Mugabe tells ZANU PF youths to fight back
Mon 18 July 2005
MASHONALAND WEST - President Robert Mugabe at the weekend urged youths
of
his ruling ZANU PF party to fight back should the opposition become
violent.
Addressing about 10 000 supporters at Mwami rural
business centre,
about 240 km north-west of Harare, Mugabe said he could not
fathom ZANU PF
youths losing in a violent confrontation against their rivals
from the main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party.
"There is no way I can take it that some of the ZANU PF
youths can be
beaten by those from the opposition.. You have to fight back,
why are you so
lazy (to fight)," Mugabe told the youths at the rally held to
celebrate the
ruling party's victory in the disputed March 31 parliamentary
election.
This is not the first time that Mugabe has called on his
party to use
violence against the opposition.
During the
violent invasion of white-owned farms by ZANU PF militants
and self-styled
veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s independence war, Mugabe
ignored court orders
to arrest the illegal farm invaders and instead
publicly encouraged the
invasions saying they were genuine demonstrations of
land
hunger.
At least seven white farmers were murdered during the farm
invasions
and several hundreds of their black workers beaten up by the war
veterans
and ruling party supporters.
Church and human rights
groups have in the past also accused ZANU PF
youth militias of hunting down
perceived MDC supporters in remote rural
areas such as Mwami and raping,
torturing and murdering them. ZANU PF denies
the charges and says it does
not encourage violence by its youths or
members.
Mugabe also
told the villagers, most of them facing starvation after
poor harvests last
season, that his cash-strapped government had bought
enough maize from
neighbouring South Africa to ensure no one starves.
An estimated
1.2 million tonnes of the staple maize are required or
four million people,
a quarter of Zimbabwe's 12 million people, will starve.
The
government, which last year banned international food agencies
from giving
aid to Zimbabwe and told them to take their food elsewhere
because the
country had enough, backtracked last month allowing the World
Food Programme
to resume general relief operations in the country. -
ZimOnline
|
Anne Tibaijuka, the UN envoy to
Zimbabwe |
July 19, 2005, 06:15
A United Nations envoy who investigated Zimbabwe's demolition of shanty towns
will present a report of her findings to Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general,
in the next few days. According to the Zimbabwean government, the demolitions
are part of a clean up campaign to rid urban cities of crime and illegal
trading.
Anna Tibaijuka, the UN envoy, is expected to brief reporters at
the UN headquarters in New York, on her exhaustive fact-finding mission to
Zimbabwe. The envoy says that the report is expected to be made public by Friday
or Monday.
The United Nations estimates that 200 000 people have been
left homeless in the nearly three-month campaign to demolish shacks and other
unauthorised dwellings. The Movement for Democratic Change has denounced the
blitz as a campaign of repression and says up to 1.5 million Zimbabweans have
lost their homes.
Cape Times
A window of opportunity?
July 19,
2005
By the Editor
The South African government's
coyness on whether or not it is about
to give a substantial loan to
cash-strapped Zimbabwe is a sure sign that the
deal is, at least, on the
table.
And Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's fulsome praise for
South
Africa at the weekend might also suggest that something is in the
air.
Reports have suggested that South Africa is set to extend a
line of
credit to its neighbour for electricity, petrol and
food.
Some have put the figure at R6.5 billion, but others
suggested it
would run into hundreds of millions rather than billions of
rands.
The prospect of South Africa being seen to lend a helping
hand to the
despotic Mugabe has already been enough to disturb some of our
citizenry.
They point to the the battering that "quiet diplomacy"
towards
Zimbabwe has done to this country's international image and fear
that it
will be worsened.
They might, however, want to
contemplate a broader context to the
issue (while hoping that the government
is doing the same).
There have been, for example, reports that
Zimbabwe may be expelled
from the International Monetary Fund. There are
also indications that
international pressure on the country may intensify
once the United Nations
secretary-general's special envoy, Anna Tibaijuka,
has reported back on the
recent evictions of shack dwellers and informal
traders.
In Zimbabwe, MPs from the ruling Zanu PF party recently
staged an
unprecedented protest against petrol shortages.
Closer to home there have been hints from within the South African
government that its patience with Mugabe has worn thin and it is intent on
taking a harder line.
And now Mugabe desperately needs our
help.
The time, it would seem, is ripe for South Africa to
forcefully use
the leverage it has earned and that this opportunity
presents.
And in doing so to ensure that it is helping the people
of that
country, not its increasingly dangerous leader.
Or
would that be asking for too much?
The Scotsman
Tue 19 Jul 2005
Zimbabwe
housing crisis
JANE FIELDS
IN HARARE
HUNDREDS of thousands
of Zimbabweans made homeless by the brutal campaign of
president Robert
Mugabe to clear out slums look set to remain out in the
cold for
months.
Press reports claim that construction teams and prison brigades
working on
replacement accommodation at a farm in the capital Harare have
managed to
build only 38 homes up to window level.
Up to a million
Zimbabweans have had their homes demolished during a
two-month blitz on poor
quality housing, which has provoked international
outrage.
Mr Mugabe
hit back last week, saying that Operation Clear Out Trash will
bring "joy"
to people because new homes are going to be built for them.
But ruling
party sources say his government is broke. At Whitecliff Farm,
one of the
sites earmarked for a massive housing development, "at least 38
houses [are]
now at window level, while more than 150 others are at various
stages of
development," the Herald reported.
The opposition MDC party says that Mr
Mugabe is intent on punishing city
dwellers who voted against him in
parliamentary elections in March.
Business Report
Doubt over Harare's ability to pay
July 19,
2005
By Andile Ntingi
Johannesburg - Although South Africa has its
fair share of socio-economic
challenges, it has enough financial resources
to assist Zimbabwe with the $1
billion (R6.67 billion) loan that Zimbabwe is
reported to be begging for to
address its shortages of food, fuel and
electricity.
"We do have the money to give such a loan," said Nico
Kelder, an economist
at Efficient Group. "However, I don't think Zimbabwe
will be able to repay
the loan in the next few years."
Reuters
reported yesterday that Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni and a
delegation
from Zimbabwe met on Friday.
"There was a meeting on Friday at the
treasury, and the governor attended,"
said bank spokesperson Samantha
Henkeman. She gave no further details, and
treasury officials were
unavailable for comment.
Economists said a $1 billion credit extension to
Zimbabwe was unlikely to
upset South African government finances as the
state was sitting on a R43
billion cash pile at the end of last month, which
could be drawn down to
help the ailing northern neighbour.
Apart from
the R43 billion, the government could easily raise the money
either through
the domestic capital markets, tax receipts, or short-term
loans from local
commercial banks.
Kelder said Zimbabwe did not have the money "because
they are not
implementing the right policies and that is why the
International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank have withdrawn their
support".
Goolam Ballim, the group economist at Standard Bank, said the
potential $1
billion loan to Zimbabwe would not stretch South Africa's
budget deficit to
levels that could be deemed imprudent.
"The 2005/06
budget deficit may come in shallower than presently budgeted.
This would
suggest that the government does have fiscal space to provide
funding to
Zimbabwe," said Ballim.
"South Africa has a huge socio-economic deficit
that gives it very little
space to disperse funds to foreign
governments.
"However, given the humanitarian difficulties in Zimbabwe,
such an
engagement may give South Africa a leverage to nudge Zimbabwe
towards a
stable and prosperous political and economic dynamic," he
said.
South Africa's budget deficit came in at 1.5 percent of gross
domestic
product in the 2004/05 fiscal year, thanks to a R9.6 billion
revenue
overrun.
Economists believe that the budget deficit for
2005/06 will be between 1.8
percent and 2.5 percent of gross domestic
product, lower than the 3.1
percent budgeted for by the government.
NASDAQ
UN's Annan Concerned Over Demolitions In
Zimbabwe
UNITED NATIONS (AP)--U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
expressed increasing
concern over the impact of Zimbabwe's destruction of
shantytowns and
informal markets on hundreds of thousands of poor people who
are now
homeless and jobless.
The statement from Annan's spokesman
was released as his special envoy, Anna
Tibaijuka, headed to New York with a
report on her two-week visit to
Zimbabwe to assess the humanitarian impact
of the government's program known
as Operation Murambatsvina, or Drive Out
Trash.
"The secretary-general will receive her report in the coming days
and will
study its contents to determine the next steps for the United
Nations," U.N.
deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.
The government of
Zimbabwe will get an advance copy of the final report and
be given 48 hours
before it is made public, probably on Friday or Monday,
she
said.
While Tibaijuka's conclusions have not been disclosed, the
statement from
Annan's spokeswoman foreshadowed strong
criticism.
"The secretary-general is increasingly concerned by the human
rights and
humanitarian impact of the recent demolitions of what the
government of
Zimbabwe has called illegal settlements," Okabe
said.
Humanitarian workers and opposition leaders estimate up to 1.5
million
people have lost their homes and livelihoods since police began
torching and
bulldozing shantytowns, informal markets and other structures
deemed illegal
on May 19.
President Robert Mugabe's government
defends the operation as an urban
cleanup drive. Opposition leaders say it
is aimed at breaking up their
strongholds among the urban poor and diverting
attention from the economic
crisis plaguing Zimbabwe.
The government
has pledged 3 trillion Zimbabwean dollars (US$325 million) to
provide 1.2
million houses or building plots by 2008.
Economists have voiced doubts
that the government can afford the massive
reconstruction project at a time
when inflation has soared to more than 144%
and an estimated 4 million
people are in urgent need of food.
Tibaijuka, the Tanzanian head of
Nairobi-based U.N. Habitat which deals with
the plight of cities, has said
she would immediately dispatch an officer to
help Zimbabwe meet its housing
needs.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-19-050035ET
Copyright
(c) 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Incident at CWUZ House - 16 July 2005
The Commercial Workers Union of
Zimbabwe (CWUZ) was to hold its
National Executive Committee at 10.00am on
Saturday 16 July, at CWUZ
House in Waterfalls, Harare.
We (members of
the NEC plus National Young Workers Committee) arrived
at CWUZ House at
about 9.30am. At the gate, a number of CWUZ staff
were milling
about.
We entered the building, and went to the Boardroom.
Before
we could start the meeting, a large number (about 15) of the
Union staff
followed us into the Boardroom.
These staff are strictly not members of
the NEC and so, anticipating
problems, I led the NEC out of the Boardroom,
out of the building and
towards the gate.
As we were approaching the
gate, the staff followed us into the yard
shouting to the security guard to
close the gate to prevent us from
leaving. They were also shouting at us
asking us why we had left
without holding the meeting. We continued walking
towards the gate
and the staff attacked us from behind.
I was
attacked by Messrs J Chifamba (previously Chiwape), Muparaganda
and Rusere
(all three are CWUZ staff). We scuffled. They beat me
with their fists all
over my body, continuing to shout about why we
had left the
meeting.
In the scuffle, J Chifamba pushed me to the ground and I fell
backwards hurting my left arm.
Other Union staff were attacking Miss
Shyllet Gutu (the Union's
Financial Advisor) and Mr Mishek Gapare (the NEC
member from
Masvingo).
After further struggles, we managed to get out
of the gate and went
straight to the Police Station in Waterfalls to make a
report.
We (myself plus four NEC members and four Young Workers) reached
the
Police Station at about 10.30am. The Police took details from all
three of us (Shyllet Gutu, Misheck Gapare and myself).
As the Police
finished taking our details, about six of the staff
arrived and made a
contradictory report, alleging that we had
attacked them. We three were
then detained, the Police suggesting
that we had willingly walked to the
meeting place and thus brought
the attack upon ourselves. We tried to
explain that the meeting
place was our offices, but the Police would not
listen. Eventually,
we were forced to pay admission of guilt fines of $25
000 each.
Messrs Chifamba and L Mushonga also paid fines. Other attackers
had
not come to the Police Station and so I do not know whether they also
paid fines.
We were released at about 2.00pm, by which time my arm
was swollen
and very painful. A friend of mine, who had been waiting for
three
and a half hours at the Police Station, took me to the Trauma Centre,
where my left arm was found to be broken in two places, and was put
in
plaster.
L G Matibenga (Mrs)
18 July 2005
Gulf Daily News, Bahrain
Kiwi tour of Zimbabwe on despite poll
verdict
WELLINGTON: New Zealand will not stop its national cricket team
touring Zimbabwe despite an opinion poll suggesting its citizens would
support a ban, Prime Minster Helen Clark said yesterday. New Zealand is
leading an international push to have Zimbabwe banned from the cricket tour
schedule over concerns of human rights abuses under President Robert Mugabe.
A Fairfax/AC Neilsen survey, published in Wellington's Dominion Post
newspaper, found that 53 percent of respondents wanted the government to
introduce legislation banning sports teams from touring countries that
violate human rights.
Proposition
"The proposition
put to the Government was that there should be
legislation under urgency to
prevent national sports teams travelling to
another country," Clark told
reporters. "That is territory no New Zealand
government has ever entered
into and we don't propose to.
"(But) we will continue to advocate
that the team not go."
Miss Clark said it was clear New Zealanders
did not want the tour to
go ahead.
"Obviously it is of concern
that our cricketers might get caught up in
circumstances which compromise
them."
New Zealand had asked the International Cricket Council
(ICC) to
change its policy requiring teams to tour Zimbabwe.
Foreign minister Phil Goff said last Friday the government would not
step in
and legislate, citing the right of individuals and organisations
from New
Zealand to travel freely.
The Herald
Bid to improve statistical data accuracy
Deputy
Business Editor
THE recent adoption by Zimbabwe of internationally accepted
standards of
calculating the inflation rate will go a long way in improving
statistical
information accuracy and decision-making at corporate and
national levels.
As part of ongoing efforts to harmonise statistical data
within the Sadc
region to facilitate inter-country comparisons, Zimbabwe has
factored in new
weights and classifications when calculating the Consumer
Price Index (CPI).
According to the Central Statistical Office (CSO), the
new method was
adopted with effect from June 2005 after the previous basket
was last
updated more than 10 years ago. The shift to a new classification
of
individual consumption by purpose (COICOP), which ensures the
comparability
of individual consumption estimates according to the
requirements of
international standards, sets up the expenditure of
individual consumption
in three institutional sectors, namely households,
non-profit organisations
serving households and general
government.
In this respect, the number of sub-groups used in CPI
calculation has
increased from 34 to 68 while the number of major groups has
gone up from 10
to 12.
On the other hand, the number of items in the
CPI basket has also been
increased to 428 from 337 leaving it more
disaggregated.
Concerns have been expressed in the past about the
accuracy of the
statistical data released by the CSO with some analysts
urging the
organisation to review the basket composition to improve
decision-making.
The classification is also used in household budget
surveys, to determine
individual consumption volume, in estimates of
consumption price indices as
well as to meet the requirements of
international comparisons.
The increase in the number of items in the
basket now captures more
information which should result in more accurate
inflation figures in the
long run, although direct comparison of certain sub
indices was likely to be
compromised in the short term.
Monthly
inflation comparisons should be achieved next month when the July
figure is
announced while annual inflation rates should be achieved using
the June
2006 rate.
Due to the reclassification some new sub-groups have been
created by moving
individual items from one sub-group to
another.
"Transport and Communication" had been split into two major
groups
"Transport" and "Communication" while a totally new group ---
"Restaurants,
Cafes and Hotels" --- has been created.
Meanwhile, last
season's drought coupled with foreign currency shortages and
other
unanticipated strains on the fiscus have continued to exertpressure on
the
annual inflation rate which has increased for the third month in a
row.
The year-on-year inflation rate for the month of June 2005 as
measured by
the all-items CPI stood at 164,3 percent, gaining 19,9
percentage points on
the May rate of 144,4 percent.
Prices has been
escalating since March and further increases in the
inflation rate are
expected for July following the recent hike in the price
of
fuel.
However, the inflation rise induced by fuel price increases and
drought is
not peculiar to Zimbabwe as many non-oil-producing countries are
also
feeling the pinch in the wake of a progressive rise in the
international oil
price increase from US$27 per barrel in January to US$60
per barrel while
the dry spell has also affected other countries in the
region.
Only last week Zambia announced an increase in the price of
petrol from K5
165 per litre to K5 428, diesel from K4 622 per litre to K4
958, while
paraffin would now be sold at K3 940 from K3 760 per
litre.
According to the Zambian News Agency (Zana), Zambian central bank
governor
Mr Caleb Fundanga warned the recent hike in fuel prices and
shortages in
food supply would ignite inflationary pressures in the third
quarter.
He urged the country to buy its food requirements on time to
prevent
shortages while inflation in the second quarter was unavoidable due
to
increases in retail pump prices of petroleum products and
electricity.
Inflation in Zambia is currently pegged at 19,2 percent,
three percentage
points higher than the projected 15,9
percent.
However, Zambia is likely to cushion the inflationary pressures
with the
help of improved balance of payments support following approval of
the
second review of the Poverty Reduction Growth Facility
(PRGF).