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Harare slums shock UN envoy

Sunday Times, SA

Tuesday December 06,
2005 06:16 - (SA)

By Fanuel Jongwe

HARARE - UN aid co-ordinator
Jan Egeland pledged to help build new homes for victims of Zimbabwe's
demolitions campaign as he visited families living in squalor in makeshift
shelters.

"I've seen people... in very bad conditions. The needs are
tremendous," he told reporters after visiting Hatcliffe Extension, a slum
north of Harare where shacks and houses were demolished in May during
Operation Murambatsvina (Drive out Rubbish).

"I have seen a great
shortage of shelter for those who lost their homes in the evictions
campaign," said Egeland, the UN under-secretary for humanitarian
affairs.

"We now have to work together much harder -- all of the partners
-- to give the shelter needed for those now in totally sub-standard shelter
conditions in so many places in Zimbabwe." At Hopley Farm outside Harare,
where thousands of demolition victims have been resettled, Egeland spoke to
families still living in shelters made of plastic sheeting, six months after
their dwellings were demolished.

"This is worse than our houses at
Porta which they called illegal shacks," Winnifrida Chisiri said pointing at
a shack the height of an average schoolchild.

Chisiri was among the
20,000 Zimbabweans whose homes were destroyed at Porta Farm, west of Harare,
during the demolitions campaign which the government described as an urban
renewal campaign.

"We live like animals in this small shack which has no
floor. At least at Porta we had proper homes with partitions and here there
is no privacy. As you can see, there are no floors so you can imagine when
it rains. We get soaked and sleep on the wet ground," said
Chisiri.

According to the UN, some 700,000 people were left homeless or
without income or both, while another 2.4 million were affected in varying
degrees by the operation that ended in July.

"We can't expect much
anymore from the government," said Johannes Ngwenya, who lost his home at
Hatcliffe Extension, where thousands were evicted in the campaign only to be
allowed by the government to return a few weeks later.

Ngwenya
complained that the government had not delivered on its promise to build new
housing.

"It's raining and as you can see there is not much progress. All
we can do is hope government will build us proper houses one day.

In
the meantime we will contend with these shacks," said Ngwenya who lived in a
hut made from pieces of plastic.

After initially refusing international
aid, President Robert Mugabe's government made an about-turn last month and
accepted a UN offer to build homes for some of those left in the
cold.

The government had repeatedly complained that the United Nations
had exaggerated the number of people affected by the demolitionsand
reiterated that it was able to provide new housing.

Egeland, who arrived in Harare on Saturday to assess the
humanitarian situation, is due to meet with Mugabe today.

Zimbabwe is
in the throes of severe political and economic crisis, with some 80 percent
of the population living under the poverty threshold. More than 70 percent
are jobless and inflation is running at over 400 percent.

The UN
estimates that some 4.3 million Zimbabweans are in need of food
aid.

Army 'escort' for UN envoy scares residents

New Zimbabwe

By Lebo
NkatazoLast updated: 12/06/2005 14:01:55ZIMBABWE deployed soldiers to
monitor a United Nations (UN) envoy, Jan Egeland, who is in the country to
assess a humanitarian crisis sparked by a government blitz on unplanned
urban dwellings which left close to 700 000 homeless.

During a
walkabout in Harare's townships, Egeland found herself escorted by uniformed
members of the Zimbabwe National Army.

An army spokesman denied that
soldiers had been deployed to monitor the UN envoy, instead suggesting they
were working on the government's rehousing programme code named Operation
Hlalani Kuhle/Garikai.

Aggrey Wushe, an army spokesman told New
Zimbabwe.com in a telephone interview: "The army units you refer to were
probably on construction sites building houses under Operation Garikai. I
can assure you there was no deployment specifically to monitor the UN
envoy."

However, eye witness accounts on Monday said soldiers listened to
interviews between the UN envoy and displaced people, some of whom are still
sleeping in the open.

In July, the government gave the UN envoy on
human settlements, Anna Tibaijuka, a free reign with civilian escorts
only.

Some residents displaced under the government's Operation
Murambatsvina campaign said they were scared to express the full depth of
their suffering because of the army's presence.

"People are afraid to
speak their minds. As you can see there are threatening soldiers," said one
woman in Whitecliff.

She added: "Who can dare speak ill of the government
and its policies as well as our current living conditions? You never know
they might come back for us."

Following her visit to Zimbabwe,
Tibaijuka went on to produce a damning report which concluded that up to 700
000 poor urban dwellers had their homes and businesses razed to the ground
"with disquieting indifference to human suffering".

The Zimbabwe
government dismissed the report as a pre-determined hatchet job by the US
and British governments. President Mugabe even extended a personal
invitation to UN secretary general, Koffi Annan, to come and assess the
situation for himself.

Mugabe's officials hope the UN envoy who
arrived in the country Monday will conclude that Tibaijuka's report was
"full of exaggerations".

SAA sends Zim fuel by road

Cape Town - In order to prevent its aircraft
from running out of fuel in Zimbabwe, South African Airways is transporting
jet fuel to Harare and Victoria Falls by road from Durban.

The
serious fuel shortage in Zimbabwe has forced British Airways and kulula.com,
which are locally run by Comair, to carry extra fuel and fewer passengers,
in some instances, to have enough fuel for the return flights.

The
Zimbabwean national airline, Air Zimbabwe, two weeks ago nearly ran dry and
had to cancel several of its local and international flights.

Sarah Uys
of SAA said the situation in Zimbabwe had forced the airline to take its own
"strategic fuel supply" to that country.

"We buy fuel at BP's Durban
refinery and transport it by road to Harare and Victoria Falls, from where
it can be delivered to our aircraft if necessary."

Uys said the only
danger was that SAA's supply tankers might not be able to deliver the fuel
for some reason.

Comair's Stuart Cochrane said BA and kulula.com were
carrying enough fuel for the flight to Zimbabwe and back because of the
"serious fuel issue in Harare".

The extra weight meant that about 10
less passengers could be carried.

"This is standard procedure in the case
of a situation such as the one in Zimbabwe," said Cochrane.

Zimbabwean church official says elections don't
help starving people

Catholic News Service

By Bronwen DachsCatholic News
Service

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- The estimated 10 percent voter
turnout in Zimbabwe's elections for a new Senate was not surprising as the
country's food, fuel and foreign currency shortages worsen, said Alouis
Chaumba, who heads Zimbabwe's Catholic Commission for Justice and
Peace.

"We are tired of elections," he said in a telephone interview from
the capital, Harare, noting that "they are definitely not adding value to
our lives here."

The Nov. 26 election for the 66-seat Senate, which
will have the final word on new laws, "is seen as just another walkover for
the ruling party," Chaumba said. "Of far more relevance to our lives is the
fact that prices are going up every day and basic groceries are beyond the
reach of most" of Zimbabwe's 12 million people, he said, noting that "there
are people starving in the drier regions of the country."

With laws
that guarantee seats to various ruling party loyalists and a boycott
campaign by the main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, President Robert
Mugabe's governing ZANU-PF party was set to win before voting
started.

The poll follows the March 2005 general election in which
81-year-old Mugabe, who has ruled the southern African country since
independence from Britain in 1980, was re-elected.

"The government
should be focusing on the crisis the country is in, not more elections,"
Chaumba said.

Mugabe's much criticized land redistribution program --
which has disrupted agricultural production -- and recurring droughts are
widely blamed for the severe food shortages.

Most Zimbabweans are
"living in destitution and desperation," the Harare-based Zimbabwe National
Pastors' Conference said in a statement. "We are amazed at the patience of
the people of Zimbabwe who have remained composed under the current economic
conditions of impoverishment," it said.

The statement has the support of
the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, Chaumba said, adding that "we
fully understand the plight of workers in Zimbabwe because most of them are
members of our congregations."

The conference said it was "very concerned
about the heavy-handed manner" in which the police and army in early
November disrupted "what was evidently a peaceful procession" organized by
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions to highlight an unemployment rate of
about 80 percent and the rocketing cost of living.

The pastors said
they "identify with workers in Zimbabwe when they mobilize themselves in
peaceful protests in the face of socioeconomic conditions that are
increasingly depriving them of their God-given rights and
dignity."

Several trade union leaders and about 100 members were arrested
ahead of the Harare march, which was declared illegal by the
government.

"Laws that deny citizens space for peaceful protest are
unjust and therefore ungodly," the conference said, noting that "an
increasing number of Zimbabweans are beginning to wonder whether citizens
should have an obligation to respect and obey such repressive and oppressive
laws."

Chaumba said the rule of law has collapsed in
Zimbabwe.

"Courts now rule in favor of the government and, without
recourse to the law, there is nowhere to go," he said.

Also, the
central government interferes with local governments to the extent that it
is "impossible for mayors to do their jobs" without being ruling party
loyalists, he said.

The country's "only hope" is an international
initiative "to highlight the problems here," he said.

Noting that
Zimbabwe is a signatory to many international human rights commitments,
Chaumba said, "African countries need to put pressure on it to
comply."

Regional groups such as the African Union and the Southern
African Development Community "are not sending strong signals" that Zimbabwe
needs drastic change, he said.

"Our liberation history is haunting
us," Chaumba said, noting that "many (current) South African leaders were
housed in Zimbabwe" during apartheid "and it would be seen as discourteous
to criticize their former hosts."

While "they must acknowledge that
brotherhood, they still need to call a spade a spade where human rights are
being violated," he said.

Chaumba said Zimbabweans are "still suffering
the effects" of Mugabe's Operation Drive Out Trash, in which government
agents destroyed shantytowns in an attempt to force the residents to return
to rural areas. Thousands of poor Zimbabweans were left homeless by the
operation, which began in May.

In early November, "people who were still
living in the open were rounded up and put in a holding camp" on the
outskirts of Harare, Chaumba said.

Vote of no confidence in Zanu PF!

MDC PRESS

5 December 2005

Zanu PF support base shrinks in
the rural areas

The recent threats by Emmerson Mnangagwa to Zanu PF
supporters assumed to have defected to the so called United People’s Movement in
the Midlands highlight the on-going turmoil and deepening divisions in Zanu PF
which started late last year.Mnangagwa is mistaken. He is a minister
responsible for rural housing and rural amenities. He should steer away from
political movements and shifts in the hearts and minds of our hard-pressed
nation. He should inform the nation on how many houses, if any, in the rural
areas he has improved during the past six months.The people of Zimbabwe are
now united under the banner of the MDC and are determined to fight the Zanu PF
dictatorship from all fronts. The Senate election exposed Zanu PF.Zanu PF
has disintegrated in the Midlands, Masvingo, Manicaland, Bulawayo, Harare and
many other parts of the country because of the ongoing factionalism and the
emergence of the UPM, whose political catchment area was supposed to anchor
within the mainstream Zanu PF. In Masvingo, for instance, the party does not
even have functional structures. Zanu PF remains hanging onto rag-tag
elements of the old guard whose peers were recently selected for the Senate, a
moribund institution designed to buttress Robert Mugabe’s patronage
system.Traditionally, all Zanu PF members and supporters come out to vote in
whatever election. But what we saw during last week’s Senate election confirms
that the party’s support base has dwindled significantly. The low voter turnout
shows that the party’s faithful have crossed the floor and joined the MDC,
especially in the rural areas. The people gave Zanu PF a vote of no confidence
and listened to the MDC message to stay away from the useless Senate
election.The final results show that a mere 631 347 people cast their votes
out of 3 239 574 registered voters – a percentage poll of 19.48 and the lowest
recorded in Zimbabwe since 1980.Since the 12th of October 2005, Zanu PF and
media mouth pieces have authored and celebrated numerous obituaries of the MDC,
under an erroneous view that the MDC has headed for a major collapse. That is
far from reality. The MDC is set for a comprehensive renewal process, taking
advantage of the failure of the Zanu PF project to destroy the party. Our
Congress process is moving on smoothly and a new, robust and vibrant
organization is now in the making following the Zanu PF inspired turbulence that
rocked our organization in the past two months. We are on a firm ground,
directing the political agenda and in charge of a message that resonates with
the majority.Zimbabwe needs a new beginning. Only the MDC shall provide the
vehicle and platform for a new Zimbabwe.

Report: US, China in competition in Africa

WASHINGTON -- The United States faces stiff competition
from China for oil supplies from Africa, and Washington must take a more
strategic view of the continent by investing more resources there, US
experts said yesterday.

The influential Council on Foreign Relations said
in a report that Africa was growing in strategic importance, particularly
for energy supplies, and the United States should go beyond the usual
humanitarian approach and view the continent more as a partner.''By
2010, Africa could be providing the United States with as many oil imports
as the Middle East," said Anthony Lake, cochairman of the think tank's task
force that wrote the report and a national security advisor in the Clinton
administration.

The report predicted Africa would have the biggest
incremental increase in oil production of any region over the next two or
three years and said China was gaining a greater foothold in oil-producing
African countries.

''It is increasingly in US interests to locate new oil
sources outside the Middle East," said the report, pointing to West Africa's
sweet crude, which was easily transported to the eastern United
States.

China now receives 28 percent of its oil imports from Africa,
mostly from Angola, Congo, and Sudan, said the report, adding that Chinese
investment totaled about $4 billion in Sudan, making it Khartoum's biggest
foreign investor.

Beijing was becoming a bigger player on the west
coast of Africa, the continent's biggest oil-producing area.

China
recently made a $2 billion loan to Angola secured by future oil deliveries
to win an oil exploration bid and, in July, China and Nigeria signed an $800
million crude oil sale deal.

The Bush administration has said China is
courting ''rogue" states in Africa like Sudan and Zimbabwe and ignoring
their human rights records in favor of closer economic ties.

Lake
said as the Darfur crisis worsened in Sudan in 2004, China had used its
position on the UN Security Council to dilute repeated resolutions on the
crisis.

China also courted Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, seen
by the United States as having wrecked his country's
economy.

Beijing's influence in Africa is likely to come up during talks
on between US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and key Chinese
officials. The State Department's point person on Africa also visited China
recently and expressed US fears over its role in Africa.

The report
called for a US-Africa energy forum to promote cooperation and develop
public-private partnerships. In addition, it said US companies trying to
compete in Africa needed more government help to win deals now going to
Chinese firms.

It suggested the US diplomatic presence be upgraded in
energy-producing African countries and that there should be Cabinet-level
visits to those nations.

A former US ambassador to South Africa,
Princeton Lyman, said Africa was too often viewed as a ''humanitarian
backwater" and given scarce diplomatic and intelligence
resources.

Asked about the report, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli
said the Bush administration was engaged ''in a strategic way" in Africa and
wanted to cooperate more closely with China on Africa.

''Rather than
competition, I would say the United States views its role and its work with
other nations in Africa as a process of cooperation and coordination in
pursuit of what the countries of the region are looking for," he said.

Zimbabwe cricketers have top officials in
sights

Yahoo News

HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwean cricket officials and players met
here for the first time in their bid to oust Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) chairman
Peter Chingoka and managing director Osias Bvute.

Problems at
ZC led to the resignation two weeks ago of national team captain Tatenda
Taibu, who teamed up, along with all other contracted national players, with
the country's seven provincial chairmen in a bid to have Chingoka sacked and
Bvute suspended.

ZC vice-chairman Ahmed Ebrahim hosted the meeting, and
dubbed the demands as "the only way forward". A further meeting of at least
the 40 attending here Monday will meet again Wednesday to consolidate their
position.

"We half expected Chingoka and Bvute to turn up and declare our
meeting invalid, but they didn't do so. We'll see if they come to the next
one," Ebrahim told AFP on Monday.

Ebrahim said the players had
insisted during the three-and-a-half hour meeting that "they would not play
for Zimbabwe if, in some way, Chingoka and Bvute regained
control.

"But they would commit themselves to us. This means they will
practice and train ahead of the Asia Cup tournament in Bangladesh during
January."

He added: "With the overall strength of the turnout, we feel we
can bring about recovery of Zimbabwe cricket, even though the finances have
been reduced to dire levels, and even though it will take a long
time.

"This is a start, and we hope we can gather growing support, not
least from TV organisations, sponsors and many backers.

"We have an
awfully long way to go. But 200 employees are relying on us, as well as the
great number of cricket supporters in this country. We are in a period of
great change," Ebrahim said.

Farm Workers Forced To Work At Gunpoint At Grabbed
Eastern Highlands Farms

Zim Daily

Tuesday, December 06 2005 @ 01:04 AM
GMT Contributed by: correspondent Two evicted
white farmers have filed a Z$646 million law suit in the High Court against
intelligence and military officers that grabbed their farms and later looted
property in the eastern Highlands. Whiley Johnson and Roy Bennett are
seeking compensation for the plunder of their property from Ashanti and
Redfern Farms in Chipinge. The lawsuit came as the General Agriculture
Platation Workers Union (Gapwuz) expressed concern that farm workers in the
eastern Highlands were forced to work the land at gunpoint by the new farm
owners who grabbed the farms from white owners.

Gapwuz
secretary general Getrude Hambira told zimdaily that the new farm owners
were coercing the farm workers to till the land at gunpoint charging that
they were attempting to sabotage the new land owners. "Vari kuti makafumisa
varungu (You made white commercial farmers rich) and now is our turn,"
Hambira said. In their heads of arguments, Johnson states that they had to
resort to legal recourse after "police inaction" in dealing with the chaos
on the farms.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police have often been
accused of being used by Mugabe's government to target political opponents.
A spokesperson for the Commercial Farmers Union alleged that police
officials were helping the looting and police trucks were ferrying marauding
supporters of the ruling Zanu-PF to these farms. The spokesperson said the
organisation had witnessed police vehicles being used in the
"well-orchestrated" farm looting. "The reason why we have had
to evacuate so many families is precisely because of police inaction," said
the farmers' spokesman, who requested anonymity.

"The
(police) are encouraging the lawlessness. They help them (the looters). We
have seen property being destroyed and farmers being assaulted in the
presence of the police." Vehicles belonging to the police were seen loaded
with stolen harvested crops, fertiliser and household furniture, the
spokesperson said. But a police spokesman, Assistant Commissioner Wayne
Bvudzijena, rubbished the reports of officers helping looters. "It's
unfortunate for anyone to suggest that we are participating in criminal
activity," he said.

Bvudzijena said police were doing all
they could to help white farmers, but said they did not have the resources
to assign details to every individual white farmer. But Johnson said: "If
they have been active, then can you get them to explain why 45 farms have
been looted and why houses have been destroyed and property stolen on all
these farms in broad daylight."

Price hikes bite incomes

Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

Oswelled
Urekeissue date :2005-Dec-06

ZIMBABWEANS are set to quickly lose the
benefits of tax relief measures announced in the 2006 national budget as
prices of most goods and services have suddenly shot up in response to
government's removal of all forms of price controls.Last week, the
government shifted the taxable threshold from $1,5 million to $7 million and
announced a nontaxable bonus of $20 million.The government's move to remove
price ceilings has resulted in prices of basic commodities and services
shooting up at an alarming rate.Prices shot up soon after the budget
announcement on December 1, pushing the poverty datum line (PDL) upwards -
from $11,6 million to $12,9 million.According to the Consumer Council of
Zimbabwe (CCZ), some notable increases have this month been recorded.The
prices of washing powder rose by 61,6 percent, sugar 52,2 percent, rice 57,7
percent, meat 28,7 percent, fresh milk 31,5 percent and flour 18
percent.Besides the basic goods mentioned by the CCZ, rentals have also
gone up by at least 50 percent, with accommodation rates for high- density
housing closing in on those for low and medium density areas and even
surpassing them. Bus fares have also gone up and proposals by various school
authorities indicate that tuition fees could rise in the New Year.The
buying power of the tax-free income for ordinary Zimbabweans will be gobbled
up by these increases, according to McDonald Mangauzani, the national
treasurer of the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), whose
members in November agitated for an 836 percent salary increment to be
factored into the budget."With the rate at which prices are soaring, by
January the $7 million will not even meet transport and accommodation
costs."Given that $6,9 trillion of the $7,4 trillion education allocations
goes towards salaries, we foresee a situation whereby teachers will only be
awarded a 100 percent increment, meaning that a graduate teacher could earn
only $6 million, which is way below the PDL. At least the government should
undertake to review our salaries quarterly," he said. A bank employee, who
spoke to The Daily Mirror on condition of anonymity, said the upward review
of the taxable threshold was only a piecemeal measure."Look at the $20
million tax-free bonus. Who is earning that anyway? It would seem as if a
lot of good has been done, yet already some people are getting a bonus of as
low as $10 million, which is barely enough to meet a month's basic needs,"
he said.While applauding the efforts to increase the disposable income for
ordinary Zimbabweans, Collin Gwiyo, acting secretary general of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), said the step "fell far short of the ZCTU's
expectations" of a taxable threshold at par with the PDL.Economic
analyst, Innocent Makwiramiti commended govern-ment for adjusting the
taxable threshold but quickly pointed out that supply did not meet demand,
resulting in the increases in the prices of basic commodities.Said
Makwiramiti: "The Minister (of Finance) should be commended for that. The
supply side of the economy is what remains bad. There is a shortage of goods
on the market and acquiring them is dependent on foreign currency
availability. As long as we do not have the foreign currency, it is going to
be difficult to rein in the increases."It is not surprising that come
January, the price of bread will be $100 000 per loaf."The removal of
price increases is okay because that is what business wants but it will also
have an impact on inflation in the short-term."Another economic analyst,
Isaac Kwesu, while also applauding the government for cushioning the public
from excessive taxation, concurred with Makwiramiti that the threshold was
not sufficient and would have been eroded by inflation by January 1 when it
becomes effective."To correct one fundamental means relaxing the other.
While the $7 million may not be sufficient to cushion workers it remains a
positive move. Inflation will go up in the short-term but as predicted by
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe it will come down. At least something is better
than nothing," said Kwesu.

Operation Garikayi: State urged to include other
players

Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

The Daily Mirror Reporterissue date
:2005-Dec-06

VISITING UN under secretary general for Humanitarian Affairs
and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland yesterday said the government
should embrace other players in Operation Garikai/Hhlalani Kuhle given the
huge amount of resources needed to provide decent accommodation to the
homeless.Egeland jetted into the country on Saturday as part of preparations
for UN chief Kofi Annan's expected visit to assess the government's massive
reconstruction programme - a successor to the May urban cleanup.Annan
was invited by President Robert Mugabe after his envoy on human settlements
to Zimbabwe, Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, issued a damning report on the cleanup
in which she accused Harare of displacing 700 000 people, among other
issues.The government rejected the Tibaijuka report and accused her of being
one-sided and pandering to the whims of the West.Speaking after visiting
Mavambo Trust Community-Based Centre for orphans and vulnerable children in
Mabvuku yesterday, Egeland said:"There are a number of good projects (under
Operation Garikai) but the (major) problem is the (lack of adequate)
resources. We now have to work together (the UN, donor agencies) to meet the
shelter needs. We have to work much harder."Earlier on Egeland toured
Hatcliffe Extension, White Cliffe and Hopley Farms settlements.He
expressed concern at the plight of Hatcliffe residents, saying they were
living under difficult conditions."The needs of the people are
tremendous. People living in Hatcliffe are in very bad condition," he
said.Most residents at the settlement were living in tents provided by
donors with no regular supply of clean water and proper ablution
facilities.They rely mostly on water provided by Unicef. The UN agency has
also been providing similar services elsewhere were Operation Murambatsvina
affected people.Said Taurai Tichatonga, a settlement dweller: "We have
been living in the tents since we were brought here from Caledonia transit
camp and were only allocated houses last week on Thursday. While our
condition is better, we still do not have clean water and toilets and I
believe the situation is worse for those in tents, especially during this
period of rain."At Hopley farm residents also complained of having no
regular provisions of clean water and food, and appealed to donors to
respond to their plight."There are so many problems here, including those of
water, food and overcrowding. Just two weeks ago, there were others (people)
who were brought in from Mbare."We hope this visit will lead to
improvement of our lives because we are suffering here," said Gift Mbofana
who was evicted from Porta Farm.Various government officials accompanied
Egeland on the tour, among them Harare Metropolitan governor, David
Karimanzira, deputy minister of local government Morris Sakabuya and some
Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) officers.Besides the tour, the envoy also met
representatives from local churches and civil society.Egeland is
expected to meet President Robert Mugabe today, after visiting Bulawayo and
Matabeleland South.He will leave the country on Wednesday.

Mnangagwa denies links with new party

Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

The
Daily Mirror Reporterissue date :2005-Dec-06

THE Minister of Rural
Housing and Social Amenities and Zanu PF's secretary for legal affairs,
Emmerson Mnangagwa, has distanced himself from the United Peoples Movement
(UPM), state radio reported yesterday.In a Power FM morning bulletin,
Mnangagwa was said to have distanced himself from the movement. He also
warned ruling party leaders in the Midlands that anyone seen working for
the UPM, which is linked to former information minister and independent
Tsholotsho MP Jonathan Moyo, faces expulsion from Zanu PF.The station
also announced that Mnangagwa, a former Speaker of the House of Assembly,
said this during a Zanu PF Midlands Provincial Co-coordinating Committee
(PCC) meeting over the weekend.Former Zvishavane MP and Zanu PF Central
Committee member Pearson Mbalekwa, who resigned from the ruling party mid
this year was, according to the station, leading the UPM in the
Midlands.Last year, Moyo was accused of generally hatching a plan to
influence the choice of candidates to occupy the party's presidium and in
particular working for the defeat of Vice-President Joice Mujuru, who was
being challenged by Mnangagwa.

Beer prices go up

Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

The Daily Mirror
Reporterissue date :2005-Dec-06

PRICES for clear and opaque beer went
up more than 40 percent at most retail liquor outlets the day after the
budget announcement and muffled Christmas bonus cheers awarded to workers by
Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa.This is the fourth time since April this
year that the price of beer has shot up, resulting in clients changing their
drinking habits.Most retail operators and supermarkets nationwide increased
the prices of Castle, Lion, Pilsner and Black Label from $25 000 a "pint" up
to anything between $35 000 and $56 000 without deposit.Bohlingers and
Zambezi have shot up to an official $50 000, but some outlets are selling
the commodity well above that price while a Scud has risen from about $30
000 to $35 000.Before, the green bottles fetched at least $35 000.The
Eagle beer now costs $28 000 - up from $20 000.These increases are expected
to result in drinkers digging deeper into their pockets for their favourite
lagers.In addition, the increases came soon after Murerwa's budget
uncharacteristically reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) to 15 percent from 17.5
percent, saying he expected producers to adjust prices accordingly.VAT
is consumption tax that is levied at each stage of production based on the
value added to the product.In September beer prices went up by an average 25
percent in response to the new VAT tax rate.A month later, in October
the prices were increased by a further 25 percent. A survey showed that
leading hotels across the country are selling beer for at least $110 000 or
four times the price of the same commodity in a supermarket.In
nightclubs and restaurants in the capital, a "pint" is now selling for about
$100 000.

War vets want Zanu PF to finalise land
reform

Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

From Our Correspondent in Bulawayoissue date
:2005-Dec-06

THE ZIMBABWE National Liberation War Veterans Association
(ZNLWA) says it would push Zanu PF at its all-people national conference to
be held in Esigodini, Matabeleland South, this week to focus on the
finalisation of the land reform programme, especially issues regarding
leases and multiple farm ownership.Interim national chairperson of the
ZNLWA re-organising committee, Andrew Ndlovu said the five-day conference,
which starts on Thursday, must come up with clearcut policies on land and
agrarian reforms.War veterans are a key ally of the ruling party and were at
the forefront of the country's fast track land reform programme in
2000."As war veterans we are saying it is high time that the government
should finalise outstanding issues such as leases and multiple farm
ownership," Ndlovu said. "We still have some people who are clinging on to
large chunks of land when some of our comrades do not even have land even to
grow vegetables on."He said during the conference, the former freedom
fighters would also push for the completion of the Matabeleland Zambezi
Water Project (MZWP), which he said is the only panacea to the region's
current perennial water problems."Water and agriculture are inseparable.
The Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project has been in the pipeline for a long
time and we feel with the advent of the agrarian reforms this is the right
and crucial time for the project to be speedily implemented," Ndlovu
added.The issue of war veterans' welfare would also feature prominently
during the ruling party conference."We really appreciate that the
government has done quite a lot for the welfare of our comrades, but we
believe there is still room for improvement."We want issues such as
re-vetting of some of our comrades who were left during the initial exercise
to be also looked into", he said.President Robert Mugabe early this year
appointed a three member committee comprising of former army generals,
Vitalis Zvinavashe, Solomon Mujuru and former Zipra intelligence supremo,
Dumiso Dabengwa to restructure the war veterans association.The
committee has recommended that the ZNLWVA be under the army's
structures.Apart from dealing with the concerns of the war veterans, the
Zanu PF congress is expected to debate the party's state of affairs.