International Herald Tribune
The Associated
PressPublished: May 23, 2007
THE HAGUE, Netherlands: The mass
evictions of hundreds of thousands of
Zimbabweans two years ago constituted
a crime against humanity and the U.N.
Security Council should send the case
to the International Criminal Court,
lawyers said Wednesday.
U.N.
officials estimate at least 700,000 people lost homes or livelihoods,
and
2.4 million more suffered related losses in 2005's Operation
Murambatsvina,
the government's so-called urban cleanup operation in which
homes, shacks
and market stalls were destroyed.
"What happened in Zimbabwe was akin in
magnitude to the Asian tsunami,"
Zimbabwean human rights lawyer Alec
Muchadehma told reporters in The Hague.
The government insisted its drive
flushed out criminals and illegal black
market traders whose activities were
fueling record inflation in the ailing
economy.
Since the operation,
Zimbabwe's crippled economy has only plunged deeper
into crisis. Inflation
now stands at a staggering 3,714 percent.
Malcolm Langford, of the
Geneva-based Center on Housing Rights and
Evictions, said the evictions
fitted the international court's criteria for
a crime against humanity known
as forced displacement.
"We believe it is now time for the Security Council
to take up this issue
and we are calling on all 15 members ... to put it on
the agenda and
officially debate it," Langford said.
The Hague-based
International Criminal Court cannot independently launch an
investigation in
Zimbabwe because the government of Robert Mugabe has not
ratified the Rome
Convention that created the court.
But it could act if the Security
Council were to refer the case to the
court.
So far, the only case
sent to the court by the Security Council has been
Darfur, where an
estimated 200,000 people have died since 2003 as a result
of fighting
between rebels and government-backed Arab militias.
Amnesty International
reported last year that a government rehousing program
had provided just
over 3,325 new homes to replace at least 90,000 homes
demolished in
May-June, 2005. Most of the new homes were still incomplete,
without
sanitation facilities, doors, windows, floors and roofs, Amnesty
said.
International Herald Tribune
The Associated
PressPublished: May 23, 2007
HARARE, Zimbabwe: Momentum is
building to start South African-brokered talks
to resolve Zimbabwe's
deepening crisis, opposition officials said Wednesday.
But the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change has again refused demands
that before talks
proceed, it recognize President Robert Mugabe as the
nation's legitimately
elected leader. That condition stalled two previous
initiatives.
The
opposition alleges it has been robbed at parliamentary and presidential
by
violent intimidation of voters and ballot rigging. The opposition also
has
demanded the repeal of sweeping media and security laws, electoral
reforms
and an end to state-orchestrated political violence.
Both main opposition
parties were now considering setting aside their
demands in a bid to get to
the negotiating table, where the demands could
likely be tackled later, said
opposition officials.
"There must be an environment where there are no
conditions and no issue is
taboo in negotiations," said one official who
asked not to be identified.
South Africa has insisted none of any likely
participants in talks,
including representatives of civic groups, air their
negotiating positions
through the media and has enforced a news blackout,
saying the new
initiative will not be conducted through the
media.
President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, appointed in March by the
Southern
African Development Community to mediate on Zimbabwe, was given
until the
end of June to return with concrete proposals on narrowing the
wide
differences between President Robert Mugabe's ruling party and the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
"The pressure is on. The
situation here is impacting on the whole region and
President Mbeki has a
deadline to meet," said the official.
Mugabe's fellow African leaders
have heard repeated calls to do more to
press Mugabe to embark on reforms.
But at the summit at which Mbeki - who
has longed advocated quiet diplomacy
over confrontation with Mugabe - was
appointed to mediate, the Southern
African Development Community voiced full
support for Mugabe.
At
another regional summit in Kenya Wednesday, Mugabe had harsh words for
his
opposition and his critics in the West, and was applauded by fellow
African
leaders.
Earlier this month, Mbeki sent a delegation headed by Sydney
Mufamadi, a
Cabinet minister, to Harare for talks with
Mugabe.
Mufamadi did not meet with opposition leaders in Harare, but
several top
aides of Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of one opposition faction,
and rival
faction leader Arthur Mutambara have shuttled to and from South
Africa in
recent weeks.
Mutambara, his secretary general Welshman
Ncube and Ncube's opposite number
in the Tsvangirai group, Tendai Biti, have
met with South African officials
in South Africa.
In line with the
South African news blackout, none has confirmed reports of
a meeting in
South Africa with Mugabe's Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa,
the ruling
party's chief negotiator in previous failed inter-party talks,
when he was
en route to the just-ended gathering of the continentwide
African Union in
the west African nation of Ghana.
Opposition officials dismissed as
"rubbish" media reports that secret talks
were already on track.
But
"something has to be done to find a way forward and it has to be done
urgently" said one official.
There were suggestions for at least
initial talks in June for Mbeki to
deliver to regional leaders, he
said.
No comment was immediately available from Chinamasa or the ruling
party.
Ronnie Mamoepa, South African Foreign Affairs spokesman, would not
confirm
any details of the mediation process.
"There will be to-ing
and fro-ing between Pretoria and Harare. Mediation is
a process not an
event. We are not going to comment except to say that
mediations remain on
course," he said.
Zimbabwe's economic meltdown worsened this month as
inflation spiraled out
of control to a record 3,714 percent, the highest in
the world. Consumer
prices doubled in April, according to the official
Central Statistical
Office, putting many basic goods out of the reach of
ordinary Zimbabweans.
In formal businesses, unemployment has soared to
more than 80 percent.
Scores of businesses have closed down and most main
factories operate at
around or less than 30 percent of their
capacity.
Power and water outages occur daily and shortages of food, hard
currency,
gasoline, medicines and other essential goods are
acute.
Health and social services have crumbled in a nation with one of
the world's
highest rates of HIV/AIDS infection. An estimated 3,000 people
die each week
from AIDS-related illnesses.
Mugabe blames the crisis
on successive years of drought and Western economic
sanctions, but critics
say corruption, mismanagement and the often-violent
seizures of thousands of
white-owned commercial farms since 2000 disrupted
the agriculture-based
economy in the former regional breadbasket.
Zim Online
Thursday 24 May
2007
By Farisai Gonye
HARARE -
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party on
Wednesday said it could pull out of talks with President Robert
Mugabe's
government unless security forces called off a crackdown against
its
supporters and officials.
South African President Thabo Mbeki,
charged by the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) two months ago
to broker talks between the MDC
and Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF party to resolve
Zimbabwe's crisis, last week
told his Parliament that the mediation was
going on "very well".
Subsequent Press reports, not denied by
Mbeki's office, suggested that
South African officials had already met with
representatives from ZANU PF
and the MDC for talks about talks.
But Nelson Chamisa, spokesman of the main wing of the splintered MDC
led by
Morgan Tsvangirai, told ZimOnline that the party was under pressure
from
grassroots leaders and supporters bearing the brunt of the government
crackdown and who are "asking us why we are talking to people who want to
bludgeon the party into extinction".
"Our national council met
last Friday and already reports from the
provinces are that members want us
out. They think Mugabe is using the SADC
initiative to buy time. As a
leadership we also have to listen to our
constituencies," said
Chamisa.
He said scores of MDC activists were arrested over the
past few months
on trumped up charges while the party's supporters in many
parts of the
country were living in fear of arrest by state
agents.
Chamisa said the MDC remained committed to dialogue but
added the
party could not allow itself to be "crippled and at some point,
maybe sooner
rather later, we may have to say enough is enough. We are out
(of the
talks)."
ZANU PF secretary for administration Didymus
Mutasa however scoffed at
the MDC threats to pull out of talks saying the
ruling party was not
"desperate" to talk to the MDC and that it had in the
first place only
agreed to talks out of courtesy to SADC
leaders.
Mutasa said: "Let them (pull out of talks). We are not
desperate to
talk to them. We are accommodating them because we are being
courteous to
our SADC brothers who have shown a lot of support to
us."
Mbeki's disclosure that mediation was progressing well was
seen by
many as positive and an indication of Pretoria's desire to see
resolution of
the crisis across its northern border.
But the
security forces' continuing crackdown against the MDC has left
the
opposition party's leaders and independent analysts deeply suspicious of
Mugabe's intentions and far from convinced that Mbeki will be able to
pressure the Zimbabwean leader to conduct free and fair elections next
year.
The two factions of the MDC that have taken a common position
in the
talks are pushing for an end to political violence, appointment of an
independent commission to run elections and a new constitutional and legal
framework to ensure free and fair elections. Mugabe and ZANU PF have not yet
publicly set their terms.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of a severe
economic crisis marked by
inflation of more than 3 700 percent and the
highest in the world, shortages
of medicines, fuel, electricity, hard cash
and just about every basic
survival commodity.
The economic
meltdown has fuelled political tensions in the southern
African country as
the government resorts to brutal force to keep public
discontent in check. -
ZimOnline
Mail and Guardian
Katie
Nguyen | Nairobi, Kenya
23 May 2007
06:09
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe celebrated a
landmark
agreement by Africa's biggest trade bloc on Wednesday with a
favourite
pastime -- attacking the West and justifying his
actions.
Charged with giving a vote of thanks at the end of a
meeting to
approve a landmark deal on harmonised tariffs, Mugabe roused an
audience of
the Comesa (Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa) trade
bloc, poking
fun at Europe, which relies on imports for many of its
goods.
"Where does Europe get all the cotton it wears and the
tea the
British call their own -- English tea? I want to know in which part
of
Britain tea is grown and to this day I have not found it," he said to an
outburst of applause.
His critics may regard him as a
pariah whose policies have
ruined what was once one of Africa's most
promising post-independence
economies -- but Mugabe's off-the-cuff speech
won boisterous clapping and
laughter from many fellow
Africans.
The 83-year-old was also defiant about the
government's
suppression of a rally in which scores of his opponents,
including
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan
Tsvangirai,
were beaten.
"Of course the police gave it to
him, they bashed him as they
would anyone regardless of their status. If you
challenge the police with
violence, they will meet you with violence," he
said.
Mugabe, whose country takes over the Comesa chair next
year,
accused the West of taking advantage of Africa by buying its raw
commodities
and trying to dictate events.
"That's why we
are always saying to imperialists ... keep away,
we are married to Africa.
Britain and Europe, you have your own territory.
America, Bush, your own
territory, hands off Africa. If you are friends,
come with clean hands," he
said. -- Reuters
Daily Nation, East Africa
Story by MACHARIA GAITHO
Publication Date:
2007/05/24 In hijacking the Comesa Heads of State and
Government Summit to
deliver his pet tirades against his critics, Zimbabwean
President Robert
Mugabe erred gravely.
He probably embarrassed his hosts and fellow
leaders gathered in
Nairobi for the Comesa summit.
That
President Mugabe was given the opportunity to deliver the vote of
thanks and
was also elected vice-chairman of the giant trading bloc is a sad
reflection
of how African leaders close their eyes to the excesses of their
compatriots.
A leader such as Robert Mugabe should be shunned,
not welcomed into
gatherings where his very presence signals approval of his
dictatorship and
the methods he has used to destroy his
country.
The African Union was formed specifically to signal a
break from the
cozy club of dictators that was its predecessor, the
Organisation of African
Unity.
Under the AU came the New
Partnership for African Development (Nepad),
which through the African Peer
Review Mechanism undertook to shun dictators
and promote leadership based on
democracy and respect for human rights.
It is presumed that
regional groupings such as Comesa and other
political and economic blocs on
the continent subscribe to the virtues and
principals the AU claims to
uphold.
And that means people such as Mr Mugabe must be persuaded
to change
their ways, or shunned.
Comesa Summit
If
the virtues and principles espoused were to be upheld, Mr Mugabe
would never
have been allowed anywhere near the Comesa Summit.
And he would
never have had the opportunity to defile the serious and
sober gathering
with a defence of his dictatorial ways.
Mr Mugabe, it must be
acknowledged, faced very serious land issues in
Zimbabwe, which needed to be
resolved with drastic action.
It was simply unjust and untenable -
whatever the US, Britain and
Australia may say in defence of their kith and
kin - that a small racial
minority owns 90 per cent of all the
land.
The problem is that Mr Mugabe was never part of the solution;
he was
the biggest problem.
In the first decade of Zimbabwe's
independence, he spurned a land
buy-back programme that would have seen an
orderly transfer of land from
White to Black hands.
He was
clocking to decades in power when for crass political purposes,
he designed
the forcible land grab that has had the effect of turning the
breadbasket of
the region into a basket case.
And Mr Mugabe has presided over
destruction of the economic powerhouse
that was Zimbabwe; he has turned to
increasingly brutal and dictatorial
methods to silence all voices of reason
and dissent.
So, when we find reason to cheer Mr Mugabe for his
attacks on the
white West, let us not forget that we are cheering on a man
who has
systemically destroyed his own country and impoverished his people
under the
guise of standing up for Zimbabwean and African
rights.
It is a real shame that Mr Mugabe was allowed yesterday to
deface the
Comesa Summit.
Those African leaders who sat through
his address should do what they
can to disassociate themselves from the
tirade. And, to deny him the
opportunity for a repeat performance, Mr Mugabe
must be shut out of all such
gatherings in future.
Mail and Guardian
Nelson Banya | Harare, Zimbabwe
23
May 2007 12:59
Zimbabwe's white commercial farmers have
reported an increase in
invasions on their farms ahead of a deadline for
them to leave land due to
be taken by President Robert Mugabe's
government.
Mugabe's government, which went on a drive to
acquire white-held
land to resettle landless black people in 2000, has given
hundreds of white
farmers until August to vacate the
farms.
White commercial farmers and black people illegally
occupying
some farms were given deadlines between July and August to
leave.
The Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU), which represents
the
interests of most of Zimbabwe's remaining white farmers, says its
members
had reported new invasions ahead of the deadline.
"There has been an increase in purported new beneficiaries
coming into farms
demanding that farmers leave immediately, leaving
equipment, which is
contrary to ongoing court proceedings and guidelines
issued by the
ministry," CFU spokesperson Emily Crookes said.
Crookes said
the government's district land committees were
going around farms
"conducting inventories of crops and equipment".
"We hope
this will lead to the issuance of offer letters to
farmers who applied for
land many, many months ago."
Mugabe's government has told
farmers whose land has been listed
to apply for new land, with allocations
being done through offer letters
issued by the Lands
Ministry.
The first wave of farm invasions in 2000 was marked
by violence
that left several white farmers dead as veterans of Zimbabwe's
liberation
war and Zanu-PF supporters moved on to farms in chaotic
attacks.
No violent incidents have been reported in the
latest round of
invasions.
Official figures say between
500 and 600 white farmers remain,
down from about 4 500 when the programme
began.
Crookes said although not all white farmers had been
given
notice of eviction, disturbances on the farms had hit the sector, with
the
crucial winter wheat crop being most affected.
"The
planted commercial wheat crop is under 10 000ha this year
because of the
ongoing disturbances, Zesa power-supply problems and less
water in the dams
due to the poor rains."
Mugabe's government says Zimbabwe,
which has a huge maize
deficit after another poor summer season, faces bread
shortages as farmers
planted only 10% of the country's wheat requirements in
part because the
majority of new black farmers lacked farming
inputs.
Agriculture Permanent Secretary Shadreck Mlambo last
week told a
parliamentary committee that only about 8 000ha of the targeted
76 000ha had
been put under wheat ahead of the May 31 planting
deadline.
Mugabe defends his land policy, saying it was
necessary to
redress colonial imbalances that left 70% of Zimbabwe's prime
land in the
hands of a small white minority. -- Reuters
Zim Online
Thursday 24 May 2007
By Wayne
Mafaro
HARARE - Zimbabwe's currency has lost more than 60 percent of its
value in
just four weeks on the parallel market for foreign currency, where
the bulk
of hard cash is traded.
The parallel market is illegal but
remains the only sure source of hard cash
in crisis-hit Zimbabwe with
individuals, companies, government departments
and sometimes the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) itself sourcing foreign
currency from the thriving
black-market.
The dollar - which is shedding value faster than any other
currency in the
world - has tumbled from 25 000 to one American dollar to 40
000 against the
greenback since April 26 when RBZ governor Gideon Gono made
an interim
monetary policy review statement he said was meant to help revive
the
economy and shore up the embattled local currency.
The official
exchange rate that Gono in April shifted from 250 to 15 000
dollars to one
American unit remains unchanged.
Demand for foreign currency on the
parallel market, where it is readily
available, has continued to rise as
hard cash inflows from the export of
tobacco and minerals fail to meet
requirements.
Bulawayo-based economist Eric Bloch predicted that the
dollar will continue
sliding on the parallel market over the next four
months because of
increased demand.
Bloch, who is also an adviser to
RBZ boss Gono, said: "The rate on the
alternative (parallel) market will
continue to spiral upwards for the next
four or so months. The shortage of
foreign currency on the formal market has
led to increased demand on the
alternative market."
He said the little foreign currency trickling into
the formal market was
going towards the importation of food, anti-retroviral
drugs, electricity
and fuel, all in critical short supply in
Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of a severe economic crisis, which has
left the
majority of the country's 12 million people mired in poverty as
unemployment
rockets amid shortages of food, hard cash and every basic
survival
commodity.
Critics blame the crisis on repression and wrong
policies by President
Robert Mugabe such as his controversial seizure of
white-owned farms to give
to landless blacks, which derailed the commercial
agricultural sector that
was the largest employer, chief foreign currency
earner and backbone of the
economy.
Mugabe, in power since Zimbabwe's
1980 independence from Britain, denies
ruining the economy and instead
blames his country's problems on sabotage by
Western governments opposed to
his land reforms. - ZimOnline
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
May 23, 2007
We reported last week that the eviction of
white farmers had intensified and
become militarized in the last few months,
with police and army officials
increasingly becoming the new beneficiaries
of this illegal campaign. The
Zimbabwe Republic Police took over a farm in
Matabeleland North province two
months ago. And they have refused to leave
despite a High Court order to
vacate the premises. According to recent
reports, the police have not only
ignored the courts, but they have moved
more people onto the property, named
Portwe Farm.
The order was
issued last week by High Court Judge Francis Bere. It called
on the police
to stop interfering with operations at Portwe Farm and to
return guns and
farmhouse keys which were taken illegally from the owners,
Dave and Margaret
Joubert. It turned out Joubert's neighbour is the former
governor of
Matabeleland North, Welshman Mabhena. He told us the police were
still
living on Joubert's farm but were not growing any food. Mabhena said
the
foreman told him all the farm workers had been chased away and many had
gone
back to their communal lands.
The former governor said he was shocked
that an institution of government
was involved in the taking of land from
civilians. He explained: "These are
the people who should see to it that the
law is observed where there is
dissatisfaction, and justice can be allowed
to play its role. You should be
running to them, not from them." According
to reports, Joubert's lawyers are
preparing to file a contempt of court suit
against the police.
Mabhena said farm evictions are being reported all
over the province of
Matabeleland North. He believes when it is the police
doing it, orders must
be coming from the uppermost levels of government. In
the case of Portwe
farm, the police first arrived last March in a convoy of
20 marked police
cars. They shut down a safari lodge that is on the farm,
and chased away
foreign tourists.
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
23 May, 2007
Continuing the harassment of journalists
working in Zimbabwe, the police
last week summoned photographer Boldwill
Hungwe from The Standard newspaper
to turn himself in. But knowing the
recent violent treatment of his
colleagues by the police Hungwe did not go
to Harare Central station. He
informed the officer who contacted him that he
was consulting with a lawyer.
Hungwe believes he became a target after
The Standard published pictures of
the injured lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, who
had been abducted by police at a
protest march and assaulted publicly
earlier this month. Mtetwa is also
director of the Law Society of Zimbabwe.
Hungwe said the call came from an
inspector Chinemberi last Thursday. He
added: "Knowing the conditions that
journalists are working under here I
knew I could not afford to go without
talking to a lawyer." The inspector
then threatened to send a police officer
to collect Hungwe and escort him
in. Nothing has happened since.
The conditions Hungwe refered to have seen
the harsh treatment, arrests and
even murder of journalists in Zimbabwe.
Cameraman Edward Chikomba was
abducted from his home in Harare last month
and his badly beaten body was
discovered in the bush days later. In another
case, photographer Tsvangirai
Mukwazhi was arrested and assaulted in March
as he tried to cover a prayer
rally that was blocked by the police.
But
Hungwe said he would not give up his chosen trade. He explained that he
was
aware there might be dangers when he pursued journalism, and accepted
that
this is the nature of the work.
Meanwhile the International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ) on Wednesday
called on the Zimbabwean government to end
its attacks and harassment of
journalists and to stop police harassment of
Hungwe.
Gabriel Baglo, Director of the IFJ Africa Office, was quoted
saying:
"Violent attacks on journalists and other media workers are having a
chilling effect in Zimbabwe and sending a message that the government will
use force to silence journalists that publish news it wants to keep out of
public view."
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
Monsters and Critics
May 23, 2007, 9:43 GMT
Harare - Zimbabwe's
public service ministry is unable to account for
millions of dollars
supposed to be used to create jobs and pay school fees
for disadvantaged
children, it emerged Wednesday.
A parliamentary portfolio committee has
recommended that a police fraud
squad should move in to investigate ministry
officials, the official Herald
newspaper said.
Details are only just
emerging of the scale of mismanagement at the
ministry, where no audits have
been carried out for the past eight years.
The money missing from the
Social Development Fund (SDF) amounted to 46
million Zimbabwe dollars in
1998 (now equivalent to 184,000 US dollars, but
worth considerably more nine
years ago) and another 30 million advanced by
the African Development
Bank.
The fund was established to provide support for employment-
generating
initiatives in the wake of the controversial Economic Structural
Adjustment
Programme (ESAP) in the early 1990s, which left many
jobless.
During the course of investigations by the portfolio committee,
it emerged
that the public service ministry's principal secretary Lancaster
Museka was
grossly uninformed about goings-on in the fund he was supposed to
oversee.
'In reply to the questions put to him by your committee, the
accounting
officer conceded that the only time he received briefings on the
fund was a
week before his appearance at the committee,' the committee's
report said.
He was not even aware that he had signed the 1998 accounts
which contained a
disclaimer by the Comptroller and Auditor General, it
continued.
In further evidence of mismanagement, two vehicles belonging
to the SDF had
been stolen while other fund vehicles had been transferred to
the parent
ministry without approval from the treasury,the Herald
said.
Senators including those from the ruling ZANU-PF party say ministry
officials behaved 'in a criminal manner.'
'Your committee was
dismayed to note that the SDF had the capacity to spend
but none to account
for the funds spent,' the report said.
A report in Tuesday's Herald said
the Home Affairs Ministry had also failed
to submit accounts and was
overspending.
Melusi Matshiya, the ministry's secretary, blamed frequent
by- elections,
the report said.
Matshiya said the ministry had to
'fork out for police uniforms and
allowances for officials during the
by-elections, forcing it into the red.'
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche
Presse-Agentur
Mineweb
Zimbabwe's gold output has plunged down to only 8 tonnes, the
biggest fall
recorded since 1916, the Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines said
Tuesday.
Author: Tawanda Karombo
Posted: Wednesday , 23 May
2007
HARARE -
In the 12 month period to March 2007, Zimbabwe's
gold production was a
meagre 8 tonnes. In the peak year of 1916, the country
recorded production
of 29 metric tons of gold and in a recent mini-peak in
1999 of 27 tonnes.
Calendar 2006 output was around 16 tonnes.
Jack
Murehwa, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines, said Zimbabwe
remains the only country yet to gain from the current high global mineral
prices. "Our industry continues to experience declines in volumes despite
the very buoyant mineral prices which have prevailed for the past 18
months," he said.
Murehwa said the world price of gold rose from
about US$275 an ounce in 2001
to more than US$600 last year. He added that
nickel, platinum and copper
prices also rose significantly.
He bemoaned
"policy inconsistencies" in the economy that have spurred
hyperinflation,
acute shortages of gasoline and hard currency for equipment
and spare parts.
Power outages and an exodus of most of the country's
skilled mining
personnel for greener pastures in other countries are the
other reasons
cited.
He said despite the high world prices, investors in mining were
staying away
from Zimbabwe.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has reported
that foreign investment in the
country declined from $444.3 million in 1998
to $50 million last year. The
central bank cited "perceived risk" and
worries over security of ownership
as the main drivers of scepticism by
investors.
President Robert Mugabe has in the past hinted that his government
will
claim about 50 percent local ownership of all mining concerns to
further the
country's black interests.
Mineweb
As previous owners are arrested, the dispute between River Ranch
and Bubye
Minerals over the diamond mine in southern Zimbabwe appears to be
moving in
favour of River Ranch, the current mine operator.
Author:
Rodrick Mukumbira
Posted: Wednesday , 23 May 2007
WINDHOEK
-
All seems to be lost for Bubye Minerals in the wrangle to control a
diamond
mine near Beitbridge, in southern Zimbabwe.
Wednesday marked
the third day in police custody for its husband and wife
founders Michael
and Adele Farquhar, who were arrested Monday, two weeks
before they were due
to appear in court in answer to a charge of stripping
the mine's assets
stemming from the period when they were in charge of the
contentious River
Ranch diamond mine.
The latest twist comes three years after Bubye
Minerals was evicted from the
mine, in a move that has resulted in a long
legal battle and accusations of
diamond smuggling with the company claiming
that it was militarily and
forcibly evicted by current operators River Ranch
Limited - a company in
which Solomon Mujuru, the husband of Zimbabwe's
vice-President Joyce Mujuru,
is one of the directors.
"We understand
that Mr and Mrs Farquhar have been arrested and will appear
in court early
next month. The charges are that whilst they were managing
the Mine they
sold assets at the Mine which belonged to River Ranch Limited,
and that they
breached Exchange Control regulations," George Kantsouris,
managing director
of River Ranch Limited, told Mineweb.
But the Farquhar's lawyer, Terrence
Hussein, said his clients had not been
notified of the charges they
face.
"Such charges, we believe, stem from a period when the Farquhars
were in
fact the owners of River Ranch, thus they are going to be prosecuted
for
stealing their own property," Hussein was quoted by Rappaport as
saying.
Bubye Minerals has also lost with costs a legal action against
River Ranch
filed with the Supreme Court application to regain control,
claiming the
mine was taken without just cause, and it was so awarded after,
in 2006,
Minister of Mines Amos Midzi permitted Mujuru's group to hold
ownership the
same court ruled in favour of the River Ranch
occupants.
The Supreme Court application sought to block River Ranch
Limited from
"mining, working or extracting" diamonds from River Ranch
mine.
The application also sought to block Zimbabwe's mineral market arm
Minerals
Mining Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) from "selling, exporting or
in any way
dealing with precious minerals" from River Ranch mine.
In
his judgement dated 22 May, a copy of which is with Mineweb, Justice
Gowora
ruled that there was no legal basis to justify the order that Bubye
Minerals
sought and that the company had taken the respondents to court
"erroneously".
According to press reports, Bubye Minerals was
appointed to run River Ranch
mine in 1998 after government liquidators set
to restore the operations
which had been suspended after previous owners
experienced financial
constraints.
The company brought in investment
partners, including Saudi Arabia's Adel
Abdulrahman al Aujan, and mining
commenced. In 2000, the mine experienced
several problems, including a
hurricane-induced flood that impacted
negatively on production.
Bubye
Minerals approached Aujan for more financing, which brought his stake
to 30
percent at that time. Relations soured resulting in 2004 with it
calling in
past loans of over US$1.16 million, which Bubye Minerals failed
to
repay.
Aujan, who currently owns 80 percent of the company through Rani
International Limited, brought in Kupukile Resources, owned by former ruling
ZANU-PF legislator Tirivanhu Mudariki and Mujuru which acquired a 20 percent
stake and took control of the mine, thereby sparking the on-going legal
battle.
While the tide seem to have turned against Bubye Minerals,
River Ranch
Limited remains in the spotlight for allegedly smuggling
diamonds to South
Africa using UN vehicles.
Last week the UN's legal
department had began investigating the UNDP offices
in Harare following
March complaints by Bubye Minerals that the body was
funding River Ranch and
allowing its vehicles to be used by the latter to
smuggle diamonds out of
Zimbabwe.
Bubye Minerals claimed that it had gathered evidence that River
Ranch
Limited used UNDP vehicles, "which contravenes Zimbabwean law and
international diplomatic protocol." The company said it has affidavits
alleging that at least one of the vehicles was used to take diamonds off the
mine and into South Africa, which it can more easily be done since
diplomatic registered vehicles are exempt from search at border
posts.
The UNDP however confirmed funding River Ranch Limited through the
African
Management Services Company (Amsco), a company formed together with
the
World Bank's private sector arm, the IFC.
Amsco is a UN capacity
building scheme for African firms.
It was quoted in press reports saying
apart from supporting River Ranch
Limited, Amsco has also availed assistance
to other local companies such as
Bindura Nickel Mine and Shearwater, a
tourism and leisure company.
In a twist of events this week, however,
River Ranch Limited denied
receiving funding from Amsco saying it pays the
UN capacity building scheme
for African firms for services
rendered.
"At no time has River Ranch ever received funding from the UN
or any of its
agencies. Three senior employees at River Ranch are Amsco
employees. River
Ranch pays Amasco for its services. It is not funded by
Amsco," said its
managing director, Kantsouris, in a statement to
Mineweb.
He added, "One of the three employees did import a dark green
Toyota Land
cruiser into the country and it has a diplomatic registration
number. It is
not used at the mine. The so-called evidence gathered by Bubye
Minerals is
clearly fictitious. All diamonds produced at the mine are
reported on a
monthly basis to the mining commissioner."
On further
enquiry on the mine's production, Kantsouris however could not
reveal this
to Mineweb for confidentiality reasons and only the production
from Rio
Tinto's subsidiary, Murowa Diamonds, is public knowledge.
"We are a
private company, unlike Murowa Diamonds which is a subsidiary of
Rio Tinto
PLC, and we do not wish to publish our production statistics at
this early
stage of the Mine resuscitation and evaluation process. To date,
we have
effected no sales and have dutifully reported our monthly production
to the
mining commissioner, as required by statute," he told Mineweb.
He added,
"As regards the life of the Mine and resource estimates, the
records
relating to these aspects for the period 1992 to 2004 have been
"lost or
misplaced" by Bubye Minerals when it leased the site."
Meanwhile a review
team from the Kimberley Process is scheduled to arrive in
Zimbabwe shortly
and assesses the country's compliance with the
Certification
Scheme.
The Southern African Press Agency (SAPA) reports that the
Antwerp-based
World Diamond Council (WDC) says in its May 22 Antwerp Facets
that Zimbabwe,
together with Venezuela, have not been cooperating with the
Kimberley
Process in the international effort to stamp out trade in conflict
diamonds.
It reports that the chairman of the Antwerp-based World Diamond
Council
(WDC) Eli Izhakoff had told a meeting of Kimberley Process members
in
Jerusalem that both countries had asked for his help to become
compliant.
Rappaport reports that Kimberly Process secretariat Stephane
Chardon has
hinted that the legal goings on at River Ranch may well be
beyond the scope
of the Certification Scheme. While the review team is most
likely to visit
River Ranch, he is quoted by Rappaport, its mandate is to
assess whether the
system in Zimbabwe as a whole meets the minimum
requirements of the scheme.
The agency reports that earlier this year
WDC's Izhakoff cautioned that the
WDC would not get involved in any internal
disputes between private parties.
IOL
May 23
2007 at 04:44PM
Harare - Desperate to see Zimbabwe's farming
fortunes improve, the
central bank has come up with an ambitious new
project: setting up technical
colleges that will produce at least half a
million ox-drawn carts and
ploughs, it was reported on
Wednesday.
Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono has become
increasingly frustrated
with the slow pace of recovery of the agricultural
sector, thrown into
disarray by the launch of a controversial land reform
programme in 2000.
Gono, tipped as a presidential hopeful, has
overseen the importation
of tractors and the disbursement of countless funds
in a bid to encourage
new black farmers to produce good
yields.
But there has been little improvement.
Zimbabwe, once the breadbasket
of the southern African region, has been
reduced to the status of food
importer.
This year less than one
tenth of the targeted wheat crop has been
planted due to a shortage of
tractors among other shortages of equipment and
inputs.
Now the
central bank chief has gone back to basics. He wants to
provide traditional
animal-drawn carts and ploughs for black peasant
farmers.
Zimbabwe's farming areas are divided into communal lands which have
long
been farmed by subsistence farmers and resettlement areas, which used
to be
farmed by whites before 2000.
The farming implements to be
manufactured by 62 new technical
institutions - will be distributed to the
communal farmers.
"Communal farmers contribute to the country's
food security so we
decided to recognise them and assist them [to] improve
their traditional way
of farming through the provision of these implements,"
Gono said.
"Its time now that we stopped importing maize and even
wheat, wasting
the little foreign currency that we have. We have to produce
and this we can
do as we have the capacity," he added.
Zimbabwe
this year faces a critical shortage of more than a million
tons of the
staple maize crop. - Sapa-dpa
Yahoo News
Wed May 23, 8:39 AM
ET
HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe is considering culling a ballooning elephant
population that it is struggling to control, an official said
Wednesday.
"The elephant population is increasing at the rate of five to
seven percent
annually," Edward Mbewe, spokesman for the parks and wildlife
management
authority, told AFP.
"We have about three options to consider
which include culling, but the
international world will not accept
this."
The decision came after Mali and Kenya proposed to lobby for a
complete ban
on the ivory trade for 20 years at the upcoming Convention on
International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) summit.
The move
has won the backing of six other African countries.
"We will be in a
dilemma if that proposal by Kenya and Mali goes through,"
Mbewe
said.
Besides culling Zimbabwe's wildlife, authorities are also
considering
contraception and translocation to control the rising elephant
population.
But Mbewe said "translocation is very expensive and will not
solve anything
as we will transfer problems to another area."
The
southern African country has an elephant population of more than 100,000
but
has the capacity for only 45,000.
Mbewe said if the ivory trade ban is
endorsed it will lead to conflict for
territory between humans and elephants
as the beasts grow in numbers.
Elephants have been protected under the
Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES) since 1989,
but in 1997 rules were relaxed
allowing Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe to
sell a portion of their ivory
stocks under regulated trade.
International Herald Tribune
The Associated
PressPublished: May 23, 2007
LONDON: The archbishop of
Canterbury has not yet decided whether to invite
Bishop Nolbert Kunonga of
Zimbabwe to next year's Lambeth Conference, a
global gathering of Anglican
bishops, a church official said Wednesday.
Archbishop Rowan Williams is
seeking further advice on Kunonga's case, said
the Rev. Jonathan Jennings, a
spokesman for Williams.
He declined to discuss the issues in Kunonga's
case, but said it was not
related to the Anglican Communion's divisions over
homosexuality which led
to two U.S. bishops being excluded from the more
than 850 invitations sent
Tuesday.
Kunonga, an outspoken supporter of
President Robert Mugabe, was elected
bishop of Harare in 2001.
In
2005, regional Anglican bishops dropped charges against Kunonga of
alleged
incitement to murder and besmirching the name of the church.
He
appeared before an ecclesiastical court in August 2005 after being
accused
by parishioners of intimidating critics, ignoring church law,
mishandling
church funds and bringing militant ruling party politics to the
pulpit.
Kunonga was accused of urging a priest to instruct ruling party
militants to
kill 10 of the bishop's opponents in the local Anglican
hierarchy.
The
ecclesiastical court hearing collapsed when Judge James Kalaile of
Malawi
refused to continue presiding after a dispute over the admission of
evidence.
Archbishop Amos Malingo of Zambia informed church leaders
throughout the
Province of Central Africa that the case against Kunonga "is
closed and
cannot be revived."
Mail and Guardian
Johannesburg, South Africa
23 May 2007
12:42
Widespread corruption continued to plague Africa in
2006,
exacerbated by abject poverty that left a precarious human rights
situation
on the continent, Amnesty International said on
Wednesday.
"Weak, deeply impoverished and often profoundly
corrupt states
have created a power vacuum into which corporations and other
economic
actors are moving," said Irene Khan, the head of the London-based
organisation, in the foreword of its annual report.
She
said Africa -- long the victim of greedy Western governments
and companies
-- was facing a new challenge from China, whose had shown
scant regard for
its "human rights footprint" on the continent.
"Their
deference to national sovereignty, antipathy to human
rights in foreign
policy and readiness to engage with abusive regimes are
all endearing China
to African governments," Khan said.
The report noted that the
presence of oil and vast mineral
resources in countries such as Angola,
Chad, the Democratic Republic of
Congo and Sudan "continued to blight rather
than enhance people's lives
because of conflicts, corruption and power
struggles".
Meanwhile the body -- while recognising armed
conflicts were
decreasing -- bemoaned the fact that at least a dozen
countries were still
affected, yielding millions of refugees and internally
displaced people.
The African Union was said to have failed
to promote human
rights in errant member countries like Zimbabwe, showing a
lack of political
will that left millions at the mercy of belligerent
governments.
"The AU continued to demonstrate a deep
reluctance to publicly
criticise African leaders who failed to protect human
rights," it added,
citing Zimbabwe's woes under president Robert
Mugabe.
Hundreds of Zimbabweans have been arrested for
engaging in
peaceful protests while many whose homes were destroyed in
Operation
Murambatsvina (Restore Order) continue to suffer as a programme to
build new
homes faltered.
"By May [2006] one year after
the programme's launch, only 3 325
houses have been built, compared with 92
460 housing structures destroyed in
Operation
Murambatsvina."
While abject poverty led to the problem of
unregulated
migration, forced evictions as a result of new development was
"one of the
most widespread and unrecognised human rights violations on the
continent."
"More than three million people have been
affected since 2000,"
said the report.
The report also
criticised African states for suppressing
dissent.
"Some
governments authorised or condoned extrajudicial
executions, arbitrary
arrests, torture ... or harassment of opposition
political activists, human
rights defenders and journalists," it said.
Aids was still a
major threat, with 24,7-million infected on the
continent, but national
responses had been scaled up with more than a
million receiving ARVs by June
2006, 23% of those needing it.
South Africa and Swaziland
were singled out for wide-spread
violence against women and girls, as was
the continued practice of female
genital mutilation in states like Sierra
Leone.
Cameroon was fingered for convicting 13 people for
practicing
homosexuality, Equatorial Guinea for jailing government
opponents, the
Gambia for torturing detainees, Kenya for harassing
journalists and Libya
for the killing of demonstrators. -- Sapa-AFP
BBC
Wednesday, 23 May 2007, 13:27 GMT 14:27 UK
By Dickon Hooper
BBC News
A safe house
for journalists who have been forced out of their home
countries and arrive
as asylum seekers in the UK is to be piloted in
Bristol.
The project
is the brainchild of the Bristol-based Exiled Journalist Network
(EJN), and
is based on the 15-bedroom Maison des Journalistes in Paris.
It provides
accommodation and assistance.
Zimbabwean Forward Maisokwadzo, speaking
from his office in the University
of the West of England, said: "In the last
year, we've been mobilising for
the refuge.
"Now we are in the
implementation phase. It would be ideal for it to be in
London, where the
media is. But we're also planning to have a pilot in
Bristol."
The
34-year-old married father-of-two left his native country in 2002 after
being abducted and beaten while working for The Independent.
He said
he was lucky to escape and initially came to the UK for medical
treatment
through the National Union of Journalists.
After studying for an MA in
Journalism at City University, Mr Maisokwadzo
joined MediaWise, a journalism
ethics charity also based in Bristol, and
helped set up the EJN.
It
now has more than 200 verified members.
We have 15 media outlets
signed up, including The Guardian, The Daily
Mail and Reuters
Dr Ibrahim Seaga Shaw
"The idea was to find people who could speak on behalf
of asylum seekers,"
he said.
"We wanted to dig into stories and look
at the inaccurate reporting around
asylum seekers. And promote press
freedom."
It also looks after the interests of exiled journalists -
whether they have
just arrived and need help processing their asylum
application or are
residents here and are trying to rebuild their
lives.
The refuge, called Press Freedom House, would have about six to
eight beds
and would link into this humanitarian work, providing medical and
psychological support, web access and training opportunities
"It
needs a year to get on its feet and we would evaluate as we went on",
said
Mr Maisokwadzo.
Among its supporters is Channel 4's Lindsey Hilsum, who
is also a patron of
the EJN, and The Independent's Yasmin
Alibhai-Brown.
'Support network'
Dr Ibrahim Seaga Shaw, former
editor of ExpoTimes in Sierra Leone and
founding member of the EJN, added:
"We have 15 media outlets signed up,
including The Guardian, The Daily Mail
and Reuters.
"Now we need to meet local authorities and identify a
building.
"I was in Paris when they set up the Maison des
Journalistes.
"I saw how it helps a lot: it avoids people getting thrown
out [of the
country] because of the lack of a support network."
Zim Online
Thursday 24 May 2007
By
Pfudzai Chibgowa
BULAWAYO - Conjwayo Mzimande, a 28-year old commuter
omnibus driver, shakes
his head in utter resignation.
"Business has
never been this bad," says Mzimande gesticulating at a fleet
of empty buses
lined up at the Third Street terminus on the outskirts of
Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe's second biggest city.
A fare increase by transport operators
last week has triggered some form of
"consumer resistance" in the city with
commuters only traveling when it is
absolutely necessary to do so.
A
single trip from Bulawayo's working class suburbs into the city now costs
Z$10 000, up from Z$7 000 commuters used to pay previously.
Transport
operators say they had no choice but to hike fares to stay afloat
in
Zimbabwe's tough hyper-inflationary environment that last month saw
inflation zooming beyond 3 700 percent, the highest in the world.
A
rank marshal at Third Street terminus, Perfect Mlilo says business has
never
been this low and the days of "super profits" transport operators in
Bulawayo used to enjoy are long gone.
"Buses are hard to fill these
days and there are so many of them running
half empty. One considers himself
lucky if they can fill five buses a day,"
says Mlilo.
As if to
confirm the lack of business here, ZimOnline witnessed a group of
rank
marshals killing time at the terminus by engaging in mock boxing while
another group sat down playing checkers.
Mlilo says business is only
relatively good in the mornings when workers,
those that are still lucky to
hold a job in the city, and students get to
work or school. This is followed
by a boring lull from mid-morning until
lunchtime when school children
return home.
Mlilo says it is now common to see touts at times
physically dragging
commuters to board buses because of sheer
desperation.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of a debilitating seven-year old
economic crisis
that has manifested itself in massive shortages of foreign
currency and
run-away inflation. The economic crisis has left no sector
untouched.
A shortage of foreign currency to buy spares and replenish an
ageing fleet
has left the transport operators basically operating dangerous
vehicles on
the roads resulting in horrendous traffic accidents on
Zimbabwe's roads.
Apart from the ageing fleet, the transport operators
must also contend with
a severe shortage of fuel that has forced most of
them to buy the commodity
on the illegal parallel market where it is usually
available.
Emily Ncube, a mother of two who works in a local shop in the
city, said due
to last week's increase in fares, many parents could be
forced to pull
children out of school.
"These regular fare hikes have
indirectly increased the cost of education.
Most children might not last
till the end of the school term because of the
fare hikes," said
Ncube.
"My two children need $800 000 in bus fare alone a month which is
almost
twice the amount I pay for school fees a term," Ncube
says.
She says were it not for a brother in South Africa who normally
chips in by
sending foreign currency which they change on the illegal
parallel market,
her children could by now be roaming the
streets.
President Robert Mugabe, a former teacher himself, seems aware
of the plight
of civil servants and most other workers in Zimbabwe who are
battling to
make ends meet.
His government this week said it will
introduce a special facility - state
buses - to ferry civil servants to and
from work at reduced fares as a means
of lessening the plight of government
workers.
The decision to introduce 'state buses' came after teachers, who
are among
the lowest paid workers in Zimbabwe, threatened to work only 10
days per
month unless the government offered them a 'more reasonable salary
increment'
to cover daily expenses.
The lowest paid teacher earns
about Z$400 000 a month.
"Where are the buses they say will carry us to
work?" asked a nurse riding
on one of the commuter omnibuses earlier this
week.
"It (government plan) is illogical because we live in different
suburbs and
there are no buses to cater for all of us. It is not like we
work at
centralised points like the police and the army," she said. -
ZimOnline
African Path
Trust Matsilele
May 23, 2007 09:47 AM
IN HARARE: May 25
which is supposed to be celebrated as Africa day has
shifted its meaning to
over 1, 5 million Zimbabweans who have been left as
street dwellers both in
and outside Zimbabwe following the Africa day's
operation Murambatsvina
launch by Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe and his
Housing Minister
Ignatius Chombo. To Zimbabweans it is now called the
International day of
anti-evictions.
The United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on
Adequate Housing, Miloon
Kothari has described the "non-response" by the
African Union (AU) and
Southern Africa to the "oppressive" Zimbabwean
government as "shocking" and
unhelpful". The attack comes two years after
the official launch of
rendering homeless to over a million
Zimbabweans.
The rapporteur said the government's promises
to provide the deserving
displaced with decent and affordable accommodation
in subsequent campaign,
Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle (Live Well), had
been a "failure".
The recent election of Francis Nhema (48)
by fellow African brothers
to become chairman of the UN's Commission on
Sustainable speaks volumes
about the nature of African
leadership.
Nhema who was also part of the cabinet which
rendered such a volume of
people homeless does not only bring shame to
Mugabe and Zimbabwe but to the
entire electorate (those who elected him)
which fails to acknowledge that it
is illegal to destroy people's
houses.
The most worrying thing is that Operation
Murambatsvina meant to
instill fear and expel citizens alleged to be urban
opposition supporters
has become a permanent problem to the entire survivors
some still scavenging
for a living elsewhere. Thousands of children who
dropped out of schools
face a bleak future.
Zimbabweans
are now confronted with a definition crisis of what is
meant by Africa day,
is it the commemoration of atrocities committed by the
Zimbabwean geriatric
or a celebration of the liberation of the entire
continent.
In just this week the Zimbabwean government
has been elected in the
post of vice chair of Common Market of East and
Southern Africa (COMESA) the
largest trading body in the continent. Without
considering evils perpetrated
by Mugabe and his cousins, Zimbabwe has fallen
in trade and market as
agriculture which had registered the country in the
world's atlas has fallen
shamefully. The only commodity being exported from
Zimbabwe is cheap human
labour, what a shame.
Operation
Murambatsvina is one thing that will go down in history as a
scar that will
not fade in the minds of many as thousands of those suffered
criminals
committed by ZANU PF thugs still roam around the streets of Jozi
begging for
remains so as to survive.
Last word is to president Mbeki
that one condition which ZANU PF and
Mugabe should adhere to for talks is a
public apology to over a million
citizens who have been rendered homeless.
The 25th May celebration will be
commemorated in Zimbabwe and neighbouring
South Africa by civil society
organizations as part of shaming process to
African leadership.
Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the
subject line.
JAG Hotlines:
+263 (011) 610 073 If you are in trouble
or need advice,
please don't hesitate to contact us - we're here to
help!
+263 (04) 799 410 Office
Lines
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1 - Cathy Buckle
Dear Family and Friends,
The last time I had
occasion to call the fire brigade was in March 2002. It
was just a couple of
weeks before the Presidential elections and a house a
few doors away was
petrol bombed. Windows exploded, the roof collapsed and a
raging inferno
turned night into day. The fire brigade didn't answer their
phone so I
dialled the police. They said they couldn't help as they didn't
have a
vehicle and were unable to alert the fire brigade as the police
telephone was
not able to make outgoing calls. The fire raged out of control
and finally I
got through to the fire brigade. They said they couldn't send
a fire engine
as it was busy picking up a sick person in a high density
suburb. Despite my
best efforts to explain that I wasn't asking for an
ambulance but a fire
truck with hoses and water, the fire brigade never
came.
About
eighteen months later, without any explanation, a new charge
suddenly
appeared on rate-payers municipal accounts. It was called a 'fire
levy' and
it had been added to our monthly accounts along with a massive
increase in
all municipal services ranging from 475% for something called a
development
levy, to 1600% for water. On my account for that month I wrote in
big
letters: "NOT PAID:
Public Protest; To be Reduced. " A hastily
convened and heated public
meeting, a protest by residents to the Municipal
offices and it was all
over. Victory came swiftly! The accounts were
withdrawn and the increases
were slashed by over 50%.
The 'fire levy,'
however, became a permanent fixture on the bill.
This week Marondera
residents received their monthly Municipal accounts and
were staggered to
find that charges have increased by one thousand two
hundred percent. Phoning
for an explanation residents are being told they
can "pay in instalments."
How do you pay a monthly bill in instalments if
the account is higher than
your entire monthly wage, one resident asked?
'Just pay what you have" came
the reply; "pay in bits and pieces" the man
said.
Another asked if
the increase had been advertised in the press as required
under the Urban
Councils act. The municipal employee said that they didn't
have to advertise
in the press because they had consulted their
'stakeholders'. Asked who these
stakeholders were, the employee declined to
answer and said the Town
Accountant would know but he wasn't available. When
the resident asked if he
was
a 'stakeholder' as he lived in the town, owned property and paid rates,
the
municipal employee said "aaaaah" and laughed but did not
answer.
Another resident who tried to complain declined to reveal his
exact address
because he is well aware of the recriminations which accompany
all forms of
protest in Zimbabwe these days. He met with a very hostile
response. The
Municipal employee, whose salary is paid with our rates, said:
"If you don't
want to tell me where you stay, I no longer want to talk to
you" and slammed
the phone down. Hardly professional behaviour for a senior
municipal
employee who has clearly forgotten just exactly where the money
comes from
to pay his salary.
Dialogue and plain common sense have
left the caretakers of this bankrupt
town. People are complaining, more will
speak out. A small picture of the
bigger picture. Until next week, thanks for
reading,
love cathy
Copyright cathy buckle 19 May
2007
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
2 - Pro Lege Australia
Dear JAG,
Makorokoto to Robert, Gideon and
their muijbas on being world leaders - the
highest inflation rate in the
world, and above all it had all been planned
since February 2000. They are
still pretending to the world that they are
victims of circumstance! I wonder
what they all smoke these days!
Not satisfied with 3 700% inflation,
Glorious Gideon has now set his target
higher by openly stating he will print
more money as directed by Robert -
more trees to be chopped down for more
useless paper.
The new currency will no doubt have the words: "I promise
to steal from the
bearer, on demand" Dr. G. Gono, World Economist, RBZ Jim
Holland has just
given Australians a very good account of exactly how his 64
yearold wife
Sekai was beaten by Gideon's hired thugs breaking her arm and
leg amongst
other things. Interestingly Jim pointed out that Sekai was a
fellow student
with the Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs. That is to
say, the
Minister has had the privelege of a first class education - just as
Gideon
aspires to for his children - also in Australia. These muijbas have
been
taught how to behave in a civilised non Barbaric society, but have
actually
chosen to steal, torture and murder anybody who believes in human
rights to
retain power and money. And now Thabo says he is going to talk to
them about
democracy!
I suggest that John Howard and Alexander Downer
set the Australian
authorities the task to deport all Zanu affiliated people
and their families
who are living on illgotten gains.
To boycott
Zimbabwe cricket is morally sound but to then give the same
perpetrators of
genocide (and their families) sanctury in Australia is at
the very least
diabolical.
Pro
Lege
Australia
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Letter
3 - A.N. Other Mother
To Ben Freeth and 'A Mother'
Go guys! High
time we ALL took leaves out of your books and stood up on our
hind legs
against the black-on-white RACISM and told it like it really is,
here in
Zimbabwe.
Maintain the pressure at every quarter, spread the word, stand
up on your
soap-boxes at every given opportunity and at every possible forum,
verbally
and in writing - TELL THE TRUTH - and let none of us, with our pride
and
dignity be beaten into submission ourselves - whether physically,
mentally
or verbally.
A.N. OTHER
MOTHER
Zimbabwe
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Letter
4 - Ade Williams
Dear JAG,
Re-The Christian Science Monitor (US)
16 May, by Scott Baldauf.
Whilst I have no criticism of Mr Baldauf I must
say I am bemused by the
comments -which of course we have heard
previously-that Africans and African
nations are sympathetic to Mugabe and
the actions of the Zimbabwean
Government because of the legacy of post
colonial and racist regimes........
and support the bold moves
taken.
This surely must mean logically that Beatrice Mtetwa, Grace
Kwinja, Sekai
Holland, Gift Tandare, countless other victims of torture,
killings,
beatings, many of whom are members of MDC or supporters are NOT
African.
If free and fair elections are held and strongly supported by UN
peace
keeping forces let us see how many Africans will show their support of
the
bold moves of Mugabe.
Ade
Williams.
UK
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Letter
5 - A mother
To Jaqui Gulliver from A Mother
You are both a
Rhodesian and now a Zimbabwean, you are one of the blessed
survivors who live
in this beautiful country. You are one of the spirited
few of this world who
are sill tryng to live the good life God destined us
for.
God
bless
A
mother
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Letter
6 - Stu Taylor
Dear JAG,
The other day I happened to be in the
office of the field sales manager of a
local seed-house when a land thief
from one of the former more productive
commercial farms in the Bindura area
phoned enquiring after 2,5 tonnes of
wheat seed. Having been involved with
agriculture for several years, and
knowing the particular farm, I shuddered
in dismay at the ignorance and
stupidity of someone wanting to plant wheat in
this area so long after the
1st May. That's why Zimbabwe will never regain
its status as a top
agricultural producer, if the "government" continues
doling out former
commercial land to ignorant loyalists of the abhorrent
regime.
Cheers,
Stu
Taylor.
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Letter
7 - Eddie Cross
Real Leadership at Last
The past two weeks have
seen significant developments in the field of the
SADC sponsored talks to try
and resolve the ongoing crisis in Zimbabwe. We
cannot say too much about
this, as we are under instructions to keep the lid
on things until the
facilitators can report progress.
I must say I am surprised by recent
developments - and pleased. They
represent an example of real leadership by
Africa's leaders in powerful
positions and if we can keep this up we may
actually see an African crafted
solution to the Zimbabwe situation. It is
about time and watching the
international community wring its hands over the
situation in Darfur just
makes me wish we could act multilaterally on a more
constant and principled
basis. But then this is politics!!
Various
forces have helped in this process, the final outcome of which is
still very
uncertain, but at least it is under way. Among these forces must
rank the
economy. Last year the fiscal deficit was over 60 per cent of
estimated GDP.
Inflation figures just released reluctantly by the local
statistical office
were 3 700 per cent - over 100 per cent in April alone.
It is at least double
that in reality but all the same, most commentators
still use the official
numbers and they are bad enough.
The impact of this on the local economy
and on everyone is difficult to
describe to anyone who lives in a normal
environment. Here business can be
literally wiped out in weeks if you do not
move with speed. That is
impossible with Government and the collapse of all
State controlled
institutions and organisations are now very rapid. Most can
barely function.
For the average person life is a nightmare. Prices
change by the hour and
you must spend your money as soon as you get it or
watch it simply fade
away. People on fixed incomes are long since eliminated,
as they simply are
unable to cope. This week saw thousands of workers in all
spheres go on
strike - demanding wages that would in a small way reflect what
it costs to
live. The numbers are just impossible to comprehend.
The
regime has finally given in to the realities of the situation and raised
the
price of maize meal by 600 per cent. Even so 65 per cent of the cost of
a bag
of maize meal is reflected in distribution and packaging costs. Enough
maize
meal to feed the family now costs more than the total wages of 70 per
cent of
all workers. Transport to work will cost as least as much. Talking
to
strikers last week they said they did not care if they were fired -
they
would pack up and go to South Africa.
Then there is the food
situation. We have grown 20 per cent of our needs -
world stocks of grain are
down to six weeks supply and prices have doubled
in the past year. We will
have to import 2 million tonnes of grain under
desperate conditions - no
foreign exchange, high prices, poor infrastructure
and low transport
capacity.
The great majority of the urban population is in the position
where they
cannot feed themselves let alone buy food for "home". In rural
areas the
situation is much worse - there are no stocks in the south at all -
a total
crop failure from Chegutu south has ensured that. Government sees
this food
crisis as simply a chance to control the population. Orders have
gone out
that no food distribution is to take place without political
controls being
in force. These instructions are being ruthlessly enforced.
Free and fair
elections are impossible under such conditions.
Then
there is the new pressure from the global community. I sense a new
resolution
to be tough with rogue States like ours. The EU has toughened its
stance and
last week we got refreshingly frank statements from the Prime
Minister of
Australia when he took the unusual step of banning the
Australian Cricket
team from visiting Zimbabwe. He called Mugabe a "grubby
little dictator" and
said the he was running a "Gestapo style regime." Tough
truth from powerful
and influential people. At last those countries that
are providing shelter
to the children of those on the list of targeted
sanctions as well and other
human rights abusers are now being threatened
with eviction and a humiliating
return home.
The new approach adopted by the SADC and the AU has also
raised the
temperature. They have recently made statements that suggest that
they are
no longer prepared to tolerate the behavior of the Harare regime and
are
calling on it to reform or face sanctions. At long last the AU Human
Rights
Commission has debated its own report on human rights abuse in
Zimbabwe.
Despite a defence put up by Zimbabwe Ministers they adopted the
report and
called for change. The same happened last week at the Pan African
Parliament
sitting in Gauteng where a full inquiry was ordered.
Such
events were unthinkable a few years ago, even last year. The African
block at
the UN supported by South American States succeeded in getting
Zimbabwe
appointed as the Chairman of the Commission on sustainable
development - but
that simply highlights the weakness of the UN system and
its inability to act
on a principled basis. Still at least the Commission
gets a Chairman who
knows what does not work - from personal experience.
Yesterday the
National Council of the MDC met in Harare and adopted its
basis for action
over the next 10 months. We agreed our goal was to "restore
hope", "overcome
fear" and "make every vote count". I thought that was a
clever bit of work by
our National leadership because it really does sum up
what we, as a Nation
need.
We need hope that all is not lost and some form of a solution is
now under
way. One that offers us a chance to rebuild our lives and country
from the
bleak ashes of what we have left. We must overcome fear - fear of
being
associated with the MDC, fear of what the State will do to me if I join
the
struggle or step out of line, fear of what the future holds, if
anything.
Then we have to reestablish a belief that our votes will count.
We have
voted in 2000, in 2002 and in 2005 and in each case watched as our
desires
and wishes were crushed by violence, vote rigging and coercion. We
are now
in that place where we wonder if our votes will mean anything. That
is what
the talks are all about and when the outcome becomes know, I am sure
there
is going to be an explosion of new enthusiasm for the electoral
process. If
we can persuade people that their vote will be counted and will
make a
difference, we can trust the rest to the people.
I for one, am
looking forward to that day, its now coming soon, do
not
despair!!
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 18th May
2007
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All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions of
the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.