CAFOD, one of the UK's leading development and relief agencies, is seeking a dynamic and strategic team leader to develop and manage CAFOD's humanitarian and development programme in Southern Africa.

Roman Catholic Church bishops in Zimbabwe have made a scathing attack on the corruption in the public and private sectors and the politicisation of food distribution by government and Zanu PF officials.

There were 159 reported cases of torture in Zimbabwe during the month of March, 105 cases of political discrimination, 103 cases of unlawful arrest, 53 cases of displacement and 40 cases of assault. This is according to the Monthly Political Violence Report for March 2003, released by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. "Disturbing incidents of violence and gross human rights violations have been documented in the month of March, indicative that the human-rights situation in Zimbabwe is deteriorating critically," the Forum said.

We are all well aware of the problems besetting Zimbabwe and more importantly their root cause – the later is only spoken about, by all of us, in hushed tones with trusted friends. In preference to discussing solutions to the problem, business leaders spend their time managing around these problems. Little quality thinking has been directed to how people in business can facilitate the departure of Mugabe’s evil regime and the restoration of democracy in Zimbabwe. Contrary to popular belief, this change does not rest solely in the hands of politicians and activists, but the responsibility also lies squarely at the feet of every Zimbabwean. This letter serves to introduce you to the concept of achieving change, without perpetrating violence, within an oppressive environment.

The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition is stunned by the capacity of thirteen capable governments to be so completely hoodwinked by one country's President. It urges the governments of SADC and concerned citizens across the region to go beyond the propaganda put forth by the ruling party in Zimbabwe, and develop their own understanding of the severity of the Zimbabwe situation by listening to and engaging with voices from all corners of Zimbabwe.

Robert Mugabe's government has committed severe human rights abuses against the opposition party, has actively repressed the press and the judiciary and is largely responsible for the famine that is currently gripping Zimbabwe, according to a Commonwealth report distributed to heads of government this week.
Related Links:
* SADC Grills Mudenge
http://allafrica.com/stories/200304040682.html
* Opposition Leadership Face Crackdown
http://allafrica.com/stories/200304080601.html

The Kubatana Project manages Kubatana.net, a website portal that provides Zimbabwean Civil Society organisations with an online presence and a platform to voice their concerns about human rights abuses in their country.

Zanu PF and the Mugabe regime are clearly in a state of desperate panic. They are failing to find ways to challenge the moral authority and increasing popularity of the MDC. The success of the recent two-day stay away demonstrated that the MDC in the eyes of the people is the legitimate authority in Zimbabwe. The landslide victories by the MDC in the Kuwadzana and Highfield by-elections was symptomatic of the scale to which Mugabe and Zanu PF have been rejected by the people of Zimbabwe. When the people of Zimbabwe think of Zanu PF they think of hunger, insecurity and violence.

"In Harare alone, more than 250 victims of violence have been seen and treated at the Emergency Departments in the City. More than 30 required admission for severe injuries, some requiring orthopaedic surgery. All the victims examined had physical injuries consistent with the histories given, which were of severe beatings and torture. To date about 200 people are known still to be in police custody, many with untreated injuries. Some of those tortured were electrocuted using wires attached to parts of the body, including the genitalia. Two women were assaulted with a rifle in their vaginas," according to a statement from The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, which noted with concern the increase of political violence in March.

Both the public and private media agreed that violence in the recent Highfield and Kuwadzana by-elections was a cause for major concern in the electoral process, but they differed on who the perpetrators were, says the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe in its weekly update. The public media accused the MDC of fanning violence and used isolated incidents that broke out during the previous week’s stay-away as examples. Conversely, the private Press observed that violence against ordinary civilians and those perceived to be opposition party supporters by ZANU PF activists and security agents would render the elections not free or fair.

Another momentous Zimbabwean March has come and gone. But this time it ends on a high note. The mix of menace and jubilation, of terror, fear, anger and defiance, is electric, explosive. The long-suffering, patient, apathetic Zimbabweans have had enough and are finally reacting to the horrors of the past three years.

A year ago the mood was different. An election which most thought would relieve us of deepening poverty and intensifying government abuse had been stolen. The sacrifices which had been made by thousands of committed opposition cadres stretching their energies to the breaking point seemed to have been made in vain. We stared into a dark future, afraid, confused and deeply depressed.

And our fears were justified. The past year has been horrendous. Government has used the Public Order and Security Act to prevent organised activity by the opposition as well as all civil society organisations, even during campaigning for by-elections. Opposition leaders have been continuously hounded, arrested, harassed and brutally tortured, while their supporters have been beaten, abducted, raped, and chased from their homes.

The justice system has been subverted, with the police selectively arresting members of civil society and the MDC without any evidence of crime, while standing watching while government supporters commit the worst atrocities. Independent judges have been hounded out of office and replaced by those who appear more compliant. When these don't satisfy their ZANU PF bosses, they too can be arrested. Cases which threaten to embarrass the government never get hearing dates, with the result that some election petitions from the 2000 Parliamentary elections have yet to be heard, and one year later we are still waiting for the court challenge to the Presidential election. Constitutional challenges to restrictive press laws are also still awaited. The courts are rather spending their energies harassing opposition leaders with spurious charges ranging from fraud to murder to treason.

The civil service has been systematically purged of non-government supporters. Those in senior posts are expected to publicly show approval of ZANU PF policies and make appearances at party meetings. Hundreds if not thousands of teachers have been chased from their schools as suspected opposition supporters. Graduates of the government militia who have been trained in propaganda, brutality and torture methods have been infiltrated into all government offices and placed on salaries, even though they have no relevant skills. Teachers colleges, nursing schools, polytechs and vocational schools have instructions to give priority to militia graduates: if they do not satisfy the entry requirements, no problem; just finish them before completing the course in order to get a certificate. These torturers and abusers are to be unleashed into our schools to prepare our children for life!

And the economy. A year ago inflation was 70%; today it is 220% - officially. Unofficially probably over 300%. Few farms function at above subsistence level. Jobs are unobtainable; the “informal sector” rules. Those living on pensions or savings are destitute; the lucky ones have children outside the country who send pounds, or dollars, or rands. Those who can still afford to own cars cannot pay for insurance. And cannot buy petrol. Eight days in a queue is common. Those who rely on public transport must be on the street before 6 a.m. to get to work by 8, and even then they are often very late. School children often leave home at 5 a.m. and return at 6 p.m. Goods are scarce, and expensive.

Government's answer to inflation was to control prices, when inputs cannot be controlled. The result was predictable - a further collapse of production and a flourishing black market, frequently controlled by ZANU PF bosses. Exports from the manufacturing sector have dropped catastrophically. The foreign exchange which they should earn to pay for fuel and electricity imports is not available. And we are producing less of our own electricity due to break down of machinery and lack of forex to buy spare parts. A very vicious circle prevails, producing what has been termed “meltdown”.

The so-called land reform is a distant memory. The agricultural sector has diminished by gigantic proportions. But no one is sure what's happening on the farms - settlers, war vets, ZANU PF thugs, genuine land-hungry villagers and government cronies are all battling for a share of the spoils, which no longer exist, since all the movable property and crops have been plundered and few of the beneficiaries really wanted to farm. Those who do are struggling with lack of inputs. Poor rains at the beginning of the season have reduced the output of those who succeeded in planting crops, while much of the crop is being stolen from the fields by starving villagers and displaced former farm workers. The prospect for the next planting season later this year is grim, because very little seed maize has been planted and even less will be available for use, as it is being eaten.

Donors are distributing food aid in many rural parts of the country, while in others, hunger and even starvation is common. Government continues to attempt to interfere, but has not succeeded in most cases. In towns, staple food is scarce, and is obtained through “connections”, political and otherwise. Long queues have frequently been attacked by riot police beating people (mainly women) with batons and chasing them away.

The daily struggle for food and transport in towns is what has brought the people to the breaking point. Women have progressively amended their family feeding to omit more and more items - cheese, milk, chicken, meat, fruit - not affordable; mealie meal, flour, margarine, bread, vegetables, sugar - not available. We are left with beans and rice. And for most rice is also not affordable. As the position worsens by the week, government has become increasingly repressive.

Zimbabweans did not easily give up hope that President Mbeki and the ANC would finally understand the true nature of our distress. But finally it has become clear that it was not a question of misunderstanding but deliberate prevarication in order to positively support Mugabe's dictatorship.

The shift began with cricket. Failure to get the world to acknowledge the need to boycott Mugabe by shifting the World Cup matches made it very plain that our salvation would only come from ourselves. And so the protests finally began. Henry Olonga and Andy Flower set it off, as if singing the overture, at the first Harare cricket match. Then the women took up the score on Valentine's Day in both Harare and Bulawayo ; the cricket protests began in earnest when the scene moved to Bulawayo, and were brutally suppressed. International Women's Day saw more demonstrations in defiance of POSA, and further arrests. Finally the orchestra swelled into the massive support for a stayaway called by the MDC in mid-March. The brutality of the reprisal measures undertaken by the militia, army and police in the wake of the stayaway has only increased the anger and the determination. But the demonstrations and stayaway had taught beleaguered Zimbabweans the most important lesson: we have the power, we can face arrest, we can even face torture. The MDC followed up the stayaway with an ultimatum to the government to restore rule of law and human rights. It expired with the month at midnight March 31. As midnight struck Zimbabweans were jubilant - in the face of extreme intimidation, cheating and physical violence against voters, they had persevered and won so strongly that even ZANU PF could not deny them victory.

And so March has ended. April lies before us. Will Independence Day on the 18th mark another new beginning? Maybe not just yet, but now the people are waiting and ready for the mass action which will finally bring the end of this evil regime. It cannot come soon enough.

* Mary Ndlovu is a Zimbabwean human rights activist.

* Previous editorial by Mary Ndlovu: March – Zimbabwe’s Month of Destiny

* Please send comments on this editorial to [email protected]

Justice Paddington Garwe, the Judge President, this week threw out an application for the alteration of bail conditions imposed on Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC president, and two of that opposition party's top officials facing high treason charges. The court also refused to grant an application for the temporary release of Welshman Ncube's passport.

Gibson Sibanda, deputy president of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was due to find out on Thursday if his bail application had succeeded. He was arrested on Monday on charges of contravening the Public Order and Security Act. A packed Bulawayo courtroom, surrounded by troops and police, heard the state tell the court why it should deny Sibanda bail.

"In short, the most recent wave of violence, like other acts of political violence in Zimbabwe, are part of an organised, coordinated and targeted campaign meant to terrorise and intimidate any voices of dissent into silence by brutally retaliating against perceived dissidents," says the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition in a report highlighting just a few of the hundreds of cases of victimisation by state agents against individuals who were believed to have organised the recent stay away.

Mutare-based freelance reporter Stanley Karombo says police beat him and searched his home after arresting him on 19 March 2003. The police also confiscated his mobile phone and tape recorder. Karombo was arrested under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) for allegedly practicing journalism without accreditation. He was released on 24 March on Z$5,000 (approx. US$6) bail.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) has deplored the violence that erupted in Highfield after the announcement of the election results. The Movement for Democratic Change’s (MDC) Mr Pearson Mungofa won the election with 8 759 votes beating his main rival Mr Joseph Chinotimba of the ruling ZANU PF party who polled 4 844 votes. Mr. Chinotimba indicated that he is not accepting the results. In Kuwadzana MDC’s Mr Nelson Chamisa won the seat by 12 548 votes against his main rival Mr David Mutasa of ZANU PF who polled 5002 votes. "We note with concern however, the pre-poll violence, intimidation and visible vote buying that characterised these by-elections," said the ZESN.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has comfortably retained two parliamentary seats in the Zimbabwean capital after by-elections at the weekend. The weekend polls were described as largely peaceful by diplomats and the police, but marked by strong opposition claims of voter intimidation and ballot fixing.

An inquiry into President Robert Mugabe's land reforms in Zimbabwe has uncovered massive corruption in the allocation of farms seized from white farmers, ostensibly for the resettlement of landless black peasants. The black farmers, originally resettled on the farms, are being evicted to pave the way for Mr Mugabe's cronies, many of whom own up to five farms.

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has given the green light for re-opening stalled talks with President Robert Mugabe's government following a gesture by South African President Thabo Mbeki welcoming the Movement for Democratic Change leader's apparent change of heart. In the most upbeat remarks he has made on Zimbabwe in many months, Mbeki made a dramatic and impassioned plea on Wednesday for Mugabe and Tsvangirai to resume talks aimed at thrashing out their differences over Zimbabwe's future.

The saga at the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) took another twist last week when two more employees of the beleaguered examinations body appeared before the Harare Magistrates court and were found guilty of contravening the Prevention of Corruption Act.