Business
Day
Mbeki off to Harare to discuss Mugabe
exit'
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PRESIDENT
Thabo Mbeki is expected to travel to Zimbabwe next week with
President Robert
Mugabe's early retirement likely to be on the agenda,
despite denials
yesterday by the Zimbabwean government that Mugabe will step
down before his
term expires in 2008.
While not giving details of Mbeki's visit, a senior
government official said
one of its aims would be to bring Mugabe's Zanu (PF)
and the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to the negotiating
table.
One of the main obstacles to talks has been the MDC's claim that
Mugabe was
not legitimately
Continued on Page 2 ...(well even without
the rest we get the gist of it... no more posted on the
web...B)
jang.com.pk (Pakistan)
'Zimbabwean cricket team a bunch of
yes men'
LONDON: The Zimbabwe cricket squad set to embark on
their tour of England
have not been selected according to their ability but
because they won't
rock the boat with president Robert Mugabe's government
claimed former
skipper Alistair Campbell on Tuesday.
Campbell told the
Times current captain Heath Streak - whose father a white
farmer was detained
for three days by the police last year and had three
quarters of his farm
seized under the government Land Laws - wouldn't be
outspoken if asked about
what he thought of human rights abuses and
electoral rigging perpetrated by
Mugabe's government.
"That's what the team are, a bunch of yes men," said
Campbell, who retired
from the international stage after the World Cup where
Zimbabwe exited in
the first round. "And Heath Streak couldn't say a bad word
about anything.
"If you could pick your best Zimbabwean side, not many of
these guys would
be in it."
Campbell said all the players would only
have been permitted to go on the
two-test tour if they passed a political
vetting process by the Zimbabwe
Sports Commission as he had experienced when
he was a member of the squad.
"I used to have a clause in my contract
that said if anything from me
appeared in the press that was politically
orientated, then I'd be suspended
without pay pending investigation. "So all
you'll hear from these players is
I'm here to play cricket. That's it," he
said. While there is every
likelihood of the England-based 'Stop the Tour'
group staging protests at
the two tests at Lord's and Chester-le-Street led
by Peter Tatchell, who
famously leapt naked onto Mugabe's car when he paid a
visit to England, and
former Sports Minister Kate Hoey, Campbell says there
is unlikely to be any
such dissent from the players.
Zimbabwean duo
Andy Flower and Henry Olonga were heralded as heroes when
they stepped out
for the first match of Zimbabwe's World Cup campaign
sporting black armbands
in protest at the death of democracy in their
country once hailed as the
'bread basket of Africa' but which is now wracked
by famine.
Flower is
playing for Essex in the English county championship while Olonga
is believed
to still be in hiding in South Africa fearing Zimbabwean secret
police are
trying to kidnap him and take him back to Zimbabwe. Campbell said
it was
unfair to have selected so many young players - only Streak, Andy
Flower's
brother Grant and Stuart Carlisle have over 20 caps while eight of
the party
have less than 10, for such a difficult baptism of fire in the
test
arena.
"It's a lot of untried youth," he said.
"I actually feel
sorry for them. It's unfair to thrust them into the
international arena so
early."
The Zimbabweans open their campaign with a match against the
British
Universities on May 3 with the first Test at Lord's starting on May
22.
VOA
State Media Criticizes Zimbabwe Banks for Closing
During Strike
Tendai Maphosa
Harare
29 Apr 2003, 21:56
UTC
In Zimbabwe, the state-owned media are sharply criticizing the
country's
banks for closing during last week's three-day general strike. The
strike
was called by the country's labor unions to protest a hefty price hike
on
fuel. The criticism of the banks comes as thousands of Zimbabweans
are
spending hours trying to withdraw money from the banks.
The state
media charge that the banks are cooperating with the opposition to
cripple
the economy. The state-owned Sunday Mail says unidentified legal and
banking
experts are calling on the government to investigate the activities
of some
financial institutions.
The state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
went further, saying that
the country's central bank, the regulating
authority of banking
institutions, is not being tough enough on the banks. It
says the central
bank is turning a blind eye to what it calls illegal
activities such as
changing money at the black market rate, rather than the
official rate.
The banks are also being accused of violating the
country's Banking Act,
which prohibits banking institutions from engaging in
undesirable methods of
conducting business and requires them to provide
depositors with their money
any time they want, during banking
hours.
Under the Act, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development
can withdraw
a license from a banking institution found to be in breach of
the law.
The Sunday Mail however quotes the vice president of the Bankers
Association
of Zimbabwe, Jerry Tsodzai, as saying that the banks did not
close in
support of the strike. Rather he says the banks had to close because
most of
their employees did not turn up for work.
When banks re-opened
on Saturday after the strike, there were unusually long
lines of depositors
wanting to make withdrawals. The depositors had to wait
several hours to get
their money, as the banks waited for the central bank
to provide them with
cash.
The lines grew longer Monday following rumors of a strike on
Tuesday. But
that strike did not happen.
Zimbabwean depositors have to
notify their banks in advance if they want to
withdraw large sums of money
because the country is experiencing a shortage
of bank notes.
The
central bank, which is responsible for printing the notes, cannot
satisfy
demand because it is short of foreign currency to pay for the
imported paper
the notes are printed on.
Zimbabwe is facing its worst economic crisis
since independence 23 years ago
and is experiencing severe shortages of basic
commodities, as well as fuel.
Inflation is at an all time high of 228 percent
and unemployment stands at
80 percent and is rising as companies downsize or
close down as a result of
the harsh economic
environment.
Washington Times
Why we're there
Allan
Gerson
With the human-rights file on Sudan
closed, with Cuba essentially
getting a pass despite its jailing and
mistreatment of 74 dissidents, with
Zimbabwe escaping from the list of
countries requiring special observation,
and without any mention of human
rights violations in Chechnya, it is little
wonder that editorialists argue
that the United States should get out of the
U.N. Human Rights
Commission.
Thus, The Washington Post on April 18
opined in its lead editorial, "If
the Commission [chaired by Libya] is going
to continue to act against the
interests of the world's weak and persecuted,
we ought not to lend it any
further credibility." Walking out is offered as
the solution.
The trouble is that, if we pick up our
marbles and go away, the
commission still continues to function in its nasty
way. Countries like
Israel that have been subjected to the worst calumny and
accused of
"Nazilike practices" will have no one - with the valiant exception
of
Germany at this year's session - to stand up for them. Israel's
ambassador,
Yaakov Levy, has said that, when he addresses the commission, he
tries to
look at the delegates as individuals, many of them young people,
many of
them unaware of the facts, as an opportunity to set the record
straight, or
at least to present another side of the picture to which they
would
otherwise not be exposed.
Participation
creates a special dilemma for the United States. Last
year, it was booted off
in a secret ballot in which the U.S. for the first
time in the commission's
55-year history did not gain a seat. Instead the
body, which is supposed to
be the U.N.'s premier organ for dealing with
human-rights violations around
the world, granted that seat to Syria. The
chairmanship went to Libya. Faced
with that unpalatable outcome, the U.S.
government decided to withdraw its
participation. However, when re-elected
this last year, the issue became
whether to send a U.S. emissary of
relatively low diplomatic stature or to
send a big gun. It was decided on
the latter, and former U.S. Ambassador to
the United Nations Jeane
Kirkpatrick was selected for the
task.
Was it worth the candle? Did we squander a
valued national resource by
dignifying a body which required only a slap from
the back of the hand? To
judge what in fact occurred, it is necessary to take
into account what is
not generally known: the unheralded diplomatic successes
scored against the
record of what could not be
achieved.
Two days after the start of the Iraq war,
when success seemed still
distant, a special session was called for under the
banner of humanitarian
concerns to call for a cease-fire. This would
essentially have given a
victory to Saddam Hussein, or at the least have made
diplomatic life for the
United States all the more difficult. Mrs.
Kirkpatrick deftly handled the
diplomacy with letters to the members of the
African Union calling directly
for their support, with notification to all
the other delegates of the
actual strength of those forces supporting the
United States, militarily and
otherwise, and through a variety of other
means.
Granted, this is not exciting stuff to make
the front pages of any
newspaper, especially when bullets are flying. But, it
can have a critical
impact. Keep in mind first what the word "cease-fire"
means. Cease-fire is
what the omnibus eight-page U.N. Security Council
resolution 687 of April 3,
1991, called for, and it bought the Iraqis more
than 12 years of time,
despite the resolution's repeated call for
unconditional and immediate
destruction of weapons of mass destruction and
chemical weapons.
Undoubtedly, the Arab League,
meeting in Cairo two days after the start
of the war, had something along
these lines in mind when it voted in favor
of a cease-fire resolution. That
exercise didn't go anywhere until someone
had the clever idea of bringing the
show to the Human Rights Commission in
Geneva. It had already been addressed
by various foreign ministers,
including those of France and Germany. It
seemed like an ideal locale to
launch the effort of a cease-fire as, unlike
the U.N. Security Council, the
U.S. would not be in a position to exercise
its veto, and U.N. legitimacy
could then be claimed in favor of a
cease-fire.
Syria and Cuba spearheaded the effort,
joined by Zimbabwe, South
Africa, Malaysia, Libya, Sudan, Burkina Faso and,
surprisingly, Russia. On
March 26, it introduced its resolution calling for a
special emergency
session to consider "Human Rights and Humanitarian
Consequences of the
Military Action Against Iraq." The body of the text made
clear, however,
that the resolution had nothing to do with humanitarian
concerns, as the
operative paragraphs condemned the coalition action as
"clearly in violation
of the principles of international law and the United
Nations Charter," and
called for "an immediate end to the unilateral military
action against
Iraq."
The night before the
anticipated vote, the likely tally did not look
good. Latin American
countries that the U.S. could usually count on for
support - Venezuela and
Brazil - were now lined up squarely in the opposite
corner. Others - like
Costa Rica and Mexico - were being pressured to
distance themselves. Newer
friends - like Croatia and Ukraine - also seemed
uncertain in their
vote.
Under Ambassador Kirkpatrick's leadership, the
United States not only
went to the delegates themselves, but also made
demarches in capitals trying
to make clear how important the outcome of this
vote would be. When the vote
on the resolution was called for on March 27,
the European Union stood
firmly with the United States. Germany, the chairman
of WEOG (the Western
European and Others Group) exercised a decisive
leadership role. In Africa,
the Cameroons and Uganda broke ranks with the
African Union to vote against
the resolution; Senegal, Togo and the
Democratic Republic of Congo
abstained. Swaziland and Sierra Leone decided to
absent themselves from that
day's business. Ukraine did likewise. Thailand,
despite pressure from the
Asian bloc, voted resoundingly
No.
The final tally was 25 against the resolution,
18 in favor, and 7
abstentions. It was a big victory for the United States,
although one that
went practically unnoticed by the international press. It
was too busy
covering skirmishes in Iraq to notice what was going on in the
posh
surroundings of Lake Geneva in the old halls of the League of
Nations.
Allan Gerson, an international lawyer
and coauthor of "The Price of
Terror" (HarperCollins 2001), was a senior
adviser on this year's U.S.
delegation to the U.N. Human Rights
Commission.
Herald
Zanu-PF, MDC Don't Share Common
Values
The Herald (Harare)
EDITORIAL
April 30,
2003
Posted to the web April 30, 2003
Harare
AS the scramble
for Zimbabwe's presidency intensifies, a major local and
international push
is being made for a negotiated settlement between the two
major political
parties.
The ruling Zanu-PF and opposition MDC do not share any common
values, with
the former which is driven by the quest for sovereignty,
integrity and total
economic and political independence while the latter is
obsessed with
acceptance by the West and jobs, among other peripheral
issues.
As a result of the vast ideological differences, Zimbabwe's
politics has
continued to be mired in protests, violent demonstrations and
vicious
campaigns that do not seek to develop the country's fledgling
democracy but
force the people into accepting unconstitutional and
undemocratic practices.
The differences between the two parties stem from
the very foundations of
the liberation struggle, with the ruling party
belonging to the pioneers of
independence and the opposition being made up of
forces that fought against
black majority rule.
While the opposition
has been given a lot of room to play in the political
arena, the electorate
is still not convinced that it can uphold the values
upon which this country
was liberated judging by its track record and the
company that it
keeps.
The impatience it has shown in not wanting to wait for either
the
constitutional process of elections or its legal challenges pending
before
the courts of law, renders their motives suspect.
With one leg
in legality and another in clandestine political maneuvering,
the MDC has
failed to show that it is willing to respect the country's
constitutional or
democratic processes.
If it surely cannot be trusted with following the
very democratic principles
that it purports to be fighting for, how then can
it be entrusted with
upholding the laws and interests of this
country?
It is every Zimbabwean's right to aspire for the highest
political office in
the land and no one should be impeded from trying his or
her hand at
becoming the president of Zimbabwe.
However, there is a
clear line that should never be crossed, which separates
independence and
re-colonisation.
While the MDC is willing to sleep with the enemy for
expediency, we know for
a fact that it does not have the wherewithal to brush
it aside once the
prize is won.
There is no greater shame than to
betray one's country in order to enjoy
international patronage, more jobs and
food on the table when we know that
our people can deliver the goods, if
given the chance.
The irony is that the faces that are at the forefront
of the country's
re-colonisation drive are mostly the same forces that fought
against the
independence of Zimbabwe.
Almost the entire leadership of
the MDC either fought against the struggle
for freedom or ran away from the
war front with none of the leaders having
any real liberation credentials,
even though most of them were old enough to
actively participate in that
struggle.
They have, however, declared that they are willing to pay the
highest
sacrifice for "change" in Zimbabwe's politics.
While they had
no such courage to fight against white colonial oppression
and even abetted
it, they have become so brave that they are now prepared to
die in the name
of democracy, rule of law and freedom of expression, among
other popular
cliches.
" Let us live for every second of our present lives...give of
ourselves
completely and totally in the moment and the results will take care
of
themselves. Refuse absolutely to accept despair...of all the emotions
this
is the killer - a man in despair is one of the living dead. We
have
everything to live for...everything to justify why we are right here,
right
now in our lifetime. Seize this day - the why is already apparent - we
stand
for peace, for love and for a better future in our chosen community -
the
how is what you are doing right now - the fight for freedom has never
been
easy...."
Victor Frankl
(Written whilst prisoner in a concentration
camp)
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28 April 2003 07:49
The
End of Our Tether.
It has begun to dawn on the business
community here that we are at the end
of our tether in every sense of that
phrase. This is leading to a dramatic
change in both their perceptions and
attitudes to the MDC and the movement
for change. This past week we saw an
attack on business leaders by the
government - both for their perceived
support for the union led stay away
and on other issues.
Lets look at the
present situation as far as the country is concerned.
We are politically as
isolated as we can get. Even our neighbors and other
African states are
wavering in their support for Mugabe and the current
regime. Western
condemnation and pressure is, if anything, intensifying.
Whatever the
government may say we have not grown more than a third of what
we need to
feed the country in the next twelve months. We in the MDC predict
that the
total maize crop will be about 700 000 tonnes, the winter wheat
crop at most
80 000 tonnes. This leaves us with a grain deficit of about 1,4
million
tonnes. With the aid agencies winding down and the government frozen
in its
shoes, we face a crisis that is worse than last year - in a much more
adverse
domestic and global environment. We have no margarine in our stores,
little
cooking oil, no sugar and very little milk and milk and all
grain-based
products.
My local supplier of fuel has not had diesel for a month, we now
operate on
fuel brought in from Botswana, and filling stations are dry across
the
country. People spend days in queues. Paraffin is a thing of the past.
Coal
is difficult to get - you have to send your own transport to Hwange
to
collect supplies. Electrical energy is now so short that factories
are
operating at 40 per cent or less of capacity. Mines are being load shed
and
you can image what that is doing to them. We understand that if nothing
is
done soon - that even worse cuts in electricity are possible. For many,
this
is the issue that has broken the back of the situation - we are so short
of
energy that we can no longer operate our factories, mines and
businesses.
The new minimum wage for industry is Z$47 696. Workers now pay on
average
Z$600 to Z$700 per day for transport. After tax and transport they
have
virtually nothing left. We are now witnessing people leaving their
places of
work to go either small-scale mining (gold) or to migrate to South
Africa
where they will join the millions already there in a life of crime
or
illegal employment. As a result many local factories are now
experiencing
shortages of labor.
The official price of a 50 kg bag of
cement is less than Z$500. The market
price ranges from Z$3000 to Z$10 000.
The official price of maize meal is
about Z$30 a kilo. In the market prices
range from Z$300 to Z$450 per
kilogram. The official price of bread is Z$60
per loaf - it will actually
cost you Z$250 to Z$350 per loaf. There is no let
up in the inflation
-officially at 228 per cent but in reality at least twice
that figure.
Pensioners and low income workers are literally starving. Last
month it was
reported that in half the households surveyed for the food
situation, the
household was selling capital assets to buy food.
There is
no sign that the government is coming to grips with the situation
-their
economic recovery plans are fragmented and unrealistic, they are not
facing
up to the severity of the economic crisis or growing political
isolation.
They continue to blame the western world (Britain and the USA)
for their
problems. They continue to harass and intimidate the opposition
and
violations of basic human and political rights continue unabated.
There
has now been two successful stay away's from work - the first organised
by
the MDC and the second by the Trade Unions. Both drew widespread
support
from all elements in our society - including many in the State
sector. The
next phase in the mass action campaign is coming and they know
that and this
will entail street protests for the first time. They must know
that the
military and the police are getting edgy at the continued use of the
armed
forces for domestic oppression and violence against the local
population.
Yes I think we are at the end of our tether in all respects. We
could go on
but only at the cost of very dramatic hardship for all the people
of the
country - including now the very people on whom Mugabe depends for
support.
The minority who have grown rich whilst the people have been
impoverished.
Then there is the painful issue of who controls the
tether? Again no
comfort for Mugabe. For whatever the reason Mbeki has
told his people to
treat Zimbabwe as a commercial customer - no special
privileges. So a
Minister goes to a South Africa clinic for treatment and is
turned away when
he says the government of Zimbabwe will pay the bill. The
South African
energy giants of Sasol and Escom are both imposing normal
conditions on
present and future energy supplies, so are Libya and Kuwait as
well as
Mozambique. The EU and the USA (the largest sources of aid funds in
the
world) are both saying it cannot be business as usual for African States
if
they continue to permit Mugabe delinquency. The IMF and the World Bank
are
also saying - no business until you put your house in order.
Finally
there is the MDC, no matter what they do to us we will not go away
and we
will not bow. Those whom Zanu despised yesteryear as nobodies are in
fact now
an insurmountable obstacle to progress in the political arena.
There is now a
viable opposition and potential future government in the
wings, one with
policies and a clear ideological base and popular mandate.
An opposition that
cannot be defeated democratically and now stands in the
way of any directed
solutions. One that cannot be circumvented in any road
out of the valley we
are in at present. One that controls the tether and
with whom they will
shortly have to negotiate their own futures and
security.
Eddie
Cross
Bulawayo, 27 April 2003.
Daily
News
Mudzuri
suspended
4/30/03 6:51:51 AM (GMT
+2)
By Columbus
Mavhunga
Engineer Elias Mudzuri, the
Executive Mayor of Harare, has been
suspended by the government with
immediate effect.
Announcing the
suspension last night - after attending a Cabinet
meeting - Dr Ignatius
Chombo, the Minister of Local Government, Public Works
and National Housing,
said Mudzuri had failed to turn around the city since
he assumed office last
year.
But Mudzuri immediately dismissed
Chombo's accusations, saying there
were no sustainable grounds to suspend
him. He said the move was
politically
motivated.
"Chombo must be
warned that he is playing on a wrong political
scenario," said Mudzuri. "He
wants to trigger unnecessary chaos and
confusion within the city. Whatever
reason Chombo gave for my suspension is
rubbish. Those were fabricated
charges."
Chombo said since Mudzuri took
over the highest office in the city
last year on an opposition MDC ticket,
the mayor failed to deliver and turn
around the
city.
"The mayor has arbitrarily suspended
key management staff without a
staff audit," Chombo told journalists. "He has
abused his authority, flouted
tender procedures and not followed procedures.
He has failed to sufficiently
supply water to the city and its satellite
towns since September."
But Mudzuri
laughed it off when he was asked to comment on the
water
situation.
"I will issue a
detailed statement to that effect tomorrow (today),"
said Mudzuri. "All I can
say is that Chombo has been trying to test my
strength for quite a long time.
I am the strongest character in the city."
Chombo said the deputy mayor, Sekesayi Makwavarara, would now act as
mayor
pending the findings of a committee to assess whether Mudzuri should
be
dismissed or reinstated.
Asked what move
he would take now that he had been suspended, Mudzuri
said: "All the power
lies with the residents. The people of Harare have the
final say. I am the
second highest elected person in Zimbabwe after Mugabe,
but I believe in
democracy. I will listen to the residents. If they say I
have to go through a
referendum, I will go. But I will not take heed of the
dirty tricks which the
minister is playing."
Mudzuri and Chombo
have continually clashed since the mayor's election
last
year.
Chombo has been accusing the
MDC-dominated council of mismanagement,
corruption, poor provision of
services to the city and victimising council
employees deemed loyal to Zanu
PF.
Mudzuri has, in turn, accused Chombo
of continual interference.
The Daily News
was last night inundated by callers deploring the move
and urging residents
to boycott paying rates.
Daily
News
SA envoy urges Zimbabwe to
talk over land reform
4/30/03
7:23:33 AM (GMT +2)
By Precious
Shumba
NEO Masitela, the chairman of the
South African Portfolio Committee on
Agriculture and Land Affairs, yesterday
said the major problem affecting
Zimbabwe was lack of communication between
the government and major
stakeholders who are involved in the land reform
programme.
Masitela said Zimbabweans
should promote dialogue among themselves
whenever they are faced with
problems.
He was summarising presentations
by agri-business dealers, and
representatives from the General Allied
Plantation Workers' Union of
Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ) and the Farm Community Trust
of Zimbabwe (FCTZ) at
Parliament.
"There is clearly a serious lack of communication among yourselves
as
Zimbabweans," he said. "Most of the inputs you are making today could
have
been addressed if you had dialogued among
yourselves."
Masitela said although the
government had voted nearly $800 million
for agricultural development
programmes, this had not been made public.
He said this culture of working in silence posed a serious
problem.
He was responding to the
presentations by agro-dealers, who told the
SA delegation that Zimbabwean
farmers did not have resources.
The SA MPs
are in the country to gather evidence from their Zimbabwean
counterparts in
the Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water
Development, Rural
Resources and Resettlement on how the government's land
reform programme was
progressing.
Masitela said they were here
because there was a Communal Rights Bill
that was before their parliament,
and they would want to gather as many
views as possible from
Zimbabwe.
Masitela said all issues
affecting agricultural development in
Zimbabwe must be discussed with the
government.
He said open dialogue should
centre on the controversial GMO, health
delivery, production and how to
assist new farmers.
"We will make
recommendations to the Zimbabwe government," he said.
"All stakeholders in
the land reform have the capacity to correct
things.
"We will convey this message to
your government that some people are
worried in the manner in which the land
reform is being implemented. We need
to work out things
together."
Walter Mzembi, the chairman of
the agro-dealers, in his presentation
to the delegation, said they were
giving small-scale farmers a
four-pillar-support system which included
resource based use, input and
financial
support.
Getrude Hambira, a GAPWUZ
representative, said displaced farm workers
desperately need food assistance,
medication and education for
their
children.
She said most schools
and clinics which were built by the white
commercial farmers were forcibly
closed down and government was aware of
that
problem.
Godfrey Magaramombe, the director
of FCTZ said about 2 million people
who depended on about 500 000 displaced
farm workers were left without any
source of income.
Daily
News
New twist in MDC arson
case
4/30/03 7:29:08 AM (GMT
+2)
Court
Reporter
THE MDC was not at all involved
in the fire which gutted the building
housing Zanu PF offices in Chinhoyi
last month as previously claimed, the
High Court heard
yesterday.
The fire could have been
started by an employee of a workers' union in
the same building who was
determined to destroy evidence in a fraud
case.
The revelation was made by Harare
lawyer, Alec Muchadehama,
representing Gift Machoka Konjana, an MDC
provincial administrator,
implicated in the arson and denied
bail.
Konjana allegedly confessed to
torching the Mashonaland Turf Club
building which houses offices for various
organisations including the
General Agricultural and Plantation Workers'
Union (Gapwuz) and Zanu PF.
"There are
suspicions that a serious fraud was committed at Gapwuz and
one employee is
suspected to have burned that building to destroy evidence,"
Muchadehama told
High Court judge, Justice Moses Chinhengo.
"It's quite possible the applicant could be
innocent."
Konjana, Martin Wilson, Peter
Lwanda and Rodgers Joseph Chimatira are
being charged with arson or violating
the Public Order and Security Act.
Konjana's co-accused were released two weeks ago on $150 000 bail each
after
Chinhengo ruled that there was no strong evidence linking the accused
to the
offence.
Chinhengo denied Konjana bail,
saying Konjana had outlined in a
statement to the police how he allegedly
single-handedly burnt down
the
building.
Muchadehama said his
clients were tortured by detectives and CIO
agents and that Konjana made the
alleged confession under duress.
He said
the investigating officer had admitted that Konjana and his
accomplices were
assaulted while in police custody.
"The
State has now confirmed that the statement was extracted in
circumstances in
which the applicant could not be said to have confessed
freely and
voluntarily," Muchadehama said yesterday.
"The State's case has been weakened by the State's own investigation
which
found that there is an indication that the applicant was assaulted in
the
manner described in the court
application."
Brian Vito, of the
Attorney-General's Office, argued that there was no
evidence to suggest that
Konjana made his alleged confession under duress.
Daily News
Harare Central, Makonde voters' rolls ready for
inspection
4/30/03 7:26:07 AM
(GMT +2)
Staff
Reporter
THE voters' rolls for the Harare
Central and Makonde by-elections, are
now open for inspection, the Electoral
Supervisory Commission (ESC)
said
yesterday.
In a statement, Thomas
Bvuma, the ESC spokesman, urged voters to check
their names on the voters'
rolls to avoid being inconvenienced.
Said
Bvuma: "The ESC is concerned that many people just turn up at
polling
stations on polling days and are surprised when they are told that
they
cannot vote because their names do not appear on the voters'
roll.
"Some names do not appear on the
voters' rolls either because people
are not registered as voters or because
they have changed residence but have
not notified the Registrar General of
their new address."
By-elections are due
in Harare Central and Makonde constituencies at a
date yet to be announced by
President Mugabe. This follows the resignation
of the MDC's Mike Auret and
the death of Dr Swithun Mombeshora, who
represented
Makonde.
Daily News
Madiro threatens timber
producers
4/30/03 7:26:43 AM (GMT
+2)
From Chengetai Murimwa in
Mutare
MIKE Madiro, the Zanu PF chairman
for Manicaland, has threatened
timber producers that they risk losing their
plantations if they continue
supporting the
MDC.
Madiro made the threats at a meeting
with members of the Timber
Producers' Federation (TPF) a fortnight
ago.
TPF is an association of about 32
timber growers and sawmills
in
Zimbabwe.
Top provincial Zanu PF
members, Kenneth Saruchera, the deputy
treasurer, Munacho Mutezo, the
secretary for administration, Robert Gumbo,
the secretary for commissariat
and Paul Kadzima, the treasurer, attended
the
meeting.
Gumbo is also the
chairperson of the war veterans in
Manicaland.
According to minutes of the
meeting, it was agreed, among other
things, that the TPF would not support
opposition politics and should work
with Zanu PF to ensure the ruling party
wins the forthcoming urban
council
election.
It was also agreed
that TPF should recognise the government's
controversial land reform
programme and to assist newly resettled
farmers.
TPF was represented by Border
Timbers Limited, Forestry Company of
Zimbabwe, EC Meikle, Troutbeck Timbers,
Wattle Company and Mutare Board and
Paper
Mills.
John Gadzikwa, TPF chairperson,
yesterday confirmed the meeting took
place but refused to give
details.
"The meeting took place but I can
not give you details," said
Gadzikwa, who is also the managing director of
Border Timbers Limited.
Madiro yesterday
refused to discuss the matter referring any enquiries
to Charles Pemhenayi,
the Zanu PF spokesman in Manicaland. "The meeting was
a lobbying event to
work with industry and commerce including TPF,"
said
Pemhenayi.
He denied that Madiro
threatened timber producers. But sources
maintained the TPF was threatened
and ordered not to participate in job
stayaways organised by the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions.
Daily News
10 000 Harare residents benefit from food
aid
4/30/03 7:27:25 AM (GMT
+2)
Staff
Reporter
AT least 10 000 people in Harare
are benefiting from food aid being
distributed by the United States
government and distributed via the United
Nations World Food Programme each
month.
The food distribution started in
February.
During a tour of one of the food
aid programmes in Mbare yesterday,
Joseph Sullivan, the United States
Ambassador to Zimbabwe, said the US had
since March 2002 contributed
approximately 217 000 metric tonnes of food
assistance to Zimbabwe, valued at
US$111,6 million (about Z$6 billion).
"The
US is acutely aware of how difficult life has become for most
Zimbabweans,"
he said. "As a result, the American contribution to Zimbabwe's
emergency food
need is larger than that of any other single
donor."
He said the US would remain
committed to helping the Zimbabwean people
overcome the mounting challenges
they are facing.
In Mbare at least 4 500
people under the Mashambanzou Trust are
benefiting from the food aid
programme.
The beneficiaries include Aids
orphans and those infected with the
virus and they receive maize, beans and
cooking oil.
The Mashambanzou Trust is
also involved in paying school fees and
meeting the medical needs of the less
fortunate children.
According to the UN more
than six million Zimbabweans need food aid
because of the current drought and
the effects of the government's chaotic
land reform
programme.
Daily News
Mashonaland West MDC activists flee
terror
4/30/03 7:27:53 AM (GMT
+2)
Staff
Reporter
SEVERAL MDC activists in
Chitungwiza and Mashonaland West province say
they have fled their homes for
fear of police arrests and torture after last
month's stayaway called by the
MDC.
In separate interviews recently, the
activists alleged that the police
were out to arrest them for allegedly
organising the protest, which
paralysed most of the major cities and
towns.
Wayne Bvudzijena, the police
spokesman, was not available for comment
but the police had previously vowed
to arrest all those who organised
the
stayaway.
Simon Mudzingwa, the MDC
deputy chairman for Mashonaland West, said
the police had been hunting for
senior MDC activists for their alleged role
in the stayaway. Mudzingwa said
he escaped from Chinhoyi following what he
alleged were several attempts on
his life by Zanu PF supporters and
the
police.
He said: "We will not
return to our homes until this illegitimate
regime is
gone."
Daily
News
Tenants resist eviction
despite court order
4/30/03
7:30:30 AM (GMT +2)
By Brian Mangwende
Chief Reporter
ABOUT 300 families at
Eastview Gardens, Harare, are resisting eviction
from the complex despite a
Supreme Court ruling ordering them to move
out.
There are 384 two-bedroomed flats at
the complex situated near
Rhodesville Police Station along Mutare
Road.
The flats previously belonged to the
Zimbabwe Reinsurance Corporation
Limited (Zimre) and later sold on the open
market to individuals.
Now, a storm is
brewing among the new owners and the tenants with the
new owners saying they
were being prejudiced.
The new owners have
since engaged the Messenger of Court to evict the
tenants who are refusing to
budge.
Last week, residents who were
dressed in Zanu PF regalia and chanting
slogans in praise of the ruling
party, barred the Messenger of Court from
executing his duties by picketing
the entrance to the block of flats.
They
also hoisted the National Flag at the
gate.
They are arguing that they were not
given enough time to respond to
offers made by Zimre when the flats were up
for grabs in 2000.
Those interviewed
declined to be named. One resident said: "Zimre took
us by surprise when they
said the flats were now for sale. "They gave us
first preference as sitting
tenants to buy the flats, but in a surprise
move, they reversed that
decision, without giving us enough time either to
look for the money or enter
into any agreements."
The residents sought
the protection of the High Court, but they lost
the case. They then appealed
to the Supreme Court which upheld the High
Court
decision.
Upholding a High Court judgment
to evict the tenants, the Supreme
Court ruling reads in part: "Courts have no
power to create legal rights.
Their duty is to interpret the law and declare
the existing rights which
they enforce.
"If, as was the case here, there was no agreement between the
first
respondent (Zimre), and the tenants in terms of which the right to
purchase
the flats they occupied was given to the tenants, the court had no
basis on
which to grant them a right to purchase the
same.
"Courts cannot make contracts for
parties. The appeal is without
merit. It is dismissed with costs," read the
court ruling.
Two days before Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions-led job stayaway
last week, residents failed to
report for work in continuous efforts to
protect their property after the
Messenger of Court reappeared to
evict
them.
The residents went a step
further and solicited the protection of
Joseph Chinotimba, a war veteran and
Zanu PF's losing candidate in the
Highfield
by-election.
Chinotimba addressed the
residents and made it clear that as long as
they supported Zanu PF they would
not be evicted.
Daily
News
Subdued start to
ZITF
4/30/03 7:31:19 AM (GMT
+2)
From Our Correspondent in
Bulawayo
THE crippling fuel shortage
nationwide turned yesterday's start of
this year's Zimbabwe International
Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo into a
low-key
affair.
Some Bulawayo filling stations
have not received fuel supplies since
the price of the commodity shot up
about two weeks ago.
Although 596
exhibitors, compared to last year's 523, had confirmed
their participation at
the beginning of the year, a significant number had
not yet set up their
stands by yesterday.
Some exhibitors said
they were not sure whether they would be able to
erect their stands as they
were having difficulties transporting their goods
to the ZITF grounds because
of the fuel shortage.
ZITF officials would
not comment on the number of exhibitors who had
turned up for this year's
event.
An exhibitor from Botswana said
they had decided to bring marketing
brochures instead of goods because of the
fuel shortage.
The fair, which ends on
Saturday, will be officially opened by Angolan
President Eduardo dos Santos
on Friday.
Daily
News
Zimbabwe's capital account
dries up
4/30/03 6:42:32 AM (GMT
+2)
By Hama Saburi Business
Editor
FOREIGN capital coming into
Zimbabwe has virtually dried up largely as
a result of the current stand-off
between the Zimbabwe government and the
international
community.
Without disclosing figures, the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, said there
has been capital outflow from Zimbabwe
and the rest of the continent.
The RBZ
said: "For instance, Zimbabwe's capital account has virtually
dried up
following the suspension of foreign aid and development capital,
coupled with
unfavourable domestic and external
conditions."
A capital account is a
summation of investments, aid and credit coming
into a
country.
It reflects the level of
confidence the international community has in
a
country.
Joseph Muzulu, a local economist,
said a lot needs to be done to
attract foreign
capital.
"We need to address the
macro-economic situation and encourage foreign
investors to invest and then
capital will flow in depending on interest rate
differentials with other
countries," Muzulu said.
While the
situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated, emerging markets and
some Asian
countries remain attractive to foreign investors because of
brighter
prospects for growth and higher returns on
investments.
In its weekly economic
highlights, the central bank said high
inflation prevailing in Zimbabwe
against stable rates obtaining in trading
partner countries was inimical to
growth and export competitiveness.
Consequently, Zimbabwe's real gross domestic product growth declined
by over
12 percent last year and is projected to plunge further by at least
7 percent
this year.
"Despite these challenges,
however, developing countries, particularly
in Africa, should take advantage
of the positive growth prospects in the
world economy, to increase capacity
utilisation and expand the export base.
"This, however, requires these countries to address domestic and
external
imbalances ranging from slowdown in economic activity to high
inflation and
weakening external competitiveness.
"Zimbabwean exporters should take advantage of existing export
incentives and
the recent changes to the exchange rate arrangements to
increase production
and export share, so as to boost the country's export
earnings," the RBZ
said.
There are encouraging signs of
recovery across the world's major
economic blocs, following marked slowdown
to 2,2 percent in 2001.
World output is
projected to increase by about 3,7 percent this year,
up from 2,9 percent
last year.
Emerging market countries are
expected to register a positive growth
of 4,9 percent this year, while growth
in industrialised countries will also
remain strong at 2,5
percent.
Mixed, but strong performance is
however, expected in most developing
countries in Africa and
Asia.
On average, growth in Africa's
economy is projected at 4,2 percent
this year, while developing Asia will
grow by 6,3 percent.
Daily
News
Industrial production
declines
4/30/03 6:43:26 AM (GMT
+2)
From Ntungamili Nkomo in
Bulawayo
INDUSTRIAL production has plunged
to a mere 30 percent owing to
intermittent electricity power
cuts.
Antony Mandiwanza, the president of
the Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries, said the acute shortage of foreign
currency had worsened the
situation.
The extent to which production has declined is a cause for concern
since it
contributes to the depreciating value of the local
currency.
Mandiwanza said recently:
"Industry is currently suffocating under
immense pressure because of the
general economic conditions confronting us.
In terms of capacity,
load-shedding, stayaways, and a depressed economy have
stifled production to
30 percent."
The Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply Authority introduced load-shedding
last month following the reduction
in power imports due to soaring debt.
Zesa
needs US$165 million (Z$9 075 million) to settle arrears with the
World Bank,
European Investment Bank, the African Development Bank, among
other
creditors. The parastatal imports electricity from South Africa,
Mozambique
and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mandiwanza lamented low industrial production, which he said had
resulted in
a serious reduction in exports, leading to the shortage of the
much-needed
foreign currency. Many workers could lose their jobs as
companies continued
to downsize citing viability problems.
He
said the government should take corrective measures to salvage the
country's
industry from total collapse.
"The
solution hinges on the government's responsibility to resuscitate
the
troubled industry. They need to implement the much-vaunted National
Economic
Revival Programme in a holistic and integrated manner. That should
cover the
issues of foreign currency, exports and domestic production,"
he
said.
Daily
News
Feature
It's the lying
messenger who should be shot
4/30/03 6:40:08 AM (GMT +2)
WHO remembers
Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf? I do: every time he appeared on
television at the
height of the United States-British invasion of Iraq, my
thoughts turned to
Jonathan Moyo.
Al-Sahaf was described by
Reuters as "the ever-defiant Information
Minister". They could have been
describing Moyo. Here is an example:
On 8
April, a US spokesman, Lieutenant Mark Kitchens told reporters:
"What you're
seeing is a vice. A vice is closing in on this regime and as
the vice closes,
their time is running out."
Al-Sahaf
responded: "They (the coalition soldiers) are going to
surrender or be burned
in their tanks. Baghdad is bracing itself to pummel
the
invaders."
But by 12 April, the vice had
indeed closed in and US troops were in
Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's home town,
having conquered Baghdad earlier.
At the
time of writing, there was no information on the whereabouts of
the garrulous
Information Minister, let alone his boss.
But towards the end of last week there was news that the former deputy
prime
minister, the ailing Tareq Aziz, had given himself
up.
Between Al-Sahaf and Moyo, I found an
identical style of delivery: the
tendency to be pathologically economical
with the truth and to use language
sailing perilously close to the shores of
obscenity. Then there is the
passion, symbolised by the bulging eyes and the
oral gymnastics; the
self-confidence of someone convinced he is speaking to
ninnies who are
swallowing his every word: how dare they challenge him? They
didn't go to
university, as he did, or work at that prestigious university in
South
Africa, or the internationally respected Ford Foundation in
Nairobi.
There have been amazing stories
of Moyo's departure from both
institutions - no doubt peddled by people
envious of his success, he might
say.
If he has commented on the fate of his Iraqi counterpart after the
fall of
his boss, I have not read of it. People being what they are -
sensible and
pragmatic - have compared Saddam Hussein's fate with that of
Moyo's boss, and
his own to that of al-Sahaf.
His friends
have discussed an exit plan for President Mugabe, but it's
early days yet.
Most citizens would feel grievously hurt if they were denied
an opportunity
to ask Mugabe what they have being dying to ask to him for 23
years: why did
you hate us so much?
What happened to
al-Sahaf after Saddam fled his country? He could have
escaped. I doubt he
will turn up to denounce his former master in front of
US and British TV
cameras as the worst dictator in Asia since Pol Pot of The
Killing Fields
notoriety - as someone I know is dying to tell the world,
once he locates the
offices of the BBC, CNN or SkyNews in
Harare.
So far, I haven't mustered the
courage to tell him these people have
no offices in Zimbabwe because Moyo
believes they would cramp his style:
essentially, to keep Mugabe from
discovering that, in public, he is sounding
more and more like a clone of The
Professor, rather than the other
way
around.
Mugabe's performance on
ZBC-TV in that incredibly predictable
interview was a fine example of a
leader believing his own
chief
propagandist.
There was an
unforgettable moment when he looked thoroughly
bewildered: Supa Mandiwanzira
kept probing him about the British connection
with the MDC. Mugabe was so
hard up for an answer he blurted out they have
bugged Morgan Tsvangirai's
telephone. He said they knew of a telephone
conversation between the MDC
leader and Tony Blair.
He was so desperate
to convince Supa of this alliance that he was
forced to disclose that little
security detail.
Most people know that the
desperation of this government has reached
ballistic proportions. They
routinely bug the telephones and cellphones of
every citizen they suspect of
being even indifferent to Mugabe's rule, let
alone
critical.
Still, I think Nicholas Goche,
who must have provided the intelligence
on the bugged conversation, would not
have been pleased with this
disclosure, which other people would be told was
on a "need to know" basis,
as they say in the spook
business.
At another level, that
performance confirmed what Doris Lessing said
about Mugabe in a recent
article: he is a very frightened man. I noticed
that my colleague, Alexander
Kanengoni, did not agree with that perception,
although for the life of me I
can't imagine why: so many people in and
outside Zimbabwe now dislike and
despise this man so intensely he would have
to be psychologically numb not to
feel scared.
He may not be in the same
league with Osama bin Laden, but he
certainly has his share of ill-wishers
around the world.
Let's assume for one
moment Mugabe was confronted with the same fate
as Saddam Hussein - it's not
so fanciful: I bet the Iraqi leader did not for
one moment imagine he would
be hightailing it pronto out of his palace as
the US tanks smashed through
the gates.
Would Jonathan Moyo keep
telling the world that what Mugabe's enemies
were saying were lies, that he
was still in full control, even if the truth
was that he had left State House
and was being flown by helicopter to the
border with the
DRC?
I mean, is that what really happened
as the presidential election
swung in Tsvangirai's favour in March
2002?
Al-Sahaf was loud and eloquent in
defence of Saddam Hussein.
It's always
difficult to gauge the sincerity of such
people.
As genuine spin doctors, you can
trust their word only at your
own
peril.
Some of their loyalty is
suspiciously of the insane variety. There
must come a time when such
messengers, whose specialty is to lie to protect
their masters and their
interests, may deserve the same punishment as the
people they
served.
Listening to Mugabe in the
interview with SupaI thought of the many
live broadcasts Saddam used to have
at the peak of his reign.
He would speak
to his people about the struggle against Iran whose
people I remember him
saying "are not even Arabs".
He would
speak to them later about the people of Kuwait, whose country
he wanted to
annex. Thousands of Iraqis died in both wars, which many
analysts now say
were avoidable.
Which is where Saddam and
Mugabe bear a striking resemblance. Mugabe
sent Zimbabweans into three wars -
against so-called Zimbabwean "dissidents"
in Matabeleland and Midlands,
against Mozambicans fighting Mozambicans in
their own country and against
Congolese fighting Congolese in their
own
country.
You get the eerie
sensation that the similarity doesn't end there.
Both countries are endowed
with abundant natural resources, yet their people
are as poor as if they had
no resources, except a surfeit of
mendacious
politicians.
Clearly, their
messengers have spoken with the forked tongue of
the
serpent.
When the time comes, they
too must be asked to account for
their
falsehoods.