Damning new report on media freedom in Africa

GOVERNMENTS in sub-Saharan Africa are the most intolerant to the practice of journalism; they have twenty five journalists in detention, a majority of them without any charges, according to a new report.

Eritrea tops the African list of shame, for holding 19 of them and declining to give any updates on their conditions or location of detention, the annual journalist Census by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reveals.

Eritrea holds this dubious distinction since 2001when the authorities abruptly closed the private press by arresting at least ten editors without charge or trial. The Eritrean government has refused to confirm if the detainees are still alive, says the CPJ report.

Ethiopia, Gambia and Cameroon are the other African countries mentioned in the list of intolerance to freedom of expression by journalists.

Online and print journalists topped the list of 136 reporters globally, indicating a fresh danger to freelance journalists who do not have the protection offered by large media houses.

On December 1, a total of 25 journalists were imprisoned in Sub-Saharan Africa for their journalism, and nearly 90 percent of these journalists were detained without charges in secret detention facilities.

Interestingly even the United States has joined the list, despite having the fourth Amendment lauded globally by journalism scholars as a shield to the practice of journalism.

China continued to be the worlds worst jailer of journalists, a dishonor it has held for 11 consecutive years, Iran, Cuba, Eritrea, and Burma round out the top five jailers from among the 26 nations that imprison journalists, the Census notes.

But it is the fresh trend to target new media journalists that will have media scholars in the continent devising fresh approaches to the profession.

The days when journalists went off on dangerous assignments knowing they had the full institutional weight of their media organizations behind them are receding into history, said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.

Today, journalists on the front lines are increasingly working independently. The rise of online journalism has opened the door to a new generation of reporters, but it also means they are vulnerable.

Internet and print journalists make up the bulk of the census. Radio journalists compose the next largest professional category, accounting for 7 percent of cases. Television journalists and documentary filmmakers each account for 3 percent.

Worldwide, a total of 136 reporters, editors, and photojournalists were behind bars, an increase of 11 from the 2008 tally. The survey also found that freelancers now make up nearly 45 percent of all journalists jailed across the globe.

There has been a deliberate and significant increase on new media journalism across the continent over the last two years.

The fact that online journalism is not controlled by advertisement revenue but a passion to expose the truth far beyond what the mainstream can do could be a major factor affecting the security of freelance journalists in the region, Jacque Ooko, the President of the Journalist Association of Kenya (JAK) said when contacted to comment on the report.
-writes Dennis Itumbi for journalism.co.za

New Zim paper to debut online before print

Newspaper proprietor Trevor Ncube will launch his new Zimbabwean daily newspaper, NewsDay, on the Web six months before the print edition hits the streets.

Ncube, who is deputy chairman of Mail & Guardian publisher M&G Media, explains that this is because the Zimbabwean government has still not issued the licence NewsDay requires before the printing presses can begin rolling.

“We are going to launch NewsDay.co.zw, probably in the next week or so,” Ncube says. “We will use social media like Twitter to help publicise the website.”

The site will be hosted in Zimbabwe — news websites are not subjected to the same draconian licensing rules as newspapers.

Ncube has been waiting nearly a year for a licence to print NewsDay. But he remains optimistic that the political situation in Zimbabwe is slowly returning to normal and that a deal being brokered by SA president Jacob Zuma between Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change will result in the lifting of restrictions on the country’s media.

“It’s central to the deal,” Ncube says.

“We think the current negotiations, facilitated by president Zuma’s emissaries, look promising and that a deal between the protagonists might be clinched, if not before the end of this year, then certainly by early next year.”

Ncube hopes the print version of NewsDay will hit the streets by June 2010 at the latest. — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral

Zimbabwe parties target pirate radio stations

Negotiators of the three main political parties in the inclusive government have been meeting to try to break the stalemate that is threatening to completely collapse the already shaky Global Political Agreement.

Last week the state controlled Herald newspaper quoted one of the negotiators, Professor Welshman Ncube from the MDC-M, saying the group had been discussing the same issues - "the appointment of Reserve Bank Governor and Attorney General, sanctions and pirate radio stations."

The external radio stations, London based SW Radio Africa and Voice of America's Studio 7, are forced to broadcast from exile because there is no free media in Zimbabwe and independent radio is not allowed. The only broadcaster is ZBC, which is 100% controlled by the State.

But the MDC owes its claim to power to the services of the "pirate radio stations" and a host of internet based news publications that are an alternative media for the suppressed many voices of disgruntled Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe's story was and continues to be echoed to the outside world through these channels. Analysts say joining ZANU PF in the crusade to shut down "pirate radio stations" the opposition is affirming assertions that they have been "swallowed" by ZANU PF. Media freedom coupled with human rights anchor the opposition's manifesto and they are the trump cards that brought them to power but this sudden change in principle smacks of ingratitude, betrayal and political immaturity.

Political analyst Professor John Makumbe said instead of talking about establishing democratic reforms, the politicians are as usual wasting time while the country is standing still. The MDC has also come under fire for agreeing to the ZANU PF demands to shut down private radio stations.

Makumbe said: "It is obvious that the MDC will never be able to stop the external radio stations - which are operated by Zimbabweans - from operating because they didn't set them up in the first place."

"They are not financing them, they are not funding them and they are not programming them. They have no authority whatsoever over these radios."

Professor Makumbe said ZANU PF is using the sanctions and radio stations issues as a way of stalling the implementation of the GPA and also as a way of denying the MDC their demands, including the swearing in of provincial governors.

He said ZANU PF should implement the outstanding issues first, if it wants western countries to remove 'sanctions' and also open up the air waves to allow other players in. While the politicians are concentrating on shutting down external broadcasters, they have failed to put the Media Commission in place, even though interviews for the commissioners have already been done.


Furthermore, the political analyst pointed out that the ZBC is still broadcasting in a partisan manner in favour of ZANU PF and denigrating the MDC and that there is still a lot of hate speech. Makumbe said the government is the one 'imposing sanctions' by forcing Zimbabwean radio stations to operate from outside.

Meanwhile, the Herald reported that South Africa President Jacob Zuma has appointed a new team to monitor Zimbabwe's fragile government. The team consists of the President's political advisor Charles Nqakula, Zuma's international relations adviser, Lindiwe Zulu and special envoy Mac Maharaj.

Makumbe believes this is a strong team of senior ANC and government officials and that they are likely to make positive inroads, unlike the mediation by former SA President Thabo Mbeki, who he said was a 'very slow man who majored in quiet diplomacy and was clearly partisan in favour of ZANU PF.'

- SW Radio Africa and Simba Nembaware

Zuma wants Zim back in the Commonwealth

HARARE -- South African President Jacob Zuma appealed for the readmission of Zimbabwe into the Commonwealth during a summit of the grouping of former British colonies held in Trinidad and Tobago, his spokesman Vincent Magwenya said.

In a statement Magwenya said Zuma told the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that ended Sunday that accepting Zimbabwe back would show the international community’s support of efforts by the Harare coalition government to deliver economic and political change.

"Zimbabwe's re-admission into the Commonwealth, will serve as a recognition to the progress that has been achieved thus far. Equally, along with the lifting of sanctions, it will represent the international community's support and encouragement to parties to continue the dialogue that will deliver a lasting solution to the challenges facing the country," Magwenya quoted Zuma as having told the summit.

President Robert Mugabe withdrew Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth after the organisation condemned his controversial rule and had voted to maintain Harare’s suspension from the club. Mugabe and his government failed to abide by the principles contained in the Harare Declaration. In this Declaration, Heads of Government reaffirmed their commitment to work “with renewed vigour” to protect and promote “the fundamental political values of the Commonwealth”. Zimbabwe was suspended in 2002, and decided to withdraw from the Commonwealth in December 2003.

The announcement by Zuma follows an almost similar plea for Harare’s re-admission made by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Thursday last week.

However Brown said more reforms including holding of free and fair elections were critical to ensuring Zimbabwe’s re-engagement with the Commonwealth and the rest of the international community.

- ZimOnline and Simba Nembaware

Political parties not uplifting women: Group

HARARE – A Zimbabwean women’s pressure group has castigated the three political parties in the power-sharing government for failing to promote the participation of women in politics.

In its gender audit report released on Wednesday, the Women in Politics Support Unit (WIPSU) said President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara’s MDC-M are just the same when it comes to the treatment of female politicians.

“The three parties claim to believe in the core values of equality, justice, empowerment, non-discrimination, freedom and equity among others but none of these three parties had a substantive gender policy,” read the report entitled “Are Political Parties Serious About Gender Equality and Women’s Rights?”

“Only MDC-T had developed a gender and women empowerment policy by the second phase of the study. The MDC claimed they had a policy however most of those interviewed were not aware of it. ZANU PF claimed the country’s National Gender Policy is the ZANU PF policy since it went through ZANU PF processes before being adopted as the national policy.”

WIPSU is a feminist organisation which provides support for women in parliament and local government in Zimbabwe with the aim of increasing their qualitative and quantitative participation and influence in policy and decision making.

The gender audit report which was compiled between March 2008 and 2009 assesses the commitments the political parties in Zimbabwe have made in advancing women participation in decision-making positions.

The report further stated that members of the three parties are not even aware that there are gender policies in their parties. It said the parties have written policies that look good on paper but will not go further than the shelves.

“For all the three political parties, it is clear that there is a huge gap between rhetoric, policy on paper and policy in reality,” read the report.

The pressure group said the attitude of political parties in Zimbabwe is generally negative.

The group said it will present the report to the three political parties and lobby them to implement its findings and recommendations.
– ZimOnline

Obama pays tribute to WOZA

Bulawayo - United States President Barack Obama honoured a group of women on Monday who have confronted Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and said they had defied a dictator.

"They often don't get far before being confronted by President Mugabe's riot police," Obama said at a ceremony for Magodonga Mahlangu and the organisation she helps lead - Woza, the acronym of Women of Zimbabwe Arise. In the local Ndebele vernacular language, Woza means come forward.

"By her example, Magodonga has shown the women of Woza nd the people of Zimbabwe that they can undermine their oppressors' power with their own power - that they can sap a dictator's strength with their own," he said, presenting the annual Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award.

With a countrywide membership of over 70,000 women and men, WOZA which was formed in 2003 as a women’s civic movement aimed at providing women, from all walks of life, with a united voice to speak out on issues affecting their day-to-day lives; empowering female leadership that will lead community involvement in pressing for solutions to the current crisis; encouraging women to stand up for their rights and freedoms; lobbying and advocating on those issues affecting women and their families.

Woza's nonviolence principles are premised on the believe that the power of love can conquer the love of power.In that respect WOZA has conducted hundreds of protests since 2003 and over 3,000 women and men have spent time in police custody, many more than once and most for 48 hours or more. Woza says as the frontline human rights defenders, they are willing to suffer beatings and unbearable conditions in prison cells to exercise their constitutional rights and fundamental freedoms.

WOZA was formed to be a litmus test ‘Tough Love’ is our secret weapon of mass mobilisation. ‘Tough Love’ is the disciplining love of a parent; women practice it to press for and to bring dignity back to Zimbabweans. Tough Love is a ‘people power’ tool that any community can use to press for better governance and social justice, especially for Zimbabweans. Political leaders in Zimbabwe need some discipline; who better to dish it out than mothers!

The United States wants Mugabe to halt political arrests and media censorship and to honour a power-sharing agreement signed in September 2008 with his political rival, Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mugabe is a pariah in the West, blamed by critics for plunging his southern African country into poverty through his authoritarian rule and economic mismanagement. He has led Zimbabwe since the country's independence from Britain in 1980.

Mugabe has often blamed Western foes for ruining his country via sanctions, which he says are in retaliation for the seizing of white-owned farms on behalf of landless blacks. Critics say the policy is used as a tool to intimidate political opponents and to give land to Mugabe's Zanu-PF party loyalists.

After long negotiations, Zanu-PF formed a unity government in February with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, led by Tsvangirai, who is now Zimbabwe's prime minister.

- Reuters and Simba Nembaware

ZBH Managers Axed Over News Blackout

THE Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) last week suspended three managers after they were accused of leaking information about a government directive to ignore stories involving MDC-T ministers. Two weeks ago The Standard reported that the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity had ordered the state media to stop covering the MDC-T ministers until the party re-established contact with Zanu PF.

ZBH chief executive Happison Muchechetere had earlier informed managers at the country's sole broadcaster that all stories involving the ministers should be taken off air immediately.

But after the widely condemned directive was exposed, the news editor O'Brian Rwafa, Jacob Phiri (chief producer) and Freedom Moyo (bulletins manager) were suspended for 10 days pending investigations.

They were told to surrender ZBH property but they would continue receiving their full salaries.

Muchechetere refused to comment on the latest developments. He said: "You are a journalist and you know what to do." Media, Information and Publicity Permanent secretary George Charamba whom many believe is behind the suspensions was not available for comment yesterday.

However, eyebrows were raised when two managers who were actually given the directive were left unscathed. Insiders said there was a vicious witch-hunt that had seen management approaching a mobile phone service provider seeking information about the phone numbers the managers called over the weekend.

Their suspension brings to more than 10 the journalists and former managers who still draw salaries from the corporation without working after they were stopped from reporting for work on political grounds.

The state-owned broadcaster is still paying seven journalists it unsuccessfully tried to retrench last year on accusations that they supported the MDC-T in the run up to the March 29 harmonised elections.

ZBH has lost a string of court cases against the journalists but still refuses to re-engage them.
-The Zimbabwe Standard

UN says hunger stunts some 200 million children

Nearly 200 million children in poor countries have stunted growth because of insufficient nutrition, according to a new report published by UNICEF before a three-day international summit on the problem of world hunger.

The head of a U.N. food agency called on the world to join him in a day of fasting ahead of the summit to highlight the plight of 1 billion hungry people.

Jacques Diouf, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization, said Wednesday he hoped the fast would encourage action by world leaders who will take part in the meeting at his agency's headquarters starting Monday.

The U.N. Children's Fund published a report saying that nearly 200 million children under five in poor countries were stunted by a lack of nutrients in their food.

More than 90 percent of those children live in Africa and Asia, and more than a third of all deaths in that age group are linked to undernutrition, according to UNICEF.

While progress has been made in Asia - rates of stunted growth dropped from 44 percent in 1990 to 30 percent last year - there has been little success in Africa. There, the rate of stunted growth was about 38 percent in 1990. Last year, the rate was about 34 percent.

South Asia is a particular hotspot for the problem, with just Afghanistan, Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan accounting for 83 million hungry children under five.

"Unless attention is paid to addressing the causes of child and maternal undernutrition today, the costs will be considerably higher tomorrow," said UNICEF executive director Ann M. Veneman in a statement.

Diouf said he would begin a 24-hour fast on Saturday morning. The agency also launched an online petition against world hunger through a Web page featuring a video with Diouf counting from one to six to remind visitors that every six seconds a child dies from hunger.

The U.N. children's agency called for more strategies like vitamin A supplementation and breast-feeding to be rolled out more widely. That could cut the death rate in kids by up to 15 percent, UNICEF said.

"It is unrealistic to believe malnutrition can be addressed by any topdown U.N. scheme," said Philip Stevens, of International Policy Network, a London-based think tank. "The progress UNICEF's report points to in improving nutrition is almost certainly a result of economic growth, not U.N. strategies."

The Rome-based FAO announced earlier this year that hunger now affects a record 1.02 billion globally, or one in six people, with the financial meltdown, high food prices, drought and war blamed.

The agency hopes its World Summit on Food Security, with Pope Benedict XVI and some 60 heads of state so far expected to attend, will endorse a new strategy to combat hunger, focusing on increased investment in agricultural development for poor countries.

The long-term increase in the number of hungry is largely tied to reduced aid and private investments earmarked for agriculture since the mid-1980s, according to FAO.

Countries like Brazil, Nigeria and Vietnam that have invested in their small farmers and rural poor are bucking the hunger trend, FAO chief Diouf told the news conference.

They are among 31 countries that have reached or are on track to meet the goal set by world leaders nine years ago to cut the number of hungry people in half by 2015, he said.

"Eradicating hunger is no pipe dream," Diouf said. "The battle against hunger can be won."

FAO says global food output will have to increase by 70 percent to feed a projected population of 9.1 billion in 2050.

To achieve that, poor countries will need $44 billion in annual agricultural aid, compared with the current $7.9 billion, to increase access to irrigation systems, modern machinery, seeds and fertilizer as well as build roads and train farmers.

Agriculture investment from the private sector is also considered vital, and FAO is hosting a two-day forum in Milan starting Thursday with executives and business representatives to discuss how to coordinate such efforts.
-AP

Climate change solutions should include children - Save the Children

The United Kingdom based Save the children has recommended in its latest report, "FEELING THE HEAT - CHILD SURVIVAL IN A CHANGING CLIMATE", that policies on the adaptation to climate change should involve children as they have the right to participate in decisions that affect their lives, and as such, adaptation planning, particularly National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs), must involve children in identifying appropriate interventions, writes Simba Nembaware.

The reports says climate change is the biggest global health threat to children in the 21st century and notes that without concerted action, millions of children will be at increased risk from disease, undernutrition, water scarcity, disasters, and the collapse of public services and infrastructure. While "no one will be immune to the effects of climate change" Save the Children highlights that children under the age of five are largest group to be most affected.

In the forewood of the report Ulla Tørnæs, the Danish government's Minister for Development Cooperation said, "Children are not responsible for climate change. But they may ultimately be the ones suffering the most and in risk of not surviving. I urge all governments to recognise what is at stake for the children of the world and join the Danish government in protecting the children’s chances of survival in spite of climate change. I hope and trust that in Copenhagen in December 2009 we will agree to an ambitious climate agreement with a strong development focus. Now, more than ever before, the decisions we make today will affect the generations of tomorrow."

The direct effects of climate change on children include diarrhoea and water-borne diseases, malaria and other vector-borne diseases, hunger and malnutrition, increasing frequency of disasters, while the indirect effects are weakened health systems, fragile livelihoods, increased migration and displacement, impact on urbanisation, and additional burdens on women.

The report further reveals that most child deaths occur in the world’s poorest countries and communities with these children dying from a small number of preventable and treatable diseases and conditions, including diarrhoea, malaria and malnutrition. "An estimated third of the entire global childhood disease burden is attributable to changeable factors in food, soil, water and air. These diseases and conditions are predicted to worsen with climate change," and the spread of malaria in various parts of the world will be accelarated by climate change.

With access to clean water becoming more difficult in most parts of the globe, Save the Children says, it will therefore be harder to tackle diarrhoea, one of the biggest killers of young children. Dirty water and unsafe sanitation is a major secondary cause of child mortality.

According to the report, "climate change will increase the number of disasters like floods, droughts and cyclones that put children’s lives at risk. And it will have very severe consequences for food security and nutrition. One-third of deaths of children under five are linked to undernutrition. Climate change will make it much harder for poor families to give their children a nutritious diet."

Anna Matopodza, "When I tell people I am a grandmother, they do not believe me"

HARARE- When Anna Matopodza, 55, from a village in the Buhera district of Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe, found out she was HIV-positive, she was anxious about who would look after her five children when she died. The thought of death haunted her for months; then she joined dance group and travelled around the world, teaching people about HIV/AIDS through song and dance.

"I tested HIV positive in 1996, after the death of my husband. My husband had been sick for a very long time; we were always in and out of hospital but I had never got the opportunity to get tested. I got tested after some counselling from an organization called Family Care Trust-Nyanga (Fact-Nyanga).

"Back then, in 1996, we didn't have the New Start Centres that are now offering voluntary counselling and testing around the country, so for someone to get tested it was a very difficult and an expensive thing.

"The result came back positive. I didn't even know what that meant, except that I knew I had a disease that had no cure, no treatment, and that I would soon die in the same painful way my husband had died.

"My concern was for my four girls - I was afraid that after I had died they would be forced to get married early and also expose themselves to the disease. I lost a lot of weight just thinking about all these things.

"When I joined Tsungai ['be strong' in the Shona language] support group I had no idea what to expect; I just joined because I was probably looking for answers. I found peace at this support group because we were no longer talking in hushed tones about HIV/AIDS.

"While in this support group I heard about the Murambinda Peer Educators Dance Group and I decided to join them. I wanted to let others know about this disease before it was too late.

"The children I was worried about years ago are all grown up now. The four girls are married and have children of their own. They all completed their education and they have good jobs.

"I didn't think I would live to see my children grow up, or to see my 14 grandchildren. My fifth child - my only son - is still at home with me, doing his studies.

"Many people died of stress in the 1990s because there was not much information about HIV/AIDS ... this is why I am part of Murambinda Dance Group, as old as I am.

"When I tell people I am a grandmother, they do not believe me because when I dance I have so much energy - there is no old and young when we are fighting HIV!"
-IRIN PlusNews

Zambia fuel shortages may cut maize output — official

LUSAKA. Zambian maize production in 2009/10 is likely to drop from the 1,9 million tonnes produced in the previous crop season if acute shortages of fuel persist, Zambia National Union of Farmers president Javis Zimba said yesterday.

Zimba said the union was very worried about the shortages, caused by the shutdown of Zambia’s sole refinery two weeks ago while Energy Minister Kenneth Konga said the 24 000-barrels-per-day Indeni refinery would resume production on Friday.

Zimba said farming inputs such as seeds had not reached some parts of southern Zambia because transporters had no diesel and the delay could cause late planting and poor yields.

"Unless the government sorts out this problem of fuel as quickly as possible, maize production will drop.

"The rain is just about to start and we are very worried that some farmers have not received the inputs," Zimba said.

Konga said the government had removed a 25 percent import duty on fuel and asked local oil marketing companies and the Independent Petroleum Group of Kuwait to import a total of 50 million litres of diesel and 30 million litres of petrol.

Konga said that the government had also hired Kenya’s Dalbit Petroleum to import another 25 million litres of diesel and 15 million litres of diesel while Indeni was shut.

Zambia has managed to turn its maize production around over the past three farming seasons, becoming a net exporter of maize on the back of good rains and a government policy to provide subsidised fertilizer and seed to small-scale farmers.
— Reuters.

Mugabe tearing unity apart: MDC

Harare - Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change on Wednesday accused President Robert Mugabe of trying to tear apart a unity pact by threatening to replace cabinet ministers chosen by the former opposition.

"It is tantamount to tearing apart the unity government," MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa told AFP.

The state-run Herald reported on Wednesday that Mugabe was pondering replacing MDC ministers who have not attended cabinet meetings since Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai cut ties with Mugabe's Zanu-PF after a deadlock over key issues.

"His Excellency may have to consider appointing ministers in an acting capacity to key ministries for the sake of a successful agricultural season and general economic turnaround," Agriculture Minister Joseph Made told the Herald.

"Important Cabinet decisions have to be translated into action expeditiously," he said.

Chamisa slammed Mugabe for acting outside the spirit of the global political agreement (GPA), which has been hampered by a deadlock over key appointments on which Mugabe insists and by a crackdown on MDC supporters.

"That is a laughable proposition. This is precisely the reason why we are deadlocked. They are in a mode of unilateralism and arrogance which has not helped the spirit of the GPA," Chamisa said.

"You cannot appoint an acting minister when there is a substantive minister. It will create a parallel government," he added.

The unity government, created in February a year after disputed polls, is in deep trouble and hopes are pinned on a meeting by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) security organ on Thursday to resolve the latest impasse.

"This deadlock will have to be broken. SADC and the AU as guarantors will have to break this deadlock. It is in the interest of all of us," said Chamisa.

The MDC has accused Mugabe's Zanu-PF of spurious arrests, and said on Tuesday that the party's transport manager Pascal Gwezere had been abducted and arrested hours after a similar attempt on another party member.

- AFP

FAO targets land tenure

As the world battles climate change and its effects that entail prospects of worldwide food shortages, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has begun widespread consultations over the first ever international guidelines on governance of tenure to land and other natural resources such as water supplies, fisheries and forests.

The consultations and negotiations which are a response to requests from the international community and from governments are expected to take more than a year to complete.

They will involve governments, the private sector, poor farmers, indigenous groups, local authorities, academia and independent experts and will be led by a secretariat based at FAO headquarters.

Land ownership laws a key instrument in fighting hunger and Paul Munro-Faure, the Chief of the Land Tenure and Management Unit of FAO said, “Secure access to land is seen as a key condition to improving food security of some of the world’s poorest people."

“FAO is taking the lead in this exercise because secure land access is the best safety-net for the poor, and because good governance of land is a necessary condition for secure land access and land tenure rights”.

Although most FAO member nations have rules to protect farmers and forest dwellers, as well as domestic and foreign investors, from being thrown off their land or having their land seized arbitrarily, laws are often ignored or badly enforced. Zimbabwe stands out as an example of countries that has ignored its own laws and those of the region with the appropriation of white owned farms being the epitome of an exercise that has led to the former regional bread basket turning into a basket case with most of population fleeing the country to neighbouring South Africa and Botswana while the remainder is dire need of food aid.


“Competition for land and other natural resources is increasing due to population and economic growth, foreign direct investment for large scale food production, demands for biofuels and urban and industrial expansion,” said Alexander Müller, Assistant Director General of FAO’s Natural Resources Department.

“A shrinking natural resource base increases competition as land is abandoned because of degradation, climate change and violent conflicts,” he said. “Without responsible governance, growing demands for land threatens to foster social exclusion as the rich and powerful are able to acquire land and other natural resources at the expense of the poor and vulnerable.”

Weak governance is a cause of many tenure-related problems and hinders economic growth because of a reluctance to invest, from both large and small players. It also affects the sustainable use of natural resources, causing environmental degradation and condemning people to a life of hunger and in the worst scenarios can cause conflict and war,” he said.

Women, the disabled, illiterate and elderly are particularly vulnerable to having the land they farm arbitrarily seized as they often lack legal and social rights, or where those rights do exist are powerless to enforce them.

The work done by FAO and many other international partners has shown that there is a growing and widespread interest in an international instrument to improve governance of tenure of land and other natural resources. The voluntary guidelines are intended to provide practical guidance to states, civil society and the private sector on responsible governance of tenure.

The guidelines will provide a framework and a point of reference that will allow government authorities, the private sector, civil society and citizens to judge whether their proposed actions and the actions of others constitute acceptable practices.

Germany, together with IFAD, Finland and GTZ are providing funding with UN agencies (UN-Habitat, UNDP), IPC, the International Land Coalition, the International Federation of Surveyors and many others closely supporting and collaborating with the initiative.

The guidelines will also steer a path for governments trying to cope with the growing trend of large-scale foreign investments for food and biofuels, as well as for investor countries with limited water and arable land.

-FAO and Simba Nembaware

Millions will starve as rich nations cut food aid funding, warns UN

Tens of millions of the world's poor will have their food rations cut or cancelled in the next few weeks because rich countries have slashed aid funding and aid agencies fear a global disaster as support for World food Programme hits 20-year low.

The result, says Josette Sheeran, head of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), could be the "loss of a generation" of children to malnutrition, food riots and political destabilisation. "We are facing a silent tsunami," said Sheeran in an exclusive interview with the Observer. "A humanitarian disaster is unrolling." The WFP feeds nearly 100 million people a year.


A woman and a child suffering from Acute Water Diarrhea in the Wanleweyn district, southern Somalia, April 5, 2009. Photograph: Abdurashid Abikar/AFP/Getty Images

Food riots across Africa, sparked by the global economic crisis, have made food security the continent’s most pressing issue. Food riots in more than 20 countries last year persuaded rich countries to give a record $5bn to the WFP to help avert a global food crisis brought on by record oil prices and the growth of biofuel crops. But new data seen by the Observer show that food aid is now at its lowest in 20 years. Countries have offered only $2.7bn in the first 10 months of 2009.

The US, by far the world's biggest contributor to food aid, has so far pledged $800m less than in 2008; Saudi Arabia has paid only $10m in 2009 compared with $500m in 2008; and the EU has given $130m less. Britain's promise of $69m (£43.5m) this year is nearly $100m (£63m) less than 2008, and, if nothing more is given, will be its lowest contribution since 2001.

"Even under our best scenarios, we will end the year $2bn short," said Sheeran. "Many of our funders do not feel that they need to give on the level of last year. They think the world food crisis is over, but in 80% of countries food prices are actually higher than one year ago."

World food supplies are under increased strain this year following a succession of droughts, typhoons, floods and earthquakes that have destroyed crops in Africa and south-east Asia. But human needs are also greater because the financial crisis has led to widespread unemployment. In addition, the remittances from foreign nationals living in rich countries to their families at home are 20% lower than last year.

Last month the UN said that the number of hungry people in the world had increased by more than 150 million in a single year to more than one billion. Aid agencies last week warned of severe food shortages in southern India after heavy floods damaged hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of crops.

"There is a silent tsunami [of hunger] gathering. You cannot see or hear it, but it's in all these villages, killing people just as hard. This is the worst food crisis since the 1970s. We will lose a generation. Children will never recover," said Sheeran.

More than 40 million people could be affected by the WFP's enforced scaling back of its food rations. Countries most likely to be hit include Bangladesh, where the budget is likely to be cut by as much as 50%, and Kenya, where similar cuts will worsen the plight of millions of extra people made destitute by a long drought.

The new rations, which are reserved for people who have no access to food, will fall below what aid agencies consider a survival ration and will provide, at most, one meagre meal a day. "We are making hard choices over who to feed. We are very aware that as we dismantle [feeding programmes] it may take out the underpinning of society and leads to political destabilisation," said Sheeran.

Aid agencies urged rich countries to pledge more. "We are very concerned about the large budget shortfall faced by WFP, which means the programme has to cut the food rations to millions of people who rely on this assistance for their very survival," said Fred Mousseau, Oxfam's humanitarian policy adviser. "This will translate into more child deaths, with more than 16,000 children already dying from hunger-related causes every day."
-The Observer and Simba Nembaware

Senior Zim NGO leaders arrested

HARARE – Zimbabwe police at have arrested two top civic society leaders after a non-governmental organisations (NGO) meeting that called on African leaders to ensure full implementation of a power-sharing agreement that set up the country’s coalition government.

The police, who are expected to bring the civic leaders to court today, accuse National Association of NGOs (NANGO) chairperson Dadirai Chikwendo and chief executive officer Cephas Zinhumwe of convening a political meeting without first notifying the law enforcement agency as required by law. The two were arrested Sunday.

"They were arrested for holding a public meeting …. for failure to notify the police of the meeting," said Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights director, Irene Petras.

The Public Order and Security Act requires Zimbabweans to notify police first before holding public political meetings and demonstrations, however professional and other special interest groups are not required to notify police of their meetings.

The NANGO meeting at the weekend in the resort town of Victoria Falls was a special event known as the Director’s Summer School and open only to directors from NGOs in Zimbabwe who use the annual gathering to reflect on their work.

The NANGO yesterday said it believed the arrest of its senior leaders was because of a statement issued at the directors meeting urging the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and African Union (AU) to ensure full implementation of the global political agreement (GPA) or power-sharing agreement signed by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai last year.

The SADC and the AU are the guarantors of the GPA.

NANGO said: “Police charges against the two stemmed from the statement issued by the directors in which they called for the intervention of SADC and the AU to ensure that the GPA was fully implemented.”

The association also noted the arrest of its leaders came on the back of sustained attacks against civic society groups in the state-owned media that has accused NGOs of aiding alleged Western efforts to overthrow Mugabe.

State newspapers, radio and television remain under the tight control of allies of Mugabe despite formation of the coalition government and appointment of a Tsvangirai ally as deputy information minister.

Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena was not immediately available for comment on the arrest of the NANGO leaders.

Under the GPA Mugabe, Tsvangirai and third coalition partner Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara undertook to implement a wide range of reforms to revive Zimbabwe’s economy and to reshape and democratise the country’s politics.

Zimbabwe’s principal political leaders also agreed to ensure the rule of law and to uphold human rights.

But Mugabe and Tsvangirai, the main partners in the tripartite coalition, have wrangled over implementation of the GPA, with each accusing the other of breaching terms of the agreement and failure to keep their word.

Tsvangirai more than a week ago partially withdrew his MDC party from the unity government and said he was cutting cooperation with Mugabe and his ZANU PF party, blaming the veteran leader’s obstinacy for failing to fulfil the GPA and the slow pace of democratic reforms.

However Tsvangirai met his coalition partners on Monday to try to resolve their differences ahead of a SADC ministerial delegation expected in the country later this week. – ZimOnline.

The future of food: Addressing the global challenge

As the Copenhagen conference on climate change draws nearer, Soil Association, a land based environmental awareness advocate whose primary concern is a "healthy soil, healthy people, healthy planet" will next month host an international conference in London focusing on current modes of production and consumption and what solutions and support are needed for change, writes Simba Nembaware.


The world’s food systems are facing unprecedented challenges. Against a background of ‘the perfect storm’ of climate change, water and fossil fuel depletion, population expansion and the shrinking area of agricultural land, new models of sustainable food systems are urgently needed.

Last year a major international report and assessment (IAASTD) involving 400 scientists and 110 countries concluded that the current industrial model based on high external inputs and globalised distribution, was neither sustainable nor resilient. The conference will also seek to assess if there has been change,18 months after the publication of the report.

Bulawayo war veterans reject Nkomo

BULAWAYO – War veterans in Bulawayo have rejected the nomination of Zanu-PF national chairman John Nkomo for the post of vice president of Zimbabwe.

Nkomo has of late been touted around the country as the next possible vice president, replacing the late Joseph Msika. Amid confusion on the nomination of the candidate for the vice presidency, the Zanu-PF politburo set Wednesday as the date for the close of nominations for the post.

The leadership of the three political provinces in Matabeleland region had earlier endorsed Nkomo’s nomination for the vice president’s post. But pressure from the Zanu-PF grassroots, coupled with murmurs of discontentment from other sections of the party on his nomination, pushed the politburo into reversing his nomination.

Such an incident was bound to happen as there are reports of inhouse fighting in ZANU PF as politicians jostle for the closest seat at Robert Mugabe's side. Minister of Mines, Obert Mpofu is believed to be the brains behind de-campaigning Nkomo and his name has also been linked with the sodomy case that was raised against Nkomo.

Sources say, the "sodomy story" was meant to discredit the veteran politician and have Mugabe discard of him as Mugabe is known for his unflinching hate for gays and lesbians. It is widely believed that, because's of Mugabe's stand on gays, when the country's first president, Canaan Banana, passed away, he was not buried at the national shrine, The Heroes Acre, because of revelations of his sodomy coated life during and after his life as a head of state.

At a press conference in Bulawayo Tuesday, members of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), the Zimbabwe Liberation War Collaborators Association (ZILWACO), and the Zimbabwe Ex-political Prisoners, Detainees, and Restrictees’ Association (ZIPEDRA) outrightly rejected Nkomo’s nomination.

The former freedom fighters claimed Nkomo did not represent a national outlook to hold the post of vice president. They also claimed Nkomo was powerless to challenge Zanu-PF if the need arose within the party.

Bulawayo war veterans’ leader Themba Ncube said the earlier decision to nominate Nkomo for the post was not made freely by the party’s Bulawayo province. He said the provincial leadership of Zanu-PF and the war veterans did not make a unanimous decision but were forced to endorse Nkomo’s nomination.

Said Ncube: “We were forced into making that decision (to endorse Nkomo). It was not a people’s decision. It was made because there are some who believe they are powerful and they could force people into making decisions out of their own choice.”

He highlighted that the generality of the Zanu-PF membership felt the party’s politburo was now regionalization of the vice presidency debate, portending an outcome that did not reflect the national picture.

“The question that we ask is – why should the three provinces of Matabeleland be the ones to be forced to select a national leader? We want the entirety of the Zanu-PF membership to have a say on who should be the vice president,” Ncube said.

Asked to choose names of best-placed candidates, the former liberation fighters said they favoured three candidates for the job. These include Senate deputy president Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to South Africa, Simon Khaya Moyo and retired army official, Brigadier Ambrose Mutinhiri.

Zanu-PF members say although Mutinhiri lives in Harare, his roots can be easily traced back to Zapu as he played a crucial role in the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA).

The former combatants said they would push for a meeting where the issue of the vice presidency would be discussed. They also said should the politburo go ahead and impose a candidate on them, they would campaign for the rejection of the candidate at the party’s congress in December.
-thezimbabwetimes and Simba Nembaware

OIE recommends collaboration with media

Gaborone- The two day Regional Seminar on Communication by The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) which was held in Gaborone recently last month and attended by experts from all over Africa recommended among other issues that OIE members should proactively make transparent and science based information available to the media and the general public, so as to strengthen Veterinary Service’s public image as an accountable and authoritative source of information on any relevant event relating to animal health and public health, writes Simba Nembaware.

Officially opening the seminar held under the banner “Communication Strategy in Veterinary Services”, Dr. Micus Chimbombi, Botswana's Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, said agriculture remains an important sector especially in rural areas where it plays a critical role in the provision of food, industrial raw materials and employment creation. He sector is also one of the main foreign exchange earners as a generator of government revenues.

“The development of the livestock industry is dependent on freedom from diseases, which in turn requires effective communication with veterinary services for them to fulfil their mandate,” said Dr. Chimbombi who expressed pleasure in noting that OIE is instrumental in the development of communication strategy. He added that the success of veterinary services through out the world “will depend on effective and efficient communication.”

The seminar that considered the development of information and communication strategies contributes to improving the functioning and the acceptance of the scientific, technical and operational output of Veterinary Services, also recommended that improved global, regional, sub-regional and national veterinary governance must encompass communication policies, strategies and resources directed to the stakeholders and the general public.

So as to successfully impart information to farmers and the general public participants recommended that communication teams, including professional communicators, should be fully integrated as a component of the Veterinary Services and under the direct authority of the Veterinary Authorities. As professionals in the field and in liaison with veterinarians, they are expected to use their expertise to simplify and accurately disseminate vital information that is often embedded in technical jargon.

Another consideration for discussion was that the transparency and quality of communication and information management, in particular in crisis situations are issues of national, sub-regional, regional and global strategic significance. This translates to governments working together closely so as to successfully curb the spread of trans-boundary diseases.

It was brought to the fore that members and the OIE must have access to adequate human, technical and financial resources in order to manage information and communication at the national, regional, sub regional and global level. The major role of media in disseminating information as well as in raising public awareness and methodological training in this field were deemed indispensable.

Participants of the seminar where Dr. Bonaventure Mtei the OIE Sub Regional Representative for Southern Africa in his opening remarks read on his behalf by P. Bastiaensen said “animal health interventions are often complex in nature and as such our communication objectives should be simple and measurable, underpinned by clear statement of principles,” recommend that the importance of the process of communication must be among the priorities of OIE Regional and Sub Regional Representations, RAHCs and national Veterinary Services, particularly for disseminating information.

Dr. Mtei advised that animal health communication strategies need to deliver clear messages while “appropriate knowledge and skills are therefore required to develop key messages in our animal health interventions.”

The OIE adopted the recommendation that the organisation should continue to provide technical support to all Members particularly developing countries to strengthen the communication capacities in the Veterinary Services in order to continuously respond to national and international demands and to help Members to comply with OIE standards, guidelines and recommendations.

Botswana has a large zone which is recognised by the OIE as free from foot and mouth without vaccination. This international status granted by the OIE which is based on Botswana’s ability to implement and comply with OIE standards has allowed Botswana beef to enter sophisticated markets such as the European Union. The OIE continues to monitor this status.

In line with the recommendations OIE members should assess their needs taking into account the relevant criteria of the OIE PVS Tool to develop information and communication strategies within Veterinary Services to respond to both crisis situations and routine/long term requirements. Chief Veterinary Officers should request Government authorities to provide adequate organisational and budgetary support for the communication objectives of Veterinary Services, including communication training, in accordance with Resolution XXI of May 2001 voted by all OIE Members.

Respective National Veterinary Services communication teams should liaise closely and on a regular basis with OIE and other relevant international organisations, on specific events requiring coordination in information, dissemination and communication management. They should also liaise with their counterparts within the public health services for the coordination in information, dissemination or communication strategy and management on the prevention and control of zoonoses.

At national level National Veterinary Services must communicate with other relevant stakeholders such as private sector, producers and consumers. They should also identify and communicate to the OIE the data of the communication officer within the communication team of their national Veterinary Services, the team and the officer being nominated by and under the general direction of the Chief Veterinary Officer.

Climate change undermining future of agriculture

Gaborone - Botswana is currently on a drive to diversify the economy through the commercialisation of the agricultural sector a move adopted so as to attain national food security by 2016 and beyond while also mitigating the effects of the global economic recession but the global climatic change phenomenon looks poised to derail this impressive programme, writes Simba Nembaware.

The earth's climate is dynamic and is always changing through a natural cycle. These changes are studied by scientists who then advise on measures to be taken so as to mitigate the effects of this change. The scientists gather evidence from tree rings, pollen samples, ice cores, and sea sediments. The causes of climate change can be divided into two categories - those that are due to natural causes and those that are created by man.

There are a number of natural factors responsible for climate change. Some of the more prominent ones are continental drift, volcanoes, ocean currents, the earth's tilt, and comets and meteorites. The separation of the landmasses (continental drift) changed the flow of ocean currents and winds, which affected the climate. When a volcano erupts it throws out large volumes of sulphur dioxide (SO2), water vapour, dust, and ash into the atmosphere. Although the volcanic activity may last only a few days, yet the large volumes of gases and ash can influence climatic patterns for years.

Human causes of climate change are born out of industrialisation. Natural resources are being used extensively for construction, industries, transport, and consumption. Consumerism (our increasing want for material things) has increased by leaps and bounds, creating mountains of waste. Also, our population has increased to an incredible extent. All this has contributed to a rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas supply most of the energy needed to run vehicles generate electricity for industries, households, etc. The energy sector is responsible for about ¾ of the carbon dioxide emissions, 1/5 of the methane emissions and a large quantity of nitrous oxide. It also produces nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide which are not greenhouse gases but do have an influence on the chemical cycles in the atmosphere that produce or destroy greenhouse gases.
The United Nations climate panel says rich nations, blamed by poorer countries for emitting most of the harmful greenhouse gases, should cut emissions between 25-40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 to avoid dangerous climate change. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations held in Thailand, one of the final forums for discussions on climate before the December 2009 World Summit on climate in Copenhagen, highlighted the need for adequate financing to assist developing countries in meeting the challenges of climate change.

Climate change has resulted in the prevalence of the El Nino phenomenon which on its own is responsible for wild weather, droughts, floods and other extreme events. As a consequence of global warming due to climate change; rising temperatures, a shift in seasons, and extreme weather are forecasted by experts to cut output in some areas and wipe out crops entirely in others. Excessive rainfalls and flooding do not only result in loss of crops and livestock but also leads to loss of human lives. And what exacerbates the plight of the human race is that world breadbaskets like Brazil are also affected.

Brazil is the leading exporter of coffee, beef, soybeans, orange juice, and other farm products but these are expected to suffer as temperatures continue to soar. “Only one cash crop stands to gain: warmer temperatures will double the area suitable for sugar cane as early as 2020,” says Hilton Silveira Pinto and Eduardo Assad, who agronomists at the University of Campinas in Sao Paulo state and the government's agriculture research institute, Embrapa, respectively.

A study by the Washington – based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) financed by the Asian Development Bank and World Bank notes that climate change may cut corn, wheat and rice yields across developing countries by 2050 thereby boosting prices and causing hunger. The report notes that as a consequence there will be 25 million more underfed children by 2050. The report predicts improved farming conditions in developed world where a yield increase of between 2.4 percent and 3.1 percent in rain-fed wheat is projected for Canada, China and northern Russia.

In Southern Africa, a recent meteorological report by the United Kingdom Meteorological Office, projects temperatures to rise by 10% at least by 2060 with 4% being the global average. This is severe as experts note that even slight changes in temperature or precipitation can be devastating for the flowering, growth and harvest of crops. Livestock also suffers as animal fodder is processed from part of the wheat, barley, maize, sorghum and other cereals whose growth will be curtailed by the climate change.

James Thurlow, a researcher with IFPRI shared with irinnews that "If you take into account the worst 10-year rainfall period, then Zambia's economy could lose as much as $7.1 billion in the next 10 years and drive 648,000 people below the poverty line.” He noted that extreme changes in rainfall and temperature in the past 10 years have already lowered GDP by 0.4 percent every year. The southern and central regions of Zambia, where people were experiencing climate shocks such as droughts and floods, could be among the worst affected.

The Weekender, a South African publication quotes Michael Sanderson, co-author of the Met Office report revealing that “food production will be adversely affected.” Sanderson highlighted that the exact impact on South Africa was not discussed in the study but he noted that in the region “the temperature rise will decrease crop productivity and increase the risk of hunger. Some plants and animal species will become extinct. Freshwater supplies will be reduced, and water quality is likely to be adversely affected. There may be a forced migration of people to more habitable areas.”

In this time of crisis, technology can help farmers adapt to climate change, but the long and short of it is that the bulk of farmers from the developing world can not afford these new technologies while also their inability to use machines increases labour costs. For most farmers irrigation is expensive and when they manage to set up irrigation systems, they have to face the reality of the scarcity of water sources. In the developed world where water issues are not a major concern for many farmers, scientists forecast that genetically modified plants will have difficulties in adapting to temperature increases beyond just 2 degrees Celsius.

But there are scientists like Edson Silva, director at the Parana state research company Epagri who are optimistic. Silva, whose company has exported a drought-resistant apple variety from Brazil to France, Germany among other Western countries, is confident that science can provide 90 percent of the answers to climate change.

Speaking at the opening of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) 2009 Regional Policy Dialogue and Annual General Meeting held recently in Maputo Mozambique, FANRPAN Chairman and Secretary General of Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Mr. Sindiso Ngwenya said Africa’s dependence on rain-fed agriculture has left her vulnerable to changing climatic conditions that call for adaptation and mitigation measures.

“Mitigation is a sure way of survival for our farmers. As we head to Copenhagen, Africa must speak with one voice in having agriculture – the basis of our development – included in the final text of the Copenhagen deal. There should be no deal without agriculture. Our farmers must be helped to better respond to climate change without depriving them of their livelihoods,” said Ngwenya who also noted that Africa has for too long depended on foreign researchers hence the need to improve agricultural research and systems to disseminate appropriate new technologies and supporting farmers to adopt them.

While calling on Africa to modernise agriculture, Ngwenya said, “Africa’s budget priorities should move from defence and administration costs to agriculture and research. Research alone is not enough. Without access to resources, agriculture will not take off; hence it is critical that our small holder farmers have access to financial resources to upscale agriculture development.”

Mutambara a sell out

Bulawayo - Deputy Prime Minister, Professor Arthur Mutambara was on BBC's HardTalk last night where his self praise poetry like rhetoric that he continually spewed smacks of an out of sorts politician, writes Simba Nembaware.

HardTalk host, Stephen Sackur, rightly summed up Mutambara and his party's presence in the compromise government as "Alice in Wonderland" as the politician failed ostensibly to give evidence that Zimbabwe is on a recovery path; politically, economically and socially, a claim he wants the world to believe despite the evident continued abuse of human rights by Mugabe and his cronies.

Asked about Roy Bennet, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) shadow minister of agriculture's comments alluding to the fact that Zimbabwe continues to be recklessly run by Mugabe, Mutambara said; "Bennet is not an authority on Zimbabwe, I am an authority, he can not say anything about Zimbabwe."

He also rubbished a recent statement by Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, that there is continued violation of the terms of engagement as agreed upon for the government of national unity to work coupled by human rights abuses, fresh farm invasions, unilateral appointments by Mugabe for positions on strategic parastatals and the seemingly never ending gag on media freedom.

On the economic front, Mutambara said the dolarization of the economy had stabilised the economy but the biggest challenge is the sanctions imposed by the west. He called on Britain and her allies to lift sanctions despite having earlier agreed that the sanctions referred to are specific individual sanctions that zero on Mugabe and members of his ZANU PF machinery.

"There is no reason for having sanctions on Chinamasa or Mnangagwa or anyone in ZANU PF because the unity government means we are now a team, why should there be sanctions on people in Tsvangirai's team," said Mutambara while arguing the case for his ZANU PF bed fellows.

Nobody trusts us: top Zim official

HARARE – Zimbabwe requires US$53 billion to restore its economy to what it was 10 years ago but is unable to raise funding from donors who remain unconvinced the country is on an “irreversible path to democracy”, according to Finance Minister Tendai Biti.

A power-sharing government formed by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai last February has halted unprecedented recession and promised to revive Zimbabwe’s economy that was one of the most vibrant in Africa just a little over 10 years ago.

But rich Western nations have refused to fund the Harare administration’s reconstruction programme demanding more political reforms and evidence that Mugabe’s genuinely committed to sharing power with Tsvangirai.

Biti -- who is also secretary general of Tsvangirai’s MDC party -- said in an interview that failure by the government to fully implement a Global Political Agreement (GPA) that gave birth to the power-sharing administration had crippled efforts to raise support from skeptical donors.

“The performance of our economy in the immediate short-term, and our capacity to attract foreign assistance, depends purely and simply on our performance and execution of the GPA. The two are inextricably connected,” Biti said in an interview.

“Nobody trusts this government. There is not sufficient evidence from the point of view of donors that we are on an irreversible and irrevocable path to democracy and reform. That evidence is missing,” he added.

In addition to failure to attract financial support a US$5.7 billion debt that Harare owes various international creditors continued to constrain efforts to rebuild the economy, said Biti, describing the debt as “a serious albatross around our thin necks”.

Analysts say the coalition government offers Zimbabwe the best opportunity in a decade to end its multi-faceted crisis.

But they warn that the administration could yet fail because of its failure to raise significant financial aid as well as because of unending squabbles between Mugabe’s ZANU PF party and Tsvangirai’s MDC party that are the two main pillars of the administration.

On Tuesday Tsvangirai urged a summit of Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders next week to discuss Zimbabwe’s coalition government, adding that his MDC party was getting frustrated because of several outstanding issues from the GPA that he accused Mugabe of refusing to resolve.

“We have not resolved or implemented agreed positions on provincial governors despite the negotiators agreeing on a formula on their fair allocation. This is why we urge SADC to place the issue of Zimbabwe for specific consideration during the forthcoming summit in Kinshasa,” said Tsvangirai.

In addition to the issue of provincial governors, Tsvangirai and his MDC party have been angered by Mugabe’s decision to unilaterally appoint two top allies as central bank chief and attorney general in breach of the GPA which says that appointments to all senior public posts should be by consensus.

Mugabe has also refused to swear in former white farmer and MDC treasurer, Roy Bennett, as deputy agriculture minister while farm invasions and sporadic acts of political violence have continued across the country.

The SADC is a guarantor of Zimbabwe’s power-sharing agreement alongside the African Union. – ZimOnline.

Zuma meets Zim leaders tomorrow

HARARE – South African President Jacob Zuma will tomorrow hold talks with leaders of neighbouring Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government to try to break a deadlock threatening the coalition government, his office said Tuesday.

Zuma is chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that alongside the Africa Union is a guarantor of a power-sharing agreement signed by President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara last September.

The South African leader’s office said in a statement: "In his capacity as chairperson of SADC, President Zuma will be holding meetings with the leaders of ZANU-PF and the two MDC formations to be briefed on the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (power-sharing agreement).”

Zuma, who arrives in Harare Thursday, will also open Zimbabwe’s annual agricultural show on Friday before flying back to South Africa later the same day.

Mugabe’s office had last week claimed that the South African leader would limit his visit to the agricultural show and not tackle problems related to the power-sharing agreement.

While some political analysts have said that even if Zuma were to discuss the power-sharing pact with Zimbabwe’s political leaders there was little he could achieve in one day and suggested that the South African President would probably use the trip to see for himself the various problems gripping the fragile Harare coalition.

Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara are deadlocked over a myriad of outstanding issues, among them Mugabe’s arbitrary appointment of two top allies to head the central bank and attorney general’s department in violation of the power-sharing agreement that says such appointments should be by consensus.

Other issues include delays in swearing in of provincial governors and Roy Bennett – Tsvangirai’s appointee as deputy minister of agriculture – as well as the continued arrest, conviction and sentencing of legislators from the Premier’s MDC party.

While Tsvangirai and Mutambara have written to SADC over problems in the implementation of the GPA, Mugabe’s ZANU PF party about two weeks ago accused its former opposition foes of reneging on a commitment to urge Western countries to lift sanctions on the party’s senior leaders.

Zuma is considered more sympathetic to Tsvangirai but he will next month step down as SADC chairman with Mugabe ally and Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila assuming the rotating regional chair.

Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara formed an inclusive government last February to try to end Zimbabwe’s multifaceted crisis.

The unity government has done well to stabilise the economy and end inflation that was estimated at more than a trillion percent at the height of the country’s economic meltdown last year.

But analysts remain doubtful about the administration’s long-term effectiveness, citing unending squabbles between ZANU PF and MDC as well as by the coalition government’s inability to secure direct financial support from rich Western nations. – ZimOnline

Zimbabwe to host SADC Climate forum

The Government of Zimbabwe through its Meteorological Services Department will on 26-27 August in collaboration with the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Famines Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET), and other partners host the Thirteenth Southern Africa Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF-13) writes Simba Nembaware

SARCOF-13 will be preceded by a seven-day Climate Experts Meeting of SADC national Meteorological/Hydrological Services (NMHSs) for the purposes of developing inputs for the Forum.

"Applying Climate Prediction Information, for Sustainable Socio-economic Development and Disaster Risk Reduction" will be the theme for the two day event whose participants will include climate prediction experts from the national Meteorological/Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in the SADC region and climate scientists from universities, research institutions, as well as regional and international organizations engaged in climate modelling, prediction and applications for the region.

Various regional and international governmental and non-governmental organizations and development partners are also expected to attend the forum whose core objective is to "develop to a consensus climate outlook for October 2009 to March 2010 rainfall season within SADC Member States."

It will also discuss the potential impacts of the consensus seasonal climate outlook on other socio-economic sectors including food security, health, disaster risk management, water resources and hydropower management, among others. The forum will also review the October 2008 to March 2009 rainy season over the SADC region.

The SADC Secretariat notes that "proper interpretation of seasonal forecasts and their application across various socio-economic decision-making processes still remain a challenge in the region. It is from this background that stakeholder participation in the SARCOF process with involvement of the climate information and prediction services practitioners and the user-community is always regarded as a priority at these forums.

SARCOF is transforming into an effective and reliable source for climate information and prediction services in order for the multi-sectoral user community to benefit fully from the process.

‘Strike threatens health sector's recovery’

HARARE – The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) has said a strike by doctors across the country is threatening the recovery of the health delivery system at a time when the sector is struggling to recover from last year's crisis.

Doctors at public hospitals went on strike last week to press for more pay. The industrial action has brought back memories of last year when striking doctors and nurses deserted hospitals as a cholera epidemic ravaged Zimbabwe, killing more than 4 000 people before it was brought under control with help from international relief agencies.

"The health delivery system is still struggling to emerge from a crisis that left the country's major referral hospitals unable to deliver services at the end of 2008," ZADHR said in a statement.

"Health professionals are entitled to adequate remuneration and acceptable working conditions. However, this must be balanced against the well being of patients. Unavailability of health services ultimately results in increased morbidity and preventable deaths."

The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association that represents all state doctors is pushing for a salary of US$1 000 per month plus $500 allowance.

The association has promised to extend the job boycott to all state hospitals across the country that are the source of health service for more than 90 percent of Zimbabweans.

The government's Health Services Board (HSB) is negotiating with the doctors but says funds provided by international donors for doctors’ allowances and other perks have run out. More funds can only be available for disbursement to doctors in about two works, according to the board.

Most of Zimbabwe’s public hospitals that had virtually become dysfunctional began operating only six months ago after formation of a coalition government by President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara.

The power-sharing government has promised to rebuild Zimbabwe’s economy and top restore basic services such as health and education that had virtually collapsed after years of recession.
But the administration, which says it needs US$10 billion to revive the economy, could fail to deliver on its promise unless it is able to unlock financial support from Western governments that have remained reluctant to provide aid until they see evidence that Mugabe is committed to genuinely share power with Tsvangirai.
– ZimOnline

SA police fury as Zim minister robbed

SOUTH African police have slammed Zimbabwe’s National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Fidelis Mhashu for failing to observe protocol after he was assaulted and robbed at gun-point in Johannesburg on Friday.

Mhashu, the Chitungwiza North MP of the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, was visiting the home of businessman Mutumwa Mawere in the posh Bryanston quarter, north of Johannesburg, when the gunmen struck.

South African police say Mhashu should have followed protocol and asked for VIP protection from police.

"We need to emphasise that it's protocol to ask for protection from the VIP protection unit," police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo said.

"We are concerned that he came into this country without following protocol, if any minister comes into the country he must register with the South African government and we will be tasked into protecting him," Naidoo said.
Mhashu was treated for his injuries overnight Friday and released on Saturday. Mawere is said to have survived the attack by hiding under a table.

"They were having supper when a number of men with guns entered the house, tied them up, assaulted them and demanded money," national police crime intelligence spokesman Tumi Golding said.
The robbers made off with jewellery, money and electronic goods.

Golding said she could not reveal the identity of the minister or why he was in the country as she was waiting for clearance from Zimbabwean authorities.

South Africa has one of the world's highest crime rates and is struggling to clean up its record before hosting the Football World Cup next year.
-New Zimbabwe.com

Top diplomat tipped to chair ZANU PF

HARARE – Zimbabwe’s ambassador to South Africa Simon Khaya Moyo is tipped to become ZANU PF national chairman when the incumbent John Nkomo replaces the late vice president Joseph Msika at the party’s congress in December.

ZANU PF insiders yesterday said it was faiti accompli that Nkomo would become the vice president ahead of Mines Minister Obert Mpofu and Bulawayo governor Cain Mathema, while Moyo would takeover the chairmanship.

The insiders said Nkomo and Moyo belong to a faction in ZANU PF led by Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and were guaranteed to be elected at the congress.

The Mnangagwa camp is fighting to succeed President Robert Mugabe and take charge of ZANU PF with another faction headed by retired army commander Solomon Mujuru.

Mnangagwa wants to be president, while Mujuru is pushing for his wife Joice – already a Vice President of ZANU PF and Zimbabwe – to takeover from the 85-year-old Mugabe when and if the veteran leader leaves office.

“The Mnangagwa faction has the support of seven provinces, which are more than enough to decide the party’s presidium,” a senior politburo member said. “It is on this strength that Nkomo and Moyo will be elected vice president and chairperson respectively.”

Nkomo was previously associated with the Mujuru camp but appears to have switched sides in the ever-changing ZANU PF succession battle.

In terms of the party constitution, provinces nominate the president, the two vice presidents and national chairman. Candidates with the support of more than six provinces are automatically elected into the presidium.

Mnangagwa does not have the support of the three Mashonaland provinces, a crippling disadvantage given the provinces are the last bastions of ZANU PF support.

The politburo sources said contrary to reports that Mnangagwa was also eyeing the chairmanship, the defence minister was fully backing Moyo and had put an elaborate plan in place to secure his and Nkomo’s resounding victory.

The sources said the Mujuru faction which is backing Mpofu to replace Msika would put up a fight, even though their chances are next to zero.

Msika died last Wednesday after a long illness and was buried at the National Heroes Acre on Monday.

ZANU PF deputy spokesperson Ephraim Masawi yesterday said it was too early to speak on the would-be people to succeed Msika.

“We are still mourning our vice president to start discussing his would be successor,” Masawi said. “We will deal with the matter at the appropriate time.”

Moyo at the weekend wrote a newspaper article self-praising himself and chronicling his role in the liberation struggle of the country, while Nkomo had countless interviews narrating his closeness to the late Msika.
– ZimOnline

Commanders salute Tsvangirai

HARARE – Some of Zimbabwe’s top military commanders on Tuesday saluted Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, in what was seen as a sign of easing relations after the security commanders had previously vowed not to salute the Premier.

Airforce of Zimbabwe commander Perence Shiri and Zimbabwe National Army commander Philip Sibanda rose to salute Tsvangirai as he arrived at a ceremony to mark Zimbabwe Defence Forces Day in Harare.

The two commanders were also seen shaking hands with the former trade union leader who last February agreed to bring his MDC party together with President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party in a unity government to try to ease political tensions in Zimbabwe after inconclusive elections last year.

The coalition government has done well to stabilize the economy and end inflation that private economists at one time estimated at more than a trillion percent at the height of the country’s economic meltdown last year.

But analysts have remained doubtful about the administration’s long-term effectiveness, citing unending squabbles between ZANU PF and the MDC, refusal by rich Western countries to financially back the government and open refusal by hardliner security commanders to recognise Tsvangirai’s authority.

However, there were signs that relations between military commanders and Tsvangirai could be thawing after the generals finally agreed late last month to attend the National Security Council meetings that they had boycotted because the MDC leader is a member.

Tsvangirai’s spokesman James Maridadi told the media that the meeting had helped break the ice between the two sides and claimed generals now recognised the Prime Minister.

“This is why you saw some of the service chiefs saluting today. I hope this marks the beginning of a good working relationship,” said Maridadi.

Zimbabwe’s army and police are credited with keeping Mugabe in power after waging a ruthless campaign of violence last year to force Tsvangirai to withdraw from a second round presidential poll that analysts had strongly tipped the former opposition leader to win.

Tsvangirai had beaten Mugabe in the first round ballot but failed to achieve outright victory to avoid the second round run-off poll.

The former foes eventually bowed to pressure from southern African leaders to agree to form a government of national unity that analysts say offers Zimbabwe the best opportunity in a decade to end its multi-faceted crisis.
- ZimOnline.

Mugabe dismisses army rights abuses

HARARE – President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday defended his security forces against charges of human rights violations and praised an army and police crackdown against illegal diamond miners in eastern Zimbabwe that critics say left a trail of rights abuses and other crimes.

In an address to mark Zimbabwe Defence Forces Day, Mugabe accused Western governments and groups of seeking to blemish Zimbabwe’s name by falsely claiming security forces had committed human rights abuses.

“Allegations of gross abuses of human rights and failure to observe good governance have provided fodder for the West and its media as they repeatedly seek blemishes to stick onto our country,” Mugabe told a gathering comprising mostly members of the uniformed forces.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who has an uneasy relationship with the army and police top brass, also attended the ceremony.

“The defence forces were also deployed to various strategic national resource areas such as gold and diamond mineral fields where they have assisted in eradicating the illegal panning and illicit dealings (in the minerals),” said Mugabe referring to the notorious Marange diamond field in the rural east of the country.

Soldiers and police sent out last year to flush out illegal diamond diggers and dealers from the Marange field that is also known as Chiadzwa are accused of assaulting, torturing and in some cases killing scores of innocent villagers.

With illegal miners forced out of Marange, top security commanders and powerful officials of Mugabe’s ZANU PF party are accused of taking over the illegal mining of diamonds from the fields which they allegedly smuggle out of the country to the international black market for gemstones.

A team sent by the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) – an international initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds – to probe reports of human rights abuses at Marange confirmed the reports in an interim report released in June and which called for a six-month international ban on trade in diamonds from Zimbabwe.

International rights watchdogs such as Human Rights Watch and Global Witness have called for the KPCS to ban Zimbabwe diamonds.

But Mugabe, who on Monday said Zimbabwe may have to reconsider its relations with the West, dismissed charges of rights violations as lies spread by “our detractors as they have sought desperately and without good reason to find wrong doing on our part".

The veteran leader reiterated charges that the West want to interfere with Zimbabwe’s internal politics and to divide and weaken the unity government in Harare.

Mugabe praised the defence forces for safeguarding Zimbabwe’s “national territorial integrity, national sovereignty and national interest in line with their constitutional obligation".

Zimbabwe’s army and police are credited with keeping Mugabe in power after waging a ruthless campaign of violence last year to force Tsvangirai from a second round presidential poll that analysts had strongly tipped the former opposition leader to win.

Tsvangirai had beaten Mugabe in the first round ballot but failed to achieve outright victory to avoid the second round run-off poll. The army generals vowed not salute Tsvangirai saying they only salute a liberation war veteran thereby raising suspicions of a coup if the Tsvangirai led opposition party won the plebiscite.

It is alleged that even to this date, the army generals still do not recognise the opposition leader despite his ascession to power as Prime Minister of the compromise unity government, instead opting to salute Minister of Defense, Emmerson Mnangagwa who is tipped to take over the reigns after Mugabe.

The former foes eventually bowed to pressure from southern African leaders to agree to form a government of national unity that analysts say offers Zimbabwe the best opportunity to end its multi-faceted crisis.

But the government’s inability to convince Western donor nations to provide direct financial support could hamper the government’s reconstruction programmes, while doubts remain over its long-term effectiveness given the mistrust that persists between ZANU PF and Tsvangirai’s MDC parties – the main pillars of the administration.

– ZimOnline and Simba Nembaware

Leave Zimbabawe alone - Mugabe

Harare - President Robert Mugabe said on Monday that if the West can't support Zimbabwe's struggling coalition government, it should "leave us alone".

Mugabe spoke at the funeral of 85-year-old vice president Joseph Msika, who served alongside Mugabe for two decades and died last week after suffering from heart disease for many years.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and other top officials in the five-month-old coalition government joined Mugabe and some 20 000 other mourners at Harare's Heroes Acre cemetery. Mugabe was the only one to speak.

Mugabe often turns his addresses at state funerals into fiery political speeches through which he undresses and ridicules opposition political leaders and western governments. His speech on Monday came after US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited neighbouring South Africa last week and called on Pretoria to help Zimbabwe cope with what she called the "negative effects" of Mugabe's leadership.

Mugabe did not name Clinton on Monday, but said his coalition with former opposition leader Tsvangirai was working and supported by southern Africans. But not, he said, by the US and former colonial ruler Britain.

"Who is the real judge of the political arrangement that we have done here in southern Africa?" Mugabe said.

"Why should America not recognise the work we are doing as an inclusive government? These Anglo-Saxon nations are giving us problems. We tell them today, "Leave us alone, we don't need your interference because we can do it alone."

Mugabe is accused of bringing a once-prosperous nation to ruin during his decades of authoritarian rule.

Former president Thabo Mbeki brokered Zimbabwe's coalition agreement after Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the first round of presidential polling in 2008, and then pulled out of a run-off against Mugabe because of state-sponsored violence against opposition supporters.

Since joining the coalition, Tsvangirai has accused Mugabe hard-liners of stalling political reforms and continuing to harass Tsvangirai supporters. Mugabe's ZANU PF party has revisited its farm invasion programme with white farmers are being indiscriminately harassed and evicted from farms. Over a hundred farmers have been evicted while the courts that are managed by Mugabe's loyalist, Johannes Tomana, the Attorney General, continue dismiss applications from farmers and human rights organisations challenging the evictions.

- AP and Simba Nembaware

There's leadership failure in Zim- Clinton

PRETORIA – United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday said the huge number of Zimbabwean migrants in South Africa was testimony to the failure of leadership in Harare.

“South Africa is very aware of the challenges posed by the crisis in Zimbabwe because South Africa has 3 million refugees from Zimbabwe and everyone of those refugees represents the failure of the Zimbabwe government to take care of its own people and that’s a burden that South Africa has to bear,” said Clinton.

She was addressing journalists at the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria after a meeting with South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana Mashabane.

Clinton arrived in South Africa last Thursday night as part of a seven-nation African tour which kicked off in Kenya last Tuesday. High on her agenda was the issue of the fractious unity government in Zimbabwe which she said must move quickly to implement reforms.

She said her government will continue exerting pressure on the country’s leadership through sanctions to try and force a change in attitude.

“We are working with South Africa towards a free democratic Zimbabwe. Obviously South Africa, on the door steps of Zimbabwe, has a lot of contact with all the different players in Zimbabwe. The minister and I talked about the best ways we can try to productively create a better outcome for the people of Zimbabwe,” said Clinton.

“We are attempting to target the leadership of Zimbabwe with sanctions that we think might influence their behaviour without hurting the people of Zimbabwe. We are going to be closely consulting as to how best to deal with what is a difficult situation for South Africa but mostly for the people of Zimbabwe,” she added.

Washington earlier this year extended targeted sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and members of his ZANU PF party’s inner circle and Clinton has in the past said that the only solution for Zimbabwe lies in the removal of Mugabe from power.

But in a move that baffled his supporters within and without the borders of Zimbabwe, opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)leader and Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, has said there can be no solution for the the country if Mugabe is left out of the process. Tsvangirai says the 85 year old dictator is "the problem and is also part of the solution."

Tsvangirai's rise to power and indeed of his party hinged on the call of Mugabe stepping down which even saw the opposition leader get arrested and charged with treason for calling for Mugabe "to go peacefully or we will remove him violently." He was to be later acquitted of the charge.

And in his recent tour of the western world he called for the removal of sanctions claiming that the situation in Zimbabwe was under control while racist motivated invasion of white owned farms still rages with the opposition party seemingly turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to these gruesome acts, thereby raising speculations among the masses that the MDC has lost the plot and has been sucked in by Mugabe's ZANU PF party.

South African Foreign Minister Mashabane said her government, which under the leadership of ex-president Thabo Mbeki brokered Zimbabwe’s power-sharing deal, will continue working with Zimbabweans to ensure the quick and full implementation of the political agreement signed between ZANU PF and the two MDC parties.

“We promise to continue working with the people of Zimbabwe to implement the agreement that they signed – the made-in-Zimbabwe-for-Zimbabweans agreement. We want them to fast track the actual implementation of the agreement,” said Mashabane.

South African President Jacob Zuma, who was due to meet Clinton in the coastal city of Durban today, has taken a harder line on Zimbabwe than his predecessor Thabo Mbeki, but the US wants more.

The US, troubled by what it sees as an absence of reform in Zimbabwe, has no plans either to offer major aid or to lift sanctions against Mugabe and some of his supporters, accusing them trampling on democracy and ruining a once-vibrant economy.

Before any of that can happen, Washington wants more evidence of political, social and economic reforms by Mugabe and the government he shares uneasily with opposition leader and now Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

– ZimOnline and Simba Nembaware