Links ~ 4 November 2008
November 4th, 2008
SADC to hold summit on Zimbabwe in S.Africa Sunday ~ Reuters
Regional leaders will hold a summit in South Africa on Sunday aimed at breaking a deadlock in negotiations threatening Zimbabwe’s power-sharing deal, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa told Reuters the meeting would also discuss recent fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The heads of state of Mozambique, Swaziland and Angola, who form regional group SADC’s security committee, and Zimbabwe’s political parties, failed last month to secure a breakthrough in talks on the formation of Zimbabwe’s cabinet. Setting up a unity government is seen as critical to reversing Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown.
Tsvangirai to attend Sadc summit even without new passport ~ ZimbabweJournalists.com
MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai will attend Southern African Development Community’s (Sadc) full summit which is seeking to end the cabinet impasse that has seen Zimbabwe’s political parties failing to work together in a unity government. Tsvangirai will attend even if he does not get a new passport from the Zimbabwe government. The pages in his passport are full.
Botswana president calls for rerun of Zimbabwe presidential poll ~ AFP
Botswana President Ian Khama on Monday called for an internationally supervised rerun of the presidential poll in Zimbabwe as “one viable way forward” to get that country out of its political crisis. “We strongly believe that the one viable way forward in Zimbabwe is to have a rerun of the presidential election under full international sponsorship and supervision,” he said in his 2008 State of the Nation address to parliament. “That way, a repeat of the past run-off presidential election, which was declared by regional and international observers to be neither free nor fair and was characterised by intimidation and violence, can be avoided.
Welshman Ncube denies doctoring power sharing document ~ SWRA
The Secretary General of the Mutambara MDC, Welshman Ncube, has described as a “malicious agenda and a creation of fiction†reports alleging he was involved in the doctoring of the power sharing deal. News reports had quoted unnamed MDC sources alleging that the document had been tampered with by former Minister of Justice Patrick Chinamasa, Welshman Ncube and Thabo Mbeki’s own representative, Mujanku Gumbi. In an interview with SW Radio Africa, Ncube said: “It can only be the product of people who are extremely malicious, who have no journalistic ethics who run with a stupid false story without even the decency of talking to the people who are accused of the fraudulent alteration of the document.†Ncube added: “I did not take part or participate in any alteration of any agreement at all.†However the Mutambara-MDC’s chief negotiator said there are alterations and two paragraphs that are missing from the final agreement signed by the principals on 15th September. He said Chinamasa has admitted to altering one of the paragraphs and “accidentally†deleted two of the other clauses.
Trial of British journalist set for Wednesday in Zimbabwe ~ APA
The trial of freelance British journalist, Philip Warrington Taylor, will be held on Wednesday following his arrest in Zimbabwe last week for allegedly practicising journalism without government accreditation, APA learnt here Tuesday. Taylor was arrested last Thursday as he boarded a plane at Harare International Airport on allegations he had practicised journalism during his stay in Zimbabwe without accreditation from the Media and Information Commission (MIC), a government agency responsible for licensing journalists here.
RBZ introduces three higher denominations ~ The Zimbabwe Times
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has introduced new $1 million, $500 000 and $100 000 banknotes in a desperate bid to ease the recurrent cash shortages plaguing the inflation-ravaged economy. The bills will officially come into circulation on Friday, although they were already on the foreign currency dealers market today. As high as they are, though, the highest bill can only buy eight loaves of bread. The highest new note is equal to just US$6.
Zimbabwean Gold Mines Unable to Operate, Chamber of Mines Says ~ Bloomberg
Most gold mines in Zimbabwe are unable to operate because the country’s central bank hasn’t paid them for deliveries of the metal, the country’s Chamber of Mines said. Several mines have been flooded while others are unable to pay workers because payments for gold have been erratic or non- existent for as long as two years, the Harare-based Chamber, which represents the country’s bigger gold mines, said in an e- mailed statement late yesterday. “It is not understandable that at a time when the country requires as much foreign currency as possible, the gold sector, which can generate foreign currency, has deliberately been brought to its knees,” the Chamber said.
Stockpiled Ivory Sold ~ New York Times
Zimbabwe sold almost four tons of ivory on Monday, raising $450,000 to help the economically embattled country protect its elephants and better manage its vast national parks, said Morris Mtsambiwa, director general of the Zimbabwe Parks Authority. The sale in Harare was one in a series of ivory auctions being held for the first time in a decade. Last year, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ruled that Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe could sell 108 tons of stockpiled ivory to approved Japanese and Chinese buyers. Zimbabwe’s economic crisis has had a devastating effect on its wildlife, revitalizing the illegal trade in game meat.
