ZIMBABWE NEWS ONLINE Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source: AfricaNN@inform-bbs.dk Sun Sep 28 12:42:21 1997 ZIMBABWE NEWS ONLINE/ZIMBABWE NEWS ONLINE/ZIMBABWE NEWS ONLINE Edition #7 28 September 1997 Subscribe to Zimbabwe News Online A twice monthly update of news from Zimbabwe! ZIMBABWE NEWS ONLINE is written by Zimbabwean journalists living in Zimbabwe and brings you the news from their point of view. It is assembled and edited by Africa News Network, part of South Africa Contact, the former anti-apartheid movement in Denmark. ZIMBABWE NEWS ONLINE joins our other individual newsletters from MOZAMBIQUE, ZAMBIA, MALAWI, TANZANIA, ANGOLA and SOUTH AFRICA, in providing up to date news through our established network of journalists in southern Africa. These newsletters will be followed, in the very near future, by news updates from other countries in the region. ZIMBABWE NEWS ONLINE is brought to you through a co-operation between Africa News Network, South Africa Contact and Inform, Denmark's leading alternative information network. ******************************* In this edition: Feature: The end of the honeymoon Stories: 1. Court rules part of Act unconstitutional 2. Zimbabwe's new role in SADC 3. Arms consignment goes missing 4. Zimbabwe's economy weakening 5. Ex-combatant tells commission 'corruption now the norm' 6. MP acquitted on theft charges 7. Parliament refuses to ratify agreements 8. Quelea birds take 30% of wheat crop 9. Zimbabwe concerned over cattle shooting by Botswana 10. Former UK lawyer under investigation 11. Notorious jailbreakers caught 12. Judge validates marriage Feature: The end of the honeymoon Zimbabwe's political volcano which has been dormant for the past 17 years, since independence in 1980, has now fired off some warning shots which could well lead to an ugly eruption in the near future if not checked. The government's honeymoon is now over, and gone are the days when people used to be silenced by slogans of socialist rhetoric. A new era has dawned with the resurgence of independent thought. And the people are demanding what is rightfully theirs. It all started with civil servants defying the government last year by going on a nation-wide strike which almost brought down the government. This was the first time in the history of the country that all civil servants had gone on strike at the same time, demanding a salary increase of at least 30 percent. The government's first response was to threaten to fire all who would fail to meet a set deadline to return to work. The civil servants remained defiant, and government finally gave in to their demands when it became obvious that the administration of the country would collapse if the strike continued. In June this year, private sector workers demanding a living wage triggered a wave of strikes countrywide. They complained that for a long time they have been made the sacrificial lambs while those in positions of authority have been lining their pockets. Workers, both in the public and private sectors, complained that instead of changing for the better, the standard of living for the majority of Zimbabweans has been deteriorating since independence. During the early years of independence, the government was able to get away with it by telling people that it was still trying to put right the wrongs which had been caused to the economy by the previous white regime of Ian Douglas Smith. Later the government blamed the drought for the continued poor performance of the economy. After about 11 years of independence, when the government could no longer continue to blame the previous regime nor the drought, it made a shocking but rather honest announcement when it admitted that socialism had failed to deliver the goods and that it was turning to a mixed economy, and gradually to a market economy. In line with the demands of the IMF and World Bank for a Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), the government was forced to drop subsidies on a wide range of services, including health and food commodities, plunging the majority of the population into a deeper economic quagmire. Still the government promised that while the SAP was initially going to be a bitter pill to swallow, it would within two to three years bring prosperity to all. Today, about seven years after the introduction of the SAP, very little has changed for the better, and people are still being told to tighten their belts. Now the workers have reached a stage where they are saying enough is enough and they can no longer continue tightening their belts. "Workers have tightened their belts right to the bone and it is no longer possible to tighten them any further," said a trade unionist, Shangwa Chifamba. What has infuriated the workers even more is that while the government is busy urging them to tighten their belts, government officials seem to be busy loosening theirs. Just after being voted into power at the last general elections in 1995, parliamentarians and government ministers immediately hiked their already high salaries by a whooping 65 percent. This year the government could not afford a repeat of what happened last year and it quickly awarded an average 30 percent increase and promised that civil servants would this year be awarded a bonus at the end of the year. Having seen what unity during industrial action can achieve, workers in the private sector this year went on strike en masse. In some cases, those who did not join the strike were branded sell-outs and beaten up. And, at the end of the day, the workers won the battle with an average salary increase of about 35 percent. Well and good as far as the workers are concerned. However, there is a group of people whose anger has been building up over the years, a group which feels betrayed after having sacrificed so much for the liberation of Zimbabwe. These are the ex-combatants - the men and women who took up arms to fight for the country's independence. The major bone of contention which made people take up arms to fight the colonial regime was land, and at independence the government announced that its major task was to redistribute land to the landless masses. But what has actually happened is that over the past 17 years, the ruling elite has been busy acquiring land and wealth for itself at the expense of the majority. The straw which has finally broken the camel's back, prompting ex-combatants to threaten to take up arms against the government, has been the looting of the War Victims Compensation Fund by those in positions of influence. This is a fund which was meant to benefit those who were injured during the war, but revelations unfolding now show that some people who never got near the warfront, have benefited from the fund. When ex-combatants first showed their anger at the looting of the fund by demonstrating at the offices of the Ministry of Public Service which administers the fund, some government officials, whose job it has been since independence to intimidate and oppress other people, did not take the demonstration seriously, but instead warned that those who would continue with that kind of behaviour would face the wrath of the law. The ex-combatants, however, decided that just talking would not provoke any meaningful reaction from the stubborn leadership, hence they chose an event which would not only embarrass the government, but would also ensure that their case would get world-wide publicity. In July, they blockaded the Harare International Conference Centre which was the venue of the much publicised African-African American summit, much to the embarrassment of the government. There was drama in the following days as the ex-combatants went to the headquarters of the ruling party where they locked up the national party chairman and the secretary for administration. A few days later, three government ministers, including the minister of defence, Moven Mahachi, had to be whisked out of a hall through the back door by police when ex-combatants they had tried to address accused them of lying and wanted to assault them. They were driven to safety in a police truck, living their luxury ministerial Mercedes Benz behind with the angry ex-combatants. President Robert Mugabe who had been quiet all along was now forced to speak out and later invited the ex-combatants to a meeting with him after the Press had published statements in which some ex-combatants threatened to form a movement similar to the one led by Laurent Kabila which toppled Zaire's long time dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko. Sensing potential danger, Mugabe now promised that all those who fought in the liberation struggle will each be entitled to a lump sum of Z$50 000 and a monthly pension of Z$2 000. With ex-combatants numbering about 70 000, economic experts have predicted that the government will this financial year alone need at least Z$3 billion to make these payments, and they are asking where Zimbabwe, which is already reeling under a huge budget deficit, will get the money. And what about the resulting inflation? The move has already set the Government on a collision course with the IMF and the World Bank which had agreed to resume disbursement of loans to help the country with its balance of payments. Less than two weeks after Mugabe made the announcement that all ex-combatants would each get a lump sum of $50 000, tax free, and a monthly pension of Z$2000, the World Bank announced that it was holding back the disbursement of Z$720 million meant for balance of payments support. This move comes barely a month after the World Bank had promised the government that on the basis of improved fiscal management performance during the 1996/97 financial year, it was going to release the Z$720 million. Worse still, people in the rural areas who provided food and logistical support to the ex-combatants are now also demanding a share of the national cake since they are still without the promised land 17 years after independence, and they take the preferential treatment given to ex-combatants as discrimination against them. People in the rural areas constitute about 80 percent of Zimbabwe's population and the government can only choose not to listen to them at its own risk as a swing in their votes would determine which party wins the next election. The recent ruling by the Supreme Court that will see other political parties benefit from public funding, is also another set back for the ruling party as it will mean less money for it, but stiffer competition for votes. The winds of change which have seen neighbouring Malawi's Kamuzu Banda and Zambia's Kenneth Kaunda voted out of power after ruling their respective countries for about three decades might soon be sweeping across Zimbabwe where Mugabe has been in power since independence in 1980. If past and current events are anything to go by, then the country's political volcano which has been suppressed for the past 17 years is about to erupt, with serious consequences to the ruling party, Zanu(PF). Stories: 1. Court rules part of Act unconstitutional The Supreme Court of Zimbabwe has ruled as unconstitutional a subsection of the Political Parties Finance Act which requires any political party to have at least 15 parliamentary seats in order to qualify for state funding, saying the threshold of 15 in a 120-member Parliament was too high. Parliament will now have to replace the whole subsection of the Act dealing with the 15-seat qualification. The rest of the Act, including provision for a proportional distribution of funds according to some constitutionally valid test, was in accordance with the Declaration of Rights, the court ruled. The full five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, sitting as a Constitutional Court, reached its decision unanimously following a constitutional suit brought by the United Parties which was querying the Political Parties Finance Act which currently benefits only the ruling party, ZANU(PF) to the tune of Z$32 million annually. The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has announced that Parliament would soon amend the Political Parties Finance Act to bring it in line with the ruling of the Supreme Court. 2. Zimbabwe's new role in SADC Zimbabwe, one of the leading countries in food production among members of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), has been assigned a new role of coordinating the organisation's food security directorate. According to a report carried by The Herald newspaper, the SADC Council of Ministers at a meeting in Malawi unanimously gave Zimbabwe the responsibility to co-ordinate a new sector that will do research on appropriate crops for the drought prone region. Zimbabwe's minister of agriculture, Kumbirai Kangai, said his country was chosen in recognition of the fact that it is one of the only two countries in the SADC region self-sufficient in food with even a surplus for export. The other country is South Africa. Kangai warned SADC countries to conserve water and to preserve livestock, in view of a possible drought in Southern Africa resulting from the weather phenomenon known as El Nino. 3. Arms consignment goes missing A consignment of mortar bombs from Zimbabwe, destined for the Sri Lankan army, is reported to have gone missing on the Indian Ocean, according to Interpol sources in Harare. The consignment consisting of more than 30 000 rounds of 81 mm mortar bombs was being transported by ship and is believed to have gone missing between Madagascar and Sri Lanka over a month ago. The exporter, state-owned Zimbabwe Defence Industries, has refused to comment on the missing cargo referring to confidentiality rules governing military procurements. Diplomatic sources in Harare suspect that the ship might have been intercepted by rebels of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who are fighting the Sri Lankan government. This was fuelled by reports that of late the Tamil Tigers have been using heavy artillery and mortar fire power. Meanwhile, an Interpol official in Harare has said all Interpol desks world-wide have been alerted to be on the lookout for the missing ship. 4. Zimbabwe's economy weakening One of Zimbabwe's leading banks, Barclays, has reported that there are signs that the country's economy is weakening and that the outlook has become more uncertain. In its monthly economic bulletin, the bank said there are indications of a slowdown in economic growth, with the Gross Domestic Product, initially estimated to grow by between 5 and 6 percent this fiscal year, now having been revised downwards to between 4 and 5 percent. "Indications of a declining economy include a worsening in terms of trade, as represented by sizable declines in the projected values of Zimbabwe's two leading export commodities, tobacco and gold," the bulletin said. The bank said manufactured exports, the third largest export category, are having to cope with a substantially appreciated real exchange rate. In addition, private sector credit growth is now negative in real terms, pointing to declining levels of domestic investment. There are also concerns that weather forecasts indicate a high probability of a drought this season, an occurrence which would spell disaster to the country's agro-based economy. 5. Ex-combatant tells commission 'corruption now the norm' A Commission of Inquiry set up by government to investigate the misappropriation of funds meant for the compensation of ex-combatants injured during Zimbabwe's liberation war, has heard that corruption was now the "norm" in the country. Testifying before the Commission, ex-combatant Stalin Mau-Mau confessed to jumping the queue to have his injury claim processed, but said he was not remorseful about this because corruption has become the order of the day in Zimbabwe. "Corruption has become rampant in Zimbabwe and needs to be nipped in the bud," Mau-Mau said. He said he had not seen any high-ranking government officials joining the queue, and that what he did was therefore "normal in an environment where corruption was rife". Mau-Mau said the Prevention of Corruption Act was the most violated law in the country and there was need for a complete overhaul of attitudes. Millions of dollars meant for ex-combatants were siphoned from the War Victims Compensation Fund by undeserving people, many of whom never took part in the liberation war, while scores of ex-combatants with genuine compensation claims were either paid very little or denied compensation. Ex-combatants threatening to revolt against the government last month prompted it to set up the commission of inquiry. 6. MP acquitted on theft charges The Member of Parliament for Chivi South, Paradza Mandebvu, who was facing four charges of theft by conversion has, much to the annoyance of many, been acquitted on all charges after the court ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. The State case was that between June and October 1993, Mandebvu had on four different occasions received cheques from the German Embassy, totalling Z$32 328, towards the construction of a youth co-operative craft centre in his constituency. Some months later officials from the German Embassy visited the craft centre to see what progress had been made and found that only two little grass thatched structures valued at less than Z$11 000 had been put up, but Mandebvu could not account for the rest of the money. A report was made to the police and Mandebvu was arrested. Mandebvu denied ever misusing the money, but admitted putting it in his personal account saying the co-operative had no account of its own. Eight witnesses, including the German Ambassador to Zimbabwe, testified in the trial. 7. Parliament refuses to ratify agreements The Parliament of Zimbabwe has refused to ratify Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements between Zimbabwe and the governments of China, Switzerland, Yugoslavia and Denmark, saying there was need for Members of Parliament to first read the treaties and clarify a number of issues. Mutare Central MP, Moses Mvenge asked why the Ministry of Finance was bringing the treaties to Parliament for ratification, more than 15 months after trade agreements between Zimbabwe and the four countries were signed. Mvenge said it did not make sense for MPs to ratify something they had not read or seen. "Can the minister be kind enough to distribute the treaty so that we can read it and know exactly what we are ratifying?" asked Mvenge. Chimanimani MP, Mike Mataure said bringing treaties to Parliament so late was a serious breach of the administrative structure. Meanwhile, Parliament last week agreed to set up a Committee on Parliamentary Privileges to investigate police officers at Madlambuzi Police Station who refused to be interviewed by a Parliamentary committee during its internal investigations into the Ministry of Home Affairs this year. 8. Quelea birds take 30% of wheat crop The migratory wheat-eating Quelea birds have so far destroyed close to 30 percent of Zimbabwe's wheat this season's, the director of the Commercial Farmers' Union, David Hasluck has said. According to a story published in The Herald, the number of Quelea birds increased substantially during the last two rainy seasons owing to favourable breeding conditions. The regional Quelea population in Southern Africa is estimated at 500 million. In Zimbabwe it is the responsibility of the government to control the birds, but the Department of National Parks and Wildlife says it has no money for this task. In an effort to control the damage, the Zimbabwe Cereal Producers' Association in July paid over Z$800 000 towards fighting the birds. Given that Zimbabwe imports wheat every year because local production does not meet domestic demand, farmers have called on the government to budget for funds to control the birds. 9. Zimbabwe concerned over cattle shooting by Botswana Villagers from Zimbabwe's Shashi area, which borders Botswana, have asked the Zimbabwe government to intervene and stop Botswana policemen from shooting cattle which stray into that country. Botswana policemen are under orders from their government to shoot cattle straying into their country from Zimbabwe for fear that they may bring diseases into the cattle rich country. The shooting of cattle started a few years ago following the outbreak of the deadly foot and mouth disease in Zimbabwe. So far at least 300 cattle valued at about Z$500 000 have been shot dead. Most of the cattle are shot between May and September when villagers leave their livestock to move freely after harvesting their crops. The governor for the area has promised the villagers that he will approach Botswana's ambassador to Zimbabwe to try and resolve the problem. 10. Former UK lawyer under investigation Zimbabwean Police are investigating a former British lawyer, John Jackson Smyth, who now leads a Zimbabwean youth Christian organisation, for allegedly exposing school boys to nudity, explicit sexual matters and negligently causing the death of a boy. Smyth - a former Queen's counsel who came to Zimbabwe in the early 1990s and founded the Zambezi Ministries in Zimbabwe - has already been placed on remand and is expected to face trial soon. In 1992 Smyth is alleged to have negligently caused the death of a boy who drowned while swimming at night on Smyth's orders in a pool without adequate lighting. He was remanded on Z$10 000 bail and was asked to surrender his passport. 11. Notorious jailbreakers arrested Notorious jailbreaker, Stephen Chidhumo, who made history by being the first person to successfully escape from Zimbabwe's Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison last month, has been recaptured in the Mozambican port city of Beira. Chidhumo, who escaped from Chikurubi after disarming and shooting dead a prison guard, was shot in the leg during the operation by Zimbabwean and Mozambican policemen when he tried to resist arrest. He had been serving a 37-year jail term for attempted murder, armed robbery and rape, and had twice before escaped from custody. Meanwhile, another dangerous fugitive, Edmund Masendeke, who escaped from Mutimurefu Prison in 1995, was caught in Mozambique last week and handed over to the Zimbabwe Police. He will now face charges for murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, house breaking and rape. Both Chidhumo and Masendeke had managed to obtain Mozambican identity papers. 12. Judge validates marriage A Zimbabwean woman whose Swiss husband had been denied residence in Zimbabwe after the chief immigration officer declared their marriage as one of convenience, has successfully petitioned the High Court to have her marriage declared valid. High Court Judge, Justice Sandura, last week declared that Jean-Marc Hofstetter could come to Zimbabwe and live with his wife on the same basis as any other foreigner who is a permanent resident. The judge found that the couple who had been together since 1983, had a child and jointly owned their home. "This evidence shows that the marriage is genuine," the judge said. The judge said the evidence given by the chief immigration officer was that he did not even investigate the marriage in question because he was convinced that Mr Hofstetter was using the woman in order to stay in the country. "That, in my view, does not establish that the marriage in question is one of convenience. On the other hand the evidence given by the Mrs Judy Jean-Marc Hofstetter and her witness convinces me that the marriage is genuine," the judge said. Zimbabwe's immigration officials have become tough with foreign spouses after discovering that some foreigners were getting into marriages of convenience with Zimbabweans, only to divorce after they have been granted Zimbabwean citizenship. **************************** ZIMBABWE NEWS ONLINE A fortnightly update of news from Zimbabwe! If you would like to receive more information about ZIMBABWE NEWS ONLINE, or about our other newsletters or upcoming newsletters, please send an E-mail to: AfricaNN@inform-bbs.dk If you know of anyone else who might be interested in subscribing to Zimbabwe News Online, please let us know and tell them about us! Letters to the editor can be sent to: editor@inform-bbs.dk (Mary Tingay) Fax: + 45 31 35 43 32 Phone:+ 45 31 35 96 32 FOR A ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION: Students US$17 Pounds Sterling 11 DKK99 Individuals US$22 Pounds Sterling 14 DKK128 Institutions US$42 Pounds Sterling 26 DKK244 Fax and mail costs available on request. 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