COVERAGE of events in the week highlighted the extent to which the state-controlled print and electronic media are now co-ordinating their output. They provided extensive coverage of the funeral of Defence Minister Moven Mahachi, and also similarly distorted interpretations of remarks by South African president, Thabo Mbeki, on the need for land reform. They both also censored his revelation that he and other senior ANC officials had met MDC officials. In the private Press during the week, The Daily News also attracted considerable attention, this time for exposing its own bias and professional incompetence.

Zimbabwe stands at the crossroads. The economy is in meltdown, buffeted by structural adjustment, the AIDS epidemic, Zimbabwe's involvement in the DRC war and political turmoil over the land question. As life becomes ever more precarious, what livelihood strategies are open to rural people? Can recent institutional interventions improve the livelihoods of vulnerable Zimbabweans?

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Zimbabwe's top military commander has dismissed British press reports that senior officers planned to overthrow President Robert Mugabe in the event of widespread civil unrest, the official 'Herald' newspaper reported on Thursday. "It's not true because that type of thing is not being expected in this country. I as the commander would have known about the coup," General Vitalis Zvinavashe told the newspaper.

Zimbabwean Defense Minister and Member of Parliament Moven Mahachi was killed on Saturday, May 26 when his Land Rover struck an oncoming vehicle near Nyanga. The Minister was the respondent in a case brought against him by the losing MDC candidate for Makoni West, Mr. Elisha Makuwaza. Makuwaza alleged that Mahachi won the election due to violence and intimidation. Witnesses at the accident scene claim that an Alfasud turned into oncoming traffic in an attempt to overtake two cars. Minister Mahachi’s vehicle collided with the car and flipped three times, killing Mahachi instantly. The driver of the Alfasud and five passengers in Mahachi’s car all received minor injuries.

IT was natural that the death of a second Cabinet minister in a month should attract headline attention in the media, but ZBC’s coverage of the death of Defence Minister Moven Mahachi in yet another car accident, was excessive and repetitive. On average, 50% of the items in all its news bulletins (radio and TV) on Sunday (27/5) focused on Mahachi and included many repetitions of the same condolence messages without giving much detail of the accident or Mahachi’s record.

The Guardian's revelation that the Zimbabwean armed forces have warned South Africa's government of a potential coup against Robert Mugabe prompted questions of President Thabo Mbeki in parliament in Cape Town yesterday. Mr Mbeki skirted the direct issue raised by high-level sources in Pretoria, who told the Guardian that the Zimbabwean army had made secret approaches to Pretoria to express fears that widespread food shortages within months could prompt riots and other unrest, and a military coup.

Although Zimbabwe is likely to face serious food shortages this year, the situation is not likely to lead to the predicted flood of refugees entering neighbouring countries, observers and civic organisations told IRIN on Friday. "Those with skills are leaving, but this is not a new phenomena," a foreign economic analyst told IRIN from Harare. Estimates suggest about 400,000 Zimbabweans have left in recent years, mainly for South Africa, Botswana, Britain and North America.

Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe's government has been thrown into disarray by the death of the defence minister, Moven Mahachi, the second cabinet minister to die in a car accident in the past month. Mr Mahachi, 53, was killed late Saturday afternoon in a car accident in Zimbabwe's eastern mountain district of Nyanga. He had been one of Mr Mugabe's longest serving and most trusted allies. In 1975 he helped Mr Mugabe escape Rhodesian authorities by sneaking across the eastern border to Mozambique.

Senior army officers in Zimbabwe have secretly warned the South African government that they may launch a coup against Robert Mugabe if the growing political and economic crisis results in riots. Pretoria has strongly advised against any move to overthrow the Zimbabwean president by force but has been made aware of the circumstances in which it may be attempted.

Masvingo’s Mayoral elections again exposed the state media’s bias in favour of the ruling party. In previous weeks these media had given ample platform to the ruling party to campaign. In the week even after the defeat of the ruling party, the state-media solicited opinions from an array of Zanu PF sources. On the day the results were announced ZBCTV gave little airtime to the victor. On the other hand, The Daily News’ had a subjective interpretation of the results, both in its headline and in the text.

Zimbabwe has passed a new law which imposes jail sentences of up to 20 years on anyone who knowingly passes on the HIV virus to another person. Under the Sexual Offences Act, women raped and infected with HIV as a result will be given health assistance by the state and the children born as a result of the assault will also be supported.

An Amnesty International (AI) research team has found widespread evidence of politically-motivated murder, torture, rape and violence. Tor-Hugne Olsen, head of the team, told IRIN on Wednesday that after spending a week in the country, they had established that such acts were "commonplace" and that the government was doing nothing to stop them.

White farmers and private financial backers have offered to give the government a million hectares of farmland to resettle landless blacks, the scheme's coordinator, Malcolm Vowles, told IRIN on Thursday. "This is a genuine attempt to break the impasse over land in this country," Vowles said. Zimbabwe's mainly white Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) has been deadlocked in negotiations with the government over the confiscation and violent occupation by black militants of hundreds of white-owned farms.

South Africa yesterday for the first time publicly criticised the illegal occupation of white-owned farms by self-styled veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s independence war and their attacks on private companies and foreign aid organisations ostensibly on behalf of discontented workers. In the clearest sign yet of a shift by Pretoria from its policy of quiet diplomacy on Harare, Jeremiah Ndou, South Africa's High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, said in a statement that his country strongly condemned the current wave of company invasions.

Judge Ziyambi finished hearing the Chiredzi South election challenge last Friday, reserving her judgment for a later date. She is due to open the petition for Marondera East on Tuesday, May 22. Hearings continued last week in the Makoni West trial involving Minister of Defense Moven Mahachi. The respondent’s witnesses presented evidence to Judge Paddington Garwe that MDC supporters had assaulted them in the run-up to the 2000 parliamentary elections. Judge James Devittie, who ruled for the opposition MDC in three of four cases before him, has announced his resignation.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WORKER, for community participation in HIV/AIDS prevention programmes
Salary : Local salary, home savings allowance, benefits package
Location : Near Chinoyi, Zimbabwe
Closing Date : 15 Jun 2001
Job posted on : 15 May 2001

The Zimbabwean government on Wednesday called an immediate halt to invasions of private businesses by self-styled war veterans, news reports said.
"This should cease forthwith as it constitutes the crimes of kidnapping and extortion," Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo was quoted as saying. So-far, the police have been singularly ineffective in halting the scores of urban raids by ruling party militants which began in early April, further threatening Zimbabwe's already ailing economy.

Several war veterans were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly extorting about US $25,000 from a private company under the pretext of solving a labour dispute, the state-controlled 'Herald' reported. Also arrested were 10 employees of the unnamed firm. All those arrested were expected to appear in court on Thursday. Joseph Chinotimba, chairperson of the ruling party-linked war veterans in Harare commended the police action.

During the June 2000 elections in Zimbabwe, MDC campaigners and other citizens took advantage of the internet and email to promote and disseminate
the aims and objectives of the Movement for Democratic Change. This strategy ran alongside the traditional campaigning of talks, meetings, rallies and word of mouth. Whilst the ruling party used a variety of campaign strategies
from old-fashioned intimidation to exploiting their control of the print and broadcast media, the MDC had no option but to look creatively at other ways of campaigning.