The Zimbabwean
HARARE
The Zanu (PF)
government will soon embark on an exercise of dishing out land
to peasants
in impoverished communal areas as part of an election campaign,
this paper
has established.
The party leadership recently discussed its campaign plans
for next year's
presidential and parliamentary elections and came up with
the land strategy
to lure the electorate. Sources within the ruling party
revealed to The
Zimbabwean this week that minister responsible for land
reform, Didymus
Mutasa, would soon announce a new wave of
resettlement.
Government has recently revived land seizures from the few
remaining white
farmers and the sources said that trend was expected to
continue in order to
make farms available for the campaigning exercise.
"The land reform
programme is ongoing and what is wrong with government
giving land to
peasants, that is the essence of the programme?" Mutasa
said.
The ruling party will soon deploy officials to call on people in
communal
areas to register for land allocation, and in the process vote for
the
ruling party at next year's elections. A group of militant war veterans
and
militia will spearhead the programme and informed sources said
demonstrations similar to those carried out in 2000 prior to the
controversial and chaotic land grabs would be staged by the Zanu (PF)
supporters.
The exercise will also see some beneficiaries of land over
previous years
deemed to be underutilizing it losing it and government
saying it would
resettle landless peasants.
The Zimbabwean
John
Makumbe
The continuing arrests, kidnapping and torture of opposition MDC
supporters
by the evil Mugabe regime is clear testimony to the fact that Ian
Smith's
settler regime was a far better dictator than Robert Mugabe's.
Indeed, the
Smith regime did arrest and detain thousands of Zimbabweans
merely for
resisting colonialism and settlerism. They beat up detained
prisoners at
times, but they still gave them food and medicines.
Some of
the prisoners then were even able to read books and to study for all
kinds
of educational qualifications, including degrees. That is a far cry
from the
manner in which the diabolical Mugabe regime is treating innocent
people,
who are being illegally arrested, abducted, detained and tortured
today.
Reports that as many as 600 MDC activists have so far been arrested,
kidnapped and tortured this year alone attest to the satanic nature of the
Mugabe regime.
After 27 years in power, Mugabe has become a monster, who
takes pleasure in
inflicting pain on innocent victims of his own fear. In
the face of the 2008
parliamentary and presidential elections, in which he
is going to be a
candidate, Mugabe has unleashed a reign of terror against
both his opponents
within Zanu (PF) and those in the MDC.
Unlike Ian
Smith, who never used to bomb or kill his own kind, Mugabe has
arrested,
detained, beaten up and even killed some of the members of his own
party in
order to lay the blame on the MDC.
He has bombed at least one train, a police
station and other state
infrastructure in a vain attempt to demonstrate that
the MDC has embarked on
an orgy of violence. Fortunately for those of us who
are innocent, the
general public, the SADC community and the international
players see right
through the dictator's evil machinations; they know the
truth.
In light of the activities of the past few weeks perpetrated by the
despotic
Mugabe regime, it is necessary for civic organisations and
opposition
political parties to carefully identify the specific members of
the ZRP, the
army, the CIO and the Green Bombers that are involved in these
ugly and evil
activities. Proper records need to be kept for purposes of
prosecuting these
individuals in a free Zimbabwe tomorrow.
Indeed, some
of the names and other details of the victims of these demons
are currently
being published in this paper, but we also need to name and
shame their
torturers as far as possible. The people currently engaged in
violation of
people's rights must be made aware of what may befall them
should Zimbabwe
set itself free from the clutches of the dictator. A day is
coming when
justice will be visited upon some of these people in a manner
they will not
appreciate. Mugabe will not rule this nation forever.
The evils that the
desperate Mugabe regime is committing make the evil
activities of the Smith
regime look like a badly organised picnic. It is not
an exaggeration to say
the Mugabe regime has perfected torture into an art
form. The regime has
become an expert in the infliction of pain and
suffering both physically and
mentally.
The stories relating to how some of the MDC supporters were
tortured and
harassed by state agents indicate that the agents involved must
have been
trained in some of the most diabolical method of physically and
mentally
hurting innocent people.
Ian Smith may have done some beating
and torture of his victims as well, but
Mugabe exceeds him by thousands of
miles. What remains to be seen is whether
a new and democratic Zimbabwe
government will allow the perpetrators of
these evil deeds go free, or
ensure that the law take its course. I am of
the latter option, of course.
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - The MDC
(Tsvangirai) will this weekend hold 12 rallies throughout
the country, the
party's secretary-general, Tendai Biti told The Zimbabwean
in a telephone
interview.
Four of the rallies would be held in Harare, despite the
three-month ban on
rallies imposed by the politically-motivated police. The
ban gives the
ruling Zanu (PF)an unfair advantage as Zimbabwe enters the
presidential and
general election campaign period.
Biti said his party
was not intimidated by the "privatised state violence"
but was deeply
concerned about the continued incarceration of key members of
staff and
executive members. The Mugabe government had a habit of planting
"evidence"
on its opponents in a desperate bid to cripple their campaigns,
he
said.
"We have walked this path before. We saw what Mugabe did to Joshua
Nkomo's
Zapu. He did the same with Ndabaningi Sithole where a defective AK
47 and a
claymore bomb were planted on his farm. They also trapped our
leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai, and tried him for treason. Now they are trying to
pin blame for
their own petrol bombs on our people.
"At the same time, we
are acting as a social welfare organisation, arranging
food for the families
of our incarcerated people, paying rents and fighting
for the next election"
he said.
Biti said Mugabe could not keep Zimbabweans in a permanent state of
unhappiness. "Dictatorship is a short-term aberration," he declared.
The Zimbabwean
As Zimbabwe marks
its 27th year of Independence, it is time to take stock
and reflect. When
the Union Jack was lowered and the new Zimbabwean flag
went up in Rufaro
Stadium at one minute past midnight on April 18, 1980, our
hopes were raised
with it. Hopes for a new beginning where all people were
equal in the sight
of God and the law.
There was a serious commitment on the part of the new
government to bring
about a real improvement in the quality of life for all
Zimbabweans. Health,
education, housing and transport were high on the
agenda. The judiciary was
independent and respected. The Police went on
human rights courses and
appointed community liaison officers in order to
work with the people.
Food was plentiful and affordable. There were abundant
jobs. One Zimbabwe
dollar bought two US dollars.
All this has been thrown
away for the sake of power. Today one US dollar
buys anything from 17,000 to
25,000 Zim dollars.
The rampant abuse of power has led to terror stalking the
land. This
state-sponsored terror, now the order of the day, takes the form
of
intimidation, abduction, arbitrary arrest, incarceration and torture of
anyone deemed to be political opponents. Extra-judicial killings are now
taking place.
Government-orchestrated deprivation of food, mass urban
evictions and lack
of HIV-AIDS medication makes life a hell on earth for
millions of
Zimbabweans at home. Millions in the diaspora suffer too - doing
menial jobs
for little pay, with no rights, no security, no family
life.
And now the man responsible for this, Robert Mugabe, is seeking
election for
a further five years.
The longer he stays in power, the
harder it will be for the country to claw
back from the pit of chaos to its
former glory as the jewel of Africa, the
breadbasket of SADC.
Most
Zimbabweans have come to the conclusion the independence merely means
exchanging oppression by a few rich whites for oppression by a few
newly-rich blacks.
As Tendai Biti is quoted as saying elsewhere in this
newspaper, most
Zimbabweans are now in a permanent state of unhappiness. And
most did not
celebrate on Independence Day. Millions did not even have a
square meal.
The Zimbabwean
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - While police and other state agents brutalise
civilians, the
state-run media is stoking up hatred of Zanu (PF)'s political
opponents and
the West both with vituperative commentaries and giving
unquestioning
prominence to vicious outpourings by Robert Mugabe.
The
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) said that between March 11 and
April 8 it found 48 stories in the state-run press, radio and TV that
"conveyed threats, incitement, racial bigotry and insults against the
opposition MDC, civic leaders and some Western diplomats."
These included
Mugabe actually boasting on ZTV about the internationally
condemned beating
up of Morgan Tsvangarai and other opposition figures. He
said he had told
SADC leaders that Tsvangarai "was thoroughly beaten up. I
told them that the
police beat him. I didn't hide that."
"Although the media are obliged to
expose inflammatory language made by
public figures, they are duty bound to
condemn it as unacceptable in a
civilised society because it undermines the
basic democratic concept of
justice by encouraging hatred, violence,
lawlessness and intolerance," MMPZ
said in its report for the week ending
April 8.
"The great tragedy of Zimbabwe is that instead of fulfilling this
duty, the
official media are actually used to endorse and promote the
language of
incitement and intolerance," the monitors added.
Commentators
in The Herald followed up Mugabe's hate-filled outbursts with
everything
from ridiculing the injured opposition activists and Gift Tandare
who was
murdered, through sexually abusive comments about injured women to
pouring
bile - including a death threat - on US and British diplomats.
Herald
columnist David Samuriwo warned that British diplomat Gillian Dare
could be
deported or end up dead, saying it "will be a pity for her family
to welcome
her at Heathrow Airport in a body bag just like some of her
colleagues from
Iraq and Afghanistan."
The monitors said that in the week under review the
private media carried 18
new incidents of serious human rights abuses -
continued abductions, torture
and shooting of MDC and civic activists,
harassment and beatings of
university students, and the killing of retired
journalist Edward Chikomba.
The private media also disputed the regime's
claims that all had gone well
for Mugabe at the SADC summit.
Studio 7
quoted analyst Aubrey Matshiqi as saying the choice of SA President
Thabo
Mbeki to intervene showed how the region had "hardened its stance on
Zimbabwe." The Financial Gazette quoted Mbeki as saying "The region believes
there are political problems (in Zimbabwe) . and people said quite openly
that they are disturbed to see these pictures of people beaten up."
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - Thousands of
children living with their parents on grabbed farms
have no access to basic
education, and are victims of sexual abuse and or
forced labour, according
to an NGO focusing on families living on commercial
farms.
The Farm
Community Trust of Zimbabwe, in a report seen by The Zimbabwean,
states that
at least 125,000 children living on grabbed farms are not going
to school,
while hundreds of others are dropping out.
"Some 210,000 of the estimated
350,000 children attending primary school on
the commercial farms travel a
distance of between six and 25km to the
nearest school.
The majority of
the farm schools are not registered with the Ministry of
Education, Sport
and Culture since they are located on private property.
Most of the teachers
are not trained. All farm schools are in dire need of
instructional and
learning material.
"No meaningful learning can take place without textbooks,
exercise books and
other learning materials," says the report.
The Zimbabwean
HARARE
Zimbabweans should
brace for a chilly winter as the Zimbabwe Electricity
Regulatory Commission
proposes to hike rates by 350 percent starting in
June.
The manager of
the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission Company Manager, Edward
Rugoyi, said a
total of 150 megawatts had been secured from regional
partners - 100mw and
50mw respectively from Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) and
Mozambique.
In good times, the country imports over 300mw and gets supplies
from South
Africa's Eskom of SA and Zambia Electricity Supply Company
(ZESCO). But
imports are threatened by anticipated shortages across Southern
Africa,
caused by increased demand.
"Securing supplies is becoming
increasingly difficult with the challenges
being faced in the region," said
Rugoyi.
Mavis Chidzonga, Commissioner-General of the Zimbabwe Electricity
Regulatory
Commission, said increases in the costs of goods and services had
led to
"price distortions" which needed to be removed in line with
government
policy. "The percentage increases take into account soaring
generation,
transmission, and distribution costs involved in the supply of
electricity,"
she said in a statement.
Rates were expected to go up by
120 percent in June and by another 50
percent in October, she said.
Power
supplies are erratic and families in cities are turning to firewood
for
cooking and heating because of outages.
The hikes were predicted when Zesa
Holdings chairman, Christopher Chetsanga,
announced in January this year
that it was broke.
He said Zesa was failing to service a Z$105 billion debt
and planned to
retrench more than 600 workers between January and March this
year to cut
its heavy wage bill.
"It costs the utility $90 to produce a
kilowatt and the same kilowatt is
sold for $5. The utility imports power at
US2 cents and sells at US0,2 cents
per kilowatt. Zimbabwe provides the
cheapest electricity within the
region," he said.
Chetsanga said the
utility required at least US$30 million to repair four
generators at Hwange
Power Station that have broken down. - CAJ News
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - The embattled
Zimbabwean government this week claimed compensation
for capital improvements
to some farmers whose properties were forcibly
acquired under the agrarian
reform has started, but displaced farmers said
they had no knowledge of any
such compensation.
State Security minister responsible for Land Reform,
Didymus Mutasa said
government evaluators had been deployed to the farms to
assess the value of
capital improvements.
"These evaluations are used by
the compensation committee as the basis upon
which to determine the amount
payable to the affected farmers," Mutasa told
State radio.
He claimed
some of the farmers had already received compensation although
efforts by
The Zimbabwean to identify them last week proved fruitless.
The permanent
secretary in the lands ministry reportedly chairs the
compensation
committee, appointed by Agriculture minister Rugare Gumbo.
In terms of the
conditions of compensation, a farmer who is not satisfied
with the amount
determined by the compensation committee can appeal. Some
farmers are
understood to have engaged private evaluators to assess their
properties and
may contest the government evaluation.
Commercial Farmers' Union officials in
Mashonaland West, East and
Matabeleland said although government evaluators
had been there about four
months ago, they knew of no one who had been paid.
The Zimbabwean
BULAWAYO
The president
of ZAPU (FP), Paul Siwela, has ruled out possibilities for a
peaceful
negotiated settlement with President Robert Mugabe or chances of
change
coming through elections.
In an exclusive interview with The Zimbabwean at
his offices in Bulawayo
recently, Siwela said Mugabe was a terrorist and had
used terror to ascend
as well as remain in power. As such, Siwela contends,
that is the only way
to end his oppressive rule.
Without failing to
acknowledge the risk of being persecuted by Mugabe,
Siwela even suggested
that there was need for what he termed "an Iraqi
style" on Mugabe, referring
to the manner in which former Iraq dictator
Sadaam Hussein was deposed by US
and British forces.
"Mugabe will not go as has been demonstrated by the
failure of all the
legitimate and acceptable routes we have tried as a
nation. Sanctions have
proved they will not work, and hoping that protests
by Zimbabweans can push
out Mugabe is an exercise in futility because he is
a terrorist who has
created legislation and militia to kill anyone opposed
to his regime,"
Siwela said.
Siwela, whose party believes in a federal
system of governance, said all
opposition forces should join hands in
fighting Mugabe and the ruling party.
"For example, I am prepared to back the
candidature of Tsvangirai at next
year's presidential elections if they are
to be held under a new electoral
system," he said.
Siwela was arrested
ahead of the 2002 presidential elections, which he
contested, and charged
with making subversive statements against the state
but the case was
sidelined without going to trial.
The Zimbabwean
LUSAKA - Zambia's finance
minister said his country has become an oasis of
stability in southern
Africa and has not been greatly harmed by unrest in
neighboring Zimbabwe.
Despite the disruption to trade, Zambia has seen
significant benefits from
Zimbabwe's troubles, Finance Minister Ng'andu
Magande said at a briefing
during last weekend's meetings of the World Bank
and International Monetary
Fund.
"When your neighbour has a party, you hear the noise, when they have a
funeral you hear the wailing," he said. "But it has not been too
disruptive."
He cited a boom in Zambian tourism, as visitors to Victoria
Falls on the
country's border with Zimbabwe have been flocking to the
Zambian side to
avoid unrest. He said that many white farmers, whose lands
had been
confiscated by the government in
Zimbabwe, have resettled in
Zambia and bolstered the agricultural sector
with high skill
levels.
Zimbabweans have been blamed for an upsurge in crime and
prostitution, with
Zambian police recently rounding up some 500 Zimbabwean
women from the
streets of the capital Lusaka and sending them home. - Own
correspondent
The Zimbabwean
The Zimbabwe
National SPCA is continuing its efforts to gain access to nine
elephants
being 'trained' by the travel company Shearwater Adventures. The
nine are
the survivors of a group of 12 captured from herds in the Hwange
National
Park in November 2006.
In a January 2007 press release, Shearwater insisted
that the ZNSPCA's
claims that the elephants were being mistreated were
untrue, claiming that
their training methods were 'willing relationship[s]
based on mutual trust
and respect'. The ZNSPCA has consistently demanded
that the company allow
them access to the elephants to test this claim.
After legal wrangling, the
ZNSPCA were granted a court order for the
inspection, which has yet to take
place after Shearwater refused access to
their premises on the grounds that
the ZNSPCA had not obtained the
assistance of vets named in the court order
at the company's insistence. The
ZNSPCA point out that they have written to
these vets on more than one
occasion but have not yet received any reply.
Shearwater has been operating
in Zimbabwe since 1982, and offers a range of
activities in the Victoria
Falls region, including jet-boating, helicopter
rides and whitewater rafting
in addition to 'Elephant-Back Safaris'. The
company's website claims to be
the 'leading adventure activities company in
Africa', as well as being
'ecologically sound' and 'in full compliance with
respective National Parks
regulations.' Their January press release argued
that safaris were an
excellent way to 'learn more about the elephant and as
a result take a
greater interest in the conservation issues surrounding
them.' The company
has strenuously denied the claims by the ZNSPCA that the
elephants captured
in 2006 have been left in unhygienic and dangerous
conditions, pointing to
three inspections by Government vets which gave
positive accounts of the
elephants' condition.
The competing press releases by the ZNSPCA and
Shearwater Adventures are not
helpful in establishing the condition of the
elephants. The company has not
responded on its website to the claim by the
ZNSPCA that another elephant
has died, nor explained why it has allowed
three inspections by Government
vets but obstructed the ZNSPCA's inspection.
- Jaime Ashworth
The Zimbabwean
Bishop Paul Verryn of the
Methodist Central in Johannesburg: Photo: Annie
Mpalume, CAJ
News
JOHANNESBURG
South African clergyman, Bishop Paul Verryn, whose
Methodist Church in
Johannesburg central is home to more than 1 000
Zimbabwean refugees, has
castigated President Mugabe's government for
increased state-sponsored human
rights violations and lawlessness.
It's a
tragedy that African politics does not tolerate the opposition.
Opposition
political parties in this great continent are always treated as
enemies," he
said.
"Africa and the world should help Zimbabwe as a matter of urgency in
order
to avoid a civil war."
Verryn also took a swipe at President Mbeki
for shielding Mugabe when
thousands of Zimbabweans were forced to leave the
country in large
numbers. - CAJ News
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - The
siege on the opposition Movement for Democratic Change over the
past nine
weeks has created a new humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.
There have been over
200 documented cases of torture and brutality following
illegal abductions
and arrests of hundreds of MDC members, officials and
activists. But MDC
officials say this is only the tip of the iceberg.
"These are only the
documented cases, the people who come in for medical
treatment, operations
and hospitalisation. The hundreds who have been
beaten randomly as they
walk home in the high density suburbs, the people
who are pulled off
commuter buses and beaten in the street, all those who
were ordered out of
their houses prior to the ZCTU stay away, and beaten
with batons, as a
warning not to stay away from work - these are the people
who have not been
documented individually and who have not come for medical
treatment," says
an MDC statement issued this week.
Many of those beaten are not opposition or
civic society organisation
member's - they are beaten because it is state
organised and sanctioned, to
create a climate of fear and
submission.
The majority of MDC members and activists are unemployed. They
survive by
pushing carts, selling air time cards etc. They live from hand
to mouth.
So when they are abducted and imprisoned by the state, their
families have
no means of support.
The MDC says it has "very, very
limited resources" and is having to provide
food for the political detainees
at Remand Prison and Police cells on a
daily basis, as well as bus fares for
a family member to visit daily and the
basic necessities for survival to the
families while their bread winner is
incarcerated.
In addition, the party
must provide transport and fuel to those members who
are collecting and
delivering food and assistance, uplifting the injured and
tortured for
medical treatment, and ensuring that those in hospital are
visited and
looked after.
The cost of this very necessary humanitarian exercise is huge.
Given
Mugabe's track record, the current wave of abductions, arrests,
torture and
violence is likely to continue until the elections in March
2008.
Many of the CIO and military intelligence perpetrators of the torture
have
told their victims that they will not rest until every member, official
and
activist of the MDC has been arrested and tortured. They have said that
by
2008 there will be no MDC left, that it will have been smashed. - Own
correspondent
The Zimbabwean
PRETORIA
It appears the
European Union has wilted under pressure from the African
Union to allow
Zimbabwe to attend the Africa-European summit to be held in
Portugal in
December.
South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
said: "The
African position doesn't insist on anything except that the
African Union
(AU) cannot be dismembered. The African Union is the African
Union. We can't
say we want to co-operate with the EU but not with
Portugal."
Zimbabwe is one of the 53 African countries that form the AU.
Dlamini-Zuma
was hosting her Portuguese counterpart Luis Amado for bilateral
and economic
discussions. - Own correspondent
The Zimbabwean
LONDON - Zimbabweans in
the Diaspora have started a campaign to have sent
home the children of
senior Zanu (PF) officials studying abroad. The Fair
Deal campaign is being
coordinated by the news website Zimdaily.com
The proponents believe the
children of senior party and government officials
should not be allowed to
enjoy the benefits of Western education, health,
democracy and freedom which
their parents are denying the people of Zimbabwe
in their own
country.
"We do not hate these poor kids," reads a message posted on the
website. "We
love them. We want them to be with their parents."
A
campaign official told the press this week that its purpose was to expose
Zanu (PF) hypocrisy - castigating Western countries while their offspring
reside and are being educated there.
"We have successfully courted the
support of MPs in the UK, New Zealand,
Canada, Belgium, Australia and the
US. To date, 200 names, including contact
addresses, social security
numbers, passport numbers, photos and immigration
status have been
collected. The response from some Western governments has
been very
encouraging, with some officials asking for names and contact
details," said
the official. - Own correspondent
The Zimbabwean
As the Mugabe regime staggers to its end, leaving the
economy in
tatters, economist NORMAN REYNOLDS proposes a revolutionary
scheme to set
the country on its feet again. Part 2 - Community
Trusts.
'A full people-led agrarian and land reformation will
follow'
'Women become equal owners, the most important gain
possible'
'It would stimulate the economy from the bottom up by
providing
the means for all citizens to become economically
active'
Community Trusts are the means to renew valued traditions
of
joint ownership. They act to convert politically and economically
dysfunctional villages and neighbourhoods into democratic property
companies. These provide members with modernized rights of access to and
ownership of land and other productive assets.
The trusts
become asset holding, investing and managing bodies.
Women become equal
owners, the most important gain possible for them in
Africa. The
"investment" monies provided will be more than matched by
member/owner
labour contributions, since there is now a community body that
can turn
investments in cash and labour into useful assets and thus into
member
dividends.
The total cash infusion per year into a community of
1,000
adults and 1,000 children under 18 would around be R4 million. To
this, the
adults would add around R2.5 million worth of labour. The local
income
multiplier should rise from around a pathetic 1.4 or so at present to
between 3.0 and 4.0.
The total annual local economic activity
generated per year
would be around R14 million, or R35,000 per family of
four. This is a return
on state / donor investment of 358%. Total investment
(cash and labour) per
year would be R4.8 million per year, or a growth in
equity value of R10,000
per family. This surge in unlocked local energy and
economic investment
would then drive the national Gross Domestic Product at
least 3% per annum
higher.
It would also generate tax
revenues equal to 60%+ of its cost
because of the high total local and
national multiplier, which will be
around 9. Just as importantly, when
compared to the IMF balance of payments
route, it would first build local
demand to reward the revival of
neighbourhoods and then of companies,
enabling all Zimbabweans to become
active participants and producers, both
locally and nationally.
Zimbabwe can become an internationally
high profile early use of
SCIP from which its urgent implementation
throughout South Africa can only
gain.
Foreign
Exchange
Under the plan, all foreign exchange (forex) provided by
the
international community would be sold for local currency to business and
industry through a series of forex "windows." The first window would be
limited to exporters, because export industries like mining, tourism, and
agriculture generate forex through their international sales, thus
multiplying the amount available.
By giving priority to
exporters, guarantees for foreign loans
from banks would be easier for them
to obtain, further swelling the pool of
forex available. Any forex surplus
in the first window would be passed to a
second "window" through which
national essentials like fuels, foods,
medicines etc. are
bought.
This would act to keep the cost structure of the economy,
and
inflation, down. Any further forex surplus would go to a third "window"
that
would auction its available forex for use by domestic business and
industry.
The use of economic and social rights programming in
this plan,
employing a strong "localization" model to balance
"globalization," would
allow Zimbabwe to come under an innovative form of UN
/ AU Economic and
Social Trusteeship. It would stimulate the economy from
the "bottom" up by
providing the means for all citizens to quickly become
economically active
and secure, it would ensure a better than minimum level
of schooling and
health for all, and it would build communities and local
economies, thus
laying the foundation for national reconciliation, rapid
economic recovery
and a broad-based growth in citizen ownership of their
country's productive
base.
This will result in a rapid
restoration of an active and
participatory democracy. Financially and
organisationally competent
communities would be able to soon enter the land
market if they wished to
expand their land base or to move into particular
crops or to be nearer to
markets. A full people-led agrarian and land
reformation will follow this
form of economic rights programming, taking the
state out of the driver's
seat of what has become a too politically charged
matter.
Finally, if implemented and fully funded, this recovery
plan
would attract back the 3 million Zimbabweans who have fled in the past
seven
years and who have considerable skills and much needed
The Zimbabwean
BULAWAYO
Local
manufacturers are finding it difficult to survive due to an influx of
cheap
Chinese goods that have flooded the country since the government
embarked on
its much touted 'Look East' policy five years ago. Local
products are highly
priced as a result of production costs that have seen
the price of raw
materials shoot beyond the reach of manufacturers.
The chairman of the
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), Alfred
Mhlokoa Dube, said the
main challenge faced by indigenous manufacturers was
the shortage of foreign
currency. He slated countries exporting substandard
goods to Zimbabwe, for
using the country as a dumping site.
"The state's failure to control the
influx of cheap Chinese goods has led to
large manufacturing companies
shutting down their businesses," he said. -
CAJ News
The Zimbabwean
HARARE
A
desperate Zimbabwe government is now employing Gestapo-style tactics to
silence critics with night raids on homes of opposition activists,
journalists and government foes by men in cars with fake number plates,
while abduction, torture and even murder have become the hallmark of the
Mugabe regime.
Recent mysterious bombings of police stations, which
security agencies blame
on the MDC, have left a trail which human rights
bodies and security and
political analysts this week said heavily implicated
the government's spy
Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), the youth
militia and military
intelligence.
Government's refusal in the past to
prosecute its supporters accused of
crimes against the opposition had
underscored the authorities' complicity in
lawlessness. Now tactics have
changed.
There are increasing reports of violence by state security organs
under the
direct charge of President Robert Mugabe and his cabinet, human
rights
watchers and analysts said.
"They cannot investigate the cases
because all what is happening is State
terrorism; it's sponsored by the
State," said MDC (Tsvangirai) secretary
general Tendai Biti.
Mugabe and
his trusted lieutenants have simultaneously cracked down on the
opposition,
mainly the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC and the influential Mujuru
faction,
which has dared challenge Mugabe's presidency.
Human rights organisations and
observers told The Zimbabwean that some
aspects of the violence could only
point to state security organs.
In one incident, eight victims of police
assault were forcibly removed from
a private health facility without the
consent of doctors there. All eight
had been denied medical care in custody.
Such behaviour by security forces
continues to intimidate health workers who
treat victims of organized
violence and torture.
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - Zimbabwe is
likely to go to the polls much earlier than March next
year amid reports the
ruling Zanu (PF) party is considering bringing the
election calendar forward
because of the fast deteriorating economic
situation which is likely to
militate against President Robert Mugabe's
re-election.
Mugabe's term
expires on March 31 and constitutionally he is supposed to
hold an election
within 90 days prior to that date.
Zanu (PF)'s continued support of Mugabe
comes amid reports of simmering
discontent in party's file and rank at the
disastrous effects of his rule,
which has in recent weeks seen another
crackdown on opposition supporters
that claimed the life of an activist
earlier last month.
"The election could be held as early as February, January
even," said a Zanu
(PF) Politburo member.
Mugabe is now almost certain he
will be opposed by Morgan Tsvangirai, the
charismatic veteran trade unionist
at the helm of the bigger wing of the
MDC.
The Zimbabwean
BULAWAYO
This
year's Zimbabwe International Trade Fair has registered a significant
reduction in the number of exhibitors, both local and foreign. ZITF
chairman, Nhlahla Masuku, said that only 13 foreign countries will be
exhibiting at the event, all of which are from Africa and Asia.
"We have
registered 690 domestic exhibitors," Masuku said. Last year there
were 713
domestic exhibitors, a major decline from previous years. The
manufacturing
sector has recorded a decline of up to 15% over the past three
years owing
to macro-economic problems sparked by government's controversial
land
reforms started in 2000.
The event is on from April 24-28 under the theme,
"Zimbabwe Brands, Regional
Brands and Global Brands".
Biting economic
challenges will prevent most citizens of Bulawayo from
visiting this year's
Trade Fair. In the past, the event was always a
highlight for
locals.
Organisers of the event were yet to finalise entry charges - but they
could
be as high as $10 000.
"We have always enjoyed the trade fair as a
family event. But we won't be
able to go this year because of the money
problems we are facing," said
Nicholas Dube.
Industry and International
Trade minister, Obert Mpofu, said despite the
country's economic problems,
the prestigious event would serve as one of the
ways through which trade
opportunities could be revived for an ultimate
contribution towards economic
growth.
"The trade fair always provides an opportunity for the country to
market its
products and services to the rest of the world thereby increasing
trade
opportunities. Although we are facing economic challenges, the trade
fair
comes at a time there are serious efforts at reviving the economy and
the
event provides a good platform for that," Mpofu said.
Mayor of
Bulawayo, Japhet Ndabeni Ncube also expressed hope that the trade
fair would
bring business to the city through an expected influx of visitors
both from
the local and international business communities.
Hotels and lodges have
recently hiked their rates enormously. Leading hotels
in Bulawayo such as
Selbourne and Holiday Inn now charge up to $800 000 for
overnight
accommodation.
The Zimbabwean
BULAWAYO
A massive exodus of
lecturers has hit the National University of Science and
Technology (NUST)
in protest over the government's refusal to raise their
salaries to over
Z$1.2 million.
This follows rejection by lecturers of a 300% salary increase
which saw them
getting about $500 000, saying it fell way below their
expectations in view
of rampant inflation. Faculties of Commerce and Applied
Science are the
worst affected. The institution has had to place press
advertisements for
lecturers.
Bernard Njekeya, the president of the NUST
and Zimbabwe State Universities
Union of Academics Association ,confirmed
the wave of resignations at NUST
over poor salaries: "On average we have
about three lecturers resigning
every week. There has been a high staff
turnover over government's refusal
to address our demands." The institution
has less than 35% of the required
lecturers due to the mass
exodus.
Zimbabwe's education sector, once lauded as one of the best in
Africa, has
virtually collapsed after years of under-funding and the brain
drain as
teachers and lecturers leave for better pay in neighbouring
countries. An
estimated 10 000 teachers have left the country for neighbours
such as South
Africa, Botswana and Namibia in the last two years, where they
have been
welcomed them with open arms. - CAJ News
The Zimbabwean
Defiance campaign to continue,
2008 postponement possible
HARARE - The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
has thrown out suggestions
by South African president Thabo Mbeki that it
withdraws its defiance
campaign as a precondition for talks with Zanu
(PF).
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai told The Zimbabwean that the party
dismissed
the possibility of shelving its democratic resistance project
against
President Robert Mugabe's brutal regime.
"Despite the violence
and assaults, our resolve is not shaken and we will
pursue vigorously the
quest for democratic change in Zimbabwe," Tsvangirai
said. "It is in this
regard that we will continue with our defiance
campaignwithin the Save
Zimbabwe Campaign coalition and at the same time
pursue the negotiations
opened up by SADC."
"The withdrawal of the defiance campaign is not on the
agenda at all," added
Tsvangirai. "However, consideration for such
withdrawal could be made after
a
timetable and process for the
restoration of democracy, leveling of the
playing field and repeal of
repressive legislation."
Mbeki has been mandated by the SADC troika on
Politics, Defence and
Security, to open up dialogue between the MDC and Zanu
(PF). His effort is
being bolstered by SADC executive secretary Tomaz
Augosto Salamao who has
been in the country since Wednesday last week on a
fact-finding mission.
In the meantime, Mbeki last week presented a four-page
document to Mugabe
and the two MDC leaders Arthur Mutambara and Tsvangirai
outlining the terms
of
reference in the planned negotiated
settlement.
The MDC has immediately responded to the roadmap warning Mbeki
that Mugabe's
government risked facing the wrath of an increasingly restive
Zimbabwean
populace besieged by the crippling political and economic crisis
as the
government continues to trample on the democratic rights of ordinary
Zimbabweans.
The response also states the position of the MDC to boycott
the election if
a new constitution is not in place and Harare continues its
reluctance to
comply with provisions of the Grand Baie protocol - a set of
conditions
ratified by all SADC heads of State guaranteeing free and fair
elections in
the sub region.
The MDC letter further states that the party
would be willing to support the
postponement of the 2008 election calendar,
as long as that delay is caused
by a constitution-making process.
The Zimbabwean
HARARE
BY ITAI
DZAMARA
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) president, Morgan Tsvangirai
says he is
ready to face his arch-rival, Robert Mugabe for dialogue or an
election
contest. He spoke to The Zimbabwean in an exclusive interview on
the
Independence day commemorations, which he bemoaned come at a time the
nation
is under siege.
The former trade unionist remains committed to
fighting for the good of the
nation, despite his recent brutal assault at
the hands of Mugabe's security
agents.
Tsvangirai insisted there was no
viable route to solving the country's
problems other than a negotiated
settlement and said Mugabe had been left
with no other option but to accept
constitutional reform.
"There is a sense of betrayal, of helplessness, a
sense of catastrophe, and
recent events have shown that despite the
independence, there is no
freedom," Tsvangirai said. "However, I am
optimistic - the way to go is
negotiated settlement.
"There is no way
Mugabe can survive dissent from within Zanu (PF), the
country in general and
the international community. There seems to be an
urgency on the part of
SADC to resolve the crisis and there is also a
realization within Zanu (PF)
that this international isolation cannot be
sustained," he said.
Giving
his full support to the SADC initiative of mediating through S A
president,
Thabo Mbeki, Tsvangirai added that there should be electoral
reforms to
guarantee free and fair elections next year.
"I am ready to meet Mugabe
anywhere and any time because I believe dialogue
is the key to the crisis. I
am also ready to contest the elections, but only
when the electoral
framework has been reformed to guarantee the holding of a
free and fair
election. I have a full mandate from my party to contest the
elections and
would appreciate it if other opposition forces endorse me to
stand for the
coalition of opposition parties. Unity makes us stronger," he
said.
The Zimbabwean
BY GIFT
PHIRI
HARARE - Pre-election political bickering, State-sponsored violence and
the
deepening fuel crisis are adversely affecting Zimbabwe's tourism
industry
amid reports the sector has suffered a 50 percent decline in
tourist
arrivals due to the deepening crisis and the prevailing political
uncertainty.
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) documents to hand reveal
that between 40
and 50 percent of business has been lost since the eruption
of violence this
year.
"The picture being painted in the foreign print
and electronic media is one
of a not stable situation," says the document,
adding that the prevailing
situation nullified ZTA's efforts to clean up the
country's image abroad.
Chief executive Shingi Mutasa of a top hotel chain
told the core group of
the tripartite forum recently that tourist arrivals
within the group were
about 40 percent less than that of last year.
He
said there was a general lack of confidence in what is happening in the
country.
"These issues are fundamental and should be urgently resolved.
Tourist
arrivals are now 30 to 40 percent less than those of last year and
we still
cannot tell those inquiring when the problems will be solved," he
said.
Tourism is the third largest contributor to Zimbabwe's Gross Domestic
Growth
after agriculture and manufacturing.