Villagers who have farmed hard and against the odds and think that they have managed to do what is necessary to feed their family in todays hard times have had a taste of zanu-pf compassion and crisis management. I was attending a funeral in my home area last week and the army were moving from village to village setting aside portions of the crop of maize for the GMB (Grain Marketing Board). Will knowing their crops are going to be taken motivate people to grow more crops next year I wonder?

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, food supply, farming, army

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The table below, courtesy of well-known economist John Robertson, shows Zimbabwe’s foreign exchange rate changes for the last five years, with figures forecast for this year. It’s hard to believe that US$ 1 cost a mere Z$ 70 at the the start of 2001. In December last year US$ 1 was equal to Z$ 110,000 and John Robertson has forecast that it will reach Z$ 483,682 by December 2006.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, economy, forex, black market, parallel market, exchange rates, currency, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, inflation

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Gideon Gono, the governer of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, has revealed his party’s worst fears by publically warning business and political leaders that there may be food riots in Zimbabwe. He said:

To quote the wisdom of General Constantine Chiwenga, ‘a hungry man is an angry man’, and he said we must do everything to ensure the army does not one day have to face angry hungry people on the streets

He also warned that “The country is … standing on the edge of a cliff which threatens to irreversibly take us downhill if we do not boldly move forward with speed to address most of our shortcomings”.

That’s not all: Gideon Gono also told us that Zimbabwe’s annual inflation rate will peak at record levels between 700-800 percent in March and then subside, falling to 220-230 percent by the end of the year. Can you even begin to imagine that? 700-800 percent! And the Financial Gazette took time to report on the fact that the Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank money printing machines were very busy in 2005:

BROAD money supply, M3, grew rapidly from 177.6 percent in January 2005 to 411.5 percent in November 2005 due to excessive money printing by the central bank to finance grain and fuel imports. Gideon Gono, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor said the lender of last resort had to print more money to stabilise external payments and support quasi-fiscal expenditures. [...] “We chose to print money in 2005 in order to survive. If we had not intervened, agriculture would have collapsed completely,” Gono said.

That made me laugh! If only I had known that the solution was so easy (and if only I could afford to buy ink cartridges for my printer!) I think I would try to print a bit of Zimbabwe’s monopoly money myself !

We on the street felt Gono’s misery like a little earth tremor when things went a bit pear-shaped at the end of last week and the value of forex on the parallel and black-markets sky-rocketed overnight . Nobody is selling their US dollars, Pounds, Rands, Euro’s or Pula’s at the moment: those with forex to sell are waiting to see where the slide will stop to ensure they get maximum Zimbabwe dollars for their precious forex. (Read this Sokwanele article from July last year which describes the differences between Zimbabwe’s ‘offical’, ‘parallel’ and ‘black’ markets in foreign currency: “The Forex Market - A layman’s guide to how it works, and why it does what it does” )

ZimPundit writes about Gono’s rant at corruption as the root of evils, quoting Gono from comments published in ZimOnline

If we do not stamp out this growing cancer especially among people in positions of authority and influence, the so-called chefs, if we do not stamp out the indiscipline as we go about our business we will soon discover too late though that policy formulation and implementation, monitoring and decisions will be based on self interests, racial overtones, regional and tribal considerations at the expense of national interests.”

ZimPundit goes on to specuate on whether Gono himself is as free of corruption as he would like others to believe:

… I wonder if Gono himself was listening to his own reprimand. He is the alleged owner of a petrol station in Malbereign at which the precious commodity never runs out. Just over a week ago the reserve bank which runs an elaborate fuel “coupon” scheme (through which they sell fuel coupons for foreign currency) was telling everyone who was buying petrol coupons that there was no petrol in the country. A window staffer at the Homelink Center at the Reserve Bank on Samora Machel Avenue speculated that it could be weeks before supplies were reestablished. Interestingly a fuel tanker was seen making a delivery to the “Gono Station” were supplies never run dry within minutes of the Reserve Bank’s announcement of the absence of fuel.

Let’s not forget either that Gono, in his zealous efforts to stamp out corruption and control the forex markets, has a lot of questions to answer too with regards to his role in Operation Murambatsvina and the homelessness, suffering, poverty and HUNGER that resulted. The following extract comes from an article titled Gideon Gono ‘… in sheep’s clothing’ - the Role of the RBZ Governor in Murambatsvina, cirulated by Sokwanele in June 2005:

The conclusion is inescapable - when formulating his Policy Framework speech the Governor of the Reserve Bank was fully appraised of the social and economic tsunami that ZANU PF was just about to unleash on the nation. Not only so, but he clearly approved the basic tenets of the policy, witness his remark: “the rot needs thorough cleansing”. He knew that the blitzkrieg would cause massive upheaval and expected a strong voice of protest to be raised against it: “Let there be no outcry when the long arm of the law (sic!) extends itself to these sectors.” He was also aware of the timing “…as indeed we believe it will soon do”, which was no doubt deliberate; based on the ZANU PF’s reading of the post-election climate “… the marked peace and tranquillity prevailing in the economy forms a solid launch-pad to deepen our turnaround thrust”.

At the very least then Gideon Gono knew and thoroughly approved the massive assault on the civil liberties of the informal sector and the urban poor which was about be launched on the unsuspecting Zimbabwean public. Indeed, in terms of political philosophy and economic policy, Murambatsvina so closely fits the successive stages of the so-called anti-corruption drive of which Gono was the author that it is difficult to resist the conclusion that this too was his brain-child - perhaps the capstone of his intended reforms. So much for his professed strong Christian convictions - and the pious clichés that he trots out regularly to spruce up his personal image (as indeed do a number of other ZANU PF heavyweights who are equally guilty of the most heinous crimes against humanity).

Don’t you think it’s just a little too late, Mr Gono, for you of all people to realise that “A hungry man is an angry man”?

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, economy, forex, corruption, black market, parallel market, exchange rates, currency, Gideon Gono, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe

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I’m sure that a Martian would be no more surprised at our daily life than a visitor from America would be:

• When did you last drive up to a filling station and fill your car with petrol from the petrol pump? (Instead we buy 200 litre drums, siphon the fuel into a 20 litre jerrycan, and then siphon that into our cars…..)
• When did you last manage to go shopping with just your wallet, and not an envelope full of cash? (Instead we carry around these vast quantities of notes, given that our largest denomination note is worth 20 US cents….)
• When did you last feel free to discuss the political situation with a stranger in an Emergency Taxi? (Instead we hide what we really think, and just complain in private….)
• When did you last call a policeman when you were feeling unsafe? (Instead we fear them and run from them…..)

Normality? Only in Zimbabwe!

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe

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Dumisani - not his real name - is a young man in his early 30’s. He is but one of the hundreds of thousands of victims of the Mugabe Tsunami, officially called “Operation Murambatsvina” - another “moment of madness” in which the dictator destroyed the homes and livelihoods of 700,000 of the poorest of the poor, with severe consequences for another 2.4 million Zimbabweans. Dumisani himself lost a wife, a home, and a source of livelihood in that man-made disaster. Less tangibly but of no less significance, he also lost his dignity as a human being and any hope for the future.

A clearly troubled Dumisani stands on the pavement outside a Bulawayo Church, waiting to see his pastor who has been summoned from a meeting. In his arms he carries the only thing he cares for in the world - his baby son, Themba. The baby is a little under three months old, thin-faced, clearly malnourished and restless in his father’s embrace.

The Pastor emerges from the Church. Pastor Andrew - again not his real name - greets Dumisani and enquires after the baby’s state of health. Despite the courtesy he can see well enough for himself the grim state of both father and child. He has been their pastor ever since Dumisani and his late wife were living at the Killarney informal settlement on the outskirts of the city. Pastor Andrew has a vivid memory of that fateful day in June 2005 when Dumisani and his young wife, pregnant at the time, together with hundreds of others were violently herded together like so many cattle by Mugabe’s uniformed thugs, who then torched their makeshift dwellings. On that sad day the poor but once-contented community of Killarney was brutally destroyed, the 1000 or so resident families ruthlessly dispersed.

Dumisani and his wife had been rescued by one of the Bulawayo churches that bravely offered hospitality and a place of refuge to the displaced residents of Killarney and Ngozi Mine. But that blessed tranquillity had lasted only until midnight on July 21 when Mugabe’s armed militia invaded the church sanctuaries and violently abducted the startled victims. In the case of Dumisani and his wife they were forcibly removed, first to a temporary holding camp and then on to what became a squatter camp mid-way between Pumula and St Peter’s Village. There in the bitter cold of mid winter they were abandoned by the state, without food, water, shelter or any provisions whatsoever. And there, some months later, and in those wretched conditions Dumisani’s wife gave birth to their first child, Themba. Miraculously the baby survived though, soon after the birth, Dumisani’s wife finally succumbed to the trauma and unremitting hardship.

Pastor Andrew knew all this well enough, as he could recall the plight of countless others of his flock. What he did not know however was how the young father had managed to protect and provide for the baby. Dumisani explained. He himself was earning a few dollars a day by selling vegetables on the streets. (Back in Killarney he had earned significantly more, as well as having a modest home to call his own). His new life as a street vendor however meant that he could not care for his infant son any more. He had therefore come to an arrangement with another destitute Murambatsvina victim, a young woman who agreed to care for Themba during the day in exchange for a share in the pathetic daily meal purchased with his meagre earnings as a street vendor. He had been coping said Dumisani until the young stand-in mother had informed him that she was going back to her ancestral home in Malawi. This news was the reason for his obvious consternation.

The compassionate pastor listens attentively to the tale of woe - not unlike so many others he hears every day. Then he asks quietly, “What help do you want?”

“Tell me what I should do, Pastor”, says an anguished Dumisani. What indeed should a young father do - a widower, homeless and destitute himself - with a little baby, scarcely weaned, to care for?

A long conversation ensues between the pastor and the desperate parent. In the end it is agreed that that Dumisani should take the baby to his grandmother (Dumisani’s own mother) to see if she can care for him. They talk about an arrangement for a few months though both know it may continue indefinitely. What resources Gogo (the grandmother) has and how many other grandchildren she has already have taken on responsibility for, the pastor dares not ask. The fact is there is no realistic alternative for Dumisani. He cannot himself provide the care and nurture little Themba requires.

But where does Gogo live and how is Dumisani to reach her? Another problem emerges at once because she lives at Buhera, more than 350 kilometres to the east. The journey will cost well over a million dollars each way and of course Dumisani has nothing to put towards it. Who will pay? Can the church assist? Pastor Andrew is not sure if the much depleted reserves of his church will be sufficient but he refers Dumisani to the secretary’s office to find out…

Such is the daily struggle to survive for Dumisani, Themba and countless thousands like them in Zimbabwe. This is what it means to be so poor and vulnerable that you lose control of your own life and are forced to rely completely on others on a daily basis - assuming that is, someone will be there for you. This is what it means to be one of the disempowered people of Zimbabwe who have lost hope of any better future.

And, make no mistake, this is precisely what the dictator intends. A major thrust of the Mugabe regime’s socio-political programme of the last five years has been the progressive disempowerment of the people of Zimbabwe. From the chaotic land invasions orchestrated by ZANU PF in 2000 to what U.N Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the “catastrophic injustice” of Operation Murambatsvina in 2005, this has been the regime’s one overriding objective. In the most cynical and calculating manner the ruling elite has first identified every section of the community thought to pose an immediate or potential threat to its hold on power, and then systematically set about disempowering that group. This has been ZANU PF’s grand strategy.

In the year 2000 it was the turn of the farm workers. Justice for Agriculture (JAG) estimates that prior to the land invasions some 350,000 workers were employed full-time and a further 250,000 as casual workers on a seasonal basis on the commercial farms. They with their families numbered about 2 million people which translated into close on 1 million votes. ZANU PF was probably correct in supposing that the farm workers’ employers were largely MDC supporters and that they, the workers and their families, would also tend to vote for the opposition. Hence the brutal and calculated displacement of these people from the farms. At a stroke they became unemployed and homeless and between 1.5 and 2 million people were added to the list of destitute internally displaced persons. As Pius Wakatama wrote in 2002 in a moving piece describing their plight,

they have become part of the ‘wretched of the earth’, described so graphically by Franz Fanon. The only difference is that their wretchedness is not caused by white xenophobia, but by the heartless cruelty and greed of their own black brothers and sisters.

A section of the community who, on any reckoning, have made a major contribution to the development and prosperity of the country, find themselves displaced, disenfranchised and disempowered.

So it was again in 2005 with the victims of Operation Murambatsvina. Accepting the figures of the U.N. Special Envoy Anna Tibaijuka whose estimate has never been seriously questioned, this upheaval produced another 700,000 internally displaced people, without home or livelihood. Here was a major segment of the population, this time drawn largely from the urban centres in which the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)’s influence was greatest, again displaced, disenfranchised and effectively disempowered. Aware no doubt of the seething discontent at the increasing hardships caused by their own misrule - aware also that popular revolutions tend to start in the cities rather than in rural areas - ZANU PF moved decisively to counter the perceived threat Never mind the appalling suffering inflicted on so many of the poorest of the poor - in the final analysis never mind the huge damage inflicted on their own already besmirched reputation in the international community - it had to be. According to the grand strategy it simply had to be in order to remove another potential threat to ZANU PF’s hold on power.

One can of course trace the same grand strategy all the way back to the Gukurahundi genocide in the early 1980s. Aware that he could never hope to win the willing support of those who had rallied behind the ZAPU leadership both in the liberation struggle and subsequently, Mugabe took the action he deemed necessary to neutralise the potential threat he saw from this quarter. Never mind that it was to cost an estimated 20,000 lives and that the barbarities perpetrated by his Fifth Brigade were to traumatise a whole generation of those living in Matabeleland and the Midlands, it was a price Mugabe was quite willing to pay in order to disempower those who might otherwise have challenged his own supreme authority one day. And with the so-called Unity Accord of 1987 the emasculation of ZAPU was complete.

The problem for Mugabe and his strategists has always been that as one perceived threat to his rule has been removed so another has sprung up in its place. “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown” and, with apologies to Shakespeare, we should perhaps rephrase that: “uneasy lies the paranoid head that wears the stolen crown”! ZANU PF has therefore felt obliged to attack, covertly if possible though openly if necessary, one group after another in society. Just in the last few years, in addition to the millions of farm workers and the urban poor, they have taken on teachers, students and women’s groups, to say nothing of a wide range of civic groups, the whole trade union movement and the MDC. After 25 years of corrupt, elitist and increasingly authoritarian rule the ruling ZANU PF clique finds itself in a state of undeclared war with virtually the whole of civic society in Zimbabwe.

It is this essential fact that Zimbabweans must not lose sight of as they battle the pervading sense of hopelessness resulting from the systematic disempowerment of the population. Otherwise we shall be doomed to remain helpless spectators before the unfolding tragic drama - the collapse of the rule of law, meltdown of the economy and last dying spasms of the education and heath-care systems. If we ever forget that we who oppose this destructive tyranny are the majority - the vast majority - and that those driving the nation to the edge of the precipice are a tiny, tiny minority, we shall of course give up hope.

Frankly, this is where many Zimbabweans are today - without hope. They watch the tragic drama moving into the final scenes with a sense of fatalistic despair, not thinking for a moment that they have it in their own power to avert the final tragedy and bring about some different outcome. They watch like so many dazed spectators observing a national catastrophe, thinking that only the too-long delayed death of the dictator or some spectacular divine intervention might change the pre-determined ending. Yet in so doing they overlook the elementary fact that they who oppose the trashing of Zimbabwe are the vast majority.

Those who courageously fought against the Smith regime (that is the previous dictatorship) did not forget. They knew that they were the majority and that knowledge gave them untold strength. They knew that one day they would wear down Smith-the-dictator and his minority forces, and sooner rather than later, they did just that. By the same token we, black and white, Shona and Ndebele, young and old, who oppose the new form of tyranny, know that one day we shall wear down Mugabe-the-dictator and his small clique of reactionary supporters. The future is ours, not his. The days of the dictator are numbered. The future belongs to those who believe in - and yes, are ready to sacrifice for - freedom, democracy and peace. One day Zimbabwe will be a proud nation again, a nation not run for the exclusive benefit of a small ruling elite but in which all the little people - including the likes of Dumisani and Themba - will have a share in the sunshine of security and opportunity.

Mugabe has almost succeeded in creating a disempowered people whom he and his chosen successor might keep in bondage for ever. Almost - but not quite. For we know that WE ARE THE MAJORITY. What is more we have truth and justice on our side. Therefore we know WE SHALL OVERCOME!

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Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, Mugabe, zanu pf, MDC, Murambatsvina, Gukurahundi, Unity Accord, refugees, human rights, justice, United Nations, UN, crime against humanity

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Early on Monday 16 January on the approach roads to Bulawayo from the western suburbs groups of protesters tried to turn the traffic back, away from the city. Protesters were out on the roads from 7.00 a.m. at the time when commuters are normally heading to work. On Luveve Road approaching the high density suburb of Mzilikazi protesters were attempting to block the traffic and stoning vehicles that would not stop or turn back. At the same time they were chanting slogans such as “Mugabe must go”. It is understood that the protest may have been related to a letter that was circulating covertly, urging workers to stay away from work when commerce and industry would otherwise have returned to full strength after the Christmas and New Year break.

By 2.00 pm Monday the protesters had left the streets but for the rest of that day and the day following a heavy police presence was noted in both the city centre and the western suburbs. Riot police, armed and in full combat gear, were observed patrolling the streets in large numbers.

Our enquiries have revealed that there were several other incidents of youths throwing stones at passing vehicles in the western suburbs of Bulawayo the previous week. The riot police again intervened to restore order. It is not known if any of the protesters were arrested or charged.

The state media are yet to report any of the protest incidents.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, Mugabe, protest, civic action, uprising

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The front cover of the print edition of the Mail and Guardian (SA) carried this image last week with the accompanying headline - ‘Zimbabwe police in new wave of ‘looting”. This week’s edition has more pictures of the looting and Grieg Henning, the farmer whose equipment was illegally taken, describes his experience in the comment section. Please note that Grieg Henning has won every case he has taken to court and that the High Court ruled that the police should return every item they seized from his farm on that day. However, in his words, “the realities on the ground make me dance to an awful tune”.

ZRP Assistant Commissioner Loveness Ndanga, head of the “procurement committee”, introduces herself. She informs me she and her crew have come to collect all the equipment they had inventoried (illegally, by the way!) in May. Everyone has moved closer and I find myself surrounded by this hostile throng. I have to be calm, cautious. I politely ask whether she has the necessary documentation to remove the equipment and is she going to pay me for it first? “No documents”, she replies. She is following her “chain of command”, and the “nitty-gritties could be sorted out” at the police station “later”.

Ndanga asks whether I have any objections. I would prefer to see proper procedure and first get the documentation, I tell her. She insists she will instead be collecting the equipment immediately. Was I about to stop them loading, she asked threateningly.

I thought that the knowledge and sight of this self-same committee looting my neighbours during the previous two weeks would have conditioned me as to what to expect. Instead, I am sick to my stomach. That menacing, monster crane, as high as a howitzer, growls into action, their lorries ease into position. The disgraceful spectacle of government agents, bureaucrats and members of the armed forces plundering my equipment is almost too disgusting for me to behold. My mechanic, clerk, security guard, garden staff, have lined themselves along the fence, folding their arms tightly against their bodies. They are visibly stunned, embarrassed, helpless. One is silently weeping.

As I watch, I think to myself, what cynical solution is this to solving the country’s food shortages? In which nation on Earth is it part of the culture to behave in this manner? And then get away with it with no one to disapprove it? Am I observing state-sponsored theft? How deeply ingrained is it? If the civil service has sunk so low, how will Zimbabwe ever extricate herself from the morass?

I recommend you read the full account on the Mail and Guardian website: the article is titled ‘Daylight robbery in hippo valley’.

Grieg Henning’s words and images convey the appalling injustice that he and others like him are experiencing at the hands of our police. But there are many other smaller stories that the outside world is probably not aware of. If everyday experiences are anything to go by then corruption in the police is rife, and ‘law’ and ‘order’ and ‘justice’ have been reduced to empty meaningless words. The top priority for the police seems to be how to avoid being caught (although, as Grieg Henning ’s experience demonstrates, being caught in the act is irrelevant if the government condones lawlessness).

One friend described how, while stopped at a police roadblock, a policeman reached through the window of the car and stole his mobile phone off the dashboard when he was turned away for a split second. He noticed its absence almost immediately and he confronted the man and asked him directly if he had taken his mobile phone. Of course the guy denied it. My friend asked me, “What could I do? Who should I report him to? The police…?”

Another person told me that if I was ever robbed I shouldn’t worry - I should just call the police and offer them a massive ‘reward’ if they caught the thieves and recovered the property. “Just make sure that the amount you offer them is likely to be more than they would get when the crooks gave them a cut of the sales”, he said. He had done this himself, and had miraculously recovered nearly every single item stolen. “You have the advantage”, he told me, “because when you hand out the dosh the police only share it between themselves. But if they take a cut from the thieves they have to wait for the stuff to be sold and they have to share it out between a lot more people. There’s a very strong chance that your offer will always be more profitable for the cops because they don’t need to share with the thieves, they’ll just threaten them with jail instead!”.

One of the most disgusting stories I heard came via a colleague who knew an elderly couple who had been robbed twice over the Christmas period. In the first burglary a few items were taken before something disturbed the thieves and they ran away. But they came back a few nights later and literally cleaned the house out while the couple hid in their bedroom, completely alone and terrified. The police were called the next day. The elderly man was in the process of describing what had happened to a policeman when he noticed a policewomen standing near a window in the background absentmindedly picking up objects that the thieves, in their haste, had left on the windowsill. He was concerned that by handling the items she might be destroying fingerprint evidence. He noticed that one of the objects she handled was a tin can containing food. When the police left the house, the can of food was no longer on the windowsill. The policewomen, while in an elderly couple’s home investigating a burglary that had stripped them of everything they owned, had quietly pocketed something for herself too!

Grieg Henning’s words reflect the outrage that all of us feel:

Our guardians the police have failed us. They have abandoned their moral and lawful duty. When we see them on the beat, we do not see a friendly “Bobby” upholding our safety. We see a betrayal of what is right. They are systematically taking away our livelihood, dividing and distributing what already exists to those who cannot use it. In the end, there are only losers.

The Z.R.P - Zimbabwe’s Rotten Police - need to be aware though that we, the public, are watching, and noting and remembering. The gravy train is going to derail at some point, and justice has a way of eventually catching up.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, police, corruption, theft, justice, law, ZRP, Zimbabwe Republic Police

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Tiny hands, none of them chubby, clapped and each child bobbed a polite curtsy as pink and white marshmallows, Liquorice All-Sorts and crunchy biscuits appeared in front of their astonished eyes. A few of the smallest hesitated briefly: making choices is something refugee and asylum seeker children from Zimbabwe are no longer accustomed to.

Soon, however, their reticence was forgotten and they were just like any other youngsters at a Christmas party, clutching brightly coloured balloons tied with festive string, experimenting with new toys and dancing around the room in excitement.

One little boy was entranced by a cuddly lion which roared when its tummy was squeezed and had eyes that lit up like miniature headlights. The boy rushed back and forth across the room, demonstrating his new find to family members and friends.

Taking pride of place in the centre of the room was a large pile of colourful toys provided through “Toy Story”, a project sponsored by a local radio station. The hula-hoops were an immediate hit. A pretty young girl with neatly braided hair spun one, two and then three so skilfully around her little body that the other children were captivated. Some tried to copy her, others just rolled their hoops up and down, laughing in delight.

Clutching a big, red teddy bear in one hand and a Barbie doll in the other, the grandson of a blind lady could not contain his enthusiasm. His granny had to feel each toy carefully and discuss its merits. Eventually the teddy took pride of place on the chair next to her and the doll was returned to the pile.

Although his grandmother could not watch the festivities, she took great pleasure in the children’s laughter and the attentiveness of her son and daughter-in-law. Soon she was tucking into a plate of briyani and chatting to a friend. For a brief moment she could forget the traumatic journey from Zimbabwe, the worries of surviving in a foreign country, and do what ordinary grannies around the world do: enjoy a Christmas party with family and friends.

Zimbabweans are by nature hospitable people. Those who work with the refugees find it inspiring that, even though they now live in demoralising and often squalid surroundings in South African cities and towns, they have retained their dignified politeness and concern for one another. The unspeakable violence perpetrated on Zimbabweans by the Mugabe regime through its armed forces and youth militia does not reflect the intrinsic character of the Zimbabwean people.

Conversations during the party were conducted mainly in Shona. Since the refugees come from different parts of Zimbabwe and are now scattered in a variety of poor areas close to the city centre, some were meeting for the first time. A number had been in South Africa for more than a year, others had left Zimbabwe after the demolition of their homes in mid 2005 by the Mugabe regime. Despite extensive international coverage of the horrific demolitions and the publication of a damning report on “Operation Murambatsvina” (Operation Drive Out the Filth) by the United Nations, the destruction continues at an insidious, low profile level.

Two organisations had helped with additional food for the group. Piled comfortingly in one corner of the room were sacks of grain, fresh bread and tinned foodstuffs delivered by Feedback Food Redistribution, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) committed to helping needy people. Feedback collects good quality excess food that would otherwise have been wasted from a spectrum of outlets and distributes it to social services organisations in some of South Africa’s poorest communities.

Gift of the Givers, the largest humanitarian disaster relief organisation of African origin on the continent, had donated a box of its high energy protein supplement, Sibusiso Foods. Gift of the Givers was the first NGO to respond to the 2004 tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka and Somalia, and has been involved in significant humanitarian work in Niger and Malawi. The venue was provided by a church committed to highlighting the plight of the Zimbabwean people and offering a daily soup kitchen service to anyone in need.

Finding a means of earning a living is the biggest challenge refugees face. Thousands of new arrivals go for days without food, shelter or even a change of clothing. Many have been tortured or beaten up by the Mugabe regime and are in dire need of medical attention. Some have been held in youth militia camps and raped repeatedly.

Schooling presents a significant problem for parents who have brought children with them as they are usually desperate for their youngsters to resume some form of education. Most parents whose children have been left behind with family members because of the uncertainties presented by life in a foreign country struggle to send money home for rapidly escalating school fees.

Two especially vulnerable teenagers who had been invited to the party were “Phillip” (18) and “Patricia” (12) - their names have been changed for security reasons. Both of their parents had died in Zimbabwe and they had come to South Africa with their elder sisters. They had grown up in a small farming town but had subsequently moved to Harare and were also victims of Operation Murambatsvina. Their family had lost everything.

Since Philip and Patricia want to continue their schooling in South Africa, an appointment had been set up with a social worker at one of the organisations tasked by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to assist asylum seekers. However, since funding is very limited and it is estimated there could be three million or more desperate Zimbabweans who have fled to South Africa, organisations in this country are ill equipped to deal with the escalating influx.

A few weeks back, Phillip, who looks far younger than his age and is reed thin, was attacked by a group of local youths who stabbed him and robbed him of his pathetically few possessions. He was unable to attend the party because it was held on a Saturday and he generates a small income selling sweets to holidaymakers. At the organisers’ instigation, Patricia carefully tied together a bundle of treats for him in a well-used bag.

Patricia and her older sisters expressed the family’s concern that there was still no news of their other brother, “Richard” (19). He had disappeared a few weeks previously and was thought to have been picked up by the South African police as an illegal immigrant. Their greatest fear was that he had been sent to the Lindela Detention Centre outside Johannesburg, or had been deported. At Lindela, thousands of Zimbabweans continue to be held prior to deportation, and a steadily growing number has died. Lawyers for Human Rights have contacted the authorities at Lindela, but so far Richard has not been found.

It is possible he has been taken from Lindela and forced to board the overnight train from Johannesburg to Mussina, which hauls vast numbers of illegal migrants back to the Zimbabwean border every couple of weeks. Since the detainees are so fearful of returning to the hunger, oppression, disease and hopelessness they face back home, many risk serious injury or death by jumping from the moving train. Detainees who are handed over to the Zimbabwean police at the Beit Bridge border post are frequently beaten before being dumped penniless at the roadside outside the small, drab, dusty town, with no means of getting home. Without cell phones it is virtually impossible for family members to remain in contact, so Phillip and his siblings can only hope and pray that their brother is still alive.

It was getting late and some of the smallest children were asleep in their mothers’ arms, still clutching newfound toys. The adults helped to tidy the room, then the sacks of grain and tins of food were piled into one of the organisers’ car. The blind lady declined a lift back to her dingy accommodation because she had arranged to meet someone at the nearby taxi rank.

At that time of day the rank was especially busy and people were congregated among the piles of waste paper and other refuse, talking animatedly. Taxis took off rapidly in different directions and it was hard to imagine how a sightless person could cope in the apparent chaos. By rights she should have been at home with her family in Zimbabwe, crocheting the beautiful tablecloths that tourists from around the world used to flock to buy. Instead, she spends her days begging for food at traffic lights so that she too can make a contribution to the meagre family pot.

If people in South Africa and further afield realised the depth of the refugees’ pain and the extent of their struggle to survive and overcome homesickness in the face of widespread xenophobia, offers of help would doubtless pour in. Every act of kindness, however small, can make a difference to Zimbabweans who, through no fault of their own, find themselves destitute in a foreign and often hostile land.

Anyone willing to provide assistance to Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa or elsewhere is invited to contact either the Central Methodist Mission, Johannesburg, or the Zimbabwe Action Support Group. Both organisations are in touch with a spectrum of churches and other support organisations that are struggling to help the millions of desperate, destitute refugees. Urgent needs include food, clothing, blankets, funds for medical assistance, training, basic set-up projects etc. The refugees have not only to support themselves in a foreign and often hostile country but also support family members back home. The Central Methodist Mission is currently setting up training programmes which require urgent funding. The Zimbabwe Action Support Group assists destitute Zimbabweans, notably pregnant women and young children, on arrival in South Africa.

Central Methodist Mission - Johannesburg:
Tel: +27 11 333 5926 or +27 11 337 5938
Fax: +27 11 333 3254
Bishop Paul Verryn
E-mail: central_district@methodist.org.za

Zimbabwe Action Support Group - Johannesburg
Cell: +27 72 032 4223
Remember Moyo

Latest report by African Commission on Human and People’s Rights condemns violations of human rights and mass displacements in Zimbabwe

Sokwanele notes that the African Union has released a second report on the grave situation regarding human rights in Zimbabwe compiled by its African Commission on Human and People’s Rights. The first, a damning report which slammed Harare’s record of abuses, was produced in 2002. It concluded that there were flagrant human rights abuses and arbitrary arrests in Zimbabwe and was the organisation’s most serious African indictment of President Mugabe’s authoritarian regime. African foreign ministers adopted the report but then agreed in July 2004 not to publish it as the Zimbabwe government claimed it had not had enough to time to study the full document.

The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights’ latest resolution expresses “alarm” at “the number of internally displaced persons and the violations of fundamental individuals and collective rights resulting from the forced evictions being carried out by the government of Zimbabwe.” It “urges the African Union to renew the mandate of the African Union Envoy to Zimbabwe to investigate the human rights implications and humanitarian consequences of the mass evictions and demolitions.”

The strongly worded document also “urges the government of Zimbabwe to cease the practice of forced evictions throughout the country, and to adhere to its obligations under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and other international human rights instruments to which Zimbabwe is a party…”

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“Land is the Economy…” - didn’t someone famous say that? Maybe it should be - especially in our country - but I sure know it ain’t now!

And the reason isn’t the drought, or Blair and Bush…who does mugabe think we are to believe such rubbish? The farms have been deliberately trashed, and not just the farmers but the farmworkers have lost their incomes. And all the irrigation equipment which kept the farms going through many droughts before has been vandalized or stolen.

If land is the economy, the land must be in a poor state (it is!).

And if the economy is land, then the economy must be in a poor state (again, it is!).

Inflation is over 500% - who would have believed that a year ago, when Mr Gono told us it would be down to 80% by now or something like that. He now says it will be down to that by December NEXT year - I wish I could believe him, because I just can’t make ends meet now.

I don’t really understand the way foreign exchange rates work, but I was able to get $14 000 for the Rand that my uncle gave me over Christmas, but if I’d taken it to the bank then I know I’d have got a lot less. This makes me think that Mr Gono is not being honest, because he said back in October that he was going to make the bank rate the same as the street rate.

How does he expect us to believe him any more?

Does he know the way we’re suffering? Does he care? Do any of them care?

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, economy, gono, inflation, foreign currency, land, farms

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Surely things can’t get worse! Or can they? Haven’t we been asking this for over 5 years now?

What can we expect from 2006 financially and economically? Let’s take a look at what we can expect of the new year - bearing in mind, of course, that any form of prediction in Zimbabwe is whimsical, given the proven tendencies of this regime to interfere with economic forces in order to protect or better their own lifestyles, regardless of the effect on the people they are supposed to be serving.

Will we see any improvement to our standard of living?

The short answer is “probably not”. As many learned economists have said, there will be no meaningful economic change until there is political change. Why do they say this? Well, precisely because of the tendencies of this regime to line their own pockets, to interfere with exchange rates, interest rates, price controls, you name it. For example, if I had a litre of fuel which I wanted to sell, I could name my own price depending on where I went (rural or urban, Harare or Bulawayo or Gweru, back-street or high street). In a perfect economy, the price would be the same wherever you went within the country; I would have bought it at a market-determined exchange rate and, if I tried to ask more than the going rate per litre, my customers would soon go elsewhere. Not so in Zimbabwe!

Inflation is now running at 504%, a far cry from the target of 280-300% which the Reserve Bank was predicting for the year to December 2005. Another failure for Mr Gono!

We did see some concessions in the recently announced budget for 2006:

· You can now earn $7million dollars a month before hitting the tax threshold. Seems good? Just like 2005, when we got $1 million a month tax free at the beginning of the year - it seemed great at the time, but as soon as inflation took hold, the $1 million began to look less attractive. Just so, I believe, with the $7 million - only the attraction will wear off sooner, as inflation will start the year in excess of 500%.
· The upper tax band for income earned from employment has been cut back to 35%, which is most welcome. It brings it a step closer to the tax levels for companies which have been at 30% for some years now. However, this benefits precious few Zimbabweans because unemployment exceeds 70%.
· VAT will be reduced to 15% with effect from 1 January 2006. This is again welcome, but will bring little practical relief to the consumer, who is faced with prices rising weekly on all commodities, including essentials. At least the regime will be getting less of our hard-earned money, which is some comfort!
· Carbon tax will now be payable on a more equitable basis (think of all those commuter omnibuses spewing carbon-laden fumes everywhere, who were paying the same amount of carbon tax as you or me!) - it will now be collected at a rate of $1000 per litre on purchase of fuel.
· Thinking of dying? Your relatives will have quite a bit less estate duty to pay. The tax-free threshold has been increased to $1 billion, after which your estate will be taxed at a flat rate of 5%. This will be little benefit to the majority of our countrymen, who own little more than the clothes that they wear; a few pieces of furniture - the bare essentials, and often having seen better days; a bicycle and a radio, and maybe a TV (to watch the propaganda channels of the regime); maybe a mombie or two (cow); that’s all. Not many of them will have a house or other property valued at over $1 billion, nor will they ever hope to do so while this regime remains in power! Remember too the exponential increase in funeral costs, hitting the bereaved family with a double-whammy - dying isn’t cheap in Zimbabwe these days.
· Companies will now be paying tax on 70% of their estimated 2006 earnings in 2006 itself. What an indictment on its own record! The authorities used to levy tax in arrears on companies and so forth - but which government can afford to do that when inflation is running so high? If I had a million dollars in tax to pay for 2004, by the time I came to pay the last $250 000 of that tax in November 2005, it would be worth a sixth of its value by the time the regime got its hands on it (good for me, bad for them)! By 2007, they plan to collect 100% of the estimated tax due for that year in that year itself.

What about the exchange rate?

Mr Gono promised us in October that he was taking steps towards a truly floating exchange rate! Yaaaaaayyyyy, I hear you cry. But this is Zimbabwe, the land of double-speak! The idea was that exporters would be able to convert 70% of their export earnings to the local currency at a market-determined rate. Never mind that the remaining 30% would still, for the time being, be converted at the rate of $26 000 to the USD (unchanged, I understand, from that time until the present); be thankful for small mercies.

For a few short days, the system seemed promising - the bank rate for converting that 70% whizzed up to the real, parallel, rate. But within days, it had mysteriously settled round about $60 000 or so, and finished by ending the year at about $85 000. This is despite the parallel rate going up, down, and back up again in the meantime (and now sitting at over $100 000 to the USD)! The regime needs to get its money cheaply, and it just wasn’t getting it cheap enough, it seems.

We wait with bated breath to see if there will, indeed, be exchange rate convergence by December 2006.

And the promised new currency?

Call it what you like (the Bob, the Gono, the Kwacha…), a new name won’t change its value. So they might lop off a few noughts - so what? - it will still buy the same few items that it bought before. Lots of countries have tried this before, but it hasn’t improved their economies, nor the lot of their hard-pressed people.

2006 will not be a good year for anyone except those within and close to the regime, for so long as this regime remains in power. With life expectancy a scant 34 years, with the population decimated by AIDS, and tired of going to funerals, and with most of its productive population having fled the country, what can we look forward to?

Do we care enough about our country to take its future into our own hands and bring about non-violent change? If Zimbabweans will do nothing, then we can only expect further drift and decline - and even greater suffering - under ZANU-PF mis-rule.

The question we leave with you is “What are YOU going to do about it?”

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Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, economy, 2006, inflation, budget, gideon gono, zanu-pf

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Thank you very much to the South African subscriber who sent us this email in response to Sokwanele’s article titled “Shameful silence on Nolbert Kunonga, Anglican Bishop of Harare”.

Please can other concerned readers all over the world follow our subscriber’s lead and circulate our article to Anglican members, priests and leaders in their part of the world too. Our combined efforts will help to break the shameful silence on Nolbert Kunonga.

Please note that archived copies of our articles can be easily forwarded by email by visiting this section on our main website. (Click on the link to the article that you want to forward, scroll down to the end of the article.)

Please send us feedback on responses you receive and we’ll share them with everyone via this blog.

We’d also appreciate it if readers could send us the email addresses of Anglican churches in their area. We will not add these addresses to our mailing list, but we will send them a one-off formal invitation to subscribe to receive future mailings from us.

Finally, if you too would like to receive our articles by email then please visit this section of our website to automatically subscribe to our list, or contact us requesting that we add your name to our mailing list.

Dear Sokwanele,

Thank you for your letters.

It is, indeed, shameful that the world, especially my country, keeps silent on the events that have unfolded and are unfolding in your beautiful country.

Is this what the bible refers to when it says the wicked will rule the innocent and wrong will be deemed right? It certainly appears to be so.

No matter, nowhere in the bible does it say that we are to “sit back, as what is written, is written”.

The fact that the home of the Anglican church have chosen to sweep aside the gospel of Christ and follow their own, worldly doctrines, leaves me unsettled, but with, therefore, a greater understanding of what is happening in the church in Zimbabwe.

I shall forward a copy of this to the archbishop of Cape Town, who is probably aware of the situation, but may, none the less, be keen to see your communication, should he not be on your mailing list.

Please keep the news coming through and take strength from Him, who saves.

(The other thing you might do is start drilling for oil, as it appears as this is one way for “the world” to “take notice”. You may receive attention of another kind, but at least the “shut eyes” would then be forced to admit that they knew all along …).

In Him,

(Name provided)
Cape Town, South Africa

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nolbert Kunonga, Anglican, Action, Bible, Christian, bishop, church, ministry, priests

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My friend was talking to his neighbour who has 4 children. Thankfully 2 of them are below school age, but one is just about to go into Form 1 of the local government high school.

The father has to find Z$7 million fees for the first term - that’s over US$70 - and that’s before buying the textbooks and exercise books and uniform. He is lucky in that he has been scrimping and saving the money up, but many of the people he knows are in despair.

He fears that a whole generation could drop out of school because of the high fees. And these are not expensive private schools - they’re just the ordinary government schools.

So much for ‘Education for All’.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, Education, schools, inflation, Education For All

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On 21st September 2004 we published an article entitled “His disgrace, the Bishop” in which we drew attention to the disgraceful conduct of the Anglican Bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, in not only accepting St Marnock’s Farm, a once-thriving commercial enterprise in Nyabiri as a token of personal thanks from Robert Mugabe for his uncritical and unwavering support for ZANU PF, but then promptly arranging for party militia to brutally evict 40 families of workers from their dwellings in a village on the farm. We suggested at the time that rather than “His grace the Bishop” a more appropriate appellation would be “His disgrace the Bishop”.

This was neither the first nor by any means the last action of the errant cleric to bring shame on his church. From the time of his disputed election as Bishop of Harare in 2001 to the present he has made no secret either of his personal ambitions for fame and fortune or of his willingness to exploit his sycophantic relationship to Robert Mugabe and the ruling elite to feed those ambitions. The episcopal election itself was shrouded in mystery and marred by widespread allegations that Kunonga had used his influence with the ruling party to secure the post. Certainly he has not lost an opportunity since to sing the praises of his hero, Mugabe, or to make life extremely uncomfortable for those within the church who would dare to raise a voice of dissent. At least 12 priests have left the Harare Diocese as a direct result of the bishop’s political machinations.

In August 2005 he appeared before an ecclesiastical court to face 38 charges arising from scores of complaints (all but three of which were from black parishioners). The charges included incitement to murder, intimidating critics, ignoring church law, mishandling church funds and bringing militant ZANU PF politics to the pulpit. In December the court hearing before a Malawian judge collapsed in disarray without proper explanation and the head of the Anglican Province of Central Africa, Archbishop Amos Malingo of Zambia, then informed church leaders in the province that the case against Kunonga had been dropped. The unsatisfactory outcome of the case has again raised questions of the extent of ZANU PF’s political leverage within the Anglican Church.

In what may not have been an unrelated incident, Bishop Kunonga recently went out of his way to ingratiate himself with Vice President Joseph Msika. Msika who is a long-standing member of the Anglican Church was on 16th December, at the instigation of the bishop, appointed a lay minister. According to the report of the ceremony which appeared in the ZANU PF-controlled newspaper, The Herald, Msika’s appointment was “one of the highest honours the church can confer upon an individual” and was given in recognition of “the sterling work he had done for both the church and the country”.

According to the same report in The Herald, Msika indicated that he felt “very humbled” by the church’s gesture. His humility however, or lack of it, is not the point. The point is rather that prior to this event the common understanding in the Anglican Communion (and other churches) was that the appointment of a member of the church as a lay minister or “reader” connoted simply a willingness of that member to serve under the authority and discipline of the church. The term “minister” means one who serves, and in the church invariably in response to a divine call to a particular work. The term describes a particular role or office within the church and was never intended as a mark of status or honour. Indeed to suggest as Kunonga does that it implies an elevated status based on meritorious achievement (rather like an honorary degree conferred by a university) reduces it to a caricature of the real thing - and one would have expected that a bishop of all people would have known better.

Moreover in the Anglican tradition a lay minister or reader is a local appointment normally made by the rector in consultation with the lay leadership of the parish church. Here again Kunonga appears to be casting aside long-standing tradition to fashion a new creature of his own making. That the appointment of Msika to this office should be made by the bishop and that the bishop should say (as he is reported in The Herald) that “the honour mandated Cde Msika to preach, officiate and perform other duties as may be directed by the bishop at any church in or under the jurisdiction of the Harare diocese” is totally unprecedented. The inference is inescapable; in his feverish haste to ingratiate himself with his political masters, Kunonga has once again made clear his willingness to ride roughshod over hallowed church tradition. Indeed one may well speculate that his efforts to legitimize an illegitimate regime are closely linked to the more than convenient dropping of the extremely serious charges which were pending against him in the ecclesiastical courts.

But there was even more that emerged from the bizarre proceedings that took place at St Alban’s Mission in Chiweshe on 16th December. The Herald report mentions in passing that four assistant priests were ordained at the same time. Our enquiries however have revealed that the four priests in question neither attended Gaul House in Harare, the normal training centre for Anglican priests, nor did they receive any other recognised theological training. In effect Bishop Kunonga is ordaining untrained men to the priesthood, and this we understand as a deliberate strategy to counter the influence of those who, in passing through the Gaul House preparation for ministry, have acquired a measure of political objectivity and spiritual maturity. Kunonga’s tactics here resemble nothing so much as the ZANU PF tactics in appointing their “green bombers” or brainwashed thugs to take over from the professionals wherever it suits them.

In short, the conduct of this delinquent bishop raises very serious questions for the Anglican Church. Given that the incitement to murder and other charges against Kunonga have now been dropped by the ecclesiastical courts, and without satisfactory explanation, the question is what other steps may be taken in to rein in such a church leader who is clearly abusing his powers shamelessly for his own personal advantage. At a time when Zimbabweans are in desperate need of clear moral guidance (and example) from the Church, here we have a caricature of a spiritual leader. Is the Anglican Church unaware of the huge damage he is inflicting on both church and nation? Or do they not care? Strangely we hear not a murmur of concern or disquiet from any other leader of that denomination.

His disgrace Bishop Kunonga is bringing untold shame upon the church. Yet even more shameful is the silence of those we might have expected to challenge or confront this eccentric cleric. A Latin proverb comes to mind: “Qui tacet consentire videtur”, or in common English: “He who keeps silent apparently approves”.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, Mugabe, Nolbert Kunonga, Joseph Msika, Bishop, Anglican, church, ministry, priests, corruption, theology, christian, politics, zanu-pf

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A quick update on my post from a few days ago. How silly of me! There I was anticipating new notes and wondering whether the first one would be a Z$1 million banknote. Instead, with typical inefficiency, the government has extended the use of their temporary ‘bearer cheques’at the very last minute (the largest denomination being Z$20,000).

Here is a picture for those interested in seeing what our state-sanctioned ‘monopoly money’ looks like.

With shortages of fuel and anxious queueing for scarce basic commodities having now become a permanent facet of Zimbabwean life, citizens began 2006 in long, winding queues to return the artificial currency called bearer cheques to banks ahead of the expiry of their planned circulation deadline this week. The bearer cheques were put into circulation in 2003 as a stop-gap measure because the government had no foreign exchange to import the special paper required to print proper money. Since the Zimbabwean currency had become so worthless that the government itself complained that it needed to invest Z$2 000 to print a Z$500 note - the highest denomination note at the time - the bearer cheques had come in very handy. With denominations of up to 20 000, they made life a bit easier for Zimbabweans who needed to stuff an entire car boot with worthless notes to fill a tank of petrol. But the cheques had been meant to be only a temporary measure.

Now, three years later, the Robert Mugabe government has failed to introduce the promised new banknotes because it still lacks foreign currency to import the paper to print new money. This has forced it to extend this week’s deadline of the expiry of the circulation of the bearer cheques by another six months until June. But because the notice was poorly communicated to banks and delayed in getting published, tens of thousands of Zimbabweans besieged banks around the country to hand in the bearer cheques, afraid of losing out on this week’s expiry of their circulation. Eyewitnesses in Harare said some slept in bank queues in a bid to return the artificial currency. “I only knew of the extension of the deadline when I was already in the bank queue … I had been queueing for four hours when bank staff announced that the rush to return the bearer cheques was no longer necessary,” said Charles Muchagonei, an engineer.

Here are a few examples of how confused the government is with its own deadlines: note the issue and expiry dates (sample from notes in my wallet today).

Looks like I am definately going to have to go handbag shopping!

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, economy, bearer cheques, inflation, banknotes, currency, banking

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Eddie Cross’s latest letter from Zimbabwe explores the options facing those living in Zimbabwe in 2006 and he refers to a new political party on the horizon:

If you chose to stay and fight then what are your options? Not many. There is still the MDC - damaged by the recent infighting over options - the choice between compromise and cooperation to secure progress. But now there is also a new group gradually emerging - Zanu and MDC renegades currently coalescing around what is being called the “Potato Party” because it’s symbol looks like a potato. There are some significant people in this new grouping - Moyo, Mabaleka perhaps Munangagwa eventually - perhaps Dubengwa.

The infighting within both the MDC and Zanu PF is in fact forcing people on both sides to choose perhaps this “third force” as some of its supporters might call it - among them the owner of the remaining independent national weekly newspapers in Zimbabwe and the Mail and Guardian in SA. While this goes on the effective maneuvering of the two main political leaders - Mugabe and Tsvangirai, is frustrating the efforts being made to change the course of events inside both Zanu PF and the MDC.

Read the full letter here.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, Eddie Cross, Mugabe, MDC, zanu-pf

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