmers,
at least 680 farms have been occupied since the Abuja agreement. Of these,
200-300 were new invasions, while the rest were on occupied farms where new
settlers joined those already there.

Mr Jackson said that needy people were not being given land. Instead, he
claimed, it was being earmarked for army officers, district administrators,
policemen and "others who are in a position to influence next year's vote".

The Commonwealth team, which winds up its mission today, also heard
complaints from journalists' representatives, who protested against
harassment by so-called war veterans as they attempted to cover events. They
also complained of the government's "sustained campaign to muzzle the
media".

About 100 private news vendors have been detained and released as part of
the systematic harassment campaign, effectively preventing them from selling
their newspapers over the past three weeks. The latest example was the
arrest of the board of the Daily News, Zimbabwe's leading independent
newspaper, as the Commonwealth team were meeting with President Mugabe on
Thursday.

No details of that meeting have been made public, but diplomats said that Mr
Mugabe told the ministers that he was committed to the deal to end the
violent invasions of the white-owned farms, which began in February last
year.

The Zimbabwean leader also warned Western governments that they had to do
their part to end the 20-month-old standoff, according to the diplomats. War
veterans' representatives who met with the Commonwealth ministers yesterday
warned Britain that they would "not allow Britain to manipulate Abuja" in
the way that the UK had allegedly done with the Lancaster House agreement
that brought Zimbabwean independence.

Led by the Nigerian Foreign Minister, Sule Lamido, the mission to Harare
includes the Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, Britain's Baroness
Valerie Amos, and representatives from Kenya, South Africa, Canada and
Australia. The ministers are expected to set a timetable for the full
implementation of the Abuja pact.

The visit came as the European Union is moving closer to applying sanctions
against Zimbabwe over its human rights record and its failure to end the
land chaos.


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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 26 October

Commonwealth team rejects attempt to restrict enquiry

The visiting Commonwealth team of ministers yesterday foiled an official attempt to restrict the scope of their inquiry by foisting on them groups aligned to government while excluding genuine civic organisations. Diplomatic sources said government tried to limit those seeing the team, led by Nigerian Foreign minister Sule Olamido, to six groups. These were the Council of Chiefs, Zimbabwe Farmers Union, Indigenous Commercial Farmers Union, Zimbabwe Joint Resettlement Initiative, Commercial Farmers Union, and the parliamentary select committee on land. But the visitors, here to follow up progress on the Abuja accord, protested that they did not want to be restricted to the government list and would be happy to see any civil society group that was prepared to meet them.

"The government is trying to whitewash this," a Commonwealth diplomat said. "This is not a group of gullible people. They want to be fully informed by all sectors of Zimbabwean society and have therefore rejected this rather one-sided list." Diplomats were surprised when NGOs they had suggested did not find their way onto the list. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which was not on the original official list, is expected to meet the team today. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his foreign affairs spokesman, Tendai Biti will make their presentations.

Opening their meeting yesterday Foreign Affairs minister Stan Mudenge attempted to set the agenda for the team which includes ministers from Britain, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Nigeria, Jamaica, and Kenya. He claimed the team was here to "reconcile differences between Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom" and facilitate the implementation of land reform. Despite energetic attempts by government to limit the Commonwealth’s focus to land, the club wants to look at issues of governance and compliance with the Harare Declaration, as set out in the Abuja agreement. The visiting group, which includes Commonwealth secretary-general Don McKinnon, kicked off its schedule yesterday morning by meeting President Mugabe and his two deputies, Simon Muzenda and Joseph Msika, at State House. After that it moved to a local hotel where it heard testimony from civic groups and government supporters.

Mudenge opened the session by making a number of claims to show government was complying with the Abuja accord. "You may be aware that, as our contribution to the success of the initiative, we delisted some 581 farms that did not meet our criteria just before Abuja," he said. "Since Abuja, we have delisted a further 20 such farms. This information was published in the Government Gazette of September 28. Immediately following Abuja, I triggered the process of consultation between Zimbabwe and the UNDP through calls I made to the UN secretary-general (Kofi Annan) and Jack Straw (British foreign secretary)," Mudenge said. "Subsequently, Mark Malloch Brown, the administrator of the UNDP, wrote to me. I have since replied, and we expect a UNDP technical team around the 29th of this month." UNDP officials yesterday said they expected the team to assess the land reform situation in Zimbabwe from November 5.

Mudenge also said cabinet as well as the ruling Zanu PF met after Abuja to consider and adopt the agreement. He said committees were set up to implement the accord. The Abuja accord, signed in the Nigerian capital on September 6, demanded Harare should address specific issues: end fresh land invasions, remove illegal occupiers, restore the rule of law, stop violence, uphold human rights and democratic values, and embark on a just and fair land reform programme. Civic organisations, including the CFU, have said new land occupations, violence, and other forms of violations of the Abuja agreement persisted despite government claims of compliance.

From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 27 October

Mugabe behind farm violence, diplomats told

An attempt by President Robert Mugabe's government to stage-manage a Commonwealth tour of Zimbabwe's farms backfired yesterday when delegates heard graphic accounts of state-sponsored violence across the once buoyant rural sector. At one property the delegates heard first hand how white-owned farms continued to be invaded by so-called war veterans loyal to Mr Mugabe after the accord signed in Abuja last month when Zimbabwe agreed to stop all invasions. A visit to a second farm, which the government had thought would project a favourable image, was marred by accusations that the farmer had been threatened by government officials not to tell the truth about how he lost his land.

At one point angry words were exchanged between government minders and a Canadian member of the delegation after he was blocked from talking to a group of white farmers not on the official tour itinerary. Diplomats said there was "unease" and "clear polarisation" between Zimbabwean officials and white farmers. "We know what the Zimbabwean government wanted them to hear but they were left in no doubt the Abuja agreement had been violated," one Western diplomat said. The delegation delayed its departure from Zimbabwe by 12 hours until this morning after lengthy postponements in meetings called with lawyers, churchmen, journalists and other representatives of civil society. It is expected that a final communiqué from the group will condemn Zimbabwe for failing to live up to the undertakings made in Abuja.

But Western diplomats said it would be counter-productive to declare the Abuja agreement completely dead as it served the useful diplomatic purpose of at least keeping international attention focused on Zimbabwe. At the first farm visited by the delegation it was alleged that the owner, Jannie Erasmus, had been instructed to say that he had voluntarily conceded his property for resettlement. Instead he told of 18 months of horror and trauma suffered by himself, his workers, and his herd of pedigree cattle. Mr Erasmus's farm had been chosen for the Commonwealth visit because he had decided that he could no longer continue farming. A local government official visited him the day before the visit and warned him not to speak out, according to another farmer, Japie Jackson.

The seven Commonwealth ministers and officials flew to Bita Farm to hear first hand evidence of contraventions of the agreement. Pete Bibby, 36, said he had conceded one of his two farms for resettlement, and wanted to continue growing crops with his father John, 70, on Bita. He told the group that a week after the agreement was hailed as a way forward on the Zimbabwe crisis, about 50 government supporters arrived on the farm at night and became involved in a fight with his workers and peasant farmers. In the confrontation, two government supporters fell off their vehicle and were run over, allegedly by their comrades. His father, who was not present at the time of the incident, was arrested and charged with murder and incitement to violence. More than 60 farm workers were also arrested, and are awaiting trial. The chairman of the delegation, Sule Lamido, Nigeria's foreign minister, wanted to hear the views of the farm workers at Bita. But none was available to be asked. European Union foreign ministers will meet on Monday to discuss Zimbabwe. The issue of possible EU sanctions is expected to top the agenda.

From The Zimbabwe Independent, 26 October

Zanu PF arms war vets, reignites terror

The ruling Zanu PF party, in cahoots with war veterans, has launched a reign of terror in the Midlands that has witnessed the closure of schools with teachers fleeing for their lives. Scores of armed war veterans were busy this week conducting rallies at schools and business centres in the province. School children have been abducted and forced to attend the rallies, missing lessons while the "O" and "A" level end-of-year examinations are in progress. Some of the war veterans are reported to have claimed that they left school to join the liberation struggle and there was nothing special about school children leaving school to attend their rallies. Gabriel Shumba, a human rights lawyer working with the Amani Trust - a body that attends to victims of political violence - told the Independent that he had handled several cases of political beatings, the majority being secondary school teachers. Many had now deserted their schools and gone into nearby Gweru and Zvishavane for refuge. In Mberengwa, Zanu PF has launched a crackdown on suspected Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters. Secondary school teachers and students have of late been forced to attend rallies and chant Zanu PF slogans with the most affected areas being Vutika, Mupandashango, Danga, Mataga, Mnene, Vutsanana and Rengwe.

A teacher who declined to be named told the Independent that the notorious architect of terror in Mberengwa, Biggie Chitoro’s colleagues were continuing where Chitoro left off. Some of his armed henchmen include Divine Chitoro, his younger brother, and Nyasha Koke. Koke hails from Rengwe and is still on bail after being charged with being an accomplice in political violence and murder. "They (Koke and Chitoro) are armed and the police are not doing anything," the teacher said. "Many teachers have fled the on-going violence and there are no normal lessons going on at Vutika secondary school," he said. Teachers identified as V Moyo, Marufu, Gumbo, and headmaster Hove, whose property was burnt last year by war veterans, have left the school. At the school a war veteran and teacher, Walter Mucheregwa, was singled out as terrorising MDC supporters and issuing political threats of victimisation to fellow teachers he suspected had links with the MDC. "Mucheregwa is a war veteran and targets any teacher suspected to have links with the MDC," the teacher said. The teacher added that Zanu PF supporters thought of Chitoro as a hero and some youths now wanted to take over from where he left off. "A Zanu PF councillor in Rengwe - identified only as Mhike - was allegedly masterminding the terror in Mberengwa.

In Gokwe in the Midlands, the situation had reportedly got out of hand. Seven schools have been closed while scores of teachers have fled. Shumba said he had received cases of six teachers that were squatting in Gweru after having abandoned their belongings at their respective schools fleeing violence. The affected schools are Tenda secondary, Zhomba primary and two other schools in Sanyati, near Kadoma. "War veterans are abducting school children and taking them to their bases around Gokwe," Shumba said. "As we speak seven schools have been closed. We have interviewed some of the victims who confessed that the number of students attending lessons has declined. Students are being taught politics of land and Zanu PF," he said. Shumba said the perpetrators of violence were armed and the police were not doing anything about it. "What is the logic behind giving a war veteran, whose life is not under threat from anyone, and a village headman a firearm?" he asked. "Where did they get the firearm licences from? It is just strange and it now appears that the police are aiding and abetting the crisis situation in Gokwe," he said. One of the headmen in Gokwe, Mabasa Munotengwa, was reportedly armed and terrorising people. "Any reasonable person in a civilised country would find it nauseating that politicians would stoop so low," Shumba said. "That some people are being allowed to unleash such untold suffering amongst innocent civilians is just politically wrong and immoral. They are raping some of the school children. They ask them to chant Zanu PF slogans. What kind of a society is it that condones such activities?" Shumba said. Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said he was "busy" and was going to attend to the Independent inquiries later.

From The Independent (UK), 27 October

Farm invasions have not stopped, ministers told

Harare - Baroness Amos and other Commonwealth ministers heard first-hand accounts of illegal farm invasions and intimidation by government supporters as they toured Zimbabwean farmland on a mission aimed at ensuring that President Robert Mugabe will comply with a plan to end the land crisis. At Mr Mugabe's invitation, the ministers were flown to southern Masvingo province to meet settlers who took up plots on farms under the "fast-track resettlement programme" - the name the government has given to what others see as state-sponsored farm invasions. They then returned to Harare to hold discussions with representatives of civil society, including war veteran supporters of Mr Mugabe, the main opposition, and journalists.

But a white farmer who spoke for the community of Hwedza, 200km south-east of Harare, accused the government of failing to meet commitments agreed in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, in September. Japie Jackson told the ministers at Bath Farm that the mainly white commercial farmers had been warned not to tell the truth about the situation, otherwise there would be "severe consequences". Under the pact, the government agreed to stop landless blacks taking over white-owned farms, and Britain pledged to help fund a fair and just land reform programme. But according to the Commercial Farmers Union, which groups 4,500 farmers, at least 680 farms have been occupied since the Abuja agreement. Of these, 200-300 were new invasions, while the rest were on occupied farms where new settlers joined those already there.

Mr Jackson said that needy people were not being given land. Instead, he claimed, it was being earmarked for army officers, district administrators, policemen and "others who are in a position to influence next year's vote". The Commonwealth team, which winds up its mission today, also heard complaints from journalists' representatives, who protested against harassment by so-called war veterans as they attempted to cover events. They also complained of the government's "sustained campaign to muzzle the media". About 100 private news vendors have been detained and released as part of the systematic harassment campaign, effectively preventing them from selling their newspapers over the past three weeks. The latest example was the arrest of the board of the Daily News, Zimbabwe's leading independent newspaper, as the Commonwealth team were meeting with President Mugabe on Thursday.

No details of that meeting have been made public, but diplomats said that Mr Mugabe told the ministers that he was committed to the deal to end the violent invasions of the white-owned farms, which began in February last year. The Zimbabwean leader also warned Western governments that they had to do their part to end the 20-month-old standoff, according to the diplomats. War veterans' representatives who met with the Commonwealth ministers yesterday warned Britain that they would "not allow Britain to manipulate Abuja" in the way that the UK had allegedly done with the Lancaster House agreement that brought Zimbabwean independence. Led by the Nigerian Foreign Minister, Sule Lamido, the mission to Harare includes the Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, Britain's Baroness Valerie Amos, and representatives from Kenya, South Africa, Canada and Australia. The ministers are expected to set a timetable for the full implementation of the Abuja pact. The visit came as the European Union is moving closer to applying sanctions against Zimbabwe over its human rights record and its failure to end the land chaos.

From BBC News, 26 October

Food shortages in Zimbabwe shops

Zimbabwe is facing serious food shortages due to price controls imposed earlier this month by the government in a bid to control runaway inflation. According to reports in the independent Zimbabwean media, price caps on basic foodstuffs have forced many producers to operate at a loss, leaving them with no choice but to go out of business. The baking industry, which has been losing an estimated $33,000 a day, has been hit particularly hard. Basic goods including bread, wheat, maize, cooking oil and soap are reported to be becoming increasingly scarce as a result, with rationing now in force in many areas.

The Zimbabwean Government imposed the price caps on 10 October, citing the need to bring the country's inflation rate under control, which is currently running at over 70% a year. The country's soaring inflation stems from the weakness of the Zimbabwean dollar and its heavy reliance on imported fuel, priced in US dollars. A slump in the world price of metals and agricultural commodities, the country's principal exports, has deprived Zimbabwean importers of hard currency. Grain shortages caused by the government's policy of seizing white-owned farms have also fuelled a sharp increase in food prices.

Some observers in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, believe that the price controls are a populist measure designed to shore up electoral support for Mr Mugabe's government ahead of presidential elections next year. "The government wants to be sure that it can rely on the urban vote, but the policy is backfiring already. We are heading into serious shortages, and the people are angry," said one local source. Zimbabwe is due to hold presidential elections by April 2002, but no firm date has yet been set.

From the BBC

Zimbabwe double-bill

For those with access to the BBC Knowledge TV channel, there will be a two-hour long double-bill on Zimbabwe tonight, Saturday 27 October.

20:00 Langan In Zimbabwe  - Journalist Sean Langan ventures into Zimbabwe in the wake of the recent land disputes and ahead of the by elections to find out how the black community views the conflict.

21:00 Inside The Mind Of Mugabe  - Allan Little and a panel of experts try to unravel the complex mind of Zimbabwe's president. They attempt to identify what caused the descent from independence champion to dictator.

 
Transparency International March
 
There will be a march in Harare today, Saturday 27 October, organised by Transparency International Zimbabwe, on the theme "Eradicate Poverty, Fight Corruption". The march will start at 4th Street Car Park/George Silundika Avenue, will turn into Robson Manyika, Angwa Street, Robert Mugabe and finally Julius Nyerere Way to the Harare Gardens where the commemoration will be held. The march starts at 8:30 am and will last until 10:30 am. Police clearance has been granted.
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