1


BRIEFING PAPERS
: ZIMBABWE :


Jill Lambert

The Hon. Alexander Downer
Minister of Foreign Affairs.


The situation in Zimbabwe is deteriorating to such an extent that these briefing papers
are intended to give you as far as is possible, a balanced overview which is more
detailed than you may be able to access in normal circumstances.

To assist you in clarifying issues, the papers are grouped into topics followed by
headline updates on the current situation in each of those areas. Should you require
further information, each headline will point to the page on which the full text of articles
or newspaper reports can be read.


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INTRODUCTION:

The government of Zimbabwe has banned all external journalists in the country and is
persecuting those who present an opposition picture.

Some innovative steps have therefore been taken. It is largely through e-mail that
events in Zimbabwe are covered in any detail.

In addition, a media monitoring group based in the United Kingdom, is able again
through e-mail to compile a daily report of news stories and personal experience
articles from within and outside the country in order to get more accurate information to
the media and others who can be influential outside what is now a closed country.

On the eve of my meeting with you Minister, I received an email from this source, with
this very emotive header to its collection of articles for the day.

You will have read of the appalling events - which continue as you read this around
the town of Chinhoyi in northern Zimbabwe.

Dozens of farms have been attacked and ransacked, forcing many times that
number to be abandoned, with the result that in excess of eight thousand people have
lost their livelihood and shelter - in the depths of winter, within a few days.

This has been portrayed by government as the wresting of farmland from white
farmers. The reality is, that it is the cordoning-off of huge swathes of countryside,
allowing gangs - some several hundred strong - to sweep these areas for people and
animals with impunity. Nobody is allowed into the area and they are out of the sight of
anyone who can report what is going on, and out of the reach of anyone who could
help.

Those who have not been able to flee face the immediate prospect of murder,
rape, beating and intimidation at the hands of gangs of government-directed thugs. It
is the same set of circumstances which led to the gukurahunde during which it has now
been confirmed, between 25,000 and 30,000 Matabele people were ‘eliminated’ by
government forces and their bodies thrown down mine shafts in the area. The
Matabele people say the number was closer to 80,000 killed.

We ask those of you who live outside Zimbabwe to contact - as soon as possible

- your Member of Parliament, Congressman, Senator, or Deputy. Contact them by
phone, letter, e-mail, or fax - and urge them to ask their governments to convey outrage
in the strongest possible terms to the Zimbabwe government about this brutal treatment
of its own citizens.
We also ask you to directly contact your Ministry or Department of Foreign
Affairs (in the United States, the US State Department) urging the same course of
action. Please ask anyone you know to do the same.

Please help us -- please save Zimbabwe.


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LAND FACTS

Area of country: 39,000,000 hectares

Situation: between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn.

Population: about 12½ million, majority Mashona people, with
approximately 2,000,000 Matabele
approximately 100,000 European, Coloured and Asian

History: Inhabited by the Bushmen for 20,000 years -- hunter/gatherers
. Decimated by southerly push of Bantu due to desertification of the

Sahara from 200 BC, now extinct.
. Bantu grew cereals herded cattle.
. Kingdom of Monomatapa ruled for 150 years until arrival of

Portuguese who signed treaties and gained suzerainty for a further

150 years -- mining and agriculture established

. Driven out by the Rosvi, who were in turn decimated by

. 1830 the Matabele - a branch of the Zulus

. 1890 Pioneer column arrived following a treaty signed by Chief

 Lobengula and negotiated by Cecil John Rhodes

. population of half a million - density of approx 200 acres per person

. Settlers received 6,000 acre farms and in the most densely

populated areas, reserves were created for the indigenous people
and Europeans were not allowed to use this. Land available to
Africans to purchase, not many could afford to do so -by 1925 only
19 farms amounting to 47 000 acres had been sold to Africans.

. Rapid population growth due to preventive medicine and education
as well as cessation of tribal wars

. 1923 the colony paid Britain for unalienated land and was given
self-government

. 1931 -- Land Apportionment Act introduced -- Europeans 49 000
000 acres; Native reserves 21 600 000 acres; Native purchase
areas 7 465 000 acres; unassigned land 18 000 000 acres;
forest areas 600 000 acres; undetermined areas 88 000 acres.

. 1980 - European owned land reduced - 45% of available land
communal or set aside for African farmers and 39% was
commercial farming under freehold tenure.

. Government acquired 3,500,000 hectares of commercial farm land
for resettlement through help from the British Government.
Acquisition slowed due to lack of finance, no evidence of suitable
land management and inadequate infrastructure.

. most land given to party faithful and ceased to be effectively used
for farming purposes.

. 1992 - Land Acquisition Act was promulgated enabling Government
to designate farms for resettlement without compensation.

. 1997 - a list of 1471 properties declared subject to a preliminary
notice of acquisition.

. 2000 - 30% of the country held under freehold tenure; 41%
communal lands; 4% small scale commercial farming, 9%
resettlement. The remaining 16% National Parks and State forests.

. Government prepared a new Constitution to remove requirement for
compensation had to be paid, declaring that compensation payable
should be paid by Britain.

. February 2000 - referendum held to approve the new Constitution
was rejected by the majority of voters in Zimbabwe.

. August 2001 Government states it will take 95% of all commercial
farms for resettlement

(See articles : The History of land ownership -- pp 14 Author unknown, but facts are accurate
also Mugabe’s Mess -- Wall Street Journal -- pp 20 ; CFU Update -- pp 34)


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LAND : expropriation

June 2000

804 farms to be taken
The Economic folly of President Mugabe's decision to expropriate no fewer than 804 of
Zimbabwe's white owned commercial farms, is matched only by its political dishonesty ...

(see article The Times : Up for Grabs -- pp Zim facts)

August 2001

7,132 farms listed
(The Director of the Commercial Farmers Union) ... said government had listed 7 132 farms
and of that total, 2 335 were repeats or duplications which meant that 4 797 farms measuring 9
183 069 hectares had been listed under Section 5 of the Land Acquisition Act.

(See report : 35 000 people settled : CFU :pp 132)

August 13th, 2001

95% of farms to be taken

On Saturday, Mugabe announced new plans to increase the amount of land targeted for
seizure still further - to 9.5m hectares (24m acres) or 95% of that in white hands.

And he issued a warning: "We have seen of late some of those who have not repented
who are organising them selves to attack the landless people who have been resettled on some
farms. But we warn them to desist immediately continuing in these kinds of organised attacks,
they will of course ricochet."

(See article : The Guardian : Mugabe leaves farmers to grim fate pp 22)

July 2000

SIXTY war veterans and landless villagers occupying Sandown North Farm have
threatened farm owner Max Rosenfels with death if he does not sign away the farm to them.

(see article : Land grabbers become more belligerent ... pp _) horror continues

August 2000

Gen Shiri's name appears on a list of 28 senior government and military figures given farms
seized from white farmers. These were supposed to be handed to landless people...

(see article Topple Mugabe, Mandela Urges -- pp 26 )

November 10th, 2000

LATE ON THE AFTERNOON OF FRIDAY 10TH NOVEMBER THE FULL SUPREME COURT
BENCH SIGNED AN ORDER BY CONSENT WHICH EFFECTIVELY NULLIFIES ALL
ASPECTS OF THE FAST TRACK RESETTLEMENT PROGRAMME. THIS IS IN RESPONSE
TO A SUPPLEMENTARY ... (See document : High Court judgement -- pp 64)

December 16th 2000

AFTER telling his central committee on Wednesday that Zanu PF was at war with the
country’s white commercial farmers, an embattled President Mugabe yesterday intensified his
racial rhetoric to whip up nationalist indignation against a growing list of enemies -- at home
and abroad -- in his battle for political survival.

Two days after war veterans murdered former MP Henry Elsworth in Kwekwe, he said
his party should "strike fear into the heart of the white man, our real enemy".
(see article Mugabe declares race war -- pp 80 )

July 2001

A CABINET minister and governor are orchestrating the acquisition of Macheke-based Sariview
farm, threatening the production of maize, export grass seed, tobacco and cattle breeding worth
$55 million in annual turnover.

(See article : Minister incites farm seizure pp 126


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July 2001

As I write I am close to the phone because a family in my province, in the district of Macheke,
has been under seige. So called war-vets broke down their security fence last evening and
converged on the homestead chanting blood curdling threats, built fires around the house, on
the lawns and verandah, fired shots randomly, and the neighbours stood-by all night in case
things got really out of hand ... (See Letter from a farmer -- pp 23 )

August 2001

Despite government assurances that the Gonarezhou National Park will not be occupied under
the fast-track land reform programme, resettlement in the park continues unabated ...

(See article : The Independent : Gonarezhou still occupied : pp129)

August 7th 2001

More than 15 white farmers are reported to have been arrested in Zimbabwe after a
confrontation with militant government supporters ...

(See article : BBC : White farmers held in Zimbabwe PP 107/123)

August 9th 2001

Twenty-three white farmers were charged in a Zimbabwe court on Wednesday with inciting
public violence following clashes ...

(See article : White farmers charged in Zimbabwean court PP 108)

August 2001

Government’s fast-track land resettlement programme will only achieve its full productive
potential in 15 years, a World Bank-sponsored study on land reform says.

(See article : Fast track to take 15 years -- pp 128 )

August 10th 2001

TIM Henwood, the outgoing president of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), said yesterday
the agriculture sector, with its recent drastic drop in major crop yields, will never be the same
again ... (See article: The Daily News : CFU boss breaks down over food)

August 2001

THE Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) says only about 35 000 people have so far been
resettled under President Robert Mugabe's contentious fasttrack land reform programme,
contrary to his claim that more than 100 000 families have been resettled ...

(See report : 35 000 people settled : CFU : pp 132)

August 2001

This time Mugabe has gone too far! Since April 2000, following the defeat of the Zanu proposed
new constitution, Mugabe has pursued a land policy that has said "land is the key to our
prosperity as a people, it is our heritage. (See article : Ngwenya pp83 )

August 11th, 2001

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -- Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said on Saturday the
threat of sanctions would not deter his controversial land reform drive and warned white farmers
against attacking militants illegally occupying their properties.

(See article : Fast track to take 15 years -- pp 128 )

August 13th, 2001

ABOUT 300 white Zimbabwean women and children were evacuated yesterday from a
besieged farming district by convoy and airlift as looting and violence reached new heights ....

(See article : 300 whites flee violence : pp 118)


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ARMS BUILD-UP

... reported that the Armed Forces had imported a big Russian arms shipment, including 21,000
AK47 assault rifles to distribute among the squatters

(see article Topple Mugabe, Mandela Urges -- pp 26 )

August 2001

THE Ministry of Home Affairs this week sought authority from Treasury to make a down
payment of $105 million to an Israeli company recently contracted to supply nearly $1 billion
worth of special vehicles and water cannons

(see article : Police buy $1b riot gear -- pp 103)

DISRUPTION OF BUSINESS/STRUCTURES

April 24, 2001

This could have been the worst day in my life, however I came out of it alive and unscathed
physically. I pray that is not speaking too soon.

(See article : invasion of the Avenues clinic -- pp 29)

July 2000

In the latest case of state-sanctioned extortion, a number of companies in the Ruwa industrial
area have been raided by officials from the ZFTU. The official said that a ZFTU official
threatened to beat up manage- ment if the employees were not reinstated or paid money.

"We don’t need to follow the law in Zimbabwe. We are going to fix you in another way if you fail
to honour our demands," the ZFTU official told the director of one of the affected companies.

(see report : Chinotimba in new raids ... pp 125 )

August 2000

When I arrived in Zimbabwe prior to the June election, I was absolutely appalled at what I saw.
Clearly, a once great agricultural country was now rapidly disintegrating and in the advanced
stage of economic ruin.

(See letter to the editor : E Mpahlwa : pp 74)

EMPLOYMENT

In 1954, 21% of Zimbabwe’s total population was employed in the formal sector, and by 1998
the percentage had fallen to 11,2%. Economist : John Robertson : May
2000

See article : Robertson Economic report -- pp 92 )

May 2001

In the past four years, about 1 400 000 young people have left school and the estimate
is that formal sector job opportunities were offered to perhaps 100 000 of them. Under less
damaged investment conditions, perhaps another 200 000 of them would have found openings.

The wages and salaries paid to the hundreds of thousands of people who used to work
on the commercial farms will cease, as will the flow of earnings to the hundreds of thousands of
employees of upstream and downstream businesses...

See article : Robertson Economic report -- pp 86 )

June 2001

THERE is a land crisis in Zimbabwe. Not the artificial one created by Zanu PF in recent months
but one that is about to overwhelm us. Over half the two million people who live on commercial
farms could soon be dispossessed.

(See Independent Editorial Comment : pp 72)


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ECONOMY
Quick facts
1980 June 2000
Zimbabwe dollar US$1.58 2.6 US cents.
Government debt US$1.1 billion US$7 billion.
GDP per head US$740 US$575 (estimated)
average lending rate 7.5% 65% to 80%
annual inflation rate 6.9% 70%
employment 13.5% in formal economy 10.5% in formal economy
income tax 20% 29.8%

June 2000

Power Corrupts. The prospect of losing it corrupts completely
After 20 years of Zanu (PF) rule, half the population is unemployed and the country is bankrupt.
There is no longer enough money to provide specialist medical care;


(see article: the Times : Up for Grabs -- pp Zim facts)

July 2000

ONE week after Zimbabwe’s parliamentary election, President Mugabe was interviewed
on CNN by Charlayne Hunter-Gault. When she commenced a question with: "Given that
Zimbabwe is about to go bankrupt . . ." the president interrupted her with an almost hysterical
laugh and said: "Zimbabwe is not going bankrupt; countries don’t go bankrupt; Zimbabwe will
never go bankrupt; that’s just what our enemies say about us."

Quick facts
National Debt May 31, 2000 = $263 billion
external debt $171 billion (more than US$4,5 billion)
domestic debt $92 billion (comprising $72,8 billion in Treasury
government stock $8,7 billion
Reserve Bank overdrafts exceeding $10,3 billion).

External debt (TODAY) 82% of gross domestic product (GDP)
(1991) 36% of GDP

For the first quarter of the current fiscal year, government’s expenditure amounted to $33,7
billion, while its revenues totalled $19,7 billion, yielding a deficit of $14 billion for the three-month
period!

The most positive of the assets which can drive Zimbabwe’s withdrawal from the abyss of
bankruptcy is that it has a large, able and willing labour force which desperately craves for
employment and, if that craving is catered for, will work with motivation and drive.

(see article : Eric Bloch column -- pp 27)

August 2001

... on average, monthly foreign exchange requirements exceed foreign exchange inflows by
approximately US$90 million. Therefore, it must be anticipated that by the end of the year the
deficit of foreign exchange will have amounted to more than US$1 billion

(see article : Eric Bloch column -- pp 50 )

August 2001

The Zimbabwean worker seems to be the biggest loser. According to the Zimbabwe Congress
of Trade Unions' economics department the minimum wage for the industrial sector, which is $2
500 was only 22% of the poverty datum line in March which stood at $11 597.52. By May, the
poverty datum line had shot up to $15 242.33. The cost of transport has gone up 60% since
then...

(See Guardian article : Economy : August 7th : pp 69)


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ELECTIONS

One man who had just left the main polling station said explicitly that he was too afraid to tell me
who he voted for. Then, eager to please, he looked around nervously before saying: "Shall I tell
you how I voted?" I paused, and shook my head. He didn't need to say.

(see article : BBC’s Grant Ferrett reports : page 61 ...)

Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, was arrested
after a campaign rally at Chiredzi

(see article : Topple Mugabe, Mandela urges -- pp 26)

June 2000

(Leader of the Opposition, Morgan Tsvangirai) ... said he would run for president in 2002.
Tsvangirai's party won 57 of the 120 contested seats -- giving it the power to block amendments
to the constitution in the 150-seat house -- against 62 for President Robert Mugabe's ruling
Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) and one for the small ZANU-Donga
party. The president appoints the other 30 members.

"Without the subversion we would easily have won," Tsvangirai told a press conference.

EU observer team head Pierre Schori condemned "high levels of violence, intimidation and
coercion" during the campaign. "The term free and fair is not applicable in these elections,"
said Schori, a Swedish former aid minister. In London, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook
told the BBC: "The voters' rolls were rigged, the boundaries were rigged and there was
systematic brutality intended to deter people from voting for change."

(See article Tsvangirai accepts result -- pp 52 )

June 2000

The people of Zimbabwe have voted in large numbers in this weekend’s parliamentary
elections. Despite a high level of violence and intimidation during the campaign, and serious
flaws and irregularities in the electoral process, they have shown a clear determination to
influence the future of their country -both individually and through the structures of civil society.

(See document : Zimbabwe Elections 2000 INTERIM STATEMENT by Pierre Schori : pp53)

Head of EU Election Observation Mission)

INTOLERANCE OF THE OPPOSITION

September 2000

The detailed background to the recent grenade attack on the MDC office in Harare
makes interesting reading.

The plan was to bomb the MDC office in Harare and then conduct searches at the
targeted homes in Harare ...

(See article : Eddie Cross 240900 -- pp 58 )

I arrived home after 5.00pm last night having fetched Jessica from school, to find a
police vehicle parked out side and nine policemen waiting outside my gate to receive me. Our
dogs were faithfully looking very vicious on the other side of the gate.

(see article : Jenny Coltart -- pp 48 )

March 2001

Ever since its disputed victory in last June's parliamentary elections President Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party has waged a low-intensity war aimed at destroying the opposition MDC.

(See article : On a knife edge -- pp 79)


9


27 April 2000

The High Court has nullified the election results in two rural constituencies won by ZANU PF in
June last year, saying they were won through intimidation. High Court Judge Justice James
Devittie cited massive violence and intimidation in the two constituencies.

(See Chronology of atrocities -- pp 37 )

July 2001

Police who try to uphold the law, as most were trained to do when they joined the force, are
singled out for transfer to remote stations, or to administrative jobs at H.Q. In Beatrice we have
just lost our very good ...

(See Letter from a farmer -- pp 23)

August 2001

The offices of the Norwegian Directorate of Development in Zimbabwe is reported to be under
surveillance by the country's authorities, according to The Financial Gazette. The reason is
supposedly .....

(see article : Norway's mission to Zimbabwe under surveillance -- pp 128 )

August 2001

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- President Robert Mugabe lashed out Saturday at the United States
and other Western nations he said were planning racist and punitive sanctions against his
government because of its seizures of white-owned farms.
"What is our crime? Our crime is that we are black and in America blacks are a condemned
race,"

(See article : Zimbabwe's president accuses United States, other countries of racism

WHAT hope is left for a country whose judges are now the target for attack by their own Minister
of Justice? This newly appointed dignitary, who gave early signals of his politically subservient
tendencies ... (See article : Diana Mitchell pp 82)

RACE RELATIONS

July 2000

(see article : We are told to hate whites even if some are beautiful friends. -- pp 33 Captives )

February 2, 2001

Independence Day, 18 April 1980, was a proud day for Zimbabwe. Many openly wept as the
Union Jack was lowered and the new Republic of Zimbabwe flag hoisted in its place.

Today there is a rising vocal crescendo of "Pasi ne Zanu PF, Chinja! (Down with Zanu
PF, Change!)" What went wrong? Everything has gone wrong, it seems. Our much-loved
government has turned against its own people and has become our oppressor.
(see article : Pius Wakatama on Saturday -- pp 125 )

June 2001

After Hunzvi was let loose, he liked to be called Hitler. "Do you know why they call me Hitler?"
he spat at a white farm manager last year. "It is because I am the biggest terrorist in Zimbabwe.
I am the most dangerous man in this country. And you must do what I tell you."

(See article : "Why should we observe the law? This is our country and we can do what
we like." -- pp 71 )


10


VIOLENCE

See Chronology of attrocities : pp 37 : Torture -- Who was responsible : pp 132)

The gukurahunde, (murder of the Matabele) killed an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 people

. more than 3,000 extra-judicial executions

· hundreds of "disappearances"

· more than 7,000 beatings or cases of torture

· more than 10,000 arbitrary detentions

· thousands of rapes

· property burnings

· forbidding burial of the dead

· forbidding mourning

· refusal to grant death certificates to families of murder victims

(see extract Catholic Justice and Peace Commission -- pp 63 )

THE man who commanded the notorious Fifth Brigade massacres in Matabeleland in
the Eighties is masterminding Zimbabwe's violent farm invasions ...

Tens of thousands of people died in massacres carried out by General Shiri’s North
Korean-trained Fifth Brigade, and mass graves have been uncovered in recent years.

 (see article : Daily Telegraph : Topple Mugabe, Mandela urges -- pp 26 )

July 2000

2,000 impalas, 365 other antelopes, 20 zebras, two cheetahs, two elephants and one
wild dog snared. ‘The animals die in absolute agony.’ SWARMING with flies, the rotting
carcass was barely recognisable as an elephant...
(see article : Daily Telegraph Zimbabwe squatters slaughter wildlife : pp 21)

August 2001

At least seven other people are believed to have been severely assaulted - six of them women.
Chinoyi police have now advised all white residents of the town to leave.

(See report : Zanu thugs on rampage in Chinoyi : pp 122)

August 2001

On the evening of Sunday 6 August, a group of around 60 Zanu PF militants - provided with
food and ferried in on government vehicles -gathered on a farm in Nyathi in northern
Matabeleland. They camped overnight on the farm, and on Monday morning abducted 13
people from a nearby mine. They then laid ...(See report : Ambush, in Nyathi : pp 122)

August 10th, 2001

Five farmsteads in the Mhangura/Doma farming area in northern Zimbabwe have been attacked
and ransacked in the last 24 hours. Gangs of Zanu PF thugs are reported to be roaming the
area assaulting and robbing passersby. Some farmers are reported to have left the area to
avoid confrontation with the... (See report : Orchestrated violence spreading

August 10th, 2001

THE government has told war veterans to target and harass individual commercial farmers into
abandoning their land instead of waiting for the arduous legal process of land acquisition before
they get settled ... (See report : Force them off the farms: govt : pp 113)

August 12th, 2001

DIDYMUS Mutasa, a senior Zanu PF official, and former Speaker of the House of Assembly,
has warned civil servants in Chimanimani they risk being shot dead if they continue supporting
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

(See article : Mutasa threatens MDC supporters with death : pp 114)


11


August 10th, 2001

... and some would say that the prominence given to Zimbabwe in the last two days is
purely because white Zimbabweans have been the prime victims. There is probably some truth
to this.

It’s just that the majority of the voters whose support he must coerce in order to
survive live out of the glare of the media, in remote areas which are easy to seal off from
intruders - areas in which his gangs of marauding thugs can roam at will - raping,
pillaging, burning, and murdering with impunity. We have received a report ....
(See report : Life with Zanu comes to town

REPRESSION OF THE MEDIA

July 2001

THE government’s decision not to renew the work permit of Daily Telegraph correspondent
David Blair should be seen against a background of curbs on the media in general and
intensified lawlessness across the country. Very simply the government hopes to get away with

(See Zimbabwe Independent -- Editorial Comment -- pp 128 )

July 2001

Geoff Nyarota's newspaper has been bombed twice so far this year. The marble and concrete
entrance ...
Three months earlier, an armed commando-style team held a guard at gunpoint and blew up the
newspaper's presses with four well-placed bombs.


(See article : from the Wichita Eagle -- pp 78 )

THE FUTURE

"Zimbabwe's strength lies in racial and ethnic diversity - we will overcome attempts to divide us"
(Morgan Tsvangirai)

July 2001

THE Zimbabwean crisis was the subject of a Congressional hearing in the United
States yesterday after South African President Thabo Mbeki this week took his diplomatic
initiative to Washington.

The Zimbabwean problem, as it has come to be known here, featured prominently in
the talks between Mbeki and US president George W Bush at the White House on Tuesday.
Washington is pinning its hopes on the Commonwealth ministerial team in which Mbeki will play
a key role ...
(see article Zim crisis looms large in US Bush/Mbeki talks -- pp 127 )

July 2001

PRINCE Zwidekalanga Khumalo, the great grandson of King Lobengula, has distanced
himself from the current government-sponsored land redistribution programme which he says is
a political issue he cannot be associated with.

Khumalo (47), who traces his ancestry to King Mzilikazi who is credited with the
founding of the Ndebele state,
(See report : Prince Khumalo denies claims on land -- pp 77 )

August 2001

Retired General Solomon Mujuru this week questioned the war credentials of Harare
province war veterans' chairman Joseph Chinotimba, following complaints from Zanu PF
politburo members that ...
(see report : Chinotimba's credentials questioned -- pp 103 ) various 060801


12


August 2001

New Cherokee jeeps donated by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Al-Gaddafi for Zanu
PF to use in the presidential election set for next year, may have helped the party win the
crucial, bitterly contested election for a parliamentary seat in the north-eastern rural
constituency of Bindura last weekend. According to the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper, the
cars have ...

Al-Gaddafi has reportedly pledged some US$900,000 to the party to aid in Mugabe's
presidential campaign ...

(see report: Zanu PF Electoral Machine Oiled by Libyan Cash : pp 60)

August 2001

Harare - Plans by Zimbabwe's President Mugabe to rig next year's presidential election
have been exposed, just as his beleaguered nation begins gearing up for the crunch ballot
which he is expected to lose. His plot hinges on the multiple registration of ruling-party
supporters in different constituencies to allow them to vote several times; the second part of the
strategy involves relocating more than 500,000 unemployed urban dwellers to commercial
farms now being confiscated ....
(see article : Mugabe plot to rig election exposed -- pp 101 )

August 2001

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe and officials of his government could be subjected to
sanctions and other punitive measures if a European Union (EU) general council meeting

(see article : Mugabe could face personal EU ban -- pp 102) Various 060801

August 2001

A SERIOUS humanitarian disaster looms in Zimbabwe because of an absence of a
national strategy and funds to deal with thousands of people who are likely to become internal
refugees ...

Affected communities include commercial farm workers displaced by the occupation of
farms, opposition party supporters or those perceived to be against the ruling ZANU PF party,
school teachers, health workers and other civil servants targeted in rural areas.
(See report Presidential poll set to displace over 200 000 -- pp 106 )

August 2001

South African President Thabo Mbeki has, for the first time, admitted failure in his
efforts to avoid a crisis in neighbouring Zimbabwe.

Mr Mbeki told the BBC's Hardtalk programme that time was running out for Zimbabwe
and admitted that so far President Robert Mugabe had not listened to him during their repeated
meetings in the past 18 months.
(See comment : BBC August 7th : pp 122)

August 2001

As pressure continues to mount on President Mugabe because of the prevailing
anarchy in the country, it has emerged that the Commonwealth intends to act strongly against
him at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Brisbane,
Australia, in October. High level sources within ...
(See report : Commonwealth gives Mugabe ultimatum : pp 109)

August 10th, 2001

Security has been stepped in Blantyre, Malawi where African heads of state will
converge this weekend for a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) summit.

(See report : Threats to kill Mugabe at SADC summit : pp 110)


13


August 11, 2001

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe’s Cabinet is considering declaring a state of emergency if
the international community goes ahead to impose sanctions against him ...

(See article : Martial law looms pp 111)

August 12, 2001

ROBERT MUGABE, Zimbabwe's embattled president, believes he is haunted by the
ghost of a former rival who berates him for mismanaging the country, aides have said.
For six months, Mugabe has been "seeing" Josiah Tongogara, a former guerrilla leader who
was expected to become president in 1980, but died in a car crash. Mugabe is said to be
tormented
(See article : Mugabe eats supper with spirit of dead rival

August 12th, 2001

The respected Financial Gazette reported that Mugabe's Cabinet intends to use the
looming passage of the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill in the United States Congress as a pretext
for declaring a state of emergency that would allow the president to suspend Parliament, delay
elections and rule by decree.
(See article : Mugabe prepares for State of emergency .. pp 116)

August 13th, 2001

..... a man of Mr Straw's moral integrity should see at once the imperative for
intervention in Zimbabwe. What is happening is on nothing like the scale of the Nazi persecution
he so rightly wishes should never be forgotten. However, when one reads of the anti-white
pogrom by Mr Mugabe's thugs, one sees at once that the loathsome principle is the same.

The Commonwealth, which even before this inglorious episode had already marked
itself out as a footling, hypocritical and pointless organisation, continues to tolerate Mr Mugabe's
depravities...
See article : Sunday Times : We will not tolerate racism, except in Zimbabwe : pp 116)

August 13th, 2001

How is Mr Mugabe able to get away with it? His government survives not just because it flouts
the rule of law and uses violence to intimidate or remove opposition, but also because it
manages to maintain a facade of legitimacy. That facade appears to be enough to ensure that
neither other African states nor the countries of the Western world are prepared to take the
steps required to end Mr Mugabe's violent ...

That is why he was perfectly happy for coverage of Zimbabwe in Western newspapers
to centre last week on the patently unjust detention of some 20 white farmers .... If all the world
sees is his attacks on whites, that makes him look like a "liberator", the leader in a struggle
against colonialism ...

Mr Mugabe desperately needs a few white farmers to lose their tempers and gun down
several "war veterans". Miraculously, not a single "war veteran" has been intentionally killed by
a white since those actions began 17 months ago. So Mr Mugabe has stepped up his campaign
to provoke them.

Mr Mugabe desperately needs a few white farmers to lose their tempers and gun down
several "war veterans". Miraculously, not a single "war veteran" has been intentionally killed by
a white since those actions began 17 months ago. So Mr Mugabe has stepped up his campaign
to provoke them.
(See article : The whites are not the main target of the thugs : pp 119)

(See also US Congress : Zimbabwe Democracy Bill : pp 98
Commonwealth gives Mugabe ultimatum pp 109)


14

ZIMBABWE - THE HISTORY OF LAND OWNERSHIP

Thursday 27 April, 2000
Author unknown

GEOGRAPHY
Zimbabwe is an independent country with an area of 390 580 sq kilometres or 150 803 sq
miles, situated in Africa between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn. It currently has a
population estimated to be about 12½ million of which approximately 100 000 are European,
Coloured and Asian and the remainder are Bantu speaking blacks. These are predominantly
Shona speaking people but about 20% of them include Matabele, Batonka, Shangaan and
other sub groups. Zimbabwe consists mostly of a plateau called the high veld, averaging
about 4500 feet above sea level. Lower areas, the lowveld, include the Zambezi trough in the
north and the Sabi Limpopo lowlands in the south. The tropical climate is moderated by the
altitude. Most areas have between 25 and 35 inches of rain a year, although the Eastern
Highlands are much wetter. On the plateau the average temperatures are winter 57ºF and
summer 70ºF. In the lowveld the temperatures are much warmer.

Zimbabwe has a wide variety of minerals including gold, platinum, chrome, nickel, copper,
asbestos and coal. Despite this wide range of minerals, poor world mineral prices have made
the country more dependant upon agricultural products. Tobacco is the chief cash crop and
maize the main food crop. Other products include citrus fruits, sugar cane and tea. Flowers
and vegetables are being sold in increasing quantities in Europe and cattle ranching is also
important.

HISTORY
The earliest identifiable inhabitants were the Bushmen or San people, small groups of hunter
gatherers who lived in Zimbabwe for about 20 000 years and left behind them a delightful
legacy of painted caves. They were not cultivators and would have had no concept of land
ownership. After the Bantu people arrived they reduced in number and are now virtually
extinct in Zimbabwe.

The Bantu who are a people classified as such not by reference to physical characteristics or
to geographical occupation but simply by the language they speak, started to occupy
Zimbabwe from about 200 BC. They are believed to have originated from the area of
Cameroon and were pushed into a slow southward migration down Africa by population
pressures created originally by the desertification of the Sahara. In the course of their slow
journey southwards they developed the skills of cereal production and the keeping of cattle
and it was these skills which made the position of land assume greater importance and
permanence. In the area of southern Zimbabwe and the Northern Transvaal they developed
what has been called the "Central Cattle Pattern" and between the 7th and 13th Centuries
the people of this region kept very large herds of cattle. It was their successors who built
Great Zimbabwe in the south east of the country over a period of about 400 years from
about 1000 AD.

By 1400 AD the environment around Great Zimbabwe was feeling the strains of overpopulation
and over-grazing and the Zimbabwe Kingdom began to break up and groups of
people from it spread northwards and westwards and established new centres built in stone
in the Zimbabwe style at various locations dotted around the Mashonaland plateau. From this
diaspora there developed the Monomatapa Dynasty, an empire centred at the bottom of the
escarpment north of Centenary which spread eastwards until it encompassed most of the
Mashonaland plateau and across the low country which is now Mozambique, towards the
Indian Ocean. The Monomatapa Dynasty flourished for almost 150 years.

Enter the Portuguese who, following the efforts of Henry the Navigator, Bartholomew Diaz
and Vasco da Gama, rounded the Cape and in 1505 built a fortress at Sofala, south of Beira,
and thereafter attempted, not all that successfully, to edge the Arabs out of the Zimbabwe
gold trade. Antonio Fernandes, a convict based at Sofala, made three journeys into the
hinterland of Zimbabwe between 1511 and 1514 and it was he who revealed to his ruler the
first detailed information about the Monomatapa Kingdom. Trading between the Portuguese
and Shona commenced and was followed by religion in the form of Father Silviera who
visited the Monomatapa and in fact baptised him. He was martyred for this enterprise and
thereafter avenged by the invading forces of Barretto and Homen. A treaty was concluded
between the Monomatapa and the Portuguese whereby the latter obtained some form of
suzerainity over northern Zimbabwe which it held in a not very convincing or energetic


15


fashion for about 150 years. During this period the Portuguese established trading centres
over much of Zimbabwe and these were eventually over-run by the Rosvi, a Shona speaking
elite group headed by Changamire. Thereafter, the Rosvi ruled Zimbabwe without threat
from external sources for about 130 years until 1830 when large areas of the country were
invaded by three "Zulu" invasions from the south. These invasions were caused by the
Mfecane (the crushing) or the Difiqane (forced migration) created by Chaka’s reign of terror
in Natal. A group led by Zwangendaba eventually crossed the Limpopo and descended upon
the Rosvi with their short stabbing spears and after 5 years of devastating thuggery they
crossed the Zambezi and settled in Malawi as the Angoni.

They were followed by another Zulu group led by Shoshangane who occupied the eastern
portion of Zimbabwe, creating havoc and devastation and eventually settled down in the area
of Chipinge as the Shangaans.

A third Zulu group, led by Mzilikazi, followed on through the Transvaal into the south west
and settled in the area of Bulawayo where they established themselves as the Matabele
nation. This was a formidable power and in the period between 1838 and 1893 Mzilikazi and
his successor, Lobengula, ruled absolutely in what is now Matabeleland and with a disciplined
army of some 20 000 men subjugated the surrounding Shona. These three invasions
shattered the Shona nation and they were subjected to constant harassment and pillage and
had a miserable existence hiding in imperfect defences on the granite hills that characterise
much of Mashonaland.

What the white men found when they settled in Zimbabwe in 1890 is well described by
Frederick Courtney Selous in his book "Travel and Adventure in South East Africa" published
in 1893:

"As far as we can learn, the country we now call Mashunaland was in the early part of the
present century ruled over by the ancestors of the petty chiefs Makoni, Mangwende, Motoko,
Sosi, Umtasa etc, who were the rulers of large and prosperous tribes living in huts, the
foundations of which, where they still exist, show them to have been at least three times the
size of the miserable tenements which satisfy their degenerate descendants and whose
towns were, in the most part, surrounded by well built and loop-holed stone walls, many of
which still remain in perfect preservation today, especially in the country of Makoni, the chief
of the Ma-ongwi. Hundreds of thousands of acres that now lie fallow must then have been
under cultivation, as is proved by the traces of rice and maize fields which can still be
discerned in almost every valley, whilst the sights of ancient villages, long ago crumbled to
decay, and now only marked by a few deeper pits, from which the natives obtained the clay
used by them in plastering their huts, are very numerous all over the open downs, where no
stones were procurable with which to build walls around the towns. On almost every hill
traces of the stone walls will be found which once encircled and protected ancient villages. At
that time the inhabitants of this part of Africa must have been rich and prosperous,
possessing large flocks of sheep and goats and numerous herds of the small but beautiful
breed of cattle.

This state of things was not, however, destined to continue, for some 12 or 15 years after
the Cape of Good Hope became a British Colony, in 1806, some of the outlying Zulu clans
broke away from the harsh and cruel rule of Chaka and commenced their migrations
northwards; and wherever these ferocious warriors went their track was marked by the flight
of the vultures which feasted upon the corpses of the men, women and children they had
slain, and the flames of the villages they had set fire to. ... Thus the high plateau of
Mushonaland, which at no very distant date must have supported a large native population,
once more became an almost uninhabited wilderness, as the remnants of the Aboriginal
tribes who escaped destruction at the hands of the Zulu invaders retreated into the broken
country which encircles the plateau to the south and east."

WHITE OCCUPATION
The instigator for the white occupation of the country was Cecil John Rhodes. He was born in
England and came out to South Africa at the age of 17. He was attracted to the diamond
fields of Kimberley and by 1887, when he was only 34, he had the near monopoly on
Kimberley’s diamond industry and also very substantial interests in the goldfields of the
Rand. Rhodes believed that the English had a duty to control and civilize Africa and his
ambition was to ensure British domination from the Cape to Cairo. He used his financial
resources to further this ambition. He secured from King Lobengula a concession, the Rudd


16


Concession, which gave the grantees complete and exclusive charge over all metals and
minerals situated in Lobengula’s Kingdom, together with full power to do such things as
might be deemed necessary to win and procure the same.

Armed with this concession Rhodes obtained from Britain the Royal Charter of the British
South Africa Company, duly sealed under letters patent signed by Queen Victoria in October,
1889 "to acquire by any concession, agreement, grant or treaty, all or any rights, interests,
authorities, jurisdictions and powers of any kind or nature whatever, including powers
necessary for the purposes of government, and the preservation of public order in or for the
protection of territories, lands or property comprised or referred to in the concessions and
agreements made as aforesaid or affecting other territories, lands, or property in Africa, or
the inhabitants thereof, to hold, use and exercise such territories, lands, property, rights,
interests, authorities, jurisdictions and powers respectively for the purposes of the Company
and on the terms of this our Charter".

These powers were subject to the approval of the Colonial Secretary in Britian, who had a
right of veto on most of the actions of the chartered company.

The Charter gave the company other useful powers. It could raise its own police force and fly
its own flag. It could make roads, railways, telegraphs and harbours. It could establish banks
and conduct mining operations. It could settle territories that it acquired and it could irrigate
and clear land.

Having obtained the Charter, Rhodes’ next move was to organise the occupation of
Mashunaland by the Pioneer Column, consisting of about 200 pioneers and settlers escorted
by 350 mounted police and followed by approximately 400 black and coloured auxiliaries.
The Pioneer Column crossed into Zimbabwe on 5th July, 1890 and raised the Union Jack on a
patch of ground now called Africa Unity Square in Harare on 13th September, 1890.

What did the pioneers come to? A country which in its final definition was 39 million hectares
or 97 million acres in size, containing a native population of about half a million people i.e. a
population density of approximately 200 acres for every man, woman and child in the
country. The climate was in the main neither too hot nor too cold and the rainfall enabled the
successful production of crops in most areas. Of course agriculture was not the first priority
of the pioneers. Most of them had joined the venture in the hope of making their fortunes by
gold mining. Zimbabwe does have gold over a widely scattered area but the huge deposits of
the Rand were not found and very few of the pioneers made their fortune in this way. As the
country developed, however, numerous other minerals were found such as platinum, nickel,
chrome, copper and coal. All of these have had a substantial part in the subsequent
development of Zimbabwe. Two weeks after the pioneers arrived at Harare they were
demobilised to take up the 15 mining claims promised to each of them as well as a farm and
so it was that having received three months rations and being allowed to retain his rifle and
100 rounds of ammunition, each pioneer dispersed to stake his claims and find his farm.
Farming did not play an important part in the country’s economic life at first. There was little
or no market for the crops that could be produced and most of the pioneers settled down to
gold prospecting, trading and to transport riding. Hardly any of them managed to make any
money and in fact most of them later left the country. In his book "The Pioneers of
Mashonaland" Darter investigates the fortunes of 184 pioneers in 1914. Of these only 25
were still living in the country, 24 were known to have been killed and 45 had died a natural
death. This illustrates how few, if any, of the present day white farmers of Zimbabwe are
descendants of the original pioneers and inherited farms given to their pioneer forefathers as
pioneer grants. During the first years of the occupation of Mashonaland the number of farms
settled by whites were so small in relation to the size of the country that Africans at first
suffered very little pressure from the newcomers. Most of the early settlers selected their
land on the heavy red and black loams that are to be found on the plateau surrounding
Harare. The Mashona tribes sometimes worked red soils. On the whole, however, they stuck
to light coloured granite country sandy soils situated in rugged regions broken by kopjes
capable of affording natural defence in times of war. Their women, with hoes, could scratch
sand soils with less effort than heavy loams. These light soils were not sought after by
pioneers intent on growing maize and only acquired commercial value when tobacco farming
became important.

It was only after the conquest of Matabeleland in 1893 that the land issue came into focus.
Settlers received farms of 6000 acres in extent, double the size of those in Mashonaland as


17


the rainfall was lower and the defeated Matabele were moved away out of the areas surrounding
Bulawayo into two large blocks of land comprising 6500 square miles, known as the Shangani and Gwaai
Reserves.

Under the Southern Rhodesia Order in Council of 1898 the Imperial Government, while retaining the
right of Africans to buy land anywhere in the colony on the same terms as Europeans, placed a statutory
obligation upon the Charter Company to provide sufficient land holdings with sufficient water for Africans
living under the tribal system. Native Commissioners were charged with the duty of demarcating the
reserves and in general attempted to leave the indigenous people, as far as possible, undisturbed. Thus
it was that reserves were created where the population was most dense, the crescent of population
described by David Beech extending from Mount Darwin in the north in a half moon through Mutoko,
Mrewa, Hwedza, Buhera, Gutu, Bikita and Zaka through to the Masvingo Province in the south. Reserves
were also created in various other parts of the country to cater adequately for the population at that
time. In 1913 at the suggestion of the Colonial Office a Commission was established to investigate the
reserves question and a report was submitted at the end of 1915. The Commission’s recommendation
was that the total area of the reserves should be just under 20 million acres, about 1/5th of the
country’s total extent, an area equivalent to more than four times the size of Wales. The Commission
believed that the reserve system was a transitional arrangement to assist those Africans who could not
at once become assimilated into the new society and to act as a protection for the backward. The
amount of land in the country was limited. It was appreciated that the African population would go on
increasing but the Commission felt that no one could expect that every African as yet unborn must retain
an indefeasable right to land sufficient for all his traditional needs. If once this idea was accepted the
whole of the country would ultimately have to be turned into one gigantic reserve. The Commissioners
found that the allocation was sufficient to provide for an increasing tribal population in the foreseeable
future. In 1915 the best available statistics projected a doubling of the African population in 80 years i.e.
in 1995. In fact the population doubled in the first 30 years and is now 25 times the size of the
population of 1890. This massive population increase is a tribute, not only to the favourable natural
environment of Zimbabwe, but also to the care and concern given to the native interests by the Colonial
Government now so often criticised for its allegedly harsh practices. The true position is that it was the
introduction of medical services, improved methods of agriculture and the establishment of law and
order which created the conditions which resulted in this massive population growth. The Colonial
Government’s treatment of the indigenous population compares very favourably with the treatment
meted out to the indigenous people of Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America and Canada
and the white settlers of Zimbabwe have very little to be ashamed of in this connection.

The country’s economy was adversely affected by the Boer War and the death of its founder, Cecil
Rhodes, and the white settlers began to criticise the administration of the country by the BSA Company.
Their most serious grievance was the extent of the mining royalties payable to the Company and
whether it was right that the Company should continue to demand payment for unalienated land. The
question was raised whether the Company owned the unalienated land in a commercial or merely an
administrative capacity. The Company sought to appease the settlers by reducing the mining levy and by
increasing the number of elected members to the Legislative Assembly. These palliative measures did
not help the Company and the settlers continued to complain about the Company’s government. The
Company was in a deficit position but the settlers opposed any suggestion that they should be
responsible for the deficit. The settlers wanted the country to raise loans for development but the
Company was not prepared to sanction this. The general mood was to get rid of the Company’s
administration but there was division as to whether the country should become a crown colony or
amalgamate with the Union of South Africa. The British Government decided to submit the question as
to who owned the unalienated land to the Privy Council and this was done in 1914. The case was
bedeviled by delays and became a four cornered contest. Originally the fight for ownership was between
the Company and the settlers but the parties were joined by the Colonial Office who, having made no
hint of a claim to the land for 25 years, suddenly claimed that ownership of the land vest in the Crown. A
claim that the land belonged to the Matabele was also put up by one of Lobengula’s sons. Eventually the
judgment of the judicial committee of the Council came out and it was to the effect (i) that those who
had been given title by the Company were entitled to keep their land; (ii) that the indigenous population
had lost by conquest whatever title they had previously possessed ; (iii) that the Company were not the
owners of the unalienated land and (iv) that this land belonged to the Crown. The effect of this decision
was that when the colony eventually obtained responsible government in 1923 it was
obliged to pay the British Government for the unalienated land.

SELF GOVERNMENT
In 1922 a referendum was held to decide whether the country should amalgamate with South Africa or
become a Crown Colony and the vote for a Crown Colony with responsible government was won by 8
774 votes to 5 989, and legislation was enacted to make the country a self governing colony of the
Crown. The Chartered Company thus ceased to rule Rhodesia but its contribution towards the country
was a notable one. It continued to be a very important commercial concern, even when its rights to
minerals had been bought out in 1933 and it lost control over the railway system. It was eventually
taken over on a friendly basis by the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa which continues to be a
force in the land, concentrating now on its mining interests.

The country was formerly annexed to the Crown as a colony and the new administration was headed by


18


a Governor who represented the Sovereign and acted as the country’s formal, constitutional and
ceremonial head. The country was given responsible self-government with certain safeguards for the
protection of African interests being reserved to the British Government.

The new administration took steps to encourage land settlement and this created concern for protection
of the land demarcated as reserves on the one hand and a demand for a type of segregation on the
other. The British Government agreed that it would consider changing the existing law if a full and
impartial enquiry should pronounce in favour of territorial segregation. In 1925 a Commission headed by
an Imperial Chairman, Sir Maurice Carter, previously Chief Justice of Uganda, was set up, and thereafter
produced its findings. The Commission’s report approved of a form of territorial segregation after finding
that Europeans and Africans both preferred things that way. The recommended that separate areas
should be set aside where Africans alone might buy holdings on individual tenure but they also
recommended that Africans would lose the right to buy land elsewhere in the colony. The relevant
legislation was thereafter passed and approved not only by the Rhodesian Government but also by the
British Government as the Land Apportionment Act. At the time of its passing the inequity of its
provisions does not appear to have been fully appreciated. The vast majority of the African population
did not have the financial resources to consider the purchase of farms. Indeed, by 1925 only 19 farms
amounting to 47 000 acres had been sold to Africans. In the circumstances in addition to the reserves
the 7 million acres reserved for purchase by Africans would then have seemed reasonable to deal with
the foreseeable future. The prohibition against Africans purchasing farms in the areas reserved for white
occupation and the prohibition against Africans purchasing urban properties is in retrospect morally
indefensible. In mitigation it should be realised that it was a product of its time and of its environment.
It was approved by the British Parliament and it should be judged in the light of the apartheid policies of
the country’s big neighbour to the south.

The effect of the Land Apportionment Act was to divide the country in 1931 as follows: European areas
49 149 000 acres; Native reserves 21 600 000 acres; Native purchase areas 7 465 000 acres;
unassigned land 17 793 000 acres; forest areas 591 000 acres; undetermined areas 88 000 acres.

Over the next 50 years, the amounts allocated for European occupation slowly reduced and the amount
allocated for African occupation slowly increased so that by 1980 45% of the available land was
communal land or land set aside for African commercial farmers and 39% was commercial farming area.

INDEPENDENCE
In 1980 Zimbabwe obtained Independence from Britain and President Mugabe came into power. Since
that time Government has acquired some 3,5 million hectares of commercial farm land for resettlement.
This has been facilitated by considerable financial support from the British Government. The land
settlement programme slowed down by the mid-1980’s and the reasons for this included the cost of
land, the decreasing ability of Government to finance the programme, inadequate restructuring capacity
and inconclusive evidence of successful farming. In reality, large portions of land that had been taken
over ceased to be effectively used for farming purposes. Anyone wishing to test this statement need only
drive out from Harare to Mutoko -- some 90 miles away. He will go through a large area which had
previously been occupied by productive European farmers and will find acres lying idle and homesteads
decaying, with the only agricultural activity being patches of mealies close to the homestead. A list
recently produced by a political opponent of President Mugabe, secured from Government sources,
shows that many of the acquired farms were allocated to political cronies of the ruling Government who
do not appear to have the will or the skills to farm effectively.

By the year 2000 the division of land was as follows: 30% of the country was held under freehold
tenure; 41% comprised the communal lands; small scale commercial farming took up 4% and the
resettlement areas comprised 9% of the country. The remaining 16% are National Parks and State
forests.

The productivity of the resettlement areas is low. In fact it is no greater than the traditional communal
areas. If resettlement continues without an adequate infrastructure, insufficient finance and skills, the
detrimental effect upon the economy of the country will be massive.

Zimbabwe’s economy has traditionally been agricultural based and because of its broad base in
producing a multitude of crops and commodities it has been able to contribute considerably to the export
earnings of the country, providing about 40% of the export revenue earned. Commercial agriculture
currently employs over one-quarter of the total labour force of the country. If the commercial farming
area is further depleted this will have a knock-on effect upon industry as its relationship between local
industry and agriculture in Zimbabwe is very close. About 60% of industry is agro-based and the
agricultural sector in turn consumes about 20% of the total output of industry.

In its efforts to facilitate the acquisition of further land, the Government has made several amendments
to the Constitution, inter alia to remove the requirement that land had to be under-utilised before it
could be acquired for resettlement and that compensation had to be paid promptly and to remove the
power of the High Courts to consider whether the compensation provided was fair.

In 1992 the Land Acquisition Act was promulgated and this enabled the Government to designate farms
for resettlement. No compensation is payable to a farmer whose farm is designated and the effect of


19


designation is to severely restrict the ability of the farmer to raise finance and to continue to develop his
farm.

Despite these increased powers the Government seemed incapable of acquiring further properties in an
orderly or lawful manner. In November, 1997 a list of 1471 properties was published in the Government
Gazette and declared subject to a preliminary notice of acquisition. Although Government had stated its
policy to be that farms to be targeted for acquisition would fall under the following criteria i.e. derelict
farms, under-utilised farms, farms belonging to absentee landlords, farms adjacent to communal areas
and farms owned by persons with other farms, it did not seem that these criteria were used in compiling
this list.

In the result Government failed to comply with its own legislation and apart from 50 odd farmers who
had not opposed the process, none of the farmers on the list lost their farms.

The recent history is, of course, that Government prepared a new Constitution which removed the
requirement that compensation had to be paid and declared that any compensation payable should be
paid by Britain. A referendum was held to approve the new Constitution and the new Constitution was
rejected by the majority of voters in Zimbabwe. Undeterred, Government has proceeded to amend the
Constitution so that unless compensation is paid by Britain, farmers will not receive payment. With
elections looming it now appears that even these new provisions do not satisfy the ruling party'’ desire
to be seen as the acquirer of land for the people. An orchestrated programme of land invasions has
taken place and in recent days this has resulted in farmers being abducted, beaten up and killed. Court
Orders declaring the invasions illegal have been ignored by the President who openly says that the police
are not to enforce such orders.

The effect of this behaviour is terrible to contemplate. The very heart of the economic system that has
made the development of Zimbabwe possible will be destroyed. The principle of secure, bankable
ownership rights will die; the poverty typical of the communal areas where individual land ownership
rights do not exist will spread across the country; thousands of farm workers will lose their jobs and
their homes; farming companies are bound to fail as will banks who have lent to farmers; investment
and tax revenues will shrink and export revenue flows will die away. The justification claimed by the
President, his Government and his party that the land is being taken from the descendants of pioneers
who stole the land from the indigenous people lacks any credibility when one realises that about 70% of
the commercial farmers in Zimbabwe acquired title to their farms since independence through a system
of land registration run by the present Government who received transfer duty for such transactions. For
most of the independence period Government has enjoyed a right of pre-emption in respect of all farms
sold and has consistently issued a certificate to the effect that it is not interested in purchasing such
farms. Although some of the current farm owners inherited their farms from their parents, the great
majority paid the market value of the same when purchasing them.

There is no doubt that land reform is required in Zimbabwe and indeed the Commercial Farmers Union
accepts this. If, however, land held under free title is transferred into State or communal ownership it
will lose value and productivity. If it is unlawfully seized Zimbabwe will no longer be regarded as a
country worthy of acceptance by the Community of Nations.


20


Mugabe's Mess

George B.N. Ayittey, Friday 28 April, 2000
Wall Street Journal

Robert Mugabe has followed the pattern of post-colonial African leaders: hailed as a national
hero and swept to power with a huge parliamentary majority, the adulation goes to his head
and he bans opposition parties, declaring himself president-for-life. He plunders the treasury,
wrecks the economy and gags the press.

· Having lost a February referendum to approve the extension of his 20-year rule by 10 years
(despite appeals to nationalism and the promise of free land), Mugabe postponed elections.
Members of his own party called for him to step down.
· Mugabe vowed retribution. He sent "war veterans" to occupy hundreds of white-owned
farms. He has refused to instruct the police to evict them despite court orders. The squatters
threatened civil war should Mugabe lose the elections.
· Disregarding the referendum result, Zimbabwe's rubber-stamp parliament passed
legislation allowing the seizure of white-owned land without compensation.
· It is true that 4,500 white farmers continue to own nearly a third of the most fertile
farmland. But when the government has distributed land, the economic consequences have
been terrible:
· More than 1 million acres bought from white farmers under compulsion have been handed
to 400 wealthy Zimbabweans, mostly Mugabe cronies. In 1994, 20 farms seized from white
farmers were grabbed by government officials. In 1998, 24 farms covering 300 square miles
in Matabeleland were divided among 47 officials, while 40,000 poor Zimbabweans remained
crammed into the neighbouring Semukwe Communal Area.
· The Lancaster House conference which negotiated Zimbabwe's constitution in 1980 also
established a land reform programme: land would be purchased from farmers for
redistribution to landless peasants. The programme was so grotesquely mismanaged that
Britain withdrew financial support for it in 1992. The current crisis has prompted donors to
suspend about $10 million in land reform aid.
· Mugabe would not live by the Lancaster Accords. He concentrated power in his own hands
and abolished the Senate, the upper chamber of parliament. In the July 1995 elections
Mugabe vowed to establish a one-party Marxist-Leninist state and referred to the constitution
as "that dirty piece of paper" while Zanu thugs beat and terrorised opposition supporters.
Intimidation and violence recurred in the 1990 elections.
· Mugabe has nationalised the media and presided over the swelling of the state
bureaucracy. In the early 1990s he appeared to embrace the free market to impress the
World Bank, but reform failed to happen and in 1994 he declared: "Socialism remains our
sworn ideology."
· The results are water cuts, power cuts, food shortages, fuel shortages, inflation at 60%,
fleeing foreign investors and a crashing Zimbabwe dollar. Per capita income has fallen below
pre-independence levels. Mugabe blames the IMF, greedy Western powers, the Asian
financial crisis and the drought.
· Donors are pulling back as western public opinion questions why aid should be extended to
a country with so little respect for the rule of law, and will spend it all on a foreign war:
Mugabe's decision to send 11,000 troops to the Congo is costing $1.2 million a day.
· The solution to Zimbabwe's problems is the peaceful transfer of power through a
democratic election. President Diouf of Senegal stepped down peacefully after 19 years
following free and fair elections in February and saved his country. There are currently few
reasons to believe that Mugabe will show similar wisdom.
Adapted from 'Mugabe's Mess - Zimbabwe's Story Is All Too Familiar' by George B.N. Ayittey,
Wall Street Journal, 10th April 2000


21

Zimbabwe squatters slaughter wildlife

David Blair, Daily Telegraph , Thursday 13 July, 2000

2,000 impalas, 365 other antelopes, 20 zebras, two cheetahs, two
elephants and one wild dog snared. ‘The animals die in absolute agony.’

SWARMING with flies, the rotting carcass was barely recognisable as an elephant.
For Roger Whittall, it was more grim evidence of the wave of poaching that has
engulfed his ranch since hundreds of squatters invaded the Save Valley
Conservancy in south-eastern Zimbabwe.

Black rhinos and wild dogs, two of Africa's most endangered species, are
threatened by the occupiers who have imposed "no-go areas", assaulted dozens of
game scouts and laid thousands of wire snares. Save was singled out for occupation
because 21 white farmers, who merged their land to form the world's largest
private game reserve in 1990, own its 2,200 square miles of rugged bush and
scrub.

Mr Whittall, whose Humani ranch forms part of Save, is appalled by the carnage.
Near the dead elephant, groves of acacia and mopane trees that once teemed with
antelope are now devoid of game. "This is nothing to do with land, it's a mass
slaughter and it goes on every minute of every day," he said.

On Humani ranch alone, covering barely 10 per cent of Save, squatters have snared
2,000 impalas, 365 other antelopes, 20 zebras, two cheetahs, two elephants and
one wild dog since April

Mr Whittall said: "The animals die in absolute agony. You can slaughter
unbelievable amounts of game with these things." More than 1,600 snares have
been removed on his ranch. During a five-hour sweep through an area occupied by
squatters, game scouts from the neighbouring Senuko lodge found a further 1,500,
many of them with trapped victims.

The squatters turned to poaching initially to feed themselves as growing crops is
impossible in Save's rugged bush country. But evidence has emerged that meat is
being sold and commercial poaching has begun. The tusks on the dead elephant
had been removed and scouts fear that the next step will be the targeting of rhinos
for their horns.

Scouts Edward Mashamba and Webster Bhangeni ventured into the no-go region
last month and paid a heavy price. A gang of 100 squatters captured them and beat
them with sticks and clubs.

Mr Bhangeni said: "They shouted, 'You are a traitor, you are working for the whites.
We don't want to see the whites in Zimbabwe.' Then they beat us everywhere, just
everywhere. On the back, the feet, the buttocks."

Because President Robert Mugabe has repeatedly backed the squatters, police are
reluctant to act and the atmosphere of lawlessness encourages anyone to kill
animals on occupied white land with impunity. In Save, scouts can no longer carry
rifles for fear of provoking the squatters. If they arrest a poacher, even outside the
"liberated areas", his comrades will demand his release with threats of violence.

Mr Bhangeni said: "If we try to arrest poachers, they will kill us. There is nothing
we can do. But we must try to carry on. It hurts me to see all these animals dying,
it's terrible."


22

Mugabe leaves white farmers to grim fate

Exodus from the north grows as mob attacks go unchecked
Chris McGreal in Johannesburg
Monday August 13, 2001

The Guardian

More white farming families joined the exodus from northern Zimbabwe yesterday as President
Robert Mugabe's supporters looted and burned homes. Farmers' leaders in the Chinhoyi area
said women and children have left about 130 farms, and dozens of men were grouping on
several properties to be ready to return to their farms if the situation stabilised.

"The men are torn," said one of the affected farmers. "They have sent their families
away because before long there are going to be more people killed, the way this is going on.
But they don't just want to run away themselves. They are not cowards. They are seeking safety
in numbers and will try to defend the farms where they can."

Some of the families were flown out in light aircraft using farm landing strips. Others
joined small convoys of trucks loaded down with people and belongings. Some of those who
fled their farms on Friday evening spent the night in the bush because the police prevented
them from driving to Harare. Most of those who have fled are from the Doma area, about 60
miles north of Chinhoyi town. Whites began to abandon their farms on Wednesday as the
attacks began after 21 farmers were arrested on charges of public violence.

On August 6 they had gone to the defence of one of their number who was besieged in
his home by men from Zimbabwe's "war veterans" movement and others, who had seized his
land. The farmers claimed they acted in self-defence but the government accused them of
attacking defenceless blacks - the ruling Zanu-PF unleashed militants against farms in the area.

Colin Cloete, the president of the almost exclusively white Commercial Farmers Union
(CFU), said yesterday that "marauding bands" were now wreaking havoc.

"Farms are being pillaged and looted openly and blatantly by lawless elements in
marauding bands of up to 300 [but] little action has been taken to recover stolen property.
Farmers and their families are vulnerable and unprotected as police turn a blind eye to assaults
that have taken place on their doorstep," he said. "It is apparent that the state of lawlessness
has reached a height that can only be contained by swift action at the highest level."

One retired farmer who fled to Harare said his house was looted on Thursday by men
who smashed their way in with sledge hammers. His family escaped with a few belongings of
sentimental value.

"We are in a state of shock but we are alive," he said. His son had stayed in the district.
"I don't know what he's going to do. Our lives are in ruin." If it became safe to go back "we'll
have to go and assess the damage and that's going to be absolutely heartbreaking," he said.

Farmers' leaders say that while there is no evidence yet that the violence will spread to
other areas, the situation is so volatile that they fear attacks to the 4,000 other white-owned
farms across the country. If any farmers thought the government would act, President Mugabe
disabused them. On Saturday, he announced new plans to increase the amount of land
targeted for seizure still further - to 9.5m hectares (24m acres) or 95% of that in white hands.
And he issued a warning:

"We have seen of late some of those who have not repented who are organising them
selves to attack the landless people who have been resettled on some farms. But we warn them
to desist immediately continuing in these kinds of organised attacks, they will of course
ricochet."

The Zanu-PF member of parliament for Chinhoyi, Philip Chiyangwa, claimed that whites
were fleeing their farms to discredit the government and to provoke a "worldwide protest". He
said the attacks were regrettable but the victims had brought it on themselves.

"The resultant attacks were out of anger after the farmers assaulted blacks who had
approached them for dialogue over a misunderstanding," he said.

Further evidence that the government intends to deal harshly with whites came with the
suspension of three police officers accused of "coddling" the 21 farmers whose arrest last week
for coming to the aid of one of their number under attack from squatters provoked the latest
crisis.
A superintendent, an inspector and an assistant inspector were penalised for making the white
farmers more comfortable by giving them additional prison clothing. Regional leaders holding a
summit in Malawi said they did not intend to discuss the crisis in Zimbabwe because they
wanted to focus on "more positive issues".


23

Letter From A Zimbabwean Farmer

Two years ago I was elected Commercial Farmers Union Chairman for Mashonaland East
Province (for my sins). It covers nine districts and embraces 800 of the country's 3500
remaining commercial farmers.

As I write I am close to the phone because a family in my province, in the district of Macheke,
has been under seige all night. So called war-vets and their followers broke down their security
fence last evening and converged on the homestead chanting blood curdling threats, built fires
around the house, on the lawns and verandah, fired shots randomly, and the neighbours stood-
by all night in case things got really out of hand.

The police declined to react throughout, and I was only able to get the officer commanding the
province on her cell phone early this morning. Under extreme pressure the police sent two
details there who reported everything to be in order, and left. The family are still in the house
surrounded. 40 farmers went to the police station to demand an explanation and a reaction from
the member in charge, accompanied by a BBC film crew who were threatened by the officer if
they continued to film. The provincial head of police is now on her way there to "talk to the
farmers", and they and the BBC and other press have retired a couple of kilometers away to the
local sports club for some breakfast and to await further developments. We have a lawyer on
standby in case any of our farmers are arrested, which is likely as that has become the pattern
in recent weeks - charges are trumped up and later withdrawn, but not before the farmers
concerned and the community in general have had a rather unpleasant experience. (We have
exercized a policy of not encouraging press involvement for many months now - to try to keep
the temperature down, and to try to resolve issues by negotiation and without publicity - but I
think it is generally accepted now that we have been wasting our time as there is no goodwill to
draw on, and our approach is now to let the press report all that they can, as there is nothing to
lose by them doing so.)

(That was Saturday - it's now Friday. The seige ended on Tuesday afternoon when we
managed to get the heirarchy of the Party involved, after they had begun to panic about the
publicity both overseas and in the local press. The couple were not able to leave the house, and
nobody was allowed in, even with provisions so things became a bit desparate - especially as
they ran out of cigarettes! The dogs were not allowed out of the hose for the four days, so soiled
carpets etc., trees were cut down in the garden, and across the drive so that no vehicle could
easily approach, and fires were burned all day and night upwind of the house so that smoke
constantly permeated the home. The filth and rubbish, and empty beer containers were all over
the garden. Anyway, that one is over.)

I am afraid it was not an isolated incident.

Last Sunday, during lunch, a farmer in the same area had a group of about 100 individuals rush
into his tobacco seedbed site and set light to 300 beds. These are the seedling production units,
for the early plantings of the irrigated crop, to be planted out into the fields from 1st September,
grown and reaped during our summer, and sold in 2002. After sowing they are covered with a
dry grass mulch, and a synthetic 'nappy liner' material for protection against frost - a very
combustible combination. Direct loss there was in the order of Z$1 000 000, but the crop that
would have been produced from the 120 Ha those seedbeds were to cater for, US$850 000 in
foreign currency earnings for our country. (For a year we have been suffering fuel shortages
with endless queues at the few filling stations that have anything to sell, and food shortages are
looming, both due to a lack of foreign exchange to pay for imports. There are zero reserves.)
The farmer concerned has been ordered to get off his farm, and no arrests have been made
although the perpetrators are on the farm. The farmer and his family are refusing to leave, are
resowing their seedbeds with a lot of help and support from the community, who are also putting
in extra beds in case he is unable to produce them in time for planting, or is interfered with
further.

Two Saturdays ago our local Beatrice cricket team had a match against Featherstone at our
Beatrice Sports Club. It was planned in order to coincide with the International being played in
Bulawayo between Zim. and India, so that those who don't have satelite television could watch it
at the club, and support our locals while they were at it. A very good day was enjoyed by many,


24


and it went on late into the night. On Sunday morning our local war-vet contingent with a
raggedy band of followers invaded and took over the club on the pretext that we had been
"celebrating the death of Hitler Hunzvi" their brutal leader who had been buried at our National
Heroes Acre, with pomp and ceremony and fanfare, on Friday. They drank the beer, and ate the
food from the freezers, took down our photographs and memorabilia, and across our lovely
faced brick arches, redone a year ago, have written in foot-high black bitumen paint the new
name of the club! "HITLER CLUB -VIVA THE 3RD CHIMURENGA". (Chimurenga is a
revolution).

I had meetings with the club committee, the provincial war vet leadership, and the district head
of police, at the club with the invaders, in an attempt to get them out. They simply sent us away
with a list of demands about free membership to war vets, and war vet participation on the
committee. The position of the committee is that membership is open to all on payment of
subscriptions, the actions of the invaders are absolutely illegal, and purely for the purpose of
extortion and theft, and it is the job of the police to arrest the perpetrators, and prosecute them.
No arrests have been made, the club remains occupied and vandalised after 13 days, and is
now being used as a base not only to accomodate them, but also for such things as 'disciplinary
hearings' and kangaroo courts. Our farmers and their families meanwhile are finding alternative
venues at which to wind down, relax, and at times let their hair down.

At the same time, in Harare South, a farm workforce decided that they had taken enough abuse
from the war vets and followers on the farm, including the rape of a teenager, and chased them.
One war vet follower had a finger chopped off, another got an axe in the head, and others were
beaten. The farmer who was not even on the farm at the time was arrested the next morning for
"inciting violence", and it took his lawyer 36 hours to get him out on bail, but not before the
police had beaten him in his cell with a hose pipe in an effort to get a confession. The rapist,
and all the others involved have not been arrested. Three farmers have spent similar periods in
jail in the last few weeks, on fabricated charges.

A farmer in the Marondera district in my province had $800 000 worth of maize reaped and
loaded onto trucks and trailers in front of his eyes, and carried away, with the police looking on
and refusing to act. It was not 'theft' they said, it was 'political', and therefore they would not help
him. The same occurred a few days later on a farm in Beatrice. No arrests in either case.

Police who try to uphold the law, as most were trained to do when they joined the force, are
singled out for transfer to remote stations, or to administrative jobs at H.Q. In Beatrice we have
just lost our very good member in charge for that reason - gone to Matabeleland. He has been
replaced with a war-vet / war-vet-sympathiser / yes-man. It's a very sad process which is taking
place on a widespread and systematic basis, around the country.

Economically the situation is no better. The price of fuel went up by 70% overnight last week
and serious social unrest is predicted in the weeks ahead. Inflation is at 60% before the knock-
on effect of the fuel price increase. Unemployment is at 60% and rising. Corruption at all levels
is endemic and paralysing and goes largely unprosecuted. Production is plummeting in
agriculture, mining, manufacturing. Tourism is dying. Our Z$ is pegged at 55:1 against the US$
and has been for a year, although the parallel (black) market is running at up to 150:1. The few
airlines still accepting payment for flights in Z$ now are openly doing their calculations at 133:1.
All of our inputs such as fertilizers and crop and veterinary chemicals are being bought with
currency sourced on the parallel market. And yet we are being paid at the official rate of 55:1 for
export products (tobacco, beef, horticultural produce etc.). Businesses including farms are
closing daily for reasons of viability, but we understand that govt. policy is that the exchange
rate will remain fixed. It is seen as a political imperative because the risk of a backlash from the
poorest classes in the event of devaluation, from the effect on the basic cost of living, is too
great for them to contemplate. And yet the country is being killed to keep the current leadership
in power!! It is not sustainable, but we can not see what will change or when. Only that it will.

I could go on and on. There is absolute anarchy, but the world is told that there is the rule of law
and stable governance! It is pleasing that Mbeki and others in Africa are beginning to take a
harder line with Mugabe, because their soft approach has been interpreted by our leaders and
government controlled press as tacit approval of the awful things that they have done in order to


25

cling to power, in the name of correcting injustices of the past!

On the positive side, the population at large is patient and peaceful (with the exception of the 20
000 or so government hired thugs or so called war vets, who even most real veterans of the
liberation war disown.) Our's is one of the most educated populations in Africa, and capable of,
and willing to rebuild rapidly as soon as the conditions exist to allow it to happen. The
infrastructure largely remains intact in what really was the "tiger" of Africa only a few short years
ago, and I believe that the international community has not abandoned the Zimbabwean people,
only our government, and that is as it should be. Many of our young people, both black and
white, are outside the country, but most will return when conditions improve bringing with them a
wealth of experience from around the globe

There is land enough for every farmer, large or small, to farm productively, and a real
determination on the part of most of the parties involved in land in this country to solve it
equitably once and for all, so that it is never again used as a political weapon. Ordinary
Zimbabweans are sick to death of hearing about the twin pillars of the ruling party - being race
hatred and land. There are fully implementable offers on the table right now, accepted by the
international community in 1998, and reworked and re-presented this year in a format
appropriate to the current political environment. (The Zimbabwe Joint Resettlement Initiative,
presented by the CFU and the Private Sector, is before Cabinet now, and awaits their approval).
The land question can and will be settled to everyone's satisfaction, and there need not be any
further loss of production -it is only a question of our government allowing it. If they do not, I am
quite sure that a future government will.

I will attach a short document that I produced earlier this month which is a 'snapshot' of our
province on the 7th June. It was presented to our Governor, party Chairman, and the Minister of
Finance, Simba Makoni, among others. The situation has deteriorated since I wrote it.

It is so important to us that people outside the country know a little of what is going on here. You
get the big picture and the politics, but not the day to day goings on I don't think.

As I finish this I am looking out of the office window (which some of you will be able to visualise)
and at the bottom of our garden, a herd of giraffe have joined the herd of eland that have been
there all afternoon, feeding on the cubes that we put out for them each day during winter. It is
beautiful. That bull is so tall -one doesn't realize just how tall until they are close. Vicky, Sherry
and all the children are sitting outside having tea as the shadows lengthen. It's a lovely evening
and I am off for a run.

(Sherry's husband was murdered in May last year, in the violence that ran up to the General
Election)


26

Topple Mugabe, Mandela urges

THE man who commanded the notorious Fifth Brigade massacres in Matabeleland in the
Eighties is masterminding Zimbabwe's violent farm invasions, senior officials of the ruling Zanu-
PF party have conceded.

Gen Perence Shiri, who now heads Zimbabwe's air force, is said to be co-ordinating the land
seizures and organising food and transport for the so-called war veterans who have invaded
more than 1,000 white-owned farms. Gen Shiri's name also appears on a list of 28 senior
government and military figures given farms seized from white farmers. These were supposed
to be handed to landless people.

The government and military have always denied involvement in the wave of occupations which
started 10 weeks ago and have resulted in the deaths of two white farmers and 15 labourers
and opposition workers. But some Zanu-PF officials, worried that the situation is getting out of
control, have now given a different version of events to The Telegraph. They say the invasions
were ordered by President Robert Mugabe after he lost the referendum on a new constitution in
February, and have been meticulously planned by the military. Gen Shiri, they add, has
deployed more than 1,000 troops in civilian clothes to lead the operations, and recruited others
on a daily allowance plus free food.

The Zimbabwe Independent newspaper reported that the armed forces had not only been
directing the occupations but had also imported a big Russian arms shipment, including 21,000
AK47 assault rifles to distribute among the squatters. The paper cited farming areas such as
Beatrice, 30 miles from Harare, where army officers were on the ground running operations.

The army's involvement explains the squatters' surprising logistical capability, quickly moving
large groups of men to invade new farms. Chenjerai "Hitler" Hunzvi, the war veterans' leader,
travels between farms in a helicopter provided by Gen Shiri's air force. The military link also
explains why there are so many young people among veterans of a war which finished 20 years
ago and why they are so well equipped.

Last week, Britain's Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, announced the suspension of Land Rover
sales to the Zimbabwean army after claims by white farmers that these were being used to
transport the squatters. Gen Shiri's name strikes fear into the hearts of many Zimbabweans who
remember his ruthless crushing of the rebellion in Matabeleland between 1982 and 1987.

Tens of thousands of people died in massacres carried out by his North Korean-trained Fifth
Brigade, and mass graves have been uncovered in recent years. Gen Shiri is one of 28 close
allies of President Mugabe named on a list obtained by The Telegraph as having received
farms, compulsorily purchased from white owners in the land redistribution programme, which
were supposed to go to landless peasants. The list includes government ministers, permanent
secretaries, provincial governors, army generals and judges. Those named include Cyril
Ndebele, Speaker of Parliament; George Charamba, the president's spokesman; Patrick
Chinamasa, the Attorney General; General Vitalis Zvinavashe, Commander-in-Chief of the
Zimbabwe defence forces, who oversees Harare's military involvement in the Congo; Border
Gezi, Governor of Mashonaland; Welshman Mabhena, Governor of Matabeleland North; and
Zenzo Nsimbi, deputy minister of transport.

Francis Maude, Mr Cook's Tory shadow, said: "This list is evidence of Mr Mugabe's bad faith
and proof that he has abused his land-reform programme to enrich himself and a small circle of
kleptocrats around him." He called for Mr Mugabe's assets to be seized and for Zimbabwe to be
suspended from the Commonwealth. Neighbours of Gen Shiri's 1,500-hectare Ruia Falls Farm
in Bindura pointed out yesterday that his is the only one in the area not to have been invaded.

Elsewhere, farmers reported fresh violence and intimidation yesterday in the deepening land
crisis. Meanwhile, repression of the political opposition appears to be growing in the run-up to
parliamentary elections, expected in June. On Friday night, Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change, was arrested after a campaign rally at Chiredzi.
He was released early yesterday after four hours in detention, but several of his aides remained
in police custody. An MDC official said: "Arrests late at night are deliberate harassment of senior
members of an opposition political party."


27


Eric Bloch Column

ONE week after Zimbabwe’s parliamentary election, President Mugabe was interviewed on
CNN by Charlayne Hunter-Gault. When she commenced a question with: "Given that Zimbabwe
is about to go bankrupt . . ." the president interrupted her with an almost hysterical laugh and
said: "Zimbabwe is not going bankrupt; countries don’t go bankrupt; Zimbabwe will never go
bankrupt; that’s just what our enemies say about us."
Clearly, therefore, either the president does not know the meaning of the word "bankrupt", or he
is unaware of the true Zimbabwean circumstances, or he has deluded and decei-ved himself
into non-reco- gnition of the realities.
Mr President, the hard fact is that Zimbabwe is bankrupt, Zimbabwe is insolvent. The Concise
Oxford Dictionary defines a "bankrupt" as being an "insolvent debtor", and defines the latter as
being one that is "unable to pay debts". And, as Zimbabwe is unable to pay its debts, it is
bankrupt.
The president may be under the impression that Zimbabwe can pay its debts, but, if he does
labour under that impression, he is misleading himself, for such an impression is grossly
erroneous. Zimbabwe has been in default of repayments due by it to the World Bank.
Such repayments having been due months ago, the World Bank having given prescribed notice
of breach of agreed loan repayments 30 days after repayment became due, again 15 days later
and, once more when the arrears were 60 days overdue.
World Bank regulations preclude any further support to the debtor nation until all arrears have
been made good. Despite receiving the obligatory notices of breach, and despite Zimbabwe
desperately needing continuance of World Bank programmes, as well as new and additional
ones, it has failed to honour its commitments.
Obviously, it has not made payment because it cannot. In other words, it is insolvent; it is
bankrupt!
The extent of the bankruptcy is loud and clear. The national debt continues to soar. As at May
31, it amounted to $263 billion, with external debt amounting to over $171 billion (more than
US$4,5 billion), and domestic debt approximating $92 billion (comprising $72,8 billion in
Treasury Bills, government stock of $8,7 billion, and Reserve Bank overdrafts exceeding $10,3
billion). External debt equated to 82% of gross domestic product (GDP), with domestic debt
approximating 192% of GDP. Overall, Zimbabwe’s national debt is now considerably more than
five times greater than GDP. Zimbabwe would have to apply all its GDP for more than five years
to the settlement of debt if it was to become debt free! Emphasising the extent to which
Zimbabwe has been accumulating burdensome debt is that in 1991 the external debt was 36%
of GDP. Another indicator of Zimbabwe’s insolvency is the ever-increasing state deficit. For the
first quarter of the current fiscal year, government’s expenditure amounted to $33,7 billion, while
its revenues totalled $19,7 billion, yielding a deficit of $14 billion for the three-month period!
Undoubtedly an equal or even greater deficit will have been incurred in the second quarter of
the year and, as the deficits are necessarily funded out of borrowings, the debt-service burden
in the months ahead will be greater still.
It is further of consequence that these deficits are before accounting for those incurred by parastatals,
whose debts are substantially guaranteed by government. In the month of May alone,
borrowings of parastatals increased by $2,4 billion.
The severity of Zimbabwe’s circumstances is demonstrated by the extent to which all sectors of
society are being adversely affected and are suffering severely. Recent reports indicate that the
Ministry of Health is carrying stocks of essential drugs, medicines and medications of less than
a half of those considered to be strategically required to assure that the needs of the populace
requiring health care can be addressed.
Admittedly, the ministry recorded that its hold ings are supplemented by those of hospitals and
clinics, but most of them are also under-stocked.
In Bulawayo, Mpilo Hospital’s vitally necessary equipment for cancer treatment has been out of
commission for months due to an absence of foreign exchange for essential spares. Patients
are, at the least, suffering major distress, and possibly their very survival is at risk. Only a
bankrupt state would fail to meet such a critical need.
The scarcity of foreign exchange is far greater than only an insufficiency for machine spares for
the health sector. For six months Zimbabwe has suffered immense shortages of fuel. Although
the president and his henchmen have, from time to time, ascribed a diverse range of reasons
for the shortages, the facts are that Zimbabwe has not had sufficient funds to buy the petroleum,
diesel, aviation fuel and paraffin that it needs, and has such poor credit repute that it could not
borrow sufficient funding.


28


The forex shortages are such that government is recurrently late in paying foreign allowances to
its troops in the DRC (albeit Zimbabwe should not be militarily engaged there).
Zimbabwe is so short of foreign exchange that its embassies around the world are frequently
unable to pay salaries when due, and repeatedly cannot pay their suppliers timeously. So
strained is the foreign currency resource that aircraft have to be withdrawn from service until
monies can be raised to pay for prescribed services and checks.
And so limited is Zimbabwe’s foreign exchange wherewithal that it cannot remit dividends to
investors (although it still expects those investors to invest!), and it cannot provide its residents
with their entitlement to business, holiday and medical travel allowances.
Mr President, are these not all indicative of the desolate state of the economy -- a desolation so
great that it can only be insolvent? Zimbabwe is bankrupt, and not even recurrent denial can
conceal that fact!
Fortunately, Zimbabwe can be rehabilitated. Zimbabwe can be redeemed from its depths of
penury. Assets still exist and can be productively applied to restoring fiscal well-being. Those
assets can lift Zimbabwe from its destitution and poverty.
The tangible assets include its very great agricultural potential, its mineral wealth and capacity
to be a world-leading tourist destination. They also include an economic infrastructure which,
although small by comparison with that of South Africa, and although lacking in much, is
nevertheless one of the most developed in sub-Saharan Africa.
A key element of that infrastructure is an esta-blished manufacturing sector, weakened by the
mismanagement of the economy during the last three years, but poised for recovery if an
economically conducive environ- ment were to be recreated.
The most positive of the assets which can drive Zimbabwe’s withdrawal from the abyss of
bankruptcy is that it has a large, able and willing labour force which desperately craves for
employment and, if that craving is catered for, will work with motivation and drive.
The capability of the very considerable labour pool is reinforced by Zimbabwe having one of the
highest literacy rates in Africa, with a significant portion of the population having undergone
secondary education, and many having advanced through Zimbabwe’s tertiary education
institutions.
The intangible assets available to Zimbabwe are of equal importance, including its geographic
prominence as a potentially key supplier of goods, services and technology to the region.
However, the most important intangible asset, because it can transform into the tangible, is that
the world at large remains disposed to support Zimbabwe and aid its recovery provided that
Zimbabwe recognises the need for responsible economic manage- ment, accountability, good
governance, co-operation and collaboration, instead of confrontation, corruption, economic
incompe- tence and bad governance, lawlessness and anarchy.
But first and foremost Zimbabwe needs to recognise and acknowledge harsh facts and realities.
It must accept that, throughout the last three years, if there was anything economic which it
could possibly do wrong, it did so and, as a direct consequence, it is now bankrupt.
No matter how much the president may protest to the contrary, Zimbabwe is insolvent. If that
can be recognised, then Zimbabwe can reverse those conditions.
If that cannot be acknowledged, Zimbabwe’s impoverishment will continue, and deprivation will
be the pronounced characteristic of the country for all time.


29

The account of the invasion of the Avenues Clinic by its director

Dear Friends and Relatives

The purpose of our e-mail is to say "We are OK". We are not so confident, so I must add "We
hope and pray". Those of you who have read articles in the press last week and then this week,
especially, will have been worried. We thank you for the telephone calls and e-mails. I am
appreciative also of those who have contacted my mother to offer support. We thank you for
your prayers. We need all the support we can get.

Some of you have parts of the tale, some other versions, so please forgive repetition. We would
like all our friends to know. We have a belief and hope that the more that know the safer we
may be. Even that some influence may be brought to change the course of history here. I am
hoping that by writing our story that some of it will be put to rest and some perspective achieved
in a troubled mind. If you do not have the time or the inclination to read further that is fine by me.
The important thing for you to know is that although we have been in a period of danger, today
we are OK. We have been close to running for the hills and across the border. We shall see
what next week brings. As a compromise we may sleep in a different place each night.

I have agreed to be interviewed by press and TV. Each time it has felt right to do so, a good
idea to speak out, speak the truth; however we experience anguish each time, fearing any back
lash. Somehow that terror was huge last week, but we have learnt to get used to that one and it
is not so bad this week. We hope it may be some protection as the press outside a "detention
centre" could aid the release. Perhaps we are being naive, but there are not many straws to
clutch at these days.

Since last year, Maureen and I have discussed the inevitability of what has happened in the
rural areas and to the farmers will come to town. It has ... and with a vengeance. It is very much
on our doorstep. It is minor in comparison to many of the horrors we know about; however it has
been pretty major on our personal Richter scale. The following is my version of what has
happened in the last two weeks of our lives:

Tuesday 24th April 2001

This could have been the worst day in my life, however I came out of it alive and unscathed
physically. I pray that is not speaking too soon.

We had read in the papers about the War Vets invading the boardrooms of vompanies. Well, it
was our turn, at the Avenues Clinic, commencing with a mob surging into my office at 9.30.
Reception warned my secretary and I just had time to give instructions for "May day" calls to be
made [Police, President's Office, Min of Health and British High Commission]. Then we had
twenty men burst into the office and I was surrounded by yelling men in ugly mood. We had
been in a Management Team meeting one minute and in terror the next. Some were definitely
high on something. All aggressive and insolent to different degrees. All impatient. Demanding
and very deliberately rude. Their leader introduced them as "ZANU PF, War Veterans
Association, Harare".

I managed to get the War Vets out of the hospital into the Boardroom, away from the patients, in
a separate building but on site, on the basis that we could sit down and talk in a larger room. It
has paid dividends, as on each of their return trips they have headed for the Boardroom
automatically. We made the painful decision as to who to go with them, if we had a choice. My
Principal Matron bravely volunteered. I hoped as a senior nurse she would have a stabilizing
influence [wrong], as did my Financial Director. We had a very real risk that whoever talked to
them would be dragged off to their offices, as had happened already to too many other directors
and managers. I needed Shona speakers with me.

We were harangued and threatened. "We will march you to ZANU PF office and put you in a
room with no doors. You know what will happen to you there". A room so described apparently
means a cell [one of their interrogation rooms] or a coffin. "Why are we wasting time talking
here? Let's take them away to the office and deal with them." Nice after-breakfast conversation.
When my Matron spoke, she was accused of "joining the oppressor". Both were accused of
being at the Clinic at the time of the illegal strike in 1995, which was the excuse for the "assault
upon us". To me, one screamed "I know you. You know me. I know where you are. I will get


30


you". I felt he meant it. I have worried where I have seen him before, ever since. I made note to
get a message home if and when I could break free. "This is not Rhodesia" and so on and on.
It became obvious that the two other members of my team could not talk as each fuelled
increased hostility, so it was down to me. They resorted to prayer that I would be guided to
"negotiate" a safe path. Terrifying, yet one manages to keep an objective eye and ear.
Negotiation skills were tested in full. Whatever one does, one has to hide the fear, mask the
anger and the contempt. Control the retorts to outrageous demands. I regret to say that we
settled. It has cost the company $6.3m, but no patients or staff were hurt, the former especially
had to be my paramount concern. There was already an agreement between the strikers of
1995 and the Clinic that they should receive a settlement, but not one as generous as extorted.

We had no back up whatsoever. The Police were called, but did not come. On Wednesday, I
eventually tracked down a Deputy Commissioner who told me that he had ordered the men to
be hunted down and arrested. I have since heard thru' sources that he was countermanded
from sources higher up. In the Financial Gazette on Friday, the police spokesman said that
there had to be a formal complaint before the police would act. How do you issue a formal
complaint when the WV have you locked up? The President's Office was called and said they
might send an observer. They did not. Two attended the next day and said they never received
the message! They asked plenty of questions and told me that they were there only because
the President was concerned. The Deputy Minister of Health said that it was "not a Government
matter" but I persuaded him it was on the basis that the government was still in control of the
country. He agreed to speak to people in the Party. He did, reportedly to the Speaker of the
House, but the people in the party were still considering the matter after we had been forced to
settle.

Our deadline from the WV was 2.30 Tuesday or we would have to take the consequences. Iron
bars to the head and beating up the PA seem to be the current trend. Still today the thought
process of the party has not been declared as to the need to defend health care institutions.
The British High Commission declined to send anyone but, at my request, undertook to look
after Maureen and the children, if something happened to me. I managed to contact Maureen
and send her into hiding with the children, taking two dogs and one cat, the other hid. The
domestic staff were sent off the property, instructed that they should not admit to knowing us.
So we left our beautiful home to an uncertain fate. A favourite War Vet tactic is to visit your
home and destroy as much as possible.

Exhausted and under pressured criticism for settling and not being beaten up, we said good bye
to the war vets at 3.30. They have been returning ever since to supervise the issuing of the
cheques to the 30 ex-workers, who lost their jobs after an illegal strike in 1995. I had managed
to negotiate the payment down to 30 and not 35 and limited the settlement to salaries and
increases, from July 95 to April 200, but nothing else [or so I thought]. The main partner in our
law firm repeatedly suggested that I bounce the cheques and go on holiday to Cape Town. I
cannot believe the man. Obviously he has no regard for the lives of my staff who would meet
the wrath of the War Vets in full vengeance.

We returned home on Tuesday late afternoon. No staff on site, but otherwise normal. We joined
friends for dinner out. Glad to be alive. Such is the dichotomy of life here. Scared and working
out problems in a lawless land and then out to a restaurant for dinner in a context that could be
a civilized country.

Wednesday 25th April 2001

The War Vets demanded to see me again. They were "requesting" the re-instatement of the
workers. I found a way of saying no to mob re-instatement without being lynched. I felt my grip
on sanity slip as I was given a round of applause for our generous settlement the day before.
That was my second round of applause in two days. It seems crazy that one minute you are
being threatened and harassed and next you get a round of applause. Another two and a half
hours of living on my nerves and constantly "dancing" and changing tack to ensure the mood
did not swing the wrong way.

Thursday 26th April 2001


31


If War Vets were not enough, I had staff problems with old grievances rising to the surface. The
200 plus workers who returned to work after the strike were docked two weeks pay for two days
away as a punishment. I found there were rumours of money to be paid the our staff and
rumours of our staff talking to the War Vets. "Thank you" for the support and concern for the
safety of the Management Team. I called a meeting. Someone was stirring up our workforce.I
was in the middle of describing the horrors of the days before to a hundred plus staff when the
war vets, no 1 and 2, "good guy and bad guy" walked in to the Boardroom. They apologized for
interrupting the meeting! I got up and greeted him exchanged pleasantries, shook hands and
sent them to another room for the supervision of the handing out of cheques to our ex-
employees. I was trying to divert my workers from calling in the War Vets to gain their two
weeks wages from 1995. I told them about the new relationship with management and asked
them for a week to consider the information new to me about the two week penalty. They
agreed or did some?

I went away and decided that it was expedient to pay out the two weeks. The deduction had not
been legal and was very ill advised. It has been a cancer burning in the sole of many for five
years.

Friday 27th April 2001

We are told by the War Vet leaders that the members of our staff have asked them to intervene.
"Great". Do those responsible really know the consequences? Do they care? I agreed that we
would repay the two weeks pay from 1995 in the next pay packet and without interest. The
deduction had been illegal and disastrous HR practice. I have much to "thank" my predecessors
for ! I stressed to this group the potential horrors of inviting the War Vets in. Next they will want
to run the hospital.

Saturday 28th April

Friends invited us to share a cottage in the hills to rest and recover. Blissful fresh air and walks.
Wretched dreams, but the mind has to clear out the rubbish somehow.

Wednesday 2nd May

Horror of horrors, the War Vets announce they are coming back to demand reinstatement and
more. Again the round of phone calls. The police passed me from one officer to another. They
were far more helpful and offered to send plainclothes police, but would they come? [No] An
officer advised me that a member of the Committee in the Party, which was set up last week to
control the company actions [yes, there is such a thing], had advised that our file was closed.
Good news that it was closed because we had paid up. Horrendous news that the official
committee had a hospital on the list in the first place. Question why the war vets were coming
again? Bad news that although the file was closed we were still on someone's hit list. The
commissioner to whom I spoke told me to be careful and not trust my staff particularly my Chief
Security Officer. That gave me a sinking feeling.

The Security Company were far more useful. I spoke with them direct. They sent a man so that I
would not go alone to the Police Station. I went to make a formal report, so that no one could
say that they could not act without such report. I had sent my Chief Security Officer to make the
report on Friday but he had come back stating that he could not do so as he was not the
aggrieved person. I am very suspicious. The security company offered me a "minder", which I
gladly accepted. We trebled the guards on site. At all doors and at each ward and department.
The Deputy Minister of Health was horrified and annoyed that we were to be hit again. He
promised to speak on our behalf.

Thursday 3rd May

After a night of dread, the next day came. The extra guards were on duty. My minder was there,
all 160 kg of him and my height. His hobbies are judo and juditso. He looks like something out of
the men in black. Dark glasses and all. The War Vets arrived. All the phone calls to the police
were in vain. The cell phones seemed to switched off. Surprise, surprise. The High Commission
were told and thanked me for the information and wished me luck. The man at the President's
Office was at the airport and said he could do nothing. I suggested firmly that as the President
was concerned he ought to use his cell phone and get a colleague to attend. Amazingly he did.

The demands were aggressively made for re-instatement plus bonuses for six years!! Two and


32


half hours later, we finished. I explained repeatedly we had acted in good faith and were making
payments to staff on the understanding that the "agreement" the previous week was in full and
final settlement, as signed by each recipient. I threatened to stop payments to the outstanding
eight ex-employees. They signed a fresh agreement to abide by the last one and it was
witnessed by the Office of the President's representative. Who knows if any piece of paper is
more than that!

Friday 4th May

The real misery starts when whilst I am in an emergency Board meeting discussing the War Vet
situation, my secretary advises me that she has received a call summoning me to the ZANU PF
HQ and for me to be there by 4.30 without fail, caller identifies himself as Mr Savanhu. The
Board's initial view is that I should go. I advise I expect damages if I go and am beaten up,
which I would expect. I know I should not go on my own, so I ask for volunteers. That drew a
blank response and then the only Board member not to have said that I should go, says of
course I should not go. There is collective relief and they all change their mind and leave it to
my discretion.

My earlier calls trying to find someone to stop this madness are continued in real earnest. I find
a senior Party member who tells me the call must be by a group meaning no good as Mr
Savanhu would never have made such a call. A feeling of dread. I speak to the supposed caller,
who denies he would have made such a call. The firm advice of both senior party members is
not to go and not to make myself available. I ring Maureen and tell her to stay with the friends
with whom she and the children were having tea. Maureen rings the BHC and the advice is that
I am now the target and time to go into hiding. The best tactic is to go public.

Maureen rings the BBC and the Daily Telegraph. I have rung the police and the security
company. The BBC, the Security Company, the Police Inspector, the Telegraph, the Times, my
PR lady, our friend with whom Maureen is in hiding, other press all arrive within half an hour.
Chaos! Me trying to balance priorities and arrange things. The BBC interview [but do not use].
The Telegraph overlap and interview further and do use in Saturday's paper. He incidentally
finds time to ring Maureen to tell I am safely out of the hospital. The policeman starts organizing
cover for the Hospital, which I tell him is my priority. The promise is to arrest.

Time is out and it is time to be whisked away. I leave in a friend's car with a tail to make sure
that no one is following. Nothing feels real any more. The Security Team ensures I am at the
safe house, after what seems like a lifetime, and I am with Maureen and the children. Is this
real? Was this an over reaction? The cell phone never stops ringing. Not one person tells me it's
a dream. No one says "wake up". The consensus is that to go into hiding was essential. We
came back home the next day, against some advice, but we cannot hide forever. The Security
guys think if the rogue element reacts to my failure to return to work it will be at the Avenues
Clinic next week.

Friday night I was numb. I have slowly recovered. Some advise us to go away a while. We will,
if there is further sign of trouble tomorrow. Maureen is to see the school heads tomorrow to
ensure extra security for the children and teacher control to ensure only we pick up. The papers
at the weekend have indicated a back down on company invasions and even published cell
numbers for Hunzvi and Chinotombo, prominent War Vet leaders, so that we can ring to check
the credentials of War Vets if they come to the companies! I hope that to be the case and we
will follow up on Monday. Who knows? Who is really in charge anyway?

Tomorrow I will go into work. Security is doubled and my minder will be there for the week.
Fingers crossed. I'll tell you more next time I write.

May you all have a peaceful week.
Malcolm


33

Zimbabweans are in captivity. The government they elected are the captors
Zimbabwe Daily News , Monday 29 May, 2000

We are told to hate whites even if some of them are beautiful friends

IF a man sets out to burn his own house, onlookers try to stop him. The general consensus is
that something has gone wrong with the man’s head. This is the situation in Zimbabwe at the
moment.

The government was elected by the voters. They have a mandate. The so-called war veterans
were not elected by anyone in this country except by their own ranks numbering not more than
50,000 .

Chenjerai Hitler Hunzvi, an avowed anarchist, claims to be the one distributing the land in our
country. A hate war has started. We are being told to hate whites even if some of them have
become beautiful friends.

The elected president of the republic has reduced himself to a spare president. The unelected
one, Chenjerai Hitler Hunzvi, runs the sponsored show, a political circus. Since when has an
unelected leader been given the power to distribute land in a country with a president who took
the oath of office in order to uphold the laws of the land? We are refugees in our own country,
prisoners without uniforms!

Zimbabweans are in captivity, and the government they elected are the captors, behaving like
rebels in a country which does not need chaos, a country whose landscape, vegetation, flowers
and wildlife tell stories of the love that resides in the hearts and minds of the people who inhabit
the land.

Zimbabweans have no time to admire the beauty of their landscape, those gifts from God and
the ancestors which no human being can make. They are busy staring death in the face, violent
death at the hands of youths who have been taught never to respect human life, any life.

First it was the white farmers, then came the honest rural schoolteachers, then came the blacks
who moved out of townships, and today it is Zimbabweans of Asian origin whose under-utilised
properties must be "peacefully invaded".

The police look on and gaze at it, powerless in the face of instructions from The Leader not to
intervene. We might as well be aliens temporarily living in this small space which itches our
nerves because of the possibility of death by torture.

Those who claim to have liberated us have now changed their minds. Instead, they have put
new chains of slavery and imprisonment round our necks and legs. But still the people laugh,
in pubs, at bus stops, in churches, in the annoying expensive supermarkets, at funerals of those
murdered, everywhere.

Even the many refugees scattered all over the land, they laugh and dream that one day this
madness will end. We laugh in order not to cry.

Daily News, Zimbabwe


34

COMMERCIAL FARMERS’ UNION

SITUATION UPDATE : 1ST MARCH, 2000.

On Tuesday 29th February, 2000 I, in the company of the Vice-President (Commodities) of the
Commercial Farmers’ Union, Colin Cloete, met the Commissioner of the Zimbabwe Republic
Police, Augustine Chihuri and two Deputy Commissioners at Police Head Quarters at 2.30pm

The purpose of the meeting was to deal with the proliferation of land invasions on commercial
farms around Zimbabwe that had occurred over the previous four days and to review the
disaster relief operations being conducted in Manicaland, Masvingo and Matabeleland South, in
the wake of the cyclone Eline.

By way of introduction on the subject of farm invasions I informed the Commissioner that the
Commercial Farmers’ Union and its members are extremely concerned at the level of escalation
of farm invasions over the week-end. I stated that on Monday morning we were aware of twelve
invasions on properties in Masvingo and Mashonaland (Central). By 8.00am on Tuesday when I
prepared a schedule of the properties and their owners for presentation to Cabinet by the
Honourable Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Kumbirai Kangai, the number of invasions had
increased to twenty-six in Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Midlands, Masvingo and
Manicaland

I informed the Commissioner that it was the opinion of the Commercial Farmers’ Union that his
support for the statements of various politicians that farm invasions were a political issue and,
therefore, not a matter for the police was perceived by farmers whose properties are being
invaded, and their operations suspended through intimidations, as unacceptable and that the
police had an independent duty to uphold law and order in Zimbabwe to enable citizens, and
farmers in particular, to go about their business in an unhindered and peaceful manner

Vice-President Colin Cloete informed the Commissioner that he was concerned that in Kwekwe,
where two farms had been invaded, and in Mashonaland Central and in particular the properties
Mavuradona farm, owned by Mr Chris Pole and McClaire farm owned by Mr Louis Malzer,
substantial losses were being incurred as the war veterans were not allowing the labour to work,
tobacco was going unreaped and the curing of tobacco was being interfered with

In the case of Maywood Farm, Kwekwe, occupied by Mr and Mrs Buchanan, war veterans had
pushed down the security fence taken Mrs and Mrs Buchanan into custody for five hours,
broken down the house door and trashed the house. Mr and Mrs Buchanan were only released
into police custody for protection at 6.30pm. From these incidents it was clear that the war
veterans invasions were going beyond a peaceful demonstration

Commissioner Chihuri responded that it was government policy that war veterans should not be
allowed to disrupt farming operations, or cause any damage to property and that he had briefed
his Minister of Home Affairs, Dumiso Dabengwa of this position prior to his attendance at
Cabinet that morning

Commissioner Chihuri said that farm invasions are a political matter and that the politicians
were going to deal with it. He said that he hoped that the politicians would put a stop to it and
that His Excellency Vice-President Msika was responsible for co-ordination this action on behalf
of government

Commissioner Chihuri said that he was pleased with the way the Commercial Farmers’ Union
and farmers were handling the invasions, by adopting a non-confrontational approach in order
to attempt to avoid any nasty incidents. In the meantime the Zimbabwe Republic Police were
keeping a low profile and waiting for the political issue of land invasions to be resolved. He said
that it required a peaceful solution and that he and his fellow commanders were not at all
convinced that the farm invaders, who were war veterans, required land. He reiterated that
disruption of farm work and damage to property would not be tolerated by the Zimbabwe
Republic Police


35


I explained to the Commissioner that it appeared that members of his force were not upholding
law and order by preventing disruption to farming operations and damage to property by war
veterans at that time

I then raised the matter of the Zimbabwe Republic Police refusing to accompany the Deputy
Sheriff of Masvingo in effecting the service of a Court order to evict specified persons from two
properties in Masvingo East, being Vredenberg farm owned by Mr McMurdon and Yettam\Mara
farms owned by Mr Stockil. The Commissioner responded by saying that he was not aware that
the Zimbabwe Republic Police had refused to assist the Deputy Sheriff in the execution of his
duties and that this was not his policy. I handed the Commissioner a copy of the Deputy Sheriffs
memorandum, addressed to the Provincial Magistrate in Masvingo stating that he was unable to
effect his duties, as required by the Court, due to the lack of police protection and co-operation

I then said to the Commissioner that the reasons given by the war veterans for invading farms
was in reaction to the no vote in the referendum, and that farmers had voted no was hardly
credible. Firstly, because there were only 4 0000 commercial farmers in Zimbabwe who could
not influence a national referendum and, secondly, in an analysis of the referendum result it was
the urban areas that voted no, rather than the rural areas, so it was not possible to apportion
blame for the no vote on commercial farmers

Furthermore, white farmers were being used as a scapegoat and unfairly persecuted by land
invasions when in fact commercial farmers had always supported the government of the day
and were substantial contributors to the economy, which should surely result in politicians
regarding farmers as allies rather than those who should be persecuted

Commissioner Chihuri then received a telephone call from the Minister of Home Affairs, Dumiso
Dabengwa and took a twenty minute brief from him as a result of the Cabinet meeting and
discussions pertaining to farm invasions. The Commissioner briefed us that the Minister said
that the politicians were to deal with the issue of farm invasions headed up by Vice-President
Msika, with Minister Dabengwa and two other Ministers. He had briefed his Minister on farmer’s
desire to obtain Court Orders to evict the farm invaders which he did not favour because the
Minister believed this to be confrontational. Minister Dabengwa had said that a peaceful solution
was being sought A meeting was to be held, to discuss the issue with Chenjerai Hunzwi,
Chairman of the War Veteran’s Association., on a strategy to calm the situation down and have
the war veterans withdraw from invading farms

Minister Dabengwa had requested the Commissioner to inform farmers that they should

Ø "Remain calm and be patient as government was doing all possible to resolve the issue

Ø Farmers should never use Court Orders as this was provocative

Ø In the event that Court orders were used the Minister said -- we are also going for elections
and if you go to Court we will fold our arms and watch these invasions continue

Commissioner Chihuri said that Cabinet had endorsed his recommendations that war veterans
invading farms should be stopped from interfering with farm operations and damaging property.
In the event that this occurred police were to act immediately and arrest the perpetrators

To conclude there was a brief discussion on the disaster relief operations and their co-ordination
in the East of the country with the Commissioner stating that from his on site tour of the affected
areas with His Excellency President Mugabe, there had been substantial infrastructure damage.
Many places remained isolated and people’s needs included food\shelter and drinking water

On Monday there were 12 invasions, by Tuesday 30 and today the number is 48.
The President met with the Army Commander this morning (1st March, 2000.) and I have again
spoken to Commissioner Chihuri on the deteriorating situation. We will be meeting with a
government delegation of Ministers this afternoon at their request to hear their plan of action to
arrest this situation and ensure farmers can go about their business unhindered

David W Hasluck

Director Commercial Farmers’ Union


36


ZIMBABWE : CHRONOLOGY OF ATROCITIES FROM MARCH 2000

27 March: Edwin Gomo dies after being hit on the head by a stone thrown by Zanu PF
supporters in Bindura.

28 March: Robert Musoni is killed by Zanu PF supporters in Bindura.

1 April: The National Constitutional Assembly march through Harare is attacked by ZANU-PF
supporters and so-called War Veterans whilst the ZRP watches. The ZRP prevents
demonstrators assembling and later takes steps to break up the protest. White passers-by
attacked at random.

2 April: Doreen Marufu, 6 months pregnant, dies after an assualt by Zanu PF supporters in
Mvurwi.

4 April: Const. Finashe Chikwenya of the ZRP is shot dead while carrying out his duty to arrest
war veterans accused of assault in Marondera.

14 April: David Stevens is shot dead after systematic beatings by war veterans at Arizona
Farm.

15 April: ZANU PF activists attack and burn alive Morgan Tsvangirai’s driver, Tichaona
Chiminya and bodyguard Talent Mabika. The ZRP take no action. James and Fainous Zhou
attacked by ZANU PF in Mberengwa, forced to watch the maiming and rape of MDC supporters
then tortured and beaten, Fainos later died.

17 April: An unnamed farmworker is found hanged and handcuffed in Kwekwe.

18 April: A large force of gunmen attack and murder Martin Olds on his farm near Bulawayo.
ZRP (Zimbabwe Republic Police) roadblocks prevent other farmers going to his aid.

20 April: An unnamed farmworker is hanged in front of the workforce at Arizona Farm.

22 April: A bomb is set off under the offices of the Daily News independent newspaper.

24 April: A Mr Banda and Peter Karidza are murdered in Shamva.

25 April: Lucky Kanyurira is murdered and his mutliated body displayed at a shopping centre in
Kariba. Nicholas Chatitama, a security guard, is killed in the same incident.

May 2000

Rogers Murirawanhu is murdered in Karoi - date uncertain. An unnamed MDC organiser is shot
dead - date uncertain. An unnamed man is beaten to death for wearing an MDC T-shirt in
Mhangura -date uncertain. An unnamed person is beaten to death for failing to produce a Zanu
PF card - date uncertain.

3 May: Matthew Pfebve, the brother of MDC candidate beaten to death in front of his relatives in
Bindura.

7 May: Attackers beat to death farmer and MDC official Alan Dunn on his farm. Laban Chirwa is
murdered in Rugare.

11 May: John Weeks is shot dead at his home by war veterans in Beatrice.

13 May: Sgt. Alex Chisasa of the ZRP is beaten to death with an iron bar for criticizing Zanu PF
policies in Chipinge.


37


16 May: Takundwa Chapunza is murdered outside Chenjerai Hunzvi’s "torture" surgery in
Harare.

17 May: Mationa Mashaya is beaten to death by Zanu PF supporters for being a UP supporter
in Mudzi. Onias Mashaya, his son, is beaten to death in the same incident.

26 May: Messiah Kufandaedza, the campaign manager of Zanu PF candidate, is shot dead by
a rival faction at Gwanzura.

30 May: Mr Simudananhu, a farm worker, is killed in clashes with war veterans in Shurugwi.

31 May: Attackers shoot and kill Tony Oates on his farm in Trelawney. Thadeus Runkuni, a
prospective MDC candidate, is beaten to death in Bikita.

June 2000:

Mr Chinyere, a senior MDC official, is pulled off a bus and beaten to death - date uncertain.
Mandishona Mutyanda, a 60 year old MDC ward chairperson, dies after a beating by 30 Zanu
PF supporters in Kwekwe - date uncertain.

9 June: Finos Zhou is abducted and beaten to death in Mberengwa.

10 June: An unnamed schoolteacher is beaten to death for pulling down Chenjerai Hunzvi’s
election posters in school grounds in Chikomba.

<19 June: Four days before the elections, MDC parliamentary polling agent Patrick Nabanyama
is abducted from his house in Bulawayo. He has never been seen again. A Mr Ndebele dies
after beatings in Bulawayo.

20 June:Tichaono Tadyanemhandu went missing in Hurungwe East. His body was discovered
in Harare morgue in late December, 2000.

22 June: Zeke Chigagwa is beaten to death with iron bars by 20 Zanu PF supporters in Gokwe.

July 2000
23 July: Wilhelm Botha is killed by unknown assailants at a farm in Beatrice.
28 July: An unnamed MDC supporter dies after beatings in Bulawayo.


August 2000

9 August: Samson Mbewe, a farmworker, is beaten to death by farm invaders while moving
irrigation equipment in Ruwa.

November 2000

10 November: The Supreme Court orders the Government of Zimbabwe to halt its seizure of
farms and orders the ZRP to remove squatters from land. The Supreme Court declares that the


38


Fast Track programme contravenes basic human rights. President Mugabe says ‘Whatever the
courts might say the land is ours and we will take it.’

11 November: So-called war veterans and ZANU PF supporters invade fifty more farms
including that of CFU president Tim Henwood.

The Zimbabwean Police (ZRP) use batons and tear gas against a crowd in Mutare after a
policeman shot and killed an eight months old baby.

Harlem: Four plaintiffs sue President Mugabe in the United States for tortures, assaults and
murders during the 2000 election campaign. President Mugabe’s lawyers will later claim
immunity.

18 November: ZANU PF supporters and so-called war veterans erect road blocks to prevent
MDC supporters attending an election rally in Marondera West: fighting breaks out.

22 November: Government of Zimbabwe media attacks Denmark for cutting aid to Zimbabwe.

23 November: Rimon Size is shot dead at a MDC rally in Marondera West.

24 November: ZANU-PF supporters and so called war veterans invade the Supreme Court
when and attack lawyers and CFU officials. Once the invaders are expelled the Supreme Court
overturns a High Court ruling that forbade the Government to evict invaders from farms.

30 November: Speaking in Gaborone Zimbabwean Minister of Security Goche said that the
Government of Zimbabwe would abide by the agreements made at the 1998 donors’
conference and would only seek to acquire farms that were poorly used or were on the borders
of communal areas. SADC ministers welcomed this undertaking.

December 2000

2 December: President Mugabe warns that farmers who fight land acquisition in the courts will
make Zimbabweans angry. He condemned the MDC for ‘dining with the white man.’

2 December: The Zimbabwean Ministry of Defence says that the security forces have an
‘enormous responsibility’ to maintain public order and discipline and to ensure that ‘peace-loving
citizens are not molested by unruly mobs.’

3 December: War Veterans Association secretary-general Eddy Mhlanga says the forthcoming
ZANU PF Congress will resolve most of the problems facing Zimbabwe.

4 December: Karin Junker, Vice-President of the EU Africa, Caribbean and Pacific joint
assembly accuses President Mugabe of supporting lawlessness and the illegal seizure of farms.
She says ‘Zimbabwe would be better off without him.’ A presidential spokesman retaliates that
Junker has come ‘under a spell of the British anti-land redistribution element.’

8 December: President Mugabe bans any challenge to election results, such challenges being
categorised as ‘frivolous and vexatious.’

14 December: President Mugabe tells the ZANU PF congress that the commercial farmers
have ‘declared war’ on the people of Zimbabwe. He says that the white man is ‘not indigenous’
to Africa and is part of an ‘evil alliance.’ He tells his audience ‘we must continue to strike fear
into the heart of the white man, our real enemy.’ His audience reply with chants of ‘hondo’ (war).
Chenjerai Hitler Hunzvi says: ‘whosoever is killed , it’s tough luck.’

12 December: Attackers shoot and murder Henry Elsworth -- a 70 year old white farmer. His
son received nine bullet wounds but survived; he ascribed the attack to so-called war veterans.
The ZRP have taken no action.

20 December: In his annual address to Parliament President Mugabe says that 2000 elections


39


were free and peaceful.

21 December: The Supreme Court rules that land invasions are illegal and that the Ministry of
Lands should cease all land acquisitions until it had a workable plan to use.
21 December: President Mugabe appoints Charles Hungwe, War Veterans Association official,

and Rita Makarau, formerly one of ZANU PF’s MPs, as High Court judges.
30 December: Bernard Gara, a Zanu PF supporter, is stabbed after a Zanu PF rally near Bikita.
January 2001

So-called War Veterans led by Stanley Mapfumo assault David Wheeler on Calgary Farm.
Wheeler is hospitalised and later leaves Zimbabwe. The ZRP had already failed to enforce a
High Court order expelling Mapfumo. Mapfumo later occupies a house on the farm which now
stands idle.

8 January: Chief Justice Gubbay condemns the personal attacks made on the Supreme Court
by so-called war veterans. The Supreme Court rules that the ZRP acted unlawfully in raiding the
offices of the MDC and detaining MDC officials.

9 January: mdc vehicles petro-bombed in bikita East. Provincial governor hungwe criticizes the
police for not shooting MDC supporters.

15 January: ZANU-PF win the Bikita East by-election after wholesale intimidation of electorate
and community leaders.

16 January:Ropafadzo Manyame dies of injuries sustained in an attack by war veterans during
the by-election campaign in Bikita West.

23 January: Singer Thomas Mapfumo leaves Zimbabwe to live in the USA. He says that there
is only ‘disaster’ in Zimbabwe: ‘The government has done nothing good for the people.’

26 January: Minister of Information Jonathan Moyo says the Daily News is a threat to national
security. ZRP arrest Davison Maruziva, Deputy Editor and two senior reporters and interrogate
them.

27 January: Chenjerai Hitler Hunzvi says that he will ban the Daily News. His supporters
protest outside the Daily News and assault passers-by who will not chant their slogans.

27 January: President Mugabe says that the courts have no role to play in the land
resettlement process.

28 January: The Daily News printing presses are destroyed by five bombs, probably land-
mines. The ZRP take no action.

28 January: Vice President Msika says that there will be war if the MDC ever wins an election.

30 January: The Supreme Court rules that the Government of Zimbabwe’s recently passed
change to the Electoral Act forbidding legal challenge to parliamentary elections is illegal. MDC
actions about fixed election results can now proceed.

February 2001

2 February: Minister of Justice Patrick Chinamasa tells Chief Justice Gubbay that he cannot
protect him or other judges from the so-called war veterans. Gubbay resigns.

3 February: 250 ZRP officers armed with batons and tear gas break up a planned
demonstration by 100 journalists who wished to protest against the bombing of the Daily News.


40


4 February: ZANU-PF supporters and soldiers beat Job Sikhala, an MDC MP, and his pregnant
wife with sticks and chains having broken into their house. The ZRP takes no action.

5 February: The Government of Zimbabwe arrests three MDC members of parliament for
‘inciting violence.’

7 February: High Court Judge Rita Makarau orders the Police to evict farm invaders in the
Hwedza area. Vice President Msika announces that the ZRP will take no action against farm
invaders.

8 February: So-called war veterans attack Chirobi Farm near Glendale, attack an 87 year old
woman, rob drink and supplies and invade houses.

9 February: Minister of Justice Patrick Chinamasa tells white Supreme Court judge Nick
McNally ‘The President does not wish to see you come to any harm.’

11 February: The Government of Zimbabwe tries to appropriate all foreign exchange revenues
in Zimbabwe but later rescinds the order.

14 February: ZESA (Zimbabwe’s electricity company) announces national blackouts.

15 February: The Government of Zimbabwe indicts MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and
charges him with inciting violence.

16 February: A Government of Zimbabwe spokesman says that anybody lobbying for sanctions
against Zimbabwe will lose their Zimbabwean passport.

16 February: Harare War Veterans Association official Mike Moyo says that the war veterans
will occupy the homes of white judges and of ‘those black judges who sympathize with whites.’

18 February: ZRP officers raid the house of Joseph Winter, BBC correspondent having first
tried to break down the door. Information Minister Jonathan Moyo says ‘all I know is that this
person should be out of the country.’ High Court Judge Ishmael Chatikobo orders the authorities
to leave Winter alone but Moyo says that this rule does not apply to the Government of
Zimbabwe. Winter later leaves Zimbabwe with his wife and small child. Government media says
that Winter’s work permit has ‘a number of irregularities.’

19 February: The Ford Foundation charity sues Minister of Information Jonathan Moyo
accusing him of embezzling $80,000.

21 February: Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo announces that he is seeking a way to
confiscate the Zimbabwean passports of people who campaign for sanctions against Zimbabwe.

21 February: The Catholic Church’s Commission for Justice and Peace condemns military and
police attacks on civilians in Chitungwiza and describes the Government of Zimbabwe’s
campaign against High Court Judges as ‘racist.’

22 February: So-called war veterans attack and beat farm workers in the Nkayi area.

22 February: Journalist Mercedes Sayagues expelled from Zimbabwe.

22 February: A gang of ZANU PF supporters attack Raymond Maganwe in Kambuzuma and
wreck his home.

23 February: So-called war veterans assault and stab George Walls in Harare.

23 February: The ZRP round up MDC supporters in Victoria Falls in preparation for President
Mugabe’s birthday celebrations there. MDC MP Peter Nyoni and three MDC officials are
charged with inciting violence


41


23 February: So-called war veterans, armed with rifles, abduct and beat workers at the
Gourlays game conservancy in Inyathi.

23 February: Government of Zimbabwe media reports that Minister of Justice Patrick
Chinamasa has told parliament that journalists Mercedes Sayagues and Joseph Winter were
expelled for distorting the situation in Zimbabwe.

25 February: Minister of Information Jonathan Moyo accuses the judiciary of favouring ‘racist
colonial elements’

25 February: Minister of Finance Simba Makoni says that ‘Zimbabwe society and its
government overall operate within the law.’ Says that Zimbabwe is ‘in a crisis right now.’

25 February: President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa says that things that have happened
recently in Zimbabwe are of ‘serious concern’: the judges, the press, land redistribution.

26 February: Peter Wagner, Archdeacon in Masvingo, murdered in his church after being tied
up and beaten. .

27 February: Chief Justice Gubbay says that government attempts to appoint a new Chief
Justice are unlawful. Minister of Justice Patrick Chinamasa says that Chief Justice Gubbay’s
behaviour is ‘disgraceful and despicable.’ ZANU PF MP Christopher Mushowe says that the
Gubbay is ‘an institution erected by Whitehall to overthrow Robert Mugabe’ that Gubbay ‘has
links to powerful Jewish financial interests’ and that his judgements were ‘corrupt, perverse,
biased, malicious, racial and wrong.’ Minister of Justice Jonathen Moyo calls Chief Justice
Gubbay ‘a liar.’

27 February: The Parliamentary Agricultural Committee recommend that land reform be
conducted in a transparent manner, for the removal of informal settlers and for the restoration of
law and order.

March 2001

Throughout March so-called war veterans, ZANU-PF supporters and ZRP officers carry out
attacks on MDC supporters in Mbare and Chitungwiza. Bulldozers destroy homes in Mbare.
Police beat bystanders awaiting an MDC address. Eleven MDC supporters disappear.

2 March: So-called war veterans attack Eric Rosen, chairman of Motor Action Football Team,
make him salute and dance in front of portrait of President Mugabe attack his wife and son,
smash the clubhouse and demand that he no longer pursue a claim for non-payment against a
ZANU-PF supporter.

2 March: So-called war veterans arrive at the Supreme Court led by Joseph Chinotimba who
says that has ordered Chief Justice Gubbay to depart. Chinotimba is on bail accused of
attempted murder at the time. He later threatens to declare war on Chief Justice Gubbay.
Gubbay agrees, at last, to step down after further discussions with the Minister of Justice.

3 March: Chenjeria Hitler Hunzvi says that all white judges must leave. ‘If they want us to use
violence we are gong to use that.’

4 March: Two gunmen murder Gloria Olds, a 68 year old widow and mother of Martin Olds,
murdered on 18 April 2001. They are waved through a police roadblock on departure. Her son
claimed that the attackers fired 18 bullets into her body.

5 March: Guy Verhofstadt, Belgian Prime Minister, welcomes President Mugabe to his house.
MEPs protest. President Mugabe later accuses the European Union of funding opposition
parties in Zimbabwe.

5 March: Activist Peter Tatchell tries to arrest President Mugabe for torture in Belgium. He is
beaten by Mugabe’s bodyguards who threaten to find him and kill him. Belgian Police do


42


nothing.

5 March: So-called war veterans and ZANU-PF officials take over the Binga rural council offices
and demand that workers cease work.

5 March: Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa condemns the visit to Zimbabwe of South African
Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon saying that it was ‘interference’ and was ‘treacherous.’

5 March: Vice President Msika tells a ZANU PF rally that whites are unnecessarily closing
businesses as a political manoeuvre against the government.

5 March: ZANU PF calls MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai a ‘sellout’ who is working with
‘American and British imperialists.’ The ZANU website says that to claim that ‘whites are our
cousins is totally nonsensical thought...the worst form a normal black human being...whites can
never be our cousins.’ It noes that the MDC and the National Constitutional Assembly are forces
of white imperialists.
6 March: President Mugabe is welcomed to the Elysees Place by President Chirac of France.

6 March: So called war veterans invade Robbins Farm beating up the workers. A ZRP inspector
who tries to intervene is stripped and humiliated.

7 March Government of Zimbabwe media claim that President Chirac reassured President
Mugabe that France would not presume to interfere inZimbabwe’s internal affairs.

7 March: Parliamentary Legal Committee announces that proposed Broadcasting Regulations
are illegal. Minister of Justice Patrick Chinamasa asks Parliament to authorise him to hold the
Financial Gazette in contempt of court for reporting that the regulations were illegal.

8 March: Justice Minister Chinamasa announces that the next Chief Justice is to be Godfrey
Chidyausika, a former ZANU PF MP.

10 March: The Government of Zimbabwe controlled Herald says that Peter Tatchell should be
thankful that the ‘President’s men did not shoot him down like a dog.....The severe beating
meted out on Tatchell is a good signal that restores national pride...’

10 March: The Government of Zimbabwe orders the expulsion of the Revd Paul Andrianatos, a
priest in Matabeleland who had described President Mugabe as a murderer after the murder of
Martin Olds in 2,000. On 9 March Andrianatos had officiated at the funeral of Gloria Olds,
Martin’s mother, murdered on 4 March.

11 March: So-called war veterans leader Abel Mahlungu tells Gazette journalist Njabulo Ncube
that he is to be murdered.

11 March: ZANU-PF supporters murder Robson Tinarwo, an MDC youth leader in Shamva
when he refuses to renounce the MDC. The ZRP take no action.

16 March: International Bar Association delegation (including delegates from South Africa and
Windhoek) publicly attacked by Minister of Information Jonathen Moyo who shouted at them
outside State House.

18 March: The Zimbabwean Conference of Religious Superiors condemns the Government of
Zimbabwe saying that ‘people live in abject fear of violence, crime and threats.’ They are ‘deeply
offended’ that their bishops make no stand against the Government of Zimbabwe.

20 March: The Commonwealth Action Group announces that it wishes to send an urgent
mission to Zimbabwe comprising the Foreign Ministers of Barbados, Nigeria and Australia. It
expresses concern about the intimidation of journalists and the judiciary. The Government of
Zimbabwe rejects the mission.

20 March: Home Affairs Minster John Nkomo grants permanent residence in Zimbabwe to
former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu.


43


21 March: The Government of Zimbabwe response to the UNDP makes no reference to the
need to restore the rule of law and order, seeking only financial support for the Fast Track
programme instead.


21 March: The Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) restates its willingness to work with the
Government of Zimbabwe to resolve the land issue.


21 March: The International Monetary Fund refuses further financial assistance to the
Government of Zimbabwe.


22 March: Foreign Minister Mudenge tells diplomats that plans for the Commonwealth mission
to Zimbabwe were ‘racist.’


22 March: The Media Institute of Southern Africa criticizes the dismissal of the chairman of
Zimbabwe Newspapers, and of the editors of the Herald and the Sunday Mail and their
replacement with ZANU PF supporters Pikirayi Deketeke, William Chikoto and Enock
Kasmushinda.


22 March: So-called war veterans attack the Harare Children’s Home and threaten the children
living there.


23 March: Peter Mataruse, an MDC supporter, is chased by 80 Zanu PF Youth into a swollen
river and drowns near Muzarabani. Robson Tinarwo Chirima, an MDC supporter, has his eyes
gouged out by Zanu PF Youth and subsequently dies in Muzarabani.


25 March: Jabulani Ndlovu, Secretary General of the Liberty Party of Zimbabwe, tells the press
that ‘Mugabe has failed this nation..... and brought pain and suffering to Zimbabwe.’


29 March: Government-controlled media demands the boycott of the National Constitutional
Assembly.


29 March: 23 year old George Potgieter charged with ‘making a lewd remark about President
Mugabe.’


30 March: Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights recommend that the appointment of judges be
freed from political meddling.


30 March: Ndoga Mupesa, an MDC supporter, is killed by Zanu PF Youth in Muzarabani.


31 March: Government of Zimbabwe announces the arrest of Albert Ncube for the murder of
Gloria Olds.


31 March: The National Constitutional Assembly announces that it will only support Presidential
candidates whose agendas embrace political reform.


Late March: Chenjerai Hitler Hunzvi says that ZANU-PF will establish ‘mobilisation bases’ in
Zimbabwe’s cities as part of ‘an aggressive plan.’
Political analyst Masipula Sithole describes this as ‘a recipe for fomenting anarchy’ and warns of
urban guerrilla warfare.’


President Mugabe says in a speech that ‘there will never come a day when the MDC will rule
this country -- never, ever.’


So-called War Veterans invade the Matobo International Crop Research Institute and begin to
sell the land to local residents.


April 2001


44


Early April: Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Right Chairman Tawanda Hondora assaulted by
ZANU PF and by ZRP officers whilst investigating the intimidation of witnesses in the Sadze
area. He is whipped, hit with a stone, made to chant ZANU-PF slogans and marched to the
Police Station where further assaults followed. His jaw is broken. He had seen ZANU PF
supporters beating a witness, Nelson Chivanga, who was scheduled to testify against the victory
of Chenjerai Hitler Hunzvi in the 2,000 elections.


So-called War Veterans led by Chenjerai Hitler Hunzvi invade Design Incorporated in Harare
and ordered the workers to assault their management.
Danisa Mandoa is kicked, punched, spat at and pelted with stones. The company is part-owned
by its workforce.


So-called War Veterans invade Merspin, a company in Bulawayo, attack economist Eric Bloch
and a businessman and then assault company managers and take them to the local ZANU-PF
offices.


ZANU-PF supporters invade Lobels Bread Ltd assisted by the ZRP who arrested Ian Mel after
finding MDC e mails in his possession. ZANU-PF supporters tell workers that if they do not
support ZANU-PF they will be beaten to death. They say says that all whites are to be driven
from Zimbabwe .


Speaking in the Namibian Parliament Katuutie Kaura asks the Minister of Finance not to
subsidise a property that President Mugabe is alleged to be buying in Windhoek and comments
that President Mugabe influences the Namibian Government ‘by remote control.’


2 April: Joseph Chinotimba, a self styled commander in chief of farm invasions, has threatened
to send more war veterans to occupy Munenga Farm in Goromonzi. War veterans have
continued occupying farms throughout the country.


2 April: Luka Sigobole, the MDC candidate for Kariba, has withdrawn his petition challenging
ZANU PF’s Isaac Mackenzie’s victory in the June 2000 elections because he feared for his life
after receiving death threats. Members of Sigobile’s family were receiving death threats from
people he could not disclose.
4 April: Teachers in Mashonaland East province are being forced to contribute towards the
Independence Day celebration, and to the ZANU PF Women’s League. In some schools,
teachers are being forced to contribute towards the President’s birthday party. Teachers at
Mutoko Government School, Mutoko High School and Kotwa Secondary School said they were
forced to pay $100 each towards the President’s birthday party. The ZANU Pf branch
chairpersons and war veterans are responsible for collecting the levies.


5 April: An MDC supporter, Ndoga Mupesa of Chiweshe, was allegedly killed by ZANU PF
militas and war veterans for supporting the opposition party. The victim was beaten to death,
then hanged so that it would appear as if he had committed suicide.


5 April: MDC supporters in Muzarabani are reported to be fleeing from their homes after
receiving death threats from ZANU Pf supporters.


5 April: Kenneth Mwinga of Chiredzi has been beaten up and windows of his house broken by
ZANU PF supporters, accusing him of testifying against their party in an MDC petition hearing in
the High Court. Mwinga’s leg was broken by Mutemachani, a war veteran, and it was in plaster
when he gave evidence in court. Mwinga took off his shirt to show Justice Ziyambi the wounds
he sustained during the assault.


5 April: A commercial farmer in Figtree, Max Rosenfels, is living in fear after war veterans gave
him an ultimatum to remove his cattle from his Sundown North Farm.


5 April: Victims of political violence are reported to be living in shacks after their homes were
destroyed by ZANU PF militas in Honde Valley.


6 April: The government is threatening to declare a state of emergency if Western countries
and donor organisations impose sanctions on the country.



45


6 April: War veteran Joseph Chinotimba has allegedly seized equipment worth more than Z$4
million from Resource Drilling (Pvt) Ltd and allegedly left it at ZANU PF headquarters. The move
followed a disagreement between workers and management over salaries and a shorter week.

9 April: War veterans have ramped through the garage and home of company director Imran
Chaudhry after a pay dispute with his employees. The director has gone into hiding. The war
veterans allegedly beat up the workers at his house and confiscated 34 motor vehicles.

10 April: Riot Police allegedly assaulted and killed Batani Hadzazi, a first year student at the
University of Zimbabwe. The police were called in to quell a demonstration over student payout
increments. Hadzazi was working on an assignment in his room when seven riot police
allegedly beat him with baton sticks, kicked and punched him until he fell unconscious. Many
students were injured during the riots.

10 April: A reporter with Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, Freedom Moyo, has been
granted a peace order against ZANU PF member of Parliament for Gwanda South, Abednico
Ncube, who has threatened to beat him up on numerous occasions. The MP has accused the
reporter of refusing to give him television coverage during his constituency meetings.

12 April: Joseph Chinotimba, the notorious war veteran has declared himself the new leader of
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. Chinotimba has invaded companies to solve labour
disputes.

12 April: War veterans and State security agents have unleashed a reign of terror in Kezi
district after a visit to the area, by MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai. Hundreds of villagers fled
to the mountains while others fled to Bulawayo, to escape from CIO operatives and war
veterans who harassed them for attending Tsvangirai’s rally. The state agents and ZANU PF
militias visited various homes at night demanding to know why individuals had attended the
MDC rally.

16 April: Several students from Nust University in Bulawayo were injured when riot police beat
them up for demonstrating against Police Brutality. The demonstration followed allegations of
murder of a student by police at the University of Zimbabwe campus.

16 April: Army, police and CIO are said to be involved in resettling people on listed and non-
listed farms in the Mwenezi area ahead of Independence Day. Farm workers at Merrivale Farm
were chased away from the farm.

17 April: An MDC activist, Ndoga Mupesa, was allegedly killed in cold blood by suspected
ZANU PF militias and war veterans for supporting the MDC. ZANU PF militias reportedly led by
Chief Chiweshe disrupted his burial.

17 April: Chief Chiweshe, a member of ZANU PF’s central committee, was severely beaten up
by unknown assailants in Muzarabani.

17 April: The home of George Mujajati, a writer and lecturer, was raided by riot police who
accused him of taking part in skirmishes between police and MDC supporters at a rally.

18 April: The Minister of Information in the President’s Office, Professor Jonathan Moyo, has
threatened to deal with individual journalists from the Daily News after the paper had published
an unfavourable story about the minister.

18 April: Several MDC supporters in Glen Norah are nursing injuries after clashes with riot
police. The police beat them up at a rally and fired tear gas.

20 April: The President, R.G. Mugabe, has threatened unspecified action against people who
beat up Chief Chiweshe on the 15th of April. The attack is being blamed on MDC supporters.

20 April: War veterans occupying Joyce Farm in Beatrice are reported to have destroyed huts
belonging to other war veterans and peasants who had been resettled on another farm.


46


23 April: Gweru businessman Patrick Kombayi foiled a second assassination attempt on his
life, when he disarmed a policeman who allegedly threatened to shoot him because of his
recent call for President Mugabe’s arrest. The policeman in question is Assistant Inspector
Alphas George of the Criminal Investigation Department, believed to be a war veteran.
Kombayi is disabled following an assassination attempt during the 1990 general election, when
he stood for the Zimbabwe Unity Movement against Vice President Simon Muzenda. Elias
Kanengoni, a CIO, and Kizito Chivamba, a ZANU PF leader, were convicted of attempted
murder, but pardoned by President Mugabe.

23 April: In Harare, Mervin Senior and his wife Barbara, owners of Mbizi game park near
Harare International Airport, were abducted from their lodge and beaten up by ZANU PF
members following a labour dispute with their workers. They were held for four hours at ZANU
PF’s headquarters in Harare.

23 April: Tinofara Hove, a Harare lawyer and businessman; and four police officers providing
him with an escort service, were assaulted by about 30 suspected war veterans and ZANU PF
supporters. Hove whose two commuter buses were impounded by war veterans; was struck
with an iron bar on the forehead. One of the policemen escorting Hove was dragged out of a
police vehicle and assaulted for protecting the lawyer.

23 April: Company director Mr Shoukit and two employees were abducted and assaulted by
war veterans in Harare. Mr Shouket’s company recently had a labour dispute with some
employees resulting in war veterans impounding the company’s commuter buses. Mr. Shouket
sustained a broken arm and ribs. The commuter buses that the war veterans seized were
parked at ZANU PF head quarters. The day’s earnings were also taken by the war veterans.

23 April: A commuter omnibus driver was beaten up by ZANU PF supporters in Glendale,
about 66 km northeast of Harare, in apparent revenge for the assault on Chief Chiweshe by
suspected MDC supporters. The truck he was driving had its tyres deflated, and he was
repeatedly punched, slapped and kicked. The case was reported to Glendale Police who
refused to open a docket, preferring instead to give him a Request for Medical Report form to
take to any hospital. Police refused to give an explanation as to why no docket was opened.

23 April: Wally Hammond, the security manager of Clan Holdings in Harare, was assaulted by
ZANU PF provincial officers and war veterans. No reasons for the beating are available.

23 April: Mr Davie Kandini was beaten by about seven war veterans at ZANU PF provincial
offices in Harare. The reason he was beaten up is that he refused to lie about his former
employer whom the war veterans are apparently targeting.
24 April: Cecil Carver, the owner of a steel company in Msasa in Harare, was taken prisoner by
suspected war veterans. He was allegedly picked up with his foreman and driven to an unknown
destination. Their whereabouts are unknown.

24 April: War veterans stormed into a Dental Clinic in Harare, forced the 23 employees to stop
work and ordered them to report to ZANU PF Harare head office.

24 April: Fire gutted a house belonging to the MDC parliamentary candidate for Chegutu,
destroying household goods, after a gang of ZANU PF supporters stormed a compound at the
farm where he resides. The MDC member was away from his home when the attack took place.

24 April: The policeman who allegedly threatened to shoot Gweru businessman Patrick
Kombayi failed to appear in court. The Police were yet to record statements from witnesses.

24 April: Crispen Musoni, MDC candidate for Gutu North in last June’s parliamentary election,
withdrew his petition in the High Court in which he was challenging the victory of Vice President
Simon Muzenda of ZANU PF. Musoni did not give reasons for the withdrawal.

24 April: War veterans abducted two sons of a late High Court Judge and their friend, accusing
them of stealing household property from a top ZANU PF official’s wife. The two brothers,
James and George Chirengudu, were illegally detained for three days in Harare. They were


47


packed up at 3am in the morning and threatened with beating. They were later dumped at a
Police Station in Highlands.

25 April: War veterans have become self-appointed arbitrators in labour disputes. The latest
targets are the Avenues Clinic, Meikles, the Forestry Commission and Macsteel Zimbabwe
where the war veterans are said to be demanding the re-instatement of retrenched employees,
some having been retrenched as far back as 1995.

25 April: Police fired tear gas to disperse ZANU PF supporters and war veterans attempting to
disrupt an MDC provincial meeting in Bindura. The MDC president was part of the meeting.

25 April: 20 war veterans forced a German non-governmental organisation to pay $600 000 to
two former employees whose case is pending in the labour tribunal court. The executive gave in
for fear of being assaulted.

27 April: The High Court has nullified the election results in two rural constituencies won by
ZANU PF in June last year, saying they were won through intimidation. High Court Judge
Justice James Devittie cited massive violence and intimidation in the two constituencies.

27 April: Suspected war veterans abducted and assaulted a student at Harare International
School. The student is the son of the director of the International Red Cross. The war veterans
were apparently contracted by a driver who had been fired by the Red Cross.

27 April: Foreign diplomats met in Harare to assess and review their personal security following
threats by war veterans and ZANU PF. ZANU PF MP Chenjerai Hunzvi threatened to target
embassies and non governmental organisations which are alleged to be funding and supporting
the opposition.

27 April: Armed police raided the MDC president’s offices and arrested four members of his
close security team. The raid came after Mr. Tsvangirai had won a High Court election petition.
The reasons for their arrest were not disclosed but police said they would charge them under
section 30 of the Law and Order Maintenance Act.

28 April: War veterans and ZANU PF militias disrupted an MDC rally in Tsholotsho and
severely assault hundreds of villagers waiting to be addressed by Gibson Sibanda, the MDC
Vice President.

28 April: The Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Willard Chiwewe, says government will not
guarantee the security of foreign embassies and donor agencies that flout their terms of
registration. He was reacting to a statement by war veterans leader Chenjerai Hunzvi that war
veterans would move to non governmental organisations and embassies suspected of
supporting the MDC.

28 April: war veterans severely assaulted a business man together with his son and took them
to the ZANU PF provincial headquarters in Harare. Reason for the assault was that he is an
MDC supporter


48

Letter from Jenny Coltart -- Wife of the MDC MP David Coltart

 I decided to write because we have had a bit of excitement. I arrived home after 5.00pm last
night having fetched Jessica from school, to find a police vehicle parked out side and nine
policemen waiting outside my gate to receive me. Our dogs were faithfully looking very vicious
on the other side of the gate. They said that they needed to see me so would I lock up my dogs.

I asked them to move well away from my gate so I could drive in with out the dogs getting them
and would come out to speak to them once the dogs were locked up. I found Amai and the boys
locked up in the house very anxious, especially Scott who was asking if we could all go and lock
ourselves in the strong room. I learned from Amai that they had been there an hour or more and
when she and the gate guard met them on arrival they had been very aggressive and had
demanded she lock up the dogs because they were coming to search the house.

Amai had told them that Mummy was not here and only she knows how to lock up the dogs.
She marched back to the house, gathered the boys in, instructed Douglas to phone Mark,
locked up the house and made sure the dogs would stay outside, her heart pounding inside her
body. I later learned that at the gate, the guard said he refused to allow any one in who had not
been invited in and they should not stay parked outside the house he was guarding. He
proceeded to try to take down their number plate!

He said they were verbally aggressive and that he was no deterrent because they could go over
the wall. But he held his ground. Ordinary Zimbabweans like Amai and the guard are becoming
assertive in the face of intimidation and we are so proud of them. It goes against the history and
culture of this country but things are changing. Guqula Isenzo !! Isenzo guqula!! (slogan
meaning Change your deeds. Your deeds change)

Before going outside to learn the reason for this unscheduled visit I was able to make a few
phone calls. Though I wasn't able to reach Dave as he was still in the air on his way home, I
was able to reach Simon who was fetching him from the airport. Mark phoned in to say that he
was on his way and that Rita was coming to collect the kids. So within seconds Rita was at the
door to take the children for a swim and supper and Mark there as my back up. Tlou had also
arrived on the scene and had on his NCA tee-shirt to show whose side he was on!

They were relatively polite with me and presented me with a search warrant for our home. I
realise that I must be gaining experience in these things because my first thought was that this
warrant was likely to be faulty. It did not take long to see that it was not only a photocopy but a
very poor photocopy where half the signature was left off. I boldly told them that this document
was unlawful and that I had no obligation to comply by this document. They then became
verbally aggressive and said that they did not require my permission because they had shown
me their documentation.

Remembering the state's attempted detention of Dave a decade before, I repeated Dave's then
spiel about how they knew that their document was unlawful and that by entering my home they
would be acting unlawfully and that we would sue them personally and their own possessions
would be attached when they were convicted in a law court.(Amai heard one policeman say
under his breath admiringly "she speaks like Coltart himself")

The detective inspector sneered at me and assured me that it would have to be the state we
sued. Interesting answer. Very close to an admission. I then asked them for their IDs to keep
them on the defensive and to kill time till more knowledgeable help arrived. They of course are
obliged to show me their IDs which i then proceeded to take down. I managed to take down five
before there were strong objections and refusals for me to handle their IDs. Again they tried
bullying me into saying that the taking down of Ids was tantamount to consent to allow them in
and they were physically pressing in on me. I told them that the IDs were so that I knew who I
would be suing. Amid jeers I told them I would have to consult my lawyer and would need to go
in to phone.

They wrongfully insisted that I should only phone him in their presence. As I did not want
anyone following me inside (as I had locked the dogs up) I said I would phone him outside and
sent Tlou to fetch the mobile phone. Dave's and Josophats phones were on voice mail and I
couldn't think of any other lawyer. Managed to get Kenyan who was very supportive, although


49


not a criminal lawyer but assured me I was in the right not to let them in. They wouldn't accept
his word and said that he must come and they would proceed with the search. In the meantime,
others in the group were questioning Mark, Tlou and the guard. They told Mark to leave as it
was not his house. He politely stood his ground and said he was staying as an observer. I
walked a little away with Mark to try to have a private strategy converstion with Mark. I had
wanted to tell Mark that I was going to slip through the gate and would he give the sliding gate a
shove so I could quickly lock it. If they were going to go ahead with the search I wanted them to
have to break in so that there would be not dispute about my agreement to allow them in.

But the inspector followed us and wrongfully told us, close to my face that we were not allowed
to speak in private. We really did not know if he was right or not but we told him he was talking
nonsense. I smelt alcohol on his breath then and as my adreneline was pumping a bit too much
I went on attack saying I could smell alcohol and how could I deal with a drunk man. I realised
almost immediately that it was a provocative statement that would only heat their mood. Before
they gathered momentum for a reaction to my statement I quickly slipped away and through the
gate, slide the gate and miraculously locked it in 2 seconds. Every night I struggle with that
gate for at least 30 secs and often need to enlist the help of someone to get the lock in. But last
night it slid and locked like a zip.

 I was on my way back to the house to make some more private phone calls when another
police van arrived with a further 2 policemen ( their seniors). They produced the original fax they
had received with the full signature. At the same time other friends started arriving. Judith Todd
was the first. She quietly made some reference to the fact that this was familiar to her from the
Rhodesian days. Now behind the locked gate, feeling more on top, I said that I would need to
consult my lawyer regarding the validity of the second search warrant and they would have to
wait. Evidently the more senior policeman was secretly sympathetic and confirmed that it was
my right to do so and that they would wait until my lawyer was present.

At this stage Dave phoned and I was able to speak to him in private. The cell phone brigade
had been working and more friends, lawyers and reporters were arriving. The 11 policemen
outside were now out numbered and were very uncomfortable with the press especially the
photographic press. I had been able to read the detail of the search warrant to Dave over the
phone and he had had time to sum up the situation and piece it together with this week's ranting
and ravings of Jonathan Moyo, ZPF's chief propagandist. He also had time to establish that the
same exercise was taking place at several venues country-wide.

So Dave arrived eventually with a beaming smile, to a crowd of supporters and 11 relatively
subdued policemen. By now he was fully aware of the unlawfulness of the whole exercise but
also conscious of how damaging it would be for them to now go ahead with the search with all
the witnesses and press. He castigated them for not showing the same diligence in finding
Patrick Nabanyama, our poling agent who was abducted months ago and is still missing. Dave
and some of the lawyers took them through the various arguments to show that the whole
exercise was unlawful. While this was going on, Amai and I,under instruction, were dishing out
endless cups of tea through the gate fence. Our hospitality was shunned by the state officials
but much enjoyed by everyone else.

Dave even offered to sip their tea first to show that it wasn't poisoned but they were not
persuaded. Eventually Dave allowed 2 policemen to carry out the search with all the press
following. this was partly so we could all go home and partly so they could pull the trigger of the
gun that was aimed at their foot. The background to the visit dates back to 1996 when motion
was set to challenge the broadcasting act giving first RBC and then ZBCa monopoly of the radio
waves for decades. Simultaneously he worked to facilitate the setting up of an independent
radio station in the ready. The challenge eventually reached the Supreme Court after a long
battle and the courts ruled in our favour. Last Thursday "Capitol Radio" our first independent
radio station began broadcasting from a hotel room in Harare.

You can imagine how incensed our opponents were. They wrongly used some point of law to
obtain search warrants to any one connected to Capitol Radio in a desperate bid to find the
broadcasting station and shut it up. They did find the station (not in our home) and confiscated
all the equipment which is another battle we will eventually win. In the meantime our hardly
known Capitol Radio will be having nationwide publicity at the expense of the state.


50


Eric Bloch Column

EVER-INCREASING chaos prevails in Zimbabwe’s foreign exchange markets. It has been
estimated that the accumu- lated demand for foreign exchange (for payment of government and
parastatal debt service commitments and the due and overdue commitments of parastatals and
the private sector in respect of imports, royalties and franchise fees, interest and dividends, and
the like) is in excess of US$600 million. It is similarly estimated that, on average, monthly
foreign exchange require- ments exceed foreign exchange inflows by approximately US$90
million. Therefore, it must be anticipated that by the end of the year the deficit of foreign
exchange will have amounted to more than US$1 billion.

The greater the scarcity of any commodity is, the higher the price that those who have a
desperate need for that commodity are prepared to pay for it. In that respect, foreign exchange
is no different to any other commodity. And, as Zimbabwe’s insufficiency of foreign exchange to
meet the demands of those dependant upon it increased, so the sense of desperation
intensified, and the willingness to pay ever higher prices for the critically-needed forex became
greater and greater.

The higher the prices rise, so some offer even more, with the perceptions of many being that
their foreign exchange requirements must be sourced at whatsoever may be the cost, before
none can be obtained at any price. More and more become convinced that forex is about to
become an extinct species and, in making that conviction known to almost whomsoever they
interact with, spread such a belief and thereby increase demand still further, undoubtedly hastening
extinction and causing yet further price escalation before extinction occurs.

To a great extent, government and, on occasion, the Reserve Bank has, through ill-considered
and counter-productive monetary policies and regulations, been a major contributor to the fast
growing shortage of foreign exchange and, there- fore, to the panic-driven heightening of costs
of foreign currencies. Initially the key factor was government’s obdurate refusal to devalue the
Zi- mbabwe dollar, which refusal still endures.

It heeded the vociferous contentions of the opponents to devaluation (being mainly importers
and the economically ill-informed or misguided), for those opponents misled evaluation of the
merits of devaluation by focusing upon the admittedly great degree to which previous exchange
rate adjustments had not yielded improved export performance and earnings, but had fuelled
inflation and would exacerbate the servicing of government debt.

But those opponents do not give cognisance to the extent that those devaluations had achieved
retention and continuance of the prevailing export performance, which would have been lost in
the absence of devaluation. And they do not suggest, constructively or otherwise, how
Zimbabwe can obtain foreign exchange in substitution for lost export earnings in order to assure
its ongoing imports and servicing of commitments.

Moreover, they ignore the fact that reduced availability of foreign ex- change stimulates inflation
(as does devaluation). Diminished imports result in reduced economic productivity, and
therefore cause higher operational costs which must, if business viability is to be protected, be
recouped through higher prices. They also ignore the fact that any reduction in economic activity
results in markedly lower revenue inflows to the fiscus and upon its ability to service debt. Thus
they do government and the economy a great disservice by advocating rigid adherence to the
long-fixed exchange rates, and government does the whole country and the economy an
equally great disservice by yielding to that advocacy, which continues repeatedly to be offered
and to be heeded.

The consequences of the prolonged adherence to an exchange rate without any adjustment to
compensate for the impacts of inflation are many, but foremost has been a sharp and continuing
fall in exports and, therefore, in the amount of foreign exchange being generated to meet
Zimbabwe’s needs. Mines have closed down, tobacco growers cannot afford to sell their crops
for prices which would effectively not suffice to fund a crop in the next season and others in
agriculture and horticulture similarly can no longer achieve profits upon exports sufficient to
maintain continuing operations. Within the manufacturing sector, many engaged in the clothing,


51


textile and furniture industries, as well as numerous manufacturers of other products, have had
to abandon their export markets (many of which took many years, great endeavours and
considerable expense to establish), for the fixed exchange rate in a highly inflationary
environment means unavoi- dable losses. As foreign exchange earnings fell, so the price that
those needing forex were prepared to pay became progressively greater.

Because government could not obtain enough foreign exchange to fund fuel and energy imports
and other commitments of the state, it prescribed that exporters had to release 25% of earnings
into the money market immediately upon receipt. The balance could be used for the exporter’s
own forex needs, and these soon came to include making the foreign exchange available to
others at a premium, thereby restoring some profitability and viability to the exporters’
operations. This became known as the parallel market, officially frow-ned upon by the
authorities but not only lawful if operated within legislative and regulatory constraints, but often
patronised by para-statals and the authorities themselves.

As available foreign exchange became shorter and shorter, the mandatory release of export
earning into the money market was raised to 40%, and this not only reduced inflows into the
parallel market, but also incited fears that progressively the mandatory release levels would be
further increased, continuously worsening availability to almost all but government.
This caused many hastily to intensify their efforts to source foreign exchange, at whatsoever
cost, which increased demand has exacerbated the shortages and driven prices even higher.
Those higher prices have caused hyperinflation, whereas government’s allegedly main reason
for resisting devaluation is to curb inflation!

Some argue, vehemently and strenuously, that government should peremptorily close do-wn the
parallel market, either by legislation or by forcing the sale of all export earnings into the money
market within a curtailed period after receipt. However, such an action would have devastating
repercussions and would cause economic collapse, the principal characteristics of which would
be many more business failures, numerous additional unemployed, three-digit in- flation, a
much greater fiscal deficit due to sharply reduced revenue inflows from both direct and indirect
taxation, unavoida-ble further massive government recourse to borrowings, and nation-wide
hardship.
This dismal scenario must materialise in the event that the parallel market were to be
terminated, unless govern- ment concurrently effected a devaluation of Zimbabwe’s currency to
levels consistent with current parallel market rates, and thereafter regularly effected further
devaluations rela- ted to inflation and purchasing power parities.

An authoritarian liquidation of the parallel market, without a simultaneous, requisite devaluation,
would destroy all residual profitability of exporters, and in desperate efforts to survive,
the exporters who may be able to survive thereby would delay receipt of export proceeds for as
long as legitimately possible, in the hopes of intervening devaluation.

At the same time, the intensified scarcity of foreign currency would motivate more to resort to
the black market, despite its unlawfulness, through a determined wish to survive by any means.
With ever greater rapidity Zimbabwe will descend to the ranks of Africa’s most impoverished
nations.
Government’s unwillingness to act respo- nsibly by progressive exchange rate adjustment until
the fixed, official market rate converges with the parallel market rate is the catalyst of the chaos
reigning in the country’s foreign exchange markets. Its fre- quent revisions of monetary policies
provoke loss of confidence and security for the private sector in general, and exporters and
investors in particular, and especially so as those policy revisions are in disregard for economic
and private sector needs.

That loss of confidence and security motivates spiralling demands for foreign exchange and,
therefore, greater shortages, higher costs and even greater inflation. Government must reverse
the chaos that it has stimulated, with reasoned, effe- ctive exchange rate policies targeted at
eventual total deregulation, concurrently with facili- tating and incentivising greater foreign
exchange earnings and inflows. The parallel market must cease to exist, but that cessation must
be by evolution, not by regulation or by economic destruction.


52

Tsvangirai accepts result

Zimbabwe Independent

ZIMBABWE opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai accepted the results of weekend
parliamentary elections -- subject to challenge in some 20 constituencies -- but said his
Movement for Democratic Change would have won were it not for months of brutal
intimidation of his supporters.

He said he would run for president in 2002. Tsvangirai's party won 57 of the 120 contested
seats -- giving it the power to block amendments to the constitution in the 150-seat house -against
62 for President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic
Front (Zanu-PF) and one for the small ZANU-Donga party. The president appoints the other 30
members.

"Without the subversion we would easily have won this election," Tsvangirai told a press
conference.

The more than four months of violence, which human rights monitors described as a "terror
campaign" designed to crush the opposition, left at least 32 people dead, with hundreds
beaten up, women raped and houses torched. Tens of thousands of people fled their homes,
mostly in rural areas. It was condemned by the EU observer team in Zimbabwe which described
the voting as neither free nor fair as a result, as did British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook.

EU observer team head Pierre Schori condemned "high levels of violence, intimidation and
coercion" during the campaign. "The term free and fair is not applicable in these elections,"
said Schori, a Swedish former aid minister.

In London, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook told the BBC: "The voters' rolls were rigged,
the boundaries were rigged and there was systematic brutality intended to deter people from
voting for change."

Tsvangirai, who lost his own bid to capture a seat in the ruling party's rural heartland, also
declared the voting had not been free or fair, but concluded that "they (Zanu-PF) can claim
legitimacy," while adding that the Zanu-PF government could never be considered "credible."
Tsvangirai, in answer to a question, declared he would not accept nomination to parliament if
it were offered by the president, and said he had not been in touch with Mugabe recently.


53

Zimbabwe Elections 2000

INTERIM STATEMENT

Pierre Schori

Head of EU Election Observation Mission
Introduction
The people of Zimbabwe have voted in large numbers in this weekend’s parliamentary
elections. Despite a high level of violence and intimidation during the campaign, and serious
flaws and irregularities in the electoral process, they have shown a clear determination to
influence the future of their country - both individually and through the structures of civil society.

The European Union and its member states have co-operated with Zimbabwe politically and
financially since independence in 1980. The EU is the largest contributor of development
assistance. As an act of commitment to the people of Zimbabwe, the EU deployed some 190
experienced EU observers throughout the country, the largest international observer mission,
with the aim of contributing to a more favourable climate for the elections. We see our
presence here as a natural consequence of our support for the struggle for independence; and
we wish to build a strong partnership with a peaceful and democratic Zimbabwe.

EU observers were in general warmly welcomed. They established contacts with political
parties, local authorities and civil society. They attended some one hundred political rallies .
The EU mission also benefited from co-operation with the monitors and other international
observer missions.
The EU Election Observation Mission’s assessment of the electoral process falls into three
phases: the election preparations and campaign; voting and the count; and the post- election
period. A final report will be presented on 3 July 2000.

The Pre-Election Period & the Campaign

It is clear from the daily reports and weekly assessments made by EU observers in every part of
the country that there were serious flaws and failures in the electoral process.

Electoral Management and Administration

The body effectively running the elections, the Office of the Registrar-General, did not operate in
an open and transparent manner, and as a result failed to secure the confidence of both the
political parties and of the institutions of civil society in the electoral process.

The Electoral Supervisory Commission, which is constitutionally responsible for overseeing the
electoral process, was systematically rendered ineffective by both legal and administrative
means.

Changes made to the electoral regulations only days before the vote, together with a series of
deliberate administrative obstructions, severely undermined the ability of domestic monitors to
carry out their work. The EU Election Observation Mission reached the conclusion that this was
not due to administrative incompetence but to a deliberate attempt to reduce the effectiveness
of independent monitoring of the election. Similar obstructions were placed in the way of
international observers.

Violence and intimidation

High levels of violence, intimidation and coercion marred the election campaign. An assessment
of violence and intimidation since February 2000 made by the EU Election Observation Mission,
together with reports from EU observers operating throughout the country since early June,
indicate that Zanu PF was responsible for the bulk of political violence.

Zanu PF leaders seemed to sanction the use of violence and intimidation against political
opponents and contributed significantly to the climate of fear so evident during the election
campaign. Calls for peaceful campaigning and efforts to restrain party supporters, including the


54


war veterans, were often ambiguous. Overall, the conduct of the government has failed to
uphold the rule of law and compromised law enforcement agencies.

MDC supporters were also engaged in violence and intimidation, but the degree of their
responsibility for such activities was far less. Moreover, MDC leaders were clearer in their
condemnation of violence.
The levels of violence and intimidation, and the ability to campaign in relative peace, varied
considerably from one part of the country to another. EU observers monitored scores of political
rallies in all provinces of the country organised both by Zanu PF and MDC.

In the major cities, although intimidation was far from absent, the campaign was robust. In many
rural areas, however, the levels of intimidation by Zanu PF were so intense as to make it
virtually impossible for the opposition to campaign.

Media coverage

During the campaign the government-controlled media did not provide equal access to the
political parties contesting the election. Both the public broadcaster, the ZBC, and government-
controlled newspapers were used as publicity vehicles for Zanu PF. The ZBC failed to ensure
informed political debate. Propaganda crowded out the real issues of the campaign.
Opposition parties have had to rely on commercial media only.

Voting & the Count

Generally speaking the voting was calm and well organised. The EU Observer teams, working
in co-ordination with other international observers, and with the support of civic organisations,
visited some 1,700 polling stations over the two-days of voting, more than 40 percent of the
total.

Their overall assessment of the polling is highly positive. Presiding officers and their staff on the
whole were competent and efficient. There were, however, serious problems concerning the
voters’ roll and the number of intending voters who were unable to cast their ballots. Moreover,
as a result of the obstructions placed in the way of domestic monitors, their effectiveness was
seriously compromised. Our verdict on the counting process will be made clear at a later stage.

Interim Assessment

In summary, the violence and intimidation during the pre-election period must be condemned.
The courts should deal with all cases of human rights abuses associated with the electoral
process. This will be essential in helping to re-establish respect for the rule of law in Zimbabwe.

The serious defects in the electoral process, particularly in regard to the voters’ roll and the lack
of transparency of the electoral authorities should be addressed as a matter of urgency. We
believe that the presence of international observers had a calming and stabilising effect. We
commend the impressive manner in which the people of Zimbabwe have shown their
determination to influence their own destiny.

The Post-Election Period

Our final assessment will cover the whole process including the immediate post-election period.
The report will be presented to European Union Members, to the European Parliament and to
the European Commission, as well as to the European Development Fund (EDF) which will
meet on 5 July 2000.

The issues to be addressed will include:

- the extent to which the new dispensation in Zimbabwe respects the will of the people;
- how the general environment within the country accommodates the new political realities;
- the manner in which the political forces within the country work together to address the
problems confronting Zimbabwe;
- the extent to which respect for the rule of law and the protection of human rights is promoted
by the new government; and
-what efforts are being made to ensure that politically-motivated crimes and electoral
malpractice are pursued.
With high authority comes high responsibility. The President of Zimbabwe will have to play a
crucial role in the post election phase.


55

REGIONAL REPORTS
MASHONALAND CENTRAL

Polling boxes were transported this morning without incident and the region has been relatively
peaceful, with no reports for most areas as at midday.
Centenary -Senior war vet leaders from Centenary East requested transport to Mt Darwin to
hear the results and to attend a meeting regarding their "way forward". A non-politically
motivated armed robbery took place at Aronbira Farm and a water pump was stolen. One
arrest has been made in connection with this case and it was found that the weapon carried was
a fake.
Victory Block -Numerous requests for transport and food have been refused today without
incident so far.

MASVINGO
Chiredzi - Quiet. The EU observers calculate that only 30% of voters in the 2 constituencies
cast their votes over the weekend. The mobile polling unit did not arrive at the venue as
indicated, so farmers had to move their labour to a fixed station.
Mwenezi -The District Administrator has been threatened for "not being on sides". He is not
adhering to the war vets' demands, and they now want to hold a tribunal hearing to get the
District Administrator fired.

MIDLANDS

Quiet.

MASHONALAND WEST NORTH

Generally some intimidation took place in the province over the weekend. However, most polling
stations reported calm and orderly voting. On Saturday morning a monitor was abducted at
Yomba for just over 2 hours, and in Raffingora monitors were prevented from leaving the area.
Two farmers received death threats over the weekend.
A fake landmine found on the Chenanga Road and had a political sticker on it.
There were many problems with the collection of ballot boxes in Mhangura, Lions Den and
Raffingora. The Karoi ZRP backup force will be on standby until Friday.


MASHONALAND WEST SOUTH
Norton - Shots have been fired most nights for the last week or ten days on Parklands,
evidently to intimidate people there. On another property there was a death threat to a farmer
and on a further property a couple of pensioners were assaulted due to them not having voted.
Selous - There was a report on Saturday night of a lorry being petrol bombed. Quite a lot of
damage was done with a lot of the timber it was carrying being burnt. We are unsure of the
motive behind this attack.
Chegutu/ Suri Suri /Chakari - A number of properties have been vacated of War Vets in these
areas in the last 24 hours or so.
Kadoma - There are still around 300 people on Milverton Estates and there was a bit of new
pegging yesterday. On Lidford/Coryton Peggers left after about an hour.


MASHONALAND EAST
Marondera South - Youths from Monte Christo were instructed by war vet Marimo to sleep at
the base that the war vets have set up. Whether this need to bolster their numbers is because of
fear on their part, or that some mischief is planned, is not clear.
A group of war vets arrived at Lendy Farm late this morning reiterating their intention to take
Elmswood and making demands and threats. Their mood was aggressive. This particular group
are a serious nuisance to a number of farmers in the area. Lydiasdale has also been visited,
and other farms are expecting a visit from the same group. Whether this is an isolated
independent group or not is unclear. Now that the voting is behind us we may be seeing the
beginning of a shift in emphasis away from intimidation and back to pressurizing for land
Wedza - The owner of Markwe was told by drunk war to vacate the farm when the election
results are out. At Chakadenga on Sunday, a party of about twenty people was caught on a
thieving binge in the maize land. Guards arrested two people. On Skoonveld fences on the farm
were cut and a large number of communal land cattle were driven onto the farm. Serious
stocktheft problem in the area. On Poltimore a beast was shot and carried away, and on Shaka
again a beast was slaughtered and taken away in a 4x4. This vehicle was chased, but escaped.



56


MATABELELAND
Nyamandhlovu - Threats have been made of violence against farmers.
Bulawayo - There has been a buildup of numbers on Boomerang. 30 war vets are
demanding to move onto Springs Farm. There are already some 300 from a different group
occupying the property. The company's warehouse in Bulawayo was burnt down on Friday,
destroying timber and machinery to the value of $4 million.

MANICALAND Quiet.

ZIMBABWE ITSVA

The people of Zimbabwe have spoken and expressed their choices for parliament. We are
conscious of the extraordinary obstacles they faced to vote, and the exceptional performance of
the MDC, will ensure healthy debate in parliament.

Our primary aim is to restore confidence in the country. This is not the time for partisanship. We
have to focus on rebuilding this nation and moving forward. I know there will be people who are
disappointed but we need to remain focussed on the fact that people have given us a mandate
for democratic change.

There can be no defeat, no misery for a party that believes in the right of a people to express
their will in the manner they wish. Everyone must congratulate themselves for the incredible
determination people displayed in their desire to vote. Destiny sometimes requires that we
follow a circuitous path to achieve greater glory, other leaders have said there is no easy road to
freedom and that is true. Freedom is treasured because it is so difficult to obtain. So precious
and often so tenuous.

The message the people of Zimbabwe have given is an important one for politicians:
Zimbabweans have to learn to work together.

Zimbabweans are perhaps showing greater political maturity than they have been given credit
for, they are saying that they are entitled to have their own minds, their own belief systems and
freedom of choice.

Having said that we need to take a closer look at the election results. The MDC repeatedly said
there could be no free and fair elections in the violent times we have faced - international
observers have reiterated this.

We are closely scrutinising election results at present. We believe that there are at least 20
seats that we will either ask for a recount or that we will take legal action about. In any area
where we lost by a margin of 500 or less we will ask for a recount. And in some areas we will
take additional legal action. As an example, in Marondera East as an example, we lost that
seat by 63 votes. We will ask for a recount. But more than that we will file charge under Section
105 of the Constitution against Sidney Sekeramayi, Minister of State Security and the ZanuPF
candidate in Marondera East for a process of intimidation including his widely reported
statements that he would track down those who did not vote for ZanuPF.

The intense coercion, intimidation and violence some of our people experienced shines through
in the results. If we take a look at Mashonaland East, as an example, that entire area was
terrorised by war veterans and ZanuPF thugs over the past three months. Eight of the 31 MDC
supporters murdered during ZanuPF's campaign of terror died in the normally quiet farming
areas of Mashonaland East. The third casualty in the post-referendum violence was inashe
Chakwenya who was shot dead in Marondera on April 4; 10 days later farmer Dave Stevens
and two unnamed MDC supporters were beaten to death at Macheke, six days after that
Stevens foreman was murdered. On May 7, farmer Allan Dunn was pulled out of his farmhouse
and bludgeoned to death, four days later another farmer John Weeks was murdered.

In the final three weeks before people went to vote Mashonaland East reported endless
barricades, farmworkers and villagers being beaten or forced to march through lines of ZanuPF,
farmers being threatened, crops being burnt, the farms of small communal farmers being


57

destroyed, shops looted and houses burned to the ground.

In the immediate weeks before the election Mashonaland East saw ZanuPF and war veterans
destroying the identity discs of people - all detailed in our daily violence and intimidation reports.
And the fact that these reports were issued on a daily basis speaks for itself.

On June 16, a week before the election we reported that 15 war veterans arrived at the home of
MDC co-ordinator Andrew Mapande in Mutoko North. They began beating him and demanding
lists of polling agents -which they seized and destroyed; Mapande fled and his home was
destroyed.

The candidate in Hwedza, Pearson Tachiveyi was hounded out of the country by threats from a
senior military officer. He only returned to the country on the first day of voting. It did not help
too, that many of the electoral officers in many of the stations were notorious war veterans in
many areas, or that in areas like Chegutu, ZanuPF were allowed to place posters on polling
booths or distribute t-shirts and pay voters.

For the past two weeks we have repeatedly talked about a process of progressive
disenfranchisement and problems with voters rolls, and those problems not only persisted but
were enhanced over the two day voting period.

In Makonde, as an example, voting at polling stations began very late. Although voting was
supposed to begin at 7am, at most polling stations it had still not begin by 9.30am, and many
opened only at noon and at 1pm. Makonde experienced the late delivery of voters rolls,
paper, ink and other necessities.

We need to highlight the significant achievements of our women candidates.

ZanuPF has only two women candidates in parliament, whereas eight of the 10

MDC women candidates we put forward have been elected to parliament. All of our women
candidates -and indeed all of our candidates put in remarkable performances. To note but one,
Eve Masaiti of Mutasa saw her house burnt down and that of dozens of her supporters. 100 of
them have been living in a single tent for close to a month; they have been subject to ongoing
raids, assaults and threats from ZanuPF supporters. Her bravery and that of her supporters has
been an example to us all. In her constituency she polled 9 258 votes while ZanuPF was only
able to achieve 5 281.

It is important to note the following, these election results mean that neither ZanuPF nor
President Mugabe:

* Can amend the constitution without our consent.
* Mugabe will not be able to reintroduce a Senate because he needs a two-thirds majority to
amend the constitution.
* Chiefs will be elected on June 29 - they will not go against the will of their people.
* We believe there are enough in ZanuPF who are concerned about the declining economy and
the shocking living standards of most Zimbabweans to ensure that we will be able to form
informal coalitions within parliament to push through more progressive legislation.
The people of Zimbabwe have begun the process of reclaiming power and the
institution of true democratic change.

Keep up the momentum!

Guqula Izenzo/Maitiro Chinja

"Zimbabwe's strength lies in racial and ethnic diversity - we will overcome attempts to divide us"
(Morgan Tsvangirai)


58


A day is a long time in politics. We are certainly learning the truth behind that adage.
Living in Zimbabwe is like riding a huge roller coaster; we only realize the pace at which we are
moving when we look down or at the rails under the car. The ups and downs we can only take
by closing our eyes and holding on with all our strength, sometimes its scary, sometimes its
exhilarating, its never boring.

The detailed background to the recent grenade attack on the MDC office in Harare makes
interesting reading. It all started some months ago when a young police officer working in the
Police Protection Unit (provides close protection to dignitaries and is a top unit) by the name of
Nkomo (no relation to the late vice President) was given leave from his duties by the Police
Commissioner. He was instructed to join the MDC youth organisation and to feed information
back to the Police. He was also given a list of 12 MDC officials at whose homes he was
instructed to plant weapons the latter were drawn from the Police ordinance stores in
Harare and issued to him for this purpose.

At the same time that this exercise was under way in Harare, a similar exercise was launched in
Bulawayo this time it was arms caches on farms with documents linking them to the MDC. The
people responsible for the operation handed information on this exercise to us and this
information was made known to the press about 10 days ago. We can only assume that this
exercise (which seems to have been abandoned when it was made public) can only be linked to
the similar exercise then taking place in Harare.

The plan was to bomb the MDC office in Harare and then conduct searches at the targeted
homes in Harare where Nkomo had planted the weapons. The grenade attack was carried out
with the assistance of a Police land rover and the following night the homes of all the targeted
MDC officials were raided by Police/CIO. The only things they found was a hand held radio
used in convoys carrying MDC leaders to meetings and an air gun that you can buy across the
counter in a store. What happened to the arms Nkomo was supposed to plant is not known, it
may be that Nkomo got cold feet in the same way as the CIO people who were supposed to
assassinate the editor of the Daily News in Harare.

The home raids were followed by raids on the MDC offices to get access to documents and
computer records as well as "arms of war". What they expected in respect to the latter is not
known but they only obtained a pile of waste paper and no sensitive documents or computer
files. The presence of the media, our lawyers and officials from MDC during this raid was
critical, as we are quite sure they would have "found" all sorts of stuff if they had not had the
world watching. So now the Minister (who was expecting all sorts of juicy stuff) ends up making
a statement in the House about "subversive documents" and "arms of war" and military
communications equipment. He also went on to say that the attack was carried out by a
member of the MDC (true) and was an inside job (not true). In fact we have documentary proof
that Nkomo is a serving member of the Police and we have all the evidence we need to support
the above story which is now part of a civil action against the government together with a claim
for damages.

What would have followed the "discovery" of the arms caches and the MDC documents we can
only speculate, but we would have expected the Police to detain MDC people and members of
the national leadership and perhaps try to ban the MDC itself. It would have also provided the
government with valuable propaganda, which they would have used on a global scale to
discredit the opposition. All they ended up with was a dirty damp squib and a very discredited
Minister of Home Affairs whose name is also Nkomo.

At the same as this was going on, Zanu PF again had to go through a three-week period of
discomfort in Parliament. where the battle of wits goes on. And its turned out to be a daily
nightmare for the government. At every turn they are attacked by well-informed and briefed
opposition members of Parliament. In one incident on Tuesday last all 57 MDC Members

 wore red handkerchiefs to symbolize the "Red Card" campaign that is so hated here.
When the Speaker addressed one Member who wanted to speak as "the Hon member with a
red handkerchief" all sitting opposition Members stood up and waved their red banners. Its not
without humour but that was lost on the Speaker who is aging by the minute.

To compound their problems the land program is in all kinds of trouble throughout the country.


59


Its difficult to maintain an exercise of intimidation on such a scale for months on end and the
people they have been using are running out of steam. Ordinary Zimbabweans are not taking
up the offers of "free" land and are deeply suspicious of these offers of resettlement. In one
case peasants were offered all sorts of inducements to take up resettlement opportunities on
commercial farms. They were promised cattle, fertilizer and seed and other assistance. They
replied give us those things now and we will consider moving. Peasants may be poor but they
are not dumb!

Then there is the law and the Courts. Our Justice system did us proud this week and in one
hearing in Chambers the Judges invalidated the eviction notices served on farmers who were
refusing to leave their land this knocks down all the legal notices issued in the past year and
puts the government back to square one. If in the next few months the Presidential Powers Act
is declared ultra vires the constitution, then that completes the circle, they are back at the start
on the land issue from a legal point of view.

 On Friday, at a hearing in front of the full bench of the Supreme Court, a local company
"Capital Radio" was given a license to establish an independent radio station. They expect to be
operational in three weeks and this will end the monopoly on radio and TV that the government
has held for a century. This has profound implications for us as a nation and for the MDC as it
seeks to change the government. Jonathan Moyo is now playing catch up.

On our side we plan a major rally on Saturday at Rufaro Stadium to celebrate MDCs birthday
(we are one year old this month) and to launch a campaign to persuade Mugabe to retire
immediately and call for fresh presidential elections within 90 days. Nothing else will rescue us
from the economic and political collapse that is now imminent.

The country looks magnificent; the knob thorns are in full blossom as are many other exotic and
indigenous trees. The new leaves on the msasa and mountain acacia trees are in their full glory
reds and greens and burgundy. A new season is promised by Mother Nature, perhaps this time,
there is more on offer than just flowers and rain and plantings. Perhaps a new start altogether.

Eddie Cross
24th September 2000


60

Zanu PF Electoral Machine Oiled by Libyan Cash
All Africa Press


Washington, DC --


New Cherokee jeeps donated by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Al-Gaddafi for Zanu
PF to use in the presidential election set for next year, may have helped the party win the
crucial, bitterly contested election for a parliamentary seat in the north-eastern rural
constituency of Bindura last weekend. According to the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper, the
cars have already been distributed to key Zanu PF campaigners, including self-styled war
veterans leader, Joseph Chinotimba. Al-Gaddafi has reportedly pledged some US$900,000 to
the party to aid in Mugabe's presidential campaign next year. "He wants our party to win," a
senior ZANU-PF official was quoted as saying by the Zimbabwe Independent.

Ironically, note observers and analysts, such financial aid is now illegal thanks to an
amendment to the Political Parties (Finance) Act made earlier this year aimed at blocking the
flow of external funds to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). It says:"No
political party or candidate shall accept any foreign donation, whether directly from the donor or
indirectly through a third person." But Zanu PF officials claim not to know that Al-Gaddafi has
pledged any money to their party. "I am not involved in it," the party's deputy secretary for
finance was quoted as saying. "I really don't know about that money."

Libya made a radical turn away from the Middle East and toward Africa in 1998. In the
fall of that year, Al-Gaddafi ordered the name of Libya's state radio, which for three decades
had been known as the "Voice of the Great Arab Homeland," changed to "Voice of Africa". A
year later, he proposed the "African Union" at the first OAU Summit he had attended in fifteen
years. The Union has now been ratified by enough African states to officially come into
existence -replacing the OAU -- in about a year. Last year Libya extended to Zimbabwe a
US$100m line of credit for oil imports.

However says professor Mansour el-Kikhia of the University of Texas - a Libyan himself
-much of Libya's money gifts to African leaders and nations "does not go through official
channels". Ghana has been promised US$250m by Al-Gaddafi for investment in small-scale
agri-businesses in the country. Nor is cash the only form of significant gift giving. Libya has also
agreed to supply Ghana with 30,000 barrels of crude oil per day, beginning this month. Libya
has also given Mig 23 aircraft to both Zambia and Zimbabwe. "Libya's bounty runs from direct
military involvement against government opponents in the Central African Republic, to buying
bananas from South Africa," according to Menas Associates which publishes a monthly "Focus
on Libya" newsletter.

Libya reportedly paid ten years worth of back dues owed the OAU for ten African
nations on condition that they give support to the African Union idea Al-Gaddafi proposed. Libya
also paid almost all of the US$17m cost of this year's OAU heads-of-State meeting in Lusaka,
Zambia. It was after this meeting that Al-Gaddafi is said to have made his pledge of aid to Zanu
PF. Most African nations oppose the sanctions that have been placed against Libya by the
United States, and Libya has been generally applauded for pushing the idea of African unity.
However, in parts of West Africa, in particular, resentment runs deep, aggravated by assaults
and rioting directed against citizens of sub-Saharan Africa living in Libya. Not everyone in Africa
is entirely happy with Libya's cash largesse. Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo is said to
have warned Al-Gaddafi not to interfere in the affairs of other African nations. A Menas
Associates report claims that Obasanjo had information of Libyan financial involvement in at
least twelve "recent insurrections" in African nations


61

By the BBC's Grant Ferrett in Harare

Now that the armies of visiting journalists have packed up and gone
home, Zimbabwe is returning to its own special version of normality.
The lobby of the five-star Meikles Hotel, the scene of much media
gossip, is once again almost deserted. Hundreds of white-owned
farms are still illegally occupied by government supporters, who make
daily demands on the farmers for food, fuel, vehicles and shelter.


The homes of opposition sympathisers continue to be attacked and burnt
down, although not in the same numbers as during the election
campaign. Fuel queues and power cuts are commonplace. Inflation
is expected to surge ahead of the current annual rate of about 70%.
An estimated 200 people continue to die every day as a result of HIV
and Aids.


Little wonder that many of those who could bear to watch President
Mugabe's televised address to the nation on Tuesday, shortly after the
election results were announced, gasped with incredulity when he
declared: "Well done Zimbabweans! Keep it up!"


The war veterans' leader, Chenjerai Hunzvi, made similarly bizarre
comments after winning a seat in parliament, urging Zimbabweans to
work together for a brighter future. He seemed to be suggesting
that he had been misunderstood during the election campaign when he
made remarks such as: "If Zanu-PF loses, we will not accept the
results. We fought and died for this country and you cannot expect us
to hand the country on a silver plate to some new party backed by the
white man."


'Vote for the baboon'


There was no misunderstanding the comments of the Vice-President,
Simon Muzenda, though. At a campaign rally he complained about splits
within the ruling party and told the small, hapless gathering: "If
Zanu-PF puts up a baboon as a candidate, you vote for the baboon."


Thinking that perhaps the vice-president had been wildly misquoted, I
asked one of his senior colleagues to comment. "I think Comrade
Muzenda was using the word 'baboon' figuratively," he explained.
"What he'd probably intended to say was: "If Zanu-PF puts up a fool,
you should vote for the fool."


Identical He went on to point out that there were, of course, no
fools in the party.


It would be funny were it not for the fact that the lives of millions
of Zimbabweans are being ruined by a government which, 20 years after
it came to office following independence, has completely run out of
any ideas or sense of direction, beyond a desire to stay in power.
Those in office seem certain that the interests of the party are
identical to those of the country. The election results show that
Zanu-PF has little or nothing to offer urban voters. It failed to win
a single constituency in the capital. Senior ministers lost in other
towns and cities.


The ruling party has returned to its peasant origins of the 1960s,
when it styled itself on, and gained support from, the Chinese
Communist Party.


Energetic


Many of those who retained their seats did so only after a campaign in
which everything, including lives, were sacrificed in the scramble to
retain power. The government's most energetic campaigner, the



62


provincial governor for Mashonaland Central, Border Gezi, just held on
in Bindura.
The brother of the main opposition candidate was among those murdered
in the run-up to the election.


The Security Minister, Sydney Sekeramayi, scraped home in Marondera by
a winning margin of fewer than 70 votes, even though the opposition
candidate and his supporters faced such intimidation that they were
reduced to the farcical situation of campaigning in secret.


On polling day the fear among voters in Marondera was palpable. Those
who were brave enough to speak to journalists would whisper only that
they had voted for change. It was apparently too dangerous to say the
letters, MDC.


One man who had just left the main polling station said explicitly
that he was too afraid to tell me who he voted for. Then, eager to
please, he looked around nervously before saying: "Shall I tell you
how I voted?"
I paused, and shook my head. He didn't need to say.


President Mugabe and his party now have to decide what they plan to do
with power.


Hostile rhetoric


Foreign governments, international investors and non-governmental
organisations have retreated in the face of the barrage of hostile
rhetoric from Mr Mugabe and his party, and the selective enforcement
of the law.


The fact that land will be seized without compensation has helped to
destroy any last vestiges of confidence among the business community.
With no reserves of hard currency, fuel is expected to completely run
out again within weeks. The sizeable opposition presence in the new
parliament will, if anything, make efforts to resolve the country's
economic problems even more complicated.


The government's election campaign manager has spent much of the past
few months in a deeply unhappy mood with the media in general, and the
BBC in particular. He believes it to be part of a white conspiracy to
undermine Robert Mugabe.


Shortly after the election results were announced, he made a telling
comment to a BBC colleague: "Your morality is not necessarily my
morality."


For once, I was happy to agree with him.



63


Mugabe's Matabeleland Massacre

The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and the Legal Resources
Foundation,
Friday 28 April, 2000

President Mugabe's ruthless treatment of anyone who opposes his authority is nothing
new.

Soon after Zimbabwe achieved independence in 1980, antagonism developed between
the ZANLA army of Mugabe's ZANU party and the ZIPRA army of the ZAPU party led
by Joshua Nkomo. The tension centred on the southern province of Matabeleland.

For eight years, Mugabe's army brutally suppressed the population of Matabeleland,
who mainly supported the ZAPU party.

A painstaking report, based on careful research and eyewitness accounts, found that
Mugabe's forces had been responsible for carrying out a deliberate programme of
sickening violence. The report estimates that Mugabe's crimes in Matabeleland
included:

. more than 3,000 extra-judicial executions

· hundreds of "disappearances"
· more than 7,000 beatings or cases of torture
· more than 10,000 arbitrary detentions
· thousands of rapes
· property burnings
· forbidding burial of the dead
· forbidding mourning
· refusal to grant death certificates to families of murder victims
In response to a UN investigation, the Zimbabwe government promised in January 1996
to compensate the victims of violence in the Matabeleland conflict. It has not done so.

Source: Breaking the Silence, Building True Peace - A Report on the Disturbances in
Matabeleland and the Midlands, 1980 to 1988, published by The Catholic Commission
for Justice and Peace and the Legal Resources Foundation, March 1997


64

NATIONAL REPORT IN BRIEF:

LATE ON THE AFTERNOON OF FRIDAY 10TH NOVEMBER THE FULL SUPREME
COURT BENCH SIGNED AN ORDER BY CONSENT WHICH EFFECTIVELY
NULLIFIES ALL ASPECTS OF THE FAST TRACK RESETTLEMENT PROGRAMME.
THIS IS IN RESPONSE TO A SUPPLEMENTARY URGENT APPLICATION TO THE
SUPREME COURT, IT IS NOT THE JUDEGEMENT OF THE MAIN CASE WHICH
WAS HEARD EARLIER THIS WEEK. JUDGEMENT IN RESPECT OF THIS CASE IS
EXPECTED WITHIN FOUR WEEKS.

CASE NO: S.C.314/2000

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF ZIMBABWE HELD AT HARARE
In the matter between :


COMMERCIAL FARMERS' UNION - Applicant
and
MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE & RURAL RESETTLEMENT - 1st Respondent
and
MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING

- 2nd
Respondent
and
MINISTER OF RURAL RESOURCES AND WATER DEVELOPMENT - 3rd
Respondent
and
MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS -4th Respondent
and
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE -5th Respondent
and
PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR OF MASHONALAND EAST - 6th Respondent
and
PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR OF MASHONALAND CENTRAL - 7th Respondent
and
PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR OF MASHONALAND WEST - 8th Respondent
and
PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR OF MASVINGO - 9th Respondent
and
PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR OF MIDLANDS - 10th Respondent
and
PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR OF MANICALAND - 11th Respondent
and
PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR OF MATABELELEND NORTH - 12th Respondent
and
PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR OF MATABELELAND SOUTH - 13th Respondent
In the urgent application heard in chambers

Before the Honourable Mr Justice Gubbay, Chief Justice
the Honourable Mr Justice McNally, Judge of Appeal
the Honourable Mr Justice Ebrahim, Judge of Appeal
the Honourable Mr Justice Muchechetetere, Judge of Appeal
and the Honourable Mr Justice Sandura, Judge of Appeal

J B Colegrave Esq. for the Applicant


65


Mr C Zvobgo Esq. for the Respondents

WHEREUPON, after reading documents filed of record and hearing Counsel

BY CONSENT THE FOLLOWING DECLARATION AND ORDERS ARE MADE :


1. It is declared that resettlement of commercial farming lands implemented by the First, Second
and Third Respondents and the Sixth to the Thirteen Respondents inclusive, in so far as it has
involved the entry of persons who are not the invitees of the owners or lessees of properties,
before all requirements set out in paragraph 4 of this Order have been fulfilled, has contravened
the fundamental rights, contained in section 17 (1) and section 16 (1) of the Constitution of
Zimbabwe, of the owners and the lessees in occupation of those properties.
2. Each of the Respondents, and every officer or employee of the State responsible to him or
acting on his behalf, is hereby interdicted from in any way or form:
(a) causing;
(b) facilitating;
(c) participating in; or
(d) giving sanction to:
the entry or continued occupation of any property owned or occupied by a member of the
Commercial Farmers Union until all the requirements set out in paragraph 4 of this Order have
been fulfilled, by any person or persons engaging in, publicising or promoting any activity
related to resettlement or the laying out of any housing or plots on that property.
3. This Order shall not prevent:
(a) a policemen entering upon the property in the course of carrying out his police duties, in a
way which does not involve his acting in a manner which is in contravention of the Order made
in paragraph 2 above;
(b) any person or persons entering upon the property with the consent, freely given before the
entry is made, of the owner of the property which is the subject of the entry; or
(c) any officer, employee or agent of the First, Second or Third Respondent, named and duly
authorised under written notice given by or on behalf of the First Respondent to the owner or
occupier of the property, entering the property at reasonable times, with necessary equipment
and personnel to assist him, in the course of carrying out necessary investigation as to the
suitability of the land for acquisition by the First Respondent or its value or extent, under
sections 11 or 29B of the Land Acquisition Act Cap 20:10; or
(d) any officer, employee or agent of the First, Second or Third Respondent, named and duly
authorised under written notice given by or on behalf of the First Respondent to the owner or
occupier of the property, entering upon the property to survey and demarcate the lands in order
to enable allocation of the same for resettlement purposes, PROVIDED in relation to the
property concerned all the requirements set out in paragraphs 4 (a) (i) (ii) and (iii) and also 4 (b)
of this Order have first been fulfilled and PROVIDED FURTHER:
(i) such activities shall not interfere with the operations of the owner or occupier of that property
or his employees; and
(ii) until all the requirements set out in paragraph 4 of this Order have been fulfilled in relation to
the property, nothing contained in this Order shall permit any person claiming to have been
allocated land or seeking the allocation of land thereon to enter upon, take up or remain in
occupation of any part of the property by virtue of its survey and demarcation as aforesaid.
4. The Order made in paragraph 2 above shall apply to each property owned or occupied by a
member of the Commercial Farmers Union until each of the following requirements have been
complied with in relation to such property:
(a) (i) a preliminary notice of acquisition of the property by a competent acquiring authority has
been given to the owner and other persons required in terms of section 5(1)(b) of the Land
Acquisition Act; and
(ii) an order of acquisition of the property in terms of section 8(1) of the Land Acquisition Act has
been served upon the owner by the acquiring authority; and
(iii) the owner or occupier has been given written notice to vacate by the acquiring authority,
occurring after the date of notice as aforesaid of the order of acquisition; and
(iii) at least three months have expired from the giving of notice as aforesaid to vacate to the

66


owner or, if some other person is in occupation under a lease agreement with the owner, such
lesser period has expired, equivalent to the period of notice provided in the lease agreement:
and

(v) if the owner or occupier fails to vacate the property upon expiry of the said notice to vacate
given to him, a Court of competent jurisdiction has issued an eviction order against him, having
the effect of a final order; and
(b) if in terms of the Land Acquisition Act Cap 20:10 the owner or occupier has within 30 days
after publication of the preliminary notice of acquisition served upon the First Respondent or any
officer in his employ the owner's objection to compulsory acquisition of the property, an order
of Court of competent jurisdiction, having the effect of a final order, has been made confirming
the compulsory acquisition of the property, or the objection filed to the compulsory acquisition
has been withdrawn by the owner or occupier who filed such objection.
5. The Fifth Respondent and every Police Officer, whose geographical area of duties covers any
property referred to in paragraph 2 of this Order, is hereby ordered to use all means and
authority available to him, upon complaint to him or his becoming aware of the occurrence of
any unlawful entry upon any of the said properties or the likelihood of such occurring, to ensure
that no breach of the peace shall occur upon any such property covered by this Order, and that
all persons found to have unlawfully entered or conducted thmselves upon any such property be
removed therefrom.
6. Service of this Order upon the Officer Commanding the Province, within which Police Officers
referred to in paragraph 5 above carry on their duties, shall constitute valid and effectual
service, 48 hours after the first mentioned service, upon all Police Officers who from time to time
carry on their duties within that Province.
7. The Second Respondent is hereby ordered:
(a) to cause the terms of this Order and the Second Respondent's instructions that they be
complied with to be communicated to each Provincial Administrator and each District
Administrator within Zimbabwe, within 48 hours of service of this Order upon him; and
(b) within the following period of 48 hours to confirm in writing to the Registrar of this
Honourable Court that such communications have been made.
8. The First, Second, Third and Fourth Respondents, jointly and severally, are hereby ordered
to pay the Applicant's costs of suit.
BY THE COURT
P NYEPERAYI
ASSISTANT REGISTRAR

COMMERCIAL FARMERS' UNION

Supreme Court Order, by CONSENT, in case number S.C.314/2000

Friday 10th November 2000

The following is a statement by CFU Director, David Hasluck, directed to members of the
Commercial Farmers' Union:

CFU APPLICATIONS BEFORE SUPREME COURT

INTRODUCTION

During the course of this week the Supreme Court has considered two different cases that the
Union has brought before it in opposition to the manner in which Government has been setting
about its land aquisition and resettlement "Fast Track Approach". The Comercial Farmers'
Union supports planned and orderly resettlement that follows the due process of the


67


Constitution.

THE LAW

The first case, S.C. 262/00 was opposed by Government. It was argued before the full bench
comprised of the Chief Justice and four Judges of Appeal of the Supreme Court on Monday and
Tuesday and it is an attack on the Constitutional validity of the Land Acquisition Act as
amended and the manner in which it is being used. The judges have said that they will give their
decision later. It is anticipated that this will be in about 4 weeks time.

The second case, S.C. 314/00 was brought after the first case had been filed and because
Government had set about putting people on the land as fast as they could before a decision
was given in the first case. In this second matter an Order has been obtained by Consent to the
effect that what Government has been doing is in fact unlawful even if the laws are valid.
This is because the Fast Track resettlements contravene the Constitutional rights of farmers in
Sections 16 and 17 of the Consititution. In effect the three Ministers responsible for this exercise
and all the Provincial Governors have been ordered not to cause, facilitate, participate in or
give sanction to the entry upon any farm or its continued occupation until certain requirements
of the law have been fulfilled.

These requirements are


(i) You must have received a Preliminary Notice of Intention to Acquire; (ii) If you objected and
have not withdrawn your objection or done some other deal with Government, Government
must obtain an order from the Administrative Court confirming their right to proceed with the
acquisition of your property;
(iii) A section 8 Acquisition Order must be issued and served upon you; [If the acquisition order
is served upon you before the Court Confirmation they must still get confirmation and institute
those proceedings within 30 days];
(iv) You must have been given written notice to vacate your farm within a period of not less than
3 months unless you are a tenant in which case the period may be reduced to the notice period
provided for in your lease agreement;
(v) At least 3 months must have expired since you were given notice to vacate [unless you were
a tenant in which case the notice period applies];
(vi) If you have failed to vacate the property upon the expiry of the above notice period a Court
must have issued an eviction order against you.
The Commissioner of Police and every police officer has been ordered to use all means and
authority available to him upon complaint to him by you or upon becoming aware of the
occurrence of any unlawful entry upon your farm to ensure that no breach of the peace occurs
and to ensure that all persons who have unlawfully entered your property are removed
therefrom.

BE CAREFUL

We are demanding and expecting the authorities to comply with the Order of the Supreme Court
particularly when the Ministers responsible have in fact consented to this Order. Both Ministers
Chombo and Made were specifically consulted by the Deputy Attorney General and are fully
aware of the Order which was granted with their consent. BUT you must still be prepared to
have to face lawlessness. The Union can only do some things for you and you must each look
after yourselves, your families and your farming operations on the ground as best you can. This
is not the time for confrontation against forces that you cannot deal with.

IN THE MEANTIME

1. If you have been resettled contrary to any of the above provisions at any time in
circumstances to which you have not consented you should reinforce and repeat your calls
upon the Police to intervene on your behalf.
2. You must realise that even the most willing police force will be faced with short term
problems. Allow for them.
3. Make sure that you have a proper record of the condition of your farm now and take as much
photographic evidence as you can of the state of your improvements and of your lands, fences,

68


dip tanks, boreholes etc. as well as the nature and extent of your plant and machinery. There
may still be problems and you will need proof to establish a data base for any claims that you
may subsequently have to bring.

4. Make every effort to obtain identification particulars of all Government officials who have put
people on your land or who continue to do so. This includes army and police personnel. Police
personnel in uniform should have their force numbers on them and security force personnel,
particularly the airforce often have their names on their uniforms. Insofar as you can get names
and photos of the war veterans or other people put on your land do so.
5. If you are prevented from planting, take photographs of the land to show that it is ready for
planting using the front page of a daily news paper to date your photos. If you have your crops
pulled out take photographs, if your cattle are killed take photographs of whatever you can.
CONCLUSION

If Government treats people so vindictively by denying them their fundamental rights to freedom
of association, political choice, use of their property, protection through the rule of law and, more
crucially, as dishonestly, then Government must expect people to protest. We have done so
legitimately - in court.

It has been a bad time for the Union as Government has used all means to terrorise and divide
our members. This should be of concern to everybody, not just farmers. Ever since the
Constitutional referendum, the Government has deliberately undermined the CFU, yet despite
extreme provocation we have remained united and determined to act within the Law so
maintaining both the moral and legal highground.

We are all being subjected to an intense campaign of intimidation. It is most unlikely that
Government has money to pay anybody any compensation. If you leave your farm you make it
very much more difficult for you, your friends and the Union to get you back on the farm. We
must keep farming.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP. You may have to absent yourself temporarily but get back
as soon as you can. The longer you keep farming the better your chances of retaining your
rights and collectively of overcoming this current state of anarchy.


69

DAILY Mail and GUARDIAN
August 7th, 2001-08-07

The Zimbabwean worker seems to be the biggest loser. According to the Zimbabwe Congress
of Trade Unions' economics department the minimum wage for the industrial sector, which is $2
500 was only 22% of the poverty datum line in March which stood at $11 597.52. The poverty
datum line is for a family of six: a father, mother and four children. By May, according to the
Council of Zimbabwe, the poverty datum line had shot up to $15 242.33. The cost of transport
has gone up by close to 60% since then.

According to the consumer council families spend at least $4 655.64 on food. The basket
consists of 2kg of margarine, 40 kg of mealie meal, 6 kg of sugar, 500gms of tea leaves, 31
packets of fresh milk, 2.1 litres of cooking oil, 31 loaves of bread (Only four slices per person
per day), 2 kg of flour, 4 kg of rice, vegetables every day, 2 kg of salt and 8 kg of meat. Forget
about bacon and eggs or breakfast cereals. These basics alone cost almost double the
minimum wage. In addition, health and education cost $2 556 a month, transport $1 980, rent
$2 500. Besides, some of the workers have to use two buses to get to work, which almost
doubles their transport cost.

While the ZCTU says wages have declined by 22% since 19990, a simple calculation shows
that the situation is much worse. According to ZCTU figures, domestic workers have been the
hardest hit. They are only getting 8.4% of what they were earning at independence. Under the
colonial regime, domestic workers were earning as little as $5 a month. The government raised
the minimum wage for domestic workers to $30 from July 1980, less than half the $70 it set for
industrial workers.

At today's prices, taking into consideration that the Zimbabwe dollar was stronger than the US
dollar in 1980 and traded at $1.59, and the fact that during the 20 year period to today the US
dollar of 1980 is now worth US$2.00, the domestic worker who was earning $5 a month would
be earning $2 544, more than double what the worker has been earning. At $30 a month, the
same worker would be earning $15 264, more than the minimum wage the labour movement is
seeking for the industrial worker. The industrial worker whose minimum wage was $70 a month
in 1980 would be earning $35 616 today, and this is after working for 20 years without an
increment. Even if converted at the official but highly misleading rate, the domestic worker at
$30 a month would be earning $5 247, a far cry from what he or she is earning today. The
industrial worker would be earning $12 243 a month, slightly below the current poverty datum
line, but about five times the current minimum wage.

The ZCTU figures indicate that by 1999, workers in the agricultural sector were earning 72.5%
of what they were earning at independence. They enjoyed higher real wages in 1982 when they
shot up by 63.6% with the drought year of 1992 being the worst when the wages were down to
69.8%. Mining seems to have fared fairly well with 1994 being the worst year. They earned
89.5% but they have generally enjoyed better wages than at independence with the figure for
1999 standing at 6.2% above that of 1980.

Manufacturing started its decline in 1984. It has never recovered with the
figure for 1999 dropping to a low of 68.1%. The electricity sector was in
doldrums for almost a decade from 1984 to 1994 with 1992 being the worst
year when wages were down to 78.7% of their 1980 level, but they have
since shot up reaching a peak of 82.2% above the independence level in
1998 before declining by 43.6% the following year.
Construction had its worst year in 1994 when wages declined to 46.2%. They had somewhat
recovered to 53.8% by 1999.Finance was better at 73.4% in 1999 but sadly this was its lowest
level. The only real gain was in 1982, a mere 3.3%. Distribution stood at 61.5% having fallen to
a low of 57.9% in 1994. Transport and Communication also hovered around the 60s with 63.7%
in 1999 and a low of 60.7% in 1994.

TALK BACK
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Public administration is perhaps the worst performer as there has never been a real increment
since 1980. Its worst year was 1994 when wages were 35.1% of those at independence. It had
recovered to 66.7% in 1999. The same applies to education. It has never had any real
increment either with 1994 being its worst year at 48.5%. In 1999, it had risen to 74.1%. Health
did a little better with a real increase in 1982. After that it was on a slide, hitting a low of 55.7%


70


in 1994 before recovering to 87.5% in 1999. After realising real increases of 14.6% by 1982,
private domestic workers have seen their fortunes tumbling since, hitting a low of 8.4% in 1999.
The ZCTU says the major reasons for the decline in real consumption wages are principally
exchange rate depreciation and high levels of inflation. Inflation averaged 11.6% between 1985


90. It more than doubled to an average of 27.6% between 1991-95, the economic reform period
during which it was supposed to be reduced to 5%. It averaged 32.6% between 1996 and 1999
and has averaged around 55% in the past 18 months.
The exchange rate, on the other hand, has been playing yoyo, especially in the last three years.
According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe the Zimbabwe dollar was worth US$1.59 cents in
1980. It went down to USD$1.39 the following year and further down to US$1.09 in 1982 after a
devaluation of 20% in December. It only became weaker than the greenback towards the end of
1983 and has continued to decline.

By the end of 1990 a Zimbabwe dollar was worth only US38cents. In 1991 with tables now
reversed a USD was now worth $5.05 . It went down to $5.48 the following year, then to $6.94
in 1993 and $8.39 in 1994. The slide continued with the dollar ending at $9.31 in 1995 and
$10.83 the following year. But the biggest slide was in 1997 after the government listed more
than 1 500 white-owned farms for compulsory acquisition and awarded war veterans an
unbudgeted $4 billion in payouts.

The rate, which stood at $10.96 at the beginning of the year and was at $12.64 in October,
suddenly plunged to $18.61 in December. By the end of 1998 it was down to $37.37. After
hitting $39.25 in January 1999, the government decided to intervene and fixed it at $38, the rate
at which it operated for the next 17 months before it was devalued first to $50 and then finally to
$55.
But unlike in the previous years when the spread between the official and the black market rate
was narrow, it has now gone wild with some reports saying the dollar is changing hands at
$255, almost five times the official rate. The decline in the exchange rate alone, bearing in mind
that the US dollar has also been losing value, means the worker has lost considerably while
those with access to foreign currency are finding things cheaper in Zimbabwe.

According to the Columbia Journalism Review inflation calculator, the US dollar of 1980 is now
worth US$2 but that for 1990 is still worth US$1. The Zimbabwe dollar of 1980, on the other
hand, is now worth US$3.18, while the Zimbabwe dollar of 1990 was worth only US38 cents,
that of today is worth 1.8US cents at the unrealistic official exchange rate, and only 0.6 cents at
the most conservative black market rate.


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"Why should we observe the law? This is our country and we can do what we like."

Mugabe loses key ally as leader of war veterans and scourge of white farmers dies

Andrew Meldrum in Harare and Chris McGreal in Johannesburg

Few will mourn the death yesterday of Chenjerai "Hitler" Hunzvi, the "war veterans"
leader who, as much as Robert Mugabe, spearheaded the invasion of hundreds of
white farms in Zimbabwe and led his supporters to murder with impunity. Drivers in
Harare made clear their feelings about the death of the man who never actually fought
in the liberation struggle against the white Rhodesian government as they honked their
horns in celebration. But outside the hospital ward where Hunzvi died yesterday, his
supporters stood vigil and vowed revenge on the celebrants.

Almost everyone was left wondering what it will mean for Zimbabwe to lose a man who
was more widely loathed than Mr Mugabe, yet also wildly popular among his
supporters. The war veterans' leader was one of the very few who dared to threaten
and cajole the president, and he arguably posed as much a potential threat to Mr
Mugabe's power as any political opponent. But so long as Hunzvi was on the
president's side, he was also Mr Mugabe's greatest asset as the leader of the shock
troops in the assault on the political threat to Zanu-PF's rule.

Hunzvi, 51, collapsed a fortnight ago and was confined to a heavily guarded hospital
room. The official diagnosis was malaria but his battle with Aids was well known and
evident from the occasional infections that afflicted his face. Hunzvi, a qualified doctor,
first reared his head in the public consciousness five years ago when he was accused
of ripping off a government fund to pay compensation to veterans of the liberation war.
He allegedly greatly exaggerated the extent of their injuries, and invented a few for
himself even though he never took up a gun against Ian Smith's white regime.

In 1997 he was elected head of the war veterans. He proved a dynamic leader,
transforming a do-nothing organisation of has-beens into the most threatening and
powerful group in the country. Initially the group turned against Mr Mugabe when
Hunzvi forcefully demanded hefty pensions and "gratuities" for the 40,000 war
veterans. Zimbabwe's president was unused to threats and, realising that the potential
power of the war veterans could be used against him or by him, reached a swift
compromise. The old soldiers got their money -although Hunzvi stood accused of
embezzling about £500,000 of it -and Mr Mugabe got a private army. He was to need
it, because the hefty, unbudgeted cost of buying the war veterans off triggered
Zimbabwe's economic crisis and helped turned public opinion even more against the
president.

After Hunzvi was let loose, he liked to be called Hitler. "Do you know why they call me
Hitler?" he spat at a white farm manager last year. "It is because I am the biggest
terrorist in Zimbabwe. I am the most dangerous man in this country. And you must do
what I tell you." There were not many in Zimbabwe - friend or foe - who disagreed with
that description. Hunzvi spearheaded the violent invasions of 1,800 white-owned farms.
Nineteen people were murdered -12 black labourers and seven white farmers - in the
process. Countless others were beaten. Some were raped. After the assault on the
farms was under way, Hunzvi turned his attention to last June's parliamentary election
campaign. The war veterans were let loose on the opposition MDC and its supporters,
killing 40 people and brutalising thousands more. The violence and a good bit of rigging
helped Mr Mugabe retain control of parliament by a slender margin.

When the election results were challenged in the courts, witnesses prepared to testify
against Hunzvi were singled out and beaten. Hunzvi's reward was a seat in parliament


72


for the Chikomba constituency. In the last two months Hunzvi sent his veterans to
invade more than 100 factories, beat up managers - black and white - and extort large
sums of money. Inevitably, the favoured targets were companies thought to fund the
opposition. The war veterans' leader was no respecter of diplomatic protection either.
He bluntly threatened foreign diplomats and last month his war veterans assaulted the
Canadian high commissioner to Zimbabwe, prompting the Ottawa government to halt
all financial aid and impose other diplomatic sanctions.

Neither was Hunzvi reluctant to set an example to his men. He publicly beat opposition
supporters with an iron bar and human rights groups accused him of personally
torturing Mr Mugabe's opponents in his medical rooms during the parliamentary
campaign. Earlier this year Hunzvi threw a petrol bomb at four opposition members of
parliament and ordered 60 of his followers to beat them. "Why should we observe the
law? This is our country and we can do what we like," Hunzvi said. In case there was
any doubt, Mr Mugabe settled the issue by effectively decreeing the war veterans
above the law with an amnesty for political crimes.

Hunzvi claimed that "Hitler" was his nom de guerre during the war against white rule in
Rhodesia, but he spent most of the conflict in eastern Europe, in Poland, where he
qualified as a doctor. He returned to Zimbabwe when it gained independence in 1980.
The man who later said he hated all whites brought with him a Polish wife with whom
he had a son. But the wife was spirited back to Poland by friends after accusing Hunzvi
of beating her badly. She has since written an exceedingly unflattering book about her
husband.

Hunzvi's death is the latest in a series of setbacks for Mr Mugabe. In the space of two
months, he has lost four high-level supporters, including his firebrand employment
minister, Border Gezi, who died in a car accident. Gezi worked closely with Hunzvi and
the war veterans. In May, Mr Mugabe's trusted defence minister, Moven Mahachi, also
died in a car accident. It is widely suspected that their deaths were not accidents but
the result of score settling within Zanu-PF. A third cabinet member, trade minister
Nkosana Moyo, resigned in early May to protest the factory invasions. Mr Moyo moved
his family out of the country and faxed his resignation to Mr Mugabe, apparently fearful
of retribution.

The cabal with which Mr Mugabe maintained his rule now appears in disarray, but the
opposition is cowed and in no position to take advantage. Still, he will find it difficult to
replace Chenjerai Hunzvi, who brought a frightening flair to his threats and thuggery.
Hunzvi's war veterans are already squabbling over who will succeed him and a violent
contest is expected. Likewise, the many rival groups within Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party
will be scrambling to fill the newly vacant cabinet posts. The bad luck that has befallen
Mr Mugabe and his party has led to some surprisingly high level speculation, including
from the speaker of the house, Emmerson Mnangagwa, that it is down to witchcraft. So
potent is the rumour that Hunzvi refused to see several of his followers in his last days
because he said he was afraid they would cast a spell on him. As it is, he has left a
curse on Zimbabwe.


73


Editorial Comment

THERE is a land crisis in Zimbabwe. Not the artificial one created by Zanu PF in recent months
but one that is about to overwhelm us. Over half the two million people who live on commercial
farms could soon be dispossessed.

No thought for their welfare has been given in the fast-track resettlement "programme". They will
almost overnight become destitute in the country of their birth.

Despite the fact that many farm labourers are descended from migrant workers, their roots are
in this country and on the land. Of the two million, between 350 000 and 500 000 are employed
as farm workers. The rest are dependants. Their future is bleak as the government rushes to
propitiate what it sees as its main constituency by seizing farms and dumping people on them
with no regard to the key ingredients of successful agriculture -- capital, skills, and commitment.

On Page 5 this week we carry a report on how people resettled in the early 1980s at Masasa-
Ringa are coping with their situation. This is by any standard a successful scheme, largely
because with British funds a whole range of inputs and infrastructure were provided for. Still, it
has its shortcomings, the most notable being a shortage of loan capital, the availability of which
has been markedly reduced in recent years. People are not producing as much as they could .

Under the current fast-track approach there is no supporting investment. The resettled farmers
will be abandoned to their fate while those currently using the land productively will leave.

This is a recipe for disaster which must be evident to all but the most myopic of ruling-party
faithful. The pattern to date has been instructive. More people have been displaced on farms
than resettled.

Despite repeated assurances that it sought to acquire five million hectares, or half the
commercial farm land available, government has now moved to seize 60%. This is likely to
make over 300 000 people redundant at a time when the economy is only able to create 30 000
jobs a year.

A human tragedy will result with thousands squatting on rural land or drifting into the towns. The
government is apparently indifferent to the social and economic costs of its breakneck rush to
satisfy its followers.

There has been no planning, no attempt to anticipate the consequences of resettling 500 000
families on farms that are often very far removed from their home areas with no resources to
actually undertake farming.

The fuel and power shortages the country is currently experiencing are the most visible
conseque-nce of diminishing foreign exchange returns from sectors such as tobacco and
horticulture that have been hit by farm invasions.

The consequences of the removal of over 3 000 farms from commercial production -- many of
them tobacco farms -- will see even more severe consequences as foreign currency earnings
slow to a trickle -- particularly to downstream businesses whose survival is related agriculture.

Commercial agriculture is the country’s largest single employer. But what of employment in
related sectors? We could see unemployment on a monumental scale with attendant problems
in terms of destitution and crime.

There is no question of donors or investors putting their money in a country that confiscates
land to punish political opponents or proceeds to sabotage its own economy in such a
determined way. Why should they be expected to contribute to suicidal policies?

What is so scandalous about this is that it didn’t have to be this way. A properly planned,
phased and donor-funded land resettlement programme was always on the table. But it got in
the way of President Mugabe’s posturing, not to mention his thirst for revenge. And worse still,
he has ignored the verdict of voters who in two democratic tests of opinion expressly repudiated
the politics of land-grabbing.


74

Letter to the editor : E Mpahlwa

I AM a South African student who has been studying Agriculture at a top British university with
the intention of returning to my home country and devoting my life and work to this most
important aspect of any African country’s economy and well-being.

I have chosen to do a thesis on the Zimbabwe land problem, redistribution and resettlement, a
subject that is applicable and of concern to my own home country and others in southern and
central Africa.

Studies in Britain acknowledge certain facts relating to Zimbabwean agriculture: Zimbabwe’s
commercial farmers had formerly achieved one of the highest standards of agriculture and
conservation in the world -- illustrated by high standards of soil conservation through contours,
rotational grazing, farm planning, the planting of extensive timber plantations in the high rainfall
areas, the preservation of natural woodlands, and the creation of game conservancy areas on
rough land unsuitable for intensive cultivation, or where wild- life had proved, through tourism, to
be more profitable than cattle production in arid areas.

Zimbabwe has been recognised over the last 40 years for its achievements in developing some
of the world’s highest producing hybrid maize varieties, such as SR52 and others. It is also
recognised internationally for its achievements in breeding high-producing wheat, sorghum,
soya and cotton varieties. Zimbabwe also has an impressive record in breeding up its national
cattle herd. I understand that in 1980, at the time of Independence, 1,2 million breeding cows
were the foundation of the national herd. Five Cold Storage Commission works handled a total
of 750 000 head per year.

Much of this was exported and added substantially to Zimbabwe’s export earnings. Under the
Lomé Convention this beef was acknowledged as the finest from the African continent.

These are indeed proud achievements that earned Zimbabwe the reputation of "Bread basket of
Africa." Agriculture accounted for about 40% of the country’s foreign currency earnings, and I
believe provided work for about 30% of the people in formal employment.

The other problem to be studied for my thesis was the fact that Zimbabwe’s majority population
was confined to a reduced percentage of the land on which they were unable to sustain
themselves.

This made land redistribution and settlement necessary. At the same time, one had to recognise
that Zimbabwe had a population growth of 3,8%, one of the highest in the world. Land, as a
finite resource, could not be available indefinitely for an exploding population, and this
highlighted how important it was to ensure high levels and standards of food production from
the country’s agro-based economy to feed a growing population.

All these facts listed above would obviously make an interesting and important thesis, so I
decided to spend three months studying these problems first-hand.

When I arrived in Zimbabwe prior to the June election, I was absolutely appalled at what I saw.
Clearly, a once great agricultural country was now rapidly disintegrating and in the advanced
stage of economic ruin.

I saw farms invaded and tobacco barns burnt, often with cured tobacco inside them.

Associated with this were other problems: 50% unemployment, 76% of the people living below
the poverty datum line, 70% inflation, crime and car-jacking at an all-time high, 300 000 rural
people fleeing from thuggery and intimidation to the urban areas, becoming refugees in their
own country.

A once great and lucrative tourist industry had now collapsed. The world was sickened by the
slaughter of Zimbabwe’s priceless wildlife, amongst which was the nearly extinct Black Rhino.

After three months, this sickening slaughter has in fact increased. It soon became apparent that
this was politically-inspired by one man to ensure his party was returned in the coming election.


75


Was the unexpected political turmoil and the breakdown of law and order to be part of my
thesis, which was supposed to deal with land redistribution and resettlement policies that the
rest of Africa might hopefully benefit from?

It soon became apparent from talking to many hundreds of urban people that not only were they
deeply concerned about the sequence of events but they were also concerned about the effect
this would have on future food production and the inevitable price increases that would result
from food shortages.

The president and the vice presidents have repeatedly assured the people that peasant
production would easily out-produce the highly developed commercial agriculture. The people I
questioned did not accept this fictitious statement.

Events have already shown alarming increases in food prices, with beef up 25%, bread and
meal etc now at levels that many people cannot afford. Still greater price increases are on the
way -- this destruction of a once great and internationally recognised agriculture industry to
meet the political desires of one man.

Interviews with many commercial farmers at this time clearly indicated that all supported the
land redistribution and resettlement proposals but they had to lead to a better life for the people.
On this basis, a conference was held in 1998 for international donors willing to assist in land
redistribution and resettlement.

The way forward was to ensure the continuation of the high standards of agriculture that
Zimbabwe was known for. Great support was received at the conference, with the understandable
provisions that land resettlement would be planned; infrastructure would be provided
for, roads, boreholes, dams, schools and clinics where necessary; adequate start-up capital
would be provided, land to be purchased at market values, and general transparency in all the
dealings.

This well planned and thought-out road ahead would certainly have led to Zimbabwe regaining
its position as the bread basket of Africa, and would have been a shining example to the rest of
Africa on how to solve the land problem.

All these planned high ideals changed after the February referendum when government, for its
own political ends, encouraged and financed the illegal settlement and take-over of white
commercial farms by so-called war vets, squatters and thugs.

Farmers were branded by the president as "enemies of the state" and communal people were
promised all the land they would require. The picture now unfolding was nothing short of
alarming for progressive agriculture and the effects on the now ruined economy were obvious
for anyone to see.

I was absolutely appalled by what I saw on my frequent visits I made to farms during my three
months in Zimbabwe. On one farm I saw 400 acres of natural woodland cut down, leaving
stumps of two to three feet high. No progressive crop production could ever be possible on this
destroyed woodland.

When speaking to those responsible, they said they had no capital or ploughs, no fertiliser and
no money for seed.

I witnessed cases of now displaced farm workers going into neighbouring farms and illegally
pegging out lands. I witnessed the terrible effects of snaring, the killing and theft of cattle, and
some farmers in despair selling off part or all their herds because it was no longer possible to
manage them properly.

The once great national cattle herd has now been reduced from 1,2 million breeding cows in
1980 to 360 000 today. Are these figures indicative of what the future holds?

The sight of a dead Rhino with several bullet holes in its side, a Zebra lying dead in a snare.
The sight of destroyed game fences which had once been put up at great cost for the benefit of


76


tourists and to prevent the spread of foot and mouth into what remains of the country’s cattle
herds, and the effect of this on the beef export market to Europe.

The sight of burnt-out barns, some that were filled with cured tobacco, the sight of burnt-out
farm workers homes, workshops, a farmhouse, all this indicates vandalism and ignorance at its
worst, and these memories cannot be easily forgotten.

Now on my departure from Zimbabwe I leave some thoughts for government to consider
seriously. Dumping people, as government is now doing, on land with no infrastructure such as
bore-holes, roads, no support services such as clinics and schools, and no working capital is a
recipe for disaster.

As the land remains unsurveyed, the new settlers will have no title and, therefore, no collateral
for future development.

The combination of the above facts can only lead to total collapse. Zimbabwe will certainly
become a food importer, if it has any money to buy food. Unemployment will continue to rise
from the 50% unemployed today, as will inflation and general poverty.

Today agriculture is a highly technical vocation and success depends on high standards of
training. Recent United Nations statistics show there were 276 million environmental refugees
on the continent of Africa, that is people who have been forced from their traditional home areas
due to the breakdown and destruction of the environment.

If government persists in its present land redistribution policies Zimbabwe will surely add to
these numbers in five years time.

Zimbabwe can now choose whether to become a shining example in Africa of progressive land
redistribution and resettlement, as agreed at the donors conference in 1998; or it can join the
ranks of environmental refugees in five years, living on food handouts from the rest of the world.

l Mpahlwa is an agricultural doctoral student based in South Africa.


77

Prince Khumalo denies claims on land
Busani Bafana

PRINCE Zwidekalanga Khumalo, the great grandson of King Lobengula, has distanced himself
from the current government-sponsored land redisstribution programme which he says is a
political issue he cannot be associated with.

Khumalo (47), who traces his ancestry to King Mzilikazi who is credited with the founding of the
Ndebele state, was reported by the state media as endorsing the fast-track land resettlement
programme. But in an interview yesterday, Khumalo said any political links in his personal
capacity would jeopardise his cultural responsibilities and dilute the work done in promoting
culture and the envisaged restoration of the Ndebele monarchy.

He said politicking would further compromise any future dialogue planned with government
when the time came for discussions on bringing back the monarchy in Matabeleland.

The Bulawayo-based government weekly, the Sunday News, carried a story last week claiming
Khumalo supported the government on the land issue. Khumalo maintains the article was
fabricated and portrayed him in a negative light.

"There is nothing that I said that gave a slant of support to the land reform programme as it is
being carried out now," said Khumalo.

"I remain mute about the current exercise. I stress that this is for politicians and not my
business. I am apolitical and very cultural," he and very cultural," he said.

As a representative of the Khumalo clan on various committees working to promote culture and
the history of the Ndebele people and their way of life, he said the issue of land was political
because it was linked to the economy of the country. Because of his mandate of cultural revival
he would be compromised if he got entangled in politics, he said.

"Due to the success of cultural programmes I have initiated in Matabeleland and the realisation
of some opportunist quarters of the community, somebody somewhere is trying through such
manipulative statements to use me to get a following in Matabeleland," said Khumalo, who is
currently working on the memorial programme for the 133th anniversary of King Mzilikazi’s
death.

The commemorative events starting on September 14 will culminate in a public event on
September 15. Khumalo is also involved in the preparation for the 75th anniversary of
Highlanders Football Club to be held at Old Bulawayo, the site of Mzilikazi’s royal homestead
just outside the city.

"I do not want to be used," he said. "I remain a cultural person and I intend to hurt nobody that
has a right to own property in Zimbabwe. I refuse to be associated with politics at this moment."

Meanwhile, former Rhodesian prime minister Sir Garfield Todd is livid about reports that he
supported the 1987 unity accord between President Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo. Todd,
regretting the constant abuse of Nkomo’s name, said he could not be associated with the ruling
party which had turned a blind eye to violence and lawlessness.

"No reasonable Zimbabwean could urge his fellow citizens to unite behind a party which uses
violence and lawlessness to maintain its power," said Todd in a statement this week.

"No reasonable person could want any continued association with a party which has
undermined Zimbabwe’s constitution, harmed our judiciary, emasculated our police force,
distorted all other organs of State, devastated our ravaged land, employed dreadful brutality
against fellow humans black and white, young and old who are brave enough to stand against
the current tides of terror," he said.


78


From the Wichita Eagle Newspaper July 21, 2001 - This story from HARARE,

Geoff Nyarota's newspaper has been bombed twice so far this year. The marble and concrete
entrance to the 10-story building that houses it on a busy downtown Harare street still bears
scars from the April 22 banger, a homemade device tossed from a passing car.

Three months earlier, an armed commando-style team held a guard at gunpoint and blew up the
newspaper's presses with four well-placed bombs.

This is a country where reporters. and photographers for newspapers that don't toe the
government's line have been beaten, detained, harassed and threatened.

Still, Nyarota's Daily News, Zimbabwe's only independent daily, stays on, the case. Along with
some independent weeklies, it provides Zimbabwe's only alternative voice since President
Robert Mugabe shut dawn independent radio and television late last year.

"In the U.S., newspapers are taken for granted, but not here." Nyarota said. "Here the journalist
must justify his quest for information (from the government), and even then the information may
not be provided."

And the quest might get you killed or tortured. Just ask two other independent Zimbabwean
journalists, Ray Chato, chief reporter for the weekly Standard, and his editor Mark Chavunduka.
They were arrested in late 1999 and tortured with clubs, water and electric prods by soldiers
seeking to know the sources of a story about an attempted coup.

 Zimbabwe's story is particularly sad, because the country has had so much going for it. A
decade before apartheid fell, Zimbabwe's strong courts and high literacy rate were making it an
encouraging model to South Africa for how a racially segregated, neocolonial society could
transform itself to majority rule.

"It would be a gross understatement to say that President Mugabe has deeply disappointed
those of us who hoped he would stick to democratic principles. After two decades in office,
Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party appear to have lost majority support, especially in urban
areas: Now he faces a real chance of losing next year's elections.

As a result, Mugabe is behaving the way politicians in trouble typically do: He blames the
media. Unlike most, he's using a big hammer of censorship and intimidation.

Under his minister of information, Jonathan Moyo, a scholar and former Mugabe critic,
independent radio and television have been shut down and the independent press has been
harassed by both officials and the same "war vets" (including more than a few paid, non-veteran
thugs) who have become famous by attacking and killing white farmers.

Government spokesmen announce press conferences without telling anyone but the stat- run
media, just to guarantee a friendly audience. Chi June 6, a new weekly TV talk show was
banned after only one broadcast because some callers criticized "The Headmaster," one of
Mugabe's growing list of nicknames.

Most foreign correspondents have been expelled, and it is increasingly hard for new ones to get
media visas or accreditation.

As a way of distracting world attention, Mugabe's media crackdown has a diabolical cleverness
to it. In today's post-Cold War world, television pictures drive foreign policy. Americans, in
particular, do not respond to crises in remote places these days unless they see it on television.
Famine in Somalia, where TV was allowed, gets a big response. Slave markets in the war-torn
Sudan, where TV is not allowed, does not.

Zimbabwe's best resource, as in any democracy, is its people. Besides it's feisty newspapers,
the country has strong legal institutions and one of the highest literacy rates on the continent. It
also has many courageous people. Some of them are journalists. They make me proud to be in
the same profession.


79

On a knife-edge: Mugabe supporters are intensifying their intimidation of the MDC
Ever since its disputed victory in last June's parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe, President Robert
Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has waged a low-intensity war aimed at destroying the opposition MDC. The
Harare townships that supported the MDC have been subjected to assaults by the army and police. A
similar campaign is now under way in the countryside. Particularly ferocious have been attempts to root
the MDC out of the three Mashonaland provinces of northern Zimbabwe that have been Zanu-PF's
traditional heartland.

Every night last week MDC officials were paraded on television to renounce their party. They now
understood, they explained, that the MDC was a party for whites, backed by the British, and that "like lost
sheep we are returning to the fold" - that is, rejoining Zanu-PF. Tendai Gagwa (a pseudonym) was one of
those who went on television to renounce the MDC. He used to be one of the party's branch officials in
Muzarabani, in Mashonaland central province. "We have had floods in Muzarabani and many roads are
impassable, but the Zanu-PF youth were flown in by army helicopter," he said. "They started to beat me
with canes and knobkerries [short sticks with knobbed heads], saying, 'You are MDC, you must die.' "They
said they would burn down my house and beat my family too."

Tendai had heard how Robson Tinarwo, an MDC youth leader in nearby Shamva, had been attacked last
Sunday by Zanu-PF activists and had refused to renounce his party. They had beaten him to death with
metal rods. Witnesses reported the case to the police, but no action was taken. Shamva is the
constituency of Nicholas Goche, Zanu-PF minister for internal security and boss of the secret police.
Goche has sworn to "clear" his area of MDC supporters. "I felt I must protect my family. My wife was crying
and my daughter was screaming," Tendai said. "They were beating them and tearing their clothes. I knew
they were going to rape them and make me watch. So I said, 'All right, I will leave MDC.' I felt terrible.
"They said, 'You must give us your party card and T-shirt.' They said I must spit at the picture of Morgan
Tsvangirai [the MDC leader] on the T-shirt. I did it. 'Now you must join Zanu-PF and sing party songs with
us,' they said. While I sang, they kept beating me."

Next morning the tormentors returned and demanded that he tell them the names of all
the other MDC officials in the district, he said. "They made me point out their houses.
Then they gave me a whip and said, 'Now you must lead the beating.' I was hoping that
my comrades were away. But some were home. "I will never forget their faces. It must
have been how Jesus looked at Judas. In most cases they renounced the MDC but one
was very brave and refused. I whipped him and whipped him and I was crying to him,
'Please give up.' In the end, one of them hit him unconscious with a knobkerrie."

That evening Tendai was flown by helicopter to Harare to make his renunciation on television. He has
secretly made contact with MDC officials again since, but they are loath to trust him. There have been
more than 100 public renunciations of the MDC in Muzarabani. There have been similar scenes - often
involving hut-burning and rape - in other rural areas. In Shamva alone last week there were 18 serious
assaults and seven houses were burned.

Even this may be dwarfed by the retribution the Mugabe government seems to be planning for the MDC-
voting masses of the Harare townships. It announced last week that it would demolish the estimated
145,000 shacks that provide accommodation for 1m people. The idea seems to be to force people into the
countryside, making them rely on the farm plots that Zanu-PF will offer them on land taken from white
farmers. Commentators are wondering whether any violent protest might allow the government to decree a
state of emergency, so it could ban the MDC and detain its leaders without trial. Robin Cook, the foreign
secretary, will seek an expression of disapproval over the crisis in Zimbabwe at this week's meeting in
London of the Commonwealth ministerial action group, set up to look at human rights among member
states.


80

Mugabe declares race war

Dumisani Muleya
AFTER telling his central committee on Wednesday that Zanu PF was at war with the country’s
white commercial farmers, an embattled President Mugabe yesterday intensified his racial
rhetoric to whip up nationalist indignation against a growing list of enemies -- at home and
abroad -- in his battle for political survival.


Two days after war veterans murdered former MP Henry Elsworth in Kwekwe, he said his party
should "strike fear into the heart of the white man, our real enemy".


Opening the three-day Zanu PF special congress in Harare, Muga-be also stepped up attacks
on the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) whom he accused of teaming up
with whites to overthrow his government.


A thread of crude racist rhetoric ran through Mugabe’s ranco- rous address in which he tried to
stoke-up racial emotions and garner support as the party’s candidate in the 2002 presidential
poll.
The president admitted his party’s poor performance in the June election saying it was because
"we were sleeping".


"Our party must continue to strike fear in the heart of the white man, our real enemy," said
Mugabe as a receptive audience bussed in for the occasion bellowed Zanu PF slogans and
anti-MDC denunciations.


In a combative and paranoid mood, Mugabe -- who of late has been trading on warlike
demagoguery to frighten critics -- threatened to fight back in defence of his troubled
stewardship. He repeated his mantra that the MDC would never rule this country.


"The intellectual level of this country will not allow the MDC ignoramuses to rule this country,"
Mugabe declared amid applause from his party faithful.


"Whites have formed an alliance and are regrouping across borders to defend their interests ...
We have also started regrouping to defend the gains of the revolution," he said.


Mugabe then launched into a stinging attack on whites accusing them of trying to rule the whole
world. He said they should "think afresh" on their alleged hegemonic tendencies because "Africa
is for Africans" in as much as "Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans".


Mugabe lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union saying it spawned a Western-controlled
global economic system which had impoverished the Third World. He said the current economic
reforms had reversed the social gains of the first decade of Independence.


"The far-reaching changes that took place from 1989 and beyond, largely triggered by the
collapse of the Soviet Union and the concomitant unchecked rise of the West and its market-
based global systems, did not create a helpful global environment for the transformative vision
we had at Independence," said Mugabe.


"Instead, the new unipolar environment simply legitimised and deepened the racially skewed
structures we have had here."
Mugabe, hankering after the command economy and price controls, charged that the economy
was currently in the hands of a "racist" minority and foreigners.


"We have an economy which largely excludes and exiles our people, while reposing all the
power and control into the hands of a tiny racial minority of colonial origins," Mugabe said.


"We do not have a national economy; what we have are our nationals in a foreign-owned and
controlled economy...of course we participate as wage earners, as mortgaged and
circumscribed legislators and governors.


A "small racial group", he said, determined how the economy functioned and that had caused
hardships. Recycling rancid explanations, Mugabe said various factors, excluding economic



81

mismanagement, were responsible for the economic implosion.

"We have had droughts, we have had cyclones, we have had depressed international markets
which knocked out practically all our leading exportables, starting with tobacco and ending with
base metals," he explained.

"This is our objective situation, quite structural indeed and cannot be described in any way as
bad management of the economy by government," he said.

The president, locked in denial, said land redistribution should be the beginning of genuine
economic structural adjustment.

"Real structural adjustment of the economy therefore starts with the land which must change
hands in favour of our people. With that vital resource at their disposal, our people should be
able to create employment for themselves, fend for themselves, and get over the poverty and
misery that afflict them presently," he said.

Mugabe claimed those economic reforms since 1991 had caused poverty and were
destabilising third world countries. He said former Ghanian President Jerry Rawlings was
"defeated" (he did not contest the presidential poll because he had served his two constitutional
terms of office) because of problems caused by Western-backed economic reforms.

The president said even if the MDC was to come into power it would not resolve the economic
problems because it comprised ignorant politicians.

"Where will he (MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai) get ideas to resolve economic problems?"
Mugabe asked.

"Does Tsvangirai even understand how an economy functions?" he asked amid cheers from the
ecstatic crowd.

Mugabe reiterated that he would defy court orders in pursuit of his arbitrary land reforms. He
said he would continue with his land programme as he pleases.

"Our fast-track land reform programme is underway and phenomenal progress has been
registered since its inception hardly six months ago," Mugabe announced.

"There is no going back, there is no hesitancy on this one. The attacks and pressures we have
endured can only encourage us to be more resolute," he said.

Mugabe, appealing for local and regional solidarity, persisted with the official claim that the
international community was beginning to understand his land reform policy while Britain, the
former colonial master, was increasingly isolated.

"I want to thank the many African presidents who have stood by us on this matter of supreme
principle (land). Indeed, support for us continues to grow on the continent and within the Third
World, while that commanded by the British regime continues to dwindle, even within Europe,"
Mugabe said.

Yesterday Tsvangirai responded to the killing of Elsworth by saying that in Zimbabwe today,
nobody was safe.

"No one can confidently feel safe. The law enforcers are now involved in lawlessness
themselves with the tacit approval of the president himself. Everyone must be very careful," he
said following Mugabe’s latest threats.


82


Cutting Edge

Diana Mitchell
WHAT hope is left for a country whose judges are now the target for attack by their own Minister
of Justice? This newly appointed dignitary, who gave early signals of his politically subservient
tendencies towards the end of his important role as Attorney-General, has been deftly
positioned to administer the coup de grace to what remains of Zimbabwe’s precious rule of law.

As if we had not seen enough of politically ‘approved’ lawlessness, dangerously encouraged by
ruling party apparat-chiks whose boss’s hold on power is seriously threatened, we are now
faced with the appalling prospect of watching these latest attempts, orchestrated by cynical men
who are neither ashamed of their actions, nor fearful of the consequences, working
systematically to bring certain of our judges, and in particular our Chief Justice, into disrepute.

The law-mens’ latest failure, in the trumped up or imagined submission of their accusers, is that
white judges have been racially biased in their rulings on the ongoing land wrangles. What a
gross insult has been implied in this and other cases to the "non-white" judges and others who
far outnumber "whites" in Zimbabwe’s judiciary, this most vital pillar of democracy. Our political
masters are living in the wrong time and place. This is not the former apartheid South Africa.
They are shouting against thunder.

Political cynicism has reached new depths in the deliberate misinterpretation of one judge’s
expression, "so-called war veterans". Justice Smith need give no apology when 10 000
witnesses can testify to the fact that real war vets who have a genuine cause in appealing for
land reform have been far outnumbered by young, unemployed men and women, desperate to
earn a few dollars as a Zanu PF private militia who have been given licence to invade whatever
land-holdings they please -- even an army firing range!

Villagers of all ages, not all of whom participated directly in the liberation struggle (certainly
almost everyone in rural areas was affected, indirectly) cannot automatically assume the
mantle, the hard won accolade, the salutation of "war vets". Justice Smith knows this, we all
know it. He speaks the truth.

The chairman of the Law Society, Sternford Moyo, has given an expert’s account, mercifully
couched in layman’s language, of what is amiss when a Minister of Justice attacks his judges; of
what goes on vis-a-vis the Supreme Court’s latest ruling on farm occupations, or rather on the
need to obey not the judges, but the law.

It cannot be said too often that it is the laws made by parliament and enacted under the
constitution, that they are sworn to abide by. If you need further clarification of this, go along to
the Media Institute of Southern Africa office, take a magnetic tape, pay your dollars and get a
copy of ZBC’s debate between Patrick China- masa and Sternford Moyo aired on Patu Manala’s
famous phone-in programme. Listen carefully to the voices, the language of people who call in.

Without exception, the callers, black Africans, challenged the minister. They disagreed with him.
One or two went so far as to insult him. His point of view, making it seem somehow that
Zimbabweans in their culture and value systems are a primitive lot, certainly irritated a lot of
people. That our legal institutions, so vital to the social, economic and political health of our
country, should be pulled down in the name of injustices of the past, injustices undenied (by
even the whitest of judges), is a travesty of truth and justice.

But before I go on, please let us drop this nonsense of whiteness being of any great importance
in this particular argument. Remember always that it was the president himself who, after taking
recommendations from the Judical Service Commission (not an all-white outfit) appointed the
judges of the High Court, of the Supreme Court and, ultimately, the Chief Justice.

I am ready to bet that Chief Justice Gubbay has no large landholding and even if he had, would
not let this stand in the way of his judgements. I know for certain that Justice Nick McNally has
no farm and is devoted to his arduous work on the bench in the Supreme Court. Maliciously, or
mendaciously perhaps, the new Minister of Justice omits to remind the public that McNally was
a leading light in the political opposition for all of the years of the Rhodesian Front’s rule. (‘Pick
Nick!’ was the exhortation of one of our campaign posters!)


83


He was my mentor, among many white lawyers who gave countless hours of their time, freely,
guiding and advising legal ignoramuses in the Centre Party and then the Rhodesia Party and
the NUF on legal aspects of the fight for justice for all Zimbabweans before 1980.

And a final word on colour, this artificial additive here, so liberally poured on troubled waters,
How come one of the best judges ever to preside in our respected courts, our former Chief
Justice, Enoch Dumbutshena, as Zimbabwean as the great bird on the Masvingo acropolis, was
prematurely retired? He could not be relied upon to be compliant in matters which were patently
politically loaded.

There is plenty of documentary evidence of this. And further, Hon minister, sir, his friend Justice
Gubbay celebrated with his black predecessor and Enoch’s devoted family and friends, this
esteemed and uncorrupted former nationalist leader’s 80th birthday not long ago.

What a tragedy that a man like Patrick Chinamasa, so highly respe- cted before he fell into the
murky waters of political turpitude, should join the defenders of the indefensible. Africanness,
African culture and values are one thing. Chaos and lawlessness, disrespect for the law --
these are not intrinsic to any African culture that I have studied. Landlessness is real and
deserves the attention of the best brains in the country, or out of it for that matter.

Lawlessness is a new invention. It is demeaning of the minister’s dignity to call him names, but
he will be deserving of no such dignity if he merely uses his office as a stick to beat our
excellent judges into submission to the will of the ruling party. It is clear to any citizen of
Zimbabawe who cares to face the facts that the ruling party is acting ultra vires the law in its
long delayed approach to solving the land question. Only the judges stand firmly as guardians
of the law. They can be relied upon to make judgements according to the law and not according
to the whims of leaders and spokespersons of a thoroughly discredited Zanu PF.

There are court cases pending in which lawless elements from that party will, if the law is
allowed to take its course, be brought before the judges and given the opportunity to present
their defences.
There are cases pending on the questionable outcomes of dozens of parliamentary seats. The
current judiciary, with only one possible and well-known exception, can be relied upon to uphold
the letter of the law and to abide with sagacity and empathy, with its spirit.

If amendments in tune with the times are needed, it is a new constitution agreed by the majority
that can bring these about. If, before this should be achieved, all respect for the custodians of
the law is abandoned, junked by shortsighted politicians, then even the best constitution in the
world could not be upheld. The law and the people will be consigned to jungle politics and to the
law of the jungle.

I doubt that Zimbabweans are willing to allow that to happen, and the evidence of the last
general election proving that is so, is there for all the world to see.


84


This time Mugabe has gone too far! Since April 2000, following the defeat of the Zanu
proposed new constitution, Mugabe has pursued a land policy that has said "land is the key to
our prosperity as a people, it is our heritage.

The continued occupation by a small clique of commercial farmers of the best land is not
acceptable, the fast track land reform exercise is our response to this situation". Africa took him
at his word and his statements at face value. A lot of people in the rest of the world said it was
OK - but do it legally. He went on to say, "this is not a racist agenda, we only want to redress
the imbalance. All we ask for is vacant and under-utilised land, land that is surplus and if a
farmer only has only one farm, he will be offered another, if we decide that we need his farm for
settlement for
technical reasons". Sounds OK?

Now, 18 months later, the government has brushed aside all the niceties, designated for
compulsory acquisition, without compensation, 10,7 million hectares of land out of 12 million
under commercial occupation at this time.

He has further unleashed on these hapless farmers a programme of violent occupation and has
instructed the forces of law and order to ignore the law and to prosecute only those who resist
or show sympathy for, the plight of those involved.

Now 8 farmers and some 40 others have been killed, hundreds injured and raped, homes burnt,
possessions stolen and tens of thousands have been displaced. Farm activities have been
totally disrupted; food production has fallen by 50 per cent and key export industries face total
collapse. Up to 3 million people face starvation and we are now linked with the Sudan and
Somalia as food crisis countries. The Courts, responding to the appeals of those affected have
ordered the government to stop this nonsense, draw up a proper land reform programme and
then start again - their opinions have been ignored and the Judges making these legal
judgements have been
threatened and their courts and homes invaded.

Now to complete the scenario, Mugabe and his henchmen have hatched a plan that calls for 3
million people to be moved in the next 6 months. 1,5 million from the cities onto commercial
farmland now forcibly empty and idle and as a consequence 1,5 million people - all of them
former dependants on commercial agriculture, now homeless and destitute, to squatter camps
outside the cities.

This Stalin-like, Khymer Rouge exercise is to be undertaken by the Army and the Police. The
new commercial farm "settlers" will be registered to vote on transfer to their new "homes" and
will be paid a per deum and given other support while they wait until the time comes to vote.
Then they will be told to vote for Mugabe or be displaced -- like the farm workers and their
families. The farm workers and their families will be unable to vote because they are not in their
constituencies and as "internally displaced refugees" they will be disenfranchised. Zanu PF
hopes by these draconian means to shift 1 million votes in favour of Mugabe in the presidential
election in March 2002.

This plan was revealed in a story covered by the Financial Gazette and has not been denied. It
must therefore be true and what a horrifying story it makes. It's Thabo Mbeki's worst nightmare
because, in all probability, South Africa will find itself subjected to a new wave of illegal
immigrants
who will join the millions of other people in the shanty towns of South Africa.

If nothing is done to stop this madness - and to stop it now, Zimbabwe will slide inevitably into
anarchy and chaos. Its economy, already teetering on the brink of the abyss will slide into
oblivion. Its people totally dependent on foreign aid to feed themselves and to provide some
form of health and education for their children. I am not the only one who is thinking in these
terms - the exchange rate for foreign exchange is now 250 to 1 for the US dollar indicating total
panic amongst those who have any resources. Capital flight at these premiums means that
people are
dumping their assets at any cost. If you compute our GDP at these rates, we are suffering from
a 70 per cent decline in the GDP in real terms at this moment.


85


As for the farmers - there are close to 10 000 white men on commercial farms, owners,
managers and assistants. These are generally tough individuals with a very determined outlook
on life. Used to making decisions they are mostly very individualistic and used to giving orders.

Controlling large labour forces is a major part of their responsibilities. These men and their
families have been subjected to insults, physical threats and worse for the past 18 months. They
have had no support from any quarter -- no international organisation has stood up for their
rights and no government has offered any assistance whatsoever. Banks have demanded
repayment of loans and withheld funding for normal activities and theft of crops and livestock
has been commonplace. They have been stripped of their rights as citizens and as human
beings, they have been denied the protection of the law. They have not been allowed to protect
their families, their staff or their assets.

During this 18-month period not a single "war veteran" has been killed in anger, very few
incidents of violence perpetrated by these white men against their tormentors have been
recorded. Not a single person who has been responsible for various forms of violence against
these farm families and their staff and their families has been prosecuted or convicted. It
represents a totally one-sided application of the laws of this country and makes a complete
mockery of all that Mugabe has been saying for the past 18 months.

Now in a small town called Chinhoyi, Zanu PF thugs are beating up ordinary citizens - among
them 20 white women simply going about their ordinary business in a small farming town. The
objective - to try and so enrage these courageous people that they will retaliate. It's a sure
sign of complete desperation. Like having a prisoner whom you are beating and torturing to
secure some information and all he does is smile at you - eventually you haul in his wife and say

- what will you do if we meet out to her, what we are doing to you?
No matter what you might think of these white farming families, there are principles at stake
here which are universal and every person who stands for decency and the rule of law in
society, has to stand by these people and say to Mugabe and his thugs, enough is enough!

Failure to do so will not only make all of us poorer in spirit and in human values but will
condemn yet another potentially prosperous state in Africa to mayhem and abject poverty. It
also justifies all the racial innuendoes that racists have used over the years to denigrate and
undermine black consciousness.

It flies in the face of all that people like Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela have stood for in life. It's
time for black Americans and Europeans to stand up for justice in this part of the world and to
say to Mugabe that his behaviour is totally unacceptable.

Its time for those "smart sanctions" against the Zimbabwe leadership. Deny Mugabe food
for his bloated ego; take away their ill-gotten gains from corruption. Exclude them from
the gatherings of international leaders and insist that if they continue on this course of
action, they will be fully excluded from the international community.

At Durban - label the Mugabe land grab as racist and at CHOGM, tell Mugabe that he is no
longer acceptable in that community of nations because he has violated its principles.

M.Ngwenya
August 4, 2001


86


Seldom has the world seen such a dramatic example of economic failure stem
from political expediency.

Zimbabwe is a country blessed with a well-educated population, a good climate, exceptional

agricultural productivity, a well-developed and diverse mining industry, an excellent
infrastructure and an extensive manufacturing base. Yet its population has only one twentieth or
less wealth per person than many smaller and less well-endowed countries -- and it is getting
poorer. This crisis has been brought about by Zimbabwe's own government, which has been
savagely attacking any and all who might present a threat to its re-election. Seldom has the
world seen such a dramatic example of economic failure stem from political expediency.

An increasing number of Zimbabweans have suffered terrible consequences as a result of the
current political policies. Whether because of land acquisitions or the ruling party's hostile
reaction to the emergence of a political opposition, many people have been dispossessed of
property or have had to endure severe physical abuse. Thousands of livelihoods have been
destroyed and the welfare of tens of thousands of dependants has been badly affected. Dozens
of people have actually lost their lives.

Deaths and severe injuries have devastated families, usually leaving them without a
breadwinner. The welfare of these families presents a challenge that some of the more
generous and caring members of society have accepted without hesitation. Vitally important
efforts are being made to marshal much more support for all these victims of injustice, as many
of them are now relying totally on assistance.

However, events are proving that these efforts must be doubled and redoubled to keep pace
with the growing number of innocent victims. Already the need of support funding is testing the
limits of local resources, and help from abroad is becoming essential and urgent.

Rapid deterioration

Unfortunately, the present situation in Zimbabwe shows every sign of deteriorating further, and
at an even more rapid rate than before, making the number of people requiring assistance
completely unmanageable. In fact, the prospect of Zimbabwe's socio-economic collapse calls to
mind the horrors of similar tragedies elsewhere in Africa, such as the Sudan, Ethiopia and
Somalia. In each of these, the aid agencies and other fund-raising efforts simply could not cope.

Zimbabwe's crisis is the result of political policy decisions and has not stemmed from some
natural disaster. For this reason, the crisis can be overcome only if the political issues can be
resolved, but by design, Zimbabwean citizens have very limited leverage in their own political
arena. Urgent and decisive action from as many influential countries and agencies as possible
is essential to prevent the casualties of this calamitous process from increasing from thousands
to millions.

Having been launched from the springboard of commercial farmland invasions, the latest
assaults on individual rights in Zimbabwe are being carried out by practised and emboldened
attackers. Their invasions of urban businesses are proving even more dangerous and sinister
than the actions taken against commercial farmers.

A progression towards civil conflict

The traumas being inflicted on civil society could all too readily become very much more violent
simply because the progression of events towards open conflict might by now be impossible to
stop. To wrest compliance and subservience from as many people as it takes to achieve their
purposes, the ruling party has empowered the "war veterans'" movement to extract that
compliance by whatever means it considers necessary.

By claiming the status of war veterans, various individuals and groups -- whose ages often
make that claim patently false -- are given the clearance they need to break the law with
impunity.


87


In publicly witnessed operations reminiscent of the behaviour of the Red Guard under Chairman
Mao in the late 1960s, the Zimbabwean war veterans have been dispensing punishment and
public humiliation on any whose political affiliations are suspected to lie in other directions.
Victims of this "re-education process" have been denied recourse to law as the perpetrators
have been given immunity from the law.

Zimbabwe faces the growing prospect of violence from the oppressed public as it reacts to the
increasingly resented abuses, and also from the inevitable and overdue contest between the
state-empowered uniformed forces and the party-empowered war veterans. As they relentlessly
test the limits of what they can get away with, the war veterans have already encroached on the
jurisdiction of the recognised authorities and have more recently broken into the territory of the
trades union movement as well as that of the Ministry of Labour.

Power without accountability

The war veterans have also assumed the powers of company directors and claimed the right to
decide on company personnel and financial matters. They have interfered in local government
affairs and displaced the authority of the police. They have claimed the right to sit in judgement
in labour disputes and to decide on cash settlements, always claiming a significant share of the
payments as their "commission". In numerous situations that have led to individuals and
businesses seeking the protection of the law, that protection has been denied because of the
involvement of the war veterans.

However, the war veterans do not accept accountability for their actions. Despite their growing
lists of criminal activities, all the way through to murder, none of the war veterans has been
prosecuted. They have not been held accountable for funds extracted with menaces from
employers, nor for goods such as firearms and vehicles illegally confiscated from targeted
farmers and businesses.
On its present course, the decline of Zimbabwe's economy is becoming steeper by the day.
Victims range from those who have been retrenched as their employers have downsized
through to those whose jobs have disappeared because their employers have been forced to
close down. Among the employers themselves, the unfortunate range from those who have had
to suspend operations for lack of customers or suppliers to those who have been driven to
bankruptcy by extortionate payments to war veterans.

In the service sectors as well as the productive sectors, many of those who did have work are
now joining the unemployed. Market demand is shrinking, as are supplies of materials and
components as a direct result of the country's declining foreign earnings. The only other sources
of foreign exchange, direct investment and foreign assistance, have also dried up as the ruling
party's behaviour has destroyed investor confidence and has led to the country's disqualification
from IMF and World Bank support and from every developed country's list of worthy recipients
of aid.

Destruction of job opportunities

Hundreds of thousands of other casualties have been accumulating over a period of years.
They include the young people who have not found paid employment since leaving school. In
the past four years, about 1 400 000 young people have left school and the estimate is that
formal sector job opportunities were offered to perhaps 100 000 of them. That leaves 1 300 000
who have yet to find formal jobs. Under less damaged investment conditions, perhaps another
200 000 of them would have found openings.

Our population size and birth rate produces a yearly school-leaver rate that would be a severe
challenge even to a well-run economy, but in our badly-run economy, the school-leavers'
prospects of a formal sector career are almost non-existent.

The ruling party would have its supporters believe that the only people at risk in Zimbabwe are
multi-national companies with Zimbabwean assets, the "white colonisers" and the supporters of
parties that are in opposition to Zanu (PF). In fact, the consequences of the process are already
seriously affecting nearly everybody. If it is allowed to continue, it could soon engulf and
impoverish the whole population. Only the political manipulators and a handful of the best



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placed opportunists will profit from the experience or come through it with their assets intact.

Capturing wealth
Just what the ruling party's purposes are has become clearer with each new policy decision. It is
to capture ownership of the country's economic resources. Gaining ownership of the country's
political machinery did not automatically bring about the desired transfers of wealth. The capture
of the existing economic high-ground is now seen to be the overwhelming priority.

However, Zimbabwe's options in more constructive directions are immense. The country has
remarkable people and remarkable resources, which in any normal situation would add up to
remarkable potential. As a measure of how much potential, Zimbabwe's human and natural
resource base greatly exceeds that of many other countries, but when its performance is
compared to that of the less well-endowed countries, all too often it is Zimbabwe that is found
wanting.

As an example, the gross domestic product of every European country is between fifteen times
and thirty five times larger than Zimbabwe's. Some have smaller populations than Zimbabwe's,
and the gross domestic product per head of the least wealthy, which is Portugal, works out at
twenty times ours. Yet Portugal has less than one quarter of the land mass, very few of the
mineral resources, and very much less agricultural potential. In other words, Zimbabwe is only
5% as rich as the least wealthy country in Western Europe, even though Zimbabwe has
everything needed to close that gap. Everything, that is, other than the quality of political
stewardship needed to make the best of our economic opportunities.

It seems that the enormously more appropriate option of generating additional economic high-
ground that would be owned by its creators is not considered an option at all by the ruling party.
From its political perspective, this process has so far proved to be too slow and uncertain for the
party's purposes, and no means have been devised to guarantee that the process would put the
new wealth into the hands of only the indigenous people. Moreover, those indigenous people
who have enjoyed unusual success have found themselves in conflict with the party if they
resisted pressures to relinquish a significant proportion of their business to the party machine.

Distribution by the party

In terms of their plan, the ruling party also insists that this process of capturing economic
territory has to be accomplished specifically by themselves. This is so that the reallocation of the
prizes, the captured assets, will fall entirely within the party's gift. Dressed up as socialism and
Marxist-Leninist thinking on the redistribution of wealth, and energised by disingenuous
righteous indignation, the policy is actually designed to enrich and firmly entrench a tiny,
powerful and morally bankrupt minority.

If the ruling party's objectives are realised, ordinary citizens will end up with no individual rights
at all and will become totally dependent on the patronage of the party. The price to be paid in
claiming their now collectivised rights will be their total and unquestioning loyalty to the party. In
effect, this outcome will be a restoration of the feudal pre-colonial tribal society in which
individual rights did not exist and the chief wielded absolute authority.

Past inadequacies are mainly to blame for Zanu PF's decision to follow this course. Having
failed to generate conditions that would have led to reasonable levels of economic growth
during most of the years since independence, the ruling party's politicians have come under
increasing pressure to find ways to appear to be trying to uplift the masses.

Sustained economic growth, had it been achieved, would have been accompanied by extensive
social improvements. This growth would have had to be supported by high levels of investment,
which in turn would have generated significant employment growth and delivered growing
opportunities to Zimbabwe's well-educated and extremely resourceful population.

Increasing numbers of people qualifying for ever-more demanding jobs would have seen far
more people successfully moving up the economic and social ladders. They would have been
able to earn regular wages and salaries, open bank accounts and credit accounts, qualify for
mortgage bonds and buy houses. Their good schooling would have become the springboard


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into respectable positions in an increasingly complex technological world and they would have
been able to claim ownership of their own futures.

Instead, their futures are now likely to be the property of an intensely limiting feudal system that
will keep all but the small ruling class in a state of perpetual poverty. For the ordinary
individuals, the process of capital formation will be impossible. Their education and inborn
capabilities will be handicaps, best kept suppressed to prevent friction between themselves and
their totalitarian masters.

Half the economy at risk

All of the moral indignation being expressed by Zanu PF in its passionate claims for the
recovery of "land for the landless" is missing, not just one vital point, but a whole raft of points.
As commercial agriculture is crucial to the continued survival of about half the paid employment
in the country, brings in about half the foreign exchange earnings and generates about half the
taxes collected by government, closing it down could cut the size of the economy by half. And
the half that is left would inevitably shrink.

The country's gross domestic product per head could fall by half to less than the equivalent of
US$250 a year, and it could then continue falling to a figure that could place Zimbabwe among
the poorest countries in the world. The ruling party's display of total indifference to the welfare of
the vast majority of the population shows through in its response to this possibility. This is borne
out by its resolute determination not to listen to, or even acknowledge the public debates on the
issues. This virtually ensures that the ideas will remain dangerous and destructive.

The claimed inevitability that the newly-resettled farmers on former commercial farm land will
not produce nearly as much as the former commercial farmers is often dismissed as nothing
more than a racial insult. That response misses perhaps the most important point, which is that
the different farming systems under which the distinct groups function makes wide disparities
between results a certainty. As the less effective and less sustainable of the systems is being
extended over the previously highly successful parts of the country, production will certainly
decline. Land reform is necessary, but the wrong land is being reformed.

Two different systems

The issue of the two distinctly different systems is vitally important. If forced to live under the
traditional system's constraints, the best of Zimbabwe's commercial farmers would also have
performed very poorly. With no ownership rights over the piece of land allocated to them, no
collateral that could support an application for bank finance, no security of tenure to encourage
the making of long term plans for the farm's development and no prospect of leaving the land to
a family member, none of the means or motivations that have stimulated farming successes in
the commercial areas are at work under the communal system.

So whether or not the resettled farmers have the ability to farm is not the question. Of total
relevance is that the system of communal ownership greatly limits the farmers' access to the
needed resources as well as to all the other essentials of success in a very demanding industry.

Working against the constraints that are imposed on their activities by these limitations, the
resettlement farmers will not generate the volumes of saleable agricultural commodities that
have sustained dozens of other businesses. As customers of the farmers, or as suppliers to the
farmers, these other companies have come to make up a considerable proportion of the
producers, exporters, employers and taxpayers in the economy. They are all now at risk.

The plan to dismantle the country's principal industry and replace it with a collective peasant or
subsistence farming system appears to make the assumption that, because this style of
cultivation served the population before colonisation, it will do so again. However, the population
growth of the past century simply disqualifies this idea, quite apart from the fact that subsistence
farming output has been shown the world over to fall a very long way behind the performance of
large-scale commercial farming. The importance of this truth is all the more pertinent for
populations that have rapidly burgeoning aspirations as well as capabilities.

Zimbabwe's indigenous population today is at least 25 times the size it was 110 years ago,


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when the country was colonised. This population growth was itself made sustainable because of
the growth achieved in agricultural output. Today, the welfare of the total population depends
upon this output being maintained and the whole of the government's tax base depends upon
economic activities that did not exist in the traditional economy just over a century ago.

Employment shrinkage

Only the mining sector and a very limited number of firms in the manufacturing and commercial
sectors stand a chance of surviving the transition now taking place, if it stays on track. Even
these companies will perform very poorly in an economy that has lost most of its foreign
earnings and most of its paid employment.

The wages and salaries paid to the hundreds of thousands of people who used to work on the
commercial farms will cease, as will the flow of earnings to the hundreds of thousands of
employees of upstream and downstream businesses. In turn, this shrinkage in buying power will
destroy yet more jobs as it brings to an end the viability of thousands of suppliers of consumer
goods and services.

The traditional system depended upon patronage. So will this one. Newly-resettled farmers will
discover that, as they cannot get title deeds to their new land, the banks will not be able to lend
to them. To make this situation worse, they will also lack the security of tenure needed to risk
investing their own savings in a plot of land that has been merely allocated to them. They will be
conscious that, when the political climate changes, it will be just as easy for new players to take
the land from them. And if that happens, they will have no recourse to law, the concept and
sanctity of property ownership rights having been effectively destroyed.

Different systems

Newly resettled farmers, therefore, will not be able to do on their land what the commercial
farmer did before them, not because of any inherent shortcoming of the farmers, but because of
the shortcomings of the system under which they farm. The land is being given to them free of
charge and they will have only to show loyalty to the ruling party to keep it. Had they been
required to pay for the land, they might well have been able to claim ownership in a more formal
sense, and would certainly have been better motivated to make very good use of it.

Every developed and newly-industrialising country expects to see a fall in the proportion of the
population that depends on farming. Here in Zimbabwe, the policy is to increase that proportion.
This is apparently because industrial growth generates personal empowerment and
independence, and this is seen to be a threat to the ruling party's power base. The fact that
urbanised industrial growth would provide the majority of the people with better earnings and
better avenues for putting to use their rising educational achievements appears to be far less
important to the ruling party than its wish to keep the majority of the population in a state of
subjugation.

The "landless" actually want employment and security. It is the politicians that have translated
that into the want of farmland. The vast majority of all populations of all developed countries do
not own farmland. Most of them have a job in urban areas and earn enough to buy a property in
which to live. Completing their payments on their properties during their working lives provides
them with the longer-term security they need, and most Zimbabweans would choose this option
if it were presented to them.

Staying in power

Zanu PF's biggest failure has been its unwillingness to do everything possible to generate
conditions that could have led to the creation of very much more employment in modern
industries. Their policy on land is driven entirely by their wish to stay in power by preventing the
growth of independent thinking and the freedom of choice and action that comes with
successful industrial growth. And to pursue this objective, they are capitalising on the greed of
people who have been persuaded that they will get valuable assets for nothing.


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It is these policy choices that are driving Zimbabwe down the road to poverty. If a decision were
to be made now to change course and the necessary action were taken, the damage done so
far would be relatively easily repaired. But a few more months in the same direction will add
years to the recovery period.

The full realisation of Zanu PF's current ambitions to break the country's links to its
industrialising past will plunge the population into a form of feudalism that will, without doubt,
impoverish the vast majority. If the recent histories of countries that have followed similar
patterns are any guide, the country will be lucky to start a genuine recovery in less than 25
years. Countries like Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia come to mind in the African
context, and others such as Albania, Burma and Cambodia would be good examples from
further afield.

The time left before Zimbabwe plunges into a possibly decades-long twilight is rapidly running
out. Most importantly, the majority of Zimbabweans do not deserve this fate. The task of finding
ways to avoid it certainly lies squarely on the shoulders of the Zimbabweans themselves, but
their prospects of meeting that challenge without help from abroad are growing more remote by
the day.

The help we need is not just the financial and material assistance for the present victims,
although that help is most welcome and more would be warmly appreciated. We also need
strong and relentless pressure from every quarter and from every possible agency to force the
present architects of destruction to change their plans.

John Robertson
Robertson Economic Information Services
May 21, 2001


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Land grabs could lead to economic disaster

John Robertson , Friday 12 May, 2000

People who are hoping to see the Constitutional amendment permitting widespread land
confiscation put into action should realise that the action will attack and possibly destroy the
very heart of the economic system that has made any development possible. The principle of
secure, bankable ownership rights is the issue at risk. If this principle dies in the cross-fire, so
too will Zimbabwe’s prospects of economic recovery. The poverty typical of the communal
areas, where individual land ownership rights do not exist, will spread right across the country.

Genuine property rights that cannot be swept aside by politicians do not merely stimulate
investment, they actually enable it. Such rights empower individuals to deliver extraordinary
amounts of initiative and resourcefulness into the development process. The introduction of
those rights in certain areas when the country was colonised 110 years ago led directly to the
progress made since then -- in those same areas.

Perhaps the supporters of the land grab are prompted by their hopes of a free farm, and
perhaps they believe that, once they have their farms, they will be immune from the economic
consequences of disengaging this engine of growth. They won’t, and this article covers some of
the reasons why they won’t.

Neither will they be immune from a future repeat of the land grabbing process. Having
destroyed the principle of security of tenure, and having allowed such an arbitrary means of
redistribution to be built into the Constitution, they will never know when the process will be
used against them too.

Constant allegations that indigenous people of Zimbabwe were dispossessed of their land
without compensation by colonisers about a century ago leave out at least one vital fact: no
form of individual ownership of land existed at the time in any of the traditional societies that
were encountered by the colonisers.

Not one of the individuals at the time would have felt he had a right to claim compensation for
himself, particularly as the settlers were mostly moving onto unoccupied land and, even more
importantly, as only the chiefs would have claimed any form of land rights at the time.

Even the rights that chiefs might have claimed would not have been recognised as rights of
formal ownership, had the question been asked. When the colonisers arrived and laid claim to
land, it is mainly for these reasons that they did not encounter serious opposition.
Today, most people would readily accept that colonisation should not have happened in the first
place. But that is a very academic point. Very few events stand out in the history of this country
as more inevitable than the fact that the country was going to be colonised by somebody.

The British were in a race to get here ahead of the Boer Republic to the south, and they also
wanted to get in ahead of the Portuguese and the Germans. Neither King Lobengula nor any of
the Shona Chiefs were given an opportunity to choose between these colonial powers, or the
option not to choose any, but that was not the way things happened then, or in the thousands of
years of recorded history since the Greeks and Romans. And giving indigenous populations
options of any kind was certainly not even thought about once the exploration and conquest of
the world started in earnest in the late 15th Century. Only in the second half of the 20th Century
was the question asked and the possible answers taken seriously.

Modern politicians seem to hope that everybody will believe without question that ordinary
people in this country felt badly abused by the colonisation process, if only because the feeling
today is that they should have felt abused by the process and were badly abused in many other
countries. But the history of events here does not bear out this hypothesis.

In effect, what today’s politicians insist was here at the time -- an outraged population of
individual land owners determined to protect their own individual land holdings -- would have
been an impenetrable and decisive line of defence against colonialism, if only it had been here.
But it did not exist, and that is because the tribesmen, as individuals, all had extremely limited
rights, and they certainly had no outright ownership rights over identifiable pieces of land.


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Nor were land ownership rights needed. Relative to the extent of the land, the population was
small, and the level of technology employed in cultivating it meant that individuals had no wish
or need to push out the boundaries of their allotments beyond the limits of their manpower or
draught power.

They were also subject populations. As ordinary people, they were considered to be the
property of their Chiefs, or ultimately of King Lobengula, who claimed sovereignty over all the
tribal groups by right of conquest. As individuals, their freedoms of choice were very narrowly
defined, and each individual’s initial perception of the colonisation process would have been
that their former leaders had been supplanted.

The de facto position at the time was that the authority of a new centralised system of
administration had replaced the separate authorities of the many former traditional tribal
leaders. Even then, the former tribal leaders were left in place to carry on almost as before and
individuals therefore would not have felt that they had been dispossessed.

However, for the ordinary people of those days, important changes for the better were felt
almost immediately. Raiding and looting between different tribal groups was brought to an end,
new crop varieties were introduced, centuries of advances in western medicine became general
practice and infant mortality dropped to dramatically lower figures. That is what happened within
the first few years, whatever interpretation is offered now to account for the events of the time.

In subsequent years, the developments were increasingly dramatic, and some are not as
obvious as the towns and cities, the schools and hospitals and the roads and bridges. Food
supplies increased as knowledge about cultivation techniques was shared, as locust invasions
were brought to an end and as crop and livestock diseases were brought under better control.
Areas of the country that add up to much more than today’s targeted commercial farming areas
were liberated from the tsetse fly.

When independence was achieved in 1980, a new government ceremoniously took over from
the colonial power, represented at the time by the Prince of Wales. The country did not revert to
its traditional political structure under multiple chiefdoms. The new government displaced the old
government and in taking over completely the non-traditional reins of power, it kept in place the
newer concept of a single centralised authority.

Power to individuals could not be "restored" in 1980 because, in truth, individuals never had
political rights of any kind before 1890. But their political and civil rights improved immeasurably
over the following century. When the new leaders stepped into the shoes of the colonials in
1980, they took over and perpetuated a form of leadership that was no more a part of earlier
traditions than was the concept of democracy. This is just one of many ways in which old
traditions have given way to new structures or systems.

Before 1890, the population was small and thinly dispersed over the territory. To assert now that
the communities of the time were physically swept out of the areas they were cultivating is to
seriously distort the facts. This certainly is what happened in many other countries that were
colonised, but the claim that it happened here is not true. The very small numbers of white early
settlers who followed Cecil Rhodes’ Pioneer Column did not need to behave that aggressively.

In all probability they would have been more aggressive if they had found that necessary, and
nobody would deny that by today’s standards of political correctness they were very far from
perfect. But in the context of their own time, their conduct was probably exemplary.

These settlers were able to choose land from vast areas of open and unoccupied space. They
paid Rhodes’ Charter Company for it and occupied it without experiencing any serious conflict at
all in those early stages. How else can one explain how a few hundred people managed to
colonise a large country that was populated by half a million people?

When the indigenous populations of certain other countries were treated harshly and driven off
their lands, their numbers inevitably declined sharply. Even today, up to five hundred years after
the colonisation of the Americas and Australasia, many of these populations are still smaller
than they were when their countries were first colonised.


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Zimbabwe’s experience was very different from those. Rapid population growth started
immediately and today these descendants number 25 times the original population. To claim
now that 25 times as many people must be given -- free -- all the land in the country because
their forefathers worked some of it might sound like a powerful emotional claim. But they worked
only a small proportion of it and were mostly left to carry on working it by the early settlers. It is
their own population growth that forced nearly all of the subsequent pressures for change.

All of these issues need to be fully recognised, but they are ignored in the emotive language of
the Constitutional amendment. If commercial land does now become the target of confiscation,
the step will be an imprudent leap into a minefield of absurdities. The population growth alone
should be enough to persuade most people that no more than a tiny fraction of today’s thirteen
million people can hope to be beneficiaries of a land redistribution policy. This would remain a
fact even if every square centimetre of land occupied by non-indigenous people was to be
allocated to indigenous people.

To write into a document as important as our Constitution that everyone has a right to free land
because land was free in the pre-colonial era is to formalise a promise that cannot be fulfilled.
And it is to invite the certainty of conflict, frustration and repeated land-grabbing exercises.
These would be inevitable with the ascendance of new contenders who will give themselves the
authority under the Constitution to cancel other people’s claims to ownership.

The land provisions in the Constitutional amendment also do not provide for the staggering
changes that have taken place in this country since 1890. Couched in passionate language
rather than in the precise legal declarations of fact that we have a right to expect in our
Constitution, the provisions leave the field wide open for divisive and damaging
misinterpretations in the years to come.

The reasons why formal individual land ownership rights were not required 110 years ago when
the land was so plentiful are fully understandable. But these reasons did not remain valid
through the progression of years and events that followed. As the population grew and the
formerly abundant land became scarce, the idea that it should remain free should have given
way to the ideas that transformed every other country that has become prosperous.

These ideas are that land is a valuable economic resource, that it has a price, that it is put to
best use when it is owned by individuals and that transfers of ownership should be through
simple procedures. Ideally, market mechanisms should determine the price, formal legal rights
and obligations should support both buyers and sellers in every transaction and professional
institutions should be empowered to manage, regulate and record every event.

In Zimbabwe, only some of the land enjoys this status and the people on it are mostly
prosperous. On the rest of the land, the people are poor and likely to stay poor. Now our
Constitution permits the cancellation of individual ownership rights so that the land can be given
free to "the people". According to the political claims, all indigenous Zimbabweans have a
constitutional right to it.

This claim that it should again be free and everybody has a right to a piece of it is as impractical
as it is dangerous. It is also dishonest. As the number of families that could be resettled on it
would not even exceed the number of families that would be displaced, it is clear the policy is
intended to be highly selective about who is to benefit. It is also clear that it is totally indifferent
to the plight of the indigenous people who will be prejudiced. Economically, the process of trying
to follow through will be as destructive as the policies championed by Pol Pot in Cambodia,
except that they will be played out in slow motion.

While they exercised authority, the colonial power should have had the imagination and
foresight to introduce ownership concepts in the 1940s or 1950s, when population pressures
were already beginning to cause dissatisfaction in the Tribal Trust Lands of the time. With a
population of about two and a half million in 1950, the challenges involved in introducing such
an idea would have been considerably more manageable. They would also have made more
starkly apparent the need for much more rapid industrial and urban growth. In their course of
development, every one of the world’s industrialised countries has seen its urban population
grow and its rural population shrink, and most of them now have fewer than 5% of their


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populations dependent directly on farming. Industrial development provided for the rest,
attracting them into the urban centres and generating the growth of affluent towns and cities.

If Zimbabwe’s pre-independence governments had been more successful at attracting
investment, the process would have offered more people suitable alternative livelihoods to
farming. In the first half of the 20th Century, events were distorted by two world wars and
several deep global recessions. The country’s development was thrown off course in the latter
half century by the flawed Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, by the even more flawed
Unilateral Declaration of Independence and then by the country’s particularly unhelpful flirtation
with Marxist-Leninist theories.

Since half-heartedly taking on board IMF structural adjustment policies almost ten years ago,
not much has improved. The progression of successive periods of under-achievement has left
people even more dependent on agriculture at the end than at the beginning. In 1954, 21% of
Zimbabwe’s total population was employed in the formal sector, and by 1998 the percentage
had fallen to 11,2%. Government has started looking for land to give away to make up for its
failure to promote the far more appropriate industrial growth that was and still is needed.

The idea that land should be free is simply not compatible with rapid population growth or even
the achievement of a large, but static population. If anything is free, and everyone has an equal
right to it, everyone is certain to want his or her share. Government knows full well that the total
area that remains under large-scale commercial cultivation is not big enough to offer new farms
to the million peasant families to whom it keeps promising new land, but the implication in the
Constitution is that the wants of all will be satisfied. Without a shadow of a doubt, most people
are going to be disappointed.

As a fundamental truism, no document as important as a country’s constitution should carry any
objective that will obviously be impossible to fulfil. But other forms of damage also threaten
social and economic stability. Confiscations will place seriously at risk every development
mechanism that has helped the country to become prosperous over the past century, and with
these damaged or destroyed, domestic as well as foreign investment will simply dry up.

Historically, the whites who colonised this country empowered themselves from the start by
bringing with them the concepts of individual freehold land ownership by and by transplanting
into this country the legal framework that formalised their rights and obligations. Their actions
created, for the first time, areas of land that could be owned by individuals.

Market mechanisms built into the same framework provided for changes of ownership and for
the use of the land as collateral security for bank loans. This made possible an investment
process that could be financed largely from private sector resources, the successes of which
provided considerable tax revenues that funded the public sector’s investment in the country’s
exceptional infrastructure. So effective was this synergy, the country never sought or received
any form of international aid before 1980.

The prospectors, farmers, manufacturers and traders who spearheaded the start of modern
economic development in this country were all working to very clear-cut ideas that were based
upon the concept of private ownership of property. Within a few years, this ability to acquire
ownership rights had stimulated the very development that helped to make the country one of
the most outstanding in the whole of the Third World. To now unravel the security of tenure and
property rights concepts will disengage the development response that came automatically from
these powerful motivators.

In considering whether to support changes that will place us squarely on a course that will lead
to the destruction of these qualities, an important fact is that the direct beneficiaries will be very
few in number. Apart from the politicians who hope to regain popularity, at the most basic level,
the number of resettlement farmers will fall a long way short of the number of commercial farm
workers who will lose their jobs, their housing, their farm schools and their longer-term
prospects of security in their old age.

At a deeper level, the knock-on effects of possible bank failures, inevitable company failures,
falling confidence, reduced investment, shrinking tax revenues and falling export revenue flows


96


will spread to every corner of the economy. Quite simply, progress will stop when the land is left
with no collateral value, where those who work it have no security of tenure and where rights of
transferability that can be recognised by the banks are swept out of existence.

So the question has to be: is the price worth paying? And this generates a second, much bigger
question: who will pay it?

The answer to the first has to be no. To the second: everybody in the country. Consumers,
producers, tax payers, tax collectors, pensioners and every young person who hopes to find
employment will end up paying dearly for it. Even the politicians will find their gains short-lived.
Very quickly, they will find themselves reviled and hated for the chaos and suffering they will
have caused.

We have huge potential to increase the economic empowerment of all the people in all of the
country’s areas, and the key to that development is, not to destroy property rights, but to extend
individual ownership rights across the whole country. A fundamental first step now would be to
ensure that our economic policy choices avoid all provisions that could interfere with our ability
to meet the requirements of this infinitely better option.

My opinion is that the population could and should carefully adopt the individual land ownership
system. In time the need to make the changes will be keenly felt by the majority, and even
though the transition process might take many years, nothing should be introduced into law
today that could inhibit the process of change.

On the land issue alone, we very clearly have to resist the destruction of property rights by all
means possible. Zimbabweans are in need of essential investment and development, for which
respect for property rights is an absolute essential.

John Robertson is a leading economist.


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The horror continues on the farms

Zimbabwe Daily News , Tuesday 04 July, 2000

Peace in places - but war vets still hunting down farmers and workers

EXCEPT for a few pockets of resistance, such as Kwekwe, the refreshing atmosphere of
reconciliation seems to pervade the air all around Zimbabwe. The violence in little Kwekwe is
clearly a hang-over from the stormy election contest between Zanu PF and the MDC, in which
the former seems to have received a bloody nose. But revenge is not going to heal the wounds
as fast as the nation would wish them to be healed.

Clearly, people are fed up with the violence, in which friends and relatives were killed in four
months of intense and violent campaigning which seemed to be touched with insanity. The only
dark spots where real lawlessness still prevails, after the results of the election ought to have
eased tension all round, are the commercial farms. Nobody really believed that the war
veterans invaded the farms on a mission as noble as "reclaiming the land of our ancestors".
They went there with the connivance of Zanu PF and, it is now evident, with the tacit approval of
President Mugabe.

The purpose was blatantly to campaign for the ruling party among the farm workers. If the
purpose was to claim "the land of our forefathers", there would obviously have been no need to
subject the farm workers to all-night "re-education" sessions during which some of them were
beaten-up and abused. The farm invasions, an offence related to the sanctity of private
property, were condemned by the international community and the country lost its reputation as
a law-abiding state in which the rule of law is respected, regardless of political expediency.

Yet the horror continues on the farms, according to the Commercial Farmers' Union regular
reports. War veterans are on the rampage again, hunting down "traitors", farmers and workers
who voted for the party of their choice.

Workers at Roy Bennet's coffee estate in Chimanimani will most likely feel the brunt of the war
veterans' wrath. Against all the odds and in the face of naked threats of terror, the voters
defiantly decided no power on earth would prevent them from choosing their own MP.

On other farms, the scenario was evidently different. In Mashonaland Central, where we saw
that nauseating TV footage of respectable, level-headed farmers being made to dance like
circus clowns, Zanu PF won with resounding majorities. The party will argue that the people
voted for it because they genuinely believed its platform was the best of the parties in the
contest. For many people this will be very hard to swallow.

One opposition candidate's brother was killed in the run-up to the election and he duly lost the
contest. It is hard to believe that the murder had no bearing whatsoever on the outcome of the
election. Another opposition candidate had to flee his own country to seek safety in a
neighbouring country, all because the party of his rival allowed their members to terrorise him
until he could feel secure only outside his own country.

Other citizens became refugees in their own country as they fled their villages to seek succour
in the cities and towns. For them, the election was a nightmare they would like to forget as
quickly as they can. As a result of the trauma they suffered during the invasion of the farms,
some of the children of the farmers may have to receive psychiatric help. But it is on the farms
that the rule of law remains manifestly elusive.

Ever since the President refused to let the police exercise their authority of protecting citizens
from any avoidable harm to their person, the rule of law has not existed on the farms hence in
the whole of Zimbabwe. We may chafe at the criticism of the government by the overseas
Press, by the British and American governments, by Amnesty International, Article 19 and other
human rights institutions. But if we deliberately allow citizens to endure such terror for no other
reason than that their torture may pay political dividends for a certain political party, then we
deserve the condemnation of the international community.

The result of the election ought to usher in a new dispensation of genuine political pluralism in
the country. That dispensation can be legitimate only if the rule of law is upheld everywhere.
Otherwise we are back in the jungle of lawlessness.


98

US APPROVES ZIMBABWE BILL-. Travel restrictions on Mugabe

Staff Writers
CAPITOL HILL, Washington DC-The United States Senate

sub-committee on African Affairs on Thursday night approved the Zimbabwe
Democracy and Economic Recovery Act 2001 which slaps travel restrictions on
President Mugabe, his ministers, service chiefs and their families.

The bill, which was first introduced into the Senate last year, went through two readings
in the Senate before being referred to the foreign relations committee. The committee
approved the bill on Thursday, paving way for the proposed law to sail unopposed
through the House of Representatives. The bill will restrict President Mugabe, his
immediate family, his cabinet ministers, government officials and the Zanu PF
henchman implicated in political violence, from travelling to the United States.

The American government and all institutions with American links will also be barred
from dealing with the Zimbabwean government. It will also stop aid and bilateral trade
worth millions of United States dollars, dealing a body blow to the already ailing
Zimbabwean economy.

Pre-requisites for restoring normal relations include: "The restoration of the rule of law,
respect for ownership and title to property, freedom of speech and association, an end
to lawlessness, violence, and intimidation which is sponsored, condoned, or tolerated
by the Government of Zimbabwe, the ruling party and their supporters or entities."

Reads part of the bill: "It is the policy of the United States to support the people of
Zimbabwe in their struggle to effect peaceful, democratic change, achieve broad-based
and equitable economic growth, and restore the rule of law.

 "It is the sense of Congress that the (American) President should begin immediate
consultation with the governments of European Union member states, Canada, and
other appropriate foreign countries, on ways in which to identify and share information
regarding individuals responsible for the deliberate breakdown of the rule of law,
politically motivated violence, and intimidation in Zimbabwe; to identify the assets of
those individuals which are held outside Zimbabwe; implement travel and economic
restrictions against those individuals and their associates and families and provide for
the
eventual removal or amendment of those sanctions."

United States senator, Bill Frist, who introduced the bill told The Standard in
Washington on Friday that the bill sought to restore economic prosperity and good
governance in Zimbabwe.

"The crisis in Zimbabwe raises the possibility of a complete collapse of economic and
social cohesion in a country which has historically served as a stable and promising
anchor on a troubled continent.

"If we allow Zimbabwe to continue down its current path, we risk further instability in
Southern Africa. This legislation represents an immediate, positive response that the
United States can take to improve stability and economic growth for the entire region,"
said Frist.

Senator Russ Fiengold, who seconded the bill said: "I am pleased to join Senator Frist
in offering the Zimbabwe Democracy Act, and I hope that it will win support in the full
Senate.


99


"The senate sub-committee on African Affairs recently held a hearing on the situation in
Zimbabwe, and much of the testimony given at that hearing was truly distressing. Over
the past year and half, conditions in Zimbabwe have deteriorated dramatically. This
downward spiral of lawlessness and economic collapse is tragic as it is occurring in a
remarkable country, one that is rich in human capital, had a sophisticated economy and
boasts a vibrant civil society.


"This bill imposes no sanctions and cuts off no sources of assistance that have not
already been suspended. It does lay out reasonable conditions for the resumption of
assistance and authorises meaningful conditions for assistance to Zimbabwe's
economic recovery, including support for rule-governed land reform, once conditions
have improved."
The bill notes that the Zimbabwean people are suffering because of the government's
mismanagement of the eco-nomy: "Through economic mismanagement, undemocratic
practices, and the costly deployment of troops to the DRC, the Government of
Zimbabwe has rendered itself ineligible to participate in International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development and International Monetary Fund programmes, which
would otherwise be providing substantial resources to assist in the recovery and
modernisation of
Zimbabwe's economy.


"The people of Zimbabwe have been denied the economic and democratic
benefits envisioned by the donors of such programmes, including the United States."


The proposed law sets a number of measures to be taken by the US government
should Zimbabwe meet conditions such as the holding of free and fair presidential
elections, an equitable, transparent and legal land reform, restoration of the rule of law,
a fulfilment of the Lusaka Peace Accord to end the DRC war, and a commitment that
the police and
army be subordinate to a civilian government.


Once these conditions are met:: The(American) secretary of the treasury shall:


. Undertake a review of the feasibility of restructuring, rescheduling, or eliminating the
sovereign debt of Zimbabwe held by any agency of the United States of America.


. Direct the United States director of each international financial institution to which the
United States is a member, to propose to undertake financial and technical support for
Zimbabwe, especially support that is intended to promote Zimbabwe's economic
recovery and development, the stabilisation of the Zimbabwe dollar, and the viability of
Zimbabwe's democratic institutions.


. The (American) President should direct the establishment of a Southern Africa
Finance Centre located in Zimbabwe that will include regional offices of the Overseas
Private Corporation, the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the Trade and
Development Agency, for the purpose of facilitating the development of commercial
projects in Zimbabwe and the Southern Africa region.


The bill also states the US government's commitment to supporting Zimbabwe's land
reform programme in the context of the International Donors' Conference held in
Harare in 1998. At the conference, Zimbabwe undertook to carry out land reform in a
transparent and legal manner. However, after last year's general election which Zanu
PF narrowly won, government reneged on its promise, when it unleashed war veterans
onto farms. The invasions set the tone for a chaotic land reform programme which has
reduced Zimbabwe to Africa's basket case



100

From The Independent on Sunday (UK), 5 August
Mugabe plot to rig election exposed
President's 'war veterans' to get more than one vote - and weapons training


Harare - Plans by Zimbabwe's President Mugabe to rig next year's presidential election have
been exposed, just as his beleaguered nation begins gearing up for the crunch ballot which he
is expected to lose. His plot hinges on the multiple registration of ruling-party supporters in
different constituencies to allow them to vote several times; the second part of the strategy
involves relocating more than 500,000 unemployed urban dwellers to commercial farms now
being confiscated from whites without compensation.

Mr Mugabe, 77, who has been in power since independence from Britain was achieved in 1980,
announced that he would run for another six-year term next April, despite his government's
massive unpopularity. The business and financial newspaper the Financial Gazette described
his rigging plans last Thursday. Mr Mugabe aims to outflank the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) by moving the hundreds of thousands of unemployed and other
desperate urban dwellers into farming areas under the controversial fast-track land resettlement
exercise.

The relocation of registered voters from urban to rural areas - in exchange for their pledged
votes - will bolster the ruling Zanu-PF party's rural support. Mr Mugabe's party traditionally
enjoys support in rural areas. The relocated people will get slices of land from the farms the
Zimbabwe government has been seizing from whites. They will then be expected to transfer
their votes to a rural constituency where they have been resettled. The plan was tailor-made to
fit Zanu's overall presidential election strategy. A pilot phase proved successful in the recent
parliamentary by-election in Bindura constituency, where 4,000 mainly Zanu supporters and
"war veterans" were moved from surrounding towns registered as voters in the constituency.
Zanu won the by-election by 5,000 votes.

Government officials admitted that Mr Mugabe was not leaving anything to chance and would
do all he could to ensure he won the presidential election. He has vowed never to let the MDC,
which he calls a British puppet, rule Zimbabwe. The president is known to have contracted an
Israeli company to supply $20m-worth of riot vehicles and water cannons for the police force,
which he has often used to intimidate opposition supporters. The Home Affairs permanent
secretary, Mike Matshiya, assured the Israeli arms firm, Beit Alfa Trailer Company, that the
Zimbabwe government would strain every nerve to raise the foreign currency needed to
purchase the equipment. Zimbabwe is in the midst of a desperate hard-currency shortage. Fuel
supplies are exhausted and the price of basic goods is rocketing.

The opposition complains that it is immoral of Mr Mugabe to spend large sums of money on
arms purchases at a time when the country cannot feed itself. The Finance Minister, Simba
Makoni, has said that Zimbabwe has no money to import food. Information about plans to equip
the police coincided with reports that groups of "war veterans" - Mr Mugabe's shock troops in
his brutal campaign against white farmers - are undergoing training in gun-handling at the
police's Morris Depot in Harare. Sources at the depot say veterans from all over Zimbabwe are
undergoing training in batches of 50, in preparation for their deployment in the election
campaign.


101

Mugabe could face personal EU ban

Staff Reporter

8/2/01 9:04:01 PM (GMT +2)

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe and officials of his government could be
subjected to sanctions and other punitive measures if a European
Union (EU) general council meeting scheduled for October 8 finds
that they have not done enough to end political violence and restore
the rule of law in Zimbabwe, it was learnt this week.

Reflecting growing consensus in the international community to directly punish Mugabe and his
top officials accused of promoting lawlessness in Zimbabwe, Harare-based European diplomats
told the Financial Gazette that the favoured view in Brussels was to apply selective sanctions.
The United States government is already working on legislation to impose smart sanctions on
Zimbabwe’s leaders that will include Mugabe and his officials being barred or restricted from
entering America.

A similar regime of targeted sanctions is likely to be imposed on Mugabe and his lieutenants in
October if the EU deems that they had not done enough to restore the rule of law and end
violence in Zimbabwe, the diplomatic sources said.

"The feeling among many is to try and avoid the Iraq situation," one European diplomat said.
"In Iraq, general sanctions ended up hurting Iraqi children. Selective sanctions are the only
option if no sufficient progress has been made on the demands put forward by the EU in June,"
the diplomat said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge could not be reached for comment on the matter. His
office said he was out attending a meeting of the ruling ZANU PF party’s supreme Politburo held
in Harare yesterday. EU president Belgium’s ambassador in Harare Benedicte Frankinet said
the powerful 15-nation body had not taken a decision yet to impose sanctions against
Zimbabwe or individual members of its government.

But Frankinet repeated warnings made by the EU in June that it would take appropriate
measures if Harare did not within two months (from June 26) restore the rule of law, end political
violence and publicly commit itself to holding free and fair presidential elections next year.

"There is no elaboration at this stage as to what those appropriate measures will be," Frankinet
said. She said the EU was still committed to finding a solution through dialogue and was
hopeful that pronouncements by Mudenge that Harare is prepared to engage the international
community would lead to fruitful dialogue between Zimbabwe and the EU and rest of the world.
Apart from upholding democracy and the rule of law, the EU in June asked the Zimbabwe
government to halt the illegal occupation of white-owned farms by its supporters and to respect
the judiciary by upholding decisions passed by the courts.

Mugabe, whose government has in the past few months expelled foreign journalists from
Zimbabwe while rushing to approve laws which limit media freedom, must also take concrete
action to protect the freedom of the Press. The government should also allow the EU to
observe and monitor elections in the country, Brussels said, emphasising it wanted rapid and
tangible results on the demands.

State-sponsored violence against political opponents, the Press and other dissenting voices and
the forcible seizure of properties by ZANU PF supporters has alienated Zimbabwe from
international donors and trading partners whose help it badly needs to reverse a biting
economic recession now its third year.

The EU, the International Monetary Fund other donors and trading partners have already
suspended billions of dollars worth of aid to Zimbabwe until the government improves its human
rights and democracy record.


102

From The Zimbabwe Independent, 3 August

Chinotimba's credentials questioned
Retired General Solomon Mujuru this week questioned the war credentials of Harare
province war veterans' chairman Joseph Chinotimba, following complaints from Zanu
PF politburo members that Chinotimba was a loose cannon interfering in the internal
affairs of other provinces, the Zimbabwe Independent has learnt. The politburo, which
met on Wednesday, unanimously agreed that Chinotimba had to be advised to act in
consultation with the provincial leadership of respective provinces he intended visiting.
Sources said Mujuru, who was a Zanla military commander during the liberation war,
told the politburo that he did not know much about Chinotimba's revolutionary history.
Mujuru was reportedly concerned about the elevation to senior party positions of
people without clear liberation war credentials. "The general was very concerned that
Chinotimba was amassing so much power to himself and taking certain initiatives
without prior consultation with the party authorities," a source close to the meeting said.
Mujuru questioned why Chinotimba had a Cherokee Jeep allocated to him, when other
top party officials were using their own resources to campaign for the party. Mujuru told
the Independent yesterday that he was not prepared to discuss the matter because the
paper was in the habit of writing stories without prior consultation with him. "Go and ask
those sources of yours for more information," Mujuru said.


103

Police buy $1b riot gear

By Basildon Peta, Special Projects Editor

8/2/01 9:03:14 PM (GMT +2)

THE Ministry of Home Affairs this week sought authority from Treasury to
make a down payment of $105 million to an Israeli company recently
contracted to supply nearly $1 billion worth of special vehicles and water
cannons that can be used in riots by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)
ahead of crunch presidential elections next year.

Official documents show that acting Home Affairs permanent secretary Mike
Matshiya last Thursday wrote to Ellie Antebi of Israel’s arms manufacturer Beit Alfa
Trailer Company (BAT) assuring the firm that Treasury had agreed to give high
priority to mobilising foreign currency for the purchase of the equipment.

The equipment being bought is part of a wider government strategy to ensure that
the ZRP is adequately equipped to deal with any possible riots ahead of a crucial
election which President Robert Mugabe is seen losing. Matshiya said in his
correspondence to Antebi that the $105 million represented a 12.5 percent down
payment of the total contract price of about $840 million.

The money would be used to buy at least 30 specially-made vehicles that are
equipped with riot equipment similar to that widely used by Israeli security forces in
quelling running battles with Palestinian protesters, as well as water cannons.

Although Finance Minister Simba Makoni could not be reached to comment on the
government’s latest spending because he is on an overseas trip, authoritative
official sources said Treasury is due to release the funds next week.

Information about plans to equip the ZRP coincided with allegations this week that
groups of war veterans were undergoing training in gun-handling at the musketry
section of the ZRP’s Morris Depot in Harare, charges the police quickly denied.
The musketry section is charged with training police officers in all gun-handling
tactics.

Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said the only people who had been trained by
the police in gun-handling outside the police force were bankers and municipal
workers. He said no war veteran had been trained at Morris Depot as far as he
knew.

The sources at the depot said war veterans from all over Zimbabwe were
undergoing gun-handling training in batches of 50 in preparation for their
deployment to campaign for the ruling party ahead of the presidential election,
which must be held by April.

While Bvudzijena said he was not aware of the plans to equip the police with the
latest riot gear, he said the public should be extremely happy if such plans were
afoot.

"There is no doubt that we have succeeded in maintaining public order and safety.
Any plans to equip the police can only ensure that we keep on excelling in that
area," he said, stamping down on opposition claims that the ZRP is discriminating
against its members. The sources said the plot to strengthen the Zimbabwean
police force was to ensure that it dealt effectively with retaliatory attacks expected
to be mounted by the opposition in both urban and rural areas in the run-up to the
presidential ballot.


104


The official documents show that a team of three top ZRP officers and one Home
Affairs Ministry official visited firms in Israel, the United States, France and Austria
earlier this year to scout for equipment to strengthen the police force.

Although the documents state that the acquisitions were ostensibly meant to enable
the police to maintain law and order, the sources said the visit was part of a plan to
beef up the arsenal of the police force with the election in mind.

In Israel, the team studied equipment used by Israeli forces in suppressing the
Intifada, which has so far claimed hundreds of Palestinian lives.

The documents show that an interim report prepared by the team and forwarded by
Deputy Police Commissioner Godwin Matanga to Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo
recommended the acquisition of riot vehicles, water cannons and other equipment
from Israel against equipment from other countries.

The team said it had been impressed by the equipment used against the
Palestinians, particularly riot control vehicles manufactured by Israel’s BAT.

"The company presented a riot control vehicle for demonstration which has been in
service with Israeli police for 15 years and was in perfect working order," reads one
of the documents.

"The committee also considered that the Israeli situation is similar to ours, if not
worse, but they have managed to control their situation using the riot control
vehicle from Beit Alfa Trailer Company," it added.

BAT, according to one of the documents, is the leading manufacturer of riot control
vehicles in the world and has many years of proven experience. It said the Israeli
company’s prices were also very competitive.

The documents show that the City Bank of Singapore had proposed to help
Zimbabwe with a buyer’s credit worth US$5 million to purchase riot-equipped
vehicles and components from French manufacturer CAMIVA.

However, the Home Affairs team was not impressed with the CAMIVA vehicles.

"Vehicles offered by CAMIVA are not riot control vehicles but fire-fighting vehicles
with minor modifications. The water cannon from CAMIVA does not have pulse
modes but a continuous stream only" said the team inspecting the French products.

The sources said despite the team’s adverse report on CAMIVA, negotiations with
the firm had started and it was likely that purchases would also be made from it in
addition to those from BAT. This would see the police pumping more than $1
billion in strengthening itself for the presidential election.

The documents link a Namibian bank to the ZRP’s efforts to raise foreign currency
to pay for the equipment. If the plans succeed, the bank would be paid in
Zimbabwe dollars which it could use to buy locally available products in exchange
for the hard cash given.

Government officials questioned the wisdom of pouring resources into police
equipment when Zimbabwe faces possible food shortages, just when it is grappling
with its worst economic crisis in two decades.

"It’s better to use that money to buy food for the hungry people to stop them from
rioting than to invest large sums to buy equipment to use against hungry people,"
said one senior official who asked not to be named.


105

Presidential poll set to displace over 200 000

By Nqobile Nyathi, News Editor

8/2/01 7:24:31 PM (GMT +2)

A SERIOUS humanitarian disaster looms in Zimbabwe because of an
absence of a national strategy and funds to deal with thousands of people
who are likely to become internal refugees in the run-up to next year’s
presidential election, aid agencies said this week.

They said although it was not possible to determine how many people would be displaced by
political violence and the economic crisis in the next eight months, these could exceed the figure
of 200 000 believed to have been affected by political violence prior to last year’s general
elections.

Affected communities will include commercial farm workers displaced by the occupation of
farms by so-called war veterans, opposition party supporters or those perceived to be against
the ruling ZANU PF party, school teachers, health workers and other civil servants targeted in
rural areas.

"It’s difficult to estimate how many people will be displaced because so many groups are
affected," a director with a Harare-based civic organisation told the Financial Gazette.

"It’s estimated that about 200 000 people were affected before the parliamentary elections and
it’s possible that the numbers could be more than this next year because previous victims will
still be needing assistance and the old figures are being rolled over."

The human rights body Forum, which comprises nine non-governmental organisations (NGOs),
is already dealing with 50 to 70 new cases of rural residents fleeing violence around the country
every month.

Zimbabwe’s human rights watchdog ZimRights this week said it had received 73 families and
466 individuals displaced by political violence since March.

Francis Masuka, a ZimRights field officer dealing with political violence, said: "ZANU PF has
been beating up people and is now using chiefs and headmen. If you belong to an opposition
party, the chiefs tell you that you are no longer welcome in their area and you should take your
property and leave.

"If you fail to take your property by the specified time, they will just send youths and war
veterans who will come and collect your property and leave it by the road side."

Tony Reeler, chairman of Forum, told the Financial Gazette: "Witnesses in the election petitions
are also targets of attacks and the majority of these people are becoming internally displaced as
well. This (number of affected witnesses) could come to 1 000 individuals and their families by
the end of the year.

"What we have is a situation that causes all humanitarian organisations a lot of concern
because we have an unknown number of victims and we are not able to plan assistance for
them."

Several civic organisations are already attempting to cope with the influx of internally displaced
people, most of whom are fleeing rural areas for the cities, especially Harare.

Internal refugees are offered medical assistance, counselling to deal with the trauma of
violence, shelter and food, and attempts are made to negotiate with the police and other
authorities in the affected areas to make it possible for some of the victims to return to their
homes.

"Yes, people have been displaced and fortunately enough some of them have found refuge in


106


Harare," said Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust executive director David Chimhini. "Some of
them go to relatives if they can."

But Reeler said: "There isn’t a national strategy. Things are being done by various groups,
including the donor community and NGOs.

"But there is no coordination between the different sector NGOs or between NGOs, donors and
the government. What is missing is some kind of mechanism to establish that. The missing
ingredient is the government."

Civic groups this week said Zimbabwe needed a government-sanctioned commission of inquiry
into the internal displacement of Zimbabweans in the rural areas in a bid to come up with steps
to alleviate a serious crisis.

They said it was especially important to establish the number of people affected because of
forecast food shortages that will affect millions of people, making food assistance programmes
necessary.

But analysts said the government is unlikely to initiate such an investigation because it would
put a spotlight on ZANU PF’s involvement in political violence and the negative impact of its
flawed land reform programme.

"The government is not willing to admit that people are being displaced by violence or the farm
occupations and so how can it participate in a national initiative to assist displaced people?" an
NGO official in Harare said, preferring not to be named.

Reeler added: "I don’t believe the government would be open to a multi-sectoral initiative
because that would reveal all its shortcomings and the failure of its agrarian and economic
policies.

"The belief of some of us is that the government won’t address this problem until after the
presidential elections and this massive disaster looms because of that."

The NGOs said insufficient funds to adequately cater for internal refugees would also contribute
to a serious humanitarian crisis. NGOs need more than $1 million each and every month to
meet the needs of displaced people.

Zimbabwe’s economic crisis has also made it impossible for many families to take in rural and
commercial farm relatives fleeing violence.

"We have strategies, but we just don’t have the money," Masuka said. "Things are very difficult
because of the economy. No one is able to part with a dollar and it has been difficult placing
people with extended families. Also no one wants to take in people they don’t know right now."

The analysts said the impact of an influx of internal refugees with nowhere to go would be
severe, including massive poverty, outbreaks of contagious diseases, a rise in the number of
people living on the streets, increased crime and the threat of social unrest.

Reeler said: "The percentage of very poor people has risen from something like 60 percent
three years ago to over 70 percent now. These are people who are living below the poverty
datum line. What we know for sure is that these people can’t limitlessly handle poverty.

"Unless the problem of displaced people is addressed, we are going to have structural poverty,
people who are so poor that it becomes difficult to lift them out of their situation. In a sense, we
will have the destruction of infrastructure. The only body that can address this problem is the
government and if the government doesn’t do anything, then it will be responsible for the
resulting crisis."


107

White farmers charged in Zimbabwean court

REUTERS ALERT
Adds lawyer's remarks, paragraph six, CFU paragraphs 19-20)
By Cris Chinaka
CHINHOYI, Zimbabwe, Aug 8 (Reuters) --


Twenty-three white farmers were charged in a Zimbabwe court on Wednesday with inciting
public violence following clashes on a white-owned farm occupied by supporters of President
Robert Mugabe.

The farmers had been arrested for allegedly assaulting the Mugabe supporters on Monday.
Tension was high in this town 120 km (75 miles) north-west of Harare after mobs of pro-Mugabe
war veterans staged retaliatory attacks on whites on Tuesday.

As the farmers stood in the dock on Wednesday, one of them, 72-year-old Gert Pretorius,
collapsed and was rushed to hospital. A farmer in the public gallery who asked to remain
anonymous said Pretorius had a heart problem.

Pretorius was taken in a police truck to a local hospital and was being treated by a private
doctor while being guarded by four policemen.

The 23 farmers were all formally charged with inciting public violence and the case was
adjourned until Thursday, when proceedings were due to reopen at 0630 GMT.

A leading Harare lawyer told Reuters the charge, which falls under the Common Law Offences
Act, could attract a jail term on conviction if the courts deemed the crime to be politically
motivated.
In Tuesday's attacks on whites, witnesses said at least one white man had been stabbed and
another had his ear slashed. Police said five black settlers had been seriously injured in
Monday's violence.
Pro-Mugabe militants say farm invasions that have been carried out with government approval
since February 2000 are a show of support for the president's drive to seize 8.3 million hectares

(20.5 million acres) of the 12 million hectares owned by white farmers for redistribution to
landless blacks.
Nine farmers have died in the violence that has accompanied the occupations, while scores of
farm workers have been injured.
TENSION ON FARMS

On Wednesday, about 200 youths chased away about a dozen foreign reporters and local
colleagues from the court premises before the hearing, threatening to beat them up.
"We have grievances against the whites. Don't stand here because we will beat you up," one
youth told a white journalist.

Witnesses said the farmers had been brought into the court through a back entrance. Richard
Lindsay, a first secretary at the British High Commission in Zimbabwe, was at Chinhoyi court to
check out reports that some of the arrested farmers had dual British and Zimbabwe citizenship.
Local sources said the atmosphere on surrounding farms remained tense on Wednesday. They
said two farmers were forced off their properties by suspected war veterans and supporters of
the ruling ZANU-PF party.

"There's a bit of trouble going on at the farms. One farmer's wife was chased out of her property
by a mob," an official at the local branch of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) told Reuters.
He said the woman had been rescued by a neighbour driving by as the mob gave chase some
30 metres (yards) behind her.


108


Staff Reporter
About 22 farmers around Chinhoyi were arrested on Monday and yesterday
morning following a clash with at least 60 illegal settlers at Listonshields Farm
on Monday morning.

Rupert Goosen, 64, and his wife Anne, said they were attacked by a group of about 60
youths as they walked in the town. Anne was injured on the left arm. They reported the
attack to the police, but there were no arrests. The CFU immediately closed its
offices in the town.


The farmers' spokesman said: "We were advised by farmers and the police to close
and get out of town. Any white person in Chinhoyi is getting seriously trashed. The
situation is very volatile indeed."


Yesterday, Yvonne Barkley said their farmhouse was attacked at between 9am and
10am on Monday. The attackers were armed with axes, sticks and other weapons, she
said.


Two farmers who were first to arrive at the Barkleys' farm were attacked and severely
injured. About 40 more farmers rushed to their assistance and were attacked, resulting
in pitched battles.
The situation was diffused by the Police Support Unit.


About 18 farmers were detained when they went to have their statements taken on
Monday. The others were arrested when they followed their colleagues yesterday.


Among those arrested were a farmer who tried to give a colleague pills for
hypertension. A woman trying to get her car cleared for a holiday in South Africa was
attacked by the Zanu PF supporters at the police station.


Among those assaulted in the town centre was an elderly woman shopping in a
supermarket opposite the Zanu PF offices in Commercial Street.


According to witnesses, a man was badly beaten at the Zanu PF offices, while another
was assaulted by four people who accused him of ill-treating farm workers when he
said he was a farm mechanic.


At least two farmers' vehicles had their tyres slashed by the Zanu PF youths at the
police station.



109

From The Zimbabwe Standard, 5 August
Commonwealth gives Mugabe ultimatum


As pressure continues to mount on President Mugabe because of the prevailing anarchy in the
country, it has emerged that the Commonwealth intends to act strongly against him at the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Brisbane, Australia, in
October. High level sources within the Commonwealth, a club of former British colonies,
confided to The Standard last week that Mugabe had until October to "sort out the mess" in
Zimbabwe or risk topping the meeting’s agenda. The sources said the Commonwealth had
decided to use this strong approach because of the deepening crisis within Zimbabwe. State-
sponsored terrorism has, over the last year, taken its toll on Zimbabwe and reduced the country
to a state of lawlessness. Commonwealth countries are concerned that unless they confront
Mugabe and take action against him, if necessary, the crisis in Zimbabwe could spill into
neighbouring southern Africa countries with disastrous consequences for the region.

"Many southern African countries are suffering because of Mugabe’s policies. The message we
are trying to get through to Mugabe is that "you are alienating yourself from the Commonwealth
and we really want to help you." "We are not on a very productive path right now. Mugabe has
totally rejected the United Nations initiative. He has rejected the Nigerian initiative and all this
will have to be looked into at Brisbane. If he doesn’t sort out his mess, then it will be left for the
leaders gathered in Brisbane to see what further action can be taken," said the source.

Diplomatic sources said the Commonwealth was now putting issues of governance high on its
agenda and would take a tough stance against Zimbabwe if its record did not improve. Said the
source who preferred anonymity: "Issues of governance are very much at the forefront of our
work. We are the only international organisation that has set rules which our members are
supposed to adhere to and we have the ability to get them to do so. We want to help Zimbabwe
rebuild its democratic institutions. It is not only about having democratic elections but having
democratic institutions. For example, in Fiji the army and the judiciary remained relatively stable
when a coup took place last year. In Zimbabwe, these institutions have been politicised and
compromised and this has to stop."

The government has been using the army and the police to ensure effective election
campaigning which has included the harassment of opposition parliamentarians and their
supporters. The judiciary, on the other hand, has been rocked by resignations following the
ruling party’s onslaught on judges it sees as sympathetic to the opposition. The source
reiterated that the Commonwealth was firmly behind a transparent, legal and orderly form of
land reform. The club, he said, would not support Zanu PF’s haphazard and chaotic land reform
whose purpose was political. "The land issue will remain important. There cannot be peace in
Zimbabwe until the land issue is resolved, but it cannot be resolved through violence and
electioneering. The process has to be sober. We have tried to engage Mugabe on the way
forward on land reform but we are not getting any fruitful results. The problem is also that there
are countries which are supporting him publicly and possibly giving him a false sense of
security," said the source.

The Commonwealth joins a host of other international organisations and countries, among them
the European Union and the United States, who have threatened to act strongly against
Zimbabwe if Mugabe’s regime continues to sponsor anarchy. Mugabe and his cabinet ministers
face personal sanctions from the European Union if an EU general council meeting in October
resolves that he has not done enough to stop political violence and ensure the restoration of the
rule of law. In June, the EU gave Mugabe a two-month deadline to end political violence and
publicly commit himself to the holding of free and fair presidential elections next year.

The Standard was on Thursday vindicated when the United States Senate passed the
Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act 2001 which seeks to formalise sanctions
against Zimbabwe and place travel restrictions on Mugabe, his cabinet ministers, his service
chiefs and their families. Government spin doctors initially made concerted efforts to deny the
story following reports that the Act had been approved by the US senate foreign relations
committee. Government officials also confidently stated that the Bill would take considerable
time to pass through both the Senate and the House of Representatives. However, having been
fast tracked through the Senate, the Bill is now set for its final stage, debate and consideration
in the House of Representatives, before American President George W Bush signs it into law.


110


IAFRICA NEWS : NATIONAL

Threats to kill Mugabe at SADC summit

Posted Fri, 10 Aug 2001

Security has been stepped in Blantyre, Malawi where African heads of state will converge this
weekend for a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) summit.
This follows after a death threat on Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe. The SABC reports that
a group, reportedly called the Scorpions, threatened to kill Mugabe because they are opposed
to his rule that has seen the country deteriorating at a shocking rate over the past 18 months
since land invasions have begun.
Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon raised the spectre of a contrived state
of emergency in Zimbabwe, and called for strict sanctions against that country's government.

Briefing the media at Parliament, Leon said he had just spoken on the telephone to a farmer in
the strife-torn Chinhoyi district, who had described the dire situation farmers there were in.

"It appears that (Zimbabwean) President (Robert) Mugabe, with the assistance of his political
hitmen, is trying to raise political tensions on the ground that would then justify his imposing a
state of emergency, and therefore suspending any democracy that stillremains in Zimbabwe."

The South African government's "quiet diplomacy" policy towards Zimbabwe's government had
clearly failed, and it was now time for SADC to take firm action, Leon said.

He had written to President Thabo Mbeki, asking that the South African delegation to the
imminent SADC heads of state and government summit in Blantyre, Malawi, raise the issue of
violent attacks and intimidation in Zimbabwe for urgent discussion. -Sapa and SABC


111


Martial law looms

By Sydney Masamvu, Political Editor / Financial Gazette

8/9/01 8:46:49 PM (GMT +2)

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe’s Cabinet is actively considering
declaring a state of emergency if the international community goes
ahead to impose sanctions against him and his senior government
officials, authoritative official sources said this week.

They said the approval by the US Senate last week of the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill, which still
has to be endorsed by Congress and the White House, had re-ignited intense debate within
Cabinet on whether Harare should impose emergency rule. The passage of the Bill, whose
sanctions specifically target Mugabe and his senior officials for their alleged promotion of
violence and lawlessness in Zimbabwe as opposed to punishing the country, had caused panic
within the Cabinet and the ruling ZANU PF leadership, the sources said

In Capitol Hill in Washington DC, legislative officials this week said the Bill had received
unanimous support from the Senate and was bound to be passed by the full Congress before
the end of the year, setting the stage for a bitter confrontation with a defiant Mugabe.

"The indications are that the Bill will be passed by the Congress, that is increasingly looking
pretty obvious because it has garnered overwhelming bi-partisan support," a US official involved
in the crafting of the Bill told the Financial Gazette by telephone. "Time permitting and since it
has received overwhelming support, we will try to push to get the Bill passed by Congress
before it goes on recess. The question of it being passed is no longer an issue, the only issue is
when it will be passed," the official said.

Political commentators in Harare said the passage of the Bill by the US legislature was a strong
signal from the Bush administration to the rest of the international community, angered by
Mugabe’s refusal to end lawlessness which has killed nearly 40 people since last year, to
impose sanctions on the Zimbabwean leader.

The 15-nation European Union (EU), which has given Harare two months to end political
violence and uphold the rule of law with effect from mid-June, is already considering selective
sanctions that will target individual Zimbabwean politicians. Officials in both the Harare
government and its governing ZANU PF party this week said the "law of survival" would take
over if sanctions are imposed on Zimbabwe.

"We will be left with no choice but to declare a state of emergency if we are under sanctions,"
said a government minister, reflecting the toughening mood in Mugabe’s Cabinet. "With the
way the situation is developing, that cannot be ruled out. The law of survival will take over," the
minister said, preferring not to be named.

Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo, who spoke on the record, did not also rule out the possibility
of a state of emergency, telling the Financial Gazette last night that if Zimbabwe came under
siege, it would have to devise strategies to survive.

"We hope the situation won’t reach the sanctions level, but if we are under siege, we have to
employ strategies to survive. We cannot lie and down and mourn," he said. "As for declaring a
state of emergency, I cannot say anything at the moment. We will cross that bridge when we
reach it."

He however said he hoped current talks between the government and the international
community on Zimbabwe’s crisis would yield positive results, making sanctions unnecessary.
Zimbabwe’s efforts to lobby the international community against the sanctions also involve its
ambassadors to the United Nations, Washington and the EU -- Tichaona Jokonya, Simbi
Mubako and Kelebert Nkomani respectively -- who are busy talking to US congressmen and
the Black Caucus to try to reject the Zimbabwe Bill.


112


Zimbabwe’s representatives in the US have also been lobbying African diplomats based in
Washington to oppose the Bill, while former American ambassador to the UN Andrew Young
and a public relations firm, Cohen & Woods International, have been enlisted by the
government to fight the impending law.

Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge, who has hinted in the past that sanctions could lead to the
imposition of martial law, could not be reached for comment yesterday. He is in Malawi
attending a meeting of the Southern Africa Development Community.

He is however expected to use a meeting of Commonwealth foreign ministers, who will discuss
differences between Zimbabwe and Britain over land reform, to clarify his government’s position
on major issues of concern to the international community ahead of a Commonwealth summit in
Australia in October.

According to diplomatic sources, Zimbabwe’s political crisis is likely to top the agenda of the
Australian summit, where Mugabe could face heavy censure from other heads of state at the
once-in-two-years meeting of Britain and its former colonies.


113

Force them off the farms: govt

Staff Reporter

8/9/01 8:48:35 PM (GMT +2)

THE government has told war veterans to target and harass
individual commercial farmers into abandoning their land instead of
waiting for the arduous legal process of land acquisition before they
get settled on the properties, it was learnt this week.

Intelligence sources coordinating the war veterans said time was running out for the government
to exhaust all relevant legal procedures required to seize the 4 700 farms listed for compulsory
acquisition before the onset of the new rainy season in October.

There was also the problem of capacity to make valuations for compensations on all these
properties. At the same time the government wanted as many families as possible to be
resettled so they could start ploughing their land before the rainy season.

"There is thus a shift in strategy. The government wants the war veterans to harass and scare
farmers into abandoning their land and then they get it for ploughing before October. Issues of
compensation and others become peripheral once a farmer is no longer on the land," one
source said.

"Alternatively, the farmers can be harassed and forced to negotiate with the veterans and allow
them to till part of the farmer’s land if the farmer remains on the land."

Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) president Collin Cloete said he was not aware of the
strategy, although he said it could not be ruled out as an option because many strategies had
been used before against CFU members.

In the past few weeks, he said, the veterans had resorted to barricading individual farmers in
their homes and attacking them or detaining them for up to five days.

"In Beatrice, Marondera, Headlands and other places, we have had many individual farmers
being targeted and attacked in their homes. It has been a trend in the past two or three weeks.
It’s a tactic to intimidate farmers to leave their properties," Cloete said.

His remarks seemed to fit directly with the strategy outlined by the sources but still the CFU
president said he was not aware whether or not the government had agreed to embark on a
systematic harassment of the farmers.

"It hasn’t been as obvious as you have stated it," he said.

Cloete said the perception that most people wreaking havoc on commercial farms were landless
was not true because most of the illegal settlers were getting instructions to cause problems on
the farms.

One of his missions was to re-open dialogue with the government to try to resolve the land
question, he said.

"We can still work together with the government to resolve the land dispute in the interests of
this country. It’s never too late. There are many genuine people out there who need to be
resettled and we would want to assist in the whole process," he said.

Cloete said the government had paid compensation for about 20 farms in the past 18 months.
Only about 25 farms had also been legally and fully acquired in the same period.

Agriculture Minister Joseph Made could not be reached for comment yesterday.


114

Mutasa threatens MDC supporters with death
From Our Correspondent in Mutare

DIDYMUS Mutasa, a senior Zanu PF official, has warned civil servants in Chimanimani
they risk being shot dead if they continue supporting the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change.

He reportedly repeated the warning during several meetings he has held with civil servants in the district.
Mutasa’s foray into Chimanimani follow pronouncements by Vice-President Joseph Msika, during a recent
meeting of rural-district council delegates in Mutare, in which he asked those in attendance to raise their
hands if they supported President Mugabe’s re-election bid.
Mutasa, accompanied by an entourage of ruling party activists, has virtually been camped in Chimanimani
for the past 10 days, a legislative seat won by the MDC in last year’s parliamentary election.


A member of the Zanu PF politburo and its secretary for external affairs, Mutasa is in Chimanimani to
mobilise support for the ruling party’s presidential bid next year and also to weed out civil servants
suspected to be MDC supporters or sympathisers. "It’s really tense out there in Chimanimani due to the
ongoing witch-hunt," a source, who is employed by the government, told The Eastern Star on Wednesday.


Mutasa and his entourage are reportedly targeting teachers, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority and
Posts and Telecommunication Corporation employees, nurses and Agritex officials. Those accompanying
Mutasa include Munacho Mutezo, the Zanu PF provincial secretary for administration, Misheck Tholana,
who chairs the district’s co-ordinating committee, and Jane Knight, a district co-ordinator.


Repeated efforts to reach Mutasa and members of his entourage for comment were unsuccessful this
week. They were said to be moving from place to place holding "political" meetings. Mutasa reportedly left
Chimanimani yesterday.


But Charles Pemhenayi, the Zanu PF provincial secretary for information, dismissed as "malicious"
suggestions that Mutasa was moving around threatening people in Chimanimani.


Roy Bennet, the MP for Chimanimani (MDC), said he had been inundated by reports from supporters of
his party about the witch-hunt exercise. "Mutasa is holding kangaroo courts all over in Chimanimani,"
Bennet said by phone from Harare, where he is attending a session of Parliament. "He is telling people
that if the MDC wins the presidential election next year the army will take power because it belongs to
Zanu PF."


Winnie Chirimamhunga, a Manicaland education official, referred all questions to the Education Ministry’s
headquarters in Harare. "People are just afraid because at times you can be called an MDC member
when you are actually not even involved in politics," said another source.
Mutasa and his entourage are said to have "fired" two teachers at Rusitu Mission, allegedly because of the
pair’s sympathy for the MDC.


At Matendeudze Primary School, Mutasa reportedly told the entire teaching staff that the defence forces
would take over the country’s leadership in the event the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai wins the presidency
next year. "No soldier will salute the person you want to vote for as president next year," Mutasa
reportedly told the teaching staff, apparently referring to Tsvangirai. "He will not rule this country because
he will be shot at."


Mutasa is said to have repeated his threats when he visited Nedziwa primary and secondary schools. At
Mutambara Mission, a Methodist Church-run institution, he allegedly summoned two teachers and warned
them privately against supporting the MDC. Musician Chinx Chingaira, a war veteran, gave an
impromptu performance at the school, belting out tunes from the album he co-wrote with lyrics on land
reform. The performance was attended mostly by lower and upper six students.


Mutasa’s entourage also visited Joseph Harahwa, the chief executive officer of the Chimanimani Rural-
District Council. Some Zanu PF councillors are said to have accused Harahwa of supporting the
Movement for Democratic Change. The outcome of the meeting could not be established this week.


Mutasa’s office referred all questions to Tholana, the Zanu PF district co-ordinating committee chairman.
Tholana could not be reached for comment.


"Mutasa is here," a Zesa employee said from Chimanimani.
"He is threatening everyone nurses, Agitex officers, teachers and all those at parastatals such as Zesa and
the PTC," said the employee.



115

THE GUARDIAN

Mugabe prepares for state of emergency

Chris McGreal
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is preparing to declare a state of emergency, and
possibly martial law

Such steps could be taken in response to American legislation imposing sanctions on
Zimbabwe's leaders because of political violence, according to a Harare newspaper.

The report came amid a fresh wave of violence against white farmers and their families on
Thursday as mobs attacked at least 15 farms.

The respected Financial Gazette reported that Mugabe's Cabinet intends to use the looming
passage of the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill in the United States Congress as a pretext for
declaring a state of emergency that would allow the president to suspend Parliament, delay
elections and rule by decree.

American legislators say their law is aimed at punishing Zimbabwe's leaders with sanctions
such as a travel ban for promoting violence and lawlessness rather than the country as a whole.
But the Bill is portrayed by the government in Harare as imposing sanctions that will harm all
Zimbabweans and threaten the country's security.

The US Senate unanimously approved the law last week and it is thought likely the House of
Representatives will follow suit.

The Financial Gazette quoted officials in the ruling Zanu-PF party as saying the "law of survival"
would take over if sanctions are imposed on Zimbabwe.

Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo confirmed the US law would provoke a response. "We hope
the situation won't reach the sanctions level, but if we are under siege, we have to employ
strategies to survive. We cannot lie and down and mourn," he said. "As for declaring a state of
emergency, I cannot say anything at the moment. We will cross that bridge when we reach it."
Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge has previously said that sanctions could lead to the imposition
of martial law.

Violence rose again on Thursday as farmers in the Chinhoyi area, where 22 of their number are
charged with public violence over clashes with land invaders, said a fresh wave of attacks and
violence has driven more than a dozen white families from the their homes. Gangs of Zanu-PF
militants were also reported to be roaming the area in an orchestrated campaign against farms
in the area.

One farm house was burned to the ground and families fled 10 other farms in the Lion's Den,
Mhangura and Doma districts around Chinhoyi yesterday. The Commercial Farmers’ Union said
another five farms were under siege.

Nkomo blamed the farmers for the escalating violent. "It is true the farmers have been attacking
properly and legally resettled farmers ... it is the farmers who are unleashing this violence.
Measures are being taken to nip it in the bud," he said.

• Jaspreet Kindra reports that officials from the South African High Commission in Harare
were on Thursday trying to contact four of the arrested farmers identified by the farmers'
union as South African nationals. The officials said they had been experiencing
problems as the Zimbabwean authorities are maintaining the farmers are Zimbabwean
nationals.

116


LONDON : SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

We will not tolerate racism, except in Zimbabwe
By Simon Heffer


A JEWISH friend and I had a stimulating dinner with Jack Straw shortly before he became
Home Secretary. He was proposing a law to punish nutters who denied that the Nazis had
murdered several million Jews. My friend took him to task, pointing out, quite sensibly, that such
people inevitably arrange their own punishment, and one far more damning than any law can
prescribe. Mr Straw was, however, implacable. He argued that the absence of such a law was
an incitement to racism. I did not then, and I do not now, believe he was motivated by a cynical
desire to ingratiate himself with an important minority. I think he is a man affronted by the
fundamental inhumanity of racial prejudice.

There are few more flagrant examples of such inhumanity now than in Zimbabwe. There, a mob
inspired by the Marxist tyrant Robert Mugabe beats, robs and murders people purely because of
the colour of their skins. Whites are forced to live outside the protection of a rule of law. As Her
Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Mr Straw must
now shape our country's response to this state-sponsored racist terrorism. He does not yet
appear to be doing so in a way that should make him, or any of the rest of us, proud to be
British.

There are 50,000 whites in Zimbabwe. Almost all have British passports or are entitled to one by
reason of descent. The country is our former colony. It is a member of the Commonwealth, an
organisation presided over by the British Head of State. Any one of these reasons ought to be
enough to prompt Mr Straw into action about the flagrant abuses of human rights there: but
apparently none of them are.

Mr Straw might argue that he is simply continuing the hands-off policy of Robin Cook, the
preposterous, posturing poltroon he succeeded in June. That is no excuse. A man of Mr Straw's
moral integrity should see at once the imperative for intervention in Zimbabwe. What is
happening is on nothing like the scale of the Nazi persecution he so rightly wishes should never
be forgotten. However, when one reads of the anti-white pogrom by Mr Mugabe's thugs, one
sees at once that the loathsome principle is the same.

The Commonwealth, which even before this inglorious episode had already marked itself out as
a footling, hypocritical and pointless organisation, continues to tolerate Mr Mugabe's depravities.
The Harare Declaration of 1985 stipulates that nations engaging in the sort of oppressive, antidemocratic
behaviour that Mr Mugabe has made routine should be expelled from the club.
Expulsion might mean nothing in practice, but would at least show what supposedly civilised
people think of this savage. However, Zimbabwe stays in, making continued mockery of the
Commonwealth ideal by doing so.

In an exercise of repellent vanity, Mr Cook happily defended the dispatch of crack British troops
to another former African colony, Sierra Leone, where nothing like the same level of British
interests was at stake. For that matter, the lives of British servicemen were put at risk in Kosovo
two years ago where no discernible British interest was at stake. Yet no one would dare suggest
that the protection of British subjects, and the upholding of the explicit principles of the very fine
and wonderful Commonwealth, ought to merit a disciplinary excursion by the SAS to Harare.
Why not?
There seem to be two problems, common to the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth. The
first is that the President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, has counselled restraint in dealing with
Mr Mugabe, and Mr Mbeki cannot be gainsaid. This is dangerous nonsense. Had Mr Mbeki
been a more successful head of state himself, his opinions might merit respect. As it is, he
would be better advised to concentrate on sorting out his own problems.

The second, and more insidious problem, is of post-imperial guilt. The officials of the Foreign
Office and the Commonwealth cannot grasp that some black people are as capable of
executing acts of racial prejudice as some white people. Racism by blacks against whites, such
as that which is having such murderous consequences in Zimbabwe, therefore cannot, in their


117


view, exist. Protesting against it or fighting it, even if it could be proved, would bring none of the
kudos associated with grandstanding about "real" racism - i.e. a bit of good old-fashioned whites
beating up blacks, while white liberals compete with each other for who can take the most
Pecksniffian line in sanctimony.

At heart, these people probably believe that the white farmers - and their women and children,
for that matter - deserve all they get. Have they not exploited black people for generations? Beat
them, starved them, kept them in squalor, denied them opportunities, forced them out of the
democratic system? Well, no, actually: that has been Mr Mugabe's prerogative.
Zimbabwe is our disgrace. The decolonisation in 1979-1980 was grotesquely badly handled. Mr
Mugabe won power by rigging an election and the British, then as now, were too cowardly to
argue the toss. It shames a country that claimed to have an "ethical" foreign policy that it
tolerates Mr Mugabe's tyranny. Is Mr Straw happy about this?

Apart from some fatuous remarks about Europe Mr Straw has been quiet since assuming his
new office. We should take this as a sign of grace, that he is reading himself in to his awesome
new portfolio. What is happening in Zimbabwe now, however, means he cannot remain silent
much longer if he is to retain his reputation as a defender of humane and democratic principles.
He must lead the move to have Zimbabwe expelled from the Commonwealth. And he must warn
Mr Mugabe that any further attacks on British subjects will be punished quickly and severely.
Only a few in Zimbabwe would be sad to see the back of the wicked, deranged criminal who
rules them. The sum of human happiness would be increased. And Mr Straw would establish
himself as the Viscount Palmerston of his age. So why are we waiting?


118


LONDON : TELEGRAPH
300 whites flee violence

By Philip Sherwell and Brian Latham in Harare

(Filed: 12/08/2001)

ABOUT 300 white Zimbabwean women and children were evacuated yesterday from a
besieged farming district by convoy and airlift as looting and violence reached new
heights.

Their husbands in Doma on the high veld 100 miles north of Harare decided on the
move after armed and drunken government mobs systematically ransacked farms in
the district.
The evacuation fuelled fears that the terror offensive will be extended across the
country as President Robert Mugabe begins his campaign for re-election. The vote
should be held by next April, although Mr Mugabe could postpone the elections by
declaring a state of emergency.

From early morning, scores of four-wheel-drive vehicles, pick-up trucks and cars
arrived in Chinhoyi, a provincial centre. Most of the vehicles travelled on to the
Lomagundi College, a private school close to town, where temporary accommodation
was provided for the women and children.

Light aircraft landed on some farms to fly families to Harare after police and Mugabe
supporters blocked roads out of Doma and turned back vehicles. White landowners
and farm managers have remained behind, although there is little they can do to stop
the rampage.

At least 16 homesteads in the Doma area have been looted and a farmer was briefly
abducted on Friday. "It is absolute anarchy -there is no law at all," said one farmer. "All
the wives and children have been evacuated until sanity returns, if it ever will."
The president used a Heroes' Day rally honouring guerrillas who died during
Zimbabwe's independence bush war to accuse white farmers of organised attacks
against squatters.
However, Colin Cloete, the newly-elected farmers' union president, said the violence
was a deliberate attempt to provoke landowners.

Roy Bennett, a senior opposition MP, said the campaign of violence and intimidation
was spreading across the country. "This is a ploy to destabilise the white minority and
undermine their confidence in Zimbabwe," he said.


119

From The Sunday Telegraph (UK), 12 August
The whites are not the main target of the thugs


By David Coltart, a Zimbabwe opposition leader, reveals Mugabe's plan
Zimbabwe is dangerous for everyone, but particularly for anyone who dares to criticise Robert
Mugabe's reign of terror. Like thousands of Zimbabweans, I know from personal experience
what those dangers are. Just before the election here in June last year, I published an article
which pointed out some of the horrific abuses of power committed by Mugabe's government.
Within two weeks of the article being published, my polling agent Patrick Nabanyama was
abducted. He has never been seen again. The men responsible are employed by Mr Mugabe's
Zanu PF. Fourteen months later, they walk freely on the streets of Bulawayo. They continue to
assist Mr Mugabe in his campaign of brutal violence and intimidation.

How is Mr Mugabe able to get away with it? His government survives not just because it flouts
the rule of law and uses violence to intimidate or remove opposition, but also because it
manages to maintain a facade of legitimacy. That facade appears to be enough to ensure that
neither other African states nor the countries of the Western world are prepared to take the
steps required to end Mr Mugabe's violent dictatorship. The necessary action is of course not
criticism for human rights violations from the American government or European Union
governments. Mr Mugabe not only cares nothing for such criticism: he actually believes it helps
him. He is after the support of black Africans, not Western whites. The more he can portray his
regime as the "victims" of white racism and colonialism, the more likely he believes he is to get
that support.

That is why he was perfectly happy for coverage of Zimbabwe in Western newspapers to centre
last week on the patently unjust detention of some 20 white farmers and the random beatings of
white women in Chinhoyi. Those shocking events were deliberately designed by Mr Mugabe to
capture headlines in the way that they have. It suits him to have the violence his thugs
continuously commit against thousands of black Zimbabweans pass unnoticed. If all the world
sees is his attacks on whites, that makes him look like a "liberator", the leader in a struggle
against colonialism.

Presidential elections have to be held in just over six months and the Constitution does not
permit any extension. Mr Mugabe knows that despite Zanu PF's by-election "victory" two weeks
ago, he does not have sufficient support to win the Presidential election. He also knows he does
not have the ability to manipulate the electoral process throughout the country in the way he can
in by-elections. What Mr Mugabe needs is a pretext to impose a State of Emergency, which
would enable him to crush the democratic opposition. That is why Gloria Olds, a grandmother,
was gratuitously murdered earlier this year, and why her body had an entire AK47 magazine of
bullets pumped into it as she lay dead. It is also why farmers have been under siege for days,
have had their homes ransacked and the law applied selectively against them. That is why white
women were assaulted last week. All those acts have been coldly and cynically calculated to
provoke a violent white reaction.

Mr Mugabe desperately needs a few white farmers to lose their tempers and gun down several
"war veterans". Miraculously, not a single "war veteran" has been intentionally killed by a white
since those actions began 17 months ago. So Mr Mugabe has stepped up his campaign to
provoke them. All his attempts to silence the opposition this year have failed - if anything the
opposition is gathering momentum. Mr Mugabe and his cronies now recognise that without the
imposition of a State of Emergency, they will not be able to stem this momentum. If whites can
be provoked into fighting back and shedding blood in the process then Mr Mugabe believes he
will have what he needs: the pretext to crush, not the whites, but the Movement for Democratic
Change and its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.

What can outside politicians do to stop Mr Mugabe destroying his own country? Whilst the West
has cut off aid to Zimbabwe, that has not hurt the super rich Zanu PF hierarchy. Mr Mugabe is
quite prepared to sacrifice the Zimbabwean economy to stay in power. He takes great trouble,
however, to ensure that his ruling clique does not suffer. His political allies earn rich dividends
from the extortionately high-priced fuel and their access to foreign exchange. They have their


120


hands on the Treasury, so a large portion of taxes end up in their private bank accounts. More
than that, they have all been bribed with proceeds from the war in the Congo.

Without the support of the majority of his cabinet Mr Mugabe will not survive. What will make
these people move against him? Not the imposition of blanket sanctions, and not the
cancellation of cricket tours or sports links. The only thing which will hurt is sanctions targeted at
the people who order its violence. The dictatorship will persist only so long as relative
moderates -men such as Finance Minister Simba Makoni and Health Minister Timothy Stamps

-- believe that they can remain in a cabinet responsible for atrocities without risking any of the
privileges Mr Mugabe hands them. If travel bans were imposed by Western countries on these
ministers, and their children, many of whom study and work in Europe and America, then they
would consider whether it is worth their while to buttress Mr Mugabe. If the foreign assets of the
entire ruling corrupt elite were identified and threatened with seizure, then that would also give
them some pause for thought. Finally, if Europe started investigations in terms of the
International Convention against Torture against those responsible for torture, as defined in the
Convention, those planning more of it might reconsider.
Mr Mugabe desperately needs a few white farmers to lose their tempers and gun down several
"war veterans". Miraculously, not a single "war veteran" has been intentionally killed by a white
since those actions began 17 months ago. So Mr Mugabe has stepped up his campaign to
provoke them.


121

BBC WORLD : 13.08.01

Farmers in Zimbabwe say widespread looting and destruction of
white-owned property have been continuing without respite around
the northern town of Chinhoyi. The head of the Commercial
Farmers' Union, Colin Cloete, told the BBC marauding bands of
government supporters were wreaking havoc on the town, and more
and more farms were being blatantly pillaged. He issued an
impassioned appeal to the government to act to restore law and
order.


On Saturday, President Mugabe repeated his government's
determination to press ahead with the expropriation of white
farmland despite the threat of sanctions from the United States
and other Western countries.


Lawlessness


BBC correspondent Rageh Omaar says the Chinhoyi region has
become so volatile and dangerous over the past week that
independent Zimbabweans and foreign journalists are finding it
virtually impossible to gain access. Colin Cloete said the
state of lawlessness had reached a height that could only be
contained by swift action, making a direct appeal to President
Mugabe.


"I make a heartfelt plea to the ministers and police chiefs who
took an oath of allegiance to protect all the citizens of
Zimbabwe, to swiftly and decisively avoid further destruction,"
he said. On Friday, 21 whites were denied bail after being
charged with violence and assault following clashes with a group
of squatters in Chinhoyi.


But on Saturday Mr Mugabe warned white farmers against
organising attacks on black squatters. "We will proceed with
land reform with or without their cooperation, with or without
sanctions. Let that be known here and abroad," he said.


Mr Mugabe also accused white farmers of lobbying the United
States and Europe to impose sanctions. Last week, the US
Senate approved and passed on to Congress a bill that threatens
sanctions unless the Zimbabwean Government respects democratic
rule and law and order, and carries out a legalised land reform
programme.


Racist


President Mugabe denounced the sanctions threat as racist and
aimed at thwarting his efforts to "correct colonial imbalances".


"What is our crime? Our crime is that we are black and in
America blacks are a condemned race. We are a black government
with a European community, the whites," a visibly angry Mr
Mugabe told several thousand supporters.


But the BBC correspondent says black farm workers often face an
even worse fate than the whites, and there are reports of many
of them being beaten up and chased by government militants.
Zimbabwe has been plunged into political and economic crisis for
the past 18 months after a government-backed campaign of land
seizures began. Many occupations have been carried out by
self-styled war veterans. The government has targeted about



122

95% of the land owned by whites - some 4,600 farms - for
confiscation.


Zimbabwe police suspended for favouring whites

Police in Zimbabwe say they have suspended three officers for
allegedly giving preferential treatment to a group of white
farmers in custody. A senior officer Commissioner Assistant
Wayne Bvudzijena told a French news agency AFP the three
officers had given extra prison clothing for the detainees to
make them feel comfortable. He said this was a violation of
rules.
Yesterday, Saturday President Robert Mugabe warned white farmers
against organising attacks on black squatters. His warning
came as more white farmers and their families fled widespread
looting and violence by government supporters in northern
Zimbabwe. One farmer told the BBC there had been no attempt by
the police to come to the aid of whites.



123

From BBC News, 7 August
White farmers held in Zimbabwe


More than 15 white farmers are reported to have been arrested in Zimbabwe after a
confrontation with militant government supporters. Friends of the farmers, speaking from the
town of Chinoyi, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north-west of the capital Harare, told the BBC
their colleagues were now in jail but had not yet been charged. The Zimbabwean police were
not available for comment.

The white farmers' friends said their colleagues were arrested by the police after a fight broke
out on one of the white-owned farms in the area. A group of white farmers had apparently gone
to protect a friend after about 50 militant government supporters invaded his land and attempted
to break into his house. At least two of the farmers were hurt during the subsequent fight. One is
reported to be suffering from broken ribs. The farmers said the Zimbabwean police did not
arrest any of the militants involved.

Supporters of the Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, have forcibly occupied thousands of
white-owned farms during the past 18 months. President Mugabe has said the occupations are
a spontaneous expression of anger at the unequal distribution of fertile land between the black
majority and the tiny white minority. But his critics, both at home and abroad, accuse him of
using the land issue to bolster his support at a time of worsening economic crisis. Eight farmers
have been killed and many farm workers injured during the violence. Another white farmer,
Ralph Corbett, was seriously ill after being attacked last Friday. According to the Associated
Press, the farmer's daughter said doctors gave him only a 5% chance of recovery after he was
attacked with an axe.


124

From ZWNEWS, 7 August
Zanu thugs on rampage in Chinoyi


6 August At 9:00 am on 6 August, farmers in the Chinoyi district received a distress call over
the local radio network from a local farmer, who reported that his house was being attacked by a
group of 40 Zanu PF thugs. The police were informed - their response was that they would send
a constable on a bicycle the 24 kilometres from the police station to the farm. Realising the
police were not going to react in anything like a timely fashion, 11 farmers travelled to assist the
besieged farmer. En route, they lost radio contact with the farmer, and began to fear the worst.
On arrival at the farm, they found the farmstead surrounded, and they forced their way way
through the mob in an effort to reach the inhabitants. in the process several of the besieging
crowd - and four or five farmers - were injured, one seriously enough to be hospitalised. The
besieged farmer was eventually found barricaded inside the house, out of reach of his radio.
The police eventually arrived and requested that the eleven farmers report to Chinoyi police
station to give statements. On arrival at the station, all the farmers were arrested. In addition, a
72-year old man who arrived later to bring blankets for those who had been arrested was also
detained. No Zanu PF supporters were arrested.

7 August A group of farmers and local residents arrived this morning at the police station in
an effort to mediate. Amongst them was Mr Mark Shaw - previously a police officer in the
Zimbabwe Republic Police. He too was arrested -his offence being talking to a lawyer on a
mobile phone. A number of other people were also arrested, bring the total of those in detention
in Chinoyi to 20. Zanu PF thugs have since gone on the rampage in the town of Chinoyi, and
white residents are being beaten at random. A Mr Hendrick Streeth was stabbed at the police
station, in view of the police. A Mrs Carol Anne Steyn, who wnet to the police station to change
her vehicle registration document, was also beaten in full view of the police. Mr Christen Erlank,
a Chinoyi resident, was picked up on the street by the mob and severely beaten. At least seven
other people are believed to have been severely assaulted - six of them women. Chinoyi police
have now advised all white residents of the town to leave.

From ZWNEWS, 7 August
Ambush, abductions in Nyathi


On the evening of Sunday 6 August, a group of around 60 Zanu PF militants -provided with
food and ferried in on government vehicles -gathered on a farm in Nyathi in northern
Matabeleland. They camped overnight on the farm, and on Monday morning abducted 13
people from a nearby mine. They then laid an ambush for the game scouts employed on the
farm, who were armed with shotguns. The ambush was sprung, and in the melee three of the
mob, and some of the abductees from the mine who were being used a human shields,
sustained minor birdshot injuries. The game scouts managed to escape, but the mob then went
on the rampage in the farm compound, burning down three of the staff quarters, valued at
Z$500 000. The incident was reported to the police, who initially reacted in a professional
manner, but who have subsequently refused to become involved after pressure was applied by
the governor of Matabeleland North, Obert Mpofu.

Contacted for comment, David Coltart MP, legal affairs spokesman for the opposition MDC,
said, "We believe that these incidents are not coincidental. Think back to April last year, when
David Stevens was murdered in the north of the country, and Martin Olds in Matabeleland.
Think also of the extreme violence after the by-election in the Bikita West constituency. We
believe all three of those past incidents were a reaction to Zanu PF realising just how much
trouble they were in politically. Although they won the Bikita West by-election, we believe there
was substantial electoral fraud in that election. Zanu PF knew the true ballot figures, and hence
unleashed the violence even though they had 'won' the election. Similarly, the murders of Martin
Olds and David Stevens were a reaction by Zanu PF to just how much support they realised
they had lost." He added, "What is happening today in Chinoyi and yesterday in Nyathi is
exactly the same kind of thing -Mugabe and Zanu PF are trying to beat the population into
supporting them, and if that doesn't work - as it increasingly isn't - they are trying to provoke a
reaction so they can declare a state of emergency. Zanu PF know the true figures for the
Bindura by-election, and this is what they do in response. Why else should they react so
violently in Mashonaland -their heartland -when their candidate in Bindura apparently won with
such a majority?"


125


Our liberators have privatised the revolution Pius Wakatama On Saturday

Independence Day, 18 April 1980, was a proud day for Zimbabwe. Many openly wept as the Union Jack
was lowered and the new Republic of Zimbabwe flag hoisted in its place. We were free at last. Our joy
knew no bounds as we looked to a future of freedom, equality and prosperity for ourselves and our
children. "Pamberi ne Zanu! (Forward with Zanu!)" was the cry on almost everyone's lips.

At that time I was an active supporter of the Zimbabwe Democratic Party (ZDP) led by the veteran
nationalist, James Chikerema and the late Enoch Dumbutshena. When Zanu PF overwhelmingly won the
1980 election, the party decided to disband in the interest of unity. Freedom had been achieved and that is
what mattered to most of us. Chikerema encouraged us to join Zanu PF. He was not going to join or
continue in politics. We were so excited about being free that we did not bother to ask him why he would
not actively support Zanu PF and participate in the new government. After the results had been
announced, he had, however, gone to congratulate Prime Minister-elect Robert Mugabe.

Today there is a rising vocal crescendo of "Pasi ne Zanu PF, Chinja! (Down with Zanu PF, Change!)" What
went wrong? Everything has gone wrong, it seems. Our much-loved government has turned against its
own people and has become our oppressor. Recently the Conference of Religious Superiors of the
Catholic Church in Zimbabwe came out with the truth about our situation. They said: "This is no longer a
free country. People live in abject fear of violence, crime and threats. The rule of law is no longer
respected, terror and intimidation go unpunished."

Zimbabwe's dreams have been shattered. Her people have again become "the wretched of the earth". The
former liberators, who were themselves oppressed by the old order and directly or indirectly participated in
its overthrow, now see the struggle as their own private revolution. They have replaced the previous
oppressive regime to the extent of keeping and using the nefarious Law and Order (Maintenance) Act,
which they had vowed to abolish. Even the architect of previous undemocratic laws, Eddison Zvobgo,
recently lashed at his own colleagues, pointing out that their new laws violated the Constitution of
Zimbabwe. Because of their lust for power and wealth, they have corrupted their God-given responsibility
to protect the weak, to empower the poor and to maintain justice for all.

In describing what was happening in the city of Jerusalem, the prophet Ezekiel might as well be speaking
about Zimbabwe today. He says: "The people of the city have taken to extortion and banditry, they have
oppressed the poor and needy and ill-treated the settler for no reason. I have been looking for someone to
man the breach in front of Me, to defend the city and prevent Me from destroying it, but I have not found
anyone."(Ezekiel 22:30).

Today Zimbabwe stands as a defiant but lonely pariah among nations. Even countries like Australia which
supported us in our struggle for independence are now calling upon the Commonwealth to take action
against us because of our terrible human rights record. Ezekiel describes our pariah status thus: "You
have become an object of scorn to the nations and a laughing stock to every country. Near and far, they
will scoff at you, the turbulent city with a tarnished name." (Ezekiel 2:4-5)

Speaking through Ezekiel, the Lord said He was looking for someone to stand up for righteousness, so
that He would not destroy Jerusalem, but could not find anyone. He would not have much luck in
Zimbabwe either. Our religious leaders glibly say Zimbabwe is a Christian nation as they wine and dine at
the sumptuous tables of the oppressors. They willingly serve on countless committees which are drafting
more strategies to further oppress the people. They will certainly have to answer for their actions before
the Almighty God.

As I thought about the sorry state of our country, I decided to visit Chikerema. I asked him what he thought
about Zimbabwe's political and economic situation. He said: "If I had known that this is how it would turn
out, I would not have given a greater part of my life to the struggle. This is definitely not what Joshua
Nkomo, George Nyandoro and I suffered for. Nkomo died a sad man. Nyandoro died a sad man.
Dumbutshena died a sad man. I will probably also die a sad man if a miracle does not happen to rid us of
this corrupt government."

I asked him why he did not join Zanu PF at independence in the interest of national unity. Chikerema said:
"I could not bring myself to join Zanu PF because I knew the personalities and character of its
leadership. In the first place, there was no need for them to break away from Zapu. Whatever difference
we had could have been settled through dialogue. The only reason they broke away was because they
were greedy for power. "Vaitandanisa tsuro ne munyu muhomwe (They were chasing the hare with the
seasoning in their pockets). They were vying for positions in a non-existent future government. Because of
their lust for power, they created disunity and set our independence back by at least 15 years. I could not
join them because I knew of their propensity for violence and intolerance of dissent. In fact, they proudly
proclaim: "Zanu ndeye ropa (Zanu PF is bloody)." This is no idle boast. If the true history of Zanu PF could
be written, as it will be one day, people will be horrified at how Zanu leaders killed each other in power
struggles here, in Zambia and Mozambique."


126

Chinotimba in new raids

Forward Maisokwadzo

SENIOR executive members of the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU), an offshoot
of President Mugabe’s ruling Zanu PF party, this week stepped up attacks on private
businesses under the guise of intervening in labour disputes, it has been gathered.

The ZFTU, which was officially resurrected last month under the guidance of Joseph
Chinotimba, was designed as a vehicle for Zanu PF supporters to win over urban voters to the
ruling party through intervention in labour disputes.

In the latest case of state-sanctioned extortion, a number of companies in the Ruwa industrial
area have been raided by officials from the ZFTU. Club Construction, Hy-Veld Seed
Company, Budget Foods, Maize for Africa, Tuffman, and Aurex -- a Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe subsidiary -- were among the 15 companies affected by the recent raids.

On Tuesday a ZFTU official, Makopa, in the company of four retrenched workers, visited Hy-
Veld Seed Company where he told the director that they wanted to resolve their long-standing
labour dispute with the former employees. Hy-Veld Seed Company is an important player in
the export sector and employs over 400 workers. A senior official who asked for anonymity,
confirmed the visit by the ZFTU officials.

"They visited our offices this week but I referred them to my lawyers. They just wanted money
from us which I disputed," said the official. "I am still to know which Statutory Instrument they
are using."

The official said that a ZFTU official threatened to beat up manage- ment if the employees
were not reinstated or paid money. "We don’t need to follow the law in Zimbabwe. We
are going to fix you in another way if you fail to honour our demands," the ZFTU official
told the director of one of the affected companies. "There is no need of going through
the courts about this case," the ZFTU representative told the director.

Senior managers with companies in the Ruwa industrial area confirmed the threats from the
ZFTU officials which they said were made through telephone calls or visits.

"We have received telephone threats and several visits from people who claim to be executive
officials of ZFTU," said one manager with an ice cream manufacturing company. "About three
quarters of the companies operating in Ruwa have been experiencing problems with ZFTU
members."

Asked how they had handled the visits, he said they told them to deal with the police, courts and
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. Chinotimba, a war veterans leader and Zanu PF
Harare province official, assured delegates during the re-launch of the ZFTU that he would
intervene in labour disputes. Police confirmed that some companies in Ruwa had reported
cases of threats and unusual visits by ZFTU officials, but said investigations were still underway.

"We assured company officials that the police would deal with people who want to extort money
on the excuse of trying to solve labour disputes," said a police spokesman in Ruwa. An
executive of the National Employment of Food and Allied Workers also confirmed the reports of
the recent visits by ZFTU.

"I can confirm that we have received some complaints but there are others who bypass us and
go directly to deal with their former employers after seeking assistance from ZFTU, which we
are not affiliated to," the official said.

"We deal with cases brought directed to us, not through ZFTU." The latest attacks on
businesses by ZFTU officials contradicted Labour minister John Nkomo’s announcement in May
that labour disputes were best handled by unions and the Ministry of Labour.

Despite the government’s call to end company raids, Chinoti-mba appeared on state television
vehemently insisting that private business raids would continue unabated.


127

Minister incites farm seizure


Forward Maisokwadzo

A CABINET minister and governor are orchestrating the acquisition of Macheke-based Sariview
farm, threatening the production of maize, export grass seed, tobacco and cattle breeding worth
$55 million in annual turnover.

The latest siege by hordes of war veterans who this week blocked the farmer from carrying two
of his sick workers for treatment at Macheke Clinic, came after they took over parts of the farm
in December and destroyed tobacco worth $1,5 million and export grass worth $300 000 by
ploughing it into the ground.

The squatters also cut down thousands of trees and poached wild animals and fish from the
farmer’s dam. The 1 400-hectare farm, which last year produced 400 tonnes of maize, could
now only manage a harvest of 10 tonnes from one hectare, an outcome which the farmer
attributed to the work disruptions by the Zanu PF supporters.

In a telephone interview this week farm owner George Botha said his single productive farm
was listed in October last year but was later delisted after government realised that it had made
a mistake in acquiring the farm.

"A district administrator in Murewa misinformed the land committee that I own various farms, but
it was discovered that I only had one productive farm. Government said it was prepared to
compensate me for the legal costs," said Botha. "However, I have not yet received anything
from the government but the farm was delisted." It now appears to have attracted the attention
of well-connected predators including a cabinet minister whose constituency is in the area.

Botha said despite his farm having been delisted, hordes of war veterans were now camped at
his farm threatening his workers who at one time spent almost three days sleeping outside in
fear of the squatters.

He said they prevented his workers’ children from going to school and contaminated the water
supplies by putting condoms in the reservoir which supply drinking water to the workers.

"The squatters admitted that they have contaminated the water in front of governor David
Karimanzira,"

On Monday this week, they blocked Botha’s wife from ferrying the two sick workers to the
hospital when they set up a fire barricade at the gate. Botha says his workers were threatened
with firearms and axes.

"We informed the police who paid us a visit but refused to take the sick people to the hospital.
The police told me that they were not an ambulance service," he said. He also said police told
him that it was not their duty to remove the squatters.

Botha said the hostile squatters became calm after being addressed by Zanu PF Mashonaland
East provincial chairman, Ray Kaukonde.

"As of yesterday the situation became a little bit okay after Kaukonde addressed the squatters,"
he said.

It is believed that of the 30 squatters only two of them are war veterans. He said in an
unprecedented move, the former Murewa district administrator, Mbetsa, allocated a Murewabased
businessman, Ndorochena, a plot of about 100 hectares on Botha’s farm.

"My irrigation complex with four boreholes, underground piping, a big reservoir, electrical wire
cables and underground cables all worth about $8 million have been allocated to Ndorochena,"

He said Ndorochena, who also owned a farm in Chitova, and another businessman,
Manhungire, and Garwe whose family owns a farm in Chitova, were among the 53 people
resettled on his farm by Karimanzira.


128

Zim crisis looms large in US Bush/Mbeki talks
Vincent Kahiya in Washington

THE Zimbabwean crisis was the subject of a Congressional hearing in the United States
yesterday after South African President Thabo Mbeki this week took his diplomatic initiative to
Washington.


The Zimbabwean problem, as it has come to be known here, featured prominently in the talks
between Mbeki and US president George W Bush at the White House on Tuesday.
Washington is now pinning its hopes on the Commonwealth ministerial team in which Mbeki will
play a key role.


Senator Russell Feingold, chairman of the African Affairs sub-committee of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, on Tuesday told the Independent that there would be a congressional
hearing to discuss the land crisis, the intimidation of the judiciary and the media, and the
breakdown of the rule of law in Zimbabwe.


Feingold is the author and sponsor of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Bill
which he said he believed Conmgress would pass. Feingold said he had managed to
convince African American members to support the Bill.


"We have since come together with the African American caucus because the situation in
Zimbabwe is troubling," said Feingold. He said he was disappointed by the lack of real
pressure from Zimbabwe’s neighbours to get Mugabe to restore the rule of law.


The Congressional hearing this week is expected to revive the debate on the Bill, which Harare
regards as designed to punish Mugabe for his stance on land reform. The general sentiment in
the United States is hostile to Mugabe as he is seen as the epicentre of discord in the region.


White House officials said after the meeting on Tuesday that the two lead- ers had discussed
the Commonwealth intermi-nisterial initiative to engage Mugabe in serious dialogue, the need
for organised land reform in Zimbabwe, the restoration of the rule of law and economic
recovery.


Asked if Washington had asked Mbeki to engage Mugabe on the issues at stake, the officials
said the talks centred more on how to strengthen the Commonwealth team which has now
taken the initiative.


"Let me put it this way, the talks did not develop in that direction but on the need to strengthen
and build capacity for the inter-ministerial team," an official said.


Kenyan President Da-niel Arap Moi, who met Mugabe in Nairobi two weeks ago, was in
Washington this week where he met with Vice-President Dick Cheney.



129


THE government’s decision not to renew the work permit of Daily Telegraph correspondent
David Blair should be seen against a background of curbs on the media in general and
intensified lawlessness across the country. Very simply the government hopes to get away with
its campaign of violent farm invasions and political repression without the rest of the world
knowing the shocking details.

This week we report on the pressure brought to bear by Joseph Chinotimba’s state-sponsored
Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions on a business in Ruwa. On farms in the Virginia and
Macheke districts farmers and their families are being held hostage and subjected to threats,
theft, poaching and vandalism while the police look on.

The expulsion -- and let’s not pretend it is anything else -- of foreign correspondents -- is
designed to limit the flow of information to the outside world.

The BBC’s Joseph Winter and the Mail & Guardian’s Mercedes Sayagues were declared
prohibited immigrants earlier this year because they had the temerity to legally challenge the
arbitrary termination of their work permits. They were then abused by President Mugabe and his
ministers who suggested they were not really journalists but spies. Winter’s home was broken
into by state agents.

At 6am on Tuesday last week state officials woke up members of a BBC film crew who were in
the country to cover the eclipse and took them from their hotel to Harare airport where they
were put on a plane out -victims of the Information department’s new accreditation rules.

In recent months we have seen a Broadcasting Act that has imposed the most draconian
regulations in the region and which actually tightens the government’s grip on broadcasting
instead of opening it up to other players. We have been promised a Freedom of Information
Bill which will seek to license journalists and impose penalties on critics of the regime. The
"reputations" of politicians will be specifically protected while Mugabe and his ministers will be
free to make defamatory remarks about people working in the media -- as they frequently have.

This week the government threatened to bar churches and NGOs from undertaking voter
education, an egregious violation of guarantees of free expression laid down in the constitution.

What does all this tell us? Blair is being expelled because his widely-read reports have proved
embarrassing to Mugabe’s authoritarian regime. The same was true of Winter and Sayagues.
The government cannot stomach the truth -- including its persistent abuse of power -- being
reported.

The crackdown on the media a pattern of repression that includes attacks on the judiciary which
have led to the resignation of three judges whose rulings proved unpalatable to government. It
is also related to renewed farm invasions, abductions and beatings of opposition MPs,
promotion of Zanu PF loyalists in the police and transfer of officers viewed as politically
independent, and the removal of teachers, nurses and local government officials seen as
opposition supporters.

The government is aware that its claims to be acting lawfully and in accordance with
constitutional provisions are contradicted by evidence on the ground. The new rules on
accreditation of journalists are an express violation of terms agreed in Cotonou recently by
Zimbabwe, as part of the Africa/Caribbean/Pacific group of countries, and the EU.

Keenly aware that its own actions are at the source of the negative publicity Zimbabwe has
been receiving abroad, the government wants as little as possible of the grizzly details to get out
ahead of a fact-finding mission by Commonwealth ministers. The mission will prove as futile
as all the other attempts to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis because Mugabe and his henchmen
have no intention of allowing a democratic dispensation or restoration of the rule of law. Nor do
they appear to want a national solution to the land question. But they should not think that in a
world of rapidly proliferating communications a policy of censorship and repression can work.
Over the past year Zimbabweans have demonstrated a thirst for news unadulterated by the
state’s clumsy and widely disbelieved propaganda machine. That public demand will increase
as the state seeks to muzzle views it cannot challenge openly or fairly.


130

From The Norway Post, 5 August
Norway's mission to Zimbabwe under surveillance


The offices of the Norwegian Directorate of Development in Zimbabwe is reported to be under
surveillance by the country's authorities, according to The Financial Gazette. The reason is
supposedly President Robert Mugabe's fear that the nation's political opposition will be given
foreign assistance.

According to the newspaper, the homes of some of the personnel of the embassies and foreign
aid missions to Zimbabwe are also under surveillance. Norway's Charge d'affaires, Tom Eriksen
at the embassy in Harare has sent a report on the matter to the Department of Foreign Affairs in
Oslo, Dagsavisen writes. President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu PF party, in May
pushed through a bill in Parliament, making it illegal to support Zimbabwe's biggest opposition
party, MDC. Embassies and aid missions which break this ban risk being expelled from the
country, The Financial Gazette writes.

From The Zimbabwe Independent, 3 August
Fast track to take 15 years


Government’s fast-track land resettlement programme will only achieve its full productive
potential in 15 years, a World Bank-sponsored study on land reform says. The study sought to
examine the impact of re-allocating five million hectares of commercial farmland to the
peasantry. The report acknowledged that the land reform programme was economically viable if
carried out in a manner that allowed resettled farmers to make the investment necessary to
achieve productive potential. The analysis shows that the viability of the land reform exercise
depends on support from government during the first five years of resettlement. The report said:
"Results seem to be equally promising in terms of production and employment, assuming that
the farmers throughout these periods would belong to the high-performance group."

According to Roger van den Brink, the World Bank resident representative in Zimbabwe, the
report is the first in a series, and only looks at the effects of land reform on the beneficiaries. In
subsequent reports an economic model will be developed to capture the effects of land reform
on key economic variables such as production and employment in the entire agricultural sector,
as well as other sectors of the economy. The study comes at a time when hordes of war
veterans and ruling party supporters have intensified their commercial farm invasions. In some
cases they have burnt crops such as tobacco, wheat and export grass. Critics blame
government for a skewed resettlement programme where people are being dumped on farms
without proper infrastructure.

"Government administration costs include all types of costs necessary to smooth the process of
resettlement," the report said. The researchers estimated that the administration costs include
both costs specific to the resettlement (US$200 per farmer in the first year) and farmer support
costs of US$50 a year. It said the infrastructure costs covered electricity, water, sanitation, farm
road construction, building schools, clinics and animal health facilities. Economists and
agricultural experts have pointed out that none of the inputs or support network vital to the
success of the scheme have been put in place and the World Bank-sponsored study therefore
remains academic.


131

From The Zimbabwe Independent, 3 August
Gonarezhou still occupied


Despite government assurances that the Gonarezhou National Park will not be
occupied under the fast-track land reform programme, resettlement in the park
continues unabated, the Zimbabwe Independent has been told. The latest invasions
have resulted in some parts of the natural habitat being destroyed by fires. This comes
hard on the heels of Zimbabwe's claim at a meeting in Harare last month of the
Ministerial Committee of the Gaza-Kruger-Gonarezhou Transfrontier Park that there
were no invasions in the park.

Government this week admitted people were settling in the park but said authorities
were in the process of finding alternative land for the invaders. Deputy minister of
Environment and Tourism Edward Chindori-Chininga said alternative land had to be
found for the people who had moved into the park area. "Basically you cannot settle
people in the national park," Chindori-Chininga said. "Whatever circumstances resulted
in those people going into Gonarezhou National Park, they must be reversed and readdressed.
We have sent out teams to find out whether people are actually in the
national park. We have now come to a conclusion that there are people in the national
park and what we have now done as a ministry is that alternative land has to be found,"
he said.

The situation has generally remained unchanged in Gonarezhou since May when the
Independent revealed the park was being demarcated for land resettlement. Most of
the people resettling themselves are from the Chikombedzi area, which abuts the park.
On Saturday new settlers were busy clearing tracts of land. Their fires could clearly be
seen at night. Only last month people from Matibi 2 approached the Warden for
Chipinda Pools, asking to be allocated portions of land in the park.

The latest wave of invasions follows a meeting, which was held at Masvingo provincial
governor Josiah Hungwe's office on July 19. The meeting was attended by National
Parks officials, war veterans, Cattle Producers Association representatives and officials
from the Veterinary Department. Sources who attended the meeting said the governor
was more concerned with the possibility of a foot-and-mouth outbreak than the
environmental disaster unfolding in the province. The latest round of invasions raised
fears that Zimbabwe was in breach of the Transfrontier Agreement it has signed to
much fanfare with regional neighbours. Zimbabwe told its regional partners in the
Transfrontier project that all moves to resettle people in the park had been stopped.
Chindori-Chininga said: "If we allow what is happening in Gonarezhou to continue,
people in Hurungwe can also go into Mana Pools, Nyakasikana, Hurungwe Safari area
and Chewore North or South."


132

From ZWNEWS, 9 August
Life with Zanu comes to town


Zimbabwe has once more surfaced in the international press. After months of burial in the single
columns of "world briefs" half-hidden in the folds of the daily papers, the appalling recent events
in Kwekwe and Chinhoyi have made the front pages. There are a number of reasons for this
renewed interest -- northern hemisphere politicians taking their summer holidays, a slow news
day with nothing much new to report from the Middle East. And some would say that the
prominence given to Zimbabwe in the last two days is purely because white Zimbabweans have
been the prime victims. There is probably some truth to this.

But the real reason is that, once again, Zanu PF has chosen to flaunt its "degrees in violence" in
the open glare of Zimbabwe’s towns and cities. The last time that Zimbabwe enjoyed such
prominence in the overseas press was during the factory invasion spree, and threats by
Chenjerai Hunzvi to invade embassies and foreign aid agencies several months ago. Cynics
remarked at the time that the only time foreign governments got worked up enough to "do
something" was when their diplomats and resident nationals were directly targeted and
threatened. And whatever ‘they’ did, it had some effect -- the factory invasions were scaled
down and foreign missions have not been attacked.

The events of the last two days do mark a change in tactics by President Mugabe -- sharply
intensifying the pressure on the white minority, farmers and town-dwellers alike, in the hope that
they will pack their bags and leave. Reports from Harare yesterday suggest that ruling party
thugs were wandering the streets demanding that passersby produce Zanu PF membership
cards - failure to produce one resulting in swift physical chastisement. Women with children
were singled out for assault, along with Zimbabweans of Indian descent.

But if the tension has been raised, the overall strategy has not changed. Mugabe has, for the
last 18 months, been attacking anyone and everyone who poses even the slightest risk to his
ambition of retaining power. It’s just that the majority of the voters whose support he must
coerce in order to survive live out of the glare of the media, in remote areas which are easy to
seal off from intruders -areas in which his gangs of marauding thugs can roam at will - raping,
pillaging, burning, and murdering with impunity. We have received a report in the last few days
of a schoolgirl in a rural school telling of her grandfather being beaten to death, and her
grandmother being forced to watch while Zanu PF thugs decapitated his body. This is not just a
sudden escalation of violence -- it is a shift into the limelight of what has been happening in the
rural areas and townships of Zimbabwe without letup since February last year.

There is another widely held misperception. What is happening in Kwekwe, Chinhoyi and
Harare -- and everywhere else in Zimbabwe since early last year -is not anarchy. The
government constantly claims that the farm invasions are spontaneous, that it is not in control of
the ‘war veterans’, and that to re-establish the rule of law risks an explosion into civil war. But
the murders, street stabbings, and assaults inside police stations, are about as anarchic as the
Bolshoi Ballet. President Mugabe is -- to put it politely -- a control freak. His oft-quoted
comment from his early days in power puts it succinctly. When asked what he aspired to,
he said :"Total power." Asked to define total power, he replied : "When a man is starving
and begging for food, you are the only person who can give it to him."

Up until the beginning of last year, nothing much happened in Zimbabwe without Mugabe’s
approval. And what he is doing now is to try and restore the status quo ante. The violence is
choreographed - Zimbabwe is not Sudan or Somalia. There are local criminals with pretensions
of being warlords, and individuals pursuing personal grudges and enrichment, but they are
allowed to do so because they are acting in the current interests of Mugabe and Zanu PF. If
they were not, they would be stamped on -- hard.


133

From The Zimbabwe Independent, 3 August
35 000 people settled -- CFU

The Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) says only about 35 000 people have so far been
resettled under President Robert Mugabe's contentious fast-track land reform programme,
contrary to his claim that more than 100 000 families have been resettled, it has been learnt.
Opening the second session of the fifth parliament last week, Mugabe said 100 000 households
had benefited from his fast-track programme which he said yielded four million hectares for
these families. "Land planning and infrastructural development teams are hard at work and
many more families are set to be resettled before the coming of the next rains," said Mugabe in
his speech.
However, the CFU says the figures quoted by the president were designed for political capital
and had no relationship to the reality on the ground. CFU director David Hasluck dismissed
government's assertion that 100 000 families had been resettled. "In the absence of more
concrete evidence, there are fewer than 35 000 people not families on these commercial farms
today," said Hasluck. "People who are sitting on farms are not usually landless peasants but are
people from Zanu PF and its supporters," he said. Movement for Democratic Change
agricultural spokesman Renson Gasela said this week Mugabe's figures represent all people
resettled since 1980, not those resettled under the fast track scheme. "I don't know why the
president lied to the nation," Gasela said.
According to the Central Statistical Office's intercensal demographic survey of 1997, the country
had more than 2,5 million households, with urban constituencies accounting for 926 210 and
rural 1,6 million. The government figures assume one in every 10 families in the rural areas
have been resettled. The situation on the ground however shows that few families have been
resettled from the densely populated communal areas of Mashonaland East, especially
Murewa, Mutoko and Hwedza. Hasluck said people from the communal areas were wary of
leaving their homes and being resettled on farms with no infrastructure. "Communal people did
not want to take a risk of occupying farms where they do not know how secure they would be,"
said Hasluck.
The CFU boss said squatters who had resettled themselves on farms were furthering their
superiors' political agenda. "The ongoing land invasions are confrontational and not
resettlement per se," he said. Asked about invaders who had occupied land in the vicinity of
towns, Hasluck said these were not genuine landless people but were instead army officers,
intelligence personnel and ruling party supporters. Hasluck said government was supposed to
respect the Supreme Court ruling which took effect on July 1, preventing further acquisition of
farms in the absence of a proper plan of action.
When asked about what steps, if any, the CFU would take against the government's refusal to
obey the law, Hasluck could only say: "If they do it, it is unlawful." The CFU director queried why
government wanted to acquire a further million hectares from white commercial farms. "Why are
they taking more than they want?" he asked. He said government had listed 7 132 farms and of
that total, 2 335 were repeats or duplications which meant that 4 797 farms measuring 9 183
069 hectares had been listed under Section 5 of the Land Acquisition Act. Hasluck said 204
farms covering 91 868 hectares had been delisted. Part of that land included large properties
owned by the Development Trust of Zimbabwe. "The net listed farms after delisting are 4 593,"
Hasluck said.


134

ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM

Who was responsible?
Alleged perpetrators and their crimes during
the 2000 Parliamentary Election period


A report by the
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum


July 2001



135


The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (also known as the "Human Rights Forum") has
been in existence since January 1998. Nine non-governmental organisations working in the field
of human rights came together to provide legal and psycho-social assistance to the victims of
the Food Riots of January 1998.

The Human Rights Forum has now expanded its objectives to assist victims of organised

violence, using the following definition:

"organised violence" means the interhuman infliction of significant avoidable pain and

suffering by an organised group according to a declared or implied strategy and/or system

of ideas and attitudes. It comprises any violent action which is unacceptable by general

human standards, and relates to the victims’ mental and physical wellbeing.

The Human Rights Forum operates a Legal Unit and a Research and Documentation Unit.

Core member organisations of the Human Forum are:

Amani Trust

Amnesty International (Zimbabwe)

Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace

Legal Resources Foundation

Transparency International (Zimbabwe)

The University of Zimbabwe Legal Aid and Advice Scheme

Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and the Rehabilitation of the Offender

Zimbabwe Human Rights Association

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association
Associate members are: GALZ and ZIMCET

The Human Rights Forum can be contacted through any member organisation or the following
personnel:
The Administrator, c/o P O Box 5465, Harare -- email: admin@hrforum.co.zw
The Legal Unit, c/o P O Box 5465, Harare -- email: legal@hrforum.co.zw
The Research Unit c/o P O Box 5465, Harare -- email: research@hrforum.co.zw
Telephone/fax: 79222,2 737509, 731660

Website: www.hrforumzim.com

All earlier reports of the Human Rights Forum can be found on the website.


Jill Lambert
2 Menura Avenue
GLENALTA

South Australia 5052
Phone/fax : 61 -- 8 -- 8278 2397
e-mail: jill@belovedafrican.com
website: www.belovedafrican.com

Overview

This report is a follow-up to "Who is Responsible?: A preliminary analysis of pre-election violence in
Zimbabwe", which was released in June 2000 by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. It sought to
catalog emerging allegations of gross human rights violations committed during the run-up period to the
June 2000 Parliamentary Elections and aimed to establish certain facts about the nature of political violence
during that time. When the report was released, the Forum had taken more than 60 statements which proved
that Zanu (PF), their supporters and many state organs were engaged in a systematic, pre-meditated
campaign to terrorize local communities into voting for the party or not voting at all. While there were
allegations across the political divide, only a very small number implicated opposition parties and there was
no evidence that these parties were engaged in a broad-based, systematic campaign. Now, almost a year after
the June 2000 parliamentary elections, roughly 1000 statements from victims of political violence and
information gathered from victims who have testified in the election challenges at the High Court have
further substantiated these allegations.

In the course of compiling this information, the Forum has begun to put together a picture of who committed
acts of violence, how often, and in what manner. This follow-up report, "Who was Responsible?: Alleged
Perpetrators and their Crimes During the 2000 Parliamentary Election Period", contains a list of alleged
offenders by name, implicating a number of key officials and detailing some of the most particularly
egregious cases of violence. It is important to stress that this list is woefully incomplete; it represents only
those perpetrators named by victims in statements or in the course of court proceedings. Compiling a
complete list of offenders and offences should be the job of a much-needed independent judicial commission
to examine all cases of violence surrounding the parliamentary elections and subsequent by-elections. This
report seeks only to provide a glipse of the massive scale of violence undertaken during the elections and
identify who is alleged to have been responsible. Many of the alleged perpetrators still hold key positions in
the government and other institutions and could continue their violent activities in future elections.

The perpetrator list contains 644 names but the actual number of perpetrators and the number of political
crimes they have committed is exponentially higher, due to the fear or inability of victims to report their
experiences. Without a powerful independent judicial commission, it is impossible to determine the number
of perpetrators who committed acts of political violence during the first half of 2000. One independent
report has estimated that there were well over 200,000 cases of political violence in the first half of 2000.1
Given that 635 perpetrators were named from only about 1000 statements, it is clear that there are many
thousands across the country who took part in acts of violence in the parliamentary election period. But the
fact remains that the very first act of political violence committed was as heinous and damaging as the
hundreds of thousands that followed.

Unfortunately, none of these alleged perpetrators are likely to stand trial. The General Amnesty for
Politically-Motivated Crimes, which was gazetted on 6 October 2000, absolved most of the perpetrators
from prosecution. While the Amnesty excluded those accused of "murder, robbery, rape, indecent assault,
statutory rape, theft, possession of arms or any offence involving fraud or dishonesty", very few persons
accused of these crimes have been persecuted. For example, in Mberengwa East, where nearly 230 persons
were arrested, only Wilson ‘Biggie’ Chitoro, an accused murderer, has thus far been detained for any length
of time for any crimes relating to the June 2000 elections. No one has yet stood trial. During the Buhera
North election challenge High Court Justice James Devittie requested that Attorney General Andrew

 Reeler, A.P. (2001), The Leaders of Death: State Sponsored Violence in Zimbabwe, p. 20


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Chigovera arrest suspected murderers Joseph Mwale and Kainos Zimunya for their role in the petrol-bomb
murder of two MDC officials, but no action has been taken. If murders are not being prosecuted, it is
unlikely that any other offences exempted in the Amnesty will be dealt with at all.

Amnesties have proven to be a dangerous practice in Zimbabwe and have set an unfortunate precedent. A
general amnesty was imposed both after the Liberation War and after the Matebeleland massacres in the
1980’s. As a result, Zimbabwe's disinclination towards seeking accountability in both these eras has been
instructive to the populace in general: crimes will not be prosecuted, criminals are free and are even
encouraged to terrorize again, and victims will be denied justice. The latest Amnesty absolved those who
committed crimes between 1 January and 31 July 2000 but subsequent allegations of political crimes have
since gone unattended to by authorities. It is rare that an individual is arrested for a politically motivated act
of violence and virtually unheard of that the incident will ever reach trial. If it does, the perpetrators are
usually members of the MDC. Zanu (PF) supporters, war veterans and CIO members seem to operate with
unofficial impunity.

The legal precedent set by a lack of prosecution and the implementation of the Amnesty has contributed to
the current situation where it can be argued that there is no law. Selective prosecution and crimes committed
by perpetrators who should already be behind bars are signs of a system that has not just bent, but has been
broken for some time. While the sheer number of perpetrators in this report and the harrowing tales of
torture which precede them are quite daunting, what is perhaps more horrifying is the knowledge that this is
just the tip of the iceberg.

Recommendations

The culture of impunity in Zimbabwe has seriously damaged the rule of law. The legal process has been
undermined by the selective application of the law by law enforcement institutions. These institutions
function effectively only for the ruling party, rather than operating impartially for all citizens. It is
imperative that the 6 October Amnesty be revoked and an independent commission be appointed to
investigate all allegations of torture and other human rights violations and make its own recommendations.
The findings of the commission should be used to prosecute those accused of any political crimes stemming
from the June 2000 parliamentary elections to restore faith in the rule of law.

In addition, it is clear that the haphazard application of the law last year is already having a
negative effect on the prospect of free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. Parliamentary by-elections,
mayoral elections and local elections have been consistently marred by violence. It is imperative
that the government scrap a proposal to limit voter education only to the government-run Electoral
Supervisory Commission. It is also crucial that they invite all willing election monitors, whether
domestic or international, to observe the election process both on the voting days and in the crucial
run-up period which has traditionally seen the vast majority of violence and intimidation.

Statistics of violence

Political affiliation of the victims

The political affiliation of the victims supports the claim that those targeted were members of opposition
parties and non-politically connected persons throughout the country. Violence, on the part of the ruling
party, appears to have been carried out on an "if you are not for us, you are against us" mentality. If a
person’s political affiliation was unclear, it was assumed that they supported the opposition. Office holders
and supporters of parties in opposition to Zanu (PF) were the primary targets of political violence, in
particular those belonging, or suspected of belonging, to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). In
comparison, very few Zanu (PF) members were victims of violence.


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Table 1: Political Affiliation of Victims who reported to the
Human Rights NGO Forum


Political Affiliation Number of
of Victims Victims
MDC 609
Unknown +None 63
U.P 21
Zanu (PF) 5
ZUD 6
Total 704
Gross human rights violations

The nature of the human rights violations reported and the frequency is indicated in the table below. Whilst
they represent the frequency of violations reported to the Human Rights Forum and the pattern of violations
they by no means reflect the number of violations carried out on a national scale. Pre-election violence
affected huge numbers of people and as such these numbers do not give a comprehensive picture of the
actual scale of violations. For example, whilst only 14 murders were reported to the Forum, the number of
murders on a national scale was about 40. Additionally, nearly all victims who made reports to the Forum
spoke of several other persons who had suffered the same violations as they had but who were unable to
report or were reluctant to do so due to fear of further victimization.

Table 2: Political Violence: Violence Sub-type for cases
reported to Human Rights Forum

Sub-type # %

Assault 484 44
Arbitrary + Unlawful Arrest 21 2
Attempted Unlawful Killing 5 0.5
Arson 72 6.6
Death Threat 7 0.6
Threat (to well-being other than death) 78 7.1
Kidnapping + disappearance 46 4.2
Political Intimidation 52 4.7
Political Victimization 5 0.5
Property Damage + Destruction 159 14.5
Rape 5 0.5
Theft 85 7.7
Torture 36 3.3
Unlawful Detention 28 2.5
Unlawful Killing 14 1.3
Total Number of Violations recorded 1,097 100

N.B There is some over-lap between sub-types. For example all victims of torture were
also kidnapped.
Bearing in mind the point made above about re-classifying various crimes as torture, it
will be seen that 75% of the cases report either physical or psychological torture, or
both.
A note on organised violence and torture

It is very important to understand that the cases reported below are not simply examples of electoral
violence, but represent gross human rights violations. They involve extra-judicial killings, torture (both
physical and psychological), disappearances, and cruel and inhuman treatment. Although we report the


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violations as crimes in the sense of the criminal law of Zimbabwe, they are also gross human rights
violations in both human rights law and humanitarian law.

Torture is the most common of the violations reported. We have separated assaults from torture, as this is the
way that the victims gave their own testimony, but in virtually all cases the assaults would be classified as
torture. We have also separated intimidation and property destruction as they are often reported as distinct
from torture, but it must be borne in mind that these are also forms of psychological torture and conform to
the general definition of torture given in the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment. Cases that are considered ‘organised violence’
meet the first three criteria below but are not committed by agents of the State.

The four elements of torture are:

1. Severe pain and suffering, whether physical or mental
2. Intentionally inflicted
3. With a purpose
4. By a state official or another acting with the acquiescence of the State.
When this definition is applied to the cases below, it will be easily seen that the vast majority experienced
torture.

Methodology

The primary sources of this report are statements taken by the Legal Unit of the Zimbabwe Human Rights
NGO Forum from victims of political violence. Information was also gathered from reliable independent
reports concerning the June 2000 parliamentary election. Seventy-two percent of the detailed statements
used to compile this report are first-hand reports made by the victims to the Forum. The remaining
statements are mostly first-hand reports as well compiled by reliable independent institutions. The
statements that appear in italics were either recorded directly from an oral interview with a victim of
political violence or were taken from written statements. In some cases notes were taken from a victim
instead of a verbatim account and these appear in regular font.

This report shows a large disparity between crimes committed by Zanu (PF) supporters, including war
veterans and CIO members, and other opposition parties such as the MDC. Every effort has been made to
document political violence as objectively as possible but the fact remains that there were very few cases in
which opposition party members were responsible for violence during the pre-election period in 2000. The
Forum and the Amani Trust encourage all victims of political violence to come and record their statements
regardless of political affiliation. We also advertise publicly for victims to seek us out for services. However,
the pattern is clear. While there are isolated incidents implicating opposition members, it appears that only
agents of the government and Zanu (PF) have a systematic strategy to employ violence for their political
gain, as this report will show.

It is also important to note that this process is incomplete. At the time of this report we have taken
statements from, or are in the process of taking statements from, victims from 14 of the 38 election
challenges currently before the High Court concerning the run-up period to the June 2000 Parliamentary
Elections. The first wave of victims came forward last year but much of our information has come from
victims who have chosen to testify in the High Court challenges. It is likely that the number of alleged
perpetrators will increase dramatically by the time all the cases are heard. Additionally, it is reasonable to
assume that our information represents well less than half of the actual number of both cases of political
violence and perpetrators. A complete assessment of political violence should be the job of an independent
judicial commission. It should also be noted that the provinces of Bulawayo, Matebeleland North and
Matebeleland South were not included in this report. While there is documented evidence that serious cases


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of political violence and torture took place during the first half of 2000, there was not sufficient information
available to include those areas in this report.

Key Abbreviations

CIO -- Central Intelligence Organization
MDC -- Movement for Democratic Change
NCA -- National Constitutional Assembly
UMP -- Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe constituency
Zanu (PF) -- Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front)
ZANLA -- Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (military wing of Zanu (PF) during the Liberation

War)
ZRP -- Zimbabwe Republic Police

THIS IS JUST A SMALL PROPORTION OF THE CASES CITED. I HAVE THE FULL
REPORT IF REQUIRED.

Case 1: M.M. (Male) - 12 May 2000
They took me to Hunzvi’s surgery and beat me badly. This was on 12 May. They said, ‘you are the secretary for
MDC and the one who knows where Sithole stays’. I said, ‘I don’t know where he lives but I work with him’. They
caught me by the hands. There were 12-14 of them. I was beaten on my buttocks till they were bleeding. They
tortured me on both sides of my body using short circuit electrics plugged in. This was for about two days. There
were about 9 women and 14 men involved. They were always coming and going. There was one controlling the
gang. He was wearing a yellow tracksuit and had dreadlocks. He was the commander that hit me. He was middle
aged and could be a war veteran. Three women said leave him or you may kill him. At night they put us in a toilet.
There were nine victims when I was there. There was also a commuter driver and a conductor. They were taken
because they refused to stop on the orders of the war veterans. I was beaten and tortured on the first day and the
second morning. Then someone just turned up and said, ‘leave him as he may not be one of the MDC supporters’.
When I was released I reported to police but they said they couldn’t do anything with these war veterans. The
following Tuesday they were arrested but later released.

Case 2: M.S. (Male) -- May 2000

I was coming from work. I am self-employed. I had gone to Ziggy’s place and was drinking. It was around 8:00 pm.
There were five Zanu (PF) youths who came there and abducted me. They took me because they knew my brother
was a supporter of MDC. I don’t know who identified me. They asked me my name and I said, ‘(name withheld)’ and
then I regretted it. They dragged me, beating me and I called for help. There were two or three who arrested me and
they squeezed my private parts. It was less than fifty metres to the surgery (Hunzvi’s). When I saw the direction I
was going I realised I was in great danger and tried to escape. Some were kicking me and one guy was holding my
neck.

When we got to the surgery I was thrown into the crowd and then beaten. It was in what would have been the
reception room. One woman shouted from behind that this is (name withheld). Later I was given into custody of the
top guys. Ndlovu, who is Ndebele is the commander-in-chief. Chanurwe is another one.

I was kept there being ill-treated for four days. A woman called Mai Mahenda was very rough with me. I was
bleeding that time through my nose and mouth. I was either in the vehicle, a land cruiser where 16 others were also
locked, or I was kept in the toilet. I was beaten firstly then they took a broomstick broken where the broom bit was
and the beat me with that on my back, my buttocks, my hands or under my foot. They asked, ‘who has a heart to
finish him off’, and they produced a knife. There was one volunteer. I knew him as the quartermaster. He was
responsible for feeding them. Then one old man from the rural areas asked them to spare me. He was part of the
Zanu (PF) war veterans. He was Ndebele, light-skinned with a bulging head. They took me to the bathroom and
made me swing round and round until I saw "Smith’s eye". I was dizzy and I vomited. Then they made me lie in the
bath under the shower water and took off my shirt and rolled it and tied it round my mouth. They took me to the
toilet bowl and put my head in it. Then they called others and told them to relieve themselves in it. I pretended to be
unconscious. And on the third day during the night, a Zanu (PF) lady went to the surgery and told them to release
me.


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Case 3: E.M. (Male) -- 11 May 2000

On a Thursday last (11 May) I happened to be moving around. I was on my way back from Zioja church in Budiriro

5. After paying money there I went to Budiriro 4. I wanted to meet someone who had asked me to plaster his house.
On my way from where I was to my job, I saw Zanu PF people were at the shops having a meeting. They asked me:
"Where do you come from." I said, "Budiriro 2. I’m here to see a person." I was not wearing an MDC T-shirt, but I
am an MDC member. They said I was an MDC spy. I was taken to Dr Hunzvi’s surgery and there I found two young
boys, aged about 17-20 who had been caught on a rally. They had no T-shirts or cards. They were also from
Budiriro. When I got inside I was given a paper to write all of the structures of MDC, the Chairman, organising
secretary, MP etc. As a member I have never participated and didn’t know anything. They detained me from just
before 12 midday on Thursday to around 1pm on Friday. They were beating me and using electric wires. They
changed over; sometimes there were three, sometimes two. They took our clothes. Three of us were locked all naked
in one room. Three people could be hitting one person at a time. I have wounds of wires all over my body. At around
11 p.m. on Thursday night, they took us out into the yard inside the wall around the premises, but outside the house.
There were a good number of them, more than forty. They wanted us out so they could sleep inside. We were
guarded outside. I was beaten. I can’t hear with one of my ears now and someone stuck his finger in my eye. I could
identify only one person who resides in Budiriro. I have known him since about 1996. Most of the guys are Ndebele
speakers. Some of the people at the surgery are war veterans, others are not. The last guy who released me is a
soldier from Mutare. When MDC started campaigning, I participated. I was chosen to be vice organising secretary
in the ward of Budiriro 2. A policeman was standing there. Even around 12 midnight where we were. He was near
us just outside, trying to get them to release us. During the day the police were not allowed inside the wall, but at
night they were allowed to come and take victims out. Those young guys were not released because they wrote down
some names of those in the party structures. They were kept and told that they would be released if the other guys
whose names they had mentioned were found and brought in. I was allowed to go, but the others were not. The
policeman remained inside and continued to try and persuade them to release the others. I made a report to the
police and they gave us letters to go to hospital.
Case 4: M.C. (Male) -- 8 May 2000
Last Monday (8 May) I was taken to Hunzvi’s surgery. We were at the shopping centre trying to buy bread - myself
and Wilson Mandeya and Patrick Mutodanziso. I am well known, someone must have pointed me out. Patrick is
(MDC) youth chairman for Budiriro 3. There were about 20 of them. But they were also about 90 war veterans who
came to the shops. It was about 7:30 in the morning. They caught Patrick and me but Wilson escaped. They took us
to the surgery and told us to remove our clothes. They started to beat us on the ribs with a wooden stick. They
tortured us with car jumpers (jump leads). They gave us electric jolts under the arms and on the genitals. They
wanted to know our names and positions. They came with a book where names and positions were written. I told
them a false name, but when I was checking the book I saw my real name. No 10 on the list with a star beside it.
They told me the names with the star are the ones we want. Then they asked me where the others are and where they
stay. They beat me under foot using electrical wires. We were tortured in shifts of guys and including women and
they were different people who came each time. I told them that I am not MDC but in the NCA so they started to ask
me about Lovemore Madhuku (former NCA vice-chairman) and others. The commander there is an old man, an ex-
combatant. A group of them came from Gutu and some from my home village there. There were about 150 people
there altogether. It is a big house with seven rooms. The women were fond of electrical jolts, they seemed like war
veterans. They were not only war vets. Some of them were young, some even less than 22. They spoke Shona,
Ndebele, Venda. They just wanted me to go back from MDC. They want us to surrender T-shirts and cards and said
that if you join us then we can give you money. They said some of the people there used to be MDC but have
changed to Zanu PF, but I didn’t see any I knew. They may be lying. After about three hours then the police support
unit came. They didn’t come in, but those inside saw the police and told me to put on my clothes and get out of the
surgery. They let me out but not Patrick.

Case 5: S.M. (Female) -- 11 August 2000

My husband was an MDC member and ward treasurer in Budiriro 2. On the 14th of May 2000, my husband, Patrick
Chipunza, left home around 9am going to buy some goods. On the way back Zanu (PF) members whom I do not
know forcefully abducted him from the public transport he was using. They took him to Chenjerai Hunzvi’s surgery
in Budiriro 4 and started assaulting him. They beat him to death. I went and reported the matter on the following
day at ZRP Glen View and I was told by one of the officers about the whole incident and he alleged that they had
taken to him to Harare Hospital only to receive a call later that he had passed away. My husband was self-employed
as a cobbler. I am currently finding it very difficult to fend for my two children who are not yet at school. My
husband was laid to rest on the 20th of May 2000 and the funeral expenses were covered by the MDC to the tune of
$15 000.


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Case 6: F.N. (Male) -- 7 January 2000
Tortured at the Bikita Minerals by members of the ZANU (PF) led by Chenjerai Hunzvi.
They hit him with an iron bar on the lower part of each leg. When he was walking along the main road they forced

him to participate in their rally at Svosvera Growth Point. Anyone not present was assaulted. Suffered injuries.

Matter could no be reported to the police, because some of them were involved in the assault.

Case 7: L. S. (Male) -- 12 January 2001

Threatened at the Nyika Growth Point in Bikita with death by a group of ZANU (PF) supporters, armed with guns,
iron bars and knobkerries, led by Chenjerai Hunzvi. Suffered injuries on the right arm, when he tried to escape.
Did not report nor seek medical treatment out of fear of victimization. About 20 MDC supporters fled into the
mountains.

Kambuzuma

Case 8: D.M. (Male) -- 28 April 2000

I am the youth district chairman for MDC in Kambuzuma. On 28 April 2000 I held a meeting at the section 3 shops
in Mufakose to arrange for primary elections on the morrow. After the meeting we went to drink beer. Around 9 pm
I left for home. On my way I saw a blue 504, and a white Sunny and a cream Mazda 626. The owner of the Sunny is
CIO. After some 500 metres from the shops, the 626 sped and stopped in front. The back passenger dropped out and
pointed a gun. He slapped me in the face and pushed me into the car. He said we should not hold MDC meetings
anywhere. They said: "You think you are clever, you MDC people are now behaving like you are already ruling the
country." There were four men in the back of the car and two in the front. One of them I recognise. He is from the
President’s office. I recognise him from Kambazuma. I know where he lives. They were also CIOs in the car. I was
forced to sit on the lap of one of them who was sitting in the back. I was sitting in the middle and my arms were
outstretched. Each arm was handcuffed and it was held by the two guys sitting on either side of the car. The guy in
the front seat was slapping me in the face. The other one was sitting behind me and hitting me at the back. I
screamed and a cloth was put in my mouth. The car moved. I was bleeding. They took me to a bush near Willowvale
industrial area. When they parked the driver didn’t come out, but the others took me out. I was made to lie on my
back and one of them was stepping on my stomach. Two were holding handcuffs with arms outstretched. One of
them took a wire from the car and put it in my anus. Then he put it in my penis as well. I fainted and they left me for
dead. I came round twice. Once on the spot and then I got to the road and a car found me and took me to
Kambuzuma police. I came round again at the police station. An ambulance was called. I fainted again and I don’t
know how I got to hospital. At the hospital, they came two times asking for me. The first time they came on the 3rd of
the month. One of the guys came to the hospital, when I was in bed. I saw him and I told the sister who was in the
ward and she went to call the police, but he went away. The following morning he came and said I’m a doctor. He
actually came and examined my stomach. I recognised him. My brother was there. Afterwards when the doctor came
back the CIO went away. My brother asked the doctor about him and he confirmed he’s not a doctor, saying he
thought he must have been a friend of ours. He was wearing a blue T-shirt.

Mbare East

Ali Manjengwa, George Tsvuura, Admore, Baba Dhi, Gozho Simango, Edmore Tinaruro,
Miriam, Jahannes Mudhuwiwa, Stanley ‘Rasta’ and Paddington Nyama

Case 9: L.M. & P.M. (Male, Female) -- 15 June 2000

On our way back from a campaign mission at Ivan's farm we met Zanu (PF) supporters in a white pick-up. They
were carrying small axes, bicycle chains and knobkerries and screwdrivers. They had another sharp object that I
don’t know which they used to try and mark an axe on my back. They stripped us both of our T-shirts and beat us.
They beat the lady I was with, P.M. and Alois Nhizva, the candidate. They chased him and pushed him in the water
in a quarry. They took $14,000 cash from him and $3000 from me. They destroyed the car headlamps and left me
for dead. P.M. was unconscious. Farm workers found us and they poured water on us. We walked a distance and
then couldn’t go any further. Then a lady driving by saw us and took us to Parirenyatwa. The assailants are resident
in Mbare and we gave the police their names but no arrests were made. Their leader was Ali Manjengwa. The
others are George Tsvuura, Admore, Baba Dhi, Gozho Simango. When they were beating us they told us we have
to do our work because we get good pay. Ali said: "We must take the T-shirts or you will die for nothing." Ali was
once arrested, but Tony Gara is said to have gone and got him out of the police station telling them they could not
arrest his campaign manager. He is the one who sponsored them and sometimes went to their base or their meeting
place at the Zanu (PF) offices in Mbare.


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Case 10: R.M. (Male) -- 1 June 2000

On the 1st of June I was campaigning on Derbyshire Farm with about 36 people, and there were about 120-150
people attending the meeting. While I was addressing the people, a white Mazda pick-up carrying about 15 people
wearing Zanu (PF) t-shirts drove up. I know some of them: Ali Majengwa, Edmore Tinaruro, Miriam, Jahannes
Mudhuwiwa, Stanley "Rasta", Paddington Nyama, George Tsvuura, and several others. They were wielding
sjamboks, iron bars, bicycle chains and knobkerries. Since my people were not armed, I advised them to flee for
their lives. The Zanu (PF) people started attacking everyone who was present at the rally. I ran away. It’s a rocky
area, and many people fell down, injuring themselves. The Zanu (PF) supporters caught up with me whilst shouting,
"We want (name withheld)!" Ali Majengwa pushed me over a cliff. I fell a distance of about 6m into the dip and
injured my left leg on the shin. I crawled for about 40 to 50 minutes, trying to get away form the assailants. I
managed to reach the Seke road and hired a lift to Chitungwiza Police Station where I made a report. We arrived
back at the site of the incident to find that the tyres on my car had been deflated, and some of the property and parts
of the car had been stolen. The damage to the car comes to about $10 000, and the spare wheel, jack, wheel spanner
and my jacket were also stolen. There was a sum of about $38 000 stolen in cash as well. A report was compiled by
the Waterfalls Police but the police now claim that the docket has been lost.

.

Mufakose

Sabina Thembani, ‘Cobra’

Sabina Thembani, while not personally committing the violations, hired youths to torture Mufakose
residents. Youths were employed to monitor movements of suspected MDC supporters and to attack them.
These youths received salaries of between $500 and $700 a week and were paid for bringing in MDC t-shirts
with the blood of supporters on them. As a result, incidents of people being systematically assaulted have
become very common in Mufakose.

Case 11: T.M.D. (Male) -- 11 May 2000
After a rally in February thugs employed by Sabina Thembani attacked us. There were about fifteen people armed
with iron bars, axes, hoes and stones. We had not anticipated such violence and as a matter of fact we did not have
anything to defend ourselves and everyone that could, ran away. Unfortunately five of our members were assaulted one
of them an elderly man of about 76 years old. His name is Sydney Pandehuni. He was severely assaulted and
sustained deep cuts on the back of his head.

Case 12: B.M. (Male) -- May 2000

B.M and a youth organising secretary were abducted from their homes and taken to Sabina Thembani’s Zanu PF
offices in Mufakose and severely assaulted. They both fainted during the assaults, were doused with water and as
soon as they recovered they were beaten again until Sabina herself claimed she was tired of the beating and called
off the assault. They were then dragged out of the office premises.
Case 13: T.D. (Male) -- 11 May 2000
They came to my place and produced pistols and they took cards and T-shirts to surrender to Sabina Thembani.
They come to my place on a daily basis. We have tried with the police, but as soon as you give a complaint your
details are there. The police have told us: "You MDC people - we want nothing to do with you". Cobra, one of the
MP’s thugs was arrested but when he was taken to court Sabina Thembani came and they released him. She was
ululating.

Manicaland

Buhera North

Kainos ‘Kitsiyatota’ Zimunya and Joseph Mwale
Kainos Zimunya was an election agent for Zanu (PF) Buhera North MP Kenneth Manyonda. In the Buhera
North election petition, Sanderson Makombe named Zimunya and Joseph Mwale as being responsible for
the deaths of MDC campaign workers Talent Mabika and Tichaona Chiminya.

Mr Makombe alleges that he was in the twin cab with Ms. Mabika and Mr Chiminya when a Zanu (PF)
labelled vehicle stopped them and began to beat them while he and his colleagues were still in the twin cab.
According to his testimony, he escaped out of the back of the vehicle while the others tried to hide in the
front seat. He then heard Ms. Mabika screaming and also heard someone call for petrol bombs to be brought
from the Zanu (PF) vehicle. Petrol was poured on Mr Chiminya and Ms. Mabika and then poured under the


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hood of the vehicle. A bomb was thrown and the vehicle caught fire. Mr Makombe alleges that he ran back
to the vehicle to pull his two colleagues out. When he did, their skin was flaking off from the burns and their
clothes were still alight. Mr Chiminya was pronounced dead at the scene and Ms. Mabika died after being
taken to the hospital.

Despite numerous witnesses implicating Mwale in the murders he has not yet been detained. The docket in
which Mwale and Zimunya are cited as prime suspects in the murders of Chiminya and Mabika was sent by
Mutare Police to Police General Headquarters in Harare for them to forward to the Attorney General’s
Office. Police sources say the police chiefs are still holding the file. Mwale and Zimunya were summoned to
testify in the Buhera North petition but disappeared before they could be brought to court.

After the trial Justice James Devittie cited section 137 of the Electoral Act that allows him to forward any
illegal act discovered in the course of court proceedings to the Attorney General for prosecution. He
forwarded information to Attorney General Andrew Chigovera but as yet no action has been taken.

Case 14: D.M. (Male) -- 15 April 2000

At Murambinda Growth Point after an MDC executive meeting he was approached by Joseph Mwale, a CIO agent
and assaulted with an empty beer bottle.

Case 15: B.M. (Female) 15 April 2000

Approached by a CIO agent, Joseph Mwale. She was assaulted in the face as a reprisal for chanting MDC slogans.
She was further assaulted all over the body with booted feet and clenched fists.

Makoni East

Erengwe, Happymore Dafi, Ndongwe and Revai Nyamombe

Case 16: T. C (Male) -- 14 June 2000

Attended Zanu (PF) rally addressed by Minister of Defense and Makoni West MP Moven Mahachi. He was
identified as an MDC supporter and therefore an infiltrator. Attacked with machetes, logs and sjamboks by
Erengwe, Happymore Dafi, Ndongwe and Revai Nyamombe. Sustained injuries on back.


Shadreck Chipanga

Zanu PF Makoni East MP Shadreck Chipanga, who is also a former director of the CIO, is alleged to have
set up a base in Nyazura from which Zanu (PF) youths launched their operations.

Case 17: T.B.M. (Male) -- 9 April 2000

I was wearing an MDC t-shirt and going to an MDC rally at Mabvazuva in Rusape in the company of J.M. Six
people alighted from a white defender and kidnapped us. Shadreck Chipanga was with them. We were taken along
Wedza Road and assaulted with sticks and iron bars. I sustained injuries to my back and currently experiences
problems with my spinal cord. There were 12 people in the vehicle. We were threatened with death and being buried
alive. We were told to remove our t-shirts and support Zanu (PF) if we wanted to survive. They took us to Mucheke
River and threatened to throw us into it. Chipanga then gave the order for us to be spared. We were dumped at
Mucheke River about 23kms from Rusape.

Case 18: Amos Kutiya -- April 2000

Mr Amos Kutiya testified that he witnessed Shadreck Chipanga assault MDC supporter David Sundai. Chipanga
then allegedly stood by as Zanu (PF) youth tortured Mr Sundai. Mr Kutiya was at his homestead when he saw a
blue Nissan twin-cab arrive. He recognized the car because he had seen Zanu (PF) supporters using it on party
business in the area. He recognized Chipanga immediately because the respondent had once given him a ride to
Rusape. Mr Kutiya stated that Chipanga hit Mr Sundai with an open hand and also identified Lloyd Chipunza as an
assailant. He also was able to identify William Venge as a member of a Zanu (PF) gang known to assault MDC
supporters in the area. After the assault, Mr Kutiya went to help Mr Sundai up but the victim could not stand. His
face was swollen and bloody and he could not see properly.