Panicking high ranking officials of the ruling Zanu PF party are allegedly systematically stripping down the country of most of its valuable assets as they realise that President Robert Mugabe's reign is coming to an end, it emerged last week. Economic experts said the entire country was being methodically plundered by high-ranking Zanu PF and government officials who plan to eventually flee the country and retire in comfort with their offshore holdings.

There were 113 cases of torture recorded for the month of June, while political discrimination, violations of freedom of expression and assaults remained widespread, according to the Zimbabwean Human Rights NGO Forum's Political Violence Report for June. "Since the Human Rights Forum began documenting and publishing politically related human rights violations in 2000, there has been a sustained level of organised violence and torture, peaking at periods surrounding elections, public marches and demonstrations.”

The Zimbabwe Council of Churches has apologised to the people of Zimbabwe for not doing enough to protest human rights abuses by the government. The apology was made in a communique issued by the Zimbabwe Council of Churches following its annual meeting.
Related Link:
PIED PIPER
http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=13…

The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare has received $257 million from the United Nations Children's Fund for the immunisation against measles programme. The funds will be disbursed to 16 districts that were not fully covered in last year's programme.

Political and economic decay in Zimbabwe has become one of the major problems confronting post-apartheid Southern Africa and seriously threatens Africa's resolve to address democratic issues and re-invent its international image. According to Africa's critics and many of its Northern supporters, the lack of assertive action towards Zimbabwe is indicative of the fact that NEPAD and the African Union will be unable to amount to anything more than rhetoric. Despite humanitarian crises and overwhelming pressure for reform, Mr. Mugabe remains in power and apparently continues to enjoy the support of influential regional players. Increasing internal pressure and political dissent from pro-democracy forces have not compelled Mugabe's regime to concede that a crisis exists. How has this regime, which shows increasingly little regard for democratic principles, human rights, rule of law and political pluralism managed to cling to power even when change appears inevitable? asks this report from the Political Information & Monitoring Service of Idasa.

State prosecutors argued on Wednesday against calls for the treason case against Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to be dropped, saying he must answer charges he plotted to kill President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai and two senior colleagues in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) could face death sentences if convicted of plotting to assassinate Mugabe in 2001 amid Zimbabwe's worst political and economic crisis in decades.

Children's homes in Zimbabwe are failing to cope with the increasing number of children that require care as the current economic meltdown and the Aids pandemic continue to cause social disintegration and impoverishment. An investigation by The Standard has established that most children's homes in Harare are overwhelmed by the number of children that need shelter, food and education as the political, social and economic crisis worsens.

The outreach campaign being conducted by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) represents yet another attempt by the authorities to frustrate aspiring broadcasters through delays. The questionnaire's results are obvious-they will either justify ZBC's unfair monopoly in the sector or give good reason for the need for an alternative government run broadcaster.

Sizani Weza

The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) has noted with concern the manner in which journalists controlling Zimbabwe’s media have apparently normalised the grinding socio-economic hardships in the country to the extent that they no longer consider these stories of great news value. As a result, investigative news about the real effects of inflation on the public; transport problems; the alarming collapse of the health delivery system; and rampant corruption in all sectors of Zimbabwean society have either been given scant attention or ignored altogether, says the organisation.

The African Union's new ambassador for Southern Africa is none other than Robert Mugabe. The AU summit held in Mozambique at the weekend provided an opportunity for Africa to show a commitment to its noble ideals. But it ended on an anticlimax, some observed, with no discussion on the political situation in strife-torn Zimbabwe. While some opposition politicians were "galled" by the election of Mugabe as one of the AU's five vice-chairpersons, others declared themselves "content".

Sharp divisions between member states of the African Union (AU) attending the grouping’s second summit led to Zimbabwe being left out of the agenda as the organisers tried to avoid anything that could further divide the 53-member body already riven by serious disagreements.

"Whilst we applaud President Bush's visit to this part of the world, his stance and commitment to HIV/AIDS treatment, as well as his US$15 billion financial package to help with treatment in Africa and the Caribbean, we are also painfully aware that Zimbabwe is not listed as a recipient of the President's philanthropy. We are in no doubt of the fact that the exclusion of this country is linked to the relentless and persistent human rights abuses in this country, and the explicit demands by Washington that democracy and good governance be restored."

An international NGO on Tuesday said a shortage of funds was hampering the delivery of assistance to Zimbabwe's urban poor. Help Germany coordinator Hans Sittig told IRIN: "With the limited funds we are just managing to provide help to those who fall under our programme. But that is just scratching the surface. There are many other vulnerable groups who are desperately in need of assistance.”

The South African legal fraternity has welcomed the dropping of a corruption charge against a 65-year-old retired judge in Zimbabwe. "The withdrawal of all charges against Judge (Fergus) Blackie fully vindicates the stance of the South African Bar," the General Council of the Bar of SA (GCBSA) said.

An application by Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and two senior party officials to have treason charges against them dropped has been postponed to next week, a newspaper reported on Monday.

Zimbabwe’s internal situation has continued to worsen, producing increasingly destabilising effects in southern Africa through refugees and economic chaos and damaging the entire continent’s efforts to establish new political and trade relations with the rest of the world. In this context, South Africa is the single country with the ability to help its neighbour through the roughest patches, according to a new report from the International Crisis Group. A range of other international players will need to play supporting roles.
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* Listen to me or else, Mugabe warns MP's
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=vn20030709044043642C9…

Although hopes were raised in the last week that new players would be allowed to enter the broadcasting arena before the end of the year, the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) notes that this announcement comes nearly three years after the Supreme Court struck down a monopoly of the airwaves. "This delay brings into question Government’s commitment to allow new players into the broadcasting arena. Despite many calls by civic organisations for Government to revisit the Broadcasting Services Act to bring it into line with international norms and standards on freedom of expression, this has not happened."

Forty-three people died in Bulawayo in April alone because of malnutrition, according to an official council report on the health situation in Zimbabwe’s second largest city. The city’s director of health services, Rita Dlodlo, said in the report – a copy of which was shown to The Daily News – that most of the deaths were among children in the five to 14-year age group.

The Zimbabwe crisis is not on the official list of African flashpoints under discussion at next week's African Union heads of state summit in Maputo. Dr Jakkie Cilliers, executive director of the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, said the leaders were expected to "completely avoid" the subject during the summit, which kicks off next Thursday.

A local Zimbabwean NGO working with young people urgently requires the services of a Training Manager to start as soon as possible. The position objective is to manage the training delivery services of the department and implement all scheduled courses at national and regional level.