• The MDC has formally protested the recent spate of arrests of its MPs and officers by Zanu PF-partisan forces. At least 6 MDC legislators have been incarcerated on flimsy charges in the last week. South African President Jacob Zuma, the regional mediator in Harare’s power-sharing arrangement, is expected to respond to the complaints.

• The three principals in the Inclusive Government finally met to ‘discuss outstanding issues’ and examine the GPA negotiators’ report on progress, which President Zuma has to present to the SADC Summit in August. The political leaders reportedly declared a deadlock after their four-hour meeting and agreed to refer the issue to President Zuma to mediate in the power-sharing dispute that has dodged the shaky coalition government since its formation over a year ago.

• President Zuma’s facilitation team was due in Harare on Monday 14 June in a follow up to the principals’ meeting. The continuing deadlock will have to be reported formally to President Zuma and then to the SADC Organ Troika with a view to a SADC Summit. No reports had been received at time of closing this week’s summary.

• The South African government was ordered by its High Court this week to release a report that was kept under wraps on Zimbabwe’s disputed 2002 elections, after a successful court bid by South Africa’s Mail & Guardian newspaper.

• Former President Thabo Mbeki commissioned two South African judges, Deputy Chief Justice  and Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe, to make the report but has suppressed its results. The 2002 elections were marred by vote rigging, intimidation, violence and fraud by the Mugabe government, but Mbeki’s administration officially recognised the election as ‘free and fair’.

• Information Minister Webster Shamu (Zanu PF) has blocked the building of a much-needed clinic in the Chegutu East district by an independent Namibian-based businessman, Charlton Hwende. Hwende claims that since Zanu PF operates on the patronage system, he is not being allowed to make improvements in his home area. He was also been prevented recently from repairing a communal cattle dipping tank and supplying the necessary chemicals, again by Shamu who is the local MP.

Governance

• Government’s ‘commercialised’ vehicle supply parastatal, CMED (known unofficially for decades as the Crashed Mercedes Exchange Department), is being audited but as a result of ‘poor record-keeping’, 19 vehicles have ‘vanished without a trace’ in Harare province alone. The Comptroller and Auditor-General’s report says that CMED (Pvt) Ltd. does not even have an assets register, while the financial statements show that 50 percent of the company’s stated assets consist of moneys owed (debtors).

• Over-zealous policemen opened fire on a commuter omnibus in Harare city centre, shooting out the back tyres as the targeted vehicle, which was being apprehended for not having a valid licence, sped off. Police are conducting an ‘anti-congestion’ drive but taxi drivers complain that the everyday fines are simply an ongoing means of fundraising for traffic police. Harare ratepayers’ associations are calling the police ‘a public danger instead of public protectors’.

• Harare City Councillors have revealed that municipal land has been sold to Chinese and other foreign nationals in contravention of city regulations and apparently on the orders of Zanu PF Minister of Local Government and Urban Development, Ignatius Chombo.

Diplomatic

• A Foreign Affairs row unfolded this week as President Mugabe, who has unilaterally made military, trade and investment protection deals with North Korea, has unilaterally overturned a bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement which was signed recently by Prime Minister Tsvangirai with South Korea.

• The new Tory government in the UK has stated that there will no change of policy on Zimbabwe (and on the issue of targeted sanctions) despite President Mugabe inferring that he would find it easier to deal with the Conservative party than the former Labour administration.

• President Mugabe arrived at the FIFA World Cup official opening in Johannesburg with an entourage of over 50 officials, family members and hangers-on. All were uninvited except the Presidential couple and Foreign Affairs Minister Mumbengegwe, and were turned away by match officials.

New Constitution

• The MDC has accused Zanu PF MPs of attempting to stall the start of the Constitutional Outreach programme next week by demanding increased daily allowances. This comes after Zanu PF-instigated violent disturbances in the countryside, where villagers are being coerced to stay silent during the outreach program. The party also noted that the state-controlled media has deliberately ignored publicizing the outreach exercise.

Agriculture

• The South African government is being urged to immediately intervene in ongoing attacks against South African farmers in Zimbabwe, where at least 16 people, including five South African citizens, have faced aggressive land seizures in the past week. South African interests are meant to be protected by a signed and recently ratified bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement (BIPPA) between the two countries.

• The Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) has predicted its lowest ever winter wheat output of about 10 000 tonnes this year, due to lack of funding and continued upheavals on commercial farms. The amount represents just one week’s supply for Zimbabwe which may have to import up to 400 000 tonnes of wheat to meet consumption demands.  In 2000, wheat production was 250 000 tonnes.

• Zimbabwe’s annual national maize requirement is 1,8 to 2 million tonnes, with only 700 000 – 800 000 tonnes produced this year. In 2000, maize production was 2 043 200 tonnes.  Food aid organisations estimate that over 2 million Zimbabweans will soon face starvation.

• Zimbabwe has earned US$199.26 million from the sale of 65.3 million kg of flue-cured tobacco since the season began in mid-February, according to a story in The Herald.

• Trevor Gifford, a former president of the CFU, was forced off his farm in the Chipinge district on Sunday evening by Zanu PF thugs and was forced to sign over the rest of the contents of his house and the farm to the ‘new owners’.

• The revived Zapu party has joined hands with war veterans in Bubi-Mguza, Matabeleland North, to form resistance groups and block attempts by senior Zanu PF and army officers to evict the remaining white commercial farmers in that area, reports Zimbabwe’s newly launched, independent daily, NewsDay.

• Huge resentment against Zanu PF is building in the Masvingo area, where starving villagers are being denied food aid on the grounds of being “MDC sellouts”, while unscrupulous businessmen are forcing the desperate villagers to trade their cattle, at ruinous rates. A live beast, worth between US$200 and US$300, is swapped for a US$40 bag of meal.

Diamonds/Mining

• South African diamond executive Abbey Chikane, the Kimberley Process monitor in Zimbabwe, said that “Zimbabwe has satisfied minimum requirements of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) for the trade in rough diamonds.”

• Watchdog group Global Witness, which is a member of the Kimberley Process Group, rejected Chikane’s claim that Zimbabwe’s diamonds are clean and said state-sponsored violence and human rights abuses are still taking place in the Marange diamond fields, located in the Chiadzwa district of Eastern Zimbabwe. They said that Chikane’s recommendation could still be reversed as a decision has not yet been taken.

• The Diamond Trading Company (DTC) warned its Sightholders that any purchase of goods from Zimbabwe’s Marange fields “will be deemed in contravention of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme,” until they are approved by KP Working Group on Monitoring (WGM) which will meet in Tel Aviv on 21 June.

• Diamond researcher and human rights defender Farai Maguwu, director of the Centre for Research and Development in Mutare, and who has been behind bars for a week, was denied bail in Harare on Thursday and remains in custody. Maguwu was arrested shortly after giving evidence to KP monitor Abbey Chikane about the irregular situation in Marange. Maguwu’s lawyer has applied to the High Court to challenge the magistrate’s ruling and obtain bail. Maguwu is due to travel to Tel Aviv to present his findings on Chiadzwa.

• On Friday evening, Maguwu was illegally taken from Harare Remand Prison to a known torture centre, on the orders of Detective Henry Dowa. Nicole Fritz of the Southern African Litigation Centre pointed out in a strongly worded statement that if Zimbabwe is trying to show that there are no more human rights abuses around Chiadzwa, they have just proved the opposite.

• Gold and platinum exports have been the main drivers of mineral exports valued at over US$1 billion for the period January to May 2010.

In The Courts

• Mines Minister Obert Mpofu, who owns several large buildings in Bulawayo city, is evicting his tenants, The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and Time Bank, for non-payment of rentals.

• In a victory for women’s rights, a landmark Supreme Court ruling has allowed that a Zimbabwean mother has the right to seek a passport for a minor child without involving the father. Former independent MP Margaret Dongo, with the help of the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers’ Association, filed an application with the Supreme Court in 2006.

Wildlife

• Ivory poachers have slaughtered 10 elephants in the Gonarezhou (“Place of the Elephants”) National Park. FN rifle cartridges were found at the scene. Tusks were removed and the carcasses left to rot. Zimbabwe’s National Parks Department is meanwhile sitting on stocks of 34 tonnes of raw ivory. Conservation groups have offered a reward of US$1 000 for information leading to the arrest of the poachers.

The Good News

• Zimbabwe will return to Test Cricket in 2011, having implemented the recommendations of an ICC task force which visited Zimbabwe in November 2008.

• Zimbabwean farmer and human rights activist Ben Freeth was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire award) in the Queen’s birthday honours list “For services to the farming community in Zimbabwe”. British-born Freeth initiated a successful lawsuit against the Mugabe government through the SADC Tribunal, an international court located in Windhoek, Namibia.

• NGOs Mercy Corps and CADEC are operating a successful Food for Work programme in Chinhoyi whereby women and unemployed youths embark on municipal clean-up operations in exchange for grocery vouchers.

Of course the attachment of four Zimbabwe Government properties is a drop in the ocean compared to the attachment of the thousands of once productive agricultural properties in Zimbabwe that were the homes and livelihoods of over 2 million people;  but this is a huge symbolic step in the quest for global justice through the international courts.

When has anyone ever heard of a Government having its properties outside its borders attached because of its contempt for an international court?

It is a historic day on the road to accountability.

This judgment is saying that when dictators do things in their own countries against the universal declaration of human rights, justice is around the corner.  It is saying that dictators can no longer get away with destroying life, liberty and property with impunity: there are consequences to acts of tyranny.

This is a major precedent and it will be built upon so long as the Zimbabwe Government continues to trample on the rights of millions of its citizens so that they are left hungry and in desperate poverty.

Ben Freeth [SADC Tribunal Rights Watch].

Cell:  +263 913 929 138  (Zimbabwe)
E-mail:  freeth@bsatt.com

Note:

Deon Theron, President of the Commercial Farmers’ Union (Zimbabwe) is currently in South Africa and can be contacted on:
Cell:  072 109 0125
E-mail:  dtheron@cfuzim.org

The attached properties:

• The three principals in the unity government reached a small breakthrough on Friday when they agreed to appoint the chairs of two of the Commissions – the Electoral and the Human Rights – who were named as Justice Simpson Mtambanengwe and Professor Reg Austin respectively.

• The South African mediation team is expected to meet negotiators from the three principal parties ahead of the resumption of inter-party talks today.

• Parliament was forced to adjourn prematurely on Wednesday after chaos erupted between the political parties over the issue of sanctions.

• A visiting UK delegation has expressed satisfaction at Zimbabwe’s economic progress but called for the resolution of outstanding issues in the GPA.

• A US Congressional delegation will visit Zimbabwe later this month to review the power-sharing deal and assess US humanitarian work in the country.

• Finance Minister Tendai Biti said in a statement last Tuesday that the MDC is ready for an election after he accused Zanu-PF of creating conditions for a total breakdown of the unity government.

• Echoing this, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told the radio station Voice of America (VOA) News that the inter-party talks would likely reach a deadlock, and that early elections could be the only solution to the political problems.

• The MDC has lodged an official complaint with the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC), which oversees the power-sharing agreement, about “unjustified arrests and harassment” of its officials and supporters by state security agents.

• Tsvangirai has rejected a circular from President Robert Mugabe’s office directing ministers to report to his two vice-presidents instead of to the Prime Minister.

• Members of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIO) team assigned to Mugabe during a visit to an international telecommunications summit last October were each paid a total of US$50 000 (US$5 000 a day) over Mugabe’s 10-day stay. On another trip to Rome in November, his security detail was paid the same. In Zimbabwe, most of the population lives on less than US$1 per day.

Governance

• Zimbabwe’s civil servants went on strike on Friday after last-minute negotiations with the government failed. They are pushing for a five-fold wage hike. Civil servants earn on average a paltry US$150 (R1 100) a month. They are demanding up to US$630 (R4 900) a month.

• Zimbabwe and Botswana officials will hold security talks over the detention of three Botswana game rangers who inadvertently strayed across the border last month.

• Mines Minister Obert Mpofu has returned two expensive vehicles he illegally took away from the Ministry of Industry and International Trade when he changed portfolios last year. Mpofu is one of several government officials named in a damning report to parliament on the pervasive looting of state assets.

• The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts has reported massive irregularities and ‘gross incompetence’ in government ministries and departments in scams that may have cost the Treasury millions of dollars. These include payment of ghost workers and the irregular employment of 10 000 youth officers.

• The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions says it has recorded more than 2 300 cases of violation of workers’ rights in 2009, most of them committed by state security agents who have routinely assaulted and tortured union activists.

Business

• Major Zimbabwe mining group Rio Tinto has proposed that locals have 10 percent ownership of foreign-owned companies, and not the 51 percent the government wants under a draft law that has scared off investors. The Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe president said government had in principle agreed to the proposal.

• Zimplats, which is owned by South Africa’s Impala Platinum (Implats) – the world’s second biggest platinum producer – reported a US$50 million operating profit in its quarterly report ending December 2009 released thisweek. The company is also owed US$34 million by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

• The failure of Zimbabwe’s coalition partners to fully implement the Global Political Agreement (GPA) is keeping foreign investors away, according to separate reports released last week by Renaissance Capital, a Russian investment house, and the World Bank.

Economy

• The UK Treasury said Friday that it supports the restoration of Zimbabwe’s voting rights in the IMF, attributing its decision to the improved macroeconomic environment in Zimbabwe under Finance Minister Tendai Biti.

• Senior IMF director Samuel Itam said on Wednesday he was ‘cautiously optimistic’ the international community would support Zimbabwe’s request to restore its IMF voting rights.

• The cost of food for a family rose 10 percent last month, according to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe.

• The Zimbabwe government spent nearly R86m (US$11.6m) in one year in fees for children and relatives of mostly top Zanu-PF officials who are studying in South African universities while local universities struggle to function.

Agriculture

• The SADC Tribunal said ongoing land invasions in Zimbabwe were beyond its control, that it was unable to enforce its ruling, and that it was up to the SADC Summit to take up the matter.

• Commercial farmer Ben Freeth, who is campaigning for the implementation of the SADC Tribunal ruling, has been accused of contempt of court after he criticised a High Court judge’s decision in January to dismiss the ruling in Zimbabwe. The Law Society of Zimbabwe will decide if Freeth should be charged.

• The South African government may be forced to pay up to R100 million in damages to South African farmer Crawford Von Abo, whose farms were seized in Zimbabwe as part of the land grab. The North Gauteng High Court on Friday found that the government was liable for Von Abo’s losses, as they neglected to prevent the violation of his rights by the Zimbabwean government.

• A magistrate on Tuesday granted bail to five white commercial farmers who were arrested in Chipinge last week for failing to vacate their properties. Another farming family in Rusape came under siege from farm invaders last week.

• Zimbabwe needs to urgently import 500,000 tonnes of maize to avert shortages. Agriculture Minister Joseph Made says the crop has been affected by an extended dry spell. But the Commercial Farmers’ Union said that 1,8 million tonnes would be required.

• The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fewsnet) said in a new report the number of Zimbabweans in need of emergency food aid now stands at 2.17 million, a huge jump from the December figure of 1.74 million.

Diamonds

• The court-ordered transportation of 60 kg of diamonds to the Reserve Bank was suspended after an armed gang raided the offices of mining firm African Consolidated Resources (ACR), the legal owners of the Chiadzwa diamond claim, and stole the company’s computers.

• Mines Minister Obert Mpofu (Zanu-PF), backed by armed police, on Thursday night removed a 29kg consignment of Chiadzwa diamonds worth millions of dollars from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), violating a Supreme Court order that the diamonds remain in the custody of the central bank until the mining rights case between ACR and the government is resolved.

Violence

• More than thirty men and women from the Bhuka area (Masvingo) were severely beaten on Saturday by Zanu-PF youths for failing to comply with the headman who instructed they should not attend an MDC rally the previous day.

• MDC activist Peter Magombedze, who died in December, was “killed by severe blows during the barbaric assault” by members of the police, an autopsy report has confirmed. Two police officers, Sergeant Zvinavashe and Sergeant Nzori of Nembudziya police station, have reportedly since been arrested in connection with the death.

• Villages in the remote Rushinga district north-east of Mount Darwin report that people who want to contribute to the constitution-making process are being threatened with death or vicious beatings comparable to the June 2008 violence.

Law

• Zimbabwe’s constitutional committee has put the outreach exercise on hold because it cannot send teams to interview people without police backing. Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri has demanded US$3 million in payment to release 1 000 police officers to accompany outreach teams.

• Police on Wednesday arrested eleven students for holding a public students’ meeting on the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) campus. The Zimbabwe National Students’ Union (ZINASU) is demanding the arrest of a security guard from the university after one of the students was severely beaten.

• A Harare magistrate this week removed senior MDC official Pascal Gwezere, charged with stealing weapons from an army barracks, from remand after the state failed to produce sufficient evidence linking him to the crime. Gwezere was abducted last October by state security agents and was severely beaten in custody.

• Attorney General Johannes Tomana has said prosecutors are free to oppose bail and even overrule magistrates as long as they are acting according to ‘law’.

• Roy Bennett treason trial: Tomana accused the defence of “caricaturing him and demeaning his office.” Bennett’s lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa  had demonstrated that false emails could easily be created, using a spoof message from Tomana himself.

• Twenty-two members of the pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were arrested while holding a structural meeting on the constitution-making process in a private home in Bulawayo on Tuesday. They were all later released and, in a surprising move, the police apologized.

Health

• Bulawayo’s Mpilo Hospital is only sustaining operations through donations because government has not released most of the promised funding since January last year. The 1 000 bed hospital needs about US$600 000 but has so far received only US$60 000 from government coffers and in donations.

Diaspora

• Zimbabwe’s Co-Ministers of Home Affairs on Saturday urged thousands of Zimbabweans living in South Africa to return home and help rebuild the country’s economy. Addressing a gathering in Johannesburg, Ministers Kembo Mohadi (Zanu-PF) and Giles Mutsekwa (MDC-T) said the government is ready to drop all charges against political activists and specified business people who are currently living outside the country. Unemployment in Zimbabwe however, remains over 90 percent.

• Fifteen Zimbabwean civic organisations in the UK met in London last weekend to choose a taskforce to coordinate the constitutional awareness and information-gathering process in the UK.

Wildlife

• Zimbabwean officials are unhappy that Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) chief Willem Wijnstekers will tour a top private conservancy during his visit to Zimbabwe next week, allegedly fearful he will learn too much about endemic poaching decimating the country’s wildlife.

• Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority’s claim it has not carried out a game census since 2008 due to a lack of funds is said by some conservationists to be a ploy to hide the extent of poaching by officials working in cohorts with ministers and other senior government officials.

The Good News

• Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams on Friday launched an exhibition in the UK of photographs showcasing the work of Anglicans in Zimbabwe. He praised their courage and faithfulness in the face of violence from state authorities attempting to close down their services.

• The Zimbabwean government and Iran will jointly set up a helicopter repair, maintenance and training centre in Zimbabwe. The centre will benefit Zimbabwean technicians as well as their counterparts across Africa.

• The Zimbabwe Open golf championship has been relaunched after a nine-year hiatus and will regain its place on the South African “Sunshine Tour” in April.

Source:  Zimbabwe Democracy Now

ZIMBABWE TRIBUNAL RIGHTS WATCH

SADC Tribunal Judgment of 28 November 2008 in favour of 78 Zim farmers Case in the Zimbabwe High Court – 26 January 2010

In the case in the Zimbabwe High Court, Justice Bharat Patel delivered judgment yesterday, 26 January.  In his judgment he was “more than satisfied” that the SADC Tribunal had been constituted properly and had jurisdiction within the SADC states, including Zimbabwe, although he was “not entirely persuaded” that the Tribunal could “entertain and adjudicate alleged violations of human rights which might be committed by member states against their own nationals.”

SADC Tribunal Rights Watch finds it hard to understand the reasoning here where the broad principles of the SADC Treaty on which the Tribunal finds its guiding principles as being  “human rights, democracy and the rule of law,” are very specific.

Justice Patel goes on to say that despite accepting the Tribunal’s rulings, the said individual rulings should be  “subject to a consideration of the facts of each individual case.”   The Constitution of Zimbabwe is quoted which says that “the Constitution is the supreme law of Zimbabwe and if any other law is inconsistent with this Constitution, that other law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.”

Justice Patel says it is contrary to public policy in Zimbabwe to go against the Constitution.  SADC Tribunal Rights Watch believes that by saying this, he is opening the door wide to allow the Bill of Rights to be trampled by any dictatorship that may spring up to change constitutions in conformity with dictatorial demands of the executive.

The judge goes on to state that the land reform program “is quintessentially a matter of public policy in Zimbabwe, conceived well before the country attained its sovereign independence.”  He says that “the greater public good must prevail.”

Justice Patel concludes by saying that there is an “overwhelmingly negative impact of the Tribunal’s decision on domestic law and agrarian reform in Zimbabwe, and not withstanding the international obligations of the Government I am deeply satisfied that the registration and consequent enforcement of that judgment would be fundamentally contrary to the public policy of this country.”

He dismissed the matter with no order as to costs.

SADC Tribunal Rights Watch believes that it is a sad day for any country rife with human rights abuse, when a member of the judiciary entrenches the future possibility of human rights abuse.

By dismissing international treaties in favour of laws that fly in the face of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the Zimbabwe authorities have brought about the direct suffering of over 2 million farmers and farm workers, most of whom have been left homeless or jobless.

The people of Zimbabwe are now totally dependent on international food aid.  The land reform program has resulted in a net de-settlement of people and has brought the vast majority of Zimbabweans into poverty.

Far from being for the “public good,” which the judge has evidently deceived himself into writing, the land reform program has indisputably been a programme of violent, forced eviction without compensation and has resulted in the total dereliction of the majority Zimbabwe’s commercial agricultural properties.

The judge, in his attempt to legalise a programme of ethnic cleansing, has joined the ranks of other judges under dictatorial regimes such as in Nazi Germany or Stalinist Soviet Union and left Zimbabweans more exposed than ever to further abuse by the Zimbabwe Government.

Ben Freeth

Spokesman for SADC Tribunal Rights Watch

Cell:  +263 913 929 138

E-mail:  freeth@bsatt.com

Harare, 24 November, 2009 and 26 January 2010

Facts of the Case

This case was an application for the Registration of the SADC Tribunal Judgement in the matter of Mike Campbell (Pvt) Ltd and others versus the Republic of Zimbabwe by 2 out of the 77 applicants in that case. This case found that the rights of white farmers to approach a court for redress and not be discriminated against on the basis of race in Zimbabwe were unreasonably denied by Constitutional amendment number 17 which provides the entire legal basis for the Land Reform Programme. (The SADC treaty, whilst holding that the decisions of the Tribunal are final and binding, prescribes that enforcement and domestication of inter alia, judgments of the Tribunal must take place in accordance with the local laws of the relevant member states. Member states are obliged to ensure that their local laws provide for the domestication of SADC Tribunal decisions.) Zimbabwean common law allows for applications for the registration of international judgments not covered by the Civil Matters (Mutual Assistance) Act [Chapter 8:02].

Questions to be determined by the Court

The Court summarised the questions before it as follows:

1. Whether the SADC Tribunal was endowed with the Jurisdictional Competence to rule over the case before it in the Campbell matter; and
2. Whether the enforcement of the SADC Tribunal decision in that case would be contrary to public policy in Zimbabwe.

Judgment

With regard to the first question, the court held that the SADC Tribunal did have the jurisdictional competence to adjudicate over the Campbell case and further recognized the legitimacy of the SADC Tribunal.

With regard to the second question the application for registration was dismissed. The court held that this was contrary to public policy in Zimbabwe.

Reason for the court’s decision (ratio dacidendi)

Interestingly, the court cited the fact that Zimbabwe as well as other SADC member states had fully participated in the Toika system and the business of this newly constituted organ whose legal basis is the same as that of the Tribunal (namely the Amendment to the SADC Treaty of 2001)

The rationale behind dismissing the application for registration seems to be that foreign judgments could not be recognized if they were contrary to “public policy” and “prior judicial precedent” (referring specifically to a judgment by the Supreme Court in the Campbell case). The court held that it was not good public policy to undermine the authority of the Courts in Zimbabwe.

Addressing the argument that the applicants had a reasonable expectation that the Zimbabwean Government would abide by its international obligations the court held that the beneficiaries of land reform had a reasonable expectation that Government would effectively implement land reform which outweighed the other conflicting expectation.

Politics

• Inter-party talks between the coalition partners will resume January 16.  The MDC on Friday Jan. 8 again announced it would not pull out of the unity government, saying any differences will be resolved. But on Tuesday Jan. 11, MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said that any further farm invasions by Zanu-PF would cause his party to consider withdrawing.

• Southern African Development Community (SADC) ministers said on Friday they were unhappy with the slow pace of the inter-party talks. Mozambican Foreign Affairs Minister Oldemiro Baloi said they hope the negotiations will conclude soon.

• The Commissioner of Police blocked Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai from touring police stations around the country in December. Tsvangirai intended to visit police posts to meet officers, assess their work conditions and hear their concerns.

• Jonathan Moyo allegedly organised a secret meeting in Gweru to discuss strategies to form a new breakaway political party, to be led by Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. Moyo described the story as “fiction.”

• The European Union (EU) next month will meet to revise targeted sanctions and travel restrictions on President Robert Mugabe and other Zanu-PF officials. The revision of the sanctions list will be based on the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

Governance

• Zimbabwean civil servants are demanding an increase in salary from US$155 a month to US$500, threatening to go on strike if the government refuses an increase.

• The more than 10,000 unemployed youths who were recruited last year when Zanu-PF needed foot soldiers to stop the then opposition MDC from penetrating the rural areas are still being paid US$150 a month.  Their role at this point, according to one of the loitering youths, is to “mobilize Zanu-PF supporters”.

Business

• Gold production rose 35 percent to 4.2 tonnes last year, despite erratic power supplies. This was up from 3.1 tonnes in 2008. In 1999, Zimbabwe produced 27.7 tonnes.

• Energy Minister Elias Mudzuri on Monday said he ordered ZESA, the country’s power utility, to stop exporting power to Namibia since the Hwange power station was not working properly. ZESA is providing Namibia with electricity to help settle a US$40 million loan to refurbish Hwange power station.

• ZESA has signed a US$8 million dollar deal with the Botswana Power Company to refurbish a shutdown thermal power plant in Bulawayo and ease power cuts in the country. Zimbabwe will export power to Botswana in return.

• Zimbabwe’s parliament is expected to approve the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) with South Africa when it resumes sitting next month. Investment Promotion Minister Elton Mangoma said both Houses of Parliament would ratify the agreement, which was signed in Harare on Nov. 27 last year.

• A top Nestle official slipped into Zimbabwe this week as the Swiss food giant resumed production after shutting down its plant in Harare in December. The visit, which was labeled as ‘routine,’ coincided with the re-opening of the plant. Nestle suspended operations at its Harare factory after two of its managers were taken for questioning by the police.  Controversy raged last year following revelations that Nestle was buying milk from Gushungo Dairy, located on a commercial farm in the fertile Mazowe district “acquired” by Grace Mugabe.

• Construction of a multi-million dollar dairy produce processing plant is reported to be underway at Gushungo Estates. The ban on sales of Gushongo milk at Nestle is believed to have prompted Mrs. Mugabe to construct the plant.

• Foreign investors can own up to 100 percent shareholding of their companies, depending on the merit of their proposals, a Zimbabwean cabinet minister said last week.

Economy

• Zimbabwe’s war veterans say they are entitled to a 20 percent share of any resource in the country because of the part they played in the liberation struggle, a Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLVA) official said. He also decried those who masquerade as war veterans.

• The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a London-based think-tank, expressed misgivings last week about the credibility of some of the economic programmes presented by the unity government. The think-tank said detailed and credible projections are needed.

Diamonds

• The Zimbabwe government last week was forced to suspend the controversial auction of 300,000 carats of rough diamonds from the Marange field in the Chiadzwa district by Mbada Diamonds.

• Mbada is a joint operation between the government’s mining arm, Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, and two South African companies, Grandwell Holdings and Core Mining. African Consolidated Resources (ACR) legally owns the rights to mine the lucrative field but has been prevented from doing so.

• ACR advised Interpol of the proposed auction and warned that any diamond sales from Marange would be classified as stolen goods.

• Human rights organisations have pushed for a ban on international sales due to gross human rights violations perpetrated against civilians by soldiers at the field. More than 200 miners are believed to have been killed during 2008.The diamonds do not hold Kimberley Process (KP) certification as Mbada failed to meet the stipulated conditions.

• International trade watchdog Global Witness on Friday Jan. 8 commended the cancellation of the auction, but warned that the country must show commitment to cleaning up its diamond sector. Global Witness also said it did not believe statements by mines minister Obert Mpofu that soldiers and police had withdrawn from the fields in November. Instead, they said it is likely the military has only withdrawn from two small areas.

• Chiadzwa communal area villagers are resisting government efforts to relocate 1,800 families to Arda-Transau, 100km to the west, in order to exploit the diamond fields.

• Mugabe has allegedly mortgaged diamonds from Marange to buy a new multi-million dollar Presidential helicopter, a Russian-made Mi6 transport helicopter delivered in Nov.

Law

• Senior judge Rita Makarau, who heads the High Court, said Monday the judiciary expects the three principals of the coalition government to lead by example and uphold the rule of law. She also decried the shortage of judges in the country and urged the government to increase funding for the judiciary.

• Members of Zimbabwe’s constitutional outreach team began training this week before being deployed across the country to collect people’s views on the document. The public consultation will last about three months, followed by the actual drafting and referendum by October.

• The treason trial of Deputy Agriculture Minister (designate) Roy Bennett (MDC-T) resumed at the Harare High Court on Tuesday following a six-week break.  The key state witness, Peter Hitschmann, took the stand first and rebutted much of the state’s case. He denied ever meeting Bennett and accused the police of creating a conspiracy.

• Attorney General Johannes Tomana, who is personally leading the State case against Bennett, then applied to impeach Hitschmann. Justice Chinembiri Bhunu will make a determination Wednesday whether the impeachment procedure against Hitschmann can proceed.

Agricultural Sector

• Zimbabwe’s remaining white farmers say the ongoing farm invasions and continued human and property rights abuses by senior Zanu-PF officials are impacting seriously on food security and are keeping foreign investors away from the country.

• A further five South African farmers in the east of Zimbabwe are to be evicted this week, following an alleged order by Land Reform Minister Didymus Mutasa to get rid of the remaining white farmers in the area.

• South African civil rights movement AfriForum won a court bid to sue the Zimbabwean government over its “cruel” and “revengeful” take-overs of South African-owned farms in Zimbabwe. On February 23, AfriForum will approach the court to force Zimbabwe and South Africa to register and recognize the SADC Tribunal ruling on land reform.

• Malawi has sold and exported fertilizer to Zimbabwe after local companies failed to produce sufficient due to a lack of raw materials. Zimbabwe still owes Malawi $100 million for its purchase of maize from the country three years ago.

• Farmers nationwide have experienced a shortage of Ammonium Nitrate fertiliser, a development that is likely to affect their yield.

• Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Tanzania, retired Major General Edzai Chimonyo, has invaded a banana plantation in Burma Valley near Mutare.  The plantation is owned by a Dutch and Malaysian company and is protected by a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA), a fact Chimonyo has refused to acknowledge.

• The Zimbabwe government has warned resettled farmers who are subletting their farms to former white commercial farmers that they risked losing their land. This follows reports that farmers, who benefited under the land reform programme, lacking the resources to utilize the farms, were now making arrangements with former owners.

• The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has made US$14 million in grants available to 52,000 Zimbabwean farmers and agri-businesses to increase production and raise incomes. The grants, which include vouchers for agricultural inputs and training, will be distributed through seven non-governmental organisations.

• Land invaders physically attacked a farming family in Rusape on Tuesday. This follows the eviction of three farming families in the area in the last three weeks.

• Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson’s documentary film, “Mugabe and the White African”, the story of commercial farmers Mike Campbell and Ben Freeth, who took their case to the SADC Tribunal in Windhoek, won Best Documentary at the British Independent Film Awards.  Shortlisted (Final 15) for the Oscars, it is showing in London and Edinburgh this month and has received excellent reviews, eg: “… Harrowing, unsparing, incensing and often, as an example of courage beyond the call, inspiring.”

Violence

• The MDC has condemned the government and the Attorney General’s office for failing to respond to a comprehensive report it submitted to the Attorney General naming more than 200 MDC supporters who were murdered by known Zanu-PF activists in the country’s 2008 presidential run-off election.

Education

• Education minister David Coltart wants to set up 20 academic centres of excellence this year to cater for disadvantaged children who will receive full scholarships.

Health Crisis

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported another death from cholera in the Midlands province, bringing the number of deaths to six since September last year. Meanwhile at least three cholera cases have been confirmed in Kadoma (Mashonaland West province) while 10 other suspected cases are still being investigated.

• A measles outbreak has affected at least 18 districts, with 869 cases reported countrywide, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Zimbabwe Health Ministry said at least 41 people have died of the disease, many of them children, since the outbreak began last month.

• Zimbabwe police have been recruited to try to force a religious sect in the Manicaland province to have their children vaccinated against measles. Members of the sect have been locking their sick children in huts or hiding them in the hills to avoid vaccination.

• The National Aids Council (NAC), widely condemned for holding onto funds collected through the Aids Levy while thousands of people in need of life-prolonging drugs die prematurely, has bought antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) worth US$1,8 million. NAC also bought other equipment and support materials such as CD4 cell count machines and HIV test kits.

• The government plans to increase the number of people on ARVs to 300 000 this year, up from 180 000.

Humanitarian Crisis

• UK based protest group Zimbabwe Vigil is urging the British government to stop sending developmental aid to Zimbabwe until the GPA is fully implemented.

• Iran has said it is ready to offer humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe in times of need and to develop relations between the two nations.

Media

• A new book launched by the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) scrutinises the role of the Zimbabwe media in covering the violent 2008 presidential run-off election. MMPZ head Andrew Moyse said he hoped it would provide a significant contribution to the national debate on press freedom.

• Zimbabwean soccer fans will be unable to watch the 2010 African Cup of Nations after the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) announced that it could not afford the US$6.5 million broadcasting fee required by the tournament’s broadcast rights holder.

Diaspora

• Immigration officials at the Beitbridge border post are arresting an average of 80 people a day, mostly Zimbabweans, for using fake South African passports.

• New funding from the Dutch government will support the humanitarian activities of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) which assisted 314,000 Zimbabweans at the Beitbridge centre between 2006 and 2009 after they were deported from SA. IOM said that another 57,000 Zimbabwean migrants were assisted between June 2008 and June 2009 at a similar centre it operates at the Plumtree border post with Botswana.

• An estimated four million Zimbabweans in the Diaspora will be given a chance to contribute to Zimbabwe’s constitutional making process.

Wildlife

• Zimbabwe war veterans living near the Humani Estates in Chiredzi District are poisoning the food and water of rhinos from a nearby game reserve to trap the rhinos and sell the horns to South African dealers. Cattle and other wild and domestic animals are also dying as a result of drinking and feeding off the poisoned sources.

Tourism

• The Zimbabwe Council for Tourism (ZCT) announced that it would spend US$3 million on training key personnel ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to equip them with skills in customer service.

Source:  Zimbabwe Democracy Now

www.zimbabwedemocracynow.com

• Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai announced on Friday that his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would disengage from Robert Mugabe’s “dishonest and unreliable” Zanu-PF party until outstanding issues in the power sharing agreement are resolved. The pullout, from cabinet but not from government, poses the biggest threat to the fragile power sharing agreement since its formation in February, and the stalemate could halt all government business. The move was sparked by the detention of senior MDC aide Roy Bennett ahead of his terrorism trial, now scheduled for Nov. 9. Bennett was subsequently released on bail. He faces weapon and terror charges that he denies and that the MDC say are false.

• Zimbabwe’s cabinet is meeting on Tuesday without ministers from the MDC. Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba told the state media that as far as he is concerned, Tsvangirai is still Prime Minister until he communicates his disengagement from government in a formal manner. “Government is not run through media statements,” said Charamba. Charamba said that any decisions taken during today’s parliamentary session would be binding.

• As for Mugabe’s reaction to the pullout, Charamba said that Mugabe was spending time arranging scholarships for students and welcoming soccer players in Zimbabwe for a regional tournament. “As for this needless excitement from (Tsvangirai’s party), I suppose the president will find time when the right time comes,” Charamba said.

• Tsvangirai traveled to Mozambique yesterday to meet with President Armando Guebuza, head of the South African Development Community (SADC), to urge the regional bloc to mediate the threatening crisis. He is also set to meet with SADC chairman Joseph Kabila and Angola President Jose Eduardo Santos, as well as South African President Jacob Zuma.  Tsvangirai “would use this opportunity to brief other SADC leaders on the problems affecting the inclusive government. It’s entirely up to SADC to rescue the situation,” said James Maridadi, Tsvangirai’s spokesperson.

• The European Commission (EC) on Monday urged SADC and the African Union (AU) to intervene to stop the collapse of the unity government. In a statement. the EC urged SADC and the AU “to do all that they can to assist the different parties to the GPA to resolve their differences for the benefit of the Zimbabwean people.”  SADC, that brokered the power-sharing agreement, is together with the AU a guarantor of the pact.

Cholera

• The clock is ticking as Zimbabwe races to prevent another cholera outbreak. Repair work is currently underway on Harare’s faulty sewage system, which is blamed for causing the cholera epidemic that last year killed more than 4,200 people. The leaky pipes need to be fixed before the rainy season starts in November, when health workers fear another outbreak could occur.

Violence

• An MDC Mutoko councilor, Chamunorwa Mundete, was besieged in his home in the middle of the night by more than 10 armed Zanu PF supporters, who threatened to kill him if he continued to support the MDC. “I was saved by the darkness as it was around 3 A.M when the thugs came. I left with only the clothes that I am wearing and I am staying with some relatives here in Harare,” said Mundete, the councilor for Ward 28.

• Zimbabwe has invited a U.N. expert on torture to visit this month. It is the first time the country has issued an invitation of this nature to an independent U.N. Human Rights Council expert. Manfred Nowak, expert on torture and other inhuman punishment, will inspect police stations and prisons, and will meet government officials, national human rights institutions and present a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council. “This mission is a positive sign of the Government of Zimbabwe’s willingness to engage with the U.N. Human Rights System and permit open and unfettered access to places of detention,” Nowak told Reuters.

• A farm worker on Karori Farm in the Headlands was recently brutally raped by three soldiers in an attempt to force her boss to abandon his property. Crops were also looted in the attack.

Commercial Farming Sector

• Ben Freeth, a white Zimbabwean whose farm was burnt down in August, said his trip to the US was “very productive.” Freeth, who returned on Friday, met with several US senators and aides close to President Barack Obama, who he said were all interested in the SADC Tribunal ruling, which protects 77 commercial farmers. He traveled to Washington D.C. to urge the Obama administration to put pressure on the Zimbabwe government to stop the seizure of the last remaining white farms.

• The European Union (EU) has offered to fund the proposed land audit, and the Commercial Farmers Union of Zimbabwe (CFUZ), which represents white farmers who have lost their farms as a result of Mugabe’s land reform programme, is demanding that the government proceed immediately with the audit. “We want a land audit done as soon as possible. Our concern though is that the audit will not be done by a truly independent team according to international standards,” said Deon Theron, president of CFUZ. The Zimbabwean government recently announced that it was hoping to establish an independent land committee made up of permanent secretaries and other senior government officials to spearhead the land audit.

Business

• Swiss multinational Nestle on Friday turned away 20 000 litres of milk from a farm owned by Grace Mugabe, after bowing to global pressure two weeks ago to stop sourcing milk from Mugabe’s Gushongo Dairy Estate. A tanker of milk allegedly arrived at the company’s depot in Harare, but spent the entire day outside the building after management refused it entry. The company has received numerous threats, primarily from Zanu-PF youths and government officials, since it ceased buying milk from Gushongo. The youth allegedly threatened to take over the company.

• The mobile market penetration rate increased from 14% in February to 21% in August. The dollarising of the currency earlier this year has led to sizeable investments in the sector as mobile operators have implemented programmes to expand their subscriber base. The operators are locked in a battle to gain control of the once struggling market.

Economy

• Zimbabwe’s monthly inflation was at -0.5 percent in September compared to 0.4 percent in August, Central Statistical Office data showed on Friday. The drop was primarily due to a decline in food prices.

Education

• The Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (Zimsec) said last week that only 139 000 out of 380 000 Ordinary and Advanced Level students had registered for this year’s public examinations. The council said 120 400 Ordinary and 18 500 Advanced Level candidates registered for the examinations compared to 239 430 and 138 000 last year. The low number was as a result of high examination fees, which were US$10 and US$20 per ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level subjects, a fee most parents could not afford.

• South Africa’s largest food retailer, Shoprite, said it is no longer pursuing investment opportunities in Zimbabwe, citing political and economic “uncertainty.” Shoprite/Checkers planned to buy OK Bazaars, Zimbabwe’s second largest supermarket chain, despite the recent designation of the Meikles/TM supermarkets Group by Zimbabwe government interests.

• The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe froze two of Nestlé’s bank accounts after the Swiss multinational bowed to global pressure last week and said it would stop sourcing milk from a farm owned by Grace Mugabe, President Robert Mugabe’s wife. The company’s accounts were later freed, but some see it as a warning shot to the company by Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Gideon Gono.

• President Mugabe stated that Government has cherry-picked two investors to take over the exploitation of the controversial Chiadzwa Diamond Fields in a ‘joint venture’ with the Ministry of Mines. Meanwhile Justice Charles Hungwe two weeks ago delivered a landmark judgement confirming Africa Consolidated Resources (ACR)’s right to claims in the mining area.

• Barclays bank introduced ATM withdrawals for owners of Visa credit cards. The facility will assist tourists.

Government

• Zimbabwe is still one of the worst governed countries in Africa, according to a report by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. The 2009 Ibrahim Index of Governance ranked Zimbabwe 51 out of all the 53 African countries, beating only Chad and Somalia respectively. The rankings are based on the 2007/2008 period, prior to the formation of the unity government.

• Wildlife conservancies are at risk after the government adopted a new, controversial, land ‘reform’ policy aimed at ‘resettling’ the wildlife sector, as the countrywide rush to grab any remaining commercially viable land continues.

Economy

• Zimbabwe’s finance minister Tendai Biti said on Monday that he would quit if he were asked to reinstate the local dollar, which he scuttled in order to halt hyper-inflation. He said talks on the possible return of the Zimbabwe dollar should only start at the end of next year.

• The finance minister also said that he will not authorise the use of $500 million in IMF funds until the after the national budget is finalised, presented and approved in November.

Sanctions

• The US and the UK showed skepticism last week following Mugabe’s overture for better relations, stating that he first needs to honour the Global Political Agreement (GPA). Mugabe said at the opening of parliament that he was prepared to re-engage the West, calling an end to sanctions against Zimbabwe.

Education

• Around 8000 teachers who fled election violence last year and only returned to work in 2009 have gone months without pay as punishment for their alleged support of the MDC. Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) Secretary General Raymond Majonwe said in an interview last week that he believed the aim was to frustrate the teachers and show up the MDC minister of education, sport and culture David Coltart. “It’s political,” said Majongwe. “We are aggrieved because 5 000 of the 8 000 teachers who have not been paid are our members. This is why they are being victimized.”

• Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) workers went on strike last week demanding that the lowest paid employee’s salary be increased from US$115 to US$400. With the public examinations looming, Zimsec is urging the government to address the workers’ concerns.

• A recent survey by PTUZ revealed that up to 75 percent of the 300,000 children who could sit their O and A Level examinations in November had failed to register because of the exam fees. Students learning in rural areas and on farm schools are the worst affected, with those coming from poor urban areas accounting for a substantial amount of the victims, The number of students who could not afford to write their examinations this year was “the highest in the history of the country” said a PTUZ statement.

• Ten Zimbabwean students at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa  have been kicked out of a (taxpayer-funded) Presidential Scholarship programme, for allegedly supporting the MDC. Robert Mugabe gained a BA degree, specializing in education,  from Fort Hare in 1951.

Legal

• Several top officials and Mugabe loyalists being sued for torture will not receive legal assistance from the state. The officials are being sued by seventeen human rights activists, including Jestina Mukoko. All were acquitted of terrorism charges after being abducted, tortured and incarcerated for months. The defendants who include the police chief and security and defense ministers, will face the charges (worth $500 million in damages) on their own. It seems even the party can see their actions are indefensible.

• Two important cases will commence this week in Mutare and Harare. Deputy Agriculture Minister Designate Roy Bennett, who was arrested in February as he prepared to leave for a holiday in South Africa, faces trial for allegedly being in illegal possession of weapons and for allegedly contravening immigration laws. The state seems to have no evidence but is trying to further delay proceedings by indicting Bennett for trial in the High Court. Meanwhile in Harare, leading human rights lawyer Alec Muchadehama is standing trial on Wednesday for alleged contempt of court.

Cholera Warning

• Health experts and aid agencies have repeated warnings of a possible cholera resurgence in Zimbabwe, blaming the current water and sanitation problems in the country. “The circumstances that led to the cholera outbreak [last year] are still there today,” said Farid Abdulkadir, International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) disaster management coordinator, at a meeting on regional water integration held in Randburg, South Africa. Nine new confirmed cases of the disease were reported last week in Musikavanhi district of the Manicaland province.

Commercial Farming Sector

• The European Union is providing 15.4 million euros to aid small-scale Zimbabwean farmers. The aid, in the form of seed and fertiliser, aims to boost grain production and is set to benefit 176,000 households. “This programme is part of a wider EC policy aiming at moving this country from food aid to food security,” said Xavier Marchal, head of the European Commission in Zimbabwe. The aid is part of a $74 million fund created by donors, which include the World Bank and Britain’s Department for International Development. The fund is expected to help produce about 450,000 tons of the staple maize crop and meet a quarter of Zimbabwe’s annual requirements.

• The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany has written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanding a halt to the grab of white farmer Charles Lock’s farm by Brigadier Mujaji. The German embassy warned that the grab of the property, Karori farm was illegal as the property is protected a German-Zimbabwean Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement.

• Ben Freeth, a white Zimbabwean whose farm was burnt down in August, traveled to Washington D.C. last week to urge the Obama administration to put pressure on the Zimbabwe government to stop the seizure of the last remaining white farms. “The United States is the biggest bilateral donor to Zimbabwe and it’s really important that they put pressure on the government to ensure the court judgment is respected,” he said. In November last year the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal ordered the Government of Zimbabwe to allow 75 white commercial farmers to stay on their land but the seizure of protected farms and ongoing harassment has continued.

• The European Union (EU) has offered to fund the proposed Land Audit.

Media

• Mugabe’s Information Minister Webster Shamu appointed eight former senior military officials to six boards of government-controlled media organizations, a move that the Media Institute of Southern Africa has condemned as the “militarization of the media.” Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said that the new boards would have to be revised, as he and his deputy, Arthur Mutambara, had not been consulted.

• While it stalls the appointment of the Media Commission as the new licensing body, government warned Trevor Ncube, owner of the Mail and Guardian and the Zimbabwe Independent, not to launch his new Zimbabwean daily newspaper, Newsday, without a license. The government recently launched two new publications without licenses.

• Robert Mugabe and a large entourage turned up in Geneva to attend an International Telecommunications Union showcase and mystified delegates with a speech condemning the use of radio as a channel for ‘obnoxious regime change agendas’.

Politics

• Party leader and Prime Minister in the GPA, Morgan Tsvangirai, embarked on a series of ‘public consultations’ regarding whether the people wanted the party to stay in the GPA. No feedback has yet emerged; Tsvangirai instead telling rallies to expect ‘free and fair elections’ in two years’ time.

• The Vice-Presidential succession is not yet settled but the Zanu-PF Matabeleland caucus nominated one of their own: ZanuPF party chairman John Nkomo, to take over the late Joseph Mskika’s slot at the top. Nkomo is a former member of ZAPU in Matabeleland, as was Msika. But the Mashonaland caucus is said to be backing Defence Minister Emerson Mnangagwa for the job. As the Minister of the Interior in the eighties, Mnangagwa was the mastermind of the Matabeleland Gukurahundi killings in which over 20 000 people are estimated to have died.

• A  damning audit of the country’s voter’s roll was issued by the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU). The report revealed that around 75 000 people over 100 years of age were still registered, and many duplications existed. Worse, in some constituencies, the number of votes cast in the 2008 elections were more than double the number of registered voters. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has refused to release the detailed results of these polls.

• The MDC has dropped from its constitution a clause limiting the party president’s terms in office, thus extending Morgan Tsvangirai’s possible tenure to beyond 2011.

The Campbell homestead is also on Mt Carmel farm (bought in 1999 with a certificate of non-interest from the Government) where Ben Freeth’s homestead, linen factory and 7 workers’ houses were razed to the ground on Sunday. (30 August).

Mr Campbell is Ben Freeth’s father in law and has not yet recovered from the beating he took from Zanu-PF militia in June 2008.

Mt Carmel was invaded by thugs under orders from Nathan Shamuyarira, ZanuPF Secretary for Information.

These incidents closely follow a visit to Zimbabwe by President Jacob Zuma, a few days after he was guest of honour at the Harare Agricultural Show. In a speech at the show, the South African President, who is also currently Chairman of SADC, gave a clear indication that Zimbabwe’s GPA government should let farmers produce their crops in order to feed the country and to implement the power-sharing agreement.

The arson attacks on Mount Carmel farm are a deliberate insult to Jacob Zuma, as well as to SADC and to the SADC Tribunal in Windhoek, which ruled in favour of Ben Freeth and 79 other farmers who initiated a class action against Robert Mugabe’s government.

Zanu-PF is currently on a campaign to prove that the SADC Tribunal in Windhoek has not been properly constituted and its judgments are therefore null and void.

Zimbabwe’s Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa in a statement dated 7 August 2009, said the SADC court did not exist by law and as such Zimbabwe would not appear before it anymore, and neither would Government be bound by any decisions already made or future ones emanating from there.

Zimbabwe has consistently appeared before the Tribunal since 2007 and has accepted its authority until now.

Zimbabwe is using a technicality whereby it and and nine other SADC members are yet to ratify both the Protocol creating the Tribunal and a subsequent amendment to that document.

President Zuma has a key opportunity at the forthcoming SADC summit in Kinshasa, to have all SADC protocols regularised and to pass a resolution upholding the Tribunal’s judgments since its inception in 1992.